Functional Illiteracy: What Public Libraries Can Do To Help People with Reading and Writing Problems. An Ideas Pamphlet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Federation of Library Associations, The Hague (Netherlands).

This pamphlet describes literacy programs currently in effect in Scandinavian countries and provides guidelines for the development of similar programs. Reasons for functional illiteracy in the industrialized world are discussed, and current and potential roles for public libraries in improving the situation are considered. Persons who are…

Reading Stories Activates Neural Representations of Visual and Motor Experiences

PubMed Central

Speer, Nicole K.; Reynolds, Jeremy R.; Swallow, Khena M.; Zacks, Jeffrey M.

2010-01-01

To understand and remember stories, readers integrate their knowledge of the world with information in the text. Here we present functional neuroimaging evidence that neural systems track changes in the situation described by a story. Different brain regions track different aspects of a story, such as a character’s physical location or current goals. Some of these regions mirror those involved when people perform, imagine, or observe similar real-world activities. These results support the view that readers understand a story by simulating the events in the story world and updating their simulation when features of that world change. PMID:19572969

World Epidemiology Review, Number 79

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-02-09

currently in the same situation, paying tribute to the mentioned helminthiasis as a result of the basic influence of three factors: arrival of... helminthiasis in other states and, as a complement, to those actually infected locally and representing native threats, who are liable to increase the

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

DON occurrence in cereal grains: A North American perspective

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The occurrence of deoxynivalenol (DON) in agricultural commodities has been reported all over the world, with levels varying amongst grain type and years of production. However, a systematic review of the current situation regarding this mycotoxin, its occurrence, and its management in North America...

Mansonella ozzardi and its vectors in the New World: an update with emphasis on the current situation in Haiti.

PubMed

Raccurt, C P

2017-10-25

Mansonella ozzardi (Nematoda: Onchocercidae) is a little studied filarial nematode. This human parasite, transmitted by two families of dipteran vectors, biting midges (most of them members of the genus Culicoides) and blackflies (genus Simulium), is endemic to the Neotropical regions of the New World. With a patchy geographical distribution from southern Mexico to north-western Argentina, human infection with M. ozzardi is highly prevalent in some of the Caribbean islands, along riverine communities in the Amazon Basin, and on both sides of the border between Bolivia and Argentina. Studies conducted in Haiti between 1974 and 1984 allowed the first complete description of the adult worm and permitted clarification of the taxonomic position of this filarial species. This paper reports the known geographical distribution of M. ozzardi in Neotropical regions of the Americas, and focuses on the current situation in Haiti where this filariasis remains a completely neglected public health problem.

[The European migration situation and its perspectives].

PubMed

Mesic, M

1988-01-01

"The present migration situation is analysed in regard to the labour market, the legal status of migrants, return flows and reintegration, and the position of second generation migrants.... In the second part of the paper the author attempts to discern the future of migration in Europe on the basis of existing demographic trends in Europe and the world, present trends [in] the labour market, and current technological changes. In this context he offers an outline for the Yugoslav migration perspective." (SUMMARY IN ENG) excerpt

An overview of the situation in radiotherapy with emphasis on the developing countries.

PubMed

Hanson, G P; Stjernswärd, J; Nofal, M; Durosinmi-Etti, F

1990-11-01

Radiotherapy services are closely linked to the level of medical care which, in turn, is an important component of the overall health care program, with its development related to social, economic, and educational factors. As a basis for understanding the situation regarding adequate coverage of the population by radiotherapy services, general information about the world population (currently 5 billion), age distribution, frequency of cancer occurrence, and causes of death is presented. For an appreciation of the obstacles that must be overcome, the situation with regard to Gross National Product (GNP), transfer of economic resources, and per capita expenditures for health services is shown. For example, in the developing world, most countries spend less than 5% of their GNP for health, and on a macro scale at least 20 billion U.S. dollars per year are being transferred from the poor nations of the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. Information about the wide range of population coverage with radiotherapy resources and the trend regarding high-energy radiotherapy machines is presented. For example, in North America (USA) there are six high-energy machines for each one million persons, and each machine is used to treat about 230 new patients per year. In other parts of the world, such as large areas of Africa and South-East Asia, there may only be one high-energy radiotherapy machine for 20 to 40 million people, and one machine may be used to treat more than 600 new patients per year. Many cancer patients have no access to radiotherapy services. When estimates of the need for radiotherapy services in the developing world as a consequence of cancer incidence are compared with the current health expenditures, it is concluded that a combined effort of national authorities, donor and financial institutions, professional and scientific societies, and international organizations is required. The knowledge, skills, and technology are available in many excellent radiotherapy centers throughout the world. The key issues are priority and the commitment of sufficient resources.

[The demographic potential of Russia].

PubMed

Vishnevskii, A

1998-05-01

This is a general review of current demographic trends in Russia. The author analyzes the decline in population size that is taking place at the end of the twentieth century, and traces its origins as far back as the disturbances associated with World War I, the Communist revolution, and the civil war that followed it. Political repression during the Stalinist period and the tribulations experienced during World War II also contributed to the current demographic crisis. The author discusses the changes in migration patterns and the declining fertility and increasing mortality rates. The decline in life expectancy is also addressed. Some comparisons are made with the demographic situation in other European countries.

United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) 2008 Annual Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

enthusiastic about the potential offered by AIT. The DOD currently has the largest active RFID ( aRFID ) system in the world. It provides the ability...to develop the satellite tracking business case for those situations where the aRFID infrastructure is less robust or nonexistent. USTRANSCOM is also

1978 Decision-Making Casebook for Business and Economics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tedesco, Paul H., Ed.; And Others

These teacher developed case studies taken from the business world are presented to help secondary students develop an understanding of economics and of the decision-making process. The studies describe real business situations. All historical and current facts are provided, and students must analyze the data and make business decisions. Teacher…

Parental Participation Fees in School Expenses in Israel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaked, Haim

2016-01-01

Purpose: Many countries throughout the world provide all children with free education. However, sometimes there are user charges in publically funded schools worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to explore parental participation fees in school expenses in Israel, depicting the current situation and analyzing its implications.…

Analysis of the world epidemiological situation among vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium infections and the current situation in Poland

PubMed

Talaga-Ćwiertnia, Katarzyna; Bulanda, Małgorzata

2018-01-01

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) strains have become an important hospital pathogen due to their rapid spread, high mortality rate associated with infections and limited therapeutic options. Vancomycin resistance is predominantly mediated by VanA or VanB phenotypes, which differ as regards maintaining sensitivity to teicoplanin in the VanB phenotype. The majority of VREfm cases in the United States, Europe, Korea, South America and Africa are currently caused by the VanA phenotype. However, the epidemics in Australia and Singapore are chiefly brought about by the VanB phenotype. The rate of VREfm isolate spread varies greatly. The greatest percentage of VREfm is now recorded in the USA, Ireland and Australia. Supervision of VRE is implemented to varying degrees. Therefore, the epidemiological situation in some countries is difficult to assess due to limited data or lack thereof.

Impact of the economic crisis and increase in food prices on child mortality: exploring nutritional pathways.

PubMed

Christian, Parul

2010-01-01

The current economic crisis and food price increase may have a widespread impact on the nutritional and health status of populations, especially in the developing world. Gains in child survival over the past few decades are likely to be threatened and millennium development goals will be harder to achieve. Beyond starvation, which is one of the causes of death in famine situations, there are numerous nutritional pathways by which childhood mortality can increase. These include increases in childhood wasting and stunting, intrauterine growth restriction, and micronutrient deficiencies such as that of vitamin A, iron, and zinc when faced with a food crisis and decreased food availability. These pathways are elucidated and described. Although estimates of the impact of the current crisis on child mortality are yet to be made, data from previous economic crises provide evidence of an increase in childhood mortality that we review. The current situation also emphasizes that there are vast segments of the world's population living in a situation of chronic food insecurity that are likely to be disproportionately affected by an economic crisis. Nutritional and health surveillance data are urgently needed in such populations to monitor both the impacts of a crisis and of interventions. Addressing the nutritional needs of children and women in response to the present crisis is urgent. But, ensuring that vulnerable populations are also targeted with known nutritional interventions at all times is likely to have a substantial impact on child mortality.

Situation analysis for automotive pre-crash systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Böhning, Marcus A.; Ritter, Henning; Rohling, Herrman

2008-01-01

According to the "World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention" jointly issued by the World Health Organization and the World Bank about 1.2 million people are killed and up to 50 million people are injured in road traffic accidents worldwide each year. While passive safety systems like the airbag are already deployed successfully to reduce fatalities and injuries, active safety systems assist the driver by issuing a warning or by taking corrective actions to either avoid a collision completely or, if impossible, to mitigate collision consequences. Today's radar sensors have the ability to detect and track objects with a high accuracy in range and velocity, therefore a collision warning system may consist of a radar sensor, a data processing unit and a model to describe possible evasion maneuvers. This allows to analyze the probability of a collision and to calculate the danger potential of the current situation. In this paper, such a system is proposed and it is verified with synthetic as well as real sensor data.

Does laboratory cue reactivity correlate with real-world craving and smoking responses to cues?

PubMed

Shiffman, Saul; Li, Xiaoxue; Dunbar, Michael S; Tindle, Hilary A; Scholl, Sarah M; Ferguson, Stuart G

2015-10-01

Laboratory cue reactivity (CR) assessments are used to assess smokers' responses to cues. Likewise, EMA recording is used to characterize real-world response to cues. Understanding the relationship between CR and EMA responses addresses the ecological validity of CR. In 190 daily smokers not currently quitting, craving and smoking responses to cues were assessed in laboratory CR and by real-world EMA recording. Separate CR sessions involved 5 smoking-relevant cues (smoking, alcohol, negative affect, positive affect, smoking prohibitions), and a neutral cue. Subjects used EMA to monitor smoking situations for 3 weeks, completing parallel situational assessments (presence of others smoking, alcohol consumption, negative affect, positive affect, and smoking prohibitions, plus current craving) in smoking and non-smoking occasions (averaging 70 and 60 occasions each). Analyses correlated CR craving and smoking cue responses with EMA craving and smoking correlations with similar cues. Although some cues did not show main effects on average craving or smoking, a wide range of individual differences in response to cues was apparent in both CR and EMA data, providing the necessary context to assess their relationship. Laboratory CR measures of cue response were not correlated with real-world cue responses assessed by EMA. The average correlation was 0.03; none exceeded 0.32. One of 40 correlations examined was significantly greater than 0. Laboratory CR measures do not correlate with EMA-assessed craving or smoking in response to cues, suggesting that CR measures are not accurate predictors of how smokers react to relevant stimuli in the real world. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

Foot-and-mouth disease in pigs: current epidemiological situation and control methods.

PubMed

León, Emilio A

2012-03-01

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is the paradigm of a transboundary animal disease. Beyond any doubt, it is the most serious challenge for livestock's health. Official Veterinary Services from free countries invest considerable amount of money to prevent its introduction, whereas those from endemic countries invest most of their resources in the control of the disease. A very important volume of scientific production is developed every year in different aspects of FMD, and for that reason, the current knowledge makes the diagnosis of the disease easier to a great extent. However, FMD is still endemic in about two-thirds of the countries, and periodically re-emergent in several countries. This paper is a review of recent publications, focusing mainly on control measures and current world epidemiological situation, emphasizing primarily pigs. © 2012 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Trends and Issues in International Agricultural Extension: The End of the Beginning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivera, William M.

This paper examines trends and issues in international agricultural extension and offers seven reasons for the establishment of extension systems after World War II. It makes the case that, although the general situation is somewhat similar today, three current developments color and shape extension and may cause its demise: (1) institutional…

Challenges of the English Teacher in the Engineering Faculty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Astrid, Ramirez Valencia; Isabel, Borja-Alarcón; Alfonso, López-Vega

2018-01-01

Changes experienced in recent times focus their attention on new and multiple challenges that must be assumed by the English teacher, in the engineering context, which becomes a challenge against the demands by the current world from the English teacher in Colombia. This situation needs to be analyzed and studied. This article addresses the…

Improving Science Assessments by Situating Them in a Virtual Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ketelhut, Diane Jass; Nelson, Brian; Schifter, Catherine; Kim, Younsu

2013-01-01

Current science assessments typically present a series of isolated fact-based questions, poorly representing the complexity of how real-world science is constructed. The National Research Council asserts that this needs to change to reflect a more authentic model of science practice. We strongly concur and suggest that good science assessments…

Students' Understanding of the Concept of Interface in a Situated Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boustedt, Jonas

2009-01-01

The current paper describes an empirical study with the aim of producing insights about how students experience programming and software engineering. The research aims to investigate the students' world, and hence, we have chosen a phenomenographic approach. Our questions focus on the students' experiences of concepts related to a realistic…

1980/1981 Decision-Making Casebook for Business and Economics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tedesco, Paul H., Ed.; And Others

These teacher developed case studies taken from the business world are presented to help secondary students develop an understanding of economics and of the decision-making process. The studies describe real business situations. All historical and current facts are provided, and students must analyze the data and make business decisions. Teacher…

Current situation of avian influenza with emphasis on pathobiology, epidemiology and control

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Avian influenza is one of the most important diseases affecting the poultry industry around the world. Avian Influenza virus (AIV) has a broad host range in birds and mammals, although the natural reservoir is considered to be in wild birds where it typically causes an asymptomatic to mild infectio...

Towards a Theory for the Study of Responsible Business Practices in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eaton, Sarah Elaine

2008-01-01

This paper explores the difficulties of finding an appropriate theoretical framework for a doctoral dissertation examining revenue-generating language programs at post-secondary institutions. It briefly examines the history of language programs in higher education in the developed English-speaking world and the current situation of many…

Decision-Making Casebook for Business and Economics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tedesco, Paul H., Ed.; And Others

These teacher developed case studies taken from the business world are presented to help secondary students develop an understanding of economics and of the decision-making process. The studies describe real business situations. All historical and current facts are provided for each of the seven case studies. In the first case, students debate…

Causal Inference and Language Comprehension: Event-Related Potential Investigations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davenport, Tristan S.

2014-01-01

The most important information conveyed by language is often contained not in the utterance itself, but in the interaction between the utterance and the comprehender's knowledge of the world and the current situation. This dissertation uses psycholinguistic methods to explore the effects of a common type of inference--causal inference--on language…

Focused sunlight factor of forest fire danger assessment using Web-GIS and RS technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baranovskiy, Nikolay V.; Sherstnyov, Vladislav S.; Yankovich, Elena P.; Engel, Marina V.; Belov, Vladimir V.

2016-08-01

Timiryazevskiy forestry of Tomsk region (Siberia, Russia) is a study area elaborated in current research. Forest fire danger assessment is based on unique technology using probabilistic criterion, statistical data on forest fires, meteorological conditions, forest sites classification and remote sensing data. MODIS products are used for estimating some meteorological conditions and current forest fire situation. Geonformation technologies are used for geospatial analysis of forest fire danger situation on controlled forested territories. GIS-engine provides opportunities to construct electronic maps with different levels of forest fire probability and support raster layer for satellite remote sensing data on current forest fires. Web-interface is used for data loading on specific web-site and for forest fire danger data representation via World Wide Web. Special web-forms provide interface for choosing of relevant input data in order to process the forest fire danger data and assess the forest fire probability.

Yemen in a Time of Cholera: Current Situation and Challenges.

PubMed

Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M

2018-03-19

Since early 2015, Yemen has been in the throes of a grueling civil war, which has devastated the health system and public services, and created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters. The country is currently facing a cholera epidemic the world's largest on record, surpassing one million (1,061,548) suspected cases, with 2,373 related deaths since October 2016. Cases were first confirmed in Sana'a city and then spread to almost all governorates except Socotra Island. Continued efforts are being made by the World Health Organization and international partners to contain the epidemic through improving water, sanitation and hygiene, setting up diarrhea treatment centers, and improving the population's awareness about the disease. The provision of clean water and adequate sanitation is imperative as an effective long-term solution to prevent the further spread of this epidemic. Cholera vaccination campaigns should also be conducted as a preventive measure.

Celebrating the Hero in All of Us: An Interview with Kadir Nelson

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sableski, Mary-Kate; Arnold, Jackie Marshall; Adomat, Donna Sayers

2015-01-01

Books provide an opportunity through which children can learn what it means to be in the world and to respond flexibly and creatively to a diverse range of situations. Author/illustrator Kadir Nelson creates books that provide these opportunities for readers of all ages. A dominant theme in current conversations surrounding children's literature…

An Evaluation of Web Based Instruction in View of the Tutors' and Students' Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erdogan, Yavuz

2008-01-01

In today's world, it is acknowledged by almost all folks of life that the traditional educational institutions are inadequate in educating the growing population. This situation has triggered research into finding ways to provide economical and of high quality education to wider masses of people. Currently, web based instruction seems to be the…

Functional Connectivity between Brain Regions Involved in Learning Words of a New Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veroude, Kim; Norris, David G.; Shumskaya, Elena; Gullberg, Marianne; Indefrey, Peter

2010-01-01

Previous studies have identified several brain regions that appear to be involved in the acquisition of novel word forms. Standard word-by-word presentation is often used although exposure to a new language normally occurs in a natural, real world situation. In the current experiment we investigated naturalistic language exposure and applied a…

Hygienisierung in der Fischzucht mittels Per-essigsäure (Disinfection of water with PAA: State of the investigations)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

There are very few therapeutic agents against aquaculture ectoparasites in Germany. Peracetic Acid (PAA) has been referred to as the best disinfective agent in the world, but it has not been used much here in aquaculture. We currently use this compound in ‘treatment crisis’ situations because ther...

A General Provincial Situation Visualization System Based on iPhone Operating System of Shandong Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Z.; Xiang, H.

2014-04-01

The paper discusses the basic principles and the problem solutions during the design and implementation of the mobile GIS system, and base on the research result, we developed the General Provincial Situation Visualization System Based on iOS of Shandong Province. The system is developed in the Objective-C programming language, and use the ArcGIS Runtime SDK for IOS as the development tool to call the "World-map Shandong" services to implement the development of the General Provincial Situation Visualization System Based on iOS devices. The system is currently available for download in the Appstore and is chosen as the typical application case of ESRI China ArcGIS API for iOS.

[The current situation of acupuncture definition in international organizations and legislation of some countries].

PubMed

Sun, Yujie; Liu, Baoyan; He, Liyun; Wu, Xiaodong; Liu, Jia

2017-12-12

Acupuncture is developing rapidly in the world, and more attention is paid on acupuncture in various countries. Because of the cultural differences, there are different views on acupuncture between China and the west, which has brought influence and challenge to the development of acupuncture in the world. Acupuncture-related research is becoming increasingly extensive and complex, but the definition of acupuncture is lack of unified standards. The definition of acupuncture is in urgent need. Based on the analysis of acupuncture definition in the 201 international organizations of 48 countries on five continents and legislation of representative countries, this paper summarized the development status of acupuncture in foreign countries, and put forward that the definition of acupuncture should adopt the model of small connotation and large extension, integrate discipline superiority, expand the scope of acupuncture, and focus on the overall situation.

Dr Mario Raviglione, director of the Stop TB Department World Health Organization. Interview by Christo Hall.

PubMed

Raviglione, Mario

2012-03-01

Tuberculosis (TB) is a very global disease; there are over 9 million new incidences of TB every year with the vast majority of cases emerging in the developing world. As one of three major diseases associated with poverty it affects the areas where poverty is most prevalent, notably Asia and Africa. While the incidence rate has been slowly declining in the developed world it continues to pose a major health threat to even the most developed nations. To demonstrate the global, and persistent, nature of TB we asked Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the World Health Organization's Stop TB Department to provide an analysis on the current TB situation in the United Kingdom and comment on what measures should be taken to alleviate the issue of TB in one of the world's richest countries.

[Current situation of the most frequent zoonosis in the world].

PubMed

Flores Castro, Ricardo

2010-01-01

Zoonoses are at the present time more important than ever due to their magnitude and impact. The international trade in animals, products and sub products, as well as the intense travel of people around the world, represent risks of dissemination of infectious diseases, and are the reason for a new age of emerging and reemerging zoonotic diseases. Under these conditions, public health and animal health authorities are obliged to work together in order to get more efficient control programs. In this paper the actual situation of some important emerging and reemerging zoonoses is analyzed, including: anthrax, rabies, tuberculosis, brucellosis, cysticercosis, echinococcosis, hanta virus, Hendra and Nipah virus. Particular attention is given to leptospirosis, due to the fact that it is considered by WHO and OIE as the widest spread zoonotic disease in the world. Zoonoses caused by ingestion of animal food products are discussed. They are responsible for the death of almost 2.2 million people. Bacteria of genus salmonella and campylobacter are considered. Some recommendations are given for the control and prevention of zoonoses, emphasizing the "One Health" concept.

Comment: On the World's Energy Situation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kouzminow, V. A.

1979-01-01

Reviewed, in this editorial, are the present world energy situation and estimates of the prospects of supplying mankind with the amount of energy necessary for future socioeconomic development. Stressed is the role of different energy sources in the present and future energy balance of the world. (BT)

Antidoping control in Brazil: history, current situation, and prospects for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

PubMed

Santos, Marcos Antonio Pereira dos; Silva, Alexandre Sérgio; Ribeiro, Sergio Luiz Galan; Santos, Azenildo Moura

2014-07-01

Brazil will soon host two major sporting events: the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Given the importance of antidoping control during these competitions, it is important that the scientific community receive a status update on antidoping control in Brazil. In this brief communication, the authors present the status of antidoping control in Brazil from an historical perspective, both the benefits and difficulties to be faced by antidoping control during these events, and the legacy resulting from the efficacy of the drug testing performed during these competitions.

[The HIV-pandemic in the third world--worse than anticipated?].

PubMed

Steen, Tore W; Drage, Mona; Klouman, Elise

2006-11-30

The first AIDS cases were discovered 25 years ago in the United States. We describe how the epidemic evolved in the Third World, with emphasis on the current situation and on the African continent, which is most affected. The present review article is based on a literature review and own working experience. In 2005, more than 90 % of HIV-infected persons lived in Third World countries, mainly Africa and Asia. Transmission in Africa is mainly heterosexual and approximately 60 % of the infected are women. Asia has epidemics among intravenous drug users and men who have sex with men, and among sex workers and their customers. Several Asian countries now have generalized epidemics. Urban populations are more affected than rural ones in all geographical areas of the world, with only a few exceptions. Modern HIV treatment saves many lives, but only an increase of preventive measures can reverse the current trends. To obtain a reversal, it is adamant with broad mobilization of affected populations, clear political leadership and prioritisation and a considerable increase in help from developed countries.

Reducing water scarcity possible by 2050: Linking global assessments to policy dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wada, Y.; Gleeson, T.; Esnault, L.

2015-12-01

Water scarcity is not a problem just for the developing world. In California, legislators are currently proposing a $7.5 billion emergency water plan to their voters; and U.S. federal officials last year warned residents of Arizona and Nevada that they could face cuts in Colorado River water deliveries in 2016. Irrigation techniques, industrial and residential habits combined with climate change lie at the root of the problem. But despite what appears to be an insurmountable problem, it is possible to turn the situation around and significantly reduce water scarcity in over next 35 years. We identify outline strategies in six key areas that they believe can be combined in different ways in different parts of the world in order to effectively reduce water stress. (Water stress occurs in an area where more than 40% of the available water from rivers is unavailable because it is already being used - a situation that currently affects about a third of the global population, and may affect as many as half the people in the world by the end of the century if the current pattern of water use continues). We separate six key strategy areas for reducing water stress into "hard path" measures, involving building more reservoirs and increasing desalination efforts of sea water, and "soft path" measures that focus on reducing water demand rather than increasing water supply thanks to community-scale efforts and decision-making, combining efficient technology and environmental protection. While there are some economic, cultural and social factors that may make certain of the "soft path" measures such as population control difficult, the "soft path" measures offer the more realistic path forward in terms of reducing water stress by 2050.

Reducing water scarcity possible by 2050: Linking global assessments to policy dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watts, A.; Turetsky, M. R.; Benscoter, B.; Page, S. E.; Rein, G.; van der Werf, G.

2014-12-01

Water scarcity is not a problem just for the developing world. In California, legislators are currently proposing a $7.5 billion emergency water plan to their voters; and U.S. federal officials last year warned residents of Arizona and Nevada that they could face cuts in Colorado River water deliveries in 2016. Irrigation techniques, industrial and residential habits combined with climate change lie at the root of the problem. But despite what appears to be an insurmountable problem, it is possible to turn the situation around and significantly reduce water scarcity in over next 35 years. We identify outline strategies in six key areas that they believe can be combined in different ways in different parts of the world in order to effectively reduce water stress. (Water stress occurs in an area where more than 40% of the available water from rivers is unavailable because it is already being used - a situation that currently affects about a third of the global population, and may affect as many as half the people in the world by the end of the century if the current pattern of water use continues). We separate six key strategy areas for reducing water stress into "hard path" measures, involving building more reservoirs and increasing desalination efforts of sea water, and "soft path" measures that focus on reducing water demand rather than increasing water supply thanks to community-scale efforts and decision-making, combining efficient technology and environmental protection. While there are some economic, cultural and social factors that may make certain of the "soft path" measures such as population control difficult, the "soft path" measures offer the more realistic path forward in terms of reducing water stress by 2050.

Researching the Lives of Catholic Teachers Who Were Members of Religious Orders: Historiographical Considerations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Donoghue, Tom; Potts, Anthony

2004-01-01

When many of the parents of those currently attending Catholic schools throughout much of the English-speaking world were being educated, the Catholic teaching force was heavily influenced by the presence of the religious orders. Furthermore, this had been the situation for over a century. The turning point was the mid-1960s and the opening up of…

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.

Collection and recycling of electronic scrap: A worldwide overview and comparison with the Brazilian situation

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

Reis de Oliveira, Camila, E-mail: Camilareis.oliveira@hotmail.com; Moura Bernardes, Andrea, E-mail: amb@ufrgs.br; Gerbase, Annelise Engel, E-mail: agerbase@ufrgs.br

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Review of the different e-waste collection systems and recycling processes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We present the e-waste collection systems used in Europe and in the US. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We present e-waste collection systems used in Asia and Latin America. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer E-waste management between developed and developing countries is very different. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We made a comparison of the world situation to the current Brazilian reality. - Abstract: Recycling and the related issue of sustainable development are increasing in importance around the world. In Brazil, the new National Policy on Solid Wastes has prompted discussion on the future of electronic waste (e-waste). Overmore » the last 10 years, different e-waste collection systems and recycling processes have been applied globally. This paper presents the systems used in different countries and compares the world situation to the current Brazilian reality. To establish a recycling process, it is necessary to organize efficient collection management. The main difficulty associated with the implementation of e-waste recycling processes in Brazil is the collection system, as its efficiency depends not only on the education and cooperation of the people but also on cooperation among industrial waste generators, distributors and the government. Over half a million waste pickers have been reported in Brazil and they are responsible for the success of metal scrap collection in the country. The country also has close to 2400 companies and cooperatives involved in recycling and scrap trading. On the other hand, the collection and recycling of e-waste is still incipient because e-wastes are not seen as valuable in the informal sector. The Brazilian challenge is therefore to organize a system of e-waste management including the informal sector without neglecting environmentally sound management principles.« less

Grounded theory: a methodological spiral from positivism to postmodernism.

PubMed

Mills, Jane; Chapman, Ysanne; Bonner, Ann; Francis, Karen

2007-04-01

Our aim in this paper is to explain a methodological/methods package devised to incorporate situational and social world mapping with frame analysis, based on a grounded theory study of Australian rural nurses' experiences of mentoring. Situational analysis, as conceived by Adele Clarke, shifts the research methodology of grounded theory from being located within a postpositivist paradigm to a postmodern paradigm. Clarke uses three types of maps during this process: situational, social world and positional, in combination with discourse analysis. During our grounded theory study, the process of concurrent interview data generation and analysis incorporated situational and social world mapping techniques. An outcome of this was our increased awareness of how outside actors influenced participants in their constructions of mentoring. In our attempts to use Clarke's methodological package, however, it became apparent that our constructivist beliefs about human agency could not be reconciled with the postmodern project of discourse analysis. We then turned to the literature on symbolic interactionism and adopted frame analysis as a method to examine the literature on rural nursing and mentoring as secondary form of data. While we found situational and social world mapping very useful, we were less successful in using positional maps. In retrospect, we would argue that collective action framing provides an alternative to analysing such positions in the literature. This is particularly so for researchers who locate themselves within a constructivist paradigm, and who are therefore unwilling to reject the notion of human agency and the ability of individuals to shape their world in some way. Our example of using this package of situational and social worlds mapping with frame analysis is intended to assist other researchers to locate participants more transparently in the social worlds that they negotiate in their everyday practice.

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.

[Diphtheria in the military forces: lessons and current status of prophylaxis, prospects of epidemiological control process].

PubMed

Belov, A B; Ogarkov, P I

2014-01-01

We analyzed the epidemiological situation of diphtheria in the world and in Russia and experience of mass vaccination of military personnel and civil population with diphtheria toxoid for the last 50 years. Early diagnosis of diphtheria in military personnel has a prognostic value. Authors described the peculiarities of epidemiological process of diphtheria in military personnel in 80-90 years of 20th century and organizational aspects of mass vaccination with diphtheria toxoid. Authors analyzed current problems of epidemiology and prophylaxis of diphtheria in military personnel and civil population and possible developments. According to long-term prognosis authors mentioned the increase of morbidity and came to conclusion that it is necessary enhance the epidemiological surveillance. Authors presented prospect ways of improvement of vaccination and rational approaches to immunization of military personnel under positive long-term epidemiological situation.

Improved representation of situational awareness within a dismounted small combat unit constructive simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, K. David; Colony, Mike

2011-06-01

Modeling and simulation has been established as a cost-effective means of supporting the development of requirements, exploring doctrinal alternatives, assessing system performance, and performing design trade-off analysis. The Army's constructive simulation for the evaluation of equipment effectiveness in small combat unit operations is currently limited to representation of situation awareness without inclusion of the many uncertainties associated with real world combat environments. The goal of this research is to provide an ability to model situation awareness and decision process uncertainties in order to improve evaluation of the impact of battlefield equipment on ground soldier and small combat unit decision processes. Our Army Probabilistic Inference and Decision Engine (Army-PRIDE) system provides this required uncertainty modeling through the application of two critical techniques that allow Bayesian network technology to be applied to real-time applications. (Object-Oriented Bayesian Network methodology and Object-Oriented Inference technique). In this research, we implement decision process and situation awareness models for a reference scenario using Army-PRIDE and demonstrate its ability to model a variety of uncertainty elements, including: confidence of source, information completeness, and information loss. We also demonstrate that Army-PRIDE improves the realism of the current constructive simulation's decision processes through Monte Carlo simulation.

From a word to a world: the current situation in the interdisciplinary field of synthetic biology

PubMed Central

Hu, Xiaojun

2015-01-01

Using a carefully designed search query, we describe the field of synthetic biology in terms of leading countries, organizations and funding sources. Besides articles we also paid some attention to patents. The USA is the leading country in this field, followed by China. There is a clear exponential growth in the field of synthetic biology over the latest 14 years. Keywords were analyzed using the notion of year-based h-indices, core gap and relative core gap. We conclude that the term “synthetic biology” hides a large world ready to be explored by interdisciplinary research. PMID:25650074

Evaluation of a BCMA’s Electronic Medication Administration Record

PubMed Central

Staggers, Nancy; Iribarren, Sarah; Guo, Jia-Wen; Weir, Charlene

2015-01-01

Barcode medication administration (BCMA) systems can reduce medication errors, but sociotechnical issues are quite common. Although crucial to nurses’ work, few usability evaluations are available for electronic medication administration record screens (eMARs). The purpose of this research was to identify current usability problems in the VA’s eMAR/BCMA system and explore how these might impact nurses’ situation awareness. Three expert evaluators used 10 tasks/elements, heuristic evaluation techniques and explored potential impacts using a situation awareness perspective. The results yielded 99 usability problems categorized into 440 heuristic violations with the largest volume in the category of Match with the Real World. Fifteen usability issues were rated as catastrophic with the Administer/Chart medications task having the most. Situational awareness was impacted at all levels, especially at Level 2, Comprehension. Usability problems point to important areas for improvement because these issues have the potential to impact nurses’ situation awareness, “at a glance” information, nurse productivity and patient safety. PMID:25601936

Current Status of Standardization of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China

PubMed Central

Guo, Yi; Li, Gui Lan

2016-01-01

As an important component of traditional medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is widely spread and applied in more than 100 countries across the world. The standardization of TCM is very important for the international application of Chinese medicine. In this paper, we have explained and analyzed the standardization situations of TCM in China with the purpose of providing reference for standardization and international development of TCM. PMID:27110268

JPRS Report, Soviet Union, World Economy & International Relations, No. 4, April 1987

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-08-28

revolutionary and who are totally suited by economic stagnation and the conservation of elements of social corrosion, social indifference and crisis ...important features and singularities of the general crisis of capitalism in the current situation and determine factors of its further...were made the basis of the concept of the three stages of the general crisis of capitalism, which was formulated by creative Marxist-Leninist thought

Social Engineering hits Social Commerce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Degenhardt, Werner; Wiele, Johannes

Looking at social commerce, a bunch of bewildering phenomena attracts the attention of social psychologists. The way customers participate today shows attitudes and ethical behavior which cannot be explained from the inherent conditions of Web 2.0 environments alone. Fraud often succeeds, when you do not expect it, and honesty can be found under circumstances that do not support honesty at all. The current situation seems to result from customers assigning experience and ethics from real world business to virtual business environments. But there are indications that this situation may change. Social commerce could suffer as soon as customers would use its inherent weaknesses to their own advantage. The following article outlines first approaches to research into this topic.

Intuitive Physics: Current Research and Controversies.

PubMed

Kubricht, James R; Holyoak, Keith J; Lu, Hongjing

2017-10-01

Early research in the field of intuitive physics provided extensive evidence that humans succumb to common misconceptions and biases when predicting, judging, and explaining activity in the physical world. Recent work has demonstrated that, across a diverse range of situations, some biases can be explained by the application of normative physical principles to noisy perceptual inputs. However, it remains unclear how knowledge of physical principles is learned, represented, and applied to novel situations. In this review we discuss theoretical advances from heuristic models to knowledge-based, probabilistic simulation models, as well as recent deep-learning models. We also consider how recent work may be reconciled with earlier findings that favored heuristic models. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interactive autonomy and robotic skills

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kellner, A.; Maediger, B.

1994-01-01

Current concepts of robot-supported operations for space laboratories (payload servicing, inspection, repair, and ORU exchange) are mainly based on the concept of 'interactive autonomy' which implies autonomous behavior of the robot according to predefined timelines, predefined sequences of elementary robot operations and within predefined world models supplying geometrical and other information for parameter instantiation on the one hand, and the ability to override and change the predefined course of activities by human intervention on the other hand. Although in principle a very powerful and useful concept, in practice the confinement of the robot to the abstract world models and predefined activities appears to reduce the robot's stability within real world uncertainties and its applicability to non-predefined parts of the world, calling for frequent corrective interaction by the operator, which in itself may be tedious and time-consuming. Methods are presented to improve this situation by incorporating 'robotic skills' into the concept of interactive autonomy.

World oilseed situation and U. S. export opportunities, March 1984. Foreign agriculture circular

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

Not Available

1984-03-01

The world oilseed supply situation tightened in this month with estimated world oilseed, meal and oil production all down from the last month. Reduced peanut and sunflower seed output in drought-damaged areas in Africa more than offset an increase in Argentine soybean output. The protein meal sector remained quiet, with an adjustment in peanut meal production and a reduction in Soviet soybean meal imports. The situation for vegetable and marine oils also remained quiet during the month, with offsetting reductions of Singapore's palm oil imports and exports indicating that country's decline as a transshipper of palm oil.

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.

Representing situation awareness in collaborative systems: a case study in the energy distribution domain.

PubMed

Salmon, P M; Stanton, N A; Walker, G H; Jenkins, D; Baber, C; McMaster, R

2008-03-01

The concept of distributed situation awareness (DSA) is currently receiving increasing attention from the human factors community. This article investigates DSA in a collaborative real-world industrial setting by discussing the results derived from a recent naturalistic study undertaken within the UK energy distribution domain. The results describe the DSA-related information used by the networks of agents involved in the scenarios analysed, the sharing of this information between the agents and the salience of different information elements used. Thus, the structure, quality and content of each network's DSA is discussed, along with the implications for DSA theory. The findings reinforce the notion that when viewing situation awareness (SA) in collaborative systems, it is useful to focus on the coordinated behaviour of the system itself, rather than on the individual as the unit of analysis and suggest that the findings from such assessments can potentially be used to inform system, procedure and training design. SA is a critical commodity for teams working in industrial systems and systems, procedures and training programmes should be designed to facilitate efficient system SA acquisition and maintenance. This article presents approaches for describing and understanding SA during real-world collaborative tasks, the outputs from which can potentially be used to inform system, training programmes and procedure design.

Correlations and flow of information between the New York Times and stock markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García-Medina, Andrés; Sandoval, Leonidas; Bañuelos, Efraín Urrutia; Martínez-Argüello, A. M.

2018-07-01

We use Random Matrix Theory (RMT) and information theory to analyze the correlations and flow of information between 64,939 news from The New York Times and 40 world financial indices during 10 months along the period 2015-2016. The set of news is quantified and transformed into daily polarity time series using tools from sentiment analysis. The results show that a common factor influences the world indices and news, which even share the same dynamics. Furthermore, the global correlation structure is found to be preserved when adding white noise, what indicates that correlations are not due to sample size effects. Likewise, we find a considerable amount of information flowing from news to world indices for some specific delay. This is of practical interest for trading purposes. Our results suggest a deep relationship between news and world indices, and show a situation where news drive world market movements, giving a new evidence to support behavioral finance as the current economic paradigm.

Sensing and Virtual Worlds - A Survey of Research Opportunities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Dana

2012-01-01

Virtual Worlds (VWs) have been used effectively in live and constructive military training. An area that remains fertile ground for exploration and a new vision involves integrating various traditional and now non-traditional sensors into virtual worlds. In this paper, we will assert that the benefits of this integration are several. First, we maintain that virtual worlds offer improved sensor deployment planning through improved visualization and stimulation of the model, using geo-specific terrain and structure. Secondly, we assert that VWs enhance the mission rehearsal process, and that using a mix of live avatars, non-player characters, and live sensor feeds (e.g. real time meteorology) can help visualization of the area of operations. Finally, tactical operations are improved via better collaboration and integration of real world sensing capabilities, and in most situations, 30 VWs improve the state of the art over current "dots on a map" 20 geospatial visualization. However, several capability gaps preclude a fuller realization of this vision. In this paper, we identify many of these gaps and suggest research directions

A platform for evolving intelligently interactive adversaries.

PubMed

Fogel, David B; Hays, Timothy J; Johnson, Douglas R

2006-07-01

Entertainment software developers face significant challenges in designing games with broad appeal. One of the challenges concerns creating nonplayer (computer-controlled) characters that can adapt their behavior in light of the current and prospective situation, possibly emulating human behaviors. This adaptation should be inherently novel, unrepeatable, yet within the bounds of realism. Evolutionary algorithms provide a suitable method for generating such behaviors. This paper provides background on the entertainment software industry, and details a prior and current effort to create a platform for evolving nonplayer characters with genetic and behavioral traits within a World War I combat flight simulator.

Awareness Through Agility: Teenagers as a Model for Terrorist Development of Situational Awareness

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-01

relationship. Two of the most popular social networking sites are Myspace.com and Facebook.com. MySpace is currently the world’s...blogs allows teenagers to express themselves and, in some cases, gain limited notoriety. Blogs differ from web-based social networking sites as the...posted to web-based social networking sites , blogs, or instant messaging profiles; pictures that are taken out of context can be sent via cell

Putting the puzzle together: the role of ‘problem definition’ in complex clinical judgement

PubMed Central

Cristancho, Sayra; Lingard, Lorelei; Forbes, Thomas; Ott, Michael; Novick, Richard

2017-01-01

CONTEXT We teach judgement in pieces; that is, we talk about each aspect separately (patient, plan, resources, technique, etc.). We also let trainees figure out how to put the pieces together. In complex situations, this might be problematic. Using data from a drawing-based study on surgeons’ experiences with complex situations, we explore the notion of ‘problem definition’ in real-world clinical judgement using the theoretical lens of systems engineering. METHODS ‘Emergence’, the sensitising concept for analysis, is rooted in two key systems premises: that person and context are inseparable and that what emerges is an act of choice. Via a ‘gallery walk’ we used these premises to perform analysis on individual drawings as well as cross-comparisons of multiple drawings. Our focus was to understand similarities and differences among the vantage points used by multiple surgeons. RESULTS In this paper we challenge two assumptions from current models of clinical judgement: that experts hold a fixed and static definition of the problem and that consequently the focus of the expert’s work is on solving the problem. Each situation described by our participants revealed different but complementary perspectives of what a surgical problem might come to be: from concerns about ensuring standard of care, to balancing personal emotions versus care choices, to coordinating resources, and to maintaining control while in the midst of personality clashes. CONCLUSION We suggest that it is only at the situation and system level, not at the individual level, that we are able to appreciate the nuances of defining the problem when experts make judgements during real-world complex situations. PMID:27943366

Putting the puzzle together: the role of 'problem definition' in complex clinical judgement.

PubMed

Cristancho, Sayra; Lingard, Lorelei; Forbes, Thomas; Ott, Michael; Novick, Richard

2017-02-01

We teach judgement in pieces; that is, we talk about each aspect separately (patient, plan, resources, technique, etc.). We also let trainees figure out how to put the pieces together. In complex situations, this might be problematic. Using data from a drawing-based study on surgeons' experiences with complex situations, we explore the notion of 'problem definition' in real-world clinical judgement using the theoretical lens of systems engineering. 'Emergence', the sensitising concept for analysis, is rooted in two key systems premises: that person and context are inseparable and that what emerges is an act of choice. Via a 'gallery walk' we used these premises to perform analysis on individual drawings as well as cross-comparisons of multiple drawings. Our focus was to understand similarities and differences among the vantage points used by multiple surgeons. In this paper we challenge two assumptions from current models of clinical judgement: that experts hold a fixed and static definition of the problem and that consequently the focus of the expert's work is on solving the problem. Each situation described by our participants revealed different but complementary perspectives of what a surgical problem might come to be: from concerns about ensuring standard of care, to balancing personal emotions versus care choices, to coordinating resources, and to maintaining control while in the midst of personality clashes. We suggest that it is only at the situation and system level, not at the individual level, that we are able to appreciate the nuances of defining the problem when experts make judgements during real-world complex situations. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

Situations in 140 Characters: Assessing Real-World Situations on Twitter

PubMed Central

Serfass, David G.; Sherman, Ryne A.

2015-01-01

Over 20 million Tweets were used to study the psychological characteristics of real-world situations over the course of two weeks. Models for automatically and accurately scoring individual Tweets on the DIAMONDS dimensions of situations were developed. Stable daily and weekly fluctuations in the situations that people experience were identified. Predicted temporal trends were found, providing validation for this new method of situation assessment. On weekdays, Duty peaks in the midmorning and declines steadily thereafter while Sociality peeks in the evening. Negativity is highest during the workweek and lowest on the weekends. pOsitivity shows the opposite pattern. Additionally, gender and locational differences in the situations shared on Twitter are explored. Females share both more emotionally charged (pOsitive and Negative) situations, while no differences were found in the amount of Duty experienced by males and females. Differences in the situations shared from Rural and Urban areas were not found. Future applications of assessing situations using social media are discussed. PMID:26566125

[Brucellosis: a zoonosis of importance in Mexico].

PubMed

Guzmán-Hernández, Rosa Lilia; Contreras-Rodríguez, Araceli; Ávila-Calderón, Eric Daniel; Morales-García, M Rosario

2016-12-01

Brucellosis is one of the most frequent zoonosis in most parts of the world. This zoonosis remains a great problem to public health in developing countries, although developed countries have successfully controlled it. Mexico still shows a high annual brucellosis incidence in humans; thus, the country is considered around the world as an endemic brucellosis country. To describe the connection/association between this zoonosis and the current epidemiological situation in the Mexican population. Perusal of research reports, epidemiological studies and veterinarian reviews performed in Mexico, using data bases such as PubMed, Thompson Reuters, Mesh research. The risk of infection by Brucella in Mexico is associated with the consumption of unpasteurized dairy products, mainly fresh cheeses.

Linking LEGO and Algebra

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Özgün-Koca, S. Asli; Edwards, Thomas G.; Chelst, Kenneth R.

2015-01-01

In mathematics, students should represent, model, and work with such real-world situations as those found in the physical world, the public policy realm, and society (CCSSI 2010). Additionally, students need to make decisions and be flexible enough to improve their decisions after analyzing realistic situations. The LEGO® Pets activity does just…

Battery-Less Electroencephalogram System Architecture Optimization

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

disorders, especially in real-world situations, such as when a Soldier is in theater. There are several methods to study the electrical activity in the brain...to measure the electrical activity in the brain that can still be used to study brain activity. Currently, most EEGs are recorded in highly controlled...base to build a larger system as its power consumption would allow it to operate from a AA battery for more than 72 h. While this might be acceptable

Spectroscopic data for an astronomy database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parkinson, W. H.; Smith, Peter L.

1995-01-01

Very few of the atomic and molecular data used in analyses of astronomical spectra are currently available in World Wide Web (WWW) databases that are searchable with hypertext browsers. We have begun to rectify this situation by making extensive atomic data files available with simple search procedures. We have also established links to other on-line atomic and molecular databases. All can be accessed from our database homepage with URL: http:// cfa-www.harvard.edu/ amp/ data/ amdata.html.

The Voices of Women Physicists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khim, Zheong G.

2009-04-01

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Speakers, and Delegates from all over the world! It is my pleasure to meet you at the ICWIP meeting here in Seoul to discuss the gender inequality problem in science and technology, especially in physics. We will evaluate the present situation and try to find a way of improving current adverse circumstances. I am very much impressed by the enthusiasm of the organizers and participants, and confident that the Conference will be a great success.

[Current situation with abortion in Colombia: between illegality and reality].

PubMed

González Vélez, Ana Cristina

2005-01-01

This article discusses the illegality of abortion in Colombia, situating this country within the 0.4% of the world population where abortion is completely banned. Absolute criminalization of abortion turns it into a public health matter and produces social inequality. The Colombian legislation has always disregarded women as individuals and as persons in full possession of their legal rights. In contrast to a comprehensive conceptualization of sexual and reproductive rights, the various abortion bills merely refer either to "morally unacceptable" situations such as pregnancy resulting from rape or to therapeutic motives. Contradictions between illegality and reality give rise to a public discourse that features rejection of abortion practices, in keeping with the prevailing stance of the ecclesiastic hierarchy, while in practice, and at the private level, people resort to voluntary interruption of pregnancy under conditions of safety and confidentiality, at least for women from the higher socioeconomic strata. This situation not only causes social inequality but also reflects how laws lose meaning and create the collective impression of being useless or unnecessary, thus undermining the state's governing role.

