Activity recognition with smartphone support.

PubMed

Guiry, John J; van de Ven, Pepijn; Nelson, John; Warmerdam, Lisanne; Riper, Heleen

2014-06-01

In this paper, the authors describe a method of accurately detecting human activity using a smartphone accelerometer paired with a dedicated chest sensor. The design, implementation, testing and validation of a custom mobility classifier are also presented. Offline analysis was carried out to compare this custom classifier to de-facto machine learning algorithms, including C4.5, CART, SVM, Multi-Layer Perceptrons, and Naïve Bayes. A series of trials were carried out in Ireland, initially involving N=6 individuals to test the feasibility of the system, before a final trial with N=24 subjects took place in the Netherlands. The protocol used and analysis of 1165min of recorded activities from these trials are described in detail in this paper. Analysis of collected data indicate that accelerometers placed in these locations, are capable of recognizing activities including sitting, standing, lying, walking, running and cycling with accuracies as high as 98%. Copyright © 2014 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Survival analysis for customer satisfaction: A case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadiyat, M. A.; Wahyudi, R. D.; Sari, Y.

2017-11-01

Most customer satisfaction surveys are conducted periodically to track their dynamics. One of the goals of this survey was to evaluate the service design by recognizing the trend of satisfaction score. Many researchers recommended in redesigning the service when the satisfaction scores were decreasing, so that the service life cycle could be predicted qualitatively. However, these scores were usually set in Likert scale and had quantitative properties. Thus, they should also be analyzed in quantitative model so that the predicted service life cycle would be done by applying the survival analysis. This paper discussed a starting point for customer satisfaction survival analysis with a case study in healthcare service.

The ALMA OT in early science: supporting multiple customers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bridger, Alan; Williams, Stewart; McLay, Stewart; Yatagai, Hiroshi; Schilling, Marcus; Biggs, Andrew; Tobar, Rodrigo; Warmels, Rein H.

2012-09-01

The ALMA Observatory is currently operating 'Early Science' observing. The Cycle0 and Cycle1 Calls for Proposals are part of this Early Science, and in both the ALMA Observing Tool plays a crucial role. This paper describes how the ALMA OT tackles the problem of making millimeter/sub-millimeter interferometry accessible to the wider community, while allowing "experts" the power and flexibility they need. We will also describe our approach to the challenges of supporting multiple customers, and explore the lessons learnt from the Early Science experiences. Finally we look ahead to the challenges presented by future observing cycles.

[Targeting abattoirs to control cystic echinococcosis in Algeria].

PubMed

Benchikh ElFegoun, M C; Kohil, K; L'Ollivier, C; Lleu, M; Babelhadj, B; Piarroux, M; Gharbi, M; Piarroux, R

2016-08-01

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is an important anthropozoonotic parasitic common in Algeria. The predominant life cycle of E. granulosus is a synanthropic cycle with domestic dogs as definitive hosts and livestock animals as intermediate hosts. Slaughter activity represents a potential source for dogs to access infected offal. The aim of the present study was to determine if the contact between dogs and potentially infected offal was possible in licensed abattoirs. Eighty-one private and public abattoirs located in eastern Algeria were assessed with respect to their level of protection against the intrusion of dogs.We have demonstrated that in 42 % of these abattoirs, dogs could easily come in contact with potentially parasitized offal. The most common incorrect practices were the dumping of offal freely into the environment, the feeding of dogs with offal, and the leaving of unattended offal in an unsealed chamber. Overall, some hazardous practices remained common customs of workers, and enough abattoirs remain non-compliant that the cattledog domestic cycle of CE is unlikely to be broken. Hence, some recommended measures to interrupt parasite transmission include the following: recognition of the importance of abattoirs in the maintenance of canine echinococcosis, the controlled and proper disposal of offal, the abolishment of the custom of feeding dogs with infected offal and improvements in the level of health education of abattoir staff.

Manufacturing Enhancement through Reduction of Cycle Time using Different Lean Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suganthini Rekha, R.; Periyasamy, P.; Nallusamy, S.

2017-08-01

In recent manufacturing system the most important parameters in production line are work in process, TAKT time and line balancing. In this article lean tools and techniques were implemented to reduce the cycle time. The aim is to enhance the productivity of the water pump pipe by identifying the bottleneck stations and non value added activities. From the initial time study the bottleneck processes were identified and then necessary expanding processes were also identified for the bottleneck process. Subsequently the improvement actions have been established and implemented using different lean tools like value stream mapping, 5S and line balancing. The current state value stream mapping was developed to describe the existing status and to identify various problem areas. 5S was used to implement the steps to reduce the process cycle time and unnecessary movements of man and material. The improvement activities were implemented with required suggested and the future state value stream mapping was developed. From the results it was concluded that the total cycle time was reduced about 290.41 seconds and the customer demand has been increased about 760 units.

Complaints as starting point for vicious cycles in customer-employee-interactions.

PubMed

Traut-Mattausch, Eva; Wagner, Sara; Pollatos, Olga; Jonas, Eva

2015-01-01

A ring-model of vicious cycles in customer-employee-interaction is proposed: service employees perceive complaints as a threat to their self-esteem resulting in defense responses such as an increased need for cognitive closure, a devaluation of the customer and their information and degrading service behavior. Confronted with such degrading service behavior, customers react defensively as well, by devaluing the employee for example with regard to his/her competence and by reducing repurchase and positive word-of-mouth (WOM). Three studies investigated each link in this ring-model. In study 1, participants were confronted with an aggressive or neutral customer complaint. Results show that motivated closed-mindedness (one aspect of the need for cognitive closure) increases after an aggressive complaint leading to a devaluation of the customer and their information, and in turn to a degrading service reaction. In study 2, participants were confronted with a degrading or favorable service reaction. Results show that they devaluate the employees' competence after receiving a degrading service reaction and thus reduce their intention to repurchase. In study 3, we finally examined our predictions investigating real customer-employee-interactions: we analyzed data from an evaluation study in which mystery callers tested the service hotline of an airline. Results show that the employees' competence is devaluated after degrading behavior and thus reduces positive WOM.

19 CFR 207.27 - Short life cycle products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Short life cycle products. 207.27 Section 207.27... SUBSIDIZED EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES Final Determinations, Short Life Cycle Products § 207.27 Short life... short life cycle merchandise which has been the subject of two or more affirmative dumping...

19 CFR 207.27 - Short life cycle products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Short life cycle products. 207.27 Section 207.27... SUBSIDIZED EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES Final Determinations, Short Life Cycle Products § 207.27 Short life... short life cycle merchandise which has been the subject of two or more affirmative dumping...

19 CFR 207.27 - Short life cycle products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Short life cycle products. 207.27 Section 207.27... SUBSIDIZED EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES Final Determinations, Short Life Cycle Products § 207.27 Short life... short life cycle merchandise which has been the subject of two or more affirmative dumping...

19 CFR 207.27 - Short life cycle products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Short life cycle products. 207.27 Section 207.27... SUBSIDIZED EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES Final Determinations, Short Life Cycle Products § 207.27 Short life... short life cycle merchandise which has been the subject of two or more affirmative dumping...

19 CFR 207.27 - Short life cycle products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Short life cycle products. 207.27 Section 207.27... SUBSIDIZED EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES Final Determinations, Short Life Cycle Products § 207.27 Short life... short life cycle merchandise which has been the subject of two or more affirmative dumping...

Development of Hybrid Product Breakdown Structure for NASA Ground Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Monaghan, Mark W.; Henry, Robert J.

2013-01-01

The Product Breakdown Structure is traditionally a method of identification of the products of a project in a tree structure. It is a tool used to assess, plan, document, and display the equipment requirements for a project. It is part of a product based planning technique, and attempts to break down all components of a project in as much detail as possible, so that nothing is overlooked. The PBS for ground systems at the Kennedy Space Center is being developed to encompass the traditional requirements including the alignment of facility, systems, and components to the organizational hierarchy. The Ground Operations Product Breakdown Structure is a hybrid in nature in that some aspects of a work breakdown structure will be incorporated and merged with the Architecture Concept of Operations, Master Subsystem List, customer interface, and assigned management responsibility. The Ground Operations Product Breakdown Structure needs to be able to identify the flexibility of support differing customers (internal and external) usage of ground support equipment within the Kennedy Space Center launch and processing complex. The development of the Product Breakdown Structure is an iterative activity Initially documenting the organization hierarchy structure and relationships. The Product Breakdown Structure identifies the linkage between the customer program requirements, allocation of system resources, development of design goals, and identification logistics products. As the Product Breakdown Structure progresses the incorporation of the results of requirement planning for the customer occurs identifying facility needs and systems. The mature Product Breakdown Structure is baselined with a hierarchical drawing, the Product Breakdown Structure database, and an associated document identifying the verification of the data through the life cycle of the program/product line. This paper will document, demonstrate, and identify key aspects of the life cycle of a Hybrid Product Breakdown Structure. The purpose is to show how a project management and system engineering approach can be utilized for providing flexible customer service in an evolving manned space flight launch processing environment.

Product development cycle time reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farran, Robin

1992-05-01

We are facing here today the key issues that face us in the competitive environment. North American companies are struggling to compete in the global marketplace. Gone are the days when presence ensured success. Then, sales and earnings were guaranteed. Today the competition is intense. Many manufacturing and service companies are no longer competitive. Traditionally, manufacturing companies have created the most wealth for the community and economy. Losing this ability to create wealth is tragic and unnecessary. A company can only be successful by focusing on customer satisfaction at competitive costs. Revenue growth and earnings growth require a continuous stream of products that anticipate the customers' needs, result from shorter and shorter innovation cycles, continually improve in quality, and are produced at improved costs on each cycle. The best opportunities for increased quality and decreased costs are with new products. Sure, work on quality and costs everyday. The biggest changes, however, will come through the new product development cycle. We must improve our development processes to provide leadership products which result in high levels of customer satisfaction. This is a prerequisite for business success. When presence in the marketplace was a virtual guarantee of success for a North American company, technology tended to drive the products, and the customers bought virtually everything that was produced. Functional excellence was stressed within companies ... and that was enough. Effective planning processes were not a prerequisite for success. Today success demands highly developed business research and planning processes, and functional excellence combined with organizational capabilities that ensure commercialization excellence.

77 FR 59373 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-27

...: International Trade Administration. Title: Domestic Client Life-cycle Multi-Purpose Forms. OMB Control Number... customized for each CS client, and will cover all aspects of a client's life-cycle with CS, involves merging...

Configurable e-commerce-oriented distributed seckill system with high availability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Liye

2018-04-01

The rapid development of e-commerce prompted the birth of seckill activity. Seckill activity greatly stimulated public shopping desire because of its significant attraction to customers. In a seckill activity, a limited number of products will be sold at varying degrees of discount, which brings a huge temptation for customers. The discounted products are usually sold out in seconds, which can be a huge challenge for e-commerce systems. In this case, a seckill system with high concurrency and high availability has very practical significance. This research cooperates with Huijin Department Store to design and implement a seckill system of e-commerce platform. The seckill system supports high concurrency network conditions and is highly available in unexpected situation. In addition, due to the short life cycle of seckill activity, the system has the flexibility to be configured and scalable, which means that it is able to add or re-move system resources on demand. Finally, this paper carried out the function test and the performance test of the whole system. The test results show that the system meets the functional requirements and performance requirements of suppliers, administrators as well as users.

Rapid Prototyping Methodology in Action: A Developmental Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Toni Stokes; Richey, Rita C.

2000-01-01

Investigated the use of rapid prototyping methodologies in two projects conducted in a natural work setting to determine the nature of its use by designers and customers and the extent to which its use enhances traditional instructional design. Discusses design and development cycle-time reduction, product quality, and customer and designer…

The evaluation of anoxia responsive E2F DNA binding activity in the red eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans.

PubMed

Biggar, Kyle K; Storey, Kenneth B

2018-01-01

In many cases, the DNA-binding activity of a transcription factor does not change, while its transcriptional activity is greatly influenced by the make-up of bound proteins. In this study, we assessed the protein composition and DNA-binding ability of the E2F transcription factor complex to provide insight into cell cycle control in an anoxia tolerant turtle through the use of a modified ELISA protocol. This modification also permits the use of custom DNA probes that are tailored to a specific DNA binding region, introducing the ability to design capture probes for non-model organisms. Through the use of EMSA and ELISA DNA binding assays, we have successfully determined the in vitro DNA binding activity and complex dynamics of the Rb/E2F cell cycle regulatory mechanisms in an anoxic turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans . Repressive cell cycle proteins (E2F4, Rb, HDAC4 and Suv39H1) were found to significantly increase at E2F DNA-binding sites upon anoxic exposure in anoxic turtle liver. The lack of p130 involvement in the E2F DNA-bound complex indicates that anoxic turtle liver may maintain G 1 arrest for the duration of stress survival.

The evaluation of anoxia responsive E2F DNA binding activity in the red eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans

PubMed Central

Biggar, Kyle K.

2018-01-01

In many cases, the DNA-binding activity of a transcription factor does not change, while its transcriptional activity is greatly influenced by the make-up of bound proteins. In this study, we assessed the protein composition and DNA-binding ability of the E2F transcription factor complex to provide insight into cell cycle control in an anoxia tolerant turtle through the use of a modified ELISA protocol. This modification also permits the use of custom DNA probes that are tailored to a specific DNA binding region, introducing the ability to design capture probes for non-model organisms. Through the use of EMSA and ELISA DNA binding assays, we have successfully determined the in vitro DNA binding activity and complex dynamics of the Rb/E2F cell cycle regulatory mechanisms in an anoxic turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans. Repressive cell cycle proteins (E2F4, Rb, HDAC4 and Suv39H1) were found to significantly increase at E2F DNA-binding sites upon anoxic exposure in anoxic turtle liver. The lack of p130 involvement in the E2F DNA-bound complex indicates that anoxic turtle liver may maintain G1 arrest for the duration of stress survival. PMID:29770276

An XML-Based Manipulation and Query Language for Rule-Based Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mansour, Essam; Höpfner, Hagen

Rules are utilized to assist in the monitoring process that is required in activities, such as disease management and customer relationship management. These rules are specified according to the application best practices. Most of research efforts emphasize on the specification and execution of these rules. Few research efforts focus on managing these rules as one object that has a management life-cycle. This paper presents our manipulation and query language that is developed to facilitate the maintenance of this object during its life-cycle and to query the information contained in this object. This language is based on an XML-based model. Furthermore, we evaluate the model and language using a prototype system applied to a clinical case study.

A Data-Driven Approach to Reverse Engineering Customer Engagement Models: Towards Functional Constructs

PubMed Central

de Vries, Natalie Jane; Carlson, Jamie; Moscato, Pablo

2014-01-01

Online consumer behavior in general and online customer engagement with brands in particular, has become a major focus of research activity fuelled by the exponential increase of interactive functions of the internet and social media platforms and applications. Current research in this area is mostly hypothesis-driven and much debate about the concept of Customer Engagement and its related constructs remains existent in the literature. In this paper, we aim to propose a novel methodology for reverse engineering a consumer behavior model for online customer engagement, based on a computational and data-driven perspective. This methodology could be generalized and prove useful for future research in the fields of consumer behaviors using questionnaire data or studies investigating other types of human behaviors. The method we propose contains five main stages; symbolic regression analysis, graph building, community detection, evaluation of results and finally, investigation of directed cycles and common feedback loops. The ‘communities’ of questionnaire items that emerge from our community detection method form possible ‘functional constructs’ inferred from data rather than assumed from literature and theory. Our results show consistent partitioning of questionnaire items into such ‘functional constructs’ suggesting the method proposed here could be adopted as a new data-driven way of human behavior modeling. PMID:25036766

A data-driven approach to reverse engineering customer engagement models: towards functional constructs.

PubMed

de Vries, Natalie Jane; Carlson, Jamie; Moscato, Pablo

2014-01-01

Online consumer behavior in general and online customer engagement with brands in particular, has become a major focus of research activity fuelled by the exponential increase of interactive functions of the internet and social media platforms and applications. Current research in this area is mostly hypothesis-driven and much debate about the concept of Customer Engagement and its related constructs remains existent in the literature. In this paper, we aim to propose a novel methodology for reverse engineering a consumer behavior model for online customer engagement, based on a computational and data-driven perspective. This methodology could be generalized and prove useful for future research in the fields of consumer behaviors using questionnaire data or studies investigating other types of human behaviors. The method we propose contains five main stages; symbolic regression analysis, graph building, community detection, evaluation of results and finally, investigation of directed cycles and common feedback loops. The 'communities' of questionnaire items that emerge from our community detection method form possible 'functional constructs' inferred from data rather than assumed from literature and theory. Our results show consistent partitioning of questionnaire items into such 'functional constructs' suggesting the method proposed here could be adopted as a new data-driven way of human behavior modeling.

Computational tool for simulation of power and refrigeration cycles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Córdoba Tuta, E.; Reyes Orozco, M.

2016-07-01

Small improvement in thermal efficiency of power cycles brings huge cost savings in the production of electricity, for that reason have a tool for simulation of power cycles allows modeling the optimal changes for a best performance. There is also a big boom in research Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), which aims to get electricity at low power through cogeneration, in which the working fluid is usually a refrigerant. A tool to design the elements of an ORC cycle and the selection of the working fluid would be helpful, because sources of heat from cogeneration are very different and in each case would be a custom design. In this work the development of a multiplatform software for the simulation of power cycles and refrigeration, which was implemented in the C ++ language and includes a graphical interface which was developed using multiplatform environment Qt and runs on operating systems Windows and Linux. The tool allows the design of custom power cycles, selection the type of fluid (thermodynamic properties are calculated through CoolProp library), calculate the plant efficiency, identify the fractions of flow in each branch and finally generates a report very educational in pdf format via the LaTeX tool.

Development of a method of exposed characteristic points in activity pattern for rat behaviour classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stefko, Kamil; Bukowski, Tomasz; Urbański, Michał

2012-03-01

A fast method for visual inspection and classification of massive locomotor activity data registered from laboratory rats is presented. Positions in the home cage of one hundred rats have been constantly recorded during 90 day period using photodiodes and beam crossing method with use of custom build system. Direct inspection and comparison of classic form of actograms did not bring information for fast and easy recognition of anomalies in daily behavioural cycle. A method of obtaining fast and easy to compare locomotor activity pattern is presented. The key point of proposed method is exposition of characteristic points in the activity diagram. About 9000 actograms were inspected and classified for investigation with use of ANOVA.

Angular Alignment Testing of Laser Mirror Mounts Under Temperature Cycling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bullock, K. T.; DeYoung, R. J.; Sandford, S. P.

1997-01-01

A number of commercial and custom-built laser mirror mounts were tested for angular alignment sensitivity during temperature cycling from room temperature (20 C) to 40 C. A Nd:YAG laser beam was reflected off a mirror that was held by the mount under test and was directed to a position-sensitive detector. Horizontal and vertical movement of the reflected beam was recorded, and the angular movement, as a function of temperature (coefficient of thermal tilt (CTT)) was calculated from these data. In addition, the amount of hysteresis in the movement after cycling from room temperature to 40 C and back was determined. All commercial mounts showed greater angular movement than the simpler National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (NASA LASE) custom mirror mounts.

75 FR 38581 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; the Depository Trust Company; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-02

... customer account transfers within specified time frames. \\5\\ CNS is an ongoing accounting system which nets... by book-entry. This allocation of securities is accomplished through an evening cycle followed by a day cycle. Positions which remain open after the evening cycle may be changed as a result of trades...

A Study of the Air Force’s Exception Management Process: Its Effect on Customer Service and Order Processing

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-09-01

The purpose of this study was two-fold; the first goal was to determine what the SBSS order processing is, and secondly to determine the effect the...current method of ECC management has on the SBSS order processing cycle and the level of customer service rendered by base supply. The research...revealed that exception management is a crucial component of a successful order processing function. Further, it was established that the level of customer

Analysis of credit linked demand in an inventory model with varying ordering cost.

PubMed

Banu, Ateka; Mondal, Shyamal Kumar

2016-01-01

In this paper, we have considered an economic order quantity model for deteriorating items with two-level trade credit policy in which a delay in payment is offered by a supplier to a retailer and also an another delay in payment is offered by the retailer to his/her all customers. Here, it is proposed that the demand function is dependent on the length of the customer's credit period and also the duration of offering the credit period. In this article, it is considered that the retailer's ordering cost per order depends on the number of replenishment cycles. The objective of this model is to establish a deterministic EOQ model of deteriorating items for the retailer to decide the position of customers credit period and the number of replenishment cycles in finite time horizon such that the retailer gets the maximum profit. Also, the model is explained with the help of some numerical examples.

Approximation Algorithms for the Highway Problem under the Coupon Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamane, Ryoso; Itoh, Toshiya; Tomita, Kouhei

When a store sells items to customers, the store wishes to decide the prices of items to maximize its profit. Intuitively, if the store sells the items with low (resp. high) prices, the customers buy more (resp. less) items, which provides less profit to the store. So it would be hard for the store to decide the prices of items. Assume that the store has a set V of n items and there is a set E of m customers who wish to buy the items, and also assume that each item i ∈ V has the production cost di and each customer ej ∈ E has the valuation vj on the bundle ej ⊆ V of items. When the store sells an item i ∈ V at the price ri, the profit for the item i is pi = ri - di. The goal of the store is to decide the price of each item to maximize its total profit. We refer to this maximization problem as the item pricing problem. In most of the previous works, the item pricing problem was considered under the assumption that pi ≥ 0 for each i ∈ V, however, Balcan, et al. [In Proc. of WINE, LNCS 4858, 2007] introduced the notion of “loss-leader, ” and showed that the seller can get more total profit in the case that pi < 0 is allowed than in the case that pi < 0 is not allowed. In this paper, we consider the line highway problem (in which each customer is interested in an interval on the line of the items) and the cycle highway problem (in which each customer is interested in an interval on the cycle of the items), and show approximation algorithms for the line highway problem and the cycle highway problem in which the smallest valuation is s and the largest valuation is l (this is called an [s, l]-valuation setting) or all valuations are identical (this is called a single valuation setting).

Hydraulic Hybrid and Conventional Parcel Delivery Vehicles' Measured Laboratory Fuel Economy on Targeted Drive Cycles

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

Lammert, M. P.; Burton, J.; Sindler, P.

2014-10-01

This research project compares laboratory-measured fuel economy of a medium-duty diesel powered hydraulic hybrid vehicle drivetrain to both a conventional diesel drivetrain and a conventional gasoline drivetrain in a typical commercial parcel delivery application. Vehicles in this study included a model year 2012 Freightliner P100H hybrid compared to a 2012 conventional gasoline P100 and a 2012 conventional diesel parcel delivery van of similar specifications. Drive cycle analysis of 484 days of hybrid parcel delivery van commercial operation from multiple vehicles was used to select three standard laboratory drive cycles as well as to create a custom representative cycle. These fourmore » cycles encompass and bracket the range of real world in-use data observed in Baltimore United Parcel Service operations. The NY Composite cycle, the City Suburban Heavy Vehicle Cycle cycle, and the California Air Resources Board Heavy Heavy-Duty Diesel Truck (HHDDT) cycle as well as a custom Baltimore parcel delivery cycle were tested at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Renewable Fuels and Lubricants Laboratory. Fuel consumption was measured and analyzed for all three vehicles. Vehicle laboratory results are compared on the basis of fuel economy. The hydraulic hybrid parcel delivery van demonstrated 19%-52% better fuel economy than the conventional diesel parcel delivery van and 30%-56% better fuel economy than the conventional gasoline parcel delivery van on cycles other than the highway-oriented HHDDT cycle.« less

77 FR 55487 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Voluntary Customer Survey

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-10

... Activities; Voluntary Customer Survey AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland... (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act: Voluntary Customer Survey... forms of information. Title: Voluntary Customer Survey. OMB Number: 1651-0135. Abstract: Customs and...

77 FR 36566 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Voluntary Customer Survey

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-19

... Activities: Voluntary Customer Survey AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of... requirement concerning a Voluntary Customer Survey. This request for comment is being made pursuant to the... following information collection: Title: Voluntary Customer Survey. OMB Number: 1651-0135. Abstract: Customs...

Lean manufacturing: A better way for enhancement in productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar Ahir, Pankaj; Kumar Yadav, Lalit; Singh Chandrawat, Saurabh

2012-03-01

Productivity is the impact of peoples working together. Machines are merely an extended way of collective imagination and energy. Lean Manufacturing is the most used method for continues improvement of business. Organization management philosophy focusing on the reduction of wastage to improve overall customer value. "Lean" operating principles began in manufacturing environments and are known by a variety of synonyms; Lean Manufacturing, Lean Production, Toyota Production System, etc. It is commonly believed that Lean started in Japan "The notable activities in keeping the price of Ford products low is the steady restriction of the production cycle. The longer an article is in the process of manufacture and the more it is moved about, the greater is its ultimate cost." "A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste through continuous improvement, flowing the product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection."

Scanning Electron Microscopy Analysis of the Adaptation of Single-Unit Screw-Retained Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacture Abutments After Mechanical Cycling.

