The effect of corn trypsin inhibitor and inhibiting antibodies for FXIa and FXIIa on coagulation of plasma and whole blood.

PubMed

Hansson, K M; Nielsen, S; Elg, M; Deinum, J

2014-10-01

Corn trypsin inhibitor (CTI), an inhibitor of FXIIa, is used to prevent plasma coagulation by contact activation, to specifically investigate tissue factor (TF)-initiated coagulation. In the present work the specificity of CTI for factor (F) XIIa is questioned. In the commercial available plasma coagulation assays CTI was found to double activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) at a plasma concentration of 7.3 ± 1.5 μm CTI (assay concentration 2.4 μm). No effect was found on the prothrombin time (PT) when high TF concentrations were used. Also, with specific antibodies for FXIIa and for FXIa only APTT was found to be extended but not PT. With specific enzyme assays using chromogenic substrates CTI was shown to be a strong inhibitor of FXIIa and a competitive inhibitor of FXIa with Ki  = 8.1 ± 0.3 μm, without effect on the coagulation factors FVIIa, FIXa, FXa and thrombin. In thrombin generation and coagulation (free oscillation rheometry, FOR) assays, initiated with low TF concentrations, no effect of CTI (plasma concentrations of 4.4 and 13.6 μm CTI, 25 resp. 100 mg L(-1) in blood) was found with ≥ 1 pm TF. At ≤ 0.1 pm TF in the FOR whole blood assay the coagulation time (CT) concentration dependently increased while the plasma CT became longer than the observation time. To avoid inhibition of FXIa and the thrombin feedback loop we recommend that for coagulation assays the concentration of CTI in blood should be below 20 mg L(-1) (1.6 μm) and in plasma below 3 μm. © 2014 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

Assessment of the Compound Topographic Index CTI to predict Potential Ephemeral Gullies in Navarre (Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chahor, Y.; Casalí, J.; Giménez, R.

2012-04-01

Ephemeral gullies are relatively small (susceptible of being obliterated by conventional tillage operation) eroded channels that are able to generate however important in-site and off-site damages (removal of top soil and nutrients, degradation of drinking water quality, contamination of aquatic ecosystems, siltation, etc.). Gully initiation and development in a watershed is greatly driven by topographic factors. Precisely, several topographic indexes have been used to identify areas with risk of gully erosion. Among them, the Compound Topographic Index (CTI= A.S.PLANC; A: upstream drainage area, S: local slope, PLANC: planform curvature) is an approach recently implemented in the AnnAGNPS (Annualized Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution) model. It allows defining the location of potential ephemeral gullies (PEG). The aim of this work was to assess the capability of CTI for predicting PEG mouths (potential headcut) location in an agricultural field of Navarre (Spain) through AnnAGNPS. The study was carried out in a 450 ha area cultivated with wheat and located in Pitillas (southern Navarre). The climate is continental Mediterranean with a mean temperature of 13°C and annual rainfall of 500 mm. Top soil textures are mostly loamy and silt-loam. The 3 topographic components of the CTI were computed by TOPAZ program implemented in AnnAGNPS 5.10 using a digital elevation model of 5-m resolution. The CTI is computed for each raster grid. Then all the values are arranged from the smallest to the largest and then percentiles are calculated (for example, the 95th percentile is the threshold CTI value below which 95% of the CTI values may be found). Grid cells whose values correspond to a percentile lower than 90% are discarded by the model by default. On the other hand, 31 ephemeral gullies located within the studied agricultural field were selected from orthophotos (1:5,000). Natural drainage channels located in abandoned, steep pieces of terrain were not considered in our analysis. The model was run using alternatively CTI values with percentiles 97%, 98%, 99% and 99.9%. The PEG mouth points cloud generated each time was compared with the points obtained from the orthophoto depicting the selected gullies, looking for the best fit or conversely the smallest error in the prediction of gully location. Error of 29%, 42%, 68% and 87% were determined for CTI values of to 97%, 98%, 99% and 99.9%, respectively. Therefore, CTI values of 97% and 98% can be considered as the best predictor of PEG location for our local conditions.

Osseointegration of chitosan coated porous titanium alloy implant by reactive oxygen species-mediated activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway under diabetic conditions.

PubMed

Li, Xiang; Ma, Xiang-Yu; Feng, Ya-Fei; Ma, Zhen-Sheng; Wang, Jian; Ma, Tian-Cheng; Qi, Wei; Lei, Wei; Wang, Lin

2015-01-01

Chitosan coated porous titanium alloy implant (CTI) is demonstrated a promising approach to improve osseointegration capacity of pure porous titanium alloy implant (TI). Since chitosan has been demonstrated to exhibit antioxidant activity, we propose CTI may ameliorate the ROS overproduction, thus reverse the poor osseointegration under diabetic conditions, and investigate the underlying mechanisms. Primary rat osteoblasts incubated on the TI and the CTI were subjected to normal serum (NS), diabetic serum (DS), DS + NAC (a potent ROS inhibitor) and DS + LY294002 (a PI3K/AKT-specific inhibitor). In vivo study was performed on diabetic sheep implanted with TI or CTI into the bone defects on crista iliaca. Results showed that diabetes-induced ROS overproduction led to osteoblast dysfunction and apoptosis, concomitant with the inhibition of AKT in osteoblasts on the TI substrate. While CTI stimulated AKT phosphorylation through ROS attenuation, thus reversed osteoblast dysfunction evidenced by improved osteoblast adhesion, increased proliferation and ALP activity, and decreased cytotoxicity and apoptotic rate, which exerted same effect to NAC treatment on the TI. These effects were further confirmed by the improved osseointegration within the CTI in vivo evidenced by Micro-CT and histological examinations. In addition, the aforementioned promotive effects afforded by CTI were abolished by blocking PI3K/AKT pathway with addition of LY294002. These results demonstrate that the chitosan coating markedly ameliorates diabetes-induced impaired bio-performance of TI via ROS-mediated reactivation of PI3K/AKT pathway, which elicits a new surface functionalization strategy for better clinical performance of titanium implant in diabetic patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Archive of digital Chirp sub-bottom profile data collected during USGS Cruise 07SCC01 offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, June 2007

USGS Publications Warehouse

Forde, Arnell S.; Dadisman, Shawn V.; Flocks, James G.; Wiese, Dana S.

2010-01-01

In June of 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a geophysical survey offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, in cooperation with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR) as part of the USGS Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) project. This project is part of a broader study focused on Subsidence and Coastal Change (SCC). The purpose of the study was to investigate the shallow geologic framework and monitor the enviromental impacts of Hurricane Katrina (Louisiana landfall was on August 29, 2005) on the Gulf Coast's barrier island chains. This report serves as an archive of unprocessed digital 512i and 424 Chirp sub-bottom profile data, trackline maps, navigation files, Geographic Information System (GIS) files, Field Activity Collection System (FACS) logs, observer's logbook, and formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata. Gained (a relative increase in signal amplitude) digital images of the seismic profiles are also provided. Refer to the Acronyms page for expansion of acronyms and abbreviations used in this report. The USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) assigns a unique identifier to each cruise or field activity. For example, 07SCC01 tells us the data were collected in 2007 for the Subsidence and Coastal Change (SCC) study and the data were collected during the first field activity for that study in that calendar year. Refer to http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/infobank/programs/html/definition/activity.html for a detailed description of the method used to assign the field activity identification (ID). All Chirp systems use a signal of continuously varying frequency; the Chirp systems used during this survey produce high resolution, shallow penetration profile images beneath the seafloor. The towfish is a sound source and receiver, which is typically towed 1 - 2 m below the sea surface. The acoustic energy is reflected at density boundaries (such as the seafloor or sediment layers beneath the seafloor), detected by a receiver, and recorded by a PC-based seismic acquisition system. This process is repeated at timed intervals (for example, 0.125 s) and recorded for specific intervals of time (for example, 50 ms). In this way, a two-dimensional vertical image of the shallow geologic structure beneath the ship track is produced. Figure 1 displays the acquisition geometry. Refer to table 1 for a summary of acquisition parameters. See the digital FACS equipment log (11-KB PDF) for details about the acquisition equipment used. Table 2 lists trackline statistics. Scanned images of the handwritten FACS logs and handwritten science logbook (449-KB PDF) are also provided. The archived trace data are in standard Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) SEG-Y rev 1 format (Norris and Faichney, 2002); ASCII character encoding is used for the first 3,200 bytes of the card image header instead of the SEG-Y rev 0 (Barry and others, 1975) EBCDIC format. The SEG-Y files may be downloaded and processed with commercial or public domain software such as Seismic Unix (SU) (Cohen and Stockwell, 2010). See the How To Download SEG-Y Data page for download instructions. The web version of this archive does not contain the SEG-Y trace files. These files are very large and would require extremely long download times. To obtain the complete DVD archive, contact USGS Information at 1-888-ASK-USGS or infoservices@usgs.gov. The printable profiles provided here are GIF images that were processed and gained using SU software; refer to the Software page for links to example SU processing scripts and USGS software for viewing the SEG-Y files (Zihlman, 1992). The processed SEG-Y data were also exported to Chesapeake Technology, Inc. (CTI) SonarWeb software to produce an interactive version of the profile that allows the user to obtain a geographic location and depth from the profile for a given cursor position. This information is displayed in the status bar of the browser.

Archive of Digital Boomer Seismic Reflection Data Collected During USGS Field Activity 08LCA01 in 10 Central Florida Lakes, March 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harrison, Arnell S.; Dadisman, Shawn V.; Davis, Jeffrey B.; Flocks, James G.; Wiese, Dana S.

2009-01-01

In March of 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey and St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) conducted geophysical surveys in Lakes Avalon, Big, Colby, Helen, Johns, Prevatt, Searcy, Saunders, Three Island, and Trout, located in central Florida, as part of the USGS Lakes and Coastal Aquifers (LCA) study. This report serves as an archive of unprocessed digital boomer seismic reflection data, trackline maps, navigation files, Field Activity Collection System (FACS) logs, Geographic Information System (GIS) files, and formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata. Filtered and gained (a relative increase in signal amplitude) digital images of the seismic profiles are also provided. Refer to the Acronyms page for expansions of acronyms and abbreviations used in this report. The archived trace data are in standard Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) SEG-Y format (Barry and others, 1975) and may be downloaded and processed with commercial or public domain software such as Seismic Unix (SU) (Cohen and Stockwell, 2005). Example SU processing scripts and USGS software for viewing the SEG-Y files (Zihlman, 1992) are also provided. The USGS Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC) - St. Petersburg assigns a unique identifier to each cruise or field activity. For example, 08LCA01 tells us the data were collected in 2008 for the Lakes and Coastal Aquifers (LCA) study and the data were collected during the first field activity for that study in that calendar year. Refer to http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/infobank/programs/html/definition/activity.html for a detailed description of the method used to assign the field activity ID. The naming convention used for each seismic line is as follows: yye##a, where yy is the last two digits of the year in which the data were collected, e is a 1-letter abbreviation for the equipment type (for example, b for boomer), ## is a 2-digit number representing a specific track, and a is a letter representing the section of a line if recording was prematurely terminated or rerun for quality or acquisition problems. The boomer plate is an acoustic energy source that consists of capacitors charged to a high voltage and discharged through a transducer in the water. The transducer is towed on a sled floating on the water surface and when discharged emits a short acoustic pulse, or shot, which propagates through the water, sediment column, or rock beneath. The acoustic energy is reflected at density boundaries (such as the lake bottom, sediment, or rock layers beneath the lake bottom), detected by the receiver, and recorded by a PC-based seismic acquisition system. This process is repeated at timed intervals (for example, 0.5 s) and recorded for specific intervals of time (for example, 100 ms). In this way, a two-dimensional (2-D) vertical profile of the shallow geologic structure beneath the ship track is produced. Figure 1 displays the three boomer acquisition geometries used during this survey. The second method was used because windy weather conditions hindered steerage, and driving the boat in reverse actually helped maintain course and prevented the possibility of the streamer cables becoming entangled in the boat propellers. The third method was used to help attenuate propeller and generator noise. Refer to table 1 for a summary of acquisition parameters. Table 2 lists trackline statistics. The unprocessed seismic data are stored in SEG-Y format (Barry and others, 1975). For a detailed description of the data format, refer to the SEG-Y Format page. See the How To Download SEG-Y Data page for download instructions. The printable profiles provided here are GIF images that were filtered and gained using Seismic Unix software. Refer to the Software page for details about the processing and examples of the processing scripts. The processed SEG-Y data were exported to Chesapeake Technology, Inc. (CTI) SonarWeb software to produce a geospatially interactive Web page of the profile,

Characterization of Ceramic Composite Materials Using Terahertz Non-Destructive Evaluation Techniques (Preprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-01

1.50 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Re fle cti vit y Frequency (THz) Pre-Treatment Post Heat Treatment Heat Treatment of SiNC Based CMC a 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75...1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 -0.10 -0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 Re fle cti vit y Frequency (THz) Pre-Treatment Post...Post Dwell Fatigue Treatment Re fle cti vit y Frequency (THz) 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 Re fle cti vit y

Characteristics of Cavotricuspid Isthmus Ablation for Atrial Flutter Guided by Novel Parameters Using a Contact Force Catheter.

PubMed

Gould, Paul A; Booth, Cameron; Dauber, Kieran; Ng, Kevin; Claughton, Andrew; Kaye, Gerald C

2016-12-01

This study sought to investigate specific contact force (CF) parameters to guide cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) ablation and compare the outcome with a historical control cohort. Patients (30) undergoing CTI ablation were enrolled prospectively in the Study cohort and compared with a retrospective Control cohort of 30 patients. Ablation in the Study cohort was performed using CF parameters >10 g and <40 g and a Force Time Integral (FTI) of 800 ± 10 g. The Control cohort underwent traditionally guided CTI ablation. Traditional parameters (electrogram and impedance change) were assessed in both cohorts. All ablations regardless of achieving targets were included in data analysis. Bidirectional CTI block was achieved in all of the Study and 27 of the Control cohort. Atrial flutter recurred in 3 (10%) patients (follow-up 564 ± 212 days) in the study cohort and in 3 (10%) patients (follow-up 804 ± 540 days) in the Control cohort. There were no major complications in either cohort. Traditional parameters correlated poorly with CF parameters. In the Study cohort, flutter recurrence was associated with significantly lower FTI and ablation duration, but was not associated with total average CF. CTI ablation can be safely performed using CF parameters guiding ablation, with similar long-term results to a historical ablation control group. Potentially CF parameters may provide adjunctive information to enable a more efficient CTI ablation. Further research is required to confirm this. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Chandra Source Catalog 2.0: Calibrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graessle, Dale E.; Evans, Ian N.; Rots, Arnold H.; Allen, Christopher E.; Anderson, Craig S.; Budynkiewicz, Jamie A.; Burke, Douglas; Chen, Judy C.; Civano, Francesca Maria; D'Abrusco, Raffaele; Doe, Stephen M.; Evans, Janet D.; Fabbiano, Giuseppina; Gibbs, Danny G., II; Glotfelty, Kenny J.; Grier, John D.; Hain, Roger; Hall, Diane M.; Harbo, Peter N.; Houck, John C.; Lauer, Jennifer L.; Laurino, Omar; Lee, Nicholas P.; Martínez-Galarza, Juan Rafael; McCollough, Michael L.; McDowell, Jonathan C.; Miller, Joseph; McLaughlin, Warren; Morgan, Douglas L.; Mossman, Amy E.; Nguyen, Dan T.; Nichols, Joy S.; Nowak, Michael A.; Paxson, Charles; Plummer, David A.; Primini, Francis Anthony; Siemiginowska, Aneta; Sundheim, Beth A.; Tibbetts, Michael; Van Stone, David W.; Zografou, Panagoula

2018-01-01

Among the many enhancements implemented for the release of Chandra Source Catalog (CSC) 2.0 are improvements in the processing calibration database (CalDB). We have included a thorough overhaul of the CalDB software used in the processing. The software system upgrade, called "CalDB version 4," allows for a more rational and consistent specification of flight configurations and calibration boundary conditions. Numerous improvements in the specific calibrations applied have also been added. Chandra's radiometric and detector response calibrations vary considerably with time, detector operating temperature, and position on the detector. The CalDB has been enhanced to provide the best calibrations possible to each observation over the fifteen-year period included in CSC 2.0. Calibration updates include an improved ACIS contamination model, as well as updated time-varying gain (i.e., photon energy) and quantum efficiency maps for ACIS and HRC-I. Additionally, improved corrections for the ACIS quantum efficiency losses due to CCD charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) have been added for each of the ten ACIS detectors. These CTI corrections are now time and temperature-dependent, allowing ACIS to maintain a 0.3% energy calibration accuracy over the 0.5-7.0 keV range for any ACIS source in the catalog. Radiometric calibration (effective area) accuracy is estimated at ~4% over that range. We include a few examples where improvements in the Chandra CalDB allow for improved data reduction and modeling for the new CSC.This work has been supported by NASA under contract NAS 8-03060 to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for operation of the Chandra X-ray Center.

Proton radiation damage experiment on P-Channel CCD for an X-ray CCD camera onboard the ASTRO-H satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mori, Koji; Nishioka, Yusuke; Ohura, Satoshi; Koura, Yoshiaki; Yamauchi, Makoto; Nakajima, Hiroshi; Ueda, Shutaro; Kan, Hiroaki; Anabuki, Naohisa; Nagino, Ryo; Hayashida, Kiyoshi; Tsunemi, Hiroshi; Kohmura, Takayoshi; Ikeda, Shoma; Murakami, Hiroshi; Ozaki, Masanobu; Dotani, Tadayasu; Maeda, Yukie; Sagara, Kenshi

2013-12-01

We report on a proton radiation damage experiment on P-channel CCD newly developed for an X-ray CCD camera onboard the ASTRO-H satellite. The device was exposed up to 109 protons cm-2 at 6.7 MeV. The charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) was measured as a function of radiation dose. In comparison with the CTI currently measured in the CCD camera onboard the Suzaku satellite for 6 years, we confirmed that the new type of P-channel CCD is radiation tolerant enough for space use. We also confirmed that a charge-injection technique and lowering the operating temperature efficiently work to reduce the CTI for our device. A comparison with other P-channel CCD experiments is also discussed. We performed a proton radiation damage experiment on a new P-channel CCD. The device was exposed up to 109 protons cm-2 at 6.7 MeV. We confirmed that it is radiation tolerant enough for space use. We confirmed that a charge-injection technique reduces the CTI. We confirmed that lowering the operating temperature also reduces the CTI.

The benefit of tissue contact monitoring with an electrical coupling index during ablation of typical atrial flutter--a prospective randomised control trial.

PubMed

Jones, Michael A; Webster, David; Wong, Kelvin C K; Hayes, Christopher; Qureshi, Norman; Rajappan, Kim; Bashir, Yaver; Betts, Timothy R

2014-12-01

We sought to investigate the use of tissue contact monitoring by means of the electrical coupling index (ECI) in a prospective randomised control trial of patients undergoing cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) ablation for atrial flutter. Patients with ECG-documented typical flutter undergoing their first CTI ablation were randomised to ECI™-guided or non-ECI™-guided ablation. An irrigated-tip ablation catheter was used in all cases. Consecutive 50-W, 60-s radiofrequency lesions were applied to the CTI, from the tricuspid valve to inferior vena cava, with no catheter movement permitted during radiofrequency (RF) delivery. The ablation endpoint was durable CTI block at 20 min post-ablation. Patients underwent routine clinic follow-up post-operatively. A total of 101 patients (79 male), mean age 66 (+/-11), 50 ECI-guided and 51 control cases were enrolled in the study. CTI block was achieved in all. There were no acute complications. All patients were alive at follow-up. CTI block was achieved in a single pass in 36 ECI-guided and 30 control cases (p = 0.16), and at 20 min post-ablation, re-conduction was seen in 5 and 12 cases, respectively (p = 0.07). There was no significant difference in total procedure time (62.7 ± 33 vs. 62.3 ± 33 min, p = 0.92), RF requirement (580 ± 312 vs. 574 ± 287 s, p = 0.11) or fluoroscopy time (718 ± 577 vs. 721 ± 583 s, p = 0.78). After 6 ± 4 months, recurrence of flutter had occurred in 1 (2 %) ECI vs. 8 (16 %) control cases (OR 0.13, 95 % CI 0.01-1.08, p = 0.06). ECI-guided CTI ablation demonstrated a non-statistically significant reduction in late recurrence of atrial flutter, at no cost to procedural time, radiation exposure or RF requirement.

Anomalous Annealing of a High-Resistivity CCD Irradiated at Low Temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bautz, M.; Prigozhin, G.; Kissel, S.; LaMarr, B.; Grant, C.; Brown, S.

2005-04-01

The front-illuminated charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors in the Chandra X-ray Observatory's ACIS instrument suffered radiation damage from soft protons focused by the telescope mirror early in the mission. In the course of assessing this damage, the focal plane was temporarily warmed from its normal operating temperature (then -100/spl deg/C) to +30/spl deg/C. Following this "bakeout", the radiation-damaged CCDs exhibited significantly greater charge transfer inefficiency (CTI). We performed a laboratory experiment with a sibling of the flight detectors in an attempt to reproduce and better understand this phenomenon. The test CCD was cooled to -100/spl deg/C, irradiated by 120 keV protons and then warmed to +30/spl deg/C for 8 hours. As expected, after the initial irradiation, but before detector warmup, a substantial CTI increase was observed. The subsequent warmup itself then produced an additional factor /spl ap/2.5 increase in CTI. Following smaller subsequent irradiations with the detector cold, a "bakeout" for 8 hours at -60/spl deg/C produced no observable increase in CTI. However, a subsequent bakeout to +30/spl deg/C for another 8 hours resulted in an additional increase in CTI of roughly 15%. The CTI changes produced by the room temperature bakeout are accompanied by dramatic changes in the de-trapping times of electron traps responsible for the CTI. The distributions of signal amplitudes in the pixels trailing X-ray events indicate that annealing at room temperature can cause large changes of the trap emission times, from which we infer that conversion of trapping defects takes place. The observed phenomena can be explained by the previously suggested mechanism of carbon-related defect transformation. Specifically, the room-temperature annealing may allow carbon interstitials to form metastable complexes with phosphorus and/or carbon substitutional atoms.

Improving the community-temperature index as a climate change indicator.

PubMed

Bowler, Diana; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin

2017-01-01

Climate change indicators are tools to assess, visualize and communicate the impacts of climate change on species and communities. Indicators that can be applied to different taxa are particularly useful because they allow comparative analysis to identify which kinds of species are being more affected. A general prediction, supported by empirical data, is that the abundance of warm-adapted species should increase over time, relative to the cool-adapted ones within communities, under increasing ambient temperatures. The community temperature index (CTI) is a community weighted mean of species' temperature preferences and has been used as an indicator to summarize this temporal shift. The CTI has the advantages of being a simple and generalizable indicator; however, a core problem is that temporal trends in the CTI may not only reflect changes in temperature. This is because species' temperature preferences often covary with other species attributes, and these other attributes may affect species response to other environmental drivers. Here, we propose a novel model-based approach that separates the effects of temperature preference from the effects of other species attributes on species' abundances and subsequently on the CTI. Using long-term population data of breeding birds in Denmark and demersal marine fish in the southeastern North Sea, we find differences in CTI trends with the original approach and our model-based approach, which may affect interpretation of climate change impacts. We suggest that our method can be used to test the robustness of CTI trends to the possible effects of other drivers of change, apart from climate change.

The influence of a motivational climate intervention on participants' salivary cortisol and psychological responses.

PubMed

Hogue, Candace M; Fry, Mary D; Fry, Andrew C; Pressman, Sarah D

2013-02-01

Research in achievement goal perspective theory suggests that the creation of a caring/task-involving (C/TI) climate results in more advantageous psychological and behavioral responses relative to an ego-involving (EI) climate; however, research has not yet examined the physiological consequences associated with psychological stress in relation to climate. Given the possible health and fitness implications of certain physiological stress responses, it is critical to understand this association. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine whether an EI climate procures increases in the stress-responsive hormone cortisol, as well as negative psychological changes, following the learning of a new skill, compared with a C/TI climate. Participants (n = 107) were randomized to a C/TI or an EI climate in which they learned how to juggle for 30 min over the course of 2 hr. Seven salivary cortisol samples were collected during this period. Results indicated that EI participants experienced greater cortisol responses after the juggling session and significantly greater anxiety, stress, shame, and self-consciousness relative to C/TI participants. In contrast, the C/TI participants reported greater enjoyment, effort, self-confidence, and interest and excitement regarding future juggling than the EI participants. These findings indicate that motivational climates may have a significant impact on both the physiological and psychological responses of participants.

The effectiveness of critical time intervention for abused women leaving women's shelters: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Lako, Danielle A M; Beijersbergen, Mariëlle D; Jonker, Irene E; de Vet, Renée; Herman, Daniel B; van Hemert, Albert M; Wolf, Judith R L M

2018-05-01

To examine the effectiveness of critical time intervention (CTI)-an evidence-based intervention-for abused women transitioning from women's shelters to community living. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in nine women's shelters across the Netherlands. 136 women were assigned to CTI (n = 70) or care-as-usual (n = 66). Data were analyzed using intention-to-treat three-level mixed-effects models. Women in the CTI group had significant fewer symptoms of post-traumatic stress (secondary outcome) (adjusted mean difference - 7.27, 95% CI - 14.31 to - 0.22) and a significant fourfold reduction in unmet care needs (intermediate outcome) (95% CI 0.06-0.94) compared to women in the care-as-usual group. No differences were found for quality of life (primary outcome), re-abuse, symptoms of depression, psychological distress, self-esteem (secondary outcomes), family support, and social support (intermediate outcomes). This study shows that CTI is effective in a population of abused women in terms of a reduction of post-traumatic stress symptoms and unmet care needs. Because follow-up ended after the prescribed intervention period, further research is needed to determine the full long-term effects of CTI in this population.

Terrestrial Ecosystems - Topographic Moisture Potential of the Conterminous United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cress, Jill J.; Sayre, Roger G.; Comer, Patrick; Warner, Harumi

2009-01-01

As part of an effort to map terrestrial ecosystems, the U.S. Geological Survey has generated topographic moisture potential classes to be used in creating maps depicting standardized, terrestrial ecosystem models for the conterminous United States, using an ecosystems classification developed by NatureServe. A biophysical stratification approach, developed for South America and now being implemented globally, was used to model the ecosystem distributions. Substrate moisture regimes strongly influence the differentiation and distribution of terrestrial ecosystems, and therefore topographic moisture potential is one of the key input layers in this biophysical stratification. The method used to produce these topographic moisture potential classes was based on the derivation of ground moisture potential using a combination of computed topographic characteristics (CTI, slope, and aspect) and mapped National Wetland Inventory (NWI) boundaries. This method does not use climate or soil attributes to calculate relative topographic moisture potential since these characteristics are incorporated into the ecosystem model though other input layers. All of the topographic data used for this assessment were derived from the USGS 30-meter National Elevation Dataset (NED ) including the National Compound Topographic Index (CTI). The CTI index is a topographically derived measure of slope for a raster cell and the contributing area from upstream raster cells, and thus expresses potential for water flow to a point. In other words CTI data are 'a quantification of the position of a site in the local landscape', where the lowest values indicate ridges and the highest values indicate stream channels, lakes and ponds. These CTI values were compared to independent estimates of water accumulation by obtaining geospatial data from a number of sample locations representing two types of NWI boundaries: freshwater emergent wetlands and freshwater forested/shrub wetlands. Where these shorelines (the interface between the NWI wetlands and adjacent land) occurred, the CTI values were extracted and a histogram of their statistical distributions was calculated. Based on an evaluation of these histograms, CTI thresholds were developed to separate periodically saturated or flooded land, mesic uplands (moderately moist), and uplands. After the range of CTI values for these three different substrate moisture regimes was determined, the CTI values were grouped into three initial topographic moisture potential classes. As a final step in the generation of this national data layer, the uplands classification was subdivided into either very dry uplands or dry uplands. Very dry uplands were defined as uplands with relatively steep, south-facing slopes, and identification of this class was based on the slope and aspect datasets derived from the NED. The remaining uplands that did not meet these additional criteria were simply re-classified as dry uplands. The final National Topographic Moisture Potential dataset for the conterminous United States contains four classes: periodically saturated or flooded land (CTI = 18.5), mesic uplands (12 = 24 degrees and 91 degrees =< Aspect =< 314 degrees). This map shows a smoothed and generalized image of the four topographic moisture potential classes. Additional information about this map and any of the data developed for the ecosystems modeling of the conterminous United States is available online at http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/ecosystems/.

Delays in hiring Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) graduates and the impact on their training success rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jorgenson, Terra A.

This research project identified three distinct groups of individuals the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) utilizes when filling the employee ranks of Air Traffic Controllers (ATC). After a nationwide strike, President Reagan fired the entire ATC workforce in 1981 (Pavel, 2012). Since then the FAA has worked very diligently in filling the vacant positions. Now three decades later the impending retirements and attrition of those hired earlier is estimated at nearly 14,000 controllers over the next 10 years (FAA CWP, 2012). In response to this shortage it would be advantageous for the FAA to minimize the time lapsed in the selection, hiring and training processes. If the hiring process time was decreased, it would save the FAA money in terms of a reduction in the initial cost of training Air Traffic Controllers (GAO, 2012; IRP, 2011). Traditionally the FAA hires from three distinct groups of people. The first is those with prior ATC experience which was usually obtained through the military. Second the general public with no experience and third the Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) candidates. The AT-CTI program is a valued partner with the FAA that helps educate the next generation of Air Traffic Controllers; however in the past the program has had difficulty producing the total number of replacement controllers needed. Due to the delay some CTI graduates may choose other career paths rather than wait and be hired to go to the FAA Academy which will further reduce the number of candidates for the FAA to hire. To date, no public research has been done pertaining to the time delay in the hiring process of AT-CTI candidates and the impact on training success at the FAA Academy and at the CTI's first FAA facility. This study used a survey tool to gather information on how long AT-CTI graduates wait to be hired to attend the FAA Academy. Information was gathered on the factors that may affect the time lapse between graduation and the time they arrive at the FAA Academy. In addition, the effect of the wait on the success rate of training at the FAA Academy and at the candidate's first facility was examined. Data was collected to examine the relationship between a CTI graduate's performance in the CTI program and the individual's performance during FAA training at the FAA Academy and assignment to their first facility. Through correlation analysis of the Air Traffic Basics (AT-Basic), Air Traffic Selection and Training (AT-SAT) and Performance Verification (PV) scores there was significant correlation between the AT-Basic and PV scores. As the AT-Basic score increases so does the PV scores. There needs to be future research on GPA's, PV's, AT-SAT and AT-Basics scores to determine if any of them are predictors of CTI's success in training. If the FAA can better predict if an applicant will be successful in training, it can save the FAA money in the selection, hiring and training process.

Indirect field technology for detecting areas object of illegal spills harmful to human health: application of drones, photogrammetry and hydrological models.

PubMed

Capolupo, Alessandra; Pindozzi, Stefania; Okello, Collins; Boccia, Lorenzo

2014-12-01

The accumulation of heavy metals in agricultural soils is a serious environmental problem. The Campania region in southern Italy has higher levels of cancer risk, presumably due to the accumulation of geogenic and anthropogenic soil pollutants, some of which have been incorporated into organic matter. The aim of this study was to introduce and test an innovative, field-applicable methodology to detect heavy metal accumulation using drone-based photogrammetry and microrill network modelling, specifically to generate wetlands wetlands prediction indices normally applied at large catchment scales, such as a large geographic basin. The processing of aerial photos taken using a hexacopter equipped with fifth-generation software for photogrammetry allowed the generation of a digital elevation model (DEM) with a resolution as high as 30 mm. Not only this provided a high potential for the study of micro-rill processes, but it was also useful for testing and comparing the capability of the topographic index (TI) and the clima-topographic index (CTI) to predict heavy metal sedimentation points at scales from 0.1 to 10 ha. Our results indicate that the TI and CTI indices can be used to predict points of heavy metal accumulation for small field catchments.

Deep patch technique for landslide repair. Final report

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

Helwany, B.M.

1994-10-01

The report describes the laboratory testing of the `USFS deep patch` technique and a CTI modification of this technique for repairing landslides with geosynthetic reinforcement. The technique involves replacing sections of roadway lost due to landslides on top of a geosynthetically-reinforced embankment. The CTI modification involves replacing the reinforced slope with a geosynthetically-reinforced retaining wall with a truncated base. Both techniques rely on the cantilevering ability of the reinforced mass to limit the load on the foundation with a high slide potential. The tests with road base showed that (1) both the USFS and CTI repair reduced effectively the adversemore » effects of local landsliding on the highway pavement by preventing crack propagation; (2) the USFS repair increased the stability of the repaired slope, which was in progressive failure, by reducing the stresses exerted on it; and (3) the CTI repair produced substantially greater stresses on its foundation due to the truncated base of the reinforced mass.« less

Mobile Learning: A Kaleidoscope

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kruger, Marlena; Bester, Riana

2014-01-01

CTI is an accredited private higher education institution (university) with the Higher Education Council (HEC) in South Africa. Its head office is in Fourways, Johannesburg. CTI has 12 campuses nationwide and offers higher certificates and degrees in commerce and information technology. These BCom and BSc degrees were rolled out to all 12…

Cell Phone-Based Expert Systems for Smoking Cessation

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

computerized tailored intervention (CTI) with feedback messages delivered via cell phone . CTIs have shown increasing promise as useful behavior change programs...behaviors. This will be the first study to adapt a smoking cessation Internet-based CTI to provide personalized feedback on a cell phone to reduce smoking behaviors in military veterans.

Investigating a method for reducing residual switch costs in cued task switching.

PubMed

Schneider, Darryl W

2016-07-01

Residual switch costs in cued task switching are performance decrements that occur despite a long cue-target interval (CTI) to prepare for a task switch. Verbruggen, Liefooghe, Vandierendonck, and Demanet (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33; 342-356, 2007) showed that briefly presenting the cue during the CTI and leaving it absent after target onset yielded smaller residual switch costs than those obtained when the cue was available for the full CTI and remained present after target onset. The potential effects of cue availability during the CTI (full or partial) and cue status after target onset (present or absent) on residual switch costs were investigated in the present study. In Experiments 1 and 2, cue status was manipulated while holding cue availability constant. In Experiments 3 and 4, cue status and cue availability were manipulated factorially. Residual switch costs were obtained, but they were not modulated consistently by cue status or cue availability across experiments. In Experiment 5, a direct replication of one of Verbruggen and colleagues' experiments yielded divergent results. Implications for understanding task switching are discussed.

Automated Boiler Combustion Controls for Emission Reduction and Efficiency Improvement

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

None, None

1998-12-02

In the late 1980s, then President Bush visited Krakow, Poland. The terrible air quality theremotivated him to initiate a USAID-funded program, managed by DOE, entitled "Krakow Clean Fossil Fuels and Energy Efficiency Program." The primary objective of this program was to encourage the formation of commercial ventures between U.S. and Polish firms to provide equipment and/or services to reduce pollution from low-emission sources in Krakow, Poland. This program led to the award of a number of cooperative agreements, including one to Control Techtronics International. The technical objective of CTI's cooperative agreement is to apply combustion controls to existing boiler plantsmore » in Krakow and transfer knowledge and technology through a joint U.S. and Polish commercial venture. CTI installed automatic combustion controls on five coal boilers for the district heating system in Krakow. Three of these were for domestic hot-water boilers, and two were for steam for industrial boilers. The following results have occurred due to the addition of CTI's combustion controls on these five existing boilers: ! 25% energy savings ! 85% reduction in particulate emissions The joint venture company CTI-Polska was then established. Eleven additional technical and costing proposals were initiated to upgrade other coal boilers in Krakow. To date, no co-financing has been made available on the Polish side. CTI-Polska continues in operation, serving customers in Russia and Ukraine. Should the market in Poland materialize, the joint venture company is established there to provide equipment and service.« less

How well can charge transfer inefficiency be corrected? A parameter sensitivity study for iterative correction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Israel, Holger; Massey, Richard; Prod'homme, Thibaut; Cropper, Mark; Cordes, Oliver; Gow, Jason; Kohley, Ralf; Marggraf, Ole; Niemi, Sami; Rhodes, Jason; Short, Alex; Verhoeve, Peter

2015-10-01

Radiation damage to space-based charge-coupled device detectors creates defects which result in an increasing charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) that causes spurious image trailing. Most of the trailing can be corrected during post-processing, by modelling the charge trapping and moving electrons back to where they belong. However, such correction is not perfect - and damage is continuing to accumulate in orbit. To aid future development, we quantify the limitations of current approaches, and determine where imperfect knowledge of model parameters most degrades measurements of photometry and morphology. As a concrete application, we simulate 1.5 × 109 `worst-case' galaxy and 1.5 × 108 star images to test the performance of the Euclid visual instrument detectors. There are two separable challenges. If the model used to correct CTI is perfectly the same as that used to add CTI, 99.68 per cent of spurious ellipticity is corrected in our setup. This is because readout noise is not subject to CTI, but gets overcorrected during correction. Secondly, if we assume the first issue to be solved, knowledge of the charge trap density within Δρ/ρ = (0.0272 ± 0.0005) per cent and the characteristic release time of the dominant species to be known within Δτ/τ = (0.0400 ± 0.0004) per cent will be required. This work presents the next level of definition of in-orbit CTI calibration procedures for Euclid.

Effects of high latitude protected areas on bird communities under rapid climate change.

PubMed

Santangeli, Andrea; Rajasärkkä, Ari; Lehikoinen, Aleksi

2017-06-01

Anthropogenic climate change is rapidly becoming one of the main threats to biodiversity, along with other threats triggered by human-driven land-use change. Species are already responding to climate change by shifting their distributions polewards. This shift may create a spatial mismatch between dynamic species distributions and static protected areas (PAs). As protected areas represent one of the main pillars for preserving biodiversity today and in the future, it is important to assess their contribution in sheltering the biodiversity communities, they were designated to protect. A recent development to investigate climate-driven impacts on biological communities is represented by the community temperature index (CTI). CTI provides a measure of the relative temperature average of a community in a specific assemblage. CTI value will be higher for assemblages dominated by warm species compared with those dominated by cold-dwelling species. We here model changes in the CTI of Finnish bird assemblages, as well as changes in species densities, within and outside of PAs during the past four decades in a large boreal landscape under rapid change. We show that CTI has markedly increased over time across Finland, with this change being similar within and outside PAs and five to seven times slower than the temperature increase. Moreover, CTI has been constantly lower within than outside of PAs, and PAs still support communities, which show colder thermal index than those outside of PAs in the 1970s and 1980s. This result can be explained by the higher relative density of northern species within PAs than outside. Overall, our results provide some, albeit inconclusive, evidence that PAs may play a role in supporting the community of northern species. Results also suggest that communities are, however, shifting rapidly, both inside and outside of PAs, highlighting the need for adjusting conservation measures before it is too late. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Examining Career Readiness and Positive Affect in a Group of College Students with Disabilities: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sears, Susann Heft; Strauser, David R.; Wong, Alex W. K.

2014-01-01

Data were collected from 47 college students with disabilities at a large Midwestern university using the Career Thoughts Inventory ([CTI]; Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, Saunders, 1996) and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale ([PANAS]; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Initial results revealed no significant differences for CTI total,…

Photogrammetry for environmental monitoring: the use of drones and hydrological models for detection of soil contaminated by copper.

PubMed

Capolupo, Alessandra; Pindozzi, Stefania; Okello, Collins; Fiorentino, Nunzio; Boccia, Lorenzo

2015-05-01

Campania Region of Southern Italy has a complex environmental situation, due to geogenic and anthropogenic soil pollution. Some of the pollutants such as copper are mobilized in the organic matter. It has been shown that wetlands provide physical as well as biogeochemical barriers against pollutants. Therefore, the objective of this study was to introduce and test an innovative approach able to predict copper accumulation points at plot scales, using a combination of aerial photos, taken by drones, micro-rill network modelling and wetland prediction indices usually used at catchment scales. Data were collected from an area measuring 4500 m(2) in Trentola Ducenta locality of Caserta Province of southern Italy. The photos processing with a fifth generation software for photogrammetry resulted in a high resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM), used to study micro-rill processes. The DEM was also used to test the ability of Topographic Index (TI) and the Clima-Topographic Index (CTI) to predict copper sedimentation points at plot scale (0.1-10 ha) by comparing the map of the predicted and the actual copper distribution in the field. The DEM obtained with a resolution of 30 mm showed a high potential for the study of micro-rill processes and TI and CTI indices were able to predict zones of copper accumulation at a plot scale. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Selective attention to perceptual dimensions and switching between dimensions.

PubMed

Meiran, Nachshon; Dimov, Eduard; Ganel, Tzvi

2013-02-01

In the present experiments, the question being addressed was whether switching attention between perceptual dimensions and selective attention to dimensions are processes that compete over a common resource? Attention to perceptual dimensions is usually studied by requiring participants to ignore a never-relevant dimension. Selection failure (Garner's Interference, GI) is indicated by poorer performance in the filtering condition (when this dimension varies) as compared with baseline (when it is fixed). Switching between perceptual dimensions is usually studied with the task switching paradigm. In the present experiments, attention switching was manipulated by using single-task blocks and blocks in which participants switched between tasks or dimensions in reaction to task cues, and attention to dimensions was assessed by including a third, never-relevant dimension that was either fixed or varied randomly. In Experiments 1 (long cue-target interval, CTI) and 2 (short CTI), the tasks involved shape and color and the never-relevant dimension (texture) was chosen to be separable from them. In Experiments 3 (long CTI) and 4 (short CTI), the tasks involved shape and brightness and the never-relevant dimension, saturation, was chosen to be separable from shape and integral with brightness. Task switching did not generate GI but a short CTI did. Thus, switching and filtering generally do not compete over central limited resources unless under tight time pressure. Experiment 3 shows GI in the brightness task but not in the shape task, suggesting that participants switched their attention between brightness and shape when they switched tasks. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

A critical discussion on the applicability of Compound Topographic Index (CTI) for predicting ephemeral gully erosion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casalí, Javier; Chahor, Youssef; Giménez, Rafael; Campo-Bescós, Miguel

2016-04-01

The so-called Compound Topographic Index (CTI) can be calculated for each grid cell in a DEM and be used to identify potential locations for ephemeral gullies (e. g.) based on land topography (CTI = A.S.PLANC, where A is upstream drainage area, S is local slope and PLANC is planform curvature, a measure of the landscape convergence) (Parker et al., 2007). It can be shown that CTI represents stream power per unit bed area and it considers the major parameters controlling the pattern and intensity of concentrated surface runoff in the field (Parker et al., 2007). However, other key variables controlling e.g. erosion (e. g. e.) such as soil characteristics, land-use and management, are not had into consideration. The critical CTI value (CTIc) "represents the intensity of concentrated overland flow necessary to initiate erosion and channelised flow under a given set of circumstances" (Parker et al., 2007). AnnAGNPS (Annualized Agriculture Non-Point Source) pollution model is an important management tool developed by (USDA) and uses CTI to locate potential ephemeral gullies. Then, and depending on rainfall characteristics of the period simulated by AnnAGNPS, potential e. g. can become "actual", and be simulated by the model accordingly. This paper presents preliminary results and a number of considerations after evaluating the CTI tool in Navarre. CTIc values found are similar to those cited by other authors, and the e. g. networks that on average occur in the area have been located reasonably well. After our experience we believe that it is necessary to distinguish between the CTIc corresponding to the location of headcuts whose migrations originate the e. g. (CTIc1); and the CTIc necessary to represent the location of the gully networks in the watershed (CTIc2), where gully headcuts are located in the upstream end of the gullies. Most scientists only consider one CTIc value, although, from our point of view, the two situations are different. CTIc1 would represent the minimum intensity of concentrated overland flow necessary to create a migrating gully headcut. Whereas CTIc2 would represent the minimum intensity of concentrated overland flow necessary for a headcud to migrate, once the headcut is created. CTIc1 would be linked to the primary downstream headcut. Whereas CTIc2 would be linked to the final (actual) position of the migrating headcut. This scheme involves accepting that create the incision head and enlarge the gully mouth requires more overland flow intensity than headcut migration itself. Despite several authors use CTIc to characterize the gully network caused by isolated rainfall events, in our opinion this methodology take on its full meaning when it is used to characterize mean trends of e. g. e. in homogeneous areas (in terms of climate, soil class and soil use and management). In addition, this global approach corresponds to the spirit and concept of AnnAGNPS and other management tools, which mainly explore the medium-long term effect of land use and management changes. On the other hand, this global approach minimizes the main limitation of CTI (according to which only topography is considered as controlling factor). However, this shall not preclude the incorporation of other factors (such as soil properties) in a future modified CTI. Another limitation that has been evidenced in our work is that CTI is only useful for the so-called "classical e. g.", which "are considered the prototype ephemeral gully, formed by concentrated runoff flows within the same field where runoff started" (Casalí et al., 1999). This is of interest because in the study area in Navarre, other classes of e. g. such as drainage e. g., which "are created by concentrated flows draining areas upstream from the field" (Casalí et al., 1999), are also very important. Anyway, and despite its limitations, CTI is probably the most widely used approach for predicting e.g. location. REFERENCES Casalí, J., J. J. López, J. V. Giráldez, 1999. Ephemeral gully erosion in southern Navarra (Spain). Catena 36, (1-2): 65-84. Parker, C., C. Thorne, R. Bingner, R. Wells, D. Wilcox. 2007. Automated Mapping of Potential for Ephemeral Gully Formation in Agricultural Watersheds. NSL Tech. Research Report No. 56. Oxford, Miss.: Watershed Physical Processes Research Unit, National Sedimentation Laboratory.

Use of cone beam computed tomography in identifying postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

PubMed

Brasileiro, C B; Chalub, L L F H; Abreu, M H N G; Barreiros, I D; Amaral, T M P; Kakehasi, A M; Mesquita, R A

2017-12-01

The aim of this study is to correlate radiometric indices from cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images and bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women. Quantitative CBCT indices can be used to screen for women with low BMD. Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by the deterioration of bone tissue and the consequent decrease in BMD and increase in bone fragility. Several studies have been performed to assess radiometric indices in panoramic images as low-BMD predictors. The aim of this study is to correlate radiometric indices from CBCT images and BMD in postmenopausal women. Sixty postmenopausal women with indications for dental implants and CBCT evaluation were selected. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was performed, and the patients were divided into normal, osteopenia, and osteoporosis groups, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Cross-sectional images were used to evaluate the computed tomography mandibular index (CTMI), the computed tomography index (inferior) (CTI (I)) and computed tomography index (superior) (CTI (S)). Student's t test was used to compare the differences between the indices of the groups' intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Statistical analysis showed a high degree of interobserver and intraobserver agreement for all measurements (ICC > 0.80). The mean values of CTMI, CTI (S), and CTI (I) were lower in the osteoporosis group than in osteopenia and normal patients (p < 0.05). In comparing normal patients and women with osteopenia, there was no statistically significant difference in the mean value of CTI (I) (p = 0.075). Quantitative CBCT indices may help dentists to screen for women with low spinal and femoral bone mineral density so that they can refer postmenopausal women for bone densitometry.

Randomized Subspace Learning for Proline Cis-Trans Isomerization Prediction.

PubMed

Al-Jarrah, Omar Y; Yoo, Paul D; Taha, Kamal; Muhaidat, Sami; Shami, Abdallah; Zaki, Nazar

2015-01-01

Proline residues are common source of kinetic complications during folding. The X-Pro peptide bond is the only peptide bond for which the stability of the cis and trans conformations is comparable. The cis-trans isomerization (CTI) of X-Pro peptide bonds is a widely recognized rate-limiting factor, which can not only induces additional slow phases in protein folding but also modifies the millisecond and sub-millisecond dynamics of the protein. An accurate computational prediction of proline CTI is of great importance for the understanding of protein folding, splicing, cell signaling, and transmembrane active transport in both the human body and animals. In our earlier work, we successfully developed a biophysically motivated proline CTI predictor utilizing a novel tree-based consensus model with a powerful metalearning technique and achieved 86.58 percent Q2 accuracy and 0.74 Mcc, which is a better result than the results (70-73 percent Q2 accuracies) reported in the literature on the well-referenced benchmark dataset. In this paper, we describe experiments with novel randomized subspace learning and bootstrap seeding techniques as an extension to our earlier work, the consensus models as well as entropy-based learning methods, to obtain better accuracy through a precise and robust learning scheme for proline CTI prediction.

Computerized Tailored Intervention for Behavioral Sequelae of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

pilot tested a viable Internet-based intervention to assist veterans with Post -Traumatic Stress symptoms to progress toward changing negative...veterans’ health and recovery. The three-month feasibility test was designed to assess acceptability and viability of the CTI system and the...aim of the study was to adapt and test the feasibility of a multiple behavior TTM-based CTI designed for the general adult population so that it

An ionospheric occultation inversion technique based on epoch difference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Jian; Xiong, Jing; Zhu, Fuying; Yang, Jian; Qiao, Xuejun

2013-09-01

Of the ionospheric radio occultation (IRO) electron density profile (EDP) retrievals, the Abel based calibrated TEC inversion (CTI) is the most widely used technique. In order to eliminate the contribution from the altitude above the RO satellite, it is necessary to utilize the calibrated TEC to retrieve the EDP, which introduces the error due to the coplanar assumption. In this paper, a new technique based on the epoch difference inversion (EDI) is firstly proposed to eliminate this error. The comparisons between CTI and EDI have been done, taking advantage of the simulated and real COSMIC data. The following conclusions can be drawn: the EDI technique can successfully retrieve the EDPs without non-occultation side measurements and shows better performance than the CTI method, especially for lower orbit mission; no matter which technique is used, the inversion results at the higher altitudes are better than those at the lower altitudes, which could be explained theoretically.

Learning styles: The learning methods of air traffic control students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, Dontae L.

In the world of aviation, air traffic controllers are an integral part in the overall level of safety that is provided. With a number of controllers reaching retirement age, the Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) was created to provide a stronger candidate pool. However, AT-CTI Instructors have found that a number of AT-CTI students are unable to memorize types of aircraft effectively. This study focused on the basic learning styles (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic) of students and created a teaching method to try to increase memorization in AT-CTI students. The participants were asked to take a questionnaire to determine their learning style. Upon knowing their learning styles, participants attended two classroom sessions. The participants were given a presentation in the first class, and divided into a control and experimental group for the second class. The control group was given the same presentation from the first classroom session while the experimental group had a group discussion and utilized Middle Tennessee State University's Air Traffic Control simulator to learn the aircraft types. Participants took a quiz and filled out a survey, which tested the new teaching method. An appropriate statistical analysis was applied to determine if there was a significant difference between the control and experimental groups. The results showed that even though the participants felt that the method increased their learning, there was no significant difference between the two groups.

Chromotomosynthesis for high speed hyperspectral imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bostick, Randall L.; Perram, Glen P.

2012-09-01

A rotating direct vision prism, chromotomosynthetic imaging (CTI) system operating in the visible creates hyperspectral imagery by collecting a set of 2D images with each spectrally projected at a different rotation angle of the prism. Mathematical reconstruction techniques that have been well tested in the field of medical physics are used to reconstruct the data to produce the 3D hyperspectral image. The instrument operates with a 100 mm focusing lens in the spectral range of 400-900 nm with a field of view of 71.6 mrad and angular resolution of 0.8-1.6 μrad. The spectral resolution is 0.6 nm at the shortest wavelengths, degrading to over 10 nm at the longest wavelengths. Measurements using a pointlike target show that performance is limited by chromatic aberration. The accuracy and utility of the instrument is assessed by comparing the CTI results to spatial data collected by a wideband image and hyperspectral data collected using a liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF). The wide-band spatial content of the scene reconstructed from the CTI data is of same or better quality as a single frame collected by the undispersed imaging system with projections taken at every 1°. Performance is dependent on the number of projections used, with projections at 5° producing adequate results in terms of target characterization. The data collected by the CTI system can provide spatial information of equal quality as a comparable imaging system, provide high-frame rate slitless 1-D spectra, and generate 3-D hyperspectral imagery which can be exploited to provide the same results as a traditional multi-band spectral imaging system. While this prototype does not operate at high speeds, components exist which will allow for CTI systems to generate hyperspectral video imagery at rates greater than 100 Hz. The instrument has considerable potential for characterizing bomb detonations, muzzle flashes, and other battlefield combustion events.

