War Nurseries: Lessons in Quality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hurwitz, Sally C.

1998-01-01

Describes development of the Kaiser Child Service Centers at the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company (Portland, Oregon) during World War II, child-care centers created through the Lanham Act. Describes staff recruitment and the services provided. Maintains that the Kaiser Center set a new standard for child care and helped to shape the field of early…

Sounds of silence: How to animate virtual worlds with sound

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Astheimer, Peter

1993-01-01

Sounds are an integral and sometimes annoying part of our daily life. Virtual worlds which imitate natural environments gain a lot of authenticity from fast, high quality visualization combined with sound effects. Sounds help to increase the degree of immersion for human dwellers in imaginary worlds significantly. The virtual reality toolkit of IGD (Institute for Computer Graphics) features a broad range of standard visual and advanced real-time audio components which interpret an object-oriented definition of the scene. The virtual reality system 'Virtual Design' realized with the toolkit enables the designer of virtual worlds to create a true audiovisual environment. Several examples on video demonstrate the usage of the audio features in Virtual Design.

DICOMweb™: Background and Application of the Web Standard for Medical Imaging.

PubMed

Genereaux, Brad W; Dennison, Donald K; Ho, Kinson; Horn, Robert; Silver, Elliot Lewis; O'Donnell, Kevin; Kahn, Charles E

2018-05-10

This paper describes why and how DICOM, the standard that has been the basis for medical imaging interoperability around the world for several decades, has been extended into a full web technology-based standard, DICOMweb. At the turn of the century, healthcare embraced information technology, which created new problems and new opportunities for the medical imaging industry; at the same time, web technologies matured and began serving other domains well. This paper describes DICOMweb, how it extended the DICOM standard, and how DICOMweb can be applied to problems facing healthcare applications to address workflow and the changing healthcare climate.

International standards in mitigating trade risks.

PubMed

Thiermann, A B

2011-04-01

This paper describes the role of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), as a science-based and democratic standard-setting organisation that provides guidance on preventing the spread of animal diseases, including zoonoses, in international trade. The World Trade Organization is identified as the international institution with the legal power to encourage adherence to international standards and mediate trade disputes. The importance of assuring good governance and the credibility of national Veterinary Services through a process of official certification is identified as an essential component in the safety of trade. Private-public partnerships and the evolution of responsibilities are also identified as essential for the implementation of health guarantees such as compartmentalisation. The rapid emergence of private standards is described as a potential complement to the implementation of sanitary standards, as long as they are applied globally and in support of the OIE standards. Ultimately, the biggest challenge is for the international community to create the incentives and generate the political will for fair trade and for the universal recognition and application of the established international sanitary standards.

The Vitiligo Working Group recommendations for narrowband ultraviolet B light phototherapy treatment of vitiligo.

PubMed

Mohammad, Tasneem F; Al-Jamal, Mohammed; Hamzavi, Iltefat H; Harris, John E; Leone, Giovanni; Cabrera, Raúl; Lim, Henry W; Pandya, Amit G; Esmat, Samia M

2017-05-01

Treatment of vitiligo with narrowband ultraviolet B light (NBUVB) is an important component of the current standard of care. However, there are no consistent guidelines regarding the dosing and administration of NBUVB in vitiligo, reflected by varied treatment practices around the world. To create phototherapy recommendations to facilitate clinical management and identify areas requiring future research. The Vitiligo Working Group (VWG) Phototherapy Committee addressed 19 questions regarding the administration of phototherapy over 3 conference calls. Members of the Photomedicine Society and a group of phototherapy experts were surveyed regarding their phototherapy practices. Based on comparison and analysis of survey results, expert opinion, and discussion held during conference calls, expert recommendations for the administration of NBUVB phototherapy in vitiligo were created. There were several areas that required further research before final recommendations could be made. In addition, no standardized methodology was used during literature review and to assess the strength of evidence during the development of these recommendations. This set of expert recommendations by the VWG is based on the prescribing practices of phototherapy experts from around the world to create a unified, broadly applicable set of recommendations on the use of NBUVB in vitiligo. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spatial Information Processing: Standards-Based Open Source Visualization Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogan, P.

2009-12-01

. Spatial information intelligence is a global issue that will increasingly affect our ability to survive as a species. Collectively we must better appreciate the complex relationships that make life on Earth possible. Providing spatial information in its native context can accelerate our ability to process that information. To maximize this ability to process information, three basic elements are required: data delivery (server technology), data access (client technology), and data processing (information intelligence). NASA World Wind provides open source client and server technologies based on open standards. The possibilities for data processing and data sharing are enhanced by this inclusive infrastructure for geographic information. It is interesting that this open source and open standards approach, unfettered by proprietary constraints, simultaneously provides for entirely proprietary use of this same technology. 1. WHY WORLD WIND? NASA World Wind began as a single program with specific functionality, to deliver NASA content. But as the possibilities for virtual globe technology became more apparent, we found that while enabling a new class of information technology, we were also getting in the way. Researchers, developers and even users expressed their desire for World Wind functionality in ways that would service their specific needs. They want it in their web pages. They want to add their own features. They want to manage their own data. They told us that only with this kind of flexibility, could their objectives and the potential for this technology be truly realized. World Wind client technology is a set of development tools, a software development kit (SDK) that allows a software engineer to create applications requiring geographic visualization technology. 2. MODULAR COMPONENTRY Accelerated evolution of a technology requires that the essential elements of that technology be modular components such that each can advance independent of the other elements. World Wind therefore changed its mission from providing a single information browser to enabling a whole class of 3D geographic applications. Instead of creating a single program, World Wind is a suite of components that can be selectively used in any number of programs. World Wind technology can be a part of any application, or it can be a window in a web page. Or it can be extended with additional functionalities by application and web developers. World Wind makes it possible to include virtual globe visualization and server technology in support of any objective. The world community can continually benefit from advances made in the technology by NASA in concert with the world community. 3. OPEN SOURCE AND OPEN STANDARDS NASA World Wind is NASA Open Source software. This means that the source code is fully accessible for anyone to freely use, even in association with proprietary technology. Imagery and other data provided by the World Wind servers reside in the public domain, including the data server technology itself. This allows others to deliver their own geospatial data and to provide custom solutions based on users specific needs.

77 FR 63203 - 50th Anniversary of the Office of the United States Trade Representative

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-16

... field for American workers and create more opportunities for our businesses to compete in global markets..., high standards, and accountability in international trade. Today, USTR continues to monitor and enforce... America the best place in the world to innovate, invest, work, and build a business. NOW, THEREFORE, I...

Teaching Note-Teaching Student Interviewing Competencies through Second Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tandy, Cynthia; Vernon, Robert; Lynch, Darlene

2017-01-01

A prototype standardized client was created and programmed to respond to students in the 3D virtual world of Second Life. This automaton, called a "chatbot," was repeatedly interviewed by beginning MSW students in a practice course as a learning exercise. Initial results were positive and suggest the use of simulated clients in virtual…

Making the Learning of Mathematics More Meaningful

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ward, Robin A.

1998-01-01

In the early 1980's, the National Commission on Excellence in Education responded to the call for reform in the teaching and learning of mathematics. In particular, the Commission developed a document addressing the consensus that all students need to learn more, and often different, mathematics and that instruction in mathematics must be significantly revised. In a response to these calls for mathematics education reform, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) developed its Curriculum and Evaluation Standards (1989) with a two-fold purpose: 1) to create a coherent vision of what it means to be mathematically literate in a world that relies on calculators and computers, and 2) to create a set of standards to guide the revisions of school mathematics curriculum.

Leveraging Metadata to Create Interactive Images... Today!

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hurt, Robert L.; Squires, G. K.; Llamas, J.; Rosenthal, C.; Brinkworth, C.; Fay, J.

2011-01-01

The image gallery for NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has been newly rebuilt to fully support the Astronomy Visualization Metadata (AVM) standard to create a new user experience both on the website and in other applications. We encapsulate all the key descriptive information for a public image, including color representations and astronomical and sky coordinates and make it accessible in a user-friendly form on the website, but also embed the same metadata within the image files themselves. Thus, images downloaded from the site will carry with them all their descriptive information. Real-world benefits include display of general metadata when such images are imported into image editing software (e.g. Photoshop) or image catalog software (e.g. iPhoto). More advanced support in Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope can open a tagged image after it has been downloaded and display it in its correct sky position, allowing comparison with observations from other observatories. An increasing number of software developers are implementing AVM support in applications and an online image archive for tagged images is under development at the Spitzer Science Center. Tagging images following the AVM offers ever-increasing benefits to public-friendly imagery in all its standard forms (JPEG, TIFF, PNG). The AVM standard is one part of the Virtual Astronomy Multimedia Project (VAMP); http://www.communicatingastronomy.org

Spider Silk: Mother Nature's Bio-Superlens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monks, James N.; Yan, Bing; Hawkins, Nicholas; Vollrath, Fritz; Wang, Zengbo

2016-09-01

This paper demonstrates a possible new microfiber bio near field lens that uses minor ampullate spider silk,spun from the Nephila edulis spider, to create a real time image of a surface using near field optical techniques. The microfiber bio lens is the world's first natural superlens created by exploring biological materials. The resolution of the surface image overcomes the diffraction limit, with the ability to resolve patterns at 100 nm under a standard white light source in reflection mode. This resolution offers further developments in superlens technology and paves the way for new bio optics.

Global multiplicity of dietary standards for trace elements.

PubMed

Freeland-Graves, Jeanne H; Lee, Jane J

2012-06-01

Consistent guidelines across the world for dietary standards of trace elements remain elusive. Harmonization of dietary standards has been suggested by international agencies to facilitate consistency in food and nutrition policies and international trade. Yet significant barriers exist to standardize recommendations on a global basis, such as vast differences in geography, food availability and transport; cultural, social and economic constraints, and biological diversity. Simple commonality is precluded further by the variety of terminologies among countries and regions related to diet. Certain unions have created numerous nutritional descriptive categories for standards, while other large countries are limited to only a few. This paper will explore the global multiplicity of dietary standards and efforts for harmonization. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Multimedia systems overview: the big picture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riccomi, Alfred

1993-01-01

The golden opportunities represented by multimedia systems have been recognized by many. The risk and cost involved in developing the products and the markets has led to a bonanza of unlikely consortia of strange bedfellows. The premier promoter of personal computing systems, Apple Computer, has joined forces with the dominant supplier of corporate computing, IBM, to form a multimedia technology joint venture called Kaleida. The consumer electronics world's leading promoter of free trade, Sony, has joined forces with the leader of Europe's protectionist companies, Philips, to create a consumer multimedia standard called CD-I. While still paying lip service to CD-I, Sony and Philips now appear to be going their separate ways. The software world's most profitable/fastest growing firm, Microsoft, has entered into alliances with each and every multimedia competitor to create a mish mash of product classes and defacto standards. The battle for Multimedia Standards is being fought on all fronts: on standards committees, in corporate strategic marketing meetings, within industry associations, in computer retail stores, and on the streets. Early attempts to set proprietary defacto standards were fought back, but the proprietary efforts continue with renewed vigor. Standards committees were, as always, slow to define specifications, but the official standards are now known nd being implemented; ... but the proprietary efforts continue with renewed vigor. Ultimately, the buyers will decide -- like it or not. Success by the efforts to establish proprietary defacto standards could prove to be a boon to the highly creative and inventive U.S. firms, but at the cost of higher prices for consumers and slower market growth. Success by the official standards could bring lower prices for consumers and fast market growth, but force the higher-wage/higher-overhead U.S. firms to compete on a level playing field. As is always the case, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

StaR Child Health: improving global standards for child health research.

PubMed

Offringa, Martin; Needham, Allison C; Chan, Winnie W Y

2013-11-01

Standards for Research (StaR) in Child Health, founded in 2009, addresses the current scarcity of and deficiencies in pediatric clinical trials. StaR Child Health brings together leading international experts devoted to developing practical, evidence-based standards to enrich the reliability and relevance of pediatric clinical research. Through a systematic "knowledge to action" plan, StaR Child Health creates opportunities to improve the evidence base for child health across the world. To date, six standards have been published and four more are under development. It is now time to use these standards. Improving the design, conduct and reporting of pediatric clinical trials will ultimately advance the quality of health care provided to children across the globe. Crown Copyright © 2013. All rights reserved.

The Roots of the Challenge: Undergraduate Chinese Students Adjusting to American College Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tung, Mei-Ling

2016-01-01

Recent economic development in China not only has improved the overall living standards of Chinese people, but it has also created a new middle class. Another impact of the economic development is the increasing demand for educated workers. Subsequently, the demand for quality higher education has also increased. With more than 50% of the world's…

The International Baccalaureate and a Framework for Class Consciousness: The Potential Outcomes of a "Class-for-Itself"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bunnell, Tristan

2010-01-01

The International Baccalaureate (IB) examination system in early 2010 was on offer in 2700 schools in 139 countries. Since 1999, the Geneva-registered IB has created a platform for image consolidation, product standardization, and technological linkage. Out of this has emerged a globally branded "IB World", educating the "IB Learner", using an…

IBM techexplorer and MathML: Interactive Multimodal Scientific Documents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diaz, Angel

2001-06-01

The World Wide Web provides a standard publishing platform for disseminating scientific and technical articles, books, journals, courseware, or even homework on the internet; however, the transition from paper to web-based interactive content has brought new opportunities for creating interactive content. Students, scientists, and engineers are now faced with the task of rendering the 2D presentational structure of mathematics, harnessing the wealth of scientific and technical software, and creating truly accessible scientific portals across international boundaries and markets. The recent emergence of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards such as the Mathematical Markup Language (MathML), Language (XSL), and Aural CSS (ACSS) provide a foundation whereby mathematics can be displayed, enlivened, computed, and audio formatted. With interoperability ensured by standards, software applications can be easily brought together to create extensible and interactive scientific content. In this presentation we will provide an overview of the IBM techexplorer Hypermedia Browser, a web browser plug-in and ActiveX control aimed at bringing interactive mathematics to the masses across platforms and applications. We will demonstrate "live" mathematics where documents that contain MathML expressions can be edited and computed right inside your favorite web browser. This demonstration will be generalized as we show how MathML can be used to enliven even PowerPoint presentations. Finally, we will close the loop by demonstrating a novel approach to spoken mathematics based on MathML, DOM, XSL, ACSS, techexplorer, and IBM ViaVoice. By making use of techexplorer as the glue that binds the rendered content to the web browser, the back-end computation software, the Java applets that augment the exposition, and voice-rendering systems such as ViaVoice, authors can indeed create truly extensible and interactive scientific content. For more information see: [http://www.software.ibm.com/techexplorer] [http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com] [http://www.w3.org

Ensuring the Quality of Outreach: The Critical Role of Evaluating Individual and Collective Initiatives and Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynton, Ernest A.

2016-01-01

New knowledge is created in the course of the application of outreach. Each complex problem in the real world is likely to have unique aspects and thus it requires some modification of standard approaches. Hence, each engagement in outreach is likely to have an element of inquiry and discovery, leading to new knowledge. The flow of knowledge is in…

3D Technology Selection for a Virtual Learning Environment by Blending ISO 9126 Standard and AHP

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cetin, Aydin; Guler, Inan

2011-01-01

Web3D presents many opportunities for learners in a virtual world or virtual environment over the web. This is a great opportunity for open-distance education institutions to benefit from web3d technologies to create courses with interactive 3d materials. There are many open source and commercial products offering 3d technologies over the web…

Feeding people is easy: but we have to re-think the world from first principles.

PubMed

Tudge, Colin

2005-09-01

Agriculture designed to make best use of landscape and to be maximally sustainable would also provide food of the highest nutritional and gastronomic standards, and would inevitably employ a great many people. Thus it would solve the world's food problems, and its principal social problem, at a stroke. But agriculture in practice is designed for a quite different purpose--to generate wealth, in the cause of 'economic growth'. The pressing need is not for more science and technology, but to recognise the true cause of the problems and to re-think priorities. We could all be well fed. Indeed, everyone in the world who is ever likely to be born could be fed to the highest standards of gastronomy as well as of nutrition until humanity itself comes to an end. We already have most of the necessary technique--perhaps all that is needed. We could always do with more excellent science but we need not depend, as we are often told from on high, on the next technological fix. The methods that can provide excellent food would also create a beautiful environment, with plenty of scope for other creatures, and agreeable and stable agrarian economies with satisfying jobs for all. In reality, in absolute contrast, we have created a world in which almost a billion are chronically undernourished; another billion are horribly overnourished, so that obesity and diabetes are epidemic, and rising; a billion live on less than two dollars a day; and a billion live in urban slums--a figure set to increase and probably at least to double over the next half century; while other species are disappearing so fast that biologists speak of mass extinction.

COSPAR/PRBEM international working group activities report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourdarie, S.; Blake, B.; Cao, J. B.; Friedel, R.; Miyoshi, Y.; Panasyuk, M.; Underwood, C.

It is now clear to everybody that the current standard AE8 AP8 model for ionising particle specification in the radiation belts must be updated But such an objective is quite difficult to reach just as a reminder to develop AE8 AP8 model in the seventies was 10 persons full time for ten years It is clear that world-wide efforts must be combined because not any individual group has the human resource to perform these new models by themselves Under COSPAR umbrella an international group of expert well distributed around the world has been created to set up a common framework for everybody involved in this field Planned activities of the international group of experts are to - Define users needs - Provide guidelines for standard file format for ionising measurements - Set up guidelines to process in-situ data on a common basis - Decide in which form the new models will have to be - Centralise all progress done world-wide to advise the community - Try to organise world-wide activities as a project to ensure complementarities and more efficiencies between all efforts done Activities of this working group since its creation will be reported as well as future plans

International standards for brucellosis prevention and management.

PubMed

Ragan, V; Vroegindewey, G; Babcock, S

2013-04-01

International standards are a crucial element in brucellosis prevention and management. They allow policy-makers, scientists, epidemiologists, laboratories and trade entities to have a common vocabulary for communication and understanding of the disease. These standards cover the entire spectrum of activities from surveillance, testing, prophylaxis, transport and trade to policy development, research and reporting. Developing, adhering to and monitoring standards increases both the effectiveness and efficiency of prevention and management programmes. Creating standards with the input of all stakeholders ensures that the standards do not adversely affect the requirements of any of the multiple parties involved. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), in conjunction with its Member Countries, and through its standing and ad hoc committees plus expert input, has taken a key leadership role in developing and reviewing brucellosis standards. These standards are used to harmonise testing, prevention processes, vaccines and reporting, to support trade and to protect human and animal health.

Using the World Primary Standard Dobson Spectrometer to Monitor the Stability of a Multi-Instrument Satellite Ozone Dataset

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McPeters, R.D.; Oltmans, Samuel J.

2000-01-01

NASA is creating a long term satellite ozone time series by combining data from multiple instruments: Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) (1978 - 1993), Meteor 3 TOMS (1991 - 1994), Earth Probe TOMS (1996 - present), Nimbus 7 SB-JV (1978 - 1990), NOAA-9 Solar Backscatter UV Spectrometer (SBUV/2) (1984 - 1997), NOAA-11 SBUV/2 (1989 - 1994), and NOAA-14 SBUV/2 (1995 - present). The stability of individual data sets and possible instrument-to-instrument differences are best checked by comparison with ground-based measurements. We have examined the time dependence of the calibrations of these instruments by comparing satellite derived ozone with that measured by the world primary standard Dobson spectrometer No. 83. This instrument has been maintained since 1962 as a standard for total ozone to an uncertainty of plus or minus 0.5%. Measurements of AD pair ozone made with instrument No. 83 at Mauna Loa observatory most summers since 1979 were compared with coincident TOMS and SBUV(/2) ozone measurements. The comparison shows that the various instruments were stable relative to instrument No. 83 to within about plus or minus 1%, but that there are instrument-to-instrument biases of as much as 3%. Earth Probe TOMS, for example, is 1% to 2% high relative to Nimbus 7 TOMS when the world standard instrument is used as a transfer standard. Similar results are seen when comparisons are made with an ensemble of 41 Dobson stations throughout the world, demonstrating that the ensemble as a whole is stable despite the fact that many instruments within the ensemble have clear calibration changes.

Detailed Globes Enhance Education and Recreation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

Orbis World Globes creates inflatable globes-Earthballs-in many sizes that depict Earth as it is seen from space, complete with atmospheric cloud cover. Orbis designs and produces the most visually authentic replicas of Earth ever created, and NASA took notice of Orbis globes and employed a 16-inch diameter EarthBall for an educational film it made aboard the STS-45 shuttle mission. Orbis later collaborated with NASA to create two 16-foot diameter world globes for display at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, using more detailed satellite imagery. The satellite image now printed on all Orbis globes displays 1-kilometer resolution and is 21,600 by 43,200 pixels in size, and Orbis globes are otherwise meteorologically accurate, though the cloud cover has been slightly reduced in order for most of the landforms to be visible. Orbis also developed the exclusive NightGlow Cities feature, enabling EarthBalls to display the world's cities as they appear as the Earth revolves from daylight into night. Orbis inflatable globes are available in sizes from 1 to 100 feet in diameter, with the most common being the standard 16-inch and 1-meter diameter EarthBalls. Applications include educational uses from preschools to universities, games, and for a variety of display purposes at conferences, trade shows, festivals, concerts, and parades. A 16-foot diameter Orbis globe was exhibited at the United Nations' World Urban Forum, in Vancouver, Canada; the Space 2006 conference, in San Jose, California; and the X-Prize Cup Personal Spaceflight Exposition in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Reappraisal of Regional Growth Charts in the Era of WHO Growth Standards

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

After the WHO Growth Standards (WHOGS) was published in 2006, many countries in the world endorsed and adopted the new growth references as a standard measure for the growth of infants and young children. Certainly, the WHOGS has an impact on the global policy about obesity and underweight in children. Such WHOGS innovation has influenced many regional health authorities and academies, which have managed their own growth charts for a long time, in changing their strategies to develop and use regional growth charts. In Korea, along with the tradition to create a national growth chart every decade, we now face a new era of advancing with the WHOGS. PMID:24224146

Molecular Rift: Virtual Reality for Drug Designers.

PubMed

Norrby, Magnus; Grebner, Christoph; Eriksson, Joakim; Boström, Jonas

2015-11-23

Recent advances in interaction design have created new ways to use computers. One example is the ability to create enhanced 3D environments that simulate physical presence in the real world--a virtual reality. This is relevant to drug discovery since molecular models are frequently used to obtain deeper understandings of, say, ligand-protein complexes. We have developed a tool (Molecular Rift), which creates a virtual reality environment steered with hand movements. Oculus Rift, a head-mounted display, is used to create the virtual settings. The program is controlled by gesture-recognition, using the gaming sensor MS Kinect v2, eliminating the need for standard input devices. The Open Babel toolkit was integrated to provide access to powerful cheminformatics functions. Molecular Rift was developed with a focus on usability, including iterative test-group evaluations. We conclude with reflections on virtual reality's future capabilities in chemistry and education. Molecular Rift is open source and can be downloaded from GitHub.

Refueling the U.S. Innovation Economy: Fresh Approaches to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education. Executive Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atkinson, Robert; Mayo, Merrilea

2010-01-01

Innovation has powered America's economy, creating good jobs and a high standard of living. Yet, the U.S. share of innovation-based industries is in decline, jeopardizing our status as the world's innovation leader. And one reason is that the United States has been unable to produce enough of its own workers with sufficient skills in science,…

Lights, Camera, Action Research: The Effects of Didactic Digital Movie Making on Students' Twenty-First Century Learning Skills and Science Content in the Middle School Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ochsner, Karl

2010-01-01

Students are moving away from content consumption to content production. Short movies are uploaded onto video social networking sites and shared around the world. Unfortunately they usually contain little to no educational value, lack a narrative and are rarely created in the science classroom. According to new Arizona Technology standards and…

The Best of All Possible Worlds: Applying the Model Driven Architecture Approach to a JC3IEDM OWL Ontology Modeled in UML

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

from the ODM standard. Leveraging SPARX EA’s Java application programming interface (API), the team built a tool called OWL2EA that can ingest an OWL...server MySQL creates the physical schema that enables a user to store and retrieve data conforming to the vocabulary of the JC3IEDM. 6. GENERATING AN

Introduction: Like the United States, Asian Nations Have Grappled with the Challenge of Creating and Using National Physical Education Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Housner, Lynn Dale

2005-01-01

Over the course of the last several decades, advances in the Internet and media have brought distant parts of the globe closer together. It is now possible to email, chat with, and offer web-based classes or conferences to colleagues and students from all over the world. As this occurs, it is becoming increasingly possible for physical educators…

Evaluating the Usability of Pinchigator, a system for Navigating Virtual Worlds using Pinch Gloves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamilton, George S.; Brookman, Stephen; Dumas, Joseph D. II; Tilghman, Neal

2003-01-01

Appropriate design of two dimensional user interfaces (2D U/I) utilizing the well known WIMP (Window, Icon, Menu, Pointing device) environment for computer software is well studied and guidance can be found in several standards. Three-dimensional U/I design is not nearly so mature as 2D U/I, and standards bodies have not reached consensus on what makes a usable interface. This is especially true when the tools for interacting with the virtual environment may include stereo viewing, real time trackers and pinch gloves instead of just a mouse & keyboard. Over the last several years the authors have created a 3D U/I system dubbed Pinchigator for navigating virtual worlds based on the dVise dV/Mockup visualization software, Fakespace Pinch Gloves and Pohlemus trackers. The current work is to test the usability of the system on several virtual worlds, suggest improvements to increase Pinchigator s usability, and then to generalize about what was learned and how those lessons might be applied to improve other 3D U/I systems.

Standards And Their Impact On Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Endelman, Lincoln L.

1990-01-01

The needs for standards and the processes to provide them are very complex. Standardization is dependent upon voluntary and nonvoluntary agreement among individuals, companies, various organizations, and countries around the world. The agreements on standards, which sometimes take five to ten years, are hindered by monetary considerations, relinquishment of patent rights, disagreement among nations on dimensions in metric or the English system, and professional jealousy among some individuals. Standards, Standards, Standards - what a boring and uninteresting topic. Why did I ever agree to speak to you about something that most people take for granted and don't even bother to pay much attention to until they encounter a situation where a nonstandard item creates a problem. Have any of you ever bought a roll of 35mm film for your foreign made camera and found out that it needs 32mm film? That could have happened to you in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Yes, we know that, you say, but that's not a problem anymore. Well, how about when you try to put a Beta cassette into your VCR that uses VHS cassettes? Have you tried to fit a Minolta lens onto a Nikon camera? But enough, you all have the idea. Standards were developed to make interchangeable components compatible with other equipment, no matter who made it or where it was made. Some companies and countries deliberately made things different to protect their inventions and profit by their uniqueness. More and more attempts are being made to reduce the international differences in technology and establish a common ground for trade and commerce. The European Common Market is in the process of eliminating many of the barriers to free exchange of goods, services, and even moving to a universal currency. This all sounds good for Europe, but what about the USA and the rest of the world. The United States has fought the change to the metric system for almost two hundred years. Our electrical system and the electrical systems of many parts of the world are not compatible. There are at least five video systems throughout the world. Standards have a direct impact upon almost every area of living in today's multi-complex world. Medicine, business, entertainment, science, education, travel, and especially manufacturing. Think about the American made automobile with the Japanese engine - everything is metric.

Environmental economics reality check: a case study of the Abanico Medicinal Plant and Organic Agriculture Microenterprise Project.

PubMed

Isla, Ana; Thompson, Shirley

2003-01-01

This paper presents a case study of the Abanico Medicinal Plant and Organic Agriculture Microenterprise Project in the Arenal Conservation Area, Costa Rica. Microenterprise is the Sustainable Development and the Women in Development model for gender equity and environment of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and large non-government organizations, like the World Wildlife Fund-Canada. The authors of this paper argue that debt-for-nature investment in microenterprise and ecological economic models are not distinct from neoclassical economic and development models that created the environmental, social and cultural crises in the first place. This case study shows that the world market accommodates only one model of development: unsustainable export-oriented production based on flexible labour markets, low wages, indebtedness and low cost production. Working standards in those micro-enterprises are eroded due to many factors,including indebtedness. What happened at a national level in non-industrial countries with the international debt crisis is now mirrored in individual indebtedness through microenterprise. Is current development policy creating a new form of indentured servitude? Medicinal plants, prior to commodification, were a source of women's power and upon commodification in international development projects, are the source of their exploitation.

Institutional profile. The International Society for Cellular Therapy: evolving to meet the demands of the regenerative medicine industry.

PubMed

Maziarz, Richard T; Arthurs, Jane; Horwitz, Edwin

2011-03-01

The International Society for Cellular Therapy is a global association driving the translation of scientific research to deliver innovative cellular therapies to patients. Established in 1992, its membership and leadership comprises world-class scientists, clinicians, technologists, biotech/pharma and regulatory professionals from 40 countries focused on preclinical and translational aspects of developing cell therapy products. The International Society for Cellular Therapy has evolved in alignment with the maturation of the field of cell therapy and regenerative medicine to create forums for discussion of shared concerns for commercialization of cell therapies and of development of consensus standards, recognizing that true commercialization depends upon the translational scientific community, the regional regulatory and policy institutions, and the technology support and capital investment from industry. It exists to facilitate the international work of many, to spawn new initiatives, and to synergize with other stakeholders to create the best outcome for the many patients across the world depending on the answers and improved health that cellular therapeutics will provide them.

Development of MPEG standards for 3D and free viewpoint video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smolic, Aljoscha; Kimata, Hideaki; Vetro, Anthony

2005-11-01

An overview of 3D and free viewpoint video is given in this paper with special focus on related standardization activities in MPEG. Free viewpoint video allows the user to freely navigate within real world visual scenes, as known from virtual worlds in computer graphics. Suitable 3D scene representation formats are classified and the processing chain is explained. Examples are shown for image-based and model-based free viewpoint video systems, highlighting standards conform realization using MPEG-4. Then the principles of 3D video are introduced providing the user with a 3D depth impression of the observed scene. Example systems are described again focusing on their realization based on MPEG-4. Finally multi-view video coding is described as a key component for 3D and free viewpoint video systems. MPEG is currently working on a new standard for multi-view video coding. The conclusion is that the necessary technology including standard media formats for 3D and free viewpoint is available or will be available in the near future, and that there is a clear demand from industry and user side for such applications. 3DTV at home and free viewpoint video on DVD will be available soon, and will create huge new markets.

Aerogel to simulate delamination and porosity defects in carbon-fiber reinforced polymer composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juarez, Peter; Leckey, Cara A. C.

2018-04-01

Representative defect standards are essential for the validation and calibration of new and existing inspection techniques. However, commonly used methods of simulating delaminations in carbon-fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites do not accurately represent the behavior of the real-world defects for several widely-used NDE techniques. For instance, it is common practice to create a delamination standard by inserting Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in between ply layers. However, PTFE can transmit more ultrasonic energy than actual delaminations, leading to an unrealistic representation of the defect inspection. PTFE can also deform/wrinkle during the curing process and has a thermal effusivity two orders of magnitude higher than air (almost equal to that of a CFRP). It is therefore not effective in simulating a delamination for thermography. Currently there is also no standard practice for producing or representing a known porosity in composites. This paper presents a novel method of creating delamination and porosity standards using aerogel. Insertion of thin sheets of solid aerogel between ply layers during layup is shown to produce air-gap-like delaminations creating realistic ultrasonic and thermographic inspection responses. Furthermore, it is shown that depositing controlled amounts of aerogel powder can represent porosity. Micrograph data verifies the structural integrity of the aerogel through the composite curing process. This paper presents data from multiple NDE methods, including X-ray computed tomography, immersion ultrasound, and flash thermography to the effectiveness of aerogel as a delamination and porosity simulant.

Our World Their World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brisco, Nicole

2011-01-01

Build, create, make, blog, develop, organize, structure, perform. These are just a few verbs that illustrate the visual world. These words create images that allow students to respond to their environment. Visual culture studies recognize the predominance of visual forms of media, communication, and information in the postmodern world. This…

ASTER VNIR 15 years growth to the standard imaging radiometer in remote sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hiramatsu, Masaru; Inada, Hitomi; Kikuchi, Masakuni; Sakuma, Fumihiro

2015-10-01

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer (VNIR) is the remote sensing equipment which has 3 spectral bands and one along-track stereoscopic band radiometer. ASTER VNIR's planned long life design (more than 5 years) is successfully achieved. ASTER VNIR has been imaging the World-wide Earth surface multiband images and the Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM). VNIR data create detailed world-wide maps and change-detection of the earth surface as utilization transitions and topographical changes. ASTER VNIR's geometric resolution is 15 meters; it is the highest spatial resolution instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft. Then, ASTER VNIR was planned for the geometrical basis map makers in Terra instruments. After 15-years VNIR growth to the standard map-maker for space remote-sensing. This paper presents VNIR's feature items during 15-year operation as change-detection images , DEM and calibration result. VNIR observed the World-wide Earth images for biological, climatological, geological, and hydrological study, those successful work shows a way on space remote sensing instruments. Still more, VNIR 15 years observation data trend and onboard calibration trend data show several guide or support to follow-on instruments.

Integrating WorldWide Telescope with Wordpress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sands, Mark; Luebbert, J.; Fay, J.; Gay, P. L.

2010-01-01

In this project we unite three major components of astronomy and new media: World Wide Telescope, Wordpress, and user supplied audio. Through an easy to use Wordpress plug-in users can create WorldWide Telescope sky tours that allow: a) astronomers and educators to spread the facts and awareness of astronomy, potentially bringing new and interested individuals into the astronomy community; b) bloggers/podcasters to create dynamic, virtual tours of the universe that are nearly boundless; and, c) readers to benefit from the alluring WorldWide Telescope tours by gaining a new and dramatic outlook on our universe. This software has the potential to augment, and in some cases replace, traditional methods of astronomy centered online lectures. With this plugin, it is possible to combine Wordpress-based website content with audio, and a sky tour that can be paused at any object. This ability to pause a sky tour allows the user to further explore the wealth of data provided within WWT. This fully customizable solution includes all of the necessary features required to reproduce a lecture in a more creative and appealing format then some of the standard, typically non-interactive, movies and podcasts currently found online. Through the creation of effective WorldWide Telescope tours, astronomers and educators can better extend astronomy content to astronomy-interested, but not yet engaged, members of the new media community. These tours will provide a better understanding and appreciation for what our universe has to offer. Through this new media approach of integrating WorldWide Telescope with blogs and podcasts, users can now extend their interest in astronomy by exploring the universe themselves, moving beyond provided content to gain a better understanding all on their own.

Automating Electronic Clinical Data Capture for Quality Improvement and Research: The CERTAIN Validation Project of Real World Evidence.

PubMed

Devine, Emily Beth; Van Eaton, Erik; Zadworny, Megan E; Symons, Rebecca; Devlin, Allison; Yanez, David; Yetisgen, Meliha; Keyloun, Katelyn R; Capurro, Daniel; Alfonso-Cristancho, Rafael; Flum, David R; Tarczy-Hornoch, Peter

2018-05-22

The availability of high fidelity electronic health record (EHR) data is a hallmark of the learning health care system. Washington State's Surgical Care Outcomes and Assessment Program (SCOAP) is a network of hospitals participating in quality improvement (QI) registries wherein data are manually abstracted from EHRs. To create the Comparative Effectiveness Research and Translation Network (CERTAIN), we semi-automated SCOAP data abstraction using a centralized federated data model, created a central data repository (CDR), and assessed whether these data could be used as real world evidence for QI and research. Describe the validation processes and complexities involved and lessons learned. Investigators installed a commercial CDR to retrieve and store data from disparate EHRs. Manual and automated abstraction systems were conducted in parallel (10/2012-7/2013) and validated in three phases using the EHR as the gold standard: 1) ingestion, 2) standardization, and 3) concordance of automated versus manually abstracted cases. Information retrieval statistics were calculated. Four unaffiliated health systems provided data. Between 6 and 15 percent of data elements were abstracted: 51 to 86 percent from structured data; the remainder using natural language processing (NLP). In phase 1, data ingestion from 12 out of 20 feeds reached 95 percent accuracy. In phase 2, 55 percent of structured data elements performed with 96 to 100 percent accuracy; NLP with 89 to 91 percent accuracy. In phase 3, concordance ranged from 69 to 89 percent. Information retrieval statistics were consistently above 90 percent. Semi-automated data abstraction may be useful, although raw data collected as a byproduct of health care delivery is not immediately available for use as real world evidence. New approaches to gathering and analyzing extant data are required.

A Methodology for the Geometric Standardization of Vehicle Hoods to Compare Real-World Pedestrian Crashes

PubMed Central

Koetje, Bethany D.; Grabowski, Jurek G.

2008-01-01

This paper describes a standardization method that allows injury researchers to directly compare pedestrian hood contact points across a variety of hood sizes and geometries. To standardize hood contact locations a new coordinate system was created at the geometric center of the hood. Standardizing hood contact locations was done by turning each coordinate location into a ratio of the entire length or width of the hood. The standardized pedestrian contact locations could then be compared for various hood sizes. The standardized hood was divided into a three-by-three grid to aggregate contact points into hood regions. Data was obtained from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Pedestrian Crash Data Study from 1994 to 1998. To understand injury severity with respect to pedestrian hood contact location, the injuries were narrowed to the single most severe Abreviated Injury Scale injury to the pedestrian and hood location at which that injury was sustained. Of the 97 pedestrian/vehicle cases, pedestrians received 270 injuries from 141 unique hood contact locations. After standardization, 36%, 28%, 36% of all contact points were located on the left, center and right side of the hood respectively. Vertically, 26%, 45%, 28% of contacts occurred at the front, middle, and rear regions of the hood respectively. The middle passenger side of the hood contained the most number of AIS 3+ injuries. By using real-world crash data, engineers can make evidence based decisions to decease the severity of pedestrian injuries. PMID:19026236

NASA World Wind Near Real Time Data for Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogan, P.

2013-12-01

Innovation requires open standards for data exchange, not to mention ^access to data^ so that value-added, the information intelligence, can be continually created and advanced by the larger community. Likewise, innovation by academia and entrepreneurial enterprise alike, are greatly benefited by an open platform that provides the basic technology for access and visualization of that data. NASA World Wind Java, and now NASA World Wind iOS for the iPhone and iPad, provides that technology. Whether the interest is weather science or climate science, emergency response or supply chain, seeing spatial data in its native context of Earth accelerates understanding and improves decision-making. NASA World Wind open source technology provides the basic elements for 4D visualization, using Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) protocols, while allowing for customized access to any data, big or small, including support for NetCDF. NASA World Wind includes access to a suite of US Government WMS servers with near real time data. The larger community can readily capitalize on this technology, building their own value-added applications, either open or proprietary. Night lights heat map Glacier National Park

Lowering the barrier to a decentralized NHIN using the open healthcare framework.

PubMed

Smith, Eishay; Kaufman, James H

2006-01-01

In this paper, we discuss two important elements to lowering the barrier to creation of a National Health Information Network. The first element is the adoption of standards that will enable interoperability while guarantee open interfaces (and preventing vendor lock-in). The second element is the role of open source. While adoption of open standards by large EMR vendors is critically important to enterprise healthcare providers and payors, the availability of inexpensive (or free) standardized Healthcare Information Technology for small physician practices is critical. By analogy to the emergence of the World Wide Web, a framework for creating inexpensive and open source applications for physicians will be as important to realizing a National Health Information Network as availability of free browser technology was to the growth of the internet.

PIPELINEs: Creating Comparable Clinical Knowledge Efficiently by Linking Trial Platforms

PubMed Central

Shrier, AA; Antonijevic, Z; Beckman, RA; Campbell, RK; Chen, C; Flaherty, KT; Loewy, J; Lacombe, D; Madhavan, S; Selker, HP; Esserman, LJ

2016-01-01

Adaptive, seamless, multisponsor, multitherapy clinical trial designs executed as large scale platforms, could create superior evidence more efficiently than single‐sponsor, single‐drug trials. These trial PIPELINEs also could diminish barriers to trial participation, increase the representation of real‐world populations, and create systematic evidence development for learning throughout a therapeutic life cycle, to continually refine its use. Comparable evidence could arise from multiarm design, shared comparator arms, and standardized endpoints—aiding sponsors in demonstrating the distinct value of their innovative medicines; facilitating providers and patients in selecting the most appropriate treatments; assisting regulators in efficacy and safety determinations; helping payers make coverage and reimbursement decisions; and spurring scientists with translational insights. Reduced trial times and costs could enable more indications, reduced development cycle times, and improved system financial sustainability. Challenges to overcome range from statistical to operational to collaborative governance and data exchange. PMID:27643536

Standardizing paleoclimate variables for data-intensive science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lockshin, S.; Morrill, C.; Gille, E.; Gross, W.; McNeill, S.; Shepherd, E.; Wahl, E. R.; Bauer, B.

2017-12-01

Paleoclimate data are extremely heterogeneous. Scientists routinely make hundreds of types of measurements on a variety of physical samples. This heterogeneity is one of the biggest barriers to developing and accessing exhaustive, standardized paleoclimate data products. Moreover, it hinders the use of paleo data outside of the paleoclimate specialist community. We present our progress on creating a set of standards for documenting paleoclimate variables at the World Data Service for Paleoclimatology (WDS-Paleo). The current WDS-Paleo nine-part variable naming scheme provides the foundation for this project. This framework is designed for use with all eighteen proxy and reconstruction data types archived by the WDS-Paleo. Under the guidance of advisory panels consisting of subject matter experts, we have generated controlled vocabularies for use within this framework that are specific to individual data types yet integrated across data types. These vocabularies are thorough, precise, standardized and extensible. We have applied these new controlled vocabularies to existing WDS-Paleo datasets, creating homogeneous variable metadata as well as enabling a new paleoclimate metadata search by variable that is integrated across data types. This work will allow for the reuse of studies in larger compilations to forward scientific discovery that would not be possible from any single study. It will also facilitate new, interdisciplinary uses for paleoclimate datasets.

A tutorial on aphasia test development in any language: Key substantive and psychometric considerations

PubMed Central

Ivanova, Maria V.; Hallowell, Brooke

2013-01-01

Background There are a limited number of aphasia language tests in the majority of the world's commonly spoken languages. Furthermore, few aphasia tests in languages other than English have been standardized and normed, and few have supportive psychometric data pertaining to reliability and validity. The lack of standardized assessment tools across many of the world's languages poses serious challenges to clinical practice and research in aphasia. Aims The current review addresses this lack of assessment tools by providing conceptual and statistical guidance for the development of aphasia assessment tools and establishment of their psychometric properties. Main Contribution A list of aphasia tests in the 20 most widely spoken languages is included. The pitfalls of translating an existing test into a new language versus creating a new test are outlined. Factors to consider in determining test content are discussed. Further, a description of test items corresponding to different language functions is provided, with special emphasis on implementing important controls in test design. Next, a broad review of principal psychometric properties relevant to aphasia tests is presented, with specific statistical guidance for establishing psychometric properties of standardized assessment tools. Conclusions This article may be used to help guide future work on developing, standardizing and validating aphasia language tests. The considerations discussed are also applicable to the development of standardized tests of other cognitive functions. PMID:23976813

IGS Network Coordinator Report - 2002

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Angelyn

2004-01-01

The IGS network is a set of permanent, continuously-operating, dual-frequency GPS stations operated by over 100 worldwide agencies. The dataset is pooled at IGS Data Centers for routine use by IGS Analysis Centers in creating precise IGS products, as well as free access by other analysts around the world. The IGS Central Bureau hosts the IGS Network Coordinator, who assures adherence to standards and provides information regarding the IGS network via the Central Bureau Information System website at http://igscb.jpl.nasa.gov.

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

The Walt Disney Company has never lost sight of its founder's edict: “Give the public everything you can give them.” From this simple statement, everyone at Disney strives to exceed customer expectations every day. For more than 80 years this singular pursuit of excellence in delivering consistent quality service has earned the Disney organization a world-renowned reputation and ongoing business success. Uncover some of the secrets behind the Disney service culture and processes. In this session, you will examine the time-tested model for delivering world-class Guest service and discover how attention to detail creates a consistent, successful environment for both employees and customers. You can then use these ideas to transform and improve your own organization's delivery of quality service. You will learn how to: Develop an organizational culture that supports consistent delivery of quality service.Evaluate the Disney approach and tailor it to your business.Design quality service standards and processes to raise the level of customer satisfaction.Create metrics to gauge the needs, perceptions and expectations of your customers.Enable employees, settings and processes to convey your quality service commitment.Implement a strategic plan for monitoring the delivery of seamless customer experiences.

Desirable attributes of public educational websites.