PubMed

Markarian, Roberto Adrian; Galles, Deborah Pedroso; Gomes França, Fabiana Mantovani

To measure the microgap between dental implants and custom abutments fabricated using different computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacture (CAD/CAM) methods before and after mechanical cycling. CAD software (Dental System, 3Shape) was used to design a custom abutment for a single-unit, screw-retained crown compatible with a 4.1-mm external hexagon dental implant. The resulting stereolithography file was sent for manufacturing using four CAD/CAM methods (n = 40): milling and sintering of zirconium dioxide (ZO group), cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr) sintered via selective laser melting (SLM group), fully sintered machined Co-Cr alloy (MM group), and machined and sintered agglutinated Co-Cr alloy powder (AM group). Prefabricated titanium abutments (TI group) were used as controls. Each abutment was placed on a dental implant measuring 4.1× 11 mm (SA411, SIN) inserted into an aluminum block. Measurements were taken using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (×4,000) on four regions of the implant-abutment interface (IAI) and at a relative distance of 90 degrees from each other. The specimens were mechanically aged (1 million cycles, 2 Hz, 100 N, 37°C) and the IAI width was measured again using the same approach. Data were analyzed using two-way analysis of variance, followed by the Tukey test. After mechanical cycling, the best adaptation results were obtained from the TI (2.29 ± 1.13 μm), AM (3.58 ± 1.80 μm), and MM (1.89 ± 0.98 μm) groups. A significantly worse adaptation outcome was observed for the SLM (18.40 ± 20.78 μm) and ZO (10.42 ± 0.80 μm) groups. Mechanical cycling had a marked effect only on the AM specimens, which significantly increased the microgap at the IAI. Custom abutments fabricated using fully sintered machined Co-Cr alloy and machined and sintered agglutinated Co-Cr alloy powder demonstrated the best adaptation results at the IAI, similar to those obtained with commercial prefabricated titanium abutments after mechanical cycling. The adaptation of custom abutments made by means of SLM or milling and sintering of zirconium dioxide were worse both before and after mechanical cycling.

Effects of timber harvesting on the genetic potential for carbon and nitrogen cycling in five North American forest ecozones.

PubMed

Cardenas, Erick; Orellana, Luis H; Konstantinidis, Konstantinos T; Mohn, William W

2018-02-16

Forest ecosystems are critical to global biogeochemical cycles but under pressure from harvesting and climate change. We investigated the effects of organic matter (OM) removal during forest harvesting on the genetic potential of soil communities for biomass decomposition and nitrogen cycling in five ecozones across North America. We analyzed 107 samples, representing four treatments with varied levels of OM removal, at Long-Term Soil Productivity Study sites. Samples were collected more than ten years after harvesting and replanting and were analyzed via shotgun metagenomics. High-quality short reads totaling 1.2 Tbp were compared to the Carbohydrate Active Enzyme (CAZy) database and a custom database of nitrogen cycle genes. Gene profile variation was mostly explained by ecozone and soil layer. Eleven CAZy and nine nitrogen cycle gene families were associated with particular soil layers across all ecozones. Treatment effects on gene profiles were mainly due to harvesting, and only rarely to the extent of OM removal. Harvesting generally decreased the relative abundance of CAZy genes while increasing that of nitrogen cycle genes, although these effects varied among ecozones. Our results suggest that ecozone-specific nutrient availability modulates the sensitivity of the carbon and nitrogen cycles to harvesting with possible consequences for long-term forest sustainability.

Fleet DNA (Presentation)

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

Walkokwicz, K.; Duran, A.

2014-06-01

The Fleet DNA project objectives include capturing and quantifying drive cycle and technology variation for the multitude of medium- and heavy-duty vocations; providing a common data storage warehouse for medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fleet data across DOE activities and laboratories; and integrating existing DOE tools, models, and analyses to provide data-driven decision making capabilities. Fleet DNA advantages include: for Government - providing in-use data for standard drive cycle development, R&D, tech targets, and rule making; for OEMs - real-world usage datasets provide concrete examples of customer use profiles; for fleets - vocational datasets help illustrate how to maximize return onmore » technology investments; for Funding Agencies - ways are revealed to optimize the impact of financial incentive offers; and for researchers -a data source is provided for modeling and simulation.« less

Proceedings: Workshop on Environmental Considerations in the Life-Cycle of Paints and Coatings Held in Champaign, Illinois on September 9-10, 1986

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-07-01

MSDS or Material Safety Data Sheets from our suppliers and we are required to provide the same for our customers . We are required to train our personnel...non-sparking tools. Labels We protect our customers by labeling our materials in accordance with the NPCA Labeling Guide which is at least as...stringent as any federal or local regulations, by providing Material Safety Data Sheets and by providing customer assistance O when requested regarding safe

75 FR 27563 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Voluntary Customer Survey

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-17

... Activities: Voluntary Customer Survey AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of... collection requirement concerning a Voluntary Customer Survey. This request for comment is being made... soliciting comments concerning the following information collection: Title: Voluntary Customer Survey. OMB...

Washing Out the Competition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

AJT Associates, Inc. (AJT) worked with NASA to develop a revolutionary ozone-based laundry system. AJT's TecH2Ozone(R) wash system presents its customers with an energy-efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally safe way to perform commercial laundering. TecH2Ozone significantly reduces the amount of water and chemical used as compared to traditional commercial laundry systems. This reduction has resulted in lower cost and shorter wash cycles. And due to the reduced use of chemicals, a significant portion of the rinse water is recycled back into the system for reuse. TecH2Ozone customers, such as hotels and other large commercial laundry facilities, have felt the benefits of this equipment. Because of the reduced cycle times, fewer washers are needed and there is a notable increase in the cleanliness of the laundry. The reduction in chemical residues is a boon to customers with allergies and those prone to skin irritation from chemicals retained in regular laundry. AJT Associates, Inc. (AJT) worked with NASA to develop a revolutionary ozone-based laundry system. AJT's TecH2Ozone(R) wash system presents its customers with an energy-efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally safe way to perform commercial laundering.

75 FR 47607 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Voluntary Customer Survey

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-06

... Activities: Voluntary Customer Survey AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland... review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act: Voluntary Customer Survey. This is a.... Title: Voluntary Customer Survey. OMB Number: Will be assigned upon approval. Form Number: None...

78 FR 30934 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-23

... Activities: Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection... information collection requirement concerning the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). This... information collection: Title: Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). OMB Number: 1651-0077...

75 FR 19654 - U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Customs-Trade...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-15

... Activities: Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection... Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). This is a proposed extension of an information collection that was... Terrorism (C-TPAT). OMB Number: 1651-0077. Form Number: None. Abstract: The Customs-Trade Partnership...

78 FR 44961 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-25

... Activities; Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection... accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act: Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). This is a...: Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). OMB Number: 1651-0077. Form Number: None. Abstract...

17 CFR 3.33 - Withdrawal from registration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... such activities: (i) That all customer, retail forex customer or option customer agreements, if any, have been terminated; (ii) That all customer, retail forex customer or option customer positions, if... customer, retail forex customer or option customer cash balances, securities, or other property, if any...

Single-accelerometer-based daily physical activity classification.

PubMed

Long, Xi; Yin, Bin; Aarts, Ronald M

2009-01-01

In this study, a single tri-axial accelerometer placed on the waist was used to record the acceleration data for human physical activity classification. The data collection involved 24 subjects performing daily real-life activities in a naturalistic environment without researchers' intervention. For the purpose of assessing customers' daily energy expenditure, walking, running, cycling, driving, and sports were chosen as target activities for classification. This study compared a Bayesian classification with that of a Decision Tree based approach. A Bayes classifier has the advantage to be more extensible, requiring little effort in classifier retraining and software update upon further expansion or modification of the target activities. Principal components analysis was applied to remove the correlation among features and to reduce the feature vector dimension. Experiments using leave-one-subject-out and 10-fold cross validation protocols revealed a classification accuracy of approximately 80%, which was comparable with that obtained by a Decision Tree classifier.

78 FR 21008 - Proposed Information Collection (NCA Customer Satisfaction Surveys (Headstone/Marker) Activity...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-08

... Customer Satisfaction Surveys (Headstone/Marker) Activity: Comment Request AGENCY: National Cemetery... estimates relating to customer satisfaction surveys involving the National Cemetery Administration (NCA.... Title: Generic Clearance for NCA, and IG Customer Satisfaction Surveys. OMB Control Number: 2900-0571...

Product manufacturing, quality, and reliability initiatives to maintain a competitive advantage and meet customer expectations in the semiconductor industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Capps, Gregory

Semiconductor products are manufactured and consumed across the world. The semiconductor industry is constantly striving to manufacture products with greater performance, improved efficiency, less energy consumption, smaller feature sizes, thinner gate oxides, and faster speeds. Customers have pushed towards zero defects and require a more reliable, higher quality product than ever before. Manufacturers are required to improve yields, reduce operating costs, and increase revenue to maintain a competitive advantage. Opportunities exist for integrated circuit (IC) customers and manufacturers to work together and independently to reduce costs, eliminate waste, reduce defects, reduce warranty returns, and improve quality. This project focuses on electrical over-stress (EOS) and re-test okay (RTOK), two top failure return mechanisms, which both make great defect reduction opportunities in customer-manufacturer relationship. Proactive continuous improvement initiatives and methodologies are addressed with emphasis on product life cycle, manufacturing processes, test, statistical process control (SPC), industry best practices, customer education, and customer-manufacturer interaction.

Preliminary Study on Kano Model in the Conceptual Design Activities for Product Lifecycle Improvement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fahrul Hassan, Mohd; Rahman, M. R. A.; Arifin, A. M. T.; Ismail, A. E.; Rasidi Ibrahim, M.; Zulafif Rahim, M.; Fauzi Ahmad, Md

2017-08-01

Product manufactured with short life cycle had only one major issue, it can lead to increasing volume of waste. Day by day, this untreated waste had consumed many landfill spaces, waiting for any possible alternatives. Lack of product recovery knowledge and recyclability features imprinted into product design are one of the main reason behind all this. Sustainable awareness aspect should not just be implied into people’s mind, but also onto product design. This paper presents a preliminary study on Kano model method in the conceptual design activities to improve product lifecycle. Kano model is a survey-type method, used to analyze and distinguished product qualities or features, also how the customers may have perceived them. Three important attributes of Kano model are performance, attractive and must-be. The proposed approach enables better understanding of customer requirements while providing a way for Kano model to be integrated into engineering design to improve product’s end-of-life. Further works will be continued to provide a better lifecycle option (increase percentage of reuse, remanufacture or recycle, whereby decrease percentage of waste) of a product using Kano model approach.

77 FR 20887 - Proposed Information Collection (National Acquisition Center Customer Response Survey) Activity...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-06

... information needed to measure customer satisfaction with delivered products and services. DATES: Written... (National Acquisition Center Customer Response Survey) Activity; Comment Request AGENCY: Office of...: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Acquisition Center Customer Response Survey, VA Form 0863. OMB...

78 FR 70065 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Customs Declaration

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-22

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Customs Declaration AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for comments; Extension of an existing collection of information...

78 FR 46594 - Extension of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Aviation Security Customer...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-01

... Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Aviation Security Customer Satisfaction Performance... surveying travelers to measure customer satisfaction of aviation security in an effort to more efficiently... Title: Aviation Security Customer Satisfaction Performance Measurement Passenger Survey. Type of Request...

75 FR 29567 - Extension of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Aviation Security Customer...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-26

... Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Aviation Security Customer Satisfaction Performance... surveying travelers to measure customer satisfaction of aviation security in an effort to more efficiently.... Information Collection Requirement OMB Control Number 1652-0013; Aviation Security Customer Satisfaction...

Financial and environmental impacts of new technologies in the energy sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duthu, Ray Charles, III

Energy industries (generation, transmission and distribution of fuels and electricity) have a long history as the key elements of the US energy economy and have operated within a mostly consistent niche in our society for the past century. However, varieties of interrelated drivers are forcing changes to these industries' business practices, relationship to their customers, and function in society. In the electric utility industry, the customer is moving towards acting as a fuller partner in the energy economy: buying, selling, and dispatching its demand according to its own incentives. Natural gas exploration and production has long operated out in rural areas farther from public concerns or regulations, but now, due to hydraulic fracturing, new exploration is occurring in more urbanized, developed regions of the country and is creating significant public concern. For these industries, the challenges to their economic development and to improvements to the energy sector are not necessarily technological; but are social, business, and policy problems. This dissertation seeks to understand and design towards these issues by building economic and life cycle assessment models that quantify value, potential monetization, and the potential difference between the monetization and value for two new technologies: customer-owned distributed generation systems and integrated development plans with pipeline water transport in hydraulically fractured oil and gas fields. An inclusive business model of a generic customer in Fort Collins, Co and its surrounding utilities demonstrates that traditional utility rates provide customers with incentives that encourage over-monetization of a customer's distributed generation resource at the expense of the utilities. Another model which compares customer behavior incented by traditional rates in three New England cities with the behavior incented through a real-time pricing market corroborates this conclusion. Daily customer load peak-shaving is shown to have a negligible and unreliable value in reducing the average cost of electricity and in some cases can increase these costs. These models support the hypothesis that distributed generation systems provide much greater value when operated during a few significant electricity price events than according to a daily cycle. New business practices which foster greater cooperation between customers and utilities, such as a real-time price market with a higher fidelity price signal, reconnect distributed generation's potential monetization to its value in the marketplace. These new business models are required to ensure that these new technologies are integrated into the electric grid and into the energy market in such a way that all of the market participants are interested and invested stakeholders. The truck transport of water associated with hydraulic fracturing creates significant local costs. A life cycle analysis of a hypothetical oil and gas field generic to the northern Colorado Denver-Julesburg basin quantifies the economic, environmental, and social costs associated with truck transport and compares these results with water pipeline systems. A literature review of incident data demonstrates that pipelines historically have spilled less hazardous material and caused fewer injuries and fatalities than truck transport systems. The life cycle analysis demonstrates that pipeline systems also emit less pollutants and cause less local road damage than comparable trucking systems. Pipeline systems are shown to be superior to trucking systems across all the metrics considered in this project. In each of these domains, this research has developed expanded-scope models of these new technologies and systems to quantify the tradeoffs that are present between monetization, environment, and economic value. The results point towards those business models, policies, and management practices that enable the development of more equitable, efficient, and sustainable energy systems.

Design of customer knowledge management system for Aglaonema Nursery in South Tangerang, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugiarto, D.; Mardianto, I.; Dewayana, TS; Khadafi, M.

2017-12-01

The purpose of this paper is to describe the design of customer knowledge management system to support customer relationship management activities for an aglaonema nursery in South Tangerang, Indonesia. System. The steps were knowledge identification (knowledge about customer, knowledge from customer, knowledge for customer), knowledge capture, codification, analysis of system requirement and create use case and activity diagram. The result showed that some key knowledge were about supporting customer in plant care (know how) and types of aglaonema including with the prices (know what). That knowledge for customer then codified and shared in knowledge portal website integrated with social media. Knowledge about customer were about customers and their behaviour in purchasing aglaonema. Knowledge from customer were about feedback, favorite and customer experience. Codified knowledge were placed and shared using content management system based on wordpress.

77 FR 4054 - Extension of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: TSA Customer Comment Card

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-26

... Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: TSA Customer Comment Card AGENCY: Transportation Security...). TSA uses a customer comment card to collect passenger comments at airports, including complaints... other forms of information technology. Information Collection Requirement Title: TSA Customer Comment...

Enhancing the revenue cycle experience for patients.

PubMed

Consolver, Patti; Phillips, Scott

2014-09-01

In 2013, Texas Health Resources began to record discussions with patients at each revenue cycle touch point, from scheduling through registration. The recordings give leaders insight on the accuracy and consistency of information communicated at each touch point and provide a tool for improving customer service. The initiative has improved patient satisfaction and increased point-of-service collections.

No evidence hip joint angle modulates intrinsically produced stretch reflex in human hopping.

PubMed

Gibson, W; Campbell, A; Allison, G

2013-09-01

Motor output in activities such as walking and hopping is suggested to be mediated neurally by purported stretch reflex augmentation of muscle output. Reflex EMG activity during these tasks has been frequently investigated in the soleus muscle; with alterations in reflex amplitude being associated with changes in hip joint angle/phase of the gait cycle. Previous work has focussed on reflex activity induced by an artificial perturbation or by induction of H-reflexes. As such, it is currently unknown if stretch reflex activity induced intrinsically (as part of the task) is modulated by changes in hip joint angle. This study investigated whether hip joint angle modulated reflex EMG 'burst' activity during a hopping task performed on a custom-built partially reclined sleigh. Ten subjects participated; EMG and kinematic data (VICON motor capture system) was collected for each hop cycle. Participants completed 5 sets of 30s of self-paced hopping in (1) hip neutral and (2) hip 60° flexion conditions. There was no difference in EMG 'burst' activity or in sagittal plane kinematics (knee/ankle) in the hopping task between the two conditions. The results indicate that during a functional task such as hopping, changes in hip angle do not alter the stretch reflex-like activity associated with landing. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

77 FR 38398 - Agency Information Collection (National Acquisition Center Customer Response Survey) Activities...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-27

... Acquisition Center Customer Response Survey) Activities Under OMB Review AGENCY: Office of Acquisition and... INFORMATION: Title: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Acquisition Center Customer Response Survey... collection. Abstract: VA Form 0863 will be used to collect customer's feedback and suggestions on delivered...

78 FR 76851 - Agency Information Collection Activities: BP Regulations Pertaining to Customs Brokers

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-19

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: BP Regulations Pertaining to Customs Brokers AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: 60-day notice and request for comments; extension of an existing...

Metatranscriptomic analysis of prokaryotic communities active in sulfur and arsenic cycling in Mono Lake, California, USA.

PubMed

Edwardson, Christian F; Hollibaugh, James T

2017-10-01

This study evaluates the transcriptionally active, dissimilatory sulfur- and arsenic-cycling components of the microbial community in alkaline, hypersaline Mono Lake, CA, USA. We sampled five depths spanning the redox gradient (10, 15, 18, 25 and 31 m) during maximum thermal stratification. We used custom databases to identify transcripts of genes encoding complex iron-sulfur molybdoenzyme (CISM) proteins, with a focus on arsenic (arrA, aioA and arxA) and sulfur cycling (dsrA, aprA and soxB), and assigned them to taxonomic bins. We also report on the distribution of transcripts related to the ars arsenic detoxification pathway. Transcripts from detoxification pathways were not abundant in oxic surface waters (10 m). Arsenic cycling in the suboxic and microaerophilic zones of the water column (15 and 18 m) was dominated by arsenite-oxidizing members of the Gammaproteobacteria most closely affiliated with Thioalkalivibrio and Halomonas, transcribing arxA. We observed a transition to arsenate-reducing bacteria belonging to the Deltaproteobacteria and Firmicutes transcribing arsenate reductase (arrA) in anoxic bottom waters of the lake (25 and 31 m). Sulfur cycling at 15 and 18 m was dominated by Gammaproteobacteria (Thioalkalivibrio and Thioalkalimicrobium) oxidizing reduced S species, with a transition to sulfate-reducing Deltaproteobacteria at 25 and 31 m. Genes related to arsenic and sulfur oxidation from Thioalkalivibrio were more highly transcribed at 15 m relative to other depths. Our data highlight the importance of Thioalkalivibrio to arsenic and sulfur biogeochemistry in Mono Lake and identify new taxa that appear capable of transforming arsenic.

78 FR 5855 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments; Clearance of a New Approval of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-28

... generic clearance for the purpose of gathering customer satisfaction data directly from customers for a... Activities: Requests for Comments; Clearance of a New Approval of Information Collection: FAA Customer... INFORMATION: OMB Control Number: 2120-XXXX Title: FAA Customer Service Surveys Form Numbers: There are no FAA...

75 FR 6678 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Customs and Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-10

... Activities: Customs and Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border... Terrorism (C-TPAT). This request for comment is being made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995... Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). OMB Number: 1651-0077. Form Number: None. Abstract: The Customs and Trade...

Complaints as starting point for vicious cycles in customer–employee-interactions

PubMed Central

Traut-Mattausch, Eva; Wagner, Sara; Pollatos, Olga; Jonas, Eva

2015-01-01

A ring-model of vicious cycles in customer–employee-interaction is proposed: service employees perceive complaints as a threat to their self-esteem resulting in defense responses such as an increased need for cognitive closure, a devaluation of the customer and their information and degrading service behavior. Confronted with such degrading service behavior, customers react defensively as well, by devaluing the employee for example with regard to his/her competence and by reducing repurchase and positive word-of-mouth (WOM). Three studies investigated each link in this ring-model. In study 1, participants were confronted with an aggressive or neutral customer complaint. Results show that motivated closed-mindedness (one aspect of the need for cognitive closure) increases after an aggressive complaint leading to a devaluation of the customer and their information, and in turn to a degrading service reaction. In study 2, participants were confronted with a degrading or favorable service reaction. Results show that they devaluate the employees’ competence after receiving a degrading service reaction and thus reduce their intention to repurchase. In study 3, we finally examined our predictions investigating real customer–employee-interactions: we analyzed data from an evaluation study in which mystery callers tested the service hotline of an airline. Results show that the employees’ competence is devaluated after degrading behavior and thus reduces positive WOM. PMID:26528194

Rocket University at KSC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sullivan, Steven J.

2014-01-01

"Rocket University" is an exciting new initiative at Kennedy Space Center led by NASA's Engineering and Technology Directorate. This hands-on experience has been established to develop, refine & maintain targeted flight engineering skills to enable the Agency and KSC strategic goals. Through "RocketU", KSC is developing a nimble, rapid flight engineering life cycle systems knowledge base. Ongoing activities in RocketU develop and test new technologies and potential customer systems through small scale vehicles, build and maintain flight experience through balloon and small-scale rocket missions, and enable a revolving fresh perspective of engineers with hands on expertise back into the large scale NASA programs, providing a more experienced multi-disciplined set of systems engineers. This overview will define the Program, highlight aspects of the training curriculum, and identify recent accomplishments and activities.

Agile

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trimble, Jay Phillip

2013-01-01

This is based on a previous talk on agile development. Methods for delivering software on a short cycle are described, including interactions with the customer, the affect on the team, and how to be more effective, streamlined and efficient.

Performance Comparison of High-Speed Dual-Pneumatic Vitrectomy Cutters during Simulated Vitrectomy with Balanced Salt Solution.

PubMed

Abulon, Dina Joy K; Buboltz, David C

2015-02-01

To measure flow rate of balanced salt solution and IOP during simulated vitrectomy using two sets of high-speed dual-pneumatic probes. A closed-model eye system measured IOP and flow rate of a balanced salt solution through infusion cannula. The Constellation Vision System was tested with two sets of high-speed dual-pneumatic probes (UltraVit 23-gauge and enhanced 25+-gauge 5000-cpm probes; UltraVit 23-gauge and enhanced 25+-gauge 7500-cpm probes; n = 6 each) under different vacuum levels and cut rates in three duty cycle modes. In both probe sets, flow rates were dependent on cut rate with the biased open and biased closed duty cycles. Flow rates were highest with the biased open duty cycle, lower with the 50/50 duty cycle, and lowest with the biased closed duty cycle. IOP, as expected, was inversely associated with flow rate using both probe sets. The 7500-cpm probes offer greater control and customization compared with 5000-cpm probes under certain experimental conditions. At maximum cut rates, performance of 7500-cpm probes was similar to that of 5000-cpm probes, suggesting that 7500-cpm probes may be used without sacrifice of flow rate and IOP stability. Customization of vitrectomy parameters allows greater surgeon control during vitrectomy and may expand the usefulness of vitrectomy probes.

The service-driven service company.

PubMed

Schlesinger, L A; Heskett, J L

1991-01-01

For more than 40 years, service companies like McDonald's prospered with organizations designed according to the principles of traditional mass-production manufacturing. Today that model is obsolete. It inevitably degrades the quality of service a company can provide by setting in motion a cycle of failure that produces dissatisfied customers, unhappy employees, high turnover among both--and so lower profits and lower productivity overall. The cycle starts with human resource policies that minimize the contributions frontline workers can make: jobs are designed to be idiot-proof. Technology is used largely for monitoring and control. Pay is poor. Training is minimal. Performance expectations are abysmally low. Today companies like Taco Bell, Dayton Hudson, and ServiceMaster are reversing the cycle of failure by putting workers with customer contact first and designing the business system around them. As a result, they are developing a model that replaces the logic of industrialization with a new service-driven logic. This logic: Values investments in people as much as investments in technology--and sometimes more. Uses technology to support the efforts of workers on the front lines, not just to monitor or replace them. Makes recruitment and training crucial for everyone. Links compensation to performance for employees at every level. To justify these investments, the new logic draws on innovative data such as the incremental profits of loyal customers and the total costs of lost employees. Its benefits are becoming clear in higher profits and higher pay--results that competitors bound to the old industrial model will not be able to match.

Honeywell optical investigations on FLASH program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Rourke, Ken; Peterson, Eric; Yount, Larry

1995-05-01

The increasing performance and reduction of life cycle cost requirements placed on commercial and military transport aircraft are resulting in more complex, highly integrated aircraft control and management systems. The use of fiber optic data transmission media can make significant contributions in achieving these performance and cost goals. The Honeywell portion of Task 2A on the Fly-by-Light Advanced System Hardware (FLASH) program is evaluating a Primary Flight Control System (PFCS) using pilot and copilot inputs from Active Hand Controllers (AHC) which are optically linked to the primary flight Control Computers (PFCC). Customer involvement is an important element of the Task 2A activity. Establishing customer requirements and perspectives on productization of systems developed under FLASH are key to future product success. The Honeywell elements of the PFCS demonstrator provide a command path that is optically interfaced from crew inputs to commands of distributed, smart actuation subsystems commands. Optical communication architectures are implemented using several protocols including the new AS-1773A 20 Mbps data bus standard. The interconnecting fiber optic cable plant is provided by our Task 1A teammate McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (West). Fiber optic cable plant fabrication uses processed, tools and materials reflecting necessary advances in manufacturing required to make fly-by-light avionics systems marketable.

48 CFR 538.272 - MAS price reductions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... maintain during the contract period the negotiated price/discount relationship (and/or term and condition relationship) between the eligible ordering activities and the offeror's customer or category of customers on... customers) that results in a less advantageous relationship between the eligible ordering activities and...

75 FR 9277 - Proposed Information Collection (Nation-Wide Customer Satisfaction Surveys) Activity: Comment...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-01

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS [OMB Control No. 2900-0712] Proposed Information Collection (Nation-Wide Customer Satisfaction Surveys) Activity: Comment Request AGENCY: Veterans Health Administration... use of other forms of information technology. Title: Nation-wide Customer Satisfaction Surveys, VA...

