Merging Digital Medicine and Economics: Two Moving Averages Unlock Biosignals for Better Health.

PubMed

Elgendi, Mohamed

2018-01-06

Algorithm development in digital medicine necessitates ongoing knowledge and skills updating to match the current demands and constant progression in the field. In today's chaotic world there is an increasing trend to seek out simple solutions for complex problems that can increase efficiency, reduce resource consumption, and improve scalability. This desire has spilled over into the world of science and research where many disciplines have taken to investigating and applying more simplistic approaches. Interestingly, through a review of current literature and research efforts, it seems that the learning and teaching principles in digital medicine continue to push towards the development of sophisticated algorithms with a limited scope and has not fully embraced or encouraged a shift towards more simple solutions that yield equal or better results. This short note aims to demonstrate that within the world of digital medicine and engineering, simpler algorithms can offer effective and efficient solutions, where traditionally more complex algorithms have been used. Moreover, the note demonstrates that bridging different research disciplines is very beneficial and yields valuable insights and results.

Impacts of population growth and economic development on the nitrogen cycle in Asia.

PubMed

Zhu, Zhaoliang; Xiong, Guangxi; Xing, Zhengqin

2005-12-01

Asia is the major consumer of fertilizer nitrogen and energy in the world, and consequently shares a considerable proportion of the world creation of reactive nitrogen (Nr). However, if estimated on per capita basis, Asia is characterized by a lower arable land area, fertilizer nitrogen consumption, energy consumption, and gross domestic product, as well as lower daily protein intake. To meet the increasing needs for food and energy for the growing population combined with the improvement of living standards, Nr will inevitably increase. The present study estimates the creation of Nr and the emissions of various N compounds into environment in Asia currently and in 2030. In comparison with the world averages, the lower fertilizer nitrogen and energy use efficiencies, and the lower use of animal wastes for agriculture imply that there is potential for moderating the increase in Nr and its impacts on the environment. Strategies for moderating the increase are discussed.

Impacts of population growth and economic development on the nitrogen cycle in Asia.

PubMed

Zhu, Zhaoliang; Xiong, Zhengqin; Xing, Guangxi

2005-09-01

Asia is the major consumer of fertilizer nitrogen and energy in the world, and consequently shares a considerable proportion of the world creation of reactive nitrogen (Nr). However, if estimated on per capita basis, Asia is characterized by a lower arable land area, fertilizer nitrogen consumption, energy consumption, and gross domestic product, as well as lower daily protein intake. To meet the increasing needs for food and energy for the growing population combined with the improvement of living standards, Nr will inevitably increase. The present study estimates the creation of Nr and the emissions of various N compounds into environment in Asia currently and in 2030. In comparison with the world averages, the lower fertilizer nitrogen and energy use efficiencies, and the lower use of animal wastes for agriculture imply that there is potential for moderating the increase in Nr and its impacts on the environment. Strategies for moderating the increase are discussed.

Soil salinity decreases global soil organic carbon stocks.

PubMed

Setia, Raj; Gottschalk, Pia; Smith, Pete; Marschner, Petra; Baldock, Jeff; Setia, Deepika; Smith, Jo

2013-11-01

Saline soils cover 3.1% (397 million hectare) of the total land area of the world. The stock of soil organic carbon (SOC) reflects the balance between carbon (C) inputs from plants, and losses through decomposition, leaching and erosion. Soil salinity decreases plant productivity and hence C inputs to the soil, but also microbial activity and therefore SOC decomposition rates. Using a modified Rothamsted Carbon model (RothC) with a newly introduced salinity decomposition rate modifier and a plant input modifier we estimate that, historically, world soils that are currently saline have lost an average of 3.47 tSOC ha(-1) since they became saline. With the extent of saline soils predicted to increase in the future, our modelling suggests that world soils may lose 6.8 Pg SOC due to salinity by the year 2100. Our findings suggest that current models overestimate future global SOC stocks and underestimate net CO2 emissions from the soil-plant system by not taking salinity effects into account. From the perspective of enhancing soil C stocks, however, given the lower SOC decomposition rate in saline soils, salt tolerant plants could be used to sequester C in salt-affected areas. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Americans misperceive racial economic equality

PubMed Central

Kraus, Michael W.; Rucker, Julian M.; Richeson, Jennifer A.

2017-01-01

The present research documents the widespread misperception of race-based economic equality in the United States. Across four studies (n = 1,377) sampling White and Black Americans from the top and bottom of the national income distribution, participants overestimated progress toward Black–White economic equality, largely driven by estimates of greater current equality than actually exists according to national statistics. Overestimates of current levels of racial economic equality, on average, outstripped reality by roughly 25% and were predicted by greater belief in a just world and social network racial diversity (among Black participants). Whereas high-income White respondents tended to overestimate racial economic equality in the past, Black respondents, on average, underestimated the degree of past racial economic equality. Two follow-up experiments further revealed that making societal racial discrimination salient increased the accuracy of Whites’ estimates of Black–White economic equality, whereas encouraging Whites to anchor their estimates on their own circumstances increased their tendency to overestimate current racial economic equality. Overall, these findings suggest a profound misperception of and unfounded optimism regarding societal race-based economic equality—a misperception that is likely to have any number of important policy implications. PMID:28923915

Americans misperceive racial economic equality.

PubMed

Kraus, Michael W; Rucker, Julian M; Richeson, Jennifer A

2017-09-26

The present research documents the widespread misperception of race-based economic equality in the United States. Across four studies ( n = 1,377) sampling White and Black Americans from the top and bottom of the national income distribution, participants overestimated progress toward Black-White economic equality, largely driven by estimates of greater current equality than actually exists according to national statistics. Overestimates of current levels of racial economic equality, on average, outstripped reality by roughly 25% and were predicted by greater belief in a just world and social network racial diversity (among Black participants). Whereas high-income White respondents tended to overestimate racial economic equality in the past, Black respondents, on average, underestimated the degree of past racial economic equality. Two follow-up experiments further revealed that making societal racial discrimination salient increased the accuracy of Whites' estimates of Black-White economic equality, whereas encouraging Whites to anchor their estimates on their own circumstances increased their tendency to overestimate current racial economic equality. Overall, these findings suggest a profound misperception of and unfounded optimism regarding societal race-based economic equality-a misperception that is likely to have any number of important policy implications.

The impact of conservation on the status of the world's vertebrates

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hoffmann, Michael; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Angulo, Ariadne; Bohm, Monika; Brooks, Thomas M.; Butchart, Stuart H.M.; Carpenter, Kent E.; Chanson, Janice; Collen, Ben; Cox, Neil A.; Darwall, William R.T.; Dulvy, Nicholas K.; Harrison, Lucy R.; Katariya, Vineet; Pollock, Caroline M.; Quader, Suhel; Richman, Nadia I.; Rodrigues, Ana S.L.; Tognelli, Marcelo F.; Vie, Jean-Christophe; Aguiar, John M.; Allen, David J.; Allen, Gerald R.; Amori, Giovanni; Ananjeva, Natalia B.; Androene, Franco; Andrew, Paul; Ortiz, Aida Luz Aquino; Baillie, Jonathan E.M.; Baldi, Ricardo; Bell, Ben D.; Biju, S.D.; Bird, Jeremy P.; Black-Decima, Patricia; Blanc, J. Julian; Bolaños, Federico; Bolivar-G., Wilmar; Burfield, Ian J.; Burton, James A.; Capper, David R.; Castro, Fernando; Catullo, Gianluca; Cavanagh, Rachel D.; Channing, Alan; Chao, Ning Labbish; Chenery, Anna M.; Chiozza, Federica; Clausnitzer, Viola; Collar, Nigel J.; Collett, Leah C.; Collette, Bruce B.; Cortez Fernandez, Claudia F.; Craig, Matthew T.; Crosby, Michael J.; Cumberlidge, Neil; Cuttelod, Annabelle; Derocher, Andrew E.; Diesmos, Arvin C.; Donaldson, John S.; Duckworth, J.W.; Dutson, Guy; Dutta, S.K.; Emslie, Richard H.; Farjon, Aljos; Fowler, Sarah; Freyhof, Jorg; Garshelis, David L.; Gerlach, Justin; Gower, David J.; Grant, Tandora D.; Hammerson, Geoffrey A.; Harris, Richard B.; Heaney, Lawrence R.; Hedges, S. Blair; Hero, Jean-Marc; Hughes, Baz; Hussain, Syed Ainul; Icochea, Javier M.; Inger, Robert F.; Ishii, Nobuo; Iskandar, Djoko T.; Jenkins, Richard K.B.; Kaneko, Yoshio; Kottelat, Maurice; Kovacs, Kit M.; Kuzmin, Sergius L.; La Marca, Enrique; Lamoreux, John F.; Lau, Michael W.N.; Lavilla, Esteban O.; Leus, Kristin; Lewison, Rebecca L.; Lichtenstein, Gabriela; Livingstone, Suzanne R.; Lukoschek, Vimoksolehi; Mallon, David P.; McGowan, Philip J.K.; McIvor, Anna; Moehlman, Patricia D.; Molur, Sanjay; Alonso, Antonio Muñoz; Musick, John A.; Nowell, Kristin; Nussbaum, Ronald A.; Olech, Wanda; Orlov, Nikolay L.; Papenfuss, Theodore J.; Parra-Olea, Gabriela; Perrin, William F.; Polidoro, Beth A.; Pourkazemi, Mohammad; Racey, Paul A.; Ragle, James S.; Ram, Mala; Rathbun, Galen; Reynolds, Robert P.; Rhodin, Anders G.J.; Richards, Stephen J.; Rodriguez, Lily O.; Ron, Santiago R.; Rondinini, Carlo; Rylands, Anthony B.; de Mitcheson, Yvonne Sadovy; Sanciangco, Jonnell C.; Sanders, Kate L.; Santos-Barrera, Georgina; Schipper, Jan; Self-Sullivan, Caryn; Shi, Yichuan; Shoemaker, Alan; Short, Frederick T.; Sillero-Zubiri, Claudio; Silvano, Debora L.; Smith, Kevin G.; Smith, Andrew T.; Snoeks, Jos; Stattersfield, Alison J.; Symes, Andrew J.; Taber, Andrew B.; Talukdar, Bibhab K.; Temple, Helen J.; Timmins, Rob; Tobias, Joseph A.; Tsytsulina, Katerina; Tweddle, Denis; Ubeda, Carmen; Valenti, Sarah V.; van Dijk, Peter Paul; Veiga, Liza M.; Veloso, Alberto; Wege, David C.; Wilkinson, Mark; Williamson, Elizabeth A.; Xie, Feng; Young, Bruce E.; Akcakaya, H. Resit; Bennun, Leon; Blackburn, Tim M.; Boitani, Luigi; Dublin, Holly T.; da Fonseca, Gustavo A. B.; Gascon, Claude; Lacher, Thomas E.; Mace, Georgina M.; Mainka, Susan A.; McNeely, Jeffery A.; Mittermeier, Russell A.; Reid, Gordon McGregor; Rodriguez, Jon Paul; Rosenberg, Andrew A.; Samways, Michael J.; Smart, Jane; Stein, Bruce A.; Stuart, Simon N.

2010-01-01

Using data for 25,780 species categorized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, we present an assessment of the status of the world's vertebrates. One-fifth of species are classified as Threatened, and we show that this figure is increasing: On average, 52 species of mammals, birds, and amphibians move one category closer to extinction each year. However, this overall pattern conceals the impact of conservation successes, and we show that the rate of deterioration would have been at least one-fifth again as much in the absence of these. Nonetheless, current conservation efforts remain insufficient to offset the main drivers of biodiversity loss in these groups: agricultural expansion, logging, overexploitation, and invasive alien species.

Optical mapping of prefrontal brain connectivity and activation during emotion anticipation.

PubMed

Wang, Meng-Yun; Lu, Feng-Mei; Hu, Zhishan; Zhang, Juan; Yuan, Zhen

2018-09-17

Accumulated neuroimaging evidence shows that the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is activated during emotion anticipation. The aim of this work is to examine the brain connectivity and activation differences in dlPFC between the positive, neutral and negative emotion anticipation by using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The hemodynamic responses were first assessed for all subjects during the performance of various emotion anticipation tasks. And then small-world analysis was performed, in which the small-world network indicators including the clustering coefficient, average path length, average node degree, and measure of small-world index were calculated for the functional brain networks associated with the positive, neutral and negative emotion anticipation, respectively. We discovered that compared to negative and neutral emotion anticipation, the positive one exhibited enhanced brain activation in the left dlPFC. Although the functional brain networks for the three emotion anticipation cases manifested the small-world properties regarding the clustering coefficient, average path length, average node degree, and measure of small-world index, the positive one showed significantly higher clustering coefficient and shorter average path length than those from the neutral and negative cases. Consequently, the small-world network indicators and brain activation in dlPPC were able to distinguish well between the positive, neutral and negative emotion anticipation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

EEG-based cognitive load of processing events in 3D virtual worlds is lower than processing events in 2D displays.

PubMed

Dan, Alex; Reiner, Miriam

2017-12-01

Interacting with 2D displays, such as computer screens, smartphones, and TV, is currently a part of our daily routine; however, our visual system is built for processing 3D worlds. We examined the cognitive load associated with a simple and a complex task of learning paper-folding (origami) by observing 2D or stereoscopic 3D displays. While connected to an electroencephalogram (EEG) system, participants watched a 2D video of an instructor demonstrating the paper-folding tasks, followed by a stereoscopic 3D projection of the same instructor (a digital avatar) illustrating identical tasks. We recorded the power of alpha and theta oscillations and calculated the cognitive load index (CLI) as the ratio of the average power of frontal theta (Fz.) and parietal alpha (Pz). The results showed a significantly higher cognitive load index associated with processing the 2D projection as compared to the 3D projection; additionally, changes in the average theta Fz power were larger for the 2D conditions as compared to the 3D conditions, while alpha average Pz power values were similar for 2D and 3D conditions for the less complex task and higher in the 3D state for the more complex task. The cognitive load index was lower for the easier task and higher for the more complex task in 2D and 3D. In addition, participants with lower spatial abilities benefited more from the 3D compared to the 2D display. These findings have implications for understanding cognitive processing associated with 2D and 3D worlds and for employing stereoscopic 3D technology over 2D displays in designing emerging virtual and augmented reality applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Perovskite Photovoltaics: The Path to a Printable Terawatt-Scale Technology

DOE PAGES

Berry, Joseph J.; van de Lagemaat, Jao; Al-Jassim, Mowafak M.; ...

2017-10-16

Abundant, low-cost, reliable, and clean energy is critical not just to maintain but also to improve the living conditions across the globe. Because of the world's unrelenting population and GDP growth that is only slightly offset by reductions in energy intensity per $ of GDP, it has been estimated that by 2050 the world will consume an average of 30 Terawatts (TW) of total (i.e., not just electricity) energy, of which, assuming no current generation capacity retires, at least between 10-15 TW will be completely new capacity. Addressing this 'Terawatt challenge', a term originally coined by Richard Smalley in 2004,more » in a nonpolluting and sustainable way is integral to addressing socioeconomic needs in both industrial and rapidly developing countries worldwide. In conjunction with ongoing electrification of the energy system, the vastness of the available solar resource will provide a solution to the world's energy needs if we can develop sufficiently low-cost, high-performance, and massively scalable photovoltaic (PV) technology.« less

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

Berry, Joseph J.; van de Lagemaat, Jao; Al-Jassim, Mowafak M.

Abundant, low-cost, reliable, and clean energy is critical not just to maintain but also to improve the living conditions across the globe. Because of the world's unrelenting population and GDP growth that is only slightly offset by reductions in energy intensity per $ of GDP, it has been estimated that by 2050 the world will consume an average of 30 Terawatts (TW) of total (i.e., not just electricity) energy, of which, assuming no current generation capacity retires, at least between 10-15 TW will be completely new capacity. Addressing this 'Terawatt challenge', a term originally coined by Richard Smalley in 2004,more » in a nonpolluting and sustainable way is integral to addressing socioeconomic needs in both industrial and rapidly developing countries worldwide. In conjunction with ongoing electrification of the energy system, the vastness of the available solar resource will provide a solution to the world's energy needs if we can develop sufficiently low-cost, high-performance, and massively scalable photovoltaic (PV) technology.« less

Physicians' real-world experience with IDegLira: results of a European survey.

PubMed

Drummond, Russell; Baru, Ankita; Dutkiewicz, Marcelina; Basse, Amaury; Tengmark, Bengt-Olov

2018-01-01

This study aimed to build on the current clinical findings and investigate physicians' experiences and level of satisfaction in using insulin degludec/liraglutide (IDegLira) to treat patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). This multicountry, European online survey included respondents from primary (n=132) and secondary (n=103) care and examined physicians' use, confidence and satisfaction with IDegLira. To standardize responses, 24 of 28 questions pertained to an 'average patient' with T2D who has no major comorbidities, aged 35-70 years, with average cognitive ability/normal mental status and body mass index ≥25 kg/m 2 . The majority (70%) of respondents prescribe IDegLira in the same visit they first mention it, with uncontrolled glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (44%) and weight gain (22%) being the most common reasons. On average, physicians reported that patients weighed 95 kg and the HbA1c level was 9.0% at initiation. Physicians also reported the average HbA1c target set was 7.1%; 76% of patients achieved their target. On average, patients achieved their HbA1c target in <6 months, and the average dose of IDegLira in patients in glycemic control was 28 dose steps. Respondents were more satisfied with IDegLira than basal-bolus therapy across all parameters assessed, including reaching HbA1c targets (59%), number of injections (77%) and avoiding weight gain (84%). Correspondingly, 77% of physicians reported that IDegLira had more potential to improve patient motivation compared with basal-bolus to reach target blood glucose levels. Real-world experience of IDegLira is consistent with previous trials/studies, with no major differences between primary and secondary care. Importantly, the majority of respondents were more/much more satisfied with IDegLira than with basal-bolus therapy.

Secure Biometric Multi-Logon System Based on Current Authentication Technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tait, Bobby L.

The need for accurate authentication in the current IT world is of utmost importance. Users rely on current IT technologies to facilitate in day to day interactions with nearly all environments. Strong authentication technologies like the various biometric technologies have been in existence for many years. Many of these technologies, for instance fingerprint biometrics, have reached maturity. However, passwords and pins are still the most commonly used authentication mechanisms at this stage. An average user has to be authenticated in various situations during daily interaction with his or her environment, by means of a pin or a password. This results in many different passwords and pins that the user has to remember. The user will eventually either start documenting these passwords and pins, or often, simply use the same password and pin for all authentication situations.

Dispersal scaling from the world's rivers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warrick, J.A.; Fong, D.A.

2004-01-01

Although rivers provide important biogeochemical inputs to oceans, there are currently no descriptive or predictive relationships of the spatial scales of these river influences. Our combined satellite, laboratory, field and modeling results show that the coastal dispersal areas of small, mountainous rivers exhibit remarkable self-similar scaling relationships over many orders of magnitude. River plume areas scale with source drainage area to a power significantly less than one (average = 0.65), and this power relationship decreases significantly with distance offshore of the river mouth. Observations of plumes from large rivers reveal that this scaling continues over six orders of magnitude of river drainage basin areas. This suggests that the cumulative area of coastal influence for many of the smallest rivers of the world is greater than that of single rivers of equal watershed size. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.

On the topology of the world exchange arrangements web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiang; Jin, Yu Ying; Chen, Guanrong

2004-11-01

Exchange arrangements among different countries over the world are foundations of the world economy, which generally stand behind the daily economic evolution. As the first study of the world exchange arrangements web (WEAW), we built a bipartite network with countries as one type of nodes and currencies as the other, and found it to have a prominent scale-free feature with a power-law degree distribution. In a further empirical study of the currency section of the WEAW, we calculated the clustering coefficients, average nearest-neighbors degree, and average shortest distance. As an essential economic network, the WEAW is found to be a correlated disassortative network with a hierarchical structure, possessing a more prominent scale-free feature than the world trade web (WTW).

A long-time limit for world subway networks.

PubMed

Roth, Camille; Kang, Soong Moon; Batty, Michael; Barthelemy, Marc

2012-10-07

We study the temporal evolution of the structure of the world's largest subway networks in an exploratory manner. We show that, remarkably, all these networks converge to a shape that shares similar generic features despite their geographical and economic differences. This limiting shape is made of a core with branches radiating from it. For most of these networks, the average degree of a node (station) within the core has a value of order 2.5 and the proportion of k = 2 nodes in the core is larger than 60 per cent. The number of branches scales roughly as the square root of the number of stations, the current proportion of branches represents about half of the total number of stations, and the average diameter of branches is about twice the average radial extension of the core. Spatial measures such as the number of stations at a given distance to the barycentre display a first regime which grows as r(2) followed by another regime with different exponents, and eventually saturates. These results--difficult to interpret in the framework of fractal geometry--confirm and yield a natural explanation in the geometric picture of this core and their branches: the first regime corresponds to a uniform core, while the second regime is controlled by the interstation spacing on branches. The apparent convergence towards a unique network shape in the temporal limit suggests the existence of dominant, universal mechanisms governing the evolution of these structures.

A long-time limit for world subway networks

PubMed Central

Roth, Camille; Kang, Soong Moon; Batty, Michael; Barthelemy, Marc

2012-01-01

We study the temporal evolution of the structure of the world's largest subway networks in an exploratory manner. We show that, remarkably, all these networks converge to a shape that shares similar generic features despite their geographical and economic differences. This limiting shape is made of a core with branches radiating from it. For most of these networks, the average degree of a node (station) within the core has a value of order 2.5 and the proportion of k = 2 nodes in the core is larger than 60 per cent. The number of branches scales roughly as the square root of the number of stations, the current proportion of branches represents about half of the total number of stations, and the average diameter of branches is about twice the average radial extension of the core. Spatial measures such as the number of stations at a given distance to the barycentre display a first regime which grows as r2 followed by another regime with different exponents, and eventually saturates. These results—difficult to interpret in the framework of fractal geometry—confirm and yield a natural explanation in the geometric picture of this core and their branches: the first regime corresponds to a uniform core, while the second regime is controlled by the interstation spacing on branches. The apparent convergence towards a unique network shape in the temporal limit suggests the existence of dominant, universal mechanisms governing the evolution of these structures. PMID:22593096

High-precision half-life measurements of the T =1 /2 mirror β decays 17F and 33Cl

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grinyer, J.; Grinyer, G. F.; Babo, M.; Bouzomita, H.; Chauveau, P.; Delahaye, P.; Dubois, M.; Frigot, R.; Jardin, P.; Leboucher, C.; Maunoury, L.; Seiffert, C.; Thomas, J. C.; Traykov, E.

2015-10-01

Background: Measurements of the f t values for T =1 /2 mirror β+ decays offer a method to test the conserved vector current hypothesis and to determine Vud, the up-down matrix element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. In most mirror decays used for these tests, uncertainties in the f t values are dominated by the uncertainties in the half-lives. Purpose: Two precision half-life measurements were performed for the T =1 /2 β+ emitters, 17F and 33Cl, in order to eliminate the half-life as the leading source of uncertainty in their f t values. Method: Half-lives of 17F and 33Cl were determined using β counting of implanted radioactive ion beam samples on a moving tape transport system at the Système de Production d'Ions Radioactifs Accélérés en Ligne low-energy identification station at the Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds. Results: The 17F half-life result, 64.347 (35) s, precise to ±0.05 % , is a factor of 5 times more precise than the previous world average. The half-life of 33Cl was determined to be 2.5038 (22) s. The current precision of ±0.09 % is nearly 2 times more precise compared to the previous world average. Conclusions: The precision achieved during the present measurements implies that the half-life no longer dominates the uncertainty of the f t values for both T =1 /2 mirror decays 17F and 33Cl.

Importance of disturbance history on net primary productivity in the world's most productive forests and implications for the global carbon cycle.

PubMed

Volkova, Liubov; Roxburgh, Stephen H; Weston, Christopher J; Benyon, Richard G; Sullivan, Andrew L; Polglase, Philip J

2018-05-14

Analysis of growth and biomass turnover in natural forests of Eucalyptus regnans, the world's tallest angiosperm, reveals it is also the world's most productive forest type, with fire disturbance an important mediator of net primary productivity (NPP). A comprehensive empirical database was used to calculate the averaged temporal pattern of NPP from regeneration to 250 years age. NPP peaks at 23.1 ± 3.8 (95% interquantile range) Mg C ha -1  year -1 at age 14 years, and declines gradually to about 9.2 ± 0.8 Mg C ha -1  year -1 at 130 years, with an average NPP over 250 years of 11.4 ± 1.1 Mg C ha -1  year -1 , a value similar to the most productive temperate and tropical forests around the world. We then applied the age-class distribution of E. regnans resulting from relatively recent historical fires to estimate current NPP for the forest estate. Values of NPP were 40% higher (13 Mg C ha -1  year -1 ) than if forests were assumed to be at maturity (9.2 Mg C ha -1  year -1 ). The empirically derived NPP time series for the E. regnans estate was then compared against predictions from 21 global circulation models, showing that none of them had the capacity to simulate a post-disturbance peak in NPP, as found in E. regnans. The potential importance of disturbance impacts on NPP was further tested by applying a similar approach to the temperate forests of conterminous United States and of China. Allowing for the effects of disturbance, NPP summed across both regions was on average 11% (or 194 Tg C/year) greater than if all forests were assumed to be in a mature state. The results illustrate the importance of accounting for past disturbance history and growth stage when estimating forest primary productivity, with implications for carbon balance modelling at local to global scales. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

What would have happened to the ozone layer if chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) had not been regulated?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oman, L.; Newman, P. A.; Douglass, A. R.; Fleming, E. L.; Frith, S. M.; Hurwitz, M.; Kawa, S. R.; Jackman, C. H.; Krotkov, N. A.; Nash, E. R.; Nielsen, J. E.; Pawson, S.; Stolarski, R. S.; Velders, G. J.

2010-12-01

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was negotiated in 1987 and by 2010 had been signed by all of the nations of the world. In this presentation we use a fully coupled radiation-chemical-dynamical model to simulate a future world where ozone depletion substances (ODSs) were never regulated. In this “world avoided” simulation, ODS levels increase by 3% per year. From 1980 to 2020 we find that 17% of the globally average column ozone is destroyed, and from 1980 to 2065 67% is destroyed. Severe polar depletions (e.g., the Antarctic ozone hole) become year-round rather than just seasonal. Ozone levels in the tropical lower stratosphere remain constant until about 2053 and then collapse to near zero by 2058 as a result of heterogeneous chemical processes (as currently observed in the Antarctic ozone hole). The tropical cooling that triggers the ozone collapse is caused by an increase of the tropical lower stratospheric upwelling. In response to ozone changes, ultraviolet (UV) radiation increases, tripling the erythemal (sunburn) radiation in the northern summer mid-latitudes by 2065.

Bioactive Potential of Andean Fruits, Seeds, and Tubers.

PubMed

Campos, David; Chirinos, Rosana; Gálvez Ranilla, Lena; Pedreschi, Romina

2018-01-01

The Andes is considered the longest continental mountain range in the world. It covers 7000km long and about 200-700km wide and an average height of about 4000m. Very unique plant species are endemic of this area including fruits (e.g., lucuma, cherimoya, sweet pepino, sauco), roots and tubers (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yacón, chicuru, mashua, olluco, etc.), and seeds (quinoa, amaranth, tarwi, etc.). These crops have been used for centuries by the native population and relatively recently have gained the world attention due to the wide range of nutrients and/or phytochemicals they possess. In this chapter, main Andean fruits, seeds, and roots and tubers have been selected and detailed nutritional and functional information is provided. In addition, traditional and current uses are provided and their bioactive potential is reported based on published scientific literature. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

WaterWatch - Maps, graphs, and tables of current, recent, and past streamflow conditions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jian, Xiaodong; Wolock, David; Lins, Harry F.

2008-01-01

WaterWatch (http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/) is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) World Wide Web site that dis­plays maps, graphs, and tables describing real-time, recent, and past streamflow conditions for the United States. The real-time information generally is updated on an hourly basis. WaterWatch provides streamgage-based maps that show the location of more than 3,000 long-term (30 years or more) USGS streamgages; use colors to represent streamflow conditions compared to historical streamflow; feature a point-and-click interface allowing users to retrieve graphs of stream stage (water elevation) and flow; and highlight locations where extreme hydrologic events, such as floods and droughts, are occurring.The streamgage-based maps show streamflow conditions for real-time, average daily, and 7-day average streamflow. The real-time streamflow maps highlight flood and high flow conditions. The 7-day average streamflow maps highlight below-normal and drought conditions.WaterWatch also provides hydrologic unit code (HUC) maps. HUC-based maps are derived from the streamgage-based maps and illustrate streamflow conditions in hydrologic regions. These maps show average streamflow conditions for 1-, 7-, 14-, and 28-day periods, and for monthly average streamflow; highlight regions of low flow or hydrologic drought; and provide historical runoff and streamflow conditions beginning in 1901.WaterWatch summarizes streamflow conditions in a region (state or hydrologic unit) in terms of the long-term typical condition at streamgages in the region. Summary tables are provided along with time-series plots that depict variations through time. WaterWatch also includes tables of current streamflow information and locations of flooding.

Current trends in health insurance systems: OECD countries vs. Japan.

PubMed

Sasaki, Toshiyuki; Izawa, Masahiro; Okada, Yoshikazu

2015-01-01

Over the past few decades, the longest extension in life expectancy in the world has been observed in Japan. However, the sophistication of medical care and the expansion of the aging society, leads to continuous increase in health-care costs. Medical expenses as a part of gross domestic product (GDP) in Japan are exceeding the current Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average, challenging the universally, equally provided low cost health care existing in the past. A universal health insurance system is becoming a common system currently in developed countries, currently a similar system is being introduced in the United States. Medical care in Japan is under a social insurance system, but the injection of public funds for medical costs becomes very expensive for the Japanese society. In spite of some urgently decided measures to cover the high cost of advanced medical treatment, declining birthrate and aging population and the tendency to reduce hospital and outpatients' visits numbers and shorten hospital stays, medical expenses of Japan continue to be increasing.

Decadal Variation of the Number of El Nino Onsets and El Nino-Related Months and Estimating the Likelihood of El Nino Onset in a Warming World

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Robert M.

2009-01-01

Examination of the decadal variation of the number of El Nino onsets and El Nino-related months for the interval 1950-2008 clearly shows that the variation is better explained as one expressing normal fluctuation and not one related to global warming. Comparison of the recurrence periods for El Nino onsets against event durations for moderate/strong El Nino events results in a statistically important relationship that allows for the possible prediction of the onset for the next anticipated El Nino event. Because the last known El Nino was a moderate event of short duration (6 months), having onset in August 2006, unless it is a statistical outlier, one expects the next onset of El Nino probably in the latter half of 2009, with peak following in November 2009-January 2010. If true, then initial early extended forecasts of frequencies of tropical cyclones for the 2009 North Atlantic basin hurricane season probably should be revised slightly downward from near average-to-above average numbers to near average-to-below average numbers of tropical cyclones in 2009, especially as compared to averages since 1995, the beginning of the current high-activity interval for tropical cyclone activity.

Measurement of the eta'-meson mass using J/psi-->gammaeta'.

PubMed

Libby, J; Martin, L; Powell, A; Wilkinson, G; Ecklund, K M; Love, W; Savinov, V; Mendez, H; Ge, J Y; Miller, D H; Shipsey, I P J; Xin, B; Adams, G S; Anderson, M; Cummings, J P; Danko, I; Hu, D; Moziak, B; Napolitano, J; He, Q; Insler, J; Muramatsu, H; Park, C S; Thorndike, E H; Yang, F; Artuso, M; Blusk, S; Khalil, S; Li, J; Mountain, R; Nisar, S; Randrianarivony, K; Sultana, N; Skwarnicki, T; Stone, S; Wang, J C; Zhang, L M; Bonvicini, G; Cinabro, D; Dubrovin, M; Lincoln, A; Naik, P; Rademacker, J; Asner, D M; Edwards, K W; Reed, J; Briere, R A; Ferguson, T; Tatishvili, G; Vogel, H; Watkins, M E; Rosner, J L; Alexander, J P; Cassel, D G; Duboscq, J E; Ehrlich, R; Fields, L; Galik, R S; Gibbons, L; Gray, R; Gray, S W; Hartill, D L; Heltsley, B K; Hertz, D; Hunt, J M; Kandaswamy, J; Kreinick, D L; Kuznetsov, V E; Ledoux, J; Mahlke-Krüger, H; Mohapatra, D; Onyisi, P U E; Patterson, J R; Peterson, D; Riley, D; Ryd, A; Sadoff, A J; Shi, X; Stroiney, S; Sun, W M; Wilksen, T; Athar, S B; Patel, R; Yelton, J; Rubin, P; Eisenstein, B I; Karliner, I; Mehrabyan, S; Lowrey, N; Selen, M; White, E J; Wiss, J; Mitchell, R E; Shepherd, M R; Besson, D; Pedlar, T K; Cronin-Hennessy, D; Gao, K Y; Hietala, J; Kubota, Y; Klein, T; Lang, B W; Poling, R; Scott, A W; Zweber, P; Dobbs, S; Metreveli, Z; Seth, K K; Tomaradze, A

2008-10-31

We measure the mass of the eta;{'} meson using psi(2S)-->pi;{+}pi;{-}J/psi, J/psi-->gammaeta;{'} events acquired with the CLEO-c detector operating at the CESR e;{+}e;{-} collider. Using three decay modes, eta;{'}-->rho;{0}gamma, eta;{'}-->pi;{+}pi;{-}eta with eta-->gammagamma, and eta;{'}-->pi;{+}pi;{-}eta with eta-->pi;{+}pi;{-}pi;{0}, we find M_{eta;{'}}=957.793+/-0.054+/-0.036 MeV, in which the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. This result is consistent with but substantially more precise than the current world average.

Stature and body weight growth during adolescence based on longitudinal data of Japanese children born during World War II.

PubMed

Ashizawa, K; Takahashi, C; Yanagisawa, S

1978-09-01

Longitudinal survey data of stature and body weight from age 7 to 17 were obtained for 100 boys and 100 girls during World War II. The growth rates and the average annual increments were compared with those of children born after the war. Growth attained at age 7 as a percentage of that at age 17 is larger in children of the control group, presumably as a result of an improved environment affecting the growth increment. The age at maximum velocity is six months to one year earlier for the current group of children. Although the maximum velocities for both items and sexes are nearly the same in the groups compared, the total increments are larger in the current group of children. Age, distance, and maximum velocity at adolescent growth spurt were obtained for each child. The mean values were compared according to growth patterns and growth attained at age 7. The "increasing type" growth group has the highest velocity at the greatest distance and the oldest age for stature. Children who were taller or heavier at age 7 have velocity peaks with greater distances.

47 CFR 24.53 - Calculation of height above average terrain (HAAT).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... height above mean sea level. (b) Average terrain elevation shall be calculated using elevation data from... Digital Chart of the World (DCW) may be used. (c) Radial average terrain elevation is calculated as the...

47 CFR 24.53 - Calculation of height above average terrain (HAAT).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... height above mean sea level. (b) Average terrain elevation shall be calculated using elevation data from... Digital Chart of the World (DCW) may be used. (c) Radial average terrain elevation is calculated as the...

47 CFR 24.53 - Calculation of height above average terrain (HAAT).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... height above mean sea level. (b) Average terrain elevation shall be calculated using elevation data from... Digital Chart of the World (DCW) may be used. (c) Radial average terrain elevation is calculated as the...

47 CFR 24.53 - Calculation of height above average terrain (HAAT).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... height above mean sea level. (b) Average terrain elevation shall be calculated using elevation data from... Digital Chart of the World (DCW) may be used. (c) Radial average terrain elevation is calculated as the...

47 CFR 24.53 - Calculation of height above average terrain (HAAT).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... height above mean sea level. (b) Average terrain elevation shall be calculated using elevation data from... Digital Chart of the World (DCW) may be used. (c) Radial average terrain elevation is calculated as the...

Use and abuse of medication during 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: a retrospective survey

PubMed Central

Vaso, Martin; Weber, Alexis; Tscholl, Philippe M; Junge, Astrid; Dvorak, Jiri

2015-01-01

Objective To examine the use of medication of top-level male players during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. Design Retrospective survey. Participants/information 736 top level players. Setting The teams’ physicians disclosed a list of the medications used by each player within 72 h before each match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. Outcome measures Average number of medications used per player per match or during the tournament; average number and percentage of players using at least one medication per match or during the tournament. Results 67.0% of all players took various types of medication during the tournament. The most used medications during the tournament were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), by 54.2% of all players, followed by analgaesics (12.6%); β-2 agonists were only used by 0.5%. On average, 0.8 medications per player were used before each match. More players were reported taking medications during the knockout round than during the qualification round (0.36±0.48 vs 0.49±0.50, p<0.001). Players from the South American and Asian Confederations took twice as many medications per match as players from the African Confederation (1.17±1.55 and 1.01±1.26 vs 0.48±0.69, both p<0.001). Conclusions There was high use of NSAIDs during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Although the intake of NSAIDs per match (0.35±0.46 vs 0.31±0.48, p<0.01) in the 2014 FIFA World Cup decreased compared to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the average use was still higher than in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and the average number of all used medications per player remained the same level as 4 years prior, with all its implications for the player's health. More efforts need to be undertaken worldwide in order to reduce the administration of medications in sports, through continuous education for players, starting from a young age, as well as for doctors and paramedics. PMID:26359283

Wind Resource Assessment of Gujarat (India)

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

Draxl, C.; Purkayastha, A.; Parker, Z.

India is one of the largest wind energy markets in the world. In 1986 Gujarat was the first Indian state to install a wind power project. In February 2013, the installed wind capacity in Gujarat was 3,093 MW. Due to the uncertainty around existing wind energy assessments in India, this analysis uses the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate the wind at current hub heights for one year to provide more precise estimates of wind resources in Gujarat. The WRF model allows for accurate simulations of winds near the surface and at heights important for wind energy purposes.more » While previous resource assessments published wind power density, we focus on average wind speeds, which can be converted to wind power densities by the user with methods of their choice. The wind resource estimates in this study show regions with average annual wind speeds of more than 8 m/s.« less

Stratospheric aerosol geoengineering

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

Robock, Alan

2015-03-30

The Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project, conducting climate model experiments with standard stratospheric aerosol injection scenarios, has found that insolation reduction could keep the global average temperature constant, but global average precipitation would reduce, particularly in summer monsoon regions around the world. Temperature changes would also not be uniform; the tropics would cool, but high latitudes would warm, with continuing, but reduced sea ice and ice sheet melting. Temperature extremes would still increase, but not as much as without geoengineering. If geoengineering were halted all at once, there would be rapid temperature and precipitation increases at 5–10 times the rates frommore » gradual global warming. The prospect of geoengineering working may reduce the current drive toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and there are concerns about commercial or military control. Because geoengineering cannot safely address climate change, global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt are crucial to address anthropogenic global warming.« less

Third World experiences in health planning.

PubMed

Molina-Guzman, G

1979-01-01

In response to an invitation by the American Public Health Association, the author discusses his experiences in health work with particular reference to the Third World. These cover a period of four decades of activities in many countries, the discussion being primarily directed toward the North American audience attending the panel organized by the International Health Committee at the 104th Annual Meeting of the Association in Miami Beach in October 1976. First the paper deals with the legacy of broad social teaching resulting from the years of international collaboration from the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt to that of Richard Nixon. Public health problems, whether new or old, are essentially social in character and can only be solved in terms of social policy. Attention is directed to the current mistake of placing the emphasis on individual behavior, divorced from its social base, in the work of health professionals servings in Third World countries. The weakness of national average values and the consequent need of measuring the differentials between social groups and classes are widely illustrated. Finally, positive and negative lessons learned by experimenting with health technology consistent with the expected development of countries are examined as a basis for a genuinely emancipatory approach to the health problems in the Third World.

Molecular insights of genetic variation in milk thistle (Silybum marianum [L.] Gaertn.) populations collected from southwest Iran.

PubMed

Rafizadeh, Azam; Koohi-Dehkordi, Mehrana; Sorkheh, Karim

2018-06-07

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is among the world's popular medicinal plants. Start Codon Targeted (SCoT) marker system was utilized to investigate the genetic variability of 80 S. marianum genotypes from eight populations in Iran. SCoT marker produced 255 amplicons and 84.03% polymorphism was generated. The SCoT marker system's polymorphism information content value was 0.43. The primers' resolving power values were between 4.18 and 7.84. The percentage of polymorphic bands was between 33.3 and 100%. The Nei's gene diversity (h) was 0.19-1.30 with an average 0.72. The Shannon's index (I) ranged from 0.29 to 1.38 with an average value of 0.83. The average gene flow (0.37) demonstrated a high genetic variation among the studied populations. The variation of 42% was displayed by the molecular variance analysis among the populations while a recorded variation of 58% was made within the populations. Current investigation suggested that SCoT marker system could effectively evaluate milk thistle genotypes genetic diversity.

What would have happened to the ozone layer if chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) had not been regulated?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newman, P. A.; Oman, L. D.; Douglass, A. R.; Fleming, E. L.; Frith, S. M.; Hurwitz, M. M.; Kawa, S. R.; Jackman, C. H.; Krotkov, N. A.; Nash, E. R.; Nielsen, J. E.; Pawson, S.; Stolarski, R. S.; Velders, G. J.

2008-12-01

Ozone depletion by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) was first proposed by Molina and Rowland in their 1974 Nature paper. Since that time, the scientific connection between ozone losses and CFCs and other ozone depleting substances (ODSs) has been firmly established with laboratory measurements, atmospheric observations, and modeling research. The nations of the world implemented the Montreal Protocol (and amendments) which stopped ODS production in 1992. In this presentation we use a fully coupled radiation- chemical-dynamical model to simulate a future world where ODSs were never regulated and ODS production grew at an annual rate of 3%. In this "world avoided" simulation, 17% of the globally average column ozone is destroyed by 2020, and 67% is destroyed by 2065 in comparison to 1980. Large ozone depletions in the polar region become year-round rather than just seasonal as is currently observed in the Antarctic ozone hole. Very large temperature decreases are observed in response to circulation changes and decreased shortwave radiation absorption by ozone. Ozone levels in the tropical lower stratosphere remain constant until about 2053 and then collapse to near zero by 2058 as a result of heterogeneous chemical processes (as currently observed in the Antarctic ozone hole). The tropical cooling that triggers the ozone collapse is caused by an increase of the tropical upwelling. In response to ozone changes, ultraviolet (UV) radiation increases, tripling the erythemal (sunburn) radiation in the northern summer mid-latitudes by 2065.

Unimodular lattice triangulations as small-world and scale-free random graphs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krüger, B.; Schmidt, E. M.; Mecke, K.

2015-02-01

Real-world networks, e.g., the social relations or world-wide-web graphs, exhibit both small-world and scale-free behaviour. We interpret lattice triangulations as planar graphs by identifying triangulation vertices with graph nodes and one-dimensional simplices with edges. Since these triangulations are ergodic with respect to a certain Pachner flip, applying different Monte Carlo simulations enables us to calculate average properties of random triangulations, as well as canonical ensemble averages, using an energy functional that is approximately the variance of the degree distribution. All considered triangulations have clustering coefficients comparable with real-world graphs; for the canonical ensemble there are inverse temperatures with small shortest path length independent of system size. Tuning the inverse temperature to a quasi-critical value leads to an indication of scale-free behaviour for degrees k≥slant 5. Using triangulations as a random graph model can improve the understanding of real-world networks, especially if the actual distance of the embedded nodes becomes important.

High-Precision Half-Life Measurement for the Superallowed β+ Emitter 22Mg

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunlop, Michelle

2017-09-01

High precision measurements of the Ft values for superallowed Fermi beta transitions between 0+ isobaric analogue states allow for stringent tests of the electroweak interaction. These transitions provide an experimental probe of the Conserved-Vector-Current hypothesis, the most precise determination of the up-down element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix, and set stringent limits on the existence of scalar currents in the weak interaction. To calculate the Ft values several theoretical corrections must be applied to the experimental data, some of which have large model dependent variations. Precise experimental determinations of the ft values can be used to help constrain the different models. The uncertainty in the 22Mg superallowed Ft value is dominated by the uncertainty in the experimental ft value. The adopted half-life of 22Mg is determined from two measurements which disagree with one another, resulting in the inflation of the weighted-average half-life uncertainty by a factor of 2. The 22Mg half-life was measured with a precision of 0.02% via direct β counting at TRIUMF's ISAC facility, leading to an improvement in the world-average half-life by more than a factor of 3.

On the structural properties of small-world networks with range-limited shortcut links

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Tao; Kulkarni, Rahul V.

2013-12-01

We explore a new variant of Small-World Networks (SWNs), in which an additional parameter (r) sets the length scale over which shortcuts are uniformly distributed. When r=0 we have an ordered network, whereas r=1 corresponds to the original Watts-Strogatz SWN model. These limited range SWNs have a similar degree distribution and scaling properties as the original SWN model. We observe the small-world phenomenon for r≪1, indicating that global shortcuts are not necessary for the small-world effect. For limited range SWNs, the average path length changes nonmonotonically with system size, whereas for the original SWN model it increases monotonically. We propose an expression for the average path length for limited range SWNs based on numerical simulations and analytical approximations.

Experimental Guidance for Isospin Symmetry Breaking Calculations via Single Neutron Pickup Reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leach, K. G.; Garrett, P. E.; Bangay, J. C.; Bianco, L.; Demand, G. A.; Finlay, P.; Green, K. L.; Phillips, A. A.; Rand, E. T.; Sumithrarachchi, C. S.; Svensson, C. E.; Triambak, S.; Wong, J.; Ball, G.; Faestermann, T.; Krücken, R.; Hertenberger, R.; Wirth, H.-F.; Towner, I. S.

2013-03-01

Recent activity in superallowed isospin-symmetry-breaking correction calculations has prompted interest in experimental confirmation of these calculation techniques. The shellmodel set of Towner and Hardy (2008) include the opening of specific core orbitals that were previously frozen. This has resulted in significant shifts in some of the δC values, and an improved agreement of the individual corrected {F}t values with the adopted world average of the 13 cases currently included in the high-precision evaluation of Vud. While the nucleus-to-nucleus variation of {F}t is consistent with the conserved-vector-current (CVC) hypothesis of the Standard Model, these new calculations must be thoroughly tested, and guidance must be given for their improvement. Presented here are details of a 64Zn(ěcd, t)63Zn experiment, undertaken to provide such guidance.

Precise measurement of the top quark mass in the dilepton channel at D0.

PubMed

Abazov, V M; Abbott, B; Acharya, B S; Adams, M; Adams, T; Alexeev, G D; Alkhazov, G; Alton, A; Alverson, G; Alves, G A; Ancu, L S; Aoki, M; Arov, M; Askew, A; Åsman, B; Atramentov, O; Avila, C; BackusMayes, J; Badaud, F; Bagby, L; Baldin, B; Bandurin, D V; Banerjee, S; Barberis, E; Baringer, P; Barreto, J; Bartlett, J F; Bassler, U; Bazterra, V; Beale, S; Bean, A; Begalli, M; Begel, M; Belanger-Champagne, C; Bellantoni, L; Beri, S B; Bernardi, G; Bernhard, R; Bertram, I; Besançon, M; Beuselinck, R; Bezzubov, V A; Bhat, P C; Bhatnagar, V; Blazey, G; Blessing, S; Bloom, K; Boehnlein, A; Boline, D; Boos, E E; Borissov, G; Bose, T; Brandt, A; Brandt, O; Brock, R; Brooijmans, G; Bross, A; Brown, D; Brown, J; Bu, X B; Buehler, M; Buescher, V; Bunichev, V; Burdin, S; Burnett, T H; Buszello, C P; Calpas, B; Camacho-Pérez, E; Carrasco-Lizarraga, M A; Casey, B C K; Castilla-Valdez, H; Chakrabarti, S; Chakraborty, D; Chan, K M; Chandra, A; Chen, G; Chevalier-Théry, S; Cho, D K; Cho, S W; Choi, S; Choudhary, B; Cihangir, S; Claes, D; Clutter, J; Cooke, M; Cooper, W E; Corcoran, M; Couderc, F; Cousinou, M-C; Croc, A; Cutts, D; Das, A; Davies, G; De, K; de Jong, S J; De la Cruz-Burelo, E; Déliot, F; Demarteau, M; Demina, R; Denisov, D; Denisov, S P; Desai, S; Deterre, C; DeVaughan, K; Diehl, H T; Diesburg, M; Dominguez, A; Dorland, T; Dubey, A; Dudko, L V; Duggan, D; Duperrin, A; Dutt, S; Dyshkant, A; Eads, M; Edmunds, D; Ellison, J; Elvira, V D; Enari, Y; Evans, H; Evdokimov, A; Evdokimov, V N; Facini, G; Ferbel, T; Fiedler, F; Filthaut, F; Fisher, W; Fisk, H E; Fortner, M; Fox, H; Fuess, S; Garcia-Bellido, A; Gavrilov, V; Gay, P; Geng, W; Gerbaudo, D; Gerber, C E; Gershtein, Y; Ginther, G; Golovanov, G; Goussiou, A; Grannis, P D; Greder, S; Greenlee, H; Greenwood, Z D; Gregores, E M; Grenier, G; Gris, Ph; Grivaz, J-F; Grohsjean, A; Grünendahl, S; Grünewald, M W; Guillemin, T; Guo, F; Gutierrez, G; Gutierrez, P; Haas, A; Hagopian, S; Haley, J; Han, L; Harder, K; Harel, A; Hauptman, J M; Hays, J; Head, T; Hebbeker, T; Hedin, D; Hegab, H; Heinson, A P; Heintz, U; Hensel, C; Heredia-De la Cruz, I; Herner, K; Hesketh, G; Hildreth, M D; Hirosky, R; Hoang, T; Hobbs, J D; Hoeneisen, B; Hohlfeld, M; Hubacek, Z; Huske, N; Hynek, V; Iashvili, I; Illingworth, R; Ito, A S; Jabeen, S; Jaffré, M; Jamin, D; Jayasinghe, A; Jesik, R; Johns, K; Johnson, M; Johnston, D; Jonckheere, A; Jonsson, P; Joshi, J; Jung, A W; Juste, A; Kaadze, K; Kajfasz, E; Karmanov, D; Kasper, P A; Katsanos, I; Kehoe, R; Kermiche, S; Khalatyan, N; Khanov, A; Kharchilava, A; Kharzheev, Y N; Khatidze, D; Kirby, M H; Kohli, J M; Kozelov, A V; Kraus, J; Kulikov, S; Kumar, A; Kupco, A; Kurča, T; Kuzmin, V A; Kvita, J; Lammers, S; Landsberg, G; Lebrun, P; Lee, H S; Lee, S W; Lee, W M; Lellouch, J; Li, L; Li, Q Z; Lietti, S M; Lim, J K; Lincoln, D; Linnemann, J; Lipaev, V V; Lipton, R; Liu, Y; Liu, Z; Lobodenko, A; Lokajicek, M; Lopes de Sa, R; Lubatti, H J; Luna-Garcia, R; Lyon, A L; Maciel, A K A; Mackin, D; Madar, R; Magaña-Villalba, R; Malik, S; Malyshev, V L; Maravin, Y; Martínez-Ortega, J; McCarthy, R; McGivern, C L; Meijer, M M; Melnitchouk, A; Menezes, D; Mercadante, P G; Merkin, M; Meyer, A; Meyer, J; Miconi, F; Mondal, N K; Muanza, G S; Mulhearn, M; Nagy, E; Naimuddin, M; Narain, M; Nayyar, R; Neal, H A; Negret, J P; Neustroev, P; Novaes, S F; Nunnemann, T; Obrant, G; Orduna, J; Osman, N; Osta, J; Otero y Garzón, G J; Padilla, M; Pal, A; Parashar, N; Parihar, V; Park, S K; Parsons, J; Partridge, R; Parua, N; Patwa, A; Penning, B; Perfilov, M; Peters, K; Peters, Y; Petridis, K; Petrillo, G; Pétroff, P; Piegaia, R; Piper, J; Pleier, M-A; Podesta-Lerma, P L M; Podstavkov, V M; Polozov, P; Popov, A V; Prewitt, M; Price, D; Prokopenko, N; Protopopescu, S; Qian, J; Quadt, A; Quinn, B; Rangel, M S; Ranjan, K; Ratoff, P N; Razumov, I; Renkel, P; Rijssenbeek, M; Ripp-Baudot, I; Rizatdinova, F; Rominsky, M; Ross, A; Royon, C; Rubinov, P; Ruchti, R; Safronov, G; Sajot, G; Salcido, P; Sánchez-Hernández, A; Sanders, M P; Sanghi, B; Santos, A S; Savage, G; Sawyer, L; Scanlon, T; Schamberger, R D; Scheglov, Y; Schellman, H; Schliephake, T; Schlobohm, S; Schwanenberger, C; Schwienhorst, R; Sekaric, J; Severini, H; Shabalina, E; Shary, V; Shchukin, A A; Shivpuri, R K; Simak, V; Sirotenko, V; Skubic, P; Slattery, P; Smirnov, D; Smith, K J; Snow, G R; Snow, J; Snyder, S; Söldner-Rembold, S; Sonnenschein, L; Soustruznik, K; Stark, J; Stolin, V; Stoyanova, D A; Strauss, M; Strom, D; Stutte, L; Suter, L; Svoisky, P; Takahashi, M; Tanasijczuk, A; Taylor, W; Titov, M; Tokmenin, V V; Tsai, Y-T; Tsybychev, D; Tuchming, B; Tully, C; Uvarov, L; Uvarov, S; Uzunyan, S; Van Kooten, R; van Leeuwen, W M; Varelas, N; Varnes, E W; Vasilyev, I A; Verdier, P; Vertogradov, L S; Verzocchi, M; Vesterinen, M; Vilanova, D; Vokac, P; Wahl, H D; Wang, M H L S; Warchol, J; Watts, G; Wayne, M; Weber, M; Welty-Rieger, L; White, A; Wicke, D; Williams, M R J; Wilson, G W; Wobisch, M; Wood, D R; Wyatt, T R; Xie, Y; Xu, C; Yacoob, S; Yamada, R; Yang, W-C; Yasuda, T; Yatsunenko, Y A; Ye, Z; Yin, H; Yip, K; Youn, S W; Yu, J; Zelitch, S; Zhao, T; Zhou, B; Zhu, J; Zielinski, M; Zieminska, D; Zivkovic, L

2011-08-19

We measure the top quark mass (m(t)) in p ̄p collisions at a center of mass energy √s = 1.96 TeV using dilepton t ̄t→W(+)bW(-) ̄b→ℓ(+)ν(ℓ)bℓ(-) ̄ν(ℓ) ̄b events, where ℓ denotes an electron, a muon, or a tau that decays leptonically. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb(-1) collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We obtain m(t)=174.0±1.8(stat)±2.4(syst) GeV, which is in agreement with the current world average m(t)=173.3±1.1 GeV. This is currently the most precise measurement of m(t) in the dilepton channel. © 2011 American Physical Society

Analysis of Ideal Towers for Tall Wind Applications

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

Dykes, Katherine L; Damiani, Rick R; Roberts, Joseph O

Innovation in wind turbine tower design is of significant interest for future development of wind power plants. First, wind turbine towers account for a large portion of overall capital expenditures for wind power projects. Second, for low wind-resource regions of the world, the use of low-cost tall-tower technology has the potential to open new markets for development. This study investigates the relative potential of various tower configurations in terms of mass and cost. For different market applications and hub heights, idealized tall towers are designed and compared. The results show that innovation in wind turbine controls makes reaching higher hubmore » heights with current technology economically viable. At the same time, new technologies hold promise for reducing tower costs as these technologies mature and hub heights reach twice the current average.« less

Analysis of Ideal Towers for Tall Wind Applications: Preprint

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

Dykes, Katherine L; Damiani, Rick R; Roberts, Joseph O

Innovation in wind turbine tower design is of significant interest for future development of wind power plants. First, wind turbine towers account for a large portion of overall capital expenditures for wind power projects. Second, for low wind-resource regions of the world, the use of low-cost tall-tower technology has the potential to open new markets for development. This study investigates the relative potential of various tower configurations in terms of mass and cost. For different market applications and hub heights, idealized tall towers are designed and compared. The results show that innovation in wind turbine controls makes reaching higher hubmore » heights with current technology economically viable. At the same time, new technologies hold promise for reducing tower costs as these technologies mature and hub heights reach twice the current average.« less

In-use activity, fuel use, and emissions of heavy-duty diesel roll-off refuse trucks.

PubMed

Sandhu, Gurdas S; Frey, H Christopher; Bartelt-Hunt, Shannon; Jones, Elizabeth

2015-03-01

The objectives of this study were to quantify real-world activity, fuel use, and emissions for heavy duty diesel roll-off refuse trucks; evaluate the contribution of duty cycles and emissions controls to variability in cycle average fuel use and emission rates; quantify the effect of vehicle weight on fuel use and emission rates; and compare empirical cycle average emission rates with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's MOVES emission factor model predictions. Measurements were made at 1 Hz on six trucks of model years 2005 to 2012, using onboard systems. The trucks traveled 870 miles, had an average speed of 16 mph, and collected 165 tons of trash. The average fuel economy was 4.4 mpg, which is approximately twice previously reported values for residential trash collection trucks. On average, 50% of time is spent idling and about 58% of emissions occur in urban areas. Newer trucks with selective catalytic reduction and diesel particulate filter had NOx and PM cycle average emission rates that were 80% lower and 95% lower, respectively, compared to older trucks without. On average, the combined can and trash weight was about 55% of chassis weight. The marginal effect of vehicle weight on fuel use and emissions is highest at low loads and decreases as load increases. Among 36 cycle average rates (6 trucks×6 cycles), MOVES-predicted values and estimates based on real-world data have similar relative trends. MOVES-predicted CO2 emissions are similar to those of the real world, while NOx and PM emissions are, on average, 43% lower and 300% higher, respectively. The real-world data presented here can be used to estimate benefits of replacing old trucks with new trucks. Further, the data can be used to improve emission inventories and model predictions. In-use measurements of the real-world activity, fuel use, and emissions of heavy-duty diesel roll-off refuse trucks can be used to improve the accuracy of predictive models, such as MOVES, and emissions inventories. Further, the activity data from this study can be used to generate more representative duty cycles for more accurate chassis dynamometer testing. Comparisons of old and new model year diesel trucks are useful in analyzing the effect of fleet turnover. The analysis of effect of haul weight on fuel use can be used by fleet managers to optimize operations to reduce fuel cost.

Parameter interdependence and uncertainty induced by lumping in a hydrologic model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallagher, Mark R.; Doherty, John

2007-05-01

Throughout the world, watershed modeling is undertaken using lumped parameter hydrologic models that represent real-world processes in a manner that is at once abstract, but nevertheless relies on algorithms that reflect real-world processes and parameters that reflect real-world hydraulic properties. In most cases, values are assigned to the parameters of such models through calibration against flows at watershed outlets. One criterion by which the utility of the model and the success of the calibration process are judged is that realistic values are assigned to parameters through this process. This study employs regularization theory to examine the relationship between lumped parameters and corresponding real-world hydraulic properties. It demonstrates that any kind of parameter lumping or averaging can induce a substantial amount of "structural noise," which devices such as Box-Cox transformation of flows and autoregressive moving average (ARMA) modeling of residuals are unlikely to render homoscedastic and uncorrelated. Furthermore, values estimated for lumped parameters are unlikely to represent average values of the hydraulic properties after which they are named and are often contaminated to a greater or lesser degree by the values of hydraulic properties which they do not purport to represent at all. As a result, the question of how rigidly they should be bounded during the parameter estimation process is still an open one.

Unsafe injections in the developing world and transmission of bloodborne pathogens: a review.

PubMed Central

Simonsen, L.; Kane, A.; Lloyd, J.; Zaffran, M.; Kane, M.

1999-01-01

Unsafe injections are suspected to occur routinely in developing countries. We carried out a literature review to quantify the prevalence of unsafe injections and to assess the disease burden of bloodborne infections attributable to this practice. Quantitative information on injection use and unsafe injections (defined as the reuse of syringe or needle between patients without sterilization) was obtained by reviewing the published literature and unpublished WHO reports. The transmissibility of hepatitis B and C viruses and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was estimated using data from studies of needle-stick injuries. Finally, all epidemiological studies that linked unsafe injections and bloodborne infections were evaluated to assess the attributable burden of bloodborne infections. It was estimated that each person in the developing world receives 1.5 injections per year on average. However, institutionalized children, and children and adults who are ill or hospitalized, including those infected with HIV, are often exposed to 10-100 times as many injections. An average of 95% of all injections are therapeutic, the majority of which were judged to be unnecessary. At least 50% of injections were unsafe in 14 of 19 countries (representing five developing world regions) for which data were available. Eighteen studies reported a convincing link between unsafe injections and the transmission of hepatitis B and C, HIV, Ebola and Lassa virus infections and malaria. Five studies attributed 20-80% of all new hepatitis B infections to unsafe injections, while three implicated unsafe injections as a major mode of transmission of hepatitis C. In conclusion, unsafe injections occur routinely in most developing world regions, implying a significant potential for the transmission of any bloodborne pathogen. Unsafe injections currently account for a significant proportion of all new hepatitis B and C infections. This situation needs to be addressed immediately, as a political and policy issue, with responsibilities clearly defined at the global, country and community levels. PMID:10593026

A precise measurement of the [Formula: see text] meson oscillation frequency.

PubMed

Aaij, R; Abellán Beteta, C; Adeva, B; Adinolfi, M; Affolder, A; Ajaltouni, Z; Akar, S; Albrecht, J; Alessio, F; Alexander, M; Ali, S; Alkhazov, G; Alvarez Cartelle, P; Alves, A A; Amato, S; Amerio, S; Amhis, Y; An, L; Anderlini, L; Anderson, J; Andreassi, G; Andreotti, M; Andrews, J E; Appleby, R B; Aquines Gutierrez, O; Archilli, F; d'Argent, P; Artamonov, A; Artuso, M; Aslanides, E; Auriemma, G; Baalouch, M; Bachmann, S; Back, J J; Badalov, A; Baesso, C; Baldini, W; Barlow, R J; Barschel, C; Barsuk, S; Barter, W; Batozskaya, V; Battista, V; Bay, A; Beaucourt, L; Beddow, J; Bedeschi, F; Bediaga, I; Bel, L J; Bellee, V; Belloli, N; Belyaev, I; Ben-Haim, E; Bencivenni, G; Benson, S; Benton, J; Berezhnoy, A; Bernet, R; Bertolin, A; Bettler, M-O; van Beuzekom, M; Bien, A; Bifani, S; Billoir, P; Bird, T; Birnkraut, A; Bizzeti, A; Blake, T; Blanc, F; Blouw, J; Blusk, S; Bocci, V; Bondar, A; Bondar, N; Bonivento, W; Borghi, S; Borsato, M; Bowcock, T J V; Bowen, E; Bozzi, C; Braun, S; Britsch, M; Britton, T; Brodzicka, J; Brook, N H; Buchanan, E; Bursche, A; Buytaert, J; Cadeddu, S; Calabrese, R; Calvi, M; Calvo Gomez, M; Campana, P; Campora Perez, D; Capriotti, L; Carbone, A; Carboni, G; Cardinale, R; Cardini, A; Carniti, P; Carson, L; Carvalho Akiba, K; Casse, G; Cassina, L; Castillo Garcia, L; Cattaneo, M; Cauet, Ch; Cavallero, G; Cenci, R; Charles, M; Charpentier, Ph; Chefdeville, M; Chen, S; Cheung, S-F; Chiapolini, N; Chrzaszcz, M; Cid Vidal, X; Ciezarek, G; Clarke, P E L; Clemencic, M; Cliff, H V; Closier, J; Coco, V; Cogan, J; Cogneras, E; Cogoni, V; Cojocariu, L; Collazuol, G; Collins, P; Comerma-Montells, A; Contu, A; Cook, A; Coombes, M; Coquereau, S; Corti, G; Corvo, M; Couturier, B; Cowan, G A; Craik, D C; Crocombe, A; Cruz Torres, M; Cunliffe, S; Currie, R; D'Ambrosio, C; Dall'Occo, E; Dalseno, J; David, P N Y; Davis, A; De Aguiar Francisco, O; De Bruyn, K; De Capua, S; De Cian, M; De Miranda, J M; De Paula, L; De Simone, P; Dean, C-T; Decamp, D; Deckenhoff, M; Del Buono, L; Déléage, N; Demmer, M; Derkach, D; Deschamps, O; Dettori, F; Dey, B; Di Canto, A; Di Ruscio, F; Dijkstra, H; Donleavy, S; Dordei, F; Dorigo, M; Dosil Suárez, A; Dossett, D; Dovbnya, A; Dreimanis, K; Dufour, L; Dujany, G; Dupertuis, F; Durante, P; Dzhelyadin, R; Dziurda, A; Dzyuba, A; Easo, S; Egede, U; Egorychev, V; Eidelman, S; Eisenhardt, S; Eitschberger, U; Ekelhof, R; Eklund, L; El Rifai, I; Elsasser, Ch; Ely, S; Esen, S; Evans, H M; Evans, T; Falabella, A; Färber, C; Farley, N; Farry, S; Fay, R; Ferguson, D; Fernandez Albor, V; Ferrari, F; Ferreira Rodrigues, F; Ferro-Luzzi, M; Filippov, S; Fiore, M; Fiorini, M; Firlej, M; Fitzpatrick, C; Fiutowski, T; Fohl, K; Fol, P; Fontana, M; Fontanelli, F; C Forshaw, D; Forty, R; Frank, M; Frei, C; Frosini, M; Fu, J; Furfaro, E; Gallas Torreira, A; Galli, D; Gallorini, S; Gambetta, S; Gandelman, M; Gandini, P; Gao, Y; García Pardiñas, J; Garra Tico, J; Garrido, L; Gascon, D; Gaspar, C; Gauld, R; Gavardi, L; Gazzoni, G; Gerick, D; Gersabeck, E; Gersabeck, M; Gershon, T; Ghez, Ph; Gianì, S; Gibson, V; Girard, O G; Giubega, L; Gligorov, V V; Göbel, C; Golubkov, D; Golutvin, A; Gomes, A; Gotti, C; Grabalosa Gándara, M; Graciani Diaz, R; Granado Cardoso, L A; Graugés, E; Graverini, E; Graziani, G; Grecu, A; Greening, E; Gregson, S; Griffith, P; Grillo, L; Grünberg, O; Gui, B; Gushchin, E; Guz, Yu; Gys, T; Hadavizadeh, T; Hadjivasiliou, C; Haefeli, G; Haen, C; Haines, S C; Hall, S; Hamilton, B; Han, X; Hansmann-Menzemer, S; Harnew, N; Harnew, S T; Harrison, J; He, J; Head, T; Heijne, V; Heister, A; Hennessy, K; Henrard, P; Henry, L; Hernando Morata, J A; van Herwijnen, E; Heß, M; Hicheur, A; Hill, D; Hoballah, M; Hombach, C; Hulsbergen, W; Humair, T; Hussain, N; Hutchcroft, D; Hynds, D; Idzik, M; Ilten, P; Jacobsson, R; Jaeger, A; Jalocha, J; Jans, E; Jawahery, A; Jing, F; John, M; Johnson, D; Jones, C R; Joram, C; Jost, B; Jurik, N; Kandybei, S; Kanso, W; Karacson, M; Karbach, T M; Karodia, S; Kecke, M; Kelsey, M; Kenyon, I R; Kenzie, M; Ketel, T; Khanji, B; Khurewathanakul, C; Kirn, T; Klaver, S; Klimaszewski, K; Kochebina, O; Kolpin, M; Komarov, I; Koopman, R F; Koppenburg, P; Kozeiha, M; Kravchuk, L; Kreplin, K; Kreps, M; Krocker, G; Krokovny, P; Kruse, F; Krzemien, W; Kucewicz, W; Kucharczyk, M; Kudryavtsev, V; K Kuonen, A; Kurek, K; Kvaratskheliya, T; Lacarrere, D; Lafferty, G; Lai, A; Lambert, D; Lanfranchi, G; Langenbruch, C; Langhans, B; Latham, T; Lazzeroni, C; Le Gac, R; van Leerdam, J; Lees, J-P; Lefèvre, R; Leflat, A; Lefrançois, J; Lemos Cid, E; Leroy, O; Lesiak, T; Leverington, B; Li, Y; Likhomanenko, T; Liles, M; Lindner, R; Linn, C; Lionetto, F; Liu, B; Liu, X; Loh, D; Longstaff, I; Lopes, J H; Lucchesi, D; Lucio Martinez, M; Luo, H; Lupato, A; Luppi, E; Lupton, O; Lusardi, N; Lusiani, A; Machefert, F; Maciuc, F; Maev, O; Maguire, K; Malde, S; Malinin, A; Manca, G; Mancinelli, G; Manning, P; Mapelli, A; Maratas, J; Marchand, J F; Marconi, U; Marin Benito, C; Marino, P; Marks, J; Martellotti, G; Martin, M; Martinelli, M; Martinez Santos, D; Martinez Vidal, F; Martins Tostes, D; Massafferri, A; Matev, R; Mathad, A; Mathe, Z; Matteuzzi, C; Mauri, A; Maurin, B; Mazurov, A; McCann, M; McCarthy, J; McNab, A; McNulty, R; Meadows, B; Meier, F; Meissner, M; Melnychuk, D; Merk, M; Michielin, E; Milanes, D A; Minard, M-N; Mitzel, D S; Molina Rodriguez, J; Monroy, I A; Monteil, S; Morandin, M; Morawski, P; Mordà, A; Morello, M J; Moron, J; Morris, A B; Mountain, R; Muheim, F; Müller, D; Müller, J; Müller, K; Müller, V; Mussini, M; Muster, B; Naik, P; Nakada, T; Nandakumar, R; Nandi, A; Nasteva, I; Needham, M; Neri, N; Neubert, S; Neufeld, N; Neuner, M; Nguyen, A D; Nguyen, T D; Nguyen-Mau, C; Niess, V; Niet, R; Nikitin, N; Nikodem, T; Novoselov, A; O'Hanlon, D P; Oblakowska-Mucha, A; Obraztsov, V; Ogilvy, S; Okhrimenko, O; Oldeman, R; Onderwater, C J G; Osorio Rodrigues, B; Otalora Goicochea, J M; Otto, A; Owen, P; Oyanguren, A; Palano, A; Palombo, F; Palutan, M; Panman, J; Papanestis, A; Pappagallo, M; Pappalardo, L L; Pappenheimer, C; Parkes, C; Passaleva, G; Patel, G D; Patel, M; Patrignani, C; Pearce, A; Pellegrino, A; Penso, G; Pepe Altarelli, M; Perazzini, S; Perret, P; Pescatore, L; Petridis, K; Petrolini, A; Petruzzo, M; Picatoste Olloqui, E; Pietrzyk, B; Pilař, T; Pinci, D; Pistone, A; Piucci, A; Playfer, S; Plo Casasus, M; Poikela, T; Polci, F; Poluektov, A; Polyakov, I; Polycarpo, E; Popov, A; Popov, D; Popovici, B; Potterat, C; Price, E; Price, J D; Prisciandaro, J; Pritchard, A; Prouve, C; Pugatch, V; Puig Navarro, A; Punzi, G; Qian, W; Quagliani, R; Rachwal, B; Rademacker, J H; Rama, M; Rangel, M S; Raniuk, I; Rauschmayr, N; Raven, G; Redi, F; Reichert, S; Reid, M M; Dos Reis, A C; Ricciardi, S; Richards, S; Rihl, M; Rinnert, K; Rives Molina, V; Robbe, P; Rodrigues, A B; Rodrigues, E; Rodriguez Lopez, J A; Rodriguez Perez, P; Roiser, S; Romanovsky, V; Romero Vidal, A; W Ronayne, J; Rotondo, M; Rouvinet, J; Ruf, T; Ruiz Valls, P; Saborido Silva, J J; Sagidova, N; Sail, P; Saitta, B; Salustino Guimaraes, V; Sanchez Mayordomo, C; Sanmartin Sedes, B; Santacesaria, R; Santamarina Rios, C; Santimaria, M; Santovetti, E; Sarti, A; Satriano, C; Satta, A; Saunders, D M; Savrina, D; Schael, S; Schiller, M; Schindler, H; Schlupp, M; Schmelling, M; Schmelzer, T; Schmidt, B; Schneider, O; Schopper, A; Schubiger, M; Schune, M-H; Schwemmer, R; Sciascia, B; Sciubba, A; Semennikov, A; Sergi, A; Serra, N; Serrano, J; Sestini, L; Seyfert, P; Shapkin, M; Shapoval, I; Shcheglov, Y; Shears, T; Shekhtman, L; Shevchenko, V; Shires, A; Siddi, B G; Silva Coutinho, R; Silva de Oliveira, L; Simi, G; Sirendi, M; Skidmore, N; Skwarnicki, T; Smith, E; Smith, E; Smith, I T; Smith, J; Smith, M; Snoek, H; Sokoloff, M D; Soler, F J P; Soomro, F; Souza, D; Souza De Paula, B; Spaan, B; Spradlin, P; Sridharan, S; Stagni, F; Stahl, M; Stahl, S; Stefkova, S; Steinkamp, O; Stenyakin, O; Stevenson, S; Stoica, S; Stone, S; Storaci, B; Stracka, S; Straticiuc, M; Straumann, U; Sun, L; Sutcliffe, W; Swientek, K; Swientek, S; Syropoulos, V; Szczekowski, M; Szczypka, P; Szumlak, T; T'Jampens, S; Tayduganov, A; Tekampe, T; Teklishyn, M; Tellarini, G; Teubert, F; Thomas, C; Thomas, E; van Tilburg, J; Tisserand, V; Tobin, M; Todd, J; Tolk, S; Tomassetti, L; Tonelli, D; Topp-Joergensen, S; Torr, N; Tournefier, E; Tourneur, S; Trabelsi, K; Tran, M T; Tresch, M; Trisovic, A; Tsaregorodtsev, A; Tsopelas, P; Tuning, N; Ukleja, A; Ustyuzhanin, A; Uwer, U; Vacca, C; Vagnoni, V; Valenti, G; Vallier, A; Vazquez Gomez, R; Vazquez Regueiro, P; Vázquez Sierra, C; Vecchi, S; van Veghel, M; Velthuis, J J; Veltri, M; Veneziano, G; Vesterinen, M; Viaud, B; Vieira, D; Vieites Diaz, M; Vilasis-Cardona, X; Vollhardt, A; Volyanskyy, D; Voong, D; Vorobyev, A; Vorobyev, V; Voß, C; de Vries, J A; Waldi, R; Wallace, C; Wallace, R; Walsh, J; Wandernoth, S; Wang, J; Ward, D R; Watson, N K; Websdale, D; Weiden, A; Whitehead, M; Wilkinson, G; Wilkinson, M; Williams, M; Williams, M P; Williams, M; Williams, T; Wilson, F F; Wimberley, J; Wishahi, J; Wislicki, W; Witek, M; Wormser, G; Wotton, S A; Wright, S; Wyllie, K; Xie, Y; Xu, Z; Yang, Z; Yu, J; Yuan, X; Yushchenko, O; Zangoli, M; Zavertyaev, M; Zhang, L; Zhang, Y; Zhelezov, A; Zhokhov, A; Zhong, L; Zhukov, V; Zucchelli, S

2016-01-01

The oscillation frequency, [Formula: see text], of [Formula: see text] mesons is measured using semileptonic decays with a [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] meson in the final state. The data sample corresponds to 3.0[Formula: see text] of pp collisions, collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies [Formula: see text] = 7 and 8[Formula: see text]. A combination of the two decay modes gives [Formula: see text], where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This is the most precise single measurement of this parameter. It is consistent with the current world average and has similar precision.