Maximum voltage gradient technique for optimization of ablation for typical atrial flutter with zero-fluoroscopy approach

PubMed Central

Deutsch, Karol; Śledź, Janusz; Mazij, Mariusz; Ludwik, Bartosz; Labus, Michał; Karbarz, Dariusz; Pasicka, Bernadetta; Chrabąszcz, Michał; Śledź, Arkadiusz; Klank-Szafran, Monika; Vitali-Sendoz, Laura; Kameczura, Tomasz; Śpikowski, Jerzy; Stec, Piotr; Ujda, Marek; Stec, Sebastian

2017-01-01

Abstract Radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) is an established effective method for the treatment of typical cavo-tricuspid isthmus (CTI)-dependent atrial flutter (AFL). The introduction of 3-dimensional electro-anatomic systems enables RFCA without fluoroscopy (No-X-Ray [NXR]). The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of CTI RFCA during implementation of the NXR approach and the maximum voltage-guided (MVG) technique for ablation of AFL. Data were obtained from prospective standardized multicenter ablation registry. Consecutive patients with the first RFCA for CTI-dependent AFL were recruited. Two navigation approaches (NXR and fluoroscopy based as low as reasonable achievable [ALARA]) and 2 mapping and ablation techniques (MVG and pull-back technique [PBT]) were assessed. NXR + MVG (n  =  164; age: 63.7 ± 9.5; 30% women), NXR + PBT (n  =  55; age: 63.9 ± 10.7; 39% women); ALARA + MVG (n  =  36; age: 64.2 ± 9.6; 39% women); and ALARA + PBT (n  =  205; age: 64.7 ± 9.1; 30% women) were compared, respectively. All groups were simplified with a 2-catheter femoral approach using 8-mm gold tip catheters (Osypka AG, Germany or Biotronik, Germany) with 15 min of observation. The MVG technique was performed using step-by-step application by mapping the largest atrial signals within the CTI. Bidirectional block in CTI was achieved in 99% of all patients (P  =  NS, between groups). In NXR + MVG and NXR + PBT groups, the procedure time decreased (45.4 ± 17.6 and 47.2 ± 15.7 min vs. 52.6 ± 23.7 and 59.8 ± 24.0 min, P < .01) as compared to ALARA + MVG and ALARA + PBT subgroups. In NXR + MVG and NXR + PBT groups, 91% and 98% of the procedures were performed with complete elimination of fluoroscopy. The NXR approach was associated with a significant reduction in fluoroscopy exposure (from 0.2 ± 1.1 [NXR + PBT] and 0.3 ± 1.6 [NXR + MVG] to 7.7 ± 6.0 min [ALARA + MVG] and 9.1 ± 7.2 min [ALARA + PBT], P < .001). The total application time significantly decreased in the MVG technique subgroup both in NXR and ALARA (P < .01). No major complications were observed in either groups. Complete elimination of fluoroscopy is feasible, safe, and effective during RFCA of CTI in almost all AFL patients without cardiac implanted electronic devices. The most optimal method for RFCA of CTI-dependent AFL seems to be MVG; however, it required validation of optimal RFCA's parameters with clinical follow-up. PMID:28640075

Maximum voltage gradient technique for optimization of ablation for typical atrial flutter with zero-fluoroscopy approach.

PubMed

Deutsch, Karol; Śledź, Janusz; Mazij, Mariusz; Ludwik, Bartosz; Labus, Michał; Karbarz, Dariusz; Pasicka, Bernadetta; Chrabąszcz, Michał; Śledź, Arkadiusz; Klank-Szafran, Monika; Vitali-Sendoz, Laura; Kameczura, Tomasz; Śpikowski, Jerzy; Stec, Piotr; Ujda, Marek; Stec, Sebastian

2017-06-01

Radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) is an established effective method for the treatment of typical cavo-tricuspid isthmus (CTI)-dependent atrial flutter (AFL). The introduction of 3-dimensional electro-anatomic systems enables RFCA without fluoroscopy (No-X-Ray [NXR]). The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of CTI RFCA during implementation of the NXR approach and the maximum voltage-guided (MVG) technique for ablation of AFL.Data were obtained from prospective standardized multicenter ablation registry. Consecutive patients with the first RFCA for CTI-dependent AFL were recruited. Two navigation approaches (NXR and fluoroscopy based as low as reasonable achievable [ALARA]) and 2 mapping and ablation techniques (MVG and pull-back technique [PBT]) were assessed. NXR + MVG (n  =  164; age: 63.7 ± 9.5; 30% women), NXR + PBT (n  =  55; age: 63.9 ± 10.7; 39% women); ALARA + MVG (n  =  36; age: 64.2 ± 9.6; 39% women); and ALARA + PBT (n  =  205; age: 64.7 ± 9.1; 30% women) were compared, respectively. All groups were simplified with a 2-catheter femoral approach using 8-mm gold tip catheters (Osypka AG, Germany or Biotronik, Germany) with 15 min of observation. The MVG technique was performed using step-by-step application by mapping the largest atrial signals within the CTI.Bidirectional block in CTI was achieved in 99% of all patients (P  =  NS, between groups). In NXR + MVG and NXR + PBT groups, the procedure time decreased (45.4 ± 17.6 and 47.2 ± 15.7 min vs. 52.6 ± 23.7 and 59.8 ± 24.0 min, P < .01) as compared to ALARA + MVG and ALARA + PBT subgroups. In NXR + MVG and NXR + PBT groups, 91% and 98% of the procedures were performed with complete elimination of fluoroscopy. The NXR approach was associated with a significant reduction in fluoroscopy exposure (from 0.2 ± 1.1 [NXR + PBT] and 0.3 ± 1.6 [NXR + MVG] to 7.7 ± 6.0 min [ALARA + MVG] and 9.1 ± 7.2 min [ALARA + PBT], P < .001). The total application time significantly decreased in the MVG technique subgroup both in NXR and ALARA (P < .01). No major complications were observed in either groups.Complete elimination of fluoroscopy is feasible, safe, and effective during RFCA of CTI in almost all AFL patients without cardiac implanted electronic devices. The most optimal method for RFCA of CTI-dependent AFL seems to be MVG; however, it required validation of optimal RFCA's parameters with clinical follow-up.

Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of Atrial Flutter: A Continuum of Atrial Fibrillation and Vice Versa?

PubMed

Manolis, Antonis S

Atrial flutter (AFlu) is usually a fast (>240 bpm) and regular right atrial macroreentrant tachycardia, with a constrained critical region of the reentry circuit located at the cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI; typical CTI-dependent AFlu). However, a variety of right and left atrial tachycardias, resulting from different mechanisms, can also present as AFlu (atypical non-CTI-dependent AFlu). The electrocardiogram can provide clues to its origin and location; however, additional entrainment and more sophisticated electroanatomical mapping techniques may be required to identify its mechanism, location, and target area for a successful ablation. Although atrial fibrillation and AFlu are 2 separate arrhythmias, they often coexist before and after drug and/or ablation therapies. Indeed, there appears to be a close interrelationship between these 2 arrhythmias, and one may "transform" into the other. These issues are discussed in this overview, and practical algorithms are proposed to guide AFlu localization and illustrate the AFlu and atrial fibrillation continuum.

Chromosomal Thermal Index: a comprehensive way to integrate the thermal adaptation of Drosophila subobscura whole karyotype.

PubMed

Arenas, Conxita; Zivanovic, Goran; Mestres, Francesc

2018-02-01

Drosophila has demonstrated to be an excellent model to study the adaptation of organisms to global warming, with inversion chromosomal polymorphism having a key role in this adaptation. Here, we introduce a new index (Chromosomal Thermal Index or CTI) to quantify the thermal adaptation of a population according to its composition of "warm" and "cold" adapted inversions. This index is intuitive, has good statistical properties, and can be used to hypothesis on the effect of global warming on natural populations. We show the usefulness of CTI using data from European populations of D. subobscura, sampled in different years. Out of 15 comparisons over time, nine showed significant increase of CTI, in accordance with global warming expectations. Although large regions of the genome outside inversions contain thermal adaptation genes, our results show that the total amount of warm or cold inversions in populations seems to be directly involved in thermal adaptation, whereas the interactions between the inversions content of homologous and non-homologous chromosomes are not relevant.

Sacrificial Charge and the Spectral Resolution Performance of ACIS CCDs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grant, Catherine E.; Prigozhin, Gregory; Lamarr, Beverly; Bautz, Mark W.

2002-04-01

Soon after launch, the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS), one of the focal plane instruments on the Chandra X-ray Observatory, suffered radiation damage from exposure to soft protons during passages through the Earth's radiation belts. The ACIS team is continuing to study the properties of the damage with an emphasis on developing techniques to mitigate charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) and spectral resolution degradation. A post-facto CTI corrector has been developed which can effectively recover much of the lost resolution (Townsley et al. 2000, ApJ, 534, L139). Any further improvements in performance will require knowledge of the location and amount of sacrificial charge - charge deposited along the readout path of an event which fills electron traps and changes CTI. We report on efforts by the ACIS Instrument team to characterize which charge traps cause performance degradation and the properties of the sacrificial charge seen on-orbit. We also report on early attempts to correct for the presence of sacrificial charge.

Sacrificial charge and the spectral resolution performance of the Chandra advanced CCD imaging spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grant, Catherine E.; Prigozhin, Gregory Y.; LaMarr, Beverly; Bautz, Mark W.

2003-03-01

Soon after launch, the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS), one of the focal plane instruments on the Chandra X-ray Observatory, suffered radiation damage from exposure to soft protons during passages through the Earth's radiation belts. The ACIS team is continuing to study the properties of the damage with an emphasis on developing techniques to mitigate charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) and spectral resolution degradation. A post-facto CTI corrector has been developed which can effectively recover much of the lost resolution. Any further improvements in performance will require knowledge of the location and amount of sacrificial charge - charge deposited along the readout path of an event which fills electron traps and changes CTI. We report on efforts by the ACIS Instrument team to characterize which charge traps cause performance degradation and the properties of the sacrificial charge seen on-orbit. We also report on attempts to correct X-ray pulseheights for the presence of sacrificial charge.

An iodine supplementation of tomato fruits coated with an edible film of the iodide-doped chitosan.

PubMed

Limchoowong, Nunticha; Sricharoen, Phitchan; Techawongstien, Suchila; Chanthai, Saksit

2016-06-01

In general, the risk of numerous thyroid cancers inevitably increases among people with iodine deficiencies. An iodide-doped chitosan (CT-I) solution was prepared for dipping tomatoes to coat the fresh surface with an edible film (1.5 μm), thereby providing iodine-rich fruits for daily intake. Characterisation of the thin film was conducted by FTIR and SEM. Stability of the CT-I film was studied via water immersion at various time intervals, and no residual iodide leached out due to intrinsic interactions between the cationic amino group of chitosan and iodide ions. Moreover, the iodide supplement exhibited no effect on the antioxidant activity of tomatoes. The iodine content in the film-coated tomato was determined by ICP-OES. The tomato coating with 1.5% (w/v) CT-I contained approximately 0.4 μg iodide per gram fresh weight. In addition, the freshness and storability of iodine-doped tomatoes were also maintained for shelf-life concerns. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Compact Torus Acceleration and Injection Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukumoto, Naoyuki; Fujiwara, Makoto; Nagata, Masayoshi; Uyama, Tadao; Oda, Yasushi; Azuma, Kingo

1996-11-01

The spheromak-type compact torus (CT) acceleration and injection experiment has been carried out using the Himeji Institute of Technology Compact Torus Injector (HIT-CTI). We explore the possibility of refueling, density control, current drive, and edge electric field control of tokamak plasma by means of CT injection. In last September the new HIT-CTI was built up to achieve higher speed (Vct>200 km/s) and higher density CT plasmoid by improving the capacitor bank system and eliminating the impurity and neutral particles. At initial formation discharge tests the gun for formation and compression successfully produced a CT plasmoid and injected it between electrodes for acceleration. (Initial velocity Vct.ini. 32 km/s, Bct 1 kG, Rct=5.5 cm). The formation capacitor bank will be upgraded to two 36 mF capacitors operating at 20 kV (14.4 kJ). The acceleration capacitor bank will be also upgraded to two 36 mF capacitors operating at 20 kV (14.4 kJ). The HIT-CTI will be optimized to obtain suitable CT parameters after acceleration (Bct>5 kG, Lct 20 cm, Vct>200 km/s). In the respect of CT parameter measurement magnetic probes and a He-Ne laser interferometer will be employed in order to measure the CT magnetic field, velocity, density, and length. CT acceleration experimental data on the HIT-CTI and the plan of CT injection experiment on the JFT-2M tokamak (JAERI) will be presented at the meeting.

Compact Torus Injection Experiments on the H.I.T. teststand and the JFT-2M tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukumoto, Naoyuki; Fujiwara, Makoto; Kuramoto, Keiji; Ageishi, Masaya; Nagata, Masayoshi; Uyama, Tadao; Ogawa, Hiroaki; Kasai, Satoshi; Hasegawa, Kouichi; Shibata, Takatoshi

1997-11-01

A spheromak-type compact torus (CT) acceleration and injection experiment has been carried out using the Himeji Institute of Technology Compact Torus Injector (HIT-CTI). We investigate the possibility of refueling, density control, current drive, and edge electric field control of tokamak plasmas by means of CT injection. The HIT-CTI produces a CT with a speed of 200 km/s and a density of 1× 10^21m-3. We have constructed new electrodes and power supplies, and will install the HIT-CTI on the JFT-2M tokamak at JAERI in Autumn 1997. The outer electrode serves as a common ground for both the formation bank (144μF, 20kV) and the acceleration bank (92.4μF, 40kV). If the external toroidal field of the tokamak is applied across the CT acceleration region, the CT kinetic energy might decrease during penetration into the field lines joining the inner and outer electrode. This could result in the CT not being able to reach the core of the tokamak plasma. Determining the optimum position of the inner electrode is one of the near term goals of this research. We will present magnetic probe, He-Ne interferometer and fast framing camera data from experiments at H.I.T., where a CT was accelerated into a transverse field. We will also present initial results from the operation of the HIT-CTI on the JFT-2M tokamak.

Realization of time keeping alarming system based on CTI technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Cheng-Lin; Dong, Shao-Wu

2003-12-01

An application of CTI (Computer Telephone Integration) technique to fault alarming in time keeping system is presented in this paper. Two key parts of this alarming system, telephone phonic card and TTS (Text To Speech) are briefly introduced. A series of events and methods for programming interface based on ActiveX control (phonic.OCX) is discussed, and an alarming program module is developed. The alarming program module can be used in reporting accidents for time keeping system, and can also be applied to power supply system and environmental monitoring system.

Proposal of an environmental performance index to assess solid waste treatment technologies.

PubMed

Coelho, Hosmanny Mauro Goulart; Lange, Liséte Celina; Coelho, Lineker Max Goulart

2012-07-01

Although the concern with sustainable development and environment protection has considerably grown in the last years it is noted that the majority of decision making models and tools are still either excessively tied to economic aspects or geared to the production process. Moreover, existing models focus on the priority steps of solid waste management, beyond waste energy recovery and disposal. So, in order to help the lack of models and tools aiming at the waste treatment and final disposal, a new concept is proposed: the Cleaner Treatment, which is based on the Cleaner Production principles. This paper focuses on the development and validation of the Cleaner Treatment Index (CTI), to assess environmental performance of waste treatment technologies based on the Cleaner Treatment concept. The index is formed by aggregation (summation or product) of several indicators that consists in operational parameters. The weights of the indicator were established by Delphi Method and Brazilian Environmental Laws. In addition, sensitivity analyses were carried out comparing both aggregation methods. Finally, index validation was carried out by applying the CTI to 10 waste-to-energy plants data. From sensitivity analysis and validation results it is possible to infer that summation model is the most suitable aggregation method. For summation method, CTI results were superior to 0.5 (in a scale from 0 to 1) for most facilities evaluated. So, this study demonstrates that CTI is a simple and robust tool to assess and compare the environmental performance of different treatment plants being an excellent quantitative tool to support Cleaner Treatment implementation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Pre-ionization System to Limit Neutral Gas in a Compact Toroid Injector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allfrey, Ian; Roche, Thomas; Matsumoto, Tadafumi; Garate, Eusebio; Gota, Hiroshi; Asai, Tomohiko; the TAE Team

2016-10-01

Fusion plasmas require long lifetimes and high temperatures, both of which are limited by particle loss, among other factors. Therefore, refueling a long-lived advanced beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma in C-2U is necessary, and injecting a supersonic compact toroid (CT) is an effective means of introducing particles into the FRC core. However, neutral gas that trails the CT into the target chamber cools the FRC. Pre-ionization (PI) system assists the break down between electrodes of the CT injector (CTI), so the amount of introduced gas can be lowered by up to a factor of two, effectively increasing the ionization fraction; thus, reducing the amount of neutral gas in the system. Additionally, the PI decreases the delay in CTI breakdown so a highly reproducible operation is achievable. The PI system consists of a fast, high voltage, pulse discharge circuit coupled to a Teflon insulated semi-rigid coaxial cable inserted into the CTI. System details and experimental data will be presented, in addition to issues such as the introduction of impurities and pre-ionizer lifetime.

Topologically invariant double Dirac states in bismuth-based perovskites: Consequence of ambivalent charge states and covalent bonding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khamari, Bramhachari; Kashikar, Ravi; Nanda, B. R. K.

2018-01-01

Density functional calculations and model tight-binding Hamiltonian studies are carried out to examine the bulk and surface electronic structure of the largely unexplored perovskite family of A BiO3 , where A is a group I-II element. From the study, we reveal the existence of two TI states, one in valence band (V-TI) and the other in conduction band (C-TI), as the universal feature of A BiO3 . The V-TI and C-TI are, respectively, born out of bonding and antibonding states caused by Bi-{s ,p } -O-{p } coordinated covalent interactions. Further, we outline a classification scheme in this family where one class follows spin orbit coupling and the other follows the second neighbor Bi-Bi hybridization to induce s-p band inversion for the realization of C-TI states. Below a certain critical thickness of the film, which varies with A , TI states of top and bottom surfaces couple to destroy the Dirac type linear dispersion and consequently to open narrow surface energy gaps.

Solid-state coherent laser radar wind shear measuring systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huffaker, R. Milton

1992-01-01

Coherent Technologies, Inc. (CTI) was established in 1984 to engage in the development of coherent laser radar systems and subsystems with applications in atmospheric remote sensing, and in target tracking, ranging and imaging. CTI focuses its capabilities in three major areas: (1) theoretical performance and design of coherent laser radar system; (2) development of coherent laser radar systems for government agencies such as DoD and NASA; and (3) development of coherent laser radar systems for commercial markets. The topics addressed are: (1) 1.06 micron solid-state coherent laser radar system; (2) wind measurement using 1.06 micron system; and flashlamp-pumped 2.09 micron solid-state coherent laser radar system.

Life Sciences Start-ups in Switzerland: CTI and its Support for Young Entrepreneurs.

PubMed

Sekanina, Klara

2014-12-01

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013, perceived opportunities to start a business in Switzerland are high and rank above average compared to other innovation-based countries. 2013 was a record year for start-ups in Switzerland. Around 40,000 new businesses were recorded in the commercial register and the trend is set to continue. There are two main criteria that lead to success, particularly for science- or technology- based start-ups: first of all, it is the business or product idea itself, and secondly it is the entrepreneurial team. CTI is supporting innovation in a manner that responds to a need in the market identified by industry.

Concordance Between Self-Reported Childhood Maltreatment Versus Case Record Reviews for Child Welfare-Affiliated Adolescents.

PubMed

Negriff, Sonya; Schneiderman, Janet U; Trickett, Penelope K

2017-02-01

The present study used data from an ongoing longitudinal study of the effects of maltreatment on adolescent development to (1) describe rates of maltreatment experiences obtained from retrospective self-report versus case record review for adolescents with child welfare-documented maltreatment histories, (2) examine self-reported versus child welfare-identified maltreatment in relation to mental health and risk behavior outcomes by maltreatment type, and (3) examine the association between the number of different types of maltreatment and mental health and risk behavior outcomes. Maltreatment was coded from case records using the Maltreatment Case Record Abstraction Instrument (MCRAI) and participants were asked at mean age = 18.49 about childhood maltreatment experiences using the Comprehensive Trauma Interview (CTI). Results showed that an average of 48% of maltreatment found by the MCRAI for each type of maltreatment were unique cases not captured by the CTI, whereas an average of 40% self-reported maltreatment (CTI) was not indicated by the MCRAI. Analyses with outcomes showed generally, self-reported maltreatment, regardless of concordance with MCRAI, was related to the poorest outcomes. The difference in associations with the outcomes indicates both self-report and case record review data may have utility depending on the outcomes being assessed.

Concordance Between Self-Reported Childhood Maltreatment Versus Case Record Reviews for Child Welfare–Affiliated Adolescents: Prevalence Rates and Associations With Outcomes

PubMed Central

Negriff, Sonya; Schneiderman, Janet U.; Trickett, Penelope K.

2017-01-01

The present study used data from an ongoing longitudinal study of the effects of maltreatment on adolescent development to (1) describe rates of maltreatment experiences obtained from retrospective self-report versus case record review for adolescents with child welfare–documented maltreatment histories, (2) examine self-reported versus child welfare–identified maltreatment in relation to mental health and risk behavior outcomes by maltreatment type, and (3) examine the association between the number of different types of maltreatment and mental health and risk behavior outcomes. Maltreatment was coded from case records using the Maltreatment Case Record Abstraction Instrument (MCRAI) and participants were asked at mean age = 18.49 about childhood maltreatment experiences using the Comprehensive Trauma Interview (CTI). Results showed that an average of 48% of maltreatment found by the MCRAI for each type of maltreatment were unique cases not captured by the CTI, whereas an average of 40% self-reported maltreatment (CTI) was not indicated by the MCRAI. Analyses with outcomes showed generally, self-reported maltreatment, regardless of concordance with MCRAI, was related to the poorest outcomes. The difference in associations with the outcomes indicates both self-report and case record review data may have utility depending on the outcomes being assessed. PMID:27777329

Enhancement of Electrode Stability Using Platinum-Cobalt Nanocrystals on a Novel Composite SiCTiC Support.

PubMed

Millán, María; Zamora, Héctor; Rodrigo, Manuel A; Lobato, Justo

2017-02-22

PtCo alloy catalysts for high temperature PEMFCs (protonic exchange membrane fuel cells) were synthesized on a novel noncarbonaceous support (SiCTiC) using the impregnation method with NaBH 4 as the reducing agent at different synthesis temperatures to evaluate the effect of this variable on their physicochemical and electrochemical properties. The catalysts were characterized by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray,and temperature-programmed reduction. In addition, the electrochemical characterization (i.e., cyclic voltammetry, oxygen reduction reaction, and chronoamperometry) was carried out with a rotating disk electrode. For the cyclic voltammetry investigation, 400 cycles were performed in hot phosphoric acid and a half-cell to evaluate the stability of the synthesized catalysts. The catalyst synthesized on SiCTiC exhibited excellent durability compared to the catalyst synthesized on a Vulcan support. In addition, all synthesized catalysts exhibited better catalytic activity than that of the PtCo/C catalysts. The best results were observed for the catalyst synthesized at 80 °C due to its shorter Pt-Pt nearest-neighbor and higher alloy degree. Finally, a preliminary stability test was conducted in an HT-PEMFC, and promising results in terms of stability and performance were observed.

Wrapping cytochrome c around single-wall carbon nanotube: engineered nanohybrid building blocks for infrared detection at high quantum efficiency

PubMed Central

Gong, Youpin; Liu, Qingfeng; Wilt, Jamie Samantha; Gong, Maogang; Ren, Shenqiang; Wu, Judy

2015-01-01

Biomolecule cytochrome c (Cty c), a small molecule of a chain of amino acids with extraordinary electron transport, was helically wrapped around a semiconductive single-wall carbon nanotube (s-SWCNT) to form a molecular building block for uncooled infrared detection with two uniquely designed functionalities: exciton dissociation to free charge carriers at the heterojunction formed on the s-SWCNT/Cty c interface and charge transport along the electron conducting chain of Cty c (acceptor) and hole conducting channel through s-SWCNT (donor). Such a design aims at addressing the long-standing challenges in exciton dissociation and charge transport in an SWCNT network, which have bottlenecked development of photonic SWCNT-based infrared detectors. Using these building blocks, uncooled s-SWCNT/Cyt c thin film infrared detectors were synthesized and shown to have extraordinary photoresponsivity up to 0.77 A W−1 due to a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) in exceeding 90%, which represents a more than two orders of magnitude enhancement than the best previously reported on CNT-based infrared detectors with EQE of only 1.72%. From a broad perspective, this work on novel s-SWCNT/Cyt c nanohybrid infrared detectors has developed a successful platform of engineered carbon nanotube/biomolecule building blocks with superior properties for optoelectronic applications. PMID:26066737

Wrapping cytochrome c around single-wall carbon nanotube: engineered nanohybrid building blocks for infrared detection at high quantum efficiency.

PubMed

Gong, Youpin; Liu, Qingfeng; Wilt, Jamie Samantha; Gong, Maogang; Ren, Shenqiang; Wu, Judy

2015-06-11

Biomolecule cytochrome c (Cty c), a small molecule of a chain of amino acids with extraordinary electron transport, was helically wrapped around a semiconductive single-wall carbon nanotube (s-SWCNT) to form a molecular building block for uncooled infrared detection with two uniquely designed functionalities: exciton dissociation to free charge carriers at the heterojunction formed on the s-SWCNT/Cty c interface and charge transport along the electron conducting chain of Cty c (acceptor) and hole conducting channel through s-SWCNT (donor). Such a design aims at addressing the long-standing challenges in exciton dissociation and charge transport in an SWCNT network, which have bottlenecked development of photonic SWCNT-based infrared detectors. Using these building blocks, uncooled s-SWCNT/Cyt c thin film infrared detectors were synthesized and shown to have extraordinary photoresponsivity up to 0.77 A W(-1) due to a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) in exceeding 90%, which represents a more than two orders of magnitude enhancement than the best previously reported on CNT-based infrared detectors with EQE of only 1.72%. From a broad perspective, this work on novel s-SWCNT/Cyt c nanohybrid infrared detectors has developed a successful platform of engineered carbon nanotube/biomolecule building blocks with superior properties for optoelectronic applications.

Is HATCH score a reliable predictor of atrial fibrillation after cavotricuspid isthmus ablation for typical atrial flutter?

PubMed

García-Seara, Javier; Gude Sampedro, Francisco; Martínez Sande, Jose L; Fernández López, Xesus Alberte; Rodríguez Mañero, Moisés; González Melchor, Laila; Alvarez Alvarez, Belén; Iglesias Alvarez, Diego; González Juanatey, José Ramón

2016-09-01

We determined the effectiveness of the HATCH score in patients with typical atrial flutter (AFl) undergoing cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) ablation to predict long-term atrial fibrillation (AF). We conducted an observational retrospective single-center cohort study including all patients admitted to our hospital for a CTI ablation between 1998 and 2010. The patients were divided into four categories: 1) new-onset AF (no prior AF and AF during follow-up (FU)); 2) old AF (prior AF and no AF during FU); 3) prior and post AF (AF prior and post CTI ablation); and 4) no AF. Four hundred and eight patients were included. In patients without prior AF, the hazard ratio (HR) for new-onset AF during FU was 0.98 (CI 95%: 0.65-1.50; p = 0.95) and 1.00 (CI 95%: 0.57-1.77; p = 0.98) for HATCH ≥ 2 and HATCH ≥ 3, respectively. In patients with prior AF, the HR for AF was 1.41 (CI 95%: 0.87-2.28; p = 0.17) and 1.79 (CI 95%: 0.96-3.35; p = 0.06), for HATCH ≥ 2 and HATCH ≥ 3, respectively. Left atrial enlargement was positively correlated with the occurrence of AF during FU, especially in the subgroup without prior AF, which had a HR of 2.44 (CI 95%: 1.35-4.40; p = 0.003), a HR of 2.88 (CI 95%: 1.36-6.10; p = 0.006) and a HR of 3.68 (CI 95%: 1.71-7.94; p = 0.001), for slight, moderate and severely dilated left atrial dimension, respectively, compared with a normal value. HATCH score did not predict AF in patients with typical AFl who underwent CTI ablation. Basal left atrium dimension could help predict new-onset AF.

Six-month follow-up of isthmus-dependent right atrial flutter ablation using a remote magnetic catheter navigation system: a case-control study.

PubMed

Huo, Yan; Hindricks, Gerhard; Piorkowski, Christopher; Bollmann, Andreas; Wetzel, Ulrike; Sommer, Phillip; Gaspar, Thomas; Kottkamp, Hans; Arya, Arash

2010-06-01

The objective of this study was to compare results between the magnetic navigation system (MNS) and conventional catheter ablation of cavo-tricuspid isthmus (CTI)-dependent right atrial flutter (AFL) in a case control study. A remote MNS has been used for ablation of various arrhythmias including CTI-dependent AFL but comparative results between MNS and conventional ablation are not available. Between May and September 2007, a total of 51 consecutive patients (45 men, mean age 65.4 +/- 9.4 years) had undergone catheter ablation for CTI-dependent AFL. The catheter ablation (70 degrees C, 70 W, 90 s) was performed with either an 8-mm-tip magnetic catheter using MNS (case group, n = 26, 23 men, mean age 64.6 +/- 9.6 y) or a conventional 8-mm catheter (case group, n = 25, 22 men, mean age 65.4 +/- 9.1 y). Acute procedural success was defined as complete bidirectional isthmus block and success at six months was defined as absence of AFL during the six months follow-up. With respect to baseline characteristics there were no differences between the two groups. The procedure time in MNS and conventional group was [median (range)] 53 (30-130) min and 45 (30-100) min, respectively (P = 0.12). Acute success was achieved by MNS and conventional ablation in 25/26 (96.2%) and 25/25 (100%) of patients, respectively (P = 0.53). During the six months of follow-up 4 patients, 2 in each group, experienced recurrence (P = 0.90). No major complication occurred during the procedure. Charring on the catheter tip occurred in 5 patients (19.2%) in MNS and none of the patients in the control group (P <0.05). This case-control study demonstrated the acute and mid-term efficacy and safety of catheter ablation by MNS for CTI-dependent AFL, similar to rates achieved by conventional radiofrequency catheter ablation.

THC and CBD in blood samples and seizures in Norway: Does CBD affect THC-induced impairment in apprehended subjects?

PubMed

Havig, Stine Marie; Høiseth, Gudrun; Strand, Maren Cecilie; Karinen, Ritva Anneli; Brochmann, Gerd-Wenche; Strand, Dag Helge; Bachs, Liliana; Vindenes, Vigdis

2017-07-01

Several publications have suggested increasing cannabis potency over the last decade, which, together with lower amounts of cannabidiol (CBD), could contribute to an increase in adverse effects after cannabis smoking. Naturalistic studies on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and CBD in blood samples are, however, missing. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between THC- and CBD concentrations in blood samples among cannabis users, and to compare cannabinoid concentrations with the outcome of a clinical test of impairment (CTI) and between traffic accidents and non-accident driving under the influence of drugs (DUID)-cases. Assessment of THC- and CBD contents in cannabis seizures was also included. THC- and CBD concentrations in blood samples from subjects apprehended in Norway from April 2013-April 2015 were included (n=6134). A CTI result was compared with analytical findings in cases where only THC and/or CBD were detected (n=705). THC- and CBD content was measured in 41 cannabis seizures. Among THC-positive blood samples, 76% also tested positive for CBD. There was a strong correlation between THC- and CBD concentrations in blood samples (Pearson's r=0.714, p<0.0005). Subjects judged as impaired by a CTI had significantly higher THC- (p<0.001) and CBD (p=0.008) concentrations compared with not impaired subjects, but after multivariate analyses, impairment could only be related to THC concentration (p=0.004). Analyzing seizures revealed THC/CBD ratios of 2:1 for hashish and 200:1 for marijuana. More than ¾ of the blood samples testing positive for THC, among subjects apprehended in Norway, also tested positive for CBD, suggesting frequent consumption of high CBD cannabis products. The simultaneous presence of CBD in blood does, however, not appear to affect THC-induced impairment on a CTI. Seizure sample analysis did not reveal high potency cannabis products, and while CBD content appeared high in hashish, it was almost absent in marijuana. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Proposal of an environmental performance index to assess solid waste treatment technologies

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

Goulart Coelho, Hosmanny Mauro, E-mail: hosmanny@hotmail.com; Lange, Lisete Celina; Coelho, Lineker Max Goulart

2012-07-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Proposal of a new concept in waste management: Cleaner Treatment. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Development of an index to assess quantitatively waste treatment technologies. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Delphi Method was carried out so as to define environmental indicators. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Environmental performance evaluation of waste-to-energy plants. - Abstract: Although the concern with sustainable development and environment protection has considerably grown in the last years it is noted that the majority of decision making models and tools are still either excessively tied to economic aspects or geared to the production process. Moreover, existing models focus on the priority steps of solid waste management, beyond wastemore » energy recovery and disposal. So, in order to help the lack of models and tools aiming at the waste treatment and final disposal, a new concept is proposed: the Cleaner Treatment, which is based on the Cleaner Production principles. This paper focuses on the development and validation of the Cleaner Treatment Index (CTI), to assess environmental performance of waste treatment technologies based on the Cleaner Treatment concept. The index is formed by aggregation (summation or product) of several indicators that consists in operational parameters. The weights of the indicator were established by Delphi Method and Brazilian Environmental Laws. In addition, sensitivity analyses were carried out comparing both aggregation methods. Finally, index validation was carried out by applying the CTI to 10 waste-to-energy plants data. From sensitivity analysis and validation results it is possible to infer that summation model is the most suitable aggregation method. For summation method, CTI results were superior to 0.5 (in a scale from 0 to 1) for most facilities evaluated. So, this study demonstrates that CTI is a simple and robust tool to assess and compare the environmental performance of different treatment plants being an excellent quantitative tool to support Cleaner Treatment implementation.« less

Interagency Coordination Group of Inspectors General for Guam Realignment Annual Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-30

rse n A FB 6/1 8/2 01 0 1, 17 3,5 57 .70 1, 17 3,4 89 .21 15...DO T FH W A - G ov er nm en t o f Gu am C on tra ct Ro ute 1 an d 3 I nte rse cti on Im pr ov em en ts GU -N H- 00 01 (1 25 ) 27 XX 66 00...01 12 57 3P 0 = $5 70 ,74 0 2 7X X6 60 00 11 25 73 V0 = $3 0,2 32 Co ns ult an t fo r Ro ute 1/ 3 I nte rse cti on 6/8 /20 11 60

A comparative study of charge transfer inefficiency value and trap parameter determination techniques making use of an irradiated ESA-Euclid prototype CCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prod'homme, Thibaut; Verhoeve, P.; Kohley, R.; Short, A.; Boudin, N.

2014-07-01

The science objectives of space missions using CCDs to carry out accurate astronomical measurements are put at risk by the radiation-induced increase in charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) that results from trapping sites in the CCD silicon lattice. A variety of techniques are used to obtain CTI values and derive trap parameters, however they often differ in results. To identify and understand these differences, we take advantage of an on-going comprehensive characterisation of an irradiated Euclid prototype CCD including the following techniques: X-ray, trap pumping, flat field extended pixel edge response and first pixel response. We proceed to a comparative analysis of the obtained results.

Spectral decomposition of seismic data with reassigned smoothed pseudo Wigner-Ville distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Xiaoyang; Liu, Tianyou

2009-07-01

Seismic signals are nonstationary mainly due to absorption and attenuation of seismic energy in strata. Referring to spectral decomposition of seismic data, the conventional method using short-time Fourier transform (STFT) limits temporal and spectral resolution by a predefined window length. Continuous-wavelet transform (CWT) uses dilation and translation of a wavelet to produce a time-scale map. However, the wavelets utilized should be orthogonal in order to obtain a satisfactory resolution. The less applied, Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) being superior in energy distribution concentration, is confronted with cross-terms interference (CTI) when signals are multi-component. In order to reduce the impact of CTI, Cohen class uses kernel function as low-pass filter. Nevertheless it also weakens energy concentration of auto-terms. In this paper, we employ smoothed pseudo Wigner-Ville distribution (SPWVD) with Gauss kernel function to reduce CTI in time and frequency domain, then reassign values of SPWVD (called reassigned SPWVD) according to the center of gravity of the considering energy region so that distribution concentration is maintained simultaneously. We conduct the method above on a multi-component synthetic seismic record and compare with STFT and CWT spectra. Two field examples reveal that RSPWVD potentially can be applied to detect low-frequency shadows caused by hydrocarbons and to delineate the space distribution of abnormal geological body more precisely.

Enhancement of geraniol resistance of Escherichia coli by MarA overexpression.

PubMed

Shah, Asad Ali; Wang, Chonglong; Chung, Young-Ryun; Kim, Jae-Yean; Choi, Eui-Sung; Kim, Seon-Won

2013-03-01

Improvement of a microorganism's tolerance against organic solvents is required for a microbial factory producing terpenoid based biofuels. The bacterial genes, marA, imp, cls and cti have been found to increase organic solvent tolerance. Thus, the tolerance against the following terpenoids (isopentenol, geraniol, myrcene, and farnesol) was studied with overexpression of marA, imp, cls and cti genes in Escherichia coli. The marA overexpression significantly enhanced the tolerance of E. coli against geraniol, whereas there was no tolerance improvement against the terpenoids by overexpression of cls and cti genes. The imp overexpression even yielded sensitive phenotype to the tested solvents. The colony forming efficiency of the marA overexpressing E. coli was increased by 10(4)-fold in plate overlay of geraniol compared to that of wild type E. coli and a two-fold decrease of intracellular geraniol accumulation was also observed in liquid culture of geraniol. Single knock-out mutations of marA, or one of the following genes (acrA, acrB and tolC) encoding AcrAB-TolC efflux pump made E. coli hypersensitive to geraniol. The geraniol tolerance conferred by marA overexpression was attributed to the AcrAB-TolC efflux pump that is activated by MarA. Copyright © 2012 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of case management for homeless persons: a systematic review.

PubMed

de Vet, Renée; van Luijtelaar, Maurice J A; Brilleslijper-Kater, Sonja N; Vanderplasschen, Wouter; Beijersbergen, Mariëlle D; Wolf, Judith R L M

2013-10-01

We reviewed the literature on standard case management (SCM), intensive case management (ICM), assertive community treatment (ACT), and critical time intervention (CTI) for homeless adults. We searched databases for peer-reviewed English articles published from 1985 to 2011 and found 21 randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental studies comparing case management to other services. We found little evidence for the effectiveness of ICM. SCM improved housing stability, reduced substance use, and removed employment barriers for substance users. ACT improved housing stability and was cost-effective for mentally ill and dually diagnosed persons. CTI showed promise for housing, psychopathology, and substance use and was cost-effective for mentally ill persons. More research is needed on how case management can most effectively support rapid-rehousing approaches to homelessness.

Effectiveness of Case Management for Homeless Persons: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

de Vet, Renée; van Luijtelaar, Maurice J. A.; Brilleslijper-Kater, Sonja N.; Vanderplasschen, Wouter; Beijersbergen, Mariëlle D.

2013-01-01

We reviewed the literature on standard case management (SCM), intensive case management (ICM), assertive community treatment (ACT), and critical time intervention (CTI) for homeless adults. We searched databases for peer-reviewed English articles published from 1985 to 2011 and found 21 randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental studies comparing case management to other services. We found little evidence for the effectiveness of ICM. SCM improved housing stability, reduced substance use, and removed employment barriers for substance users. ACT improved housing stability and was cost-effective for mentally ill and dually diagnosed persons. CTI showed promise for housing, psychopathology, and substance use and was cost-effective for mentally ill persons. More research is needed on how case management can most effectively support rapid-rehousing approaches to homelessness. PMID:23947309

The In-flight Spectroscopic Performance of the Swift XRT CCD Camera During 2006-2007

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Godet, O.; Beardmore, A.P.; Abbey, A.F.; Osborne, J.P.; Page, K.L.; Evans, P.; Starling, R.; Wells, A.A.; Angelini, L.; Burrows, D.N.;

Land-use threats and protected areas: a scenario-based, landscape level approach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Tamara S.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Sleeter, Rachel R.; Soulard, Christopher E.

2014-01-01

Anthropogenic land use will likely present a greater challenge to biodiversity than climate change this century in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Even if species are equipped with the adaptive capacity to migrate in the face of a changing climate, they will likely encounter a human-dominated landscape as a major dispersal obstacle. Our goal was to identify, at the ecoregion-level, protected areas in close proximity to lands with a higher likelihood of future land-use conversion. Using a state-and-transition simulation model, we modeled spatially explicit (1 km2) land use from 2000 to 2100 under seven alternative land-use and emission scenarios for ecoregions in the Pacific Northwest. We analyzed scenario-based land-use conversion threats from logging, agriculture, and development near existing protected areas. A conversion threat index (CTI) was created to identify ecoregions with highest projected land-use conversion potential within closest proximity to existing protected areas. Our analysis indicated nearly 22% of land area in the Coast Range, over 16% of land area in the Puget Lowland, and nearly 11% of the Cascades had very high CTI values. Broader regional-scale land-use change is projected to impact nearly 40% of the Coast Range, 30% of the Puget Lowland, and 24% of the Cascades (i.e., two highest CTI classes). A landscape level, scenario-based approach to modeling future land use helps identify ecoregions with existing protected areas at greater risk from regional land-use threats and can help prioritize future conservation efforts.

Online Versus Face-To-Face Training of Critical Time Intervention: A Matching Cluster Randomized Trial

PubMed Central

Olivet, Jeffrey; Zerger, Suzanne; Greene, R. Neil; Kenney, Rachael R.; Herman, Daniel B.

2017-01-01

This study examined the effectiveness of online education to providers who serve people experiencing homelessness, comparing online and face-to-face training of Critical Time Intervention (CTI), an evidence-based case management model. The authors recruited 184 staff from 19 homeless service agencies to participate in one of two training conditions: (a) Online Training + Community of Practice or (b) Face-to-Face Training + Telephone Consultation. Each group received 24 hours of instruction and support. Through baseline, follow-up, and nine-month post-training surveys, the authors examined satisfaction, knowledge gains, knowledge retention, and readiness to implement CTI. While satisfaction rates were higher among participants in the face-to-face group, the two training conditions produced comparable pre/post knowledge gains. Furthermore, both groups showed increased knowledge retention scores at nine-month follow up, with the online group scoring higher than the face-to-face group. PMID:28919668

Gender differences in the longitudinal structure of cognitive diatheses for depression in children and adolescents.

PubMed

Cole, David A; Jacquez, Farrah M; Truss, Alanna E; Pineda, Ashley Q; Weitlauf, Amy S; Tilghman-Osborne, Carlos E; Felton, Julia W; Maxwell, Melissa A

2009-12-01

In a school-based, four-wave, longitudinal study, children (grades 4-7) and young adolescents (grades 6-9) completed questionnaires measuring depressive symptoms and depressive cognitions, including positive and negative cognitions on the Cognitive Triad Inventory for Children (CTI-C; Kaslow, Stark, Printz, Livingston, & Tsai, 1992) and self-perceived competence on the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC; Harter, 1985). Application of the Trait-State-Occasion model (Cole, Martin, & Steiger, 2005) revealed the existence of a time-invariant trait factor and a set of time-varying occasion factors. Gender differences emerged, indicating that some cognitive diatheses were more trait-like for girls than for boys (i.e., positive and negative cognitions on the CTI-C; self-perceived physical appearance and global self-worth on the SPPC). Implications focus on the emergent gender difference in depression, the design of longitudinal studies, and clinical decisions about the implementation of prevention versus intervention programs.

A training image evaluation and selection method based on minimum data event distance for multiple-point geostatistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Wenjie; Wu, Shenghe; Yin, Yanshu; Zhang, Jiajia; Zhang, Ke

2017-07-01

A training image (TI) can be regarded as a database of spatial structures and their low to higher order statistics used in multiple-point geostatistics (MPS) simulation. Presently, there are a number of methods to construct a series of candidate TIs (CTIs) for MPS simulation based on a modeler's subjective criteria. The spatial structures of TIs are often various, meaning that the compatibilities of different CTIs with the conditioning data are different. Therefore, evaluation and optimal selection of CTIs before MPS simulation is essential. This paper proposes a CTI evaluation and optimal selection method based on minimum data event distance (MDevD). In the proposed method, a set of MDevD properties are established through calculation of the MDevD of conditioning data events in each CTI. Then, CTIs are evaluated and ranked according to the mean value and variance of the MDevD properties. The smaller the mean value and variance of an MDevD property are, the more compatible the corresponding CTI is with the conditioning data. In addition, data events with low compatibility in the conditioning data grid can be located to help modelers select a set of complementary CTIs for MPS simulation. The MDevD property can also help to narrow the range of the distance threshold for MPS simulation. The proposed method was evaluated using three examples: a 2D categorical example, a 2D continuous example, and an actual 3D oil reservoir case study. To illustrate the method, a C++ implementation of the method is attached to the paper.

Potential future land use threats to California's protected areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Tamara Sue; Sleeter, Benjamin Michael; Davis, Adam Wilkinson

2015-01-01

Increasing pressures from land use coupled with future changes in climate will present unique challenges for California’s protected areas. We assessed the potential for future land use conversion on land surrounding existing protected areas in California’s twelve ecoregions, utilizing annual, spatially explicit (250 m) scenario projections of land use for 2006–2100 based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emission Scenarios to examine future changes in development, agriculture, and logging. We calculated a conversion threat index (CTI) for each unprotected pixel, combining land use conversion potential with proximity to protected area boundaries, in order to identify ecoregions and protected areas at greatest potential risk of proximal land conversion. Our results indicate that California’s Coast Range ecoregion had the highest CTI with competition for extractive logging placing the greatest demand on land in close proximity to existing protected areas. For more permanent land use conversions into agriculture and developed uses, our CTI results indicate that protected areas in the Central California Valley and Oak Woodlands are most vulnerable. Overall, the Eastern Cascades, Central California Valley, and Oak Woodlands ecoregions had the lowest areal percent of protected lands and highest conversion threat values. With limited resources and time, rapid, landscape-level analysis of potential land use threats can help quickly identify areas with higher conversion probability of future land use and potential changes to both habitat and potential ecosystem reserves. Given the broad range of future uncertainties, LULC projections are a useful tool allowing land managers to visualize alternative landscape futures, improve planning, and optimize management practices.

The course of lung inflation alters the central pattern of tracheobronchial cough in cat-The evidence for volume feedback during cough.

PubMed

Poliacek, Ivan; Simera, Michal; Veternik, Marcel; Kotmanova, Zuzana; Pitts, Teresa; Hanacek, Jan; Plevkova, Jana; Machac, Peter; Visnovcova, Nadezda; Misek, Jakub; Jakus, Jan

2016-07-15

The effect of volume-related feedback and output airflow resistance on the cough motor pattern was studied in 17 pentobarbital anesthetized spontaneously-breathing cats. Lung inflation during tracheobronchial cough was ventilator controlled and triggered by the diaphragm electromyographic (EMG) signal. Altered lung inflations during cough resulted in modified cough motor drive and temporal features of coughing. When tidal volume was delivered (via the ventilator) there was a significant increase in the inspiratory and expiratory cough drive (esophageal pressures and EMG amplitudes), inspiratory phase duration (CTI), total cough cycle duration, and the duration of all cough related EMGs (Tactive). When the cough volume was delivered (via the ventilator) during the first half of inspiratory period (at CTI/2-early over inflation), there was a significant reduction in the inspiratory and expiratory EMG amplitude, peak inspiratory esophageal pressure, CTI, and the overlap between inspiratory and expiratory EMG activity. Additionally, there was significant increase in the interval between the maximum inspiratory and expiratory EMG activity and the active portion of the expiratory phase (CTE1). Control inflations coughs and control coughs with additional expiratory resistance had increased maximum expiratory esophageal pressure and prolonged CTE1, the duration of cough abdominal activity, and Tactive. There was no significant difference in control coughing and/or control coughing when sham ventilation was employed. In conclusion, modified lung inflations during coughing and/or additional expiratory airflow resistance altered the spatio-temporal features of cough motor pattern via the volume related feedback mechanism similar to that in breathing. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

75 FR 30847 - Federal Property Suitable as Facilities To Assist the Homeless

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-02

...., presence of asbestos/lead paint, off-site use only Belmont Cty Memorial USAR Ctr 5305 Guernsey St. Bellaire... presence of asbestos Land Missouri Annex No. 3 Whiteman AFB Knob Noster MO 65336 Landholding Agency: Air...

78 FR 64008 - National Register of Historic Places; Notification of Pending Nominations and Related Actions

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-25

...) 67 Main St., Edinburg, 13000863 WISCONSIN Marathon County Fromm Brothers Fur and Ginsing Farm, 436 Cty. Rd. F, Hamburg, 13000864 Shawano County Lincoln School, 237 S. Sawyer St., Shawano, 13000865 [FR...

The validity of the air traffic selection and training (AT-SAT) test battery in operational use.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-03-01

Applicants for the air traffic control specialist (ATCS) occupation from the general public and graduates from post-secondary institutions participating in the FAAs Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) must take and pass the Air Tra...

Communications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lukac, Jenco; And Others

1981-01-01

Includes Lukac's overview of an online acquisition system, Robert Newhard on information and ordinary living, Theodore Bolton on interactive home television, a survey of the CTI computer backup system by Joseph Covino and Sheila Intner, and three articles about catalogs and cataloging by Kenneth Bierman, Herbert Hoffman, and Judith Hudson. (RAA)

Chandra/ACIS Spectra of the 30 Doradus Star Forming Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Townsley, L.; Broos, P.; Feigelson, E.; Burrows, D.; Chu, Y.-H.; Garmire, G.; Griffiths, R.; Maeda, Y.; Tsuboi, Y.

2000-12-01

We present the first high-spatial-resolution X-ray spectra of constituents of the 30 Doradus star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, obtained with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Our continuing efforts to remove the spectral effects of CCD charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) due to radiation damage are described. The central cluster of young high-mass stars, R136, is resolved at the arcsecond level by ACIS, allowing spectral analysis of several constituents. Other Wolf-Rayet stars and multiple systems (e.g. R139, R140) are also detected. Spatially-resolved spectra are presented for N157B, the plerion SNR recently shown by X-ray observations to contain a 16-msec pulsar (Marshall et al., ApJ 499, L179). The spectrally soft superbubble structures seen by ROSAT are visible in the Chandra image; a composite spectrum, improved with CTI correction, is presented. Support for this effort was provided by NASA contract NAS8-38252 to Gordon Garmire, the ACIS Principal Investigator.

[Study of three ciguatera fish poisoning cases in Xiamen city, in 2005].

PubMed

Luo, He-dong; Bai, Yan-yan; Zhou, Na

2011-06-01

To find out the reason of three ciguatera fish poisoning cases in Xiamen in 2005 and identify the fish species. The grouper implicated in food poisoning and seven other coral reef fishes collected from market were tested by mice bioassay and ciguatoxin-test kit. The mtDNA was extracted from toxic grouper meat, and Cty b gene segment was amplified and the PCR products were sequenced. The sequences were compared with those in the GenBank. The result turned out to be positive by the ciguatoxin-test kit, while the toxicity of the toxic grouper implicated in food poisoning was 0.11 mouse unit (MU)/g by mice bioassay. A 475 bp segments of Cty b gene was amplified by PCR and the sequence was 99% homologous with Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (GenBank: AY950695).No ciguatoxin in six grouper species collected from market was detected. All three food poisoning cases were caused by consumption of ciguatoxin-carrying groupers.

A Test of the DSP Sexing Method on CT Images from a Modern French Sample.

PubMed

Mestekova, Sarka; Bruzek, Jaroslav; Veleminska, Jana; Chaumoitre, Kathia

2015-09-01

The hip bone is considered to be one of the most reliable indicators in sex determination. The aim of this study was to test the reliability of the DSP method for the hip bone proposed by Murail et al. (Bull Mem Soc Anthropol Paris, 17, 2005, 167) on a sample from a present-day population in France (52 males and 54 females). Ten linear measurements were collected from three-dimensional models derived from computed tomography images (CTI). To quantify the proportions of correct sex determinations, a more rigorous posterior probability threshold of 0.95 was applied. Using all 10 measurements, 92.3% of males and 97.2% of females were sexed correctly. The percentage of undetermined specimens varied depending on the used combination of measurements; however, all sexes were assigned with a 100% accuracy. This study proves that DSP is an appropriate and reliable tool for sex determination, based on dimensions obtained from CTI. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Hydrocarbon Deposition Attenuates Osteoblast Activity on Titanium

PubMed Central

Hayashi, R.; Ueno, T.; Migita, S.; Tsutsumi, Y.; Doi, H.; Ogawa, T.; Hanawa, T.; Wakabayashi, N.

2014-01-01

Although the reported percentage of bone-implant contact is far lower than 100%, the cause of such low levels of bone formation has rarely been investigated. This study tested the negative biological effect of hydrocarbon deposition onto titanium surfaces, which has been reported to be inevitable. Osteogenic MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured on titanium disks on which the carbon concentration was experimentally regulated to achieve carbon/titanium (C/Ti) ratios of 0.3, 0.7, and 1.0. Initial cellular activities such as cell attachment and cell spreading were concentration-dependently suppressed by the amount of carbon on the titanium surface. The osteoblastic functions of alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium mineralization were also reduced by more than 40% on the C/Ti (1.0) surface. These results indicate that osteoblast activity is influenced by the degree of hydrocarbon contamination on titanium implants and suggest that hydrocarbon decomposition before implant placement may increase the biocompatibility of titanium. PMID:24868012

The neural correlates of cognitive effort in anxiety: effects on processing efficiency.