77 FR 64382 - Agency Information Collection (Nation-Wide Customer Satisfaction Surveys) Activities Under OMB...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-19

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS [OMB Control No. 2900-0712] Agency Information Collection (Nation-Wide Customer Satisfaction Surveys) Activities Under OMB Review AGENCY: Veterans Health Administration... ``OMB Control No. 2900-0712.'' SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Nation-wide Customer Satisfaction...

75 FR 25320 - Agency Information Collection (Nation-wide Customer Satisfaction Surveys) Activities Under OMB...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-07

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS [OMB Control No. 2900-0712] Agency Information Collection (Nation-wide Customer Satisfaction Surveys) Activities Under OMB Review AGENCY: Veterans Health Administration... ``OMB Control No. 2900-0712.'' SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Nation-wide Customer Satisfaction...

Activity Scratchpad Prototype: Simplifying the Rover Activity Planning Cycle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abramyan, Lucy

2005-01-01

The Mars Exploration Rover mission depends on the Science Activity Planner as its primary interface to the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers. Scientists alternate between a series of mouse clicks and keyboard inputs to create a set of instructions for the rovers. To accelerate planning by minimizing mouse usage, a rover planning editor should receive the majority of inputted commands from the keyboard. Thorough investigation of the Eclipse platform's Java editor has provided the understanding of the base model for the Activity Scratchpad. Desirable Eclipse features can be mapped to specific rover planning commands, such as auto-completion for activity titles and content assist for target names. A custom editor imitating the Java editor's features was created with an XML parser for experimenting purposes. The prototype editor minimized effort for redundant tasks and significantly improved the visual representation of XML syntax by highlighting keywords, coloring rules, folding projections, and providing hover assist, templates and an outline view of the code.

Acquisition of flat panel displays for military applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Atta, Richard H.; Goodell, Larry; Cohen, Brian S.; Lippitz, Michael J.; Marks, Michael B.; Bardsley, James N.; Kimzey, Charles H.

1998-09-01

Congress requested the Department of Defense (DoD) to study the acquisition of flat panel displays (FPDs) for military applications with specific attention to tradeoffs made in acquiring 'consumer-grade displays' rather than 'FPD systems that are custom designed to meet military requirements.' The study addresses: life cycle cost and performance tradeoffs, environmental and performance requirements and test data on performance of both custom and consumer-grade FPDs, life cycle cost and support issues such as commonality, supportability, and availability, potential benefits of FPD system interface standards and open systems approaches. The study found that appropriately ruggedized consumer-grade FPDs can meet the environmental and performance requirements for a broad range of military applications, including shipboard, command and control, army ground vehicles, military transport aviation, and soldier-portable computer systems. Currently, ruggedized consumer-grade FPDs cannot meet the specifications for some highly stressful applications, particularly tactical cockpit avionics. Due to lack of comparable and available data, programs have reached different judgments about the environmental tolerance and optical performance of ruggedized consumer-grade FPDs. There appear to be few systematic assessments of display performance impact on mission effectiveness. FPD availability concerns pivot on (1) the potentially rapid obsolescence of commercial FPDs and (2) the economic viability of domestic custom FPD suppliers. Display integrators using commercial FPDs are working to establish long-term supply arrangements with foreign producers of displays, but it is unclear how responsive these relationships will be in the future. Some DoD display integrators using custom FPDs believe that until the FPD market matures and stabilizes, it would be imprudent for DoD to become dependent on foreign, commercial FPD producers. However, many of these integrators are also concerned about the financial health of domestically based custom FPD producers.

Shifting paradigms in diminished ovarian reserve and advanced reproductive age in assisted reproduction: customization instead of conformity.

PubMed

Reed, Beverly G; Babayev, Samir N; Bukulmez, Orhan

2015-05-01

As women are increasingly delaying childbearing into their 30s and beyond, diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) and advanced reproductive age (ARA) patients are bound to become a large proportion of all assisted reproductive technology practices. Traditional controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) protocols for DOR and/or ARA have had some limited success, but pregnancy rates are lower and cycle cancellation rates are higher than their younger counterparts with normal ovarian reserve. Though many physicians have a selection of favorite standard protocols that they use, patients with DOR may require closer monitoring and customization of the treatment cycle to address the common problems that come with low ovarian reserve. Frequent issues that surface in women with DOR and/or ARA include poor follicular response, premature luteinizing hormone surge, and poor embryo quality. Limited published evidence exists to guide treatment for DOR. However, use of minimal or mild doses of gonadotropins, avoidance of severe pituitary suppression, and consideration for luteal phase stimulation and a "freeze all" approach are possible customized treatment options that can be considered for such patients who have failed more traditional COS protocols. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

77 FR 73038 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Foreign Assembler's Declaration

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-07

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Foreign Assembler's Declaration AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of... information. SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of Homeland Security will be...

77 FR 49831 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection, Comments Requested; Customer...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-17

... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Federal Bureau of Investigation [OMB Number 1110-0045] Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection, Comments Requested; Customer Satisfaction Assessment ACTION: 30...: Customer Satisfaction Assessment. 3. The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the...

77 FR 2349 - Proposed Information Collection (Nation-wide Customer Satisfaction Surveys) Activity: Comment...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-17

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS [OMB Control No. 2900-0712] Proposed Information Collection (Nation-wide Customer Satisfaction Surveys) Activity: Comment Request AGENCY: Veterans Health Administration... techniques or the use of other forms of information technology. Title: Nation-wide Customer Satisfaction...

77 FR 26043 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed collection; Comments Requested: CRS Customer...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-02

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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-18

... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Federal Bureau of Investigation [OMB Number 1110-0045] Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection, Comments Requested: Customer Satisfaction Assessment ACTION: 60...: Customer Satisfaction Assessment. 3. The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the...

32 CFR 842.133 - Claims by customers, members, participants, or authorized users.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... more than expressions of customer dissatisfactions. The activity manager is responsible for... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Claims by customers, members, participants, or... by customers, members, participants, or authorized users. (a) Customer complaints. Do not...

32 CFR 842.133 - Claims by customers, members, participants, or authorized users.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... more than expressions of customer dissatisfactions. The activity manager is responsible for... 32 National Defense 6 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Claims by customers, members, participants, or... by customers, members, participants, or authorized users. (a) Customer complaints. Do not...

Tapping the Value Potential of Extended Asset Services - Experiences from Finnish Companies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kortelainen, Helena; Hanski, Jyri; Valkokari, Pasi; Ahonen, Toni

2017-09-01

Recent developments in information technology and business models enable a wide variety of new services for companies looking for growth in services. Currently, manufacturing companies have been actively developing and providing novel asset based services such as condition monitoring and remote control. However, there is still untapped potential in extending the service delivery to the long-term co-operative development of physical assets over the whole lifecycle. Close collaboration with the end-customer and other stakeholders is needed in order to understand the value generation options. In this paper, we assess some of the asset services manufacturing companies are currently developing. The descriptions of the asset services are based on the results of an industrial workshop in which the companies presented their service development plans. The service propositions are compared with the Total Cost of Ownership and the closed loop life cycle frameworks. Based on the comparison, gaps that indicate potential for extended asset service concepts are recognised. In conclusion, we argue that the manufacturing companies do not recognise the whole potential for asset based services and for optimizing the performance of the end customers' processes.

Ensuring Customer Delight: A Quality Approach to Excellence in Management Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popli, Sapna

2005-01-01

A customer can recognise a professional institute almost immediately from the manner in which the customer is dealt with. The institute makes the customer (read student) feel special and deals with the customer as a matter of priority rather than as a secondary issue, less important than the undertaking of other activities. The customers of…

15 CFR 400.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... different name, character, and use. (h) Port Director is normally the director of Customs for the Customs... activity, means any activity involving a change in condition of merchandise, other than manufacturing, which results in a change in the Customs classification of an article or in its eligibility for entry...

15 CFR 400.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... different name, character, and use. (h) Port Director is normally the director of Customs for the Customs... activity, means any activity involving a change in condition of merchandise, other than manufacturing, which results in a change in the Customs classification of an article or in its eligibility for entry...

Coping with Variability in Model-Based Systems Engineering: An Experience in Green Energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trujillo, Salvador; Garate, Jose Miguel; Lopez-Herrejon, Roberto Erick; Mendialdua, Xabier; Rosado, Albert; Egyed, Alexander; Krueger, Charles W.; de Sosa, Josune

Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is an emerging engineering discipline whose driving motivation is to provide support throughout the entire system life cycle. MBSE not only addresses the engineering of software systems but also their interplay with physical systems. Quite frequently, successful systems need to be customized to cater for the concrete and specific needs of customers, end-users, and other stakeholders. To effectively meet this demand, it is vital to have in place mechanisms to cope with the variability, the capacity to change, that such customization requires. In this paper we describe our experience in modeling variability using SysML, a leading MBSE language, for developing a product line of wind turbine systems used for the generation of electricity.

75 FR 15446 - Agency Information Collection Activities: United States-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-29

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs And Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: United States- Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection... respondent burden, U.S. Customs and Border (CBP) invites the general public and other Federal agencies to...

75 FR 42115 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Passenger and Crew Manifest

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-20

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Passenger and Crew Manifest AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland....S. Customs and Border (CBP) invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on an...

76 FR 2395 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Customer/Partner...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-13

... comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on voluntary customer satisfaction...] Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Customer/Partner Service... collection of information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502...

78 FR 59364 - Revision of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Transportation Worker...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-26

... identifying and other information by individuals applying for a TWIC and a customer satisfaction survey. DATES... Replacement or Extended Expiration Date Request, and TWIC Customer Satisfaction Survey. Affected Public... with the enrollment and activation process. This optional customer satisfaction survey is provided at...

77 FR 55486 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Importer ID Input Record

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-10

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Importer ID Input Record AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland... information. SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of Homeland Security will be...

78 FR 38809 - Agency Information Collection (NCA Customer Satisfaction Surveys (Headstone/Marker)) Activity...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-27

... Customer Satisfaction Surveys (Headstone/Marker)) Activity Under OMB Review AGENCY: National Cemetery... Customer Satisfaction Surveys. OMB Control Number: 2900-0571. Type of Review: Revision of a currently... they want and their level of satisfaction with existing service. VA will use the data collected to...

75 FR 3539 - Agency Information Collection (NCA Customer Satisfaction Surveys (Headstone/Marker)) Activity...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-21

... Customer Satisfaction Surveys (Headstone/Marker)) Activity Under OMB Review AGENCY: National Cemetery... Clearance for NCA, and IG Customer Satisfaction Surveys. OMB Control Number: 2900-0571. Type of Review... kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing service. VA will...

17 CFR 3.33 - Withdrawal from registration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... registrant's knowledge and belief, the nature and extent of any anticipated or threatened customer, option... registrant has ceased such activities: (i) That all customer or option customer agreements, if any, have been terminated; (ii) That all customer or option customer positions, if any, have been transferred on behalf of...

Modelling the social dynamics of a sex industry: its implications for spread of HIV/AIDS.

PubMed

Hsieh, Ying Hen; Hsun Chen, Chien

2004-01-01

A theoretical model is proposed for a community which has the structure of two classes (direct and indirect) of commercial sex workers (CSW), and two classes of sexually active male customers with different levels of sexual activity. The direct CSW's work in brothels while the indirect CSW's are based in commercial establishments such as bars, cafes, and massage parlours where sex can be bought on request and conducted elsewhere. Behaviour change and the resulting change of activity class occurs between the two classes of CSW's and two classes of males under the setting of the proliferation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome epidemic and the subsequent intervention programmes. In recently years, this phenomenon has been observed in several countries in Asia. Given the lower levels of condom use and higher HIV prevalence of the indirect CSW's, ascertaining the impact of this change in the structure of the sex industry on the spread of HIV is the main focus of this paper. The complete analysis of the disease-free model is given. For the full model, local analysis will be performed for the case of preferred mixing without activity class change, as well as the case with activity class change and restricted mixing. The basic reproduction number for the spread of epidemic will be derived for each case. Results of biological significance include: (i). the change of behaviour by the CSW's has a more direct effect on the spread of HIV than that of the male customers; (ii). the basic reproduction number is obtained by considering all possible infection cycles of the heterosexual transmission of HIV which indicates the importance of understanding the sexual networking in heterosexual transmission of HIV; (iii). the social dynamics of the sex industry is not just a simple 'supply and demand' mechanism driven by the demand of the customers, hence highlighting the need for further understanding of the changing structure of the sex industry. The main points of this work will be illustrated with numerical examples using the HIV data of Thailand.

A Guide to Hands-on Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blueford, Joyce R.

1989-01-01

Provides guidelines for a custom-made science program that integrates science, math, and technology. Describes the curriculum which is divided into themes including the applied sciences, cycles of the universe, plate tectonics, rock, water, and life. (Author/RT)

Predicting Defects Using Information Intelligence Process Models in the Software Technology Project

PubMed Central

Selvaraj, Manjula Gandhi; Jayabal, Devi Shree; Srinivasan, Thenmozhi; Balasubramanie, Palanisamy

2015-01-01

A key differentiator in a competitive market place is customer satisfaction. As per Gartner 2012 report, only 75%–80% of IT projects are successful. Customer satisfaction should be considered as a part of business strategy. The associated project parameters should be proactively managed and the project outcome needs to be predicted by a technical manager. There is lot of focus on the end state and on minimizing defect leakage as much as possible. Focus should be on proactively managing and shifting left in the software life cycle engineering model. Identify the problem upfront in the project cycle and do not wait for lessons to be learnt and take reactive steps. This paper gives the practical applicability of using predictive models and illustrates use of these models in a project to predict system testing defects thus helping to reduce residual defects. PMID:26495427

Predicting Defects Using Information Intelligence Process Models in the Software Technology Project.

PubMed

Selvaraj, Manjula Gandhi; Jayabal, Devi Shree; Srinivasan, Thenmozhi; Balasubramanie, Palanisamy

2015-01-01

A key differentiator in a competitive market place is customer satisfaction. As per Gartner 2012 report, only 75%-80% of IT projects are successful. Customer satisfaction should be considered as a part of business strategy. The associated project parameters should be proactively managed and the project outcome needs to be predicted by a technical manager. There is lot of focus on the end state and on minimizing defect leakage as much as possible. Focus should be on proactively managing and shifting left in the software life cycle engineering model. Identify the problem upfront in the project cycle and do not wait for lessons to be learnt and take reactive steps. This paper gives the practical applicability of using predictive models and illustrates use of these models in a project to predict system testing defects thus helping to reduce residual defects.

Naturalistic drive cycle synthesis for pickup trucks.

PubMed

Liu, Zifan; Ivanco, Andrej; Filipi, Zoran

2015-09-01

Future pick-up trucks are meeting much stricter fuel economy and exhaust emission standards. Design tradeoffs will have to be carefully evaluated to satisfy consumer expectations within the regulatory and cost constraints. Boundary conditions will obviously be critical for decision making: thus, the understanding of how customers are driving in naturalistic settings is indispensable. Federal driving schedules, while critical for certification, do not capture the richness of naturalistic cycles, particularly the aggressive maneuvers that often shape consumer perception of performance. While there are databases with large number of drive cycles, applying all of them directly in the design process is impractical. Therefore, representative drive cycles that capture the essence of the naturalistic driving should be synthesized from naturalistic driving data. Naturalistic drive cycles are firstly categorized by investigating their micro-trip components, defined as driving activities between successive stops. Micro-trips are expected to characterize underlying local traffic conditions, and separate different driving patterns. Next, the transitions from one vehicle state to another vehicle state in each cycle category are captured with Transition Probability Matrix (TPM). Candidate drive cycles can subsequently be synthesized using Markov Chain based on TPMs for each category. Finally, representative synthetic drive cycles are selected through assessment of significant cycle metrics to identify the ones with smallest errors. This paper provides a framework for synthesis of representative drive cycles from naturalistic driving data, which can subsequently be used for efficient optimization of design or control of pick-up truck powertrains. Manufacturers will benefit from representative drive cycles in several aspects, including quick assessments of vehicle performance and energy consumption in simulations, component sizing and design, optimization of control strategies, and vehicle testing under real-world conditions. This is in contrast to using federal certification test cycles, which were never intended to capture pickup truck segment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

A Review of User-Centered Design for Diabetes-Related Consumer Health Informatics Technologies

PubMed Central

LeRouge, Cynthia; Wickramasinghe, Nilmini

2013-01-01

User-centered design (UCD) is well recognized as an effective human factor engineering strategy for designing ease of use in the total customer experience with products and information technology that has been applied specifically to health care information technology systems. We conducted a literature review to analyze the current research regarding the use of UCD methods and principles to support the development or evaluation of diabetes-related consumer health informatics technology (CHIT) initiatives. Findings indicate that (1) UCD activities have been applied across the technology development life cycle stages, (2) there are benefits to incorporating UCD to better inform CHIT development in this area, and (3) the degree of adoption of the UCD process is quite uneven across diabetes CHIT studies. In addition, few to no studies report on methods used across all phases of the life cycle with process detail. To address that void, the Appendix provides an illustrative case study example of UCD techniques across development stages. PMID:23911188

International Space Station Increment Operations Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michaelis, Horst; Sielaff, Christian

2002-01-01

The Industrial Operator (IO) has defined End-to-End services to perform efficiently all required operations tasks for the Manned Space Program (MSP) as agreed during the Ministerial Council in Edinburgh in November 2001. Those services are the result of a detailed task analysis based on the operations processes as derived from the Space Station Program Implementation Plans (SPIP) and defined in the Operations Processes Documents (OPD). These services are related to ISS Increment Operations and ATV Mission Operations. Each of these End-to-End services is typically characterised by the following properties: It has a clearly defined starting point, where all requirements on the end-product are fixed and associated performance metrics of the customer are well defined. It has a clearly defined ending point, when the product or service is delivered to the customer and accepted by him, according to the performance metrics defined at the start point. The implementation of the process might be restricted by external boundary conditions and constraints mutually agreed with the customer. As far as those are respected the IO has the free choice to select methods and means of implementation. The ISS Increment Operations Service (IOS) activities required for the MSP Exploitation program cover the complete increment specific cycle starting with the support to strategic planning and ending with the post increment evaluation. These activities are divided into sub-services including the following tasks: - ISS Planning Support covering the support to strategic and tactical planning up to the generation - Development &Payload Integration Support - ISS Increment Preparation - ISS Increment Execution These processes are tight together by the Increment Integration Management, which provides the planning and scheduling of all activities as well as the technical management of the overall process . The paper describes the entire End-to-End ISS Increment Operations service and the implementation to support the Columbus Flight 1E related increment and subsequent ISS increments. Special attention is paid to the implications caused by long term operations on hardware, software and operations personnel.

The journey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohen, Lori A.

1995-12-01

Kodak Optical Products has embarked on a journey that will ultimately lead to manufacturing excellence and total customer satisfaction. With quality as our compass we have already obtained ISO 9001 and Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) II certifications. Seeking and attaining these certifications enabled us to understand and enhance fundamentals relative to the operation of our business. This has provided a solid foundation from which we can launch continuous improvement activities. Now we continue our journey to such destinations as 10X reduction in both defects and cycle time, measuring and reducing our cost of poor quality, and upgrading our quality information system. Our presentation will emphasize our 10X improvement process and how it applies to high-volume production of precision plastic optics.

ISO 9000 and/or Systems Engineering Capability Maturity Model?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gholston, Sampson E.

2002-01-01

For businesses and organizations to remain competitive today they must have processes and systems in place that will allow them to first identify customer needs and then develop products/processes that will meet or exceed the customers needs and expectations. Customer needs, once identified, are normally stated as requirements. Designers can then develop products/processes that will meet these requirements. Several functions, such as quality management and systems engineering management are used to assist product development teams in the development process. Both functions exist in all organizations and both have a similar objective, which is to ensure that developed processes will meet customer requirements. Are efforts in these organizations being duplicated? Are both functions needed by organizations? What are the similarities and differences between the functions listed above? ISO 9000 is an international standard of goods and services. It sets broad requirements for the assurance of quality and for management's involvement. It requires organizations to document the processes and to follow these documented processes. ISO 9000 gives customers assurance that the suppliers have control of the process for product development. Systems engineering can broadly be defined as a discipline that seeks to ensure that all requirements for a system are satisfied throughout the life of the system by preserving their interrelationship. The key activities of systems engineering include requirements analysis, functional analysis/allocation, design synthesis and verification, and system analysis and control. The systems engineering process, when followed properly, will lead to higher quality products, lower cost products, and shorter development cycles. The System Engineering Capability Maturity Model (SE-CMM) will allow companies to measure their system engineering capability and continuously improve those capabilities. ISO 9000 and SE-CMM seem to have a similar objective, which is to document the organization's processes and certify to potential customers the capability of a supplier to control the processes that determine the quality of the product or services being produced. The remaining sections of this report examine the differences and similarities between ISO 9000 and SE-CMM and make recommendations for implementation.

77 FR 47492 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments; Clearance of a New Approval of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-08

... collection. This is a new generic clearance for the purpose of gathering customer satisfaction data directly from customers for a wide variety of services. DATES: Written comments should be submitted by October 9... Activities: Requests for Comments; Clearance of a New Approval of Information Collection: FAA Customer...

78 FR 26648 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Passenger List/Crew List (CBP Form I-418)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-07

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Passenger List/Crew List (CBP Form I-418) AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP... prescribed by the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), for use by masters...

78 FR 16701 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Application for Foreign Trade Zone and/or Status...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection... Zone Activity Permit AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security...-0029. SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of Homeland Security will be...

77 FR 35993 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Cargo Container and Road Vehicle Certification for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-15

... Activities: Cargo Container and Road Vehicle Certification for Transport Under Customs Seal AGENCY: U.S... Paperwork Reduction Act: Cargo Container and Road Vehicle for Transport under Customs Seal. This is a.... Title: Cargo Container and Road Vehicle for Transport under Customs Seal. OMB Number: 1651-0124. Form...

Customer Service Training. New Paradigm for Effective Workforce Skills. [Employee Guide and Supervisor's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saint Louis Community Coll., MO. Workplace Literacy Services Center.

These two documents are part of the customer service training program provided to employees of a large metropolitan hospital. The first manual contains customer service training activities for the hospital's dietary aides, cashiers, patient service representatives, and parking attendants. The activities are organized in three sections as follows:…

75 FR 74082 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-30

... of information collection under review: customer satisfaction surveys. The Department of Justice (DOJ... collection. (2) Title of the Form/Collection: Customer Satisfaction Surveys. (3) Agency form number, if any... program-specific customer satisfaction surveys to more effectively capture customer perception...

Match your sales force structure to your business life cycle.

PubMed

Zoltners, Andris A; Sinha, Prabhakant; Lorimer, Sally E

2006-01-01

Although companies devote considerable time and money to managing their sales forces, few focus much thought on how the structure of the sales force needs to change over the life cycle of a product or a business. However, the organization and goals of a sales operation have to evolve as businesses start up, grow, mature, and decline if a company wants to keep winning the race for customers. Specifically, firms must consider and alter four factors over time: the differing roles that internal salespeople and external selling partners should play, the size of the sales force, its degree of specialization, and how salespeople apportion their efforts among different customers, products, and activities. These variables are critical because they determine how quickly sales forces respond to market opportunities, they influence sales reps' performance, and they affect companies' revenues, costs, and profitability. In this article, the authors use timeseries data and cases to explain how, at each stage, firms can best tackle the relevant issues and get the most out of their sales forces. During start-up, smart companies focus on how big their sales staff should be and on whether they can depend upon selling partners. In the growth phase, they concentrate on getting the sales force's degree of specialization and size right. When businesses hit maturity, companies should better allocate existing resources and hire more general-purpose salespeople. Finally, as organizations go into decline, wise sales leaders reduce sales force size and use partners to keep the business afloat for as long as possible.

Integration and validation testing for PhEDEx, DBS and DAS with the PhEDEx LifeCycle agent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boeser, C.; Chwalek, T.; Giffels, M.; Kuznetsov, V.; Wildish, T.

2014-06-01

The ever-increasing amount of data handled by the CMS dataflow and workflow management tools poses new challenges for cross-validation among different systems within CMS experiment at LHC. To approach this problem we developed an integration test suite based on the LifeCycle agent, a tool originally conceived for stress-testing new releases of PhEDEx, the CMS data-placement tool. The LifeCycle agent provides a framework for customising the test workflow in arbitrary ways, and can scale to levels of activity well beyond those seen in normal running. This means we can run realistic performance tests at scales not likely to be seen by the experiment for some years, or with custom topologies to examine particular situations that may cause concern some time in the future. The LifeCycle agent has recently been enhanced to become a general purpose integration and validation testing tool for major CMS services. It allows cross-system integration tests of all three components to be performed in controlled environments, without interfering with production services. In this paper we discuss the design and implementation of the LifeCycle agent. We describe how it is used for small-scale debugging and validation tests, and how we extend that to large-scale tests of whole groups of sub-systems. We show how the LifeCycle agent can emulate the action of operators, physicists, or software agents external to the system under test, and how it can be scaled to large and complex systems.

15 CFR 292.4 - Information infrastructure projects.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... customer base. The target customer base must be clearly defined and, in general, will be technical... evaluation for assessing outcomes of the activity, and “customer satisfaction” measures of performance. ... the customer base's needs within the proposed project area. The proposal should also show that the...

77 FR 75490 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Reinstatement With Change of a Currently-Approved...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-20

... of the relationship between the Agency and its Federal, State, and industry customers. Consequently... relationships with its main customer groups. The assessment will address: Overall customer satisfaction... Information Collection Request: Information Technology Services Survey Portal Customer Satisfaction Assessment...

77 FR 37919 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: National...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-25

... Customer Satisfaction Survey ACTION: 60-Day Notice of Information Collection Under Review. The Department.../Collection: National Response Team Customer Satisfaction Survey. (3) Agency form number, if any, and the...- specific customer satisfaction survey to more effectively capture customer perception/satisfaction of...