Good Student/Bad Student: Situated Identities in the Figured Worlds of School and Creative Multimodal Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jocius, Robin

2017-01-01

This study situates young adolescents' multimodal composing practices within two figured worlds--school and creative multimodal production. In a microanalysis of two focal students' multimodal processes and products, I trace how pedagogical, interactional, and semiotic resources both reified and challenged students' developing identities as…

COMPUTATIONAL TOXICOLOGY-WHERE IS THE DATA? ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This talk will briefly describe the state of the data world for computational toxicology and one approach to improve the situation, called ACToR (Aggregated Computational Toxicology Resource). This talk will briefly describe the state of the data world for computational toxicology and one approach to improve the situation, called ACToR (Aggregated Computational Toxicology Resource).

Developing Management Student Cultural Fluency for the Real World: A Situated Cultural Learning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Yunxia; Okimoto, Tyler G.; Roan, Amanda; Xu, Henry

2017-01-01

Purpose: To connect students with the real world of management practice, the purpose of this paper is to extend and operationalize the situated cultural learning approach (SiCuLA) through five learning processes occurring within communities of practice. These include integration of cultural contexts, authentic activities, reflections,…

Leprosy: current situation, clinical and laboratory aspects, treatment history and perspective of the uniform multidrug therapy for all patients.

PubMed

Cruz, Rossilene Conceição da Silva; Bührer-Sékula, Samira; Penna, Maria Lúcia F; Penna, Gerson Oliveira; Talhari, Sinésio

2017-01-01

In this review, the most relevant and current epidemiological data, the main clinical, laboratory and therapeutical aspects of leprosy are presented. Detailed discussion of the main drugs used for leprosy treatment, their most relevant adverse effects, evolution of the therapeutic regimen, from dapsone as a monotherapy to the proposed polychemotherapy by World Health Organization (WHO) can be found in this CME. We specifically highlight the drug acceptability, reduction in treatment duration and the most recent proposal of a single therapeutic regimen, with a fixed six months duration, for all clinical presentations, regardless of their classification.

Leprosy: current situation, clinical and laboratory aspects, treatment history and perspective of the uniform multidrug therapy for all patients*

PubMed Central

Cruz, Rossilene Conceição da Silva; Bührer-Sékula, Samira; Penna, Maria Lúcia F.; Penna, Gerson Oliveira; Talhari, Sinésio

2017-01-01

In this review, the most relevant and current epidemiological data, the main clinical, laboratory and therapeutical aspects of leprosy are presented. Detailed discussion of the main drugs used for leprosy treatment, their most relevant adverse effects, evolution of the therapeutic regimen, from dapsone as a monotherapy to the proposed polychemotherapy by World Health Organization (WHO) can be found in this CME. We specifically highlight the drug acceptability, reduction in treatment duration and the most recent proposal of a single therapeutic regimen, with a fixed six months duration, for all clinical presentations, regardless of their classification. PMID:29364430

Excerpt from "The Voice of THIMUN [The Hague International Model United Nations] Youth": Action Papers from the Annual Session of the THIMUN Youth Assembly (1st, The Hague, The Netherlands, January 21-26, 2001).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

The Hague International Model United Nations (Netherlands). Youth Assembly.

The education systems that are in place throughout the world were created for a society different from the one that exists now. These outdated educational systems lead to a lack of motivation on the part of teacher and student and stifle new initiatives. Actions to improve this situation include the following: (1) revising the current amount and…

Psychiatry in Pakistan: 1947-2006: a new balance sheet.

PubMed

Gadit, Amin A Muhammad

2007-09-01

This review deals with the evolution of psychiatry in Pakistan since its inception in 1947. It describes the situation of psychiatric services, education and research through the years 1947-2006, presenting a picture of existing mental health scenario, suggesting the ways for improvement and comment on possible future developments. It concludes with the prediction of a revolutionary change in the current shape of psychiatry throughout the world and especially in Pakistan whereby psychiatry will change to organic-based discipline of a wider "Neurosciences".

Integrated human-machine intelligence in space systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boy, Guy A.

1992-01-01

The integration of human and machine intelligence in space systems is outlined with respect to the contributions of artificial intelligence. The current state-of-the-art in intelligent assistant systems (IASs) is reviewed, and the requirements of some real-world applications of the technologies are discussed. A concept of integrated human-machine intelligence is examined in the contexts of: (1) interactive systems that tolerate human errors; (2) systems for the relief of workloads; and (3) interactive systems for solving problems in abnormal situations. Key issues in the development of IASs include the compatibility of the systems with astronauts in terms of inputs/outputs, processing, real-time AI, and knowledge-based system validation. Real-world applications are suggested such as the diagnosis, planning, and control of enginnered systems.

School and Situated Knowledge: Travel or Tourism?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Damarin, Suzanne K.

1993-01-01

Examines issues related to situated cognition and learning, both in the classroom and in the world. Topics discussed include educational theories; the situated nature of knowledge; the perception of experts; and the role of technology in situated learning, including virtual reality, hypertext, and telecommunications. (26 references) (LRW)

Summary of human social, cultural, behavioral (HSCB) modeling for information fusion panel discussion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blasch, Erik; Salerno, John; Kadar, Ivan; Yang, Shanchieh J.; Fenstermacher, Laurie; Endsley, Mica; Grewe, Lynne

2013-05-01

During the SPIE 2012 conference, panelists convened to discuss "Real world issues and challenges in Human Social/Cultural/Behavioral modeling with Applications to Information Fusion." Each panelist presented their current trends and issues. The panel had agreement on advanced situation modeling, working with users for situation awareness and sense-making, and HSCB context modeling in focusing research activities. Each panelist added different perspectives based on the domain of interest such as physical, cyber, and social attacks from which estimates and projections can be forecasted. Also, additional techniques were addressed such as interest graphs, network modeling, and variable length Markov Models. This paper summarizes the panelists discussions to highlight the common themes and the related contrasting approaches to the domains in which HSCB applies to information fusion applications.

Nuclear nonproliferation: India Pakistan. Research report

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

Fallon, J.S.

1997-04-01

As most of the world continues to seek ways to reduce or eliminate the spread of nuclear weapons, two countries seem intent on pursuing a path which is contradictory. India and Pakistan, two neighboring and frequently warring nations, condemn the use of nuclear weapons as they continue to develop the capability to deliver a nuclear payload. Additionally, India has stood against the Non-Proliferation Treaty, insisting that all nations must agree to eliminate nuclear weapons. It is against this seemingly hopeless situation that this report is focused. How can nuclear proliferation in South Asia be diffused while answering the security concernsmore » of both India and Pakistan. What I offer here is a review of the history, the current situation for the area, and a proposed solution to this nuclear stalemate.« less

Teaching Basic Science Content via Real-World Applications: A College-Level Summer Course in Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maza, Paul; Miller, Allison; Carson, Brian; Hermanson, John

2018-01-01

Learning and retaining science content may be increased by applying the basic science material to real-world situations. Discussing cases with students during lectures and having them participate in laboratory exercises where they apply the science content to practical situations increases students' interest and enthusiasm. A summer course in…

Situated cognition and the phenomenology of place: lifeworld, environmental embodiment, and immersion-in-world.

PubMed

Seamon, David

2015-09-01

This article makes use of a passage from novelist Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude to illustrate Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of the lived body and to consider what the related phenomenological concepts of place, environmental embodiment, and immersion-in-world might offer research in situated cognition.

Confronting Analytical Dilemmas for Understanding Complex Human Interactions in Design-Based Research from a Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamagata-Lynch, Lisa C.

2007-01-01

Understanding human activity in real-world situations often involves complicated data collection, analysis, and presentation methods. This article discusses how Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) can inform design-based research practices that focus on understanding activity in real-world situations. I provide a sample data set with…

The Situational Small World of a Post-Disaster Community: Insights into Information Behaviors after the Devastation of Hurricane Katrina in Slidell, Louisiana

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slagle, Tisha Anne

2010-01-01

Catastrophes like Katrina destroy a community's critical infrastructure--a situation that instigates several dilemmas. Immediately, the community experiences information disruption within the community, as well as between the community and the outside world. The inability to communicate because of physical or virtual barriers to information…

An Analysis of Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Performance in Modelling Tasks in Terms of Spatial Visualisation Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tasova, Halil Ibrahim; Delice, Ali

2012-01-01

Mathematical modelling involves mathematical constructions chosen to represent some real world situations and the relationships among them; it is the process of expressing a real world situation mathematically. Visualisation can play a significant role in the development of thinking or understanding mathematical concepts, and also makes abstract…

The Construction of Visual-spatial Situation Models in Children's Reading and Their Relation to Reading Comprehension

PubMed Central

Barnes, Marcia A.; Raghubar, Kimberly P.; Faulkner, Heather; Denton, Carolyn A.

2014-01-01

Readers construct mental models of situations described by text to comprehend what they read, updating these situation models based on explicitly described and inferred information about causal, temporal, and spatial relations. Fluent adult readers update their situation models while reading narrative text based in part on spatial location information that is consistent with the perspective of the protagonist. The current study investigates whether children update spatial situation models in a similar way, whether there are age-related changes in children's formation of spatial situation models during reading, and whether measures of the ability to construct and update spatial situation models are predictive of reading comprehension. Typically-developing children from ages 9 through 16 years (n=81) were familiarized with a physical model of a marketplace. Then the model was covered, and children read stories that described the movement of a protagonist through the marketplace and were administered items requiring memory for both explicitly stated and inferred information about the character's movements. Accuracy of responses and response times were evaluated. Results indicated that: (a) location and object information during reading appeared to be activated and updated not simply from explicit text-based information but from a mental model of the real world situation described by the text; (b) this pattern showed no age-related differences; and (c) the ability to update the situation model of the text based on inferred information, but not explicitly stated information, was uniquely predictive of reading comprehension after accounting for word decoding. PMID:24315376

Traumatic events in childhood and their association with psychiatric illness in the adult.

PubMed

Verdolini, Norma; Attademo, Luigi; Agius, Mark; Ferranti, Laura; Moretti, Patrizia; Quartesan, Roberto

2015-09-01

Child maltreatment is a well-known condition that is currently considered to be associated with the development of severe psychiatric conditions. Consequently, the authors decided to review the current literature in order to give a complete scenario of the situation in the world and to give recommendations about prevention and treatment as well as research goals. An electronic search was conducted through the means of MEDLINE database in order to find the most up to date peer-reviewed papers, including only those papers published in 2015. 15 papers were included and analyzed the current situation in different countries: US (n.3), Australia (n.2), Ireland (n.2), Israel (n.2), China (n.2), Indonesia (n.1), Pakistan (n.1) and Norway (n.1). Even though sexual abuse has been studied extensively, both physical and emotional abuse and neglect appear to be more represented within the population of patients that had suffered from abuse. Psychiatric disorders (mainly personality disorders, depression and anxiety), interpersonal, social and legal outcomes are important consequences of child maltreatment. Interventions and strategies are needed at different levels, from prevention to treatment and further research is important in order to better understand the phenomenon.

An efficient agro-industrial complex in Almería (Spain): Towards an integrated and sustainable bioeconomy model.

PubMed

Egea, Francisco J; Torrente, Roberto G; Aguilar, Alfredo

2018-01-25

In the last ten years, bioeconomy strategies and policy-related bioeconomy initiatives have been developed all over the world. Some of them are currently in the process of translation into specific actions. In most cases, the approaches followed have been top-down policy-related initiatives, triggered by the public sector originating a dynamic which can bring together different bioeconomy stakeholders i.e. industry, academia, financial operators and farmers. This article describes a bottom-up situation with unique bioeconomy-related features that deserve specific attention. Over the last 40 years, Almería, in the south east of Spain, has developed one of the most efficient agro-industrial complexes in the world, evolving from a traditional and subsistence agriculture, to becoming the major vegetable exporter in the European Union (EU). This growth set aside issues such as sustainability, long-term perspectives on water resources or agricultural waste. However, societal concerns about a circular economy, as well as policy initiatives in the EU and in Spain on bioeconomy are changing the situation towards an integrated, efficient and sustainable bioeconomy system. Currently, the production chain demands innovations related to the use of biomass as source of bioproducts and bioenergy in order to remain competitive. Some positive aspects are the relatively small size of the agro-industrial area, making transport and communications rapid and easy, and the existence of strong and dedicated academic and financial institutions. This article outlines the current efforts and initiatives to couple the existing successful agro-industrial complex with that of a fully sustainable bioeconomy model. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Survey of the WHO-REMPAN network's capability for strengthening preparedness for radiological and nuclear emergencies.

PubMed

Kumagai, Atsushi; Carr, Zhanat; Akira, Ohtsuru; Christie, Derek; Yamashita, Shunichi

2012-10-01

This paper investigates the capacity of the World Health Organization (WHO)-REMPAN network in responding to radiological incidents and nuclear emergencies. A survey developed by the WHO Secretariat and Nagasaki University was sent to all 40 WHO-REMPAN collaborating centres and liaison institutes in order to verify the current situation of the network, identify needs and collect suggestions for future improvements. Most of the responding institutions said they were satisfied with the current status of the network. However, several responses to the survey indicate that better internal communication is needed, as well as a position document to specify the roles, rights and responsibilities of the network members.

"My Whole Life Is on My Phone": How Do You Situate Learning for a Digital World?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Resler, Trina

2012-01-01

The purpose of this teacher research study was to discover what happens in the classroom when high school social studies students enrolled in world history classes are asked to use text messaging as part of the planned curriculum. Lave and Wenger's (1991) Situated Learning Theory was used in order to provide a framework for understanding how…

The world needs a new energy paradigm.

PubMed

Hedberg, Dick; Kullander, Sven; Frank, Harry

2010-01-01

During 19-20 October 2009, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences arranged the international symposium Energy 2050 in Stockholm. The symposium was held in association with the Swedish EU presidency in autumn 2009. Internationally renowned scientists assessed the energy issue in a broad perspective, with particular emphasis on the possibilities of a fossil-free future. The symposium focused on key topics emanating from the in-depth energy studies carried through by the Academy's Energy Committee since 2005. The world community is facing a challenge of historic proportions to define a new energy paradigm based on fossil-energy substitutes. This article gives an overview of the current global energy situation (2007) and of the technologies which have the major potential for supplying energy up to year 2050 without jeopardizing the CO2 emission targets.

Physics and Video Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allain, Rhett

2016-05-01

We currently live in a world filled with videos. There are videos on YouTube, feature movies and even videos recorded with our own cameras and smartphones. These videos present an excellent opportunity to not only explore physical concepts, but also inspire others to investigate physics ideas. With video analysis, we can explore the fantasy world in science-fiction films. We can also look at online videos to determine if they are genuine or fake. Video analysis can be used in the introductory physics lab and it can even be used to explore the make-believe physics embedded in video games. This book covers the basic ideas behind video analysis along with the fundamental physics principles used in video analysis. The book also includes several examples of the unique situations in which video analysis can be used.

Health promotion capacity mapping: the Korean situation.

PubMed

Nam, Eun Woo; Engelhardt, Katrin

2007-06-01

Ten years ago the Republic of Korea enacted the National Health Promotion Act, setting the stage for health promotion action in the country. A National Health Promotion Fund was established, financed through tobacco taxes, which is now one of the largest in the world. However, despite abundant financial resources, the infrastructure needed to plan, implement, coordinate and evaluate health promotion efforts is still underdeveloped. Currently, health promotion capacity mapping efforts are emerging in Korea. Two international capacity mapping tools have been used to assess the Korean situation, namely HP-Source and the Health Promotion Capacity Profile, which was developed prior to the sixth Global Conference of Health Promotion, held in August 2005 in Bangkok, Thailand. The article summarizes and discusses the results of the capacity mapping exercise, highlights its challenges and suggest ways to improve the accuracy of health promotion capacity mapping.

Dental manpower planning in India: current scenario and future projections for the year 2020.

PubMed

Vundavalli, Sudhakar

2014-04-01

Dental manpower issues in India are discussed in this article which consists of both qualitative and quantitative research. The output of qualified dentists has increased substantially over last decade and at present there are over 117,825 dentists working in India. Although India has a dentist to population ratio of 1:10,271, the newly graduating dentists find it difficult to survive in the private sector. At present less than approximately 5% graduated dentists are working in the Government sector. If the present situation continues there will be more than one lakh dentists over supply by the year 2020. Continuation of the current situation will lead to wastage of highly trained dental manpower and create a threat to the professional integrity of the dentists. This research highlights the fact that there is an urgent need for an organised national human resource planning system to control the supply and demand of dental manpower, to ensure a uniform distribution of manpower and to give future directions to policy makers. © 2013 FDI World Dental Federation.

[Social programs and reducing obesity in Peru: reflections from the research].

PubMed

Diez-Canseco, Francisco; Saavedra-Garcia, Lorena

2017-01-01

In recent decades, overweight or obesity have increased dramatically in middle- and low-income countries; a situation which consolidates chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD) as one of the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide. Currently, half the people in Peru over the age of 15 years are overweight, and one fifth suffer from obesity. The situation is worsening and increasingly affects people in poverty, who frequently benefit from food supplement programs designed to combat food insecurity and malnutrition. There is an urgent worldwide need to find policies and programs that help fight the problem of obesity at the population level, a task that is still pending. In this article, we review the current epidemic of overweight and obesity in Peru and the world and its most significant consequences and causes, with an emphasis on access to and availability of foods. We describe the largest food supplement programs and synthesize the research on interventions in order to reflect on how their findings might help social programs work as a platform to reduce obesity and prevent NCD in Peru.

Precise Ortho Imagery as the Source for Authoritative Airport Mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howard, H.; Hummel, P.

2016-06-01

As the aviation industry moves from paper maps and charts to the digital cockpit and electronic flight bag, producers of these products need current and accurate data to ensure flight safety. FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) require certified suppliers to follow a defined protocol to produce authoritative map data for the aerodrome. Typical airport maps have been produced to meet 5 m accuracy requirements. The new digital aviation world is moving to 1 m accuracy maps to provide better situational awareness on the aerodrome. The commercial availability of 0.5 m satellite imagery combined with accurate ground control is enabling the production of avionics certified .85 m orthophotos of airports around the globe. CompassData maintains an archive of over 400+ airports as source data to support producers of 1 m certified Aerodrome Mapping Database (AMDB) critical to flight safety and automated situational awareness. CompassData is a DO200A certified supplier of authoritative orthoimagery and attendees will learn how to utilize current airport imagery to build digital aviation mapping products.

Implementing Liberia's poverty reduction strategy: An assessment of emergency and essential surgical care.

PubMed

Sherman, Lawrence; Clement, Peter T; Cherian, Meena N; Ndayimirije, Nestor; Noel, Luc; Dahn, Bernice; Gwenigale, Walter T; Kushner, Adam L

2011-01-01

To document infrastructure, personnel, procedures performed, and supplies and equipment available at all county hospitals in Liberia using the World Health Organization Tool for Situational Analysis of Emergency and Essential Surgical Care. Survey of county hospitals using the World Health Organization Tool for Situational Analysis of Emergency and Essential Surgical Care. Sixteen county hospitals in Liberia. Infrastructure, personnel, procedures performed, and supplies and equipment available. Uniformly, gross deficiencies in infrastructure, personnel, and supplies and equipment were identified. The World Health Organization Tool for Situational Analysis of Emergency and Essential Surgical Care was useful in identifying baseline emergency and surgical conditions for evidenced-based planning. To achieve the Poverty Reduction Strategy and delivery of the Basic Package of Health and Social Welfare Services, additional resources and manpower are needed to improve surgical and anesthetic care.

Globalization of ASME Nuclear Codes and Standards

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

Swayne, Rick; Erler, Bryan A.

2006-07-01

With the globalization of the nuclear industry, it is clear that the reactor suppliers are based in many countries around the world (such as United States, France, Japan, Canada, South Korea, South Africa) and they will be marketing their reactors to many countries around the world (such as US, China, South Korea, France, Canada, Finland, Taiwan). They will also be fabricating their components in many different countries around the world. With this situation, it is clear that the requirements of ASME Nuclear Codes and Standards need to be adjusted to accommodate the regulations, fabricating processes, and technology of various countriesmore » around the world. It is also very important for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to be able to assure that products meeting the applicable ASME Code requirements will provide the same level of safety and quality assurance as those products currently fabricated under the ASME accreditation process. To do this, many countries are in the process of establishing or changing their regulations, and it is important for ASME to interface with the appropriate organizations in those countries, in order to ensure there is effective use of ASME Codes and standards around the world. (authors)« less

The World at 7:00: Comparing the Experience of Situations Across 20 Countries.

PubMed

Guillaume, Esther; Baranski, Erica; Todd, Elysia; Bastian, Brock; Bronin, Igor; Ivanova, Christina; Cheng, Joey T; de Kock, François S; Denissen, Jaap J A; Gallardo-Pujol, David; Halama, Peter; Han, Gyuseog Q; Bae, Jaechang; Moon, Jungsoon; Hong, Ryan Y; Hřebíčková, Martina; Graf, Sylvie; Izdebski, Paweł; Lundmann, Lars; Penke, Lars; Perugini, Marco; Costantini, Giulio; Rauthmann, John; Ziegler, Matthias; Realo, Anu; Elme, Liisalotte; Sato, Tatsuya; Kawamoto, Shizuka; Szarota, Piotr; Tracy, Jessica L; van Aken, Marcel A G; Yang, Yu; Funder, David C

2016-08-01

The purpose of this research is to quantitatively compare everyday situational experience around the world. Local collaborators recruited 5,447 members of college communities in 20 countries, who provided data via a Web site in 14 languages. Using the 89 items of the Riverside Situational Q-sort (RSQ), participants described the situation they experienced the previous evening at 7:00 p.m. Correlations among the average situational profiles of each country ranged from r = .73 to r = .95; the typical situation was described as largely pleasant. Most similar were the United States/Canada; least similar were South Korea/Denmark. Japan had the most homogenous situational experience; South Korea, the least. The 15 RSQ items varying the most across countries described relatively negative aspects of situational experience; the 15 least varying items were more positive. Further analyses correlated RSQ items with national scores on six value dimensions, the Big Five traits, economic output, and population. Individualism, Neuroticism, Openness, and Gross Domestic Product yielded more significant correlations than expected by chance. Psychological research traditionally has paid more attention to the assessment of persons than of situations, a discrepancy that extends to cross-cultural psychology. The present study demonstrates how cultures vary in situational experience in psychologically meaningful ways. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

RPD-based Hypothesis Reasoning for Cyber Situation Awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yen, John; McNeese, Michael; Mullen, Tracy; Hall, David; Fan, Xiaocong; Liu, Peng

Intelligence workers such as analysts, commanders, and soldiers often need a hypothesis reasoning framework to gain improved situation awareness of the highly dynamic cyber space. The development of such a framework requires the integration of interdisciplinary techniques, including supports for distributed cognition (human-in-the-loop hypothesis generation), supports for team collaboration (identification of information for hypothesis evaluation), and supports for resource-constrained information collection (hypotheses competing for information collection resources). We here describe a cognitively-inspired framework that is built upon Klein’s recognition-primed decision model and integrates the three components of Endsley’s situation awareness model. The framework naturally connects the logic world of tools for cyber situation awareness with the mental world of human analysts, enabling the perception, comprehension, and prediction of cyber situations for better prevention, survival, and response to cyber attacks by adapting missions at the operational, tactical, and strategic levels.

The World Food Situation: Resource and Environmental Issues in the Developing Countries and the United States. Research Paper R-6.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crosson, Pierre R.; Frederick, Kenneth D.

The book provides an overview of the food situation in developing nations and in the United States as it will be until the end of the 20th century. Specifically, the research focuses on interrelationships among world food needs, resources, and environmental issues. The document is presented in seven chapters. Chapter I presents background on the…

Pollen and spore monitoring in the world.

PubMed

Buters, J T M; Antunes, C; Galveias, A; Bergmann, K C; Thibaudon, M; Galán, C; Schmidt-Weber, C; Oteros, J

2018-01-01

Ambient air quality monitoring is a governmental duty that is widely carried out in order to detect non-biological ("chemical") components in ambient air, such as particles of < 10 µm (PM 10 , PM 2.5 ), ozone, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. These monitoring networks are publicly funded and air quality data are open to the public. The situation for biological particles that have detrimental effects on health, as is the case of pollen and fungal spores, is however very different. Most pollen and spore monitoring networks are not publicly funded and data are not freely available. The information regarding which biological particle is being monitored, where and by whom, is consequently often not known, even by aerobiologists themselves. This is a considerable problem, as local pollen data are an important tool for the prevention of allergic symptoms. The aim of this study was to review pollen monitoring stations throughout the world and to create an interactive visualization of their distribution. The method employed to collect information was based on: (a) a review of the recent and historical bibliography related to pollen and fungal spore monitoring, and (b) personal surveys of the managers of national and regional monitoring networks. The interactive application was developed using the R programming language. We have created an inventory of the active pollen and spore monitoring stations in the world. There are at least 879 active pollen monitoring stations in the world, most of which are in Europe (> 500). The prevalent monitoring method is based on the Hirst principle (> 600 stations). The inventory is visualised as an interactive and on-line map. It can be searched, its appearance can be adjusted to the users' needs and it is updated regularly, as new stations or changes to those that already exist can be submitted online. The map shows the current situation of pollen and spore monitoring and facilitates collaboration among those individuals who are interested in pollen and spore counts. It might also help to improve the monitoring of biological particles up to the current level employed for non-biological components.

Turning Virtual Reality into Reality: A Checklist to Ensure Virtual Reality Studies of Eating Behavior and Physical Activity Parallel the Real World

PubMed Central

Tal, Aner; Wansink, Brian

2011-01-01

Virtual reality (VR) provides a potentially powerful tool for researchers seeking to investigate eating and physical activity. Some unique conditions are necessary to ensure that the psychological processes that influence real eating behavior also influence behavior in VR environments. Accounting for these conditions is critical if VR-assisted research is to accurately reflect real-world situations. The current work discusses key considerations VR researchers must take into account to ensure similar psychological functioning in virtual and actual reality and does so by focusing on the process of spontaneous mental simulation. Spontaneous mental simulation is prevalent under real-world conditions but may be absent under VR conditions, potentially leading to differences in judgment and behavior between virtual and actual reality. For simulation to occur, the virtual environment must be perceived as being available for action. A useful chart is supplied as a reference to help researchers to investigate eating and physical activity more effectively. PMID:21527088

Opportunities for Palliative Care in Public Health.

PubMed

De Lima, Liliana; Pastrana, Tania

2016-01-01

In May 2014, the World Health Assembly, of the World Health Organization (WHO), unanimously adopted a palliative care (PC) resolution, which outlines clear recommendations to the United Nations member states, such as including PC in national health policies and in the undergraduate curricula for health care professionals, and highlights the critical need for countries to ensure that there is an adequate supply of essential PC medicines, especially those needed to alleviate pain. This resolution also carries great challenges: Every year over 20 million patients (of which 6% are children) need PC at the end of life (EOL). However, in 2011, approximately three million patients received PC, and only one in ten people in need is currently receiving it. We describe this public health situation and systems failure, the history and evolution of PC, and the components of the WHO public health model. We propose a role for public health for PC integration in community settings to advance PC and relieve suffering in the world.

Turning virtual reality into reality: a checklist to ensure virtual reality studies of eating behavior and physical activity parallel the real world.

PubMed

Tal, Aner; Wansink, Brian

2011-03-01

Virtual reality (VR) provides a potentially powerful tool for researchers seeking to investigate eating and physical activity. Some unique conditions are necessary to ensure that the psychological processes that influence real eating behavior also influence behavior in VR environments. Accounting for these conditions is critical if VR-assisted research is to accurately reflect real-world situations. The current work discusses key considerations VR researchers must take into account to ensure similar psychological functioning in virtual and actual reality and does so by focusing on the process of spontaneous mental simulation. Spontaneous mental simulation is prevalent under real-world conditions but may be absent under VR conditions, potentially leading to differences in judgment and behavior between virtual and actual reality. For simulation to occur, the virtual environment must be perceived as being available for action. A useful chart is supplied as a reference to help researchers to investigate eating and physical activity more effectively. © 2011 Diabetes Technology Society.

[Risk Society and inequalities in the health of workers].

PubMed

Tamez-González, Silvia; Pérez-Domínguez, Josué F

2012-06-01

This is a reflection on the current health situation of workers, as well as a reflection on the characteristics of their care system in the context of a globalized world. In order to present this reflection, the first part is focused on the discussion of the main concepts of globalization and risk society. On the second part, and according to the conceptual framework established on the first part, a statistical perspective of workers' health around the world is suggested, emphasizing on the existing inequity between thought-to-be developed world and the developing or poor countries. On the next part, a discussion related to health insurance systems and their incompetence to tackle efficiently workers' health outcomes is established. On the final part, a reflection on the need to reframe the approach and action strategies for improving health status of workers and their families is suggested; this part of the reflection is focused on the recovery of "good life" and human sense of life.

Supporting evidence-based health care in crises: what information do humanitarian organizations need?

PubMed

Turner, Tari; Green, Sally; Harris, Claire

2011-03-01

In crisis situations, there is an enormous burden of disease and very limited resources. To achieve the best possible health outcomes in these situations and ensure that scarce resources are not wasted, knowledge from health research needs to be translated into practice. We investigated what information from health research was needed by humanitarian aid workers in crisis settings and how it could be best provided. Semistructured interviews were conducted by telephone with 19 humanitarian aid workers from a range of organizations around the world and the results analyzed thematically. Participants identified a clear and currently unmet need for access to high-quality health research to support evidence-based practice in crisis situations. They emphasized that research into delivery of health care was potentially more valuable than research into the effectiveness of particular clinical interventions and highlighted the importance of including contextual information to enable the relevance of the research to be assessed. They suggested that providers of health research information and humanitarian aid organizations work together to develop these resources. ©2011 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.

Color management in the real world: sRGB, ICM2, ICC, ColorSync, and other attempts to make color management transparent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stokes, Michael

1998-07-01

A uniformly adopted color standards infrastructure has a dramatic impact on any color imaging industry and technology. This presentation begins by framing the current color standards situation in a historical context. A series of similar appearing infrastructure adoptions in color publishing during the last fifty years are reviewed and compared to the current events. This historical review is followed by brief technical, business and marketing reviews of two of the more popular recent color standards proposals, sRGB and ICC, along with their operating system implementations in the Microsoft and Apple operating systems. The paper concludes with a summary of Hewlett- Packard Company's and Microsoft's proposed future direction.

An exploratory investigation of real-world reasoning in paranoia.

PubMed

Huddy, V; Brown, G P; Boyd, T; Wykes, T

2014-03-01

Paranoid thinking has been linked to greater availability in memory of past threats to the self. However, remembered experiences may not always closely resemble events that trigger paranoia, so novel explanations must be elaborated for the likelihood of threat to be determined. We investigated the ability of paranoid individuals to construct explanations for everyday situations and whether these modulate their emotional impact. Twenty-one participants experiencing paranoia and 21 healthy controls completed a mental simulation task that yields a measure of the coherence of reasoning in everyday situations. When responses featured positive content, clinical participants produced less coherent narratives in response to paranoid themed scenarios than healthy controls. There was no significant difference between the groups when responses featured negative content. The current study suggests that difficulty in scenario construction may exacerbate paranoia by reducing access to non-threatening explanations for everyday events, and this consequently increases distress. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

Resident duty hours around the globe: where are we now?

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Safe and appropriate health care, especially in urgent or emergency situations, is the expectation of the public throughout the developed world. Achieving this goal requires appropriate levels of medical and other staff, appropriate training, and sensible working hours. Too often the brunt of such care, especially in out-of-hours situations, is borne by medical residents, who – to make matters worse – are frequently poorly supervised by more senior and experienced staff. Many jurisdictions have been alerted to this problem and are striving to correct it. However, the variation in attempts to restrict the actual hours worked by residents to “safe” levels is enormous, and all too often there is no consensus as to what should be put in place to achieve safe patient care. This paper sets out the current position for Europe, North America, and Australia. PMID:25559277

Culture, Learning, and Development and the Natural World: The Influences of Situative Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bang, Megan

2015-01-01

The study of human learning and development from situative or sociocultural perspectives has had significant impacts on a wide range of scholarship largely driven by the theoretical and methodological focus on understanding the role of "activity systems" in cognition and development. This article first explores how situative perspectives…

A review of global outlook on fluoride contamination in groundwater with prominence on the Pakistan current situation.

PubMed

Rasool, Atta; Farooqi, Abida; Xiao, Tangfu; Ali, Waqar; Noor, Sifat; Abiola, Oyebamiji; Ali, Salar; Nasim, Wajid

2017-12-19

Several million people are exposed to fluoride (F - ) via drinking water in the world. Current review emphasized the elevated level of fluoride concentrations in the groundwater and associated potential health risk globally with a special focus on Pakistan. Millions of people are deeply dependent on groundwater from different countries of the world encompassing with an elevated level of fluoride. The latest estimates suggest that around 200 million people, from among 25 nations the world over, are under the dreadful fate of fluorosis. India and China, the two most populous countries of the world, are the worst affected. In Pakistan, fluoride data of 29 major cities are reviewed and 34% of the cities show fluoride levels with a mean value greater than 1.5 mg/L where Lahore, Quetta and Tehsil Mailsi are having the maximum values of 23.60, 24.48, > 5.5 mg/L, respectively. In recent years, however, other countries have minimized, even eliminated its use due to health issues. High concentration of fluoride for extended time period causes adverse effects of health such as skin lesions, discoloration, cardiovascular disorders, dental fluorosis and crippling skeletal fluorosis. This review deliberates comprehensive strategy of drinking water quality in the global scenario of fluoride contamination, especially in Pakistan with prominence on major pollutants, mitigation technologies, sources of pollution and ensuing health problems. Considering these verities, health authorities urgently need to establish alternative means of water decontamination in order to prevent associated health problems.

Respecting Stakeholders and Their Engagement to Decision Making - The Way of Successful Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drieniková, Katarína; Sakál, Peter

2012-12-01

Current world situation characterized by constant dynamic development and changes in all spheres enforced us to view the business not only as a profit creator but as creator of added value to the society. The paper deals with the stakeholders as the integral part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept. It mentions the topic of stakeholder theory and stakeholder management in consideration of sustainable development and sustainable competitiveness of business. Within the paper are mentioned outputs of pilot research carried on among Slovak companies focusing on stakeholders and decision making within responsible business.

Energy from nuclear fission()

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ripani, M.

2015-08-01

The main features of nuclear fission as physical phenomenon will be revisited, emphasizing its peculiarities with respect to other nuclear reactions. Some basic concepts underlying the operation of nuclear reactors and the main types of reactors will be illustrated, including fast reactors, showing the most important differences among them. The nuclear cycle and radioactive-nuclear-waste production will be also discussed, along with the perspectives offered by next generation nuclear assemblies being proposed. The current situation of nuclear power in the world, its role in reducing carbon emission and the available resources will be briefly illustrated.

Collective Action Situated in Virtual Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blodgett, Bridget M.

2011-01-01

For the first time in the history of collective action, the offline world has experienced a virtually organized and enacted union strike. While this was the first publicly noticed political action in a virtual world, others have been going on for several years now. As virtual worlds continue to grow in popularity, this type of protest of action…

Rhetoric and Reality: World Bank and CIDA Gender Policies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hales, Jennifer

2007-01-01

The picture the World Bank paints of the world is an optimistic one: living standards are higher than ever before, humanity is progressing, and situations for women are improving. If this is really the case, why then does "the impoverishment of hundreds of millions of people" throughout the world continue? (Chossudovsky 1997, 33). Why do "the…

Thinking About CAS without Thinking about CAS Doctrine: Selected Interactions of Institutional Processes within the Close Air Support Mission

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-13

situation; (2) the valuation actors assign to states of the world and to actions; (3) the way actors acquire, process, retain, and use knowledge...situation based on previous experiences or training, or even personal views about the conflict. The valuation actors assign to states of the world and...include one hour on a dedicated air-to-ground training range, such as the Superior Valley range complex near Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, 42

Instrumentation for Situational Assessment Undertaken for the Vocational Assessment for Special Needs Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flad, Harry R.; Canty, Jane M.

The basis for the assessment process in this project is that structured situations within curriculum areas will yield vocational information (skill and behavioral) that has a direct and indirect relationship to occupational areas in the world of work. Thus, with the assistance of school assessment teams, seven situations were identified and…

Epidemiology of scabies.

PubMed

Fuller, L Claire

2013-04-01

Scabies is a common skin infestation globally, particularly in the developing world. With the launch of the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies (IACS) in 2012, this review aims to present the recent evidence of the current epidemiological situation for scabies across the globe. Mindful of the fact that the downstream complications of scabies infestations, pyoderma, streptococcal glomerulonephritis and subsequent chronic renal impairment and rheumatic fever, have been recognized as being more significant to global health than previously acknowledged, the review focusses also on the epidemiological evidence from developing countries. Scabies occurrence rates vary in the recent literature from 2.71 per 1000 to 46%. Although it is responsible for larger disease burdens and complications such as pyoderma and renal and heart disease in the tropics, scabies outbreaks in the developed world amongst vulnerable communities and health institutions contribute a significant cost to the health services managing them. Scabies remains common across the world, but is such a health issue in the developing world that the suggestion that it be considered a neglected tropical disease is a pertinent one. Standardized diagnostic criteria and even a point-of-care diagnostic test would be a major contribution to the understanding of this epidemic.

[The eradication of the poliomyelitis in the European Region of the World Health Organization].

PubMed

Limia Sánchez, Aurora

2013-01-01

Poliomyelitis was considered an important event for the public health since the end of XIX century when this disease became epidemic. As soon as vaccines were available member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the European Region started to implement vaccination programmes against polio with an important impact in the incidence in this disease. In May 1988, the World Health Assembly resolution for the global eradication of poliomyelitis was adopted and the mechanisms to oversee the progress in the different WHO Regions were established. This article briefly reviews the history of polio in the WHO European Region, the process for certification and maintenance, the strategies for eradication and the current situation in the European Region and globally. The European Region was certified polio-free in 2002. Nevertheless, there are still three endemic countries in the world, some others use live attenuated vaccines as well as countries in the Horn of Africa are recently suffering the reintroduction of wild poliovirus. Considering these circumstances, the risk of reintroduction of poliovirus and the generation of outbreaks in the European Region exists, therefore high vaccination coverage against polio and good quality surveillance systems are needed to be guaranteed in every member state.

Recent advances in tuberculosis diagnostics in resource-limited settings.

PubMed

Seki, Mitsuko; Kim, Chang-Ki; Hayakawa, Satoshi; Mitarai, Satoshi

2018-04-19

Smear-negative and drug-resistant cases of tuberculosis (TB) disease necessitate the development of new diagnostic methods, especially in resource-limited settings. To improve the current TB situations, sensitive and specific TB point-of-care tests (POCTs) should be developed. This review addresses the current status of TB, novel diagnostic methodologies for TB, and the impact of those new diagnostics on TB control in such situations. Moreover, the perspective of TB management based on laboratory examinations is described. Smear microscopy with sputum samples is the only laboratory examination available in many resource-limited settings and is still used globally. Several nucleic acid amplification tests (NATs) have been developed. The World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed novel diagnostics based on NATs and updated their definition of a bacteriologically confirmed case requiring the biological specimen to be positive by smear microscopy, culture, or the WHO-recommended rapid diagnostic protocols. The use of new diagnostics increased the number of bacteriologically confirmed TB cases. Novel diagnostics are now available, but their sensitivity is still lower than that of conventional liquid culture method. To address the increasing incidence of TB, more resources including novel diagnostics as POCTs with higher sensitivity must be allocated to healthcare systems.

Robust speech perception: Recognize the familiar, generalize to the similar, and adapt to the novel

PubMed Central

Kleinschmidt, Dave F.; Jaeger, T. Florian

2016-01-01

Successful speech perception requires that listeners map the acoustic signal to linguistic categories. These mappings are not only probabilistic, but change depending on the situation. For example, one talker’s /p/ might be physically indistinguishable from another talker’s /b/ (cf. lack of invariance). We characterize the computational problem posed by such a subjectively non-stationary world and propose that the speech perception system overcomes this challenge by (1) recognizing previously encountered situations, (2) generalizing to other situations based on previous similar experience, and (3) adapting to novel situations. We formalize this proposal in the ideal adapter framework: (1) to (3) can be understood as inference under uncertainty about the appropriate generative model for the current talker, thereby facilitating robust speech perception despite the lack of invariance. We focus on two critical aspects of the ideal adapter. First, in situations that clearly deviate from previous experience, listeners need to adapt. We develop a distributional (belief-updating) learning model of incremental adaptation. The model provides a good fit against known and novel phonetic adaptation data, including perceptual recalibration and selective adaptation. Second, robust speech recognition requires listeners learn to represent the structured component of cross-situation variability in the speech signal. We discuss how these two aspects of the ideal adapter provide a unifying explanation for adaptation, talker-specificity, and generalization across talkers and groups of talkers (e.g., accents and dialects). The ideal adapter provides a guiding framework for future investigations into speech perception and adaptation, and more broadly language comprehension. PMID:25844873

Novel formulation and drug delivery strategies for the treatment of pediatric poverty-related diseases.

PubMed

Sosnik, Alejandro; Seremeta, Katia P; Imperiale, Julieta C; Chiappetta, Diego A

2012-03-01

Due to a lack of approved drugs and formulations, children represent the most vulnerable patients. Magistral, unlicensed formulations obtained by the manipulation of solid forms should undergo clinical evaluation to ensure bioequivalence. The development of new pediatric medicines is complex and faces technological, economic and ethical challenges. This phenomenon has contributed to the emergence of an adult-children gap. To improve the situation, the World Health Organization launched the global campaign 'Make medicines child size' and a number of international initiatives have been established. The situation is more critical in the case of poverty-related diseases (PRDs) that mainly affect poor countries. This review critically discusses different strategies to develop pediatric formulations and drug delivery systems (DDS) in PRDs and their potential implementation in the current market. Readers will gain an updated perspective on the development of pediatric medicines for the treatment of PRDs and the proximate challenges and opportunities faced to ensure an effective pharmacotherapy. There is an urgent need for the development of innovative, scalable and cost-viable formulations to ensure pediatric patients have access to appropriate medications for PRDs. The guidelines of the International Conference on Harmonisation constitute a very good orientation tool, as they emphasize physiological and developmental aspects that need to be considered in pediatric research. It is important to consider cultural, economic and ethical aspects that make developing nations facing PRDs different from the developed world. Thus, the best strategy would probably be to conceive and engage similar initiatives in the developing world, to address unattended therapeutic niches.

A Dynamic Speech Comprehension Test for Assessing Real-World Listening Ability.

PubMed

Best, Virginia; Keidser, Gitte; Freeston, Katrina; Buchholz, Jörg M

2016-07-01

Many listeners with hearing loss report particular difficulties with multitalker communication situations, but these difficulties are not well predicted using current clinical and laboratory assessment tools. The overall aim of this work is to create new speech tests that capture key aspects of multitalker communication situations and ultimately provide better predictions of real-world communication abilities and the effect of hearing aids. A test of ongoing speech comprehension introduced previously was extended to include naturalistic conversations between multiple talkers as targets, and a reverberant background environment containing competing conversations. In this article, we describe the development of this test and present a validation study. Thirty listeners with normal hearing participated in this study. Speech comprehension was measured for one-, two-, and three-talker passages at three different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), and working memory ability was measured using the reading span test. Analyses were conducted to examine passage equivalence, learning effects, and test-retest reliability, and to characterize the effects of number of talkers and SNR. Although we observed differences in difficulty across passages, it was possible to group the passages into four equivalent sets. Using this grouping, we achieved good test-retest reliability and observed no significant learning effects. Comprehension performance was sensitive to the SNR but did not decrease as the number of talkers increased. Individual performance showed associations with age and reading span score. This new dynamic speech comprehension test appears to be valid and suitable for experimental purposes. Further work will explore its utility as a tool for predicting real-world communication ability and hearing aid benefit. American Academy of Audiology.

Intervening as a passenger in drinking/driving situations.

PubMed

Smith, Mary Jane; Kennison, Monica; Gamble, Susan; Loudin, Barbara

2004-08-01

This study sought to query adolescents about drinking/driving situations and interventions used in these circumstances. A human science qualitative method was used to analyze descriptions of situations and interventions to gain the perspective of the life world of the young person. Findings include the drinking/driving situations of entangled, endangered, and stranded. Passenger interventions included persuading, interfering, planning ahead, and threatening. Practice, education, and research implications for those who work with adolescents are offered.

Current Situation and Future Prospects for Global Beef Production: Overview of Special Issue.

PubMed

Smith, Stephen B; Gotoh, Takafumi; Greenwood, Paul L

2018-05-31

The demand for beef as a protein source is increasing worldwide, although in most countries beef accounts for considerably less than half of total meat consumption. Beef also provides a highly desirable eating experience in developed countries and, increasingly, in developing countries. The sustainability of beef production has different meanings in the various geographical and socio-economic regions of the world. Natural resources including land mass and uses, rainfall and access to livestock feed, and the robustness of the economy are major determinants of the perception of beef sustainability. In this overview of the 2016 International Symposium on "Future Beef in Asia" and this subsequent Special Edition of the Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences on "Current Situation and Future Prospects for Global Beef Production", the contributions have been grouped into the following categories: Countries in Southeast Asia; Europe; and Countries producing highly marbled beef for export and/or domestic consumption. They also include reference to Special Topics including marbled beef production, and use of "omics" technologies to enhance beef quality assurance. Among these broad categories, notable differences exist across countries in the production and marketing of beef. These reflect differences in factors including natural resource availability and climate, population size, traditional culture and degree of economic development including industrial and technological developments. We trust that the International Symposium and this Special Edition on Current Situation and Future Prospects for Global Beef Production, the contents of which that are briefly summarized in this paper, will serve as a valuable resource for the livestock industries, researchers and students with an interest in enhancing the prospects for sustainable, efficient beef production that satisfies the growing size and complexity of consumer demands and markets for beef.

EU ambition to build the world's leading bioeconomy-Uncertain times demand innovative and sustainable solutions.

