cross-over multi-center study: Topics by Science.gov

Sample records for cross-over multi-center study

Performance evaluation of multi-stratum resources integrated resilience for software defined inter-data center interconnect.

PubMed

Yang, Hui; Zhang, Jie; Zhao, Yongli; Ji, Yuefeng; Wu, Jialin; Lin, Yi; Han, Jianrui; Lee, Young

2015-05-18

Inter-data center interconnect with IP over elastic optical network (EON) is a promising scenario to meet the high burstiness and high-bandwidth requirements of data center services. In our previous work, we implemented multi-stratum resources integration among IP networks, optical networks and application stratums resources that allows to accommodate data center services. In view of this, this study extends to consider the service resilience in case of edge optical node failure. We propose a novel multi-stratum resources integrated resilience (MSRIR) architecture for the services in software defined inter-data center interconnect based on IP over EON. A global resources integrated resilience (GRIR) algorithm is introduced based on the proposed architecture. The MSRIR can enable cross stratum optimization and provide resilience using the multiple stratums resources, and enhance the data center service resilience responsiveness to the dynamic end-to-end service demands. The overall feasibility and efficiency of the proposed architecture is experimentally verified on the control plane of our OpenFlow-based enhanced SDN (eSDN) testbed. The performance of GRIR algorithm under heavy traffic load scenario is also quantitatively evaluated based on MSRIR architecture in terms of path blocking probability, resilience latency and resource utilization, compared with other resilience algorithms.
Measurement of multi-jet cross sections in proton-proton collisions at a 7 TeV center-of-mass energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aad, G.; Abbott, B.; Abdallah, J.; Abdelalim, A. A.; Abdesselam, A.; Abdinov, O.; Abi, B.; Abolins, M.; Abramowicz, H.; Abreu, H.; Acerbi, E.; Acharya, B. S.; Adams, D. L.; Addy, T. N.; Adelman, J.; Aderholz, M.; Adomeit, S.; Adragna, P.; Adye, T.; Aefsky, S.; Aguilar-Saavedra, J. A.; Aharrouche, M.; Ahlen, S. P.; Ahles, F.; Ahmad, A.; Ahsan, M.; Aielli, G.; Akdogan, T.; Åkesson, T. P. A.; Akimoto, G.; Akimov, A. V.; Akiyama, A.; Alam, M. S.; Alam, M. A.; Albrand, S.; Aleksa, M.; Aleksandrov, I. N.; Alessandria, F.; Alexa, C.; Alexander, G.; Alexandre, G.; Alexopoulos, T.; Alhroob, M.; Aliev, M.; Alimonti, G.; Alison, J.; Aliyev, M.; Allport, P. P.; Allwood-Spiers, S. E.; Almond, J.; Aloisio, A.; Alon, R.; Alonso, A.; Alviggi, M. G.; Amaral, P.; Amelung, C.; Ammosov, V. V.; Amorim, A.; Amorós, G.; Amram, N.; Anastopoulos, C.; Andari, N.; Andeen, T.; Anders, C. F.; Anderson, K. J.; Andreazza, A.; Andrei, V.; Andrieux, M.-L.; Anduaga, X. S.; Angerami, A.; Anghinolfi, F.; Anjos, N.; Annovi, A.; Antonaki, A.; Antonelli, M.; Antonelli, S.; Antonov, A.; Antos, J.; Anulli, F.; Aoun, S.; Aperio Bella, L.; Apolle, R.; Arabidze, G.; Aracena, I.; Arai, Y.; Arce, A. T. H.; Archambault, J. P.; Arfaoui, S.; Arguin, J.-F.; Arik, E.; Arik, M.; Armbruster, A. J.; Arnaez, O.; Arnault, C.; Artamonov, A.; Artoni, G.; Arutinov, D.; Asai, S.; Asfandiyarov, R.; Ask, S.; Åsman, B.; Asquith, L.; Assamagan, K.; Astbury, A.; Astvatsatourov, A.; Atoian, G.; Aubert, B.; Auerbach, B.; Auge, E.; Augsten, K.; Aurousseau, M.; Austin, N.; Avolio, G.; Avramidou, R.; Axen, D.; Ay, C.; Azuelos, G.; Azuma, Y.; Baak, M. A.; Baccaglioni, G.; Bacci, C.; Bach, A. M.; Bachacou, H.; Bachas, K.; Bachy, G.; Backes, M.; Backhaus, M.; Badescu, E.; Bagnaia, P.; Bahinipati, S.; Bai, Y.; Bailey, D. C.; Bain, T.; Baines, J. T.; Baker, O. K.; Baker, M. D.; Baker, S.; Baltasar Dos Santos Pedrosa, F.; Banas, E.; Banerjee, P.; Banerjee, Sw.; Banfi, D.; Bangert, A.; Bansal, V.; Bansil, H. S.; Barak, L.; Baranov, S. P.; Barashkou, A.; Barbaro Galtieri, A.; Barber, T.; Barberio, E. L.; Barberis, D.; Barbero, M.; Bardin, D. Y.; Barillari, T.; Barisonzi, M.; Barklow, T.; Barlow, N.; Barnett, B. M.; Barnett, R. M.; Baroncelli, A.; Barone, G.; Barr, A. J.; Barreiro, F.; Barreiro Guimarães da Costa, J.; Barrillon, P.; Bartoldus, R.; Barton, A. E.; Bartsch, D.; Bartsch, V.; Bates, R. L.; Batkova, L.; Batley, J. R.; Battaglia, A.; Battistin, M.; Battistoni, G.; Bauer, F.; Bawa, H. S.; Beare, B.; Beau, T.; Beauchemin, P. H.; Beccherle, R.; Bechtle, P.; Beck, H. P.; Beckingham, M.; Becks, K. H.; Beddall, A. J.; Beddall, A.; Bedikian, S.; Bednyakov, V. A.; Bee, C. P.; Begel, M.; Behar Harpaz, S.; Behera, P. K.; Beimforde, M.; Belanger-Champagne, C.; Bell, P. J.; Bell, W. H.; Bella, G.; Bellagamba, L.; Bellina, F.; Bellomo, M.; Belloni, A.; Beloborodova, O.; Belotskiy, K.; Beltramello, O.; Ben Ami, S.; Benary, O.; Benchekroun, D.; Benchouk, C.; Bendel, M.; Benedict, B. H.; Benekos, N.; Benhammou, Y.; Benjamin, D. P.; Benoit, M.; Bensinger, J. R.; Benslama, K.; Bentvelsen, S.; Berge, D.; Bergeaas Kuutmann, E.; Berger, N.; Berghaus, F.; Berglund, E.; Beringer, J.; Bernardet, K.; Bernat, P.; Bernhard, R.; Bernius, C.; Berry, T.; Bertin, A.; Bertinelli, F.; Bertolucci, F.; Besana, M. I.; Besson, N.; Bethke, S.; Bhimji, W.; Bianchi, R. M.; Bianco, M.; Biebel, O.; Bieniek, S. P.; Biesiada, J.; Biglietti, M.; Bilokon, H.; Bindi, M.; Binet, S.; Bingul, A.; Bini, C.; Biscarat, C.; Bitenc, U.; Black, K. M.; Blair, R. E.; Blanchard, J.-B.; Blanchot, G.; Blazek, T.; Blocker, C.; Blocki, J.; Blondel, A.; Blum, W.; Blumenschein, U.; Bobbink, G. J.; Bobrovnikov, V. B.; Bocchetta, S. S.; Bocci, A.; Boddy, C. R.; Boehler, M.; Boek, J.; Boelaert, N.; Böser, S.; Bogaerts, J. A.; Bogdanchikov, A.; Bogouch, A.; Bohm, C.; Boisvert, V.; Bold, T.; Boldea, V.; Bolnet, N. M.; Bona, M.; Bondarenko, V. G.; Boonekamp, M.; Boorman, G.; Booth, C. N.; Bordoni, S.; Borer, C.; Borisov, A.; Borissov, G.; Borjanovic, I.; Borroni, S.; Bos, K.; Boscherini, D.; Bosman, M.; Boterenbrood, H.; Botterill, D.; Bouchami, J.; Boudreau, J.; Bouhova-Thacker, E. V.; Boulahouache, C.; Bourdarios, C.; Bousson, N.; Boveia, A.; Boyd, J.; Boyko, I. R.; Bozhko, N. I.; Bozovic-Jelisavcic, I.; Bracinik, J.; Braem, A.; Branchini, P.; Brandenburg, G. W.; Brandt, A.; Brandt, G.; Brandt, O.; Bratzler, U.; Brau, B.; Brau, J. E.; Braun, H. M.; Brelier, B.; Bremer, J.; Brenner, R.; Bressler, S.; Breton, D.; Britton, D.; Brochu, F. M.; Brock, I.; Brock, R.; Brodbeck, T. J.; Brodet, E.; Broggi, F.; Bromberg, C.; Brooijmans, G.; Brooks, W. K.; Brown, G.; Brown, H.; Bruckman de Renstrom, P. A.; Bruncko, D.; Bruneliere, R.; Brunet, S.; Bruni, A.; Bruni, G.; Bruschi, M.; Buanes, T.; Bucci, F.; Buchanan, J.; Buchanan, N. J.; Buchholz, P.; Buckingham, R. M.; Buckley, A. G.; Buda, S. I.; Budagov, I. A.; Budick, B.; Büscher, V.; Bugge, L.; Buira-Clark, D.; Bulekov, O.; Bunse, M.; Buran, T.; Burckhart, H.; Burdin, S.; Burgess, T.; Burke, S.; Busato, E.; Bussey, P.; Buszello, C. P.; Butin, F.; Butler, B.; Butler, J. M.; Buttar, C. M.; Butterworth, J. M.; Buttinger, W.; Byatt, T.; Cabrera Urbán, S.; Caforio, D.; Cakir, O.; Calafiura, P.; Calderini, G.; Calfayan, P.; Calkins, R.; Caloba, L. P.; Caloi, R.; Calvet, D.; Calvet, S.; Camacho Toro, R.; Camarri, P.; Cambiaghi, M.; Cameron, D.; Campana, S.; Campanelli, M.; Canale, V.; Canelli, F.; Canepa, A.; Cantero, J.; Capasso, L.; Capeans Garrido, M. D. M.; Caprini, I.; Caprini, M.; Capriotti, D.; Capua, M.; Caputo, R.; Caramarcu, C.; Cardarelli, R.; Carli, T.; Carlino, G.; Carminati, L.; Caron, B.; Caron, S.; Carrillo Montoya, G. D.; Carter, A. A.; Carter, J. R.; Carvalho, J.; Casadei, D.; Casado, M. P.; Cascella, M.; Caso, C.; Castaneda Hernandez, A. M.; Castaneda-Miranda, E.; Castillo Gimenez, V.; Castro, N. F.; Cataldi, G.; Cataneo, F.; Catinaccio, A.; Catmore, J. R.; Cattai, A.; Cattani, G.; Caughron, S.; Cauz, D.; Cavalleri, P.; Cavalli, D.; Cavalli-Sforza, M.; Cavasinni, V.; Ceradini, F.; Cerqueira, A. S.; Cerri, A.; Cerrito, L.; Cerutti, F.; Cetin, S. A.; Cevenini, F.; Chafaq, A.; Chakraborty, D.; Chan, K.; Chapleau, B.; Chapman, J. D.; Chapman, J. W.; Chareyre, E.; Charlton, D. G.; Chavda, V.; Cheatham, S.; Chekanov, S.; Chekulaev, S. V.; Chelkov, G. A.; Chelstowska, M. A.; Chen, C.; Chen, H.; Chen, S.; Chen, T.; Chen, X.; Cheng, S.; Cheplakov, A.; Chepurnov, V. F.; Cherkaoui El Moursli, R.; Chernyatin, V.; Cheu, E.; Cheung, S. L.; Chevalier, L.; Chiefari, G.; Chikovani, L.; Childers, J. T.; Chilingarov, A.; Chiodini, G.; Chizhov, M. V.; Choudalakis, G.; Chouridou, S.; Christidi, I. A.; Christov, A.; Chromek-Burckhart, D.; Chu, M. L.; Chudoba, J.; Ciapetti, G.; Ciba, K.; Ciftci, A. K.; Ciftci, R.; Cinca, D.; Cindro, V.; Ciobotaru, M. D.; Ciocca, C.; Ciocio, A.; Cirilli, M.; Ciubancan, M.; Clark, A.; Clark, P. J.; Cleland, W.; Clemens, J. C.; Clement, B.; Clement, C.; Clifft, R. W.; Coadou, Y.; Cobal, M.; Coccaro, A.; Cochran, J.; Coe, P.; Cogan, J. G.; Coggeshall, J.; Cogneras, E.; Cojocaru, C. D.; Colas, J.; Colijn, A. P.; Collard, C.; Collins, N. J.; Collins-Tooth, C.; Collot, J.; Colon, G.; Conde Muiño, P.; Coniavitis, E.; Conidi, M. C.; Consonni, M.; Consorti, V.; Constantinescu, S.; Conta, C.; Conventi, F.; Cook, J.; Cooke, M.; Cooper, B. D.; Cooper-Sarkar, A. M.; Cooper-Smith, N. J.; Copic, K.; Cornelissen, T.; Corradi, M.; Corriveau, F.; Cortes-Gonzalez, A.; Cortiana, G.; Costa, G.; Costa, M. J.; Costanzo, D.; Costin, T.; Côté, D.; Coura Torres, R.; Courneyea, L.; Cowan, G.; Cowden, C.; Cox, B. E.; Cranmer, K.; Crescioli, F.; Cristinziani, M.; Crosetti, G.; Crupi, R.; Crépé-Renaudin, S.; Cuciuc, C.-M.; Cuenca Almenar, C.; Cuhadar Donszelmann, T.; Cuneo, S.; Curatolo, M.; Curtis, C. J.; Cwetanski, P.; Czirr, H.; Czyczula, Z.; D'Auria, S.; D'Onofrio, M.; D'Orazio, A.; Da Silva, P. V. M.; Da Via, C.; Dabrowski, W.; Dai, T.; Dallapiccola, C.; Dam, M.; Dameri, M.; Damiani, D. S.; Danielsson, H. O.; Dannheim, D.; Dao, V.; Darbo, G.; Darlea, G. L.; Daum, C.; Dauvergne, J. P.; Davey, W.; Davidek, T.; Davidson, N.; Davidson, R.; Davies, E.; Davies, M.; Davison, A. R.; Davygora, Y.; Dawe, E.; Dawson, I.; Dawson, J. W.; Daya, R. K.; De, K.; de Asmundis, R.; De Castro, S.; De Castro Faria Salgado, P. E.; De Cecco, S.; de Graat, J.; De Groot, N.; de Jong, P.; De La Taille, C.; De la Torre, H.; De Lotto, B.; De Mora, L.; De Nooij, L.; De Oliveira Branco, M.; De Pedis, D.; de Saintignon, P.; De Salvo, A.; De Sanctis, U.; De Santo, A.; De Vivie De Regie, J. B.; Dean, S.; Dedovich, D. V.; Degenhardt, J.; Dehchar, M.; Deile, M.; Del Papa, C.; Del Peso, J.; Del Prete, T.; Dell'Acqua, A.; Dell'Asta, L.; Della Pietra, M.; della Volpe, D.; Delmastro, M.; Delpierre, P.; Delruelle, N.; Delsart, P. A.; Deluca, C.; Demers, S.; Demichev, M.; Demirkoz, B.; Deng, J.; Denisov, S. P.; Derendarz, D.; Derkaoui, J. E.; Derue, F.; Dervan, P.; Desch, K.; Devetak, E.; Deviveiros, P. O.; Dewhurst, A.; DeWilde, B.; Dhaliwal, S.; Dhullipudi, R.; Di Ciaccio, A.; Di Ciaccio, L.; Di Girolamo, A.; Di Girolamo, B.; Di Luise, S.; Di Mattia, A.; Di Micco, B.; Di Nardo, R.; Di Simone, A.; Di Sipio, R.; Diaz, M. A.; Diblen, F.; Diehl, E. B.; Dietrich, J.; Dietzsch, T. A.; Diglio, S.; Dindar Yagci, K.; Dingfelder, J.; Dionisi, C.; Dita, P.; Dita, S.; Dittus, F.; Djama, F.; Djilkibaev, R.; Djobava, T.; do Vale, M. A. B.; Do Valle Wemans, A.; Doan, T. K. O.; Dobbs, M.; Dobinson, R.; Dobos, D.; Dobson, E.; Dobson, M.; Dodd, J.; Doglioni, C.; Doherty, T.; Doi, Y.; Dolejsi, J.; Dolenc, I.; Dolezal, Z.; Dolgoshein, B. A.; Dohmae, T.; Donadelli, M.; Donega, M.; Donini, J.; Dopke, J.; Doria, A.; Dos Anjos, A.; Dosil, M.; Dotti, A.; Dova, M. T.; Dowell, J. D.; Doxiadis, A. D.; Doyle, A. T.; Drasal, Z.; Drees, J.; Dressnandt, N.; Drevermann, H.; Driouichi, C.; Dris, M.; Dubbert, J.; Dubbs, T.; Dube, S.; Duchovni, E.; Duckeck, G.; Dudarev, A.; Dudziak, F.; Dührssen, M.; Duerdoth, I. P.; Duflot, L.; Dufour, M.-A.; Dunford, M.; Duran Yildiz, H.; Duxfield, R.; Dwuznik, M.; Dydak, F.; Dzahini, D.; Düren, M.; Ebenstein, W. L.; Ebke, J.; Eckert, S.; Eckweiler, S.; Edmonds, K.; Edwards, C. A.; Edwards, N. C.; Ehrenfeld, W.; Ehrich, T.; Eifert, T.; Eigen, G.; Einsweiler, K.; Eisenhandler, E.; Ekelof, T.; El Kacimi, M.; Ellert, M.; Elles, S.; Ellinghaus, F.; Ellis, K.; Ellis, N.; Elmsheuser, J.; Elsing, M.; Ely, R.; Emeliyanov, D.; Engelmann, R.; Engl, A.; Epp, B.; Eppig, A.; Erdmann, J.; Ereditato, A.; Eriksson, D.; Ernst, J.; Ernst, M.; Ernwein, J.; Errede, D.; Errede, S.; Ertel, E.; Escalier, M.; Escobar, C.; Espinal Curull, X.; Esposito, B.; Etienne, F.; Etienvre, A. I.; Etzion, E.; Evangelakou, D.; Evans, H.; Fabbri, L.; Fabre, C.; Fakhrutdinov, R. M.; Falciano, S.; Falou, A. C.; Fang, Y.; Fanti, M.; Farbin, A.; Farilla, A.; Farley, J.; Farooque, T.; Farrington, S. M.; Farthouat, P.; Fassnacht, P.; Fassouliotis, D.; Fatholahzadeh, B.; Favareto, A.; Fayard, L.; Fazio, S.; Febbraro, R.; Federic, P.; Fedin, O. L.; Fedorko, W.; Fehling-Kaschek, M.; Feligioni, L.; Fellmann, D.; Felzmann, C. U.; Feng, C.; Feng, E. J.; Fenyuk, A. B.; Ferencei, J.; Ferland, J.; Fernando, W.; Ferrag, S.; Ferrando, J.; Ferrara, V.; Ferrari, A.; Ferrari, P.; Ferrari, R.; Ferrer, A.; Ferrer, M. L.; Ferrere, D.; Ferretti, C.; Ferretto Parodi, A.; Fiascaris, M.; Fiedler, F.; Filipčič, A.; Filippas, A.; Filthaut, F.; Fincke-Keeler, M.; Fiolhais, M. C. N.; Fiorini, L.; Firan, A.; Fischer, G.; Fischer, P.; Fisher, M. J.; Fisher, S. M.; Flechl, M.; Fleck, I.; Fleckner, J.; Fleischmann, P.; Fleischmann, S.; Flick, T.; Flores Castillo, L. R.; Flowerdew, M. J.; Föhlisch, F.; Fokitis, M.; Fonseca Martin, T.; Forbush, D. A.; Formica, A.; Forti, A.; Fortin, D.; Foster, J. M.; Fournier, D.; Foussat, A.; Fowler, A. J.; Fowler, K.; Fox, H.; Francavilla, P.; Franchino, S.; Francis, D.; Frank, T.; Franklin, M.; Franz, S.; Fraternali, M.; Fratina, S.; French, S. T.; Froeschl, R.; Froidevaux, D.; Frost, J. A.; Fukunaga, C.; Fullana Torregrosa, E.; Fuster, J.; Gabaldon, C.; Gabizon, O.; Gadfort, T.; Gadomski, S.; Gagliardi, G.; Gagnon, P.; Galea, C.; Gallas, E. J.; Gallas, M. V.; Gallo, V.; Gallop, B. J.; Gallus, P.; Galyaev, E.; Gan, K. K.; Gao, Y. S.; Gapienko, V. A.; Gaponenko, A.; Garberson, F.; Garcia-Sciveres, M.; García, C.; García Navarro, J. E.; Gardner, R. W.; Garelli, N.; Garitaonandia, H.; Garonne, V.; Garvey, J.; Gatti, C.; Gaudio, G.; Gaumer, O.; Gaur, B.; Gauthier, L.; Gavrilenko, I. L.; Gay, C.; Gaycken, G.; Gayde, J.-C.; Gazis, E. N.; Ge, P.; Gee, C. N. P.; Geerts, D. A. A.; Geich-Gimbel, Ch.; Gellerstedt, K.; Gemme, C.; Gemmell, A.; Genest, M. H.; Gentile, S.; George, M.; George, S.; Gerlach, P.; Gershon, A.; Geweniger, C.; Ghazlane, H.; Ghez, P.; Ghodbane, N.; Giacobbe, B.; Giagu, S.; Giakoumopoulou, V.; Giangiobbe, V.; Gianotti, F.; Gibbard, B.; Gibson, A.; Gibson, S. M.; Gilbert, L. M.; Gilchriese, M.; Gilewsky, V.; Gillberg, D.; Gillman, A. R.; Gingrich, D. M.; Ginzburg, J.; Giokaris, N.; Giordano, R.; Giorgi, F. M.; Giovannini, P.; Giraud, P. F.; Giugni, D.; Giunta, M.; Giusti, P.; Gjelsten, B. K.; Gladilin, L. K.; Glasman, C.; Glatzer, J.; Glazov, A.; Glitza, K. W.; Glonti, G. L.; Godfrey, J.; Godlewski, J.; Goebel, M.; Göpfert, T.; Goeringer, C.; Gössling, C.; Göttfert, T.; Goldfarb, S.; Goldin, D.; Golling, T.; Golovnia, S. N.; Gomes, A.; Gomez Fajardo, L. S.; Gonçalo, R.; Goncalves Pinto Firmino Da Costa, J.; Gonella, L.; Gonidec, A.; Gonzalez, S.; González de la Hoz, S.; Gonzalez Silva, M. L.; Gonzalez-Sevilla, S.; Goodson, J. J.; Goossens, L.; Gorbounov, P. A.; Gordon, H. A.; Gorelov, I.; Gorfine, G.; Gorini, B.; Gorini, E.; Gorišek, A.; Gornicki, E.; Gorokhov, S. A.; Goryachev, V. N.; Gosdzik, B.; Gosselink, M.; Gostkin, M. I.; Gouanère, M.; Gough Eschrich, I.; Gouighri, M.; Goujdami, D.; Goulette, M. P.; Goussiou, A. G.; Goy, C.; Grabowska-Bold, I.; Grabski, V.; Grafström, P.; Grah, C.; Grahn, K.-J.; Grancagnolo, F.; Grancagnolo, S.; Grassi, V.; Gratchev, V.; Grau, N.; Gray, H. M.; Gray, J. A.; Graziani, E.; Grebenyuk, O. G.; Greenfield, D.; Greenshaw, T.; Greenwood, Z. D.; Gregor, I. M.; Grenier, P.; Griffiths, J.; Grigalashvili, N.; Grillo, A. A.; Grinstein, S.; Grishkevich, Y. V.; Grivaz, J.-F.; Grognuz, J.; Groh, M.; Gross, E.; Grosse-Knetter, J.; Groth-Jensen, J.; Grybel, K.; Guarino, V. J.; Guest, D.; Guicheney, C.; Guida, A.; Guillemin, T.; Guindon, S.; Guler, H.; Gunther, J.; Guo, B.; Guo, J.; Gupta, A.; Gusakov, Y.; Gushchin, V. N.; Gutierrez, A.; Gutierrez, P.; Guttman, N.; Gutzwiller, O.; Guyot, C.; Gwenlan, C.; Gwilliam, C. B.; Haas, A.; Haas, S.; Haber, C.; Hackenburg, R.; Hadavand, H. K.; Hadley, D. R.; Haefner, P.; Hahn, F.; Haider, S.; Hajduk, Z.; Hakobyan, H.; Haller, J.; Hamacher, K.; Hamal, P.; Hamilton, A.; Hamilton, S.; Han, H.; Han, L.; Hanagaki, K.; Hance, M.; Handel, C.; Hanke, P.; Hansen, J. R.; Hansen, J. B.; Hansen, J. D.; Hansen, P. H.; Hansson, P.; Hara, K.; Hare, G. A.; Harenberg, T.; Harkusha, S.; Harper, D.; Harrington, R. D.; Harris, O. M.; Harrison, K.; Hartert, J.; Hartjes, F.; Haruyama, T.; Harvey, A.; Hasegawa, S.; Hasegawa, Y.; Hassani, S.; Hatch, M.; Hauff, D.; Haug, S.; Hauschild, M.; Hauser, R.; Havranek, M.; Hawes, B. M.; Hawkes, C. M.; Hawkings, R. J.; Hawkins, D.; Hayakawa, T.; Hayden, D.; Hayward, H. S.; Haywood, S. J.; Hazen, E.; He, M.; Head, S. J.; Hedberg, V.; Heelan, L.; Heim, S.; Heinemann, B.; Heisterkamp, S.; Helary, L.; Heller, M.; Hellman, S.; Helsens, C.; Henderson, R. C. W.; Henke, M.; Henrichs, A.; Henriques Correia, A. M.; Henrot-Versille, S.; Henry-Couannier, F.; Hensel, C.; Henß, T.; Hernandez, C. M.; Hernández Jiménez, Y.; Herrberg, R.; Hershenhorn, A. D.; Herten, G.; Hertenberger, R.; Hervas, L.; Hessey, N. P.; Hidvegi, A.; Higón-Rodriguez, E.; Hill, D.; Hill, J. C.; Hill, N.; Hiller, K. H.; Hillert, S.; Hillier, S. J.; Hinchliffe, I.; Hines, E.; Hirose, M.; Hirsch, F.; Hirschbuehl, D.; Hobbs, J.; Hod, N.; Hodgkinson, M. C.; Hodgson, P.; Hoecker, A.; Hoeferkamp, M. R.; Hoffman, J.; Hoffmann, D.; Hohlfeld, M.; Holder, M.; Holmes, A.; Holmgren, S. O.; Holtsch, A.; Holy, T.; Holzbauer, J. L.; Homma, Y.; Hong, T. M.; Hooft van Huysduynen, L.; Horazdovsky, T.; Horn, C.; Horner, S.; Horton, K.; Hostachy, J.-Y.; Hou, S.; Houlden, M. A.; Hoummada, A.; Howarth, J.; Howell, D. F.; Hristova, I.; Hrivnac, J.; Hruska, I.; Hryn'ova, T.; Hsu, P. J.; Hsu, S.-C.; Huang, G. S.; Hubacek, Z.; Hubaut, F.; Huegging, F.; Huffman, T. B.; Hughes, E. W.; Hughes, G.; Hughes-Jones, R. E.; Huhtinen, M.; Hurst, P.; Hurwitz, M.; Husemann, U.; Huseynov, N.; Huston, J.; Huth, J.; Iacobucci, G.; Iakovidis, G.; Ibbotson, M.; Ibragimov, I.; Ichimiya, R.; Iconomidou-Fayard, L.; Idarraga, J.; Idzik, M.; Iengo, P.; Igonkina, O.; Ikegami, Y.; Ikeno, M.; Ilchenko, Y.; Iliadis, D.; Imbault, D.; Imhaeuser, M.; Imori, M.; Ince, T.; Inigo-Golfin, J.; Ioannou, P.; Iodice, M.; Ionescu, G.; Irles Quiles, A.; Ishii, K.; Ishikawa, A.; Ishino, M.; Ishmukhametov, R.; Issever, C.; Istin, S.; Itoh, Y.; Ivashin, A. V.; Iwanski, W.; Iwasaki, H.; Izen, J. M.; Izzo, V.; Jackson, B.; Jackson, J. N.; Jackson, P.; Jaekel, M. R.; Jain, V.; Jakobs, K.; Jakobsen, S.; Jakubek, J.; Jana, D. K.; Jankowski, E.; Jansen, E.; Jantsch, A.; Janus, M.; Jarlskog, G.; Jeanty, L.; Jelen, K.; Jen-La Plante, I.; Jenni, P.; Jeremie, A.; Jež, P.; Jézéquel, S.; Jha, M. K.; Ji, H.; Ji, W.; Jia, J.; Jiang, Y.; Jimenez Belenguer, M.; Jin, G.; Jin, S.; Jinnouchi, O.; Joergensen, M. D.; Joffe, D.; Johansen, L. 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I.; Rudolph, G.; Rühr, F.; Ruggieri, F.; Ruiz-Martinez, A.; Rulikowska-Zarebska, E.; Rumiantsev, V.; Rumyantsev, L.; Runge, K.; Runolfsson, O.; Rurikova, Z.; Rusakovich, N. A.; Rust, D. R.; Rutherfoord, J. P.; Ruwiedel, C.; Ruzicka, P.; Ryabov, Y. F.; Ryadovikov, V.; Ryan, P.; Rybar, M.; Rybkin, G.; Ryder, N. C.; Rzaeva, S.; Saavedra, A. F.; Sadeh, I.; Sadrozinski, H. F.-W.; Sadykov, R.; Safai Tehrani, F.; Sakamoto, H.; Salamanna, G.; Salamon, A.; Saleem, M.; Salihagic, D.; Salnikov, A.; Salt, J.; Salvachua Ferrando, B. M.; Salvatore, D.; Salvatore, F.; Salvucci, A.; Salzburger, A.; Sampsonidis, D.; Samset, B. H.; Sandaker, H.; Sander, H. G.; Sanders, M. P.; Sandhoff, M.; Sandoval, T.; Sandstroem, R.; Sandvoss, S.; Sankey, D. P. C.; Sansoni, A.; Santamarina Rios, C.; Santoni, C.; Santonico, R.; Santos, H.; Saraiva, J. G.; Sarangi, T.; Sarkisyan-Grinbaum, E.; Sarri, F.; Sartisohn, G.; Sasaki, O.; Sasaki, T.; Sasao, N.; Satsounkevitch, I.; Sauvage, G.; Sauvan, J. B.; Savard, P.; Savinov, V.; Savu, D. O.; Savva, P.; Sawyer, L.; Saxon, D. H.; Says, L. P.; Sbarra, C.; Sbrizzi, A.; Scallon, O.; Scannicchio, D. A.; Schaarschmidt, J.; Schacht, P.; Schäfer, U.; Schaepe, S.; Schaetzel, S.; Schaffer, A. C.; Schaile, D.; Schamberger, R. D.; Schamov, A. G.; Scharf, V.; Schegelsky, V. A.; Scheirich, D.; Schernau, M.; Scherzer, M. I.; Schiavi, C.; Schieck, J.; Schioppa, M.; Schlenker, S.; Schlereth, J. L.; Schmidt, E.; Schmieden, K.; Schmitt, C.; Schmitt, S.; Schmitz, M.; Schneider, M.; Schöning, A.; Schott, M.; Schouten, D.; Schovancova, J.; Schram, M.; Schroeder, C.; Schroer, N.; Schuh, S.; Schuler, G.; Schultes, J.; Schultz-Coulon, H.-C.; Schulz, H.; Schumacher, J. W.; Schumacher, M.; Schumm, B. A.; Schune, Ph.; Schwanenberger, C.; Schwartzman, A.; Schwemling, Ph.; Schwienhorst, R.; Schwierz, R.; Schwindling, J.; Scott, W. G.; Searcy, J.; Sedykh, E.; Segura, E.; Seidel, S. C.; Seiden, A.; Seifert, F.; Seixas, J. M.; Sekhniaidze, G.; Seliverstov, D. M.; Sellden, B.; Sellers, G.; Seman, M.; Semprini-Cesari, N.; Serfon, C.; Serin, L.; Seuster, R.; Severini, H.; Sevior, M. E.; Sfyrla, A.; Shabalina, E.; Shamim, M.; Shan, L. Y.; Shank, J. T.; Shao, Q. T.; Shapiro, M.; Shatalov, P. B.; Shaver, L.; Shaw, C.; Shaw, K.; Sherman, D.; Sherwood, P.; Shibata, A.; Shichi, H.; Shimizu, S.; Shimojima, M.; Shin, T.; Shmeleva, A.; Shochet, M. J.; Short, D.; Shupe, M. A.; Sicho, P.; Sidoti, A.; Siebel, A.; Siegert, F.; Siegrist, J.; Sijacki, Dj.; Silbert, O.; Silva, J.; Silver, Y.; Silverstein, D.; Silverstein, S. B.; Simak, V.; Simard, O.; Simic, Lj.; Simion, S.; Simmons, B.; Simonyan, M.; Sinervo, P.; Sinev, N. B.; Sipica, V.; Siragusa, G.; Sisakyan, A. N.; Sivoklokov, S. Yu.; Sjölin, J.; Sjursen, T. B.; Skinnari, L. A.; Skovpen, K.; Skubic, P.; Skvorodnev, N.; Slater, M.; Slavicek, T.; Sliwa, K.; Sloan, T. J.; Sloper, J.; Smakhtin, V.; Smirnov, S. Yu.; Smirnova, L. N.; Smirnova, O.; Smith, B. C.; Smith, D.; Smith, K. M.; Smizanska, M.; Smolek, K.; Snesarev, A. A.; Snow, S. W.; Snow, J.; Snuverink, J.; Snyder, S.; Soares, M.; Sobie, R.; Sodomka, J.; Soffer, A.; Solans, C. A.; Solar, M.; Solc, J.; Soldatov, E.; Soldevila, U.; Solfaroli Camillocci, E.; Solodkov, A. A.; Solovyanov, O. V.; Sondericker, J.; Soni, N.; Sopko, V.; Sopko, B.; Sorbi, M.; Sosebee, M.; Soukharev, A.; Spagnolo, S.; Spanò, F.; Spighi, R.; Spigo, G.; Spila, F.; Spiriti, E.; Spiwoks, R.; Spousta, M.; Spreitzer, T.; Spurlock, B.; St. Denis, R. D.; Stahl, T.; Stahlman, J.; Stamen, R.; Stanecka, E.; Stanek, R. W.; Stanescu, C.; Stapnes, S.; Starchenko, E. A.; Stark, J.; Staroba, P.; Starovoitov, P.; Staude, A.; Stavina, P.; Stavropoulos, G.; Steele, G.; Steinbach, P.; Steinberg, P.; Stekl, I.; Stelzer, B.; Stelzer, H. J.; Stelzer-Chilton, O.; Stenzel, H.; Stevenson, K.; Stewart, G. A.; Stillings, J. A.; Stockmanns, T.; Stockton, M. C.; Stoerig, K.; Stoicea, G.; Stonjek, S.; Strachota, P.; Stradling, A. R.; Straessner, A.; Strandberg, J.; Strandberg, S.; Strandlie, A.; Strang, M.; Strauss, E.; Strauss, M.; Strizenec, P.; Ströhmer, R.; Strom, D. M.; Strong, J. A.; Stroynowski, R.; Strube, J.; Stugu, B.; Stumer, I.; Stupak, J.; Sturm, P.; Soh, D. A.; Su, D.; Subramania, H. S.; Succurro, A.; Sugaya, Y.; Sugimoto, T.; Suhr, C.; Suita, K.; Suk, M.; Sulin, V. V.; Sultansoy, S.; Sumida, T.; Sun, X.; Sundermann, J. E.; Suruliz, K.; Sushkov, S.; Susinno, G.; Sutton, M. R.; Suzuki, Y.; Svatos, M.; Sviridov, Yu. M.; Swedish, S.; Sykora, I.; Sykora, T.; Szeless, B.; Sánchez, J.; Ta, D.; Tackmann, K.; Taffard, A.; Tafirout, R.; Taga, A.; Taiblum, N.; Takahashi, Y.; Takai, H.; Takashima, R.; Takeda, H.; Takeshita, T.; Talby, M.; Talyshev, A.; Tamsett, M. C.; Tanaka, J.; Tanaka, R.; Tanaka, S.; Tanaka, S.; Tanaka, Y.; Tani, K.; Tannoury, N.; Tappern, G. P.; Tapprogge, S.; Tardif, D.; Tarem, S.; Tarrade, F.; Tartarelli, G. F.; Tas, P.; Tasevsky, M.; Tassi, E.; Tatarkhanov, M.; Taylor, C.; Taylor, F. E.; Taylor, G. N.; Taylor, W.; Teixeira Dias Castanheira, M.; Teixeira-Dias, P.; Temming, K. K.; Ten Kate, H.; Teng, P. K.; Terada, S.; Terashi, K.; Terron, J.; Terwort, M.; Testa, M.; Teuscher, R. J.; Thadome, J.; Therhaag, J.; Theveneaux-Pelzer, T.; Thioye, M.; Thoma, S.; Thomas, J. P.; Thompson, E. N.; Thompson, P. D.; Thompson, P. D.; Thompson, A. S.; Thomson, E.; Thomson, M.; Thun, R. P.; Tic, T.; Tikhomirov, V. O.; Tikhonov, Y. A.; Timmermans, C. J. W. P.; Tipton, P.; Tisserant, S.; Tobias, J.; Toczek, B.; Todorov, T.; Todorova-Nova, S.; Toggerson, B.; Tojo, J.; Tokár, S.; Tokunaga, K.; Tokushuku, K.; Tollefson, K.; Tomoto, M.; Tompkins, L.; Toms, K.; Tong, G.; Tonoyan, A.; Topfel, C.; Topilin, N. D.; Torchiani, I.; Torrence, E.; Torres, H.; Torró Pastor, E.; Toth, J.; Touchard, F.; Tovey, D. R.; Traynor, D.; Trefzger, T.; Tremblet, L.; Tricoli, A.; Trigger, I. M.; Trincaz-Duvoid, S.; Trinh, T. N.; Tripiana, M. F.; Trischuk, W.; Trivedi, A.; Trocmé, B.; Troncon, C.; Trottier-McDonald, M.; Trzupek, A.; Tsarouchas, C.; Tseng, J. C.-L.; Tsiakiris, M.; Tsiareshka, P. V.; Tsionou, D.; Tsipolitis, G.; Tsiskaridze, V.; Tskhadadze, E. G.; Tsukerman, I. I.; Tsulaia, V.; Tsung, J.-W.; Tsuno, S.; Tsybychev, D.; Tua, A.; Tuggle, J. M.; Turala, M.; Turecek, D.; Turk Cakir, I.; Turlay, E.; Turra, R.; Tuts, P. M.; Tykhonov, A.; Tylmad, M.; Tyndel, M.; Tyrvainen, H.; Tzanakos, G.; Uchida, K.; Ueda, I.; Ueno, R.; Ugland, M.; Uhlenbrock, M.; Uhrmacher, M.; Ukegawa, F.; Unal, G.; Underwood, D. G.; Undrus, A.; Unel, G.; Unno, Y.; Urbaniec, D.; Urkovsky, E.; Urrejola, P.; Usai, G.; Uslenghi, M.; Vacavant, L.; Vacek, V.; Vachon, B.; Vahsen, S.; Valenta, J.; Valente, P.; Valentinetti, S.; Valkar, S.; Valladolid Gallego, E.; Vallecorsa, S.; Valls Ferrer, J. A.; van der Graaf, H.; van der Kraaij, E.; Van Der Leeuw, R.; van der Poel, E.; van der Ster, D.; Van Eijk, B.; van Eldik, N.; van Gemmeren, P.; van Kesteren, Z.; van Vulpen, I.; Vandelli, W.; Vandoni, G.; Vaniachine, A.; Vankov, P.; Vannucci, F.; Varela Rodriguez, F.; Vari, R.; Varnes, E. W.; Varouchas, D.; Vartapetian, A.; Varvell, K. E.; Vassilakopoulos, V. I.; Vazeille, F.; Vegni, G.; Veillet, J. J.; Vellidis, C.; Veloso, F.; Veness, R.; Veneziano, S.; Ventura, A.; Ventura, D.; Venturi, M.; Venturi, N.; Vercesi, V.; Verducci, M.; Verkerke, W.; Vermeulen, J. C.; Vest, A.; Vetterli, M. C.; Vichou, I.; Vickey, T.; Viehhauser, G. H. A.; Viel, S.; Villa, M.; Villaplana Perez, M.; Vilucchi, E.; Vincter, M. G.; Vinek, E.; Vinogradov, V. B.; Virchaux, M.; Viret, S.; Virzi, J.; Vitale, A.; Vitells, O.; Viti, M.; Vivarelli, I.; Vives Vaque, F.; Vlachos, S.; Vlasak, M.; Vlasov, N.; Vogel, A.; Vokac, P.; Volpi, G.; Volpi, M.; Volpini, G.; von der Schmitt, H.; von Loeben, J.; von Radziewski, H.; von Toerne, E.; Vorobel, V.; Vorobiev, A. P.; Vorwerk, V.; Vos, M.; Voss, R.; Voss, T. T.; Vossebeld, J. H.; Vranjes, N.; Vranjes Milosavljevic, M.; Vrba, V.; Vreeswijk, M.; Vu Anh, T.; Vuillermet, R.; Vukotic, I.; Wagner, W.; Wagner, P.; Wahlen, H.; Wakabayashi, J.; Walbersloh, J.; Walch, S.; Walder, J.; Walker, R.; Walkowiak, W.; Wall, R.; Waller, P.; Wang, C.; Wang, H.; Wang, H.; Wang, J.; Wang, J.; Wang, J. C.; Wang, R.; Wang, S. M.; Warburton, A.; Ward, C. P.; Warsinsky, M.; Watkins, P. M.; Watson, A. T.; Watson, M. F.; Watts, G.; Watts, S.; Waugh, A. T.; Waugh, B. M.; Weber, J.; Weber, M.; Weber, M. S.; Weber, P.; Weidberg, A. R.; Weigell, P.; Weingarten, J.; Weiser, C.; Wellenstein, H.; Wells, P. S.; Wen, M.; Wenaus, T.; Wendler, S.; Weng, Z.; Wengler, T.; Wenig, S.; Wermes, N.; Werner, M.; Werner, P.; Werth, M.; Wessels, M.; Weydert, C.; Whalen, K.; Wheeler-Ellis, S. J.; Whitaker, S. P.; White, A.; White, M. J.; White, S.; Whitehead, S. R.; Whiteson, D.; Whittington, D.; Wicek, F.; Wicke, D.; Wickens, F. J.; Wiedenmann, W.; Wielers, M.; Wienemann, P.; Wiglesworth, C.; Wiik, L. A. M.; Wijeratne, P. A.; Wildauer, A.; Wildt, M. A.; Wilhelm, I.; Wilkens, H. G.; Will, J. Z.; Williams, E.; Williams, H. H.; Willis, W.; Willocq, S.; Wilson, J. A.; Wilson, M. G.; Wilson, A.; Wingerter-Seez, I.; Winkelmann, S.; Winklmeier, F.; Wittgen, M.; Wolter, M. W.; Wolters, H.; Wooden, G.; Wosiek, B. K.; Wotschack, J.; Woudstra, M. J.; Wraight, K.; Wright, C.; Wrona, B.; Wu, S. L.; Wu, X.; Wu, Y.; Wulf, E.; Wunstorf, R.; Wynne, B. M.; Xaplanteris, L.; Xella, S.; Xie, S.; Xie, Y.; Xu, C.; Xu, D.; Xu, G.; Yabsley, B.; Yamada, M.; Yamamoto, A.; Yamamoto, K.; Yamamoto, S.; Yamamura, T.; Yamaoka, J.; Yamazaki, T.; Yamazaki, Y.; Yan, Z.; Yang, H.; Yang, U. K.; Yang, Y.; Yang, Y.; Yang, Z.; Yanush, S.; Yao, W.-M.; Yao, Y.; Yasu, Y.; Ybeles Smit, G. V.; Ye, J.; Ye, S.; Yilmaz, M.; Yoosoofmiya, R.; Yorita, K.; Yoshida, R.; Young, C.; Youssef, S.; Yu, D.; Yu, J.; Yu, J.; Yuan, L.; Yurkewicz, A.; Zaets, V. G.; Zaidan, R.; Zaitsev, A. M.; Zajacova, Z.; Zalite, Yo. K.; Zanello, L.; Zarzhitsky, P.; Zaytsev, A.; Zeitnitz, C.; Zeller, M.; Zemla, A.; Zendler, C.; Zenin, A. V.; Zenin, O.; Ženiš, T.; Zenonos, Z.; Zenz, S.; Zerwas, D.; Zevi della Porta, G.; Zhan, Z.; Zhang, D.; Zhang, H.; Zhang, J.; Zhang, X.; Zhang, Z.; Zhao, L.; Zhao, T.; Zhao, Z.; Zhemchugov, A.; Zheng, S.; Zhong, J.; Zhou, B.; Zhou, N.; Zhou, Y.; Zhu, C. G.; Zhu, H.; Zhu, Y.; Zhuang, X.; Zhuravlov, V.; Zieminska, D.; Zimmermann, R.; Zimmermann, S.; Zimmermann, S.; Ziolkowski, M.; Zitoun, R.; Živković, L.; Zmouchko, V. V.; Zobernig, G.; Zoccoli, A.; Zolnierowski, Y.; Zsenei, A.; zur Nedden, M.; Zutshi, V.; Zwalinski, L.

2011-11-01

Inclusive multi-jet production is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.4 pb-1. Results on multi-jet cross sections are presented and compared to both leading-order plus parton-shower Monte Carlo predictions and to next-to-leading-order QCD calculations.
Measurement of multi-jet cross sections in proton–proton collisions at a 7 TeV center-of-mass energy

DOE PAGES

Aad, G.; Abbott, B.; Abdallah, J.; ...

2011-11-15

Inclusive multi-jet production is studied in proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.4 pb -1. Results on multi-jet cross sections are presented and compared to both leading-order plus parton-shower Monte Carlo predictions and to next-to-leading-order QCD calculations.
Measurements of event properties and multi-differential jet cross sections and impact of CMS measurements on Proton Structure and QCD parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaur, Anterpreet

2018-01-01

We present results on the measurements of characteristics of events with jets including jet-charge, investigations of shapes and jet mass distributions. The measurements are compared to theoretical predictions including those matched to parton shower and hadronization. Multi-differential jet cross sections are also presented over a wide range in transverse momenta from inclusive jets to multi-jet final states. These measurements have an impact on the determination of the strong coupling constant as well as on parton distribution functions (PDFs) and are helpful in the treatment of heavy flavours in QCD analyses. We also show angular correlations in multi-jet events at highest center-of-mass energies and compare the measurements to theoretical predictions including higher order parton radiation and coherence effects. Measurements of cross sections of jet and top-quark pair production are in particular sensitive to the gluon distribution in the proton, while the electroweak boson production - inclusive or associated with charm or beauty quarks - gives insight into the flavour separation of the proton sea and to the treatment of heavy quarks in PDF-related studies.
Epidemiology of Transfusion-Transmitted Infections Among Multi-Transfused Patients in Seven Hospitals in Peru

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

locate jcv Epidemiology of transfusion-transmitted infections among multi-transfused patients in seven hospitals in Peru 1 VA. Laguna-Torres a...and risk factors associated with TTIs among a sample of multi-transfused adult patients in Peru Study design: A cross- sectional multi-center study...was conducted across seven major hospitals in Peru fi’om February 2003 to September 2004 Self-reported behavior lntbrmatlon (medical procedures
Stress influenced trapping processes in Si based multi-quantum well structures and heavy ions implanted Si

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

Ciurea, Magdalena Lidia, E-mail: ciurea@infim.ro; Lazanu, Sorina, E-mail: ciurea@infim.ro

2014-10-06

Multi-quantum well structures and Si wafers implanted with heavy iodine and bismuth ions are studied in order to evaluate the influence of stress on the parameters of trapping centers. The experimental method of thermostimullatedcurrents without applied bias is used, and the trapping centers are filled by illumination. By modeling the discharge curves, we found in multilayered structures the parameters of both 'normal' traps and 'stress-induced' ones, the last having a Gaussian-shaped temperature dependence of the cross section. The stress field due to the presence of stopped heavy ions implanted into Si was modeled by a permanent electric field. The increasemore » of the strain from the neighborhood of I ions to the neighborhood of Bi ions produces the broadening of some energy levels and also a temperature dependence of the cross sections for all levels.« less
Stress influenced trapping processes in Si based multi-quantum well structures and heavy ions implanted Si

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciurea, Magdalena Lidia; Lazanu, Sorina

2014-10-01

Multi-quantum well structures and Si wafers implanted with heavy iodine and bismuth ions are studied in order to evaluate the influence of stress on the parameters of trapping centers. The experimental method of thermostimullatedcurrents without applied bias is used, and the trapping centers are filled by illumination. By modeling the discharge curves, we found in multilayered structures the parameters of both 'normal' traps and 'stress-induced' ones, the last having a Gaussian-shaped temperature dependence of the cross section. The stress field due to the presence of stopped heavy ions implanted into Si was modeled by a permanent electric field. The increase of the strain from the neighborhood of I ions to the neighborhood of Bi ions produces the broadening of some energy levels and also a temperature dependence of the cross sections for all levels.
Primary Immunodeficiencies: “New” Disease in an Old Country

PubMed Central

Lee, Pamela P W; Lau, Yu-Lung

2009-01-01

Primary immunodeficiency disorders (PIDs) are rare inborn errors of the immune system. Patients with PIDs are unique models that exemplify the functional and phenotypic consequences of various immune defects underlying infections, autoimmunity, lymphoproliferation, allergy and cancer. Over 150 PID syndromes were characterized in the past 60 years, with an ever growing list of new entities being discovered. Because of their rarity, multi-center collaboration for pooled data analysis and molecular studies is important to gain meaningful insights into the phenotypic and genetic diversities of PIDs. In this article, we summarize our research findings on PIDs in Chinese population in the past 20 years. Close collaboration among various immunology centers, cross-referrals and systematic data analysis constitute the foundation for research on PIDs. Future directions include establishment of a national PID registry, raising awareness of PIDs and securing sufficient resources for patient care and scientific research. PMID:20003815
In vivo and in vitro performance of a China-made hemodialysis machine: a multi-center prospective controlled study.

PubMed

Wang, Yong; Chen, Xiang-Mei; Cai, Guang-Yan; Li, Wen-Ge; Zhang, Ai-Hua; Hao, Li-Rong; Shi, Ming; Wang, Rong; Jiang, Hong-Li; Luo, Hui-Min; Zhang, Dong; Sun, Xue-Feng

2017-08-02

To evaluate the in vivo and in vitro performance of a China-made dialysis machine (SWS-4000). This was a multi-center prospective controlled study consisting of both long-term in vitro evaluations and cross-over in vivo tests in 132 patients. The China-made SWS-4000 dialysis machine was compared with a German-made dialysis machine (Fresenius 4008) with regard to Kt/V values, URR values, and dialysis-related adverse reactions in patients on maintenance hemodialysis, as well as the ultrafiltration rate, the concentration of electrolytes in the proportioned dialysate, the rate of heparin injection, the flow rate of the blood pump, and the rate of malfunction. The Kt/V and URR values at the 1st and 4th weeks of dialysis as well as the incidence of adverse effects did not differ between the two groups in cross-over in vivo tests (P > 0.05). There were no significant differences between the two groups in the error values of the ultrafiltration rate, the rate of heparin injection or the concentrations of electrolytes in the proportioned dialysate at different time points under different parameter settings. At weeks 2 and 24, with the flow rate of the blood pump set at 300 mL/min, the actual error of the SWS-4000 dialysis machine was significantly higher than that of the Fresenius 4008 dialysis machine (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference at other time points or under other settings (P > 0.05). The malfunction rate was higher in the SWS-4000 group than in the Fresenius 4008 group (P < 0.05). The in vivo performance of the SWS-4000 dialysis machine is roughly comparable to that of the Fresenius 4008 dialysis machine; however, the malfunction rate of the former is higher than that of the latter in in vitro tests. The stability and long-term accuracy of the SWS-4000 dialysis machine remain to be improved.
Walkability and cardiometabolic risk factors: Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

PubMed

Braun, Lindsay M; Rodríguez, Daniel A; Evenson, Kelly R; Hirsch, Jana A; Moore, Kari A; Diez Roux, Ana V

2016-05-01

We used data from 3227 older adults in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (2004-2012) to explore cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between walkability and cardiometabolic risk factors. In cross-sectional analyses, linear regression was used to estimate associations of Street Smart Walk Score® with glucose, triglycerides, HDL and LDL cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and waist circumference, while logistic regression was used to estimate associations with odds of metabolic syndrome. Econometric fixed effects models were used to estimate longitudinal associations of changes in walkability with changes in each risk factor among participants who moved residential locations between 2004 and 2012 (n=583). Most cross-sectional and longitudinal associations were small and statistically non-significant. We found limited evidence that higher walkability was cross-sectionally associated with lower blood pressure but that increases in walkability were associated with increases in triglycerides and blood pressure over time. Further research over longer time periods is needed to understand the potential for built environment interventions to improve cardiometabolic health. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Multimodal Cognitive Enhancement Therapy for Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Dementia: A Multi- Center, Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind, Crossover Trial.

PubMed

Han, Ji Won; Lee, Hyeonggon; Hong, Jong Woo; Kim, Kayoung; Kim, Taehyun; Byun, Hye Jin; Ko, Ji Won; Youn, Jong Chul; Ryu, Seung-Ho; Lee, Nam-Jin; Pae, Chi-Un; Kim, Ki Woong

2017-01-01

We developed and evaluated the effect of Multimodal Cognitive Enhancement Therapy (MCET) consisting of cognitive training, cognitive stimulations, reality orientation, physical therapy, reminiscence therapy, and music therapy in combination in older people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia. This study was a multi-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, two-period cross-over study (two 8-week treatment phases separated by a 4-week wash-out period). Sixty-four participants with MCI or dementia whose Clinical Dementia Rating was 0.5 or 1 were randomized to the MCET group or the mock-therapy (placebo) group. Outcomes were measured at baseline, week 9, and week 21. Fifty-five patients completed the study. Mini-Mental State Examination (effect size = 0.47, p = 0.013) and Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (effect size = 0.35, p = 0.045) scores were significantly improved in the MCET compared with mock-therapy group. Revised Memory and Behavior Problems Checklist frequency (effect size = 0.38, p = 0.046) and self-rated Quality of Life - Alzheimer's Disease (effect size = 0.39, p = 0.047) scores were significantly improved in the MCET compared with mock-therapy. MCET improved cognition, behavior, and quality of life in people with MCI or mild dementia more effectively than conventional cognitive enhancing activities did.
Remission of rheumatoid arthritis and potential determinants: a national multi-center cross-sectional survey.

PubMed

Wang, Guan-Ying; Zhang, Sa-Li; Wang, Xiu-Ru; Feng, Min; Li, Chun; An, Yuan; Li, Xiao-Feng; Wang, Li-Zhi; Wang, Cai-Hong; Wang, Yong-Fu; Yang, Rong; Yan, Hui-Ming; Wang, Guo-Chun; Lu, Xin; Liu, Xia; Zhu, Ping; Chen, Li-Na; Jin, Hong-Tao; Liu, Jin-Ting; Guo, Hui-Fang; Chen, Hai-Ying; Xie, Jian-Li; Wei, Ping; Wang, Jun-Xiang; Liu, Xiang-Yuan; Sun, Lin; Cui, Liu-Fu; Shu, Rong; Liu, Bai-Lu; Yu, Ping; Zhang, Zhuo-Li; Li, Guang-Tao; Li, Zhen-Bin; Yang, Jing; Li, Jun-Fang; Jia, Bin; Zhang, Feng-Xiao; Tao, Jie-Mei; Lin, Jin-Ying; Wei, Mei-Qiu; Liu, Xiao-Min; Ke, Dan; Hu, Shao-Xian; Ye, Cong; Han, Shu-Ling; Yang, Xiu-Yan; Li, Hao; Huang, Ci-Bo; Gao, Ming; Lai, Bei; Cheng, Yong-Jing; Li, Xing-Fu; Song, Li-Jun; Yu, Xiao-Xia; Wang, Ai-Xue; Wu, Li-Jun; Wang, Yan-Hua; He, Lan; Sun, Wen-Wen; Gong, Lu; Wang, Xiao-Yuan; Wang, Yi; Zhao, Yi; Li, Xiao-Xia; Wang, Yan; Zhang, Yan; Su, Yin; Zhang, Chun-Fang; Mu, Rong; Li, Zhan-Guo

2015-02-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the remission rate of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in China and identify its potential determinants. A multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2009 to January 2012. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews of the rheumatology outpatients in 28 tertiary hospitals in China. The remission rates were calculated in 486 RA patients according to different definitions of remission: the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28), the Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI), the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), and the American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) Boolean definition. Potential determinants of RA remission were assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses. The remission rates of RA from this multi-center cohort were 8.6% (DAS28), 8.4% (SDAI), 8.2% (CDAI), and 6.8% (Boolean), respectively. Favorable factors associated with remission were: low Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score, absence of rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), and treatment of methotrexate (MTX) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Younger age was also predictive for the DAS28 and the Boolean remission. Multivariate analyses revealed a low HAQ score, the absence of anti-CCP, and the treatment with HCQ as independent determinants of remission. The clinical remission rate of RA patients was low in China. A low HAQ score, the absence of anti-CCP, and HCQ were significant independent determinants for RA remission.
Benefits for Women and Men of Inquiry-Based Learning in College Mathematics: A Multi-Institution Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laursen, Sandra L.; Hassi, Marja-Liisa; Kogan, Marina; Weston, Timothy J.

2014-01-01

Slow faculty uptake of research-based, student-centered teaching and learning approaches limits the advancement of U.S. undergraduate mathematics education. A study of inquiry-based learning (IBL) as implemented in over 100 course sections at 4 universities provides an example of such multicourse, multi-institution uptake. Despite variation in how…
Building multi-country collaboration on watershed management: lessons on linking environment and public health from the Western Balkans

EPA Science Inventory

Community-based watershed resilience programs that bridge public health and environmental outcomes often require cross-boundary, multi-country collaboration. The CRESSIDA project, led by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) and supported by the U...
Does a single specialty intensive care unit make better business sense than a multi-specialty intensive care unit? A costing study in a trauma center in India.

PubMed

Kumar, Parmeshwar; Jithesh, Vishwanathan; Gupta, Shakti Kumar

2015-01-01

Though intensive care units (ICUs) only account for 10% of hospital beds, they consume nearly 22% of hospital resources. Few definitive costing studies have been conducted in Indian settings that would help determine appropriate resource allocation. To evaluate and compare the cost of intensive care delivery between multi-specialty and neurosurgery ICU in an apex trauma care facility in India. The study was conducted in a polytrauma and neurosurgery ICU at a 203 bedded level IV trauma care facility in New Delhi, India from May, 2012 to June 2012. The study was cross-sectional, retrospective, and record-based. Traditional costing was used to arrive at the cost for both direct and indirect cost estimates. The cost centers included in study were building cost, equipment cost, human resources, materials and supplies, clinical and nonclinical support services, engineering maintenance cost, and biomedical waste management. Fisher's two-tailed t-test. Total cost/bed/day for the multi-specialty ICU was Rs. 14,976.9/- and for the neurosurgery ICU was Rs. 14,306.7/-, manpower constituting nearly half of the expenditure in both ICUs. The cost center wise and overall difference in the cost among the ICUs were statistically significant. Quantification of expenditure in running an ICU in a trauma center would assist healthcare decision makers in better allocation of resources. Although multi-specialty ICUs are more expensive, other factors will also play a role in defining the kind of ICU that need to be designed.
Depressive Symptoms Correlate with Disability and Disease Course in Multiple Sclerosis Patients: An Italian Multi-Center Study Using the Beck Depression Inventory.

PubMed

Solaro, C; Trabucco, E; Signori, A; Martinelli, V; Radaelli, M; Centonze, D; Rossi, S; Grasso, M G; Clemenzi, A; Bonavita, S; D'Ambrosio, A; Patti, F; D'Amico, E; Cruccu, G; Truini, A

2016-01-01

Depression occurs in about 50% of patients with multiple sclerosis. The aims of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms in a multicenter MS population using the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II) and to identify possible correlations between the BDI II score and demographic and clinical variables. Data were collected in a multi-center, cross-sectional study over a period of six months in six MS centers in Italy using BDI II. 1,011 MS patients participated in the study. 676 subjects were female, with a mean age of 34 years (SD 10.8), mean EDSS of 3.3 (0-8.5) and mean disease duration of 10.3 years (range 1-50 years). 668 (%) subjects scored lower than 14 on the BDI II and 343 (33.9%) scored greater than 14 (14 cut-off score). For patients with BDI>14 multivariate analysis showed a significant difference between EDSS and disease course. BDI II scores for subjects with secondary progressive (SP) MS were significantly different from primary progressive (PP) patients (p < 0.001) but similar to relapsing-remitting (RR) patients. Considering subjects with moderate to severe depressive symptoms (BDI II score from 20-63), in relation to disease course, 11.7% (83/710) had RR MS, 40.7% (96/236) SP and 13.6% (6/44) PP. Using the BDI II, 30% of the current sample had depressive symptoms. BDI II score correlates with disability and disease course, particularly in subjects with SP MS. The BDI II scale can be a useful tool in clinical practice to screen depressive symptoms in people with MS.
Family-Centered Early Intervention with Infants & Toddlers: Innovative Cross-Disciplinary Approaches.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Wesley, Ed.; And Others

This multi-contributor volume addresses the challenges of providing early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities, within a family-centered framework. The book provides a legislative review of the key elements of eligibility, assessment, and evaluation and then examines service coordination, curricula, special intervention…
Dynamical-statistical seasonal prediction for western North Pacific typhoons based on APCC multi-models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Ok-Yeon; Kim, Hye-Mi; Lee, Myong-In; Min, Young-Mi

2017-01-01

This study aims at predicting the seasonal number of typhoons (TY) over the western North Pacific with an Asia-Pacific Climate Center (APCC) multi-model ensemble (MME)-based dynamical-statistical hybrid model. The hybrid model uses the statistical relationship between the number of TY during the typhoon season (July-October) and the large-scale key predictors forecasted by APCC MME for the same season. The cross validation result from the MME hybrid model demonstrates high prediction skill, with a correlation of 0.67 between the hindcasts and observation for 1982-2008. The cross validation from the hybrid model with individual models participating in MME indicates that there is no single model which consistently outperforms the other models in predicting typhoon number. Although the forecast skill of MME is not always the highest compared to that of each individual model, the skill of MME presents rather higher averaged correlations and small variance of correlations. Given large set of ensemble members from multi-models, a relative operating characteristic score reveals an 82 % (above-) and 78 % (below-normal) improvement for the probabilistic prediction of the number of TY. It implies that there is 82 % (78 %) probability that the forecasts can successfully discriminate between above normal (below-normal) from other years. The forecast skill of the hybrid model for the past 7 years (2002-2008) is more skillful than the forecast from the Tropical Storm Risk consortium. Using large set of ensemble members from multi-models, the APCC MME could provide useful deterministic and probabilistic seasonal typhoon forecasts to the end-users in particular, the residents of tropical cyclone-prone areas in the Asia-Pacific region.
[Timing of bacterial colonization in severe burns: is strict isolation necessary?].

PubMed

Barret, Juan P

2003-12-01

Infection is still one of the main causes of mortality in severe burn patients. Strict isolation has been used for the prevention of infection, but the efficacy of this measure is debatable. The aim of this study was to determine the timing of bacterial colonization in these patients and to ascertain whether strict isolation is indicated. Thirty consecutive children with severe burns were studied. Patients were only barrier-nursed during dressing changes. On admission and twice weekly over the entire hospital stay, burn, sputum, gastric aspirates, feces, and blood samples were obtained for culture. All isolates were tested for specific biotypes. Results were studied with linear regression and repeated measures ANOVA to determine the timing of colonization and cross-colonization between patients. On admission, normal cutaneous flora were isolated from burn cultures of all patients. The remaining cultures were negative. After one week, gastric aspirates were found to be colonized by gram-negative bacteria and fungi. This was followed by colonization of feces, burn, and sputum cultures. Biotype identification showed unidirectional colonization from the gastrointestinal tract to burns and upper airway. There were no cross infections between patients. Microbial colonization in severe burn patients was endogenous in nature and there were no cross infections. Thus, strict isolation is not necessary in burn centers, except during outbreaks of multi-resistant microorganisms.
Cross-cultural adaptation of the German version of the spinal stenosis measure.

PubMed

Wertli, Maria M; Steurer, Johann; Wildi, Lukas M; Held, Ulrike

2014-06-01

To validate the German version of the spinal stenosis measure (SSM), a disease-specific questionnaire assessing symptom severity, physical function, and satisfaction with treatment in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. After translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and pilot testing, we assessed internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness of the SSM subscales. Data from a large Swiss multi-center prospective cohort study were used. Reference scales for the assessment of construct validity and responsiveness were the numeric rating scale, pain thermometer, and the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire. One hundred and eight consecutive patients were included in this validation study, recruited from five different centers. Cronbach's alpha was above 0.8 for all three subscales of the SSM. The objectivity of the SSM was assessed using a partial credit approach. The model showed a good global fit to the data. Of the 108 patients 78 participated in the test-retest procedure. The ICC values were above 0.8 for all three subscales of the SSM. Correlations with reference scales were above 0.7 for the symptom and function subscales. For satisfaction subscale, it was 0.66 or above. Clinically meaningful changes of the reference scales over time were associated with significantly more improvement in all three SSM subscales (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The proposed version of the SSM showed very good measurement properties and can be considered validated for use in the German language.

Does a single specialty intensive care unit make better business sense than a multi-specialty intensive care unit? A costing study in a trauma center in India

PubMed Central

Kumar, Parmeshwar; Jithesh, Vishwanathan; Gupta, Shakti Kumar

2015-01-01

Context: Though intensive care units (ICUs) only account for 10% of hospital beds, they consume nearly 22% of hospital resources. Few definitive costing studies have been conducted in Indian settings that would help determine appropriate resource allocation. Aim: To evaluate and compare the cost of intensive care delivery between multi-specialty and neurosurgery ICU in an apex trauma care facility in India. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a polytrauma and neurosurgery ICU at a 203 bedded level IV trauma care facility in New Delhi, India from May, 2012 to June 2012. The study was cross-sectional, retrospective, and record-based. Traditional costing was used to arrive at the cost for both direct and indirect cost estimates. The cost centers included in study were building cost, equipment cost, human resources, materials and supplies, clinical and nonclinical support services, engineering maintenance cost, and biomedical waste management. Statistical Analysis: Fisher's two-tailed t-test. Results: Total cost/bed/day for the multi-specialty ICU was Rs. 14,976.9/- and for the neurosurgery ICU was Rs. 14,306.7/-, manpower constituting nearly half of the expenditure in both ICUs. The cost center wise and overall difference in the cost among the ICUs were statistically significant. Conclusions: Quantification of expenditure in running an ICU in a trauma center would assist healthcare decision makers in better allocation of resources. Although multi-specialty ICUs are more expensive, other factors will also play a role in defining the kind of ICU that need to be designed. PMID:25829909
Icing Test Results on an Advanced Two-Dimensional High-Lift Multi-Element Airfoil

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shin, Jaiwon; Wilcox, Peter; Chin, Vincent; Sheldon, David

1994-01-01

An experimental study has been conducted to investigate ice accretions on a high-lift, multi-element airfoil in the Icing Research Tunnel at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The airfoil is representative of an advanced transport wing design. The experimental work was conducted as part of a cooperative program between McDonnell Douglas Aerospace and the NASA Lewis Research Center to improve current understanding of ice accretion characteristics on the multi-element airfoil. The experimental effort also provided ice shapes for future aerodynamic tests at flight Reynolds numbers to ascertain high-lift performance effects. Ice shapes documented for a landing configuration over a variety of icing conditions are presented along with analyses.
Evaluation design of New York City's regulations on nutrition, physical activity, and screen time in early child care centers.

PubMed

Breck, Andrew; Goodman, Ken; Dunn, Lillian; Stephens, Robert L; Dawkins, Nicola; Dixon, Beth; Jernigan, Jan; Kakietek, Jakub; Lesesne, Catherine; Lessard, Laura; Nonas, Cathy; O'Dell, Sarah Abood; Osuji, Thearis A; Bronson, Bernice; Xu, Ye; Kettel Khan, Laura

2014-10-16

This article describes the multi-method cross-sectional design used to evaluate New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's regulations of nutrition, physical activity, and screen time for children aged 3 years or older in licensed group child care centers. The Center Evaluation Component collected data from a stratified random sample of 176 licensed group child care centers in New York City. Compliance with the regulations was measured through a review of center records, a facility inventory, and interviews of center directors, lead teachers, and food service staff. The Classroom Evaluation Component included an observational and biometric study of a sample of approximately 1,400 children aged 3 or 4 years attending 110 child care centers and was designed to complement the center component at the classroom and child level. The study methodology detailed in this paper may aid researchers in designing policy evaluation studies that can inform other jurisdictions considering similar policies.
Use of multi-frequency, multi-polarization, multi-angle airborne radars for class discrimination in a southern temperature forest

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mehta, N. C.

1984-01-01

The utility of radar scatterometers for discrimination and characterization of natural vegetation was investigated. Backscatter measurements were acquired with airborne multi-frequency, multi-polarization, multi-angle radar scatterometers over a test site in a southern temperate forest. Separability between ground cover classes was studied using a two-class separability measure. Very good separability is achieved between most classes. Longer wavelength is useful in separating trees from non-tree classes, while shorter wavelength and cross polarization are helpful for discrimination among tree classes. Using the maximum likelihood classifier, 50% overall classification accuracy is achieved using a single, short-wavelength scatterometer channel. Addition of multiple incidence angles and another radar band improves classification accuracy by 20% and 50%, respectively, over the single channel accuracy. Incorporation of a third radar band seems redundant for vegetation classification. Vertical transmit polarization is critically important for all classes.
An Analysis of Allegations of Sexual Abuse in a Multi-Victim Day-Care Center Case.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bybee, Deborah; Mowbray, Carol T.

1993-01-01

This study applied criteria from Statement Validity Analysis (SVA) protocols to aggregate record review data of alleged sexual abuse of over 100 children in a day-care center. The use of SVA criteria supported the veritability of allegations in this case, with the data analysis reflecting consistency, logical structure, and spontaneity of…
The Physics of Imaging with Remote Sensors : Photon State Space & Radiative Transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Anthony B.

2012-01-01

Standard (mono-pixel/steady-source) retrieval methodology is reaching its fundamental limit with access to multi-angle/multi-spectral photo- polarimetry. Next... Two emerging new classes of retrieval algorithm worth nurturing: multi-pixel time-domain Wave-radiometry transition regimes, and more... Cross-fertilization with bio-medical imaging. Physics-based remote sensing: - What is "photon state space?" - What is "radiative transfer?" - Is "the end" in sight? Two wide-open frontiers! center dot Examples (with variations.
A Youth Mentor-Led Nutritional Intervention in Urban Recreation Centers: A Promising Strategy for Childhood Obesity Prevention in Low-Income Neighborhoods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sato, Priscila M.; Steeves, Elizabeth A.; Carnell, Susan; Cheskin, Lawrence J.; Trude, Angela C.; Shipley, Cara; Mejía Ruiz, M. J.; Gittelsohn, Joel

2016-01-01

B'More Healthy Community for Kids (BHCK) is an ongoing multi-level intervention to prevent childhood obesity in African-American low-income neighborhoods in Baltimore city, MD. Although previous nutrition interventions involving peer mentoring of youth have been successful, there is a lack of studies evaluating the influence of cross-age peers…
Clinical Evaluation of Large Diameter Rigid-Gas Permeable Versus Soft Toric Contact Lenses for the Correction of Refractive Astigmatism. A MultiCenter Study.

PubMed

Michaud, Langis; Bennett, Edward S; Woo, Stephanie L; Reeder, Renee; Morgan, Bruce W; Dinardo, Amy; Harthan, Jennifer S

2018-05-01

This study aims to address the clinical performance of a large diameter rigid gas permeable lens (LRGP) in a group of subjects with low-to-moderate (0.75-2.75 D) refractive astigmatism. An additional goal was to determine whether soft toric or LRGP contact lenses performed better objectively in the correction of astigmatism and to determine which modality is preferred by subjects. This was a multisite prospective cross-over clinical study. Ten asymptomatic contact lens wearers per site (four university clinics) were recruited and randomly assigned to group A or group B. Group A was assigned to start wearing Comfilcon A soft toric lens first, for two weeks, and then crossed over to LRGP lenses (Boston XO, 14.3 mm diameter miniscleral lens). Group B initially wore LRGP lenses and then crossed over to soft toric lenses. For each type of lens worn, low-contrast and high-contrast visual acuity (VA) were evaluated at distance. At the conclusion of the study, after two months, all subjects completed a questionnaire in which they were asked to indicate their preference for one type of lens (soft toric or LRGP) and to rate the quality of vision in day-to-day activities. Thirty-six of 38 (94.7%) subjects completed the study with 75% preferring the vision of the LRGP lens as compared to the soft toric lenses worn in the study. 52.7% expressed a preference to continue with this modality despite only 38.8% reporting that these LRGP lenses are easy or very easy to handle. Wear time, subjective comfort, and subjective vision ratings exhibited no significant difference between the two groups. In a population of asymptomatic contact lens wearers, LRGP lenses can be considered as a good alternative to soft toric lenses for the correction of refractive astigmatism.
Pain severity and mobility one year after spinal cord injury: a multicenter, cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Marcondes, Bianca F; Sreepathi, Shruti; Markowski, Justin; Nguyen, Dung; Stock, Shannon R; Carvalho, Sandra; Tate, Denise; Zafonte, Ross; Morse, Leslie R; Fregni, Felipe

2016-10-01

Following a spinal cord injury, patients are often burdened by chronic pain. Preliminary research points to activation of the motor cortex through increased mobility as a potential means of alleviating postinjury chronic pain. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between pain severity and mobility among patients who have sustained a traumatic spinal cord injury while controlling for clinically-relevant covariates. A multi-center, cross-sectional study. The SCIMS is composed of 14 centers, all located in the United States and funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The study cohort included 1980 patients who completed the one-year SCIMS follow-up assessment between October 2000- December 2013. A multi-center, cross-sectional study was performed to assess the impact of mobility on self-reported pain using information from 1980 subjects who sustained a traumatic spinal cord injury and completed a year-one follow-up interview between October 2000 and December 2013. Patient information was acquired using the Spinal Cord Injury National Database, compiled by the affiliated Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems. Analyses included a multivariable linear regression of patients' self-reported pain scores on mobility, quantified using the CHART-SF mobility total score, and other clinically relevant covariates. After controlling for potential confounders, a significant quadratic relationship between mobility and patients' self-reported pain was observed (P=0.016). Furthermore, female gender, "unemployed" occupational status, paraplegia, and the presence of depressive symptoms were associated with significantly higher pain scores (P<0.02 for all variables). Statistically significant quadratic associations between pain scores and age at injury, life satisfaction total score, and the CHART-SF occupational total subscale were also observed (P≤0.03 for all variables). Among patients with moderate to high levels of mobility, pain scores decreased with increasing mobility. Enhancing a patient's physical activity by increasing his or her mobility may reduce neuropathic pain if begun shortly after a spinal cord injury.
Multi-band Electronic Structure of Ferromagnetic CeRuPO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, Masaya; Ootsuki, Daiki; Horio, Masafumi; Arita, Masashi; Namatame, Hirofumi; Taniguchi, Masaki; Saini, Naurang L.; Sugawara, Hitoshi; Mizokawa, Takashi

2018-04-01

We have studied the multi-band electronic structure of ferromagnetic CeRuPO (TC = 15 K) by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). The ARPES results show that three hole bands exist around the zone center and two of them cross the Fermi level (EF). Around the zone corner, two electron bands are observed and cross EF. These hole and electron bands, which can be assigned to the Ru 4d bands, are basically consistent with the band-structure calculation including their orbital characters. However, one of the electron bands with Ru 4d 3z2 - r2 character is strongly renormalized indicating correlation effect due to hybridization with the Ce 4f orbitals. The Ru 4d 3z2 - r2 band changes across TC suggesting that the out-of-plane 3z2 - r2 orbital channel plays essential roles in the ferromagnetism.
Transfer and Dispositions in Writing Centers: A Cross-Institutional, Mixed-Methods Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bromley, Pam; Northway, Kara; Schonberg, Eliana

2016-01-01

Taking a dispositional view of transfer and applying Joanne Lobato's "actor-oriented transfer perspective," we analyze student perceptions of writing center visits at three very different institutions. We find that, as a nonevaluative space where university students can develop metacognitive awareness across disciplines and over time,…
What Websites Are Patients Using: Results of a Tracking Study Exploring Patients Use of Websites at a Multi-Media Patient Education Center

PubMed Central

Ravitch, Stephanie; Fleisher, Linda; Torres, Stephen

2005-01-01

An exploratory study utilized computer tracking software at a hospital based patient education center was conducted to access use of the Web. During six months, 625 hits were tracked with 1/3 to www.cancer.gov one of the recommended websites, while over half of the sites were not on the recommended list. Here we report the challenges and results of this tracking study. PMID:16779379
Understanding collaborative care implementation in the Department of Veterans Affairs: core functions and implementation challenges.

PubMed

Lipschitz, Jessica M; Benzer, Justin K; Miller, Christopher; Easley, Siena R; Leyson, Jenniffer; Post, Edward P; Burgess, James F

2017-10-10

The collaborative care model is an evidence-based practice for treatment of depression in which designated care managers provide clinical services, often by telephone. However, the collaborative care model is infrequently adopted in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Almost all VA medical centers have adopted a co-located or embedded approach to integrating mental health care for primary care patients. Some VA medical centers have also adopted a telephone-based collaborative care model where depression care managers support patient education, patient activation, and monitoring of adherence and progress over time. This study evaluated two research questions: (1) What does a dedicated care manager offer in addition to an embedded-only model? (2) What are the barriers to implementing a dedicated depression care manager? This study involved 15 qualitative, multi-disciplinary, key informant interviews at two VA medical centers where reimbursement options were the same- both with embedded mental health staff, but one with a depression care manager. Participant interviews were recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis was used to identify descriptive and analytical themes. Findings suggested that some of the core functions of depression care management are provided as part of embedded-only mental health care. However, formal structural attention to care management may improve the reliability of care management functions, in particular monitoring of progress over time. Barriers to optimal implementation were identified at both sites. Themes from the care management site included finding assertive care managers to hire, cross-discipline integration and collaboration, and primary care provider burden. Themes from interviews at the embedded site included difficulty getting care management on leaders' agendas amidst competing priorities and logistics (staffing and space). Providers and administrators see depression care management as a valuable healthcare service that improves patient care. Barriers to implementation may be addressed by team-building interventions to improve cross-discipline integration and communication. Findings from this study are limited in scope to the VA healthcare system. Future investigation of whether alternative barriers exist in implementation of depression care management programs in non-VA hospital systems, where reimbursement rates may be a more prominent concern, would be valuable.
Identifying and collecting pertinent medical records for centralized abstraction in a multi-center randomized clinical trial: the model used by the American College of Radiology arm of the National Lung Screening Trial.

PubMed

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

2013-01-01

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

PubMed Central

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

2012-01-01

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, S.; IM, E. S.; Eltahir, E. A. B.

2016-12-01

In this study, the future change in precipitation due to global warming is investigated over the Maritime Continent using the MIT Regional Climate Model (MRCM). A total of nine 30-year projections under multi-GCMs (CCSM, MPI, ACCESS) and multi-scenarios of emissions (Control, RCP4.5, RCP8.5) are dynamically downscaled using the MRCM with 12km horizontal resolution. Since downscaled results tend to systematically overestimate the precipitation regardless of GCM used as lateral boundary conditions, the Parametric Quantile Mapping (PQM) is applied to reduce this wet bias. The cross validation for the control simulation shows that the PQM method seems to retain the spatial pattern and temporal variability of raw simulation, however it effectively reduce the wet bias. Based on ensemble projections produced by dynamical downscaling and statistical bias correction, a reduction of future precipitation is discernible, in particular during dry season (June-July-August). For example, intense precipitation in Singapore is expected to be reduced in RCP8.5 projection compared to control simulation. However, the geographical patterns and magnitude of changes still remain uncertain, suffering from statistical insignificance and a lack of model agreement. Acknowledgements This research is supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise programme. The Center for Environmental Sensing and Modeling is an interdisciplinary research group of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology
Effects of a Preschool Intervention on Cognitive Development among East-African Preschool Children: A Flexibly Time-Coded Growth Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malmberg, Lars-Erik; Mwaura, Peter; Sylva, Kathy

2011-01-01

The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of the Madrasa Resource Center (MRC), a child-centered intervention program, on East-African (Kenya, Zanzibar, and Uganda) preschool children's cognitive development. Altogether 321 children (153 non-intervention and 168 intervention) participated in a cross-sequential study over three time-points…
Factors associated with the use of cognitive aids in operating room crises: a cross-sectional study of US hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers.