PubMed

Ansari, Tahereh L; Derakshan, Nazanin

2011-03-01

We investigated the neural correlates of cognitive effort/pre-target preparation (Contingent Negative Variation activity; CNV) in anxiety using a mixed antisaccade task that manipulated the interval between offset of instructional cue and onset of target (CTI). According to attentional control theory (Eysenck et al., 2007) we predicted that anxiety should result in increased levels of compensatory effort, as indicated by greater frontal CNV, to maintain comparable levels of performance under competing task demands. Our results showed that anxiety resulted in faster antisaccade latencies during medium compared with short and long CTIs. Accordingly, high-anxious individuals compared with low-anxious individuals showed greater levels of CNV activity at frontal sites during medium CTI suggesting that they exerted greater cognitive effort and invested more attentional resources in preparation for the task goal. Our results are the first to demonstrate the neural correlates of processing efficiency and compensatory effort in anxiety and are discussed within the framework of attentional control theory. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Role of Cultural Inspiration with Different Types in Cultural Product Design Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luo, Shi-Jian; Dong, Ye-Nan

2017-01-01

Inspiration plays an important role in the design activities and design education. This paper describes "ancient cultural artefacts" as "cultural inspiration," consisting of two types called "cultural-pictorial inspiration" (CPI) and "cultural-textual inspiration" (CTI). This study aims to test the important…

U.S. EPA, Pesticide Product Label, DACONIL ZN FLOWABLE FUNGICIDE, 02/20/2007

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2011-04-21

... " .... chemi¢aI··r~sistalic~(c~te.gQrY.: s~l~ctipn':cti~·rt) : ~h;~~:j~:.~i:t~~~igv~;~~ a~;~f.'~m'.V!~~~iRrd(;(rnate~ai ~I Revised. • shoes plus socks ...

Planning and Financing Education Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, James, Ed.

This report summarizes one of a series of workshops organized by RAND's Critical Technologies Institute (CTI), on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, to take advantage of the experience and insights of those already implementing new technologies in schools. The workshop consisted chiefly of dialogues with educators and experts from the…

The Effect of Critical Thinking Instruction on Verbal Descriptions of Music

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Daniel C.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of critical thinking instruction on music listening skills of fifth-grade students as measured by written responses to music listening. The researcher compared instruction that included opportunities for critical thinking (Critical Thinking Instruction, CTI) with parallel instruction without…

Influence of Renal Function on the 52-Week Efficacy and Safety of the Sodium Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitor Luseogliflozin in Japanese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

PubMed

Haneda, Masakazu; Seino, Yutaka; Inagaki, Nobuya; Kaku, Kohei; Sasaki, Takashi; Fukatsu, Atsushi; Kakiuchi, Haruka; Sato, Yuri; Sakai, Soichi; Samukawa, Yoshishige

2016-01-01

To evaluate the influence of renal function on the efficacy and safety of the sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor luseogliflozin (TS-071) in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Study 1 was a 52-week, Phase III study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of 2.5 mg/d luseogliflozin (or increased to 5 mg/d) in patients with T2DM with moderate renal impairment. During the initial 24 weeks, efficacy and safety of luseogliflozin were compared with placebo. Study 2 was a pooled analysis of four 52-week, Phase III studies of luseogliflozin, including Study 1, to evaluate the efficacy and safety of luseogliflozin in patients with various degrees of renal function. Patients were stratified into 3 groups by baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR): normal renal function (≥90 mL/min/1.73 m(2)), mild impairment (≥60 to <90 mL/min/1.73 m(2)), and moderate impairment (≥30 to <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2)). Patients with moderate impairment were further divided into those with mild-moderate (≥45 to <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) and moderate-severe (≥30 to <45 mL/min/1.73 m(2)). In both studies, efficacy end points included changes in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level, and body weight. The safety end points included adverse events (AEs) and laboratory parameters. In Study 1, HbA1c, FPG, and body weight significantly decreased at Week 24 in patients treated with luseogliflozin compared with patients treated with placebo, with the decrease in these parameters also observed with luseogliflozin at Week 52. The incidence of AEs was similar between groups. In Study 2, 1030 patients were included (normal, 275; mildly impaired, 598; and moderately impaired, 157). At Week 52, HbA1c, FPG, and body weight were significantly decreased from baseline in all groups. In between-group comparisons, the decreases in HbA1c and body weight were significantly smaller in patients with moderate impairment than in those with normal function; however, the HbA1c-lowering efficacy was reduced by nearly half, whereas the efficacy of body weight lowering was not so much diminished in the moderate impairment group. Furthermore, a scatter plot showed that changes in HbA1c were more influenced by baseline HbA1c than by baseline eGFR. The incidence of AEs during 52 weeks was similar among all groups, with the majority being mild. Luseogliflozin improved glycemic control and reduced body weight in all eGFR groups, and its efficacy on HbA1c lowering was reduced in those with moderate renal impairment. Luseogliflozin was well tolerated and safe, with no significant safety issues identified, regardless of baseline eGFR. The study is registered with Clinical Trials Information/JapicCTI of the Japan Pharmaceutical Information Center, and the study registry identification numbers are JapicCTI-111507, JapicCTI-111508, JapicCTI-111509, and JapicCTI-111543. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Training: The Colorado Training Institute. Innovations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, Leslie

The Colorado Training Institute (CTI), established in 1980, is a non-profit, instructional program devoted to promoting hazardous materials safety through education. It has trained over 3,000 emergency response personnel and industry officials and is a unique example of the private and public sectors working together to protect the public from…

76 FR 50494 - National Register of Historic Places; Notification of Pending Nominations and Related Actions

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-15

... comments should be submitted by August 30, 2011. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail... Historic Places/National Historic Landmarks Program. COLORADO Huerfano County Veta Pass, 3652, 3665, 3688 Cty. Rd. 443, La Veta, 11000607 Pueblo County Pueblo Christopher Columbus Monument, Median in 100 Blk...

U.S. EPA, Pesticide Product Label, NALCON 7647 PAPERMILL SLIMICIDE, 08/28/1990

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2011-04-14

... "' CI .... -ori ... ,.1 ..... A/6 0.13 . 1 3 I ••. 01 NAlCON 7617 (I" , " 1.5 I,) I. uc~ I.~ Ih. U53.6 II) .1 ... Isi .. It ""iit I~ It 3.350 ,,_ "",ct (6.~ .50 ". ,cti •• i •• t.'.z'I .... ) ...

Carroll Technical Institute and Southwire Company's Educational Renewal Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agan, Jimmy L.

As part of an effort to meet the specific educational needs of local business and industry, a cooperative educational renewal program was developed between Carroll Technical Institute (CTI) in Carrollton, Georgia, and the Southwire Company, a local producer of aluminum and copper materials. A thorough training needs assessment was conducted and,…

Career Interventions and the Career Thoughts of Pacific Island College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thrift, Meagan Minvielle; Ulloa-Heath, Julie; Reardon, Robert C.; Peterson, Gary W.

2012-01-01

Students enrolled in a college success course were assigned to (a) a cognitive intervention using the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) workbook (Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1996b), (b) an occupational research project involving an oral report, and (c) a control condition. The workbook condition had a significant effect on the…

76 FR 73673 - National Register of Historic Places; Notification of Pending Nominations and Related Actions

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-29

.../National Historic Landmarks Program. ALABAMA Mobile County Caldwell School, 351 Broad St., Mobile, 11000898... Hendricks, South, & Wood Sts., & Boyd Ave., Greenfield, 11000909 Jackson County Carr High School, (Indiana's Public Common and High Schools MPS), 10059 W. Cty. Rd. 250 S., Medora, 11000910 Jackson County Courthouse...

First-principles calculations of the thermal stability of Ti 3SiC 2(0001) surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orellana, Walter; Gutiérrez, Gonzalo

2011-12-01

The energetic, thermal stability and dynamical properties of the ternary layered ceramic Ti3SiC2(0001) surface are addressed by density-functional theory calculations and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. The equilibrium surface energy at 0 K of all terminations is contrasted with thermal stability at high temperatures, which are investigated by ab initio MD simulations in the range of 800 to 1400 °C. We find that the toplayer (sublayer) surface configurations: Si(Ti2) and Ti2(Si) show the lowest surface energies with reconstruction features for Si(Ti2). However, at high temperatures they are unstable, forming disordered structures. On the contrary, Ti1(C) and Ti2(C) despite their higher surface energies, show a remarkable thermal stability at high temperatures preserving the crystalline structures up to 1400 °C. The less stable surfaces are those terminated in C atoms, C(Ti1) and C(Ti2), which at high temperatures show surface dissociation forming amorphous TiCx structures. Two possible atomic scale mechanisms involved in the thermal stability of Ti3SiC2(0001) are discussed.

Structural phase stability in nanocrystalline titanium to 161 GPa

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

Velisavljevic, Nenad; Jacobsen, Matthew K.; Vohra, Yogesh K.

2014-09-16

Nanocrystalline titanium (nc-Ti) metal was investigated up to 161 GPa at room temperature using a diamond anvil cell. X-ray diffraction and electrical resistance techniques were used to investigate the compressibility and structural phase stability. nc-Ti is observed to undergo three structural phase transitions at high pressures, starting with α → ω at 10GPa and followed by ω → γ at 127GPa and γ → δ at 140GPa. The observed structural phase transitions, as well as compressibility, are consistent with previously reported values for coarse grained Ti (c-Ti). The high pressure experiments on nc-Ti samples do no show any significant variationmore » of the α → ω transition pressure under varying nonhydrostatic conditions. This is in sharp contrast to c-Ti, where a significant decrease in the α → ω transition pressure is observed under increasing nonhydrostatic conditions. As a result, this would indicate that the decrease in grain size in nano grained titanium makes the α → ω phase transition less sensitive to shear stresses as compared to bulk or c-Ti.« less

The effect of powder composition on the morphology of in situ TiC composite coating deposited by Laser-Assisted Powder Deposition (LAPD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emamian, Ali; Corbin, Stephen F.; Khajepour, Amir

2012-11-01

In this paper, the effect of powder composition on in situ TiC formation within an Fe-based matrix coating during laser cladding was studied. Different atomic ratios of C:Ti (45% and 55%) were selected in order to adjust the matrix from an Fesbnd Ti-based composition to an Fesbnd C-based one. Fe percentages of 70, 60, 50 and 10 wt% were explored to increase the volume fraction of TiC in the clad. Results showed that chemical composition affects the TiC morphology as well as the TiC distribution and hardness profile in the clad. By increasing the C:Ti ratio from 45 at% to 55 at%, the volume fraction of the formed TiC increases. A higher volume fraction of TiC in the clad resulted in increases clad hardness. SEM and EDS analyses were used to characterize the phases in the clad, while increasing the C ratio promoted the formation of excess graphite in the Fe matrix.

Development of a repetitive compact torus injector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onchi, Takumi; McColl, David; Dreval, Mykola; Rohollahi, Akbar; Xiao, Chijin; Hirose, Akira; Zushi, Hideki

2013-10-01

A system for Repetitive Compact Torus Injection (RCTI) has been developed at the University of Saskatchewan. CTI is a promising fuelling technology to directly fuel the core region of tokamak reactors. In addition to fuelling, CTI has also the potential for (a) optimization of density profile and thus bootstrap current and (b) momentum injection. For steady-state reactor operation, RCTI is necessary. The approach to RCTI is to charge a storage capacitor bank with a large capacitance and quickly charge the CT capacitor bank through a stack of integrated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). When the CT bank is fully charged, the IGBT stack will be turned off to isolate banks, and CT formation/acceleration sequence will start. After formation of each CT, the fast bank will be replenished and a new CT will be formed and accelerated. Circuits for the formation and the acceleration in University of Saskatchewan CT Injector (USCTI) have been modified. Three CT shots at 10 Hz or eight shots at 1.7 Hz have been achieved. This work has been sponsored by the CRC and NSERC, Canada.

Solar system constraints on planetary Coriolis-type effects induced by rotation of distant masses

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

Iorio, Lorenzo, E-mail: lorenzo.iorio@libero.it

We phenomenologically put local constraints on the rotation of distant masses by using the planets of the solar system. First, we analytically compute the orbital secular precessions induced on the motion of a test particle about a massive primary by a Coriolis-like force, treated as a small perturbation, in the case of a constant angular velocity vector Ψ directed along a generic direction in space. The semimajor axis a and the eccentricity e of the test particle do not secularly change, contrary to the inclination I, the longitude of the ascending node Ω, the longitude of the pericenter varpi andmore » the mean anomaly M. Then, we compare our prediction for (dot varpi) with the corrections Δdot varpi to the usual perihelion precessions of the inner planets recently estimated by fitting long data sets with different versions of the EPM ephemerides. We obtain as preliminary upper bounds |Ψ{sub z}| ≤ 0.0006−0.013 arcsec cty{sup −1}, |Ψ{sub x}| ≤ 0.1−2.7 arcsec cty{sup −1}, |Ψ{sub y}| ≤ 0.3−2.3 arcsec cty{sup −1}. Interpreted in terms of models of space-time involving cosmic rotation, our results are able to yield constraints on cosmological parameters like the cosmological constant Λ and the Hubble parameter H{sub 0} not too far from their values determined with cosmological observations and, in some cases, several orders of magnitude better than the constraints usually obtained so far from space-time models not involving rotation. In the case of the rotation of the solar system throughout the Galaxy, occurring clockwise about the North Galactic Pole, our results for Ψ{sub z} are in disagreement with the expected value of it at more than 3−σ level. Modeling the Oort cloud as an Einstein-Thirring slowly rotating massive shell inducing Coriolis-type forces inside yields unphysical results for its putative rotation.« less

Phase III Clinical Trials Comparing the Immunogenicity and Safety of the Vero Cell-Derived Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine Encevac with Those of Mouse Brain-Derived Vaccine by Using the Beijing-1 Strain

PubMed Central

Miyazaki, Chiaki; Okada, Kenji; Ozaki, Takao; Hirose, Mizuo; Iribe, Kaneshige; Ishikawa, Yuji; Togashi, Takehiro; Ueda, Kohji

2014-01-01

The immunogenicity and safety of an inactivated cell culture Japanese encephalitis vaccine (CC-JEV) were compared with those of an inactivated mouse brain-derived Japanese encephalitis vaccine (MB-JEV) in phase III clinical multicenter trials conducted in children. The vaccines contain the same Japanese encephalitis virus strain, the Beijing-1 strain. Two independent clinical trials (trials 1 and 2) were conducted. Trial 1 was conducted in 468 healthy children. Each subject was injected with 17 μg per dose of either CC-JEV or MB-JEV, and the immunogenicity and safety of the vaccines were investigated. Trial 1 showed that CC-JEV was more immunogenic and reactive than MB-JEV at the same dose. Therefore, to adjust the immunogenicity of CC-JEV to that of MB-JEV, a vaccine that has had a good track record regarding its efficacy for a long time, trial 2 was conducted in 484 healthy children. To improve the stability, CC-JEV was converted from a liquid type to a freeze-dried type of vaccine. Each subject was injected subcutaneously with either 4 μg per dose of CC-JEV, 8 μg per dose of CC-JEV, or 17 μg per dose of MB-JEV twice, at an interval of 2 to 4 weeks, followed by an additional booster immunization 1 to 15 months after the primary immunization. Based on the results of trial 2, 4 μg per dose of the freeze-dried CC-JEV (under the label Encevac) was selected as a substitute for the MB-JEV. Encevac was approved and launched in 2011 and has since been in use as a 2nd-generation Japanese encephalitis vaccine in Japan. (These studies have been registered at the JapicCTI under registration no. JapicCTI-132063 and JapicCTI-080586 for trials 1 and 2, respectively.) PMID:24334689

Predicting Chandra CCD Degradation with the Chandra Radiation Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Minow, Joseph I.; Blackwell, William C.; DePasquale, Joseph M.; Grant, Catherine E.; O'Dell, Stephen L.; Plucinsky, Paul P.; Schwartz, Daniel A.; Spitzbart, Bradley D.; Wolk, Scott J.

2008-01-01

Not long after launch of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, it was discovered that the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) detector was rapidly degrading due to radiation. Analysis by Chandra personnel showed that this degradation was due to 10w energy protons (100 - 200 keV) that scattered down the optical path onto the focal plane. In response to this unexpected problem, the Chandra Team developed a radiation-protection program that has been used to manage the radiation damage to the CCDs. This program consists of multiple approaches - scheduled sating of the ACIS detector from the radiation environment during passage through radiation belts, real-time monitoring of space weather conditions, on-board monitoring of radiation environment levels, and the creation of a radiation environment model for use in computing proton flux and fluence at energies that damage the ACIS detector. This radiation mitigation program has been very successful. The initial precipitous increase in the CCDs' charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) resulting from proton damage has been slowed dramatically, with the front-illuminated CCDS having an increase in CTI of only 2.3% per year, allowing the ASIS detector's expected lifetime to exceed requirements. This paper concentrates on one aspect of the Chandra radiation mitigation program, the creation of the Chandra Radiation Model (CRM). Because of Chandra's highly elliptical orbit, the spacecraft spends most of its time outside of the trapped radiation belts that present the severest risks to the ACIS detector. However, there is still a proton flux environment that must be accounted for in all parts of Chandra's orbit. At the time of Chandra's launch there was no engineering model of the radiation environment that could be used in the outer regions of the spacecraft's orbit, so the CRM was developed to provide the flux environment of 100 - 200 keV protons in the outer magnetosphere, magnetosheath, and solar wind regions of geospace. This presentation describes CRM, its role in Chandra operations, and its prediction of the ACIS CTI increase.

Effect of combination therapy with repaglinide and metformin hydrochloride on glycemic control in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed

Kawamori, Ryuzo; Kaku, Kohei; Hanafusa, Toshiaki; Oikawa, Tatsuya; Kageyama, Shigeru; Hotta, Nigishi

2014-02-12

We investigated the efficacy and safety of repaglinide as an add-on therapy for Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus receiving metformin monotherapy (at a dose of 1,500 mg/day, mainly) in addition to diet and exercise. In the 16-week multicenter, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group trial (the phase III study), patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with metformin monotherapy were randomly assigned to the repaglinide or placebo group. Thereafter, a 36-week, multicenter, uncontrolled, dose-titration method study was extended to a total duration of 52 weeks (the long-term study). The primary end-point of each study was a change in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) from baseline. After 16 weeks, mean reductions in HbA1c were significantly greater for the repaglinide group than for the placebo group (-0.98 ± 0.72% vs 0.13 ± 0.63%, P < 0.001). In the long-term study, the mean change in HbA1c was -0.76 ± 0.83%. The rate of adverse events was 60.6 and 50.0% in the repaglinide and placebo groups, respectively, in the phase III study, and 78.3% in the long-term study. Hypoglycemia was reported in 11.7, 0 and 13.3% of patients in the repaglinide group, placebo group and long-term study, respectively. Combination therapy with repaglinide and metformin resulted in an approximately 1% reduction in HbA1c at week 16 and in a significant long-term improvement in HbA1c at the end of the study. No safety problems were noted during the concomitant use of repaglinide and metformin. These studies were registered with JapicCTI (nos. JapicCTI-101202 and JapicCTI-101203).

THROMBIN GENERATION AND BLEEDING IN HEMOPHILIA A

PubMed Central

Brummel-Ziedins, Kathleen E.; Whelihan, Matthew F.; Gissel, Matthew; Mann, Kenneth G.; Rivard, Georges E.

2012-01-01

Introduction Hemophilia A displays phenotypic heterogeneity with respect to clinical severity. Aim To determine if tissue factor (TF)-initiated thrombin generation profiles in whole blood in the presence of corn trypsin inhibitor (CTI) are predictive of bleeding risk in hemophilia A. Methods We studied factor(F) VIII deficient individuals (11 mild, 4 moderate and 12 severe) with a well-characterized five-year bleeding history that included hemarthrosis, soft tissue hematoma and annual FVIII concentrate usage. This clinical information was used to generate a bleeding score. The bleeding scores (range 0–32) were separated into three groups (bleeding score groupings: 0, 0 and ≤9.6, >9.6), with the higher bleeding tendency having a higher score. Whole blood collected by phlebotomy and contact pathway suppressed by 100μg/mL CTI was stimulated to react by the addition of 5pM TF. Reactions were quenched at 20min by inhibitors. Thrombin generation, determined by ELISA for thrombin – antithrombin was evaluated in terms of clot time (CT), maximum level (MaxL) and maximum rate (MaxR) and compared to the bleeding score. Results Data are shown as the mean±SD. MaxL was significantly different (p<0.001) between the groups: 504±114nM, 315±117nM, and 194±91nM; with higher thrombin concentrations in the groups with lower bleeding scores. MaxR was higher in the groups with a lower bleeding score; 97±51nM/min, 86±60nM/min and 39±16nM/min (p=0.09). No significant difference was detected in CT among the groups, 5.6±1.3min, 4.7±0.7min, 5.6±1.3min. Conclusions Our empirical study in CTI-inhibited whole blood shows that the MaxL of thrombin generation appears to correlate with the bleeding phenotype of hemophilia A. PMID:19563500

Polyvinylidene Fluoride as a Suture Material: Evaluation of Comet Tail-Like Infiltrate and Foreign Body Granuloma.

PubMed

Lambertz, Andreas; Schröder, Kai Michael; Schöb, Dominik Stefan; Binnebösel, Marcel; Anurov, Michael; Klinge, Uwe; Neumann, Ulf Peter; Klink, Christian Daniel

2015-01-01

Biocompatibility and tissue integration of a surgical suture are decisive factors for wound healing and therefore for the success of sutures. The optimal suture material is still under discussion. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is described to have superior properties of biocompatibility and is therefore frequently used as a mesh component. Only little information is available about its use as a suture material. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biocompatibility of PVDF as a suture material in comparison to 5 different established sutures in a rat model. In 30 male rats, a monofilamental PVDF suture (Resopren®) and 5 established control suture materials [polyester (Miralene®), polytetrafluoroethylene (Gore®), poliglecaprone (Monocryl®), polydioxanone (Monoplus®), polyglactin 910 (Vicryl®), USP size 3-0] were placed in the subcutaneous layer of the abdominal wall without knot or tension. After 3, 7 or 21 days, the abdominal walls were explanted for histopathological and immunohistochemical investigation with special regard to the size and quality of foreign body granuloma and the length of the comet tail-like infiltrate (CTI). The PVDF sutures showed the smallest size of foreign body granuloma (60 ± 14 µm) and the smallest CTI length (343 ± 60 µm) of all polymers after 21 days. Only PVDF (Resopren) and polydioxanone (Monoplus) showed a significant collagen I/III ratio increase between days 3 and 21 (p = 0.009 and p = 0.016). The quality of foreign body reaction regarding inflammation, proliferation and fibrotic remodeling was similar between all suture materials. Our data indicate that monofilamental PVDF sutures show a favorable foreign body reaction with small granuloma sizes and CTI length in comparison to established sutures. Its use as a suture material in general surgery could therefore be extended in the future. To reinforce these findings, further clinical studies need to be conducted. 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Global Comparison of Warring Groups in 2002–2007: Fatalities from Targeting Civilians vs. Fighting Battles

PubMed Central

Hicks, Madelyn Hsiao-Rei; Lee, Uih Ran; Sundberg, Ralph; Spagat, Michael

2011-01-01

Background Warring groups that compete to dominate a civilian population confront contending behavioral options: target civilians or battle the enemy. We aimed to describe degrees to which combatant groups concentrated lethal behavior into intentionally targeting civilians as opposed to engaging in battle with opponents in contemporary armed conflict. Methodology/Principal Findings We identified all 226 formally organized state and non-state groups (i.e. actors) that engaged in lethal armed conflict during 2002–2007: 43 state and 183 non-state. We summed civilians killed by an actor's intentional targeting with civilians and combatants killed in battles in which the actor was involved for total fatalities associated with each actor, indicating overall scale of armed conflict. We used a Civilian Targeting Index (CTI), defined as the proportion of total fatalities caused by intentional targeting of civilians, to measure the concentration of lethal behavior into civilian targeting. We report actor-specific findings and four significant trends: 1.) 61% of all 226 actors (95% CI 55% to 67%) refrained from targeting civilians. 2.) Logistic regression showed actors were more likely to have targeted civilians if conflict duration was three or more years rather than one year. 3.) In the 88 actors that targeted civilians, multiple regressions showed an inverse correlation between CTI values and the total number of fatalities. Conflict duration of three or more years was associated with lower CTI values than conflict duration of one year. 4.) When conflict scale and duration were accounted for, state and non-state actors did not differ. We describe civilian targeting by actors in prolonged conflict. We discuss comparable patterns found in nature and interdisciplinary research. Conclusions/Significance Most warring groups in 2002–2007 did not target civilians. Warring groups that targeted civilians in small-scale, brief conflict concentrated more lethal behavior into targeting civilians, and less into battles, than groups in larger-scale, longer conflict. PMID:21915272

Online versus Face-to-Face Training of Critical Time Intervention: A Matching Cluster Randomized Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olivet, Jeffrey; Zerger, Suzanne; Greene, R. Neil; Kenney, Rachael R.; Herman, Daniel B.

2016-01-01

This study examined the effectiveness of online education to providers who serve people experiencing homelessness, comparing online and face-to-face training of Critical Time Intervention (CTI), an evidence-based case management model. The authors recruited 184 staff from nineteen homeless service agencies to participate in one of two training…

Expanding Talent Search Procedures by Including Measures of Spatial Ability: CTY's Spatial Test Battery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stumpf, Heinrich; Mills, Carol J.; Brody, Linda E.; Baxley, Philip G.

2013-01-01

The importance of spatial ability for success in a variety of domains, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), is widely acknowledged. Yet, students with high spatial ability are rarely identified, as Talent Searches for academically talented students focus on identifying high mathematical and verbal abilities.…

Switzerland: the pragmatics of business.

PubMed

Bestetti, Gilberto

2008-01-01

Switzerland has a population of seven million and approximately 600 medical technology companies are located there. This equates to one company per 12 thousand people and arguably the highest density in the world. The factors that make the country a successful place to do business are outlined in this interview with Professor Bestetti, Head of the CTI Medtech initiative.

Web Connects K-12 Students with Scientists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavanagh, Sean

2009-01-01

This article reports that Derek Cummings and Justin Lessler, Johns Hopkins University epidemiologists, have come to the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) to give a live webinar on the spread of swine flu. This web-based audio and video presentation is one of many efforts by universities and science organizations to put K-12 students in…

Evaluation of the Acceptability and Feasibility of a Computer-Tailored Intervention to Increase Human Papillomavirus Vaccination among Young Adult Women

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paiva, Andrea L.; Lipschitz, Jessica M.; Fernandez, Anne C.; Redding, Colleen A.; Prochaska, James O.

2014-01-01

Objective: To examine acceptability and feasibility of a Transtheoretical Model (TTM)-based computer-tailored intervention (CTI) for increasing human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in college-aged women. Participants: Two hundred forty-three women aged 18-26 were recruited between February and May of 2011. Methods: Participants completed the…

A Critical Analysis of Management Indicators for the Director of Materiel Management, Sacramento ALC.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-06-01

Dist. AVAIL, and/or SP A Re aw rade tostt.on Organizatin iL.cti *~ NO OSTAGI PtN*V FORn PffVA13 Ut.SIL $3- -. dil -- T I BUSINESS REPLY MAIL... Leadership Qualities Provide Quality Training Programs Establish Realistic Project and Task Priorities Minimize Not Mission Capable Supply (NMCS) 47 zz

American Involvement in the Filipino Resistance Movement on Mindanao during the Japanese Occupation, 1942-1945

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-05-20

vinegar and brine, and ctied in the sun. The jerky-like substance, called tapa, cured in two days and would remain preserved indefinitely. 207 Another...coconut tree, then fermented it with pulverized tanbark from a mangrove tree. Alcohol was extracted by using a still made from a Socony can with bamboo

Attachment Style and Dysfunctional Career Thoughts: How Attachment Style Can Affect the Career Counseling Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Ecke, Yolanda

2007-01-01

This article examines the relationship between attachment style, measured by Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (R C. Fraley, N. G. Waller, & K. A. Brennan, 2000), and dysfunctional career thoughts, measured by the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI; J. P. J. Sampson, G. W. Peterson, J. G. Lenz, R. C. Reardon, & D. E. Saunders, 1994a).…

76 FR 53521 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-26

... port fees shall apply in connection with the use of other trading telecommunication protocols: Quantity... Entry Delivery of real-time execution information (``DROP'') \\13\\ Port Fee of $500; (vi) OTTO DROP Port... NOM 1.0, this port was referred to as FIX. \\10\\ CTI offers real-time clearing trade updates. A real...

Environmental Assessment (EA): Proposed Construction of a Munitions Flight Maintenance Facility, Hill Air Force Base, Utah

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-01

1997) Ozone(031 /·-c.,.. ?i Ogden C.ty Ma1 tenance Area (Redes~gnated 2001) er ~~.., Sa Laice Oty Ma1 enance Alea (RedeSIQreled 1999) Pr...disposal. 3.4 Vegetation Hill AFB is located in a geographic region that would typically support a mountain -brush type native plant community. Dominant

Environmental Assessment (EA): Proposed Construction of a Munitions Flight Maintenance Facility, Hill Air Force Base, Utah

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-01

031 /·-c.,.. ?i Ogden C.ty Ma1 tenance Area (Redes~gnated 2001) er ~~.., Sa Laice Oty Ma1 enance Alea (RedeSIQreled 1999) Pr<MYOrem...Vegetation Hill AFB is located in a geographic region that would typically support a mountain -brush type native plant community. Dominant vegetation

In Situ Soil Venting - Full Scale Test, Hill AFB. Volume 3. Guidance Document, Literature Review

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-08-01

s ý GCE Form A•pproved REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE CMBNO 070401’ihs a EERORT C ,RI Y C•.ASSFCA ,ON ’t .• ESTR !CTiVE MARKINGS .a SECURT’Y CLASSiFICAT... labor -intensive, operating costs are relatively low. Major operating costs are sampling, sample analysis, power, maintenance, and emissions control

Decision Model for Forecasting Projected Naval Enlisted Reserve Attainments

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

Command CM Construction Mechanic CS Culinary Specialist CTA Cryptologic Technician - Administrative CTI Cryptologic Technician - Interpretive...services are utilized to compile databases of active duty and reserve accession and loss Category Arts and Photography Journalist (JO) Photographer’s...MM) Mineman (MN) Torpedoman’s Mate (TM) Food, Restaurant, and Lodging Culinary Specialist (CS) Human Resources Navy Counselor (NC) Personnelman (PN

Synthesis and characterization of TiC nanopowders via sol-gel and subsequent carbothermal reduction process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xu; Fan, Jinglian; Lu, Qiong

2018-06-01

TiC nanocrystalline powders were synthesized by in-situ carbothermic reduction of Ti-O-C precursor under vacuum atmosphere. And the Ti-O-C precursor was formed by sol-gel method from titanium butyrate (TBOT) and sucrose. To obtain stable sol, TBOT was directly added into mixed solution which contains water, sucrose, acetic acid (AcOH) and acetylacetone (ACAC). This procedure is more convenient and economical because it avoids the use of alcohol which is used as solvent in most reports of alkoxide hydrolysis sol-gel method. TG-DSC, XRD, FTIR and SEM/TEM were employed to analyze and characterize the product during the entire process. The phase composition and crystalline structure parameters of powders with different C/Ti molar ratio were investigated by Rietveld refinement method, and elemental quantitative analysis of the samples were performed. Furthermore, the optimal parameters of carbothermal reduction were obtained and the grain growth mechanism was demonstrated. The results show that TiC nanocrystalline powders (C/Ti molar ratio is 3.5 in the precursor) were synthesized at 1300 °C for 2 h, which have near standard lattice parameter, well crystallinity and fine average grain size ( 37.4 nm).

Panel estimation for renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth, CO2 emissions, the composite trade intensity, and financial openness of the commonwealth of independent states.

PubMed

Rasoulinezhad, Ehsan; Saboori, Behnaz

2018-04-13

This article investigates the long-run and causal linkages between economic growth, CO 2 emissions, renewable and non-renewable (fossil fuels) energy consumption, the Composite Trade Intensity (CTI) as a proxy for trade openness, and the Chinn-Ito index as a proxy for financial openness for a panel of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan over the period of 1992-2015. It is the first time that CTI and the Chinn-Ito indexes are used in an economic-pollution model. Employing three panel unit root tests, panel cointegration estimation methods (DOLS and FMOLS), and two panel causality tests, the main empirical results provided evidence for the bidirectional long-run relationship between all the variables in all 12 sampled countries except for economic growth-renewable energy use linkage. The findings of causality tests indicated that there is a unidirectional short-run panel causality running from economic growth, financial openness, and trade openness to CO 2 emissions and from fossil fuel energy consumption to renewable energy use.

Medtech: Potential for innovation.

PubMed

Bestetti, Gilberto

2009-10-17

Switzerland, with its ETHZ and EPFL, universities, advanced technical colleges, the CSEM, the Empa and the Paul Scherrer Institute, possesses a complete chain of knowledge and interdisciplinary competence which ranks it among the worldwide leaders in medical technology. To ensure that a wider range of excellent research results are translated into marketable products and methods, the CTI Agency for the Promotion of Innovation launched the Medtech initiative, a success story.

Evaluating Fragment Construction Policies for SDT Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

allocates a fragment and begins translation. Once a termination condition is met, Strata emits any trampolines that are necessary. Trampolines are pieces... trampolines (unless its target previously exists in the fragment cache). Once a CTI’s target instruction becomes available in the fragment cache, the CTI is...linked directly to the destination, avoiding future uses of the trampoline . This mechanism is called Fragment Linking and avoids significant overhead

Innovation as a Tool to Make the First Years Count: I-Lab--An Innovation Approach to Unattended Social Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goettsch, Marieke; Mateo Diaz, Mercedes; Canete, Nicolas

2018-01-01

One of the main objectives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is to improve the lives of people in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region by reducing inequality. In 2008, the IDB's Division of Competitiveness, Technology and Innovation (CTI) developed the Innovation Lab (I-Lab), which falls under the umbrella of a growing set of…

Effective Manning of the U.S. Merchant Fleet

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-01

es anci progr ams of the National Research Council, appropriate balance of perspectives was committee member Cti 1 mpor"tant consi dera11 on...Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance ...vessel design and operation. Consistent with the policies and programs of the National Research Council, appropriate balance of perspectives was an

Reliability Testing on the CTI-Cryogenic 1 Watt Integral Cooler (HD- 1033C/UA)

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-09-01

SUBJECT TERMS (Continue on reverse if necessary and identify by block numbe) FIELD GROUP SUB- GROUP Cryocooler, Stirling Cycle, Cryogenics 19, ABSTRCT...the Army. C2NVEO also maintains configuration management control of the forward-looking infrared (FLIR) Common Module coolers used in thermal imagers... controlled high/low temperature chamber. * A microprocessor which was programmed to automatically cycle the temperature in the chamber in accordance

[Adaptation of critical time intervention for use in Brazil and its implementation among users of psychosocial service centers (CAPS) in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro].

PubMed

Cavalcanti, Maria Tavares; Carvalho, Maria Cecília de Araújo; Valência, Elie; Dahl, Catarina Magalhães; Souza, Flávia Mitkiewicz de

2011-12-01

Brazilian Psychiatric Reform proposes a mental healthcare model based on the implementation of a community-based service network, in which Psychosocial Service Centers (CAPS) play a fundamental role. The report presents the results of a pilot study which aimed to adapt Critical Time Intervention to the Brazilian context, and to test its feasibility to provide it to persons with schizophrenic spectrum disorders who are enrolled in CAPS of Rio de Janeiro. The research design included three inter-related phases. Phase one consisted in carrying out qualitative and quantitative field work. This phase included mapping out the socio-demographic, clinical and service utilization data of CAPS users, as well as assessing the mental health needs of participants in the study. The second phase consisted in translation of the CTI clinical manual to include the adaptations made for use in Brazil, which were based on data collected in the first phase, as well as training individuals with moderate education as CTI intervention workers. The third phase consisted of pilot implementation of the adapted intervention among a group of individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders enrolled in CAPS, but with difficulties in being included in treatment.

Foreign Object Damage Prediction in Ceramic Matrix Composites

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-28

Management and Budget. Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188) Washington, DC 20503 PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 1. REPORT DATE (DD...has been utilized successf ul I y f or damage predi cti on i n many probl ems In a peri dynamic simulation, the distances between points in the...this model as suits their needs, with N& R Engineering and UofA providing tool support/development as required. A marketing study will be conducted

Piezoelectric and Electrostrictive Materials for Transducers Applications. Volume 4

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-01-31

Micromotors ." IEEE. 109-113 (1991). 41. Anita M. Flynn. Lee S. Tavrow. Stephen F. Bart. Rodney A. Brooks. Daniel J. Ehrlich. K. R. Udayakumar and L. Eric...Cross. "Piezoelectric Micromotors for Microrobots." J. Microelectromechanical Systems 1 (1) 47-50 (1992). 4 APPENDIX 35 A STUDY OF YI Ba2 Cti30 7.y...to produce miniature pumps. valves. microsensors and micromotors . This paper reports on the fabrication of thin films that are capable of producing

Clinical Investigation Program Report Control Symbol MED 300.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-10-01

Preeclampsia as an Aid to Further Management. (C) (PR) 41 1961 Use of C-Reactive Protein in Prediction of ARD Prog- nosiS, (C) (PR) 42 1981 The Assessment...37 Status: Completed * Title: Routine Use of Serum Uric Acid Levels at 36 Weeks Gestation as Screening Test for Preeclampsia as an Aid to Further...nvestigators: .amily Pr-&ctiU. CPT Ellis M. Knight, MC Key Words: Serum Uric Acid Preeclampsia Accumulative MZDCASI Eat Accumulative Periodic Mar 82 Cost: ]A

Generation of Transgenic Pigs by Cytoplasmic Injection of piggyBac Transposase-Based pmGENIE-3 Plasmids1

PubMed Central

Li, Zicong; Zeng, Fang; Meng, Fanming; Xu, Zhiqian; Zhang, Xianwei; Huang, Xiaoling; Tang, Fei; Gao, Wenchao; Shi, Junsong; He, Xiaoyan; Liu, Dewu; Wang, Chong; Urschitz, Johann; Moisyadi, Stefan; Wu, Zhenfang

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT The process of transgenesis involves the introduction of a foreign gene, the transgene, into the genome of an animal. Gene transfer by pronuclear microinjection (PNI) is the predominant method used to produce transgenic animals. However, this technique does not always result in germline transgenic offspring and has a low success rate for livestock. Alternate approaches, such as somatic cell nuclear transfer using transgenic fibroblasts, do not show an increase in efficiency compared to PNI, while viral-based transgenesis is hampered by issues regarding transgene size and biosafety considerations. We have recently described highly successful transgenesis experiments with mice using a piggyBac transposase-based vector, pmhyGENIE-3. This construct, a single and self-inactivating plasmid, contains all the transpositional elements necessary for successful gene transfer. In this series of experiments, our laboratories have implemented cytoplasmic injection (CTI) of pmGENIE-3 for transgene delivery into in vivo-fertilized pig zygotes. More than 8.00% of the injected embryos developed into transgenic animals containing monogenic and often single transgenes in their genome. However, the CTI technique was unsuccessful during the injection of in vitro-fertilized pig zygotes. In summary, here we have described a method that is not only easy to implement, but also demonstrated the highest efficiency rate for nonviral livestock transgenesis. PMID:24671876

Characterization of spatial and spectral resolution of a rotating prism chromotomographic hyperspectral imager

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bostick, Randall L.; Perram, Glen P.; Tuttle, Ronald

2009-05-01

The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has built a rotating prism chromotomographic hyperspectral imager (CTI) with the goal of extending the technology to exploit spatially extended sources with quickly varying (> 10 Hz) phenomenology, such as bomb detonations and muzzle flashes. This technology collects successive frames of 2-D data dispersed at different angles multiplexing spatial and spectral information which can then be used to reconstruct any arbitrary spectral plane(s). In this paper, the design of the AFIT instrument is described and then tested against a spectral target with near point source spatial characteristics to measure spectral and spatial resolution. It will be shown that, in theory, the spectral and spatial resolution in the 3-D spectral image cube is the nearly the same as a simple prism spectrograph with the same design. However, error in the knowledge of the prism linear dispersion at the detector array as a function of wavelength and projection angle will degrade resolution without further corrections. With minimal correction for error and use of a simple shift-and-add reconstruction algorithm, the CTI is able to produce a spatial resolution of about 2 mm in the object plane (234 μrad IFOV) and is limited by chromatic aberration. A spectral resolution of less than 1nm at shorter wavelengths is shown, limited primarily by prism dispersion.

[Reliability of a positron emission tomography system (CTI:PT931/04-12)].

PubMed

Watanuki, Shoichi; Ishii, Keizo; Itoh, Masatoshi; Orihara, Hikonojyo

2002-05-01

The maintenance data of a PET system (PT931/04-12 CTI Inc.) was analyzed to evaluate its reliability. We examined whether the initial performance for the system resolution and efficiency is kept. The reliability of the PET system was evaluated from the value of MTTF (mean time to failure) and MTBF (mean time between failures) for each part of the system obtained from the maintenance data for 13 years. The initial performance was kept for the resolution, but the efficiency decreased to 72% of the initial value. The 83% of the troubles of the system was for detector block (DB) and DB control module (BC). The MTTF of DB and BC were 2,733 and 3,314 days, and the MTBF of DB and BC per detector ring were 38 and 114 days. The MTBF of the system was 23 days. We found seasonal dependence for the number of troubles of DB and BC. This means that the trouble may be related the humidity. The reliability of the PET system strongly depends on the MTBF of DB and BC. The improvement in quality of these parts and optimization of the environment in operation may increase the reliability of the PET system. For the popularization of PET, it is effective to evaluate the reliability of the system and to show it to the users.

Large extents of intensive land use limit community reorganization during climate warming.

PubMed

Oliver, Tom H; Gillings, Simon; Pearce-Higgins, James W; Brereton, Tom; Crick, Humphrey Q P; Duffield, Simon J; Morecroft, Michael D; Roy, David B

2017-06-01

Climate change is increasingly altering the composition of ecological communities, in combination with other environmental pressures such as high-intensity land use. Pressures are expected to interact in their effects, but the extent to which intensive human land use constrains community responses to climate change is currently unclear. A generic indicator of climate change impact, the community temperature index (CTI), has previously been used to suggest that both bird and butterflies are successfully 'tracking' climate change. Here, we assessed community changes at over 600 English bird or butterfly monitoring sites over three decades and tested how the surrounding land has influenced these changes. We partitioned community changes into warm- and cold-associated assemblages and found that English bird communities have not reorganized successfully in response to climate change. CTI increases for birds are primarily attributable to the loss of cold-associated species, whilst for butterflies, warm-associated species have tended to increase. Importantly, the area of intensively managed land use around monitoring sites appears to influence these community changes, with large extents of intensively managed land limiting 'adaptive' community reorganization in response to climate change. Specifically, high-intensity land use appears to exacerbate declines in cold-adapted bird and butterfly species, and prevent increases in warm-associated birds. This has broad implications for managing landscapes to promote climate change adaptation. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Model of Dredging Impact on Dungeness Crab in Grays Harbor, Washington

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-01

Washington. 43 pp. Barry, Steve. 1986. Personal communication . Washington Dept. of Fisheries , Montesano, Washington. Bella, D.A. and K.J. Williamson. 1980... FISHERIES 18SHERIES RESEARCH INSTITUTE *~~ ~~~~~~~ Z *;r. .’."*,* U.-~0 SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved...School of Fisheries U.S.Ary Corps of Engineers, Seattle District 6c. ADDRESS (Cty, State, and ZIP Code) 7b. ADDRESS (City, State, and ZIP Code

Small-Caliber Ammunition Identification Guide. Volume 1. Small-Arms Cartridges Up to 15 mm

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-06-01

guns chambcred Ifor this specific cartridge. 12) Who mmr~ de the cartridge, arid when’ Normtally this information canl be derived from the inarkings that...fromu imiproper annecaling of thre metal . they may fuimetin quite teliably. Ser-ticcmbility moust be decteriaimcnd tltro-agl iIISpeCtiLin and restiin bý...Bcc~usc of’ Hague Convrntion cestrietions. as well as to provide A, better pcifouriance, service bullets widi a lead core have a full metal jack.,t

Applications of Fiber Optics in Experimental Mechanics

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-01

or-plane component of vibration. This fiber optic "Ham,7 Cuomo’ and Hoogenboom et al.9 In all array system was claimcd to be capable or a frequency...mechanical action and CTeeCtiVrly reduce the I3alexavllent p esropationg aong the inthecont f fiber. ( y prvids a microbending induced by the deformer. On a...transmit light as a source of poIer sufficient to directly activate mechanical phenomena. R41 tIdd F . and rurek, P. A.. "’Single Nildl Iithr-O)pti

East Europe Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-10-17

u CD O cn en r*^ CL) id cti ■ u CO 4- 1 o 3 O M 1 or a K ft ft cn \\opi o a \\Kfl T71233E ^ STBSajOUJvl ^ s ... u H QJ 4- 1 C •H i3 CD O = 1 13 O U ft PH g m o OJ i-H !■ o o >> n 4- 1 m 13 T3 o o Ö •H <D C/3 H +J M fl M a ) o... a > s < U

Thermospray Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry of Mustard and Its Metabolites

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-05-01

MONITORING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER(S) CRDEC-TR-066 6a. NAME OF PERFORMING ORGANIZATION 6b OFFICE SYMBOL 7a. NAME OF MONITORING ORGANIZATION (If applicable...see reverse 6c- ADDRESS (Cty, State, and ZIP Code) 7b. ADDRESS (City, State, and ZIP Code) Ba. NAME OF FUNDING/SPONSORING 8b OFFICE SYMBOL 9...Ather und Thioather in Dioxan- Wasser -Gemischen," Chem, Ber. Vol. 81, p 123 (1948). 2. Capon, B., and McManus, S. P., Neighboring Group Participation

Computer Based Satellite Design

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-06-01

CELL WIDTH := 2.0; -- cm CELLLENGTH := 2.0; -- cm CELLTHICKNESS := 0.02; -- cm when 7 = > VIDEO. CLEARSCREEN; PUTLINE(C...34 SECURI-Y CLASS-LCATO% Oý Ti-S PAGE REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Mb %. ý,o4 ,78P la REPORT SEC;R;TY CLASSF;CA,O% ’ RES’ - V y’,’ 7 MAR V: NV ’ S...NAME 0O mOx" "Op’t 2- -. (If applicable) Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School 6c ADDRESS City State, and ZIPCode) 7 t ADD-ESS ’Cty Stare

Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Study Group Report. Volume 1. Main Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-05-01

Affairs) Doctor Harrison B. Wilson President Norfolk State University; President, Army Advisory Panel on ROTC Affairs Lieutenant General Robert H...1 1 N3IE 1: Brergaxy rraiical care iß nxtrxixü CJ\\ A m^ce jJajl^Ue tueis en a tuipxary tesis until e^xiqfrlace di^xKitlCTi can be...Subject: "Gold Bar Recruiters Program," November, 1984, US Amy TRADOC, Second ROTC Region (ATOB- APA ), Info Paper, "Second ROTC Region Advertising Budget

Infusion of a Gaming Paradigm into Computer-Aided Engineering Design Tools

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-03

Virtual Test Bed (VTB), and the gaming tool, Unity3D . This hybrid gaming environment coupled a three-dimensional (3D) multibody vehicle system model...from Google Earth to the 3D visual front-end fabricated around Unity3D . The hybrid environment was sufficiently developed to support analyses of the...ndFr Cti3r4 G’OjrdFr ctior-2 The VTB simulation of the vehicle dynamics ran concurrently with and interacted with the gaming engine, Unity3D which

Phase II and III Clinical Studies of Diphtheria-Tetanus-Acellular Pertussis Vaccine Containing Inactivated Polio Vaccine Derived from Sabin Strains (DTaP-sIPV).

PubMed

Okada, Kenji; Miyazaki, Chiaki; Kino, Yoichiro; Ozaki, Takao; Hirose, Mizuo; Ueda, Kohji

2013-07-15

Phase II and III clinical studies were conducted to evaluate immunogenicity and safety of a novel DTaP-IPV vaccine consisting of Sabin inactivated poliovirus vaccine (sIPV) and diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP). A Phase II study was conducted in 104 healthy infants using Formulation H of the DTaP-sIPV vaccine containing high-dose sIPV (3, 100, and 100 D-antigen units for types 1, 2, and 3, respectively), and Formulations M and L, containing half and one-fourth of the sIPV in Formulation H, respectively. Each formulation was administered 3 times for primary immunization and once for booster immunization. A Phase III study was conducted in 342 healthy infants who received either Formulation M + oral polio vaccine (OPV) placebo or DTaP + OPV. The OPV or OPV placebo was orally administered twice between primary and booster immunizations. Formulation M was selected as the optimum dose. In the Phase III study, the seropositive rate was 100% for all Sabin strains after primary immunization, and the neutralizing antibody titer after booster immunization was higher than in the control group (DTaP + OPV). All adverse reactions were clinically acceptable. DTaP-sIPV was shown to be a safe and immunogenic vaccine. JapicCTI-121902 for Phase II study, JapicCTI-101075 for Phase III study (http://www.clinicaltrials.jp/user/cte_main.jsp).

Proceedings of the 1983 Spring Meeting of the Packaging, Handling and Transportability Division of the American Defense Preparedness Association Held at Port Hueneme, California on April 26-28, 1983

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-01-01

packages into a cost saving technique that we refer to as brick loading. By this s ;meant, that the packages will be fitted into every available slot...8217IIMAN4roitrATION ,r, j ŕ- AZAIMIOUti f4\\iIl’t;I¢.;LA it LOAnD Jaituary 13, 1971 File: 1173.7(a) Mr. John V. Itvdc Coloitel, N’L’C •Chinf:, Officc of S-&:cty

From Progressive to Flat: How Tax Reform would Affect the Military

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

l,e:s dedJe1ic:n. Al:taeh Fam eoco 36 36 Add lines23 Uro ~.gh 3:5 36 37 Subtract line36 1rom line :22. ThS S vour adjusted gross income .. 37 156...name I Fore1111 provtnce/county I For«11’P05tilco:le tJI"Uf, ’NiUr. $SID9) lO ~IS ~n:1 Ct’l:Ctang I IIC. DD’ •• ld cti !’Qt )’OUf l&x or ""’ .... 0 Yov

Erythrocyte membrane cholesterol and lipid core growth in a rabbit model of atherosclerosis: modulatory effects of rosuvastatin.

PubMed

Tziakas, Dimitrios; Chalikias, Georgios; Kapelouzou, Alkistis; Tentes, Ioannis; Schäfer, Katrin; Karayannakos, Panagiotis; Kostakis, Alkiviadis; Boudoulas, Harissios; Konstantinides, Stavros

2013-12-10

Lipid core expansion is partly responsible for the conversion of a stable atherosclerotic lesion to a rupture-prone plaque. Intraplaque hemorrhage contributes to the accumulation of cholesterol within unstable plaques. In the present study, we investigated, using a rabbit model of atherosclerosis, the extent to which diet-induced increases in cholesterol content of erythrocyte membranes (CEM) contribute to lipid core expansion and the modulatory effect of rosuvastatin use. Rabbits fed with atherogenic diet (0.75% cholesterol) for 5 months exhibited advanced atherosclerotic lesions (mean plaque area, 0.39 ± 0.03 mm(2)), and lipid core size was associated with the concentration-time integral (CTI) of CEM levels (r=0.567, P=0.004) independent of other established predictors of lipid core size. Further experiments were performed by feeding rabbits atherogenic diet (1% cholesterol) for 3 months, followed by either normal diet or normal diet plus rosuvastatin for the next 3 months. Although no differences were observed in total plaque area between both groups, administration of rosuvastatin was associated with significantly smaller lipid cores, fewer macrophages within the lipid core, less microvessels as well as with lower CTI of CEM levels compared to normal diet alone. Moreover, intraplaque erythrocyte membranes covered a smaller lipid core area in rabbits under rosuvastatin plus normal diet as opposed to rabbits under diet alone. Increased CEM levels, induced by high-cholesterol diet, are associated with lipid core growth. Ingestion of a potent HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (rosuvastatin) may decrease CEM levels, and this effect may contribute to regression of the lipid core. © 2013.

Comparison of different strategies of referral to a fall clinic: how to achieve an optimal casemix?

PubMed

Schoon, Y; Hoogsteen-Ossewaarde, M E; Scheffer, A C; Van Rooij, F J M; Rikkert, M G M Olde; De Rooij, S E

2011-02-01

OBJECTIVE To study the potential differences in patient characteristics between two referral methods to a fall clinic, specifically: case-finding of patients admitted to an emergency department because of a fall, compared to direct referral to the fall clinic via the general practitioner. Cross-sectional study. Fall clinics in two university teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. Three hundred community-dwelling older people aged 65 years or over currently attending the fall clinics in Nijmegen (Group 1, n=154) and in Amsterdam (Group 2, n=146). Patients were referred by a general practitioner (Group 1) or were selected using the Carefall Triage Instrument (CTI) after visiting the emergency department (Group 2). In all patients, modifiable risk factors for recurrent falls were assessed. Group 1 had less modifiable risk factors for falling (a mean of 4 (SD 1.6) vs. a mean of 5 (SD 1.5) in Group 2, p < 0.001). Compared to Group 2, Group 1 had more prevalent " recurrent falling (≥ 2 falls)" (p=0.001) and "assisted living in homes for the aged" (p=0.037). "Fear of falling", "mobility and balance problems", "home hazards" and "osteoporosis" were significantly less prevalent in Group 1. This study suggests that patients referred to a multidisciplinary fall prevention clinic by their general practitioner have a different risk profile than those selected by case finding using the CTI. These differences have consequences for the reach of secondary care for fall-preventive interventions and will probably influence the effectiveness and efficiency of a fall prevention program.

Validating new summary indices for the Childhood Trauma Interview: associations with first onsets of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders.