Sleep, serotonin, and suicide in Japan.

PubMed

Kohyama, Jun

2011-01-01

This article reviews evidence supporting the hypothesis that suicide rates in Japan could be reduced by elevating serotonin levels via increasing the average duration of sleep. Seven major relevant findings were apparent in the literature: 1) Sleep loss is associated with suicide, but the direction of causality is equivocal. 2) Decreased serotonergic activity may be involved in suicidal behavior. 3) Sleep debt may decrease serotonergic activity. 4) The suicide rate in Japan has remained at a heightened level for the past 12 years. 5) The average sleep duration in Japan has decreased over the past 40 years. 6) The average sleep duration in Japan is among the lowest in the world. 7) The average sleep duration in Japan plateaued in 1995 and has been relatively stable since. From the research reviewed, two major problematic issues were apparent: 1) Most people in Japan receive inadequate sleep. 2) Individuals whose sleep is inadequate are unlikely to be sufficiently physically active to stimulate serotonergic systems to a desirable level. I propose that public health initiatives encouraging a longer duration of sleep may provide a relatively simple way of addressing the disturbing current trend in Japan. The combination of actigraph and brain serotonin level measurement could allow large population-based cohort studies to be designed, to elucidate the causal links between sleep duration, serotonin levels, and suicide rates.

A paradigm shift for socioeconomic justice and health: from focusing on inequalities to aiming at sustainable equity.

PubMed

Garay, Juan E; Chiriboga, David E

2017-08-01

To measure the 'best possible health for all', incorporating sustainability, and to establish the magnitude of global health inequity. Observational, retrospective. We identified countries with three criteria: (1) a healthy population-life expectancy above world average; (2) living conditions feasible to replicate worldwide-per-capita gross domestic product (GDP-pc) below the world average; and (3) sustainability-per-capita carbon dioxide emissions lower than the planetary pollution boundary. Using these healthy, feasible, and sustainable (HFS) countries as the gold standard, we estimated the burden of global health inequity (BGHiE) in terms of excess deaths, analyzing time-trends (1950-2012) by age, sex, and geographic location. Finally, we defined a global income 'equity zone' and quantified the economic gap needed to achieve global sustainable health equity. A total of 14 countries worldwide met the HFS criteria. Since 1970, there has been a BGHiE of ∼17 million avoidable deaths per year (∼40% of all deaths), with 36 life-years-lost per excess death. Young children and women bore a higher BGHiE, and, in recent years, the highest proportion of avoidable deaths occurred in Africa, India, and the Russian Federation. By 2012, the most efficient HFS countries had a GDP-pc/year of USD$2,165, which we proposed as the lower equity zone threshold. The estimated USD$2.58 trillion economic gap represents 3.6% of the world's GDP-twenty times larger than current total global foreign aid. Sustainable health equity metrics provide a benchmark tool to guide efforts toward transforming overall living conditions, as a means to achieve the 'best possible health for all.' Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Research and collaboration overview of Institut Pasteur International Network: a bibliometric approach toward research funding decisions.

PubMed

Mostafavi, Ehsan; Bazrafshan, Azam

2014-01-01

Institut Pasteur International Network (IPIN), which includes 32 research institutes around the world, is a network of research and expertise to fight against infectious diseases. A scientometric approach was applied to describe research and collaboration activities of IPIN. Publications were identified using a manual search of IPIN member addresses in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) between 2006 and 2011. Total publications were then subcategorized by geographic regions. Several scientometric indicators and the H-index were employed to estimate the scientific production of each IPIN member. Subject and geographical overlay maps were also applied to visualize the network activities of the IPIN members. A total number of 12667 publications originated from IPIN members. Each author produced an average number of 2.18 papers and each publication received an average of 13.40 citations. European Pasteur Institutes had the largest amount of publications, authored papers, and H-index values. Biochemistry and molecular biology, microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases were the most important research topics, respectively. Geographic mapping of IPIN publications showed wide international collaboration among IPIN members around the world. IPIN has strong ties with national and international authorities and organizations to investigate the current and future health issues. It is recommended to use scientometric and collaboration indicators as measures of research performance in IPIN future policies and investment decisions.

Current Trends in Health Insurance Systems: OECD Countries vs. Japan

PubMed Central

SASAKI, Toshiyuki; IZAWA, Masahiro; OKADA, Yoshikazu

2015-01-01

Over the past few decades, the longest extension in life expectancy in the world has been observed in Japan. However, the sophistication of medical care and the expansion of the aging society, leads to continuous increase in health-care costs. Medical expenses as a part of gross domestic product (GDP) in Japan are exceeding the current Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average, challenging the universally, equally provided low cost health care existing in the past. A universal health insurance system is becoming a common system currently in developed countries, currently a similar system is being introduced in the United States. Medical care in Japan is under a social insurance system, but the injection of public funds for medical costs becomes very expensive for the Japanese society. In spite of some urgently decided measures to cover the high cost of advanced medical treatment, declining birthrate and aging population and the tendency to reduce hospital and outpatients’ visits numbers and shorten hospital stays, medical expenses of Japan continue to be increasing. PMID:25797778

20 CFR 404.1350 - Deemed insured status.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

.... (b) Amount of credit given for deemed insured World War II veterans. (1) When we compute a survivor's... the survivor of a World War II veteran, we consider the veteran to have died fully insured as..., through 1950; and (ii) An average monthly wage of $160. (2) If the World War II veteran was fully or...

20 CFR 404.1350 - Deemed insured status.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

.... (b) Amount of credit given for deemed insured World War II veterans. (1) When we compute a survivor's... the survivor of a World War II veteran, we consider the veteran to have died fully insured as..., through 1950; and (ii) An average monthly wage of $160. (2) If the World War II veteran was fully or...

20 CFR 404.1350 - Deemed insured status.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

.... (b) Amount of credit given for deemed insured World War II veterans. (1) When we compute a survivor's... the survivor of a World War II veteran, we consider the veteran to have died fully insured as..., through 1950; and (ii) An average monthly wage of $160. (2) If the World War II veteran was fully or...

20 CFR 404.1350 - Deemed insured status.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

.... (b) Amount of credit given for deemed insured World War II veterans. (1) When we compute a survivor's... the survivor of a World War II veteran, we consider the veteran to have died fully insured as..., through 1950; and (ii) An average monthly wage of $160. (2) If the World War II veteran was fully or...

20 CFR 404.1350 - Deemed insured status.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

.... (b) Amount of credit given for deemed insured World War II veterans. (1) When we compute a survivor's... the survivor of a World War II veteran, we consider the veteran to have died fully insured as..., through 1950; and (ii) An average monthly wage of $160. (2) If the World War II veteran was fully or...

14 CFR 21.4 - ETOPS reporting requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... with more than two engines, the system must be in place for the first 250,000 world fleet engine-hours... place for the first 250,000 world fleet engine-hours for the approved airplane-engine combination and after that until— (i) The world fleet 12-month rolling average IFSD rate is at or below the rate...

Phosphorus Flow Analysis for Food Production and Consumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsubae, Kazuyo; Nakajima, Kenichi; Nansai, Keisuke; Nagasaka, Tetsuya

Phosphorus is present only as a trace element on the Earth, but is one of the important strategic resources for agricultural food production and for the chemical industry. Natural phosphate ore is traded worldwide, mainly as a raw material for fertilizer. Approximately 147 × 103 kt of phosphate ore was mined in the world during 2005. Of this, 24.7% (36.3 × 103 kt) was produced in the USA, 20.7% (30.4 × 103 kt) in China, and 17.1% (25.2 × 103 kt) in Morocco, while there are essentially no deposits of phosphate ore in Japan or the EU (USGS,2012). It is of concern that, due to growing world demand for fertilizers, deposits of high-grade phosphate ore could be exhausted within the next 100 years (Vaccari 2009), and the average price of the ore in 2008 was approximately doubled that in 2007. Concerning the restricted supplies of phosphorus resource, it is important to consider the quantity and availability of phosphorus resources that currently remain untapped.

Airborne Infectious Agents and Other Pollutants in Automobiles for Domestic Use: Potential Health Impacts and Approaches to Risk Mitigation

PubMed Central

Zargar, Bahram; Rubino, Joseph R.

2016-01-01

The world total of passenger cars is expected to go from the current one billion to >2.5 billion by 2050. Cars for domestic use account for ~74% of the world's yearly production of motorized vehicles. In North America, ~80% of the commuters use their own car with another 5.6% travelling as passengers. With the current life-expectancy of 78.6 years, the average North American spends 4.3 years driving a car! This equates to driving 101 minutes/day with a lifetime driving distance of nearly 1.3 million km inside the confined and often shared space of the car with exposure to a mix of potentially harmful pathogens, allergens, endotoxins, particulates, and volatile organics. Such risks may increase in proportion to the unprecedented upsurge in the numbers of family cars globally. Though new technologies may reduce the levels of air pollution from car exhausts and other sources, they are unlikely to impact our in-car exposure to pathogens. Can commercial in-car air decontamination devices reduce the risk from airborne infections and other pollutants? We lack scientifically rigorous protocols to verify the claims of such devices. Here we discuss the essentials of a customized aerobiology facility and test protocols to assess such devices under field-relevant conditions. PMID:28042302

Airborne Infectious Agents and Other Pollutants in Automobiles for Domestic Use: Potential Health Impacts and Approaches to Risk Mitigation.

PubMed

Sattar, Syed A; Wright, Kathryn E; Zargar, Bahram; Rubino, Joseph R; Ijaz, M Khalid

2016-01-01

The world total of passenger cars is expected to go from the current one billion to >2.5 billion by 2050. Cars for domestic use account for ~74% of the world's yearly production of motorized vehicles. In North America, ~80% of the commuters use their own car with another 5.6% travelling as passengers. With the current life-expectancy of 78.6 years, the average North American spends 4.3 years driving a car! This equates to driving 101 minutes/day with a lifetime driving distance of nearly 1.3 million km inside the confined and often shared space of the car with exposure to a mix of potentially harmful pathogens, allergens, endotoxins, particulates, and volatile organics. Such risks may increase in proportion to the unprecedented upsurge in the numbers of family cars globally. Though new technologies may reduce the levels of air pollution from car exhausts and other sources, they are unlikely to impact our in-car exposure to pathogens. Can commercial in-car air decontamination devices reduce the risk from airborne infections and other pollutants? We lack scientifically rigorous protocols to verify the claims of such devices. Here we discuss the essentials of a customized aerobiology facility and test protocols to assess such devices under field-relevant conditions.

Accelerated warming and emergent trends in fisheries biomass yields of the world's large marine ecosystems.

PubMed

Sherman, Kenneth; Belkin, Igor M; Friedland, Kevin D; O'Reilly, John; Hyde, Kimberly

2009-06-01

Information on the effects of global climate change on trends in global fisheries biomass yields has been limited in spatial and temporal scale. Results are presented of a global study of the impact of sea surface temperature (SST) changes over the last 25 years on the fisheries yields of 63 large marine ecosystems (LMEs) that annually produce 80% of the world's marine fisheries catches. Warming trends were observed in 61 LMEs around the globe. In 18 of the LMEs, rates of SST warming were two to four times faster during the past 25 years than the globally averaged rates of SST warming reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007. Effects of warming on fisheries biomass yields were greatest in the fast-warming northern Northeast Atlantic LMEs, where increasing trends in fisheries biomass yields were related to zooplankton biomass increases. In contrast, fisheries biomass yields of LMEs in the fast-warming, more southerly reaches of the Northeast Atlantic were declining in response to decreases in zooplankton abundance. The LMEs around the margins of the Indian Ocean, where SSTs were among the world's slowest warming, revealed a consistent pattern of fisheries biomass increases during the past 25 years, driven principally by human need for food security from fisheries resources. As a precautionary approach toward more sustainable fisheries utilization, management measures to limit the total allowable catch through a cap-and-sustain approach are suggested for the developing nations recently fishing heavily on resources of the Agulhas Current, Somali Current, Arabian Sea, and Bay of Bengal LMEs.

Emotional fit with culture: a predictor of individual differences in relational well-being.

PubMed

De Leersnyder, Jozefien; Mesquita, Batja; Kim, Heejung; Eom, Kimin; Choi, Hyewon

2014-04-01

There is increasing evidence for emotional fit in couples and groups, but also within cultures. In the current research, we investigated the consequences of emotional fit at the cultural level. Given that emotions reflect people's view on the world, and that shared views are associated with good social relationships, we expected that an individual's fit to the average cultural patterns of emotion would be associated with relational well-being. Using an implicit measure of cultural fit of emotions, we found across 3 different cultural contexts (United States, Belgium, and Korea) that (1) individuals' emotional fit is associated with their level of relational well-being, and that (2) the link between emotional fit and relational well-being is particularly strong when emotional fit is measured for situations pertaining to relationships (rather than for situations that are self-focused). Together, the current studies suggest that people may benefit from emotionally "fitting in" to their culture.

Ion Source Development at the SNS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welton, R. F.; Stockli, M. P.; Murray, S. N.; Carr, J.; Carmichael, J.; Goulding, R. H.; Baity, F. W.

2007-08-01

The US Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) has recently begun producing neutrons and is currently on track to becoming a world-leading facility for material science based on neutron scattering. The facility is comprised of an H- ion source, a linear accelerator, an accumulator ring, a liquid-Hg target and a suite of neutron scattering instruments. Over the next several years the average H- current from the ion source will be increased in order to meet the baseline facility requirement of providing 1.4 MW of beam-power to the target and the SNS power upgrade power requirement of 2+ MW on target. Meeting the latter goal will require H- currents of 70-100 mA with an RMS emittance of 0.20-0.35 π mm mrad and a ˜7% duty-factor. To date, the RF-driven-multicusp SNS ion source has only been able to demonstrate sustained operation at 33 mA of beam current at a ˜7% duty-factor. This report details our efforts to develop variations of the current ion source which can meet these requirements. Designs and experimental results are presented for helicon plasma drivers, high-power external antennas, glow-discharge plasma guns and advanced Cs systems.

The Visions of World-Class Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slyusarenko, Olena

2015-01-01

The visions of the top 26 world-class universities of the first 30 in the Shanghai ranking list have been evaluated and compared with the missions of the world's top 20 universities. Applying the content analysis, a group of 48 keywords, which describe the essence of these visions, has been revealed. The average amount of keywords in one vision is…

Alleviating Prejudice among Ninth Grade World History Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weston, Bonnie Walker

The high level of prejudice in an average 9th grade world history class was addressed by the implementation of a custom-designed prejudice reduction program. Lessons were drawn from "The Prejudice Book" (Shiman, 1979); "A World of Difference" (Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1986); and "Hands Across the Campus" (Tiara, 1981). Lessons were…

An inverse problem of determining the implied volatility in option pricing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Zui-Cha; Yu, Jian-Ning; Yang, Liu

2008-04-01

In the Black-Scholes world there is the important quantity of volatility which cannot be observed directly but has a major impact on the option value. In practice, traders usually work with what is known as implied volatility which is implied by option prices observed in the market. In this paper, we use an optimal control framework to discuss an inverse problem of determining the implied volatility when the average option premium, namely the average value of option premium corresponding with a fixed strike price and all possible maturities from the current time to a chosen future time, is known. The issue is converted into a terminal control problem by Green function method. The existence and uniqueness of the minimum of the control functional are addressed by the optimal control method, and the necessary condition which must be satisfied by the minimum is also given. The results obtained in the paper may be useful for those who engage in risk management or volatility trading.

Determination of the top-quark pole mass and strong coupling constant from the t t-bar production cross section in pp collisions at $$\\sqrt{s}$$ = 7 TeV

DOE PAGES

Chatrchyan, Serguei

2014-08-21

The inclusive cross section for top-quark pair production measured by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is compared to the QCD prediction at next-to-next-to-leading order with various parton distribution functions to determine the top-quark pole mass,more » $$m_t^{pole}$$, or the strong coupling constant, $$\\alpha_S$$. With the parton distribution function set NNPDF2.3, a pole mass of 176.7$$^{+3.0}_{-2.8}$$ GeV is obtained when constraining $$\\alpha_S$$ at the scale of the Z boson mass, $$m_Z$$, to the current world average. Alternatively, by constraining $$m_t^{pole}$$ to the latest average from direct mass measurements, a value of $$\\alpha_S(m_Z)$$ = 0.1151$$^{+0.0028}_{-0.0027}$$ is extracted. This is the first determination of $$\\alpha_S$$ using events from top-quark production.« less

Environmental radiation and potential ecological risk levels in the intertidal zone of southern region of Tamil Nadu coast (HBRAs), India.

PubMed

Punniyakotti, J; Ponnusamy, V

2018-02-01

Natural radioactivity content and heavy metal concentration in the intertidal zone sand samples from the southern region of Tamil Nadu coast, India, have been analyzed using gamma ray spectrometer and ICP-OES, respectively. From gamma spectral analysis, the average radioactivity contents of 238 U, 232 Th, and 40 K in the intertidal zone sand samples are 12.13±4.21, 59.03±4.26, and 197.03±26.24Bq/kg, respectively. The average radioactivity content of 232 Th alone is higher than the world average value. From the heavy metal analysis, the average Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn concentrations are 3.1, 80.24, 82.84, 23.66, 91.67, and 137.07ppm, respectively. The average Cr and Ni concentrations are lower, whereas other four metal (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) concentrations are higher than world surface rock average values. From pollution assessment parameter values, the pollution level is "uncontaminated to moderately contaminated" in the study area. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conceptualization and calibration of anisotropic, dynamic alluvial systems: Pitfalls and biases in current modelling practices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gianni, Guillaume; Doherty, John; Perrochet, Pierre; Brunner, Philip

2017-04-01

Physical properties of alluvial environments are typically featuring a high degree of anisotropy and are characterized by dynamic interactions between the surface and the subsurface. A literature review on current modelling practice shows that hydrogeological models are often calibrated using isotropic hydraulic conductivity fields and steady state conditions. We aim at understanding how these simplifications affect the predictions of hydraulic heads and exchange fluxes using fully coupled, physically based synthetic models and advanced calibration approaches. Specifically, we present an analysis of the information content provided by averaged, steady state hydraulic data compared to transient data with respect to the determination of aquifer hydraulic properties. We show that the information content in average hydraulic heads is insufficient to inform anisotropic properties of alluvial aquifers and can lead to important biases on the calibrated parameters. We further explore the consequences of these biases on predictions of fluxes and water table dynamics. The results of this synthetic analysis are considered in the calibration of a highly dynamic and anisotropic alluvial aquifer system in Switzerland (the Rhône River). The results of the synthetic and real-world modelling and calibration exercises provide insight on future data acquisition, modelling and calibration strategies for these environments.

World-wide increase in tropospheric methane, 1978-1983

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blake, D. R.; Rowland, F. S.

1986-01-01

Techniques used to assess methane concentration in the troposphere are described, and data obtained during the period from 1978 to 1983 are presented in detail. Tropospheric methane concentrations in remote locations averaged a yearly world-wide increase of 0.018 + or - 0.002 parts per million by volume (ppmv). Average world-wide tropospheric concentration of methane in dry air was 1.625 ppmv at the end of 1983 measured against an NBS standard certified as 0.97 ppmv. Contributing to this steady increase in methane concentration are increases in the source strengths from cattle and rice fields, which in turn result from CO, CH4 and HO coupling. Among the physical and chemical effects is an increase in greenhouse warming of about 0.04 C per decade.

[Current status and potential perspectives in classical radiotherapy technology].

PubMed

Dabić-Stanković, Kata M; Stanković, Jovan B; Radosević-Jelić, Ljiljana M

2004-01-01

After purchase of radiotherapy equipment in 2003, classic radiation therapy in Serbia will reach the highest world level. In order to define the highest standards in radiation technology, we analyzed the current status and potential perspectives of radiation therapy. An analysis of present situation in the USA, assumed as the most developed in the world, was done. Available data, collected in the last 3 years (equipment assortment, therapy modalities, workload and manpower) for 284 radiotherapy centers, out of potential 2050, were analyzed. Results were presented as crude percentage and matched to point current status. The analysis showed that CLINAC accelerators are the most popular (82.7%), as well as, ADAC (43.7%) and Focus (CMS) (27.4%) systems for therapy planning. Movement towards virtual simulation is evident (59.3%), although classic "simulation" is not fully eliminated from the radiotherapy chain. The most popular brachytherapy afterloader is Microselectron HDR (71%). About 64.4% centers use IMPAC communication/verification/record system that seems more open than Varis. All centers practice modern radiotherapy modalities and techniques (CPRT, IMRT, SRS/SRT, TBI, IORT, IVBHRT, HDR BHRT, etc.). CT and MRI availability is out of question, but PET is available in 3% of centers, however this percentage is rapidly growing. Up to 350 new patients per year are treated by one accelerator (about 35 pts. a day). Centers are relatively small and utilize 2-3 accelerators on average. Average FTE staffing norm is 4 radiation oncologists, 2-3 medical radiotherapy physicists, about 3 certified medical dosimetrists and about 6 radiotherapy technologists. In the past 5 years relative stagnation in classic radiotherapy has been observed. In spite of substantial investments in technology and consequent improvements, as well as wide introduction of computers in radiotherapy, radiotherapy results have not changed significantly. Vendor developement strategies do not point that this trend will change in the next 5 years. On the other hand, wide introduction of the PET in each radiotherapy chain ring (diagnostics, planning, follow-up), could improve results (local and regional control, as well as quality of patients' life).

Estimating current and future global urban domestic material consumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baynes, Timothy Malcolm; Kaviti Musango, Josephine

2018-06-01

Urban material resource requirements are significant at the global level and these are expected to expand with future urban population growth. However, there are no global scale studies on the future material consumption of urban areas. This paper provides estimates of global urban domestic material consumption (DMC) in 2050 using three approaches based on: current gross statistics; a regression model; and a transition theoretic logistic model. All methods use UN urban population projections and assume a simple ‘business-as-usual’ scenario wherein historical aggregate trends in income and material flow continue into the future. A collation of data for 152 cities provided a year 2000 world average DMC/capita estimate, 12 tons/person/year (±22%), which we combined with UN population projections to produce a first-order estimation of urban DMC at 2050 of ~73 billion tons/year (±22%). Urban DMC/capita was found to be significantly correlated (R 2 > 0.9) to urban GDP/capita and area per person through a power law relation used to obtain a second estimate of 106 billion tons (±33%) in 2050. The inelastic exponent of the power law indicates a global tendency for relative decoupling of direct urban material consumption with increasing income. These estimates are global and influenced by the current proportion of developed-world cities in the global population of cities (and in our sample data). A third method employed a logistic model of transitions in urban DMC/capita with regional resolution. This method estimated global urban DMC to rise from approximately 40 billion tons/year in 2010 to ~90 billion tons/year in 2050 (modelled range: 66–111 billion tons/year). DMC/capita across different regions was estimated to converge from a range of 5–27 tons/person/year in the year 2000 to around 8–17 tons/person/year in 2050. The urban population does not increase proportionally during this period and thus the global average DMC/capita increases from ~12 to ~14 tons/person/year, challenging resource decoupling targets.

Electron Source based on Superconducting RF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Tianmu

High-bunch-charge photoemission electron-sources operating in a Continuous Wave (CW) mode can provide high peak current as well as the high average current which are required for many advanced applications of accelerators facilities, for example, electron coolers for hadron beams, electron-ion colliders, and Free-Electron Lasers (FELs). Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) has many advantages over other electron-injector technologies, especially when it is working in CW mode as it offers higher repetition rate. An 112 MHz SRF electron photo-injector (gun) was developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to produce high-brightness and high-bunch-charge bunches for electron cooling experiments. The gun utilizes a Quarter-Wave Resonator (QWR) geometry for a compact structure and improved electron beam dynamics. The detailed RF design of the cavity, fundamental coupler and cathode stalk are presented in this work. A GPU accelerated code was written to improve the speed of simulation of multipacting, an important hurdle the SRF structure has to overcome in various locations. The injector utilizes high Quantum Efficiency (QE) multi-alkali photocathodes (K2CsSb) for generating electrons. The cathode fabrication system and procedure are also included in the thesis. Beam dynamic simulation of the injector was done with the code ASTRA. To find the optimized parameters of the cavities and beam optics, the author wrote a genetic algorithm Python script to search for the best solution in this high-dimensional parameter space. The gun was successfully commissioned and produced world record bunch charge and average current in an SRF photo-injector.

A precise measurement of the $B^0$ meson oscillation frequency

DOE PAGES

Aaij, R.; Abellán Beteta, C.; Adeva, B.; ...

2016-07-21

The oscillation frequency, Δm d, of B 0 mesons is measured using semileptonic decays with a D – or D* – meson in the final state. The data sample corresponds to 3.0fb –1 of pp collisions, collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies √s = 7 and 8TeV. A combination of the two decay modes gives Δm d=(505.0±2.1±1.0)ns –1, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This is the most precise single measurement of this parameter. It is consistent with the current world average and has similar precision.

Annotated bibliography and index map of sulfur and pyrites deposits in the United States and Alaska (including references to July 1, 1951)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Espenshade, Gilbert H.; Broedel, Carl H.

1952-01-01

Since the end of World War II, the pattern of sulfur production and consumption in the United States and abroad has changed markedly from the pattern that existed before the war. Although production of sulfur in the United States in 1950 was more than double the average annual production for the 1935-39 period, consumption had increased at such a rate that current domestic and foreign demand for U. S. sulfur exceeds the productive capacity of the industry. Production of sulfur (including brimstone, pyrites, and all other forms) in the 1935-39 period and in 1950 are compared in the table below.

The significance of amperometric detection of alkaline phosphatase in colorectal cancer diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belkin, Anton; Freynd, Genrietta; Katsnelson, Mikhail

2016-08-01

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers in the world; it takes the second place in oncological morbidity. The ALP activity of intestinal epithelial differentiation marker (ALP) was investigated in surgical material and colon biopsies of 47 patients with the electrochemical method using biosensors (biochips). The average current obtained in the studies of colorectal cancer tissues was lower than in the studies of intact colon mucosa. Histology of tumors matched the differentiation types/stages of adenocarcinomas. The study of ALP activity in the surgical material and biopsies of colon tumors can become one of the most useful methods for evaluating the functional atypia in tumor tissue.

Measurement of the Lambda b0 lifetime in Lambda b0-->J/psi Lambda 0 in pp collisions at square root s=1.96 TeV.

PubMed

Abulencia, A; Adelman, J; Affolder, T; Akimoto, T; Albrow, M G; Ambrose, D; Amerio, S; Amidei, D; Anastassov, A; Anikeev, K; Annovi, A; Antos, J; Aoki, M; Apollinari, G; Arguin, J-F; Arisawa, T; Artikov, A; Ashmanskas, W; Attal, A; Azfar, F; Azzi-Bacchetta, P; Azzurri, P; Bacchetta, N; Badgett, W; Barbaro-Galtieri, A; Barnes, V E; Barnett, B A; Baroiant, S; Bartsch, V; Bauer, G; Bedeschi, F; Behari, S; Belforte, S; Bellettini, G; Bellinger, J; Belloni, A; Benjamin, D; Beretvas, A; Beringer, J; Berry, T; Bhatti, A; Binkley, M; Bisello, D; Blair, R E; Blocker, C; Blumenfeld, B; Bocci, A; Bodek, A; Boisvert, V; Bolla, G; Bolshov, A; Bortoletto, D; Boudreau, J; Boveia, A; Brau, B; Brigliadori, L; Bromberg, C; Brubaker, E; Budagov, J; Budd, H S; Budd, S; Budroni, S; Burkett, K; Busetto, G; Bussey, P; Byrum, K L; Cabrera, S; Campanelli, M; Campbell, M; Canelli, F; Canepa, A; Carrillo, S; Carlsmith, D; Carosi, R; Carron, S; Casarsa, M; Castro, A; Catastini, P; Cauz, D; Cavalli-Sforza, M; Cerri, A; Cerrito, L; Chang, S H; Chen, Y C; Chertok, M; Chiarelli, G; Chlachidze, G; Chlebana, F; Cho, I; Cho, K; Chokheli, D; Chou, J P; Choudalakis, G; Chuang, S H; Chung, K; Chung, W H; Chung, Y S; Ciljak, M; Ciobanu, C I; Ciocci, M A; Clark, A; Clark, D; Coca, M; Compostella, G; Convery, M E; Conway, J; Cooper, B; Copic, K; Cordelli, M; Cortiana, G; Crescioli, F; Cuenca Almenar, C; Cuevas, J; Culbertson, R; Cully, J C; Cyr, D; DaRonco, S; D'Auria, S; Davies, T; D'Onofrio, M; Dagenhart, D; de Barbaro, P; De Cecco, S; Deisher, A; De Lentdecker, G; Dell'Orso, M; Delli Paoli, F; Demortier, L; Deng, J; Deninno, M; De Pedis, D; Derwent, P F; Di Giovanni, G P; Dionisi, C; Di Ruzza, B; Dittmann, J R; DiTuro, P; Dörr, C; Donati, S; Donega, M; Dong, P; Donini, J; Dorigo, T; Dube, S; Efron, J; Erbacher, R; Errede, D; Errede, S; Eusebi, R; Fang, H C; Farrington, S; Fedorko, I; Fedorko, W T; Feild, R G; Feindt, M; Fernandez, J P; Field, R; Flanagan, G; Foland, A; Forrester, S; Foster, G W; Franklin, M; Freeman, J C; Furic, I; Gallinaro, M; Galyardt, J; Garcia, J E; Garberson, F; Garfinkel, A F; Gay, C; Gerberich, H; Gerdes, D; Giagu, S; Giannetti, P; Gibson, A; Gibson, K; Gimmell, J L; Ginsburg, C; Giokaris, N; Giordani, M; Giromini, P; Giunta, M; Giurgiu, G; Glagolev, V; Glenzinski, D; Gold, M; Goldschmidt, N; Goldstein, J; Gomez, G; Gomez-Ceballos, G; Goncharov, M; González, O; Gorelov, I; Goshaw, A T; Goulianos, K; Gresele, A; Griffiths, M; Grinstein, S; Grosso-Pilcher, C; Group, R C; Grundler, U; Guimaraes da Costa, J; Gunay-Unalan, Z; Haber, C; Hahn, K; Hahn, S R; Halkiadakis, E; Hamilton, A; Han, B-Y; Han, J Y; Handler, R; Happacher, F; Hara, K; Hare, M; Harper, S; Harr, R F; Harris, R M; Hartz, M; Hatakeyama, K; Hauser, J; Heijboer, A; Heinemann, B; Heinrich, J; Henderson, C; Herndon, M; Heuser, J; Hidas, D; Hill, C S; Hirschbuehl, D; Hocker, A; Holloway, A; Hou, S; Houlden, M; Hsu, S-C; Huffman, B T; Hughes, R E; Husemann, U; Huston, J; Incandela, J; Introzzi, G; Iori, M; Ishizawa, Y; Ivanov, A; Iyutin, B; James, E; Jang, D; Jayatilaka, B; Jeans, D; Jensen, H; Jeon, E J; Jindariani, S; Jones, M; Joo, K K; Jun, S Y; Jung, J E; Junk, T R; Kamon, T; Karchin, P E; Kato, Y; Kemp, Y; Kephart, R; Kerzel, U; Khotilovich, V; Kilminster, B; Kim, D H; Kim, H S; Kim, J E; Kim, M J; Kim, S B; Kim, S H; Kim, Y K; Kimura, N; Kirsch, L; Klimenko, S; Klute, M; Knuteson, B; Ko, B R; Kondo, K; Kong, D J; Konigsberg, J; Korytov, A; Kotwal, A V; Kovalev, A; Kraan, A C; Kraus, J; Kravchenko, I; Kreps, M; Kroll, J; Krumnack, N; Kruse, M; Krutelyov, V; Kubo, T; Kuhlmann, S E; Kuhr, T; Kusakabe, Y; Kwang, S; Laasanen, A T; Labarga, L; Lai, S; Lami, S; Lammel, S; Lancaster, M; Lander, R L; Lannon, K; Lath, A; Latino, G; Lazzizzera, I; LeCompte, T; Lee, J; Lee, J; Lee, Y J; Lee, S W; Lefèvre, R; Leonardo, N; Leone, S; Levy, S; Lewis, J D; Lin, C; Lin, C S; Lindgren, M; Lipeles, E; Liss, T M; Lister, A; Litvintsev, D O; Liu, T; Lockyer, N S; Loginov, A; Loreti, M; Loverre, P; Lu, R-S; Lucchesi, D; Lujan, P; Lukens, P; Lungu, G; Lyons, L; Lys, J; Lysak, R; Lytken, E; Mack, P; MacQueen, D; Madrak, R; Maeshima, K; Makhoul, K; Maki, T; Maksimovic, P; Malde, S; Manca, G; Margaroli, F; Marginean, R; Marino, C; Marino, C P; Martin, A; Martin, M; Martin, V; Martínez, M; Maruyama, T; Mastrandrea, P; Masubuchi, T; Matsunaga, H; Mattson, M E; Mazini, R; Mazzanti, P; McFarland, K S; McIntyre, P; McNulty, R; Mehta, A; Mehtala, P; Menzemer, S; Menzione, A; Merkel, P; Mesropian, C; Messina, A; Miao, T; Miladinovic, N; Miles, J; Miller, R; Mills, C; Milnik, M; Mitra, A; Mitselmakher, G; Miyamoto, A; Moed, S; Moggi, N; Mohr, B; Moore, R; Morello, M; Movilla Fernandez, P; Mülmenstädt, J; Mukherjee, A; Muller, Th; Mumford, R; Murat, P; Nachtman, J; Nagano, A; Naganoma, J; Nahn, S; Nakano, I; Napier, A; Necula, V; Neu, C; Neubauer, M S; Nielsen, J; Nigmanov, T; Nodulman, L; Norniella, O; Nurse, E; Oh, S H; Oh, Y D; Oksuzian, I; Okusawa, T; Oldeman, R; Orava, R; Osterberg, K; Pagliarone, C; Palencia, E; Papadimitriou, V; Paramonov, A A; Parks, B; Pashapour, S; Patrick, J; Pauletta, G; Paulini, M; Paus, C; Pellett, D E; Penzo, A; Phillips, T J; Piacentino, G; Piedra, J; Pinera, L; Pitts, K; Plager, C; Pondrom, L; Portell, X; Poukhov, O; Pounder, N; Prokoshin, F; Pronko, A; Proudfoot, J; Ptochos, F; Punzi, G; Pursley, J; Rademacker, J; Rahaman, A; Ranjan, N; Rappoccio, S; Reisert, B; Rekovic, V; Renton, P; Rescigno, M; Richter, S; Rimondi, F; Ristori, L; Robson, A; Rodrigo, T; Rogers, E; Rolli, S; Roser, R; Rossi, M; Rossin, R; Ruiz, A; Russ, J; Rusu, V; Saarikko, H; Sabik, S; Safonov, A; Sakumoto, W K; Salamanna, G; Saltó, O; Saltzberg, D; Sánchez, C; Santi, L; Sarkar, S; Sartori, L; Sato, K; Savard, P; Savoy-Navarro, A; Scheidle, T; Schlabach, P; Schmidt, E E; Schmidt, M P; Schmitt, M; Schwarz, T; Scodellaro, L; Scott, A L; Scribano, A; Scuri, F; Sedov, A; Seidel, S; Seiya, Y; Semenov, A; Sexton-Kennedy, L; Sfyrla, A; Shapiro, M D; Shears, T; Shepard, P F; Sherman, D; Shimojima, M; Shochet, M; Shon, Y; Shreyber, I; Sidoti, A; Sinervo, P; Sisakyan, A; Sjolin, J; Slaughter, A J; Slaunwhite, J; Sliwa, K; Smith, J R; Snider, F D; Snihur, R; Soderberg, M; Soha, A; Somalwar, S; Sorin, V; Spalding, J; Spinella, F; Spreitzer, T; Squillacioti, P; Stanitzki, M; Staveris-Polykalas, A; St Denis, R; Stelzer, B; Stelzer-Chilton, O; Stentz, D; Strologas, J; Stuart, D; Suh, J S; Sukhanov, A; Sun, H; Suzuki, T; Taffard, A; Takashima, R; Takeuchi, Y; Takikawa, K; Tanaka, M; Tanaka, R; Tecchio, M; Teng, P K; Terashi, K; Tesarek, R J; Thom, J; Thompson, A S; Thomson, E; Tipton, P; Tiwari, V; Tkaczyk, S; Toback, D; Tokar, S; Tollefson, K; Tomura, T; Tonelli, D; Torre, S; Torretta, D; Tourneur, S; Trischuk, W; Tsuchiya, R; Tsuno, S; Turini, N; Ukegawa, F; Unverhau, T; Uozumi, S; Usynin, D; Vallecorsa, S; van Remortel, N; Varganov, A; Vataga, E; Vázquez, F; Velev, G; Veramendi, G; Veszpremi, V; Vidal, R; Vila, I; Vilar, R; Vine, T; Vollrath, I; Volobouev, I; Volpi, G; Würthwein, F; Wagner, P; Wagner, R G; Wagner, R L; Wagner, J; Wagner, W; Wallny, R; Wang, S M; Warburton, A; Waschke, S; Waters, D; Weinberger, M; Wester, W C; Whitehouse, B; Whiteson, D; Wicklund, A B; Wicklund, E; Williams, G; Williams, H H; Wilson, P; Winer, B L; Wittich, P; Wolbers, S; Wolfe, C; Wright, T; Wu, X; Wynne, S M; Yagil, A; Yamamoto, K; Yamaoka, J; Yamashita, T; Yang, C; Yang, U K; Yang, Y C; Yao, W M; Yeh, G P; Yoh, J; Yorita, K; Yoshida, T; Yu, G B; Yu, I; Yu, S S; Yun, J C; Zanello, L; Zanetti, A; Zaw, I; Zhang, X; Zhou, J; Zucchelli, S

2007-03-23

We report a measurement of the Lambda b0 lifetime in the exclusive decay Lambda b0-->J/psi Lambda 0 in pp collisions at square root s=1.96 TeV using an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb-1 of data collected by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. Using fully reconstructed decays, we measure tau(Lambda b0)=1.593(-0.078)(+0.083)(stat)+/-0.033(syst) ps. This is the single most precise measurement of tau(Lambda b0) and is 3.2sigma higher than the current world average.

Addressing Water Consumption of Evaporative Coolers with Greywater

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

Sahai, Rashmi; Shah, Nihar; Phadke, Amol

Evaporative coolers (ECs) provide significant gains in energy efficiency compared to vapor compression air conditioners, but simultaneously have significant onsite water demand. This can be a major barrier to deployment in areas of the world with hot and arid climates. To address this concern, this study determined where in the world evaporative cooling is suitable, the water consumption of ECs in these cities, and the potential that greywater can be used reduce the consumption of potable water in ECs. ECs covered 69percent of the cities where room air conditioners are may be deployed, based on comfort conditions alone. The averagemore » water consumption due to ECs was found to be 400 L/household/day in the United States and Australia, with the potential for greywater to provide 50percent this amount. In the rest of the world, the average water consumption was 250 L/household/day, with the potential for greywater to supply 80percent of this amount. Home size was the main factor that contributed to this difference. In the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Northern India, and the Midwestern and Southwestern United States alkalinity levels are high and water used for bleeding will likely contribute significantly to EC water consumption. Although technically feasible, upfront costs for household GW systems are currently high. In both developed and developing parts of the world, however, a direct EC and GW system is cost competitive with conventional vapor compression air conditioners. Moreover, in regions of the world that face problems of water scarcity the benefits can substantially outweigh the costs.« less

Analyzing the prices of the most expensive sheet iron all over the world: Modeling, prediction and regime change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Fu-Tie; Zhou, Wei-Xing

2010-09-01

The private car license plates issued in Shanghai are bestowed the title of “the most expensive sheet iron all over the world”, more expensive than gold. A citizen has to bid in a monthly auction to obtain a license plate for his new private car. We perform statistical analysis to investigate the influence of the minimal price Pmin of the bidding winners, the quota N of private car license plates, the number N of bidders, as well as two external shocks including the legality debate of the auction in 2004 and the auction regime reform in January 2008 on the average price P of all bidding winners. It is found that the legality debate of the auction had marginal transient impact on the average price in a short time period. In contrast, the change of the auction rules has significant permanent influence on the average price, which reduces the price by about 3020 yuan Renminbi. It means that the average price exhibits nonlinear behaviors with a regime change. The evolution of the average price is independent of the number N of bidders in both regimes. In the early regime before January 2008, the average price P was influenced only by the minimal price Pmin in the preceding month with a positive correlation. In the current regime since January 2008, the average price is positively correlated with the minimal price and the quota in the preceding month and negatively correlated with the quota in the same month. We test the predictive power of the two models using 2-year and 3-year moving windows and find that the latter outperforms the former. It seems that the auction market becomes more efficient after the auction reform since the prediction error increases.

Child mortality and poverty in three world regions (the West, Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa) 1988-2010: Evidence of relative intra-regional neglect?

PubMed

Pritchard, Colin; Keen, Steven

2016-12-01

Poverty kills children. This study assesses the relationship between poverty and child mortality rates (CMRs) in 71 societies from three world regions to determine whether some countries, relative to their region, neglect their children. Spearman rank order correlations were calculated to determine any association between the CMR and poverty data, including income inequality and gross national income. A current CMR one standard deviation (SD) above or below the regional average and a percentage change between 1988 and 2010 were used as the measures to assess the progress of nations. There were positive significant correlations between higher CMRs and relative poverty measures in all three regions. In Western countries, the current CMRs in the USA, New Zealand and Canada were 1 SD below the Western mean. The narrowest income inequalities, apart from Japan, were seen in the Scandinavian nations alongside low CMRs. In Asia, the current CMRs in Pakistan, Myanmar and India were the highest in their region and were 1 SD below the regional mean. Alongside South Korea, these nations had the lowest percentage reductions in CMRs. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the current CMRs in Somalia, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola were the highest in their region and were 1 SD below the regional mean. Those concerned with the pursuit of social justice need to alert their societies to the corrosive impact of poverty on child mortality. Progress in reducing CMRs provides an indication of how well nations are meeting the needs of their children. Further country-specific research is required to explain regional differences.

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

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

Neubauer, J.; Wood, E.

2013-05-01

This presentation discusses a method of accounting for realistic levels of driver aggression to higher-level vehicle studies, including the impact of variation in real-world driving characteristics (acceleration and speed) on vehicle energy consumption and different powertrains (e.g., conventionally powered vehicles versus electrified drive vehicles [xEVs]). Aggression variation between drivers can increase fuel consumption by more than 50% or decrease it by more than 20% from average. The normalized fuel consumption deviation from average as a function of population percentile was found to be largely insensitive to powertrain. However, the traits of ideal driving behavior are a function of powertrain. Inmore » conventional vehicles, kinetic losses dominate rolling resistance and aerodynamic losses. In xEVs with regenerative braking, rolling resistance and aerodynamic losses dominate. The relation of fuel consumption predicted from real-world drive data to that predicted by the industry-standard HWFET, UDDS, LA92, and US06 drive cycles was not consistent across powertrains, and varied broadly from the mean, median, and mode of real-world driving. A drive cycle synthesized by NREL's DRIVE tool accurately and consistently reproduces average real-world for multiple powertrains within 1%, and can be used to calculate the fuel consumption effects of varying levels of driver aggression.« less

White Paper Powering Sustainable Low-Carbon Economies: Some Fact and Figures

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

Gilles J. Youinou

2015-04-01

In 2011, the world production of electricity was about 22.1 trillion kilowatt-hour1 (kWhe): 9.1 from coal, 4.8 from gas, 2.6 from nuclear, 1.1 from oil, 3.5 from hydropower and 1.0 from other sources (geothermal, solar, wind, biofuels). With a world population of about 7 billion in 2011, it corresponds to an average of 3,160 kWhe/year/capita. While most industrialized countries enjoy a high standard of living with, at least, 8,000 kWhe per year and per person, most developing countries live with less than 3,000 kWhe per year per person. The need for electricity is growing fast, especially in developing countries, andmore » by 2040 the world production of electricity is projected to reach about 40 trillion kWhe.2 Assuming a world population of 10 billion and an average consumption of 6,000 kWhe per year per person in 2100 the world annual production of electricity could reach 60 trillion kWhe.« less

Averages of $b$-hadron, $c$-hadron, and $$\\tau$$-lepton properties as of summer 2014

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

Amhis, Y.; et al.

2014-12-23

This article reports world averages of measurements ofmore » $b$-hadron, $c$-hadron, and $$\\tau$$-lepton properties obtained by the Heavy Flavor Averaging Group (HFAG) using results available through summer 2014. For the averaging, common input parameters used in the various analyses are adjusted (rescaled) to common values, and known correlations are taken into account. The averages include branching fractions, lifetimes, neutral meson mixing parameters, $CP$ violation parameters, parameters of semileptonic decays and CKM matrix elements.« less

A 2 °C warmer world is not safe for ecosystem services in the European Alps.

PubMed

Elkin, Ché; Gutiérrez, Alvaro G; Leuzinger, Sebastian; Manusch, Corina; Temperli, Christian; Rasche, Livia; Bugmann, Harald

2013-06-01

Limiting the increase in global average temperature to 2 °C is the objective of international efforts aimed at avoiding dangerous climate impacts. However, the regional response of terrestrial ecosystems and the services that they provide under such a scenario are largely unknown. We focus on mountain forests in the European Alps and evaluate how a range of ecosystem services (ES) are projected to be impacted in a 2 °C warmer world, using four novel regional climate scenarios. We employ three complementary forest models to assess a wide range of ES in two climatically contrasting case study regions. Within each climate scenario we evaluate if and when ES will deviate beyond status quo boundaries that are based on current system variability. Our results suggest that the sensitivity of mountain forest ES to a 2 °C warmer world depends heavily on the current climatic conditions of a region, the strong elevation gradients within a region, and the specific ES in question. Our simulations project that large negative impacts will occur at low and intermediate elevations in initially warm-dry regions, where relatively small climatic shifts result in negative drought-related impacts on forest ES. In contrast, at higher elevations, and in regions that are initially cool-wet, forest ES will be comparatively resistant to a 2 °C warmer world. We also found considerable variation in the vulnerability of forest ES to climate change, with some services such as protection against rockfall and avalanches being sensitive to 2 °C global climate change, but other services such as carbon storage being reasonably resistant. Although our results indicate a heterogeneous response of mountain forest ES to climate change, the projected substantial reduction of some forest ES in dry regions suggests that a 2 °C increase in global mean temperature cannot be seen as a universally 'safe' boundary for the maintenance of mountain forest ES. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Meet TOM - the world's first open chest paediatric/adult manikin.

PubMed

Dix, Ann

2016-07-20

Aged 15, TOM is a model patient. He has suffered more than his fair share of life-threatening events and never complains. But then TOM is not your average sick teenager - he is the world's first open chest paediatric/adult manikin.

Vulnerability of complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishkovski, Igor; Biey, Mario; Kocarev, Ljupco

2011-01-01

We consider normalized average edge betweenness of a network as a metric of network vulnerability. We suggest that normalized average edge betweenness together with is relative difference when certain number of nodes and/or edges are removed from the network is a measure of network vulnerability, called vulnerability index. Vulnerability index is calculated for four synthetic networks: Erdős-Rényi (ER) random networks, Barabási-Albert (BA) model of scale-free networks, Watts-Strogatz (WS) model of small-world networks, and geometric random networks. Real-world networks for which vulnerability index is calculated include: two human brain networks, three urban networks, one collaboration network, and two power grid networks. We find that WS model of small-world networks and biological networks (human brain networks) are the most robust networks among all networks studied in the paper.

Average current is better than peak current as therapeutic dosage for biphasic waveforms in a ventricular fibrillation pig model of cardiac arrest.

PubMed

Chen, Bihua; Yu, Tao; Ristagno, Giuseppe; Quan, Weilun; Li, Yongqin

2014-10-01

Defibrillation current has been shown to be a clinically more relevant dosing unit than energy. However, the effects of average and peak current in determining shock outcome are still undetermined. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between average current, peak current and defibrillation success when different biphasic waveforms were employed. Ventricular fibrillation (VF) was electrically induced in 22 domestic male pigs. Animals were then randomized to receive defibrillation using one of two different biphasic waveforms. A grouped up-and-down defibrillation threshold-testing protocol was used to maintain the average success rate of 50% in the neighborhood. In 14 animals (Study A), defibrillations were accomplished with either biphasic truncated exponential (BTE) or rectilinear biphasic waveforms. In eight animals (Study B), shocks were delivered using two BTE waveforms that had identical peak current but different waveform durations. Both average and peak currents were associated with defibrillation success when BTE and rectilinear waveforms were investigated. However, when pathway impedance was less than 90Ω for the BTE waveform, bivariate correlation coefficient was 0.36 (p=0.001) for the average current, but only 0.21 (p=0.06) for the peak current in Study A. In Study B, a high defibrillation success (67.9% vs. 38.8%, p<0.001) was observed when the waveform delivered more average current (14.9±2.1A vs. 13.5±1.7A, p<0.001) while keeping the peak current unchanged. In this porcine model of VF, average current was better than peak current to be an adequate parameter to describe the therapeutic dosage when biphasic defibrillation waveforms were used. The institutional protocol number: P0805. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

State of equity: childhood immunization in the World Health Organization African Region.

PubMed

Casey, Rebecca Mary; Hampton, Lee McCalla; Anya, Blanche-Philomene Melanga; Gacic-Dobo, Marta; Diallo, Mamadou Saliou; Wallace, Aaron Stuart

2017-01-01

In 2010, the Global Vaccine Action Plan called on all countries to reach and sustain 90% national coverage and 80% coverage in all districts for the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP3) by 2015 and for all vaccines in national immunization schedules by 2020. The aims of this study are to analyze recent trends in national vaccination coverage in the World Health Organization African Region andto assess how these trends differ by country income category. We compared national vaccination coverage estimates for DTP3 and the first dose of measles-containing vaccine (MCV) obtained from the World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) joint estimates of national immunization coverage for all African Region countries. Using United Nations (UN) population estimates of surviving infants and country income category for the corresponding year, we calculated population-weighted average vaccination coverage by country income category (i.e., low, lower middle, and upper middle-income) for the years 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. DTP3 coverage in the African Region increased from 52% in 2000 to 76% in 2015,and MCV1 coverage increased from 53% to 74% during the same period, but with considerable differences among countries. Thirty-six African Region countries were low income in 2000 with an average DTP3 coverage of 50% while 26 were low income in 2015 with an average coverage of 80%. Five countries were lower middle-income in 2000 with an average DTP3 coverage of 84% while 12 were lower middle-income in 2015 with an average coverage of 69%. Five countries were upper middle-income in 2000 with an average DTP3 coverage of 73% and eight were upper middle-income in 2015 with an average coverage of 76%. Disparities in vaccination coverage by country persist in the African Region, with countries that were lower middle-income having the lowest coverage on average in 2015. Monitoring and addressing these disparities is essential for meeting global immunization targets.

Game Analysis of Olympic, World and European Championships in Men's Handball.

PubMed

Bilge, Murat

2012-12-01

The development of men's handball was analyzed using data from the Olympic, World and European Championships held within the last eight years. The most obvious change, especially within these last nine tournaments, was that men's handball was played more dynamically and rapidly, both in attack and defense, especially by European teams. The first aim of this study was to conduct a technical analysis of current handball and to determine factors related to success in this sport discipline. The second aim was to compare the data of European Championships with other tournaments, considering the success of European teams in Men's World Handball. The technical variables used to compare the tournaments included: the average number of attacks, the efficiency of attacks, the efficiency of goal throws, fast break goals per game, the efficiency of fast breaks, the efficiency of the goalkeeper, saves by the goalkeeper per game, number of turnovers per game, and the efficiency of position throws (wing, pivot, back court, break-through, fast break, and 7-meter). This technical analysis used cumulative statistics from the European Handball Federation and International Handball Federation. ANOVA revealed significant differences between the first eight teams in the European Championships and their counterparts in the other two tournaments (Olympics and World Championships) in terms of several technical variables. The results showed that the efficiency of fast break, pivot position and back court players affected the ranking in favor of the European teams in significant international tournaments.

Assessment of natural radioactivity in aquifer medium bearing uranium ores in Koprubasi, Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simsek, Celalettin

2008-10-01

Koprubasi, located within Manisa Province near the Izmir, is the biggest uranium mine where uranium ores originate from Neogene aged altered sandstone and conglomerate layers. The main objective of this study is to determine the radiation hazard associated with radioactivity levels of uranium ores, and the rocks and sediments around Koprubasi. In this regard, measured activity levels of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were compared with world averages. The average activity levels of 226 Ra, 232Th and 40K were measured to be 5369.75, 124.78 and 10.0 Bq/kg in uranium ores, 24.32, 52.94 and 623.38 Bq/kg in gneiss, 46.24, 45.13 and 762.26 Bq/kg in sandstone and conglomerate, 73.11, 43.15 and 810.65 Bq/kg in sediments, respectively. All samples have high 226Ra and 40K levels according to world average level. As these sediments are used as construction materials and in agricultural activities within the study area, the radiation hazard are calculated by using dose rate (D), annual effective dose rate (He), radium equivalent activity (Raeq) and radiation hazard index (Iyr). All the samples have Raeq levels that are lower than the world average limit of 370 Bq/kg. On the other hand, D, He and Iyr values are higher than world average values. These results indicate that the uranium ores in the Koprubasi is the most important contributor to the natural radiation level. The radioactivity levels of sediments and rocks make them unsuitable for use as agricultural soil and as construction materials. Moreover, it is determined that shallow groundwater in sediments and deep groundwater in conglomerate rocks and also surface water sources in the Koprubasi have high 226Ra content. According to environmental radioactive baseline, some environmental protection study must be taken in Koprubasi uranium site and the environment.

The health economic burden that acute and chronic wounds impose on an average clinical commissioning group/health board in the UK.

PubMed

Guest, J F; Vowden, K; Vowden, P

2017-06-02

To estimate the patterns of care and related resource use attributable to managing acute and chronic wounds among a catchment population of a typical clinical commissioning group (CCG)/health board and corresponding National Health Service (NHS) costs in the UK. This was a sub-analysis of a retrospective cohort analysis of the records of 2000 patients in The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database. Patients' characteristics, wound-related health outcomes and health-care resource use were quantified for an average CCG/health board with a catchment population of 250,000 adults ≥18 years of age, and the corresponding NHS cost of patient management was estimated at 2013/2014 prices. An average CCG/health board was estimated to be managing 11,200 wounds in 2012/2013. Of these, 40% were considered to be acute wounds, 48% chronic and 12% lacking any specific diagnosis. The prevalence of acute, chronic and unspecified wounds was estimated to be growing at the rate of 9%, 12% and 13% per annum respectively. Our analysis indicated that the current rate of wound healing must increase by an average of at least 1% per annum across all wound types in order to slow down the increasing prevalence. Otherwise, an average CCG/health board is predicted to manage ~23,200 wounds per annum by 2019/2020 and is predicted to spend a discounted (the process of determining the present value of a payment that is to be received in the future) £50 million on managing these wounds and associated comorbidities. Real-world evidence highlights the substantial burden that acute and chronic wounds impose on an average CCG/health board. Strategies are required to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and healing rates.

Averages of b-hadron, c-hadron, and τ-lepton properties as of summer 2016

DOE PAGES

Amhis, Y.; Banerjee, Sw.; Ben-Haim, E.; ...

2017-12-21

Here, this article reports world averages of measurements of b-hadron, c-hadron, and τ-lepton properties obtained by the Heavy Flavor Averaging Group using results available through summer 2016. For the averaging, common input parameters used in the various analyses are adjusted (rescaled) to common values, and known correlations are taken into account. The averages include branching fractions, lifetimes, neutral meson mixing parameters,more » $$C\\!P$$  violation parameters, parameters of semileptonic decays, and Cabbibo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix elements.« less

Averages of b-hadron, c-hadron, and τ-lepton properties as of summer 2016

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

Amhis, Y.; Banerjee, Sw.; Ben-Haim, E.

Here, this article reports world averages of measurements of b-hadron, c-hadron, and τ-lepton properties obtained by the Heavy Flavor Averaging Group using results available through summer 2016. For the averaging, common input parameters used in the various analyses are adjusted (rescaled) to common values, and known correlations are taken into account. The averages include branching fractions, lifetimes, neutral meson mixing parameters,more » $$C\\!P$$  violation parameters, parameters of semileptonic decays, and Cabbibo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix elements.« less

Measurement of the muonic branching fractions of the narrow upsilon resonances.

PubMed

Adams, G S; Chasse, M; Cravey, M; Cummings, J P; Danko, I; Napolitano, J; Cronin-Hennessy, D; Park, C S; Park, W; Thayer, J B; Thorndike, E H; Coan, T E; Gao, Y S; Liu, F; Stroynowski, R; Artuso, M; Boulahouache, C; Blusk, S; Butt, J; Dambasuren, E; Dorjkhaidav, O; Menaa, N; Mountain, R; Muramatsu, H; Nandakumar, R; Redjimi, R; Sia, R; Skwarnicki, T; Stone, S; Wang, J C; Zhang, K; Csorna, S E; Bonvicini, G; Cinabro, D; Dubrovin, M; Bornheim, A; Pappas, S P; Weinstein, A J; Briere, R A; Chen, G P; Ferguson, T; Tatishvili, G; Vogel, H; Watkins, M E; Adam, N E; Alexander, J P; Berkelman, K; Cassel, D G; Duboscq, J E; Ecklund, K M; Ehrlich, R; Fields, L; Galik, R S; Gibbons, L; Gittelman, B; Gray, R; Gray, S W; Hartill, D L; Heltsley, B K; Hertz, D; Hsu, L; Jones, C D; Kandaswamy, J; Kreinick, D L; Kuznetsov, V E; Mahlke-Krüger, H; Meyer, T O; Onyisi, P U E; Patterson, J R; Peterson, D; Pivarski, J; Riley, D; Rosner, J L; Ryd, A; Sadoff, A J; Schwarthoff, H; Shepherd, M R; Sun, W M; Thayer, J G; Urner, D; Wilksen, T; Weinberger, M; Athar, S B; Avery, P; Breva-Newell, L; Patel, R; Potlia, V; Stoeck, H; Yelton, J; Rubin, P; Cawlfield, C; Eisenstein, B I; Gollin, G D; Karliner, I; Kim, D; Lowrey, N; Naik, P; Sedlack, C; Selen, M; Thaler, J J; Williams, J; Wiss, J; Edwards, K W; Besson, D; Gao, K Y; Gong, D T; Kubota, Y; Lang, B W; Li, S Z; Poling, R; Scott, A W; Smith, A; Stepaniak, C J; Urheim, J; Metreveli, Z; Seth, K K; Tomaradze, A; Zweber, P; Ernst, J; Mahmood, A H; Arms, K; Gan, K K; Asner, D M; Dytman, S A; Mehrabyan, S; Mueller, J A; Savinov, V; Li, Z; Lopez, A; Mendez, H; Ramirez, J; Huang, G S; Miller, D H; Pavlunin, V; Sanghi, B; Shibata, E I; Shipsey, I P J

2005-01-14

The decay branching fractions of the three narrow Upsilon resonances to mu(+)mu(-) have been measured by analyzing about 4.3 fb(-1) e(+)e(-) data collected with the CLEO III detector. The branching fraction B(Upsilon(1S)-->mu(+)mu(-))=(2.49+/-0.02+/-0.07)% is consistent with the current world average, but B(Upsilon(2S)-->mu(+)mu(-))=(2.03+/-0.03+/-0.08)% and B(Upsilon(3S)-->mu(+)mu(-))=(2.39+/-0.07+/-0.10)% are significantly larger than prior results. These new muonic branching fractions imply a narrower total decay width for the Upsilon(2S) and Upsilon(3S) resonances and lower other branching fractions that rely on these decays in their determination.

The Albedo of Kepler's Small Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jansen, Tiffany; Kipping, David

2018-01-01

The study of exoplanet phase curves has been established as a powerful tool for measuring the atmospheric properties of other worlds. To first order, phase curves have the same amplitude as occultations, yet far greater temporal baselines enabling substantial improvements in sensitivity. Even so, only a relatively small fraction of Kepler planets have detectable phase curves, leading to a population dominated by hot-Jupiters. One way to boost sensitivity further is to stack different planets of similar types together, giving rise to an average phase curve for a specific ensemble. In this work, we measure the average albedo, thermal redistribution efficiency, and greenhouse boosting factor from the average phase curves of 115 Neptunian and 50 Terran (solid) worlds. We construct ensemble phase curve models for both samples accounting for the reflection and thermal components and regress our models assuming a global albedo, redistribution factor and greenhouse factor in a Bayesian framework. We find modest evidence for a detected phase curve in the Neptunian sample, although the albedo and thermal properties are somewhat degenerate meaning we can only place an upper limit on the albedo of Ag < 0.23 and greenhouse factor of f < 1.40 to 95% confidence. As predicted theoretically, this confirms hot-Neptunes are darker than Neptune and Uranus. Additionally, we place a constraint on the albedo of solid, Terran worlds of Ag < 0.42 and f < 1.60 to 95% confidence, compatible with a dark Lunar-like surface.

Occupational exposure to electric fields and induced currents associated with 400 kV substation tasks from different service platforms.

PubMed

Korpinen, Leena H; Elovaara, Jarmo A; Kuisti, Harri A

2011-01-01

The aim of the study was to investigate the occupational exposure to electric fields, average current densities, and average total contact currents at 400 kV substation tasks from different service platforms (main transformer inspection, maintenance of operating device of disconnector, maintenance of operating device of circuit breaker). The average values are calculated over measured periods (about 2.5 min). In many work tasks, the maximum electric field strengths exceeded the action values proposed in the EU Directive 2004/40/EC, but the average electric fields (0.2-24.5 kV/m) were at least 40% lower than the maximum values. The average current densities were 0.1-2.3 mA/m² and the average total contact currents 2.0-143.2 µA, that is, clearly less than the limit values of the EU Directive. The average values of the currents in head and contact currents were 16-68% lower than the maximum values when we compared the average value from all cases in the same substation. In the future it is important to pay attention to the fact that the action and limit values of the EU Directive differ significantly. It is also important to take into account that generally, the workers' exposure to the electric fields, current densities, and total contact currents are obviously lower if we use the average values from a certain measured time period (e.g., 2.5 min) than in the case where exposure is defined with only the help of the maximum values. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Maximum time-dependent space-charge limited diode currents

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

Griswold, M. E.; Fisch, N. J.