PubMed

Alidina, Shehnaz; Goldhaber-Fiebert, Sara N; Hannenberg, Alexander A; Hepner, David L; Singer, Sara J; Neville, Bridget A; Sachetta, James R; Lipsitz, Stuart R; Berry, William R

2018-03-26

Operating room (OR) crises are high-acuity events requiring rapid, coordinated management. Medical judgment and decision-making can be compromised in stressful situations, and clinicians may not experience a crisis for many years. A cognitive aid (e.g., checklist) for the most common types of crises in the OR may improve management during unexpected and rare events. While implementation strategies for innovations such as cognitive aids for routine use are becoming better understood, cognitive aids that are rarely used are not yet well understood. We examined organizational context and implementation process factors influencing the use of cognitive aids for OR crises. We conducted a cross-sectional study using a Web-based survey of individuals who had downloaded OR cognitive aids from the websites of Ariadne Labs or Stanford University between January 2013 and January 2016. In this paper, we report on the experience of 368 respondents from US hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers. We analyzed the relationship of more successful implementation (measured as reported regular cognitive aid use during applicable clinical events) with organizational context and with participation in a multi-step implementation process. We used multivariable logistic regression to identify significant predictors of reported, regular OR cognitive aid use during OR crises. In the multivariable logistic regression, small facility size was associated with a fourfold increase in the odds of a facility reporting more successful implementation (p = 0.0092). Completing more implementation steps was also significantly associated with more successful implementation; each implementation step completed was associated with just over 50% higher odds of more successful implementation (p ≤ 0.0001). More successful implementation was associated with leadership support (p < 0.0001) and dedicated time to train staff (p = 0.0189). Less successful implementation was associated with resistance among clinical providers to using cognitive aids (p < 0.0001), absence of an implementation champion (p = 0.0126), and unsatisfactory content or design of the cognitive aid (p = 0.0112). Successful implementation of cognitive aids in ORs was associated with a supportive organizational context and following a multi-step implementation process. Building strong organizational support and following a well-planned multi-step implementation process will likely increase the use of OR cognitive aids during intraoperative crises, which may improve patient outcomes.
77 FR 12598 - Notice Correction; A Multi-Center International Hospital-Based Case-Control Study of Lymphoma in...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-01

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES National Institutes of Health Notice Correction; A Multi-Center International Hospital-Based Case-Control Study of Lymphoma in Asia (AsiaLymph) (NCI) The Federal... project titled, ``A multi-center international hospital-based case-control study of lymphoma in Asia (Asia...
Reciprocal Influences between Parents' Marital Problems and Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cui, Ming; Donnellan, M. Brent; Conger, Rand D.

2007-01-01

The present study examines reciprocal associations between marital functioning and adolescent maladjustment using cross-lagged autoregressive models. The research involved 451 early adolescents and their families and used a prospective, longitudinal research design with multi-informant methods. Results indicate that parental conflicts over child…

Fair comparison of complexity between a multi-band CAP and DMT for data center interconnects.

PubMed

Wei, J L; Sanchez, C; Giacoumidis, E

2017-10-01

We present, to the best of our knowledge, the first known detailed analysis and fair comparison of complexity of a 56 Gb/s multi-band carrierless amplitude and phase (CAP) and discrete multi-tone (DMT) over 80 km dispersion compensation fiber-free single-mode fiber links based on intensity modulation and direct detection for data center interconnects. We show that the matched finite impulse response filters and inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT)/FFT take the majority of the complexity of the multi-band CAP and DMT, respectively. The choice of the multi-band CAP sub-band count and the DMT IFFT/FFT size makes significant impact on the system complexity or performance, and trade-off must be considered.
Patient-centered care, nurse work environment and implicit rationing of nursing care in Swiss acute care hospitals: A cross-sectional multi-center study.

PubMed

Bachnick, Stefanie; Ausserhofer, Dietmar; Baernholdt, Marianne; Simon, Michael

2018-05-01

Patient-centered care is a key element of high-quality healthcare and determined by individual, structural and process factors. Patient-centered care is associated with improved patient-reported, clinical and economic outcomes. However, while hospital-level characteristics influence patient-centered care, little evidence is available on the association of patient-centered care with characteristic such as the nurse work environment or implicit rationing of nursing care. The aim of this study was to describe patient-centered care in Swiss acute care hospitals and to explore the associations with nurse work environment factors and implicit rationing of nursing care. This is a sub-study of the cross-sectional multi-center "Matching Registered Nurse Services with Changing Care Demands" study. We included 123 units in 23 acute care hospitals from all three of Switzerland's language regions. The sample consisted of 2073 patients, hospitalized for at least 24 h and ≥18 years of age. From the same hospital units, 1810 registered nurses working in direct patient care were also included. Patients' perceptions of patient-centered care were assessed using four items from the Generic Short Patient Experiences Questionnaire. Nurses completed questionnaires assessing perceived staffing and resource adequacy, adjusted staffing, leadership ability and level of implicit rationing of nursing care. We applied a Generalized Linear Mixed Models for analysis including individual-level patient and nurse data aggregated to the unit level. Patients reported high levels of patient-centered care: 90% easily understood nurses, 91% felt the treatment and care were adapted for their situation, 82% received sufficient information, and 70% felt involved in treatment and care decisions. Higher staffing and resource adequacy was associated with higher levels of patient-centered care, e.g., sufficient information (β 0.638 [95%-CI: 0.30-0.98]). Higher leadership ratings were associated with sufficient information (β 0.403 [95%-CI: 0.03-0.77) and adapted treatment and care (β 0.462 [95%-CI: 0.04-0.88]). Furthermore, higher levels of implicit rationing of nursing care were associated with lower levels of patient-centered care, e.g., adapted treatment and care (β -0.912 [95%-CI: -1.50-0.33]). Our study shows a negative association between implicit rationing of nursing care and patient-centered care: i.e.the lower the level of implicit rationing of nursing care, the better patients understood nurses, felt sufficiently informed and recognized that they were receiving highly individualized treatment. To improve patient-centered care, the nurse work environment and the level of implicit rationing of nursing care should be taken into consideration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cross-Modality Image Synthesis via Weakly Coupled and Geometry Co-Regularized Joint Dictionary Learning.

PubMed

Huang, Yawen; Shao, Ling; Frangi, Alejandro F

2018-03-01

Multi-modality medical imaging is increasingly used for comprehensive assessment of complex diseases in either diagnostic examinations or as part of medical research trials. Different imaging modalities provide complementary information about living tissues. However, multi-modal examinations are not always possible due to adversary factors, such as patient discomfort, increased cost, prolonged scanning time, and scanner unavailability. In additionally, in large imaging studies, incomplete records are not uncommon owing to image artifacts, data corruption or data loss, which compromise the potential of multi-modal acquisitions. In this paper, we propose a weakly coupled and geometry co-regularized joint dictionary learning method to address the problem of cross-modality synthesis while considering the fact that collecting the large amounts of training data is often impractical. Our learning stage requires only a few registered multi-modality image pairs as training data. To employ both paired images and a large set of unpaired data, a cross-modality image matching criterion is proposed. Then, we propose a unified model by integrating such a criterion into the joint dictionary learning and the observed common feature space for associating cross-modality data for the purpose of synthesis. Furthermore, two regularization terms are added to construct robust sparse representations. Our experimental results demonstrate superior performance of the proposed model over state-of-the-art methods.
Weather and seasonal climate prediction for South America using a multi-model superensemble

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaves, Rosane R.; Ross, Robert S.; Krishnamurti, T. N.

2005-11-01

This work examines the feasibility of weather and seasonal climate predictions for South America using the multi-model synthetic superensemble approach for climate, and the multi-model conventional superensemble approach for numerical weather prediction, both developed at Florida State University (FSU). The effect on seasonal climate forecasts of the number of models used in the synthetic superensemble is investigated. It is shown that the synthetic superensemble approach for climate and the conventional superensemble approach for numerical weather prediction can reduce the errors over South America in seasonal climate prediction and numerical weather prediction.For climate prediction, a suite of 13 models is used. The forecast lead-time is 1 month for the climate forecasts, which consist of precipitation and surface temperature forecasts. The multi-model ensemble is comprised of four versions of the FSU-Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model, seven models from the Development of a European Multi-model Ensemble System for Seasonal to Interannual Prediction (DEMETER), a version of the Community Climate Model (CCM3), and a version of the predictive Ocean Atmosphere Model for Australia (POAMA). The results show that conditions over South America are appropriately simulated by the Florida State University Synthetic Superensemble (FSUSSE) in comparison to observations and that the skill of this approach increases with the use of additional models in the ensemble. When compared to observations, the forecasts are generally better than those from both a single climate model and the multi-model ensemble mean, for the variables tested in this study.For numerical weather prediction, the conventional Florida State University Superensemble (FSUSE) is used to predict the mass and motion fields over South America. Predictions of mean sea level pressure, 500 hPa geopotential height, and 850 hPa wind are made with a multi-model superensemble comprised of six global models for the period January, February, and December of 2000. The six global models are from the following forecast centers: FSU, Bureau of Meteorology Research Center (BMRC), Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and Recherche en Prevision Numerique (RPN). Predictions of precipitation are made for the period January, February, and December of 2001 with a multi-analysis-multi-model superensemble where, in addition to the six forecast models just mentioned, five additional versions of the FSU model are used in the ensemble, each with a different initialization (analysis) based on different physical initialization procedures. On the basis of observations, the results show that the FSUSE provides the best forecasts of the mass and motion field variables to forecast day 5, when compared to both the models comprising the ensemble and the multi-model ensemble mean during the wet season of December-February over South America. Individual case studies show that the FSUSE provides excellent predictions of rainfall for particular synoptic events to forecast day 3. Copyright
Serum reference interval of ARCHITECT alpha-fetoprotein in healthy Chinese Han adults: Sub-analysis of a prospective multi-center study.

PubMed

Yan, Cunling; Yang, Jia; Wei, Lianhua; Hu, Jian; Song, Jiaqi; Wang, Xiaoqin; Han, Ruilin; Huang, Ying; Zhang, Wei; Soh, Andrew; Beshiri, Agim; Fan, Zhuping; Zheng, Yijie; Chen, Wei

2018-02-01

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has been widely used in clinical practice for decades. However, large-scale survey of serum reference interval for ARCHITECT AFP is still absent in Chinese population. This study aimed to measure serum AFP levels in healthy Chinese Han subjects, which is a sub-analysis of an ongoing prospective, cross-sectional, multi-center study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03047603). This analysis included a total of 530 participants (41.43±12.14years of age on average, 48.49% males), enrolled from 5 regional centers. Serum AFP level was measured by ARCHITECT immunoassay. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS 9.4 and R software. AFP distribution did not show significant correlation with age or sex. The overall median and interquartile range of AFP was 2.87 (2.09, 3.83) ng/mL. AFP level did not show a trend of increasing with age. The new reference interval was 2.0-7.07ng/mL (LOQ- 97.5th percentiles). The reference interval for ARCHITECT AFP is updated with the data of adequate number of healthy Han adults. This new reference interval is more practical and applicable in Chinese adults. Copyright © 2017 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Probabilistic multi-catalogue positional cross-match

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pineau, F.-X.; Derriere, S.; Motch, C.; Carrera, F. J.; Genova, F.; Michel, L.; Mingo, B.; Mints, A.; Nebot Gómez-Morán, A.; Rosen, S. R.; Ruiz Camuñas, A.

2017-01-01

Context. Catalogue cross-correlation is essential to building large sets of multi-wavelength data, whether it be to study the properties of populations of astrophysical objects or to build reference catalogues (or timeseries) from survey observations. Nevertheless, resorting to automated processes with limited sets of information available on large numbers of sources detected at different epochs with various filters and instruments inevitably leads to spurious associations. We need both statistical criteria to select detections to be merged as unique sources, and statistical indicators helping in achieving compromises between completeness and reliability of selected associations. Aims: We lay the foundations of a statistical framework for multi-catalogue cross-correlation and cross-identification based on explicit simplified catalogue models. A proper identification process should rely on both astrometric and photometric data. Under some conditions, the astrometric part and the photometric part can be processed separately and merged a posteriori to provide a single global probability of identification. The present paper addresses almost exclusively the astrometrical part and specifies the proper probabilities to be merged with photometric likelihoods. Methods: To select matching candidates in n catalogues, we used the Chi (or, indifferently, the Chi-square) test with 2(n-1) degrees of freedom. We thus call this cross-match a χ-match. In order to use Bayes' formula, we considered exhaustive sets of hypotheses based on combinatorial analysis. The volume of the χ-test domain of acceptance - a 2(n-1)-dimensional acceptance ellipsoid - is used to estimate the expected numbers of spurious associations. We derived priors for those numbers using a frequentist approach relying on simple geometrical considerations. Likelihoods are based on standard Rayleigh, χ and Poisson distributions that we normalized over the χ-test acceptance domain. We validated our theoretical results by generating and cross-matching synthetic catalogues. Results: The results we obtain do not depend on the order used to cross-correlate the catalogues. We applied the formalism described in the present paper to build the multi-wavelength catalogues used for the science cases of the Astronomical Resource Cross-matching for High Energy Studies (ARCHES) project. Our cross-matching engine is publicly available through a multi-purpose web interface. In a longer term, we plan to integrate this tool into the CDS XMatch Service.
Modeling the Scattering Polarization of the Hydrogen Ly-alpha Line Observed by CLASP in a Filament Channel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stepan, J.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Gunar, S.; del Pino Aleman, T.; Heinzel, P.; Kano, R.; Ishikawa, R.; Narukage, M.; Bando, T.; Winebarger, Amy;

2016-01-01

The 400 arcsec spectrograph slit of CLASP crossed predominantly quiet regions of the solar chromosphere, from the limb towards the solar disk center. Interestingly, in the CLASP slit-jaw images and in the SDO images of the He I line at 304 A, we can identify a filament channel (FC) extending over more than 60 arcsec crossing the spectrograph slit. In order to interpret the peculiar spatial variation of the Q/1 and U/1 signals observed by CLASP in the hydrogen Ly-alpha line (1216 A) and in the Si Ill line (1206 A) in such a filament channel, it is necessary to perform multi-dimensional radiative transfer modeling. In this contribution, we show the first results of the two-dimensional calculations we are carrying out in given filament models, with the aim of determining the filament thermal and magnetic structure by comparing the theoretical and the observed polarization signals.

Multi-language translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the OARSI/OMERACT measure of intermittent and constant osteoarthritis pain (ICOAP).

PubMed

Maillefert, J F; Kloppenburg, M; Fernandes, L; Punzi, L; Günther, K-P; Martin Mola, E; Lohmander, L S; Pavelka, K; Lopez-Olivo, M A; Dougados, M; Hawker, G A

2009-10-01

To conduct a multi-language translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Intermittent and Constant OsteoArthritis Pain (ICOAP) questionnaire for hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA). The questionnaires were translated and cross-culturally adapted in parallel, using a common protocol, into the following languages: Czech, Dutch, French (France), German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish (Castillan), North and Central American Spanish, Swedish. The process was conducted following five steps: (1)--independent translation into the target language by two or three persons; (2)--consensus meeting to obtain a single preliminary translated version; (3)--backward translation by an independent bilingual native English speaker, blinded to the English original version; (4)--final version produced by a multidisciplinary consensus committee; (5)--pre-testing of the final version with 10-20 target-language-native hip and knee OA patients. The process could be followed and completed in all countries. Only slight differences were identified in the structure of the sentences between the original and the translated versions. A large majority of the patients felt that the questionnaire was easy to understand and complete. Only a few minor criticisms were expressed. Moreover, a majority of patients found the concepts of constant pain and pain that comes and goes to be of a great pertinence and were very happy with the distinction. The ICOAP questionnaire is now available for multi-center international studies.
Methodological Issues in the Study of Teachers' Careers: Critical Features of a Truly Longitudinal Study. Working Paper Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singer, Judith D.; Willett, John B.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is exploring the possibility of conducting a large-scale multi-year study of teachers' careers. The proposed new study is intended to follow a national probability sample of teachers over an extended period of time. A number of methodological issues need to be addressed before the study can be…
Statistical downscaling of IPCC sea surface wind and wind energy predictions for U.S. east coastal ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Zhigang; Xue, Zuo; He, Ruoying; Bao, Xianwen; Song, Jun

2016-08-01

A multivariate statistical downscaling method is developed to produce regional, high-resolution, coastal surface wind fields based on the IPCC global model predictions for the U.S. east coastal ocean, the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), and the Caribbean Sea. The statistical relationship is built upon linear regressions between the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) spaces of a cross- calibrated, multi-platform, multi-instrument ocean surface wind velocity dataset (predictand) and the global NCEP wind reanalysis (predictor) over a 10 year period from 2000 to 2009. The statistical relationship is validated before applications and its effectiveness is confirmed by the good agreement between downscaled wind fields based on the NCEP reanalysis and in-situ surface wind measured at 16 National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) buoys in the U.S. east coastal ocean and the GOM during 1992-1999. The predictand-predictor relationship is applied to IPCC GFDL model output (2.0°×2.5°) of downscaled coastal wind at 0.25°×0.25° resolution. The temporal and spatial variability of future predicted wind speeds and wind energy potential over the study region are further quantified. It is shown that wind speed and power would significantly be reduced in the high CO2 climate scenario offshore of the mid-Atlantic and northeast U.S., with the speed falling to one quarter of its original value.
Structural Assimilation Revisited: Mexican-Origin Nativity and Cross-Ethnic Primary Ties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Susan K.

2006-01-01

Classical assimilation theory postulates that over time, members of immigrant groups will develop more primary ties with native members of the host society. However, lack of data has led most research to rely on the study of either spatial mobility or other secondary variables as proxies of primary ties. Using data from the Multi-City Study of…
Cross-layer restoration with software defined networking based on IP over optical transport networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Hui; Cheng, Lei; Deng, Junni; Zhao, Yongli; Zhang, Jie; Lee, Young

2015-10-01

The IP over optical transport network is a very promising networking architecture applied to the interconnection of geographically distributed data centers due to the performance guarantee of low delay, huge bandwidth and high reliability at a low cost. It can enable efficient resource utilization and support heterogeneous bandwidth demands in highly-available, cost-effective and energy-effective manner. In case of cross-layer link failure, to ensure a high-level quality of service (QoS) for user request after the failure becomes a research focus. In this paper, we propose a novel cross-layer restoration scheme for data center services with software defined networking based on IP over optical network. The cross-layer restoration scheme can enable joint optimization of IP network and optical network resources, and enhance the data center service restoration responsiveness to the dynamic end-to-end service demands. We quantitatively evaluate the feasibility and performances through the simulation under heavy traffic load scenario in terms of path blocking probability and path restoration latency. Numeric results show that the cross-layer restoration scheme improves the recovery success rate and minimizes the overall recovery time.
Coordinating Centers in Cancer-Epidemiology Research: The Asia Cohort Consortium Coordinating Center

PubMed Central

Rolland, Betsy; Smith, Briana R; Potter, John D

2011-01-01

Although it is tacitly recognized that a good Coordinating Center (CC) is essential to the success of any multi-site collaborative project, very little study has been done on what makes a CC successful, why some CCs fail, or how to build a CC that meets the needs of a given project. Moreover, very little published guidance is available, as few CCs outside the clinical-trial realm write about their work. The Asia Cohort Consortium (ACC) is a collaborative cancer-epidemiology research project that has made strong scientific and organizational progress over the past three years by focusing its CC on the following activities: collaboration development; operations management; statistical and data management; and communications infrastructure and tool development. Our hope is that, by sharing our experience building the ACC CC, we can begin a conversation about what it means to run a coordinating center for multi-institutional collaboration in cancer epidemiology, help other collaborative projects solve some of the issues associated with collaborative research, and learn from others. PMID:21803842
Rationale, design, and methods for process evaluation in the Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration project

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The cross-site process evaluation plan for the Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CORD) project is described here. The CORD project comprises 3 unique demonstration projects designed to integrate multi-level, multi-setting health care and public health interventions over a 4-year funding peri...
Cross-Participant EEG-Based Assessment of Cognitive Workload Using Multi-Path Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks.

PubMed

Hefron, Ryan; Borghetti, Brett; Schubert Kabban, Christine; Christensen, James; Estepp, Justin

2018-04-26

Applying deep learning methods to electroencephalograph (EEG) data for cognitive state assessment has yielded improvements over previous modeling methods. However, research focused on cross-participant cognitive workload modeling using these techniques is underrepresented. We study the problem of cross-participant state estimation in a non-stimulus-locked task environment, where a trained model is used to make workload estimates on a new participant who is not represented in the training set. Using experimental data from the Multi-Attribute Task Battery (MATB) environment, a variety of deep neural network models are evaluated in the trade-space of computational efficiency, model accuracy, variance and temporal specificity yielding three important contributions: (1) The performance of ensembles of individually-trained models is statistically indistinguishable from group-trained methods at most sequence lengths. These ensembles can be trained for a fraction of the computational cost compared to group-trained methods and enable simpler model updates. (2) While increasing temporal sequence length improves mean accuracy, it is not sufficient to overcome distributional dissimilarities between individuals’ EEG data, as it results in statistically significant increases in cross-participant variance. (3) Compared to all other networks evaluated, a novel convolutional-recurrent model using multi-path subnetworks and bi-directional, residual recurrent layers resulted in statistically significant increases in predictive accuracy and decreases in cross-participant variance.
Cross-Participant EEG-Based Assessment of Cognitive Workload Using Multi-Path Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks

PubMed Central

Hefron, Ryan; Borghetti, Brett; Schubert Kabban, Christine; Christensen, James; Estepp, Justin

2018-01-01

Applying deep learning methods to electroencephalograph (EEG) data for cognitive state assessment has yielded improvements over previous modeling methods. However, research focused on cross-participant cognitive workload modeling using these techniques is underrepresented. We study the problem of cross-participant state estimation in a non-stimulus-locked task environment, where a trained model is used to make workload estimates on a new participant who is not represented in the training set. Using experimental data from the Multi-Attribute Task Battery (MATB) environment, a variety of deep neural network models are evaluated in the trade-space of computational efficiency, model accuracy, variance and temporal specificity yielding three important contributions: (1) The performance of ensembles of individually-trained models is statistically indistinguishable from group-trained methods at most sequence lengths. These ensembles can be trained for a fraction of the computational cost compared to group-trained methods and enable simpler model updates. (2) While increasing temporal sequence length improves mean accuracy, it is not sufficient to overcome distributional dissimilarities between individuals’ EEG data, as it results in statistically significant increases in cross-participant variance. (3) Compared to all other networks evaluated, a novel convolutional-recurrent model using multi-path subnetworks and bi-directional, residual recurrent layers resulted in statistically significant increases in predictive accuracy and decreases in cross-participant variance. PMID:29701668
Practical considerations for estimating clinical trial accrual periods: application to a multi-center effectiveness study

PubMed Central

Carter, Rickey E; Sonne, Susan C; Brady, Kathleen T

2005-01-01

Background Adequate participant recruitment is vital to the conduct of a clinical trial. Projected recruitment rates are often over-estimated, and the time to recruit the target population (accrual period) is often under-estimated. Methods This report illustrates three approaches to estimating the accrual period and applies the methods to a multi-center, randomized, placebo controlled trial undergoing development. Results Incorporating known sources of accrual variation can yield a more justified estimate of the accrual period. Simulation studies can be incorporated into a clinical trial's planning phase to provide estimates for key accrual summaries including the mean and standard deviation of the accrual period. Conclusion The accrual period of a clinical trial should be carefully considered, and the allocation of sufficient time for participant recruitment is a fundamental aspect of planning a clinical trial. PMID:15796782
Care management process of breast cancer in primary health-care system, Golestan Province, Iran, 2013-2014.

PubMed

Hajiebrahimi, Zahra; Mahmoodi, Ghahraman; Abedi, Ghasem

2017-01-01

Health-care service processes need to be assessed over time. We aimed to assess the breast cancer care process in primary health system of Golestan Province, North Iran. To perform a descriptive cross-sectional study, information on breast cancer care processes in primary health-care system was collected using a "collecting form" from 234 health houses, 29 health posts, 44 urban health centers, and 80 rural health centers in Golestan Province. Registered data in the centers and patients' journal were used in data collection. Moreover, we collected data on all women who were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 to know the characteristics of the patients. Around 50% of health workers at rural or urban area were trained on breast cancer. Moreover, 2% of women from general population in rural area and around 6% of them in urban area have been trained on breast cancer. Mean age of women diagnosed with breast cancer was 48 ± 10 years and 40.2% of them were affected at age between 43 and 52 years. The results showed that 18.9% of women have received their information through self-study before the diagnosis of breast cancer while 53.8% of them received their information from the private clinics after diagnosis of breast cancer. The process of breast cancer care in Golestan Province needs to be improved in the primary health-care level. Both inter- and multi-disciplinary activities are needed.
Real-time adaptive ramp metering : phase I, MILOS proof of concept (multi-objective, integrated, large-scale, optimized system).

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-12-01

Over the last several years, researchers at the University of Arizonas ATLAS Center have developed an adaptive ramp : metering system referred to as MILOS (Multi-Objective, Integrated, Large-Scale, Optimized System). The goal of this project : is ...
Three-dimensional Radar Imaging of a Building

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-01

spotlight configuration and H-V ( cross ) polarization as seen from two different aspect angles. The feature colors correspond to their brightness... cross - ranges but at different heights. This effect may create significant confusion in image interpretation and result in missed target detections...over a range of azimuth angles ( centered at  = 0°) and elevation angles ( centered at 0), creating cross -range and height resolution, while

Cloudwave: distributed processing of "big data" from electrophysiological recordings for epilepsy clinical research using Hadoop.

PubMed

Jayapandian, Catherine P; Chen, Chien-Hung; Bozorgi, Alireza; Lhatoo, Samden D; Zhang, Guo-Qiang; Sahoo, Satya S

2013-01-01

Epilepsy is the most common serious neurological disorder affecting 50-60 million persons worldwide. Multi-modal electrophysiological data, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (EKG), are central to effective patient care and clinical research in epilepsy. Electrophysiological data is an example of clinical "big data" consisting of more than 100 multi-channel signals with recordings from each patient generating 5-10GB of data. Current approaches to store and analyze signal data using standalone tools, such as Nihon Kohden neurology software, are inadequate to meet the growing volume of data and the need for supporting multi-center collaborative studies with real time and interactive access. We introduce the Cloudwave platform in this paper that features a Web-based intuitive signal analysis interface integrated with a Hadoop-based data processing module implemented on clinical data stored in a "private cloud". Cloudwave has been developed as part of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS) funded multi-center Prevention and Risk Identification of SUDEP Mortality (PRISM) project. The Cloudwave visualization interface provides real-time rendering of multi-modal signals with "montages" for EEG feature characterization over 2TB of patient data generated at the Case University Hospital Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. Results from performance evaluation of the Cloudwave Hadoop data processing module demonstrate one order of magnitude improvement in performance over 77GB of patient data. (Cloudwave project: http://prism.case.edu/prism/index.php/Cloudwave).
Cloudwave: Distributed Processing of “Big Data” from Electrophysiological Recordings for Epilepsy Clinical Research Using Hadoop

PubMed Central

Jayapandian, Catherine P.; Chen, Chien-Hung; Bozorgi, Alireza; Lhatoo, Samden D.; Zhang, Guo-Qiang; Sahoo, Satya S.

2013-01-01

Epilepsy is the most common serious neurological disorder affecting 50–60 million persons worldwide. Multi-modal electrophysiological data, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (EKG), are central to effective patient care and clinical research in epilepsy. Electrophysiological data is an example of clinical “big data” consisting of more than 100 multi-channel signals with recordings from each patient generating 5–10GB of data. Current approaches to store and analyze signal data using standalone tools, such as Nihon Kohden neurology software, are inadequate to meet the growing volume of data and the need for supporting multi-center collaborative studies with real time and interactive access. We introduce the Cloudwave platform in this paper that features a Web-based intuitive signal analysis interface integrated with a Hadoop-based data processing module implemented on clinical data stored in a “private cloud”. Cloudwave has been developed as part of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS) funded multi-center Prevention and Risk Identification of SUDEP Mortality (PRISM) project. The Cloudwave visualization interface provides real-time rendering of multi-modal signals with “montages” for EEG feature characterization over 2TB of patient data generated at the Case University Hospital Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. Results from performance evaluation of the Cloudwave Hadoop data processing module demonstrate one order of magnitude improvement in performance over 77GB of patient data. (Cloudwave project: http://prism.case.edu/prism/index.php/Cloudwave) PMID:24551370
KSC-2014-3533

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-14

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A thunderstorm moving through NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida hovers over the NASA Press Site. In the distance is Launch Pad 39A, recently turned over to SpaceX to support their commercial launch activities under a property agreement. Kennedy's Ground Support Development and Operations Program is hard at work transforming the center's facilities into a multi-user spaceport, when the weather permits. For more on Kennedy Space Center, visit http://www.nasa.gov/kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Consistency of clinical biomechanical measures between three different institutions: implications for multi-center biomechanical and epidemiological research.

PubMed

Myer, Gregory D; Wordeman, Samuel C; Sugimoto, Dai; Bates, Nathaniel A; Roewer, Benjamin D; Medina McKeon, Jennifer M; DiCesare, Christopher A; Di Stasi, Stephanie L; Barber Foss, Kim D; Thomas, Staci M; Hewett, Timothy E

2014-05-01

Multi-center collaborations provide a powerful alternative to overcome the inherent limitations to single-center investigations. Specifically, multi-center projects can support large-scale prospective, longitudinal studies that investigate relatively uncommon outcomes, such as anterior cruciate ligament injury. This project was conceived to assess within- and between-center reliability of an affordable, clinical nomogram utilizing two-dimensional video methods to screen for risk of knee injury. The authors hypothesized that the two-dimensional screening methods would provide good-to-excellent reliability within and between institutions for assessment of frontal and sagittal plane biomechanics. Nineteen female, high school athletes participated. Two-dimensional video kinematics of the lower extremity during a drop vertical jump task were collected on all 19 study participants at each of the three facilities. Within-center and between-center reliability were assessed with intra- and inter-class correlation coefficients. Within-center reliability of the clinical nomogram variables was consistently excellent, but between-center reliability was fair-to-good. Within-center intra-class correlation coefficient for all nomogram variables combined was 0.98, while combined between-center inter-class correlation coefficient was 0.63. Injury risk screening protocols were reliable within and repeatable between centers. These results demonstrate the feasibility of multi-site biomechanical studies and establish a framework for further dissemination of injury risk screening algorithms. Specifically, multi-center studies may allow for further validation and optimization of two-dimensional video screening tools. 2b.
Habitat Demonstration Unit Project Leadership and Management Strategies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennedy, Kriss J.

2011-01-01

This paper gives an overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) led multi-center Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) project leadership and management strategies. The HDU project team constructed and tested an analog prototype lunar surface habitat/laboratory called the Pressurized Excursion Module (PEM) during 2010. The prototype unit subsystems were integrated in a short amount of time, utilizing a tiger team approach that brought together over 20 habitation-related technologies and innovations from a variety of NASA centers. This paper describes the leadership and management strategies as well as lessons learned pertaining to leading and managing a multi-center diverse team in a rapid prototype environment. The PEM configuration went from a paper design to an operational surface habitat demonstration unit in less than 12 months. The HDU project is part of the strategic plan from the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) Directorate Integration Office (DIO) and the Exploration Mission Systems Office (EMSO) to test destination elements in analog environments. The 2011 HDU-Deep Space Habitat (DSH) configuration will build upon the PEM work, and emphasize validity of crew operations (remote working and living), EVA operations, mission operations, logistics operations, and science operations that might be required in a deep space context for Near Earth Object (NEO) exploration mission architectures. The 2011 HDU-DSH will be field-tested during the 2011 Desert Research and Technologies Studies (DRaTS) field tests. The HDU project is a "technology-pull" project that integrates technologies and innovations from multiple NASA centers. This project will repurpose the HDU 2010 demo unit that was field tested in the 2010 DRaTS, adding habitation functionality to the prototype unit. This paper will describe the strategy of establishing a multi-center project management team that put in place the key multi-center leadership skills and disciplines to enable a successful tiger team approach. Advocacy was established with key stakeholders and NASA Headquarters (HQ) by defining a strategic vision, mission, goals and objectives for the project and team. As a technology-pull testbed capability the HDU project was able to collaborate and leverage the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) and individual NASA center investments which capitalized on their respective center core competencies and skills. This approach enable the leveraging of over $7.5m of value to create an operational habitat demonstration unit 2010 PEM configuration.
Long range mid-infrared propagation in Si and Ge hybrid plasmonic-photonic nano-ribbon waveguides.

PubMed

Liang, Haibo; Soref, Richard; Mu, Jianwei; Li, Xun; Huang, Wei-Ping

2014-11-17

We have investigated a hybrid plasmonic-photonic mode in Si and Ge channel waveguides over the 1.55-8.0 μm wavelength range. A 10-nm Cu ribbon was buried midway within a Si₃N₄ "photonic slot" centered in the semiconductor strip. For the TMo mode, propagation lengths L of several millimeters are predicted for a waveguide cross-section of about 0.7λ/n x 0.7λ/n which offers optical confinement mainly within the ~λ²/400-area slot. The L increased strongly with λ. For 0.4λ/n x 0.4λ/n channels, we found multi-centimeter propagation, but there ~60% of the propagating energy had leaked out into the thick, all-around Si₃N₄ cladding.
Recent research on stishovite: Hugoniot and partial release Z experiments and DFT EOS calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furnish, Michael; Shulenburger, Luke; Desjarlais, Michael; Fei, Yingwei

2017-06-01

We have conducted a series of ride-along experiments on the Z facility to ascertain the Hugoniot of silica centered in the stishovite phase over a range 0.4 - 1.0 TPa, together with partial release states produced at the interface between the sample and a fused silica window. The stishovite samples were synthesized in a large-volume multi-anvil press at 15 GPa and 1773 K, with an initial density of 4.29 gm/cc. The new Z experiments on stishovite fill in a gap between gas gun experiments and NIF experiments. The states are compared with the Hugoniots of quartz and fused silica for inferences as to EOS. They are generally consistent with Sesame 7360 predictions. Sound speed constraints from these data are discussed. The new Hugoniot data cross over the melting curve of stishovite, providing insight into the properties of solid and liquid under extreme conditions in conjunction with predictions from density-functional theory modeling. These data are fundamentally important for understanding the interior of silicate-based super-Earths. Sandia National Labs is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp., for the U.S. Dept. of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.
Examining What We Mean by "Collaboration" in Collaborative Action Research: A Cross-Case Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruce, Catherine D.; Flynn, Tara; Stagg-Peterson, Shelley

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to report on the nature of collaboration in a multi-year, large-scale collaborative action research project in which a teachers' federation (in Ontario, Canada), university researchers and teachers partnered to investigate teacher-selected topics for inquiry. Over two years, 14 case studies were generated involving six…
Association of over-the-counter pharmaceutical sales with influenza-like-illnesses to patient volume in an urgent care setting.

PubMed

Liu, Timothy Y; Sanders, Jason L; Tsui, Fu-Chiang; Espino, Jeremy U; Dato, Virginia M; Suyama, Joe

2013-01-01

We studied the association between OTC pharmaceutical sales and volume of patients with influenza-like-illnesses (ILI) at an urgent care center over one year. OTC pharmaceutical sales explain 36% of the variance in the patient volume, and each standard deviation increase is associated with 4.7 more patient visits to the urgent care center (p<0.0001). Cross-correlation function analysis demonstrated that OTC pharmaceutical sales are significantly associated with patient volume during non-flu season (p<0.0001), but only the sales of cough and cold (p<0.0001) and thermometer (p<0.0001) categories were significant during flu season with a lag of two and one days, respectively. Our study is the first study to demonstrate and measure the relationship between OTC pharmaceutical sales and urgent care center patient volume, and presents strong evidence that OTC sales predict urgent care center patient volume year round.
Science Centres and Science Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rennie, Leonie J.; McClafferty, Terence P.

1996-01-01

Focuses on the interactive science center and its history over the last four decades. Traces the original idea to Francis Bacon. Recommends the use of cross-site studies to develop a model of learning in this setting. Contains 141 references. (DDR)
A novel way to detect correlations on multi-time scales, with temporal evolution and for multi-variables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Naiming; Xoplaki, Elena; Zhu, Congwen; Luterbacher, Juerg

2016-06-01

In this paper, two new methods, Temporal evolution of Detrended Cross-Correlation Analysis (TDCCA) and Temporal evolution of Detrended Partial-Cross-Correlation Analysis (TDPCCA), are proposed by generalizing DCCA and DPCCA. Applying TDCCA/TDPCCA, it is possible to study correlations on multi-time scales and over different periods. To illustrate their properties, we used two climatological examples: i) Global Sea Level (GSL) versus North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO); and ii) Summer Rainfall over Yangtze River (SRYR) versus previous winter Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). We find significant correlations between GSL and NAO on time scales of 60 to 140 years, but the correlations are non-significant between 1865-1875. As for SRYR and PDO, significant correlations are found on time scales of 30 to 35 years, but the correlations are more pronounced during the recent 30 years. By combining TDCCA/TDPCCA and DCCA/DPCCA, we proposed a new correlation-detection system, which compared to traditional methods, can objectively show how two time series are related (on which time scale, during which time period). These are important not only for diagnosis of complex system, but also for better designs of prediction models. Therefore, the new methods offer new opportunities for applications in natural sciences, such as ecology, economy, sociology and other research fields.
A 32-channel photon counting module with embedded auto/cross-correlators for real-time parallel fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

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

Gong, S.; Labanca, I.; Rech, I.

2014-10-15

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is a well-established technique to study binding interactions or the diffusion of fluorescently labeled biomolecules in vitro and in vivo. Fast FCS experiments require parallel data acquisition and analysis which can be achieved by exploiting a multi-channel Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) array and a corresponding multi-input correlator. This paper reports a 32-channel FPGA based correlator able to perform 32 auto/cross-correlations simultaneously over a lag-time ranging from 10 ns up to 150 ms. The correlator is included in a 32 × 1 SPAD array module, providing a compact and flexible instrument for high throughput FCS experiments.more » However, some inherent features of SPAD arrays, namely afterpulsing and optical crosstalk effects, may introduce distortions in the measurement of auto- and cross-correlation functions. We investigated these limitations to assess their impact on the module and evaluate possible workarounds.« less
Multi-well sample plate cover penetration system

DOEpatents

Beer, Neil Reginald [Pleasanton, CA

2011-12-27

An apparatus for penetrating a cover over a multi-well sample plate containing at least one individual sample well includes a cutting head, a cutter extending from the cutting head, and a robot. The cutting head is connected to the robot wherein the robot moves the cutting head and cutter so that the cutter penetrates the cover over the multi-well sample plate providing access to the individual sample well. When the cutting head is moved downward the foil is pierced by the cutter that splits, opens, and folds the foil inward toward the well. The well is then open for sample aspiration but has been protected from cross contamination.
[Role of Institutional Review Boards for multi-centre studies in national health services research - a cross-sectional study of the effort to obtain secondary ethical approvals for the DACAPO study].

PubMed

Blecha, Sebastian; Thomann-Hackner, Kathrin; Brandstetter, Susanne; Dodoo-Schittko, Frank; Seboek, Philipp; Apfelbacher, Christian; Graf, Bernhard M; Bein, Thomas

2015-09-01

Health services research (HSR) is of fundamental importance for the continuous improvement of preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic measures. The conduct of multi-centre HSR studies requires that ethical approval by Institutional review boards (IRB's) is obtained. We documented the effort, the complexity and the man power necessary to obtain secondary ethical approval for a national HSR in Germany ("Surviving the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome" [DACAPO-study]). Having obtained a primary ethical approval by the IRB of Regensburg University, the time, correspondence, necessity for amendments, corrections, or additional costs by 34 IRB's for 64 participating study centers was documented. The complete obtainment was found to be time consuming and associated with a high workload and man power. A time span of seven month was needed to receive votes from all IRB's. The median time span was 25,5 days (25 %/75 % percentile 13 and 42 days, respectively). Requirements in terms of corrections or amendments were inhomogeneous and frequent changes were necessary. There were additional fees for secondary votes of 4328,40 €. Total costs for the study center Regensburg were 21.193,40 € (2,6 % of the grant volume). Obtaining all ethical approvals for a multi-centre observational HSR study in Germany is complex and time consuming. Various and inhomogeneous formalities may delay the plan and realization of HSR. A Homogenization and simplification of the procedure of ethics votes should be discussed. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
Fort Collins Science Center: science accomplishments for fiscal years 2012 and 2013

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Juliette T.; Hamilton, David B.

2014-01-01

The Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) is a multi-disciplinary research and development center of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) located in Fort Collins, Colorado. Organizationally, FORT is within the USGS Southwest Region, although our work extends across the Nation and into several other countries. FORT research focuses on needs of the land- and water-management bureaus within the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), other Federal agencies, and those of State and non-government organizations. As a Science Center, we emphasize a multi-disciplinary science approach to provide information for resource-management decisionmaking. FORT’s vision is to maintain and continuously improve the integrated, collaborative, world-class research needed to inform effective, science-based land and resource management. Our science and technological development activities and unique capabilities support all USGS scientific Mission Areas and contribute to successful, collaborative science efforts across the USGS and DOI. We organized our report into an Executive Summary, a cross-reference table, and an appendix. The executive summary provides brief highlights of some key FORT accomplishments for each Mission Area. The table cross-references all major FY2012 and FY2013 science accomplishments with the various Mission Areas that each supports. The one-page accomplishment descriptions in the appendix are organized by USGS Mission Area and describe the many and diverse ways in which our science is applied to resource issues. As in prior years, lists of all FY2012 and FY2013 publications and other product types also are appended.
Function Biomedical Informatics Research Network Recommendations for Prospective Multi-Center Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies

PubMed Central

Glover, Gary H.; Mueller, Bryon A.; Turner, Jessica A.; van Erp, Theo G.M.; Liu, Thomas T.; Greve, Douglas N.; Voyvodic, James T.; Rasmussen, Jerod; Brown, Gregory G.; Keator, David B.; Calhoun, Vince D.; Lee, Hyo Jong; Ford, Judith M.; Mathalon, Daniel H.; Diaz, Michele; O’Leary, Daniel S.; Gadde, Syam; Preda, Adrian; Lim, Kelvin O.; Wible, Cynthia G.; Stern, Hal S.; Belger, Aysenil; McCarthy, Gregory; Ozyurt, Burak; Potkin, Steven G.

2011-01-01

This report provides practical recommendations for the design and execution of Multi-Center functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MC-fMRI) studies based on the collective experience of the Function Biomedical Informatics Research Network (FBIRN). The paper was inspired by many requests from the fMRI community to FBIRN group members for advice on how to conduct MC-fMRI studies. The introduction briefly discusses the advantages and complexities of MC-fMRI studies. Prerequisites for MC-fMRI studies are addressed before delving into the practical aspects of carefully and efficiently setting up a MC-fMRI study. Practical multi-site aspects include: (1) establishing and verifying scan parameters including scanner types and magnetic fields, (2) establishing and monitoring of a scanner quality program, (3) developing task paradigms and scan session documentation, (4) establishing clinical and scanner training to ensure consistency over time, (5) developing means for uploading, storing, and monitoring of imaging and other data, (6) the use of a traveling fMRI expert and (7) collectively analyzing imaging data and disseminating results. We conclude that when MC-fMRI studies are organized well with careful attention to unification of hardware, software and procedural aspects, the process can be a highly effective means for accessing a desired participant demographics while accelerating scientific discovery. PMID:22314879
Application of dragonfly algorithm for optimal performance analysis of process parameters in turn-mill operations- A case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vikram, K. Arun; Ratnam, Ch; Lakshmi, VVK; Kumar, A. Sunny; Ramakanth, RT

2018-02-01

Meta-heuristic multi-response optimization methods are widely in use to solve multi-objective problems to obtain Pareto optimal solutions during optimization. This work focuses on optimal multi-response evaluation of process parameters in generating responses like surface roughness (Ra), surface hardness (H) and tool vibration displacement amplitude (Vib) while performing operations like tangential and orthogonal turn-mill processes on A-axis Computer Numerical Control vertical milling center. Process parameters like tool speed, feed rate and depth of cut are considered as process parameters machined over brass material under dry condition with high speed steel end milling cutters using Taguchi design of experiments (DOE). Meta-heuristic like Dragonfly algorithm is used to optimize the multi-objectives like ‘Ra’, ‘H’ and ‘Vib’ to identify the optimal multi-response process parameters combination. Later, the results thus obtained from multi-objective dragonfly algorithm (MODA) are compared with another multi-response optimization technique Viz. Grey relational analysis (GRA).
Building multi-country collaboration on watershed ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Community-based watershed resilience programs that bridge public health and environmental outcomes often require cross-boundary, multi-country collaboration. The CRESSIDA project, led by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) and supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), forwards a resilience-focused approach for Western Balkan communities in the Drini and Drina river watersheds with the goal of safeguarding public health and the environment. The initial phases of this project give a contextualized example of how to advance resilience-driven environmental health goals in Western Balkan communities, and experience within the region has garnered several theme areas that require focus in order to promote a holistic watershed management program. In this paper, using CRESSIDA as a case study, we show (1) how watershed projects designed with resilience-driven environmental health goals can work in context, (2) provide data surrounding contextualized problems with resilience and suggest tools and strategies for the implementation of projects to address these problems, and (3) explore how cross-boundary foci are central to the success of these approaches in watersheds that comprise several countries. Published in the journal, Reviews on Environmental Health.
NASA's engineering research centers and interdisciplinary education

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnston, Gordon I.

1990-01-01

A new program of interactive education between NASA and the academic community aims to improve research and education, provide long-term, stable funding, and support cross-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research. The mission of NASA's Office of Aeronautics, Exploration and Technology (OAET) is discussed and it is pointed out that the OAET conducts about 10 percent of its total R&D program at U.S. universities. Other NASA university-based programs are listed including the Office of Commercial Programs Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) and the National Space Grant program. The importance of university space engineering centers and the selection of the nine current centers are discussed. A detailed composite description is provided of the University Space Engineering Research Centers. Other specialized centers are described such as the Center for Space Construction, the Mars Mission Research Center, and the Center for Intelligent Robotic Systems for Space Exploration. Approaches to educational outreach are discussed.
KSC-2014-3528

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-14

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A storm moves in over Launch Complex 39 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At center is the mobile launcher that will support NASA's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, under development. At left is the Launch Control Center and the Vehicle Assembly Building. Kennedy's Ground Support Development and Operations Program is hard at work transforming the center's facilities into a multi-user spaceport, when the weather permits. For more on Kennedy Space Center, visit http://www.nasa.gov/kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Economic analysis of centralized vs. decentralized electronic data capture in multi-center clinical studies.

PubMed

Walden, Anita; Nahm, Meredith; Barnett, M Edwina; Conde, Jose G; Dent, Andrew; Fadiel, Ahmed; Perry, Theresa; Tolk, Chris; Tcheng, James E; Eisenstein, Eric L

2011-01-01

New data management models are emerging in multi-center clinical studies. We evaluated the incremental costs associated with decentralized vs. centralized models. We developed clinical research network economic models to evaluate three data management models: centralized, decentralized with local software, and decentralized with shared database. Descriptive information from three clinical research studies served as inputs for these models. The primary outcome was total data management costs. Secondary outcomes included: data management costs for sites, local data centers, and central coordinating centers. Both decentralized models were more costly than the centralized model for each clinical research study: the decentralized with local software model was the most expensive. Decreasing the number of local data centers and case book pages reduced cost differentials between models. Decentralized vs. centralized data management in multi-center clinical research studies is associated with increases in data management costs.
Economic Analysis of Centralized vs. Decentralized Electronic Data Capture in Multi-Center Clinical Studies

PubMed Central

Walden, Anita; Nahm, Meredith; Barnett, M. Edwina; Conde, Jose G.; Dent, Andrew; Fadiel, Ahmed; Perry, Theresa; Tolk, Chris; Tcheng, James E.; Eisenstein, Eric L.

2012-01-01

Background New data management models are emerging in multi-center clinical studies. We evaluated the incremental costs associated with decentralized vs. centralized models. Methods We developed clinical research network economic models to evaluate three data management models: centralized, decentralized with local software, and decentralized with shared database. Descriptive information from three clinical research studies served as inputs for these models. Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome was total data management costs. Secondary outcomes included: data management costs for sites, local data centers, and central coordinating centers. Results Both decentralized models were more costly than the centralized model for each clinical research study: the decentralized with local software model was the most expensive. Decreasing the number of local data centers and case book pages reduced cost differentials between models. Conclusion Decentralized vs. centralized data management in multi-center clinical research studies is associated with increases in data management costs. PMID:21335692
Soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and clinical outcomes in patients with acute lung injury

PubMed Central

Eisner, Mark D.; Parsons, Polly E.; Thompson, B. Taylor; Conner, Edward R.; Matthay, Michael A.; Ware, Lorraine B.

2009-01-01

Objective To determine if levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), a marker of alveolar epithelial and endothelial injury, differ in patients with hydrostatic pulmonary edema and acute lung injury (ALI) and are associated with clinical outcomes in patients with ALI. Design, setting, and participants Measurement of sICAM-1 levels in (1) plasma and edema fluid from 67 patients with either hydrostatic pulmonary edema or ALI enrolled in an observational, prospective single center study, and (2) in plasma from 778 patients with ALI enrolled in a large multi-center randomized controlled trial of ventilator strategy. Results In the single-center study, levels of sICAM-1 were significantly higher in both edema fluid and plasma (median 938 and 545 ng/ml, respectively) from ALI patients compared to hydrostatic edema patients (median 384 and 177 ng/ml, P < 0.03 for both comparisons). In the multi-center study, higher plasma sICAM-1 levels were associated with poor clinical outcomes in both unadjusted and multivariable models. Subjects with ALI whose plasma sICAM-1 levels increased over the first 3 days of the study had a higher risk of death, after adjusting for other important predictors of outcome (odds ratio 1.48; 95% CI 1.03–2.12, P = 0.03). Conclusions Both plasma and edema fluid levels of sICAM-1 are higher in patients with ALI than in patients with hydrostatic pulmonary edema. Higher plasma sICAM-1 levels and increasing sICAM-1 levels over time are associated with poor clinical outcomes in ALI. Measurement of sICAM-1 levels may be useful for identifying patients at highest risk of poor outcomes from ALI. PMID:18670758
The Effect of Participation in Perma plus Yoga on Salutogenic Wellness and Flourishing in People over Age 50

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Kimberly M.

2017-01-01

This quasi-experimental pretest/posttest control group study design evaluated the effects of a multi-component educational intervention on the well-being of older adults. Participants were members of a senior community center in the Midwestern United States. The sample consisted of 45 participants assigned to either a treatment or control group.…
The Pregnancy in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Study II: Baseline Characteristics and Effects of Obesity from a Multi-Center Randomized Clinical Trial

PubMed Central

Legro, Richard S.; Brzyski, Robert G.; Diamond, Michael P.; Coutifaris, Christos; Schlaff, William D.; Alvero, Ruben; Casson, Peter; Christman, Gregory M.; Huang, Hao; Yan, Qingshang; Haisenleder, Daniel J.; Barnhart, Kurt T.; Bates, G. Wright; Usadi, Rebecca; Lucidi, Richard; Baker, Valerie; Trussell, J.C.; Krawetz, Stephen A.; Snyder, Peter; Ohl, Dana; Santoro, Nanette; Eisenberg, Esther; Zhang, Heping

2014-01-01

Objective To summarize baseline characteristics from a large multi-center infertility clinical trial. Design Cross-sectional baseline data from a double-blind randomized trial of 2 treatment regimens (letrozole vs. clomiphene). Setting Academic Health Centers throughout the U.S. Interventions None Main Outcome Measure(s) Historical, biometric, biochemical and questionnaire parameters. Participants 750 women with PCOS and their male partners took part in the study. Results Females averaged ~30 years old and were obese (BMI 35) with ~20% from a racial/ethnic minority. Most (87%) were hirsute and nulligravid (63%). . Most of the females had an elevated antral follicle count and enlarged ovarian volume on ultrasound. Women had elevated mean circulating androgens, LH:FSH ratio (~2), and AMH levels (8.0 ng/mL). Additionally, women had evidence for metabolic dysfunction with elevated mean fasting insulin and dyslipidemia. Increasing obesity was associated with decreased LH:FSH levels, AMH levels and antral follicle counts but increasing cardiovascular risk factors, including prevalence of the metabolic syndrome. Males were obese (BMI 30) and had normal mean semen parameters. Conclusions The treatment groups were well-matched at baseline. Obesity exacerbates select female reproductive and most metabolic parameters. We have also established a database and sample repository that will eventually be accessible to investigators. PMID:24156957
ImTK: an open source multi-center information management toolkit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alaoui, Adil; Ingeholm, Mary Lou; Padh, Shilpa; Dorobantu, Mihai; Desai, Mihir; Cleary, Kevin; Mun, Seong K.

2008-03-01

The Information Management Toolkit (ImTK) Consortium is an open source initiative to develop robust, freely available tools related to the information management needs of basic, clinical, and translational research. An open source framework and agile programming methodology can enable distributed software development while an open architecture will encourage interoperability across different environments. The ISIS Center has conceptualized a prototype data sharing network that simulates a multi-center environment based on a federated data access model. This model includes the development of software tools to enable efficient exchange, sharing, management, and analysis of multimedia medical information such as clinical information, images, and bioinformatics data from multiple data sources. The envisioned ImTK data environment will include an open architecture and data model implementation that complies with existing standards such as Digital Imaging and Communications (DICOM), Health Level 7 (HL7), and the technical framework and workflow defined by the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Information Technology Infrastructure initiative, mainly the Cross Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS) specifications.
RMS: a platform for managing cross-disciplinary and multi-institutional research project collaboration.

PubMed

Luo, Jake; Apperson-Hansen, Carolyn; Pelfrey, Clara M; Zhang, Guo-Qiang

2014-11-30

Cross-institutional cross-disciplinary collaboration has become a trend as researchers move toward building more productive and innovative teams for scientific research. Research collaboration is significantly changing the organizational structure and strategies used in the clinical and translational science domain. However, due to the obstacles of diverse administrative structures, differences in area of expertise, and communication barriers, establishing and managing a cross-institutional research project is still a challenging task. We address these challenges by creating an integrated informatics platform to reduce the barriers to biomedical research collaboration. The Request Management System (RMS) is an informatics infrastructure designed to transform a patchwork of expertise and resources into an integrated support network. The RMS facilitates investigators' initiation of new collaborative projects and supports the management of the collaboration process. In RMS, experts and their knowledge areas are categorized and managed structurally to provide consistent service. A role-based collaborative workflow is tightly integrated with domain experts and services to streamline and monitor the life-cycle of a research project. The RMS has so far tracked over 1,500 investigators with over 4,800 tasks. The research network based on the data collected in RMS illustrated that the investigators' collaborative projects increased close to 3 times from 2009 to 2012. Our experience with RMS indicates that the platform reduces barriers for cross-institutional collaboration of biomedical research projects. Building a new generation of infrastructure to enhance cross-disciplinary and multi-institutional collaboration has become an important yet challenging task. In this paper, we share the experience of developing and utilizing a collaborative project management system. The results of this study demonstrate that a web-based integrated informatics platform can facilitate and increase research interactions among investigators.
Habitat Demonstration Unit Project: Leadership and Management Strategies for a Rapid Prototyping Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennedy, Kriss J.; Toup, Larry; Gill, Tracy; Tri, Terry; Howe, Scott; Smitherman, David

2011-01-01

This paper gives an overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) led multi-center Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) project leadership and management strategies being used by the NASA HDU team for a rapid prototyping project. The HDU project team constructed and tested an analog prototype lunar surface habitat/laboratory called the Pressurized Excursion Module (PEM) during 2010. The prototype unit subsystems were integrated in a short amount of time, utilizing a tiger team rapid prototyping approach that brought together over 20 habitation-related technologies and innovations from a variety of NASA centers. This paper describes the leadership and management strategies as well as lessons learned pertaining to leading and managing a multi-center diverse team in a rapid prototype environment. The PEM configuration went from a paper design to an operational surface habitat demonstration unit in less than 12 months. The HDU project is part of the strategic plan from the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) Directorate Integration Office (DIO) and the Exploration Mission Systems Office (EMSO) to test destination elements in analog environments. The 2011 HDU-Deep Space Habitat (DSH) configuration will build upon the PEM work, and emphasize validity of crew operations (remote working and living), EVA operations, mission operations, logistics operations, and science operations that might be required in a deep space context for Near Earth Object (NEO) exploration mission architectures. The 2011 HDU-DSH will be field-tested during the 2011 Desert Research and Technologies Studies (DRaTS) field tests. The HDU project is a "technology-pull" project that integrates technologies and innovations from multiple NASA centers. This project will repurpose the HDU 2010 demo unit that was field tested in the 2010 DRaTS, adding habitation functionality to the prototype unit. This paper will describe the strategy of establishing a multi-center project management team that put in place the key multi-center leadership skills and disciplines to enable a successful tiger team approach. Advocacy was established with key stakeholders and NASA Headquarters (HQ) by defining a strategic vision, mission, goals and objectives for the project and team. As a technology-pull testbed capability the HDU project was able to collaborate and leverage the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) and individual NASA center investments which capitalized on their respective center core competencies and skills. This approach enable the leveraging of over $7.5m of value to create an operational habitat demonstration unit 2010 PEM configuration.
People with stroke who fail an obstacle crossing task have a higher incidence of falls and utilize different gait patterns compared with people who pass the task.

PubMed

Said, Catherine M; Galea, Mary P; Lythgo, Noel

2013-03-01

Obstacle crossing is impaired in people following stroke. It is not known whether people with stroke who fail an obstacle crossing task have more falls or whether the gait adjustments used to cross an obstacle differ from those used by people who pass the task. The purposes of this study were (1) to identify whether a group of people with stroke who failed an obstacle crossing task had a greater incidence of falling and (2) to determine whether people who fail an obstacle crossing task utilize different gait adjustments. This was a prospective, observational study. Thirty-two participants with a recent stroke were recruited. Participants walked at self-selected speed and stepped over a 4-cm-high obstacle. Performance was rated as pass or fail, and spatiotemporal, center of mass (COM), and center of pressure (COP) data were collected. Prospective falls data were recorded for 20 participants over a 6-month period. The incidence of fallers was significantly higher (incidence rate=0.833) in the group that failed the obstacle crossing task than in the group that passed the task (incidence rate=0.143). The group that failed the task had a slower walking speed and greater normalized separation between the trail heel (unaffected support limb) and COM as the affected lead toe cleared the obstacle. This group exhibited greater normalized times from affected lead toe clearance to landing, unaffected trail toe clearance to landing, and affected trail toe-off to toe clearance. The sample size was small, and falls data were available for only 20 participants. Obstacle crossing is an important task to consider in people following stroke and may be useful in identifying those at risk of falls.
The Happy Homemaker? Married Women's Well-Being in Cross-National Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Treas, Judith; van der Lippe, Tanja; Tai, Tsui-o Chloe

2011-01-01

A long-standing debate questions whether homemakers or working wives are happier. Drawing on cross-national data for 28 countries, this research uses multi-level models to provide fresh evidence on this controversy. All things considered, homemakers are slightly happier than wives who work fulltime, but they have no advantage over part-time…
Center for Nondestructive Evaluation - Center for Nondestructive Evaluation

Science.gov Websites

available for the full range of inspection methods, housed in a 52,000 sq. ft. facility with over $5M in - 1990): Development of NDE methods for application to DOE energy and weapons programs, including multi for enhanced frequency bandwidth and improved flaw reconstruction, and novel methods for poling
Review and Analysis of Publication Trends over Three Decades in Three High Impact Medicine Journals.

PubMed

Ivanov, Alexander; Kaczkowska, Beata A; Khan, Saadat A; Ho, Jean; Tavakol, Morteza; Prasad, Ashok; Bhumireddy, Geetha; Beall, Allan F; Klem, Igor; Mehta, Parag; Briggs, William M; Sacchi, Terrence J; Heitner, John F

2017-01-01

Over the past three decades, industry sponsored research expanded in the United States. Financial incentives can lead to potential conflicts of interest (COI) resulting in underreporting of negative study results. We hypothesized that over the three decades, there would be an increase in: a) reporting of conflict of interest and source of funding; b) percentage of randomized control trials c) number of patients per study and d) industry funding. Original articles published in three calendar years (1988, 1998, and 2008) in The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine and Journal of American Medical Association were collected. Studies were reviewed and investigational design categorized as prospective and retrospective clinical trials. Prospective trials were categorized into randomized or non-randomized and single-center or multi-center trials. Retrospective trials were categorized as registries, meta-analyses and other studies, mostly comprising of case reports or series. Study outcomes were categorized as positive or negative depending on whether the pre-specified hypothesis was met. Financial disclosures were researched for financial relationships and profit status, and accordingly categorized as government, non-profit or industry sponsored. Studies were assessed for reporting COI. 1,671 original articles were included in this analysis. Total number of published studies decreased by 17% from 1988 to 2008. Over 20 year period, the proportion of prospective randomized trials increased from 22 to 46% (p < 0.0001); whereas the proportion of prospective non-randomized trials decreased from 59% to 27% (p < 0.001). There was an increase in the percentage of prospective randomized multi-center trials from 11% to 41% (p < 0.001). Conversely, there was a reduction in non-randomized single-center trials from 47% to 10% (p < 0.001). Proportion of government funded studies remained constant, whereas industry funded studies more than doubled (17% to 40%; p < 0.0001). The number of studies with negative results more than doubled (10% to 22%; p<0.0001). While lack of funding disclosure decreased from 35% to 7%, COI reporting increased from 2% to 84% (p < 0.0001). Improved reporting of COI, clarity in financial sponsorship, increased publication of negative results in the setting of larger and better designed clinical trials represents a positive step forward in the scientific publications, despite the higher percentage of industry funded studies.
Behavioral modeling and digital compensation of nonlinearity in DFB lasers for multi-band directly modulated radio-over-fiber systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jianqiang; Yin, Chunjing; Chen, Hao; Yin, Feifei; Dai, Yitang; Xu, Kun

2014-11-01

The envisioned C-RAN concept in wireless communication sector replies on distributed antenna systems (DAS) which consist of a central unit (CU), multiple remote antenna units (RAUs) and the fronthaul links between them. As the legacy and emerging wireless communication standards will coexist for a long time, the fronthaul links are preferred to carry multi-band multi-standard wireless signals. Directly-modulated radio-over-fiber (ROF) links can serve as a lowcost option to make fronthaul connections conveying multi-band wireless signals. However, directly-modulated radioover- fiber (ROF) systems often suffer from inherent nonlinearities from directly-modulated lasers. Unlike ROF systems working at the single-band mode, the modulation nonlinearities in multi-band ROF systems can result in both in-band and cross-band nonlinear distortions. In order to address this issue, we have recently investigated the multi-band nonlinear behavior of directly-modulated DFB lasers based on multi-dimensional memory polynomial model. Based on this model, an efficient multi-dimensional baseband digital predistortion technique was developed and experimentally demonstrated for linearization of multi-band directly-modulated ROF systems.
Association of Over-The-Counter Pharmaceutical Sales with Influenza-Like-Illnesses to Patient Volume in an Urgent Care Setting

PubMed Central

Liu, Timothy Y.; Sanders, Jason L.; Tsui, Fu-Chiang; Espino, Jeremy U.; Dato, Virginia M.; Suyama, Joe

2013-01-01

We studied the association between OTC pharmaceutical sales and volume of patients with influenza-like-illnesses (ILI) at an urgent care center over one year. OTC pharmaceutical sales explain 36% of the variance in the patient volume, and each standard deviation increase is associated with 4.7 more patient visits to the urgent care center (p<0.0001). Cross-correlation function analysis demonstrated that OTC pharmaceutical sales are significantly associated with patient volume during non-flu season (p<0.0001), but only the sales of cough and cold (p<0.0001) and thermometer (p<0.0001) categories were significant during flu season with a lag of two and one days, respectively. Our study is the first study to demonstrate and measure the relationship between OTC pharmaceutical sales and urgent care center patient volume, and presents strong evidence that OTC sales predict urgent care center patient volume year round. PMID:23555647
Preservative-free versus preserved latanoprost eye drops in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

PubMed

Aptel, Florent; Choudhry, Reena; Stalmans, Ingeborg

2016-08-01

This study compared the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of a preservative-free latanoprost formulation to an established, benzalkonium chloride (BAK) containing formulation for the treatment of open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. This was a phase II, randomized, cross-over, investigator-masked, multi-center, pilot study (NCT01494753). A total of 30 untreated adult patients (aged ≥18 years) with primary open angle glaucoma, pseudo-exfoliative glaucoma, pigmentary glaucoma, or ocular hypertension received either preservative-free or preserved latanoprost once daily in both eyes for 6 weeks, before crossing over to receive the other treatment. Efficacy (intraocular pressure [IOP] at 8 am, midday, 4 pm and 8 pm, and global efficacy assessment by investigator), safety (adverse events, ocular symptoms and global tolerance, slit lamp examination, funduscopy, visual field examination, visual acuity, and heart rate), and pharmacokinetics were assessed at Days 0, 42, and 84. Both treatments resulted in a reduction in IOP that was similar for the preservative-free and the preserved formulation at all time points. Similarly, the overall diurnal reduction was similar in both groups (6.3 mmHg [27.9% reduction] and 6.4 mmHg [28.1% reduction] for preserved and preservative-free latanoprost, respectively). There were no differences in global efficacy assessment or in the safety and tolerance of each treatment. Systemic concentrations of latanoprost were very low; AUC0-30 and Cmax were lower and tmax was longer for preservative-free latanoprost. Preservative-free latanoprost showed similar efficacy at all time points compared to BAK preservative containing formulation, with no difference in tolerance, allowing progression to phase III clinical development.
Impact of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Management Information System (PROMIS) upon the design and operation of multi-center clinical trials: a qualitative research study.

PubMed

Eisenstein, Eric L; Diener, Lawrence W; Nahm, Meredith; Weinfurt, Kevin P

2011-12-01

New technologies may be required to integrate the National Institutes of Health's Patient Reported Outcome Management Information System (PROMIS) into multi-center clinical trials. To better understand this need, we identified likely PROMIS reporting formats, developed a multi-center clinical trial process model, and identified gaps between current capabilities and those necessary for PROMIS. These results were evaluated by key trial constituencies. Issues reported by principal investigators fell into two categories: acceptance by key regulators and the scientific community, and usability for researchers and clinicians. Issues reported by the coordinating center, participating sites, and study subjects were those faced when integrating new technologies into existing clinical trial systems. We then defined elements of a PROMIS Tool Kit required for integrating PROMIS into a multi-center clinical trial environment. The requirements identified in this study serve as a framework for future investigators in the design, development, implementation, and operation of PROMIS Tool Kit technologies.
Impact of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Management Information System (PROMIS) upon the Design and Operation of Multi-center Clinical Trials: a Qualitative Research Study

PubMed Central

Diener, Lawrence W.; Nahm, Meredith; Weinfurt, Kevin P.

2013-01-01

New technologies may be required to integrate the National Institutes of Health’s Patient Reported Outcome Management Information System (PROMIS) into multi-center clinical trials. To better understand this need, we identified likely PROMIS reporting formats, developed a multi-center clinical trial process model, and identified gaps between current capabilities and those necessary for PROMIS. These results were evaluated by key trial constituencies. Issues reported by principal investigators fell into two categories: acceptance by key regulators and the scientific community, and usability for researchers and clinicians. Issues reported by the coordinating center, participating sites, and study subjects were those faced when integrating new technologies into existing clinical trial systems. We then defined elements of a PROMIS Tool Kit required for integrating PROMIS into a multi-center clinical trial environment. The requirements identified in this study serve as a framework for future investigators in the design, development, implementation, and operation of PROMIS Tool Kit technologies. PMID:20703765
MiDas: Automatic Extraction of a Common Domain of Discourse in Sleep Medicine for Multi-center Data Integration

PubMed Central

Sahoo, Satya S.; Ogbuji, Chimezie; Luo, Lingyun; Dong, Xiao; Cui, Licong; Redline, Susan S.; Zhang, Guo-Qiang

2011-01-01

Clinical studies often use data dictionaries with controlled sets of terms to facilitate data collection, limited interoperability and sharing at a local site. Multi-center retrospective clinical studies require that these data dictionaries, originating from individual participating centers, be harmonized in preparation for the integration of the corresponding clinical research data. Domain ontologies are often used to facilitate multi-center data integration by modeling terms from data dictionaries in a logic-based language, but interoperability among domain ontologies (using automated techniques) is an unresolved issue. Although many upper-level reference ontologies have been proposed to address this challenge, our experience in integrating multi-center sleep medicine data highlights the need for an upper level ontology that models a common set of terms at multiple-levels of abstraction, which is not covered by the existing upper-level ontologies. We introduce a methodology underpinned by a Minimal Domain of Discourse (MiDas) algorithm to automatically extract a minimal common domain of discourse (upper-domain ontology) from an existing domain ontology. Using the Multi-Modality, Multi-Resource Environment for Physiological and Clinical Research (Physio-MIMI) multi-center project in sleep medicine as a use case, we demonstrate the use of MiDas in extracting a minimal domain of discourse for sleep medicine, from Physio-MIMI’s Sleep Domain Ontology (SDO). We then extend the resulting domain of discourse with terms from the data dictionary of the Sleep Heart and Health Study (SHHS) to validate MiDas. To illustrate the wider applicability of MiDas, we automatically extract the respective domains of discourse from 6 sample domain ontologies from the National Center for Biomedical Ontologies (NCBO) and the OBO Foundry. PMID:22195180
MiDas: automatic extraction of a common domain of discourse in sleep medicine for multi-center data integration.

PubMed

Sahoo, Satya S; Ogbuji, Chimezie; Luo, Lingyun; Dong, Xiao; Cui, Licong; Redline, Susan S; Zhang, Guo-Qiang

2011-01-01

Clinical studies often use data dictionaries with controlled sets of terms to facilitate data collection, limited interoperability and sharing at a local site. Multi-center retrospective clinical studies require that these data dictionaries, originating from individual participating centers, be harmonized in preparation for the integration of the corresponding clinical research data. Domain ontologies are often used to facilitate multi-center data integration by modeling terms from data dictionaries in a logic-based language, but interoperability among domain ontologies (using automated techniques) is an unresolved issue. Although many upper-level reference ontologies have been proposed to address this challenge, our experience in integrating multi-center sleep medicine data highlights the need for an upper level ontology that models a common set of terms at multiple-levels of abstraction, which is not covered by the existing upper-level ontologies. We introduce a methodology underpinned by a Minimal Domain of Discourse (MiDas) algorithm to automatically extract a minimal common domain of discourse (upper-domain ontology) from an existing domain ontology. Using the Multi-Modality, Multi-Resource Environment for Physiological and Clinical Research (Physio-MIMI) multi-center project in sleep medicine as a use case, we demonstrate the use of MiDas in extracting a minimal domain of discourse for sleep medicine, from Physio-MIMI's Sleep Domain Ontology (SDO). We then extend the resulting domain of discourse with terms from the data dictionary of the Sleep Heart and Health Study (SHHS) to validate MiDas. To illustrate the wider applicability of MiDas, we automatically extract the respective domains of discourse from 6 sample domain ontologies from the National Center for Biomedical Ontologies (NCBO) and the OBO Foundry.
Standardized patient walkthroughs in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network: common challenges to protocol implementation.

PubMed

Fussell, Holly E; Kunkel, Lynn E; McCarty, Dennis; Lewy, Colleen S

2011-09-01

Training research staff to implement clinical trials occurring in community-based addiction treatment programs presents unique challenges. Standardized patient walkthroughs of study procedures may enhance training and protocol implementation. Examine and discuss cross-site and cross-study challenges of participant screening and data collection procedures identified during standardized patient walkthroughs of multi-site clinical trials. Actors portrayed clients and "walked through" study procedures with protocol research staff. The study completed 57 walkthroughs during implementation of 4 clinical trials. Observers and walkthrough participants identified three areas of concern (consent procedures, screening and assessment processes, and protocol implementation) and made suggestions for resolving the concerns. Standardized patient walkthroughs capture issues with study procedures previously unidentified with didactic training or unscripted rehearsals. Clinical trials within the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network are conducted in addiction treatment centers that vary on multiple dimensions. Based on walkthrough observations, the national protocol team and local site leadership modify standardized operating procedures and resolve cross-site problems prior to recruiting study participants. The standardized patient walkthrough improves consistency across study sites and reduces potential site variation in study outcomes.

MISR High-Resolution, Cross-Track Winds for Hurricane Ida

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-11-10

This image shows JPL Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer instrument onboard NASA Terra satellite on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 as it passed over Hurricane Ida while situated between western Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula.
THE RELATION OF THE AGE OF THE FEMALE TO CROSSING OVER IN THE THIRD CHROMOSOME OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

PubMed Central

Bridges, Calvin B.

1927-01-01

The four methods of examining the relation of amount of multiple crossing over to age of mothers agree in showing that the "internode length" or average distance required for double crossing over has changed in a characteristic fashion, giving an M-shaped curve. These changes have not been independent of changes in total recombination but concomitant with them. However, the changes in recombination percentages were far greater than could be accounted for by change in internode length, and the larger factor must be assumed to be changes in the coefficients of crossing over. The amounts of these changes are greatest for the mid-sections of the chromosome and least for the distal sections. The changes in the two limbs are of like amount for equal distances from the center of symmetry in the distribution of simple and multiple crossing over. PMID:19872223
Factors effecting influenza vaccination uptake among health care workers: a multi-center cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Asma, Süheyl; Akan, Hülya; Uysal, Yücel; Poçan, A Gürhan; Sucaklı, Mustafa Haki; Yengil, Erhan; Gereklioğlu, Çiğdem; Korur, Aslı; Başhan, İbrahim; Erdogan, A Ferit; Özşahin, A Kürşat; Kut, Altuğ

2016-05-04

The present study aimed to identify factors affecting vaccination against influenza among health professionals. We used a multi-centre cross-sectional design to conduct an online self-administered questionnaire with physicians and nurses at state and foundation university hospitals in the south-east of Turkey, between 1 January 2015 and 1 February 2015. The five participating hospitals provided staff email address lists filtered for physicians and nurses. The questionnaire comprised multiple choice questions covering demographic data, knowledge sources, and Likert-type items on factors affecting vaccination against influenza. The target response rate was 20 %. In total, 642 (22 %) of 2870 health professionals (1220 physicians and 1650 nurses) responded to the questionnaire. Participants' mean age was 29.6 ± 9.2 years (range 17-62 years); 177 (28.2 %) were physicians and 448 (71.3 %) were nurses. The rate of regular vaccination was 9.2 % (15.2 % for physicians and 8.2 % for nurses). Increasing age, longer work duration in health services, being male, being a physician, working in an internal medicine department, having a chronic disease, and living with a person over 65 years old significantly increased vaccination compliance (p < 0.05). We found differences between vaccine compliant and non-compliant groups for expected benefit from vaccination, social influences, and personal efficacy (p < 0.05). Univariate analysis showed differences between the groups in perceptions of personal risks, side effects, and efficacy of the vaccine (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis found that important factors influencing vaccination behavior were work place, colleagues' opinions, having a chronic disease, belief that vaccination was effective, and belief that flu can be prevented by natural ways. Numerous factors influence health professionals' decisions about influenza vaccination. Strategies to increase the ratio of vaccination among physicians and nurses should consider all of these factors to increase the likelihood of success.
Consistency of two global MODIS aerosol products over ocean on Terra and Aqua CERES SSF datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ignatov, Alexander; Minnis, Patrick; Wielicki, Bruce; Loeb, Norman G.; Remer, Lorraine A.; Kaufman, Yoram J.; Miller, Walter F.; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Laszlo, Istvan; Geier, Erika B.

2004-12-01

MODIS aerosol retrievals over ocean from Terra and Aqua platforms are available from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) datasets generated at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). Two aerosol products are reported side by side. The primary M product is generated by subsetting and remapping the multi-spectral (0.44 - 2.1 μm) MOD04 aerosols onto CERES footprints. MOD04 processing uses cloud screening and aerosol algorithms developed by the MODIS science team. The secondary (AVHRR-like) A product is generated in only two MODIS bands: 1 and 6 on Terra, and ` and 7 on Aqua. The A processing uses NASA/LaRC cloud-screening and NOAA/NESDIS single channel aerosol algorthm. The M and A products have been documented elsewhere and preliminarily compared using two weeks of global Terra CERES SSF (Edition 1A) data in December 2000 and June 2001. In this study, the M and A aerosol optical depths (AOD) in MODIS band 1 and (0.64 μm), τ1M and τ1A, are further checked for cross-platform consistency using 9 days of global Terra CERES SSF (Edition 2A) and Aqua CERES SSF (Edition 1A) data from 13 - 21 October 2002.
Management of venous thromboembolism in patients with acute leukemia at high bleeding risk: a multi-center study.

PubMed

Napolitano, Mariasanta; Valore, Luca; Malato, Alessandra; Saccullo, Giorgia; Vetro, Calogero; Mitra, Maria Enza; Fabbiano, Francesco; Mannina, Donato; Casuccio, Alessandra; Lucchesi, Alessandro; Del Principe, Maria Ilaria; Candoni, Anna; Di Raimondo, Francesco; Siragusa, Sergio

2016-01-01

In the last decades, evaluation of clinically relevant thrombotic complications in patients with acute leukemia (AL) has been poorly investigated. The authors performed a multi-center study to evaluate the management of symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) in adult patients with AL. The intention was to find as clinically relevant the following: symptomatic Venous Thrombosis (VT) occurred in typical (lower limbs) and atypical (cerebral, upper limbs, abdominal, etc) sites with or without pulmonary embolism (PE). Over a population of 1461 patients with AL, 22 cases of symptomatic VTE were recorded in hospitalized patients with a mean age of 54.6 years. The absolute incidence of VTE was 1.5%. VTE occurred during chemotherapy in 17/22 (77.2%) cases, mainly (14/17, 82.3%) during the induction phase. Treatment of acute VTE was based on Low Molecular Weight Heparin (LMWH) at full dosage for the first month from diagnosis and reduced dosage (75%) for the following months.
A Mixed Integer Linear Program for Solving a Multiple Route Taxi Scheduling Problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montoya, Justin Vincent; Wood, Zachary Paul; Rathinam, Sivakumar; Malik, Waqar Ahmad

2010-01-01

Aircraft movements on taxiways at busy airports often create bottlenecks. This paper introduces a mixed integer linear program to solve a Multiple Route Aircraft Taxi Scheduling Problem. The outputs of the model are in the form of optimal taxi schedules, which include routing decisions for taxiing aircraft. The model extends an existing single route formulation to include routing decisions. An efficient comparison framework compares the multi-route formulation and the single route formulation. The multi-route model is exercised for east side airport surface traffic at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to determine if any arrival taxi time savings can be achieved by allowing arrivals to have two taxi routes: a route that crosses an active departure runway and a perimeter route that avoids the crossing. Results indicate that the multi-route formulation yields reduced arrival taxi times over the single route formulation only when a perimeter taxiway is used. In conditions where the departure aircraft are given an optimal and fixed takeoff sequence, accumulative arrival taxi time savings in the multi-route formulation can be as high as 3.6 hours more than the single route formulation. If the departure sequence is not optimal, the multi-route formulation results in less taxi time savings made over the single route formulation, but the average arrival taxi time is significantly decreased.
Hypoglycemia perception: Cross-cultural differences in Punjabi and Hindi speaking postmenopausal women

PubMed Central

Bhutani, Jaikrit; Kalra, Sanjay; Bhutani, Sukriti; Kalra, Bharti

2013-01-01

Introduction: The cross cultural differences in perception of menopausal symptoms are well known and these differences in perception of hypoglycemic symptoms in Russian-speaking and Caucasian postmenopausal women have been reported. Aims and objectives: This study assessed cross – linguistic and cross – cultural differences in symptomatology of self reported hypoglycemia, between Punjabi and Hindi speaking diabetic post menopausal women. Material and Methods: Thirty Punjabi speaking and 20 Hindi speaking diabetic postmenopausal women aged over 50 years, were recruited for this study. Each subject was asked, what happens to you when you have low sugar? in the language of her choice, and spontaneous answers were recorded verbatim. Statistical analysis: The data so obtained was analyzed by paper and pen method to obtain an understanding of the frequency of self reporting of various symptoms and then analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science ver.19.0. Results: Symptoms of hollowness, cold sweats and headache correlated significantly (P < 0.0001, P = 0.0001 and P = 0.03 respectively). One difference was noted in women from rural vs. urban background: Inability to concentrate was more frequent in urban women (4/23) vs rural women (0/27) (P < 0.0001). Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first exploratory work highlighting the differences in self reported hypoglycemia symptomatology, based on linguistic background. In India and other countries with multi ethnic, multi linguistic societies, linguistic competence in hypoglycemia history taking is important. Limitations: Incidence of hypoglycemia in the subjects enrolled was not assessed. Many of the subjects in the Punjabi speaking cohort were bilingual. Some symptoms of hypoglycemia may have been missed or over-reported by participants. Conclusion: Diabetes care professionals should be aware that persons with diabetes from varying linguistic backgrounds may report symptoms of hypoglycemia differently. PMID:24251188
Hypoglycemia perception: Cross-cultural differences in Punjabi and Hindi speaking postmenopausal women.