Influence of the implant abutment types and the dynamic loading on initial screw loosening

PubMed Central

Kim, Eun-Sook

2013-01-01

PURPOSE This study examined the effects of the abutment types and dynamic loading on the stability of implant prostheses with three types of implant abutments prepared using different fabrication methods by measuring removal torque both before and after dynamic loading. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three groups of abutments were produced using different types of fabrication methods; stock abutment, gold cast abutment, and CAD/CAM custom abutment. A customized jig was fabricated to apply the load at 30° to the long axis. The implant fixtures were fixed to the jig, and connected to the abutments with a 30 Ncm tightening torque. A sine curved dynamic load was applied for 105 cycles between 25 and 250 N at 14 Hz. Removal torque before loading and after loading were evaluated. The SPSS was used for statistical analysis of the results. A Kruskal-Wallis test was performed to compare screw loosening between the abutment systems. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed to compare screw loosening between before and after loading in each group (α=0.05). RESULTS Removal torque value before loading and after loading was the highest in stock abutment, which was then followed by gold cast abutment and CAD/CAM custom abutment, but there were no significant differences. CONCLUSION The abutment types did not have a significant influence on short term screw loosening. On the other hand, after 105 cycles dynamic loading, CAD/CAM custom abutment affected the initial screw loosening, but stock abutment and gold cast abutment did not. PMID:23509006

An Analysis of the Defense Logistics Agency Medical Supplies Requisition Process

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-09-01

Flowchart of the Improvement Process .... ....... 8 2. Generic Order Processing Flow .. .......... 19 3. Total Order Cycle: A Customer’s Perspective . 20 4...concentrated in the area of order processing and how it can be improved, especially in the medical supplies arena. This chapter is divided into four major...1989b:l). This time period may be also referred to as lead time, or the replenishment cycle. Figure 2 illustrates a generic order processing flow, which

Qualification of Life Extension Schemes for Engine Components (Homologation des Programmes de Prolongation du cycle de vie des Organes Moteur)

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-03-01

cycle managers include (1) improving the durability of components through material substitution, or the addition of protective coatings, (2) returning... including in service trials, is required to demonstrate that the repaired and/or modified component is safe to use and remains so once returned to...Better Turbine Materials and Technology Including 5 Predicted Life Improvements by T.J. Williams Repair Developments to Fit Customer Needs (Presented

C&RE-SLC: Database for conservation and renewable energy activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cavallo, J. D.; Tompkins, M. M.; Fisher, A. G.

1992-08-01

The Western Area Power Administration (Western) requires all its long-term power customers to implement programs that promote the conservation of electric energy or facilitate the use of renewable energy resources. The hope is that these measures could significantly reduce the amount of environmental damage associated with electricity production. As part of preparing the environmental impact statement for Western's Electric Power Marketing Program, Argonne National Laboratory constructed a database of the conservation and renewable energy activities in which Western's Salt Lake City customers are involved. The database provides information on types of conservation and renewable energy activities and allows for comparisons of activities being conducted at different utilities in the Salt Lake City region. Sorting the database allows Western's Salt Lake City customers to be classified so the various activities offered by different classes of utilities can be identified; for example, comparisons can be made between municipal utilities and cooperatives or between large and small customers. The information included in the database was collected from customer planning documents in the files of Western's Salt Lake City office.

Data Mining for CRM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thearling, Kurt

Data Mining technology allows marketing organizations to better understand their customers and respond to their needs. This chapter describes how Data Mining can be combined with customer relationship management to help drive improved interactions with customers. An example showing how to use Data Mining to drive customer acquisition activities is presented.

78 FR 35044 - U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-11

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Visa Waiver Program Carrier Agreement (CBP Form I-775) AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection... information collection: 1651-0110. SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of...

77 FR 41798 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection, Comments Requested: CRS Customer...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-16

... Collection, Comments Requested: CRS Customer Satisfaction Survey ACTION: 30-Day Notice of Information.... (2) Title of the Form/Collection: CRS--Customer Satisfaction Survey. (3) Agency form number, if any... and informal community leaders. Abstract: The CRS `Customer Satisfaction Survey' will help CRS...

15 CFR 291.4 - National industry-specific pollution prevention and environmental compliance resource centers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., external evaluation for assessing outcomes of the activity, and “customer satisfaction” measures of... requirements. (d) Project customers. (1) The customers for this center will be the businesses in the industrial...) The center should assist the customer in choosing the most cost- effective, environmentally sound...

78 FR 51808 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments; Clearance of Renewed Approval of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-21

... Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (AST) Customer Service Survey AGENCY: Federal Aviation... on customer service standards which have been developed and distributed to industry customers. DATES... determine the quality of services provided by AST to its industry and government customers, and to address...

U.S. Customs Service technology: past, present, and future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pennella, John J.; Smith, Douglas E.

2001-02-01

This document describes the law enforcement charter and activities of the United States Customs Service and the internal technology organization that supports it, the Applied Technology Division. The enforcement activities of Customs include interdiction, outbound anti-smuggling, investigation and surveillance, processing of documentation and data, and detection of drugs and other contraband. An overview of the various technologies applied in support of these activities over the past 25 years is provided. Additionally, technologies proposed for implementation in the future are discussed.

Monitoring activities of satellite data processing services in real-time with SDDS Live Monitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duc Nguyen, Minh

2017-10-01

This work describes Live Monitor, the monitoring subsystem of SDDS - an automated system for space experiment data processing, storage, and distribution created at SINP MSU. Live Monitor allows operators and developers of satellite data centers to identify errors occurred in data processing quickly and to prevent further consequences caused by the errors. All activities of the whole data processing cycle are illustrated via a web interface in real-time. Notification messages are delivered to responsible people via emails and Telegram messenger service. The flexible monitoring mechanism implemented in Live Monitor allows us to dynamically change and control events being shown on the web interface on our demands. Physicists, whose space weather analysis models are functioning upon satellite data provided by SDDS, can use the developed RESTful API to monitor their own events and deliver customized notification messages by their needs.

Life Cycle Assessment Perspectives on Delivering an Infant in the US

PubMed Central

Campion, Nicole; Thiel, Cassandra L.; DeBlois, Justin; Woods, Noe C.; Landis, Amy E.; Bilec, Melissa M.

2012-01-01

This study introduces life cycle assessment as a tool to analyze one aspect of sustainability in healthcare: the birth of a baby. The process life cycle assessment case study presented evaluates two common procedures in a hospital, a cesarean section and a vaginal birth. This case study was conducted at Magee-Womens Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which delivers over 10,000 infants per year. The results show that heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), waste disposal, and the production of the disposable custom packs comprise a large percentage of the environmental impacts. Applying the life cycle assessment tool to medical procedures allows hospital decision makers to target and guide efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of healthcare procedures. PMID:22482785

A web-based rapid assessment tool for production publishing solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Tong

2010-02-01

Solution assessment is a critical first-step in understanding and measuring the business process efficiency enabled by an integrated solution package. However, assessing the effectiveness of any solution is usually a very expensive and timeconsuming task which involves lots of domain knowledge, collecting and understanding the specific customer operational context, defining validation scenarios and estimating the expected performance and operational cost. This paper presents an intelligent web-based tool that can rapidly assess any given solution package for production publishing workflows via a simulation engine and create a report for various estimated performance metrics (e.g. throughput, turnaround time, resource utilization) and operational cost. By integrating the digital publishing workflow ontology and an activity based costing model with a Petri-net based workflow simulation engine, this web-based tool allows users to quickly evaluate any potential digital publishing solutions side-by-side within their desired operational contexts, and provides a low-cost and rapid assessment for organizations before committing any purchase. This tool also benefits the solution providers to shorten the sales cycles, establishing a trustworthy customer relationship and supplement the professional assessment services with a proven quantitative simulation and estimation technology.

26 CFR 1.924(e)-1 - Activities relating to the disposition of export property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., television, newspaper, trade journals, mass mailings, or billboards), in order to induce multiple customers or potential customers to buy or rent the property or services from the FSC or related supplier... export customers or potential export customers. Advertising except for the advertising described in § 1...

Motorcycle Diaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbs, Hope J.

2005-01-01

This article relates the experiences of Jeff Fischer, an instructor in the Computer Integrated Machining department at South Central College (SCC) in North Mankato, Minnesota. Facing dwindling student enrollment and possible departmental budget costs, Fischer was able to turn his passion for custom-built cycles and the intricate machining that…

Quality Assessment of College Admissions Processes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisher, Caroline; Weymann, Elizabeth; Todd, Amy

2000-01-01

This study evaluated the admissions process for a Master's in Business Administration Program using such quality improvement techniques as customer surveys, benchmarking, and gap analysis. Analysis revealed that student dissatisfaction with the admissions process may be a factor influencing declining enrollment. Cycle time and number of student…

Degradation of Teflon(trademark) FEP Following Charged Particle Radiation and Rapid Thermal Cycling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Townsend, Jacqueline; Powers, Charles; Viens, Michael; Ayres-Treusdell, Mary; Munoz, Bruno

1999-01-01

During the Second Servicing Mission (SM2) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) severe degradation was observed on the outer layer of the thermal control blankets. Astronaut observations and photographs revealed large cracks in the metallized Teflon(trademark) FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene), the outer layer of the multi-layer insulation (MLI), in many locations around the telescope. In an effort to understand what elements of the space environment might cause such damage, pristine Teflon(trademark) FEP was tested for durability to radiation and thermal cycling. Specimens were subjected to electron and proton fluences comparable to those experienced by HST and were subsequently thermal cycled in a custom-built rapid thermal cycle chamber. Tensile tests of the specimens showed that radiation followed by thermal cycling significantly reduced the ultimate strength and elongation of Teflon(trademark) FEP.

Degradation of Teflon(tm) FEP Following Charged Particle Radiation and Rapid Thermal Cycling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Townsend, Jacqueline A.; Powers, Charles E.; Viens, Michael J.; Ayres-Treusdell, Mary T.; Munoz, Bruno

1998-01-01

During the Second Servicing Mission (SM2) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) severe degradation was observed on the outer layer of the thermal control blankets. Astronaut observations and photographs revealed large cracks in the metallized Teflon FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene), the outer layer of the multi-layer insulation (MLI), in many locations around the telescope. In an effort to understand what elements of the space environment might cause such damage, pristine Teflon' FEP was tested for durability to radiation and thermal cycling. Specimens were subjected to electron and proton fluences comparable to those experienced by HST and were subsequently thermal cycled in a custom-built rapid thermal cycle chamber. Tensile tests of the specimens showed that radiation followed by thermal cycling significantly reduced the ultimate strength and elongation of Teflon FEP.

Degradation of Teflon(tm) FEP Following Charged Particle Radiation and Rapid Thermal Cycling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Townsend, Jacqueline A.; Powers, Charles E.; Viens, Michael J.; Ayres-Treusdell, Mary T.; Munoz, Bruno F.

1998-01-01

During the Second Servicing Mission (SM2) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) severe degradation was observed on the outer layer of the thermal control blankets. Astronaut observations and photographs revealed large cracks in the metallized Teflon' FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene), the outer layer of the multi-layer insulation (MLI), in many locations around the telescope. In an effort to understand what elements of the space environment might cause such damage, pristine Teflon(registered trademark) FEP was tested for durability to radiation and thermal cycling. Specimens were subjected to electron and proton fluences comparable to those experienced by HST and were subsequently thermal cycled in a custom-built rapid thermal cycle chamber. Tensile tests of the specimens showed that radiation followed by thermal cycling significantly reduced the ultimate strength and elongation of Teflon(registered trademark) FEP.

Degradation of Teflon(tm) FEP Following Charged Particle Radiation and Rapid Thermal Cycling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Townsend, Jacqueline; Powers, Charles; Viens, Michael; Ayres-Treusdell, Mary; Munoz, Bruno

1998-01-01

During the Second Servicing Mission (SM2) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) severe degradation was observed on the outer layer of the thermal control blankets. Astronaut observations and photographs revealed large cracks in the metallized Teflon(R) FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene), the outer layer of the multi-layer insulation (MLI), in many locations around the telescope. In an effort to understand what elements of the space environment might cause such damage, pristine Teflon(R) FEP was tested for durability to radiation and thermal cycling. Specimens were subjected to electron and proton fluences comparable to those experienced by HST and were subsequently thermal cycled in a custom-built rapid thermal cycle chamber. Tensile tests of the specimens showed that radiation followed by thermal cycling significantly reduced the ultimate strength and elongation of Teflon(R) FEP.

The SIGNAL expert system

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

Struve, R.

The SIGNAL insurance companies have developed an expert system for the support of its customer sales service. It was introduced at the end of 1993 and is currently used by approximately 500 customer service representatives. It involves a counseling system, which enables customer sales personnel to produce high-quality benefit analyses at the point of sale. It is not only an information system for the agent but involves the customer in an active role (through the implementation of sales talks, the conscious visualization of facts, the generation of natural language explanations etc.). Thus, the customer is not faced with a faitmore » accompli but is actively involved in solving the problem. To meet these requirements, several Al techniques are used, as described further below. The application has increased sales efficiency, optimized customer contact time and decreased training requirements. The system is developed with KEE (and reimplemented in Allegro CL/PC) and runs on notebooks with 8 MB RAM.« less

Practical marketing for dentistry. 3. Relationship marketing and patient/customer satisfaction.

PubMed

Ball, R

1996-06-22

In this article, we look at the philosophy of customer focus and value, and how dental practices can produce and deliver high customer value and satisfaction, to retain as well as attract their customers-the patients. Total quality concepts will also be discussed in the context of their relationship with marketing activities. In all cases, where 'customer' is referenced, this means 'patient' in the context of a dentistry, since patients are the customers, their requirements must be considered in targeting the marketing of a dental practice.

Applying Fuzzy Data Mining to Telecom Churn Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Kuo-Hsiung; Chueh, Hao-En

Customers tend to change telecommunications service providers in pursuit of more favorable telecommunication rates. Therefore, how to avoid customer churn is an extremely critical topic for the intensely competitive telecommunications industry. To assist telecommunications service providers in effectively reducing the rate of customer churn, this study used fuzzy data mining to determine effective marketing strategies by analyzing the responses of customers to various marketing activities. These techniques can help telecommunications service providers determine the most appropriate marketing opportunities and methods for different customer groups, to reduce effectively the rate of customer turnover.

EKG-based detection of deep brain stimulation in fMRI studies.

PubMed

Fiveland, Eric; Madhavan, Radhika; Prusik, Julia; Linton, Renee; Dimarzio, Marisa; Ashe, Jeffrey; Pilitsis, Julie; Hancu, Ileana

2018-04-01

To assess the impact of synchronization errors between the assumed functional MRI paradigm timing and the deep brain stimulation (DBS) on/off cycling using a custom electrocardiogram-based triggering system METHODS: A detector for measuring and predicting the on/off state of cycling deep brain stimulation was developed and tested in six patients in office visits. Three-electrode electrocardiogram measurements, amplified by a commercial bio-amplifier, were used as input for a custom electronics box (e-box). The e-box transformed the deep brain stimulation waveforms into transistor-transistor logic pulses, recorded their timing, and propagated it in time. The e-box was used to trigger task-based deep brain stimulation functional MRI scans in 5 additional subjects; the impact of timing accuracy on t-test values was investigated in a simulation study using the functional MRI data. Following locking to each patient's individual waveform, the e-box was shown to predict stimulation onset with an average absolute error of 112 ± 148 ms, 30 min after disconnecting from the patients. The subsecond accuracy of the e-box in predicting timing onset is more than adequate for our slow varying, 30-/30-s on/off stimulation paradigm. Conversely, the experimental deep brain stimulation onset prediction accuracy in the absence of the e-box, which could be off by as much as 4 to 6 s, could significantly decrease activation strength. Using this detector, stimulation can be accurately synchronized to functional MRI acquisitions, without adding any additional hardware in the MRI environment. Magn Reson Med 79:2432-2439, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Human dynamics of spending: Longitudinal study of a coalition loyalty program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, Il Gu; Jeong, Hyang Min; Choi, Woosuk; Jang, Seungkwon; Lee, Heejin; Kim, Beom Jun

2014-09-01

Large-scale data of a coalition loyalty program is analyzed in terms of the temporal dynamics of customers' behaviors. We report that the two main activities of a loyalty program, earning and redemption of points, exhibit very different behaviors. It is also found that as customers become older from their early 20's, both male and female customers increase their earning and redemption activities until they arrive at the turning points, beyond which both activities decrease. The positions of turning points as well as the maximum earned and redeemed points are found to differ for males and females. On top of these temporal behaviors, we identify that there exists a learning effect and customers learn how to earn and redeem points as their experiences accumulate in time.

Model-based prognostics for batteries which estimates useful life and uses a probability density function

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saha, Bhaskar (Inventor); Goebel, Kai F. (Inventor)

2012-01-01

This invention develops a mathematical model to describe battery behavior during individual discharge cycles as well as over its cycle life. The basis for the form of the model has been linked to the internal processes of the battery and validated using experimental data. Effects of temperature and load current have also been incorporated into the model. Subsequently, the model has been used in a Particle Filtering framework to make predictions of remaining useful life for individual discharge cycles as well as for cycle life. The prediction performance was found to be satisfactory as measured by performance metrics customized for prognostics for a sample case. The work presented here provides initial steps towards a comprehensive health management solution for energy storage devices.

76 FR 6633 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-07

... of Information Collection Under Review: Customer Satisfaction Surveys. The Department of Justice (DOJ...: Extension of a currently approved collection. (2) Title of the Form/Collection: Customer Satisfaction... of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives distribute program-specific customer satisfaction...

78 FR 77478 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request, Federal Emergency...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-23

..., Federal Emergency Management Agency Individual Assistance Customer Satisfaction Surveys AGENCY: Federal... concerning the collection of Individual Assistance customer satisfaction survey responses and information for..., Customer Satisfaction Analysis Section of the National Processing Service Center Division, Recovery...

Opto-box: Optical modules and mini-crate for ATLAS pixel and IBL detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertsche, David

2016-11-01

The opto-box is a custom mini-crate for housing optical modules which process and transfer optoelectronic data. Many novel solutions were developed for the custom design and manufacturing. The system tightly integrates electrical, mechanical, and thermal functionality into a small package of size 35×10x8 cm3. Special attention was given to ensure proper shielding, grounding, cooling, high reliability, and environmental tolerance. The custom modules, which incorporate Application Specific Integrated Circuits, were developed through a cycle of rigorous testing and redesign. In total, fourteen opto-boxes have been installed and loaded with modules on the ATLAS detector. They are currently in operation as part of the LHC run 2 data read-out chain. This conference proceeding is in support of the poster presented at the International Conference on New Frontiers in Physics (ICNFP) 2015 [1].

The clinical utility of PGD with HLA matching: a collaborative multi-centre ESHRE study.

PubMed

Kakourou, G; Kahraman, S; Ekmekci, G C; Tac, H A; Kourlaba, G; Kourkouni, E; Sanz, A Cervero; Martin, J; Malmgren, H; Giménez, C; Gold, V; Carvalho, F; Billi, C; Chow, J F C; Vendrell, X; Kokkali, G; Liss, J; Steffann, J; Traeger-Synodinos, J

2018-02-08

Has PGD-HLA been successful relative to diagnostic and clinical efficacy? The diagnostic efficacy of PGD-HLA protocols was found lower in this study in comparison to published PGD-HLA protocols and to that reported for general PGD by ESHRE (78.5 vs 94.1% and vs 92.6%, respectively), while the clinical efficacy has proven very difficult to assess due to inadequate follow-up of both the ART/PGD and HSCT procedure outcomes. The first clinical cases for PGD-HLA were reported in 2001. It is now a well-established procedure, with an increasing number of cycles performed every year. However, PGD-HLA is still offered by relatively few PGD centres, the currently available data is fragmented and most reports on PGD-HLA applications are limited in number and scope. Published systematic details on methodology, diagnostic results, overall ART success and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) outcomes are limited, precluding an evaluation of the true clinical utility of PGD-HLA cycles. This retrospective multi-centre cohort study aimed to investigate the diagnostic and clinical efficacy of the PGD-HLA procedure and the aspects of PGD-HLA cycles influencing positive outcomes: birth of genetically suitable donor-baby (or babies) and HSCT. In April 2014, 32 PGD centres (Consortium members and non-members) with published/known PGD-HLA activity were invited to participate. Between February and September 2015, 14 centres submitted their data, through a custom-designed secure database, with unique login access for each centre. Data parameters covered all aspects of PGD-HLA cycles (ART, embryology and genetic diagnosis), donor-babies born and HSCT. From 716 cycles submitted by 14 centres (performed between August 2001 and September 2015), the quality evaluation excluded 12 cycles, leaving 704, from 364 couples. The online database, based on REDCap, a free, secure, web-based data-capture application, was customized by Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Outcomes Research (CLEO), Athens. Continuous variables are presented using mean, standard deviation, median and interquartile range, and categorical variables are presented as absolute and relative frequencies. The data included 704 HLA-PGD cycles. Mean maternal age was 33.5 years. Most couples (81.3%) requested HLA-typing with concurrent exclusion of a single monogenic disease (58.6% for beta-thalassaemia). In 92.5% couples, both partners were fertile, with an average 1.93 HLA-PGD cycles/couple. Overall, 9751 oocytes were retrieved (13.9/cycle) and 5532 embryos were analysed (7.9/cycle). Most cycles involved fresh oocytes (94.9%) and Day 3 embryo biopsy (85.3%). In 97.5% of cycles, the genotyping method involved PCR only. Of 4343 embryos diagnosed (78.5% of analysed embryos), 677 were genetically suitable (15.4% of those analysed for HLA alone, 11.6% of those analysed for HLA with exclusion of monogenic disease). Of the 364 couples, 56.6% achieved an embryo transfer (ET) and 598 embryos were transferred in 382 cycles, leading to 164 HCG-positive pregnancies (pregnancy rate/ET 41.3%, pregnancy rate/initiated cycle 23.3%) and 136 babies born (live birth rate/ET 34.3%, live birth rate/initiated cycle 19.3%) to 113 couples. Data analysis identified the following limitations to the overall success of the HLA-PGD procedure: the age of the mother undergoing the treatment cycle, the number of oocytes collected per cycle and genetic chance. HSCT was reported for 57 cases, of which 64.9% involved combined umbilical cord-blood and bone marrow transplantation from the HLA-identical sibling donor; 77.3% of transplants reported no complications. The findings of the study may be limited as not all PGD centres with PGD-HLA experience participated. Reporting bias on completion of the online database may be another potential limitation. Furthermore, the study is based on retrospective data collection from centres with variable practices and strategies for ART, embryology and genetic diagnosis. This is the first multi-centre study evaluating the clinical utility of PGD-HLA, indicating variations in practice and outcomes throughout 15 years and between centres. The study highlights parameters important for positive outcomes and provides important information for both scientists and couples interested in initiating a cycle. Above all, the study underlines the need for better collaboration between all specialists involved in the ART-PGD/HLA procedure, as well as the need for comprehensive and prospective long-term data collection, and encourages all specialists to aim to properly evaluate and follow-up all procedures, with the ultimate aim to promote best practice and encourage patient informed decision making. The study wishes to acknowledge ESHRE for funding the customization of the REDCap database. There are no competing interests. N/A. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

19 CFR 146.23 - Accountability for merchandise in a zone.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... or value and the records are made available for Customs review; (4) Beginning balance, cumulative... merchandise; and (6) Scrap, waste, and by-products. (c) Physical inventory. The operator shall take at least an annual physical inventory of all merchandise in the zone (unless continuous cycle counts are taken...

TQM: the essential concepts.

PubMed

Chambers, D W

1998-01-01

This is an introduction to the major concepts in total quality management, a loose collection of management approaches that focus on continuous improvement of processes, guided by routine data collection and adjustment of the processes. Customer focus and involvement of all members of an organization are also characteristics commonly found in TQM. The seventy-five-year history of the movement is sketched from its beginning in statistical work on quality assurance through the many improvements and redefinitions added by American and Japanese thinkers. Essential concepts covered include: control cycles, focus on the process rather than the defects, the GEAR model, importance of the customer, upstream quality, just-in-time, kaizen, and service quality.

78 FR 15120 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-08

... information collection titled, ``Notice Regarding Unauthorized Access to Customer Information.'' DATES... collection: Title: Notice Regarding Unauthorized Access to Customer Information. OMB Control No.: 1557-0227...) To insure the security and confidentiality of customer records and information; (2) to protect...

75 FR 47823 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, OMB No...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-09

...-0102; Federal Emergency Management Agency Housing Inspection Services Customer Satisfaction Survey... Emergency Management Agency Housing Inspection Services Customer Satisfaction Survey. SUMMARY: The Federal... Inspection Services Customer Satisfaction Survey. Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently...

The use of a custom-made mouthguard stabilizes the electromyographic activity of the masticatory muscles among Karate-Dō athletes.

PubMed

Raquel, Gilsane; Namba, Eli Luis; Bonotto, Daniel; Ribeiro Rosa, Edvaldo Antônio; Trevilatto, Paula Cristina; Naval Machado, Maria Ângela; Vianna-Lara, Michelle Santos; Azevedo-Alanis, Luciana Reis

2017-01-01

To analyze and compare the electromyographic activity of the temporal (anterior portion) and masseter muscles among Karate-Dō athletes before and after training, with and without the use of a mouthguard. Twenty athletes (14 males and 6 females) with a mean age of 23.7 ± 7.5 years participated. They had surface electromyography recordings taken of their bilateral temporal and masseter muscles before and after training under the following conditions: no mouthguard, with a ready-made mouthguard, and with a custom-made mouthguard. Activity was examined at mandibular rest, while clenching, and at maximum voluntary contraction. The data were normalized using the mean maximum voluntary contraction. The right (p = 0.005) and left (p = 0.015) temporal muscles showed significantly lower electromyographic activity with a custom-made mouthguard compared with no mouthguard after training while clenching. The electromyographic activity of the temporal and masseter muscles did not show significant differences when tested at mandibular rest and while clenching before or after training with a custom-made mouthguard (p > 0.05). The use of a custom-made mouthguard preserved participants' electromyographic profiles before and after training; thus, they allow for stable muscle activity during the training of Karate-Dō athletes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

14 CFR 1214.113 - Allocation of risk.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Provisions Regarding Space Shuttle Flights of Payloads for Non-U.S. Government, Reimbursable Customers § 1214...-waiver of liability among the customer, other customers, related entities and NASA for all activities... insurance covering launch and on-orbit operations in an amount deemed appropriate by NASA. ...