PubMed

Vrshek-Schallhorn, Suzanne; Wolitzky-Taylor, Kate; Doane, Leah D; Epstein, Alyssa; Sumner, Jennifer A; Mineka, Susan; Zinbarg, Richard E; Craske, Michelle G; Isaia, Ashley; Hammen, Constance; Adam, Emma K

2014-09-01

Childhood and adolescent adversity is of great interest in relation to risk for psychopathology, and interview measures of adversity are thought to be more reliable and valid than their questionnaire counterparts. One interview measure, the Childhood Trauma Interview (CTI; Fink et al., 1995), has been positively evaluated relative to similar measures, but there are some psychometric limitations to an existing scoring approach that limit the full potential of this measure. We propose several new summary indices for the CTI that permit examination of different types of adversity and different developmental periods. Our approach creates several summary indices: one sums the severity scores of adversities endorsed; another utilizes the number of minor and major (moderate to severe) adversities. The new indices were examined in association with first onsets of major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders across a 5-year period using annual clinical diagnostic interviews (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR). Summary scores derived with the previously used approach were also examined for comparison. Data on 332 participants came from the Youth Emotion Project, a longitudinal study of risk for emotional disorders. Results support the predictive validity of the proposed summary scoring methods and indicate that several forms of major (but typically not minor) adversity are significantly associated with first onsets of MDD and anxiety disorders. Finally, multivariate regression models show that, in many instances, the new indices contributed significant unique variance predicting disorder onsets over and above the previously used summary indices. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Modeling spatial-temporal dynamics of global wetlands: Comprehensive evaluation of a new sub-grid TOPMODEL parameterization and uncertainties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Z.; Zimmermann, N. E.; Poulter, B.

2015-12-01

Simulations of the spatial-temporal dynamics of wetlands is key to understanding the role of wetland biogeochemistry under past and future climate variability. Hydrologic inundation models, such as TOPMODEL, are based on a fundamental parameter known as the compound topographic index (CTI) and provide a computationally cost-efficient approach to simulate global wetland dynamics. However, there remains large discrepancy in the implementations of TOPMODEL in land-surface models (LSMs) and thus their performance against observations. This study describes new improvements to TOPMODEL implementation and estimates of global wetland dynamics using the LPJ-wsl DGVM, and quantifies uncertainties by comparing three digital elevation model products (HYDRO1k, GMTED, and HydroSHEDS) at different spatial resolution and accuracy on simulated inundation dynamics. We found that calibrating TOPMODEL with a benchmark dataset can help to successfully predict the seasonal and interannual variations of wetlands, as well as improve the spatial distribution of wetlands to be consistent with inventories. The HydroSHEDS DEM, using a river-basin scheme for aggregating the CTI, shows best accuracy for capturing the spatio-temporal dynamics of wetland among three DEM products. This study demonstrates the feasibility to capture spatial heterogeneity of inundation and to estimate seasonal and interannual variations in wetland by coupling a hydrological module in LSMs with appropriate benchmark datasets. It additionally highlight the importance of an adequate understanding of topographic indices for simulating global wetlands and show the opportunity to converge wetland estimations in LSMs by identifying the uncertainty associated with existing wetland products.

The Control of Human Arm Movement: Models and Mechanical Constraints

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-06-01

joints o linear joint angle sensors These assumptions may be refined as needed (e.g., muscle geometry may be included), but such additional complexity... C +y (2.4) 26 where W_ = (a, a2 Y = (1 0 1 O )T, = , 9 and cos( o ’) cos(o4) cos(q1) sin( o ) sin(44) sin(01) C 1= (2.5) coS(qS) coS(02) coS(0b) The least...squares solution is o = (CTC)-1CT(-y). A unique solution is guaranteed provided that the columns of C are independent. Observe that the columns of C

Pakistan’s Nuclear Future: Worries Beyond War

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

sources such as cobalt irradiation sources , neutron sources , etc. that could be utilized by experienced...Kh an AQ K ha n o ffe r t o I ra q Pr es sle r s an cti on s ( Oc t.) 19 91 Gh ula m Ish aq K ha n Na wa z S ha rif Mi rza A sla m Be g ( Ja nu...or th Ko re a ( De c.) 19 94 Fa ro oq Le gh ar i Be na zir B hu tto Ab du l W ah id Ka ka r Se

Driver Injury Risk Variability in Finite Element Reconstructions of Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) Frontal Motor Vehicle Crashes.

PubMed

Gaewsky, James P; Weaver, Ashley A; Koya, Bharath; Stitzel, Joel D

2015-01-01

A 3-phase real-world motor vehicle crash (MVC) reconstruction method was developed to analyze injury variability as a function of precrash occupant position for 2 full-frontal Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) cases. Phase I: A finite element (FE) simplified vehicle model (SVM) was developed and tuned to mimic the frontal crash characteristics of the CIREN case vehicle (Camry or Cobalt) using frontal New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) crash test data. Phase II: The Toyota HUman Model for Safety (THUMS) v4.01 was positioned in 120 precrash configurations per case within the SVM. Five occupant positioning variables were varied using a Latin hypercube design of experiments: seat track position, seat back angle, D-ring height, steering column angle, and steering column telescoping position. An additional baseline simulation was performed that aimed to match the precrash occupant position documented in CIREN for each case. Phase III: FE simulations were then performed using kinematic boundary conditions from each vehicle's event data recorder (EDR). HIC15, combined thoracic index (CTI), femur forces, and strain-based injury metrics in the lung and lumbar vertebrae were evaluated to predict injury. Tuning the SVM to specific vehicle models resulted in close matches between simulated and test injury metric data, allowing the tuned SVM to be used in each case reconstruction with EDR-derived boundary conditions. Simulations with the most rearward seats and reclined seat backs had the greatest HIC15, head injury risk, CTI, and chest injury risk. Calculated injury risks for the head, chest, and femur closely correlated to the CIREN occupant injury patterns. CTI in the Camry case yielded a 54% probability of Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 2+ chest injury in the baseline case simulation and ranged from 34 to 88% (mean = 61%) risk in the least and most dangerous occupant positions. The greater than 50% probability was consistent with the case occupant's AIS 2 hemomediastinum. Stress-based metrics were used to predict injury to the lower leg of the Camry case occupant. The regional-level injury metrics evaluated for the Cobalt case occupant indicated a low risk of injury; however, strain-based injury metrics better predicted pulmonary contusion. Approximately 49% of the Cobalt occupant's left lung was contused, though the baseline simulation predicted 40.5% of the lung to be injured. A method to compute injury metrics and risks as functions of precrash occupant position was developed and applied to 2 CIREN MVC FE reconstructions. The reconstruction process allows for quantification of the sensitivity and uncertainty of the injury risk predictions based on occupant position to further understand important factors that lead to more severe MVC injuries.

Risk of bleeding and repeated bleeding events in prasugrel-treated patients: a review of data from the Japanese PRASFIT studies.

PubMed

Nishikawa, Masakatsu; Isshiki, Takaaki; Kimura, Takeshi; Ogawa, Hisao; Yokoi, Hiroyoshi; Miyazaki, Shunichi; Ikeda, Yasuo; Nakamura, Masato; Tanaka, Yuko; Saito, Shigeru

2017-04-01

Prasugrel is a third-generation thienopyridine that achieves potent platelet inhibition with less pharmacological variability than other thienopyridines. However, clinical experience suggests that prasugrel may be associated with a higher risk of de novo and recurrent bleeding events compared with clopidogrel in Japanese patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). In this review, we evaluate the risk of bleeding in Japanese patients treated with prasugrel at the doses (loading/maintenance doses: 20/3.75 mg) adjusted for Japanese patients, evaluate the risk factors for bleeding in Japanese patients, and examine whether patients with a bleeding event are at increased risk of recurrent bleeding. This review covers published data and new analyses of the PRASFIT (PRASugrel compared with clopidogrel For Japanese patIenTs) trials of patients undergoing PCI for acute coronary syndrome or elective reasons. The bleeding risk with prasugrel was similar to that observed with the standard dose of clopidogrel (300/75 mg), including when bleeding events were re-classified using the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium criteria. The pharmacodynamics of prasugrel was not associated with the risk of bleeding events. The main risk factors for bleeding events were female sex, low body weight, advanced age, and presence of diabetes mellitus. Use of a radial puncture site was associated with a lower risk of bleeding during PCI than a femoral puncture site. Finally, the frequency and severity of recurrent bleeding events during continued treatment were similar between prasugrel and clopidogrel. In summary, this review provides important insights into the risk and types of bleeding events in prasugrel-treated patients.Trial registration numbers: JapicCTI-101339 and JapicCTI-111550.

The efficacy of the Kampo medicine rikkunshito for chemotherapy-induced anorexia (RICH trial): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Inoue, Takuya; Takagi, Hironori; Owada, Yuki; Watanabe, Yuzuru; Yamaura, Takumi; Fukuhara, Mitsuro; Muto, Satoshi; Okabe, Naoyuki; Matsumura, Yuki; Hasegawa, Takeo; Osugi, Jun; Hoshino, Mika; Higuchi, Mitsunori; Shio, Yutaka; Yokouchi, Hiroshi; Kanazawa, Kenya; Ohbuchi, Katsuya; Fukushima, Takahisa; Munakata, Mitsuru; Suzuki, Hiroyuki

2017-10-18

Cisplatin is a key drug in lung cancer therapy. However, cisplatin is also well known to induce gastrointestinal disorders, such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, anorexia, and weight loss. These symptoms sometimes affect patients' quality of life and make continuation of chemotherapy difficult. Anorexia is a cause of concern for patients with cancer because a persistent loss of appetite progresses to cancer cachexia. Although evidence-based management for chemotherapy has recently been established, there is room for improvement. This placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial will aim to determine the efficacy of the traditional Japanese Kampo medicine rikkunshito (TJ-43) for preventing anorexia caused by cisplatin-including chemotherapy in patients with lung cancer. Patients with lung cancer who plan to receive cisplatin-including chemotherapy will be recruited. Patients who provide written consent will be randomly allocated to receive either TJ-43 (arm A) or placebo (arm B) for one course of chemotherapy (21 or 28 consecutive days). Investigators and patients will be masked to the treatment assignment throughout the trial. The primary endpoint will be evaluated as the change in dietary intake from day 0 (the day before the start of chemotherapy) to day 7 of cisplatin-including chemotherapy. The two arms of the trial will comprise 30 patients each. From November 2014, a total of 60 patients will be recruited, and recruitment for the study is planned to be complete by October 2017. This trial is designed to examine the efficacy of rikkunshito (TJ-43) for reducing anorexia and maintaining food intake caused by cisplatin-including chemotherapy in patients with lung cancer. Japan Pharmaceutical Information Center Clinical Trials Information (JAPIC CTI), trial registration: JAPIC CTI-142747 . Registered on 15 December 2014; the RICH trial.

Climate change in our backyards: the reshuffling of North America's winter bird communities.

PubMed

Princé, Karine; Zuckerberg, Benjamin

2015-02-01

Much of the recent changes in North American climate have occurred during the winter months, and as result, overwintering birds represent important sentinels of anthropogenic climate change. While there is mounting evidence that bird populations are responding to a warming climate (e.g., poleward shifts) questions remain as to whether these species-specific responses are resulting in community-wide changes. Here, we test the hypothesis that a changing winter climate should favor the formation of winter bird communities dominated by warm-adapted species. To do this, we quantified changes in community composition using a functional index--the Community Temperature Index (CTI)--which measures the balance between low- and high-temperature dwelling species in a community. Using data from Project FeederWatch, an international citizen science program, we quantified spatiotemporal changes in winter bird communities (n = 38 bird species) across eastern North America and tested the influence of changes in winter minimum temperature over a 22-year period. We implemented a jackknife analysis to identify those species most influential in driving changes at the community level and the population dynamics (e.g., extinction or colonization) responsible for these community changes. Since 1990, we found that the winter bird community structure has changed with communities increasingly composed of warm-adapted species. This reshuffling of winter bird communities was strongest in southerly latitudes and driven primarily by local increases in abundance and regional patterns of colonization by southerly birds. CTI tracked patterns of changing winter temperature at different temporal scales ranging from 1 to 35 years. We conclude that a shifting winter climate has provided an opportunity for smaller, southerly distributed species to colonize new regions and promote the formation of unique winter bird assemblages throughout eastern North America. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Modeling spatial-temporal dynamics of global wetlands: comprehensive evaluation of a new sub-grid TOPMODEL parameterization and uncertainties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Z.; Zimmermann, N. E.; Poulter, B.

2015-11-01

Simulations of the spatial-temporal dynamics of wetlands are key to understanding the role of wetland biogeochemistry under past and future climate variability. Hydrologic inundation models, such as TOPMODEL, are based on a fundamental parameter known as the compound topographic index (CTI) and provide a computationally cost-efficient approach to simulate wetland dynamics at global scales. However, there remains large discrepancy in the implementations of TOPMODEL in land-surface models (LSMs) and thus their performance against observations. This study describes new improvements to TOPMODEL implementation and estimates of global wetland dynamics using the LPJ-wsl dynamic global vegetation model (DGVM), and quantifies uncertainties by comparing three digital elevation model products (HYDRO1k, GMTED, and HydroSHEDS) at different spatial resolution and accuracy on simulated inundation dynamics. In addition, we found that calibrating TOPMODEL with a benchmark wetland dataset can help to successfully delineate the seasonal and interannual variations of wetlands, as well as improve the spatial distribution of wetlands to be consistent with inventories. The HydroSHEDS DEM, using a river-basin scheme for aggregating the CTI, shows best accuracy for capturing the spatio-temporal dynamics of wetlands among the three DEM products. The estimate of global wetland potential/maximum is ∼ 10.3 Mkm2 (106 km2), with a mean annual maximum of ∼ 5.17 Mkm2 for 1980-2010. This study demonstrates the feasibility to capture spatial heterogeneity of inundation and to estimate seasonal and interannual variations in wetland by coupling a hydrological module in LSMs with appropriate benchmark datasets. It additionally highlights the importance of an adequate investigation of topographic indices for simulating global wetlands and shows the opportunity to converge wetland estimates across LSMs by identifying the uncertainty associated with existing wetland products.

Long-Term Holding Capacity of Statically Loaded Anchors in Cohesive Soils

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-01-01

Kos .,es. Hanoiver NH A.RMY~ I-N( IVIN’NLEI)-S. HunmsIlle AL: Finded-Sr. Huintsville. Al. ARMY L.N( \\%AAURWAY S EXP SIA ILihrar%. Vicksburg NIS ARNMY 1...8217CHNOIOG6Y long Beach. C’A(%\\ agnert P()RT11I.ANI) CLNI ENT ASSOC. SKO KIE. 11. )C0REL.Yt: Skokie It. (Rsch & Ic\\ Ilab. lib.) 57 Pki SCON CORP IO~ SON...Sa~ brook CTI R.Q. PALNMER Kaitua. HI ENERGY R&I ADI)N H. Sko \\% ho. %Aashington. DC( -1..’%. NI ERNIEI. %%ashingion D)C \\kNI lAI.BOT Orange CA 58

CCD radiation damage in ESA Cosmic Visions missions: assessment and mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lumb, David H.

2009-08-01

Charge Coupled Device (CCD) imagers have been widely used in space-borne astronomical instruments. A frequent concern has been the radiation damage effects on the CCD charge transfer properties. We review some methods for assessing the Charge Transfer Inefficiency (CTI) in CCDs. Techniques to minimise degradation using background charge injection and p-channel CCD architectures are discussed. A critical review of the claims for p-channel architectures is presented. The performance advantage for p-channel CCD performance is shown to be lower than claimed previously. Finally we present some projections for the performance in the context of some future ESA missions.

JPRS Report. East Asia: Japan

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-07-09

factions becoming political parties could S^«ntaJ* a bi??! r l3SUe WaS thS introduction of the system of proportional lllttlT,\\T Wlth ’ restricted...eleCti°n iS h6ld ° r n0t- are ca’led "soap bubbL plrty members « but still yet the LDP’s organizational strength is overpowering when ::C Wlth the m...are cases of overlapping and inaccurate but In ihe 2dTX?eSedly/Ub80ribla8 Party memb6rS ° r b°°3t- "ub members station thf orL af cities of the

An Investigation of Stress Determination for Aircraft Fatigue Life Estimation from In-Flight Strain Data

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-09-01

o 00 I vo O Cs*. O O * on oo CM oo CTi c E 0) 3 E C ^1- f" *r— U £ O ) <U 3 u a.,— 3 IS) < c cn... o u. T3 1 •r-h- X ɘ IT) •*- r>» c o Z3 (^ o 00 17 The testing of the uniaxial specimens was done using an MTS Systems Corporation closed-looD, servo... c or twenty oscillations in one beat period. The output of the analog computer was supplied as input to the controller of

Development and quality assessments of commercial heat production of ATF FeCrAl tubes

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

Yamamoto, Yukinori

2015-09-01

Development and quality assessment of the 2 nd generation ATF FeCrAl tube production with commercial manufacturers were conducted. The manufacturing partners include Sophisticated Alloys, Inc. (SAI), Butler, PA for FeCrAl alloy casting via vacuum induction melting, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for extrusion process to prepare the master bars/tubes to be tube-drawn, and Rhenium Alloys, Inc. (RAI), North Ridgeville, OH, for tube-drawing process. The masters bars have also been provided to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) who works with Century Tubes, Inc., (CTI), San Diego, CA, as parallel tube production effort under the current program.

Are flood occurrences in Europe linked to specific atmospheric circulation types?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prudhomme, C.; Genevier, M.

2009-04-01

Flood damages are amongst the most costly climate-related hazard damages, with annual average flood damage in Europe in the last few decades of around €4bn per year (Barredo, 2007). With such economic and sometimes human losses, it is important to improve our estimations of flood risk for time scales from a few months (for increased preparedness) and to several decades (necessary to establish long-term flood management strategies). This paper investigates links between the occurrence of flood events and the atmospheric circulation patterns that have prevailed in the days leading to the flood. With the recent advances in climate modelling, such links could be exploited to anticipate the extent of potential damages due to flood using seasonal atmospheric forecasts products or future climate projections. The research is undertaken at a pan-European scale and exploits latest research in automatic classification techniques developed within the EU research network COST733 Action. Daily flow data from over 450 sites were used, available from the Global Runoff Data Centre, the European Water Archive, the UK National River Flow Archive and the French Banque Hydro. The atmospheric circulation types were defined following the Objective GrossWetterLagen classification (OGWL) developed by (James, 2007) using the ERA-40 mslp re-analysis, similar to the Hess-Brezowsky subjective classification (Hess and Brezowsky, 1977). Flood events were here defined according to the peak-over-threshold method, selecting the highest independent peaks observed in streamflow time series. The association between flood and atmospheric circulation types is assessed using two indicators. The first indicator calculates the difference between the frequency of occurrence of a circulation type CTi during a flood event to that for any day, expressed in percent. The significance of the anomaly is assessed using the χ2 statistics. The second indicator measures the probability of finding at last k days of N* of CTi using historical frequencies of occurrence. N* represents the number of days preceding a flood when the atmospheric conditions could significantly influence flood production processes, and could be interpreted as an upper limit of the concentration time of the basin. This evaluates the persistence of an atmospheric circulation type CTi prior to a flood event, and the associated level of significance. The indicators are calculated at-site and discussed regionally. Results show significant links with two circulation types related to Cyclonic Westerly (Wz) and the Low over the British Isles (TB), while the anticyclonic north-westerly type (Nea) systematically doesn't occur before any flood event. References Barredo, J.I., 2007. Major flood disasters in Europe: 1950-2005. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 42 doi: 10.1007/s11069-006-9065-2: 125-148. Hess, P. and Brezowsky, H., 1977. Katalog der Grobwetterlagen Europas 1881-1976. 3 verbesserte und ergäntze Auflage. Ber Dt. Wetterd. 15 (113). James, P.M., 2007. An objective classification method for Hess and Brezowsky Grosswetterlagen over Europe. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 88(1): 17-42.

Proceedings of the Symposium on Air Force Applications of Modern Control Theory Held at Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio on 9-11 July 1974

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-07-01

vfimummIIW . jnww i ■ i mBi ■ ■ i ii *r’ "" ’ wmrm\\ nWMP’V^^W’ AD/A-003 387 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SYMPOSIUM ON AIR FORCE APPLICATIONS OF...unguided rockets (after burnout ) are all ballistic projectiles. Guided weapons and weapons developing lift are not ballistic projectiles. ■■^■Mtfü^dMH...p.vxr. SCINTUXATICN CYRO DRIFT ACCtlXRftCTE* r.UrT AKGI.E hCASL’ivr.Mr! T SCALE FACTOr. CTi-i-O >’.’> SS UTlBALA-NXt. CTRO AMISOF-LASTICin

Refraction seismic studies in the Miami River, Whitewater River, and Mill Creek valleys, Hamilton and Butler Counties, Ohio

USGS Publications Warehouse

Watkins, Joel S.

1963-01-01

Between September 17 and November 9, 1962, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Ohio Division of Water, Miami Conservancy District, and c,ty of Cincinnati, Ohio, co.,:ducted a refraction seismic study in Hamilton and Butler Counties, southwest Ohio. The area lies between Hamilton, Ohio, and the Ohio River and includes a preglacial valley now occupied by portions of the Miami River, Whitewater River, and Mill Creek. The valley is partially filled with glacial debris which yields large quantities of good-quality water. The object of the study was to determine the thickness of these glacial deposits and the shape of the preglacial valley.

The feasibility of a Box isolation strategy for non-paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in elderly patients.

PubMed

Higuchi, Satoshi; Sohara, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Yoshinori; Ihara, Minoru; Yamaguchi, Yoshio; Shoda, Morio; Hagiwara, Nobuhisa; Satake, Shutaro

2016-06-01

Catheter ablation of non-paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (non-PAF) is a therapeutic challenge especially in elderly patients. This study describes the feasibility of a posterior left atrium isolation as a substrate modification in addition to pulmonary vein isolation, the so-called Box isolation, for elderly patients with non-PAF. Two hundred twenty-nine consecutive patients who underwent Box isolations for drug-refractory non-PAF were divided into two groups according to their age; younger group comprising 175 patients aged <75 years and elderly group comprising 54 patients aged ≥75 years. During 23.7±12.0 months of follow-up, the arrhythmia-free rates after one procedure were 53.1% in younger group versus 48.1% in elderly group (p=0.50). Following the second procedure, all patients had electrical conduction recoveries along the initial Box lesion. However, a complete Box re-isolation was highly established in both age groups (87.1% vs. 92.9%, respectively; p=1.00). Recurrence of macro-reentrant atrial tachycardia was mainly associated with the gaps through the initial Box lesion in both age groups (25.8% vs. 21.4%, p=1.00), but typical cavo-tricuspid isthmus (CTI) dependent atrial flutter was significantly observed in the elderly patients' group only (all events were observed within 6 months after the initial procedure; 3.2% vs. 28.6%, p=0.009). After two procedures, the arrhythmia-free rates increased to 73.1% in younger group versus 66.7% in elderly group (p=0.38). The occurrence rate of procedural-related complications did not differ between the two age groups, and there were no life-threatening complications even in elderly patients. Box isolation of non-PAF is effective and safe even in elderly patients. A prophylactic CTI ablation combined with Box isolation might be feasible to improve the long-term outcome.

Addressing the third gamma problem in PET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schueller, M. J.; Mulnix, T. L.; Christian, B. T.; Jensen, M.; Holm, S.; Oakes, T. R.; Roberts, A. D.; Dick, D. W.; Martin, C. C.; Nickles, R. J.

2003-02-01

PET brings the promise of quantitative imaging of the in-vivo distribution of any positron emitting nuclide, a list with hundreds of candidates. All but a few of these, the "pure positron" emitters, have isotropic coincident gamma rays that give rise to misrepresented events in the sinogram and in the resulting reconstructed image. Of particular interest are /sup 10/C, /sup 14/O, /sup 38/K, /sup 52m/Mn, /sup 60/Cu, /sup 61/Cu, /sup 94m/Tc, and /sup 124/I, each having high-energy gammas that are Compton-scattered down into the 511 keV window. The problems arising from the "third gamma," and its accommodation by standard scatter correction algorithms, were studied empirically, employing three scanner models (CTI 933/04, CTI HR+ and GE Advance), imaging three phantoms (line source, NEMA scatter and contrast/detail), with /sup 18/F or /sup 38/K and /sup 72/As mimicking /sup 14/O and /sup 10/C, respectively, in 2-D and 3-D modes. Five findings emerge directly from the image analysis. The third gamma: 1) does, obviously, tax the single event rate of the PET scanners, particularly in the absence of septa, from activity outside of the axial field of view; 2) does, therefore, tax the random rate, which is second order in singles, although the gamma is a prompt coincidence partner; 3) does enter the sinogram as an additional flat background, like randoms, but unlike scatter; 4) is not seriously misrepresented by the scatter algorithm which fits the correction to the wings of the sinogram; and 5) does introduce additional statistical noise from the subsequent subtraction, but does not seriously compromise the detectability of lesions as seen in the contrast/detail phantom. As a safeguard against the loss of accuracy in image quantitation, fiducial sources of known activity are included in the field of view alongside of the subject. With this precaution, a much wider selection of imaging agents can enjoy the advantages of positron emission tomography.

On-ground and in-orbit characterisation plan for the PLATO CCD normal cameras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gow, J. P. D.; Walton, D.; Smith, A.; Hailey, M.; Curry, P.; Kennedy, T.

2017-11-01

PLAnetary Transits and Ocillations (PLATO) is the third European Space Agency (ESA) medium class mission in ESA's cosmic vision programme due for launch in 2026. PLATO will carry out high precision un-interrupted photometric monitoring in the visible band of large samples of bright solar-type stars. The primary mission goal is to detect and characterise terrestrial exoplanets and their systems with emphasis on planets orbiting in the habitable zone, this will be achieved using light curves to detect planetary transits. PLATO uses a novel multi- instrument concept consisting of 26 small wide field cameras The 26 cameras are made up of a telescope optical unit, four Teledyne e2v CCD270s mounted on a focal plane array and connected to a set of Front End Electronics (FEE) which provide CCD control and readout. There are 2 fast cameras with high read-out cadence (2.5 s) for magnitude ~ 4-8 stars, being developed by the German Aerospace Centre and 24 normal (N) cameras with a cadence of 25 s to monitor stars with a magnitude greater than 8. The N-FEEs are being developed at University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) and will be characterised along with the associated CCDs. The CCDs and N-FEEs will undergo rigorous on-ground characterisation and the performance of the CCDs will continue to be monitored in-orbit. This paper discusses the initial development of the experimental arrangement, test procedures and current status of the N-FEE. The parameters explored will include gain, quantum efficiency, pixel response non-uniformity, dark current and Charge Transfer Inefficiency (CTI). The current in-orbit characterisation plan is also discussed which will enable the performance of the CCDs and their associated N-FEE to be monitored during the mission, this will include measurements of CTI giving an indication of the impact of radiation damage in the CCDs.

Winter to Spring Transition in Europe 48-45 degrees N: From Temperature Control by Advection to Control by Insolation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Otterman, J.; Ardizzone, J.; Atlas, R.; Hu, H.; Jusem, J. C.; Starr, D.

1999-01-01

As established in previous studies, and analyzed further herein for the years 1988-1998, warm advection from the North Atlantic is the predominant control of the surface-air temperature in northern-latitude Europe in late winter. This thesis is supported by the substantial correlation Cti between the speed of the southwesterly surface winds over the eastern North Atlantic, as quantified by a specific Index Ina, and the 2-meter level temperature Ts over central Europe (48-54 deg N; 5-25 deg E), for January, February and early March. In mid-March and subsequently, the correlation Cti drops drastically (quite often it is negative). The change in the relationship between Ts and Ina marks a transition in the control of the surface-air temperature. As (a) the sun rises higher in the sky, (b) the snows melt (the surface absorptivity can increase by a factor of 3.0), (c) the ocean-surface winds weaken, and (d) the temperature difference between land and ocean (which we analyze) becomes small, absorption of insolation replaces the warm advection as the dominant control of the continental temperature. We define the onset of spring by this transition, which evaluated for the period of our study occurs at pentad 16 (Julian Date 76, that is, March 16). The control by insolation means that the surface is cooler under cloudy conditions than under clear skies. This control produces a much smaller interannual variability of the surface temperature and of the lapse rate than prevailing in winter, when the control is by advection. Regional climatic data would be of greatest value for agriculture and forestry if compiled for well-defined seasons. For continental northern latitudes, analysis presented here of factors controlling the surface temperature appears an appropriate tool for this task.

Gaia Data Release 1. On-orbit performance of the Gaia CCDs at L2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crowley, C.; Kohley, R.; Hambly, N. C.; Davidson, M.; Abreu, A.; van Leeuwen, F.; Fabricius, C.; Seabroke, G.; de Bruijne, J. H. J.; Short, A.; Lindegren, L.; Brown, A. G. A.; Sarri, G.; Gare, P.; Prusti, T.; Prod'homme, T.; Mora, A.; Martín-Fleitas, J.; Raison, F.; Lammers, U.; O'Mullane, W.; Jansen, F.

2016-11-01

The European Space Agency's Gaia satellite was launched into orbit around L2 in December 2013 with a payload containing 106 large-format scientific CCDs. The primary goal of the mission is to repeatedly obtain high-precision astrometric and photometric measurements of one thousand million stars over the course of five years. The scientific value of the down-linked data, and the operation of the onboard autonomous detection chain, relies on the high performance of the detectors. As Gaia slowly rotates and scans the sky, the CCDs are continuously operated in a mode where the line clock rate and the satellite rotation spin-rate are in synchronisation. Nominal mission operations began in July 2014 and the first data release is being prepared for release at the end of Summer 2016. In this paper we present an overview of the focal plane, the detector system, and strategies for on-orbit performance monitoring of the system. This is followed by a presentation of the performance results based on analysis of data acquired during a two-year window beginning at payload switch-on. Results for parameters such as readout noise and electronic offset behaviour are presented and we pay particular attention to the effects of the L2 radiation environment on the devices. The radiation-induced degradation in the charge transfer efficiency (CTE) in the (parallel) scan direction is clearly diagnosed; however, an extrapolation shows that charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) effects at end of mission will be approximately an order of magnitude less than predicted pre-flight. It is shown that the CTI in the serial register (horizontal direction) is still dominated by the traps inherent to the manufacturing process and that the radiation-induced degradation so far is only a few per cent. We also present results on the tracking of ionising radiation damage and hot pixel evolution. Finally, we summarise some of the detector effects discovered on-orbit which are still being investigated.

The once-daily human glucagon-like peptide-1 analog, liraglutide, improves β-cell function in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes.

PubMed

Seino, Yutaka; Rasmussen, Mads Frederik; Clauson, Per; Kaku, Kohei

2012-08-20

Aims/Introduction:  β-cell function was evaluated by homeostasis model assessment of β-cell function (HOMA-B) index, proinsulin:insulin and proinsulin:C-peptide ratios in adult, Japanese type 2 diabetes patients receiving liraglutide.   Data from two randomized, controlled clinical trials (A and B) including 664 Japanese type 2 diabetes patients (mean values: glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c] 8.61-9.32%; body mass index [BMI] 24.4-25.3 kg/m(2)) were analyzed. In two 24-week trials, patients received liraglutide 0.9 mg (n = 268) or glibenclamide 2.5 mg (n = 132; trial A), or liraglutide 0.6, 0.9 mg (n = 176) or placebo (n = 88) added to previous sulfonylurea therapy (trial B).   Liraglutide was associated with improved glycemic control vs sulfonylurea monotherapy or placebo. In liraglutide-treated groups in trials A and B, area under the curve (AUC) insulin 0-3 h was improved (P < 0.001 for all) and the AUCinsulin 0-3 h:AUCglucose 0-3 h ratio was increased (estimated treatment difference [liraglutide-comparator] 0.058 [0.036, 0.079]). HOMA-B significantly increased with liraglutide relative to comparator in trial B (P < 0.05), but not in trial A. The reduction in fasting proinsulin:insulin ratio was 50% greater than in comparator groups.   In Japanese type 2 diabetes patients, liraglutide was associated with effective glycemic control, restoration of prandial insulin response and indications of improved β-cell function. This trial was registered with Clinicaltrials.gov (trial A: no. NCT00393718/JapicCTI-060328 and trial B: no. NCT00395746/JapicCTI-060324). (J Diabetes Invest, doi: 10.1111/j.2040-1124.2012.00193.x, 2012).

H-Field, E-Field, and Combined Field Solutions for Bodies of Revolution

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-03-01

thle Report) A - Approved for I)ublic release; distribution unlimited 17. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT (of the abetrect entered fIn Block 20, If differentI ...transfer the differential operator on 0 in (49) to Wp Since S is closed,.+.ffi" ff V s (P W) ds 0 (51) S where W denotes W Now, the representation V...Se Cti iOn V , i t: i SSlIo071 t h at IeIIC liTlTIiý(O 0 0tt IS e quI a IIor, as-, ocK a te d w ith th el co-b i n1e d f e I d -o 1mnitIl a t 1 1) os n

Structural Health Monitoring 2007: Quantification, Validation, and Implementation

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-01

8217..,...l1Y ofToievo. J o.~ l>e’rKrio. i. Pile F"".d.tiolll ",i "", i. ldcatir.,[ Mod.1 Pro "in.f an Ae Ral....... "-’adlKl ’"VVN ’CtI., K. Smarsl . D~. Rubr...tc Bridge Con ~lrucllon in CalIT’lln~ 11:20-1\\:40 HOOD Sohn. KAIST ,. 1520 A liCllltions of Smart Maluillh and Scnsin TKhnol ies to...H~ IbarakI UnlVcr5lt’o’ p. 1190 14:40 - 15:40 T~ nlu", Innuett« and Com lin. on SellSill:’ Pro rtit:s ore-roo. Fiber Reinrol"C’Cd P ’met’ Senson 12

Production and Extraction of [10C]-CO2 From Proton Bombardment of Molten 10B2O3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schueller, M. J.; Nickles, R. J.; Roberts, A. D.; Jensen, M.

2003-08-01

This work describes the production of 10C (t1/2 = 19 s) from an enriched 10B2O3 target using a CTI RDS-112 11 MeV proton cyclotron. Proton beam heating is used to raise the target to a molten state (˜ 1300 °C), enabling the activity to diffuse to the surface of the melt. An infrared thermocouple monitors the melt temperature. Helium sweep gas then transports the activity to flow-through chemistry processing for human inhalation of 10CO2 for blood flow imaging with Positron Emission Tomography. The temperature-related diffusion of activity out of the white-hot molten glass target is discussed.

Infrared-thermography imaging system multiapplications for manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stern, Sharon A.

1990-03-01

Imaging systems technology has been utilized traditionally for diagnosing structural envelope or insulation problems in the general thermographic comunity. Industrially, new applications for utilizing thermal imaging technology have been developed i n pred i cti ve/preventi ye mai ntenance and prod uct moni tori ng prociures at Eastman Kodak Company, the largest photographic manufacturering producer in the world. In the manufacturing processes used at Eastman Kodak Company, new applications for thermal imaging include: (1) Fluid transfer line insulation (2) Web coating drying uniformity (3) Web slitter knives (4) Heating/cooling coils (5) Overheated tail bearings, and (6) Electrical phase imbalance. The substantial cost benefits gained from these applications of infrared thermography substantiate the practicality of this approach and indicate the desirability of researching further appl i cati ons.

The Hall D solenoid helium refrigeration system at JLab

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

Laverdure, Nathaniel A.; Creel, Jonathan D.; Dixon, Kelly d.

Hall D, the new Jefferson Lab experimental facility built for the 12GeV upgrade, features a LASS 1.85 m bore solenoid magnet supported by a 4.5 K helium refrigerator system. This system consists of a CTI 2800 4.5 K refrigerator cold box, three 150 hp screw compressors, helium gas management and storage, and liquid helium and nitrogen storage for stand-alone operation. The magnet interfaces with the cryo refrigeration system through an LN2-shielded distribution box and transfer line system, both designed and fabricated by JLab. The distribution box uses a thermo siphon design to respectively cool four magnet coils and shields withmore » liquid helium and nitrogen. We describe the salient design features of the cryo system and discuss our recent commissioning experience.« less

Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations. Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-10-01

REPORTING STATIONS WORLD wICE. S" h * 0 suMMot ANTI V4 "W AM.. 17󈨑 173500 INCIRLIK AB TURKEY/ADANA N 37 00 t 0)s s 238 LTAG 17350 STATION LOCATION...TU PERIOD OF QECORD: 77-83,85-87 14ONTH: WAR HOL;RS(LST|: 03CO--05O I aINO ,PEE’U IN KNOTS DIRECTION I 1-3 4-6 7-1i 11-16 17-21 2Z-2,7 i’s-33 34-40 41...EAT,-ER ,ERv1CE/M&C STATION NUMPPER. 1735CO S TATICN NAME: . 𔃻CIRLIN AB TU PERIQO CF RECOR•: 77-83,8S-87 MON’H: WAR HtoURSLST)J: 06CO-CtiCO

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

St James, S; Argento, D; DeWitt, D

Purpose: Fast neutron therapy is offered at the University of Washington Medical Center for treatment of selected cancers. The hardware and control systems of the UW Clinical Neutron Therapy System are undergoing upgrades to enable delivery of IMNT. To clinically implement IMNT, dose verification tools need to be developed. We propose a portal imaging system that relies on the creation of positron emitting isotopes ({sup 11}C and {sup 15}O) through (n, 2n) reactions with a PMMA plate placed below the patient. After field delivery, the plate is retrieved from the vault and imaged using a reader that detects the annihilationmore » photons. The pattern of activity produced in the plate provides information to reconstruct the neutron fluence map that can be compared to fluence maps from Monte Carlo (MCNP) simulations to verify treatment delivery. We have previously performed Monte Carlo simulations of the portal imaging system (GATE simulations) and the beam line (MCNP simulations). In this work, initial measurements using a prototype system are presented. Methods: Custom electronics were developed for BGO detectors read out with photomultiplier tubes (previous generation PET detectors from a CTI ECAT 953 scanner). Two detectors were placed in coincidence, with a detector separation of 2 cm. Custom software was developed to create the crystal look up tables and perform a limited angle planar reconstruction with a stochastic normalization. To test the initial capabilities of the system, PMMA squares were irradiated with neutrons at a depth of 1.5 cm and read out using the prototype system. Doses ranging from 10–200 cGy were delivered. Results: Using the prototype system, dose differences in the therapeutic range could be determined. Conclusion: The prototype portal imaging system is capable of detecting neutron doses as low as 10–50 cGy and shows great promise as a patient QA tool for IMNT.« less

Combining Soil Databases for Topsoil Organic Carbon Mapping in Europe.

PubMed

Aksoy, Ece; Yigini, Yusuf; Montanarella, Luca

2016-01-01

Accuracy in assessing the distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important issue because of playing key roles in the functions of both natural ecosystems and agricultural systems. There are several studies in the literature with the aim of finding the best method to assess and map the distribution of SOC content for Europe. Therefore this study aims searching for another aspect of this issue by looking to the performances of using aggregated soil samples coming from different studies and land-uses. The total number of the soil samples in this study was 23,835 and they're collected from the "Land Use/Cover Area frame Statistical Survey" (LUCAS) Project (samples from agricultural soil), BioSoil Project (samples from forest soil), and "Soil Transformations in European Catchments" (SoilTrEC) Project (samples from local soil data coming from six different critical zone observatories (CZOs) in Europe). Moreover, 15 spatial indicators (slope, aspect, elevation, compound topographic index (CTI), CORINE land-cover classification, parent material, texture, world reference base (WRB) soil classification, geological formations, annual average temperature, min-max temperature, total precipitation and average precipitation (for years 1960-1990 and 2000-2010)) were used as auxiliary variables in this prediction. One of the most popular geostatistical techniques, Regression-Kriging (RK), was applied to build the model and assess the distribution of SOC. This study showed that, even though RK method was appropriate for successful SOC mapping, using combined databases was not helpful to increase the statistical significance of the method results for assessing the SOC distribution. According to our results; SOC variation was mainly affected by elevation, slope, CTI, average temperature, average and total precipitation, texture, WRB and CORINE variables for Europe scale in our model. Moreover, the highest average SOC contents were found in the wetland areas; agricultural areas have much lower soil organic carbon content than forest and semi natural areas; Ireland, Sweden and Finland has the highest SOC, on the contrary, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Spain, Italy have the lowest values with the average 3%.

Polishing and coating carbon fiber-reinforced carbon composites with a carbon-titanium layer enhances adhesion and growth of osteoblast-like MG63 cells and vascular smooth muscle cells in vitro.

PubMed

Bacáková, L; Starý, V; Kofronová, O; Lisá, V

2001-03-15

Carbon fiber-reinforced carbon composites (CFRC) are considered to be promising materials for orthopedic and dental surgery. Their mechanical properties can be tailored to be similar to those of bone, and their chemical composition (close to pure carbon) promises that they will be tolerated well by the surrounding tissue. In this study, CFRC composites were fabricated from phenolic resin and unidirectionally oriented Torayca carbon fibers by carbonization (1000 degrees C) and graphitization (2500 degrees C). The material then was cut with a diamond saw into sheets of 8 x 10 x 3 mm, and the upper surface was polished by colloidal SiO2 and/or covered with a carbon-titanium (C:Ti) layer (3.3 microm) using the plasma-enhanced physical vapor deposition method. Three different kinds of modified samples were prepared: polished only, covered only, and polished + covered. Untreated samples served as a control. The surface roughness of these samples, measured by a Talysurf profilometer, decreased significantly after polishing but usually did not decrease after coating with a C:Ti layer. On all three modified surfaces, human osteoblast-like cells of the MG63 line and rat vascular smooth muscle cells (both cultured in a Dulbecco's minimum essential medium with 10% fetal bovine serum) adhered at higher numbers (by 21-87% on day 1 after seeding) and exhibited a shorter population doubling time (by 13-40%). On day 4 after seeding, these cells attained higher population densities (by 61-378%), volume (by 18-37%), and protein content (by 16-120%). These results were more pronounced in VSMC than in MG63 cells and in both groups of C:Ti-covered samples than in the polished only samples. The release of carbon particles from the CFRC composites was significantly decreased--by 8 times in the polished only, 24 times in the covered only, and 42 times in the polished + covered samples. These results show that both polishing and carbon-titanium covering significantly improve the biocompatibility of CFRC composites in vitro, especially when these two modifications are combined.

Combining Soil Databases for Topsoil Organic Carbon Mapping in Europe

PubMed Central

Aksoy, Ece

2016-01-01

Accuracy in assessing the distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important issue because of playing key roles in the functions of both natural ecosystems and agricultural systems. There are several studies in the literature with the aim of finding the best method to assess and map the distribution of SOC content for Europe. Therefore this study aims searching for another aspect of this issue by looking to the performances of using aggregated soil samples coming from different studies and land-uses. The total number of the soil samples in this study was 23,835 and they’re collected from the “Land Use/Cover Area frame Statistical Survey” (LUCAS) Project (samples from agricultural soil), BioSoil Project (samples from forest soil), and “Soil Transformations in European Catchments” (SoilTrEC) Project (samples from local soil data coming from six different critical zone observatories (CZOs) in Europe). Moreover, 15 spatial indicators (slope, aspect, elevation, compound topographic index (CTI), CORINE land-cover classification, parent material, texture, world reference base (WRB) soil classification, geological formations, annual average temperature, min-max temperature, total precipitation and average precipitation (for years 1960–1990 and 2000–2010)) were used as auxiliary variables in this prediction. One of the most popular geostatistical techniques, Regression-Kriging (RK), was applied to build the model and assess the distribution of SOC. This study showed that, even though RK method was appropriate for successful SOC mapping, using combined databases was not helpful to increase the statistical significance of the method results for assessing the SOC distribution. According to our results; SOC variation was mainly affected by elevation, slope, CTI, average temperature, average and total precipitation, texture, WRB and CORINE variables for Europe scale in our model. Moreover, the highest average SOC contents were found in the wetland areas; agricultural areas have much lower soil organic carbon content than forest and semi natural areas; Ireland, Sweden and Finland has the highest SOC, on the contrary, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Spain, Italy have the lowest values with the average 3%. PMID:27011357

Efficacy and safety of repaglinide vs nateglinide for treatment of Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed

Kawamori, Ryuzo; Kaku, Kohei; Hanafusa, Toshiaki; Kashiwabara, Daisuke; Kageyama, Shigeru; Hotta, Nigishi

2012-06-06

Aims/Introduction:  Repaglinide is a short-acting insulin secretagogue. We assessed the efficacy and safety of repaglinide in comparison with nateglinide in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes previously treated with diet and exercise.   In this 16-week randomized, multicenter, double-blind, parallel-group, active-controlled superiority trial, Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) of ≥6.9 and ≤9.4% were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 0.5 mg repaglinide (n = 64) or 90 mg nateglinide (n = 66) three times a day. The primary end-point was changes in HbA1c from baseline to the end of treatment.   Mean reductions of HbA1c were significantly greater for the repaglinide group than the nateglinide group (-1.17 ± 0.62 vs -0.81 ± 0.39%, P < 0.001). The target HbA1c values of <6.9% were achieved by 75.0% of the repaglinide group vs 59.1% for nateglinide. Mean changes in fasting plasma glucose also showed significantly greater efficacy for repaglinide than nateglinide (-26.0 ± 20.9 vs -18.3 ± 17.8 mg/dL, P < 0.001). There were no differences in the adverse event rates between the repaglinide and the nateglinide group, by 57.8% (37/64) and 60.6% (40/66), respectively. Incidences of hypoglycemic symptoms were 17.2% (11/64, 28 events) in the repaglinide group and 6.1% (4/66, 20 events) in the nateglinide group, respectively.   In type 2 diabetic patients treated with diet and exercise, repaglinide monotherapy gives greater glycemic improvement than nateglinide monotherapy in reducing HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose values after 16 weeks. This trial was registered with JapicCTI (no. JapicCTI-080521). (J Diabetes Invest, doi: 10.1111/j.2040-1124.2011.00188.x, 2011).

Modeling spatiotemporal dynamics of global wetlands: comprehensive evaluation of a new sub-grid TOPMODEL parameterization and uncertainties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhen; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; Kaplan, Jed O.; Poulter, Benjamin

2016-03-01

Simulations of the spatiotemporal dynamics of wetlands are key to understanding the role of wetland biogeochemistry under past and future climate. Hydrologic inundation models, such as the TOPography-based hydrological model (TOPMODEL), are based on a fundamental parameter known as the compound topographic index (CTI) and offer a computationally cost-efficient approach to simulate wetland dynamics at global scales. However, there remains a large discrepancy in the implementations of TOPMODEL in land-surface models (LSMs) and thus their performance against observations. This study describes new improvements to TOPMODEL implementation and estimates of global wetland dynamics using the LPJ-wsl (Lund-Potsdam-Jena Wald Schnee und Landschaft version) Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (DGVM) and quantifies uncertainties by comparing three digital elevation model (DEM) products (HYDRO1k, GMTED, and HydroSHEDS) at different spatial resolution and accuracy on simulated inundation dynamics. In addition, we found that calibrating TOPMODEL with a benchmark wetland data set can help to successfully delineate the seasonal and interannual variation of wetlands, as well as improve the spatial distribution of wetlands to be consistent with inventories. The HydroSHEDS DEM, using a river-basin scheme for aggregating the CTI, shows the best accuracy for capturing the spatiotemporal dynamics of wetlands among the three DEM products. The estimate of global wetland potential/maximum is ˜ 10.3 Mkm2 (106 km2), with a mean annual maximum of ˜ 5.17 Mkm2 for 1980-2010. When integrated with wetland methane emission submodule, the uncertainty of global annual CH4 emissions from topography inputs is estimated to be 29.0 Tg yr-1. This study demonstrates the feasibility of TOPMODEL to capture spatial heterogeneity of inundation at a large scale and highlights the significance of correcting maximum wetland extent to improve modeling of interannual variations in wetland area. It additionally highlights the importance of an adequate investigation of topographic indices for simulating global wetlands and shows the opportunity to converge wetland estimates across LSMs by identifying the uncertainty associated with existing wetland products.

Induction of Calcium Flux and Enhancement of Cytolytic Activity in Natural Killer Cells by Cross-Linking of the Sheep Erythrocyte Binding Protein (CD2) and the Fc-Receptor (CD16)

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-09-15

lysis qs P-:asurcd by 5tCr release assay. Cell line 4 47 Is a CD3I/CD8S/CD 16: CTI, specif Ic for H-LA- B27 . Cell line 52 Is a CD3/CD4*/CD 16- HLA -Dm...Ind i-LA-Dw 1. The B- lymp1hobiastold cclIi line JH does niot express either I ILA- B27 or HLA -Dwl1. Ef fector cells were inicubated with targets at a...8217/CD3*/CD8’/CD16- pheno- measured in Quin 2/AM (Calbiochem. San Diego. CA) -loaded cells iype and is specific for HLA -1327. 0TL line 52 has a CD2ý/CD3

InPhoCUS (Inflated Photovoltaic Ultra-light Mirror Concentrators): First Results Of The Project And Future Perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pravettoni, Mauro; Barbato, Maurizio; Cooper, Thomas; Pedretti, Andrea; Ambrosetti, Gianluca; Steinfeld, Aldo

2011-12-01

InPhoCUS (Inflated PhotovoltaiC Ultra-light mirror concentratorS) is a concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) project funded by the Swiss Confederation's Innovation Promotion Agency (CTI) and developed by Airlight Energy Holding SA, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. The proposed novel concentrating system has already been patented for concentrated solar power applications: it is made by unconventional pneumatic multilayer polymeric mirrors, has an innovative fibre-reinforced concrete structure and an original tilting mechanism to track the sun. The innovative CPV solar collector is profitable for electric power plants both for the sun-belt region and in the Mediterranean. In this paper the authors present the novel CPV system and preliminary results on cost analysis, optical design and thermal modelling.

Commissioning and Testing the 1970's Era LASS Solenoid Magnet in JLab's Hall D

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

Ballard, Joshua T.; Biallas, George H.; Brown, G.

2015-06-01

JLab refurbished and reconfigured the LASS1, 1.85m bore Solenoid and installed it as the principal analysis magnet for nuclear physics in the newly constructed, Hall D at Jefferson Lab. The magnet contains four superconducting coils within an iron yoke. The magnet was built in the early1970's at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and used a second time at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The coils were extensively refurbished and individually tested by JLab. A new Cryogenic Distribution Box provides cryogens and their control valving, current distribution bus, and instrumentation pass-through. A repurposed CTI 2800 refrigerator system and new transfer line complete themore » system. We describe the re-configuration, the process and problems of re-commissioning the magnet and the results of testing the completed magnet.« less

Positron emission particle tracking using a modular positron camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parker, D. J.; Leadbeater, T. W.; Fan, X.; Hausard, M. N.; Ingram, A.; Yang, Z.

2009-06-01

The technique of positron emission particle tracking (PEPT), developed at Birmingham in the early 1990s, enables a radioactively labelled tracer particle to be accurately tracked as it moves between the detectors of a "positron camera". In 1999 the original Birmingham positron camera, which consisted of a pair of MWPCs, was replaced by a system comprising two NaI(Tl) gamma camera heads operating in coincidence. This system has been successfully used for PEPT studies of a wide range of granular and fluid flow processes. More recently a modular positron camera has been developed using a number of the bismuth germanate (BGO) block detectors from standard PET scanners (CTI ECAT 930 and 950 series). This camera has flexible geometry, is transportable, and is capable of delivering high data rates. This paper presents simple models of its performance, and initial experience of its use in a range of geometries and applications.

Experiences of Domestic and School Violence Among Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Outpatients.

PubMed

Völkl-Kernstock, Sabine; Huemer, Julia; Jandl-Jager, Elisabeth; Abensberg-Traun, Marihan; Marecek, Sonja; Pellegrini, Elisabeth; Plattner, Belinda; Skala, Katrin

2016-10-01

The experience of cumulative childhood adversities, such as exposure to domestic violence or abuse by caregivers, has been described as risk factor for poor mental health outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. We performed an investigation of experience of violence in all patients aged 6 to 20 years who had consulted the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, as outpatients during the period of one year. We were using the Childhood Trauma Interview (CTI) in order to obtain information on the kind of violence. Seventy-five percent of all patients had reported experiences of violence. These youth were significantly more often involved in acts of school violence, thus a significant correlation between experience of domestic violence and violence at school could be revealed. The results of our study emphasize the need for interventions preventing violence both in domestic and in school environments.

Update on the Status of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez, Svea; Aloisi, A.; Bostroem, K. A.; Cox, C.; Debes, J. H.; DiFelice, A.; Roman-Duval, J.; Hodge, P.; Holland, S.; Lindsay, K.; Lockwood, S. A.; Mason, E.; Oliveira, C. M.; Penton, S. V.; Proffitt, C. R.; Sonnentrucker, P.; Taylor, J. M.; Wheeler, T.

2013-06-01

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) has been on orbit for approximately 16 years as one of the 2nd generation instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Its operations were interrupted by an electronics failure in 2004, but STIS was successfully repaired in May 2009 during Service Mission 4 (SM4) allowing it to resume science observations. The Instrument team continues to monitor its performance and work towards improving the quality of its products. Here we present updated information on the status of the FUV and NUV MAMA and the CCD detectors onboard STIS and describe recent changes to the STIS calibration pipeline. We also discuss the status of efforts to apply a pixel-based correction for charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) effects to STIS CCD data. These techniques show promise for ameliorating the effects of ongoing radiation damage on the quality of STIS CCD data.

Neutron diffraction study of the formation kinetics of ordered antiphase domains in titanium carbohydride TiC x H y

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khidirov, I.