PubMed

Whitbeck, Caroline

2005-07-01

Certain attributes are particularly desirable for public educational websites, and websites for ethics education in particular. Among the most important of these attributes is wide accessibility through adherence to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards for HTML code. Adherence to this standard produces webpages that can be rendered by a full range of web browsers, including Braille and speech browsers. Although almost no academic websites, including ethics websites, and even fewer commercial websites are accessible by W3C standards, as illustrated by the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science , even websites created on limited budgets and with an undergraduate student staff can fulfill these standards. Other desirable attributes, such as provision of annotation for all links and the use of annotated links to give the user alternate ways of ordering and organizing content, are important for making full use of the educational possibilities of hypermedia for websites.

Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk as an Example of Contemporary Design Trends in Museum Buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wojtowicz-Jankowska, Dorota; Stasiak, Anna

2017-10-01

At a time when history gives us one of the last opportunities to confront our knowledge of World War II, with the knowledge of people living in those days, there are buildings created with strong transmission not only architectural, but also of a great emotional load. At the same time, when the political system does not forbid to speak openly about the past period, and the technology allows you to create structures, about which we could only dream of even several dozen years ago, and objects such as the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk are designed. In this paper are presented the current trends shaping the museum facilities, with the example of the Museum of the Second World War. The diversity of forms, materials and technology makes it impossible to establish a single standard for this type of public buildings, and that makes each of these objects unique. At the same time, it is possible to identify some common spatial treatments noted in the sector of architecture devoted to exhibitions and commemoration. The Museum of the Second World War is a newly created structure, in the design of which the authors used advanced technology (which allows the implementation of its ideas) in order to meet the ever-growing needs of users. The popularity of museums depends on many factors, such as the type and form of the offered exhibitions, the transfer of information and emotional value, location of the building and adaptation of the facility to the users‧ needs, which differ in many respects (age, the efficiency of perception, education or wealth). Given that museums are usually buildings that have noticeable form in the urban landscape, the paper will describe how to set up the idea, and later its implementation, impact on urban space. Additionally, for some time exhibitions and architecture surrounding them have become a tool for the promotion of towns, regions, or even the whole countries. The fact is that the exhibitions are visited not only by local residents but also by tourists. If the museum is well integrated into the urban spatial structure (landscape), it has a good chance to become one of the symbols of the city. Additionally, it can promote creating and deepening the sense of identity of the local users’ public space.

The Future of Geospatial Standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bermudez, L. E.; Simonis, I.

2016-12-01

The OGC is an international not-for-profit standards development organization (SDO) committed to making quality standards for the geospatial community. A community of more than 500 member organizations with more than 6,000 people registered at the OGC communication platform drives the development of standards that are freely available for anyone to use and to improve sharing of the world's geospatial data. OGC standards are applied in a variety of application domains including Environment, Defense and Intelligence, Smart Cities, Aviation, Disaster Management, Agriculture, Business Development and Decision Support, and Meteorology. Profiles help to apply information models to different communities, thus adapting to particular needs of that community while ensuring interoperability by using common base models and appropriate support services. Other standards address orthogonal aspects such as handling of Big Data, Crowd-sourced information, Geosemantics, or container for offline data usage. Like most SDOs, the OGC develops and maintains standards through a formal consensus process under the OGC Standards Program (OGC-SP) wherein requirements and use cases are discussed in forums generally open to the public (Domain Working Groups, or DWGs), and Standards Working Groups (SWGs) are established to create standards. However, OGC is unique among SDOs in that it also operates the OGC Interoperability Program (OGC-IP) to provide real-world testing of existing and proposed standards. The OGC-IP is considered the experimental playground, where new technologies are researched and developed in a user-driven process. Its goal is to prototype, test, demonstrate, and promote OGC Standards in a structured environment. Results from the OGC-IP often become requirements for new OGC standards or identify deficiencies in existing OGC standards that can be addressed. This presentation will provide an analysis of the work advanced in the OGC consortium including standards and testbeds, where we can extract a trend for the future of geospatial standards. We see a number of key elements in focus, but simultaneously a broadening of standards to address particular communities' needs.

PACS for surgery and interventional radiology: features of a Therapy Imaging and Model Management System (TIMMS).

PubMed

Lemke, Heinz U; Berliner, Leonard

2011-05-01

Appropriate use of information and communication technology (ICT) and mechatronic (MT) systems is viewed by many experts as a means to improve workflow and quality of care in the operating room (OR). This will require a suitable information technology (IT) infrastructure, as well as communication and interface standards, such as specialized extensions of DICOM, to allow data interchange between surgical system components in the OR. A design of such an infrastructure, sometimes referred to as surgical PACS, but better defined as a Therapy Imaging and Model Management System (TIMMS), will be introduced in this article. A TIMMS should support the essential functions that enable and advance image guided therapy, and in the future, a more comprehensive form of patient-model guided therapy. Within this concept, the "image-centric world view" of the classical PACS technology is complemented by an IT "model-centric world view". Such a view is founded in the special patient modelling needs of an increasing number of modern surgical interventions as compared to the imaging intensive working mode of diagnostic radiology, for which PACS was originally conceptualised and developed. The modelling aspects refer to both patient information and workflow modelling. Standards for creating and integrating information about patients, equipment, and procedures are vitally needed when planning for an efficient OR. The DICOM Working Group 24 (WG-24) has been established to develop DICOM objects and services related to image and model guided surgery. To determine these standards, it is important to define step-by-step surgical workflow practices and create interventional workflow models per procedures or per variable cases. As the boundaries between radiation therapy, surgery and interventional radiology are becoming less well-defined, precise patient models will become the greatest common denominator for all therapeutic disciplines. In addition to imaging, the focus of WG-24 is to serve the therapeutic disciplines by enabling modelling technology to be based on standards. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Designing an evaluation framework for WFME basic standards for medical education.

PubMed

Tackett, Sean; Grant, Janet; Mmari, Kristin

2016-01-01

To create an evaluation plan for the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) accreditation standards for basic medical education. We conceptualized the 100 basic standards from "Basic Medical Education: WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement: The 2012 Revision" as medical education program objectives. Standards were simplified into evaluable items, which were then categorized as inputs, processes, outputs and/or outcomes to generate a logic model and corresponding plan for data collection. WFME standards posed significant challenges to evaluation due to complex wording, inconsistent formatting and lack of existing assessment tools. Our resulting logic model contained 244 items. Standard B 5.1.1 separated into 24 items, the most for any single standard. A large proportion of items (40%) required evaluation of more than one input, process, output and/or outcome. Only one standard (B 3.2.2) was interpreted as requiring evaluation of a program outcome. Current WFME standards are difficult to use for evaluation planning. Our analysis may guide adaptation and revision of standards to make them more evaluable. Our logic model and data collection plan may be useful to medical schools planning an institutional self-review and to accrediting authorities wanting to provide guidance to schools under their purview.

Issues and Options in Creating a National Assessment in World History

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bain, Robert B.; Shreiner, Tamara L.

2005-01-01

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) is considering creating a National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for world history education. On the surface, a national assessment in world history appears to be a sensible and essentially unproblematic decision. However, problems lurk below the surface challenging the creation of a…

Learning through Real-World Problem Solving: The Power of Integrative Teaching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagel, Nancy G.

This book is based on the idea that curriculum development projects focused on integrated or interdisciplinary teaching within the context of real-world problem solving creates dynamics and meaningful learning experiences for students. The real-world, problem-solving units presented in this book were created by four intern teachers, their mentor…

Archetype-based data warehouse environment to enable the reuse of electronic health record data.

PubMed

Marco-Ruiz, Luis; Moner, David; Maldonado, José A; Kolstrup, Nils; Bellika, Johan G

2015-09-01

The reuse of data captured during health care delivery is essential to satisfy the demands of clinical research and clinical decision support systems. A main barrier for the reuse is the existence of legacy formats of data and the high granularity of it when stored in an electronic health record (EHR) system. Thus, we need mechanisms to standardize, aggregate, and query data concealed in the EHRs, to allow their reuse whenever they are needed. To create a data warehouse infrastructure using archetype-based technologies, standards and query languages to enable the interoperability needed for data reuse. The work presented makes use of best of breed archetype-based data transformation and storage technologies to create a workflow for the modeling, extraction, transformation and load of EHR proprietary data into standardized data repositories. We converted legacy data and performed patient-centered aggregations via archetype-based transformations. Later, specific purpose aggregations were performed at a query level for particular use cases. Laboratory test results of a population of 230,000 patients belonging to Troms and Finnmark counties in Norway requested between January 2013 and November 2014 have been standardized. Test records normalization has been performed by defining transformation and aggregation functions between the laboratory records and an archetype. These mappings were used to automatically generate open EHR compliant data. These data were loaded into an archetype-based data warehouse. Once loaded, we defined indicators linked to the data in the warehouse to monitor test activity of Salmonella and Pertussis using the archetype query language. Archetype-based standards and technologies can be used to create a data warehouse environment that enables data from EHR systems to be reused in clinical research and decision support systems. With this approach, existing EHR data becomes available in a standardized and interoperable format, thus opening a world of possibilities toward semantic or concept-based reuse, query and communication of clinical data. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

We have "born digital" - now what about "born semantic"?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leadbetter, Adam; Fredericks, Janet

2014-05-01

The phrase "born-digital" refers to those materials which originate in a digital form. In Earth and Space Sciences, this is now very much the norm for data: analogue to digital converters sit on instrument boards and produce a digital record of the observed environment. While much effort has been put in to creating and curating these digital data, there has been little work on using semantic mark up of data from the point of collection - what we term 'born semantic'. In this presentation we report on two efforts to expand this area: Qartod-to-OGC (Q2O) and SenseOCEAN. These projects have taken a common approach to 'born semantic': create or reuse appropriate controlled vocabularies, published to World Wide Web Commission (W3C) standards use standards from the Open Geospatial Consortium's Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) initiative to describe instrument setup, deployment and/or outputs using terms from those controlled vocabularies embed URLs from the controlled vocabularies within the SWE documents in a "Linked Data" conformant approach Q2O developed best practices examples of SensorML descriptions of Original Equipment Manufacturers' metadata (model characteristics, capabilities, manufacturer contact, etc ...) set-up and deployment SensorML files; and data centre process-lineage using registered vocabularies to describe terms (including input, output, processes, parameters, quality control flags) One Q2O use case, the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory ADCP Waves instance, uses SensorML and registered vocabularies to fully describe the process of computing wave parameters from sensed properties, including quality control tests and associated results. The European Commission Framework Programme 7 project SenseOCEAN draws together world leading marine sensor developers to create a highly integrated multifunction and cost-effective in situ marine biogeochemical sensor system. This project will provide a quantum leap in the ability to measure crucial biogeochemical parameters. Innovations will be combined with state of the art sensor technology to produce a modular sensor system that can be deployed on many platforms. The sensor descriptions are being profiled in SensorML and the controlled vocabularies are being repurposed from those used within the European Commission SeaDataNet project and published on the community standard NERC Vocabulary Server.

Vietnamese women in struggle for national independence.

PubMed

1998-01-01

The 30-year struggle for independence in Viet Nam took a huge toll on women, but even in the hardest times, Vietnamese women received support from the world-wide women's movement. As the world prepares to enter the new millennium, it is important to determine what policies can be created to prevent war and guarantee peace. These policies must grow out of international agreement on basic principles such as respect for independence and sovereignty and must not resort to the embargoes and sanctions that have placed a disproportionate burden on women and children. Another challenge of the new millennium is to encourage implementation of national programs, policies, and measures to help women realize their rights while preserving traditional family values. Despite the heightened visibility of the international women's movement, women still suffer from widespread inequalities. In accordance with the goals of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, the 8th Congress of Vietnamese Women in 1997 created a national plan for women that is a blueprint for the women's movement for the years 1997-2000. Among the goals are creating jobs for women, upgrading their standard of living, eliminating hunger, decreasing poverty, and ensuring that women have educational opportunities. Vietnamese women also seek to strengthen their relationship with other women in the international community, and the Vietnamese Women's Union has actively forwarded the objectives of the Federation of International Democratic Women.

Can Better Accounting and Finance Methods Chart a Path ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Problem:Concerns about urbanization, climate change and the recognition that global fossil fuel resources are finite, provide important motivations for major environmental, economic and societal adjustments in the 21st century to achieve a more sustainable world. The developed countries of the world have made progress toward becoming more sustainable by increasing the efficiency of energy use, decreasing reliance on fossil fuel energy and increasing the use of renewable energy inflows for generating electricity. However, people living in the world’s underdeveloped countries still suffer from a lack of the basic amenities (e.g., clean water, clean air, adequate infrastructure, sufficient wealth, etc); things that those in the developed world take for granted. The truth is that no matter how successful the current strategies to make urban systems in the developed world more sustainable, the world as a whole will not become more sustainable without a successful effort to bring the state of development of the underdeveloped countries up to the standards experienced by those in the developed world. Thus, in the long run creating a more sustainable world system will be predicated on the judicious use of some of the world’s remaining fossil fuel resources to strategically develop the urban and rural systems of the world’s underdeveloped countries. The Opportunity: The world is emerging from the Great Recession (2008-2013), which was the greatest perturbation

Real-World Evidence In Support Of Precision Medicine: Clinico-Genomic Cancer Data As A Case Study.

PubMed

Agarwala, Vineeta; Khozin, Sean; Singal, Gaurav; O'Connell, Claire; Kuk, Deborah; Li, Gerald; Gossai, Anala; Miller, Vincent; Abernethy, Amy P

2018-05-01

The majority of US adult cancer patients today are diagnosed and treated outside the context of any clinical trial (that is, in the real world). Although these patients are not part of a research study, their clinical data are still recorded. Indeed, data captured in electronic health records form an ever-growing, rich digital repository of longitudinal patient experiences, treatments, and outcomes. Likewise, genomic data from tumor molecular profiling are increasingly guiding oncology care. Linking real-world clinical and genomic data, as well as information from other co-occurring data sets, could create study populations that provide generalizable evidence for precision medicine interventions. However, the infrastructure required to link, ensure quality, and rapidly learn from such composite data is complex. We outline the challenges and describe a novel approach to building a real-world clinico-genomic database of patients with cancer. This work represents a case study in how data collected during routine patient care can inform precision medicine efforts for the population at large. We suggest that health policies can promote innovation by defining appropriate uses of real-world evidence, establishing data standards, and incentivizing data sharing.

Using the Hitachi SEM to engage learners and promote next generation science standards inquiry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menshew, D. E.

2014-09-01

In this study participants will learn how the Hitachi TM3000 scanning electron microscope (SEM) played a central role in one school's movement towards Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and promoted exceptional student engagement. The device was used to create high quality images that were used by students in a variety of lab activities including a simulated crime scene investigation focusing on developing evidence based arguments as well as a real world conservation biology study. It provided opportunities for small group and independent investigations in support of NGSS, and peer-peer mentoring. Furthermore, use of the device was documented and were included to enhance secondary students' college and scholarship applications, all of which were successful.

Creating equal opportunities: the social accountability of medical education.

PubMed

Gibbs, Trevor; McLean, Michelle

2011-01-01

As new developments in medical education move inexorably forward, medical schools are being encouraged to revisit their curricula to ensure quality graduates and match their outcomes against defined standards. These standards may eventually be transferred into global accreditation standards, which allow 'safe passage' of graduates from one country to another [Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) 2010. Requiring medical school accreditation for ECFMG certification--moving accreditation forward. Available from: http://www.ecfmg.org/accreditation/rationale.pdf]. Gaining much attention is the important standard of social accountability--ensuring that graduates' competencies are shaped by the health and social needs of the local, national and even international communities in which they will serve. But, in today's 'global village', if medical schools address the needs of their immediate community, who should address the needs of the wider global community? Should medical educators and their associations be looking beyond national borders into a world of very unequal opportunities in terms of human and financial resources; a world in which distant countries and populations are very quickly affected by medical and social disasters; a world in which the global playing field of medical education is far from level? With medical schools striving to produce fit-for-purpose graduates who will hopefully address the health needs of their country, is it now time for the medical education fraternity to extend their roles of social accountability to level this unlevel playing field? We believe so: the time has come for the profession to embrace a global accountability model and those responsible for all aspects of healthcare professional development to recognise their place within the wider global community.

Detailed clinical models: a review.

PubMed

Goossen, William; Goossen-Baremans, Anneke; van der Zel, Michael

2010-12-01

Due to the increasing use of electronic patient records and other health care information technology, we see an increase in requests to utilize these data. A highly level of standardization is required during the gathering of these data in the clinical context in order to use it for analyses. Detailed Clinical Models (DCM) have been created toward this purpose and several initiatives have been implemented in various parts of the world to create standardized models. This paper presents a review of DCM. Two types of analyses are presented; one comparing DCM against health care information architectures and a second bottom up approach from concept analysis to representation. In addition core parts of the draft ISO standard 13972 on DCM are used such as clinician involvement, data element specification, modeling, meta information, and repository and governance. SIX INITIATIVES WERE SELECTED: Intermountain Healthcare, 13606/OpenEHR Archetypes, Clinical Templates, Clinical Contents Models, Health Level 7 templates, and Dutch Detailed Clinical Models. Each model selected was reviewed for their overall development, involvement of clinicians, use of data types, code bindings, expressing semantics, modeling, meta information, use of repository and governance. Using both a top down and bottom up approach to comparison reveals many commonalties and differences between initiatives. Important differences include the use of or lack of a reference model and expressiveness of models. Applying clinical data element standards facilitates the use of conceptual DCM models in different technical representations.

Standardized food images: A photographing protocol and image database.

PubMed

Charbonnier, Lisette; van Meer, Floor; van der Laan, Laura N; Viergever, Max A; Smeets, Paul A M

2016-01-01

The regulation of food intake has gained much research interest because of the current obesity epidemic. For research purposes, food images are a good and convenient alternative for real food because many dietary decisions are made based on the sight of foods. Food pictures are assumed to elicit anticipatory responses similar to real foods because of learned associations between visual food characteristics and post-ingestive consequences. In contemporary food science, a wide variety of images are used which introduces between-study variability and hampers comparison and meta-analysis of results. Therefore, we created an easy-to-use photographing protocol which enables researchers to generate high resolution food images appropriate for their study objective and population. In addition, we provide a high quality standardized picture set which was characterized in seven European countries. With the use of this photographing protocol a large number of food images were created. Of these images, 80 were selected based on their recognizability in Scotland, Greece and The Netherlands. We collected image characteristics such as liking, perceived calories and/or perceived healthiness ratings from 449 adults and 191 children. The majority of the foods were recognized and liked at all sites. The differences in liking ratings, perceived calories and perceived healthiness between sites were minimal. Furthermore, perceived caloric content and healthiness ratings correlated strongly (r ≥ 0.8) with actual caloric content in both adults and children. The photographing protocol as well as the images and the data are freely available for research use on http://nutritionalneuroscience.eu/. By providing the research community with standardized images and the tools to create their own, comparability between studies will be improved and a head-start is made for a world-wide standardized food image database. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Creating Supportive Environments and Thriving in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous World.

PubMed

Pabico, Christine

2015-10-01

Nurse executives (NEs) are operating in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. NEs must create supportive environments that promote staff empowerment, resilience, and alignment, to ensure organizational success. In addition, NEs need to be transparent and create a culture of partnership with their staff. The ability of NEs to create and sustain this environment is vital in supporting teams to successfully navigate in today's healthcare environment.

An Intelligent Crawler for a Virtual World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eno, Joshua

2010-01-01

Virtual worlds, which allow users to create and interact with content in a 3D, multi-user environment, growing and becoming more integrated with the traditional flat web. However, little is empirically known about the content users create in virtual world and how it can be indexed and searched effectively. In order to gain a better understanding…

Using Virtual Worlds in Education: Second Life[R] as an Educational Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Suzanne C.; Wentz, Ryan K.; Woods, Madison M.

2009-01-01

The online virtual world Second Life (www.secondlife.com) has multiple potential uses in teaching. In Second Life (SL), users create avatars that represent them in the virtual world. Within SL, avatars can interact with each other and with objects and environments. SL offers tremendous creative potential in that users can create content within the…

Multimodal browsing using VoiceXML

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caccia, Giuseppe; Lancini, Rosa C.; Peschiera, Giuseppe

2003-06-01

With the increasing development of devices such as personal computers, WAP and personal digital assistants connected to the World Wide Web, end users feel the need to browse the Internet through multiple modalities. We intend to investigate on how to create a user interface and a service distribution platform granting the user access to the Internet through standard I/O modalities and voice simultaneously. Different architectures are evaluated suggesting the more suitable for each client terminal (PC o WAP). In particular the design of the multimodal usermachine interface considers the synchronization issue between graphical and voice contents.

Training doctors for primary care in China: Transformation of general practice education.

PubMed

Li, Donald

2016-01-01

China is known for developing a cadre of "Barefoot Doctors" to address her rural healthcare needs in past. The tradition of barefoot doctors has inspired similar developments in several other countries across world. Recently China has embarked upon an ambitious new mission to create a primary care workforce consisting of trained general practitioners having international standard skillsets. This editorial provides an insight into the current status of policy deliberations with regards to training of primary care doctors and a new surge in general practice education in China.

[Protocol for the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis with necrosis].

PubMed

Barreda, Luis; Targarona, Javier; Rodriguez, César

2005-01-01

The Severe Acute Pancreatic Unit of Edgardo Rebagliati Martins National Hospital was officially created in the year 2000. Up to date, we have cared for more than 195 patients with Pancreatic Necrosis. All of them have been treated under a management protocol presented by us. This has helped us to standardize treatment and also to compare results with work groups around the world. This Protocol comes from our own experience and that of our colleagues abroad with a wide knowledge in this kind of pathology abroad, with whom we maintain close ties.

Development and validation of a GEANT4 radiation transport code for CT dosimetry

PubMed Central

Carver, DE; Kost, SD; Fernald, MJ; Lewis, KG; Fraser, ND; Pickens, DR; Price, RR; Stabin, MG

2014-01-01

We have created a radiation transport code using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo toolkit to simulate pediatric patients undergoing CT examinations. The focus of this paper is to validate our simulation with real-world physical dosimetry measurements using two independent techniques. Exposure measurements were made with a standard 100-mm CT pencil ionization chamber, and absorbed doses were also measured using optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) dosimeters. Measurements were made in air, a standard 16-cm acrylic head phantom, and a standard 32-cm acrylic body phantom. Physical dose measurements determined from the ionization chamber in air for 100 and 120 kVp beam energies were used to derive photon-fluence calibration factors. Both ion chamber and OSL measurement results provide useful comparisons in the validation of our Monte Carlo simulations. We found that simulated and measured CTDI values were within an overall average of 6% of each other. PMID:25706135

Development and validation of a GEANT4 radiation transport code for CT dosimetry.

PubMed

Carver, D E; Kost, S D; Fernald, M J; Lewis, K G; Fraser, N D; Pickens, D R; Price, R R; Stabin, M G

2015-04-01

The authors have created a radiation transport code using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo toolkit to simulate pediatric patients undergoing CT examinations. The focus of this paper is to validate their simulation with real-world physical dosimetry measurements using two independent techniques. Exposure measurements were made with a standard 100-mm CT pencil ionization chamber, and absorbed doses were also measured using optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) dosimeters. Measurements were made in air with a standard 16-cm acrylic head phantom and with a standard 32-cm acrylic body phantom. Physical dose measurements determined from the ionization chamber in air for 100 and 120 kVp beam energies were used to derive photon-fluence calibration factors. Both ion chamber and OSL measurement results provide useful comparisons in the validation of the Monte Carlo simulations. It was found that simulated and measured CTDI values were within an overall average of 6% of each other.

Multidimensional Environmental Data Resource Brokering on Computational Grids and Scientific Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montella, Raffaele; Giunta, Giulio; Laccetti, Giuliano

Grid computing has widely evolved over the past years, and its capabilities have found their way even into business products and are no longer relegated to scientific applications. Today, grid computing technology is not restricted to a set of specific grid open source or industrial products, but rather it is comprised of a set of capabilities virtually within any kind of software to create shared and highly collaborative production environments. These environments are focused on computational (workload) capabilities and the integration of information (data) into those computational capabilities. An active grid computing application field is the fully virtualization of scientific instruments in order to increase their availability and decrease operational and maintaining costs. Computational and information grids allow to manage real-world objects in a service-oriented way using industrial world-spread standards.

Using XML Configuration-Driven Development to Create a Customizable Ground Data System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nash, Brent; DeMore, Martha

2009-01-01

The Mission data Processing and Control Subsystem (MPCS) is being developed as a multi-mission Ground Data System with the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) as the first fully supported mission. MPCS is a fully featured, Java-based Ground Data System (GDS) for telecommand and telemetry processing based on Configuration-Driven Development (CDD). The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is the ideal language for CDD because it is easily readable and editable by all levels of users and is also backed by a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard and numerous powerful processing tools that make it uniquely flexible. The CDD approach adopted by MPCS minimizes changes to compiled code by using XML to create a series of configuration files that provide both coarse and fine grained control over all aspects of GDS operation.

Population Pressure, Global Living Standards, and the Promise of Space Solar Power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strickland, John K., Jr.

2002-01-01

What many sincere environmentalists advocate: (severe restrictions on energy use, to reduce global warming), may actually end up being very harmful to the environment. Since 85 percent of the global energy use is derived from carbon based fossil fuels, this may seem to be a reasonable position. However, the proponents of energy use restrictions are ignoring some very important relationships. The greatest damage to the environment, in terms of species loss, is loss and/or human modification of habitat. The two greatest threats to habitat seem to be (1) population pressure and (2) logging. Logging does not necessarily permanently occupy the land, while either default squatter occupation or "colonization by policy" is often permanent. Increased population degrades the land by causing over- farming, and also creates an ever greater demand for raw materials and food resources. Poor people have no time nor money to think about or help save the environment. Therefore the greatest threat to species survival is human population growth and its frequent companion: poverty. There is an existing way to reduce population growth, and thus to reduce pressure on habitats, called "raising the standard of living". Wherever it succeeds, population growth slows rapidly. In many European countries, there would be a negative population growth if not for immigration. Personal energy use is closely correlated with living standards, and it is impossible to have a higher living standard without a higher degree of personal energy use. It would seem, however, that extending high living standards to the developing world would create an even greater demand for the use of fossil fuels. The solution to this dilemma can only be found in the use of very high capacity sources of non- fossil energy that do not significantly damage the environment. Are there sources of clean, economical energy with a large enough combined capacity to provide high living standards for the whole world, including those uses of electricity and fuels currently covered by fossil fuels. This is a global replacement load of about 9000 gigawatts. Green theorists are divided on this issue. Some claim that ground based solar, wind, and other renewable sources will supply all the energy we need, ignoring economic costs that severely limit their use. Others would (unrealistically) require the developed countries to reduce their energy consumption per capita to a level closer to that of the developing world, thereby admitting the limitations of the "appropriate" systems they espouse. Both sides in the past have rejected as "non-appropriate" and/or "dangerous" all the chemically clean energy sources of high capacity that have been previously proposed, such as safer nuclear fission, fusion power, and space solar power. If ground based "appropriate" energy sources are not sufficient, the economic and social effects of sudden forced curtailments of fossil energy use could be drastic. This paper supports the thesis that Space Solar Power does have the potential to provide such a clean, abundant, and economical energy source. It will cover both the limitations and promise of ground based energy sources, including the difficulties of using intermittent energy sources. It will discuss whether specified levels of energy cost increases would be damaging to the world economy and whether economical ground based sources alone would have sufficient capacity. It will show how the one major problem of launch costs, (currently preventing economical implementation of Space Solar Power), has a number of quite reasonable solutions. Finally, it will consider whether Space Solar Power, along with the other major space goals of Science &Exploration, Mars Colonization, Non- terrestrial Materials Recovery and Space Tourism, could be another space "killer app" which, by creating a high demand for launch services, could force large reductions in launch costs.

Accounting for the Variation of Driver Aggression in the Simulation of Conventional and Advanced Vehicles

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

Neubauer, J.; Wood, E.

2013-01-01

Hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and battery electric vehicles offer the potential to reduce both oil imports and greenhouse gases, as well as to offer a financial benefit to the driver. However, assessing these potential benefits is complicated by several factors, including the driving habits of the operator. We focus on driver aggression, i.e., the level of acceleration and velocity characteristic of travel, to (1) assess its variation within large, real-world drive datasets, (2) quantify its effect on both vehicle efficiency and economics for multiple vehicle types, (3) compare these results to those of standard drive cycles commonlymore » used in the industry, and (4) create a representative drive cycle for future analyses where standard drive cycles are lacking.« less

Envisioning the Educational Possibilities of User-Created Virtual Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antonacci, David M.; Modaress, Nellie

2008-01-01

Educational games and simulations can engage students in higher-level cognitive thinking, such as interpreting, analyzing, discovering, evaluating, acting, and problem solving. Recent technical advances in multiplayer, user-created virtual worlds have significantly expanded the capabilities of user interaction and development within these…

A Comparative Analysis of Machine Learning with WorldView-2 Pan-Sharpened Imagery for Tea Crop Mapping

PubMed Central

Chuang, Yung-Chung Matt; Shiu, Yi-Shiang

2016-01-01

Tea is an important but vulnerable economic crop in East Asia, highly impacted by climate change. This study attempts to interpret tea land use/land cover (LULC) using very high resolution WorldView-2 imagery of central Taiwan with both pixel and object-based approaches. A total of 80 variables derived from each WorldView-2 band with pan-sharpening, standardization, principal components and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) texture indices transformation, were set as the input variables. For pixel-based image analysis (PBIA), 34 variables were selected, including seven principal components, 21 GLCM texture indices and six original WorldView-2 bands. Results showed that support vector machine (SVM) had the highest tea crop classification accuracy (OA = 84.70% and KIA = 0.690), followed by random forest (RF), maximum likelihood algorithm (ML), and logistic regression analysis (LR). However, the ML classifier achieved the highest classification accuracy (OA = 96.04% and KIA = 0.887) in object-based image analysis (OBIA) using only six variables. The contribution of this study is to create a new framework for accurately identifying tea crops in a subtropical region with real-time high-resolution WorldView-2 imagery without field survey, which could further aid agriculture land management and a sustainable agricultural product supply. PMID:27128915

A Comparative Analysis of Machine Learning with WorldView-2 Pan-Sharpened Imagery for Tea Crop Mapping.

PubMed

Chuang, Yung-Chung Matt; Shiu, Yi-Shiang

2016-04-26

Tea is an important but vulnerable economic crop in East Asia, highly impacted by climate change. This study attempts to interpret tea land use/land cover (LULC) using very high resolution WorldView-2 imagery of central Taiwan with both pixel and object-based approaches. A total of 80 variables derived from each WorldView-2 band with pan-sharpening, standardization, principal components and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) texture indices transformation, were set as the input variables. For pixel-based image analysis (PBIA), 34 variables were selected, including seven principal components, 21 GLCM texture indices and six original WorldView-2 bands. Results showed that support vector machine (SVM) had the highest tea crop classification accuracy (OA = 84.70% and KIA = 0.690), followed by random forest (RF), maximum likelihood algorithm (ML), and logistic regression analysis (LR). However, the ML classifier achieved the highest classification accuracy (OA = 96.04% and KIA = 0.887) in object-based image analysis (OBIA) using only six variables. The contribution of this study is to create a new framework for accurately identifying tea crops in a subtropical region with real-time high-resolution WorldView-2 imagery without field survey, which could further aid agriculture land management and a sustainable agricultural product supply.

Zombie projects, negative networks, and multigenerational science: The temporality of the International Map of the World.

PubMed

Rankin, William

2017-06-01

The International Map of the World was a hugely ambitious scheme to create standardized maps of the entire world. It was first proposed in 1891 and remained a going concern until 1986. Over the course of the project's official life, nearly every country in the world took part, and map sheets were published showing all but a few areas of the planet. But the project ended quite unceremoniously, repudiated by cartographers and mapping institutions alike, and it is now remembered as a 'sad story' of network failure. How can we evaluate this kind of sprawling, multigenerational project? In order to move beyond practitioners' (and historians') habit of summarizing the entire endeavor using the blunt categories of success and failure, I propose a more temporally aware reading, one that both disaggregates the (persistent) project from the (always changing) network and sees project and network as invertible, with the possibility of zombie projects and negative networks that can remain robust even when disconnected from their original goals. I therefore see the abandonment of the International Map of the World as resulting from vigorous collaboration and new norms in cartography, not from lack of cooperation or other resources. New categories are required for analyzing science over the long durée.

78 FR 42084 - Cooperative Agreement to Support the World Trade Organization's Standards and Trade Development...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-15

... Organization for Animal Health, World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO) and the WTO. The STDF supports...] Cooperative Agreement to Support the World Trade Organization's Standards and Trade Development Facility... cooperative agreement in fiscal year 2013 (FY 2013) to the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Standards and...

Precision half-life measurement of 11C: The most precise mirror transition F t value

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valverde, A. A.; Brodeur, M.; Ahn, T.; Allen, J.; Bardayan, D. W.; Becchetti, F. D.; Blankstein, D.; Brown, G.; Burdette, D. P.; Frentz, B.; Gilardy, G.; Hall, M. R.; King, S.; Kolata, J. J.; Long, J.; Macon, K. T.; Nelson, A.; O'Malley, P. D.; Skulski, M.; Strauss, S. Y.; Vande Kolk, B.

2018-03-01

Background: The precise determination of the F t value in T =1 /2 mixed mirror decays is an important avenue for testing the standard model of the electroweak interaction through the determination of Vu d in nuclear β decays. 11C is an interesting case, as its low mass and small QE C value make it particularly sensitive to violations of the conserved vector current hypothesis. The present dominant source of uncertainty in the 11CF t value is the half-life. Purpose: A high-precision measurement of the 11C half-life was performed, and a new world average half-life was calculated. Method: 11C was created by transfer reactions and separated using the TwinSol facility at the Nuclear Science Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame. It was then implanted into a tantalum foil, and β counting was used to determine the half-life. Results: The new half-life, t1 /2=1220.27 (26 ) s, is consistent with the previous values but significantly more precise. A new world average was calculated, t1/2 world=1220.41 (32 ) s, and a new estimate for the Gamow-Teller to Fermi mixing ratio ρ is presented along with standard model correlation parameters. Conclusions: The new 11C world average half-life allows the calculation of a F tmirror value that is now the most precise value for all superallowed mixed mirror transitions. This gives a strong impetus for an experimental determination of ρ , to allow for the determination of Vu d from this decay.

Weaving a Fabric of World History? An Analysis of U.S. State High School World History Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marino, Michael; Bolgatz, Jane

2010-01-01

Understanding world history is critical for our development as citizens in our interconnected society. Yet it is not clear that the standards for world history courses in the U.S. foster understanding of the whole world or of its history. The authors argue that the high school world history standards mapped out by various states promulgate a…

Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs): Improving the Scientific Environmental Data Management and Visualization with ArcGIS Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shrestha, S. R.; Hogeweg, M.; Rose, B.; Turner, A.

2017-12-01

The requirement for quality, authoritatively sourced data can often be challenging when working with scientific data. In addition, the lack of standard mechanism to discover, access, and use such data can be cumbersome. This results in slow research, poor dissemination and missed opportunities for research to positively impact policy and knowledge. There is widespread recognition that authoritative datasets are maintained by multiple organizations following various standards, and addressing these challenges will involve multiple stakeholders as well. The bottom line is that organizations need a mechanism to efficiently create, share, catalog, and discover data, and the ability to apply these to create an authoritative information products and applications is powerful and provides value. In real-world applications, individual organizations develop, modify, finalize, and support foundational data for distributed users across the system and thus require an efficient method of data management. For this, the SDI (Spatial Data Infrastructure) framework can be applied for GIS users to facilitate efficient and powerful decision making based on strong visualization and analytics. Working with research institutions, governments, and organizations across the world, we have developed a Hub framework for data and analysis sharing that is driven by outcome-centric goals which apply common methodologies and standards. SDI are an operational capability that should be equitably accessible to policy-makers, analysts, departments and public communities. These SDI need to align with operational workflows and support social communications and collaboration. The Hub framework integrates data across agencies, projects and organizations to support interoperability and drive coordination. We will present and share how Esri has been supporting the development of local, state, and national SDIs for many years and show some use cases for applications of planetary SDI. We will also share what makes an SDI successful, how organizations have used the ArcGIS platform to quickly stand up key SDI products and applications, and describe some typical SDI scenarios.

Employment training for disadvantaged or dependent populations.

PubMed

Stern, H

1982-01-01

The vocational rehabilitation process is viewed as having two dominant work-related components: the actual work-training experience and employability skills. The paper argues that both components are critical and must be integrated. The major role of the vocational rehabilitation agency is viewed as that of provider of employability (or job-seeking) skills programs. These programs consist of: (1) employability skills courses, (2) work performance demand standard setting, and (3) on-the-job rotational task schemes. Actual work skills can only be provided in the "real world" of work. Centralized work-training programs are viewed as creating inappropriate socialization and only moderately transferable skills.

The New National Core Arts Standards and World Music

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beegle, Amy Christine

2017-01-01

Following an overview of the organization of the new National Core Arts Standards, this column provides a listing of the new standards that include terminology related to "world music": "world music," "culture," "cultural," "context," and "authentic." The term "world music" is…

Effect of standards on new equipment design by new international standards and industry restraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Endelman, Lincoln L.

1991-01-01

The use of international standards to further trade is one of the objectives of creating a standard. By having form fit and function compatible the free interchange of manufactured goods can be handled without hindrance. Unfortunately by setting up standards that are peculiar to a particular country or district it is possible to exclude competition from a group of manufacturers. A major effort is now underway to develop international laser standards. In the May I 990 issue of Laser Focus World Donald R. Johnson the director of industrial technology services for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST formerly the National Bureau of Standards) is quoted as follows: " The common means of protectionism has been through certification for the market place. " The article goes on to say " Mr. Johnson expects this tradition to continue and that the new European Community (EC) will demand not just safety standards but performance standards as well. . . . the American laser industry must move very quickly on this issue or risk being left behind the European standards bandwagon. " The article continues laser companies must get involved in the actual standards negotiating process if they are to have a say in future policy. A single set of standards would reduce the need to repeatedly recalibrate products for different national markets. " As a member of ISO TC-72 SC9 I am

Pain medicine versus pain management: ethical dilemmas created by contemporary medicine and business.

PubMed

Loeser, John D; Cahana, Alex

2013-04-01

The world of health care and the world of business have fundamentally different ethical standards. In the past decades, business principles have progressively invaded medical territories, leading to often unanticipated consequences for both patients and providers. Multidisciplinary pain management has been shown to be more effective than all other forms of health care for chronic pain patients; yet, fewer and fewer multidisciplinary pain management facilities are available in the United States. The amazing increase in interventional procedures and opioid prescriptions has not led to a lessening of the burden of chronic pain patients. Ethical dilemmas abound in the treatment of chronic pain patients: many are not even thought about by providers, administrators, insurance companies, or patients. We call for increased pain educational experiences for all types of health care providers and the separation of business concepts from pain-related health care.

Biobanking in a Constantly Developing Medical World

PubMed Central

Ciurea, Marius Eugen; Purcaru, Stefana Oana; Tache, Daniela Elise; Tataranu, Ligia Gabriela; Lupu, Mihaela; Dricu, Anica

2013-01-01

Biobank is a very sophisticated system that consists of a programmed storage of biological material and corresponding data. Biobanks are created to be used in medical research, in clinical and translational medicine, and in healthcare. In the past 20 years, a large number of biobanks have been set up around the world, to support the modern research directions in medicine such as omix and personalized medicine. More recently, embryonic and adult stem cell banks have been developed. Stem cell banking was reported to be required for medical research as well as clinical transplant applications. The quality of the samples stored in a biobank is very important. The standardization is also important; the biological material stored in a biobank must be processed in a manner that allows compatibility with other biobanks that preserve samples in the same field. In this paper, we review some issues related to biobanks purposes, quality, harmonization, and their financial and ethical aspects. PMID:24174912

Ethical and legal perspectives on the medical practitioners use of social media.

PubMed

Kubheka, Brenda

2017-04-25

Use of social media has increased exponentially throughout the world. Social media provides a platform for building social and professional relationships that can be used by all, including healthcare professionals. Alongside the benefits of creating networks and spreading information wider and faster than is possible with traditional communication channels, however, it presents ethical and legal challenges. For health professionals, it poses a threat to confidentiality and privacy owed to patients, colleagues and employers. It is vital for health professionals to acknowledge that the same ethical and legal standards apply both online and offline, and that they are accountable to professional bodies and the law for their online activities. This article seeks to explore the ethical and legal pitfalls facing health professionals using social media platforms. Importantly, it seeks to create awareness about the cyberpsychology phenomenon called the 'online disinhibition effect', responsible for lowering restraint during online activities.

The SGML Standardization Framework and the Introduction of XML

PubMed Central

Grütter, Rolf

2000-01-01

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is on its way to becoming a global standard for the representation, exchange, and presentation of information on the World Wide Web (WWW). More than that, XML is creating a standardization framework, in terms of an open network of meta-standards and mediators that allows for the definition of further conventions and agreements in specific business domains. Such an approach is particularly needed in the healthcare domain; XML promises to especially suit the particularities of patient records and their lifelong storage, retrieval, and exchange. At a time when change rather than steadiness is becoming the faithful feature of our society, standardization frameworks which support a diversified growth of specifications that are appropriate to the actual needs of the users are becoming more and more important; and efforts should be made to encourage this new attempt at standardization to grow in a fruitful direction. Thus, the introduction of XML reflects a standardization process which is neither exclusively based on an acknowledged standardization authority, nor a pure market standard. Instead, a consortium of companies, academic institutions, and public bodies has agreed on a common recommendation based on an existing standardization framework. The consortium's process of agreeing to a standardization framework will doubtlessly be successful in the case of XML, and it is suggested that it should be considered as a generic model for standardization processes in the future. PMID:11720931

The SGML standardization framework and the introduction of XML.

PubMed

Fierz, W; Grütter, R

2000-01-01

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is on its way to becoming a global standard for the representation, exchange, and presentation of information on the World Wide Web (WWW). More than that, XML is creating a standardization framework, in terms of an open network of meta-standards and mediators that allows for the definition of further conventions and agreements in specific business domains. Such an approach is particularly needed in the healthcare domain; XML promises to especially suit the particularities of patient records and their lifelong storage, retrieval, and exchange. At a time when change rather than steadiness is becoming the faithful feature of our society, standardization frameworks which support a diversified growth of specifications that are appropriate to the actual needs of the users are becoming more and more important; and efforts should be made to encourage this new attempt at standardization to grow in a fruitful direction. Thus, the introduction of XML reflects a standardization process which is neither exclusively based on an acknowledged standardization authority, nor a pure market standard. Instead, a consortium of companies, academic institutions, and public bodies has agreed on a common recommendation based on an existing standardization framework. The consortium's process of agreeing to a standardization framework will doubtlessly be successful in the case of XML, and it is suggested that it should be considered as a generic model for standardization processes in the future.

Analysing the World Population: Using Population Pyramids and "If the World Were a Village"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caniglia, Joanne; Leapard, Barbara

2010-01-01

The book "If the World Were a Village," by David J. Smith, is the context for analysing and creating graphs of the world's demographic information. Students examine numerical information regarding the more than six billion world inhabitants by imagining the world's population as 100 people.

World Health Organization approaches for surveys of health behaviour among schoolchildren and for health-promoting schools.

PubMed

Honkala, Sisko

2014-01-01

Adolescents make up about one-sixth of the world's population. Most of the healthy and detrimental habits are adopted during childhood and adolescence. In the mid 1980s, a cross-national Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey was created to increase information about the well-being, health behaviours and social context of young people by using standard school-based questionnaires adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) European office. The European Network of Health-Promoting Schools (HPS) was commenced in 1992, followed by the establishment of the WHO Global School Health Initiative in 1995. The initiative aims to improve the health of students, school personnel, families and other members of the community through schools by mobilizing and strengthening health promotion and educational activities at local, national, regional and global levels. The HBSC and HPS programmes have been accepted as activity areas for the WHO Collaborating Centre for Primary Oral Health Care in Kuwait. This article describes the HBSC and the HPS programmes and discusses the importance of establishing these programmes in Kuwait. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Using Globe Browsing Systems in Planetariums to Take Audiences to Other Worlds.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emmart, C. B.

2014-12-01

For the last decade planetariums have been adding capability of "full dome video" systems for both movie playback and interactive display. True scientific data visualization has now come to planetarium audiences as a means to display the actual three dimensional layout of the universe, the time based array of planets, minor bodies and spacecraft across the solar system, and now globe browsing systems to examine planetary bodies to the limits of resolutions acquired. Additionally, such planetarium facilities can be networked for simultaneous display across the world for wider audience and reach to authoritative scientist description and commentary. Data repositories such as NASA's Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project (LMMP), NASA GSFC's LANCE-MODIS, and others conforming to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard of Web Map Server (WMS) protocols make geospatial data available for a growing number of dome supporting globe visualization systems. The immersive surround graphics of full dome video replicates our visual system creating authentic virtual scenes effectively placing audiences on location in some cases to other worlds only mapped robotically.