PubMed

Bhutani, Jaikrit; Kalra, Sanjay; Bhutani, Sukriti; Kalra, Bharti

2013-10-01

The cross cultural differences in perception of menopausal symptoms are well known and these differences in perception of hypoglycemic symptoms in Russian-speaking and Caucasian postmenopausal women have been reported. This study assessed cross - linguistic and cross - cultural differences in symptomatology of self reported hypoglycemia, between Punjabi and Hindi speaking diabetic post menopausal women. Thirty Punjabi speaking and 20 Hindi speaking diabetic postmenopausal women aged over 50 years, were recruited for this study. Each subject was asked, what happens to you when you have low sugar? in the language of her choice, and spontaneous answers were recorded verbatim. The data so obtained was analyzed by paper and pen method to obtain an understanding of the frequency of self reporting of various symptoms and then analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science ver.19.0. Symptoms of hollowness, cold sweats and headache correlated significantly (P < 0.0001, P = 0.0001 and P = 0.03 respectively). One difference was noted in women from rural vs. urban background: Inability to concentrate was more frequent in urban women (4/23) vs rural women (0/27) (P < 0.0001). To our knowledge, this is the first exploratory work highlighting the differences in self reported hypoglycemia symptomatology, based on linguistic background. In India and other countries with multi ethnic, multi linguistic societies, linguistic competence in hypoglycemia history taking is important. Incidence of hypoglycemia in the subjects enrolled was not assessed. Many of the subjects in the Punjabi speaking cohort were bilingual. Some symptoms of hypoglycemia may have been missed or over-reported by participants. Diabetes care professionals should be aware that persons with diabetes from varying linguistic backgrounds may report symptoms of hypoglycemia differently.
STS-108 MPLM Raffaello is moved to payload canister

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello crosses the room as it moves toward the payload canister (right). Raffaello is filled with supplies and equipment for mission STS-108 to the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for Nov. 29 aboard Shuttle Endeavour. The 11-day mission to the International Space Station will also carry the replacement Expedition 4 crew.
A randomized controlled trial investigation of a non-stimulant in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ACTION): rationale and design.

PubMed

Tsang, Tracey W; Kohn, Michael R; Hermens, Daniel F; Clarke, Simon D; Clark, C Richard; Efron, Daryl; Cranswick, Noel; Lamb, Chris; Williams, Leanne M

2011-03-13

The ACTION study (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Controlled Trial Investigation Of a Non-stimulant) is a multi-center, double-blind, randomized cross-over trial of the non-stimulant medication, Atomoxetine, in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The primary aims are to examine the efficacy of atomoxetine for improving cognition and emotional function in ADHD and whether any improvements in these outcomes are more pronounced in participants with comorbid anxiety; and to determine if changes in these outcomes after atomoxetine are more reliable than changes in diagnostic symptoms of ADHD. This manuscript will describe the methodology and rationale for the ACTION study. Children and adolescents aged 6 - 17 y with ADHD will be enrolled. Clinical interview and validated scales will be used to confirm diagnosis and screen for exclusion criteria, which include concurrent stimulant use, and comorbid psychiatric or neurological conditions other than anxiety. Three assessment sessions will be conducted over the 13-week study period: Session 1 (Baseline, pre-treatment), Session 2 (six weeks, atomoxetine or placebo), and Session 3 (13 weeks, cross-over after one-week washout period). The standardized touch-screen battery, "IntegNeuro™", will be used to assess cognitive and emotional function. The primary measure of response will be symptom ratings, while quality of life will be a secondary outcome. Logistic regression will be used to determine predictors of treatment response, while repeated measures of analysis will determine any differences in effect of atomoxetine and placebo. The methodology for the ACTION study has been detailed. The ACTION study is the first controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of atomoxetine using objective cognitive and emotional function markers, and whether these objective measures predict outcomes with atomoxetine in ADHD with and without comorbid anxiety. First enrollment was in March 2008. The outcomes of this study will be a significant step towards a 'personalized medicine' (and therefore a more efficient) approach to ADHD treatment. Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ANZCTRN12607000535471.
Circulating level of hepatocyte growth factor predicts incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

PubMed Central

Bancks, Michael P.; Bielinski, Suzette J.; Decker, Paul A.; Hanson, Naomi Q.; Larson, Nicholas B.; Sicotte, Hugues; Wassel, Christina L.; Pankow, James S.

2016-01-01

Background Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a pleotropic factor posited to have metabolic homeostatic properties. The purpose of this study is to examine whether level of HGF is associated with the development of type 2 diabetes. Methods Data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) were used to examine the prospective association between serum level of HGF and incident diabetes. Fasting HGF was measured at Exam 1 (2000–2002) in 5395 participants free from diabetes (61.5 ± 10.2 years old) and incidence of diabetes was determined at four subsequent follow-up exams over 12 years. Hazard ratios (HR) for incident diabetes were estimated according to 1 standard deviation (SD) unit increment of HGF (1 SD =26 μg/l), before and after adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, study center, smoking status, alcohol consumption, body mass index, waist circumference, fasting glucose and insulin, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6 levels. Results A 1 SD increment of baseline HGF was associated with a 46% (95% CI =1.37, 1.56) increased risk of diabetes before adjustment. After adjustment, diabetes risk per 1 SD increment of HGF was attenuated but remained significantly increased (HR=1.21; 95% CI=1.12, 1.32). Men had a significantly greater HR compared to women per equivalent increase of HGF (p-value for sex interaction=0.04). There was no evidence of effect modification by race/ethnicity. Conclusions This study advances understanding from cross-sectional studies and investigation of incident insulin resistance, demonstrating higher level of HGF is associated with incident diabetes and may reflect a unique type of impaired metabolism. PMID:26892517
Circulating level of hepatocyte growth factor predicts incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

PubMed

Bancks, Michael P; Bielinski, Suzette J; Decker, Paul A; Hanson, Naomi Q; Larson, Nicholas B; Sicotte, Hugues; Wassel, Christina L; Pankow, James S

2016-03-01

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a pleotropic factor posited to have metabolic homeostatic properties. The purpose of this study is to examine whether level of HGF is associated with the development of type 2 diabetes. Data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) were used to examine the prospective association between serum level of HGF and incident diabetes. Fasting HGF was measured at Exam 1 (2000-2002) in 5395 participants free from diabetes (61.5±10.2 years old) and incidence of diabetes was determined at four subsequent follow-up exams over 12 years. Hazard ratios (HR) for incident diabetes were estimated according to 1 standard deviation (SD) unit increment of HGF (1 SD=26 μg/l), before and after adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, study center, smoking status, alcohol consumption, body mass index, waist circumference, fasting glucose and insulin, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6 levels. A 1 SD increment of baseline HGF was associated with a 46% (95% CI=1.37, 1.56) increased risk of diabetes before adjustment. After adjustment, diabetes risk per 1 SD increment of HGF was attenuated but remained significantly increased (HR=1.21; 95% CI=1.12, 1.32). Men had a significantly greater HR compared to women per equivalent increase of HGF (p-value for sex interaction=0.04). There was no evidence of effect modification by race/ethnicity. This study advances understanding from cross-sectional studies and investigation of incident insulin resistance, demonstrating higher level of HGF is associated with incident diabetes and may reflect a unique type of impaired metabolism. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Singh, Suvam; Naghma, Rahla; Kaur, Jaspreet

The total and ionization cross sections for electron scattering by benzene, halobenzenes, toluene, aniline, and phenol are reported over a wide energy domain. The multi-scattering centre spherical complex optical potential method has been employed to find the total elastic and inelastic cross sections. The total ionization cross section is estimated from total inelastic cross section using the complex scattering potential-ionization contribution method. In the present article, the first theoretical calculations for electron impact total and ionization cross section have been performed for most of the targets having numerous practical applications. A reasonable agreement is obtained compared to existing experimental observationsmore » for all the targets reported here, especially for the total cross section.« less
Navigation Performance of Global Navigation Satellite Systems in the Space Service Volume

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Force, Dale A.

2013-01-01

GPS has been used for spacecraft navigation for many years center dot In support of this, the US has committed that future GPS satellites will continue to provide signals in the Space Service Volume center dot NASA is working with international agencies to obtain similar commitments from other providers center dot In support of this effort, I simulated multi-constellation navigation in the Space Service Volume In this presentation, I extend the work to examine the navigational benefits and drawbacks of the new constellations center dot A major benefit is the reduced geometric dilution of precision (GDOP). I show that there is a substantial reduction in GDOP by using all of the GNSS constellations center dot The increased number of GNSS satellites broadcasting does produce mutual interference, raising the noise floor. A near/far signal problem can also occur where a nearby satellite drowns out satellites that are far away. - In these simulations, no major effect was observed Typically, the use of multi-constellation GNSS navigation improves GDOP by a factor of two or more over GPS alone center dot In addition, at the higher altitudes, four satellite solutions can be obtained much more often center dot This show the value of having commitments to provide signals in the Space Service Volume Besides a commitment to provide a minimum signal in the Space Service Volume, detailed signal gain information is useful for mission planning center dot Knowledge of group and phase delay over the pattern would also reduce the navigational uncertainty
Comparison of Responsiveness Level in Iranian Public and Private Physiotherapy Clinics: a Cross-Sectional Multi-center Study.

PubMed

Torabipour, Amin; Gharacheh, Laleh; Lorestani, Leila; Salehi, Reza

2017-09-01

Responsiveness is a main goal of health systems. Responsiveness focus on the non-medical aspects of health services delivery. This study was aimed to assess responsiveness level in public and private physiography clinics. In this multicenter cross sectional study, 403 patients refers to 16 public and 64 private physical therapy clinics were studied randomly in Ahvaz, Iran, from 2013 to 2014. Data were collected based on a valid health system responsiveness questionnaire that was developed by WHO. Health system responsiveness questionnaire for outpatients care includes seven components and 25 questions. Statistical relationship between responsiveness level of centers and patients characteristics was analyzed using Pearson coefficient, Independent t-test and one-way ANOVA. Out of 403 patients, 299 (74.19%) patients were women. The mean (±SD) age of the patients was 42(±14.18) years and 92.1% of patients were 65> years. Responsiveness status in private and public physiotherapy clinics was assessed excellent (26.93±5.2) and very well (21.08±5.8) respectively. In private clinics, the mean score of communication dimension (3.96±1) and autonomy dimension (3.95±0.9) was higher than other dimensions. In public clinics the mean score of dignity (3.30±0.8), autonomy (3.16±0.9), and prompt attention (3.12±1) was higher than other areas respectively. In public and private clinics, quality of basic amenities area had the lowest score. The results showed that the some patients and center characteristics such as gender and work shift were factors affecting assessment of responsiveness. Responsiveness level in private centers was better than publics.
Phonon-assisted changes in charge states of deep level defects in germanium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Markevich, A. V.; Litvinov, V. V.; Emtsev, V. V.; Markevich, V. P.; Peaker, A. R.

2006-04-01

Electronic processes associated with changes in the charge states of the vacancy-oxygen center (VO or A center) and vacancy-group-V-impurity atom (P, As, Sb or Bi) pairs (E centers) in irradiated germanium crystals have been studied using deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), high-resolution Laplace DLTS and Hall effect measurements. It is found that the electron emission and capture processes related to transitions between the doubly and the singly negatively charged states of the A center and the E centers in Ge are phonon-assisted, i.e., they are accompanied by significant vibrations and re-arrangements of atoms in the vicinity of the defects. Manifestations of the phonon involvements are: (i) temperature-dependent electron capture cross-sections which are well described in the frame of the multi-phonon-assisted capture model; (ii) large changes in entropy related to the ionization of the defects and, associated with these, temperature-dependent positions of energy levels; and (iii) electron emission via phonon-assisted tunneling upon the application of electric field. These effects have been considered in detail for the vacancy-oxygen and the vacancy-donor complexes. On the basis of a combined analysis of the electronic processes a configuration-coordinate diagram of the acceptor states of the A and E centers is plotted. It is found that changes in the entropy of ionization and the energy for electron emission for these traps follow the empirical Meyer-Neldel rule. A model based on multi-phonon-assisted carrier emission from defects is adapted for the explanation of the origin of this rule for the case of electronic processes in Ge.
Wide band cryogenic ultra-high vacuum microwave absorber

DOEpatents

Campisi, I.E.

1992-05-12

An absorber waveguide assembly for absorbing higher order modes of microwave energy under cryogenic ultra-high vacuum conditions, that absorbs wide-band multi-mode energy. The absorber is of a special triangular shape, made from flat tiles of silicon carbide and aluminum nitride. The leading sharp end of the absorber is located in a corner of the waveguide and tapers to a larger cross-sectional area whose center is located approximately in the center of the wave guide. The absorber is relatively short, being of less height than the maximum width of the waveguide. 11 figs.
Wide band cryogenic ultra-high vacuum microwave absorber

DOEpatents

Campisi, Isidoro E.

1992-01-01

An absorber wave guide assembly for absorbing higher order modes of microwave energy under cryogenic ultra-high vacuum conditions, that absorbs wide-band multi-mode energy. The absorber is of a special triangular shape, made from flat tiles of silicon carbide and aluminum nitride. The leading sharp end of the absorber is located in a corner of the wave guide and tapers to a larger cross-sectional area whose center is located approximately in the center of the wave guide. The absorber is relatively short, being of less height than the maximum width of the wave guide.
Measurements of the vector boson production with the ATLAS detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lapertosa, A.

2018-01-01

Measurements of the Drell-Yan production of W and Z bosons at the LHC provide a benchmark of our understanding of perturbative QCD and probe the proton structure in a unique way. The ATLAS collaboration has performed new high precision measurements at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The measurements are performed for W+, W- and Z bosons integrated and as a function of the boson or lepton rapidity and the Z mass. Unprecedented precision is reached and strong constraints on Parton Distribution Functions, in particular the strange density are found. Z boson cross sections are also measured at center-of-mass energies of 8 TeV and 13 TeV, and cross-section ratios to the top-quark pair production have been derived. This ratio measurement leads to a cancellation of systematic effects and allows for a high precision comparison to the theory predictions. The production of jets in association with vector bosons is a further important process to study perturbative QCD in a multi-scale environment. The ATLAS collaboration has performed new measurements of Z boson plus jets cross sections, differential in several kinematic variables, in proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The measurements are compared to state-of-the art theory predictions. They are sensitive to higher-order pQCD effects, probe flavour and mass schemes and can be used to constrain the proton structure. In addition, a new measurement of the splitting scales of the kt jet-clustering algorithm for final states containing a Z boson candidate at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV is presented.
Home-based HIV testing for men preferred over clinic-based testing by pregnant women and their male partners, a nested cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Osoti, Alfred Onyango; John-Stewart, Grace; Kiarie, James Njogu; Barbra, Richardson; Kinuthia, John; Krakowiak, Daisy; Farquhar, Carey

2015-07-30

Male partner HIV testing and counseling (HTC) is associated with enhanced uptake of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT), yet male HTC during pregnancy remains low. Identifying settings preferred by pregnant women and their male partners may improve male involvement in PMTCT. Participants in a randomized clinical trial (NCT01620073) to improve male partner HTC were interviewed to determine whether the preferred male partner HTC setting was the home, antenatal care (ANC) clinic or VCT center. In this nested cross sectional study, responses were evaluated at baseline and after 6 weeks. Differences between the two time points were compared using McNemar's test and correlates of preference were determined using logistic regression. Among 300 pregnant female participants, 54% preferred home over ANC clinic testing (34.0%) or VCT center (12.0%). Among 188 male partners, 68% preferred home-based HTC to antenatal clinic (19%) or VCT (13%). Men who desired more children and women who had less than secondary education or daily income < $2 USD were more likely to prefer home-based over other settings (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). At 6 weeks, the majority of male (81%) and female (65%) participants recommended home over alternative HTC venues. Adjusting for whether or not the partner was tested during follow-up did not significantly alter preferences. Pregnant women and their male partners preferred home-based compared to clinic or VCT-center based male partner HTC. Home-based HTC during pregnancy appears acceptable and may improve male testing and involvement in PMTCT.

Photonic-chip-based all-optical ultra-wideband pulse generation via XPM and birefringence in a chalcogenide waveguide.

PubMed

Tan, Kang; Marpaung, David; Pant, Ravi; Gao, Feng; Li, Enbang; Wang, Jian; Choi, Duk-Yong; Madden, Steve; Luther-Davies, Barry; Sun, Junqiang; Eggleton, Benjamin J

2013-01-28

We report a photonic-chip-based scheme for all-optical ultra-wideband (UWB) pulse generation using a novel all-optical differentiator that exploits cross-phase modulation and birefringence in an As₂S₃ chalcogenide rib waveguide. Polarity-switchable UWB monocycles and doublets were simultaneously obtained with single optical carrier operation. Moreover, transmission over 40-km fiber of the generated UWB doublets is demonstrated with good dispersion tolerance. These results indicate that the proposed approach has potential applications in multi-shape, multi-modulation and long-distance UWB-over-fiber communication systems.
Desire to Have Children Among Transgender People in Germany: A Cross-Sectional Multi-Center Study.

PubMed

Auer, Matthias K; Fuss, Johannes; Nieder, Timo O; Briken, Peer; Biedermann, Sarah V; Stalla, Günter K; Beckmann, Matthias W; Hildebrandt, Thomas

2018-05-01

Many trans individuals undergo medical interventions that result in irreversible loss of fertility. Little is known about their desire to have children and attitudes toward fertility preservation options. To study how the desire for children and the use of fertility preservation options varies among trans women and trans men in different transitioning stages in Germany. In this cross-sectional multi-center study, N = 99 trans women and N = 90 trans men were included. Of these, 26 of each sex were just about to start medical treatment. Outcome parameter were the prevalence and determinants of a desire to have children in trans persons. Before treatment, a desire for children was significantly higher in trans men compared to trans women (P = .016). In contrast, in those who had already started treatment, a current desire to have children was equally present in about one fourth of participants of both genders while the interest in having children in the future was significantly higher in trans women (69.9%) than in trans men (46.9%; P = .034). Although 76.1% of trans women and 76.6% of trans men indicated that they had at least thought about preserving germ cells before starting medical transition, only 9.6% of trans women and 3.1% of trans men had put this idea into practice. Most trans men in both groups indicated that insemination of a female partner with sperm from an unrelated donor was a suitable option to fulfill their child wish, potentially explaining their low interest in preserving their own germ cells. Finally, a logistic regression analysis accounting for potential confounders revealed that overall trans women were more than twice as likely to have a current desire to have children (odds ratio 2.58), and this wish was on average 5.3% lower with each year of increasing age. A low level of fertility preservation among trans persons is contrasted by a high level of desire for children. This highlights the importance of counseling trans individuals regarding fertility preservation options. To our knowledge, this is the first study that addresses desire to have children in a clinical sample of trans women. It is also the first that investigates this issue among trans men who have not started medical treatment, and the first comparison of both genders. A limitation for the generalization of our results is the special legal context in Germany that forbids oocyte donation for reciprocal in vitro fertilization. Reproductive desire is high among trans individuals, but the use of reproductive options is surprisingly low. Auer MK, Fuss J, Nieder TO, et al. Desire to Have Children Among Transgender People in Germany: A Cross-Sectional Multi-Center Study. J Sex Med 2018;15:757-767. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Recent research on stishovite: Hugoniot and partial release Z experiments and DFT EOS calculations.

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

Furnish, Michael D.; Shulenburger, Luke; Desjarlais, Michael

We have conducted a series of ride-along experiments on the Z facility to ascertain the Hugoniot of silica centered in the stishovite phase over a range 0.4 - 1.0 TPa, together with partial release states produced at the interface between the sample and a fused silica window. The stishovite samples were synthesized in a large-volume multi-anvil press at 15 GPa and 1773 K, with an initial density of 4.29 gm/cc. The new Z experiments on stishovite fill in a gap between gas gun experiments and NIF experiments. The states are compared with the Hugoniots of quartz and fused silica formore » inferences as to EOS. They are generally consistent with Sesame 7360 predictions. Sound speed constraints from these data are discussed. The new Hugoniot data cross over the melting curve of stishovite; together with the partial-release data and predictions from density-functional theory modeling, they provide insights into the properties of solid and liquid under extreme conditions. These data are fundamentally important for understanding the interior of silicate-based super-Earths.« less
Scalable Open Science Approach for Mutation Calling of Tumor Exomes Using Multiple Genomic Pipelines.

PubMed

Ellrott, Kyle; Bailey, Matthew H; Saksena, Gordon; Covington, Kyle R; Kandoth, Cyriac; Stewart, Chip; Hess, Julian; Ma, Singer; Chiotti, Kami E; McLellan, Michael; Sofia, Heidi J; Hutter, Carolyn; Getz, Gad; Wheeler, David; Ding, Li

2018-03-28

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cancer genomics dataset includes over 10,000 tumor-normal exome pairs across 33 different cancer types, in total >400 TB of raw data files requiring analysis. Here we describe the Multi-Center Mutation Calling in Multiple Cancers project, our effort to generate a comprehensive encyclopedia of somatic mutation calls for the TCGA data to enable robust cross-tumor-type analyses. Our approach accounts for variance and batch effects introduced by the rapid advancement of DNA extraction, hybridization-capture, sequencing, and analysis methods over time. We present best practices for applying an ensemble of seven mutation-calling algorithms with scoring and artifact filtering. The dataset created by this analysis includes 3.5 million somatic variants and forms the basis for PanCan Atlas papers. The results have been made available to the research community along with the methods used to generate them. This project is the result of collaboration from a number of institutes and demonstrates how team science drives extremely large genomics projects. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
A Multi-resolution, Multi-epoch Low Radio Frequency Survey of the Kepler K2 Mission Campaign 1 Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tingay, S. J.; Hancock, P. J.; Wayth, R. B.; Intema, H.; Jagannathan, P.; Mooley, K.

2016-10-01

We present the first dedicated radio continuum survey of a Kepler K2 mission field, Field 1, covering the North Galactic Cap. The survey is wide field, contemporaneous, multi-epoch, and multi-resolution in nature and was conducted at low radio frequencies between 140 and 200 MHz. The multi-epoch and ultra wide field (but relatively low resolution) part of the survey was provided by 15 nights of observation using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) over a period of approximately a month, contemporaneous with K2 observations of the field. The multi-resolution aspect of the survey was provided by the low resolution (4‧) MWA imaging, complemented by non-contemporaneous but much higher resolution (20″) observations using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). The survey is, therefore, sensitive to the details of radio structures across a wide range of angular scales. Consistent with other recent low radio frequency surveys, no significant radio transients or variables were detected in the survey. The resulting source catalogs consist of 1085 and 1468 detections in the two MWA observation bands (centered at 154 and 185 MHz, respectively) and 7445 detections in the GMRT observation band (centered at 148 MHz), over 314 square degrees. The survey is presented as a significant resource for multi-wavelength investigations of the more than 21,000 target objects in the K2 field. We briefly examine our survey data against K2 target lists for dwarf star types (stellar types M and L) that have been known to produce radio flares.
Multi-center prediction of hemorrhagic transformation in acute ischemic stroke using permeability imaging features.

PubMed

Scalzo, Fabien; Alger, Jeffry R; Hu, Xiao; Saver, Jeffrey L; Dani, Krishna A; Muir, Keith W; Demchuk, Andrew M; Coutts, Shelagh B; Luby, Marie; Warach, Steven; Liebeskind, David S

2013-07-01

Permeability images derived from magnetic resonance (MR) perfusion images are sensitive to blood-brain barrier derangement of the brain tissue and have been shown to correlate with subsequent development of hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in acute ischemic stroke. This paper presents a multi-center retrospective study that evaluates the predictive power in terms of HT of six permeability MRI measures including contrast slope (CS), final contrast (FC), maximum peak bolus concentration (MPB), peak bolus area (PB), relative recirculation (rR), and percentage recovery (%R). Dynamic T2*-weighted perfusion MR images were collected from 263 acute ischemic stroke patients from four medical centers. An essential aspect of this study is to exploit a classifier-based framework to automatically identify predictive patterns in the overall intensity distribution of the permeability maps. The model is based on normalized intensity histograms that are used as input features to the predictive model. Linear and nonlinear predictive models are evaluated using a cross-validation to measure generalization power on new patients and a comparative analysis is provided for the different types of parameters. Results demonstrate that perfusion imaging in acute ischemic stroke can predict HT with an average accuracy of more than 85% using a predictive model based on a nonlinear regression model. Results also indicate that the permeability feature based on the percentage of recovery performs significantly better than the other features. This novel model may be used to refine treatment decisions in acute stroke. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
A Paradox-based data collection and management system for multi-center randomized clinical trials.

PubMed

Abdellatif, Mazen; Reda, Domenic J

2004-02-01

We have developed a Paradox-based data collection and management system for large-scale multi-site randomized clinical trials. The system runs under Windows operating system and integrates Symantec pcAnywhere32 telecommunications software for data transmission and remote control sessions, PKZIP utility for the compression/decompression of transmitted data, and Stat/Transfer for exporting the centralized Paradox database for analyses. We initially developed this system for VA Cooperative Study #399 'The Effect of Antiarrhythmic Therapy in Maintaining Stability of Sinus Rhythm in Atrial Fibrillation', which collects over 1000 variables on 706 patients at 20 sites. Patient intake for this 5-year study began in March of 1998. We have also developed an enhanced version of this system, which is being used in the NIH-funded 'Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT)' that collects over 1200 variables on 1588 patients at 13 sites. Patient intake for this 4-year study began in October of 2000.
Design and 4D Printing of Cross-Folded Origami Structures: A Preliminary Investigation.

PubMed

Teoh, Joanne Ee Mei; An, Jia; Feng, Xiaofan; Zhao, Yue; Chua, Chee Kai; Liu, Yong

2018-03-03

In 4D printing research, different types of complex structure folding and unfolding have been investigated. However, research on cross-folding of origami structures (defined as a folding structure with at least two overlapping folds) has not been reported. This research focuses on the investigation of cross-folding structures using multi-material components along different axes and different horizontal hinge thickness with single homogeneous material. Tensile tests were conducted to determine the impact of multi-material components and horizontal hinge thickness. In the case of multi-material structures, the hybrid material composition has a significant impact on the overall maximum strain and Young's modulus properties. In the case of single material structures, the shape recovery speed is inversely proportional to the horizontal hinge thickness, while the flexural or bending strength is proportional to the horizontal hinge thickness. A hinge with a thickness of 0.5 mm could be folded three times prior to fracture whilst a hinge with a thickness of 0.3 mm could be folded only once prior to fracture. A hinge with a thickness of 0.1 mm could not even be folded without cracking. The introduction of a physical hole in the center of the folding/unfolding line provided stress relief and prevented fracture. A complex flower petal shape was used to successfully demonstrate the implementation of overlapping and non-overlapping folding lines using both single material segments and multi-material segments. Design guidelines for establishing cross-folding structures using multi-material components along different axes and different horizontal hinge thicknesses with single or homogeneous material were established. These guidelines can be used to design and implement complex origami structures with overlapping and non-overlapping folding lines. Combined overlapping folding structures could be implemented and allocating specific hole locations in the overall designs could be further explored. In addition, creating a more precise prediction by investigating sets of in between hinge thicknesses and comparing the folding times before fracture, will be the subject of future work.
Children's Reasoning about Aggression: Differences between Japan and the United States and Implications for School Discipline

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bear, George G.; Manning, Maureen A.; Shiomi, Kunio

2006-01-01

Results are presented of a cross-cultural study of differences in the reasons that children in the United States and Japan give for refraining from common types of aggression. Over 200 children, primarily fifth-graders, were interviewed individually. The study was an extension of previous research showing that children who voice a self-centered or…
KSC-2014-3527

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-14

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A storm is brewing over Launch Complex 39 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At left are the news networks' facilities on the NASA Press Site. At right is the behemoth Vehicle Assembly Building. Kennedy's Ground Support Development and Operations Program is hard at work transforming the center's facilities into a multi-user spaceport, when the weather permits. For more on Kennedy Space Center, visit http://www.nasa.gov/kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Validating Remotely Sensed Land Surface Evapotranspiration Based on Multi-scale Field Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Z.; Liu, S.; Ziwei, X.; Liang, S.

2012-12-01

The land surface evapotranspiration plays an important role in the surface energy balance and the water cycle. There have been significant technical and theoretical advances in our knowledge of evapotranspiration over the past two decades. Acquisition of the temporally and spatially continuous distribution of evapotranspiration using remote sensing technology has attracted the widespread attention of researchers and managers. However, remote sensing technology still has many uncertainties coming from model mechanism, model inputs, parameterization schemes, and scaling issue in the regional estimation. Achieving remotely sensed evapotranspiration (RS_ET) with confident certainty is required but difficult. As a result, it is indispensable to develop the validation methods to quantitatively assess the accuracy and error sources of the regional RS_ET estimations. This study proposes an innovative validation method based on multi-scale evapotranspiration acquired from field measurements, with the validation results including the accuracy assessment, error source analysis, and uncertainty analysis of the validation process. It is a potentially useful approach to evaluate the accuracy and analyze the spatio-temporal properties of RS_ET at both the basin and local scales, and is appropriate to validate RS_ET in diverse resolutions at different time-scales. An independent RS_ET validation using this method was presented over the Hai River Basin, China in 2002-2009 as a case study. Validation at the basin scale showed good agreements between the 1 km annual RS_ET and the validation data such as the water balanced evapotranspiration, MODIS evapotranspiration products, precipitation, and landuse types. Validation at the local scale also had good results for monthly, daily RS_ET at 30 m and 1 km resolutions, comparing to the multi-scale evapotranspiration measurements from the EC and LAS, respectively, with the footprint model over three typical landscapes. Although some validation experiments demonstrated that the models yield accurate estimates at flux measurement sites, the question remains whether they are performing well over the broader landscape. Moreover, a large number of RS_ET products have been released in recent years. Thus, we also pay attention to the cross-validation method of RS_ET derived from multi-source models. "The Multi-scale Observation Experiment on Evapotranspiration over Heterogeneous Land Surfaces: Flux Observation Matrix" campaign is carried out at the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin, China in 2012. Flux measurements from an observation matrix composed of 22 EC and 4 LAS are acquired to investigate the cross-validation of multi-source models over different landscapes. In this case, six remote sensing models, including the empirical statistical model, the one-source and two-source models, the Penman-Monteith equation based model, the Priestley-Taylor equation based model, and the complementary relationship based model, are used to perform an intercomparison. All the results from the two cases of RS_ET validation showed that the proposed validation methods are reasonable and feasible.
One year double blind study of high vs low frequency subcallosal cingulate stimulation for depression.

PubMed

Eitan, Renana; Fontaine, Denys; Benoît, Michel; Giordana, Caroline; Darmon, Nelly; Israel, Zvi; Linesky, Eduard; Arkadir, David; Ben-Naim, Shiri; Iserlles, Moshe; Bergman, Hagai; Hulse, Natasha; Abdelghani, Mohamed; McGuffin, Peter; Farmer, Anne; DeLea, Peichel; Ashkan, Keyoumars; Lerer, Bernard

2018-01-01

Subcallosal Brodmann's Area 25 (Cg25) Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a new promising therapy for treatment resistant major depressive disorder (TR-MDD). While different DBS stimulating parameters may have an impact on the efficacy and safety of the therapy, there is no data to support a protocol for optimal stimulation parameters for depression. Here we present a prospective multi-center double-blind randomized crossed-over 13-month study that evaluated the effects of High (130 Hz) vs Low (20 Hz) frequency Cg25 stimulation for nine patients with TR-MDD. Four out of nine patients achieved response criteria (≥40% reduction of symptom score) compared to mean baseline values at the end of the study. The mean percent change of MADRS score showed a similar improvement in the high and low frequency stimulation groups after 6 months of stimulation (-15.4 ± 21.1 and -14.7 ± 21.1 respectively). The mean effect at the end of the second period (6 months after cross-over) was higher than the first period (first 6 months of stimulation) in all patients (-23.4 ± 19.9 (n = 6 periods) and -13.0 ± 22 (n = 9 periods) respectively). At the end of the second period, the mean percent change of the MADRS scores improved more in the high than low frequency groups (-31.3 ± 19.3 (n = 4 patients) and -7.7 ± 10.9 (n = 2 patients) respectively). Given the small numbers, detailed statistical analysis is challenging. Nonetheless the results of this study suggest that long term high frequency stimulation might confer the best results. Larger scale, randomized double blind trials are needed in order to evaluate the most effective stimulation parameters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Multi-scale computational modeling of developmental biology.

PubMed

Setty, Yaki

2012-08-01

Normal development of multicellular organisms is regulated by a highly complex process in which a set of precursor cells proliferate, differentiate and move, forming over time a functioning tissue. To handle their complexity, developmental systems can be studied over distinct scales. The dynamics of each scale is determined by the collective activity of entities at the scale below it. I describe a multi-scale computational approach for modeling developmental systems and detail the methodology through a synthetic example of a developmental system that retains key features of real developmental systems. I discuss the simulation of the system as it emerges from cross-scale and intra-scale interactions and describe how an in silico study can be carried out by modifying these interactions in a way that mimics in vivo experiments. I highlight biological features of the results through a comparison with findings in Caenorhabditis elegans germline development and finally discuss about the applications of the approach in real developmental systems and propose future extensions. The source code of the model of the synthetic developmental system can be found in www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~yaki/MultiScaleModel. yaki.setty@gmail.com Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Patient Experience with the Patient-Centered Medical Home in Michigan's Statewide Multi-Payer Demonstration: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PubMed

Sarinopoulos, Issidoros; Bechel-Marriott, Diane L; Malouin, Jean M; Zhai, Shaohui; Forney, Jason C; Tanner, Clare L

2017-11-01

The literature on patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) and patient experience is somewhat mixed. Government and private payers are promoting multi-payer PCMH initiatives to align requirements and resources and to enhance practice transformation outcomes. To this end, the multipayer Michigan Primary Care Transformation (MiPCT) demonstration project was carried out. To examine whether the PCMH is associated with a better patient experience, and whether a mature, multi-payer PCMH demonstration is associated with even further improvement in the patient experience. This is a cross-sectional comparison of adults attributed to MiPCT PCMH, non-participating PCMH, and non-PCMH practices, statistically controlling for potential confounders, and conducted among both general and high-risk patient samples. Responses came from 3893 patients in the general population and 4605 in the high-risk population (response rates of 31.8% and 34.1%, respectively). The Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, with PCMH supplemental questions, was administered in January and February 2015. MiPCT general and high-risk patients reported a significantly better experience than non-PCMH patients in most domains. Adjusted mean differences were as follows: access (0.35**, 0.36***), communication (0.19*, 0.18*), and coordination (0.33**, 0.35***), respectively (on a 10-point scale, with significance indicated by: *= p<0.05, **= p<0.01, and ***= p<0.001). Adjusted mean differences in overall provider ratings were not significant. Global odds ratios were significant for the domains of self-management support (1.38**, 1.41***) and comprehensiveness (1.67***, 1.61***). Non-participating PCMH ratings fell between MiPCT and non-PCMH across all domains and populations, sometimes attaining statistical significance. PCMH practices have more positive patient experiences across domains characteristic of advanced primary care. A mature multi-payer model has the strongest, most consistent association with a better patient experience, pointing to the need to provide consistent expectations, resources, and time for practice transformation. Our results held for a general population and a high-risk population which has much more contact with the healthcare system.
A DICOM-based 2nd generation Molecular Imaging Data Grid implementing the IHE XDS-i integration profile.

PubMed

Lee, Jasper; Zhang, Jianguo; Park, Ryan; Dagliyan, Grant; Liu, Brent; Huang, H K

2012-07-01

A Molecular Imaging Data Grid (MIDG) was developed to address current informatics challenges in archival, sharing, search, and distribution of preclinical imaging studies between animal imaging facilities and investigator sites. This manuscript presents a 2nd generation MIDG replacing the Globus Toolkit with a new system architecture that implements the IHE XDS-i integration profile. Implementation and evaluation were conducted using a 3-site interdisciplinary test-bed at the University of Southern California. The 2nd generation MIDG design architecture replaces the initial design's Globus Toolkit with dedicated web services and XML-based messaging for dedicated management and delivery of multi-modality DICOM imaging datasets. The Cross-enterprise Document Sharing for Imaging (XDS-i) integration profile from the field of enterprise radiology informatics was adopted into the MIDG design because streamlined image registration, management, and distribution dataflow are likewise needed in preclinical imaging informatics systems as in enterprise PACS application. Implementation of the MIDG is demonstrated at the University of Southern California Molecular Imaging Center (MIC) and two other sites with specified hardware, software, and network bandwidth. Evaluation of the MIDG involves data upload, download, and fault-tolerance testing scenarios using multi-modality animal imaging datasets collected at the USC Molecular Imaging Center. The upload, download, and fault-tolerance tests of the MIDG were performed multiple times using 12 collected animal study datasets. Upload and download times demonstrated reproducibility and improved real-world performance. Fault-tolerance tests showed that automated failover between Grid Node Servers has minimal impact on normal download times. Building upon the 1st generation concepts and experiences, the 2nd generation MIDG system improves accessibility of disparate animal-model molecular imaging datasets to users outside a molecular imaging facility's LAN using a new architecture, dataflow, and dedicated DICOM-based management web services. Productivity and efficiency of preclinical research for translational sciences investigators has been further streamlined for multi-center study data registration, management, and distribution.
Migration of finite sized particles in a laminar square channel flow from low to high Reynolds numbers

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

Abbas, M., E-mail: micheline.abbas@ensiacet.fr; CNRS, Fédération de recherche FERMaT, CNRS, 31400, Toulouse; Magaud, P.

2014-12-15

The migration of neutrally buoyant finite sized particles in a Newtonian square channel flow is investigated in the limit of very low solid volumetric concentration, within a wide range of channel Reynolds numbers Re = [0.07-120]. In situ microscope measurements of particle distributions, taken far from the channel inlet (at a distance several thousand times the channel height), revealed that particles are preferentially located near the channel walls at Re > 10 and near the channel center at Re < 1. Whereas the cross-streamline particle motion is governed by inertia-induced lift forces at high inertia, it seems to be controlledmore » by shear-induced particle interactions at low (but finite) Reynolds numbers, despite the low solid volume fraction (<1%). The transition between both regimes is observed in the range Re = [1-10]. In order to exclude the effect of multi-body interactions, the trajectories of single freely moving particles are calculated thanks to numerical simulations based on the force coupling method. With the deployed numerical tool, the complete particle trajectories are accessible within a reasonable computational time only in the inertial regime (Re > 10). In this regime, we show that (i) the particle undergoes cross-streamline migration followed by a cross-lateral migration (parallel to the wall) in agreement with previous observations, and (ii) the stable equilibrium positions are located at the midline of the channel faces while the diagonal equilibrium positions are unstable. At low flow inertia, the first instants of the numerical simulations (carried at Re = O(1)) reveal that the cross-streamline migration of a single particle is oriented towards the channel wall, suggesting that the particle preferential positions around the channel center, observed in the experiments, are rather due to multi-body interactions.« less
Develop Improved Materials to Support the Hydrogen Economy

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

Dr. Michael C. Martin

The Edison Materials Technology Center (EMTEC) solicited and funded hydrogen infrastructure related projects that have a near term potential for commercialization. The subject technology of each project is related to the US Department of Energy hydrogen economy goals as outlined in the multi-year plan titled, 'Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program Multi-Year Research, Development and Demonstration Plan.' Preference was given to cross cutting materials development projects that might lead to the establishment of manufacturing capability and job creation. The Edison Materials Technology Center (EMTEC) used the US Department of Energy hydrogen economy goals to find and fund projects withmore » near term commercialization potential. An RFP process aligned with this plan required performance based objectives with go/no-go technology based milestones. Protocols established for this program consisted of a RFP solicitation process, white papers and proposals with peer technology and commercialization review (including DoE), EMTEC project negotiation and definition and DoE cost share approval. Our RFP approach specified proposals/projects for hydrogen production, hydrogen storage or hydrogen infrastructure processing which may include sensor, separator, compression, maintenance, or delivery technologies. EMTEC was especially alert for projects in the appropriate subject area that have cross cutting materials technology with near term manufacturing and commercialization opportunities.« less
The Effectiveness of Off Campus Multi-Institutional Teaching Centers as Perceived by Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flores-Mejorado, Dina; Edmonson, Stacey; Fisher, Alice

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the perceptions of undergraduate and graduate students of a selected state university in Texas attending the Multi Institutional Teaching Center (MITC)/The University Center (TUC) or the main campus regarding the effectiveness of student services. As universities face limited resources and…
A prospective pilot study to evaluate an animated home-based physical exercise program as a treatment option for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

PubMed

Zernicke, Jan; Kedor, Claudia; Müller, Angela; Burmester, Gerd-Rüdiger; Reißhauer, Anett; Feist, Eugen

2016-08-18

Physical exercises and physiotherapy are of great importance for maintenance of joint function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, many RA patients complain about problems to receive prescriptions or have a lack of access to physiotherapy. Recent reports have shown positive effects of the Wii game console on physical and psychosocial conditions of patients with other underlying diseases. The primary objectives of this prospective controlled pilot study were to investigate feasibility and patients' assessment using an animated home-based exercise program. This pilot study was conducted as a single-center, cross-over trial with two treatment arms over 24 weeks. Eligibility criteria included patients with RA reaching low disease activity under therapy with a biological disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (bDMARD). After detailed instruction, 15 patients started with a conventional home-based physical exercise program and 15 patients began with a predefined animated exercise program by using the Wii game console for 12 weeks. Afterwards, patients were crossed-over to the other treatment arm for another period of 12 weeks. Multi-methodical assessments were performed by qualitative analysis of the interview-data as well as statistical analysis of functional tests and patient reported outcomes (PRO's). Evaluation of the interviews indicated feasibility and usefulness of the chosen animated home-based exercise program. Forefoot disabilities were identified as a main limiting factor for performing some of the animated exercises. After 12 weeks, both treatment arms showed improvement of functional tests without significant differences between groups: Overall muscle strength improved for a mean value of 10 Newton (+12 %) and the mean 6-min walk test (6-MWT) distance increased for 28 meters (+5 %). This study showed that an animated home-based exercise program by using a Wii game console was feasible and beneficial for RA patients. Compared to standard physical home exercises, similar effects were observed indicating that such an animated program might be an alternative supportive option for RA patients. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02658370 (19-Jan-2016).
Protocol: a multi-level intervention program to reduce stress in 9-1-1 telecommunicators.

PubMed

Meischke, Hendrika; Lilly, Michelle; Beaton, Randal; Calhoun, Rebecca; Tu, Ann; Stangenes, Scott; Painter, Ian; Revere, Debra; Baseman, Janet

2018-05-02

Nationwide, emergency response systems depend on 9-1-1 telecommunicators to prioritize, triage, and dispatch assistance to those in distress. 9-1-1 call center telecommunicators (TCs) are challenged by acute and chronic workplace stressors: tense interactions with citizen callers in crisis; overtime; shift-work; ever-changing technologies; and negative work culture, including co-worker conflict. This workforce is also subject to routine exposures to secondary traumatization while handling calls involving emergency situations and while making time urgent, high stake decisions over the phone. Our study aims to test the effectiveness of a multi-part intervention to reduce stress in 9-1-1 TCs through an online mindfulness training and a toolkit containing workplace stressor reduction resources. The study employs a randomized controlled trial design with three data collection points. The multi-part intervention includes an individual-level online mindfulness training and a call center-level organizational stress reduction toolkit. 160 TCs will be recruited from 9-1-1 call centers, complete a baseline survey at enrollment, and are randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. Intervention group participants will start a 7-week online mindfulness training developed in-house and tailored to 9-1-1 TCs and their call center environment; control participants will be "waitlisted" and start the training after the study period ends. Following the intervention group's completion of the mindfulness training, all participants complete a second survey. Next, the online toolkit with call-center wide stress reduction resources is made available to managers of all participating call centers. After 3 months, a third survey will be completed by all participants. The primary outcome is 9-1-1 TCs' self-reported symptoms of stress at three time points as measured by the C-SOSI (Calgary Symptoms of Stress Inventory). Secondary outcomes will include: perceptions of social work environment (measured by metrics of social support and network conflict); mindfulness; and perceptions of social work environment and mindfulness as mediators of stress reduction. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of an online mindfulness training and call center-wide stress reduction toolkit in reducing self-reported stress in 9-1-1 TCs. The results of this study will add to the growing body of research on worksite stress reduction programs. ClinicalTrials.gov Registration Number: NCT02961621 Registered on November 7, 2016 (retrospectively registered).

Cross-frictional therapy and stretching for the treatment of palmar adhesions due to Dupuytren's contracture: a prospective case study.

PubMed

Christie, W Scott; Puhl, Aaron A; Lucaciu, Octavian Calin

2012-10-01

To examine the potential for treatment of palmar adhesions associated with Dupuytren's contracture using instrument-assisted cross-frictional massage (CFM) and stretching. This was a prospective case study. The primary intervention consisted of a 2-min multi-planar CFM over the affected area of the palm, followed by a 2-min maximal finger-extension stretch. Following eight weeks of treatment there were increases in both passive and active extension range of motion of the digits, reduction in the visibility of palmar adhesions, and subjective improvements in hand function. This treatment protocol may offer a substitute for the current invasive surgical and injection procedures that are available. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Concrete Solution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

A Space Act Agreement between Kennedy Space Center and Surtreat Southeast, Inc., resulted in a new treatment that keeps buildings from corroding away over time. Structural corrosion is a multi-billion dollar problem in the United States. The agreement merged Kennedy Space Center's research into electrical treatments of structural corrosion with chemical processes developed by Surtreat. Combining NASA and Surtreat technologies has resulted in a unique process with broad corrosion-control applications.
Dimensions and predictors of disability—A baseline study of patients entering somatic rehabilitation in secondary care

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate disability among patients who were accepted for admission to a Norwegian rehabilitation center and to identify predictors of disability. Materials and methods In a cross-sectional study including 967 adult participants, the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule version 2.0 36-item version was used for assessing overall and domain-specific disability as outcome variables. Patients completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), EuroQoL EQ-5D-5L and questions about multi-morbidity, smoking and perceived physical fitness. Additionally, the main health condition, sociodemographic and environmental variables obtained from referrals and public registers were used as predictor variables. Descriptive statistics and linear regression analyses were performed. Results The mean (standard error) overall disability score was 30.0 (0.5), domain scores ranged from 11.9 to 44.7. Neurological diseases, multi-morbidity, low education, impaired physical fitness, pain, and higher HADS depressive score increased the overall disability score. A low HADS depressive score predicted a lower disability score in all domains. Conclusions A moderate overall disability score was found among patients accepted for admission to a rehabilitation center but “life activities” and “participation in society” had the highest domain scores. This should be taken into account when rehabilitation strategies are developed. PMID:29499064
Rainfall Estimation over the Nile Basin using Multi-Spectral, Multi- Instrument Satellite Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habib, E.; Kuligowski, R.; Sazib, N.; Elshamy, M.; Amin, D.; Ahmed, M.

2012-04-01

Management of Egypt's Aswan High Dam is critical not only for flood control on the Nile but also for ensuring adequate water supplies for most of Egypt since rainfall is scarce over the vast majority of its land area. However, reservoir inflow is driven by rainfall over Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and several other countries from which routine rain gauge data are sparse. Satellite- derived estimates of rainfall offer a much more detailed and timely set of data to form a basis for decisions on the operation of the dam. A single-channel infrared (IR) algorithm is currently in operational use at the Egyptian Nile Forecast Center (NFC). In this study, the authors report on the adaptation of a multi-spectral, multi-instrument satellite rainfall estimation algorithm (Self- Calibrating Multivariate Precipitation Retrieval, SCaMPR) for operational application by NFC over the Nile Basin. The algorithm uses a set of rainfall predictors that come from multi-spectral Infrared cloud top observations and self-calibrate them to a set of predictands that come from the more accurate, but less frequent, Microwave (MW) rain rate estimates. For application over the Nile Basin, the SCaMPR algorithm uses multiple satellite IR channels that have become recently available to NFC from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI). Microwave rain rates are acquired from multiple sources such as the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), the Special Sensor Microwave Imager and Sounder (SSMIS), the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on EOS (AMSR-E), and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI). The algorithm has two main steps: rain/no-rain separation using discriminant analysis, and rain rate estimation using stepwise linear regression. We test two modes of algorithm calibration: real- time calibration with continuous updates of coefficients with newly coming MW rain rates, and calibration using static coefficients that are derived from IR-MW data from past observations. We also compare the SCaMPR algorithm to other global-scale satellite rainfall algorithms (e.g., 'Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and other sources' (TRMM-3B42) product, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Prediction Center (NOAA-CPC) CMORPH product. The algorithm has several potential future applications such as: improving the performance accuracy of hydrologic forecasting models over the Nile Basin, and utilizing the enhanced rainfall datasets and better-calibrated hydrologic models to assess the impacts of climate change on the region's water availability using global circulation models and regional climate models.
Differential Impact of Unguided versus Guided Use of a Multimedia Introduction to Equine Obstetrics in Veterinary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Govaere Jan, L. J.; de Kruif, Aart; Valcke, Martin

2012-01-01

In view of supporting the study of the complex domain of equine obstetrics, a Foal"in"Mare multimedia package with 3D designs has been developed. The present study centers on questions as to the most optimal implementation of the multimedia package in veterinary education. In a pretest-posttest cross-over design, students were randomly assigned to…
Multi-objective optimization of process parameters of multi-step shaft formed with cross wedge rolling based on orthogonal test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, S. T.; Shu, X. D.; Shchukin, V.; Kozhevnikova, G.

2018-06-01

In order to achieve reasonable process parameters in forming multi-step shaft by cross wedge rolling, the research studied the rolling-forming process multi-step shaft on the DEFORM-3D finite element software. The interactive orthogonal experiment was used to study the effect of the eight parameters, the first section shrinkage rate φ1, the first forming angle α1, the first spreading angle β1, the first spreading length L1, the second section shrinkage rate φ2, the second forming angle α2, the second spreading angle β2 and the second spreading length L2, on the quality of shaft end and the microstructure uniformity. By using the fuzzy mathematics comprehensive evaluation method and the extreme difference analysis, the influence degree of the process parameters on the quality of the multi-step shaft is obtained: β2>φ2L1>α1>β1>φ1>α2L2. The results of the study can provide guidance for obtaining multi-stepped shaft with high mechanical properties and achieving near net forming without stub bar in cross wedge rolling.
Information Infrastructure Technology and Applications (IITA) Program: Annual K-12 Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunter, Paul; Likens, William; Leon, Mark

1995-01-01

The purpose of the K-12 workshop is to stimulate a cross pollination of inter-center activity and introduce the regional centers to curing edge K-1 activities. The format of the workshop consists of project presentations, working groups, and working group reports, all contained in a three day period. The agenda is aggressive and demanding. The K-12 Education Project is a multi-center activity managed by the Information Infrastructure Technology and Applications (IITA)/K-12 Project Office at the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). this workshop is conducted in support of executing the K-12 Education element of the IITA Project The IITA/K-12 Project funds activities that use the National Information Infrastructure (NII) (e.g., the Internet) to foster reform and restructuring in mathematics, science, computing, engineering, and technical education.
The Influence of Game Design on the Collaborative Problem Solving Process: A Cross-Case Study of Multi-Player Collaborative Gameplay Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yildirim, Nilay

2013-01-01

This cross-case study examines the relationships between game design attributes and collaborative problem solving process in the context of multi-player video games. The following game design attributes: sensory stimuli elements, level of challenge, and presentation of game goals and rules were examined to determine their influence on game…
A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Singaporean and Taiwanese Eighth Graders' Science Learning Self-Efficacy from a Multi-Dimensional Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Tzung-Jin; Tan, Aik Ling; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2013-01-01

Due to the scarcity of cross-cultural comparative studies in exploring students' self-efficacy in science learning, this study attempted to develop a multi-dimensional science learning self-efficacy (SLSE) instrument to measure 316 Singaporean and 303 Taiwanese eighth graders' SLSE and further to examine the differences between the two student…
A 5-year scientometric analysis of research centers affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

PubMed

Yazdani, Kamran; Rahimi-Movaghar, Afarin; Nedjat, Saharnaz; Ghalichi, Leila; Khalili, Malahat

2015-01-01

Since Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) has the oldest and highest number of research centers among all Iranian medical universities, this study was conducted to evaluate scientific output of research centers affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) using scientometric indices and the affecting factors. Moreover, a number of scientometric indicators were introduced. This cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate a 5-year scientific performance of research centers of TUMS. Data were collected through questionnaires, annual evaluation reports of the Ministry of Health, and also from Scopus database. We used appropriate measures of central tendency and variation for descriptive analyses. Moreover, uni-and multi-variable linear regression were used to evaluate the effect of independent factors on the scientific output of the centers. The medians of the numbers of papers and books during a 5-year period were 150.5 and 2.5 respectively. The median of the "articles per researcher" was 19.1. Based on multiple linear regression, younger age centers (p=0.001), having a separate budget line (p=0.016), and number of research personnel (p<0.001) had a direct significant correlation with the number of articles while real properties had a reverse significant correlation with it (p=0.004). The results can help policy makers and research managers to allocate sufficient resources to improve current situation of the centers. Newly adopted and effective scientometric indices are is suggested to be used to evaluate scientific outputs and functions of these centers.
Multiplexing T- and B-Cell FLUOROSPOT Assays: Experimental Validation of the Multi-Color ImmunoSpot® Software Based on Center of Mass Distance Algorithm.

PubMed

Karulin, Alexey Y; Megyesi, Zoltán; Caspell, Richard; Hanson, Jodi; Lehmann, Paul V

2018-01-01

Over the past decade, ELISPOT has become a highly implemented mainstream assay in immunological research, immune monitoring, and vaccine development. Unique single cell resolution along with high throughput potential sets ELISPOT apart from flow cytometry, ELISA, microarray- and bead-based multiplex assays. The necessity to unambiguously identify individual T and B cells that do, or do not co-express certain analytes, including polyfunctional cytokine producing T cells has stimulated the development of multi-color ELISPOT assays. The success of these assays has also been driven by limited sample/cell availability and resource constraints with reagents and labor. There are few commercially available test kits and instruments available at present for multi-color FLUOROSPOT. Beyond commercial descriptions of competing systems, little is known about their accuracy in experimental settings detecting individual cells that secrete multiple analytes vs. random overlays of spots. Here, we present a theoretical and experimental validation study for three and four color T- and B-cell FLUOROSPOT data analysis. The ImmunoSpot ® Fluoro-X™ analysis system we used includes an automatic image acquisition unit that generates individual color images free of spectral overlaps and multi-color spot counting software based on the maximal allowed distance between centers of spots of different colors or Center of Mass Distance (COMD). Using four color B-cell FLUOROSPOT for IgM, IgA, IgG1, IgG3; and three/four color T-cell FLUOROSPOT for IL-2, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and GzB, in serial dilution experiments, we demonstrate the validity and accuracy of Fluoro-X™ multi-color spot counting algorithms. Statistical predictions based on the Poisson spatial distribution, coupled with scrambled image counting, permit objective correction of true multi-color spot counts to exclude randomly overlaid spots.
Antibiotics use among Palestine refugees attending UNRWA primary health care centers in Jordan - A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Al Baz, Maysun; Law, Michael R; Saadeh, Rawan

The irrational use of antibiotics is increasing in Jordanian refugee camps and consequently so too is bacterial resistance. About one-third of health expenditures at UNRWA health centers in Jordan are attributed to antibiotics. We studied knowledge, attitude and behaviour of Palestine refugees attending UNRWA health centers in Jordan regarding antibiotic use in order to plan public health interventions accordingly. A cross-sectional, interviewer-administered survey among 250 adult Palestine refugees at four different health centers was conducted. Irrational antibiotic use was widespread: 63% of patients share antibiotics at home, 38% use left-over antibiotics and 60% purchase antibiotics directly from the pharmacy without prescription (OTC) . 1 At the same time, knowledge about antibiotics side effects, resistance, and target agent was low. 90% of patients trust their doctor, however long waiting hours prevent them from seeking medical advice, which significantly increased self-medication. Our findings suggest a strong need for public education about antibiotics. In addition, health institutional level improvements such as shorter waiting hours and strict regulations prohibiting dispensing without prescription are necessary to combat growing bacterial resistance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Calculation of total and ionization cross sections for electron scattering by primary benzene compounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Suvam; Naghma, Rahla; Kaur, Jaspreet; Antony, Bobby

2016-07-01

The total and ionization cross sections for electron scattering by benzene, halobenzenes, toluene, aniline, and phenol are reported over a wide energy domain. The multi-scattering centre spherical complex optical potential method has been employed to find the total elastic and inelastic cross sections. The total ionization cross section is estimated from total inelastic cross section using the complex scattering potential-ionization contribution method. In the present article, the first theoretical calculations for electron impact total and ionization cross section have been performed for most of the targets having numerous practical applications. A reasonable agreement is obtained compared to existing experimental observations for all the targets reported here, especially for the total cross section.
Lanl Neutron-Induced Fission Cross Section Measurement Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laptev, A. B.; Tovesson, F.; Hill, T. S.

2014-09-01

A well established program of neutron-induced fission cross section measurement at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) is supporting the Fuel Cycle Research program (FC R&D). Combining measurements at two LANSCE facilities, the Lujan Center and the Weapons Neutron Research facility (WNR), cover neutron energies over 10 orders of magnitude: from sub-thermal up to 200 MeV. A parallel-plate fission ionization chamber was used as a fission fragment detector. The 235U(n,f) standard was used as the reference. Fission cross sections have been measured for multiple actinides. The new data presented here completes the suite of long-lived Uranium isotopes that were investigated with this experimental approach. The cross section data are presented in comparison with existing evaluations and previous measurements.
Effects of altering heel wedge properties on gait with the Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis.

PubMed

Ikeda, Andrea J; Fergason, John R; Wilken, Jason M

2018-06-01

The Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis is a custom-made dynamic response carbon fiber device. A heel wedge, which sits in the shoe, is an integral part of the orthosis-heel wedge-shoe system. Because the device restricts ankle movement, the system must compensate to simulate plantarflexion and allow smooth forward progression during gait. To determine the influence of wedge height and durometer on the walking gait of individuals using the Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis. Repeated measures. Twelve individuals walked over level ground with their Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis and six different heel wedges of soft or firm durometer and 1, 2, or 3 cm height. Center of pressure velocity, joint moments, and roll-over shape were calculated for each wedge. Height and durometer significantly affected time to peak center of pressure velocity, time to peak internal dorsiflexion and knee extension moments, time to ankle moment zero crossing, and roll-over shape center of curvature anterior-posterior position. Wedge height had a significant influence on peak center of pressure velocity, peak dorsiflexion moment, time to peak knee extension moment, and roll-over shape radius and vertical center of curvature. Changes in wedge height and durometer systematically affected foot loading. Participants preferred wedges which produced ankle moment zero crossing timing, peak internal knee extension moment timing, and roll-over shape center of curvature anterior-posterior position close to that of able-bodied individuals. Clinical relevance Adjusting the heel wedge is a simple, straightforward way to adjust the orthosis-heel wedge-shoe system. Changing wedge height and durometer significantly alters loading of the foot and has great potential to improve an individual's gait.
Stereospecific Cross-Coupling of Secondary Alkyl β-Trifluoroboratoamides

PubMed Central

Sandrock, Deidre L.; Jean-Gérard, Ludivine; Chen, Cheng-yi; Dreher, Spencer D.; Molander, Gary A.

2010-01-01

The stereospecific cross-coupling of enantioenriched non-benzylic secondary alkyl boron compounds has been achieved. The high selectivity toward product formation over an undesired β-H elimination pathway is achieved via an intramolecular coordination of an ancillary carbonyl to the metal center in the diorganopalladium intermediate. PMID:21077687
Interparental Violence and the Mediating Role of Parental Availability in Children's Trauma Related Symptoms.

PubMed

Visser, Margreet; Schoemaker, Kim; de Schipper, Clasien; Lamers-Winkelman, Francien; Finkenauer, Catrin

This cross-sectional study examined the hypothesis that parental psychopathology in Interparental Violence (IPV) families crosses over to children, because parental psychopathology spills over to parental functioning. In a high-risk sample of IPV exposed families, we tested whether parental psychopathology spills over to parental availability, which, in turn, shows a crossover effect to children's trauma-related symptoms. The study population consisted of 78 IPV exposed children (4-12 years), and their 65 custodial parents referred to outpatient Children's Trauma Centers in the Netherlands for intervention. Consistent with our hypotheses, parental psychopathology was negatively related to parental availability, suggesting a spillover effect. Although parental psychopathology was not associated with children's trauma-related symptoms directly, we found evidence for the predicted indirect, crossover effects. We found an indirect crossover effect from parental psychopathology to children's trauma-related anxiety, depression, and anger, through the spillover effect of parental availability. Clinical implications for treatment and study limitations are discussed.
A youth mentor-led nutritional intervention in urban recreation centers: a promising strategy for childhood obesity prevention in low-income neighborhoods

PubMed Central

Sato, Priscila M.; Steeves, Elizabeth A.; Carnell, Susan; Cheskin, Lawrence J.; Trude, Angela C.; Shipley, Cara; Mejía Ruiz, M. J.; Gittelsohn, Joel

2016-01-01

B’More Healthy Community for Kids (BHCK) is an ongoing multi-level intervention to prevent childhood obesity in African-American low-income neighborhoods in Baltimore city, MD. Although previous nutrition interventions involving peer mentoring of youth have been successful, there is a lack of studies evaluating the influence of cross-age peers within interventions targeting youth. This article evaluates the implementation of the BHCK intervention in recreation centers, and describes lessons learned. Sixteen youth leaders delivered bi-weekly, interactive sessions to 10- to 14-y olds. Dose, fidelity and reach are assessed, as is qualitative information regarding what worked well during sessions. Dose is operationalized as the number of interactive sessions, and taste tests, giveaways and handouts per session; fidelity as the number of youth leaders participating in the entire intervention and per session and reach as the number of interactions with the target population. Based on a priori set values, number of interactive sessions was high, and number of taste tests, giveaways and handouts was moderate to high (dose). The number of participating youth leaders was also high (fidelity). Of the 14 planned sessions, the intervention was implemented with high/moderate reach. Data suggest that working with cross-age peers is a promising nutritional intervention for recreation centers. PMID:26936480
Multicenter neonatal databases: Trends in research uses.

PubMed

Creel, Liza M; Gregory, Sean; McNeal, Catherine J; Beeram, Madhava R; Krauss, David R

2017-01-13

In the US, approximately 12.7% of all live births are preterm, 8.2% of live births were low birth weight (LBW), and 1.5% are very low birth weight (VLBW). Although technological advances have improved mortality rates among preterm and LBW infants, improving overall rates of prematurity and LBW remains a national priority. Monitoring short- and long-term outcomes is critical for advancing medical treatment and minimizing morbidities associated with prematurity or LBW; however, studying these infants can be challenging. Several large, multi-center neonatal databases have been developed to improve research and quality improvement of treatments for and outcomes of premature and LBW infants. The purpose of this systematic review was to describe three multi-center neonatal databases. We conducted a literature search using PubMed and Google Scholar over the period 1990 to August 2014. Studies were included in our review if one of the databases was used as a primary source of data or comparison. Included studies were categorized by year of publication; study design employed, and research focus. A total of 343 studies published between 1991 and 2014 were included. Studies of premature and LBW infants using these databases have increased over time, and provide evidence for both neonatology and community-based pediatric practice. Research into treatment and outcomes of premature and LBW infants is expanding, partially due to the availability of large, multicenter databases. The consistency of clinical conditions and neonatal outcomes studied since 1990 demonstrates that there are dedicated research agendas and resources that allow for long-term, and potentially replicable, studies within this population.
Temperature Anomalies from the AIRS Product in Giovanni for the Climate Community

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ding, Feng; Hearty, Thomas J.; Wei, Jennifer; Theobald, Michael; Vollmer, Bruce; Seiler, Edward; Meyer, David

2018-01-01

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) mission began with the launch of Aqua in 2002. Over 15 years of AIRS products have been used by the climate research and application communities. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), in collaboration with NASA Sounder Team at JPL, provides processing, archiving, and distribution services for NASA sounders: the present Aqua AIRS mission and the succeeding Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) mission. We generated a Multi-year Monthly Mean and Anomaly product using 14 years of AIRS standard monthly product. The product includes Air Temperature at the Surface and Surface Skin Temperature, both in Ascending/Daytime and Descending/Nighttime mode. The temperature variables and their anomalies are deployed to Giovanni, a Web-based application developed by the GES DISC. Giovanni provides a simple and intuitive way to visualize, analyze, and access vast amounts of Earth science remote sensing data without having to download the data. It is also a powerful tool that stakeholders can use for decision support in planning and preparing for increased climate variability. In this presentation, we demonstrate the functions in Giovanni with use cases employing AIRS Multi-year Monthly Mean and Anomaly variables.

Variability in the prevalence of adult ADHD in treatment seeking substance use disorder patients: results from an international multi-center study exploring DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria.

PubMed

van de Glind, Geurt; Konstenius, Maija; Koeter, Maarten W J; van Emmerik-van Oortmerssen, Katelijne; Carpentier, Pieter-Jan; Kaye, Sharlene; Degenhardt, Louisa; Skutle, Arvid; Franck, Johan; Bu, Eli-Torild; Moggi, Franz; Dom, Geert; Verspreet, Sofie; Demetrovics, Zsolt; Kapitány-Fövény, Máté; Fatséas, Melina; Auriacombe, Marc; Schillinger, Arild; Møller, Merete; Johnson, Brian; Faraone, Stephen V; Ramos-Quiroga, J Antoni; Casas, Miguel; Allsop, Steve; Carruthers, Susan; Schoevers, Robert A; Wallhed, Sara; Barta, Csaba; Alleman, Peter; Levin, Frances R; van den Brink, Wim

2014-01-01

Available studies vary in their estimated prevalence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in substance use disorder (SUD) patients, ranging from 2 to 83%. A better understanding of the possible reasons for this variability and the effect of the change from DSM-IV to DSM-5 is needed. A two stage international multi-center, cross-sectional study in 10 countries, among patients form inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment centers for alcohol and/or drug use disorder patients. A total of 3558 treatment seeking SUD patients were screened for adult ADHD. A subsample of 1276 subjects, both screen positive and screen negative patients, participated in a structured diagnostic interview. Prevalence of DSM-IV and DSM-5 adult ADHD varied for DSM-IV from 5.4% (CI 95%: 2.4-8.3) for Hungary to 31.3% (CI 95%:25.2-37.5) for Norway and for DSM-5 from 7.6% (CI 95%: 4.1-11.1) for Hungary to 32.6% (CI 95%: 26.4-38.8) for Norway. Using the same assessment procedures in all countries and centers resulted in substantial reduction of the variability in the prevalence of adult ADHD reported in previous studies among SUD patients (2-83%→5.4-31.3%). The remaining variability was partly explained by primary substance of abuse and by country (Nordic versus non-Nordic countries). Prevalence estimates for DSM-5 were slightly higher than for DSM-IV. Given the generally high prevalence of adult ADHD, all treatment seeking SUD patients should be screened and, after a confirmed diagnosis, treated for ADHD since the literature indicates poor prognoses of SUD in treatment seeking SUD patients with ADHD. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Variability in the prevalence of adult ADHD in treatment seeking substance use disorder patients: Results from an international multi-center study exploring DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria☆☆

PubMed Central

van de Glind, Geurt; Konstenius, Maija; Koeter, Maarten W.J.; van Emmerik-van Oortmerssen, Katelijne; Carpentier, Pieter-Jan; Kaye, Sharlene; Degenhardt, Louisa; Skutle, Arvid; Franck, Johan; Bu, Eli-Torild; Moggi, Franz; Dom, Geert; Verspreet, Sofie; Demetrovics, Zsolt; Kapitány-Fövény, Máté; Fatséas, Melina; Auriacombe, Marc; Schillinger, Arild; Møller, Merete; Johnson, Brian; Faraone, Stephen V.; Ramos-Quiroga, J. Antoni; Casas, Miguel; Allsop, Steve; Carruthers, Susan; Schoevers, Robert A.; Wallhed, Sara; Barta, Csaba; Alleman, Peter; Levin, Frances R.; van den Brink, Wim

2014-01-01

Background Available studies vary in their estimated prevalence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in substance use disorder (SUD) patients, ranging from 2 to 83%. A better understanding of the possible reasons for this variability and the effect of the change from DSM-IV to DSM-5 is needed. Methods A two stage international multi-center, cross-sectional study in 10 countries, among patients form inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment centers for alcohol and/or drug use disorder patients. A total of 3558 treatment seeking SUD patients were screened for adult ADHD. A subsample of 1276 subjects, both screen positive and screen negative patients, participated in a structured diagnostic interview. Results Prevalence of DSM-IV and DSM-5 adult ADHD varied for DSM-IV from 5.4% (CI 95%: 2.4–8.3) for Hungary to 31.3% (CI 95%:25.2–37.5) for Norway and for DSM-5 from 7.6% (CI 95%: 4.1–11.1) for Hungary to 32.6% (CI 95%: 26.4–38.8) for Norway. Using the same assessment procedures in all countries and centers resulted in substantial reduction of the variability in the prevalence of adult ADHD reported in previous studies among SUD patients (2–83%→ 5.4–31.3%). The remaining variability was partly explained by primary substance of abuse and by country (Nordic versus non-Nordic countries). Prevalence estimates for DSM-5 were slightly higher than for DSM-IV. Conclusions Given the generally high prevalence of adult ADHD, all treatment seeking SUD patients should be screened and, after a confirmed diagnosis, treated for ADHD since the literature indicates poor prognoses of SUD in treatment seeking SUD patients with ADHD. PMID:24156882
Total Cross Sections as a Surrogate for Neutron Capture: An Opportunity to Accurately Constrain (n,γ) Cross Sections for Nuclides Beyond the Reach of Direct Measurements

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

Koehler, Paul E.

2014-03-05

There are many (n,γ) cross sections of great interest to radiochemical diagnostics and to nuclear astrophysics which are beyond the reach of current measurement techniques, and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. In contrast, total neutron cross sections currently are feasible for many of these nuclides and provide almost all the information needed to accurately calculate the (n,γ) cross sections via the nuclear statistical model (NSM). I demonstrate this for the case of 151Sm; NSM calculations constrained using average resonance parameters obtained from total cross section measurements made in 1975, are in excellent agreement with recent 151Sm (n,γ)more » measurements across a wide range of energy. Furthermore, I demonstrate through simulations that total cross section measurements can be made at the Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center for samples as small as 10μg. Samples of this size should be attainable for many nuclides of interest. Finally, I estimate that over half of the radionuclides identified ~20 years ago as having (n,γ) cross sections of importance to s-process nucleosynthesis studies (24/43) and radiochemical diagnostics (11/19), almost none of which have been measured, can be constrained using this technique.« less
Consistency of Global Modis Aerosol Optical Depths over Ocean on Terra and Aqua Ceres SSF Datasets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ignatov, Alexander; Minnis, Patrick; Miller, Walter F.; Wielicki, Bruce A.; Remer, Lorraine

2006-01-01

Aerosol retrievals over ocean from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard Terra and Aqua platforms are available from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) datasets generated at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). Two aerosol products are reported side-by-side. The primary M product is generated by sub-setting and remapping the multi-spectral (0.47-2.1 micrometer) MODIS produced oceanic aerosol (MOD04/MYD04 for Terra/Aqua) onto CERES footprints. M*D04 processing uses cloud screening and aerosol algorithms developed by the MODIS science team. The secondary AVHRR-like A product is generated in only two MODIS bands 1 and 6 (on Aqua, bands 1 and 7). The A processing uses the CERES cloud screening algorithm, and NOAA/NESDIS glint identification, and single-channel aerosol retrieval algorithms. The M and A products have been documented elsewhere and preliminarily compared using 2 weeks of global Terra CERES SSF Edition 1A data in which the M product was based on MOD04 collection 3. In this study, the comparisons between the M and A aerosol optical depths (AOD) in MODIS band 1 (0.64 micrometers), tau(sub 1M) and tau(sub 1A) are re-examined using 9 days of global CERES SSF Terra Edition 2A and Aqua Edition 1B data from 13 - 21 October 2002, and extended to include cross-platform comparisons. The M and A products on the new CERES SSF release are generated using the same aerosol algorithms as before, but with different preprocessing and sampling procedures, lending themselves to a simple sensitivity check to non-aerosol factors. Both tau(sub 1M) and tau(sub 1A) generally compare well across platforms. However, the M product shows some differences, which increase with ambient cloud amount and towards the solar side of the orbit. Three types of comparisons conducted in this study - cross-platform, cross-product, and cross-release confirm the previously made observation that the major area for improvement in the current aerosol processing lies in a more formalized and standardized sampling (and most importantly, cloud screening) whereas optimization of the aerosol algorithm is deemed to be an important yet less critical element.
Spatial and Temporal Signatures of Flux Transfer Events in Global Simulations of Magnetopause Dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuznetsova, Maria M.; Sibeck, David Gary; Hesse, Michael; Berrios, David; Rastaetter, Lutz; Toth, Gabor; Gombosi, Tamas I.

2011-01-01

Flux transfer events (FTEs) were originally identified by transient bipolar variations of the magnetic field component normal to the nominal magnetopause centered on enhancements in the total magnetic field strength. Recent Cluster and THEMIS multi-point measurements provided a wide range of signatures that are interpreted as evidence for FTE passage (e.g., crater FTE's, traveling magnetic erosion regions). We use the global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code BATS-R-US developed at the University of Michigan to model the global three-dimensional structure and temporal evolution of FTEs during multi-spacecraft magnetopause crossing events. Comparison of observed and simulated signatures and sensitivity analysis of the results to the probe location will be presented. We will demonstrate a variety of observable signatures in magnetic field profile that depend on space probe location with respect to the FTE passage. The global structure of FTEs will be illustrated using advanced visualization tools developed at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center
Suicidality and its associated factors in cancer patients: results of a multi-center study in Korea.

PubMed

Shim, Eun-Jung; Park, Jae-Hyun

2012-01-01

The current study examined the prevalence and associated factors of suicidality among Korean cancer patients. Moreover, the association of multiple psychological morbidities with suicidality was investigated among cancer patients. A cross-sectional, multi-center survey of 400 cancer patients was administered in five cancer-treatment hospitals throughout South Korea. Study variables were assessed using standardized measures including the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview suicidality module, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised. 20.1% (80/399) of patients were positive cases of suicidality. Having no religion (p = .010), poor performance status (p = .000), and psychological comorbidity (p = .021) were significantly associated with the experience of suicidality in the multivariate analysis. Compared to "fully active" patients, patients who were capable of self-care but unable to perform any work activities had about a six times higher risk of suicidality (p = .000). Compared to patients with no psychological morbidity, the risk of suicidality was significantly higher among patients with comorbid anxiety and depression (p = .024), those experiencing comorbid depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (p = 0.051), and those experiencing comorbid anxiety, depression and PTSD (p = .001). This study found that having no religion, impaired levels of overall functioning, and "multiple psychological morbidities" were associated with suicidality in Korean cancer patients. These findings suggest a need for careful monitoring of these factors and enhanced comprehensive care addressing both the physical and psychosocial functioning of patients with cancer in suicide prevention efforts.
Factors Influencing Medical Student Attrition and Their Implications in a Large Multi-Center Randomized Education Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalet, A.; Ellaway, R. H.; Song, H. S.; Nick, M.; Sarpel, U.; Hopkins, M. A.; Hill, J.; Plass, J. L.; Pusic, M. V.

2013-01-01

Participant attrition may be a significant threat to the generalizability of the results of educational research studies if participants who do not persist in a study differ from those who do in ways that can affect the experimental outcomes. A multi-center trial of the efficacy of different computer-based instructional strategies gave us the…
Haemophilus influenzae type b as an important cause of culture-positive acute otitis media in young children in Thailand: a tympanocentesis-based, multi-center, cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) and Haemophilus influenzae (H. influenzae) are considered major causes of bacterial acute otitis media (AOM) worldwide, but data from Asia on primary causes of AOM are limited. This tympanocentesis-based, multi-center, cross-sectional study assessed bacterial etiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of AOM in Thailand. Methods Children 3 to 59 months presenting with AOM (< 72 hours of onset) who had not received prescribed antibiotics, or subjects who received prescribed antibiotics but remained symptomatic after 48–72 hours (treatment failures), were eligible. Study visits were conducted from April 2008 to August 2009. Bacteria were identified from middle ear fluid collected by tympanocentesis or spontaneous otorrhea swab sampling (< 20% of cases). S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae serotypes were determined and antimicrobial resistance was also assessed. Results Of the 123 enrolled children, 112 were included in analysis and 48% of the 118 samples were positive for S. pneumoniae (23% (27/118)), H. influenzae (18% (21/118)), Moraxella catarrhalis (6% (7/118)) or Streptococcus pyogenes (3% (4/118)). The most common pneumococcal serotypes were 19F (26%) and 14 (22%). The majority of H. influenzae isolates were encapsulated (18/21), with 13 type b (Hib) representing 62% of all H. influenzae isolate or 11% of all samples (13/118), and there were only 3 non-typeable isolates. Despite high antibiotic resistance, amoxicillin/clavulanate susceptibility was high. No pneumococcal vaccine use was reported. Conclusions S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae, both frequently antibiotic resistant, were leading causes of bacterial AOM and there was an unexpectedly high burden of Hib in this population unvaccinated by any Hib conjugate vaccine. Conjugate vaccines effective against pneumococcus and H. influenzae could potentially reduce the burden of AOM in this population. PMID:24947736
Multi-decadal Arctic sea ice roughness.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsamados, M.; Stroeve, J.; Kharbouche, S.; Muller, J. P., , Prof; Nolin, A. W.; Petty, A.; Haas, C.; Girard-Ardhuin, F.; Landy, J.

2017-12-01

The transformation of Arctic sea ice from mainly perennial, multi-year ice to a seasonal, first-year ice is believed to have been accompanied by a reduction of the roughness of the ice cover surface. This smoothening effect has been shown to (i) modify the momentum and heat transfer between the atmosphere and ocean, (ii) to alter the ice thickness distribution which in turn controls the snow and melt pond repartition over the ice cover, and (iii) to bias airborne and satellite remote sensing measurements that depend on the scattering and reflective characteristics over the sea ice surface topography. We will review existing and novel remote sensing methodologies proposed to estimate sea ice roughness, ranging from airborne LIDAR measurement (ie Operation IceBridge), to backscatter coefficients from scatterometers (ASCAT, QUICKSCAT), to multi angle maging spectroradiometer (MISR), and to laser (Icesat) and radar altimeters (Envisat, Cryosat, Altika, Sentinel-3). We will show that by comparing and cross-calibrating these different products we can offer a consistent multi-mission, multi-decadal view of the declining sea ice roughness. Implications for sea ice physics, climate and remote sensing will also be discussed.
Performance Analysis of Diversity-Controlled Multi-User Superposition Transmission for 5G Wireless Networks

PubMed Central

Yeom, Jeong Seon; Jung, Bang Chul; Jin, Hu

2018-01-01

In this paper, we propose a novel low-complexity multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) technique for 5G downlink networks, which allows multiple cell-edge users to be multiplexed with a single cell-center user. We call the proposed technique diversity-controlled MUST technique since the cell-center user enjoys the frequency diversity effect via signal repetition over multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) sub-carriers. We assume that a base station is equipped with a single antenna but users are equipped with multiple antennas. In addition, we assume that the quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation is used for users. We mathematically analyze the bit error rate (BER) of both cell-edge users and cell-center users, which is the first theoretical result in the literature to the best of our knowledge. The mathematical analysis is validated through extensive link-level simulations. PMID:29439413
Performance Analysis of Diversity-Controlled Multi-User Superposition Transmission for 5G Wireless Networks.