Recent papers claim that a one dimensional (1D) diode with a time-varying voltage drop can transmit current densities that exceed the Child-Langmuir (CL) limit on average, apparently contradicting a previous conjecture that there is a hard limit on the average current density across any 1D diode, as t → ∞, that is equal to the CL limit. However, these claims rest on a different definition of the CL limit, namely, a comparison between the time-averaged diode current and the adiabatic average of the expression for the stationary CL limit. If the current were considered as a function of the maximummore » applied voltage, rather than the average applied voltage, then the original conjecture would not have been refuted.« less

World War, Then and Now: World War III in the 21st Century

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-01

provide the complete under- standing needed to develop weapons and tactics. One characteristic of our current highly distributed and loosely...believe. Many current terrorists put forth the lie that their cause is pursued in the name of religion, rather than to promote their true objective of...political theories of war prevailing at the time. In the case of the current world war, the different terrorist groups wage war partly as a way to

Current Concepts in Sports Injury Rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Dhillon, Himmat; Dhilllon, Sidak; Dhillon, Mandeep S

2017-01-01

In the modern era, rehabilitation after sports injury has become a domain for specialists, and its evolution has necessarily brought together the sports physiotherapist, the sports physician, and the orthopedic surgeon. The changing profile of sports related injury, as well as limited availability of facilities for rehabilitation in many areas of India, is a matter of concern. Elite sportspersons have some protection, but the average athlete is often left to fend for himself. Key factors in successful sports injury rehabilitation protocols are the application of modern rehabilitation protocols under appropriate supervision, appropriate and well timed surgical interventions, and judicious and need based use of pharmaceutical agents. Modern rehabilitation protocols emphasize teamwork and proper rehabilitation planning, and the rehabilitation team has to be lead by a trained sports physiotherapist, with an understanding of the protocols and interventions required at various stages. Injury specific rehabilitation protocols are being practiced worldwide but need to be introduced according to the nature of the sport as well as available facilities. Even in India, sports physicians are increasingly joining specialist rehabilitation teams, and they can help with medication, nutritional supplements, and specialized tests that could improve injury understanding. Inputs from surgeons are mandatory if surgical interventions have been performed. What is often missing in the underdeveloped world is psychological support and a clear understanding by the athlete of his/her rehabilitation protocols. World over, the primary aims are safe return to sports and minimizing reinjury on return to sport; this involves rehabilitation in stages, and current methodology clearly demarcates acute and chronic phases of injury. Close coordination with trainers and coaches is mandatory, and all need to understand that the reconditioning phase is crucial; skill assessment before progression has now become a specialized domain and needs to be introduced at all levels of the sport. A key factor in all sports injury rehabilitation protocols is injury prevention; this involves data maintenance by teams or trainers, which is still not fully developed in the Indian context. The injury and subsequent problems need to be comprehended both by athletes and their coaches. The current review is an attempt to clarify some of the issues that are important and routinely used world over, with the aim to improving rehabilitation after sports even in the underdeveloped world. PMID:28966376

Russia and the United States: Future Implications of Historical Relationships

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-01

paper relates the theory to the current unipolar international structure and states how the U.S.-Russian relationship could proceed in the future...explained by realist states working inside of the ―capitalist world system.‖ The paper relates the theory to the current unipolar international...inside a world system. One theory of the world system is based on the concept of a capitalist world economy whose efficiency-seeking transnational

Module failure isolation circuit for paralleled inverters. [preventing system failure during power conditioning for spacecraft applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nagano, S. (Inventor)

1979-01-01

A module failure isolation circuit is described which senses and averages the collector current of each paralled inverter power transistor and compares the collector current of each power transistor the average collector current of all power transistors to determine when the sensed collector current of a power transistor in any one inverter falls below a predetermined ratio of the average collector current. The module associated with any transistor that fails to maintain a current level above the predetermined radio of the average collector current is then shut off. A separate circuit detects when there is no load, or a light load, to inhibit operation of the isolation circuit during no load or light load conditions.

75 FR 41556 - Proposed Collection Renewal; Correction

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-16

... global education in the classroom. Estimated annual number of respondents: 300. Estimated average time to... the annual World Wise Schools Conference. The information is used as a record of attendance. 2. Title... global education in the classroom. Estimated annual number of responses: 300. Estimated average time to...

Climate change over Leh (Ladakh), India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chevuturi, A.; Dimri, A. P.; Thayyen, R. J.

2018-01-01

Mountains over the world are considered as the indicators of climate change. The Himalayas are comprised of five ranges, viz., Pir Panjal, Great Himalayas, Zanskar, Ladhak, and Karakorum. The Ladakh region lies in the northernmost state of India, Jammu and Kashmir, in the Ladhak range. It has a unique cold-arid climate and lies immediately south of the Karakorum range. With scarce water resources, such regions show high sensitivity and vulnerability to the change in climate and need urgent attention. The objective of this study is to understand the climate of the Ladakh region and to characterize its changing climate. Using different temperature and precipitation datasets over Leh and surrounding regions, we statistically analyze the current trends of climatic patterns over the region. The study shows that the climate over Leh shows a warming trend with reduced precipitation in the current decade. The reduced average seasonal precipitation might also be associated with some indications of reducing number of days with higher precipitation amounts over the region.

Assessing Multivariate Constraints to Evolution across Ten Long-Term Avian Studies

PubMed Central

Teplitsky, Celine; Tarka, Maja; Møller, Anders P.; Nakagawa, Shinichi; Balbontín, Javier; Burke, Terry A.; Doutrelant, Claire; Gregoire, Arnaud; Hansson, Bengt; Hasselquist, Dennis; Gustafsson, Lars; de Lope, Florentino; Marzal, Alfonso; Mills, James A.; Wheelwright, Nathaniel T.; Yarrall, John W.; Charmantier, Anne

2014-01-01

Background In a rapidly changing world, it is of fundamental importance to understand processes constraining or facilitating adaptation through microevolution. As different traits of an organism covary, genetic correlations are expected to affect evolutionary trajectories. However, only limited empirical data are available. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigate the extent to which multivariate constraints affect the rate of adaptation, focusing on four morphological traits often shown to harbour large amounts of genetic variance and considered to be subject to limited evolutionary constraints. Our data set includes unique long-term data for seven bird species and a total of 10 populations. We estimate population-specific matrices of genetic correlations and multivariate selection coefficients to predict evolutionary responses to selection. Using Bayesian methods that facilitate the propagation of errors in estimates, we compare (1) the rate of adaptation based on predicted response to selection when including genetic correlations with predictions from models where these genetic correlations were set to zero and (2) the multivariate evolvability in the direction of current selection to the average evolvability in random directions of the phenotypic space. We show that genetic correlations on average decrease the predicted rate of adaptation by 28%. Multivariate evolvability in the direction of current selection was systematically lower than average evolvability in random directions of space. These significant reductions in the rate of adaptation and reduced evolvability were due to a general nonalignment of selection and genetic variance, notably orthogonality of directional selection with the size axis along which most (60%) of the genetic variance is found. Conclusions These results suggest that genetic correlations can impose significant constraints on the evolution of avian morphology in wild populations. This could have important impacts on evolutionary dynamics and hence population persistence in the face of rapid environmental change. PMID:24608111

Hydropower's Biogenic Carbon Footprint.

PubMed

Scherer, Laura; Pfister, Stephan

2016-01-01

Global warming is accelerating and the world urgently needs a shift to clean and renewable energy. Hydropower is currently the largest renewable source of electricity, but its contribution to climate change mitigation is not yet fully understood. Hydroelectric reservoirs are a source of biogenic greenhouse gases and in individual cases can reach the same emission rates as thermal power plants. Little is known about the severity of their emissions at the global scale. Here we show that the carbon footprint of hydropower is far higher than previously assumed, with a global average of 173 kg CO2 and 2.95 kg CH4 emitted per MWh of electricity produced. This results in a combined average carbon footprint of 273 kg CO2e/MWh when using the global warming potential over a time horizon of 100 years (GWP100). Nonetheless, this is still below that of fossil energy sources without the use of carbon capture and sequestration technologies. We identified the dams most promising for capturing methane for use as alternative energy source. The spread among the ~1500 hydropower plants analysed in this study is large and highlights the importance of case-by-case examinations.

A Pilot Study of Neurofeedback for Chronic PTSD.

PubMed

Gapen, Mark; van der Kolk, Bessel A; Hamlin, Ed; Hirshberg, Laurence; Suvak, Michael; Spinazzola, Joseph

2016-09-01

EEG Biofeedback (also known as neurofeedback) has been in use as a clinical intervention for well over 30 years; however, it has made very little impact on clinical care. One reason for this has been the difficulty in designing research to measure clinical change in the real world. While substantial evidence exists for its efficacy in treating attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, relatively little evidence exists for its utility in other disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current study represents a "proof-of-concept" pilot for the use of neurofeedback with multiply-traumatized individuals with treatment-resistant PTSD. Participants completed 40 sessions of neurofeedback training two times per week with sensors randomly assigned (by the study coordinator, who was not blind to condition) to sensor placements of either T4-P4 or T3-T4. We found that neurofeedback significantly reduced PTSD symptoms (Davidson Trauma Scale scores averaged 69.14 at baseline to 49.26 at termination), and preceded gains in affect regulation (Inventory of Altered Self-Capacities-Affect Dysregulation scores averaged 23.63 at baseline to 17.20 at termination). We discuss a roadmap for future research.

[Problems of work world and its impact on health. Current financial crisis].

PubMed

Tomasina, Fernando

2012-06-01

Health and work are complex processes. Besides, they are multiple considering the forms they take. These two processes are linked to each other and they are influenced by each other. According to this, it is possible to establish that work world is extremely complex and heterogeneous. In this world, "old" or traditional risks coexist with "modern risks", derived from the new models of work organization and the incorporation of new technologies. Unemployment, work relationships precariousness and work risks outsourcing are results of neoliberal strategies. Some negative results of health-sickness process derived from transformation in work world and current global economic crisis have been noticed in current work conditions. Finally, the need for reconstructing policies focusing on this situation derived from work world is suggested.

Systematic review of colorectal cancer screening guidelines for average-risk adults: Summarizing the current global recommendations.

PubMed

Bénard, Florence; Barkun, Alan N; Martel, Myriam; von Renteln, Daniel

2018-01-07

To summarize and compare worldwide colorectal cancer (CRC) screening recommendations in order to identify similarities and disparities. A systematic literature search was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, CENTRAL and ISI Web of knowledge identifying all average-risk CRC screening guideline publications within the last ten years and/or position statements published in the last 2 years. In addition, a hand-search of the webpages of National Gastroenterology Society websites, the National Guideline Clearinghouse, the BMJ Clinical Evidence website, Google and Google Scholar was performed. Fifteen guidelines were identified. Six guidelines were published in North America, four in Europe, four in Asia and one from the World Gastroenterology Organization. The majority of guidelines recommend screening average-risk individuals between ages 50 and 75 using colonoscopy (every 10 years), or flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS, every 5 years) or fecal occult blood test (FOBT, mainly the Fecal Immunochemical Test, annually or biennially). Disparities throughout the different guidelines are found relating to the use of colonoscopy, rank order between test, screening intervals and optimal age ranges for screening. Average risk individuals between 50 and 75 years should undergo CRC screening. Recommendations for optimal surveillance intervals, preferred tests/test cascade as well as the optimal timing when to start and stop screening differ regionally and should be considered for clinical decision making. Furthermore, local resource availability and patient preferences are important to increase CRC screening uptake, as any screening is better than none.

Spatial prisoner's dilemma game with volunteering in Newman-Watts small-world networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Zhi-Xi; Xu, Xin-Jian; Chen, Yong; Wang, Ying-Hai

2005-03-01

A modified spatial prisoner’s dilemma game with voluntary participation in Newman-Watts small-world networks is studied. Some reasonable ingredients are introduced to the game evolutionary dynamics: each agent in the network is a pure strategist and can only take one of three strategies (cooperator, defector, and loner); its strategical transformation is associated with both the number of strategical states and the magnitude of average profits, which are adopted and acquired by its coplayers in the previous round of play; a stochastic strategy mutation is applied when it gets into the trouble of local commons that the agent and its neighbors are in the same state and get the same average payoffs. In the case of very low temptation to defect, it is found that agents are willing to participate in the game in typical small-world region and intensive collective oscillations arise in more random region.

Averages of B-Hadron, C-Hadron, and tau-lepton properties as of early 2012

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

Amhis, Y.; et al.

2012-07-01

This article reports world averages of measurements of b-hadron, c-hadron, and tau-lepton properties obtained by the Heavy Flavor Averaging Group (HFAG) using results available through the end of 2011. In some cases results available in the early part of 2012 are included. For the averaging, common input parameters used in the various analyses are adjusted (rescaled) to common values, and known correlations are taken into account. The averages include branching fractions, lifetimes, neutral meson mixing parameters, CP violation parameters, parameters of semileptonic decays and CKM matrix elements.

"Soccer": The Beautiful Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spires, Todd

2008-01-01

Soccer, or football as it is called in the rest of the world, is the most popular and fastest-growing global sport, with an estimated 240 million people regularly playing what Brazilian star Pele called "the beautiful game." Millions, worldwide, watch it on television. In 2006, the average viewership for each match of the month-long World Cup was…

World History.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heise, Simine; And Others

A detailed outline summarizes a ninth-grade course in world history adaptable to average and honors classes. Material is divided into five parts. A list of 33 course goals precedes a list of 150 objectives, grouped under appropriate goal headings. The bulk of the document consists of a content outline which cites major and minor topics covered in…

High Performance Regimes in Alcator C-Mod at High Magnetic Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marmar, E. S.; Alcator C-Mod Team

2017-10-01

Alcator is the only divertor tokamak in the world capable of operating at magnetic fields up to 8 T, equaling and exceeding that planned for ITER. Using RF and microwave tools for auxiliary heating and current drive, C-Mod accesses high pressure, high density, reactor-relevant regimes with no external torque and equilibrated electrons and ions, with exclusive use of high-Z metal plasma-facing components. The 2016 experimental campaign focused on naturally ELM-suppressed, enhanced energy confinement regimes (including I-mode and EDA H-mode, and approaches to super-H-mode), with emphasis on operation at the highest fields (52 atm.) was achieved. Taken together, combined with previous results from C-Mod and the world tokamak database, these results form a strong foundation for the high field, compact approach to achieving fusion energy production. New advances in high temperature, high field superconductors open the possibilities for practical development of this path for commercial fusion. Supported by USDOE.

State of equity: childhood immunization in the World Health Organization African Region

PubMed Central

Casey, Rebecca Mary; Hampton, Lee McCalla; Anya, Blanche-philomene Melanga; Gacic-Dobo, Marta; Diallo, Mamadou Saliou; Wallace, Aaron Stuart

2017-01-01

Introduction In 2010, the Global Vaccine Action Plan called on all countries to reach and sustain 90% national coverage and 80% coverage in all districts for the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP3) by 2015 and for all vaccines in national immunization schedules by 2020. The aims of this study are to analyze recent trends in national vaccination coverage in the World Health Organization African Region andto assess how these trends differ by country income category. Methods We compared national vaccination coverage estimates for DTP3 and the first dose of measles-containing vaccine (MCV) obtained from the World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) joint estimates of national immunization coverage for all African Region countries. Using United Nations (UN) population estimates of surviving infants and country income category for the corresponding year, we calculated population-weighted average vaccination coverage by country income category (i.e., low, lower middle, and upper middle-income) for the years 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. Results DTP3 coverage in the African Region increased from 52% in 2000 to 76% in 2015,and MCV1 coverage increased from 53% to 74% during the same period, but with considerable differences among countries. Thirty-six African Region countries were low income in 2000 with an average DTP3 coverage of 50% while 26 were low income in 2015 with an average coverage of 80%. Five countries were lower middle-income in 2000 with an average DTP3 coverage of 84% while 12 were lower middle-income in 2015 with an average coverage of 69%. Five countries were upper middle-income in 2000 with an average DTP3 coverage of 73% and eight were upper middle-income in 2015 with an average coverage of 76%. Conclusion Disparities in vaccination coverage by country persist in the African Region, with countries that were lower middle-income having the lowest coverage on average in 2015. Monitoring and addressing these disparities is essential for meeting global immunization targets. PMID:29296140

Can we observe the fronts of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current using GRACE OBP?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makowski, J.; Chambers, D. P.; Bonin, J. A.

2014-12-01

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the Southern Ocean remains one of the most undersampled regions of the world's oceans. The ACC is comprised of four major fronts: the Sub-Tropical Front (STF), the Polar Front (PF), the Sub-Antarctic Front (SAF), and the Southern ACC Front (SACCF). These were initially observed individually from repeat hydrographic sections and their approximate locations globally have been quantified using all available temperature data from the World Ocean and Climate Experiment (WOCE). More recent studies based on satellite altimetry have found that the front positions are more dynamic and have shifted south by up to 1° on average since 1993. Using ocean bottom pressure (OBP) data from the current Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) we have measured integrated transport variability of the ACC south of Australia. However, differentiation of variability of specific fronts has been impossible due to the necessary smoothing required to reduce noise and correlated errors in the measurements. The future GRACE Follow-on (GFO) mission and the post 2020 GRACE-II mission are expected to produce higher resolution gravity fields with a monthly temporal resolution. Here, we study the resolution and error characteristics of GRACE gravity data that would be required to resolve variations in the front locations and transport. To do this, we utilize output from a high-resolution model of the Southern Ocean, hydrology models, and ice sheet surface mass balance models; add various amounts of random and correlated errors that may be expected from GFO and GRACE-II; and quantify requirements needed for future satellite gravity missions to resolve variations along the ACC fronts.

Mapping bathymetry in an active surf zone with the WorldView2 multispectral satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trimble, S. M.; Houser, C.; Brander, R.; Chirico, P.

2015-12-01

Rip currents are strong, narrow seaward flows of water that originate in the surf zones of many global beaches. They are related to hundreds of international drownings each year, but exact numbers are difficult to calculate due to logistical difficulties in obtaining accurate incident reports. Annual average rip current fatalities are estimated to be ~100, 53 and 21 in the United States (US), Costa Rica, and Australia respectively. Current warning systems (e.g. National Weather Service) do not account for fine resolution nearshore bathymetry because it is difficult to capture. The method shown here could provide frequent, high resolution maps of nearshore bathymetry at a scale required for improved rip prediction and warning. This study demonstrates a method for mapping bathymetry in the surf zone (20m deep and less), specifically within rip channels, because rips form at topographically low spots in the bathymetry as a result of feedback amongst waves, substrate, and antecedent bathymetry. The methods employ the Digital Globe WorldView2 (WV2) multispectral satellite and field measurements of depth to generate maps of the changing bathymetry at two embayed, rip-prone beaches: Playa Cocles, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica, and Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia. WV2 has a 1.1 day pass-over rate with 1.84m ground pixel resolution of 8 bands, including 'yellow' (585-625 nm) and 'coastal blue' (400-450 nm). The data is used to classify bottom type and to map depth to the return in multiple bands. The methodology is tested at each site for algorithm consistency between dates, and again for applicability between sites.

High frequency solar influence revealed in sclerosponge-derived Caribbean SST record

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Estrella, J.; Winter, A.; Sherman, C.; Mangini, A.

2012-12-01

We present a high-resolution (annual) record of the Caribbean mixed layer temperature at different depths derived from oxygen isotopic ratios obtained from the sclerosponge Ceratoporella nicholsoni. Sclerosponges precipitate their calcium carbonate skeleton in equilibrium with their surrounding environment and are capable of living at depths down to 200 m. The sponges for this project were collected off the coasts of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands in northeastern Caribbean Sea. The records obtained extend from the early 1500's to the present and suggest that the Northeastern Caribbean was 1 - 2 °C cooler during the Little Ice Age than present conditions and that sea surface temperature (SST) has been rising at an average linear rate of 0.009 °C yr-1 since the mid 1800's, three times faster than the World Ocean. Wavelet time series analysis of our records suggests that Caribbean SST variability is regulated by the sunspot cycle, especially when the total solar irradiance is high, at what time the SSTs and the sunspot cycle are highly coupled. Our findings suggest a SST response to solar influence of 0.40 °C (W/m2)-1, almost twice that of the World Ocean. Deceleration of the Caribbean Current is proposed as a possible reason for this disparity. Further work is currently being done on other sponges and other calcium carbonate proxies to examine the extension of this forcing in other climate phenomena.

Structural and Functional Loss in Restored Wetland Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Moreno-Mateos, David; Power, Mary E.; Comín, Francisco A.; Yockteng, Roxana

2012-01-01

Wetlands are among the most productive and economically valuable ecosystems in the world. However, because of human activities, over half of the wetland ecosystems existing in North America, Europe, Australia, and China in the early 20th century have been lost. Ecological restoration to recover critical ecosystem services has been widely attempted, but the degree of actual recovery of ecosystem functioning and structure from these efforts remains uncertain. Our results from a meta-analysis of 621 wetland sites from throughout the world show that even a century after restoration efforts, biological structure (driven mostly by plant assemblages), and biogeochemical functioning (driven primarily by the storage of carbon in wetland soils), remained on average 26% and 23% lower, respectively, than in reference sites. Either recovery has been very slow, or postdisturbance systems have moved towards alternative states that differ from reference conditions. We also found significant effects of environmental settings on the rate and degree of recovery. Large wetland areas (>100 ha) and wetlands restored in warm (temperate and tropical) climates recovered more rapidly than smaller wetlands and wetlands restored in cold climates. Also, wetlands experiencing more (riverine and tidal) hydrologic exchange recovered more rapidly than depressional wetlands. Restoration performance is limited: current restoration practice fails to recover original levels of wetland ecosystem functions, even after many decades. If restoration as currently practiced is used to justify further degradation, global loss of wetland ecosystem function and structure will spread. PMID:22291572

Heavy metal contamination in river water and sediments of the Swarnamukhi River Basin, India: risk assessment and environmental implications.

PubMed

Patel, Priyanka; Raju, N Janardhana; Reddy, B C Sundara Raja; Suresh, U; Sankar, D B; Reddy, T V K

2018-04-01

The concentration of heavy metals was analyzed each of 20 river water, suspended sediments and bed sediments along the stretch of Swarnamukhi River Basin. River water is not contaminated with heavy metals except Fe and Mn. Contamination factor in sediments shows considerable to very high degree contamination with Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn. The sources of these metals could be residential wastes, sewer outfall, fertilizers, pesticides (M-45 + carbondine) and traffic activities apart from natural weathering of granitic rocks present in the basin area. Principal component analyses indicate the interaction between metals in different media. The comparison of metals (Cu, Pb and Zn) in bed sediments of Swarnamukhi River with the Indian and world averages indicates that the values obtained in the basin are above the Indian averages and far below to the world averages. Average shale values and sediment quality guidelines point toward the enrichment and contamination of Cu, Cr, Pb and Zn to several fold leading to eco-toxicological risks in basin.

High-Precision Half-Life Measurement for the Superallowed β+ Emitter Alm26

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finlay, P.; Ettenauer, S.; Ball, G. C.; Leslie, J. R.; Svensson, C. E.; Andreoiu, C.; Austin, R. A. E.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Cross, D. S.; Demand, G.; Djongolov, M.; Garrett, P. E.; Green, K. L.; Grinyer, G. F.; Hackman, G.; Leach, K. G.; Pearson, C. J.; Phillips, A. A.; Sumithrarachchi, C. S.; Triambak, S.; Williams, S. J.

2011-01-01

A high-precision half-life measurement for the superallowed β+ emitter Alm26 was performed at the TRIUMF-ISAC radioactive ion beam facility yielding T1/2=6346.54±0.46stat±0.60systms, consistent with, but 2.5 times more precise than, the previous world average. The Alm26 half-life and ft value, 3037.53(61) s, are now the most precisely determined for any superallowed β decay. Combined with recent theoretical corrections for isospin-symmetry-breaking and radiative effects, the corrected Ft value for Alm26, 3073.0(12) s, sets a new benchmark for the high-precision superallowed Fermi β-decay studies used to test the conserved vector current hypothesis and determine the Vud element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark mixing matrix.

Rare isotope accelerator project in Korea and its application to high energy density sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chung, M.; Chung, Y. S.; Kim, S. K.; Lee, B. J.; Hoffmann, D. H. H.

2014-01-01

As a national science project, the Korean government has recently established the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) with the goal of conducting world-class research in basic sciences. One of the core facilities for the IBS will be the rare isotope accelerator which can produce high-intensity rare isotope beams to investigate the fundamental properties of nature, and also to support a broad research program in material sciences, medical and biosciences, and future nuclear energy technologies. The construction of the accelerator is scheduled to be completed by approximately 2017. The design of the accelerator complex is optimized to deliver high average beam current on targets, and to maximize the production of rare isotope beams through the simultaneous use of Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) and In-Flight Fragmentation (IFF) methods. The proposed accelerator is, however, not optimal for high energy density science, which usually requires very high peak currents on the target. In this study, we present possible beam-plasma experiments that can be done within the scope of the current accelerator design, and we also investigate possible future extension paths that may enable high energy density science with intense pulsed heavy ion beams.

RELATIVE THEORY OF GOOD IN "BRAVE NEW WORLD" AND "1984."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

PARTRIDGE, ALICE

ONE METHOD OF INTERESTING THE AVERAGE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT IN QUESTIONING INTELLIGENTLY THE NATURE OF GOOD IS THROUGH THE STUDY OF HUXLEY'S "BRAVE NEW WORLD" AND ORWELL'S "1984." IN BOTH OF THESE NEGATIVE UTOPIAS THE LOSS OF MAN'S HUMANITY, INDIVIDUALITY, AND RIGHT TO REASON THE NATURE OF GOOD ARE THE VERY QUALITIES WHICH MAKE…

Keeping the Promise: Five Benefits of Girls' Secondary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rihani, May A.

2006-01-01

Countries around the world have achieved huge gains in primary education, reaching a world average of 83.8 percent in net primary enrollment. However, large numbers of students still do not complete primary education, and even fewer continue on to secondary school. Since so few children complete primary school, those who do must be able to…

Radon in indoor concentrations and indoor concentrations of metal dust particles in museums and other public buildings.

PubMed

Carneiro, G L; Braz, D; de Jesus, E F; Santos, S M; Cardoso, K; Hecht, A A; Dias da Cunha, Moore K

2013-06-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the public and occupational exposure to radon and metal-bearing particles in museums and public buildings located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For this study, four buildings were selected: two historic buildings, which currently house an art gallery and an art museum; and two modern buildings, a chapel and a club. Integrated radon concentration measurements were performed using passive radon detectors with solid state nuclear track detector-type Lexan used as nuclear track detector. Air samplers with a cyclone were used to collect the airborne particle samples that were analyzed by the particle-induced X-ray emission technique. The average unattached-radon concentrations in indoor air in the buildings were above 40 Bq/m(3), with the exception of Building D as measured in 2009. The average radon concentrations in indoor air in the four buildings in 2009 were below the recommended reference level by World Health Organization (100 Bq/m(3)); however, in 2011, the average concentrations of radon in Buildings A and C were above this level, though lower than 300 Bq/m(3). The average concentrations of unattached radon were lower than 148 Bq/m(3) (4pCi/L), the USEPA level recommended to take action to reduce the concentrations of radon in indoor air. The unattached-radon average concentrations were also lower than the value recommended by the European Union for new houses. As the unattached-radon concentrations were below the international level recommended to take action to reduce the radon concentration in air, it was concluded that during the period of sampling, there was low risk to human health due to the inhalation of unattached radon in these four buildings.

Human-experienced temperature changes exceed global average climate changes for all income groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsiang, S. M.; Parshall, L.

2009-12-01

Global climate change alters local climates everywhere. Many climate change impacts, such as those affecting health, agriculture and labor productivity, depend on these local climatic changes, not global mean change. Traditional, spatially averaged climate change estimates are strongly influenced by the response of icecaps and oceans, providing limited information on human-experienced climatic changes. If used improperly by decision-makers, these estimates distort estimated costs of climate change. We overlay the IPCC’s 20 GCM simulations on the global population distribution to estimate local climatic changes experienced by the world population in the 21st century. The A1B scenario leads to a well-known rise in global average surface temperature of +2.0°C between the periods 2011-2030 and 2080-2099. Projected on the global population distribution in 2000, the median human will experience an annual average rise of +2.3°C (4.1°F) and the average human will experience a rise of +2.4°C (4.3°F). Less than 1% of the population will experience changes smaller than +1.0°C (1.8°F), while 25% and 10% of the population will experience changes greater than +2.9°C (5.2°F) and +3.5°C (6.2°F) respectively. 67% of the world population experiences temperature changes greater than the area-weighted average change of +2.0°C (3.6°F). Using two approaches to characterize the spatial distribution of income, we show that the wealthiest, middle and poorest thirds of the global population experience similar changes, with no group dominating the global average. Calculations for precipitation indicate that there is little change in average precipitation, but redistributions of precipitation occur in all income groups. These results suggest that economists and policy-makers using spatially averaged estimates of climate change to approximate local changes will systematically and significantly underestimate the impacts of climate change on the 21st century population. Top: The distribution of temperature changes experienced by the world population between 2011-2030 and 2080-2099. Lower 3 panels: Temperatures experienced 2011-2030 (dashed, circle = mean) and 2080-2099 (solid, cross = mean) by income tercile. The poor do not experience larger changes than the wealthy. However, the poor begin the 21st century at higher temperatures.

The Impact of Climate Change on the Potential Distribution of Agricultural Pests: The Case of the Coffee White Stem Borer (Monochamus leuconotus P.) in Zimbabwe

PubMed Central

Kutywayo, Dumisani; Chemura, Abel; Kusena, Winmore; Chidoko, Pardon; Mahoya, Caleb

2013-01-01

The production of agricultural commodities faces increased risk of pests, diseases and other stresses due to climate change and variability. This study assesses the potential distribution of agricultural pests under projected climatic scenarios using evidence from the African coffee white stem borer (CWB), Monochamus leuconotus (Pascoe) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), an important pest of coffee in Zimbabwe. A species distribution modeling approach utilising Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) and Generalized Linear Models (GLM) was applied on current and projected climate data obtained from the WorldClim database and occurrence data (presence and absence) collected through on-farm biological surveys in Chipinge, Chimanimani, Mutare and Mutasa districts in Zimbabwe. Results from both the BRT and GLM indicate that precipitation-related variables are more important in determining species range for the CWB than temperature related variables. The CWB has extensive potential habitats in all coffee areas with Mutasa district having the largest model average area suitable for CWB under current and projected climatic conditions. Habitat ranges for CWB will increase under future climate scenarios for Chipinge, Chimanimani and Mutare districts while it will decrease in Mutasa district. The highest percentage change in area suitable for the CWB was for Chimanimani district with a model average of 49.1% (3 906 ha) increase in CWB range by 2080. The BRT and GLM predictions gave similar predicted ranges for Chipinge, Chimanimani and Mutasa districts compared to the high variation in current and projected habitat area for CWB in Mutare district. The study concludes that suitable area for CWB will increase significantly in Zimbabwe due to climate change and there is need to develop adaptation mechanisms. PMID:24014222

77 FR 73509 - Emerging World Pharma, Inc.; Order of Suspension of Trading

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-10

... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [File No. 500-1] Emerging World Pharma, Inc.; Order of... lack of current and accurate information concerning the securities of Emerging World Pharma, Inc. (``Emerging World''). Emerging World is a Florida corporation purportedly based in Manassas, Virginia and...

Drought in West Africa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

Drought settled over West Africa's Ivory Coast region when wet season rains came late in 2007. Instead of beginning in February, the rainy season didn't start until March, and steady rains didn't start until late March, said the Famine Early Warning System Network. Though the rain had started to alleviate the drought, vegetation was still depressed in parts of Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) between March 22 and April 6, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured the data used to make this image. The image shows current vegetation conditions compared to average conditions recorded since 2000. Areas where plants are growing more slowly or more sparsely than average are brown, while areas where vegetation is denser than average are green. The brown tint that dominates the image indicates that plants through most of the country are more sparse than normal. Among the crops affected by the lack of rain was West Africa's cocoa crop. About 70 percent of the world's cocoa comes from West Africa, and Cote d'Ivoire is a top grower, said Reuters. Cocoa prices climbed as the crop fell short. Farmers called the drought the worst in living memory, Reuters said. The delay in rainfall also led to water shortages in parts of Cote d'Ivoire, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Emergence of scale-free characteristics in socio-ecological systems with bounded rationality

PubMed Central

Kasthurirathna, Dharshana; Piraveenan, Mahendra

2015-01-01

Socio–ecological systems are increasingly modelled by games played on complex networks. While the concept of Nash equilibrium assumes perfect rationality, in reality players display heterogeneous bounded rationality. Here we present a topological model of bounded rationality in socio-ecological systems, using the rationality parameter of the Quantal Response Equilibrium. We argue that system rationality could be measured by the average Kullback–-Leibler divergence between Nash and Quantal Response Equilibria, and that the convergence towards Nash equilibria on average corresponds to increased system rationality. Using this model, we show that when a randomly connected socio-ecological system is topologically optimised to converge towards Nash equilibria, scale-free and small world features emerge. Therefore, optimising system rationality is an evolutionary reason for the emergence of scale-free and small-world features in socio-ecological systems. Further, we show that in games where multiple equilibria are possible, the correlation between the scale-freeness of the system and the fraction of links with multiple equilibria goes through a rapid transition when the average system rationality increases. Our results explain the influence of the topological structure of socio–ecological systems in shaping their collective cognitive behaviour, and provide an explanation for the prevalence of scale-free and small-world characteristics in such systems. PMID:26065713

Emergence of scale-free characteristics in socio-ecological systems with bounded rationality.

PubMed

Kasthurirathna, Dharshana; Piraveenan, Mahendra

2015-06-11

Socio-ecological systems are increasingly modelled by games played on complex networks. While the concept of Nash equilibrium assumes perfect rationality, in reality players display heterogeneous bounded rationality. Here we present a topological model of bounded rationality in socio-ecological systems, using the rationality parameter of the Quantal Response Equilibrium. We argue that system rationality could be measured by the average Kullback--Leibler divergence between Nash and Quantal Response Equilibria, and that the convergence towards Nash equilibria on average corresponds to increased system rationality. Using this model, we show that when a randomly connected socio-ecological system is topologically optimised to converge towards Nash equilibria, scale-free and small world features emerge. Therefore, optimising system rationality is an evolutionary reason for the emergence of scale-free and small-world features in socio-ecological systems. Further, we show that in games where multiple equilibria are possible, the correlation between the scale-freeness of the system and the fraction of links with multiple equilibria goes through a rapid transition when the average system rationality increases. Our results explain the influence of the topological structure of socio-ecological systems in shaping their collective cognitive behaviour, and provide an explanation for the prevalence of scale-free and small-world characteristics in such systems.

Real-world volatile organic compound emission rates from seated adults and children for use in indoor air studies.

PubMed

Stönner, C; Edtbauer, A; Williams, J

2018-01-01

Human beings emit many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of both endogenous (internally produced) and exogenous (external source) origin. Here we present real-world emission rates of volatile organic compounds from cinema audiences (50-230 people) as a function of time in multiple screenings of three films. The cinema location and film selection allowed high-frequency measurement of human-emitted VOCs within a room flushed at a known rate so that emissions rates could be calculated for both adults and children. Gas-phase emission rates are analyzed as a function of time of day, variability during the film, and age of viewer. The average emission rates of CO 2 , acetone, and isoprene were lower (by a factor of ~1.2-1.4) for children under twelve compared to adults while for acetaldehyde emission rates were equivalent. Molecules influenced by exogenous sources such as decamethylcyclopentasiloxanes and methanol tended to decrease over the course of day and then rise for late evening screenings. These results represent average emission rates of people under real-world conditions and can be used in indoor air quality assessments and building design. Averaging over a large number of people generates emission rates that are less susceptible to individual behaviors. © 2017 The Authors. Indoor Air published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Gerontology and geriatrics in Dutch medical education.

PubMed

Tersmette, W; van Bodegom, D; van Heemst, D; Stott, D; Westendorp, R

2013-01-01

The world population is ageing and healthcare services require trained staff who can address the needs of older patients. In this study we determined how current medical education prepares Dutch students of medicine in the field of Gerontology and Geriatrics (G&G). Using a checklist of the essentials of G&G, we assessed Dutch medical education on three levels. On the national level we analysed the latest National Blueprint for higher medical education (Raamplan artsopleiding 2009). On the faculty level we reviewed medical curricula on the basis of interviews with program directors and inspection of course materials. On the student level we assessed the topics addressed in the questions of the cross-institutional progress test (CIPT). The National Bluepr int contains few specific G&G objectives. Obligatory G&G courses in medical schools on average amount to 2.2% of the total curriculum measured as European Credit Transfer System units (ECTS). Only two out of eight medical schools have practical training during the Master phase in the form of a clerkship in G&G. In the CIPT, on average 1.5% of questions cover G&G. Geriatric education in the Netherlands does not seem to be in line with current demographic trends. The National Blueprint falls short of providing sufficiently detailed objectives for education on the care of older people. The geriatric content offered by medical schools is varied and incomplete, and students are only marginally tested on their knowledge of G&G in the CIPT.

The sinking Mekong delta; modeling 25 years of groundwater extraction and subsidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minderhoud, P. S. J.; Erkens, G.; Pham, H. V.; Bui, V. T.; Erban, L. E.; Kooi, H.; Stouthamer, E.

2017-12-01

The Vietnamese Mekong delta, the third's largest delta in the world, is experiencing annual subsidence rates up to several centimeters. As a result, vulnerability to flooding and storm surges, salinization and, ultimately, permanent inundation increases. Extraction of groundwater from the soft deltaic subsurface can be a major driving mechanism of subsidence, however a quantification of temporal and spatial impact to subsidence in the Mekong delta was not done yet. We developed a delta-wide, 3D hydrogeological model coupled to a 1D geotechnical module to quantify the contribution of excessive groundwater exploitation to subsidence. The modelling period of 25 years captures the period in which the hydrogeological state of the delta transforming from almost undisturbed to a situation with increasing aquifer depletion. Our model provides a quantitative spatially-explicit assessment of groundwater extraction-induced subsidence for the entire Mekong delta since the start of widespread depletion of the groundwater reserves. Over the past decades subsidence related to groundwater extraction has accelerated towards the highest sinking rates at present. During the past 25 years, the delta sank on average 18 cm, with areas over 30 cm. Currently the delta experiences an average subsidence rate of 1.1 cm yr-1, some areas subside over 2.5 cm yr-1, due to groundwater exploitation. These rates outpace global sea level rise almost by an order of magnitude. Given the increasing trends in groundwater demand in the delta, the current rates are likely to increase in the near future.

Yield variability prediction by remote sensing sensors with different spatial resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumhálová, Jitka; Matějková, Štěpánka

2017-04-01

Currently, remote sensing sensors are very popular for crop monitoring and yield prediction. This paper describes how satellite images with moderate (Landsat satellite data) and very high (QuickBird and WorldView-2 satellite data) spatial resolution, together with GreenSeeker hand held crop sensor, can be used to estimate yield and crop growth variability. Winter barley (2007 and 2015) and winter wheat (2009 and 2011) were chosen because of cloud-free data availability in the same time period for experimental field from Landsat satellite images and QuickBird or WorldView-2 images. Very high spatial resolution images were resampled to worse spatial resolution. Normalised difference vegetation index was derived from each satellite image data sets and it was also measured with GreenSeeker handheld crop sensor for the year 2015 only. Results showed that each satellite image data set can be used for yield and plant variability estimation. Nevertheless, better results, in comparison with crop yield, were obtained for images acquired in later phenological phases, e.g. in 2007 - BBCH 59 - average correlation coefficient 0.856, and in 2011 - BBCH 59-0.784. GreenSeeker handheld crop sensor was not suitable for yield estimation due to different measuring method.

Winners and losers in a world where the high seas is closed to fishing

PubMed Central

Sumaila, U. Rashid; Lam, Vicky W. Y.; Miller, Dana D.; Teh, Louise; Watson, Reg A.; Zeller, Dirk; Cheung, William W. L.; Côté, Isabelle M.; Rogers, Alex D.; Roberts, Callum; Sala, Enric; Pauly, Daniel

2015-01-01

Fishing takes place in the high seas and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of maritime countries. Closing the former to fishing has recently been proposed in the literature and is currently an issue of debate in various international fora. We determine the degree of overlap between fish caught in these two areas of the ocean, examine how global catch might change if catches of straddling species or taxon groups increase within EEZs as a result of protection of adjacent high seas; and identify countries that are likely to gain or lose in total catch quantity and value following high-seas closure. We find that <0.01% of the quantity and value of commercial fish taxa are obtained from catch taken exclusively in the high seas, and if the catch of straddling taxa increases by 18% on average following closure because of spillover, there would be no loss in global catch. The Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality, would decrease from 0.66 to 0.33. Thus, closing the high seas could be catch-neutral while inequality in the distribution of fisheries benefits among the world's maritime countries could be reduced by 50%. PMID:25674681

Potential for a hazardous geospheric response to projected future climate changes.

PubMed

McGuire, B

2010-05-28

Periods of exceptional climate change in Earth history are associated with a dynamic response from the geosphere, involving enhanced levels of potentially hazardous geological and geomorphological activity. The response is expressed through the adjustment, modulation or triggering of a broad range of surface and crustal phenomena, including volcanic and seismic activity, submarine and subaerial landslides, tsunamis and landslide 'splash' waves, glacial outburst and rock-dam failure floods, debris flows and gas-hydrate destabilization. In relation to anthropogenic climate change, modelling studies and projection of current trends point towards increased risk in relation to a spectrum of geological and geomorphological hazards in a warmer world, while observations suggest that the ongoing rise in global average temperatures may already be eliciting a hazardous response from the geosphere. Here, the potential influences of anthropogenic warming are reviewed in relation to an array of geological and geomorphological hazards across a range of environmental settings. A programme of focused research is advocated in order to: (i) understand better those mechanisms by which contemporary climate change may drive hazardous geological and geomorphological activity; (ii) delineate those parts of the world that are most susceptible; and (iii) provide a more robust appreciation of potential impacts for society and infrastructure.

Synaptic dynamics regulation in response to high frequency stimulation in neuronal networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Fei; Wang, Jiang; Li, Huiyan; Wei, Xile; Yu, Haitao; Deng, Bin

2018-02-01

High frequency stimulation (HFS) has confirmed its ability in modulating the pathological neural activities. However its detailed mechanism is unclear. This study aims to explore the effects of HFS on neuronal networks dynamics. First, the two-neuron FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) networks with static coupling strength and the small-world FHN networks with spike-time-dependent plasticity (STDP) modulated synaptic coupling strength are constructed. Then, the multi-scale method is used to transform the network models into equivalent averaged models, where the HFS intensity is modeled as the ratio between stimulation amplitude and frequency. Results show that in static two-neuron networks, there is still synaptic current projected to the postsynaptic neuron even if the presynaptic neuron is blocked by the HFS. In the small-world networks, the effects of the STDP adjusting rate parameter on the inactivation ratio and synchrony degree increase with the increase of HFS intensity. However, only when the HFS intensity becomes very large can the STDP time window parameter affect the inactivation ratio and synchrony index. Both simulation and numerical analysis demonstrate that the effects of HFS on neuronal network dynamics are realized through the adjustment of synaptic variable and conductance.

29 CFR 548.306 - Average earnings for year or quarter year preceding the current quarter.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... PAY Interpretations Authorized Basic Rates § 548.306 Average earnings for year or quarter year... regular rates of pay during the current quarter year, and (ii) such average hourly remuneration during the... 29 Labor 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Average earnings for year or quarter year preceding the...

Understanding Environmental Literacy in America and Making It a Reality: Three-Year Report 2002/2003/2004

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Environmental Education & Training Foundation, 2005

2005-01-01

Research by the National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF) and Roper Public Affairs at NOP World tells that the average 12th grader (and by extension, the average adult) still falls far short of what would be considered "environmentally literate" by anyone's definition. Seemingly elementary questions elude most of…

ConnectED: President Obama's Plan for Connecting All Schools to the Digital Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

The White House, 2013

2013-01-01

Driven by new digital technologies, the future of learning is increasingly interactive, individualized, and full of real-world experiences and information. Unfortunately, the average school has about the same connectivity as the average American home, but serves 200 times as many users, and fewer than 20 percent of educators say their school's…

Siddartha: An Introduction to Buddhism and Hinduism Yesterday and Today.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mooney, Edward L.

This three-week unit in world literature for 11th grade, average-ability students was developed as part of a series by the Public Education Religion Studies Center at Wright State University. An outline of the unit's content and subject matter is given. The novel "Siddhartha" is studied in its Hindu and Buddhist religious and cultural…

The RNA–Protein World

PubMed Central

Altman, Sidney

2013-01-01

Following the naming of the RNA World for the hypothetical biochemical world during very early life forms, the current world was named the Protein World. However, the astonishing high level of transcripts from virtually all chromosomes in an organism now found in eucaryotes, as well as their extensive roles in regulating gene expression, suggests that today’s world should be labeled as the RNA–Protein World. PMID:23592800

Longitudinal Effects of Air Pollution on Exhaled Nitric Oxide: The Children’s Health Study

PubMed Central

Berhane, Kiros; Zhang, Yue; Salam, Muhammad T.; Eckel, Sandrah P.; Linn, William S.; Rappaport, Edward B.; Bastain, Theresa M; Lurmann, Fred; Gilliland, Frank D.

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of long-term variations in ambient air pollutants on longitudinal changes in exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), a potentially useful biomarker of eosinophilic airway inflammation, based on data from the southern California Children’s Health Study. METHODS Based on a cohort of 1,211 schoolchildren from 8 Southern California communities with FeNO measurements in 2006/07 and 2007/08, regression models adjusted for short-term effects of air pollution were fitted to assess the association between changes in annual long-term exposures and changes in FeNO. RESULTS Increases in annual average concentrations of 24-hr average NO2 and PM2.5 (scaled to the interquartile range (IQR) of 1.8 ppb and 2.4 μg/m3, respectively) were associated with a 2.29 ppb (CI=[0.36,4.21]; p =0.02) and a 4.94 ppb (CI=[1.44,8.47]; p = 0.005) increase in FeNO, respectively, after adjustments for short term effects of the respective pollutants. In contrast, changes in annual averages of PM10 and O3 were not significantly associated with changes in FeNO. These findings did not differ significantly by asthma status. CONCLUSIONS Changes in annual average exposure to current levels of ambient air pollutants are significantly associated with changes in FeNO levels in children, independent of short-term exposures and asthma status. Use of this biomarker in population-based epidemiologic research has great potential for assessing the impact of changing real world mixtures of ambient air pollutants on children’s respiratory health. PMID:24696513

PM 2.5 exposure assessment of the population in Lower Manhattan area of New York City after the World Trade Center disaster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ng, S. P.; Dimitroulopoulou, C.; Grossinho, A.; Chen, L. C.; Kendall, M.

On 11 September 2001, the explosion and the collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) Twin Towers in New York City (NYC), USA, generated a massive release of dust and inhalable toxic substances to the atmosphere as a result of the pulverization of various building materials, furniture, and computers. Many concerns were raised as Particulate Matter (PM) levels in Lower Manhattan might not meet the current National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) (65 μg m -3). The current study aims to provide a first estimate of the scale of population exposures during this episode. Data collected from existing monitoring stations in September showed the occurrence of a series of high peaks of PM 2.5 registered in the Lower Manhattan area after the 11 September. An interpolation technique was used within a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) environment to estimate outdoor PM 2.5 concentrations over NYC. Monthly average of 24 h outdoor PM 2.5 concentration of Lower Manhattan was 20.2 μg m -3 and did not exceed the NAAQS value. PM 2.5 concentrations in indoor micro-environments were simulated by a deterministic micro-environmental model (INTAIR) and linear regression equations. Three typical population groups were identified for the NYC area—home-makers, office/shop-workers, and students/children—and their 12 h nighttime and daytime exposures were estimated from 14 September until the end of September, either as mean exposure (daytime and nighttime) or as exposure weighted by residential population distribution (nighttime only). Average nighttime and daytime exposures of the Lower Manhattan population were calculated to be 37.3 and 23.6 μg m -3, respectively (daily average: 30.45 μg m -3), in which the various group movements and activities, smoking habits of individuals, and special population movements due to access restrictions and risk avoidance behaviors were considered. Within the study period, assuming the real nighttime population distribution followed the residential population pattern, approximate one quarter of the population was exposed to 20-30 μg m -3 PM 2.5; one half of the Lower Manhattan population was exposed to 10-20 and 30-60 μg m -3; around one fifth of the population was exposed to over 60 μg m -3 during nighttime. The results indicated that although the outdoor PM 2.5 concentration was lower than the NAAQS value, personal exposure levels, which were generally higher than the outdoor PM 2.5 concentration, might still be a reason of concern.

Langmuir probe measurements in a time-fluctuating-highly ionized non-equilibrium cutting arc: analysis of the electron retarding part of the time-averaged current-voltage characteristic of the probe.

PubMed

Prevosto, L; Kelly, H; Mancinelli, B

2013-12-01

This work describes the application of Langmuir probe diagnostics to the measurement of the electron temperature in a time-fluctuating-highly ionized, non-equilibrium cutting arc. The electron retarding part of the time-averaged current-voltage characteristic of the probe was analysed, assuming that the standard exponential expression describing the electron current to the probe in collision-free plasmas can be applied under the investigated conditions. A procedure is described which allows the determination of the errors introduced in time-averaged probe data due to small-amplitude plasma fluctuations. It was found that the experimental points can be gathered into two well defined groups allowing defining two quite different averaged electron temperature values. In the low-current region the averaged characteristic was not significantly disturbed by the fluctuations and can reliably be used to obtain the actual value of the averaged electron temperature. In particular, an averaged electron temperature of 0.98 ± 0.07 eV (= 11400 ± 800 K) was found for the central core of the arc (30 A) at 3.5 mm downstream from the nozzle exit. This average included not only a time-average over the time fluctuations but also a spatial-average along the probe collecting length. The fitting of the high-current region of the characteristic using such electron temperature value together with the corrections given by the fluctuation analysis showed a relevant departure of local thermal equilibrium in the arc core.

Spatiotemporal structure of wind farm-atmospheric boundary layer interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cervarich, Matthew; Baidya Roy, Somnath; Zhou, Liming

2013-04-01

Wind power is currently one of the fastest growing energy sources in the world. Most of the growth is in the utility sector consisting of large wind farms with numerous industrial-scale wind turbines. Wind turbines act as a sink of mean kinetic energy and a source of turbulent kinetic energy in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). In doing so, they modify the ABL profiles and land-atmosphere exchanges of energy, momentum, mass and moisture. This project explores theses interactions using remote sensing data and numerical model simulations. The domain is central Texas where 4 of the world's largest wind farms are located. A companion study of seasonally-averaged Land Surface Temperature data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on TERRA and AQUA satellites shows a warming signal at night and a mixed cooling/warming signal during the daytime within the wind farms. In the present study, wind farm-ABL interactions are simulated with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The simulations show that the model is capable of replicating the observed signal in land surface temperature. Moreover, similar warming/cooling effect, up to 1C, was observed in seasonal mean 2m air temperature as well. Further analysis show that enhanced turbulent mixing in the rotor wakes is responsible for the impacts on 2m and surface air temperatures. The mixing is due to 2 reasons: (i) turbulent momentum transport to compensate the momentum deficit in the wakes of the turbines and (ii) turbulence generated due to motion of turbine rotors. Turbulent mixing also alters vertical profiles of moisture. Changes in land-atmosphere temperature and moisture gradient and increase in turbulent mixing leads to more than 10% change in seasonal mean surface sensible and latent heat flux. Given the current installed capacity and the projected installation across the world, wind farms are likely becoming a major driver of anthropogenic land use change on Earth. Hence, understanding WF-ABL interactions and its effects is of significant scientific and societal importance.

How Do Virtual World Experiences Bring about Learning? A Critical Review of Theories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loke, Swee-Kin

2015-01-01

While students do learn real-world knowledge and skills in virtual worlds, educators have yet to adequately theorise how students' virtual world experiences bring about this learning. This paper critically reviewed theories currently used to underpin empirical work in virtual worlds for education. In particular, it evaluated how applicable these…

New guidelines are needed to manage heat stress in elite sports--The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Heat Stress Monitoring Programme.

PubMed

Bahr, Roald; Reeser, Jonathan C

2012-09-01

There seems to be a discrepancy between the available heat stress guidelines and the actual risk of heat-related illness among professional beach volleyball players competing under hot and humid conditions. To monitor heat stress and record cases of heat-related medical forfeits on the Swatch FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The FIVB Heat Stress Monitoring Protocol covered events on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour and FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships during the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons (51 events, most of these double gender). The protocol consisted of (1) measuring the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) on centre court prior to the start of every match, and (2) recording any heat-related medical forfeits during the tournament. Data were collected during 48 of 51 events. There were nine events where the peak WBGT exceeded the US Navy Black flag conditions of >32.3°C and an additional two events where the peak WBGT exceeded 31°C, (meeting Red flag conditions.) In two events, the average WBGT equalled at least 31°C. One case of a medical forfeit related to heat stress was recorded over the 3-year surveillance period: an athlete whose fluid balance was compromised from a 3-day bout of acute gastroenteritis. The incidence of significant heat illness among athletes competing on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour appears to be quite low, even though weather conditions frequently result in a WBGT index >32°C. Currently available guidelines appear to be inadequate to fully assess the risk of heat stress and too conservative to inform safety decisions in professional beach volleyball.

Analysis of suicide deaths in a 15-year period in Eskisehir, western Anatolia, Turkey and the determination of risk factors.

PubMed

Karbeyaz, Kenan; Akkaya, Harun; Balci, Yasemin

2013-01-01

It is estimated that every year 1 million people die all around the world due to suicide. The average rate of suicide in the world is reported as 16/100,000. In this study, we aimed to evaluate and discuss the suicide cases in our city Eskisehir that is located in western Anatolia. This is a retrospective study covering the period 1997-2011. All deaths in Eskisehir caused due to the consumption of forensic medicines in a 15-year period between 1997 and 2011 were evaluated retrospectively. A total of 553 cases were determined to be suicidal following both forensic and criminal investigations, and were included in the study. Furthermore, death examination and autopsy reports were investigated, and judicial investigation records were also taken into account. In this period, the average rate of suicide in our city was determined as 5.1/100,000 of which 71.4% of the cases were male. It was determined that the suicides most commonly occurred between the ages of 19 and 29 (32.4%, n=179). The most commonly encountered suicide method was hanging (60.9%, n=337). It was ascertained that the suicide rate in our city was lower than the average rate in the world, but it was higher than the average rate in Turkey. Unemployment was determined as the most common risk factor in our study. A follow-up should be provided for people with a history of attempting to commit suicide or with a tendency to committing suicide due to a psychological disorder.

Gray-world-assumption-based illuminant color estimation using color gamuts with high and low chroma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawamura, Harumi; Yonemura, Shunichi; Ohya, Jun; Kojima, Akira

2013-02-01

A new approach is proposed for estimating illuminant colors from color images under an unknown scene illuminant. The approach is based on a combination of a gray-world-assumption-based illuminant color estimation method and a method using color gamuts. The former method, which is one we had previously proposed, improved on the original method that hypothesizes that the average of all the object colors in a scene is achromatic. Since the original method estimates scene illuminant colors by calculating the average of all the image pixel values, its estimations are incorrect when certain image colors are dominant. Our previous method improves on it by choosing several colors on the basis of an opponent-color property, which is that the average color of opponent colors is achromatic, instead of using all colors. However, it cannot estimate illuminant colors when there are only a few image colors or when the image colors are unevenly distributed in local areas in the color space. The approach we propose in this paper combines our previous method and one using high chroma and low chroma gamuts, which makes it possible to find colors that satisfy the gray world assumption. High chroma gamuts are used for adding appropriate colors to the original image and low chroma gamuts are used for narrowing down illuminant color possibilities. Experimental results obtained using actual images show that even if the image colors are localized in a certain area in the color space, the illuminant colors are accurately estimated, with smaller estimation error average than that generated in the conventional method.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in the remote North Atlantic marine atmosphere

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

Baker, J.I.; Hites, R.A.

1999-01-01

The authors have developed a sampling strategy that allows them to determine femtogram/cubic mater concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) in remote marine atmospheres. Using this sampling strategy, a total of 37 air samples were taken during two extended sampling periods at Bermuda between September 1993 and August 1997. During this time, the average total PCDD/F concentrations at Bermuda decreased from 105 {+-} 30 to 35 {+-} 10 fg/m{sup 3}, giving a half-life of about 2 years for these compounds in the remote marine atmosphere. PCDD/F concentrations during both sampling periods were somewhat higher in the winter thenmore » air parcels originated from North America. A second air-sampling station was established at Barbados where 22 air samples were taken between March 1996 and August 1997; an average total PCDD/F concentration at Barbados of 15 {+-} 7 fg/m{sup 3} was found. This value was not significantly different than the 27 {+-} 7 fg/m{sup 3} found at Bermuda during this time when air arrived from the east. This indicated that the remote marine background concentration for these compounds is currently on the order of 20 fg/m{sup 3}. Using these background concentrations, the dry depositional rate of PCDD/F to the world`s oceans was estimated to be 200 {+-} 80 kg/year, and the wet depositional rate was estimated to be 900 {+-} 300 kg/year. This is a total deposition rate of about 1 t/year to the oceans as compared to their previous estimate of 12 t/year PCDD/F deposition from the atmosphere to the land.« less

Using neural networks and Dyna algorithm for integrated planning, reacting and learning in systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lima, Pedro; Beard, Randal

1992-01-01

The traditional AI answer to the decision making problem for a robot is planning. However, planning is usually CPU-time consuming, depending on the availability and accuracy of a world model. The Dyna system generally described in earlier work, uses trial and error to learn a world model which is simultaneously used to plan reactions resulting in optimal action sequences. It is an attempt to integrate planning, reactive, and learning systems. The architecture of Dyna is presented. The different blocks are described. There are three main components of the system. The first is the world model used by the robot for internal world representation. The input of the world model is the current state and the action taken in the current state. The output is the corresponding reward and resulting state. The second module in the system is the policy. The policy observes the current state and outputs the action to be executed by the robot. At the beginning of program execution, the policy is stochastic and through learning progressively becomes deterministic. The policy decides upon an action according to the output of an evaluation function, which is the third module of the system. The evaluation function takes the following as input: the current state of the system, the action taken in that state, the resulting state, and a reward generated by the world which is proportional to the current distance from the goal state. Originally, the work proposed was as follows: (1) to implement a simple 2-D world where a 'robot' is navigating around obstacles, to learn the path to a goal, by using lookup tables; (2) to substitute the world model and Q estimate function Q by neural networks; and (3) to apply the algorithm to a more complex world where the use of a neural network would be fully justified. In this paper, the system design and achieved results will be described. First we implement the world model with a neural network and leave Q implemented as a look up table. Next, we use a lookup table for the world model and implement the Q function with a neural net. Time limitations prevented the combination of these two approaches. The final section discusses the results and gives clues for future work.

Are essential medicines in Malaysia accessible, affordable and available?

PubMed

Saleh, Kamaruzaman; Ibrahim, Mohamed I M

2005-12-01

To assess the pharmaceutical sector to know whether people have access to essential medicines. The study was conducted in 20 public health clinics, five public district drug stores and 20 private retail pharmacies selected randomly in five different areas randomly selected (four states and a federal territory). The methodology used was adopted from the World Health Organization study protocol. The degree of attainment of the strategic pharmaceutical objectives of improved access is measured by a list of tested indicators. Access is measured in terms of the availability and affordability of essential medicines, especially to the poor and in the public sector. The first survey in the public health clinics and public district drug stores gathered information about current availability of essential medicines, prevalence of stock-outs and affordability of treatment (except drug stores). The second survey assessed affordability of treatment in public health clinics and private retail pharmacies. Availability, stock-out duration, percent of medicines dispensed, accessibility and affordability of key medicines. The average availability of key medicines in the public health clinics for the country was 95.4%. The average stock-out duration of key medicines was 6.5 days. However, average availability of key medicines in the public district drug stores was 89.2%; with an average stock-out duration of 32.4 days. Medicines prescribed were 100% dispensed to the patients. Average affordability for public health clinics was 1.5 weeks salary and for the private pharmacies, 3.7 weeks salary. The present pharmaceutical situation in the context of essential medicines list implementation reflected that the majority of the population in Malaysia had access to affordable essential medicines. If medicines need to be obtained from the private sector, they are hardly affordable. Although the average availability of essential medicines in Malaysia was high being more than 95.0%, in certain areas in Sabah availability was less than 80.0% and still a problem.

Phosphorus Loadings to the World's Largest Lakes: Sources and Trends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fink, Gabriel; Alcamo, Joseph; Flörke, Martina; Reder, Klara

2018-04-01

Eutrophication is a major water quality issue in lakes worldwide and is principally caused by the loadings of phosphorus from catchment areas. It follows that to develop strategies to mitigate eutrophication, we must have a good understanding of the amount, sources, and trends of phosphorus pollution. This paper provides the first consistent and harmonious estimates of current phosphorus loadings to the world's largest 100 lakes, along with the sources of these loadings and their trends. These estimates provide a perspective on the extent of lake eutrophication worldwide, as well as potential input to the evaluation and management of eutrophication in these lakes. We take a modeling approach and apply the WorldQual model for these estimates. The advantage of this approach is that it allows us to fill in large gaps in observational data. From the analysis, we find that about 66 of the 100 lakes are located in developing countries and their catchments have a much larger average phosphorus yield than the lake catchments in developed countries (11.1 versus 0.7 kg TP km-2 year-1). Second, the main source of phosphorus to the examined lakes is inorganic fertilizer (47% of total). Third, between 2005-2010 and 1990-1994, phosphorus pollution increased at 50 out of 100 lakes. Sixty percent of lakes with increasing pollution are in developing countries. P pollution changed primarily due to changing P fertilizer use. In conclusion, we show that the risk of P-stimulated eutrophication is higher in developing countries.

Emotional Reactivity and Regulation in Anxious and Non-anxious Youth: A Cell-Phone Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

PubMed Central

Tan, Patricia Z.; Forbes, Erika E.; Dahl, Ronald E.; Ryan, Neal D.; Siegle, Greg J.; Ladouceur, Cecile D.; Silk, Jennifer S.

2011-01-01

Background Reviews have highlighted anxious youths’ affective disturbances, specifically, elevated negative emotions and reliance on ineffective emotion regulation strategies. However, no study has examined anxious youth’s emotional reactivity and regulation in real-world contexts. Methods This study utilized an ecological momentary assessment approach to compare real-world emotional experiences of 65 youth with generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, or social phobia (ANX) and 65 age-matched healthy controls (CON), ages 9–13 years. Results Hierarchical linear models revealed that ANX reported higher levels of average past-hour peak intensity of nervous, sad, and upset emotions than CON youth but similar levels during momentary reports of current emotion. As expected, ANX youth reported more frequent physiological reactions in response to a negative event; however there were no group differences in how frequently they used cognitive-behavioral strategies. Avoidance, distraction, and problem-solving were associated with the down-regulation of all negative emotions except nervousness for both ANX and CON youth; however, group differences emerged for acceptance, rumination, and physiological responding. Conclusions In real-world contexts, ANX youth do not report higher levels of momentary negative emotions but do report heightened negative emotions in response to challenging events. Moreover, ANX youth report no differences in how frequently they use adaptive regulatory strategies but are more likely to have physiological responses to challenging events. They are also less effective at using some strategies to down-regulate negative emotion than CON youth. PMID:22176136

Hydropower's Biogenic Carbon Footprint

PubMed Central

Pfister, Stephan

2016-01-01

Global warming is accelerating and the world urgently needs a shift to clean and renewable energy. Hydropower is currently the largest renewable source of electricity, but its contribution to climate change mitigation is not yet fully understood. Hydroelectric reservoirs are a source of biogenic greenhouse gases and in individual cases can reach the same emission rates as thermal power plants. Little is known about the severity of their emissions at the global scale. Here we show that the carbon footprint of hydropower is far higher than previously assumed, with a global average of 173 kg CO2 and 2.95 kg CH4 emitted per MWh of electricity produced. This results in a combined average carbon footprint of 273 kg CO2e/MWh when using the global warming potential over a time horizon of 100 years (GWP100). Nonetheless, this is still below that of fossil energy sources without the use of carbon capture and sequestration technologies. We identified the dams most promising for capturing methane for use as alternative energy source. The spread among the ~1500 hydropower plants analysed in this study is large and highlights the importance of case-by-case examinations. PMID:27626943

Happiest People Revisited.

PubMed

Diener, Ed; Seligman, Martin E P; Choi, Hyewon; Oishi, Shigehiro

2018-03-01

In a past Psychological Science article, Diener and Seligman (2002) explored the characteristics of extremely happy individuals and found that strong social relationships characterized the entire group. The study was popular, perhaps because the authors focused on the very happiest people, not merely on correlations across the entire spectrum of subjective well-being. In the current study, we replicated and extended the earlier paper here by examining, in a world sample, the differences between the happiest individuals and unhappy and averagely happy people. We largely replicated earlier findings; basic need fulfillment and social resources were two ingredients for high subjective well-being. Replicating and extending the earlier findings, we found that, compared with the averagely happy people, the happiest people were more likely to come from societies high in subjective well-being and social capital. To achieve very high happiness, it is helpful not only to have desirable personal circumstances, but also to live in a prosperous happy society with strong social support. As in the original study, although a few characteristics seemed virtually necessary for subjective well-being (SWB), no characteristic guaranteed it. We also uncovered variables separating the groups that might be outcomes of SWB, for example, helping others, exercising, and not smoking.

Successful technical trading agents using genetic programming.

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

Othling, Andrew S.; Kelly, John A.; Pryor, Richard J.

2004-10-01

Genetic programming (GP) has proved to be a highly versatile and useful tool for identifying relationships in data for which a more precise theoretical construct is unavailable. In this project, we use a GP search to develop trading strategies for agent based economic models. These strategies use stock prices and technical indicators, such as the moving average convergence/divergence and various exponentially weighted moving averages, to generate buy and sell signals. We analyze the effect of complexity constraints on the strategies as well as the relative performance of various indicators. We also present innovations in the classical genetic programming algorithm thatmore » appear to improve convergence for this problem. Technical strategies developed by our GP algorithm can be used to control the behavior of agents in economic simulation packages, such as ASPEN-D, adding variety to the current market fundamentals approach. The exploitation of arbitrage opportunities by technical analysts may help increase the efficiency of the simulated stock market, as it does in the real world. By improving the behavior of simulated stock markets, we can better estimate the effects of shocks to the economy due to terrorism or natural disasters.« less

Health Inequalities in Global Context

PubMed Central

Beckfield, Jason; Olafsdottir, Sigrun

2017-01-01

The existence of social inequalities in health is well established. One strand of research focuses on inequalities in health within a single country. A separate and newer strand of research focuses on the relationship between inequality and average population health across countries. Despite the theorization of (presumably variable) social conditions as “fundamental causes” of disease and health, the cross-national literature has focused on average, aggregate population health as the central outcome. Controversies currently surround macro-structural determinants of overall population health such as income inequality. We advance and redirect these debates by conceptualizing inequalities in health as cross-national variables that are sensitive to social conditions. Using data from 48 World Values Survey countries, representing 74% of the world’s population, we examine cross-national variation in inequalities in health. The results reveal substantial variation in health inequalities according to income, education, sex, and migrant status. While higher socioeconomic position is associated with better self-rated health around the globe, the size of the association varies across institutional context, and across dimensions of stratification. There is some evidence that education and income are more strongly associated with self-rated health than sex or migrant status. PMID:29104292

Evaluation of scaling invariance embedded in short time series.

PubMed

Pan, Xue; Hou, Lei; Stephen, Mutua; Yang, Huijie; Zhu, Chenping

2014-01-01

Scaling invariance of time series has been making great contributions in diverse research fields. But how to evaluate scaling exponent from a real-world series is still an open problem. Finite length of time series may induce unacceptable fluctuation and bias to statistical quantities and consequent invalidation of currently used standard methods. In this paper a new concept called correlation-dependent balanced estimation of diffusion entropy is developed to evaluate scale-invariance in very short time series with length ~10(2). Calculations with specified Hurst exponent values of 0.2,0.3,...,0.9 show that by using the standard central moving average de-trending procedure this method can evaluate the scaling exponents for short time series with ignorable bias (≤0.03) and sharp confidential interval (standard deviation ≤0.05). Considering the stride series from ten volunteers along an approximate oval path of a specified length, we observe that though the averages and deviations of scaling exponents are close, their evolutionary behaviors display rich patterns. It has potential use in analyzing physiological signals, detecting early warning signals, and so on. As an emphasis, the our core contribution is that by means of the proposed method one can estimate precisely shannon entropy from limited records.