PubMed

Bell, John; Paula, Lino; Dodd, Thomas; Németh, Szilvia; Nanou, Christina; Mega, Voula; Campos, Paula

2018-01-25

This article outlines the current context and the development of the European Bioeconomy Strategy. It analyses the current situation, challenges and needs for EU action and concludes with the next steps that the European Commission will undertake to review and update the Bioeconomy Strategy. Bioeconomy offers great opportunities to realising a competitive, circular and sustainable economy with a sound industrial base that is less dependent on fossil carbon. A sustainable bioeconomy also contributes to climate change mitigation, with oceans, forests and soils being major carbon sinks and fostering negative CO 2 emissions. The EU has invested significantly in research and innovation in this field and the European Commission is committed to lead on European bioeconomy strategy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Global trends in malaria control. Progress and topical tasks in malaria control programs].

PubMed

Kondrashin, A V; Baranova, A M; Morozova, L F; Stepanova, E V

2011-01-01

This communication is the first in the series consisting of two publications describing the present state of malaria control and elimination in the world. The global malaria situation in 2009-2010 demonstrated a considerable situation as compared to the previous years. This improvement is associated with a considerable global increase of investments made by both national governments and world society to the malaria control programs. Spectacular progress has been achieved even in the areas of the most infection-affected African countries situated to the south of the Sahara Desert. It has been estimated that malaria cases in the world declined from 233, 000,000 in 2000 to 225,000,000 in 2009. Malaria mortality decreased from 985,000 in 2000 to 781,000 in 2009. To maintain the results achieved and to further reduce the problem of malaria worldwide, it is necessary to ensure a long-term political and financial support for malaria control programs at the national and international levels.

The Indigenous World, 1999-2000 = El Mundo Indigena, 1999-2000.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erni, Christian, Comp.; Parellada, Alejandro, Comp.

This annual publication (published separately in English and Spanish) examines political, social, environmental, and educational issues concerning indigenous peoples around the world during 1999-2000. Part 1 highlights news events and ongoing situations in specific countries in nine world regions: the Arctic, North America, Mexico and Central…

Application Exercises Improve Transfer of Statistical Knowledge in Real-World Situations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daniel, Frances; Braasch, Jason L. G.

2013-01-01

The present research investigated whether real-world application exercises promoted students' abilities to spontaneously transfer statistical knowledge and to recognize the use of statistics in real-world contexts. Over the course of a semester of psychological statistics, two classes completed multiple application exercises designed to mimic…

Ethnography in a Virtual World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shumar, Wesley; Madison, Nora

2013-01-01

This article situates the discussion of virtual ethnography within the larger political/economic changes of twenty-first century consumer capitalism and suggests that increasingly our entire social world is a virtual world and that there were very particular utopian and dystopian framings of virtual community growing out of that history. The…

The Indigenous World, 1997-98 = El Mundo Indigena, 1997-98.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erni, Christian, Ed.

This annual publication (published separately in English and Spanish) examines political, legal, social, environmental, and educational issues concerning indigenous peoples around the world during 1997-98. Part I highlights news events and ongoing situations in specific countries in nine world regions. In the Arctic and North America, these…

National military strategy in the post cold war era: Nuclear deterrence or an alternative. Study project

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

Pooley, G.R.

In the aftermath of the Cold War it becomes necessary to explore the validity of nuclear deterrence as the cornerstone of the United States National Military Strategy for the upcoming period of transition in international relations. Using the current world situation as a starting point, the evolving trends in international relations, arms control and nuclear proliferation, the strategic threat and the evolution of technology will be analyzed in an effort to forecast the complexion of international relations twenty years hence. Then, within this context, nuclear deterrence and a non nuclear alternative nonoffensive defense, proposed by the Danish political scientist, Bjornmore » Moller, will be examined. In the final analysis, this project will suggest an appropriate direction for the evolution of the United States' National Military Strategy which, in the opinion of the author, provides the best probability for long term world peace.« less

The World Health Organization's water safety plan is much more than just an integrated drinking water quality management plan.

PubMed

Viljoen, F C

2010-01-01

South Africa is a country of contrasts with far ranging variations in climate, precipitation rates, cultures, demographics, housing levels, education, wealth and skills levels. These differences have an impact on water services delivery as do expectations, affordability and available resources. Although South Africa has made much progress in supplying drinking water, the same cannot be said regarding water quality throughout the country. A concerted effort is currently underway to correct this situation and as part of this drive, water safety plans (WSP) are promoted. Rand Water, the largest water services provider in South Africa, used the World Health Organization (WHO) WSP framework as a guide for the development of its own WSP which was implemented in 2003. Through the process of implementation, Rand Water found the WHO WSP to be much more than just another integrated quality system.

Illness as a Crisis of Meaning.

PubMed

Hauskeller, Michael

2018-05-21

In Phenomenological Bioethics: Medical Technologies, Human Suffering, and the Meaning of Being Alive, the Swedish philosopher Fredrik Svenaeus aims to show how the continental tradition of phenomenology can enrich bioethical debates by adding important but often-ignored perspectives, namely, that of lived experience. Phenomenology focuses not on supposedly objective, scientifically validated facts, but on the "life world" of the individuals affected by a situation. Individuals' life worlds consist of their experience of their own lived bodies (or Leiber) and the meaning structures of their everyday worlds. A phenomenologically informed and oriented bioethics would seek to take those life worlds into account when considering what should be done in a particular ethically challenging situation. The fundamental insight that Svenaeus develops in his new book is that our illnesses are often, if not always, crises of meaning. © 2018 The Hastings Center.

Using expectations to monitor robotic progress and recover from problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurup, Unmesh; Lebiere, Christian; Stentz, Anthony; Hebert, Martial

2013-05-01

How does a robot know when something goes wrong? Our research answers this question by leveraging expectations - predictions about the immediate future - and using the mismatch between the expectations and the external world to monitor the robot's progress. We use the cognitive architecture ACT-R (Adaptive Control of Thought - Rational) to learn the associations between the current state of the robot and the world, the action to be performed in the world, and the future state of the world. These associations are used to generate expectations that are then matched by the architecture with the next state of the world. A significant mismatch between these expectations and the actual state of the world indicate a problem possibly resulting from unexpected consequences of the robot's actions, unforeseen changes in the environment or unanticipated actions of other agents. When a problem is detected, the recovery model can suggest a number of recovery options. If the situation is unknown, that is, the mismatch between expectations and the world is novel, the robot can use a recovery solution from a set of heuristic options. When a recovery option is successfully applied, the robot learns to associate that recovery option with the mismatch. When the same problem is encountered later, the robot can apply the learned recovery solution rather than using the heuristics or randomly exploring the space of recovery solutions. We present results from execution monitoring and recovery performed during an assessment conducted at the Combined Arms Collective Training Facility (CACTF) at Fort Indiantown Gap.

Model development and validation of geometrically complex eddy current coils using finite element methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Alexander; Eviston, Connor

2017-02-01

Multiple FEM models of complex eddy current coil geometries were created and validated to calculate the change of impedance due to the presence of a notch. Capable realistic simulations of eddy current inspections are required for model assisted probability of detection (MAPOD) studies, inversion algorithms, experimental verification, and tailored probe design for NDE applications. An FEM solver was chosen to model complex real world situations including varying probe dimensions and orientations along with complex probe geometries. This will also enable creation of a probe model library database with variable parameters. Verification and validation was performed using other commercially available eddy current modeling software as well as experimentally collected benchmark data. Data analysis and comparison showed that the created models were able to correctly model the probe and conductor interactions and accurately calculate the change in impedance of several experimental scenarios with acceptable error. The promising results of the models enabled the start of an eddy current probe model library to give experimenters easy access to powerful parameter based eddy current models for alternate project applications.

The Brave New World of Workforce Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Askov, Eunice N.; Gordon, Edward E.

1999-01-01

Transfer of knowledge and skills is optimized if learning is situated in a context such as the workplace. The example of Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce's welfare-to-work program illustrates how situated work force education can produce greater long-term outcomes. (SK)

Situated Learning in Virtual Simulations: Researching the Authentic Dimension in Virtual Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falconer, Liz

2013-01-01

This paper describes and discusses a case study of postgraduate students undertaking accident investigation and risk assessment exercises in an online virtual world as part of their course curriculum. These exercises were constructed to overcome the ethical and practical barriers inherent in real-world exercises. In particular this paper focusses…

Evaluation of Process Science Skills: From the Real World to the Ideal World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lipowich, Shelley A.

State legislatures and others are recommending and, in some cases, mandating reforms in education including evaluating students' ability to meet stated objectives. This "ideal" situation poses a major problem concerning instruments needed to assess process skills. In the real world, educators do not yet have nationally recognized, valid,…

Women in the Occupational World: Social Disruption and Conflict

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coser, Rose Laub; Rokoff, Gerald

1971-01-01

Equal opportunities for women in the occupational world produce situations in which women are considered a potential source of disruption in high-status positions as a result of their expected status-articulation which interrupts routine. (JM)

Collection and recycling of electronic scrap: a worldwide overview and comparison with the Brazilian situation.

PubMed

de Oliveira, Camila Reis; Bernardes, Andréa Moura; Gerbase, Annelise Engel

2012-08-01

Recycling and the related issue of sustainable development are increasing in importance around the world. In Brazil, the new National Policy on Solid Wastes has prompted discussion on the future of electronic waste (e-waste). Over the last 10 years, different e-waste collection systems and recycling processes have been applied globally. This paper presents the systems used in different countries and compares the world situation to the current Brazilian reality. To establish a recycling process, it is necessary to organize efficient collection management. The main difficulty associated with the implementation of e-waste recycling processes in Brazil is the collection system, as its efficiency depends not only on the education and cooperation of the people but also on cooperation among industrial waste generators, distributors and the government. Over half a million waste pickers have been reported in Brazil and they are responsible for the success of metal scrap collection in the country. The country also has close to 2400 companies and cooperatives involved in recycling and scrap trading. On the other hand, the collection and recycling of e-waste is still incipient because e-wastes are not seen as valuable in the informal sector. The Brazilian challenge is therefore to organize a system of e-waste management including the informal sector without neglecting environmentally sound management principles. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time to ditch non-SI units in physics teaching?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atkin, Keith

2015-08-01

The current use of two sets of units in the UK continues to be a source of muddle and confusion. Young people are taught metric (SI) units in school but, in the outside world, still have to contend with units such as inches, feet, pounds, stones and miles. Specialist teachers and practitioners of the sciences are not blameless. This paper considers the fact that some units commonly used in physics, astronomy, and physics education are unnecessary, involve time-wasting conversions and frequently lead to confusion or even error. This unsatisfactory situation is illustrated by examples, and suggestions are made for a radical improvement.

Theory of mind: mechanisms, methods, and new directions

PubMed Central

Byom, Lindsey J.; Mutlu, Bilge

2013-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) has received significant research attention. Traditional ToM research has provided important understanding of how humans reason about mental states by utilizing shared world knowledge, social cues, and the interpretation of actions; however, many current behavioral paradigms are limited to static, “third-person” protocols. Emerging experimental approaches such as cognitive simulation and simulated social interaction offer opportunities to investigate ToM in interactive, “first-person” and “second-person” scenarios while affording greater experimental control. The advantages and limitations of traditional and emerging ToM methodologies are discussed with the intent of advancing the understanding of ToM in socially mediated situations. PMID:23964218

A smart growth evaluation model based on data envelopment analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaokun; Guan, Yongyi

2018-04-01

With the rapid spread of urbanization, smart growth (SG) has attracted plenty of attention from all over the world. In this paper, by the establishment of index system for smart growth, data envelopment analysis (DEA) model was suggested to evaluate the SG level of the current growth situation in cities. In order to further improve the information of both radial direction and non-radial detection, we introduced the non-Archimedean infinitesimal to form C2GS2 control model. Finally, we evaluated the SG level in Canberra and identified a series of problems, which can verify the applicability of the model and provide us more improvement information.

[Current situation and thoughts on precision medicine about the treatment of tumor in China].

PubMed

Guo, J C; Yuan, D

2016-07-01

With United States starting"precision medical plan", it is widespread all over the world and opens a new direction to the development of medicine. Our country also starts the plan, trying to take the opportunity. At present, tumor threats human health with high incidence and mortality. In China, the incidence and mortality of tumor has been on the rise.So the tumor has become one of the most important fields of precision medicine.Precision medicine, hoping to reveal the Chinese characteristics of precision medicine, and getting the personal and social maximize health benefits are discussed in the paper.

Current situation on regulations for mycotoxins. Overview of tolerances and status of standard methods of sampling and analysis.

PubMed

Van Egmond, H P

1989-01-01

A worldwide enquiry was undertaken in 1986-1987 to obtain up-to-date information about mycotoxin legislation in as many countries of the world as possible. Together with some additional data collected in 1981, information is now available about planned, proposed, existing or absence of legislation in 66 countries. Details about tolerances, legal bases, responsible authorities, prescribed methods of sampling and analysis and disposition of commodities containing inadmissible amounts of mycotoxins, are given. The information concerns aflatoxins in foodstuffs, aflatoxin M1 in dairy products, aflatoxins in animal feedstuffs, and other mycotoxins in food- and feedstuffs. In comparison with the situation in 1981, limits and regulations for mycotoxins have been expanded in 1987 with more countries having legislation (proposed or passed) on the subject, more products, and more mycotoxins covered by this legislation. The differences between tolerances in the various countries are sometimes quite large, which makes harmonization of mycotoxin regulations highly desirable.

[Economic perspectives of the research on advanced therapies].

PubMed

Pamo Larrauri, Jose María

2014-11-03

Since a new advanced therapy medicinal product is discovered until finally allowed its sale in the domestic market, it has to overcome a series of stages. Biomedical research is the first phase, currently its situation is encouraging to the increase in the number of clinical trials in Spain and in the rest of the world, despite the economic situation and the various difficulties that have faced the pharmaceutical laboratories. The next phase consists in obtaining the authorization of marketing of the European Medicines Agency. After authorization, will attempt to set a fair and moderate price for inclusion in the list of health provision of Social Security. A price for a drug that provides added value to health and society, a price that is generated profits for the pharmaceutical companies that hope to make up for the years of work and investment. Commitment to advanced therapy must be clear and forceful, to fund ongoing research projects and encouraging their creation with economic aid. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

A study on the public-private partnership to global health issues in Korea.

PubMed

Lee, Hyun Sook

2013-12-01

To find the fit that is most apt for the current situation in Korea and to find new ways of identifying potential partners for the purpose of public-private partnership (PPP). The research was conducted using domestic and international literature where the concept and definition of PPP was stated, and cases of PPP reported by the World Health Organization and cases in developed countries were investigated. Data were collected from 237 PPP potential partner organization, government agencies, and the government under a special law, local governments, businesses, hospitals, and private organizations through their internet webpage. The Delphi questionnaire was given to relevant institutions and questionnaire was surveyed general hospitals. Groups that were likely to realize most of the partnership were nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations, the central government, the private sector, public healthcare services, and products. In order to secure the position of exceptional comparative advantage of international expertise in the field of healthcare, we must implement PPP strategy that is in ordinance of domestic situation.

[World War II and current care provision: impact of war-related trauma on present professional care situations].

PubMed

Wilhelm, I; Zank, S

2014-07-01

This study represents the first empirical research into the impact of war-related trauma on present professional care situations in Germany. A total of 105 professional caregivers from North Rhine-Westphalia were questioned in a standardized form about the impact of war-related trauma on the daily work. Of the professional caregivers questioned 82%reported that they were already caring for a person suffering from post-war trauma and 77% stated that war-related trauma had an impact on the daily work. Altogether 63% reported that war-related trauma is highly significant for the daily work. The professional caregivers reported that there was often a lack of knowledge and awareness of the topic among colleagues. The study showed that there is a need for increasing awareness and providing further staff education and training regarding the treatment of people suffering from (war-related) trauma in order to ensure adequate care for those concerned.

Pre-market version of a commercially available hearing instrument with a tinnitus sound generator: feasibility of evaluation in a clinical trial.

PubMed

Sereda, Magdalena; Davies, Jeff; Hall, Deborah A

2017-04-01

This report considers feasibility of conducting a UK trial of combination devices for tinnitus, using data from the study which evaluated different listener programmes available within the pre-market version of Oticon Alta with Tinnitus Sound Generator. Open and closed questions addressed the following feasibility issues: (1) Participant recruitment; (2) Device acceptability; (3) Programme preferences in different self-nominated listening situations; (4) Usability; (5) Compliance; (6) Adverse events. Eight current combination hearing aid users (all males) aged between 62-72 years (mean age 67.25 years, SD = 3.8). All eight participants reported the physical aspects and noise options on the experimental device to be acceptable. Programmes with amplification and masking features were equally preferred over the basic amplification-only programme. Individual preferences for the different programme options varied widely, both across participants and across listening situations. A set of recommendations for future trials were formulated which calls for more "real world" trial design rather than tightly controlling the fitting procedure.

World Geothermal Development: The Present Situation and Opportunities for the Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cataldi, Raffaele

1987-01-01

Claims that the exploration of geothermal energy has a somewhat marginal role to play today in the overall world energy budget. Discusses the applicability, however, of geothermal heat to some national and local energy developments. (TW)

Pornography, sex crime, and paraphilia.

PubMed

Fisher, William A; Kohut, Taylor; Di Gioacchino, Lisha A; Fedoroff, Paul

2013-06-01

The current paper reviews research findings concerning the association of pornography with sexual violence and paraphilic interests. Little clarity concerning the causal impact of pornography on sexual aggression or child-oriented sexual behavior has been achieved in the scientific literature. Laboratory experimentation demonstrates that violent pornography may contribute to antiwoman aggression, but the artificiality and constraints of the experimental setting severely limit generalization of these findings to real-world situations, and observational studies in natural settings consistently find no association or an inverse association of pornography with sexual aggression. In addition, although pedophiles often use child pornography, the causal impact of child pornography on child sexual offending is not conclusive. The current analysis considers the confluence of predisposing factors and pornography use as issues requiring clinical judgment in the reduction of sexual aggression and management of paraphilic interest in children.

Food production and the energy crisis.

PubMed

Pimentel, D; Hurd, L E; Bellotti, A C; Forster, M J; Oka, I N; Sholes, O D; Whitman, R J

1973-11-02

The principal raw material of modern U.S. agriculture is fossil fuel, whereas the labor input is relatively small (about 9 hours per crop acre). As agriculture is dependent upon fossil energy, crop production costs will also soar when fuel costs increase two- to fivefold. A return of 2.8 kcal of corn per 1 kcal of fuel input may then be uneconomical. Green revolution agriculture also uses high energy crop production technology, especially with respect to fertilizers and pesticides. While one may not doubt the sincerity of the U.S. effort to share its agricultural technology so that the rest of the world can live and eat as it does, one must be realistic about the resources available to accomplish this mission. In the United States we are currently using an equivalent of 80 gallons of gasoline to produce an acre of corn. With fuel shortages and high prices to come, we wonder if many developing nations will be able to afford the technology of U.S. agriculture. Problems have already occurred with green revolution crops, particularly problems related to pests (57). More critical problems are expected when there is a world energy crisis. A careful assessment should be made of the benefits, costs, and risks of high energy-demand green revolution agriculture in order to be certain that this program will not aggravate the already serious world food situation (58). To reduce energy inputs, green revolution and U.S. agriculture might employ such alternatives as rotations and green manures to reduce the high energy demand of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. U.S. agriculture might also reduce energy expenditures by substituting some manpower currently displaced by mechanization. While no one knows for certain what changes will have to be made, we can be sure that when conventional energy resources become scarce and expensive, the impact on agriculture as an industry and a way of life will be significant. This analysis is but a preliminary investigation of a significant agricultural problem that deserves careful attention and greater study before the energy situation becomes more critical.

The Farm Credit Situation: Implications for Agricultural Policy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bullock, J. Bruce

1986-01-01

Examines issues regarding current farm finance situation from a public policy perspective: origins and causes of current situation, available policy options for dealing with the problems, and impacts of policy options. (NEC)

Has the world really survived the population bomb? (Commentary on "how the world survived the population bomb: lessons from 50 years of extraordinary demographic history").

PubMed

Becker, Stan

2013-12-01

In his PAA presidential address and corresponding article in Demography, David Lam (Demography 48:1231-1262, 2011) documented the extraordinary progress of humankind-vis-à-vis poverty alleviation, increased schooling, and reductions in mortality and fertility-since 1960 and noted that he expects further improvements by 2050. However, although Lam briefly covered the problems of global warming and pollution, he did not address several other major environmental problems that are closely related to the rapid human population growth in recent decades and to the progress he described. This commentary highlights some of these problems to provide a more balanced perspective on the situation of the world. Specifically, humans currently are using resources at an unsustainable level. Groundwater depletion and overuse of river water are major problems on multiple continents. Fossil fuel resources and several minerals are being depleted. Other major problems include deforestation, with the annual forest clearing globally estimated to be an area the size of New York State; and species extinction, with rates estimated to be 100 to 1,000 times higher than background rates. Principles of ecological economics are presented that allow an integration of ecology and economic development and better potential for preservation of the world for future generations.

Collaborative Service Learning: A Winning Proposition for Industry and Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crutsinger, Christy A.; Pookulangara, Sanjukta; Tran, Gina; Duncan, Kim

2004-01-01

Collaboration between industry and academia creates a win-win situation for individuals and communities. Through innovative partnering, students apply knowledge to real-world situations, institutions increase program visibility, and businesses receive innovative solutions to complex problems. This article provides a roadmap for implementing a…

The World Wide Web and Chemistry Books On Line

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, W. P.

1997-01-01

This paper illustrates the educational uses of the Word Wide Web in a university situation; it gives an account some of the ways in which the World Wide Web and other information technologies have been used to extend the scope of the history of science generally and the history of chemistry in particular. I observed that the World Wide Web…

The United States and World Energy: A Discussion Paper, Department of State.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Ralph Stuart

This publication is a summary of the world energy situation and its impact on the United States. A brief review of some interrelated diplomatic, commercial, and technical aspects of the energy crisis and their implications for the U.S. and its foreign policy is presented first. Next, discussions of world supplies, uses and problems with different…

The deterioration of the food situation in the Third World and the capitalist system.

PubMed

Feder, E

1981-01-01

Hunger and malnutrition are today associated with the capitalist system. The evidence points to a further deterioration of the food situation in the Third World in the foreseeable future, as a result of massive capital and technology transfers from the rich capitalist countries to the underdeveloped agricultures operated by trans-national concerns or private investors, with the active support of development assistance agencies such as the World Bank. Contrary to the superficial predictions of the World Bank, for example, poverty is bound to increase and the purchasing power of the masses must decline. Particular attention must be paid to the supply of staple foods and the proletariat. This is threatened by a variety of factors, attributable to the operation of the capitalist system. Among them are the senseless waste of Third World resources caused by the foreign investors' insatiable thirst for the quick repatriation of super-profits and the increasing orientation of Third World agricultures toward high-value or export crops (which are usually the same), an orientation which is imposed upon them by the industrial countries' agricultural development strategies. Even self-sufficiency programs for more staple foods, such as the ill-reputed Green Revolution, predictably cannot be of long duration.

Visual Perspectives on Majority-World Adolescent Thriving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cameron, Catherine Ann; Theron, Linda; Tapanya, Sombat; Li, Chun; Lau, Cindy; Liebenberg, Linda; Ungar, Michael

2013-01-01

This paper offers socio-ecological, situated perspectives on adolescent resilience derived from an application of interpretive visual methodologies to deepen understanding of adaptive youth development in diverse majority-world cultural contexts (South Africa, Thailand, China, Mexican migration to Canada). The research is not…

iSTEM: Promoting Fifth Graders' Mathematical Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yanik, H. Bahadir; Karabas, Celil

2014-01-01

Modeling requires that people develop representations or procedures to address particular problem situations (Lesh et al. 2000). Mathematical modeling is used to describe essential characteristics of a phenomenon or a situation that one intends to study in the real world through building mathematical objects. This article describes how fifth-grade…

Learning Object Names at Different Hierarchical Levels Using Cross-Situational Statistics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Chi-hsin; Zhang, Yayun; Yu, Chen

2018-01-01

Objects in the world usually have names at different hierarchical levels (e.g., "beagle," "dog," "animal"). This research investigates adults' ability to use cross-situational statistics to simultaneously learn object labels at individual and category levels. The results revealed that adults were able to use…

Wildfire air pollution hazard during the 21st century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knorr, Wolfgang; Dentener, Frank; Lamarque, Jean-François; Jiang, Leiwen; Arneth, Almut

2017-07-01

Wildfires pose a significant risk to human livelihoods and are a substantial health hazard due to emissions of toxic smoke. Previous studies have shown that climate change, increasing atmospheric CO2, and human demographic dynamics can lead to substantially altered wildfire risk in the future, with fire activity increasing in some regions and decreasing in others. The present study re-examines these results from the perspective of air pollution risk, focussing on emissions of airborne particulate matter (PM2. 5), combining an existing ensemble of simulations using a coupled fire-dynamic vegetation model with current observation-based estimates of wildfire emissions and simulations with a chemical transport model. Currently, wildfire PM2. 5 emissions exceed those from anthropogenic sources in large parts of the world. We further analyse two extreme sets of future wildfire emissions in a socio-economic, demographic climate change context and compare them to anthropogenic emission scenarios reflecting current and ambitious air pollution legislation. In most regions of the world, ambitious reductions of anthropogenic air pollutant emissions have the potential to limit mean annual pollutant PM2. 5 levels to comply with World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines for PM2. 5. Worst-case future wildfire emissions are not likely to interfere with these annual goals, largely due to fire seasonality, as well as a tendency of wildfire sources to be situated in areas of intermediate population density, as opposed to anthropogenic sources that tend to be highest at the highest population densities. However, during the high-fire season, we find many regions where future PM2. 5 pollution levels can reach dangerous levels even for a scenario of aggressive reduction of anthropogenic emissions.

The status of paediatric medicines initiatives around the world--What has happened and what has not?

PubMed

Hoppu, Kalle; Anabwani, Gabriel; Garcia-Bournissen, Facundo; Gazarian, Madlen; Kearns, Gregory L; Nakamura, Hidefumi; Peterson, Robert G; Sri Ranganathan, Shalini; de Wildt, Saskia N

2012-01-01

This review was conducted to examine the current status of paediatric medicines initiatives across the globe. The authors made a non-systematic descriptive review of current world situation. Two regions, the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), and the World Health Organization (WHO) have introduced strong paediatric initiatives to improve children's health through improving access to better paediatric medicines. The experience from the US initiative indicates that it is possible to stimulate development and study of paediatric medicines and provide important new information for improvement of paediatric therapy. The early results from the EU initiative are similarly encouraging. In Canada, Japan, Australia and other developed countries, specific paediatric medicines initiatives have been less extensive and weaker, with modest results. Disappointingly, current evidence suggests that results from clinical trials outside the US often do not benefit children in the country in which the trials were largely conducted. Pharmaceutical companies that have derived a financial benefit commensurate with the cost of doing the paediatric trials in one country do not seem to be making the results of these trials available to all countries if there is no financial incentive to the company. The WHO campaign 'make medicines child size' has produced substantive accomplishments in building improved foundations to improve mechanisms that will enhance children's access to critical medicines in resource-limited settings. However, practically all of this work has been performed using an amalgamation of short-term funding from a variety of sources as opposed to a sustained, programmatic commitment. Although much still needs to be done, it's clear that with concerted efforts and appropriate resources, change is possible but slow. Retaining and fostering public and political interest in paediatric medicines is challenging, but pivotal for success.

Representing and reasoning about program in situation calculus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Bo; Zhang, Ming-yi; Wu, Mao-nian; Xie, Gang

2011-12-01

Situation calculus is an expressive tool for modeling dynamical system in artificial intelligence, changes in a dynamical world is represented naturally by the notions of action, situation and fluent in situation calculus. Program can be viewed as a discrete dynamical system, so it is possible to model program with situation calculus. To model program written in a smaller core programming language CL, notion of fluent is expanded for representing value of expression. Together with some functions returning concerned objects from expressions, a basic action theory of CL programming is constructed. Under such a theory, some properties of program, such as correctness and termination can be reasoned about.

Sustainable water future with global implications: everyone's responsibility.

PubMed

Kuylenstierna, J L; Bjorklund, G; Najlis, P

1997-01-01

The current use and management of freshwater is not sustainable in many countries and regions of the world. If current trends are maintained, about two-thirds of the world's population will face moderate to severe water stress by 2025 compared to one-third at present. This water stress will hamper economic and social development unless action is taken to deal with the emerging problems. The Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the World, prepared by the UN and the Stockholm Environment Institute, calls for immediate action to prevent further deterioration of freshwater resources. Although most problems related to water quantity and quality require national and regional solutions, only a global commitment can achieve the necessary agreement on principles, as well as financial means to attain sustainability. Due to the central and integrated role played by water in human activities, any measures taken need to incorporate a wide range of social, ecological and economic factors and needs. The Assessment thus addresses the many issues related to freshwater use, such as integrated land and water management at the watershed level, global food security, water supply and sanitation, ecosystem requirements, pollution, strengthening of major groups, and national water resource assessment capabilities and monitoring networks. Governments are urged to work towards a consensus regarding global principles and guidelines for integrated water management, and towards their implementation in local and regional water management situations. The alternative development options available to countries facing water stress, or the risk thereof, needs to be considered in all aspects of development planning.

Air pollution control residues from waste incineration: current UK situation and assessment of alternative technologies.

PubMed

Rani, D Amutha; Boccaccini, A R; Deegan, D; Cheeseman, C R

2008-11-01

Current disposal options for APC residues in the UK and alternative treatment technologies developed world-wide have been reviewed. APC residues are currently landfilled in the UK where they undergo in situ solidification, although the future acceptability of this option is uncertain because the EU waste acceptance criteria (WAC) introduce strict limits on leaching that are difficult to achieve. Other APC residue treatment processes have been developed which are reported to reduce leaching to below relevant regulatory limits. The Ferrox process, the VKI process, the WES-PHix process, stabilisation/solidification using cementitious binders and a range of thermal treatment processes are reviewed. Thermal treatment technologies convert APC residues combined with other wastes into inert glass or glass-ceramics that encapsulate heavy metals. The waste management industry will inevitably use the cheapest available option for treating APC residues and strict interpretation and enforcement of waste legislation is required if new, potentially more sustainable technologies are to become commercially viable.

Cystic Echinococcosis in Spain: Current Situation and Relevance for Other Endemic Areas in Europe

PubMed Central

Rojo-Vazquez, Francisco A.; Pardo-Lledias, Javier; Francos-Von Hunefeld, Marcelo; Cordero-Sanchez, Miguel; Alamo-Sanz, Rufino; Hernandez-Gonzalez, Ana; Brunetti, Enrico; Siles-Lucas, Mar

2011-01-01

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) remains an important health problem in many regions of the world, both where no control measures have been implemented, and where control programs have been incompletely successful with ensuing re-emergence of the disease. In Spain, official data on CE show an increase in the proportion of intermediate hosts with CE during the last few years, and autochthonous pediatric patients have been reported, a sign of active local transmission of disease. A similar picture emerges from data reported to the European Food Safety Authority by other European countries. Nevertheless, several crucial aspects related to CE that would help better understand and control the disease have not been tackled appropriately, in particular the emergence of infection in specific geographical areas. In this respect, while some data are missing, other data are conflicting because they come from different databases. We review the current situation of CE in Spain compared with areas in which similar problems in the CE field exist, and offer recommendations on how to overcome those limitations. Specifically, we believe that the introduction of national registries for CE with online data entry, following the example set by the European Registry for Alveolar Echinococcosis, would help streamline data collection on CE by eliminating the need for evaluating and integrating data from multiple regions, by avoiding duplication of data from patients who access several different health facilities over time, and by providing much needed clinical and epidemiological data that are currently accessible only to clinicians. PMID:21283615

The Problem of “Just for Fun”: Patterns of Use Situations among Active Club Drug Users

PubMed Central

Starks, Tyrel J.; Golub, Sarit; Kelly, Brian C.; Parsons, Jeffrey T.

2010-01-01

Existing research has demonstrated the significance of situational antecedents to substance use. The current study used a cluster analytic approach to identify groups of club drug users who report using substances in similar situations (assessed by the Inventory of Drug Taking Situations) with longitudinal data from 400 active drug users. A three-cluster solution emerged in baseline data and was replicated in 12-month follow-up data. Groups were identified as Situationally Restricted, Pleasure Driven, and Situationally Broad users. Group differences were observed on measures of mental health, attitudes towards substance use, amount of substance use, and rates of substance dependence. Cluster membership predicted substance dependence after controlling for past dependence, current use, and current depression/anxiety. PMID:20696530

The Challenge of Aviation Emergency and Abnormal Situations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burian, Barbara K.; Barshi, Immanuel; Dismukes, Key

2005-01-01

Emergency and abnormal situations occur on flights everyday around the world. They range from minor situations readily managed to extremely serious and highly time-critical situations that deeply challenge the skills of even the most effective crews. How well crews respond to these situations is a function of several interacting sets of issues: (1) the design of non-normal procedures and checklists, (2) design of aircraft systems and automation, (3) specific aspects of the non-normal situation, such as time criticality and complexity of the situation, (4) human performance capabilities and cognitive limitations under high workload and stress, (5) design of training for non-normal situations, (6) philosophies, policies and practices within the industry, and (7) economic and regulatory constraints. Researchers and pilots working on NASA's Emergency and Abnormal Situations project are addressing these issues in a long-range study. In this paper we discuss these issues and illustrate them with examples from recent incidents and accidents.

Health Economics of Nutrition Intervention in Asia: Cost of Malnutrition.

PubMed

Mizumoto, Kaori; Murakami, Genki; Oshidari, Kenro; Trisnantoro, Laksono; Yoshiike, Nobuo

2015-01-01

Asia has recorded the fastest economic growth in the world. However, some countries are still struggling with economic stagnation and poverty. Even in the emerging countries, there are economic disparities between urban and rural areas within a country. Reflecting the situations, nutritional issues in Asia came to be the antithetical situation of excess and insufficiency. The rate of overweight and obesity keeps increasing, especially in emerging countries. Meanwhile, underweight is still a critical problem in the region. Although the importance of nutrition is well recognized for social and economic development, it is difficult to identify the immediate outcome of nutrition interventions. Evidence-based decision-making is an important element of quality health care and efficiency and effectiveness are always key words. Along with enhanced attention to accountability and transparency of budget use in health services, attention to the economic evaluation of nutrition interventions has increased in recent years. In this symposium, we will review the current situation of nutritional issues and economic evaluation of nutrition interventions in Asia through experience of an international organization, the basis and trends for health care economics, and also efforts have been made in an Asian country. Discussion will be made about efficient and effective ways to evaluate projects/programmes for nutrition improvement.

The Energy-Environment Simulator as a Classroom Aid.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sell, Nancy J.; Van Koevering, Thomas E.

1981-01-01

Describes the use, availability, and flexibility of the Energy-Environment Simulator, a specially designed analog computer which simulates the real-world energy situation and which is programed with estimated United States and world supplies of energy sources and estimated United States energy demands. (MP)

Bridging STEM in a Real World Problem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

English, Lyn D.; Mousoulides, Nicholas G.

2015-01-01

Engineering-based modeling activities provide a rich source of meaningful situations that capitalize on and extend students' routine learning. By integrating such activities within existing curricula, students better appreciate how their school learning in mathematics and science applies to problems in the outside world. Furthermore, modeling…

Implementing a Dominican Model of Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Otte, Suzanne

2015-01-01

Leadership theories that rely on personal traits, situations, and actions were developed for an industrial world and have become less effective as the world becomes more globalized, networked, and collaborative (Komives et al. 2005). Values-centered models of leadership highlighting collaboration, inclusiveness, empowerment, and ethics have…

Chernobyl: an unbelievable failure to help.

PubMed

Bertell, Rosalie

2008-01-01

The disaster at the Chernobyl power reactor near Kiev, which began on April 26, 1986, was one of the world's worst industrial accidents. Yet the global community, usually most generous in its aid to a stricken community, has been slow to understand the scope of the disaster and reach out to the most devastated people of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. This article probes the causes of this confusion of perception and failure of response; clearly the problem is one of communication. Has the International Atomic Energy Agency betrayed the victims of the Chernobyl disaster because of its plans to promote the "peaceful atom" nuclear program in the developing world? Has the World Health Organization failed to provide clear, reliable information on the health effects resulting from the disaster? Are other historical problems or actors interfering with reasonable handling of the late effects of a nuclear disaster? Most importantly, what can be done to remedy this situation, to assist those most hurt by the late effects of Chernobyl and prevent such injustice in future? With the current promotion of nuclear energy as a "solution" to global climate change, we need to take a sober second look at the nuclear energy experiment and management of its hazards.

Transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome in dynamical small-world networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masuda, Naoki; Konno, Norio; Aihara, Kazuyuki

2004-03-01

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is still threatening the world because of a possible resurgence. In the current situation that effective medical treatments such as antiviral drugs are not discovered yet, dynamical features of the epidemics should be clarified for establishing strategies for tracing, quarantine, isolation, and regulating social behavior of the public at appropriate costs. Here we propose a network model for SARS epidemics and discuss why superspreaders emerged and why SARS spread especially in hospitals, which were key factors of the recent outbreak. We suggest that superspreaders are biologically contagious patients, and they may amplify the spreads by going to potentially contagious places such as hospitals. To avoid mass transmission in hospitals, it may be a good measure to treat suspected cases without hospitalizing them. Finally, we indicate that SARS probably propagates in small-world networks associated with human contacts and that the biological nature of individuals and social group properties are factors more important than the heterogeneous rates of social contacts among individuals. This is in marked contrast with epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases or computer viruses to which scale-free network models often apply.

Parents and children in Second World War Germany: an inter-generational perspective on wartime separation.

PubMed

Vaizey, Hester

2011-01-01

This article discusses how the relationship between parents and their children were affected by the second world war in Germany. With fathers away from home for often as long as a decade, many children grew up without a father being physically present. The current historiography suggests that wartime separation caused a crisis in the family. But did the prolonged periods of time apart and the separate experiences of husbands at the Front and wives and children at home really destabilize family relationships? This article questions such a picture of families in ruin. It argues that family relationships were far more resilient in the face of wartime separation than has previously been credited. Indeed, it reveals the importance of children in keeping mothers and fathers focused on getting through the war. It further contends that, even from afar, fathers continued to play an important role in their children’s lives. And this in turn revises our understanding of the situation facing reuniting families.

Water management for a megacity: Mexico City Metropolitan Area.

PubMed

Tortajada, Cecilia; Castelán, Enrique

2003-03-01

The paper presents an overview of the present situation of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA). The analysis indicates an urgent need to radically improve the current water supply and wastewater management practices, to become sustainable. The MCMA is one of the most rapidly growing urban centers of the world, with a population of about 21 million people, a very high rate of immigration and numerous illegal settlements. In order to meet the increasing water demand, successive governments have focused almost exclusively on supply management and engineering solutions, which have resulted in investments of hundreds of millions of USD and the construction of major infrastructure projects for interbasin water transfer. Environmental, economic and social policies associated with water management are mostly inadequate and insufficient, which is resulting in increasing deterioration in the environment, health and socioeconomic conditions of a population living in one of the largest urban agglomerations of the world. Surprisingly, however, no long-term strategies on demand-management, reuse, conservation, and improved water-management practices have been developed so far.

Nutrition and food security policy in the Islamic Republic of Iran: situation analysis and roadmap towards 2021.

PubMed

Damari, Behzad; Abdollahi, Zahra; Hajifaraji, Majid; Rezazadeh, Arezoo

2018-05-03

All government policies and programmes for food and nutrition security should include providing healthy food, as well as providing economic and social availability for all people. This study aimed to analyse the current situation of Iranian food and nutrition security and establish a road map towards 2021. The applied methods were situation analysis and a mixed qualitative-quantitative method. The conceptual method used for developing this national document encompassed three areas: sustainable food supply, food safety and nutrition. The outcomes of the Iranian food and nutrition security system in the past three decades include development of management infrastructure and improvement in food and nutrition security status. However, analysis of current programmes showed that there were some overlapping, intertwining and parallel works in the responsibilities of related organizations in the field of supervision of food safety (from production to supply). The national document produced as the outcome of this paper was communicated by the Iranian Ministry of Health in 2012 and has been running for 2 years. Selected ministries are responsible for implementation of 20 national programmes by the end of the 5th Economic, Social and Cultural Development Programme (2016-2011). The consensus of stakeholders by the end of the 6th Development Programme (2021) is to put all of the provinces in a safe or very safe situation in terms of food and nutrition security. The most important challenge in establishing national documents is to make them operational. This aim was achieved by an intersectoral nutrition and food security working group, which produced a general memorandum of understanding with the main organizations, the media, universities and private sector. Copyright © World Health Organization (WHO) 2018. Some rights reserved. This work is available under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo).

Design and optimization of photovoltaics recycling infrastructure.

PubMed

Choi, Jun-Ki; Fthenakis, Vasilis

2010-11-15

With the growing production and installation of photovoltaics (PV) around the world constrained by the limited availability of resources, end-of-life management of PV is becoming very important. A few major PV manufacturers currently are operating several PV recycling technologies at the process level. The management of the total recycling infrastructure, including reverse-logistics planning, is being started in Europe. In this paper, we overview the current status of photovoltaics recycling planning and discuss our mathematic modeling of the economic feasibility and the environmental viability of several PV recycling infrastructure scenarios in Germany; our findings suggest the optimum locations of the anticipated PV take-back centers. Short-term 5-10 year planning for PV manufacturing scraps is the focus of this article. Although we discuss the German situation, we expect the generic model will be applicable to any region, such as the whole of Europe and the United States.

Narrative Pedagogy: Transforming Nursing Education Through 15 Years of Research in Nursing Education.

PubMed

Ironside, Pamela M

This article provides a review of current disciplinary understanding of Narrative Pedagogy and describes the implications for ongoing transformation in nursing education. Narrative Pedagogy has been enacted and investigated by teachers around the world for more than 15 years. Few nursing educational innovations or pedagogies in nursing have been adopted in such an array of settings/levels. A review of the nursing literature was conducted to locate reports of research on and teaching innovations derived from Narrative Pedagogy. Narrative Pedagogy has an extensive and longitudinal body of research describing how the approach contributes to the educational transformation the discipline seeks. Narrative Pedagogy and the growing literature describing how it is enacted provides a way for teachers and students to persist in questioning their current understanding of nursing, the ways they think about the situations they encounter, and how their practice can best be learned.

Crystalline silicon solar cells with high resistivity emitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panek, P.; Drabczyk, K.; Zięba, P.

2009-06-01

The paper presents a part of research targeted at the modification of crystalline silicon solar cell production using screen-printing technology. The proposed process is based on diffusion from POCl3 resulting in emitter with a sheet resistance on the level of 70 Ω/□ and then, shaped by high temperature passivation treatment. The study was focused on a shallow emitter of high resistivity and on its influence on output electrical parameters of a solar cell. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) has been employed for appropriate distinguishing the total donor doped profile. The solar cell parameters were characterized by current-voltage characteristics and spectral response (SR) methods. Some aspects playing a role in suitable manufacturing process were discussed. The situation in a photovoltaic industry with emphasis on silicon supply and current prices of solar cells, modules and photovoltaic (PV) systems are described. The economic and quantitative estimation of the PV world market is shortly discussed.

Strategic planning: how medical practices can succeed in a post-healthcare-reform world.

PubMed

Howrigon, Ron

2013-01-01

This article addresses the recent trend of physicians being pressured to sell to hospitals in order to stay in practice. The author utilizes his experience in the healthcare industry to identify causes of this trend and ways in which physician groups can avoid finding themselves in these situations. The author uses real data from an existing medical practice to support his ideas and demonstrate how implementing change now will be beneficial for the success of this medical practice in the future. Objective practice evaluation and the execution of an efficient strategic plan are cited as the most important factors contributing to the financial solvency of medical practices in the current and future healthcare environment.

The anti-fatigue driving system design based on the eye blink detect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Shuyu; Song, Xin; Zhang, Li; Yu, Jie

2017-01-01

Traffic accident is one of the severe social problems in the world, but the appraisal and prevention of the fatigue driving is still a difficult problem that can not be solved. This paper is to study the results of fatigue driving and the existing antifatigue driving products, collecting brain wave with the TGAM (ThinkGear AM) Brain Wave Sensor Chip. We analyze the collected waveform based on eye blink detect algorithm to work out current situation of the driver. According to the analysis results, Sound Module and controllable speed car will make a series of feedback. Finally, an effective Anti- Fatigue Driving System is designed based on all above.

[Centennial retrospective on the evolution and development of the nursing profession in Taiwan].

PubMed

Wang, Kwua-Yun; Chang, Shu-Rong

2014-08-01

This article explores the evolution and development of the Taiwanese nursing profession. After introducing the origins of nursing, this article proceeds to introduce nursing during various periods in Taiwan, including the early-Qing Dynasty, foreign missionary nursing, the Japanese Colonial Era, and the Nationalist Chinese Era following World War Two up to the present. The authors then present the current situation in the Taiwanese nursing profession in terms of gender issues, high-technology developments, educational issues, the nursing licensing examination, hiring and training, multiple role functions, and the skill-mix care model. Finally, the authors make recommendations for the further development and improvement of the nursing profession in Taiwan.

Examining Study Habits in Undergraduate STEM Courses from a Situative Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hora, Matthew T.; Oleson, Amanda K.

2017-01-01

Background: A growing body of research in cognitive psychology and education research is illuminating which study strategies are effective for optimal learning, but little descriptive research focuses on how undergraduate students in STEM courses actually study in real-world settings. Using a practice-based approach informed by situated cognition…

Language Students Learning to Manage Complex Pedagogic Situations in a Technology-Rich Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tumelius, Riikka; Kuure, Leena

2017-01-01

Being a language teacher in the modern world requires sensitivity to complexity, which may pose challenges for student teachers and teachers in the field accustomed to classroom-based learning and teaching. This study examines how language students are managing complex pedagogic situations in a technologyrich environment while exploring new ways…

Modeling Being "Lost": Imperfect Situation Awareness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Middleton, Victor E.

2011-01-01

Being "lost" is an exemplar of imperfect Situation Awareness/Situation Understanding (SA/SU) -- information/knowledge that is uncertain, incomplete, and/or just wrong. Being "lost" may be a geo-spatial condition - not knowing/being wrong about where to go or how to get there. More broadly, being "lost" can serve as a metaphor for uncertainty and/or inaccuracy - not knowing/being wrong about how one fits into a larger world view, what one wants to do, or how to do it. This paper discusses using agent based modeling (ABM) to explore imperfect SA/SU, simulating geo-spatially "lost" intelligent agents trying to navigate in a virtual world. Each agent has a unique "mental map" -- its idiosyncratic view of its geo-spatial environment. Its decisions are based on this idiosyncratic view, but behavior outcomes are based on ground truth. Consequently, the rate and degree to which an agent's expectations diverge from ground truth provide measures of that agent's SA/SU.

Making the Most of Modeling Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wernet, Jamie L.; Lawrence, Kevin A.; Gilbertson, Nicholas J.