World Health Organization Approaches for Surveys of Health Behaviour among Schoolchildren and for Health-Promoting Schools

PubMed Central

Honkala, Sisko

2014-01-01

Adolescents make up about one-sixth of the world's population. Most of the healthy and detrimental habits are adopted during childhood and adolescence. In the mid 1980s, a cross-national Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey was created to increase information about the well-being, health behaviours and social context of young people by using standard school-based questionnaires adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) European office. The European Network of Health-Promoting Schools (HPS) was commenced in 1992, followed by the establishment of the WHO Global School Health Initiative in 1995. The initiative aims to improve the health of students, school personnel, families and other members of the community through schools by mobilizing and strengthening health promotion and educational activities at local, national, regional and global levels. The HBSC and HPS programmes have been accepted as activity areas for the WHO Collaborating Centre for Primary Oral Health Care in Kuwait. This article describes the HBSC and the HPS programmes and discusses the importance of establishing these programmes in Kuwait. PMID:23949020

LivePhantom: Retrieving Virtual World Light Data to Real Environments.

PubMed

Kolivand, Hoshang; Billinghurst, Mark; Sunar, Mohd Shahrizal

2016-01-01

To achieve realistic Augmented Reality (AR), shadows play an important role in creating a 3D impression of a scene. Casting virtual shadows on real and virtual objects is one of the topics of research being conducted in this area. In this paper, we propose a new method for creating complex AR indoor scenes using real time depth detection to exert virtual shadows on virtual and real environments. A Kinect camera was used to produce a depth map for the physical scene mixing into a single real-time transparent tacit surface. Once this is created, the camera's position can be tracked from the reconstructed 3D scene. Real objects are represented by virtual object phantoms in the AR scene enabling users holding a webcam and a standard Kinect camera to capture and reconstruct environments simultaneously. The tracking capability of the algorithm is shown and the findings are assessed drawing upon qualitative and quantitative methods making comparisons with previous AR phantom generation applications. The results demonstrate the robustness of the technique for realistic indoor rendering in AR systems.

LivePhantom: Retrieving Virtual World Light Data to Real Environments

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

To achieve realistic Augmented Reality (AR), shadows play an important role in creating a 3D impression of a scene. Casting virtual shadows on real and virtual objects is one of the topics of research being conducted in this area. In this paper, we propose a new method for creating complex AR indoor scenes using real time depth detection to exert virtual shadows on virtual and real environments. A Kinect camera was used to produce a depth map for the physical scene mixing into a single real-time transparent tacit surface. Once this is created, the camera’s position can be tracked from the reconstructed 3D scene. Real objects are represented by virtual object phantoms in the AR scene enabling users holding a webcam and a standard Kinect camera to capture and reconstruct environments simultaneously. The tracking capability of the algorithm is shown and the findings are assessed drawing upon qualitative and quantitative methods making comparisons with previous AR phantom generation applications. The results demonstrate the robustness of the technique for realistic indoor rendering in AR systems. PMID:27930663

A Review of 3D Printing Techniques and the Future in Biofabrication of Bioprinted Tissue.

PubMed

Patra, Satyajit; Young, Vanesa

2016-06-01

3D printing has been around in the art, micro-engineering, and manufacturing worlds for decades. Similarly, research for traditionally engineered skin tissue has been in the works since the 1990s. As of recent years, the medical field also began to take advantage of the untapped potential of 3D printing for the biofabrication of tissue. To do so, researchers created a set of goals for fabricated tissues based on the characteristics of natural human tissues and organs. Fabricated tissue was then measured against this set of standards. Researchers were interested in not only creating tissue that functioned like natural tissues but in creating techniques for 3D printing that would print tissues quickly, efficiently, and ultimately result in the ability to mass produce fabricated tissues. Three promising methods of 3D printing emerged from their research: thermal inkjet printing with bioink, direct-write bioprinting, and organ printing using tissue spheroids. This review will discuss all three printing techniques, as well as their advantages, disadvantages, and the possibility of future advancements in the field of tissue fabrication.

Achieving quality of service in IP networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hays, Tim

2001-07-01

The Internet Protocol (IP) has served global networks well, providing a standardized method to transmit data among many disparate systems. But IP is designed for simplicity, and only enables a `best effort' service that can be subject to delays and loss of data. For data networks, this is an acceptable trade-off. In the emerging world of convergence, driven by new applications such as video streaming and IP telephony, minimizing latency and packet loss as well as jitter can be critical. Simply increasing the size of the IP network `pipe' to meet those demands is not always sufficient. In this environment, vendors and standards bodies are endeavoring to create technologies and techniques to enable IP to improve the quality of service it can provide, while retaining the characteristics that has enabled it to become the dominant networking protocol.

Accounting for the Variation of Driver Aggression in the Simulation of Conventional and Advanced Vehicles: Preprint

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

Neubauer, J.; Wood, E.

2013-03-01

Hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and battery electric vehicles offer the potential to reduce both oil imports and greenhouse gases, as well as to offer a financial benefit to the driver. However, assessing these potential benefits is complicated by several factors, including the driving habits of the operator. We focus on driver aggression, i.e., the level of acceleration and velocity characteristic of travel, to (1) assess its variation within large, real-world drive datasets, (2) quantify its effect on both vehicle efficiency and economics for multiple vehicle types, (3) compare these results to those of standard drive cycles commonlymore » used in the industry, and (4) create a representative drive cycle for future analyses where standard drive cycles are lacking.« less

Using the SPEI to Estimate Food Production in East Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husak, G. J.; Hobbins, M.; Verdin, J. P.; Peterson, P.; Funk, C. C.

2015-12-01

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) monitors critical environmental variables that impact food production in developing countries. Due to a sparse network of observations in the developing world, many of these variables are estimated using remotely sensed data. As scientists develop new techniques to leverage available observations and remotely sensed information there are opportunities to create products that identify the environmental conditions that stress agriculture and reduce food production. FEWS NET pioneered the development of the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with stations (CHIRPS) dataset, to estimate precipitation and monitor growing conditions throughout the world. These data are used to drive land surface models, hydrologic models and basic crop models among others. A new dataset estimating the reference evapotranspiration (ET0) has been developed using inputs from the ERA-Interim GCM. This ET0 dataset stretches back to 1981, allowing for a long-term record, stretching many seasons and drought events. Combining the CHIRPS data to estimate water availability and the ET0 data to estimate evaporative demand, one can estimate the approximate water gap (surplus or deficit) over a specific time period. Normalizing this difference creates the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), which presents these gaps in comparison to the historical record for a specific location and accumulation period. In this study we evaluate the SPEI as a tool to estimate crop yields for different regions of Kenya. Identifying the critical time of analysis for the SPEI is the first step in building a relationship between the water gap and food production. Once this critical period is identified, we look at the predictability of food production using the SPEI, and assess the utility of it for monitoring food security, with the goal of incorporating the SPEI in the standard monitoring suite of FEWS NET tools.

Amplifying Youth Voices in the Developing World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fotenos, Saori; Rohatgi, Deepti

2007-01-01

In the past few years, an explosion of user-generated content has flooded the Internet. The dramatic drop in the cost of digital video equipment and the increased accessibility of the Internet create a unique opportunity to allow youth to create meaningful content. Today youth around the world can leverage technological tools to give voice to…

Reading Narratives of Childhood: The Worlds We Create for Young Readers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Elizabeth; Rogers, Theresa; Tyson, Cynthia; Enciso, Patricia; Jenkins, Christine; Brown, Jackie; Core, Elizabeth; Cordova, Carmen; Youngsteadt-Parish, Denise; Robinson, Dwan

1999-01-01

Offers brief descriptions of 16 children's books published between 1997 and 1999 (discussing them in tandem with landmark children's books), focusing on the wide range of narratives about the world and about childhood that adults create for children through children's literature. Discusses picture books, poetry in picture books, and books for…

Standardization of quantum key distribution and the ETSI standardization initiative ISG-QKD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Länger, Thomas; Lenhart, Gaby

2009-05-01

In recent years, quantum key distribution (QKD) has been the object of intensive research activities and of rapid progress, and it is now developing into a competitive industry with commercial products. Once QKD systems are transferred from the controlled environment of physical laboratories into a real-world environment for practical use, a number of practical security, compatibility and connectivity issues need to be resolved. In particular, comprehensive security evaluation and watertight security proofs need to be addressed to increase trust in QKD. System interoperability with existing infrastructures and applications as well as conformance with specific user requirements have to be assured. Finding common solutions to these problems involving all actors can provide an advantage for the commercialization of QKD as well as for further technological development. The ETSI industry specification group for QKD (ISG-QKD) offers a forum for creating such universally accepted standards and will promote significant leverage effects on coordination, cooperation and convergence in research, technical development and business application of QKD.

Digital Motion Imagery, Interoperability Challenges for Space Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grubbs, Rodney

2012-01-01

With advances in available bandwidth from spacecraft and between terrestrial control centers, digital motion imagery and video is becoming more practical as a data gathering tool for science and engineering, as well as for sharing missions with the public. The digital motion imagery and video industry has done a good job of creating standards for compression, distribution, and physical interfaces. Compressed data streams can easily be transmitted or distributed over radio frequency, internet protocol, and other data networks. All of these standards, however, can make sharing video between spacecraft and terrestrial control centers a frustrating and complicated task when different standards and protocols are used by different agencies. This paper will explore the challenges presented by the abundance of motion imagery and video standards, interfaces and protocols with suggestions for common formats that could simplify interoperability between spacecraft and ground support systems. Real-world examples from the International Space Station will be examined. The paper will also discuss recent trends in the development of new video compression algorithms, as well likely expanded use of Delay (or Disruption) Tolerant Networking nodes.

Native Skywatchers: Kapemni. As it is Above, It is Below. . . A Hands-On STEM + Art + Culture Experience.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, A. S.

2015-11-01

In D(L)akota star knowledge there is one overlying idea, “kapemni.” Imagine two tipis lined up vertically so that the tops are touching. The top triangle represents the spirit world or the star world; the bottom triangle is the material world or physical world. The idea is when a mirroring of the star world is created with what's happening on Earth (or vice versa), a doorway is created and opened between the worlds. There is a flow. This workshop will use the D(L)akota star map, “Dakota Makọce Wicaƞngḣpi Wowapi,” to teach participants the native constellations that are visible in tonight's sky. Then participants will visually communicate their connection to the stars and the seasons.

Growth curves and the international standard: How children's growth reflects challenging conditions in rural Timor-Leste.

PubMed

Spencer, Phoebe R; Sanders, Katherine A; Judge, Debra S

2018-02-01

Population-specific growth references are important in understanding local growth variation, especially in developing countries where child growth is poor and the need for effective health interventions is high. In this article, we use mixed longitudinal data to calculate the first growth curves for rural East Timorese children to identify where, during development, deviation from the international standards occurs. Over an eight-year period, 1,245 children from two ecologically distinct rural areas of Timor-Leste were measured a total of 4,904 times. We compared growth to the World Health Organization (WHO) standards using z-scores, and modeled height and weight velocity using the SuperImposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) method. Using the Generalized Additive Model for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS) method, we created the first growth curves for rural Timorese children for height, weight and body mass index (BMI). Relative to the WHO standards, children show early-life growth faltering, and stunting throughout childhood and adolescence. The median height and weight for this population tracks below the WHO fifth centile. Males have poorer growth than females in both z-BMI (p = .001) and z-height-for-age (p = .018) and, unlike females, continue to grow into adulthood. This is the most comprehensive investigation to date of rural Timorese children's growth, and the growth curves created may potentially be used to identify future secular trends in growth as the country develops. We show significant deviation from the international standard that becomes most pronounced at adolescence, similar to the growth of other Asian populations. Males and females show different growth responses to challenging conditions in this population. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Nurse migration in an increasingly interconnected world: the case for internationalization of regulation of nurses and nursing regulatory bodies.

PubMed

Cutcliffe, John R; Bajkay, Renay; Forster, Stu; Small, Rudy; Travale, Rodger

2011-10-01

Psychiatric/Mental Health nursing has a long history of professional self-regulation; nevertheless, interest in how governments protect consumers of health care from poor or dangerous practice(s) is on the increase. Correspondingly, there have been calls, in several parts of the world, for greater watchfulness and due diligence from regulatory bodies. Mindful of the concept of "globalization" and the unequivocal data regarding the significant increase in the migration of nurses, it is difficult to ignore/deny the reality of an increasingly mobile and connected international nursing workforce. However, the extant literature also indicates the existence of significant disparities between countries and even states/provinces within countries as to the enforcement of professional regulation. What this means is that decisions made by one regulatory body can have a direct impact on the standard(s) of nursing quality and practice in a country on the opposite side of the world. As a result, the authors attempt to advance the debate that there is a clear need to reconcile these positions, and they introduce the argument for the creation of an international oversight body. Using case study material, the relevant theoretical and policy literature in this area (such as it is), and by drawing on examples of analogous oversight bodies from other areas, we draw attention to the need to create a genuinely international body for the oversight of nurse regulation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Geospatial Visualization of Scientific Data Through Keyhole Markup Language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wernecke, J.; Bailey, J. E.

2008-12-01

The development of virtual globes has provided a fun and innovative tool for exploring the surface of the Earth. However, it has been the paralleling maturation of Keyhole Markup Language (KML) that has created a new medium and perspective through which to visualize scientific datasets. Originally created by Keyhole Inc., and then acquired by Google in 2004, in 2007 KML was given over to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). It became an OGC international standard on 14 April 2008, and has subsequently been adopted by all major geobrowser developers (e.g., Google, Microsoft, ESRI, NASA) and many smaller ones (e.g., Earthbrowser). By making KML a standard at a relatively young stage in its evolution, developers of the language are seeking to avoid the issues that plagued the early World Wide Web and development of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). The popularity and utility of Google Earth, in particular, has been enhanced by KML features such as the Smithsonian volcano layer and the dynamic weather layers. Through KML, users can view real-time earthquake locations (USGS), view animations of polar sea-ice coverage (NSIDC), or read about the daily activities of chimpanzees (Jane Goodall Institute). Perhaps even more powerful is the fact that any users can create, edit, and share their own KML, with no or relatively little knowledge of manipulating computer code. We present an overview of the best current scientific uses of KML and a guide to how scientists can learn to use KML themselves.

U.S. initiatives to strengthen forensic science & international standards in forensic DNA.

PubMed

Butler, John M

2015-09-01

A number of initiatives are underway in the United States in response to the 2009 critique of forensic science by a National Academy of Sciences committee. This article provides a broad review of activities including efforts of the White House National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Forensic Science and a partnership between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to create the National Commission on Forensic Science and the Organization of Scientific Area Committees. These initiatives are seeking to improve policies and practices of forensic science. Efforts to fund research activities and aid technology transition and training in forensic science are also covered. The second portion of the article reviews standards in place or in development around the world for forensic DNA. Documentary standards are used to help define written procedures to perform testing. Physical standards serve as reference materials for calibration and traceability purposes when testing is performed. Both documentary and physical standards enable reliable data comparison, and standard data formats and common markers or testing regions are crucial for effective data sharing. Core DNA markers provide a common framework and currency for constructing DNA databases with compatible data. Recent developments in expanding core DNA markers in Europe and the United States are discussed. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

U.S. initiatives to strengthen forensic science & international standards in forensic DNA

PubMed Central

Butler, John M.

2015-01-01

A number of initiatives are underway in the United States in response to the 2009 critique of forensic science by a National Academy of Sciences committee. This article provides a broad review of activities including efforts of the White House National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Forensic Science and a partnership between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to create the National Commission on Forensic Science and the Organization of Scientific Area Committees. These initiatives are seeking to improve policies and practices of forensic science. Efforts to fund research activities and aid technology transition and training in forensic science are also covered. The second portion of the article reviews standards in place or in development around the world for forensic DNA. Documentary standards are used to help define written procedures to perform testing. Physical standards serve as reference materials for calibration and traceability purposes when testing is performed. Both documentary and physical standards enable reliable data comparison, and standard data formats and common markers or testing regions are crucial for effective data sharing. Core DNA markers provide a common framework and currency for constructing DNA databases with compatible data. Recent developments in expanding core DNA markers in Europe and the United States are discussed. PMID:26164236

Using the World Wide WEB to promote science education in nuclear energy and RWM

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

Robinson, M.

1996-12-31

A priority of government and business in the United States and other first tier industrial countries continues to be the improvement of science, mathematics and technology (SMT) instruction in pre university level education. The U.S. federal government has made SMT instruction an educational priority and set goals for improving it in the belief that science, math and technology education are tied to our economic well being and standard of living. The new national standards in mathematics education, science education and the proposed standards in technology education are all aimed at improving knowledge and skills in the essential areas that themore » federal government considers important for protecting our technological advantage in the world economy. This paper will discuss a pilot project for establishing graphical Web capability in a limited number of rural Nevada schools (six) with support from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the state of Nevada. The general goals of the pilot project are as follows: (1) to give rural teachers and students access to up to date science information on the Web; (2) to determine whether Web access can improve science teaching and student attitudes toward science in rural Nevada schools; and (3) to identify science content on the Web that supports the National Science Standards and Benchmarks. A specific objective that this paper will address is stated as the following question: What potential do nuclear energy information office web sites offer for changing student attitudes about nuclear energy and creating greater nuclear literacy.« less

Up to code: does your company's conduct meet world-class standards?

PubMed

Paine, Lynn; Deshpandé, Rohit; Margolis, Joshua D; Bettcher, Kim Eric

2005-12-01

Codes of conduct have long been a feature of corporate life. Today, they are arguably a legal necessity--at least for public companies with a presence in the United States. But the issue goes beyond U.S. legal and regulatory requirements. Sparked by corruption and excess of various types, dozens of industry, government, investor, and multisector groups worldwide have proposed codes and guidelines to govern corporate behavior. These initiatives reflect an increasingly global debate on the nature of corporate legitimacy. Given the legal, organizational, reputational, and strategic considerations, few companies will want to be without a code. But what should it say? Apart from a handful of essentials spelled out in Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and NYSE rules, authoritative guidance is sorely lacking. In search of some reference points for managers, the authors undertook a systematic analysis of a select group of codes. In this article, they present their findings in the form of a "codex," a reference source on code content. The Global Business Standards Codex contains a set of overarching principles as well as a set of conduct standards for putting those principles into practice. The GBS Codex is not intended to be adopted as is, but is meant to be used as a benchmark by those wishing to create their own world-class code. The provisions of the codex must be customized to a company's specific business and situation; individual companies' codes will include their own distinctive elements as well. What the codex provides is a starting point grounded in ethical fundamentals and aligned with an emerging global consensus on basic standards of corporate behavior.

Attacking Poverty. World Development Report, 2000/2001.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

World Bank, Washington, DC.

This report seeks to expand the understanding of poverty and its causes and sets out actions to create to create a world free of poverty in all its dimensions. The report both builds on past thinking and strategy and substantially broadens and deepens what is judged to be necessary to meet the challenge of reducing poverty. It argues that major…

Life Inside the Hive: Creating a Space for Literacy to Grow

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saunders, Jane M.

2013-01-01

This piece describes how a 5th grade language arts teacher employed technology to create and sustain a metaphorical, virtual, and physical figured world in her class by means of a web site called "The Hive Society." This world positioned students as intellectuals and scholars, and explored how Ms. Smith integrated 21st Century…

Future Evolution of Virtual Worlds as Communication Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prisco, Giulio

Extensive experience creating locations and activities inside virtual worlds provides the basis for contemplating their future. Users of virtual worlds are diverse in their goals for these online environments; for example, immersionists want them to be alternative realities disconnected from real life, whereas augmentationists want them to be communication media supporting real-life activities. As the technology improves, the diversity of virtual worlds will increase along with their significance. Many will incorporate more advanced virtual reality, or serve as major media for long-distance collaboration, or become the venues for futurist social movements. Key issues are how people can create their own virtual worlds, travel across worlds, and experience a variety of multimedia immersive environments. This chapter concludes by noting the view among some computer scientists that future technologies will permit uploading human personalities to artificial intelligence avatars, thereby enhancing human beings and rendering the virtual worlds entirely real.

Molray--a web interface between O and the POV-Ray ray tracer.

PubMed

Harris, M; Jones, T A

2001-08-01

A publicly available web-based interface is presented for producing high-quality ray-traced images and movies from the molecular-modelling program O [Jones et al. (1991), Acta Cryst. A47, 110-119]. The interface allows the user to select O-plot files and set parameters to create standard input files for the popular ray-tracing renderer POV-Ray, which can then produce publication-quality still images or simple movies. To ensure ease of use, we have made this service available to the O user community via the World Wide Web. The public Molray server is available at http://xray.bmc.uu.se/molray.

Pediatric Psycho-oncology Care: Standards, Guidelines and Consensus Reports

PubMed Central

Wiener, Lori; Viola, Adrienne; Koretski, Julia; Perper, Emily Diana; Patenaude, Andrea Farkas

2014-01-01

Objective To identify existing guidelines, standards, or consensus-based reports for psychosocial care of children with cancer and their families. Purpose Psychosocial standards of care for children with cancer can systematize the approach to care and create a replicable model that can be utilized in pediatric hospitals around the world. Determining gaps in existing standards in pediatric psycho-oncology can guide development of useful evidence- and consensus-based standards. Methods The MEDLINE and PubMed databases were searched by investigators at two major pediatric oncology centers for existing guidelines, consensus-based reports, or standards for psychosocial care of pediatric cancer patients and their families published in peer-reviewed journals in English between 1980 and 2013. Results We located 27 articles about psychosocial care that met inclusion criteria: 5 set forth standards, 19 guidelines and 3 were consensus-based reports. None were sufficiently up-to-date, significantly evidence-based, comprehensive and specific enough to serve as a current standard for psychosocial care for children with cancer and their families. Conclusion Despite calls by a number of international pediatric oncology and psycho-oncology professional organizations about the urgency of addressing the psychosocial needs of the child with cancer in order to reduce suffering, there remains a need for development of a widely acceptable, evidence- and consensus-based, comprehensive standard of care to guide provision of essential psychosocial services to all pediatric cancer patients. PMID:24906202

Quality standards for real-world research. Focus on observational database studies of comparative effectiveness.

PubMed

Roche, Nicolas; Reddel, Helen; Martin, Richard; Brusselle, Guy; Papi, Alberto; Thomas, Mike; Postma, Dirjke; Thomas, Vicky; Rand, Cynthia; Chisholm, Alison; Price, David

2014-02-01

Real-world research can use observational or clinical trial designs, in both cases putting emphasis on high external validity, to complement the classical efficacy randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with high internal validity. Real-world research is made necessary by the variety of factors that can play an important a role in modulating effectiveness in real life but are often tightly controlled in RCTs, such as comorbidities and concomitant treatments, adherence, inhalation technique, access to care, strength of doctor-caregiver communication, and socio-economic and other organizational factors. Real-world studies belong to two main categories: pragmatic trials and observational studies, which can be prospective or retrospective. Focusing on comparative database observational studies, the process aimed at ensuring high-quality research can be divided into three parts: preparation of research, analyses and reporting, and discussion of results. Key points include a priori planning of data collection and analyses, identification of appropriate database(s), proper outcomes definition, study registration with commitment to publish, bias minimization through matching and adjustment processes accounting for potential confounders, and sensitivity analyses testing the robustness of results. When these conditions are met, observational database studies can reach a sufficient level of evidence to help create guidelines (i.e., clinical and regulatory decision-making).

Learning Experience with Virtual Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, Christian

2008-01-01

Virtual worlds create a new opportunity to enrich the educational experience through media-rich immersive learning. Virtual worlds have gained notoriety in games such as World of Warcraft (WoW), which has become the most successful online game ever, and in "general purpose" worlds, such as Second Life (SL), whose participation levels (more than 10…

3 CFR 8441 - Proclamation 8441 of October 19, 2009. United Nations Day, 2009

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Proclamation The United Nations was created 64 years ago by men and women from every corner of the world. These... can confront alone. The U.N. is vital to America’s efforts to create a better, safer world. Through... our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred...

Finding and Evaluating Adult ESL Resources on the World Wide Web. ERIC Q & A.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florez, MaryAnn Cunningham

One of the challenges often mentioned by users of the World Wide Web is creating and implementing successful searches on topics of interest. This article provides background information about adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) resources available on the Web. It describes various search tools, explains how to create search strategies and how…

The Design of an Instructional Model Based on Connectivism and Constructivism to Create Innovation in Real World Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jirasatjanukul, Kanokrat; Jeerungsuwan, Namon

2018-01-01

The objectives of the research were to (1) design an instructional model based on Connectivism and Constructivism to create innovation in real world experience, (2) assess the model designed--the designed instructional model. The research involved 2 stages: (1) the instructional model design and (2) the instructional model rating. The sample…

Designing and Implementing a Family of Intrusion Detection Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-11-01

configure (train), generates many false alarms – Misuse detection (signature analysis) (NFR, Emerald , Snort, STAT) • Generates few false alarms • Detects...to create .rhosts file in world-writable ftp home directory – rlogin using bogus .rhosts file S0 create_file read_rhosts S3S2 login S1 STAT KN-14...world-writable ftp home directory – rlogin using bogus .rhosts file S0 create_file read_rhosts S3S2 login S1 STAT KN-17 ftp-write in STATL use ustat

Quantifying Reliability - The Next Step for a Rapidly Maturing PV Industry and China's Role

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

Kurtz, Sarah

2015-10-14

PV customers wish to know how long their PV modules will last, but quantitatively predicting service life is difficult because of the large number of ways that a module can fail, the variability of the use environment, the cost of the testing, and the short product development time, especially when compared with the long desired lifetime. China should play a key role in developing international standards because China manufactures most of the world's PV modules. The presentation will describe the steps that need to be taken to create a service life prediction within the context of a defined bill ofmore » materials, process window and use environment. Worldwide standards for cost-effective approaches to service-life predictions will be beneficial to both PV customers and manufacturers since the consequences of premature module failure can be disastrous for both.« less

Towards a World Catalogue of Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuiper, Barteld E.

1973-01-01

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) efforts to develop a uniform catalog of integrated standard indexes from around the world are described. The purpose is to facilitate the search for standards. (SM)

Development of a manualized protocol of massage therapy for clinical trials in osteoarthritis.

PubMed

Ali, Ather; Kahn, Janet; Rosenberger, Lisa; Perlman, Adam I

2012-10-04

Clinical trial design of manual therapies may be especially challenging as techniques are often individualized and practitioner-dependent. This paper describes our methods in creating a standardized Swedish massage protocol tailored to subjects with osteoarthritis of the knee while respectful of the individualized nature of massage therapy, as well as implementation of this protocol in two randomized clinical trials. The manualization process involved a collaborative process between methodologic and clinical experts, with the explicit goals of creating a reproducible semi-structured protocol for massage therapy, while allowing some latitude for therapists' clinical judgment and maintaining consistency with a prior pilot study. The manualized protocol addressed identical specified body regions with distinct 30- and 60-min protocols, using standard Swedish strokes. Each protocol specifies the time allocated to each body region. The manualized 30- and 60-min protocols were implemented in a dual-site 24-week randomized dose-finding trial in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, and is currently being implemented in a three-site 52-week efficacy trial of manualized Swedish massage therapy. In the dose-finding study, therapists adhered to the protocols and significant treatment effects were demonstrated. The massage protocol was manualized, using standard techniques, and made flexible for individual practitioner and subject needs. The protocol has been applied in two randomized clinical trials. This manualized Swedish massage protocol has real-world utility and can be readily utilized both in the research and clinical settings. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00970008 (18 August 2009).

The choices before us.

PubMed

Streeten, P P

1980-01-01

This introduction is from the 16th World Conference of SID in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 1979, which addressed the theme of development choices for the 1980's and beyond. Choices may refer to different political, ideological or social systems. Choices may refer to strategies and technical issues, e.g. agriculture vs. industry. A third meaning of choice is implicit in the idea of a Third World, or alternative, method of development. The third meaning implies a rejection of Western institutions, values, and standards. In the past, the transfer of Western or in this case Northern, institutions and standards has disappointed and created obstacles to development. The rapid rate of population growth forces choices of population control and resource management. Common themes of development have emerged from conference discussions: the need to build development efforts on indigenous values; the need for new institutions both at the sub-national and at the super-national level; and, the need to adjust to inevitable changes rationally and with foresight. The nation state is too large for many functions that are better decentralized and left to village or district administrations, yet it is too small to respond to global challenges and environmental risks like harvest failure, credit risks, marketing risks, failure of supplies. The interests of the state are not identical with those of society or particular groups in society.

Metadata squared: enhancing its usability for volunteered geographic information and the GeoWeb

USGS Publications Warehouse

Poore, Barbara S.; Wolf, Eric B.; Sui, Daniel Z.; Elwood, Sarah; Goodchild, Michael F.

2013-01-01

The Internet has brought many changes to the way geographic information is created and shared. One aspect that has not changed is metadata. Static spatial data quality descriptions were standardized in the mid-1990s and cannot accommodate the current climate of data creation where nonexperts are using mobile phones and other location-based devices on a continuous basis to contribute data to Internet mapping platforms. The usability of standard geospatial metadata is being questioned by academics and neogeographers alike. This chapter analyzes current discussions of metadata to demonstrate how the media shift that is occurring has affected requirements for metadata. Two case studies of metadata use are presented—online sharing of environmental information through a regional spatial data infrastructure in the early 2000s, and new types of metadata that are being used today in OpenStreetMap, a map of the world created entirely by volunteers. Changes in metadata requirements are examined for usability, the ease with which metadata supports coproduction of data by communities of users, how metadata enhances findability, and how the relationship between metadata and data has changed. We argue that traditional metadata associated with spatial data infrastructures is inadequate and suggest several research avenues to make this type of metadata more interactive and effective in the GeoWeb.

Behavioral Implications of Mental World-Making.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, James Roy

1989-01-01

The ways in which the mind creates new worlds, new contexts, and possible alternate realities are described. It is proposed that with this information, facility in devising new worlds and realities may be enhanced and imaginative reach expanded. (MSE)

Agile science: creating useful products for behavior change in the real world.

PubMed

Hekler, Eric B; Klasnja, Predrag; Riley, William T; Buman, Matthew P; Huberty, Jennifer; Rivera, Daniel E; Martin, Cesar A

2016-06-01

Evidence-based practice is important for behavioral interventions but there is debate on how best to support real-world behavior change. The purpose of this paper is to define products and a preliminary process for efficiently and adaptively creating and curating a knowledge base for behavior change for real-world implementation. We look to evidence-based practice suggestions and draw parallels to software development. We argue to target three products: (1) the smallest, meaningful, self-contained, and repurposable behavior change modules of an intervention; (2) "computational models" that define the interaction between modules, individuals, and context; and (3) "personalization" algorithms, which are decision rules for intervention adaptation. The "agile science" process includes a generation phase whereby contender operational definitions and constructs of the three products are created and assessed for feasibility and an evaluation phase, whereby effect size estimates/casual inferences are created. The process emphasizes early-and-often sharing. If correct, agile science could enable a more robust knowledge base for behavior change.

MIIB: A Metric to Identify Top Influential Bloggers in a Community.

PubMed

Khan, Hikmat Ullah; Daud, Ali; Malik, Tahir Afzal

2015-01-01

Social networking has revolutionized the use of conventional web and has converted World Wide Web into the social web as users can generate their own content. This change has been possible due to social web platforms like forums, wikis, and blogs. Blogs are more commonly being used as a form of virtual communication to express an opinion about an event, product or experience and can reach a large audience. Users can influence others to buy a product, have certain political or social views, etc. Therefore, identifying the most influential bloggers has become very significant as this can help us in the fields of commerce, advertisement and product knowledge searching. Existing approaches consider some basic features, but lack to consider some other features like the importance of the blog on which the post has been created. This paper presents a new metric, MIIB (Metric for Identification of Influential Bloggers), based on various features of bloggers' productivity and popularity. Productivity refers to bloggers' blogging activity and popularity measures bloggers' influence in the blogging community. The novel module of BlogRank depicts the importance of blog sites where bloggers create their posts. The MIIB has been evaluated against the standard model and existing metrics for finding the influential bloggers using dataset from the real-world blogosphere. The obtained results confirm that the MIIB is able to find the most influential bloggers in a more effective manner.

A French-speaking speech-language pathology program in West Africa: transfer of training between Minority and Majority World countries.

PubMed

Topouzkhanian, Sylvia; Mijiyawa, Moustafa

2013-02-01

In West Africa, as in Majority World countries, people with a communication disability are generally cut-off from the normal development process. A long-term involvement of two partners (Orthophonistes du Monde and Handicap International) allowed the implementation in 2003 of the first speech-language pathology qualifying course in West Africa, within the Ecole Nationale des Auxiliaires Medicaux (ENAM, National School for Medical Auxiliaries) in Lome, Togo. It is a 3-year basic training (after the baccalaureate) in the only academic training centre for medical assistants in Togo. This department has a regional purpose and aims at training French-speaking African students. French speech-language pathology lecturers had to adapt their courses to the local realities they discovered in Togo. It was important to introduce and develop knowledge and skills in the students' system of reference. African speech-language pathologists have to face many challenges: creating an African speech and language therapy, introducing language disorders and their possible cure by means other than traditional therapies, and adapting all the evaluation tests and tools for speech-language pathology to each country, each culture, and each language. Creating an African speech-language pathology profession (according to its own standards) with a real influence in West Africa opens great opportunities for schooling and social and occupational integration of people with communication disabilities.

Science Students Creating Hybrid Spaces When Engaging in an Expo Investigation Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramnarain, Umesh; de Beer, Josef

2013-01-01

In this paper, we report on the experiences of three 9th-grade South African students (13-14 years) in doing open science investigation projects for a science expo. A particular focus of this study was the manner in which these students merge the world of school science with their social world to create a hybrid space by appropriating knowledge…

Validation of digital elevation models (DEMs) and comparison of geomorphic metrics on the southern Central Andean Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Purinton, Benjamin; Bookhagen, Bodo

2017-04-01

In this study, we validate and compare elevation accuracy and geomorphic metrics of satellite-derived digital elevation models (DEMs) on the southern Central Andean Plateau. The plateau has an average elevation of 3.7 km and is characterized by diverse topography and relief, lack of vegetation, and clear skies that create ideal conditions for remote sensing. At 30 m resolution, SRTM-C, ASTER GDEM2, stacked ASTER L1A stereopair DEM, ALOS World 3D, and TanDEM-X have been analyzed. The higher-resolution datasets include 12 m TanDEM-X, 10 m single-CoSSC TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X DEMs, and 5 m ALOS World 3D. These DEMs are state of the art for optical (ASTER and ALOS) and radar (SRTM-C and TanDEM-X) spaceborne sensors. We assessed vertical accuracy by comparing standard deviations of the DEM elevation versus 307 509 differential GPS measurements across 4000 m of elevation. For the 30 m DEMs, the ASTER datasets had the highest vertical standard deviation at > 6.5 m, whereas the SRTM-C, ALOS World 3D, and TanDEM-X were all < 3.5 m. Higher-resolution DEMs generally had lower uncertainty, with both the 12 m TanDEM-X and 5 m ALOS World 3D having < 2 m vertical standard deviation. Analysis of vertical uncertainty with respect to terrain elevation, slope, and aspect revealed the low uncertainty across these attributes for SRTM-C (30 m), TanDEM-X (12-30 m), and ALOS World 3D (5-30 m). Single-CoSSC TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X 10 m DEMs and the 30 m ASTER GDEM2 displayed slight aspect biases, which were removed in their stacked counterparts (TanDEM-X and ASTER Stack). Based on low vertical standard deviations and visual inspection alongside optical satellite data, we selected the 30 m SRTM-C, 12-30 m TanDEM-X, 10 m single-CoSSC TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X, and 5 m ALOS World 3D for geomorphic metric comparison in a 66 km2 catchment with a distinct river knickpoint. Consistent m/n values were found using chi plot channel profile analysis, regardless of DEM type and spatial resolution. Slope, curvature, and drainage area were calculated and plotting schemes were used to assess basin-wide differences in the hillslope-to-valley transition related to the knickpoint. While slope and hillslope length measurements vary little between datasets, curvature displays higher magnitude measurements with fining resolution. This is especially true for the optical 5 m ALOS World 3D DEM, which demonstrated high-frequency noise in 2-8 pixel steps through a Fourier frequency analysis. The improvements in accurate space-radar DEMs (e.g., TanDEM-X) for geomorphometry are promising, but airborne or terrestrial data are still necessary for meter-scale analysis.

The Imaginary Worlds of Childhood: A Multimedia Presentation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dyson, Anne Haas

1986-01-01

Presents observations of three children's styles of symbolic language focusing on how each leaned to different degrees on drawing and talking to create their imaginary worlds and thus faced different challenges in rendering those worlds in print. (SRT)

The benefits of adaptive parametrization in multi-objective Tabu Search optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghisu, Tiziano; Parks, Geoffrey T.; Jaeggi, Daniel M.; Jarrett, Jerome P.; Clarkson, P. John

2010-10-01

In real-world optimization problems, large design spaces and conflicting objectives are often combined with a large number of constraints, resulting in a highly multi-modal, challenging, fragmented landscape. The local search at the heart of Tabu Search, while being one of its strengths in highly constrained optimization problems, requires a large number of evaluations per optimization step. In this work, a modification of the pattern search algorithm is proposed: this modification, based on a Principal Components' Analysis of the approximation set, allows both a re-alignment of the search directions, thereby creating a more effective parametrization, and also an informed reduction of the size of the design space itself. These changes make the optimization process more computationally efficient and more effective - higher quality solutions are identified in fewer iterations. These advantages are demonstrated on a number of standard analytical test functions (from the ZDT and DTLZ families) and on a real-world problem (the optimization of an axial compressor preliminary design).

Technology advances in hospital practices: robotics in treatment of patients.

PubMed

Rosiek, Anna; Leksowski, Krzysztof

2015-06-01

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is widely considered as the treatment of choice for acute cholecystitis. The safety of the procedure and its minimal invasiveness made it a valid treatment option for a patient not responding to antibiotic therapy. Our research shows that patients positively assess this treatment method, but the world's tendency is to turn to a more sophisticated method utilizing robot-assisted surgery as a gold standard. Providing patient with minimally invasive surgical procedures that utilize the state-of-the-art equipment like the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System underscores the commitment to high-quality patient care while enhancing patient safety. The advantages include minimal invasive scarring, less pain and bleeding, faster recovery time, and shorter hospital stay. The move toward less invasive and less morbid procedures and a need to re-create the true open surgical experience have paved the way for the development and application of robotic and computer-assisted systems in surgery in Poland as well as the rest of the world. © The Author(s) 2014.

Global Volcano Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sparks, R. S. J.; Loughlin, S. C.; Cottrell, E.; Valentine, G.; Newhall, C.; Jolly, G.; Papale, P.; Takarada, S.; Crosweller, S.; Nayembil, M.; Arora, B.; Lowndes, J.; Connor, C.; Eichelberger, J.; Nadim, F.; Smolka, A.; Michel, G.; Muir-Wood, R.; Horwell, C.

2012-04-01

Over 600 million people live close enough to active volcanoes to be affected when they erupt. Volcanic eruptions cause loss of life, significant economic losses and severe disruption to people's lives, as highlighted by the recent eruption of Mount Merapi in Indonesia. The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland in 2010 illustrated the potential of even small eruptions to have major impact on the modern world through disruption of complex critical infrastructure and business. The effects in the developing world on economic growth and development can be severe. There is evidence that large eruptions can cause a change in the earth's climate for several years afterwards. Aside from meteor impact and possibly an extreme solar event, very large magnitude explosive volcanic eruptions may be the only natural hazard that could cause a global catastrophe. GVM is a growing international collaboration that aims to create a sustainable, accessible information platform on volcanic hazard and risk. We are designing and developing an integrated database system of volcanic hazards, vulnerability and exposure with internationally agreed metadata standards. GVM will establish methodologies for analysis of the data (eg vulnerability indices) to inform risk assessment, develop complementary hazards models and create relevant hazards and risk assessment tools. GVM will develop the capability to anticipate future volcanism and its consequences. NERC is funding the start-up of this initiative for three years from November 2011. GVM builds directly on the VOGRIPA project started as part of the GRIP (Global Risk Identification Programme) in 2004 under the auspices of the World Bank and UN. Major international initiatives and partners such as the Smithsonian Institution - Global Volcanism Program, State University of New York at Buffalo - VHub, Earth Observatory of Singapore - WOVOdat and many others underpin GVM.

Singapore Takes Six Steps Forward in 'The Quality of Death Index' Rankings.

PubMed

Lin Goh, Stella Seow

2018-01-01

In the latest 2015 Quality of Death Index, Singapore managed to move SIX steps forward from 18 th to the 12 th position. This advancement has been hard-won, with victories to improve the level of palliative care such as creating awareness of palliative service, improving coordinated care and growing an adequate capacity to meet the demand of care in our fast -growing ageing population. But it hasn't always been easy. Despite being a first world country, Asian societies like Singapore have inherited taboos regarding public dialogue about death and dying. Such dialogue is traditionally avoided. However, through years of continual effort in improving the standard of palliative care delivery, redesigning education module, creating public awareness and improving funding system, Singapore's palliative care providers have improved the lives of those with life-limiting illnesses. Nevertheless, the government will continue to improve and work toward achieving single digits in the next ranking of the Quality of Death Index.

World Organisation for Animal Health: strengthening Veterinary Services for effective One Health collaboration.

PubMed

Corning, S

2014-08-01

To effectively reduce health risks at the animal-human-ecosystems interface, a One Health strategy is crucially important to create strong national and regional animal health systems that are well coordinated with strong public health systems. Animal diseases, particularly those caused by new and emerging zoonotic pathogens, must be effectively controlled at their source to reduce their potentially devastating impact upon both animal and human health. As the international organisation responsible for developing standards, guidelines and recommendations for animal health, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) plays an important role in minimising animal and public health risks attributable to zoonoses and other animal diseases, which can have severe consequences for global food safety and security. National Veterinary Services, which implement OIE animal health and welfare standards and other measures, are the first line of defence against these diseases, and must have the capacity to meet the core requirements necessary for their diagnosis and control. The OIE works collaboratively with the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to improve the ability of national animal and public health systems to respond to current and emerging animal health risks with public health consequences. In addition to improving and aligning national laboratory capacities in high-risk areas, the OIE collaborates on One Health-oriented projects for key diseases, establishing model frameworks which can be applied to manage other existing and emerging priority diseases. This article reviews the role and activities of the OIE in strengthening the national Veterinary Services of its Member Countries for a more effective and sustainable One Health collaboration.

The beryllium "double standard" standard.

PubMed

Egilman, David S; Bagley, Sarah; Biklen, Molly; Golub, Alison Stern; Bohme, Susanna Rankin

2003-01-01

Brush Wellman, the world's leading producer and supplier of beryllium products, has systematically hidden cases of beryllium disease that occurred below the threshold limit value (TLV) and lied about the efficacy of the TLV in published papers, lectures, reports to government agencies, and instructional materials prepared for customers and workers. Hypocritically, Brush Wellman instituted a zero exposure standard for corporate executives while workers and customers were told the 2 microgram standard was "safe." Brush intentionally used its workers as "canaries for the plant," and referred to them as such. Internal documents and corporate depositions indicate that these actions were intentional and that the motive was money. Despite knowledge of the inadequacy of the TLV, Brush has successfully used it as a defense against lawsuits brought by injured workers and as a sales device to provide reassurance to customers. Brush's policy has reaped an untold number of victims and resulted in mass distribution of beryllium in consumer products. Such corporate malfeasance is perpetuated by the current market system, which is controlled by an organized oligopoly that creates an incentive for the neglect of worker health and safety in favor of externalizing costs to victimized workers, their families, and society at large.

Global Public Water Education: The World Water Monitoring Day Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Araya, Yoseph Negusse; Moyer, Edward H.

2006-01-01

Public awareness of the impending world water crisis is an important prerequisite to create a responsible citizenship capable of participating to improve world water management. In this context, the case of a unique global water education outreach exercise, World Water Monitoring Day of October 18, is presented. Started in 2002 in the United…

Ibn Battuta Mall: Edutaining the World?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Chae Ho

2010-01-01

Nakheel, a Dubai World Company has created the world's largest themed mall based on the narrative of Ibn Battuta, a 14th century Muslim explorer whose world travels are well documented. The Ibn Battuta Mall is located in the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and utilizes a communication strategy called edutainment: a neologistic…

How to use the WWW to distribute STI

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roper, Donna G.