Evaluation of Scaling Invariance Embedded in Short Time Series

PubMed Central

Pan, Xue; Hou, Lei; Stephen, Mutua; Yang, Huijie; Zhu, Chenping

2014-01-01

Scaling invariance of time series has been making great contributions in diverse research fields. But how to evaluate scaling exponent from a real-world series is still an open problem. Finite length of time series may induce unacceptable fluctuation and bias to statistical quantities and consequent invalidation of currently used standard methods. In this paper a new concept called correlation-dependent balanced estimation of diffusion entropy is developed to evaluate scale-invariance in very short time series with length . Calculations with specified Hurst exponent values of show that by using the standard central moving average de-trending procedure this method can evaluate the scaling exponents for short time series with ignorable bias () and sharp confidential interval (standard deviation ). Considering the stride series from ten volunteers along an approximate oval path of a specified length, we observe that though the averages and deviations of scaling exponents are close, their evolutionary behaviors display rich patterns. It has potential use in analyzing physiological signals, detecting early warning signals, and so on. As an emphasis, the our core contribution is that by means of the proposed method one can estimate precisely shannon entropy from limited records. PMID:25549356

Dynamical Origin and Terrestrial Impact Flux of Large Near-Earth Asteroids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nesvorný, David; Roig, Fernando

2018-01-01

Dynamical models of the asteroid delivery from the main belt suggest that the current impact flux of diameter D> 10 km asteroids on the Earth is ≃0.5–1 Gyr‑1. Studies of the Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) population find a much higher flux, with ≃ 7 D> 10 km asteroid impacts per Gyr. Here we show that this problem is rooted in the application of impact probability of small NEAs (≃1.5 Gyr‑1 per object), whose population is well characterized, to large NEAs. In reality, large NEAs evolve from the main belt by different escape routes, have a different orbital distribution, and lower impact probabilities (0.8 ± 0.3 Gyr‑1 per object) than small NEAs. In addition, we find that the current population of two D> 10 km NEAs (Ganymed and Eros) is a slight fluctuation over the long-term average of 1.1+/- 0.5 D> 10 km NEAs in a steady state. These results have important implications for our understanding of the occurrence of the K/T-scale impacts on the terrestrial worlds.

The status of the SNS external antenna ion source and spare RFQ test facility

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

Welton, R. F., E-mail: welton@ornl.gov; Aleksandrov, A. V.; Han, B. X.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory operates the Spallation Neutron Source, consisting of a H{sup −} ion source, a 1 GeV linac and an accumulator ring. The accumulated <1 μs-long, ∼35 A beam pulses are extracted from the ring at 60 Hz and directed onto a liquid Hg target. Spalled neutrons are directed to ∼20 world class instruments. Currently, the facility operates routinely with ∼1.2 MW of average beam power, which soon will be raised to 1.4 MW. A future upgrade with a second target station calls for raising the power to 2.8 MW. This paper describes the status of twomore » accelerator components expected to play important roles in achieving these goals: a recently acquired RFQ accelerator and the external antenna ion source. Currently, the RFQ is being conditioned in a newly constructed 2.5 MeV Integrated Test Facility (ITF) and the external antenna source is also being tested on a separate test stand. This paper presents the results of experiments and the testing of these systems.« less

How Biomechanical Improvements in Running Economy Could Break the 2-hour Marathon Barrier.

PubMed

Hoogkamer, Wouter; Kram, Rodger; Arellano, Christopher J

2017-09-01

A sub-2-hour marathon requires an average velocity (5.86 m/s) that is 2.5% faster than the current world record of 02:02:57 (5.72 m/s) and could be accomplished with a 2.7% reduction in the metabolic cost of running. Although supporting body weight comprises the majority of the metabolic cost of running, targeting the costs of forward propulsion and leg swing are the most promising strategies for reducing the metabolic cost of running and thus improving marathon running performance. Here, we calculate how much time could be saved by taking advantage of unconventional drafting strategies, a consistent tailwind, a downhill course, and specific running shoe design features while staying within the current International Association of Athletic Federations regulations for record purposes. Specifically, running in shoes that are 100 g lighter along with second-half scenarios of four runners alternately leading and drafting, or a tailwind of 6.0 m/s, combined with a 42-m elevation drop could result in a time well below the 2-hour marathon barrier.

Operating experience with the southwire 30-meter high-temperature superconducting power cable

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stovall, J. P.; Lue, J. W.; Demko, J. A.; Fisher, P. W.; Gouge, M. J.; Hawsey, R. A.; Armstrong, J. W.; Hughey, R. L.; Lindsay, D. T.; Roden, M. L.; Sinha, U. K.; Tolbert, J. C.

2002-05-01

Southwire Company is operating a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cable system at its corporate headquarters. The 30-m long, 3-phase cable system is powering three Southwire manufacturing plants and is rated at 12.4-kV, 1250-A, 60-Hz. Cooling is provided by a pressurized liquid nitrogen system operating at 70-80 K. The cables were energized on January 5, 2000 for on-line testing and operation and in April 2000 were placed into extended service. As of June 1, 2001, the HTS cables have provided 100% of the customer load for 8000 hours. The cryogenic system has been in continuous operation since November 1999. The HTS cable system has not been the cause of any power outages to the average 20 MW industrial load served by the cable. The cable has been exposed to short-circuit currents caused by load-side faults without damage. Based upon field measurements described herein, the cable critical current-a key performance parameter-remains the same and has not been affected by the hours of real-world operation, further proving the viability of this promising technology.

Added sugars in kids' meals from chain restaurants.

PubMed

Scourboutakos, Mary J; Semnani-Azad, Zhila; L'Abbé, Mary R

2016-06-01

To analyze the added sugars in kids' meals from Canadian chain restaurants in relation to the World Health Organization's proposed sugar recommendation (less than 5% of total daily calories should come from added sugars) and current recommendation (less than 10% of total daily calories should come from added sugars). Total sugar levels were retrieved from the websites of 10 fast-food and 7 sit-down restaurants in 2010. The added sugar levels in 3178 kids' meals from Canadian chain restaurants were calculated in 2014 (in Toronto, Canada) by subtracting all naturally occurring sugars from the total sugar level. The average amount of added sugars in restaurant kids' meals (25 ± 0.36 g) exceeded the WHO's proposed daily recommendation for sugar intake. There was a wide range of added sugar levels in kids' meals ranging from 0 g to 114 g. 50% of meals exceeded the WHO's proposed daily sugar recommendation, and 19% exceeded the WHO's current daily sugar recommendation. There is a wide range of sugar levels in kids' meals from restaurants, and many contain more than a day's worth of sugar.

What Is Climate Change?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beswick, Adele

2007-01-01

Weather consists of those meteorological events, such as rain, wind and sunshine, which can change day-by-day or even hour-by-hour. Climate is the average of all these events, taken over a period of time. The climate varies over different parts of the world. Climate is usually defined as the average of the weather over a 30-year period. It is when…

Bundled payment initiatives for Medicare and non-Medicare total joint arthroplasty patients at a community hospital: bundles in the real world.

PubMed

Doran, James P; Zabinski, Stephen J

2015-03-01

In the setting of current United States healthcare reform, bundled payment initiatives and episode of care payment models for total joint arthroplasty (TJA) have become increasingly common. The following is a review of our results and experience in a community hospital with bundled payment initiatives for both non-Medicare and Medicare TJA patients since 2011. We have successfully decreased the cost of the TJA episode of care in comparison to our historical averages prior to 2011. This cost-reduction has primarily been achieved through decreased length of inpatient stay, increased discharge to home rather than to skilled nursing or inpatient rehabilitation facilities, reduction in implant cost, improvement in readmission rate and migration of cases to lower cost sites of service. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Natural radioactivity investigation in Dam sediments of northeast Algeria using gamma spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benrachi, Fatima; Bouhila, Ghania; Saadi, Asma; Ramdhane, Mourad

2017-09-01

Current research paper intends to estimate the natural radioactivity levels in sediments samples collected from Beni Haroun Dam in the northeast Algeria, using high resolution HPGe detector. The mean activity concentrations values measured for the radionuclides 232Th, 226Ra and 40K are 18.9 ± 1.9, 37.3 ± 2.7 and 149.9 ± 5.5 Bq/kg, respectively. The 137Cs anthropogenic radionuclide has been observed with maximum activity concentration value of 0.8 ± 0.4 Bq/kg, which is considered an insignificant amount. In order to assess the radiological threat of gamma radiations emitted by these radionuclides on the health of the population, absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose equivalent and radiation hazard indices were had been calculated. The obtained values are compared with the world wide average ones.

Analysis and geological interpretation of gravity data from GEOS-3 altimeter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Talwani, M.; Watts, A. B.; Chapman, M. E.

1978-01-01

A number of detailed gravimetric geoids of portions of the world's oceans from marine gravity measurements were constructed. The geoids were constructed by computing 1 x 1 deg or 10 x 10 deg averages of free-air anomaly data and subtracting these values from currently used satellite derived Earth models. The resulting difference gravity anomalies are then integrated over a sphere using a simplified form of Stoke's equation to obtain a difference geoid. This difference geoid is added to the satellite derived model to obtain a 1 x 1 deg or 10 x 10 deg total gravimetric geoid. The geoid undulations are studied by comparison of the altimeter measurements with the morphology of the ocean floor. Utilizing a combination of altimetry data, gravity and seismic reflection data, geophysical models of the earth can be constructed.

Characterization of diode-laser stacks for high-energy-class solid state lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pilar, Jan; Sikocinski, Pawel; Pranowicz, Alina; Divoky, Martin; Crump, P.; Staske, R.; Lucianetti, Antonio; Mocek, Tomas

2014-03-01

In this work, we present a comparative study of high power diode stacks produced by world's leading manufacturers such as DILAS, Jenoptik, and Quantel. The diode-laser stacks are characterized by central wavelength around 939 nm, duty cycle of 1 %, and maximum repetition rate of 10 Hz. The characterization includes peak power, electrical-to-optical efficiency, central wavelength and full width at half maximum (FWHM) as a function of diode current and cooling temperature. A cross-check of measurements performed at HiLASE-IoP and Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) shows very good agreement between the results. Our study reveals also the presence of discontinuities in the spectra of two diode stacks. We consider the results presented here a valuable tool to optimize pump sources for ultra-high average power lasers, including laser fusion facilities.

Security Perception: Within and Beyond the Traditional Approach

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-06-01

obvious and serious, such as meteors. Hoyle has postulated that meteor strikes averaging 10,000 years are responsible for initiating and terminating Ice...between scientists in regard to the meaning of this word. 141 See Fred Halliday, Nationalism, in: The Globalization of World Politics. An Introduction...142 Fred Halliday, Nationalism, in: The Globalization of World Politics. An Introduction to International Relations, ed. by John

A family of small-world network models built by complete graph and iteration-function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Fei; Yao, Bing

2018-02-01

Small-world networks are popular in real-life complex systems. In the past few decades, researchers presented amounts of small-world models, in which some are stochastic and the rest are deterministic. In comparison with random models, it is not only convenient but also interesting to study the topological properties of deterministic models in some fields, such as graph theory, theorem computer sciences and so on. As another concerned darling in current researches, community structure (modular topology) is referred to as an useful statistical parameter to uncover the operating functions of network. So, building and studying such models with community structure and small-world character will be a demanded task. Hence, in this article, we build a family of sparse network space N(t) which is different from those previous deterministic models. Even though, our models are established in the same way as them, iterative generation. By randomly connecting manner in each time step, every resulting member in N(t) has no absolutely self-similar feature widely shared in a large number of previous models. This makes our insight not into discussing a class certain model, but into investigating a group various ones spanning a network space. Somewhat surprisingly, our results prove all members of N(t) to possess some similar characters: (a) sparsity, (b) exponential-scale feature P(k) ∼α-k, and (c) small-world property. Here, we must stress a very screming, but intriguing, phenomenon that the difference of average path length (APL) between any two members in N(t) is quite small, which indicates this random connecting way among members has no great effect on APL. At the end of this article, as a new topological parameter correlated to reliability, synchronization capability and diffusion properties of networks, the number of spanning trees on a representative member NB(t) of N(t) is studied in detail, then an exact analytical solution for its spanning trees entropy is also obtained.

Global collaborative healthcare: assessing the resource requirements at a leading Academic Medical Center.

PubMed

Rosson, Nicole J; Hassoun, Heitham T

2017-09-20

Academic Medical Centers ("AMCs") have served as a hub of the United States ("US") health system and represented the state-of-the art in American health care for well over a century. Currently, the global healthcare market is both massive and expanding and is being altered by the unprecedented impact of technological advances and globalization. This provides AMCs a platform to enter into trans-national collaborative partnerships with healthcare organizations around the world, thus providing a means to deliver on its promise globally while also expanding and diversifying its resources. A number of leading US AMCs have engaged in global collaborative healthcare, employing different models based on services offered, global distribution, and inclination to assume risk. Engaging in these collaborations requires significant effort from across the health system, and an understanding of the resources required is paramount for effective delivery and to avoid overextension and diversion from the primary mission of these organizations. The goal of this paper is to discuss the role of US AMCs in this current global healthcare landscape and to also investigate our institutional faculty and staff resource requirements to support the operating model. We extracted and retrospectively analyzed data from the JHI Global Services database for a 3-year period (Jan, 2013-Dec, 2015) to determine total utilization (hours and full time equivalent (FTE)), utilization by profession, and clinical and non-clinical areas of expertise. JHI utilized on average 21,940 h annually, or 10.55 FTEs of faculty and staff subject matter experts. The majority of the hours are for work performed by physician faculty members from 23 departments within the School of Medicine, representing 77% percent or on average 16,894 h annually. Clinical and allied health departments had an average annual utilization of 17,642 h or 7.8 FTEs, while non-clinical departments, schools and institutes averaged 4298 h or 1.9 FTEs, representing 80.4% and 19.6% respectively. We found that significant human resources are required within a broad range of AMC subject matter expertise across multiple disciplines, and that with adequate forecasting AMCs can successfully engage in these collaborations while continuing to fulfill their core mission.

Rip current related drowning deaths and rescues in Australia 2004-2011

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brighton, B.; Sherker, S.; Brander, R.; Thompson, M.; Bradstreet, A.

2013-04-01

Rip currents are a common hazard to beachgoers found on many beaches around the world, but it has proven difficult to accurately quantify the actual number of rip current related drowning deaths in many regions and countries. Consequently, reported estimates of rip current drowning can fluctuate considerably and are often based on anecdotal evidence. This study aims to quantify the incidence of rip current related drowning deaths and rescues in Australia from 2004 to 2011. A retrospective search was undertaken for fatal and non-fatal rip-related drowning incidents from Australia's National Coronial Information System (NCIS), Surf Life Saving Australia's (SLSA, 2005-2011) SurfGuard Incident Report Database (IRD), and Media Monitors for the period 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2011. In this time, rip currents were recorded as a factor in 142 fatalities of a total of 613 coastal drowning deaths (23.2%), an average of 21 per year. Rip currents were related to 44% of all beach-related drowning deaths and were involved in 57.4% of reported major rescues in Australian locations where rips occur. A comparison with international operational statistics over the same time period describes rip-related rescues as 53.7% of the total rescues in the US, 57.9% in the UK and 49.4% in New Zealand. The range 49-58% is much lower than 80-89% traditionally cited. The results reported are likely to underestimate the size of the rip current hazard, because we are limited by the completeness of data on rip-related events; however this is the most comprehensive estimate to date. Beach safety practitioners need improved data collection and standardized definitions across organisations. The collection of drowning data using consistent categories and the routine collection of rip current information will allow for more accurate global comparisons.

Quantization and fractional quantization of currents in periodically driven stochastic systems. I. Average currents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chernyak, Vladimir Y.; Klein, John R.; Sinitsyn, Nikolai A.

2012-04-01

This article studies Markovian stochastic motion of a particle on a graph with finite number of nodes and periodically time-dependent transition rates that satisfy the detailed balance condition at any time. We show that under general conditions, the currents in the system on average become quantized or fractionally quantized for adiabatic driving at sufficiently low temperature. We develop the quantitative theory of this quantization and interpret it in terms of topological invariants. By implementing the celebrated Kirchhoff theorem we derive a general and explicit formula for the average generated current that plays a role of an efficient tool for treating the current quantization effects.

Targeting burn prevention in Ukraine: evaluation of base knowledge in burn prevention and first aid treatment.

PubMed

Gamelli, Liza; Mykychack, Iryna; Kushnir, Antin; Driscoll, Daniel N; Fuzaylov, Gennadiy

2015-01-01

Burn prevention has been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a topic in need of further investigation and education throughout the world, with an increased need in low-income countries. It has been noted that implementing educational programs for prevention in high income countries has aided in lowering the rate of burn injuries. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the current education level of knowledge of prevention and first aid treatment of scald burns. A prevention campaign will target these educational needs as a part of an outreach program to improve burn care in Ukraine. The research team evaluated the current health structure in Ukraine and how it could benefit from the increased knowledge of burn prevention and first aid. A test was designed to assess the baseline level of knowledge with regard to first aid and scald prevention in parents, pregnant woman, and healthcare and daycare providers. A total of 14,456 tests were sent to pediatric clinics, obstetrician clinics, and daycare facilities to test respondents. A total of 6,120 completed tests were returned. Doctors presented with the highest level of knowledge averaging 77.0% on prevention and 67.5% on first aid while daycare workers presented the largest gap in knowledge at 65.0% in prevention and 54.3% in first aid. Interest in further educational materials was reported by 92% of respondents. The results of this study clearly show a lack of knowledge in first aid and prevention of scald burn injury in all the populations tested.

Giant sand waves at the mouth of San Francisco Bay

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barnard, P.L.; Hanes, D.M.; Rubin, D.M.; Kvitek, R.G.

2006-01-01

A field of giant sand waves, among the largest in the world, recently was mapped in high resolution for the first time during a multibeam survey in 2004 and 2005 through the strait of the Golden Gate at the mouth of San Francisco Bay in California (Figure la). This massive bed form field covers an area of approximately four square kilometers in water depths ranging from 30 to 106 meters, featuring more than 40 distinct sand waves with crests aligned approximately perpendicular to the dominant tidally generated cross-shore currents, with wavelengths and heights that measure up to 220 meters and 10 meters, respectively. Sand wave crests can be traced continuously for up to two kilometers across the mouth of this energetic tidal inlet, where depth-averaged tidal currents through the strait below the Golden Gate Bridge exceed 2.5 meters per second during peak ebb flows. Repeated surveys demonstrated that the sand waves are active and dynamic features that move in response to tidally generated currents. The complex temporal and spatial variations in wave and tidal current interactions in this region result in an astoundingly diverse array of bed form morphologies, scales, and orientations. Bed forms of approximately half the scale of those reported in this article previously were mapped inside San Francisco Bay during a multibeam survey in 1997 [Chin et al., 1997].

Towards the Goal of Full Employment: Trends, Obstacles and Policies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richards, Peter

Expanding upon a report presented to the International Labor Organization (ILO), this book documents the current world employment situation, including how it has fallen short, how current economic policies interact with world employment, and how improvements can be made. Chapter one, "The Commitment to Full Employment," describes how the…

The Relationship Between Waterpipe Smoking and Body Weight: Population-Based Findings From Syria

PubMed Central

Ahn, SangNam; Mzayek, Fawaz; Al Ali, Radwan; Rastam, Samer; Asfar, Taghrid; Fouad, Fouad; Maziak, Wasim

2015-01-01

Introduction: Cigarette smoking has well known effects on body weight, with current smokers weighing less than never-smokers, and cessation producing weight gain. Use of waterpipe (or “hookah”) is increasing in many parts of the world but its effects on body weight are not known. Methods: We compared body mass index (BMI) among 2,536 adults (age ≥18 years old), who were never, former, current nondaily, or current daily waterpipe smokers, drawn from 2 representative, population-based household surveys of adults in Aleppo, Syria. Results: Overall, 84.1% (n = 2,134) never-smoked waterpipe, 4.6% (n = 116) were former smokers, 9.9% (n = 251) were current nondaily smokers, and 1.4% (n = 35) were current daily smokers. Mean BMI of the sample was 30.2kg/m2 (SD = 6.3). Adjusted for cigarette smoking, number of chronic diseases, age, gender, income, and marital status, daily waterpipe users were 2.26 BMI units greater than never-smokers (beta = 2.26, 95% CI = 0.79–3.72), and had nearly threefold odds of being obese (odds ratio = 2.87, 95% CI = 1.06–7.76). Nondaily and former waterpipe users were similar to never-smokers in terms of BMI and obesity risk. Conclusion: Results indicate that daily waterpipe users, compared to never-users, have higher BMI, translating into 6 extra kilograms of weight on average, and are 3 times as likely to be obese. PMID:25096252

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

PubMed

Khan, Tanzila; Frey, H Christopher

2018-05-01

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

Observations of near-bottom currents in Bornholm Basin, Slupsk Furrow and Gdansk Deep

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulczak, A. I.; Rak, D.; Schmidt, B.; Beldowski, J.

2016-06-01

Dense bottom currents are responsible for transport of the salty inflow waters from the North Sea driving ventilation and renewal of Baltic deep waters. This study characterises dense currents in three deep locations of the Baltic Proper: Bornholm Basin (BB), Gdansk Basin (GB) and Slupsk Furrow (SF). These locations are of fundamental importance for the transport and pollution associated with chemical munitions deposited in BB and GB after 2nd World War. Of further importance the sub-basins are situated along the pathway of dense inflowing water.Current velocities were measured in the majority of the water column during regular cruises of r/v Oceania and r/v Baltica in 2001-2012 (38 cruises) by 307 kHz vessel mounted (VM), downlooking ADCP. Additionally, the high-resolution CTD and oxygen profiles were collected. Three moorings measured current velocity profiles in SF and GB over the summer 2012. In addition, temperature, salinity, oxygen and turbidity were measured at about 1 m above the bottom in GB. The results showed that mean current speed across the Baltic Proper was around 12 cm s-1 and the stronger flow was characteristic to the regions located above the sills, in the Bornholm and Slupsk Channels, reaching on average about 20 cm s-1. The results suggest that these regions are important for the inflow of saline waters into the eastern Baltic and are the areas of intense vertical mixing. The VM ADCP observations indicate that the average near-bottom flow across the basin can reach 35±6 cm s-1. The mooring observations also showed similar near-bottom flow velocities. However, they showed that the increased speed of the near-bottom layer occurred frequently in SF and GB during short time periods lasting for about few to several days or 10-20% of time. The observations showed that the bottom mixed layer occupies at least 10% of the water column and the turbulent mixing induced by near-bottom currents is likely to produce sediment resuspension and transport within the layer in all three sub-basins. The turbidity measurements, performed for 5-month-long time period over the summer 2012 in GB show that increased sediment resuspension is associated with a faster near-bottom flow.

WSES SM (World Society of Emergency Surgery Summer Meeting) highlights: emergency surgery around the world (Brazil, Finland, USA)

PubMed Central

Poggetti, Renato; Leppanemi, Ari; Ferrada, Paula; Puyana, Juan Carlos; Peitzman, Andrew B; Ansaloni, Luca; Catena, Fausto; Pinna, Antonio D; Moore, Ernest E

2009-01-01

Emergency surgery is performed in every hospital with a A and E unit all around the world. However it is organized in different ways with different results. Aim of this paper is to present history, current scope, current training program and new politics for training national program of 3 countries of different continents. Brazil, Finland and US emergency surgery models are presented discussing all criticisms showed during the WSES Summer Meeting 2008. PMID:19331673

Thyroid Disease Around the World.

PubMed

Maniakas, Anastasios; Davies, Louise; Zafereo, Mark E

2018-06-01

Thyroid disease is one of the most common pathologies in the world, with two of the most clinically important subgroups being iodine deficiency and thyroid goiter, and thyroid cancer. This review looks at the current state of thyroid disease in the world and evaluates the future direction in terms of thyroid disease treatment and prevention. Several of the most impactful epidemiologic studies are presented and analyzed, as well as a brief overview of the current socioeconomic burden of disease. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Estimating Economic and Logistic Utility of Connecting to Unreliable Power Grids

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-17

the most unreliable host nation grids almost always have a higher availability than solar photovoltaics ( PV ), which for most parts of the world will...like solar , and still design a facility energy architecture that benefits from that source when available. Index Terms—facilities management, energy...Maintenance PV Photovoltaic SAIDI System Average Interruption Duration Index SAIFI System Average Interruption Frequency Index SHP Simplified Host

Biology and reproductive parameters of the brown lygodium moth, Neomusotima conspurcatalis - a new biological control agent of Old World climbing fern in Florida

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The average duration of the egg, larval and pupal stage of Neomusotima conspurcatalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) at 25oC was 7, 10, and 5 days respectively. Larvae generally molted through five instars. The sex ratio was male-biased, averaging 1:0.8 (':'). Both sexes emerged at the same time. Female m...

Determination of the lead-acid battery's dynamic response using Butler-Volmer equation for advanced battery management systems in automotive applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piłatowicz, Grzegorz; Budde-Meiwes, Heide; Kowal, Julia; Sarfert, Christel; Schoch, Eberhard; Königsmann, Martin; Sauer, Dirk Uwe

2016-11-01

Micro-hybrid vehicles (μH) are currently starting to dominate the European market and seize constantly growing share of other leading markets in the world. On the one hand, the additional functionality of μH reduces the CO2 emissions and improves the fuel economy, but, on the other hand, the additional stress imposed on the lead-acid battery reduces significantly its expected service life in comparison to conventional vehicles. Because of that μH require highly accurate battery state detection solutions. They are necessary to ensure the vehicle reliability requirements, prolong service life and reduce warranty costs. This paper presents an electrical model based on Butler-Volmer equation. The main novelty of the presented approach is its ability to predict accurately dynamic response of a battery considering a wide range of discharge current rates, state-of-charges and temperatures. Presented approach is fully implementable and adaptable in state-of-the-art low-cost platforms. Additionally, shown results indicate that it is applicable as a supporting tool for state-of-charge and state-of-health estimation and scalable for the different battery technologies and sizes. Validation using both static pulses and dynamic driving profile resulted in average absolute error of 124 mV regarding cranking current rate of 800 A respectively.

An Attempt to Standardize the Calculation of Growth Velocity of Preterm Infants-Evaluation of Practical Bedside Methods.

PubMed

Fenton, Tanis R; Anderson, Diane; Groh-Wargo, Sharon; Hoyos, Angela; Ehrenkranz, Richard A; Senterre, Thibault

2018-05-01

To examine how well growth velocity recommendations for preterm infants fit with current growth references: Fenton 2013, Olsen 2010, INTERGROWTH 2015, and the World Health Organization Growth Standard 2006. The Average (2-point), Exponential (2-point), Early (1-point) method weight-gains were calculated for 1,4,8,12, and 16-week time-periods. Growth references' weekly velocities (g/kg/d, gram/day and cm/week) were illustrated graphically with frequently-quoted 15 g/kg/d, 10-30 grams/day and 1 cm/week rates superimposed. The 15 g/kg/d and 1 cm/week growth velocity rates were calculated from 24-50 weeks, superimposed on the Fenton and Olsen preterm growth charts. The Average and Exponential g/kg/d estimates showed close agreement for all ages (range 5.0-18.9 g/kg/d), while the Early method yielded values as high as 41 g/kg/d. All 3 preterm growth references were similar to 15 g/kg/d rate at 34 weeks, but rates were higher prior and lower at older ages. For gram/day, the growth references changed from 10 to 30 grams/day for 24-33 weeks. Head growth rates generally fit the 1 cm/week velocity for 23-30 weeks, and length growth rates fit for 37-40 weeks. The calculated g/kg/d curves deviated from the growth charts, first downward, then steeply crossed the median curves near term. Human growth is not constant through gestation and early infancy. The frequently-quoted 15 g/kg/d, 10-30 gram/day and 1 cm/week only fit current growth references for limited time periods. Rates of 15-20 g/kg/d (calculated using average or exponential methods) are a reasonable goal for infants 23-36 weeks, but not beyond. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The geographical distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2 °C.

PubMed

McGlade, Christophe; Ekins, Paul

2015-01-08

Policy makers have generally agreed that the average global temperature rise caused by greenhouse gas emissions should not exceed 2 °C above the average global temperature of pre-industrial times. It has been estimated that to have at least a 50 per cent chance of keeping warming below 2 °C throughout the twenty-first century, the cumulative carbon emissions between 2011 and 2050 need to be limited to around 1,100 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (Gt CO2). However, the greenhouse gas emissions contained in present estimates of global fossil fuel reserves are around three times higher than this, and so the unabated use of all current fossil fuel reserves is incompatible with a warming limit of 2 °C. Here we use a single integrated assessment model that contains estimates of the quantities, locations and nature of the world's oil, gas and coal reserves and resources, and which is shown to be consistent with a wide variety of modelling approaches with different assumptions, to explore the implications of this emissions limit for fossil fuel production in different regions. Our results suggest that, globally, a third of oil reserves, half of gas reserves and over 80 per cent of current coal reserves should remain unused from 2010 to 2050 in order to meet the target of 2 °C. We show that development of resources in the Arctic and any increase in unconventional oil production are incommensurate with efforts to limit average global warming to 2 °C. Our results show that policy makers' instincts to exploit rapidly and completely their territorial fossil fuels are, in aggregate, inconsistent with their commitments to this temperature limit. Implementation of this policy commitment would also render unnecessary continued substantial expenditure on fossil fuel exploration, because any new discoveries could not lead to increased aggregate production.

Scientific publications from Arab world in leading journals of Integrative and Complementary Medicine: a bibliometric analysis.

PubMed

Zyoud, Sa'ed H; Al-Jabi, Samah W; Sweileh, Waleed M

2015-09-04

Bibliometric analysis is increasingly employed as a useful tool to assess the quantity and quality of research performance. The specific goal of the current study was to evaluate the performance of research output originating from Arab world and published in international Integrative and Complementary Medicine (ICM) journals. Original scientific publications and reviews from the 22 Arab countries that were published in 22 international peer-reviewed ICM journals during all previous years up to December 31(st) 2013, were screened using the Web of Science databases. Five hundred and ninety-one documents were retrieved from 19 ICM journals. The h-index of the set of papers under study was 47. The highest h-index was 27 for Morocco, 21 for Jordan, followed by 19 for each Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and Egypt, and the lowest h-index was 1 for each of Comoros, Qatar, and Syrian Arab Republic. No data related to ICM were published from Djibouti, and Mauritania. After adjusting for economy and population power, Somalia (89), Morocco (32.5), Egypt (31.1), Yemen (21.4), and Palestine (21.2) had the highest research productivity. The total number of citations was 9,466, with an average citation of 16 per document. The study identified 262 (44.3 %) documents with 39 countries in Arab-foreign country collaborations. Arab authors collaborated most with countries in Europe (24.2 %), followed by countries in the Asia-Pacific region (9.8 %). Scientific research output in the ICM field in the Arab world region is increasing. Most of publications from Arab world in ICM filed were driven by societal use of medicinal plants and herbs. Search for new therapies from available low cost medicinal plants in Arab world has motivated many researchers in academia and pharmaceutical industry. Further investigation is required to support these findings in a wider journal as well as to improve research output in the field of ICM from Arab world region by investing in more national and international collaborative research project.

How Pronounced Is Income Inequality around the World--and How Can Education Help Reduce It? Education Indicators in Focus. No. 4

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

OECD Publishing (NJ1), 2012

2012-01-01

How pronounced is income inequality around the world--and how can education help reduce it? This paper reports the following: (1) Across OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, the average income of the richest 10% of the population was about nine times that of the poorest 10% before the onset of the global economic…

Coevolutionary dynamics of opinion propagation and social balance: The key role of small-worldness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yan; Chen, Lixue; Sun, Xian; Zhang, Kai; Zhang, Jie; Li, Ping

2014-03-01

The propagation of various opinions in social networks, which influences human inter-relationships and even social structure, and hence is a most important part of social life. We have incorporated social balance into opinion propagation in social networks are influenced by social balance. The edges in networks can represent both friendly or hostile relations, and change with the opinions of individual nodes. We introduce a model to characterize the coevolutionary dynamics of these two dynamical processes on Watts-Strogatz (WS) small-world network. We employ two distinct evolution rules (i) opinion renewal; and (ii) relation adjustment. By changing the rewiring probability, and thus the small-worldness of the WS network, we found that the time for the system to reach balanced states depends critically on both the average path length and clustering coefficient of the network, which is different than other networked process like epidemic spreading. In particular, the system equilibrates most quickly when the underlying network demonstrates strong small-worldness, i.e., small average path lengths and large clustering coefficient. We also find that opinion clusters emerge in the process of the network approaching the global equilibrium, and a measure of global contrariety is proposed to quantify the balanced state of a social network.

Controls on the global distribution of contourite drifts: Insights from an eddy-resolving ocean model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thran, Amanda C.; Dutkiewicz, Adriana; Spence, Paul; Müller, R. Dietmar

2018-05-01

Contourite drifts are anomalously high sediment accumulations that form due to reworking by bottom currents. Due to the lack of a comprehensive contourite database, the link between vigorous bottom water activity and drift occurrence has yet to be demonstrated on a global scale. Using an eddy-resolving ocean model and a new georeferenced database of 267 contourites, we show that the global distribution of modern contourite drifts strongly depends on the configuration of the world's most powerful bottom currents, many of which are associated with global meridional overturning circulation. Bathymetric obstacles frequently modify flow direction and intensity, imposing additional finer-scale control on drift occurrence. Mean bottom current speed over contourite-covered areas is only slightly higher (2.2 cm/s) than the rest of the global ocean (1.1 cm/s), falling below proposed thresholds deemed necessary to re-suspend and redistribute sediments (10-15 cm/s). However, currents fluctuate more frequently and intensely over areas with drifts, highlighting the role of intermittent, high-energy bottom current events in sediment erosion, transport, and subsequent drift accumulation. We identify eddies as a major driver of these bottom current fluctuations, and we find that simulated bottom eddy kinetic energy is over three times higher in contourite-covered areas in comparison to the rest of the ocean. Our work supports previous hypotheses which suggest that contourite deposition predominantly occurs due to repeated acute events as opposed to continuous reworking under average-intensity background flow conditions. This suggests that the contourite record should be interpreted in terms of a bottom current's susceptibility to experiencing periodic, high-speed current events. Our results also highlight the potential role of upper ocean dynamics in contourite sedimentation through its direct influence on deep eddy circulation.

A complete dc characterization of a constant-frequency, clamped-mode, series-resonant converter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsai, Fu-Sheng; Lee, Fred C.

1988-01-01

The dc behavior of a clamped-mode series-resonant converter is characterized systematically. Given a circuit operating condition, the converter's mode of operation is determined and various circuit parameters are calculated, such as average inductor current (load current), rms inductor current, peak capacitor voltage, rms switch currents, average diode currents, switch turn-on currents, and switch turn-off currents. Regions of operation are defined, and various circuit characteristics are derived to facilitate the converter design.

Income inequality in the developing world.

PubMed

Ravallion, Martin

2014-05-23

Should income inequality be of concern in developing countries? New data reveal less income inequality in the developing world than 30 years ago. However, this is due to falling inequality between countries. Average inequality within developing countries has been slowly rising, though staying fairly flat since 2000. As a rule, higher rates of growth in average incomes have not put upward pressure on inequality within countries. Growth has generally helped reduce the incidence of absolute poverty, but less so in more unequal countries. High inequality also threatens to stall future progress against poverty by attenuating growth prospects. Perceptions of rising absolute gaps in living standards between the rich and the poor in growing economies are also consistent with the evidence. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Scaling of Directed Dynamical Small-World Networks with Random Responses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Chen-Ping; Xiong, Shi-Jie; Tian, Ying-Jie; Li, Nan; Jiang, Ke-Sheng

2004-05-01

A dynamical model of small-world networks, with directed links which describe various correlations in social and natural phenomena, is presented. Random responses of sites to the input message are introduced to simulate real systems. The interplay of these ingredients results in the collective dynamical evolution of a spinlike variable S(t) of the whole network. The global average spreading length s and average spreading time s are found to scale as p-αln(N with different exponents. Meanwhile, S(t) behaves in a duple scaling form for N≫N*: S˜f(p-βqγt˜), where p and q are rewiring and external parameters, α, β, and γ are scaling exponents, and f(t˜) is a universal function. Possible applications of the model are discussed.

Depth-averaged instantaneous currents in a tidally dominated shelf sea from glider observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merckelbach, Lucas

2016-12-01

Ocean gliders have become ubiquitous observation platforms in the ocean in recent years. They are also increasingly used in coastal environments. The coastal observatory system COSYNA has pioneered the use of gliders in the North Sea, a shallow tidally energetic shelf sea. For operational reasons, the gliders operated in the North Sea are programmed to resurface every 3-5 h. The glider's dead-reckoning algorithm yields depth-averaged currents, averaged in time over each subsurface interval. Under operational conditions these averaged currents are a poor approximation of the instantaneous tidal current. In this work an algorithm is developed that estimates the instantaneous current (tidal and residual) from glider observations only. The algorithm uses a first-order Butterworth low pass filter to estimate the residual current component, and a Kalman filter based on the linear shallow water equations for the tidal component. A comparison of data from a glider experiment with current data from an acoustic Doppler current profilers deployed nearby shows that the standard deviations for the east and north current components are better than 7 cm s-1 in near-real-time mode and improve to better than 6 cm s-1 in delayed mode, where the filters can be run forward and backward. In the near-real-time mode the algorithm provides estimates of the currents that the glider is expected to encounter during its next few dives. Combined with a behavioural and dynamic model of the glider, this yields predicted trajectories, the information of which is incorporated in warning messages issued to ships by the (German) authorities. In delayed mode the algorithm produces useful estimates of the depth-averaged currents, which can be used in (process-based) analyses in case no other source of measured current information is available.

Local and global perspectives on the virtual water trade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamea, S.; Allamano, P.; Carr, J. A.; Claps, P.; Laio, F.; Ridolfi, L.

2012-11-01

Recent studies on fluxes of virtual water are showing how the global food and goods trade interconnects the water resources of different and distant countries, conditioning the local water balances. This paper presents and discusses the assessment of virtual water fluxes between a single country and its network of trading partners, delineating a country's virtual water budget in space and time (years 1986-2010). The fluxes between the country under study and its importing/exporting partners are visualized with a geographical representation shaping the trade network as a virtual river/delta. Time variations of exchanged fluxes are quantified to show possible trends in the virtual water balance, while characterizing the time evolution of the trade network and its composition in terms of product categories (plant-based, animal-based, luxury and non-edible). The average distance traveled by virtual water to arrive to the place of consumption is also introduced as a new measure for the analysis of globalization of the virtual water trade. Using Italy as an example, we find that food trade has a steadily growing importance compared to domestic production, with a major component represented by plan-based products, and luxury products taking an increasingly larger share (26% in 2010). In 2010 Italy had an average net import of 55 km3 of virtual water (38 km3 in 1986), a value which poses the country among the top net importers in the world. On average each cubic meter of virtual water travels nearly 4000 km before entering Italy, while export goes to relatively closer countries (average distance: 2600 km), with increasing trends in time which are almost unique among the world countries. Analyses proposed for Italy are replicated for 10 other world countries, triggering similar investigations on different socio-economic actualities.

Local and global perspectives on the virtual water trade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamea, S.; Allamano, P.; Carr, J. A.; Claps, P.; Laio, F.; Ridolfi, L.

2013-03-01

Recent studies on fluxes of virtual water are showing how the global food and goods trade interconnects the water resources of different and distant countries, conditioning the local water balances. This paper presents and discusses the assessment of virtual water fluxes between a single country and its network of trading partners, delineating a country's virtual water budget in space and time (years 1986-2010). The fluxes between the country under study and its importing/exporting partners are visualized with a geographical representation shaping the trade network as a virtual river/delta. Time variations of exchanged fluxes are quantified to show possible trends in the virtual water balance, while characterizing the time evolution of the trade network and its composition in terms of product categories (plant-based, animal-based, luxury food, and non-edible). The average distance traveled by virtual water to arrive to the place of consumption is also introduced as a new measure for the analysis of globalization of the virtual water trade. Using Italy as an example, we find that food trade has a steadily growing importance compared to domestic production, with a major component represented by plant-based products, and luxury products taking an increasingly larger share (26% in 2010). In 2010 Italy had an average net import of 55 km3 of virtual water (38 km3 in 1986), a value which poses the country among the top net importers in the world. On average each cubic meter of virtual water travels nearly 4000 km before entering Italy, while export goes to relatively closer countries (average distance: 2600 km), with increasing trends in time which are almost unique among the world countries. Analyses proposed for Italy are replicated for 10 other world countries, triggering similar investigations on different socio-economic actualities.

An analysis of ranibizumab treatment and visual outcomes in real-world settings: the UNCOVER study.

PubMed

Eldem, Bora; Lai, Timothy Y Y; Ngah, Nor Fariza; Vote, Brendan; Yu, Hyeong Gon; Fabre, Alban; Backer, Arthur; Clunas, Nathan J

2018-05-01

To describe intravitreal ranibizumab treatment frequency, clinical monitoring, and visual outcomes (including mean central retinal thickness [CRT] and visual acuity [VA] changes from baseline) in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) in real-world settings across three ranibizumab reimbursement scenarios in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. Non-interventional multicenter historical cohort study of intravitreal ranibizumab use for nAMD in routine clinical practice between April 2010 and April 2013. Eligible patients were diagnosed with nAMD, received at least one intravitreal ranibizumab injection during the study period, and had been observed for a minimum of 1 year (up to 3 years). Reimbursement scenarios were defined as self-paid, partially-reimbursed, and fully-reimbursed. More than three-fourths (n = 2521) of the analysis population was partially-reimbursed for ranibizumab, while 16.4% (n = 532) was fully-reimbursed, and 5.8% was self-paid (n = 188). The average annual ranibizumab injection frequency was 4.1 injections in the partially-reimbursed, 4.7 in the fully-reimbursed and 2.6 in the self-paid populations. The average clinical monitoring frequency was estimated to be 6.7 visits/year, with similar frequencies observed across reimbursement categories. On average, patients experienced VA reduction of -0.7 letters and a decrease in CRT of -44.4 μm. The greatest mean CRT change was observed in the self-paid group, with -92.6 μm. UNCOVER included a large, heterogeneous ranibizumab-treated nAMD population in real-world settings. Patients in all reimbursement scenarios attained vision stability on average, indicating control of disease activity.

World Air Travel Demand, 1950-1980

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sarames, G. N.

1972-01-01

Total world scheduled air passenger traffic carried by the airlines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), excluding the U.S.S.R., increased from 17.4 billion passenger miles in 1950 to 237.4 billion in 1970. This represents an average annual growth rate of 14% during the past two decades. The U.S.S.R. became a member of ICAO in 1970, and Aeroflot - the only Russian airline - reported 49 billion passenger miles for 1970. This traffic, which encompasses both domestic and international travel as well as some nonscheduled flights, is not included in the ICAO world totals shown in this report.

Immersive Virtual Worlds in University-Level Human Geography Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dittmer, Jason

2010-01-01

This paper addresses the potential for increased deployment of immersive virtual worlds in higher geographic education. An account of current practice regarding popular culture in the geography classroom is offered, focusing on the objectification of popular culture rather than its constitutive role vis-a-vis place. Current e-learning practice is…

Consuming Conventions: Sustainable Consumption, Ecological Citizenship and the Worlds of Worth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, David

2011-01-01

In light of the recognition that current patterns of consumption in the developed world are environmentally damaging, the question of sustainable consumption has become increasingly prominent in public and policy discourse. This paper joins an emerging body of work that critiques the behaviorist perspectives that currently dominate the field and…

Virtual reality training for health-care professionals.

PubMed

Mantovani, Fabrizia; Castelnuovo, Gianluca; Gaggioli, Andrea; Riva, Giuseppe

2003-08-01

Emerging changes in health-care delivery are having a significant impact on the structure of health-care professionals' education. Today it is recognized that medical knowledge doubles every 6-8 years, with new medical procedures emerging everyday. While the half-life of medical information is so short, the average physician practices 30 years and the average nurse 40 years. Continuing education thus represents an important challenge to face. Recent advances in educational technology are offering an increasing number of innovative learning tools. Among these, Virtual Reality represents a promising area with high potential of enhancing the training of health-care professionals. Virtual Reality Training can provide a rich, interactive, engaging educational context, thus supporting experiential learning-by-doing; it can, in fact, contribute to raise interest and motivation in trainees and to effectively support skills acquisition and transfer, since the learning process can be settled within an experiential framework. Current virtual training applications for health-care differ a lot as to both their technological/multimedia sophistication and to the types of skills trained, varying for example from telesurgical applications to interactive simulations of human body and brain, to virtual worlds for emergency training. Other interesting applications include the development of immersive 3D environments for training psychiatrists and psychologists in the treatment of mental disorders. This paper has the main aim of discussing the rationale and main benefits for the use of virtual reality in health-care education and training. Significant research and projects carried out in this field will also be presented, followed by discussion on key issues concerning current limitations and future development directions.

How a Lumbar Diskectomy Influenced Medical Malpractice and the Landscape of Health Care.

PubMed

Yang, Brian W; Bi, Wenya Linda; Smith, Timothy R; Brewster, Ryan; Gormley, William B; Dunn, Ian F; Laws, Edward R

2016-02-01

Jeff Chandler was one of Hollywood's top leading men in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1961, at the peak of his career, Chandler died of complications following an aortic-iliac injury during a routine lumbar diskectomy. The subsequent public outcry and malpractice suit resulted in an unprecedented settlement award. Chandler's lawsuit marked a pivotal time in the evolution of medical malpractice and monetary awards. Before 1960, malpractice legal claims were rare, with little impact on the practice of medicine. Chandler's award, however, dwarfed the average malpractice verdict for its time and would influence the relationship between medicine and the legal world. This case helped issue a radical increase in total expenditure on medical liability insurance, frequency of successful claims, average numbers of neurosurgical malpractice suits, and financial award sizes. The trend ensuing from this time has continued to the contemporary era. To link Chandler's case to the current malpractice climate, we highlight the relationship of the case with 3 factors comprising the legal argument for the perpetuation of medical malpractice: 1) contingency fees, 2) citizen juries, and 3) the nature of tort law. This case illustrates an inflection point in American medical malpractice expenditure increases beginning in the 1960s to a current estimated $55.6 billion. As we investigate ways to provide value in health care, it is important to consider the historical factors that have influenced the status quo when seeking strategies to reform the malpractice system on both sides of the value equation: quality and cost. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Power and Relation in the World Polity: The INGO Network Country Score, 1978-1998

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Melanie M.; Peterson, Lindsey; Harrison, Jill Ann; Paxton, Pamela

2009-01-01

World polity theory is explicitly relational, implying a global network structure that exists outside of the nation-state. And world polity theory increasingly acknowledges power--that some states and regions are dominant in the international field. But current world polity measures of international non-governmental organizations do not…

The World Bank New Discourse and the 1999 Education Sector Strategy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Siqueira, Angela C.

The climate of growing dissatisfaction in the developing world seems to have led to some changes in the World Bank's main discourse. The current World Bank president, James Wolfensohn, pointed out the existence of a "human crisis," besides the overemphasized financial one. He proposed a new development framework taking into account the…

Technical Problems Experienced in the Transformation of Virtual Worlds into an Education Environment and Coping Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coban, Murat; Karakus, Turkan; Karaman, Asiye; Gunay, Fatma; Goktas, Yuksel

2015-01-01

Research into virtual worlds demonstrates that to successfully use virtual world platforms in different disciplines, certain limitations and potential difficulties of these platforms must be overcome. The current study extends previous research by investigating problems in integrating virtual worlds in education with a longitudinal observation of…

Longitudinal effects of air pollution on exhaled nitric oxide: the Children's Health Study.

PubMed

Berhane, Kiros; Zhang, Yue; Salam, Muhammad T; Eckel, Sandrah P; Linn, William S; Rappaport, Edward B; Bastain, Theresa M; Lurmann, Fred; Gilliland, Frank D

2014-07-01

To assess the effects of long-term variations in ambient air pollutants on longitudinal changes in exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), a potentially useful biomarker of eosinophilic airway inflammation, based on data from the southern California Children's Health Study. Based on a cohort of 1211 schoolchildren from eight Southern California communities with FeNO measurements in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, regression models adjusted for short-term effects of air pollution were fitted to assess the association between changes in annual long-term exposures and changes in FeNO. Increases in annual average concentrations of 24-h average NO2 and PM2.5 (scaled to the IQR of 1.8 ppb and 2.4 μg/m(3), respectively) were associated with a 2.29 ppb (CI 0.36 to 4.21; p=0.02) and a 4.94 ppb (CI 1.44 to 8.47; p=0.005) increase in FeNO, respectively, after adjustments for short-term effects of the respective pollutants. In contrast, changes in annual averages of PM10 and O3 were not significantly associated with changes in FeNO. These findings did not differ significantly by asthma status. Changes in annual average exposure to current levels of ambient air pollutants are significantly associated with changes in FeNO levels in children, independent of short-term exposures and asthma status. Use of this biomarker in population-based epidemiological research has great potential for assessing the impact of changing real world mixtures of ambient air pollutants on children's respiratory health. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Brave New (Interactive) Worlds: A Review of the Design Affordances and Constraints of Two 3D Virtual Worlds as Interactive Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dickey, Michele D.

2005-01-01

Three-dimensional virtual worlds are an emerging medium currently being used in both traditional classrooms and for distance education. Three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds are a combination of desk-top interactive Virtual Reality within a chat environment. This analysis provides an overview of Active Worlds Educational Universe and Adobe…

Heterogeneity and differentiation: the end for the Third World??

PubMed

Abdalla, I

1978-01-01

Dependence, with all its corollaries, is the common denominator of Third World countries. Comprehensive decolonization is the only way out. New categories and classifications, i.e., OPEC countries and NICs (Newly Industrialized Countries), fall short of destroying the fundamental community of condition and goal. China is not a Third World country. The case for heterogeneity of Third World countries is a faulty one. The average per capita GNP of the higher income group in 1975 was $1,270.00 against $142.70 for the lower income group, 8.9 times lower. Among OECD countries, Switzerland's per capita is 9.3 times Turkey's, yet no one speaks of heterogeneity within OECD. Development can, and should, proceed according to the conditions of each nation, but differences cannot and should not overshadow the commonality of interests in the Third World.

Promoting Health in Virtual Worlds: Lessons From Second Life

PubMed Central

Mäntymäki, Matti; Söderlund, Sari

2014-01-01

Background Social media services can help empower people to take greater responsibility for their health. For example, virtual worlds are media-rich environments that have many technically advantageous characteristics that can be used for Health 2.0 purposes. Second Life has been used to build environments where people can obtain information and interact with other users for peer support and advice from health care professionals. Objective The intent of the study was to find out whether Second Life is a working and functional platform supporting the empowerment of people in health-related issues. Methods We conducted a review of the current health-related activity in Second Life, coupled with an extensive series of observations and interactions with the respective resources inside Second Life. Results A total of 24 operative health resources were found in Second Life, indicating that health-related activity is rather limited in Second Life, though at first glance it appears to contain very rich health-related content. The other main shortcomings of Second Life relate to a lack of activity, a low number of resource users, problems with Second Life’s search features, and the difficulty of finding trustworthy information. Conclusions For the average user, Second Life offers very little unique value compared to other online health resources. PMID:25313009

World Trade Center disaster and sensitization to subsequent life stress: A longitudinal study of disaster responders.

PubMed

Zvolensky, Michael J; Farris, Samantha G; Kotov, Roman; Schechter, Clyde B; Bromet, Evelyn; Gonzalez, Adam; Vujanovic, Anka; Pietrzak, Robert H; Crane, Michael; Kaplan, Julia; Moline, Jacqueline; Southwick, Steven M; Feder, Adriana; Udasin, Iris; Reissman, Dori B; Luft, Benjamin J

2015-06-01

The current study examined the role of World Trade Center (WTC) disaster exposure (hours spent working on the site, dust cloud exposure, and losing friend/loved one) in exacerbating the effects of post-disaster life stress on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and overall functioning among WTC responders. Participants were 18,896 responders (8466 police officers and 10,430 non-traditional responders) participating in the WTC Health Program who completed an initial examination between July, 2002 and April, 2010 and were reassessed an average of two years later. Among police responders, there was a significant interaction, such that the effect of post-disaster life stress on later PTSD symptoms and overall functioning was stronger among police responders who had greater WTC disaster exposure (β's=.029 and .054, respectively, for PTSD symptoms and overall functioning). This moderating effect was absent in non-traditional responders. Across both groups, post-disaster life stress also consistently was related to the dependent variables in a more robust manner than WTC exposure. The present findings suggest that WTC exposure may compound post-disaster life stress, thereby resulting in a more chronic course of PTSD symptoms and reduced functioning among police responders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Crude production still jumping in Libya

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

Wells, M.J.

1969-03-01

With the continued shutdown of the Suez Canal, Libya may become the world's fourth largest crude producer within the next few months, and become the leading Arab oil producing nation. Big field and terminal expansions now on hand for nearly all producing companies will raise crude capacity to over 3.8 million bpd by the end of 1969. The current year also is likely to be marked by some important changes in Libyan petroleum legislation and the basis of crude postings. All this is being reflected in Libya's growing voice in Arab oil councils. The steepness in the upward oil productionmore » curve is such that the 1968 average output of 2,599,800 bpd was a jump of 49.4% over the previous years. This gain raised Libya to sixth among the world's oil producers. A breakdown of production figures shows the amount of oil in barrels produced by the various companies in Libya for 1968. In addition to large capacity expansions now on hand for existing fields, virtually all of the producing companies, there are now several concessionaires which have made field discoveries in the past few months and who are negotiating with neighboring producers in the hopes of tying in with an existing pipeline system.« less

Study of natural radioactivity in Mansehra granite, Pakistan: environmental concerns.

PubMed

Qureshi, Aziz Ahmed; Jadoon, Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan; Wajid, Ali Abbas; Attique, Ahsan; Masood, Adil; Anees, Muhammad; Manzoor, Shahid; Waheed, Abdul; Tubassam, Aneela

2014-03-01

A part of Mansehra Granite was selected for the assessment of radiological hazards. The average activity concentrations of (226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K were found to be 27.32, 50.07 and 953.10 Bq kg(-1), respectively. These values are in the median range when compared with the granites around the world. Radiological hazard indices and annual effective doses were estimated. All of these indices were found to be within the criterion limits except outdoor external dose (82.38 nGy h(-1)) and indoor external dose (156.04 nGy h(-1)), which are higher than the world's average background levels of 51 and 55 nGy h(-1), respectively. These values correspond to an average annual effective dose of 0.867 mSv y(-1), which is less than the criterion limit of 1 mSv y(-1) (ICRP-103). Some localities in the Mansehra city have annual effective dose higher than the limit of 1 mSv y(-1). Overall, the Mansehra Granite does not pose any significant radiological health hazard in the outdoor or indoor.

An overview of salt intake reduction efforts in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

PubMed

Alhamad, Nawal; Almalt, Elsayed; Alamir, Najeeba; Subhakaran, Monica

2015-06-01

Globally, morbidity and mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are increasing steadily and at an alarming rate. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and salt reduction is an effective measure to decrease mortality rates. In the Eastern Mediterranean region, current salt intake is high, with an average intake of >12 g per person per day. Reducing the intake of salt has been identified as a priority intervention to reduce NCDs. Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are showing a willingness to comply with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations and an eagerness to reduce the burden of NCDs. However, they face some challenges, including lack of political commitment, lack of experience, and shortage of qualified human resources. Salt intake reduction efforts vary in the GCC region, from achieving 20% salt reduction in bread, to the very early stages of planning.

The Fundamental Neutron Physics Beamline at the Spallation Neutron Source.

PubMed

Greene, Geoffrey; Cianciolo, Vince; Koehler, Paul; Allen, Richard; Snow, William Michael; Huffman, Paul; Gould, Chris; Bowman, David; Cooper, Martin; Doyle, John

2005-01-01

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), currently under construction at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with an anticipated start-up in early 2006, will provide the most intense pulsed beams of cold neutrons in the world. At a projected power of 1.4 MW, the time averaged fluxes and fluences of the SNS will approach those of high flux reactors. One of the flight paths on the cold, coupled moderator will be devoted to fundamental neutron physics. The fundamental neutron physics beamline is anticipated to include two beam-lines; a broad band cold beam, and a monochromatic beam of 0.89 nm neutrons for ultracold neutron (UCN) experiments. The fundamental neutron physics beamline will be operated as a user facility with experiment selection based on a peer reviewed proposal process. An initial program of five experiments in neutron decay, hadronic weak interaction and time reversal symmetry violation have been proposed.

Risk management: Reducing brownfield cleanup costs

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

Graves, N.

Balancing environmental protection with economic vitality is crucial to maintaining competitiveness in world markets. One key initiative that has been identified as important to both environmental protection and the economy is the redevelopment of brownfields. Brownfield redevelopment can stimulate local economies that have been devastated by lost jobs and can recycle industrial land use, thereby preserving undeveloped lands. Many existing brownfield sites appear on the US Environmental Protection Agency`s (EPA) National Priority List (NPL), which designates over 1200 sites and is expected to grow to more than 2000 by the end of the decade. EPA estimates the cost of remediatingmore » the sites on the current list will approach $30 billion, with the average cost of remediating a site close to $25 million. Thousands of additional brownfield sites that do not appear on the NPL are listed under state cleanup programs.« less

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

Hinz, Nick; Coolbaugh, Mark; Shevenell, Lisa

There are currently 74 productive geothermal systems associated with volcanic centers (VCs) in arcs globally, including actively producing systems, past producing systems, and systems with successful flow tests. The total installed or tested capacity of these 74 geothermal systems is 7,605 MWe, ranging from 0.7 MWe each at Copahue, Chile and Barkhatnaya Sopka, Kamchatka to 795 MWe, Larderello, Italy, and averaging 90.5 MWe per system. These 74 productive VCs constitute 10% of 732 VCs distributed across more than a dozen major arcs around the world. The intra-arc (within-arc) tectonic setting is highly variable globally, ranging from extension to transtension, transpression,more » or compression. Furthermore, the shear strain associated with oblique plate convergence can be accommodated by either intra-arc or arc-marginal deformation. The structural-tectonic settings of these 74 productive VCs were characterized to add to a global catalog of parameters to help guide future exploration, development, and regional resource potential.« less

The application of Big Data in medicine: current implications and future directions.

PubMed

Austin, Christopher; Kusumoto, Fred

2016-10-01

Since the mid 1980s, the world has experienced an unprecedented explosion in the capacity to produce, store, and communicate data, primarily in digital formats. Simultaneously, access to computing technologies in the form of the personal PC, smartphone, and other handheld devices has mirrored this growth. With these enhanced capabilities of data storage and rapid computation as well as real-time delivery of information via the internet, the average daily consumption of data by an individual has grown exponentially. Unbeknownst to many, Big Data has silently crept into our daily routines and, with continued development of cheap data storage and availability of smart devices both regionally and in developing countries, the influence of Big Data will continue to grow. This influence has also carried over to healthcare. This paper will provide an overview of Big Data, its benefits, potential pitfalls, and the projected impact on the future of medicine in general and cardiology in particular.

Porphyry copper deposit model: Chapter B in Mineral deposit models for resource assessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ayuso, Robert A.; Barton, Mark D.; Blakely, Richard J.; Bodnar, Robert J.; Dilles, John H.; Gray, Floyd; Graybeal, Fred T.; Mars, John L.; McPhee, Darcy K.; Seal, Robert R.; Taylor, Ryan D.; Vikre, Peter G.; John, David A.

2010-01-01

This report contains a revised descriptive model of porphyry copper deposits (PCDs), the world's largest source (about 60 percent) and resource (about 65 percent) of copper and a major source of molybdenum, gold and silver. Despite relatively low grades (average 0.44 percent copper in 2008), PCDs have significant economic and societal impacts due to their large size (commonly hundreds of millions to billions of metric tons), long mine lives (decades), and high production rates (billions of kilograms of copper per year). The revised model describes the geotectonic setting of PCDs, and provides extensive regional- to deposit-scale descriptions and illustrations of geological, geochemical, geophysical, and geoenvironmental characteristics. Current genetic theories are reviewed and evaluated, knowledge gaps are identified, and a variety of exploration and assessment guides are presented. A summary is included for users seeking overviews of specific topics.

Bio-inspired organic field effect transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irimia-Vladu, Mihai; Troshin, Pavel A.; Schwabegger, Günther; Bodea, Marius; Schwödiauer, Reinhard; Fergus, Jeffrey W.; Razumov, Vladimir; Bauer, Siegfried; Sariciftci, Niyazi Serdar

2010-08-01

Two major concerns in the world nowadays are the plastic consumption and waste. Because to the economic growth and the incessant demand of plastics in developing countries, plastics consumption is projected to increase by a factor of two to three during the actual decade1. As an intuitive example, the amount of municipal solid waste (estimated per person per year) averages ~440 kg for China, ~550 kg for the European Union and ~790 kg for the United States, with almost 50% of the waste being electronic products and plastics1,2. Green technology based on biodegradable/compostable materials is perceived as an ultimate goal for solving waste problems. Currently there are numerous efforts for producing compostable plastic materials for applications in daily life products, such as plastic bags and disposable dishware. When such low-end products are fabricated with compostable materials, electronics included in such goods should be also based on materials that are easily compostable.

President's message: Dues increase will help build the foundation for AGU's future success

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McPhaden, Michael J.

2012-09-01

The world is a very different place than it was 43 years ago. In 1969, Jimi Hendrix rocked the legendary Woodstock music festival, Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the Moon, and U.S. drivers paid an average of 35 cents a gallon for gas. Today, digital music files have replaced vinyl records, NASA's Curiosity rover is transmitting data and imagery from the surface of Mars, and a growing number of cars run on alternative fuels. In the same way, 43 years ago AGU was a very different organization. Membership hovered around 10,000, and the Fall Meeting was still in its infancy. Today, AGU's membership has increased to more than 61,000, Fall Meeting attendance has topped 20,000, and an entire generation of geoscientists who weren't even born in 1969 now comprises 28% of our current membership.

An overview of salt intake reduction efforts in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

PubMed Central

Almalt, Elsayed; Alamir, Najeeba; Subhakaran, Monica

2015-01-01

Globally, morbidity and mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are increasing steadily and at an alarming rate. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and salt reduction is an effective measure to decrease mortality rates. In the Eastern Mediterranean region, current salt intake is high, with an average intake of >12 g per person per day. Reducing the intake of salt has been identified as a priority intervention to reduce NCDs. Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are showing a willingness to comply with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations and an eagerness to reduce the burden of NCDs. However, they face some challenges, including lack of political commitment, lack of experience, and shortage of qualified human resources. Salt intake reduction efforts vary in the GCC region, from achieving 20% salt reduction in bread, to the very early stages of planning. PMID:26090327

Measurement of the mass and width of the Ds1(2536)+ meson

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lees, J. P.; Poireau, V.; Prencipe, E.; Tisserand, V.; Garra Tico, J.; Grauges, E.; Martinelli, M.; Milanes, D. A.; Palano, A.; Pappagallo, M.; Eigen, G.; Stugu, B.; Sun, L.; Brown, D. N.; Kerth, L. T.; Kolomensky, Yu. G.; Lynch, G.; Osipenkov, I. L.; Koch, H.; Schroeder, T.; Asgeirsson, D. J.; Hearty, C.; Mattison, T. S.; McKenna, J. A.; Khan, A.; Blinov, V. E.; Buzykaev, A. R.; Druzhinin, V. P.; Golubev, V. B.; Kravchenko, E. A.; Onuchin, A. P.; Serednyakov, S. I.; Skovpen, Yu. I.; Solodov, E. P.; Todyshev, K. Yu.; Yushkov, A. N.; Bondioli, M.; Curry, S.; Kirkby, D.; Lankford, A. J.; Mandelkern, M.; Stoker, D. P.; Atmacan, H.; Gary, J. W.; Liu, F.; Long, O.; Vitug, G. M.; Campagnari, C.; Hong, T. M.; Kovalskyi, D.; Richman, J. D.; West, C. A.; Eisner, A. M.; Kroseberg, J.; Lockman, W. S.; Martinez, A. J.; Schalk, T.; Schumm, B. A.; Seiden, A.; Cheng, C. H.; Doll, D. A.; Echenard, B.; Flood, K. T.; Hitlin, D. G.; Ongmongkolkul, P.; Porter, F. C.; Rakitin, A. Y.; Andreassen, R.; Dubrovin, M. S.; Meadows, B. T.; Sokoloff, M. D.; Bloom, P. C.; Ford, W. T.; Gaz, A.; Nagel, M.; Nauenberg, U.; Smith, J. G.; Wagner, S. R.; Ayad, R.; Toki, W. H.; Jasper, H.; Petzold, A.; Spaan, B.; Kobel, M. J.; Schubert, K. R.; Schwierz, R.; Bernard, D.; Verderi, M.; Clark, P. J.; Playfer, S.; Watson, J. E.; Bettoni, D.; Bozzi, C.; Calabrese, R.; Cibinetto, G.; Fioravanti, E.; Garzia, I.; Luppi, E.; Munerato, M.; Negrini, M.; Piemontese, L.; Baldini-Ferroli, R.; Calcaterra, A.; de Sangro, R.; Finocchiaro, G.; Nicolaci, M.; Pacetti, S.; Patteri, P.; Peruzzi, I. M.; Piccolo, M.; Rama, M.; Zallo, A.; Contri, R.; Guido, E.; Lo Vetere, M.; Monge, M. R.; Passaggio, S.; Patrignani, C.; Robutti, E.; Bhuyan, B.; Prasad, V.; Lee, C. L.; Morii, M.; Edwards, A. J.; Adametz, A.; Marks, J.; Uwer, U.; Bernlochner, F. U.; Ebert, M.; Lacker, H. M.; Lueck, T.; Dauncey, P. D.; Tibbetts, M.; Behera, P. K.; Mallik, U.; Chen, C.; Cochran, J.; Crawley, H. B.; Meyer, W. T.; Prell, S.; Rosenberg, E. I.; Rubin, A. E.; Gritsan, A. V.; Guo, Z. J.; Arnaud, N.; Davier, M.; Derkach, D.; Firmino da Costa, J.; Grosdidier, G.; Le Diberder, F.; Lutz, A. M.; Malaescu, B.; Perez, A.; Roudeau, P.; Schune, M. H.; Stocchi, A.; Wang, L.; Wormser, G.; Lange, D. J.; Wright, D. M.; Bingham, I.; Chavez, C. A.; Coleman, J. P.; Fry, J. R.; Gabathuler, E.; Hutchcroft, D. E.; Payne, D. J.; Touramanis, C.; Bevan, A. J.; di Lodovico, F.; Sacco, R.; Sigamani, M.; Cowan, G.; Paramesvaran, S.; Wren, A. C.; Brown, D. N.; Davis, C. L.; Denig, A. G.; Fritsch, M.; Gradl, W.; Hafner, A.; Alwyn, K. E.; Bailey, D.; Barlow, R. J.; Jackson, G.; Lafferty, G. D.; Cenci, R.; Hamilton, B.; Jawahery, A.; Roberts, D. A.; Simi, G.; Dallapiccola, C.; Salvati, E.; Cowan, R.; Dujmic, D.; Sciolla, G.; Lindemann, D.; Patel, P. M.; Robertson, S. H.; Schram, M.; Biassoni, P.; Lazzaro, A.; Lombardo, V.; Palombo, F.; Stracka, S.; Cremaldi, L.; Godang, R.; Kroeger, R.; Sonnek, P.; Summers, D. J.; Nguyen, X.; Taras, P.; de Nardo, G.; Monorchio, D.; Onorato, G.; Sciacca, C.; Raven, G.; Snoek, H. L.; Jessop, C. P.; Knoepfel, K. J.; Losecco, J. M.; Wang, W. F.; Corwin, L. A.; Honscheid, K.; Kass, R.; Blount, N. L.; Brau, J.; Frey, R.; Kolb, J. A.; Rahmat, R.; Sinev, N. B.; Strom, D.; Strube, J.; Torrence, E.; Castelli, G.; Feltresi, E.; Gagliardi, N.; Margoni, M.; Morandin, M.; Posocco, M.; Rotondo, M.; Simonetto, F.; Stroili, R.; Ben-Haim, E.; Bomben, M.; Bonneaud, G. R.; Briand, H.; Calderini, G.; Chauveau, J.; Hamon, O.; Leruste, Ph.; Marchiori, G.; Ocariz, J.; Sitt, S.; Biasini, M.; Manoni, E.; Rossi, A.; Angelini, C.; Batignani, G.; Bettarini, S.; Carpinelli, M.; Casarosa, G.; Cervelli, A.; Forti, F.; Giorgi, M. A.; Lusiani, A.; Neri, N.; Paoloni, E.; Rizzo, G.; Walsh, J. J.; Lopes Pegna, D.; Lu, C.; Olsen, J.; Smith, A. J. S.; Telnov, A. V.; Anulli, F.; Cavoto, G.; Faccini, R.; Ferrarotto, F.; Ferroni, F.; Gaspero, M.; Li Gioi, L.; Mazzoni, M. A.; Piredda, G.; Buenger, C.; Hartmann, T.; Leddig, T.; Schröder, H.; Waldi, R.; Adye, T.; Olaiya, E. O.; Wilson, F. F.; Emery, S.; Hamel de Monchenault, G.; Vasseur, G.; Yèche, Ch.; Allen, M. T.; Aston, D.; Bard, D. J.; Bartoldus, R.; Benitez, J. F.; Cartaro, C.; Convery, M. R.; Dorfan, J.; Dubois-Felsmann, G. P.; Dunwoodie, W.; Field, R. C.; Franco Sevilla, M.; Fulsom, B. G.; Gabareen, A. M.; Graham, M. T.; Grenier, P.; Hast, C.; Innes, W. R.; Kelsey, M. H.; Kim, H.; Kim, P.; Kocian, M. L.; Leith, D. W. G. S.; Lewis, P.; Li, S.; Lindquist, B.; Luitz, S.; Luth, V.; Lynch, H. L.; Macfarlane, D. B.; Muller, D. R.; Neal, H.; Nelson, S.; O'Grady, C. P.; Ofte, I.; Perl, M.; Pulliam, T.; Ratcliff, B. N.; Robertson, S. H.; Roodman, A.; Salnikov, A. A.; Santoro, V.; Schindler, R. H.; Schwiening, J.; Snyder, A.; Su, D.; Sullivan, M. K.; Sun, S.; Suzuki, K.; Thompson, J. M.; Va'Vra, J.; Wagner, A. P.; Weaver, M.; Wisniewski, W. J.; Wittgen, M.; Wright, D. H.; Wulsin, H. W.; Yarritu, A. K.; Young, C. C.; Ziegler, V.; Chen, X. R.; Park, W.; Purohit, M. V.; White, R. M.; Wilson, J. R.; Randle-Conde, A.; Sekula, S. J.; Bellis, M.; Burchat, P. R.; Miyashita, T. S.; Alam, M. S.; Ernst, J. A.; Guttman, N.; Soffer, A.; Lund, P.; Spanier, S. M.; Eckmann, R.; Ritchie, J. L.; Ruland, A. M.; Schilling, C. J.; Schwitters, R. F.; Wray, B. C.; Izen, J. M.; Lou, X. C.; Bianchi, F.; Gamba, D.; Pelliccioni, M.; Lanceri, L.; Vitale, L.; Lopez-March, N.; Martinez-Vidal, F.; Oyanguren, A.; Ahmed, H.; Albert, J.; Banerjee, Sw.; Choi, H. H. F.; Hamano, K.; King, G. J.; Kowalewski, R.; Lewczuk, M. J.; Lindsay, C.; Nugent, I. M.; Roney, J. M.; Sobie, R. J.; Gershon, T. J.; Harrison, P. F.; Latham, T. E.; Puccio, E. M. T.; Band, H. R.; Dasu, S.; Pan, Y.; Prepost, R.; Vuosalo, C. O.; Wu, S. L.