2015-09-01

The kinetics of formation and growth of ordered antiphase domains (APDs) in titanium carbohydride TiC0.50H0.21 has been investigated by neutron diffraction. A model of ordered APDs is proposed. It is established that the pronounced ordering of interstitial atoms and APDs begin at 450°C. It is shown that the period of ordered APDs ( Р ≈ 10-12) is independent of the exposure time at a constant temperature. It is found that the temperature of ordered APDs, T OAPD, increases nonlinearly with an increase in the carbon concentration in the range 0.50 ≤ C/Ti ≤ 0.70. The formation temperature of ordered APDs is found to correlate with the concentration dependence of the order-disorder transition temperature and be 0.60 of the order-disorder transition temperature: T APD = 0.60 Т С.

Exploratory study of the relations between spatial ability and drawing from memory.

PubMed

Czarnolewski, Mark Y; Eliot, John

2012-04-01

Test scores of 119 students, attending either a public four-year college or a technical school, were related to their proportionality and detail drawing scores on the Memory for Designs Test. In regression models, the ETS Maze Tracing, Eliot-Price Mental Rotations, and Bender-Gestalt tests were consistent predictors of proportionality scores, with the latter two tests uniquely related to these. The ETS Shapes Memory Test and the Form Board Test were the strongest predictors for detail accuracy scores. The Shapes test predicted proportionality when the CTY Visual Memory Test BB was excluded. The models then provided support for the hypothesis that drawing designs from memory, a critical skill in drawing, regardless of whether one focuses on accuracy for proportionality scores or for detail scores, is jointly related to the measures of recognition, production, and traditional spatial ability measures. This study identified multifaceted skills in drawing from memory.

Managing Radiation Degradation of CCDs on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory--III

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

O'Dell, Stephen L.; Aldcroft, Thomas L.; Blackwell, William C.; Bucher, Sabina L.; Chappell, Jon H.; DePasquale, Joseph M.; Grant, Catherine E.; Juda, Michael; Martin, Eric R.; Minow, Joseph I.;

Influence of air and water temperature on fill characteristics curve

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

Lefevre, M.R.

1985-01-01

In a previous paper, the author discussed approximations of the Merkel Theory, as well as other approximations included in the CTI recommended method of calculation of the Demand curves. The paper concluded that the familiar difference of enthalpies, used as a cooling potential, which is the Merkel Theory, could continue to be used by simply adding a corrective multiplying factor derived from a direct comparison of the exact theory and the Merkel Theory. At the end of the paper the author briefly showed that the corrections to the Demand curve was only one part of the picture and that theremore » was also an influence of the temperatures of the Characteristic curve side. The object of this paper is to now review the influence of the air and water temperature on the Characteristic curve. This completes the work presented last year.« less

Scintillation properties of selected oxide monocrystals activated with Ce and Pr

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wojtowicz, Andrzej J.; Drozdowski, Winicjusz; Wisniewski, Dariusz; Lefaucheur, Jean-Luc; Galazka, Zbigniew; Gou, Zhenhui; Lukasiewicz, Tadeusz; Kisielewski, Jaroslaw

2006-01-01

In the last 10-15 years there has been a significant effort toward development of new, more efficient and faster materials for detection of ionizing radiation. A growing demand for better scintillator crystals for detection of 511 keV gamma particles has been due mostly to recent advances in modern imaging systems employing positron emitting radionuclides for medical diagnostics in neurology, oncology and cardiology. While older imaging systems were almost exclusively based on BGO and NaI:Tl crystals the new systems, e.g., ECAT Accel, developed by Siemens/CTI, are based on recently discovered and developed LSO (Lu 2SiO 5:Ce, Ce-activated lutetium oxyorthosilicate) crystals. Interestingly, despite very good properties of LSO, there still is a strong drive toward development of new scintillator crystals that would show even better performance and characteristics. In this presentation we shall review spectroscopic and scintillator characterization of new complex oxide crystals, namely LSO, LYSO, YAG, LuAP (LuAlO 3, lutetium aluminate perovskite) and LuYAP activated with Ce and Pr. The LSO:Ce crystals have been grown by CTI Inc (USA), LYSO:Ce, LuAP:Ce and LuYAP:Ce crystals have been grown by Photonic Materials Ltd., Scotland (PML is the only company providing large LuAP:Ce crystals on a commercial scale), while YAG:Pr and LuAP:Pr crystals have been grown by Institute of Electronic Materials Technology (Poland). All these crystals have been characterized at Institute of Physics, N. Copernicus University (Poland). We will review and compare results of measurements of radioluminescence, VUV spectroscopy, scintillation light yields, scintillation time profiles and low temperature thermoluminescence performed on these crystals. We will demonstrate that all experiments clearly indicate that there is a significant room for improvement of LuAP, LuYAP and YAG. While both Ce-activated LSO and LYSO perform very well, we also note that LuYAP:Ce, LuAP:Ce and YAG:Pr offer some advantages and, after a likely improvement of some parameters, may also present a viable and desired alternative in applications that require high counting rates or better time resolution. Unfortunately, LuAP:Pr, although the fastest among all the materials studied, may be seriously limited in its achievable light yield by inherent physical processes that are responsible for nonradiative quenching of scintillation light in this material.

The impact of a single round of community mass treatment with azithromycin on disease severity and ocular Chlamydia trachomatis load in treatment-naïve trachoma-endemic island communities in West Africa.

PubMed

Last, Anna R; Burr, Sarah E; Harding-Esch, Emma; Cassama, Eunice; Nabicassa, Meno; Roberts, Chrissy H; Mabey, David C W; Holland, Martin J; Bailey, Robin L

2017-12-28

Trachoma, a neglected tropical disease, is caused by ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends three annual rounds of community mass drug treatment with azithromycin (MDA) if the prevalence of follicular trachoma in 1-9 year olds (TF 1-9 ) exceeds 10% at district level to achieve an elimination target of district-level TF 1-9 below 5% after. To evaluate this strategy in treatment-naïve trachoma-endemic island communities in Guinea Bissau, we conducted a cross-sectional population-based trachoma survey on four islands. The upper tarsal conjunctivae of each participant were clinically assessed for trachoma and conjunctival swabs were obtained (n = 1507). We used a droplet digital PCR assay to detect Ct infection and estimate bacterial load. We visited the same households during a second cross-sectional survey and repeated the ocular examination and obtained conjunctival swabs from these households one year after MDA (n = 1029). Pre-MDA TF 1-9 was 22.0% (136/618). Overall Ct infection prevalence (CtI) was 18.6% (25.4% in 1-9 year olds). Post-MDA (estimated coverage 70%), TF 1-9 and CtI were significantly reduced (7.4% (29/394, P < 0.001) and 3.3% (34/1029, P < 0.001) (6.6% in 1-9 year olds, P < 0.001), respectively. Median ocular Ct load was reduced from 2038 to 384 copies/swab (P < 0.001). Following MDA cases of Ct infection were highly clustered (Moran's I 0.27, P < 0.001), with fewer clusters of Ct infection overall, fewer clusters of cases with high load infections and less severe disease. Despite a significant reduction in the number of clusters of Ct infection, mean Ct load, disease severity and presence of clusters of cases of high load Ct infection suggesting the beginning of trachoma control in isolated island communities, following a single round of MDA we demonstrate that transmission is still ongoing. These detailed data are useful in understanding the epidemiology of ocular Ct infection in the context of MDA and the tools employed may have utility in determining trachoma elimination and surveillance activities in similar settings.

The influence of a long-term growth hormone treatment on lipid and glucose metabolism: a randomized trial in short Japanese children born small for gestational age.

PubMed

Horikawa, Reiko; Tanaka, Toshiaki; Nishinaga, Hiromi; Ogawa, Yoshihisa; Yokoya, Susumu

2016-01-01

Long-term growth hormone (GH) treatments in short children born small for gestational age (SGA) restore lipid metabolism, but also increase insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of long-term GH therapy on lipid and glucose metabolism as well as its dose dependency in short Japanese children born SGA. Eighty Japanese children with a short stature who were born SGA participated in this study; 65 were treated with fixed GH doses of 0.033 (low) or 0.067 (high) mg/kg/day for 260 weeks; 15 were untreated controls in the first year and were randomized to one of the two treatment groups at week 52. Serum cholesterol, glucose and insulin levels were regularly measured. An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was conducted annually. The mean age at the start of GH therapy was approximately 5.3 years. Serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in the high dose group significantly decreased over time during GH therapy. In both dose groups for TC, and in the high dose group for LDL-C, the higher the baseline values, the greater the decrease after 260 weeks. The rate of the decrease observed after 260 weeks in patients with high LDL-C levels was greater in the high dose group. Based on the results of OGTT, no patient was classified as being diabetic; however, annual increases were observed in post-OGTT insulin levels. After 260 weeks, the homeostasis model assessment as an index of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) increased, suggesting that insulin resistance developed over time with the GH treatment, while 36.6 % of the subjects entered puberty. Long-term continuous GH treatment for children born SGA may have a potentially beneficial effect on several parameters in lipid metabolism and does not adversely affect glucose metabolism. GHLIQUID-1516, GHLIQUID-1517, Japan Pharmaceutical Information Center Clinical trial registration: JapicCTI-050132. Registered 13 September 2005. Retrospectively registered. JapicCTI-050137. Registered 13 September 2005. Retrospectively registered. ClinicalTrials.gov trial registration: NCT00184717. Registered 13 September 2005. Retrospectively registered.

Optimized Gen-II FeCrAl cladding production in large quantity for campaign testing

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

Yamamoto, Yukinori; Sun, Zhiqian; Pint, Bruce A.

2016-06-03

There are two major objectives in this report; (1) to optimize microstructure control of ATF FeCrAl alloys during tube drawing processes, and (2) to provide an update on the progress of ATF FeCrAl tube production via commercial manufacturers. Experimental efforts have been made to optimize the process parameters balancing the tube fabricability, especially for tube drawing processes, and microstructure control of the final tube products. Lab-scale sheet materials of Gen II FeCrAl alloys (Mo-containing and Nb-containing FeCrAl alloys) were used in the study, combined with a stepwise warm-rolling process and intermediate annealing, aiming to simulate the tube drawing process inmore » a commercial tube manufacturer. The intermediate annealing at 650ºC for 1h was suggested for the tube-drawing process of Mo-containing FeCrAl alloys because it successfully softened the material by recovering the work hardening introduced through the rolling step, without inducing grain coarsening due to recrystallization. The final tube product is expected to have stabilized deformed microstructure providing the improved tensile properties with sufficient ductility. Optimization efforts on Nb-containing FeCrAl alloys focused on the effect of alloying additions and annealing conditions on the stability of deformed microstructure. Relationships between the second-phase precipitates (Fe 2Nb-Laves phase) and microstructure stability are discussed. FeCrAl tube production through commercial tube manufacturers is currently in progress. Three different manufacturers, Century Tubes, Inc. (CTI), Rhenium Alloys, Inc. (RAI), and Superior Tube Company, Inc. (STC), are providing capabilities for cold-drawing, warm-drawing, and HPTR cold-pilgering, respectively. The first two companies are currently working on large quantity tube production (expected 250 ft length) of Gen I model FeCrAl alloy (B136Y3, at CTI) and Gen II (C35M4, at RAI), with the process parameters obtained from the experimental efforts. The expected delivery dates are at the end of July, 2016, and the middle of June, 2016, respectively. Tube production at STC would be the first attempt to apply cold-pilgering to the FeCrAl alloys. Communication has been initiated, and the materials have been machined for the cold-pilgering process.« less

Neutron diffraction study of the formation kinetics of ordered antiphase domains in titanium carbohydride TiC{sub x}H{sub y}

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

Khidirov, I., E-mail: khidirov@inp.uz

2015-09-15

The kinetics of formation and growth of ordered antiphase domains (APDs) in titanium carbohydride TiC{sub 0.50}H{sub 0.21} has been investigated by neutron diffraction. A model of ordered APDs is proposed. It is established that the pronounced ordering of interstitial atoms and APDs begin at 450°C. It is shown that the period of ordered APDs (P ≈ 10–12) is independent of the exposure time at a constant temperature. It is found that the temperature of ordered APDs, T{sub OAPD}, increases nonlinearly with an increase in the carbon concentration in the range 0.50 ≤ C/Ti ≤ 0.70. The formation temperature of orderedmore » APDs is found to correlate with the concentration dependence of the order–disorder transition temperature and be 0.60 of the order–disorder transition temperature: T{sub APD} = 0.60Τ{sub C}.« less

Studies on Plasmoid Merging using Compact Toroid Injectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allfrey, Ian; Matsumoto, Tadafumi; Roche, Thomas; Gota, Hiroshi; Edo, Takahiro; Asai, Tomohiko; Sheftman, Daniel; Osin Team; Dima Team

2017-10-01

C-2 and C-2U experiments have used magnetized coaxial plasma guns (MCPG) to inject compact toroids (CTs) for refueling the long-lived advanced beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma. This refueling method will also be used for the C-2W experiment. To minimize momentum transfer from the CT to the FRC two CTs are injected radially, diametrically opposed and coincident in time. To improve understanding of the CT characteristics TAE has a dedicated test bed for the development of CT injectors (CTI), where plasmoid merging experiments are performed. The test bed has two CTIs on axis with both axial and transverse magnetic fields. The 1 kG magnetic fields, intended to approximate the magnetic field strength and injection angle on C-2W, allow studies of cross-field transport and merging. Both CTIs are capable of injecting multiple CTs at up to 1 kHz. The resulting merged CT lives >100 μs with a radius of 25 cm. More detailed results of CT parameters will be presented.

Association of single nucleotide polymorphism in CD28(C/T-I3 + 17) and CD40 (C/T-1) genes with the Graves' disease.

PubMed

Mustafa, Saima; Fatima, Hira; Fatima, Sadia; Khosa, Tafheem; Akbar, Atif; Shaikh, Rehan Sadiq; Iqbal, Furhan

2018-01-01

To find out a correlation between the single nucleotide polymorphisms in cluster of differentiation 28 and cluster of differentiation 40 genes with Graves' disease, if any. This case-control study was conducted at the Multan Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy, Multan, Pakistan, and comprised blood samples of Graves' disease patients and controls. Various risk factors were also correlated either with the genotype at each single-nucleotide polymorphism or with various combinations of genotypes studied during present investigation. Of the 160 samples, there were 80(50%) each from patients and controls. Risk factor analysis revealed that gender (p=0.008), marital status (p<0.001), education (p<0.001), smoking (p<0.001), tri-iodothyronine (P <0.001), thyroxin (p<0.001) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (p<0.000) levels in blood were associated with Graves' disease. Both single-nucleotide polymorphisms in both genes were not associated with Graves' disease, either individually or in any combined form.

Automatic Welding System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1982-01-01

Robotic welding has been of interest to industrial firms because it offers higher productivity at lower cost than manual welding. There are some systems with automated arc guidance available, but they have disadvantages, such as limitations on types of materials or types of seams that can be welded; susceptibility to stray electrical signals; restricted field of view; or tendency to contaminate the weld seam. Wanting to overcome these disadvantages, Marshall Space Flight Center, aided by Hayes International Corporation, developed system that uses closed-circuit TV signals for automatic guidance of the welding torch. NASA granted license to Combined Technologies, Inc. for commercial application of the technology. They developed a refined and improved arc guidance system. CTI in turn, licensed the Merrick Corporation, also of Nashville, for marketing and manufacturing of the new system, called the CT2 Optical Trucker. CT2 is a non-contracting system that offers adaptability to broader range of welding jobs and provides greater reliability in high speed operation. It is extremely accurate and can travel at high speed of up to 150 inches per minute.

Effect of interstitial and substitution alloying elements on the intrinsic stacking fault energy of nanocrystalline fcc-iron by atomistic simulation study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammadzadeh, Mina; Mohammadzadeh, Roghayeh

2017-11-01

The stacking fault energy (SFE) is an important parameter in the deformation mechanism of face centered cubic (fcc) iron-based alloy. In this study, the effect of interstitial (C and N) and substitution (Nb and Ti) alloying elements on the intrinsic SFE (ISFE) of nanocrystalline iron were investigated via molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The modified embedded atom method (MEAM) inter-atomic potential was used in the MD simulations. The results demonstrate a strong dependence of ISFE with addition of interstitial alloying elements but only a mild increase in ISFE with addition of substitution alloying elements in the composition range of 0 < {CNb, CTi} < 3 (at%). Moreover, it is shown that alloying of fcc iron with N decreases ISFE, whereas it increases significantly by addition of carbon element [0 < {CC, CN} < 3.5 (at%)]. The simulation method employed in this work shows reasonable agreement with some published experimental/calculated data.

Effect of Ranirestat on Sensory and Motor Nerve Function in Japanese Patients with Diabetic Polyneuropathy: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study

PubMed Central

Satoh, Jo; Kohara, Nobuo; Sekiguchi, Kenji; Yamaguchi, Yasuyuki

2016-01-01

We conducted a 26-week oral-administration study of ranirestat (an aldose reductase inhibitor) at a once-daily dose of 20 mg to evaluate its efficacy and safety in Japanese patients with diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN). The primary endpoint was summed change in sensory nerve conduction velocity (NCV) for the bilateral sural and proximal median sensory nerves. The sensory NCV was significantly (P = 0.006) improved by ranirestat. On clinical symptoms evaluated with the use of modified Toronto Clinical Neuropathy Score (mTCNS), obvious efficacy was not found in total score. However, improvement in the sensory test domain of the mTCNS was significant (P = 0.037) in a subgroup of patients diagnosed with neuropathy according to the TCNS severity classification. No clinically significant effects on safety parameters including hepatic and renal functions were observed. Our results indicate that ranirestat is effective on DPN (Japic CTI-121994). PMID:26881251

The kinetics of photocatalytic degradation of aliphatic carboxylic acids in an UV/TiO2 suspension system.

PubMed

Chen, Q; Song, J M; Pan, F; Xia, F L; Yuan, J Y

2009-10-01

Kinetic studies on the photocatalytic degradation of aliphatic carboxylic acids were carried out in a slurry photoreactor with in-situ monitoring, employing artificial UV light as the source of energy and nano-TiO2 powder as the catalyst. The influences on the photocatalytic degradation such as the initial concentration of reactant (C0), catalyst dosage (CTiO2), UV intensity (Ia) and pH value have been investigated. Good agreement has been obtained between the value calculated by Langmuir-Freundlich-Hinshelwood (L-F-H) model and experimental data, with coefficient of multiple determination (R2) varying from 0.880 to 0.999. The L-F-H model has been proven to be feasible in describing the kinetic characteristic of the photocatalytic degradation of aliphatic carboxylic acids. Moreover, the apparent reaction rate constant (k) of the photocatalytic degradation of dicarboxylic acids is higher than that of monocarboxylic acids with the same carbon atoms. This shows that the photocatalytic degradation rate is favoured by different chemical structure.

Feasibility of cone beam computed tomography radiomorphometric analysis and fractal dimension in assessment of postmenopausal osteoporosis in correlation with dual X-ray absorptiometry.

PubMed

Mostafa, Raghdaa A; Arnout, Eman A; Abo El-Fotouh, Mona M

The aim of the present study was to assess the feasibility of using mandibular CBCT radiomorphometric indices and box-counting fractal dimension (FD) to detect osteoporosis in post-menopausal females, compare them with the healthy control group and to correlate the findings with the bone mineral density measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). This study consisted of 50 post-menopausal females, with age ranging from 55 to 70 years. Based on their DXA results, they were classified into osteoporotic and control groups. Mandibular CBCT radiomorphomertic indices and FD analysis were measured. Significant differences were found for the CT cortical index scores (CTCI), CT mental index (CTMI) and CT mandibular index (CTI) between the control and osteoporotic groups. The control group showed higher mean values than the osteoporotic group. For FD values, no significant differences were found between the two groups. CBCT radiomorphometric indices could be used as an adjuvant tool to refer patients at risk of osteoporosis for further assessment.

Applicability of ASST-A helium refrigeration system for JLab End Station Refrigerator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasan, N.; Knudsen, P.; Ganni, V.

2017-12-01

The MØLLER experiment at Jefferson Lab (JLab) is a high power (5 kW) liquid hydrogen target scheduled to be operational in the 12 GeV-era. At present, cryogenic loads and targets at three of JLab’s four experimental halls are supported by the End Station Refrigerator (ESR) - a CTI/Helix 1.5 kW 4.5 K refrigerator. It is not capable of supporting the high power target load and a capacity upgrade of the ESR cryogenic system is essential. The ASST-A helium refrigeration system is a 4 kW 4.5 K refrigerator. It was designed and used for the Superconducting Super Collider Lab (SSCL) magnet string test and later obtained by JLab after the cancellation of that project. The modified ASST-A refrigeration system, which will be called ESR-II along with a support flow from JLab’s Central Helium Liquefier (CHL) is considered as an option for the End Station Refrigerator capacity upgrade. The applicability of this system for ESR-II under varying load conditions is investigated. The present paper outlines the findings of this process study.

The electronics system for the LBNL positron emission mammography (PEM) camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moses, W. W.; Young, J. W.; Baker, K.; Jones, W.; Lenox, M.; Ho, M. H.; Weng, M.

2001-06-01

Describes the electronics for a high-performance positron emission mammography (PEM) camera. It is based on the electronics for a human brain positron emission tomography (PET) camera (the Siemens/CTI HRRT), modified to use a detector module that incorporates a photodiode (PD) array. An application-specified integrated circuit (ASIC) services the photodetector (PD) array, amplifying its signal and identifying the crystal of interaction. Another ASIC services the photomultiplier tube (PMT), measuring its output and providing a timing signal. Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and lookup RAMs are used to apply crystal-by-crystal correction factors and measure the energy deposit and the interaction depth (based on the PD/PMT ratio). Additional FPGAs provide event multiplexing, derandomization, coincidence detection, and real-time rebinning. Embedded PC/104 microprocessors provide communication, real-time control, and configure the system. Extensive use of FPGAs make the overall design extremely flexible, allowing many different functions (or design modifications) to be realized without hardware changes. Incorporation of extensive onboard diagnostics, implemented in the FPGAs, is required by the very high level of integration and density achieved by this system.

Initial results from a cryogenic proton irradiation of a p-channel CCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gow, J. P. D.; Wood, D.; Burt, D.; Hall, D. J.; Dryer, B.; Holland, A. D.; Murray, N. J.

2015-08-01

The displacement damage hardness that can be achieved using p-channel charge coupled devices (CCD) was originally demonstrated in 1997 and since then a number of other studies have demonstrated an improved tolerance to radiationinduced CTI when compared to n-channel CCDs. A number of recent studies have also shown that the temperature history of the device after the irradiation impacts the performance of the detector, linked to the mobility of defects at different temperatures. This study describes the initial results from an e2v technologies p-channel CCD204 irradiated at 153 K with a 10 MeV equivalent proton fluences of 1.24×109 and 1.24×1011 protons.cm-2. The number of defects identified using trap pumping, dark current and cosmetic quality immediately after irradiation and over a period of 150 hours after the irradiation with the device held at 153 K and then after different periods of time at room temperature are described. The device also exhibited a flatband voltage shift of around 30 mV per krad, determined by the reduction in full well capacity.

Mammary cell-activating factor regulates the hormone-independent transcription of the early lactation protein (ELP) gene in a marsupial.

PubMed

Pharo, Elizabeth A; Renfree, Marilyn B; Cane, Kylie N

2016-11-15

The regulation of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) early lactation protein (ELP) gene is complex. ELP is responsive to the lactogenic hormones; insulin (I), hydrocortisone (HC) and prolactin (PRL) in mammary gland explants but could not be induced with lactogenic hormones in tammar primary mammary gland cells, nor in KIM-2 conditionally immortalised murine mammary epithelial cells. Similarly, ELP promoter constructs transiently-transfected into human embryonic kidney (HEK293T) cells constitutively expressing the prolactin receptor (PRLR) and Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription (STAT)5A were unresponsive to prolactin, unlike the rat and mouse β-casein (CSN2) promoter constructs. Identification of the minimal promoter required for the hormone-independent transcription of tammar ELP in HEK293Ts and comparative analysis of the proximal promoters of marsupial ELP and the orthologous eutherian colostrum trypsin inhibitor (CTI) gene suggests that mammary cell-activating factor (MAF), an E26 transformation-specific (ETS) factor, may bind to an AGGAAG motif and activate tammar ELP. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

BRITE Constellation: data processing and photometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popowicz, A.; Pigulski, A.; Bernacki, K.; Kuschnig, R.; Pablo, H.; Ramiaramanantsoa, T.; Zocłońska, E.; Baade, D.; Handler, G.; Moffat, A. F. J.; Wade, G. A.; Neiner, C.; Rucinski, S. M.; Weiss, W. W.; Koudelka, O.; Orleański, P.; Schwarzenberg-Czerny, A.; Zwintz, K.

2017-09-01

Context. The BRIght Target Explorer (BRITE) mission is a pioneering space project aimed at the long-term photometric monitoring of the brightest stars in the sky by means of a constellation of nanosatellites. Its main advantage is high photometric accuracy and time coverage which are inaccessible from the ground. Its main drawback is the lack of cooling of the CCD detectors and the absence of good shielding that would protect them from energetic particles. Aims: The main aim of this paper is the presentation of procedures used to obtain high-precision photometry from a series of images acquired by the BRITE satellites in two modes of observing, stare and chopping. The other aim is a comparison of the photometry obtained with two different pipelines and a comparison of the real scatter with expectations. Methods: We developed two pipelines corresponding to the two modes of observing. They are based on aperture photometry with a constant aperture, circular for stare mode of observing and thresholded for chopping mode. Impulsive noise is a serious problem for observations made in the stare mode of observing and therefore in the pipeline developed for observations made in this mode, hot pixels are replaced using the information from shifted images in a series obtained during a single orbit of a satellite. In the other pipeline, the hot pixel replacement is not required because the photometry is made in difference images. Results: The assessment of the performance of both pipelines is presented. It is based on two comparisons, which use data from six runs of the UniBRITE satellite: (I) comparison of photometry obtained by both pipelines on the same data, which were partly affected by charge transfer inefficiency (CTI), (II) comparison of real scatter with theoretical expectations. It is shown that for CTI-affected observations, the chopping pipeline provides much better photometry than the other pipeline. For other observations, the results are comparable only for data obtained shortly after switching to chopping mode. Starting from about 2.5 years in orbit, the chopping mode of observing provides significantly better photometry for UniBRITE data than the stare mode. Conclusions: This paper shows that high-precision space photometry with low-cost nanosatellites is achievable. The proposed methods, used to obtain photometry from images affected by high impulsive noise, can be applied to data from other space missions or even to data acquired from ground-based observations. Based on data collected by the BRITE Constellation satellite mission, designed, built, launched, operated and supported by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), the University of Vienna, the Technical University of Graz, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS), the Foundation for Polish Science & Technology (FNiTP MNiSW), and National Science Centre (NCN).

Tuning TiO2 nanoparticle morphology in graphene-TiO2 hybrids by graphene surface modification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sordello, Fabrizio; Zeb, Gul; Hu, Kaiwen; Calza, Paola; Minero, Claudio; Szkopek, Thomas; Cerruti, Marta

2014-05-01

We report the hydrothermal synthesis of graphene (GNP)-TiO2 nanoparticle (NP) hybrids using COOH and NH2 functionalized GNP as a shape controller. Anatase was the only TiO2 crystalline phase nucleated on the functionalized GNP, whereas traces of rutile were detected on unfunctionalized GNP. X-Ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed C-Ti bonds on all hybrids, thus confirming heterogeneous nucleation. GNP functionalization induced the nucleation of TiO2 NPs with specific shapes and crystalline facets exposed. COOH functionalization directed the synthesis of anatase truncated bipyramids, bonded to graphene sheets via the {101} facets, while NH2 functionalization induced the formation of belted truncated bipyramids, bonded to graphene via the {100} facets. Belted truncated bipyramids formed on unfunctionalized GNP too, however the NPs were more irregular and rounded. These effects were ascribed to pH variations in the proximity of the functionalized GNP sheets, due to the high density of COOH or NH2 groups. Because of the different reactivity of anatase {100} and {101} crystalline facets, we hypothesize that the hybrid materials will behave differently as photocatalysts, and that the COOH-GNP-TiO2 hybrids will be better photocatalysts for water splitting and H2 production.We report the hydrothermal synthesis of graphene (GNP)-TiO2 nanoparticle (NP) hybrids using COOH and NH2 functionalized GNP as a shape controller. Anatase was the only TiO2 crystalline phase nucleated on the functionalized GNP, whereas traces of rutile were detected on unfunctionalized GNP. X-Ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed C-Ti bonds on all hybrids, thus confirming heterogeneous nucleation. GNP functionalization induced the nucleation of TiO2 NPs with specific shapes and crystalline facets exposed. COOH functionalization directed the synthesis of anatase truncated bipyramids, bonded to graphene sheets via the {101} facets, while NH2 functionalization induced the formation of belted truncated bipyramids, bonded to graphene via the {100} facets. Belted truncated bipyramids formed on unfunctionalized GNP too, however the NPs were more irregular and rounded. These effects were ascribed to pH variations in the proximity of the functionalized GNP sheets, due to the high density of COOH or NH2 groups. Because of the different reactivity of anatase {100} and {101} crystalline facets, we hypothesize that the hybrid materials will behave differently as photocatalysts, and that the COOH-GNP-TiO2 hybrids will be better photocatalysts for water splitting and H2 production. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Statistical analysis of the D : G intensity ratio, additional XPS analysis and TEM micrographs. See DOI: 10.1039/c4nr01322k

Accurate Measurement of Bone Density with QCT

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cleek, Tammy M.; Beaupre, Gary S.; Matsubara, Miki; Whalen, Robert T.; Dalton, Bonnie P. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of bone density measurement with a new OCT technology. A phantom was fabricated using two materials, a water-equivalent compound and hydroxyapatite (HA), combined in precise proportions (QRM GrnbH, Germany). The phantom was designed to have the approximate physical size and range in bone density as a human calcaneus, with regions of 0, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 mg/cc HA. The phantom was scanned at 80, 120 and 140 KVp with a GE CT/i HiSpeed Advantage scanner. A ring of highly attenuating material (polyvinyl chloride or teflon) was slipped over the phantom to alter the image by introducing non-axi-symmetric beam hardening. Images were corrected with a new OCT technology using an estimate of the effective X-ray beam spectrum to eliminate beam hardening artifacts. The algorithm computes the volume fraction of HA and water-equivalent matrix in each voxel. We found excellent agreement between expected and computed HA volume fractions. Results were insensitive to beam hardening ring material, HA concentration, and scan voltage settings. Data from all 3 voltages with a best fit linear regression are displays.

Temperature driven evolution of thermal, electrical, and optical properties of Ti-Al-N coatings.

PubMed

Rachbauer, Richard; Gengler, Jamie J; Voevodin, Andrey A; Resch, Katharina; Mayrhofer, Paul H

2012-03-01

Monolithic single phase cubic (c) Ti 1- x Al x N thin films are used in various industrial applications due to their high thermal stability, which beneficially effects lifetime and performance of cutting and milling tools, but also find increasing utilization in electronic and optical devices. The present study elucidates the temperature-driven evolution of heat conductivity, electrical resistivity and optical reflectance from room temperature up to 1400 °C and links them to structural and chemical changes in Ti 1- x Al x N coatings. It is shown that various decomposition phenomena, involving recovery and spinodal decomposition (known to account for the age hardening phenomenon in c-Ti 1- x Al x N), as well as the cubic to wurtzite phase transformation of spinodally formed AlN-enriched domains, effectively increase the thermal conductivity of the coatings from ∼3.8 W m -1  K -1 by a factor of three, while the electrical resistivity is reduced by one order of magnitude. A change in the coating color from metallic grey after deposition to reddish-golden after annealing to 1400 °C is related to the film structure and discussed in terms of film reflectivity.

Relationship between circadian rhythm amplitude and stability with sleep quality and sleepiness among shift nurses and health care workers.

PubMed

Jafari Roodbandi, Akram; Choobineh, Alireza; Daneshvar, Somayeh

2015-01-01

Sleep is affected by the circadian cycle and its features. Amplitude and stability of circadian rhythm are important parameters of the circadian cycle. This study aims to examine the relationship between amplitude and stability of circadian rhythm with sleep quality and sleepiness. In this cross-sectional research, 315 shift nurses and health care workers from educational hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), Iran, were selected using a random sampling method. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and Circadian Type Inventory (CTI) were used to collect the required data. In this study, 83.2% suffered from poor sleep and one-half had moderate and excessive sleepiness. The results showed that flexibility in circadian rhythm stability, job stress and sleepiness are among the factors affecting quality sleep in shift workers. Those whose circadian rhythm amplitude was languid suffered more from sleepiness and those whose circadian stability was flexible had a better sleep. Variables including circadian rhythm stability (flexible/rigid) and amplitude (languid/vigorous) can act as predictive indices in order to employ people in a shift work system so that sleepiness and a drop in quality of sleep are prevented.

A test of local Lorentz invariance with Compton scattering asymmetry

DOE PAGES

Mohanmurthy, Prajwal; Narayan, Amrendra; Dutta, Dipangkar

2016-12-14

Here, we report on a measurement of the constancy and anisotropy of the speed of light relative to the electrons in photon-electron scattering. We also used the Compton scattering asymmetry measured by the new Compton polarimeter in Hall~C at Jefferson Lab to test for deviations from unity of the vacuum refractive index (more » $n$). For photon energies in the range of 9 - 46 MeV, we obtain a new limit of $$1-n < 1.4 \\times 10^{-8}$$. In addition, the absence of sidereal variation over the six month period of the measurement constrains any anisotropies in the speed of light. These constitute the first study of Lorentz invariance using Compton asymmetry. Within the minimal standard model extension framework, our result yield limits on the photon and electron coefficients $$\\tilde{\\kappa}_{0^+}^{YZ}, c_{TX}, \\tilde{\\kappa}_{0^+}^{ZX}$$, and $$c_{TY}$$. Though, these limits are several orders of magnitude larger than the current best limits, they demonstrate the feasibility of using Compton asymmetry for tests of Lorentz invariance. For future parity violating electron scattering experiments at Jefferson Lab we will use higher energy electrons enabling better constraints.« less

Studies on nanosecond 532nm and 355nm and ultrafast 515nm and 532nm laser cutting super-hard materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jie; Tao, Sha; Wang, Brian; Zhao, Jay

2017-02-01

In this paper, micro-processing of three kinds of super-hard materials of poly-crystal diamond (PCD)/tungsten-carbide (WC), CVD-diamond and cubic boron nitride (CNB) has been systematically studied using nanosecond laser (532nm and 355nm), and ultrafast laser (532nm and 515nm). Our purpose is to investigate a full laser micro-cutting solution to achieve a ready-to-use cutting tool insert (CTI). The results show a clean cut with little burns and recasting at edge. The cutting speed of 2-10mm/min depending on thickness was obtained. The laser ablation process was also studied by varying laser parameters (wavelength, pulse width, pulse energy, repetition rate) and tool path to improve cutting speed. Also, studies on material removal efficiency (MRE) of PCD/WC with 355nm-ns and 515nm-fs laser as a function of laser fluence show that 355nm-ns laser is able to achieve higher MRE for PCD and WC. Thus, ultrafast laser is not necessarily used for superhard material cutting. Instead, post-polishing with ultrafast laser can be used to clean cutting surface and improve smoothness.

Managing side effects of JAK inhibitors for myelofibrosis in clinical practice.

PubMed

Saeed, Iram; McLornan, Donal; Harrison, Claire N

2017-07-01

Myelofibrosis (MF) is characterized by bone marrow fibrosis, abnormalities in peripheral counts, extramedullary hematopoiesis, splenomegaly and an increased risk of transformation to acute myeloid leukaemia. The disease course is often heterogeneous and management can range from observation alone through to allogeneic stem cell transplantation. As of 2017, the only approved medication for MF remains the JAK Inhibitor (JAKi), ruxolitinib (Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Basel, Switzerland; Incyte, Wilmington, Detroit, USA) although several others have reached advanced stages of clinical trials. Areas covered: In this review, we focus on the management of both common and uncommon side effects arising from the use of currently approved and clinical trial JAKi. Most of the discussion concerns ruxolitinib although we also cover both pacritinib (CTI BioPharma) and momelotinib (Gilead Sciences, Foster City, California) which have been in recent large, multinational phase III trials. The various approaches to management of JAKi-related side effects are discussed - with particular emphasis to anaemia, thrombocytopaenia and infection risk. Expert commentary: JAK inhibitors are effective in many individuals with MF and have revolutionized the current treatment paradigm. The side effect profile, in the most, is predictable and manageable with high degrees of clinical surveillance and dose modifications.

Sleep deprivation reduces perceived emotional intelligence and constructive thinking skills.

PubMed

Killgore, William D S; Kahn-Greene, Ellen T; Lipizzi, Erica L; Newman, Rachel A; Kamimori, Gary H; Balkin, Thomas J

2008-07-01

Insufficient sleep can adversely affect a variety of cognitive abilities, ranging from simple alertness to higher-order executive functions. Although the effects of sleep loss on mood and cognition are well documented, there have been no controlled studies examining its effects on perceived emotional intelligence (EQ) and constructive thinking, abilities that require the integration of affect and cognition and are central to adaptive functioning. Twenty-six healthy volunteers completed the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQi) and the Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI) at rested baseline and again after 55.5 and 58 h of continuous wakefulness, respectively. Relative to baseline, sleep deprivation was associated with lower scores on Total EQ (decreased global emotional intelligence), Intrapersonal functioning (reduced self-regard, assertiveness, sense of independence, and self-actualization), Interpersonal functioning (reduced empathy toward others and quality of interpersonal relationships), Stress Management skills (reduced impulse control and difficulty with delay of gratification), and Behavioral Coping (reduced positive thinking and action orientation). Esoteric Thinking (greater reliance on formal superstitions and magical thinking processes) was increased. These findings are consistent with the neurobehavioral model suggesting that sleep loss produces temporary changes in cerebral metabolism, cognition, emotion, and behavior consistent with mild prefrontal lobe dysfunction.

Penetration scaling in atomistic simulations of hypervelocity impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruestes, C. J.; Bringa, E. M.; Fioretti, F.; Higginbotham, A.; Taylor, E. A.; Graham, G.

2011-06-01

We present atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the impact of copper nano particles at 5 km/s on copper films ranging in thickness from 0.5 to 4 times the projectile diameter. We access both penetration and cratering regimes with final cratering morphologies showing considerable similarity to experimental impacts on both micron and millimeter scales. Both craters and holes are formed from a molten region, with relatively low defect densities remaining after cooling and recrystallisation. Crater diameter and penetration limits are compared to analytical scaling models: in agreement with some models we find the onset of penetration occurs for 1.0 < f/d < 1.5, where f is the film thickness and d is the projectile diameter. However, our results for the hole size agree well with scaling laws based on macroscopic experiments providing enhanced strength of a nano-film that melts completely at the impact region is taken into account. Penetration in films with pre-existing nanocracks is qualitatively similar to penetration in perfect films, including the lack of back-spall. Simulations using ``peridynamics'' are also described and compared to the atomistic simulations. Work supported by PICT2007-PRH, PICT-2008 1325, and SeCTyP.

Temperature driven evolution of thermal, electrical, and optical properties of Ti–Al–N coatings

PubMed Central

Rachbauer, Richard; Gengler, Jamie J.; Voevodin, Andrey A.; Resch, Katharina; Mayrhofer, Paul H.

2012-01-01

Monolithic single phase cubic (c) Ti1−xAlxN thin films are used in various industrial applications due to their high thermal stability, which beneficially effects lifetime and performance of cutting and milling tools, but also find increasing utilization in electronic and optical devices. The present study elucidates the temperature-driven evolution of heat conductivity, electrical resistivity and optical reflectance from room temperature up to 1400 °C and links them to structural and chemical changes in Ti1−xAlxN coatings. It is shown that various decomposition phenomena, involving recovery and spinodal decomposition (known to account for the age hardening phenomenon in c-Ti1−xAlxN), as well as the cubic to wurtzite phase transformation of spinodally formed AlN-enriched domains, effectively increase the thermal conductivity of the coatings from ∼3.8 W m−1 K−1 by a factor of three, while the electrical resistivity is reduced by one order of magnitude. A change in the coating color from metallic grey after deposition to reddish-golden after annealing to 1400 °C is related to the film structure and discussed in terms of film reflectivity. PMID:23482424

Performance Evaluation of the microPET®—FOCUS-F120

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laforest, Richard; Longford, Desmond; Siegel, Stefan; Newport, Danny F.; Yap, Jeffrey

2007-02-01

microPETreg-Focus-F120 is the latest model of dedicated small animal PET scanners from CTI-Concorde Microsystems LLC, (Knoxville, TN). This scanner, based on the geometry of the microPET-R4, takes advantage of several detector modifications to the coincidence processing electronics that improve the image resolution, sensitivity, and counting rate performance as compared to the predecessor models. This work evaluates the performance of the Focus-F120 system and shows its improvement over the earlier models. In particular, the spatial resolution is shown to improve from 2.32 to 1.69 mm at 5 mm radial distance and the peak absolute sensitivity increases from 4.1% to 7.1% compared to the microPET-R4. The counting rate capability, expressed in noise equivalent counting rate (NEC-1R), was shown to peak at over 800 kcps at 88 MBq for both systems using a mouse phantom. For this small phantom, the NECR counting rate is limited by the data transmission bandwidth between the scanner and the acquisition console. The rat-like phantom showed peak NEC-1R value at 300 kcps at 140 MBq. Evaluation of image quality and quantitation accuracy was also performed using specially designed phantoms and animal experiments

Diagnostic features of Alzheimer's disease extracted from PET sinograms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sayeed, A.; Petrou, M.; Spyrou, N.; Kadyrov, A.; Spinks, T.

2002-01-01

Texture analysis of positron emission tomography (PET) images of the brain is a very difficult task, due to the poor signal to noise ratio. As a consequence, very few techniques can be implemented successfully. We use a new global analysis technique known as the Trace transform triple features. This technique can be applied directly to the raw sinograms to distinguish patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) from normal volunteers. FDG-PET images of 18 AD and 10 normal controls obtained from the same CTI ECAT-953 scanner were used in this study. The Trace transform triple feature technique was used to extract features that were invariant to scaling, translation and rotation, referred to as invariant features, as well as features that were sensitive to rotation but invariant to scaling and translation, referred to as sensitive features in this study. The features were used to classify the groups using discriminant function analysis. Cross-validation tests using stepwise discriminant function analysis showed that combining both sensitive and invariant features produced the best results, when compared with the clinical diagnosis. Selecting the five best features produces an overall accuracy of 93% with sensitivity of 94% and specificity of 90%. This is comparable with the classification accuracy achieved by Kippenhan et al (1992), using regional metabolic activity.

Patient Perceptions of Illness Identity in Cancer Clinical Trial Decision-Making.

PubMed

Palmer-Wackerly, Angela L; Dailey, Phokeng M; Krok-Schoen, Jessica L; Rhodes, Nancy D; Krieger, Janice L

2018-08-01

When patients are diagnosed with cancer, they begin to negotiate their illness identity in relation to their past and future selves, their relationships, and their group memberships. Thus, how patients view their cancer in relation to their other identities may affect how and why they make particular decisions about treatment options. Using the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), the current study explores: (1) how and why illness identity is framed across identity layers in relation to one particular cancer treatment: participation in a cancer clinical trial (CT); and (2) how and why patients experience identity conflicts while making their treatment decisions. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were analyzed for 46 cancer patients who were offered a CT. Results of a grounded theory analysis indicated that patients expressed separate identity frames (e.g., personal, relational, and communal), aligned identity frames (e.g., personal and communal), and identity conflicts (e.g., personal-personal). This study theoretically shows how and why patient illness identity relates to cancer treatment decision-making as well as how and why patients relate (and conflict) with the cancer communal identity frame. Practical implications include how healthcare providers and family members can support patient decision-making through awareness of and accommodating to identity shifts.

Cast-in-place, ambiently-dried, silica-based, high-temperature insulation

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

Cheng, Eric Jianfeng; Thompson, Travis; Salvador, James R.

A novel sol-gel chemistry approach was developed to enable the simple integration of a cast-in-place, ambiently-dried insulation into high temperature applications. The insulation was silica based, synthesized using methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) as the precursor. MTMS created a unique silica microstructure that was mechanically robust, macroporous, and superhydrophobic. To allow for casting into and around small, orthogonal features, zirconia fibers were added to increase stiffness and minimize contraction that could otherwise cause cracking during drying. Radiative heat transport was reduced by adding titania powder as an opacifier. To assess relevance to high temperature thermoelectric generator technology, a comprehensive set of materials characterizationsmore » were conducted. The silica gel was thermally stable, retained superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle > 150° , and showed a high electrical resistance > 1 GΩ, regardless of heating temperature (up to 600 °C in Ar for 4 h). In addition, it exhibited a Young's modulus ~3.7 MPa in room temperature and a low thermal conductivity < 0.08 W/m.K before and after heat treatment. Thus, based on the simplicity of the manufacturing process and optimized material properties, we believe this technology can act as an effective cast-in-place thermal insulation (CTI) for thermoelectric generators and myriad other applications requiring improved thermal efficiency.« less

Cast-in-place, ambiently-dried, silica-based, high-temperature insulation

DOE PAGES

Cheng, Eric Jianfeng; Thompson, Travis; Salvador, James R.; ...

2017-02-03

A novel sol-gel chemistry approach was developed to enable the simple integration of a cast-in-place, ambiently-dried insulation into high temperature applications. The insulation was silica based, synthesized using methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) as the precursor. MTMS created a unique silica microstructure that was mechanically robust, macroporous, and superhydrophobic. To allow for casting into and around small, orthogonal features, zirconia fibers were added to increase stiffness and minimize contraction that could otherwise cause cracking during drying. Radiative heat transport was reduced by adding titania powder as an opacifier. To assess relevance to high temperature thermoelectric generator technology, a comprehensive set of materials characterizationsmore » were conducted. The silica gel was thermally stable, retained superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle > 150° , and showed a high electrical resistance > 1 GΩ, regardless of heating temperature (up to 600 °C in Ar for 4 h). In addition, it exhibited a Young's modulus ~3.7 MPa in room temperature and a low thermal conductivity < 0.08 W/m.K before and after heat treatment. Thus, based on the simplicity of the manufacturing process and optimized material properties, we believe this technology can act as an effective cast-in-place thermal insulation (CTI) for thermoelectric generators and myriad other applications requiring improved thermal efficiency.« less

Bibliometrics as weapons of mass citation.

PubMed

Molinié, Antoinette; Bodenhausen, Geoffrey

2010-01-01

The allocation of resources for research is increasingly based on so-called 'bibliometrics'. Scientists are now deemed to be successful on the sole condition that their work be abundantly cited. This world-wide trend appears to enjoy support not only by granting agencies (whose task is obviously simplified by extensive recourse to bibliometrics), but also by the scientists themselves (who seem to enjoy their status of celebrities). This trend appears to be fraught with dangers, particularly in the area of social sciences, where bibliometrics are less developed, and where monographs (which are not taken into account in citation indexes) are often more important than articles published in journals. We argue in favour of a return to the values of 'real science', in analogy to the much-promised return to a 'real economy'. While economists may strive towards a more objective evaluation of the prospects of a company, a market, or an industrial sector, we scientists can only base our appraisal on a responsible practice of peer review. Since we fear that decision-takers of granting agencies such as the FNRS, CTI, EPFL, ETHZ, ANR, CNRS, NIH, NSF, DOE, etc. will be too busy to read our humble paper in Chimia, we appeal to scientists of all countries and disciplines to unite against the tyranny of bibliometrics.

Clinical Trials in a Dish: A Perspective on the Coming Revolution in Drug Development.

PubMed

Fermini, Bernard; Coyne, Shawn T; Coyne, Kevin P

2018-05-01

The pharmaceutical industry is facing unprecedented challenges as the cost of developing new drugs has reached unsustainable levels, fueled in large parts by a high attrition rate in clinical development. Strategies to bridge studies between preclinical testing and clinical trials are needed to reduce the knowledge gap and allow earlier decisions to be made on the continuation or discontinuation of further development of drugs. The discovery and development of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have opened up new avenues that support the concept of screening for cell-based safety and toxicity at the level of a population. This approach, termed "Clinical Trials in a Dish" (CTiD), allows testing medical therapies for safety or efficacy on cells collected from a representative sample of human patients, before moving into actual clinical trials. It can be applied to the development of drugs for specific populations, and it allows predicting not only the magnitude of effects but also the incidence of patients in a population who will benefit or be harmed by these drugs. This, in turn, can lead to the selection of safer drugs to move into clinical development, resulting in a reduction in attrition. The current article offers a perspective of this new model for "humanized" preclinical drug development.

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of wool fibers having titanium dioxide nanoparticles formed inside their cortex.

PubMed

Zhang, Hui; Sun, Runjun; Wu, Hailiang; Mao, Ningtao

2018-05-01

A wool-TiO2 nanoparticle composite material having TiO2 nanoparticles both infiltrated in the matrix between macrofibrils inside cortical cells of wool fibers and grafted on the fiber surface is obtained in this study, and the wool-nanoparticle composite material is found to have highly photocatalytic activities with an extremely narrow band gap of 2.8 eV. The wool fibers are obtained using three successive technical steps: wool fibers are swollen by using lithium bromide, then saturated with tetrabutyl titanate ethanol solution and subsequently treated in boiling water. It was demonstrated that the chemical bonds formed between the as-synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles and the wool fibers swollen by lithium bromide include C-Ti4+(Ti3+), N-Ti4+(Ti3+), O-Ti3+, and S-Ti4+(Ti3+) bonds. The modified wool fibers have shown markedly improved photocatalytic efficiency due to their enhanced visible light absorption capability, which is much better than the (N-doped) TiO2 coated wool fibers. In contrast, TiO2 modified wool fibers swollen by using formic acid have poorer photoactivity, this might be due to the elimination of trivalent titanium between TiO2 nanoparticles and the wool fibers. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

The serotonin-dopamine interaction measured with positron emission tomography (PET) and C-11 raclopride in normal human subjects

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

Smith, G.S.; Dewey, S.L.; Logan, J.

1994-05-01

Our previous studies have shown that the interaction between serotonin and dopamine can be measured with C-11 raclopride and PET in the baboon brain. A series of studies was undertaken to extend dim findings to the normal human brain. PET studies were conducted in male control subjects (n=8) using the CTI 931 tomograph. Two C-11 raclopride scans were performed, prior to and 180 minutes following administration of the selective serotonin releasing agent, fenfluramine (60mg/PO). The neuroendocrine response to fenfluramine challenge is commonly used in psychiatric research as an index of serotonin activity. The C-11 raclopride data were analyzed with themore » distribution volume method. For the group of subjects, an increase was observed in the striatum to cerebellum ratio (specific to non-specific binding ratio), in excess of the test-retest variability of the ligand. Variability in response was observed across subjects. These results are consistent with our previous findings in the baboon that citalopram administration increased C-11 raclopride binding, consistent with a decrease in endogenous dopamine. In vivo microdialysis studies in freely moving rats confirmed that citalopram produces a time-dependent decrease in extracellular dopamine levels, consistent with the PET results. In vivo PET studies of the serotonin-dopamine interaction are relevant to the evaluation of etiologic and therapeutic mechanisms in schizophrenia and affective disorder.« less

Effect of Trelagliptin on Quality of Life in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Study Protocol.

PubMed

Ishii, Hitoshi; Suzaki, Yuki; Miyata, Yuko

2017-12-01

Long-term glycemic control in type 2 diabetes is critical to prevent or delay the onset of macrovascular and microvascular complications. Medication adherence is an integral component of type 2 diabetes management. Minimizing the dosing frequency of antidiabetic drugs may reduce treatment burden for patients and improve medication adherence. This study has been proposed to assess the reduction in treatment burden during 12 weeks' administration of trelagliptin, a weekly dosing dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, compared with a daily dosing DPP-4 inhibitor in patients with type 2 diabetes. This is a multicenter, randomized, open-label, parallel-group, comparative study to be conducted at approximately 15 sites across Japan. A total of 240 patients are to be randomized 1:1 to receive trelagliptin or a daily DPP-4 inhibitor for 12 weeks. Efficacy and safety will be compared between the two groups. The primary endpoint is the change in total score for all items of the diabetes-therapy-related QOL questionnaire from treatment start to treatment end. The study will be conducted with the highest respect for the individual participants in accordance with the protocol, the Declaration of Helsinki, the Ethical Guidelines for Clinical Research, the ICH Consolidated Guideline for Good Clinical Practice, and applicable local laws and regulations. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Japic CTI-173482.

Investigation of the scatter contribution in single photon transmission measurements by means of Monte Carlo simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wegmann, K.; Adam, L.-E.; Livieratos, L.; Zaers, J.; Bailey, D. L.; Brix, G.

1999-08-01

The fraction of detected scattered radiation in transmission measurements with a single photon transmission (SPT) source of Cesium-137 was investigated by means of Monte Carlo (MC) techniques. The scatter contamination was determined for different energy thresholds and the use of interplane septa. The simulations were validated with measurements performed at the whole-body 3D PET scanner ECAT EXACT 3D (CTI/Siemens, Knoxville, TN), which uses a SPT source. The comparison of the results from the simulations and the measurements shows good agreement. Transmission through a water-filled cylinder (o=20 cm) gave values of the scatter fraction SF of about 27% at a lower level discriminator (LLD) value of 500 keV in the center of the projection. A reduction to 17% was achieved by an increase of the LLD to 600 keV; a relative decrease of 37%. But a corresponding loss of counts by a factor of 1.5 was observed. Furthermore, simulations of the ECAT EXACT HR/sup +/ have been performed, a whale-body PET scanner which can be operated in 2D and 3D mode, but has no SPT mode yet. At a value of the LLD of 500 keV, the simulations showed a decrease of the SF in the 2D mode of 45% relative to the 3D mode for the transmission of the water-filled cylinder.