1994-01-01

This presentation explains how to use the World Wide Web (WWW) to distribute scientific and technical information as hypermedia. WWW clients and servers use the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to transfer documents containing links to other text, graphics, video, and sound. The standard language for these documents is the HyperText MarkUp Language (HTML). These are simply text files with formatting codes that contain layout information and hyperlinks. HTML documents can be created with any text editor or with one of the publicly available HTML editors or convertors. HTML can also include links to available image formats. This presentation is available online. The URL is http://sti.larc.nasa. (followed by) gov/demos/workshop/introtext.html.

Oil company mergers raise concern among some geoscientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy

With the blessings of the antitrust regulatory agencies and the ghost of John D. Rockefeller, the proposed marriage between Exxon and Mobil would create the world's largest energy company and corporation of any type. This merger also would reunite the two biggest pieces of Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company, which the U.S. Supreme Court ordered dismantled in 1911 in an antitrust case.Exxon, Mobil, and financial analysts say the merger is driven by the need to operate more efficiently in a tough, competitive environment. The price of oil, after all, recently has been scraping near bottom of the barrel at about $11 per barrel, and companies often need to muster significant capital resources to develop more remote reservoirs.

Ultracold Neutron Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Jeffery

2016-09-01

The free neutron is an excellent laboratory for searches for physics beyond the standard model. Ultracold neutrons (UCN) are free neutrons that can be confined to material, magnetic, and gravitational traps. UCN are compelling for experiments requiring long observation times, high polarization, or low energies. The challenge of experiments has been to create enough UCN to reach the statistical precision required. Production techniques involving neutron interactions with condensed matter systems have resulted in some successes, and new UCN sources are being pursued worldwide to exploit higher UCN densities offered by these techniques. I will review the physics of how the UCN sources work, along with the present status of the world's efforts. research supported by NSERC, CFI, and CRC.

Confusing dinosaurs with mammals: tetrapod phylogenetics and anatomical terminology in the world of homology.

PubMed

Harris, Jerald D

2004-12-01

At present, three different systems of anatomical nomenclature are available to researchers describing new tetrapod taxa: a nonstandardized traditional system erected in part by Sir Richard Owen and subsequently elaborated by Alfred Romer; a standardized system created for avians, the Nomina Anatomica Avium (NAA); and a standardized system for extant (crown-group) mammals, the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria (NAV). Conserved homologous structures widely distributed within the Tetrapoda are often granted different names in each system. The recent shift toward a phylogenetic system based on homology requires a concomitant shift toward a single nomenclatural system also based on both evolutionary and functional morphological homology. Standardized terms employed in the NAA and NAV should be perpetuated as far as possible basally in their respective phylogenies. Thus, NAA terms apply to nonavian archosaurs (or even all diapsids) and NAV terms apply to noncrown-group mammals and more basal synapsids. Taxa equally distant from both avians and crown-group mammals may maintain the traditional nonstandardized terminology until a universal anatomical nomenclature for all tetrapods is constructed. (c) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

From Another World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farris, Cynthia Cox

2002-01-01

Describes an art activity where children create imaginary character sculptures using clay. Discusses how the students created their creatures after first drawing their ideas and then painting their sculptures. (CMK)

National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) : standards for creating pipeline location data : standards for electronic data submissions, including metadata standards and examples

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-07-14

These standards represent a guideline for preparing digital data for inclusion in the National Pipeline Mapping System Repository. The standards were created with input from the pipeline industry and government agencies. They address the submission o...

Digital exchange of graphic arts material: the ultimate challenge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDowell, David Q.

1996-02-01

The digital exchange of graphic arts material - particularly advertising material for publications- in an open standardized environment represents the ultimate challenge for electronic data exchange. To meet the needs of publication advertising, the graphic arts industry must be able to transmit advertisements in an open environment where there are many senders and many receivers of the material. The material being transmitted consists of combinations of pictorial material, text, and line art with these elements superimposed on top of each other and/or interrelated in complex ways. The business relationships established by the traditional workflow environment, the combination of aesthetic and technical requirements, and the large base of existing hardware and software play a major role in limiting the options available. Existing first- and second-generation standards are focused on the CEPS environment, which operates on and stores data as raster files. The revolution in personal computer hardware and software, and the acceptance of these tools by the graphic arts community, dictates that standards must also be created and implemented for this world of vector/raster-based systems. The requirements for digital distribution of advertising material for publications, the existing graphic arts standards base, and the anticipation of future standards developments in response to these needs are explored.

Digital exchange of graphic arts material: the ultimate challenge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDowell, David Q.

1996-01-01

The digital exchange of graphic arts material -- particularly advertising material for publications -- in an open standardized environment represents the ultimate challenge for electronic data exchange. To meet the needs of publication advertising, the graphic arts industry must be able to transmit advertisements in an open environment where there are many senders and many receivers of the material. The material being transmitted consists of combinations of pictorial material, text, and line art with these elements superimposed on top of each other and/or interrelated in complex ways. The business relationships established by the traditional workflow environment, the combination of aesthetic and technical requirements, and the large base of existing hardware and software play a major role in limiting the options available. Existing first- and second-generation standards are focused on the CEPS environment, which operates on and stores data as raster files. The revolution in personal computer hardware and software, and the acceptance of these tools by the graphic arts community, dictates that standards must also be created and implemented for this world of vector/raster-based systems. The requirements for digital distribution of advertising material for publications, the existing graphic arts standards base, and the anticipation of future standards developments in response to these needs are explored.

Home and away? Creating identities and sustaining places in a multicentered world

Treesearch

Daniel R. Williams; Susan R. Van Patten

2006-01-01

Imagine being able to 'travel the world without leaving home'. This is not the overblown promise of some high-tech, computer-generated virtual world, but the veritable promise of The World. Built and operated by a Norwegian company called ResidenSea and launched on her maiden voyage in early 2002, The World is a 191-metre-long 'global village at sea...

World Food Day Curriculum, Grades K-3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zander, Janet

Hunger and malnutrition lead to the deaths of 13-18 million people a year; 75 percent of these victims are children. World Food Day was created to focus attention on the world's food and farm problems and to encourage the world's people to become directly involved in the solution of these problems. It is sponsored jointly by the United Nations…

Using Virtual Worlds to Identify Multidimensional Student Engagement in High School Foreign Language Learning Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacob, Laura Beth

2012-01-01

Virtual world environments have evolved from object-oriented, text-based online games to complex three-dimensional immersive social spaces where the lines between reality and computer-generated begin to blur. Educators use virtual worlds to create engaging three-dimensional learning spaces for students, but the impact of virtual worlds in…

Televirtuality: "Being There" in the 21st Century.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobson, Robert

Virtual worlds technology (VWT) uses special computer hardware and software to link humans with computers in natural ways. A data model, or virtual world, is created and presented as a three-dimensional world of sights and sounds. The participant manipulates apparent objects in the world, and in so doing, alters the data model. VWT will become…

Creating world-class supply chains.

PubMed

Katzorke, M; Lee, W B

2000-08-01

This article will share knowledge in two areas: The elements of world-class supply chains and the linking processes from customers' customers to suppliers' suppliers and the management approaches needed to engage the people and the organization in an effective implementation process to achieve world-class status.

World Health Organization-World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WHO-WFSA) International Standards for a Safe Practice of Anesthesia.

PubMed

Gelb, Adrian W; Morriss, Wayne W; Johnson, Walter; Merry, Alan F; Abayadeera, Anuja; Belîi, Natalia; Brull, Sorin J; Chibana, Aline; Evans, Faye; Goddia, Cyril; Haylock-Loor, Carolina; Khan, Fauzia; Leal, Sandra; Lin, Nan; Merchant, Richard; Newton, Mark W; Rowles, Jackie S; Sanusi, Arinola; Wilson, Iain; Velazquez Berumen, Adriana

2018-06-01

The International Standards for a Safe Practice of Anesthesia were developed on behalf of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA), a nonprofit organization representing anesthesiologists in 150 countries, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The recommendations have been approved by WHO and the membership of WFSA. These Standards are applicable to all anesthesia providers throughout the world. They are intended to provide guidance and assistance to anesthesia providers, their professional organizations, hospital and facility administrators, and governments for maintaining and improving the quality and safety of anesthesia care. The Standards cover professional aspects; facilities and equipment; medications and intravenous fluids; monitoring; and the conduct of anesthesia. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED standards, the functional equivalent of mandatory standards, include (amongst other things): the continuous presence of a trained and vigilant anesthesia provider; continuous monitoring of tissue oxygenation and perfusion by clinical observation and a pulse oximeter; intermittent monitoring of blood pressure; confirmation of correct placement of an endotracheal tube (if used) by auscultation and carbon dioxide detection; the use of the WHO Safe Surgery Checklist; and a system for transfer of care at the end of an anesthetic. The International Standards represent minimum standards and the goal should always be to practice to the highest possible standards, preferably exceeding the standards outlined in this document.

World Health Organization-World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WHO-WFSA) International Standards for a Safe Practice of Anesthesia.

PubMed

Gelb, Adrian W; Morriss, Wayne W; Johnson, Walter; Merry, Alan F

2018-05-07

The International Standards for a Safe Practice of Anesthesia were developed on behalf of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA), a non-profit organization representing anesthesiologists in 150 countries, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The recommendations have been approved by WHO and the membership of WFSA. These Standards are applicable to all anesthesia providers throughout the world. They are intended to provide guidance and assistance to anesthesia providers, their professional organizations, hospital and facility administrators, and governments for maintaining and improving the quality and safety of anesthesia care. The Standards cover professional aspects; facilities and equipment; medications and intravenous fluids; monitoring; and the conduct of anesthesia. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED standards, the functional equivalent of mandatory standards, include (amongst other things): the continuous presence of a trained and vigilant anesthesia provider; continuous monitoring of tissue oxygenation and perfusion by clinical observation and a pulse oximeter; intermittent monitoring of blood pressure; confirmation of correct placement of an endotracheal tube (if used) by auscultation and carbon dioxide detection; the use of the WHO Safe Surgery Checklist; and a system for transfer of care at the end of an anesthetic. The International Standards represent minimum standards and the goal should always be to practice to the highest possible standards, preferably exceeding the standards outlined in this document.

U.S. Navy Marine Climatic Atlas of the World. Volume IX. World-Wide Means and Standard Deviations

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-01

TITLE (..d SobtII,) S. TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COVERED U. S. Navy Marine Climatic Atlas of the World Volume IX World-wide Means and Standard Reference...Ives the best estimate of the population standard deviations. The means, , are com~nuted from: EX IIN I 90 80 70 60" 50’ 40, 30 20 10 0 1070 T- VErr ...or 10%, whichever is greater Since the mean ice limit approximates the minus two de l temperature isopleth, this analyzed lower limit was Wave Heights

Thriving Earth Exchange: AGU's new grand challenge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McEntee, Chris; Williams, Billy

2012-11-01

Imagine a world where scientists are acknowledged and celebrated for their good works. Imagine being able to make a powerful impact, applying your expertise and experience to create real solutions to ensure a sustainable future. Now imagine those two ideas linked: AGU scientists engaged in creating solutions that are recognized and celebrated for their positive impact on our world. The AGU Grand Challenge: Thriving Earth Exchange, a new idea from our member leaders, is about making this dream real.

What Children Should Know about Technology and the Virtual World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhao, Yong

2010-01-01

The dominant view of technology so far has been that it is a tool to help improve the teaching of traditional subjects--knowledge mostly about the local and physical world. But technology has created a new realm: the virtual world. It may not be physical or tangible, but the virtual world is indisputable and has a significant economy. If one…

A University for the World: The United Nations Plan. Fastback 51.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Harold

This booklet discusses how the United Nations University, established in 1973, can bring youth together on a world scale and create an international system through which youth can join in the work of building a world community. The first chapter, A University for the World: The United Nations Plan, describes student protests in Thailand in 1973.…

Utilizing Model Eliciting Activities (MEA's) to engage middle school teachers and students in storm water management practices to mitigate human impacts of land development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tazaz, A.; Wilson, R. M.; Schoen, R.; Blumsack, S.; King, L.; Dyehouse, M.

2013-12-01

'The Integrating STEM Project' engaged 6-8 grade teachers through activities incorporating mathematics, science and technology incorporating both Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards-Mathematics (CCSS-Math). A group of researchers from Oceanography, Mathematics, and Education set out to provide middle school teachers with a 2 year intensive STEM integration professional development with a focus on environmental topics and to monitor the achievement outcomes in their students. Over the course of 2 years the researchers created challenging professional development sessions to expand teacher knowledge and teachers were tasked to transform the information gained during the professional development sessions for classroom use. One lesson resource kit presented to the teachers, which was directly applicable to the classroom, included Model Eliciting Activities (MEA's) to explore the positive and negative effects land development has on climate and the environment, and how land development impacts storm water management. MEA's were developed to encourage students to create models to solve complex problems and to allow teachers to investigate students thinking. MEA's are a great curriculum technique used in engineering fields to help engage students by providing hands on activities using real world data and problems. We wish to present the Storm Water Management Resource toolkit including the MEA and present the outcomes observed from student engagement in this activity.

Learning Spaces Framework: Learning in an Online World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (NJ1), 2008

2008-01-01

"Contemporary learning--learning in an online world" describes the integrated nature of the highly technological world in which young people live and learn. A key priority is to design learning spaces that integrate technologies: engaging students in ways not previously possible; creating new learning and teaching possibilities;…

78 FR 30729 - World Trade Week, 2013

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-22

... Trade Week, 2013 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation As a Nation, we need to... creates jobs and grows our economy. During World Trade Week, we recognize workers, growers, and... 25, 2013, as World Trade Week. I encourage all Americans to observe this week with events, trade...

77 FR 31151 - World Trade Week, 2012

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-24

... Trade Week, 2012 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation America has always been... by Americans. During World Trade Week, we reaffirm the essential role exports play in creating jobs... of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 20 through May 26, 2012, as World Trade Week. I...

Transformational Play: Using Games to Position Person, Content, and Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barab, Sasha A.; Gresalfi, Melissa; Ingram-Goble, Adam

2010-01-01

Videogames are a powerful medium that curriculum designers can use to create narratively rich worlds for achieving educational goals. In these worlds, youth can become scientists, doctors, writers, and mathematicians who critically engage complex disciplinary content to transform a virtual world. Toward illuminating this potential, the authors…

Creating and Sharing: Teens' Information Practices in Digital Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harlan, Mary Ann; Bruce, Christine; Lupton, Mandy

2014-01-01

Introduction: In a connected world youth are participating in digital content creating communities. This paper introduces a description of teens' information practices in digital content creating and sharing communities. Method: The research design was a constructivist grounded theory methodology. Seventeen interviews with eleven teens were…

The use of blended learning to create a module about ill-health during childbirth for pre-registration midwifery students.

PubMed

Young, Nicki; Randall, Jayne

2014-01-01

Reforms in the way higher education is delivered in order to address the needs of learners in the 21st century are increasingly being considered by university departments. This has led academics to combine e-learning with more traditional classroom based methods of teaching when designing new modules of study, a method commonly called blended learning. This paper will describe the different teaching and learning methods which were blended together to create a module for second year pre-registration midwifery students in England, which focused upon ill-health during pregnancy and childbearing. It is imperative that at the point of registration midwifery students possess the skills to identify deviations from normal, initiate immediate actions and make appropriate referrals. The health of women all over the world is of concern to health care professionals. Midwives are increasingly being upon to provide expert care. Midwives need a sound education to allow them to carry out their roles effectively. The International Confederation of Midwives global standards for midwifery education (2010) attempts to address the need for competent caring midwives to help women and families in every corner of the world. The paper will also cover the pedagogical issues considered when blending together the different elements of learning namely: traditional discursive lectures, small group work, e-learning, formative presentations and the use of simulation during a skills and drills day. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adapting the design of Anesthesia Information Management Systems to innovations depicted in Industrial Property documents.

PubMed

Spyropoulos, B; Tzavaras, A; Zogogianni, D; Botsivaly, M

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present the design and the current development status of an Anesthesia Information Management System (AIMS). For this system, the physical and technical advances, depicted in relevant, recently published Industrial Property documents, have been taken into account. Additional innovative sensors create further data-load to be managed. Novel wireless data-transmission modes demand eventually compliance to further proper standards, so that interoperability between AIMS and the existing Hospital Information Systems is being sustained. We attempted to define, the state-of-the-art concerning the functions, the design-prerequisites and the relevant standards and of an "emerging" AIMS that is combining hardware innovation, real-time data acquisition, processing and displaying and lastly enabling the necessary interoperability with the other components of the existing Hospital Information Systems. Finally, we report based on this approach, about the design and implementation status, of our "real-world" system under development and discuss the multifarious obstacles encountered during this still on-going project.

With Great Measurements Come Great Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Carl

Measurements are the foundation for science and modern life. Technologies we take for granted every day depend on them-cell phones, CAT scans, pharmaceuticals, even sports equipment. Metrology, or measurement science, determines what industry can make reliably and what they cannot. At the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) we specialize in making world class measurements that an incredibly wide range of industries use to continually improve their products - computer chips with nanoscale components, atomic clocks that you can hold in your hand, lasers for both super-strong welds and delicate eye surgeries. Think of all the key technologies developed over the last 100 years and better measurements, standards, or analysis techniques played a role in making them possible. NIST works collaboratively with industry researchers on the advanced metrology for tomorrow's technologies. A new kilogram based on electromagnetic force, cars that weigh half as much but are just as strong, quantum computers, personalized medicine, single atom devices - it's all happening in our labs now. This talk will focus on how metrology creates the future.

Chapter 10.3: Reliability and Durability of PV Modules

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

Kurtz, Sarah

2017-01-07

Each year the world invests tens of billions of dollars or euros in PV systems with the expectation that these systems will last approximately 25 years. Although the disciplines of reliability, quality, and service life prediction have been well established for numerous products, a full understanding of these is currently challenging for PV modules because the desired service lifetimes are decades, preventing direct verification of lifetime predictions. A number of excellent reviews can be found in the literature summarizing the types of failures that are commonly observed for PV modules. This chapter discusses key failure/degradation mechanisms selected to highlight howmore » the kinetics of failure rates can and cannot be confidently predicted. For EVA-encapsulated modules, corrosion is observed to follow delamination, which then allows water droplets to directly contact the metallization. Extended test protocols such as Qualification Plus were created to address the known problems while standards groups update standard tests through the consensus process.« less

Dynamic Interactive Educational Diabetes Simulations Using the World Wide Web: An Experience of More Than 15 Years with AIDA Online

PubMed Central

Lehmann, Eldon D.; DeWolf, Dennis K.; Novotny, Christopher A.; Reed, Karen; Gotwals, Robert R.

2014-01-01

Background. AIDA is a widely available downloadable educational simulator of glucose-insulin interaction in diabetes. Methods. A web-based version of AIDA was developed that utilises a server-based architecture with HTML FORM commands to submit numerical data from a web-browser client to a remote web server. AIDA online, located on a remote server, passes the received data through Perl scripts which interactively produce 24 hr insulin and glucose simulations. Results. AIDA online allows users to modify the insulin regimen and diet of 40 different prestored “virtual diabetic patients” on the internet or create new “patients” with user-generated regimens. Multiple simulations can be run, with graphical results viewed via a standard web-browser window. To date, over 637,500 diabetes simulations have been run at AIDA online, from all over the world. Conclusions. AIDA online's functionality is similar to the downloadable AIDA program, but the mode of implementation and usage is different. An advantage to utilising a server-based application is the flexibility that can be offered. New modules can be added quickly to the online simulator. This has facilitated the development of refinements to AIDA online, which have instantaneously become available around the world, with no further local downloads or installations being required. PMID:24511312

Dynamic Interactive Educational Diabetes Simulations Using the World Wide Web: An Experience of More Than 15 Years with AIDA Online.

PubMed

Lehmann, Eldon D; Dewolf, Dennis K; Novotny, Christopher A; Reed, Karen; Gotwals, Robert R

2014-01-01

Background. AIDA is a widely available downloadable educational simulator of glucose-insulin interaction in diabetes. Methods. A web-based version of AIDA was developed that utilises a server-based architecture with HTML FORM commands to submit numerical data from a web-browser client to a remote web server. AIDA online, located on a remote server, passes the received data through Perl scripts which interactively produce 24 hr insulin and glucose simulations. Results. AIDA online allows users to modify the insulin regimen and diet of 40 different prestored "virtual diabetic patients" on the internet or create new "patients" with user-generated regimens. Multiple simulations can be run, with graphical results viewed via a standard web-browser window. To date, over 637,500 diabetes simulations have been run at AIDA online, from all over the world. Conclusions. AIDA online's functionality is similar to the downloadable AIDA program, but the mode of implementation and usage is different. An advantage to utilising a server-based application is the flexibility that can be offered. New modules can be added quickly to the online simulator. This has facilitated the development of refinements to AIDA online, which have instantaneously become available around the world, with no further local downloads or installations being required.

The Role of Communities in Mental Health Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Meta-Review of Components and Competencies.

PubMed

Kohrt, Brandon A; Asher, Laura; Bhardwaj, Anvita; Fazel, Mina; Jordans, Mark J D; Mutamba, Byamah B; Nadkarni, Abhijit; Pedersen, Gloria A; Singla, Daisy R; Patel, Vikram

2018-06-16

Community-based mental health services are emphasized in the World Health Organization’s Mental Health Action Plan , the World Bank’s Disease Control Priorities , and the Action Plan of the World Psychiatric Association. There is increasing evidence for effectiveness of mental health interventions delivered by non-specialists in community platforms in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). However, the role of community components has yet to be summarized. Our objective was to map community interventions in LMIC, identify competencies for community-based providers, and highlight research gaps. Using a review-of-reviews strategy, we identified 23 reviews for the narrative synthesis. Motivations to employ community components included greater accessibility and acceptability compared to healthcare facilities, greater clinical effectiveness through ongoing contact and use of trusted local providers, family involvement, and economic benefits. Locations included homes, schools, and refugee camps, as well as technology-aided delivery. Activities included awareness raising, psychoeducation, skills training, rehabilitation, and psychological treatments. There was substantial variation in the degree to which community components were integrated with primary care services. Addressing gaps in current practice will require assuring collaboration with service users, utilizing implementation science methods, creating tools to facilitate community services and evaluate competencies of providers, and developing standardized reporting for community-based programs.

[Comparative analysis on industrial standardization degree of Chinese and Korean ginseng].

PubMed

Chu, Qiao; Xi, Xing-Jun; Wang, He-Yan; Si, Ding-Hua; Tang, Fei; Lan, Tao

2017-05-01

Panax ginseng is a well-known medicinal plant all over the world. It has high nutritional value and medicinal value. China and South Korea are the major countries in the world for ginseng cultivation, production and exportation. China's ginseng production accounts for more than half of the world, but the output value is less than that of Korea. The standardization process of ginseng industry plays an important role. This paper makes a detailed analysis of the Chinese and Korean ginseng national standards and the standardization process, and makes a detailed comparative analysis of the categories, standard contents, index selection, age, implementation and promotion status of the Chinese and Korean ginseng standards. The development disadvantages of ginseng industry standardization were displayed. And we give our advises on the standard revision, implementation of China's ginseng industry standardization, hoping to enhance the competitiveness of China's ginseng industry. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

American High Schools Can Be World Class.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chalker, Donald M.; Haynes, Richard M.; Smith, Mark

1999-01-01

Compares characteristics of high school educational systems from 10 countries with exemplary educational systems. Describes a resulting set of world class standards and observes the acceptance or rejection of these standards in the United States. Discusses world class practices in American high schools. Offers a starter agenda for delivering world…

Alice in the Real World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Tom

2012-01-01

As a fifth-grade mathematics teacher, the author tries to create authentic problem-solving activities that connect to the world in which his students live. He discovered a natural connection to his students' real world at a computer camp. A friend introduced him to Alice, a computer application developed at Carnegie Mellon, under the leadership of…

Avatars, Virtual Reality Technology, and the U.S. Military: Emerging Policy Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-09

called “ Sentient Worldwide Simulation,” which will “mirror” real life and automatically follow real-world events in real time. Some virtual world...cities, with the final goal of creating a fully functioning virtual model of the entire world, which will be known as the Sentient Worldwide Simulation

Thoughts on the Role of Government in the Development of World-Class Universities in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guangcai, Yan

2011-01-01

Looking at the rise of world-class universities through history, creating an institutional environment in which universities are relatively autonomous, while also ensuring effective material support from the government is essential for the formation of world-class universities. It is worth examining the deteriorating academic environment in China…

World of Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McHale, Magda Cordell; And Others

1979-01-01

This bulletin takes a broad view of children in history, their current problems and needs throughout the world, and directions to be taken for fulfilling those needs. The world population of children under age 15 is projected to increase by 500 million to 1.9 billion in the year 2000. Despite the bonds created by global communications, large…

Vegetation burn severity mapping using Landsat-8 and WorldView-2

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wu, Zhuoting; Middleton, Barry R.; Hetzler, Robert; Vogel, John M.; Dye, Dennis G.

2015-01-01

We used remotely sensed data from the Landsat-8 and WorldView-2 satellites to estimate vegetation burn severity of the Creek Fire on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, where wildfire occurrences affect the Tribe's crucial livestock and logging industries. Accurate pre- and post-fire canopy maps at high (0.5-meter) resolution were created from World- View-2 data to generate canopy loss maps, and multiple indices from pre- and post-fire Landsat-8 images were used to evaluate vegetation burn severity. Normalized difference vegetation index based vegetation burn severity map had the highest correlation coefficients with canopy loss map from WorldView-2. Two distinct approaches - canopy loss mapping from WorldView-2 and spectral index differencing from Landsat-8 - agreed well with the field-based burn severity estimates and are both effective for vegetation burn severity mapping. Canopy loss maps created with WorldView-2 imagery add to a short list of accurate vegetation burn severity mapping techniques that can help guide effective management of forest resources on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, and the broader fire-prone regions of the Southwest.

Education as a Commodity: Who Owns the Online Content Your Teachers Create?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Axelson, Mary

2001-01-01

As the Internet becomes increasingly commercialized, the K-12 world will need to follow higher education's lead and define who owns a wealth of instructional information. Some companies are actively seeking to purchase teacher-created work. Teachers generally own what they create, but district policies should be in place. (MLH)

Creating the Market University: How Academic Science Became an Economic Engine

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berman, Elizabeth Popp

2012-01-01

American universities today serve as economic engines, performing the scientific research that will create new industries, drive economic growth, and keep the United States globally competitive. But only a few decades ago, these same universities self-consciously held themselves apart from the world of commerce. "Creating the Market University" is…

K-12 Louisiana Student Standards for Mathematics. Louisiana Student Standards: Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana Department of Education, 2016

2016-01-01

The Louisiana mathematics standards were created by over one hundred Louisiana educators with input by thousands of parents and teachers from across the state. Educators envisioned what mathematically proficient students should know and be able to do to compete in society and focused their efforts on creating standards that would allow them to do…

The NIH BD2K center for big data in translational genomics.

PubMed

Paten, Benedict; Diekhans, Mark; Druker, Brian J; Friend, Stephen; Guinney, Justin; Gassner, Nadine; Guttman, Mitchell; Kent, W James; Mantey, Patrick; Margolin, Adam A; Massie, Matt; Novak, Adam M; Nothaft, Frank; Pachter, Lior; Patterson, David; Smuga-Otto, Maciej; Stuart, Joshua M; Van't Veer, Laura; Wold, Barbara; Haussler, David

2015-11-01

The world's genomics data will never be stored in a single repository - rather, it will be distributed among many sites in many countries. No one site will have enough data to explain genotype to phenotype relationships in rare diseases; therefore, sites must share data. To accomplish this, the genetics community must forge common standards and protocols to make sharing and computing data among many sites a seamless activity. Through the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, we are pioneering the development of shared application programming interfaces (APIs) to connect the world's genome repositories. In parallel, we are developing an open source software stack (ADAM) that uses these APIs. This combination will create a cohesive genome informatics ecosystem. Using containers, we are facilitating the deployment of this software in a diverse array of environments. Through benchmarking efforts and big data driver projects, we are ensuring ADAM's performance and utility. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Architecture and prototypical implementation of a semantic querying system for big Earth observation image bases

PubMed Central

Tiede, Dirk; Baraldi, Andrea; Sudmanns, Martin; Belgiu, Mariana; Lang, Stefan

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Spatiotemporal analytics of multi-source Earth observation (EO) big data is a pre-condition for semantic content-based image retrieval (SCBIR). As a proof of concept, an innovative EO semantic querying (EO-SQ) subsystem was designed and prototypically implemented in series with an EO image understanding (EO-IU) subsystem. The EO-IU subsystem is automatically generating ESA Level 2 products (scene classification map, up to basic land cover units) from optical satellite data. The EO-SQ subsystem comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) and an array database embedded in a client server model. In the array database, all EO images are stored as a space-time data cube together with their Level 2 products generated by the EO-IU subsystem. The GUI allows users to (a) develop a conceptual world model based on a graphically supported query pipeline as a combination of spatial and temporal operators and/or standard algorithms and (b) create, save and share within the client-server architecture complex semantic queries/decision rules, suitable for SCBIR and/or spatiotemporal EO image analytics, consistent with the conceptual world model. PMID:29098143

Governmental standard drink definitions and low-risk alcohol consumption guidelines in 37 countries.

PubMed

Kalinowski, Agnieszka; Humphreys, Keith

2016-07-01

One of the challenges of international alcohol research and policy is the variability in and lack of knowledge of how governments in different nations define a standard drink and low-risk drinking. This study gathered such information from governmental agencies in 37 countries. A pool of 75 countries that might have definitions was created using World Health Organization (WHO) information and the authors' own judgement. Structured internet searches of relevant terms for each country were supplemented by efforts to contact government agencies directly and to consult with alcohol experts in the country. Most of the 75 national governments examined were not identified as having adopted a standard drink definition. Among the 37 that were so identified, the modal standard drink size was 10 g pure ethanol, but variation was wide (8-20 g). Significant variability was also evident for low-risk drinking guidelines, ranging from 10-42 g per day for women and 10-56 g per day for men to 98-140 g per week for women and 150-280 g per week for men. Researchers working and communicating across national boundaries should be sensitive to the substantial variability in 'standard' drink definitions and low-risk drinking guidelines. The potential impact of guidelines, both in general and in specific national cases, remains an important question for public health research. © 2016 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Reduction of construction wastes by improving construction contract management: a multinational evaluation.

PubMed

Mendis, Daylath; Hewage, Kasun N; Wrzesniewski, Joanna

2013-10-01

The Canadian construction industry generates 30% of the total municipal solid waste deposited in landfills. Ample evidence can be found in the published literature about rework and waste generation due to ambiguity and errors in contract documents. Also, the literature quotes that disclaimer clauses in contract documents are included in the contractual agreements to prevent contractor claims, which often cause rework. Our professional practice has also noted that there are several disclaimer clauses in standard contract documents which have the potential to cause rework (and associated waste). This article illustrates a comparative study of standard contractual documents and their potential to create rework (and associated waste) in different regions of the world. The objectives of this study are (1) to analyse standard contractual documents in Canada, the USA and Australia in terms of their potential to generate rework and waste, and (2) to propose changes/amendments to the existing standard contract documents to minimise/avoid rework. In terms of construction waste management, all the reviewed standard contract documents have deficiencies. The parties that produce the contract documents include exculpatory clauses to avoid the other party's claims. This approach tends to result in rework and construction waste. The contractual agreements/contract documents should be free from errors, deficiencies, ambiguity and unfair risk transfers to minimise/avoid potential to generate rework and waste.

The Conference on Corporate Interference with Science and Health: fracking, food and wireless: genesis, rationale, and results.

PubMed

Kopald, Deborah E

2013-01-01

A number of serious environmental health hazards created by under-regulated/unregulated industries have morphed into public health crises around the world. The Conference on Corporate Interference with Science and Health (the Conference) was held to examine this trend in three economically significant industries: fracking, food, and wireless. The Conference provided an overview of the structures of these three industries and the history of standard-setting therein, identified the sources of environmental exposures created by these industries, and surveyed the health consequences of these exposures and the policies that have resulted in them. It then examined corporate influence on the setting of these policies and the production of scientific studies and interpretation of their results. The Conference also analyzed the general influence of corporations on the political system and the relationship of this conflict of interest to the aforementioned topics. The concluding discussion focused on what solutions could be implemented to improve public health, including what institutional changes are necessary to promote public awareness and change policy.

Fabrication Division Staff in the Machine Shop

NASA Image and Video Library

1946-07-21

Machine Shop technicians in the Technical Service Building at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. The 260-person Fabrication Division, led by Dan White and John Dalgleish, created almost all of the equipment and models used at the laboratory. The Technical Services Building, referred to as the Fab Shop, contained a number of specialized shops in the 1940s and 1950s. These included a Machine Shop, Sheet Metal Shop, Wood and Pattern Shop, Instrument Shop, Thermocouple Shop, Heat Treating Shop, Metallurgical Laboratory, and Fabrication Office. The Machine Shop fabricated specialized research equipment not commercially available. During World War II these technicians produced high-speed cameras for combustion research, impellers and other supercharger components, and key equipment for the lab’s first supersonic wind tunnel. The Wood and Pattern Shop created everything from control panels and cabinets to aircraft model molds for sheet metal work. The Sheet Metal Shop had the ability to work with 0.01 to 4-inch thick steel plates. The Instrument Shop specialized in miniature parts and instrumentation, while the Thermocouple Shop standardized the installation of pitot tubes and thermocouples.

Implementing a Global Tool for Mercy Corps Based on Spatially Continuous Precipitation Analysis for Resiliency Monitoring and Measuring at the Community-Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomlin, J. N.; El-Behaedi, R.; McCartney, S.; Lingo, R.; Thieme, A.

2017-12-01

Global water resources are important for societies, economies, and the environment. In Niger, limited water resources restrict the expansion of agriculture and communities. Mercy Corps currently works in over 40 countries around the world to address a variety of stresses which include water resources and building long-term food resilience. As Mercy Corps seeks to integrate the use of Earth observations, NASA has established a partnership to help facilitate this effort incorporating Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), and Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) data to create a standardized precipitation index that highlights low and high rainfall from 1981 - 2016. The team created a Google Earth Engine tool that combines precipitation data with other metrics of stress in Niger. The system is designed to be able to incorporate groundwater storage data as it becomes available. This tool allows for near real-time updates of trends in precipitation and improves Mercy Corps' ability to spatially evaluate changes in resiliency by monitoring shocks and stressors.

Food-and-beverage environment and procurement policies for healthier work environments.

PubMed

Gardner, Christopher D; Whitsel, Laurie P; Thorndike, Anne N; Marrow, Mary W; Otten, Jennifer J; Foster, Gary D; Carson, Jo Ann S; Johnson, Rachel K

2014-06-01

The importance of creating healthier work environments by providing healthy foods and beverages in worksite cafeterias, in on-site vending machines, and at meetings and conferences is drawing increasing attention. Large employers, federal and state governments, and hospital systems are significant purchasers and providers of food and beverages. The American Heart Association, federal government, and other organizations have created procurement standards to guide healthy purchasing by these entities. There is a need to review how procurement standards are currently implemented, to identify important minimum criteria for evaluating health and purchasing outcomes, and to recognize significant barriers and challenges to implementation, along with success stories. The purpose of this policy paper is to describe the role of food-and-beverage environment and procurement policy standards in creating healthier worksite environments; to review recently created national model standards; to identify elements across the standards that are important to consider for incorporation into policies; and to delineate issues to address as standards are implemented across the country. © 2014 International Life Sciences Institute.

Real-world exhaust temperature profiles of on-road heavy-duty diesel vehicles equipped with selective catalytic reduction.

PubMed

Boriboonsomsin, Kanok; Durbin, Thomas; Scora, George; Johnson, Kent; Sandez, Daniel; Vu, Alexander; Jiang, Yu; Burnette, Andrew; Yoon, Seungju; Collins, John; Dai, Zhen; Fulper, Carl; Kishan, Sandeep; Sabisch, Michael; Jackson, Doug

2018-09-01

On-road heavy-duty diesel vehicles are a major contributor of oxides of nitrogen (NO x ) emissions. In the US, many heavy-duty diesel vehicles employ selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology to meet the 2010 emission standard for NO x . Typically, SCR needs to be at least 200°C before a significant level of NO x reduction is achieved. However, this SCR temperature requirement may not be met under some real-world operating conditions, such as during cold starts, long idling, or low speed/low engine load driving activities. The frequency of vehicle operation with low SCR temperature varies partly by the vehicle's vocational use. In this study, detailed vehicle and engine activity data were collected from 90 heavy-duty vehicles involved in a range of vocations, including line haul, drayage, construction, agricultural, food distribution, beverage distribution, refuse, public work, and utility repair. The data were used to create real-world SCR temperature and engine load profiles and identify the fraction of vehicle operating time that SCR may not be as effective for NO x control. It is found that the vehicles participated in this study operate with SCR temperature lower than 200°C for 11-70% of the time depending on their vocation type. This implies that real-world NO x control efficiency could deviate from the control efficiency observed during engine certification. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

SEGY to ASCII Conversion and Plotting Program 2.0

USGS Publications Warehouse

Goldman, Mark R.

2005-01-01

INTRODUCTION SEGY has long been a standard format for storing seismic data and header information. Almost every seismic processing package can read and write seismic data in SEGY format. In the data processing world, however, ASCII format is the 'universal' standard format. Very few general-purpose plotting or computation programs will accept data in SEGY format. The software presented in this report, referred to as SEGY to ASCII (SAC), converts seismic data written in SEGY format (Barry et al., 1975) to an ASCII data file, and then creates a postscript file of the seismic data using a general plotting package (GMT, Wessel and Smith, 1995). The resulting postscript file may be plotted by any standard postscript plotting program. There are two versions of SAC: one version for plotting a SEGY file that contains a single gather, such as a stacked CDP or migrated section, and a second version for plotting multiple gathers from a SEGY file containing more than one gather, such as a collection of shot gathers. Note that if a SEGY file has multiple gathers, then each gather must have the same number of traces per gather, and each trace must have the same sample interval and number of samples per trace. SAC will read several common standards of SEGY data, including SEGY files with sample values written in either IBM or IEEE floating-point format. In addition, utility programs are present to convert non-standard Seismic Unix (.sux) SEGY files and PASSCAL (.rsy) SEGY files to standard SEGY files. SAC allows complete user control over all plotting parameters including label size and font, tick mark intervals, trace scaling, and the inclusion of a title and descriptive text. SAC shell scripts create a postscript image of the seismic data in vector rather than bitmap format, using GMT's pswiggle command. Although this can produce a very large postscript file, the image quality is generally superior to that of a bitmap image, and commercial programs such as Adobe Illustrator? can manipulate the image more efficiently.

Integrating digital educational content created and stored within disparate software environments: an extensible markup language (XML) solution in real-world use.

PubMed

Frank, M S; Schultz, T; Dreyer, K

2001-06-01

To provide a standardized and scaleable mechanism for exchanging digital radiologic educational content between software systems that use disparate authoring, storage, and presentation technologies. Our institution uses two distinct software systems for creating educational content for radiology. Each system is used to create in-house educational content as well as commercial educational products. One system is an authoring and viewing application that facilitates the input and storage of hierarchical knowledge and associated imagery, and is capable of supporting a variety of entity relationships. This system is primarily used for the production and subsequent viewing of educational CD-ROMS. Another software system is primarily used for radiologic education on the world wide web. This system facilitates input and storage of interactive knowledge and associated imagery, delivering this content over the internet in a Socratic manner simulating in-person interaction with an expert. A subset of knowledge entities common to both systems was derived. An additional subset of knowledge entities that could be bidirectionally mapped via algorithmic transforms was also derived. An extensible markup language (XML) object model and associated lexicon were then created to represent these knowledge entities and their interactive behaviors. Forward-looking attention was exercised in the creation of the object model in order to facilitate straightforward future integration of other sources of educational content. XML generators and interpreters were written for both systems. Deriving the XML object model and lexicon was the most critical and time-consuming aspect of the project. The coding of the XML generators and interpreters required only a few hours for each environment. Subsequently, the transfer of hundreds of educational cases and thematic presentations between the systems can now be accomplished in a matter of minutes. The use of algorithmic transforms results in nearly 100% transfer of context as well as content, thus providing "presentation-ready" outcomes. The automation of knowledge exchange between dissimilar digital teaching environments magnifies the efforts of educators and enriches the learning experience for participants. XML is a powerful and useful mechanism for transfering educational content, as well as the context and interactive behaviors of such content, between disparate systems.

No Longer Have to Choose

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, H.; Ritchey, N. A.

2017-12-01

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) once was three separate data centers (NGDC, NODC, and NCDC). In 2015 the three centers merged into NCEI. NCEI has refined the art of long term preservation and stewardship practices throughout the life-cycle of various types of data. NCEI can help you navigate and make the complicated world of preserving your data user-friendly. Using tools at NCEI, data providers can request data to be archived, submit data for archival and create complete International Organization for Standardization (ISO) metadata records with ease. To ensure traceability, Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are minted for published data sets. The services offered at NCEI follow standards and NOAA directives such as the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) - Reference Model (ISO 14721) to ensure consistent long-term preservation for the Nation's resource of global environmental data for a broad spectrum of users. The implementation of these standards supports the data to be accessible, independently understandable and reproducible in an easy to understand format for all types of users. Insights from combined knowledge of 100+years of various domain and data management and preservation and the tools supporting these functions will be shared.

Standardizing practices: a socio-history of experimental systems in classical genetic and virological cancer research, ca. 1920-1978.

PubMed

Fujimura, J H

1996-01-01

This paper presents a narrative history of technologies in cancer research circa 1920-1978 and a theoretical perspective on the complex, intertwined relationships between scientific problems, material practices and technologies, concepts and theories, and other historical circumstances. The history presents several active lines of research and technology development in the genetics of cancer in the United States which were constitutive of proto-oncogene work in its current form. I write this history from the perspective of technology development. Scientists participating in cancer research created tools with which to study their problems of interest, but the development of the tools also influenced the questions asked and answered in the form of concepts and theories developed. These tools included genetic ideas of the 1920s, inbred mouse colonies, chemicals and antibiotics developed during World War Two, tissue cultures and their technical procedures, and viruses. I examine these tools as standardized experimental systems that standardized materials as well as practices in laboratories. Inbred animals, tissue culture materials and methods, and tumor viruses as experimental systems gave materiality to "genes' and "cancer'. They are technical-natural objects that stand-in for nature in the laboratory.

Acute pesticide poisoning: a proposed classification tool.

PubMed

Thundiyil, Josef G; Stober, Judy; Besbelli, Nida; Pronczuk, Jenny

2008-03-01

Cases of acute pesticide poisoning (APP) account for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Developing countries are particularly susceptible due to poorer regulation, lack of surveillance systems, less enforcement, lack of training and inadequate access to information systems. Previous research has demonstrated wide variability in incidence rates for APP. This is possibly due to inconsistent reporting methodology and exclusion of occupational and non-intentional poisonings. The purpose of this document is to create a standard case definition to facilitate the identification and diagnosis of all causes of APP, especially at the field level, rural clinics and primary health-care systems. This document is a synthesis of existing literature and case definitions that have been previously proposed by other authors around the world. It provides a standardized case definition and classification scheme for APP into categories of probable, possible and unlikely/unknown cases. Its use is intended to be applicable worldwide to contribute to identification of the scope of existing problems and thus promote action for improved management and prevention. By enabling a field diagnosis for APP, this standardized case definition may facilitate immediate medical management of pesticide poisoning and aid in estimating its incidence.

“Standardization through Mechanization”

PubMed Central

KIRK, ROBERT G. W.

2012-01-01

“In all his work,” Science News-Letter reported on 17 August 1940, “Reyniers follows a slogan of his own, follows it so zealously as to make it almost a fetish: standardization through mechanization.”1 Utilizing new technologies that he designed and built, James Reyniers came to “wide notice in the world of science” due to his innovative approach to standardizing organisms for use as experimental tools. “Ordinarily, when a scientist wants to study an unknown germ (or drug, or nutrient) he tries it out on an experimental animal,” Life magazine explained in September 1949 when reporting Reyniers’s innovative technologies. “But since all laboratory animals are invariably contaminated by a host of unknown germs, he can never be absolutely sure that results he sees are really caused by the agent he is testing. This problem … can be solved only by using animals whose bodies contain no germs at all. Now, for the first time, such animals are available.”2 Reyniers had extended the bacteriological ideal of pure culture to encompass the whole organism, creating “bacteriologically blank” organisms, or “biological tabula rasa,” which he believed formed ideal tools for experimental science. PMID:22530388

Introduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bainbridge, William Sims

This brief introductory chapter sets the stage for a broad discussion of many aspects of virtual worlds, by comparing episodes experienced by two avatar researchers, one in Second Life (SL), and the other in Star Wars Galaxies (SWG). Interviewer Wilber attends a medieval dance on an SL island created by Starfleet, an innovative and hard-working group of 500 Star Trek fans, who have created working virtual technology and soaring architecture to make real their fantasies about the human future. Algorithma Teq visits the Mos Eisley Cantina in SWG, where Luke Skywalker originally met Han Solo, and is scrutinized by two Imperial storm troopers, even as she attempts to remain aloof from the Star Wars mythos and simply practice her engineering skills in making droids. It can be useful to distinguish gamelike virtual worlds from non-game worlds, yet as these examples show, they are not distinct categories, and virtual worlds inevitably mix fantasy and reality in complex ways.