PubMed

Yeom, Jeong Seon; Chu, Eunmi; Jung, Bang Chul; Jin, Hu

2018-02-10

In this paper, we propose a novel low-complexity multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) technique for 5G downlink networks, which allows multiple cell-edge users to be multiplexed with a single cell-center user. We call the proposed technique diversity-controlled MUST technique since the cell-center user enjoys the frequency diversity effect via signal repetition over multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) sub-carriers. We assume that a base station is equipped with a single antenna but users are equipped with multiple antennas. In addition, we assume that the quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation is used for users. We mathematically analyze the bit error rate (BER) of both cell-edge users and cell-center users, which is the first theoretical result in the literature to the best of our knowledge. The mathematical analysis is validated through extensive link-level simulations.
Measuring Two Key Parameters of H3 Color Centers in Diamond

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, W. Thomas

2005-01-01

A method of measuring two key parameters of H3 color centers in diamond has been created as part of a continuing effort to develop tunable, continuous-wave, visible lasers that would utilize diamond as the lasing medium. (An H3 color center in a diamond crystal lattice comprises two nitrogen atoms substituted for two carbon atoms bonded to a third carbon atom. H3 color centers can be induced artificially; they also occur naturally. If present in sufficient density, they impart a yellow hue.) The method may also be applicable to the corresponding parameters of other candidate lasing media. One of the parameters is the number density of color centers, which is needed for designing an efficient laser. The other parameter is an optical-absorption cross section, which, as explained below, is needed for determining the number density. The present method represents an improvement over prior methods in which optical-absorption measurements have been used to determine absorption cross sections or number densities. Heretofore, in order to determine a number density from such measurements, it has been necessary to know the applicable absorption cross section; alternatively, to determine the absorption cross section from such measurements, it has been necessary to know the number density. If, as in this case, both the number density and the absorption cross section are initially unknown, then it is impossible to determine either parameter in the absence of additional information.
Rainfall Estimation over the Nile Basin using an Adapted Version of the SCaMPR Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habib, E. H.; Kuligowski, R. J.; Elshamy, M. E.; Ali, M. A.; Haile, A.; Amin, D.; Eldin, A.

2011-12-01

Management of Egypt's Aswan High Dam is critical not only for flood control on the Nile but also for ensuring adequate water supplies for most of Egypt since rainfall is scarce over the vast majority of its land area. However, reservoir inflow is driven by rainfall over Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and several other countries from which routine rain gauge data are sparse. Satellite-derived estimates of rainfall offer a much more detailed and timely set of data to form a basis for decisions on the operation of the dam. A single-channel infrared algorithm is currently in operational use at the Egyptian Nile Forecast Center (NFC). This study reports on the adaptation of a multi-spectral, multi-instrument satellite rainfall estimation algorithm (Self-Calibrating Multivariate Precipitation Retrieval, SCaMPR) for operational application over the Nile Basin. The algorithm uses a set of rainfall predictors from multi-spectral Infrared cloud top observations and self-calibrates them to a set of predictands from Microwave (MW) rain rate estimates. For application over the Nile Basin, the SCaMPR algorithm uses multiple satellite IR channels recently available to NFC from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI). Microwave rain rates are acquired from multiple sources such as SSM/I, SSMIS, AMSU, AMSR-E, and TMI. The algorithm has two main steps: rain/no-rain separation using discriminant analysis, and rain rate estimation using stepwise linear regression. We test two modes of algorithm calibration: real-time calibration with continuous updates of coefficients with newly coming MW rain rates, and calibration using static coefficients that are derived from IR-MW data from past observations. We also compare the SCaMPR algorithm to other global-scale satellite rainfall algorithms (e.g., 'Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and other sources' (TRMM-3B42) product, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Prediction Center (NOAA-CPC) CMORPH product. The algorithm has several potential future applications such as: improving the performance accuracy of hydrologic forecasting models over the Nile Basin, and utilizing the enhanced rainfall datasets and better-calibrated hydrologic models to assess the impacts of climate change on the region's water availability.
Perceptual suppression revealed by adaptive multi-scale entropy analysis of local field potential in monkey visual cortex.

PubMed

Hu, Meng; Liang, Hualou

2013-04-01

Generalized flash suppression (GFS), in which a salient visual stimulus can be rendered invisible despite continuous retinal input, provides a rare opportunity to directly study the neural mechanism of visual perception. Previous work based on linear methods, such as spectral analysis, on local field potential (LFP) during GFS has shown that the LFP power at distinctive frequency bands are differentially modulated by perceptual suppression. Yet, the linear method alone may be insufficient for the full assessment of neural dynamic due to the fundamentally nonlinear nature of neural signals. In this study, we set forth to analyze the LFP data collected from multiple visual areas in V1, V2 and V4 of macaque monkeys while performing the GFS task using a nonlinear method - adaptive multi-scale entropy (AME) - to reveal the neural dynamic of perceptual suppression. In addition, we propose a new cross-entropy measure at multiple scales, namely adaptive multi-scale cross-entropy (AMCE), to assess the nonlinear functional connectivity between two cortical areas. We show that: (1) multi-scale entropy exhibits percept-related changes in all three areas, with higher entropy observed during perceptual suppression; (2) the magnitude of the perception-related entropy changes increases systematically over successive hierarchical stages (i.e. from lower areas V1 to V2, up to higher area V4); and (3) cross-entropy between any two cortical areas reveals higher degree of asynchrony or dissimilarity during perceptual suppression, indicating a decreased functional connectivity between cortical areas. These results, taken together, suggest that perceptual suppression is related to a reduced functional connectivity and increased uncertainty of neural responses, and the modulation of perceptual suppression is more effective at higher visual cortical areas. AME is demonstrated to be a useful technique in revealing the underlying dynamic of nonlinear/nonstationary neural signal.
Measurement of the Z/γ* (→ e +e -) + ≥ n Jet Production Cross Sections in p$$\\bar{p}$$ Collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV

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

Buehler, Marc

2005-01-01

A study of events with Z/γ* bosons and hadronic jets produced at the Tevatron in pmore » $$\\bar{p}$$ collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV is presented. The data consist of approximately 14,000 Z/γ* → e +e - decay candidates from 343 pb -1 of integrated luminosity collected with the D0 detector. Cross sections and jet production properties have been measured for Z/γ* + ≥ 0 to 5 jet events. This measurement represents a significant improvement over previous measurements at the Tevatron, and it is the first at this center of mass energy with the D0 detector. The results are in good agreement with QCD predictions.« less
Hilar cholangiocarcinoma: Cross sectional evaluation of disease spectrum

PubMed Central

Mahajan, Mangal S; Moorthy, Srikanth; Karumathil, Sreekumar P; Rajeshkannan, R; Pothera, Ramchandran

2015-01-01

Although hilar cholangiocarcinoma is relatively rare, it can be diagnosed on imaging by identifying its typical pattern. In most cases, the tumor appears to be centered on the right or left hepatic duct with involvement of the ipsilateral portal vein, atrophy of hepatic lobe on that side, and invasion of adjacent liver parenchyma. Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) are commonly used imaging modalities to assess the longitudinal and horizontal spread of tumor. PMID:25969643
Cross-Language Measurement Equivalence of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale in Systemic Sclerosis: A Comparison of Canadian and Dutch Patients

PubMed Central

Kwakkenbos, Linda; Arthurs, Erin; van den Hoogen, Frank H. J.; Hudson, Marie; van Lankveld, Wim G. J. M.; Baron, Murray; van den Ende, Cornelia H. M.; Thombs, Brett D.

2013-01-01

Objectives Increasingly, medical research involves patients who complete outcomes in different languages. This occurs in countries with more than one common language, such as Canada (French/English) or the United States (Spanish/English), as well as in international multi-centre collaborations, which are utilized frequently in rare diseases such as systemic sclerosis (SSc). In order to pool or compare outcomes, instruments should be measurement equivalent (invariant) across cultural or linguistic groups. This study provides an example of how to assess cross-language measurement equivalence by comparing the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale between English-speaking Canadian and Dutch SSc patients. Methods The CES-D was completed by 922 English-speaking Canadian and 213 Dutch SSc patients. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess the factor structure in both samples. The Multiple-Indicator Multiple-Cause (MIMIC) model was utilized to assess the amount of differential item functioning (DIF). Results A two-factor model (positive and negative affect) showed excellent fit in both samples. Statistically significant, but small-magnitude, DIF was found for 3 of 20 items on the CES-D. The English-speaking Canadian sample endorsed more feeling-related symptoms, whereas the Dutch sample endorsed more somatic/retarded activity symptoms. The overall estimate in depression scores between English and Dutch was not influenced substantively by DIF. Conclusions CES-D scores from English-speaking Canadian and Dutch SSc patients can be compared and pooled without concern that measurement differences may substantively influence results. The importance of assessing cross-language measurement equivalence in rheumatology studies prior to pooling outcomes obtained in different languages should be emphasized. PMID:23326538
Dust Temperatures and Opacities in the Central Parsec of the Galactic Center Modeled from Analysis of Multi-Wavelength Mid-Infrared Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Varosi, F.; Gezari, D.; Dwek, E.; Telesco, C.

2016-01-01

We have analyzed multi-wavelength mid-infrared images of the central parsec of the Galactic Center using a two-temperature line-of-sight (LOS) radiative transfer model at each pixel of the images, giving maps of temperatures, luminosities and opacities of the hot, warm, cold (dark)dust components. The data consists of images at nine wavelengths in the mid-infrared (N-band and Q-band) from the Thermal Region Camera and Spectrograph (T-ReCS) instrument operating at the Gemini South Observatory. The results of the LOS modeling indicate that the extinction optical depth is quite large and varies substantially over the FOV. The high-resolution images of the central parsec of the Galactic center region were obtained with T-ReCS at Gemini South in January 2004. These images provide nearly diffraction-limited resolution (approx. 0.5) of the central parsec. The T-ReCS images were taken with nine filters (3.8, 4.7, 7.7, 8.7, 9.7, 10.3, 12.3, 18.3 and 24.5m), over a field-of-view (FOV) of 20 x 20 arcsec.
Design and 4D Printing of Cross-Folded Origami Structures: A Preliminary Investigation

PubMed Central

Teoh, Joanne Ee Mei; Feng, Xiaofan; Zhao, Yue; Liu, Yong

2018-01-01

In 4D printing research, different types of complex structure folding and unfolding have been investigated. However, research on cross-folding of origami structures (defined as a folding structure with at least two overlapping folds) has not been reported. This research focuses on the investigation of cross-folding structures using multi-material components along different axes and different horizontal hinge thickness with single homogeneous material. Tensile tests were conducted to determine the impact of multi-material components and horizontal hinge thickness. In the case of multi-material structures, the hybrid material composition has a significant impact on the overall maximum strain and Young’s modulus properties. In the case of single material structures, the shape recovery speed is inversely proportional to the horizontal hinge thickness, while the flexural or bending strength is proportional to the horizontal hinge thickness. A hinge with a thickness of 0.5 mm could be folded three times prior to fracture whilst a hinge with a thickness of 0.3 mm could be folded only once prior to fracture. A hinge with a thickness of 0.1 mm could not even be folded without cracking. The introduction of a physical hole in the center of the folding/unfolding line provided stress relief and prevented fracture. A complex flower petal shape was used to successfully demonstrate the implementation of overlapping and non-overlapping folding lines using both single material segments and multi-material segments. Design guidelines for establishing cross-folding structures using multi-material components along different axes and different horizontal hinge thicknesses with single or homogeneous material were established. These guidelines can be used to design and implement complex origami structures with overlapping and non-overlapping folding lines. Combined overlapping folding structures could be implemented and allocating specific hole locations in the overall designs could be further explored. In addition, creating a more precise prediction by investigating sets of in between hinge thicknesses and comparing the folding times before fracture, will be the subject of future work. PMID:29510503
Multi-dimensional Fokker-Planck equation analysis using the modified finite element method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Náprstek, J.; Král, R.

2016-09-01

The Fokker-Planck equation (FPE) is a frequently used tool for the solution of cross probability density function (PDF) of a dynamic system response excited by a vector of random processes. FEM represents a very effective solution possibility, particularly when transition processes are investigated or a more detailed solution is needed. Actual papers deal with single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems only. So the respective FPE includes two independent space variables only. Stepping over this limit into MDOF systems a number of specific problems related to a true multi-dimensionality must be overcome. Unlike earlier studies, multi-dimensional simplex elements in any arbitrary dimension should be deployed and rectangular (multi-brick) elements abandoned. Simple closed formulae of integration in multi-dimension domain have been derived. Another specific problem represents the generation of multi-dimensional finite element mesh. Assembling of system global matrices should be subjected to newly composed algorithms due to multi-dimensionality. The system matrices are quite full and no advantages following from their sparse character can be profited from, as is commonly used in conventional FEM applications in 2D/3D problems. After verification of partial algorithms, an illustrative example dealing with a 2DOF non-linear aeroelastic system in combination with random and deterministic excitations is discussed.

Ionic liquid stationary phases for gas chromatography.

PubMed

Poole, Colin F; Poole, Salwa K

2011-04-01

This article provides a summary of the development of ionic liquids as stationary phases for gas chromatography beginning with early work on packed columns that established details of the retention mechanism and established working methods to characterize selectivity differences compared with molecular stationary phases through the modern development of multi-centered cation and cross-linked ionic liquids for high-temperature applications in capillary gas chromatography. Since there are many reviews on ionic liquids dealing with all aspects of their chemical and physical properties, the emphasis in this article is placed on the role of gas chromatography played in the design of ionic liquids of low melting point, high thermal stability, high viscosity, and variable selectivity for separations. Ionic liquids provide unprecedented opportunities for extending the selectivity range and temperature-operating range of columns for gas chromatography, an area of separation science that has otherwise been almost stagnant for over a decade. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Depth-area-duration characteristics of storm rainfall in Texas using Multi-Sensor Precipitation Estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McEnery, J. A.; Jitkajornwanich, K.

2012-12-01

This presentation will describe the methodology and overall system development by which a benchmark dataset of precipitation information has been used to characterize the depth-area-duration relations in heavy rain storms occurring over regions of Texas. Over the past two years project investigators along with the National Weather Service (NWS) West Gulf River Forecast Center (WGRFC) have developed and operated a gateway data system to ingest, store, and disseminate NWS multi-sensor precipitation estimates (MPE). As a pilot project of the Integrated Water Resources Science and Services (IWRSS) initiative, this testbed uses a Standard Query Language (SQL) server to maintain a full archive of current and historic MPE values within the WGRFC service area. These time series values are made available for public access as web services in the standard WaterML format. Having this volume of information maintained in a comprehensive database now allows the use of relational analysis capabilities within SQL to leverage these multi-sensor precipitation values and produce a valuable derivative product. The area of focus for this study is North Texas and will utilize values that originated from the West Gulf River Forecast Center (WGRFC); one of three River Forecast Centers currently represented in the holdings of this data system. Over the past two decades, NEXRAD radar has dramatically improved the ability to record rainfall. The resulting hourly MPE values, distributed over an approximate 4 km by 4 km grid, are considered by the NWS to be the "best estimate" of rainfall. The data server provides an accepted standard interface for internet access to the largest time-series dataset of NEXRAD based MPE values ever assembled. An automated script has been written to search and extract storms over the 18 year period of record from the contents of this massive historical precipitation database. Not only can it extract site-specific storms, but also duration-specific storms and storms separated by user defined inter-event periods. A separate storm database has been created to store the selected output. By storing output within tables in a separate database, we can make use of powerful SQL capabilities to perform flexible pattern analysis. Previous efforts have made use of historic data from limited clusters of irregularly spaced physical gauges. Spatial extent of the observational network has been a limiting factor. The relatively dense distribution of MPE provides a virtual mesh of observations stretched over the landscape. This work combines a unique hydrologic data resource with programming and database analysis to characterize storm depth-area-duration relationships.
Planning and assessing a cross-training initiative with multi-skilled employees.

PubMed

Wermers, M A; Dagnillo, R; Glenn, R; Macfarlane, R; St Clair, V; Scott, D

1996-06-01

An improvement initiative begun by nurses at Parkview Episcopal Medical Center (Pueblo, Colo) to develop patient-focused care delivered by multiskilled workers followed a quality improvement methodology. Implementation of the new care delivery system on a model unit--2 South--provided the opportunity to plan, analyze data, and make changes as appropriate. Parkview's indoctrination of the teachings of W. Edwards Deming has helped leaders and staff realize the integral role of training in improvement activities. In his 14 points, Deming emphasizes the importance of employee education and of the employee having a clear understanding of his or her job. The time and money put into up-front education should help ensure the long-term success of this initiative. DEFINING THE CAREPARTNER: Three new multi-skilled positions were developed on 2 South--a Personal CarePartner, a Business CarePartner, and a Clinical CarePartner. By cross-training each of these roles to perform duties formerly done by centralized departments, 2 South was able to cut costs and time while ensuring quality care. TRAINING THE CAREPARTNER: An internally developed training program provided the new CarePartners with up-front education to prepare them to deliver patient-centered care. 2 South has experienced drops in patient falls and medication errors--areas that are often negatively affected when multi-skilled programs are instituted. Patient and physician surveys have shown increased satisfaction with care provided on the unit. The increased efficiency of the model unit has produced these outcomes while cutting costs substantially. The interdisciplinary team coordinating the improvement project learned many lessons in the process, including the importance of communication, education, and a sense of humor.
Creating an Effective Educational Environment for Adult Learners: A Qualitative, Multi-Case Study of Off-Campus Center Administrator's Use of Invitational Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKnight, Carolyn P.

2012-01-01

This qualitative, multi-case study was designed to examine off-campus centers and their administrators in creating an effective learning environment for adult learners. Serving as the conceptual framework, invitational leadership theory is a holistic approach which nurtures the belief that everyone is intrinsically motivated and it is the leaders'…
KSC-03pd0164

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-01-16

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility look over the encapsulation of the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite. The satellite will next be installed in the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), SORCE will study and measure solar irradiance as a source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. The launch of SORCE is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 3:14 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The drop of the Pegasus will be from OSC's L-1011 aircraft at an altitude of 39,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean approximately 100 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral.
The space shuttle Discovery atop NASA's modified 747 is captured over the Mojave Desert while being ferried from NASA Dryden to the Kennedy Space Center

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-08-19

The space shuttle Discovery atop NASA's modified 747 is captured over the Mojave Desert while being ferried from NASA Dryden to the Kennedy Space Center. NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with the Space Shuttle Discovery on top lifts off from Edwards Air Force Base to begin its ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cross-country journey will take two days, with stops at several intermediate points for refueling. Space shuttle Discovery landed safely at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 5:11:22 a.m. PDT, August 9, 2005, following the very successful 14-day STS-114 return to flight mission. During their two weeks in space, Commander Eileen Collins and her six crewmates tested out new safety procedures and delivered supplies and equipment the International Space Station. Discovery spent two weeks in space, where the crew demonstrated new methods to inspect and repair the Shuttle in orbit. The crew also delivered supplies, outfitted and performed maintenance on the International Space Station. A number of these tasks were conducted during three spacewalks. In an unprecedented event, spacewalkers were called upon to remove protruding gap fillers from the heat shield on Discovery's underbelly. In other spacewalk activities, astronauts installed an external platform onto the Station's Quest Airlock and replaced one of the orbital outpost's Control Moment Gyroscopes. Inside the Station, the STS-114 crew conducted joint operations with the Expedition 11 crew. They unloaded fresh supplies from the Shuttle and the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. Before Discovery undocked, the crews filled Raffeallo with unneeded items and returned to Shuttle payload bay. Discovery launched on July 26 and spent almost 14 days on orbit.
75 FR 29336 - ILP Effectiveness Evaluation 2010; Georgia Power Company; et al.; Notice of Interviews...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-25

...; Georgia Power Company; et al.; Notice of Interviews, Teleconferences, Regional Workshops and Multi... Effectiveness Evaluation. This effort includes conducting interviews and teleconferences with a cross-section of... ILP. Interviews and Teleconferences Over the next few weeks, members of Kearns & West will be...
Infection prevention and control practice for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever-A multi-center cross-sectional survey in Eurasia.

PubMed

Fletcher, Tom E; Gulzhan, Abuova; Ahmeti, Salih; Al-Abri, Seif S; Asik, Zahide; Atilla, Aynur; Beeching, Nick J; Bilek, Heval; Bozkurt, Ilkay; Christova, Iva; Duygu, Fazilet; Esen, Saban; Khanna, Arjun; Kader, Çiğdem; Mardani, Masoud; Mahmood, Faisal; Mamuchishvili, Nana; Pshenichnaya, Natalia; Sunbul, Mustafa; Yalcin, Tuğba Y; Leblebicioglu, Hakan

2017-01-01

Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a life threatening acute viral infection that presents significant risk of nosocomial transmission to healthcare workers. Evaluation of CCHF infection prevention and control (IP&C) practices in healthcare facilities that routinely manage CCHF cases in Eurasia. A cross-sectional CCHF IP&C survey was designed and distributed to CCHF centers in 10 endemic Eurasian countries in 2016. Twenty-three responses were received from centers in Turkey, Pakistan, Russia, Georgia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Oman, Iran, India and Kazakhstan. All units had dedicated isolation rooms for CCHF, with cohorting of confirmed cases in 15/23 centers and cohorting of suspect and confirmed cases in 9/23 centers. There was adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) in 22/23 facilities, with 21/23 facilities reporting routine use of PPE for CCHF patients. Adequate staffing levels to provide care reported in 14/23 locations. All centers reported having a high risk CCHFV nosocomial exposure in last five years, with 5 centers reporting more than 5 exposures. Education was provided annually in most centers (13/23), with additional training requested in PPE use (11/23), PPE donning/doffing (12/23), environmental disinfection (12/23) and waste management (14/23). Staff and patient safety must be improved and healthcare associated CCHF exposure and transmission eliminated. Improvements are recommended in isolation capacity in healthcare facilities, use of PPE and maintenance of adequate staffing levels. We recommend further audit of IP&C practice at individual units in endemic areas, as part of national quality assurance programs.
Infection prevention and control practice for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever—A multi-center cross-sectional survey in Eurasia

PubMed Central

Gulzhan, Abuova; Ahmeti, Salih; Al-Abri, Seif S.; Asik, Zahide; Atilla, Aynur; Beeching, Nick J.; Bilek, Heval; Bozkurt, Ilkay; Christova, Iva; Duygu, Fazilet; Esen, Saban; Khanna, Arjun; Kader, Çiğdem; Mardani, Masoud; Mahmood, Faisal; Mamuchishvili, Nana; Pshenichnaya, Natalia; Sunbul, Mustafa; Yalcin, Tuğba Y.; Leblebicioglu, Hakan

2017-01-01

Background Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a life threatening acute viral infection that presents significant risk of nosocomial transmission to healthcare workers. Aim Evaluation of CCHF infection prevention and control (IP&C) practices in healthcare facilities that routinely manage CCHF cases in Eurasia. Methods A cross-sectional CCHF IP&C survey was designed and distributed to CCHF centers in 10 endemic Eurasian countries in 2016. Results Twenty-three responses were received from centers in Turkey, Pakistan, Russia, Georgia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Oman, Iran, India and Kazakhstan. All units had dedicated isolation rooms for CCHF, with cohorting of confirmed cases in 15/23 centers and cohorting of suspect and confirmed cases in 9/23 centers. There was adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) in 22/23 facilities, with 21/23 facilities reporting routine use of PPE for CCHF patients. Adequate staffing levels to provide care reported in 14/23 locations. All centers reported having a high risk CCHFV nosocomial exposure in last five years, with 5 centers reporting more than 5 exposures. Education was provided annually in most centers (13/23), with additional training requested in PPE use (11/23), PPE donning/doffing (12/23), environmental disinfection (12/23) and waste management (14/23). Conclusions Staff and patient safety must be improved and healthcare associated CCHF exposure and transmission eliminated. Improvements are recommended in isolation capacity in healthcare facilities, use of PPE and maintenance of adequate staffing levels. We recommend further audit of IP&C practice at individual units in endemic areas, as part of national quality assurance programs. PMID:28886039
An Application of Multi-band Forced Photometry to One Square Degree of SERVS: Accurate Photometric Redshifts and Implications for Future Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nyland, Kristina; Lacy, Mark; Sajina, Anna; Pforr, Janine; Farrah, Duncan; Wilson, Gillian; Surace, Jason; Häußler, Boris; Vaccari, Mattia; Jarvis, Matt

2017-05-01

We apply The Tractor image modeling code to improve upon existing multi-band photometry for the Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (SERVS). SERVS consists of post-cryogenic Spitzer observations at 3.6 and 4.5 μm over five well-studied deep fields spanning 18 deg2. In concert with data from ground-based near-infrared (NIR) and optical surveys, SERVS aims to provide a census of the properties of massive galaxies out to z ≈ 5. To accomplish this, we are using The Tractor to perform “forced photometry.” This technique employs prior measurements of source positions and surface brightness profiles from a high-resolution fiducial band from the VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations survey to model and fit the fluxes at lower-resolution bands. We discuss our implementation of The Tractor over a square-degree test region within the XMM Large Scale Structure field with deep imaging in 12 NIR/optical bands. Our new multi-band source catalogs offer a number of advantages over traditional position-matched catalogs, including (1) consistent source cross-identification between bands, (2) de-blending of sources that are clearly resolved in the fiducial band but blended in the lower resolution SERVS data, (3) a higher source detection fraction in each band, (4) a larger number of candidate galaxies in the redshift range 5 < z < 6, and (5) a statistically significant improvement in the photometric redshift accuracy as evidenced by the significant decrease in the fraction of outliers compared to spectroscopic redshifts. Thus, forced photometry using The Tractor offers a means of improving the accuracy of multi-band extragalactic surveys designed for galaxy evolution studies. We will extend our application of this technique to the full SERVS footprint in the future.
Outcome Evaluation of a Community Center-Based Program for Mothers at High Psychosocial Risk

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodrigo, Maria Jose; Maiquez, Maria Luisa; Correa, Ana Delia; Martin, Juan Carlos; Rodriguez, Guacimara

2006-01-01

Objective: This study reported the outcome evaluation of the "Apoyo Personal y Familiar" (APF) program for poorly-educated mothers from multi-problem families, showing inadequate behavior with their children. APF is a community-based multi-site program delivered through weekly group meetings in municipal resource centers. Method: A total…
KSC CENTER DIRECTOR ACCEPTS PLAQUE FOR RECORD-SETTING BONE MARROW DONOR REGISTRATION DRIVE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Kennedy Space Center's Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive Chairman Dr. George A. Martin and Center Director Jay Honeycutt (left to right) accept a plaque from the Leukemia Society of America's Associate Executive Director Martin Bernstine and the American Red Cross' Southeast Regional Director Jeff Koenreich. Representatives from the American Red Cross and the Leukemia Society of America came to KSC to honor those involved in the record-setting Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive held here earlier this year. Over 900 potential donors were added to the National Bone Marrow Registry as a result of the KSC drive. The drive established a new record for the most people registered in a single day for the American Red Cross in the three state region of which Florida is a part.
A 5-year scientometric analysis of research centers affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences

PubMed Central

Yazdani, Kamran; Rahimi-Movaghar, Afarin; Nedjat, Saharnaz; Ghalichi, Leila; Khalili, Malahat

2015-01-01

Background: Since Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) has the oldest and highest number of research centers among all Iranian medical universities, this study was conducted to evaluate scientific output of research centers affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) using scientometric indices and the affecting factors. Moreover, a number of scientometric indicators were introduced. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate a 5-year scientific performance of research centers of TUMS. Data were collected through questionnaires, annual evaluation reports of the Ministry of Health, and also from Scopus database. We used appropriate measures of central tendency and variation for descriptive analyses. Moreover, uni-and multi-variable linear regression were used to evaluate the effect of independent factors on the scientific output of the centers. Results: The medians of the numbers of papers and books during a 5-year period were 150.5 and 2.5 respectively. The median of the "articles per researcher" was 19.1. Based on multiple linear regression, younger age centers (p=0.001), having a separate budget line (p=0.016), and number of research personnel (p<0.001) had a direct significant correlation with the number of articles while real properties had a reverse significant correlation with it (p=0.004). Conclusion: The results can help policy makers and research managers to allocate sufficient resources to improve current situation of the centers. Newly adopted and effective scientometric indices are is suggested to be used to evaluate scientific outputs and functions of these centers. PMID:26157724
Multivariate pattern recognition for diagnosis and prognosis in clinical neuroimaging: state of the art, current challenges and future trends.

PubMed

Haller, Sven; Lovblad, Karl-Olof; Giannakopoulos, Panteleimon; Van De Ville, Dimitri

2014-05-01

Many diseases are associated with systematic modifications in brain morphometry and function. These alterations may be subtle, in particular at early stages of the disease progress, and thus not evident by visual inspection alone. Group-level statistical comparisons have dominated neuroimaging studies for many years, proving fascinating insight into brain regions involved in various diseases. However, such group-level results do not warrant diagnostic value for individual patients. Recently, pattern recognition approaches have led to a fundamental shift in paradigm, bringing multivariate analysis and predictive results, notably for the early diagnosis of individual patients. We review the state-of-the-art fundamentals of pattern recognition including feature selection, cross-validation and classification techniques, as well as limitations including inter-individual variation in normal brain anatomy and neurocognitive reserve. We conclude with the discussion of future trends including multi-modal pattern recognition, multi-center approaches with data-sharing and cloud-computing.
Examining the Fermi-LAT third source catalog in search of dark matter subhalos

DOE PAGES

Bertoni, Bridget; Hooper, Dan; Linden, Tim

2015-12-17

Dark matter annihilations taking place in nearby subhalos could appear as gamma-ray sources without detectable counterparts at other wavelengths. In this study, we consider the collection of unassociated gamma-ray sources reported by the Fermi Collaboration in an effort to identify the most promising dark matter subhalo candidates. While we identify 24 bright, high-latitude, non-variable sources with spectra that are consistent with being generated by the annihilations of ~ 20–70 GeV dark matter particles (assuming annihilations to bbar b), it is not possible at this time to distinguish these sources from radio-faint gamma-ray pulsars. Deeper multi-wavelength observations will be essential tomore » clarify the nature of these sources. It is notable that we do not find any such sources that are well fit by dark matter particles heavier than ~100 GeV. We also study the angular distribution of the gamma-rays from this set of subhalo candidates, and find that the source 3FGL J2212.5+0703 prefers a spatially extended profile (of width ~ 0.15°) over that of a point source, with a significance of 4.2σ (3.6σ after trials factor). Although not yet definitive, this bright and high-latitude gamma-ray source is well fit as a nearby subhalo of m χ ≃ 20–50 GeV dark matter particles (annihilating to bb¯) and merits further multi-wavelength investigation. As a result, based on the subhalo distribution predicted by numerical simulations, we derive constraints on the dark matter annihilation cross section that are competitive to those resulting from gamma-ray observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies, the Galactic Center, and the extragalactic gamma-ray background.« less
Cross-evaluation of ground-based, multi-satellite and reanalysis precipitation products: Applicability of the Triple Collocation method across Mainland China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Changming; Tang, Guoqiang; Hong, Yang

2018-07-01

Evaluating the reliability of satellite and reanalysis precipitation products is critical but challenging over ungauged or poorly gauged regions. The Triple Collocation (TC) method is a reliable approach to estimate the accuracy of any three independent inputs in the absence of truth values. This study assesses the uncertainty of three types of independent precipitation products, i.e., satellite-based, ground-based and model reanalysis over Mainland China using the TC method. The ground-based data set is Gauge Based Daily Precipitation Analysis (CGDPA). The reanalysis data set is European Reanalysis Agency Reanalysis Product (ERA-interim). The satellite-based products include five mainstream satellite products. The comparison and evaluation are conducted at 0.25° and daily resolutions from 2013 to 2015. First, the effectiveness of the TC method is evaluated in South China with dense gauge network. The results demonstrate that the TC method is reliable because the correlation coefficient (CC) and root mean square error (RMSE) derived from TC are close to those derived from ground observations, with only 9% and 7% mean relative differences, respectively. Then, the TC method is applied in Mainland China, with special attention paid to the Tibetan Plateau (TP) known as the Earth's third pole with few ground stations. Results indicate that (1) The overall performance of IMERG is better than the other satellite products over Mainland China, followed by 3B42V7, CMORPH-CRT and PERSIANN-CDR. (2) In the TP, CGDPA shows the best overall performance over gauged grid cells, however, over ungauged regions, IMERG and ERA-interim slightly outperform CGDPA with similar RMSE but higher mean CC (0.63, 0.61, and 0.58, respectively). It highlights the strengths and potentiality of remote sensing and reanalysis data over the TP and reconfirms the cons of the inherent uncertainty of CGDPA due to interpolation from sparsely gauged data. The study concludes that the TC method provides not only reliable cross-validation results over Mainland China but also a new perspective for comparatively assessing multi-source precipitation products, particularly over poorly gauged regions such as the TP.
Re-imagining occupational therapy clients as communities: Presenting the community-centred practice framework.

PubMed

Hyett, Nerida; Kenny, Amanda; Dickson-Swift, Virginia

2018-01-09

Occupational therapists' are increasingly working with communities and providing services at the community level. There is, however, a lack of conceptual frameworks to guide this work. The aim of this article is to present a new conceptual framework for community-centered practice in occupational therapy. The conceptual framework was developed from qualitative multi-case research on exemplars of community participation. The first was, a network of Canadian food security programs, and the second, a rural Australian community banking initiative. Key themes were identified from across the case studies, and cross-case findings interpreted using occupational therapy and occupational science knowledge, and relevant social theory. The outcome is a four-stage, occupation-focused, community-centered practice framework. The Community-Centred Practice Framework can be used by occupational therapists to understand and apply a community-centered practice approach. The four stages are: (1) Community Identity, (2) Community Occupations, (3) Community Resources and Barriers, and (4) Participation Enablement. Further research is needed to trial and critically evaluate the framework, to assess its usefulness as a robust, occupation-focused, frame of reference to guide community-centered practice in occupational therapy. The proposed framework should assist occupational therapists to conceptualize community-centered practice, and to utilize and apply theory.
Project Based Learning in Multi-Grade Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ciftci, Sabahattin; Baykan, Ayse Aysun

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate project based learning in multi-grade classes. This study, based on a student-centered learning approach, aims to analyze students' and parents' interpretations. The study was done in a primary village school belonging to the Centre of Batman, already adapting multi-grade classes in their education system,…
[Attaching importance to study on acute health risk assessment and adaptation of air pollution and climate change].

PubMed

Shi, X M

2017-03-10

Air pollution and climate change have become key environmental and public health problems around the world, which poses serious threat to human health. How to assess and mitigate the health risks and increase the adaptation of the public have become an urgent topic of research in this area. The six papers in this issue will provide important and rich information on design, analysis method, indicator selection and setting about acute health risk assessment and adaptation study of air pollution and climate change in China, reflecting the advanced conceptions of multi-center and area-specific study and multi-pollutant causing acute effect study. However, the number and type of the cities included in these studies were still limited. In future, researchers should further expand detailed multi-center and multi-area study coverage, conduct area specific predicting and early warning study and strengthen adaptation study.
Reliability of 3-Dimensional Measures of Single-Leg Cross Drop Landing Across 3 Different Institutions

PubMed Central

DiCesare, Christopher A.; Bates, Nathaniel A.; Barber Foss, Kim D.; Thomas, Staci M.; Wordeman, Samuel C.; Sugimoto, Dai; Roewer, Benjamin D.; Medina McKeon, Jennifer M.; Di Stasi, Stephanie; Noehren, Brian W.; Ford, Kevin R.; Kiefer, Adam W.; Hewett, Timothy E.; Myer, Gregory D.

2015-01-01

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are physically and financially devastating but affect a relatively small percentage of the population. Prospective identification of risk factors for ACL injury necessitates a large sample size; therefore, study of this injury would benefit from a multicenter approach. Purpose: To determine the reliability of kinematic and kinetic measures of a single-leg cross drop task across 3 institutions. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Twenty-five female high school volleyball players participated in this study. Three-dimensional motion data of each participant performing the single-leg cross drop were collected at 3 institutions over a period of 4 weeks. Coefficients of multiple correlation were calculated to assess the reliability of kinematic and kinetic measures during the landing phase of the movement. Results: Between-centers reliability for kinematic waveforms in the frontal and sagittal planes was good, but moderate in the transverse plane. Between-centers reliability for kinetic waveforms was good in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes. Conclusion: Based on these findings, the single-leg cross drop task has moderate to good reliability of kinematic and kinetic measures across institutions after implementation of a standardized testing protocol. Clinical Relevance: Multicenter collaborations can increase study numbers and generalize results, which is beneficial for studies of relatively rare phenomena, such as ACL injury. An important step is to determine the reliability of risk assessments across institutions before a multicenter collaboration can be initiated. PMID:26779550

Advanced Cancer Detection Center

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-10-01

therapy in children: A Phase II randomized double blinded cross-over study (HLMCC 0708) • Risperidone for the Treatment of Cerebellar Mutism Syndrome...each question, the participant selects the answer by using the left and right arrow keys and then pressing the Choose button. The next question is...transformed to a quantitative scale measure for transmission. Numeric responses can be entered directly or can be selected from a list of
Quiet or Questioning? Students' Discussion Behaviors in Student-Centered Education across Cultures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frambach, Janneke M.; Driessen, Erik W.; Beh, Philip; van der Vleuten, Cees P. M.

2014-01-01

A tool used in student-centered education is discussion among students in small learning groups. The Western origin of student-centered education, coupled with cross-cultural differences in communication styles, may detract from its cross-cultural applicability. This study investigates how in student-centered education, students' cultural…
A DICOM based radiotherapy plan database for research collaboration and reporting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Westberg, J.; Krogh, S.; Brink, C.; Vogelius, I. R.

2014-03-01

Purpose: To create a central radiotherapy (RT) plan database for dose analysis and reporting, capable of calculating and presenting statistics on user defined patient groups. The goal is to facilitate multi-center research studies with easy and secure access to RT plans and statistics on protocol compliance. Methods: RT institutions are able to send data to the central database using DICOM communications on a secure computer network. The central system is composed of a number of DICOM servers, an SQL database and in-house developed software services to process the incoming data. A web site within the secure network allows the user to manage their submitted data. Results: The RT plan database has been developed in Microsoft .NET and users are able to send DICOM data between RT centers in Denmark. Dose-volume histogram (DVH) calculations performed by the system are comparable to those of conventional RT software. A permission system was implemented to ensure access control and easy, yet secure, data sharing across centers. The reports contain DVH statistics for structures in user defined patient groups. The system currently contains over 2200 patients in 14 collaborations. Conclusions: A central RT plan repository for use in multi-center trials and quality assurance was created. The system provides an attractive alternative to dummy runs by enabling continuous monitoring of protocol conformity and plan metrics in a trial.
Efficient Orchestration of Data Centers Via Comprehensive and Application Aware Trade Off Exploration

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

proposes to save power by concentrating traffic over a small subset of links. data center architecture [12], as depicted in Figure 1.1. The fat-tree... architecture is a physical network topology commonly used in data networks representing a hier- archical multi-rooted tree consisting of four levels...milliseconds) is an order of magnitude faster than the GASO variants (tens of seconds). 3.4.3 LAW for Architectures of Different Dimensions In this section
Multi-Media and the Changing School Library; A Summary of the Preparations for, Presentations, and Group Reports of the School Library Workshop for Leadership Personnel, Held at the Monte Corona Conference Center, Twin Peaks, Calif., August 6-12, 1967.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, James W., Comp; And Others

The 1967 Monte Corona School Library Workshop for Leadership Personnel, seventh in a series of summer workshops, focuses on school library programs and services; particularly as these relate to a cross-media approach to curriculum implementation. This workshop is designed primarily for school library and audio-visual education leadership personnel…
Measurement of the Top Quark Pair Production Cross Section in p anti-p collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV

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

Otero y Garzon, Gustavo J.

2006-03-01

The subject of this thesis is the measurement of the rate at which a top-antitop quark pair is produced in pp collisions at a center of mass energy of ps = 1:96 TeV. The data are collected with the D detector, a multi-purpose detector operating at the Fermilab Tevatron collider during Run II. A measurement of the top quark pair (tmore » $$\\bar{t}$$) production cross section ( σ t$$\\bar{t}$$) in p$$\\bar{p}$$ collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV is presented. The measurement is based on data recorded by the D0 Detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, and preselected in the e+jets (366 pb -1) and μ+jets (363 pb -1) channels. The cross section is extracted by applying a lifetime-tagging technique to the data, and yields σ t$$\\bar{t}$$ = 6.96$$+1.07\\atop{-0.98}$$(stat + syst) ± 0.45(lumi) pb; for a top quark mass m t =175 GeV, in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction.« less
Topical Rapamycin Therapy to Alleviate Cutaneous Manifestations of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

in the formation of visible facial angiofibromas over time. The lesions appear as red or pink papules distributed over the central face...especially on the nasolabial folds, cheeks, and chin. Lesions appear in early childhood and are present in up to 80% of TSC patients. Facial angiofibromas ...facial angiofibromas without causing side effects seen with systemic administration. This project is a multi-center prospective, randomized
Reliability of 3-Dimensional Measures of Single-Leg Cross Drop Landing Across 3 Different Institutions: Implications for Multicenter Biomechanical and Epidemiological Research on ACL Injury Prevention.

PubMed

DiCesare, Christopher A; Bates, Nathaniel A; Barber Foss, Kim D; Thomas, Staci M; Wordeman, Samuel C; Sugimoto, Dai; Roewer, Benjamin D; Medina McKeon, Jennifer M; Di Stasi, Stephanie; Noehren, Brian W; Ford, Kevin R; Kiefer, Adam W; Hewett, Timothy E; Myer, Gregory D

2015-12-01

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are physically and financially devastating but affect a relatively small percentage of the population. Prospective identification of risk factors for ACL injury necessitates a large sample size; therefore, study of this injury would benefit from a multicenter approach. To determine the reliability of kinematic and kinetic measures of a single-leg cross drop task across 3 institutions. Controlled laboratory study. Twenty-five female high school volleyball players participated in this study. Three-dimensional motion data of each participant performing the single-leg cross drop were collected at 3 institutions over a period of 4 weeks. Coefficients of multiple correlation were calculated to assess the reliability of kinematic and kinetic measures during the landing phase of the movement. Between-centers reliability for kinematic waveforms in the frontal and sagittal planes was good, but moderate in the transverse plane. Between-centers reliability for kinetic waveforms was good in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes. Based on these findings, the single-leg cross drop task has moderate to good reliability of kinematic and kinetic measures across institutions after implementation of a standardized testing protocol. Multicenter collaborations can increase study numbers and generalize results, which is beneficial for studies of relatively rare phenomena, such as ACL injury. An important step is to determine the reliability of risk assessments across institutions before a multicenter collaboration can be initiated.
Efficacy and safety of single injection of cross-linked sodium hyaluronate vs. three injections of high molecular weight sodium hyaluronate for osteoarthritis of the knee: a double-blind, randomized, multi-center, non-inferiority study.

PubMed

Ha, Chul-Won; Park, Yong-Beom; Choi, Chong-Hyuk; Kyung, Hee-Soo; Lee, Ju-Hong; Yoo, Jae Doo; Yoo, Ju-Hyung; Choi, Choong-Hyeok; Kim, Chang-Wan; Kim, Hee-Chun; Oh, Kwang-Jun; Bin, Seong-Il; Lee, Myung Chul

2017-05-26

This randomized, double-blind, multi-center, non-inferiority trial was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of a cross-linked hyaluronate (XLHA, single injection form) compared with a linear high molecular hyaluronate (HMWHA, thrice injection form) in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Two hundred eighty seven patients with osteoarthritis (Kellgren-Lawrence grade I to III) were randomized to each group. Three weekly injections were given in both groups but two times of saline injections preceded XLHA injection to maintain double-blindness. Primary endpoint was the change of weight-bearing pain (WBP) at 12 weeks after the last injection. Secondary endpoints included Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis index; patient's and investigator's global assessment; pain at rest, at night, or in motion; OMERACT-OARSI responder rate; proportion of patients achieving at least 20 mm or 40% decrease in WBP; and rate of rescue medicine use and its total consumption. Mean changes of WBP at 12 weeks after the last injection were -33.3 mm with XLHA and -29.2 mm with HMWHA, proving non-inferiority of XLHA to HMWHA as the lower bound of 95% CI (-1.9 mm, 10.1 mm) was well above the predefined margin (-10 mm). There were no significant between-group differences in all secondary endpoints. Injection site pain was the most common adverse event and no remarkable safety issue was identified. This study demonstrated that a single injection of XLHA was non-inferior to three weekly injections of HMWHA in terms of WBP reduction, and supports XLHA as an effective and safe treatment for knee osteoarthritis. ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT01510535 ). This trial was registered on January 6, 2012.
Alternative Fuels Data Center: Electric Vehicle Charging for Multi-Unit

Science.gov Websites

Dwellings Electric Vehicle Charging for Multi-Unit Dwellings to someone by E-mail Share Alternative Fuels Data Center: Electric Vehicle Charging for Multi-Unit Dwellings on Facebook Tweet about Alternative Fuels Data Center: Electric Vehicle Charging for Multi-Unit Dwellings on Twitter Bookmark
Embedded 100 Gbps Photonic Components

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

Kuznia, Charlie

This innovation to fiber optic component technology increases the performance, reduces the size and reduces the power consumption of optical communications within dense network systems, such as advanced distributed computing systems and data centers. VCSEL technology is enabling short-reach (< 100 m) and >100 Gbps optical interconnections over multi-mode fiber in commercial applications.
Disaster Risk Education of Final Year High School Students Requires a Partnership with Families and Charity Organizations: An International Cross-sectional Survey.

PubMed

Codreanu, Tudor A; Celenza, Antonio; Ngo, Hanh

2016-06-01

Introduction The aim of disaster reduction education (DRE) is to achieve behavioral change. Over the past two decades, many efforts have been directed towards this goal, but educational activities have been developed based on unverified assumptions. Further, the literature has not identified any significant change towards disaster preparedness at the individual level. In addition, previous research suggests that change is dependent on multiple independent predictors. It is difficult to determine what specific actions DRE might result in; therefore, the preamble of such an action, which is to have discussions about it, has been chosen as the surrogate outcome measure for DRE success. This study describes the relationship of the perceived entity responsible for disaster education, disaster education per se, sex, and country-specific characteristics, with students discussing disasters with friends and family as a measure of proactive behavioral change in disaster preparedness. A total of 3,829 final year high school students participated in an international, multi-center prospective, cross-sectional study using a validated questionnaire. Nine countries with different levels of disaster exposure risk and economic development were surveyed. Regression analyses examined the relationship between the likelihood of discussing disasters with friends and family (dependent variable) and a series of independent variables. There was no statistically significant relationship between a single entity responsible for disaster education and discussions about potential hazards and risks with friends and/or family. While several independent predictors showed a significant main effect, DRE through school lessons in interaction with Family & Charity Organizations had the highest predictive value. Disaster reduction education might require different delivery channels and methods and should engage with the entities with which the teenagers are more likely to collaborate. Codreanu TA , Celenza A , Ngo H . Disaster risk education of final year high school students requires a partnership with families and charity organizations: an international cross-sectional survey. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(3):242-254.
Diabetic Retinopathy in a Multi-ethnic Cohort in the United States

PubMed Central

WONG, TIEN YIN; KLEIN, RONALD; ISLAM, F.M. AMIRUL; COTCH, MARY FRANCES; FOLSOM, AARON R.; KLEIN, BARBARA E.K.; SHARRETT, A. RICHEY; SHEA, STEVEN

2008-01-01

PURPOSE To describe the prevalence and risk factors of diabetic retinopathy in a multi-ethnic US population of whites, blacks, hispanics, and chinese. DESIGN Cross-sectional study of 778 individuals from ages 45 to 85 years with diabetes, participating in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). METHODS Retinal photographs were obtained with a 45° nonmydriatic digital fundus camera. Presence and severity of diabetic retinopathy were graded at a central reading center on the basis of a modification of the Airlie House classification system. All participants underwent a standardized interview, examination, and laboratory investigations. RESULTS In this population with diabetes, the prevalence of any retinopathy was 33.2% and macular edema 9.0%. The prevalence of any diabetic retinopathy and macular edema was significantly higher in blacks (36.7% and 11.1%) and hispanics (37.4% and 10.7%) than in whites (24.8% and 2.7%) and chinese (25.7% and 8.9%) (P = .01 and P = .007, comparing racial/ethnic differences for retinopathy and macular edema, respectively). Significant independent predictors of any retinopathy were longer duration of diabetes, higher fasting serum glucose, use of diabetic oral medication or insulin, and greater waist-hip ratio. Race was not an independent predictor of any retinopathy. CONCLUSIONS This study provides contemporary data on the prevalence of and risk factors for diabetic retinopathy among whites, blacks, hispanics, and chinese participating in the MESA. PMID:16490489
Artificial Gravity as a Multi-System Countermeasure to Bed Rest Deconditioning: Pilot Study Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paloski, William H.; Young, L. R.

2007-01-01

Efficient, effective, multi-system countermeasures will likely be required to protect the health, safety, and performance of crews aboard planned exploration-class space flight missions to Mars and beyond. To that end, NASA, DLR, and IMBP initiated a multi-center international project to begin systematically exploring the utility of artificial gravity (AG) as a multi-system countermeasure in ground based venues using test subjects deconditioned by bed rest. The goal of this project is to explore the efficacy of short-radius, intermittent AG as a countermeasure to bone, muscle, cardiovascular, and sensory-motor adaptations to hypogravity. This session reports the results from a pilot study commissioned to validate a standardized protocol to be used by all centers involved in the project. Subject selection criteria, medical monitoring requirements, medical care procedures, experiment control procedures, and standardized dependent measures were established jointly. Testing was performed on 15 rigorously screened male volunteers subjected to 21 days of 6deg HDT bed rest. (All provided written consent to volunteer after the nature of the study and its hazards were clearly explained to them.) Eight were treated with daily 1hr AG exposures (2.5g at the feet decreasing to 1.0g at the heart) aboard a short radius (3m) centrifuge, while the other seven served as controls. Multiple tests of multiple dependent measures were made in each of the primary physiological systems of interest during a 10 day acclimatization period prior to HDT bed rest and again during an 8 day recovery period after the bed rest period was complete. Analyses of these data (presented in other papers in this session) suggest the AG prescription had salutary effects on aspects of the bone, muscle, and cardiovascular systems, with no untoward effects on the vestibular system, the immune system, or cognitive function. Furthermore, treatment subjects were able to tolerate 153/160 centrifuge sessions over the 21 day deconditioning protocol, suggesting that tolerance was unaffected by deconditioning. These positive results set the stage for full implementation of the planned multi-center international AG project. Future work will be devoted to developing optimization techniques for AG prescriptions (likely supplemented by exercise) to provide maximum physiological protection across all systems subject to space flight deconditioning in both men and women with minimum time and/or side effects. While a continuous AG solution (rotating vehicle) would likely be more efficient, this study suggests that intermittent AG could be an effective multi-system countermeasure.
Design of a multi-center immunophenotyping analysis of peripheral blood, sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in the Subpopulations and Intermediate Outcome Measures in COPD Study (SPIROMICS).

PubMed

Freeman, Christine M; Crudgington, Sean; Stolberg, Valerie R; Brown, Jeanette P; Sonstein, Joanne; Alexis, Neil E; Doerschuk, Claire M; Basta, Patricia V; Carretta, Elizabeth E; Couper, David J; Hastie, Annette T; Kaner, Robert J; O'Neal, Wanda K; Paine, Robert; Rennard, Stephen I; Shimbo, Daichi; Woodruff, Prescott G; Zeidler, Michelle; Curtis, Jeffrey L

2015-01-27

Subpopulations and Intermediate Outcomes in COPD Study (SPIROMICS) is a multi-center longitudinal, observational study to identify novel phenotypes and biomarkers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In a subset of 300 subjects enrolled at six clinical centers, we are performing flow cytometric analyses of leukocytes from induced sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and peripheral blood. To minimize several sources of variability, we use a "just-in-time" design that permits immediate staining without pre-fixation of samples, followed by centralized analysis on a single instrument. The Immunophenotyping Core prepares 12-color antibody panels, which are shipped to the six Clinical Centers shortly before study visits. Sputum induction occurs at least two weeks before a bronchoscopy visit, at which time peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar lavage are collected. Immunostaining is performed at each clinical site on the day that the samples are collected. Samples are fixed and express shipped to the Immunophenotyping Core for data acquisition on a single modified LSR II flow cytometer. Results are analyzed using FACS Diva and FloJo software and cross-checked by Core scientists who are blinded to subject data. Thus far, a total of 152 sputum samples and 117 samples of blood and BAL have been returned to the Immunophenotyping Core. Initial quality checks indicate useable data from 126 sputum samples (83%), 106 blood samples (91%) and 91 BAL samples (78%). In all three sample types, we are able to identify and characterize the activation state or subset of multiple leukocyte cell populations (including CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, B cells, monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils and eosinophils), thereby demonstrating the validity of the antibody panel. Our study design, which relies on bi-directional communication between clinical centers and the Core according to a pre-specified protocol, appears to reduce several sources of variability often seen in flow cytometric studies involving multiple clinical sites. Because leukocytes contribute to lung pathology in COPD, these analyses will help achieve SPIROMICS aims of identifying subgroups of patients with specific COPD phenotypes. Future analyses will correlate cell-surface markers on a given cell type with smoking history, spirometry, airway measurements, and other parameters. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT01969344 .
Systems Engineering Challenges for GSFC Space Science Mission Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thienel, Julie; Harman, Richard R.

2017-01-01

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Space Science Mission Operations (SSMO) project currently manages19 missions for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, within the Planetary, Astrophysics, and Heliophysics Divisions. The mission lifespans range from just a few months to more than20 years. The WIND spacecraft, the oldest SSMO mission, was launched in 1994. SSMO spacecraft reside in low earth, geosynchronous,highly elliptical, libration point, lunar, heliocentric,and Martian orbits. SSMO spacecraft range in size from 125kg (Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM)) to over 4000kg (Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (Fermi)). The attitude modes include both spin and three-axis stabilized, with varying requirements on pointing accuracy. The spacecraft are operated from control centers at Goddard and off-site control centers;the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS)mission were built at Goddard. The Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and Wind are operated out of a multi-mission operations center, which will also host several SSMO-managed cubesats in 2017. This paper focuses on the systems engineeringchallenges for such a large and varied fleet of spacecraft.
Studies of a new multi-layer compression bandage for the treatment of venous ulceration.

PubMed

Scriven, J M; Bello, M; Taylor, L E; Wood, A J; London, N J

2000-03-01

This study aimed to develop an alternative graduated compression bandage for the treatment of venous leg ulcers. Alternative bandage components were identified and assessed for optimal performance as a graduated multi-layer compression bandage. Subsequently the physical characteristics and clinical efficacy of the optimal bandage combination was prospectively examined. Ten healthy limbs were used to develop the optimal combination and 20 limbs with venous ulceration to compare the physical properties of the two bandage types. Subsequently 42 consecutive ulcerated limbs were prospectively treated to examine the efficacy of the new bandage combination. The new combination produced graduated median (range) sub-bandage pressures (mmHg) as follows: ankle 59 (42-100), calf 36 (27-67) and knee 35 (16-67). Over a seven-day period this combination maintained a comparable level of compression with the Charing Cross system, and achieved an overall healing rate at one year of 88%. The described combination should be brought to the attention of healthcare professionals treating venous ulcers as a possible alternative to other forms of multi-layer graduated compression bandages pending prospective, randomised clinical trials.
The Maintenance Costs of Aging Aircraft: Insights from Commercial Aviation

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

9 Ramsey , French, and Sperry (1998) Used Commercial Data to Estimate KC...Cross-sectional Stoll and Davis (NAMO) 1993 + Multiple Navy Multiple Cross-sectional and panel Ramsey (Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center [OC-ALC...in on-equipment2 workloads over approxi- mately the same period of time. Ramsey , French, and Sperry (1998) Used Commercial Data to Estimate KC-135
Structural attributes of two old-growth Cross Timbers stands in western Arkansas

Treesearch

Don C. Bragg; David W. Stahle; K. Chris Cerny

2012-01-01

Comprised of largely non-commercial, xeric, oak-dominated forests, the Cross Timbers in Arkansas have been heavily altered over the last two centuries, and thus only scattered parcels of old-growth timber remain. We inventoried and mapped two such stands on Fort Chaffee Military Training Center in Sebastian County, Arkansas. The west-facing Christmas Knob site is...
The impact of completing upper secondary education - a multi-state model for work, education and health in young men.

PubMed

Hoff, Rune; Corbett, Karina; Mehlum, Ingrid S; Mohn, Ferdinand A; Kristensen, Petter; Hanvold, Therese N; Gran, Jon M

2018-04-27

Completing upper secondary education is associated with higher work participation and less health-related absence from work. Although these outcomes are closely interrelated, most studies focus on single outcomes, using cross-sectional designs or short follow-up periods. As such, there is limited knowledge of the long-term outcomes, and how paths for completers and non-completers unfold over time. In this paper, we use multi-state models for time-to-event data to assess the long-term effects of completing upper secondary education on employment, tertiary education, sick leave, and disability pension over twelve and a half years for young men. Baseline covariates and twelve and a half years of follow-up data on employment, tertiary education, sick leave and disability pension were obtained from national registries for all males born in Norway between 1971 and 1976 (n =184951). The effects of completing upper secondary education (by age 23) were analysed in a multi-state framework, adjusting for both individual and family level confounders. All analyses were done separately for general studies and vocational tracks. Completers do better on a range of outcomes compared to non-completers, for both fields of upper secondary education, but effects of completion change over time. The largest changes are for tertiary education and work, with the probability of work increasing reciprocally to the probability of education. Vocational students are quicker to transfer to the labour market, but tend to have more unemployment, sick leave and disability, and the absolute effects of completion on these outcomes are largest for vocational tracks. However, the relative effects of completion are larger for general studies. Completing upper secondary education increases long-term work participation and lowers health-related absence for young men, but effects diminish over time. Studies that have used shorter follow-up periods could be overstating the negative effects of dropout on labour market participation. Multi-state models are well suited to analyse data on work, education and health-related absence, and can be useful in understanding the dynamic aspects of these outcomes.

Understanding protected area resilience: a multi-scale, social-ecological approach.

PubMed

Cumming, Graeme S; Allen, Craig R; Ban, Natalie C; Biggs, Duan; Biggs, Harry C; Cumming, David H M; De Vos, Alta; Epstein, Graham; Etienne, Michel; Maciejewski, Kristine; Mathevet, Raphaël; Moore, Christine; Nenadovic, Mateja; Schoon, Michael

2015-03-01

Protected areas (PAs) remain central to the conservation of biodiversity. Classical PAs were conceived as areas that would be set aside to maintain a natural state with minimal human influence. However, global environmental change and growing cross-scale anthropogenic influences mean that PAs can no longer be thought of as ecological islands that function independently of the broader social-ecological system in which they are located. For PAs to be resilient (and to contribute to broader social-ecological resilience), they must be able to adapt to changing social and ecological conditions over time in a way that supports the long-term persistence of populations, communities, and ecosystems of conservation concern. We extend Ostrom's social-ecological systems framework to consider the long-term persistence of PAs, as a form of land use embedded in social-ecological systems, with important cross-scale feedbacks. Most notably, we highlight the cross-scale influences and feedbacks on PAs that exist from the local to the global scale, contextualizing PAs within multi-scale social-ecological functional landscapes. Such functional landscapes are integral to understand and manage individual PAs for long-term sustainability. We illustrate our conceptual contribution with three case studies that highlight cross-scale feedbacks and social-ecological interactions in the functioning of PAs and in relation to regional resilience. Our analysis suggests that while ecological, economic, and social processes are often directly relevant to PAs at finer scales, at broader scales, the dominant processes that shape and alter PA resilience are primarily social and economic.
Understanding protected area resilience: a multi-scale, social-ecological approach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cumming, Graeme S.; Allen, Craig R.; Ban, Natalie C.; Biggs, Duan; Biggs, Harry C.; Cumming, David H.M; De Vos, Alta; Epstein, Graham; Etienne, Michel; Maciejewski, Kristine; Mathevet, Raphael; Moore, Christine; Nenadovic, Mateja; Schoon, Michael

2015-01-01

Protected areas (PAs) remain central to the conservation of biodiversity. Classical PAs were conceived as areas that would be set aside to maintain a natural state with minimal human influence. However, global environmental change and growing cross-scale anthropogenic influences mean that PAs can no longer be thought of as ecological islands that function independently of the broader social-ecological system in which they are located. For PAs to be resilient (and to contribute to broader social-ecological resilience), they must be able to adapt to changing social and ecological conditions over time in a way that supports the long-term persistence of populations, communities, and ecosystems of conservation concern. We extend Ostrom's social-ecological systems framework to consider the long-term persistence of PAs, as a form of land use embedded in social-ecological systems, with important cross-scale feedbacks. Most notably, we highlight the cross-scale influences and feedbacks on PAs that exist from the local to the global scale, contextualizing PAs within multi-scale social-ecological functional landscapes. Such functional landscapes are integral to understand and manage individual PAs for long-term sustainability. We illustrate our conceptual contribution with three case studies that highlight cross-scale feedbacks and social-ecological interactions in the functioning of PAs and in relation to regional resilience. Our analysis suggests that while ecological, economic, and social processes are often directly relevant to PAs at finer scales, at broader scales, the dominant processes that shape and alter PA resilience are primarily social and economic.
Multi-Scale Structure and Earthquake Properties in the San Jacinto Fault Zone Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ben-Zion, Y.

2014-12-01

I review multi-scale multi-signal seismological results on structure and earthquake properties within and around the San Jacinto Fault Zone (SJFZ) in southern California. The results are based on data of the southern California and ANZA networks covering scales from a few km to over 100 km, additional near-fault seismometers and linear arrays with instrument spacing 25-50 m that cross the SJFZ at several locations, and a dense rectangular array with >1100 vertical-component nodes separated by 10-30 m centered on the fault. The structural studies utilize earthquake data to image the seismogenic sections and ambient noise to image the shallower structures. The earthquake studies use waveform inversions and additional time domain and spectral methods. We observe pronounced damage regions with low seismic velocities and anomalous Vp/Vs ratios around the fault, and clear velocity contrasts across various sections. The damage zones and velocity contrasts produce fault zone trapped and head waves at various locations, along with time delays, anisotropy and other signals. The damage zones follow a flower-shape with depth; in places with velocity contrast they are offset to the stiffer side at depth as expected for bimaterial ruptures with persistent propagation direction. Analysis of PGV and PGA indicates clear persistent directivity at given fault sections and overall motion amplification within several km around the fault. Clear temporal changes of velocities, probably involving primarily the shallow material, are observed in response to seasonal, earthquake and other loadings. Full source tensor properties of M>4 earthquakes in the complex trifurcation area include statistically-robust small isotropic component, likely reflecting dynamic generation of rock damage in the source volumes. The dense fault zone instruments record seismic "noise" at frequencies >200 Hz that can be used for imaging and monitoring the shallow material with high space and time details, and numerous minute local earthquakes that contribute to the high frequency "noise". Updated results will be presented in the meeting. *The studies have been done in collaboration with Frank Vernon, Amir Allam, Dimitri Zigone, Zach Ross, Gregor Hillers, Ittai Kurzon, Michel Campillo, Philippe Roux, Lupei Zhu, Dan Hollis, Mitchell Barklage and others.
Subsonic Transonic Applied Refinements By Using Key Strategies - STARBUKS In the NASA Langley Research Center National Transonic Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paryz, Roman W.

2014-01-01

Several upgrade projects have been completed at the NASA Langley Research Center National Transonic Facility over the last 1.5 years in an effort defined as STARBUKS - Subsonic Transonic Applied Refinements By Using Key Strategies. This multi-year effort was undertaken to improve NTF's overall capabilities by addressing Accuracy and Validation, Productivity, and Reliability areas at the NTF. This presentation will give a brief synopsis of each of these efforts.
Dissociative electron attachment studies on acetone

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

Prabhudesai, Vaibhav S., E-mail: vaibhav@tifr.res.in; Tadsare, Vishvesh; Ghosh, Sanat

Dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to acetone is studied in terms of the absolute cross section for various fragment channels in the electron energy range of 0–20 eV. H{sup −} is found to be the most dominant fragment followed by O{sup −} and OH{sup −} with only one resonance peak between 8 and 9 eV. The DEA dynamics is studied by measuring the angular distribution and kinetic energy distribution of fragment anions using Velocity Slice Imaging technique. The kinetic energy and angular distribution of H{sup −} and O{sup −} fragments suggest a many body break-up for the lone resonance observed. Themore » ab initio calculations show that electron is captured in the multi-centered anti-bonding molecular orbital which would lead to a many body break-up of the resonance.« less
49 CFR 213.365 - Visual inspections.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... made on foot or by riding over the track in a vehicle at a speed that allows the person making the... over track crossings and turnouts, otherwise, the inspection vehicle speed shall be at the sole... unobstructed by any cause and that the second track is not centered more than 30 feet from the track upon which...
49 CFR 213.365 - Visual inspections.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... made on foot or by riding over the track in a vehicle at a speed that allows the person making the... over track crossings and turnouts, otherwise, the inspection vehicle speed shall be at the sole... unobstructed by any cause and that the second track is not centered more than 30 feet from the track upon which...
Precision Measurement of the e^{+}e^{-}→Λ_{c}^{+}Λ[over ¯]_{c}^{-} Cross Section Near Threshold.

PubMed

Ablikim, M; Achasov, M N; Ahmed, S; Albrecht, M; Alekseev, M; Amoroso, A; An, F F; An, Q; Bai, J Z; Bai, Y; Bakina, O; Baldini Ferroli, R; Ban, Y; Begzsuren, K; Bennett, D W; Bennett, J V; Berger, N; Bertani, M; Bettoni, D; Bianchi, F; Boger, E; Boyko, I; Briere, R A; Cai, H; Cai, X; Cakir, O; Calcaterra, A; Cao, G F; Cetin, S A; Chai, J; Chang, J F; Chelkov, G; Chen, G; Chen, H S; Chen, J C; Chen, M L; Chen, P L; Chen, S J; Chen, X R; Chen, Y B; Chu, X K; Cibinetto, G; Cossio, F; Dai, H L; Dai, J P; Dbeyssi, A; Dedovich, D; Deng, Z Y; Denig, A; Denysenko, I; Destefanis, M; De Mori, F; Ding, Y; Dong, C; Dong, J; Dong, L Y; Dong, M Y; Dou, Z L; Du, S X; Duan, P F; Fang, J; Fang, S S; Fang, Y; Farinelli, R; Fava, L; Fegan, S; Feldbauer, F; Felici, G; Feng, C Q; Fioravanti, E; Fritsch, M; Fu, C D; Gao, Q; Gao, X L; Gao, Y; Gao, Y G; Gao, Z; Garillon, B; Garzia, I; Gilman, A; Goetzen, K; Gong, L; Gong, W X; Gradl, W; Greco, M; Gu, M H; Gu, Y T; Guo, A Q; Guo, R P; Guo, Y P; Guskov, A; Haddadi, Z; Han, S; Hao, X Q; Harris, F A; He, K L; He, X Q; Heinsius, F H; Held, T; Heng, Y K; Holtmann, T; Hou, Z L; Hu, H M; Hu, J F; Hu, T; Hu, Y; Huang, G S; Huang, J S; Huang, X T; Huang, X Z; Huang, Z L; Hussain, T; Ikegami Andersson, W; Ji, Q; Ji, Q P; Ji, X B; Ji, X L; Jiang, X S; Jiang, X Y; Jiao, J B; Jiao, Z; Jin, D P; Jin, S; Jin, Y; Johansson, T; Julin, A; Kalantar-Nayestanaki, N; Kang, X S; Kavatsyuk, M; Ke, B C; Khan, T; Khoukaz, A; Kiese, P; Kliemt, R; Koch, L; Kolcu, O B; Kopf, B; Kornicer, M; Kuemmel, M; Kuhlmann, M; Kupsc, A; Kühn, W; Lange, J S; Lara, M; Larin, P; Lavezzi, L; Leithoff, H; Li, C; Li, Cheng; Li, D M; Li, F; Li, F Y; Li, G; Li, H B; Li, H J; Li, J C; Li, J W; Li, Jin; Li, K J; Li, Kang; Li, Ke; Li, Lei; Li, P L; Li, P R; Li, Q Y; Li, W D; Li, W G; Li, X L; Li, X N; Li, X Q; Li, Z B; Liang, H; Liang, Y F; Liang, Y T; Liao, G R; Libby, J; Lin, C X; Lin, D X; Liu, B; Liu, B J; Liu, C X; Liu, D; Liu, F H; Liu, Fang; Liu, Feng; Liu, H B; Liu, H L; Liu, H M; Liu, Huanhuan; Liu, Huihui; Liu, J B; Liu, J Y; Liu, K; Liu, K Y; Liu, Ke; Liu, L D; Liu, Q; Liu, S B; Liu, X; Liu, Y B; Liu, Z A; Liu, Zhiqing; Long, Y F; Lou, X C; Lu, H J; Lu, J G; Lu, Y; Lu, Y P; Luo, C L; Luo, M X; Luo, X L; Lusso, S; Lyu, X R; Ma, F C; Ma, H L; Ma, L L; Ma, M M; Ma, Q M; Ma, T; Ma, X N; Ma, X Y; Ma, Y M; Maas, F E; Maggiora, M; Malik, Q A; Mao, Y J; Mao, Z P; Marcello, S; Meng, Z X; Messchendorp, J G; Mezzadri, G; Min, J; Mitchell, R E; Mo, X H; Mo, Y J; Morales Morales, C; Muchnoi, N Yu; Muramatsu, H; Mustafa, A; Nefedov, Y; Nerling, F; Nikolaev, I B; Ning, Z; Nisar, S; Niu, S L; Niu, X Y; Olsen, S L; Ouyang, Q; Pacetti, S; Pan, Y; Papenbrock, M; Patteri, P; Pelizaeus, M; Pellegrino, J; Peng, H P; Peng, Z Y; Peters, K; Pettersson, J; Ping, J L; Ping, R G; Pitka, A; Poling, R; Prasad, V; Qi, H R; Qi, M; Qi, T Y; Qian, S; Qiao, C F; Qin, N; Qin, X S; Qin, Z H; Qiu, J F; Rashid, K H; Redmer, C F; Richter, M; Ripka, M; Rolo, M; Rong, G; Rosner, Ch; Sarantsev, A; Savrié, M; Schnier, C; Schoenning, K; Shan, W; Shan, X Y; Shao, M; Shen, C P; Shen, P X; Shen, X Y; Sheng, H Y; Shi, X; Song, J J; Song, W M; Song, X Y; Sosio, S; Sowa, C; Spataro, S; Sun, G X; Sun, J F; Sun, L; Sun, S S; Sun, X H; Sun, Y J; Sun, Y K; Sun, Y Z; Sun, Z J; Sun, Z T; Tan, Y T; Tang, C J; Tang, G Y; Tang, X; Tapan, I; Tiemens, M; Tsednee, B; Uman, I; Varner, G S; Wang, B; Wang, B L; Wang, D; Wang, D Y; Wang, Dan; Wang, K; Wang, L L; Wang, L S; Wang, M; Wang, Meng; Wang, P; Wang, P L; Wang, W P; Wang, X F; Wang, Y; Wang, Y D; Wang, Y F; Wang, Y Q; Wang, Z; Wang, Z G; Wang, Z Y; Wang, Zongyuan; Weber, T; Wei, D H; Wei, J H; Weidenkaff, P; Wen, S P; Wiedner, U; Wolke, M; Wu, L H; Wu, L J; Wu, Z; Xia, L; Xia, Y; Xiao, D; Xiao, Y J; Xiao, Z J; Xie, Y G; Xie, Y H; Xiong, X A; Xiu, Q L; Xu, G F; Xu, J J; Xu, L; Xu, Q J; Xu, Q N; Xu, X P; Yan, F; Yan, L; Yan, W B; Yan, W C; Yan, Y H; Yang, H J; Yang, H X; Yang, L; Yang, Y H; Yang, Y X; Yang, Yifan; Ye, M; Ye, M H; Yin, J H; You, Z Y; Yu, B X; Yu, C X; Yu, J S; Yuan, C Z; Yuan, Y; Yuncu, A; Zafar, A A; Zeng, Y; Zeng, Z; Zhang, B X; Zhang, B Y; Zhang, C C; Zhang, D H; Zhang, H H; Zhang, H Y; Zhang, J; Zhang, J L; Zhang, J Q; Zhang, J W; Zhang, J Y; Zhang, J Z; Zhang, K; Zhang, L; Zhang, S Q; Zhang, X Y; Zhang, Y; Zhang, Y H; Zhang, Y T; Zhang, Yang; Zhang, Yao; Zhang, Yu; Zhang, Z H; Zhang, Z P; Zhang, Z Y; Zhao, G; Zhao, J W; Zhao, J Y; Zhao, J Z; Zhao, Lei; Zhao, Ling; Zhao, M G; Zhao, Q; Zhao, S J; Zhao, T C; Zhao, Y B; Zhao, Z G; Zhemchugov, A; Zheng, B; Zheng, J P; Zheng, Y H; Zhong, B; Zhou, L; Zhou, Q; Zhou, X; Zhou, X K; Zhou, X R; Zhou, X Y; Zhu, A N; Zhu, J; Zhu, K; Zhu, K J; Zhu, S; Zhu, S H; Zhu, X L; Zhu, Y C; Zhu, Y S; Zhu, Z A; Zhuang, J; Zou, B S; Zou, J H

2018-03-30

The cross section of the e^{+}e^{-}→Λ_{c}^{+}Λ[over ¯]_{c}^{-} process is measured with unprecedented precision using data collected with the BESIII detector at sqrt[s]=4574.5, 4580.0, 4590.0 and 4599.5 MeV. The nonzero cross section near the Λ_{c}^{+}Λ[over ¯]_{c}^{-} production threshold is cleared. At center-of-mass energies sqrt[s]=4574.5 and 4599.5 MeV, the higher statistics data enable us to measure the Λ_{c} polar angle distributions. From these, the Λ_{c} electric over magnetic form-factor ratios (|G_{E}/G_{M}|) are measured for the first time. They are found to be 1.14±0.14±0.07 and 1.23±0.05±0.03, respectively, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic.
NHERI: Advancing the Research Infrastructure of the Multi-Hazard Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blain, C. A.; Ramirez, J. A.; Bobet, A.; Browning, J.; Edge, B.; Holmes, W.; Johnson, D.; Robertson, I.; Smith, T.; Zuo, D.

2017-12-01

The Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI), supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is a distributed, multi-user national facility that provides the natural hazards research community with access to an advanced research infrastructure. Components of NHERI are comprised of a Network Coordination Office (NCO), a cloud-based cyberinfrastructure (DesignSafe-CI), a computational modeling and simulation center (SimCenter), and eight Experimental Facilities (EFs), including a post-disaster, rapid response research facility (RAPID). Utimately NHERI enables researchers to explore and test ground-breaking concepts to protect homes, businesses and infrastructure lifelines from earthquakes, windstorms, tsunamis, and surge enabling innovations to help prevent natural hazards from becoming societal disasters. When coupled with education and community outreach, NHERI will facilitate research and educational advances that contribute knowledge and innovation toward improving the resiliency of the nation's civil infrastructure to withstand natural hazards. The unique capabilities and coordinating activities over Year 1 between NHERI's DesignSafe-CI, the SimCenter, and individual EFs will be presented. Basic descriptions of each component are also found at https://www.designsafe-ci.org/facilities/. Additionally to be discussed are the various roles of the NCO in leading development of a 5-year multi-hazard science plan, coordinating facility scheduling and fostering the sharing of technical knowledge and best practices, leading education and outreach programs such as the recent Summer Institute and multi-facility REU program, ensuring a platform for technology transfer to practicing engineers, and developing strategic national and international partnerships to support a diverse multi-hazard research and user community.
Road screening and distribution route multi-objective robust optimization for hazardous materials based on neural network and genetic algorithm.

PubMed

Ma, Changxi; Hao, Wei; Pan, Fuquan; Xiang, Wang

2018-01-01

Route optimization of hazardous materials transportation is one of the basic steps in ensuring the safety of hazardous materials transportation. The optimization scheme may be a security risk if road screening is not completed before the distribution route is optimized. For road screening issues of hazardous materials transportation, a road screening algorithm of hazardous materials transportation is built based on genetic algorithm and Levenberg-Marquardt neural network (GA-LM-NN) by analyzing 15 attributes data of each road network section. A multi-objective robust optimization model with adjustable robustness is constructed for the hazardous materials transportation problem of single distribution center to minimize transportation risk and time. A multi-objective genetic algorithm is designed to solve the problem according to the characteristics of the model. The algorithm uses an improved strategy to complete the selection operation, applies partial matching cross shift and single ortho swap methods to complete the crossover and mutation operation, and employs an exclusive method to construct Pareto optimal solutions. Studies show that the sets of hazardous materials transportation road can be found quickly through the proposed road screening algorithm based on GA-LM-NN, whereas the distribution route Pareto solutions with different levels of robustness can be found rapidly through the proposed multi-objective robust optimization model and algorithm.
Multi-tiered system of support incorporating the R.E.N.E.W. process and its relationship to perception of school safety and office discipline referrals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flood, Molly M.

This study examined the relationship between the fidelity of multi-tier school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) and staff perception of school safety and office discipline referrals. This research provided a case study on multi-tier supports and interventions, and the RENEW person-centered planning process in an alternative special education center following the implementation of a multi-tier SWPBIS model. Pennsylvania is one of several states looking to adopt an effective Tier III behavioral tool. The research described the results of an analysis of implementation fidelity on a multi-tiered school-wide positive behavior support model developed at a special education center operated by a public school system entity. This research explored the fidelity of SWPBIS implementation; analyzed the relationship of SWPBIS to school climate as measured by staff perceptions and reduction of office discipline referrals (ODR); explored tier III supports incorporating a process Rehabilitation and Empowerment, Natural Supports, Education and Work (RENEW); and investigated the potential sustainability of the RENEW process as a multi-tier system of support. This study investigated staff perceptions on integrated supports between schools and communities and identified the degree of relationship to school risk factors, school protective factors, and office discipline referrals following the building of cooperative partnerships between Systems of Care and Local Education Agencies.
KSC-03pd0154

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-01-16

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility look over the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite after the first half of the fairing is put in place. When completely encapsulated, the satellite will be installed in the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), SORCE will study and measure solar irradiance as a source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. The launch of SORCE is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 3:14 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The drop of the Pegasus will be from OSC's L-1011 aircraft at an altitude of 39,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean approximately 100 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral.
KSC-03pd0152

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-01-16

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A worker in the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility looks over the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite as the first half of the fairing is put in place. When completely encapsulated, the satellite will be installed in the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), SORCE will study and measure solar irradiance as a source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. The launch of SORCE is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 3:14 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The drop of the Pegasus will be from OSC's L-1011 aircraft at an altitude of 39,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean approximately 100 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral.
KSC-03pd0153

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-01-16

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility look over the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite as the first half of the fairing is put in place. When completely encapsulated, the satellite will be installed in the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), SORCE will study and measure solar irradiance as a source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. The launch of SORCE is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 3:14 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The drop of the Pegasus will be from OSC's L-1011 aircraft at an altitude of 39,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean approximately 100 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral.
The KIzSS network, a sentinel surveillance system for infectious diseases in day care centers: study protocol.