2015-01-01

While there is disagreement among mathematics educators about some aspects of its meaning, mathematical modeling generally involves taking a real-world scenario and translating it into the mathematical world (Niss, Blum, and Galbraith 2007). The complete modeling process involves describing situations posed in problems with mathematical concepts,…

Schooling and Disadvantage in Sri Lankan and Other Rural Situations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Victoria J.

1988-01-01

Discusses author's observations of poverty-related problems within rural Sri Lankan schools. Juxtaposes literature on Third World education problems at national, district, school, and individual levels. Concludes high educational expectations in developing world are tightly constrained by poverty, negative attitudes, and weaknesses of systems.…

Critiquing Statistics in Student and Professional Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Ryan Seth; Lehrer, Richard; Kim, Min-Joung

2017-01-01

This article compares students' critiques within a class discussion about an invented statistic to STEM professionals' critiques from interviews to better understand how the situated meanings of a statistic are similar and different across student and professional worlds. We discuss similarities and differences in how participants constructed…

Epidemiology of dengue: past, present and future prospects

PubMed Central

Murray, Natasha Evelyn Anne; Quam, Mikkel B; Wilder-Smith, Annelies

2013-01-01

Dengue is currently regarded globally as the most important mosquito-borne viral disease. A history of symptoms compatible with dengue can be traced back to the Chin Dynasty of 265–420 AD. The virus and its vectors have now become widely distributed throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly over the last half-century. Significant geographic expansion has been coupled with rapid increases in incident cases, epidemics, and hyperendemicity, leading to the more severe forms of dengue. Transmission of dengue is now present in every World Health Organization (WHO) region of the world and more than 125 countries are known to be dengue endemic. The true impact of dengue globally is difficult to ascertain due to factors such as inadequate disease surveillance, misdiagnosis, and low levels of reporting. Currently available data likely grossly underestimates the social, economic, and disease burden. Estimates of the global incidence of dengue infections per year have ranged between 50 million and 200 million; however, recent estimates using cartographic approaches suggest this number is closer to almost 400 million. The expansion of dengue is expected to increase due to factors such as the modern dynamics of climate change, globalization, travel, trade, socioeconomics, settlement and also viral evolution. No vaccine or specific antiviral therapy currently exists to address the growing threat of dengue. Prompt case detection and appropriate clinical management can reduce the mortality from severe dengue. Effective vector control is the mainstay of dengue prevention and control. Surveillance and improved reporting of dengue cases is also essential to gauge the true global situation as indicated in the objectives of the WHO Global Strategy for Dengue Prevention and Control, 2012–2020. More accurate data will inform the prioritization of research, health policy, and financial resources toward reducing this poorly controlled disease. The objective of this paper is to review historical and current epidemiology of dengue worldwide and, additionally, reflect on some potential reasons for expansion of dengue into the future. PMID:23990732

Epidemiology of dengue: past, present and future prospects.

PubMed

Murray, Natasha Evelyn Anne; Quam, Mikkel B; Wilder-Smith, Annelies

2013-01-01

Dengue is currently regarded globally as the most important mosquito-borne viral disease. A history of symptoms compatible with dengue can be traced back to the Chin Dynasty of 265-420 AD. The virus and its vectors have now become widely distributed throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly over the last half-century. Significant geographic expansion has been coupled with rapid increases in incident cases, epidemics, and hyperendemicity, leading to the more severe forms of dengue. Transmission of dengue is now present in every World Health Organization (WHO) region of the world and more than 125 countries are known to be dengue endemic. The true impact of dengue globally is difficult to ascertain due to factors such as inadequate disease surveillance, misdiagnosis, and low levels of reporting. Currently available data likely grossly underestimates the social, economic, and disease burden. Estimates of the global incidence of dengue infections per year have ranged between 50 million and 200 million; however, recent estimates using cartographic approaches suggest this number is closer to almost 400 million. The expansion of dengue is expected to increase due to factors such as the modern dynamics of climate change, globalization, travel, trade, socioeconomics, settlement and also viral evolution. No vaccine or specific antiviral therapy currently exists to address the growing threat of dengue. Prompt case detection and appropriate clinical management can reduce the mortality from severe dengue. Effective vector control is the mainstay of dengue prevention and control. Surveillance and improved reporting of dengue cases is also essential to gauge the true global situation as indicated in the objectives of the WHO Global Strategy for Dengue Prevention and Control, 2012-2020. More accurate data will inform the prioritization of research, health policy, and financial resources toward reducing this poorly controlled disease. The objective of this paper is to review historical and current epidemiology of dengue worldwide and, additionally, reflect on some potential reasons for expansion of dengue into the future.

Earth at Rest. Aesthetic Experience and Students' Grounding in Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Østergaard, Edvin

2017-07-01

Focus of this article is the current situation characterized by students' de-rootedness and possible measures to improve the situation within the frame of education for sustainable development. My main line of argument is that science teachers can practice teaching in such a way that students are brought in deeper contact to the environment. I discuss efforts to promote aesthetic experience in science class and in science teacher education. Within a wide range of definitions, my main understanding of aesthetic experience is that of pre-conceptual experience, relational to the environment and incorporated in students' embodied knowledge. I ground the idea of Earth at rest in Husserl's phenomenological philosophy and Heidegger's notion of science' deprivation of the world. A critique of the ontological reversal leads to an ontological re-reversal that implies giving lifeworld experience back its value and rooting scientific concepts in students' everyday lives. Six aspects of facilitating grounding in sustainability-oriented science teaching and teacher education are highlighted and discussed: students' everyday knowledge and experience, aesthetic experience and grounding, fostering aesthetic sensibility, cross-curricular integration with art, ontological and epistemological aspects, and belongingness and (re-)connection to Earth. I conclude that both science students and student-teachers need to practice their sense of caring and belonging, as well as refining their sensibility towards the world. With an intension of educating for a sustainable development, there is an urgent need for a critical discussion in science education when it comes to engaging learners for a sustainable future.

Current Status of Infant Mental Health in Day-Care Centres in Japan: An Investigation of Okinawa and Aomori Prefectures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takizawa, Tohru; Kondo, Tsuyoshi; Tanaka, Osamu; Wake, Norie; Naka, Kuoichi; Todoriki, Hidemi; Ishizu, Hiroshi

2009-01-01

Grasping both the extent and the actual situation of psychosomatic disorders, neurotic habits and developmental disorders of infancy and childhood is vital for their prevention and for taking appropriate measures to deal with the current situation. The purpose of this study is to explore the current situation of infant mental health in Japanese…

38 CFR 36.4326 - Subrogation and indemnity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... the obligor's current financial situation and prospective earning potential and obligations indicates... situation will consider all of the following: (i) The obligor's current and anticipated family income based... financial situation. Such actions would include termination of the loan by means of a deed-in-lieu of...

Neural correlates of language comprehension in autism spectrum disorders: when language conflicts with world knowledge.

PubMed

Tesink, Cathelijne M J Y; Buitelaar, Jan K; Petersson, Karl Magnus; van der Gaag, Rutger Jan; Teunisse, Jan-Pieter; Hagoort, Peter

2011-04-01

In individuals with ASD, difficulties with language comprehension are most evident when higher-level semantic-pragmatic language processing is required, for instance when context has to be used to interpret the meaning of an utterance. Until now, it is unclear at what level of processing and for what type of context these difficulties in language comprehension occur. Therefore, in the current fMRI study, we investigated the neural correlates of the integration of contextual information during auditory language comprehension in 24 adults with ASD and 24 matched control participants. Different levels of context processing were manipulated by using spoken sentences that were correct or contained either a semantic or world knowledge anomaly. Our findings demonstrated significant differences between the groups in inferior frontal cortex that were only present for sentences with a world knowledge anomaly. Relative to the ASD group, the control group showed significantly increased activation in left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) for sentences with a world knowledge anomaly compared to correct sentences. This effect possibly indicates reduced integrative capacities of the ASD group. Furthermore, world knowledge anomalies elicited significantly stronger activation in right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG) in the control group compared to the ASD group. This additional RIFG activation probably reflects revision of the situation model after new, conflicting information. The lack of recruitment of RIFG is possibly related to difficulties with exception handling in the ASD group. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Development of Program for Enhancing Learning Management Competency of Teachers in Non-Formal and Informal Education Centers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jutasong, Chanokpon; Sirisuthi, Chaiyut; Phusri-on, Songsak

2016-01-01

The objectives of this research are: 1) to study factors and indicators, 2) to study current situations, desirable situations and techniques, 3) to develop the Program, and 4) to study the effect of Program. It comprised 4 phases: (1) studying the factors and indicators; (2) studying the current situations, desirable situations and techniques; (3)…

Iodine status in the Nordic countries - past and present.

PubMed

Nyström, Helena Filipsson; Brantsæter, Anne Lise; Erlund, Iris; Gunnarsdottir, Ingibjörg; Hulthén, Lena; Laurberg, Peter; Mattisson, Irene; Rasmussen, Lone Banke; Virtanen, Suvi; Meltzer, Helle Margrete

2016-01-01

Adequate iodine nutrition is dependent on ground water content, seafood, and, as many countries use iodized cow fodder, dairy products. In most countries, salt fortification programs are needed to assure adequate iodine intake. The objectives are threefold: 1) to describe the past and present iodine situation in the Nordic countries, 2) to identify important gaps of knowledge, and 3) to highlight differences among the Nordic countries' iodine biomonitoring and fortification policies. Historical data are compared with the current situation. The Nordic countries' strategies to achieve recommended intake and urine iodine levels and their respective success rates are evaluated. In the past, the iodine situation ranged from excellent in Iceland to widespread goiter and cretinism in large areas of Sweden. The situation was less severe in Norway and Finland. According to a 1960 World Health Organization (WHO) report, there were then no observations of iodine deficiency in Denmark. In Sweden and Finland, the fortification of table salt was introduced 50-75 years ago, and in Norway and Finland, the fortification of cow fodder starting in the 1950s helped improve the population's iodine status due to the high intake of milk. In Denmark, iodine has been added to household salt and salt in bread for the past 15 years. The Nordic countries differ with regard to regulations and degree of governmental involvement. There are indications that pregnant and lactating women, the two most vulnerable groups, are mildly deficient in iodine in several of the Nordic countries. The Nordic countries employ different strategies to attain adequate iodine nutrition. The situation is not optimal and is in need of re-evaluation. Iodine researchers, Nordic national food administrations, and Nordic governmental institutions would benefit from collaboration to attain a broader approach and guarantee good iodine health for all.

Developing the public health workforce: training and recognizing specialists in public health from backgrounds other than medicine: experience in the UK.

PubMed

Gray, Selena F; Evans, David

2018-01-01

There is increasing recognition that improving health and tackling inequalities requires a strong public health workforce capable of delivering key public health functions across systems. The World Health Organization in Europe has identified securing the delivery of the Essential Public Health Operations and strengthening public health capacities within this as a priority.It is acknowledged that current public health capacities and arrangements of public health services vary considerably across the World Health Organization in European Region, and investment in multidisciplinary workforce with new skills is essential if public health services are to be delivered. This paper describes the current situation in the UK where there are nationally funded multidisciplinary programmes for training senior public health specialists. Uniquely, the UK provides public health registration for multidisciplinary as well as medical public health specialists. The transition from a predominantly medical to a multidisciplinary public health specialist workforce over a relatively short timescale is unprecedented globally and was the product of a sustained period of grass roots activism aligned with national policy innovation. the UK experience might provide a model for other countries seeking to develop public health specialist workforce capacity in line with the Essential Public Health Operations.

Global Security Rule Sets An Analysis of the Current Global Security Environment and Rule Sets Governing Nuclear Weapons Release

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

Mollahan, K; Nattrass, L

America is in a unique position in its history. In maintaining its position as the world's only superpower, the US consistently finds itself taking on the role of a global cop, chief exporter of hard and soft power, and primary impetus for globalization. A view of the current global situation shows an America that can benefit greatly from the effects of globalization and soft power. Similarly, America's power can be reduced significantly if globalization and its soft power are not handled properly. At the same time, America has slowly come to realize that its next major adversary is not amore » near peer competitor but terrorism and disconnected nations that seek nuclear capabilities. In dealing with this new threat, America needs to come to terms with its own nuclear arsenal and build a security rule set that will establish for the world explicitly what actions will cause the US to consider nuclear weapons release. This rule set; however, needs to be established with sensitivity to the US's international interests in globalization and soft power. The US must find a way to establish its doctrine governing nuclear weapons release without threatening other peaceful nations in the process.« less

The State of the World Environment, 1987. United Nations Environment Programme.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi (Kenya).

One of the main activities assigned to the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is to review the world environmental situation to insure that emerging environmental problems of wide international significance receive appropriate and adequate consideration by governments. Accordingly, UNEP has assessed the state of…

The Indigenous World, 1995-96 = El Mundo Indigena, 1995-96.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Marianne, Comp.

This annual publication examines political, legal, social, and educational issues concerning indigenous peoples around the world during 1995-96. Part I highlights news events and ongoing situations in specific countries, including threats to indigenous territories, human rights violations, political victories, developments at the United Nations,…

The World Social Situation: Development Challenges at the Outset of a New Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estes, Richard J.

2010-01-01

World social development has arrived at a critical turning point. Economically advanced nations have made significant progress toward meeting the basic needs of their populations; however, the majority of developing countries have not. Problems of rapid population growth, failing economies, famine, environmental devastation, majority-minority…

Refugees and Forced Migration: Need for New Definition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogge, John R.

A significant component of modern migrants are refugees or displaced persons. Historically, most involuntary migrants readily found permanent asylum in the traditional immigrant receiving countries of the New World. This situation is changing. Source areas of refugees have shifted from the European arena to the Third World, and the causes of…

The Indigenous World, 1996-97 = El Mundo Indigena, 1996-97.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erni, Christian, Ed.

This annual publication (published separately in English and Spanish) examines political, legal, social, and educational issues concerning indigenous peoples around the world during 1996-97. Part I highlights news events and ongoing situations in specific countries. In North America, these include threats of proposed oil drilling on sacred sites…

Situating Pedagogies, Positions and Practices in Immersive Virtual Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Savin-Baden, Maggi; Gourlay, Lesley; Tombs, Cathy; Steils, Nicole; Tombs, Gemma; Mawer, Matt

2010-01-01

Background: The literature on immersive virtual worlds and e-learning to date largely indicates that technology has led the pedagogy. Although rationales for implementing e-learning have included flexibility of provision and supporting diversity, none of these recommendations has helped to provide strong pedagogical location. Furthermore, there is…

The Indigenous World, 1998-99 = El Mundo Indigena, 1998-99.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erni, Christian, Ed.

This annual publication examines political, legal, social, and educational issues concerning indigenous peoples around the world in 1998-99. Part I highlights news events and ongoing situations in specific countries. In North America, these include court decisions on the legal status of Alaska Native tribal governments, indigenous subsistence…

The Legal Situation of Latin American and Caribbean Women as Defined according to the Resolutions and Mandates of the United Nations System. Volume II: File Sheets of Resolutions on the Legal Situation of Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Economic and Social Council, New York, NY.

This document contains a systematized inventory of the measures relating to the legal and social status of women adopted in various regional and world forums. The inventory was used to study the legal situation of Latin American and Caribbean women, defined according to the resolutions and mandates of the United Nations system. Organized by forum…

World Game Study in the Community College. ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges Topical Paper No. 44.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Martin J.

During 1973-74, the World Game was studied as an experiment on a community college campus. World Game is a means of engaging humanity's best intelligence on the situations and problems arising from living on Earth, and it is a means of ensuring that the intelligence and energy of wide ranges of people are engaged in the work. The experiment was…

Culture & Cognition Laboratory

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-01

life: Real world social-interaction cooperative tasks are inherently unequal in difficulty. Re-scoring performance on unequal tasks in order to enable...real- world situations to which this model is intended to apply, it is possible for calls for help to not be heard, or for a potential help-provider to...not have clear, well-defined objectives. Since many complex real- worlds tasks are not well-defined, defining a realistic objective can be considered a

BALKANS SECURITY. Current and Projected Factors Affecting Regional Stability

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-04-01

Security Briefing Section II Current Situation in Kosovo and Bosnia primary responsibility for public security in Kosovo. 6 According to a senior KFOR...Integrity * Reliability GAO/NSIAD-00-125BR „.c-miBUTION STATEMENT A ApSwed for Public Release Contents Letter Briefing Section Appendixes Tables...Figures Briefing Section I: Background Briefing Section II: Current Situation in Kosovo and Bosnia Briefing Section III: Projected Security Situation

[The psychology of being unaccounted for, based on the example of children of missing German soldiers from World War II].

PubMed

Orlowski, Henning V; Klauer, Thomas; Freyberger, Harald J; Seidler, Günter H; Kuwert, Philipp

2013-01-01

Despite today's extensive research on the psychosocial consequences of World War II, the group of wives and children whose husbands or fathers went "missing in action" during the Second World War, has yet to be studied systematically in Germany. The present review article shows the special role the wives, and in particular the children, of missing German soldiers played in society and discusses the impact of their loved ones being unaccounted has had on the mental health of this group. An overview of current research on the psychosocial status of the war generation is given following a short historical introduction to the theme. Subsequently, we discuss the legal and social situation of the families of missing German soldiers during the postwar decades. Finally, two psychological concepts drawn from the US research show that specific disorders, such as complicated grief or "boundary ambiguity," can occur in the relatives of missing persons and blur the line between hope and grief occurring as a result of ambiguous loss. The psychosocial impact of having a relative go missing has hardly been noticed in the German research tradition after World War II. Particularly in light of the age structure of those directly affected and the experiences of transgenerational transmission this neglected psychosocial research subject urgently needs further scientific investigation, inasmuch as the age of the family members still allows it.

Evolving PBPK applications in regulatory risk assessment: current situation and future goals

EPA Science Inventory

The presentation includes current applications of PBPK modeling in regulatory risk assessment and discussions on conflicts between assuring consistency with experimental data in current situation and the desire for animal-free model development.

Time Pressure in Scenario-Based Online Construction Safety Quizzes and Its Effect on Students' Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaeger, Martin; Adair, Desmond

2017-01-01

Online quizzes have been shown to be effective learning and assessment approaches. However, if scenario-based online construction safety quizzes do not include time pressure similar to real-world situations, they reflect situations too ideally. The purpose of this paper is to compare engineering students' performance when carrying out an online…

Situated Learning: The Feasibility of an Experimental Learning of Information Technology for Academic Nursing Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonen, Ayala; Lev-Ari, Lilac; Sharon, Dganit; Amzalag, Meital

2016-01-01

As part of the Bachelor's degree of nursing education, nursing students are exposed to the increasingly complex world of Information Technology. Aim: To evaluate the feasibility of a situated learning approach for Information Technology course by assessing students' perceptions at the end of the course. Methods: Course participants completed a pre…

The Narcotics Situation in Russia as a Social Pedagogical Problem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popov, V. A.

2012-01-01

The increase in the use of narcotics in Russia has been complicated by the spread of new kinds of drugs that are less visible than more traditional kinds. A worsening of the situation must be prevented. This requires studying the accumulation of world experience, searching for up-to-date approaches to prevention, combining the efforts of science…

Employment Situation and Life Changes for People with Disabilities: Evidence from Nepal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamichhane, Kamal

2012-01-01

In this study we attempt to bring attention to the situation of people with disabilities in the developing world by focusing on the labor market of Nepal. Utilizing a unique dataset collected from people with hearing, physical, and visual impairments through questionnaire-based interview methods, we compare across employment based on type of…

National Office of Global Maritime Situational Awareness - Overview

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-01

Environment UNCLASSIFIED 21 DATA UNDERSTANDING INFORMATION WISDOM KNOWLEDGE The Information Continuum UNCLASSIFIED • The hub lead will act as the...Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware ...Situational Awareness (OGMSA) UNCLASSIFIED Vision, Mission, Goals, & Objectives Vision A World-Wide Maritime Information Exchange to facilitate user-defined

Two Stages Cooperative Learning by Ability Indicators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, YuLung

2013-01-01

The teaching system in Taiwan is currently based on large classes where teachers cannot control student situations totally. In E-Learning System, a teacher who reviews a student's learning situation must examine the students' learning records according to different items, and further organize and define the students' current learning situations,…

Reconstruction of head impacts in FIS World Cup alpine skiing.

PubMed

Steenstrup, Sophie Elspeth; Mok, Kam-Ming; McIntosh, Andrew S; Bahr, Roald; Krosshaug, Tron

2018-06-01

Prior to the 2013/2014 season, the International Ski Federation (FIS) increased the helmet testing speed from 5.4 to 6.8 m/s for alpine downhill, super-G and giant slalom. Whether this increased testing speed reflects head impact velocities in real head injury situations on snow is unclear. We therefore investigated the injury mechanisms and gross head impact biomechanics in seven real head injury situations among World Cup (WC) alpine skiers. We analysed nine head impacts from seven head injury videos from the FIS Injury Surveillance System, throughout nine WC seasons (2006-2015) in detail. We used commercial video-based motion analysis software to estimate head impact kinematics in two dimensions, including directly preimpact and postimpact, from broadcast video. The sagittal plane angular movement of the head was also measured using angle measurement software. In seven of nine head impacts, the estimated normal to slope preimpact velocity was higher than the current FIS helmet rule of 6.8 m/s (mean 8.1 (±SD 0.6) m/s, range 1.9±0.8 to 12.1±0.4 m/s). The nine head impacts had a mean normal to slope velocity change of 9.3±1.0 m/s, range 5.2±1.1 to 13.5±1.3 m/s. There was a large change in sagittal plane angular velocity (mean 43.3±2.9 rad/s (range 21.2±1.5 to 64.2±3.0 rad/s)) during impact. The estimated normal to slope preimpact velocity was higher than the current FIS helmet rule of 6.8 m/s in seven of nine head impacts. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

The Interpretative Lenses of Older Adults Are Not Rose-Colored – Just Less Dark: Aging and the Interpretation of Ambiguous Scenarios

PubMed Central

Mikels, Joseph A.; Shuster, Michael M.

2015-01-01

We are all faced with ambiguous situations daily that we must interpret to make sense of the world. In such situations, do you wear rose-colored glasses and fill in blanks with positives, or do you wear dark glasses and fill in blanks with negatives? In the current study, we presented 32 older and 32 younger adults with a series of ambiguous scenarios and had them continue the stories. Older adults continued the scenarios with less negativity than younger adults, as measured by negative and positive emotion word use and by the coded overall emotional valence of each interpretation. These results illuminate an interpretative approach by older adults that favors less negative endings and that supports broader age-related positivity. Additionally, older adults interpreted social scenarios with less emotionality than younger adults. These findings uncover a new manifestation of age-related positivity in spontaneous speech generated in response to ambiguity, indicating that older adults tend to create emotional meaning differently from the young. PMID:26322570

A Study on the Public-Private Partnership to Global Health Issues in Korea

PubMed Central

Lee, Hyun Sook

2013-01-01

Objectives To find the fit that is most apt for the current situation in Korea and to find new ways of identifying potential partners for the purpose of public–private partnership (PPP). The research was conducted using domestic and international literature where the concept and definition of PPP was stated, and cases of PPP reported by the World Health Organization and cases in developed countries were investigated. Materials and methods Data were collected from 237 PPP potential partner organization, government agencies, and the government under a special law, local governments, businesses, hospitals, and private organizations through their internet webpage. The Delphi questionnaire was given to relevant institutions and questionnaire was surveyed general hospitals. Results Groups that were likely to realize most of the partnership were nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations, the central government, the private sector, public healthcare services, and products. Conclusion In order to secure the position of exceptional comparative advantage of international expertise in the field of healthcare, we must implement PPP strategy that is in ordinance of domestic situation. PMID:24524019

First record of the spider genus Wolongia Zhu, Kim Song, 1997 from India with the description of a new species (Araneae, Tetragnathidae).

PubMed

Malamel, Jobi J; Nafin, Karunnappilli Shamsudheen; Sankaran, Pradeep M; Sebastian, Pothalil A

2018-04-09

Zhu et al. (1997) erected the tetragnathid genus Wolongia to accommodate Wolongia guoi Zhu, Kim Song, 1997 and Wolongia wangi Zhu, Kim Song, 1997 collected from the Sichuan and Shaanxi Provinces in China. In 2009, Ping et al. described Wolongia odontodes from the Gaoligong Mountains and remained with a nominal representation after the erection of the genus. This situation was somewhat rectified by Jin-long Wan Xian-jin Peng (2013) reporting seven new species from the Gaoligong Mountains (Yunnan Province, southwest China). The genus currently with ten nominal species; three are known only from females, while seven are from both sexes (World Spider Catalog 2017). During our survey in Pathiramanal Island we found an undescribed Wolongia species. This is one of the most diverse areas of the Kerala state of Southern India, situated in the Vembanad Lake, a Ramsar Convention (2013) site (wetland of international importance). In this paper, we describe this new species and provide the first report of Wolongia from India.

Overview of Celiac Disease in Russia: Regional Data and Estimated Prevalence

PubMed Central

Erdes, Svetlana I.; Antishin, Anton S.

2017-01-01

Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune enteropathy triggered by the ingestion of dietary gluten from some cereals mainly in individuals carrying the HLA-DQ2 and/or HLA-DQ8 haplotypes. As an autoimmune disease, CD is manifested in the small intestine in the form of a progressive and reversible inflammatory lesion due to immune response to self-antigens. Indeed, CD is one of the most challenging medicosocial problems in current gastroenterology. At present, the global CD prevalence is estimated at approximately 1% based on data sent from different locations and available CD screening strategies used. However, it is impossible to estimate global CD prevalence without all the data from the world, including Russia. In this review, we summarize the data on the incidence and prevalence of CD across geographically distinct regions of Russia, which are mostly present in local Russian scientific sources. Our conclusion is that the situation of CD prevalence in Russia is higher than is commonly believed and follows global tendencies that correspond to the epidemiologic situation in Europe, America, and Southwest Asia. PMID:28316996

Dental laboratory technology education in China: current situation and challenges.

PubMed

Zheng, Liwei; Yue, Li; Zhou, Min; Yu, Haiyang

2013-03-01

Modern dentistry and dental education in China were first introduced from abroad by Dr. Lindsay in 1907. However, advancements in the field of dental laboratory technology did not occur to the same degree in specialties such as prosthodontics and orthodontics. Since the 1990s, orders from abroad demanding dental appliances surged as the image of China as the "world's factory" strengthened. The assembly line model, in which technicians work like simple procedure workers, was rapidly applied to denture production, while the traditional education system and apprenticeship systems demonstrated little progress in these years. The lack of advancement in dental laboratory technology education caused insufficient development in China's dental technology industry. In order to alter the situation, a four-year dental laboratory technology undergraduate educational program was established in 2005 by West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University (WCSS, SCU). This program was based on SCU's undergraduate education and WCSS's junior college education systems. The program introduced scientific methods in relevant subjects into laboratory technicians' training and made many improvements in the availability of trained faculty, textbooks, laboratory facilities, and curriculum.

Pre-Columbian floristic legacies in modern homegardens of Central Amazonia.

PubMed

Lins, Juliana; Lima, Helena P; Baccaro, Fabricio B; Kinupp, Valdely F; Shepard, Glenn H; Clement, Charles R

2015-01-01

Historical ecologists have demonstrated legacy effects in apparently wild landscapes in Europe, North America, Mesoamerica, Amazonia, Africa and Oceania. People live and farm in archaeological sites today in many parts of the world, but nobody has looked for the legacies of past human occupations in the most dynamic areas in these sites: homegardens. Here we show that the useful flora of modern homegardens is partially a legacy of pre-Columbian occupations in Central Amazonia: the more complex the archaeological context, the more variable the floristic composition of useful native plants in homegardens cultivated there today. Species diversity was 10% higher in homegardens situated in multi-occupational archaeological contexts compared with homegardens situated in single-occupational ones. Species heterogeneity (β-diversity) among archaeological contexts was similar for the whole set of species, but markedly different when only native Amazonian species were included, suggesting the influence of pre-conquest indigenous occupations on current homegarden species composition. Our findings show that the legacy of pre-Columbian occupations is visible in the most dynamic of all agroecosystems, adding another dimension to the human footprint in the Amazonian landscape.

Overview of Celiac Disease in Russia: Regional Data and Estimated Prevalence.

PubMed

Savvateeva, Lyudmila V; Erdes, Svetlana I; Antishin, Anton S; Zamyatnin, Andrey A

2017-01-01

Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune enteropathy triggered by the ingestion of dietary gluten from some cereals mainly in individuals carrying the HLA-DQ2 and/or HLA-DQ8 haplotypes. As an autoimmune disease, CD is manifested in the small intestine in the form of a progressive and reversible inflammatory lesion due to immune response to self-antigens. Indeed, CD is one of the most challenging medicosocial problems in current gastroenterology. At present, the global CD prevalence is estimated at approximately 1% based on data sent from different locations and available CD screening strategies used. However, it is impossible to estimate global CD prevalence without all the data from the world, including Russia. In this review, we summarize the data on the incidence and prevalence of CD across geographically distinct regions of Russia, which are mostly present in local Russian scientific sources. Our conclusion is that the situation of CD prevalence in Russia is higher than is commonly believed and follows global tendencies that correspond to the epidemiologic situation in Europe, America, and Southwest Asia.

Current Situation of Leprosy in India and its Future Implications.

PubMed

Rao, P Narasimha; Suneetha, Sujai

2018-01-01

The global leprosy situation has changed significantly over the last four decades after the introduction of multidrug therapy (MDT) in 1982 with a reduction in prevalence from over 5 million cases in the mid-1980s to less than 200,000 at the end of 2016. The programme in India also saw a reduction from a prevalence rate of 57.8/10,000 in 1983 to less than 1/10,000 by the end of 2005 when India declared to have reached the World Health Organization (WHO) target of elimination as a public health problem. Post 2005, major changes in the programme were made by the National leprosy eradication programme (NLEP) and the global leprosy programme, which may have affected the new case detection (NCD), disability, and child leprosy trends, which continue to show no appreciable regression. This article reviews the current global and Indian leprosy scenario to bring out its achievements and successes, including the impact of Leprosy Case Detection Campaigns (LCDC) on leprosy numbers. The basis and expected benefits of recent introduction of chemo and immune-prophylaxis in the programme are also discussed. It also discusses the shortcomings, the areas of concern, and the need for an inclusive strategy in the Indian leprosy programme that includes an intersectoral collaboration within the country for reaching the desired goal of leprosy eradication.

Current Status of Pediatric Labeling in China and the near Future Efforts Needed for the Country

PubMed Central

Li, Zhiping; Wang, Yi; Wu, Dan; Gao, Xuan; Wang, Zhiyun

2014-01-01

Background: Children are recognized as “therapeutic orphan” in many parts of the world, one expression of this is the lack of adequate pediatric labeling information. Some research studies have been done to investigate the pediatric labeling condition in the U.S. and other countries, but no national studies had been carried out in China. This survey was conducted aiming to inquire the current situation of pediatric labeling in China. Methods: We investigated 6020 child-applied medicines from 15 representative Chinese hospitals, and analyzed the information according to the dosage forms, therapeutic category, and label information integrity. Results: Among all these medicines, only 238 (3.95%) are pediatric products, the rest are adult formulations with an extended use in children. The major pediatric formulations were injection (45.95%), tablet (23.69%), and capsule (4.93%), respectively. Alimentary tract/metabolism medicine (24.70%) and infections medicines (20.60%) had the most species. In prescription drugs, only 210 of 5187 (4%) medicines had adequate pediatric labeling information. The main cause of this deficiency was lack of evidence derived from pediatric clinical trials. Conclusion: The dilemma of “therapeutic orphan” requires significant attention. Inadequate labeling information and lack of pediatric clinical trials were two prominent issues in China. It calls for more efforts from pharmaceutical industries, regulatory agencies, and legislature in China to collaborate and find solution to improve the situation. PMID:24724075

Current Situation of Leprosy in India and its Future Implications

PubMed Central

Rao, P. Narasimha; Suneetha, Sujai

2018-01-01

The global leprosy situation has changed significantly over the last four decades after the introduction of multidrug therapy (MDT) in 1982 with a reduction in prevalence from over 5 million cases in the mid-1980s to less than 200,000 at the end of 2016. The programme in India also saw a reduction from a prevalence rate of 57.8/10,000 in 1983 to less than 1/10,000 by the end of 2005 when India declared to have reached the World Health Organization (WHO) target of elimination as a public health problem. Post 2005, major changes in the programme were made by the National leprosy eradication programme (NLEP) and the global leprosy programme, which may have affected the new case detection (NCD), disability, and child leprosy trends, which continue to show no appreciable regression. This article reviews the current global and Indian leprosy scenario to bring out its achievements and successes, including the impact of Leprosy Case Detection Campaigns (LCDC) on leprosy numbers. The basis and expected benefits of recent introduction of chemo and immune-prophylaxis in the programme are also discussed. It also discusses the shortcomings, the areas of concern, and the need for an inclusive strategy in the Indian leprosy programme that includes an intersectoral collaboration within the country for reaching the desired goal of leprosy eradication. PMID:29644191

USSR Report World Economy and International Relations No. 10, October 1983.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-12

offsets the negative consequences of such a situation. However, the socialist world is not at all indifferent to these developments in world economy...world—both with its allies and with the developing nations—was seen exclusively from the standpoint of a " global character of the Soviet threat...by the Group of 77 earlier (concerning the convening of global negotiations, the role of cooperation between developing countries in the

Military Technical Revolution: A Structural Framework

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-03-01

new world situation and draw conclusions about the military forces the United States will need in the years ahead to meet its demands and challenges...collectivization of peacetime military operations. In this new world , the United States will need to rethink the nature and scope of its national interests. Those...mission will also require defense of international sea- lanes and Middle East oil, both of which remain vital to the world and U ’. S . economies. Third

Developing Graduate Attributes in an Open Online Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowe, Michael

2016-01-01

In an increasingly connected world where solving complex problems is not possible by solitary experts, educators and learners need opportunities to develop ways of thinking that allow them to engage with the dynamic and complex situations that arise in the world. The development of graduate attributes has been suggested as one way in which…

Real-World Learning Opportunities in Sustainability: From Classroom into the Real World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brundiers, Katja; Wiek, Arnim; Redman, Charles L.

2010-01-01

Purpose--Academic sustainability programs aim to develop key competencies in sustainability, including problem-solving skills and the ability to collaborate successfully with experts and stakeholders. These key competencies may be most fully developed in new teaching and learning situations. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the kind of, and…

The Victor-Bostrom Fund Report: Food and Population. Report No. 19, Summer-Fall 1974.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Victor-Bostrom Fund Committee, Washington, DC.

Eleven articles comprise this document which presents commentaries on nutrition, population, and environmental education. The articles deal specifically with the crises of a rapidly growing world population, a worsening world food situation, and an energy crisis. A number of specific recommendations, both national and international, are offered to…

Limits to Productivity: Improving Women's Access to Technology and Credit.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schumacher, Ilsa; And Others

While there is significant variation in women's economic participation rates across cultures and situations in Third World countries, the common features in work patterns of poor women are striking. Segmented labor markets predominate throughout the developing world and restrict the demand for female labor to subsistence activities or to jobs in…

Using Mathematics to Solve Real World Problems: The Role of Enablers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geiger, Vincent; Stillman, Gloria; Brown, Jill; Galbriath, Peter; Niss, Mogens

2018-01-01

The purpose of this article is to report on a newly funded research project in which we will investigate how secondary students apply mathematical modelling to effectively address real world situations. Through this study, we will identify factors, mathematical, cognitive, social and environmental that "enable" year 10/11 students to…

Effects of Teaching and Learning Styles on Students' Reflection Levels for Ubiquitous Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsieh, Sheng-Wen; Jang, Yu-Ruei; Hwang, Gwo-Jen; Chen, Nian-Shing

2011-01-01

Ubiquitous learning (u-learning), in conjunction with supports from the digital world, is recognized as an effective approach for situating students in real-world learning environments. Earlier studies concerning u-learning have mainly focused on investigating the learning attitudes and learning achievements of students, while the causations such…

The Construction of a Reasoned Explanation of a Health Phenomenon: An Analysis of Competencies Mobilized

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faria, Cláudia; Freire, Sofia; Baptista, Mónica; Galvão, Cecília

2014-01-01

Mobilizing scientific knowledge for understanding the natural world and for critically appraise socio-scientific situations and make decisions are key competencies for today's' society. Therefore, it is essential to understand how students at the end of compulsory schooling use scientific knowledge for understanding the surrounding world. The…

Coming down to Earth: Helping Teachers Use 3D Virtual Worlds in Across-Spaces Learning Situations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muñoz-Cristóbal, Juan A.; Prieto, Luis P.; Asensio-Pérez, Juan I.; Martínez-Monés, Alejandra; Jorrín-Abellán, Iván M.; Dimitriadis, Yannis

2015-01-01

Different approaches have explored how to provide seamless learning across multiple ICT-enabled physical and virtual spaces, including three-dimensional virtual worlds (3DVW). However, these approaches present limitations that may reduce their acceptance in authentic educational practice: The difficulties of authoring and sharing teacher-created…

The Indigenous World, 1994-95 = El Mundo Indigena, 1994-95.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Marianne, Comp.; Sjorslev, Inger, Comp.

1995-01-01

This annual publication examines political, legal, social, and educational issues concerning indigenous peoples in various countries around the world during 1994-95. Part I highlights news events and ongoing situations in specific countries. In the United States and Canada, these include: (1) the arrest of three Canadian Inuit hunters for the…

Social Justice and Proportional Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simic-Muller, Ksenija

2015-01-01

Ratio and proportional reasoning tasks abound that have connections to real-world situations. Examples in this article demonstrate how textbook tasks can easily be transformed into authentic real-world problems that shed light on issues of equity and fairness, such as population growth and crime rates. A few ideas are presented on how teachers can…

On the Role of Mathematics in Physics: A Constructivist Epistemic Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quale, Andreas

2011-01-01

The association between the observable physical world and the mathematical models used in theoretical physics to describe this world is examined. Such models will frequently exhibit solutions that are "unexpected," in the sense that they describe physical situations which are different from that which the physicist may initially have had in mind…

The Vocational Education and Training System in Bulgaria. Current Situation, Challenges and Reform Needs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pantaleev, Tzako; Kalandarova, Natalia; Dineva, Nedka; Panev, Georgi; Petrova, Iskra

This report reviews the current situation of Bulgaria's vocational education and training (VET) system to identify challenges facing the system and areas needing reform. Section 1 explores the following five aspects of Bulgaria's political and socioeconomic situation: (1) demography; (2) economic developments (privatization of state enterprises,…

Applying Cognitive Fusion to Space Situational Awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ingram, S.; Shaw, M.; Chan, M.

With recent increases in capability and frequency of rocket launches from countries across the world, maintaining a state-of-the-art Space Situational Awareness model is all the more necessary. We propose a fusion of real-time, natural language processing capability provided by IBM cognitive services with ground-based sensor data of positions and trajectories of satellites in all earth orbits. We believe such insight provided by cognitive services could help determine context to missile launches, help predict when a satellite of interest could be in danger, either by accident or by intent, and could alert interested parties to the perceived threat. We seek to implement an improved Space Situational Awareness model by developing a dynamic factor graph model informed by the fusion of ground-based ”structured” sensor data with ”unstructured” data from the public domain, such as news articles, blogs, and social media, in real time. To this end, we employ IBM’s Cognitive services, specifically, Watson Discovery. Watson Discovery allows real-time natural language processing of text including entity extraction, keyword search, taxonomy classification, concept tagging, relation extraction, sentiment analysis, and emotion analysis. We present various scenarios that demonstrate the utility of this new Space Situational Awareness model, each of which combine past structured information with related open source data. We demonstrate that should the model come to estimate a satellite is ”of interest”, it will indicate it as so, based on the most pertinent data, such as a reading from a sensor or by information available online. We present and discuss the most recent iterations of the model for satellites currently available on Space-Track.org.

Two Fifth Grade Teachers' Use of Real-World Situations in Science and Mathematics Lessons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yanik, H. Bahadir; Serin, Gokhan

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the types, sources, and cognitive levels of tasks that included real-life situations used in science and mathematics lessons in the classrooms of two 5th-grade teachers at an urban elementary school in Turkey. A qualitative approach was used to analyze data that included classroom observations, teacher…

Situated Learning in the Mobile Age: Mobile Devices on a Field Trip to the Sea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pfeiffer, Vanessa D. I.; Gemballa, Sven; Jarodzka, Halszka; Scheiter, Katharina; Gerjets, Peter

2009-01-01

This study focuses on learning about fish biodiversity via mobile devices in a situated learning scenario. Mobile devices do not only facilitate relating the presented information to the real world in a direct way; they also allow the provision of dynamic representations on demand. This study asks whether mobile devices are suited to support…

Quantum Leap in Cartography as a requirement of Sustainable Development of the World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tikunov, Vladimir S.; Tikunova, Iryna N.; Eremchenko, Eugene N.

2018-05-01

Sustainable development is one of the most important challenges for humanity and one of the priorities of the United Nations. Achieving sustainability of the whole World is a main goal of management at all levels - from personal to local to global. Therefore, decision making should be supported by relevant geospatial information system. Nevertheless, classical geospatial products, maps and GIS, violate fundamental demand of `situational awareness' concept, well-known philosophy of decision-making - same representation of situation within a same volume of time and space for all decision-makers. Basic mapping principles like generalization and projections split the universal single model of situation on number of different separate and inconsistent replicas. It leads to wrong understanding of situation and, after all - to incorrect decisions. In another words, quality of the sustainable development depends on effective decision-making support based on universal global scale-independent and projection-independent model. This new way for interacting with geospatial information is a quantum leap in cartography method. It is implemented in the so-called `Digital Earth' paradigm and geospatial services like Google Earth. Com-paring of both methods, as well as possibilities of implementation of Digital Earth in the sustain-able development activities, are discussed.

Analyzing spacecraft configurations through specialization and default reasoning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barry, Matthew R.; Lowe, Carlyle M.

1990-01-01

For an intelligent system to describe a real-world situation using as few statements as possible, it is necessary to make inferences based on observed data and to incorporate general knowledge of the reasoning domain into the description. These reasoning processes must reduce several levels of specific descriptions into only those few that most precisely describe the situation. Moreover, the system must be able to generate descriptions in the absence of data, as instructed by certain rules of inference. The deductions applied by the system, then, generate a high-level description from the low-level evidence provided by the real and default data sources. An implementation of these ideas in a real-world situation is described. The application concerns evaluation of Space Shuttle electromechanical system configurations by console operators in the Mission Control Center. A production system provides the reasoning mechanism through which the default assignments and specializations occur. Examples are provided within this domain for each type of inference, and the suitability is discussed of each toward achieving the goal of describing a situation in the fewest statements possible. Finally, several enhancements are suggested that will further increase the intelligence of similar spacecraft monitoring applications.

[Paradoxical situation in the organization of work: a threat for workers' mental health].

PubMed

Therriault, Pierre-Yves; Streit, Ursula; Rhéaume, Jacques

2004-01-01

For the past decades, in a world of high competition, firms struggle to regain an advantage over foreign competition. Thus, new management trends, usually based on price reduction, high quality products and speed production are now part of strategic reorganization plans of high impact on work organization particularly in terms of large demands put on workers, and take a heavy toll on workers. Thus the incidence of mental health problems in the work place has risen sharply in recent years and currently counts as one of the leading causes of work absenteeism. A study based on the psychodynamic of work was conducted among machine operators working in a high-technology company in the aviation sector. Important management and technological transformations were recently introduced in the factory. The content analysis of the study shows that the work organization places the operator in a double bind situation. They are caught between an injunction where the capacity of making a high quality product is directly opposed to that demanding speed production. Moreover, severe and arbitrary sanctions are applied when the operators do not comply with either injunction. The operators are put in a deadlock situation that creates fear and anxiety. They are obliged to turn to defensive psychological strategies such as individualism and cheating. Those defensive strategies have negative impacts on social relationships.

[Simulation in medical education: a synopsis].

PubMed

Corvetto, Marcia; Bravo, María Pía; Montaña, Rodrigo; Utili, Franco; Escudero, Eliana; Boza, Camilo; Varas, Julián; Dagnino, Jorge

2013-01-01

Clinical simulation is defined as a technique (not a technology) to replace or amplify real experiences with guided experiences that evoke or replicate substantial aspects of the real world in a fully interactive fashion. Over the past few years, there has been a significant growth in its use, both as a learning tool and as an assessment for accreditation. Example of this is the fact that simulation is an integral part of medical education curricula abroad. Some authors have cited it as an unavoidable necessity or as an ethical imperative. In Chile, its formal inclusion in Medical Schools' curricula has just begun. This review is an overview of this important educational tool, presenting the evidence about its usefulness in medical education and describing its current situation in Chile.

Advanced consequence management program: challenges and recent real-world implementations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graser, Tom; Barber, K. S.; Williams, Bob; Saghir, Feras; Henry, Kurt A.

2002-08-01

The Enhanced Consequence Management, Planning and Support System (ENCOMPASS) was developed under DARPA's Advanced Consequence Management program to assist decision-makers operating in crisis situations such as terrorist attacks using conventional and unconventional weapons and natural disasters. ENCOMPASS provides the tools for first responders, incident commanders, and officials at all levels to share vital information and consequently, plan and execute a coordinated response to incidents of varying complexity and size. ENCOMPASS offers custom configuration of components with capabilities ranging from map-based situation assessment, situation-based response checklists, casualty tracking, and epidemiological surveillance. Developing and deploying such a comprehensive system posed significant challenges for DARPA program management, due to an inherently complex domain, a broad spectrum of customer sites and skill sets, an often inhospitable runtime environment, demanding development-to-deployment transition requirements, and a technically diverse and geographically distributed development team. This paper introduces ENCOMPASS and explores these challenges, followed by an outline of selected ENCOMPASS deployments, demonstrating how ENCOMPASS can enhance consequence management in a variety real world contexts.