2011-04-01

The decay width and mass of the Ds1(2536)+ meson are measured via the decay channel Ds1+→D*+KS0 using 385fb-1 of data recorded with the BABAR detector in the vicinity of the Υ(4S) resonance at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy electron-positron collider. The result for the decay width is Γ(Ds1+)=0.92±0.03(stat.)±0.04(syst.)MeV. For the mass, a value of m(Ds1+)=2535.08±0.01(stat.)±0.15(syst.)MeV/c2 is obtained. The mass difference between the Ds1+ and the D*+ is measured to be m(Ds1+)-m(D*+)=524.83±0.01(stat.)±0.04(syst.)MeV/c2, representing a significant improvement compared to the current world average. The unnatural spin-parity assignment for the Ds1+ meson is confirmed.

Sex differences in general knowledge domains.

PubMed

Lynn, Richard; Ivanec, Dragutin; Zarevski, Predrag

2009-06-01

The aim of this study was to investigate some cognitive differences in highly comparable (according to age, education and motivation) samples of female and male university graduates in Croatia. Female (N=280; age X = 26.59; SD = 2.84) and male participants (N=96; age X = 26.99; SD = 2.99) were university graduates in economics, law humanities and social sciences applying for positions in public service. As part of the selection procedure, they were given a number of cognitive tests. The results were that men obtained higher average scores on the g-factor intelligence test, on the general knowledge tests of natural and social sciences, world religion and customs, and knowledge of current affairs. There were no significant sex differences on vocabulary, foreign language ability and general knowledge of culture. An analysis of covariance, with intelligence test as a covariate, showed that sex differences in general knowledge were present when intelligence was controlled.

Measurement of CP Violation in B0→J/ψK{S}^{0} Decays.

PubMed

Aaij, R; Adeva, B; Adinolfi, M; Affolder, A; Ajaltouni, Z; Akar, S; Albrecht, J; Alessio, F; Alexander, M; Ali, S; Alkhazov, G; Alvarez Cartelle, P; Alves, A A; Amato, S; Amerio, S; Amhis, Y; An, L; Anderlini, L; Anderson, J; Andreotti, M; Andrews, J E; Appleby, R B; Aquines Gutierrez, O; Archilli, F; Artamonov, A; Artuso, M; Aslanides, E; Auriemma, G; Baalouch, M; Bachmann, S; Back, J J; Badalov, A; Baesso, C; Baldini, W; Barlow, R J; Barschel, C; Barsuk, S; Barter, W; Batozskaya, V; Battista, V; Bay, A; Beaucourt, L; Beddow, J; Bedeschi, F; Bediaga, I; Bel, L J; Belyaev, I; Ben-Haim, E; Bencivenni, G; Benson, S; Benton, J; Berezhnoy, A; Bernet, R; Bertolin, A; Bettler, M-O; van Beuzekom, M; Bien, A; Bifani, S; Bird, T; Birnkraut, A; Bizzeti, A; Blake, T; Blanc, F; Blouw, J; Blusk, S; Bocci, V; Bondar, A; Bondar, N; Bonivento, W; Borghi, S; Borgia, A; Borsato, M; Bowcock, T J V; Bowen, E; Bozzi, C; Braun, S; Brett, D; Britsch, M; Britton, T; Brodzicka, J; Brook, N H; Bursche, A; Buytaert, J; 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Gianelle, A; Gianì, S; Gibson, V; Giubega, L; Gligorov, V V; Göbel, C; Golubkov, D; Golutvin, A; Gomes, A; Gotti, C; Grabalosa Gándara, M; Graciani Diaz, R; Granado Cardoso, L A; Graugés, E; Graverini, E; Graziani, G; Grecu, A; Greening, E; Gregson, S; Griffith, P; Grillo, L; Grünberg, O; Gushchin, E; Guz, Yu; Gys, T; Hadjivasiliou, C; Haefeli, G; Haen, C; Haines, S C; Hall, S; Hamilton, B; Hampson, T; Han, X; Hansmann-Menzemer, S; Harnew, N; Harnew, S T; Harrison, J; He, J; Head, T; Heijne, V; Hennessy, K; Henrard, P; Henry, L; Hernando Morata, J A; van Herwijnen, E; Heß, M; Hicheur, A; Hill, D; Hoballah, M; Hombach, C; Hulsbergen, W; Humair, T; Hussain, N; Hutchcroft, D; Hynds, D; Idzik, M; Ilten, P; Jacobsson, R; Jaeger, A; Jalocha, J; Jans, E; Jawahery, A; Jing, F; John, M; Johnson, D; Jones, C R; Joram, C; Jost, B; Jurik, N; Kandybei, S; Kanso, W; Karacson, M; Karbach, T M; Karodia, S; Kelsey, M; Kenyon, I R; Kenzie, M; Ketel, T; Khanji, B; Khurewathanakul, C; Klaver, S; Klimaszewski, K; 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2015-07-17

Measurements are presented of the CP violation observables S and C in the decays of B(0) and Bover ¯]0 mesons to the J/ψK(S)(0) final state. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3.0  fb(-1) collected with the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, and contains a total of 41 560 selected B^{0} and B[over ¯]^{0} decays. The analysis of the time evolution of these decays yields S=0.731±0.035(stat)±0.020(syst) and C=-0.038±0.032(stat)±0.005(syst). In the standard model, S equals sin(2β) to a good level of precision. The values are consistent with the current world averages and with the standard model expectations.

Pellicle transmission uniformity requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Thomas L.; Ito, Kunihiro

1998-12-01

Controlling critical dimensions of devices is a constant battle for the photolithography engineer. Current DUV lithographic process exposure latitude is typically 12 to 15% of the total dose. A third of this exposure latitude budget may be used up by a variable related to masking that has not previously received much attention. The emphasis on pellicle transmission has been focused on increasing the average transmission. Much less, attention has been paid to transmission uniformity. This paper explores the total demand on the photospeed latitude budget, the causes of pellicle transmission nonuniformity and examines reasonable expectations for pellicle performance. Modeling is used to examine how the two primary errors in pellicle manufacturing contribute to nonuniformity in transmission. World-class pellicle transmission uniformity standards are discussed and a comparison made between specifications of other components in the photolithographic process. Specifications for other materials or parameters are used as benchmarks to develop a proposed industry standard for pellicle transmission uniformity.

How to install platforms in tidal deltaic areas: The 25-year experience of Total in Kalimantan (Indonesia)

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

Quenelle, A.; Metz, R.; Poirier, D.

1994-12-31

Due to the extended work by TOTAL, since 1971, offshore and within the Mahakam delta (East Kalimantan), several installation and platform concepts have been used. The present paper only concerns the installations at Handil and Tambora sites located in the Mahakam delta (in-shore) where water depths are between 2 and 4 meters, water current is 2 knots max. and tide is 2 meters as an average. The experience gained by the company in this kind of job made it possible to recently install in a single piece large and heavy integrated decks (up to 2,600 t) with the optimum usemore » of local skills, non-sophisticated technology and at low costs. The following shows the historical and evolutive experience of TOTAL up to now in platform concepts in this area of the world and gives, by the way, some useful information for future work.« less

Power Management Integrated Circuit for Indoor Photovoltaic Energy Harvesting System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, Vipul

In today's world, power dissipation is a main concern for battery operated mobile devices. Key design decisions are being governed by power rather than area/delay because power requirements are growing more stringent every year. Hence, a hybrid power management system is proposed, which uses both a solar panel to harvest energy from indoor lighting and a battery to power the load. The system tracks the maximum power point of the solar panel and regulates the battery and microcontroller output load voltages through the use of an on-chip switched-capacitor DC-DC converter. System performance is verified through simulation at the 180nm technology node and is made to be integrated on-chip with 0.25 second startup time, 79% efficiency, --8/+14% ripple on the load, an average 1micro A of quiescent current (3.7micro W of power) and total on-chip area of 1.8mm2 .

Predicting therapy success for treatment as usual and blended treatment in the domain of depression.

PubMed

van Breda, Ward; Bremer, Vincent; Becker, Dennis; Hoogendoorn, Mark; Funk, Burkhardt; Ruwaard, Jeroen; Riper, Heleen

2018-06-01

In this paper, we explore the potential of predicting therapy success for patients in mental health care. Such predictions can eventually improve the process of matching effective therapy types to individuals. In the EU project E-COMPARED, a variety of information is gathered about patients suffering from depression. We use this data, where 276 patients received treatment as usual and 227 received blended treatment, to investigate to what extent we are able to predict therapy success. We utilize different encoding strategies for preprocessing, varying feature selection techniques, and different statistical procedures for this purpose. Significant predictive power is found with average AUC values up to 0.7628 for treatment as usual and 0.7765 for blended treatment. Adding daily assessment data for blended treatment does currently not add predictive accuracy. Cost effectiveness analysis is needed to determine the added potential for real-world applications.

High-Precision Half-Life Measurement for the Superallowed {beta}{sup +} Emitter {sup 26}Al{sup m}

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

Finlay, P.; Svensson, C. E.; Green, K. L.

2011-01-21

A high-precision half-life measurement for the superallowed {beta}{sup +} emitter {sup 26}Al{sup m} was performed at the TRIUMF-ISAC radioactive ion beam facility yielding T{sub 1/2}=6346.54{+-}0.46{sub stat{+-}}0.60{sub syst} ms, consistent with, but 2.5 times more precise than, the previous world average. The {sup 26}Al{sup m} half-life and ft value, 3037.53(61) s, are now the most precisely determined for any superallowed {beta} decay. Combined with recent theoretical corrections for isospin-symmetry-breaking and radiative effects, the corrected Ft value for {sup 26}Al{sup m}, 3073.0(12) s, sets a new benchmark for the high-precision superallowed Fermi {beta}-decay studies used to test the conserved vector current hypothesismore » and determine the V{sub ud} element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark mixing matrix.« less

iVirtualWorld: A Domain-Oriented End-User Development Environment for Building 3D Virtual Chemistry Experiments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhong, Ying

2013-01-01

Virtual worlds are well-suited for building virtual laboratories for educational purposes to complement hands-on physical laboratories. However, educators may face technical challenges because developing virtual worlds requires skills in programming and 3D design. Current virtual world building tools are developed for users who have programming…

Critical Education for Systemic Change: A World-Systems Analysis Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffiths, Tom G.

2015-01-01

This paper both draws on, and seeks to apply, world-systems analysis to a broad, critical education project that builds mass schooling's potential contribution to the process of world-systemic change. In short, this is done by first setting out the world-systems analysis account of the current state, and period of transition, of the capitalist…

NOAA's world-class weather and climate prediction center opens at

Science.gov Websites

StumbleUpon Digg More Destinations NOAA's world-class weather and climate prediction center opens at currents and large-scale rain and snow storms. Billions of earth observations from around the world flow operations. Investing in this center is an investment in our human capital, serving as a world class facility

The Use of Virtual Worlds in Management Education: An Investigation of Current Practices in Second Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein, Amarolinda Zanela; Freitas, Angilberto; Machado, Lisiane; da Silva Freitas, José Carlos, Jr.; Graziola, Paulo Gaspar; Schlemmer, Eliane

2014-01-01

Frequently, research on management education does not take into account the role of Information Technology as a key resource to support teaching and learning processes. In this article, the authors explore the current applications of Three Dimensional Virtual Worlds (3DVW) for Management education. The authors researched the educational…

75 FR 70691 - World Color Mt. Morris, IL LLC, Premedia Chicago Division, Currently Known as Quad/Graphics, Inc...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-18

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-74,142] World Color Mt. Morris, IL LLC, Premedia Chicago Division, Currently Known as Quad/Graphics, Inc., Including On-Site Leased Workers From Creative Group and Creative Circle, Schaumburg, IL; Amended Certification Regarding Eligibility To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance...

Exhaust particle and NOx emission performance of an SCR heavy duty truck operating in real-world conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saari, Sampo; Karjalainen, Panu; Ntziachristos, Leonidas; Pirjola, Liisa; Matilainen, Pekka; Keskinen, Jorma; Rönkkö, Topi

2016-02-01

Particle and NOx emissions of an SCR equipped HDD truck were studied in real-world driving conditions using the "Sniffer" mobile laboratory. Real-time CO2 measurement enables emission factor calculation for NOx and particles. In this study, we compared three different emission factor calculation methods and characterised their suitability for real-world chasing experiments. The particle number emission was bimodal and dominated by the nucleation mode particles (diameter below 23 nm) having emission factor up to 1 × 1015 #/kgfuel whereas emission factor for soot (diameter above 23 nm that is consistent with the PMP standard) was typically 1 × 1014 #/kgfuel. The effect of thermodenuder on the exhaust particles indicated that the nucleation particles consisted mainly of volatile compounds, but sometimes there also existed a non-volatile core. The nucleation mode particles are not controlled by current regulations in Europe. However, these particles consistently form under atmospheric dilution in the plume of the truck and constitute a health risk for the human population that is exposed to those. Average NOx emission was 3.55 g/kWh during the test, whereas the Euro IV emission limit over transient testing is 3.5 g NOx/kWh. The on-road emission performance of the vehicle was very close to the expected levels, confirming the successful operation of the SCR system of the tested vehicle. Heavy driving conditions such as uphill driving increased both the NOx and particle number emission factors whereas the emission factor for soot particle number remains rather constant.

Secular growth and its harmful ramifications.

PubMed

Samaras, T T; Storms, L H

2002-02-01

Secular growth has been occurring in Europe for about 150 years. In the USA, since 1900, each new generation has increased by an average of 1in (2.54cm) in height and about 10lb (4.54kg) in weight. This trend has generally been viewed as favorable and tallness is admired, with the current ideal height for a man in the Western world being 6ft 2in (188cm). The Japanese have increased in height since the end of the Second World War by about 5in (12.7cm) in height and the Chinese have been growing at the rate of 2.54cm/decade since the 1950s. In spite of admiring greater height, a world population of increasing height and body-weight is a major threat to our environment, health and survival. Based on more than two decades of research, quantitative data are given for increased use of resources, and increased pollution, energy and fiscal costs resulting from a population of larger people. The laws of scaling are described to show why the impact of increasing stature has a non-linear impact on consumption, body-weight, strength, pollution and economic costs. Paleontological findings indicating that larger body size increases the risk of extinction are also discussed. Various studies indicate a loss of 0.47 year of longevity for each cm increment of height. Caloric restricted diets are also reviewed for their applicability to humans. Recommendations are made for dietary practices to moderate growth in our youth and to postpone development of chronic or degenerative diseases. Copyright 2002 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Sea salt irradiation experiments relevant to the surface conditions of ocean worlds such as Europa and Enceladus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hand, Kevin P.; Carlson, Robert W.

2015-11-01

We have conducted a set of laboratory experiments to measure changes in NaCl, KCl, MgCl2, and mixtures of these salts, as a function of exposure to the temperature, pressure, and radiation conditions relevant to ice covered ocean worlds in our solar system. Reagent grade salts were placed onto a diffuse aluminum target at the end of a cryostat coldfinger and loaded into an ultra-high vacuum chamber. The samples were then cooled to 100 K and the chamber pumped down to ~10-8 Torr, achieving conditions comparable to the surface of several moons of the outer solar system. Samples were subsequently irradiated with 10 keV electrons at an average current of 1 µA.We examined a range of conditions for NaCl including pure salts grains (~300 µm diameter), salt grains with water ice deposited on top, and evaporites. For the evaporites saturated salt water was loaded onto the cryostat target, the chamber closed, and then slowly pumped down to remove the water, leaving behind a salt evaporate for irradiation.The electron bombardment resulted in the trapping of electrons in halogen vacancies, yielding the the F- and M- color centers. After irraditiation we observed yellow-brown discoloration in NaCl. KCl was observed to turn a distinct violet. In NaCl these centers have strong absorptions at 450 nm and 720 nm, respectively, providing a highly diagnostic signature of otherwise transparent alkali halides, making it possible to remotely characterize and quantify the composition and salinity of ocean worlds.

Agricultural Education: Key to Providing Broader Opportunities for Third World Women in Production Agriculture.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lelle, Mark A.; Holt, Barbara A.

1987-01-01

The authors focus on providing opportunities for women in Third World countries in agriculture. A review of the body of knowledge in agricultural development and of the issues surrounding current world food crises is included. (CH)

Properties of a new small-world network with spatially biased random shortcuts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuzawa, Ryo; Tanimoto, Jun; Fukuda, Eriko

2017-11-01

This paper introduces a small-world (SW) network with a power-law distance distribution that differs from conventional models in that it uses completely random shortcuts. By incorporating spatial constraints, we analyze the divergence of the proposed model from conventional models in terms of fundamental network properties such as clustering coefficient, average path length, and degree distribution. We find that when the spatial constraint more strongly prohibits a long shortcut, the clustering coefficient is improved and the average path length increases. We also analyze the spatial prisoner's dilemma (SPD) games played on our new SW network in order to understand its dynamical characteristics. Depending on the basis graph, i.e., whether it is a one-dimensional ring or a two-dimensional lattice, and the parameter controlling the prohibition of long-distance shortcuts, the emergent results can vastly differ.

Quantifying Systemic Risk by Solutions of the Mean-Variance Risk Model.

PubMed

Jurczyk, Jan; Eckrot, Alexander; Morgenstern, Ingo

2016-01-01

The world is still recovering from the financial crisis peaking in September 2008. The triggering event was the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. To detect such turmoils, one can investigate the time-dependent behaviour of correlations between assets or indices. These cross-correlations have been connected to the systemic risks within markets by several studies in the aftermath of this crisis. We study 37 different US indices which cover almost all aspects of the US economy and show that monitoring an average investor's behaviour can be used to quantify times of increased risk. In this paper the overall investing strategy is approximated by the ground-states of the mean-variance model along the efficient frontier bound to real world constraints. Changes in the behaviour of the average investor is utlilized as a early warning sign.

Wealth, intelligence, politics and global fertility differentials.

PubMed

Meisenberg, Gerhard

2009-07-01

Demographic trends in today's world are dominated by large fertility differentials between nations, with 'less developed' nations having higher fertility than the more advanced nations. The present study investigates whether these fertility differences are related primarily to indicators of economic development, the intellectual level of the population, or political modernity in the form of liberal democracy. Results obtained with multiple regression, path models and latent variable models are compared. Both log-transformed GDP and measures of intelligence independently reduce fertility across all methods, whereas the effects of liberal democracy are weak and inconsistent. At present rates of fertility and mortality and in the absence of changes within countries, the average IQ of the young world population would decline by 1.34 points per decade and the average per capita income would decline by 0.79% per year.

Quantifying Systemic Risk by Solutions of the Mean-Variance Risk Model

PubMed Central

Morgenstern, Ingo

2016-01-01

The world is still recovering from the financial crisis peaking in September 2008. The triggering event was the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. To detect such turmoils, one can investigate the time-dependent behaviour of correlations between assets or indices. These cross-correlations have been connected to the systemic risks within markets by several studies in the aftermath of this crisis. We study 37 different US indices which cover almost all aspects of the US economy and show that monitoring an average investor’s behaviour can be used to quantify times of increased risk. In this paper the overall investing strategy is approximated by the ground-states of the mean-variance model along the efficient frontier bound to real world constraints. Changes in the behaviour of the average investor is utlilized as a early warning sign. PMID:27351482

Attitude towards technology, social media usage and grade-point average as predictors of global citizenship identification in Filipino University Students.

PubMed

Lee, Romeo B; Baring, Rito; Maria, Madelene Sta; Reysen, Stephen

2017-06-01

We examine the influence of a positive attitude towards technology, number of social media network memberships and grade-point average (GPA) on global citizenship identification antecedents and outcomes. Students (N = 3628) at a university in the Philippines completed a survey assessing the above constructs. The results showed that attitude towards technology, number of social network site memberships and GPA-predicted global citizenship identification, and subsequent prosocial outcomes (e.g. intergroup helping, responsibility to act for the betterment of the world), through the perception that valued others prescribe a global citizen identity (normative environment) and perceived knowledge of the world and felt interconnectedness with others (global awareness). The results highlight the associations between technology and academic performance with a global identity and associated values. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

Monthly Surface Air Temperature Time Series Area-Averaged Over the 30-Degree Latitudinal Belts of the Globe

DOE Data Explorer

Lugina, K. M. [Department of Geography, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; Groisman, P. Ya. [National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, North Carolina USA); Vinnikov, K. Ya. [Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland (USA); Koknaeva, V. V. [State Hydrological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia; Speranskaya, N. A. [State Hydrological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

2006-01-01

The mean monthly and annual values of surface air temperature compiled by Lugina et al. have been taken mainly from the World Weather Records, Monthly Climatic Data for the World, and Meteorological Data for Individual Years over the Northern Hemisphere Excluding the USSR. These published records were supplemented with information from different national publications. In the original archive, after removal of station records believed to be nonhomogeneous or biased, 301 and 265 stations were used to determine the mean temperature for the Northern and Southern hemispheres, respectively. The new version of the station temperature archive (used for evaluation of the zonally-averaged temperatures) was created in 1995. The change to the archive was required because data from some stations became unavailable for analyses in the 1990s. During this process, special care was taken to secure homogeneity of zonally averaged time series. When a station (or a group of stations) stopped reporting, a "new" station (or group of stations) was selected in the same region, and its data for the past 50 years were collected and added to the archive. The processing (area-averaging) was organized in such a way that each time series from a new station spans the reference period (1951-1975) and the years thereafter. It was determined that the addition of the new stations had essentially no effect on the zonally-averaged values for the pre-1990 period.

An Index For Rating the Total Secondary Safety of Vehicles from Real World Crash Data

PubMed Central

Newstead, S.; Watson, L.; Cameron, M.

2007-01-01

This study proposes a total secondary safety index for light passenger vehicles that rates the relative performance of vehicles in protecting both their own occupants and other road users in the full range of real world crash circumstances. The index estimates the risk of death or serious injury to key road users in crashes involving light passenger vehicles across the full range of crash types. The proposed index has been estimated from real world crash data from Australasia and was able to identify vehicles that have superior or inferior total secondary safety characteristics compared with the average vehicle. PMID:18184497

Impacts of 25 years of groundwater extraction on subsidence ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Many major river deltas in the world are subsiding and consequently become increasingly vulnerable to flooding and storm surges, salinization and permanent inundation. For the Mekong Delta, annual subsidence rates up to several centimetres have been reported. Excessive groundwater extraction is suggested as the main driver. As groundwater levels drop, subsidence is induced through aquifer compaction. Over the past 25 years, groundwater exploitation has increased dramatically, transforming the delta from an almost undisturbed hydrogeological state to a situation with increasing aquifer depletion. Yet the exact contribution of groundwater exploitation to subsidence in the Mekong delta has remained unknown. In this study we deployed a delta-wide modelling approach, comprising a 3D hydrogeological model with an integrated subsidence module. This provides a quantitative spatially-explicit assessment of groundwater extraction-induced subsidence for the entire Mekong delta since the start of widespread overexploitation of the groundwater reserves. We find that subsidence related to groundwater extraction has gradually increased in the past decades with highest sinking rates at present. During the past 25 years, the delta sank on average ~18 cm as a consequence of groundwater withdrawal. Current average subsidence rates due to groundwater extraction in our best estimate model amount to 1.1 cm yr−1, with areas subsiding over 2.5 cm yr−1, outpacing global sea level ri

Religious burning as a potential major source of atmospheric fine aerosols in summertime Lhasa on the Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Yu Yan; Liu, Shang; Bai, Zhixuan; Bian, Jianchun; Li, Dan; Fan, Kaiyu; McKeen, Stuart A.; Watts, Laurel A.; Ciciora, Steven J.; Gao, Ru-Shan

2018-05-01

We carried out field measurements of aerosols in Lhasa, a major city in the Tibetan Plateau that has been experiencing fast urbanization and industrialization. Aerosol number size distribution was continuously measured using an optical particle size spectrometer near the center of Lhasa city during the Asian summer monsoon season in 2016. The mass concentration of fine particles was modulated by boundary layer dynamics, with an average of 11 μg m-3 and the high values exceeding 50 μg m-3 during religious holidays. Daytime high concentration coincided with the religious burning of biomass and incense in the temples during morning hours, which produced heavy smoke. Factor analysis revealed a factor that likely represented religious burning. The factor contributed 34% of the campaign-average fine particle mass and the contribution reached up to 80% during religious holidays. The mass size distribution of aerosols produced from religious burnings peaked at ∼500 nm, indicating that these particles could efficiently decrease visibility and promote health risk. Because of its significance, our results suggest that further studies of religious burning, a currently under-studied source, are needed in the Tibetan Plateau and in other regions of the world where religious burnings are frequently practiced.

Measurement of the top quark mass using single top quark events in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV.

PubMed

Sirunyan, A M; Tumasyan, A; Adam, W; Asilar, E; Bergauer, T; Brandstetter, J; Brondolin, E; Dragicevic, M; Erö, J; Flechl, M; Friedl, M; Frühwirth, R; Ghete, V M; Hartl, C; Hörmann, N; Hrubec, J; Jeitler, M; König, A; Krätschmer, I; Liko, D; Matsushita, T; Mikulec, I; Rabady, D; Rad, N; Rahbaran, B; Rohringer, H; Schieck, J; Strauss, J; Waltenberger, W; Wulz, C-E; Dvornikov, O; Makarenko, V; Mossolov, V; Gonzalez, J Suarez; Zykunov, V; Shumeiko, N; Alderweireldt, S; De Wolf, E A; Janssen, X; Lauwers, J; Van De Klundert, M; Van Haevermaet, H; Van Mechelen, P; Van Remortel, N; Van Spilbeeck, A; Abu Zeid, S; Blekman, F; D'Hondt, J; Daci, N; De Bruyn, I; Deroover, K; Lowette, S; Moortgat, S; Moreels, L; Olbrechts, A; Python, Q; Skovpen, K; Tavernier, S; Van Doninck, W; Van Mulders, P; Van Parijs, I; Brun, H; Clerbaux, B; De Lentdecker, G; Delannoy, H; Fasanella, G; Favart, L; Goldouzian, R; Grebenyuk, A; Karapostoli, G; Lenzi, T; Léonard, A; Luetic, J; Maerschalk, T; Marinov, A; Randle-Conde, A; Seva, T; Vander Velde, C; Vanlaer, P; Vannerom, D; Yonamine, R; Zenoni, F; Zhang, F; Cimmino, A; Cornelis, T; Dobur, D; Fagot, A; Gul, M; Khvastunov, I; Poyraz, D; Salva, S; Schöfbeck, R; Tytgat, M; Van Driessche, W; Yazgan, E; Zaganidis, N; Bakhshiansohi, H; Beluffi, C; Bondu, O; Brochet, S; Bruno, G; Caudron, A; De Visscher, S; Delaere, C; Delcourt, M; Francois, B; Giammanco, A; Jafari, A; Komm, M; Krintiras, G; Lemaitre, V; Magitteri, A; Mertens, A; Musich, M; Piotrzkowski, K; Quertenmont, L; Selvaggi, M; Marono, M Vidal; Wertz, S; Beliy, N; Aldá Júnior, W L; Alves, F L; Alves, G A; Brito, L; Hensel, C; Moraes, A; Pol, M E; Rebello Teles, P; Belchior Batista Das Chagas, E; Carvalho, W; Chinellato, J; Custódio, A; Da Costa, E M; Da Silveira, G G; De Jesus Damiao, D; De Oliveira Martins, C; Fonseca De Souza, S; Huertas Guativa, L M; Malbouisson, H; Matos Figueiredo, D; Mora Herrera, C; Mundim, L; Nogima, H; Prado Da Silva, W L; Santoro, A; Sznajder, A; Tonelli Manganote, E J; Torres Da Silva De Araujo, F; Vilela Pereira, A; Ahuja, S; Bernardes, C A; Dogra, S; Fernandez Perez Tomei, T R; Gregores, E M; Mercadante, P G; Moon, C S; Novaes, S F; Padula, Sandra S; Romero Abad, D; Ruiz Vargas, J C; Aleksandrov, A; Hadjiiska, R; Iaydjiev, P; Rodozov, M; Stoykova, S; Sultanov, G; Vutova, M; Dimitrov, A; Glushkov, I; Litov, L; Pavlov, B; Petkov, P; Fang, W; Ahmad, M; Bian, J G; Chen, G M; Chen, H S; Chen, M; Chen, Y; Cheng, T; Jiang, C H; Leggat, D; Liu, Z; Romeo, F; Ruan, M; Shaheen, S M; Spiezia, A; Tao, J; Wang, C; Wang, Z; Zhang, H; Zhao, J; Ban, Y; Chen, G; Li, Q; Liu, S; Mao, Y; Qian, S J; Wang, D; Xu, Z; Avila, C; Cabrera, A; Chaparro Sierra, L F; Florez, C; Gomez, J P; González Hernández, C F; Ruiz Alvarez, J D; Sanabria, J C; Godinovic, N; Lelas, D; Puljak, I; Ribeiro Cipriano, P M; Sculac, T; Antunovic, Z; Kovac, M; Brigljevic, V; Ferencek, D; Kadija, K; Mesic, B; Susa, T; Attikis, A; Mavromanolakis, G; Mousa, J; Nicolaou, C; Ptochos, F; Razis, P A; Rykaczewski, H; Tsiakkouri, D; Finger, M; Finger, M; Carrera Jarrin, E; El-Khateeb, E; Elgammal, S; Mohamed, A; Kadastik, M; Perrini, L; Raidal, M; Tiko, A; Veelken, C; Eerola, P; Pekkanen, J; Voutilainen, M; Härkönen, J; Järvinen, T; Karimäki, V; Kinnunen, R; Lampén, T; Lassila-Perini, K; Lehti, S; Lindén, T; Luukka, P; Tuominiemi, J; Tuovinen, E; Wendland, L; Talvitie, J; Tuuva, T; Besancon, M; Couderc, F; Dejardin, M; Denegri, D; Fabbro, B; Faure, J L; Favaro, C; Ferri, F; Ganjour, S; Ghosh, S; Givernaud, A; Gras, P; Hamel de Monchenault, G; Jarry, P; Kucher, I; Locci, E; Machet, M; Malcles, J; Rander, J; Rosowsky, A; Titov, M; Abdulsalam, A; Antropov, I; Baffioni, S; Beaudette, F; Busson, P; Cadamuro, L; Chapon, E; Charlot, C; Davignon, O; Granier de Cassagnac, R; Jo, M; Lisniak, S; Miné, P; Nguyen, M; Ochando, C; Ortona, G; Paganini, P; Pigard, P; Regnard, S; Salerno, R; Sirois, Y; Stahl Leiton, A G; Strebler, T; Yilmaz, Y; Zabi, A; Zghiche, A; Agram, J-L; Andrea, J; Aubin, A; Bloch, D; Brom, J-M; Buttignol, M; Chabert, E C; Chanon, N; Collard, C; Conte, E; Coubez, X; Fontaine, J-C; Gelé, D; Goerlach, U; Le Bihan, A-C; Van Hove, P; Gadrat, S; Beauceron, S; Bernet, C; Boudoul, G; Carrillo Montoya, C A; Chierici, R; Contardo, D; Courbon, B; Depasse, P; Mamouni, H El; Fay, J; Gascon, S; Gouzevitch, M; Grenier, G; Ille, B; Lagarde, F; Laktineh, I B; Lethuillier, M; Mirabito, L; Pequegnot, A L; Perries, S; Popov, A; Sabes, D; Sordini, V; Vander Donckt, M; Verdier, P; Viret, S; Khvedelidze, A; Tsamalaidze, Z; Autermann, C; Beranek, S; Feld, L; Kiesel, M K; Klein, K; Lipinski, M; Preuten, M; Schomakers, C; Schulz, J; Verlage, T; Albert, A; Brodski, M; Dietz-Laursonn, E; Duchardt, D; Endres, M; Erdmann, M; Erdweg, S; Esch, T; Fischer, R; Güth, A; Hamer, M; Hebbeker, T; Heidemann, C; Hoepfner, K; Knutzen, S; Merschmeyer, M; Meyer, A; Millet, P; Mukherjee, S; Olschewski, M; Padeken, K; Pook, T; Radziej, M; Reithler, H; Rieger, M; Scheuch, F; Sonnenschein, L; Teyssier, D; Thüer, S; Cherepanov, V; Flügge, G; Kargoll, B; Kress, T; Künsken, A; Lingemann, J; Müller, T; Nehrkorn, A; Nowack, A; Pistone, C; Pooth, O; Stahl, A; Aldaya Martin, M; Arndt, T; Asawatangtrakuldee, C; Beernaert, K; Behnke, O; Behrens, U; Bin Anuar, A A; Borras, K; Campbell, A; Connor, P; Contreras-Campana, C; Costanza, F; Diez Pardos, C; Dolinska, G; Eckerlin, G; Eckstein, D; Eichhorn, T; Eren, E; Gallo, E; Garay Garcia, J; Geiser, A; Gizhko, A; Grados Luyando, J M; Grohsjean, A; Gunnellini, P; Harb, A; Hauk, J; Hempel, M; Jung, H; Kalogeropoulos, A; Karacheban, O; Kasemann, M; Keaveney, J; Kleinwort, C; Korol, I; Krücker, D; Lange, W; Lelek, A; Lenz, T; Leonard, J; Lipka, K; Lobanov, A; Lohmann, W; Mankel, R; Melzer-Pellmann, I-A; Meyer, A B; Mittag, G; Mnich, J; Mussgiller, A; Pitzl, D; Placakyte, R; Raspereza, A; Roland, B; Sahin, M Ö; Saxena, P; Schoerner-Sadenius, T; Spannagel, S; Stefaniuk, N; Van Onsem, G P; Walsh, R; Wissing, C; Blobel, V; Centis Vignali, M; Draeger, A R; Dreyer, T; Garutti, E; Gonzalez, D; Haller, J; Hoffmann, M; Junkes, A; Klanner, R; Kogler, R; Kovalchuk, N; Lapsien, T; Marchesini, I; Marconi, D; Meyer, M; Niedziela, M; Nowatschin, D; Pantaleo, F; Peiffer, T; Perieanu, A; Scharf, C; Schleper, P; Schmidt, A; Schumann, S; Schwandt, J; Stadie, H; Steinbrück, G; Stober, F M; Stöver, M; Tholen, H; Troendle, D; Usai, E; Vanelderen, L; Vanhoefer, A; Vormwald, B; Akbiyik, M; Barth, C; Baur, S; Baus, C; Berger, J; Butz, E; Caspart, R; Chwalek, T; Colombo, F; De Boer, W; Dierlamm, A; Fink, S; Freund, B; Friese, R; Giffels, M; Gilbert, A; Goldenzweig, P; Haitz, D; Hartmann, F; Heindl, S M; Husemann, U; Katkov, I; Kudella, S; Mildner, H; Mozer, M U; Müller, Th; Plagge, M; Quast, G; Rabbertz, K; Röcker, S; Roscher, F; Schröder, M; Shvetsov, I; Sieber, G; Simonis, H J; Ulrich, R; Wayand, S; Weber, M; Weiler, T; Williamson, S; Wöhrmann, C; Wolf, R; Anagnostou, G; Daskalakis, G; Geralis, T; Giakoumopoulou, V A; Kyriakis, A; Loukas, D; Topsis-Giotis, I; Kesisoglou, S; Panagiotou, A; Saoulidou, N; Tziaferi, E; 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Ristori, L; Sexton-Kennedy, E; Soha, A; Spalding, W J; Spiegel, L; Stoynev, S; Strait, J; Strobbe, N; Taylor, L; Tkaczyk, S; Tran, N V; Uplegger, L; Vaandering, E W; Vernieri, C; Verzocchi, M; Vidal, R; Wang, M; Weber, H A; Whitbeck, A; Wu, Y; Acosta, D; Avery, P; Bortignon, P; Bourilkov, D; Brinkerhoff, A; Carnes, A; Carver, M; Curry, D; Das, S; Field, R D; Furic, I K; Konigsberg, J; Korytov, A; Low, J F; Ma, P; Matchev, K; Mei, H; Mitselmakher, G; Rank, D; Shchutska, L; Sperka, D; Thomas, L; Wang, J; Wang, S; Yelton, J; Linn, S; Markowitz, P; Martinez, G; Rodriguez, J L; Ackert, A; Adams, T; Askew, A; Bein, S; Hagopian, S; Hagopian, V; Johnson, K F; Kolberg, T; Prosper, H; Santra, A; Yohay, R; Baarmand, M M; Bhopatkar, V; Colafranceschi, S; Hohlmann, M; Noonan, D; Roy, T; Yumiceva, F; Adams, M R; Apanasevich, L; Berry, D; Betts, R R; Bucinskaite, I; Cavanaugh, R; Evdokimov, O; Gauthier, L; Gerber, C E; Hofman, D J; Jung, K; Sandoval Gonzalez, I D; Varelas, N; Wang, H; Wu, Z; Zakaria, M; Zhang, J; Bilki, B; Clarida, W; Dilsiz, K; Durgut, S; Gandrajula, R P; Haytmyradov, M; Khristenko, V; Merlo, J-P; Mermerkaya, H; Mestvirishvili, A; Moeller, A; Nachtman, J; Ogul, H; Onel, Y; Ozok, F; Penzo, A; Snyder, C; Tiras, E; Wetzel, J; Yi, K; Blumenfeld, B; Cocoros, A; Eminizer, N; Fehling, D; Feng, L; Gritsan, A V; Maksimovic, P; Roskes, J; Sarica, U; Swartz, M; Xiao, M; You, C; Al-Bataineh, A; Baringer, P; Bean, A; Boren, S; Bowen, J; Castle, J; Forthomme, L; Kenny, R P; Khalil, S; Kropivnitskaya, A; Majumder, D; Mcbrayer, W; Murray, M; Sanders, S; Stringer, R; Tapia Takaki, J D; Wang, Q; Ivanov, A; Kaadze, K; Maravin, Y; Mohammadi, A; Saini, L K; Skhirtladze, N; Toda, S; Rebassoo, F; Wright, D; Anelli, C; Baden, A; Baron, O; Belloni, A; Calvert, B; Eno, S C; Ferraioli, C; Gomez, J A; Hadley, N J; Jabeen, S; Jeng, G Y; Kellogg, R G; Kunkle, J; Mignerey, A C; Ricci-Tam, F; Shin, Y H; Skuja, A; Tonjes, M B; Tonwar, S C; Abercrombie, D; Allen, B; Apyan, A; Azzolini, V; Barbieri, R; Baty, A; Bi, R; Bierwagen, K; Brandt, S; Busza, W; Cali, I A; D'Alfonso, M; Demiragli, Z; Gomez Ceballos, G; Goncharov, M; Hsu, D; Iiyama, Y; Innocenti, G M; Klute, M; Kovalskyi, D; Krajczar, K; Lai, Y S; Lee, Y-J; Levin, A; Luckey, P D; Maier, B; Marini, A C; Mcginn, C; Mironov, C; Narayanan, S; Niu, X; Paus, C; Roland, C; Roland, G; Salfeld-Nebgen, J; Stephans, G S F; Tatar, K; Velicanu, D; Wang, J; Wang, T W; Wyslouch, B; Benvenuti, A C; Chatterjee, R M; Evans, A; Hansen, P; Kalafut, S; Kao, S C; Kubota, Y; Lesko, Z; Mans, J; Nourbakhsh, S; Ruckstuhl, N; Rusack, R; Tambe, N; Turkewitz, J; Acosta, J G; Oliveros, S; Avdeeva, E; Bloom, K; Claes, D R; Fangmeier, C; Gonzalez Suarez, R; Kamalieddin, R; Kravchenko, I; Malta Rodrigues, A; Monroy, J; Siado, J E; Snow, G R; Stieger, B; Alyari, M; Dolen, J; Godshalk, A; Harrington, C; Iashvili, I; Kaisen, J; Nguyen, D; Parker, A; Rappoccio, S; Roozbahani, B; Alverson, G; Barberis, E; Hortiangtham, A; Massironi, A; Morse, D M; Nash, D; Orimoto, T; Teixeira De Lima, R; Trocino, D; Wang, R-J; Wood, D; Bhattacharya, S; Charaf, O; Hahn, K A; Kumar, A; Mucia, N; Odell, N; Pollack, B; Schmitt, M H; Sung, K; Trovato, M; Velasco, M; Dev, N; Hildreth, M; Hurtado Anampa, K; Jessop, C; Karmgard, D J; Kellams, N; Lannon, K; Marinelli, N; Meng, F; Mueller, C; Musienko, Y; Planer, M; Reinsvold, A; Ruchti, R; Rupprecht, N; Smith, G; Taroni, S; Wayne, M; Wolf, M; Woodard, A; Alimena, J; Antonelli, L; Bylsma, B; Durkin, L S; Flowers, S; Francis, B; Hart, A; Hill, C; Hughes, R; Ji, W; Liu, B; Luo, W; Puigh, D; Winer, B L; Wulsin, H W; Cooperstein, S; Driga, O; Elmer, P; Hardenbrook, J; Hebda, P; Lange, D; Luo, J; Marlow, D; Medvedeva, T; Mei, K; Ojalvo, I; Olsen, J; Palmer, C; Piroué, P; Stickland, D; Svyatkovskiy, A; Tully, C; Malik, S; Barker, A; Barnes, V E; Folgueras, S; Gutay, L; Jha, M K; Jones, M; Jung, A W; Khatiwada, A; Miller, D H; Neumeister, N; Schulte, J F; Shi, X; Sun, J; Wang, F; Xie, W; Parashar, N; Stupak, J; Adair, A; Akgun, B; Chen, Z; Ecklund, K M; Geurts, F J M; Guilbaud, M; Li, W; Michlin, B; Northup, M; Padley, B P; Roberts, J; Rorie, J; Tu, Z; Zabel, J; Betchart, B; Bodek, A; de Barbaro, P; Demina, R; Duh, Y T; Ferbel, T; Galanti, M; Garcia-Bellido, A; Han, J; Hindrichs, O; Khukhunaishvili, A; Lo, K H; Tan, P; Verzetti, M; Agapitos, A; Chou, J P; Gershtein, Y; Gómez Espinosa, T A; Halkiadakis, E; Heindl, M; Hughes, E; Kaplan, S; Kunnawalkam Elayavalli, R; Kyriacou, S; Lath, A; Nash, K; Osherson, M; Saka, H; Salur, S; Schnetzer, S; Sheffield, D; Somalwar, S; Stone, R; Thomas, S; Thomassen, P; Walker, M; Delannoy, A G; Foerster, M; Heideman, J; Riley, G; Rose, K; Spanier, S; Thapa, K; Bouhali, O; Celik, A; Dalchenko, M; De Mattia, M; Delgado, A; Dildick, S; Eusebi, R; Gilmore, J; Huang, T; Juska, E; Kamon, T; Mueller, R; Pakhotin, Y; Patel, R; Perloff, A; Perniè, L; Rathjens, D; Safonov, A; Tatarinov, A; Ulmer, K A; Akchurin, N; Cowden, C; Damgov, J; De Guio, F; Dragoiu, C; Dudero, P R; Faulkner, J; Gurpinar, E; Kunori, S; Lamichhane, K; Lee, S W; Libeiro, T; Peltola, T; Undleeb, S; Volobouev, I; Wang, Z; Greene, S; Gurrola, A; Janjam, R; Johns, W; Maguire, C; Melo, A; Ni, H; Sheldon, P; Tuo, S; Velkovska, J; Xu, Q; Arenton, M W; Barria, P; Cox, B; Goodell, J; Hirosky, R; Ledovskoy, A; Li, H; Neu, C; Sinthuprasith, T; Sun, X; Wang, Y; Wolfe, E; Xia, F; Clarke, C; Harr, R; Karchin, P E; Sturdy, J; Belknap, D A; Buchanan, J; Caillol, C; Dasu, S; Dodd, L; Duric, S; Gomber, B; Grothe, M; Herndon, M; Hervé, A; Klabbers, P; Lanaro, A; Levine, A; Long, K; Loveless, R; Perry, T; Pierro, G A; Polese, G; Ruggles, T; Savin, A; Smith, N; Smith, W H; Taylor, D; Woods, N

2017-01-01

A measurement of the top quark mass is reported in events containing a single top quark produced via the electroweak t channel. The analysis is performed using data from proton-proton collisions collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb[Formula: see text]. Top quark candidates are reconstructed from their decay to a [Formula: see text] boson and a b quark, with the [Formula: see text] boson decaying leptonically to a muon and a neutrino. The final state signature and kinematic properties of single top quark events in the t channel are used to enhance the purity of the sample, suppressing the contribution from top quark pair production. A fit to the invariant mass distribution of reconstructed top quark candidates yields a value of the top quark mass of [Formula: see text]. This result is in agreement with the current world average, and represents the first measurement of the top quark mass in event topologies not dominated by top quark pair production, therefore contributing to future averages with partially uncorrelated systematic uncertainties and a largely uncorrelated statistical uncertainty.

Getting the measure of extinction.

PubMed

Mace, G

1998-01-01

Like all species, plants, mammals, and birds have been subject to extinction as a fundamental part of evolution. Indeed, only about 2-4% of all the species that have ever lived during the 600 million years of the fossil record still survive today. Looking at the fossil record, it can be said that invertebrate species and mammals have had an average life span of 5-10 and 1-2 million years, respectively. More recent extinction records for birds and mammals lost over the last half of the century indicate that 1 out of 14,000 species becomes extinct each year, giving each species an average life span of 10,000 years--100 to 1000 times shorter than the lifetime of species in the fossil record. Drawing on the World's Conservation Union Red List of threatened animals (1996), species lifetimes of birds, mammals and reptiles are estimated at 300-500 years and 100-1000 years across broader groups. In general, these estimates show that extinction rates today are 1000 to 10,000 times higher than in the past, making current rates of species loss at least equivalent to the mass extinctions in the past. A major difference, however, is the fact that almost all extinctions that have transpired today are due to the impact of human activities.

Data mining on long-term barometric data within the ARISE2 project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hupe, Patrick; Ceranna, Lars; Pilger, Christoph

2016-04-01

The Comprehensive nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) led to the implementation of an international infrasound array network. The International Monitoring System (IMS) network includes 48 certified stations, each providing data for up to 15 years. As part of work package 3 of the ARISE2 project (Atmospheric dynamics Research InfraStructure in Europe, phase 2) the data sets will be statistically evaluated with regard on atmospheric dynamics. The current study focusses on fluctuations of absolute air pressure. Time series have been analysed for 17 monitoring stations which are located all over the world between Greenland and Antarctica along the latitudes to represent different climate zones and characteristic atmospheric conditions. Hence this enables quantitative comparisons between those regions. Analyses are shown including wavelet power spectra, multi-annual time series of average variances with regard to long-wave scales, and spectral densities to derive characteristics and special events. Evaluations reveal periodicities in average variances on 2 to 20 day scale with a maximum in the winter months and a minimum in summer of the respective hemisphere. This basically applies to time series of IMS stations beyond the tropics where the dominance of cyclones and anticyclones changes with seasons. Furthermore, spectral density analyses illustrate striking signals for several dynamic activities within one day, e.g., the semidiurnal tide.

An anticipatory integrated assessment of regional acidification: The RAINS-Asia model

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

Amann, M.; Carmichael, G.R.; Foell, W.

1996-12-31

Across large parts of Asia, air pollution problems are becoming more and more evident. Rainfall in some areas, including China, Japan, and Thailand, has been measured to be 10 times more acidic than unpolluted rain. Increasing evidence of acidification damage to ecosystems such as surface waters, soils, and economically important crops, is beginning to appear. In addition, urban air quality in many areas of the region continues to decrease. Current economic forecasts predict continued rapid economic growth in the region, which will bring with it increasing emissions of air pollutants, especially sulfur. The total primary energy demand in Asia currentlymore » doubles every twelve years (as compared to a world average of every 28 years). Coal is expected to continue to be the dominant energy source, with coal demand projected to increase by 65 percent per year, a rate that outpaces regional economic growth. If current trends in economic development and energy use in Asia continue, emissions of sulfur dioxide, one of the key components in acid rain, will more than triple within the next 30 years. Many ecosystems will be unable to continue to absorb these increased levels of pollution without harmful effects, thus creating a potential danger for irreversible environmental damage in many areas. In view of the potential environmental consequences of projected growth in Asian energy consumption, emissions, and air pollution, the World Bank, together with the Asian Development Bank, have funded a project to develop and implement an integrated assessment model for the acid deposition phenomenon in Asia. The Regional Air Pollution INformation and Simulation model for Asia (RAINS-Asia) is a software tool to help decision makers assess and project future trends in emissions, transport, and deposition of air pollutants, and their potential environmental effects.« less

Learning about Learning: A Conundrum and a Possible Resolution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnett, Ronald

2011-01-01

What is it to learn in the modern world? We can identify four "learning epochs" through which our understanding of learning has passed: a metaphysical view; an empirical view; an experiential view; and, currently, a "learning-amid-contestation" view. In this last and current view, learning has its place in a world in which, the more one learns,…

Price adjustment for traditional Chinese medicine procedures: Based on a standardized value parity model.

PubMed

Wang, Haiyin; Jin, Chunlin; Jiang, Qingwu

2017-11-20

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an important part of China's medical system. Due to the prolonged low price of TCM procedures and the lack of an effective mechanism for dynamic price adjustment, the development of TCM has markedly lagged behind Western medicine. The World Health Organization (WHO) has emphasized the need to enhance the development of alternative and traditional medicine when creating national health care systems. The establishment of scientific and appropriate mechanisms to adjust the price of medical procedures in TCM is crucial to promoting the development of TCM. This study has examined incorporating value indicators and data on basic manpower expended, time spent, technical difficulty, and the degree of risk in the latest standards for the price of medical procedures in China, and this study also offers a price adjustment model with the relative price ratio as a key index. This study examined 144 TCM procedures and found that prices of TCM procedures were mainly based on the value of medical care provided; on average, medical care provided accounted for 89% of the price. Current price levels were generally low and the current price accounted for 56% of the standardized value of a procedure, on average. Current price levels accounted for a markedly lower standardized value of acupuncture, moxibustion, special treatment with TCM, and comprehensive TCM procedures. This study selected a total of 79 procedures and adjusted them by priority. The relationship between the price of TCM procedures and the suggested price was significantly optimized (p < 0.01). This study suggests that adjustment of the price of medical procedures based on a standardized value parity model is a scientific and suitable method of price adjustment that can serve as a reference for other provinces and municipalities in China and other countries and regions that mainly have fee-for-service (FFS) medical care.

World Food Conference: Issues and Preparation for Conference,

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-01-17

what appears to be a serious underestimating of the strength of the derived demand for feedgrains. However, before setting up a new model the FAO...or PCA D 14S In contrast to the developed part of the world where food supplies on the average are substantially above minimum calorie and protein ...1970 base, which incor- porates the probable progress to 1970 of the LDC’s (principally India and Pak- istan) in applying the High Yield Variety

Observing Muostakh Island disappear: erosion of a ground-ice-rich coast in response to summer warming and sea ice reduction on the East Siberian shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Günther, F.; Overduin, P. P.; Baranskaya, A.; Opel, T.; Grigoriev, M. N.

2013-08-01

Observations of coastline retreat using contemporary very high resolution satellite and historical aerial imagery were compared to measurements of open water fractions and summer air temperatures. We analyzed seasonal and interannual variations of thawing-induced cliff top retreat (thermo-denudation) and marine abrasion (thermo-abrasion) on Muostakh Island in the southern central Laptev Sea. The island is composed of ground-ice-rich permafrost deposits of Ice Complex type that render it particularly susceptible to erosion along the coast, resulting in land loss. Based on topographic reference measurements during field campaigns, we generated digital elevation models using stereophotogrammetry, in order to block adjust and ortho-rectify aerial photographies from 1951 and GeoEye, QuickBird, WorldView-1, and WorldView-2 imagery from 2010 to 2012 for change detection. Coastline retreat for erosive segments ranged from -13 to -585 m and was -109 ± 81 m (-1.8 ± 1.3 m a-1) on average during the historical period. Current seasonal dynamics of cliff top retreat revealed rapid thermo-denudation rates of -10.2 ± 4.5 m a-1 in mid summer and -4.1 ± 2.0 m a-1 on average during the 2010-2012 observation period. Using sea ice concentration data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) and air temperature time series from Tiksi, we calculated seasonal duration available for thermo-abrasion, expressed as open water days, and for thermo-denudation, based on thawing degree days. Geomorphometric analysis revealed that total ground ice content on Muostakh is made up of equal amounts of intrasedimentary and macro ground ice, while its vertical hourglass distribution provides favorable local preconditions for subsidence and the acceleration of coastal thermo-erosion under intensifying environmental forcings. Our results showed a~close relationship between mean summer air temperature and coastal thermo-erosion rates, in agreement with observations made for various permafrost coastlines different from East Siberian Ice Complex coasts elsewhere in the Arctic. Seasonality and recent interannual variations of coastline retreat rates suggest that the combination of macro ground ice distribution in the ground and changes in enviromental forcing generate a cyclicity in coastal thermo-erosion, that is currently increasing in frequency.

Single-ping ADCP measurements in the Strait of Gibraltar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sammartino, Simone; García Lafuente, Jesús; Naranjo, Cristina; Sánchez Garrido, José Carlos; Sánchez Leal, Ricardo

2016-04-01

In most Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) user manuals, it is widely recommended to apply ensemble averaging of the single-pings measurements, in order to obtain reliable observations of the current speed. The random error related to the single-ping measurement is typically too high to be used directly, while the averaging operation reduces the ensemble error of a factor of approximately √N, with N the number of averaged pings. A 75 kHz ADCP moored in the western exit of the Strait of Gibraltar, included in the long-term monitoring of the Mediterranean outflow, has recently served as test setup for a different approach to current measurements. The ensemble averaging has been disabled, while maintaining the internal coordinate conversion made by the instrument, and a series of single-ping measurements has been collected every 36 seconds during a period of approximately 5 months. The huge amount of data has been fluently handled by the instrument, and no abnormal battery consumption has been recorded. On the other hand a long and unique series of very high frequency current measurements has been collected. Results of this novel approach have been exploited in a dual way: from a statistical point of view, the availability of single-ping measurements allows a real estimate of the (a posteriori) ensemble average error of both current and ancillary variables. While the theoretical random error for horizontal velocity is estimated a priori as ˜2 cm s-1 for a 50 pings ensemble, the value obtained by the a posteriori averaging is ˜15 cm s-1, with an asymptotical behavior starting from an averaging size of 10 pings per ensemble. This result suggests the presence of external sources of random error (e.g.: turbulence), of higher magnitude than the internal sources (ADCP intrinsic precision), which cannot be reduced by the ensemble averaging. On the other hand, although the instrumental configuration is clearly not suitable for a precise estimation of turbulent parameters, some hints of the turbulent structure of the flow can be obtained by the empirical computation of zonal Reynolds stress (along the predominant direction of the current) and rate of production and dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy. All the parameters show a clear correlation with tidal fluctuations of the current, with maximum values coinciding with flood tides, during the maxima of the outflow Mediterranean current.

On Observing World English.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Urdang, Lawrence

1990-01-01

Reviews the current state of World English. Subjects addressed include standard accents and dialects, prejudicial attitudes toward nonstandard "local" usages, the use of English as the language of diplomacy, American influences on the language, and the fracturing of English in non-English-speaking countries around the world. (17 references) (JL)

VOC from Vehicular Evaporation Emissions: Status and Control Strategy.

PubMed

Liu, Huan; Man, Hanyang; Tschantz, Michael; Wu, Ye; He, Kebin; Hao, Jiming

2015-12-15

Vehicular evaporative emissions is an important source of volatile organic carbon (VOC), however, accurate estimation of emission amounts and scientific evaluation of control strategy for these emissions have been neglected outside of the United States. This study provides four kinds of basic emission factors: diurnal, hot soak, permeation, and refueling. Evaporative emissions from the Euro 4 vehicles (1.6 kg/year/car) are about four times those of U.S. vehicles (0.4 kg/year/car). Closing this emissions gap would have a larger impact than the progression from Euro 3 to Euro 6 tailpipe HC emission controls. Even in the first 24 h of parking, China's current reliance upon the European 24 h diurnal standard results in 508 g/vehicle/year emissions, higher than 32 g/vehicle/year from Tier 2 vehicles. The U.S. driving cycle matches Beijing real-world conditions much better on both typical trip length and average speed than current European driving cycles. At least two requirements should be added to the Chinese emissions standards: an onboard refueling vapor recovery to force the canister to be sized sufficiently large, and a 48-h evaporation test requirement to ensure that adequate purging occurs over a shorter drive sequence.

Current status of production and market of human vaccine products in Korea.

PubMed

Kim, So Youn; Cho, Jahyang; Cha, Sung-Ho; Bae, Chong-Woo

2013-07-01

The goal of this study was to build basic information related to the production and market of human vaccine products in Korea, which can be an important indicator to provide basic data in practical use. Statistical data were obtained from the Bank of Korea, Korea Health Industry Development Institute, Korea Pharmaceutical Traders Association, and Korea Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. Vaccines are the 10th ranked drugs in the classification of whole complete preparated drugs. The production output of vaccines in Korea was 392.2 billion KRW in 2011, comprising 2.83% of complete preparated drug production output (13 trillion 880.8 billion KRW) and 2.54% of medical-pharmaceutical product output (15 trillion 440.3 billion KRW). The market scale of vaccines in Korea was 710 billion KRW in 2011, with an annual average growth rate of 11% in the past 6 years, comprising 2% of vaccine market in the world. There was also a significant increase in essential vaccines and other preventive vaccines in a global scale. Vaccines have the potential of becoming an emerging attractive industry. Based on the current analysis about the production of vaccine products and market scale, further development of the vaccine industry is expected in Korea.

Independent and combined influence of neonatal and current body composition on academic performance in youth: The UP & DOWN Study.

PubMed

Esteban-Cornejo, I; Tejero-González, C M; Castro-Piñero, J; Conde-Caveda, J; Cabanas-Sanchez, V; Sallis, J F; Veiga, Óscar L

2015-06-01

Unhealthy body composition is a cause for concern across the lifespan. The objective of this study was to examine the independent and combined associations between neonatal and current body composition with academic performance among youth. This cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 1557 youth (745 girls) aged 10.4 ± 3.4 years. Birth weight and length at birth were self-reported. Current body composition was assessed by body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and percentage of body fat (BF%). Academic performance was assessed through schools records. Birth weight was related to all academic variables in boys, independent of potential confounders, including BMI; whereas WC, BMI and BF% were related to all academic performance indicators in both boys and girls, independent of potential confounders, including birth weight (all P < 0.05). In addition, the combined adverse effects of low birth weight and current overweight on academic performance were observed in both boys and girls for grade point average (GPA) indicator. Boys in the group with none adverse effect had significantly higher scores in GPA (score +0.535; 95% confidence interval, 0.082-0.989) than boys in the group of both adverse effects (P < 0.007); among girls, GPA score was higher in the group with none adverse effect than in the groups with one or two adverse effects (P for trend = 0.029). Neonatal and current body composition, both independently and combined, may influence academic performance in youth. © 2014 The Authors. Pediatric Obesity © 2014 World Obesity.

Evaluation of annual effective dose from indoor radon concentration in Eastern Province, Dammam, Saudi Arabia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abuelhia, E.

2017-11-01

The aim of this study is to determine the indoor radon concentration and to evaluate the annual effective dose received by the inhabitants in Dammam, Al-Khobar, and compare it with new premises built at university of dammam. The research has been carried out by using active detection method; Electronic Radon Detector (RAD-7) a solid state α-detector with its special accessories. The indoor radon concentration measured varies from 10.2 Bqm-3 to 25.8 Bqm-3 with an average value of 18.8 Bqm-3 and 19.7 Bqm-3 to 23.5 Bqm-3 with an average value of 21.7 Bqm-3, in Dammam and Al-khobar dwellings, respectively. In university of dammam the radon concentration varies from 7.4 Bqm-3 to 15.8 Bqm-3 with an average value of 9.02 Bqm-3. The values of annual effective doses were found to be 0.47mSv/y, 0.55mSv/y, and 0.23mSv/y, in Dammam, Al-khobar and university new premises, respectively. The average radon concentration in the old dwellings was two times compared to that in the new premises and it was 25.4 Bqm-3 lower than the world average value of 40 Bqm-3 reported by the UNSCEAR. The annual effective doses in the old dwellings was found to be (0.55mSv/y) two times the doses received at the new premises, and below the world wide average of 1.15mSv/y reported by ICRP (2010). The indoor radon concentration in the study region is safe as far as health hazard is concerned.

Some critical methodological issues in secondary analysis of world health organization data on elderly suicide rates.

PubMed

Shah, Ajit

2009-07-01

Suicides may be misclassified as accidental deaths in countries with strict legal definitions of suicide, with cultural and religious factors leading to poor registration of suicide and stigma attached to suicide. The concordance between four different definitions of suicides was evaluated by examining the relationship between pure suicide and accidental death rates, gender differences, age-associated trends and potential distil risk and protective factors by conducting secondary analysis of the latest World Health Organisation data on elderly death rates. The four definitions of suicide were: (i) one-year pure suicides rates; one-year combined suicide rates (pure suicide rates combined with accidental death rates); (iii) five-year average pure suicide rates; and (iv) five-year average combined suicides rates (pure suicides rates combined with accidental death rates). The predicted negative correlation between pure suicide and accidental death rates was not observed. Gender differences were similar for all four definitions of suicide. There was a highly significant concordance for the findings of age-associated trends between one-year pure and combined suicide rates, one-year and five-year average pure suicide rates, and five-year average pure and combined suicide rates. There was poor concordance between pure and combined suicide rates for both one-year and five-year average data for the 14 potential distil risk and protective factors, but this concordance between one-year and five-year average pure suicide rates was highly significant. The use of one-year pure suicide rates in cross-national ecological studies examining gender differences, age-associated trends and potential distil risk and protective factors is likely to be practical, pragmatic and resource-efficient.

Development Ethics and Funding Communications Projects: Some Critical Reflections.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAnany, Emile G.

To evaluate the ethical role of researchers in developmental communication, this paper first reviews current thinking on development theories, suggesting that world recession, as well as skyrocketing national debts and internal conflicts in Third World nations underscore (1) the relationship between Third World development and global stability,…

The Challenge of Urbanization. The World's Large Cities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations New York, NY. Dept. of Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis.

This publication concentrates on city problems and special city planning issues in the world's large cities, pinpointing their demographic characteristics, economic structure, available social services, and infrastructures, as well as current issues facing city planners. Profiles of 100 large cities across the world, from Abidjan to Yangon, make…

Reflections on "Real-World" Community Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolff, Tom; Swift, Carolyn

2008-01-01

Reflections on the history of real-world (applied) community psychologists trace their participation in the field's official guild, the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA), beginning with the Swampscott Conference in 1965 through the current date. Four benchmarks are examined. The issues these real-world psychologists bring to the…

Learning from Dealing with Real World Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akcay, Hakan

2017-01-01

The purpose of this article is to provide an example of using real world issues as tools for science teaching and learning. Using real world issues provides students with experiences in learning in problem-based environments and encourages them to apply their content knowledge to solving current and local problems.

The Indigenous World, 2000/2001 = El mundo indigena, 2000/2001.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Molbech, Anette, Ed.

This annual publication (published separately in English and Spanish) examines political, social, environmental, and educational issues concerning indigenous peoples around the world in 2000-01. Part 1 describes current situations and events in 11 world regions: the Arctic; North America; Mexico and Central America; South America; Australia and…

Gender equity and health: evaluating the impact of Millennium Development Goal Three on women's health in South Asia.

PubMed

Shannon, Geordan D; Im, Dana D; Katzelnick, Leah; Franco, Oscar H

2013-01-01

Researchers evaluated the progress of Millennium Development Goal Three, which promotes gender equity and empowering women, by assessing the targets for education, employment, and government, and their relation to women's health in South Asia. Researchers obtained data from the United Nations, Inter-Parliamentary Union, International Labor Organization, World Bank, and World Health Organization. First, they performed a literature review including manuscripts that quantified a Millenium Development Goal Three outcome in South Asia and were published after 1991. They derived women's health outcomes from World Health Organization databases. Spearman's rank test was used to evaluate the relationship between change in gender parity and change in women's health outcomes. South Asia's average primary education Gender Parity Index (defined as the ratio of girls to boys enrolled in primary, secondary, and tertiary education and expressed as a value between 0 and 1.0) improved from 0.73 (SD 0.34) to 0.92 (SD 0.13) between 2000 and 2008. Secondary and tertiary education had a lower Gender Parity Index (average 2008 Gender Parity Index 0.87 (SD 0.21) and 0.59 (SD 0.23), respectively), but had also improved from 2000 (average Gender Parity Index = 0.77, SD 0.38) to 2008 (average Gender Parity Index = 0.52, SD 0.11). An average proportion of 22.1% (SD 12.58) of women participated in waged, non-agricultural employment and 16.6% (SD 10.3) in national parliaments. No clear association was found between change in gender equity and women's health in South Asia between 2000 and 2008. Some progress has been made toward gender equity in South Asia, although the results have been mixed and inequities persist, especially in employment and government. While gender equity does not appear to have been related to female health outcomes, both must be addressed simultaneously as priority development targets and remain prerequisites to achieving the overall Millennium Development Goals. [Supplementary material is available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Women & Health for the following resource: addition tabulated data and statistical analysis].

Implementing a Grant Proposal Writing Exercise in Undergraduate Science Courses to Incorporate Real-World Applications and Critical Analysis of Current Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, Kathryn E.; Inada, Maki; Smith, Andrew M.; Haaf, Michael P.

2013-01-01

Writing is an essential part of a successful career in science. As such, many undergraduate science courses have begun to implement writing assignments that reflect "real-world" applications and focus on a critical analysis of current literature; these assignments are often in the form of a review or a research proposal. The…

Are wildland watersheds safest and best?

Treesearch

Lawrence S. Hamilton

2007-01-01

The 2003 International Year of Freshwater highlighted the critical current and future scenario, on a global scale, of scarcity of adequate water—the essential need for all living things. About 40 percent of the world’s population currently have moderate to high water stress, and it is estimated that by 2025 about two-thirds of the world will live in areas facing such...

A modeling study of the time-averaged electric currents in the vicinity of isolated thunderstorms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Driscoll, Kevin T.; Blakeslee, Richard J.; Baginski, Michael E.

1992-01-01

A thorough examination of the results of a time-dependent computer model of a dipole thunderstorm revealed that there are numerous similarities between the time-averaged electrical properties and the steady-state properties of an active thunderstorm. Thus, the electrical behavior of the atmosphere in the vicinity of a thunderstorm can be determined with a formulation similar to what was first described by Holzer and Saxon (1952). From the Maxwell continuity equation of electric current, a simple analytical equation was derived that expresses a thunderstorm's average current contribution to the global electric circuit in terms of the generator current within the thundercloud, the intracloud lightning current, the cloud-to-ground lightning current, the altitudes of the charge centers, and the conductivity profile of the atmosphere. This equation was found to be nearly as accurate as the more computationally expensive numerical model, even when it is applied to a thunderstorm with a reduced conductivity thundercloud, a time-varying generator current, a varying flash rate, and a changing lightning mix.