United Space Alliance LLC Parachute Refurbishment Facility Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Esser, Valerie; Pessaro, Martha; Young, Angela

2007-01-01

The Parachute Refurbishment Facility Model was created to reflect the flow of hardware through the facility using anticipated start and delivery times from a project level IV schedule. Distributions for task times were built using historical build data for SFOC work and new data generated for CLV/ARES task times. The model currently processes 633 line items from 14 SFOC builds for flight readiness, 16 SFOC builds returning from flight for defoul, wash, and dry operations, 12 builds for CLV manufacturing operations, and 1 ARES 1X build. Modeling the planned workflow through the PRF is providing a reliable way to predict the capability of the facility as well as the manpower resource need. Creating a real world process allows for real world problems to be identified and potential workarounds to be implemented in a safe, simulated world before taking it to the next step, implementation in the real world.

Creating Standards-Based Technology Education Facilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daugherty, Michael K.; Klenke, Andrew M.; Neden, Michael

2008-01-01

One of the most intimidating tasks faced by new or practicing technology education teachers is the challenge of creating new facilities or renovating current facilities for a new purpose. While the fourth program standard in "Advancing Excellence in Technological Literacy: Student Assessment, Professional Development, and Program Standards (AETL)"…

Educational Applications on the World Wide Web: An Example Using Amphion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friedman, Jane

1998-01-01

There is a great deal of excitement about using the internet and the World Wide Web in education. There are such exciting possibilities and there is a wealth and variety of material up on the web. There are however many problems, problems of access and resources, problems of quality -- for every excellent resource there are many poor ones, and there are insufficiently explored problems of teacher training and motivation. For example, Wiesenmayer and Meadows report on a study of 347 West Virginia science teachers. These teachers were enrolled in a week-long summer workshop to introduce them to the internet and its educational potential. The teachers were asked to review science sites as to overall quality and then about their usefulness in their own classrooms. The teachers were enthusiastic about the web, and gave two-thirds of the sites high ratings, and essentially all the rest average ratings. But alarmingly, over 80% of these sites were viewed as having no direct applicability in the teacher's own classroom. This summer I was assigned to work on the Amphion project in the Automated Software Engineering Group under the leadership of Michael Lowry. I wished to find educational applications of the Amphion system, which in its current implementation can be used to create fortran programs and animations using the SPICE libraries created by the NAIF group at JPL. I wished to find an application which provided real added educational value, which was in line with educational curriculum standards and which would serve a documented need of the educational community. The application selected was teaching about the causes of the seasons -- at the approximately the fourth, fifth, sixth grade level. This topic was chosen because it is in line with national curriculum standards. The fourth, fifth, sixth grade level was selected to coincide with the grade level served by the Ames Aerospace Encounter, which services 10,000 children a year on field trips. The hope is that eventually the Ames Aerospace Encounter could be used as a test bed for the lessons developed. The topic is one which is difficult to teach and the necessity for new methods is documented in the educational literature. Current educational standards indicate that seasons should be part of the elementary school curriculum.

P.E. & Sports Studies toward Peace in the World. The Establishment of World Academy of Physical Education and Sports Studies for All Nations of the World (NGO, Non Governmental Organization).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osada, Noriaki

This paper discusses how to foster peace in the world via the establishment of global physical education and sports studies. It begins by defining the word human as a way to grasp the entirety of the people living throughout the world. It goes on to discuss a hypothesis for creating ball game studies, explaining that when a human plays a ball…

The ideal elf: identity exploration in World of Warcraft.

PubMed

Bessière, Katherine; Seay, A Fleming; Kiesler, Sara

2007-08-01

In this study, we examine the identity exploration possibilities presented by online multiplayer games in which players use graphics tools and character-creation software to construct an avatar, or character. We predicted World of Warcraft players would create their main character more similar to their ideal self than the players themselves were. Our results support this idea; a sample of players rated their character as having more favorable attributes that were more favorable than their own self-rated attributes. This trend was stronger among those with lower psychological well-being, who rated themselves comparatively lower than they rated their character. Our results suggest that the game world allows players the freedom to create successful virtual selves regardless of the constraints of their actual situation.

Using Technology to Develop a Collaborative-Reflective Teaching Practice toward Synthecultural Competence: An Ethnographic Case Study in World Language Teacher Preparation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webber, Dana E.

2013-01-01

Using technology to develop a collaborative-reflective teaching practice in a world language education methods course block for teaching certification creates unique opportunities for world language education undergraduates to learn to develop synthecultural competence for education. Such a program allows undergraduates to expand their capacity to…

Empowering the Self, Creating Worlds: Lesbian and Gay Latina/o College Students' Identity Negotiation in Figured Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pena-Talamantes, Abraham E.

2013-01-01

Drawing from Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, and Cain's (1998) identity theory, this study sought to understand how six self-identified lesbian and gay Latina/o college students negotiated their sexual and ethnic identities. Participants identified two equally flawed dimensions, the hometown and college figured worlds, from which they sought an…

Virtual Worlds: A New Opportunity for People with Lifelong Disability?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stendal, Karen; Balandin, Susan; Molka-Danielsen, Judith

2011-01-01

Virtual worlds, such as Second Life[R], are the latest star in the online communication sky. Created by Linden Lab, Second Life is a three-dimensional environment that provides a context for avatars to communicate and socialise with other avatars in a variety of settings (Bell, 2009). Virtual worlds have been used to train people with intellectual…

Creating "A World Elsewhere"--The Self Resisting Society: A Cultural Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raschke, Debrah

Teachers of composition have an obligation to students to know what assumptions underlie their teaching methodology. Every writing course, no matter what its format, represents a particular construct of reality, of seeing the world and the individual in the world, which, in addition to writing skills, is passed on to students. Several useful…

Camp Creates a World of Magic: The Trail to Innovative Thinking Begins at the ACA National Conference.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coleman, Marla

2001-01-01

The American Camping Association 2001 National Conference at Walt Disney World draws parallels between the administration of camp programs and practices at Disney World. Seminars led by Disney managers focus on recruitment of college students, development of a corporate culture and philosophy, emphasis on environment, and quality service that…

Teaching for a Safer World: Lessons from the World Peace Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Jamie Feild; Hunter, John

2013-01-01

In an era of unprecedented volatility, ambiguity, impassioned conflict, and intractable problems that affect the basic living conditions and prosperity of many, education has never been more important or more in need of purpose, meaning, and applicability. The solutions to the dilemmas that define our world will be created and implemented in the…

Creating "Third Spaces": Promoting Learning through Dialogue

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D.

2010-01-01

Wilhelm offers us a definition of "third spaces" as "more democratic and dialogic spaces than a classroom, as well as a metaphor for a space in which new, hybrid, and challenging discourses and real-world knowledge and applications are created." With helpful background and examples, he urges us to create such spaces for our students, adamant that…

Engineering as a Social Activity: Preparing Engineers to Thrive in the Changing World of Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joyner, Fredricka F.; Mann, Derek T. Y.; Harris, Todd

2012-01-01

Key macro-trends are combining to create a new work context for the practice of engineering. Telecommuting and virtual teams create myriad possibilities and challenges related to managing work and workers. Social network technology tools allow for unprecedented global, 24/7 collaboration. Globalization has created hyper-diverse organizations,…

Mathematical Modeling in Science: Using Spreadsheets to Create Mathematical Models and Address Scientific Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horton, Robert M.; Leonard, William H.

2005-01-01

In science, inquiry is used as students explore important and interesting questions concerning the world around them. In mathematics, one contemporary inquiry approach is to create models that describe real phenomena. Creating mathematical models using spreadsheets can help students learn at deep levels in both science and mathematics, and give…

Playing with Process: Video Game Choice as a Model of Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waelchli, Paul

2010-01-01

Popular culture experience in video games creates avenues to practice information literacy skills and model research in a real-world setting. Video games create a unique popular culture experience where players can invest dozens of hours on one game, create characters to identify with, organize skill sets and plot points, collaborate with people…

A Galaxy Zoo - WorldWide Telescope Mashup: Expanding User Defined Exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luebbert, Jarod; Sands, M.; Fay, J.; Smith, A.; Gay, P. L.; Galaxy Zoo Team

2010-01-01

We present a new way of exploring your favorite Galaxy Zoo galaxies within the context of the sky using Microsoft Research's WorldWide Telescope. Galaxy Zoo has a fantastic community that is eager to learn and contribute to science through morphological classifications of galaxies. WorldWide Telescope is an interactive observatory that allows users to explore the sky. WorldWide Telescope uses images from the world's best telescopes, including the galaxies of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. WorldWide Telescope provides a fantastic sense of size and distance that is hard to experience in Galaxy Zoo. Creating tours from favorite galaxies directly from Galaxy Zoo aims to solve this dilemma.The incorporation of Galaxy Zoo and WorldWide telescope provides a great resource for users to learn more about the galaxies they are classifying. Users can now explore the areas around certain galaxies and view information about that location from within WorldWide Telescope. Not only does this encourage self-motivated research but after tours are created they can be shared with anyone. We hope this will help spread citizen science to different audiences via email, Facebook, and Twitter.Without the WorldWide Telescope team at Microsoft Research this project would not have been possible. Please go start exploring at http://wwt.galaxyzoo.org. This project was funded through the Microsoft Research Academic Program.

Population Health Metrics Research Consortium gold standard verbal autopsy validation study: design, implementation, and development of analysis datasets

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Verbal autopsy methods are critically important for evaluating the leading causes of death in populations without adequate vital registration systems. With a myriad of analytical and data collection approaches, it is essential to create a high quality validation dataset from different populations to evaluate comparative method performance and make recommendations for future verbal autopsy implementation. This study was undertaken to compile a set of strictly defined gold standard deaths for which verbal autopsies were collected to validate the accuracy of different methods of verbal autopsy cause of death assignment. Methods Data collection was implemented in six sites in four countries: Andhra Pradesh, India; Bohol, Philippines; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Mexico City, Mexico; Pemba Island, Tanzania; and Uttar Pradesh, India. The Population Health Metrics Research Consortium (PHMRC) developed stringent diagnostic criteria including laboratory, pathology, and medical imaging findings to identify gold standard deaths in health facilities as well as an enhanced verbal autopsy instrument based on World Health Organization (WHO) standards. A cause list was constructed based on the WHO Global Burden of Disease estimates of the leading causes of death, potential to identify unique signs and symptoms, and the likely existence of sufficient medical technology to ascertain gold standard cases. Blinded verbal autopsies were collected on all gold standard deaths. Results Over 12,000 verbal autopsies on deaths with gold standard diagnoses were collected (7,836 adults, 2,075 children, 1,629 neonates, and 1,002 stillbirths). Difficulties in finding sufficient cases to meet gold standard criteria as well as problems with misclassification for certain causes meant that the target list of causes for analysis was reduced to 34 for adults, 21 for children, and 10 for neonates, excluding stillbirths. To ensure strict independence for the validation of methods and assessment of comparative performance, 500 test-train datasets were created from the universe of cases, covering a range of cause-specific compositions. Conclusions This unique, robust validation dataset will allow scholars to evaluate the performance of different verbal autopsy analytic methods as well as instrument design. This dataset can be used to inform the implementation of verbal autopsies to more reliably ascertain cause of death in national health information systems. PMID:21816095

Developing a standardized healthcare cost data warehouse.

PubMed

Visscher, Sue L; Naessens, James M; Yawn, Barbara P; Reinalda, Megan S; Anderson, Stephanie S; Borah, Bijan J

2017-06-12

Research addressing value in healthcare requires a measure of cost. While there are many sources and types of cost data, each has strengths and weaknesses. Many researchers appear to create study-specific cost datasets, but the explanations of their costing methodologies are not always clear, causing their results to be difficult to interpret. Our solution, described in this paper, was to use widely accepted costing methodologies to create a service-level, standardized healthcare cost data warehouse from an institutional perspective that includes all professional and hospital-billed services for our patients. The warehouse is based on a National Institutes of Research-funded research infrastructure containing the linked health records and medical care administrative data of two healthcare providers and their affiliated hospitals. Since all patients are identified in the data warehouse, their costs can be linked to other systems and databases, such as electronic health records, tumor registries, and disease or treatment registries. We describe the two institutions' administrative source data; the reference files, which include Medicare fee schedules and cost reports; the process of creating standardized costs; and the warehouse structure. The costing algorithm can create inflation-adjusted standardized costs at the service line level for defined study cohorts on request. The resulting standardized costs contained in the data warehouse can be used to create detailed, bottom-up analyses of professional and facility costs of procedures, medical conditions, and patient care cycles without revealing business-sensitive information. After its creation, a standardized cost data warehouse is relatively easy to maintain and can be expanded to include data from other providers. Individual investigators who may not have sufficient knowledge about administrative data do not have to try to create their own standardized costs on a project-by-project basis because our data warehouse generates standardized costs for defined cohorts upon request.

World Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ceres, 1978

1978-01-01

Presents a report that deals with several topics from different parts of the world. A system for creating more meaningful maps, the recycling of organic wastes in agriculture in China, and producing pigs and poultry without pollution problems are among the topics presented. (HM)

Game-Based Learning Theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laughlin, Daniel

2008-01-01

Persistent Immersive Synthetic Environments (PISE) are not just connection points, they are meeting places. They are the new public squares, village centers, malt shops, malls and pubs all rolled into one. They come with a sense of 'thereness" that engages the mind like a real place does. Learning starts as a real code. The code defines "objects." The objects exist in computer space, known as the "grid." The objects and space combine to create a "place." A "world" is created, Before long, the grid and code becomes obscure, and the "world maintains focus.

Modelling the role of national system of innovation in economical differentiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruiz, Ricardo M.; Albuquerque, Eduardo; Ribeiro, Leonardo C.; Bernardes, Américo T.

2005-07-01

Nowadays it is well accepted that science and technology has a fundamental role in the economic development (GNP per capita) of any country. Aiming to study this role, we introduce a model that creates an artificial world economy that is a network of countries. Each country has its own national system of innovation (represented by a technological parameter). The interactions among the countries are given by functions that connect their prices, demands and incomes. Starting from random values, the artificial world economy self-organize itself and create hierarchies of countries.

Comparison of real-world and certification emission rates for light duty gasoline vehicles.

PubMed

Khan, Tanzila; Frey, H Christopher

2018-05-01

U.S. light duty vehicles are subject to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emission standards. Emission compliance is determined by certification testing of selected emissions from representative vehicles on standard driving cycles using chassis dynamometers. Test results are also used in many emission inventories. The dynamometer based emission rates are adjusted to provide the certification levels (CL), which must be lower than the standards for compliance. Although standard driving cycles are based on specific observations of real-world driving, they are not necessarily real-world representative. A systematic comparison of the real-world emission rates of U.S. light duty gasoline vehicles (LDGVs) versus CL, and emission standards has not been previously reported. The purpose of this work is to compare regulatory limits (both CLs and emission standards) and the real-world emissions of LDGVs. The sensitivity of the comparisons to cold start emission was assessed. Portable Emission Measurement Systems (PEMS) were used to measure hot stabilized exhaust emissions of 122 LDGVs on a specified 110 mile test route. Cold start emissions were measured with PEMS for a selected vehicle sample of 32 vehicles. Emissions were measured for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NO x ). For each vehicle, a Vehicle Specific Power (VSP) modal emission rate model was developed. The VSP modal rates were weighted by the standard driving cycles and real-world driving cycles to estimate the respective cycle average emission rates (CAERs). Measured vehicles were matched with certification test vehicles for comparison. For systematic trends in comparison, vehicles were classified into four groups based on the Tier 1 and Tier 2 emission regulation, and the vehicle type such as passenger car and passenger truck. Depending on the cycle-pollutant and the vehicle groups, hot stabilized CAERs are on average either statistically significantly higher than or significantly not different from the CLs, with the exception of CO on the US06 cycle, for which real-world rates are lower than CLs. Compared to the emission standards, hot stabilized CAERs are on average significantly lower. However, comparisons of CAERs and standards are sensitive to cold start emissions. For some combinations of pollutants and vehicle groups, cold start inclusive CAERs are higher than the corresponding CLs and as high as the standards. The CLs, which are based on standard driving cycles, tend to underestimate real-world emission rates. Therefore, emission inventory estimates using certification test results are potentially underestimated. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nonvolatile, semivolatile, or volatile: redefining volatile for volatile organic compounds.

PubMed

Võ, Uyên-Uyén T; Morris, Michael P

2014-06-01

Although widely used in air quality regulatory frameworks, the term "volatile organic compound" (VOC) is poorly defined. Numerous standardized tests are currently used in regulations to determine VOC content (and thus volatility), but in many cases the tests do not agree with each other, nor do they always accurately represent actual evaporation rates under ambient conditions. The parameters (time, temperature, reference material, column polarity, etc.) used in the definitions and the associated test methods were created without a significant evaluation of volatilization characteristics in real world settings. Not only do these differences lead to varying VOC content results, but occasionally they conflict with one another. An ambient evaporation study of selected compounds and a few formulated products was conducted and the results were compared to several current VOC test methodologies: SCAQMD Method 313 (M313), ASTM Standard Test Method E 1868-10 (E1868), and US. EPA Reference Method 24 (M24). The ambient evaporation study showed a definite distinction between nonvolatile, semivolatile, and volatile compounds. Some low vapor pressure (LVP) solvents, currently considered exempt as VOCs by some methods, volatilize at ambient conditions nearly as rapidly as the traditional high-volatility solvents they are meant to replace. Conversely, bio-based and heavy hydrocarbons did not readily volatilize, though they often are calculated as VOCs in some traditional test methods. The study suggests that regulatory standards should be reevaluated to more accurately reflect real-world emission from the use of VOC containing products. The definition of VOC in current test methods may lead to regulations that exclude otherwise viable alternatives or allow substitutions of chemicals that may limit the environmental benefits sought in the regulation. A study was conducted to examine volatility of several compounds and a few formulated products under several current VOC test methodologies and ambient evaporation. This paper provides ample evidence to warrant a reevaluation of regulatory standards and provides a framework for progressive developments based on reasonable and scientifically justifiable definitions of VOCs.

Using URIs to effectively transmit sensor data and metadata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kokkinaki, Alexandra; Buck, Justin; Darroch, Louise; Gardner, Thomas

2017-04-01

Autonomous ocean observation is massively increasing the number of sensors in the ocean. Accordingly, the continuing increase in datasets produced, makes selecting sensors that are fit for purpose a growing challenge. Decision making on selecting quality sensor data, is based on the sensor's metadata, i.e. manufacturer specifications, history of calibrations etc. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has developed the Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) standards to facilitate integration and interoperability of sensor data and metadata. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Semantic Web technologies enable machine comprehensibility promoting sophisticated linking and processing of data published on the web. Linking the sensor's data and metadata according to the above-mentioned standards can yield practical difficulties, because of internal hardware bandwidth restrictions and a requirement to constrain data transmission costs. Our approach addresses these practical difficulties by uniquely identifying sensor and platform models and instances through URIs, which resolve via content negotiation to either OGC's sensor meta language, sensorML or W3C's Linked Data. Data transmitted by a sensor incorporate the sensor's unique URI to refer to its metadata. Sensor and platform model URIs and descriptions are created and hosted by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) linked systems service. The sensor owner creates the sensor and platform instance URIs prior and during sensor deployment, through an updatable web form, the Sensor Instance Form (SIF). SIF enables model and instance URI association but also platform and sensor linking. The use of URIs, which are dynamically generated through the SIF, offers both practical and economical benefits to the implementation of SWE and Linked Data standards in near real time systems. Data can be linked to metadata dynamically in-situ while saving on the costs associated to the transmission of long metadata descriptions. The transmission of short URIs also enables the implementation of standards on systems where it is impractical, such as legacy hardware.

Advancing Teacher Development: Institutions of Higher Education Use the NBPTS Standards To Create Communities for Professional Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Arlington, VA.

This monograph presents eight cases of schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDEs) in which faculty members are creating experiences in teacher education that are standards-based, elevate the conversation about the profession among teachers, and create more coherent wholeness in which being an educator includes membership in a distinct…

State Standards and Digital Primary Sources: A Divergence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedman, Adam

2006-01-01

The past decade has witnessed a proliferation of state standards and their associated tests in public schools in order to hold schools, teachers, and students accountable for learning outcomes and achievement. In this qualitative study of eight world history and world geography teachers, the degree to which the Virginia Standards of Learning…

Alignment of World Language Standards and Assessments: A Multiple Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaplan, Carolyn Shemwell

2016-01-01

Previous research has examined world language classroom-based assessment practices as well as the impact of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project, 1999) on practice. However, the extent to which K-12 teachers' assessment practices reflect national and state…

ICH: an exclusive club of drug regulatory agencies and drug companies imposing its rules on the rest of the world.

PubMed

2010-08-01

Under the pretext of harmonising regulatory requirements for marketing authorisation of new drugs, the drug regulatory agencies of the world's wealthiest countries and three pharmaceutical industry trade associations, joined together since 1990 in the ICH, are promoting their own interests by imposing their criteria for evaluating drugs on the whole world. The toxicity standards advocated by ICH sometimes promote faster, cheaper drug development over patient protection. The drug quality standards advocated by ICH sometimes increase manufacturing costs without providing any public health benefit. It would be preferable if the World Health Organization were in charge of setting standards for drug development, focusing on patients' interests.

International Emergency Medical Teams Training Workshop Special Report.

PubMed

Albina, Anthony; Archer, Laura; Boivin, Marlène; Cranmer, Hilarie; Johnson, Kirsten; Krishnaraj, Gautham; Maneshi, Anali; Oddy, Lisa; Redwood-Campbell, Lynda; Russell, Rebecca

2018-04-26

The World Health Organization's (WHO; Geneva, Switzerland) Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Initiative created guidelines which define the basic procedures to be followed by personnel and teams, as well as the critical points to discuss before deploying a field hospital. However, to date, there is no formal standardized training program established for EMTs before deployment. Recognizing that the World Association of Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM; Madison, Wisconsin USA) Congress brings together a diverse group of key stakeholders, a pre-Congress workshop was organized to seek out collective expertise and to identify key EMT training competencies for the future development of training programs and protocols. The future of EMT training should include standardization of curriculum and the recognition or accreditation of selected training programs. The outputs of this pre-WADEM Congress workshop provide an initial contribution to the EMT Training Working Group, as this group works on mapping training, competencies, and curriculum. Common EMT training themes that were identified as fundamental during the pre-Congress workshop include: the ability to adapt one's professional skills to low-resource settings; context-specific training, including the ability to serve the needs of the affected population in natural disasters; training together as a multi-disciplinary EMT prior to deployment; and the value of simulation in training. AlbinaA, ArcherL, BoivinM, CranmerH, JohnsonK, KrishnarajG, ManeshiA, OddyL, Redwood-CampbellL, RussellR. International Emergency Medical Teams training workshop special report.

Predictive Scheduling for Electric Vehicles Considering Uncertainty of Load and User Behaviors

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

Wang, Bin; Huang, Rui; Wang, Yubo

2016-05-02

Un-coordinated Electric Vehicle (EV) charging can create unexpected load in local distribution grid, which may degrade the power quality and system reliability. The uncertainty of EV load, user behaviors and other baseload in distribution grid, is one of challenges that impedes optimal control for EV charging problem. Previous researches did not fully solve this problem due to lack of real-world EV charging data and proper stochastic model to describe these behaviors. In this paper, we propose a new predictive EV scheduling algorithm (PESA) inspired by Model Predictive Control (MPC), which includes a dynamic load estimation module and a predictive optimizationmore » module. The user-related EV load and base load are dynamically estimated based on the historical data. At each time interval, the predictive optimization program will be computed for optimal schedules given the estimated parameters. Only the first element from the algorithm outputs will be implemented according to MPC paradigm. Current-multiplexing function in each Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) is considered and accordingly a virtual load is modeled to handle the uncertainties of future EV energy demands. This system is validated by the real-world EV charging data collected on UCLA campus and the experimental results indicate that our proposed model not only reduces load variation up to 40% but also maintains a high level of robustness. Finally, IEC 61850 standard is utilized to standardize the data models involved, which brings significance to more reliable and large-scale implementation.« less

What about the Firewall? Creating Virtual Worlds in a Public Primary School Using Sim-on-a-Stick

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacka, Lisa; Booth, Kate

2012-01-01

Virtual worlds are highly immersive, engaging and popular computer mediated environments being explored by children and adults. Why then aren't more teachers using virtual worlds in the classroom with primary and secondary school students? Reasons often cited are the learning required to master the technology, low-end graphics cards, poor…

Taking the Student to the World: Teaching Sensitive Issues Using Field Trips

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Short, Fay; Lloyd, Tracey

2017-01-01

Field trips can provide an opportunity to take the student to the world, as an alternative to presenting the world to the student in the classroom. Such trips can create a forum for exploring controversial and distressing topics by exposing the students to first-hand experience, rather than second-hand accounts: witnessing the effects of blind…

Beyond Piñatas, Fortune Cookies, and Wooden Shoes: Using the World Wide Web to Help Children Explore the Whole Wide World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkwood, Donna; Shulsky, Debra; Willis, Jana

2014-01-01

The advent of technology and access to the internet through the World Wide Web have stretched the traditional ways of teaching social studies beyond classroom boundaries. This article explores how teachers can create authentic and contextualized cultural studies experiences for young children by integrating social studies and technology. To…

East Meets West--Two Different Approaches to Progress and the Use of the Earth's Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Burnell

This unit focuses on differing attitudes toward the environment and the philosophies from which those attitudes developed. After finishing this unit, students will: (1) gain an understanding of the concept of "world view"; (2) trace the historical events that created the Western world view; (3) explain the relationship between world view and the…

Learning Behaviors and Interaction Patterns among Students in Virtual Learning Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Chi-Syan; Ma, Jung Tsan; Chen, Yi-Lung; Kuo, Ming-Shiou

2010-01-01

The goal of this study is to investigate how students behave themselves in the virtual learning worlds. The study creates a 3D virtual learning world, entitled the Best Digital Village, and implements a learning program on it. The learning program, the Expo, takes place at the Exhibition Center in the Best Digital Village. The space in the Expo is…

Dear World: How Children around the World Feel about Our Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Temple, Lannis, Ed.

This book is a collection of letters and drawings created by children, that illustrate what they like to do with nature, their fears about the future of nature, and how they would like to treat nature. The book's author traveled the world and visited schools from a variety of areas, including large, medium, and small cities, country towns, and…

Progress since the World Summit for Children: A Statistical Review.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Children's Fund, New York, NY.

One of the strengths of the 1990 World Summit for Children was its emphasis on goals to drive development and shape actions, and on the need to monitor progress, thereby transforming the way the world collected and processed data on children and women and creating a vital base and baseline for progress. In 2000, an exhaustive end-decade review of…

Effects of repeated snowboard exercise in virtual reality with time lags of visual scene behind body rotation on head stability and subjective slalom run performance in healthy young subjects.

PubMed

Wada, Yoshiro; Nishiike, Suetaka; Kitahara, Tadashi; Yamanaka, Toshiaki; Imai, Takao; Ito, Taeko; Sato, Go; Matsuda, Kazunori; Kitamura, Yoshiaki; Takeda, Noriaki

2016-11-01

After repeated snowboard exercises in the virtual reality (VR) world with increasing time lags in trials 3-8, it is suggested that the adaptation to repeated visual-vestibulosomatosensory conflict in the VR world improved dynamic posture control and motor performance in the real world without the development of motion sickness. The VR technology was used and the effects of repeated snowboard exercise examined in the VR world with time lags between visual scene and body rotation on the head stability and slalom run performance during exercise in healthy subjects. Forty-two healthy young subjects participated in the study. After trials 1 and 2 of snowboard exercise in the VR world without time lag, trials 3-8 were conducted with 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 s time lags of the visual scene that the computer creates behind board rotation, respectively. Finally, trial 9 was conducted without time lag. Head linear accelerations and subjective slalom run performance were evaluated. The standard deviations of head linear accelerations in inter-aural direction were significantly increased in trial 8, with a time lag of 0.6 s, but significantly decreased in trial 9 without a time lag, compared with those in trial 2 without a time lag. The subjective scores of slalom run performance were significantly decreased in trial 8, with a time lag of 0.6 s, but significantly increased in trial 9 without a time lag, compared with those in trial 2 without a time lag. Motion sickness was not induced in any subjects.

Economic growth and health progress in Italy: 30 years of National Health Service.

PubMed

Vannelli, Alberto; Buongiorno, Massimo; Zanardo, Michele; Basilico, Valerio; Capriata, Giulio; Rossi, Fabrizio; Pruiti, Vincenzo; Battaglia, Luigi

2012-01-01

On December 23 of 1978, during first Italian recession since the end of World War II, Parliament voted for Law 833 that gives birth to the Italian National Public Health Services (SSN) as the new and alternative model of health care system. It was the beginning of the match of Italian health care with the world class level of the public health care. Each crisis requires solidarity and actions. Maintaining levels of health and other social expenditures is critical to protect life and livelihood and to boost productivity. The purpose of the present study is to establish an alternative point of view to demonstrate that Gross Domestic Product, is a function of health care expenditure. The chronology of the events was created by using the laws published on "Gazzetta Ufficiale" (GU). In order to analyze the corporate effectiveness and efficiency, we have divided the SSN into its three main components, namely resources (input), services (output) and performances (outcome). Health services have certainly been pioneers and are still today standard-bearers of a challenge which has borne its fruits. According to the "Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development", SSN ranks second in the world classification of the return on the health care services in 2000. The World Health Organization has published in 2005 the same result: SSN ranks second in the world for ability and quality of the health care in relationship to the resources invested The continuous reforms of health care system introduced stability to the Italian system more than others countries. Success of SSN function rooted in the ability of system to adapt assuring mechanism of positive feed-back correction. In the future SSN, will required new set of reforms, such as redefinition of structures and mechanisms of governance, strategic plans, clinical administrations.

Assessing the Relative Influence and Efficacy of Public and Private Food Safety Regulation Regimes: Comparing Codex and Global G.A.P. Standards.

PubMed

Halabi, Sam F; Lin, Ching-Fu

An extensive global system of private food regulation is under construction, one that exceeds conventional regulation thought of as being driven by public authorities like FDA and USDA in the U.S. or the Food Standards Agency in the UK. Agrifood and grocer organizations, in concert with some farming groups, have been the primary designers of this new food regulatory regime. These groups have established alliances that compete with national regulators in complex ways. This article analyzes the relationship between public and private sources of food safety regulation by examining standards adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a food safety organization jointly run by the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization and GlobalG.A.P., a farm assurance program created in the late 1990s by supermarket chains and their major suppliers which has now expanded into a global certifying coalition. While Codex standards are adopted, often as written, by national food safety regulators who are principal drivers of the standard setting process, customers for agricultural products in many countries now demand evidence of GlobalG.A.P. certification as a prerequisite for doing business This article tests not only the durability and strength of private sector standard setting in the food safety system, but also the desirability of that system as an alternative to formal, governmental processes embodied, for our purposes, in the standards adopted by Codex. In many cases, official standards and GlobalG.A.P. standards clash in ways that implicate not only food safety but the flow of agricultural products in the global trading system. The article analyzes current weaknesses in both regimes and possibilities for change that will better reconcile the two competing systems.

Archiving and access systems for remote sensing: Chapter 6

USGS Publications Warehouse

Faundeen, John L.; Percivall, George; Baros, Shirley; Baumann, Peter; Becker, Peter H.; Behnke, J.; Benedict, Karl; Colaiacomo, Lucio; Di, Liping; Doescher, Chris; Dominguez, J.; Edberg, Roger; Ferguson, Mark; Foreman, Stephen; Giaretta, David; Hutchison, Vivian; Ip, Alex; James, N.L.; Khalsa, Siri Jodha S.; Lazorchak, B.; Lewis, Adam; Li, Fuqin; Lymburner, Leo; Lynnes, C.S.; Martens, Matt; Melrose, Rachel; Morris, Steve; Mueller, Norman; Navale, Vivek; Navulur, Kumar; Newman, D.J.; Oliver, Simon; Purss, Matthew; Ramapriyan, H.K.; Rew, Russ; Rosen, Michael; Savickas, John; Sixsmith, Joshua; Sohre, Tom; Thau, David; Uhlir, Paul; Wang, Lan-Wei; Young, Jeff

2016-01-01

Focuses on major developments inaugurated by the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, the Group on Earth Observations System of Systems, and the International Council for Science World Data System at the global level; initiatives at national levels to create data centers (e.g. the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Distributed Active Archive Centers and other international space agency counterparts), and non-government systems (e.g. Center for International Earth Science Information Network). Other major elements focus on emerging tool sets, requirements for metadata, data storage and refresh methods, the rise of cloud computing, and questions about what and how much data should be saved. The sub-sections of the chapter address topics relevant to the science, engineering and standards used for state-of-the-art operational and experimental systems.

Windows Into the Real World From a Virtual Globe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rich, J.; Urban-Rich, J.

2007-12-01

Virtual globes such as Google Earth can be great tools for learning about the geographical variation of the earth. The key to virtual globes is the use of satellite imagery to provide a highly accurate view of the earth's surface. However, because the images are not updated regularly, variations in climate and vegetation over time can not be easily seen. In order to enhance the view of the earth and observe these changes by region and over time we are working to add near real time "windows" into the real world from a virtual globe. For the past 4 years we have been installing web cameras in areas of the world that will provide long term monitoring of global changes. By archiving hourly images from arctic, temperate and tropical regions we are creating a visual data set that is already beginning to tell the story of climate variability. The cameras are currently installed in 10 elementary schools in 3 countries and show the student's view out each window. The Windows Around the World program (http://www.WindowsAroundTheWorld.org) uses the images from these cameras to help students gain a better understanding of earth process and variability in climate and vegetation between different regions and over time. Previously we have used standard web based technologies such as DHTML and AJAX to provide near real-time access to these images and also provide enhanced functionality such as dynamic time lapse movies that allow users to see changes over months, days or hours up to the current hour (http://www.windowsaroundtheworld.org/north_america.aspx). We have integrated the camera images from Windows Around the World into Google Earth. Through network links and models we are creating a way for students to "fly" to another school in the program and see what the current view is out the window. By using a model as a screen, the image can be viewed from the same direction as the students who are sitting in a classroom at the participating school. Once at the school, visiting students can move around the area in three dimensions and gain a better understanding of what they are seeing out the window. Currently time-lapse images can be viewed at a lower resolution for all schools on the globe or when flying into an individual school, higher resolution time-lapse images can be seen. The observation of shadows, precipitation, movement of the sun and changes in vegetation allows the viewer to gain a better understanding of how the earth works and how the environment changes between regions and over time. World.org

Missing Pages from the Human Story: World History According to Texas Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noboa, Julio

2012-01-01

For more than a decade, the world history course taught in the public high schools of Texas has provided the only comprehensive overview of the story of humanity to millions of students, most of whom are of Mexican descent. The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills curriculum standard for world history has been foundational for textbook selection,…

Educational use of World Wide Web pages on CD-ROM.

PubMed

Engel, Thomas P; Smith, Michael

2002-01-01

The World Wide Web is increasingly important for medical education. Internet served pages may also be used on a local hard disk or CD-ROM without a network or server. This allows authors to reuse existing content and provide access to users without a network connection. CD-ROM offers several advantages over network delivery of Web pages for several applications. However, creating Web pages for CD-ROM requires careful planning. Issues include file names, relative links, directory names, default pages, server created content, image maps, other file types and embedded programming. With care, it is possible to create server based pages that can be copied directly to CD-ROM. In addition, Web pages on CD-ROM may reference Internet served pages to provide the best features of both methods.

Treasure hunt of mineral resources: a serious game in a virtual world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boniello, Annalisa

2015-04-01

This posterdescribes a geoscience activities on mineral resources for students of 14-18 years old. The activities are created as a treasure hunt of mineral resources, students must pass test and solve questions, search mineral in different environments: near a volcanos, in the river, in a lake, in a cave, under the sea and on a mountain. The activity is created using a virtual environment a virtual world built with a software, Opensim, a opensource software. In this virtual world every student as avatar, a virtual rapresentation of himself, search information, objects, mineral as in a serious game, a digital serious game. In the serious game buit as a treasure hunt, students interact with environment in a learning by doing, and they interact with other students in a cooperative learning and a collaborative environment. In the hunt there is a challenge that student must overcome: understanding what is a mineral resource collecting data on mineral analyzing environments where they are created so the students can improve motivation and learn, and improve scientific skills.

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER DISASTER

EPA Science Inventory

The attack on the World Trade Center (WTC) created an acute environmental disaster of enormous magnitude. This study characterizes the environmental exposures resulting from destruction of the WTC and assesses their effects on health. Methods include ambient air sampling; analyse...

The World Leader in Health Information and Innovation Celebrates 175 Years | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine

MedlinePlus

... NLM 175th Anniversary The World Leader in Health Information and Innovation Celebrates 175 Years Past Issues / Winter ... betterment of American–and global–human health. Creating Information Resources for Researchers Since the dawn of the ...

Ten Tips To Aid Teachers Creating Multimedia Presentations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ennis, Willie; Ennis, Demetria

1996-01-01

Suggestions to help teachers create original multimedia presentations and lessons include building resource teams, knowing intellectual property and copyright issues, analyzing target audiences, carefully selecting media, considering hardware and software requirements, seeking technical support, encouraging distribution on the World Wide Web,…

Intranet Model and Metrics

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-02-01

organization: to add suffi- cient value for its customers to create a sustainable business model . It takes its features and functionality from the mandate...customers to create a sustainable business model . It takes its features and functionality from the mandate to operate at world-class efficiency and

To Teach Standard English or World Englishes? A Balanced Approach to Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrell, Thomas S. C.; Martin, Sonia

2009-01-01

This article suggests that English language teachers should consider all varieties of English, not just British Standard English or American Standard English. In order to better prepare students for the global world, and to show them that their own English is valued, teachers can implement a balanced approach that incorporates the teaching and…

A virtual therapeutic environment with user projective agents.

PubMed

Ookita, S Y; Tokuda, H

2001-02-01

Today, we see the Internet as more than just an information infrastructure, but a socializing place and a safe outlet of inner feelings. Many personalities develop aside from real world life due to its anonymous environment. Virtual world interactions are bringing about new psychological illnesses ranging from netaddiction to technostress, as well as online personality disorders and conflicts in multiple identities that exist in the virtual world. Presently, there are no standard therapy models for the virtual environment. There are very few therapeutic environments, or tools especially made for virtual therapeutic environments. The goal of our research is to provide the therapy model and middleware tools for psychologists to use in virtual therapeutic environments. We propose the Cyber Therapy Model, and Projective Agents, a tool used in the therapeutic environment. To evaluate the effectiveness of the tool, we created a prototype system, called the Virtual Group Counseling System, which is a therapeutic environment that allows the user to participate in group counseling through the eyes of their Projective Agent. Projective Agents inherit the user's personality traits. During the virtual group counseling, the user's Projective Agent interacts and collaborates to recover and increase their psychological growth. The prototype system provides a simulation environment where psychologists can adjust the parameters and customize their own simulation environment. The model and tool is a first attempt toward simulating online personalities that may exist only online, and provide data for observation.

Recent Advances in Geospatial Visualization with the New Google Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, J. C.; Poyart, E.; Yan, S.; Sargent, R.

2017-12-01

Google Earth's detailed, world-wide imagery and terrain data provide a rich backdrop for geospatial visualization at multiple scales, from global to local. The Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is an open standard that has been the primary way for users to author and share data visualizations in Google Earth. Despite its ease of use and flexibility for relatively small amounts of data, users can quickly run into difficulties and limitations working with large-scale or time-varying datasets using KML in Google Earth. Recognizing these challenges, we present our recent work toward extending Google Earth to be a more powerful data visualization platform. We describe a new KML extension to simplify the display of multi-resolution map tile pyramids - which can be created by analysis platforms like Google Earth Engine, or by a variety of other map tile production pipelines. We also describe how this implementation can pave the way to creating novel data visualizations by leveraging custom graphics shaders. Finally, we present our investigations into native support in Google Earth for data storage and transport formats that are well-suited for big raster and vector data visualization. Taken together, these capabilities make it easier to create and share new scientific data visualization experiences using Google Earth, and simplify the integration of Google Earth with existing map data products, services, and analysis pipelines.

Announcing a Community Effort to Create an Information Model for Research Software Archives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Million, C.; Brazier, A.; King, T.; Hayes, A.

2018-04-01

An effort has started to create recommendations and standards for the archiving of planetary science research software. The primary goal is to define an information model that is consistent with OAIS standards.

Pre-Collegiate Teachers and Gary Nash

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sesso, Gloria

2009-01-01

In this article, the author recalls the time she met Gary Nash at UCLA on July 13, 1992, when they began the work of creating the National Standards in History. Professor Nash was the leader in the development of the United States History Standards. In creating the Standards, they were to focus on Historical Thinking. They needed to organize the…

International Safety Regulation and Standards for Space Travel and Commerce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pelton, J. N.; Jakhu, R.

The evolution of air travel has led to the adoption of the 1944 Chicago Convention that created the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), headquartered in Montreal, Canada, and the propagation of aviation safety standards. Today, ICAO standardizes and harmonizes commercial air safety worldwide. Space travel and space safety are still at an early stage of development, and the adoption of international space safety standards and regulation still remains largely at the national level. This paper explores the international treaties and conventions that govern space travel, applications and exploration today and analyzes current efforts to create space safety standards and regulations at the national, regional and global level. Recent efforts to create a commercial space travel industry and to license commercial space ports are foreseen as means to hasten a space safety regulatory process.

"When Did They Make the World Like This?" Discovering New Worlds through an Ancient Map.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goben, Victoria

1993-01-01

Describes a teaching activity in which middle school students draw maps based on map models used in ancient Babylon. Contends that this approach serves as a transition from the study of world civilizations in grade six to the U.S. history course in grade seven. Includes 10 student-created maps and student comments about the activity. (CFR)

History Run Wild: The Alternate World of Joan Aiken's "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dams, Isobel

2005-01-01

This article examines the historical fantasy world created by Joan Aiken in the eleven volumes of her "Wolves of Willoughby Chase" series. In particular it looks at her subversion of historical reality by the creation of an alternative yet recognisable representation of our own world, using a wide range of events, and the remoulding of aspects of…

Linda Finch speaks to children during World Flight in New Orleans, La.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Linda Finch, who re-created the flight of Amelia Earhardt's flight around the world 60 years ago, landed at New Orleans Lakefront Airport to speak to groups of inner-city school children during World Flight 1997. Stennis Space Center's Educator Resource Center played a role in the event by providing SSC-developed Geomap software to aid students in tracking Finch's flight.

Building a Peaceful and Just World--Beginning with the Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Suzanne

2005-01-01

The conflicts that seem to be underway in every region of the globe demonstrate the profound need for creating paths to a peaceful and just world. Mahatma Gandhi said that if we are to have real peace in the world, we need to begin with the children. Sowing the seeds for peace and justice in classrooms could nurture a new generation of world…

Nurse Education, Center of Excellence for Remote and Medically Under-Served Areas (CERMUSA)

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

humanitarian assistance and disaster response missions throughout the world . To prepare for future military humanitarian missions, nurses turn to...disaster response education modules that include real- world scenarios were designed to inform and create learning opportunities to enhance disaster...preparedness and response. According to the American Public Health Association (2008), “In a rapidly changing world facing natural and man-made

A Cyberspace Command and Control Model (Maxwell Paper, Number 47)

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

mand [for] Network Warfare [JFCC-NW]).ŗ This arrange- ment further creates gaps and seams as the DOD attempts, through a traditional, hierarchical...pervasiveness of cyberspace coupled with aggressive adversaries create a volatile environment. The DOD. along with the rest of the world, is...these factors, along with the challenges of attributing cyberspace intrusions, combine to create an environment of frustrating ambiguity. The correct

The coming commoditization of processes.