EpiCaster: An Integrated Web Application For Situation Assessment and Forecasting of Global Epidemics

PubMed Central

Deodhar, Suruchi; Bisset, Keith; Chen, Jiangzhuo; Barrett, Chris; Wilson, Mandy; Marathe, Madhav

2016-01-01

Public health decision makers need access to high resolution situation assessment tools for understanding the extent of various epidemics in different regions of the world. In addition, they need insights into the future course of epidemics by way of forecasts. Such forecasts are essential for planning the allocation of limited resources and for implementing several policy-level and behavioral intervention strategies. The need for such forecasting systems became evident in the wake of the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa. We have developed EpiCaster, an integrated Web application for situation assessment and forecasting of various epidemics, such as Flu and Ebola, that are prevalent in different regions of the world. Using EpiCaster, users can assess the magnitude and severity of different epidemics at highly resolved spatio-temporal levels. EpiCaster provides time-varying heat maps and graphical plots to view trends in the disease dynamics. EpiCaster also allows users to visualize data gathered through surveillance mechanisms, such as Google Flu Trends (GFT) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The forecasts provided by EpiCaster are generated using different epidemiological models, and the users can select the models through the interface to filter the corresponding forecasts. EpiCaster also allows the users to study epidemic propagation in the presence of a number of intervention strategies specific to certain diseases. Here we describe the modeling techniques, methodologies and computational infrastructure that EpiCaster relies on to support large-scale predictive analytics for situation assessment and forecasting of global epidemics. PMID:27796009

Linguistic Predictors of Cultural Identification in Bilinguals

PubMed Central

Schroeder, Scott R.; Lam, Tuan Q.; Marian, Viorica

2016-01-01

Most of the world's population has knowledge of at least two languages. Many of these bilinguals are also exposed to and identify with at least two cultures. Because language knowledge enables participation in cultural practices and expression of cultural beliefs, bilingual experience and cultural identity are interconnected. However, the specific links between bilingualism and cultural identity remain largely unidentified. The current study examined which aspects of bilingualism relate to identification with first- and second-language cultures. Two-hundred-and-nine bilinguals completed a questionnaire probing linguistic background and cultural affiliations. Regression analyses indicated that cultural identification was predicted by age of language acquisition, language proficiency, foreign-accentedness, and contexts of long-term language immersion and current language exposure. Follow-up analyses revealed that the language-culture relations were mediated by the age and manner in which the second language was acquired. These findings are situated within a proposed framework of bilingual cultural identity. By identifying features of bilingualism that are relevant for cultural identity, the current research increases our understanding of the relationship between language and culture. PMID:28936014

Video occupant detection and classification

DOEpatents

Krumm, John C.

1999-01-01

A system for determining when it is not safe to arm a vehicle airbag by storing representations of known situations as observed by a camera at a passenger seat; and comparing a representation of a camera output of the current situation to the stored representations to determine the known situation most closely represented by the current situation. In the preferred embodiment, the stored representations include the presence or absence of a person or infant seat in the front passenger seat of an automobile.

Turkey: Women in Development. A World Bank Country Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadler, Sandra

This report is intended to serve as the basis of the World Bank's support to the government of Turkey in the implementation of its policies to enhance the participation of women in the economic development process. The report provides background information on the situation of women in Turkey, including legal and health issues, and examines…

The World Map Project Handbook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Barbara Jo; Sheffield, Elise Sprunt

This handbook can be used by anyone with an interest in mapmaking. The step-by-step guide shows how to draw, plan, and color a one-of-a-kind world map. There is a list of materials, supplies, worksheets, and a trouble-shooting appendix for special situations. The guide also provides a variety of enrichment activities to promote continued…

Up the Flagpole: A Guide for Women School Administrators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Enwall, Beverly M.; Fabal, Carolyn O.

For women, the corporate world of education should offer a natural field for professional advancement, but frequently this is not the case. Some of the reasons behind this situation and what women can do to advance in leadership roles in education are explored in this text. Chapter 2 examines the corporate world of education and the dramatic…

The Long Agony of English as a World Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

D'Acierno, Maria Rosaria

2008-01-01

This paper wants to examine the present communicative situation in our global world, and consequently the position occupied by the English language as the main means of interaction. I do not intend to make any realistic prediction, but my purpose is only to evaluate the spread of this language and the emergence of other languages according to both…

ESL Teacher Training in 3D Virtual Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kozlova, Iryna; Priven, Dmitri

2015-01-01

Although language learning in 3D Virtual Worlds (VWs) has become a focus of recent research, little is known about the knowledge and skills teachers need to acquire to provide effective task-based instruction in 3D VWs and the type of teacher training that best prepares instructors for such an endeavor. This study employs a situated learning…

The First World War in the Literacy-Focused Classroom: Teaching German through Cultural Themes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Redmann, Jennifer; Sederberg, Kathryn

2017-01-01

This article offers approaches to the topic of the First World War at the intermediate and advanced levels of the German curriculum through thematically diverse WWI-era cultural texts. By situating the texts within a multiliteracies framework, the authors demonstrate how this historical and literary content can provide authentic material for…

The nuclear weapons free world . We already live in

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antonini, R.

We do live in a nuclear weapons free world, already. After a long debate about nuclear weapons the situation today is such that, officially, no governement is in favor of them. The reason is to be found in the strongest moral stigma on nuclear weapons. Moreover the vast majority of the most influencial people share this view.

Development of a Ubiquitous Learning Platform Based on a Real-Time Help-Seeking Mechanism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hwang, Gwo-Jen; Wu, Chih-Hsiang; Tseng, Judy C. R.; Huang, Iwen

2011-01-01

The popularity of mobile devices has encouraged the advance of ubiquitous learning, in which students are situated in a real-world learning environment with support from the digital world via the use of mobile, wireless communications, or even sensing technologies. Most of the ubiquitous learning systems are implemented with high-cost sensing…

United World Prep Schools Seek Global Unity and Acculturate U.S. Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinez, Tony P.; Martinez, Alison P.

2005-01-01

United World College of the American West (UWC-USA) which was founded in 1982 by the Occidental Petroleum magnate and philanthropist, Armand Hammer, is an upper-secondary school with 200 students and two dozen faculty from 80 countries or more. Situated amid traditional Hispanic settlements in New Mexico's scenic Sangre de Cristo Mountains,…

Sneaking out after Dark: Resistance, Agency, and the Postmodern Child in JK Rowling's Harry Potter Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chappell, Drew

2008-01-01

JK Rowling's "Harry Potter" novels situate their child protagonists in a fantastical world side by side with present day British society. Through the characters' choices and realizations, young readers are introduced to the complexities and ambiguities of the contemporary world. Harry and his friends embrace these qualities of postmodern…

Neither Feast nor Famine: Summary of the Second Twenty Year Forecast Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Enzer, Selwyn; And Others

1977-01-01

The key question to ask in determining whether a solution will be found to the world food problem is whether people will learn to effectively manage the food/population balance. Predictions concerning the world food situation should be made on the basis of these factors: (1) possible future changes involving technological development, political…

Literacy in the World and Turkey "A General Assessment of the Situation"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asici, Murat

2015-01-01

Literacy concept has changed and become different as a result of researches carried out in the field of educational sciences, and social and technological developments in the world. Particularly after the 1990s, literacy concept included not a single fact, but multiple facts. The word literacy has started being used along with different…

Exploring Yellowstone National Park with Mathematical Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wickstrom, Megan H.; Carr, Ruth; Lackey, Dacia

2017-01-01

Mathematical modeling, a practice standard in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) (CCSSI 2010), is a process by which students develop and use mathematics as a tool to make sense of the world around them. Students investigate a real-world situation by asking mathematical questions; along the way, they need to decide how to use…

Virtual Worlds and Social and Educational Inclusion: Case Study at Secondary Education Institute Cal Gravat

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castañeda Quintero, Linda; Román García, María del Mar; Barlam Aspasch, Ramón

2015-01-01

This article presents a case study with the goal of becoming familiar with and understanding the incorporation of one virtual learning world--Espurnik--in a curricular diversification classroom with students in a situation of educational exclusion or academic failure. This investigation was carried out from an interpretive paradigm with a…

Ethics in a Global World: The Earth Charter and Religious Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGrady, Andrew G.; Regan, Ethna

2008-01-01

The authors consider the potential and promise of the 2000 UNESCO "Earth Charter" for the work of the religious educator in situating a "common" ethical core in a global world. It is argued that the Charter represents a courageous attempt to negotiate a global ethic of universal and multi-faceted responsibility based on the foundation of…

Recording Sensory Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ashbrook, Peggy

2007-01-01

From children's viewpoints, what they experience in the world is what the world is like--for everyone. "What do others experience with their senses when they are in the same situation?" is a question that young children can explore by collecting data as they use a "feely box," or take a "sensory walk." There are many ways to focus the children's…

From the Axial Age to the New Age: Religion as a Dynamic of World History.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tucker, Carlton H.

In order to broaden student understanding of past and contemporary situations, the world history survey course needs to consider religion as a vehicle through which history moves. The course proposal includes prehistory and paleolithic times to contemporary Islamic culture. The course is thematic and comparative in orientation, but moves through…

The role of vocational education in science and technology developement in the era of globalisation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sudirman

2018-03-01

Globalization refers to a condition by which a world becomes competitive. In such a world, people are urged to do a job properly since they will be the asset to advance their nation further; this is also to strengthen the nation’s capital markets. Both the formal and informal vocational education is proposed to produce well-capable and highly-competitive graduates. This is considered important as one effort to deal with some challenges as well as a rapid advance in science and technology in the globalized world. This present study aims at exploring the contribution of vocational education in response to the development of science and technology in the globalized world. Furthermore, this study is a development of a notion that the vocational education system is proposed as a solution to the highly-competitive situation and challenges due to the globalization. To put it simply, vocational education significantly contributes towards the development of science and technology in a globalized world and how to deal with the situation. Such an education system equips the student with skills needed to become a productive and professional individual. This is also to produce better and competitive human resources that are able to compete with other nations.

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

Brouillette, Greg A.

These are slides for various presentations on C41SR and urban disasters disasters response and recovery tools. These are all mainly charts and images of disaster response and recovery tools. Slides included have headings such as the following: vignette of a disaster response, situational awareness and common operating picture available to EOC, plume modeling capability, Program ASPECT Chemical Response Products, EPA ASPECT - Hurricane RITA Response 9/25/2005, Angel Fire Imagery, incident commander's view/police chief's view/ EMS' view, common situational awareness and collaborative planning, exercise, training capability, systems diagram, Austere Challenge 06 Sim/C4 Requirements, common situational awareness and collaborative planning, exercise, trainingmore » environment, common situational awareness, real world, crisis response, and consequence management.« less

The Current Situation of Field Experience in a Five-Year Science Teacher Education Program in Thailand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faikhamta, Chatree; Jantarakantee, Ekgapoom; Roadrangka, Vantipa

2011-01-01

This research explored the current situation in managing the field experience of a five-year science teacher education program in one university in Thailand. A number of methods were used to assess field experience situation: (1) a questionnaire on the perceptions of pre-service science teachers of field experience management; (2) participant…

Attributional styles, self-esteem, and just world belief of victims of bullying in Dutch organizations.

PubMed

Steensma, Herman; van Dijke, Richard

Large-scale surveys in Europe document that some 8-15% of European workers are subjected to intimidation and bullying. Victims of severe bullying in Dutch organizations (N = 21) and non-victims (N = 30) filled out questionnaires. As predicted, victims had a lower Just World Belief, and lower self-esteem than non-victims. Moreover, victims attached higher importance to negative situations than non-victims do. The two groups demonstrated only minor differences in their attributions of internal, and stable causes to negative events. However, victims of bullying attributed causes of bullying significantly more often to specific aspects of situations. In the discussion it is suggested that in future research a distinction should be made between subgroups of victims.

Living with incurable oesophageal cancer. A phenomenological hermeneutical interpretation of patient stories.

PubMed

Missel, Malene; Birkelund, Regner

2011-09-01

The study explores how patients diagnosed with incurable oesophageal cancer experience living with the illness, and provides insight into and an understanding of the patients' situation, reality and phenomena in their life world. The method takes a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach, inspired by the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur's narrative theory on mimesis as the structure and process of the method, and Ricoeur's theory of interpretation for the analysis of patient stories. The stories materialise from narrative interviews, and the phenomena of the patients' life world results in an analysis of these stories. Through the analysis of the narrative interviews, phenomena of the patients' life world appear which are described in themes such as debut of the illness, denial, the person's own suspicion, existential turning point, despair, hope, the body, affirmation of irrevocable illness, acknowledgement of dying, life phenomena, relations and feeling of independence. The understanding of the patients' experiences is augmented and improved through a discussion of the themes in a philosophical perspective, drawing upon theoretical and philosophical viewpoints of Kierkegaard, Løgstrup, Merleau-Ponty, Ricoeur, Benner & Wrubel, and on empirical research. Based on the phenomena in the ill person's life world brought about by analysis, it seems that incurably ill oesophageal cancer patients find themselves in a complex life situation, in which they need more than an objective estimate and fulfilment of need from hospital service. Our study illustrates some perspectives on the life situation of the incurably ill, which will contribute to the improved development of supportive care in nursing. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Task analysis of autonomous on-road driving

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbera, Anthony J.; Horst, John A.; Schlenoff, Craig I.; Aha, David W.

2004-12-01

The Real-time Control System (RCS) Methodology has evolved over a number of years as a technique to capture task knowledge and organize it into a framework conducive to implementation in computer control systems. The fundamental premise of this methodology is that the present state of the task activities sets the context that identifies the requirements for all of the support processing. In particular, the task context at any time determines what is to be sensed in the world, what world model states are to be evaluated, which situations are to be analyzed, what plans should be invoked, and which behavior generation knowledge is to be accessed. This methodology concentrates on the task behaviors explored through scenario examples to define a task decomposition tree that clearly represents the branching of tasks into layers of simpler and simpler subtask activities. There is a named branching condition/situation identified for every fork of this task tree. These become the input conditions of the if-then rules of the knowledge set that define how the task is to respond to input state changes. Detailed analysis of each branching condition/situation is used to identify antecedent world states and these, in turn, are further analyzed to identify all of the entities, objects, and attributes that have to be sensed to determine if any of these world states exist. This paper explores the use of this 4D/RCS methodology in some detail for the particular task of autonomous on-road driving, which work was funded under the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) Mobile Autonomous Robot Software (MARS) effort (Doug Gage, Program Manager).

Current situations and discussions in Japan in relation to the new occupational equivalent dose limit for the lens of the eye.

PubMed

Yokoyama, Sumi; Hamada, Nobuyuki; Hayashida, Toshiyuki; Tsujimura, Norio; Tatsuzaki, Hideo; Kurosawa, Tadahiro; Nabatame, Kuniaki; Ohguchi, Hiroyuki; Ohno, Kazuko; Yamauchi-Kawaura, Chiyo; Iimoto, Takeshi; Ichiji, Takeshi; Hotta, Yutaka; Iwai, Satoshi; Akahane, Keiichi

2017-09-25

Since the International Commission on Radiological Protection recommended reducing the occupational equivalent dose limit for the lens of the eye in 2011, there have been extensive discussions in various countries. This paper reviews the current situation in radiation protection of the ocular lens and the discussions on the potential impact of the new lens dose limit in Japan. Topics include historical changes to the lens dose limit, the current situation with occupational lens exposures (e.g., in medical workers, nuclear workers, and Fukushima nuclear power plant workers) and measurements, and the current status of biological studies and epidemiological studies on radiation cataracts. Our focus is on the situation in Japan, but we believe such information sharing will be useful in many other countries.

What is Novel About Novel Ecosystems: Managing Change in an Ever-Changing World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Truitt, Amy M.; Granek, Elise F.; Duveneck, Matthew J.; Goldsmith, Kaitlin A.; Jordan, Meredith P.; Yazzie, Kimberly C.

2015-06-01

Influenced by natural climatic, geological, and evolutionary changes, landscapes and the ecosystems within are continuously changing. In addition to these natural pressures, anthropogenic drivers have increasingly influenced ecosystems. Whether affected by natural or anthropogenic processes, ecosystems, ecological communities, and ecosystem functioning are dynamic and can lead to "novel" or "emerging" ecosystems. Current literature identifies several definitions of these ecosystems but lacks an unambiguous definition and framework for categorizing what constitutes a novel ecosystem and for informing decisions around best management practices. Here we explore the various definitions used for novel ecosystems, present an unambiguous definition, and propose a framework for identifying the most appropriate management option. We identify and discuss three approaches for managing novel ecosystems: managing against, tolerating, and managing for these systems, and we provide real-world examples of each approach. We suggest that this framework will allow managers to make thoughtful decisions about which strategy is most appropriate for each unique situation, to determine whether the strategy is working, and to facilitate decision-making when it is time to modify the management approach.

Cultural psychiatry: research strategies and future directions.

PubMed

Kirmayer, Laurence J; Ban, Lauren

2013-01-01

This chapter reviews some key aspects of current research in cultural psychiatry and explores future prospects. The first section discusses the multiple meanings of culture in the contemporary world and their relevance for understanding mental health and illness. The next section considers methodological strategies for unpacking the concept of culture and studying the impact of cultural variables, processes and contexts. Multiple methods are needed to address the many different components or dimensions of cultural identity and experience that constitute local worlds, ways of life or systems of knowledge. Quantitative and observational methods of clinical epidemiology and experimental science as well as qualitative ethnographic methods are needed to capture crucial aspects of culture as systems of meaning and practice. Emerging issues in cultural psychiatric research include: cultural variations in illness experience and expression; the situated nature of cognition and emotion; cultural configurations of self and personhood; concepts of mental disorder and mental health literacy; and the prospect of ecosocial models of health and culturally based interventions. The conclusion considers the implications of the emerging perspectives from cultural neuroscience for psychiatric theory and practice. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

What is Novel About Novel Ecosystems: Managing Change in an Ever-Changing World.

PubMed

Truitt, Amy M; Granek, Elise F; Duveneck, Matthew J; Goldsmith, Kaitlin A; Jordan, Meredith P; Yazzie, Kimberly C

2015-06-01

Influenced by natural climatic, geological, and evolutionary changes, landscapes and the ecosystems within are continuously changing. In addition to these natural pressures, anthropogenic drivers have increasingly influenced ecosystems. Whether affected by natural or anthropogenic processes, ecosystems, ecological communities, and ecosystem functioning are dynamic and can lead to "novel" or "emerging" ecosystems. Current literature identifies several definitions of these ecosystems but lacks an unambiguous definition and framework for categorizing what constitutes a novel ecosystem and for informing decisions around best management practices. Here we explore the various definitions used for novel ecosystems, present an unambiguous definition, and propose a framework for identifying the most appropriate management option. We identify and discuss three approaches for managing novel ecosystems: managing against, tolerating, and managing for these systems, and we provide real-world examples of each approach. We suggest that this framework will allow managers to make thoughtful decisions about which strategy is most appropriate for each unique situation, to determine whether the strategy is working, and to facilitate decision-making when it is time to modify the management approach.

Strategies to maintain health in the Third World.

PubMed

Korte, R; Rehle, T; Merkle, A

1991-12-01

International cooperation with Third World countries aims at reducing the high morbidity and mortality of the population to a tolerable level. The main health problems are caused by poverty. Thus, the range of diseases in tropical countries can be explained more readily by the socio-economic situation than solely by the climate. Health services, in Africa in particular, have had to reduce drastically their budgets in the last ten years and now have only approximately 1/1000th of the funds usually available in industrialised countries. High population growth reduces the resources available per head, increases infection potential and worsens living conditions. Control strategies must take account of these circumstances in order to achieve the required sustained effect within the framework of primary health care. The example of the control of several infectious diseases, such as schistosomiasis, pneumonia, malaria and AIDS, is used to show that control programmes can be effective but, in the current conditions, can hardly be maintained without outside support. In the future, diseases caused by environmental problems and new life styles as a result of industrialization, urbanization and slum growth will move dramatically into the foreground.

Representation Learning of Logic Words by an RNN: From Word Sequences to Robot Actions

PubMed Central

Yamada, Tatsuro; Murata, Shingo; Arie, Hiroaki; Ogata, Tetsuya

2017-01-01

An important characteristic of human language is compositionality. We can efficiently express a wide variety of real-world situations, events, and behaviors by compositionally constructing the meaning of a complex expression from a finite number of elements. Previous studies have analyzed how machine-learning models, particularly neural networks, can learn from experience to represent compositional relationships between language and robot actions with the aim of understanding the symbol grounding structure and achieving intelligent communicative agents. Such studies have mainly dealt with the words (nouns, adjectives, and verbs) that directly refer to real-world matters. In addition to these words, the current study deals with logic words, such as “not,” “and,” and “or” simultaneously. These words are not directly referring to the real world, but are logical operators that contribute to the construction of meaning in sentences. In human–robot communication, these words may be used often. The current study builds a recurrent neural network model with long short-term memory units and trains it to learn to translate sentences including logic words into robot actions. We investigate what kind of compositional representations, which mediate sentences and robot actions, emerge as the network's internal states via the learning process. Analysis after learning shows that referential words are merged with visual information and the robot's own current state, and the logical words are represented by the model in accordance with their functions as logical operators. Words such as “true,” “false,” and “not” work as non-linear transformations to encode orthogonal phrases into the same area in a memory cell state space. The word “and,” which required a robot to lift up both its hands, worked as if it was a universal quantifier. The word “or,” which required action generation that looked apparently random, was represented as an unstable space of the network's dynamical system. PMID:29311891

Representation Learning of Logic Words by an RNN: From Word Sequences to Robot Actions.

PubMed

Yamada, Tatsuro; Murata, Shingo; Arie, Hiroaki; Ogata, Tetsuya

2017-01-01

An important characteristic of human language is compositionality. We can efficiently express a wide variety of real-world situations, events, and behaviors by compositionally constructing the meaning of a complex expression from a finite number of elements. Previous studies have analyzed how machine-learning models, particularly neural networks, can learn from experience to represent compositional relationships between language and robot actions with the aim of understanding the symbol grounding structure and achieving intelligent communicative agents. Such studies have mainly dealt with the words (nouns, adjectives, and verbs) that directly refer to real-world matters. In addition to these words, the current study deals with logic words, such as "not," "and," and "or" simultaneously. These words are not directly referring to the real world, but are logical operators that contribute to the construction of meaning in sentences. In human-robot communication, these words may be used often. The current study builds a recurrent neural network model with long short-term memory units and trains it to learn to translate sentences including logic words into robot actions. We investigate what kind of compositional representations, which mediate sentences and robot actions, emerge as the network's internal states via the learning process. Analysis after learning shows that referential words are merged with visual information and the robot's own current state, and the logical words are represented by the model in accordance with their functions as logical operators. Words such as "true," "false," and "not" work as non-linear transformations to encode orthogonal phrases into the same area in a memory cell state space. The word "and," which required a robot to lift up both its hands, worked as if it was a universal quantifier. The word "or," which required action generation that looked apparently random, was represented as an unstable space of the network's dynamical system.

From brain to earth and climate systems: small-world interaction networks or not?

PubMed

Bialonski, Stephan; Horstmann, Marie-Therese; Lehnertz, Klaus

2010-03-01

We consider recent reports on small-world topologies of interaction networks derived from the dynamics of spatially extended systems that are investigated in diverse scientific fields such as neurosciences, geophysics, or meteorology. With numerical simulations that mimic typical experimental situations, we have identified an important constraint when characterizing such networks: indications of a small-world topology can be expected solely due to the spatial sampling of the system along with the commonly used time series analysis based approaches to network characterization.

Chemical warfare, past and future. Study project

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

Tzihor, A.

1992-05-15

World War I was arena for the first use of chemical warfare. The enormous tactical success brought about by this first time use of chemical weapons caused the continued development of more sophisticated tactics and weapons in this category of unconventional warfare. This phenomenon has carried through to today. However, at present, because of technological developments, the global economic situation, and political factors, coupled with the inability of the western world to control the proliferation of chemical weapons, a situation weapon of mass destruction. Recent use by Iraq against Kurdish civilian indicates that chemical warfare is no longer limited tomore » the battlefield. The western nations have a need to understand the risk. This paper conducts an analysis of past lessons and the factors which will affect the use of chemical warfare in the future. From this analysis, the paper reaches conclusions concerning the significant threat chemical weapons pose for the entire world in the not too distant future.« less

Microbiological food safety: a dilemma of developing societies.

PubMed

Akhtar, Saeed; Sarker, Mahfuzur R; Hossain, Ashfaque

2014-11-01

Current food safety issues are deleteriously reshaping the life style of the population in the developing world. Socioeconomic status of the population in poorer economies is one of the major determinants to delineate the availability of safe food to the vulnerable population. Assessment of the prevalence of foodborne illness in developing world is the most neglected area to control disease. Botulism, Shigellosis, Campylobacteriosis, Escherichia coli infection, Staphylococcus aureus infection, Salmonellosis, Listeriosis and Cholerae are extensively prevalent and pose a major threat to human health in underdeveloped communities. The existing food safety status of many African, South Asian, Central, and South American developing countries is distressing therefore; it seems much timely to highlight the areas for the improvement to ensure the supply of safe food to the population in these regions. Extensive literature search at PubMed, Science Direct and Medline was carried out during the current year to catch on relevant data from 1976 to date, using selective terms like food safety, South East Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and foodborne illness etc. Efforts were made to restrict the search to low income countries of these regions with reference to specific foodborne pathogens. This report briefly discusses the present food safety situation in these developing countries and associated consequences as prime issues, suggesting foodborne illness to be the most distressing threat for human health and economic growth.

Rotavirus epidemiology and vaccine demand: considering Bangladesh chapter through the book of global disease burden.

PubMed

Mahmud-Al-Rafat, Abdullah; Muktadir, Abdul; Muktadir, Hasneen; Karim, Mahbubul; Maheshwari, Arpan; Ahasan, Mohammad Mainul

2018-02-01

Rotavirus is the major cause of gastroenteritis in children throughout the world. Every year, a large number of children aged < 5 years die from rotavirus-related diarrhoeal diseases. Though these infections are vaccine-preventable, the vast majority of children in low-income countries suffer from the infection. The situation leads to severe economic loss and constitutes a major public health problem. We searched electronic databases including PubMed and Google scholar using the following words: "features of rotavirus," "epidemiology of rotavirus," "rotavirus serotypes," "rotavirus in Bangladesh," "disease burden of rotavirus," "rotavirus vaccine," "low efficacy of rotavirus vaccine," "inactivated rotavirus vaccine". Publications until July 2017 have been considered for this work. Currently, two live attenuated vaccines are available throughout the world. Many countries have included rotavirus vaccines in national immunization program to reduce the disease burden. However, due to low efficacy of the available vaccines, satisfactory outcome has not yet been achieved in developing countries such as Bangladesh. Poor economic, public health, treatment, and sanitation status of the low-income countries necessitate the need for the most effective rotavirus vaccines. Therefore, the present scenario demands the development of a highly effective rotavirus vaccine. In this regard, inactivated rotavirus vaccine concept holds much promise for reducing the current disease burden. Recent advancements in developing an inactivated rotavirus vaccine indicate a significant progress towards disease prophylaxis and control.

Research on the Direction of China's Energy Development and Coping Strategies Based on the Trend of World Energy Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Lixin; Tao, Ye; Jiang, Yan; Ma, Ju

2018-06-01

To realize the modernization of the national economy, it is necessary to develop energy science and technology for China,which is third largest countries in the world.The rapid development of science and technology has promoted the continuous transformation of the global energy industry. By analyzing the trend of energy development in the world today, this paper discusses the challenges that the global energy development facing and the situation and tasks faced by China's energy sustainable development, and looks forward to China's strategies to cope with the development of the world's energy.

World oilseed situation and U. S. export opportunities, December 1983. Foreign agriculture circular

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

Not Available

1983-12-01

A slight increase in world oilseed production above last month's forecast, to 163.0 million tons, still leaves 1983/84 production over 9 percent below last year. Forecast utilization of oilseeds and products remain essentially unchanged from last month. Despite the relatively unchanged world oilseed and product balance, prices have weakened in recent weeks, raising expectations that additional price strength will be needed to bring about the required rationing of reduced world supplies. The other major element of uncertainty is Southern Hemisphere oilseed production, especially the Brazilian and Argentine 1984 soybean crops.

Effect of short-term exposure to stereoscopic three-dimensional flight displays on real-world depth perception

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Busquets, Anthony M.; Parrish, Russell V.; Williams, Steven P.

1991-01-01

High-fidelity color pictorial displays that incorporate depth cues in the display elements are currently available. Depth cuing applied to advanced head-down flight display concepts potentially enhances the pilot's situational awareness and improves task performance. Depth cues provided by stereopsis exhibit constraints that must be fully understood so depth cuing enhancements can be adequately realized and exploited. A fundamental issue (the goal of this investigation) is whether the use of head-down stereoscopic displays in flight applications degrade the real-world depth perception of pilots using such displays. Stereoacuity tests are used in this study as the measure of interest. Eight pilots flew repeated simulated landing approaches using both nonstereo and stereo 3-D head-down pathway-in-the-sky displays. At this decision height of each approach (where the pilot changes to an out-the-window view to obtain real-world visual references) the pilots changed to a stereoacuity test that used real objects. Statistical analysis of stereoacuity measures (data for a control condition of no exposure to any electronic flight display compared with data for changes from nonstereo and from stereo displays) reveals no significant differences for any of the conditions. Therefore, changing from short-term exposure to a head-down stereo display has no more effect on real-world relative depth perception than does changing from a nonstereo display. However, depth perception effects based on sized and distance judgements and on long-term exposure remain issues to be investigated.

Seeking science information online: Data mining Google to better understand the roles of the media and the education system.

PubMed

Segev, Elad; Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet

2012-10-01

Which extrinsic cues motivate people to search for science-related information? For many science-related search queries, media attention and time during the academic year are highly correlated with changes in information seeking behavior (expressed by changes in the proportion of Google science-related searches). The data mining analysis presented here shows that changes in the volume of searches for general and well-established science terms are strongly linked to the education system. By contrast, ad-hoc events and current concerns were better aligned with media coverage. The interest and ability to independently seek science knowledge in response to current events or concerns is one of the fundamental goals of the science literacy movement. This method provides a mirror of extrapolated behavior and as such can assist researchers in assessing the role of the media in shaping science interests, and inform the ways in which lifelong interests in science are manifested in real world situations.

The importance of mangrove forest in tsunami disaster mitigation.

PubMed

Osti, Rabindra; Tanaka, Shigenobu; Tokioka, Toshikazu

2009-04-01

Tsunamis and storm surges have killed more than one million people and some three billion people currently live with a high risk of these disasters, which are becoming more frequent and devastating worldwide. Effective mitigation of such disasters is possible via healthy coastal forests, which can reduce the energy of tsunamis. In recent years, these natural barriers have declined due to adverse human and natural activities. In the past 20 years, the world has lost almost 50 per cent of its mangrove forests, making them one of the most endangered landscapes. It is essential to recover them and to use them as a shield against a tsunami and as a resource to secure optimal socio-economic, ecological and environmental benefits. This paper examines the emerging scenario facing mangrove forests, discusses protection from tsunamis, and proposes a way to improve the current situation. We hope that practical tips will help communities and agencies to work collectively to achieve a common goal.

Herbal Medicines: challenges in the modern world. Part 5. status and current directions of complementary and alternative herbal medicine worldwide.

PubMed

Enioutina, Elena Yu; Salis, Emma R; Job, Kathleen M; Gubarev, Michael I; Krepkova, Lubov V; Sherwin, Catherine M T

2017-03-01

Herbal medicine (HM) use is growing worldwide. Single herb preparations, ethnic and modern HM formulations are widely used as adjunct therapies or to improve consumer wellbeing. Areas covered: This final part in the publication series summarizes common tendencies in HM use as adjunct or alternative medicine, education of healthcare professionals and consumers, current and proposed guidelines regulating of production. We discuss potential HM-HM and HM-drug interactions that could lead to severe adverse events in situations where HMs are taken without proper medical professional oversight. Expert commentary: A number of serious problems have arisen with the steady global increase in HM use. HM interaction with conventional drugs (CD) may result in inadequate dosing of CD or adverse reactions; HM-HM interaction within herbal supplements could lead to toxicity of formulations. Inadequate education of clinicians and patients regarding medicinal properties of HMs must be addressed regionally and globally to ensure consumer safety.

Understanding nocturnal enuresis and its treatments.

PubMed

Potter, D C; Wogoman, H A; Nietch, P

1999-09-01

Nocturnal enuresis is a condition that touches the lives of many children around the world. Affected children and their parents may experience feelings of guilt, frustration, and anxiety because of their lack of control over the situation. Nurses can play an important role in providing education to families in regards to the causes and treatment of enuresis. It is important for nurses to understand the problem of bedwetting thoroughly so they can assist the family in making an informed decision about the various options currently available. Nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting) is a common disorder that frequently results in frustration and stress on not only the children that experience it, but their parents as well. Scharf, Pravda, Jennings, Kauffman, and Ringel (1987) note that an estimated five to seven million children in America experience enuresis. Enuresis has family and psychosocial aspects, along with financial concerns. Therefore, it is important for nurses to be aware of the causes of enuresis, how it affects the family, and the current treatments that are available.

Zika, chikungunya and dengue: the causes and threats of new and re-emerging arboviral diseases.

PubMed

Paixão, Enny S; Teixeira, Maria Gloria; Rodrigues, Laura C

2018-01-01

The recent emergence and re-emergence of viral infections transmitted by vectors-Zika, chikungunya, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile, yellow fever and others-is a cause for international concern. Using as examples Zika, chikungunya and dengue, we summarise current knowledge on characteristics of the viruses and their transmission, clinical features, laboratory diagnosis, burden, history, possible causes of the spread and the expectation for future epidemics. Arboviruses are transmitted by mosquitoes, are of difficult diagnosis, can have surprising clinical complications and cause severe burden. The current situation is complex, because there is no vaccine for Zika and chikungunya and no specific treatment for the three arboviruses. Vector control is the only comprehensive solution available now and this remains a challenge because up to now this has not been very effective. Until we develop new technologies of control mosquito populations, the globalised and urbanised world we live in will remain vulnerable to the threat of successive arbovirus epidemics.

Genetic and experiential influences on behavior: Twins reunited at seventy-eight years

PubMed Central

Segal, Nancy L.; Cortez, Franchesca A.; Zettel-Watson, Laura; Cherry, Barbara J.; Mechanic, Mindy; Munson, Jaimee E.; Velázquez, Jaime M.A.; Reed, Brandon

2015-01-01

Twins living in different countries offer opportunities to explore associations between observed differences and experiential effects. This report compared the life histories, cognitive abilities, personality traits, psychomotor skills, medical characteristics, job satisfaction, social support and social relations of dizygotic (DZ) female twins reunited at 78, the world's longest separated set. The twins’ advanced age also enabled a study of how co-twin differences in aging may be associated with current behavioral and social differences. Consistent with previous studies, these dizygotic reared apart (DZA) twins showed discordance across some, but not all, traits. Their different rearing situations and life histories may explain current differences in their responses to meeting their twin. This case highlights the importance of both genetic and rearing factors on behavior, but does not allow firm conclusions regarding the extent to which these sources explain individual developmental differences. However, such data contribute to the growing number of cross-culturally separated twins, generating novel hypotheses that may be assessed using larger samples. PMID:26366029

Application of RANS Simulations for Contact Time Predictions in Turbulent Reactor Tanks for Water Purification Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nickles, Cassandra; Goodman, Matthew; Saez, Jose; Issakhanian, Emin

2016-11-01

California's current drought has renewed public interest in recycled water from Water Reclamation Plants (WRPs). It is critical that the recycled water meets public health standards. This project consists of simulating the transport of an instantaneous conservative tracer through the WRP chlorine contact tanks. Local recycled water regulations stipulate a minimum 90-minute modal contact time during disinfection at peak dry weather design flow. In-situ testing is extremely difficult given flowrate dependence on real world sewage line supply and recycled water demand. Given as-built drawings and operation parameters, the chlorine contact tanks are modeled to simulate extreme situations, which may not meet regulatory standards. The turbulent flow solutions are used as the basis to model the transport of a turbulently diffusing conservative tracer added instantaneously to the inlet of the reactors. This tracer simulates the transport through advection and dispersion of chlorine in the WRPs. Previous work validated the models against experimental data. The current work shows the predictive value of the simulations.

Zika, chikungunya and dengue: the causes and threats of new and re-emerging arboviral diseases

PubMed Central

Paixão, Enny S.; Teixeira, Maria Gloria; Rodrigues, Laura C

2018-01-01

The recent emergence and re-emergence of viral infections transmitted by vectors—Zika, chikungunya, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile, yellow fever and others—is a cause for international concern. Using as examples Zika, chikungunya and dengue, we summarise current knowledge on characteristics of the viruses and their transmission, clinical features, laboratory diagnosis, burden, history, possible causes of the spread and the expectation for future epidemics. Arboviruses are transmitted by mosquitoes, are of difficult diagnosis, can have surprising clinical complications and cause severe burden. The current situation is complex, because there is no vaccine for Zika and chikungunya and no specific treatment for the three arboviruses. Vector control is the only comprehensive solution available now and this remains a challenge because up to now this has not been very effective. Until we develop new technologies of control mosquito populations, the globalised and urbanised world we live in will remain vulnerable to the threat of successive arbovirus epidemics. PMID:29435366

A streamlined software environment for situated skills

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, Sophia T.; Slack, Marc G.; Miller, David P.

1994-01-01

This paper documents a powerful set of software tools used for developing situated skills. These situated skills form the reactive level of a three-tiered intelligent agent architecture. The architecture is designed to allow these skills to be manipulated by a task level engine which is monitoring the current situation and selecting skills necessary for the current task. The idea is to coordinate the dynamic activations and deactivations of these situated skills in order to configure the reactive layer for the task at hand. The heart of the skills environment is a data flow mechanism which pipelines the currently active skills for execution. A front end graphical interface serves as a debugging facility during skill development and testing. We are able to integrate skills developed in different languages into the skills environment. The power of the skills environment lies in the amount of time it saves for the programmer to develop code for the reactive layer of a robot.

Availability, consistency and evidence-base of policies and guidelines on the use of mask and respirator to protect hospital health care workers: a global analysis

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Currently there is an ongoing debate and limited evidence on the use of masks and respirators for the prevention of respiratory infections in health care workers (HCWs). This study aimed to examine available policies and guidelines around the use of masks and respirators in HCWs and to describe areas of consistency between guidelines, as well as gaps in the recommendations, with reference to the WHO and the CDC guidelines. Methods Policies and guidelines related to mask and respirator use for the prevention of influenza, SARS and TB were examined. Guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), three high-income countries and six low/middle-income countries were selected. Results Uniform recommendations are made by the WHO and the CDC in regards to protecting HCWs against seasonal influenza (a mask for low risk situations and a respirator for high risk situations) and TB (use of a respirator). However, for pandemic influenza and SARS, the WHO recommends mask use in low risk and respirators in high risk situations, whereas, the CDC recommends respirators in both low and high risk situations. Amongst the nine countries reviewed, there are variations in the recommendations for all three diseases. While, some countries align with the WHO recommendations, others align with those made by the CDC. The choice of respirator and the level of filtering ability vary amongst the guidelines and the different diseases. Lastly, none of the policies discuss reuse, extended use or the use of cloth masks. Conclusion Currently, there are significant variations in the policies and recommendations around mask and respirator use for protection against influenza, SARS and TB. These differences may reflect the scarcity of level-one evidence available to inform policy development. The lack of any guidelines on the use of cloth masks, despite widespread use in many low and middle-income countries, remains a policy gap. Health organizations and countries should jointly evaluate the available evidence, prioritize research to inform evidence gaps, and develop consistent policy on masks and respirator use in the health care setting. PMID:23725338

Availability, consistency and evidence-base of policies and guidelines on the use of mask and respirator to protect hospital health care workers: a global analysis.

PubMed

Chughtai, Abrar Ahmad; Seale, Holly; MacIntyre, Chandini Raina

2013-05-31

Currently there is an ongoing debate and limited evidence on the use of masks and respirators for the prevention of respiratory infections in health care workers (HCWs). This study aimed to examine available policies and guidelines around the use of masks and respirators in HCWs and to describe areas of consistency between guidelines, as well as gaps in the recommendations, with reference to the WHO and the CDC guidelines. Policies and guidelines related to mask and respirator use for the prevention of influenza, SARS and TB were examined. Guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), three high-income countries and six low/middle-income countries were selected. Uniform recommendations are made by the WHO and the CDC in regards to protecting HCWs against seasonal influenza (a mask for low risk situations and a respirator for high risk situations) and TB (use of a respirator). However, for pandemic influenza and SARS, the WHO recommends mask use in low risk and respirators in high risk situations, whereas, the CDC recommends respirators in both low and high risk situations. Amongst the nine countries reviewed, there are variations in the recommendations for all three diseases. While, some countries align with the WHO recommendations, others align with those made by the CDC. The choice of respirator and the level of filtering ability vary amongst the guidelines and the different diseases. Lastly, none of the policies discuss reuse, extended use or the use of cloth masks. Currently, there are significant variations in the policies and recommendations around mask and respirator use for protection against influenza, SARS and TB. These differences may reflect the scarcity of level-one evidence available to inform policy development. The lack of any guidelines on the use of cloth masks, despite widespread use in many low and middle-income countries, remains a policy gap. Health organizations and countries should jointly evaluate the available evidence, prioritize research to inform evidence gaps, and develop consistent policy on masks and respirator use in the health care setting.

Whatever Gave You that Idea? False Memories Following Equivalence Training: A Behavioral Account of the Misinformation Effect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Challies, Danna M.; Hunt, Maree; Garry, Maryanne; Harper, David N.

2011-01-01

The misinformation effect is a term used in the cognitive psychological literature to describe both experimental and real-world instances in which misleading information is incorporated into an account of an historical event. In many real-world situations, it is not possible to identify a distinct source of misinformation, and it appears that the…

75 FR 38813 - Granting of Request for Early Termination of the Waiting Period Under the Premerger Notification...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-06

... status Party name 26-APR-10 20100597 G PBF Energy Partners LP. G Valero Energy Corporation. G The Premcor.... G Armstrong World Industries, Inc. G Asbestos Personal Injury. G Armstrong World Industries, Inc. 20100605 G Brookfield Special Situations II L.P. G Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. G Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd...

The Internet in the Everyday Life-World: A Comparison between High-School Students in China and Norway

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Fengshu

2010-01-01

Based on in-depth interviews, this study offers a comparison of how high-school students in China and Norway are actively constructing the Internet as an element of their everyday lives. Through the Schutzian notions of everyday life-world, social-biographical situation and relevance, the study has revealed striking differences between the Chinese…

Narrative as a Window to the Inner Mental World of Young Children: Attachment Representations, Affect and Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Priddis, Lynn E.; Howieson, Noel D.

2010-01-01

This article describes a procedure which has proven useful in facilitating narratives about experience of everyday family situations in order to provide insights into the inner world of children around five-seven years. The Windows to Attachment in Young Children (WAYC) consists of the procedure itself and scoring frameworks through which the…

The Comparison of Sino-American Genius Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yu-feng, Zhou

2012-01-01

In the 21st century, many countries in the world face the situation of talent contest. As a result, genius, especially supernormal talent is sure to become the commanding height of the contest for all countries in the world and determine the rise and fall as well as the ranking in the aspect of the development of China. Therefore, talent education…

The Impact of the Economic Downturn on Libraries: With Special Reference to University Libraries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nicholas, David; Rowlands, Ian; Jubb, Michael; Jamali, Hamid R.

2010-01-01

Evidence is presented of the extent to which libraries from around the world are experiencing financial hardship as a result of the world-wide economic downturn. Comparative analyses are provides on the grounds of country, sector and size of institution. The article concentrates on the situation of UK and US university libraries and is based on…

Apocalyptic Fiction: Dealing with the End of the World in the Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Compora, Daniel P.

The end of the world, or civilization, is probably one of humankind's most horrifying fears. The apocalypse has been explored by many writers, and the decision to include this type of literature in a curriculum depends on how the situation is presented and resolved. The work should offer some solution and hope. Two recent works of apocalyptic…

Career Basics. An Integrated Approach to Career Exploration and Workplace Skill Development. Middle School/High School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuckkan, Kevin G.

This book, which is intended for teachers of middle school and high school students, outlines a subject-integrated method for helping students explore concepts and situations encountered in the career world and recognize the connections that exist between classroom knowledge and the world of work. The book contains a brief introduction, list of…

Testing the Flat World Thesis: Using a Public Dataset to Engage Students in the Global Inequality Debate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arabandi, Bhavani; Sweet, Stephen; Swords, Alicia

2014-01-01

We present a learning module to engage students in the global inequality debate using Google Public Data World Development Indicators. Goals of this article are to articulate the importance and urgency of teaching global issues to American students; situate the central debate in the globalization literature, paying particular attention to global…

Situational Behavior Modeling

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-30

VIStology, Inc. June 30, 2009 Page 16 Figure 3. Situations and Perception Figure 3 shows four planes, each referring to a different level...the computer, as shown in the figure. The next layer is denoted as “ Perception .” The dots on this plane represent objects from the World that are...which then feeds the computer, which in turn generates the object representations. The label “ Perception ” represents the fact that this kind of

Mission Composeable C2 in DIL Information Environments Using Widgets and App Stores

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

C2). Warfighters increasingly have access to integrated mobile devices to enhance their situational awareness. The Department of Defense and the...for agile command and control (C2). Warfighters increasingly have access to integrated mobile devices to enhance their situational awareness. The...This need has been partially addressed in the civilian world with the increasing use of mobile technology through which a company’s leadership can

A systematic video analysis of 69 injury cases in World Cup alpine skiing.

PubMed

Bere, T; Flørenes, T W; Krosshaug, T; Haugen, P; Svandal, I; Nordsletten, L; Bahr, R

2014-08-01

We have limited insight into how injuries occur in professional ski racing. The aim of this study was to describe the injury situations in World Cup alpine skiing. Injuries reported through the International Ski Federation Injury Surveillance System for three consecutive World Cup seasons (2006-2009) were obtained on video. In total, 69 injuries and 124 runs of matched controls were analysed by five experts to evaluate the skiing situation, skier behavior, as well as piste-related factors. A chi-square test (95% CI, P ≤ 0.05) was used to examine whether there was a difference between course sections regarding where the injury situation occurred. The skier was most frequently turning (n = 55) or landing from a jump (n = 13) at the time of injury. Most of the injuries to the head and upper body (96%) resulted from crashes, while the majority of knee injuries (83%) occurred while the skier was still skiing. Gate contact contributed to 30% of the injuries, while 9% occurred at contact with safety nets/material. Almost half of the injuries (46%) occurred in the final fourth of the course. A particular concern was the high contribution of inappropriate gate contact and the high-energy impacts to the body when crashing. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Current Situation and Prospects of Emergency Medical Equipment in Our Country].

PubMed

Qi, Lijing; Cheng, Feng

2016-03-01

This article analyzes the new demand of emergency medical equipment in the current development trend based on the analysis of the development and current situation of emergency medicine in our country. At the same time it introduces the current industrial characteristics of our country. Finally it analyzes the development trend of this kind of equipment in the new emergency medicine field.

Behavior change

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This brief entry presents the mediating-moderating variable model as a conceptual framework for understanding behavior change in regard to physical activity/exercise and adiposity. The ideas are applied to real world situations....

[On the situation of African swine fever and the biological characterization of recent virus isolates].