Torque and Schizophrenic Vulnerability: As the World Turns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blau, Theodore H.

1977-01-01

Based upon reports of parents and guardians, with subjects at an average age of 21 years, it was found that 11 of the youngsters who had exhibited torque had in the interim been diagnosed as schizophrenic. (Author)

World citation and collaboration networks: uncovering the role of geography in science

PubMed Central

Pan, Raj Kumar; Kaski, Kimmo; Fortunato, Santo

2012-01-01

Modern information and communication technologies, especially the Internet, have diminished the role of spatial distances and territorial boundaries on the access and transmissibility of information. This has enabled scientists for closer collaboration and internationalization. Nevertheless, geography remains an important factor affecting the dynamics of science. Here we present a systematic analysis of citation and collaboration networks between cities and countries, by assigning papers to the geographic locations of their authors’ affiliations. The citation flows as well as the collaboration strengths between cities decrease with the distance between them and follow gravity laws. In addition, the total research impact of a country grows linearly with the amount of national funding for research & development. However, the average impact reveals a peculiar threshold effect: the scientific output of a country may reach an impact larger than the world average only if the country invests more than about 100,000 USD per researcher annually. PMID:23198092

High-Precision Half-Life and Branching Ratio Measurements for the Superallowed β+ Emitter 26Alm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finlay, P.; Svensson, C. E.; Demand, G. A.; Garrett, P. E.; Green, K. L.; Leach, K. G.; Phillips, A. A.; Rand, E. T.; Ball, G.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Djongolov, M.; Ettenauer, S.; Hackman, G.; Pearson, C. J.; Leslie, J. R.; Andreoiu, C.; Cross, D.; Austin, R. A. E.; Grinyer, G. F.; Sumithrarachchi, C. S.; Williams, S. J.; Triambak, S.

2013-03-01

High-precision half-life and branching-ratio measurements for the superallowed β+ emitter 26Alm were performed at the TRIUMF-ISAC radioactive ion beam facility. An upper limit of ≤ 15 ppm at 90% C.L. was determined for the sum of all possible non-analogue β+/EC decay branches of 26Alm, yielding a superallowed branching ratio of 100.0000+0-0.0015%. A value of T1/2 = 6:34654(76) s was determined for the 26Alm half-life which is consistent with, but 2.5 times more precise than, the previous world average. Combining these results with world-average measurements yields an ft value of 3037.58(60) s, the most precisely determined for any superallowed emitting nucleus to date. This high-precision ft value for 26Alm provides a new benchmark to refine theoretical models of isospin-symmetry-breaking effects in superallowed β decays.

Evidence conflict measure based on OWA operator in open world

PubMed Central

Wang, Shiyu; Liu, Xiang; Zheng, Hanqing; Wei, Boya

2017-01-01

Dempster-Shafer evidence theory has been extensively used in many information fusion systems since it was proposed by Dempster and extended by Shafer. Many scholars have been conducted on conflict management of Dempster-Shafer evidence theory in past decades. However, how to determine a potent parameter to measure evidence conflict, when the given environment is in an open world, namely the frame of discernment is incomplete, is still an open issue. In this paper, a new method which combines generalized conflict coefficient, generalized evidence distance, and generalized interval correlation coefficient based on ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator, to measure the conflict of evidence is presented. Through ordered weighted average of these three parameters, the combinatorial coefficient can still measure the conflict effectively when one or two parameters are not valid. Several numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:28542271

On-road heavy-duty diesel particulate matter emissions modeled using chassis dynamometer data.

PubMed

Kear, Tom; Niemeier, D A

2006-12-15

This study presents a model, derived from chassis dynamometer test data, for factors (operational correction factors, or OCFs) that correct (g/mi) heavy-duty diesel particle emission rates measured on standard test cycles for real-world conditions. Using a random effects mixed regression model with data from 531 tests of 34 heavy-duty vehicles from the Coordinating Research Council's E55/E59 research project, we specify a model with covariates that characterize high power transient driving, time spent idling, and average speed. Gram per mile particle emissions rates were negatively correlated with high power transient driving, average speed, and time idling. The new model is capable of predicting relative changes in g/mi on-road heavy-duty diesel particle emission rates for real-world driving conditions that are not reflected in the driving cycles used to test heavy-duty vehicles.

Poor nutrition in prepubertal Japanese children at the end of World War II suppressed bone development.

PubMed

Yoshimura, Toshihiro; Tohya, Toshimitsu; Onoda, Chikashi; Okamura, Hitoshi

2005-09-16

To assess the extent to which malnutrition in childhood affects bone mineral density (BMD) decades later. BMDs were compared in healthy women (35-59 years old) who visited our hospital for annual examinations between 1992 and 1993 (group 1) and between 1999 and 2002 (group 2). The BMDs of 50- to 54-year-old women in group 1 averaged 0.86+/-0.15 g/cm2, which was significantly (p<0.001) lower than age-matched women in group 2 (1.02+/-0.16 g/cm2). At the end of World War II (1945) undernutrition was rampant throughout Japan, and there were unprecedented numbers of cases of malnutrition. BMD was lower in women who experienced those conditions while they were 5 years old in average, a time when rapid skeletal growth was beginning. Thus, nutrition in childhood is a particularly crucial determinant of lifelong bone health.

World citation and collaboration networks: uncovering the role of geography in science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Raj Kumar; Kaski, Kimmo; Fortunato, Santo

2012-11-01

Modern information and communication technologies, especially the Internet, have diminished the role of spatial distances and territorial boundaries on the access and transmissibility of information. This has enabled scientists for closer collaboration and internationalization. Nevertheless, geography remains an important factor affecting the dynamics of science. Here we present a systematic analysis of citation and collaboration networks between cities and countries, by assigning papers to the geographic locations of their authors' affiliations. The citation flows as well as the collaboration strengths between cities decrease with the distance between them and follow gravity laws. In addition, the total research impact of a country grows linearly with the amount of national funding for research & development. However, the average impact reveals a peculiar threshold effect: the scientific output of a country may reach an impact larger than the world average only if the country invests more than about 100,000 USD per researcher annually.

Variations in the open market costs for prostate cancer surgery: a survey of US hospitals.

PubMed

Pate, Scott C; Uhlman, Matthew A; Rosenthal, Jaime A; Cram, Peter; Erickson, Bradley A

2014-03-01

To examine variation in the open market cost of a radical prostatectomy (RP) procedure in the US hospitals for an uninsured patient, as many proposals for health care reform highlight the importance of individuals actively participating in selecting care. However, reports suggest that obtaining procedure prices remains challenging and highly variable. We used 2011-2012 US News and World Report rankings to identify a cohort of 100 hospitals making an effort to include an equal distribution of both academic and private centers, city size, and geographic region. Each hospital was called and the essence of the script included a caller stating he was a healthy, uninsured 55-year-old man recently diagnosed with Gleason 3 + 4 prostatic adenocarcinoma with no metastases. Facility, surgeon, and anesthesia fees were solicited. Seventy hospitals provided facility prices. Facility estimates averaged $34,720 (±20,335; range, $10,100-$135,000), which was statistically higher at academics centers. No significant differences were seen by region, population, or hospital ranking. Surgeon and anesthesia fees were provided by 10%, averaging $8280 (±$4282; range, $4028-$18,720). Thirty-three hospitals provided discounted fees for prompt payment averaging 34% (±16%; range, 10%-80%). There is wide variation in pricing for RP, with higher rates found in academic centers. Wide variation in facility costs were observed, and nearly all were unable to provide surgeon and/or anesthesia fees. Currently, it appears to be unacceptably difficult for men with prostate cancer without insurance to obtain prices for an RP procedure. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Statistical analysis of PM2.5 observations from diplomatic facilities in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

San Martini, Federico M.; Hasenkopf, Christa A.; Roberts, David C.

2015-06-01

Systematic monitoring of air quality are lacking in many parts of the world, especially in cities where air quality is poor. Since 2008, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing has been collecting real-time air-quality data from a monitor on the Embassy's rooftop and sharing that data publicly through social media. Using this freely available data, as well as those from four other U.S. consulates in China that are also now collecting and sharing data publicly, we demonstrate that rooftop air-quality monitors installed at embassies and consulates can further our understanding of air quality and provide a rich, hourly-averaged, long-term data source for the academic community and decision-makers. For example, this is the first study to present an analysis of diurnal variability of PM2.5 in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang. We analyzed the diurnal variability of PM2.5 over the entire period of measurement for those cities and Beijing, and found marked variation across seasons and between cities. This dataset allows comparison of the PM2.5 annual average concentrations in 2013, with Guangzhou reporting 56.3 μg/m3, Shanghai 61.6 μg/m3, Chengdu 96.1 μg/m3, Beijing 99.6 μg/m3, and Shenyang 76.3 μg/m3 (note the average in Shenyang is from August 2013-July 2014). This study demonstrates the potential uses of air quality data that is currently systematically being collected and made publicly accessible by U.S. embassies and consulates in polluted but under-studied locations.

The Índice Flesch-Szigriszt and Spanish Lexile Analyzer to evaluate Spanish patient education materials in otolaryngology.

PubMed

Nassif, Samih J; Wong, Kevin; Levi, Jessica R

2018-01-01

Evaluate the reading difficulty of Spanish patient education materials using the validated Índice Flesch-Szigriszt (INFLESZ) and Spanish Lexile Analyzer, and to identify relationships between English and Spanish readability formulas. Cross-sectional analysis. All otolaryngology-related patient education articles written in Spanish from the health libraries of the top 10 US News & World Report-ranked hospitals, top 10 Doximity-ranked otolaryngology residencies, the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery website, and the US National Library of Medicine online section on ears, nose and throat were collected. Reading difficulty was assessed using the INFLESZ and Spanish Lexile Analyzer. Additional readability assessments included the traditional English tools: Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Flesch Reading Ease Score, and the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook score. A total of 497 articles were reviewed. The average INFLESZ score for all articles was 57.75, which is considered normal and requires the reading ability of a student who finished Escuela Secundaria Obligatoria or 10th grade equivalent in the United States. The average Spanish Lexile measure for all articles was 1062L, equivalent to a reading level between the 6th and 12th grade. English readability tools calculated a more difficult reading level compared to Spanish tools when performed on the same text. Current Spanish patient education materials in otolaryngology may be too difficult for the average Spanish-speaking reader to understand. Future improvements may be warranted to improve the readability of educational materials and increase health literacy. NA. Laryngoscope, 128:E21-E26, 2018. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

The Negative Effect of School-Average Ability on Science Self-Concept in the UK, the UK Countries and the World: The Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect for PISA 2006

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagengast, Benjamin; Marsh, Herbert W.

2011-01-01

Research on the relation between students' achievement (ACH) and their academic self-concept (ASC) has consistently shown a Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect (BFLPE); ASC is positively affected by individual ACH, but negatively affected by school-average ACH. Surprisingly, however, there are few good UK studies of the BFLPE and few anywhere in the world…

Maternal nutrition: opportunities in the prevention of gestational diabetes

PubMed Central

Silva-Zolezzi, Irma; Samuel, Tinu Mary

2017-01-01

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is currently defined as glucose intolerance that is of variable severity with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. The Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome Study, including 25 000 nondiabetic pregnant women in 15 centers across the world, reported that an average of 17.8% of pregnancies are affected by GDM and its frequency can be as high as 25.5% in some countries, based on the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups criteria. Nevertheless, true global prevalence estimates of GDM are currently lacking due to the high level of heterogeneity in screening approaches, diagnostic criteria, and differences in the characteristics of the populations that were studied. The presence of systemic high blood glucose levels in pregnancy results in an adverse intrauterine environment, which has been shown to have a negative impact on short- and long-term health outcomes for both the mother and her offspring, including increased risks for the infant to develop obesity and for both mother and child to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus later in life. Epigenetic mechanisms that are directly influenced by environmental factors, including nutrition, may play a key role in shaping these future health risks and may be part of this vicious cycle. This article reviews the burden of GDM and the current evidence that supports maternal nutritional interventions as a promising strategy to break the cycle by addressing risk factors associated with GDM. PMID:28049748

Radon exhalation rates from some soil samples of Kharar, Punjab

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

Mehta, Vimal; Deptt of Physics, Punjabi University, Patiala- 147 001; Singh, Tejinder Pal, E-mail: tejinders03@gmail.com

Radon and its progeny are major contributors in the radiation dose received by general population of the world. Because radon is a noble gas, a large portion of it is free to migrate away from radium. The primary sources of radon in the houses are soils and rocks source emanations, emanation from building materials, and entry of radon into a structure from outdoor air. Keeping this in mind the study of radon exhalation rate from some soil samples of the Kharar, Punjab has been carried out using Can Technique. The equilibrium radon concentration in various soil samples of Kharar areamore » of district Mohali varied from 12.7 Bqm{sup −3} to 82.9 Bqm{sup −3} with an average of 37.5 ± 27.0 Bqm{sup −3}. The radon mass exhalation rates from the soil samples varied from 0.45 to 2.9 mBq/kg/h with an average of 1.4 ± 0.9 mBq/kg/h and radon surface exhalation rates varied from 10.4 to 67.2 mBq/m{sup 2}/h with an average of 30.6 ± 21.8 mBq/m{sup 2}/h. The radon mass and surface exhalation rates of the soil samples of Kharar, Punjab were lower than that of the world wide average.« less

A new measure based on degree distribution that links information theory and network graph analysis

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Detailed connection maps of human and nonhuman brains are being generated with new technologies, and graph metrics have been instrumental in understanding the general organizational features of these structures. Neural networks appear to have small world properties: they have clustered regions, while maintaining integrative features such as short average pathlengths. Results We captured the structural characteristics of clustered networks with short average pathlengths through our own variable, System Difference (SD), which is computationally simple and calculable for larger graph systems. SD is a Jaccardian measure generated by averaging all of the differences in the connection patterns between any two nodes of a system. We calculated SD over large random samples of matrices and found that high SD matrices have a low average pathlength and a larger number of clustered structures. SD is a measure of degree distribution with high SD matrices maximizing entropic properties. Phi (Φ), an information theory metric that assesses a system’s capacity to integrate information, correlated well with SD - with SD explaining over 90% of the variance in systems above 11 nodes (tested for 4 to 13 nodes). However, newer versions of Φ do not correlate well with the SD metric. Conclusions The new network measure, SD, provides a link between high entropic structures and degree distributions as related to small world properties. PMID:22726594

Export of dissolved carbonaceous and nitrogenous substances in rivers of the "Water Tower of Asia".

PubMed

Qu, Bin; Sillanpää, Mika; Kang, Shichang; Yan, Fangping; Li, Zhiguo; Zhang, Hongbo; Li, Chaoliu

2018-03-01

Rivers are critical links in the carbon and nitrogen cycle in aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric environments. Here riverine carbon and nitrogen exports in nine large rivers on the Tibetan Plateau - the "Water Tower of Asia" - were investigated in the monsoon season from 2013 to 2015. Compared with the world average, concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC, 30.7mg/L) were high in river basins of the plateau due to extensive topographic relief and intensive water erosion. Low concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC, 1.16mg/L) were likely due to the low temperature and unproductive land vegetation environments. Average concentrations of riverine DIN (0.32mg/L) and DON (0.35 mg/L) on the Tibetan Plateau were close to the world average. However, despite its predominantly pristine environment, discharge from agricultural activities and urban areas of the plateau has raised riverine N export. In addition, DOC/DON ratio (C/N, ~6.5) in rivers of the Tibetan Plateau was much lower than the global average, indicating that dissolved organic carbon in the rivers of this region might be more bioavailable. Therefore, along with global warming and anthropogenic activities, increasing export of bioavailable riverine carbon and nitrogen from rivers of the Tibetan Plateau can be expected in the future, which will possibly influence the regional carbon and nitrogen cycle. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Scandinavian research in anaesthesiology 1981-2000: visibility and impact in EU and world context.

PubMed

Skram, U; Larsen, B; Ingwersen, P; Viby-Mogensen, J

2004-09-01

We wished to assess the development in number and impact of publications in anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine from 1981 to 2000 in the four Scandinavian countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. For comparison, we also analyzed data from the UK and the Netherlands. Publication and citation data from 1981 to 2000 were gathered from National Science Indicators (2001), covering 33 journals indexed in Current Contents. Data were analyzed in running 5-year periods. The following informetric indicators were used: absolute number of publications; absolute number of citations; absolute citation impact (average number of citations per publication per 5-year period); citation impact relative to the European Union and the world; and the percentage of cited papers from each country. The annual number of publications from Denmark was stable over the 20-year period. Sweden increased its production by 35%, while the remaining four countries showed increases from 100% to 146%. Thus, Sweden and Denmark lost visibility within the European Union (EU) and in world context. The EU and world citation shares of Finland and Norway increased slightly, whereas those of Sweden, Denmark, the UK, and the Netherlands all declined significantly. The absolute citation impact (ACI) increased for all the four Scandinavian countries. The ACI of the Netherlands did not change and was surpassed by all the Scandinavian countries by 1994-98, while the UK finished below the other five countries. (1) The annual number of publications from Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, and the Netherlands increased after the late eighties, whereas the net publication output from Denmark was stagnant over the 20-year period investigated; (2) the international publication and citation visibility of Finland and Norway increased slightly, as opposed to the significant decrease seen by the other four countries; (3) judging from the increase in absolute and relative citation impact and in the percentage of cited papers, the recognition of publications from the four Scandinavian countries increased over the past 20 years.

Internal variability in European summer temperatures at 1.5 °C and 2 °C of global warming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suarez-Gutierrez, Laura; Li, Chao; Müller, Wolfgang A.; Marotzke, Jochem

2018-06-01

We use the 100-member Grand Ensemble with the climate model MPI-ESM to evaluate the controllability of mean and extreme European summer temperatures with the global mean temperature targets in the Paris Agreement. We find that European summer temperatures at 2 °C of global warming are on average 1 °C higher than at 1.5 °C of global warming with respect to pre-industrial levels. In a 2 °C warmer world, one out of every two European summer months would be warmer than ever observed in our current climate. Daily maximum temperature anomalies for extreme events with return periods of up to 500 years reach return levels of 7 °C at 2 °C of global warming and 5.5 °C at 1.5 °C of global warming. The largest differences in return levels for shorter return periods of 20 years are over southern Europe, where we find the highest mean temperature increase. In contrast, for events with return periods of over 100 years these differences are largest over central Europe, where we find the largest changes in temperature variability. However, due to the large effect of internal variability, only four out of every ten summer months in a 2 °C warmer world present mean temperatures that could be distinguishable from those in a 1.5 °C world. The distinguishability between the two climates is largest over southern Europe, while decreasing to around 10% distinguishable months over eastern Europe. Furthermore, we find that 10% of the most extreme and severe summer maximum temperatures in a 2 °C world could be avoided by limiting global warming to 1.5 °C.

Origins of the Kuroshio and Mindanao Currents

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-30

REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1...Objectively napped time- averaged sea surface hieght (right) and surface geostrophic current (left). The mapped fields are estimated by objectively mapping

Corona graphs as a model of small-world networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, Qian; Yi, Yuhao; Zhang, Zhongzhi

2015-11-01

We introduce recursive corona graphs as a model of small-world networks. We investigate analytically the critical characteristics of the model, including order and size, degree distribution, average path length, clustering coefficient, and the number of spanning trees, as well as Kirchhoff index. Furthermore, we study the spectra for the adjacency matrix and the Laplacian matrix for the model. We obtain explicit results for all the quantities of the recursive corona graphs, which are similar to those observed in real-life networks.

USSR Report, World Economy and International Relations, No. 10, October 1986

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-15

for international comparative studies, for prognosis of exchange rates dynamics. The exchange rates formation gains special attention in the article...traditional bourgeois " models " like the classical 19th century "balance of power". We would recall merely H. Kissinger’s book "A World Restored," which...1980’s the average per capita income level here was 11 times lower than in the developed capitalist countries. And thoughout the past three decades

Effect of Feelings of Guilt and Shame on Life Quality of Women in Menopause

PubMed Central

Sohbet, Rabia

2017-01-01

Objectives Current study was conducted between September 2014 and January 2015 in Gaziantep proviency Şehitkamil town Şirinevler district. Purpose of the study is to measure changes experienced, point of view on menopause, and life style of women who are older than 40, living in said district, and within post-menopause and how these factors effected their feelings of guilt and shame. Methods Out of universe consisting of 800 women, 500 participants have joined the study. Data collected by personal information form, Guilt-Shame scales, and World Health Organization quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) scales. SPSS 18 was used to conduct statistical analysis. Results Analysis indicated that 78.6% of the participants was not literate, 37.8% of the participants were was subjected to domestic violence. Fifty-five percent of the participants were found to see menopause as a predicament, 45.4% as a disease, and 56% as infertility. Results of scales are as follows; guilt factor 48.95 ± 0.37, shame factor 44.89 ± 0.27, body 10.64 ± 0.42, mental 10.96 ± 0.39, social 11.12 ± 0.49, environment 10.84 ± 0.37. Conclusions No significant correlation found between Guilt: body, mental, social, and environmental area (P < 0.05). It was found that there is a significant correlation between the thought that menopause is not a bad thing and the perceived guilt (P < 0.001). Results of analyses indicate that information about menopause significantly correlates between perceived guilt (P < 0.05). Current study found that as perceived shame and guild increases, the life quality of the sample decreases and the average life quality of the sample is below average. PMID:28523254

Family planning: a basic development need.

PubMed

1994-06-01

The 1994 Human Development Report from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) proposes a 20-20 Human Development Compact based on shared responsibilities between poor and rich nations, whereby poor and rich nations would help unmet basic human development needs such as primary education, primary health care, safe drinking water, and family planning over the next 10 years. This would require an additional US $30 to US $40 billion annually. Developing countries would commit 20% of their budgets to human priority concerns instead of the current 10% by reducing military expenditure, selling off unprofitable public enterprises and abandoning wasteful prestige projects. Donor countries would increase foreign aid from the current average of 7% to 20%. The report will propose a new concept of human security at the World Summit for Social Development to be held in March 1995, calling widespread human insecurity a universal problem. On average, poor nations have 19 soldiers for every one doctor. Global military spending has been declining since 1987 at the rate of 3.6% a year, resulting in a cumulative peace dividend of US $935 billion from 1987 to 1994. But this money has not been expended on unmet human needs. India ordered fighter planes at a cost that could have provided basic education to the 15 million Indian girls now out of school. Nigeria bought tanks from the UK at a cost that could have immunized all 2 million unimmunized children while also providing family planning to nearly 17 million couples. UNDP proposes a phasing out of all military assistance, military bases, and subsidies to arms exporters over a 3-year period. It also recommends the major restructuring of existing aid funds, and proposes a serious study on new institutions for global governance in the next century.

Bibliography of Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussels) and Dreissena rostriformis Bugensis (QUAGGA mussels): 1989 to 2011

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schloesser, Don W.; Schmuckal, Christine

2012-01-01

Dreissenid mussels invaded and colonized waters of the Laurentian Great Lakes during the late 1980s. Their colonization and resulting impact have been characterized as one of the most important ecological changes in freshwater systems in North America. The need for information on dreissenid mussels has grown during the past 2 decades, which has prompted the compilation of this bibliography. Two previous bibliographies of dreissenid mussels indicate average publication rates were 6 publications/year between 1771 and 1964 (1,180 in 194 y) and 30 publications/year between 1964 and 1993 (885 in 30 y). In the current bibliography, the average rate of publication doubled during the past 23 y (1989 to 2011) to 66 publications/year based on a total of 1,502 publications. These rates may be biased by increased numbers of researchers and journals over time but, at a minimum, these rates indicate continued interest and concern by humans about the impact of dreissenid mussels on water availability and the expanding range of dreissenids throughout the world. The current bibliography has a 94% efficiency rate for subject and 100% efficiency for title search criteria when compared with references in published studies of dreissenid mussels in 2011. In addition to publications, we included 206 student theses and 225 chapters in 26 books including 6 books devoted solely to dreissenid mussels. A vast majority of student theses were about dreissenid mussels in North America, especially in the Laurentian Great Lakes. The 6 books devoted to dreissenid mussels contained a variety of chapters that described biology, impact, control, and ecology of dreissenid mussels in both Europe (published in 1992 and 2010) and North America (1993, 1994, 1997, and 2000). In addition, there is a 7th book devoted solely to dreissenid mussels that is near completion.

Impacts of climate change on the world's most exceptional ecoregions

PubMed Central

Beaumont, Linda J.; Pitman, Andrew; Perkins, Sarah; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; Yoccoz, Nigel G.; Thuiller, Wilfried

2011-01-01

The current rate of warming due to increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is very likely unprecedented over the last 10,000 y. Although the majority of countries have adopted the view that global warming must be limited to <2 °C, current GHG emission rates and nonagreement at Copenhagen in December 2009 increase the likelihood of this limit being exceeded by 2100. Extensive evidence has linked major changes in biological systems to 20th century warming. The “Global 200” comprises 238 ecoregions of exceptional biodiversity [Olson DM, Dinerstein E (2002) Ann Mo Bot Gard 89:199–224]. We assess the likelihood that, by 2070, these iconic ecoregions will regularly experience monthly climatic conditions that were extreme in 1961–1990. Using >600 realizations from climate model ensembles, we show that up to 86% of terrestrial and 83% of freshwater ecoregions will be exposed to average monthly temperature patterns >2 SDs (2σ) of the 1961–1990 baseline, including 82% of critically endangered ecoregions. The entire range of 89 ecoregions will experience extreme monthly temperatures with a local warming of <2 °C. Tropical and subtropical ecoregions, and mangroves, face extreme conditions earliest, some with <1 °C warming. In contrast, few ecoregions within Boreal Forests and Tundra biomes will experience such extremes this century. On average, precipitation regimes do not exceed 2σ of the baseline period, although considerable variability exists across the climate realizations. Further, the strength of the correlation between seasonal temperature and precipitation changes over numerous ecoregions. These results suggest many Global 200 ecoregions may be under substantial climatic stress by 2100. PMID:21262825

Global map of the prevalence of symptoms of rhinoconjunctivitis in children: The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase Three.

PubMed

Aït-Khaled, N; Pearce, N; Anderson, H R; Ellwood, P; Montefort, S; Shah, J

2009-01-01

Phase One of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) measured the global patterns of prevalence and severity of symptoms of rhinoconjunctivitis in children in 1993-1997. International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood Phase Three was a cross-sectional survey performed 5-10 years after Phase One using the same methodology. Phase Three covered all of the major regions of the world and involved 1 059 053 children of 2 age groups from 236 centres in 98 countries. The average overall prevalence of current rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms was 14.6% for the 13- to 14-year old children (range 1.0-45%). Variation in the prevalence of severe rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms was observed between centres (range 0.0-5.1%) and regions (range 0.4% in western Europe to 2.3% in Africa), with the highest prevalence being observed mainly in the centres from middle and low income countries, particularly in Africa and Latin America. Co-morbidity with asthma and eczema varied from 1.6% in the Indian sub-continent to 4.7% in North America. For 6- to 7-year old children, the average prevalence of rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms was 8.5%, and large variations in symptom prevalence were also observed between regions, countries and centres. Wide global variations exist in the prevalence of current rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms, being higher in high vs low income countries, but the prevalence of severe symptoms was greater in less affluent countries. Co-morbidity with asthma is high particularly in Africa, North America and Oceania. This global map of symptom prevalence is of clinical importance for health professionals.

Emission current control system for multiple hollow cathode devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beattie, John R. (Inventor); Hancock, Donald J. (Inventor)

1988-01-01

An emission current control system for balancing the individual emission currents from an array of hollow cathodes has current sensors for determining the current drawn by each cathode from a power supply. Each current sensor has an output signal which has a magnitude proportional to the current. The current sensor output signals are averaged, the average value so obtained being applied to a respective controller for controlling the flow of an ion source material through each cathode. Also applied to each controller are the respective sensor output signals for each cathode and a common reference signal. The flow of source material through each hollow cathode is thereby made proportional to the current drawn by that cathode, the average current drawn by all of the cathodes, and the reference signal. Thus, the emission current of each cathode is controlled such that each is made substantially equal to the emission current of each of the other cathodes. When utilized as a component of a multiple hollow cathode ion propulsion motor, the emission current control system of the invention provides for balancing the thrust of the motor about the thrust axis and also for preventing premature failure of a hollow cathode source due to operation above a maximum rated emission current.

Introducing medlineplus.gov

MedlinePlus

... Bar Home Current Issue Past Issues Introducing medlineplus.gov Past Issues / Fall 2006 Table of Contents For ... Discover a world of FREE medical resources: medlineplus.gov Your gateway to the world's most comprehensive and ...

The effect of cigarette price increases on cigarette consumption, tax revenue, and smoking-related death in Africa from 1999 to 2013.

PubMed

Ho, Li-Ming; Schafferer, Christian; Lee, Jie-Min; Yeh, Chun-Yuan; Hsieh, Chi-Jung

2017-11-01

This study investigates the effects of price hikes on cigarette consumption, tobacco tax revenues, and reduction in smoking-caused mortality in 36 African countries. Using panel data from the 1999-2013 Euromonitor International, the World Bank and the World Health Organization, we applied fixed-effects and random-effects regression models of panel data to estimate the elasticity of cigarette prices and simulate the effect of price fluctuations. Cigarette price elasticity was the highest for low-income countries and considerably lower for other African economies. The administered simulation shows that with an average annual cigarette price increase of 7.38%, the average annual cigarette consumption would decrease by 3.84%, and the average annual tobacco tax revenue would increase by 19.39%. By 2050, the number of averted smoking-attributable deaths (SADs) will be the highest in South Africa, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, and Ethiopia. Excise tax increases have a significant effect on the reduction of smoking prevalence and the number of averted smoking-attributable deaths, Low-income countries are most affected by high taxation policies.

Determination of natural radionuclides content in some building materials in Nigeria by gamma-ray spectrometry.

PubMed

Ademola, J A

2008-01-01

This paper presents the findings of a study undertaken to determine the natural radioactivity present in some building materials in Nigeria using a gamma-ray spectrometer with a hyper pure germanium detector. A total of 118 samples of commonly used building materials were collected from manufacturers and suppliers of these materials. The mean radioactivity concentrations measured in the different building materials varied from 9.4 to 62.9, 1.3 to 88.4, and 21.5 to 762.4 Bq kg(-1), respectively, for 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K. The average contents of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K for all the samples were 36.3, 46.5, and 320.9 Bq kg(-1), respectively, lower than the world average for building materials (50, 50, and 500 Bq kg(-1)). The calculated mean radium equivalent activity and external and internal hazard indices for the entire sample were lower than United Nation Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation recommended limits and comparable with results of similar studies undertaken in other countries. The mean annual gonadal equivalent doses of some of the samples were higher than the world average value for soil.

The influence of strenuous muscle stimulation on the menarche.

PubMed

Yabuuchi, F; Ichikawa, Y; Arakawa, M; Chiba, G

1984-03-01

Nowadays, the average age at which menarche begins is lowering by three to four years every century, that is, four months every decade, according to both Japanese, and European and American annual changes of the average age. It emerged that the menarche shows a tendency to occur later in female gymnasts, because of the influence of strenuous muscle stimulation, and the fact that a higher level of technic is required in gymnastic games each year. These conclusions have been drawn from replies submitted to a questionnaire distributed among a relatively small number of gymnasts who participated in the competitions including the Inter High School Championship and the World Cup Championship. For example, at the age of 14, the percentage of women who had menstruated is almost 100% among women in general, but only 24% among World Cup Championship gymnasts, the average age at menarche of the latter being later than that of the former by as many as 3 years. At the age of 16, the percentage of women who had menstruated is 100% among women in general, but on the other hand, it is only 60% among World Cup Championship gymnasts, in other words, only a low percentage of women, of the latter group, had menstruated. Finally in our study, we established that the age at menarche of gymnasts is three or five years later than that of women in general. From our study, we concluded that the excessive burden imposed on muscles might cause an abnormal menstrual cycle, and the influence on menstruation would be considerable.

Suicide triggers as sex-specific threats in domains of evolutionary import: negative correlation between global male-to-female suicide ratios and average per capita gross national income.

PubMed

Saad, Gad

2007-01-01

From an evolutionary perspective, suicide is a paradoxical phenomenon given its fatal consequences on one's reproductive fitness. That fact notwithstanding, evolutionists have typically used kin and group selection arguments in proposing that suicide might indeed be viewed as an adaptive behavioral response. The current paper posits that in some instances, suicide might be construed as the ultimate maladaptive response to "crushing defeats" in domains of great evolutionary import (e.g., mating). Specifically, it is hypothesized that numerous sex-specific triggers of suicide are universally consistent because they correspond to dire sex-specific attacks on one's reproductive fitness (e.g., loss of occupational status is much more strongly linked to male suicides). More generally, it is proposed that many epidemiological aspects of suicide are congruent with Darwinian-based frameworks. These include the near-universal finding that men are much more likely to commit suicide (sexual selection theory), the differential motives that drive men and women to commit suicide (evolutionary psychology), and the shifting patterns of suicide across the life span (life-history theory). Using data from the World Health Organization and the World Bank, several evolutionary-informed hypotheses, regarding the correlation between male-to-female suicide ratios and average per capita Gross National Income, are empirically tested. Overall, the findings are congruent with Darwinian-based expectations namely as economic conditions worsen the male-to-female suicide ratio is exacerbated, with the negative correlation being the strongest for the "working age" brackets. The hypothesized evolutionary outlook provides a consilient framework in comprehending universal sex-specific triggers of suicide. Furthermore, it allows suicidologists to explore new research avenues that might remain otherwise untapped if one were to restrict their research interests on the identification of proximate causes of suicide. Global clinical and epidemiological data emphasizing other universally robust triggers of suicide would afford additional support for the postulated framework.

Alteration of travel patterns with vision loss from glaucoma and macular degeneration.

PubMed

Curriero, Frank C; Pinchoff, Jessie; van Landingham, Suzanne W; Ferrucci, Luigi; Friedman, David S; Ramulu, Pradeep Y

2013-11-01

The distance patients can travel outside the home influences how much of the world they can sample and to what extent they can live independently. Recent technological advances have allowed travel outside the home to be directly measured in patients' real-world routines. To determine whether decreased visual acuity (VA) from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and visual field (VF) loss from glaucoma are associated with restricted travel patterns in older adults. Cross-sectional study. Patients were recruited from an eye clinic, while travel patterns were recorded during their real-world routines using a cellular tracking device. Sixty-one control subjects with normal vision, 84 subjects with glaucoma with bilateral VF loss, and 65 subjects with AMD with bilateral or severe unilateral loss of VA had their location tracked every 15 minutes between 7 am and 11 pm for 7 days using a tracking device. Average daily excursion size (defined as maximum distance away from home) and average daily excursion span (defined as maximum span of travel) were defined for each individual. The effects of vision loss on travel patterns were evaluated after controlling for individual and geographic factors. In multivariable models comparing subjects with AMD and control subjects, average excursion size and span decreased by approximately one-quarter mile for each line of better-eye VA loss (P ≤ .03 for both). Similar but not statistically significant associations were observed between average daily excursion size and span for severity of better-eye VF loss in subjects with glaucoma and control subjects. Being married or living with someone and younger age were associated with more distant travel, while less-distant travel was noted for older individuals, African Americans, and those living in more densely populated regions. Age-related macular degeneration-related loss of VA, but not glaucoma-related loss of VF, is associated with restriction of travel to more nearby locations. This constriction of life space may impact quality of life and restrict access to services.

Benchmarking Measures of Network Controllability on Canonical Graph Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu-Yan, Elena; Betzel, Richard F.; Tang, Evelyn; Gu, Shi; Pasqualetti, Fabio; Bassett, Danielle S.

2018-03-01

The control of networked dynamical systems opens the possibility for new discoveries and therapies in systems biology and neuroscience. Recent theoretical advances provide candidate mechanisms by which a system can be driven from one pre-specified state to another, and computational approaches provide tools to test those mechanisms in real-world systems. Despite already having been applied to study network systems in biology and neuroscience, the practical performance of these tools and associated measures on simple networks with pre-specified structure has yet to be assessed. Here, we study the behavior of four control metrics (global, average, modal, and boundary controllability) on eight canonical graphs (including Erdős-Rényi, regular, small-world, random geometric, Barábasi-Albert preferential attachment, and several modular networks) with different edge weighting schemes (Gaussian, power-law, and two nonparametric distributions from brain networks, as examples of real-world systems). We observe that differences in global controllability across graph models are more salient when edge weight distributions are heavy-tailed as opposed to normal. In contrast, differences in average, modal, and boundary controllability across graph models (as well as across nodes in the graph) are more salient when edge weight distributions are less heavy-tailed. Across graph models and edge weighting schemes, average and modal controllability are negatively correlated with one another across nodes; yet, across graph instances, the relation between average and modal controllability can be positive, negative, or nonsignificant. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that controllability statistics (and their relations) differ across graphs with different topologies and that these differences can be muted or accentuated by differences in the edge weight distributions. More generally, our numerical studies motivate future analytical efforts to better understand the mathematical underpinnings of the relationship between graph topology and control, as well as efforts to design networks with specific control profiles.

Mathematics & Science in the Real World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thorson, Annette, Ed.

2000-01-01

This issue of ENC Focus is organized around the theme of mathematics and science in the real world. It intends to provide teachers with practical resources and suggestions for science and mathematics education. Featured articles include: (1) "Real-World Learning: A Necessity for the Success of Current Reform Efforts" (Robert E. Yager); (2)…

World of Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McHale, Magda Cordell; And Others

1979-01-01

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

World Language Students' Ethnographic Investigations of Culture through Mobile Devices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuttle, Harry G.; Tuttle, Lori A.

2017-01-01

World language teachers can transform how their students learn culture through the use of mobile devices. When world language students use their mobile devices to access authentic current culture, they go from being passive receivers of culture to active cultural investigators. These students go from learning thin surface culture to exploring…

NOAA Photo Library - Meet the Photographers

Science.gov Websites

images and observations with America and the rest of the world. These individuals range from those who have worked their whole professional life for NOAA in far-flung corners of our Nation and the World to ) - World traveler with the NOAA Corps; currently working with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service

The Indigenous World, 2001-2002 = El Mundo Indigena, 2001-2002.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vinding, Diana, Ed.; Wessendorff, Kathrin, Ed.; Parellada, Alejandro, Ed.; Erni, Christian, Ed.; Jensen, Marianne, Ed.; Garcia-Alix, Lola, Ed.

This document contains the English and Spanish texts of an annual publication which examines political, social, environmental, and educational issues concerning indigenous peoples around the world in 2001-02. Part 1 describes current situations and events in 11 world regions: the Arctic; North America; Mexico and Central America; South America;…

Response of nickel to zinc cells to electric vehicle chopper discharge waveforms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cataldo, R. L.

1981-01-01

The preliminary results of simulated electric vehicle chopper controlled discharge of a Nickel/Zinc battery shows delivered energy increases of 5 to 25 percent compared to constant current discharges of the same average current. The percentage increase was a function of chopper frequency, the ratio of peak to average current, and the magnitude of the discharge current. Because the chopper effects are of a complex nature, electric vehicle battery/speed controller interaction must be carefully considered in vehicle design to optimize battery performance.

Homogenization patterns of the world's freshwater fish faunas.

PubMed

Villéger, Sébastien; Blanchet, Simon; Beauchard, Olivier; Oberdorff, Thierry; Brosse, Sébastien

2011-11-01

The world is currently undergoing an unprecedented decline in biodiversity, which is mainly attributable to human activities. For instance, nonnative species introduction, combined with the extirpation of native species, affects biodiversity patterns, notably by increasing the similarity among species assemblages. This biodiversity change, called taxonomic homogenization, has rarely been assessed at the world scale. Here, we fill this gap by assessing the current homogenization status of one of the most diverse vertebrate groups (i.e., freshwater fishes) at global and regional scales. We demonstrate that current homogenization of the freshwater fish faunas is still low at the world scale (0.5%) but reaches substantial levels (up to 10%) in some highly invaded river basins from the Nearctic and Palearctic realms. In these realms experiencing high changes, nonnative species introductions rather than native species extirpations drive taxonomic homogenization. Our results suggest that the "Homogocene era" is not yet the case for freshwater fish fauna at the worldwide scale. However, the distressingly high level of homogenization noted for some biogeographical realms stresses the need for further understanding of the ecological consequences of homogenization processes.

Sport and exercise medicine research activity in the Arab world: a 15-year bibliometric analysis

PubMed Central

Fares, Mohamad Y; Fares, Jawad; Baydoun, Hasan; Fares, Youssef

2017-01-01

Background The role of sports in decreasing the prevalence of many diseases has led to a growing interest in the field of sport and exercise medicine. But sport and exercise medicine still remains new to the Arab world, waiting to be explored. The aim of this study is to describe and characterise sport and exercise medicine research activity in the Arab world between 2002 and 2016. Methods The PubMed database was used to search for publications related to sport and exercise medicine. Publications were classified according to the country of origin and filtered to include publications between 2002 and 2016. Research output was analysed with respect to gross domestic product (GDP) and population of each country. Results A total of 1148 papers related to sport and exercise medicine were found to be published in the Arab countries between 2002 and 2016. Sport-and-exercise-medicine-related publications constituted 0.86% of the total biomedical research papers published in the Arab world and 0.49% of the world’s sport and exercise medicine literature. The number of sport-and-exercise-medicine-related publications per country ranged from zero to 352, with Qatar occupying the top spot. Tunisia ranked first with respect to publications per average GDP, while Qatar ranked first with respect to publications per average population. Comoros, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen were found to have no publications related to sport and exercise medicine. Conclusion Sport and exercise medicine is a novel field in the Arab world. Recognising the barriers facing sport and exercise medicine research and exploring them meticulously remains an essential part of the plan to improve the Arab world’s output and contribution in this field. PMID:29259813

Adolescent Suicide Rates Between 1990 and 2009: Analysis of Age Group 15-19 Years Worldwide.

PubMed

Kõlves, Kairi; De Leo, Diego

2016-01-01

The aim of the current analysis is to analyze suicide rates in adolescents aged 15-19 years in decades between 1990 and 2009 worldwide. Suicide data were obtained from the World Health Organization Mortality Database and population data from the World Bank Data set. In total, 81 countries or territories, having data at least for 5 years in 1990-1999 and in 2000-2009, were included in the analysis. Additional analysis for regional trends with 57 countries was performed. Over the decades considered, analysis showed a declining trend in the overall suicide rate for males from 10.30 to 9.51 per 100,000 (p = .076), and for females from 4.39 to 4.18 (p = .472). The average suicide rate showed a significant decline for both genders in Europe, dropping from 13.13 to 10.93 (p = .001) in males and from 3.88 to 3.34 in females (p = .038). There was a significant increase in South American countries for males, from 7.36 to 11.47 (p = .016), and a close to significant rise for females, from 5.59 to 7.98 (p = .053). Although other world regions did not show significant trends, there were several significant changes at country level. Reasons behind the decrease in Western countries could potentially be related to the overall improvements in global health; the possible contribution of suicide prevention activities remains unclear. Increases in several South American countries might be related to economic recession and its impact on adolescents from diverse cultural backgrounds, and partly also to improvements in mortality registration. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Young adult non-smokers' exposure to real-world tobacco marketing: results of an ecological momentary assessment pilot study.

PubMed

Rose, Shyanika W; Anesetti-Rothermel, Andrew; Elmasry, Hoda; Niaura, Ray

2017-08-31

The aims of this pilot study were to assess and characterize non-current smoking young adults' exposure to tobacco marketing through an ecological momentary assessment protocol. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) consists of repeated measurement of momentary phenomena and is well-suited to capture sporadic experiences in the real-world, such as exposure to tobacco marketing. EMA has the potential to capture detailed information about real-world marketing exposures in ways that reduce recall bias and increase ecological validity. In this study, young adults (n = 31; ages 18-25) responded to random prompts regarding their momentary exposure to tobacco marketing via text messages on their smartphones for 14 days (n = 1798 observations). Unadjusted and adjusted analyses were conducted using multilevel logistic regression to assess the odds of exposure accounting for correlation of multiple repeated measures within individuals while controlling for variability between individuals. Respondents reported, on average, two momentary exposures to tobacco advertising in the 14-day study period. In adjusted analyses, African-American (aOR 3.36; 95% CI 1.07, 10.54) and Hispanic respondents (aOR 5.08; 95% CI 1.28, 20.13) were more likely to report exposure to tobacco advertising. Respondents were also more likely to report exposure when also exposed to others using tobacco products and when they were at stores compared with at home (aOR 14.82; 95% CI 3.61, 60.88). Non-smoking young adults report exposure to tobacco marketing particularly at the point-of-sale, with the highest likelihood of exposure among African-American and Hispanic young people. EMA protocols can be effective in assessing the potential impact of point-of-sale tobacco marketing on young adults.

Child-Langmuir flow with periodically varying anode voltage

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

Rokhlenko, A.

Using the Lagrangian technique, we study settled Child-Langmuir flows in a one dimensional planar diodes whose anode voltages periodically vary around given positive values. Our goal is to find analytically if the average currents in these systems can exceed the famous Child-Langmuir limit found for the stationary current a long time ago. The main result of our study is that in a periodic quasi-stationary regime the average current can be larger than the Child-Langmuir maximum even by 50% compared with its adiabatic average value. The cathode current in this case has the form of rectangular pulses which are formed bymore » a very special triangular voltage modulation. This regime, i.e., periodicity, shape of pulses, and their amplitude, needs to be carefully chosen for the best performance.« less

Qualitative Video Analysis of Track-Cycling Team Pursuit in World-Class Athletes.

PubMed

Sigrist, Samuel; Maier, Thomas; Faiss, Raphael

2017-11-01

Track-cycling team pursuit (TP) is a highly technical effort involving 4 athletes completing 4 km from a standing start, often in less than 240 s. Transitions between athletes leading the team are obviously of utmost importance. To perform qualitative video analyses of transitions of world-class athletes in TP competitions. Videos captured at 100 Hz were recorded for 77 races (including 96 different athletes) in 5 international track-cycling competitions (eg, UCI World Cups and World Championships) and analyzed for the 12 best teams in the UCI Track Cycling TP Olympic ranking. During TP, 1013 transitions were evaluated individually to extract quantitative (eg, average lead time, transition number, length, duration, height in the curve) and qualitative (quality of transition start, quality of return at the back of the team, distance between third and returning rider score) variables. Determination of correlation coefficients between extracted variables and end time allowed assessment of relationships between variables and relevance of the video analyses. Overall quality of transitions and end time were significantly correlated (r = .35, P = .002). Similarly, transition distance (r = .26, P = .02) and duration (r = .35, P = .002) were positively correlated with end time. Conversely, no relationship was observed between transition number, average lead time, or height reached in the curve and end time. Video analysis of TP races highlights the importance of quality transitions between riders, with preferably swift and short relays rather than longer lead times for faster race times.

Cardiovascular safety of vildagliptin in patients with type 2 diabetes: A European multi-database, non-interventional post-authorization safety study.

PubMed

Williams, Rachael; de Vries, Frank; Kothny, Wolfgang; Serban, Carmen; Lopez-Leon, Sandra; Chu, Changan; Schlienger, Raymond

2017-10-01

The aim of this non-interventional, multi-database, analytical cohort study was to assess the cardiovascular (CV) safety of vildagliptin vs other non-insulin antidiabetic drugs (NIADs) using real-world data from 5 European electronic healthcare databases. Patients with type 2 diabetes aged ≥18 years on NIAD treatment were enrolled. Adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the outcomes of interest (myocardial infarction [MI], acute coronary syndrome [ACS], stroke, congestive heart failure [CHF], individually and as a composite) were estimated using negative binomial regression. Approximately 2.8% of the enrolled patients (n = 738 054) used vildagliptin at any time during the study, with an average follow-up time of 1.4 years, resulting in a cumulative current vildagliptin exposure of 28 330 person-years. The adjusted IRRs (vildagliptin [±other NIADs] vs other NIADs) were in the range of 0.61 to 0.97 (MI), 0.55 to 1.60 (ACS), 0.02 to 0.77 (stroke), 0.49 to 1.03 (CHF), and 0.22 to 1.02 (composite CV outcomes). The IRRs and their 95% CIs were close to 1, demonstrating no increased risk of adverse CV events, including the risk of CHF, with vildagliptin vs other NIADs in real-world conditions. © 2017 Crown copyright. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Adaption of the temporal correlation coefficient calculation for temporal networks (applied to a real-world pig trade network).

PubMed

Büttner, Kathrin; Salau, Jennifer; Krieter, Joachim

2016-01-01

The average topological overlap of two graphs of two consecutive time steps measures the amount of changes in the edge configuration between the two snapshots. This value has to be zero if the edge configuration changes completely and one if the two consecutive graphs are identical. Current methods depend on the number of nodes in the network or on the maximal number of connected nodes in the consecutive time steps. In the first case, this methodology breaks down if there are nodes with no edges. In the second case, it fails if the maximal number of active nodes is larger than the maximal number of connected nodes. In the following, an adaption of the calculation of the temporal correlation coefficient and of the topological overlap of the graph between two consecutive time steps is presented, which shows the expected behaviour mentioned above. The newly proposed adaption uses the maximal number of active nodes, i.e. the number of nodes with at least one edge, for the calculation of the topological overlap. The three methods were compared with the help of vivid example networks to reveal the differences between the proposed notations. Furthermore, these three calculation methods were applied to a real-world network of animal movements in order to detect influences of the network structure on the outcome of the different methods.

[Population in the northern border area. Urban dynamism and binational interrelation].

PubMed

Ham Chande, R

1988-01-01

The 3300 km border between Mexico and the US constitutes the geopolitical separation between an underdeveloped country on the 1 hand and 1 of the most technologically and economically powerful countries in the world on the other. The border region is characterized by the contrasts on either side of the border and by the strong interrelation between both sides. Vast streams of persons, merchandise, money, services, communications, and cultural influences flow from 1 side to the other. The border region as a seat of population has a recent history. The border was defined in near current form only in the mid-19th century, when the expansionist tendencies of the US encountered a vast area of very sparse population. In 1900, the principal localities of the border zone had only about 39,000 inhabitants, of whom fewer than 5000 lived west of Ciudad Juarez. Between 1910-20, the population of the border region increased from 53,000 to 96,000 as a result of migrants fleeing the ravages of the revolution. The population of the border region was estimated at 3.826 million in 1988, resulting from rates of growth above Mexico's national average. Settlement in the area has depended on events and conditions in Mexico and on such US occurrences as Prohibition, the Great Depression, the 2nd World War, the Bracero program, and the Program of Border Industrialization. 82% of the border population lives in urban zones, partly because of lack of water. 80% of the urban population is concentrated in 6 cities, Juarez, Tijuana, Mexicali, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, and Matamoros. Much of the population of the 6 cities is composed of persons born elsewhere. The border area also has a large floating population of undocumented migrants in transit to or from the US. The high rates of urbanization and of binational interaction are reflected in demographic dynamics. In 1979, 71% of women in union in the border area vs 54% in the rest of Mexico had used contraception, and the infant mortality rate was 10% below the national average. In the 20-29 cohort there were 88 men per 100 women, reflecting male emigration and female inmigration. The rate of economic participation was higher than the national average, per capita production was greater, and unemployment rates were lower.

Interdependence and the world energy picture. [Arab nations and West

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

Ghobash, S.A.

1976-01-01

The Arab perspective of the current energy situation is discussed, during which Mr. Ghobash points out that a truly interdependent relationship exists between the U.S. and the Arab world and that all countries need to learn to exchange their resources cooperatively. The Arab world has 60 percent of the world's current oil exports, but it needs Western manpower and technical assistance for economic development. The United Arab Emirates needs to transform its economy and raise its standard of living, each of which requires exporting a substantial amount of its depletable oil resources. The lifespan of these resources is estimated atmore » 30 to 50 years. But the country is investing income from these oil resources to diversify its narrowly based economic structures so that future generations will have a higher standard of living. (MCW)« less

A multilayer approach for turbidity currents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez-Nieto, Enrique; Castro Díaz, Manuel J.; Morales de Luna, Tomás

2017-04-01

When a river that carries sediment in suspension enters into a lake or the ocean it can form a plume that can be classified as hyperpycnal or hypopycnal. Hypopycnal plumes occurs if the combined density of the sediment and interstitial fluid is lower than that of the ambient. Hyperpycnal plumes are a class of sediment-laden gravity current commonly referred to as turbidity currents [7,9]. Some layer-averaged models have been previously developed (see [3, 4, 8] among others). Although this layer-averaged approach gives a fast and valuable information, it has the disadvantage that the vertical distribution of the sediment in suspension is lost. A recent technique based on a multilayer approach [1, 2, 6] has shown to be specially useful to generalize shallow water type models in order to keep track of the vertical components of the averaged variables in the classical shallow water equations. In [5] multilayer model is obtained using a vertical discontinuous Galerkin approach for which the vertical velocity is supposed to be piecewise linear and the horizontal velocity is supposed to be piecewise constant. In this work the technique introduced in [5] is generalized to derive a model for turbidity currents. This model allows to simulate hyperpycnal as well as hypopycnal plumes. Several numerical tests will be presented. References [1] E. Audusse, M. Bristeau, B. Perthame, and J. Sainte-Marie. A multilayer Saint-Venant system with mass exchanges for shallow water flows. derivation and numerical validation. ESAIM: Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Analysis, 45(1):169-200, (2010). [2] E. Audusse, M.-O. Bristeau, M. Pelanti, and J. Sainte-Marie. Approximation of the hydrostatic Navier‚ÄìStokes system for density stratified flows by a multilayer model: Kinetic interpretation and numerical solution. Journal of Computational Physics, 230(9):3453-3478, (2011). [3] S. F. Bradford and N. D. Katopodes. Hydrodynamics of turbid underflows. i: Formulation and numerical analysis. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 125(10):1006-1015, (1999). [4] F. H. Chu, W. D. Pilkey, and O. H. Pilkey. An analytical study of turbidity current steady flow. Marine Geology, 33(3-4):205-220, 1979. [5] E. D. Fernández-Nieto, E. H. Koné, and T. C. Rebollo. A Multilayer Method for the Hydrostatic Navier-Stokes Equations: A Particular Weak Solution. J. of Scientific Computing, 60(2):408-437, (2013). [6] E. D. Fernández-Nieto, E. H. Koné, T. Morales de Luna, and R. Bürger. A multilayer shallow water system for polydisperse sedimentation. J. of Computational Physics, 238:281-314, (2013). [7] T. Mulder and J. P. M. Syvitski. Turbidity Currents Generated at River Mouths during Exceptional Discharges to the World Oceans. The Journal of Geology, 103(3):285-299, (1995). [8] G. Parker, Y. Fukushima, and H. M. Pantin. Self-accelerating turbidity currents. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 171:145-181, (1986). [9] J. D. Parsons, J. W. M. Bush, and J. P. M. Syvitski. Hyperpycnal plume formation from riverine outflows with small sediment concentrations. Sedimentology, 48(2):465-478, (2001).

Emerging trade corridors and Texas transportation planning.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-02-01

The period 19952006 was characterized by a strong growth in world trade, averaging 5 to 11% : per annum excluding sharp, but brief, declines in 1997 and 2001. The combination of consumer : confidence in almost all global markets, easy access to cr...

Mathematics and Demography.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Richard

1992-01-01

Suggests that teachers use mathematics problems related to the "1992 World Population Data Sheet" to teach students about such population-related issues as hunger, resource scarcity, poverty, and pollution. Offers sample problems involving percents, ratios, basic calculations, sequences, variability, graphs, averages, and correlation. Includes a…

World Energy Issues: An Inquiry-Based Lesson Using ArcGIS Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jo, Injeong

2018-01-01

This 45 minute inquiry lesson can be used for a high school world geography or AP Human Geography course when the class discusses various issues regarding world energy resources. The lesson focuses on two particular issues: fossil fuel dependency and the growing energy demand. Students will examine the geographic distribution of current energy…

Planet Earth, 1984-2034: A Demographic Vision.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bouvier, Leon F.

1984-01-01

In recognition of the 1984 World Population Conference, this booklet examines the current state of world population and presents speculations on what it might be 50 years from now. World population, now close to 4.8 billion and growing at 1.8 percent a year, is being shaped by three demographic phenomena: prolonged below-replacement fertility in…

Teaching about Women in World History

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crocco, Margaret Smith

2011-01-01

This article addresses the subject of teaching about women in world history in K-12 schools and in programs of social studies teacher education. It includes a review of the place of gender in teaching about world history to current and future teachers at Teachers College, Columbia University. This informal research serves as the platform for a set…

The State of the World's Children 1985: A Report by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Early Child Development and Care, 1985

1985-01-01

Reports four basic strategies of the current child survival revolution in the world: use of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for preventing and treating diarrheal dehydration (the biggest single killer of children in the modern world), growth monitoring to prevent child malnutrition, breast-feeding, and immunization to provide protection against six…

A World Order Perspective on Authoritarian Tendencies. World Order Models Project. Working Paper Number Ten.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falk, Richard A.

This paper discusses five main patterns of authoritarian government rule that are currently prominent in international society. The first pattern is "Brazilianization" which has evolved as a model for rightist, capitalist elites in the more industrialized countries of the Third World (e.g. Iran, Indonesia, and Argentina). A common feature of these…

Representing Voices from the Life-World in Evidence-Based Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kovarsky, Dana

2008-01-01

Background: Current models of evidence-based practice marginalize and even silence the voices of those who are the potential beneficiaries of assessment and intervention. These missing voices can be found in the reflections of clients on their own life-world experiences. Aims: This paper examines how voices from the life-world are silenced in…

World Population: U.N. on the Move but Grounds for Optimism Are Scant

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holden, Constance

1974-01-01

Discusses current trends and problems relating to world population, and focuses on action being taken by the United Nations. This year (1974) has been designated World Population Year, and will be highlighted by a conference in Bucharest in which all 130 member governments will meet to confront the issue of population control. (JR)

World's simplest electric train

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Criado, C.; Alamo, N.

2016-01-01

We analyze the physics of the "world's simplest electric train." The "train" consists of a AA battery with a strong magnet on each end that moves through a helical coil of copper wire. The motion of the train results from the interaction between the magnetic field created by the current in the wire and the magnetic field of the magnets. We calculate the force of this interaction and the terminal velocity of the train due to eddy currents and friction. Our calculations provide a good illustration of Faraday's and Lenz's laws, as well as of the concepts of the Lorentz force and eddy currents.

Alternate charging and discharging of capacitor to enhance the electron production of bioelectrochemical systems.

PubMed

Liang, Peng; Wu, Wenlong; Wei, Jincheng; Yuan, Lulu; Xia, Xue; Huang, Xia

2011-08-01

A bioelectrochemical system (BES) can be operated in both "microbial fuel cell" (MFC) and "microbial electrolysis cell" (MEC) modes, in which power is delivered and invested respectively. To enhance the electric current production, a BES was operated in MFC mode first and a capacitor was used to collect power from the system. Then the charged capacitor discharged electrons to the system itself, switching into MEC mode. This alternate charging and discharging (ACD) mode helped the system produce 22-32% higher average current compared to an intermittent charging (IC) mode, in which the capacitor was first charged from an MFC and then discharged to a resistor, at 21.6 Ω external resistance, 3.3 F capacitance and 300 mV charging voltage. The effects of external resistance, capacitance and charging voltage on average current were studied. The average current reduced as the external resistance and charging voltage increased and was slightly affected by the capacitance. Acquisition of higher average current in the ACD mode was attributed to the shorter discharging time compared to the charging time, as well as a higher anode potential caused by discharging the capacitor. Results from circuit analysis and quantitatively calculation were consistent with the experimental observations.

Initial Demonstration of Mercury Wavefront Correction System

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

Liao, Z M

2006-02-01

High average power operation of the Mercury Laser induces dynamic aberrations to the laser beam wavefront. Analysis of recent data indicates that up to 4 waves of low order aberration (mainly focus error or power, with spatial resolution < 0.5 cm{sup -1}) could be expected at each pass. Because of the magnitude of the wavefront error, the logical position is to place a deformable mirror (DM) at the M11 position, where the DM will correct the beam between passes 1 & 2 and 3 & 4. Currently, there are only two established commercial vendors offering complete adaptive optic (AO) systemsmore » that can accommodate the Mercury beam size (45 x 75 mm) which are compatible with high damage threshold coatings. Xinetics (MA, USA) offers a complete AO system along with a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. The Xinetics DM is based on lead magnesium niobate (PMN) technology. A number of US aerospace firms as well as NIF use Xinetics PMN technology for their DMs. Phasics (Paris, France) offers a complete AO solution with its proprietary SID-4, a four-way shearing interferometric wavefront sensor capable of high resolution (over 100 x 100 sampling points). The Phasics system includes a bimorph deformable mirror from Night-n-Opt (Moscow, Russia) that uses lead zirconate titanate (PZT) technology. Various high power laser laboratories around the world such as LULI (France), HELEN (UK), and GEKKO (Japan) are using the PZT-based bimorph DM in their system. While both DM technologies are equivalent and have been deployed in high-energy laser systems, the PZT based bimorph DM offers two distinct features that makes it more attractive for high average power laser systems. The bimorph DM uses two layers of PZT actuators with the outer layer acting as power correctors, capable of correcting up to 20 waves of power. The Xinetics DM offers a maximum stroke of 4 waves. In addition, Night-N-Opt has also designed a water-cooled DM with a silicon based substrate (as opposed to a glass substrate) specifically for high average power laser systems--an option that is currently not available for PMN based DMs.« less

The Impact of the Atomic Bomb on Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gelbond, Florence

1974-01-01

The teachers of social studies must take on the responsibilities of generating a world consciouness, of continuing the search for a world order of government which are not currently transmitted through textbooks. (Author/RM)

Unity power factor switching regulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rippel, Wally E. (Inventor)

1983-01-01

A single or multiphase boost chopper regulator operating with unity power factor, for use such as to charge a battery is comprised of a power section for converting single or multiphase line energy into recharge energy including a rectifier (10), one inductor (L.sub.1) and one chopper (Q.sub.1) for each chopper phase for presenting a load (battery) with a current output, and duty cycle control means (16) for each chopper to control the average inductor current over each period of the chopper, and a sensing and control section including means (20) for sensing at least one load parameter, means (22) for producing a current command signal as a function of said parameter, means (26) for producing a feedback signal as a function of said current command signal and the average rectifier voltage output over each period of the chopper, means (28) for sensing current through said inductor, means (18) for comparing said feedback signal with said sensed current to produce, in response to a difference, a control signal applied to the duty cycle control means, whereby the average inductor current is proportionate to the average rectifier voltage output over each period of the chopper, and instantaneous line current is thereby maintained proportionate to the instantaneous line voltage, thus achieving a unity power factor. The boost chopper is comprised of a plurality of converters connected in parallel and operated in staggered phase. For optimal harmonic suppression, the duty cycles of the switching converters are evenly spaced, and by negative coupling between pairs 180.degree. out-of-phase, peak currents through the switches can be reduced while reducing the inductor size and mass.

Rivaroxaban real-world evidence: Validating safety and effectiveness in clinical practice.

PubMed

Beyer-Westendorf, Jan; Camm, A John; Coleman, Craig I; Tamayo, Sally

2016-09-28

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard of clinical research as they use rigorous methodologies, detailed protocols, pre-specified statistical analyses and well-defined patient cohorts. However, RCTs do not take into account the complexity of real-world clinical decision-making. To tackle this, real-world data are being increasingly used to evaluate the long-term safety and effectiveness of a given therapy in routine clinical practice and in patients who may not be represented in RCTs, addressing key clinical questions that may remain. Real-world evidence plays a substantial role in supporting the use of non-vitamin K antagonist (VKA) oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in clinical practice. By providing data on patient profiles and the use of anticoagulation therapies in routine clinical practice, real-world evidence expands the current awareness of NOACs, helping to ensure that clinicians are well-informed on their use to implement patient-tailored clinical decisions. There are various issues with current anticoagulation strategies, including under- or overtreatment and frequent monitoring with VKAs. Real-world studies have demonstrated that NOAC use is increasing (Dresden NOAC registry and Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-AF [GARFIELD-AF]), as well as reaffirming the safety and effectiveness of rivaroxaban previously observed in RCTs (XArelto on preveNtion of sTroke and non-central nervoUS system systemic embolism in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation [XANTUS] and IMS Disease Analyzer). This article will describe the latest updates in real-world evidence across a variety of methodologies, such as non-interventional studies (NIS), registries and database analyses studies. It is anticipated that these studies will provide valuable clinical insights into the management of thromboembolism, and enhance the current knowledge on anticoagulant use and outcomes for patients.

Characteristics of the most intense lightning storm ever recorded at the CN Tower

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussein, A. M.; Kazazi, S.; Anwar, M.; Yusouf, M.; Liatos, P.

2017-02-01

Lightning strikes to the CN Tower have been optically observed since 1978. In 1990, five independent systems started to operate to simultaneously record parameters of lightning strikes to the tower, including the time derivative of the current, the associated electric and magnetic fields, and the channel optical characteristics. On August 24, 2011, during an unusually severe lightning storm, video records showed that the CN Tower was struck with 52 lightning flashes within 84 min and 6.9 s. Thus, this storm produced, on average, a flash to the tower every 99 s. However, the CN Tower lightning current derivative measurement system only recorded 32 flashes, which were perfectly time-matched with 32 of the 52 video-recorded flashes. It is found that the current derivative measurement system recorded every video-recorded flash that contained at least one return stroke. Based on the analysis of video records, it is noted that each of the storm's 52 flashes contains an initial-stage current, proving that all flashes were upward initiated. This unique CN Tower storm - the most intense ever recorded at the tower - is here thoroughly analyzed, based on video and current records. The inter-flash time within the storm is found to vary between 10.6 s and 274 s, with an overall average of 98 s. It is also found that the inter-flash time between successive non-return-stroke flashes is on average 64% longer than that for successive flashes containing return strokes. Statistical analysis of video and current data clearly reveals that the time duration of flashes containing initial-stage currents and return strokes is on average 27% longer than that of flashes that only have initial-stage currents. Furthermore, it is important to note that the time duration of the initial-stage current in flashes containing no return strokes is on average 76% longer than that in flashes containing return strokes. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that if the time duration of the initial-stage current in a flash is long enough, resulting in large charge transfer, then there is less probability of having return strokes following it. The 32 current-recorded flashes contain a total of 156 return strokes, with an average multiplicity of 4.875. It is worth mentioning that during one decade, 1992-2001, the CN Tower current derivative measurement system only recorded 478 return strokes, demonstrating that the number of return strokes recorded at the tower within about 84 min is close to one third of those recorded at the tower during one decade. This finding clearly shows the great value and rarity of the presented extensive lightning current derivative data. Only one of the 32 current-recorded flashes is proved to be positive with a single return stroke. Based on current records, out of a total of 124 inter-stroke time intervals, 94% are found to be within 200 ms, with an overall inter-stroke time average of 68.1 ms. The maximum inter-stroke time recorded during this storm is 726.3 ms, the longest ever recorded at the CN Tower.

Right-side-stretched multifractal spectra indicate small-worldness in networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oświȩcimka, Paweł; Livi, Lorenzo; Drożdż, Stanisław

2018-04-01

Complex network formalism allows to explain the behavior of systems composed by interacting units. Several prototypical network models have been proposed thus far. The small-world model has been introduced to mimic two important features observed in real-world systems: i) local clustering and ii) the possibility to move across a network by means of long-range links that significantly reduce the characteristic path length. A natural question would be whether there exist several ;types; of small-world architectures, giving rise to a continuum of models with properties (partially) shared with other models belonging to different network families. Here, we take advantage of the interplay between network theory and time series analysis and propose to investigate small-world signatures in complex networks by analyzing multifractal characteristics of time series generated from such networks. In particular, we suggest that the degree of right-sided asymmetry of multifractal spectra is linked with the degree of small-worldness present in networks. This claim is supported by numerical simulations performed on several parametric models, including prototypical small-world networks, scale-free, fractal and also real-world networks describing protein molecules. Our results also indicate that right-sided asymmetry emerges with the presence of the following topological properties: low edge density, low average shortest path, and high clustering coefficient.

A contemporary review of seafood allergy.

PubMed

Hajeb, Parvaneh; Selamat, Jinap

2012-06-01

Seafood is common item in the world diet; Asian countries have the highest rates of fish consumption in the world, which is higher than world average. Several studies have been conducted on the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of seafood allergy in different countries, and some of the fish and seafood allergens unique to those regions have been characterized. Review on published data showed that seafood allergy is very ubiquitous in some regions of the world. Fish and shellfish are the most common seafood that cause adverse allergic reactions among nations; the symptoms ranged from oral allergy syndromes to urticaria and anaphylaxis. The major identified allergens are parvalbumin in fish and tropomyosin in shellfish. Nevertheless, such studies are lacking from some regions with high fish and seafood consumption. Furthermore, the published data are mostly from small groups of populations, which large-scale epidemiological studies need to be performed.