14 CFR 1214.113 - Allocation of risk.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... Provisions Regarding Space Shuttle Flights of Payloads for Non-U.S. Government, Reimbursable Customers § 1214...-waiver of liability among the customer, other customers, related entities and NASA for all activities... insurance covering launch and on-orbit operations in an amount deemed appropriate by NASA. ...

14 CFR 1214.113 - Allocation of risk.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Provisions Regarding Space Shuttle Flights of Payloads for Non-U.S. Government, Reimbursable Customers § 1214...-waiver of liability among the customer, other customers, related entities and NASA for all activities... insurance covering launch and on-orbit operations in an amount deemed appropriate by NASA. ...

75 FR 5641 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-03

... Customer Information.'' DATES: You should submit comments by April 5, 2010. ADDRESSES: Communications... approval of the following information collection: Title: Notice Regarding Unauthorized Access to Customer..., and physical safeguards to: (1) Insure the security and confidentiality of customer records and...

78 FR 73871 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Federal Emergency...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-09

...; Federal Emergency Management Agency Housing Inspection Services Customer Satisfaction Survey AGENCY... comments concerning the housing inspection services customer satisfaction survey. DATES: Comments must be... customers to determine the kind and quality of services requested and their level of satisfaction with...

77 FR 70825 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; DOL Generic...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-27

... for OMB Review; Comment Request; DOL Generic Solution for Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Conference... request (ICR) titled, ``DOL Generic Solution for Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Conference Evaluations...). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DOL periodically conducts customer satisfaction surveys and conference...

77 FR 66862 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Extension, Without Change, of an Existing Information...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-07

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency... Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), will submit the following... United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, and sent via...

78 FR 45551 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Reinstatement, Without Change; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-29

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency... Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE), will submit the following... Homeland Security (DHS), Scott Elmore, Forms Manager, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 801 I...

12 CFR 225.28 - List of permissible nonbanking activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... management official of the client institution, except where such interlocking relationship is permitted... conducting management consulting activities may provide management consulting services to customers not... customers in payment for goods and services, and purchasing from the merchant validly authorized checks that...

41 CFR 101-28.301 - Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... FEDERAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS SUPPLY AND PROCUREMENT 28-STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION 28.3-Customer Supply Centers § 101-28.301 Applicability. This subpart is applicable to all activities that are eligible to use customer supply centers. Eligible activities include executive agencies, elements of the...

Dr. Peter Cavanaugh Explains the Need and Operation of the FOOT Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

This video clip is an interview with Dr. Peter Cavanaugh, principal investigator for the FOOT experiment. He explains the reasoning behind the experiment and shows some video clips of the FOOT experiment being calibrated and conducted in orbit. The heart of the FOOT experiment is an instrumented suit called the Lower Extremity Monitoring Suit (LEMS). This customized garment is a pair of Lycra cycling tights incorporating 20 carefully placed sensors and the associated wiring control units, and amplifiers. LEMS enables the electrical activity of the muscles, the angular motions of the hip, knee, and ankle joints, and the force under both feet to be measured continuously. Measurements are also made on the arm muscles. Information from the sensors can be recorded up to 14 hours on a small, wearable computer.

The Role of Logic Modeling in a Collaborative and Iterative Research Process: Lessons from Research and Analysis Conducted with the Federal Voting Assistance Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-01

outputs, customers , and outcomes (see Figure 2.1). In the Taylor-Powell and Henert simple three-part example, the food would constitute an input, finding... Customer Activities etaidemretnI Goals Strategic Goals Annual Goals Management Objectives Operations M ission External factors Annual...Partners are the individuals or organizations that work with programs to conduct activities or enable outputs. • Customers (intermediate and final

76 FR 47185 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension

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2011-08-04

... customer relationship with a consumer and/or before sharing a consumer's non-public personal information... entities: (1) 100,000 respondents, approximately 70% of whom maintain customer relationships exceeding one...) When initially establishing a customer relationship and/or before sharing a consumer's non-public...

77 FR 15393 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: Firearms...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-15

... Services Division Customer Service Survey ACTION: 30-Day notice of information collection. The Department.... (2) Title of the Form/Collection: Firearms & Explosives Services Division Customer Service Survey. (3... firearms and explosives industry. This anonymous survey would allow FESD to gauge customer satisfaction and...

14 CFR § 1214.113 - Allocation of risk.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... Provisions Regarding Space Shuttle Flights of Payloads for Non-U.S. Government, Reimbursable Customers § 1214...-waiver of liability among the customer, other customers, related entities and NASA for all activities... insurance covering launch and on-orbit operations in an amount deemed appropriate by NASA. ...

75 FR 59732 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, OMB No...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-28

...; Federal Emergency Management Agency Individual Assistance Customer Satisfaction Surveys AGENCY: Federal... Agency Individual Assistance Customer Satisfaction Surveys. Type of Information Collection: Revision of a... quality of services customers want and their level of satisfaction with existing services. FEMA Managers...

75 FR 30863 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

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2010-06-02

... the information to assess customer satisfaction with course content and delivery and to ensure that the training meets the customer's needs. The public is invited to comment on the proposed information...: The information collection allows uniform measurement of customer satisfaction with NARA training...

78 FR 33114 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-03

... the information to assess customer satisfaction with course content and delivery and to ensure that the training meets the customer's needs. The public is invited to comment on the proposed information...: The information collection allows uniform measurement of customer satisfaction with NARA training...

77 FR 60506 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments for a New Information Collection

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-03

... through Friday, except Federal holidays. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Customer Satisfaction Surveys. Background: Executive Order 12862, ``Setting Customer Service Standards'' requires that federal agencies provide the highest quality service to our customers by identifying them and determining what they think...

76 FR 70827 - Proposed Information Collection (Board of Veterans' Appeals Customer Satisfaction With Hearing...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-15

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS [OMB Control No. 2900-0548] Proposed Information Collection (Board of Veterans' Appeals Customer Satisfaction With Hearing Survey Card) Activity; Comment Request AGENCY... information technology. Title: Board of Veterans' Appeals Customer Satisfaction with Hearing Survey Card, VA...

Retailer's inventory system in a two-level trade credit financing with selling price discount and partial order cancelations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thangam, A.

2015-06-01

In today's fast marketing over the Internet or online, many retailers want to trade at the same time and change their marketing strategy to attract more customers. Some of the customers may decide to cancel their orders partially with a retailer due to various reasons such as increase in customer's waiting time, loss of customer's goodwill on retailer's business, attractive promotional schemes offered by other retailers etc. Even though there is a lag in trading and order cancelation, this paper attempts to develop the retailer's inventory model with the effect of order cancelations during advance sales period. The retailer announces a price discount program during advance sales period to promote his sales and also he offers trade credit financing during the sales periods. The retailer availing trade credit period from his supplier offers a permissible delay period to his customers. The customer who gets an item has allowed paying on or before the permissible delay period which is accounted from the buying time rather than the start period of inventory sales. This accounts for significant changes in the calculations of interest payable and interest earned by the retailer. The retailer's total cost is minimized so as to find out the optimal replenishment cycle time and price discount policies through a solution procedure. The results derived in mathematical theorems are implemented in numerical examples and sensitivity analyses on several inventory parameters are obtained.

Retailer's inventory system in a two-level trade credit financing with selling price discount and partial order cancellations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thangam, A.

2014-02-01

In today's fast marketing over the Internet or online, many retailers want to trade at the same time and change their marketing strategy to attract more customers. Some of the customers may decide to cancel their orders partially with a retailer due to various reasons such as increase in customer's waiting time, loss of customer's goodwill on retailer's business, and attractive promotional schemes offered by other retailers. Even though there is a lag in trading and order cancellation, this paper attempts to develop the retailer's inventory model with the effect of order cancellations during advance sales period. The retailer announces a price discount program during advance sales period to promote his sales and also offers trade credit financing during the sales periods. The retailer availing trade credit period from his supplier offers a permissible delay period to his customers. The customer who gets an item is allowed to pay on or before the permissible delay period which is accounted from the buying time rather than from the start period of inventory sales. This accounts for significant changes in the calculations of interest payable and interest earned by the retailer. The retailer's total cost is minimized so as to find out the optimal replenishment cycle time and price discount policies through a solution procedure. The results derived in mathematical theorems are implemented in numerical examples, and sensitivity analyses on several inventory parameters are obtained.

75 FR 70680 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Information

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Information AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland... information: 1651-0023. SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden...

76 FR 3649 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Information

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-20

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Information AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: 30-Day notice and request for comments; Extension of an existing information collection...

78 FR 26649 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Trusted Traveler Programs

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-07

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Trusted Traveler Programs AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: 60-Day Notice and request for comments; Extension of an existing collection of...

77 FR 40892 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Crew Member's Declaration

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-11

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Crew Member's Declaration AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: 60-Day Notice and request for comments; Extension of an existing collection of...

Modular Biopower System Providing Combined Heat and Power for DoD Installations

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

Cycle Cost evaluation using the experimental results of the 6-month field demonstration and the system’s projected cost and performance for the...34 5.6 SAMPLING RESULTS ...premises, which resulted in a significant program delay. After a short period of operation, the custom-designed engine developed mechanical

75 FR 5118 - Possible Modifications to the International Harmonized System Nomenclature

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-01

... (Harmonized System) in connection with the Fifth Review Cycle of the World Customs Organization (WCO), with a view to keeping the Harmonized System current with changes in technology and trade patterns. The... (RSC), which is responsible for considering amendments to the HS in order to keep the HS current with...

iMAST FY2007 Annual Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

laser cladding techniques. Customer: COMSUBPAC NAVSEASYSCOM Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard...motion device to laser clad and re-dimension the affected tube to original specifications. Benefits: ° Reduce life cycle costs of tube...coatings via cold gas dynamic spraying and EB–PVD ° Spray-formed HT aluminum alloys ° Localized laser HT and cladding for wear

Customer Service in Ontario's Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keith, John

2005-01-01

No doubt there are detractors who cringe at the prospect of connecting the term customer service with an institution of higher education. Some may consider the term demeaning. However, given the college funding crisis and current economic climate, a quality customer service strategy is a prudent adjunct to any marketing activity undertaken. It is…

76 FR 54780 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Foreign Trade Zone Annual Reconciliation Certification...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-02

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection.... Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: 60-Day notice and request... November 1, 2011, to be assured of consideration. ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to U.S. Customs...

77 FR 31616 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-29

...: Generic Clearance for the Collection Customer Satisfaction Surveys; Use: This collection of information is necessary to enable the Agency to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner... customers and stakeholders will help ensure that users have an effective, efficient, and satisfying...

75 FR 4397 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-27

... Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Customer Satisfaction form (OMB 0930-0197). The only revision...) Customer Satisfaction form (OMB 0930-0197). The ATTCs are eliminating the Technical Assistance and Meeting... CSAT Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Customer Satisfaction form (OMB 0930-0197) Training...

20 CFR 663.720 - What are the requirements for customized training for employed workers?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... training for employed workers? 663.720 Section 663.720 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER ACTIVITIES UNDER TITLE I OF THE WORKFORCE... customized training for employed workers? Customized training of an eligible employed individual may be...

20 CFR 663.720 - What are the requirements for customized training for employed workers?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... training for employed workers? 663.720 Section 663.720 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER ACTIVITIES UNDER TITLE I OF THE WORKFORCE... customized training for employed workers? Customized training of an eligible employed individual may be...

12 CFR Appendix J to Part 222 - Interagency Guidelines on Identity Theft Detection, Prevention, and Mitigation

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., procedures, and other arrangements that control reasonably foreseeable risks to customers or to the safety... other suspicious activity related to, a covered account; and (5) Notice from customers, victims of... policies and procedures regarding identification and verification set forth in the Customer Identification...

77 FR 1510 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested; Firearms...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-10

... Services Division Customer Service Survey ACTION: 60-Day Notice of Information Collection. The Department... & Explosives Services Division Customer Service Survey. (3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable... firearms and explosives industry. This anonymous survey would allow FESD to gauge customer satisfaction and...

77 FR 22360 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-13

... requirement to be submitted: 1. The title of the information collection: Generic Customer Satisfaction Surveys and NRC Form 671, Request for Review of a Customer Satisfaction Survey under Generic Clearance. 2... or request: 1,529.5 hours. 7. Abstract: Voluntary customer satisfaction surveys will be used to...

75 FR 52542 - Extension of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Department of Homeland...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-26

... Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP). The collection also involves a voluntary customer satisfaction survey to... customer satisfaction survey in accordance with the DHS Office of the Inspector General, Report on... completing customer satisfaction survey will take approximately 10 minutes per respondent. Number of...

75 FR 1840 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-13

... customer relationship. Sec. 40.8--Disclosure (institution)-- Revised privacy notices--If a bank wishes to... customer relationship terminates, the customer's opt out direction continues to apply. Type of Review..., an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB...

75 FR 8425 - Agency Information Collection Activity Seeking OMB Approval

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-24

... Transportation (AST) conducts this survey in order to obtain industry input on customer service standards which have been developed and distributed to industry customers. DATES: Please submit comments by March 26... Customer Service Survey. Type of Request: Extension without change of a currently approved collection. OMB...

75 FR 20426 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-19

... Customer Information.'' The OCC is also giving notice that it has submitted the collection to OMB for... following information collection: Title: Notice Regarding Unauthorized Access to Customer Information. OMB... physical safeguards to: (1) Insure the security and confidentiality of customer records and information; (2...

77 FR 34055 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Certificate of Registration

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-08

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection.... SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of Homeland Security will be... addressed to the OMB Desk Officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security...

77 FR 51577 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: National...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-24

... Customer Satisfaction Survey ACTION: 30-Day notice of information collection under review. The Department... Satisfaction Survey. (3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the Department of Justice... customer satisfaction survey to more effectively capture customer perception/satisfaction of services. AEPD...

77 FR 9954 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of Owner and Declaration of Consignee When...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-21

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs And Border Protection Agency Information Collection.... Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: 30-Day notice and request for comments; Extension of an existing information collection. SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP...

Custom Sewing, Modules One, Two, and Three. Instructor Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Missouri Univ., Columbia. Instructional Materials Lab.

This document consists of three modules designed for a custom apparel and garment sewing program teaching students to construct, alter, and prepare garments and home fashions to customer specifications. Each module includes some or all of the following components: performance objectives, lesson plans, suggested activities, information sheets,…

Tools and Strategies for Product Life Cycle Management ñ A Case Study in Foundry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patil, Rajashekar; Kumar, S. Mohan; Abhilash, E.

2012-08-01

Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have opened new possibilities of collaborations among the customers, suppliers, manufactures and partners to effectively tackle various business challenges. Product Life Cycle Management(PLM) has been a proven approach for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to increase their productivity, improve their product quality, speed up delivery, and increase their profit and to become more efficient. However, their Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers like foundry industries are still in their infancy without adopting PLM. Hence to enhance their understanding, the basic concepts, the tools and strategies for PLM are presented is this paper. By selecting and implementing appropriate PLM strategies in a small foundry, an attempt was also made to understand the immediate benefits of using PLM tools (commercial PLM software and digital manufacturing tools). This study indicated a reduction in lead time and improved utilization of organizational resources in the production of automobile impeller. These observations may be further extrapolated to other multiproduct, multi-discipline and multi-customer companies to realize the advantages of using PLM technology

Periodic colonic motor activity identified by 24-h pancolonic ambulatory manometry in humans.

PubMed

Hagger, R; Kumar, Devinder; Benson, M; Grundy, A

2002-06-01

The pattern of colonic motor activity in healthy humans has not been fully elucidated to date. The aim of this study was to evaluate colorectal motor activity employing 24-h ambulant pancolonic manometry. Ten healthy volunteers (6F, 4M), aged 19-31 years were studied. Motor activity was measured using two custom-made silicone coated catheters, each with five solid-state pressure transducers. No bowel preparation or sedation was used. The study period was 24 h. A total of 232 h of recording was obtained. Sixty-three high amplitude propagated contractions were observed, median six per 24-h period. Low-amplitude colonic contractile activity showed regional and diurnal variations. Frequency of contraction was highest in the right colon [median 5.26 cpm (cycles per minute)], and transverse colon and splenic flexure (median 5.15 cpm). The interval between colonic motor complexes was shortest in the transverse colon and splenic flexure. This study introduces a new technique for the evaluation of colorectal motor activity. Subjects were studied in an ambulant setting in their own environment ensuring that this method of study is as physiological as possible. This study demonstrates that colonic motor activity has two main components: high amplitude propagated contractions and low amplitude colonic contractile activity.

78 FR 75576 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Information

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-12

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Information AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland... information: 1651-0023. SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden...

18 CFR 367.9070 - Account 907, Supervision.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... customer service activities, the object of which is to encourage safe, efficient and economical use of the associate utility company's service. Direct supervision of a specific activity within customer service and... POWER ACT AND NATURAL GAS ACT UNIFORM SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTS FOR CENTRALIZED SERVICE COMPANIES SUBJECT TO...

77 FR 73038 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Application for Allowance in Duties

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-07

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Application for Allowance in Duties AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: 60-day notice and request for comments; Extension of an existing...

Customers' perspectives on the impact of the Pathways to Work condition management programme on their health, well-being and vocational activity.

PubMed

Secker, Jenny; Pittam, Gail; Ford, Fiona

2012-11-01

Pathways to Work is a UK initiative aimed at supporting customers on incapacity benefits to return to work. This qualitative study complements previous evaluations of Pathways to Work by exploring customers' perceptions of the impact of the Condition Management Programme (CMP) offered to claimants with long-term health conditions. 39 customers took part in focus groups held at the seven sites where Pathways was originally piloted. The main focus of the discussions was on perceptions of the ways in which participation had impacted on health, well-being and return to work. The discussions were audio-recorded and fully transcribed for analysis using a text analysis framework to enable the development and refinement of categories and overarching patterns in the data. Perceived impacts on health and well-being included a more positive outlook, social contact, changed perceptions of conditions and improvements in health. Some customers also reported an increase in their vocational activity and others felt ready to embark on new activities. Factors associated with positive outcomes included the extent and quality of contact with CMP staff and practical advice about condition management. Factors impeding positive employment outcomes related mainly to obstacles to returning to work. The results indicated that CMP can assist customers to learn about and manage their health conditions and increase their vocational activity, and that CMP therefore provides a promising means of enabling people with long-term health conditions to regain a fulfilling, productive life.

Towards Simpler Custom and OpenSearch Services for Voluminous NEWS Merged A-Train Data (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hua, H.; Fetzer, E.; Braverman, A. J.; Lewis, S.; Henderson, M. L.; Guillaume, A.; Lee, S.; de La Torre Juarez, M.; Dang, H. T.

2010-12-01

To simplify access to large and complex satellite data sets for climate analysis and model verification, we developed web services that is used to study long-term and global-scale trends in climate, water and energy cycle, and weather variability. A related NASA Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) task has created a merged NEWS Level 2 data from multiple instruments in NASA’s A-Train constellation of satellites. We used this data to enable creation of climatologies that include correlation between observed temperature, water vapor and cloud properties from the A-Train sensors. Instead of imposing on the user an often rigid and limiting web-based analysis environment, we recognize the need for simple and well-designed services so that users can perform analysis in their own familiar computing environments. Custom on-demand services were developed to improve data accessibility of voluminous multi-sensor data. Services enabling geospatial, geographical, and multi-sensor parameter subsets of the data, as well a custom time-averaged Level 3 service will be presented. We will also show how a Level 3Q data reduction approach can be used to help “browse” the voluminous multi-sensor Level 2 data. An OpenSearch capability with full text + space + time search of data products will also be presented as an approach to facilitated interoperability with other data systems. We will present our experiences for improving user usability as well as strategies for facilitating interoperability with other data systems.

Sustainable WEE management in Malaysia: present scenarios and future perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rezaul Hasan Shumon, Md; Ahmed, S.

2013-12-01

Technological advances have resulted development of a lot of electronic products for continuously increasing number of customers. As the customer taste and features of these products change rapidly, the life cycles have come down tremendously. Therefore, a large volume of e-wastes are now emanated every year. This scenario is very much predominant in Malaysia. On one hand e-wastes are becoming environmental hazards and affecting the ecological imbalance. On the other, these wastes are remaining still economically valuable. In Malaysia, e-waste management system is still in its nascent state. This paper describes the current status of e-waste generation and recycling and explores issues for future e-waste management system in Malaysia from sustainable point of view. As to draw some factual comparisons, this paper reviews the e-waste management system in European Union, USA, Japan, as a benchmark. Then it focuses on understanding the Malaysian culture, consumer discarding behavior, flow of the materials in recycling, e-waste management system, and presents a comparative view with the Swiss e-waste system. Sustainable issues for e-waste management in Malaysia are also presented. The response adopted so far in collection and recovery activities are covered in later phases. Finally, it investigates the barriers and challenges of e-waste system in Malaysia.

Cost-Sensitive Radial Basis Function Neural Network Classifier for Software Defect Prediction

PubMed Central

Venkatesan, R.

2016-01-01

Effective prediction of software modules, those that are prone to defects, will enable software developers to achieve efficient allocation of resources and to concentrate on quality assurance activities. The process of software development life cycle basically includes design, analysis, implementation, testing, and release phases. Generally, software testing is a critical task in the software development process wherein it is to save time and budget by detecting defects at the earliest and deliver a product without defects to the customers. This testing phase should be carefully operated in an effective manner to release a defect-free (bug-free) software product to the customers. In order to improve the software testing process, fault prediction methods identify the software parts that are more noted to be defect-prone. This paper proposes a prediction approach based on conventional radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) and the novel adaptive dimensional biogeography based optimization (ADBBO) model. The developed ADBBO based RBFNN model is tested with five publicly available datasets from the NASA data program repository. The computed results prove the effectiveness of the proposed ADBBO-RBFNN classifier approach with respect to the considered metrics in comparison with that of the early predictors available in the literature for the same datasets. PMID:27738649

Cost-Sensitive Radial Basis Function Neural Network Classifier for Software Defect Prediction.

PubMed

Kumudha, P; Venkatesan, R

Effective prediction of software modules, those that are prone to defects, will enable software developers to achieve efficient allocation of resources and to concentrate on quality assurance activities. The process of software development life cycle basically includes design, analysis, implementation, testing, and release phases. Generally, software testing is a critical task in the software development process wherein it is to save time and budget by detecting defects at the earliest and deliver a product without defects to the customers. This testing phase should be carefully operated in an effective manner to release a defect-free (bug-free) software product to the customers. In order to improve the software testing process, fault prediction methods identify the software parts that are more noted to be defect-prone. This paper proposes a prediction approach based on conventional radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) and the novel adaptive dimensional biogeography based optimization (ADBBO) model. The developed ADBBO based RBFNN model is tested with five publicly available datasets from the NASA data program repository. The computed results prove the effectiveness of the proposed ADBBO-RBFNN classifier approach with respect to the considered metrics in comparison with that of the early predictors available in the literature for the same datasets.

Design automation techniques for custom LSI arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feller, A.

1975-01-01

The standard cell design automation technique is described as an approach for generating random logic PMOS, CMOS or CMOS/SOS custom large scale integration arrays with low initial nonrecurring costs and quick turnaround time or design cycle. The system is composed of predesigned circuit functions or cells and computer programs capable of automatic placement and interconnection of the cells in accordance with an input data net list. The program generates a set of instructions to drive an automatic precision artwork generator. A series of support design automation and simulation programs are described, including programs for verifying correctness of the logic on the arrays, performing dc and dynamic analysis of MOS devices, and generating test sequences.

41 CFR 101-28.306-1 - Establishment of a CSC account by a customer activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... account by a customer activity. (a) Eligible agencies should contact the GSA Regional Federal Supply... Federal Property Management Regulations System FEDERAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS SUPPLY AND... will provide assistance to agencies in the establishment of the CSC account, brief personnel on the use...

41 CFR 101-28.306-1 - Establishment of a CSC account by a customer activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... account by a customer activity. (a) Eligible agencies should contact the GSA Regional Federal Supply... Federal Property Management Regulations System FEDERAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS SUPPLY AND... will provide assistance to agencies in the establishment of the CSC account, brief personnel on the use...

41 CFR 101-28.306-1 - Establishment of a CSC account by a customer activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... account by a customer activity. (a) Eligible agencies should contact the GSA Regional Federal Supply... Federal Property Management Regulations System FEDERAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS SUPPLY AND... will provide assistance to agencies in the establishment of the CSC account, brief personnel on the use...

41 CFR 101-28.306-1 - Establishment of a CSC account by a customer activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... account by a customer activity. (a) Eligible agencies should contact the GSA Regional Federal Supply... Federal Property Management Regulations System FEDERAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS SUPPLY AND... will provide assistance to agencies in the establishment of the CSC account, brief personnel on the use...

41 CFR 101-28.306-1 - Establishment of a CSC account by a customer activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... account by a customer activity. (a) Eligible agencies should contact the GSA Regional Federal Supply... Federal Property Management Regulations System FEDERAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS SUPPLY AND... will provide assistance to agencies in the establishment of the CSC account, brief personnel on the use...

77 FR 1697 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Fast Track Generic Clearance for the Collection of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-11

... and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized... Delivery: IHS Web Site Customer Service Satisfaction Survey AGENCY: Indian Health Service, HHS. ACTION: 30... Survey. Abstract: The information collection activity will garner qualitative customer and stakeholder...