PubMed

Davenport, Thomas H

2005-06-01

Despite the much-ballyhooed increase in outsourcing, most companies are in do-it-yourself mode for the bulk of their processes, in large part because there's no way to compare outside organizations' capabilities with those of internal functions. Given the lack of comparability, it's almost surprising that anyone outsources today. But it's not surprising that cost is by far companies' primary criterion for evaluating outsourcers or that many companies are dissatisfied with their outsourcing relationships. A new world is coming, says the author, and it will lead to dramatic changes in the shape and structure of corporations. A broad set of process standards will soon make it easy to determine whether a business capability can be improved by outsourcing it. Such standards will also help businesses compare service providers and evaluate the costs versus the benefits of outsourcing. Eventually these costs and benefits will be so visible to buyers that outsourced processes will become a commodity, and prices will drop significantly. The low costs and low risk of outsourcing will accelerate the flow of jobs offshore, force companies to reassess their strategies, and change the basis of competition. The speed with which some businesses have already adopted process standards suggests that many previously unscrutinized areas are ripe for change. In the field of technology, for instance, the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute has developed a global standard for software development processes, called the Capability Maturity Model (CMM). For companies that don't have process standards in place, it makes sense for them to create standards by working with customers, competitors, software providers, businesses that processes may be outsourced to, and objective researchers and standard-setters. Setting standards is likely to lead to the improvement of both internal and outsourced processes.

Clinical growth charts for pre-school children.

PubMed

Al-Amoud, Maysoon M; Al-Mazrou, Yagob Y; El-Gizouli, Sirrag E; Khoja, Tawfik A; Al-Turki, Khalid A

2004-11-01

Growth standards are indicators for normal growth of the children and growth charts are important tools for their growth monitoring. Children from different populations are different in their growth pattern, it is important to create national standards for the growth of children in each population to develop local growth charts, and since these were not available in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the aim of this study was to construct national growth standards and to develop growth charts for 0-5-years Saudi children. A cross-sectional study following World Health Organization (WHO) criteria in determining sample size was adopted, where by 24000 children from 5 regions in the KSA were selected during the period 1992 to 1995 to be the desired sample. One hundred and two Primary Health Care centers (PHCCs) were selected randomly from the 5 regions, from where the sample was drawn, and a special questionnaire was designed. Weight, height and head circumference were measured by standard procedures. The total number of children examined was 23821 (11913 boys and 11908 girls). Saudi (0-5-years) boys weight and height for age measurements were significantly different from girls. The same difference was found between urban and rural boys and girls and between boys and girls from the different regions of the country (p<0.05). These national standards derived from this study were used to develop national growth charts that are currently utilized to monitor growth in all Saudi health institutes.

ASCCP Colposcopy Standards: How Do We Perform Colposcopy? Implications for Establishing Standards.

PubMed

Waxman, Alan G; Conageski, Christine; Silver, Michelle I; Tedeschi, Candice; Stier, Elizabeth A; Apgar, Barbara; Huh, Warner K; Wentzensen, Nicolas; Massad, L Stewart; Khan, Michelle J; Mayeaux, Edward J; Einstein, Mark H; Schiffman, Mark H; Guido, Richard S

2017-10-01

The American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) Colposcopy Standards recommendations address the role of and approach to colposcopy and biopsy for cervical cancer prevention in the United States. The recommendations were developed by an expert working group appointed by ASCCP's Board of Directors. Working group 3 defined colposcopy procedure guidelines for minimum and comprehensive colposcopy practice and evaluated the use of colposcopy adjuncts. The working group performed a systematic literature review to identify best practices in colposcopy methodology and to evaluate the use of available colposcopy adjuncts. The literature provided little evidence to support specific elements of the procedure. The working group, therefore, implemented a national survey of current and recent ASCCP members to evaluate common elements of the colposcopy examination. The findings of this survey were modified by expert consensus from the ASCCP Colposcopy Standards Committee members to create guidelines for performing colposcopy. The draft recommendations were posted online for public comment and presented at an open session of the International Federation for Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy 2017 World Congress for further comment. All comments were considered in the development of final recommendations. Minimum and comprehensive colposcopy practice guidelines were developed. These guidelines represent recommended practice in all parts of the examination including the following: precolposcopy evaluation, performing the procedure, documentation of findings, biopsy practice, and postprocedure follow-up. These guidelines are intended to serve as a guide to standardize colposcopy across the United States.

Translating standards into practice - one Semantic Web API for Gene Expression.

PubMed

Deus, Helena F; Prud'hommeaux, Eric; Miller, Michael; Zhao, Jun; Malone, James; Adamusiak, Tomasz; McCusker, Jim; Das, Sudeshna; Rocca Serra, Philippe; Fox, Ronan; Marshall, M Scott

2012-08-01

Sharing and describing experimental results unambiguously with sufficient detail to enable replication of results is a fundamental tenet of scientific research. In today's cluttered world of "-omics" sciences, data standards and standardized use of terminologies and ontologies for biomedical informatics play an important role in reporting high-throughput experiment results in formats that can be interpreted by both researchers and analytical tools. Increasing adoption of Semantic Web and Linked Data technologies for the integration of heterogeneous and distributed health care and life sciences (HCLSs) datasets has made the reuse of standards even more pressing; dynamic semantic query federation can be used for integrative bioinformatics when ontologies and identifiers are reused across data instances. We present here a methodology to integrate the results and experimental context of three different representations of microarray-based transcriptomic experiments: the Gene Expression Atlas, the W3C BioRDF task force approach to reporting Provenance of Microarray Experiments, and the HSCI blood genomics project. Our approach does not attempt to improve the expressivity of existing standards for genomics but, instead, to enable integration of existing datasets published from microarray-based transcriptomic experiments. SPARQL Construct is used to create a posteriori mappings of concepts and properties and linking rules that match entities based on query constraints. We discuss how our integrative approach can encourage reuse of the Experimental Factor Ontology (EFO) and the Ontology for Biomedical Investigations (OBIs) for the reporting of experimental context and results of gene expression studies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Virtual reality in rhinology-a new dimension of clinical experience.

PubMed

Klapan, Ivica; Raos, Pero; Galeta, Tomislav; Kubat, Goranka

2016-07-01

There is often a need to more precisely identify the extent of pathology and the fine elements of intracranial anatomic features during the diagnostic process and during many operations in the nose, sinus, orbit, and skull base region. In two case reports, we describe the methods used in the diagnostic workup and surgical therapy in the nose and paranasal sinus region. Besides baseline x-ray, multislice computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, operative field imaging was performed via a rapid prototyping model, virtual endoscopy, and 3-D imaging. Different head tissues were visualized in different colors, showing their anatomic interrelations and the extent of pathologic tissue within the operative field. This approach has not yet been used as a standard preoperative or intraoperative procedure in otorhinolaryngology. In this way, we tried to understand the new, visualized "world of anatomic relations within the patient's head" by creating an impression of perception (virtual perception) of the given position of all elements in a particular anatomic region of the head, which does not exist in the real world (virtual world). This approach was aimed at upgrading the diagnostic workup and surgical therapy by ensuring a faster, safer and, above all, simpler operative procedure. In conclusion, any ENT specialist can provide virtual reality support in implementing surgical procedures, with additional control of risks and within the limits of normal tissue, without additional trauma to the surrounding tissue in the anatomic region. At the same time, the virtual reality support provides an impression of the virtual world as the specialist navigates through it and manipulates virtual objects.

The OpenMI - its Transformation From a Research Output to a Global Standard for the Integrated Modelling Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, R.

2008-12-01

The pressure to take a more integrated approach both to science and to management increases by the day. At almost any scale from local to global, it is no longer possible to consider issues in isolation; to do so runs a high risk of creating more problems than are solved. The consequence of this situation is that there is strong encouragement in the scientific world not just to understand and to be able to predict the response of individual processes but also to predict how those processes will interact. The manager is similarly encouraged to think in the widest terms about the likely impact of any policy before it is implemented. A new reservoir may solve a water supply problem but will it adversely affect the fishing and hence the tourist trade? How will climate change impact biodiversity? Will the drugs for treating a flu pandemic adversely affect river water quality? One approach to predicting such impacts would be to create new models simulating more and more processes. This, however, is neither feasible nor useful and makes poor use of the huge investment in existing models. A better approach, with many additional benefits, would be to find a way of linking existing models and modelling components such as databases or visualisation systems. Against this background, the European Commission, as part of its research programme to facilitate the introduction of integrated water management, commissioned a community project to find a generic solution to the linking of simulation models at run time. The outcome of this work was the Open Modelling Interface (OpenMI) standard and the creation of the OpenMI Association, an open, non-proprietary, not-for-profit, international organisation for its support. The work has received widespread recognition and encouragement from across the world, especially in the USA. A second phase is now building a community to continue the OpenMI's development and promote its use. The community's vision, mission and implementation strategy can be summarised as follows: Vision. The OpenMI Association believes that integrated management in some form or another is the only option for the future management of our resources. Although not yet widely accepted outside the modelling world, because of the inherent complexities, it is foreseeable that managers will demand decision support systems, i.e. predictive models. As the need to understand the wider impacts of decisions increases, so the models will have to take account of more and more interacting processes. The OpenMI Association, therefore, foresees a future where the concept of integrated modelling becomes widely accepted, and the need for standards such as the OpenMI becomes greater. Mission. The attainment of the vision will require the collective energy and resources of developers, modellers and users. Within this context, the mission that the OpenMI Association has set itself, is a) to promote integrated modelling as a means of achieving better management and b) to develop and support the OpenMI Standard. Implementation Strategy. To achieve its mission, the OpenMI Association will focus on the following key actions. They are a) creating a culture that facilitates the take up and use of integrated modelling and the OpenMI, b) ensuring that the OpenMI remains relevant, easy to use, of high quality and available under acceptable conditions, c) supporting the community of OpenMI users and providing a compliancy service, d) disseminating information, e) enabling the community to participate in the development of the OpenMI, and f) securing the necessary resources. The session will present and invite debate on this strategy.

[Protection of mother's milk and ethics].

PubMed

Rea, M F; Toma, T S

2000-08-01

In 1981, the World Health Assembly created the International Code for the Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes. The WHO standards have been effective in Brazil since 1988. The purpose of this study was to verify the companies' compliance with these standards, especially to what concern health care professionals. An exploratory research was carried out in 32 cities, interviewing 95 health professional. Here we describe results of interviews with health professionals and their relationship with companies. Promotion of infant formula through pediatricians is common, showing evident conflict of interest: financial support they got for their benefits might link their names to the companies (and the products) that direct or indirectly funded them. There is a conflict of interest each time a secondary intention changes professional attitude (for example, changing methodology, analysis or type of results to be published) favoring this, instead of a scientific approach. Both the Code and the Resolution, gathering several ethical rules, are apparently not sufficient to assess the possible conflict of interest and to impose ethical limits in the relationship paediatrician-infant formula companies. Policies to protect breastfeeding practices of commercial interest must be reviewed to include ethics.

An all-silicon optical PC-to-PC link utilizing USB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goosen, Marius E.; Alberts, Antonie C.; Venter, Petrus J.; du Plessis, Monuko; Rademeyer, Pieter

2013-02-01

An integrated silicon light source still remains the Holy Grail for integrated optical communication systems. Hot carrier luminescent light sources provide a way to create light in a standard CMOS process, potentially enabling cost effective optical communication between CMOS integrated circuits. In this paper we present a 1 Mb/s integrated silicon optical link for information transfer, targeting a real-world integrated solution by connecting two PCs via a USB port while transferring data optically between the devices. This realization represents the first optical communication product prototype utilizing a CMOS light emitter. The silicon light sources which are implemented in a standard 0.35 μm CMOS technology are electrically modulated and detected using a commercial silicon avalanche photodiode. Data rates exceeding 10 Mb/s using silicon light sources have previously been demonstrated using raw bit streams. In this work data is sent in two half duplex streams accompanied with the separate transmission of a clock. Such an optical communication system could find application in high noise environments where data fidelity, range and cost are a determining factor.

A long history of breakdowns: A historiographical review.

PubMed

Margócsy, Dániel

2017-06-01

The introduction to this special issue argues that network breakdowns play an important and unacknowledged role in the shaping and emergence of scientific knowledge. It focuses on transnational scientific networks from the early modern Republic of Letters to 21st-century globalized science. It attempts to unite the disparate historiography of the early modern Republic of Letters, the literature on 20th-century globalization, and the scholarship on Actor-Network Theory. We can perceive two, seemingly contradictory, changes to scientific networks over the past four hundred years. At the level of individuals, networks have become increasing fragile, as developments in communication and transportation technologies, and the emergence of regimes of standardization and instrumentation, have made it easier both to create new constellations of people and materials, and to replace and rearrange them. But at the level of institutions, collaborations have become much more extensive and long-lived, with single projects routinely outlasting even the arc of a full scientific career. In the modern world, the strength of institutions and macro-networks often relies on ideological regimes of standardization and instrumentation that can flexibly replace elements and individuals at will.

Building a World-Class Front-Line Workforce: The Need for Occupational Skill Standards in State Workforce Preparation Programs. EQW Working Papers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheets, Robert G.

Establishment of a national-state system of world-class occupational skill standards is a first step in restructuring adult vocational-technical education and job training programs. Occupational skills standards provide the necessary foundation for addressing three major state policy issues: the state's proper role in private work-based training,…

Constraints on brane-world inflation from the CMB power spectrum: revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gangopadhyay, Mayukh R.; Mathews, Grant J.

2018-03-01

We analyze the Randal Sundrum brane-world inflation scenario in the context of the latest CMB constraints from Planck. We summarize constraints on the most popular classes of models and explore some more realistic inflaton effective potentials. The constraint on standard inflationary parameters changes in the brane-world scenario. We confirm that in general the brane-world scenario increases the tensor-to-scalar ratio, thus making this paradigm less consistent with the Planck constraints. Indeed, when BICEP2/Keck constraints are included, all monomial potentials in the brane-world scenario become disfavored compared to the standard scenario. However, for natural inflation the brane-world scenario could fit the constraints better due to larger allowed values of e-foldings N before the end of inflation in the brane-world.

The Figured Worlds of High School Science Teachers: Uncovering Three-Dimensional Assessment Decisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ewald, Megan

As a result of recent mandates of the Next Generation Science Standards, assessments are a "system of meaning" amidst a paradigm shift toward three-dimensional assessments. This study is motivated by two research questions: 1) how do high school science teachers describe their processes of decision-making in the development and use of three-dimensional assessments and 2) how do high school science teachers negotiate their identities as assessors in designing three-dimensional assessments. An important factor in teachers' assessment decision making is how they identify themselves as assessors. Therefore, this study investigated the teachers' roles as assessors through the Sociocultural Identity Theory. The most important contribution from this study is the emergent teacher assessment sub-identities: the modifier-recycler , the feeler-finder, and the creator. Using a qualitative phenomenological research design, focus groups, three-series interviews, think-alouds, and document analysis were utilized in this study. These qualitative methods were chosen to elicit rich conversations among teachers, make meaning of the teachers' experiences through in-depth interviews, amplify the thought processes of individual teachers while making assessment decisions, and analyze assessment documents in relation to teachers' perspectives. The findings from this study suggest that--of the 19 participants--only two teachers could consistently be identified as creators and aligned their assessment practices with NGSS. However, assessment sub-identities are not static and teachers may negotiate their identities from one moment to the next within socially constructed realms of interpretation known as figured worlds. Because teachers are positioned in less powerful figured worlds within the dominant discourse of standardization, this study raises awareness as to how the external pressures from more powerful figured worlds socially construct teachers' identities as assessors. For teachers to re-author their scripts as assessors and create three-dimensional assessments, they first need to be aware of their assessment identity. Furthermore, the findings provide support for teachers to advocate for the development and use of assessments that measure students' three-dimensional learning rather than relying on assessments that are easily "counted."

Standards in Modeling and Simulation: The Next Ten Years MODSIM World Paper 2010

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, Andrew J.; Diallo, Saikou; Sherfey, Solomon R.; Tolk, Andreas; Turnitsa, Charles D.; Petty, Mikel; Wiesel, Eric

2011-01-01

The world has moved on since the introduction of the Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) standard in the early 1980s. The cold-war maybe over but there is still a requirement to train for and analyze the next generation of threats that face the free world. With the emergence of new and more powerful computer technology and techniques means that modeling and simulation (M&S) has become an important and growing, part in satisfying this requirement. As an industry grows, the benefits from standardization within that industry grow with it. For example, it is difficult to imagine what the USA would be like without the 110 volts standard for domestic electricity supply. This paper contains an overview of the outcomes from a recent workshop to investigate the possible future of M&S standards within the federal government.

Creating Cost-Effective DNA Size Standards for Use in Teaching and Research Laboratories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shultz, Jeff

2011-01-01

I have devised a method with which a molecular size standard can be readily manufactured using Lambda DNA and PCR. This method allows the production of specific sized DNA fragments and is easily performed in a standard molecular biology laboratory. The material required to create these markers can also be used to provide a highly robust and…

Healthy Kids; Healthy World - Take Your Child to Work Day 2016

Cancer.gov

On April 28th CGH joined several NCI offices at the Shady Grove campus to celebrate Take Your Child to Work Day 2016. Volunteers hosted three activity stations, each offering creative fun with a message: With healthy kids, we can create a healthier world.

Reflections on the Gall-Peters Projection.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Arthur H.

1987-01-01

Explains the cartographic qualities of rectangular world maps and compares the merits of various projections such as the Mercator and the recently-created Gall-Peters. States that the Gall-Peters projection does not provide a reasonable base for a general world map; that no rectangular projection does. (JDH)

Marketing on the World Wide Web.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teague, John H.

1995-01-01

Discusses the World Wide Web, its importance for marketing, its advantages, non-commercial promotions on the Web, how businesses use the Web, the Web market, resistance to Internet commercialization, getting on the Web, creating Web pages, rising above the noise, and some of the Web's problems and limitations. (SR)

Education in Biomedical and Health Informatics in the Web 3.0 Era: Standards for data, curricula, and activities. Contribution of the IMIA Working Group on Health and Medical Informatics Education.

PubMed

Otero, P; Hersh, W

2011-01-01

Web 3.0 is transforming the World Wide Web by allowing knowledge and reasoning to be gleaned from its content. Describe a new scenario in education and training known as "Education 3.0" that can help in the promotion of learning in health informatics in a collaborative way. Review of the current standards available for curricula and learning activities in in Biomedical and Health Informatics (BMHI) for a Web 3.0 scenario. A new scenario known as "Education 3.0" can provide open educational resources created and reused throughout different institutions and improved by means of an international collaborative knowledge powered by the use of E-learning. Currently there are standards that could be used in identifying and deliver content in education in BMHI in the semantic web era such as Resource Description Format (RDF), Web Ontology Language (OWL) and Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM). In addition, there are other standards to support healthcare education and training. There are few experiences in the use of standards in e-learning in BMHI published in the literature. Web 3.0 can propose new approaches to building the BMHI workforce so there is a need to build tools as knowledge infrastructure to leverage it. The usefulness of standards in the content and competencies of training programs in BMHI needs more experience and research so as to promote the interoperability and sharing of resources in this growing discipline.

Trustworthy History and Provenance for Files and Databases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hasan, Ragib

2009-01-01

In today's world, information is increasingly created, processed, transmitted, and stored digitally. While the digital nature of information has brought enormous benefits, it has also created new vulnerabilities and attacks against data. Unlike physical documents, digitally stored information can be rapidly copied, erased, or modified. The…

Ghosts, Demons and Chicken Bones: Dramatic Writing in the ESL Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Bradley

1986-01-01

Describes an experimental project implemented in a language school in northern Italy in which students, using a poem as a basis, created a cast of characters and expanded the poem's story line to create a world in which the characters could interact. (SED)

Does Double Loop Learning Create Reliable Knowledge?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackman, Deborah; Connelly, James; Henderson, Steven

2004-01-01

This paper addresses doubts concerning the reliability of knowledge being created by double loop learning processes. Popper's ontological worlds are used to explore the philosophical basis of the way that individual experiences are turned into organisational knowledge, and such knowledge is used to generate organisational learning. The paper…

Electronic Data Interchange in Defense Transportation

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-10-01

entry into a nearly paperless transportation environment. • Prescribe DoD’s use of the EDI standards developed by the transportation industry and lead...information into a format for internal use so that it can be processed. * Key Entry Costs. Data will no longer need to be entered manually into a terminal or...that commercial standards cannot meet, DoD must create standards. A vehicle for creating those DoD-unique standards now exists. That vehicle , the

Play

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harteveld, Casper

Designing a game with a serious purpose involves considering the worlds of Reality and Meaning yet it is undeniably impossible to create a game without a third world, one that is specifically concerned with what makes a game a game: the play elements. This third world, the world of people like designers and artists, and disciplines as computer science and game design, I call the world of Play and this level is devoted to it. The level starts off with some of the misperceptions people have of play. Unlike some may think, we play all the time, even when we grow old—this was also very noticeable in designing the game Levee Patroller as the team exhibited very playful behavior at many occasions. From there, I go into the aspects that characterize this world. The first concerns the goal of the game. This relates to the objectives people have to achieve within the game. This is constituted by the second aspect: the gameplay. Taking actions and facing challenges is subsequently constituted by a gameworld, which concerns the third aspect. And all of it is not possible without the fourth and final aspect, the type of technology that creates and facilitates the game. The four aspects together make up a “game concept” and from this world such a concept can be judged on the basis of three closely interrelated criteria: engagement, immersion, and fun.

Creating Cultures of Peace: Pedagogical Thought and Practice. Selected Papers from the 10th Triennial World Conference (September 10-15, 2001, Madrid, Spain)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benton, Jean E., Ed.; Swami, Piyush, Ed.

2007-01-01

The 10th Triennial World Conference of the World Council for Curriculum and Instruction (WCCI) was held September 10-15, 2001 in Madrid, Spain. The theme of the conference was "Cultures of Peace." Thirty-four papers and presentations are divided into nine sections. Part I, Tributes to the Founders of WCCI, includes: (1) Tribute to Alice…

Enhancing U.S. National Security: The Case for Hemispheric Free Trade

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-04-15

to shape much of the post-World War II international order. Institutions created then at U.S. behest, and which still guide the world’s affairs today... the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the Organization of American...those services or agricultural products effectively. Given this erosion in international trade discipline, the GATT has understandably come under

State Water Resource Competition and the Resulting Consequences of Diminished Water Supply

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-01

world . Because this realization is becoming more and more prevalent, the human survival instinct is prompting competition and conflict over water...the main contributing factors in creating a more interdependent world when it comes to freshwater. Freshwater availability has diminished over time...climate change, appears to be changing the landscape of our world for the worse. Along with a new landscape comes new demand for resource

Translations on USSR Military Affairs No. 1360.

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-07-03

grown many times. A future war , if it should come, will inevitably be transformed into a clash between two world systems. An uncompromising nature...direction of combat activities of the armed forces—was created in Russia at the beginning of World War I. A war ministry carried out military...commanders in chief and unit (soyedineniye) commanders. The supreme military and political power in Germany during World War I belonged to the Kaiser

Conceptualizing a Genomics Software Institute (GSI)

PubMed Central

Gilbert, Jack A.; Catlett, Charlie; Desai, Narayan; Knight, Rob; White, Owen; Robbins, Robert; Sankaran, Rajesh; Sansone, Susanna-Assunta; Field, Dawn; Meyer, Folker

2012-01-01

Microbial ecology has been enhanced greatly by the ongoing ‘omics revolution, bringing half the world's biomass and most of its biodiversity into analytical view for the first time; indeed, it feels almost like the invention of the microscope and the discovery of the new world at the same time. With major microbial ecology research efforts accumulating prodigious quantities of sequence, protein, and metabolite data, we are now poised to address environmental microbial research at macro scales, and to begin to characterize and understand the dimensions of microbial biodiversity on the planet. What is currently impeding progress is the need for a framework within which the research community can develop, exchange and discuss predictive ecosystem models that describe the biodiversity and functional interactions. Such a framework must encompass data and metadata transparency and interoperation; data and results validation, curation, and search; application programming interfaces for modeling and analysis tools; and human and technical processes and services necessary to ensure broad adoption. Here we discuss the need for focused community interaction to augment and deepen established community efforts, beginning with the Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC), to create a science-driven strategic plan for a Genomic Software Institute (GSI). PMID:22675605

Open Access to Geophysical Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sergeyeva, Nataliya A.; Zabarinskaya, Ludmila P.

2017-04-01

Russian World Data Centers for Solar-Terrestrial Physics & Solid Earth Physics hosted by the Geophysical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences are the Regular Members of the ICSU-World Data System. Guided by the principles of the WDS Constitution and WDS Data Sharing Principles, the WDCs provide full and open access to data, long-term data stewardship, compliance with agreed-upon data standards and conventions, and mechanisms to facilitate and improve access to data. Historical and current geophysical data on different media, in the form of digital data sets, analog records, collections of maps, descriptions are stored and collected in the Centers. The WDCs regularly fill up repositories and database with new data, support them up to date. Now the WDCs focus on four new projects, aimed at increase of data available in network by retrospective data collection and digital preservation of data; creation of a modern system of registration and publication of data with digital object identifier (DOI) assignment, and promotion of data citation culture; creation of databases instead of file system for more convenient access to data; participation in the WDS Metadata Catalogue and Data Portal by creating of metadata for information resources of WDCs.

Teaching neuroscience through Web adventures: adolescents reconstruct the history and science of opioids.

PubMed

Miller, Leslie; Schweingruber, Heidi; Oliver, Robert; Mayes, Janice; Smith, Donna

2002-02-01

New technological and cultural developments surrounding adolescents' use of the World Wide Web offer an opportunity for turning aspects of the Internet gaming phenomenon to the advantage of neuroscience education. Specifically, an experimental project to transmit aspects of problem-based learning and the National Science Standards through an interactive Web adventure is reported here. The Reconstructors is an episodic Web-based adventure series entitled Medicinal Mysteries from History. It is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the first series focuses on opioids. It was created with the input of middle school students and teachers. Through the use of multimedia technologies, middle school students enter a futuristic world in which they become "reconstructors," members of an elite scientific unit charged with recovering lost medical knowledge about analgesic drugs. Two of the four episodes have been evaluated through a comprehensive review process involving middle school students, teachers, neuroscience researchers, and clinicians. Analysis of the pretest and posttest scores demonstrated significant knowledge gain that validly can be attributed to use of the game. These data provide evidence that science content can be transmitted through innovative online techniques without sacrificing compelling content or effective pedagogical strategies.

Descriptive sensory analysis of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena DOP and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia DOP.

PubMed

Zeppa, Giuseppe; Gambigliani Zoccoli, Mario; Nasi, Enrico; Masini, Giovanni; Meglioli, Giuseppe; Zappino, Matteo

2013-12-01

Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale (ABT) is a typical Italian vinegar available in two different forms: Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena DOP (ABTM) and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia DOP (ABTRE). ABT is obtained by alcoholic fermentation and acetic bio-oxidation of cooked grape must and aged at least 12 years in wooden casks and is known and sold around the world. Despite this widespread recognition, data on sensory characteristics of these products are very scarce. Therefore a descriptive analysis was conducted to define a lexicon for the ABT sensory profile and to create a simple, stable and reproducible synthetic ABT for training panellists. A lexicon of 20 sensory parameters was defined and validated and a synthetic ABT was prepared as standard reference. Simple standards for panellist training were also defined and the sensory profiles of ABTM and ABTRE were obtained. The obtained results confirm that descriptive analysis can be used for the sensory characterisation of ABT and that the sensory profiles of ABTM and ABTRE are very different. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that a lexicon and proper standard references are essential for describing the sensory qualities of ABT both for technical purposes and to protect the product from commercial fraud. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

The APS in Public Affairs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lustig, Harry

2000-04-01

Although the American Physical Society was created for the interchange of scientific ideas, the call to the founding meeting included the observation that the organization "could not fail to have an important influence in all matters affecting the interest of physicists". However for most of its history APS did not behave like "just another interest group in American society". Instead, at the beginning, it limited itself to such successful initiatives as the creation of the Bureau of Standards and such unsuccessful ones as adoption of the metric system. After World War II, speaking out on behalf of the freedom of science and scientists, such as Astin, Condon, and Oppenheimer, became important. In the 1970's, pushed by members, the Society became more "political", sponsoring sessions and studies on defense issues, taking a stand for the Equal Rights Amendment and creating the Panel on Public Affairs and the Forum on Physics and Society. Only in the last fifteen years has the APS unabashedly lobbied for the economic interests of physics and physicists. Adopting this new, if unavoidable role may have unintended consequences for the willingness and effectiveness of APS in speaking out on other public issues.

Online Professionalism and the Mirror of Social Media

PubMed Central

Kind, Terry; Chretien, Katherine C.

2010-01-01

The rise of social media—content created by Internet users and hosted by popular sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Wikipedia, and blogs—has brought several new hazards for medical professionalism. First, many physicians may find applying principles for medical professionalism to the online environment challenging in certain contexts. Second, physicians may not consider the potential impact of their online content on their patients and the public. Third, a momentary lapse in judgment by an individual physician to create unprofessional content online can reflect poorly on the entire profession. To overcome these challenges, we encourage individual physicians to realize that as they “tread” through the World Wide Web, they leave behind a “footprint” that may have unintended negative consequences for them and for the profession at large. We also recommend that institutions take a proactive approach to engage users of social media in setting consensus-based standards for “online professionalism.” Finally, given that professionalism encompasses more than the avoidance of negative behaviors, we conclude with examples of more positive applications for this technology. Much like a mirror, social media can reflect the best and worst aspects of the content placed before it for all to see. PMID:20632121

Online professionalism and the mirror of social media.

PubMed

Greysen, S Ryan; Kind, Terry; Chretien, Katherine C

2010-11-01

The rise of social media--content created by Internet users and hosted by popular sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Wikipedia, and blogs--has brought several new hazards for medical professionalism. First, many physicians may find applying principles for medical professionalism to the online environment challenging in certain contexts. Second, physicians may not consider the potential impact of their online content on their patients and the public. Third, a momentary lapse in judgment by an individual physician to create unprofessional content online can reflect poorly on the entire profession. To overcome these challenges, we encourage individual physicians to realize that as they "tread" through the World Wide Web, they leave behind a "footprint" that may have unintended negative consequences for them and for the profession at large. We also recommend that institutions take a proactive approach to engage users of social media in setting consensus-based standards for "online professionalism." Finally, given that professionalism encompasses more than the avoidance of negative behaviors, we conclude with examples of more positive applications for this technology. Much like a mirror, social media can reflect the best and worst aspects of the content placed before it for all to see.

Defying Reality: Performing Reimagined Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Intili, Amanda; Pembleton, Matthew; LaJevic, Lisa

2015-01-01

Art educators are concerned with exposing their students to contemporary art making practices. They aim to create fresh lessons that expand their understandings of art in today's world while highlighting the importance of imagination. With a personal interest in performance and street art (art forms that have gained popularity in recent years),…

Delivering "Virtual Ethnicity" Drama: A Pedagogical Design for Bridging Digital and Diversity Barriers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, E. Vincent

2015-01-01

This study examines an original dramaturgical method for creating virtual world experience called virtual world drama. The instructional focus is improving students' aptitude for analyzing ethnic identity by instilling both conceptual and multicultural competency. An exploratory research method is used, relying on observation (disguised and…

Creating Global Citizens through Study Abroad

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bellamy, Carol; Weinberg, Adam

2006-01-01

One of the greatest challenges for a student today is how to live as a responsible citizen in a globalizing world. Today's interconnected world cannot afford bystanders or passive participants. It demands confident, skilled citizens who will make responsible choices that take into consideration how educators allocate resources and what impact…

A Virtual World with Real Results

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Katherine L.; Golann, Joanne Wang

2008-01-01

This article describes how students learn invaluable job-readiness and academic skills by setting up and running their own businesses in a virtual world. Virtual Enterprises (VE) International is a high school career and technical education (CTE) program that teaches students about business by having a class create and operate its own virtual…

Electing Comparative Religion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zinger, Kathy Wildman

2012-01-01

If world religions courses are created at all in public school districts, they often are designed to encourage cultural fluency and tolerance. It is a teachable moment for the teacher to witness in an hour these far-flung students moving beyond tolerance to collaboration. Taking on a world religions program typically is viewed as a risky…

Learning to Drive a Wheelchair in Virtual Reality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Inman, Dean P.; Loge, Ken; Cram, Aaron; Peterson, Missy

2011-01-01

This research project studied the effect that a technology-based training program, WheelchairNet, could contribute to the education of children with physical disabilities by providing a chance to practice driving virtual motorized wheelchairs safely within a computer-generated world. Programmers created three virtual worlds for training. Scenarios…

Visualizing Worlds from Words on a Page

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parsons, Linda T.

2006-01-01

This study involved fourth grade children as co-researchers of their engaged, aesthetic reading experience. As members of the "Readers as Researchers Club," they documented their engagement with text--how they create, enter, and sustain the story world. The children, who self-identified as avid readers, explored the activities central to their…

2006 Innovators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

T.H.E. Journal, 2006

2006-01-01

A history teacher uses a computer game to interest students in World War II. A former TV reporter creates a new journalism curriculum that turns high school kids into real on-air broadcasters. An administrator and a technology coordinator team up to bring their campuses in contact with others around the world. A project director devises a…

Imagined Worlds in Theatre and Drama.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Neill, Cecily

1985-01-01

The essential nature of drama is a liberating act of imagination, of self-transcendence. A session is described in which the class maintained the delicate balance of dual consciousness and focused its attention and empathy on an illusory but possible world, creating and being responsible for the meaning of its construction. (MT)

When Worlds Collide: An Augmented Reality Check

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villano, Matt

2008-01-01

The technology is simple: Mobile technologies such as handheld computers and global positioning systems work in sync to create an alternate, hybrid world that mixes virtual characters with the actual physical environment. The result is a digital simulation that offers powerful game-playing opportunities and allows students to become more engaged…

The Living Periodic Table

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nahlik, Mary Schrodt

2005-01-01

To help make the abstract world of chemistry more concrete eighth-grade students, the author has them create a living periodic table that can be displayed in the classroom or hallway. This display includes information about the elements arranged in the traditional periodic table format, but also includes visual real-world representations of the…

Ask a Futurist. Peace [and] Robots.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joseph, Earl C.

A futurist addresses two questions concerning world peace and the implications of using robots. In the section on peace (part 1), recommendations for world peace include: (1) implementing peace education as a mandatory part of education; (2) establishing a Department of Peace in each country to create a societal infrastructure for implementing…

Primary Poetry Workshop. Explore the World through Poetry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cullinan, Bee

1997-01-01

This poetry workshop has students read Monica Gunning's poem about her childhood in Jamaica, create lists of what they want to know more about, search for and share the information, then find poems from other parts of the world. The Gunning poem and lists of resources are included. (SM)

Consciously Thinking about Consciousness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tribus, Myron

2004-01-01

Merker hypothesized that because mobile creatures move around and must constantly readjust their map of the world and because the demands are so great for continually processing information for a map of the world, evolution has created a space in the brain where such preprocessing has been eliminated. This space he calls consciousness with the…

Rhetorical Agency as Emergent and Enacted

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Marilyn M.

2011-01-01

Individual agency is necessary for the possibility of rhetoric, and especially for deliberative rhetoric, which enables the composition of what Latour calls a good common world. Drawing on neurophenomenology, this essay defines individual agency as the process through which organisms create meanings through acting into the world and changing their…

Anecdotes and Afterthoughts: Literature as a Teacher's Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Podsiadlik, Edward, III

2013-01-01

This qualitative study is a journey away from the "outer world" of teaching and into the "inner world" of spiritual, emotional, and oftentimes deeply personal realities, conflicts, and contradictions that lie beneath it. Integrating my life as an educator with excerpts from literature creates a variety of reflective entry…

Sustainability Adult Education: Learning to Re-Create the World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griswold, Wendy

2016-01-01

No crisis is as great as the environmental predicament we face. Globally, humans everywhere now confront problems of extreme weather, waste disposal, pollution, overpopulation, massive forest depletion, access to clean water, the depletion of natural resources, the destruction of natural habitats, and changes in the chemistry of the world's…

More than Just Test Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, Henry M.

2012-01-01

Around the world we hear considerable talk about creating world-class schools. Usually the term refers to schools whose students get very high scores on the international comparisons of student achievement such as PISA or TIMSS. The practice of restricting the meaning of exemplary schools to the narrow criterion of achievement scores is usually…

Shaping the Air Force Operational Environment in Cyberspace

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-02-12

the Internet. The World Wide Web was created in 1989 by English scientist Tim Berners - Lee , working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research...www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123013440 Goldsmith, Jack L. and Wu, Tim . Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World. New York

Creating a Classroom Kaleidoscope with the World Wide Web.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinlan, Laurie A.

1997-01-01

Discusses the elements of classroom Web presentations: planning; construction, including design tips; classroom use; and assessment. Lists 14 World Wide Web resources for K-12 teachers; Internet search tools (directories, search engines and meta-search engines); a Web glossary; and an example of HTML for a simple Web page. (PEN)

Home Page, Sweet Home Page: Creating a Web Presence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falcigno, Kathleen; Green, Tim

1995-01-01

Focuses primarily on design issues and practical concerns involved in creating World Wide Web documents for use within an organization. Concerns for those developing Web home pages are: learning HyperText Markup Language (HTML); defining customer group; allocating staff resources for maintenance of documents; providing feedback mechanism for…

Best Practices on Creating a Successful Internship Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tho-Biaz, Mi'Jan Celie

2014-01-01

To deliver real-world experience and encourage job readiness in their students, some tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are looking off campus. Their strategy is this: create collaborative internship programs with nearby non-profit organizations that will help students respond to regional economic needs and give them valuable hands-on…

Developing "Emancipatory Interest": Learning to Create Social Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caspersz, Donella; Olaru, Doina

2014-01-01

Developing an emancipatory interest enables individuals to free themselves from the intersubjective or commonly held meanings that dominate their understanding of their current world, and subsequently change their practices. We argue that developing an emancipatory interest is critical in learning to create social change, that is, wanting to…

Wellness Matters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arteaga, Brenda

2011-01-01

Creating a healthier school in today's world of budget cuts and seemingly endless to-do lists is not only possible, but it is also imperative. Beyond the health implications, one of the most compelling reasons for creating healthier schools is that wellness serves as a power booster for learning. Numerous studies have documented what educators…

Reaching Digital Natives on Their Terms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dessoff, Alan

2010-01-01

From replacing print textbooks with digital content created by teachers or gathered from outside sources to encouraging students to explore the world around them digitally, many districts are creating a new type of student-friendly teaching and learning environment that goes beyond just adding computers to classrooms. Through a wide range of…

Cyberkids

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clifford, Pat

2005-01-01

While critics draw important attention to worrisome aspects of digital cultures, they may be missing a much larger point about how young people live in a digital world, how they create and re-create themselves and their identities in ways that are remarkably foreign to others "digital immigrants". In this article, "digital immigrants" refers to…

Synchronous Learning Best Practices: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warden, Clyde A.; Stanworth, James O.; Ren, Jian Biao; Warden, Antony R.

2013-01-01

Low cost and significant advances in technology now allow instructors to create their own virtual learning environments. Creating social interactions within a virtual space that emulates the physical classroom remains challenging. While students are familiar with virtual worlds and video meetings, they are inexperienced as virtual learners. Over a…

Embedded Web Technology: Applying World Wide Web Standards to Embedded Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ponyik, Joseph G.; York, David W.

2002-01-01

Embedded Systems have traditionally been developed in a highly customized manner. The user interface hardware and software along with the interface to the embedded system are typically unique to the system for which they are built, resulting in extra cost to the system in terms of development time and maintenance effort. World Wide Web standards have been developed in the passed ten years with the goal of allowing servers and clients to intemperate seamlessly. The client and server systems can consist of differing hardware and software platforms but the World Wide Web standards allow them to interface without knowing about the details of system at the other end of the interface. Embedded Web Technology is the merging of Embedded Systems with the World Wide Web. Embedded Web Technology decreases the cost of developing and maintaining the user interface by allowing the user to interface to the embedded system through a web browser running on a standard personal computer. Embedded Web Technology can also be used to simplify an Embedded System's internal network.

Process and product development in the manufacturing of molecular therapeutics.

PubMed

Atkinson, E M; Christensen, J R

1999-08-01

In the development of molecular therapies, a great deal of attention has focused on tissue targets, gene delivery vectors, and expression cassettes. In order to become an approved therapy, however, a molecular therapeutic has to pass down the same product registration pathway as any other biological product. Moving from research into industrial production requires careful attention to regulatory, manufacturing and quality concerns. Early work on developing and characterizing robust and scaleable manufacturing processes will ultimately be rewarded by ease of implementation as the product is successful in clinical trials. Regulatory agencies require solid process and product characterization studies to demonstrate control and understanding of the molecular therapeutic. As the gene therapy industry matures, standards will continue to rise, creating an industry that is capable of producing safe, high-quality and effective therapies for many of the world's most difficult disease targets.

Data Visualization Using Immersive Virtual Reality Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cioc, Alexandru; Djorgovski, S. G.; Donalek, C.; Lawler, E.; Sauer, F.; Longo, G.

2013-01-01

The growing complexity of scientific data poses serious challenges for an effective visualization. Data sets, e.g., catalogs of objects detected in sky surveys, can have a very high dimensionality, ~ 100 - 1000. Visualizing such hyper-dimensional data parameter spaces is essentially impossible, but there are ways of visualizing up to ~ 10 dimensions in a pseudo-3D display. We have been experimenting with the emerging technologies of immersive virtual reality (VR) as a platform for a scientific, interactive, collaborative data visualization. Our initial experiments used the virtual world of Second Life, and more recently VR worlds based on its open source code, OpenSimulator. There we can visualize up to ~ 100,000 data points in ~ 7 - 8 dimensions (3 spatial and others encoded as shapes, colors, sizes, etc.), in an immersive virtual space where scientists can interact with their data and with each other. We are now developing a more scalable visualization environment using the popular (practically an emerging standard) Unity 3D Game Engine, coded using C#, JavaScript, and the Unity Scripting Language. This visualization tool can be used through a standard web browser, or a standalone browser of its own. Rather than merely plotting data points, the application creates interactive three-dimensional objects of various shapes, colors, and sizes, and of course the XYZ positions, encoding various dimensions of the parameter space, that can be associated interactively. Multiple users can navigate through this data space simultaneously, either with their own, independent vantage points, or with a shared view. At this stage ~ 100,000 data points can be easily visualized within seconds on a simple laptop. The displayed data points can contain linked information; e.g., upon a clicking on a data point, a webpage with additional information can be rendered within the 3D world. A range of functionalities has been already deployed, and more are being added. We expect to make this visualization tool freely available to the academic community within a few months, on an experimental (beta testing) basis.

Creating Access to Data of Worldwide Volcanic Unrest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venezky, D. Y.; Newhall, C. G.; Malone, S. D.

2003-12-01

We are creating a pilot database (WOVOdat - the World Organization of Volcano Observatories database) using an open source database and content generation software, allowing web access to data of worldwide volcanic seismicity, ground deformation, fumarolic activity, and other changes within or adjacent to a volcanic system. After three years of discussions with volcano observatories of the WOVO community and institutional databases such as IRIS, UNAVCO, and the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program about how to link global data of volcanic unrest for use during crisis situations and for research, we are now developing the pilot database. We already have created the core tables and have written simple queries that access some of the available data using pull-down menus on a website. Over the next year, we plan to complete schema realization, expand querying capabilities, and then open the pilot database for a multi-year data-loading process. Many of the challenges we are encountering are common to multidisciplinary projects and include determining standard data formats, choosing levels of data detail (raw vs. minimally processed data, summary intervals vs. continuous data, etc.), and organizing the extant but variable data into a useable schema. Additionally, we are working on how best to enter the varied data into the database (scripts for digital data and web-entry tools for non-digital data) and what standard sets of queries are most important. An essential during an evolving volcanic crisis would be: `Has any volcano shown the behavior being observed here and what happened?'. We believe that with a systematic aggregation of all datasets on volcanic unrest, we should be able to find patterns that were previously inaccessible or unrecognized. The second WOVOdat workshop in 2002 provided a recent forum for discussion of data formats, database access, and schemas. The formats and units for the discussed parameters can be viewed at http://www.wovo.org/WOVOdat/parameters.htm. Comments, suggestions, and participation in all aspects of the WOVOdat project are welcome and appreciated.

A Comparison of Personal Protective Standards: Caring for Patients With Ebola Virus.