Managing Radiation Degradation of CCDs on the Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

ODell, Stephen L.; Blackwell, William C.; Minow, Joseph I.; Cameron, Robert A.; Morris, David C.; Virani, Shanil N.; Six, N. Frank (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The CCDs on the Chandra X ray Observatory are sensitive to radiation damage particularly from low-energy protons scattering off the telescope's mirrors onto the focal plane. In its highly elliptical orbit, Chandra passes through a spatially and temporally varying radiation environment, ranging from the radiation belts to the solar wind. Translating thc Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) out of the focal position during radiation-belt passages has prevented loss of scientific utility and eventually functionality. However, carefully managing the radiation damage during the remainder of the orbit, without unnecessarily sacrificing observing time, is essential to optimizing the scientific value of this exceptional observatory throughout its planned 10-year mission. In working toward this optimization, the Chandra team developed aid applied radiation-management strategies. These strategies include autonomous instrument safing triggered by the on-board radiation monitor, as well as monitoring, alerts, and intervention based upon real-time space-environment data from NOAA and NASA spacecraft. Furthermore, because Chandra often spends much of its orbit out of the solar wind (in the Earth's outer magnetosphere and magnetosheath), the team developed the Chandra Radiation Model to describe the complete low-energy-proton environment. Management of the radiation damage has thus far succeeded in limiting degradation of the charge-transfer inefficiency (CTI) to less than 4.4*10^-6 and 1.4*10^-6 per year for the front-illuminated and back-illuminated CCDs, respectively.

Engagement processes in model programs for community reentry from prison for people with serious mental illness.

PubMed

Angell, Beth; Matthews, Elizabeth; Barrenger, Stacey; Watson, Amy C; Draine, Jeffrey

2014-01-01

Linking prisoners with mental illness with treatment following release is critical to preventing recidivism, but little research exists to inform efforts to engage them effectively. This presentation compares the engagement process in two model programs, each representing an evidence-based practice for mental health which has been adapted to the context of prison reentry. One model, Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT), emphasizes a long-term wrap-around approach that seeks to maximize continuity of care by concentrating all services within one interdisciplinary team; the other, Critical Time Intervention (CTI), is a time-limited intervention that promotes linkages to outside services and bolsters natural support systems. To compare engagement practices, we analyze data from two qualitative studies, each conducted in a newly developed treatment program serving prisoners with mental illness being discharged from prisons to urban communities. Findings show that the working relationship in reentry services exhibits unique features and is furthered in both programs by the use of practitioner strategies of engagement, including tangible assistance, methods of interacting with consumers, and encouragement of service use via third parties such as families and parole officers. Nevertheless, each program exhibited distinct cultures and rituals of reentry that were associated with fundamental differences in philosophy and differences in resources available to each program. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Surface chemical study on the covalent attachment of hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan to titanium surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Xiaofen; Wang, Ling; Guo, Shengrong; Lei, Lei; Tang, Tingting

2011-10-01

An anti-microbial and bioactive coating could not only reduce the probability of infection related to titanium implants but also support the growth of surrounding osteogenic cells. Our previous study has showed that hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan (HACC) with a DS (degrees of substitution) of 18% had improved solubility and significantly higher antibacterial activities against three bacteria which were usually associated with infections in orthopaedics. In the current study, HACC with a DS of 18% coating was bonded to titanium surface by a three-step process. The titanium surface after each individual reaction step was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and attenuated total reflection (ATR) of Fourier-transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The XPS results demonstrated that there were great changes in the atomic ratios of C/Ti, O/Ti, and N/Ti after each reaction step. The XPS high resolution and corresponding devolution spectra of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and titanium were also in good coordination with the anticipated reaction steps. Additionally, the absorption bands around 3365 cm -1 (-OH vibration), 1664 cm -1 (Amide I), 1165 cm -1 ( νas, C-O-C bridge), and the broad absorption bands between 958 cm -1 and 1155 cm -1 (skeletal vibrations involving the C-O stretching of saccharide structure of HACC) verified that HACC was successfully attached to titanium surface.

Evaluation of the measurement uncertainty when measuring the resistance of solid isolating materials to tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stare, E.; Beges, G.; Drnovsek, J.

2006-07-01

This paper presents the results of research into the measurement of the resistance of solid isolating materials to tracking. Two types of tracking were investigated: the proof tracking index (PTI) and the comparative tracking index (CTI). Evaluation of the measurement uncertainty in a case study was performed using a test method in accordance with the IEC 60112 standard. In the scope of the tests performed here, this particular test method was used to ensure the safety of electrical appliances. According to the EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard (EN ISO/IEC 17025), in the process of conformity assessment, the evaluation of the measurement uncertainty of the test method should be carried out. In the present article, possible influential parameters that are in accordance with the third and fourth editions of the standard IEC 60112 are discussed. The differences, ambiguities or lack of guidance referring to both editions of the standard are described in the article 'Ambiguities in technical standards—case study IEC 60112—measuring the resistance of solid isolating materials to tracking' (submitted for publication). Several hundred measurements were taken in the present experiments in order to form the basis for the results and conclusions presented. A specific problem of the test (according to the IEC 60112 standard) is the great variety of influential physical parameters (mechanical, electrical, chemical, etc) that can affect the results. At the end of the present article therefore, there is a histogram containing information on the contributions to the measurement uncertainty.

Reproductive Health Services v. Webster, 17 March 1987, amended on 30 April 1987.

PubMed

1987-01-01

The plaintiff physicians and organizations providing abortion-related services challenged the constitutionality of provisions of a Missouri statute that a) state that life begins at conception and that unborn children have a protectable interest in life, health, and well being; b) require a physician to inform a woman seeking an abortion of certain facts; c) require all post sixteen-week abortions to be performed in a hospital; d) require certain tests to be performed in order to determine gestational age and viability; and e) prohibit the use of public funds, public employees, and public facilities for performing or assisting an abortion or encouraging or counseling an abortion except to save a woman's life. The Court ruled that all of these provisions were unconstitutional and in conflict with its previous rulings on a woman's right to obtain an abortion. In a related case the United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, E.D., held that the plaintiff physicians could not attack a statement of intent of the same law, which provides that "It is the intention of the general assembly of the state of Missouri to grant the right to life to all humans, born and unborn, and to regulate abortion to the full extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States, decisions of the United States Supreme Court, and federal statutes." See Women's Health Ctr. of West Cty. v. Webster, 24 September 1987, 670 F.Supp. 845. full text

Occurrence of trans monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in Colwellia psychrerythraea strain 34H.

PubMed

Hashimoto, Mikako; Orikasa, Yoshitake; Hayashi, Hidenori; Watanabe, Kentaro; Yoshida, Kiyohito; Okuyama, Hidetoshi

2015-07-01

Colwellia psychrerythraea strain 34H is an obligately psychrophilic bacterium that has been used as a model cold-adapted microorganism because of its psychrophilic growth profile, significant production of cold-active enzymes, and cryoprotectant extracellular polysaccharide substances. However, its fatty acid components, particularly trans unsaturated fatty acids and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), have not been fully investigated. In this study, we biochemically identified Δ9-trans hexadecenoic acid [16:1(9t)] and LC-PUFAs such as docosahexaenoic acid. These results are comparable with the fact that the strain 34H genome sequence includes pfa and cti genes that are responsible for the biosynthesis of LC-PUFAs and trans unsaturated fatty acids, respectively. Strain 34H cells grown under static conditions at 5 °C had higher levels of 16:1(9t) than those grown under shaken conditions, and this change was accompanied by an antiparallel decrease in the levels of Δ9-cis hexadecenoic acid [16:1(9c)], suggesting that the cis-to-trans isomerization reaction of 16:1(9c) is activated under static (microanaerobic) culture conditions, that is, the enzyme could be activated by the decreased dissolved oxygen concentration of cultures. On the other hand, the levels of LC-PUFAs were too low (less than 3% of the total), even for cells grown at 5 °C, to evaluate their cold-adaptive function in this bacterium. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Spatial pattern and heterogeneity of soil moisture along a transect in a small catchment on the Loess Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yang; Dou, Yanxing; Liu, Dong; An, Shaoshan

2017-07-01

Spatial pattern and heterogeneity of soil moisture is important for the hydrological process on the Loess Plateau. This study combined the classical and geospatial statistical techniques to examine the spatial pattern and heterogeneity of soil moisture along a transect scale (e.g. land use types and topographical attributes) on the Loess Plateau. The average values of soil moisture were on the order of farmland > orchard > grassland > abandoned land > shrubland > forestland. Vertical distribution characteristics of soil moisture (0-500 cm) were similar among land use types. Highly significant (p < 0.01) negative correlations were found between soil moisture and elevation (h) except for shrubland (p > 0.05), whereas no significant correlations were found between soil moisture and plan curvature (Kh), stream power index (SPI), compound topographic index (CTI) (p > 0.05), indicating that topographical attributes (mainly h) have a negative effect on the soil moisture spatial heterogeneity. Besides, soil moisture spatial heterogeneity decreased from forestland to grassland and farmland, accompanied by a decline from 15° to 1° alongside upper to lower slope position. This study highlights the importance of land use types and topographical attributes on the soil moisture spatial heterogeneity from a combined analysis of the structural equation model (SEM) and generalized additive models (GAMs), and the relative contribution of land use types to the soil moisture spatial heterogeneity was higher than that of topographical attributes, which provides insights for researches focusing on soil moisture varitions on the Loess Plateau.

Ageing and proton irradiation damage of a low voltage EMCCD in a CMOS process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunford, A.; Stefanov, K.; Holland, A.

2018-02-01

Electron Multiplying Charge Coupled Devices (EMCCDs) have revolutionised low light level imaging, providing highly sensitive detection capabilities. Implementing Electron Multiplication (EM) in Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs) can increase the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and lead to further developments in low light level applications such as improvements in image contrast and single photon imaging. Demand has grown for EMCCD devices with properties traditionally restricted to Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, such as lower power consumption and higher radiation tolerance. However, EMCCDs are known to experience an ageing effect, such that the gain gradually decreases with time. This paper presents results detailing EM ageing in an Electron Multiplying Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (EMCMOS) device and its effect on several device characteristics such as Charge Transfer Inefficiency (CTI) and thermal dark signal. When operated at room temperature an average decrease in gain of over 20% after an operational period of 175 hours was detected. With many image sensors deployed in harsh radiation environments, the radiation hardness of the device following proton irradiation was also tested. This paper presents the results of a proton irradiation completed at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) at a 10 MeV equivalent fluence of 4.15× 1010 protons/cm2. The pre-irradiation characterisation, irradiation methodology and post-irradiation results are detailed, demonstrating an increase in dark current and a decrease in its activation energy. Finally, this paper presents a comparison of the damage caused by EM gain ageing and proton irradiation.

Office Computer Software: A Comprehensive Review of Software Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Secretary, 1992

1992-01-01

Describes types of software including system software, application software, spreadsheets, accounting software, graphics packages, desktop publishing software, database, desktop and personal information management software, project and records management software, groupware, and shareware. (JOW)

Software Past, Present, and Future: Views from Government, Industry and Academia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holcomb, Lee; Page, Jerry; Evangelist, Michael

2000-01-01

Views from the NASA CIO NASA Software Engineering Workshop on software development from the past, present, and future are presented. The topics include: 1) Software Past; 2) Software Present; 3) NASA's Largest Software Challenges; 4) 8330 Software Projects in Industry Standish Groups 1994 Report; 5) Software Future; 6) Capability Maturity Model (CMM): Software Engineering Institute (SEI) levels; 7) System Engineering Quality Also Part of the Problem; 8) University Environment Trends Will Increase the Problem in Software Engineering; and 9) NASA Software Engineering Goals.

Space Flight Software Development Software for Intelligent System Health Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trevino, Luis C.; Crumbley, Tim

2004-01-01

The slide presentation examines the Marshall Space Flight Center Flight Software Branch, including software development projects, mission critical space flight software development, software technical insight, advanced software development technologies, and continuous improvement in the software development processes and methods.

48 CFR 227.7202 - Commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... software and commercial computer software documentation. 227.7202 Section 227.7202 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202 Commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation. ...

48 CFR 227.7203 - Noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... software and noncommercial computer software documentation. 227.7203 Section 227.7203 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203 Noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. ...

48 CFR 227.7203 - Noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... software and noncommercial computer software documentation. 227.7203 Section 227.7203 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203 Noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. ...

48 CFR 227.7203 - Noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... software and noncommercial computer software documentation. 227.7203 Section 227.7203 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203 Noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. ...

48 CFR 227.7202 - Commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... software and commercial computer software documentation. 227.7202 Section 227.7202 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202 Commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation. ...

48 CFR 227.7203 - Noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... software and noncommercial computer software documentation. 227.7203 Section 227.7203 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203 Noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. ...

48 CFR 227.7202 - Commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... software and commercial computer software documentation. 227.7202 Section 227.7202 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202 Commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation. ...

48 CFR 227.7202 - Commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... software and commercial computer software documentation. 227.7202 Section 227.7202 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202 Commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation. ...

48 CFR 227.7202 - Commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... software and commercial computer software documentation. 227.7202 Section 227.7202 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202 Commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation. ...

48 CFR 227.7203 - Noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... software and noncommercial computer software documentation. 227.7203 Section 227.7203 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203 Noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. ...

Software system safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Uber, James G.

1988-01-01

Software itself is not hazardous, but since software and hardware share common interfaces there is an opportunity for software to create hazards. Further, these software systems are complex, and proven methods for the design, analysis, and measurement of software safety are not yet available. Some past software failures, future NASA software trends, software engineering methods, and tools and techniques for various software safety analyses are reviewed. Recommendations to NASA are made based on this review.

48 CFR 227.7203-16 - Providing computer software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign contractors, or international... Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-16 Providing computer software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign contractors, or international...

48 CFR 227.7203-16 - Providing computer software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign contractors, or international... Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-16 Providing computer software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign contractors, or international...

48 CFR 227.7203-16 - Providing computer software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign contractors, or international... Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-16 Providing computer software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign contractors, or international...

48 CFR 227.7203-16 - Providing computer software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign contractors, or international... Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-16 Providing computer software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign contractors, or international...

48 CFR 227.7203-16 - Providing computer software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign contractors, or international... Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-16 Providing computer software or computer software documentation to foreign governments, foreign contractors, or international...

Avoidable Software Procurements

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

software license, software usage, ELA, Software as a Service , SaaS , Software Asset...PaaS Platform as a Service SaaS Software as a Service SAM Software Asset Management SMS System Management Server SEWP Solutions for Enterprise Wide...delivery of full Cloud Services , we will see the transition of the Cloud Computing service model from Iaas to SaaS , or Software as a Service . Software

48 CFR 227.7203-15 - Subcontractor rights in computer software or computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... computer software or computer software documentation. 227.7203-15 Section 227.7203-15 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-15 Subcontractor rights in computer software or computer software documentation. (a...

48 CFR 227.7203-15 - Subcontractor rights in computer software or computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... computer software or computer software documentation. 227.7203-15 Section 227.7203-15 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-15 Subcontractor rights in computer software or computer software documentation. (a...

48 CFR 227.7203-15 - Subcontractor rights in computer software or computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... computer software or computer software documentation. 227.7203-15 Section 227.7203-15 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-15 Subcontractor rights in computer software or computer software documentation. (a...

48 CFR 227.7203-15 - Subcontractor rights in computer software or computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... computer software or computer software documentation. 227.7203-15 Section 227.7203-15 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-15 Subcontractor rights in computer software or computer software documentation. (a...

48 CFR 227.7203-15 - Subcontractor rights in computer software or computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... computer software or computer software documentation. 227.7203-15 Section 227.7203-15 Federal Acquisition... REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-15 Subcontractor rights in computer software or computer software documentation. (a...

48 CFR 227.7202-3 - Rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... computer software or commercial computer software documentation. 227.7202-3 Section 227.7202-3 Federal... CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202-3 Rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation...

48 CFR 227.7202-3 - Rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... computer software or commercial computer software documentation. 227.7202-3 Section 227.7202-3 Federal... CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202-3 Rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation...

48 CFR 227.7203-2 - Acquisition of noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-2 Section 227.7203-2 Federal... CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-2 Acquisition of noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation. (a...

48 CFR 227.7203-2 - Acquisition of noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-2 Section 227.7203-2 Federal... CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-2 Acquisition of noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation. (a...

48 CFR 227.7203-2 - Acquisition of noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-2 Section 227.7203-2 Federal... CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-2 Acquisition of noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation. (a...

48 CFR 227.7203-10 - Contractor identification and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished with restrictive... Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-10 Contractor identification and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished with restrictive markings...

48 CFR 227.7203-2 - Acquisition of noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-2 Section 227.7203-2 Federal... CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-2 Acquisition of noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation. (a...

48 CFR 227.7202-3 - Rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... computer software or commercial computer software documentation. 227.7202-3 Section 227.7202-3 Federal... CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202-3 Rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation...

48 CFR 227.7203-10 - Contractor identification and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished with restrictive... Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-10 Contractor identification and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished with restrictive markings...

48 CFR 227.7202-3 - Rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... computer software or commercial computer software documentation. 227.7202-3 Section 227.7202-3 Federal... CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202-3 Rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation...

48 CFR 227.7203-10 - Contractor identification and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished with restrictive... Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-10 Contractor identification and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished with restrictive markings...

48 CFR 227.7202-3 - Rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... computer software or commercial computer software documentation. 227.7202-3 Section 227.7202-3 Federal... CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202-3 Rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation...

48 CFR 227.7203-10 - Contractor identification and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished with restrictive... Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-10 Contractor identification and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished with restrictive markings...

48 CFR 227.7203-10 - Contractor identification and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished with restrictive... Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-10 Contractor identification and marking of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished with restrictive markings...

48 CFR 227.7203-2 - Acquisition of noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-2 Section 227.7203-2 Federal... CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-2 Acquisition of noncommercial computer software and computer software documentation. (a...

Software analysis handbook: Software complexity analysis and software reliability estimation and prediction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Alice T.; Gunn, Todd; Pham, Tuan; Ricaldi, Ron

1994-01-01

This handbook documents the three software analysis processes the Space Station Software Analysis team uses to assess space station software, including their backgrounds, theories, tools, and analysis procedures. Potential applications of these analysis results are also presented. The first section describes how software complexity analysis provides quantitative information on code, such as code structure and risk areas, throughout the software life cycle. Software complexity analysis allows an analyst to understand the software structure, identify critical software components, assess risk areas within a software system, identify testing deficiencies, and recommend program improvements. Performing this type of analysis during the early design phases of software development can positively affect the process, and may prevent later, much larger, difficulties. The second section describes how software reliability estimation and prediction analysis, or software reliability, provides a quantitative means to measure the probability of failure-free operation of a computer program, and describes the two tools used by JSC to determine failure rates and design tradeoffs between reliability, costs, performance, and schedule.

48 CFR 227.7203-3 - Early identification of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to the Government with restrictions on..., DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-3 Early identification of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to the Government with...

48 CFR 227.7203-3 - Early identification of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to the Government with restrictions on..., DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-3 Early identification of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to the Government with...

48 CFR 227.7203-3 - Early identification of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to the Government with restrictions on..., DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-3 Early identification of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to the Government with...

48 CFR 227.7203-3 - Early identification of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to the Government with restrictions on..., DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-3 Early identification of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to the Government with...

48 CFR 227.7203-3 - Early identification of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to the Government with restrictions on..., DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-3 Early identification of computer software or computer software documentation to be furnished to the Government with...

Automated Reuse of Scientific Subroutine Libraries through Deductive Synthesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lowry, Michael R.; Pressburger, Thomas; VanBaalen, Jeffrey; Roach, Steven

1997-01-01

Systematic software construction offers the potential of elevating software engineering from an art-form to an engineering discipline. The desired result is more predictable software development leading to better quality and more maintainable software. However, the overhead costs associated with the formalisms, mathematics, and methods of systematic software construction have largely precluded their adoption in real-world software development. In fact, many mainstream software development organizations, such as Microsoft, still maintain a predominantly oral culture for software development projects; which is far removed from a formalism-based culture for software development. An exception is the limited domain of safety-critical software, where the high-assuiance inherent in systematic software construction justifies the additional cost. We believe that systematic software construction will only be adopted by mainstream software development organization when the overhead costs have been greatly reduced. Two approaches to cost mitigation are reuse (amortizing costs over many applications) and automation. For the last four years, NASA Ames has funded the Amphion project, whose objective is to automate software reuse through techniques from systematic software construction. In particular, deductive program synthesis (i.e., program extraction from proofs) is used to derive a composition of software components (e.g., subroutines) that correctly implements a specification. The construction of reuse libraries of software components is the standard software engineering solution for improving software development productivity and quality.

Estimation of the peak entrance surface air kerma for patients undergoing computed tomography-guided procedures.

PubMed

Avilés Lucas, P; Dance, D R; Castellano, I A; Vañó, E

2005-01-01

The purpose of this work was to develop a method for estimating the patient peak entrance surface air kerma from measurements using a pencil ionisation chamber on dosimetry phantoms exposed in a computed tomography (CT) scanner. The method described is especially relevant for CT fluoroscopy and CT perfusion procedures where the peak entrance surface air kerma is the risk-related quantity of primary concern. Pencil ionisation chamber measurements include scattered radiation, which is outside the primary radiation field, and that must be subtracted in order to derive the peak entrance surface air kerma. A Monte Carlo computer model has therefore been used to calculate correction factors, which may be applied to measurements of the CT dose index obtained using a pencil ionisation chamber in order to estimate the peak entrance surface air kerma. The calculations were made for beam widths of 5, 7, 10 and 20 mm, for seven positions of the phantom, and for the geometry of a GE HiSpeed CT/i scanner. The program was validated by comparing measurements and calculations of CTDI for various vertical positions of the phantom and by directly estimating the peak ESAK using the program. Both validations showed agreement within statistical uncertainties (standard deviation of 2.3% or less). For the GE machine, the correction factors vary by approximately 10% with slice width for a fixed phantom position, being largest for the 20 mm beam width, and at that beam width range from 0.87 when the phantom surface is at the isocentre to 1.23 when it is displaced vertically by 24 cm.

Molecular architecture: construction of self-assembled organophosphonate duplexes and their electrochemical characterization.

PubMed

Cattani-Scholz, Anna; Liao, Kung-Ching; Bora, Achyut; Pathak, Anshuma; Hundschell, Christian; Nickel, Bert; Schwartz, Jeffrey; Abstreiter, Gerhard; Tornow, Marc

2012-05-22

Self-assembled monolayers of phosphonates (SAMPs) of 11-hydroxyundecylphosphonic acid, 2,6-diphosphonoanthracene, 9,10-diphenyl-2,6-diphosphonoanthracene, and 10,10'-diphosphono-9,9'-bianthracene and a novel self-assembled organophosphonate duplex ensemble were synthesized on nanometer-thick SiO(2)-coated, highly doped silicon electrodes. The duplex ensemble was synthesized by first treating the SAMP prepared from an aromatic diphosphonic acid to form a titanium complex-terminated one; this was followed by addition of a second equivalent of the aromatic diphosphonic acid. SAMP homogeneity, roughness, and thickness were evaluated by AFM; SAMP film thickness and the structural contributions of each unit in the duplex were measured by X-ray reflection (XRR). The duplex was compared with the aliphatic and aromatic monolayer SAMPs to determine the effect of stacking on electrochemical properties; these were measured by impedance spectroscopy using aqueous electrolytes in the frequency range 20 Hz to 100 kHz, and data were analyzed using resistance-capacitance network based equivalent circuits. For the 11-hydroxyundecylphosphonate SAMP, C(SAMP) = 2.6 ± 0.2 μF/cm(2), consistent with its measured layer thickness (ca. 1.1 nm). For the anthracene-based SAMPs, C(SAMP) = 6-10 μF/cm(2), which is attributed primarily to a higher effective dielectric constant for the aromatic moieties (ε = 5-10) compared to the aliphatic one; impedance spectroscopy measured the additional capacitance of the second aromatic monolayer in the duplex (2ndSAMP) to be C(Ti/2ndSAMP) = 6.8 ± 0.7 μF/cm(2), in series with the first.

Patritumab plus trastuzumab and paclitaxel in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer.

PubMed

Mukai, Hirofumi; Saeki, Toshiaki; Aogi, Kenjiro; Naito, Yoichi; Matsubara, Nobuaki; Shigekawa, Takashi; Ueda, Shigeto; Takashima, Seiki; Hara, Fumikata; Yamashita, Tomonari; Ohwada, Shoichi; Sasaki, Yasutsuna

2016-10-01

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (HER3) expression in lung and breast cancers has a negative impact on survival. Patritumab, a human anti-HER3 mAb, has shown anticancer activity in preclinical models. This study examined the safety and pharmacokinetics of patritumab in combination with trastuzumab and paclitaxel in patients with HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer. In this open-label, multicenter, dose-escalation, phase Ib study, patients received patritumab 9 or 18 mg/kg plus trastuzumab and paclitaxel at known tolerated doses. Safety and tolerability were assessed based on dose-limiting toxicities and other non-life threatening adverse events. The pharmacokinetic profile for patritumab was determined based on the target trough level. Clinical efficacy was evaluated based on the overall response rate and progression-free survival. Six patients received patritumab 9 mg/kg and 12 received 18 mg/kg. The most common adverse events were diarrhea, alopecia, leukopenia, neutropenia, and maculopapular rash. No dose-limiting toxicities were observed. The target trough serum concentration was achieved in all patients at a dose of 18 mg/kg. Overall response rate was 38.9% and median progression-free survival was 274 days. In conclusion, patritumab plus trastuzumab and paclitaxel was tolerable and efficacious at both doses. We recommend the dose level of 18 mg/kg for future phase II studies. (Clinical trial registration: JapicCTI-121772.). © 2016 The Authors. Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.

Asphalt additives in thick hot mixed asphalt-concrete pavements. Research report (Interim), Sep 86-Oct 90

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

Button, J.W.; Prapnnachari, S.

Asphalt concrete field test pavements were placed in District 19 north of Texarkana on US-59/71 in 1987 and 1988 to evaluate the ability of certain asphalt additives to enhance resistance to cracking and rutting. Two 10-inch thick and 0.9 mile (approx.) long test pavements and a similar untreated control section were constructed in the northbound and southbound lanes for a total of 6 field trials. Asphalt additives were incorporated in both the 8-inch base and the overlying 2-inch surface layers. The additives evaluated included Goodyear LPF 5812, Chemkrete-CTI 102, Exxon Polybilt 102, and Styrelf 13. Samples of paving materials includingmore » aggregates, asphalts, compacted mixes, and pavement cores were collected, conveyed to the laboratory, and tested to provide detailed documentation of their properties. Tests included rheological properties of the binders before and after artificial aging, characterization of aggregate, Hveem and Marshall stability, stiffness as a function of temperature, tensile properties before and after moisture conditioning and artificial aging, air void content, creep, and permanent deformation. Field tests and visual evaluations have been conducted to objectively evaluate field performance. Results of these tests are reported herein. Within 6 months after construction of the base layers and prior to placement of the surface course, the Chemkrete modified base became severely cracked. As a result, the surface mix placed on this base section was treated with Goodyear latex rather than Chemkrete. All other modified pavements and the control section have performed well and exhibited essentially equivalent performance after 2 1/2 years in service.« less

UFTI: the 0.8 - 2.5 μm fast track imager for the UK infrared telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roche, Patrick F.; Lucas, Philip W.; Mackay, Craig D.; Ettedgui-Atad, Eli; Hastings, Peter R.; Bridger, Alan; Rees, Nicholas P.; Leggett, Sandy K.; Davis, Chris; Holmes, Alan R.; Handford, Tony

2003-03-01

In 1996, it was proposed to build a near-infrared imager for the 3.8-m UK Infrared Telescope in Hawaii, to exploit the 1024 pixel format detectors that were then becoming available. In order to achieve a fast delivery, the instrument was kept simple and existing designs were reused or modified where possible. UFTI was delivered within 2.5 years of the project start. The instrument is based around a 1k Rockwell Hawaii detector and a LSR Astrocam controller and uses the new Mauna Kea optimized J,H,K filter set along with I and Z broad-band filters and several narrow-band line filters. The instrument is cooled by a CTI cry-cooler, while the mechanisms are operated by cold, internal, Bergelahr stepping motors. On UKIRT it can be coupled to a Fabry-Perot etalon for tunable narrow-band imaging at K, or a waveplate for imaging polarimetry through 1-2.5 μm the cold analyzer is a Barium Borate Wollaston prism. UFTI was designed to take full advantage of the good image quality delivered by UKIRT on conclusion of the upgrades program, and has a fine scale of 0.09 arcsec/pixel. It is used within the UKIRT observatory environment and was the first instrument integrated into ORAC, the Observatory Reduction and Acquisition Control System. Results obtained during instrument characterization in the lab and over the last 3 years on UKIRT are presented, along with performance figures. UFTI has now been used on UKIRT for several hundred nights, and aspects of instrument performance are discussed.

Modeling of polychromatic attenuation using computed tomography reconstructed images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yan, C. H.; Whalen, R. T.; Beaupre, G. S.; Yen, S. Y.; Napel, S.

1999-01-01

This paper presents a procedure for estimating an accurate model of the CT imaging process including spectral effects. As raw projection data are typically unavailable to the end-user, we adopt a post-processing approach that utilizes the reconstructed images themselves. This approach includes errors from x-ray scatter and the nonidealities of the built-in soft tissue correction into the beam characteristics, which is crucial to beam hardening correction algorithms that are designed to be applied directly to CT reconstructed images. We formulate this approach as a quadratic programming problem and propose two different methods, dimension reduction and regularization, to overcome ill conditioning in the model. For the regularization method we use a statistical procedure, Cross Validation, to select the regularization parameter. We have constructed step-wedge phantoms to estimate the effective beam spectrum of a GE CT-I scanner. Using the derived spectrum, we computed the attenuation ratios for the wedge phantoms and found that the worst case modeling error is less than 3% of the corresponding attenuation ratio. We have also built two test (hybrid) phantoms to evaluate the effective spectrum. Based on these test phantoms, we have shown that the effective beam spectrum provides an accurate model for the CT imaging process. Last, we used a simple beam hardening correction experiment to demonstrate the effectiveness of the estimated beam profile for removing beam hardening artifacts. We hope that this estimation procedure will encourage more independent research on beam hardening corrections and will lead to the development of application-specific beam hardening correction algorithms.

Annotated bibliography of Software Engineering Laboratory literature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morusiewicz, Linda; Valett, Jon D.

1991-01-01

An annotated bibliography of technical papers, documents, and memorandums produced by or related to the Software Engineering Laboratory is given. More than 100 publications are summarized. These publications cover many areas of software engineering and range from research reports to software documentation. All materials have been grouped into eight general subject areas for easy reference: The Software Engineering Laboratory; The Software Engineering Laboratory: Software Development Documents; Software Tools; Software Models; Software Measurement; Technology Evaluations; Ada Technology; and Data Collection. Subject and author indexes further classify these documents by specific topic and individual author.

SAGA: A project to automate the management of software production systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, Roy H.; Beckman-Davies, C. S.; Benzinger, L.; Beshers, G.; Laliberte, D.; Render, H.; Sum, R.; Smith, W.; Terwilliger, R.

1986-01-01

Research into software development is required to reduce its production cost and to improve its quality. Modern software systems, such as the embedded software required for NASA's space station initiative, stretch current software engineering techniques. The requirements to build large, reliable, and maintainable software systems increases with time. Much theoretical and practical research is in progress to improve software engineering techniques. One such technique is to build a software system or environment which directly supports the software engineering process, i.e., the SAGA project, comprising the research necessary to design and build a software development which automates the software engineering process. Progress under SAGA is described.

The social disutility of software ownership.

PubMed

Douglas, David M

2011-09-01

Software ownership allows the owner to restrict the distribution of software and to prevent others from reading the software's source code and building upon it. However, free software is released to users under software licenses that give them the right to read the source code, modify it, reuse it, and distribute the software to others. Proponents of free software such as Richard M. Stallman and Eben Moglen argue that the social disutility of software ownership is a sufficient justification for prohibiting it. This social disutility includes the social instability of disregarding laws and agreements covering software use and distribution, inequality of software access, and the inability to help others by sharing software with them. Here I consider these and other social disutility claims against withholding specific software rights from users, in particular, the rights to read the source code, duplicate, distribute, modify, imitate, and reuse portions of the software within new programs. I find that generally while withholding these rights from software users does cause some degree of social disutility, only the rights to duplicate, modify and imitate cannot legitimately be denied to users on this basis. The social disutility of withholding the rights to distribute the software, read its source code and reuse portions of it in new programs is insufficient to prohibit software owners from denying them to users. A compromise between the software owner and user can minimise the social disutility of withholding these particular rights from users. However, the social disutility caused by software patents is sufficient for rejecting such patents as they restrict the methods of reducing social disutility possible with other forms of software ownership.

Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Software Engineering Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Software Engineering Workshop are presented. The software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) is an organization sponsored by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and created to investigate the effectiveness of software engineering technologies when applied to the development of applications software. Topics covered include: the Software Engineering Laboratory; process measurement; software reuse; software quality; lessons learned; and is Ada dying.

Four applications of a software data collection and analysis methodology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Basili, Victor R.; Selby, Richard W., Jr.

1985-01-01

The evaluation of software technologies suffers because of the lack of quantitative assessment of their effect on software development and modification. A seven-step data collection and analysis methodology couples software technology evaluation with software measurement. Four in-depth applications of the methodology are presented. The four studies represent each of the general categories of analyses on the software product and development process: blocked subject-project studies, replicated project studies, multi-project variation studies, and single project strategies. The four applications are in the areas of, respectively, software testing, cleanroom software development, characteristic software metric sets, and software error analysis.

Third-Party Software's Trust Quagmire.

PubMed

Voas, J; Hurlburt, G

2015-12-01

Current software development has trended toward the idea of integrating independent software sub-functions to create more complete software systems. Software sub-functions are often not homegrown - instead they are developed by unknown 3 rd party organizations and reside in software marketplaces owned or controlled by others. Such software sub-functions carry plausible concern in terms of quality, origins, functionality, security, interoperability, to name a few. This article surveys key technical difficulties in confidently building systems from acquired software sub-functions by calling out the principle software supply chain actors.

Space Station Software Issues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Voigt, S. (Editor); Beskenis, S. (Editor)

1985-01-01

Issues in the development of software for the Space Station are discussed. Software acquisition and management, software development environment, standards, information system support for software developers, and a future software advisory board are addressed.

Software Acquisition: Evolution, Total Quality Management, and Applications to the Army Tactical Missile System

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-06-01

presents the concept of software Total Quality Management (TQM) which focuses on the entire process of software acquisition, as a partial solution to...software TQM can be applied to software acquisition. Software Development, Software Acquisition, Total Quality management (TQM), Army Tactical Missile

48 CFR 252.227-7014 - Rights in noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. 252.227-7014 Section 252.227-7014... Rights in noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. As prescribed in 227.7203-6(a)(1), use the following clause. Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and...

48 CFR 252.227-7014 - Rights in noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. 252.227-7014 Section 252.227-7014... Rights in noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. As prescribed in 227.7203-6(a)(1), use the following clause. Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and...

48 CFR 227.7203-14 - Conformity, acceptance, and warranty of computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., and warranty of computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-14 Section 227.7203-14... GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-14 Conformity, acceptance, and warranty of computer software and computer...

48 CFR 252.227-7014 - Rights in noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. 252.227-7014 Section 252.227-7014... Rights in noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. As prescribed in 227.7203-6(a)(1), use the following clause. Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and...

48 CFR 227.7203-14 - Conformity, acceptance, and warranty of computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

..., and warranty of computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-14 Section 227.7203-14... GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-14 Conformity, acceptance, and warranty of computer software and computer...

48 CFR 252.227-7014 - Rights in noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. 252.227-7014 Section 252.227-7014... Rights in noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. As prescribed in 227.7203-6(a)(1), use the following clause. Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and...

48 CFR 227.7203-14 - Conformity, acceptance, and warranty of computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., and warranty of computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-14 Section 227.7203-14... GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-14 Conformity, acceptance, and warranty of computer software and computer...

48 CFR 227.7203-14 - Conformity, acceptance, and warranty of computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

..., and warranty of computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-14 Section 227.7203-14... GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-14 Conformity, acceptance, and warranty of computer software and computer...

48 CFR 227.7203-14 - Conformity, acceptance, and warranty of computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

..., and warranty of computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-14 Section 227.7203-14... GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-14 Conformity, acceptance, and warranty of computer software and computer...

48 CFR 252.227-7014 - Rights in noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. 252.227-7014 Section 252.227-7014... Rights in noncommercial computer software and noncommercial computer software documentation. As prescribed in 227.7203-6(a)(1), use the following clause. Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and...

Software Quality Assurance Metrics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McRae, Kalindra A.

2004-01-01

Software Quality Assurance (SQA) is a planned and systematic set of activities that ensures conformance of software life cycle processes and products conform to requirements, standards and procedures. In software development, software quality means meeting requirements and a degree of excellence and refinement of a project or product. Software Quality is a set of attributes of a software product by which its quality is described and evaluated. The set of attributes includes functionality, reliability, usability, efficiency, maintainability, and portability. Software Metrics help us understand the technical process that is used to develop a product. The process is measured to improve it and the product is measured to increase quality throughout the life cycle of software. Software Metrics are measurements of the quality of software. Software is measured to indicate the quality of the product, to assess the productivity of the people who produce the product, to assess the benefits derived from new software engineering methods and tools, to form a baseline for estimation, and to help justify requests for new tools or additional training. Any part of the software development can be measured. If Software Metrics are implemented in software development, it can save time, money, and allow the organization to identify the caused of defects which have the greatest effect on software development. The summer of 2004, I worked with Cynthia Calhoun and Frank Robinson in the Software Assurance/Risk Management department. My task was to research and collect, compile, and analyze SQA Metrics that have been used in other projects that are not currently being used by the SA team and report them to the Software Assurance team to see if any metrics can be implemented in their software assurance life cycle process.

Software Configuration Management Guidebook

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

The growth in cost and importance of software to NASA has caused NASA to address the improvement of software development across the agency. One of the products of this program is a series of guidebooks that define a NASA concept of the assurance processes which are used in software development. The Software Assurance Guidebook, SMAP-GB-A201, issued in September, 1989, provides an overall picture of the concepts and practices of NASA in software assurance. Lower level guidebooks focus on specific activities that fall within the software assurance discipline, and provide more detailed information for the manager and/or practitioner. This is the Software Configuration Management Guidebook which describes software configuration management in a way that is compatible with practices in industry and at NASA Centers. Software configuration management is a key software development process, and is essential for doing software assurance.

Computer-Aided Software Engineering - An approach to real-time software development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Carrie K.; Turkovich, John J.

1989-01-01

A new software engineering discipline is Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE), a technology aimed at automating the software development process. This paper explores the development of CASE technology, particularly in the area of real-time/scientific/engineering software, and a history of CASE is given. The proposed software development environment for the Advanced Launch System (ALS CASE) is described as an example of an advanced software development system for real-time/scientific/engineering (RT/SE) software. The Automated Programming Subsystem of ALS CASE automatically generates executable code and corresponding documentation from a suitably formatted specification of the software requirements. Software requirements are interactively specified in the form of engineering block diagrams. Several demonstrations of the Automated Programming Subsystem are discussed.

Product-oriented Software Certification Process for Software Synthesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nelson, Stacy; Fischer, Bernd; Denney, Ewen; Schumann, Johann; Richardson, Julian; Oh, Phil

2004-01-01

The purpose of this document is to propose a product-oriented software certification process to facilitate use of software synthesis and formal methods. Why is such a process needed? Currently, software is tested until deemed bug-free rather than proving that certain software properties exist. This approach has worked well in most cases, but unfortunately, deaths still occur due to software failure. Using formal methods (techniques from logic and discrete mathematics like set theory, automata theory and formal logic as opposed to continuous mathematics like calculus) and software synthesis, it is possible to reduce this risk by proving certain software properties. Additionally, software synthesis makes it possible to automate some phases of the traditional software development life cycle resulting in a more streamlined and accurate development process.

Software engineering laboratory series: Annotated bibliography of software engineering laboratory literature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morusiewicz, Linda; Valett, Jon

1992-01-01

This document is an annotated bibliography of technical papers, documents, and memorandums produced by or related to the Software Engineering Laboratory. More than 100 publications are summarized. These publications cover many areas of software engineering and range from research reports to software documentation. This document has been updated and reorganized substantially since the original version (SEL-82-006, November 1982). All materials have been grouped into eight general subject areas for easy reference: (1) the Software Engineering Laboratory; (2) the Software Engineering Laboratory: Software Development Documents; (3) Software Tools; (4) Software Models; (5) Software Measurement; (6) Technology Evaluations; (7) Ada Technology; and (8) Data Collection. This document contains an index of these publications classified by individual author.

SAGA: A project to automate the management of software production systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, Roy H.; Laliberte, D.; Render, H.; Sum, R.; Smith, W.; Terwilliger, R.

1987-01-01

The Software Automation, Generation and Administration (SAGA) project is investigating the design and construction of practical software engineering environments for developing and maintaining aerospace systems and applications software. The research includes the practical organization of the software lifecycle, configuration management, software requirements specifications, executable specifications, design methodologies, programming, verification, validation and testing, version control, maintenance, the reuse of software, software libraries, documentation, and automated management.

Annotated bibliography of software engineering laboratory literature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Groves, Paula; Valett, Jon

1990-01-01

An annotated bibliography of technical papers, documents, and memorandums produced by or related to the Software Engineering Laboratory is given. More than 100 publications are summarized. These publications cover many areas of software engineering and range from research reports to software documentation. This document has been updated and reorganized substantially since the original version (SEL-82-006, November 1982). All materials have been grouped into eight general subject areas for easy reference: the Software Engineering Laboratory; the Software Engineering Laboratory-software development documents; software tools; software models; software measurement; technology evaluations; Ada technology; and data collection. Subject and author indexes further classify these documents by specific topic and individual author.

Annotated bibliography of Software Engineering Laboratory literature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morusiewicz, Linda; Valett, Jon

1993-01-01

This document is an annotated bibliography of technical papers, documents, and memorandums produced by or related to the Software Engineering Laboratory. Nearly 200 publications are summarized. These publications cover many areas of software engineering and range from research reports to software documentation. This document has been updated and reorganized substantially since the original version (SEL-82-006, November 1982). All materials have been grouped into eight general subject areas for easy reference: the Software Engineering Laboratory; the Software Engineering Laboratory: software development documents; software tools; software models; software measurement; technology evaluations; Ada technology; and data collection. This document contains an index of these publications classified by individual author.

48 CFR 227.7203-8 - Deferred delivery and deferred ordering of computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... deferred ordering of computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-8 Section 227.7203-8... GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-8 Deferred delivery and deferred ordering of computer software and computer...

48 CFR 227.7203-8 - Deferred delivery and deferred ordering of computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... deferred ordering of computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-8 Section 227.7203-8... GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-8 Deferred delivery and deferred ordering of computer software and computer...

48 CFR 227.7203-8 - Deferred delivery and deferred ordering of computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... deferred ordering of computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-8 Section 227.7203-8... GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-8 Deferred delivery and deferred ordering of computer software and computer...

48 CFR 227.7203-8 - Deferred delivery and deferred ordering of computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... deferred ordering of computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-8 Section 227.7203-8... GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-8 Deferred delivery and deferred ordering of computer software and computer...

48 CFR 227.7203-8 - Deferred delivery and deferred ordering of computer software and computer software documentation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... deferred ordering of computer software and computer software documentation. 227.7203-8 Section 227.7203-8... GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Rights in Computer Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-8 Deferred delivery and deferred ordering of computer software and computer...

A Framework of the Use of Information in Software Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaveh, Payman

2010-01-01

With the increasing role that software systems play in our daily lives, software quality has become extremely important. Software quality is impacted by the efficiency of the software testing process. There are a growing number of software testing methodologies, models, and initiatives to satisfy the need to improve software quality. The main…

NASA's Approach to Software Assurance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wetherholt, Martha

2015-01-01

NASA defines software assurance as: the planned and systematic set of activities that ensure conformance of software life cycle processes and products to requirements, standards, and procedures via quality, safety, reliability, and independent verification and validation. NASA's implementation of this approach to the quality, safety, reliability, security and verification and validation of software is brought together in one discipline, software assurance. Organizationally, NASA has software assurance at each NASA center, a Software Assurance Manager at NASA Headquarters, a Software Assurance Technical Fellow (currently the same person as the SA Manager), and an Independent Verification and Validation Organization with its own facility. An umbrella risk mitigation strategy for safety and mission success assurance of NASA's software, software assurance covers a wide area and is better structured to address the dynamic changes in how software is developed, used, and managed, as well as it's increasingly complex functionality. Being flexible, risk based, and prepared for challenges in software at NASA is essential, especially as much of our software is unique for each mission.

The Implications of Using Integrated Software Support Environment for Design of Guidance and Control Systems Software

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-02-01

inspections are performed before each formal review of each software life cycle phase. * Required software audits are performed . " The software is acceptable... Audits : Software audits are performed bySQA consistent with thegeneral audit rules and an auditreportis prepared. Software Quality Inspection (SQI...DSD Software Development Method 3-34 DEFINITION OF ACRONYMS Acronym Full Name or Description MACH Methode d’Analyse et de Conception Flierarchisee

Evolution of Secondary Software Businesses: Understanding Industry Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyrväinen, Pasi; Warsta, Juhani; Seppänen, Veikko

Primary software industry originates from IBM's decision to unbundle software-related computer system development activities to external partners. This kind of outsourcing from an enterprise internal software development activity is a common means to start a new software business serving a vertical software market. It combines knowledge of the vertical market process with competence in software development. In this research, we present and analyze the key figures of the Finnish secondary software industry, in order to quantify its interaction with the primary software industry during the period of 2000-2003. On the basis of the empirical data, we present a model for evolution of a secondary software business, which makes explicit the industry dynamics. It represents the shift from internal software developed for competitive advantage to development of products supporting standard business processes on top of standardized technologies. We also discuss the implications for software business strategies in each phase.

Secure software practices among Malaysian software practitioners: An exploratory study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohamed, Shafinah Farvin Packeer; Baharom, Fauziah; Deraman, Aziz; Yahya, Jamaiah; Mohd, Haslina

2016-08-01

Secure software practices is increasingly gaining much importance among software practitioners and researchers due to the rise of computer crimes in the software industry. It has become as one of the determinant factors for producing high quality software. Even though its importance has been revealed, its current practice in the software industry is still scarce, particularly in Malaysia. Thus, an exploratory study is conducted among software practitioners in Malaysia to study their experiences and practices in the real-world projects. This paper discusses the findings from the study, which involved 93 software practitioners. Structured questionnaire is utilized for data collection purpose whilst statistical methods such as frequency, mean, and cross tabulation are used for data analysis. Outcomes from this study reveal that software practitioners are becoming increasingly aware on the importance of secure software practices, however, they lack of appropriate implementation, which could affect the quality of produced software.

The Role and Quality of Software Safety in the NASA Constellation Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Layman, Lucas; Basili, Victor R.; Zelkowitz, Marvin V.

2010-01-01

In this study, we examine software safety risk in the early design phase of the NASA Constellation spaceflight program. Obtaining an accurate, program-wide picture of software safety risk is difficult across multiple, independently-developing systems. We leverage one source of safety information, hazard analysis, to provide NASA quality assurance managers with information regarding the ongoing state of software safety across the program. The goal of this research is two-fold: 1) to quantify the relative importance of software with respect to system safety; and 2) to quantify the level of risk presented by software in the hazard analysis. We examined 154 hazard reports created during the preliminary design phase of three major flight hardware systems within the Constellation program. To quantify the importance of software, we collected metrics based on the number of software-related causes and controls of hazardous conditions. To quantify the level of risk presented by software, we created a metric scheme to measure the specificity of these software causes. We found that from 49-70% of hazardous conditions in the three systems could be caused by software or software was involved in the prevention of the hazardous condition. We also found that 12-17% of the 2013 hazard causes involved software, and that 23-29% of all causes had a software control. Furthermore, 10-12% of all controls were software-based. There is potential for inaccuracy in these counts, however, as software causes are not consistently scoped, and the presence of software in a cause or control is not always clear. The application of our software specificity metrics also identified risks in the hazard reporting process. In particular, we found a number of traceability risks in the hazard reports may impede verification of software and system safety.

A UML-based metamodel for software evolution process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Zuo; Zhou, Wei-Hong; Fu, Zhi-Tao; Xiong, Shun-Qing

2014-04-01

A software evolution process is a set of interrelated software processes under which the corresponding software is evolving. An object-oriented software evolution process meta-model (OO-EPMM), abstract syntax and formal OCL constraint of meta-model are presented in this paper. OO-EPMM can not only represent software development process, but also represent software evolution.

48 CFR 227.7202-4 - Contract clause.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202-4 Contract clause. A specific contract clause governing the Government's rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software..., release, perform, display, or disclose computer software or computer software documentation shall be...

48 CFR 227.7202-4 - Contract clause.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202-4 Contract clause. A specific contract clause governing the Government's rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software..., release, perform, display, or disclose computer software or computer software documentation shall be...

48 CFR 227.7202-4 - Contract clause.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202-4 Contract clause. A specific contract clause governing the Government's rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software..., release, perform, display, or disclose computer software or computer software documentation shall be...

48 CFR 227.7202-4 - Contract clause.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202-4 Contract clause. A specific contract clause governing the Government's rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software..., release, perform, display, or disclose computer software or computer software documentation shall be...

48 CFR 227.7202-4 - Contract clause.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7202-4 Contract clause. A specific contract clause governing the Government's rights in commercial computer software or commercial computer software..., release, perform, display, or disclose computer software or computer software documentation shall be...

Models for Deploying Open Source and Commercial Software to Support Earth Science Data Processing and Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yetman, G.; Downs, R. R.

2011-12-01

Software deployment is needed to process and distribute scientific data throughout the data lifecycle. Developing software in-house can take software development teams away from other software development projects and can require efforts to maintain the software over time. Adopting and reusing software and system modules that have been previously developed by others can reduce in-house software development and maintenance costs and can contribute to the quality of the system being developed. A variety of models are available for reusing and deploying software and systems that have been developed by others. These deployment models include open source software, vendor-supported open source software, commercial software, and combinations of these approaches. Deployment in Earth science data processing and distribution has demonstrated the advantages and drawbacks of each model. Deploying open source software offers advantages for developing and maintaining scientific data processing systems and applications. By joining an open source community that is developing a particular system module or application, a scientific data processing team can contribute to aspects of the software development without having to commit to developing the software alone. Communities of interested developers can share the work while focusing on activities that utilize in-house expertise and addresses internal requirements. Maintenance is also shared by members of the community. Deploying vendor-supported open source software offers similar advantages to open source software. However, by procuring the services of a vendor, the in-house team can rely on the vendor to provide, install, and maintain the software over time. Vendor-supported open source software may be ideal for teams that recognize the value of an open source software component or application and would like to contribute to the effort, but do not have the time or expertise to contribute extensively. Vendor-supported software may also have the additional benefits of guaranteed up-time, bug fixes, and vendor-added enhancements. Deploying commercial software can be advantageous for obtaining system or software components offered by a vendor that meet in-house requirements. The vendor can be contracted to provide installation, support and maintenance services as needed. Combining these options offers a menu of choices, enabling selection of system components or software modules that meet the evolving requirements encountered throughout the scientific data lifecycle.

Adopting Open Source Software to Address Software Risks during the Scientific Data Life Cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vinay, S.; Downs, R. R.

2012-12-01

Software enables the creation, management, storage, distribution, discovery, and use of scientific data throughout the data lifecycle. However, the capabilities offered by software also present risks for the stewardship of scientific data, since future access to digital data is dependent on the use of software. From operating systems to applications for analyzing data, the dependence of data on software presents challenges for the stewardship of scientific data. Adopting open source software provides opportunities to address some of the proprietary risks of data dependence on software. For example, in some cases, open source software can be deployed to avoid licensing restrictions for using, modifying, and transferring proprietary software. The availability of the source code of open source software also enables the inclusion of modifications, which may be contributed by various community members who are addressing similar issues. Likewise, an active community that is maintaining open source software can be a valuable source of help, providing an opportunity to collaborate to address common issues facing adopters. As part of the effort to meet the challenges of software dependence for scientific data stewardship, risks from software dependence have been identified that exist during various times of the data lifecycle. The identification of these risks should enable the development of plans for mitigating software dependencies, where applicable, using open source software, and to improve understanding of software dependency risks for scientific data and how they can be reduced during the data life cycle.

Software technology insertion: A study of success factors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lydon, Tom

1990-01-01

Managing software development in large organizations has become increasingly difficult due to increasing technical complexity, stricter government standards, a shortage of experienced software engineers, competitive pressure for improved productivity and quality, the need to co-develop hardware and software together, and the rapid changes in both hardware and software technology. The 'software factory' approach to software development minimizes risks while maximizing productivity and quality through standardization, automation, and training. However, in practice, this approach is relatively inflexible when adopting new software technologies. The methods that a large multi-project software engineering organization can use to increase the likelihood of successful software technology insertion (STI), especially in a standardized engineering environment, are described.