Scale-free networks which are highly assortative but not small world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Small, Michael; Xu, Xiaoke; Zhou, Jin; Zhang, Jie; Sun, Junfeng; Lu, Jun-An

2008-06-01

Uncorrelated scale-free networks are necessarily small world (and, in fact, smaller than small world). Nonetheless, for scale-free networks with correlated degree distribution this may not be the case. We describe a mechanism to generate highly assortative scale-free networks which are not small world. We show that it is possible to generate scale-free networks, with arbitrary degree exponent γ>1 , such that the average distance between nodes in the network is large. To achieve this, nodes are not added to the network with preferential attachment. Instead, we greedily optimize the assortativity of the network. The network generation scheme is physically motivated, and we show that the recently observed global network of Avian Influenza outbreaks arises through a mechanism similar to what we present here. Simulations show that this network exhibits very similar physical characteristics (very high assortativity, clustering, and path length).

Powering of an HTS dipole insert-magnet operated standalone in helium gas between 5 and 85 K

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Nugteren, J.; Kirby, G.; Bajas, H.; Bajko, M.; Ballarino, A.; Bottura, L.; Chiuchiolo, A.; Contat, P.-A.; Dhallé, M.; Durante, M.; Fazilleau, P.; Fontalva, A.; Gao, P.; Goldacker, W.; ten Kate, H.; Kario, A.; Lahtinen, V.; Lorin, C.; Markelov, A.; Mazet, J.; Molodyk, A.; Murtomäki, J.; Long, N.; Perez, J.; Petrone, C.; Pincot, F.; de Rijk, G.; Rossi, L.; Russenschuck, S.; Ruuskanen, J.; Schmitz, K.; Stenvall, A.; Usoskin, A.; Willering, G.; Yang, Y.

2018-06-01

This paper describes the standalone magnet cold testing of the high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet Feather-M2.1-2. This magnet was constructed within the European funded FP7-EUCARD2 collaboration to test a Roebel type HTS cable, and is one of the first high temperature superconducting dipole magnets in the world. The magnet was operated in forced flow helium gas with temperatures ranging between 5 and 85 K. During the tests a magnetic dipole field of 3.1 T was reached inside the aperture at a current of 6.5 kA and a temperature of 5.7 K. These values are in agreement with the self-field critical current of the used SuperOx cable assembled with Sunam tapes (low-performance batch), thereby confirming that no degradation occurred during winding, impregnation, assembly and cool-down of the magnet. The magnet was quenched many tens of times by ramping over the critical current and no degradation nor training was evident. During the tests the voltage over the coil was monitored in the microvolt range. An inductive cancellation wire was used to remove the inductive component, thereby significantly reducing noise levels. Close to the quench current, drift was detected both in temperature and voltage over the coil. This drifting happens in a time scale of minutes and is a clear indication that the magnet has reached its limit. All quenches happened approximately at the same average electric field and thus none of the quenches occurred unexpectedly.

Hydrodynamics of a bathymetrically complex fringing coral reef embayment: Wave climate, in situ observations, and wave prediction

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hoeke, R.; Storlazzi, C.; Ridd, P.

2011-01-01

This paper examines the relationship between offshore wave climate and nearshore waves and currents at Hanalei Bay, Hawaii, an exposed bay fringed with coral reefs. Analysis of both offshore in situ data and numerical hindcasts identify the predominance of two wave conditions: a mode associated with local trade winds and an episodic pattern associated with distant source long-period swells. Analysis of 10 months of in situ data within the bay show that current velocities are up to an order of magnitude greater during long-period swell episodes than during trade wind conditions; overall circulation patterns are also fundamentally different. The current velocities are highly correlated with incident wave heights during the swell episodes, while they are not during the modal trade wind conditions. A phase-averaged wave model was implemented with the dual purpose of evaluating application to bathymetrically complex fringing reefs and to examine the propagation of waves into the nearshore in an effort to better explain the large difference in observed circulation during the two offshore wave conditions. The prediction quality of this model was poorer for the episodic condition than for the lower-energy mode, however, it illustrated how longer-period swells are preferentially refracted into the bay and make available far more nearshore wave energy to drive currents compared to waves during modal conditions. The highly episodic circulation, the nature of which is dependent on complex refraction patterns of episodic, long-period swell has implications for flushing and sediment dynamics for incised fringing reef-lined bays that characterize many high islands at low latitudes around the world.

International energy indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossi, E., Jr.

1981-12-01

Data on international energy indicators were tabulated and graphically represented. The following data are presented: world crude oil production, 1974 to October 1981; OPEC crude oil productive capacity; world crude oil and refined product inventory levels, 1975 to October, 1981; oil consumption in OECD countries, 1975 to October 1981; USSR crude oil production and exports, 1975 to October 1981; free world and US nuclear electricity generation, 1973 to December, 1981 and current capacity. Specific US data presented are: US domestic oil supply, 1977 to June, 1981; US gross imports of crude oil and products, 1973 to October, 1981; landed cost of Saudi crude current and 1974 dollars; US coal trade, 1975 to September, 1981; US natural gas trade, 1981; and energy/GNP ratio.

The World Database for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery: Update.

PubMed

Louis, James St; Kirklin, James

2018-05-01

Following several years of planning and design, the World Database for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery (WDPCHS) went live on January 1, 2017. The first operational year of this valuable database has proven very successful. As of February 28, 2018, more than 4,500 patients have been submitted from 39 centers; participation currently spans 19 countries over 6 continents, with 120 more centers in the enrollment pipeline. This update, the first in a series, is intended to provide World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery members and others who care for children with congenital heart disease with a broad overview of current progress and ongoing activities surrounding the WDPCHS.

Scientific excellence in biomedical research: new opportunities and challenges in Kazakhstan.

PubMed

Zhumadilov, Zhaxybay

2012-04-01

Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world by territory, having a land mass similar to Western Europe and a population of 16 million. Oil and gas reserves rank it among the top 10 countries in the world and have fueled an average growth rate of 9.4% as well as a doubling of Kazakhstan's per capita gross domestic product since 2001. A strategic goal of Kazakhstan is to diversify the economy in other sectors such as construction, heavy machinery, agriculture, tourism, and education.

Annual ambient atmospheric mercury speciation measurement from Longjing, a rural site in Taiwan.

PubMed

Fang, Guor-Cheng; Lo, Chaur-Tsuen; Cho, Meng-Hsien; Zhuang, Yuan-Jie; Tsai, Kai-Hsiang; Huang, Chao-Yang; Xiao, You-Fu

2017-08-01

The main purpose of this study was to monitor ambient air particulates and mercury species [RGM, Hg(p), GEM and total mercury] concentrations and dry depositions over rural area at Longjing in central Taiwan during October 2014 to September 2015. In addition, passive air sampler and knife-edge surrogate surface samplers were used to collect the ambient air mercury species concentrations and dry depositions, respectively, in this study. Moreover, direct mercury analyzer was directly used to detect the mercury Hg(p) and RGM concentrations. The result indicated that: (1) The average highest RGM, Hg(p), GEM and total mercury concentrations, and dry depositions were observed in January, prevailing dust storm occurred in winter season was the possible major reason responsible for the above findings. (2) The highest average RGM, Hg(p), GEM and total mercury concentrations, dry depositions and velocities were occurred in winter. This is because that China is the largest atmospheric mercury (Hg) emitter in the world. Its Hg emissions and environmental impacts need to be evaluated. (3) The results indicated that the total mercury ratios of Kaohsiung to that of this study were 5.61. This is because that Kaohsiung has the largest industry density (~60 %) in Taiwan. (4) the USA showed average lower mercury species concentrations when compared to those of the other world countries. The average ratios of China/USA values were 89, 76 and 160 for total mercury, RGM and Hg(p), respectively, during the years of 2000-2012.

Digital ac monitor

DOEpatents

Hart, George W.; Kern, Jr., Edward C.

1987-06-09

An apparatus and method is provided for monitoring a plurality of analog ac circuits by sampling the voltage and current waveform in each circuit at predetermined intervals, converting the analog current and voltage samples to digital format, storing the digitized current and voltage samples and using the stored digitized current and voltage samples to calculate a variety of electrical parameters; some of which are derived from the stored samples. The non-derived quantities are repeatedly calculated and stored over many separate cycles then averaged. The derived quantities are then calculated at the end of an averaging period. This produces a more accurate reading, especially when averaging over a period in which the power varies over a wide dynamic range. Frequency is measured by timing three cycles of the voltage waveform using the upward zero crossover point as a starting point for a digital timer.

Digital ac monitor

DOEpatents

Hart, G.W.; Kern, E.C. Jr.

1987-06-09

An apparatus and method is provided for monitoring a plurality of analog ac circuits by sampling the voltage and current waveform in each circuit at predetermined intervals, converting the analog current and voltage samples to digital format, storing the digitized current and voltage samples and using the stored digitized current and voltage samples to calculate a variety of electrical parameters; some of which are derived from the stored samples. The non-derived quantities are repeatedly calculated and stored over many separate cycles then averaged. The derived quantities are then calculated at the end of an averaging period. This produces a more accurate reading, especially when averaging over a period in which the power varies over a wide dynamic range. Frequency is measured by timing three cycles of the voltage waveform using the upward zero crossover point as a starting point for a digital timer. 24 figs.

Time-averaged current analysis of a thunderstorm using ground-based measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Driscoll, Kevin T.; Blakeslee, Richard J.; Koshak, William J.

1994-05-01

The amount of upward current provided to the ionosphere by a thunderstorm that appeared over the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on July 11, 1978, is reexamined using an analytic equation that describes a bipolar thunderstorm's current contribution to the global circuit in terms of its generator current, lightning currents, the altitudes of its charge centers, and the conductivity profile of the atmosphere. Ground-based measurements, which were obtained from a network of electric field mills positioned at various distances from the thunderstorm, were used to characterize the electrical activity inside the thundercloud. The location of the lightning discharges, the type of lightning, and the amount of charge neutralized during this thunderstorm were computed through a least squares inversion of the measured changes in the electric fields following each lightning discharge. These measurements provided the information necessary to implement the analytic equation, and consequently, a time-averaged estimate of this thunderstorm's current contribution to the global circuit was calculated. From these results the amount of conduction current supplied to the ionosphere by this small thunderstorm was computed to be less than 25% of the time-averaged generator current that flowed between the two vertically displaced charge centers.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and their association with cancer mortality among workers in one automobile foundry factory.

PubMed

Wang, Lihua; Weng, Shaofan; Wen, Sheng; Shi, Tingming; Sun, Gangtao; Zeng, Yuyu; Qi, Cheng; Chen, Weihong

2013-01-15

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) have been reported as possible carcinogenic hazards to humans. However, epidemiological studies on their carcinogenic roles are limited. The current study was designed to determine the concentrations and characteristics of PCDD/Fs and evaluate their association with cancer mortality in exposed workers in one automobile foundry factory. PCDD/F levels in factory and surrounding environment were analyzed through air and settling dust sampling. The cancer mortalities among workers in this foundry factory were calculated using data from a cohort study. The results showed that the PCDD/F concentrations of air in workplace ranged 0.36-2.25 pg World Health Organization-Toxic Equivalent (WHO-TEQ) Nm(-3) (average 1.01 pg WHO-TEQ Nm(-3)), which were 1.16-7.26 times higher than those outside the factory. The PCDD/F concentrations of settling dust in the workplace ranged 3.34-18.64 pg WHO-TEQ g(-1) (average 8.25 pg WHO-TEQ g(-1)), which were lower than those just outside the factory (average 16.13 pg WHO-TEQ g(-1)). Furthermore, a cohort study of workers in this factory with average follow-up of 24.52 years showed that cancer was the leading cause of death, with significant elevated mortality (standardized mortality ratio (SMR)=1.70, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.35-2.13) among workers, when compared with Chinese national mortality. The cancer mortality among front-line workers was increased significantly (adjusted relative risk (RR)=1.73, 95% CI: 1.14-2.60), particularly among melting and casting workers, when compared with that among assistant workers. Our results indicated that there was a dose-response relationship between PCDD/F exposure and cancer mortality among foundry workers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On-road PM2.5 pollution exposure in multiple transport microenvironments in Delhi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goel, Rahul; Gani, Shahzad; Guttikunda, Sarath K.; Wilson, Daniel; Tiwari, Geetam

2015-12-01

PM2.5 pollution in Delhi averaged 150 μg/m3 from 2012 through 2014, which is 15 times higher than the World Health Organization's annual-average guideline. For this setting, we present on-road exposure of PM2.5 concentrations for 11 transport microenvironments along a fixed 8.3-km arterial route, during morning rush hour. The data collection was carried out using a portable TSI DustTrak DRX 8433 aerosol monitor, between January and May (2014). The monthly-average measured ambient concentrations varied from 130 μg/m3 to 250 μg/m3. The on-road PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the ambient measurements by an average of 40% for walking, 10% for cycle, 30% for motorised two wheeler (2W), 30% for open-windowed (OW) car, 30% for auto rickshaw, 20% for air-conditioned as well as for OW bus, 20% for bus stop, and 30% for underground metro station. On the other hand, concentrations were lower by 50% inside air-conditioned (AC) car and 20% inside the metro rail carriage. We find that the percent exceedance for open modes (cycle, auto rickshaw, 2W, OW car, and OW bus) reduces non-linearly with increasing ambient concentration. The reduction is steeper at concentrations lower than 150 μg/m3 than at higher concentrations. After accounting for air inhalation rate and speed of travel, PM2.5 mass uptake per kilometer during cycling is 9 times of AC car, the mode with the lowest exposure. At current level of concentrations, an hour of cycling in Delhi during morning rush-hour period results in PM2.5 dose which is 40% higher than an entire-day dose in cities like Tokyo, London, and New York, where ambient concentrations range from 10 to 20 μg/m3.

A Model for the Stop Planning and Timetables of Customized Buses

PubMed Central

Yang, Yang

2017-01-01

Customized buses (CBs) are a new mode of public transportation and an important part of diversified public transportation, providing advanced, attractive and user-led service. The operational activity of a CB is planned by aggregating space–time demand and similar passenger travel demands. Based on an analysis of domestic and international research and the current development of CBs in China and considering passenger travel data, this paper studies the problems associated with the operation of CBs, such as stop selection, line planning and timetables, and establishes a model for the stop planning and timetables of CBs. The improved immune genetic algorithm (IIGA) is used to solve the model with regard to the following: 1) multiple population design and transport operator design, 2) memory library design, 3) mutation probability design and crossover probability design, and 4) the fitness calculation of the gene segment. Finally, a real-world example in Beijing is calculated, and the model and solution results are verified and analyzed. The results illustrate that the IIGA solves the model and is superior to the basic genetic algorithm in terms of the number of passengers, travel time, average passenger travel time, average passenger arrival time ahead of schedule and total line revenue. This study covers the key issues involving operational systems of CBs, combines theoretical research and empirical analysis, and provides a theoretical foundation for the planning and operation of CBs. PMID:28056041

A Model for the Stop Planning and Timetables of Customized Buses.

PubMed

Ma, Jihui; Zhao, Yanqing; Yang, Yang; Liu, Tao; Guan, Wei; Wang, Jiao; Song, Cuiying

2017-01-01

Customized buses (CBs) are a new mode of public transportation and an important part of diversified public transportation, providing advanced, attractive and user-led service. The operational activity of a CB is planned by aggregating space-time demand and similar passenger travel demands. Based on an analysis of domestic and international research and the current development of CBs in China and considering passenger travel data, this paper studies the problems associated with the operation of CBs, such as stop selection, line planning and timetables, and establishes a model for the stop planning and timetables of CBs. The improved immune genetic algorithm (IIGA) is used to solve the model with regard to the following: 1) multiple population design and transport operator design, 2) memory library design, 3) mutation probability design and crossover probability design, and 4) the fitness calculation of the gene segment. Finally, a real-world example in Beijing is calculated, and the model and solution results are verified and analyzed. The results illustrate that the IIGA solves the model and is superior to the basic genetic algorithm in terms of the number of passengers, travel time, average passenger travel time, average passenger arrival time ahead of schedule and total line revenue. This study covers the key issues involving operational systems of CBs, combines theoretical research and empirical analysis, and provides a theoretical foundation for the planning and operation of CBs.

Religious Burning as a Major Source of Atmospheric Fine Aerosols in Lhasa city in the Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, S.; Cui, Y.; Zhixuan, B.; Bian, J.; McKeen, S. A.; Watts, L. A.; Ciciora, S. J.; Gao, R. S.

2017-12-01

Measurements of aerosols in the Tibetan Plateau are scant due to the high altitude and harsh climate. To bridge this gap, we carried out the first field measurements of aerosol size distributions in Lhasa, a major city in the Tibetan Plateau that has been experiencing fast urbanization and reduced air quality. Aerosol number size distribution was continuously measured using an optical particle size spectrometer near the center of Lhasa city during the Asian summer monsoon season in 2016. The mass concentration of fine particles was modulated by boundary layer dynamics, with an average of 11 µg m-3 and the high values exceeding 50 µg m-3 during religious holidays. Daytime high concentration coincided with the religious burning of biomass and incense in the temples during morning hours, which produced heavy smoke. Factor analysis revealed a factor that is likely induced by religious burning. The factor contributed 34% of the campaign-average fine particle mass and the contribution reached up to 80% during religious holidays. The mass size distribution of aerosols produced from religious burnings peaked at 500 nm, indicating that these particles could efficiently decrease visibility and promote health risk. Because of its significance, our results suggest that more attention should be paid to religious burning, a currently under-studied source, in the Tibetan Plateau and in other regions of the world where religious burnings are frequently practiced.

Cold periods and coronary events: an analysis of populations worldwide

PubMed Central

Barnett, A.; Dobson, A.; McElduff, P.; Salomaa, V.; Kuulasmaa, K.; Sans, S.; t for

2005-01-01

Study objective: To investigate the association between cold periods and coronary events, and the extent to which climate, sex, age, and previous cardiac history increase risk during cold weather. Design: A hierarchical analyses of populations from the World Health Organisation's MONICA project. Setting: Twenty four populations from the WHO's MONICA project, a 21 country register made between 1980 and 1995. Patients: People aged 35–64 years who had a coronary event. Main results: Daily rates of coronary events were correlated with the average temperature over the current and previous three days. In cold periods, coronary event rates increased more in populations living in warm climates than in populations living in cold climates, where the increases were slight. The increase was greater in women than in men, especially in warm climates. On average, the odds for women having an event in the cold periods were 1.07 higher than the odds for men (95% posterior interval: 1.03 to 1.11). The effects of cold periods were similar in those with and without a history of a previous myocardial infarction. Conclusions: Rates of coronary events increased during comparatively cold periods, especially in warm climates. The smaller increases in colder climates suggest that some events in warmer climates are preventable. It is suggested that people living in warm climates, particularly women, should keep warm on cold days. PMID:15965137

Experimental Assessment of NOx Emissions from 73 Euro 6 Diesel Passenger Cars.

PubMed

Yang, Liuhanzi; Franco, Vicente; Mock, Peter; Kolke, Reinhard; Zhang, Shaojun; Wu, Ye; German, John

2015-12-15

Controlling nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from diesel passenger cars during real-world driving is one of the major technical challenges facing diesel auto manufacturers. Three main technologies are available for this purpose: exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), lean-burn NOx traps (LNT), and selective catalytic reduction (SCR). Seventy-three Euro 6 diesel passenger cars (8 EGR only, 40 LNT, and 25 SCR) were tested on a chassis dynamometer over both the European type-approval cycle (NEDC, cold engine start) and the more realistic Worldwide harmonized light-duty test cycle (WLTC version 2.0, hot start) between 2012 and 2015. Most vehicles met the legislative limit of 0.08 g/km of NOx over NEDC (average emission factors by technology: EGR-only 0.07 g/km, LNT 0.04 g/km, and SCR 0.05 g/km), but the average emission factors rose dramatically over WLTC (EGR-only 0.17 g/km, LNT 0.21 g/km, and SCR 0.13 g/km). Five LNT-equipped vehicles exhibited very poor performance over the WLTC, emitting 7-15 times the regulated limit. These results illustrate how diesel NOx emissions are not properly controlled under the current, NEDC-based homologation framework. The upcoming real-driving emissions (RDE) regulation, which mandates an additional on-road emissions test for EU type approvals, could be a step in the right direction to address this problem.

Ghost-Free APT Analysis of Perturbative QCD Observables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirkov, Dmitry V.

The review of the essence and of application of recently devised ghost-free Analytic Perturbation Theory (APT) is presented. First, we discuss the main intrinsic problem of perturbative QCD - ghost singularities and with the resume of its resolving within the APT. By examples for diverse energy and momentum transfer values we show the property of better convergence for the APT modified QCD expansion. It is shown that in the APT analysis the three-loop contribution (sim alpha_s^3) is numerically inessential. This gives raise a hope for practical solution of the well-known problem of non-satisfactory convergence of QFT perturbation series due to its asymptotic nature. Our next result is that a usual perturbative analysis of time-like events is not adequate at sleq 2 GeV2. In particular, this relates to tau decay. Then, for the "high" (f=5) region it is shown that the common NLO, NLLA perturbation approximation widely used there (at 10 GeV lesssimsqrt{s}lesssim 170 GeV) yields a systematic theoretic negative error of a couple per cent level for the bar {alpha}_s^2 values. This results in a conclusion that the bar α_s(M^2_Z) value averaged over the f=5 data appreciably differs < bar {alpha}_s(M^2_Z)rangle_{f=5} simeq 0.124 from the currently popular "world average" (=0.118 ).

Mapping the governance of human resources for health in Serbia.

PubMed

Santric Milicevic, Milena; Vasic, Milena; Edwards, Matt

2015-12-01

This article maps the current governance of human resources for health (HRH) in relation to universal health coverage in Serbia since the health sector reforms in 2003. The study adapts the Global Health Workforce Alliance/World Health Organization four-dimensional framework of HRH in the context of governance for universal health coverage. A set of proxies was established for the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of HRH. Analysis of official HRH documentation from relevant institutions and reports were used to construct a governance profile of HRH for Serbia from the introduction of the reform in 2003 up to 2013. The results show that all Serbian districts (except Sremski) surpass the availability threshold of 59.4 skilled midwives, nurses and physicians per 10,000 inhabitants. District accessibility of health workforce greatly differed from the national average with variances from +26% to -34%. Analysis of national averages and patient load of general practitioners showed variances among districts by ± 21%, whilst hospital discharges per 100 inhabitants deviated between +52% and -45%. Pre-service and in-service education of health workforce is regulated and accredited. However, through its efforts to respond to population health needs Serbia lacks a single coordinating entity to take overall responsibility for effective and coordinated HRH planning, management and development within the broader landscape of health strategy development. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Radon Concentration And Dose Assessment In Well Water Samples From Karbala Governorate Of Iraq

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Alawy, I. T.; Hasan, A. A.

2018-05-01

There are numerous studies around the world about radon concentrations and their risks to the health of human beings. One of the most important social characteristics is the use of water wells for irrigation, which is a major source of water pollution with radon gas. In the present study, six well water samples have been collected from different locations in Karbala governorate to investigate radon concentration level using CR-39 technique. The maximum value 4.112±2.0Bq/L was in Al-Hurr (Al-Qarih Al-Easariah) region, and the lowest concentration of radon was in Hay Ramadan region which is 2.156±1.4Bq/L, with an average value 2.84±1.65Bq/L. The highest result of annual effective dose (AED) was in Al-Hurr (Al-Qarih Al-Easariah) region which is equal to 15.00±3.9μSv/y, while the minimum was recorded in Hay Ramadan 7.86±2.8μSv/y, with an average value 10.35±3.1μSv/y. The current results have shown that the radon concentrations in well water samples are lower than the recommended limit 11.1Bq/L and the annual effective dose in these samples are lower than the permissible international limit 1mSv/y.

Measurement of the top quark mass using single top quark events in proton-proton collisions at $$\\sqrt{s}= 8$$ TeV

DOE PAGES

Sirunyan, A. M.; Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; ...

2017-05-29

In this study, a measurement of the top quark mass is reported in events containing a single top quark produced via the electroweak t channel. The analysis is performed using data from proton-proton collisions collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb –1. Top quark candidates are reconstructed from their decay to a W boson and a b quark, with the W boson decaying leptonically to a muon and a neutrino. The final state signature and kinematic properties of single top quark events in themore » t channel are used to enhance the purity of the sample, suppressing the contribution from top quark pair production. A fit to the invariant mass distribution of reconstructed top quark candidates yields a value of the top quark mass of 172.95 ± 0.77(stat) +0.97 –0.93(syst)GeV. This result is in agreement with the current world average, and represents the first measurement of the top quark mass in event topologies not dominated by top quark pair production, therefore contributing to future averages with partially uncorrelated systematic uncertainties and a largely uncorrelated statistical uncertainty.« less

Effects of correlations and fees in random multiplicative environments: Implications for portfolio management.

PubMed

Alper, Ofer; Somekh-Baruch, Anelia; Pirvandy, Oz; Schaps, Malka; Yaari, Gur

2017-08-01

Geometric Brownian motion (GBM) is frequently used to model price dynamics of financial assets, and a weighted average of multiple GBMs is commonly used to model a financial portfolio. Diversified portfolios can lead to an increased exponential growth compared to a single asset by effectively reducing the effective noise. The sum of GBM processes is no longer a log-normal process and has a complex statistical properties. The nonergodicity of the weighted average process results in constant degradation of the exponential growth from the ensemble average toward the time average. One way to stay closer to the ensemble average is to maintain a balanced portfolio: keep the relative weights of the different assets constant over time. To keep these proportions constant, whenever assets values change, it is necessary to rebalance their relative weights, exposing this strategy to fees (transaction costs). Two strategies that were suggested in the past for cases that involve fees are rebalance the portfolio periodically and rebalance it in a partial way. In this paper, we study these two strategies in the presence of correlations and fees. We show that using periodic and partial rebalance strategies, it is possible to maintain a steady exponential growth while minimizing the losses due to fees. We also demonstrate how these redistribution strategies perform in a phenomenal way on real-world market data, despite the fact that not all assumptions of the model hold in these real-world systems. Our results have important implications for stochastic dynamics in general and to portfolio management in particular, as we show that there is a superior alternative to the common buy-and-hold strategy, even in the presence of correlations and fees.

Effects of correlations and fees in random multiplicative environments: Implications for portfolio management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alper, Ofer; Somekh-Baruch, Anelia; Pirvandy, Oz; Schaps, Malka; Yaari, Gur

2017-08-01

Geometric Brownian motion (GBM) is frequently used to model price dynamics of financial assets, and a weighted average of multiple GBMs is commonly used to model a financial portfolio. Diversified portfolios can lead to an increased exponential growth compared to a single asset by effectively reducing the effective noise. The sum of GBM processes is no longer a log-normal process and has a complex statistical properties. The nonergodicity of the weighted average process results in constant degradation of the exponential growth from the ensemble average toward the time average. One way to stay closer to the ensemble average is to maintain a balanced portfolio: keep the relative weights of the different assets constant over time. To keep these proportions constant, whenever assets values change, it is necessary to rebalance their relative weights, exposing this strategy to fees (transaction costs). Two strategies that were suggested in the past for cases that involve fees are rebalance the portfolio periodically and rebalance it in a partial way. In this paper, we study these two strategies in the presence of correlations and fees. We show that using periodic and partial rebalance strategies, it is possible to maintain a steady exponential growth while minimizing the losses due to fees. We also demonstrate how these redistribution strategies perform in a phenomenal way on real-world market data, despite the fact that not all assumptions of the model hold in these real-world systems. Our results have important implications for stochastic dynamics in general and to portfolio management in particular, as we show that there is a superior alternative to the common buy-and-hold strategy, even in the presence of correlations and fees.

The contribution of total suspended solids to the Bay of Biscay by Cantabrian Rivers (northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prego, Ricardo; Boi, Paola; Cobelo-García, Antonio

2008-07-01

Information of suspended sediments fluxes of small rivers to the coastal zone is sparse, and this is particularly so for the Iberian Rivers. To help address this shortage of information, the relationship between fluvial discharge and total suspended solids (TSS) for the main 28 Cantabrian Rivers using data from 22 years monitoring by the COCA network has been analysed, and their particulate material fluxes to the Bay of Biscay coasts have been quantified. The Cantabrian Fluvial System (drainage basin area of 20,333 km 2) may be considered as a quasi-homogeneous fluvial system with an average discharge of 561 m - 3 s - 1 and average loads of 35 kg TSS s - 1 with rivers showing similar average yields of 56 t km - 2 a - 1 . The average TSS contribution is 1.2 ± 0.2 10 9 kg a - 1 . This seaward flux of sediment is dispersed along the entire North Iberian coast and is rather modest (25% of the total supply) in comparison with the output from the French Rivers to the Bay of Biscay. The TSS loads of Cantabrian Rivers indicate they are similar to world upland rivers and those of other parts of Northern Europe according to Milliman and Syvistki [Milliman and Syvistki, 1992. Geomorphic/tectonic control of sediment discharge to the ocean: the importance of small mountainous rivers. Journal of Geology, 100: 525-544] and Milliman [Milliman, 2001. Delivery and fate of fluvial water and sediment to the sea: a marine geologist's view of European rivers. Scientia Marina, 65: 121-132]. Although their TSS flux is practically negligible (13,000 times lower) when compared to the world average flux, they provide a good example of the role of small Atlantic temperate rivers.

Estimating dead wood during national forest inventories: a review of inventory methodologies and suggestions for harmonization

Treesearch

Christopher W. Woodall; Jacques Rondeux; Pieter J. Verkerk; Goran Stahl

2009-01-01

Efforts to assess forest ecosystem carbon stocks, biodiversity, and fire hazards have spurred the need for comprehensive assessments of forest ecosystem dead wood (DW) attributes around the world. Currently, information regarding the prevalence, status, and methods of DW inventories occurring in the world?s forested landscapes is scattered. The goal of this study is to...

Open WorldCat and Its Impact on Academic Libraries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El-Sherbini, Magda

2007-01-01

This paper analyzes librarians' reactions to the Open OCLC WorldCat. A detailed survey was sent to ARL libraries to explore what, if anything, the libraries are currently doing to prepare for these changes and how they plan to cope with the probability of having all their records open to the whole world. Survey findings indicate that most of the…

The Digital Natives Are Restless: Inspiring a New Generation of Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rudi, Alan

2012-01-01

The current crop of "digital natives"--kids born into a world of modern technology--has been immersed in a world of video games, computers, digital music players, and cell phones from an early age. Shaped by the Internet, Google searches, and instant messaging, they can't imagine life without technology. Theirs is a vastly different world from…

Bridging the Divide--Seeing Mathematics in the World through Dynamic Geometry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Hatice; Monaghan, John

2011-01-01

In TMA, Oldknow (2009, "TEAMAT", 28, 180-195) called for ways to unlock students' skills so that they increase learning about the world of mathematics and the objects in the world around them. This article examines one way in which we may unlock the student skills. We are currently exploring the potential for students to "see" mathematics in the…

Religion and World Order: How Are They Related?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mische, Patricia M.

1997-01-01

The role of spirituality in the rise and fall of civilizations is discussed in the context of three viewpoints about the timeframe of current global systems being transformed: (1) a 50-year timeframe (post-World War II world order); (2) a 500-year timeframe (rise of nation-states); and (3) a 10,000-year timeframe (rise of agriculture and systems…

The Comparison of a Thematic versus Regional Approach to Teaching a World Geography Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Korson, Cadey; Kusek, Weronika

2016-01-01

The benefits of a regional or thematic approach to the study and presentation of world geography have long been debated. The goal to not reimagine these debates or to promote one approach over another; the aim is to explore how world geography courses are currently being taught in American universities. By polling and sharing information about…

Research on Social Work Practice in Egypt and the Arab World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Megahead, Hamido A.

2017-01-01

This article aims at introducing the research on social work practice in Egypt and the Arab World as a thematic topic. It has started with the essence of the current Arab World and its definition. Social work practice and models of social work intervention in this specific region have been described in terms of its specific and topographic nature.…

Global assessment of human losses due to earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Silva, Vitor; Jaiswal, Kishor; Weatherill, Graeme; Crowley, Helen

2014-01-01

Current studies have demonstrated a sharp increase in human losses due to earthquakes. These alarming levels of casualties suggest the need for large-scale investment in seismic risk mitigation, which, in turn, requires an adequate understanding of the extent of the losses, and location of the most affected regions. Recent developments in global and uniform datasets such as instrumental and historical earthquake catalogues, population spatial distribution and country-based vulnerability functions, have opened an unprecedented possibility for a reliable assessment of earthquake consequences at a global scale. In this study, a uniform probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) model was employed to derive a set of global seismic hazard curves, using the open-source software OpenQuake for seismic hazard and risk analysis. These results were combined with a collection of empirical fatality vulnerability functions and a population dataset to calculate average annual human losses at the country level. The results from this study highlight the regions/countries in the world with a higher seismic risk, and thus where risk reduction measures should be prioritized.

Maximum Likelihood Analysis in the PEN Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehman, Martin

2013-10-01

The experimental determination of the π+ -->e+ ν (γ) decay branching ratio currently provides the most accurate test of lepton universality. The PEN experiment at PSI, Switzerland, aims to improve the present world average experimental precision of 3 . 3 ×10-3 to 5 ×10-4 using a stopped beam approach. During runs in 2008-10, PEN has acquired over 2 ×107 πe 2 events. The experiment includes active beam detectors (degrader, mini TPC, target), central MWPC tracking with plastic scintillator hodoscopes, and a spherical pure CsI electromagnetic shower calorimeter. The final branching ratio will be calculated using a maximum likelihood analysis. This analysis assigns each event a probability for 5 processes (π+ -->e+ ν , π+ -->μ+ ν , decay-in-flight, pile-up, and hadronic events) using Monte Carlo verified probability distribution functions of our observables (energies, times, etc). A progress report on the PEN maximum likelihood analysis will be presented. Work supported by NSF grant PHY-0970013.

Do infants find snakes aversive? Infants' physiological responses to "fear-relevant" stimuli.

PubMed

Thrasher, Cat; LoBue, Vanessa

2016-02-01

In the current research, we sought to measure infants' physiological responses to snakes-one of the world's most widely feared stimuli-to examine whether they find snakes aversive or merely attention grabbing. Using a similar method to DeLoache and LoBue (Developmental Science, 2009, Vol. 12, pp. 201-207), 6- to 9-month-olds watched a series of multimodal (both auditory and visual) stimuli: a video of a snake (fear-relevant) or an elephant (non-fear-relevant) paired with either a fearful or happy auditory track. We measured physiological responses to the pairs of stimuli, including startle magnitude, latency to startle, and heart rate. Results suggest that snakes capture infants' attention; infants showed the fastest startle responses and lowest average heart rate to the snakes, especially when paired with a fearful voice. Unexpectedly, they also showed significantly reduced startle magnitude during this same snake video plus fearful voice combination. The results are discussed with respect to theoretical perspectives on fear acquisition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2008 GEM Modeling Challenge: Metrics Study of the Dst Index in Physics-Based Magnetosphere and Ring Current Models and in Statistical and Analytic Specifications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rastaetter, L.; Kuznetsova, M.; Hesse, M.; Pulkkinen, A.; Glocer, A.; Yu, Y.; Meng, X.; Raeder, J.; Wiltberger, M.; Welling, D.;

Statistical analysis of cascading failures in power grids

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

Chertkov, Michael; Pfitzner, Rene; Turitsyn, Konstantin

2010-12-01

We introduce a new microscopic model of cascading failures in transmission power grids. This model accounts for automatic response of the grid to load fluctuations that take place on the scale of minutes, when optimum power flow adjustments and load shedding controls are unavailable. We describe extreme events, caused by load fluctuations, which cause cascading failures of loads, generators and lines. Our model is quasi-static in the causal, discrete time and sequential resolution of individual failures. The model, in its simplest realization based on the Directed Current description of the power flow problem, is tested on three standard IEEE systemsmore » consisting of 30, 39 and 118 buses. Our statistical analysis suggests a straightforward classification of cascading and islanding phases in terms of the ratios between average number of removed loads, generators and links. The analysis also demonstrates sensitivity to variations in line capacities. Future research challenges in modeling and control of cascading outages over real-world power networks are discussed.« less

Critical interactionism: an upstream-downstream approach to health care reform.

PubMed

Martins, Diane Cocozza; Burbank, Patricia M

2011-01-01

Currently, per capita health care expenditures in the United States are more than 20% higher than any other country in the world and more than twice the average expenditure for European countries, yet the United States ranks 37th in life expectancy. Clearly, the health care system is not succeeding in improving the health of the US population with its focus on illness care for individuals. A new theoretical approach, critical interactionism, combines symbolic interactionism and critical social theory to provide a guide for addressing health care problems from both an upstream and downstream approach. Concepts of meaning from symbolic interactionism and emancipation from critical perspective move across system levels to inform and reform health care for individuals, organizations, and societies. This provides a powerful approach for health care reform, moving back and forth between the micro and macro levels. Areas of application to nursing practice with several examples (patients with obesity; patients who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender; workplace bullying and errors), nursing education, and research are also discussed.

Integrating stochastic time-dependent travel speed in solution methods for the dynamic dial-a-ride problem.

PubMed

Schilde, M; Doerner, K F; Hartl, R F

2014-10-01

In urban areas, logistic transportation operations often run into problems because travel speeds change, depending on the current traffic situation. If not accounted for, time-dependent and stochastic travel speeds frequently lead to missed time windows and thus poorer service. Especially in the case of passenger transportation, it often leads to excessive passenger ride times as well. Therefore, time-dependent and stochastic influences on travel speeds are relevant for finding feasible and reliable solutions. This study considers the effect of exploiting statistical information available about historical accidents, using stochastic solution approaches for the dynamic dial-a-ride problem (dynamic DARP). The authors propose two pairs of metaheuristic solution approaches, each consisting of a deterministic method (average time-dependent travel speeds for planning) and its corresponding stochastic version (exploiting stochastic information while planning). The results, using test instances with up to 762 requests based on a real-world road network, show that in certain conditions, exploiting stochastic information about travel speeds leads to significant improvements over deterministic approaches.

Recombinant snakebite antivenoms: A cost-competitive solution to a neglected tropical disease?

PubMed

Laustsen, Andreas H; Johansen, Kristoffer H; Engmark, Mikael; Andersen, Mikael R

2017-02-01

Snakebite envenoming is a major public health burden in tropical parts of the developing world. In sub-Saharan Africa, neglect has led to a scarcity of antivenoms threatening the lives and limbs of snakebite victims. Technological advances within antivenom are warranted, but should be evaluated not only on their possible therapeutic impact, but also on their cost-competitiveness. Recombinant antivenoms based on oligoclonal mixtures of human IgG antibodies produced by CHO cell cultivation may be the key to obtaining better snakebite envenoming therapies. Based on industry data, the cost of treatment for a snakebite envenoming with a recombinant antivenom is estimated to be in the range USD 60-250 for the Final Drug Product. One of the effective antivenoms (SAIMR Snake Polyvalent Antivenom from the South African Vaccine Producers) currently on the market has been reported to have a wholesale price of USD 640 per treatment for an average snakebite. Recombinant antivenoms may therefore in the future be a cost-competitive alternative to existing serum-based antivenoms.

Recombinant snakebite antivenoms: A cost-competitive solution to a neglected tropical disease?

PubMed Central

Johansen, Kristoffer H.; Engmark, Mikael; Andersen, Mikael R.

2017-01-01

Snakebite envenoming is a major public health burden in tropical parts of the developing world. In sub-Saharan Africa, neglect has led to a scarcity of antivenoms threatening the lives and limbs of snakebite victims. Technological advances within antivenom are warranted, but should be evaluated not only on their possible therapeutic impact, but also on their cost-competitiveness. Recombinant antivenoms based on oligoclonal mixtures of human IgG antibodies produced by CHO cell cultivation may be the key to obtaining better snakebite envenoming therapies. Based on industry data, the cost of treatment for a snakebite envenoming with a recombinant antivenom is estimated to be in the range USD 60–250 for the Final Drug Product. One of the effective antivenoms (SAIMR Snake Polyvalent Antivenom from the South African Vaccine Producers) currently on the market has been reported to have a wholesale price of USD 640 per treatment for an average snakebite. Recombinant antivenoms may therefore in the future be a cost-competitive alternative to existing serum-based antivenoms. PMID:28158193

Materials flow of indium in the United States in 2008 and 2009

USGS Publications Warehouse

Goonan, Thomas G.

2012-01-01

Indium is a material that has many applications. It is used by anyone who watches television or views a computer screen. It is found in solar energy arrays and in soldering applications that are required to be lead free. In 2009, about 550 metric tons (t) of indium metal was produced from primary sources world-wide; it was estimated that the United States consumed about 110 t of indium metal (20 percent of world primary production). However, when imports of consumer products that contain indium are considered, the United States consumed about 200 t of indium (36 percent of world primary production). When one considers the recovery from the low-efficiency sputtering process that coats indium-tin oxide onto glass and other surfaces, the recycling rate (within the manufacturing process that uses indium-tin oxide in flat panel displays approaches 36 percent. However, indium recovery from old scrap generated from end-of-life consumer products is not sufficiently economic to add significantly to secondary production. Between 1988 and 2010, indium prices averaged $381 per kilogram (in constant 2000 dollars). However, prices have been quite volatile (deviating from the average of $381 per kilogram by ±$199 per kilogram, a 52 percent difference from the average), reflecting short-term disequilibrium of supply and demand but also responsiveness of supply to demand. The dynamics of zinc smelting govern the primary supply of indium because indium is a byproduct of zinc smelting. Secondary indium supply, which accounts for about one-half of total indium supply, is governed by indium prices and technological advances in recovery. Indium demand is expected to grow because the number and volume of cutting edge technology applications that depend on indium are expected to grow.

Development of a high average current polarized electron source with long cathode operational lifetime

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

C. K. Sinclair; P. A. Adderley; B. M. Dunham

Substantially more than half of the electromagnetic nuclear physics experiments conducted at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Laboratory) require highly polarized electron beams, often at high average current. Spin-polarized electrons are produced by photoemission from various GaAs-based semiconductor photocathodes, using circularly polarized laser light with photon energy slightly larger than the semiconductor band gap. The photocathodes are prepared by activation of the clean semiconductor surface to negative electron affinity using cesium and oxidation. Historically, in many laboratories worldwide, these photocathodes have had short operational lifetimes at high average current, and havemore » often deteriorated fairly quickly in ultrahigh vacuum even without electron beam delivery. At Jefferson Lab, we have developed a polarized electron source in which the photocathodes degrade exceptionally slowly without electron emission, and in which ion back bombardment is the predominant mechanism limiting the operational lifetime of the cathodes during electron emission. We have reproducibly obtained cathode 1/e dark lifetimes over two years, and 1/e charge density and charge lifetimes during electron beam delivery of over 2?105???C/cm2 and 200 C, respectively. This source is able to support uninterrupted high average current polarized beam delivery to three experimental halls simultaneously for many months at a time. Many of the techniques we report here are directly applicable to the development of GaAs photoemission electron guns to deliver high average current, high brightness unpolarized beams.« less

Active cooling of pulse compression diffraction gratings for high energy, high average power ultrafast lasers

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

Alessi, David A.; Rosso, Paul A.; Nguyen, Hoang T.

Laser energy absorption and subsequent heat removal from diffraction gratings in chirped pulse compressors poses a significant challenge in high repetition rate, high peak power laser development. In order to understand the average power limitations, we have modeled the time-resolved thermo-mechanical properties of current and advanced diffraction gratings. We have also developed and demonstrated a technique of actively cooling Petawatt scale, gold compressor gratings to operate at 600W of average power - a 15x increase over the highest average power petawatt laser currently in operation. As a result, combining this technique with low absorption multilayer dielectric gratings developed in ourmore » group would enable pulse compressors for petawatt peak power lasers operating at average powers well above 40kW.« less

Active cooling of pulse compression diffraction gratings for high energy, high average power ultrafast lasers

DOE PAGES

Alessi, David A.; Rosso, Paul A.; Nguyen, Hoang T.; ...

2016-12-26

Laser energy absorption and subsequent heat removal from diffraction gratings in chirped pulse compressors poses a significant challenge in high repetition rate, high peak power laser development. In order to understand the average power limitations, we have modeled the time-resolved thermo-mechanical properties of current and advanced diffraction gratings. We have also developed and demonstrated a technique of actively cooling Petawatt scale, gold compressor gratings to operate at 600W of average power - a 15x increase over the highest average power petawatt laser currently in operation. As a result, combining this technique with low absorption multilayer dielectric gratings developed in ourmore » group would enable pulse compressors for petawatt peak power lasers operating at average powers well above 40kW.« less

Why do vulnerability cycles matter in financial networks?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Thiago Christiano; Tabak, Benjamin Miranda; Guerra, Solange Maria

2017-04-01

We compare two widely employed models that estimate systemic risk: DebtRank and Differential DebtRank. We show that not only network cyclicality but also the average vulnerability of banks are essential concepts that contribute to widening the gap in the systemic risk estimates of both approaches. We find that systemic risk estimates are the same whenever the network has no cycles. However, in case the network presents cyclicality, then we need to inspect the average vulnerability of banks to estimate the underestimation gap. We find that the gap is small regardless of the cyclicality of the network when its average vulnerability is large. In contrast, the observed gap follows a quadratic behavior when the average vulnerability is small or intermediate. We show results using an econometric exercise and draw guidelines both on artificial and real-world financial networks.

Characterization of advanced electric propulsion systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ray, P. K.

1982-01-01

Characteristics of several advanced electric propulsion systems are evaluated and compared. The propulsion systems studied are mass driver, rail gun, MPD thruster, hydrogen free radical thruster and mercury electron bombardment ion engine. These are characterized by specific impulse, overall efficiency, input power, average thrust, power to average thrust ratio and average thrust to dry weight ratio. Several important physical characteristics such as dry system mass, accelerator length, bore size and current pulse requirement are also evaluated in appropriate cases. Only the ion engine can operate at a specific impulse beyond 2000 sec. Rail gun, MPD thruster and free radical thruster are currently characterized by low efficiencies. Mass drivers have the best performance characteristics in terms of overall efficiency, power to average thrust ratio and average thrust to dry weight ratio. But, they can only operate at low specific impulses due to large power requirements and are extremely long due to limitations of driving current. Mercury ion engines have the next best performance characteristics while operating at higher specific impulses. It is concluded that, overall, ion engines have somewhat better characteristics as compared to the other electric propulsion systems.

Acceptance of Illness after Surgery in Patients with Breast Cancer in the Early Postoperative Period.

PubMed

Nowicki, Andrzej; Krzemkowska, Elżbieta; Rhone, Piotr

2015-11-01

The breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, both in Poland and in the world. Consequences entail a disruption in the physical, psychological and social functioning. The aim of the study was to assess the acceptance of illness by patients treated for breast cancer in the early postoperative period. The research was conducted on the group of 100 consecutive patients aged 32-80 years (median 56 years) who underwent surgery for breast cancer in the Centre of Oncology in Bydgoszcz w 2014 roku. 68 of women had mastectomy, 32 of women had conservative surgery. Polling was conducted in the early period after surgery. The original questionnaire containing closed questions the scale of acceptance of the disease (AIS) as well as mental adaptation to cancer (Mini-Mac) was used in the study. 38% of patients had high acceptance of the disease, 48% average and 14% had low acceptance. Patients after conservative surgery had a higher average values for the mental strategies to cope with the disease, for the fighting spirit (23.1), helplessness and hopelessness (13.5), positive revaluation (23), the patients had a lower average (16.5) in the strategy to absorb anxiety. Patients after conservative surgery had a higher average for constructive style (2.6) but lower for destructive style (1.5). High level of mental coping with the disease was observed in 53%of patients with constructive style and 4% of patients with destructive style. While, a low level of mental coping with the dosease was observed in 5% of patients with constructive style and 46% of patients with destructive style. Almost half of women after mastectomy or conservative surgery had an average acceptance of the disease. The disease was accepted best by educated women living in the cities, white-collar workers with a good economic situation. The following factors were affected the better management of the disease, in order: age, education, current occupation and economic situation, while the type of surgery did not affect better management. More than half of women, regardless of the type of surgery reflected the high level of constructive style.

Situationally driven local navigation for mobile robots. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Slack, Marc Glenn

1990-01-01

For mobile robots to autonomously accommodate dynamically changing navigation tasks in a goal-directed fashion, they must employ navigation plans. Any such plan must provide for the robot's immediate and continuous need for guidance while remaining highly flexible in order to avoid costly computation each time the robot's perception of the world changes. Due to the world's uncertainties, creation and maintenance of navigation plans cannot involve arbitrarily complex processes, as the robot's perception of the world will be in constant flux, requiring modifications to be made quickly if they are to be of any use. This work introduces navigation templates (NaT's) which are building blocks for the construction and maintenance of rough navigation plans which capture the relationship that objects in the world have to the current navigation task. By encoding only the critical relationship between the objects in the world and the navigation task, a NaT-based navigation plan is highly flexible; allowing new constraints to be quickly incorporated into the plan and existing constraints to be updated or deleted from the plan. To satisfy the robot's need for immediate local guidance, the NaT's forming the current navigation plan are passed to a transformation function. The transformation function analyzes the plan with respect to the robot's current location to quickly determine (a few times a second) the locally preferred direction of travel. This dissertation presents NaT's and the transformation function as well as the needed support systems to demonstrate the usefulness of the technique for controlling the actions of a mobile robot operating in an uncertain world.

The scientific research potential of virtual worlds.

PubMed

Bainbridge, William Sims

2007-07-27

Online virtual worlds, electronic environments where people can work and interact in a somewhat realistic manner, have great potential as sites for research in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences, as well as in human-centered computer science. This article uses Second Life and World of Warcraft as two very different examples of current virtual worlds that foreshadow future developments, introducing a number of research methodologies that scientists are now exploring, including formal experimentation, observational ethnography, and quantitative analysis of economic markets or social networks.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan: country profile.

PubMed

Newcomb, L

1986-07-01

This discussion of Pakistan covers the following: regions and cities; the dominant Islamic sect; ethnicity and language; population growth; housing; households and families; the labor force; and information sources. Currently, Pakistan is in a period of transition. In 1985 Pakistan was ruled under martial law. On December 30, 1985, martial law was lifted, and a modified version of the 1973 constitution was adopted, restoring fundamental rights of Pakistanis and powers of the judiciary. Pakistan is divided into 4 provinces. The last census recorded the 1981 population at 84.3 million, nearly double the 1961 figure of 42.9 million. By 1983, the population had tripled to nearly 93 million, making Pakistan the world's 9th most populous country, although in area it ranked 34th. Its 3% annual growth rate placed it among the world's fastest growing countries. Although created as a sanctuary for followers of Islam, Pakistan suffers from periodic disputes between the members of Islam's various sects. Generally, ethnic groups and the use of their native languages divide along provincial boundaries. Punjabi, the native tongue of Pakistan's predominant group, is spoken in 48% of all Pakistani households and in about 80% of Punjab and Islamabad Federal Territory households. Pakistan's sixth 5-year plan recognizes the need for an additional 1.4 million dwellings to adequately house the current population. In 1980, Pakistan's 12.6 million housing units averaged nearly 7 people per unit. The ideal Pakistani household is an extended family consisting of a married couple, their sons, and their sons' wives and children. At the death of the patriarch, each son establishes a separate household. Marriage solidifes all social relationships. Single adults have little place in society. Women, although protected by law, often are deprived of their legal rights where marriage is concerned. Only 23% of the population aged 10 or older has completed primary school. Fewer than 1% hold university degree. Little hard data are available about Pakistan's labor force. In 1985, the economically active population was estimated at 28.6 million compared with 10.4 million in 1951. Unemployment rose from an estimated 3.1% in 1981 to 3.5% in 1983. The Pakistani economy is currently on the upswing.

Surf zone fauna of Ecuadorian sandy beaches: Spatial and temporal patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marin Jarrin, J. R.; Vanaverbeke, J.; Fockedey, N.; de Grunauer, M. del P. Cornejo R.; Dominguez-Granda, L.

2017-02-01

Sandy beaches and their surf zones are the most common open shoreline habitat; however, surf zone fauna in the tropics is one of the least studied communities in the world. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that Ecuadorian surf zone hyperbenthos (invertebrates and vertebrates 1-5 mm in length) and epibenthos (fish and macrocrustaceans > 5 mm in length) vary among beaches and seasons. Therefore, the fauna was described and related to environmental variables. In addition, indicator taxa were identified. The hyperbenthos was divided into holo- and mero-hyperbenthos depending on whether taxa were present during their entire life or only early life stages, respectively. Samples were collected at eight different beaches during the wet, dry and intermediate or transitional season during the low spring tide, from 1999 to 2000, using a hyperbenthic sledge and epibenthic trawl. A total of 447 hyperbenthic and 30 epibenthic taxa were collected, most of which were crustaceans and fish, respectively (52 and 60% of taxa). The mysid, Metamysidopsis sp., was the most abundant member of the hyperbenthos (average ± SD: 14,425 ± 40,039 ind. 100 m- 2, present in 92% of samples collected), and the swimming blue crab, Areneus mexicanus, was the most encountered species among the epibenthos (1 ± 1 ind. 100 m- 2, 97% of samples collected). All faunal groups varied among beaches, while the holo-hyperbenthos and less strongly the epibenthos varied among seasons. Variability in the three faunas among beaches, distance from the continental slope and the Guayas estuarine system, and beach water physical characteristics were all strongly correlated suggesting adjacent habitats can influence surf zone biological communities and water physical characteristics. Seasonal effects were related to changes in water physical characteristics among seasons potentially reflecting changes in oceanic currents. These results suggest that, similarly to other beaches around the world, Ecuadorian surf zone fauna is abundant, diverse, and vary among beaches and, for some faunal groups, among seasons, potentially due to the influence of adjacent habitats and seasonal changes in oceanic currents.

Body mass estimates of hominin fossils and the evolution of human body size.

PubMed

Grabowski, Mark; Hatala, Kevin G; Jungers, William L; Richmond, Brian G

2015-08-01

Body size directly influences an animal's place in the natural world, including its energy requirements, home range size, relative brain size, locomotion, diet, life history, and behavior. Thus, an understanding of the biology of extinct organisms, including species in our own lineage, requires accurate estimates of body size. Since the last major review of hominin body size based on postcranial morphology over 20 years ago, new fossils have been discovered, species attributions have been clarified, and methods improved. Here, we present the most comprehensive and thoroughly vetted set of individual fossil hominin body mass predictions to date, and estimation equations based on a large (n = 220) sample of modern humans of known body masses. We also present species averages based exclusively on fossils with reliable taxonomic attributions, estimates of species averages by sex, and a metric for levels of sexual dimorphism. Finally, we identify individual traits that appear to be the most reliable for mass estimation for each fossil species, for use when only one measurement is available for a fossil. Our results show that many early hominins were generally smaller-bodied than previously thought, an outcome likely due to larger estimates in previous studies resulting from the use of large-bodied modern human reference samples. Current evidence indicates that modern human-like large size first appeared by at least 3-3.5 Ma in some Australopithecus afarensis individuals. Our results challenge an evolutionary model arguing that body size increased from Australopithecus to early Homo. Instead, we show that there is no reliable evidence that the body size of non-erectus early Homo differed from that of australopiths, and confirm that Homo erectus evolved larger average body size than earlier hominins. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Current nitrogen management status and measures to improve the intensive wheat-maize system in China.

PubMed

Cui, Zhenling; Chen, Xinping; Zhang, Fusuo

2010-01-01

During the first 35 years of the Green Revolution, Chinese grain production doubled, greatly reducing food shortage, but at a high environmental cost. In 2005, China alone accounted for around 38% of the global N fertilizer consumption, but the average on-farm N recovery efficiency for the intensive wheat-maize system was only 16-18%. Current on-farm N use efficiency (NUE) is much lower than in research trials or on-farm in other parts of the world, which is attributed to the overuse of chemical N fertilizer, ignorance of the contribution of N from the environment and the soil, poor synchrony between crop N demand and N supply, failure to bring crop yield potential into full play, and an inability to effectively inhibit N losses. Based on such analyses, some measures to drastically improve NUE in China are suggested, such as managing various N sources to limit the total applied N, spatially and temporally matching rhizospheric N supply with N demand in high-yielding crops, reducing N losses, and simultaneously achieving high-yield and high NUE. Maximizing crop yields using a minimum of N inputs requires an integrated, interdisciplinary cooperation and major scientific and practical breakthroughs involving plant nutrition, soil science, agronomy, and breeding.

Palliative management of malignant upper urinary tract obstruction

PubMed Central

Sountoulides, P; Mykoniatis, I; Dimasis, N

2014-01-01

Malignancies of the genitourinary tract are diagnosed with increased frequency compared to the past. Currently prostate and bladder cancer account for the majority of urological malignancies. While for prostate cancer recent developments in the management of local and metastatic disease are likely to lead the majority of patients to either cure from the disease or to longer survival time, for bladder cancer advanced disease will unfortunately lead to death within months. However, the common clinical scenario in both prostate and bladder cancer includes, in high incidence, upper urinary tract obstruction in the advanced stages of these malignancies. This coupled with the fact that average life expectancy in the western world is increasing, will result in a significant patient population with either advanced, non-curable disease or with problems related to the received therapeutic surgical or medical interventions. There is no doubt that in both circumstances the room and role of palliation therapy is increasing. The care of patients with advanced urologic malignancies requires a multi-disciplinary effort from physicians of many specialties under the guiding role of the treating urologist. This review focuses on currently available palliative therapeutic options for upper urinary tract obstruction in the setting of patients with advanced malignancies of the urinary tract, as recently significant advancements have been witnessed in this field. PMID:26052193

Palliative management of malignant upper urinary tract obstruction.

PubMed

Sountoulides, P; Mykoniatis, I; Dimasis, N

2014-01-01

Malignancies of the genitourinary tract are diagnosed with increased frequency compared to the past. Currently prostate and bladder cancer account for the majority of urological malignancies. While for prostate cancer recent developments in the management of local and metastatic disease are likely to lead the majority of patients to either cure from the disease or to longer survival time, for bladder cancer advanced disease will unfortunately lead to death within months. However, the common clinical scenario in both prostate and bladder cancer includes, in high incidence, upper urinary tract obstruction in the advanced stages of these malignancies. This coupled with the fact that average life expectancy in the western world is increasing, will result in a significant patient population with either advanced, non-curable disease or with problems related to the received therapeutic surgical or medical interventions. There is no doubt that in both circumstances the room and role of palliation therapy is increasing. The care of patients with advanced urologic malignancies requires a multi-disciplinary effort from physicians of many specialties under the guiding role of the treating urologist. This review focuses on currently available palliative therapeutic options for upper urinary tract obstruction in the setting of patients with advanced malignancies of the urinary tract, as recently significant advancements have been witnessed in this field.

A Perspective on Research on Dishonesty: Limited External Validity Due to the Lack of Possibility of Self-Selection in Experimental Designs.

PubMed

Houdek, Petr

2017-01-01

The aim of this perspective article is to show that current experimental evidence on factors influencing dishonesty has limited external validity. Most of experimental studies is built on random assignments, in which control/experimental groups of subjects face varied sizes of the expected reward for behaving dishonestly, opportunities for cheating, means of rationalizing dishonest behavior etc., and mean groups' reactions are observed. The studies have internal validity in assessing the causal influence of these and other factors, but they lack external validity in organizational, market and other environments. If people can opt into or out of diverse real-world environments, an experiment aimed at studying factors influencing real-life degree of dishonesty should permit for such an option. The behavior of such self-selected groups of marginal subjects would probably contain a larger level of (non)deception than the behavior of average people. The article warns that there are not many studies that would enable self-selection or sorting of participants into varying environments, and that limits current knowledge of the extent and dynamics of dishonest and fraudulent behavior. The article focuses on suggestions how to improve dishonesty research, especially how to avoid the experimenter demand bias.

A Perspective on Research on Dishonesty: Limited External Validity Due to the Lack of Possibility of Self-Selection in Experimental Designs

PubMed Central

Houdek, Petr

2017-01-01

The aim of this perspective article is to show that current experimental evidence on factors influencing dishonesty has limited external validity. Most of experimental studies is built on random assignments, in which control/experimental groups of subjects face varied sizes of the expected reward for behaving dishonestly, opportunities for cheating, means of rationalizing dishonest behavior etc., and mean groups’ reactions are observed. The studies have internal validity in assessing the causal influence of these and other factors, but they lack external validity in organizational, market and other environments. If people can opt into or out of diverse real-world environments, an experiment aimed at studying factors influencing real-life degree of dishonesty should permit for such an option. The behavior of such self-selected groups of marginal subjects would probably contain a larger level of (non)deception than the behavior of average people. The article warns that there are not many studies that would enable self-selection or sorting of participants into varying environments, and that limits current knowledge of the extent and dynamics of dishonest and fraudulent behavior. The article focuses on suggestions how to improve dishonesty research, especially how to avoid the experimenter demand bias. PMID:28955279

MEAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DATA - U.S HISTORICAL CLIMATOLOGY NETWORK (HCN)

EPA Science Inventory

The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, which includes the World Data Center-A for Atmospheric Trace Gases, is the primary global-change data and information analysis center of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). CDIACs scope includes potentially anything and everything...

Selective Television Viewing: A Limited Possibility.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Signorielli, Nancy

1986-01-01

Indicates that prime-time television presents a remarkably consistent portrayal of the world across program genres and that it offers few scheduling alternatives to avoiding violence-laden adventure programs. Finds that the average viewer has little opportunity to exercise any kind of choice in viewing. (JD)

What's Living in Your World?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Karen; Stiller, John

2005-01-01

The average biotech catalog contains a dizzying array of kits offering tried-and-true protocols in molecular biology and biochemistry. Prepackaged experiences, ranging from DNA fingerprinting to protein purification, are now available to high school students. Although commercial kits designed for education provide excellent hands-on experiences in…

Iceland as a demonstrator for a transition to low carbon economy?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asbjornsson, Einar Jon; Stefansson, Hlynur; Finger, David Christian

2017-04-01

The energy supply in Iceland is quite unique, about 85% of the total primary energy is coming from renewable resources. Nevertheless, the ecological footprint of an average Icelander is with 6.5 worlds, one of the highest worldwide and the energy consumption per capita is about 7 times higher than the European average. Recent developments have shown that there is a great potential to reduce the footprint and develop towards low carbon economy. With its small population, well educated and governed society and clear system boundaries to the outside world, Iceland is a good research laboratory and an ideal demonstrator for a transition towards a low carbon economy. This presentation will outline how several innovative research projects at Reykjavik University could lead Iceland towards a sustainable and low carbon economy. The presentations will conclude with a visionary outlook how Iceland can become a demonstration nation towards a prosperous, low carbon and sustainable economy, helping stabilize global warming at an acceptable level.

Reassessing biases and other uncertainties in sea surface temperature observations measured in situ since 1850: 2. Biases and homogenization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kennedy, J. J.; Rayner, N. A.; Smith, R. O.; Parker, D. E.; Saunby, M.

2011-07-01

Changes in instrumentation and data availability have caused time-varying biases in estimates of global and regional average sea surface temperature. The size of the biases arising from these changes are estimated and their uncertainties evaluated. The estimated biases and their associated uncertainties are largest during the period immediately following the Second World War, reflecting the rapid and incompletely documented changes in shipping and data availability at the time. Adjustments have been applied to reduce these effects in gridded data sets of sea surface temperature and the results are presented as a set of interchangeable realizations. Uncertainties of estimated trends in global and regional average sea surface temperature due to bias adjustments since the Second World War are found to be larger than uncertainties arising from the choice of analysis technique, indicating that this is an important source of uncertainty in analyses of historical sea surface temperatures. Despite this, trends over the twentieth century remain qualitatively consistent.

Impaired reading comprehension and mathematical abilities in male adolescents with average or above general intellectual abilities are associated with comorbid and future psychopathology.

PubMed

Weiser, Mark; Reichenberg, Abraham; Rabinowitz, Jonathan; Nahon, Daniella; Kravitz, Efrat; Lubin, Gad; Knobler, Haim Y; Davidson, Michael; Noy, Shlomo

2007-11-01

Research indicates that persons with learning disorders often suffer from psychopathology. We assessed current and future psychopathology in male adolescents with discrete impairments in reading comprehension (IRC) or arithmetic abilities (IAA) but with average or above-average general intellectual abilities. Subjects were a population-based cohort of 174,994 male adolescents screened by the Israeli Draft Board with average or above-average intellectual abilities but with low scores (8.6th and 10th lowest percentile respectively) on reading or arithmetic tests. They were compared with adolescents who scored in the 10th percentile and above on these tests (comparison group). Relative to the comparison group, male adolescents with IRC, IAA, or IRC and IAA (0.69%), had poorer scores on most behavioral assessments and higher prevalence of current psychopathology: 4.2% (comparison group), 8.0% (IRC), 7.0% (IAA), and 9.8% (IRC and IAA). Adolescents with IRC were also at increased risk for later hospitalization for schizophrenia (hazard ratios = 1.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.3-2.6). Male adolescents with average and above-average general intellectual abilities but with IRC or IAA are more likely to have current and future psychopathology. Impairments in intellectual functioning and abnormal behaviors leading to mental illnesses may share common neurobiological substrates. The results support screening male adolescents with learning disorders for psychopathology.

Alcohol-Related Negative Consequences among Drinkers around the World

PubMed Central

Graham, Kathryn; Bernards, Sharon; Knibbe, Ronald; Kairouz, Sylvia; Kuntche, Sandra; Wilsnack, Sharon C.; Greenfield, Thomas K.; Dietze, Paul; Obot, Isidore; Gmel, Gerhard

2013-01-01

Aims This paper examines (1) gender and country differences in negative consequences related to drinking; (2) relative rates of different consequences; (3) country-level predictors of consequences. Design, setting and participants Multi-level analyses used survey data from the GENACIS collaboration. Measurements Measures included 17 negative consequences grouped into (a) high endorsement acute, (b) personal and (c) social. Country-level measures included average frequency and quantity of drinking, percent current drinkers, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Human Development Index (HDI). Findings Overall, the three groupings of consequences were reported by 44%, 12% and 7% of men and by 31%, 6% and 3% of women, respectively. More men than women endorsed all consequences but gender differences were greatest for consequences associated with chronic drinking and social consequences related to male roles. The highest prevalence of consequences was in Uganda, lowest in Uruguay. Personal and social consequences were more likely in countries with higher usual quantity, fewer current drinkers, and lower scores on GDP and HDI. However, significant interactions with individual-level quantity indicated a stronger relationship between consequences and usual quantity among drinkers in countries with lower quantity, more current drinkers and higher scores on GDP and HDI. Conclusions Both gender and country need to be taken into consideration when assessing adverse drinking consequences. Individual measures of alcohol consumption and country-level variables are associated with experiencing such consequences. Additionally, country-level variables affect the strength of the relationship between usual quantity consumed by individuals and adverse consequences. PMID:21395893

Activity Profiles and Positional Differences of Handball Players During the World Championships in Qatar 2015.

PubMed

Cardinale, Marco; Whiteley, Rodney; Hosny, Ahmed Abdelrahman; Popovic, Nebojsa

2017-08-01

Handball is an Olympic sport played indoors by 6 court players and 1 goalkeeper with rolling substitutions. Limited data exist on elite players competing in a world championship, and virtually no information exists on the evolution of time-motion performance over the course of a long tournament. To analyze time-motion characteristics of elite male handball players of the last world championships, played in Qatar in 2015. 384 handball players from 24 national teams. The athletes were analyzed during 88 matches using a tracking camera system and bespoke software (Prozone Handball v. 1.2, Prozone, Leeds, UK). The average time on court (N = 2505) during the world championships for all players was 36:48 ± 20:27 min. Goalkeepers and left and right wings were on court most of the playing time (GK 43.00 ± 25:59 min; LW 42:02 ± 21:07 min; RW 43:44 ± 21:37 min). The total distance covered during each game (2607.5 ± 1438.4 m) consisted mostly of walking and jogging. The cumulative distance covered during the tournament was 16,313 ± 9423.3 m. Players performed 857.2 ± 445.7 activity changes with a recovery time of 124.3 ± 143 s. The average running pace was 78.2 ± 10.8 m/min. There was no significant difference between high-ranked and lower-ranked teams in terms of distance covered in different locomotion categories. Specific physical conditioning is necessary to maximize performance of handball players and minimize the occurrence of fatigue when performing in long tournaments.

Using chromatogram averaging to improve quantitation of minor impurities.