PubMed

Franklin, Sativa Michelle

2016-01-01

The purpose of this article is to discuss the variance in requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE) used among healthcare workers to treat patients actively infected with the Ebola virus in West Africa. The Ebola virus is a highly contagious disease, which has killed 11020 people within the past year. In order to combat the disease and treat those with active infections, healthcare workers are required to use PPE. The guidelines for the PPE, in addition to the requirements of what should be worn, are varied between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A military unit was composed of sister services (Army, Navy, and Air Force) deployed to Monrovia, Liberia, to assist in mitigating the devastating effects of the Ebola virus. Each service member was taught PPE standards according to the WHO and were assigned to teach healthcare workers from around the world on how to manage the care of patients infected with the Ebola virus, while simultaneously taking diligent precautions to protect themselves against the deadly disease. More than 1500 healthcare workers were instructed on the latest PPE standards before they entered into the Ebola treatment units (ETUs) that were being constructed in Liberia. Cumulative death rates from the Ebola virus in Liberia increased from 2413 in October 2014 to 3686 by January 2015. The rapid decline in Ebola mortality is multifactorial. The efforts of US military medical personnel likely were a contributing factor in this rapid decline as those international health workers were afforded the latest in PPE training with strict attention to detail. US military medical personnel, in concert with other governmental agencies, created a potent force multiplier in the efforts to curb this deadly infection. The educational initiative was essential to the slowdown in the spread of the Ebola virus in Liberia. Recommendations for a detailed review of the PPE standards and variances in practice from both WHO and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are necessary to standardize processes across international healthcare workers to expedite the care for future infectious disease outbreaks. A possible solution is to modify the PPE process to standardize with the WHO guidelines. Key stakeholders from all levels (staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist, nurse managers, infectious disease experts, etc) need to be heavily involved in this process.

Centralized mouse repositories.

PubMed

Donahue, Leah Rae; Hrabe de Angelis, Martin; Hagn, Michael; Franklin, Craig; Lloyd, K C Kent; Magnuson, Terry; McKerlie, Colin; Nakagata, Naomi; Obata, Yuichi; Read, Stuart; Wurst, Wolfgang; Hörlein, Andreas; Davisson, Muriel T

2012-10-01

Because the mouse is used so widely for biomedical research and the number of mouse models being generated is increasing rapidly, centralized repositories are essential if the valuable mouse strains and models that have been developed are to be securely preserved and fully exploited. Ensuring the ongoing availability of these mouse strains preserves the investment made in creating and characterizing them and creates a global resource of enormous value. The establishment of centralized mouse repositories around the world for distributing and archiving these resources has provided critical access to and preservation of these strains. This article describes the common and specialized activities provided by major mouse repositories around the world.

Centralized Mouse Repositories

PubMed Central

Donahue, Leah Rae; de Angelis, Martin Hrabe; Hagn, Michael; Franklin, Craig; Lloyd, K. C. Kent; Magnuson, Terry; McKerlie, Colin; Nakagata, Naomi; Obata, Yuichi; Read, Stuart; Wurst, Wolfgang; Hörlein, Andreas; Davisson, Muriel T.

2013-01-01

Because the mouse is used so widely for biomedical research and the number of mouse models being generated is increasing rapidly, centralized repositories are essential if the valuable mouse strains and models that have been developed are to be securely preserved and fully exploited. Ensuring the ongoing availability of these mouse strains preserves the investment made in creating and characterizing them and creates a global resource of enormous value. The establishment of centralized mouse repositories around the world for distributing and archiving these resources has provided critical access to and preservation of these strains. This article describes the common and specialized activities provided by major mouse repositories around the world. PMID:22945696

National Systems of Innovation and Technological Differentiation:. a Multi-Country Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro, Leonardo C.; Ruiz, Ricardo M.; Albuquerque, Eduardo M.; Bernardes, Américo T.

Science and technology have a fundamental role in the economic development. Although this statement is generally well accepted, the internal mechanisms which are responsible for these interactions are not clear. In the last decade, dealing with this problem, many models have been proposed. In this paper, we introduce a model that creates an artificial world economy that is a network of countries. Each country has its own national system of innovation and the interactions between countries are given by functions that connect the competitiveness of their prices and their technological capabilities. Starting from different configurations, the artificial world economy self-organizes itself and creates a hierarchies of countries.

Developing High-resolution Soil Database for Regional Crop Modeling in East Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, E.; Ines, A. V. M.

2014-12-01

The most readily available soil data for regional crop modeling in Africa is the World Inventory of Soil Emission potentials (WISE) dataset, which has 1125 soil profiles for the world, but does not extensively cover countries Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in East Africa. Another dataset available is the HC27 (Harvest Choice by IFPRI) in a gridded format (10km) but composed of generic soil profiles based on only three criteria (texture, rooting depth, and organic carbon content). In this paper, we present a development and application of a high-resolution (1km), gridded soil database for regional crop modeling in East Africa. Basic soil information is extracted from Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS), which provides essential soil properties (bulk density, soil organic carbon, soil PH and percentages of sand, silt and clay) for 6 different standardized soil layers (5, 15, 30, 60, 100 and 200 cm) in 1km resolution. Soil hydraulic properties (e.g., field capacity and wilting point) are derived from the AfSIS soil dataset using well-proven pedo-transfer functions and are customized for DSSAT-CSM soil data requirements. The crop model is used to evaluate crop yield forecasts using the new high resolution soil database and compared with WISE and HC27. In this paper we will present also the results of DSSAT loosely coupled with a hydrologic model (VIC) to assimilate root-zone soil moisture. Creating a grid-based soil database, which provides a consistent soil input for two different models (DSSAT and VIC) is a critical part of this work. The created soil database is expected to contribute to future applications of DSSAT crop simulation in East Africa where food security is highly vulnerable.

Chimpanzees prefer African and Indian music over silence.

PubMed

Mingle, Morgan E; Eppley, Timothy M; Campbell, Matthew W; Hall, Katie; Horner, Victoria; de Waal, Frans B M

2014-10-01

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 40(4) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition (see record 2014-35305-001). For the article, the below files were used to create the audio used in this study. The original West African akan and North Indian raga pieces were used in their entirety and the Japanese taiko piece was used from the 0:19 second mark through the end. The tempo of each piece was adjusted so that they maintained an identical base tempo of 90 beats per minute, then looped to create 40 minutes of continuous music. Additionally, the volume of the music was standardized at 50 dB so that the all music maintained the same average amplitude. All audio manipulations were completed using GarageBand © (Apple Inc.).] All primates have an ability to distinguish between temporal and melodic features of music, but unlike humans, in previous studies, nonhuman primates have not demonstrated a preference for music. However, previous research has not tested the wide range of acoustic parameters present in many different types of world music. The purpose of the present study is to determine the spontaneous preference of common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) for 3 acoustically contrasting types of world music: West African akan, North Indian raga, and Japanese taiko. Sixteen chimpanzees housed in 2 groups were exposed to 40 min of music from a speaker placed 1.5 m outside the fence of their outdoor enclosure; the proximity of each subject to the acoustic stimulus was recorded every 2 min. When compared with controls, subjects spent significantly more time in areas where the acoustic stimulus was loudest in African and Indian music conditions. This preference for African and Indian music could indicate homologies in acoustic preferences between nonhuman and human primates. .

Affordances and Challenges of Using Argument as a Connective Discourse for Scientific Practices to Teach Climate Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sezen-Barrie, A.; Wolfson, J.

2015-12-01

An important goal of science education is to support development of citizens to participate in public debate and make informed decisions relevant to their lives and their worlds. The NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) suggest engaging students in science classrooms in argumentation as a practice to help enhance the quality of evidence based decision making. In this multi-case study, we explored the use of written argumentation in eight secondary school science classrooms during a lesson on the relationship between ocean temperature and its CO2 holding capacity. All teachers of these classrooms were trained during a day long NSF funded Climate Literacy Workshop on the basic concepts of climate science, scientific practices and implementation of an activity called "It's a Gassy World". The data of the current study involved students' written arguments, teachers' written reflections on the implementation of the activity as well as field notes from the Climate Literacy Workshop. A qualitative discourse analysis of the data was used to find common themes around affordances and challenges of argument as a connective discourse for scientific practices to teach climate change. The findings show that participating in written argumentation process encouraged students to discuss their experimental design and use data interpretation for their evidences. However, the results also indicated the following challenges: a) teachers themselves need support in connecting their evidence to their claims, b) arguing a socioscientific issue creates a sensitive environment c) conceptual quality of an argument needs to be strengthen through background in courses other than science, and d) graphing skills (or lack of) can interfere with constructing scientifically accurate claims. This study has implications in effectively teaching climate change through argumentation, and thus creating opportunities for practicing authentic climate science research in K-12 classrooms.

Enhancing the Impact of NASA Astrophysics Education and Public Outreach: Using Real NASA Data in the Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawton, Brandon L.; Smith, D. A.; SMD Astrophysics E/PO Community, NASA

2013-01-01

The NASA Science Education and Public Outreach Forums support the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and its education and public outreach (E/PO) community in enhancing the coherence, efficiency, and effectiveness of SMD-funded E/PO programs. As a part of this effort, the Astrophysics Forum is coordinating a collaborative project among the NASA SMD astrophysics missions and E/PO programs to create a broader impact for the use of real NASA data in classrooms. Among NASA's major education goals is the training of students in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines. The use of real data, from some of the most sophisticated observatories in the world, provide educators an authentic opportunity to teach students basic science process skills, inquiry, and real-world applications of the STEM subjects. The goal of this NASA SMD astrophysics community collaboration is to find a way to maximize the reach of existing real data products produced by E/PO professionals working with NASA E/PO grants and missions in ways that enhance the teaching of the STEM subjects. We present an initial result of our collaboration: defining levels of basic science process skills that lie at the heart of authentic scientific research and national education standards (AAAS Benchmarks) and examples of NASA data products that align with those levels. Our results are the beginning of a larger goal of utilizing the new NASA education resource catalog, NASA Wavelength, for the creation of progressions that tie NASA education resources together. We aim to create an informational sampler that illustrates how an educator can use the NASA Wavelength resource catalog to connect NASA real-data resources that meet the educational goals of their class.

Oil and the Future of Marine Corps Aviation

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

World Oil Consumption by Sector 2003-2030 21 2 World Oil Consumption by Region and Country Group 2003-2030 21 3 Hubbert’s Original 1956...is increasing. This theory will be examined in more detail below. Unconventional fuels created from coal , tar sands, and oil shale are a potential...produce liquid hydrocarbon fuel from coal . The so called Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process supplied a substantial amount of Germany’s fuels during World War II

"This above All: To Thine Own Self Be True"--Ethical Considerations and Risks in Conducting Higher Education Learning Activities in the Virtual World "Second Life" [TM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Childs, Mark; Schnieders, H. Lori; Williams, Gweno

2012-01-01

Using virtual worlds as media for learning and teaching gives rise to the potential for many unique ethical problems. Some of these arise due to the nature of the engagement with these virtual worlds, in which the students create a virtual representation, called an avatar, which may enable a sense of embodiment, and hence exposure, within the…

Quantifying Ecological Literacy in an Adult Western Community: The Development and Application of a New Assessment Tool and Community Standard

PubMed Central

Pitman, Sheryn D.; Daniels, Christopher B.

2016-01-01

Knowledge and understanding about how the Earth functions and supports life create the foundation for ecological literacy. Industrialisation, urbanisation and population growth have resulted in changed relationships between many human communities and the natural world. A potential consequence is a compromised capability to make well-informed decisions about how to live sustainably. To gain a measure of ecological literacy within the South Australian community, we collaborated with senior scientists and educators to develop and apply an instrument with the capacity to determine indicative levels of ecological knowledge and understanding. A formal, variable credit, multiple-choice assessment instrument was distributed online to groups and individuals within diverse community sectors and industries. Quantitative analyses of scores indicated that levels of ecological knowledge and understanding within a self-selected sample of over one thousand individuals ranged from very low to extremely high, with the majority of respondents achieving moderate to high scores. This instrument has a demonstrated capacity to determine indicative levels of ecological literacy within and between individuals and groups. It is able to capture mastery of ecological knowledge and understanding achieved through both formal and informal pathways. Using the results, we have been able to establish a range of standards and an aspirational target score for the South Australian community. The value of this work is in its potential to deliver insights into relationships between humans and the rest of the natural world, and into characteristics of eco-literate individuals and communities, that might not otherwise emerge. PMID:26938258

Quantifying Ecological Literacy in an Adult Western Community: The Development and Application of a New Assessment Tool and Community Standard.

PubMed

Pitman, Sheryn D; Daniels, Christopher B

2016-01-01

Knowledge and understanding about how the Earth functions and supports life create the foundation for ecological literacy. Industrialisation, urbanisation and population growth have resulted in changed relationships between many human communities and the natural world. A potential consequence is a compromised capability to make well-informed decisions about how to live sustainably. To gain a measure of ecological literacy within the South Australian community, we collaborated with senior scientists and educators to develop and apply an instrument with the capacity to determine indicative levels of ecological knowledge and understanding. A formal, variable credit, multiple-choice assessment instrument was distributed online to groups and individuals within diverse community sectors and industries. Quantitative analyses of scores indicated that levels of ecological knowledge and understanding within a self-selected sample of over one thousand individuals ranged from very low to extremely high, with the majority of respondents achieving moderate to high scores. This instrument has a demonstrated capacity to determine indicative levels of ecological literacy within and between individuals and groups. It is able to capture mastery of ecological knowledge and understanding achieved through both formal and informal pathways. Using the results, we have been able to establish a range of standards and an aspirational target score for the South Australian community. The value of this work is in its potential to deliver insights into relationships between humans and the rest of the natural world, and into characteristics of eco-literate individuals and communities, that might not otherwise emerge.

Confirmatory factors analysis of science teacher leadership in the Thailand world-class standard schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thawinkarn, Dawruwan

2018-01-01

This research aims to analyze factors of science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools. The research instrument was a five scale rating questionnaire with reliability 0.986. The sample group included 500 science teachers from World-Class Standard Schools who had been selected by using the stratified random sampling technique. Factor analysis of science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools was conducted by using M plus for Windows. The results are as follows: The results of confirmatory factor analysis on science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools revealed that the model significantly correlated with the empirical data. The consistency index value was x2 = 105.655, df = 88, P-Value = 0.086, TLI = 0.997, CFI = 0.999, RMSEA = 0.022, and SRMR = 0.019. The value of factor loading of science teacher leadership was positive, with statistical significance at the level of 0.01. The value of six factors was between 0.880-0.996. The highest factor loading was the professional learning community, followed by child-centered instruction, participation in development, the role model in teaching, transformational leaders, and self-development with factor loading at 0.996, 0.928, 0.911, 0.907, 0.901, and 0.871, respectively. The reliability of each factor was 99.1%, 86.0%, 83.0%, 82.2%, 81.0%, and 75.8%, respectively.

Developing global health technology standards: what can other industries teach us?

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background There is a lack of effective and affordable technologies to address health needs in the developing world. One way to address problems of innovation and affordability is to design global health technologies to follow agreed-upon standards. This Debate article argues that we can better develop standards for global health technologies if we learn lessons from other industries. Discussion The article’s Background section begins by explaining why standards are needed in global health. For example, if global health technologies can be modularized into independent interfacing parts, these parts can then interact via well-defined standards in a “plug and play” fashion. This can avoid development of mutually incompatible solutions by different organizations, speed the pace of innovation, unlock health systems from single providers and approaches, and lower barriers to entry. The Background then gives a brief primer on standards and discusses incentives for health standards. The article’s Discussion section begins with brief relevant cases of standards development from other industries, including electricity, container shipping, CD standards, Universal Serial Bus (USB), and the Internet. It then explores lessons from these and other industries that suggest how to develop standards for global health technologies. The remainder of the Discussion considers intellectual property and regulatory issues and standards-based global health business models, and ends with a checklist of considerations for health standards development leaders. (The associated Additional file discusses observations from standards development for cell phones and semiconductors, as well as challenges in the standards development process itself.) Throughout the article, point-of-care diagnostics are used as an illustrative example. An initiative is already underway to explore standardized diagnostics platforms. Summary This Debate article aims to convince the reader that standards can benefit global health technologies if we learn lessons from other industries. The article draws from historical examples and the authors’ experiences to suggest principles, challenges, and opportunities in developing these standards. If implemented well, standardized platforms can lower barriers to entry, improve affordability, and create a vibrant ecosystem of innovative new global health technologies. PMID:24134866

On standardization of basic datasets of electronic medical records in traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Zhang, Hong; Ni, Wandong; Li, Jing; Jiang, Youlin; Liu, Kunjing; Ma, Zhaohui

2017-12-24

Standardization of electronic medical record, so as to enable resource-sharing and information exchange among medical institutions has become inevitable in view of the ever increasing medical information. The current research is an effort towards the standardization of basic dataset of electronic medical records in traditional Chinese medicine. In this work, an outpatient clinical information model and an inpatient clinical information model are created to adequately depict the diagnosis processes and treatment procedures of traditional Chinese medicine. To be backward compatible with the existing dataset standard created for western medicine, the new standard shall be a superset of the existing standard. Thus, the two models are checked against the existing standard in conjunction with 170,000 medical record cases. If a case cannot be covered by the existing standard due to the particularity of Chinese medicine, then either an existing data element is expanded with some Chinese medicine contents or a new data element is created. Some dataset subsets are also created to group and record Chinese medicine special diagnoses and treatments such as acupuncture. The outcome of this research is a proposal of standardized traditional Chinese medicine medical records datasets. The proposal has been verified successfully in three medical institutions with hundreds of thousands of medical records. A new dataset standard for traditional Chinese medicine is proposed in this paper. The proposed standard, covering traditional Chinese medicine as well as western medicine, is expected to be soon approved by the authority. A widespread adoption of this proposal will enable traditional Chinese medicine hospitals and institutions to easily exchange information and share resources. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

U.S. energy outlook and future energy impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamburger, Randolph John

2011-12-01

Energy markets were not immune to the 2007 financial crisis. Growth in the Indian and Chinese economies is placing strains on global energy supplies that could force a repeat of the 2008 price spike of $145/bbl for crude oil. Emerging market growth coupled with inefficiencies, frictions, and speculation in the energy markets has the potential to create drastic economic shocks throughout the world. The 2007 economic crisis has pushed back investment in energy projects where a low-growth scenario in world GDP could create drastic price increases in world energy prices. Without a long-term energy supply plan, the U.S. is destined to see growth reduced and its trade imbalances continue to deteriorate with increasing energy costs. Analysis of the U.S. natural gas futures markets and the impact of financial speculation on natural gas market pricing determined that financial speculation adds to price movements in the energy markets, which could cause violent swings in energy prices.

New Zealand among global social media initiative leaders for primary care advocacy.

PubMed

Hoedebecke, Kyle; Scott-Jones, Joseph; Pinho-Costa, Luís

2016-06-01

The international '#1WordforFamilyMedicine' initiative explores the identity of General Practitioners (GPs) and Family Physicians (FPs) by allowing the international Family Medicine community to collaborate on advocating for the discipline via social media. The New Zealand version attracted 83 responses on social media. Thematic analysis was performed on the responses and a 'word cloud' image was created based on an image identifying the country around the world - that of the silver fern. The '#1WorldforFamilyMedicine' project was promoted by WONCA (World Organisation of Family Doctors) globally to help celebrate World Family Doctor Day on 19 May 2015. To date, over 80 images have been created in 60 different countries on six continents. The images represent GPs' love for their profession and the community they serve. We hope that this initiative will help inspire current and future Family Medicine and Primary Care providers.

[Images in the dialogue between science and society].

PubMed

Claessens, Michel

2011-01-01

In France, over 45 millions people watch TV every day for more than 3 hours. Science and image get well together since most TV watchers trust this media and rely on it (more than on any other source) for their scientific information. This emphasizes the power of images, which do not always deliver information, but can be naively regarded as creating communication. Image is necessary and an event which does not generate images is a non-event. Images are more than just a support for scientific messages: technologies have produced an enormous amount of images which allow us to uncover the mysteries of the world and Universe, their beauty and delicacy. We can be fascinated by the discovery of the invisible world which surrounds us, and science has truly generated artistic masterpieces even though we should remember that its primary goal is to understand the world rather than to create images. © 2011 médecine/sciences - Inserm / SRMS.

Creation of a Web-Based GIS Server and Custom Geoprocessing Tools for Enhanced Hydrologic Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welton, B.; Chouinard, K.; Sultan, M.; Becker, D.; Milewski, A.; Becker, R.

2010-12-01

Rising populations in the arid and semi arid parts of the World are increasing the demand for fresh water supplies worldwide. Many data sets needed for assessment of hydrologic applications across vast regions of the world are expensive, unpublished, difficult to obtain, or at varying scales which complicates their use. Fortunately, this situation is changing with the development of global remote sensing datasets and web-based platforms such as GIS Server. GIS provides a cost effective vehicle for comparing, analyzing, and querying a variety of spatial datasets as geographically referenced layers. We have recently constructed a web-based GIS, that incorporates all relevant geological, geochemical, geophysical, and remote sensing data sets that were readily used to identify reservoir types and potential well locations on local and regional scales in various tectonic settings including: (1) extensional environment (Red Sea rift), (2) transcurrent fault system (Najd Fault in the Arabian-Nubian Shield), and (3) compressional environments (Himalayas). The web-based GIS could also be used to detect spatial and temporal trends in precipitation, recharge, and runoff in large watersheds on local, regional, and continental scales. These applications were enabled through the construction of a web-based ArcGIS Server with Google Map’s interface and the development of customized geoprocessing tools. ArcGIS Server provides out-of-the-box setups that are generic in nature. This platform includes all of the standard web based GIS tools (e.g. pan, zoom, identify, search, data querying, and measurement). In addition to the standard suite of tools provided by ArcGIS Server an additional set of advanced data manipulation and display tools was also developed to allow for a more complete and customizable view of the area of interest. The most notable addition to the standard GIS Server tools is the custom on-demand geoprocessing tools (e.g., graph, statistical functions, custom raster creation, profile, TRMM). The generation of a wide range of derivative maps (e.g., buffer zone, contour map, graphs, temporal rainfall distribution maps) from various map layers (e.g., geologic maps, geophysics, satellite images) allows for more user flexibility. The use of these tools along with Google Map’s API which enables the website user to utilize high quality GeoEye 2 images provide by Google in conjunction with our data, creates a more complete image of the area being observed and allows for custom derivative maps to be created in the field and viewed immediately on the web, processes that were restricted to offline databases.

Create full-scale predictive economic models on ROI and innovation with performance computing

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

Joseph, Earl C.; Conway, Steve

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the world's largest buyer and user of supercomputers, awarded IDC Research, Inc. a grant to create two macroeconomic models capable of quantifying, respectively, financial and non-financial (innovation) returns on investments in HPC resources. Following a 2013 pilot study in which we created the models and tested them on about 200 real-world HPC cases, DOE authorized us to conduct a full-out, three-year grant study to collect and measure many more examples, a process that would also subject the methodology to further testing and validation. A secondary, "stretch" goal of the full-out study was to advancemore » the methodology from association toward (but not all the way to) causation, by eliminating the effects of some of the other factors that might be contributing, along with HPC investments, to the returns produced in the investigated projects.« less

LANDSAT 2 world standard catalog, 1-31 December 1978

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The World Standard Catalog lists imagery acquired by LANDSAT 2 which was processed and input to the data files during the referenced period. Information on cloud cover and image quality is given for each scene. The microfilm roll and frame on which the scene may be found is presented.

LANDSAT 3 world standard catalog, 1-31 December 1978

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The World Standard Catalog lists imagery acquired by LANDSAT 3 which was processed and input to the data files during the referenced period. Information on cloud cover and image quality is given for each scene. The microfilm roll and frame on which the scene may be found is given.

Learning with Artificial Worlds: Computer-Based Modelling in the Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mellar, Harvey, Ed.; And Others

With the advent of the British National Curriculum, computer-based modeling has become an integral part of the school curriculum. This book is about modeling in education and providing children with computer tools to create and explore representations of the world. Members of the London Mental Models Group contributed their research: (1)…

Portal: Your Door to World Languages and Cultures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliott, Don; Lawton, Rachele

2009-01-01

Portal: Your Door to World Languages and Cultures was a series of public cultural events, in a variety of formats, created through a new partnership between the credit and continuing education (noncredit) foreign language programs at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). Portal was designed to cultivate interest in foreign languages…

Global Migration, Diversity, and Civic Education: Improving Policy and Practice. Multicultural Education Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banks, James A., Ed.; Suárez-Orozco, Marcelo, Ed.; Ben-Peretz, Miriam, Ed.

2016-01-01

Mass migration and globalization are creating new and deep challenges to education systems the world over. In this volume, some of the world's leading researchers in multicultural education and immigration discuss critical issues related to cultural sustainability, structural inclusion, and social cohesion. The authors consider how global…

Education in the Muslim World: What's Next? AED Global Learning Group.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC.

This paper presents a discussion by a group of specialists on education in the Muslim world, looking at the United Nations Development Program's Arab Human Development Report of 2002, "Creating Opportunities for Future Generations," and noting three major deficits that need to be addressed: the freedom deficit (political freedom), the…

Women Creating a New World. Facts for Action #3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuttle, Leslie; Wunder, Haleh

An assessment of the role of women in third world countries and strategies to improve their status are provided for high school global education classes. The document emphasizes that women in rural areas of developing nations are subject to triple oppression: as citizens of underdeveloped countries; as peasants living in the most impoverished and…

Social Virtual Worlds for Technology-Enhanced Learning on an Augmented Learning Platform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jin, Li; Wen, Zhigang; Gough, Norman

2010-01-01

Virtual worlds have been linked with e-learning applications to create virtual learning environments (VLEs) for the past decade. However, while they can support many educational activities that extend both traditional on-campus teaching and distance learning, they are used primarily for learning content generated and managed by instructors. With…

International Advisory Councils and Internationalization of Governance: A Qualitative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mihut, Georgiana; Altbach, Philip G.; Salmi, Jamil

2016-01-01

This paper discusses the emergence of international advisory councils (IACs) at universities around the world and introduces the concept of internationalization of governance. Global trends in the field of higher education, such as the quest to create world-class universities and advance in global rankings, the rise of new public management, and…

World Wide Web Pages--Tools for Teaching and Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beasley, Sarah; Kent, Jean

Created to help educators incorporate World Wide Web pages into teaching and learning, this collection of Web pages presents resources, materials, and techniques for using the Web. The first page focuses on tools for teaching and learning via the Web, providing pointers to sites containing the following: (1) course materials for both distance and…

The Potential for Scientific Collaboration in Virtual Ecosystems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magerko, Brian

2010-01-01

This article explores the potential benefits of creating "virtual ecosystems" from real-world data. These ecosystems are intended to be realistic virtual representations of environments that may be costly or difficult to access in person. They can be constructed as 3D worlds rendered from stereo video data, augmented with scientific data, and then…

Changing Relations between Learning and Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jefferson, Anne L.; Levitan, Barbara

2006-01-01

The change in technology, in communications and in the dynamics of human and institutional interactions has created a need to shift relations between the world of learning and the world of work. New levers need to be added to those currently relied on. Consequently the learning-work relationship that exists between tertiary education institutions…

Affecting Literacy and World Understandings through Creating Opportunities to Meet Real Authors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klug, Beverly J.; Turner, Kaye; Feuerborn, Patricia

2009-01-01

An idea to bring ethnically diverse authors to Southeast Idaho to promote reading and cultural understandings was conceived 24 years ago. The Visiting Author Series resulted from a committee's dream and resulted in new understandings of the literacy process as well as bringing the world to this region.

Uniting Community and University through Service Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arney, Janna B.; Jones, Irma

2006-01-01

At its core, service-learning is about creating opportunities for students to apply theory they learn in the classroom to real-world problems and real-world needs. A service-learning project was initiated with the CEO of the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce. The project required 2nd-year business communication students to interview community…

Science and Religion: What Is at Stake?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roth, Wolff-Michael

2010-01-01

There are some who experience irreconcilable differences between their religious beliefs concerning a world created as is, on the one hand, and a scientific view of the world that has developed by means of natural evolution over billions of years, on the other hand. In this special issue, scholars from very different religions, backgrounds, and…

Now, Here's the Weather Forecast...

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Mathew

2013-01-01

The Met Office has a long history of weather forecasting, creating tailored weather forecasts for customers across the world. Based in Exeter, the Met Office is also home to the Met Office Hadley Centre, a world-leading centre for the study of climate change and its potential impacts. Climate information from the Met Office Hadley Centre is used…

The Challenge of Improving Teaching in a Globalizing World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bokek-Cohen, Ya'arit; Davidovich, Nitza

2011-01-01

The USA has served as a beacon of hope for thousands of foreign students and academics with its diverse and superior opportunities created by a system of meritocracy unparalleled in the world. In keeping with other industries, academia is increasingly becoming a global village and foreign-born professors constitute a large proportion of university…

Third World Conflict and American Response in the Post-Cold War World

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-03-05

exemplify this problem. Deforestation is largely the result of actions taken by tropical countries (notably Brazil in the Amazon Basin) to convert into more...34productive" uses equatorial rainforests that historically created a kind of green band around the Earth’s middle. That band is slowly disappearing

21st-Century Urban Renewal: Mathematical Understanding of Real-World Graphical Data Using Geospatial Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeBay, Dennis J.

2017-01-01

The introduction of real-world, meaningful tasks in mathematics classrooms promises to create opportunities for enhancing students' learning through active engagement with mathematical ideas; however, researchers have given little consideration to the contexts in which urban high-school students live. The case study of three students reported in…

Got the World on a Screen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adam, Anna; Mowers, Helen

2007-01-01

In this article, the authors discuss how Google Earth provides more than a geography lesson. For starters, Google Earth is perfect for teaching geography. Subscribe to Where in the World, for example, and have their students listen to podcast clues in a find-the-location game created by students worldwide. Clues relate to math (the population of…

Engineering Encounters: The Tightrope Challenge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton, Bill

2014-01-01

In order to prepare students to become the next innovators, teachers need to provide real-world challenges that allow children to exercise their innovation muscles. Innovation starts with a problem and innovators work to solve a problem by planning, creating, and testing. The real-world innovation process does not happen on a worksheet, and it…

AIR LEVELS OF CARCINOGENIC POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS FOLLOWING THE WORLD TRADE CENTER DISASTER

EPA Science Inventory

The catastrophic collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) on September 11, 2001, created an immense dust cloud followed by fires that emitted soot into the air of New York City (NYC) well into December. The subsequent cleanup used diesel equipment that further polluted the air un...

Research Universities and the Future of America

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duderstadt, James J.

2012-01-01

The crucial importance of the research university as a key asset in achieving economic prosperity and security is widely understood, as evidenced by the efforts that nations around the globe are making to create and sustain institutions of world-class quality. Yet, while America's research universities remain the strongest in the world, they are…

The One World of Working Women. Monograph No. 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Anne H.

Women of many nations, particularly the industrialized countries, are achieving greater opportunity and equality in the working world. The rate at which women are joining the work force has confounded all predictions and created unexpected difficulties in securing equal pay and access to jobs and training. The most direct discrimination, separate…

Assistance Focus: Africa

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

The Clean Energy Solutions Center, an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial, helps countries throughout the world create policies and programs that advance the deployment of clean energy technologies. Through the Solutions Center's no-cost Ask an Expert service, a team of international experts has delivered assistance to countries in all regions of the world, including Africa.

International Business Culture: Merging Business with Foreign Language Cultural Expertise.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hovsepian, Kristen B.

This report considers how the different departments of business administration and foreign languages can cooperate to create coursework that will benefit students in both areas of study. The ignorance many U.S. citizens have of the world is taken into consideration. Although foreign language majors have greater exposure to the world, this…

An Investigation into Cooperative Learning in a Virtual World Using Problem-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parson, Vanessa; Bignell, Simon

2017-01-01

Three-dimensional multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) have the potential to provide experiential learning qualitatively similar to that found in the real world. MUVEs offer a pedagogically-driven immersive learning opportunity for educationalists that is cost-effective and enjoyable. A family of digital virtual avatars was created within…

The Americanization of West Virginia: Creating a Modern Industrial State, 1916-1925.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hennen, John C.

This book looks at education, ideology, and industrial relations in West Virginia in the context of mobilization for World War I, postwar social instability, and national economic expansion. World War I consolidated the dominant positions of businessmen, professional educators, and political capitalists as arbiters of national values. Alarmed by…

World-Wide Web: The Information Universe.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berners-Lee, Tim; And Others

1992-01-01

Describes the World-Wide Web (W3) project, which is designed to create a global information universe using techniques of hypertext, information retrieval, and wide area networking. Discussion covers the W3 data model, W3 architecture, the document naming scheme, protocols, document formats, comparison with other systems, experience with the W3…

Design of a Prototype Mobile Application to Make Mathematics Education More Realistic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordaan, Dawid B.; Laubscher, Dorothy J.; Blignaut, A. Seugnet

2017-01-01

To enter the world of work, students require skills which include flexibility, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and communication. The use of mobile technologies which are specifically created for a context could stimulate motivation in students to recognise the relevance of Mathematics in the real world. South Africa in…

An Interdisciplinary Design Project in Second Life: Creating a Virtual Marine Science Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Triggs, Riley; Jarmon, Leslie; Villareal, Tracy A.

2010-01-01

Virtual environments can resolve many practical and pedagogical challenges within higher education. Economic considerations, accessibility issues, and safety concerns can all be somewhat alleviated by creating learning activities in a virtual space. Because of the removal of real-world physical limitations like gravity, durability and scope,…

Using the Internet To Create Primary Source Teaching Packets.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

VanFossen, Phillip J.; Shiveley, James M.

2000-01-01

Describes strategies and guidelines for creating age- and content-appropriate primary source documents using the Internet. Discusses the value of using topic-specific primary source teaching packets, or jackdaws. Provides three Internet generated jackdaws: New Deal/FDR, Home Front during World War II, and the Gilded Age. Addresses fair use issues.…

Forestry cooperatives: past and present

Treesearch

Mark G. Rickenbach

2006-01-01

Forest landowner cooperatives are not a new phenomenon, but past efforts to create and sustain these businesses have been largely unsuccessful in the U.S. Before and just after World War II saw significant investment in cooperative development that failed to create durable business. The purpose of this chapter is to briefly describe the history of forestry cooperatives...

Make Learning Matter for the Multitasking Generation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Jill

2012-01-01

Technological advances have created amazing opportunities for people throughout the world to access and share information. These opportunities have helped to create a generation of young adolescents who want to make the most of each minute of the day, seizing opportunities to seek information and communicate at the same time. This generation is…

Creating an Effective Newsletter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shackelford, Ray; Griffis, Kurt

2006-01-01

Newsletters are an important resource or form of media. They offer a cost-effective way to keep people informed, as well as to promote events and programs. Production of a newsletter makes an excellent project, relevant to real-world communication, for technology students. This article presents an activity on how to create a short newsletter. The…

While Globalizing Their Movement, Tribal Colleges Import Ideas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ambler, Marjane

2005-01-01

Thirty-seven years ago, the Navajo people in Arizona created the first tribally-controlled college in the world. This birth fired the imagination of educators and community activists across the United States, who soon began creating their own colleges in the Northern Plains, Midwest, Northwest, and, most recently, in Oklahoma and the East. It is…

Applying Andragogical Concepts in Creating a Sustainable Lifelong Learning Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charungkaittikul, Suwithida; Henschke, John A.

2017-01-01

Today, the world is changing, re-establishing the role of education to have a developed society. This article aims to explore the practical application of Andragogy as a key element for creating a sustainable lifelong learning society, to propose strategies for developing a lifelong learning society using andragogical concepts, to enhance…

Second Life: Creating Worlds of Wonder for Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ocasio, Michelle A.

2016-01-01

This article describes Second Life, a three-dimensional virtual environment in which a user creates an avatar for the purpose of socializing, learning, developing skills, and exploring a variety of academic and social areas. Since its inception in 2003, Second Life has been used by educators to build and foster innovative learning environments and…

Creating Web-Based Environmental Education Resources through Community and University Partnerships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phelps, Renata; Maddison, Carrie; Skamp, Keith; Braithwaite, Richard

2008-01-01

Community groups often seek to engage with schools in promoting environmental education goals. A collaborative initiative is described in which university pre-service teacher education students were encouraged to create Web-based teaching and learning resources, related to rainforests and world heritage areas, for use at primary and secondary…

Khmer Rap Boys, X-Men, Asia's Fruits, and Dragonball Z: Creating Multilingual and Multimodal Classroom Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGinnis, Theresa Ann

2007-01-01

In our rapidly changing global culture, students' social worlds are becoming increasingly multilingual and multimodal, yet school practices do not often reflect the complexities or diversity of students' literacy and language practices. Valuing students' experiences with language and culture is important in creating supportive learning…

Authoring Educational Courseware Using OXYGEN.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ip, Albert

Engaging learners on the World Wide Web is more than sending Web pages to the user. However, for many course delivery software programs, the smallest unit of delivery is a Web page. How content experts can create engaging Web pages has largely been ignored or taken for granted. This paper reports on an authoring model for creating pedagogically…

Re-Awakening the Learner: Creating Learner-Centric, Standards-Driven Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoll, Copper; Giddings, Gene

2012-01-01

Transformation of public education requires the reawakening of the sleeping giant in the room: the learners. Students, teachers, and principals must develop a learner-centric, standards-driven school. "Reawakening the Learner" is a guide to creating just such an environment. Continua describe the journey of teachers, teacher leaders, and…

Standardizing Interpretive Training to Create a More Meaningful Visitor Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carr, Rob

2016-01-01

Implementing a standardized interpretive training and mentoring program across multiple departments has helped created a shared language that staff and volunteers use to collaborate and evaluate interpretive programs and products. This has led to more efficient and effective training and measurable improvements in the quality of the visitor's…

University Examinations and Standardized Testing: Principles, Experience, and Policy Options. World Bank Technical Paper Number 78. Proceedings of a Seminar on the Uses of Standardized Tests and Selection Examinations (Beijing, China, April 1985).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heyneman, Stephen P., Ed.; Fagerlind, Ingemar, Ed.

In September 1984, the Chinese government asked the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank to assist the officials of the Chinese Ministry of Education in thinking through some policy options for examinations and standardized testing. This document summarizes the descriptions of testing programs and advice provided to these Chinese…

Information Interface Related Standards, Guidelines, and Recommended Practices.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-07-01

Application Workshop, IEEE, October 1984 (11) Software Portability and Standards, by Ingemar Dahlstrand, Ellis Horwood Ltd., 1984 (12) World of EDP...March 29, 1985, p. 42-48 * 9. "IBM’s Topview Plays to Poor Reviews of Early Users," Computer World , March 4, 1985, p. 5 10. "Lack of Software Standards...Information Symbols ISOiTR 7239-1984 - Development and Principles for Application of Public Information Symbols ISO/TR 8545 -1984 - Technical Drawings

Synthetic environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lukes, George E.; Cain, Joel M.

1996-02-01

The Advanced Distributed Simulation (ADS) Synthetic Environments Program seeks to create robust virtual worlds from operational terrain and environmental data sources of sufficient fidelity and currency to interact with the real world. While some applications can be met by direct exploitation of standard digital terrain data, more demanding applications -- particularly those support operations 'close to the ground' -- are well-served by emerging capabilities for 'value-adding' by the user working with controlled imagery. For users to rigorously refine and exploit controlled imagery within functionally different workstations they must have a shared framework to allow interoperability within and between these environments in terms of passing image and object coordinates and other information using a variety of validated sensor models. The Synthetic Environments Program is now being expanded to address rapid construction of virtual worlds with research initiatives in digital mapping, softcopy workstations, and cartographic image understanding. The Synthetic Environments Program is also participating in a joint initiative for a sensor model applications programer's interface (API) to ensure that a common controlled imagery exploitation framework is available to all researchers, developers and users. This presentation provides an introduction to ADS and the associated requirements for synthetic environments to support synthetic theaters of war. It provides a technical rationale for exploring applications of image understanding technology to automated cartography in support of ADS and related programs benefitting from automated analysis of mapping, earth resources and reconnaissance imagery. And it provides an overview and status of the joint initiative for a sensor model API.

The Use of Special Operations Forces in Support of American Strategic Security Strategies

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-28

Operations Command (USSOCOM) global threats have morphed. The world has evolved from a bi-polar conflict characterized by the Cold War through what may be...the community of nations and create a more stable and thus, prosperous, world . This paper sets the strategic context for future operations, defines...transported gamers into the world of SOF on daring missions to save humanity from rogue states and international terrorists. While each is entertaining

Design and analysis of the federal aviation administration next generation fire test burner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ochs, Robert Ian

The United States Federal Aviation Administration makes use of threat-based fire test methods for the certification of aircraft cabin materials to enhance the level of safety in the event of an in-flight or post-crash fire on a transport airplane. The global nature of the aviation industry results in these test methods being performed at hundreds of laboratories around the world; in some cases testing identical materials at multiple labs but yielding different results. Maintenance of this standard for an elevated level of safety requires that the test methods be as well defined as possible, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of critical test method parameters. The tests have evolved from simple Bunsen burner material tests to larger, more complicated apparatuses, requiring greater understanding of the device for proper application. The FAA specifies a modified home heating oil burner to simulate the effects of large, intense fires for testing of aircraft seat cushions, cargo compartment liners, power plant components, and thermal acoustic insulation. Recently, the FAA has developed a Next Generation (NexGen) Fire Test burner to replace the original oil burner that has become commercially unavailable. The NexGen burner design is based on the original oil burner but with more precise control of the air and fuel flow rates with the addition of a sonic nozzle and a pressurized fuel system. Knowledge of the fundamental flow properties created by various burner configurations is desired to develop an updated and standardized burner configuration for use around the world for aircraft materials fire testing and airplane certification. To that end, the NexGen fire test burner was analyzed with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to resolve the non-reacting exit flow field and determine the influence of the configuration of burner components. The correlation between the measured flow fields and the standard burner performance metrics of flame temperature and burnthrough time was studied. Potential design improvements were also evaluated that could simplify burner set up and operation.

The importance of production standard operating procedure in a family business company

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hongdiyanto, C.

2017-12-01

Plastic industry is a growing sector, therefore UD X which engage in this business has a great potential to grow as well. The problem faced by this family business company is that no standard operating procedure is used and it lead to problem in the quality and quantity produced. This research is aim to create a production standard operating procedure for UD X. Semistructure interview is used to gather information from respondent to help writer create the SOP. There are four SOP’s created, namely: classifying SOP, sorting SOP, milling SOP and packing SOP. Having SOP will improve the effectiveness of production because employees already know how to work in each stages of production process.

Lessons Learned from Becoming an Independent Standards Board.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Board, John C.

This paper discusses lessons learned from becoming an independent standards board. It begins by explaining that teachers lacked adequate academic preparation during the two World Wars and shortly thereafter. At the end of World War II, public education had to deal with poor pay, little job security, inadequate pensions, and inadequate and…

World Wide Web Server Standards and Guidelines.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stubbs, Keith M.

This document defines the specific standards and general guidelines which the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will use to make information available on the World Wide Web (WWW). The purpose of providing such guidance is to ensure high quality and consistent content, organization, and presentation of information on ED WWW servers, in order to…

The State of State World History Standards, 2006

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mead, Walter Russell

2006-01-01

This first-ever thorough report reviews academic standards in world history in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine whether we are setting the solid, challenging expectations for our schools and children that will equip the next generation with the skills and knowledge it will need. The report, written by renowned historian…

LANDSAT 2 world standard catalog, 1-31 January 1979

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

The World Standard Catalog lists imagery acquired by LANDSAT 2 which are processed and input to the data files during the referenced period. Information such as cloud cover and image quality is given for each scene. The microfilm roll and frame on which the scene may be found is also given.

LANDSAT 2 world standard catalog, 1-30 November 1978

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The World Standard Catalog lists imagery acquired by LANDSAT 2 which was processed and input to the data files during the referenced period. Information such as cloud cover and image quality is given for each scene. The microfilm roll and frame on which the scene may be found is also given.

LANDSAT 2 world standard catalog, 1-31 October 1978

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The World Standard Catalog lists imagery acquired by LANDSAT 2 which was processed and input to the data files during the referenced period. Information such as cloud cover and image quality is given for each scene. The microfilms roll and frame on which the scene may be found is also given.

LANDSAT 2 world standard catalog, 1 Jan. - 30 Apr. 1978

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The World Standard Catalog lists imagery acquired by LANDSAT 2 which has been processed and input to the data files during the referenced months. Data, such as cloud cover and image quality, are given for each scene. The microfilm roll and frame on which the scene may be found is also given.

Surface area and the seabed area, volume, depth, slope, and topographic variation for the world's seas, oceans, and countries.