78 FR 21919 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Generic Clearance for Federal Student...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-12

... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [Docket No. ED-2013-ICCD-0045] Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Generic Clearance for Federal Student Aid Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups... Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups Master Plan. OMB Control Number: 1845-0045. Type of Review...

Fuel cells for automotive powertrains-A techno-economic assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mock, Peter; Schmid, Stephan A.

With the objective of identifying the hurdles currently preventing a widespread application of fuel cell technology in passenger cars an assessment of technical and economic parameters is carried out. Patent and publication analysis is used to assess current status of fuel cell technology regarding its position on technology life cycle. S-curve methodology leads to the conclusion that further scientific activity is to be expected but for today's low-temperature PEM fuel cell technology might level by 2015. Technical analysis identifies power density and platinum loading as parameters for which further improvements are necessary in order to satisfy future customer needs. A detailed cost evaluation suggests that in future for high production volumes (approx. 1 million vehicles cumulative) significantly lower costs for fuel cell stacks (12-40 kW -1) and systems (35-83 kW -1) will be viable. Reducing costs to such a level will have to be the main focus for upcoming research activities in order to make fuel cell driven road vehicles a competitive alternative.

Developing Tools and Techniques to Increase Communication Effectiveness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hayes, Linda A.; Peterson, Doug

1997-01-01

The Public Affairs Office (PAO) of the Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for communicating current JSC Space Program activities as well as goals and objectives to the American Public. As part of the 1996 Strategic Communications Plan, a review of PAO' s current communication procedures was conducted. The 1996 Summer Faculty Fellow performed research activities to support this effort by reviewing current research concerning NASA/JSC's customers' perceptions and interests, developing communications tools which enable PAO to more effectively inform JSC customers about the Space Program, and proposing a process for developing and using consistent messages throughout PAO. Note that this research does not attempt to change or influence customer perceptions or interests but, instead, incorporates current customer interests into PAO's communication process.

A framework to monitor activities of satellite data processing in real-time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, M. D.; Kryukov, A. P.

2018-01-01

Space Monitoring Data Center (SMDC) of SINP MSU is one of the several centers in the world that collects data on the radiational conditions in near-Earth orbit from various Russian (Lomonosov, Electro-L1, Electro-L2, Meteor-M1, Meteor-M2, etc.) and foreign (GOES 13, GOES 15, ACE, SDO, etc.) satellites. The primary purposes of SMDC are: aggregating heterogeneous data from different sources; providing a unified interface for data retrieval, visualization, analysis, as well as development and testing new space weather models; and controlling the correctness and completeness of data. Space weather models rely on data provided by SMDC to produce forecasts. Therefore, monitoring the whole data processing cycle is crucial for further success in the modeling of physical processes in near-Earth orbit based on the collected data. To solve the problem described above, we have developed a framework called Live Monitor at SMDC. Live Monitor allows watching all stages and program components involved in each data processing cycle. All activities of each stage are logged by Live Monitor and shown in real-time on a web interface. When an error occurs, a notification message will be sent to satellite operators via email and the Telegram messenger service so that they could take measures in time. The Live Monitor’s API can be used to create a customized monitoring service with minimum coding.

78 FR 17765 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Information Collection Renewal; Submission for OMB...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-22

... during the continuation of the customer relationship. Sec. 1016.8--Disclosure (institution)--Revised... customer relationship terminates, the customer's opt out direction continues to apply. Type of Review..., please send a copy of your comments by mail to: OCC Desk Officer, 1557-0216, U.S. Office of Management...

12 CFR Appendix J to Part 41 - Interagency Guidelines on Identity Theft Detection, Prevention, and Mitigation

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... risks to customers or to the safety and soundness of the financial institution or creditor from identity... unusual use of, or other suspicious activity related to, a covered account; and (5) Notice from customers... policies and procedures regarding identification and verification set forth in the Customer Identification...

26 CFR 1.469-4T - Definition of activity (temporary).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... at the management office relate to transactions in which customers take physical possession at... fixed place of business or that are conducted at the customer's place of business are treated as part of... production of property at that location or to the transaction of business with customers at that location are...

16 CFR Appendix A to Part 681 - Interagency Guidelines on Identity Theft Detection, Prevention, and Mitigation

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... risks to customers or to the safety and soundness of the financial institution or creditor from identity... unusual use of, or other suspicious activity related to, a covered account; and (5) Notice from customers... policies and procedures regarding identification and verification set forth in the Customer Identification...

Technology to Support Teachers Using Evidence from Student Work to Customize Technology-Enhanced Inquiry Units

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matuk, Camillia F.; Linn, Marcia C.; Eylon, Bat-Sheva

2015-01-01

Teachers' involvement in curriculum design is essential for sustaining the relevance of technology-enhanced learning materials. Customizing--making small adjustments to tailor given materials to particular situations and settings--is one design activity in which busy teachers can feasibly engage. Research indicates that customizations based…

77 FR 41206 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-12

..., revision, or extension: Extension. 2. The title of the information collection: Generic Customer Satisfaction Surveys and NRC Form 671, Request for Review of a Customer Satisfaction Survey under Generic... customer satisfaction surveys will be used to contact users of NRC services and products to determine how...

76 FR 27645 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-12

... establishing a customer relationship with a consumer and/or before sharing a consumer's non-public personal... customer relationships exceeding one year, (2) no more than 1% (1,000) of whom make additional changes to... responses. The GLB Privacy Rule is designed to ensure that customers and consumers, subject to certain...

75 FR 20427 - Agency Information Collection (Insurance Surveys) Activities Under OMB Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-19

... to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing service. Customer satisfaction surveys are used to gauge customer perceptions of VA services as well as customer expectations and desires. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to...

Novel packaging for CW and QCW diode laser modules for operation with high power and duty cycles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fassbender, Wilhelm; Lotz, Jens; Kissel, Heiko; Biesenbach, Jens

2018-02-01

Continuous wave (CW) and quasi-continuous wave (QCW) operated diode laser bars and arrays have found a wide range of industrial, medical, scientific, military and space applications with a broad variety in wavelength, pulse energy, pulse duration and beam quality. Recent applications require even higher power, duty cycles and power density. The heat loss will be dissipated by conductive cooling or liquid cooling close to the bars. We present the latest performance and reliability data of two novel high-brightness CW and QCW arrays of customized and mass-production modules, in compact and robust industry design for operation with high power and high duty cycles. All designs are based on single diode packages consisting of 10mm laser bars, soft or hard soldered between expansion matched submounts. The modular components cover a wide span of designs which differ basically in water/conduction (active/passive) cooled, single, linear (horizontal and vertical) arranged designs, as well as housed and unhoused modules. The different assembling technologies of active and passive cooled base plates affect the heat dissipation and therefore the reachable power at different QCW operating conditions, as well as the lifetime. As an example, a package consisting of 8 laser diodes, connected to a 28.8*13.5*7.0mm3 DCB (direct copper bonded) submount, passively or actively cooled is considered. This design is of particular interest for mobile applications seamless module to module building system, with an infinite number of laser bars at 1.7mm pitch. Using 940nm bars we can reach an optical output power per bar of 450W at 25°C base plate temperature with 10Hz, 1.2% duty cycle and 1.2ms pulse duration. As an additional example, micro channel coolers can be vertically stacked up to 50 diodes with a 1,15mm pitch. This design is suitable for all applications, demanding also compactness and light weight and high power density. Using near infrared bars and others, we can reach an optical output power of 250W per bar at 25°C coolant temperature at CW operation.

Competing strategically through market orientation.

PubMed

Rapert, M I; Yarbrough, L

1997-01-01

As organizations seek to better understand their customers, competitors, and environments, the marketing function effectively serves as the support mechanism for these activities in many industries. Accordingly, in many organizations the marketing concept has been elevated to the stature of a strategic weapon, manifested in the form of market orientation. Market-oriented firms emphasize the collection, organization, and dissemination of information regarding both customers and competitors. This strategy is especially well-suited for the health care industry where customer knowledge is of paramount importance, customer interaction is instantaneous, and customer satisfaction is essential. Results of a national study of general service hospitals suggest that firms which embrace a market orientation benefit through enhanced customer satisfaction and quality.

Online purchasing creates opportunities to lower the life cycle carbon footprints of consumer products

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

Isley, Steven C.; Stern, Paul C.; Carmichael, Scott P.

A major barrier to transitions to environmental sustainability is that consumers lack information about the full environmental footprints of their purchases. Sellers' incentives do not support reducing the footprints unless customers have such information and are willing to act on it. We explore the potential of modern information technology to lower this barrier by enabling firms to inform customers of products' environmental footprints at the point of purchase and easily offset consumers' contributions through bundled purchases of carbon offsets. Using online stated choice experiments, we evaluated the effectiveness of several inexpensive features that firms in four industries could implement withmore » existing online user interfaces for consumers. These examples illustrate the potential for firms to lower their overall carbon footprints while improving customer satisfaction by lowering the 'soft costs' to consumers of pro-environmental choices. Lastly, opportunities such as these likely exist wherever firms possess environmentally relevant data not accessible to consumers or when transaction costs make pro-environmental action difficult.« less

Hybridity as a process of technology's 'translation': customizing a national Electronic Patient Record.

PubMed

Petrakaki, Dimitra; Klecun, Ela

2015-01-01

This paper explores how national Electronic Patient Record (EPR) systems are customized in local settings and, in particular, how the context of their origin plays out with the context of their use. It shows how representations of healthcare organizations and of local clinical practice are built into EPR systems within a complex context whereby different stakeholder groups negotiate to produce an EPR package that aims to meet both local and generic needs. The paper draws from research into the implementation of the National Care Record Service, a part of the National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT), in the English National Health Service (NHS). The paper makes two arguments. First, customization of national EPR is a distributed process that involves cycles of 'translation', which span across geographical, cultural and professional boundaries. Second, 'translation' is an inherently political process during which hybrid technology gets consolidated. The paper concludes, that hybrid technology opens up possibilities for standardization of healthcare. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Online purchasing creates opportunities to lower the life cycle carbon footprints of consumer products

DOE PAGES

Isley, Steven C.; Stern, Paul C.; Carmichael, Scott P.; ...

2016-08-30

A major barrier to transitions to environmental sustainability is that consumers lack information about the full environmental footprints of their purchases. Sellers' incentives do not support reducing the footprints unless customers have such information and are willing to act on it. We explore the potential of modern information technology to lower this barrier by enabling firms to inform customers of products' environmental footprints at the point of purchase and easily offset consumers' contributions through bundled purchases of carbon offsets. Using online stated choice experiments, we evaluated the effectiveness of several inexpensive features that firms in four industries could implement withmore » existing online user interfaces for consumers. These examples illustrate the potential for firms to lower their overall carbon footprints while improving customer satisfaction by lowering the 'soft costs' to consumers of pro-environmental choices. Lastly, opportunities such as these likely exist wherever firms possess environmentally relevant data not accessible to consumers or when transaction costs make pro-environmental action difficult.« less

Online purchasing creates opportunities to lower the life cycle carbon footprints of consumer products

PubMed Central

Isley, Steven C.; Stern, Paul C.; Carmichael, Scott P.; Joseph, Karun M.; Arent, Douglas J.

2016-01-01

A major barrier to transitions to environmental sustainability is that consumers lack information about the full environmental footprints of their purchases. Sellers’ incentives do not support reducing the footprints unless customers have such information and are willing to act on it. We explore the potential of modern information technology to lower this barrier by enabling firms to inform customers of products’ environmental footprints at the point of purchase and easily offset consumers’ contributions through bundled purchases of carbon offsets. Using online stated choice experiments, we evaluated the effectiveness of several inexpensive features that firms in four industries could implement with existing online user interfaces for consumers. These examples illustrate the potential for firms to lower their overall carbon footprints while improving customer satisfaction by lowering the “soft costs” to consumers of proenvironmental choices. Opportunities such as these likely exist wherever firms possess environmentally relevant data not accessible to consumers or when transaction costs make proenvironmental action difficult. PMID:27528670

Online purchasing creates opportunities to lower the life cycle carbon footprints of consumer products.

PubMed

Isley, Steven C; Stern, Paul C; Carmichael, Scott P; Joseph, Karun M; Arent, Douglas J

2016-08-30

A major barrier to transitions to environmental sustainability is that consumers lack information about the full environmental footprints of their purchases. Sellers' incentives do not support reducing the footprints unless customers have such information and are willing to act on it. We explore the potential of modern information technology to lower this barrier by enabling firms to inform customers of products' environmental footprints at the point of purchase and easily offset consumers' contributions through bundled purchases of carbon offsets. Using online stated choice experiments, we evaluated the effectiveness of several inexpensive features that firms in four industries could implement with existing online user interfaces for consumers. These examples illustrate the potential for firms to lower their overall carbon footprints while improving customer satisfaction by lowering the "soft costs" to consumers of proenvironmental choices. Opportunities such as these likely exist wherever firms possess environmentally relevant data not accessible to consumers or when transaction costs make proenvironmental action difficult.

Impressions of Early Mobilization of Critically Ill Children-Clinician, Patient, and Family Perspectives.

PubMed

Zheng, Katina; Sarti, Aimee; Boles, Sama; Cameron, Saoirse; Carlisi, Robert; Clark, Heather; Khawaji, Adeeb; Awladthani, Saif; Al-Harbi, Samah; Choong, Karen

2018-04-11

To understand patient, family caregiver, and clinician impressions of early mobilization, the perceived barriers and facilitators to its implementation, and the use of in-bed cycling as a method of mobilization. A qualitative study, conducted as part of the Early Exercise in Critically ill Youth and Children, a preliminary Evaluation (wEECYCLE) Pilot randomized controlled trial. McMaster Children's Hospital PICU, Hamilton, ON, Canada. Clinicians (i.e., physicians, nurses, and physiotherapists), family caregivers, and capable patients age greater than or equal to 8 years old who were enrolled in a clinical trial of early mobilization in critically ill children (wEECYCLE). Semistructured, face-to-face interviews using a customized interview guide for clinicians, caregivers, and patients respectively, conducted after exposure to the early mobilization intervention. Thirty-seven participants were interviewed (19 family caregivers, four patients, and 14 clinicians). Family caregivers and clinicians described similar interrelated themes representing barriers to mobilization, namely low prioritization of mobilization by the medical team, safety concerns, the lack of physiotherapy resources, and low patient motivation. Key facilitators were family trust in the healthcare team, team engagement, an a priori belief that physical activity is important, and participation in research. Increased familiarity and specific features such as the virtual reality component and ability to execute passive and or active mobilization helped to engage critically ill children in in-bed cycling. Clinicians, patients, and families were highly supportive of mobilization in critically ill children; however, concerns were identified with respect to how and when to execute this practice. Understanding key stakeholder perspectives enables the development of strategies to facilitate the implementation of early mobilization and in-bed cycling, not just in the context of a clinical trial but also within the culture of practice in a PICU.

Rheological Studies of Komatiite Liquids by In-Situ Falling Sphere Viscometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O Dwyer, L.; Lesher, C. E.; Baxter, G.; Clark, A.; Fuss, T.; Tangeman, J.; Wang, Y.

2005-12-01

The rheological properties of komatiite liquids at high pressures and temperatures are being investigated by the in situ falling sphere technique, using the T-25 multianvil apparatus at the GSECARS 13 ID-D-D beamline at the Advanced Photon Source, ANL. The refractory and fluid nature of komatiite and other ultramafic liquids relevant to the Earth's deep interior, presents unique challenges for this approach. To reduce the density contrast between the melt and the marker sphere, and thus increase the Stoke's travel time, we have begun testing various composite spheres composed of refractory silicates and metals. Two successful custom designs are zirconia silicate mantled by Pt and Pt mantled by forsterite. These custom spheres contain sufficient Pt to absorb x-rays, while containing sufficient low-density refractory silicate so that marker sphere densities are in the range of 4-6 g/cc. These relatively more buoyant spheres increase travel time. These custom spheres, together with Re or Pt marker spheres, have been used to determine the viscosity of Gorgona anhydrous komatiite around 1600 ° C between 3.5 and 6 GPa. Initial experiments yield viscosities of 2.8 Pa s at 3.5 GPa, 5.3 Pa s at 4.6 GPa and 7.6 Pa s at 6 GPa. The observed positive pressure dependence of viscosity is consistent with recent results on pyrolite composition liquids and suggests that the activation volume for highly depolymerized melts will be positive for at least upper mantle conditions. The development of low-density, x-ray detectable marker spheres has applications in studies of melt density, whereby in situ detection of sink-float behavior during heating and compression cycles may be possible.

Using a Service Audit Project for Improving Student Learning in a Service-Marketing Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez-Padron, Tracy; Ferguson, Jeffery M.

2015-01-01

Service-marketing education provides students customer service skills sought by employers who recognize the relationship between service and profit. Students in service marketing benefit from active-learning activities with actual organizations to apply customer service frameworks taught in the course. The purpose of this paper is to describe an…

Teaching the Concept of Risk: Blended Learning Using a Custom-Built Prediction Market

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garvey, John; Buckley, Patrick

2010-01-01

There has been much research into the role of technology in promoting student engagement and learning activity in third-level education. This article documents an innovative application of technology in a large, undergraduate business class in risk management. The students' learning outcomes are reinforced by activity in a custom-designed…

Mitigating Aviation Communication and Satellite Orbit Operations Surprises from Adverse Space Weather

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tobiska, W. Kent

2008-01-01

Adverse space weather affects operational activities in aviation and satellite systems. For example, large solar flares create highly variable enhanced neutral atmosphere and ionosphere electron density regions. These regions impact aviation communication frequencies as well as precision orbit determination. The natural space environment, with its dynamic space weather variability, is additionally changed by human activity. The increase in orbital debris in low Earth orbit (LEO), combined with lower atmosphere CO2 that rises into the lower thermosphere and causes increased cooling that results in increased debris lifetime, adds to the environmental hazards of navigating in near-Earth space. This is at a time when commercial space endeavors are posed to begin more missions to LEO during the rise of the solar activity cycle toward the next maximum (2012). For satellite and aviation operators, adverse space weather results in greater expenses for orbit management, more communication outages or aviation and ground-based high frequency radio used, and an inability to effectively plan missions or service customers with space-based communication, imagery, and data transferal during time-critical activities. Examples of some revenue-impacting conditions and solutions for mitigating adverse space weather are offered.

SPACEHAB: A giant step in the commercial development of space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shepard, James E.

SPACEHAB is a privately developed and operated system offering customers a crew-tended microgravity environment for experimentation and product development. The first SPACEHAB flight module was delivered to the SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility (SPPF) in Florida and 22 experiments are being integrated for an April 1993 mission. SPACEHAB modules are flown in the forward quarter-bay of the NASA Orbiter and are supported by two crew members. The paylaod accommodations include up to 61 experiment lockers, double and single racks and standard mounting plates for mounting unique payload containers directly to the module structure. Experiments designed for the Orbiter mid-deck, Spacelab or Space Station Freedom can be flown in SPACEHAB. The 24-month integration cycle is currently the shortest for any crew-tended carrier; a goal of 18 months is being actively pursued.

75 FR 17771 - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-07

... offer virtual services to diverse clients and customers, and to assist their customers in making good... comfortable using online services in Year 1; and ii. Customer Service Activities Providing training for their... to use the service, and Category 2 grant recipients are required to train their staff, as well as...

19 CFR 152.103 - Transaction value.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... activities will not be added to the price actually paid or payable in determining the customs value of the... extent to which they are not included in the price. (d) Assist. If the value of an assist is to be added... 19 Customs Duties 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Transaction value. 152.103 Section 152.103 Customs...

19 CFR 152.103 - Transaction value.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... activities will not be added to the price actually paid or payable in determining the customs value of the... extent to which they are not included in the price. (d) Assist. If the value of an assist is to be added... 19 Customs Duties 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Transaction value. 152.103 Section 152.103 Customs...

19 CFR 152.103 - Transaction value.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... activities will not be added to the price actually paid or payable in determining the customs value of the... extent to which they are not included in the price. (d) Assist. If the value of an assist is to be added... 19 Customs Duties 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Transaction value. 152.103 Section 152.103 Customs...

19 CFR 152.103 - Transaction value.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... activities will not be added to the price actually paid or payable in determining the customs value of the... extent to which they are not included in the price. (d) Assist. If the value of an assist is to be added... 19 Customs Duties 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Transaction value. 152.103 Section 152.103 Customs...

76 FR 71436 - Agency Information Collection Activities Proposed Information Collection; Submission for OMB Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-17

... before the customer completes the purchase of the contract. There are special rules for transactions by... customers who buy DCCs and DSAs from national banks and ensure that national banks provide these products in... appropriate: Anti-tying--A bank must inform the customer that purchase of the product is optional and neither...

12 CFR 7.1008 - Preparing income tax returns for customers or public.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Preparing income tax returns for customers or public. 7.1008 Section 7.1008 Banks and Banking COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY BANK ACTIVITIES AND OPERATIONS Bank Powers § 7.1008 Preparing income tax returns for customers or...

12 CFR 7.1008 - Preparing income tax returns for customers or public.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Preparing income tax returns for customers or public. 7.1008 Section 7.1008 Banks and Banking COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY BANK ACTIVITIES AND OPERATIONS Bank Powers § 7.1008 Preparing income tax returns for customers or...

Jumping-Droplet Condensation Drives Pathogen Transport on Wheat Leaves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nath, Saurabh; Gruszewski, Hope; Budhiraja, Stuti; Ahmadi, Farzad; Bisbano, Caitlin; Jung, Sunghwan; Schmale, David, III; Boreyko, Jonathan

2017-11-01

The classical viewpoint in phytopathology regarding how plant pathogens are liberated is based on active mechanisms such as shearing off spores via rain splash or wind. All of these mechanisms require some kind of impact on the surface. Here we show for the first time that there exists an entirely different mechanism in nature that drives pathogen transport on wheat leaves. Wheat leaves are inherently superhydrophobic, which enables microscopic dew droplets to spontaneously jump off the leaf surface during natural condensation cycles. We found that black rust (Puccinia graminis) spores often adhere to such coalescence-induced self-propelled dew droplets and subsequently get transported vertically as high as 5 mm. Once pathogens clear the quiescent boundary layer, typically of order 1 mm, they have the potential to be dispersed over large distances by the aid of atmospheric flows. A custom-made experimental set-up was devised to simulate multiple one hour long natural dew cycles and how they affect spore dispersal. Spore liberation rates via jumping-droplet condensation were found to be as high 100 spores/cm2-hr. These findings reveal that on a sufficiently non-wetting surface humidity alone can liberate fungal spores, adding it as a third mechanism besides wind and rain.

Evolutionary algorithm for vehicle driving cycle generation.

PubMed

Perhinschi, Mario G; Marlowe, Christopher; Tamayo, Sergio; Tu, Jun; Wayne, W Scott

2011-09-01

Modeling transit bus emissions and fuel economy requires a large amount of experimental data over wide ranges of operational conditions. Chassis dynamometer tests are typically performed using representative driving cycles defined based on vehicle instantaneous speed as sequences of "microtrips", which are intervals between consecutive vehicle stops. Overall significant parameters of the driving cycle, such as average speed, stops per mile, kinetic intensity, and others, are used as independent variables in the modeling process. Performing tests at all the necessary combinations of parameters is expensive and time consuming. In this paper, a methodology is proposed for building driving cycles at prescribed independent variable values using experimental data through the concatenation of "microtrips" isolated from a limited number of standard chassis dynamometer test cycles. The selection of the adequate "microtrips" is achieved through a customized evolutionary algorithm. The genetic representation uses microtrip definitions as genes. Specific mutation, crossover, and karyotype alteration operators have been defined. The Roulette-Wheel selection technique with elitist strategy drives the optimization process, which consists of minimizing the errors to desired overall cycle parameters. This utility is part of the Integrated Bus Information System developed at West Virginia University.

A Transcription Activator-Like Effector (TALE) Toolbox for Genome Engineering

PubMed Central

Sanjana, Neville E.; Cong, Le; Zhou, Yang; Cunniff, Margaret M.; Feng, Guoping; Zhang, Feng

2013-01-01

Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) are a class of naturally occurring DNA binding proteins found in the plant pathogen Xanthomonas sp. The DNA binding domain of each TALE consists of tandem 34-amino acid repeat modules that can be rearranged according to a simple cipher to target new DNA sequences. Customized TALEs can be used for a wide variety of genome engineering applications, including transcriptional modulation and genome editing. Here we describe a toolbox for rapid construction of custom TALE transcription factors (TALE-TFs) and nucleases (TALENs) using a hierarchical ligation procedure. This toolbox facilitates affordable and rapid construction of custom TALE-TFs and TALENs within one week and can be easily scaled up to construct TALEs for multiple targets in parallel. We also provide details for testing the activity in mammalian cells of custom TALE-TFs and TALENs using, respectively, qRT-PCR and Surveyor nuclease. The TALE toolbox described here will enable a broad range of biological applications. PMID:22222791

A quality tool for health insurers. A new scale measures "quality orientation" from the customer's point of view.

PubMed

Westbrook, K W; Pedrick, D; Bush, V

1996-01-01

This study defines a company's quality orientation as "all process-related activities that can be discerned by customers." This even includes certain processes internal to the company that can be seen and evaluated by customers. One significant contribution this study provides is scale development centered on customer rather than employee perceptions. To generate scale items, input was gathered from experts involved in the study, senior managers employed with the target company, focus groups of employees working on the front line with customers, and users of the services. Because the sale measures customer perceptions of quality in comparison with the firm's closest competitor, it provides managers with information for benchmarking performance relative to others in the marketplace.

Systematic on-site monitoring of compliance dust samples

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

Grayson, R.L.; Gandy, J.R.