PubMed

Tauscher, Kerstin; Pietschmann, Jana; Wernike, Kerstin; Teifke, Jens P; Beer, Martin; Blome, Sandra

2015-01-01

African swine fever (ASF), a disease notifiable to the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE), is characterized by severe, unspecific clinical signs and high mortality rates. Hosts for ASF virus (ASFV) are only members of the family Suidae and soft ticks of the genus Ornithodoros. Currently, no vaccine is available and therefore, the control is primarily based on strict sanitary measures. The most important part is the early detection of the disease within affected animal holdings and the fast and reliable confirmation by laboratory diagnosis. Infections of domestic pigs and European wild boar with recent Armenian, Sardinian, Lithuanian or Kenyan ASFV isolates lead to severe, acute disease courses with the predominant symptom of high fever (> 41 degrees C) accompanied by further unspecific clinical signs such as lethargy, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, respiratory symptoms, and an increased bleeding tendency. In experimental infection studies the mortality rate reached 100%. The most prominent pathomorphological findings included ebony-colored gastrohepatic lymph nodes, lung oedema, petechiae in the renal cortex, and oedema of the gallbladder wall. In the light of the current epidemiological situation with endemic ASFV infections on Sardinia, outbreaks in Russia and several Eastern EU Member States there is a risk for an introduction in further, previously unaffected EU countries including Germany. Hence, appropriate sample materials (serum, blood, spleen) of domestic pigs with unspecific clinical symptoms or pathomorphological findings should be examined for both ASFV and classical swine fever virus.

History, Current Situation, and Future Development of Endoscopic Neurosurgery in China.

PubMed

Li, Chuzhong; Zhu, Haibo; Zong, Xuyi; Wang, Xinsheng; Gui, Songbai; Zhao, Peng; Zhang, Yazhuo

2018-02-01

During the past few decades, Chinese endoscopic neurosurgery has rapidly developed in synchrony with the rest of the world. The aim of this article is to review the development of Chinese endoscopic neurosurgery, including its birth, growth, current situation, and prospects. The history of Chinese endoscopic neurosurgery development can be divided into 3 stages: cognition and initial stage (1964-1995), exploration and maturity stage (1995-2006), and rapid development and promotion stage (2006-present). In the first stage, we mainly began to become aware of endoscopic neurosurgery from the translation and review of literature. In the mid to late 1990s, Chinese neurosurgery pioneers began using neuroendoscopic techniques. In the following decade, many leading neurosurgeons made persistent efforts to push the development of Chinese endoscopic neurosurgery forward, focusing on advocating for and promoting and popularizing neuroendoscopic technology. In the rapid development and promotion stage, many representative national and regional neurosurgical centers became skilled and efficient in the application of neuroendoscopic technology and became new advocates of the technology. The number of cases, level of technology, and treatment effectiveness are gradually nearing international standards. However, future development requires promotion of balanced development to decrease regional disparities, further strengthen international exchanges, follow the latest developments, and constantly innovate for continuous improvement. Following the dramatic efforts of several pioneers, development of Chinese endoscopic neurosurgery has been considerable, and it has become an important component of neurosurgery worldwide. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fieldwork Skills in Virtual Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Craven, Benjamin; Lloyd, Geoffrey; Gordon, Clare; Houghton, Jacqueline; Morgan, Daniel

2017-04-01

Virtual reality has an increasingly significant role to play in teaching and research, but for geological applications realistic landscapes are required that contain sufficient detail to prove viable for investigation by both inquisitive students and critical researchers. To create such virtual landscapes, we combine DTM data with digitally modelled outcrops in the game engine Unity. Our current landscapes are fictional worlds, invented to focus on generation techniques and the strategic and spatial immersion within a digital environment. These have proved very successful in undergraduate teaching; however, we are now moving onto recreating real landscapes for more advanced teaching and research. The first of these is focussed on Rhoscolyn, situated within the Ynys Mon Geopark on Anglesey, UK. It is a popular area for both teaching and research in structural geology so has a wide usage demographic. The base of the model is created from DTM data, both 1 m LiDAR and 5 m GPS point data, and manipulated with QGIS before import to Unity. Substance is added to the world via models of architectural elements (e.g. walls and buildings) and appropriate flora and fauna, including sounds. Texturing of these models is performed using 25 cm aerial imagery and field photographs. Whilst such elements enhance immersion, it is the use of digital outcrop models that fully completes the experience. From fieldwork, we have a library of photogrammetric outcrops that can be modelled into 3D features using free (VisualSFM and MeshLab) and non-free (AgiSoft Photoscan) tools. These models are then refined and converted in Maya to create models for better insertion into the Unity environment. The finished product is a virtual landscape; a Rhoscolyn `world' that is sufficiently detailed to provide a base not only for geological teaching and training but also for geological research. Additionally, the `Rhoscolyn World' represents a significant tool for those students who are unable to attend conventional field classes and really enhances their learning experience. This project is part of the larger Virtual Landscapes project, which is a collaboration between The University of Leeds and Leeds College of Art, UK. All our current virtual landscapes are freely available online at www.see.leeds.ac.uk/virtual-landscapes/.

The importance of shared mental models and shared situation awareness for transforming robots from tools to teammates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ososky, Scott; Schuster, David; Jentsch, Florian; Fiore, Stephen; Shumaker, Randall; Lebiere, Christian; Kurup, Unmesh; Oh, Jean; Stentz, Anthony

2012-06-01

Current ground robots are largely employed via tele-operation and provide their operators with useful tools to extend reach, improve sensing, and avoid dangers. To move from robots that are useful as tools to truly synergistic human-robot teaming, however, will require not only greater technical capabilities among robots, but also a better understanding of the ways in which the principles of teamwork can be applied from exclusively human teams to mixed teams of humans and robots. In this respect, a core characteristic that enables successful human teams to coordinate shared tasks is their ability to create, maintain, and act on a shared understanding of the world and the roles of the team and its members in it. The team performance literature clearly points towards two important cornerstones for shared understanding of team members: mental models and situation awareness. These constructs have been investigated as products of teams as well; amongst teams, they are shared mental models and shared situation awareness. Consequently, we are studying how these two constructs can be measured and instantiated in human-robot teams. In this paper, we report results from three related efforts that are investigating process and performance outcomes for human robot teams. Our investigations include: (a) how human mental models of tasks and teams change whether a teammate is human, a service animal, or an advanced automated system; (b) how computer modeling can lead to mental models being instantiated and used in robots; (c) how we can simulate the interactions between human and future robotic teammates on the basis of changes in shared mental models and situation assessment.

The epidemiological situation in Iraq.

PubMed

Korzeniewski, Krzysztof

2006-01-01

This article presents information on the health condition of the Iraqi population as well as the situation of the country's health care and education system over the course of recent decades. Author has discussed a number ofriskfactors which influence the incidence of diseases among the country " population paying particular attention to environmental factors. In the 1980's the epidemiological situation of Iraq and its citizens was comparable with the situation in average developed countries. Over the last two decades the country, rich in natural resources, having one of the worlds richest crude oil deposits, has been turned into an economic ruin. Warfare, famine and catastrophic sanitary conditions are now widespread and they all intensify the growth of incidence of infectious and non-infectious diseases.

Concepts of peace education: A view of western experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burns, Robin; Aspeslagh, Robert

1983-09-01

Approaches to the theory and practice of peace education are as varied as the situations across the world in which it is undertaken. Against a framework established by the Peace Education Commission of IPRA, current trends in the conceptualization and experience of peace education (from a Western view-point) are considered and reveal (1) acceptance of `development' with `justice' and `human rights' as integral to the concept of peace; (2) emphasis on the psychological as well as socio-political, economic and structural conditions that maintain present injustices and oppressions; (3) renewed efforts to try out innovative educational approaches to a variety of learning situations, from the pre-school to adult formal and non-formal settings; (4) new concern about the materials, content and techniques of learning; and (5) fresh examination of the inter-relationships between theory and practice, research and action. Analyzing a number of conceptual approaches to peace and disarmament education, the authors support a political, participatory strategy and set it in a historical context. Hence, its connection with development education and the significance and implications of a global perspective are demonstrated. The global perspective is seen as a growing-point for peace education today, providing the potential for political consciousness and action.

Breast Cancer in Pakistan a Critical Appraisal of the Situation Regarding Female Health and Where the Nation Stands?

PubMed

Basra, Muhammad Asim R; Saher, Manzoor; Athar, Muhammad Makshoof; Raza, Muhammad Hashim

2016-01-01

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy of women worldwide. In the past it was considered as disease of older middle aged women, but the incidence of BC in young females is growing in recent years concordant with studies in Pakistan. In this paper, we reviewed the mutant functions of tumor suppressor genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, p53, ATM and PTEN), epigenetic transformation and involvement of estrogen receptors in development of breast cancer. We further reviewed the current situation of BC in Pakistan that depicts a higher incidence in young females. According to SKMCH and RC data, age group 4549 years is more prone to BC with high rate of incidence 45.42%. A few studies explored the high expression of ER, PR and HER2/neu in Pakistani females. Moreover, presence of BRCA1 (c.1961dupA) mutation in Pakistani shows concordance with data in different areas of world. But we are unable to find an authentic study that can explore epigenetic based transformation of breast tumors in Pakistan. This area of research needs more attention to explore the complete picture of BC in Pakistan.

Pitching Emotions: The Interpersonal Effects of Emotions in Professional Baseball.

PubMed

Cheshin, Arik; Heerdink, Marc W; Kossakowski, Jolanda J; Van Kleef, Gerben A

2016-01-01

Sports games are inherently emotional situations, but surprisingly little is known about the social consequences of these emotions. We examined the interpersonal effects of emotional expressions in professional baseball. Specifically, we investigated whether pitchers' facial displays influence how pitches are assessed and responded to. Using footage from the Major League Baseball World Series finals, we isolated incidents where the pitcher's face was visible before a pitch. A pre-study indicated that participants consistently perceived anger, happiness, and worry in pitchers' facial displays. An independent sample then predicted pitch characteristics and batter responses based on the same perceived emotional displays. Participants expected pitchers perceived as happy to throw more accurate balls, pitchers perceived as angry to throw faster and more difficult balls, and pitchers perceived as worried to throw slower and less accurate balls. Batters were expected to approach (swing) when faced with a pitcher perceived as happy and to avoid (no swing) when faced with a pitcher perceived as worried. Whereas previous research focused on using emotional expressions as information regarding past and current situations, our work suggests that people also use perceived emotional expressions to predict future behavior. Our results attest to the impact perceived emotional expressions can have on professional sports.

Reaching the Surveillance-Response Stage of Schistosomiasis Control in The People's Republic of China: A Modelling Approach.

PubMed

Feng, Y; Liu, L; Xia, S; Xu, J-F; Bergquist, R; Yang, G-J

2016-01-01

With the goal set to eliminate schistosomiasis nationwide by 2020, The People's Republic of China has initiated the surveillance-response stage to identify remaining sources of infection and potential pockets from where the disease could reemerge. Shifting the focus from classical monitoring and evaluation to rapid detection and immediate response, this approach requires modelling to bridge the surveillance and response components. We review here studies relevant to schistosomiasis modelling in a Chinese surveillance-response system with the expectation to achieve a practically useful understanding of the current situation and potential future study directions. We also present useful experience that could tentatively be applied in other endemic regions in the world. Modelling is discussed at length as it plays an essential role, both with regard to the intermediate snail host and in the definitive, mammal hosts. Research gaps with respect to snail infection, animal hosts and sectoral research cooperation are identified and examined against the prevailing background of ecosystem and socioeconomic changes with a focus on coexisting challenges and opportunities in a situation with increasing financial constraints. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Astronomy and astronomical education in the FSU (Former Soviet Union)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bochkarev, Nikolai G.

The current situation in astronomy and astronomical education over the territory of the Former Soviet Union is traced. New facilities for radioastronomy are being put into work - the most important of them being the 2 coupled 32-m dishes, VLBI network "Quasar"; a number of observatories are acquiring an international status (in the frame of CIS); INTERNET is becoming available for an increasing number of astronomical institutions. Azerbaijan astronomers have overcome their isolation from the rest of the world and cooperate actively with the astronomical community. All-Russia and international olympics in astronomy for high school students are held and attract participants from increasing number of regions of Russia and other states. The outcome of the 9th JENAM in Moscow and of the events attached to the Meeting is presented.

Security analysis of cyber-physical system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Bo; Zhang, Lichen

2017-05-01

In recent years, Cyber-Physical System (CPS) has become an important research direction of academic circles and scientific and technological circles at home and abroad, is considered to be following the third wave of world information technology after the computer, the Internet. PS is a multi-dimensional, heterogeneous, deep integration of open systems, Involving the computer, communication, control and other disciplines of knowledge. As the various disciplines in the research theory and methods are significantly different, so the application of CPS has brought great challenges. This paper introduces the definition and characteristics of CPS, analyzes the current situation of CPS, analyzes the security threats faced by CPS, and gives the security solution for security threats. It also discusses CPS-specific security technology, to promote the healthy development of CPS in information security.

Identifying the challenging factors in the transition from colleges of engineering to employment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baytiyeh, Hoda; Naja, Mohamad

2012-03-01

The transition from university to a career in engineering is a challenging process. This study examined the perceptions of engineering graduates regarding the difficulties they encountered in their transition from the university to the workplace. Lebanese practising engineers (n=217), living around the world, were surveyed to identify their current employment situations and their attitudes toward their academic preparation. Factor analysis revealed three main challenges facing engineering graduates: communication; responsibility; self-confidence. Seventeen interviews were conducted to gather information on ways to facilitate this transition. Comments reflected the need for better collaboration between engineering schools and engineering firms. The results will provide insight for engineering colleges, faculty members and administrators into the challenges faced by graduates and their aspirations for a smoother transition into employment.

Waste glass as eco-friendly replacement material in construction products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Gayatri; Sharma, Anu

2018-05-01

Atpresent time the biggest issue is increasing urban population, industrialization and development all over the world. The quantity of the raw materials of construction products like cement, concrete etc is gradually depleting. This is important because if we don't find the alternative material to accomplish need of this industry, with every year it will put pressure on natural resources which are limited in quantity. This major issue can be solved by partial replacing with waste glass of different construction products. This paper gives an overview of the current growth and recycling situation of waste glass and point out the direction for the proper use of waste glass as replacement of construction material. These will not only help in the reuse of waste glass but also create eco-friendly environment.

Playing with a double-edged sword: Analogies in biochemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orgill, Marykay

Analogy pervades our everyday reasoning. No situation we encounter is exactly like a situation we have encountered previously, and our ability to learn and survive in the world is based on our ability to find similarities between past and present situations and use the knowledge we have gained from past situations to manage current situations. Analogies can be powerful teaching tools because they can make new material intelligible to students by comparing it to material that is already familiar. It is clear, though, that not all analogies are good and that not all good analogies are useful to all students. In this study, I have used textbook analysis, classroom observations, student interviews and instructor interviews to determine the role that analogies play in biochemistry learning. Analogies are an important teaching technique in biochemistry classes, being used more often in both biochemistry classes and textbooks than they are in high school chemistry classes and textbooks. Most biochemistry students like, pay particular attention to, and remember the analogies their instructors provide; and they use these analogies to understand, visualize, and recall information from class. Even though students like and use analogies, they do not understand what analogies are or the mechanism by which they improve learning. For the students, analogies are simply any teaching technique that eases understanding, visualization, or recall. Instructors, on the other hand, have a good understanding of what analogies are and of how they should be presented in class; but they do not use analogies as effectively as they should. They do not plan, explain or identify the limitations of the analogies they use in class. However, regardless of how effectively instructors present analogies in class, this study indicates that, in general, analogies are useful in promoting understanding, visualization, recall, and motivation in biochemistry students at all levels. They would be even more useful if students understood what analogies are and how they can be used to improve understanding of biochemical concepts.

Iodine status in the Nordic countries – past and present

PubMed Central

Nyström, Helena Filipsson; Brantsæter, Anne Lise; Erlund, Iris; Gunnarsdottir, Ingibjörg; Hulthén, Lena; Laurberg, Peter; Mattisson, Irene; Rasmussen, Lone Banke; Virtanen, Suvi; Meltzer, Helle Margrete

2016-01-01

Background Adequate iodine nutrition is dependent on ground water content, seafood, and, as many countries use iodized cow fodder, dairy products. In most countries, salt fortification programs are needed to assure adequate iodine intake. Objectives The objectives are threefold: 1) to describe the past and present iodine situation in the Nordic countries, 2) to identify important gaps of knowledge, and 3) to highlight differences among the Nordic countries’ iodine biomonitoring and fortification policies. Design Historical data are compared with the current situation. The Nordic countries’ strategies to achieve recommended intake and urine iodine levels and their respective success rates are evaluated. Results In the past, the iodine situation ranged from excellent in Iceland to widespread goiter and cretinism in large areas of Sweden. The situation was less severe in Norway and Finland. According to a 1960 World Health Organization (WHO) report, there were then no observations of iodine deficiency in Denmark. In Sweden and Finland, the fortification of table salt was introduced 50–75 years ago, and in Norway and Finland, the fortification of cow fodder starting in the 1950s helped improve the population's iodine status due to the high intake of milk. In Denmark, iodine has been added to household salt and salt in bread for the past 15 years. The Nordic countries differ with regard to regulations and degree of governmental involvement. There are indications that pregnant and lactating women, the two most vulnerable groups, are mildly deficient in iodine in several of the Nordic countries. Conclusion The Nordic countries employ different strategies to attain adequate iodine nutrition. The situation is not optimal and is in need of re-evaluation. Iodine researchers, Nordic national food administrations, and Nordic governmental institutions would benefit from collaboration to attain a broader approach and guarantee good iodine health for all. PMID:27283870

JPRS Report, China.

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-04-28

greatly diminished, but regional clashes situation in development occurring in Asia, and read- and elements for insecurity have increased. Regional...because of the three way division of the world. The seven western failure to eradicate internal causes . nations heads-of-state conference, the controversy...security. At the same time, the degree of cause a major upheaval of the world economy. The militarization of international society remains very high; overall

A Knowledge Acquisition Approach to Developing Mindtools for Organizing and Sharing Differentiating Knowledge in a Ubiquitous Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hwang, Gwo-Jen; Chu, Hui-Chun; Lin, Yu-Shih; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2011-01-01

Previous studies have reported the importance and benefits of situating students in a real-world learning environment with access to digital-world resources. At the same time, researchers have indicated the need to develop learning guidance mechanisms or tools for assisting students to learn in such a complex learning scenario. In this study, a…

This Earthly World: Edward Said, the Praxis of Secular Humanisms and Situated Cosmopolitanisms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roman, Leslie G.

2006-01-01

This essay unearths the educational and socio-political implications of Edward W. Said's work for our understanding of what a secular humanism might mean in the highly charged atmosphere of the post-Cold War and September 11 discourses that have pervaded the USA and, to varying degrees, other parts of the world. It asks what it means to move…

Supporting Distributed Team Working in 3D Virtual Worlds: A Case Study in Second Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minocha, Shailey; Morse, David R.

2010-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on a study into how a three-dimensional (3D) virtual world (Second Life) can facilitate socialisation and team working among students working on a team project at a distance. This models the situation in many commercial sectors where work is increasingly being conducted across time zones and between…

The impact of red light running camera flashes on younger and older drivers' attention and oculomotor control.

PubMed

Wright, Timothy J; Vitale, Thomas; Boot, Walter R; Charness, Neil

2015-12-01

Recent empirical evidence has suggested that the flashes associated with red light running cameras (RLRCs) distract younger drivers, pulling attention away from the roadway and delaying processing of safety-relevant events. Considering the perceptual and attentional declines that occur with age, older drivers may be especially susceptible to the distracting effects of RLRC flashes, particularly in situations in which the flash is more salient (a bright flash at night compared with the day). The current study examined how age and situational factors potentially influence attention capture by RLRC flashes using covert (cuing effects) and overt (eye movement) indices of capture. We manipulated the salience of the flash by varying its luminance and contrast with respect to the background of the driving scene (either day or night scenes). Results of 2 experiments suggest that simulated RLRC flashes capture observers' attention, but, surprisingly, no age differences in capture were observed. However, an analysis examining early and late eye movements revealed that older adults may have been strategically delaying their eye movements in order to avoid capture. Additionally, older adults took longer to disengage attention following capture, suggesting at least 1 age-related disadvantage in capture situations. Findings have theoretical implications for understanding age differences in attention capture, especially with respect to capture in real-world scenes, and inform future work that should examine how the distracting effects of RLRC flashes influence driver behavior. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The Impact of Red Light Running Camera Flashes on Younger and Older Drivers' Attention and Oculomotor Control

PubMed Central

Wright, Timothy J.; Vitale, Thomas; Boot, Walter R; Charness, Neil

2015-01-01

Recent empirical evidence suggests that the flashes associated with red light running cameras (RLRCs) distract younger drivers, pulling attention away from the roadway and delaying processing of safety-relevant events. Considering the perceptual and attentional declines that occur with age, older drivers may be especially susceptible to the distracting effects of RLRC flashes, particularly in situations in which the flash is more salient (a bright flash at night compared to the day). The current study examined how age and situational factors potentially influence attention capture by RLRC flashes using covert (cuing effects) and overt (eye movement) indices of capture. We manipulated the salience of the flash by varying its luminance and contrast with respect to the background of the driving scene (either day or night scenes). Results of two experiments suggest that simulated RLRC flashes capture observers' attention, but, surprisingly, no age differences in capture were observed. However, an analysis examining early and late eye movements revealed that older adults may have been strategically delaying their eye movements in order to avoid capture. Additionally, older adults took longer to disengage attention following capture, suggesting at least one age-related disadvantage in capture situations. Findings have theoretical implications for understanding age differences in attention capture, especially with respect to capture in real-world scenes, and inform future work that should examine how the distracting effects of RLRC flashes influence driver behavior. PMID:26479014

East Europe Report, Political, Sociological and Military Affairs

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-06-04

self - esteem , and an engineering student may have even more than ordinary. Someone appeared at the JM editorial office with the statement, for example...produce jointly, for example in a household plot or small garden and are to a certain extent self -supplying, but also because a well organized family...world economic situation. The task presented by our domestic economic and socio-political situation is also great: to help society in its self -assessment

Problems of Modern Higher Education in the Sphere of Russian Philology and the Ways of Solving Them (on the Example of the Situation in Kazan Federal University)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bushkanets, Leah E.; Mahinina, Natalia G.; Nasrutdinova, Lilia H.; Sidorova, Marina M.

2016-01-01

The article is devoted to the actual problems of modern higher education in the sphere of Russian Philology which depends on the world crisis situation, that continues to persist, despite the efforts to reform it. This article aims to mark some important problematical items necessary to realize the reformation of higher philological education and…

Nutrient resources for crop production in the tropics

PubMed Central

Vlek, P. L. G.; Kühne, R. F.; Denich, M.

1997-01-01

For the foreseeable future a majority of the population, and almost all the mal- and under-nourished, will continue to be found in the tropics and subtropics. Food security in these parts of the world will have to be met largely from local resources. The productivity of the land is to a large extent determined by the fertlity of the soil, which in turn is mostly determined by its organic matter content and stored nutrients. Soil organic matter is readily lost when organic matter inputs are reduced upon cultivation and more so upon intensification. The concomitant loss of topsoil and possible exposure of subsoil acidity may cause further soil degradation.
Plant nutrients to replenish what is yearly taken from the soil to meet the demands for food and fibre amount to 230 million tonnes (Mt). Current fertilizer consumption stands at about 130 Mt of N, P2O5,and K2O, supplemented by an estimated 90 Mt of N from biological nitrogen fixation worldwide. Although 80 per cent of the population lives in the developing world, only half the world's fertilizer is consumed there. Yet, as much as 50% of the increase in agricultural productivity in the developing world is due to the adoption of fertilizers. World population growth will cause a doubling in these nutrients requirements for the developing world by 2020, which, in the likely case of inadequate production, will need to be met from soil reserves. Because expansion of the cultivable land area is reaching its limits, the reliance on nutrient inputs and their efficient use is bound to grow.
With current urban expansion, nutrients in harvested products are increasingly lost from the rural environment as a whole. Estimates of soil nutrient depletion rates for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are alarmingly high. The situation may be more favourable in Latin America and Asia where fertilizer inputs are tenfold those of SSA. Closing the nutrient cycle at a community level in rural areas may be tedious; on an inter-regional level it is associated with considerable costs of collection, detoxification and transportation to the farms. Yet, at the rate at which some of the non-renewable resources such as phosphorus and potassium are being exploited, recycling of these nutrients will soon be required.

Water risk assessment in China based on the improved Water Risk Filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, G.; Yaqin, Q.; Qiong, L.; Cunwen, N.; Na, W.; Jiajia, L.; Jongde, G.; Na, Z.; Xiangyi, D.

2014-09-01

Finding an effective way to deal with the water crisis and the relationship between water and development is a major issue for all levels of government and different economic sectors across the world. Scientific understanding of water risk is the basis for achieving a scientific relationship between water and development, and water risk assessment is currently an important research focus. To effectively deal with the global water crisis, the World Wide Fund for Nature and German Investment and Development Company Limited proposed the concept of water risk and released an online Water Risk Filter in March 2012, which has been applied to at least 85 countries. To comprehensively and accurately reflect the situation of water risk in China, this study adjusts the water risk assessment indicators in the Water Risk Filter, taking the actual situation in China and the difficulty of obtaining the information about the indicators into account, and proposes an index system for water risk evaluation for China which consists of physical risk, regulatory risk and reputational risk. The improved Water Risk Filter is further used to assess the sources and causes of the water risks in 10 first-class and seven second-class water resource areas (WRAs). The results indicate that the water risk for the whole country is generally medium and low, while those for different regions in the country vary greatly, and those for southern regions are generally lower than those for northern regions. Government regulatory and policy implementation as well as media supervision in northern regions should be strengthened to reduce the water risk. The research results may provide decision support and references for both governments and industrial enterprises in identifying water risks, formulating prevention and control policies, and improving water resources management in China.

Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Psychotic-Like Symptoms and Stress Reactivity in Daily Life in Nonclinical Young Adults

PubMed Central

Ballespí, Sergi; Mitjavila, Mercè; Myin-Germeys, Inez; Kwapil, Thomas R.; Barrantes-Vidal, Neus

2016-01-01

Background There is increasing interest in elucidating the association of different childhood adversities with psychosis-spectrum symptoms as well as the mechanistic processes involved. This study used experience sampling methodology to examine (i) associations of a range of childhood adversities with psychosis symptom domains in daily life; (ii) whether associations of abuse and neglect with symptoms are consistent across self-report and interview methods of trauma assessment; and (iii) the role of different adversities in moderating affective, psychotic-like, and paranoid reactivity to situational and social stressors. Method A total of 206 nonclinical young adults were administered self-report and interview measures to assess childhood abuse, neglect, bullying, losses, and general traumatic events. Participants received personal digital assistants that signaled them randomly eight times daily for one week to complete questionnaires about current experiences, including symptoms, affect, and stress. Results Self-reported and interview-based abuse and neglect were associated with psychotic-like and paranoid symptoms, whereas only self-reported neglect was associated with negative-like symptoms. Bullying was associated with psychotic-like symptoms. Losses and general traumatic events were not directly associated with any of the symptom domains. All the childhood adversities were associated with stress reactivity in daily life. Interpersonal adversities (abuse, neglect, bullying, and losses) moderated psychotic-like and/or paranoid reactivity to situational and social stressors, whereas general traumatic events moderated psychotic-like reactivity to situational stress. Also, different interpersonal adversities exacerbated psychotic-like and/or paranoid symptoms in response to distinct social stressors. Discussion The present study provides a unique examination of how childhood adversities impact the expression of spectrum symptoms in the real world and lends support to the notion that stress reactivity is a mechanism implicated in the experience of reality distortion in individuals exposed to childhood trauma. Investigating the interplay between childhood experience and current context is relevant for uncovering potential pathways to the extended psychosis phenotype. PMID:27082442

Exploring perinatal shift-to-shift handover communication and process: an observational study.

PubMed

Poot, Else P; de Bruijne, Martine C; Wouters, Maurice G A J; de Groot, Christianne J M; Wagner, Cordula

2014-04-01

Loss of situation awareness (SA) by health professionals during handover is a major threat to patient safety in perinatal care. SA refers to knowing what is going on around. Adequate handover communication and process may support situation assessment, a precursor of SA. This study describes current practices and opinions of perinatal handover to identify potential improvements. Structured direct observations of shift-to-shift patient handovers (n = 70) in an academic perinatal setting were used to measure handover communication (presence and order of levels of SA: current situation, background, assessment and recommendation) and process (duration, interruptions/distractions, eye contact, active inquiry and reading information back). Afterwards, receivers' opinions of handover communication (n = 51) were measured by means of a questionnaire. All levels of SA were present in 7% of handovers, the current situation in 86%, the background in 99%, an assessment in 24% and a recommendation in 46%. In 77% of handovers the background was mentioned first, followed by the current situation. Forty-four per cent of handovers took 2 minutes or more per patient. In 52% distractions occurred, in 43% there was no active inquiry, in 32% no eye contact and in 97% information was not read back. The overall mean of the receivers' opinions of handover communication was 4.1 (standard deviation ± 0.7; scale 1-5, where 5 is excellent). Perinatal handovers are currently at risk for inadequate situation assessment because of variability and limitations in handover communication and process. However, receivers' opinions of handover communication were very positive, indicating a lack of awareness of patient safety threats during handover. Therefore, the staff's awareness of current limitations should be raised, for example through video reflection or simulation training. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effects of individual popularity on information spreading in complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Lei; Li, Ruiqi; Shu, Panpan; Wang, Wei; Gao, Hui; Cai, Shimin

2018-01-01

In real world, human activities often exhibit preferential selection mechanism based on the popularity of individuals. However, this mechanism is seldom taken into account by previous studies about spreading dynamics on networks. Thus in this work, an information spreading model is proposed by considering the preferential selection based on individuals' current popularity, which is defined as the number of individuals' cumulative contacts with informed neighbors. A mean-field theory is developed to analyze the spreading model. Through systematically studying the information spreading dynamics on uncorrelated configuration networks as well as real-world networks, we find that the popularity preference has great impacts on the information spreading. On the one hand, the information spreading is facilitated, i.e., a larger final prevalence of information and a smaller outbreak threshold, if nodes with low popularity are preferentially selected. In this situation, the effective contacts between informed nodes and susceptible nodes are increased, and nodes almost have uniform probabilities of obtaining the information. On the other hand, if nodes with high popularity are preferentially selected, the final prevalence of information is reduced, the outbreak threshold is increased, and even the information cannot outbreak. In addition, the heterogeneity of the degree distribution and the structure of real-world networks do not qualitatively affect the results. Our research can provide some theoretical supports for the promotion of spreading such as information, health related behaviors, and new products, etc.

Task directed sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Firby, R. James

1990-01-01

High-level robot control research must confront the limitations imposed by real sensors if robots are to be controlled effectively in the real world. In particular, sensor limitations make it impossible to maintain a complete, detailed world model of the situation surrounding the robot. To address the problems involved in planning with the resulting incomplete and uncertain world models, traditional robot control architectures must be altered significantly. Task-directed sensing and control is suggested as a way of coping with world model limitations by focusing sensing and analysis resources on only those parts of the world relevant to the robot's active goals. The RAP adaptive execution system is used as an example of a control architecture designed to deploy sensing resources in this way to accomplish both action and knowledge goals.

Aircraft Wake Vortices : An Assessment of the Current Situation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1991-01-01

The state of knowledge about aircraft wake vortices in the summer of 1990 is summarized. With the advent of a new FAA wake vortex program, the current situation was assessed by answering five questions: (1) What do we know about wake vortices, (2) wh...

Ethical issues in research.

PubMed

Artal, Raul; Rubenfeld, Sheldon

2017-08-01

Biomedical research is currently guided by ethical standards that have evolved over many centuries. Historical and political events, social and legal considerations, and continuous medical and technological advances have led to the prevailing research ethics and practice. Currently, patients and research subjects have complete autonomy while under medical care or when volunteering as research subjects. Enrolling volunteers in human subjects research includes a detailed and meaningful informed consent process that follows the cardinal principles of ethics: autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. These principles were gradually adopted after World War II, primarily in response to the unethical behavior of German physicians and scientists during the Third Reich. This review emphasizes the importance of historical milestones and the essential role that ethics has in contemporary medical research. Research protocols should achieve maximum benefits for the society, have clinical and scientific value, be subject to independent review, respect human dignity, and follow the principles of informed consent, and most importantly, subjects should have complete autonomy. However, current principles and regulations cannot cover every conceivable situation, particularly in view of the new advances in science and technology. New and evolving medical technology, genetic research, therapeutic interventions, and innovations challenge society to maintain the highest moral and ethical principles. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Current status, crisis and trends in Chinese dental technicians.

PubMed

Chaoyi, Ma; Liwei, Zheng; Li, Yue; Min, Zhou; Haiyang, Yu

2012-04-01

Chinese dental technicians play a significant role in the globalised market of dental prosthesis fabrication, but this subject has not been investigated in detail. The demand for dental prostheses increases as individuals pay increasing attention to their oral health. Therefore, it is important to investigate the status of Chinese dental technicians. To evaluate the current status of Chinese dental technicians. Dental technicians' resumés, which reveal information regarding dental technician manpower, degrees, working age and salary, etc., were analysed and compared with those abroad. We also estimated the future demands of dental technician manpower, and discussed some potential solutions. There are fewer dental technicians in China than in other developed countries; they are also of a lower standard. Male technicians outnumber females. The education level of technicians is insufficient, and the education programme is still in its exploratory stage. The development of dental technician teams in China represents both an opportunity and a challenge. It is important to move forward from the current situation to yield long-term development. This article provides information on the Chinese dental technology industry, identifies the problems and offers solutions for its development. © 2012 FDI World Dental Federation.

Cross-situational statistical word learning in young children.

PubMed

Suanda, Sumarga H; Mugwanya, Nassali; Namy, Laura L

2014-10-01

Recent empirical work has highlighted the potential role of cross-situational statistical word learning in children's early vocabulary development. In the current study, we tested 5- to 7-year-old children's cross-situational learning by presenting children with a series of ambiguous naming events containing multiple words and multiple referents. Children rapidly learned word-to-object mappings by attending to the co-occurrence regularities across these ambiguous naming events. The current study begins to address the mechanisms underlying children's learning by demonstrating that the diversity of learning contexts affects performance. The implications of the current findings for the role of cross-situational word learning at different points in development are discussed along with the methodological implications of employing school-aged children to test hypotheses regarding the mechanisms supporting early word learning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Strategic model of national rabies control in Korea.

PubMed

Cheong, Yeotaek; Kim, Bongjun; Lee, Ki Joong; Park, Donghwa; Kim, Sooyeon; Kim, Hyeoncheol; Park, Eunyeon; Lee, Hyeongchan; Bae, Chaewun; Oh, Changin; Park, Seung-Yong; Song, Chang-Seon; Lee, Sang-Won; Choi, In-Soo; Lee, Joong-Bok

2014-01-01

Rabies is an important zoonosis in the public and veterinary healthy arenas. This article provides information on the situation of current rabies outbreak, analyzes the current national rabies control system, reviews the weaknesses of the national rabies control strategy, and identifies an appropriate solution to manage the current situation. Current rabies outbreak was shown to be present from rural areas to urban regions. Moreover, the situation worldwide demonstrates that each nation struggles to prevent or control rabies. Proper application and execution of the rabies control program require the overcoming of existing weaknesses. Bait vaccines and other complex programs are suggested to prevent rabies transmission or infection. Acceleration of the rabies control strategy also requires supplementation of current policy and of public information. In addition, these prevention strategies should be executed over a mid- to long-term period to control rabies.

Depression and embodiment: phenomenological reflections on motility, affectivity, and transcendence.

PubMed

Aho, Kevin A

2013-11-01

This paper integrates personal narratives with the methods of phenomenology in order to draw some general conclusions about 'what it means' and 'what it feels like' to be depressed. The analysis has three parts. First, it explores the ways in which depression disrupts everyday experiences of spatial orientation and motility. This disruption makes it difficult for the person to move and perform basic functional tasks, resulting in a collapse or contraction of the life-world. Second, it illustrates how depression creates a situational atmosphere of emotional indifference that reduces the person's ability to qualitatively distinguish what matters in his or her life because nothing stands out as significant or important anymore. In this regard, depression is distinct from other feelings because it is not directed towards particular objects or situations but to the world as a whole. Finally, the paper examines how depression diminishes the possibility for 'self-creation' or 'self-making'. Restricted by the illness, depression becomes something of a destiny, preventing the person from being open and free to access a range of alternative self-interpretations, identities, and possible ways of being-in-the-world.

The Social Protection of Teachers in Europe. Papers presented at a Workshop of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession (Budapest, Hungary, May 9-11, 1992).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession, Morges (Switzerland).

This report focuses on social protections of teachers in Europe, synthesizes responses to a questionnaire by 18 European members of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP), and provides an overview of a variety of situations in European countries. The report includes a list of organizations/countries which…

What Do People Think about Disabled Youth and Employment in Developed and Developing Countries? Results from an E-Discussion Hosted by the World Bank

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roggero, Paola; Tarricone, Rosanna; Nicoli, Marco; Mangiaterra, Viviana

2006-01-01

Even though there are good examples of people with disabilities mainstreamed in the labour market (Bruyere et al., 2004), the situation is still far from being positive, particularly when labour markets are in constant flux due to rapid globalization and technological change, unless new approaches are adopted. In light of this, the World Bank…

Access of Rural Girls to Primary Education in the Third World: State of Art, Obstacles, and Policy Recommendations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Safilios-Rothschild, Constantina

In the Third World, women's literacy and access to primary education lags behind that of men, and the situation is more accentuated for rural than for urban women. In general, rural women have lower literacy than rural men and than urban women. Because a considerable percentage of girls enrolled in primary school are over 14 years old, marriage,…

[Psychogenic Disorders in German soldiers during World War I and II].

PubMed

Zimmermann, P; Hahne, H-H; Biesold, K-H; Lanczik, M

2005-02-01

In the First and Second World War German soldiers frequently suffered from psychogenic disorders. By comparison a change in the prevalences can be noted: in the First World War dissociative disorders dominated the clinical impression ("shell shock"), in the Second World War they could rarely be seen but were replaced by somatoform and psychosomatic diseases. The discussion about numerous reasons for this development has not been completed yet and is still not free from political attitudes. To achieve a more scientific point of view, the perspective of psychotraumatology might be helpful. According to psychotraumatic research, dissociative and somatoform disorders can emerge in a close relation to a Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The choice of symptoms depends on personality traits of the victim, but also on specific factors that characterise the situation in which the trauma appears. The mixture of pathogenetic and protective influences includes e. g. the possibility of flight- or fight reactions, feelings of trauma-associated guilt and group cohesion in the military unit. These factors can be useful to help explain the change of symptoms between both wars. In addition the analysis of situational conditions in former wars can give hints to actual planning and prophylaxis strategies in modern military psychiatry, that has to adjust to very different military operation fields.

Present situation of Anoplophora malasiaca Thomson occurring in Italy

Treesearch

Matteo Maspero; Eugenio Gervasini; Mario Colombo; Lidia Limonta

2003-01-01

The enormous increase in the international trade of goods and plants has also increased the probability that pests and pathogens can spread from their native habitats to new countries throughout the world.

Mathematics Detective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Jerry

1997-01-01

Presents 12 questions related to a given real-life situation about a man shaving and the number of hairs in his beard in order to help students see the connection between mathematics and the world around them. (ASK)

Nondebilitating Diseases and Industrial Hiring Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harkness, Charles A.

1971-01-01

Conclusions are tentative, but the author stresses that when the industrial world recognizes fully that medicinal and mechanical aids to overcoming a nondebilitating handicap are available, the employment situation for the disabled will change. (Author)

Vigilance: A Review of the Literature and Applications to Sentry Duty

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

See, Judi E.

2014-09-01

Vigilance, or sustained attention, involves the ability to maintain focus and remain alert for prolonged periods of time. Problems associated with the ability to sustain attention were first identified in real-world combat situations during World War II, and they continue to abound and evolve as new and different types of situations requiring vigilance arise. This paper provides a review of the vigilance literature that describes the primary psychophysical, task, environmental, pharmacological, and individual factors that impact vigilance performance. The paper also describes how seminal findings from vigilance research apply specifically to the task of sentry duty. The strengths and weaknessesmore » of a human sentry and options to integrate human and automated functions for vigilance tasks are discussed. Finally, techniques that may improve vigilance performance for sentry duty tasks are identified.« less

Visual-conformal display format for helicopter guidance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doehler, H.-U.; Schmerwitz, Sven; Lueken, Thomas

2014-06-01

Helicopter guidance in situations where natural vision is reduced is still a challenging task. Beside new available sensors, which are able to "see" through darkness, fog and dust, display technology remains one of the key issues of pilot assistance systems. As long as we have pilots within aircraft cockpits, we have to keep them informed about the outside situation. "Situational awareness" of humans is mainly powered by their visual channel. Therefore, display systems which are able to cross-fade seamless from natural vision to artificial computer vision and vice versa, are of greatest interest within this context. Helmet-mounted displays (HMD) have this property when they apply a head-tracker for measuring the pilot's head orientation relative to the aircraft reference frame. Together with the aircraft's position and orientation relative to the world's reference frame, the on-board graphics computer can generate images which are perfectly aligned with the outside world. We call image elements which match the outside world, "visual-conformal". Published display formats for helicopter guidance in degraded visual environment apply mostly 2D-symbologies which stay far behind from what is possible. We propose a perspective 3D-symbology for a head-tracked HMD which shows as much as possible visual-conformal elements. We implemented and tested our proposal within our fixed based cockpit simulator as well as in our flying helicopter simulator (FHS). Recently conducted simulation trials with experienced helicopter pilots give some first evaluation results of our proposal.

Framing: Supporting Change for a System as an External Activity

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-03-01

result of interacting with members of other social worlds. 20 DSTO-RR-0127 2.3.6 Activity Theory Activity Theory (Leontev 1978; Nardi 1996; Vygotsky ...demonstrates how computer systems can aid people in organisations conceiving situations that change an organisation’s behaviour. A theory of framing is...demonstrate how the theory of framing can be used to aid people framing situations that change an organisation’s behaviour. Two case studies are used to

Situations of car-to-pedestrian contact.

PubMed

Matsui, Yasuhiro; Hitosugi, Masahito; Takahashi, Kunio; Doi, Tsutomu

2013-01-01

To reduce the severity of injuries and the number of pedestrian deaths in traffic accidents, active safety devices providing pedestrian detection are considered effective countermeasures. The features of car-to-pedestrian collisions need to be known in detail to develop such safety devices. Because information on real-world accidents is limited, this study investigated near-miss situations captured by drive recorders installed in passenger cars. We showed similarities of the contact situation between near-miss incidents and real-world fatal pedestrian accidents in Japan. We analyzed the near-miss incident data via video capturing pedestrians crossing the road in front of forward-moving cars. Using a video frame captured by a drive recorder, the time to collision (TTC) was calculated from the car velocity and the distance between the car and pedestrian at the moment that the pedestrian initially appeared. The average TTC in the cases where pedestrians were not using a pedestrian crossing was shorter than that in the cases where pedestrians were using a pedestrian crossing. The average TTC in the cases where pedestrians emerged from behind obstructions was shorter than that in the cases where drivers had unobstructed views of the pedestrians. We propose that the specifications of the safety device for pedestrian detection and automatic braking should reflect the severe approach situation for a pedestrian and car including the TTC observed for near-miss incidents.

Negation in context: Evidence from the visual world paradigm.

PubMed

Orenes, Isabel; Moxey, Linda; Scheepers, Christoph; Santamaría, Carlos

2016-01-01

Literature assumes that negation is more difficult to understand than affirmation, but this might depend on the pragmatic context. The goal of this paper is to show that pragmatic knowledge modulates the unfolding processing of negation due to the previous activation of the negated situation. To test this, we used the visual world paradigm. In this task, we presented affirmative (e.g., her dad was rich) and negative sentences (e.g., her dad was not poor) while viewing two images of the affirmed and denied entities. The critical sentence in each item was preceded by one of three types of contexts: an inconsistent context (e.g., She supposed that her dad had little savings) that activates the negated situation (a poor man), a consistent context (e.g., She supposed that her dad had enough savings) that activates the actual situation (a rich man), or a neutral context (e.g., her dad lived on the other side of town) that activates neither of the two models previously suggested. The results corroborated our hypothesis. Pragmatics is implicated in the unfolding processing of negation. We found an increase in fixations on the target compared to the baseline for negative sentences at 800 ms in the neutral context, 600 ms in the inconsistent context, and 1450 ms in the consistent context. Thus, when the negated situation has been previously introduced via an inconsistent context, negation is facilitated.

Social media and medical professionalism: rethinking the debate and the way forward.

PubMed

Fenwick, Tara

2014-10-01

This Perspective addresses the growing literature about online medical professionalism. Whereas some studies point to the positive potential of social media to enhance and extend medical practice, the dominant emphasis is on the risks and abuses of social media. Overall evidence regarding online medical professionalism is (as with any new area of practice) limited; however, simply accumulating more evidence, without critically checking the assumptions that frame the debate, risks reinforcing negativity toward social media. In this Perspective, the author argues that the medical community should step back and reconsider its assumptions regarding both professionalism and the digital world of social media. Toward this aim, she outlines three areas for critical rethinking by educators and students, administrators, professional associations, and researchers. First she raises some cautions regarding the current literature on using social media in medical practice, which sometimes leaps too quickly from description to prescription. Second, she discusses professionalism. Current debates about the changing nature and contexts of professionalism generally might be helpful in reconsidering notions of online medical professionalism specifically. Third, the author argues that the virtual world itself and its built-in codes deserve more critical scrutiny. She briefly summarizes new research from digital studies both to situate the wider trends more critically and to appreciate the evolving implications for medical practice. Next, the author revisits the potential benefits of social media, including their possibilities to signal new forms of professionalism. Finally, the Perspective ends with specific suggestions for further research that may help move the debate forward.

Coincident polio and Ebola crises expose similar fault lines in the current global health regime.