PubMed

Costello, Mark John; Cheung, Alan; De Hauwere, Nathalie

2010-12-01

Depth and topography directly and indirectly influence most ocean environmental conditions, including light penetration and photosynthesis, sedimentation, current movements and stratification, and thus temperature and oxygen gradients. These parameters are thus likely to influence species distribution patterns and productivity in the oceans. They may be considered the foundation for any standardized classification of ocean ecosystems and important correlates of metrics of biodiversity (e.g., species richness and composition, fisheries). While statistics on ocean depth and topography are often quoted, how they were derived is rarely cited, and unless calculated using the same spatial resolution the resulting statistics will not be strictly comparable. We provide such statistics using the best available resolution (1-min) global bathymetry, and open source digital maps of the world's seas and oceans and countries' Exclusive Economic Zones, using a standardized methodology. We created a terrain map and calculated sea surface and seabed area, volume, and mean, standard deviation, maximum, and minimum, of both depth and slope. All the source data and our database are freely available online. We found that although the ocean is flat, and up to 71% of the area has a < 1 degree slope. It had over 1 million approximately circular features that may be seamounts or sea-hills as well as prominent mountain ranges or ridges. However, currently available global data significantly underestimate seabed slopes. The 1-min data set used here predicts there are 68,669 seamounts compared to the 30,314 previously predicted using the same method but lower spatial resolution data. The ocean volume exceeds 1.3 billion km(3) (or 1.3 sextillion liters), and sea surface and seabed areas over 354 million km(2). We propose the coefficient of variation of slope as an index of topographic heterogeneity. Future studies may improve on this database, for example by using a more detailed bathymetry, and in situ measured data. The database could be used to classify ocean features, such as abyssal plains, ridges, and slopes, and thus provide the basis for a standards based classification of ocean topography.

NREL Develops OpenEI.org, a Public Website Where Energy Data can be Generated, Shared, and Compared (Fact Sheet)

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

Not Available

2013-12-01

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed OpenEI.org, a public, open, data-sharing platform where consumers, analysts, industry experts, and energy decision makers can go to boost their energy IQs, search for energy data, share data, and get access to energy applications. The free site blends elements of social media, linked open-data practices, and MediaWiki-based technology to build a collaborative environment for creating and sharing energy data with the world. The result is a powerful platform that is helping government and industry leaders around the world define policy options, make informed investment decisions, and create new businesses.

Social consequence of disease in the American South, 1900-World War II.

PubMed

Martin, Mike G; Humphreys, Margaret E

2006-08-01

The early 20th century Southerner lived in a disease environment created by a confluence of poverty, climate and the legacy of slavery. A deadly trio of pellagra, hookworm and malaria enervated the poor Southerner--man, woman and child--creating a dull, weakened people ill equipped to prosper in the modem world. The Northern perceptions of the South as a backward and sickly region were only compounded by the realization that her population was malnourished, infected by worms, and continually plagued by agues and fevers. As historian John Duffy concluded, "As a chronically debilitating disease, it [malaria] shared with the other two the responsibility for the term 'lazy Southerner".

UNICEF, syphilis and the state: negotiating female citizenship in the post-Second World War world.

PubMed

Morris, Jennifer

2010-01-01

Few charitable organizations have achieved the status of global recognition enjoyed by UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, which embodies the international effort to provide for needy children the world over. Created because of its synchronicity with the United Nations' stated purpose—to maintain peace in the world—UNICEF launched its operations in 1946. Its founding, early operations and eventual restructuring reveal a great deal about concurrent political and economic events, but also provide keen insight into international ideas about who qualified for full citizenship in the post-war world. The consequences of UNICEF's policies, procedures and practices posed challenges to notions of citizenship for both women and children. It challenged citizenship not by questioning sex-specific gender roles, but by judiciously adhering to the United Nations' promise to create equality for men and women alike. UNICEF found itself in the unique position to be able to globalize definitions of what constituted full citizenship in any nation, due to its rapid expansion throughout the world. Through its programs, especially those related to health care, it not only challenged these roles in the West, but began over several decades to complicate the definition of citizenship as it became a forceful presence in Asia and Africa throughout the 1970s.

Creating FGDC and NBII metadata with Metavist 2005.

Treesearch

David J. Rugg

2004-01-01

This report documents a computer program for creating metadata compliant with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 1998 metadata standard or the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) 1999 Biological Data Profile for the FGDC standard. The software runs under the Microsoft Windows 2000 and XP operating systems, and requires the presence of...

Opting Out: Parents Creating Contested Spaces to Challenge Standardized Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitra, Dana; Mann, Bryan; Hlavacik, Mark

2016-01-01

We explore how the opt-out movement has responded to the combination of a stringent federal policy with weak and often variable implementation among the states. Gaps between federal expectations and states' understandings of just how to make NCLB's demands a reality have created policy ambiguity. Parents who oppose standardized testing have…

Education and the Environment: Creating Standards-Based Programs in Schools and Districts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lieberman, Gerald A.

2013-01-01

In this timely book, curriculum expert Gerald A. Lieberman provides an innovative guide to creating and implementing a new type of environmental education that combines standards-based lessons on English language arts, math, history, and science with community investigations and service learning projects. By connecting academic content with local…

Sex differences in the association between countries' smoking prevalence and happiness ratings.

PubMed

Drehmer, J E

2018-05-02

To examine the cross-sectional relationship between measures of countries' happiness and countries' prevalence of tobacco smoking. Since smoking prevalence differs widely based on sex in some countries and is similar in other countries, it was examined if there was a sex difference in the relationship between smoking prevalence and country-specific happiness ratings. Ecological study design. Countries' age-standardized prevalence estimates of smoking any tobacco product among persons aged 15 years and older (%) for 2015 were obtained from the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Observatory. Country-specific scores from the World Happiness Report 2016 Update Ranking of Happiness (2013-15) and the 2015 Gallup Positive Experience Index were matched and correlated to 2015 WHO estimates of tobacco smoking prevalence for males and females. The difference between male and female age-standardized smoking prevalence estimates in each country was calculated by subtracting female prevalence from male prevalence and was then correlated to countries' World Happiness Report scores. The analyses did not control for potential confounders. The association between male age-standardized smoking prevalence estimates and countries' World Happiness Report scores was inversely correlated [r(104) = -0.22, P = 0.03], whereas the association between female age-standardized smoking prevalence estimates and countries' World Happiness Report scores was positively correlated [r(104) = 0.48, P = 0.00]. An inverse correlation was found between the difference in male and female smoking prevalence estimates and countries' World Happiness Report scores [r(104) = -0.50, P = 0.00]. The association between countries' male age-standardized smoking prevalence estimates and the Positive Experience Index scores was inversely correlated [r(99) = -0.37, P = 0.00], whereas the female age-standardized smoking prevalence estimates in countries were not significantly associated with Positive Experience Index scores [r(99) = -0.03, P = 0.75]. There are distinct sex differences between the amounts of happiness measured in countries and male and female smoking rates. Greater inequality in age-standardized smoking prevalence estimates between males and females is associated with lower amounts of happiness as measured by the World Happiness Report. These findings can be applied to population-based strategies aimed at reducing national smoking rates in men and women. Copyright © 2018 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Educating for a Changing World: The Importance of an Equity Mindset

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramaley, Judith A.

2014-01-01

Our nation's colleges and universities are being asked to play demanding roles in creating the capacity for active and engaged collaboration and collective action to address complex challenges that are shaping the world we live in. An essential ingredient of any effort to build healthy communities for any purpose, including education, is the…

Poetry and World War II: Creating Community through Content-Area Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friese, Elizabeth E. G.; Nixon, Jenna

2009-01-01

Two educators and a classroom of fifth grade students integrated poetry writing into social studies curriculum focusing on World War II. Several strategies and approaches to writing poetry are highlighted including list poems, writing from photographs and artifacts, and two voice poems. The study culminated in a poetry reading and the creation of…

University Academics at a Crossroads? Continuity and Transformation in Danish University Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krejsler, John B.; Carney, Stephen

2009-01-01

Within an overall policy script aimed at creating fewer "world-class" institutions, Danish universities are currently being remade to better serve the world of work and employment, the demands of high-technology industry, and the needs of society, which are increasingly described and defined in terms of appeals to "relevance to the…

Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ehrenreich, Barbara, Ed.; Hochschild, Arlie Russell, Ed.

This volume explores the unexplored consequences of globalization on the lives of women worldwide, as each year millions leave their third world countries to work in the homes, nurseries, and brothels of first world countries. This mass migration results in a transfer of labor associated with women's traditional roles that creates a "care…

The Impact on Education of the World Wide Web.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hobbs, D. J.; Taylor, R. J.

This paper describes a project which created a set of World Wide Web (WWW) pages documenting the state of the art in educational multimedia design; a prototype WWW-based multimedia teaching tool--a podiatry test using HTML forms, 24-bit color images and MPEG video--was also designed, developed, and evaluated. The project was conducted between…

Religious Freedom in the World: A Global Comparative Survey Sponsored by Freedom House.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Educator, 2001

2001-01-01

Summarizes findings from a report on religious freedom around the world created by a multidisciplinary, multi-religious group of international scholars, explaining that this basic human right is under assault in many areas. Presents descriptions of religious freedom in Russia, India, North Korea, and Sudan. A chart describes and rates religious…

Availability of Alternatives and the Processing of Scalar Implicatures: A Visual World Eye-tracking Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Degen, Judith; Tanenhaus, Michael K.

2016-01-01

Two visual world experiments investigated the processing of the implicature associated with "some" using a "gumball paradigm." On each trial, participants saw an image of a gumball machine with an upper chamber with orange and blue gumballs and an empty lower chamber. Gumballs dropped to the lower chamber, creating a contrast…

Preparing Graduate Students for Virtual World Simulations: Exploring the Potential of an Emerging Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hewitt, Anne M.; Spencer, Susan; Mirliss, Danielle; Twal, Riad

2009-01-01

Anne M. Hewitt, Susan Spencer, Danielle Mirliss, and Riad Twal report on a collaborative team initiative to create a virtual world emergency preparedness simulation that focuses on crisis and emergency risk communication (CERC). CERC is a key competency for students enrolled in Seton Hall University's (SHU) Master of Healthcare Administration…

Journals Online News: Dispersing Collection Management Information on the World Wide Web.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langley, Anne; And Others

Journals Online News (JON) is a World Wide Web site created and maintained by the Collection Development Team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) Libraries in order to speak with the UTK community about journals-related issues. Its primary function at present is to provide UTK faculty and other interested parties with the latest…

Theory and Practice: How Filming "Learning in the Real World" Helps Students Make the Connection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Commander, Nannette Evans; Ward, Teresa E.; Zabrucky, Karen M.

2012-01-01

This article describes an assignment, titled "Learning in the Real World," designed for graduate students in a learning theory course. Students work in small groups to create high quality audio-visual films that present "real learning" through interviews and/or observations of learners. Students select topics relevant to theories we are discussing…

Flight to Success: A Collection of Lists Created for Today's Business World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corder, Lloyd E., Comp.

This guide suggests ways to improve communication skills for those individuals just starting out in the business world. The guide offers advice from an abundance of sources condensed into easy-to-follow lists on the subjects of: (1) dress tips for men and women; (2) introductions; (3) remembering people's names; (4) conversational techniques for…

Empowering Teachers to Create a More Peaceful World through Global Education: Simulating the United Nations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkwood-Tucker, Toni Fuss

2004-01-01

Global education constitutes a pedagogy of peacebuilding citizenship education for the purpose of empowering teachers in building a more just and peaceful world. In this self-study, I examined simulations of the United Nations General Assembly conducted in a graduate elective course attended by 53 preservice and inservice teachers during three…

Creating a Global Culture of Peace: Strategies for Curriculum Development and Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Judith Ann, Ed.; Higgins, Michael Leo, Ed.

2009-01-01

The essays in this volume have been selected from papers presented at the 13th World Conference of the World Council for Curriculum and Instruction. The first WCCI Conference held in England in 1974, was followed by conferences in Turkey, the Philippines, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Egypt, India, Thailand, Spain, Australia, and again, the…

Iranian EFL Teachers' Voices on the Pedagogy of Word and World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Safari, Parvin; Rashidi, Nasser

2015-01-01

Critical pedagogy (CP) with the eventual aim of creating changes in society towards the socially just world rests upon the premise that language learning is understood as a sociopolitical event. Schools and classrooms are not merely seen as the neutral and apolitical sites or oxymoron of transmitting taken-for-granted knowledge and common sense to…

How to Make a Math Modeling Class from Scratch in Six (Not-So) Easy Steps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerhardt, Ira

2017-01-01

The recent introduction of a new course in mathematical modeling at Manhattan College has provided students with a valuable opportunity to gain practical experience utilizing tools in applying their mathematical abilities to a real-world problem. This paper describes the steps taken to create this class, from obtaining a real-world partner…

Corporatisation, Global Banking Impact on the Australian Education System: Reflecting on Care.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balon-Rotheram, Auston

Trends, such as a massive increase in globalization, neo-liberalization, and economic rationalization, have been supported and directed by major governments and major financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The pact between the World Bank and the IMF has created an economic juggernaut that is…

Love and Ruin(s): Robert Frost on Moral Repair

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frank, Jeff

2011-01-01

This essay begins where Alasdair MacIntyre's "After Virtue" begins: facing a moral world in ruin. MacIntyre argues that this predicament leaves us with a choice: we can follow the path of Friedrich Nietzsche, accepting this moral destruction and attempting to create lives in a rootless, uncertain world, or the path of Aristotle, working to reclaim…

Virtual World Learning Spaces: Developing a Second Life Operating Room Simulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerald, Stephanie; Antonacci, David M.

2009-01-01

User-created virtual worlds, such as Second Life, are a hot topic in higher education. Thousands of educators are currently exploring and using Second Life, and hundreds of colleges and universities have purchased and developed their own private islands in Second Life, including the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC). Because it is so easy…

Connecting Kids and Nature: Lessons to Ignite Learning and Appreciation of the World around Us

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Ashley; Williams, Judy

2015-01-01

This article describes a semester-long project developed by the authors to create a positive connection between children and nature. The project integrated reading instruction with science activities to emphasize the natural world in the lives of children. This intervention involved the authors visiting an elementary classroom five times over the…

An Implementation of Tolerance Training in a Geography Lesson: Students' Opinions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gökçe, Nazli

2015-01-01

People around the world differ in race, language, religion, gender, and social and economic traits. Peace and calmness in the world can be created by teaching the value of "tolerance" to all people. In this age, war, violence and terror occur frequently. Thus, it was particularly important that the United Nations Educational, Scientific…

Binary Lives: Digital Citizenship and Disability Participation in a User Content Created Virtual World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vizenor, Katie Virginia

2014-01-01

Digital Citizenship is a concept typically used in discussions of how technology impacts our relationships with others and our physical world communities. It is also used to describe ways that we can leverage our technology use and skill to make our communities and nations better and stronger. Educators are now teaching "good digital…

Something for the Boys: "Iron Man," "Transformers," and "Grand Theft Auto IV"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beck, Bernard

2009-01-01

Three recent examples are discussed of popular culture products that cater specifically to the cultural world of boys, social types that are the created identities of young males in our society. The self-ascribed qualities of participants in the world of boys, rather than the inherent characteristics of young males, provide the content of the…

Empathy 2.0 and the Wonderful World of Wiki Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tarrant, Cindy; Godwin, Kathryn; Daniel, Stacey; Bolton, Dawn

2013-01-01

In a perfect world, diversity would abound in people's daily lives, promoting friendships across racial, ethnic, and religious lines. When that is not possible and students learn in a more segregated setting, wikis provide a tool to reach beyond the school walls, find a diverse audience, and create meaningful discourse. This article narrates an…

For the Birds!: Seeing, Being, and Creating the Bird World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russo, Michele

2008-01-01

Nature studies are an often overlooked part of healthy child development. Living in urban or suburban areas can present a big obstacle to studying the natural world with any authenticity or depth. Quite often, the only sense of nature children have is from picture books, stuffed animals, play sets, and nature programs on television and in…

ASSESSING CARCINOGENIC POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAH) LEVELS IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE NEW YORK WORLD TRADE CENTER DISASTER

EPA Science Inventory

The catastrophic destruction of the World Trade Center (WTC) on Sept. 11, 2001 (9/11) created an immense dust cloud followed by fires that emitted smoke and soot into the air of New York City (NYC) well into December. Outdoor pollutant levels in lower Manhattan returned to urban...

Negotiating Professional and Personal Biographies in a Liquid World: Creating Space for Reflexive Innovation in Career Counselling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Hazel; West, Linden

2016-01-01

This paper explores the constraints to innovative, creative and reflexive careers counselling in an uncertain neo-liberal world. We draw on previously reported research into practitioners' use of a narrative model for career counselling interviews in England and a Europe-wide auto/biographical narrative study of non-traditional learners in…

Cultural Internationalism at the Cite Universitaire: International Education between the First and Second World Wars

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reis, Jehnie I.

2010-01-01

In the 1920s, French scholars and bureaucrats created the Cite Universitaire in Paris. The institution housed university students from around the world. The Cite founders formulated a model for the Cite that reflected ideological concerns in interwar Europe with a focus on pacifism, international education and cultural internationalism. The…

Image Making and Personal Narratives with Japanese-American Survivors of World War II Internment Camps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yates, Carleen; Kuwada, Kali; Potter, Penelope; Cameron, Danielle; Hoshino, Janice

2007-01-01

This qualitative study explored the verbal and art making responses of Japanese-American elders who experienced the trauma of internment during World War II. Six Nisei (second generation Japanese-Americans) were asked to recall memories of their experiences during and immediately following internment; 3 of the participants also created art images…

Visualization of Expert Chat Development in a World of Warcraft Player Group

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Mark

2009-01-01

This article describes expertise development in a player group in the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft using visualization of chat log data. Charts were created to get a general sense of chat trends in a specific player group engaged in "high-end raiding", a 40-person collaborative activity. These charts helped identify patterns…

iSee: Teaching Visual Learning in an Organic Virtual Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Hsiao-Cheng

2017-01-01

This paper presents a three-year participatory action research project focusing on the graduate level course entitled Visual Learning in 3D Animated Virtual Worlds. The purpose of this research was to understand "How the virtual world processes of observing and creating can best help students learn visual theories". The first cycle of…

The Real Impact of Virtual Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Workman, Thomas A.

2008-01-01

There is no doubt that as technology continues to change, the generation of students will change also. The best preparation, then, is to train one's own mind to think digitally so that one can best create policies, programs, and interactions that enable a student to connect the two worlds in ways that are productive, satisfying, and meaningful.…

An Evidence Centered Design for Learning and Assessment in the Digital World. CRESST Report 778

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Behrens, John T.; Mislevy, Robert J.; DiCerbo, Kristen E.; Levy, Roy

2010-01-01

The world in which learning and assessment must take place is rapidly changing. The digital revolution has created a vast space of interconnected information, communication, and interaction. Functioning effectively in this environment requires so-called 21st century skills such as technological fluency, complex problem solving, and the ability to…

Assistance Focus: Africa

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

The Clean Energy Solutions Center, an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial, helps countries throughout the world create policies and programs that advance the deployment of clean energy technologies. Through the Solutions Center's no-cost 'Ask an Expert' service, a team of international experts has delivered assistance to countries in all regions of the world. High-impact examples from Africa are featured here.

Filling the Space: Education, Community, and Identity in British Internment Camps during World War II.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seller, Maxine Schwartz

1996-01-01

Recounts a little known episode of World War II: the imprisonment of 28,000 anti-Nazi Jewish refugees in Great Britain. Explores how the refugees created a rich cultural and educational life out of these circumstances. They ran internment camp education programs, put on theatrical shows, and published a camp newspaper. (MJP)

Publishing on the WWW. Part 5 - A brief history of the Internet and the World Wide Web

PubMed Central

Grech, V

2001-01-01

This article focuses on the history of the Internet and the World Wide Web, the media that in recent years have created the concept of objects existing ‘on-line’ in a virtual computer environment. These objects naturally include on-line journals such as Images in Paediatric Cardiology. PMID:22368602

Linked Ocean Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leadbetter, Adam; Arko, Robert; Chandler, Cynthia; Shepherd, Adam

2014-05-01

"Linked Data" is a term used in Computer Science to encapsulate a methodology for publishing data and metadata in a structured format so that links may be created and exploited between objects. Berners-Lee (2006) outlines the following four design principles of a Linked Data system: Use Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) as names for things. Use HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) URIs so that people can look up those names. When someone looks up a URI, provide useful information, using the standards (Resource Description Framework [RDF] and the RDF query language [SPARQL]). Include links to other URIs so that they can discover more things. In 2010, Berners-Lee revisited his original design plan for Linked Data to encourage data owners along a path to "good Linked Data". This revision involved the creation of a five star rating system for Linked Data outlined below. One star: Available on the web (in any format). Two stars: Available as machine-readable structured data (e.g. An Excel spreadsheet instead of an image scan of a table). Three stars: As two stars plus the use of a non-proprietary format (e.g. Comma Separated Values instead of Excel). Four stars: As three stars plus the use of open standards from the World Wide Web Commission (W3C) (i.e. RDF and SPARQL) to identify things, so that people can point to your data and metadata. Five stars: All the above plus link your data to other people's data to provide context Here we present work building on the SeaDataNet common vocabularies served by the NERC Vocabulary Server, connecting projects such as the Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) and the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) and other vocabularies such as the Marine Metadata Interoperability Ontology Register and Repository and the NASA Global Change Master Directory to create a Linked Ocean Data cloud. Publishing the vocabularies and metadata in standard RDF XML and exposing SPARQL endpoints renders them five-star Linked Data repositories. The benefits of this approach include: increased interoperability between the metadata created by projects; improved data discovery as users of SeaDataNet, R2R and BCO-DMO terms can find data using labels with which they are familiar both standard tools and newly developed custom tools may be used to explore the data; and using standards means the custom tools are easier to develop Linked Data is a concept which has been in existence for nearly a decade, and has a simple set of formal best practices associated with it. Linked Data is increasingly being seen as a driver of the next generation of "community science" activities. While many data providers in the oceanographic domain may be unaware of Linked Data, they may also be providing it at one of its lower levels. Here we have shown that it is possible to deliver the highest standard of Linked Oceanographic Data, and some of the benefits of the approach.

NAFTA: The World's Largest Trading Zone Turns 20

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferrarini, Tawni Hunt; Day, Stephen

2014-01-01

Everyone under the age of 20 who has grown up in North America has lived in the common market created by NAFTA--the North American Free Trade Agreement. In a zone linking the United States, Canada, and Mexico, most goods and investments flow freely across borders to users, consumers, and investors. In 1994, NAFTA created the largest relatively…

Engineering Encounters: Creating a Prosthetic Hand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Kristin Leigh; Bush, Sarah B.; Cox, Richard

2015-01-01

The power of 3D printing technology has grown exponentially in just the past few years--people around the world are using 3D printers to prepare food, create tailored clothing, build cars and homes, and advance the medical field in ways that never seemed possible. In classrooms across the nation, 3D printers have become increasingly common because…

Why Has It Taken So Long to Address the Problems Created by Uranium Mining in the Navajo Nation?

PubMed

Brugge, Doug

2016-02-01

Following the start of uranium mining after World War II, progress toward addressing the hazards it created for workers and nearby communities was slow, taking many decades. This essay asks why it took so long and suggests several factors that might have contributed. © The Author(s) 2016.

Myths. ArtsEdge Curricula, Lessons and Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Kathy

This curriculum unit addresses myths in Western cultures and in other cultures around the world. The three lessons in the unit gives students the opportunity to think critically about how and why myths were first created, and to create their own myths. Specifically, in the unit students read, discuss, and respond in writing to myths from Greek,…

User Identification and Tracking in an Educational Web Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marzo-Lazaro, J. L.; Verdu-Carbo, T.; Fabregat-Gesa, R.

This paper describes a solution to the user identification and tracking problem within an educational World Wide Web environment. The paper begins with an overview of the Teaching Support System project at the University of Girona (Spain); the main objective of the project is to create an integrated set of tools for teachers to use to create and…

Clusters in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioeconomy: The Roles of the Public Sector.

PubMed

Philp, Jim; Winickoff, David E

2017-08-01

Government policies across the world seek to create clusters of companies and other stakeholders that specialise in a particular technology to build an 'industrial ecosystem'. This article looks at some examples of clusters created specifically with industrial biotechnology in mind and examines measures for policymakers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adventures in Modeling: Exploring Complex, Dynamic Systems with StarLogo.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colella, Vanessa Stevens; Klopfer, Eric; Resnick, Mitchel

For thousands of years people from da Vinci to Einstein have created models to help them better understand patterns and processes in the world around them. Computers make it easier for novices to build and explore their own models and learn new scientific ideas in the process. This book introduces teachers and students to designing, creating, and…

Business as Usual? It's Just Not an Option

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blewitt, John

2010-01-01

There is no doubt that in order to address the serious challenges arising from anthropogenic--or human-produced--climate change, Britain, along with the rest of the world, needs to adopt policies and develop skills that will create a low-carbon economy with a highly effective use of renewable and natural resources. People need to create the…

Creating a Transformational Learning Experience: Immersing Students in an Intensive Interdisciplinary Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Shelley K.; Nitkin, Mindell Reiss

2014-01-01

The Simmons World Challenge is a unique, interdisciplinary program recently developed at Simmons College. It immerses students in an intensive winter-session course that challenges them to tackle a pressing social issue, such as poverty or hunger, and create actionable solutions to the problem. The program was conceived and designed to harness the…

A Guide to Fast and Simple Web Site Development. Using Microsoft FrontPage.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

La, Minh; Beachler, Judith

Designed by California's Los Rios Community College District for use in instructional workshops, this guide is intended to help institutional researchers create World Wide Web sites using Microsoft FrontPage (MF) software. The first part of the guide presents practical suggestions for working with the software to create a site, covering the…

The World Report on Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bickenbach, Jerome

2011-01-01

The World Report on Disability, a joint endeavor of the World Health Organization and the World Bank, launched in June 2011, is an astonishing achievement that will set the standard for disability studies research for evidence-informed policy for years to come. The product of collaborative and participatory work between organizations of persons…

Web 2.0 and Pharmacy Education

PubMed Central

Fox, Brent I.

2009-01-01

New types of social Internet applications (often referred to as Web 2.0) are becoming increasingly popular within higher education environments. Although developed primarily for entertainment and social communication within the general population, applications such as blogs, social video sites, and virtual worlds are being adopted by higher education institutions. These newer applications differ from standard Web sites in that they involve the users in creating and distributing information, hence effectively changing how the Web is used for knowledge generation and dispersion. Although Web 2.0 applications offer exciting new ways to teach, they should not be the core of instructional planning, but rather selected only after learning objectives and instructional strategies have been identified. This paper provides an overview of prominent Web 2.0 applications, explains how they are being used within education environments, and elaborates on some of the potential opportunities and challenges that these applications present. PMID:19960079

Jesus, Mama, and the constraints on salvific love in contemporary country music .

PubMed

Grossman, M L

2002-01-01

The discourse of contemporary country music creates a world permeated with religion and centered on the notion of salvific love. This form of salvation arises in the connection between people (or between people and God) and includes elements of sacrifice and transformation. Although highly conventional, country music must meet standards of 'authenticity' and 'relevance', which require the incorporation of contemporary American religious values (including self-love and self-actualization). An analysis of recent country music lyrics reveals the remarkable openness to new religious messages. However, the only acceptable messages are those that can be harmonized with the implicit Protestant Christian sensibility of the music. Salvific love, for this reason, is always heterosexual and at least compatible with a Christian message. While the music industry does its best to erase minority sexualities, the music itself is often surprisingly open to a queer interpretation.

A Review Study on Cloud Computing Issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanaan Kadhim, Qusay; Yusof, Robiah; Sadeq Mahdi, Hamid; Al-shami, Sayed Samer Ali; Rahayu Selamat, Siti

2018-05-01

Cloud computing is the most promising current implementation of utility computing in the business world, because it provides some key features over classic utility computing, such as elasticity to allow clients dynamically scale-up and scale-down the resources in execution time. Nevertheless, cloud computing is still in its premature stage and experiences lack of standardization. The security issues are the main challenges to cloud computing adoption. Thus, critical industries such as government organizations (ministries) are reluctant to trust cloud computing due to the fear of losing their sensitive data, as it resides on the cloud with no knowledge of data location and lack of transparency of Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) mechanisms used to secure their data and applications which have created a barrier against adopting this agile computing paradigm. This study aims to review and classify the issues that surround the implementation of cloud computing which a hot area that needs to be addressed by future research.

Food security -- an insurance approach.

PubMed

1979-01-01

An adequate standard of nutrition at national and individual level is a basic -- and not wholly altruistic -- objective for mankind. Its ingredients are food production and distribution. Of these the latter is currently considered the more limiting, but fluctuations in the former -- over various geographical and time scales -- can be the overriding factor when national supplies are critical. Under these conditions the automatic operations of a legal mandatory food support system -- free from political strings or connotations of welfare -- would be advantageous. A system for providing a measure of food security, using insurance principles and based on a compromise between international stockpiling and direct financial subventions, is outlined in a recent publication of the International Food Policy Research Institute. Essentially it is a means by which the international community could contribute to the food security of food deficit, developing countries without having to create large buffer stocks and stabilize world grain prices. Extracts from this publication are given below.

Trends in life science grid: from computing grid to knowledge grid.

PubMed

Konagaya, Akihiko

2006-12-18

Grid computing has great potential to become a standard cyberinfrastructure for life sciences which often require high-performance computing and large data handling which exceeds the computing capacity of a single institution. This survey reviews the latest grid technologies from the viewpoints of computing grid, data grid and knowledge grid. Computing grid technologies have been matured enough to solve high-throughput real-world life scientific problems. Data grid technologies are strong candidates for realizing "resourceome" for bioinformatics. Knowledge grids should be designed not only from sharing explicit knowledge on computers but also from community formulation for sharing tacit knowledge among a community. Extending the concept of grid from computing grid to knowledge grid, it is possible to make use of a grid as not only sharable computing resources, but also as time and place in which people work together, create knowledge, and share knowledge and experiences in a community.

[Exploring Flow and Supervision of Medical Instruments by Standing on Frontier of the Reform of Free Trade Zone].

PubMed

Shen, Jianhua; Han, Meixian; Lu, Fei

2017-11-30

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone as one of the special customs supervision areas of China (Shanghai) free trade pilot area, gathered a large number of general agent enterprises related to medical apparatus and instruments. This article analyzes the characteristics of special environment and medical equipment business in Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone in order to further implement the national administrative examination and approval reform. According to the latest requirement in laws and regulations of medical instruments, and trend of development in the industry of medical instruments, as well as research on the basis of practices of market supervision in countries around the world, this article also proposes measures about precision supervision, coordination of supervision, classification supervision and dynamic supervision to establish a new order of fair and standardized competition in market, and create conditions for establishment of allocation and transport hub of international medicine.

Trends in life science grid: from computing grid to knowledge grid

PubMed Central

Konagaya, Akihiko

2006-01-01

Background Grid computing has great potential to become a standard cyberinfrastructure for life sciences which often require high-performance computing and large data handling which exceeds the computing capacity of a single institution. Results This survey reviews the latest grid technologies from the viewpoints of computing grid, data grid and knowledge grid. Computing grid technologies have been matured enough to solve high-throughput real-world life scientific problems. Data grid technologies are strong candidates for realizing "resourceome" for bioinformatics. Knowledge grids should be designed not only from sharing explicit knowledge on computers but also from community formulation for sharing tacit knowledge among a community. Conclusion Extending the concept of grid from computing grid to knowledge grid, it is possible to make use of a grid as not only sharable computing resources, but also as time and place in which people work together, create knowledge, and share knowledge and experiences in a community. PMID:17254294

Web 2.0 and pharmacy education.

PubMed

Cain, Jeff; Fox, Brent I

2009-11-12

New types of social Internet applications (often referred to as Web 2.0) are becoming increasingly popular within higher education environments. Although developed primarily for entertainment and social communication within the general population, applications such as blogs, social video sites, and virtual worlds are being adopted by higher education institutions. These newer applications differ from standard Web sites in that they involve the users in creating and distributing information, hence effectively changing how the Web is used for knowledge generation and dispersion. Although Web 2.0 applications offer exciting new ways to teach, they should not be the core of instructional planning, but rather selected only after learning objectives and instructional strategies have been identified. This paper provides an overview of prominent Web 2.0 applications, explains how they are being used within education environments, and elaborates on some of the potential opportunities and challenges that these applications present.

From Mars to Media: The Phoenix Mars Mission and the Challenges of Real-Time, Multimedia Science Communication and Public Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, S.; Bitter, C.

2008-12-01

Although the Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Mars Odyssey Missions set the standard for science communication and public education about Mars, the Phoenix Mission was presented with robust new communication challenges and opportunities. The new frontier includes Web 2.0, international forums, internal and external blogs, social networking sites, as well as the traditional media and education outlets for communicating science and information. We will explore the highlights and difficulties of managing the 'message from Mars' in our current multimedia saturated world while balancing authentic science discoveries, public expectations, and communication demands. Our goal is to create a more science savvy public and a more communication oriented science community for the future. The key issues are helping the public and our scientists distinguish between information and knowledge and managing the content that connects the two.

[The patient blood management concept : Joint recommendation of the German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and the German Society of Surgery].

PubMed

Meybohm, P; Schmitz-Rixen, T; Steinbicker, A; Schwenk, W; Zacharowski, K

2017-10-01

Patient blood management is a multimodal concept that aims to detect, prevent and treat anemia, optimize hemostasis, minimize iatrogenic blood loss, and support a patient-centered decision to provide optimal use of allogeneic blood products. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has already recommended patient blood management as a new standard in 2010, many hospitals have not implemented it at all or only in part in clinical practice. The German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and the German Society of Surgery therefore demand that i) all professionals involved in the treatment should implement important aspects of patient blood management considering local conditions, and ii) the structural, administrative and budgetary conditions should be created in the health care system to implement more intensively many of the measures in Germany.

CDC Activities for Improving Implementation of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination, Cervical Cancer Screening, and Surveillance Worldwide.

PubMed

Senkomago, Virginia; Duran, Denise; Loharikar, Anagha; Hyde, Terri B; Markowitz, Lauri E; Unger, Elizabeth R; Saraiya, Mona

2017-12-01

Cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates are high, particularly in developing countries. Most cervical cancers can be prevented by human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, screening, and timely treatment. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides global technical assistance for implementation and evaluation of HPV vaccination pilot projects and programs and laboratory-related HPV activities to assess HPV vaccines. CDC collaborates with global partners to develop global cervical cancer screening recommendations and manuals, implement screening, create standardized evaluation tools, and provide expertise to monitor outcomes. CDC also trains epidemiologists in cancer prevention through its Field Epidemiology Training Program and is working to improve cancer surveillance by supporting efforts of the World Health Organization in developing cancer registry hubs and assisting countries in estimating costs for developing population-based cancer registries. These activities contribute to the Global Health Security Agenda action packages to improve immunization, surveillance, and the public health workforce globally.

Natural disasters and climate change call for the urgent decentralization of urban water systems.

PubMed

Vázquez-Rowe, Ian; Kahhat, Ramzy; Lorenzo-Toja, Yago

2017-12-15

Lima is gradually upgrading its urban water cycle to comply with improved sanitation standards, with the aim of treating the entire flow of water and wastewater that it creates. However, this paper examines the basic characteristics of the main treatment systems that are currently in operation in the Peruvian capital, highlighting the myopic and inefficient nature of these investments. It digs deep in the debate between centralized and decentralized water management systems in a city that is exposed to numerous hydro-meteorological and geological hazards. Previous errors that have occurred in the developed world throughout the evolution process of the urban water cycle should be taken into consideration prior to any infrastructure development in emerging countries. For the particular case of Lima, special emphasis should be given to the resilience of its urban water system in order to guarantee rapid recovery after disaster events. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

LATIS3D: The Goal Standard for Laser-Tissue-Interaction Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

London, R. A.; Makarewicz, A. M.; Kim, B. M.; Gentile, N. A.; Yang, T. Y. B.

2000-03-01

The goal of this LDRD project has been to create LATIS3D-the world's premier computer program for laser-tissue interaction modeling. The development was based on recent experience with the 2D LATIS code and the ASCI code, KULL. With LATIS3D, important applications in laser medical therapy were researched including dynamical calculations of tissue emulsification and ablation, photothermal therapy, and photon transport for photodynamic therapy. This project also enhanced LLNL's core competency in laser-matter interactions and high-energy-density physics by pushing simulation codes into new parameter regimes and by attracting external expertise. This will benefit both existing LLNL programs such as ICF and SBSS and emerging programs in medical technology and other laser applications. The purpose of this project was to develop and apply a computer program for laser-tissue interaction modeling to aid in the development of new instruments and procedures in laser medicine.

Being qua becoming: Aristotle's "Metaphysics", quantum physics, and Process Philosophy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, David Kelley

In Aristotle's First Philosophy, science and philosophy were partners, but with the rise of empiricism, went their separate ways. Metaphysics combined the rational and irrational (i.e. final cause/unmoved mover) elements of existence to equate being with substance, postulating prime matter as pure potential that was actuated by form to create everything. Modern science reveres pure reason and postulates its theory of being by a rigorous scientific methodology. The Standard Model defines matter as energy formed into fundamental particles via forces contained in fields. Science has proved Aristotle's universe wrong in many ways, but as physics delves deeper into the quantum world, empiricism is reaching its limits concerning fundamental questions of existence. To achieve its avowed mission of explaining existence completely, physics must reunite with philosophy in a metascience modeled on the First Philosophy of Aristotle. One theory of being that integrates quantum physics and metaphysics is Process Philosophy.

Applying Evidence for Medical Technologies: Closing the Gap between R&D and Decision Maker Needs

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

In this interview, Dr Sean Tunis, former Director of the Office of Clinical Standards and Quality and Chief Medical Officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and current Director of the Center for Medical Technology Policy, discusses the need to align the demands of the industry on product development with provider and patient needs to ensure that products in the pipeline, especially those for chronic disease care, can actually provide clinical benefit. The question is how to make sure that new products and technologies are not only being approved by regulatory bodies but also serve real-world needs. This will also promote the acceptance of a product or service by all stakeholders—regulators, providers, payers, and purchasers—while meeting actual patient needs. Another question for payers and employers is how to create a benefit design that encourages the application of evidence in coverage decision-making toward value-based healthcare. PMID:25126286

Satisfying STEM Education Using the Arduino Microprocessor in C Programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffer, Brandyn M.

There exists a need to promote better Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education at the high school level. To satisfy this need a series of hands-on laboratory assignments were created to be accompanied by 2 educational trainers that contain various electronic components. This project provides an interdisciplinary, hands-on approach to teaching C programming that meets several standards defined by the Tennessee Board of Education. Together the trainers and lab assignments also introduce key concepts in math and science while allowing students hands-on experience with various electronic components. This will allow students to mimic real world applications of using the C programming language while exposing them to technology not currently introduced in many high school classrooms. The developed project is targeted at high school students performing at or above the junior level and uses the Arduino Mega open-source Microprocessor and software as the primary control unit.

The United Nations and One Health: the International Health Regulations (2005) and global health security.

PubMed

Nuttall, I; Miyagishima, K; Roth, C; de La Rocque, S

2014-08-01

The One Health approach encompasses multiple themes and can be understood from many different perspectives. This paper expresses the viewpoint of those in charge of responding to public health events of international concern and, in particular, to outbreaks of zoonotic disease. Several international organisations are involved in responding to such outbreaks, including the United Nations (UN) and its technical agencies; principally, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO); UN funds and programmes, such as the United Nations Development Programme, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Children's Fund; the UN-linked multilateral banking system (the World Bank and regional development banks); and partner organisations, such as the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). All of these organisations have benefited from the experiences gained during zoonotic disease outbreaks over the last decade, developing common approaches and mechanisms to foster good governance, promote policies that cut across different sectors, target investment more effectively and strengthen global and national capacities for dealing with emerging crises. Coordination among the various UN agencies and creating partnerships with related organisations have helped to improve disease surveillance in all countries, enabling more efficient detection of disease outbreaks and a faster response, greater transparency and stakeholder engagement and improved public health. The need to build more robust national public human and animal health systems, which are based on good governance and comply with the International Health Regulations (2005) and the international standards set by the OIE, prompted FAO, WHO and the OIE to join forces with the World Bank, to provide practical tools to help countries manage their zoonotic disease risks and develop adequate resources to prevent and control disease outbreaks, particularly at the animal source. All these efforts contribute to the One Health agenda.

The development of learning competency and skills for the 21st century to integrate "TPCK" of world life with local environment in students grade 11

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jedaman, Pornchai; Kinboon, Nittayaporn; Suksup, Chareon; Kinboon, Wutcharapong

2018-01-01

The teaching strategies of append were the technological pedagogical content knowledge; TPCK. This description knowledge in a content to corresponds of a effective teaching. This article aims to address the relevance of; 1) the learning competency and skills for the 21st Century to integrate "TPCK" of a world life with local environment in the students grade 11, 2) the effective achievement of the learning competency and skills to integrate "TPCK" of world life with local environment in the students grade 11 were the passing score of a percentage 80 upwards (EI.), and 3) the attitudes for learning activities in the students grade 11. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches for 9teachers of third schools were the participatory action research (PAR) in collecting data including a instructional, a testing, and a questionnaire surveywith 33 students grade 11 of Phuwiengwittayakom school. The participants werecluster random sampling. The data analysis of descriptive statistical, percentage, mean average, standard deviation. The findings in the study were to learning competency and skills for the 21st Century to integrate "TPCK" of a world life with local environment on TK, PK, CK, and TCK at a excellent levels (X¯ = 3.62, 3.57, 3.54, 3.51) respectively, and PCK, TPK,TPCK at a good levels (X¯ = 3.36, 3.23, 3.17) respectively. The effective achievement of the learning competency and skills to integrate "TPCK" of world life with local environment in 30 students grade 11 were the passing score (EI.) of a percentage at 90.91. The attitudes for learning activities in the students grade 11 at a high levels (X¯ =3.29). In addition of the students grade 11 to understanding of the importance were a local learning resources including the value integrating technology of the knowledge technology and to choose the right were create of an effective information.

Clinical Case Reporting in the Peer-Reviewed Physical Therapy Literature: Time to Move Toward Functioning.

PubMed

Davenport, Todd E

2015-12-01

Physical therapists increasingly are contributing clinical case reports to the health literature, which form the basis for higher quality evidence that has been incorporated into clinical practice guidelines. Yet, few resources exist to assist physical therapists with the basic mechanics and quality standards of producing a clinical case report. This situation is further complicated by the absence of uniform standards for quality in case reporting. The importance of including a concise yet comprehensive description of patient functioning in all physical therapy case reports suggest the potential appropriateness of basing quality guidelines on the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) model. The purpose of this paper is to assist physical therapists in creating high-quality clinical case reports for the peer-reviewed literature using the ICF model as a guiding framework. Along these lines, current recommendations related to the basic mechanics of writing a successful clinical case report are reviewed, as well and a proposal for uniform clinical case reporting requirements is introduced with the aim to improve the quality and feasibility of clinical case reporting in physical therapy that are informed by the ICF model. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

2017 WSES guidelines for the management of iatrogenic colonoscopy perforation.

PubMed

de'Angelis, Nicola; Di Saverio, Salomone; Chiara, Osvaldo; Sartelli, Massimo; Martínez-Pérez, Aleix; Patrizi, Franca; Weber, Dieter G; Ansaloni, Luca; Biffl, Walter; Ben-Ishay, Offir; Bala, Miklosh; Brunetti, Francesco; Gaiani, Federica; Abdalla, Solafah; Amiot, Aurelien; Bahouth, Hany; Bianchi, Giorgio; Casanova, Daniel; Coccolini, Federico; Coimbra, Raul; de'Angelis, Gian Luigi; De Simone, Belinda; Fraga, Gustavo P; Genova, Pietro; Ivatury, Rao; Kashuk, Jeffry L; Kirkpatrick, Andrew W; Le Baleur, Yann; Machado, Fernando; Machain, Gustavo M; Maier, Ronald V; Chichom-Mefire, Alain; Memeo, Riccardo; Mesquita, Carlos; Salamea Molina, Juan Carlos; Mutignani, Massimiliano; Manzano-Núñez, Ramiro; Ordoñez, Carlos; Peitzman, Andrew B; Pereira, Bruno M; Picetti, Edoardo; Pisano, Michele; Puyana, Juan Carlos; Rizoli, Sandro; Siddiqui, Mohammed; Sobhani, Iradj; Ten Broek, Richard P; Zorcolo, Luigi; Carra, Maria Clotilde; Kluger, Yoram; Catena, Fausto

2018-01-01

Iatrogenic colonoscopy perforation (ICP) is a severe complication that can occur during both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Although 45-60% of ICPs are diagnosed by the endoscopist while performing the colonoscopy, many ICPs are not immediately recognized but are instead suspected on the basis of clinical signs and symptoms that occur after the endoscopic procedure. There are three main therapeutic options for ICPs: endoscopic repair, conservative therapy, and surgery. The therapeutic approach must vary based on the setting of the diagnosis (intra- or post-colonoscopy), the type of ICP, the characteristics and general status of the patient, the operator's level of experience, and surgical device availability. Although ICPs have been the focus of numerous publications, no guidelines have been created to standardize the management of ICPs. The aim of this article is to present the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) guidelines for the management of ICP, which are intended to be used as a tool to promote global standards of care in case of ICP. These guidelines are not meant to substitute providers' clinical judgment for individual patients, and they may need to be modified based on the medical team's level of experience and the availability of local resources.