1996-12-31

Maintaining compliance with U.S. respirable coal mine dust standards can be difficult on high-productivity longwall panels. Comprehensive and systematic analysis of compliance dust sample data, coupled with access to the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) DUSTPRO, can yield important information for use in maintaining compliance. The objective of this study was to develop and apply a customized software for the collection, storage, modification, and analysis of respirable dust data while providing for flexible export of data and linking with the USBM`s expert advisory system on dust control. An executable, IBM-compatible software was created and customized for use by the personmore » in charge of collecting, submitting, analyzing, and monitoring respirable dust compliance samples. Both descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were incorporated. The software allows ASCH files to be exported and directly links with DUSTPRO. After development and validation of the software, longwall compliance data from two different mines was analyzed to evaluate the value of the software. Data included variables on respirable dust concentration, tons produced, the existence of roof/floor rock (dummy variable), and the sampling cycle (dummy variables). Because of confidentiality, specific data will not be presented, only the equations and ANOVA tables. The final regression models explained 83.8% and 61.1% of the variation in the data for the two panels. Important correlations among variables within sampling cycles showed the value of using dummy variables for sampling cycles. The software proved flexible and fast for its intended use. The insights obtained from use improved the systematic monitoring of respirable dust compliance data, especially for pinpointing the most effective dust control methods during specific sampling cycles.« less

Gamma Radiation Sterilization Reduces the High-cycle Fatigue Life of Allograft Bone.

PubMed

Islam, Anowarul; Chapin, Katherine; Moore, Emily; Ford, Joel; Rimnac, Clare; Akkus, Ozan

2016-03-01

Sterilization by gamma radiation impairs the mechanical properties of bone allografts. Previous work related to radiation-induced embrittlement of bone tissue has been limited mostly to monotonic testing which does not necessarily predict the high-cycle fatigue life of allografts in vivo. We designed a custom rotating-bending fatigue device to answer the following questions: (1) Does gamma radiation sterilization affect the high-cycle fatigue behavior of cortical bone; and (2) how does the fatigue life change with cyclic stress level? The high-cycle fatigue behavior of human cortical bone specimens was examined at stress levels related to physiologic levels using a custom-designed rotating-bending fatigue device. Test specimens were distributed among two treatment groups (n = 6/group); control and irradiated. Samples were tested until failure at stress levels of 25, 35, and 45 MPa. At 25 MPa, 83% of control samples survived 30 million cycles (run-out) whereas 83% of irradiated samples survived only 0.5 million cycles. At 35 MPa, irradiated samples showed an approximately 19-fold reduction in fatigue life compared with control samples (12.2 × 10(6) ± 12.3 × 10(6) versus 6.38 × 10(5) ± 6.81 × 10(5); p = 0.046), and in the case of 45 MPa, this reduction was approximately 17.5-fold (7.31 × 10(5) ± 6.39 × 10(5) versus 4.17 × 10(4) ± 1.91 × 10(4); p = 0.025). Equations to estimate high-cycle fatigue life of irradiated and control cortical bone allograft at a certain stress level were derived. Gamma radiation sterilization severely impairs the high cycle fatigue life of structural allograft bone tissues, more so than the decline that has been reported for monotonic mechanical properties. Therefore, clinicians need to be conservative in the expectation of the fatigue life of structural allograft bone tissues. Methods to preserve the fatigue strength of nonirradiated allograft bone tissue are needed. As opposed to what monotonic tests might suggest, the cyclic fatigue life of radiation-sterilized structural allografts is likely severely compromised relative to the nonirradiated condition and therefore should be taken into consideration. Methods to reduce the effect of irradiation or to recover structural allograft bone tissue fatigue strength are important to pursue.

Ordinary or peculiar men? Comparing the customers of prostitutes with a nationally representative sample of men.

PubMed

Monto, Martin A; Milrod, Christine

2014-07-01

Recent media attention implies that prostitution seeking is widespread, an "ordinary" aspect of masculine sexual behavior. Other accounts suggest that customers are "peculiar," characterized by distinct qualities, perversions, or psychological impairments. Using the nationally representative General Social Survey (GSS), this study demonstrates that prostitution seeking is relatively uncommon. Only about 14% of men in the United States report having ever paid for sex, and only 1% report having done so during the previous year. Furthermore, this study dissects whether customers are ordinary or peculiar by comparing a new sample of active customers who solicit sex on the Internet with an older sample of arrested customers, a sample of customers from the GSS, and a nationally representative sample of noncustomers. The customers of Internet sexual service providers differed greatly from men in general and also from other customers. The remaining samples of customers differed slightly from noncustomers in general. We argue for a balanced perspective that recognizes the significant variety among customers. There is no evidence of a peculiar quality that differentiates customers in general from men who have not paid for sex. © The Author(s) 2013.

Full Life Cycle of Data Analysis with Climate Model Diagnostic Analyzer (CMDA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S.; Zhai, C.; Pan, L.; Tang, B.; Zhang, J.; Bao, Q.; Malarout, N.

2017-12-01

We have developed a system that supports the full life cycle of a data analysis process, from data discovery, to data customization, to analysis, to reanalysis, to publication, and to reproduction. The system called Climate Model Diagnostic Analyzer (CMDA) is designed to demonstrate that the full life cycle of data analysis can be supported within one integrated system for climate model diagnostic evaluation with global observational and reanalysis datasets. CMDA has four subsystems that are highly integrated to support the analysis life cycle. Data System manages datasets used by CMDA analysis tools, Analysis System manages CMDA analysis tools which are all web services, Provenance System manages the meta data of CMDA datasets and the provenance of CMDA analysis history, and Recommendation System extracts knowledge from CMDA usage history and recommends datasets/analysis tools to users. These four subsystems are not only highly integrated but also easily expandable. New datasets can be easily added to Data System and scanned to be visible to the other subsystems. New analysis tools can be easily registered to be available in the Analysis System and Provenance System. With CMDA, a user can start a data analysis process by discovering datasets of relevance to their research topic using the Recommendation System. Next, the user can customize the discovered datasets for their scientific use (e.g. anomaly calculation, regridding, etc) with tools in the Analysis System. Next, the user can do their analysis with the tools (e.g. conditional sampling, time averaging, spatial averaging) in the Analysis System. Next, the user can reanalyze the datasets based on the previously stored analysis provenance in the Provenance System. Further, they can publish their analysis process and result to the Provenance System to share with other users. Finally, any user can reproduce the published analysis process and results. By supporting the full life cycle of climate data analysis, CMDA improves the research productivity and collaboration level of its user.

20 CFR 663.730 - May funds provided to employers for OJT of customized training be used to assist, promote, or...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... customized training be used to assist, promote, or deter union organizing? 663.730 Section 663.730 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER ACTIVITIES UNDER TITLE I OF THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT On-the-Job Training (OJT) and Customized Training § 663...

20 CFR 663.730 - May funds provided to employers for OJT of customized training be used to assist, promote, or...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... customized training be used to assist, promote, or deter union organizing? 663.730 Section 663.730 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER ACTIVITIES UNDER TITLE I OF THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT On-the-Job Training (OJT) and Customized Training § 663...

Employee retention: a customer service approach.

PubMed

Gerson, Richard F

2002-01-01

Employee retention is a huge problem. There are staff shortages in radiology because not enough people are entering the profession; too many people are leaving the profession for retirement, higher-paying jobs or jobs with less stress; and there are not enough opportunities for career advancement. Staff shortages are exacerbated by difficulty in retaining people who enter the profession. While much work has been focused on recruitment and getting more people "in the front door," I suggest that the bulk of future efforts be focused on employee retention and "closing the back door." Employee retention must be an ongoing process, not a program. Approaches to employee retention that focus on external things, i.e., things that the company can do to or for the employee, generally are not successful. The truth is that employee retention processes must focus on what the employee gets out of the job. The process must be a benefits-based approach that helps employees answer the question, "What's in it for me?" The retention processes must be ongoing and integrated into the daily culture of the company. The best way to keep your employees is to treat them like customers. Customer service works for external customers. We treat them nicely. We work to satisfy them. We help them achieve their goals. Why not do the same for our employees? If positive customer service policies and practices can satisfy and keep external customers, why not adapt these policies and practices for employees? And, there is a service/satisfaction link between employee retention and higher levels of customer satisfaction. Customers prefer dealing with the same employees over and over again. Employee turnover destroys a customer's confidence in the company. Just like a customer does not want to have to "train and educate" a new provider, they do not want to do the same for your "revolving door" employees. So, the key is to keep employees so they in turn will help you keep your customers. Because the techniques of this process mirror the activities of customer service and customer relationship management, I call the combined process C/ERM for customer/employee relationship management. Both activities must be going on simultaneously to create a loyalty link that ensures customer satisfaction and retention through employee service, satisfaction and retention.

Biotribological evaluation of artificial disc arthroplasty devices: influence of loading and kinematic patterns during in vitro wear simulation.

PubMed

Grupp, Thomas M; Yue, James J; Garcia, Rolando; Basson, Janet; Schwiesau, Jens; Fritz, Bernhard; Blömer, Wilhelm

2009-01-01

Wear simulation is an essential pre-clinical method to predict the mid- and long-term clinical wear behavior of newly introduced devices for total disc arthroplasty. The main requirement of a suitable method for spinal wear simulation has to be the ability to distinguish between design concepts and allow for a direct comparison of predicate devices. The objective of our study was to investigate the influence of loading and kinematic patterns based on two different protocols for spinal wear simulation (ISO/FDIS 18192-1 (2006) and ASTM F2423-05). In vitro wear simulation was performed with six activ L lumbar artificial disc devices (Aesculap Tuttlingen, Germany). The applied kinematic pattern of movement was multidirectional for ISO (elliptic track) and unidirectional with a curvilinear shape for ASTM. Testing was done for 10 million cycles in the ISO loading mode and afterwards with the same specimens for 5 million cycles according to the ASTM protocol with a customized six-station servohydraulic spinal wear simulator (EndoLab Thansau, Germany). Gravimetrical and geometrical wear assessment, a slide track analysis correlated to an optical surface characterization, and an estimation of particle size and morphology were performed. The gravimetric wear rate for the first 10 million cycles was ISO(initial) = 2.7 +/- 0.3 mg/million cycles. During the ASTM test period (10-15 million cycles) a gravimetric wear rate of 0.14 +/- 0.06 mg/million cycles was estimated. The wear rates between the ISO and ASTM driven simulations differ substantially (approximately 20-fold) and statistical analysis demonstrates a significant difference (p < 0.001) between the test groups. The main explanation of divergency between ISO and ASTM driven wear simulations is the multidirectional pattern of movement described in the ISO document resulting in a cross-shear stress on the polyethylene material. Due to previous retrieval observations, it seems to be very unlikely that a lumbar artificial disc is loaded with a linear wear path.Testing according to ASTM F2423-05 with pure unidirectional motion does not reflect the kinematics of TDA patients' daily activities. Based on our findings it seems to be more reliable to predict the clinical wear behavior of an artificial disc replacement using the ISO/FDIS 18192-1 method.

Biotribological evaluation of artificial disc arthroplasty devices: influence of loading and kinematic patterns during in vitro wear simulation

PubMed Central

Yue, James J.; Garcia, Rolando; Basson, Janet; Schwiesau, Jens; Fritz, Bernhard; Blömer, Wilhelm

2008-01-01

Wear simulation is an essential pre-clinical method to predict the mid- and long-term clinical wear behavior of newly introduced devices for total disc arthroplasty. The main requirement of a suitable method for spinal wear simulation has to be the ability to distinguish between design concepts and allow for a direct comparison of predicate devices. The objective of our study was to investigate the influence of loading and kinematic patterns based on two different protocols for spinal wear simulation (ISO/FDIS 18192-1 (2006) and ASTM F2423-05). In vitro wear simulation was performed with six activ® L lumbar artificial disc devices (Aesculap Tuttlingen, Germany). The applied kinematic pattern of movement was multidirectional for ISO (elliptic track) and unidirectional with a curvilinear shape for ASTM. Testing was done for 10 million cycles in the ISO loading mode and afterwards with the same specimens for 5 million cycles according to the ASTM protocol with a customized six-station servohydraulic spinal wear simulator (EndoLab Thansau, Germany). Gravimetrical and geometrical wear assessment, a slide track analysis correlated to an optical surface characterization, and an estimation of particle size and morphology were performed. The gravimetric wear rate for the first 10 million cycles was ISOinitial = 2.7 ± 0.3 mg/million cycles. During the ASTM test period (10–15 million cycles) a gravimetric wear rate of 0.14 ± 0.06 mg/million cycles was estimated. The wear rates between the ISO and ASTM driven simulations differ substantially (approximately 20-fold) and statistical analysis demonstrates a significant difference (p < 0.001) between the test groups. The main explanation of divergency between ISO and ASTM driven wear simulations is the multidirectional pattern of movement described in the ISO document resulting in a cross-shear stress on the polyethylene material. Due to previous retrieval observations, it seems to be very unlikely that a lumbar artificial disc is loaded with a linear wear path.Testing according to ASTM F2423-05 with pure unidirectional motion does not reflect the kinematics of TDA patients‘ daily activities. Based on our findings it seems to be more reliable to predict the clinical wear behavior of an artificial disc replacement using the ISO/FDIS 18192-1 method. PMID:19050942

Construction of an isokinetic eccentric cycle ergometer for research and training.

PubMed

Elmer, Steven J; Martin, James C

2013-08-01

Eccentric cycling serves a useful exercise modality in clinical, research, and sport training settings. However, several constraints can make it difficult to use commercially available eccentric cycle ergometers. In this technical note, we describe the process by which we built an isokinetic eccentric cycle ergometer using exercise equipment modified with commonly available industrial parts. Specifically, we started with a used recumbent cycle ergometer and removed all the original parts leaving only the frame and seat. A 2.2 kW electric motor was attached to a transmission system that was then joined with the ergometer. The motor was controlled using a variable frequency drive, which allowed for control of a wide range of pedaling rates. The ergometer was also equipped with a power measurement device that quantified work, power, and pedaling rate and provided feedback to the individual performing the exercise. With these parts along with some custom fabrication, we were able to construct an isokinetic eccentric cycle ergometer suitable for research and training. This paper offers a guide for those individuals who plan to use eccentric cycle ergometry as an exercise modality and wish to construct their own ergometer.

75 FR 45007 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments; Clearance of Renewed Approval of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-30

... Standards Customer Satisfaction Survey AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice... Control Number: 2120-0568. Title: Flight Standards Customer Satisfaction Survey. Form Numbers: There are...

Towards automation of user interface design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gastner, Rainer; Kraetzschmar, Gerhard K.; Lutz, Ernst

1992-01-01

This paper suggests an approach to automatic software design in the domain of graphical user interfaces. There are still some drawbacks in existing user interface management systems (UIMS's) which basically offer only quantitative layout specifications via direct manipulation. Our approach suggests a convenient way to get a default graphical user interface which may be customized and redesigned easily in further prototyping cycles.

Pros and cons of continuous forest inventory: customer perspectives

Treesearch

Andrew J. R. Gillespie

2000-01-01

The USDA Forest Service has historically conducted forest inventory on a state-by-state cycle, producing relatively high precision snapshots of forest resources for a given state at 7- to 15-year intervals. We are now considering a change to a continuous inventory system where we would operate at reduced intensity simultaneously in all states every year. Advantages for...

Transition in Gas Turbine Engine Control System Architecture: Modular, Distributed, Embedded

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

Design + Development + Certification + Procurement + Life Cycle Cost = Net Savings for our Customers Approved for Public Release 16 Economic ...Supporting Small Quantity Electronics Need Broadly Applicable High Temperature Electronics Supply Base Approved for Public Release 17 Economic ...rc ec ures Approved for Public Release 18 Economic Drivers for New FADEC Designs FADEC Implementation Time Pacing Engine Development Issues • FADEC

Bioinspired Polyelectrolyte-Assembled Graphene-Oxide-Coated C18 Composite Solid-Phase Microextraction Fibers for In Vivo Monitoring of Acidic Pharmaceuticals in Fish.

PubMed

Qiu, Junlang; Chen, Guosheng; Liu, Shuqin; Zhang, Tianlang; Wu, Jiayi; Wang, Fuxin; Xu, Jianqiao; Liu, Yan; Zhu, Fang; Ouyang, Gangfeng

2016-06-07

A novel solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber was prepared by gluing poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) assembled graphene oxide (GO)-coated C18 composite particles (C18@GO@PDDA) onto a quartz fiber with polyaniline (PANI). The fiber surface coating was sequentially modified with bioinspired polynorepinephrine, which provided a smooth biointerface and makes the coating suitable for in vivo sampling. The novel custom-made coating was used to extract acidic pharmaceuticals, and high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was employed for analysis. The custom-made coating exhibited a much higher extraction efficiency than the previously used commercial polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyacrylate (PA) coatings. The custom-made coating also possessed satisfactory stability (the relative standard deviations (RSDs) ranged from 1.60% to 10.3% for six sampling-desorption cycles), interfiber reproducibility (the RSDs ranged from 2.61% to 11.5%), and resistance to matrix effects. The custom-made fibers were used to monitor the presence of acid pharmaceuticals in dorsal-epaxial muscle of living fish, and satisfactory sensitivities (limits of detection ranged from 0.13 ng/g to 7.56 ng/g) were achieved. The accuracies were verified by the comparison with liquid extraction. Moreover, the novel fibers were successfully used to monitor the presence of acidic pharmaceuticals in living fish, which demonstrated that the custom-made fibers were feasible for possible long-term in vivo continuous pharmaceutical monitoring.

Influence of healthcare institution managers' proactive approach to communication activities on patient satisfaction.

PubMed

Filipović, Vinka; Cicvarić, Slavica; Stavljanin, Velimir; Damnjanović, Vesna; Radojicić, Zoran; Joksimović, Nevenka Zarkić; Gogić, Aleksandra

2010-04-01

Over the recent years customer satisfaction program as a tool for patient satisfaction has been recognized as an important issue in healthcare services. The aim of this preliminary study was to explore an influence of healthcare institution managers' approach and attitudes to marketing and public relations activities (communication activities), in the context of implementation of customer satisfaction programs, on patient satisfaction. The study was conducted among managers from different state-owned healthcare institutions (healthcare centres, clinics, hospitals) in Serbia. The structured questionnaire form, comprising both open and closed questions, was used as a main research tool. The total number of sent questionnaires was 120; 56 questionnaires were sent back, while 49 of them were valid. It was shown that 42.9% of healthcare institutions apply proactive media approach, and that 35.7% of the organizations have a person who, besides his/her basic engagements, performs activities connected with marketing and public relations. Using Chi-square likelihood ratio test it is confirmed that these activities have a significant role in supporting customer satisfaction program implementation (p < 0.05). The results showed that in 69.4% cases, positive attitude of healthcare institutions managers toward marketing and public relations activities had positive influence on patient satisfaction (p < 0.05). Managers in healthcare sector in Serbia who used proactive approach toward media and who had already institutionalized communication activities with external stakeholders have a positive attitude to implementation of customer satisfaction program. Furthermore, managers' attitude toward communication activities has influence on patient satisfaction.

Ensemble Methods for Classification of Physical Activities from Wrist Accelerometry.

PubMed

Chowdhury, Alok Kumar; Tjondronegoro, Dian; Chandran, Vinod; Trost, Stewart G

2017-09-01

To investigate whether the use of ensemble learning algorithms improve physical activity recognition accuracy compared to the single classifier algorithms, and to compare the classification accuracy achieved by three conventional ensemble machine learning methods (bagging, boosting, random forest) and a custom ensemble model comprising four algorithms commonly used for activity recognition (binary decision tree, k nearest neighbor, support vector machine, and neural network). The study used three independent data sets that included wrist-worn accelerometer data. For each data set, a four-step classification framework consisting of data preprocessing, feature extraction, normalization and feature selection, and classifier training and testing was implemented. For the custom ensemble, decisions from the single classifiers were aggregated using three decision fusion methods: weighted majority vote, naïve Bayes combination, and behavior knowledge space combination. Classifiers were cross-validated using leave-one subject out cross-validation and compared on the basis of average F1 scores. In all three data sets, ensemble learning methods consistently outperformed the individual classifiers. Among the conventional ensemble methods, random forest models provided consistently high activity recognition; however, the custom ensemble model using weighted majority voting demonstrated the highest classification accuracy in two of the three data sets. Combining multiple individual classifiers using conventional or custom ensemble learning methods can improve activity recognition accuracy from wrist-worn accelerometer data.

Customized fiber glass posts. Fatigue and fracture resistance.

PubMed

Costa, Rogério Goulart; De Morais, Eduardo Christiano Caregnatto; Campos, Edson Alves; Michel, Milton Domingos; Gonzaga, Carla Castiglia; Correr, Gisele Maria

2012-02-01

To evaluate the root fracture strength of human single-rooted premolars restored with customized fiberglass post-core systems after fatigue simulation. 40 human premolars had their crowns cut and the root length was standardized to 13 mm. The teeth were endodontically treated and embedded in acrylic resin. The specimens were distributed into four groups (n=10) according to the restorative material used: prefabricated fiber post (PFP), PFP+accessory fiber posts (PFPa), PFP+unidirectional fiberglass (PFPf), and unidirectional fiberglass customized post (CP). All posts were luted using resin cement and the cores were built up with a resin composite. The samples were stored for 24 hours at 37 degrees C and 100% relative humidity and then submitted to mechanical cycling. The specimens were then compressive-loaded in a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/minute until fracture. The failure patterns were analyzed and classified. Data was submitted to one-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (alpha = 0.05). The mean values of maximum load (N) were: PFP - 811.4 +/- 124.3; PFPa - 729.2 +/- 157.2; PFPf- 747.5 +/- 204.7; CP - 762.4 +/- 110. Statistical differences were not observed among the groups. All groups showed favorable restorable failures. Fiberglass customized post did not show improved fracture resistance or differences in failure patterns when compared to prefabricated glass fiber posts.

17 CFR 240.3a43-1 - Customer-related government securities activities incidental to the futures-related business of a...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Customer-related government securities activities incidental to the futures-related business of a futures commission merchant registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. 240.3a43-1 Section 240.3a43-1 Commodity and Securities...

ProSEDS Telemetry System Utilization of GPS Position Data for Transmitter Cycling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennedy, Paul; Sims, Herb

2000-01-01

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center will launch the Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System (ProSEDS) space experiment in late 2000. ProSEDS will demonstrate the use of an electrodynamic tether propulsion system and will utilize a conducting wire tether to generate limited spacecraft power. This paper will provide an overview of the ProSEDS mission and will discuss the design, development and test of the spacecraft telemetry system which utilizes a custom designed GPS subsystem to determine spacecraft position relative to ground station location and to control transmitter on/off cycling based on spacecraft state vector and ground station visibility.

Quality assurance and management in microelectronics companies: ISO 9000 versus Six Sigma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lupan, Razvan; Kobi, Abdessamad; Robledo, Christian; Bacivarov, Ioan; Bacivarov, Angelica

2009-01-01

A strategy for the implementation of the Six Sigma method as an improvement solution for the ISO 9000:2000 Quality Standard is proposed. Our approach is focused on integrating the DMAIC cycle of the Six Sigma method with the PDCA process approach, highly recommended by the standard ISO 9000:2000. The Six Sigma steps applied to each part of the PDCA cycle are presented in detail, giving some tools and training examples. Based on this analysis the authors conclude that applying Six Sigma philosophy to the Quality Standard implementation process is the best way to achieve the optimal results in quality progress and therefore in customers satisfaction.

76 FR 163 - Agency Information Collection Activities: CBP Regulations Pertaining to Customs Brokers

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-03

... broker exam would complete CBP Form 3124E, ``Application for Customs Broker License Exam''; or to apply... U.S.C. 1641. CBP Forms 3124 and 3124E may be found at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/forms/ . Further information about the customs broker exam and how to apply for it may be found at http://www.cbp...

"Teaching Case": Who Renews? Who Leaves? Identifying Customer Churn in a Telecom Company Using Big Data Techniques

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asamoah, Daniel A.; Sharda, Ramesh; Kalgotra, Pankush; Ott, Mark

2016-01-01

Within the context of the telecom industry, this teaching case is an active learning analytics exercise to help students build hands-on expertise on how to utilize Big Data to solve a business problem. Particularly, the case utilizes an analytics method to help develop a customer retention strategy to mitigate against an increasing customer churn…

An improved method for quantitatively measuring the sequences of total organic carbon and black carbon in marine sediment cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Xiaoming; Zhu, Qing; Zhou, Qianzhi; Liu, Jinzhong; Yuan, Jianping; Wang, Jianghai

2018-01-01

Understanding global carbon cycle is critical to uncover the mechanisms of global warming and remediate its adverse effects on human activities. Organic carbon in marine sediments is an indispensable part of the global carbon reservoir in global carbon cycling. Evaluating such a reservoir calls for quantitative studies of marine carbon burial, which closely depend on quantifying total organic carbon and black carbon in marine sediment cores and subsequently on obtaining their high-resolution temporal sequences. However, the conventional methods for detecting the contents of total organic carbon or black carbon cannot resolve the following specific difficulties, i.e., (1) a very limited amount of each subsample versus the diverse analytical items, (2) a low and fluctuating recovery rate of total organic carbon or black carbon versus the reproducibility of carbon data, and (3) a large number of subsamples versus the rapid batch measurements. In this work, (i) adopting the customized disposable ceramic crucibles with the microporecontrolled ability, (ii) developing self-made or customized facilities for the procedures of acidification and chemothermal oxidization, and (iii) optimizing procedures and carbon-sulfur analyzer, we have built a novel Wang-Xu-Yuan method (the WXY method) for measuring the contents of total organic carbon or black carbon in marine sediment cores, which includes the procedures of pretreatment, weighing, acidification, chemothermal oxidation and quantification; and can fully meet the requirements of establishing their highresolution temporal sequences, whatever in the recovery, experimental efficiency, accuracy and reliability of the measurements, and homogeneity of samples. In particular, the usage of disposable ceramic crucibles leads to evidently simplify the experimental scenario, which further results in the very high recovery rates for total organic carbon and black carbon. This new technique may provide a significant support for revealing the mechanism of carbon burial and evaluating the capacity of marine carbon accumulation and sequestration.