PubMed

Enserink, Remko; Noel, Harold; Friesema, Ingrid H M; de Jager, Carolien M; Kooistra-Smid, Anna M D; Kortbeek, Laetitia M; Duizer, Erwin; van der Sande, Marianne A B; Smit, Henriette A; Pelt, Wilfrid van

2012-10-15

Day care-associated infectious diseases are widely recognized as a public health problem but rarely studied. Insights into their dynamics and their association with the day care setting are important for effective decision making in management of infectious disease control. This paper describes the purpose, design and potential of our national multi-center, day care-based sentinel surveillance network for infectious diseases (the KIzSS network). The aim of the KIzSS network is to acquire a long-term insight into the syndromic and microbiological aspects of day care-related infectious diseases and associated disease burden and to model these aspects with day care setting characteristics. The KIzSS network applies a prospective cohort design, following day care centers rather than individual children or staff members over time. Data on infectious disease symptoms and related morbidity (children and staff), medical consumption, absenteeism and circulating enteric pathogens (children) are collected on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Every two years, a survey is performed to assess the characteristics of participating day care centers. The KIzSS network offers a unique potential to study infectious disease dynamics in the day care setting over a sustained period of time. The created (bio)databases will help us to assess day care-related disease burden of infectious diseases among attending children and staff and their relation with the day care setting. This will support the much needed development of evidence-based and pragmatic guidelines for infectious disease control in day care centers.
The KIzSS network, a sentinel surveillance system for infectious diseases in day care centers: study protocol

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Day care-associated infectious diseases are widely recognized as a public health problem but rarely studied. Insights into their dynamics and their association with the day care setting are important for effective decision making in management of infectious disease control. This paper describes the purpose, design and potential of our national multi-center, day care-based sentinel surveillance network for infectious diseases (the KIzSS network). The aim of the KIzSS network is to acquire a long-term insight into the syndromic and microbiological aspects of day care-related infectious diseases and associated disease burden and to model these aspects with day care setting characteristics. Methods/design The KIzSS network applies a prospective cohort design, following day care centers rather than individual children or staff members over time. Data on infectious disease symptoms and related morbidity (children and staff), medical consumption, absenteeism and circulating enteric pathogens (children) are collected on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Every two years, a survey is performed to assess the characteristics of participating day care centers. Discussion The KIzSS network offers a unique potential to study infectious disease dynamics in the day care setting over a sustained period of time. The created (bio)databases will help us to assess day care-related disease burden of infectious diseases among attending children and staff and their relation with the day care setting. This will support the much needed development of evidence-based and pragmatic guidelines for infectious disease control in day care centers. PMID:23066727
A Dual-Modality System for Both Multi-Color Ultrasound-Switchable Fluorescence and Ultrasound Imaging

PubMed Central

Kandukuri, Jayanth; Yu, Shuai; Cheng, Bingbing; Bandi, Venugopal; D’Souza, Francis; Nguyen, Kytai T.; Hong, Yi; Yuan, Baohong

2017-01-01

Simultaneous imaging of multiple targets (SIMT) in opaque biological tissues is an important goal for molecular imaging in the future. Multi-color fluorescence imaging in deep tissues is a promising technology to reach this goal. In this work, we developed a dual-modality imaging system by combining our recently developed ultrasound-switchable fluorescence (USF) imaging technology with the conventional ultrasound (US) B-mode imaging. This dual-modality system can simultaneously image tissue acoustic structure information and multi-color fluorophores in centimeter-deep tissue with comparable spatial resolutions. To conduct USF imaging on the same plane (i.e., x-z plane) as US imaging, we adopted two 90°-crossed ultrasound transducers with an overlapped focal region, while the US transducer (the third one) was positioned at the center of these two USF transducers. Thus, the axial resolution of USF is close to the lateral resolution, which allows a point-by-point USF scanning on the same plane as the US imaging. Both multi-color USF and ultrasound imaging of a tissue phantom were demonstrated. PMID:28165390
Future changes to drought characteristics over the Canadian Prairie Provinces based on NARCCAP multi-RCM ensemble

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masud, M. B.; Khaliq, M. N.; Wheater, H. S.

2017-04-01

This study assesses projected changes to drought characteristics in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the prairie provinces of Canada, using a multi-regional climate model (RCM) ensemble available through the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program. Simulations considered include those performed with six RCMs driven by National Center for Environmental Prediction reanalysis II for the 1981-2003 period and those driven by four Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models for the 1970-1999 and 2041-2070 periods (i.e. eleven current and the same number of corresponding future period simulations). Drought characteristics are extracted using two drought indices, namely the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Regional frequency analysis is used to project changes to selected 20- and 50-year regional return levels of drought characteristics for fifteen homogeneous regions, covering the study area. In addition, multivariate analyses of drought characteristics, derived on the basis of 6-month SPI and SPEI values, are developed using the copula approach for each region. Analysis of multi-RCM ensemble-averaged projected changes to mean and selected return levels of drought characteristics show increases over the southern and south-western parts of the study area. Based on bi- and trivariate joint occurrence probabilities of drought characteristics, the southern regions along with the central regions are found highly drought vulnerable, followed by the southwestern and southeastern regions. Compared to the SPI-based analysis, the results based on SPEI suggest drier conditions over many regions in the future, indicating potential effects of rising temperatures on drought risks. These projections will be useful in the development of appropriate adaptation strategies for the water and agricultural sectors, which play an important role in the economy of the study area.
Ambient Noise Monitoring of the Santa Clara and San Gabriel Aquifers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clements, T.; Denolle, M.

2016-12-01

Ambient noise cross-correlation is an effective technique to monitor temporal changes in the properties of the solid earth. The technique has had particular success in monitoring over time scales differing by orders of magnitude, with precursors to volcanic eruptions occurring over days [Brenguier, et al., 2008, Nature] and post-seismic relaxation in fault zones occurring over years [Brenguier, et al., 2008, Science]. Recently, the technique was extended to investigate the interaction of the solid earth and climate via ice sheet melt [Mordret et al.,2016]. In that vein, we use ambient noise cross-correlation to monitor basin-scale aquifers. The technique is amenable to studying aquifers, as it has potential for high spatial resolution, on the scale of a basin and can monitor aquifer recharge/draw down on timescales from large, single-day storms to multi-year droughts. Geodetics studies have previously recorded both long term, in the Santa Clara Valley [Chaussard et al., 2014, Schmidt and Burgmann, 2003], and short-term, in the San Gabriel Valley [King et al. 2007], ground uplift due to aquifer recharge. We use the Moving Window Cross Spectral technique [Clarke et al., 2011] to monitor wave-speed perturbation in the Santa Clara valley over the period 2001-2016 and San Gabriel Basin over the period 1995-2016. Preliminary results, using stations from the Berkeley Digital Seismograph Network and the USGS Northern California Regional Network, show that seismic velocities vary 0.1% intra-annually. We explore the temporal variations, along with correlations in observed ground water data, precipitation and geodesic measurements to deduce the poroelastic properties of the aquifers during the last two El-Nino and recent droughts in California.
A zone-based approach to identifying urban land uses using nationally-available data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falcone, James A.

Accurate identification of urban land use is essential for many applications in environmental study, ecological assessment, and urban planning, among other fields. However, because physical surfaces of land cover types are not necessarily related to their use and economic function, differentiating among thematically-detailed urban land uses (single-family residential, multi-family residential, commercial, industrial, etc.) using remotely-sensed imagery is a challenging task, particularly over large areas. Because the process requires an interpretation of tone/color, size, shape, pattern, and neighborhood association elements within a scene, it has traditionally been accomplished via manual interpretation of aerial photography or high-resolution satellite imagery. Although success has been achieved for localized areas using various automated techniques based on high-spatial or high-spectral resolution data, few detailed (Anderson Level II equivalent or greater) urban land use mapping products have successfully been created via automated means for broad (multi-county or larger) areas, and no such product exists today for the United States. In this study I argue that by employing a zone-based approach it is feasible to map thematically-detailed urban land use classes over large areas using appropriate combinations of non-image based predictor data which are nationally and publicly available. The approach presented here uses U.S. Census block groups as the basic unit of geography, and predicts the percent of each of ten land use types---nine of them urban---for each block group based on a number of data sources, to include census data, nationally-available point locations of features from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, historical land cover, and metrics which characterize spatial pattern, context (e.g. distance to city centers or other features), and measures of spatial autocorrelation. The method was demonstrated over a four-county area surrounding the city of Boston. A generalized version of the method (six land use classes) was also developed and cross-validated among additional geographic settings: Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Providence. The results suggest that even with the thematically-detailed ten-class structure, it is feasible to map most urban land uses with reasonable accuracy at the block group scale, and results improve with class aggregation. When classified by predicted majority land use, 79% of block groups correctly matched the actual majority land use with the ten-class models. Six-class models typically performed well for the geographic area they were developed from, however models had mixed performance when transported to other geographic settings. Contextual variables, which characterized a block group's spatial relationship to city centers, transportation routes, and other amenities, were consistently strong predictors of most land uses, a result which corresponds to classic urban land use theory. The method and metrics derived here provide a prototype for mapping urban land uses from readily-available data over broader geographic areas than is generally practiced today using current image-based solutions.

Multi-Vehicle Cooperative Control Research at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, 2000-2014

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanson, Curt

2014-01-01

A brief introductory overview of multi-vehicle cooperative control research conducted at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center from 2000 - 2014. Both flight research projects and paper studies are included. Since 2000, AFRC has been almost continuously pursuing research in the areas of formation flight for drag reduction and automated cooperative trajectories. An overview of results is given, including flight experiments done on the FA-18 and with the C-17. Other multi-vehicle cooperative research is discussed, including small UAV swarming projects and automated aerial refueling.
Cross-flow vortex structure and transition measurements using multi-element hot films

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agarwal, Naval K.; Mangalam, Siva M.; Maddalon, Dal V.; Collier, Fayette S., Jr.

1991-01-01

An experiment on a 45-degree swept wing was conducted to study three-dimensional boundary-layer characteristics using surface-mounted, micro-thin, multi-element hot-film sensors. Cross-flow vortex structure and boundary-layer transition were measured from the simultaneously acquired signals of the hot films. Spanwise variation of the root-mean-square (RMS) hot-film signal show a local minima and maxima. The distance between two minima corresponds to the stationary cross-flow vortex wavelength and agrees with naphthalene flow-visualization results. The chordwise and spanwise variation of amplified traveling (nonstationary) cross-flow disturbance characteristics were measured as Reynolds number was varied. The frequency of the most amplified cross-flow disturbances agrees with linear stability theory.
Measurement of cross sections of the interactions e+e- → ϕϕω and e+e- → ϕϕϕ at center-of-mass energies from 4.008 to 4.600 GeV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ablikim, M.; Achasov, M. N.; Ahmed, S.; Ai, X. C.; Albayrak, O.; Albrecht, M.; Ambrose, D. J.; Amoroso, A.; An, F. F.; An, Q.; Bai, J. Z.; Bakina, O.; Baldini Ferroli, R.; Ban, Y.; Bennett, D. W.; Bennett, J. V.; Berger, N.; Bertani, M.; Bettoni, D.; Bian, J. M.; Bianchi, F.; Boger, E.; Boyko, I.; Briere, R. A.; Cai, H.; Cai, X.; Cakir, O.; Calcaterra, A.; Cao, G. F.; Cetin, S. A.; Chai, J.; Chang, J. F.; Chelkov, G.; Chen, G.; Chen, H. S.; Chen, J. C.; Chen, M. L.; Chen, S.; Chen, S. J.; Chen, X.; Chen, X. R.; Chen, Y. B.; Chu, X. K.; Cibinetto, G.; Dai, H. L.; Dai, J. P.; Dbeyssi, A.; Dedovich, D.; Deng, Z. Y.; Denig, A.; Denysenko, I.; Destefanis, M.; de Mori, F.; Ding, Y.; Dong, C.; Dong, J.; Dong, L. Y.; Dong, M. Y.; Dou, Z. L.; Du, S. X.; Duan, P. F.; Fan, J. Z.; Fang, J.; Fang, S. S.; Fang, X.; Fang, Y.; Farinelli, R.; Fava, L.; Feldbauer, F.; Felici, G.; Feng, C. Q.; Fioravanti, E.; Fritsch, M.; Fu, C. D.; Gao, Q.; Gao, X. L.; Gao, Y.; Gao, Z.; Garzia, I.; Goetzen, K.; Gong, L.; Gong, W. X.; Gradl, W.; Greco, M.; Gu, M. H.; Gu, Y. T.; Guan, Y. H.; Guo, A. Q.; Guo, L. B.; Guo, R. P.; Guo, Y.; Guo, Y. P.; Haddadi, Z.; Hafner, A.; Han, S.; Hao, X. Q.; Harris, F. A.; He, K. L.; Heinsius, F. H.; Held, T.; Heng, Y. K.; Holtmann, T.; Hou, Z. L.; Hu, C.; Hu, H. M.; Hu, T.; Hu, Y.; Huang, G. S.; Huang, J. S.; Huang, X. T.; Huang, X. Z.; Huang, Z. L.; Hussain, T.; Ikegami Andersson, W.; Ji, Q.; Ji, Q. P.; Ji, X. B.; Ji, X. L.; Jiang, L. W.; Jiang, X. S.; Jiang, X. Y.; Jiao, J. B.; Jiao, Z.; Jin, D. P.; Jin, S.; Johansson, T.; Julin, A.; Kalantar-Nayestanaki, N.; Kang, X. L.; Kang, X. S.; Kavatsyuk, M.; Ke, B. C.; Kiese, P.; Kliemt, R.; Kloss, B.; Kolcu, O. B.; Kopf, B.; Kornicer, M.; Kupsc, A.; Kühn, W.; Lange, J. S.; Lara, M.; Larin, P.; Leithoff, H.; Leng, C.; Li, C.; Li, Cheng; Li, D. M.; Li, F.; Li, F. Y.; Li, G.; Li, H. B.; Li, H. J.; Li, J. C.; Li, Jin; Li, K.; Li, K.; Li, Lei; Li, P. R.; Li, Q. Y.; Li, T.; Li, W. D.; Li, W. G.; Li, X. L.; Li, X. N.; Li, X. Q.; Li, Y. B.; Li, Z. B.; Liang, H.; Liang, Y. F.; Liang, Y. T.; Liao, G. R.; Lin, D. X.; Liu, B.; Liu, B. J.; Liu, C. X.; Liu, D.; Liu, F. H.; Liu, Fang; Liu, Feng; Liu, H. B.; Liu, H. H.; Liu, H. H.; Liu, H. M.; Liu, J.; Liu, J. B.; Liu, J. P.; Liu, J. Y.; Liu, K.; Liu, K. Y.; Liu, L. D.; Liu, P. L.; Liu, Q.; Liu, S. B.; Liu, X.; Liu, Y. B.; Liu, Y. Y.; Liu, Z. A.; Liu, Zhiqing; Loehner, H.; Long, Y. F.; Lou, X. C.; Lu, H. J.; Lu, J. G.; Lu, Y.; Lu, Y. P.; Luo, C. L.; Luo, M. X.; Luo, T.; Luo, X. L.; Lyu, X. R.; Ma, F. C.; Ma, H. L.; Ma, L. L.; Ma, M. M.; Ma, Q. M.; Ma, T.; Ma, X. N.; Ma, X. Y.; Ma, Y. M.; Maas, F. E.; Maggiora, M.; Malik, Q. A.; Mao, Y. J.; Mao, Z. P.; Marcello, S.; Messchendorp, J. G.; Mezzadri, G.; Min, J.; Min, T. J.; Mitchell, R. E.; Mo, X. H.; Mo, Y. J.; Morales Morales, C.; Morello, G.; Muchnoi, N. Yu.; Muramatsu, H.; Musiol, P.; Nefedov, Y.; Nerling, F.; Nikolaev, I. B.; Ning, Z.; Nisar, S.; Niu, S. L.; Niu, X. Y.; Olsen, S. L.; Ouyang, Q.; Pacetti, S.; Pan, Y.; Patteri, P.; Pelizaeus, M.; Peng, H. P.; Peters, K.; Pettersson, J.; Ping, J. L.; Ping, R. G.; Poling, R.; Prasad, V.; Qi, H. R.; Qi, M.; Qian, S.; Qiao, C. F.; Qin, L. Q.; Qin, N.; Qin, X. S.; Qin, Z. H.; Qiu, J. F.; Rashid, K. H.; Redmer, C. F.; Ripka, M.; Rong, G.; Rosner, Ch.; Ruan, X. D.; Sarantsev, A.; Savrié, M.; Schnier, C.; Schoenning, K.; Shan, W.; Shao, M.; Shen, C. P.; Shen, P. X.; Shen, X. Y.; Sheng, H. Y.; Song, W. M.; Song, X. Y.; Sosio, S.; Spataro, S.; Sun, G. X.; Sun, J. F.; Sun, S. S.; Sun, X. H.; Sun, Y. J.; Sun, Y. Z.; Sun, Z. J.; Sun, Z. T.; Tang, C. J.; Tang, X.; Tapan, I.; Thorndike, E. H.; Tiemens, M.; Uman, I.; Varner, G. S.; Wang, B.; Wang, B. L.; Wang, D.; Wang, D. Y.; Wang, K.; Wang, L. L.; Wang, L. S.; Wang, M.; Wang, P.; Wang, P. L.; Wang, W.; Wang, W. P.; Wang, X. F.; Wang, Y.; Wang, Y. D.; Wang, Y. F.; Wang, Y. Q.; Wang, Z.; Wang, Z. G.; Wang, Z. H.; Wang, Z. Y.; Wang, Zongyuan; Weber, T.; Wei, D. H.; Weidenkaff, P.; Wen, S. P.; Wiedner, U.; Wolke, M.; Wu, L. H.; Wu, L. J.; Wu, Z.; Xia, L.; Xia, L. G.; Xia, Y.; Xiao, D.; Xiao, H.; Xiao, Z. J.; Xie, Y. G.; Xie, Y. H.; Xiu, Q. L.; Xu, G. F.; Xu, J. J.; Xu, L.; Xu, Q. J.; Xu, Q. N.; Xu, X. P.; Yan, L.; Yan, W. B.; Yan, W. C.; Yan, Y. H.; Yang, H. J.; Yang, H. X.; Yang, L.; Yang, Y. X.; Ye, M.; Ye, M. H.; Yin, J. H.; You, Z. Y.; Yu, B. X.; Yu, C. X.; Yu, J. S.; Yuan, C. Z.; Yuan, Y.; Yuncu, A.; Zafar, A. A.; Zeng, Y.; Zeng, Z.; Zhang, B. X.; Zhang, B. Y.; Zhang, C. C.; Zhang, D. H.; Zhang, H. H.; Zhang, H. Y.; Zhang, J.; Zhang, J. J.; Zhang, J. L.; Zhang, J. Q.; Zhang, J. W.; Zhang, J. Y.; Zhang, J. Z.; Zhang, K.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, S. Q.; Zhang, X. Y.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Y. H.; Zhang, Y. N.; Zhang, Y. T.; Zhang, Yu; Zhang, Z. H.; Zhang, Z. P.; Zhang, Z. Y.; Zhao, G.; Zhao, J. W.; Zhao, J. Y.; Zhao, J. Z.; Zhao, Lei; Zhao, Ling; Zhao, M. G.; Zhao, Q.; Zhao, Q. W.; Zhao, S. J.; Zhao, T. C.; Zhao, Y. B.; Zhao, Z. G.; Zhemchugov, A.; Zheng, B.; Zheng, J. P.; Zheng, W. J.; Zheng, Y. H.; Zhong, B.; Zhou, L.; Zhou, X.; Zhou, X. K.; Zhou, X. R.; Zhou, X. Y.; Zhu, K.; Zhu, K. J.; Zhu, S.; Zhu, S. H.; Zhu, X. L.; Zhu, Y. C.; Zhu, Y. S.; Zhu, Z. A.; Zhuang, J.; Zotti, L.; Zou, B. S.; Zou, J. H.; Besiii Collaboration

2017-11-01

Using data samples collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider at six center-of-mass energies between 4.008 and 4.600 GeV, we observe the processes e+e- → ϕϕω and e+e- → ϕϕϕ. The Born cross sections are measured and the ratio of the cross sections σ (e+e- → ϕϕω) / σ (e+e- → ϕϕϕ) is estimated to be 1.75 ± 0.22 ± 0.19 averaged over six energy points, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The results represent first measurements of these interactions.
A method to obtain static potential for electron-molecule scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srivastava, Rajesh; Das, Tapasi; Stauffer, Allan

2014-05-01

Electron scattering from molecules is complicated by the fact that molecules are a multi-centered target with the nuclei of the constituent atoms being a center of charge. One of the most important parts of a scattering calculation is to obtain the static potential which represents the interaction of the incident electron with the unperturbed charge distribution of the molecule. A common way to represent the charge distribution of molecules is with Gaussian orbitals centered on the various nuclei. We have derived a way to calculate spherically-averaged molecular static potentials using this form of molecular wave function which is mostly analytic. This method has been applied to elastic electron scattering from water molecules and we obtained differential cross sections which are compared with previous experimental and theoretical results. The method can be extended to more complex molecules. One of us (RS) is thankful to IAEA, Vienna, Austria and DAE-BRNS, Mumbai, India for financial support.
Early experience with dual mobility acetabular systems featuring highly cross-linked polyethylene liners for primary hip arthroplasty in patients under fifty five years of age: an international multi-centre preliminary study.

PubMed

Epinette, Jean-Alain; Harwin, Steven F; Rowan, Fiachra E; Tracol, Philippe; Mont, Michael A; Chughtai, Morad; Westrich, Geoffrey H

2017-03-01

To evaluate early performance of contemporary dual mobility acetabular systems with second generation annealed highly cross-linked polyethylene for primary hip arthroplasty of patients under 55 years of age. A prospective observational five years study across five centers in Europe and the USA of 321 patients with a mean age of 48.1 years was performed. Patients were assessed for causes of revision, hip instability, intra-prosthetic dissociation, Harris hip score and radiological signs of osteolysis. There were no dislocations and no intra-prosthetic dissociations. Kaplan Meier analysis demonstrated 97.51% survivorship for all cause revision and 99.68% survivorship for acetabular component revision at five years. Mean Harris hip score was 93.6. Two acetabular shells were revised for neck-rim implant impingement without dislocation and ten femoral stems were revised for causes unrelated to dual mobility implants. Contemporary highly cross-linked polyethylene dual mobility systems demonstrate excellent early clinical, radiological, and survivorship results in a cohort of patients that demand high performance from their implants. It is envisaged that DM and second generation annealed HXLPE may reduce THA instability and wear, the two most common causes of THA revision in hip arthroplasty.
Deep convolutional neural network training enrichment using multi-view object-based analysis of Unmanned Aerial systems imagery for wetlands classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Tao; Abd-Elrahman, Amr

2018-05-01

Deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) requires massive training datasets to trigger its image classification power, while collecting training samples for remote sensing application is usually an expensive process. When DCNN is simply implemented with traditional object-based image analysis (OBIA) for classification of Unmanned Aerial systems (UAS) orthoimage, its power may be undermined if the number training samples is relatively small. This research aims to develop a novel OBIA classification approach that can take advantage of DCNN by enriching the training dataset automatically using multi-view data. Specifically, this study introduces a Multi-View Object-based classification using Deep convolutional neural network (MODe) method to process UAS images for land cover classification. MODe conducts the classification on multi-view UAS images instead of directly on the orthoimage, and gets the final results via a voting procedure. 10-fold cross validation results show the mean overall classification accuracy increasing substantially from 65.32%, when DCNN was applied on the orthoimage to 82.08% achieved when MODe was implemented. This study also compared the performances of the support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF) classifiers with DCNN under traditional OBIA and the proposed multi-view OBIA frameworks. The results indicate that the advantage of DCNN over traditional classifiers in terms of accuracy is more obvious when these classifiers were applied with the proposed multi-view OBIA framework than when these classifiers were applied within the traditional OBIA framework.
Uberon, an integrative multi-species anatomy ontology

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

We present Uberon, an integrated cross-species ontology consisting of over 6,500 classes representing a variety of anatomical entities, organized according to traditional anatomical classification criteria. The ontology represents structures in a species-neutral way and includes extensive associations to existing species-centric anatomical ontologies, allowing integration of model organism and human data. Uberon provides a necessary bridge between anatomical structures in different taxa for cross-species inference. It uses novel methods for representing taxonomic variation, and has proved to be essential for translational phenotype analyses. Uberon is available at http://uberon.org PMID:22293552
Programs of Study: A Cross-Study Examination of Programs in Three States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stringfield, Sam; Shumer, Robert; Stipanovic, Natalie; Murphy, Nora

2013-01-01

The National Research Center on Career and Technical Education has supported four studies on one of the major components of Perkins legislation: programs of study. In this article, we present qualitative data linking the research center's longitudinal projects based on programs of study, via a one-time cross-case study of sites deemed highly…
Multi-task learning for cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction: an in-silico study

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Gene silencing using exogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) is now a widespread molecular tool for gene functional study and new-drug target identification. The key mechanism in this technique is to design efficient siRNAs that incorporated into the RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISC) to bind and interact with the mRNA targets to repress their translations to proteins. Although considerable progress has been made in the computational analysis of siRNA binding efficacy, few joint analysis of different RNAi experiments conducted under different experimental scenarios has been done in research so far, while the joint analysis is an important issue in cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction. A collective analysis of RNAi mechanisms for different datasets and experimental conditions can often provide new clues on the design of potent siRNAs. Results An elegant multi-task learning paradigm for cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction is proposed. Experimental studies were performed on a large dataset of siRNA sequences which encompass several RNAi experiments recently conducted by different research groups. By using our multi-task learning method, the synergy among different experiments is exploited and an efficient multi-task predictor for siRNA efficacy prediction is obtained. The 19 most popular biological features for siRNA according to their jointly importance in multi-task learning were ranked. Furthermore, the hypothesis is validated out that the siRNA binding efficacy on different messenger RNAs(mRNAs) have different conditional distribution, thus the multi-task learning can be conducted by viewing tasks at an "mRNA"-level rather than at the "experiment"-level. Such distribution diversity derived from siRNAs bound to different mRNAs help indicate that the properties of target mRNA have important implications on the siRNA binding efficacy. Conclusions The knowledge gained from our study provides useful insights on how to analyze various cross-platform RNAi data for uncovering of their complex mechanism. PMID:20380733
Multi-task learning for cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction: an in-silico study.

PubMed

Liu, Qi; Xu, Qian; Zheng, Vincent W; Xue, Hong; Cao, Zhiwei; Yang, Qiang

2010-04-10

Gene silencing using exogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) is now a widespread molecular tool for gene functional study and new-drug target identification. The key mechanism in this technique is to design efficient siRNAs that incorporated into the RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISC) to bind and interact with the mRNA targets to repress their translations to proteins. Although considerable progress has been made in the computational analysis of siRNA binding efficacy, few joint analysis of different RNAi experiments conducted under different experimental scenarios has been done in research so far, while the joint analysis is an important issue in cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction. A collective analysis of RNAi mechanisms for different datasets and experimental conditions can often provide new clues on the design of potent siRNAs. An elegant multi-task learning paradigm for cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction is proposed. Experimental studies were performed on a large dataset of siRNA sequences which encompass several RNAi experiments recently conducted by different research groups. By using our multi-task learning method, the synergy among different experiments is exploited and an efficient multi-task predictor for siRNA efficacy prediction is obtained. The 19 most popular biological features for siRNA according to their jointly importance in multi-task learning were ranked. Furthermore, the hypothesis is validated out that the siRNA binding efficacy on different messenger RNAs(mRNAs) have different conditional distribution, thus the multi-task learning can be conducted by viewing tasks at an "mRNA"-level rather than at the "experiment"-level. Such distribution diversity derived from siRNAs bound to different mRNAs help indicate that the properties of target mRNA have important implications on the siRNA binding efficacy. The knowledge gained from our study provides useful insights on how to analyze various cross-platform RNAi data for uncovering of their complex mechanism.
Multi-Sensory Intervention Observational Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Carla J.

2011-01-01

An observational research study based on sensory integration theory was conducted to examine the observed impact of student selected multi-sensory experiences within a multi-sensory intervention center relative to the sustained focus levels of students with special needs. A stratified random sample of 50 students with severe developmental…
Multiple Deltas Built Out Over Time

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-12-08

This diagram depicts a vertical cross section through geological layers deposited by rivers, deltas and lakes. Deposits from a series of successive deltas build out increasingly high in elevation as they migrate toward the center of the basin.
Optimization of coupled multiphysics methodology for safety analysis of pebble bed modular reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mkhabela, Peter Tshepo

The research conducted within the framework of this PhD thesis is devoted to the high-fidelity multi-physics (based on neutronics/thermal-hydraulics coupling) analysis of Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), which is a High Temperature Reactor (HTR). The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) will be a HTR design. The core design and safety analysis methods are considerably less developed and mature for HTR analysis than those currently used for Light Water Reactors (LWRs). Compared to LWRs, the HTR transient analysis is more demanding since it requires proper treatment of both slower and much longer transients (of time scale in hours and days) and fast and short transients (of time scale in minutes and seconds). There is limited operation and experimental data available for HTRs for validation of coupled multi-physics methodologies. This PhD work developed and verified reliable high fidelity coupled multi-physics models subsequently implemented in robust, efficient, and accurate computational tools to analyse the neutronics and thermal-hydraulic behaviour for design optimization and safety evaluation of PBMR concept The study provided a contribution to a greater accuracy of neutronics calculations by including the feedback from thermal hydraulics driven temperature calculation and various multi-physics effects that can influence it. Consideration of the feedback due to the influence of leakage was taken into account by development and implementation of improved buckling feedback models. Modifications were made in the calculation procedure to ensure that the xenon depletion models were accurate for proper interpolation from cross section tables. To achieve this, the NEM/THERMIX coupled code system was developed to create the system that is efficient and stable over the duration of transient calculations that last over several tens of hours. Another achievement of the PhD thesis was development and demonstration of full-physics, three-dimensional safety analysis methodology for the PBMR to provide reference solutions. Investigation of different aspects of the coupled methodology and development of efficient kinetics treatment for the PBMR were carried out, which accounts for all feedback phenomena in an efficient manner. The OECD/NEA PBMR-400 coupled code benchmark was used as a test matrix for the proposed investigations. The integrated thermal-hydraulics and neutronics (multi-physics) methods were extended to enable modeling of a wider range of transients pertinent to the PBMR. First, the effect of the spatial mapping schemes (spatial coupling) was studied and quantified for different types of transients, which resulted in implementation of improved mapping methodology based on user defined criteria. The second aspect that was studied and optimized is the temporal coupling and meshing schemes between the neutronics and thermal-hydraulics time step selection algorithms. The coupled code convergence was achieved supplemented by application of methods to accelerate it. Finally, the modeling of all feedback phenomena in PBMRs was investigated and a novel treatment of cross-section dependencies was introduced for improving the representation of cross-section variations. The added benefit was that in the process of studying and improving the coupled multi-physics methodology more insight was gained into the physics and dynamics of PBMR, which will help also to optimize the PBMR design and improve its safety. One unique contribution of the PhD research is the investigation of the importance of the correct representation of the three-dimensional (3-D) effects in the PBMR analysis. The performed studies demonstrated that explicit 3-D modeling of control rod movement is superior and removes the errors associated with the grey curtain (2-D homogenized) approximation.
Health-care disparities stemming from sexual orientation of Italian patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A cross-sectional web-based study.

PubMed

Lavorgna, Luigi; Moccia, Marcello; Russo, Antonio; Palladino, Raffaele; Riccio, Lucia; Lanzillo, Roberta; Brescia Morra, Vincenzo; Tedeschi, Gioacchino; Bonavita, Simona

2017-04-01

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) patients might experience unique difficulties and barriers to treatment of chronic diseases related to their sexual orientation. Thus, we investigated concerns experienced by LGBT patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). We conducted a web-based survey using a multi-choice questionnaire published in an Italian social-network (www.smsocialnetwork.com) for MS patients. The survey investigated: socio-demographic factors, lifestyle habits, MS-related health status and LGBT specific issues (e.g. friendliness to their sexual orientation and eventual homophobic behaviors in the MS Center). Among MS patients willing to use psychological services, LGBT patients were associated with a smaller number of psychological consultations, compared to heterosexuals (Coeff.=-0.449; p<0.001; 95%CI=-0.682 to -0.217). LGBT patients were more likely to change MS Center, compared to heterosexuals (OR=2.064; p=0.046; 95%CI=1.011-4.212). The number of MS Center changes was associated with MS Center friendliness (p=0.037; rho=-0.229) and with the occurrence of homophobic behaviors (p=0.036; rho=0.234). LGBT MS patients more frequently changed MS Center and had a reduced use of psychological services, compared to heterosexuals. The attitude towards LGBT MS patients might affect resource utilizations and LGBTs health status. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Feeling smart: Effects of caffeine and glucose on cognition, mood and self-judgment.

PubMed

Ullrich, Susann; de Vries, Yfke C; Kühn, Simone; Repantis, Dimitris; Dresler, Martin; Ohla, Kathrin

2015-11-01

During education and early career, young adults often face examinations and assessment centers. Coffee and energy drinks are convenient and commonly used to enhance or maintain performance in these situations. Whether these macronutrients improve performance in a demanding and drawn-out multi-task situation is not clear. Using double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, we set out to examine the effects of caffeine and glucose in an assessment center-like situation, under natural consumption conditions, in a group of young adults who were heterogeneous with respect to consumption patterns. We measured multi-task performance including logical thinking, processing speed, numeric and verbal memory, attention and the ability to concentrate, and mood over a two-hour period. Caffeine and glucose were administered in common beverages with appropriate placebo controls allowing the assessment of psychological effects of expectancy. Importantly, and in contrast to most previous studies, participants retained their habitual caffeine and sugar intake (studies 1 and 2) as this represents common behavior. Based on the bulk of literature, we hypothesized that (i) caffeine enhances attentional performance and mood, while performance in more complex tasks will remain unchanged, and that (ii) glucose enhances performance on memory tasks accompanied with negative mood. Our results provide evidence that neither caffeine nor glucose significantly influence cognitive performance when compared with placebo, water, or no treatment controls in a multi-task setting. Yet, caffeine and, by trend, placebo improve dispositions such that participants perceive preserved mental energy throughout the test procedure. These subjective effects were stronger after 24 h caffeine abstinence (study 3). Future studies will have to address whether these mood changes actually result in increased motivation during a challenging task.
Estimation and analysis of the short-term variations of multi-GNSS receiver differential code biases using global ionosphere maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Min; Yuan, Yunbin; Wang, Ningbo; Liu, Teng; Chen, Yongchang

2017-12-01

Care should be taken to minimize the adverse impact of differential code biases (DCBs) on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS)-derived ionospheric information determinations. For the sake of convenience, satellite and receiver DCB products provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS) are treated as constants over a period of 24 h (Li et al. (2014)). However, if DCB estimates show remarkable intra-day variability, the DCBs estimated as constants over 1-day period will partially account for ionospheric modeling error; in this case DCBs will be required to be estimated over shorter time period. Therefore, it is important to further gain insight into the short-term variation characteristics of receiver DCBs. In this contribution, the IGS combined global ionospheric maps and the German Aerospace Center (DLR)-provided satellite DCBs are used in the improved method to determine the multi-GNSS receiver DCBs with an hourly time resolution. The intra-day stability of the receiver DCBs is thereby analyzed in detail. Based on 1 month of data collected within the multi-GNSS experiment of the IGS, a good agreement within the receiver DCBs is found between the resulting receiver DCB estimates and multi-GNSS DCB products from the DLR at a level of 0.24 ns for GPS, 0.28 ns for GLONASS, 0.28 ns for BDS, and 0.30 ns for Galileo. Although most of the receiver DCBs are relatively stable over a 1-day period, large fluctuations (more than 9 ns between two consecutive hours) within the receiver DCBs can be found. We also demonstrate the impact of the significant short-term variations in receiver DCBs on the extraction of ionospheric total electron content (TEC), at a level of 12.96 TECu (TEC unit). Compared to daily receiver DCB estimates, the hourly DCB estimates obtained from this study can reflect the short-term variations of the DCB estimates more dedicatedly. The main conclusion is that preliminary analysis of characteristics of receiver DCB variations over short-term intervals should be finished prior to estimate daily multi-GNSS receiver DCB products.
Multi-Institution Research Centers: Planning and Management Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spooner, Catherine; Lavey, Lisa; Mukuka, Chilandu; Eames-Brown, Rosslyn

2016-01-01

Funding multi-institution centers of research excellence (CREs) has become a common means of supporting collaborative partnerships to address specific research topics. However, there is little guidance for those planning or managing a multi-institution CRE, which faces specific challenges not faced by single-institution research centers. We…
Electronic Cigarette Marketing Online: a Multi-Site, Multi-Product Comparison.

PubMed

Chu, Kar-Hai; Sidhu, Anupreet K; Valente, Thomas W

2015-01-01

Electronic cigarette awareness and use has been increasing rapidly. E-cigarette brands have utilized social networking sites to promote their products, as the growth of the e-cigarette industry has paralleled that of Web 2.0. These online platforms are cost-effective and have unique technological features and user demographics that can be attractive for selective marketing. The popularity of multiple sites also poses a risk of exposure to social networks where e-cigarette brands might not have a presence. To examine the marketing strategies of leading e-cigarette brands on multiple social networking sites, and to identify how affordances of the digital media are used to their advantage. Secondary analyses include determining if any brands are benefitting from site demographics, and exploring cross-site diffusion of marketing content through multi-site users. We collected data from two e-cigarette brands from four social networking sites over approximately 2.5 years. Content analysis is used to search for themes, population targeting, marketing strategies, and cross-site spread of messages. Twitter appeared to be the most frequently used social networking site for interacting directly with product users. Facebook supported informational broadcasts, such as announcements regarding political legislation. E-cigarette brands also differed in their approaches to their users, from informal conversations to direct product marketing. E-cigarette makers use different strategies to market their product and engage their users. There was no evidence of direct targeting of vulnerable populations, but the affordances of the different sites are exploited to best broadcast context-specific messages. We developed a viable method to study cross-site diffusion, although additional refinement is needed to account for how different types of digital media are used.
Electronic Cigarette Marketing Online: a Multi-Site, Multi-Product Comparison

PubMed Central

Sidhu, Anupreet K; Valente, Thomas W

2015-01-01

Background Electronic cigarette awareness and use has been increasing rapidly. E-cigarette brands have utilized social networking sites to promote their products, as the growth of the e-cigarette industry has paralleled that of Web 2.0. These online platforms are cost-effective and have unique technological features and user demographics that can be attractive for selective marketing. The popularity of multiple sites also poses a risk of exposure to social networks where e-cigarette brands might not have a presence. Objective To examine the marketing strategies of leading e-cigarette brands on multiple social networking sites, and to identify how affordances of the digital media are used to their advantage. Secondary analyses include determining if any brands are benefitting from site demographics, and exploring cross-site diffusion of marketing content through multi-site users. Methods We collected data from two e-cigarette brands from four social networking sites over approximately 2.5 years. Content analysis is used to search for themes, population targeting, marketing strategies, and cross-site spread of messages. Results Twitter appeared to be the most frequently used social networking site for interacting directly with product users. Facebook supported informational broadcasts, such as announcements regarding political legislation. E-cigarette brands also differed in their approaches to their users, from informal conversations to direct product marketing. Conclusions E-cigarette makers use different strategies to market their product and engage their users. There was no evidence of direct targeting of vulnerable populations, but the affordances of the different sites are exploited to best broadcast context-specific messages. We developed a viable method to study cross-site diffusion, although additional refinement is needed to account for how different types of digital media are used. PMID:27227129
Telemetering and telecommunications research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Osborne, William P.

1991-01-01

The research center activities during the reporting period have been focused in three areas: (1) developing the necessary equipment and test procedures to support the testing of 8PSK-TCM through TDRSS from the WSGT; (2) extending the theoretical decoder work to higher speeds with a design goal of 600MBPS at 2 bits/Hz; and (3) completing the initial phase of the CPFSK Multi-H research and determining what subsets (if any) of these coding schemes are useful in the TDRSS environment. The equipment for the WSGT TCM testing has been completed and is functioning in the lab at NMSU. Measured results to date indicate that the uncoded system with the modified HRD and NMSU symbol sync operates at 1 to 1.5 dB from theory when processing encoded 8PSK. The NMSU pragmatic decoder when combined with these units produces approximately 2.9 dB of coding gain at 10(exp -5) BER. Our study of CPFSK with Multi-H coding has reached a critical stage. The principal conclusions reached in this activity are: (1) no scheme using Multi-H alone investigated by us or found in the literature produces power/bandwidth trades that are as good as TCM with filtered 8PSK; (2) when Multi-H is combined with convolutional coding, one can obtain better coding gain than with Multi-H alone but still no better power/bandwidth performance than TCM and these gains are available only with complex receivers; (3) the only advantage we can find for the CPFSK schemes over filtered MPSK with TCM is that they are constant envelope (however, constant envelope is of no benefit in a multiple access channel and of questionable benefit in a single access channel since driving the TWT to saturation in this situation is generally acceptable); and (4) based upon these results the center's research program will focus on concluding the existing CPFSK studies.

Psychotropic medication use among patients with celiac disease.

PubMed

Zylberberg, Haley M; Ludvigsson, Jonas F; Green, Peter H R; Lebwohl, Benjamin

2018-03-27

Celiac disease is a multi-system disorder with manifestations that may result in psychiatric disorders. We assessed the prevalence of medication use to treat psychiatric disorders in celiac disease patients. We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients undergoing esophagogastroduodenoscopy over 9-years at a celiac disease referral center. We compared the prevalence of psychotropic medication use among celiac disease patients (n = 1293) to a control group (n = 1401) with abdominal pain or reflux. Among all patients the mean age was 48.4 years, most were female (69.5%), and 22.7% used any psychotropic medication. There was no difference between overall psychotropic medication use among celiac disease patients and controls (23.9% vs 21.8%, OR 1.16; 95% CI 0.96-1.39, p = 0.12). However, those with celiac disease were more likely to use antidepressants on univariate (16.4% vs 13.4%, p = 0.03) and multivariate analysis (OR 1.28; 95% CI 1.03-1.59; p = 0.03). Use of psychotropic medications was not associated with disease duration or mode of presentation of celiac disease. Celiac disease patients use psychotropic medications at similar rates as those with other gastrointestinal diseases, though subgroup analysis suggests they may use more antidepressants. Future studies should investigate whether celiac disease is associated with mood disorders that are not treated with medications.
Using the Binary Phase-Field Crystal Model to Describe Non-Classical Nucleation Pathways in Gold Nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Nathan; Provatas, Nikolas

Recent experimental work has shown that gold nanoparticles can precipitate from an aqueous solution through a non-classical, multi-step nucleation process. This multi-step process begins with spinodal decomposition into solute-rich and solute-poor liquid domains followed by nucleation from within the solute-rich domains. We present a binary phase-field crystal theory that shows the same phenomology and examine various cross-over regimes in the growth and coarsening of liquid and solid domains. We'd like to the thank Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program for funding this work.
Harmonic skeleton guided evaluation of stenoses in human coronary arteries.

PubMed

Yang, Yan; Zhu, Lei; Haker, Steven; Tannenbaum, Allen R; Giddens, Don P

2005-01-01

This paper presents a novel approach that three-dimensionally visualizes and evaluates stenoses in human coronary arteries by using harmonic skeletons. A harmonic skeleton is the center line of a multi-branched tubular surface extracted based on a harmonic function, which is the solution of the Laplace equation. This skeletonization method guarantees smoothness and connectivity and provides a fast and straightforward way to calculate local cross-sectional areas of the arteries, and thus provides the possibility to localize and evaluate coronary artery stenosis, which is a commonly seen pathology in coronary artery disease.
Filmless PACS in a multiple facility environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Dennis L.; Glicksman, Robert A.; Prior, Fred W.; Siu, Kai-Yeung; Goldburgh, Mitchell M.

1996-05-01

A Picture Archiving and Communication System centered on a shared image file server can support a filmless hospital. Systems based on this architecture have proven themselves in over four years of clinical operation. Changes in healthcare delivery are causing radiology groups to support multiple facilities for remote clinic support and consolidation of services. There will be a corresponding need for communicating over a standardized wide area network (WAN). Interactive workflow, a natural extension to the single facility case, requires a means to work effectively and seamlessly across moderate to low speed communication networks. Several schemes for supporting a consortium of medical treatment facilities over a WAN are explored. Both centralized and distributed database approaches are evaluated against several WAN scenarios. Likewise, several architectures for distributing image file servers or buffers over a WAN are explored, along with the caching and distribution strategies that support them. An open system implementation is critical to the success of a wide area system. The role of the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard in supporting multi- facility and multi-vendor open systems is also addressed. An open system can be achieved by using a DICOM server to provide a view of the system-wide distributed database. The DICOM server interface to a local version of the global database lets a local workstation treat the multiple, distributed data servers as though they were one local server for purposes of examination queries. The query will recover information about the examination that will permit retrieval over the network from the server on which the examination resides. For efficiency reasons, the ability to build cross-facility radiologist worklists and clinician-oriented patient folders is essential. The technologies of the World-Wide-Web can be used to generate worklists and patient folders across facilities. A reliable broadcast protocol may be a convenient way to notify many different users and many image servers about new activities in the network of image servers. In addition to ensuring reliability of message delivery and global serialization of each broadcast message in the network, the broadcast protocol should not introduce significant communication overhead.
Compton-Scattering Cross Section on the Proton at High Momentum Transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danagoulian, A.; Mamyan, V. H.; Roedelbronn, M.; Aniol, K. A.; Annand, J. R. M.; Bertin, P. Y.; Bimbot, L.; Bosted, P.; Calarco, J. R.; Camsonne, A.; Chang, C. C.; Chang, T.-H.; Chen, J.-P.; Choi, Seonho; Chudakov, E.; Degtyarenko, P.; de Jager, C. W.; Deur, A.; Dutta, D.; Egiyan, K.; Gao, H.; Garibaldi, F.; Gayou, O.; Gilman, R.; Glamazdin, A.; Glashausser, C.; Gomez, J.; Hamilton, D. J.; Hansen, J.-O.; Hayes, D.; Higinbotham, D. W.; Hinton, W.; Horn, T.; Howell, C.; Hunyady, T.; Hyde, C. E.; Jiang, X.; Jones, M. K.; Khandaker, M.; Ketikyan, A.; Kubarovsky, V.; Kramer, K.; Kumbartzki, G.; Laveissière, G.; Lerose, J.; Lindgren, R. A.; Margaziotis, D. J.; Markowitz, P.; McCormick, K.; Meekins, D. G.; Meziani, Z.-E.; Michaels, R.; Moussiegt, P.; Nanda, S.; Nathan, A. M.; Nikolenko, D. M.; Nelyubin, V.; Norum, B. E.; Paschke, K.; Pentchev, L.; Perdrisat, C. F.; Piasetzky, E.; Pomatsalyuk, R.; Punjabi, V. A.; Rachek, I.; Radyushkin, A.; Reitz, B.; Roche, R.; Ron, G.; Sabatié, F.; Saha, A.; Savvinov, N.; Shahinyan, A.; Shestakov, Y.; Širca, S.; Slifer, K.; Solvignon, P.; Stoler, P.; Tajima, S.; Sulkosky, V.; Todor, L.; Vlahovic, B.; Weinstein, L. B.; Wang, K.; Wojtsekhowski, B.; Voskanyan, H.; Xiang, H.; Zheng, X.; Zhu, L.

2007-04-01

Cross-section values for Compton scattering on the proton were measured at 25 kinematic settings over the range s=5 11 and -t=2 7GeV2 with a statistical accuracy of a few percent. The scaling power for the s dependence of the cross section at fixed center-of-mass angle was found to be 8.0±0.2, strongly inconsistent with the prediction of perturbative QCD. The observed cross-section values are in fair agreement with the calculations using the handbag mechanism, in which the external photons couple to a single quark.
Assessing intervention fidelity in a multi-level, multi-component, multi-site program: the Children's Healthy Living (CHL) program.

PubMed

Butel, Jean; Braun, Kathryn L; Novotny, Rachel; Acosta, Mark; Castro, Rose; Fleming, Travis; Powers, Julianne; Nigg, Claudio R

2015-12-01

Addressing complex chronic disease prevention, like childhood obesity, requires a multi-level, multi-component culturally relevant approach with broad reach. Models are lacking to guide fidelity monitoring across multiple levels, components, and sites engaged in such interventions. The aim of this study is to describe the fidelity-monitoring approach of The Children's Healthy Living (CHL) Program, a multi-level multi-component intervention in five Pacific jurisdictions. A fidelity-monitoring rubric was developed. About halfway during the intervention, community partners were randomly selected and interviewed independently by local CHL staff and by Coordinating Center representatives to assess treatment fidelity. Ratings were compared and discussed by local and Coordinating Center staff. There was good agreement between the teams (Kappa = 0.50, p < 0.001), and intervention improvement opportunities were identified through data review and group discussion. Fidelity for the multi-level, multi-component, multi-site CHL intervention was successfully assessed, identifying adaptations as well as ways to improve intervention delivery prior to the end of the intervention.
Availability of convenience stores and adolescent alcohol use in Taiwan: a multi-level analysis of national surveys.

PubMed

Wang, Shi-Heng; Lin, I-Chin; Chen, Chuan-Yu; Chen, Duan-Rung; Chan, Ta-Chien; Chen, Wei J

2013-12-01

To examine the association between alcohol in school environments and adolescent alcohol use over the previous 6 months. A multi-level logistic regression analysis was performed of cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2004, 2005 and 2006. A total of 52 214 students aged 11-19 years from 387 middle or high schools were selected from a nationally representative, multi-stage, stratified probability sampling across Taiwan. Information on socio-demographic features and substance use experiences was collected using self-administered questionnaires. The alcohol in the environment was measured using the availability of convenience stores surrounding the schools. Using geographical information systems, the weighted numbers of convenience stores within 1 km, a 12-15-minute walk, of a school were calculated. The schools were later categorized into three subgroups via the tertile of nearby convenience stores. Considering the compositional characteristics, the availability of convenience stores was found to account for 1.5% of the school-level variance of youthful drinking. The odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of alcohol use over the previous 6 months among youth attending schools with medium and high availability were 1.04 (0.96-1.13) and 1.08 (1.00-1.17), respectively, with a P-value of 0.04 in the trend test. The greater availability of convenience stores near a school is associated with an increased risk of alcohol use among adolescents over the previous 6 months. © 2013 Society for the Study of Addiction.
Eccentric versus traditional resistance exercise for older adult fallers in the community: a randomized trial within a multi-component fall reduction program.

PubMed

LaStayo, Paul; Marcus, Robin; Dibble, Leland; Wong, Bob; Pepper, Ginette

2017-07-17

Addressing muscle deficits within a multi-component exercise fall reduction program is a priority, especially for the highest risk older adults, i.e., those who have fallen previously. Eccentric resistance exercise with its high-force producing potential, at a low energetic cost, may be ideally-suited to address muscle impairments in this population. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of resistance exercise via negative, eccentrically-induced, work (RENEW) versus traditional (TRAD) resistance exercise on mobility, balance confidence, muscle power and cross sectional area, as well as the number of days high fall risk older adults survived without a fall event over a 1 year period. Randomized, two group, four time point (over 1 year) clinical trial testing RENEW versus TRAD as part of a 3 month multi-component exercise fall reduction program (MCEFRP). Primary outcomes of mobility, balance confidence, muscle power output and cross sectional area were analyzed using mixed effects modeling. The secondary outcomes of days to fall and days to near-fall were analyzed using survival analysis. The MCEFRP did have an effect on fall risk factors considered reversible with exercise interventions though there was no differential effect of RENEW versus TRAD (p = 0.896) on mobility, balance confidence, muscle power and cross sectional area. There were also no group differences in the number of days survived without a fall (p = 0.565) or near-fall (p = 0.678). Despite 100% of participants having at least one fall in the year prior to the MCEFRP, however, after 3 months of exercise and 9 months of follow-up <50% had experienced a fall or near fall. There were no differential effects of RENEW or TRAD as components of a MCEFRP on the primary or secondary outcomes. The two modes of resistance exercise had identical effects on fall risk and fall-free survival. NCT01080196 ; March 2, 2010 (retrospectively registered).
Impact of a cognitive rehabilitation intervention on neuropsychiatric symptoms in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Brunelle-Hamann, Laurence; Thivierge, Stéphanie; Simard, Martine

2015-01-01

The main goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of a cognitive rehabilitation programme on 12 behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). This six-month single-blind block-randomised cross-over controlled study was conducted with 15 mild to moderate AD participants and their caregivers. All participants received a four-week home-based cognitive rehabilitation programme to learn/re-learn an instrumental activity of daily living. They were assessed up until three months following the end of the intervention. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-12) was employed to evaluate patients' BPSD at seven assessment points during the course of the study. A general linear mixed model analysis performed on the NPI data revealed that aberrant motor behaviours (AMB) increased significantly more in the treatment condition than in the control condition. In addition, both groups registered a significant reduction of delusional symptoms during the second half of the study. Employing a multi-symptom approach to assess participants' BPSD, this cross-over randomised controlled study showed that an individualised cognitive rehabilitation intervention was generally well-tolerated by mild to moderate AD patients. Future cognitive rehabilitation studies conducted with this population should pay attention to AMB symptom changes.
Polarization Properties of A Broadband Multi-Moded Concentrator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kogut, Alan; Fixsen, Dale J.; Hill, Robert S.

2015-01-01

We present the design and performance of a non-imaging concentrator for use in broad-band polarimetry at millimeter through submillimeter wavelengths. A rectangular geometry preserves the input polarization state as the concentrator couples f/2 incident optics to a 2pi sr detector. Measurements of the co-polar and cross-polar beams in both the few-mode and highly over-moded limits agree with a simple model based on mode truncation. The measured co-polar beam pattern is nearly independent of frequency in both linear polarizations. The cross-polar beam pattern is dominated by a uniform term corresponding to polarization efficiency 94%. After correcting for efficiency, the remaining cross-polar response is -18 dB.
Evaluation of commercial multi-drug oral fluid devices to identify 39 new amphetamine-designer drugs.

PubMed

Nieddu, Maria; Burrai, Lucia; Trignano, Claudia; Boatto, Gianpiero

2014-03-01

Recently, the diffusion on the black market of new psychoactive substances not controlled and often sold as 'legal highs', is exponentially increasing in Europe. Generally, the first analysis for these drugs involves an immunoassay screening in urine or plasma. Actually, there is growing interest in the use of oral fluid (OF) as alternative specimen over conventional biological fluids for drug testing, because of the significant advantages, as a non-invasive collection under direct observation without undue embarrassment or invasion of privacy, and a good correlation with plasma analytical data. Few assays have been developed for detection of new psychoactive compounds in biological samples, so it is important to investigate how they may or may not react in pre-existing commercial immunoassays. In this paper, two different multi-drugs oral fluid screen devices (OFDs) (Screen® Multi-Drug OFD and GIMA One Step Multi-Line Screen Test OFD) were evaluated to determine the cross-reactivity of thirty-nine new amphetamine designer drugs, including twelve substances officially recognized as illicit by italian legislation. Cross-reactivity towards most drugs analyzed was <1 in assays targeting amphetamine (AMP) or methamphetamine (MET). Only two (p-methoxyamphetamine and p-methoxymethamphetamine) of all tested amphetamines gave a positive result. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Child multi-type maltreatment and associated depression and PTSD symptoms: The role of social support and stress

PubMed Central

Vranceanu, Ana-Maria; Hobfoll, Stevan E.; Johnson, Robert J.

2007-01-01

Objective This retrospective, cross-sectional study explored the hypothesis that multiple forms of child abuse and neglect (child multi-type maltreatment; CMM) would be associated with women’s lower social support and higher stress in adulthood, and that this, in turn, would amplify their vulnerability to symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Method Participants were 100 women recruited from an inner-city gynecological treatment center for low-income women. Data were analyzed via structural equation modeling (SEM) with Lisrel 8.0. Results CMM was directly predictive of decreased social support and increased stress in adulthood. CMM was also directly predictive of PTSD symptoms, but not depression symptoms in adulthood. Social support partially mediated the relationship between CMM and adult PTSD symptoms, and stress fully mediated the relationship between CMM and adult symptoms of depression. Conclusions Findings support both direct and mediational effects of social resources on adult depression and PTSD symptoms in women with histories of CMM, suggesting that resources are key factors in psychological adjustment of CMM victims. PMID:17215039
WastePD, an innovative center on materials degradation

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

Frankel, Gerald S.; Vienna, John; Lian, Jie

The US Department of Energy recently awarded funds to create the Center for Performance and Design of Nuclear Waste Forms and Containers (WastePD) as part of the Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) program. EFRCs are multi-investigator collaborations of universities, national labs and companies that “conduct fundamental research focusing on one or more “grand challenges” and use-inspired “basic research needs” identified in major strategic planning efforts by the scientific community.” The major performance parameter of nuclear waste forms is their ability to isolate the radionuclides by withstanding degradation in a repository environment over very long periods of time. So WastePD ismore » at heart a center focused on materials degradation.« less
Adiabatic-nuclei calculations of positron scattering from molecular hydrogen

DOE PAGES

Zammit, Mark Christian; Fursa, Dmitry V.; Savage, Jeremy S.; ...

2017-02-06

The single-center adiabatic-nuclei convergent close-coupling method is used to investigate positron collisions with molecular hydrogen (H 2) in the ground and first vibrationally excited states. Cross sections are presented over the energy range from 1 to 1000 eV for elastic scattering, vibrational excitation, total ionization, and the grand total cross section. The present adiabatic-nuclei positron- H 2 scattering length is calculated as A = $-$ 2.70 a 0 for the ground state and A = $-$ 3.16 a 0 for the first vibrationally excited state. The present elastic differential cross sections are also used to “correct” the low-energy grand totalmore » cross-section measurements of the Trento group [A. Zecca et al., Phys. Rev. A 80, 032702 (2009)] for the forward-angle-scattering effect. In general, the comparison with experiment is good. In conclusion, by performing convergence studies, we estimate that our R m = 1.448 a 0 fixed-nuclei results are converged to within ± 5 % for the major scattering integrated cross sections.« less
Identifying county characteristics associated with resident well-being: A population based study.

PubMed

Roy, Brita; Riley, Carley; Herrin, Jeph; Spatz, Erica S; Arora, Anita; Kell, Kenneth P; Welsh, John; Rula, Elizabeth Y; Krumholz, Harlan M

2018-01-01

Well-being is a positively-framed, holistic assessment of health and quality of life that is associated with longevity and better health outcomes. We aimed to identify county attributes that are independently associated with a comprehensive, multi-dimensional assessment of individual well-being. We performed a cross-sectional study examining associations between 77 pre-specified county attributes and a multi-dimensional assessment of individual US residents' well-being, captured by the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index. Our cohort included 338,846 survey participants, randomly sampled from 3,118 US counties or county equivalents. We identified twelve county-level factors that were independently associated with individual well-being scores. Together, these twelve factors explained 91% of the variance in individual well-being scores, and they represent four conceptually distinct categories: demographic (% black); social and economic (child poverty, education level [
Cross sections for the reactions e + e - → K S 0 K L 0 π 0 , K S 0 K L 0 η , and K S 0 K L 0 π 0 π 0 from events with initial-state radiation

DOE PAGES

Lees, J. P.; Poireau, V.; Tisserand, V.; ...

2017-03-06

Here, we study the processes e + e - → Kmore » $$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ π 0 γ , K $$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ η γ , and K$$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ π 0 π 0 γ , where the photon is radiated from the initial state, providing cross section measurements for the hadronic final states over a continuum of center-of-mass energies. The results are based on 469 fb -1 of data collected at or near the Υ ( 4 S ) resonance with the BABAR detector at SLAC. We present the first measurements of the e + e - → K$$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ π 0 , K$$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ η , and K$$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ π 0π 0 cross sections up to a center-of-mass energy of 4 GeV and study their intermediate resonance structures. We observe J / ψ decays to all of these final states for the first time, present measurements of their J / ψ branching fractions, and search for ψ (2S) decays.« less
Cross sections for the reactions e + e - → K S 0 K L 0 π 0 , K S 0 K L 0 η , and K S 0 K L 0 π 0 π 0 from events with initial-state radiation

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

Lees, J. P.; Poireau, V.; Tisserand, V.

Here, we study the processes e + e - → Kmore » $$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ π 0 γ , K $$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ η γ , and K$$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ π 0 π 0 γ , where the photon is radiated from the initial state, providing cross section measurements for the hadronic final states over a continuum of center-of-mass energies. The results are based on 469 fb -1 of data collected at or near the Υ ( 4 S ) resonance with the BABAR detector at SLAC. We present the first measurements of the e + e - → K$$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ π 0 , K$$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ η , and K$$0\\atop{S}$$ K$$0\\atop{L}$$ π 0π 0 cross sections up to a center-of-mass energy of 4 GeV and study their intermediate resonance structures. We observe J / ψ decays to all of these final states for the first time, present measurements of their J / ψ branching fractions, and search for ψ (2S) decays.« less
Automatic arteriovenous crossing phenomenon detection on retinal fundus images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatanaka, Yuji; Muramatsu, Chisako; Hara, Takeshi; Fujita, Hiroshi

2011-03-01

Arteriolosclerosis is one cause of acquired blindness. Retinal fundus image examination is useful for early detection of arteriolosclerosis. In order to diagnose the presence of arteriolosclerosis, the physicians find the silver-wire arteries, the copper-wire arteries and arteriovenous crossing phenomenon on retinal fundus images. The focus of this study was to develop the automated detection method of the arteriovenous crossing phenomenon on the retinal images. The blood vessel regions were detected by using a double ring filter, and the crossing sections of artery and vein were detected by using a ring filter. The center of that ring was an interest point, and that point was determined as a crossing section when there were over four blood vessel segments on that ring. And two blood vessels gone through on the ring were classified into artery and vein by using the pixel values on red and blue component image. Finally, V2-to-V1 ratio was measured for recognition of abnormalities. V1 was the venous diameter far from the blood vessel crossing section, and V2 was the venous diameter near from the blood vessel crossing section. The crossing section with V2-to-V1 ratio over 0.8 was experimentally determined as abnormality. Twenty four images, including 27 abnormalities and 54 normal crossing sections, were used for preliminary evaluation of the proposed method. The proposed method was detected 73% of crossing sections when the 2.8 sections per image were mis-detected. And, 59% of abnormalities were detected by measurement of V1-to-V2 ratio when the 1.7 sections per image were mis-detected.
Depressive symptoms in first-and second-generation migrants: a cross-sectional study of a multi-ethnic working population.

PubMed

Sieberer, Marcel; Maksimovic, Sasa; Ersöz, Burcu; Machleidt, Wielant; Ziegenbein, Marc; Calliess, Iris T

2012-11-01

Migrants in Europe may suffer from depression more often than the native-born population of the particular host country. Reports about the prevalence of depression in migrants are, however, heterogeneous and the possible causes are the subject of controversial discussion. The aims of this study are to determine the incidence of depressiveness in a large multi-ethnic working population with and without a history of migration, and to investigate possible connections with migration status and acculturation criteria. The cross-sectional study asked 7062 employees of a university hospital to complete a self-rating questionnaire concerning socio-demographic data, migration status and indicators of acculturation. Depressiveness was assessed by means of the German version of the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The response rate was 41.7% (N = 2932); 14.9% of the participants (n = 419) reported a history of migration, 275 (65.8%) of whom were first-generation (M1) and 143 (34.2%) second-generation (M2) migrants. According to the CES-D scores, 8.7% of non-migrants (n = 207) suffered from clinically relevant depressive symptoms, compared to 16% (n = 44) of the M1 group (OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.44-3.04, p < .001) and 14% (n = 20) in M2 (OR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.01-2.79, p = .048). Taking gender into consideration revealed that only the female migrants showed a statistically significant increased rate of depressiveness (χ (2) = 16.68, p < .001). Our results suggest that first- and second-generation female migrants are more likely to suffer from depressiveness than non-migrant females. In this model a history of migration is shown to be an independent risk factor for depressiveness.
Cognitive Determinants of Academic Performance in Nigerian Pharmacy Schools.

PubMed

Ubaka, Chukwuemeka M; Sansgiry, Sujit S; Ukwe, Chinwe V

2015-09-25

Objective. To evaluate cognitive factors that might influence academic performance of students in Nigerian pharmacy schools. Methods. A cross-sectional, multi-center survey of Nigerian pharmacy students from 7 schools of pharmacy was conducted using 2 validated questionnaires measuring cognitive constructs such as test anxiety, academic competence, test competence, time management, and strategic study habits. Results. Female students and older students scored significantly better on time management skills and study habits, respectively. Test anxiety was negatively associated with academic performance while test competence, academic competence, and time management were positively associated with academic performance. These 4 constructs significantly discriminated between the lower and higher performing students, with the first 2 contributing to the most differences. Conclusion. Test and academic competence, test anxiety, and time management were significant factors associated with low and high academic performance among Nigerian pharmacy students. The study also demonstrated the significant effects of age, gender, and marital status on these constructs.

Cognitive Determinants of Academic Performance in Nigerian Pharmacy Schools

PubMed Central

Sansgiry, Sujit S.; Ukwe, Chinwe V.

2015-01-01

Objective. To evaluate cognitive factors that might influence academic performance of students in Nigerian pharmacy schools. Methods. A cross-sectional, multi-center survey of Nigerian pharmacy students from 7 schools of pharmacy was conducted using 2 validated questionnaires measuring cognitive constructs such as test anxiety, academic competence, test competence, time management, and strategic study habits. Results. Female students and older students scored significantly better on time management skills and study habits, respectively. Test anxiety was negatively associated with academic performance while test competence, academic competence, and time management were positively associated with academic performance. These 4 constructs significantly discriminated between the lower and higher performing students, with the first 2 contributing to the most differences. Conclusion. Test and academic competence, test anxiety, and time management were significant factors associated with low and high academic performance among Nigerian pharmacy students. The study also demonstrated the significant effects of age, gender, and marital status on these constructs. PMID:27168614
Performance of middle-aged and elderly European minority and majority populations on a Cross-Cultural Neuropsychological Test Battery (CNTB).

PubMed

Nielsen, T Rune; Segers, Kurt; Vanderaspoilden, Valérie; Bekkhus-Wetterberg, Peter; Minthon, Lennart; Pissiota, Anna; Bjørkløf, Guro Hanevold; Beinhoff, Ulrike; Tsolaki, Magda; Gkioka, Mara; Waldemar, Gunhild

2018-01-24

The aim of this study was to examine test performance on a cross-cultural neuropsychological test battery for assessment of middle-aged and elderly ethnic minority and majority populations in western Europe, and to present preliminary normative data. The study was a cross-sectional multi-center study. Tests in the European Cross-Cultural Neuropsychological Test Battery (CNTB) cover several cognitive domains, including global cognitive function, memory, executive functions, and visuospatial functions. A total of 330 participants were included: 14 Moroccan, 45 Pakistani/Indian Punjabi, 41 Polish, 66 Turkish, and 19 former Yugoslavian minority participants, and 145 western European majority participants. Significant differences between ethnic groups were found on most CNTB measures. However, ethnic groups differed greatly in demographic characteristics and differences in test scores were mainly related to educational differences, explaining an average of 15% of the variance. Preliminary multicultural CNTB normative data dichotomized by education and age were constructed using overlapping cells. Applying this normative data across the whole sample resulted in an acceptable number of participants scoring in the impaired range across all ethnic groups. Factor analyses found the CNTB to have a stable and clinically meaningful factor structure. The CNTB represents the first European joint effort to establish neuropsychological measures appropriate for ethnic minority populations in western Europe. The CNTB can be applied in approximately 60 min, covers several cognitive domains, and appears appropriate for assessment of the targeted populations. However, due to the small sample size in some ethnic groups further studies are needed replicate and support this.
Multi terabits/s optical access transport technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Binh, Le Nguyen; Wang Tao, Thomas; Livshits, Daniil; Gubenko, Alexey; Karinou, Fotini; Liu Ning, Gordon; Shkolnik, Alexey

2016-02-01

Tremendous efforts have been developed for multi-Tbps over ultra-long distance and metro and access optical networks. With the exponential increase demand on data transmission, storage and serving, especially the 5G wireless access scenarios, the optical Internet networking has evolved to data-center based optical networks pressuring on novel and economical access transmission systems. This paper reports (1) Experimental platforms and transmission techniques employing band-limited optical components operating at 10G for 100G based at 28G baud. Advanced modulation formats such as PAM-4, DMT, duo-binary etc are reported and their advantages and disadvantages are analyzed so as to achieve multi-Tbps optical transmission systems for access inter- and intra- data-centered-based networks; (2) Integrated multi-Tbps combining comb laser sources and micro-ring modulators meeting the required performance for access systems are reported. Ten-sub-carrier quantum dot com lasers are employed in association with wideband optical intensity modulators to demonstrate the feasibility of such sources and integrated micro-ring modulators acting as a combined function of demultiplexing/multiplexing and modulation, hence compactness and economy scale. Under the use of multi-level modulation and direct detection at 56 GBd an aggregate of higher than 2Tbps and even 3Tbps can be achieved by interleaved two comb lasers of 16 sub-carrier lines; (3) Finally the fundamental designs of ultra-compacts flexible filters and switching integrated components based on Si photonics for multi Tera-bps active interconnection are presented. Experimental results on multi-channels transmissions and performances of optical switching matrices and effects on that of data channels are proposed.
Scattering matrix approach to the dissociative recombination of HCO{sup +} and N{sub 2}H{sup +}

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

Fonseca dos Santos, S.; Douguet, N.; Orel, A. E.

We present a theoretical study of the indirect dissociative recombination of linear polyatomic ions at low collisional energies. The approach is based on the computation of the scattering matrix just above the ionization threshold and enables the explicit determination of all diabatic electronic couplings responsible for dissociative recombination. In addition, we use the multi-channel quantum-defect theory to demonstrate the precision of the scattering matrix by reproducing accurately ab initio Rydberg state energies of the neutral molecule. We consider the molecular ions N{sub 2}H{sup +} and HCO{sup +} as benchmark systems of astrophysical interest and improve former theoretical studies, which hadmore » repeatedly produced smaller cross sections than experimentally measured. Specifically, we demonstrate the crucial role of the previously overlooked stretching modes for linear polyatomic ions with large permanent dipole moment. The theoretical cross sections for both ions agree well with experimental data over a wide energy range. Finally, we consider the potential role of the HOC{sup +} isomer in the experimental cross sections of HCO{sup +} at energies below 10 meV.« less
Measurement of cross sections of the interactions e + e - → φφω and e + e - → φφφ at center-of-mass energies from 4.008 to 4.600 GeV

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

Ablikim, M.; Achasov, M. N.; Ahmed, S.

Using dmore » ata samples collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider at six center-of-mass energies between 4.008 and 4.600 GeV, we observe the processes e + e - → φ φ ω and e + e - → φ φ φ . The Born cross sections are measured and the ratio of the cross sections σ ( e + e - → φ φ ω ) / σ ( e + e - → φ φ φ ) is estimated to be 1.75 ± 0.22 ± 0.19 averaged over six energy points, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The results represent first measurements of these interactions.« less
Measurement of cross sections of the interactions e + e - → φφω and e + e - → φφφ at center-of-mass energies from 4.008 to 4.600 GeV

DOE PAGES

Ablikim, M.; Achasov, M. N.; Ahmed, S.; ...

2017-09-14

Using dmore » ata samples collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider at six center-of-mass energies between 4.008 and 4.600 GeV, we observe the processes e + e - → φ φ ω and e + e - → φ φ φ . The Born cross sections are measured and the ratio of the cross sections σ ( e + e - → φ φ ω ) / σ ( e + e - → φ φ φ ) is estimated to be 1.75 ± 0.22 ± 0.19 averaged over six energy points, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The results represent first measurements of these interactions.« less
Isotope Brayton electric power system for the 500 to 2500 watt range.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Macosko, R. P.; Barna, G. J.; Block, H. B.; Ingle, B. D.

1972-01-01

An extensive study was conducted at the Lewis Research Center to evaluate an isotope Brayton electric power system for use in the 500 to 2500 W power range. The study emphasized overall system simplicity in order to reduce parasitic power losses and improve system reliability. The study included detailed parametric cycle analysis, conceptual component designs, and evaluation of system packaging. The study has resulted in the selection of a single-loop system (gas) with six major components including one rotating unit. Calculated net system efficiency varies from 23 to 28% over the power range. The use of the Pu-238 heat source being developed for the Multi-Hundred-Watt Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator program was assumed.
Incident management successful practices : a cross-cutting study : improving mobility and saving lives

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-04-01

Incident management is the process of managing multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional responses to highway traffic disruptions. Efficient and coordinated management of incidents reduces their adverse impacts on public safety, traffic conditions, and the ...
Sociodemographic correlates of cognition in the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Our objective was to describe the methodology utilized to evaluate cognitive function in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and to present preliminary results by age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Cross-sectional measurements of a prospective observational cohort. Residents of 6 U.S. commun...
An Application of Multi-band Forced Photometry to One Square Degree of SERVS: Accurate Photometric Redshifts and Implications for Future Science

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

Nyland, Kristina; Lacy, Mark; Sajina, Anna

We apply The Tractor image modeling code to improve upon existing multi-band photometry for the Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (SERVS). SERVS consists of post-cryogenic Spitzer observations at 3.6 and 4.5 μ m over five well-studied deep fields spanning 18 deg{sup 2}. In concert with data from ground-based near-infrared (NIR) and optical surveys, SERVS aims to provide a census of the properties of massive galaxies out to z ≈ 5. To accomplish this, we are using The Tractor to perform “forced photometry.” This technique employs prior measurements of source positions and surface brightness profiles from a high-resolution fiducial band from themore » VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations survey to model and fit the fluxes at lower-resolution bands. We discuss our implementation of The Tractor over a square-degree test region within the XMM Large Scale Structure field with deep imaging in 12 NIR/optical bands. Our new multi-band source catalogs offer a number of advantages over traditional position-matched catalogs, including (1) consistent source cross-identification between bands, (2) de-blending of sources that are clearly resolved in the fiducial band but blended in the lower resolution SERVS data, (3) a higher source detection fraction in each band, (4) a larger number of candidate galaxies in the redshift range 5 < z < 6, and (5) a statistically significant improvement in the photometric redshift accuracy as evidenced by the significant decrease in the fraction of outliers compared to spectroscopic redshifts. Thus, forced photometry using The Tractor offers a means of improving the accuracy of multi-band extragalactic surveys designed for galaxy evolution studies. We will extend our application of this technique to the full SERVS footprint in the future.« less
HDU Deep Space Habitat (DSH) Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennedy, Kriss J.

2011-01-01

This paper gives an overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) led multi-center Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) project Deep Space Habitat (DSH) analog that will be field-tested during the 2011 Desert Research and Technologies Studies (D-RATS) field tests. The HDU project is a technology pull project that integrates technologies and innovations from multiple NASA centers. This project will repurpose the HDU Pressurized Excursion Module (PEM) that was field tested in the 2010 D-RATS, adding habitation functionality to the prototype unit. The 2010 configuration of the HDU-PEM consisted of a lunar surface laboratory module that was used to bring over 20 habitation-related technologies together in a single platform that could be tested as an advanced habitation analog in the context of mission architectures and surface operations. The 2011 HDU-DSH configuration will build upon the PEM work, and emphasize validity of crew operations (habitation and living, etc), EVA operations, mission operations, logistics operations, and science operations that might be required in a deep space context for Near Earth Object (NEO) exploration mission architectures. The HDU project consists of a multi-center team brought together in a skunkworks approach to quickly build and validate hardware in analog environments. The HDU project is part of the strategic plan from the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) Directorate Integration Office (DIO) and the Exploration Mission Systems Office (EMSO) to test destination elements in analog environments. The 2011 analog field test will include Multi Mission Space Exploration Vehicles (MMSEV) and the DSH among other demonstration elements to be brought together in a mission architecture context. This paper will describe overall objectives, various habitat configurations, strategic plan, and technology integration as it pertains to the 2011 field tests.
Shaping the Development of Prejudice: Latent Growth Modeling of the Influence of Social Dominance Orientation on Outgroup Affect in Youth.

PubMed

Bratt, Christopher; Sidanius, Jim; Sheehy-Skeffington, Jennifer

2016-12-01

Social dominance orientation (SDO) has been theorized as a stable, early-emerging trait influencing outgroup evaluations, a view supported by evidence from cross-sectional and two-wave longitudinal research. Yet, the limitations of identifying causal paths with cross-sectional and two-wave designs are increasingly being acknowledged. This article presents the first use of multi-wave data to test the over-time relationship between SDO and outgroup affect among young people. We use cross-lagged and latent growth modeling (LGM) of a three-wave data set employing Norwegian adolescents (over 2 years, N = 453) and a five-wave data set with American university students (over 4 years, N = 748). Overall, SDO exhibits high temporal rank-order stability and predicts changes in outgroup affect. This research represents the strongest test to date of SDO's role as a stable trait that influences the development of prejudice, while highlighting LGM as a valuable tool for social and political psychology. © 2016 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.
Measurement of the top quark pair production cross-section in dimuon final states in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV

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

Konrath, Jens Peter

2008-10-24

Particle physics deals with the fundamental building blocks of matter and their interactions. The vast number of subatomic particles can be reduced to twelve fundamental fermions, which interact by the exchange of spin-1 particles as described in the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. The SM provides the best description of the subatomic world to date, despite the fact it does not include gravitation. Following the relation Λ = h/p, where h is Planck's constant, for the examination of physics at subatomic scales with size Λ probes with high momenta p are necessary. These high energies are accessible through particlemore » colliders. Here, particles are accelerated and brought to collision at interaction points at which detectors are installed to record these particle collisions. Until the anticipated start-up of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the Tevatron collider at Fermilab near Chicago is the highest energy collider operating in the world, colliding protons and anti-protons at a center-of-mass energy of √s = 1.96 TeV. Its two interaction points are covered by the multi purpose particle detectors D0 and CDF. During the first data-taking period, known as Run I, the Tevatron operated at a center-of-mass energy of 1.8 TeV. This run period lasted from 1992 to 1996. During this period, the long-predicted top quark was discovered. From 1996 and 2001, the accelerator was upgraded to deliver higher instantaneous luminosities at its current center-of-mass energy. At the same time, the experiments were upgraded to take full advantage of the upgraded accelerator complex. The Tevatron is currently the only accelerator in the world with a sufficient energy to produce top quarks. Studying top quark production, decay and properties is an important part of the D0 and CDF physics programs. Because of its large mass, the top quark is a unique probe of the Standard Model, and an interesting environment to search for new physics. In this thesis, a measurement of the production cross-section of top quark pairs decaying to two muons is presented. In addition, a Monte Carlo study of the top quark spin correlation measurement was carried out. This thesis is laid out as follows: chapter two gives a short overview over the Standard Model of particle physics and the theoretical aspects of unpolarized and polarized top quark production and decay, chapter three describes the accelerator complex and the D0 experiment whose data is used in this analysis. The Reconstruction of events recorded with the D0 detector is explained in chapter four and the data and Monte Carlo samples used are presented in chapter five. Finally, the cross-section measurement is described in chapter six and the Monte Carlo study of top quark spin correlations in chapter seven.« less
A Quantitative Analysis of Out-of-Hospital Pediatric and Adolescent Resuscitation Quality–A Report from the ROC Epistry–Cardiac Arrest

PubMed Central

Sutton, Robert M.; Case, Erin; Brown, Siobhan P.; Atkins, Dianne L.; Nadkarni, Vinay M.; Kaltman, Jonathan; Callaway, Clifton W.; Idris, Ahamed H.; Nichol, Graham; Hutchison, Jamie; Drennan, Ian R.; Austin, Michael A; Daya, Mohamud; Cheskes, Sheldon; Nuttall, Jack; Herren, Heather; Christenson, James; Andrusiek, Douglas L; Vaillancourt, Christian; Menegazzi, James J.; Rea, Thomas D.; Berg, Robert A.

2015-01-01

Aim High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) may improve survival. The quality of CPR performed during pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (p-OHCA) is largely unknown. The main objective of this study was to describe the quality of CPR performed during p-OHCA resuscitation attempts. Methods Prospective observational multi-center cohort study of p-OHCA patients ≥1 and < 19 years of age registered in the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) Epistry database. The primary outcome was an a priori composite variable of compliance with American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for both chest compression (CC) rate and CC fraction (CCF). Event compliance was defined as a case with 60% or more of its minute epochs compliant with AHA targets (rate 100–120 min−1; depth ≥38 mm; and CCF ≥0.80). In a secondary analysis, multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between guideline compliance and return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Results Between December 2005 and December 2012, 2,564 pediatric events were treated by EMS providers, 390 of which were included in the final cohort. Of these events, 22% achieved AHA compliance for both rate and CCF, 36% for rate alone, 53% for CCF alone, and 58% for depth alone. Over time, there was a significant increase in CCF (p< 0.001) and depth (p=0.03). After controlling for potential confounders, there was no significant association between AHA guideline compliance and ROSC. Conclusions In this multi-center study, we have established that there are opportunities for professional rescuers to improve prehospital CPR quality. Encouragingly, CCF and depth both increased significantly over time. PMID:25917262
Multi-mode ultra-strong coupling (I): spectroscopic experiments using a vacuum-gap transmon circuit architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bosman, Sal J.; Gely, Mario F.; Singh, Vibhor; Bruno, Alessandro; Bothner, Daniel; Steele, Gary A.