Software archeology: a case study in software quality assurance and design

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

Macdonald, John M; Lloyd, Jane A; Turner, Cameron J

2009-01-01

Ideally, quality is designed into software, just as quality is designed into hardware. However, when dealing with legacy systems, demonstrating that the software meets required quality standards may be difficult to achieve. As the need to demonstrate the quality of existing software was recognized at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), an effort was initiated to uncover and demonstrate that legacy software met the required quality standards. This effort led to the development of a reverse engineering approach referred to as software archaeology. This paper documents the software archaeology approaches used at LANL to document legacy software systems. A case studymore » for the Robotic Integrated Packaging System (RIPS) software is included.« less

Annotated bibliography of software engineering laboratory literature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kistler, David; Bristow, John; Smith, Don

1994-01-01

This document is an annotated bibliography of technical papers, documents, and memorandums produced by or related to the Software Engineering Laboratory. Nearly 200 publications are summarized. These publications cover many areas of software engineering and range from research reports to software documentation. This document has been updated and reorganized substantially since the original version (SEL-82-006, November 1982). All materials have been grouped into eight general subject areas for easy reference: (1) The Software Engineering Laboratory; (2) The Software Engineering Laboratory: Software Development Documents; (3) Software Tools; (4) Software Models; (5) Software Measurement; (6) Technology Evaluations; (7) Ada Technology; and (8) Data Collection. This document contains an index of these publications classified by individual author.

Reuse Metrics for Object Oriented Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bieman, James M.

1998-01-01

One way to increase the quality of software products and the productivity of software development is to reuse existing software components when building new software systems. In order to monitor improvements in reuse, the level of reuse must be measured. In this NASA supported project we (1) derived a suite of metrics which quantify reuse attributes for object oriented, object based, and procedural software, (2) designed prototype tools to take these measurements in Ada, C++, Java, and C software, (3) evaluated the reuse in available software, (4) analyzed the relationship between coupling, cohesion, inheritance, and reuse, (5) collected object oriented software systems for our empirical analyses, and (6) developed quantitative criteria and methods for restructuring software to improve reusability.

48 CFR 12.212 - Computer software.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Computer software. 12.212... software. (a) Commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation shall be acquired... required to— (1) Furnish technical information related to commercial computer software or commercial...

48 CFR 12.212 - Computer software.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Computer software. 12.212... software. (a) Commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation shall be acquired... required to— (1) Furnish technical information related to commercial computer software or commercial...

48 CFR 227.7203-9 - Copyright.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-9 Copyright. (a) Copyright license. (1) The clause at 252.227-7014, Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and Noncommercial Computer Software... Government to reproduce the software or documentation, distribute copies, perform or display the software or...

48 CFR 227.7203-9 - Copyright.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-9 Copyright. (a) Copyright license. (1) The clause at 252.227-7014, Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and Noncommercial Computer Software... Government to reproduce the software or documentation, distribute copies, perform or display the software or...

48 CFR 227.7203-9 - Copyright.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-9 Copyright. (a) Copyright license. (1) The clause at 252.227-7014, Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and Noncommercial Computer Software... Government to reproduce the software or documentation, distribute copies, perform or display the software or...

48 CFR 12.212 - Computer software.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Computer software. 12.212... software. (a) Commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation shall be acquired... required to— (1) Furnish technical information related to commercial computer software or commercial...

48 CFR 12.212 - Computer software.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Computer software. 12.212... software. (a) Commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation shall be acquired... required to— (1) Furnish technical information related to commercial computer software or commercial...

48 CFR 227.7203-9 - Copyright.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-9 Copyright. (a) Copyright license. (1) The clause at 252.227-7014, Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and Noncommercial Computer Software... Government to reproduce the software or documentation, distribute copies, perform or display the software or...

48 CFR 12.212 - Computer software.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Computer software. 12.212... software. (a) Commercial computer software or commercial computer software documentation shall be acquired... required to— (1) Furnish technical information related to commercial computer software or commercial...

48 CFR 227.7203-9 - Copyright.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Software and Computer Software Documentation 227.7203-9 Copyright. (a) Copyright license. (1) The clause at 252.227-7014, Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and Noncommercial Computer Software... Government to reproduce the software or documentation, distribute copies, perform or display the software or...

Educational Software Acquisition for Microcomputers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erikson, Warren; Turban, Efraim

1985-01-01

Examination of issues involved in acquiring appropriate microcomputer software for higher education focuses on the following points: developing your own software; finding commercially available software; using published evaluations; pre-purchase testing; customizing and adapting commercial software; post-purchase testing; and software use. A…

A Model for Assessing the Liability of Seemingly Correct Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Voas, Jeffrey M.; Voas, Larry K.; Miller, Keith W.

1991-01-01

Current research on software reliability does not lend itself to quantitatively assessing the risk posed by a piece of life-critical software. Black-box software reliability models are too general and make too many assumptions to be applied confidently to assessing the risk of life-critical software. We present a model for assessing the risk caused by a piece of software; this model combines software testing results and Hamlet's probable correctness model. We show how this model can assess software risk for those who insure against a loss that can occur if life-critical software fails.

NASA space station software standards issues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tice, G. D., Jr.

1985-01-01

The selection and application of software standards present the NASA Space Station Program with the opportunity to serve as a pacesetter for the United States software in the area of software standards. The strengths and weaknesses of each of the NASA defined software standards issues are summerized and discussed. Several significant standards issues are offered for NASA consideration. A challenge is presented for the NASA Space Station Program to serve as a pacesetter for the U.S. Software Industry through: (1) Management commitment to software standards; (2) Overall program participation in software standards; and (3) Employment of the best available technology to support software standards

Statistical modelling of software reliability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Douglas R.

1991-01-01

During the six-month period from 1 April 1991 to 30 September 1991 the following research papers in statistical modeling of software reliability appeared: (1) A Nonparametric Software Reliability Growth Model; (2) On the Use and the Performance of Software Reliability Growth Models; (3) Research and Development Issues in Software Reliability Engineering; (4) Special Issues on Software; and (5) Software Reliability and Safety.

Software Engineering Guidebook

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connell, John; Wenneson, Greg

1993-01-01

The Software Engineering Guidebook describes SEPG (Software Engineering Process Group) supported processes and techniques for engineering quality software in NASA environments. Three process models are supported: structured, object-oriented, and evolutionary rapid-prototyping. The guidebook covers software life-cycles, engineering, assurance, and configuration management. The guidebook is written for managers and engineers who manage, develop, enhance, and/or maintain software under the Computer Software Services Contract.

A measurement system for large, complex software programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rone, Kyle Y.; Olson, Kitty M.; Davis, Nathan E.

1994-01-01

This paper describes measurement systems required to forecast, measure, and control activities for large, complex software development and support programs. Initial software cost and quality analysis provides the foundation for meaningful management decisions as a project evolves. In modeling the cost and quality of software systems, the relationship between the functionality, quality, cost, and schedule of the product must be considered. This explicit relationship is dictated by the criticality of the software being developed. This balance between cost and quality is a viable software engineering trade-off throughout the life cycle. Therefore, the ability to accurately estimate the cost and quality of software systems is essential to providing reliable software on time and within budget. Software cost models relate the product error rate to the percent of the project labor that is required for independent verification and validation. The criticality of the software determines which cost model is used to estimate the labor required to develop the software. Software quality models yield an expected error discovery rate based on the software size, criticality, software development environment, and the level of competence of the project and developers with respect to the processes being employed.

Certification Processes for Safety-Critical and Mission-Critical Aerospace Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nelson, Stacy

2003-01-01

This document is a quick reference guide with an overview of the processes required to certify safety-critical and mission-critical flight software at selected NASA centers and the FAA. Researchers and software developers can use this guide to jumpstart their understanding of how to get new or enhanced software onboard an aircraft or spacecraft. The introduction contains aerospace industry definitions of safety and safety-critical software, as well as, the current rationale for certification of safety-critical software. The Standards for Safety-Critical Aerospace Software section lists and describes current standards including NASA standards and RTCA DO-178B. The Mission-Critical versus Safety-Critical software section explains the difference between two important classes of software: safety-critical software involving the potential for loss of life due to software failure and mission-critical software involving the potential for aborting a mission due to software failure. The DO-178B Safety-critical Certification Requirements section describes special processes and methods required to obtain a safety-critical certification for aerospace software flying on vehicles under auspices of the FAA. The final two sections give an overview of the certification process used at Dryden Flight Research Center and the approval process at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL).

NASA PC software evaluation project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Kuan, Julie C.

1986-01-01

The USL NASA PC software evaluation project is intended to provide a structured framework for facilitating the development of quality NASA PC software products. The project will assist NASA PC development staff to understand the characteristics and functions of NASA PC software products. Based on the results of the project teams' evaluations and recommendations, users can judge the reliability, usability, acceptability, maintainability and customizability of all the PC software products. The objective here is to provide initial, high-level specifications and guidelines for NASA PC software evaluation. The primary tasks to be addressed in this project are as follows: to gain a strong understanding of what software evaluation entails and how to organize a structured software evaluation process; to define a structured methodology for conducting the software evaluation process; to develop a set of PC software evaluation criteria and evaluation rating scales; and to conduct PC software evaluations in accordance with the identified methodology. Communication Packages, Network System Software, Graphics Support Software, Environment Management Software, General Utilities. This report represents one of the 72 attachment reports to the University of Southwestern Louisiana's Final Report on NASA Grant NGT-19-010-900. Accordingly, appropriate care should be taken in using this report out of context of the full Final Report.

User systems guidelines for software projects

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

Abrahamson, L.

1986-04-01

This manual presents guidelines for software standards which were developed so that software project-development teams and management involved in approving the software could have a generalized view of all phases in the software production procedure and the steps involved in completing each phase. Guidelines are presented for six phases of software development: project definition, building a user interface, designing software, writing code, testing code, and preparing software documentation. The discussions for each phase include examples illustrating the recommended guidelines. 45 refs. (DWL)

48 CFR 208.7400 - Scope of subpart.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... OF DEFENSE ACQUISITION PLANNING REQUIRED SOURCES OF SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Enterprise Software... commercial software and software maintenance, including software and software maintenance that is acquired...

48 CFR 208.7400 - Scope of subpart.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... OF DEFENSE ACQUISITION PLANNING REQUIRED SOURCES OF SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Enterprise Software... commercial software and software maintenance, including software and software maintenance that is acquired...

48 CFR 208.7400 - Scope of subpart.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... OF DEFENSE ACQUISITION PLANNING REQUIRED SOURCES OF SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Enterprise Software... commercial software and software maintenance, including software and software maintenance that is acquired...

48 CFR 208.7400 - Scope of subpart.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... OF DEFENSE ACQUISITION PLANNING REQUIRED SOURCES OF SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Enterprise Software... commercial software and software maintenance, including software and software maintenance that is acquired...

Guidance and Control Software Project Data - Volume 1: Planning Documents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hayhurst, Kelly J. (Editor)

2008-01-01

The Guidance and Control Software (GCS) project was the last in a series of software reliability studies conducted at Langley Research Center between 1977 and 1994. The technical results of the GCS project were recorded after the experiment was completed. Some of the support documentation produced as part of the experiment, however, is serving an unexpected role far beyond its original project context. Some of the software used as part of the GCS project was developed to conform to the RTCA/DO-178B software standard, "Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification," used in the civil aviation industry. That standard requires extensive documentation throughout the software development life cycle, including plans, software requirements, design and source code, verification cases and results, and configuration management and quality control data. The project documentation that includes this information is open for public scrutiny without the legal or safety implications associated with comparable data from an avionics manufacturer. This public availability has afforded an opportunity to use the GCS project documents for DO-178B training. This report provides a brief overview of the GCS project, describes the 4-volume set of documents and the role they are playing in training, and includes the planning documents from the GCS project. Volume 1 contains five appendices: A. Plan for Software Aspects of Certification for the Guidance and Control Software Project; B. Software Development Standards for the Guidance and Control Software Project; C. Software Verification Plan for the Guidance and Control Software Project; D. Software Configuration Management Plan for the Guidance and Control Software Project; and E. Software Quality Assurance Activities.

Improving Software Engineering on NASA Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crumbley, Tim; Kelly, John C.

2010-01-01

Software Engineering Initiative: Reduces risk of software failure -Increases mission safety. More predictable software cost estimates and delivery schedules. Smarter buyer of contracted out software. More defects found and removed earlier. Reduces duplication of efforts between projects. Increases ability to meet the challenges of evolving software technology.

A Quantitative Study of Global Software Development Teams, Requirements, and Software Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Linda L.

2016-01-01

The study explored the relationship between global software development teams, effective software requirements, and stakeholders' perception of successful software development projects within the field of information technology management. It examined the critical relationship between Global Software Development (GSD) teams creating effective…

Software Assurance Competency Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

COTS) software , and software as a service ( SaaS ). L2: Define and analyze risks in the acquisition of contracted software , COTS software , and SaaS ...2010a]: Application of technologies and processes to achieve a required level of confidence that software systems and services function in the...

The Elements of an Effective Software Development Plan - Software Development Process Guidebook

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-11

standards and practices required for all XMPL software development. This SDP implements the <corporate> Standard Software Process (SSP). as tailored...Developing and integrating reusable software products • Approach to managing COTS/Reuse software implementation • COTS/Reuse software selection...final selection and submit to change board for approval MAINTENANCE Monitor current products for obsolescence or end of support Track new

Software safety - A user's practical perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunn, William R.; Corliss, Lloyd D.

1990-01-01

Software safety assurance philosophy and practices at the NASA Ames are discussed. It is shown that, to be safe, software must be error-free. Software developments on two digital flight control systems and two ground facility systems are examined, including the overall system and software organization and function, the software-safety issues, and their resolution. The effectiveness of safety assurance methods is discussed, including conventional life-cycle practices, verification and validation testing, software safety analysis, and formal design methods. It is concluded (1) that a practical software safety technology does not yet exist, (2) that it is unlikely that a set of general-purpose analytical techniques can be developed for proving that software is safe, and (3) that successful software safety-assurance practices will have to take into account the detailed design processes employed and show that the software will execute correctly under all possible conditions.

Predicting Software Suitability Using a Bayesian Belief Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beaver, Justin M.; Schiavone, Guy A.; Berrios, Joseph S.

2005-01-01

The ability to reliably predict the end quality of software under development presents a significant advantage for a development team. It provides an opportunity to address high risk components earlier in the development life cycle, when their impact is minimized. This research proposes a model that captures the evolution of the quality of a software product, and provides reliable forecasts of the end quality of the software being developed in terms of product suitability. Development team skill, software process maturity, and software problem complexity are hypothesized as driving factors of software product quality. The cause-effect relationships between these factors and the elements of software suitability are modeled using Bayesian Belief Networks, a machine learning method. This research presents a Bayesian Network for software quality, and the techniques used to quantify the factors that influence and represent software quality. The developed model is found to be effective in predicting the end product quality of small-scale software development efforts.

The Effects of Development Team Skill on Software Product Quality

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beaver, Justin M.; Schiavone, Guy A.

2006-01-01

This paper provides an analysis of the effect of the skill/experience of the software development team on the quality of the final software product. A method for the assessment of software development team skill and experience is proposed, and was derived from a workforce management tool currently in use by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Using data from 26 smallscale software development projects, the team skill measures are correlated to 5 software product quality metrics from the ISO/IEC 9126 Software Engineering Product Quality standard. in the analysis of the results, development team skill is found to be a significant factor in the adequacy of the design and implementation. In addition, the results imply that inexperienced software developers are tasked with responsibilities ill-suited to their skill level, and thus have a significant adverse effect on the quality of the software product. Keywords: software quality, development skill, software metrics

An ontology based trust verification of software license agreement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Wenhuan; Li, Xiaoqing; Gan, Zengqin; Wei, Jianguo

2017-08-01

When we install software or download software, there will show up so big mass document to state the rights and obligations, for which lots of person are not patient to read it or understand it. That would may make users feel distrust for the software. In this paper, we propose an ontology based verification for Software License Agreement. First of all, this work proposed an ontology model for domain of Software License Agreement. The domain ontology is constructed by proposed methodology according to copyright laws and 30 software license agreements. The License Ontology can act as a part of generalized copyright law knowledge model, and also can work as visualization of software licenses. Based on this proposed ontology, a software license oriented text summarization approach is proposed which performances showing that it can improve the accuracy of software licenses summarizing. Based on the summarization, the underline purpose of the software license can be explicitly explored for trust verification.

77 FR 50726 - Software Requirement Specifications for Digital Computer Software and Complex Electronics Used in...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-22

... Computer Software and Complex Electronics Used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants AGENCY: Nuclear...-1209, ``Software Requirement Specifications for Digital Computer Software and Complex Electronics used... Electronics Engineers (ANSI/IEEE) Standard 830-1998, ``IEEE Recommended Practice for Software Requirements...

Impact of Agile Software Development Model on Software Maintainability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gawali, Ajay R.

2012-01-01

Software maintenance and support costs account for up to 60% of the overall software life cycle cost and often burdens tightly budgeted information technology (IT) organizations. Agile software development approach delivers business value early, but implications on software maintainability are still unknown. The purpose of this quantitative study…

77 FR 50724 - Developing Software Life Cycle Processes for Digital Computer Software Used in Safety Systems of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-22

... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2012-0195] Developing Software Life Cycle Processes for Digital... Software Life Cycle Processes for Digital Computer Software used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants... clarifications, the enhanced consensus practices for developing software life-cycle processes for digital...

Proceedings of Tenth Annual Software Engineering Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

Papers are presented on the following topics: measurement of software technology, recent studies of the Software Engineering Lab, software management tools, expert systems, error seeding as a program validation technique, software quality assurance, software engineering environments (including knowledge-based environments), the Distributed Computing Design System, and various Ada experiments.

Reducing Risk in DoD Software-Intensive Systems Development

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

intensive systems development risk. This research addresses the use of the Technical Readiness Assessment (TRA) using the nine-level software Technology...The software TRLs are ineffective in reducing technical risk for the software component development. • Without the software TRLs, there is no...effective method to perform software TRA or reduce the technical development risk. The software component will behave as a new, untried technology in nearly

Software Formal Inspections Standard

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

This Software Formal Inspections Standard (hereinafter referred to as Standard) is applicable to NASA software. This Standard defines the requirements that shall be fulfilled by the software formal inspections process whenever this process is specified for NASA software. The objective of this Standard is to define the requirements for a process that inspects software products to detect and eliminate defects as early as possible in the software life cycle. The process also provides for the collection and analysis of inspection data to improve the inspection process as well as the quality of the software.

Annotated bibliography of software engineering laboratory literature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buhler, Melanie; Valett, Jon

1989-01-01

An annotated bibliography is presented of technical papers, documents, and memorandums produced by or related to the Software Engineering Laboratory. The bibliography was updated and reorganized substantially since the original version (SEL-82-006, November 1982). All materials were grouped into eight general subject areas for easy reference: (1) The Software Engineering Laboratory; (2) The Software Engineering Laboratory: Software Development Documents; (3) Software Tools; (4) Software Models; (5) Software Measurement; (6) Technology Evaluations; (7) Ada Technology; and (8) Data Collection. Subject and author indexes further classify these documents by specific topic and individual author.

Software Program: Software Management Guidebook

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

The purpose of this NASA Software Management Guidebook is twofold. First, this document defines the core products and activities required of NASA software projects. It defines life-cycle models and activity-related methods but acknowledges that no single life-cycle model is appropriate for all NASA software projects. It also acknowledges that the appropriate method for accomplishing a required activity depends on characteristics of the software project. Second, this guidebook provides specific guidance to software project managers and team leaders in selecting appropriate life cycles and methods to develop a tailored plan for a software engineering project.

Network, system, and status software enhancements for the autonomously managed electrical power system breadboard. Volume 1: Project summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mckee, James W.

1990-01-01

This volume (1 of 4) gives a summary of the original AMPS software system configuration, points out some of the problem areas in the original software design that this project is to address, and in the appendix collects all the bimonthly status reports. The purpose of AMPS is to provide a self reliant system to control the generation and distribution of power in the space station. The software in the AMPS breadboard can be divided into three levels: the operating environment software, the protocol software, and the station specific software. This project deals only with the operating environment software and the protocol software. The present station specific software will not change except as necessary to conform to new data formats.

Guidance and Control Software Project Data - Volume 4: Configuration Management and Quality Assurance Documents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hayhurst, Kelly J. (Editor)

2008-01-01

The Guidance and Control Software (GCS) project was the last in a series of software reliability studies conducted at Langley Research Center between 1977 and 1994. The technical results of the GCS project were recorded after the experiment was completed. Some of the support documentation produced as part of the experiment, however, is serving an unexpected role far beyond its original project context. Some of the software used as part of the GCS project was developed to conform to the RTCA/DO-178B software standard, "Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification," used in the civil aviation industry. That standard requires extensive documentation throughout the software development life cycle, including plans, software requirements, design and source code, verification cases and results, and configuration management and quality control data. The project documentation that includes this information is open for public scrutiny without the legal or safety implications associated with comparable data from an avionics manufacturer. This public availability has afforded an opportunity to use the GCS project documents for DO-178B training. This report provides a brief overview of the GCS project, describes the 4-volume set of documents and the role they are playing in training, and includes configuration management and quality assurance documents from the GCS project. Volume 4 contains six appendices: A. Software Accomplishment Summary for the Guidance and Control Software Project; B. Software Configuration Index for the Guidance and Control Software Project; C. Configuration Management Records for the Guidance and Control Software Project; D. Software Quality Assurance Records for the Guidance and Control Software Project; E. Problem Report for the Pluto Implementation of the Guidance and Control Software Project; and F. Support Documentation Change Reports for the Guidance and Control Software Project.

A Probabilistic Software System Attribute Acceptance Paradigm for COTS Software Evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morris, A. Terry

2005-01-01

Standard software requirement formats are written from top-down perspectives only, that is, from an ideal notion of a client s needs. Despite the exactness of the standard format, software and system errors in designed systems have abounded. Bad and inadequate requirements have resulted in cost overruns, schedule slips and lost profitability. Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software components are even more troublesome than designed systems because they are often provided as is and subsequently delivered with unsubstantiated validation of described capabilities. For COTS software, there needs to be a way to express the client s software needs in a consistent and formal manner using software system attributes derived from software quality standards. Additionally, the format needs to be amenable to software evaluation processes that integrate observable evidence garnered from historical data. This paper presents a paradigm that effectively bridges the gap between what a client desires (top-down) and what has been demonstrated (bottom-up) for COTS software evaluation. The paradigm addresses the specification of needs before the software evaluation is performed and can be used to increase the shared understanding between clients and software evaluators about what is required and what is technically possible.

Modular Rocket Engine Control Software (MRECS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tarrant, Charlie; Crook, Jerry

1997-01-01

The Modular Rocket Engine Control Software (MRECS) Program is a technology demonstration effort designed to advance the state-of-the-art in launch vehicle propulsion systems. Its emphasis is on developing and demonstrating a modular software architecture for a generic, advanced engine control system that will result in lower software maintenance (operations) costs. It effectively accommodates software requirements changes that occur due to hardware. technology upgrades and engine development testing. Ground rules directed by MSFC were to optimize modularity and implement the software in the Ada programming language. MRECS system software and the software development environment utilize Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) products. This paper presents the objectives and benefits of the program. The software architecture, design, and development environment are described. MRECS tasks are defined and timing relationships given. Major accomplishment are listed. MRECS offers benefits to a wide variety of advanced technology programs in the areas of modular software, architecture, reuse software, and reduced software reverification time related to software changes. Currently, the program is focused on supporting MSFC in accomplishing a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) hot-fire test at Stennis Space Center and the Low Cost Boost Technology (LCBT) Program.

Software Reuse Within the Earth Science Community

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marshall, James J.; Olding, Steve; Wolfe, Robert E.; Delnore, Victor E.

2006-01-01

Scientific missions in the Earth sciences frequently require cost-effective, highly reliable, and easy-to-use software, which can be a challenge for software developers to provide. The NASA Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) spends a significant amount of resources developing software components and other software development artifacts that may also be of value if reused in other projects requiring similar functionality. In general, software reuse is often defined as utilizing existing software artifacts. Software reuse can improve productivity and quality while decreasing the cost of software development, as documented by case studies in the literature. Since large software systems are often the results of the integration of many smaller and sometimes reusable components, ensuring reusability of such software components becomes a necessity. Indeed, designing software components with reusability as a requirement can increase the software reuse potential within a community such as the NASA ESE community. The NASA Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Software Reuse Working Group is chartered to oversee the development of a process that will maximize the reuse potential of existing software components while recommending strategies for maximizing the reusability potential of yet-to-be-designed components. As part of this work, two surveys of the Earth science community were conducted. The first was performed in 2004 and distributed among government employees and contractors. A follow-up survey was performed in 2005 and distributed among a wider community, to include members of industry and academia. The surveys were designed to collect information on subjects such as the current software reuse practices of Earth science software developers, why they choose to reuse software, and what perceived barriers prevent them from reusing software. In this paper, we compare the results of these surveys, summarize the observed trends, and discuss the findings. The results are very similar, with the second, larger survey confirming the basic results of the first, smaller survey. The results suggest that reuse of ESE software can drive down the cost and time of system development, increase flexibility and responsiveness of these systems to new technologies and requirements, and increase effective and accountable community participation.

Sandia National Laboratories Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) software quality plan. Part 1: ASC software quality engineering practices, Version 2.0.

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

Sturtevant, Judith E.; Heaphy, Robert; Hodges, Ann Louise

2006-09-01

The purpose of the Sandia National Laboratories Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Software Quality Plan is to clearly identify the practices that are the basis for continually improving the quality of ASC software products. The plan defines the ASC program software quality practices and provides mappings of these practices to Sandia Corporate Requirements CPR 1.3.2 and 1.3.6 and to a Department of Energy document, ASCI Software Quality Engineering: Goals, Principles, and Guidelines. This document also identifies ASC management and software project teams responsibilities in implementing the software quality practices and in assessing progress towards achieving their software quality goals.

The Knowledge-Based Software Assistant: Beyond CASE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carozzoni, Joseph A.

1993-01-01

This paper will outline the similarities and differences between two paradigms of software development. Both support the whole software life cycle and provide automation for most of the software development process, but have different approaches. The CASE approach is based on a set of tools linked by a central data repository. This tool-based approach is data driven and views software development as a series of sequential steps, each resulting in a product. The Knowledge-Based Software Assistant (KBSA) approach, a radical departure from existing software development practices, is knowledge driven and centers around a formalized software development process. KBSA views software development as an incremental, iterative, and evolutionary process with development occurring at the specification level.

Implementing Software Safety in the NASA Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wetherholt, Martha S.; Radley, Charles F.

1994-01-01

Until recently, NASA did not consider allowing computers total control of flight systems. Human operators, via hardware, have constituted the ultimate safety control. In an attempt to reduce costs, NASA has come to rely more and more heavily on computers and software to control space missions. (For example. software is now planned to control most of the operational functions of the International Space Station.) Thus the need for systematic software safety programs has become crucial for mission success. Concurrent engineering principles dictate that safety should be designed into software up front, not tested into the software after the fact. 'Cost of Quality' studies have statistics and metrics to prove the value of building quality and safety into the development cycle. Unfortunately, most software engineers are not familiar with designing for safety, and most safety engineers are not software experts. Software written to specifications which have not been safety analyzed is a major source of computer related accidents. Safer software is achieved step by step throughout the system and software life cycle. It is a process that includes requirements definition, hazard analyses, formal software inspections, safety analyses, testing, and maintenance. The greatest emphasis is placed on clearly and completely defining system and software requirements, including safety and reliability requirements. Unfortunately, development and review of requirements are the weakest link in the process. While some of the more academic methods, e.g. mathematical models, may help bring about safer software, this paper proposes the use of currently approved software methodologies, and sound software and assurance practices to show how, to a large degree, safety can be designed into software from the start. NASA's approach today is to first conduct a preliminary system hazard analysis (PHA) during the concept and planning phase of a project. This determines the overall hazard potential of the system to be built. Shortly thereafter, as the system requirements are being defined, the second iteration of hazard analyses takes place, the systems hazard analysis (SHA). During the systems requirements phase, decisions are made as to what functions of the system will be the responsibility of software. This is the most critical time to affect the safety of the software. From this point, software safety analyses as well as software engineering practices are the main focus for assuring safe software. While many of the steps proposed in this paper seem like just sound engineering practices, they are the best technical and most cost effective means to assure safe software within a safe system.

Software and the future of programming languages.

PubMed

Aho, Alfred V

2004-02-27

Although software is the key enabler of the global information infrastructure, the amount and extent of software in use in the world today are not widely understood, nor are the programming languages and paradigms that have been used to create the software. The vast size of the embedded base of existing software and the increasing costs of software maintenance, poor security, and limited functionality are posing significant challenges for the software R&D community.

Software engineering and the role of Ada: Executive seminar

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freedman, Glenn B.

1987-01-01

The objective was to introduce the basic terminology and concepts of software engineering and Ada. The life cycle model is reviewed. The application of the goals and principles of software engineering is applied. An introductory understanding of the features of the Ada language is gained. Topics addressed include: the software crises; the mandate of the Space Station Program; software life cycle model; software engineering; and Ada under the software engineering umbrella.

40 CFR 725.54 - Suspension of the review period.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... generated using e-PMN reporting software and be completed through the finalization step of the software, and e-PMN software must be used to print the request for suspension for submission to EPA. Paper... reporting software and be completed through the finalization step of the software, and e-PMN software must...

47 CFR 2.944 - Software defined radios.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Software defined radios. 2.944 Section 2.944... Authorization § 2.944 Software defined radios. (a) Manufacturers must take steps to ensure that only software that has been approved with a software defined radio can be loaded into the radio. The software must...

47 CFR 2.944 - Software defined radios.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Software defined radios. 2.944 Section 2.944... Authorization § 2.944 Software defined radios. (a) Manufacturers must take steps to ensure that only software that has been approved with a software defined radio can be loaded into the radio. The software must...

40 CFR 725.54 - Suspension of the review period.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... generated using e-PMN reporting software and be completed through the finalization step of the software, and e-PMN software must be used to print the request for suspension for submission to EPA. Paper... reporting software and be completed through the finalization step of the software, and e-PMN software must...

40 CFR 725.54 - Suspension of the review period.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... generated using e-PMN reporting software and be completed through the finalization step of the software, and e-PMN software must be used to print the request for suspension for submission to EPA. Paper... reporting software and be completed through the finalization step of the software, and e-PMN software must...

77 FR 50722 - Software Unit Testing for Digital Computer Software Used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-22

... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2012-0195] Software Unit Testing for Digital Computer Software...) is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1208, ``Software Unit Testing for Digital Computer Software used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants.'' The DG-1208 is proposed...

47 CFR 2.944 - Software defined radios.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Software defined radios. 2.944 Section 2.944... Authorization § 2.944 Software defined radios. (a) Manufacturers must take steps to ensure that only software that has been approved with a software defined radio can be loaded into the radio. The software must...

78 FR 47011 - Software Unit Testing for Digital Computer Software Used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-02

... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2012-0195] Software Unit Testing for Digital Computer Software... revised regulatory guide (RG), revision 1 of RG 1.171, ``Software Unit Testing for Digital Computer Software Used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants.'' This RG endorses American National Standards...

47 CFR 2.944 - Software defined radios.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Software defined radios. 2.944 Section 2.944... Authorization § 2.944 Software defined radios. (a) Manufacturers must take steps to ensure that only software that has been approved with a software defined radio can be loaded into the radio. The software must...

Software Quality Perceptions of Stakeholders Involved in the Software Development Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Padmanabhan, Priya

2013-01-01

Software quality is one of the primary determinants of project management success. Stakeholders involved in software development widely agree that quality is important (Barney and Wohlin 2009). However, they may differ on what constitutes software quality, and which of its attributes are more important than others. Although, software quality…

47 CFR 2.944 - Software defined radios.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Software defined radios. 2.944 Section 2.944... Authorization § 2.944 Software defined radios. (a) Manufacturers must take steps to ensure that only software that has been approved with a software defined radio can be loaded into the radio. The software must...

40 CFR 725.54 - Suspension of the review period.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... generated using e-PMN reporting software and be completed through the finalization step of the software, and e-PMN software must be used to print the request for suspension for submission to EPA. Paper... reporting software and be completed through the finalization step of the software, and e-PMN software must...

High/Scope Buyer's Guide to Children's Software. 11th Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hohmann, Charles; And Others

This 11th edition of the High/Scope Buyer's Guide to Children's Software was designed to help teachers, caregivers, and parents make good choices when purchasing software to enhance children's learning. The book consists of an introduction, a chapter on finding the best software, software reviews for 48 different software products. The…

Study of fault tolerant software technology for dynamic systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caglayan, A. K.; Zacharias, G. L.

1985-01-01

The major aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using systems-based failure detection isolation and compensation (FDIC) techniques in building fault-tolerant software and extending them, whenever possible, to the domain of software fault tolerance. First, it is shown that systems-based FDIC methods can be extended to develop software error detection techniques by using system models for software modules. In particular, it is demonstrated that systems-based FDIC techniques can yield consistency checks that are easier to implement than acceptance tests based on software specifications. Next, it is shown that systems-based failure compensation techniques can be generalized to the domain of software fault tolerance in developing software error recovery procedures. Finally, the feasibility of using fault-tolerant software in flight software is investigated. In particular, possible system and version instabilities, and functional performance degradation that may occur in N-Version programming applications to flight software are illustrated. Finally, a comparative analysis of N-Version and recovery block techniques in the context of generic blocks in flight software is presented.

Sandia National Laboratories Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) software quality plan : ASC software quality engineering practices Version 3.0.

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

Turgeon, Jennifer L.; Minana, Molly A.; Hackney, Patricia

2009-01-01

The purpose of the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Software Quality Plan is to clearly identify the practices that are the basis for continually improving the quality of ASC software products. Quality is defined in the US Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Agency (DOE/NNSA) Quality Criteria, Revision 10 (QC-1) as 'conformance to customer requirements and expectations'. This quality plan defines the SNL ASC Program software quality engineering (SQE) practices and provides a mapping of these practices to the SNL Corporate Process Requirement (CPR) 001.3.6; 'Corporate Software Engineering Excellence'. This plan also identifies ASC management's and themore » software project teams responsibilities in implementing the software quality practices and in assessing progress towards achieving their software quality goals. This SNL ASC Software Quality Plan establishes the signatories commitments to improving software products by applying cost-effective SQE practices. This plan enumerates the SQE practices that comprise the development of SNL ASC's software products and explains the project teams opportunities for tailoring and implementing the practices.« less

Shuttle mission simulator software conceptual design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burke, J. F.

1973-01-01

Software conceptual designs (SCD) are presented for meeting the simulator requirements for the shuttle missions. The major areas of the SCD discussed include: malfunction insertion, flight software, applications software, systems software, and computer complex.

SAO mission support software and data standards, version 1.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hsieh, P.

1993-01-01

This document defines the software developed by the SAO AXAF Mission Support (MS) Program and defines standards for the software development process and control of data products generated by the software. The SAO MS is tasked to develop and use software to perform a variety of functions in support of the AXAF mission. Software is developed by software engineers and scientists, and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software is used either directly or customized through the use of scripts to implement analysis procedures. Software controls real-time laboratory instruments, performs data archiving, displays data, and generates model predictions. Much software is used in the analysis of data to generate data products that are required by the AXAF project, for example, on-orbit mirror performance predictions or detailed characterization of the mirror reflection performance with energy.

Statistical modeling of software reliability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Douglas R.

1992-01-01

This working paper discusses the statistical simulation part of a controlled software development experiment being conducted under the direction of the System Validation Methods Branch, Information Systems Division, NASA Langley Research Center. The experiment uses guidance and control software (GCS) aboard a fictitious planetary landing spacecraft: real-time control software operating on a transient mission. Software execution is simulated to study the statistical aspects of reliability and other failure characteristics of the software during development, testing, and random usage. Quantification of software reliability is a major goal. Various reliability concepts are discussed. Experiments are described for performing simulations and collecting appropriate simulated software performance and failure data. This data is then used to make statistical inferences about the quality of the software development and verification processes as well as inferences about the reliability of software versions and reliability growth under random testing and debugging.

Promoting Science Software Best Practices: A Scientist's Perspective (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanton, B. O.

2013-12-01

Software is at the core of most modern scientific activities, and as societal awareness of, and impacts from, extreme weather, disasters, and climate and global change continue to increase, the roles that scientific software play in analyses and decision-making are brought more to the forefront. Reproducibility of research results (particularly those that enter into the decision-making arena) and open access to the software is essential for scientific and scientists' credibility. This has been highlighted in a recent article by Joppa et al (Troubling Trends in Scientific Software Use, Science Magazine, May 2013) that describes reasons for particular software being chosen by scientists, including that the "developer is well-respected" and on "recommendation from a close colleague". This reliance on recommendation, Joppa et al conclude, is fraught with risks to both sciences and scientists. Scientists must frequently take software for granted, assuming that it performs as expected and advertised and that the software itself has been validated and results verified. This is largely due to the manner in which much software is written and developed; in an ad hoc manner, with an inconsistent funding stream, and with little application of core software engineering best practices. Insufficient documentation, limited test cases, and code unavailability are significant barriers to informed and intelligent science software usage. This situation is exacerbated when the scientist becomes the software developer out of necessity due to resource constraints. Adoption of, and adherence to, best practices in scientific software development will substantially increase intelligent software usage and promote a sustainable evolution of the science as encoded in the software. We describe a typical scientist's perspective on using and developing scientific software in the context of storm surge research and forecasting applications that have real-time objectives and regulatory constraints. This include perspectives on what scientists/users of software can contribute back to the software development process and examples of successful scientist/developer interactions, and the competition between "getting it done" and "getting it done right".

ICESat (GLAS) Science Processing Software Document Series. Volume 1; Science Software Management Plan; 3.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hancock, David W., III

1999-01-01

This document provides the Software Management Plan for the GLAS Standard Data Software (SDS) supporting the GLAS instrument of the EOS ICESat Spacecraft. The SDS encompasses the ICESat Science Investigator-led Processing System (I-SIPS) Software and the Instrument Support Terminal (IST) Software. For the I-SIPS Software, the SDS will produce Level 0, Level 1, and Level 2 data products as well as the associated product quality assessments and descriptive information. For the IST Software, the SDS will accommodate the GLAS instrument support areas of engineering status, command, performance assessment, and instrument health status.

Coordination and organization of security software process for power information application environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qiang

2017-09-01

As an important part of software engineering, the software process decides the success or failure of software product. The design and development feature of security software process is discussed, so is the necessity and the present significance of using such process. Coordinating the function software, the process for security software and its testing are deeply discussed. The process includes requirement analysis, design, coding, debug and testing, submission and maintenance. In each process, the paper proposed the subprocesses to support software security. As an example, the paper introduces the above process into the power information platform.

Software Engineering Improvement Activities/Plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

bd Systems personnel accomplished the technical responsibilities for this reporting period, as planned. A close working relationship was maintained with personnel of the MSFC Avionics Department Software Group (ED14). Work accomplishments included development, evaluation, and enhancement of a software cost model, performing literature search and evaluation of software tools available for code analysis and requirements analysis, and participating in other relevant software engineering activities. Monthly reports were submitted. This support was provided to the Flight Software Group/ED 1 4 in accomplishing the software engineering improvement engineering activities of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Software Engineering Improvement Plan.

A Prototype for the Support of Integrated Software Process Development and Improvement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porrawatpreyakorn, Nalinpat; Quirchmayr, Gerald; Chutimaskul, Wichian

An efficient software development process is one of key success factors for quality software. Not only can the appropriate establishment but also the continuous improvement of integrated project management and of the software development process result in efficiency. This paper hence proposes a software process maintenance framework which consists of two core components: an integrated PMBOK-Scrum model describing how to establish a comprehensive set of project management and software engineering processes and a software development maturity model advocating software process improvement. Besides, a prototype tool to support the framework is introduced.

The relationships between software publications and software systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogg, David W.

2017-01-01

When we build software systems or software tools for astronomy, we sometimes do and sometimes don't also write and publish standard scientific papers about those software systems. I will discuss the pros and cons of writing such publications. There are impacts of writing such papers immediately (they can affect the design and structure of the software project itself), in the short term (they can promote adoption and legitimize the software), in the medium term (they can provide a platform for all the literature's mechanisms for citation, criticism, and reuse), and in the long term (they can preserve ideas that are embodied in the software, possibly on timescales much longer than the lifetime of any software context). I will argue that as important as pure software contributions are to astronomy—and I am both a preacher and a practitioner—software contributions are even more valuable when they are associated with traditional scientific publications. There are exceptions and complexities of course, which I will discuss.

Building quality into medical product software design.

PubMed

Mallory, S R

1993-01-01

The software engineering and quality assurance disciplines are a requisite to the design of safe and effective software-based medical devices. It is in the areas of software methodology and process that the most beneficial application of these disciplines to software development can be made. Software is a product of complex operations and methodologies and is not amenable to the traditional electromechanical quality assurance processes. Software quality must be built in by the developers, with the software verification and validation engineers acting as the independent instruments for ensuring compliance with performance objectives and with development and maintenance standards. The implementation of a software quality assurance program is a complex process involving management support, organizational changes, and new skill sets, but the benefits are profound. Its rewards provide safe, reliable, cost-effective, maintainable, and manageable software, which may significantly speed the regulatory review process and therefore potentially shorten the overall time to market. The use of a trial project can greatly facilitate the learning process associated with the first-time application of a software quality assurance program.

Achieving Better Buying Power through Acquisition of Open Architecture Software Systems. Volume 2 Understanding Open Architecture Software Systems: Licensing and Security Research and Recommendations

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-06

of- breed software components and software products lines (SPLs) that are subject to different IP license and cybersecurity requirements. The... commercially priced closed source software components, to be used in the design, implementation, deployment, and evolution of open architecture (OA... breed software components and software products lines (SPLs) that are subject to different IP license and cybersecurity requirements. The Department

Using software metrics and software reliability models to attain acceptable quality software for flight and ground support software for avionic systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawrence, Stella

1992-01-01

This paper is concerned with methods of measuring and developing quality software. Reliable flight and ground support software is a highly important factor in the successful operation of the space shuttle program. Reliability is probably the most important of the characteristics inherent in the concept of 'software quality'. It is the probability of failure free operation of a computer program for a specified time and environment.

Artificial intelligence approaches to software engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johannes, James D.; Macdonald, James R.

1988-01-01

Artificial intelligence approaches to software engineering are examined. The software development life cycle is a sequence of not so well-defined phases. Improved techniques for developing systems have been formulated over the past 15 years, but pressure continues to attempt to reduce current costs. Software development technology seems to be standing still. The primary objective of the knowledge-based approach to software development presented in this paper is to avoid problem areas that lead to schedule slippages, cost overruns, or software products that fall short of their desired goals. Identifying and resolving software problems early, often in the phase in which they first occur, has been shown to contribute significantly to reducing risks in software development. Software development is not a mechanical process but a basic human activity. It requires clear thinking, work, and rework to be successful. The artificial intelligence approaches to software engineering presented support the software development life cycle through the use of software development techniques and methodologies in terms of changing current practices and methods. These should be replaced by better techniques that that improve the process of of software development and the quality of the resulting products. The software development process can be structured into well-defined steps, of which the interfaces are standardized, supported and checked by automated procedures that provide error detection, production of the documentation and ultimately support the actual design of complex programs.

Software dependability in the Tandem GUARDIAN system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Inhwan; Iyer, Ravishankar K.

1995-01-01

Based on extensive field failure data for Tandem's GUARDIAN operating system this paper discusses evaluation of the dependability of operational software. Software faults considered are major defects that result in processor failures and invoke backup processes to take over. The paper categorizes the underlying causes of software failures and evaluates the effectiveness of the process pair technique in tolerating software faults. A model to describe the impact of software faults on the reliability of an overall system is proposed. The model is used to evaluate the significance of key factors that determine software dependability and to identify areas for improvement. An analysis of the data shows that about 77% of processor failures that are initially considered due to software are confirmed as software problems. The analysis shows that the use of process pairs to provide checkpointing and restart (originally intended for tolerating hardware faults) allows the system to tolerate about 75% of reported software faults that result in processor failures. The loose coupling between processors, which results in the backup execution (the processor state and the sequence of events) being different from the original execution, is a major reason for the measured software fault tolerance. Over two-thirds (72%) of measured software failures are recurrences of previously reported faults. Modeling, based on the data, shows that, in addition to reducing the number of software faults, software dependability can be enhanced by reducing the recurrence rate.

Testing Scientific Software: A Systematic Literature Review.

PubMed

Kanewala, Upulee; Bieman, James M

2014-10-01

Scientific software plays an important role in critical decision making, for example making weather predictions based on climate models, and computation of evidence for research publications. Recently, scientists have had to retract publications due to errors caused by software faults. Systematic testing can identify such faults in code. This study aims to identify specific challenges, proposed solutions, and unsolved problems faced when testing scientific software. We conducted a systematic literature survey to identify and analyze relevant literature. We identified 62 studies that provided relevant information about testing scientific software. We found that challenges faced when testing scientific software fall into two main categories: (1) testing challenges that occur due to characteristics of scientific software such as oracle problems and (2) testing challenges that occur due to cultural differences between scientists and the software engineering community such as viewing the code and the model that it implements as inseparable entities. In addition, we identified methods to potentially overcome these challenges and their limitations. Finally we describe unsolved challenges and how software engineering researchers and practitioners can help to overcome them. Scientific software presents special challenges for testing. Specifically, cultural differences between scientist developers and software engineers, along with the characteristics of the scientific software make testing more difficult. Existing techniques such as code clone detection can help to improve the testing process. Software engineers should consider special challenges posed by scientific software such as oracle problems when developing testing techniques.

Programming Makes Software; Support Makes Users

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batcheller, A. L.

2010-12-01

Skilled software engineers may build fantastic software for climate modeling, yet fail to achieve their project’s objectives. Software support and related activities are just as critical as writing software. This study followed three different software projects in the climate sciences, using interviews, observation, and document analysis to examine the value added by support work. Supporting the project and interacting with users was a key task for software developers, who often spent 50% of their time on it. Such support work most often involved replying to questions on an email list, but also included talking to users on teleconference calls and in person. Software support increased adoption by building the software’s reputation and showing individuals how the software can meet their needs. In the process of providing support, developers often learned new of requirements as users reported features they desire and bugs they found. As software matures and gains widespread use, support work often increases. In fact, such increases can be one signal that the software has achieved broad acceptance. Maturing projects also find demand for instructional classes, online tutorials and detailed examples of how to use the software. The importance of support highlights the fact that building software systems involves both social and technical aspects. Yes, we need to build the software, but we also need to “build” the users and practices that can take advantage of it.

How Safe Is Control Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunn, William R.; Corliss, Lloyd D.

1991-01-01

Paper examines issue of software safety. Presents four case histories of software-safety analysis. Concludes that, to be safe, software, for all practical purposes, must be free of errors. Backup systems still needed to prevent catastrophic software failures.

Software Selection: A Primer on Source and Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burston, Jack

2003-01-01

Provides guidance on making decisions regarding the selection of foreign language instructional software. Identifies sources of foreign language software, indicates sources of foreign language software reviews, and outlines essential procedures of software evaluation. (Author/VWL)

Software Engineering Laboratory Series: Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Software Engineering Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

The Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) is an organization sponsored by NASA/GSFC and created to investigate the effectiveness of software engineering technologies when applied to the development of application software. The activities, findings, and recommendations of the SEL are recorded in the Software Engineering Laboratory Series, a continuing series of reports that includes this document.

Software Engineering Laboratory Series: Collected Software Engineering Papers. Volume 15

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

The Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) is an organization sponsored by NASA/GSFC and created to investigate the effectiveness of software engineering technologies when applied to the development of application software. The activities, findings, and recommendations of the SEL are recorded in the Software Engineering Laboratory Series, a continuing series of reports that includes this document.

Integrating Testing into Software Engineering Courses Supported by a Collaborative Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clarke, Peter J.; Davis, Debra; King, Tariq M.; Pava, Jairo; Jones, Edward L.

2014-01-01

As software becomes more ubiquitous and complex, the cost of software bugs continues to grow at a staggering rate. To remedy this situation, there needs to be major improvement in the knowledge and application of software validation techniques. Although there are several software validation techniques, software testing continues to be one of the…

Software Engineering Laboratory Series: Collected Software Engineering Papers. Volume 14

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

The Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) is an organization sponsored by NASA/GSFC and created to investigate the effectiveness of software engineering technologies when applied to the development of application software. The activities, findings, and recommendations of the SEL are recorded in the Software Engineering Laboratory Series, a continuing series of reports that includes this document.

Software Engineering Laboratory Series: Collected Software Engineering Papers. Volume 13

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

The Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) is an organization sponsored by NASA/GSFC and created to investigate the effectiveness of software engineering technologies when applied to the development of application software. The activities, findings, and recommendations of the SEL are recorded in the Software Engineering Laboratory Series, a continuing series of reports that includes this document.

Exploring the Process of Adult Computer Software Training Using Andragogy, Situated Cognition, and a Minimalist Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hurt, Andrew C.

2007-01-01

With technology advances, computer software becomes increasingly difficult to learn. Adults often rely on software training to keep abreast of these changes. Instructor-led software training is frequently used to teach adults new software skills; however there is limited research regarding the best practices in adult computer software training.…

Software cost/resource modeling: Software quality tradeoff measurement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawler, R. W.

1980-01-01

A conceptual framework for treating software quality from a total system perspective is developed. Examples are given to show how system quality objectives may be allocated to hardware and software; to illustrate trades among quality factors, both hardware and software, to achieve system performance objectives; and to illustrate the impact of certain design choices on software functionality.

MFV-class: a multi-faceted visualization tool of object classes.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhi-meng; Pan, Yun-he; Zhuang, Yue-ting

2004-11-01

Classes are key software components in an object-oriented software system. In many industrial OO software systems, there are some classes that have complicated structure and relationships. So in the processes of software maintenance, testing, software reengineering, software reuse and software restructure, it is a challenge for software engineers to understand these classes thoroughly. This paper proposes a class comprehension model based on constructivist learning theory, and implements a software visualization tool (MFV-Class) to help in the comprehension of a class. The tool provides multiple views of class to uncover manifold facets of class contents. It enables visualizing three object-oriented metrics of classes to help users focus on the understanding process. A case study was conducted to evaluate our approach and the toolkit.

Software Quality Assurance Audits Guidebooks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

The growth in cost and importance of software to NASA has caused NASA to address the improvement of software development across the agency. One of the products of this program is a series of guidebooks that define a NASA concept of the assurance processes that are used in software development. The Software Assurance Guidebook, NASA-GB-A201, issued in September, 1989, provides an overall picture of the NASA concepts and practices in software assurance. Second level guidebooks focus on specific activities that fall within the software assurance discipline, and provide more detailed information for the manager and/or practitioner. This is the second level Software Quality Assurance Audits Guidebook that describes software quality assurance audits in a way that is compatible with practices at NASA Centers.

Four simple recommendations to encourage best practices in research software

PubMed Central

Jiménez, Rafael C.; Kuzak, Mateusz; Alhamdoosh, Monther; Barker, Michelle; Batut, Bérénice; Borg, Mikael; Capella-Gutierrez, Salvador; Chue Hong, Neil; Cook, Martin; Corpas, Manuel; Flannery, Madison; Garcia, Leyla; Gelpí, Josep Ll.; Gladman, Simon; Goble, Carole; González Ferreiro, Montserrat; Gonzalez-Beltran, Alejandra; Griffin, Philippa C.; Grüning, Björn; Hagberg, Jonas; Holub, Petr; Hooft, Rob; Ison, Jon; Katz, Daniel S.; Leskošek, Brane; López Gómez, Federico; Oliveira, Luis J.; Mellor, David; Mosbergen, Rowland; Mulder, Nicola; Perez-Riverol, Yasset; Pergl, Robert; Pichler, Horst; Pope, Bernard; Sanz, Ferran; Schneider, Maria V.; Stodden, Victoria; Suchecki, Radosław; Svobodová Vařeková, Radka; Talvik, Harry-Anton; Todorov, Ilian; Treloar, Andrew; Tyagi, Sonika; van Gompel, Maarten; Vaughan, Daniel; Via, Allegra; Wang, Xiaochuan; Watson-Haigh, Nathan S.; Crouch, Steve

2017-01-01

Scientific research relies on computer software, yet software is not always developed following practices that ensure its quality and sustainability. This manuscript does not aim to propose new software development best practices, but rather to provide simple recommendations that encourage the adoption of existing best practices. Software development best practices promote better quality software, and better quality software improves the reproducibility and reusability of research. These recommendations are designed around Open Source values, and provide practical suggestions that contribute to making research software and its source code more discoverable, reusable and transparent. This manuscript is aimed at developers, but also at organisations, projects, journals and funders that can increase the quality and sustainability of research software by encouraging the adoption of these recommendations. PMID:28751965

Four simple recommendations to encourage best practices in research software.