PubMed

Zawatzky, Kerstin; Lin, Mingxiang; Schafer, Wes; Mao, Bing; Trapp, Oliver; Welch, Christopher J

2016-09-23

Averaging of chromatograms can lead to enhancement of signal to noise ratio (S/N) in proportion to the square root of the number of measurements. Although the general principle has been known for decades, chromatogram averaging is almost never used in current pharmaceutical research. In this study we explore the utility of this approach, showing it to be a simple and easily accessible method for boosting sensitivity for quantification of minor components and trace impurities, where current techniques deliver insufficient S/N. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Land, carbon and water footprints in Taiwan

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

Lee, Yung-Jaan, E-mail: yungjaanlee@gmail.com

The consumer responsibility approach uses footprints as indicators of the total direct and indirect effects of a product or consumption activity. This study used a time-series analysis of three environmental pressures to quantify the total environmental pressures caused by consumption in Taiwan: land footprint, carbon footprint, and water footprint. Land footprint is the pressure from appropriation of biologically productive land and water area. Carbon footprint is the pressure from greenhouse gas emissions. Water footprint is the pressure from freshwater consumption. Conventional carbon footprint is the total CO{sub 2} emitted by a certain activity or the CO{sub 2} accumulation during amore » product life cycle. This definition cannot be used to convert CO{sub 2} emissions into land units. This study responds to the needs of “CO{sub 2} land” in the footprint family by applying the carbon footprint concept used by GFN. The analytical results showed that consumption by the average Taiwan citizen in 2000 required appropriation of 5.39 gha (hectares of land with global-average biological productivity) and 3.63 gha in 2011 in terms of land footprint. The average Taiwan citizen had a carbon footprint of 3.95 gha in 2000 and 5.94 gha in 2011. These results indicate that separately analyzing the land and carbon footprints enables their trends to be compared and appropriate policies and strategies for different sectors to be proposed accordingly. The average Taiwan citizen had a blue water footprint of 801 m{sup 3} in 2000 and 784 m{sup 3} in 2011. By comparison, their respective global averages were 1.23 gha, 2.36 gha and 163 m{sup 3} blue water in 2011, respectively. Overall, Taiwan revealed higher environmental pressures compared to the rest of the world, demonstrating that Taiwan has become a high footprint state and has appropriated environmental resources from other countries. That is, through its imports of products with embodied pressures and its exports, Taiwan has transferred the environmental pressures from consuming goods and services to other parts of the world, which is an environmental injustice. This study examines the time series trend of land, carbon, and water footprints in Taiwan. However, if these analyses can be downscaled to city/county levels, they will be more useful for examining different sustainability performance of local governments in different regions. - Highlights: • This study used a time-series analysis of three environmental pressures to quantify the total environmental pressures caused by consumption in Taiwan: land footprint, carbon footprint and water footprint. • The average Taiwan citizen had a land footprint of 5.39 gha in 2000 and 3.63 gha in 2011. • The average Taiwan citizen had a carbon footprint of 3.95 gha in 2000 and 5.94 gha in 2011. • The average Taiwan citizen had a blue water footprint of 801 m{sup 3} in 2000 and 784 m{sup 3} in 2011. • By comparison, their respective global averages were 1.23 gha, 2.36 gha and 163 m{sup 3} blue water footprint in 2011, respectively. Taiwan revealed higher environmental pressures compared to the rest of the world.« less

Urban climate archipelagos: a new framework for urban impacts on climate

Treesearch

J. Marshall Shepherd; T. Andersen; Chris Strother; A. Horst; L. Bounoua; C. Mitra

2013-01-01

Earth is increasingly an “urbanized” planet. The “World Population Clock” registered a Population of 7,175,309,538 at 8:30 pm (LST) on Oct. 6, 2013. Current and future trends suggest that this population will increasingly reside in cities. Currently, 52 percent of the world population is urban, which means we are a majority “urbanized” society. Figure 1 indicates...

Report of the Proceedings of the Conference on the Future World of Work (St. Louis, Missouri, October 12, 1984).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Pamela F., Ed.; Coady, William T., Ed.

A team of consultants met with personnel from the Vocational Ethics Infusion Project to discuss vocational ethics from the perspectives of the current and future world of work. This activity was undertaken with the goal of defining the domain of vocational ethics. Issues in the first session included whether the future world of work presents an…

A Cognitive-Ecological Approach to Elder Abuse in Five Cultures: Human Rights and Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patterson, Marcus; Malley-Morrison, Kathleen

2006-01-01

The population of the world is aging rapidly?a development that the World Health Organization (2004) has labeled as ?a demographic revolution.? According to its statistics, there are currently 600 million people in the world over the age of 60, a figure that will double by 2025 and double again by 2050. Within this age group, the numbers of the…

Early Child Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: List of Projects with World Bank Support.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

World Bank, Washington, DC. Human Development Network.

In recent years the World Bank, currently the largest single funding source for education and health programs in the world, has put new emphasis on reaching children in the years before they enter school. Despite the acknowledged benefits to be gained from investing in education, schooling in Latin America has failed to keep pace with the…

Evaluating real-world CO2 and NOX emissions for public transit buses using a remote wireless on-board diagnostic (OBD) approach.

PubMed

Yang, Liuhanzi; Zhang, Shaojun; Wu, Ye; Chen, Qizheng; Niu, Tianlin; Huang, Xu; Zhang, Shida; Zhang, Liangjun; Zhou, Yu; Hao, Jiming

2016-11-01

The challenge to mitigate real-world emissions from vehicles calls for powerful in-use compliance supervision. The remote on-board diagnostic (OBD) approach, with wireless data communications, is one of the promising next-generation monitoring methods. We collected second-by-second profiles of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and nitrogen oxides (NO X ) emissions, driving conditions and engine performance for three conventional diesel and three hybrid diesel buses participating in a remote OBD pilot program in Nanjing, China. Our results showed that the average CO 2 emissions for conventional diesel and hybrid diesel buses were 816 ± 83 g km -1 and 627 ± 54 g km -1 , respectively, under a typical driving pattern. An operating mode binning analysis indicated that CO 2 emissions reduction by series-parallel hybrid technology was largely because of the significant benefits of the technology under the modes of low speed and low power demand. However, significantly higher CO 2 emissions were observed for conventional diesel buses during rush hours, higher than 1200 g km -1 . The OBD data suggested no improvement in NO X emission reduction for hybrid buses compared with conventional buses; both were approximately 12 g km -1 because of poor performance of the selective catalyst reduction (SCR) systems in the real world. Speed-dependent functions for real-world CO 2 and NO X emissions were also constructed. The CO 2 emissions of hybrid buses were much less sensitive to the average speed than conventional buses. If the average speed decreased from 20 km h -1 to 10 km h -1 , the estimated CO 2 emission factor for conventional buses would be increased by 34%. Such a change in speed would increase NO X emissions for conventional and hybrid buses by 38% and 56%, respectively. This paper demonstrates the useful features of the remote OBD system and can inform policy makers how to take advantage of these features in monitoring in-use vehicles. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Twitter Seismology: Earthquake Monitoring and Response in a Social World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowden, D. C.; Earle, P. S.; Guy, M.; Smoczyk, G.

2011-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is investigating how the social networking site Twitter, a popular service for sending and receiving short, public, text messages, can augment USGS earthquake response products and the delivery of hazard information. The potential uses of Twitter for earthquake response include broadcasting earthquake alerts, rapidly detecting widely felt events, qualitatively assessing earthquake damage effects, communicating with the public, and participating in post-event collaboration. Several seismic networks and agencies are currently distributing Twitter earthquake alerts including the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (@LastQuake), Natural Resources Canada (@CANADAquakes), and the Indonesian meteorological agency (@infogempabmg); the USGS will soon distribute alerts via the @USGSted and @USGSbigquakes Twitter accounts. Beyond broadcasting alerts, the USGS is investigating how to use tweets that originate near the epicenter to detect and characterize shaking events. This is possible because people begin tweeting immediately after feeling an earthquake, and their short narratives and exclamations are available for analysis within 10's of seconds of the origin time. Using five months of tweets that contain the word "earthquake" and its equivalent in other languages, we generate a tweet-frequency time series. The time series clearly shows large peaks correlated with the origin times of widely felt events. To identify possible earthquakes, we use a simple Short-Term-Average / Long-Term-Average algorithm similar to that commonly used to detect seismic phases. As with most auto-detection algorithms, the parameters can be tuned to catch more or less events at the cost of more or less false triggers. When tuned to a moderate sensitivity, the detector found 48 globally-distributed, confirmed seismic events with only 2 false triggers. A space-shuttle landing and "The Great California ShakeOut" caused the false triggers. This number of detections is very small compared to the 5,175 earthquakes in the USGS PDE global earthquake catalog for the same five month time period, and no accurate location or magnitude can be assigned based on Tweet data alone. However, Twitter earthquake detections are not without merit. The detections are generally caused by widely felt events that are of more immediate interest than those with no human impact. The detections are also fast; about 80% occurred within 2 minutes of the origin time. This is considerably faster than seismographic detections in poorly instrumented regions of the world. The tweets triggering the detections also provided (very) short first-impression narratives from people who experienced the shaking. The USGS will continue investigating how to use Twitter and other forms of social media to augment is current suite of seismographically derived products.

Innovation in weight loss programs: a 3-dimensional virtual-world approach.

PubMed

Johnston, Jeanne D; Massey, Anne P; Devaneaux, Celeste A

2012-09-20

The rising trend in obesity calls for innovative weight loss programs. While behavioral-based face-to-face programs have proven to be the most effective, they are expensive and often inaccessible. Internet or Web-based weight loss programs have expanded reach but may lack qualities critical to weight loss and maintenance such as human interaction, social support, and engagement. In contrast to Web technologies, virtual reality technologies offer unique affordances as a behavioral intervention by directly supporting engagement and active learning. To explore the effectiveness of a virtual-world weight loss program relative to weight loss and behavior change. We collected data from overweight people (N = 54) participating in a face-to-face or a virtual-world weight loss program. Weight, body mass index (BMI), percentage weight change, and health behaviors (ie, weight loss self-efficacy, physical activity self-efficacy, self-reported physical activity, and fruit and vegetable consumption) were assessed before and after the 12-week program. Repeated measures analysis was used to detect differences between groups and across time. A total of 54 participants with a BMI of 32 (SD 6.05) kg/m(2)enrolled in the study, with a 13% dropout rate for each group (virtual world group: 5/38; face-to-face group: 3/24). Both groups lost a significant amount of weight (virtual world: 3.9 kg, P < .001; face-to-face: 2.8 kg, P = .002); however, no significant differences between groups were detected (P = .29). Compared with baseline, the virtual-world group lost an average of 4.2%, with 33% (11/33) of the participants losing a clinically significant (≥5%) amount of baseline weight. The face-to-face group lost an average of 3.0% of their baseline weight, with 29% (6/21) losing a clinically significant amount. We detected a significant group × time interaction for moderate (P = .006) and vigorous physical activity (P = .008), physical activity self-efficacy (P = .04), fruit and vegetable consumption (P = .007), and weight loss self-efficacy (P < .001). Post hoc paired t tests indicated significant improvements across all of the variables for the virtual-world group. Overall, these results offer positive early evidence that a virtual-world-based weight loss program can be as effective as a face-to-face one relative to biometric changes. In addition, our results suggest that a virtual world may be a more effective platform to influence meaningful behavioral changes and improve self-efficacy.

Innovation in Weight Loss Programs: A 3-Dimensional Virtual-World Approach

PubMed Central

Massey, Anne P; DeVaneaux, Celeste A

2012-01-01

Background The rising trend in obesity calls for innovative weight loss programs. While behavioral-based face-to-face programs have proven to be the most effective, they are expensive and often inaccessible. Internet or Web-based weight loss programs have expanded reach but may lack qualities critical to weight loss and maintenance such as human interaction, social support, and engagement. In contrast to Web technologies, virtual reality technologies offer unique affordances as a behavioral intervention by directly supporting engagement and active learning. Objective To explore the effectiveness of a virtual-world weight loss program relative to weight loss and behavior change. Methods We collected data from overweight people (N = 54) participating in a face-to-face or a virtual-world weight loss program. Weight, body mass index (BMI), percentage weight change, and health behaviors (ie, weight loss self-efficacy, physical activity self-efficacy, self-reported physical activity, and fruit and vegetable consumption) were assessed before and after the 12-week program. Repeated measures analysis was used to detect differences between groups and across time. Results A total of 54 participants with a BMI of 32 (SD 6.05) kg/m2 enrolled in the study, with a 13% dropout rate for each group (virtual world group: 5/38; face-to-face group: 3/24). Both groups lost a significant amount of weight (virtual world: 3.9 kg, P < .001; face-to-face: 2.8 kg, P = .002); however, no significant differences between groups were detected (P = .29). Compared with baseline, the virtual-world group lost an average of 4.2%, with 33% (11/33) of the participants losing a clinically significant (≥5%) amount of baseline weight. The face-to-face group lost an average of 3.0% of their baseline weight, with 29% (6/21) losing a clinically significant amount. We detected a significant group × time interaction for moderate (P = .006) and vigorous physical activity (P = .008), physical activity self-efficacy (P = .04), fruit and vegetable consumption (P = .007), and weight loss self-efficacy (P < .001). Post hoc paired t tests indicated significant improvements across all of the variables for the virtual-world group. Conclusions Overall, these results offer positive early evidence that a virtual-world-based weight loss program can be as effective as a face-to-face one relative to biometric changes. In addition, our results suggest that a virtual world may be a more effective platform to influence meaningful behavioral changes and improve self-efficacy. PMID:22995535

Rapid prototyping, astronaut training, and experiment control and supervision: distributed virtual worlds for COLUMBUS, the European Space Laboratory module

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freund, Eckhard; Rossmann, Juergen

2002-02-01

In 2004, the European COLUMBUS Module is to be attached to the International Space Station. On the way to the successful planning, deployment and operation of the module, computer generated and animated models are being used to optimize performance. Under contract of the German Space Agency DLR, it has become IRF's task to provide a Projective Virtual Reality System to provide a virtual world built after the planned layout of the COLUMBUS module let astronauts and experimentators practice operational procedures and the handling of experiments. The key features of the system currently being realized comprise the possibility for distributed multi-user access to the virtual lab and the visualization of real-world experiment data. Through the capabilities to share the virtual world, cooperative operations can be practiced easily, but also trainers and trainees can work together more effectively sharing the virtual environment. The capability to visualize real-world data will be used to introduce measured data of experiments into the virtual world online in order to realistically interact with the science-reference model hardware: The user's actions in the virtual world are translated into corresponding changes of the inputs of the science reference model hardware; the measured data is than in turn fed back into the virtual world. During the operation of COLUMBUS, the capabilities for distributed access and the capabilities to visualize measured data through the use of metaphors and augmentations of the virtual world may be used to provide virtual access to the COLUMBUS module, e.g. via Internet. Currently, finishing touches are being put to the system. In November 2001 the virtual world shall be operational, so that besides the design and the key ideas, first experimental results can be presented.

Projecting climate change impacts on the stability of productivities of maize and soybean in terms of probability of concurrent failure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yokozawa, M.; Sakurai, G.; Iizumi, T.

2012-12-01

The globalization of the trade of food commodities has arranged agricultural production areas in the world. Current main production areas of maize and soybean, which are major cereal crops for human food and animal diet, are localized in the United States, China and Brazil. The amounts of production of maize and soybean from these three countries reached 70% and 74% of total production in the world in 2009, respectively. These three countries are hubs for the world food supply network. Simultaneous external disturbances to the localized hubs can make the network system unstable. Here, we projected the changes in stability of the productivities of maize and soybean under climate change. We used a process-based model for evaluating crop yield at a large scale for maize and soybean. The parameters are determined based on the historical agricultural statistics issued by administrative agencies during a period of 1981 to 2006 and a reanalysis data JRA25 provided by Japan Meteorological Agency. We used the climate change scenarios from outputs of MIROC5.0 simulations. We projected the time changes in maize and soybean yields of three countries under four climate change scenarios: RCP 2.6, 4.5, 6.0 and 8.5 for a period of 2010 to 2070. The significant declining trend of maize yield with time was projected in RCP 8.5 for all countries, while the yield appeared to decrease after 2050 in other RCP scenarios. The extents to which maize yield decrease in 2060s compared to the average over 1980 to 2006 were projected to be about 20% for the United States, 10% for Brazil and China in RCP 2.6, 4.5 and 6.0; 30% for the United States and Brazil, 40% for China in RCP 8.5. On the other hand, the projected changes in soybean yield were complicated. The projected extent to which soybean yield decrease in 2060s compared to the average over 1980 to 2006 was about 30% for the United States and Brazil and 20% for China in RCP 2.6. In RCP 4.5 and 6.0, the yield was projected to be constant or slightly increase compared to the average over 1980 to 2006 in Brazil and China, while the yield decrease by 20% in the United States. Yields of all the countries were projected to decrease up to 50% in RCP 8.5. We estimated the probability of concurrent failure, which is defined as function of the extent to which yields of three countries at a year decreased compared to the average yield over the past three years. We applied copula to measure the probability, which describe the relationship among multivariate probability distribution functions. For maize, the probability was projected to significantly increase in RCP 2.6 and 8.5, while that was projected to significantly increase only in RCP8.5 for soybean. The change in the probability was attributed to the increase of yearly yield variation and decreasing trend of yield over time. We extracted the trend component due to the improvements on agricultural technologies, therefore, the yearly variation and time trend in yield examined here can be attributed to climate change. From the sensitivity analyses, we found that the time trends in yields for maize and soybean were brought about mainly by the increase trend of mean temperature during the growing season.

Artificial warming of arctic meadow under pollution stress: Experimental design

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Boreal and arctic terrestrial ecosystems are central to the climate change debate, notably because future warming is expected to be disproportionate as compared to world averages. Likewise, greenhouse gas (GHG) release from terrestrial ecosystems exposed to climate warming is expected to be the larg...

19 CFR 351.511 - Provision of goods or services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... available world market price, the Secretary will average such prices to the extent practicable, making due... normally seek to measure the adequacy of remuneration by comparing the government price to a market..., imported, or auctioned; and other factors affecting comparability. (ii) Actual market-determined price...

19 CFR 351.511 - Provision of goods or services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... available world market price, the Secretary will average such prices to the extent practicable, making due... normally seek to measure the adequacy of remuneration by comparing the government price to a market..., imported, or auctioned; and other factors affecting comparability. (ii) Actual market-determined price...

19 CFR 351.511 - Provision of goods or services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... available world market price, the Secretary will average such prices to the extent practicable, making due... normally seek to measure the adequacy of remuneration by comparing the government price to a market..., imported, or auctioned; and other factors affecting comparability. (ii) Actual market-determined price...

19 CFR 351.511 - Provision of goods or services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... available world market price, the Secretary will average such prices to the extent practicable, making due... normally seek to measure the adequacy of remuneration by comparing the government price to a market..., imported, or auctioned; and other factors affecting comparability. (ii) Actual market-determined price...

19 CFR 351.511 - Provision of goods or services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... available world market price, the Secretary will average such prices to the extent practicable, making due... normally seek to measure the adequacy of remuneration by comparing the government price to a market..., imported, or auctioned; and other factors affecting comparability. (ii) Actual market-determined price...

Teaching Fractions. Educational Practices Series-22

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fazio, Lisa; Siegler, Robert

2011-01-01

Students around the world have difficulties in learning about fractions. In many countries, the average student never gains a conceptual knowledge of fractions. This research guide provides suggestions for teachers and administrators looking to improve fraction instruction in their classrooms or schools. The recommendations are based on a…

Teacher Teams and Computer Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hecht, Jeffrey B.; Roberts, Nicole K.; Schoon, Perry L.; Fansler, Gigi

This research used three groups in a quasi-experimental approach to assess the combined impact of teacher teaming and computer technology on student grade point averages (GPAs). Ninth-grade students' academic achievement in each of four different subject areas (algebra, biology, world cultures, and English) was studied. Two separate treatments…

Language Anxiety among Gifted Learners in Malaysia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamarulzaman, Mohd Hasrul; Ibrahim, Noraniza; Yunus, Melor Md; Ishak, Noriah Mohd

2013-01-01

Language anxiety has significantly sparked great concern in the second and foreign language learning world. Researches have found negative correlation between language anxiety and academic achievement of English language learners; and, most of the studies focus on average school students and tertiary level students. This paper, however, explores…

An Extension to Deng's Entropy in the Open World Assumption with an Application in Sensor Data Fusion.

PubMed

Tang, Yongchuan; Zhou, Deyun; Chan, Felix T S

2018-06-11

Quantification of uncertain degree in the Dempster-Shafer evidence theory (DST) framework with belief entropy is still an open issue, even a blank field for the open world assumption. Currently, the existed uncertainty measures in the DST framework are limited to the closed world where the frame of discernment (FOD) is assumed to be complete. To address this issue, this paper focuses on extending a belief entropy to the open world by considering the uncertain information represented as the FOD and the nonzero mass function of the empty set simultaneously. An extension to Deng’s entropy in the open world assumption (EDEOW) is proposed as a generalization of the Deng’s entropy and it can be degenerated to the Deng entropy in the closed world wherever necessary. In order to test the reasonability and effectiveness of the extended belief entropy, an EDEOW-based information fusion approach is proposed and applied to sensor data fusion under uncertainty circumstance. The experimental results verify the usefulness and applicability of the extended measure as well as the modified sensor data fusion method. In addition, a few open issues still exist in the current work: the necessary properties for a belief entropy in the open world assumption, whether there exists a belief entropy that satisfies all the existed properties, and what is the most proper fusion frame for sensor data fusion under uncertainty.

Semantic guidance of eye movements in real-world scenes

PubMed Central

Hwang, Alex D.; Wang, Hsueh-Cheng; Pomplun, Marc

2011-01-01

The perception of objects in our visual world is influenced by not only their low-level visual features such as shape and color, but also their high-level features such as meaning and semantic relations among them. While it has been shown that low-level features in real-world scenes guide eye movements during scene inspection and search, the influence of semantic similarity among scene objects on eye movements in such situations has not been investigated. Here we study guidance of eye movements by semantic similarity among objects during real-world scene inspection and search. By selecting scenes from the LabelMe object-annotated image database and applying Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) to the object labels, we generated semantic saliency maps of real-world scenes based on the semantic similarity of scene objects to the currently fixated object or the search target. An ROC analysis of these maps as predictors of subjects’ gaze transitions between objects during scene inspection revealed a preference for transitions to objects that were semantically similar to the currently inspected one. Furthermore, during the course of a scene search, subjects’ eye movements were progressively guided toward objects that were semantically similar to the search target. These findings demonstrate substantial semantic guidance of eye movements in real-world scenes and show its importance for understanding real-world attentional control. PMID:21426914

Semantic guidance of eye movements in real-world scenes.

PubMed

Hwang, Alex D; Wang, Hsueh-Cheng; Pomplun, Marc

2011-05-25

The perception of objects in our visual world is influenced by not only their low-level visual features such as shape and color, but also their high-level features such as meaning and semantic relations among them. While it has been shown that low-level features in real-world scenes guide eye movements during scene inspection and search, the influence of semantic similarity among scene objects on eye movements in such situations has not been investigated. Here we study guidance of eye movements by semantic similarity among objects during real-world scene inspection and search. By selecting scenes from the LabelMe object-annotated image database and applying latent semantic analysis (LSA) to the object labels, we generated semantic saliency maps of real-world scenes based on the semantic similarity of scene objects to the currently fixated object or the search target. An ROC analysis of these maps as predictors of subjects' gaze transitions between objects during scene inspection revealed a preference for transitions to objects that were semantically similar to the currently inspected one. Furthermore, during the course of a scene search, subjects' eye movements were progressively guided toward objects that were semantically similar to the search target. These findings demonstrate substantial semantic guidance of eye movements in real-world scenes and show its importance for understanding real-world attentional control. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vietnam seeks help expanding voluntary surgical contraception.

PubMed

Piet-pelon, N J; Sukop, S

1992-07-01

Recent surveys by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health suggest that 60% of married women desire no more children. Yet only 2% of currently married women and less than 1/2 of 1% of their partners use sterilization. Underscoring the high unmet need for effective family planning, over 1 million abortions (legal in Vietnam for the past 20 years) are performed annually. This rate corresponds to 1 abortion for every live birth. The Ministry of Health has recently welcomed a variety of organizations, including AVSC, whose assistance can help expand the country's family planning programs. Sorely lacking in supplies, equipment, and trained personnel, Vietnam has merited priority status--2nd only to China and India--from the UNFPA, which has committed $36 million over the next 4 years. Other organizations currently working in Vietnam include the Population Council, the Population Crisis Committee, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Despite enormous casualties during the war years, and a decrease since the 1970s in average family size from 6 to 4 children, the population of Vietnam has continued to grow rapidly, far outpacing economic growth. Currently 67 million, the population is expected to reach 80 million by the year 2000. The average Vietnamese annual income is only $195, among the lowest in the world. Doi moi, the process of economic reform begun in 1986, coupled with new government incentives for families who have no more than 2 children, is changing the face of family planning in Vietnam. Newly opened pharmacies sell imported birth control pills and condoms (to those who can afford them), while government hospitals and health clinics provide mainly IUDs, in addition to limited supplies of pills and condoms. Throughout the country, some 8000 community-level health centers are staffed by nurse-midwives trained in family planning. Voluntary sterilization is available at the district, provincial, and national hospitals. All married women may obtain family planning services free on request. Vietnam's system of free and universal primary health care, combined with high female literacy rates, has kept the country's infant mortality rate low in comparison to other very poor countries. 39% of currently married Vietnamese women ages 15-49 use contraception. Of those, 85% use the IUD, making it far and away the most widely used modern method. In fact, some women think family planning is synonymous with the IUD. full text

Modelling Inland Flood Events for Hazard Maps in Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, S.; Nzerem, K.; Sassi, M.; Hilberts, A.; Assteerawatt, A.; Tillmanns, S.; Mathur, P.; Mitas, C.; Rafique, F.

2015-12-01

Taiwan experiences significant inland flooding, driven by torrential rainfall from plum rain storms and typhoons during summer and fall. From last 13 to 16 years data, 3,000 buildings were damaged by such floods annually with a loss US$0.41 billion (Water Resources Agency). This long, narrow island nation with mostly hilly/mountainous topography is located at tropical-subtropical zone with annual average typhoon-hit-frequency of 3-4 (Central Weather Bureau) and annual average precipitation of 2502mm (WRA) - 2.5 times of the world's average. Spatial and temporal distributions of countrywide precipitation are uneven, with very high local extreme rainfall intensities. Annual average precipitation is 3000-5000mm in the mountainous regions, 78% of it falls in May-October, and the 1-hour to 3-day maximum rainfall are about 85 to 93% of the world records (WRA). Rivers in Taiwan are short with small upstream areas and high runoff coefficients of watersheds. These rivers have the steepest slopes, the shortest response time with rapid flows, and the largest peak flows as well as specific flood peak discharge (WRA) in the world. RMS has recently developed a countrywide inland flood model for Taiwan, producing hazard return period maps at 1arcsec grid resolution. These can be the basis for evaluating and managing flood risk, its economic impacts, and insured flood losses. The model is initiated with sub-daily historical meteorological forcings and calibrated to daily discharge observations at about 50 river gauges over the period 2003-2013. Simulations of hydrologic processes, via rainfall-runoff and routing models, are subsequently performed based on a 10000 year set of stochastic forcing. The rainfall-runoff model is physically based continuous, semi-distributed model for catchment hydrology. The 1-D wave propagation hydraulic model considers catchment runoff in routing and describes large-scale transport processes along the river. It also accounts for reservoir storage. Major historical flood events have been successfully simulated along with spatial patterns of flows. Comparison of stochastic discharge statistics w.r.t. observed ones from Hydrological Year Books of Taiwan over all recorded years are also in good agreement.

Resource Assessment of Tidal Current Energy in Hangzhou Bay Based on Long Term Measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Feng; Dai, Chun-Ni; Xu, Xue-Feng; Wang, Chuan-Kun; Ye, Qin

2017-05-01

Compared with other marine renewable energy, tidal current energy benefits a lot in high energy density and good predictability. Based on the measured tidal current data in Hangzhou Bay from Nov 2012 to Oct 2012, this paper analysed temporal and spatial changes of tidal current energy in the site. It is the first time measured data of such long time been taken in tidal current energy analysis. Occurrence frequency and duration of the current of different speed are given out in the paper. According to the analysis results, monthly average power density changed a lot in different month, and installation orientation of tidal current turbine significantly affected energy acquisition. Finally, the annual average power density of tidal current energy with coefficient Cp in the site was calculated, and final output of a tidal current plant was also estimated.

Determining average path length and average trapping time on generalized dual dendrimer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ling; Guan, Jihong

2015-03-01

Dendrimer has wide number of important applications in various fields. In some cases during transport or diffusion process, it transforms into its dual structure named Husimi cactus. In this paper, we study the structure properties and trapping problem on a family of generalized dual dendrimer with arbitrary coordination numbers. We first calculate exactly the average path length (APL) of the networks. The APL increases logarithmically with the network size, indicating that the networks exhibit a small-world effect. Then we determine the average trapping time (ATT) of the trapping process in two cases, i.e., the trap placed on a central node and the trap is uniformly distributed in all the nodes of the network. In both case, we obtain explicit solutions of ATT and show how they vary with the networks size. Besides, we also discuss the influence of the coordination number on trapping efficiency.

Arcjet power supply and start circuit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gruber, Robert P. (Inventor)

1988-01-01

A dc power supply for spacecraft arcjet thrusters has an integral automatic starting circuit and an output averaging inductor. The output averaging inductor, in series with the load, provides instantaneous current control, and ignition pulse and an isolated signal proportional to the arc voltage. A pulse width modulated converter, close loop configured, is also incorporated to give fast response output current control.

Armageddon, oil, and the Middle East crisis

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

Walvoord, J.F.; Walvoord, J.E.

This book relates the intricate subject of biblical prophecy to the current crisis in the Middle East. With the development of oil politics, Dr. Walvoord believes a new world government will emerge, centered in the Middle East, which will eclipse the United States and Russia as world powers. The world government will be subjected to catastrophic, divine judgments which precipitate a gigantic world war culminating in Armageddon. Each chapter is devoted to the scriptural explanations of events leading to the second coming of Christ. The result is a prophetic calendar summing up to the countdown to Armageddon. Some of themore » chapter titles include: the Arab oil blackmail; watch Jerusalen; the rising tide of world religion; the coming Middle East peace; the coming world dictator; and Armageddon: the world's death struggle.« less

Security: Individuals and Leviathans

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-05-20

What is human security and how does it fit in the current world order? The United Nations (UN) proposed human security in 1994 at the end of the Cold... world orders established by Western nations, from the Treaty of Westphalia to the UN, suggesting these have been inadequate leviathans. The argument...the globe, when and where they can. However, as the world becomes more multipolar, these Western liberal nations are likely to be restrained from

Breast-Feeding in the Developing World: Current Patterns and Implications for Future Trends. Reports on the World Fertility Survey 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kent, Mary Mederios

This report uses World Fertility Survey data obtained between 1974 and 1978 to investigate the initiation and duration of breast-feeding in 19 developing countries, ten of which are in Asia, eight in Latin America and the Caribbean, and one in sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya). Respondents were asked whether they had fed either their most recently born…

Illustrative Projections of World Populations to the 21st Century. Current Population Reports, Special Studies Series P-23, No. 79.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Maurice J., Ed.; O'Connell, Martin, Ed.

The document presents high, medium, and low projections of the world's population for the year 2000. The objective of the study is to determine demands on natural resources and the environment which will be brought about by changes in the world's population. The document is presented in three major sections. Section I provides an overview of the…

Searching the world wide Web

PubMed

Lawrence; Giles

1998-04-03

The coverage and recency of the major World Wide Web search engines was analyzed, yielding some surprising results. The coverage of any one engine is significantly limited: No single engine indexes more than about one-third of the "indexable Web," the coverage of the six engines investigated varies by an order of magnitude, and combining the results of the six engines yields about 3.5 times as many documents on average as compared with the results from only one engine. Analysis of the overlap between pairs of engines gives an estimated lower bound on the size of the indexable Web of 320 million pages.

Toward Robust Climate Baselining: Objective Assessment of Climate Change Using Widely Distributed Miniaturized Sensors for Accurate World-Wide Geophysical Measurements

DOE R&D Accomplishments Database

Teller, E.; Leith, C.; Canavan, G.; Marion, J.; Wood, L.

2001-11-13

A gap-free, world-wide, ocean-, atmosphere-, and land surface-spanning geophysical data-set of three decades time-duration containing the full set of geophysical parameters characterizing global weather is the scientific perquisite for defining the climate; the generally-accepted definition in the meteorological community is that climate is the 30-year running-average of weather. Until such a tridecadal climate baseline exists, climate change discussions inevitably will have a semi-speculative, vs. a purely scientific, character, as the baseline against which changes are referenced will at least somewhat uncertain.

The Quest for Other Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trimble, Virginia

2004-05-01

In the 4^th century BCE, Epicurus taught that there are an infinite number of worlds like (and unlike) ours, and Aristotle taught that there is only one. Neither hypothesis can currently be falsified. Over the ensuing millennia, the concept of aperoi kosmoi (plurality of worlds, or plenitude) has had four rather different meanings, each with a modern descendent, and all conceivably true. Some interpretations permit direct observation and knowledge of other worlds; some do not. The talk will explore these, ending with a précis of recent searches for planets orbiting other stars.

Re-evaluation of forest biomass carbon stocks and lessons from the world's most carbon-dense forests.

PubMed

Keith, Heather; Mackey, Brendan G; Lindenmayer, David B

2009-07-14

From analysis of published global site biomass data (n = 136) from primary forests, we discovered (i) the world's highest known total biomass carbon density (living plus dead) of 1,867 tonnes carbon per ha (average value from 13 sites) occurs in Australian temperate moist Eucalyptus regnans forests, and (ii) average values of the global site biomass data were higher for sampled temperate moist forests (n = 44) than for sampled tropical (n = 36) and boreal (n = 52) forests (n is number of sites per forest biome). Spatially averaged Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change biome default values are lower than our average site values for temperate moist forests, because the temperate biome contains a diversity of forest ecosystem types that support a range of mature carbon stocks or have a long land-use history with reduced carbon stocks. We describe a framework for identifying forests important for carbon storage based on the factors that account for high biomass carbon densities, including (i) relatively cool temperatures and moderately high precipitation producing rates of fast growth but slow decomposition, and (ii) older forests that are often multiaged and multilayered and have experienced minimal human disturbance. Our results are relevant to negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change regarding forest conservation, management, and restoration. Conserving forests with large stocks of biomass from deforestation and degradation avoids significant carbon emissions to the atmosphere, irrespective of the source country, and should be among allowable mitigation activities. Similarly, management that allows restoration of a forest's carbon sequestration potential also should be recognized.

Re-evaluation of forest biomass carbon stocks and lessons from the world's most carbon-dense forests

PubMed Central

Keith, Heather; Mackey, Brendan G.; Lindenmayer, David B.

2009-01-01

From analysis of published global site biomass data (n = 136) from primary forests, we discovered (i) the world's highest known total biomass carbon density (living plus dead) of 1,867 tonnes carbon per ha (average value from 13 sites) occurs in Australian temperate moist Eucalyptus regnans forests, and (ii) average values of the global site biomass data were higher for sampled temperate moist forests (n = 44) than for sampled tropical (n = 36) and boreal (n = 52) forests (n is number of sites per forest biome). Spatially averaged Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change biome default values are lower than our average site values for temperate moist forests, because the temperate biome contains a diversity of forest ecosystem types that support a range of mature carbon stocks or have a long land-use history with reduced carbon stocks. We describe a framework for identifying forests important for carbon storage based on the factors that account for high biomass carbon densities, including (i) relatively cool temperatures and moderately high precipitation producing rates of fast growth but slow decomposition, and (ii) older forests that are often multiaged and multilayered and have experienced minimal human disturbance. Our results are relevant to negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change regarding forest conservation, management, and restoration. Conserving forests with large stocks of biomass from deforestation and degradation avoids significant carbon emissions to the atmosphere, irrespective of the source country, and should be among allowable mitigation activities. Similarly, management that allows restoration of a forest's carbon sequestration potential also should be recognized. PMID:19553199

Study on characteristics of the aperture-averaging factor of atmospheric scintillation in terrestrial optical wireless communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Hong; Liu, Wen-xing; Zhou, Xue-yun; Zhou, Li-ling; Yu, Long-Kun

2018-02-01

In order to thoroughly understand the characteristics of the aperture-averaging effect of atmospheric scintillation in terrestrial optical wireless communication and provide references for engineering design and performance evaluation of the optics system employed in the atmosphere, we have theoretically deduced the generally analytic expression of the aperture-averaging factor of atmospheric scintillation, and numerically investigated characteristics of the apertureaveraging factor under different propagation conditions. The limitations of the current commonly used approximate calculation formula of aperture-averaging factor have been discussed, and the results showed that the current calculation formula is not applicable for the small receiving aperture under non-uniform turbulence link. Numerical calculation has showed that aperture-averaging factor of atmospheric scintillation presented an exponential decline model for the small receiving aperture under non-uniform turbulent link, and the general expression of the model was given. This model has certain guiding significance for evaluating the aperture-averaging effect in the terrestrial optical wireless communication.

The effects of anti-speeding advertisements on the simulated driving behaviour of young drivers.

PubMed

Plant, Bernice R C; Irwin, Julia D; Chekaluk, Eugene

2017-03-01

Recent examinations of road safety communications, including anti-speeding advertisements, have considered the differential effects of positive and negative emotional appeals on driver behaviour. However, empirical evaluations of anti-speeding messages have largely relied on measures of viewers' reported intentions to comply with speed limits and the self-reported driving behaviour of viewers post-exposure, which might not be indicative of the direct effects that these messages have on real-world driving behaviour. The current research constitutes a first empirical evaluation of different real-world anti-speeding advertisements, as measured by their effects on young drivers' speeding behaviour, using a driving simulator. Licensed drivers (N=116) aged 17-25 years completed driving measures prior to, immediately following, and 7-10days after viewing one of four social marketing advertisements. Results indicated that young drivers' average driving speeds were modestly reduced immediately after they viewed an anti-speeding advertisement that depicted social consequences for speeding and employed a positive emotional appeal when compared to an emotion-matched control advertisement; however, this effect was not found for the anti-speeding advertisement depicting a crash. Interestingly, the results based on reported intentions to reduce speeding predicted the opposite pattern of results. However, there was no evidence that the immediate changes to speeding were maintained 7-10days later, and prompts during Phase 2 did not appear to have an effect. The implications of these findings for road safety advertisements targeting young drivers are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global scale groundwater flow model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutanudjaja, Edwin; de Graaf, Inge; van Beek, Ludovicus; Bierkens, Marc

2013-04-01

As the world's largest accessible source of freshwater, groundwater plays vital role in satisfying the basic needs of human society. It serves as a primary source of drinking water and supplies water for agricultural and industrial activities. During times of drought, groundwater sustains water flows in streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands, and thus supports ecosystem habitat and biodiversity, while its large natural storage provides a buffer against water shortages. Yet, the current generation of global scale hydrological models does not include a groundwater flow component that is a crucial part of the hydrological cycle and allows the simulation of groundwater head dynamics. In this study we present a steady-state MODFLOW (McDonald and Harbaugh, 1988) groundwater model on the global scale at 5 arc-minutes resolution. Aquifer schematization and properties of this groundwater model were developed from available global lithological model (e.g. Dürr et al., 2005; Gleeson et al., 2010; Hartmann and Moorsdorff, in press). We force the groundwtaer model with the output from the large-scale hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB (van Beek et al., 2011), specifically the long term net groundwater recharge and average surface water levels derived from routed channel discharge. We validated calculated groundwater heads and depths with available head observations, from different regions, including the North and South America and Western Europe. Our results show that it is feasible to build a relatively simple global scale groundwater model using existing information, and estimate water table depths within acceptable accuracy in many parts of the world.

Calving laws and strain rates: a comparison between modelled relationships and observations from InSAR velocity maps from across Greenland.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lea, James; Nick, Faezeh; Benn, Douglas; Kirchner, Nina

2017-04-01

Calving is a major mechanism of cryospheric ice mass loss and a significant contributor to global sea level change, though it is currently poorly understood as a process. Longitudinal strain rate is often cited as a first order control on calving, however multiple different calving laws (not always including the strain rate) have been used to represent this in numerical models of ice sheets. This study seeks to investigate how (1) different calving laws within a 1D flowline model predict strain rate will evolve within increasing terminus thickness for steady state and transient simulations, and (2) how these relationships compare with observed strains (derived from MEaSUREs Greenland InSAR velocity maps; Joughin et al., 2010 [updated 2016]) and depths (from BedMachine v.2 subglacial topography data; Morlighem et al., 2014). We identify that systematic relationships with terminus thickness exist for height above buoyancy, waterline and full-depth crevasse calving laws amongst others for both steady state and transient simulations. However, analysis of observed near-terminus strain rates for multiple Greenlandic glaciers using a variety of metrics (with a range of bed depths predicted by BedMachine) does not reproduce the shape or magnitude of any of these modelled relationships. Relationships between strain rate and depth derived from simple 1D model simulations therefore cannot be realistically compared to current real-world observations. This suggests that the magnitude of observed strain rates at an individual point, or area-averaged conditions near a real-world terminus are not meaningful in determining the potential for calving when taken in isolation. To improve understanding of first/second order calving processes, future modelling work should therefore look to analyse how/if the distribution of strain across the terminus region impacts calving as part of 2D-planform/3D models.

Greater Male Variability in Creativity outside the WEIRD World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karwowski, Maciej; Jankowska, Dorota M.; Gajda, Aleksandra; Marczak, Michalina; Groyecka, Agata; Sorokowski, Piotr

2016-01-01

Recent studies in creativity literature have demonstrated higher variability of creative ability between males and females, despite the lack of systematic sex differences in average scores on creativity tests. However, little is known about the causes of this variability and its generalizability beyond industrialized societies. This study presents…

Merit Pay International

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woessmann, Ludger

2011-01-01

American 15-year-olds continue to perform no better than at the industrial-world average in reading and science, and below that in mathematics. According to the results of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests, released in December 2010 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United…

On the Treatment of Authors, Outliers, and Purchasing Power Parity Exchange Rates.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaeger, Richard M.

1993-01-01

Ruth Stott violates canons of scholarly debate by attacking author's October 1992 "Kappan" article on world-class academic standards. Average class size predicted only 10% of variation in 13 year-olds' mean mathematics scores in 14 nations supplying reasonable comprehensive sampling frames for International Assessment of Academic…

The Social Context of Infant Intention Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunphy-Lelii, Sarah; LaBounty, Jennifer; Lane, Jonathan D.; Wellman, Henry M.

2014-01-01

Traditional looking-time paradigms are often used to assess infants' attention to sociocognitive phenomena, but the link between these laboratory scenarios and real-world interactions is unclear. The current study investigated hypothesized relations between traditional social-cognitive looking-time paradigms and their real-world counterparts…

The Teacher Trainer, 2001.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodward, Tessa, Ed.

2001-01-01

This journal is designed as a forum for trainers, teachers, and trainees all over the world. Regular features include the following: "Conference Report"; "Process Options"; "People Who Train People"; "Training around the World"; "Session Report"; "Trainee Voices"; "Current Research"; "Just for Interest"; "A Trainer Like Me"; "Trainer Background";…

A Markovian model of evolving world input-output network

PubMed Central

Isacchini, Giulio

2017-01-01

The initial theoretical connections between Leontief input-output models and Markov chains were established back in 1950s. However, considering the wide variety of mathematical properties of Markov chains, so far there has not been a full investigation of evolving world economic networks with Markov chain formalism. In this work, using the recently available world input-output database, we investigated the evolution of the world economic network from 1995 to 2011 through analysis of a time series of finite Markov chains. We assessed different aspects of this evolving system via different known properties of the Markov chains such as mixing time, Kemeny constant, steady state probabilities and perturbation analysis of the transition matrices. First, we showed how the time series of mixing times and Kemeny constants could be used as an aggregate index of globalization. Next, we focused on the steady state probabilities as a measure of structural power of the economies that are comparable to GDP shares of economies as the traditional index of economies welfare. Further, we introduced two measures of systemic risk, called systemic influence and systemic fragility, where the former is the ratio of number of influenced nodes to the total number of nodes, caused by a shock in the activity of a node, and the latter is based on the number of times a specific economic node is affected by a shock in the activity of any of the other nodes. Finally, focusing on Kemeny constant as a global indicator of monetary flow across the network, we showed that there is a paradoxical effect of a change in activity levels of economic nodes on the overall flow of the world economic network. While the economic slowdown of the majority of nodes with high structural power results to a slower average monetary flow over the network, there are some nodes, where their slowdowns improve the overall quality of the network in terms of connectivity and the average flow of the money. PMID:29065145

Estimates of the Direct Effect of Seawater pH on the Survival Rate of Species Groups in the California Current Ecosystem

PubMed Central

Busch, D. Shallin; McElhany, Paul

2016-01-01

Ocean acidification (OA) has the potential to restructure ecosystems due to variation in species sensitivity to the projected changes in ocean carbon chemistry. Ecological models can be forced with scenarios of OA to help scientists, managers, and other stakeholders understand how ecosystems might change. We present a novel methodology for developing estimates of species sensitivity to OA that are regionally specific, and applied the method to the California Current ecosystem. To do so, we built a database of all published literature on the sensitivity of temperate species to decreased pH. This database contains 393 papers on 285 species and 89 multi-species groups from temperate waters around the world. Research on urchins and oysters and on adult life stages dominates the literature. Almost a third of the temperate species studied to date occur in the California Current. However, most laboratory experiments use control pH conditions that are too high to represent average current chemistry conditions in the portion of the California Current water column where the majority of the species live. We developed estimates of sensitivity to OA for functional groups in the ecosystem, which can represent single species or taxonomically diverse groups of hundreds of species. We based these estimates on the amount of available evidence derived from published studies on species sensitivity, how well this evidence could inform species sensitivity in the California Current ecosystem, and the agreement of the available evidence for a species/species group. This approach is similar to that taken by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to characterize certainty when summarizing scientific findings. Most functional groups (26 of 34) responded negatively to OA conditions, but when uncertainty in sensitivity was considered, only 11 groups had relationships that were consistently negative. Thus, incorporating certainty about the sensitivity of species and functional groups to OA is an important part of developing robust scenarios for ecosystem projections. PMID:27513576

The global metabolic transition: Regional patterns and trends of global material flows, 1950–2010

PubMed Central

Schaffartzik, Anke; Mayer, Andreas; Gingrich, Simone; Eisenmenger, Nina; Loy, Christian; Krausmann, Fridolin

2014-01-01

Since the World War II, many economies have transitioned from an agrarian, biomass-based to an industrial, minerals-based metabolic regime. Since 1950, world population grew by factor 2.7 and global material consumption by factor 3.7–71 Gigatonnes per year in 2010. The expansion of the resource base required by human societies is associated with growing pressure on the environment and infringement on the habitats of other species. In order to achieve a sustainability transition, we require a better understanding of the currently ongoing metabolic transition and its potential inertia. In this article, we present a long-term global material flow dataset covering material extraction, trade, and consumption of 177 individual countries between 1950 and 2010. We trace patterns and trends in material flows for six major geographic and economic country groupings and world regions (Western Industrial, the (Former) Soviet Union and its allies, Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa) as well as their contribution to the emergence of a global metabolic profile during a period of rapid industrialization and globalization. Global average material use increased from 5.0 to 10.3 tons per capita and year (t/cap/a) between 1950 and 2010. Regional metabolic rates range from 4.5 t/cap/a in Sub-Saharan Africa to 14.8 t/cap/a in the Western Industrial grouping. While we can observe a stabilization of the industrial metabolic profile composed of relatively equal shares of biomass, fossil energy carriers, and construction minerals, we note differences in the degree to which other regions are gravitating toward a similar form of material use. Since 2000, Asia has overtaken the Western Industrial grouping in terms of its share in global resource use although not in terms of its per capita material consumption. We find that at a sub-global level, the roles of the world regions have changed. There are, however, no signs yet that this will lead to stabilization or even a reduction of global resource use. PMID:25844026

Global earthquake fatalities and population

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holzer, Thomas L.; Savage, James C.

2013-01-01

Modern global earthquake fatalities can be separated into two components: (1) fatalities from an approximately constant annual background rate that is independent of world population growth and (2) fatalities caused by earthquakes with large human death tolls, the frequency of which is dependent on world population. Earthquakes with death tolls greater than 100,000 (and 50,000) have increased with world population and obey a nonstationary Poisson distribution with rate proportional to population. We predict that the number of earthquakes with death tolls greater than 100,000 (50,000) will increase in the 21st century to 8.7±3.3 (20.5±4.3) from 4 (7) observed in the 20th century if world population reaches 10.1 billion in 2100. Combining fatalities caused by the background rate with fatalities caused by catastrophic earthquakes (>100,000 fatalities) indicates global fatalities in the 21st century will be 2.57±0.64 million if the average post-1900 death toll for catastrophic earthquakes (193,000) is assumed.

The Stratigraphic Incompleteness of Submarine Channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vendettuoli, D.; Clare, M. A.; Hughes Clarke, J. E.; Cartigny, M.; Vellinga, A. J.; Talling, P.; Hizzett, J. L.; Hage, S.; Waltham, D.; Hubbard, S. M.

2017-12-01

Turbidity currents transport prodigious quantities of sediment across the world's oceans through submarine channels. These flows damage strategically important seafloor infrastructure and their deposits host major oil and gas reservoirs. We therefore need to understand these flows, but their very powerful nature makes direct monitoring challenging. Most studies to date focus on the deposits that turbidity currents leave behind in the sedimentological record. However, deposits of individual flows are likely to be reworked by successive flows, but it is unclear as to what extent. How complete is the stratigraphy of these deposits? What percentage of flow deposits are preserved in the rock record? Are some events better preserved than others, and if so, why? We address these questions by re-analysing the most detailed time-lapse mapping yet of a turbidity current system. This field dataset comes from the fjord-head Squamish Delta in British Columbia, Canada where Hughes Clarke (2016) collected 93 near-daily repeat surveys in 2011. These surveys revealed the seafloor response to more than 100 turbidity currents. Here we use temporal changes in seabed elevation to understand patterns of deposition and erosion. We calculate the total thickness of sediment deposited at each location, and document the percentage of sediment that is preserved (i.e. stratigraphic completeness) at multiple time-steps over the surveyed period. The average stratigraphic completeness across the delta near submarine channels is <1%, but this is highly spatially variable. Some levees record up to 40% completeness. The low value is largely due to upstream migrating bedforms that constantly rework previously emplaced sediments. Surprisingly, even at the terminal lobes, stratigraphic completeness is typically <5%. These results provide new insights into the evolution of submarine channels and why their deposits produce a highly incomplete record of submarine flows.

Elevational Distribution of Flightless Ground Beetles in the Tropical Rainforests of North-Eastern Australia.

PubMed

Staunton, Kyran M; Nakamura, Akihiro; Burwell, Chris J; Robson, Simon K A; Williams, Stephen E

2016-01-01

Understanding how the environment influences patterns of diversity is vital for effective conservation management, especially in a changing global climate. While assemblage structure and species richness patterns are often correlated with current environmental factors, historical influences may also be considerable, especially for taxa with poor dispersal abilities. Mountain-top regions throughout tropical rainforests can act as important refugia for taxa characterised by low dispersal capacities such as flightless ground beetles (Carabidae), an ecologically significant predatory group. We surveyed flightless ground beetles along elevational gradients in five different subregions within the Australian Wet Tropics World Heritage Area to investigate (1) whether the diversity and composition of flightless ground beetles are elevationally stratified, and, if so, (2) what environmental factors (other than elevation per se) are associated with these patterns. Generalised linear models and model averaging techniques were used to relate patterns of diversity to environmental factors. Unlike most taxonomic groups, flightless ground beetles increased in species richness and abundance with elevation. Additionally, each subregion consisted of relatively distinct assemblages containing a high level of regional endemic species. Species richness was most strongly and positively associated with historical and current climatic stabilities and negatively associated with severity of recent disturbance (treefalls). Assemblage composition was associated with latitude and historical and current climatic conditions. Although the results need to be interpreted carefully due to inter-correlation between historical and current climatic variables, our study is in agreement with the hypothesis that upland refugia provided stable climatic conditions since the last glacial maximum, and supported a diverse fauna of flightless beetle species. These findings are important for conservation management as upland habitats become increasingly threatened by climate change.

Elevational Distribution of Flightless Ground Beetles in the Tropical Rainforests of North-Eastern Australia

PubMed Central

Staunton, Kyran M.; Nakamura, Akihiro; Burwell, Chris J.; Robson, Simon K. A.; Williams, Stephen E.

2016-01-01

Understanding how the environment influences patterns of diversity is vital for effective conservation management, especially in a changing global climate. While assemblage structure and species richness patterns are often correlated with current environmental factors, historical influences may also be considerable, especially for taxa with poor dispersal abilities. Mountain-top regions throughout tropical rainforests can act as important refugia for taxa characterised by low dispersal capacities such as flightless ground beetles (Carabidae), an ecologically significant predatory group. We surveyed flightless ground beetles along elevational gradients in five different subregions within the Australian Wet Tropics World Heritage Area to investigate (1) whether the diversity and composition of flightless ground beetles are elevationally stratified, and, if so, (2) what environmental factors (other than elevation per se) are associated with these patterns. Generalised linear models and model averaging techniques were used to relate patterns of diversity to environmental factors. Unlike most taxonomic groups, flightless ground beetles increased in species richness and abundance with elevation. Additionally, each subregion consisted of relatively distinct assemblages containing a high level of regional endemic species. Species richness was most strongly and positively associated with historical and current climatic stabilities and negatively associated with severity of recent disturbance (treefalls). Assemblage composition was associated with latitude and historical and current climatic conditions. Although the results need to be interpreted carefully due to inter-correlation between historical and current climatic variables, our study is in agreement with the hypothesis that upland refugia provided stable climatic conditions since the last glacial maximum, and supported a diverse fauna of flightless beetle species. These findings are important for conservation management as upland habitats become increasingly threatened by climate change. PMID:27192085

Validation Of The Airspace Concept Evaluation System Using Real World Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zelinski, Shannon

2005-01-01

This paper discusses the process of performing a validation of the Airspace Concept Evaluation System (ACES) using real world historical flight operational data. ACES inputs are generated from select real world data and processed to create a realistic reproduction of a single day of operations within the National Airspace System (NAS). ACES outputs are then compared to real world operational metrics and delay statistics for the reproduced day. Preliminary results indicate that ACES produces delays and airport operational metrics similar to the real world with minor variations of delay by phase of flight. ACES is a nation-wide fast-time simulation tool developed at NASA Ames Research Center. ACES models and simulates the NAS using interacting agents representing center control, terminal flow management, airports, individual flights, and other NAS elements. These agents pass messages between one another similar to real world communications. This distributed agent based system is designed to emulate the highly unpredictable nature of the NAS, making it a suitable tool to evaluate current and envisioned airspace concepts. To ensure that ACES produces the most realistic results, the system must be validated. There is no way to validate future concepts scenarios using real world historical data, but current day scenario validations increase confidence in the validity of future scenario results. Each operational day has unique weather and traffic demand schedules. The more a simulation utilizes the unique characteristic of a specific day, the more realistic the results should be. ACES is able to simulate the full scale demand traffic necessary to perform a validation using real world data. Through direct comparison with the real world, models may continuee to be improved and unusual trends and biases may be filtered out of the system or used to normalize the results of future concept simulations.

Average current per vacuum-arc cathode spot and spot velocity in a magnetic field on a CuCr50/50 nanocomposite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zabello, K. K.; Poluyanova, I. N.; Yakovlev, V. V.; Shkol'nik, S. M.

2017-11-01

It has been shown that such cathode spot characteristics as the average current per spot and its dependence on tangential magnetic-field induction B t and the spot velocity and its dependence on B t for two CuCr50/50 specimens with very different structures (nanocomposite and "solid-state sintered" composite) almost coincide if the surface of contacts has been totally remelted before measurements with the use of moderate arc currents in the process of conditioning.

Future Battles and the Development of Military Concepts

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-22

Land Battle concept dating from the Cold War era. The author maintains tliat such an approach is tied to old ways of thinking; the world has changed...the current world economic and social state, along with anticipated future flash points around the globe; a new military operational concept titled...project power, let alone rival U.S. dominance on the high seas. An alternate and more plausible future is a world that will require frequent

Seasonal and Interannual Variation of Currents and Water Properties off the Mid-East Coast of Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, J. H.; Chang, K. I.; Nam, S.

2016-02-01

Since 1999, physical parameters such as current, temperature, and salinity off the mid-east coast of Korea have been continuously observed from the long-term buoy station called `East-Sea Real-time Ocean monitoring Buoy (ESROB)'. Applying harmonic analysis to 6-year-long (2007-2012) depth-averaged current data from the ESROB, a mean seasonal cycle of alongshore currents, characterized by poleward current in average and equatorward current in summer, is extracted which accounts for 5.8% of the variance of 40 hours low-pass filtered currents. In spite of the small variance explained, a robust seasonality of summertime equatorward reversal typifies the low-passed alongshore currents along with low-density water. To reveal the dynamics underlying the seasonal variation, each term of linearized, depth-averaged momentum equations is estimated using the data from ESROB, adjacent tide gauge stations, and serial hydrographic stations. The result indicates that the reversal of alongshore pressure gradient is a major driver of the equatorward reversals in summer. The reanalysis wind product (MERRA) and satellite altimeter-derived sea surface height (AVISO) data show correlated features between positive (negative) wind stress curl and sea surface depression (uplift). Quantitative estimates reveal that the wind-stress curl accounts for 42% of alongshore sea level variation. Summertime low-density water originating from the northern coastal region is a footprint of the buoyancy-driven equatorward current. An interannual variation (anomalies from the mean seasonal cycle) of alongshore currents and its possible driving mechanisms will be discussed.

Review of "World Bank Financing of Education: Lending, Learning, and Development," by Phillip W. Jones.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spaulding, Seth

1996-01-01

Reviews current criticisms of World Bank educational projects and their negative impacts on developing nations as context for a book that traces the evolution of Bank policies from its first projects in the 1960s to the present. (SV)

International Organisations and Transnational Education Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moutsios, Stavros

2009-01-01

This paper focuses on the World Bank/IMF (International Monetary Fund), the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the WTO (World Trade Organisation) as institutions of transnational policy making. They are all at present making education policies which are decisively shaping current directions and developments in…

Comprehensive Essays for World History Finals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldman, Martha J.

1997-01-01

Describes a novel approach to comprehensive questions in world history examinations. Recommends using current events as illustrative reference points for complex subjects such as nationalism, liberalism, and international trade. Students receive information packets on the events for several weeks and must relate the subjects to these events. (MJP)

Children in the World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McHale, Magda Cordell; And Others

This book of charts documents the current situation of children in the less developed regions of the world. Data on population distribution by age and sex, urban growth, social and economic conditions, life expectancy, mortality, health and disease, nutrition, medical care, education, youth participation in the labor force of selected countries…

Briefing Teams in World Affairs Class.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, Joe P.

1992-01-01

In a college world affairs course, the teacher acted as foreign policy/national security advisor to the president and assigned students as staff members for different geographic regions. Students briefed him daily, first on current events, then on specific issues. Students enjoyed the challenging assignments, intensive questioning, and policy…

Intellectual Capital in Egyptian Software Firms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seleim, Ahmed; Ashour, Ahmed; Bontis, Nick

2004-01-01

The distribution of knowledge around the world varies significantly with developed countries possessing most of the world's current intellectual capital (IC) compared to developing countries. Most IC research has been conducted in a variety of international settings such as the UK, Scandinavia, Australia, Canada, Austria, Malaysia, the USA, and…

Adaptive Management for Climate Change Impact for Water Sector in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Jun

2013-04-01

China, as a larger developing country in the world, in facing to bigger challenges than before on wisely managing water resources to support rapidly socio-economic development in 2020 and beyond. China has a vast area of 9.6 million sq. km and relatively abundant water resources with ranked sixth in the world after Brazil, the Russian Federation, Canada, the United States and Indonesia in terms of absolute amount of annual runoff. However, given its large population of over 1.3 billion, China has a very low per capita amount (about one quarter of the world average) of water resources and, is therefore one of the countries with the most severe shortage of water in the world, particular North China. North China is one of very important regions in China. For this region, population has 0.437 billion in 2000 that occupies 35% of total in China, GDP reaches 386 billion US that is also 32% of total in China. Irrigation area of North China is 42% of total in China, and agricultural product has 40% of total in China. However, it is the most water shortage area in China. For instance, water resources per capita in Hai River Basin have only 270 cubic meters, which is only 1/7 of the national average and 1/24 of the world average. Water Resource Vulnerability under impact of both climate change and human activities are rather significantly. This presentation will focus on two issues: (1) how to screening climate changes impact to water sector, and how to quantify water resource vulnerability related to impact of climate change and human activity? (2) how to take adaptation & wisely manage water to changing environment on existing water projects and new water programme & water policy in China? A screening process for climate impact to water sector in North China was proposed. A new study on quantifying water resource vulnerability, based on three practical and workable, i.e., the use to availability ratio, water crowding and per capita water use, were developed. Four case studies in China are given as explanation of this study. The concept on good water governance was discussed. It was shown that: (1) climate change and human activity are two big issues to water sustainable use. Science & technology will play a key role on understanding & reduce risk; (2) Water policy, in China will had to shift from water quantity management into water quality management, and water supply management into water demand management. Improving Water Governance will be a priority on climate change adaptation.

Injury surveillance in the World Football Tournaments 1998–2012

PubMed Central

Junge, Astrid; Dvorak, Jiri

2013-01-01

Background International sports bodies should protect the health of their athletes, and injury surveillance is an important pre-requisite for injury prevention. The Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA) has systematically surveyed all football injuries in their tournaments since 1998. Aims Analysis of the incidence, characteristics and changes of football injury during international top-level tournaments 1998–2012. Methods All newly incurred football injuries during the FIFA tournaments and the Olympic Games were reported by the team physicians on a standardised injury report form after each match. The average response rate was 92%. Results A total of 3944 injuries were reported from 1546 matches, equivalent to 2.6 injuries per match. The majority of injuries (80%) was caused by contact with another player, compared with 47% of contact injuries by foul play. The most frequently injured body parts were the ankle (19%), lower leg (16%) and head/neck (15%). Contusions (55%) were the most common type of injury, followed by sprains (17%) and strains (10%). On average, 1.1 injuries per match were expected to result in absence from a match or training. The incidence of time-loss injuries was highest in the FIFA World Cups and lowest in the FIFA U17 Women's World Cups. The injury rates in the various types of FIFA World Cups had different trends over the past 14 years. Conclusions Changes in the incidence of injuries in top-level tournaments might be influenced by the playing style, refereeing, extent and intensity of match play. Strict application of the Laws of the Games is an important means of injury prevention. PMID:23632746

Mathematical analysis of running performance and world running records.

PubMed

Péronnet, F; Thibault, G

1989-07-01

The objective of this study was to develop an empirical model relating human running performance to some characteristics of metabolic energy-yielding processes using A, the capacity of anaerobic metabolism (J/kg); MAP, the maximal aerobic power (W/kg); and E, the reduction in peak aerobic power with the natural logarithm of race duration T, when T greater than TMAP = 420 s. Accordingly, the model developed describes the average power output PT (W/kg) sustained over any T as PT = [S/T(1 - e-T/k2)] + 1/T integral of T O [BMR + B(1 - e-t/k1)]dt where S = A and B = MAP - BMR (basal metabolic rate) when T less than TMAP; and S = A + [Af ln(T/TMAP)] and B = (MAP - BMR) + [E ln(T/TMAP)] when T greater than TMAP; k1 = 30 s and k2 = 20 s are time constants describing the kinetics of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism, respectively, at the beginning of exercise; f is a constant describing the reduction in the amount of energy provided from anaerobic metabolism with increasing T; and t is the time from the onset of the race. This model accurately estimates actual power outputs sustained over a wide range of events, e.g., average absolute error between actual and estimated T for men's 1987 world records from 60 m to the marathon = 0.73%. In addition, satisfactory estimations of the metabolic characteristics of world-class male runners were made as follows: A = 1,658 J/kg; MAP = 83.5 ml O2.kg-1.min-1; 83.5% MAP sustained over the marathon distance. Application of the model to analysis of the evolution of A, MAP, and E, and of the progression of men's and women's world records over the years, is presented.

Elucidating the impact of temperature variability and extremes on cereal croplands through remote sensing.

PubMed

Duncan, John M A; Dash, Jadunandan; Atkinson, Peter M

2015-04-01

Remote sensing-derived wheat crop yield-climate models were developed to highlight the impact of temperature variation during thermo-sensitive periods (anthesis and grain-filling; TSP) of wheat crop development. Specific questions addressed are: can the impact of temperature variation occurring during the TSP on wheat crop yield be detected using remote sensing data and what is the impact? Do crop critical temperature thresholds during TSP exist in real world cropping landscapes? These questions are tested in one of the world's major wheat breadbaskets of Punjab and Haryana, north-west India. Warming average minimum temperatures during the TSP had a greater negative impact on wheat crop yield than warming maximum temperatures. Warming minimum and maximum temperatures during the TSP explain a greater amount of variation in wheat crop yield than average growing season temperature. In complex real world cereal croplands there was a variable yield response to critical temperature threshold exceedance, specifically a more pronounced negative impact on wheat yield with increased warming events above 35 °C. The negative impact of warming increases with a later start-of-season suggesting earlier sowing can reduce wheat crop exposure harmful temperatures. However, even earlier sown wheat experienced temperature-induced yield losses, which, when viewed in the context of projected warming up to 2100 indicates adaptive responses should focus on increasing wheat tolerance to heat. This study shows it is possible to capture the impacts of temperature variation during the TSP on wheat crop yield in real world cropping landscapes using remote sensing data; this has important implications for monitoring the impact of climate change, variation and heat extremes on wheat croplands. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Human Performance under Climatic Stress and the Fallacy of the ’Average’ Soldier: Potentially Serious Implications for Military Operations in Extreme Climates

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-03-13

matriarchal society since World War I1, as a result of the decimation of its male population in that war. As one effect of this change, children now receive...that "a body is a body is a body," and, therefore, that "on the average," men are inter- changeable. Such ideas are probably generic to our society ...identity and a classless society . People tend to dress, eat and live alike. Non- conformity in thought-and expression is discouraged or punished. On the

A Microgenetic Analysis of Strategic Variability in Gifted and Average-Ability Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steiner, Hillary Hettinger

2006-01-01

Many researchers have described cognitive differences between gifted and average-performing children. Regarding strategy use, the gifted advantage is often associated with differences such as greater knowledge of strategies, quicker problem solving, and the ability to use strategies more appropriately. The current study used microgenetic methods…

Macroscopic neural mass model constructed from a current-based network model of spiking neurons.

PubMed

Umehara, Hiroaki; Okada, Masato; Teramae, Jun-Nosuke; Naruse, Yasushi

2017-02-01

Neural mass models (NMMs) are efficient frameworks for describing macroscopic cortical dynamics including electroencephalogram and magnetoencephalogram signals. Originally, these models were formulated on an empirical basis of synaptic dynamics with relatively long time constants. By clarifying the relations between NMMs and the dynamics of microscopic structures such as neurons and synapses, we can better understand cortical and neural mechanisms from a multi-scale perspective. In a previous study, the NMMs were analytically derived by averaging the equations of synaptic dynamics over the neurons in the population and further averaging the equations of the membrane-potential dynamics. However, the averaging of synaptic current assumes that the neuron membrane potentials are nearly time invariant and that they remain at sub-threshold levels to retain the conductance-based model. This approximation limits the NMM to the non-firing state. In the present study, we newly propose a derivation of a NMM by alternatively approximating the synaptic current which is assumed to be independent of the membrane potential, thus adopting a current-based model. Our proposed model releases the constraint of the nearly constant membrane potential. We confirm that the obtained model is reducible to the previous model in the non-firing situation and that it reproduces the temporal mean values and relative power spectrum densities of the average membrane potentials for the spiking neurons. It is further ensured that the existing NMM properly models the averaged dynamics over individual neurons even if they are spiking in the populations.

[Orthopaedics' megalomania - myth or mobbing?

PubMed

Gundtoft, Per Hviid; Brand, Eske; Klit, Jakob; Weisskirchner, Kristoffer Barfod

2016-12-12

It is a general impression in the world of medicine that orthopaedic surgeons differ from doctors of other specialities in terms of intellect and self-confidence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the self-confidence of orthopaedics. We asked doctors from 30 different specialities to fill out a questionnaire. In addition to this, the participating orthopaedics were asked to rate their self-perceived surgical skills. In all, 120 orthopaedics and 416 non-orthopaedic doctors completed the questionnaire. There was no difference in GSE scores between orthopaedics and other doctors (p = 0.58). 98% of young orthopaedics estimated that their surgical talent was average or above average when compared with their colleagues on the same level of education. 72% believed that they were "equally talented", "more talented", or "far more talented" than their colleagues on a higher level of education. 76% believed that when assisting a senior surgeon the patients would "sometimes" (60%), "often" (14%) or "always" (2%) be better off if they were the ones performing the operation. More orthopaedics than non-orthopaedics believed that their speciality was regarded as one of the least important specialities in the world of medicine (p = 0.001). Orthopaedic surgeons in general are not more self-confident than other doctors or the average population, but young orthopaedic surgeons have a very high level of confidence in their own operation skills. none. none.