In circuit QED, multi-mode extensions of the quantum Rabi model suffer from divergence problems. Here, we spectroscopically study multi-mode ultra-strong coupling using a transmon circuit architecture, which provides no clear guidelines on how many modes play a role in the dynamics of the system. As our transmon qubit, we employ a suspended island above the voltage anti-node of a λ / 4 coplanar microwave resonator, thereby realising a circuit where 88% of the qubit capacitance is formed by a vacuum-gap capacitor with the center conductor of the resonator. We measure vacuum Rabi splitting over multiple modes up to 2 GHz, reaching coupling ratios of g / ω = 0 . 18 , well within the ultra-strong coupling regime. We observe a qubit-mediated mode coupling, measurable up to the fifth mode at 38 GHz. Using a novel analytical quantum circuit model of this architecture, which includes all modes without introducing divergencies, we are able to fit the full spectrum and extract a vacuum fluctuations induced Bloch-Siegert shift of up to 62 MHz. This circuit architecture expands the versatility of the transmon technology platform and opens many possibilities in multi-mode physics in the ultra-strong coupling regime.
The building of the EUDAT Cross-Disciplinary Data Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lecarpentier, Damien; Michelini, Alberto; Wittenburg, Peter

2013-04-01

The EUDAT project is a European data initiative that brings together a unique consortium of 25 partners - including research communities, national data and high performance computing (HPC) centers, technology providers, and funding agencies - from 13 countries. EUDAT aims to build a sustainable cross-disciplinary and cross-national Commom Data Infrastructure (CDI) that provides a set of shared services for accessing and preserving research data. The design and deployment of these services is being coordinated by multi-disciplinary task forces comprising representatives from research communities and data centers. One of EUDAT's fundamental goals is the facilitation of cross-disciplinary data-intensive science. By providing opportunity for disciplines from across the spectrum to share data and cross-fertilize ideas, the CDI will encourage progress towards this vision of open and participatory data-intensive science. EUDAT will also facilitate this process through the creation of teams of experts from different disciplines, aiming to cooperatively develop services to meet the needs of several communities. Five research communities joined the EUDAT initiative at the start - CLARIN (Linguistics), ENES (Climate Modeling), EPOS (Earth Sciences), LifeWatch (Environmental Sciences - Biodiversity), VPH (Biological and Medical Sciences). They are acting as partners in the project, and have clear tasks and commitments. Since EUDAT started on the 1st of October 2011, we have been reviewing the approaches and requirements of these five communities regarding the deployment and use of a cross-disciplinary and persistent data e-Infrastructure. This analysis was conducted through interviews and frequent interactions with representatives of the communities. In this talk will be provided an updated status of the current CDI with specific refernce to the solid Earth science commnity of EPOS.
Centrality and collision system dependence of antiproton production from p+A to Au+Au collisions at AGS energies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sako, H.; Ahle, L.; Akiba, Y.; Ashktorab, K.; Baker, M. D.; Beavis, D.; Britt, H. C.; Chang, J.; Chasman, C.; Chen, Z.;

1997-01-01

Antiproton production in heavy ion collisions reflects subtle interplay between initial production and absorption by nucleons. Because the AGS energies (10--20 A(center-dot)GeV/c) are close to the antiproton production threshold, antiproton may be sensitive to cooperative processes such as QGP and hadronic multi-step processes. On the other hand, antiproton has been proposed as a probe of baryon density due to large N(anti N) annihilation cross sections. Cascade models predict the maximum baryon density reaches about 10 times the normal nucleus density in central Au+Au collisions, where the strong antiproton absorption is expected. In this paper, the authors show systematic studies of antiproton production from p+A to Au+Au collisions.

Strive toward data harmony of multi sensor aerosol data - Tribute to Dr. Gregory Leptoukh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, J. C.; Lynnes, C.; Kempler, S. J.; Shen, S.

2012-12-01

The Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) has been involved with aerosol data synergy activities and projects over recent years, led by Dr. Gregory Leptoukh. His particular interests centered on issues related to comparison and harmonization of several aspects of aerosol data, such as data quality, bias adjustment, and data provenance. A thorough understanding of these issues is needed to guide multi-sensor data usage and avoid apples-to-oranges inter-comparison and data fusion. In this talk, I will highlight these activities/projects. These would include the tools developed, but also the projects that address specific user needs and innovative services, such as GIOVANNI-MAPSS, AeroStat, NEESPI, MAIRS, ATDD, MDSA, LTA-SWDB, etc. I will also discuss preliminary results from new projects and future goals that build on the ground breaking work, left by Dr. Leptoukh.
Angular analysis of the e + e - → D ( * ) ± D * ∓ process near the open charm threshold using initial-state radiation

DOE PAGES

Zhukova, V.

2018-01-10

Here, we repormore » t a new measurement of the exclusive e + e - → D ( * ) ± D * ∓ cross sections as a function of the center-of-mass energy from the D ( * ) ± D * ∓ threshold through $$ \\sqrt{s}=6.0 $$ GeV, using the initial-state radiation technique. The analysis is based on a data sample collected with the Belle detector with an integrated luminosity of 951 fb -1. The accuracy of the cross section measurement is increased by a factor of 2 over the first Belle study. We perform the first angular analysis of the e + e - → D ( * ) ± D * ∓ process and decompose this exclusive cross section into three components corresponding to the D * helicities.« less
Angular analysis of the e + e - → D ( * ) ± D * ∓ process near the open charm threshold using initial-state radiation

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

Zhukova, V.

Here, we repormore » t a new measurement of the exclusive e + e - → D ( * ) ± D * ∓ cross sections as a function of the center-of-mass energy from the D ( * ) ± D * ∓ threshold through $$ \\sqrt{s}=6.0 $$ GeV, using the initial-state radiation technique. The analysis is based on a data sample collected with the Belle detector with an integrated luminosity of 951 fb -1. The accuracy of the cross section measurement is increased by a factor of 2 over the first Belle study. We perform the first angular analysis of the e + e - → D ( * ) ± D * ∓ process and decompose this exclusive cross section into three components corresponding to the D * helicities.« less

Independent but coordinated trials: insights from the practice-based Opportunities for Weight Reduction Trials Collaborative Research Group.

PubMed

Yeh, Hsin-Chieh; Clark, Jeanne M; Emmons, Karen E; Moore, Reneé H; Bennett, Gary G; Warner, Erica T; Sarwer, David B; Jerome, Gerald J; Miller, Edgar R; Volger, Sheri; Louis, Thomas A; Wells, Barbara; Wadden, Thomas A; Colditz, Graham A; Appel, Lawrence J

2010-08-01

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) funded three institutions to conduct effectiveness trials of weight loss interventions in primary care settings. Unlike traditional multi-center clinical trials, each study was established as an independent trial with a distinct protocol. Still, efforts were made to coordinate and standardize several aspects of the trials. The three trials formed a collaborative group, the 'Practice-based Opportunities for Weight Reduction (POWER) Trials Collaborative Research Group.' We describe the common and distinct features of the three trials, the key characteristics of the collaborative group, and the lessons learned from this novel organizational approach. The Collaborative Research Group consists of three individual studies: 'Be Fit, Be Well' (Washington University in St. Louis/Harvard University), 'POWER Hopkins' (Johns Hopkins), and 'POWER-UP' (University of Pennsylvania). There are a total of 15 participating clinics with ~1100 participants. The common primary outcome is change in weight at 24 months of follow-up, but each protocol has trial-specific elements including different interventions and different secondary outcomes. A Resource Coordinating Unit at Johns Hopkins provides administrative support. The Collaborative Research Group established common components to facilitate potential cross-site comparisons. The main advantage of this approach is to develop and evaluate several interventions, when there is insufficient evidence to test one or two approaches, as would be done in a traditional multi-center trial. The challenges of the organizational design include the complex decision-making process, the extent of potential data pooling, time intensive efforts to standardize reports, and the additional responsibilities of the DSMB to monitor three distinct protocols.
Multi-scale curvature for automated identification of glaciated mountain landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasicek, Günther; Otto, Jan-Christoph; Montgomery, David R.; Schrott, Lothar

2014-03-01

Erosion by glacial and fluvial processes shapes mountain landscapes in a long-recognized and characteristic way. Upland valleys incised by fluvial processes typically have a V-shaped cross-section with uniform and moderately steep slopes, whereas glacial valleys tend to have a U-shaped profile with a changing slope gradient. We present a novel regional approach to automatically differentiate between fluvial and glacial mountain landscapes based on the relation of multi-scale curvature and drainage area. Sample catchments are delineated and multiple moving window sizes are used to calculate per-cell curvature over a variety of scales ranging from the vicinity of the flow path at the valley bottom to catchment sections fully including valley sides. Single-scale curvature can take similar values for glaciated and non-glaciated catchments but a comparison of multi-scale curvature leads to different results according to the typical cross-sectional shapes. To adapt these differences for automated classification of mountain landscapes into areas with V- and U-shaped valleys, curvature values are correlated with drainage area and a new and simple morphometric parameter, the Difference of Minimum Curvature (DMC), is developed. At three study sites in the western United States the DMC thresholds determined from catchment analysis are used to automatically identify 5 × 5 km quadrats of glaciated and non-glaciated landscapes and the distinctions are validated by field-based geological and geomorphological maps. Our results demonstrate that DMC is a good predictor of glacial imprint, allowing automated delineation of glacially and fluvially incised mountain landscapes.
Electro-Responsive Behaviour Multi-Wall Nanotubes/Gelatin Composites and Cross-Linked Gelatin Electrospun Mats

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-02-11

sample , could explain large swelling in blend samples which might enhance ions diffusion and lead to an increase of bending. 21 References [1...1 Final Report on Electro-responsive behaviour multi-wall nanotubes/gelatin composites and cross-linked gelatin electrospun mats...12-10-2007 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Electro-responsive behaviour multi-wall nanotubes/gelatin composites and cross-linked gelatin electrospun mats
Host species heterogeneity in the epidemiology of Nesopora caninum

PubMed Central

Pomeroy, Laura W.; Moritz, Mark; Saville, William; Wolfe, Barbara; Garabed, Rebecca

2017-01-01

Pathogen transmission across species drives disease emergence; however, mechanisms by which multi-host pathogens cross species boundaries are not well identified. This knowledge gap prevents integrated and targeted control in an epidemiologically continuous ecosystem. Our goal is to describe the impact of host species heterogeneity on the epidemiology of Neospora caninum circulating between livestock and wildlife in southeastern Ohio. We collected biological samples from Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) located at an outdoor wildlife conservation center; from cattle raised at farms adjacent to the center; and from wild white-tailed deer that roamed across farm and center boundaries. We designed nested infectious disease models of competing hypotheses about transmission and used collected data to fit the models, thereby estimating important immunological and transmission quantities which describe the species-specific contribution to the persistence of this pathogen in the community. We applied these data and models to suggest appropriate species-specific disease control methods. Results show that immunity in cattle and Pére David’s deer wanes over time, while in white-tailed deer immunity appears to be lifelong. Transmission quantities for cattle were estimated at values below the threshold for an outbreak (Rt < 1), meaning that chains of transmission are not maintained within this population and infections must occur due to reintroduction from an outside source. Pére David’s deer and white-tailed deer both could maintain continuous chains of transmission within their group (Rt > 1). Therefore, we propose that control of contact with outside sources will be useful for disease control in cattle; boosting immunity with vaccines might be an avenue to prevent infection in cattle and Père David’s deer. White-tailed deer are a potential maintenance host for infection and require further study to determine optimal control methods. Community-level investigations like this allow us to better evaluate heterogeneities in transmission processes that ultimately guide targeted control. PMID:28850580
Energy Efficient, Cross-Layer Enabled, Dynamic Aggregation Networks for Next Generation Internet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Michael S.

Today, the Internet traffic is growing at a near exponential rate, driven predominately by data center-based applications and Internet-of-Things services. This fast-paced growth in Internet traffic calls into question the ability of the existing optical network infrastructure to support this continued growth. The overall optical networking equipment efficiency has not been able to keep up with the traffic growth, creating a energy gap that makes energy and cost expenditures scale linearly with the traffic growth. The implication of this energy gap is that it is infeasible to continue using existing networking equipment to meet the growing bandwidth demand. A redesign of the optical networking platform is needed. The focus of this dissertation is on the design and implementation of energy efficient, cross-layer enabled, dynamic optical networking platforms, which is a promising approach to address the exponentially growing Internet bandwidth demand. Chapter 1 explains the motivation for this work by detailing the huge Internet traffic growth and the unsustainable energy growth of today's networking equipment. Chapter 2 describes the challenges and objectives of enabling agile, dynamic optical networking platforms and the vision of the Center for Integrated Access Networks (CIAN) to realize these objectives; the research objectives of this dissertation and the large body of related work in this field is also summarized. Chapter 3 details the design and implementation of dynamic networking platforms that support wavelength switching granularity. The main contribution of this work involves the experimental validation of deep cross-layer communication across the optical performance monitoring (OPM), data, and control planes. The first experiment shows QoS-aware video streaming over a metro-scale test-bed through optical power monitoring of the transmission wavelength and cross-layer feedback control of the power level. The second experiment extends the performance monitoring capabilities to include real-time monitoring of OSNR and polarization mode dispersion (PMD) to enable dynamic wavelength switching and selective restoration. Chapter 4 explains the author?s contributions in designing dynamic networking at the sub-wavelength switching granularity, which can provide greater network efficiency due to its finer granularity. To support dynamic switching, regeneration, adding/dropping, and control decisions on each individual packet, the cross-layer enabled node architecture is enhanced with a FPGA controller that brings much more precise timing and control to the switching, OPM, and control planes. Furthermore, QoS-aware packet protection and dynamic switching, dropping, and regeneration functionalities were experimentally demonstrated in a multi-node network. Chapter 5 describes a technique to perform optical grooming, a process of optically combining multiple incoming data streams into a single data stream, which can simultaneously achieve greater bandwidth utilization and increased spectral efficiency. In addition, an experimental demonstration highlighting a fully functioning multi-node, agile optical networking platform is detailed. Finally, a summary and discussion of future work is provided in Chapter 6. The future of the Internet is very exciting, filled with not-yet-invented applications and services driven by cloud computing and Internet-of-Things. The author is cautiously optimistic that agile, dynamically reconfigurable optical networking is the solution to realizing this future.
Numerical and experimental study of a high port-density WDM optical packet switch architecture for data centers.

PubMed

Di Lucente, S; Luo, J; Centelles, R Pueyo; Rohit, A; Zou, S; Williams, K A; Dorren, H J S; Calabretta, N

2013-01-14

Data centers have to sustain the rapid growth of data traffic due to the increasing demand of bandwidth-hungry internet services. The current intra-data center fat tree topology causes communication bottlenecks in the server interaction process, power-hungry O-E-O conversions that limit the minimum latency and the power efficiency of these systems. In this paper we numerically and experimentally investigate an optical packet switch architecture with modular structure and highly distributed control that allow configuration times in the order of nanoseconds. Numerical results indicate that the candidate architecture scaled over 4000 ports, provides an overall throughput over 50 Tb/s and a packet loss rate below 10(-6) while assuring sub-microsecond latency. We present experimental results that demonstrate the feasibility of a 16x16 optical packet switch based on parallel 1x4 integrated optical cross-connect modules. Error-free operations can be achieved with 4 dB penalty while the overall energy consumption is of 66 pJ/b. Based on those results, we discuss feasibility to scale the architecture to a much larger port count.
Fabrication of uniform multi-compartment particles using microfludic electrospray technology for cell co-culture studies.

PubMed

Liu, Zhou; Shum, Ho Cheung

2013-01-01

In this work, we demonstrate a robust and reliable approach to fabricate multi-compartment particles for cell co-culture studies. By taking advantage of the laminar flow within our microfluidic nozzle, multiple parallel streams of liquids flow towards the nozzle without significant mixing. Afterwards, the multiple parallel streams merge into a single stream, which is sprayed into air, forming monodisperse droplets under an electric field with a high field strength. The resultant multi-compartment droplets are subsequently cross-linked in a calcium chloride solution to form calcium alginate micro-particles with multiple compartments. Each compartment of the particles can be used for encapsulating different types of cells or biological cell factors. These hydrogel particles with cross-linked alginate chains show similarity in the physical and mechanical environment as the extracellular matrix of biological cells. Thus, the multi-compartment particles provide a promising platform for cell studies and co-culture of different cells. In our study, cells are encapsulated in the multi-compartment particles and the viability of cells is quantified using a fluorescence microscope after the cells are stained for a live/dead assay. The high cell viability after encapsulation indicates the cytocompatibility and feasibility of our technique. Our multi-compartment particles have great potential as a platform for studying cell-cell interactions as well as interactions of cells with extracellular factors.
Fabrication of uniform multi-compartment particles using microfludic electrospray technology for cell co-culture studies

PubMed Central

Liu, Zhou; Shum, Ho Cheung

2013-01-01

In this work, we demonstrate a robust and reliable approach to fabricate multi-compartment particles for cell co-culture studies. By taking advantage of the laminar flow within our microfluidic nozzle, multiple parallel streams of liquids flow towards the nozzle without significant mixing. Afterwards, the multiple parallel streams merge into a single stream, which is sprayed into air, forming monodisperse droplets under an electric field with a high field strength. The resultant multi-compartment droplets are subsequently cross-linked in a calcium chloride solution to form calcium alginate micro-particles with multiple compartments. Each compartment of the particles can be used for encapsulating different types of cells or biological cell factors. These hydrogel particles with cross-linked alginate chains show similarity in the physical and mechanical environment as the extracellular matrix of biological cells. Thus, the multi-compartment particles provide a promising platform for cell studies and co-culture of different cells. In our study, cells are encapsulated in the multi-compartment particles and the viability of cells is quantified using a fluorescence microscope after the cells are stained for a live/dead assay. The high cell viability after encapsulation indicates the cytocompatibility and feasibility of our technique. Our multi-compartment particles have great potential as a platform for studying cell-cell interactions as well as interactions of cells with extracellular factors. PMID:24404050
Evaluation of PACS in a multihospital environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siegel, Eliot L.; Reiner, Bruce I.; Protopapas, Zenon

1998-07-01

Although a number of authors have described the challenges and benefits of filmless operation using a hospital-wide Picture Archival and Communication System (PACS), there have been few descriptions of a multi-hospital wide area PACS. The purpose of this paper is to describe our two and a half year experience with PACS in an integrated multi-facility health care environment, the Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System (VAMHCS). On June 17, 1995 the Radiology and Nuclear Medicine services became integrated for four medical centers forming the VA Maryland Health Care System creating a single multi-facility imaging department. The facilities consisted of the Baltimore VA (acute and outpatient care, tertiary referral center), Ft. Howard (primarily long term care), Perry Point (primarily psychiatric care), and the Baltimore Rehabilitation and extended care facility (nursing home). The combined number of studies at all four sites is slightly more than 80,000 examinations per year. In addition to residents and fellows, the number of radiologists at Baltimore was approximately seven, with two at Perry Point, one at Ft. Howard, and no radiologists at the Rehabilitation and Extended Care facility. A single HIS/RIS, which is located physically at the Baltimore VAMC is utilized for all four medical centers. The multi- facility image management and communication system utilizes two separate PAC Systems that are physically located at the Baltimore VA Medical Center (BVAMC). The commercial system (GE Medical Systems) has been in place in Baltimore for more than 41/2 years and is utilized primarily in the acquisition, storage, distribution and display of radiology and nuclear medicine studies. The second PACS is the VISTA Imaging System, which has been developed as a module of the VA's HIS/RIS by and for the Department of Veterans Affairs. All of the radiology images obtained on the commercial PACS are requested by the VISTA Imaging System using DICOM query/retrieve commands and are stored on a separate server and optical jukebox. Additionally, the VISTA system is used to store all images obtained by all specialties in the medical center including pathology, dermatology, GI medicine, surgery, podiatry, ophthalmology, etc. Using this two PAC system approach, the hospital is able to achieve redundancy with regard to image storage, retrieval, and display of radiology images. The transition to a 'virtual' multi-facility imaging department was accomplished over a period of two years. Initially, Perry Point and Ft. Howard replaced their general radiographic film processors with Computed Radiography (CR) units. The CR units and subsequently, the CT and Ultrasound systems at Perry Point were interfaced (DeJarnette Research Systems) with the commercial PACS located in Baltimore. A HIS/RIS to modality interface was developed (DeJarnette and Fuji Medical Systems) between the computed radiography and CT units and VISTA Information System at Baltimore. A digital dictation system was recently implemented across the multi- facility network. The integration of the three radiology departments into a single virtual imaging department serving four medical centers has resulted in a number of benefits. Economically, there has been the elimination via attrition of one and a half radiologist FTE's (full time equivalents) and an administrative position resulting in an annual savings of more than $375,000 per year. Additionally, the expenditures for moonlighter coverage for vacation, meeting, and sick leave have been eliminated. There is now subspecialty coverage for primary or secondary interpretation and for peer review.
Double Bounce Component in Cross-Polarimetric SAR from a New Scattering Target Decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Sang-Hoon; Wdowinski, Shimon

2013-08-01

Common vegetation scattering theories assume that the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) cross-polarization (cross-pol) signal represents solely volume scattering. We found this assumption incorrect based on SAR phase measurements acquired over the south Florida Everglades wetlands indicating that the cross-pol radar signal often samples the water surface beneath the vegetation. Based on these new observations, we propose that the cross-pol measurement consists of both volume scattering and double bounce components. The simplest multi-bounce scattering mechanism that generates cross-pol signal occurs by rotated dihedrals. Thus, we use the rotated dihedral mechanism with probability density function to revise some of the vegetation scattering theories and develop a three- component decomposition algorithm with single bounce, double bounce from both co-pol and cross-pol, and volume scattering components. We applied the new decomposition analysis to both urban and rural environments using Radarsat-2 quad-pol datasets. The decomposition of the San Francisco's urban area shows higher double bounce scattering and reduced volume scattering compared to other common three-component decomposition. The decomposition of the rural Everglades area shows that the relations between volume and cross-pol double bounce depend on the vegetation density. The new decomposition can be useful to better understand vegetation scattering behavior over the various surfaces and the estimation of above ground biomass using SAR observations.
Vitamin D status in patients with musculoskeletal pain, fatigue and headache: a cross-sectional descriptive study in a multi-ethnic general practice in Norway.

PubMed

Knutsen, Kirsten Valebjørg; Brekke, Mette; Gjelstad, Svein; Lagerløv, Per

2010-09-01

To investigate vitamin D levels in patients with non-specific musculoskeletal pain, headache, and fatigue. A cross-sectional descriptive study. A health center in Oslo, Norway, with a multi-ethnic population. A total of 572 patients referred by a general practitioner (GP) for an examination of hypovitaminosis D who reported musculoskeletal pain, headache, or fatigue. The patients' native countries were: Norway (n = 249), Europe, America, and South-East Asia (n = 83), and the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (n = 240). Both genders and all ages were included. Vitamin D levels (25-hydroxyvitamin D) in nmol/L. Hypovitaminosis D (25-hydroxyvitamin D < 50 nmol/L) was found in 58% of patients. One-third of ethnic Norwegians had hypovitaminosis D, while 83% of patients from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia had hypovitaminosis D with minimal seasonal variation of levels. One in two women from these countries had a vitamin D level below 25 nmol/L. Mean vitamin D level was lower in patients with headaches compared with patients with other symptoms. Some 15% of patients with low (< 50 nmol/L) vitamin D levels reported headaches, compared with 5% of those with normal vitamin D levels. Our study shows a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in patients with non-specific musculoskeletal pain, headache, or fatigue for whom the GP had suspected a low vitamin D level. Hypovitaminosis D was not restricted to immigrant patients. These results indicate that GPs should maintain awareness of hypovitaminosis D and refer patients who report headaches, fatigue, and musculoskeletal pain with minimal sun exposure and a low dietary vitamin D intake for assessment.
KSC-03pd0150

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-01-16

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility, the Pegasus launch vehicle is ready for installation of the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), SORCE will study and measure solar irradiance as a source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. The launch of SORCE is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 3:14 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The drop of the Pegasus will be from OSC's L-1011 aircraft at an altitude of 39,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean approximately 100 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral.
KSC-03pd0156

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-01-16

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility, the Pegasus XL launch vehicle is ready for installation of the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite after encapsulation. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), SORCE will study and measure solar irradiance as a source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. The launch of SORCE is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 3:14 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The drop of the Pegasus will be from OSC's L-1011 aircraft at an altitude of 39,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean approximately 100 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral.
KSC-03pd0165

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-01-16

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility, the Pegasus XL launch vehicle is ready to be moved toward the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite in front of it. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), SORCE will study and measure solar irradiance as a source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. The launch of SORCE is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 3:14 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The drop of the Pegasus will be from OSC's L-1011 aircraft at an altitude of 39,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean approximately 100 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral.
Kennedy Space Center: Creating a Spaceport Reality from the Dreams of Many

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gray, James A.; Colloredo, Scott

2012-01-01

On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the first powered airplane only 20 feet above the ground near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Who would have guessed that the bizarre looking contraption developed by brothers in the bicycle business would lay the ground work eventually resulting in over a million passengers moved daily in a sky filled with the contrails of jets flying at over 30,000 feet in elevation and over 500 miles per hour. Similarly, who would have guessed that the destructive nature of V-2 rockets of Germany would spark the genesis of spaceflight to explore our solar system and beyond? Yet the interest in using the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) continues to grow. Potential customers have expressed interest in KSC as a location for testing new rocket engines, servicing the world's largest airborne launching platform for drop-launch rockets, developing multi-use launch platforms that permit diverse customers to use the same launch platform, developing new spacecraft, and implementing advanced modifications for lifting 150 metric ton payloads to low earth orbit. The multitude of customers has grown and with this growth comes a need to provide a command, control, communication, and range infrastructure that maximizes flexibility and reconfigurability to address a much more frequent launch rate of diverse vehicles and spacecraft. The Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program Office at KSC is embarking upon these developments to realize the dream of a robust spaceport. Many unique technical trade studies have been completed or are underway to successfully transition KSC into a multi-user customer focused spaceport. Like the evolution of the airplane, GSDO is working to transform KSC infrastructures that will turn once unthinkable space opportunities into a reality for today.
Hurricane Ida

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-18

article title: Hurricane Ida Cross-Track Winds ... (MISR) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite passed over Hurricane Ida while it was situated between western Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula. According to the National Hurricane Center, at 15:00 UTC, the hurricane had an estimated minimum central ...
Characterizing the Propagation of Uterine Electrophysiological Signals Recorded with a Multi-Sensor Abdominal Array in Term Pregnancies.

PubMed

Escalona-Vargas, Diana; Govindan, Rathinaswamy B; Furdea, Adrian; Murphy, Pam; Lowery, Curtis L; Eswaran, Hari

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to quantify the number of segments that have contractile activity and determine the propagation speed from uterine electrophysiological signals recorded over the abdomen. The uterine magnetomyographic (MMG) signals were recorded with a 151 channel SARA (SQUID Array for Reproductive Assessment) system from 36 pregnant women between 37 and 40 weeks of gestational age. The MMG signals were scored and segments were classified based on presence of uterine contractile burst activity. The sensor space was then split into four quadrants and in each quadrant signal strength at each sample was calculated using center-of-gravity (COG). To this end, the cross-correlation analysis of the COG was performed to calculate the delay between pairwise combinations of quadrants. The relationship in propagation across the quadrants was quantified and propagation speeds were calculated from the delays. MMG recordings were successfully processed from 25 subjects and the average values of propagation speeds ranged from 1.3-9.5 cm/s, which was within the physiological range. The propagation was observed between both vertical and horizontal quadrants confirming multidirectional propagation. After the multiple pairwise test (99% CI), significant differences in speeds can be observed between certain vertical or horizontal combinations and the crossed pair combinations. The number of segments containing contractile activity in any given quadrant pair with a detectable delay was significantly higher in the lower abdominal pairwise combination as compared to all others. The quadrant-based approach using MMG signals provided us with high spatial-temporal information of the uterine contractile activity and will help us in the future to optimize abdominal electromyographic (EMG) recordings that are practical in a clinical setting.
Characterizing the Propagation of Uterine Electrophysiological Signals Recorded with a Multi-Sensor Abdominal Array in Term Pregnancies

PubMed Central

Escalona-Vargas, Diana; Govindan, Rathinaswamy B.; Furdea, Adrian; Murphy, Pam; Lowery, Curtis L.; Eswaran, Hari

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to quantify the number of segments that have contractile activity and determine the propagation speed from uterine electrophysiological signals recorded over the abdomen. The uterine magnetomyographic (MMG) signals were recorded with a 151 channel SARA (SQUID Array for Reproductive Assessment) system from 36 pregnant women between 37 and 40 weeks of gestational age. The MMG signals were scored and segments were classified based on presence of uterine contractile burst activity. The sensor space was then split into four quadrants and in each quadrant signal strength at each sample was calculated using center-of-gravity (COG). To this end, the cross-correlation analysis of the COG was performed to calculate the delay between pairwise combinations of quadrants. The relationship in propagation across the quadrants was quantified and propagation speeds were calculated from the delays. MMG recordings were successfully processed from 25 subjects and the average values of propagation speeds ranged from 1.3–9.5 cm/s, which was within the physiological range. The propagation was observed between both vertical and horizontal quadrants confirming multidirectional propagation. After the multiple pairwise test (99% CI), significant differences in speeds can be observed between certain vertical or horizontal combinations and the crossed pair combinations. The number of segments containing contractile activity in any given quadrant pair with a detectable delay was significantly higher in the lower abdominal pairwise combination as compared to all others. The quadrant-based approach using MMG signals provided us with high spatial-temporal information of the uterine contractile activity and will help us in the future to optimize abdominal electromyographic (EMG) recordings that are practical in a clinical setting. PMID:26505624
A Multi-Site Study on Medical School Selection, Performance, Motivation and Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wouters, A.; Croiset, G.; Schripsema, N. R.; Cohen-Schotanus, J.; Spaai, G. W.; Hulsman, R. L.; Kusurkar, R. A.

2017-01-01

Medical schools seek ways to improve their admissions strategies, since the available methods prove to be suboptimal for selecting the best and most motivated students. In this multi-site cross-sectional questionnaire study, we examined the value of (different) selection procedures compared to a weighted lottery procedure, which includes direct…
Fan-shaped antennas: Realization of wideband characteristics and generation of stop bands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakano, H.; Morishita, K.; Iitsuka, Y.; Mimaki, H.; Yoshida, T.; Yamauchi, J.

2008-08-01

This paper presents four fan-shaped antennas: U.S.-FAN, CROSS-FAN, CROSS-FAN-W, and CROSS-FAN-S. Each of these antennas stands upright above a ground plane, and has edges expressed by an exponential function and a circle function. The four antennas are investigated using frequencies from 1.5 GHz to 11 GHz. The CROSS-FAN is found to have a lower VSWR over a wide frequency band compared to the U.S.-FAN. The CROSS-FAN-W and CROSS-FAN-S are modified versions of the CROSS-FAN, each designed to have a stop band (a high VSWR frequency range) for interference cancellation. The stop band for the CROSS-FAN-W is controlled by a wire (total length 4Lwire) that connects the fan-shaped elements. The center frequency of the stop band fstop is close to the frequency corresponding to a wire segment length Lwire of half the wavelength. It is also found that the stop band in the CROSS-FAN-S can be controlled by four slots, one cut into each of the fan-shaped elements. The center frequency of the stop band fstop is close to the frequency corresponding to a slot length Lslot of one-quarter of the wavelength. Experimental work is performed to confirm the theoretical results, using the CROSS-FAN-S.

And Then There Was One: Investigating ARIS, the Victorian Adult Education and Resource Information Service.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazell, Pat

The field of adult literacy and numeracy provision in Australia has developed and grown over the past 20 years. From a focus on student-centered learning and meeting community needs, it has evolved into a multi-faceted field incorporating community, technical and further education institutional, and workplace provision. Through ebbs and flows of…
Evaluation of a multi-sensor machine vision system for automated hardwood lumber grading

Treesearch

D. Earl Kline; Chris Surak; Philip A. Araman

2000-01-01

Over the last 10 years, scientists at the Thomas M. Brooks Forest Products Center, the Bradley Department of Electrical Engineering, and the USDA Forest Service have been working on lumber scanning systems that can accurately locate and identify defects in hardwood lumber. Current R&D efforts are targeted toward developing automated lumber grading technologies. The...
Addressing the religious and spiritual needs of dying patients by healthcare staff in Korea: patient perspectives in a multi-religious Asian country.

PubMed

Kang, Jina; Shin, Dong Wook; Choi, Jin Young; Park, Chang Hae; Baek, Young Ji; Mo, Ha Na; Song, Mi Ok; Park, Shin Ae; Moon, Do Ho; Son, Ki Young

2012-04-01

We investigated how patients' spiritual and religious needs are addressed by healthcare staff in inpatient palliative care centers in Korea, a multi-religious country. We performed a cross-sectional, multicenter survey of terminal cancer patients in inpatient palliative care centers. Approximately half (50.5%) of the patients reported that their spiritual and religious needs were addressed by healthcare staff. Patients whose needs were addressed reported better quality of life (QoL), as measured using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire for Palliative Care, than patients whose needs were not addressed (p<0.05), although these groups did not differ when measured using the Comprehensive QoL Scale. Patients with a religious affiliation [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 2.38; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.70-8.05], those who were admitted to a religious palliative care center (aOR, 2.61; 95% CI, 0.86-7.96), and those whose religious affiliation was the same as that of the palliative care center (aOR, 2.42; 95% CI, 0.96-6.07) tended to have their spiritual and religious needs addressed, although not statistically significant. Although patients whose spiritual and religious needs were addressed by healthcare staff showed significantly better QoL, such needs were not addressed in a significant proportion of patients, especially those who were not religious or were admitted to non-religious palliative care centers. Strategies should be developed to ensure that spiritual care is provided to all patients with terminal cancer, regardless of the religious background of the patient. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Donatello is suspended by cables over the payload canister in the Space Station Processing Facility. Previously housed in the Operations and Checkout Building, Donatello was brought into the SSPF for routine testing. This is the first time all three MPLMs (Donatello, Raffaello and Leonardo) are in the SSPF. The MPLMs were built by the Italian Space Agency, to serve as reusable logistics carriers and the primary delivery system to resupply and return station cargo requiring a pressurized environment. The third MPLM, Raffaello is scheduled to fly on Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-114.

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-02-13

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Donatello is suspended by cables over the payload canister in the Space Station Processing Facility. Previously housed in the Operations and Checkout Building, Donatello was brought into the SSPF for routine testing. This is the first time all three MPLMs (Donatello, Raffaello and Leonardo) are in the SSPF. The MPLMs were built by the Italian Space Agency, to serve as reusable logistics carriers and the primary delivery system to resupply and return station cargo requiring a pressurized environment. The third MPLM, Raffaello is scheduled to fly on Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-114.
Pseudo-orthogonal frequency coded wireless SAW RFID temperature sensor tags.

PubMed

Saldanha, Nancy; Malocha, Donald C

2012-08-01

SAW sensors are ideal for various wireless, passive multi-sensor applications because they are small, rugged, radiation hard, and offer a wide range of material choices for operation over broad temperature ranges. The readable distance of a tag in a multi-sensor environment is dependent on the insertion loss of the device and the processing gain of the system. Single-frequency code division multiple access (CDMA) tags that are used in high-volume commercial applications must have universal coding schemes and large numbers of codes. The use of a large number of bits at the common center frequency to achieve sufficient code diversity in CDMA tags necessitates reflector banks with >30 dB loss. Orthogonal frequency coding is a spread-spectrum approach that employs frequency and time diversity to achieve enhanced tag properties. The use of orthogonal frequency coded (OFC) SAW tags reduces adjacent reflector interactions for low insertion loss, increased range, complex coding, and system processing gain. This work describes a SAW tag-sensor platform that reduces device loss by implementing long reflector banks with optimized spectral coding. This new pseudo-OFC (POFC) coding is defined and contrasted with the previously defined OFC coding scheme. Auto- and cross-correlation properties of the chips and their relation to reflectivity per strip and reflector length are discussed. Results at 250 MHz of 8-chip OFC and POFC SAW tags will be compared. The key parameters of insertion loss, cross-correlation, and autocorrelation of the two types of frequency-coded tags will be analyzed, contrasted, and discussed. It is shown that coded reflector banks can be achieved with near-zero loss and still maintain good coding properties. Experimental results and results predicted by the coupling of modes model are presented for varying reflector designs and codes. A prototype 915-MHz POFC sensor tag is used as a wireless temperature sensor and the results are shown.
Long-distance multi-channel bidirectional chaos communication based on synchronized VCSELs subject to chaotic signal injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Yi-Yuan; Li, Jia-Chao; He, Chao; Zhang, Zhen-Dong; Song, Ting-Ting; Xu, Chang-Jun; Wang, Gui-Jin

2016-10-01

A novel long-distance multi-channel bidirectional chaos communication system over multiple paths based on two synchronized 1550 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) is proposed and studied theoretically. These two responding VCSELs (R-VCSELs) can output similar chaotic signals served as chaotic carrier in two linear polarization (LP) modes with identical signal injection from a driving VCSEL (D-VCSEL), which is subject to optical feedback and optical injection, simultaneously. Through the numerical simulations, high quality chaos synchronization between the two R-VCSELs can be obtained. Besides, the effects of varied qualities of chaos synchronization on communication performances in 20 km single mode fiber (SMF) channels are investigated by regulating different internal parameters mismatch after adopting chaos masking (CMS) technique. With the decrease of the maximum cross correlation coefficient (Max-C) between the two R-VCSELs, the bit error rate (BER) of decoded message increase. Meanwhile, the BER can still be less than 10-9 when the Max-C degrades to 0.982. Based on high quality synchronization, when the dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) links are introduced, 4n messages of 10 Gbit/s can transmit in 180 km SMF channels over n coupling paths, bidirectionally and simultaneously. Thorough tests are carried out with detailed analysis, demonstrating long-distance, multi-channel, bidirectional chaos communication based on VCSELs with chaotic signal injection.
Induction of long-lasting multi-specific CD8+ T cells by a four-component DNA-MVA/HIVA-RENTA candidate HIV-1 vaccine in rhesus macaques.

PubMed

Im, Eung-Jun; Nkolola, Joseph P; di Gleria, Kati; McMichael, Andrew J; Hanke, Tomás

2006-10-01

As a part of a long-term effort to develop vaccine against HIV-1 clade A inducing protective T cell responses in humans, we run mutually complementing studies in humans and non-human primates (NHP) with the aim to maximize vaccine immunogenicity. The candidate vaccine under development has four components, pTHr.HIVA and pTH.RENTA DNA, and modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA).HIVA and MVA.RENTA, delivered in a heterologous DNA prime-MVA boost regimen. While the HIVA (Gag/epitopes) components have been tested in NHP and over 300 human subjects, we plan to test in humans the RENTA (reverse transcriptase, gp41, Nef, Tat) vaccines designed to broaden HIVA-induced responses in year 2007. Here, we investigated the four-component vaccine long-term immunogenicity in Mamu-A*01-positive rhesus macaques and demonstrated that the vaccine-induced T cells were multi-specific, multi-functional, readily proliferated to recall peptides and were circulating in the peripheral blood of vaccine recipients over 1 year after vaccine administration. The consensus clade A-elicited T cells recognized 50% of tested epitope variants from other HIV-1 clades. Thus, the DNA-MVA/HIVA-RENTA vaccine induced memory T cells of desirable characteristics and similarities to those induced in humans by HIVA vaccines alone; however, single-clade vaccines may not elicit sufficiently cross-reactive responses.
Lessons from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pascarella, Ernest T.; Blaich, Charles

2013-01-01

Funded by the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts (CILA) at Wabash College, the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNS) is a multi-institution, multi-year, longitudinal study designed to identify the academic and non-academic collegiate experiences that foster liberal learning. This article describes how the study was done and…
Performance of Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Gout in a Multi-Center Study: Comparison with Monosodium Urate Crystal Analysis as the Gold Standard

PubMed Central

Ogdie, Alexis; Taylor, William J; Neogi, Tuhina; Fransen, Jaap; Jansen, Tim L; Schumacher, H. Ralph; Louthrenoo, Worawit; Vazquez-Mellado, Janitzia; Eliseev, Maxim; McCarthy, Geraldine; Stamp, Lisa K.; Perez-Ruiz, Fernando; Sivera, Francisca; Ea, Hang-Korng; Gerritsen, Martijn; Cagnotto, Giovanni; Cavagna, Lorenzo; Lin, Chingtsai; Chou, Yin-Yi; Tausche, Anne-Kathrin; Ochtrop, Manuella Lima Gomes; Janssen, Matthijs; Chen, Jiunn-Horng; Slot, Ole; Lazovskis, Juris; White, Douglas; Cimmino, Marco A.; Uhlig, Till; Dalbeth, Nicola

2017-01-01

Objectives To examine the performance of ultrasound for the diagnosis of gout using presence of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals as the gold standard. Methods We analyzed data from the Study for Updated Gout Classification Criteria (SUGAR), a large, multi-center observational cross-sectional study of consecutive subjects with at least one swollen joint who conceivably may have gout. All subjects underwent arthrocentesis; cases were subjects with MSU crystal confirmation. Rheumatologists or radiologists, blinded to the results of the MSU crystal analysis, performed ultrasound on one or more clinically affected joints. Ultrasound findings of interest were: double contour sign (DCS), tophus, and ‘snowstorm’ appearance. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) were calculated. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine factors associated with positive ultrasound results among subjects with gout. Results Ultrasound was performed in 824 subjects (416 cases and 408 controls). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV for the presence of any one of the features were 76.9%, 84.3%, 83.3% and 78.1% respectively. Sensitivity was higher among subjects with disease ≥2 years duration and among subjects with subcutaneous nodules on exam (suspected tophus). Associations with a positive ultrasound finding included suspected clinical tophus (odds ratio 4.77; 95% CI 2.23–10.21), any abnormal plain film radiograph (4.68; 2.68–8.17) and serum urate (1.31; 1.06–1.62). Conclusions Ultrasound features of MSU crystal deposition had high specificity and high positive predictive value but more limited sensitivity for early gout. The specificity remained high in subjects with early disease and without clinical signs of tophi. PMID:27748084
Novel Hyperspectral Sun Photometer for Satellite Remote Sensing Data Radiometric Calibration and Atmospheric Aerosol Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pagnutti, Mary; Ryan, Robert E.; Holekamp, Kara; Harrington, Gary; Frisbie, Troy

2006-01-01

A simple and cost-effective, hyperspectral sun photometer for radiometric vicarious remote sensing system calibration, air quality monitoring, and potentially in-situ planetary climatological studies, was developed. The device was constructed solely from off the shelf components and was designed to be easily deployable for support of short-term verification and validation data collects. This sun photometer not only provides the same data products as existing multi-band sun photometers, this device requires a simpler setup, less data acquisition time and allows for a more direct calibration approach. Fielding this instrument has also enabled Stennis Space Center (SSC) Applied Sciences Directorate personnel to cross calibrate existing sun photometers. This innovative research will position SSC personnel to perform air quality assessments in support of the NASA Applied Sciences Program's National Applications program element as well as to develop techniques to evaluate aerosols in a Martian or other planetary atmosphere.
Knowledge deficiency of work-related radiation hazards associated with psychological distress among orthopedic surgeons: A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Fan, Guoxin; Wang, Yueye; Guo, Changfeng; Lei, Xuefeng; He, Shisheng

2017-05-01

Knowledge and concern degree about work-related radiation hazards remained unknown among orthopedic surgeons. The aim of the cross-sectional study is to investigate whether the knowledge degree of work-related radiation is associated with psychological distress among orthopedic surgeons. This cross-sectional study sent electronic questionnaire via WeChat to orthopedic surgeons nationwide. Concern and knowing degree over radiation exposure was evaluated by a single self-reported question. Professional evaluation of concern degree was reflected by general psychological distress, which was assessed with the Kessler 10 scale (K10) and depressive symptoms with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Only 43.23% (115/266) respondents knew well about radiation and a total of 78.20% (208/266) respondents considered radiation exposure as a great concern. Among those who reported concerns about radiation exposure, a total of 57.69% (120/208) respondents reported knowing little about radiation. Respondents who reported concerns over radiation exposure were significantly associated with higher scores on CES-D and K10 (P < .05). Among respondents who reported concerns over radiation exposure, those who have fewer knowledge about radiation, had higher CES-D and K10 scores than those who knew well about radiation (P < .05). Among respondents who reported no concerns over radiation exposure, those who knew little about radiation still had higher CES-D and K10 scores (P < .05). Fewer radiation knowledge tends to induce more radiation concerns associated with higher psychological distress in orthopedic surgeons. Radiation knowledge should be enhanced for surgeons who daily work with radiation-related fluoroscopy.
Impacts of Cross-Platform Vicarious Calibration on the Deep Blue Aerosol Retrievals for Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Aboard Terra

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jeong, Myeong-Jae; Hsu, N. Christina; Kwiatkowska, Ewa J.; Franz, Bryan A.; Meister, Gerhard; Salustro, Clare E.

2012-01-01

The retrieval of aerosol properties from spaceborne sensors requires highly accurate and precise radiometric measurements, thus placing stringent requirements on sensor calibration and characterization. For the Terra/Moderate Resolution Imaging Spedroradiometer (MODIS), the characteristics of the detectors of certain bands, particularly band 8 [(B8); 412 nm], have changed significantly over time, leading to increased calibration uncertainty. In this paper, we explore a possibility of utilizing a cross-calibration method developed for characterizing the Terral MODIS detectors in the ocean bands by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ocean Biology Processing Group to improve aerosol retrieval over bright land surfaces. We found that the Terra/MODIS B8 reflectance corrected using the cross calibration method resulted in significant improvements for the retrieved aerosol optical thickness when compared with that from the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer, Aqua/MODIS, and the Aerosol Robotic Network. The method reported in this paper is implemented for the operational processing of the Terra/MODIS Deep Blue aerosol products.
An ensemble-ANFIS based uncertainty assessment model for forecasting multi-scalar standardized precipitation index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Mumtaz; Deo, Ravinesh C.; Downs, Nathan J.; Maraseni, Tek

2018-07-01

Forecasting drought by means of the World Meteorological Organization-approved Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is considered to be a fundamental task to support socio-economic initiatives and effectively mitigating the climate-risk. This study aims to develop a robust drought modelling strategy to forecast multi-scalar SPI in drought-rich regions of Pakistan where statistically significant lagged combinations of antecedent SPI are used to forecast future SPI. With ensemble-Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System ('ensemble-ANFIS') executed via a 10-fold cross-validation procedure, a model is constructed by randomly partitioned input-target data. Resulting in 10-member ensemble-ANFIS outputs, judged by mean square error and correlation coefficient in the training period, the optimal forecasts are attained by the averaged simulations, and the model is benchmarked with M5 Model Tree and Minimax Probability Machine Regression (MPMR). The results show the proposed ensemble-ANFIS model's preciseness was notably better (in terms of the root mean square and mean absolute error including the Willmott's, Nash-Sutcliffe and Legates McCabe's index) for the 6- and 12- month compared to the 3-month forecasts as verified by the largest error proportions that registered in smallest error band. Applying 10-member simulations, ensemble-ANFIS model was validated for its ability to forecast severity (S), duration (D) and intensity (I) of drought (including the error bound). This enabled uncertainty between multi-models to be rationalized more efficiently, leading to a reduction in forecast error caused by stochasticity in drought behaviours. Through cross-validations at diverse sites, a geographic signature in modelled uncertainties was also calculated. Considering the superiority of ensemble-ANFIS approach and its ability to generate uncertainty-based information, the study advocates the versatility of a multi-model approach for drought-risk forecasting and its prime importance for estimating drought properties over confidence intervals to generate better information for strategic decision-making.
Knowledge integration, teamwork and performance in health care.

PubMed

Körner, Mirjam; Lippenberger, Corinna; Becker, Sonja; Reichler, Lars; Müller, Christian; Zimmermann, Linda; Rundel, Manfred; Baumeister, Harald

2016-01-01

Knowledge integration is the process of building shared mental models. The integration of the diverse knowledge of the health professions in shared mental models is a precondition for effective teamwork and team performance. As it is known that different groups of health care professionals often tend to work in isolation, the authors compared the perceptions of knowledge integration. It can be expected that based on this isolation, knowledge integration is assessed differently. The purpose of this paper is to test these differences in the perception of knowledge integration between the professional groups and to identify to what extent knowledge integration predicts perceptions of teamwork and team performance and to determine if teamwork has a mediating effect. The study is a multi-center cross-sectional study with a descriptive-explorative design. Data were collected by means of a staff questionnaire for all health care professionals working in the rehabilitation clinics. The results showed that there are significant differences in knowledge integration within interprofessional health care teams. Furthermore, it could be shown that knowledge integration is significantly related to patient-centered teamwork as well as to team performance. Mediation analysis revealed partial mediation of the effect of knowledge integration on team performance through teamwork. PRACTICAL/IMPLICATIONS: In practice, the results of the study provide a valuable starting point for team development interventions. This is the first study that explored knowledge integration in medical rehabilitation teams and its relation to patient-centered teamwork and team performance.
Multi-cooperation of Cultural Heritage Conservation: The Cangdong Project of Guangdong Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, J.

2015-09-01

In recent years, some workshops and research cases have arisen in China to seek for suitable ways for heritage conservation and development of historic villages. However, the issue of multi-cooperation has not been much mentioned in research works. The case of Cangdong Project in Guangdong Province is a social enterprise. It is a center focusing on heritage education. It organizes tailor-made workshops for interested people from all over China and Hong Kong, Macao and overseas, including university courses for credits, summer/winter camps for primary and middle school students, as well as common people who are interested in heritage conservation. The purpose of the education center is to enhance heritage/cultural interest of the younger generations and common people, and try to work with local villagers to build a wealthy community. Nowadays, more and more villagers moved out for work and the countryside population in China is decreasing, this project also aims to create work opportunities for villagers through heritage conservation projects, so that the villagers can be willing to stay. The project focuses more in a sustainable way for community development. It has been five years since the project was set up in Cangdong Village. The project team worked with villagers, city people, students, scholars, different levels of local governments, investors, Medias, charitable organizations, as well as the market of tourism. As such, a platform of multi-cooperation for the above parties has formed during the past five years. This paper takes the Project experience from 2010-2015 as the case to study multi-cooperation in the field of heritage conservation in China, as well as to discuss how to co-operate the subjective initiatives of different stokeholds.
NASA's Platform for Cross-Disciplinary Microchannel Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Son, Sang Young; Spearing, Scott; Allen, Jeffrey; Monaco, Lisa A.

2003-01-01

A team from the Structural Biology group located at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama is developing a platform suitable for cross-disciplinary microchannel research. The original objective of this engineering development effort was to deliver a multi-user flight-certified facility for iterative investigations of protein crystal growth; that is, Iterative Biological Crystallization (IBC). However, the unique capabilities of this facility are not limited to the low-gravity structural biology research community. Microchannel-based research in a number of other areas may be greatly accelerated through use of this facility. In particular, the potential for gas-liquid flow investigations and cellular biological research utilizing the exceptional pressure control and simplified coupling to macroscale diagnostics inherent in the IBC facility will be discussed. In conclusion, the opportunities for research-specific modifications to the microchannel configuration, control, and diagnostics will be discussed.
Harmonic Skeleton Guided Evaluation of Stenoses in Human Coronary Arteries

PubMed Central

Yang, Yan; Zhu, Lei; Haker, Steven; Tannenbaum, Allen R.; Giddens, Don P.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a novel approach that three-dimensionally visualizes and evaluates stenoses in human coronary arteries by using harmonic skeletons. A harmonic skeleton is the center line of a multi-branched tubular surface extracted based on a harmonic function, which is the solution of the Laplace equation. This skeletonization method guarantees smoothness and connectivity and provides a fast and straightforward way to calculate local cross-sectional areas of the arteries, and thus provides the possibility to localize and evaluate coronary artery stenosis, which is a commonly seen pathology in coronary artery disease. PMID:16685882
Cross Service Fixed-Wing Cost Estimation

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-17

TRAC-M-TR-16-021 May 2016 Cross Service Fixed-Wing Cost Estimation TRADOC Analysis Center 700 Dyer Road Monterey, California 93943-0692 This study...Service Fixed-Wing Cost Estimation MAJ Jarrod S. Shingleton TRADOC Analysis Center 700 Dyer Road Monterey, California 93943-0692 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT...Wing Cost Estimation MAJ Jarrod Shingleton 060312 TRADOC Analysis Center, TRAC-MTRY Naval Postgraduate School 700 Dyer Road Bldg 246 Monterey, CA 93943
Structured patient handoff on an internal medicine ward: A cluster randomized control trial.

PubMed

Tam, Penny; Nijjar, Aman P; Fok, Mark; Little, Chris; Shingina, Alexandra; Bittman, Jesse; Raghavan, Rashmi; Khan, Nadia A

2018-01-01

The effect of a multi-faceted handoff strategy in a high volume internal medicine inpatient setting on process and patient outcomes has not been clearly established. We set out to determine if a multi-faceted handoff intervention consisting of education, standardized handoff procedures, including fixed time and location for face-to-face handoff would result in improved rates of handoff compared with usual practice. We also evaluated resident satisfaction, health resource utilization and clinical outcomes. This was a cluster randomized controlled trial in a large academic tertiary care center with 18 inpatient internal medicine ward teams from January-April 2013. We randomized nine inpatient teams to an intervention where they received an education session standardizing who and how to handoff patients, with practice and feedback from facilitators. The control group of 9 teams continued usual non-standardized handoffs. The primary process outcome was the rate of patients handed over per 1000 patient nights. Other process outcomes included perceptions of inadequate handoff by overnight physicians, resource utilization overnight and hospital length of stay. Clinical outcomes included medical errors, frequency of patients requiring higher level of care overnight, and in-hospital mortality. The intervention group demonstrated a significant increase in the rate of patients handed over to the overnight physician (62.90/1000 person-nights vs. 46.86/1000 person-nights, p = 0.002). There was no significant difference in other process outcomes except resource utilization was increased in the intervention group (26.35/1000 person-days vs. 17.57/1000 person-days, p-value = 0.01). There was no significant difference between groups in medical errors (4.8% vs. 4.1%), need for higher level of care or in hospital mortality. Limitations include a dependence of accurate record keeping by the overnight physician, the possibility of cross-contamination in the handoff process, analysis at the cluster level and an overall low number of clinical events. Implementation of a multi-faceted resident handoff intervention did not result in a significant improvement in patient safety although did improve number of patients handed off. Novel methods to improve handoff need to be explored. Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01796756.
Persistent cold air outbreaks over North America in a warming climate

DOE PAGES

Gao, Yang; Leung, L. Ruby; Lu, Jian; ...

2015-03-30

This study examines future changes of cold air outbreaks (CAO) using a multi-model ensemble of global climate simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 as well as regional high resolution climate simulations. In the future, while robust decrease of CAO duration dominates in most regions, the magnitude of decrease over northwestern U.S. is much smaller than the surrounding regions. We identified statistically significant increases in sea level pressure during CAO events centering over Yukon, Alaska, and Gulf of Alaska that advects continental cold air to northwestern U.S., leading to blocking and CAO events. Changes in large scale circulationmore » contribute to about 50% of the enhanced sea level pressure anomaly conducive to CAO in northwestern U.S. in the future. High resolution regional simulations revealed potential contributions of increased existing snowpack to increased CAO in the near future over the Rocky Mountain, southwestern U.S., and Great Lakes areas through surface albedo effects, despite winter mean snow water equivalent decreases in the future. Overall, the multi-model projections emphasize that cold extremes do not completely disappear in a warming climate. Concomitant with the relatively smaller reduction in CAO events in northwestern U.S., the top 5 most extreme CAO events may still occur in the future, and wind chill warning will continue to have societal impacts in that region.« less

Markov blanket-based approach for learning multi-dimensional Bayesian network classifiers: an application to predict the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) from the 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39).

PubMed

Borchani, Hanen; Bielza, Concha; Martı Nez-Martı N, Pablo; Larrañaga, Pedro

2012-12-01

Multi-dimensional Bayesian network classifiers (MBCs) are probabilistic graphical models recently proposed to deal with multi-dimensional classification problems, where each instance in the data set has to be assigned to more than one class variable. In this paper, we propose a Markov blanket-based approach for learning MBCs from data. Basically, it consists of determining the Markov blanket around each class variable using the HITON algorithm, then specifying the directionality over the MBC subgraphs. Our approach is applied to the prediction problem of the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) from the 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) in order to estimate the health-related quality of life of Parkinson's patients. Fivefold cross-validation experiments were carried out on randomly generated synthetic data sets, Yeast data set, as well as on a real-world Parkinson's disease data set containing 488 patients. The experimental study, including comparison with additional Bayesian network-based approaches, back propagation for multi-label learning, multi-label k-nearest neighbor, multinomial logistic regression, ordinary least squares, and censored least absolute deviations, shows encouraging results in terms of predictive accuracy as well as the identification of dependence relationships among class and feature variables. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Building Networks for Global Clinical Research: The Basics.

PubMed

Shearer, David W; Volberding, Paul A; Schemitsch, Emil H; Cook, Gillian E; Slobogean, Gerard P; Morshed, Saam

2015-12-01

Over the last several decades, interest in global health across all fields of medicine, including orthopaedic surgery, has grown markedly. Cross-national collaborations are an effective means of conducting high-quality clinical research and offer many advantages over single-center investigations. Successful collaboration requires a well-designed research protocol, development of an effective team structure, and the funding to ensure the project is sustained to completion. Equally important, investigators must consider the social, linguistic, and cultural context in which the study is being undertaken. Although randomized clinical trials are the highest level of evidence, study designs may have to be adapted to accommodate available resources, expertise, and local contextual factors. With appropriate planning, these collaborative endeavors can generate changes in clinical practice and positively impact health policy.
Ground Subsidence Monitoring with MT-InSAR and Mechanism Inversion Over Xi'an, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, M. M.; Zhao, C. Y.; Zhang, Q.; Zhang, J.; Liu, Y. Y.

2018-04-01

The ancient Xi'an, China, has been suffering severe land subsidence and ground fissure hazards since the 1960s, which has affected the safety of Subways. Multi-sensor SAR data are conducted to monitor the latest complex ground deformation and its influence on subway line No.3 over Xi'an. Annual deformation rates have been retrieved to reveal the spatiotemporal evolution of ground subsidence in Xi'an city from 2013 to 2017. Meanwhile, the correlation between land subsidence and ground fissures are analyzed by retrieving the deformation differences in both sides of the fissures. Besides, the deformation along subway line No. 3 is analyzed, and the fast deformation section is quantitatively studied. Finally, a flat lying sill model with distributed contractions is implemented to model the InSAR deformation over YHZ subsidence center, which manifests that the ground deformation is mainly caused by groundwater withdrawal.
Thirty Years, One Million Spectra: Public Access to the SAO Spectral Archives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mink, J.; Moran, S.

2015-09-01

Over the last 30 years, the SAO Telescope Data Center has reduced and archived over 1,000,000 spectra, consisting of 287,000 spectra from five high dispersion Echelle spectrographs and 717,000 spectra from four low dispersion spectrographs, across three telescopes. 151,000 spectra from six instruments are currently online and publicly available, covering many interesting objects in the northern sky, including most of the galaxies in the Updated Zwicky Catalog which are reachable through NED or Simbad. A majority of the high dispersion spectra will soon be made public, as will more data from the MMT multi-fiber spectrographs. Many objects in the archive have multiple spectra over time, which make them a valuable resource for archival time-domain studies. We are now developing a system to make all of the public spectra more easily searchable and viewable through the Virtual Observatory.
Simulation skill of APCC set of global climate models for Asian summer monsoon rainfall variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, U. K.; Singh, G. P.; Singh, Vikas

2015-04-01

The performance of 11 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Climate Center (APCC) global climate models (coupled and uncoupled both) in simulating the seasonal summer (June-August) monsoon rainfall variability over Asia (especially over India and East Asia) has been evaluated in detail using hind-cast data (3 months advance) generated from APCC which provides the regional climate information product services based on multi-model ensemble dynamical seasonal prediction systems. The skill of each global climate model over Asia was tested separately in detail for the period of 21 years (1983-2003), and simulated Asian summer monsoon rainfall (ASMR) has been verified using various statistical measures for Indian and East Asian land masses separately. The analysis found a large variation in spatial ASMR simulated with uncoupled model compared to coupled models (like Predictive Ocean Atmosphere Model for Australia, National Centers for Environmental Prediction and Japan Meteorological Agency). The simulated ASMR in coupled model was closer to Climate Prediction Centre Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) compared to uncoupled models although the amount of ASMR was underestimated in both models. Analysis also found a high spread in simulated ASMR among the ensemble members (suggesting that the model's performance is highly dependent on its initial conditions). The correlation analysis between sea surface temperature (SST) and ASMR shows that that the coupled models are strongly associated with ASMR compared to the uncoupled models (suggesting that air-sea interaction is well cared in coupled models). The analysis of rainfall using various statistical measures suggests that the multi-model ensemble (MME) performed better compared to individual model and also separate study indicate that Indian and East Asian land masses are more useful compared to Asia monsoon rainfall as a whole. The results of various statistical measures like skill of multi-model ensemble, large spread among the ensemble members of individual model, strong teleconnection (correlation analysis) with SST, coefficient of variation, inter-annual variability, analysis of Taylor diagram, etc. suggest that there is a need to improve coupled model instead of uncoupled model for the development of a better dynamical seasonal forecast system.
Multi angle laser light scattering evaluation of field exposed thermoplastic photovoltaic encapsulant materials

DOE PAGES

Kempe, Michael D.; Miller, David C.; Wohlgemuth, John H.; ...

2016-01-08

As creep of polymeric materials is potentially a safety concern for photovoltaic modules, the potential for module creep has become a significant topic of discussion in the development of IEC 61730 and IEC 61215. To investigate the possibility of creep, modules were constructed, using several thermoplastic encapsulant materials, into thin-film mock modules and deployed in Mesa, Arizona. The materials examined included poly(ethylene)-co-vinyl acetate (EVA, including formulations both cross-linked and with no curing agent), polyethylene/polyoctene copolymer (PO), poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), polyvinyl butyral (PVB), and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The absence of creep in this experiment is attributable to several factors of which themore » most notable one was the unexpected cross-linking of an EVA formulation without a cross-linking agent. It was also found that some materials experienced both chain scission and cross-linking reactions, sometimes with a significant dependence on location within a module. The TPU and EVA samples were found to degrade with cross-linking reactions dominating over chain scission. In contrast, the PO materials degraded with chain scission dominating over cross-linking reactions. Furthermore, we found no significant indications that viscous creep is likely to occur in fielded modules capable of passing the qualification tests, we note that one should consider how a polymer degrades, chain scission or cross-linking, in assessing the suitability of a thermoplastic polymer in terrestrial photovoltaic applications.« less
Design of supply chain in fuzzy environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rao, Kandukuri Narayana; Subbaiah, Kambagowni Venkata; Singh, Ganja Veera Pratap

2013-05-01

Nowadays, customer expectations are increasing and organizations are prone to operate in an uncertain environment. Under this uncertain environment, the ultimate success of the firm depends on its ability to integrate business processes among supply chain partners. Supply chain management emphasizes cross-functional links to improve the competitive strategy of organizations. Now, companies are moving from decoupled decision processes towards more integrated design and control of their components to achieve the strategic fit. In this paper, a new approach is developed to design a multi-echelon, multi-facility, and multi-product supply chain in fuzzy environment. In fuzzy environment, mixed integer programming problem is formulated through fuzzy goal programming in strategic level with supply chain cost and volume flexibility as fuzzy goals. These fuzzy goals are aggregated using minimum operator. In tactical level, continuous review policy for controlling raw material inventories in supplier echelon and controlling finished product inventories in plant as well as distribution center echelon is considered as fuzzy goals. A non-linear programming model is formulated through fuzzy goal programming using minimum operator in the tactical level. The proposed approach is illustrated with a numerical example.
Uncertainty quantification in fission cross section measurements at LANSCE

DOE PAGES

Tovesson, F.

2015-01-09

Neutron-induced fission cross sections have been measured for several isotopes of uranium and plutonium at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) over a wide range of incident neutron energies. The total uncertainties in these measurements are in the range 3–5% above 100 keV of incident neutron energy, which results from uncertainties in the target, neutron source, and detector system. The individual sources of uncertainties are assumed to be uncorrelated, however correlation in the cross section across neutron energy bins are considered. The quantification of the uncertainty contributions will be described here.
Issues in the Multi-Cultural Assessment of Parent-Child Interaction: An Exploratory Study from the Starting Early Starting Smart Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bernstein, V.J.; Harris, E.J.; Long, C.W.; Iida, E.; Hans, S.L.

2005-01-01

A national, multi-site study of behavioral health services integration developed a parent-child interaction assessment tool and culturally anchored videotape protocol. Representatives from programs serving Chinese, Native American, Latin-American, African-American, and Anglo-American families discussed cross-cultural issues in parenting and…
It gets better: resolution of internalized homophobia over time and associations with positive health outcomes among MSM.

PubMed

Herrick, Amy L; Stall, Ron; Chmiel, Joan S; Guadamuz, Thomas E; Penniman, Typhanye; Shoptaw, Steven; Ostrow, David; Plankey, Michael W

2013-05-01

Health disparities research among gay and bisexual men has focused primarily on risk and deficits. However, a focus on resiliencies within this population may greatly benefit health promotion. We describe a pattern of resilience (internalized homophobia (IHP) resolution) over the life-course and its associations with current health outcomes. 1,541 gay and bisexual men from the Multi-Center AIDS Cohort study, an ongoing prospective study of the natural and treated histories of HIV, completed a survey about life-course events thought to be related to health. The majority of men resolved IHP over time independent of demographics. Men who resolved IHP had significantly higher odds of positive health outcomes compared to those who did not. These results provide evidence of resilience among participants that is associated with positive health outcomes. Understanding resiliencies and incorporating them into interventions may help to promote health and well-being among gay and bisexual men.
It Gets Better: Resolution of Internalized Homophobia over Time and Associations with Positive Health Outcomes among MSM

PubMed Central

Herrick, Amy L.; Stall, Ron; Chmiel, Joan S.; Guadamuz, Thomas E.; Penniman, Typhanye; Shoptaw, Steven; Ostrow, David; Plankey, Michael w.

2013-01-01

Health disparities research among gay and bisexual men has focused primarily on risk and deficits. However, a focus on resiliencies within this population may greatly benefit health promotion. We describe a pattern of resilience (internalized homophobia (IHP) resolution) over the life-course and its associations with current health outcomes. 1,541 gay and bisexual men from the Multi-Center AIDS Cohort study, an ongoing prospective study of the natural and treated histories of HIV, completed a survey about life-course events thought to be related to health. The majority of men resolved IHP over time independent of demographics. Men who resolved IHP had significantly higher odds of positive health outcomes compared to those who did not. These results provide evidence of resilience among participants that is associated with positive health outcomes. Understanding resiliencies and incorporating them into interventions may help to promote health and well-being among gay and bisexual men. PMID:23283578
The influence of sea surface temperature anomalies on low-frequency variability of the North Atlantic Oscillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manganello, Julia V.

2008-05-01

The influence of sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) on multi-year persistence of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) during the second half of the twentieth century is investigated using the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA) Atmospheric GCM (AGCM) with an emphasis on isolating the geographic location of the SSTA that produce this influence. The present study focuses on calculating the atmospheric response to the SSTA averaged over 1988 1995 (1961 1968) corresponding to the observed period of strong persistence of the positive (negative) phase of the decadal NAO. The model response to the global 1988 1995 average SSTA shows a statistically significant large-scale pattern characteristic of the positive phase of the NAO. Forcing with the global 1961 1968 average SSTA generates a NAO of the opposite polarity compared to observations. However, all large-scale features both in the model and observations during this period are weaker in magnitude and less significant compared to 1988 1995. Additional idealized experiments show that over the northern center of the NAO the non-linear component of the forced response appears to be quite important and acts to enhance the positive NAO signal. On the other hand, over the southern center where the model response is the strongest, it is also essentially linear. The 1988 1995 average SSTA restricted to the western tropical Pacific region produce a positive NAO remarkably similar in structure but stronger in magnitude than the model response to the global and tropical Indo-Pacific 1988 1995 forcing. A 200-hPa geopotential height response in these experiments shows a positive anomaly over the southern center of the NAO embedded in the Rossby wave trains propagating from the western tropical Pacific. Indian Ocean SSTA lead to much weaker positive NAO primarily through the effect on its northern center. SST forcing confined to the North Atlantic north of equator does not produce a response statistically different from the control simulation, suggesting that it is not strong enough to significantly affect the phase of the decadal NAO. Inclusion of the South Atlantic north of 45° south does not change this result.
Career Counseling Centers in Higher Education: A Study of Cross-Cultural Applications from the United States to Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goh, Michael; Lee, Je-Kyung

2003-01-01

Interest in career development and career counseling is growing in Korea. Nevertheless, neither the research nor the literature adequately address the question as to what applications can be cross-culturally transferred from career counseling centers in the United States to Korea. This study qualitatively examines the practice of career counseling…
Regional variations in mortality rates in England and Wales: an analysis using multi-level modelling.

PubMed

Langford, I H; Bentham, G

1996-03-01

Mortality rates in England and Wales display a persistent regional pattern indicating generally poorer health in the North and West. Some of this is simply a reflection of regional differences in the extent of social deprivation which is known to exert a profound influence on health. Part of the pattern may also be the result of regional differences in urbanization which also affect mortality rates. However, there may be important regional differences over and above these compositional effects. This study attempts to establish the magnitude of such independent regional differences in mortality rates by using the techniques of multi-level modelling. Standardized mortality rates (SMRs) for males and females under 65 for 1989-91 in local authority districts are grouped into categories using the ACORN classification scheme. The Townsend Index is included as a measure of social deprivation. Using a cross-classified multi-level model, it is shown that region accounts for approximately four times more variation in SMRs than is explained by the ACORN classification. Analysis of diagnostic residuals show a clear North-South divide in excess mortality when both regional and socio-economic classification of districts are modelled simultaneously, a possibility allowed for by the use of a multi-level model.
Provisional versus elective two-stent strategy for unprotected true left main bifurcation lesions: Insights from a FAILS-2 sub-study.

PubMed

Kawamoto, Hiroyoshi; Chieffo, Alaide; D'Ascenzo, Fabrizio; Jabbour, Richard J; Naganuma, Toru; Cerrato, Enrico; Ugo, Fabrizio; Pavani, Marco; Varbella, Ferdinando; Boccuzzi, Giacomo; Pennone, Mauro; Garbo, Roberto; Conrotto, Federico; Biondi-Zoccai, Giuseppe; D'Amico, Maurizio; Moretti, Claudio; Escaned, Javier; Gaita, Fiorenzo; Nakamura, Sunao; Colombo, Antonio

2018-01-01

This study sought to investigate the optimal percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) strategy for true unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) bifurcations. The FAILS-2 was a retrospective multi-center study including patients with ULMCA disease treated with second-generation drug-eluting stents. Of these, we compared clinical outcomes of a provisional strategy (PS; n=216) versus an elective two-stent strategy (E2S; n=161) for true ULMCA bifurcations. The primary endpoint was the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) at 3-years. We further performed propensity-score adjustment for clinical outcomes. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of patient and lesion characteristics. 9.7% of patients in the PS group crossed over to a provisional two-stent strategy. MACEs were not significantly different between groups (MACE at 3-year; PS 28.1% vs. E2S 28.9%, adjusted p=0.99). The rates of target lesion revascularization (TLR) on the circumflex artery (LCX) were numerically high in the E2S group (LCX-TLR at 3-years; PS 11.8% vs. E2S 16.6%, adjusted p=0.51). E2S was associated with a comparable MACE rate to PS for true ULMCA bifurcations. The rates of LCX-TLR tended to be higher in the E2S group although there was no statistical significance. This study sought to compare the clinical outcomes of a provisional strategy (PS) with an elective two-stent strategy (E2S) for the treatment of true unprotected left main coronary artery bifurcations. 377 Patients (PS 216 vs. E2S 161 patients) were evaluated, and 9.7% in the PS group crossed over to a two-stent strategy. E2S was associated with a similar major adverse cardiac event rate at 3-years when compared to the PS strategy (PS 28.1% vs. E2S 28.9%, p=0.99). However, the left circumflex artery TLR rate at 3-year tended to be higher in the E2S group (PS 11.8% vs. E2S 16.6%, p=0.51). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Hydrologic Evaluation of Integrated Multi-satellite Retrivals for GPM over Nanliu River Basin in Southern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhenqing, L.; Sheng, C.; Chaoying, H.

2017-12-01

The core satellite of Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission was launched on 27 February2014 with two core sensors dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR) and microwave imager (GMI). The algorithm of Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission (IMERG) blends the advantages of currently most popular satellite-based quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE) algorithms, i.e. TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA), Climate Prediction Center morphing technique (CMORPH) ADDIN EN.CITE ADDIN EN.CITE.DATA , Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks-Cloud Classification System (PERSIANN-CCS).Therefore, IMERG is deemed to be the state-of-art precipitation product with high spatio-temporal resolution of 0.1°/30min. The real-time and post real-time IMERG products are now available online at https://stormpps.gsfc.nasa.gov/storm. Early studies about assessment of IMERG with gauge observations or analysis products show that the current version GPM Day-1 product IMERG demonstrates promising performance over China [1], Europe [2], and United States [3]. However, few studies are found to study the IMERG' potentials of hydrologic utility.In this study, the real-time and final run post real-time IMERG products are hydrologically evaluated with gauge analysis product as reference over Nanliu River basin (Fig.1) in Southern China since March 2014 to February 2017 with Xinanjiang model. Statistics metrics Relative Bias (RB), Root-Mean-Squared Error (RMSE), Correlation Coefficient (CC), Probability Of Detection (POD), False Alarm Ratio (FAR), Critical Success Index (CSI), and Nash-Sutcliffe (NSCE) index will be used to compare the stream flow simulated with IMERG to the observed stream flow. This timely hydrologic evaluation is expected to offer insights into IMERG' potentials in hydrologic utility and thus provide useful feedback to the IMERG algorithm developers and the hydrologic users.
Multi-Level Sequential Pattern Mining Based on Prime Encoding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lianglei, Sun; Yun, Li; Jiang, Yin

Encoding is not only to express the hierarchical relationship, but also to facilitate the identification of the relationship between different levels, which will directly affect the efficiency of the algorithm in the area of mining the multi-level sequential pattern. In this paper, we prove that one step of division operation can decide the parent-child relationship between different levels by using prime encoding and present PMSM algorithm and CROSS-PMSM algorithm which are based on prime encoding for mining multi-level sequential pattern and cross-level sequential pattern respectively. Experimental results show that the algorithm can effectively extract multi-level and cross-level sequential pattern from the sequence database.
A Multi-center Comparison of the Safety of Oral versus Intravenous Acetylcysteine for Treatment of Acetaminophen Overdose

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Oral and intravenous (IV) acetylcysteine are used for treatment of acetaminophen poisoning. The objective of this multi-center study was to compare the safety of these two routes of administration. METHODS We conducted a multi-center chart review of all patients treated with acetylcysteine for acetaminophen poisoning. The primary safety outcome was the percentage of patients with of acetylcysteine-related adverse events. RESULTS A total of 503 subjects were included in the safety analysis (306 IV only, 145 oral only and 52 both routes).There were no serious adverse events related to acetylcysteine for either route. Nausea and vomiting were the most common related adverse events and were more common with oral treatment (23% vs 9%). Anaphylactoid reactions were more common with IV administration (6% vs 2%). Conclusions Intravenous and oral acetylcysteine are both associated with minimal side effects and are safe for treatment of acetaminophen toxicity. PMID:20524832
Multi-Agent Simulation of Allocating and Routing Ambulances Under Condition of Street Blockage after Natural Disaster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azimi, S.; Delavar, M. R.; Rajabifard, A.

2017-09-01

In response to natural disasters, efficient planning for optimum allocation of the medical assistance to wounded as fast as possible and wayfinding of first responders immediately to minimize the risk of natural disasters are of prime importance. This paper aims to propose a multi-agent based modeling for optimum allocation of space to emergency centers according to the population, street network and number of ambulances in emergency centers by constraint network Voronoi diagrams, wayfinding of ambulances from emergency centers to the wounded locations and return based on the minimum ambulances travel time and path length implemented by NSGA and the use of smart city facilities to accelerate the rescue operation. Simulated annealing algorithm has been used for minimizing the difference between demands and supplies of the constrained network Voronoi diagrams. In the proposed multi-agent system, after delivering the location of the wounded and their symptoms, the constraint network Voronoi diagram for each emergency center is determined. This process was performed simultaneously for the multi-injuries in different Voronoi diagrams. In the proposed multi-agent system, the priority of the injuries for receiving medical assistance and facilities of the smart city for reporting the blocked streets was considered. Tehran Municipality District 5 was considered as the study area and during 3 minutes intervals, the volunteers reported the blocked street. The difference between the supply and the demand divided to the supply in each Voronoi diagram decreased to 0.1601. In the proposed multi-agent system, the response time of the ambulances is decreased about 36.7%.
Sunshine Skyway Bridge monitoring phase I : system assessment and integration recommendations [summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-10-01

At over five miles long, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, crossing Tampa Bay where it meets the Gulf of Mexico, is one of the worlds longest cable-stayed bridges. The pier-supported approaches rise to meet the center section where cables radiating from...

Crossing Boundaries: Multi-National Action Research on Family-School Collaboration. Report No. 33.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Don, Ed.; Johnson, Vivian, Ed.

This report details studies by eight researchers from five countries--Australia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Portugal, and Spain--that examine boundary-crossing issues between teachers and parents, between policies and school reality, between cultures, and between research and practice. All of the studies were based in elementary schools and…
Study of transient behavior of finned coil heat exchangers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rooke, S. P.; Elissa, M. G.

1993-01-01

The status of research on the transient behavior of finned coil cross-flow heat exchangers using single phase fluids is reviewed. Applications with available analytical or numerical solutions are discussed. Investigation of water-to-air type cross-flow finned tube heat exchangers is examined through the use of simplified governing equations and an up-wind finite difference scheme. The degenerate case of zero air-side capacitance rate is compared with available exact solution. Generalization of the numerical model is discussed for application to multi-row multi-circuit heat exchangers.
Inclusive three- and four-jet production in multi-Regge kinematics at the LHC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caporale, Francesco; Celiberto, Francesco G.; Chachamis, Grigorios; Gómez, D. Gordo; Vera, Agustín Sabio

2017-03-01

A study of differential cross sections for the production of three and four jets in multi-Regge kinematics is presented. The main focus lies on the azimuthal angle dependences in events with two forward/backward jets tagged in the final state. Furthermore, the tagging of one or two extra jets in more central regions of the detector with a relative separation in rapidity from each other is requested. It is found that the dependence of the cross sections on the transverse momenta and the rapidities of the central jet(s) can offer new means of studying the onset of BFKL dynamics.
[The specialty clinical centers within the structure of the regional multi-specialty hospital].

PubMed

Fadeev, M G

2008-01-01

The analysis of the functioning of the regional referral clinical center of hand surgery, the eye injury center, the pediatric burns center and the neurosurgical center situated on the basis of large multi-field hospitals of the City of Ekaterinburg is presented. Such common conditions of their activity as experienced manpower availability and medical Academy chairs maintenance are revealed. The special referral clinical centers organized prior to the perstroyka and reformation, continue to function successfully providing high-tech medical care to the patients of the megapolis and to the inhabitants of the Sverdlovskaya Oblast. The effectiveness and perspectiveness of further functioning of the special referral clinical centers embedded into the structure of the municipal multi-field hospitals in the conditions of health reforms is demonstrated.
Predicting Teacher Participation in a Classroom-Based, Integrated Preventive Intervention for Preschoolers.

PubMed

Baker, Courtney N; Kupersmidt, Janis B; Voegler-Lee, Mary Ellen; Arnold, David H; Willoughby, Michael T

2010-01-01

Preschools provide a promising setting in which to conduct preventive interventions for childhood problems, but classroom programs can only be effective if teachers are willing and able to implement them. This study is one of the first to investigate predictors of the frequency of teacher participation in a classroom-based, randomized controlled trial of an integrated prevention program for preschoolers. The intervention was designed to promote school readiness with an integrated social and academic program, to be implemented by teachers with the support of classroom consultants. The current study is part of a larger project conducted with Head Start and community child care centers that serve primarily economically disadvantaged families; 49 teachers from 30 centers participated in this study. Overall, teachers conducted approximately 70% of the program activities. Participation decreased significantly over time from the first to the final week of the intervention, and also decreased within each week of the intervention, from the first to the final weekly activity. Teachers working at community child care centers implemented more intervention activities than did Head Start teachers. Teacher concerns about the intervention, assessed prior to training, predicted less participation. In addition, teachers' participation was positively related to their perception that their centers and directors were supportive, collegial, efficient, and fair, as well as their job satisfaction and commitment. Teacher experience, education, ethnicity, and self-efficacy were not significantly related to participation. In multi-level models that considered center as a level of analysis, substantial variance was accounted for by centers, pointing to the importance of considering center-level predictors in future research.
Predicting Teacher Participation in a Classroom-Based, Integrated Preventive Intervention for Preschoolers

PubMed Central

Baker, Courtney N.; Kupersmidt, Janis B.; Voegler-Lee, Mary Ellen; Arnold, David H.; Willoughby, Michael T.