PubMed

Calain, Philippe; Abu Sa'Da, Caroline

2015-01-01

In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared two "public health emergencies of international concern", in response to the worldwide polio situation and the Ebola epidemic in West Africa respectively. Both emergencies can be seen as testing moments, challenging the current model of epidemic governance, where two worldviews co-exist: global health security and humanitarian biomedicine. The resurgence of polio and the spread of Ebola in 2014 have not only exposed the weaknesses of national health systems, but also the shortcomings of the current global health regime in dealing with transnational epidemic threats. These shortcomings are of three sorts. Firstly, the global health regime is fragmented and dominated by the domestic security priorities of industrialised nations. Secondly, the WHO has been constrained by constitutional country allegiances, crippling reforms and the limited impact of the (2005) International Health Regulations (IHR) framework. Thirdly, the securitization of infectious diseases and the militarization of humanitarian aid undermine the establishment of credible public health surveillance networks and the capacity to control epidemic threats. The securitization of communicable diseases has so far led foreign aid policies to sideline health systems. It has also been the source of ongoing misperceptions over the aims of global health initiatives. With its strict allegiance to Member States, the WHO mandate is problematic, particularly when it comes to controlling epidemic diseases. In this context, humanitarian medical organizations are expected to palliate the absence of public health services in the most destitute areas, particularly in conflict zones. The militarization of humanitarian aid itself threatens this fragile and imperfect equilibrium. None of the reforms announced by the WHO in the wake of the 68(th) World Health Assembly address these fundamental issues.

How to meet the increasing demands of water, food and energy in the future?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Haiyun; Chen, Ji; Sivakumar, Bellie; Peart, Mervyn

2017-04-01

Regarded as a driving force in water, food and energy demands, the world's population has been increasing rapidly since the beginning of the 20th century. According to the medium-growth projection scenario of the United Nations, the world's population will reach 9.5 billion by 2050. In response to the continuously growing population during this century, water, food and energy demands have also been increasing rapidly, and social problems (e.g., water, food, and energy shortages) will be most likely to occur, especially if no proper management strategies are adopted. Then, how to meet the increasing demands of water, food and energy in the future? This study focuses on the sustainable developments of population, water, food, energy and dams, and the significances of this study can be concluded as follows: First, we reveal the close association between dams and social development through analysing the related data for the period 1960-2010, and argue that construction of additional large dams will have to be considered as one of the best available options to meet the increasing water, food and energy demands in the future. We conduct the projections of global water, food and energy consumptions and dam development for the period 2010-2050, and the results show that, compared to 2010, the total water, food and energy consumptions in 2050 will increase by 20%, 34% and 37%, respectively. Moreover, it is projected that additional 4,340 dams will be constructed by 2050 all over the world. Second, we analyse the current situation of global water scarcity based on the related data representing water resources availability (per capita available water resources), dam development (the number of dams), and the level of economic development (per capita gross domestic product). At the global scale, water scarcity exists in more than 70% of the countries around the world, including 43 countries suffering from economic water scarcity and 129 countries suffering from physical water scarcity. At the continental scale, most countries of Africa, the south and west Asia, and the central Europe are suffering from water scarcity. Third, with comprehensive consideration of population growth as the major driving force, water resources availability as the basic supporting factor, and topography as the important constraint, we address the question of future dam development and predict the locations of future large dams around the world. The results show that there will be 1,433 large dams built in the future, mainly in the Tibet Plateau and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in Asia, the East African Plateau and the western part of Africa, the Andes Mountains and the Brazilian Plateau region in South America, the Rocky Mountains in North America, the Alps in Europe, and the Murray-Darling Basin in Oceania. Taking into account of the current situation of global water scarcity, these large dams are most likely to be constructed in countries that have abundant total available water resources or per capita available water resources, no matter whether they are experiencing "economic water scarcity" or have sufficient financial support.

Educational Research in Mainland China: Current Situation and Developmental Trends

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sun, Miantao

2011-01-01

The influence of Confucian culture in Chinese Mainland China is reflected in the current situation and contextual trends of educational research content of educational thought of Confucianism, educational issues grounded on theoretical views of Confucianism, and the influence of the inclusiveness of Confucianism. In terms of research method, the…

[A historical reflect on the disciplinary development of human parasitology].

PubMed

Ji, Min-Jun; Wu, Guan-Ling

2009-10-01

The authors, in this paper, has briefly looked back the developmental history of human parasitology, which, as an independent discipline, was established in late 19th century and early 20th century. In the process, it underwent an early height of development, then met with setback and relative decline. Since 70s-80s of last century, the introduction and application of new theory of modern biology, especially advanced biotechniques to parasitology has led to a striking development in many fields of the discipline, leading to deeper understanding of parasite-host interplay as well as providing new ideals and tools for disease control. The authors also stressed that nowadays the discipline is still relatively isolated from the mainstream of modern biologic research and is still neglected by scientific community and medical education in the world, though it still is one of the major problems in public health, particularly in developing world including China. To argue the currently neglected situation of parasitology, especially in medical education, the authors emphasized the continuing requirements for the discipline and reflected on the developmental strategy of parasitology to meet the coming challenges and opportunities for further development.

Challenges in 21st Century Physics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Thomas L.

2007-01-01

We are truly fortunate to live in one of the great epochs of human discovery, a time when science is providing new visions and understanding about ourselves and the world in which we live. At last, we are beginning to explore the Universe itself. One particularly exciting area of advancement is high-energy physics where several existing concepts will be put to the test. A brief survey will be given of accomplishments in 20th Century physics. These include relativity and quantum physics which have produced breakthroughs in cosmology, astrophysics, and high-energy particle physics. The current situation is then assessed, combining the last 100 years of progress with new 21st Century challenges about unification and where to go next. Finally, the future is upon us. The next frontier in experimental high-energy physics, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, is scheduled to begin coming online this year (2007). The potential for the LHC to address several of the significant problems in physics today will be discussed, as this great accelerator examines the predictions of the Standard Model of particle physics and even cosmology. New physics and new science will surely emerge and a better vision of the world will unfold.

Kidney transplantation in emerging countries: do we know all issues?

PubMed

Spasovski, G; Vanholder, R

2012-09-01

Although it seems that end stage renal disease (ESRD) therapies gradually become more accessible in the developing world, yet, the vast majority of people living in those areas do not have access to dialysis and especially transplantation because of the economic and technological inequality as compared with the developed world. Despite the great advantage in survival and considerable socioeconomic advantages of transplantation vs. dialysis, there is a widespread recognition that the growing gap between organ supply and demand will continue into the foreseeable future. Several reasons might be considered in this regard as: insufficient data on the topic in the public domain, inadequate governmental financial resources, lack of public awareness, education and motivation for organ donation as well as the low number of organized teams of transplant surgeons and nephrologists, and lack of organizational infrastructure, i.e. coordinators. The defined priorities for the future in terms of improving living donor transplantation, composition of the official waiting lists and registries of transplant recipients and living donors and the role of transplant professionals have been discussed. In conclusion, whatever the governmental support is, as professionals, we should just reinforce our efforts to help our patients as best as we can in the current situation.

[Current situation of accidents in the world].

PubMed

Aguilar-Zinser, José Valente

2010-01-01

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of traffic accidents is of concern. About 1.2 million people die every year on the roadways and about 20 to 50 million suffer from non-lethal trauma. Countries with low or medium incomes have higher rates of lethality by traffic accidents (21.5 and 19.5 per 100,000 habitants, respectively) than countries with higher incomes (10.3 per 100,000). It is estimated that the cost of traffic accidents in countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), escalate to rates that are between 2-5% of the gross domestic product (GDP). According to data from the health sector in Mexico, these rates are equivalent to 1.3 of GDR The WHO foresees that traffic accident traumas will rise to be the third cause of mortality in 2030. Because of the high complexity of the transport sector, it is necessary that the Transport and Communication Ministry works in a multidisciplinary and intersectorial fashion to ensure that the land transportation systems operate effectively in accordance with national economic development and the quality of life of the Mexican people.

Modelling ecological systems in a changing world

PubMed Central

Evans, Matthew R.

2012-01-01

The world is changing at an unprecedented rate. In such a situation, we need to understand the nature of the change and to make predictions about the way in which it might affect systems of interest; often we may also wish to understand what might be done to mitigate the predicted effects. In ecology, we usually make such predictions (or forecasts) by making use of mathematical models that describe the system and projecting them into the future, under changed conditions. Approaches emphasizing the desirability of simple models with analytical tractability and those that use assumed causal relationships derived statistically from data currently dominate ecological modelling. Although such models are excellent at describing the way in which a system has behaved, they are poor at predicting its future state, especially in novel conditions. In order to address questions about the impact of environmental change, and to understand what, if any, action might be taken to ameliorate it, ecologists need to develop the ability to project models into novel, future conditions. This will require the development of models based on understanding the processes that result in a system behaving the way it does, rather than relying on a description of the system, as a whole, remaining valid indefinitely. PMID:22144381

Challenges to improvement of oral health in the 21st century--the approach of the WHO Global Oral Health Programme.

PubMed

Petersen, Poul Erik

2004-12-01

Chronic diseases and injuries are overtaking communicable diseases as the leading health problems in all but a few parts of the world. This rapidly changing global disease pattern is closely linked to changing lifestyles, which include diets rich in sugars, widespread use of tobacco and increased consumption of alcohol. These lifestyle factors also significantly impact on oral health, and oral diseases qualify as major public health problems owing to their high prevalence and incidence in all regions of the world. Like all diseases, they affect primarily the disadvantaged and socially marginalised populations, causing severe pain and suffering, impairing function and impacting on quality of life. Traditional treatment of oral diseases is extremely costly even in industrialised countries and is unaffordable in most low and middle-income countries. The WHO global strategy for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and the 'common risk factor approach' offer new ways of managing the prevention and control of oral diseases. This document outlines the current oral health situation and development trends at global level as well as WHO strategies and approaches for better oral health in the 21 st century.

Need of righteous attitudes towards eradication of hepatitis C virus infection in Latin America.

PubMed

Panduro, Arturo; Roman, Sonia

2016-06-14

Over the last few years, we have expanded our knowledge on numerous facets of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Beginning with its discovery and viral life cycle, its impact on health, the development of liver disease and currently, effective antiviral treatments. The latter point has become of great interest throughout the developed world, where the possible eradication of HCV through specific strategies to reach all HCV-infected people has been announced. However, this scenario is very different in the countries of Latin America (LA), in which < 2% of infected patients requiring treatment have access to HCV medications. It has been estimated that at least ten million Latin Americans may be infected with HCV. Despite the numbers, viral hepatitis does not seem to be considered a health problem in this region of the world. This reality poses a challenge for politicians and governments of these countries, as well as to the pharmaceutical industry, the medical practitioners, and academics in LA. In this editorial, we state the need for alterations in the attitudes of the integral players involved in this situation. A recognition shift could help to create preventive strategies of viral hepatitis and to advocate for accessibility to new HCV treatments.

Bridging Water Resources Policy and Environmental Engineering in the Classroom at Cornell University

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, M. T.; Shaw, S. B.; Seifert, S.; Schwarz, T.

2006-12-01

Current university undergraduate students in environmental sciences and engineering are the next generation of environmental protection practitioners. Recognizing this, Cornell's Biological and Environmental Engineering department has developed a popular class, Watershed Engineering (BEE 473), specifically designed to bridge the too-common gap between water resources policy and state-of-art science and technology. Weekly homework assignments are to design real-life solutions to actual water resources problems, often with the objective of applying storm water policies to local situations. Where appropriate, usually in conjunction with recent amendments to the Federal Clean Water Act, this course introduces water resource protection tools and concepts developed in the Cornell Soil and Water Lab. Here we present several examples of how we build bridges between university classrooms and the complex world of water resources policy.

[Acute myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation: Code I].

PubMed

Borrayo-Sánchez, Gabriela; Rosas-Peralta, Martín; Pérez-Rodríguez, Gilberto; Ramírez-Árias, Erick; Almeida-Gutiérrez, Eduardo; Arriaga-Dávila, José de Jesús

2018-01-01

Code infarction is a timely strategy for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with elevation of the ST segment. This strategy has shown an increase in survival and quality of life of patients suffering from this event around the world. The processes of management and disposition aimed at the reduction of time for effective and timely reperfusion are undoubtedly a continuous challenge. In the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) the mortality due to AMI has been reduced more than 50%, which is a historical situation that deserves much attention. Nonetheless, the continuous improvement and a wider coverage of this strategy in our country are the key factors that will outline a change in the natural history of the leading cause of death in Mexico. This review focuses on current strategies for the management of patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Historical inability to control Aedes aegypti as a main contributor of fast dispersal of chikungunya outbreaks in Latin America.

PubMed

Fernández-Salas, Ildefonso; Danis-Lozano, Rogelio; Casas-Martínez, Mauricio; Ulloa, Armando; Bond, J Guillermo; Marina, Carlos F; Lopez-Ordóñez, Teresa; Elizondo-Quiroga, Armando; Torres-Monzón, Jorge A; Díaz-González, Esteban E

2015-12-01

The arrival of chikungunya fever (CHIKF) in Latin American countries has been expected to trigger epidemics and challenge health systems. Historically considered as dengue-endemic countries, abundant Aedes aegypti populations make this region highly vulnerable to chikungunya virus (CHIKV) circulation. This review describes the current dengue and CHIKF epidemiological situations, as well as the role of uncontrolled Ae. aegypti and Aedes albopictus vectors in spreading the emerging CHIKV. Comments are included relating to the vector competence of both species and failures of surveillance and vector control measures. Dengue endemicity is a reflection of these abundant and persistent Aedes populations that are now spreading CHIKV in the Americas. This article forms part of a symposium in Antiviral Research on "Chikungunya discovers the New World." Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chinese vaccine products go global: vaccine development and quality control.

PubMed

Xu, Miao; Liang, Zhenglun; Xu, Yinghua; Wang, Junzhi

2015-05-01

Through the continuous efforts of several generations, China has become one of the few countries in the world that is capable of independently addressing all the requirements by the Expanded Program on Immunization. Regulatory science is applied to continuously improve the vaccine regulatory system. Passing the prequalification by WHO has allowed Chinese vaccine products to go global. Chinese vaccine products not only secure disease prevention and control domestically but also serve the needs for international public health. This article describes the history of Chinese vaccine development, the current situation of Chinese vaccine industry and its contribution to the prevention and control of infectious diseases. We also share our experience of national quality control and vaccine regulation during the past decades. China's experience in vaccine development and quality control can benefit other countries and regions worldwide, including the developing countries.

The Soviet Union and the Third World. Part 1. Coups D’Etat: Lessons of the Past, Prospects for the Future and a Guide for Action

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-01

accept that only the officer corps had the power in the Third World to intervene effectively at almost any time in the political process. During the early...Soviet experts prefer to call a spade - an agricultural implement. In order words, a study of the political role of Third World armies is likely to be...satisfactory solution having yet been found to explain the political role of the military. But more likely it is connected with the situation ijsile the

Making sense of nonbusiness accounting.

PubMed

Anthony, R N

1980-01-01

The nonbusiness world of municipalities, colleges and universities, hospitals, and other nonprofit organizations follows its own rules when it comes to financial statements, and these are often confusing to anyone who is accustomed to business accounting. According to this author, it was the concept of fund accounting that divided the two worlds of business and nonbusiness accounting and led to a situation where it is almost impossible to judge the financial performance of nonbusiness entities. He shows how financial statements of the business and nonbusiness worlds can use the same standards, with a few modifications for the unique features of nonbusiness organizations.

Aviation obstacle auto-extraction using remote sensing information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimmer, N.; Lugsch, W.; Ravenscroft, D.; Schiefele, J.

2008-10-01

An Obstacle, in the aviation context, may be any natural, man-made, fixed or movable object, permanent or temporary. Currently, the most common way to detect relevant aviation obstacles from an aircraft or helicopter for navigation purposes and collision avoidance is the use of merged infrared and synthetic information of obstacle data. Several algorithms have been established to utilize synthetic and infrared images to generate obstacle information. There might be a situation however where the system is error-prone and may not be able to consistently determine the current environment. This situation can be avoided when the system knows the true position of the obstacle. The quality characteristics of the obstacle data strongly depends on the quality of the source data such as maps and official publications. In some countries such as newly industrializing and developing countries, quality and quantity of obstacle information is not available. The aviation world has two specifications - RTCA DO-276A and ICAO ANNEX 15 Ch. 10 - which describe the requirements for aviation obstacles. It is essential to meet these requirements to be compliant with the specifications and to support systems based on these specifications, e.g. 3D obstacle warning systems where accurate coordinates based on WGS-84 is a necessity. Existing aerial and satellite or soon to exist high quality remote sensing data makes it feasible to think about automated aviation obstacle data origination. This paper will describe the feasibility to auto-extract aviation obstacles from remote sensing data considering limitations of image and extraction technologies. Quality parameters and possible resolution of auto-extracted obstacle data will be discussed and presented.

The Holocaust in Hungary and Poland: Case Studies of Response to Genocide. Curriculum Project. Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminars Abroad Program, 1998 (Hungary/Poland).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartley, William L.

This curriculum project was designed primarily to be incorporated into a larger world history unit on the Holocaust and World War II. The project can be adapted for a lesson on 'situational ethics' for use in a philosophy class. The lesson requires students to examine a historical case and to write and discuss that particular case. The project's…

On Responsibility of Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burdyuzha, Vladimir

The situation of modern world is analised. It is impossible for our Civilization when at least half of the World Scientists are engaged in research intended to solve military problems. Civilization cannot be called reasonable so long as it spends a huge portion of national incomes on armaments. For resolution of our global problems International Scientific Center - Brain Trust of planet must be created, the status of which should be defined and sealed by the UN organization.

An Analysis of the Geographic Distribution of Recently Graduated Dentists from the University of Western Australia: The World's Most Isolated Dental School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gurbuxani, Amit; Kruger, Estie; Tennant, Marc

2013-01-01

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the geographic distribution of all new dentists who graduated over a period of six years. Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, is one of the world's most isolated cities, with a population of approximately 1.6 million people, situated over 2000km from its nearest next major capital…

Understanding Aspects of Individual and Collaborative Skill Acquisition in Face-to-Face and Distance Training Situations

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-11-01

toward the end of this report was only partially funded by this grant based on the funding of one student and the use of the equipment already purchased...affect team training and performance. Introduction In most real world situations, students learn in one context (school) and then are expected to apply...Anderson, 1989), the focus has been on individuals. However, most students are expected to learn in groups and, if not, they are often expected to

British and German Logistics Support during the World War 2 North African Campaign

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-02-05

situation was now approaching disaster. The tanker, Prosperina, which we had hoped would bring some relief in the petrol situation, had been bombed...and sunk outside Tobruk. There was only enough petrol left to keep supply traffic going between Tripoli and the front for another three days, and that...had not the petrol to do It. So we were compelled to allow the armored formations In the northern part of our line to assault the British salient

A Qualitative Study of a Maintenance Support Program for Women at Risk of Homelessness: Part 2: Situational Factors.

PubMed

McMaster, Rose; Lopez, Violeta; Kornhaber, Rachel; Cleary, Michelle

2017-06-01

People who are homeless tend to have a number of complex needs. A housing maintenance support program (MSP) for women from the perspectives of clients, case managers and health professionals within the program was explored in this qualitative descriptive study. Interviews were conducted, and data were analysed using thematic analysis. The overarching theme that emerged from the data was "A life-changing event: I have the power to change." This theme was supported by three sub-themes: personal, situational and societal dimensions. In this article, the sub-theme - situational factors, is presented and refers to poverty, resources and services, as well as social support systems. These aspects all impinged on the client's ability to face life changes with optimism towards a better future. Their experiences of disconnection with the community changed for the clients after being part of the MSP. The MSP enabled the clients to feel part of society again, and empowered them to participate in the world around them. Key aspects of inclusion in the world are relationships based on acceptance, connecting with others, being involved and creating a sense of home/community.

Estimating Number of People Using Calibrated Monocular Camera Based on Geometrical Analysis of Surface Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arai, Hiroyuki; Miyagawa, Isao; Koike, Hideki; Haseyama, Miki

We propose a novel technique for estimating the number of people in a video sequence; it has the advantages of being stable even in crowded situations and needing no ground-truth data. By analyzing the geometrical relationships between image pixels and their intersection volumes in the real world quantitatively, a foreground image directly indicates the number of people. Because foreground detection is possible even in crowded situations, the proposed method can be applied in such situations. Moreover, it can estimate the number of people in an a priori manner, so it needs no ground-truth data unlike existing feature-based estimation techniques. Experiments show the validity of the proposed method.

Phytosanitary Treatments Against Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae): Current Situation and Future Prospects.

PubMed

Dohino, Toshiyuki; Hallman, Guy J; Grout, Timothy G; Clarke, Anthony R; Follett, Peter A; Cugala, Domingos R; Minh Tu, Duong; Murdita, Wayan; Hernandez, Emilio; Pereira, Rui; Myers, Scott W

2017-02-01

Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is arguably the most important tephritid attacking fruits after Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae). In 2003 it was found in Africa and quickly spread to most of the sub-Saharan part of the continent, destroying fruits and creating regulatory barriers to their export. The insect is causing new nutritional and economic losses across Africa, as well as the losses it has caused for decades in infested areas of Asia, New Guinea, and Hawaii. This new panorama represents a challenge for fruit exportation from Africa. Phytosanitary treatments are required to export quarantined commodities out of infested areas to areas where the pest does not exist and could become established. This paper describes current phytosanitary treatments against B. dorsalis and their use throughout the world, the development of new treatments based on existing research, and recommendations for further research to provide phytosanitary solutions to the problem. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Pharmacological management of tetanus: an evidence-based review.

PubMed

Rodrigo, Chaturaka; Fernando, Deepika; Rajapakse, Senaka

2014-03-26

Tetanus is becoming rarer in both industrialized and developing nations due to an effective vaccination program. In 2010, the World Health Organization estimated there was a 93% reduction in newborns dying from tetanus worldwide, compared to the situation in the late 1980s. Due to its rarity, many diagnostic delays occur as physicians may not consider the diagnosis until the manifestations become overt. Without timely diagnosis and proper treatment, severe tetanus is fatal (mortality is also influenced by the comorbidities of the patient). The principles of treating tetanus are: reducing muscle spasms, rigidity and autonomic instability (with ventilatory support when necessary); neutralization of tetanus toxin with human antitetanus immunoglobulin or equine antitetanus sera; wound debridement; and administration of antibiotics to eradicate locally proliferating bacteria at the wound site. It is difficult to conduct trials on different treatment modalities in tetanus due to both logistical and ethical reasons. However, it is imperative that physicians are aware of the best evidence-based treatment strategies currently available to improve the outcome of patients. This review concentrates on analyzing the current evidence on the pharmacological management of tetanus.

Nutrition status of children in Latin America.

PubMed

Corvalán, C; Garmendia, M L; Jones-Smith, J; Lutter, C K; Miranda, J J; Pedraza, L S; Popkin, B M; Ramirez-Zea, M; Salvo, D; Stein, A D

2017-07-01

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is rapidly increasing among Latin American children, posing challenges for current healthcare systems and increasing the risk for a wide range of diseases. To understand the factors contributing to childhood obesity in Latin America, this paper reviews the current nutrition status and physical activity situation, the disparities between and within countries and the potential challenges for ensuring adequate nutrition and physical activity. Across the region, children face a dual burden of undernutrition and excess weight. While efforts to address undernutrition have made marked improvements, childhood obesity is on the rise as a result of diets that favour energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and the adoption of a sedentary lifestyle. Over the last decade, changes in socioeconomic conditions, urbanization, retail foods and public transportation have all contributed to childhood obesity in the region. Additional research and research capacity are needed to address this growing epidemic, particularly with respect to designing, implementing and evaluating the impact of evidence-based obesity prevention interventions. © 2017 The Authors. Obesity Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of World Obesity.

Why the self is empty. Toward a historically situated psychology.

PubMed

Cushman, P

1990-05-01

This article presents a contextualized treatment of the current configuration of self, some of the pathologies that plague it, and the technologies that attempt to heal it. Of particular interest is the historical shift from the Victorian, sexually restricted self to the post-World War II empty self. The empty self is soothed and made cohesive by becoming "filled up" with food, consumer products, and celebrities. Its historical antecedents, economic constituents, and political consequences are the focus of this article. The two professions most responsible for healing the empty self, advertising and psychotherapy, find themselves in a bind: They must treat a psychological symptom without being able to address its historical causes. Both circumvent the bind by employing the life-style solution, a strategy that attempts to heal by covertly filling the empty self with the accoutrements, values, and mannerisms of idealized figures. This strategy solves an old problem but creates new ones, including an opportunity for abuse by exploitive therapists, cult leaders, and politicians. Psychology's role in constructing the empty self, and thus reproducing the current hierarchy of power and privilege, is examined.

The impact of countermeasure propagation on the prevalence of computer viruses.

PubMed

Chen, Li-Chiou; Carley, Kathleen M

2004-04-01

Countermeasures such as software patches or warnings can be effective in helping organizations avert virus infection problems. However, current strategies for disseminating such countermeasures have limited their effectiveness. We propose a new approach, called the Countermeasure Competing (CMC) strategy, and use computer simulation to formally compare its relative effectiveness with three antivirus strategies currently under consideration. CMC is based on the idea that computer viruses and countermeasures spread through two separate but interlinked complex networks-the virus-spreading network and the countermeasure-propagation network, in which a countermeasure acts as a competing species against the computer virus. Our results show that CMC is more effective than other strategies based on the empirical virus data. The proposed CMC reduces the size of virus infection significantly when the countermeasure-propagation network has properties that favor countermeasures over viruses, or when the countermeasure-propagation rate is higher than the virus-spreading rate. In addition, our work reveals that CMC can be flexibly adapted to different uncertainties in the real world, enabling it to be tuned to a greater variety of situations than other strategies.

40 CFR 1054.660 - What are the provisions for exempting emergency rescue equipment?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... certified to current emission standards under the following conditions if the equipment will be used solely in emergency rescue situations: (1) You must determine annually that no engines certified to current... situations” means firefighting or other situations in which a person is retrieved from imminent danger. (c...

Cognitive Coordination on the Network Centric Battlefield

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-06

access in spoken language comprehension: Evaluating a linking hypothesis between fixations and linguistic processing. Journal of Psycholinguistic ...Research, Vol 29, 557-580 56 Trueswell, J. & Tanenhaus, M (eds.) (2004). World-situated language use: Psycholinguistic , linguistic, and computational

Ecological validity of the five digit test and the oral trails test.

PubMed

Paiva, Gabrielle Chequer de Castro; Fialho, Mariana Braga; Costa, Danielle de Souza; Paula, Jonas Jardim de

2016-01-01

Tests evaluating the attentional-executive system are widely used in clinical practice. However, proximity of an objective cognitive test with real-world situations (ecological validity) is not frequently investigated. The present study evaluate the association between measures of the Five Digit Test (FDT) and the Oral Trails Test (OTT) with self-reported cognitive failures in everyday life as measured by the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ). Brazilian adults from 18-to-65 years old voluntarily performed the FDT and OTT tests and reported the frequency of cognitive failures in their everyday life through the CFQ. After controlling for the age effect, the measures of controlled attentional processes were associated with cognitive failures, yet the cognitive flexibility of both FDT and OTT accounted for by the majority of variance in most aspects of the CFQ factors. The FDT and the OTT measures were predictive of real-world problems such as cognitive failures in everyday activities/situations.

An Energy Overview of the Kingdom of Thailand

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

anon.

The DOE Office of Fossil Energy is maintaining a web site that is meant to provide useful business- and energy-related information about countries and regions of the world for exporters, project developers, and researchers. The site consists of more than 130 country pages (organized into seven different world regions), with each country page having its own set of links to information sources about that country. There are also more than 30 Country Energy Overviews at the web site -- each of these is a comprehensive review of a specific country's entire energy situation, including sections on Energy Policy, Oil, Naturalmore » Gas, Coal, Hydroelectric/Renewables, Nuclear Power, Energy Transmission Infrastructure, Electricity, Electric Industry Overview, Environmental Activities, Privatization, Trade, and Economic Situation. The specific country highlighted in this Country Energy Overview is Thailand. The site is designed to be dynamic. Updates to the overviews will be made as need and resource s permit.« less

An Energy Overview of the Republic of Egypt

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

anon.

2003-10-17

The DOE Office of Fossil Energy is maintaining a web site that is meant to provide useful business- and energy-related information about countries and regions of the world for exporters, project developers, and researchers. The site consists of more than 130 country pages (organized into seven different world regions), with each country page having its own set of links to information sources about that country. There are also more than 30 Country Energy Overviews at the web site -- each of these is a comprehensive review of a specific country's entire energy situation, including sections on Energy Policy, Oil, Naturalmore » Gas, Coal, Hydroelectric/Renewables, Nuclear Power, Energy Transmission Infrastructure, Electricity, Electric Industry Overview, Environmental Activities, Privatization, Trade, and Economic Situation. The specific country highlighted in this Country Energy Overview is Egypt. The site is designed to be dynamic. Updates to the overviews will be made as need and resources permit.« less

An Energy Overview of Romania

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

anon.

2003-10-20

The DOE Office of Fossil Energy is maintaining a web site that is meant to provide useful business- and energy-related information about countries and regions of the world for exporters, project developers, and researchers. The site consists of more than 130 country pages (organized into seven different world regions), with each country page having its own set of links to information sources about that country. There are also more than 30 Country Energy Overviews at the web site -- each of these is a comprehensive review of a specific country's entire energy situation, including sections on Energy Policy, Oil, Naturalmore » Gas, Coal, Hydroelectric/Renewables, Nuclear Power, Energy Transmission Infrastructure, Electricity, Electric Industry Overview, Environmental Activities, Privatization, Trade, and Economic Situation. The specific country highlighted in this Country Energy Overview is Romania. The site is designed to be dynamic. Updates to the overviews will be made as need and resources permit.« less

An Energy Overview of Venezuela

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

anon.

2003-10-20

The DOE Office of Fossil Energy is maintaining a web site that is meant to provide useful business- and energy-related information about countries and regions of the world for exporters, project developers, and researchers. The site consists of more than 130 country pages (organized into seven different world regions), with each country page having its own set of links to information sources about that country. There are also more than 30 Country Energy Overviews at the web site -- each of these is a comprehensive review of a specific country's entire energy situation, including sections on Energy Policy, Oil, Naturalmore » Gas, Coal, Hydroelectric/Renewables, Nuclear Power, Energy Transmission Infrastructure, Electricity, Electric Industry Overview, Environmental Activities, Privatization, Trade, and Economic Situation. The specific country highlighted in this Country Energy Overview is Venezuela. The site is designed to be dynamic. Updates to the overviews will be made as need and resources permit.« less

An Energy Overview of the Czech Republic

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

anon.

2003-10-17

The DOE Office of Fossil Energy is maintaining a web site that is meant to provide useful business- and energy-related information about countries and regions of the world for exporters, project developers, and researchers. The site consists of more than 130 country pages (organized into seven different world regions), with each country page having its own set of links to information sources about that country. There are also more than 30 Country Energy Overviews at the web site -- each of these is a comprehensive review of a specific country's entire energy situation, including sections on Energy Policy, Oil, Naturalmore » Gas, Coal, Hydroelectric/Renewables, Nuclear Power, Energy Transmission Infrastructure, Electricity, Electric Industry Overview, Environmental Activities, Privatization, Trade, and Economic Situation. The specific country highlighted in this Country Energy Overview is the Czech Republic. The site is designed to be dynamic. Updates to the overviews will be made as need an d resources permit.« less

An Energy Overview of Argentina

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

anon.

2003-10-20

The DOE Office of Fossil Energy is maintaining a web site that is meant to provide useful business- and energy-related information about countries and regions of the world for exporters, project developers, and researchers. The site consists of more than 130 country pages (organized into seven different world regions), with each country page having its own set of links to information sources about that country. There are also more than 30 Country Energy Overviews at the web site -- each of these is a comprehensive review of a specific country's entire energy situation, including sections on Energy Policy, Oil, Naturalmore » Gas, Coal, Hydroelectric/Renewables, Nuclear Power, Energy Transmission Infrastructure, Electricity, Electric Industry Overview, Environmental Activities, Privatization, Trade, and Economic Situation. The specific country highlighted in this Country Energy Overview is Argentina. The site is designed to be dynamic. Updates to the overviews will be made as need and resources permit.« less

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

anon.

The DOE Office of Fossil Energy is maintaining a web site that is meant to provide useful business- and energy-related information about countries and regions of the world for exporters, project developers, and researchers. The site consists of more than 130 country pages (organized into seven different world regions), with each country page having its own set of links to information sources about that country. There are also more than 30 Country Energy Overviews at the web site--each of these is a comprehensive review of a specific country's entire energy situation, including sections on Energy Policy, Oil, Natural Gas, Coal,more » Hydroelectric/Renewables, Nuclear Power, Energy Transmission Infrastructure, Electricity, Electric Industry Overview, Environmental Activities, Privatization, Trade, and Economic Situation. The specific country highlighted in this Country Energy Overview is Colombia. The site is designed to be dynamic. Updates to the overviews will be made as need and resources permit.« less

An Energy Overview of the Republic of Poland

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

anon.

The DOE Office of Fossil Energy is maintaining a web site that is meant to provide useful business- and energy-related information about countries and regions of the world for exporters, project developers, and researchers. The site consists of more than 130 country pages (organized into seven different world regions), with each country page having its own set of links to information sources about that country. There are also more than 30 Country Energy Overviews at the web site -- each of these is a comprehensive review of a specific country's entire energy situation, including sections on Energy Policy, Oil, Naturalmore » Gas, Coal, Hydroelectric/Renewables, Nuclear Power, Energy Transmission Infrastructure, Electricity, Electric Industry Overview, Environmental Activities, Privatization, Trade, and Economic Situation. The specific country highlighted in this Country Energy Overview is Poland. The site is designed to be dynamic. Updates to the overviews will be made as need and resources permit.« less

Good enough for the Third world.

PubMed

Cooley, D

2000-08-01

Over the past two years, much has been made by some governments and the media about the possible callous and racist distribution of Quinacrine by two Americans to sterilize women in the Third World. The main criticism of the practice is that though Quinacrine is unapproved by the developed world's health regulatory agencies for this particular use in the developed world due to inadequate testing for long-term side effects, it is used on defenseless women in the developing world.I argue that the distribution of unapproved medical and other products is morally permissible if it satisfies two conditions: agent-centered utilitarianism and Kant's Categorical Imperative. Roughly, I contend that if the situation will probably improve and no one is treated as a mere means, then it is ethical either to give or to sell the products to those who choose to have them, regardless of where in the world they live.

Managing Situation Awareness on the Flight Deck

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chappell, Sheryl L.; Connell, Linda (Technical Monitor)

1996-01-01

Awareness is required of the plane, the path and the people, both now and in the future. The steps to situation awareness are to monitor and evaluate the current situation. Anticipate the future to stay ahead of the airplane and consider contingencies, having a plan for 'what if situations. Continually update and modify the plan and share it with all crew members.

Addiction research centres and the nurturing of creativity. Monitoring the European drug situation: the ongoing challenge for the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

PubMed

Griffiths, Paul; Mounteney, Jane; Lopez, Dominique; Zobel, Frank; Götz, Wolfgang

2012-02-01

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) is the designated hub for drug-related information in the European Union. The organization's role is to provide the European Union (EU) and its Member States with a factual overview of European drug problems and a common information framework to support the drugs debate. In order to achieve its mission, the EMCDDA coordinates and relies on a network of 30 national monitoring centres, the Reitox National Focal Points. The Centre publishes on a wide range of drug-related topics, across epidemiology, interventions, laws and policies. Every November, the EMCDDA publishes its Annual Report, providing a yearly update on the European drug situation, translated into 23 EU languages. In line with its founding regulation, the EMCDDA has a role acting as an interface between the worlds of science and policy. While not a research centre in the formal sense, the results the Centre generates serve as catalysts for new research questions and help to identify priorities. Current challenges facing the agency include continuing to increase scientific standards while maintaining a strong institutional role, as well as supporting European efforts to identify, share and codify best practice in the drugs field. © 2011 EMCDDA.

The Cross-Cultural Societal Response to SCI: Health and Related Systems.

PubMed

Pacheco, Diana; Gross-Hemmi, Mirja H

2017-02-01

The Learning Health System for Spinal Cord Injury (LHS-SCI) is an initiative aligned with the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Disability Action Plan. Based on the outcomes of this initiative, countries will be able to shape their health systems to better respond to the needs of persons with SCI. This paper describes and compares the macroeconomic situation and societal response to SCI across 27 countries from all 6 WHO regions that will participate in the LHS-SCI initiative. A concurrent mixed-methods study was conducted to identify key indicators that describe the situation of persons with SCI, the general societal response, the health and rehabilitation system, and the experience for a SCI person after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. A strong correlation was found between the efficiency of a healthcare system and the amount a country invests in health. Higher availability of resources does not necessarily imply that unrestricted access to the healthcare system is warranted. Variations in the health systems were found for various domains of the health and rehabilitation systems. The evaluation and comparative analysis of the societal response to SCI raise the awareness of the need of more standardized data to identify current needs and gaps in the quality and access to SCI-specific health system.

American nuclear theatre, 1946-1984

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

Hostetter, R.D.

This dissertation examines the American nuclear theatre - works that directly explore nuclear technology (weapons and energy). Background chapters describe the history of nuclear development, discourse, and strategy; the response of the arts; and the history of the American nuclear theatre, which began in 1946 and burgeoned after 1980. Five recent, representative productions - four stage dramas and one nonviolent symbolic action - are examined as theatrical strategies: Dead End Kids: a History of Nuclear Power (1980), by JoAnne Akalaitis/Mabour Mines; the Story of One Who Set Out to Study Fear (1981), by Peter Schumann/Bread and Puppet Theater; Factwino vs.more » Armageddonman (1982), by the San Francisco Mime Troupe ; Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down (1982), by Martha Beosing/At the Foot of the Mountain; and the Plowshares 8 events (1980-1984). All five productions were created collaboratively. All assaulted the boundaries between art and life. All were dialectical and tried to create a fundamental shift in consciousness about nuclear weapons. All suggested that the nuclear age is a new historical situation: war and business are interconnected with a new technology which makes possible the end of the world. Three productions employed historical images of mass death to provide emotional and moral comparisons. All finally called for each audience member to take responsibility for the current nuclear situation.« less

Pitching Emotions: The Interpersonal Effects of Emotions in Professional Baseball

PubMed Central

Cheshin, Arik; Heerdink, Marc W.; Kossakowski, Jolanda J.; Van Kleef, Gerben A.

2016-01-01

Sports games are inherently emotional situations, but surprisingly little is known about the social consequences of these emotions. We examined the interpersonal effects of emotional expressions in professional baseball. Specifically, we investigated whether pitchers’ facial displays influence how pitches are assessed and responded to. Using footage from the Major League Baseball World Series finals, we isolated incidents where the pitcher’s face was visible before a pitch. A pre-study indicated that participants consistently perceived anger, happiness, and worry in pitchers’ facial displays. An independent sample then predicted pitch characteristics and batter responses based on the same perceived emotional displays. Participants expected pitchers perceived as happy to throw more accurate balls, pitchers perceived as angry to throw faster and more difficult balls, and pitchers perceived as worried to throw slower and less accurate balls. Batters were expected to approach (swing) when faced with a pitcher perceived as happy and to avoid (no swing) when faced with a pitcher perceived as worried. Whereas previous research focused on using emotional expressions as information regarding past and current situations, our work suggests that people also use perceived emotional expressions to predict future behavior. Our results attest to the impact perceived emotional expressions can have on professional sports. PMID:26909062

Youth Acquisition and Situational Use of Cigars, Cigarillos, and Little Cigars: A Cross-sectional Study

PubMed Central

Trapl, Erika S.; O’Rourke-Suchoff, Danielle; Yoder, Laura D.; Cofie, Leslie E.; Frank, Jean L.; Fryer, Craig S.

2017-01-01

Introduction Although adolescent use of cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars (CCLCs) has been increasing, little research has been conducted to understand how adolescents acquire CCLCs and the situations in which they smoke CCLCs. Thus, this study aims to understand how adolescent smokers acquire CCLCs and the situations in which they smoke them. Methods Data were drawn from the 2011 Cuyahoga County Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Current CCLC smoking was assessed; analysis was limited to current smokers (n=1,337). Current users were asked to identify situations in which they use cigars and ways in which they get cigars. Bivariate analyses assessed differences by sex, race, and concurrent substance use. Data were analyzed in 2014. Results Youth acquired CCLCs most commonly by buying (64.2%). CCLC smokers also reported high rates of social use (81.1%). There were no significant differences is situational use across sexes, but female adolescents were significantly more likely than male adolescents to share CCLCs and significantly less likely to buy or take CCLCs. Conversely, significant differences were seen for situational use by race/ethnicity, with whites significantly more likely to use in social situations and less likely to use in solitary situations versus blacks and Hispanics. Finally, significant differences were observed in both acquisition and use for youth who concurrently used CCLCs and cigarettes compared with CCLCs only; fewer differences were noted among those who concurrently used CCLCs and marijuana compared with CCLCs only. Conclusions These findings highlight how adolescents acquire and use CCLCs and can inform tobacco control strategies to prevent and reduce CCLC use. PMID:27717517

A voice for Muslims

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bari, Muhammad Abdul

2008-06-01

The Islamic and Western worlds have rarely been at ease with one another. In the Middle Ages, Christians travelled from Europe to the Middle East to wrestle the holy lands from Muslim control. Muslims, meanwhile, conquered much of Spain and in 1683 were knocking on the door of Vienna. Throughout history there has been mistrust between the Western and Islamic worlds - a situation made much worse in recent years by the invasion of Iraq and terrorist attacks on New York, London and elsewhere.

Inappropriate drug donations: what has happened since the 1999 WHO guidelines?

PubMed

van Dijk, D P; Dinant, G; Jacobs, J A

2011-08-01

Drug donations to developing countries may be part of medical relief operations in acute emergencies, development aid in non-emergency situations, or a corporate donations programme. After a number of documented inappropriate drug donations, the World Health Organization developed the 'Guidelines for Drug Donations', with the second and final version published in 1999. We reviewed the medical literature on drug donations since the Guidelines publication in 1999. Literature was retrieved from PubMed and other on-line databases as well as from relevant websites providing medical literature for use in developing countries. We considered the following donations to be inappropriate: (i) essential drugs in excessive quantities; (ii) mixed unused drugs (unsorted medicines and free samples); and (iii) drug dumping (large quantities of useless medicines). We retrieved 25 publications dated after 1999, including 20 and 5 from the scientific literature and 'grey' literature (technical reports, working papers), respectively. New information concerned emergencies in East Timor, Mozambique, El Salvador, Gujarat State (India), Aceh (Indonesia) and Sri Lanka. Except for East Timor and Gujarat, inappropriate donations still occurred, accounting for 85%, 37%, 70% and 80% of donations in Mozambique, El Salvador, Aceh and Sri Lanka, respectively. Very little information was found on drug donations in non-emergency situations. There are few recent reports on the compliance of drug donations with the World Health Organization guidelines. For emergency situations, there is still room for improvement. Drug donations in non-emergency situations need to be evaluated. A reform of drug donations policy is needed.

The Forced Evacuation of the Japanese Minority During World War II

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miyamoto, S. Frank

1973-01-01

Attempts to explain in extremely abbreviated form what caused the evacuation and how the Japanese minority reacted to their exclusion and rejection, focusing on three general causes: collective dispositions, situational factors, and collective interaction. (Author/JM)

JFK: Twenty Years Later.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parmet, Herbert

1984-01-01

The presidency of John F. Kennedy is assessed. Considered are J.F.K's positions on, and national and world leaders' reactions to, such issues as oil depletion allowances, the Civil Rights Bill, the Vietnam situation, and the Cold War missile gap. (RM)

Technology Education and the Elementary School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thode, Terry

1996-01-01

In the technology education program at Hemingway School in Ketchum, Idaho, students are involved in hands-on activities that encourage the use of critical thinking skills, tools, and high-tech equipment to solve problems related to real world situations. (Author)

A Mathematical Model for the Height of a Satellite.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thoemke, Sharon S.; And Others

1993-01-01

Emphasizes a real-world-problem situation using sine law and cosine law. Angles of elevation from two tracking stations located in the plane of the equator determine height of a satellite. Calculators or computers can be used. (LDR)

A Close Look at School Violence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Acker, Richard

1995-01-01

Maintains that schools must help children become adults in the most violent nation in the industrialized world. Discusses four types of youth violence: (1) situational; (2) relationship; (3) predatory; and (4) psychopathological. Concludes that schoolwide prevention programs are essential. (CFR)

Cybernetics and Rhetoric: Freshman English in an Overdetermined World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Comprone, Joseph

1975-01-01

Argues that freshman composition courses should incorporate the study of communications systems (Cybernetics) and the idea that a situation or subject cannot be explained by a single series of logical steps (Overdetermination) as part of their rationale. (RB)

Phrase-Meaning Relationship According to Situational and Incidental Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coskun, Mustafa Volkan; Ozkaya, Perihan Gulce; Uysal, Zeynep Ezgi

2017-01-01

The purpose of the current study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the situational story of Sait Faik Abasiyanik entitled as "Alemdag'da Var Bir Yilan" and the incidental story of Refik Halid Karay entitled as "Boz Esek" in terms of syntax on the basis of their deep structures. The current study employed case study, one…

Food in health security in North East Asia.

PubMed

Moon, Hyun-Kyung

2009-01-01

Food and health security in North East Asia including South Korea, North Korea, China and Japan was compared. Because this region contains countries with many complex problems, it is worthwhile to study the current situation. With about 24% of the world's population, all North East Asian countries supply between 2400 and 3000 Kcal of energy. Regarding health status, two extreme problems exist. One is malnutrition in North Korea and China and the other is chronic degenerative disease in Japan, South Korea and China. Because quality, quantity and safety of the food supply have to be secured for health security, some topics are selected and discussed. 1) World food price can have an effect on food security for countries with a low food self sufficiency rate such as Japan and Korea; specially, for the urban poor. 2) Population aging can increase the number of aged people without food security. An aged population with less income and no support from their off-spring, because of disappearing traditional values, may have food insecurity. 3) Population growth and economic growth in this region may worsen food problems. Since a quarter of the world's population resides in this region, populations will continue to increase. With economic growth, people will consume more animal products. 4) Climate change generates food production problems. As the progress of industry continues, there will be less land for food and more pollutants in the environment. 5) Political instability will cause food insecurity and conflict will cause problems with regard to food aid.

Antimicrobial resistance and the standards of the World Organisation for Animal Health.

PubMed

Orand, J P

2012-04-01

Antimicrobial resistance and the use of antimicrobial agents in veterinary medicine are complex issues that are currently a source of major international concern. It is therefore essential for the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to consider this issue, while at the same time continuing to address the problem of zoonotic diseases. That is why the OIE has included objectives for veterinary drugs, especially antimicrobials, in its Strategic Plan. The OIE plays an active part in discussions on this subject in conjunction with other international organisations working in this field, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Furthermore, the OIE has adopted guidelines both for defining harmonised methodologies for antimicrobial resistance surveillance and monitoring and for helping countries to conduct a risk analysis tailored to their situation and to take appropriate management measures. The OIE has included this issue in its programme of assistance to countries by offering them structural enhancement tools: the Tool for the Evaluation of Performance of Veterinary Services (O1E PVS Tool), PVS Gap Analysis, veterinary legislation support, and training for veterinary national focal points, with the aid of its Collaborating Centres for veterinary medicinal products. Only by mobilising all countries to improve the quality of antimicrobials, to introduce antimicrobial resistance surveillance and to implement measures for the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials, will it be possible to halt the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

Identifying Patterns of Situational Antecedents to Heavy Drinking among College Students

PubMed Central

Lau-Barraco, Cathy; Linden-Carmichael, Ashley N.; Braitman, Abby L.; Stamates, Amy L.