PubMed

Jiménez, Rafael C; Kuzak, Mateusz; Alhamdoosh, Monther; Barker, Michelle; Batut, Bérénice; Borg, Mikael; Capella-Gutierrez, Salvador; Chue Hong, Neil; Cook, Martin; Corpas, Manuel; Flannery, Madison; Garcia, Leyla; Gelpí, Josep Ll; Gladman, Simon; Goble, Carole; González Ferreiro, Montserrat; Gonzalez-Beltran, Alejandra; Griffin, Philippa C; Grüning, Björn; Hagberg, Jonas; Holub, Petr; Hooft, Rob; Ison, Jon; Katz, Daniel S; Leskošek, Brane; López Gómez, Federico; Oliveira, Luis J; Mellor, David; Mosbergen, Rowland; Mulder, Nicola; Perez-Riverol, Yasset; Pergl, Robert; Pichler, Horst; Pope, Bernard; Sanz, Ferran; Schneider, Maria V; Stodden, Victoria; Suchecki, Radosław; Svobodová Vařeková, Radka; Talvik, Harry-Anton; Todorov, Ilian; Treloar, Andrew; Tyagi, Sonika; van Gompel, Maarten; Vaughan, Daniel; Via, Allegra; Wang, Xiaochuan; Watson-Haigh, Nathan S; Crouch, Steve

2017-01-01

Scientific research relies on computer software, yet software is not always developed following practices that ensure its quality and sustainability. This manuscript does not aim to propose new software development best practices, but rather to provide simple recommendations that encourage the adoption of existing best practices. Software development best practices promote better quality software, and better quality software improves the reproducibility and reusability of research. These recommendations are designed around Open Source values, and provide practical suggestions that contribute to making research software and its source code more discoverable, reusable and transparent. This manuscript is aimed at developers, but also at organisations, projects, journals and funders that can increase the quality and sustainability of research software by encouraging the adoption of these recommendations.

Software Design Improvements. Part 2; Software Quality and the Design and Inspection Process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lalli, Vincent R.; Packard, Michael H.; Ziemianski, Tom

1997-01-01

The application of assurance engineering techniques improves the duration of failure-free performance of software. The totality of features and characteristics of a software product are what determine its ability to satisfy customer needs. Software in safety-critical systems is very important to NASA. We follow the System Safety Working Groups definition for system safety software as: 'The optimization of system safety in the design, development, use and maintenance of software and its integration with safety-critical systems in an operational environment. 'If it is not safe, say so' has become our motto. This paper goes over methods that have been used by NASA to make software design improvements by focusing on software quality and the design and inspection process.

Science and Software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zelt, C. A.

2017-12-01

Earth science attempts to understand how the earth works. This research often depends on software for modeling, processing, inverting or imaging. Freely sharing open-source software is essential to prevent reinventing the wheel and allows software to be improved and applied in ways the original author may never have envisioned. For young scientists, releasing software can increase their name ID when applying for jobs and funding, and create opportunities for collaborations when scientists who collect data want the software's creator to be involved in their project. However, we frequently hear scientists say software is a tool, it's not science. Creating software that implements a new or better way of earth modeling or geophysical processing, inverting or imaging should be viewed as earth science. Creating software for things like data visualization, format conversion, storage, or transmission, or programming to enhance computational performance, may be viewed as computer science. The former, ideally with an application to real data, can be published in earth science journals, the latter possibly in computer science journals. Citations in either case should accurately reflect the impact of the software on the community. Funding agencies need to support more software development and open-source releasing, and the community should give more high-profile awards for developing impactful open-source software. Funding support and community recognition for software development can have far reaching benefits when the software is used in foreseen and unforeseen ways, potentially for years after the original investment in the software development. For funding, an open-source release that is well documented should be required, with example input and output files. Appropriate funding will provide the incentive and time to release user-friendly software, and minimize the need for others to duplicate the effort. All funded software should be available through a single web site, ideally maintained by someone in a funded position. Perhaps the biggest challenge is the reality that researches who use software, as opposed to develop software, are more attractive university hires because they are more likely to be "big picture" scientists that publish in the highest profile journals, although sometimes the two go together.

The Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics: An Example of Software Curation and Citation in the Geodynamics Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, L.; Kellogg, L. H.

2017-12-01

Curation of software promotes discoverability and accessibility and works hand in hand with scholarly citation to ascribe value to, and provide recognition for software development. To meet this challenge, the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics (CIG) maintains a community repository built on custom and open tools to promote discovery, access, identification, credit, and provenance of research software for the geodynamics community. CIG (geodynamics.org) originated from recognition of the tremendous effort required to develop sound software and the need to reduce duplication of effort and to sustain community codes. CIG curates software across 6 domains and has developed and follows software best practices that include establishing test cases, documentation, and a citable publication for each software package. CIG software landing web pages provide access to current and past releases; many are also accessible through the CIG community repository on github. CIG has now developed abc - attribution builder for citation to enable software users to give credit to software developers. abc uses zenodo as an archive and as the mechanism to obtain a unique identifier (DOI) for scientific software. To assemble the metadata, we searched the software's documentation and research publications and then requested the primary developers to verify. In this process, we have learned that each development community approaches software attribution differently. The metadata gathered is based on guidelines established by groups such as FORCE11 and OntoSoft. The rollout of abc is gradual as developers are forward-looking, rarely willing to go back and archive prior releases in zenodo. Going forward all actively developed packages will utilize the zenodo and github integration to automate the archival process when a new release is issued. How to handle legacy software, multi-authored libraries, and assigning roles to software remain open issues.

Software platform virtualization in chemistry research and university teaching

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background Modern chemistry laboratories operate with a wide range of software applications under different operating systems, such as Windows, LINUX or Mac OS X. Instead of installing software on different computers it is possible to install those applications on a single computer using Virtual Machine software. Software platform virtualization allows a single guest operating system to execute multiple other operating systems on the same computer. We apply and discuss the use of virtual machines in chemistry research and teaching laboratories. Results Virtual machines are commonly used for cheminformatics software development and testing. Benchmarking multiple chemistry software packages we have confirmed that the computational speed penalty for using virtual machines is low and around 5% to 10%. Software virtualization in a teaching environment allows faster deployment and easy use of commercial and open source software in hands-on computer teaching labs. Conclusion Software virtualization in chemistry, mass spectrometry and cheminformatics is needed for software testing and development of software for different operating systems. In order to obtain maximum performance the virtualization software should be multi-core enabled and allow the use of multiprocessor configurations in the virtual machine environment. Server consolidation, by running multiple tasks and operating systems on a single physical machine, can lead to lower maintenance and hardware costs especially in small research labs. The use of virtual machines can prevent software virus infections and security breaches when used as a sandbox system for internet access and software testing. Complex software setups can be created with virtual machines and are easily deployed later to multiple computers for hands-on teaching classes. We discuss the popularity of bioinformatics compared to cheminformatics as well as the missing cheminformatics education at universities worldwide. PMID:20150997

Software platform virtualization in chemistry research and university teaching.

PubMed

Kind, Tobias; Leamy, Tim; Leary, Julie A; Fiehn, Oliver

2009-11-16

Modern chemistry laboratories operate with a wide range of software applications under different operating systems, such as Windows, LINUX or Mac OS X. Instead of installing software on different computers it is possible to install those applications on a single computer using Virtual Machine software. Software platform virtualization allows a single guest operating system to execute multiple other operating systems on the same computer. We apply and discuss the use of virtual machines in chemistry research and teaching laboratories. Virtual machines are commonly used for cheminformatics software development and testing. Benchmarking multiple chemistry software packages we have confirmed that the computational speed penalty for using virtual machines is low and around 5% to 10%. Software virtualization in a teaching environment allows faster deployment and easy use of commercial and open source software in hands-on computer teaching labs. Software virtualization in chemistry, mass spectrometry and cheminformatics is needed for software testing and development of software for different operating systems. In order to obtain maximum performance the virtualization software should be multi-core enabled and allow the use of multiprocessor configurations in the virtual machine environment. Server consolidation, by running multiple tasks and operating systems on a single physical machine, can lead to lower maintenance and hardware costs especially in small research labs. The use of virtual machines can prevent software virus infections and security breaches when used as a sandbox system for internet access and software testing. Complex software setups can be created with virtual machines and are easily deployed later to multiple computers for hands-on teaching classes. We discuss the popularity of bioinformatics compared to cheminformatics as well as the missing cheminformatics education at universities worldwide.

Software Fault Tolerance: A Tutorial

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Torres-Pomales, Wilfredo

2000-01-01

Because of our present inability to produce error-free software, software fault tolerance is and will continue to be an important consideration in software systems. The root cause of software design errors is the complexity of the systems. Compounding the problems in building correct software is the difficulty in assessing the correctness of software for highly complex systems. After a brief overview of the software development processes, we note how hard-to-detect design faults are likely to be introduced during development and how software faults tend to be state-dependent and activated by particular input sequences. Although component reliability is an important quality measure for system level analysis, software reliability is hard to characterize and the use of post-verification reliability estimates remains a controversial issue. For some applications software safety is more important than reliability, and fault tolerance techniques used in those applications are aimed at preventing catastrophes. Single version software fault tolerance techniques discussed include system structuring and closure, atomic actions, inline fault detection, exception handling, and others. Multiversion techniques are based on the assumption that software built differently should fail differently and thus, if one of the redundant versions fails, it is expected that at least one of the other versions will provide an acceptable output. Recovery blocks, N-version programming, and other multiversion techniques are reviewed.

Software and package applicating for network meta-analysis: A usage-based comparative study.

PubMed

Xu, Chang; Niu, Yuming; Wu, Junyi; Gu, Huiyun; Zhang, Chao

2017-12-21

To compare and analyze the characteristics and functions of software applications for network meta-analysis (NMA). PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, the official websites of Bayesian inference Using Gibbs Sampling (BUGS), Stata and R, and Google were searched to collect the software and packages for performing NMA; software and packages published up to March 2016 were included. After collecting the software, packages, and their user guides, we used the software and packages to calculate a typical example. All characteristics, functions, and computed results were compared and analyzed. Ten types of software were included, including programming and non-programming software. They were developed mainly based on Bayesian or frequentist theory. Most types of software have the characteristics of easy operation, easy mastery, exact calculation, or excellent graphing. However, there was no single software that performed accurate calculations with superior graphing; this could only be achieved through the combination of two or more types of software. This study suggests that the user should choose the appropriate software according to personal programming basis, operational habits, and financial ability. Then, the choice of the combination of BUGS and R (or Stata) software to perform the NMA is considered. © 2017 Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Modular Rocket Engine Control Software (MRECS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tarrant, C.; Crook, J.

1998-01-01

The Modular Rocket Engine Control Software (MRECS) Program is a technology demonstration effort designed to advance the state-of-the-art in launch vehicle propulsion systems. Its emphasis is on developing and demonstrating a modular software architecture for advanced engine control systems that will result in lower software maintenance (operations) costs. It effectively accommodates software requirement changes that occur due to hardware technology upgrades and engine development testing. Ground rules directed by MSFC were to optimize modularity and implement the software in the Ada programming language. MRECS system software and the software development environment utilize Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) products. This paper presents the objectives, benefits, and status of the program. The software architecture, design, and development environment are described. MRECS tasks are defined and timing relationships given. Major accomplishments are listed. MRECS offers benefits to a wide variety of advanced technology programs in the areas of modular software architecture, reuse software, and reduced software reverification time related to software changes. MRECS was recently modified to support a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) hot-fire test. Cold Flow and Flight Readiness Testing were completed before the test was cancelled. Currently, the program is focused on supporting NASA MSFC in accomplishing development testing of the Fastrac Engine, part of NASA's Low Cost Technologies (LCT) Program. MRECS will be used for all engine development testing.

An Interoperability Framework and Capability Profiling for Manufacturing Software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuda, M.; Arai, E.; Nakano, N.; Wakai, H.; Takeda, H.; Takata, M.; Sasaki, H.

ISO/TC184/SC5/WG4 is working on ISO16100: Manufacturing software capability profiling for interoperability. This paper reports on a manufacturing software interoperability framework and a capability profiling methodology which were proposed and developed through this international standardization activity. Within the context of manufacturing application, a manufacturing software unit is considered to be capable of performing a specific set of function defined by a manufacturing software system architecture. A manufacturing software interoperability framework consists of a set of elements and rules for describing the capability of software units to support the requirements of a manufacturing application. The capability profiling methodology makes use of the domain-specific attributes and methods associated with each specific software unit to describe capability profiles in terms of unit name, manufacturing functions, and other needed class properties. In this methodology, manufacturing software requirements are expressed in terns of software unit capability profiles.

Wildlife software: procedures for publication of computer software

USGS Publications Warehouse

Samuel, M.D.

1990-01-01

Computers and computer software have become an integral part of the practice of wildlife science. Computers now play an important role in teaching, research, and management applications. Because of the specialized nature of wildlife problems, specific computer software is usually required to address a given problem (e.g., home range analysis). This type of software is not usually available from commercial vendors and therefore must be developed by those wildlife professionals with particular skill in computer programming. Current journal publication practices generally prevent a detailed description of computer software associated with new techniques. In addition, peer review of journal articles does not usually include a review of associated computer software. Thus, many wildlife professionals are usually unaware of computer software that would meet their needs or of major improvements in software they commonly use. Indeed most users of wildlife software learn of new programs or important changes only by word of mouth.

A Case Study of Measuring Process Risk for Early Insights into Software Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Layman, Lucas; Basili, Victor; Zelkowitz, Marvin V.; Fisher, Karen L.

2011-01-01

In this case study, we examine software safety risk in three flight hardware systems in NASA's Constellation spaceflight program. We applied our Technical and Process Risk Measurement (TPRM) methodology to the Constellation hazard analysis process to quantify the technical and process risks involving software safety in the early design phase of these projects. We analyzed 154 hazard reports and collected metrics to measure the prevalence of software in hazards and the specificity of descriptions of software causes of hazardous conditions. We found that 49-70% of 154 hazardous conditions could be caused by software or software was involved in the prevention of the hazardous condition. We also found that 12-17% of the 2013 hazard causes involved software, and that 23-29% of all causes had a software control. The application of the TPRM methodology identified process risks in the application of the hazard analysis process itself that may lead to software safety risk.

AVE-SESAME program for the REEDA System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hickey, J. S.

1981-01-01

The REEDA system software was modified and improved to process the AVE-SESAME severe storm data. A random access file system for the AVE storm data was designed, tested, and implemented. The AVE/SESAME software was modified to incorporate the random access file input and to interface with new graphics hardware/software now available on the REEDA system. Software was developed to graphically display the AVE/SESAME data in the convention normally used by severe storm researchers. Software was converted to AVE/SESAME software systems and interfaced with existing graphics hardware/software available on the REEDA System. Software documentation was provided for existing AVE/SESAME programs underlining functional flow charts and interacting questions. All AVE/SESAME data sets in random access format was processed to allow developed software to access the entire AVE/SESAME data base. The existing software was modified to allow for processing of different AVE/SESAME data set types including satellite surface and radar data.

Space Station Software Recommendations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Voigt, S. (Editor)

1985-01-01

Four panels of invited experts and NASA representatives focused on the following topics: software management, software development environment, languages, and software standards. Each panel deliberated in private, held two open sessions with audience participation, and developed recommendations for the NASA Space Station Program. The major thrusts of the recommendations were as follows: (1) The software management plan should establish policies, responsibilities, and decision points for software acquisition; (2) NASA should furnish a uniform modular software support environment and require its use for all space station software acquired (or developed); (3) The language Ada should be selected for space station software, and NASA should begin to address issues related to the effective use of Ada; and (4) The space station software standards should be selected (based upon existing standards where possible), and an organization should be identified to promulgate and enforce them. These and related recommendations are described in detail in the conference proceedings.

A Novel Method for Mining SaaS Software Tag via Community Detection in Software Services Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Li; Li, Bing; Pan, Wei-Feng; Peng, Tao

The number of online software services based on SaaS paradigm is increasing. However, users usually find it hard to get the exact software services they need. At present, tags are widely used to annotate specific software services and also to facilitate the searching of them. Currently these tags are arbitrary and ambiguous since mostly of them are generated manually by service developers. This paper proposes a method for mining tags from the help documents of software services. By extracting terms from the help documents and calculating the similarity between the terms, we construct a software similarity network where nodes represent software services, edges denote the similarity relationship between software services, and the weights of the edges are the similarity degrees. The hierarchical clustering algorithm is used for community detection in this software similarity network. At the final stage, tags are mined for each of the communities and stored as ontology.

Orbiter subsystem hardware/software interaction analysis. Volume 8: AFT reaction control system, part 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Becker, D. D.

1980-01-01

The orbiter subsystems and interfacing program elements which interact with the orbiter computer flight software are analyzed. The failure modes identified in the subsystem/element failure mode and effects analysis are examined. Potential interaction with the software is examined through an evaluation of the software requirements. The analysis is restricted to flight software requirements and excludes utility/checkout software. The results of the hardware/software interaction analysis for the forward reaction control system are presented.

Semantic Metrics for Analysis of Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Etzkorn, Letha H.; Cox, Glenn W.; Farrington, Phil; Utley, Dawn R.; Ghalston, Sampson; Stein, Cara

2005-01-01

A recently conceived suite of object-oriented software metrics focus is on semantic aspects of software, in contradistinction to traditional software metrics, which focus on syntactic aspects of software. Semantic metrics represent a more human-oriented view of software than do syntactic metrics. The semantic metrics of a given computer program are calculated by use of the output of a knowledge-based analysis of the program, and are substantially more representative of software quality and more readily comprehensible from a human perspective than are the syntactic metrics.

Current Practice in Software Development for Computational Neuroscience and How to Improve It

PubMed Central

Gewaltig, Marc-Oliver; Cannon, Robert

2014-01-01

Almost all research work in computational neuroscience involves software. As researchers try to understand ever more complex systems, there is a continual need for software with new capabilities. Because of the wide range of questions being investigated, new software is often developed rapidly by individuals or small groups. In these cases, it can be hard to demonstrate that the software gives the right results. Software developers are often open about the code they produce and willing to share it, but there is little appreciation among potential users of the great diversity of software development practices and end results, and how this affects the suitability of software tools for use in research projects. To help clarify these issues, we have reviewed a range of software tools and asked how the culture and practice of software development affects their validity and trustworthiness. We identified four key questions that can be used to categorize software projects and correlate them with the type of product that results. The first question addresses what is being produced. The other three concern why, how, and by whom the work is done. The answers to these questions show strong correlations with the nature of the software being produced, and its suitability for particular purposes. Based on our findings, we suggest ways in which current software development practice in computational neuroscience can be improved and propose checklists to help developers, reviewers, and scientists to assess the quality of software and whether particular pieces of software are ready for use in research. PMID:24465191

Current practice in software development for computational neuroscience and how to improve it.

PubMed

Gewaltig, Marc-Oliver; Cannon, Robert

2014-01-01

Almost all research work in computational neuroscience involves software. As researchers try to understand ever more complex systems, there is a continual need for software with new capabilities. Because of the wide range of questions being investigated, new software is often developed rapidly by individuals or small groups. In these cases, it can be hard to demonstrate that the software gives the right results. Software developers are often open about the code they produce and willing to share it, but there is little appreciation among potential users of the great diversity of software development practices and end results, and how this affects the suitability of software tools for use in research projects. To help clarify these issues, we have reviewed a range of software tools and asked how the culture and practice of software development affects their validity and trustworthiness. We identified four key questions that can be used to categorize software projects and correlate them with the type of product that results. The first question addresses what is being produced. The other three concern why, how, and by whom the work is done. The answers to these questions show strong correlations with the nature of the software being produced, and its suitability for particular purposes. Based on our findings, we suggest ways in which current software development practice in computational neuroscience can be improved and propose checklists to help developers, reviewers, and scientists to assess the quality of software and whether particular pieces of software are ready for use in research.

The Influence of Software Complexity on the Maintenance Effort: Case Study on Software Developed within Educational Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Radulescu, Iulian Ionut

2006-01-01

Software complexity is the most important software quality attribute and a very useful instrument in the study of software quality. Is one of the factors that affect most of the software quality characteristics, including maintainability. It is very important to quantity this influence and identify the means to keep it under control; by using…

Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Software Engineering Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

Experiences in measurement, utilization, and evaluation of software methodologies, models, and tools are discussed. NASA's involvement in ever larger and more complex systems, like the space station project, provides a motive for the support of software engineering research and the exchange of ideas in such forums. The topics of current SEL research are software error studies, experiments with software development, and software tools.

Software Engineering Laboratory Series: Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Software Engineering Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

The Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) is an organization sponsored by NASA/GSFC and created to investigate the effectiveness of software engineering technologies when applied to the development of application software. The activities, findings, and recommendations of the SEL are recorded in the Software Engineering Laboratory Series, a continuing series of reports that includes this document.

FMT (Flight Software Memory Tracker) For Cassini Spacecraft-Software Engineering Using JAVA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kan, Edwin P.; Uffelman, Hal; Wax, Allan H.

1997-01-01

The software engineering design of the Flight Software Memory Tracker (FMT) Tool is discussed in this paper. FMT is a ground analysis software set, consisting of utilities and procedures, designed to track the flight software, i.e., images of memory load and updatable parameters of the computers on-board Cassini spacecraft. FMT is implemented in Java.

Software Engineering Laboratory Series: Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Software Engineering Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

The Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) is an organization sponsored by NASA/GSFC and created to investigate the effectiveness of software engineering technologies when applied to the development of application software. The activities, findings, and recommendations of the SEL are recorded in the Software Engineering Laboratory Series, a continuing series of reports that includes this document.

In the right order of brush strokes: a sketch of a software philosophy retrospective.

PubMed

Pyshkin, Evgeny

2014-01-01

This paper follows a discourse on software recognized as a product of art and human creativity progressing probably for as long as software exists. A retrospective view on computer science and software philosophy development is introduced. In so doing we discover parallels between software and various branches of human creative manifestations. Aesthetic properties and mutual dependency of the form and matter of art works are examined in their application to software programs. While exploring some philosophical and even artistic reflection on software we consider extended comprehension of technical sciences of programming and software engineering within the realm of liberal arts.

OntoSoft: A Software Registry for Geosciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garijo, D.; Gil, Y.

2017-12-01

The goal of the EarthCube OntoSoft project is to enable the creation of an ecosystem for software stewardship in geosciences that will empower scientists to manage their software as valuable scientific assets. By sharing software metadata in OntoSoft, scientists enable broader access to that software by other scientists, software professionals, students, and decision makers. Our work to date includes: 1) an ontology for describing scientific software metadata, 2) a distributed scientific software repository that contains more than 750 entries that can be searched and compared across metadata fields, 3) an intelligent user interface that guides scientists to publish software and allows them to crowdsource its corresponding metadata. We have also developed a training program where scientists learn to describe and cite software in their papers in addition to data and provenance, and we are using OntoSoft to show them the benefits of publishing their software metadata. This training program is part of a Geoscience Papers of the Future Initiative, where scientists are reflecting on their current practices, benefits and effort for sharing software and data. This journal paper can be submitted to a Special Section of the AGU Earth and Space Science Journal.

Requirements: Towards an understanding on why software projects fail

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussain, Azham; Mkpojiogu, Emmanuel O. C.

2016-08-01

Requirement engineering is at the foundation of every successful software project. There are many reasons for software project failures; however, poorly engineered requirements process contributes immensely to the reason why software projects fail. Software project failure is usually costly and risky and could also be life threatening. Projects that undermine requirements engineering suffer or are likely to suffer from failures, challenges and other attending risks. The cost of project failures and overruns when estimated is very huge. Furthermore, software project failures or overruns pose a challenge in today's competitive market environment. It affects the company's image, goodwill, and revenue drive and decreases the perceived satisfaction of customers and clients. In this paper, requirements engineering was discussed. Its role in software projects success was elaborated. The place of software requirements process in relation to software project failure was explored and examined. Also, project success and failure factors were also discussed with emphasis placed on requirements factors as they play a major role in software projects' challenges, successes and failures. The paper relied on secondary data and empirical statistics to explore and examine factors responsible for the successes, challenges and failures of software projects in large, medium and small scaled software companies.

Workflow-Based Software Development Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Izygon, Michel E.

2013-01-01

The Software Developer's Assistant (SDA) helps software teams more efficiently and accurately conduct or execute software processes associated with NASA mission-critical software. SDA is a process enactment platform that guides software teams through project-specific standards, processes, and procedures. Software projects are decomposed into all of their required process steps or tasks, and each task is assigned to project personnel. SDA orchestrates the performance of work required to complete all process tasks in the correct sequence. The software then notifies team members when they may begin work on their assigned tasks and provides the tools, instructions, reference materials, and supportive artifacts that allow users to compliantly perform the work. A combination of technology components captures and enacts any software process use to support the software lifecycle. It creates an adaptive workflow environment that can be modified as needed. SDA achieves software process automation through a Business Process Management (BPM) approach to managing the software lifecycle for mission-critical projects. It contains five main parts: TieFlow (workflow engine), Business Rules (rules to alter process flow), Common Repository (storage for project artifacts, versions, history, schedules, etc.), SOA (interface to allow internal, GFE, or COTS tools integration), and the Web Portal Interface (collaborative web environment

Sandia National Laboratories Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) software quality plan. Part 1 : ASC software quality engineering practices version 1.0.

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

Minana, Molly A.; Sturtevant, Judith E.; Heaphy, Robert

2005-01-01

The purpose of the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Software Quality Plan is to clearly identify the practices that are the basis for continually improving the quality of ASC software products. Quality is defined in DOE/AL Quality Criteria (QC-1) as conformance to customer requirements and expectations. This quality plan defines the ASC program software quality practices and provides mappings of these practices to the SNL Corporate Process Requirements (CPR 1.3.2 and CPR 1.3.6) and the Department of Energy (DOE) document, ASCI Software Quality Engineering: Goals, Principles, and Guidelines (GP&G). This quality plan identifies ASC management andmore » software project teams' responsibilities for cost-effective software engineering quality practices. The SNL ASC Software Quality Plan establishes the signatories commitment to improving software products by applying cost-effective software engineering quality practices. This document explains the project teams opportunities for tailoring and implementing the practices; enumerates the practices that compose the development of SNL ASC's software products; and includes a sample assessment checklist that was developed based upon the practices in this document.« less

The development and technology transfer of software engineering technology at NASA. Johnson Space Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pitman, C. L.; Erb, D. M.; Izygon, M. E.; Fridge, E. M., III; Roush, G. B.; Braley, D. M.; Savely, R. T.

1992-01-01

The United State's big space projects of the next decades, such as Space Station and the Human Exploration Initiative, will need the development of many millions of lines of mission critical software. NASA-Johnson (JSC) is identifying and developing some of the Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) technology that NASA will need to build these future software systems. The goal is to improve the quality and the productivity of large software development projects. New trends are outlined in CASE technology and how the Software Technology Branch (STB) at JSC is endeavoring to provide some of these CASE solutions for NASA is described. Key software technology components include knowledge-based systems, software reusability, user interface technology, reengineering environments, management systems for the software development process, software cost models, repository technology, and open, integrated CASE environment frameworks. The paper presents the status and long-term expectations for CASE products. The STB's Reengineering Application Project (REAP), Advanced Software Development Workstation (ASDW) project, and software development cost model (COSTMODL) project are then discussed. Some of the general difficulties of technology transfer are introduced, and a process developed by STB for CASE technology insertion is described.

Software Engineering for Human Spaceflight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fredrickson, Steven E.

2014-01-01

The Spacecraft Software Engineering Branch of NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) provides world-class products, leadership, and technical expertise in software engineering, processes, technology, and systems management for human spaceflight. The branch contributes to major NASA programs (e.g. ISS, MPCV/Orion) with in-house software development and prime contractor oversight, and maintains the JSC Engineering Directorate CMMI rating for flight software development. Software engineering teams work with hardware developers, mission planners, and system operators to integrate flight vehicles, habitats, robotics, and other spacecraft elements. They seek to infuse automation and autonomy into missions, and apply new technologies to flight processor and computational architectures. This presentation will provide an overview of key software-related projects, software methodologies and tools, and technology pursuits of interest to the JSC Spacecraft Software Engineering Branch.

Software Design Improvements. Part 1; Software Benefits and Limitations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lalli, Vincent R.; Packard, Michael H.; Ziemianski, Tom

1997-01-01

Computer hardware and associated software have been used for many years to process accounting information, to analyze test data and to perform engineering analysis. Now computers and software also control everything from automobiles to washing machines and the number and type of applications are growing at an exponential rate. The size of individual program has shown similar growth. Furthermore, software and hardware are used to monitor and/or control potentially dangerous products and safety-critical systems. These uses include everything from airplanes and braking systems to medical devices and nuclear plants. The question is: how can this hardware and software be made more reliable? Also, how can software quality be improved? What methodology needs to be provided on large and small software products to improve the design and how can software be verified?

Software Engineering Improvement Plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

In performance of this task order, bd Systems personnel provided support to the Flight Software Branch and the Software Working Group through multiple tasks related to software engineering improvement and to activities of the independent Technical Authority (iTA) Discipline Technical Warrant Holder (DTWH) for software engineering. To ensure that the products, comments, and recommendations complied with customer requirements and the statement of work, bd Systems personnel maintained close coordination with the customer. These personnel performed work in areas such as update of agency requirements and directives database, software effort estimation, software problem reports, a web-based process asset library, miscellaneous documentation review, software system requirements, issue tracking software survey, systems engineering NPR, and project-related reviews. This report contains a summary of the work performed and the accomplishments in each of these areas.

Designing Computerized Provider Order Entry Software in Iran: The Nurses' and Physicians' Viewpoints.

PubMed

Khammarnia, Mohammad; Sharifian, Roxana; Zand, Farid; Keshtkaran, Ali; Barati, Omid

2016-09-01

This study aimed to identify the functional requirements of computerized provider order entry software and design this software in Iran. This study was conducted using review documentation, interview, and focus group discussions in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, as the medical pole in Iran, in 2013-2015. The study sample consisted of physicians (n = 12) and nurses (n = 2) in the largest hospital in the southern part of Iran and information technology experts (n = 5) in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Functional requirements of the computerized provider order entry system were examined in three phases. Finally, the functional requirements were distributed in four levels, and accordingly, the computerized provider order entry software was designed. The software had seven main dimensions: (1) data entry, (2) drug interaction management system, (3) warning system, (4) treatment services, (5) ability to write in software, (6) reporting from all sections of the software, and (7) technical capabilities of the software. The nurses and physicians emphasized quick access to the computerized provider order entry software, order prescription section, and applicability of the software. The software had some items that had not been mentioned in other studies. Ultimately, the software was designed by a company specializing in hospital information systems in Iran. This study was the first specific investigation of computerized provider order entry software design in Iran. Based on the results, it is suggested that this software be implemented in hospitals.

Testing Scientific Software: A Systematic Literature Review

PubMed Central

Kanewala, Upulee; Bieman, James M.

2014-01-01

Context Scientific software plays an important role in critical decision making, for example making weather predictions based on climate models, and computation of evidence for research publications. Recently, scientists have had to retract publications due to errors caused by software faults. Systematic testing can identify such faults in code. Objective This study aims to identify specific challenges, proposed solutions, and unsolved problems faced when testing scientific software. Method We conducted a systematic literature survey to identify and analyze relevant literature. We identified 62 studies that provided relevant information about testing scientific software. Results We found that challenges faced when testing scientific software fall into two main categories: (1) testing challenges that occur due to characteristics of scientific software such as oracle problems and (2) testing challenges that occur due to cultural differences between scientists and the software engineering community such as viewing the code and the model that it implements as inseparable entities. In addition, we identified methods to potentially overcome these challenges and their limitations. Finally we describe unsolved challenges and how software engineering researchers and practitioners can help to overcome them. Conclusions Scientific software presents special challenges for testing. Specifically, cultural differences between scientist developers and software engineers, along with the characteristics of the scientific software make testing more difficult. Existing techniques such as code clone detection can help to improve the testing process. Software engineers should consider special challenges posed by scientific software such as oracle problems when developing testing techniques. PMID:25125798

Software engineering methodologies and tools

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilcox, Lawrence M.

1993-01-01

Over the years many engineering disciplines have developed, including chemical, electronic, etc. Common to all engineering disciplines is the use of rigor, models, metrics, and predefined methodologies. Recently, a new engineering discipline has appeared on the scene, called software engineering. For over thirty years computer software has been developed and the track record has not been good. Software development projects often miss schedules, are over budget, do not give the user what is wanted, and produce defects. One estimate is there are one to three defects per 1000 lines of deployed code. More and more systems are requiring larger and more complex software for support. As this requirement grows, the software development problems grow exponentially. It is believed that software quality can be improved by applying engineering principles. Another compelling reason to bring the engineering disciplines to software development is productivity. It has been estimated that productivity of producing software has only increased one to two percent a year in the last thirty years. Ironically, the computer and its software have contributed significantly to the industry-wide productivity, but computer professionals have done a poor job of using the computer to do their job. Engineering disciplines and methodologies are now emerging supported by software tools that address the problems of software development. This paper addresses some of the current software engineering methodologies as a backdrop for the general evaluation of computer assisted software engineering (CASE) tools from actual installation of and experimentation with some specific tools.

Software Engineering Education Directory

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-04-01

and Engineering (CMSC 735) Codes: GPEV2 * Textiooks: IEEE Tutoria on Models and Metrics for Software Management and Engameeing by Basi, Victor R...Software Engineering (Comp 227) Codes: GPRY5 Textbooks: IEEE Tutoria on Software Design Techniques by Freeman, Peter and Wasserman, Anthony 1. Software

Finding Helpful Software Reviews.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kruse, Ted, Comp.

1987-01-01

Provides a list of evaluation services currently producing critical reviews of educational software. Includes information about The Apple K-12 Curriculum Software Reference, The Educational Software Preview, The Educational Software Selector, MicroSIFT, and Only The Best: The Discriminating Guide for Preschool-Grade 12. (TW)

Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Software Engineering Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

Topics covered in the workshop included studies and experiments conducted in the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL), a cooperative effort of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the University of Maryland, and Computer Sciences Corporation; software models; software products; and software tools.

Absolute quantification of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in patients carrying haplotypes associated with susceptibility to chronic periodontitis: multifaceted evaluation with periodontitis covariants.

PubMed

Cirelli, Thamiris; Finoti, Livia S; Corbi, Sâmia C T; Anovazzi, Giovana; Nepomuceno, Rafael; Orrico, Silvana R P; Cirelli, Joni A; Mayer, Márcia P A; Scarel-Caminaga, Raquel M

2017-09-29

This study aimed to evaluate the association between haplotypes in the interleukin 8 (IL8) and IL4 genes previously associated to chronic periodontitis (CP) and the levels of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A.a.) in subgingival sites of patients with and without CP. Moreover, multifaceted evaluations were made to search associations among patients' genetic background with the A.a. levels and previous clinical/immunological/microbiological findings. Subgingival sites (n = 596) of 104 patients were divided into susceptible to CP by the IL8 haplotype ATC/TTC (IL8+); non-susceptible to CP by the IL8 AGT/TTC (IL8-); susceptible to CP by the IL4 TCI/CCI (IL4+); protection against CP by the IL4 TTD/CTI (IL4-). Subgingival biofilm samples from diseased and healthy sites of CP patients and from control sites of health patients were obtained for absolute quantification of A.a. by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. For diseased sites, samples were collected before and 45 days after periodontal treatment. The IL4 but not the IL8 haplotypes were associated with levels of A.a. (in both periods). After periodontal treatment, higher levels of A.a. were found in subgingival sites of (IL4-) patients, and higher levels of IL-4 were associated with deeper probing pockets in these same patients. Significant correlations were found among genetic (patients carrying IL8 or IL4 haplotypes), microbiological and immunological data showing the interrelationship of different factors in the CP. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Performance evaluation of the whole-body PET scanner ECAT EXACT HR/sup +/ following the IEC standard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adam, L.-E.; Zaers, J.; Ostertag, H.; Trojan, H.; Bellemann, M. E.; Brix, G.

1997-06-01

The performance parameters of the whole-body PET scanner ECAT EXACT HR/sup +/ (CTI/Siemens, Knoxville, TN) were determined following the standard proposed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The tests were expanded by some measurements concerning the accuracy of the correction algorithms and the geometric fidelity of the reconstructed images. The scanner consists of 32 rings, each with 576 BGO detectors (4.05/spl times/4.39/spl times/30 mm/sup 3/), covering an axial field-of-view of 15.5 cm and a patient port of 56.2 cm. The transaxial FWHM determined by a Gaussian fit in the 2D (3D) mode is 4.5 (4.3) mm at the center. It increases to 8.9 (8.3) mm radially and to 5.8 (5.2) mm tangentially at a radial distance of r=20 cm. The average axial resolution varies between 4.9 (4.1) mm FWHM at the center and 8.8 (8.1) mm at r=20 cm. The system sensitivity for unscattered true events is 5.85 (26.4) cps/Bq/ml (measured with a 20 cm cylinder). The 50% dead-time losses were reached for a true event count rate (including scatter) of 286 (500) kcps at an activity concentration of 74 (25) kBq/ml. The system scatter fraction is 0.24 (0.35). With the exception of the 3D attenuation correction algorithm, all correction algorithms work reliably. The results reveal that the ECAT EXACT HR/sup +/ has a good and nearly isotropic spatial resolution. Due to the small detector elements, however, it has a low slice sensitivity which is a limiting factor for image quality.

Randomised clinical trial: evaluation of the efficacy of mesalazine (mesalamine) suppositories in patients with ulcerative colitis and active rectal inflammation -- a placebo-controlled study.

PubMed

Watanabe, M; Nishino, H; Sameshima, Y; Ota, A; Nakamura, S; Hibi, T

2013-08-01

Mesalazine suppositories are recommended and widely used as the standard therapy in induction and maintenance of remission for proctitis. To evaluate the efficacy of mesalazine suppositories in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and rectal inflammation; and in patient groups categorised by the extent of lesions. This study was a phase III multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. Mild-to-moderate UC patients with rectal inflammation were randomly assigned either a 1 g mesalazine or placebo suppository. The suppository was administered in the rectum once daily for 4 weeks. The primary efficacy end point was the rate of endoscopic remission (mucosal score of 0 or 1) after 4 weeks. The endoscopic remission rates after 4 weeks in the mesalazine and placebo suppository groups were 81.5% and 29.7%, respectively, and the superiority of mesalazine to placebo was confirmed (P < 0.0001, chi-squared test). For proctitis, the endoscopic remission rates after 4 weeks were 83.8% and 36.1% in the mesalazine and placebo suppository groups, respectively, and the corresponding rates for all other types of UC were 78.6% and 21.4%, respectively. The superiority of mesalazine to placebo was confirmed in both subgroups (P < 0.0001, Fisher's exact test). The percentage of patients without bleeding was significantly higher in the mesalazine group than the placebo group from Day 3 of treatment (P = 0.0001, Fisher's exact test). The effectiveness of mesalazine suppositories in all types of UC patients with rectal inflammation was confirmed for the first time in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study (JapicCTI- 111421). © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A prospective study of psychomotor performance of driving among two kinds of shift work in Iran

PubMed Central

Saadat, Soheil; Karbakhsh, Mojgan; Saremi, Mahnaz; Alimohammadi, Iraj; Ashayeri, Hassan; Fayaz, Mahsa; Rostami, Reza

2018-01-01

Background and aim Driving after a night shift imposes a risk on health care professionals and other road users. The aim of this study was to measure psychomotor performance of driving of night shift nurses compared to day-shift nurses. Methods Forty-seven volunteer female nurses working at Sina hospital in Tehran, Iran, with a call in all departments of hospital, participated in this study (23 night shift and 24 day shift nurses) in 2016. The tests included RT for simple reaction time, ATAVT for perceptual speed, LVT for visual orientation and ZBA for time anticipation. Data collection tools were individual characteristics, 11-item circadian type inventory (CTI), Stanford sleepiness scale (SSS), and Swedish occupational fatigue inventory (SOFI-20) questionnaires. Psychomotor driving performance was assessed using validated computerized traffic psychological battery of Vienna Test System (VTS), before and after the shifts. Data analysis was performed using paired-samples t-test and Linear Regression. Results The mean age of day and night-shift nurses were 31.4±5.6 and 28.7±3.9 years respectively, no significant difference between two groups. Thirty percent of night shift and 16.7% of day shift nurses reported traffic accidents in the past year. The results revealed that, scores based on viewing times in visual orientation test (p=0.005), and median reaction time score in choice reaction time and reactive stress tolerance test (p=0.045), had a significant association with a 12-hour night shift with a 3-hour nap. Conclusions Twelve-hour night shift work impairs choice reaction time and visual orientation in nurses, even though they take a 3- hour nap during the shift. These skills are required for safe driving. PMID:29629067

The X-ray attenuation characteristics and density of human calcaneal marrow do not change significantly during adulthood

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Les, C. M.; Whalen, R. T.; Beaupre, G. S.; Yan, C. H.; Cleek, T. M.; Wills, J. S.

2002-01-01

Changes in the material characteristics of bone marrow with aging can be a significant source of error in measurements of bone density when using X-ray and ultrasound imaging modalities. In the context of computed tomography, dual-energy computed techniques have been used to correct for changes in marrow composition. However, dual-energy quantitative computed tomography (DE-QCT) protocols, while increasing the accuracy of the measurement, reduce the precision and increase the radiation dose to the patient in comparison to single-energy quantitative computed tomography (SE-QCT) protocols. If the attenuation properties of the marrow for a particular bone can be shown to be relatively constant with age, it should be possible to use single-energy techniques without experiencing errors caused by unknown marrow composition. Marrow was extracted by centrifugation from 10 mm thick frontal sections of 34 adult cadaver calcanei (28 males, 6 females, ages 17-65 years). The density and energy-dependent linear X-ray attenuation coefficient of each marrow sample were determined. For purposes of comparing our results, we then computed an effective CT number at two GE CT/i scan voltages (80 and 120 kVp) for each specimen. The coefficients of variation for the density, CT number at 80 kVp and CT number at 120 kVp were each less than 1%, and the parameters did not change significantly with age (p > 0.2, r2 < 0.02, power > 0.8 where the minimum acceptable r2 = 0.216). We could demonstrate no significant gender-associated differences in these relationships. These data suggest that calcaneal bone marrow X-ray attenuation properties and marrow density are essentially constant from the third through sixth decades of life.

Complete mucosal healing of distal lesions induced by twice-daily budesonide 2-mg foam promoted clinical remission of mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis with distal active inflammation: double-blind, randomized study.

PubMed

Naganuma, Makoto; Aoyama, Nobuo; Tada, Tomohiro; Kobayashi, Kiyonori; Hirai, Fumihito; Watanabe, Kenji; Watanabe, Mamoru; Hibi, Toshifumi

2018-04-01

Budesonide foam is used for the topical treatment of distal ulcerative colitis. This phase III study was performed to confirm mucosal healing and other therapeutic effects of twice-daily budesonide 2-mg foam in patients with mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis including left-sided colitis and pancolitis. This was a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. A total of 126 patients with mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis with active inflammation in the distal colon were randomized to two groups receiving twice-daily budesonide 2 mg/25 ml foam or placebo foam. The primary endpoint was the percentage of complete mucosal healing of distal lesions (endoscopic subscore of 0) at week 6. Some patients continued the treatment through week 12. Drug efficacy and safety were evaluated. The percentages of both complete mucosal healing of distal lesions and clinical remission were significantly improved in the budesonide as compared with the placebo group (p = 0.0003 and p = 0.0035). Subgroup analysis showed similar efficacy of budesonide foam for complete mucosal healing of distal lesions and clinical remission regardless of disease type. The clinical remission percentage tended to be higher in patients achieving complete mucosal healing of distal lesions than in other patients. There were no safety concerns with budesonide foam. This study confirmed for the first time complete mucosal healing with twice-daily budesonide 2-mg foam in mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis with distal active inflammation. The results also indicated that complete mucosal healing of distal lesions by budesonide foam promotes clinical remission of ulcerative colitis. Clinical trial registration no.: Japic CTI-142704.

Efficacy and safety of febuxostat for prevention of tumor lysis syndrome in patients with malignant tumors receiving chemotherapy: a phase III, randomized, multi-center trial comparing febuxostat and allopurinol.

PubMed

Tamura, Kazuo; Kawai, Yasukazu; Kiguchi, Toru; Okamoto, Masataka; Kaneko, Masahiko; Maemondo, Makoto; Gemba, Kenichi; Fujimaki, Katsumichi; Kirito, Keita; Goto, Tetsuya; Fujisaki, Tomoaki; Takeda, Kenji; Nakajima, Akihiro; Ueda, Takanori

2016-10-01

Control of serum uric acid (sUA) levels is very important during chemotherapy in patients with malignant tumors, as the risks of tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) and renal events are increased with increasing levels of sUA. We investigated the efficacy and safety of febuxostat, a potent non-purine xanthine oxidase inhibitor, compared with allopurinol for prevention of hyperuricemia in patients with malignant tumors, including solid tumors, receiving chemotherapy in Japan. An allopurinol-controlled multicenter, open-label, randomized, parallel-group comparative study was carried out. Patients with malignant tumors receiving chemotherapy, who had an intermediate risk of TLS or a high risk of TLS and were not scheduled to be treated with rasburicase, were enrolled and then randomized to febuxostat (60 mg/day) or allopurinol (300 or 200 mg/day). All patients started to take the study drug 24 h before chemotherapy. The primary objective was to confirm the non-inferiority of febuxostat to allopurinol based on the area under the curve (AUC) of sUA for a 6-day treatment period. Forty-nine and 51 patients took febuxostat and allopurinol, respectively. sUA decreased over time after initiation of study treatment. The least squares mean difference of the AUC of sUA between the treatment groups was -33.61 mg h/dL, and the 95 % confidence interval was -70.67 to 3.45, demonstrating the non-inferiority of febuxostat to allopurinol. No differences were noted in safety outcomes between the treatment groups. Febuxostat demonstrated an efficacy and safety similar to allopurinol in patients with malignant tumors receiving chemotherapy. http://www.clinicaltrials.jp ; Identifier: JapicCTI-132398.

Therapeutic effect of bilastine in Japanese cedar pollinosis using an artificial exposure chamber (OHIO Chamber).

PubMed

Hashiguchi, Kazuhiro; Wakabayashi, Ken-Ichiro; Togawa, Michinori; Saito, Akihiro; Okubo, Kimihiro

2017-01-01

Environmental exposure chambers have been used to expose subjects to aeroallergens to investigate the efficacy of prophylactic treatment with symptomatic agents in Japan. We first examined the therapeutic effect of bilastine (BIL), a novel non-sedative second-generation H 1 -antihistamine, in subjects with Japanese cedar pollinosis using an artificial exposure chamber (OHIO Chamber). This was a randomized, double-blind, four-way crossover, placebo- and active-controlled phase II study (trial registration number JapicCTI-132213). Subjects were exposed to cedar pollen (8000 grains/m 3 ) for 2 h on Day -1 and 4 h each on Day 1 and 2. BIL 10 or 20 mg, placebo, or fexofenadine hydrochloride (FEX) 60 mg was administered orally 1 h after the start of pollen exposure on Day 1. Placebo or FEX was administered 12 h after the first dosing. The primary efficacy endpoint was the sum of total nasal symptom score (TNSS) from 0 to 3 h after the Day 1 dosing. We enrolled 136 subjects and the sum of TNSS on Day 1 of the three active treatments was significantly lower than that of placebo and was maintained up to 26 h after the first dosing (Day 2). The sum of TNSS or sneezing score on Day 1 after BIL 20 mg was more significantly decreased than after FEX. Moreover, BIL showed a faster onset of action than FEX. We demonstrated the efficacy, rapid onset, and long duration of action of BIL in subjects with Japanese cedar pollinosis exposed to cedar pollen using the OHIO Chamber. Copyright © 2016 Japanese Society of Allergology. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Efficacy and safety of bilastine in Japanese patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria: A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group phase II/III study.

PubMed

Hide, Michihiro; Yagami, Akiko; Togawa, Michinori; Saito, Akihiro; Furue, Masutaka

2017-04-01

Bilastine, a novel non-sedating second-generation H 1 -antihistamine, has been widely used in the treatment of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and urticaria with a recommended dose of 20 mg once daily in most European countries since 2010. We evaluated its efficacy and safety in Japanese patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). We conducted a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II/III study (trial registration No. JapicCTI-142574). Patients (age, 18-74 years) were randomly assigned to receive bilastine 20 mg, 10 mg or placebo once daily for 2 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint was the change from baseline (Day -3 to 0) in total symptom score (TSS) at 2 weeks (Day 8-14), consisting of the itch and rash scores. A total of 304 patients were randomly allocated to bilastine 20 mg (101 patients), bilastine 10 mg (100 patients), and placebo (103 patients). The changes in TSS at 2 weeks were significantly decreased by bilastine 20 mg than did placebo (p < 0.001), demonstrating the superiority of bilastine 20 mg. Bilastine 10 mg also showed a significant difference from placebo (p < 0.001). The TSS changes for the bilastine showed significant improvement from Day 1, and were maintained during the treatment period. The Dermatology Life Quality Index scores were also improved in bilastine than in placebo. The bilastine treatments were safe and well tolerated. Two-week treatment with bilastine (20 or 10 mg) once daily was effective and tolerable in Japanese patients with CSU, demonstrating an early onset of action. Copyright © 2016 Japanese Society of Allergology. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

One-year safety and efficacy study of bilastine treatment in Japanese patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria or pruritus associated with skin diseases.

PubMed

Yagami, Akiko; Furue, Masutaka; Togawa, Michinori; Saito, Akihiro; Hide, Michihiro

2017-04-01

A number of second-generation non-sedating antihistamines are used in clinical practices over the world. However, long-term safety and efficacy have not been proved high level evidence based medicine. We have performed an open-label, multicenter, phase III study to evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of bilastine, a novel non-sedating H 1 -antihistamine for patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) or pruritus associated with skin diseases (trial registration no. JapicCTI-142528). Patients aged 18-74 years were treated with bilastine 20 mg once daily for up to 52 weeks. Safety and tolerability were assessed on the basis of adverse events (AE), bilastine-related AE, laboratory tests and vital signs. Efficacy was assessed based on rash score, itch score, overall improvement and quality of life. One hundred and ninety-eight patients enrolled, 122 of whom (61.6%) completed the 52-week treatment period. AE were reported in 64.5% and bilastine-related AE in 2.5% of patients throughout the 52-week treatment period. All AE were mild to moderate in severity. AE associated with the nervous system occurred in 10 patients (5.1%) including seven patients (3.6%) with headache. Somnolence reported in two of these patients (1.0%) was related to bilastine. All efficacy variables improved during treatment with bilastine. In conclusion, long-term treatment with bilastine 20 mg once daily for 52 weeks is safe and well tolerated in Japanese patients with CSU or pruritus associated with skin diseases. Bilastine improved disease symptoms of both conditions early in treatment, and the efficacy was maintained throughout the treatment. © 2016 The Authors. The Journal of Dermatology published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Dermatological Association.

The current status of positron emission tomography.

PubMed

Digby, W; Keppler, J

2000-01-01

Positron emission tomography (PET), invented over 25 years ago, is the only imaging technique that provides images of the biological basis of disease. Since disease is a biological process, PET routinely detects disease when other imaging studies, such as CT and MRI, are normal. In addition to its clinical effectiveness, PET has been shown to reduce costs, primarily due to the elimination of other less accurate diagnostic tests and ineffective surgeries. PET has been determined to be applicable to a number of specific applications in the areas of: imaging cancer patients, characterizing myocardial blood flow and viability, and brain imaging in various physiological and pathologic conditions. Tremendous progress has been made in resolving the regulatory and reimbursement issues facing the field of PET. Working with HCFA, representatives of the Institute for Clinical PET and the Society of Nuclear Medicine have brought about expanded HCFA coverage for PET. When HCFA first authorized payment for PET, all coverage decisions were restricted to HCFA and an expanded national coverage policy. HCFA revised its national coverage policy in 1997; this was the first of several steps taken by HCFA towards careful expansion of PET reimbursement. In March 1999, three new indications for whole-body PET scans were added to Medicare's coverage policy. The Institute for Clinical PET is continuing to work with HCFA on continued, appropriate expansion of the coverage policy. This article is partially excerpted from a written statement made by Terry Douglass, Ph.D., president of CTI, Inc., on May 12, 1999, before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and its Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space. This was part of the committee's study of "Emerging Technologies in the New Millennium."

PET/CT scanners: a hardware approach to image fusion.

PubMed

Townsend, David W; Beyer, Thomas; Blodgett, Todd M

2003-07-01

New technology that combines positron tomography with x-ray computed tomography (PET/CT) is available from all major vendors of PET imaging equipment: CTI, Siemens, GE, Philips. Although not all vendors have made the same design choices as those described in this review all have in common that their high performance design places a commercial CT scanner in tandem with a commercial PET scanner. The level of physical integration is actually less than that of the original prototype design where the CT and PET components were mounted on the same rotating support. There will undoubtedly be a demand for PET/CT technology with a greater level of integration, and at a reduced cost. This may be achieved through the design of a scanner specifically for combined anatomical and functional imaging, rather than a design combining separate CT and PET scanners, as in the current approaches. By avoiding the duplication of data acquisition and image reconstruction functions, for example, a more integrated design should also allow cost savings over current commercial PET/CT scanners. The goal is then to design and build a device specifically for imaging the function and anatomy of cancer in the most optimal and effective way, without conceptualizing it as combined PET and CT. The development of devices specifically for imaging a particular disease (eg, cancer) differs from the conventional approach of, for example, an all-purpose anatomical imaging device such as a CT scanner. This new concept targets more of a disease management approach rather than the usual division into the medical specialties of radiology (anatomical imaging) and nuclear medicine (functional imaging). Copyright 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.