2009-01-01

Preschools provide a promising setting in which to conduct preventive interventions for childhood problems, but classroom programs can only be effective if teachers are willing and able to implement them. This study is one of the first to investigate predictors of the frequency of teacher participation in a classroom-based, randomized controlled trial of an integrated prevention program for preschoolers. The intervention was designed to promote school readiness with an integrated social and academic program, to be implemented by teachers with the support of classroom consultants. The current study is part of a larger project conducted with Head Start and community child care centers that serve primarily economically disadvantaged families; 49 teachers from 30 centers participated in this study. Overall, teachers conducted approximately 70% of the program activities. Participation decreased significantly over time from the first to the final week of the intervention, and also decreased within each week of the intervention, from the first to the final weekly activity. Teachers working at community child care centers implemented more intervention activities than did Head Start teachers. Teacher concerns about the intervention, assessed prior to training, predicted less participation. In addition, teachers' participation was positively related to their perception that their centers and directors were supportive, collegial, efficient, and fair, as well as their job satisfaction and commitment. Teacher experience, education, ethnicity, and self-efficacy were not significantly related to participation. In multi-level models that considered center as a level of analysis, substantial variance was accounted for by centers, pointing to the importance of considering center-level predictors in future research. PMID:21103189
Multi-Billion Shot, High-Fluence Exposure of Cr(4+): YAG Passive Q-Switch

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stephen, Mark A.; Dallas, Joseph L.; Afzal, Robert S.

1997-01-01

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is developing the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) employing a diode pumped, Q-Switched, ND:YAG laser operating at 40 Hz repetition rate. To meet the five-year mission lifetime goal, a single transmitter would accumulate over 6.3 billion shots. Cr(4+):YAG is a promising candidate material for passively Q-switching the laser. Historically, the performance of saturable absorbers has degraded over long-duration usage. To measure the multi-billion shot performance of Cr(4+):YAG, a passively Q-switched GLAS-like oscillator was tested at an accelerated repetition rate of 500 Hz. The intracavity fluence was calculated to be approximately 2.5 J/cm(exp 2). The laser was monitored autonomously for 165 days. There was no evidence of change in the material optical properties during the 7.2 billion shot test.. All observed changes in laser operation could be attributed to pump laser diode aging. This is the first demonstration of multi-billion shot exposure testing of Cr(4+):YAG in this pulse energy regime
Validity analysis on merged and averaged data using within and between analysis: focus on effect of qualitative social capital on self-rated health.

PubMed

Shin, Sang Soo; Shin, Young-Jeon

2016-01-01

With an increasing number of studies highlighting regional social capital (SC) as a determinant of health, many studies are using multi-level analysis with merged and averaged scores of community residents' survey responses calculated from community SC data. Sufficient examination is required to validate if the merged and averaged data can represent the community. Therefore, this study analyzes the validity of the selected indicators and their applicability in multi-level analysis. Within and between analysis (WABA) was performed after creating community variables using merged and averaged data of community residents' responses from the 2013 Community Health Survey in Korea, using subjective self-rated health assessment as a dependent variable. Further analysis was performed following the model suggested by WABA result. Both E-test results (1) and WABA results (2) revealed that single-level analysis needs to be performed using qualitative SC variable with cluster mean centering. Through single-level multivariate regression analysis, qualitative SC with cluster mean centering showed positive effect on self-rated health (0.054, p<0.001), although there was no substantial difference in comparison to analysis using SC variables without cluster mean centering or multi-level analysis. As modification in qualitative SC was larger within the community than between communities, we validate that relational analysis of individual self-rated health can be performed within the group, using cluster mean centering. Other tests besides the WABA can be performed in the future to confirm the validity of using community variables and their applicability in multi-level analysis.
Metropolitan transportation management center : a case study : COMPASS : effectively managing traffic and incidents

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-10-01

The following case study provides a snapshot of the Downsview, Ontario transportation management center. It follows the outline provided in the companion document, Metropolitan Transportation Management Center Concepts of Operation - A Cross Cutting ...
Evaluations of treatment efficacy of depression from perspective of both patients' symptoms and general sense of mental health and wellbeing: A large scale, multi-centered, longitudinal study in China.

PubMed

Zeng, Qingzhi; Wang, Wei Chun; Fang, Yiru; Mellor, David; Mccabe, Marita; Byrne, Linda; Zuo, Sai; Xu, Yifeng

2016-07-30

Relying on the absence, presence of level of symptomatology may not provide an adequate indication of the effects of treatment for depression, nor sufficient information for the development of treatment plans that meet patients' needs. Using a prospective, multi-centered, and observational design, the present study surveyed a large sample of outpatients with depression in China (n=9855). The 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD-17) and the Remission Evaluation and Mood Inventory Tool (REMIT) were administered at baseline, two weeks later and 4 weeks, to assess patients' self-reported symptoms and general sense of mental health and wellbeing. Of 9855 outpatients, 91.3% were diagnosed as experiencing moderate to severe depression. The patients reported significant improvement over time on both depressive symptoms and general sense after 4-week treatment. The effect sizes of change in general sense were lower than those in symptoms at both two week and four week follow-up. Treatment effects on both general sense and depressive symptomatology were associated with demographic and clinical factors. The findings indicate that a focus on both general sense of mental health and wellbeing in addition to depressive symptomatology will provide clinicians, researchers and patients themselves with a broader perspective of the status of patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Performance evaluation of time-aware enhanced software defined networking (TeSDN) for elastic data center optical interconnection.

PubMed

Yang, Hui; Zhang, Jie; Zhao, Yongli; Ji, Yuefeng; Li, Hui; Lin, Yi; Li, Gang; Han, Jianrui; Lee, Young; Ma, Teng

2014-07-28

Data center interconnection with elastic optical networks is a promising scenario to meet the high burstiness and high-bandwidth requirements of data center services. We previously implemented enhanced software defined networking over elastic optical network for data center application [Opt. Express 21, 26990 (2013)]. On the basis of it, this study extends to consider the time-aware data center service scheduling with elastic service time and service bandwidth according to the various time sensitivity requirements. A novel time-aware enhanced software defined networking (TeSDN) architecture for elastic data center optical interconnection has been proposed in this paper, by introducing a time-aware resources scheduling (TaRS) scheme. The TeSDN can accommodate the data center services with required QoS considering the time dimensionality, and enhance cross stratum optimization of application and elastic optical network stratums resources based on spectrum elasticity, application elasticity and time elasticity. The overall feasibility and efficiency of the proposed architecture is experimentally verified on our OpenFlow-based testbed. The performance of TaRS scheme under heavy traffic load scenario is also quantitatively evaluated based on TeSDN architecture in terms of blocking probability and resource occupation rate.
Enhancing moderate-resolution ocean color products over coastal/inland waters (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pahlevan, Nima; Schott, John R.; Zibordi, Giuseppe

2016-10-01

With the successful launch of Landsat-8 in 2013 followed by a very recent launch of Sentinel-2A, we are entering a new area where frequent moderate resolution water quality products over coastal/inland waters will be available to scientists and operational agencies. Although designed for land observations, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) has proven to provide high-fidelity products in these aquatic systems where coarse-resolution ocean color imagers fail to provide valid observations. High-quality, multi-scale ocean color products can give insights into the biogeochemical/physical processes from the upstream in watersheds, into near-shore regions, and further out in ocean basins. In this research, we describe a robust cross-calibration approach, which facilitates seamless ocean color products at multi scales. The top-of-atmosphere (TOA) OLI imagery is cross-calibrated against near-simultaneous MODIS and VIIRS ocean color observations in high-latitude regions. This allows for not only examining the overall relative performance of OLI but also for characterizing non-uniformity (i.e., banding) across its swath. The uncertainty of this approach is, on average, found to be less than 0.5% in the blue channels. The adjustments made for OLI TOA reflectance products are then validated against in-situ measurements of remote sensing reflectance collected in research cruises or at the AERONET-OC.
Assessing the Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors of Human and Animal Health Students towards Antibiotic Use and Resistance: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study in the UK.

PubMed

Dyar, Oliver James; Hills, Holly; Seitz, Lara-Turiya; Perry, Alex; Ashiru-Oredope, Diane

2018-01-30

The Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance highlights the importance of training all healthcare professionals. No study has assessed patterns of students' knowledge, attitudes and practices concerning antibiotic use simultaneously across different healthcare course types. We conducted a cross-sectional multi-center survey among UK students. The survey was advertised through local survey coordinators at 25 universities. The online survey was accessible from 10th October to 17th November 2016 (before European Antibiotic Awareness Day). A total of 255 students from 25 universities participated, including students on medicine, pharmacy, nursing, physician associate, dentistry and veterinary medicine courses. Antibiotic resistance was considered to be a more important global challenge than climate change, obesity or food security ( p < 0.001). Most students (95%) believed that antibiotic resistance will be a problem for their future practice, but fewer (69%) thought that the antibiotics they will prescribe, administer or dispense will contribute to the problem. A fifth of students felt they had sufficient knowledge of antibiotic use for their future work. Our exploratory study suggests that UK human and animal healthcare students are aware of the importance of antibiotic resistance, but many still have certain misconceptions. Campaigns and improved educational efforts applying behavioral insights methodology could address these.
Elastic all-optical multi-hop interconnection in data centers with adaptive spectrum allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Yuanyuan; Hong, Xuezhi; Chen, Jiajia; He, Sailing

2017-01-01

In this paper, a novel flex-grid all-optical interconnect scheme that supports transparent multi-hop connections in data centers is proposed. An inter-rack all-optical multi-hop connection is realized with an optical loop employed at flex-grid wavelength selective switches (WSSs) in an intermediate rack rather than by relaying through optical-electric-optical (O-E-O) conversions. Compared with the conventional O-E-O based approach, the proposed all-optical scheme is able to off-load the traffic at intermediate racks, leading to a reduction of the power consumption and cost. The transmission performance of the proposed flex-grid multi-hop all-optical interconnect scheme with various modulation formats, including both coherently detected and directly detected approaches, are investigated by Monte-Carlo simulations. To enhance the spectrum efficiency (SE), number-of-hop adaptive bandwidth allocation is introduced. Numerical results show that the SE can be improved by up to 33.3% at 40 Gbps, and by up to 25% at 100 Gbps. The impact of parameters, such as targeted bit error rate (BER) level and insertion loss of components, on the transmission performance of the proposed approach are also explored. The results show that the maximum SE improvement of the adaptive approach over the non-adaptive one is enhanced with the decrease of the targeted BER levels and the component insertion loss.
Performance evaluation of multi-stratum resources integration based on network function virtualization in software defined elastic data center optical interconnect.

PubMed

Yang, Hui; Zhang, Jie; Ji, Yuefeng; Tian, Rui; Han, Jianrui; Lee, Young

2015-11-30

Data center interconnect with elastic optical network is a promising scenario to meet the high burstiness and high-bandwidth requirements of data center services. In our previous work, we implemented multi-stratum resilience between IP and elastic optical networks that allows to accommodate data center services. In view of this, this study extends to consider the resource integration by breaking the limit of network device, which can enhance the resource utilization. We propose a novel multi-stratum resources integration (MSRI) architecture based on network function virtualization in software defined elastic data center optical interconnect. A resource integrated mapping (RIM) scheme for MSRI is introduced in the proposed architecture. The MSRI can accommodate the data center services with resources integration when the single function or resource is relatively scarce to provision the services, and enhance globally integrated optimization of optical network and application resources. The overall feasibility and efficiency of the proposed architecture are experimentally verified on the control plane of OpenFlow-based enhanced software defined networking (eSDN) testbed. The performance of RIM scheme under heavy traffic load scenario is also quantitatively evaluated based on MSRI architecture in terms of path blocking probability, provisioning latency and resource utilization, compared with other provisioning schemes.
C3: A Command-line Catalogue Cross-matching tool for modern astrophysical survey data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riccio, Giuseppe; Brescia, Massimo; Cavuoti, Stefano; Mercurio, Amata; di Giorgio, Anna Maria; Molinari, Sergio

2017-06-01

In the current data-driven science era, it is needed that data analysis techniques has to quickly evolve to face with data whose dimensions has increased up to the Petabyte scale. In particular, being modern astrophysics based on multi-wavelength data organized into large catalogues, it is crucial that the astronomical catalog cross-matching methods, strongly dependant from the catalogues size, must ensure efficiency, reliability and scalability. Furthermore, multi-band data are archived and reduced in different ways, so that the resulting catalogues may differ each other in formats, resolution, data structure, etc, thus requiring the highest generality of cross-matching features. We present C 3 (Command-line Catalogue Cross-match), a multi-platform application designed to efficiently cross-match massive catalogues from modern surveys. Conceived as a stand-alone command-line process or a module within generic data reduction/analysis pipeline, it provides the maximum flexibility, in terms of portability, configuration, coordinates and cross-matching types, ensuring high performance capabilities by using a multi-core parallel processing paradigm and a sky partitioning algorithm.
When will European countries exceed the 2°C temperature increase?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caminade, C.; Morse, A. P.

2012-04-01

Climatologists all agree that an increase of 2°C at global scale could have serious socio-economic consequences for the future. The Cancun agreement in 2010 officially stated that "With a view to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions so as to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2 °C above pre- industrial levels . . . Parties should take urgent action to meet this long-term goal." Recent studies highlighted that this threshold is likely to be reached by 2060 at global scale if we follow the higher greenhouse gases emission scenarios. However, this threshold might be crossed earlier over lands, by 2040, for Europe, Asia, North Africa and Canada. This study aims to highlight when this threshold might be reached at the country level for members states of the European Union. A large ensemble of regional climate model simulations driven by the SRESA1B emission scenario carried out within the ENSEMBLES project framework for the European continent is employed to achieve such a task. Results corroborate that the European continent is likely to warm faster than the global average temperatures, with the multi-model ensemble mean crossing the 2°C threshold by 2045-2055. Regionally, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and the Mediterranean basin are likely to cross that threshold earlier than northwestern/central Europe. As an example of these regional differences, Cyprus is likely to experience a 2°C increase during the mid 2040s while this might happen over Ireland during the late 21st century.
Parasites and vectors carry no passport: how to fund cross-border and regional efforts to achieve malaria elimination

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Tremendous progress has been made in the last ten years in reducing morbidity and mortality caused by malaria, in part because of increases in global funding for malaria control and elimination. Today, many countries are striving for malaria elimination. However, a major challenge is the neglect of cross-border and regional initiatives in malaria control and elimination. This paper seeks to better understand Global Fund support for multi-country initiatives. Methods Documents and proposals were extracted and reviewed from two main sources, the Global Fund website and Aidspan.org. Documents and reports from the Global Fund Technical Review Panel, Board, and Secretariat documents such as guidelines and proposal templates were reviewed to establish the type of policies enacted and guidance provided from the Global Fund on multi-country initiatives and applications. From reviewing this information, the researchers created 29 variables according to eight dimensions to use in a review of Round 10 applications. All Round 10 multi-country applications (for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis) and all malaria multi-country applications (6) from Rounds 1 – 10 were extracted from the Global Fund website. A blind review was conducted of Round 10 applications using the 29 variables as a framework, followed by a review of four of the six successful malaria multi-country grant applications from Rounds 1 – 10. Findings During Rounds 3 – 10 of the Global Fund, only 5.8% of grants submitted were for multi-country initiatives. Out of 83 multi-country proposals submitted, 25.3% were approved by the Technical Review Panel (TRP) for funding, compared to 44.9% of single-country applications. The majority of approved multi-country applications were for HIV (76.2%), followed by malaria (19.0%), then tuberculosis (4.8%). TRP recommendations resulted in improvements to application forms, although guidance was generally vague. The in-depth review of Round 10 multi-country proposals showed that applicants described their projects in one of two ways: a regional ‘network approach’ by which benefits are derived from economies of scale or from enhanced opportunities for mutual support and learning or the development of common policies and approaches; or a ‘cross-border’ approach for enabling activities to be more effectively delivered towards border-crossing populations or vectors. In Round 10, only those with a ‘network approach’ were recommended for funding. The Global Fund has only ever approved six malaria multi-country applications. Four approved applications stated strong arguments for a multi-country initiative, combining both ‘cross-border’ and ‘network’ approaches. Conclusion With the cancellation of Round 11 and the proposal that the Global Fund adopt a more targeted and strategic approach to funding, the time is opportune for the Global Fund to develop a clear consensus about the key factors and criteria for funding malaria specific multi-country initiatives. This study found that currently there was a lack of guidance on the key features that a successful multi-country proposal needs to be approved and that applications directed towards the ‘network’ approach were most successful in Round 10. This type of multi-country proposal may favour other diseases such as HIV, whereas the need for malaria control and elimination is different, focusing on cross-border coordination and delivery of interventions to specific groups. The Global Fund should seek to address these issues and give better guidance to countries and regions and investigate disease-specific calls for multi-country and regional applications. PMID:23057734
NASA-Navy Telemedicine: Autogenic Feedback Training Exercises for Motion Sickness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Acromite, Michael T.; Cowings, Patricia; Toscano, William; Davis, Carl; Porter, Henry O.

2010-01-01

Airsickness is the most significant medical condition affecting naval aviation training. A 2001 study showed that airsickness was reported in 81% of naval aviation students and was associated with 82% of below average flight scores. The cost to a single training air-wing was over $150,000 annually for fuel and maintenance costs alone. Resistent cases are sent to the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute (NAMI) for evaluation and desensitization in the self-paced airsickness desensitization (SPAD) program. This approach is 75% successful, but can take up to 8 weeks at a significant travel cost. NASA Ames Research Center's Autogenic Feedback Training Exercises (AFTE) uses physiological and biofeedback training for motion sickness prevention. It has a remote capability that has been used from Moffett Field, CA to Atlanta, GA . AFTE is administered in twelve (30-minute) training sessions. The success rate for the NASA AFTE program has been over 85%. Methods: Implementation Phases: Phase I: Transfer NASA AFTE to NAMI; NASA will remotely train aviation students at NAMI. Phase II: NAMI-centered AFTE application with NASA oversight. Phase III: NAMI-centered AFTE to remotely train at various Navy sites. Phase IV: NAMI to offer Tri-service application and examine research opportunities. Results: 1. Use available telemedicine connectivity between NAMI and NASA. 2. Save over $2,000 per student trained. 3. Reduce aviation training attrition. 4. Provide standardization of multi-location motion sickness training. 5. Future tri-service initiatives. 6. Data to NASA and Navy for QA and research opportunities.
Multi-scale curvature for automated identification of glaciated mountain landscapes☆

PubMed Central

Prasicek, Günther; Otto, Jan-Christoph; Montgomery, David R.; Schrott, Lothar

2014-01-01

Erosion by glacial and fluvial processes shapes mountain landscapes in a long-recognized and characteristic way. Upland valleys incised by fluvial processes typically have a V-shaped cross-section with uniform and moderately steep slopes, whereas glacial valleys tend to have a U-shaped profile with a changing slope gradient. We present a novel regional approach to automatically differentiate between fluvial and glacial mountain landscapes based on the relation of multi-scale curvature and drainage area. Sample catchments are delineated and multiple moving window sizes are used to calculate per-cell curvature over a variety of scales ranging from the vicinity of the flow path at the valley bottom to catchment sections fully including valley sides. Single-scale curvature can take similar values for glaciated and non-glaciated catchments but a comparison of multi-scale curvature leads to different results according to the typical cross-sectional shapes. To adapt these differences for automated classification of mountain landscapes into areas with V- and U-shaped valleys, curvature values are correlated with drainage area and a new and simple morphometric parameter, the Difference of Minimum Curvature (DMC), is developed. At three study sites in the western United States the DMC thresholds determined from catchment analysis are used to automatically identify 5 × 5 km quadrats of glaciated and non-glaciated landscapes and the distinctions are validated by field-based geological and geomorphological maps. Our results demonstrate that DMC is a good predictor of glacial imprint, allowing automated delineation of glacially and fluvially incised mountain landscapes. PMID:24748703

Accelerating Pathology Image Data Cross-Comparison on CPU-GPU Hybrid Systems

PubMed Central

Wang, Kaibo; Huai, Yin; Lee, Rubao; Wang, Fusheng; Zhang, Xiaodong; Saltz, Joel H.

2012-01-01

As an important application of spatial databases in pathology imaging analysis, cross-comparing the spatial boundaries of a huge amount of segmented micro-anatomic objects demands extremely data- and compute-intensive operations, requiring high throughput at an affordable cost. However, the performance of spatial database systems has not been satisfactory since their implementations of spatial operations cannot fully utilize the power of modern parallel hardware. In this paper, we provide a customized software solution that exploits GPUs and multi-core CPUs to accelerate spatial cross-comparison in a cost-effective way. Our solution consists of an efficient GPU algorithm and a pipelined system framework with task migration support. Extensive experiments with real-world data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of our solution, which improves the performance of spatial cross-comparison by over 18 times compared with a parallelized spatial database approach. PMID:23355955
Assessment of adult psychopathology: meta-analyses and implications of cross-informant correlations.

PubMed

Achenbach, Thomas M; Krukowski, Rebecca A; Dumenci, Levent; Ivanova, Masha Y

2005-05-01

Assessment of adult psychopathology relies heavily on self-reports. To determine how well self-reports agree with reports by "informants" who know the person being assessed, the authors examined 51,000 articles published over 10 years in 52 peer-reviewed journals for correlations between self-reports and "informants" reports. Qualifying correlations were found in 108 (0.2%) of the articles. When self-reports and informant reports were obtained with parallel instruments, mean cross-informant correlations were .681 for substance use, .428 for internalizing, and .438 for externalizing problems. When based on different instruments, the mean cross-informant correlation was .304. The moderate sizes of the correlations argue for systematically obtaining multi-informant data. National survey findings were used to illustrate practical ways to obtain and use such data.
Multi-channel Spiral Twist Extrusion (MCSTE): A Novel Severe Plastic Deformation Technique for Grain Refinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Garaihy, W. H.; Fouad, D. M.; Salem, H. G.

2018-07-01

Multi-channel Spiral Twist Extrusion (MCSTE) is introduced as a novel severe plastic deformation (SPD) technique for producing superior mechanical properties associated with ultrafine grained structure in bulk metals and alloys. The MCSTE design is based on inserting a uniform square cross-sectioned billet within stacked disks that guarantee shear strain accumulation. In an attempt to validate the technique and evaluate its plastic deformation characteristics, a series of experiments were conducted. The influence of the number of MCSTE passes on the mechanical properties and microstructural evolution of AA1100 alloy were investigated. Four passes of MCSTE, at a relatively low twisting angle of 30 deg, resulted in increasing the strength and hardness coupled with retention of ductility. Metallographic observations indicated a significant grain size reduction of 72 pct after 4 passes of MCSTE compared with the as-received (AR) condition. Moreover, the structural uniformity increased with the number of passes, which was reflected in the hardness distribution from the peripheries to the center of the extrudates. The current study showed that the MCSTE technique could be an effective, adaptable SPD die design with a promising potential for industrial applications compared to its counterparts.
Multi-channel Spiral Twist Extrusion (MCSTE): A Novel Severe Plastic Deformation Technique for Grain Refinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Garaihy, W. H.; Fouad, D. M.; Salem, H. G.

2018-04-01

Multi-channel Spiral Twist Extrusion (MCSTE) is introduced as a novel severe plastic deformation (SPD) technique for producing superior mechanical properties associated with ultrafine grained structure in bulk metals and alloys. The MCSTE design is based on inserting a uniform square cross-sectioned billet within stacked disks that guarantee shear strain accumulation. In an attempt to validate the technique and evaluate its plastic deformation characteristics, a series of experiments were conducted. The influence of the number of MCSTE passes on the mechanical properties and microstructural evolution of AA1100 alloy were investigated. Four passes of MCSTE, at a relatively low twisting angle of 30 deg, resulted in increasing the strength and hardness coupled with retention of ductility. Metallographic observations indicated a significant grain size reduction of 72 pct after 4 passes of MCSTE compared with the as-received (AR) condition. Moreover, the structural uniformity increased with the number of passes, which was reflected in the hardness distribution from the peripheries to the center of the extrudates. The current study showed that the MCSTE technique could be an effective, adaptable SPD die design with a promising potential for industrial applications compared to its counterparts.
Multi-segmental postural coordination in professional ballet dancers.

PubMed

Kiefer, Adam W; Riley, Michael A; Shockley, Kevin; Sitton, Candace A; Hewett, Timothy E; Cummins-Sebree, Sarah; Haas, Jacqui G

2011-05-01

Ballet dancers have heightened balance skills, but previous studies that compared dancers to non-dancers have not quantified patterns of multi-joint postural coordination. This study utilized a visual tracking task that required professional ballet dancers and untrained control participants to sway with the fore-aft motion of a target while standing on one leg, at target frequencies of 0.2 and 0.6Hz. The mean and variability of relative phase between the ankle and hip, and measures from cross-recurrence quantification analysis (i.e., percent cross-recurrence, percent cross-determinism, and cross-maxline), indexed the coordination patterns and their stability. Dancers exhibited less variable ankle-hip coordination and a less deterministic ankle-hip coupling, compared to controls. The results indicate that ballet dancers have increased coordination stability, potentially achieved through enhanced neuromuscular control and/or perceptual sensitivity, and indicate proficiency at optimizing the constraints that enable dancers to perform complex balance tasks. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Ultrasonic tomography for in-process measurements of temperature in a multi-phase medium

DOEpatents

Beller, Laurence S.

1993-01-01

A method and apparatus for the in-process measurement of internal particulate temperature utilizing ultrasonic tomography techniques to determine the speed of sound through a specimen material. Ultrasonic pulses are transmitted through a material, which can be a multi-phase material, over known flight paths and the ultrasonic pulse transit times through all sectors of the specimen are measured to determine the speed of sound. The speed of sound being a function of temperature, it is possible to establish the correlation between speed of sound and temperature, throughout a cross-section of the material, which correlation is programmed into a computer to provide for a continuous in-process measurement of temperature throughout the specimen.
Hypothesis generation using network structures on community health center cancer-screening performance.

PubMed

Carney, Timothy Jay; Morgan, Geoffrey P; Jones, Josette; McDaniel, Anna M; Weaver, Michael T; Weiner, Bryan; Haggstrom, David A

2015-10-01

Nationally sponsored cancer-care quality-improvement efforts have been deployed in community health centers to increase breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer-screening rates among vulnerable populations. Despite several immediate and short-term gains, screening rates remain below national benchmark objectives. Overall improvement has been both difficult to sustain over time in some organizational settings and/or challenging to diffuse to other settings as repeatable best practices. Reasons for this include facility-level changes, which typically occur in dynamic organizational environments that are complex, adaptive, and unpredictable. This study seeks to understand the factors that shape community health center facility-level cancer-screening performance over time. This study applies a computational-modeling approach, combining principles of health-services research, health informatics, network theory, and systems science. To investigate the roles of knowledge acquisition, retention, and sharing within the setting of the community health center and to examine their effects on the relationship between clinical decision support capabilities and improvement in cancer-screening rate improvement, we employed Construct-TM to create simulated community health centers using previously collected point-in-time survey data. Construct-TM is a multi-agent model of network evolution. Because social, knowledge, and belief networks co-evolve, groups and organizations are treated as complex systems to capture the variability of human and organizational factors. In Construct-TM, individuals and groups interact by communicating, learning, and making decisions in a continuous cycle. Data from the survey was used to differentiate high-performing simulated community health centers from low-performing ones based on computer-based decision support usage and self-reported cancer-screening improvement. This virtual experiment revealed that patterns of overall network symmetry, agent cohesion, and connectedness varied by community health center performance level. Visual assessment of both the agent-to-agent knowledge sharing network and agent-to-resource knowledge use network diagrams demonstrated that community health centers labeled as high performers typically showed higher levels of collaboration and cohesiveness among agent classes, faster knowledge-absorption rates, and fewer agents that were unconnected to key knowledge resources. Conclusions and research implications: Using the point-in-time survey data outlining community health center cancer-screening practices, our computational model successfully distinguished between high and low performers. Results indicated that high-performance environments displayed distinctive network characteristics in patterns of interaction among agents, as well as in the access and utilization of key knowledge resources. Our study demonstrated how non-network-specific data obtained from a point-in-time survey can be employed to forecast community health center performance over time, thereby enhancing the sustainability of long-term strategic-improvement efforts. Our results revealed a strategic profile for community health center cancer-screening improvement via simulation over a projected 10-year period. The use of computational modeling allows additional inferential knowledge to be drawn from existing data when examining organizational performance in increasingly complex environments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Walnut consumption increases activation of the insula to highly desirable food cues: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over fMRI study.

PubMed

Farr, Olivia M; Tuccinardi, Dario; Upadhyay, Jagriti; Oussaada, Sabrina M; Mantzoros, Christos S

2018-01-01

The use of walnuts is recommended for obesity and type 2 diabetes, although the mechanisms through which walnuts may improve appetite control and/or glycaemic control remain largely unknown. To determine whether short-term walnut consumption could alter the neural control of appetite using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we performed a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over trial of 10 patients who received, while living in the controlled environment of a clinical research center, either walnuts or placebo (using a validated smoothie delivery system) for 5 days each, separated by a wash-out period of 1 month. Walnut consumption decreased feelings of hunger and appetite, assessed using visual analog scales, and increased activation of the right insula to highly desirable food cues. These findings suggest that walnut consumption may increase salience and cognitive control processing of highly desirable food cues, leading to the beneficial metabolic effects observed. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Metropolitan transportation management center : a case study : Long Island INFORM : identifying incidents and informing travelers

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-10-01

The following case study provides a snapshot of Long Island's INFORM transportation management center. It follows the outline provided in the companion document, Metropolitan Transportation Management Center Concepts of Operation - A Cross Cutting St...
Diurnal salivary cortisol and nativity/duration of residence in Latinos: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

PubMed

Novak, Nicole L; Wang, Xu; Clarke, Philippa J; Hajat, Anjum; Needham, Belinda L; Sánchez, Brisa N; Rodriguez, Carlos J; Seeman, Teresa E; Castro-Diehl, Cecilia; Golden, Sherita Hill; Diez Roux, Ana V

2017-11-01

Latino immigrants have lower prevalence of depression, obesity and cardiovascular disease than US-born Latinos when they are recently arrived in the US, but this health advantage erodes with increasing duration of US residence. Cumulative exposure to psychosocial stress and its physiological sequelae may mediate the relationship between nativity and duration of US residence and poor health. We used data from Latino cohort study participants ages 45-84 to examine cross-sectional (n=558) and longitudinal (n=248) associations between nativity and duration of US residence and features of the diurnal cortisol curve including: wake-up cortisol, cortisol awakening response (CAR, wake-up to 30min post-awakening), early decline (30min to 2h post-awakening) and late decline (2h post-awakening to bed time), wake-to-bed slope, and area under the curve (AUC). In cross-sectional analyses, US-born Latinos had higher wake-up cortisol than immigrants with fewer than 30 years of US residence. In the full sample, over 5 years the CAR and early decline became flatter and AUC became larger. Over 5 years, US-born Latinos had greater increases in wake-up cortisol and less pronounced flattening of the early diurnal cortisol decline than immigrants with fewer than 30 years of US residence. Immigrants with 30 or more years of US residence also had less pronounced flattening of the early decline relative to more recent immigrants, and also had a less pronounced increase in AUC. In sum, we saw limited cross-sectional evidence that US-born Latinos have more dysregulated cortisol than recently-arrived Latino immigrants, but over time US-born Latinos had slower progression of cortisol dysregulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
New mathematical modeling for a location-routing-inventory problem in a multi-period closed-loop supply chain in a car industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forouzanfar, F.; Tavakkoli-Moghaddam, R.; Bashiri, M.; Baboli, A.; Hadji Molana, S. M.

2017-11-01

This paper studies a location-routing-inventory problem in a multi-period closed-loop supply chain with multiple suppliers, producers, distribution centers, customers, collection centers, recovery, and recycling centers. In this supply chain, centers are multiple levels, a price increase factor is considered for operational costs at centers, inventory and shortage (including lost sales and backlog) are allowed at production centers, arrival time of vehicles of each plant to its dedicated distribution centers and also departure from them are considered, in such a way that the sum of system costs and the sum of maximum time at each level should be minimized. The aforementioned problem is formulated in the form of a bi-objective nonlinear integer programming model. Due to the NP-hard nature of the problem, two meta-heuristics, namely, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) and multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO), are used in large sizes. In addition, a Taguchi method is used to set the parameters of these algorithms to enhance their performance. To evaluate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms, the results for small-sized problems are compared with the results of the ɛ-constraint method. Finally, four measuring metrics, namely, the number of Pareto solutions, mean ideal distance, spacing metric, and quality metric, are used to compare NSGA-II and MOPSO.
Reference Values for the 6-min Walk Distance in Healthy Children Age 7 to 12 Years in Brazil: Main Results of the TC6minBrasil Multi-Center Study.

PubMed

de Assis Pereira Cacau, Lucas; Carvalho, Vitor Oliveira; Dos Santos Pin, Alessandro; Araujo Daniel, Carlos Raphael; Ykeda, Daisy Satomi; de Carvalho, Eliane Maria; Francica, Juliana Valente; Faria, Luíza Martins; Gomes-Neto, Mansueto; Fernandes, Marcelo; Velloso, Marcelo; Karsten, Marlus; de Sá Barros, Patrícia; de Santana-Filho, Valter Joviniano

2018-03-01

Brazil is a country with great climatic, socioeconomic, and cultural differences that does not yet have a reference value for the 6-min walk test (6MWT) in healthy children. To avoid misinterpretation, the use of equations to predict the maximum walk distance should be established in each country. We sought to establish reference values and to develop an equation to predict the 6-min walk distance for healthy children in Brazil. This is a cross-sectional multi-center study that included 1,496 healthy children, aged 7 to 12 y, assessed across 11 research sites in all regions of Brazil, and recruited from public and private schools in their respective regions. Each child was assessed for weight and height. Walk distance was our main outcome. An open-source software environment for statistical computing was used for statistical analysis. We observed a higher average distance walked by boys (531.1 m) than by girls (506.2 m), with a difference of 24.9 m ( P < .001). We established 6MWT reference values for boys with the following equation: Distance = (16.86 × age) + (1.89 × Δ heart rate) - (0.80 × weight) + (336.91 × R1) + (360.91 × R2). For girls the equation is as follows: Distance = (13.54 × age) + (1.62 × Δ heart rate) - (1.28 × weight) + (352.33 × R1) + (394.81 × R2). Reference values were established for the 6MWT in healthy children aged 7-12 y in Brazil. Copyright © 2018 by Daedalus Enterprises.
Potassium Measures and Their Associations with Glucose and Diabetes Risk: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

PubMed Central

Chatterjee, Ranee; Zelnick, Leila; Mukamal, Kenneth J.; Nettleton, Jennifer A.; Kestenbaum, Bryan R.; Siscovick, David S.; Ix, Joachim H.; Tracy, Russell; Hoofnagle, Andrew N.; Svetkey, Laura P.; Edelman, David; de Boer, Ian H.

2016-01-01

Background Recent studies have found low-normal potassium (K) to be associated with increased diabetes risk. We sought to verify these associations in a multi-ethnic US cohort; and to determine if these associations extend to US Hispanics and Asian-Americans. Methods We analyzed data from Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants who were free-of-diabetes at baseline. We examined cross-sectional associations between measures of K—serum, dietary, and urine—with fasting glucose and HOMA-IR. We examined longitudinal associations between K and diabetes risk over 8 years. Findings In multivariable models, compared to those with higher serum K (≥4.5mmol/L), those with lower serum K (<4.0mmol/L) had significantly higher fasting glucose [1.3 mg/dL (95%CI 0.2, 2.4), P-value = 0.03]. Incident diabetes developed in 1281 of 5415 at-risk participants. In minimally-adjusted models, we found inverse associations between serum and dietary K and diabetes risk. Compared to those with higher serum K, those with lower serum K had an HR (95% CI) of incident diabetes of 1.23 (1.04, 1.47), P-value = 0.02. However, these associations were attenuated in fully-adjusted models. We found no significant interaction between potassium and ethnicity. Conclusions In this multi-ethnic cohort, we found a significant inverse association between serum K and fasting glucose but no significant association with longer-term diabetes risk. This inverse association between potassium and glucose must be studied further to understand the physiology and its potential impact on chronic health. PMID:27280455
Development and Flight of the NASA-Ames Research Center Payload on Spacelab-J

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmidt, Gregory K.; Ball, Sally M.; Stolarik, Thomas M.; Eodice, Michael T.

1993-01-01

Spacelab-J was an international Spacelab mission with numerous innovative Japanese and American materials and life science experiments. Two of the Spacelab-J experiments were designed over a period of more than a decade by a team from NASA-Ames Research Center. The Frog Embryology Experiment investigated and is helping to resolve a century-long quandary on the effects of gravity on amphibian development. The Autogenic Feedback Training Experiment, flown on Spacelab-J as part of a multi-mission investigation, studied the effects of Autogenic Feedback Therapy on limiting the effects of Space Motion Sickness on astronauts. Both experiments employed the use of a wide variety of specially designed hardware to achieve the experiment objectives. This paper reviews the development of both experiments, from the initial announcement of opportunity in 1978, through selection on Spacelab-J and subsequent hardware and science procedures development, culminating in the highly successful Spacelab-J flight in September 1992.
High current gain transistor laser

PubMed Central

Liang, Song; Qiao, Lijun; Zhu, Hongliang; Wang, Wei

2016-01-01

A transistor laser (TL), having the structure of a transistor with multi-quantum wells near its base region, bridges the functionality gap between lasers and transistors. However, light emission is produced at the expense of current gain for all the TLs reported up to now, leading to a very low current gain. We propose a novel design of TLs, which have an n-doped InP layer inserted in the emitter ridge. Numerical studies show that a current flow aperture for only holes can be formed in the center of the emitter ridge. As a result, the common emitter current gain can be as large as 143.3, which is over 15 times larger than that of a TL without the aperture. Besides, the effects of nonradiative recombination defects can be reduced greatly because the flow of holes is confined in the center region of the emitter ridge. PMID:27282466
Characterizing the relationship between health utility and renal function after kidney transplantation in UK and US: a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) occurs in a large share of transplant recipients and it is the leading cause of graft loss despite the introduction of new and effective immunosuppressants. The reduction in renal function secondary to immunologic and non-immunologic CAN leads to several complications, including anemia and calcium-phosphorus metabolism imbalance and may be associated to worsening Health-Related Quality of Life. We sought to evaluate the relationship between kidney function and Euro-Qol 5 Dimension Index (EQ-5Dindex) scores after kidney transplantation and evaluate whether cross-cultural differences exist between UK and US. Methods This study is a secondary analysis of existing data gathered from two cross-sectional studies. We enrolled 233 and 209 subjects aged 18–74 years who received a kidney transplant in US and UK respectively. For the present analysis we excluded recipients with multiple or multi-organ transplantation, creatinine kinase ≥200 U/L, acute renal failure, and without creatinine assessments in 3 months pre-enrollment leaving 281 subjects overall. The questionnaires were administered independently in the two centers. Both packets included the EQ-5Dindex and socio-demographic items. We augmented the analytical dataset with information abstracted from clinical charts and administrative records including selected comorbidities and biochemistry test results. We used ordinary least squares and quantile regression adjusted for socio-demographic and clinical characteristics to assess the association between EQ-5Dindex and severity of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Results CKD severity was negatively associated with EQ-5Dindex in both samples (UK: ρ= −0.20, p=0.02; US: ρ= −0.21, p=0.02). The mean adjusted disutility associated to CKD stage 5 compared to CKD stage 1–2 was Δ= −0.38 in the UK sample, Δ= −0.11 in the US sample and Δ= −0.22 in the whole sample. The adjusted median disutility associated to CKD stage 5 compared to CKD stage 1–2 for the whole sample was 0.18 (p<0.01, quantile regression). Center effect was not statistically significant. Conclusions Impaired renal function is associated with reduced health-related quality of life independent of possible confounders, center-effect and analytic framework. PMID:23173709
Vector magnetometer based on synchronous manipulation of nitrogen-vacancy centers in all crystal directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chen; Yuan, Heng; Zhang, Ning; Xu, Lixia; Zhang, Jixing; Li, Bo; Fang, Jiancheng

2018-04-01

Negatively charged nitrogen vacancy (NV‑) centers in diamond have been extensively studied as high-sensitivity magnetometers, showcasing a wide range of applications. This study experimentally demonstrates a vector magnetometry scheme based on synchronous manipulation of NV‑ center ensembles in all crystal directions using double frequency microwaves (MWs) and multi-coupled-strip-lines (mCSL) waveguide. The application of the mCSL waveguide ensures a high degree of synchrony (99%) for manipulating NV‑ centers in multiple orientations in a large volume. Manipulation with double frequency MWs makes NV‑ centers of all four crystal directions involved, and additionally leads to an enhancement of the manipulation field. In this work, by monitoring the changes in the slope of the resonance line consisting of multi-axes NV‑ centers, measurement of the direction of the external field vector was demonstrated with a sensitivity of {{10}\\prime}/\\sqrt{Hz} . Based on the scheme, the fluorescence signal contrast was improved by four times higher and the sensitivity to the magnetic field strength was improved by two times. The method provides a more practical way of achieving vector sensors based on NV‑ center ensembles in diamond.
New Cross Section Data for Production of the Therapeutic Radionuclides 64Cu, 140Nd, and 192Ir

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

Hilgers, K.; Qaim, S.M.; Coenen, H.H.

2005-05-24

For production of the therapeutic radionuclides 64Cu, 140Nd and 192Ir new cross section data are reported, all measured using the stacked-foil technique. In the case of 64Cu, the 66Zn(d,{alpha})64Cu reaction was investigated radiochemically over the energy range of 5 to 14 MeV using highly enriched target material. From the measured excitation function the thick target yield of 64Cu was calculated as 6.6 MBq/{mu}A{center_dot}h. A comparison with other production routes is given. For production of 140Nd, both natCe(3He,xn)140Nd and 141Pr(p,2n)140Nd processes were studied. For the 141Pr(p,2n)140Nd reaction the results are consistent with the literature data in the early rising part ofmore » the excitation function; at higher energies, however, our values differ considerably. The yields of 140Nd via these reactions amount to 22 and 128 MBq/{mu}A{center_dot}h, respectively. The excitation function of the 192Os(p,n)192Ir reaction was measured from 6 to 20 MeV and the yield of 192Ir was calculated to be 0.16 MBq/{mu}A{center_dot}h.« less
L1 Adaptive Control Augmentation System with Application to the X-29 Lateral/Directional Dynamics: A Multi-Input Multi-Output Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Griffin, Brian Joseph; Burken, John J.; Xargay, Enric

2010-01-01

This paper presents an L(sub 1) adaptive control augmentation system design for multi-input multi-output nonlinear systems in the presence of unmatched uncertainties which may exhibit significant cross-coupling effects. A piecewise continuous adaptive law is adopted and extended for applicability to multi-input multi-output systems that explicitly compensates for dynamic cross-coupling. In addition, explicit use of high-fidelity actuator models are added to the L1 architecture to reduce uncertainties in the system. The L(sub 1) multi-input multi-output adaptive control architecture is applied to the X-29 lateral/directional dynamics and results are evaluated against a similar single-input single-output design approach.
Land-use and Land-cover Change from 1974 to 2008 around Mobile Bay

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ellis, Jean; Spruce, Joseph; Smoot, James; Hilbert, Kent; Swann, Roberta

2008-01-01

This project is a Gulf of Mexico Application Pilot in which NASA Stennis Space Center (SSC) is working within a regional collaboration network of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. NASA researchers, with support from the NASA SSC Applied Science Program Steering Committee, employed multi-temporal Landsat data to assess land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes in the coastal counties of Mobile and Baldwin, AL, between 1974 and 2008. A multi-decadal time-series, coastal LULC product unique to NASA SSC was produced. The geographic extent and nature of change was quantified for the open water, barren, upland herbaceous, non-woody wetland, upland forest, woody wetland, and urban landscapes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Coastal Development Data Center (NCDDC) will assist with the transition of the final product to the operational end user, which primarily is the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP). We found substantial LULC change over the 34-year study period, much more than is evident when the change occurring in the last years. Between 1974 and 2008, the upland forest landscape lost almost 6% of the total acreage, while urban land cover increased by slightly more than 3%. With exception to open water, upland forest is the dominant landscape, accounting for about 25-30% of the total area.

Participation in medical decision-making across Europe: An international longitudinal multicenter study.

PubMed

Bär Deucher, A; Hengartner, M P; Kawohl, W; Konrad, J; Puschner, B; Clarke, E; Slade, M; Del Vecchio, V; Sampogna, G; Égerházi, A; Süveges, Á; Krogsgaard Bording, M; Munk-Jørgensen, P; Rössler, W

2016-05-01

The purpose of this paper was to examine national differences in the desire to participate in decision-making of people with severe mental illness in six European countries. The data was taken from a European longitudinal observational study (CEDAR; ISRCTN75841675). A sample of 514 patients with severe mental illness from the study centers in Ulm, Germany, London, England, Naples, Italy, Debrecen, Hungary, Aalborg, Denmark and Zurich, Switzerland were assessed as to desire to participate in medical decision-making. Associations between desire for participation in decision-making and center location were analyzed with generalized estimating equations. We found large cross-national differences in patients' desire to participate in decision-making, with the center explaining 47.2% of total variance in the desire for participation (P<0.001). Averaged over time and independent of patient characteristics, London (mean=2.27), Ulm (mean=2.13) and Zurich (mean=2.14) showed significantly higher scores in desire for participation, followed by Aalborg (mean=1.97), where scores were in turn significantly higher than in Debrecen (mean=1.56). The lowest scores were reported in Naples (mean=1.14). Over time, the desire for participation in decision-making increased significantly in Zurich (b=0.23) and decreased in Naples (b=-0.14). In all other centers, values remained stable. This study demonstrates that patients' desire for participation in decision-making varies by location. We suggest that more research attention be focused on identifying specific cultural and social factors in each country to further explain observed differences across Europe. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Solution of multi-center molecular integrals of Slater-type orbitals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tai, H.

1989-01-01

The troublesome multi-center molecular integrals of Slater-type orbitals (STO) in molecular physics calculations can be evaluated by using the Fourier transform and proper coupling of the two center exchange integrals. A numerical integration procedure is then readily rendered to the final expression in which the integrand consists of well known special functions of arguments containing the geometrical arrangement of the nuclear centers and the exponents of the atomic orbitals. A practical procedure was devised for the calculation of a general multi-center molecular integrals coupling arbitrary Slater-type orbitals. Symmetry relations and asymptotic conditions are discussed. Explicit expressions of three-center one-electron nuclear-attraction integrals and four-center two-electron repulsion integrals for STO of principal quantum number n=2 are listed. A few numerical results are given for the purpose of comparison.
KSC-03pd0163

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-01-16

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility check the fairing placed around the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite. When fully encapsulated, the satellite will be installed in the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), SORCE will study and measure solar irradiance as a source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. The launch of SORCE is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 3:14 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The drop of the Pegasus will be from OSC's L-1011 aircraft at an altitude of 39,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean approximately 100 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral.
KSC-03pd0157

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-01-16

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility check the outside of the fairing around the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite. When completely encapsulated, the satellite will be installed in the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), SORCE will study and measure solar irradiance as a source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. The launch of SORCE is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 3:14 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The drop of the Pegasus will be from OSC's L-1011 aircraft at an altitude of 39,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean approximately 100 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral.
KSC-03pd0158

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-01-16

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility move part of the fairing toward the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite for encapsulation. The satellite will be installed in the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), SORCE will study and measure solar irradiance as a source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. The launch of SORCE is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 3:14 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The drop of the Pegasus will be from OSC's L-1011 aircraft at an altitude of 39,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean approximately 100 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral.
An exploration of collaborative scientific production at MIT through spatial organization and institutional affiliation.

PubMed

Claudel, Matthew; Massaro, Emanuele; Santi, Paolo; Murray, Fiona; Ratti, Carlo

2017-01-01

Academic research is increasingly cross-disciplinary and collaborative, between and within institutions. In this context, what is the role and relevance of an individual's spatial position on a campus? We examine the collaboration patterns of faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, through their academic output (papers and patents), and their organizational structures (institutional affiliation and spatial configuration) over a 10-year time span. An initial comparison of output types reveals: 1. diverging trends in the composition of collaborative teams over time (size, faculty versus non-faculty, etc.); and 2. substantively different patterns of cross-building and cross-disciplinary collaboration. We then construct a multi-layered network of authors, and find two significant features of collaboration on campus: 1. a network topology and community structure that reveals spatial versus institutional collaboration bias; and 2. a persistent relationship between proximity and collaboration, well fit with an exponential decay model. This relationship is consistent for both papers and patents, and present also in exclusively cross-disciplinary work. These insights contribute an architectural dimension to the field of scientometrics, and take a first step toward empirical space-planning policy that supports collaboration within institutions.
An exploration of collaborative scientific production at MIT through spatial organization and institutional affiliation

PubMed Central

Santi, Paolo; Murray, Fiona; Ratti, Carlo

2017-01-01

Academic research is increasingly cross-disciplinary and collaborative, between and within institutions. In this context, what is the role and relevance of an individual’s spatial position on a campus? We examine the collaboration patterns of faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, through their academic output (papers and patents), and their organizational structures (institutional affiliation and spatial configuration) over a 10-year time span. An initial comparison of output types reveals: 1. diverging trends in the composition of collaborative teams over time (size, faculty versus non-faculty, etc.); and 2. substantively different patterns of cross-building and cross-disciplinary collaboration. We then construct a multi-layered network of authors, and find two significant features of collaboration on campus: 1. a network topology and community structure that reveals spatial versus institutional collaboration bias; and 2. a persistent relationship between proximity and collaboration, well fit with an exponential decay model. This relationship is consistent for both papers and patents, and present also in exclusively cross-disciplinary work. These insights contribute an architectural dimension to the field of scientometrics, and take a first step toward empirical space-planning policy that supports collaboration within institutions. PMID:28640829
Increase in relative skeletal muscle mass over time and its inverse association with metabolic syndrome development: a 7-year retrospective cohort study.

PubMed

Kim, Gyuri; Lee, Seung-Eun; Jun, Ji Eun; Lee, You-Bin; Ahn, Jiyeon; Bae, Ji Cheol; Jin, Sang-Man; Hur, Kyu Yeon; Jee, Jae Hwan; Lee, Moon-Kyu; Kim, Jae Hyeon

2018-02-05

Skeletal muscle mass was negatively associated with metabolic syndrome prevalence in previous cross-sectional studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of baseline skeletal muscle mass and changes in skeletal muscle mass over time on the development of metabolic syndrome in a large population-based 7-year cohort study. A total of 14,830 and 11,639 individuals who underwent health examinations at the Health Promotion Center at Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea were included in the analyses of baseline skeletal muscle mass and those changes from baseline over 1 year, respectively. Skeletal muscle mass was estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis and was presented as a skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), a body weight-adjusted appendicular skeletal muscle mass value. Using Cox regression models, hazard ratio for developing metabolic syndrome associated with SMI values at baseline or changes of SMI over a year was analyzed. During 7 years of follow-up, 20.1% of subjects developed metabolic syndrome. Compared to the lowest sex-specific SMI tertile at baseline, the highest sex-specific SMI tertile showed a significant inverse association with metabolic syndrome risk (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] = 0.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.54-0.68). Furthermore, compared with SMI changes < 0% over a year, multivariate-AHRs for metabolic syndrome development were 0.87 (95% CI 0.78-0.97) for 0-1% changes and 0.67 (0.56-0.79) for > 1% changes in SMI over 1 year after additionally adjusting for baseline SMI and glycometabolic parameters. An increase in relative skeletal muscle mass over time has a potential preventive effect on developing metabolic syndrome, independently of baseline skeletal muscle mass and glycometabolic parameters.
Microseismic reverse time migration with a multi-cross-correlation staining algorithm for fracture imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Congcong; Jia, Xiaofeng; Liu, Shishuo; Zhang, Jie

2018-02-01

Accurate characterization of hydraulic fracturing zones is currently becoming increasingly important in production optimization, since hydraulic fracturing may increase the porosity and permeability of the reservoir significantly. Recently, the feasibility of the reverse time migration (RTM) method has been studied for the application in imaging fractures during borehole microseismic monitoring. However, strong low-frequency migration noise, poorly illuminated areas, and the low signal to noise ratio (SNR) data can degrade the imaging results. To improve the quality of the images, we propose a multi-cross-correlation staining algorithm to incorporate into the microseismic reverse time migration for imaging fractures using scattered data. Under the modified RTM method, our results are revealed in two images: one is the improved RTM image using the multi-cross-correlation condition, and the other is an image of the target region using the generalized staining algorithm. The numerical examples show that, compared with the conventional RTM, our method can significantly improve the spatial resolution of images, especially for the image of target region.
Multiscale synchrony behaviors of paired financial time series by 3D multi-continuum percolation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, M.; Wang, J.; Wang, B. T.

2018-02-01

Multiscale synchrony behaviors and nonlinear dynamics of paired financial time series are investigated, in an attempt to study the cross correlation relationships between two stock markets. A random stock price model is developed by a new system called three-dimensional (3D) multi-continuum percolation system, which is utilized to imitate the formation mechanism of price dynamics and explain the nonlinear behaviors found in financial time series. We assume that the price fluctuations are caused by the spread of investment information. The cluster of 3D multi-continuum percolation represents the cluster of investors who share the same investment attitude. In this paper, we focus on the paired return series, the paired volatility series, and the paired intrinsic mode functions which are decomposed by empirical mode decomposition. A new cross recurrence quantification analysis is put forward, combining with multiscale cross-sample entropy, to investigate the multiscale synchrony of these paired series from the proposed model. The corresponding research is also carried out for two China stock markets as comparison.
SUMMIT (Serially Unified Multicenter Multiple Sclerosis Investigation): creating a repository of deeply phenotyped contemporary multiple sclerosis cohorts.

PubMed

Bove, Riley; Chitnis, Tanuja; Cree, Bruce Ac; Tintoré, Mar; Naegelin, Yvonne; Uitdehaag, Bernard Mj; Kappos, Ludwig; Khoury, Samia J; Montalban, Xavier; Hauser, Stephen L; Weiner, Howard L

2017-08-01

There is a pressing need for robust longitudinal cohort studies in the modern treatment era of multiple sclerosis. Build a multiple sclerosis (MS) cohort repository to capture the variability of disability accumulation, as well as provide the depth of characterization (clinical, radiologic, genetic, biospecimens) required to adequately model and ultimately predict a patient's course. Serially Unified Multicenter Multiple Sclerosis Investigation (SUMMIT) is an international multi-center, prospectively enrolled cohort with over a decade of comprehensive follow-up on more than 1000 patients from two large North American academic MS Centers (Brigham and Women's Hospital (Comprehensive Longitudinal Investigation of Multiple Sclerosis at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (CLIMB; BWH)) and University of California, San Francisco (Expression/genomics, Proteomics, Imaging, and Clinical (EPIC))). It is bringing online more than 2500 patients from additional international MS Centers (Basel (Universitätsspital Basel (UHB)), VU University Medical Center MS Center Amsterdam (MSCA), Multiple Sclerosis Center of Catalonia-Vall d'Hebron Hospital (Barcelona clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) cohort), and American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC-Multiple Sclerosis Interdisciplinary Research (AMIR)). We provide evidence for harmonization of two of the initial cohorts in terms of the characterization of demographics, disease, and treatment-related variables; demonstrate several proof-of-principle analyses examining genetic and radiologic predictors of disease progression; and discuss the steps involved in expanding SUMMIT into a repository accessible to the broader scientific community.
Measurement of prompt $$\\psi$$(2S) production cross sections in proton-lead and proton-proton collisions at $$\\sqrt{s_{_\\mathrm{NN}}}=$$ 5.02 TeV

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

Sirunyan, Albert M; et al.

2018-05-06

Measurements of promptmore » $$\\psi$$(2S) meson production cross sections in proton-lead (pPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $$\\sqrt{s_{_\\mathrm{NN}}}=$$ 5.02 TeV are reported. The results are based on pPb and pp data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 34.6 nb$$^{-1}$$ and 28.0 pb$$^{-1}$$, respectively. The nuclear modification factor $$R_\\mathrm{pPb}$$ is measured for prompt $$\\psi$$(2S) in the transverse momentum range 4 $<$ p$$_\\mathrm{T}$$ $<$ 30 GeV$/c$ and the center-of-mass rapidity range $-$2.4 $$< y_\\mathrm{cm} <$$ 1.93. The results on $$\\psi$$(2S) $$R_\\mathrm{pPb}$$ are compared to the corresponding modification factor for prompt J$$/\\psi$$ mesons and are found to be more suppressed than the J$$/\\psi$$ states over the entire kinematic range studied.« less
Site Construction - MSC

NASA Image and Video Library

1963-01-01

S63-01074 (1963) --- A black and white aerial view of Site 1, the Manned Spacecraft Center, in 1963 during early construction. The view faces the southwest. Highway 528 is at the top of the picture. Second Street runs basically north and south on the right side of the image, to the right or west and running parallel to that avenue is a drainage ditch. Winding through the site a Houston Lighting and Power Co. canal crosses over the drainage ditch near the top of the frame. Twin bridges over the canal are pictured at upper left which were constructed to allow traffic to enter and leave through MSC's secondary gateway. In frame center, construction appears very far along on the Central Data Office.
Workplace violence against nurses: A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Zhang, Liuyi; Wang, Anni; Xie, Xia; Zhou, Yanhong; Li, Jing; Yang, Lijun; Zhang, Jingping

2017-07-01

Workplace violence is a serious problem for clinical nurses, as it leads to a series of adverse consequences. However, little information is available on the prevalence and influencing factors of workplace violence in China. To determine the prevalence of workplace violence against Chinese nurses, and its influencing factors. A multi-center, cross-sectional study. The seven geographical regions (i.e., northeast, north, central, east, south, northwest, and southwest) of China. Four thousand one hundred and twenty-five nurses. We randomly selected 28 hospitals, located in 14 cities over 13 provinces across the seven geographical regions. We distributed 4125 questionnaires between May 4 and September 23, 2014. The questionnaire included demographic information, the Workplace Violent Incident Questionnaire, the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professionals, and the Practice Environment Scale of Nursing Work Index. Workplace violence was assessed in terms of physical violence, non-physical violence, sexual harassment, and organized healthcare disturbances. We then performed descriptive analyses and logistic regressions on the collected data. The response rate was 92.97% (n=3835). Additionally, we obtained valid questionnaires from 3004 individuals. Of these, 25.77% reported experiencing physical violence, 63.65% non-physical violence, 2.76% sexual harassment, and 11.72% organized healthcare disturbances. A logistic regression analysis revealed that nurses who have less experience, work a rotating roster, work in emergency rooms and pediatrics departments, have low empathy levels, and who work in poor nursing environments have greater odds of experiencing violence. Experiences of workplace violence are prevalent among Chinese nurses, and several complex factors are associated with a greater risk of such violence, including nurses' personal characteristics, work settings, and work environments. Our results might help nursing managers understand their employees' work status. We recommend that nursing leaders provide and enhance education and support for high-risk groups to help protect Chinese nurses from workplace violence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NEUTRONIC REACTOR

DOEpatents

Wigner, E.P.

1958-04-22

A nuclear reactor for isotope production is described. This reactor is designed to provide a maximum thermal neutron flux in a region adjacent to the periphery of the reactor rather than in the center of the reactor. The core of the reactor is generally centrally located with respect tn a surrounding first reflector, constructed of beryllium. The beryllium reflector is surrounded by a second reflector, constructed of graphite, which, in tune, is surrounded by a conventional thermal shield. Water is circulated through the core and the reflector and functions both as a moderator and a coolant. In order to produce a greatsr maximum thermal neutron flux adjacent to the periphery of the reactor rather than in the core, the reactor is designed so tbat the ratio of neutron scattering cross section to neutron absorption cross section averaged over all of the materials in the reflector is approximately twice the ratio of neutron scattering cross section to neutron absorption cross section averaged over all of the material of the core of the reactor.
Multi-layer service function chaining scheduling based on auxiliary graph in IP over optical network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yixuan; Li, Hui; Liu, Yuze; Ji, Yuefeng

2017-10-01

Software Defined Optical Network (SDON) can be considered as extension of Software Defined Network (SDN) in optical networks. SDON offers a unified control plane and makes optical network an intelligent transport network with dynamic flexibility and service adaptability. For this reason, a comprehensive optical transmission service, able to achieve service differentiation all the way down to the optical transport layer, can be provided to service function chaining (SFC). IP over optical network, as a promising networking architecture to interconnect data centers, is the most widely used scenarios of SFC. In this paper, we offer a flexible and dynamic resource allocation method for diverse SFC service requests in the IP over optical network. To do so, we firstly propose the concept of optical service function (OSF) and a multi-layer SFC model. OSF represents the comprehensive optical transmission service (e.g., multicast, low latency, quality of service, etc.), which can be achieved in multi-layer SFC model. OSF can also be considered as a special SF. Secondly, we design a resource allocation algorithm, which we call OSF-oriented optical service scheduling algorithm. It is able to address multi-layer SFC optical service scheduling and provide comprehensive optical transmission service, while meeting multiple optical transmission requirements (e.g., bandwidth, latency, availability). Moreover, the algorithm exploits the concept of Auxiliary Graph. Finally, we compare our algorithm with the Baseline algorithm in simulation. And simulation results show that our algorithm achieves superior performance than Baseline algorithm in low traffic load condition.
Multi-Core Processor Memory Contention Benchmark Analysis Case Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Tyler; McGalliard, James

2009-01-01

Multi-core processors dominate current mainframe, server, and high performance computing (HPC) systems. This paper provides synthetic kernel and natural benchmark results from an HPC system at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center that illustrate the performance impacts of multi-core (dual- and quad-core) vs. single core processor systems. Analysis of processor design, application source code, and synthetic and natural test results all indicate that multi-core processors can suffer from significant memory subsystem contention compared to similar single-core processors.
Evaluation of Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM with All Weather Gauge Observations over CONUS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, S.; Qi, Y.; Hu, B.; Hu, J.; Hong, Y.

2015-12-01

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is composed of an international network of satellites that provide the next-generation global observations of rain and snow. Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) is the state-of-art precipitation products with high spatio-temporal resolution of 0.1°/30min. IMERG unifies precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational satellites with the core sensors dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR) and microwave imager (GMI) on board a "Core" satellite. Additionally, IMERG blends the advantages of currently most popular satellite-based quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE) algorithms, i.e. TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA), Climate Prediction Center morphing technique (CMORPH), Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks-Cloud Classification System (PERSIANN-CCS). The real-time and post real-time IMERG products are now available online at https://stormpps.gsfc.nasa.gov/storm. In this study, the final run post real-time IMERG is evaluated with all-weather manual gauge observations over CONUS from June 2014 through May 2015. Relative Bias (RB), Root-Mean-Squared Error (RMSE), Correlation Coefficient (CC), Probability Of Detection (POD), False Alarm Ratio (FAR), and Critical Success Index (CSI) are used to quantify the performance of IMERG. The performance of IMERG in estimating snowfall precipitation is highlighted in the study. This timely evaluation with all-weather gauge observations is expected to offer insights into performance of IMERG and thus provide useful feedback to the algorithm developers as well as the GPM data users.
Advanced Air Transportation Technologies Project, Final Document Collection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mogford, Richard H.; Wold, Sheryl (Editor)

2008-01-01

This CD ROM contains a compilation of the final documents of the Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AAIT) project, which was an eight-year (1996 to 2004), $400M project managed by the Airspace Systems Program office, which was part of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. AAIT focused on developing advanced automation tools and air traffic management concepts that would help improve the efficiency of the National Airspace System, while maintaining or enhancing safety. The documents contained in the CD are final reports on AAIT tasks that serve to document the project's accomplishments over its eight-year term. Documents include information on: Advanced Air Transportation Technologies, Autonomous Operations Planner, Collaborative Arrival Planner, Distributed Air/Ground Traffic Management Concept Elements 5, 6, & 11, Direct-To, Direct-To Technology Transfer, Expedite Departure Path, En Route Data Exchange, Final Approach Spacing Tool - (Active and Passive), Multi-Center Traffic Management Advisor, Multi Center Traffic Management Advisor Technology Transfer, Surface Movement Advisor, Surface Management System, Surface Management System Technology Transfer and Traffic Flow Management Research & Development.
Gravity Waves Ripple over Marine Stratocumulus Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

In this natural-color image from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), a fingerprint-like gravity wave feature occurs over a deck of marine stratocumulus clouds. Similar to the ripples that occur when a pebble is thrown into a still pond, such 'gravity waves' sometimes appear when the relatively stable and stratified air masses associated with stratocumulus cloud layers are disturbed by a vertical trigger from the underlying terrain, or by a thunderstorm updraft or some other vertical wind shear. The stratocumulus cellular clouds that underlie the wave feature are associated with sinking air that is strongly cooled at the level of the cloud-tops -- such clouds are common over mid-latitude oceans when the air is unperturbed by cyclonic or frontal activity. This image is centered over the Indian Ocean (at about 38.9o South, 80.6o East), and was acquired on October 29, 2003.
The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82o north and 82o south latitude. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 20545. The image covers an area of 245 kilometers x 378 kilometers, and uses data from blocks 121 to 122 within World Reference System-2 path 134.
MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.

Do Children's Advocacy Centers Improve Families' Experiences of Child Sexual Abuse Investigations?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Lisa M.; Cross, Theodore P.; Walsh, Wendy A.; Simone, Monique

2007-01-01

Objective: The Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) model of child abuse investigation is designed to be more child and family-friendly than traditional methods, but there have been no rigorous studies of their effect on children's and caregivers' experience. Data collected as part of the Multi-Site Evaluation of Children's Advocacy Centers were used…
Analysis of multi-fragmentation reactions induced by relativistic heavy ions using the statistical multi-fragmentation model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogawa, T.; Sato, T.; Hashimoto, S.; Niita, K.

2013-09-01

The fragmentation cross-sections of relativistic energy nucleus-nucleus collisions were analyzed using the statistical multi-fragmentation model (SMM) incorporated with the Monte-Carlo radiation transport simulation code particle and heavy ion transport code system (PHITS). Comparison with the literature data showed that PHITS-SMM reproduces fragmentation cross-sections of heavy nuclei at relativistic energies better than the original PHITS by up to two orders of magnitude. It was also found that SMM does not degrade the neutron production cross-sections in heavy ion collisions or the fragmentation cross-sections of light nuclei, for which SMM has not been benchmarked. Therefore, SMM is a robust model that can supplement conventional nucleus-nucleus reaction models, enabling more accurate prediction of fragmentation cross-sections.
Metropolitan transportation management center : a case study : Milwaukee MONITOR : addressing congestion while improving safety and air quality

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-10-01

The following case study provides a snapshot of Milwaukee's MONITOR transportation management center. It follows the outline provided in the companion document, Metropolitan Transportation Management Center Concepts of Operation - A Cross Cutting Stu...
Metropolitan Transportation Management Center : a case study : Houston TranStar maximizing safety and mobility for the public

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-10-01

The following case study provides a snapshot of Houston's TranStar transportation management center. It follows the outline provided in the companion document, Metropolitan Transportation Management Center Concepts of Operation - A Cross Cutting Stud...
Metropolitan transportation management center : a case study : Arizona Trailmaster : providing a safe and efficient travel environment for users

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-10-01

The following case study provides a snapshot of Arizona's TrailMaster statewide transportation management center. It follows the outline provided in the companion document, Metropolitan Transportation Management Center Concepts of Operation - A Cross...
Cross sections for the γp→K*+Λ and γp→K*+Σ0 reactions measured at CLAS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, W.; Hicks, K.; Keller, D.; Kim, S. H.; Kim, H. C.; Adhikari, K. P.; Aghasyan, M.; Amaryan, M. J.; Anderson, M. D.; Anefalos Pereira, S.; Baltzell, N. A.; Battaglieri, M.; Bedlinskiy, I.; Biselli, A. S.; Bono, J.; Boiarinov, S.; Briscoe, W. J.; Burkert, V. D.; Carman, D. S.; Celentano, A.; Chandavar, S.; Charles, G.; Cole, P. L.; Collins, P.; Contalbrigo, M.; Cortes, O.; Crede, V.; D'Angelo, A.; Dashyan, N.; De Vita, R.; De Sanctis, E.; Deur, A.; Djalali, C.; Doughty, D.; Dupre, R.; Alaoui, A. El; Fassi, L. El; Eugenio, P.; Fedotov, G.; Fegan, S.; Fleming, J. A.; Gabrielyan, M. Y.; Gevorgyan, N.; Gilfoyle, G. P.; Giovanetti, K. L.; Girod, F. X.; Gohn, W.; Golovatch, E.; Gothe, R. W.; Griffioen, K. A.; Guidal, M.; Guo, L.; Hafidi, K.; Hakobyan, H.; Hanretty, C.; Harrison, N.; Heddle, D.; Ho, D.; Holtrop, M.; Hyde, C. E.; Ilieva, Y.; Ireland, D. G.; Ishkhanov, B. S.; Isupov, E. L.; Jo, H. S.; Joo, K.; Khandaker, M.; Khetarpal, P.; Kim, A.; Kim, W.; Klein, F. J.; Koirala, S.; Kubarovsky, A.; Kubarovsky, V.; Kuleshov, S. V.; Livingston, K.; Lu, H. Y.; MacGregor, I. J. D.; Mao, Y.; Markov, N.; Martinez, D.; Mayer, M.; McKinnon, B.; Meyer, C. A.; Mokeev, V.; Moutarde, H.; Munevar, E.; Munoz Camacho, C.; Nadel-Turonski, P.; Nepali, C. S.; Niccolai, S.; Niculescu, G.; Niculescu, I.; Osipenko, M.; Ostrovidov, A. I.; Pappalardo, L. L.; Paremuzyan, R.; Park, K.; Park, S.; Pasyuk, E.; Phelps, E.; Phillips, J. J.; Pisano, S.; Pogorelko, O.; Pozdniakov, S.; Price, J. W.; Procureur, S.; Prok, Y.; Protopopescu, D.; Puckett, A. J. R.; Raue, B. A.; Ripani, M.; Rimal, D.; Ritchie, B. G.; Rosner, G.; Rossi, P.; Sabatié, F.; Saini, M. S.; Salgado, C.; Schott, D.; Schumacher, R. A.; Seraydaryan, H.; Sharabian, Y. G.; Smith, G. D.; Sober, D. I.; Sokhan, D.; Stepanyan, S. S.; Stepanyan, S.; Stoler, P.; Strakovsky, I. I.; Strauch, S.; Taylor, C. E.; Tian, Ye; Tkachenko, S.; Torayev, B.; Ungaro, M.; Vernarsky, B.; Vlassov, A. V.; Voskanyan, H.; Voutier, E.; Walford, N. K.; Watts, D. P.; Weinstein, L. B.; Weygand, D. P.; Wood, M. H.; Zachariou, N.; Zana, L.; Zhang, J.; Zhao, Z. W.; Zonta, I.

2013-06-01

The first high-statistics cross sections for the reactions γp→K*+Λ and γp→K*+Σ0 were measured using the CLAS detector at photon energies between threshold and 3.9 GeV at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Differential cross sections are presented over the full range of the center-of-mass angles, and then fitted to Legendre polynomials to extract the total cross section. Results for the K*+Λ final state are compared with two different calculations in an isobar and a Regge model, respectively. Theoretical calculations significantly underestimate the K*+Λ total cross sections between 2.1 and 2.6 GeV, but are in better agreement with present data at higher photon energies.
Acute poisonings treated in hospitals in Oslo: a one-year prospective study (I): pattern of poisoning.

PubMed

Hovda, K E; Bjornaas, M A; Skog, K; Opdahl, A; Drottning, P; Ekeberg, O; Jacobsen, D

2008-01-01

Prospective design is mandatory to study pattern of poisoning and suicidal intention of patients. Prospective cross-sectional multi-center study of all patients contacting health care services because of acute poisoning during one year in Oslo, irrespective of intention. Data on the adult hospitalized patients (> or = 16 years) are presented here. Of a total of 3,775 such adult contacts (3,025 episodes), there were 947 (31 %) hospitalizations; annual incidence 1.9 (per 1,000) in males and 2.1 in females. Median age was 36 years (range 16-89); 54% females. Benzodiazepines (18%), ethanol (17%), paracetamol (12%), opioids (7%), and gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) (7%) were most frequently taken. Patients stated suicidal intention in 29% of the admissions; physicians in 10%. Benzodiazepines and ethanol were the most common agents, but newer illicit drugs were frequent, especially GHB. Males often took ethanol and drugs of abuse; females often used prescription drugs with suicidal intention.
EC94-42513-3

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-03-15

The three thrust-vectoring aircraft at Edwards, California, each capable of flying at extreme angles of attack, cruise over the California desert in formation during flight in March 1994. They are, from left, NASA's F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV), flown by the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center; the X-31, flown by the X-31 International Test Organization (ITO) at Dryden; and the Air Force F-16 Multi-Axis Thrust Vectoring (MATV) aircraft.
A multi-modal training programme to improve physical activity, physical fitness and perceived physical ability in obese children.

PubMed

Morano, Milena; Colella, Dario; Rutigliano, Irene; Fiore, Pietro; Pettoello-Mantovani, Massimo; Campanozzi, Angelo

2014-01-01

Actual and perceived physical abilities are important correlates of physical activity (PA) and fitness, but little research has explored these relationships over time in obese children. This study was designed: (a) to assess the feasibility of a multi-modal training programme promoting changes in PA, fundamental motor skills and real and perceived physical abilities of obese children; and (b) to explore cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between real and perceived physical competence in boys and girls. Forty-one participants (9.2 ± 1.2 years) were assessed before and after an 8-month intervention with respect to body composition, physical fitness, self-reported PA and perceived physical ability. After treatment, obese children reported improvements in the body mass index, PA levels, gross motor performance and actual and perceived physical abilities. Real and perceived physical competence was correlated in boys, but not in girls. Results indicate that a multi-modal programme focused on actual and perceived physical competence as associated with the gradual increase in the volume of activity might be an effective strategy to improve adherence of the participants and to increase the lifelong exercise skills of obese children.
A Multi-Center Controlled Study of the Acute and Chronic Effects of Cooling Therapy for MS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luna, Bernadette; Schwid, Steven W.; Cutter, Gary; Murray, Ronald; Bowen, James; Pellegrino, Richard; Guisado, Raul; Webbon, Bruce W.; DeVincenzi, Donald (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

To determine the acute and chronic effects of cooling therapy on patients with MS using objective functional performance measures and self-assessed measures of fatigue. Cooling demyelinated nerves can reduce conduction block, potentially improving symptoms of MS. Significant acute and chronic effects of cooling have not been demonstrated in a multi-center, controlled, blinded study using objective measures of neurologic function. Patients (N=84) with definite MS, mild to moderate disability (EDSS less than 6.0), and self-reported heat sensitivity were enrolled at 5 study sites. Acute effects of cooling were assessed by randomly assigning subjects to high-dose or low-dose cooling for one hour using an active cooling vest and cap (Life Enhancement Technologies, Santa Clara, CA). Settings were individualized to maintain the cooling garments at 55 F for the high-dose treatment and 70 F for the low-dose treatment. Both patients and examining investigators were blinded to treatment assignments. The MSFC and visual acuity/contrast sensitivity were assessed before and 30 minutes after treatment. The following week, subjects had an identical visit with the alternate cooling treatment. Chronic effects of cooling were assessed by randomly assigning the same subjects to unblinded daily home cooling or observation for 4 weeks. All subjects completed the Rochester Fatigue Diary (RFD) twice weekly and subjective measures of strength, cognition, and energy level daily. At the end of the period, subjects completed the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) and underwent another high-dose cooling session with assessment of the MSFC and vision. After a one-week washout period, subjects crossed over to the alternate 4-week treatment. Oral temperatures were reduced with both acute treatments (0.8 +/- .06 F, high and 0.5 +/- .06 F, low). While mean MSFC did not change significantly during individual cooling sessions, post hoc analysis pooling the 3 high-dose cooling sessions revealed an improvement in MSFC scores (acute phase 0.064 +/- 0.020, p = 0.0013; chronic phase 0.044 +/- 0.021, p = 0.0368) from before to after cooling. The change in MSFC scores during the acute cooling sessions was not related to the extent of change in oral temperatures. Both the RFD score and the MFIS indicate a significantly lower fatigue level during the cooling month compared to observation (RFD, 2.53 +/- 0.83,p = 0.0033; MFIS 7.63 +/- 1.56, p = 0.0001).
Multi-Instrument Tools and Services to Access NASA Earth Science Data from the GSFC Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kempler, Steve; Leptoukh, Greg; Lynnes, Chris

2010-01-01

The presentation purpose is to describe multi-instrument tools and services that facilitate access and usability of NASA Earth science data at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). NASA's Earth observing system includes 14 satellites. Topics include EOSDIS facilities and system architecture, and overview of GSFC Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) mission, Mirador data search, Giovanni, multi-instrument data exploration, Google Earth[TM], data merging, and applications.
Controlled, cross-sectional, multi-center study of physical capacity and associated factors in women with fibromyalgia.

PubMed

Larsson, Anette; Palstam, Annie; Bjersing, Jan; Löfgren, Monika; Ernberg, Malin; Kosek, Eva; Gerdle, Björn; Mannerkorpi, Kaisa

2018-04-19

Health and physical capacity are commonly associated with disease, age, and socioeconomic factors. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the degree to which physical capacity, defined as muscle strength and walking ability, is decreased in women with fibromyalgia (FM), as compared to healthy women, who are matched for age and level of education. The secondary aim was to investigate whether muscle strength and walking ability are associated with age, symptom duration, activity limitations and, Body Mass Index (BMI) in women with FM and control subjects. This controlled, cross-sectional, multi-center study comprised 118 women with FM and 93 age- and education-level-matched healthy women. The outcome measures were isometric knee-extension force, isometric elbow-flexion force, isometric hand-grip force, and walking ability. Differences between the groups were calculated, and for the women with FM analyses of correlations between the measures of physical capacity and variables were performed. The women with FM showed 20% (p < 0.001) lower isometric knee-extension force, 36% (p < 0.001) lower isometric elbow-flexion force, 34% (p < 0.001) lower isometric hand-grip force, and 16% lower walking ability (p < 0.001), as compared to the healthy controls. All measures of muscle strength in women with FM showed significant weak to moderate relationship to symptom duration (r s = - 0.23-0.32) and walking ability (r s = 0.25-0.36). Isometric knee-extension force correlated with activity limitations, as measured using the SF-36 Physical function subscale (r s= 0.23, p = 0.011). Physical capacity was considerably decreased in the women with FM, as compared to the age- and education-level-matched control group. All measures of physical capacity showed a significant association with symptom duration. Knee-extension force and walking ability were significantly associated with activity limitations, age, and BMI. It seems important to address this problem and to target interventions to prevent decline in muscle strength. Assessments of muscle strength and walking ability are easy to administer and should be routinely carried out in the clinical setting for women with FM. ClinicalTrials.gov identification number: NCT01226784 , Oct 21, 2010.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence look over mission equipment in the Space Station Processing Facility. Crew members are at KSC for equipment familiarization. STS-114 is classified as Logistics Flight 1 to the International Space Station, delivering new supplies and replacing one of the orbital outpost’s Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). STS-114 will also carry a Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the External Stowage Platform-2. The crew is slated to conduct at least three spacewalks: They will demonstrate repair techniques of the Shuttle’s Thermal Protection System, replace the failed CMG with one delivered by the Shuttle, and install the External Stowage Platform.

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-01-27

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence look over mission equipment in the Space Station Processing Facility. Crew members are at KSC for equipment familiarization. STS-114 is classified as Logistics Flight 1 to the International Space Station, delivering new supplies and replacing one of the orbital outpost’s Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). STS-114 will also carry a Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the External Stowage Platform-2. The crew is slated to conduct at least three spacewalks: They will demonstrate repair techniques of the Shuttle’s Thermal Protection System, replace the failed CMG with one delivered by the Shuttle, and install the External Stowage Platform.
Multi-Sensor Observations of Earthquake Related Atmospheric Signals over Major Geohazard Validation Sites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ouzounov, D.; Pulinets, S.; Davindenko, D.; Hattori, K.; Kafatos, M.; Taylor, P.