2016-01-01

Background Emerging adults have the highest prevalence of heavy drinking as compared to all other age groups. Given the negative consequences associated with such drinking, additional research efforts focused on at-risk consumption are warranted. The current study sought to identify patterns of situational antecedents to drinking and to examine their associations with drinking motivations, alcohol involvement, and mental health functioning in a sample of heavy drinking college students. Method Participants were 549 (65.8% women) college student drinkers. Results Latent profile analysis identified three classes based on likelihood of heavy drinking across eight situational precipitants. The “High Situational Endorsement” group reported the greatest likelihood of heavy drinking in most situations assessed. This class experienced the greatest level of alcohol-related harms as compared to the “Low Situational Endorsement” and “Moderate Situational Endorsement” groups. The Low Situational Endorsement class was characterized by the lowest likelihood of heavy drinking across all situational antecedents and they experienced the fewest alcohol-related harms, relative to the other classes. Class membership was related to drinking motivations with the “High Situational Endorsement” class endorsing the highest coping- and conformity-motivated drinking. The “High Situational Endorsement” class also reported experiencing more mental health symptoms than other groups. Conclusions The current study contributed to the larger drinking literature by identifying profiles that may signify a particularly risky drinking style. Findings may help guide intervention work with college heavy drinkers. PMID:28163666

Situating emotional experience

PubMed Central

Wilson-Mendenhall, Christine D.; Barrett, Lisa Feldman; Barsalou, Lawrence W.

2013-01-01

Psychological construction approaches to emotion suggest that emotional experience is situated and dynamic. Fear, for example, is typically studied in a physical danger context (e.g., threatening snake), but in the real world, it often occurs in social contexts, especially those involving social evaluation (e.g., public speaking). Understanding situated emotional experience is critical because adaptive responding is guided by situational context (e.g., inferring the intention of another in a social evaluation situation vs. monitoring the environment in a physical danger situation). In an fMRI study, we assessed situated emotional experience using a newly developed paradigm in which participants vividly imagine different scenarios from a first-person perspective, in this case scenarios involving either social evaluation or physical danger. We hypothesized that distributed neural patterns would underlie immersion in social evaluation and physical danger situations, with shared activity patterns across both situations in multiple sensory modalities and in circuitry involved in integrating salient sensory information, and with unique activity patterns for each situation type in coordinated large-scale networks that reflect situated responding. More specifically, we predicted that networks underlying the social inference and mentalizing involved in responding to a social threat (in regions that make up the “default mode” network) would be reliably more active during social evaluation situations. In contrast, networks underlying the visuospatial attention and action planning involved in responding to a physical threat would be reliably more active during physical danger situations. The results supported these hypotheses. In line with emerging psychological construction approaches, the findings suggest that coordinated brain networks offer a systematic way to interpret the distributed patterns that underlie the diverse situational contexts characterizing emotional life. PMID:24324420

Community-oriented administration of fluoride for the prevention of dental caries: a summary of the current situation in Asia.

PubMed

Petersen, P E; Baez, R J; Lennon, M A

2012-02-01

Dental caries is the most prevalent chronic disease affecting human populations around the world. It is recognized that fluoride plays a significant role in dental caries reduction. Meanwhile, several low- and middle-income countries of Asia have not yet implemented systematic fluoride programs; contributing factors relate to misconceptions about the mechanisms of fluoride, low priority given to oral health in national health policy and strategic plans, and lack of interest among public health administrators. A workshop on the effective use of fluoride in Asia took place in Phang-Nga, Thailand, in 2011. A series of country presentations addressed some of the topics mentioned above; in addition, speakers from countries of the region provided examples of successful fluoride interventions and discussed program limitations, barriers encountered, and solutions, as well as possibilities for expanding coverage. Participants acknowledged that automatic fluoridation through water, salt, and milk is the most effective and equitable strategy for the prevention of dental caries. Concerns were expressed that government-subsidized community fluoride prevention programs may face privatization. In addition, the use of affordable fluoride-containing toothpastes should be encouraged. The workshop identified: strengths and weaknesses of ongoing community-based fluoride programs, as well as the interest of countries in a particular method; the requirement for World Health Organization (WHO) technical assistance on various aspects, including fluoridation process, feasibility studies, and implementation of effective epidemiological surveillance of the program; exchange of information; and the need for inter-country collaboration. It was acknowledged that program process and evaluation at the local and country levels need further dissemination. The meeting was co-sponsored by the World Health Organization, the International Association for Dental Research, and the World Dental Federation.

Analysis of a severe head injury in World Cup alpine skiing.

PubMed

Yamazaki, Junya; Gilgien, Matthias; Kleiven, Svein; McIntosh, Andrew S; Nachbauer, Werner; Müller, Erich; Bere, Tone; Bahr, Roald; Krosshaug, Tron

2015-06-01

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death in alpine skiing. It has been found that helmet use can reduce the incidence of head injuries between 15% and 60%. However, knowledge on optimal helmet performance criteria in World Cup alpine skiing is currently limited owing to the lack of biomechanical data from real crash situations. This study aimed to estimate impact velocities in a severe TBI case in World Cup alpine skiing. Video sequences from a TBI case in World Cup alpine skiing were analyzed using a model-based image matching technique. Video sequences from four camera views were obtained in full high-definition (1080p) format. A three-dimensional model of the course was built based on accurate measurements of piste landmarks and matched to the background video footage using the animation software Poser 4. A trunk-neck-head model was used for tracking the skier's trajectory. Immediately before head impact, the downward velocity component was estimated to be 8 m·s⁻¹. After impact, the upward velocity was 3 m·s⁻¹, whereas the velocity parallel to the slope surface was reduced from 33 m·s⁻¹ to 22 m·s⁻¹. The frontal plane angular velocity of the head changed from 80 rad·s⁻¹ left tilt immediately before impact to 20 rad·s⁻¹ right tilt immediately after impact. A unique combination of high-definition video footage and accurate measurements of landmarks in the slope made possible a high-quality analysis of head impact velocity in a severe TBI case. The estimates can provide crucial information on how to prevent TBI through helmet performance criteria and design.

The World Oral Health Report 2003: continuous improvement of oral health in the 21st century--the approach of the WHO Global Oral Health Programme.

PubMed

Petersen, Poul Erik

2003-12-01

Chronic diseases and injuries are the leading health problems in all but a few parts of the world. The rapidly changing disease patterns throughout the world are closely linked to changing lifestyles, which include diets rich in sugars, widespread use of tobacco, and increased consumption of alcohol. In addition to socio-environmental determinants, oral disease is highly related to these lifestyle factors, which are risks to most chronic diseases as well as protective factors such as appropriate exposure to fluoride and good oral hygiene. Oral diseases qualify as major public health problems owing to their high prevalence and incidence in all regions of the world, and as for all diseases, the greatest burden of oral diseases is on disadvantaged and socially marginalized populations. The severe impact in terms of pain and suffering, impairment of function and effect on quality of life must also be considered. Traditional treatment of oral diseases is extremely costly in several industrialized countries, and not feasible in most low-income and middle-income countries. The WHO Global Strategy for Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases, added to the common risk factor approach is a new strategy for managing prevention and control of oral diseases. The WHO Oral Health Programme has also strengthened its work for improved oral health globally through links with other technical programmes within the Department for Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The current oral health situation and development trends at global level are described and WHO strategies and approaches for better oral health in the 21st century are outlined.

The economics of abundance: coal and cotton in Lancashire and the world.

PubMed

Balderston, Theo

2010-01-01

As a subterranean, highly elastic energy source, coal played a vital role in the cotton industry revolution. Coal was also vital to Lancashire's primacy in this revolution, because it was necessary both to the original accumulation of agglomeration economies before the steam age and to their reinforcement during the steam age. In no other part of the world was the cotton industry situated on a coalfield, and the response of other parts of the world cotton industry to Lancashire's agglomeration advantages was dispersal in search of cheap water and/or labour power. Lancashire coal helped to shape the global pattern of cotton production.

German EstSmoke: estimating adult smoking-related costs and consequences of smoking cessation for Germany.

PubMed

Sonntag, Diana; Gilbody, Simon; Winkler, Volker; Ali, Shehzad

2018-01-01

We compared predicted life-time health-care costs for current, never and ex-smokers in Germany under the current set of tobacco control polices. We compared these economic consequences of the current situation with an alternative in which Germany were to implement more comprehensive tobacco control policies consistent with the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) guidelines. German EstSmoke, an adapted version of the UK EstSmoke simulation model, applies the Markov modelling approach. Transition probabilities for (re-)currence of smoking-related diseases were calculated from large German disease-specific registries and the German Health Update (GEDA 2010). Estimations of both health-care costs and effect sizes of smoking cessation policies were taken from recent German studies and discounted at 3.5%/year. Germany. German population of prevalent current, never and ex-smokers in 2009. Life-time cost and outcomes in current, never and ex-smokers. If tobacco control policies are not strengthened, the German smoking population will incur €41.56 billion life-time excess costs compared with never smokers. Implementing tobacco control policies consistent with WHO FCTC guidelines would reduce the difference of life-time costs between current smokers and ex-smokers by at least €1.7 billion. Modelling suggests that the life-time healthcare costs of people in Germany who smoke are substantially greater than those of people who have never smoked. However, more comprehensive tobacco control policies could reduce health-care expenditures for current smokers by at least 4%. © 2017 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Rapid population growth and environmental degradation: ultimate versus proximate factors.

PubMed

Shaw, R P

1989-01-01

This philosophical review of 2 arguments about responsibility for and solutions to environmental degradation concludes that both sides are correct: the ultimate and the proximal causes. Ultimate causes of pollution are defined as the technology responsible for a given type of pollution, such as burning fossil fuel; proximate causes are defined as situation-specific factors confounding the problem, such as population density or rate of growth. Commoner and others argue that developed countries with low or negative population growth rates are responsible for 80% of world pollution, primarily in polluting technologies such as automobiles, power generation, plastics, pesticides, toxic wastes, garbage, warfaring, and nuclear weapons wastes. Distortionary policies also contribute; examples are agricultural trade protection, land mismanagement, urban bias in expenditures, and institutional rigidity., Poor nations are responsible for very little pollution because poverty allows little waste or expenditures for polluting, synthetic technologies. The proximal causes of pollution include numbers and rate of growth of populations responsible for the pollution. Since change in the ultimate cause of pollution remains out of reach, altering the numbers of polluters can make a difference. Predictions are made for proportions of the world's total waste production, assuming current 1.6 tons/capita for developed countries and 0.17 tons/capita for developing countries. If developing countries grow at current rates and become more wealthy, they will be emitting half the world's waste by 2025. ON the other hand, unsustainable population growth goes along with inadequate investment in human capital: education, health, employment, infrastructure. The solution is to improve farming technologies in the 117 non-self-sufficient countries, fund development in the most unsustainable enclaves of growing countries, break institutionalized socio-political rigidity in these enclaves, and focus on educating and empowering women in these enclaves. Women are in charge of birth spacing and all aspects of management of energy, food, water and the local environment, more so than men, in most countries.

Vulnerability analysis in terms of food insecurity and poverty using GIS and remote sensing technology applied to Sri Lanka

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shahriar, Pervez M.; Ramachandran, Mahadevan; Mutuwatte, Lal

2003-03-01

It is becoming increasingly recognized that computer methods such as models and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be valuable tools for analyzing a geographical area in terms of it's hazards vulnerability, Vulnerability is an important aspect of households' experience of poverty. The measurement and analysis of poverty, inequality and vulnerability are crucial for cognitive purposes (to know what the situation is), for analytical purposes (to understand the factors determining this situation), for policy making purposes (to design interventions best adapted to the issues), and for monitoring and evaluation purposes (to assess whether current policies are effective, and whether the situation is changing). Here vulnerability defined as the probability or risk today of being in poverty - or falling deeper into poverty - in the future. Vulnerability is a key dimension of well being since it affects individuals' behavior (in terms of investment, production patterns, coping strategies) and their perception of their own situation. This study has been conducted with the joint collaboration of World Food Programme (WFP) and International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Sri Lanka for identifying regions and population which are food insecure, for analyzing the reasons for vulnerability to food insecurity in order to provide decision-makers with information to identify possible sectors of intervention and for identifying where and for whom food aid can be best utilized in Sri Lanka. This new approach integrates GIS and Remote sensing with other statistical packages to allow consideration of more spatial/physical parameters like accessibility to economic resources, particularly land and the assets of the built environment, creating employment, and attracting investment in order to improve the quality and quantity of goods and services for the analysis which leads the analysis to represent the real scenario. For this study a detailed topographic data are being used along with MODIS EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index)

Mechanisms of Identity Conflict: Uncertainty, Anxiety, and the Behavioral Inhibition System.

PubMed

Hirsh, Jacob B; Kang, Sonia K

2016-08-01

Social identities are associated with normative standards for thought and action, profoundly influencing the behavioral choices of individual group members. These social norms provide frameworks for identifying the most appropriate actions in any situation. Given the increasing complexity of the social world, however, individuals are more and more likely to identify strongly with multiple social groups simultaneously. When these groups provide divergent behavioral norms, individuals can experience social identity conflict. The current manuscript examines the nature and consequences of this socially conflicted state, drawing upon advances in our understanding of the neuropsychology of conflict and uncertainty. Identity conflicts are proposed to involve activity in the Behavioral Inhibition System, which in turn produces high levels of anxiety and stress. Building upon this framework, four strategies for resolving identity conflict are reviewed. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy for Treating Achalasia and Esophageal Motility Disorders

PubMed Central

Youn, Young Hoon; Minami, Hitomi; Chiu, Philip Wai Yan; Park, Hyojin

2016-01-01

Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is the application of esophageal myotomy to the concept of natural orifice transluminal surgery (NOTES) by utilizing a submucosal tunneling method. Since the first case of POEM was performed for treating achalasia in Japan in 2008, this procedure is being more widely used by many skillful endosopists all over the world. Currently, POEM is a spotlighted, emerging treatment option for achalasia, and the indications for POEM are expanding to include long-standing, sigmoid shaped esophagus in achalasia, even previously failed endoscopic treatment or surgical myotomy, and other spastic esophageal motility disorders. Accumulating data about POEM demonstrate excellent short-term outcomes with minimal risk of major adverse events, and some existing long-term data show the efficacy of POEM to be long lasting. In this review article, we review the technical details and clinical outcomes of POEM, and discuss some considerations of POEM in special situations. PMID:26717928

Chronic pain treatment with opioid analgesics: benefits versus harms of long-term therapy.

PubMed

Sehgal, Nalini; Colson, James; Smith, Howard S

2013-11-01

Chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) is a disabling chronic condition with a high prevalence rate around the world. Opioids are routinely prescribed for treatment of chronic pain (CP). In the past two decades there has been a massive increase in the number of opioid prescriptions, prescribed daily opioid doses and overall opioid availability. Many more patients with CNCP receive high doses of long-acting opioids on a long-term basis. Yet CP and related disability rates remain high, and majority of the patients with CNCP are dissatisfied with their treatments. Intersecting with the upward trajectory in opioid use are the increasing trends in opioid related adverse effects, especially prescription drug abuse, addiction and overdose deaths. This complex situation raises questions on the relevance of opioid therapy in the treatment of CNCP. This article reviews current evidence on opioid effectiveness, the benefits and harms of long-term therapy in CNCP.

Regulation of water resources for sustaining global future socioeconomic development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, J.; SHI, H.; Sivakumar, B.

2016-12-01

With population projections indicating continued growth during this century, socio-economic problems (e.g., water, food, and energy shortages) will be most likely to occur, especially if proper planning, development, and management strategies are not adopted. In the present study, firstly, we explore the vital role of dams in promoting economic growth through analyzing the relationship between dams and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at both global and national scales. Secondly, we analyze the current situation of global water scarcity based on the data representing water resources availability, dam development, and the level of economic development. Third, with comprehensive consideration of population growth as the major driving force, water resources availability as the basic supporting factor, and topography as the important constraint, this study addresses the question of dam development in the future and predicts the locations of future dams around the world.

Northern Regions of Russia as Alternative Sources of Pure Water for Sustainable Development: Challenges and Solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsukerman, V. A.; Gudkov, A. V.; Ivanov, S. V.

The paper discusses problems associated with the existing crisis of water scarcity in the modern conditions of the global water use. Available alternative sources of fresh water may be underground and surface waters of the North and the Arctic. Investigated the current situation and condition of fresh water resources in the technological and industrial development of the North and Arctic. The necessity of developing and using green technologies and measures to prevent pollution of surface and ground water from industrial sectors of the Northern regions is shown. Studied modern technologies and techniques for monitoring groundwater and determination of their age in order to avoid and prevent the effects of environmental contaminants. The ways of use of innovative production technologies of fresh and clean water of north Russia for sustainable development, and delivery of water in the needy regions of the world are investigated.

[Management of Personal Information in Clinical Laboratory Medicine:--Chairmen's Introductory Remarks].

PubMed

Yoshida, Hiroshi; Shimetani, Naoto

2014-11-01

The Japanese Society of Laboratory Medicine has been running its own Medical Safety Committee, and holding a symposium on medical safety during the annual meeting. The medical world is filled with a considerable amount of personal information, including genetic information, the ultimate personal information. We, as medical staff, have to manage such personal information not only in times of peace but also during disasters or emergency situations. In Japan, the Act on the Protection of Personal Information is currently being implemented, but a number of problems remain. Human beings have entered the information technology era, including electrical medical record systems, which is useful for research and education besides medical practice. This is why personal information must be more effectively protected from leakage, misconception, and abuse. We should create a sound system to manage personal information, with the spirit of protecting patient information that originated from the Oath of Hippocrates.

Hostile environmental intellectuals? Critiques and counter-critiques of science and technology in West Germany after 1945.

PubMed

Beyler, Richard H

2008-12-01

Paul Forman, in his work on physics in Weimar Germany, advanced the thesis that an irrationalist current within German intellectual history was then suddenly exacerbated in a context of defeat and political crisis. After World War II, Germany's situation was if any thing even more catastrophic; nevertheless, a comparable climate of irrationalism arose only in a limited way. The collapse of National Socialism was, in effect, sufficiently explicable on rational grounds to resort to a philosophical fatalism. F. G. Jünger, as a possible exception, put forward a theory of autonomous, demonic technology as an explanation; many cultural critics of the time, however, found these views unrealistic and favored an integration of technical and humanistic approaches. Moreover, even a new wave of (sometimes apocalyptic) literature of environmental crisis focused on specific scientifically analyses rather than a diffuse cultural pessimism.

www.mydrugdealer.com: Ethics and legal implications of Internet-based access to substances of abuse.

PubMed

Klein, Carolina A; Kandel, Surendra

2011-01-01

The Internet has increasingly become an intrinsic part of everyday life, offering countless possibilities for education, services, recreation, and more. In fact, an entire virtual life within the digitalized World Wide Web is possible and common among many Internet users. Today's psychiatrists must therefore incorporate this dimension of human life into clinical practice, to achieve an adequate assessment of the tools and risks available to the patient. We focus on the Internet as a portal for the trade of and access to substances of abuse. We review the legal regulations that may inform care and standards of practice and analyze the difficulties that arise in assessment and monitoring of the current situation. We consider the potential impact of Internet-based narcotics trade on addiction morbidities and the practice of clinical psychiatry, as well as on the potential legal implications that the forensic expert may face.

Research for Change: the role of scientific journals publishing mental health research.

PubMed

Saxena, Shekhar; Sharan, Pratap; Saraceno, Benedetto

2004-06-01

There is an enormous gap between the burden of mental disorders and mental health resources in low- and middle-income countries. The Mental Health: Global Action Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) envisions an active role for research in the multidimensional efforts required to change the current mental health situation in these countries (Research for Change). WHO's strategies to achieve this include developing a research policy and a priority agenda at country level with active collaboration from all stakeholders, building research capacity and infrastructure and involving scientific journals to stimulate and disseminate public health oriented research. A recently agreed joint statement by editors of prominent journals publishing mental health research and WHO sets major objectives and some possible strategies for achieving this. WHO is committed to making Research for Change a reality by working with partners who share this aim.

Remediation of radiocesium-contaminated liquid waste, soil, and ash: a mini review since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.

PubMed

Ding, Dahu; Zhang, Zhenya; Lei, Zhongfang; Yang, Yingnan; Cai, Tianming

2016-02-01

The radiation contamination after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident attracts considerable concern all over the world. Many countries, areas, and oceans are greatly affected by the emergency situation other than Japan. An effective remediation strategy is in a highly urgent demand. Though plenty of works have been carried out, progressive achievements have not yet been well summarized. Here, we review the recent advances on the remediation of radiocesium-contaminated liquid waste, soil, and ash. The overview of the radiation contamination is firstly given. Afterwards, the current remediation strategies are critically reviewed in terms of the environmental medium. Special attentions are paid on the adsorption/ion exchange and electrically switched ion exchange methods. Finally, the present review outlines the possible works to do for the large-scale application of the novel remediation strategies.

Current trends in rehabilitation engineering in Japan.

PubMed

Ohnabe, Hisaichi

2006-01-01

In 2005, the elderly generation comprised 20% of the Japanese population. This percentage will grow to approximately 30% in 2030, meaning that nearly one in three people in Japan will be 65 years of age or older. Japan is the first nation in the world to face this situation. This article uses the context of Japanese society to give an overview of the elderly and people with disabilities; the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health model; rehabilitation engineering-related policy; and education. In addition, we examine how governmental programs and Japanese law regarding technical aids may evolve by 2030. Partner robots, intelligent powered wheelchairs, nursing robots, and other technologies are introduced as examples of rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology. We also discuss the volunteer activities of the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of Japan (RESJA) in response to the Asian tsunami disaster and the achievements of a group of students from a Japanese senior high school of industry.

Hippocampal Processing of Ambiguity Enhances Fear Memory.

PubMed

Amadi, Ugwechi; Lim, Seh Hong; Liu, Elizabeth; Baratta, Michael V; Goosens, Ki A

2017-02-01

Despite the ubiquitous use of Pavlovian fear conditioning as a model for fear learning, the highly predictable conditions used in the laboratory do not resemble real-world conditions, in which dangerous situations can lead to unpleasant outcomes in unpredictable ways. In the current experiments, we varied the timing of aversive events after predictive cues in rodents and discovered that temporal ambiguity of aversive events greatly enhances fear. During fear conditioning with unpredictably timed aversive events, pharmacological inactivation of the dorsal hippocampus or optogenetic silencing of cornu ammonis 1 cells during aversive negative prediction errors prevented this enhancement of fear without affecting fear learning for predictable events. Dorsal hippocampal inactivation also prevented ambiguity-related enhancement of fear during auditory fear conditioning under a partial-reinforcement schedule. These results reveal that information about the timing and occurrence of aversive events is rapidly acquired and that unexpectedly timed or omitted aversive events generate hippocampal signals to enhance fear learning.

Mines and human casualties: a robotics approach toward mine clearing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghaffari, Masoud; Manthena, Dinesh; Ghaffari, Alireza; Hall, Ernest L.

2004-10-01

An estimated 100 million landmines which have been planted in more than 60 countries kill or maim thousands of civilians every year. Millions of people live in the vast dangerous areas and are not able to access to basic human services because of landmines" threats. This problem has affected many third world countries and poor nations which are not able to afford high cost solutions. This paper tries to present some experiences with the land mine victims and solutions for the mine clearing. It studies current situation of this crisis as well as state of the art robotics technology for the mine clearing. It also introduces a survey robot which is suitable for the mine clearing applications. The results show that in addition to technical aspects, this problem has many socio-economic issues. The significance of this study is to persuade robotics researchers toward this topic and to peruse the technical and humanitarian facets of this issue.

Research for Change: the role of scientific journals publishing mental health research

PubMed Central

Saxena, Shekhar; Sharan, Pratap; Saraceno, Benedetto

2004-01-01

There is an enormous gap between the burden of mental disorders and mental health resources in low- and middle-income countries. The Mental Health: Global Action Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) envisions an active role for research in the multidimensional efforts required to change the current mental health situation in these countries (Research for Change). WHO's strategies to achieve this include developing a research policy and a priority agenda at country level with active collaboration from all stakeholders, building research capacity and infrastructure and involving scientific journals to stimulate and disseminate public health oriented research. A recently agreed joint statement by editors of prominent journals publishing mental health research and WHO sets major objectives and some possible strategies for achieving this. WHO is committed to making Research for Change a reality by working with partners who share this aim. PMID:16633460

Laguna Madre Water Purification using Biochar from Citrus Peels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez, C.; Al-Qudah, O. M.

2017-12-01

Laguna Madre is an important lagoon in the coast of Texas. It is one of the seven hypersaline lagoons in the world. Due to inflow of water with extreme amounts of phosphorus and nitrates and the low inflow of freshwater, the lagoon has high amount of phosphorus and nitrates which can be harmful for fish and plants situated in the lagoon. The goal is to be able to perform a filtration method with citrus peels biochar, and then to evaluate and compare the produced biochar, zeolite, and activated carbon as an infiltration filter by assessing reductions of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, as well as sum selected trace elements. Furthermore, the current research will investigate how long the cleaning capacity of biochar lasts and how the performance of the filter changes under an increased load of contaminants. The performance of biochar from different parent materials and recycling options for the used filter materials are also included in this research.

Ingenuity and National Security

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

is in an unfamiliar situation as the lone super power without a significant existential threat. China is a rising power and Russia aspires to...independence to the most powerful nation on the planet . The time period surrounding World War II demonstrated that governmental processes and

Molding Students into Better Decisionmakers and Managers: An Experiential Learning Exercise.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babbar, Sunil

1994-01-01

Examples of real-world customer service situations were observed by business students, who then submitted papers and discussed them in class. Their questionnaire responses indicated the value of developing understanding through such an experiential class activity. (SK)

Islands in the Midst of the World

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-09-18

The Greek islands of the Aegean Sea, scattered across 800 kilometers from north to south and between Greece and western Turkey, are uniquely situated at the intersection of Europe, Asia and Africa. This image from NASA Terra satellite was acquired on Se

Youth Acquisition and Situational Use of Cigars, Cigarillos, and Little Cigars:: A Cross-sectional Study.

PubMed

Trapl, Erika S; O'Rourke-Suchoff, Danielle; Yoder, Laura D; Cofie, Leslie E; Frank, Jean L; Fryer, Craig S

2017-01-01

Although adolescent use of cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars (CCLCs) has been increasing, little research has been conducted to understand how adolescents acquire CCLCs and the situations in which they smoke CCLCs. Thus, this study aims to understand how adolescent smokers acquire CCLCs and the situations in which they smoke them. Data were drawn from the 2011 Cuyahoga County Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Current CCLC smoking was assessed; analysis was limited to current smokers (n=1,337). Current users were asked to identify situations in which they use cigars and ways in which they get cigars. Bivariate analyses assessed differences by sex, race, and concurrent substance use. Data were analyzed in 2014. Youth acquired CCLCs most commonly by buying (64.2%). CCLC smokers also reported high rates of social use (81.1%). There were no significant differences is situational use across sexes, but female adolescents were significantly more likely than male adolescents to share CCLCs and significantly less likely to buy or take CCLCs. Conversely, significant differences were seen for situational use by race/ethnicity, with whites significantly more likely to use in social situations and less likely to use in solitary situations versus blacks and Hispanics. Finally, significant differences were observed in both acquisition and use for youth who concurrently used CCLCs and cigarettes compared with CCLCs only; fewer differences were noted among those who concurrently used CCLCs and marijuana compared with CCLCs only. These findings highlight how adolescents acquire and use CCLCs and can inform tobacco control strategies to prevent and reduce CCLC use. Copyright © 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cybersecurity Lanes in the Road for the Department of Homeland Security

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

20of%20Responsibility%20in%20the%20US%20Government- Joeli%20Field.pdf. 54 Ibid., 120. 55 “Preventing 9/11 in the Cyber World,” Information Management ...their emergency communications capabilities.”113 NCCIC is a “24x7 cyber situational awareness, incident response, and management center.”114 They share... Cyber World.” Information Management 47, no. 3 (May, 2013): 18. http://libproxy.nps.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/ 1430501590

The Lifelong Education of the Teachers in the Republic of Macedonia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popova, Rozalina; Koskarov, Ljupco

2016-01-01

This paper analyzes important issues related to the lifelong education of the teachers in the Republic of Macedonia. The goal of the research, which is a part of the project Permanent Education of the Teachers (the current situation and challenges), is to get an idea about the current situation and the need for permanent education of the…

Family medicine practice in Saudi Arabia: The current situation and Proposed Strategic Directions Plan 2020

PubMed Central

Al-Khaldi, Yahia M.; Al-Ghamdi, Essam A.; Al-Mogbil, Tariq I.; Al-Khashan, Hesham I.

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to assess the current situation of the teaching and training of undergraduate and postgraduate programs in family medicine in KSA, assess the current practice of family medicine, and draw a roadmap to achieve Saudi vision 2020. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted with the support and collaboration of the Primary Health Care Department of the Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia, and World Health Organization (EMRO) in November 2015. Based on the literature review of previous studies conducted for similar purposes, relevant questionnaires were developed. These consisted of four forms, each of which was directed at a different authority to achieve the above-mentioned objectives. Data of all questionnaires were coded, entered, and analyzed using SPSS version 16. RESULTS: There are 2282 primary health-care centers (PHCCs), 60% of which are in rural areas. More than half of the PHCCs have a laboratory and more than one-third have a Radiology Department. Out of the 6107 physicians, 636 are family physicians (10%). All medical colleges have a family medicine department with a total staff of 170 medical teachers. Thirteen departments run family medicine courses of 4–8 weeks' duration for students. Fourteen colleges have internship programs in family medicine and four colleges have postgraduate centers for family medicine (27%). There are 95 training centers for Saudi Board (Saudi Board of Family Medicine [SBFM]) and 68 centers for Saudi Diploma (Saudi Diploma of Family Medicine [SDFM]). The total number of trainers was 241, while the total trainees were 756 in SBFM and 137 in SDFM. CONCLUSIONS: This survey showed that there is a shortage of qualified family physicians in all health sectors in Saudi Arabia as a result of the lack of a strategic plan for the training of family physicians. A national strategic plan with specific objectives and an explicit budget are necessary to deal with this shortage and improve the quality of health-care services at PHCCs. PMID:28932160

The current status and trend of clinical pharmacology in developing countries

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Several international forums for promoting clinical pharmacology in developing countries have been held since 1980, and several clinical pharmacology programmes targeting developing countries were instituted such that the status of clinical pharmacology in developing countries is not where it was 50 years ago. Therefore, a survey and an appraisal of the literature on the current status of clinical pharmacology in developing countries were undertaken with a hope that it would enable development of appropriate strategies for further promotion of clinical pharmacology in these countries. Methods First, nine determinants (or enabling factors) for running a successful clinical pharmacology programme were identified, i.e., disease burden, drug situation, economic growth, clinical pharmacology activities, recognition, human capital, government support, international collaboration, and support for traditional/alternative medicines. These factors were then evaluated with regard to their current status in the developing countries that responded to an electronic questionnaire, and their historical perspective, using the literature appraisal. From these, a projected trend was constructed with recommendations on the way forward. Results Clinical pharmacology services, research and teaching in developing countries have improved over the past 50 years with over 90% of countries having the appropriate policies for regulation and rational use of medicines in place. Unfortunately, policy implementation remains a challenge, owing to a worsening disease burden and drug situation, versus fewer clinical pharmacologists and other competing priorities for the national budgets. This has led to a preference for training ‘a physician clinical pharmacologist’ in programmes emphasizing local relevancy and for a shorter time, and the training of other professionals in therapeutics for endemic diseases (task shifting), as the most promising strategies of ensuring rational use of medicines. Conclusion Clinical pharmacology in developing countries is advancing in a different way to that in the developed world and continuing support for these efforts will go a long way in promoting improved health for all. PMID:24074056

Family medicine practice in Saudi Arabia: The current situation and Proposed Strategic Directions Plan 2020.

PubMed

Al-Khaldi, Yahia M; Al-Ghamdi, Essam A; Al-Mogbil, Tariq I; Al-Khashan, Hesham I

2017-01-01

The objectives of this study were to assess the current situation of the teaching and training of undergraduate and postgraduate programs in family medicine in KSA, assess the current practice of family medicine, and draw a roadmap to achieve Saudi vision 2020. This study was conducted with the support and collaboration of the Primary Health Care Department of the Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia, and World Health Organization (EMRO) in November 2015. Based on the literature review of previous studies conducted for similar purposes, relevant questionnaires were developed. These consisted of four forms, each of which was directed at a different authority to achieve the above-mentioned objectives. Data of all questionnaires were coded, entered, and analyzed using SPSS version 16. There are 2282 primary health-care centers (PHCCs), 60% of which are in rural areas. More than half of the PHCCs have a laboratory and more than one-third have a Radiology Department. Out of the 6107 physicians, 636 are family physicians (10%). All medical colleges have a family medicine department with a total staff of 170 medical teachers. Thirteen departments run family medicine courses of 4-8 weeks' duration for students. Fourteen colleges have internship programs in family medicine and four colleges have postgraduate centers for family medicine (27%). There are 95 training centers for Saudi Board (Saudi Board of Family Medicine [SBFM]) and 68 centers for Saudi Diploma (Saudi Diploma of Family Medicine [SDFM]). The total number of trainers was 241, while the total trainees were 756 in SBFM and 137 in SDFM. This survey showed that there is a shortage of qualified family physicians in all health sectors in Saudi Arabia as a result of the lack of a strategic plan for the training of family physicians. A national strategic plan with specific objectives and an explicit budget are necessary to deal with this shortage and improve the quality of health-care services at PHCCs.

Nexus Between Demographic Change and Elderly Care Need in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries: Some Policy Implications.

PubMed

Khan, Hafiz T A; Hussein, Shereen; Deane, John

2017-01-01

Population ageing is a phenomenon affecting the whole world. The countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are no exception but transitions in population ageing are still in the early stages of the process. With current demographic dividends experienced by the GCC and the rest of the Middle-East, the pace of population ageing will be faster than that experienced by many European countries. The purpose of this paper is to explore the population ageing experience of different GCC countries while situating this within a context of social policies that still at the very early stages of acknowledging such change. We utilise data from sources such as the United Nations and the World Bank, complemented by policy analysis of current age-related social security measures in the GCC. Given the importance of the family aged care system in the region, we consider the implications of changes in family structures, living conditions, and care needs for the elderly. The findings confirm the declining trend in fertility combined with increased life expectancy in all the six GCC countries. However, they highlight that social policy measures focused on the older generations and their care needs are still relatively at the early stages of each country's policy agenda. The implications of such changes are serious in term of both the demand for and supply of care. Policy-makers need to adapt cohesive social policy strategies that strengthen the complementing relationships between the state, family and wider community as stakeholders in the provision of aged care.

Tobacco control challenges in East Asia: proposals for change in the world's largest epidemic region

PubMed Central

Katanoda, Kota; Jiang, Yuan; Park, Sohee; Lim, Min Kyung; Qiao, You-Lin; Inoue, Manami

2014-01-01

East Asia is one of the world's largest tobacco epidemic regions. Although several international studies have evaluated the status of tobacco control in this region, the findings have not been integrated with knowledge on domestic activities at the national and municipal levels. We analysed the current tobacco control situation in three East Asian countries, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, using both international and domestic data sources. We collected data between 2008 and 2011 in each country according to the framework of WHO's MPOWER (Monitoring, Protect, Offer, Warn, Enforcement and Raise) approach for guiding implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Analysis revealed that 37–53% of adult men were current smokers and that smoking prevalence among middle-aged men reached 63%. Less than 20% of male smokers plan to quit and the use of nicotine replacement drugs was 14% at maximum. Forty-six percent or more of men and 20% or more of women were exposed to passive smoking at workplaces and at home, respectively. Many tobacco industry activities remain unrestricted and prevalent. Our findings indicate an urgent need for the following set of policies: raise cigarette prices to increase the quit attempt rate, particularly among adult men; develop a multi-component quitting assistance system to provide adequate assistance for smoking cessation; implement effective smoke-free policies in workplaces and public places to reduce exposure to passive smoking; and rebuild the administrative structure to denormalise tobacco industry activities. The importance of these standard approaches should be reaffirmed by all tobacco control policymakers in East Asia. PMID:23596197

Steam generator degradation: Current mitigation strategies for controlling corrosion

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

Millett, P.

1997-02-01

Steam Generator degradation has caused substantial losses of power generation, resulted in large repair and maintenance costs, and contributed to significant personnel radiation exposures in Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) operating throughout the world. EPRI has just published the revised Steam Generator Reference Book, which reviews all of the major forms of SG degradation. This paper discusses the types of SG degradation that have been experienced with emphasis on the mitigation strategies that have been developed and implemented in the field. SG degradation is presented from a world wide perspective as all countries operating PWRs have been effected to one degreemore » or another. The paper is written from a US. perspective where the utility industry is currently undergoing tremendous change as a result of deregulation of the electricity marketplace. Competitive pressures are causing utilities to strive to reduce Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and capital costs. SG corrosion is a major contributor to the O&M costs of PWR plants, and therefore US utilities are evaluating and implementing the most cost effective solutions to their corrosion problems. Mitigation strategies developed over the past few years reflect a trend towards plant specific solutions to SG corrosion problems. Since SG degradation is in most cases an economic problem and not a safety problem, utilities can focus their mitigation strategies on their unique financial situation. Accordingly, the focus of R&D has shifted from the development of more expensive, prescriptive solutions (e.g. reduced impurity limits) to corrosion problems to providing the utilities with a number of cost effective mitigation options (e.g. molar ratio control, boric acid treatment).« less

Review of Singapore's air quality and greenhouse gas emissions: current situation and opportunities.

PubMed

Velasco, Erik; Roth, Matthias

2012-06-01

Singapore has many environmental accomplishments to its credit. Accessible data on air quality indicates that all criteria pollutants satisfy both U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards and guidelines, respectively. The exception is PM2.5 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter < or = 2.5 microm), which is not currently considered a criteria pollutant in Singapore but may potentially be the major local air pollution problem and cause for health concern. Levels of other airborne pollutants as well as their physical and chemical processes associated with local formation, transformation, dispersion, and deposition are not known. According to available emission inventories, Singapore contribution to the total atmospheric pollution and carbon budget at the regional and global scales is small. Emissions per unit gross domestic product (GDP) are low compared with other countries, although Singapore's per-capita GDP and per-capita emissions are among the highest in the world. Some information is available on health effects, but the impacts on the ecosystem and the complex interactions of air pollution and climate change at a regional level are also unknown. This article reviews existing available information on atmospheric pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and proposes a multipollutant approach to greenhouse gas mitigation and local air quality. Singapore, by reducing its per-capita emissions, increasing the availability of information (e.g., through regularly publishing hourly and/or daily PM2.5 concentrations) and developing a research agenda in this area, would likely be seen to be a model of a high-density, livable, and sustainable city in Southeast Asia and other tropical regions worldwide.

Global environmental ratings as an instrument of environmental policies: what factors determine the rank of Russia?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alekseeva, Nina; Arshinova, Marina; Milanova, Elena

2017-04-01

Systems of global environmental rankings have emerged as a result of the escalating need for revealing the trends of ecological development for the world and for certain countries and regions. Both the environmental indicators and indexes and the ratings made on their basis are important for the assessment and forecast of the ecological situation in order to tackle the global and regional problems of sustainable development and help to translate the research findings into policy developments. Data sources for the global environmental ratings are most often the statistical information accumulated in databases of the international organizations (World Bank, World Resources Institute, FAO, WHO, etc.) These data are highly reliable and well-comparable that makes the ratings very objective. There are also good examples of using data of sociological polls, information from social networks, etc. The global environmental ratings are produced by the international organizations (World Bank, World Resources Institute, the UN Environment Program), non-governmental associations (WWF, Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-E), Germanwatch Nord-Süd-Initiative, Friends of the Earth, World Development Movement), research structures (scientific centers of the Yale and Colombian universities, the Oak-Ridge National Laboratory, the New Economic Foundation), and also individual experts, news agencies, etc. Thematic (sectoral) ratings cover various spheres from availability of resources and anthropogenic impact on environment components to nature protection policies and perception of environmental problems. The environmental indicators cover all parameters important for understanding the current ecological situation and the trajectories of its development (the DPSIR model, i.e. drivers, pressures, state, impact and response). Complex (integral) ratings are based on environmental indexes which are combined measurement tools using a complex of aggregated indicators based on a wide range of primary data allowing to record and measure various environmental phenomena and characteristics. The main difficulty of information aggregation into environmental indexes is the weighting of initial data. The principal requirement to such measuring system is its informational completeness and adequacy of parameters for the representation of economic, environmental and social components of sustainable development. The analysis of indexes and systems of ecological ratings showed their efficiency, so the application of indicators and integral indexes can become a basis for scheduling the strategic changes in natural and socio-economic systems. Indicators provide an objective picture of the state of various spheres of economic activities and allow understanding the key environmental, economic and social problems and planning for their solution, thus paving the way to introduce scientific developments and public perception into policy-making. The comparative analysis of the ranks of Russia in global ecological ratings showed that in terms of the per capita potential of biocapacity and availability of resources Russia advances many countries of the world. Among the environmental problems the most actual are the development of low-carbon power production and the use of renewable energy full in line with the SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). It will not only reduce the environment pollution, but also contribute to slowing the rates of climate change (the SDG 13 Climate Action).

Teaching Bad Apples: A Fun Way to Tackle Difficult Teaching Situations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turcotte, Nathaniel; Betrus, Anthony

2016-01-01

"Teaching Bad Apples" is a game developed in 2014 for current and future teachers. It plays much like "Apples to Apples" or "Cards Against Humanity," with each player in turn reading a situation card, followed by the other players choosing their response cards. Each situation, however dramatic or bizarre, is…

Scientific Human Resources: Profiles and Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falk, Charles E.

This publication is a report in which past trends and events relative to scientific manpower in the form of scientists and engineers are reviewed, the current status of the scientific manpower situation is described, and various assessments of possible future situations are compared. Within the last 25 years the situation has changed from one in…

Early Childhood Educators Attitudes towards Playful Aggression among Boys: Exploring the Importance of Situational Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hart, Jennifer L.

2016-01-01

The current study investigates the influence of situational context on perceptions of playful aggression. Using an online data collection instrument embedded with video vignettes showing young boys engaged in aggressive play behaviour, 36 situational profiles that are defined by the unique combinations of variables believed to influence attitudes…

The earth's ring current - Present situation and future thrusts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, D. J.

1987-01-01

Particle distributions, currents, and the ring current situation prior to the August 1984 launch of the AMPTE Charge Composition Explorer (CCE) are discussed. CCE results which demonstrate the capability of these new measurements to pursue questions of ring current sources, energization, and transport are presented. Consideration is given to various ring current generation mechanisms which have been discussed in the literature, and a two-step generation process which to a certain extent unifies the previous mechanisms is presented. The first in-situ global observations of ring current decay as obtained through the detection of energetic neutral atoms generated by charge exchange interactions between the ring current and hydrogen geocorona are discussed, as well as the possibility of using the detection of energetic neutral atoms to obtain global images of the earth's ring current.

Characterizing Mobility and Contact Networks in Virtual Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machado, Felipe; Santos, Matheus; Almeida, Virgílio; Guedes, Dorgival

Virtual worlds have recently gained wide recognition as an important field of study in Computer Science. In this work we present an analysis of the mobility and interactions among characters in World of Warcraft (WoW) and Second Life based on the contact opportunities extracted from actual user data in each of those domains. We analyze character contacts in terms of their spatial and temporal characteristics, as well as the social network derived from such contacts. Our results show that the contacts observed may be more influenced by the nature of the interactions and goals of the users in each situation than by the intrinsic structure of such worlds. In particular, observations from a city in WoW are closer to those of Second Life than to other areas in WoW itself.

Making STEM Connections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stump, Sheryl L.; Bryan, Joel A.; McConnell, Tom J.

2016-01-01

Integrated approaches to education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), especially those set in the context of real-world situations, can motivate and deepen students' learning of the STEM subjects (National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council 2014). This article describes two integrated investigations used…

Defense Threat Reduction Agency

Science.gov Websites

Sciences Protection Sciences Science to Defeat WMD Science to Secure WMD Chemical/Biological Technologies of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear instruction. Watch Read DTRA leadership meet with How Butterflies Can Detect Deadly Chemical Weapon Agents May 2 Changing World Situation Requires

An Appropriate Culminating Mathematics Course.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haver, Bill; Turbeville, Gwen

1995-01-01

Describes a freshman level mathematics course designed as an alternate to algebra for non-science majors. Mathematical content is based on real-world situations, student activities include small and large projects done in groups or individually, and lecture time is held to a minimum. (MKR)

Learning and Decision Making in Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rahimian, M. Amin

2017-01-01

Many important real-world decision-making problems involve group interactions among individuals with purely informational interactions. Such situations arise for example in jury deliberations, expert committees, medical diagnoses, etc. We model the purely informational interactions of group members, where they receive private information and act…

Assessing Student Work to Support Curriculum Development: An Engineering Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saunders, Kevin; Brumm, Thomas; Brooke, Corly; Mickelson, Steve; Freeman, Steve

2013-01-01

Knowledge and abilities associated with interdisciplinary education include integrating knowledge across disciplines, applying knowledge to real-world situations, and demonstrating skills in creativity, teamwork, communication, and collaboration. This case study discusses how a departmental curriculum committee in Agricultural and Biosystems…

Decision-making tool for applying adaptive traffic control systems : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-03-01

Adaptive traffic signal control technologies have been increasingly deployed in real world situations. The objective of this project was to develop a decision-making tool to guide traffic engineers and decision-makers who must decide whether or not a...

Ideas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Marcy

1989-01-01

Provided are four activities focusing on the application of mathematics to real-world situations: (1) Baby Weight; (2) High Temperature; (3) Skin Weight; and (4) Whale Weight. Each activity contains the objective, directions, extensions, and answers with worksheet. The activities required include the skills of making charts and graphs. (YP)

Africa road safety review : final report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-12-01

A number of studies of road crashes worldwide (Jacobs et al, 2000) carried out by TRL in : recent years have shown that the road safety situation throughout the African continent is one : of the worst in the world. With approximately only 4 per cent ...