2012-01-01

We are conducting a scientific validation study involving multi-sensor observations in our investigation of phenomena preceding major earthquakes. Our approach is based on a systematic analysis of several atmospheric and environmental parameters, which we found, are associated with the earthquakes, namely: thermal infrared radiation, outgoing long-wavelength radiation, ionospheric electron density, and atmospheric temperature and humidity. For first time we applied this approach to selected GEOSS sites prone to earthquakes or volcanoes. This provides a new opportunity to cross validate our results with the dense networks of in-situ and space measurements. We investigated two different seismic aspects, first the sites with recent large earthquakes, viz.- Tohoku-oki (M9, 2011, Japan) and Emilia region (M5.9, 2012,N. Italy). Our retrospective analysis of satellite data has shown the presence of anomalies in the atmosphere. Second, we did a retrospective analysis to check the re-occurrence of similar anomalous behavior in atmosphere/ionosphere over three regions with distinct geological settings and high seismicity: Taiwan, Japan and Kamchatka, which include 40 major earthquakes (M>5.9) for the period of 2005-2009. We found anomalous behavior before all of these events with no false negatives; false positives were less then 10%. Our initial results suggest that multi-instrument space-borne and ground observations show a systematic appearance of atmospheric anomalies near the epicentral area that could be explained by a coupling between the observed physical parameters and earthquake preparation processes.
SU-C-BRA-04: Automated Segmentation of Head-And-Neck CT Images for Radiotherapy Treatment Planning Via Multi-Atlas Machine Learning (MAML)

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

Ren, X; Gao, H; Sharp, G

Purpose: Accurate image segmentation is a crucial step during image guided radiation therapy. This work proposes multi-atlas machine learning (MAML) algorithm for automated segmentation of head-and-neck CT images. Methods: As the first step, the algorithm utilizes normalized mutual information as similarity metric, affine registration combined with multiresolution B-Spline registration, and then fuses together using the label fusion strategy via Plastimatch. As the second step, the following feature selection strategy is proposed to extract five feature components from reference or atlas images: intensity (I), distance map (D), box (B), center of gravity (C) and stable point (S). The box feature Bmore » is novel. It describes a relative position from each point to minimum inscribed rectangle of ROI. The center-of-gravity feature C is the 3D Euclidean distance from a sample point to the ROI center of gravity, and then S is the distance of the sample point to the landmarks. Then, we adopt random forest (RF) in Scikit-learn, a Python module integrating a wide range of state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms as classifier. Different feature and atlas strategies are used for different ROIs for improved performance, such as multi-atlas strategy with reference box for brainstem, and single-atlas strategy with reference landmark for optic chiasm. Results: The algorithm was validated on a set of 33 CT images with manual contours using a leave-one-out cross-validation strategy. Dice similarity coefficients between manual contours and automated contours were calculated: the proposed MAML method had an improvement from 0.79 to 0.83 for brainstem and 0.11 to 0.52 for optic chiasm with respect to multi-atlas segmentation method (MA). Conclusion: A MAML method has been proposed for automated segmentation of head-and-neck CT images with improved performance. It provides the comparable result in brainstem and the improved result in optic chiasm compared with MA. Xuhua Ren and Hao Gao were partially supported by the NSFC (#11405105), the 973 Program (#2015CB856000), and the Shanghai Pujiang Talent Program (#14PJ1404500).« less
Gaining the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Perspective in Chronic Kidney Disease: a Midwest Pediatric Nephrology Consortium study

PubMed Central

Selewski, David T.; Massengill, Susan F.; Troost, Jonathan P.; Wickman, Larysa; Messer, Kassandra L.; Herreshoff, Emily; Bowers, Corinna; Ferris, Maria E.; Mahan, John D.; Greenbaum, Larry A.; MacHardy, Jackie; Kapur, Gaurav; Chand, Deepa H.; Goebel, Jens; Barletta, Gina Marie; Geary, Denis; Kershaw, David B.; Pan, Cynthia G.; Gbadegesin, Rasheed; Hidalgo, Guillermo; Lane, Jerome C.; Leiser, Jeffrey D.; Song, Peter X.; Thissen, David; Liu, Yang; Gross, Heather E.; DeWalt, Darren A.; Gipson, Debbie S.

2014-01-01

Background and Objectives Chronic kidney disease is a persistent chronic health condition commonly seen in pediatric nephrology programs. Our study aims to evaluate the sensitivity of the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pediatric instrument to indicators of disease severity and activity in pediatric chronic kidney disease. Methods This cross sectional study included 233 children 8–17 years old with chronic kidney disease from 16 participating institutions in North America. Disease activity indicators, including hospitalization in the previous 6 months, edema, and number of medications consumed daily, as well as disease severity indicators of kidney function and coexisting medical conditions were captured. PROMIS domains, including depression, anxiety, social-peer relationships, pain interference, fatigue, mobility, and upper extremity function, were administered via web-based questionnaires. Absolute effect sizes (AES) were generated to demonstrate the impact of disease on domain scores. Four children were excluded because of missing GFR estimations. Results 221 of the 229 children included in the final analysis completed the entire PROMIS questionnaire. Unadjusted PROMIS domains were responsive to chronic kidney disease activity indicators and number of coexisting conditions. PROMIS domain scores were worse in the presence of recent hospitalizations (depression AES 0.33, anxiety AES 0.42, pain interference AES 0.46, fatigue AES 0.50, mobility AES 0.49), edema (depression AES 0.50, anxiety AES 0.60, pain interference AES 0.77, mobility AES 0.54) and coexisting medical conditions (social peer-relationships AES 0.66, fatigue AES 0.83, mobility AES 0.60, upper extremity function AES 0.48). Conclusions The PROMIS pediatric domains of depression, anxiety, social-peer relationships, pain interference, and mobility were sensitive to the clinical status of children with chronic kidney disease in this multi-center cross sectional study. We demonstrated that a number of important clinical characteristics including recent history of hospitalization and edema affected patient perceptions of depression, anxiety, pain interference, fatigue and mobility. The PROMIS instruments provide a potentially valuable tool to study the impact of chronic kidney disease. Additional studies will be required to assess responsiveness in PROMIS score with changes in disease status over time. PMID:24908324
Pneumococcal Vaccination in Low-Income Latinos: An Unexpected Trend in Oregon Community Health Centers.

PubMed

Heintzman, John; Bailey, Steffani R; Cowburn, Stuart; Dexter, Eve; Carroll, Joseph; Marino, Miguel

2016-01-01

In cross-sectional studies, Latino and Spanish-speaking U.S. residents age 65 and over are less likely to receive pneumococcal vaccination than non-Hispanic Whites. We performed a time-to-event, cohort analysis, in 23 Oregon community health centers of low-income patients who turned 65 in the study period (2009-2013; n = 1,248). The outcome measure was receipt of PPSV-23 in the study period by race / ethnicity, preferred language, and insurance status. Insured Latino patients were more likely to receive PPSV-23 than insured non-Hispanic Whites (HR = 2.05, p < .001). Uninsured Latino seniors showed no difference from insured non-Hispanic Whites in PPSV-23 receipt (HR = 1.26, p = .381) unless they averaged fewer than one clinic visit yearly (HR = 1.80, p = .001). Low-income Latino seniors in Oregon community health centers were immunized against pneumococcus more frequently than insured non-Hispanic Whites, although this finding was mitigated in Latinos without insurance. This finding needs further research in order to reduce adult immunization disparities in the society at large.
Excited States of the divacancy in SiC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bockstedte, Michel; Garratt, Thomas; Ivady, Viktor; Gali, Adam

2014-03-01

The divacancy in SiC - a technologically mature material that fulfills the necessary requirements for hosting defect based quantum computing - is a good candidate for implementing a solid state quantum bit. Its ground state is isovalent to the NV center in diamond as demonstrated by density functional theory (DFT). Furthermore, coherent manipulation of divacancy spins in SiC has been demonstrated. The similarities to NV might indicate that the same inter system crossing (ICS) from the high to the low spin state is responsible for its spin-dependent fluorescent signal. By DFT and a DFT-based multi-reference hamiltonian we analyze the excited state spectrum of the defects. In contrast to the current picture of the spin dynamics of the NV center, we predict that a static Jahn-Teller effect in the first excited triplet states governs an ICS both with the excited and ground state of the divacancy.
Prospective multi-center study of an automatic online seizure detection system for epilepsy monitoring units.

PubMed

Fürbass, F; Ossenblok, P; Hartmann, M; Perko, H; Skupch, A M; Lindinger, G; Elezi, L; Pataraia, E; Colon, A J; Baumgartner, C; Kluge, T

2015-06-01

A method for automatic detection of epileptic seizures in long-term scalp-EEG recordings called EpiScan will be presented. EpiScan is used as alarm device to notify medical staff of epilepsy monitoring units (EMUs) in case of a seizure. A prospective multi-center study was performed in three EMUs including 205 patients. A comparison between EpiScan and the Persyst seizure detector on the prospective data will be presented. In addition, the detection results of EpiScan on retrospective EEG data of 310 patients and the public available CHB-MIT dataset will be shown. A detection sensitivity of 81% was reached for unequivocal electrographic seizures with false alarm rate of only 7 per day. No statistical significant differences in the detection sensitivities could be found between the centers. The comparison to the Persyst seizure detector showed a lower false alarm rate of EpiScan but the difference was not of statistical significance. The automatic seizure detection method EpiScan showed high sensitivity and low false alarm rate in a prospective multi-center study on a large number of patients. The application as seizure alarm device in EMUs becomes feasible and will raise the efficiency of video-EEG monitoring and the safety levels of patients. Copyright © 2014 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Prediction of accrual closure date in multi-center clinical trials with discrete-time Poisson process models.

PubMed

Tang, Gong; Kong, Yuan; Chang, Chung-Chou Ho; Kong, Lan; Costantino, Joseph P

2012-01-01

In a phase III multi-center cancer clinical trial or a large public health study, sample size is predetermined to achieve desired power, and study participants are enrolled from tens or hundreds of participating institutions. As the accrual is closing to the target size, the coordinating data center needs to project the accrual closure date on the basis of the observed accrual pattern and notify the participating sites several weeks in advance. In the past, projections were simply based on some crude assessment, and conservative measures were incorporated in order to achieve the target accrual size. This approach often resulted in excessive accrual size and subsequently unnecessary financial burden on the study sponsors. Here we proposed a discrete-time Poisson process-based method to estimate the accrual rate at time of projection and subsequently the trial closure date. To ensure that target size would be reached with high confidence, we also proposed a conservative method for the closure date projection. The proposed method was illustrated through the analysis of the accrual data of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project trial B-38. The results showed that application of the proposed method could help to save considerable amount of expenditure in patient management without compromising the accrual goal in multi-center clinical trials. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Flexible fabrication of multi-scale integrated 3D periodic nanostructures with phase mask

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Liang Leon

Top-down fabrication of artificial nanostructures, especially three-dimensional (3D) periodic nanostructures, that forms uniform and defect-free structures over large area with the advantages of high throughput and rapid processing and in a manner that can further monolithically integrate into multi-scale and multi-functional devices is long-desired but remains a considerable challenge. This thesis study advances diffractive optical element (DOE) based 3D laser holographic nanofabrication of 3D periodic nanostructures and develops new kinds of DOEs for advanced diffracted-beam control during the fabrication. Phase masks, as one particular kind of DOE, are a promising direction for simple and rapid fabrication of 3D periodic nanostructures by means of Fresnel diffraction interference lithography. When incident with a coherent beam of light, a suitable phase mask (e.g. with 2D nano-grating) can create multiple diffraction orders that are inherently phase-locked and overlap to form a 3D light interference pattern in the proximity of the DOE. This light pattern is typically recorded in photosensitive materials including photoresist to develop into 3D photonic crystal nanostructure templates. Two kinds of advanced phase masks were developed that enable delicate phase control of multiple diffraction beams. The first exploits femtosecond laser direct writing inside fused silica to assemble multiple (up to nine) orthogonally crossed (2D) grating layers, spaced on Talbot planes to overcome the inherent weak diffraction efficiency otherwise found in low-contrast volume gratings. A systematic offsetting of orthogonal grating layers to establish phase offsets over 0 to pi/2 range provided precise means for controlling the 3D photonic crystal structure symmetry between body centered tetragonal (BCT) and woodpile-like tetragonal (wTTR). The second phase mask consisted of two-layered nanogratings with small sub-wavelength grating periods and phase offset control. That was designed with isotropic properties attractive for generating a complete photonic band gap (PBG). An isolation layer was used between adjacent polymer layers to offer a reversal coating for sample preparation of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging and top surface planarization. Electron beam lithography has been employed to fabricate a multi-level nano-grating phase mask that produces a diamond-like 3D nanostructure via phase mask lithography, promising for creating photonic crystal (PC) templates that can be inverted with high-index materials and form a complete PBG at telecommunication wavelengths. A laser scanning holographic method for 3D exposure in thick photoresist is introduced that combines the unique advantages of large area 3D holographic interference lithography (HIL) with the flexible patterning of laser direct writing to form both micro- and nano-structures in a single exposure step. Phase mask interference patterns accumulated over multiple overlapping scans are shown to stitch seamlessly and form highly uniform 3D nanostructure with beam size scaled to small 200 microm diameter. Further direct-write holography demonstrates monolithical writing of multi-scale lab-on-a-chip with multiple functionalities including on-chip integrated fluorescence. Various 3D periodic nanostructures are demonstrated over a 15 mmx15 mm area, through full 40 microm photoresist thickness and with uniform structural and optical properties revealed by focused ion beam (FIB) milling, SEM imaging and stopband measures. The lateral and axial periods scale from respective 1500 nm to 570 nm and 9.2 microm to 1.2 microm to offer a Gamma-Z stopband at 1.5 microm. Overall, laser scanning is presented as a facile means to embed 3D PC nanostructure within microfluidic channels for integration into an optofluidic lab-on-chip, demonstrating a new laser HIL writing approach for creating multi-scale integrated microsystems.
Bifactor Approach to Modeling Multidimensionality of Physical Self-Perception Profile

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chung, ChihMing; Liao, Xiaolan; Song, Hairong; Lee, Taehun

2016-01-01

The multi-dimensionality of Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP) has been acknowledged by the use of correlated-factor model and second-order model. In this study, the authors critically endorse the bifactor model, as a substitute to address the multi-dimensionality of PSPP. To cross-validate the models, analyses are conducted first in…
Borehole radar interferometry revisited

USGS Publications Warehouse

Liu, Lanbo; Ma, Chunguang; Lane, John W.; Joesten, Peter K.

2014-01-01

Single-hole, multi-offset borehole-radar reflection (SHMOR) is an effective technique for fracture detection. However, commercial radar system limitations hinder the acquisition of multi-offset reflection data in a single borehole. Transforming cross-hole transmission mode radar data to virtual single-hole, multi-offset reflection data using a wave interferometric virtual source (WIVS) approach has been proposed but not fully demonstrated. In this study, we compare WIVS-derived virtual single-hole, multi-offset reflection data to real SHMOR radar reflection profiles using cross-hole and single-hole radar data acquired in two boreholes located at the University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT USA). The field data results are similar to full-waveform numerical simulations developed for a two-borehole model. The reflection from the adjacent borehole is clearly imaged by both the real and WIVS-derived virtual reflection profiles. Reflector travel-time changes induced by deviation of the two boreholes from the vertical can also be observed on the real and virtual reflection profiles. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of the WIVS approach to improve bedrock fracture imaging for hydrogeological and petroleum reservoir development applications.
mlCAF: Multi-Level Cross-Domain Semantic Context Fusioning for Behavior Identification.

PubMed

Razzaq, Muhammad Asif; Villalonga, Claudia; Lee, Sungyoung; Akhtar, Usman; Ali, Maqbool; Kim, Eun-Soo; Khattak, Asad Masood; Seung, Hyonwoo; Hur, Taeho; Bang, Jaehun; Kim, Dohyeong; Ali Khan, Wajahat

2017-10-24

The emerging research on automatic identification of user's contexts from the cross-domain environment in ubiquitous and pervasive computing systems has proved to be successful. Monitoring the diversified user's contexts and behaviors can help in controlling lifestyle associated to chronic diseases using context-aware applications. However, availability of cross-domain heterogeneous contexts provides a challenging opportunity for their fusion to obtain abstract information for further analysis. This work demonstrates extension of our previous work from a single domain (i.e., physical activity) to multiple domains (physical activity, nutrition and clinical) for context-awareness. We propose multi-level Context-aware Framework (mlCAF), which fuses the multi-level cross-domain contexts in order to arbitrate richer behavioral contexts. This work explicitly focuses on key challenges linked to multi-level context modeling, reasoning and fusioning based on the mlCAF open-source ontology. More specifically, it addresses the interpretation of contexts from three different domains, their fusioning conforming to richer contextual information. This paper contributes in terms of ontology evolution with additional domains, context definitions, rules and inclusion of semantic queries. For the framework evaluation, multi-level cross-domain contexts collected from 20 users were used to ascertain abstract contexts, which served as basis for behavior modeling and lifestyle identification. The experimental results indicate a context recognition average accuracy of around 92.65% for the collected cross-domain contexts.
mlCAF: Multi-Level Cross-Domain Semantic Context Fusioning for Behavior Identification

PubMed Central

Villalonga, Claudia; Lee, Sungyoung; Akhtar, Usman; Ali, Maqbool; Kim, Eun-Soo; Khattak, Asad Masood; Seung, Hyonwoo; Hur, Taeho; Kim, Dohyeong; Ali Khan, Wajahat

2017-01-01

The emerging research on automatic identification of user’s contexts from the cross-domain environment in ubiquitous and pervasive computing systems has proved to be successful. Monitoring the diversified user’s contexts and behaviors can help in controlling lifestyle associated to chronic diseases using context-aware applications. However, availability of cross-domain heterogeneous contexts provides a challenging opportunity for their fusion to obtain abstract information for further analysis. This work demonstrates extension of our previous work from a single domain (i.e., physical activity) to multiple domains (physical activity, nutrition and clinical) for context-awareness. We propose multi-level Context-aware Framework (mlCAF), which fuses the multi-level cross-domain contexts in order to arbitrate richer behavioral contexts. This work explicitly focuses on key challenges linked to multi-level context modeling, reasoning and fusioning based on the mlCAF open-source ontology. More specifically, it addresses the interpretation of contexts from three different domains, their fusioning conforming to richer contextual information. This paper contributes in terms of ontology evolution with additional domains, context definitions, rules and inclusion of semantic queries. For the framework evaluation, multi-level cross-domain contexts collected from 20 users were used to ascertain abstract contexts, which served as basis for behavior modeling and lifestyle identification. The experimental results indicate a context recognition average accuracy of around 92.65% for the collected cross-domain contexts. PMID:29064459
Psychopathology, temperament and unintentional injury: cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships.

PubMed

Rowe, Richard; Simonoff, Emily; Silberg, Judy L

2007-01-01

Growing evidence indicates a link between unintentional injury and both disruptive and emotional psychopathology. We present further evidence of these associations and address the underlying mechanisms. We also examine the genetic contribution to unintentional injury. The Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development provides genetically informative multi-wave and multi-informant data regarding common psychopathology using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment interview. The EASI temperament scales and child injury involvement were measured in parent-report questionnaires. Unintentional injury showed significant genetic effects in girls and significant shared environmental effects in boys and girls. Symptoms of over-anxious disorder (OAD), and the EASI temperament scales were independently associated with injury. Longitudinal modeling showed impulsivity and OAD symptoms were related prospectively to injury involvement. Injuries did not increase risk for later impulsivity or OAD symptoms but were related prospectively to separation anxiety disorder symptoms. Impulsivity and OAD symptoms increased risk of later injury. We discuss the processes that may be involved in these relationships.
Multi-symptom illnesses, unexplained illness and Gulf War Syndrome

PubMed Central

Ismail, Khalida; Lewis, Glyn

2006-01-01

Explanatory models for the increased prevalence of ill health in Gulf veterans compared to those not deployed to the Gulf War 1990–1991 remain elusive. This article addresses whether multi-symptom reporting in Gulf veterans are types of medically unexplained symptoms and whether the alleged Gulf War Syndrome is best understood as a medically unexplained syndrome. A review of the epidemiological studies, overwhelmingly cross-sectional, describing ill health was conducted including those that used factor analysis to search for underlying or latent clinical constructs. The overwhelming evidence was that symptoms in Gulf veterans were either in keeping with currently defined psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety or were medically unexplained. The application of factor analysis methods had varied widely with a risk of over interpretation in some studies and limiting the validity of their findings. We concluded that ill health in Gulf veterans and the alleged Gulf War Syndrome is best understood within the medically unexplained symptoms and syndromes constructs. The cause of increased reporting in Gulf veterans are still not clear and requires further inquiry into the interaction between sociological factors and symptomatic distress. PMID:16687260
Sensitivity subgroup analysis based on single-center vs. multi-center trial status when interpreting meta-analyses pooled estimates: the logical way forward.

PubMed

Alexander, Paul E; Bonner, Ashley J; Agarwal, Arnav; Li, Shelly-Anne; Hariharan, Abishek; Izhar, Zain; Bhatnagar, Neera; Alba, Carolina; Akl, Elie A; Fei, Yutong; Guyatt, Gordon H; Beyene, Joseph

2016-06-01

Prior studies regarding whether single-center trial estimates are larger than multi-center are equivocal. We examined the extent to which single-center trials yield systematically larger effects than multi-center trials. We searched the 119 core clinical journals and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for meta-analyses (MAs) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published during 2012. In this meta-epidemiologic study, for binary variables, we computed the pooled ratio of ORs (RORs), and for continuous outcomes mean difference in standardized mean differences (SMDs), we conducted weighted random-effects meta-regression and random-effects MA modeling. Our primary analyses were restricted to MAs that included at least five RCTs and in which at least 25% of the studies used each of single trial center (SC) and more trial center (MC) designs. We identified 81 MAs for the odds ratio (OR) and 43 for the SMD outcome measures. Based on our analytic plan, our primary analysis (core) is based on 25 MAs/241 RCTs (binary outcome) and 18 MAs/173 RCTs (continuous outcome). Based on the core analysis, we found no difference in magnitude of effect between SC and MC for binary outcomes [RORs: 1.02; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.83, 1.24; I(2) 20.2%]. Effect sizes were systematically larger for SC than MC for the continuous outcome measure (mean difference in SMDs: -0.13; 95% CI: -0.21, -0.05; I(2) 0%). Our results do not support prior findings of larger effects in SC than MC trials addressing binary outcomes but show a very similar small increase in effect in SC than MC trials addressing continuous outcomes. Authors of systematic reviews would be wise to include all trials irrespective of SC vs. MC design and address SC vs. MC status as a possible explanation of heterogeneity (and consider sensitivity analyses). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
To center or not to center? Investigating inertia with a multilevel autoregressive model.

PubMed

Hamaker, Ellen L; Grasman, Raoul P P P

2014-01-01

Whether level 1 predictors should be centered per cluster has received considerable attention in the multilevel literature. While most agree that there is no one preferred approach, it has also been argued that cluster mean centering is desirable when the within-cluster slope and the between-cluster slope are expected to deviate, and the main interest is in the within-cluster slope. However, we show in a series of simulations that if one has a multilevel autoregressive model in which the level 1 predictor is the lagged outcome variable (i.e., the outcome variable at the previous occasion), cluster mean centering will in general lead to a downward bias in the parameter estimate of the within-cluster slope (i.e., the autoregressive relationship). This is particularly relevant if the main question is whether there is on average an autoregressive effect. Nonetheless, we show that if the main interest is in estimating the effect of a level 2 predictor on the autoregressive parameter (i.e., a cross-level interaction), cluster mean centering should be preferred over other forms of centering. Hence, researchers should be clear on what is considered the main goal of their study, and base their choice of centering method on this when using a multilevel autoregressive model.
To center or not to center? Investigating inertia with a multilevel autoregressive model

PubMed Central

Hamaker, Ellen L.; Grasman, Raoul P. P. P.

2015-01-01

Whether level 1 predictors should be centered per cluster has received considerable attention in the multilevel literature. While most agree that there is no one preferred approach, it has also been argued that cluster mean centering is desirable when the within-cluster slope and the between-cluster slope are expected to deviate, and the main interest is in the within-cluster slope. However, we show in a series of simulations that if one has a multilevel autoregressive model in which the level 1 predictor is the lagged outcome variable (i.e., the outcome variable at the previous occasion), cluster mean centering will in general lead to a downward bias in the parameter estimate of the within-cluster slope (i.e., the autoregressive relationship). This is particularly relevant if the main question is whether there is on average an autoregressive effect. Nonetheless, we show that if the main interest is in estimating the effect of a level 2 predictor on the autoregressive parameter (i.e., a cross-level interaction), cluster mean centering should be preferred over other forms of centering. Hence, researchers should be clear on what is considered the main goal of their study, and base their choice of centering method on this when using a multilevel autoregressive model. PMID:25688215
Metropolitan transportation management center : a case study : Georgia NaviGAtor : accurate and timely information to navigate Georgia roads

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-10-01

The following case study provides a snapshot of Atlanta's NaviGAtor transportation management center. It follows the outline provided in the companion document, Metropolitan Transportation Management Center Concepts of Operation - A Cross Cutting Stu...
Nonparametric estimation of median survival times with applications to multi-site or multi-center studies.

PubMed

Rahbar, Mohammad H; Choi, Sangbum; Hong, Chuan; Zhu, Liang; Jeon, Sangchoon; Gardiner, Joseph C

2018-01-01

We propose a nonparametric shrinkage estimator for the median survival times from several independent samples of right-censored data, which combines the samples and hypothesis information to improve the efficiency. We compare efficiency of the proposed shrinkage estimation procedure to unrestricted estimator and combined estimator through extensive simulation studies. Our results indicate that performance of these estimators depends on the strength of homogeneity of the medians. When homogeneity holds, the combined estimator is the most efficient estimator. However, it becomes inconsistent when homogeneity fails. On the other hand, the proposed shrinkage estimator remains efficient. Its efficiency decreases as the equality of the survival medians is deviated, but is expected to be as good as or equal to the unrestricted estimator. Our simulation studies also indicate that the proposed shrinkage estimator is robust to moderate levels of censoring. We demonstrate application of these methods to estimating median time for trauma patients to receive red blood cells in the Prospective Observational Multi-center Major Trauma Transfusion (PROMMTT) study.
Nonparametric estimation of median survival times with applications to multi-site or multi-center studies

PubMed Central

Choi, Sangbum; Hong, Chuan; Zhu, Liang; Jeon, Sangchoon; Gardiner, Joseph C.

2018-01-01

We propose a nonparametric shrinkage estimator for the median survival times from several independent samples of right-censored data, which combines the samples and hypothesis information to improve the efficiency. We compare efficiency of the proposed shrinkage estimation procedure to unrestricted estimator and combined estimator through extensive simulation studies. Our results indicate that performance of these estimators depends on the strength of homogeneity of the medians. When homogeneity holds, the combined estimator is the most efficient estimator. However, it becomes inconsistent when homogeneity fails. On the other hand, the proposed shrinkage estimator remains efficient. Its efficiency decreases as the equality of the survival medians is deviated, but is expected to be as good as or equal to the unrestricted estimator. Our simulation studies also indicate that the proposed shrinkage estimator is robust to moderate levels of censoring. We demonstrate application of these methods to estimating median time for trauma patients to receive red blood cells in the Prospective Observational Multi-center Major Trauma Transfusion (PROMMTT) study. PMID:29772007
Shared decision-making in end-stage renal disease: a protocol for a multi-center study of a communication intervention to improve end-of-life care for dialysis patients.

PubMed

Eneanya, Nwamaka D; Goff, Sarah L; Martinez, Talaya; Gutierrez, Natalie; Klingensmith, Jamie; Griffith, John L; Garvey, Casey; Kitsen, Jenny; Germain, Michael J; Marr, Lisa; Berzoff, Joan; Unruh, Mark; Cohen, Lewis M

2015-06-12

End-stage renal disease carries a prognosis similar to cancer yet only 20 % of end-stage renal disease patients are referred to hospice. Furthermore, conversations between dialysis team members and patients about end-of-life planning are uncommon. Lack of provider training about how to communicate prognostic data may contribute to the limited number of end-of-life care discussions that take place with this chronically ill population. In this study, we will test the Shared Decision-Making Renal Supportive Care communication intervention to systematically elicit patient and caretaker preferences for end-of-life care so that care concordant with patients' goals can be provided. This multi-center study will deploy an intervention to improve end-of-life communication for hemodialysis patients who are at high risk of death in the ensuing six months. The intervention will be carried out as a prospective cohort with a retrospective cohort serving as the comparison group. Patients will be recruited from 16 dialysis units associated with two large academic centers in Springfield, Massachusetts and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Critical input from patient advisory boards, a stakeholder panel, and initial qualitative analysis of patient and caretaker experiences with advance care planning have informed the communication intervention. Rigorous communication training for hemodialysis social workers and providers will ensure that standardized study procedures are performed at each dialysis unit. Nephrologists and social workers will communicate prognosis and provide advance care planning in face-to-face encounters with patients and families using a social work-centered algorithm. Study outcomes including frequency and timing of hospice referrals, patient and caretaker satisfaction, quality of end-of-life discussions, and quality of death will be assessed over an 18 month period. The Shared Decision-Making Renal Supportive Care Communication intervention intends to improve discussions about prognosis and end-of-life care with end-stage renal disease patients. We anticipate that the intervention will help guide hemodialysis staff and providers to effectively participate in advance care planning for patients and caretakers to establish preferences and goals at the end of life. NCT02405312.
Nanoscale welding of multi-walled carbon nanotubes by 1064 nm fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Yanping; Liu, Zhi; Zhang, Kaihu; Han, Weina; Chen, Jimin

2018-07-01

This study proposes an efficient approach which uses 1064 nm continuous fiber laser to achieve nanoscale welding of crossed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). By changing the irradiation time, different quality of nanoscale welding is obtained. The morphology changes are investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The experiments demonstrate that better quality of MWCNTs nanoscale welding after 3 s irradiation can be obtained. It is found that new graphene layers between crossed nanotubes induced by laser make the nanoscale welding achieved due to the absorption of laser energy.
Purpose, Principles, and Challenges of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gilbert, Michael G.

2016-01-01

NASA formed the NASA Engineering and Safety Center in 2003 following the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. It is an Agency level, program-independent engineering resource supporting NASA's missions, programs, and projects. It functions to identify, resolve, and communicate engineering issues, risks, and, particularly, alternative technical opinions, to NASA senior management. The goal is to help ensure fully informed, risk-based programmatic and operational decision-making processes. To date, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) has conducted or is actively working over 600 technical studies and projects, spread across all NASA Mission Directorates, and for various other U.S. Government and non-governmental agencies and organizations. Since inception, NESC human spaceflight related activities, in particular, have transitioned from Shuttle Return-to-Flight and completion of the International Space Station (ISS) to ISS operations and Orion Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), Space Launch System (SLS), and Commercial Crew Program (CCP) vehicle design, integration, test, and certification. This transition has changed the character of NESC studies. For these development programs, the NESC must operate in a broader, system-level design and certification context as compared to the reactive, time-critical, hardware specific nature of flight operations support.
Lateral variability of the estuarine turbidity maximum in a tidal strait: Chapter 24

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ganju, N.K.; Schoellhamer, D.H.; ,

2008-01-01

The behavior of the estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) in response to freshwater flow, tidal forcing, and bed dynamics has been studied extensively by many researchers. However, the majority of investigations focus on the longitudinal position and strength of the ETM, which can vary over tidal, spring-neap, and seasonal timescales. ETMs may become longitudinally fixed due to bathymetric constraints, and thus the lateral position may vary significantly on differing timescales. Lateral dynamics of the ETM may affect contaminant uptake in biologically active regions, while local deposition patterns may be affected by the dominant lateral position. A longitudinally fixed ETM in Carquinez Strait, California, was studied to specifically investigate the dynamics of lateral ETM variability during April 2004. an abrupt topographical control on the north side restricts gravitational circulation resulting in convergence and particle trapping, creating the ETM. The cross-section was continuously monitored with two upward-looking velocity profilers and four optical backscatterance sensors. In addition, cross-sectional measurements over one tidal cycle were performed during a spring tide with boat-mounted velocity and water quality profilers. The lateral and vertical positions of the ETM center of mass varied by a maximum of 250 and 5 m, respectively (20% of width and 17% of depth) over the tidal timescale, while tidally averaged lateral and vertical positions varied substantially less (50 and 1 m, respectively). ETM position responded to tidal energy (Urms), with higher vertical position and a laterally centered position resulting from increased mixing during spring tides, and a northerly lateral position from decreased mixing during neap tides. Hydrodynamic and sediment transport modeling of this period reproduces the lateral and vertical movements of the ETM center of mass. Modeling results indicate increased gravitational circulation in the strait and enhanced particle trapping on the north side during neap tides, thus displacing the ETM center of mass to the north. The south side has no topographical control, and therefore no particle trapping mechanism exists on the south side. Secondary circulation is strengthened on spring tides, distributing near-bed sediment toward the south. The field and modeling results are in agreement with previous work in Carquinez Strait and further elucidate the strong lateral variation of the ETM, even in narrow, energetic tidal straits. ?? 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Multi-level multi-task learning for modeling cross-scale interactions in nested geospatial data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yuan, Shuai; Zhou, Jiayu; Tan, Pang-Ning; Fergus, Emi; Wagner, Tyler; Sorrano, Patricia

2017-01-01

Predictive modeling of nested geospatial data is a challenging problem as the models must take into account potential interactions among variables defined at different spatial scales. These cross-scale interactions, as they are commonly known, are particularly important to understand relationships among ecological properties at macroscales. In this paper, we present a novel, multi-level multi-task learning framework for modeling nested geospatial data in the lake ecology domain. Specifically, we consider region-specific models to predict lake water quality from multi-scaled factors. Our framework enables distinct models to be developed for each region using both its local and regional information. The framework also allows information to be shared among the region-specific models through their common set of latent factors. Such information sharing helps to create more robust models especially for regions with limited or no training data. In addition, the framework can automatically determine cross-scale interactions between the regional variables and the local variables that are nested within them. Our experimental results show that the proposed framework outperforms all the baseline methods in at least 64% of the regions for 3 out of 4 lake water quality datasets evaluated in this study. Furthermore, the latent factors can be clustered to obtain a new set of regions that is more aligned with the response variables than the original regions that were defined a priori from the ecology domain.
Organizational Legitimacy of International Research Collaborations: Crossing Boundaries in the Middle East

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oleksiyenko, Anatoly

2013-01-01

Cross-border academic collaborations in conflict zones are vulnerable to escalated turbulence, liability concerns and flagging support. Multi-level stakeholder engagement at home and abroad is essential for securing the political and financial sustainability of such collaborations. This study examines the multilayered stakeholder arrangements…
Estimating Cross-Site Impact Variation in the Presence of Heteroscedasticity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bloom, Howard S.; Porter, Kristin E.; Weiss, Michael J.; Raudenbush, Stephen

2013-01-01

To date, evaluation research and policy analysis have focused mainly on average program impacts and paid little systematic attention to their variation. Recently, the growing number of multi-site randomized trials that are being planned and conducted make it increasingly feasible to study "cross-site" variation in impacts. Important…

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

Ohmi, K.

In recent high luminosity colliders, the finite crossing angle scheme becomes popular to gain the multiplicity of luminosity with multi-bunch or long bunch operation. Success of KEKB showed that the finite crossing angle scheme was no problem to achieve the beam-beam parameter up to 0.05. The authors have studied the beam-beam interactions with/without crossing angle toward higher luminosity. They discuss how the crossing angle affects the beam-beam parameter and luminosity in the present KEK B factory (KEKB) using computer simulations.
Multi-Site Diagnostic Classification of Schizophrenia Using Discriminant Deep Learning with Functional Connectivity MRI.

PubMed

Zeng, Ling-Li; Wang, Huaning; Hu, Panpan; Yang, Bo; Pu, Weidan; Shen, Hui; Chen, Xingui; Liu, Zhening; Yin, Hong; Tan, Qingrong; Wang, Kai; Hu, Dewen

2018-04-01

A lack of a sufficiently large sample at single sites causes poor generalizability in automatic diagnosis classification of heterogeneous psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia based on brain imaging scans. Advanced deep learning methods may be capable of learning subtle hidden patterns from high dimensional imaging data, overcome potential site-related variation, and achieve reproducible cross-site classification. However, deep learning-based cross-site transfer classification, despite less imaging site-specificity and more generalizability of diagnostic models, has not been investigated in schizophrenia. A large multi-site functional MRI sample (n = 734, including 357 schizophrenic patients from seven imaging resources) was collected, and a deep discriminant autoencoder network, aimed at learning imaging site-shared functional connectivity features, was developed to discriminate schizophrenic individuals from healthy controls. Accuracies of approximately 85·0% and 81·0% were obtained in multi-site pooling classification and leave-site-out transfer classification, respectively. The learned functional connectivity features revealed dysregulation of the cortical-striatal-cerebellar circuit in schizophrenia, and the most discriminating functional connections were primarily located within and across the default, salience, and control networks. The findings imply that dysfunctional integration of the cortical-striatal-cerebellar circuit across the default, salience, and control networks may play an important role in the "disconnectivity" model underlying the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The proposed discriminant deep learning method may be capable of learning reliable connectome patterns and help in understanding the pathophysiology and achieving accurate prediction of schizophrenia across multiple independent imaging sites. Copyright © 2018 German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Predicting risk of substantial weight gain in German adults-a multi-center cohort approach.

PubMed

Bachlechner, Ursula; Boeing, Heiner; Haftenberger, Marjolein; Schienkiewitz, Anja; Scheidt-Nave, Christa; Vogt, Susanne; Thorand, Barbara; Peters, Annette; Schipf, Sabine; Ittermann, Till; Völzke, Henry; Nöthlings, Ute; Neamat-Allah, Jasmine; Greiser, Karin-Halina; Kaaks, Rudolf; Steffen, Annika

2017-08-01

A risk-targeted prevention strategy may efficiently utilize limited resources available for prevention of overweight and obesity. Likewise, more efficient intervention trials could be designed if selection of subjects was based on risk. The aim of the study was to develop a risk score predicting substantial weight gain among German adults. We developed the risk score using information on 15 socio-demographic, dietary and lifestyle factors from 32 204 participants of five population-based German cohort studies. Substantial weight gain was defined as gaining ≥10% of weight between baseline and follow-up (>6 years apart). The cases were censored according to the theoretical point in time when the threshold of 10% baseline-based weight gain was crossed assuming linearity of weight gain. Beta coefficients derived from proportional hazards regression were used as weights to compute the risk score as a linear combination of the predictors. Cross-validation was used to evaluate the score's discriminatory accuracy. The cross-validated c index (95% CI) was 0.71 (0.67-0.75). A cutoff value of ≥475 score points yielded a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 63%. The corresponding positive and negative predictive values were 10.4% and 97.6%, respectively. The proposed risk score may support healthcare providers in decision making and referral and facilitate an efficient selection of subjects into intervention trials. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.
Predicting risk of substantial weight gain in German adults—a multi-center cohort approach

PubMed Central

Bachlechner, Ursula; Boeing, Heiner; Haftenberger, Marjolein; Schienkiewitz, Anja; Scheidt-Nave, Christa; Vogt, Susanne; Thorand, Barbara; Peters, Annette; Schipf, Sabine; Ittermann, Till; Völzke, Henry; Nöthlings, Ute; Neamat-Allah, Jasmine; Greiser, Karin-Halina; Kaaks, Rudolf

2017-01-01

Abstract Background A risk-targeted prevention strategy may efficiently utilize limited resources available for prevention of overweight and obesity. Likewise, more efficient intervention trials could be designed if selection of subjects was based on risk. The aim of the study was to develop a risk score predicting substantial weight gain among German adults. Methods We developed the risk score using information on 15 socio-demographic, dietary and lifestyle factors from 32 204 participants of five population-based German cohort studies. Substantial weight gain was defined as gaining ≥10% of weight between baseline and follow-up (>6 years apart). The cases were censored according to the theoretical point in time when the threshold of 10% baseline-based weight gain was crossed assuming linearity of weight gain. Beta coefficients derived from proportional hazards regression were used as weights to compute the risk score as a linear combination of the predictors. Cross-validation was used to evaluate the score’s discriminatory accuracy. Results The cross-validated c index (95% CI) was 0.71 (0.67–0.75). A cutoff value of ≥475 score points yielded a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 63%. The corresponding positive and negative predictive values were 10.4% and 97.6%, respectively. Conclusions The proposed risk score may support healthcare providers in decision making and referral and facilitate an efficient selection of subjects into intervention trials. PMID:28013243
Statistical and Hydrological evaluation of precipitation forecasts from IMD MME and ECMWF numerical weather forecasts for Indian River basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohite, A. R.; Beria, H.; Behera, A. K.; Chatterjee, C.; Singh, R.

2016-12-01

Flood forecasting using hydrological models is an important and cost-effective non-structural flood management measure. For forecasting at short lead times, empirical models using real-time precipitation estimates have proven to be reliable. However, their skill depreciates with increasing lead time. Coupling a hydrologic model with real-time rainfall forecasts issued from numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems could increase the lead time substantially. In this study, we compared 1-5 days precipitation forecasts from India Meteorological Department (IMD) Multi-Model Ensemble (MME) with European Center for Medium Weather forecast (ECMWF) NWP forecasts for over 86 major river basins in India. We then evaluated the hydrologic utility of these forecasts over Basantpur catchment (approx. 59,000 km2) of the Mahanadi River basin. Coupled MIKE 11 RR (NAM) and MIKE 11 hydrodynamic (HD) models were used for the development of flood forecast system (FFS). RR model was calibrated using IMD station rainfall data. Cross-sections extracted from SRTM 30 were used as input to the MIKE 11 HD model. IMD started issuing operational MME forecasts from the year 2008, and hence, both the statistical and hydrologic evaluation were carried out from 2008-2014. The performance of FFS was evaluated using both the NWP datasets separately for the year 2011, which was a large flood year in Mahanadi River basin. We will present figures and metrics for statistical (threshold based statistics, skill in terms of correlation and bias) and hydrologic (Nash Sutcliffe efficiency, mean and peak error statistics) evaluation. The statistical evaluation will be at pan-India scale for all the major river basins and the hydrologic evaluation will be for the Basantpur catchment of the Mahanadi River basin.
NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mitchell, Andrew E.; Behnke, Jeanne; Lowe, Dawn; Ramapriyan, H. K.

2009-01-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of NASA Earth observation program for over 10 years. It is one of the largest civilian science information system in the US, performing ingest, archive and distribution of over 3 terabytes of data per day much of which is from NASA s flagship missions Terra, Aqua and Aura. The system supports a variety of science disciplines including polar processes, land cover change, radiation budget, and most especially global climate change. The EOSDIS data centers, collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, archive and distribute standard data products produced by science investigator-led processing systems. Key to the success of EOSDIS is the concept of core versus community requirements. EOSDIS supports a core set of services to meet specific NASA needs and relies on community-developed services to meet specific user needs. EOSDIS offers a metadata registry, ECHO (Earth Observing System Clearinghouse), through which the scientific community can easily discover and exchange NASA s Earth science data and services. Users can search, manage, and access the contents of ECHO s registries (data and services) through user-developed and community-tailored interfaces or clients. The ECHO framework has become the primary access point for cross-Data Center search-and-order of EOSDIS and other Earth Science data holdings archived at the EOSDIS data centers. ECHO s Warehouse Inventory Search Tool (WIST) is the primary web-based client for discovering and ordering cross-discipline data from the EOSDIS data centers. The architecture of the EOSDIS provides a platform for the publication, discovery, understanding and access to NASA s Earth Observation resources and allows for easy integration of new datasets. The EOSDIS also has developed several methods for incorporating socioeconomic data into its data collection. Over the years, we have developed several methods for determining needs of the user community including use of the American Customer Satisfaction Index and a broad metrics program.
Multi-technique combination of space geodesy observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zoulida, Myriam; Pollet, Arnaud; Coulot, David; Biancale, Richard; Rebischung, Paul; Collilieux, Xavier

2014-05-01

Over the last few years, combination at the observation level (COL) of the different space geodesy techniques has been thoroughly studied. Various studies have shown that this type of combination can take advantage of common parameters. Some of these parameters, such as Zenithal Tropospheric Delays (ZTD), are available on co-location sites, where more than one technique is present. Local ties (LT) are provided for these sites, and act as intra-technique links and allow resulting terrestrial reference frames (TRF) to be homogeneous. However the use of LT can be problematic on weekly calculations, where their geographical distribution can be poor, and there are often differences observed between available LTs and space geodesy results. Similar co-locations can be found on multi-technique satellites, where more than one technique receiver is featured. A great advantage of these space ties (STs) is the densification of co-locations as the orbiting satellite acts as a moving station. The challenge of using space ties relies in the accurate knowledge or estimation of their values, as officially provided values are sometimes not reaching the required level of precision for the solution, due to receivers' or acting forces mismodelings and other factors. Thus, the necessity of an estimation and/or weighting strategy for the STs is introduced. To this day, on subsets of available data, using STs has shown promising results regarding the TRF determination through the stations' positions estimation, on the orbit determination of the GPS constellation and on the GPS antenna Phase Center Offsets and Variations (PCO and PCV) . In this study, results from a multi-technique combination including the Jason-2 satellite and its effect on the GNSS orbit determination during the CONT2011 period are presented, as well as some preliminary results on station positions' determination. Comparing resulting orbits with official solutions provides an assessment of the effect on the orbit calculation by introducing orbiting stations' observations. Moreover, simulated solutions will be presented, showing the effect of adding multi-technique observations on the estimation of STs parameters errors, such as Laser Retroreflector Offsets (LROs) or GNSS antennae Phase Center Offsets (PCOs).
Crossing Over: Individuality and Social Constructivism in the Writing Center.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mullin, Anne

There need be no quarrel between those who believe that writing comes primarily from an individual's discovery of selfhood and those who believe that writing is primarily the result of social interaction. Two theoretical perspectives are helpful in considering this issue. The first, presented by D. W. Winnicott, suggests that an infant learns…
Examining the Cross-Roads: School Segregation in Indiana

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moon, Jodi S.; Krull, Lauren

2017-01-01

Demographics in the U.S. have changed dramatically over the last three decades. Indiana's demographics are changing, too--albeit less dramatically. To explore how demographic shifts are changing the composition of Indiana's schools, the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) uses Common Core of Data (CCD) school enrollment data from the…
NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Boeing 747SP flies over NASA DFRC after a ferry flight from Waco, Texas

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-05-31

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Boeing 747SP flies over NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center after a ferry flight from Waco, Texas. NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, arrived at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. on May 31, 2007. The heavily modified Boeing 747SP was ferried to Dryden from Waco, Texas, where L-3 Communications Integrated Systems installed a German-built 2.5-meter infrared telescope and made other major modifications over the past several years. SOFIA is scheduled to undergo installation and integration of mission systems and a multi-phase flight test program at Dryden over the next three years that is expected to lead to a full operational capability to conduct astronomy missions in about 2010. During its expected 20-year lifetime, SOFIA will be capable of "Great Observatory" class astronomical science, providing astronomers with access to the visible, infrared and sub-millimeter spectrum with optimized performance in the mid-infrared to sub-millimeter range.
Anticipating market demand: tracking enrollee satisfaction and health over time.

PubMed

Allen, H

1998-12-01

To assess guidelines, set by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, for the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) 1999 CAHPS 2.0H Survey (formerly the HEDIS 1999 Consumer Survey) in the light of user's needs to monitor health plan performance over time, monitor sick enrollees, and prioritize determinants (drivers) of enrollee experience. A two-wave, cross-sectional/longitudinal panel design, consisting of national surveys mailed to employees of three major USA corporations in 1993 and 1995. Samples included employees selected to represent 23 major managed care and indemnity plans in five regions of the USA. In 1993, 14 587 employees responded and in 1995 9018 employees responded (response rates: 51 and 52%). The longitudinal panel sample included 5729 employees who completed both surveys and stayed in the same plan for both years. STUDY MEASURES: The main 1993 and 1995 surveys consisted of 154 and 116 items, respectively. Panel survey content assessed care delivery, plan administration, functional status, well being, and chronic disease. CAHPS 2.0H's point-in-time, cross-sectional design was unable to detect selection bias and led to an inaccurate view of change in performance. CAHPS 2.0H's use of aggregate samples masked key differences between healthy and sick enrollees; e.g. the sick became less satisfied over time. The association-based, statistical techniques that many survey users will employ to prioritize the 'drivers' of enrollee experience in the absence of CAHPS 2.0H guidelines yielded a less efficient account of change than the multi-method/multi-trait approach developed for this project. Consumer experience of plan performance is best understood when the separate contributions of longitudinal membership and movement in and out of plans are clarified, changes in health are identified, changes for sick and healthy enrollees are compared, and plan performance on satisfaction criteria is probed to give confirmation and detail. Changes to the CAHPS 2.0H approach in HEDIS 1999 will facilitate user application of these principles.
Promoting Teen Health and Reducing Risks: A Look at Adolescent Health Services in New York City.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Citizens' Committee for Children of New York, NY.

This study examined data from focus groups with New York City adolescents and interviews with health care providers serving New York City adolescents (hospital based clinics, school based health centers, child health clinics, community health centers, and a multi-service adolescent center) in order to determine how to promote health and reduce…
Retrospective Integration of Research Conducted on a Multi-Section Educational Psychology Course over a Fifteen-Year Period

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Robert L.

2017-01-01

This article integrates a series of studies conducted over a 15-year period in a multi-section educational course taught by the same supervising professor and his GTAs . The purpose of each study was to determine whether particular interventions or student characteristics affected performance levels in the course. Over the extended period of…
KSC-04pd1614

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-07-31

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In Hangar AE at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Spectrum Astro workers look over the Swift spacecraft while removing its protective cover. Swift is a first-of-its-kind, multi-wavelength observatory dedicated to the study of gamma-ray burst (GRB) science. Its three instruments will work together to observe GRBs and afterglows in the gamma-ray, X-ray and optical wavebands. Swift is part of NASA’s medium explorer (MIDEX) program being developed by an international collaboration. During its nominal 2-year mission, Swift is expected to observe more than 200 bursts, which will represent the most comprehensive study of GRB afterglow to date. It is scheduled for launch into a low-Earth orbit on a Delta 7320 rocket on Oct. 7.
Center-Within-Trial Versus Trial-Level Evaluation of Surrogate Endpoints.

PubMed

Renfro, Lindsay A; Shi, Qian; Xue, Yuan; Li, Junlong; Shang, Hongwei; Sargent, Daniel J

2014-10-01

Evaluation of candidate surrogate endpoints using individual patient data from multiple clinical trials is considered the gold standard approach to validate surrogates at both patient and trial levels. However, this approach assumes the availability of patient-level data from a relatively large collection of similar trials, which may not be possible to achieve for a given disease application. One common solution to the problem of too few similar trials involves performing trial-level surrogacy analyses on trial sub-units (e.g., centers within trials), thereby artificially increasing the trial-level sample size for feasibility of the multi-trial analysis. To date, the practical impact of treating trial sub-units (centers) identically to trials in multi-trial surrogacy analyses remains unexplored, and conditions under which this ad hoc solution may in fact be reasonable have not been identified. We perform a simulation study to identify such conditions, and demonstrate practical implications using a multi-trial dataset of patients with early stage colon cancer.
Center-Within-Trial Versus Trial-Level Evaluation of Surrogate Endpoints

PubMed Central

Renfro, Lindsay A.; Shi, Qian; Xue, Yuan; Li, Junlong; Shang, Hongwei; Sargent, Daniel J.

2014-01-01

Evaluation of candidate surrogate endpoints using individual patient data from multiple clinical trials is considered the gold standard approach to validate surrogates at both patient and trial levels. However, this approach assumes the availability of patient-level data from a relatively large collection of similar trials, which may not be possible to achieve for a given disease application. One common solution to the problem of too few similar trials involves performing trial-level surrogacy analyses on trial sub-units (e.g., centers within trials), thereby artificially increasing the trial-level sample size for feasibility of the multi-trial analysis. To date, the practical impact of treating trial sub-units (centers) identically to trials in multi-trial surrogacy analyses remains unexplored, and conditions under which this ad hoc solution may in fact be reasonable have not been identified. We perform a simulation study to identify such conditions, and demonstrate practical implications using a multi-trial dataset of patients with early stage colon cancer. PMID:25061255
C 3, A Command-line Catalog Cross-match Tool for Large Astrophysical Catalogs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riccio, Giuseppe; Brescia, Massimo; Cavuoti, Stefano; Mercurio, Amata; di Giorgio, Anna Maria; Molinari, Sergio

2017-02-01

Modern Astrophysics is based on multi-wavelength data organized into large and heterogeneous catalogs. Hence, the need for efficient, reliable and scalable catalog cross-matching methods plays a crucial role in the era of the petabyte scale. Furthermore, multi-band data have often very different angular resolution, requiring the highest generality of cross-matching features, mainly in terms of region shape and resolution. In this work we present C 3 (Command-line Catalog Cross-match), a multi-platform application designed to efficiently cross-match massive catalogs. It is based on a multi-core parallel processing paradigm and conceived to be executed as a stand-alone command-line process or integrated within any generic data reduction/analysis pipeline, providing the maximum flexibility to the end-user, in terms of portability, parameter configuration, catalog formats, angular resolution, region shapes, coordinate units and cross-matching types. Using real data, extracted from public surveys, we discuss the cross-matching capabilities and computing time efficiency also through a direct comparison with some publicly available tools, chosen among the most used within the community, and representative of different interface paradigms. We verified that the C 3 tool has excellent capabilities to perform an efficient and reliable cross-matching between large data sets. Although the elliptical cross-match and the parametric handling of angular orientation and offset are known concepts in the astrophysical context, their availability in the presented command-line tool makes C 3 competitive in the context of public astronomical tools.
Changes in sleep characteristics and airway obstruction in OSAHS patients with multi-level obstruction following simple UPPP, UPPP-GA, or UPPP-TBA: a prospective, single-center, parallel group study.

PubMed

Chen, Shicai; Shi, Song; Xia, Yanghui; Liu, Fei; Chen, Donghui; Zhu, Minhui; Li, Meng; Zheng, Hongliang

2014-01-01

To investigate changes in S3 sleep and the apnea hypopnea index (AHI), SpO2 desaturation and CT90, and to determine changes in the degree of airway collapse and in the cross-sectional area of the retropalatal and lingual region in obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome patients. All subjects underwent overnight polysomnography and were evaluated using Müller's test and magnetic resonance imaging at baseline, 3, and 12 months following surgery. The mean S3 scores in patients receiving uvulopalatopharyngoplasty combined with genioglossus advancement (UPPP-GA) or UPPP combined with tongue base advancement using the Repose™ system (UPPP-TBA) noticeably increased. Marked improvement was seen in the mean AHI, LSO2, and CT90 scores 3 and 12 months following surgery compared to baseline. Airway collapsed by 25-50% in the greatest proportion undergoing surgery at the tongue base. UPPP-GA and UPPP-TBA more effectively improve S3 sleep, and mean AHI, LSO2, and CT90 scores. In addition, they effectively alleviate airway obstruction by improving the cross-sectional area of these regions. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.
Fiber gasket and method of making same

DOEpatents

Bruck, Gerald Joseph; Alvin, Mary Anne; Smeltzer, Eugene E.

2003-01-01

A gasket (1) is made by repetitively spirally winding a fiber (3) back on itself in a closed path. The gasket (1) so made has a multi-layer spiral winding (1) formed in a loop (5). The fiber (3) can be wound at a constant wrap rate to form a gasket with a uniform cross-section around the loop. Alternatively, the wrap rate can be varied, increased to increase cross-sectional bulk, and decreased to reduce cross-section bulk around the loop (5). Also, the spiral winding (7) can be applied over a core (13) of either strands of the fiber (3) or a dissimilar material providing a desired property such as resiliency, stiffness or others. For high temperature applications, a ceramic fiber (3) can be used. The gasket (1) can have any of various geometric configurations with or without a core (13).
Hydrogeothermal Convective Circulation Model for the Formation of the Chicxulub Ring of Cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monroy-Rios, E.; Beddows, P. A.

2015-12-01

Despite being deeply buried, the topography and geophysical characteristics of the multi-ring Chicxulub impact structure are reflected on the now subaerial Yucatan Peninsula with aligned arcs of cenotes (sinkholes), forming the "Ring of Cenotes". A pending question is the determination of the geological, geochemical, structural features and associated processes that have led to void development, and the upwards propagation of the voids, cross cutting over 1000 m of super-deposited carbonate sequences. Drawing from the published literature on drill core and geophysical surveys undertaken by Pemex, UNAM, and IODP/ICDP, numerical modeling, and general carbonate platform hydrothermal reactive transport models, we provide a conceptual model for the genesis of the Ring of Cenotes. In horizontally bedded carbonate platforms, geothermal gradients will drive convective flow, with strong vertical components specifically in the platform center. In the Yucatan Platform, a high occurrence of anhydrite and dolomite at depth evokes early burial dolomitization and anhydritization, sourcing Mg from seawater. The Chicxulub impact near the center of the platform produced a low permeability and high thermal conductivity melt rock that arguably extends to the basement rock at 3.5 km below surface. Heat of impact enforced the pre-existing geothermal circulation pattern, and even with depletion of the heat of impact, the high thermal conductivity of the crystalline melt would lead to enhanced geothermal gradients in the center of the platform. The cenotes overlying the crater are deep (150+ m) vertical shafts with most (but not all) breaching the surface. The pit geomorphology suggests a bottom-up formation. Excess Si in the shallow groundwater points to a convective circulation with strong vertical components geochemically linking the granodioritic basement rock to the surface. Water temperature and conductivity profiles support ongoing vertical flux in some deep pit cenotes. Within this framework, we argue for the formation of the Ring of Cenotes by hydrogeothermal convective circulation in the post-impact carbonate sequences, leading to spatially focused dissolution at depth, with voids initiated along the crater edge effectively propagating upwards, often breaching the surface.

Relationships between environmental factors and participation in adults with traumatic brain injury, stroke, and spinal cord injury: a cross-sectional multi-center study.

PubMed

Wong, Alex W K; Ng, Sheryl; Dashner, Jessica; Baum, M Carolyn; Hammel, Joy; Magasi, Susan; Lai, Jin-Shei; Carlozzi, Noelle E; Tulsky, David S; Miskovic, Ana; Goldsmith, Arielle; Heinemann, Allen W

2017-10-01

To develop and evaluate a model of environmental factors-participation relationships for persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, and spinal cord injury (SCI), and test whether this model differed across three diagnostic groups, as well as other demographic and clinical characteristics. A cross-sectional observational study included 545 community-dwelling adults with neurological disorders (TBI = 166; stroke = 189; SCI = 190) recruited at three academic medical centers. Participants completed patient-reported measures of environmental factors and participation. The final structural equation model had acceptable fit to the data (CFI = 0.923; TLI = 0.898; RMSEA = 0.085; SRMR = 0.053), explaining 63% of the variance in participation in social roles and activities. Systems, services, and policies had an indirect influence on participation and this relation was mediated by social attitudes and the built and natural environment. Access to information and technology was associated with the built and natural environment which in turn influence on participation (ps < 0.001). The model was consistent across sex, diagnosis, severity/type of injury, education, race, age, marital status, years since injury, wheelchairs use, insurance coverage, personal or household income, and crystallized cognition. Social and physical environments appear to mediate the influence of systems, services, and policies on participation after acquired neurological disorders. These relations are stable across three diagnostic groups and many personal and clinical factors. Our findings inform health and disability policy, and provide guidance for implementing the initiatives in Healthy People 2020 in particular for people with acquired neurological disorders.
A comparative theoretical study of the catalytic activities of Au2(-) and AuAg(-) dimers for CO oxidation.

PubMed

Liu, Peng; Song, Ke; Zhang, Dongju; Liu, Chengbu

2012-05-01

The detailed mechanisms of catalytic CO oxidation over Au(2)(-) and AuAg(-) dimers, which represent the simplest models for monometal Au and bimetallic Au-Ag nanoparticles, have been studied by performing density functional theory calculations. It is found that both Au(2)(-) and AuAg(-) dimers catalyze the reaction according to the similar mono-center Eley-Rideal mechanism. The catalytic reaction is of the multi-channel and multi-step characteristic, which can proceed along four possible pathways via two or three elementary steps. In AuAg(-), the Au site is more active than the Ag site, and the calculated energy barrier values for the rate-determining step of the Au-site catalytic reaction are remarkably smaller than those for both the Ag-site catalytic reaction and the Au(2)(-) catalytic reaction. The better catalytic activity of bimetallic AuAg(-) dimer is attributed to the synergistic effect between Au and Ag atom. The present results provide valuable information for understanding the higher catalytic activity of Au-Ag nanoparticles and nanoalloys for low-temperature CO oxidation than either pure metallic catalyst.
Supervised Learning for Detection of Duplicates in Genomic Sequence Databases.

PubMed

Chen, Qingyu; Zobel, Justin; Zhang, Xiuzhen; Verspoor, Karin

2016-01-01

First identified as an issue in 1996, duplication in biological databases introduces redundancy and even leads to inconsistency when contradictory information appears. The amount of data makes purely manual de-duplication impractical, and existing automatic systems cannot detect duplicates as precisely as can experts. Supervised learning has the potential to address such problems by building automatic systems that learn from expert curation to detect duplicates precisely and efficiently. While machine learning is a mature approach in other duplicate detection contexts, it has seen only preliminary application in genomic sequence databases. We developed and evaluated a supervised duplicate detection method based on an expert curated dataset of duplicates, containing over one million pairs across five organisms derived from genomic sequence databases. We selected 22 features to represent distinct attributes of the database records, and developed a binary model and a multi-class model. Both models achieve promising performance; under cross-validation, the binary model had over 90% accuracy in each of the five organisms, while the multi-class model maintains high accuracy and is more robust in generalisation. We performed an ablation study to quantify the impact of different sequence record features, finding that features derived from meta-data, sequence identity, and alignment quality impact performance most strongly. The study demonstrates machine learning can be an effective additional tool for de-duplication of genomic sequence databases. All Data are available as described in the supplementary material.
A teleconnection study of interannual sea surface temperature fluctuations in the northern North Atlantic and precipitation and runoff over Western Siberia

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

Peng, S.; Mysak, L.A.

The spatial distributions of northern North Atlantic sea surface temperature and the high-latitude Northern Hemisphere sea level pressure anomalies averaged over six consecutive warm SST winters (1951-1956) and six consecutive cold SST winters (1971-1976) are examined. Three SLP anomaly difference (i.e., warm - cold winters) centers, significant at the 5% level, are observed over the northern North Atlantic, Europe, and western Siberia. This anomaly pattern is consistent in principle with what was identified in a related analyses by Palmer and Sun, who used composite data from selected winter months. The SLP difference centers over the northern North Atlantic and westernmore » Siberia are in phase. The impact of the latter center upon the runoff from the underlying Ob and Yenisey rivers and especially the teleconnection between SST anomalies in the northern North Atlantic and runoff of those two rivers via the atmosphere are investigated. The temporal cross-correlation analyses of 50 years (1930-1979) of records of SST, precipitation, and runoff anomalies indicate that the winter SST anomalies in the northern North Atlantic are significantly correlated with the winter and following summer runoff fluctuations of the Ob and Yenisey rivers. Positive (negative) northern North Atlantic SST anomalies are related to less (more) precipitation, and hence, less (more) runoff, over western Siberia. Discussions of possible physical mechanisms and processes that lead to the above relationships are attempted. The analyses of spatial distributions of precipitation in the warm and cold SST winters suggest that precipitation fluctuations over Europe and western Siberia may be affected by shifts of cyclone tracks associated with the SST variations in the northern North Atlantic. 27 refs., 9 figs.« less
Fe L-shell Excitation Cross Section Measurements on EBIT-I

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Hui; Beiersdorfer, P.; Brown, G.; Boyce, K.; Kelley, R.; Kilbourne, C.; Porter, F.; Gu, M. F.; Kahn, S.

2006-09-01

We report the measurement of electron impact excitation cross sections for the strong iron L-shell 3-2 lines of Fe XVII to Fe XXIV at the LLNL EBIT-I electron beam ion trap using a crystal spectrometer and NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center's 6x6 pixel array microcalorimeter. The cross sections were determined by direct normalization to the well-established cross sections for radiative electron capture. Our results include the excitation cross section for over 50 lines at multiple electron energies. Although we have found that for 3C line in Fe XVII the measured cross sections differ significantly from theory, in most cases the measurements and theory agree within 20%. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. DOE by LLNL under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48 and supported by NASA APRA grants to LLNL, GSFC, and Stanford University.
Do Recipients of an Association-Sponsored Quality Award Program Experience Better Quality Outcomes Compared With Other Nursing Facilities Across the United States?

PubMed

Castle, Nicholas; Olson, Doug; Shah, Urvi; Hansen, Kevin

2016-09-01

This study explores the relationship between recipients of an association-sponsored Quality Award Program and select measures of quality in U.S. nursing facilities, examined both cross-sectionally and over time. Data used came from Quality Award Program recipients over 9 years (2003-2011) and a set of quality indicators from the Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) database. These data were analyzed using a variety of multivariate regression techniques. Cross-sectionally, the award recipients demonstrated higher performance on most of the quality indicators, compared with both the broader field of nursing facilities and also a more stringent comparison group of facilities. Comparing quality from the 4 years before the award was received to the 4 years after the award, the majority of quality indicators demonstrated improvement in those facilities receiving an award. These results indicate that, in general, the nursing facilities that participate in and receive the Silver or Gold American Health Care Association (AHCA) and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) National Quality Award perform at a higher level of quality for residents and sustain that heightened performance over a period of time.
Genetic erosion in maize's center of origin.

PubMed

Dyer, George A; López-Feldman, Alejandro; Yúnez-Naude, Antonio; Taylor, J Edward

2014-09-30

Crop genetic diversity is an indispensable resource for farmers and professional breeders responding to changing climate, pests, and diseases. Anecdotal appraisals in centers of crop origin have suggested serious threats to this diversity for over half a century. However, a nationwide inventory recently found all maize races previously described for Mexico, including some formerly considered nearly extinct. A flurry of social studies seems to confirm that farmers maintain considerable diversity. Here, we compare estimates of maize diversity from case studies over the past 15 y with nationally and regionally representative matched longitudinal data from farmers across rural Mexico. Our findings reveal an increasing bias in inferences based on case study results and widespread loss of diversity. Cross-sectional, case study data suggest that farm-level richness has increased by 0.04 y(-1) nationwide; however, direct estimates using matched longitudinal data reveal that richness dropped -0.04 y(-1) between 2002 and 2007, from 1.43 to 1.22 varieties per farm. Varietal losses occurred across regions and altitudinal zones, and regardless of farm turnover within the sector. Extinction of local maize populations may not have resulted in an immediate loss of alleles, but low varietal richness and changes in maize's metapopulation dynamics may prevent farmers from accessing germplasm suitable to a rapidly changing climate. Declining yields could then lead farmers to leave the sector and result in a further loss of diversity. Similarities in research approaches across crops suggest that methodological biases could conceal a loss of diversity at other centers of crop origin.
Pure JavaScript Storyline Layout Algorithm

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

This is a JavaScript library for a storyline layout algorithm. Storylines are adept at communicating complex change by encoding time on the x-axis and using the proximity of lines in the y direction to represent interaction between entities. The library in this disclosure takes as input a list of objects containing an id, time, and state. The output is a data structure that can be used to conveniently render a storyline visualization. Most importantly, the library computes the y-coordinate of the entities over time that decreases layout artifacts including crossings, wiggles, and whitespace. This is accomplished through multi-objective, multi-stage optimizationmore » problem, where the output of one stage produces input and constraints for the next stage.« less
Ultrasonic tomography for in-process measurements of temperature in a multi-phase medium

DOEpatents

Beller, L.S.

1993-01-26

A method and apparatus are described for the in-process measurement of internal particulate temperature utilizing ultrasonic tomography techniques to determine the speed of sound through a specimen material. Ultrasonic pulses are transmitted through a material, which can be a multi-phase material, over known flight paths and the ultrasonic pulse transit times through all sectors of the specimen are measured to determine the speed of sound. The speed of sound being a function of temperature, it is possible to establish the correlation between speed of sound and temperature, throughout a cross-section of the material, which correlation is programmed into a computer to provide for a continuous in-process measurement of temperature throughout the specimen.
Comments on airborne ISR radar utilization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doerry, A. W.

2016-05-01

A sensor/payload operator for modern multi-sensor multi-mode Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms is often confronted with a plethora of options in sensors and sensor modes. This often leads an over-worked operator to down-select to favorite sensors and modes; for example a justifiably favorite Full Motion Video (FMV) sensor at the expense of radar modes, even if radar modes can offer unique and advantageous information. At best, sensors might be used in a serial monogamous fashion with some cross-cueing. The challenge is then to increase the utilization of the radar modes in a manner attractive to the sensor/payload operator. We propose that this is best accomplished by combining sensor modes and displays into `super-modes'.
Rationale, design and methods of the HEALTHY study behavior intervention component

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

HEALTHY was a multi-center primary prevention trial designed to reduce risk factors for type 2 diabetes in adolescents. Seven centers each recruited six middle schools that were randomized to either intervention or control. The HEALTHY intervention integrated multiple components in nutrition, physic...
Catalysis and Multi-Component Reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shibasaki, Masakatsu; Yus, Miguel; Bremner, Stacy; Comer, Eamon; Shore, Gjergji; Morin, Sylvie; Organ, Michael G.; van der Eycken, Erik; Merkul, Eugen; Dorsch, Dieter; Müller, Thomas J. J.; Ryabukhin, Sergey V.; Ostapchuk, Eugeniy N.; Plaskon, Andrey S.; Volochnyuk, Dmitriy M.; Shivanyuk, Alexander N.; Tolmachev, Andrey A.; Sheibani, Hassan; Babaie, Maryam; Behzadi, Soheila; Dabiri, Minoo; Bahramnejad, Mahboobeh; Bashiribod, Sahareh; Hekmatshoar, Rahim; Sadjadi, Sodeh; Khorasani, Mohammad; Polyakov, Anatoliy I.; Eryomina, Vera A.; Medvedeva, Lidiya A.; Tihonova, Nadezhda I.; Listratova, Anna V.; Voskressensky, Leonid G.; Merkul, Eugen; Dorsch, Dieter; Müller, Thomas J. J.; Sheibani, Hassan; Esfandiarpoor, Zeinab; Behzadi, Soheila; Titova, Julia A.; Fedorova, Olga V.; Ovchinnikova, Irina G.; Valova, Marina S.; Koryakova, Olga V.; Rusinov, Gennady L.; Charushin, Valery N.; Hekmatshoar, Rahim; Sadjadi, Sodeh

We have been studying the development of new asymmetric two-center catalysis using rare earth alkoxides and bifunctional sugar and related ligands. In The Fourth International Conference on Multi-Component Reactions and Related Chemistry (MCR 2009), new catalytic asymmetric reactions using catalysts 1 and 2 and catalytic asymmetric syntheses of ranirestat 3 and tamiflu 4 will be presented.
Uncovering the Protostars in Serpens South with ALMA: Continuum Sources and Their Outflow Activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plunkett, Adele; Arce, H.; Corder, S.; Dunham, M.

2017-06-01

Serpens South is an appealing protostellar cluster to study due the combination of several factors: (1) a high protostar fraction that shows evidence for very recent and ongoing star formation; (2) iconic clustered star formation along a filamentary structure; (3) its relative proximity within a few hundred parsecs. An effective study requires the sensitivity, angular and spectral resolution, and mapping capabilities recently provided with ALMA. Here we present a multi-faceted data set acquired from Cycles 1 through 3 with ALMA, including maps of continuum sources and molecular outflows throughout the region, as well as a more focused kinematical study of the protostar that is the strongest continuum source at the cluster center. Together these data span spatial scales over several orders of magnitude, allowing us to investigate the outflow-driving sources and the impact of the outflows on the cluster environment. Currently, we focus on the census of protostars in the cluster center, numbering about 20, including low-flux, low-mass sources never before detected in mm-wavelengths and evidence for multiplicity that was previously unresolved.
7. Survey of Results of Whole Body Imaging Using the PET/CT at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center PET Facility.

PubMed

Martinelli; Townsend; Meltzer; Villemagne

2000-07-01

Purpose: At the University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center, over 100 oncology studies have been performed using a combined PET/CT scanner. The scanner is a prototype, which combines clinical PET and clinical CT imaging in a single unit. The sensitivity achieved using three-dimensional PET imaging as well as the use of the CT for attenuation correction and image fusion make the device ideal for clinical oncology. Clinical indications imaged on the PET/CT scanner include, but are not limited to, tumor staging, solitary pulmonary nodule evaluation, and evaluation of tumor reoccurrence in melanoma, lymphoma, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, head and neck cancer, and renal cancer.Methods: For all studies, seven millicuries of F(18)-fluorodeoxyglucose is injected and a forty-five minute uptake period is allowed prior to positioning the patient in the scanner. A helical CT scan is acquired over the region, or regions of interest followed by a multi-bed whole body PET scan for the same axial extent. The CT scan is used to correct the PET data for attenuation. The entire imaging session lasts 1-1.5 hours depending on the number of beds acquired, and is generally well tolerated by the patient.Results and Conclusion: Based on our experience in over 100 studies, combined PET/CT imaging offers significant advantages, including more accurate localization of focal uptake, distinction of pathology from normal physiological uptake, and improvements in evaluating therapy. These benefits will be illustrated with a number of representative, fully documented studies.
A multi-pathway model for photosynthetic reaction center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, M.; Shen, H. Z.; Yi, X. X.

2016-03-01

Charge separation occurs in a pair of tightly coupled chlorophylls at the heart of photosynthetic reaction centers of both plants and bacteria. Recently it has been shown that quantum coherence can, in principle, enhance the efficiency of a solar cell, working like a quantum heat engine. Here, we propose a biological quantum heat engine (BQHE) motivated by Photosystem II reaction center (PSII RC) to describe the charge separation. Our model mainly considers two charge-separation pathways which is more than that typically considered in the published literature. We explore how these cross-couplings increase the current and power of the charge separation and discuss the effects of multiple pathways in terms of current and power. The robustness of the BQHE against the charge recombination in natural PSII RC and dephasing induced by environments is also explored, and extension from two pathways to multiple pathways is made. These results suggest that noise-induced quantum coherence helps to suppress the influence of acceptor-to-donor charge recombination, and besides, nature-mimicking architectures with engineered multiple pathways for charge separations might be better for artificial solar energy devices considering the influence of environments.
Case studies of Induced Earthquakes in Ohio for 2016 and 2017

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friberg, P. A.; Brudzinski, M.; Kozlowska, M.; Loughner, E.; Langenkamp, T.; Dricker, I.

2017-12-01

Over the last four years, unconventional oil and gas production activity in the Utica shale play in Ohio has induced over 20 earthquake sequences (Friberg et al, 2014; Skoumal et al, 2016; Friberg et al, 2016; Kozlowska et al, in submission) including a few new ones in 2017. The majority of the induced events have been attributed to optimally oriented faults located in crystalline basement rocks, which are closer to the Utica formation than the Marcellus shale, a shallower formation more typically targeted in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. A number of earthquake sequences in 2016 and 2017 are examined using multi-station cross correlation template matching techniques. We examine the Gutenberg-Richter b-values and, where possible, the b-value evolution of the earthquake sequences to help determine seismogensis of the events. Refined earthquake locations using HypoDD are determined using data from stations operated by the USGS, IRIS, ODNR, Miami University, and PASEIS.
Type Ia Supernovae: Nature's Grandest Thermonuclear Explosions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woosley, Stan

2003-10-01

When carbon fusion ignites near the center of an accreting white dwarf near the Chandrasekhar Mass, an irreversible series of events is initiated that ultimately leads to the complete disruption of the star and a bright display powered by radioactive decay. Though studied for over 40 years, the details of how this happens remain elusive. Three areas of uncertainty will be discussed: 1) the "ignition" of the bomb: one point or many, central or off-center; 2) the propagation of an unconfined Rayleigh-Taylor unstable burning front - does a robust transition to detonation occur as the front moves into a regime of ``distributed burning"? 3) the generation of the light curve and the Philipps relation. Studies of question 1), equally critical to the other two, suggest a dipolar flow at ignition time and off-center ignition. There may be an uncontrolable degree of chaos in the peak brightness resulting from the ignition process that will affect how SN Ia are used for cosmology. Question 2) is a frontier subject in the chemical combustion community. Results of new multi-dimensional studies will be presented. Question 3) involves atomic physics more than hydrodynamics, but current views suggest that SN Ia light curves should be characterized, at some level, by more than a single parameter.
Weaning practices among pastoralists: New evidence of infant feeding patterns from Bronze Age Eurasia.

PubMed

Ventresca Miller, Alicia; Hanks, Bryan K; Judd, Margaret; Epimakhov, Andrey; Razhev, Dmitry

2017-03-01

This paper investigates infant feeding practices through stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotopic analyses of human bone collagen from Kamennyi Ambar 5, a Middle Bronze Age cemetery located in central Eurasia. The results presented are unique for the time period and region, as few cemeteries have been excavated to reveal a demographic cross-section of the population. Studies of weaning among pastoral societies are infrequent and this research adds to our knowledge of the timing, potential supplementary foods, and cessation of breastfeeding practices. Samples were collected from 41 subadults (<15 years) and 27 adults (15+ years). Isotopic reference sets from adult humans as well as faunal remains were utilized as these form the primary and complementary foods fed to infants. Slight shifts in δ 13 C and δ 15 N values revealed that weaning was a multi-stage process (breastfeeding, weaning, and complete cessation of nursing) that began at 6 months of age, occurred over several years of early childhood, and was completed by 4 years of age. Our results indicate that weaning was a multi-stage process that was unique among late prehistoric pastoralist groups in Eurasia that were dependent on milk products as a supplementary food. Our discussion centers on supporting this hypothesis with modern information on central and east Eurasian herding societies including the age at which complementary foods are introduced, the types of complementary foods, and the timing of the cessation of breastfeeding. Integral to this work is the nature of pastoral economies and their dependence on animal products, the impact of complementary foods on nutrition and health, and how milk processing may have affected nutrition content and digestibility of foods. This research on Eurasian pastoralists provides insights into the complexities of weaning among prehistoric pastoral societies as well as the potential for different complementary foods to be incorporated into infant diets in the past. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
On-the-Fly Generation of Differential Resonance Scattering Probability Distribution Functions for Monte Carlo Codes

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

Davidson, Eva E.; Martin, William R.

Current Monte Carlo codes use one of three models: (1) the asymptotic scattering model, (2) the free gas scattering model, or (3) the S(α,β) model, depending on the neutron energy and the specific Monte Carlo code. This thesis addresses the consequences of using the free gas scattering model, which assumes that the neutron interacts with atoms in thermal motion in a monatomic gas in thermal equilibrium at material temperature, T. Most importantly, the free gas model assumes the scattering cross section is constant over the neutron energy range, which is usually a good approximation for light nuclei, but not formore » heavy nuclei where the scattering cross section may have several resonances in the epithermal region. Several researchers in the field have shown that the exact resonance scattering model is temperaturedependent, and neglecting the resonances in the lower epithermal range can under-predict resonance absorption due to the upscattering phenomenon mentioned above, leading to an over-prediction of keff by several hundred pcm. Existing methods to address this issue involve changing the neutron weights or implementing an extra rejection scheme in the free gas sampling scheme, and these all involve performing the collision analysis in the center-of-mass frame, followed by a conversion back to the laboratory frame to continue the random walk of the neutron. The goal of this paper was to develop a sampling methodology that (1) accounted for the energydependent scattering cross sections in the collision analysis and (2) was performed in the laboratory frame,avoiding the conversion to the center-of-mass frame. The energy dependence of the scattering cross section was modeled with even-ordered polynomials (2nd and 4th order) to approximate the scattering cross section in Blackshaw’s equations for the moments of the differential scattering PDFs. These moments were used to sample the outgoing neutron speed and angle in the laboratory frame on-the-fly during the random walk of the neutron. Results for criticality studies on fuel pin and fuel assembly calculations using methods developed in this dissertation showed very close comparison to results using the reference Dopplerbroadened rejection correction (DBRC) scheme.« less
On-the-Fly Generation of Differential Resonance Scattering Probability Distribution Functions for Monte Carlo Codes

DOE PAGES

Davidson, Eva E.; Martin, William R.

2017-05-26

Current Monte Carlo codes use one of three models: (1) the asymptotic scattering model, (2) the free gas scattering model, or (3) the S(α,β) model, depending on the neutron energy and the specific Monte Carlo code. This thesis addresses the consequences of using the free gas scattering model, which assumes that the neutron interacts with atoms in thermal motion in a monatomic gas in thermal equilibrium at material temperature, T. Most importantly, the free gas model assumes the scattering cross section is constant over the neutron energy range, which is usually a good approximation for light nuclei, but not formore » heavy nuclei where the scattering cross section may have several resonances in the epithermal region. Several researchers in the field have shown that the exact resonance scattering model is temperaturedependent, and neglecting the resonances in the lower epithermal range can under-predict resonance absorption due to the upscattering phenomenon mentioned above, leading to an over-prediction of keff by several hundred pcm. Existing methods to address this issue involve changing the neutron weights or implementing an extra rejection scheme in the free gas sampling scheme, and these all involve performing the collision analysis in the center-of-mass frame, followed by a conversion back to the laboratory frame to continue the random walk of the neutron. The goal of this paper was to develop a sampling methodology that (1) accounted for the energydependent scattering cross sections in the collision analysis and (2) was performed in the laboratory frame,avoiding the conversion to the center-of-mass frame. The energy dependence of the scattering cross section was modeled with even-ordered polynomials (2nd and 4th order) to approximate the scattering cross section in Blackshaw’s equations for the moments of the differential scattering PDFs. These moments were used to sample the outgoing neutron speed and angle in the laboratory frame on-the-fly during the random walk of the neutron. Results for criticality studies on fuel pin and fuel assembly calculations using methods developed in this dissertation showed very close comparison to results using the reference Dopplerbroadened rejection correction (DBRC) scheme.« less

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