Advanced Concepts for Pressure-Channel Reactors: Modularity, Performance and Safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duffey, Romney B.; Pioro, Igor L.; Kuran, Sermet

Based on an analysis of the development of advanced concepts for pressure-tube reactor technology, we adapt and adopt the pressure-tube reactor advantage of modularity, so that the subdivided core has the potential for optimization of the core, safety, fuel cycle and thermal performance independently, while retaining passive safety features. In addition, by adopting supercritical water-cooling, the logical developments from existing supercritical turbine technology and “steam” systems can be utilized. Supercritical and ultra-supercritical boilers and turbines have been operating for some time in coal-fired power plants. Using coolant outlet temperatures of about 625°C achieves operating plant thermal efficiencies in the order of 45-48%, using a direct turbine cycle. In addition, by using reheat channels, the plant has the potential to produce low-cost process heat, in amounts that are customer and market dependent. The use of reheat systems further increases the overall thermal efficiency to 55% and beyond. With the flexibility of a range of plant sizes suitable for both small (400 MWe) and large (1400 MWe) electric grids, and the ability for co-generation of electric power, process heat, and hydrogen, the concept is competitive. The choice of core power, reheat channel number and exit temperature are all set by customer and materials requirements. The pressure channel is a key technology that is needed to make use of supercritical water (SCW) in CANDU®1 reactors feasible. By optimizing the fuel bundle and fuel channel, convection and conduction assure heat removal using passive-moderator cooling. Potential for severe core damage can be almost eliminated, even without the necessity of activating the emergency-cooling systems. The small size of containment structure lends itself to a small footprint, impacts economics and building techniques. Design features related to Canadian concepts are discussed in this paper. The main conclusion is that development of SCW pressure-channel nuclear reactors is feasible and significant benefits can be expected over other thermal-energy systems.

Shopper marketing: a new challenge for Spanish community pharmacies.

PubMed

Gavilan, Diana; Avello, Maria; Abril, Carmen

2014-01-01

Changes that have occurred over the past few decades in retailing and in the health care sector--namely, a drastic reduction in drug profit-margins, and a more critical use of health services by patients--have created a scenario characterized by rising competitiveness. This new context is necessitating community pharmacies (hereafter, pharmacies) to improve their business model through new strategies. Shopper marketing has proven invaluable in other retail settings and therefore, could be a critical element for new practices in pharmacies. First, to analyze how shopping experiences in pharmacies based on new practices in shopper marketing affect shopping behavior. Second, to study the mediating effect of customer satisfaction on the relationship between shopping experiences and shopping behavior. A self-reported questionnaire was developed to measure four concepts: hedonic experience (enjoyable), functional experience (goal-oriented), customer satisfaction and shopping behavior. Data were collected from 28 different pharmacies dispersed throughout Spain. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the relationships in the theoretical model. First, the measurement model was estimated to assess model fit, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity. Then, the parameters of the structural model were estimated and the mediation effects were subsequently tested. Functional experience and hedonic experience each significantly and positively correlate with consumer satisfaction and with customer shopping behavior (purchases and loyalty). Moreover, the effects of each type of experience on shopping behavior are partially mediated by customer satisfaction. The results suggest that even in Spanish pharmacies, which have traditionally been considered as strictly functional retailers, ensuring customer satisfaction and enhancing shopping behavior now demand more than just functional experiences. Moreover, a customer's experience at a pharmacy can itself trigger a shopping cycle; therefore, pharmacists should consider prioritizing investments in hedonic experiences. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

78 FR 38019 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-25

... for Federal Student Aid Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups Master Plan AGENCY: Federal... of Collection: Generic Clearance for Federal Student Aid Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus...

Operation of the Computer Software Management and Information Center (COSMIC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

The major operational areas of the COSMIC center are described. Quantitative data on the software submittals, program verification, and evaluation are presented. The dissemination activities are summarized. Customer services and marketing activities of the center for the calendar year are described. Those activities devoted to the maintenance and support of selected programs are described. A Customer Information system, the COSMIC Abstract Recording System Project, and the COSMIC Microfiche Project are summarized. Operational cost data are summarized.

Technical knowledge and skills development in the informal sector in Kenya: The case of custom tailors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Apunda, Edwinah Amondi; de Klerk, Helena M.; Ogina, Teresa

2017-06-01

Custom tailors working in the informal sector in Nairobi, Kenya, mainly acquire technical skills through undertaking traditional apprenticeships (TAs). However, most of these tailors are semi-skilled, produce low-quality products and are often poorer than their formally trained counterparts. This qualitative case study explores the aspects of technical skills and knowledge which tailoring apprentices develop, and the factors which influence these outcomes. The findings show that apprentices do acquire basic technical skills for immediate application to ongoing tailoring activities (such as how to take body measurements, draft patterns, and cut, sew and finish constructed garments). However, apprentices do not acquire the technical knowledge that underpins the trade. Most master tailors who have completed TAs lack technical knowledge and have no access to technical skills upgrading. This perpetuates the cycle of basic and limited technical skills transfer to apprentices, poor performance and poverty among tailors. Both apprentices and master tailors expressed concern over knowledge limitations in TAs and a need to access further training to improve skills and acquire knowledge of the trade. The authors of this article argue that, technically and pedagogically, skilled master tailors are critical to improving training quality. Complementary training in theoretical knowledge is also important in improving apprentices' technical skills and understanding of the trade. Inclusion of TAs in government policy may help ensure sustainable improvement of skills.

Haz-Map: Information on Hazardous Chemicals and Occupational Diseases

MedlinePlus

... Occupational Activities Industries Job Tasks Processes Symptoms/Findings Customer Service: tehip@teh.nlm.nih.gov Specialized Information Services ... Health Disclaimer Notice Privacy Last Updated: October 2017 Customer Service: tehip@teh.nlm.nih.gov Specialized Information Services ...

Work activity in food service: The significance of customer relations, tipping practices and gender for preventing musculoskeletal disorders.

PubMed

Laperrière, Ève; Messing, Karen; Bourbonnais, Renée

2017-01-01

Some evidence shows that food servers are exposed to an elevated risk of musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, and that their work activity varies by gender. Interviews of servers and observations of food service in Québec, Canada, were carried out in three restaurants and a questionnaire was administered to 64 workers from 44 other restaurants. The relationship with the customer has specific effects on work activity and transforms the physical, emotional and cognitive work. Strategies intended to speed service or otherwise related to the customer relationship can involve health risks. Women reported more direct food service (p < 0.01), a tendency to do more "housekeeping" tasks (p < 0.07) and fewer hours of work per week (p < 0.01). Women workers reported experiencing more sites of pain (p < 0.003). This exploratory study suggests that managing the server-customer relationship could be important in preventing musculoskeletal disorders in this population and that women are at particular risk. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modernization of software quality assurance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhaumik, Gokul

1988-01-01

The customers satisfaction depends not only on functional performance, it also depends on the quality characteristics of the software products. An examination of this quality aspect of software products will provide a clear, well defined framework for quality assurance functions, which improve the life-cycle activities of software development. Software developers must be aware of the following aspects which have been expressed by many quality experts: quality cannot be added on; the level of quality built into a program is a function of the quality attributes employed during the development process; and finally, quality must be managed. These concepts have guided our development of the following definition for a Software Quality Assurance function: Software Quality Assurance is a formal, planned approach of actions designed to evaluate the degree of an identifiable set of quality attributes present in all software systems and their products. This paper is an explanation of how this definition was developed and how it is used.

Dynamic actuation of a novel laser-processed NiTi linear actuator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pequegnat, A.; Daly, M.; Wang, J.; Zhou, Y.; Khan, M. I.

2012-09-01

A novel laser processing technique, capable of locally modifying the shape memory effect, was applied to enhance the functionality of a NiTi linear actuator. By altering local transformation temperatures, an additional memory was imparted into a monolithic NiTi wire to enable dynamic actuation via controlled resistive heating. Characterizations of the actuator load, displacement and cyclic properties were conducted using a custom-built spring-biased test set-up. Monotonic tensile testing was also implemented to characterize the deformation behaviour of the martensite phase. Observed differences in the deformation behaviour of laser-processed material were found to affect the magnitude of the active strain. Furthermore, residual strain during cyclic actuation testing was found to stabilize after 150 cycles while the recoverable strain remained constant. This laser-processed actuator will allow for the realization of new applications and improved control methods for shape memory alloys.

Data Standardization for Carbon Cycle Modeling: Lessons Learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Y.; Liu, S.; Cook, R. B.; Post, W. M.; Huntzinger, D. N.; Schwalm, C.; Schaefer, K. M.; Jacobson, A. R.; Michalak, A. M.

2012-12-01

Terrestrial biogeochemistry modeling is a crucial component of carbon cycle research and provides unique capabilities to understand terrestrial ecosystems. The Multi-scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project (MsTMIP) aims to identify key differences in model formulation that drive observed differences in model predictions of biospheric carbon exchange. To do so, the MsTMIP framework provides standardized prescribed environmental driver data and a standard model protocol to facilitate comparisons of modeling results from nearly 30 teams. Model performance is then evaluated against a variety of carbon-cycle related observations (remote sensing, atmospheric, and flux tower-based observations) using quantitative performance measures and metrics in an integrated evaluation framework. As part of this effort, we have harmonized highly diverse and heterogeneous environmental driver data, model outputs, and observational benchmark data sets to facilitate use and analysis by the MsTMIP team. In this presentation, we will describe the lessons learned from this data-intensive carbon cycle research. The data harmonization activity itself can be made more efficient with the consideration of proper tools, version control, workflow management, and collaboration within the whole team. The adoption of on-demand and interoperable protocols (e.g. OPeNDAP and Open Geospatial Consortium) makes data visualization and distribution more flexible. Users can customize and download data in specific spatial extent, temporal period, and different resolutions. The effort to properly organize data in an open and standard format (e.g. Climate & Forecast compatible netCDF) allows the data to be analysed by a dispersed set of researchers more efficiently, and maximizes the longevity and utilization of the data. The lessons learned from this specific experience can benefit efforts by the broader community to leverage diverse data resources more efficiently in scientific research.

Lithium and sodium ion capacitors with high energy and power densities based on carbons from recycled olive pits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajuria, Jon; Redondo, Edurne; Arnaiz, Maria; Mysyk, Roman; Rojo, Teófilo; Goikolea, Eider

2017-08-01

In this work, we are presenting both lithium and sodium ion capacitors (LIC and NIC) entirely based on electrodes designed from recycled olive pit bio-waste derived carbon materials. On the one hand, olive pits were pyrolized to obtain a low specific surface area semigraphitic hard carbon to be used as the ion intercalation (battery-type) negative electrode. On the other hand, the same hard carbon was chemically activated with KOH to obtain a high specific surface area activated carbon that was further used as the ion-adsorption (capacitor-type) positive electrode. Both electrodes were custom-made to be assembled in a hybrid cell to either build a LIC or NIC in the corresponding Li- and Na-based electrolytes. For comparison purposes, a symmetric EDLC supercapacitor cell using the same activated carbon in 1.5 M Et4NBF4/acetonitrile electrolyte was also built. Both LIC and NIC systems demonstrate remarkable energy and power density enhancement over its EDLC counterpart while showing good cycle life. This breakthrough offers the possibility to easily fabricate versatile hybrid ion capacitors, covering a wide variety of applications where different requirements are demanded.

Comparative Analysis of Screw Loosening With Prefabricated Abutments and Customized CAD/CAM Abutments.

PubMed

Paek, Janghyun; Woo, Yi-Hyung; Kim, Hyeong-Seob; Pae, Ahran; Noh, Kwantae; Lee, Hyeonjong; Kwon, Kung-Rock

2016-12-01

The aim of this study was to determine the stability of computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and prefabricated abutment by measuring removal torque before and after cyclic loading. Three types of fixture and 2 types of abutments were used. Removable torque was measured after cyclic loading for 5000 cycles between 25 and 250 N for each group. The same procedure was performed twice. First, removal torque values (Newton centimeter) were measured for stock versus custom abutments as follows: group 1: 27.17 versus 26.67, group 2: 26.27 versus 26.33, and group 3: 37.33 versus 36.67. Second removal torque values (Newton centimeter) were also measured: group 1: 23 versus 23.5, group 2: 22.5 versus 22.33, and group 3: 32.67 versus 32.5. There was no significant difference between the stock and custom abutments in either the first or second removal torque values and also no significant difference among initial tightening torque, first or second removal torque (P > 0.05). With precise control of CAD/CAM abutments, good screw joint stability can be achieved.

Total quality management - It works for aerospace information services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erwin, James; Eberline, Carl; Colquitt, Wanda

1993-01-01

Today we are in the midst of information and 'total quality' revolutions. At the NASA STI Program's Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI), we are focused on using continuous improvements techniques to enrich today's services and products and to ensure that tomorrow's technology supports the TQM-based improvement of future STI program products and services. The Continuous Improvements Program at CASI is the foundation for Total Quality Management in products and services. The focus is customer-driven; its goal, to identify processes and procedures that can be improved and new technologies that can be integrated with the processes to gain efficiencies, provide effectiveness, and promote customer satisfaction. This Program seeks to establish quality through an iterative defect prevention approach that is based on the incorporation of standards and measurements into the processing cycle.

FLUIDIC: Metal Air Recharged

ScienceCinema

Friesen, Cody

2018-02-14

Fluidic, with the help of ARPA-E funding, has developed and deployed the world's first proven high cycle life metal air battery. Metal air technology, often used in smaller scale devices like hearing aids, has the lowest cost per electron of any rechargeable battery storage in existence. Deploying these batteries for grid reliability is competitive with pumped hydro installations while having the advantages of a small footprint. Fluidic's battery technology allows utilities and other end users to store intermittent energy generated from solar and wind, as well as maintain reliable electrical delivery during power outages. The batteries are manufactured in the US and currently deployed to customers in emerging markets for cell tower reliability. As they continue to add customers, they've gained experience and real world data that will soon be leveraged for US grid reliability.

Understanding customer experience.

PubMed

Meyer, Christopher; Schwager, Andre

2007-02-01

Anyone who has signed up for cell phone service, attempted to claim a rebate, or navigated a call center has probably suffered from a company's apparent indifference to what should be its first concern: the customer experiences that culminate in either satisfaction or disappointment and defection. Customer experience is the subjective response customers have to direct or indirect contact with a company. It encompasses every aspect of an offering: customer care, advertising, packaging, features, ease of use, reliability. Customer experience is shaped by customers' expectations, which largely reflect previous experiences. Few CEOs would argue against the significance of customer experience or against measuring and analyzing it. But many don't appreciate how those activities differ from CRM or just how illuminating the data can be. For instance, the majority of the companies in a recent survey believed they have been providing "superior" experiences to customers, but most customers disagreed. The authors describe a customer experience management (CEM) process that involves three kinds of monitoring: past patterns (evaluating completed transactions), present patterns (tracking current relationships), and potential patterns (conducting inquiries in the hope of unveiling future opportunities). Data are collected at or about touch points through such methods as surveys, interviews, focus groups, and online forums. Companies need to involve every function in the effort, not just a single customer-facing group. The authors go on to illustrate how a cross-functional CEM system is created. With such a system, companies can discover which customers are prospects for growth and which require immediate intervention.

Department of the Navy Justification of Estimates for Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 Submitted to Congress January 1987. Operation & Maintenance, Navy. Book 2 of 3. Budget Activity 7: Central Supply and Maintenance

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-01

training, customer service, small/uneconomilcal lot manufacturing, preservation and depreservation, aircraft salvage and recovery, and support of depot...for the commercial modification programs. 1,260 4) Increase in commercial A/C preservation ,and customer service effort. 69 9. Program Derr.eas~s...3,499 Salvage 703 459 712 845 Acceptance/Transfer 2,587 1,645- 2,376 2,453 Customer /Fleet Training 2,838 2,008 3,058 2,997 Customer Services 17,276

Effects of mouthguards on vertical dimension, muscle activation, and athlete preference: a prospective cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Gage, C Colby; Huxel Bliven, Kellie C; Bay, R Curtis; Sturgill, Jeremiah S; Park, Jae Hyun

2015-01-01

Mandibular repositioning and subsequent neuromuscular signaling are proposed mechanisms of action for commercial mouthguards marketed for performance enhancement. A prospective cross-sectional study of 24 healthy adult weightlifters with normal occlusal relationships was designed to determine whether 2 self-fit performance mouthguards; a custom-fabricated, bilaterally balanced, dual-laminated mouthguard; and no mouthguard (control) differed in their effects on vertical dimension, muscle activation, and user preference during a 75% maximum power clean lift. Each subject was tested for each of the mouthguard categories: Power Balance POWERUP, Under Armour ArmourBite, custom, and no mouthguard. Interocclusal distance was measured at baseline and with each mouthguard. Mean and peak activity of the anterior temporalis, masseter, sternocleidomastoid, and cervical paraspinal muscles was measured during sitting and during a 75% maximum power clean lift. A mouthguard preference questionnaire was completed. Analyses were conducted to determine whether interocclusal distance differed among mouthguard type and to examine the effect of mouthguard type on mean and peak muscle activation during the clean lift. Interocclusal distance was affected by mouthguard type (P = 0.01). Mean and peak activity of the anterior temporalis and masseter muscles and mean activity of the sternocleidomastoid muscle differed among mouthguards (P < 0.05). Mouthguard type did not influence muscle activation of the cervical paraspinal muscle group. Overall, the Power Balance mouthguard produced more muscle activity. Participants preferred custom mouthguards nearly 2:1 over self-fit performance mouthguards (P = 0.05). Participants perceived that they were stronger and were less encumbered when using a custom mouthguard during submaximum power clean lifts.

[Marketing in the world of blood donation].

PubMed

Daigneault, Sylvie

2007-05-01

Public and non-profit organizations have long debated how marketing concepts and management styles apply to their sector of activity as they are largely derived from principles of consumerism and economic decision-making proper to the private sector. The arrival of marketing in the world of blood donation is no exception. The purpose of this article is to illustrate concretely how marketing techniques can contribute in achieving the objectives of a blood donation program: a marketing model that is adapted to the realities of blood donation in Quebec. Although types of marketing are as varied as the fields they are used in, the major marketing activities of this program fall under positioning, operational or relationship marketing. The process is presented in the form of a cycle that includes four major phases containing all marketing functions, that is, raising public awareness, acquiring a clientele, client retention and loyalty building, and establishing the relationship. Finally, the information and effective management of information are at the heart of the marketing process. In fact, research, understanding our customers and their expectations, and measuring our performance are essential for the success of any marketing initiative.

U.S. Natural Gas Storage Risk-Based Ranking Methodology and Results

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

Folga, Steve; Portante, Edgar; Shamsuddin, Shabbir

2016-10-01

This report summarizes the methodology and models developed to assess the risk to energy delivery from the potential loss of underground gas storage (UGS) facilities located within the United States. The U.S. has a total of 418 existing storage fields, of which 390 are currently active. The models estimate the impacts of a disruption of each of the active UGS facilities on their owners/operators, including (1) local distribution companies (LDCs), (2) directly connected transporting pipelines and thus on the customers in downstream States, and (3) third-party entities and thus on contracted customers expecting the gas shipment. Impacts are measured acrossmore » all natural gas customer classes. For the electric sector, impacts are quantified in terms of natural gas-fired electric generation capacity potentially affected from the loss of a UGS facility. For the purpose of calculating the overall supply risk, the overall consequence of the disruption of an UGS facility across all customer classes is expressed in terms of the number of expected equivalent residential customer outages per year, which combines the unit business interruption cost per customer class and the estimated number of affected natural gas customers with estimated probabilities of UGS disruptions. All models and analyses are based on publicly available data. The report presents a set of findings and recommendations in terms of data, further analyses, regulatory requirements and standards, and needs to improve gas/electric industry coordination for electric reliability.« less

Patient-Specific Circulating Tumor DNA Detection during Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

PubMed

Riva, Francesca; Bidard, Francois-Clement; Houy, Alexandre; Saliou, Adrien; Madic, Jordan; Rampanou, Aurore; Hego, Caroline; Milder, Maud; Cottu, Paul; Sablin, Marie-Paule; Vincent-Salomon, Anne; Lantz, Olivier; Stern, Marc-Henri; Proudhon, Charlotte; Pierga, Jean-Yves

2017-03-01

In nonmetastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients, we investigated whether circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detection can reflect the tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) and detect minimal residual disease after surgery. Ten milliliters of plasma were collected at 4 time points: before NCT; after 1 cycle; before surgery; after surgery. Customized droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assays were used to track tumor protein p53 ( TP53 ) mutations previously characterized in tumor tissue by massively parallel sequencing (MPS). Forty-six patients with nonmetastatic TNBC were enrolled. TP53 mutations were identified in 40 of them. Customized ddPCR probes were validated for 38 patients, with excellent correlation with MPS ( r = 0.99), specificity (≥2 droplets/assay), and sensitivity (at least 0.1%). At baseline, ctDNA was detected in 27/36 patients (75%). Its detection was associated with mitotic index ( P = 0.003), tumor grade ( P = 0.003), and stage ( P = 0.03). During treatment, we observed a drop of ctDNA levels in all patients but 1. No patient had detectable ctDNA after surgery. The patient with rising ctDNA levels experienced tumor progression during NCT. Pathological complete response (16/38 patients) was not correlated with ctDNA detection at any time point. ctDNA positivity after 1 cycle of NCT was correlated with shorter disease-free ( P < 0.001) and overall ( P = 0.006) survival. Customized ctDNA detection by ddPCR achieved a 75% detection rate at baseline. During NCT, ctDNA levels decreased quickly and minimal residual disease was not detected after surgery. However, a slow decrease of ctDNA level during NCT was strongly associated with shorter survival. © 2016 American Association for Clinical Chemistry.

Heavy-Duty Vehicle Port Drayage Drive Cycle Characterization and Development

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

Prohaska, Robert; Konan, Arnaud; Kelly, Kenneth

In an effort to better understand the operational requirements of port drayage vehicles and their potential for adoption of advanced technologies, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers collected over 36,000 miles of in-use duty cycle data from 30 Class 8 drayage trucks operating at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles in Southern California. These data include 1-Hz global positioning system location and SAE J1939 high-speed controller area network information. Researchers processed the data through NREL's Drive-Cycle Rapid Investigation, Visualization, and Evaluation tool to examine vehicle kinematic and dynamic patterns across the spectrum of operations. Using themore » k-medoids clustering method, a repeatable and quantitative process for multi-mode drive cycle segmentation, the analysis led to the creation of multiple drive cycles representing four distinct modes of operation that can be used independently or in combination. These drive cycles are statistically representative of real-world operation of port drayage vehicles. When combined with modeling and simulation tools, these representative test cycles allow advanced vehicle or systems developers to efficiently and accurately evaluate vehicle technology performance requirements to reduce cost and development time while ultimately leading to the commercialization of advanced technologies that meet the performance requirements of the port drayage vocation. The drive cycles, which are suitable for chassis dynamometer testing, were compared to several existing test cycles. This paper presents the clustering methodology, accompanying results of the port drayage duty cycle analysis and custom drive cycle creation.« less

Heavy-Duty Vehicle Port Drayage Drive Cycle Characterization and Development: Preprint

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

Prohaska, Robert; Konan, Arnaud; Kelly, Kenneth

In an effort to better understand the operational requirements of port drayage vehicles and their potential for adoption of advanced technologies, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers collected over 36,000 miles of in-use duty cycle data from 30 Class 8 drayage trucks operating at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles in Southern California. These data include 1-Hz global positioning system location and SAE J1939 high-speed controller area network information. Researchers processed the data through NREL's Drive-Cycle Rapid Investigation, Visualization, and Evaluation tool to examine vehicle kinematic and dynamic patterns across the spectrum of operations. Using themore » k-medoids clustering method, a repeatable and quantitative process for multi-mode drive cycle segmentation, the analysis led to the creation of multiple drive cycles representing four distinct modes of operation that can be used independently or in combination. These drive cycles are statistically representative of real-world operation of port drayage vehicles. When combined with modeling and simulation tools, these representative test cycles allow advanced vehicle or systems developers to efficiently and accurately evaluate vehicle technology performance requirements to reduce cost and development time while ultimately leading to the commercialization of advanced technologies that meet the performance requirements of the port drayage vocation. The drive cycles, which are suitable for chassis dynamometer testing, were compared to several existing test cycles. This paper presents the clustering methodology, accompanying results of the port drayage duty cycle analysis and custom drive cycle creation.« less

Heavy-Duty Vehicle Port Drayage Drive Cycle Characterization and Development

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

Prohaska, Robert; Konan, Arnaud; Kelly, Kenneth

2016-05-02

In an effort to better understand the operational requirements of port drayage vehicles and their potential for adoption of advanced technologies, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers collected over 36,000 miles of in-use duty cycle data from 30 Class 8 drayage trucks operating at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles in Southern California. These data include 1-Hz global positioning system location and SAE J1939 high-speed controller area network information. Researchers processed the data through NREL's Drive-Cycle Rapid Investigation, Visualization, and Evaluation tool to examine vehicle kinematic and dynamic patterns across the spectrum of operations. Using themore » k-medoids clustering method, a repeatable and quantitative process for multi-mode drive cycle segmentation, the analysis led to the creation of multiple drive cycles representing four distinct modes of operation that can be used independently or in combination. These drive cycles are statistically representative of real-world operation of port drayage vehicles. When combined with modeling and simulation tools, these representative test cycles allow advanced vehicle or systems developers to efficiently and accurately evaluate vehicle technology performance requirements to reduce cost and development time while ultimately leading to the commercialization of advanced technologies that meet the performance requirements of the port drayage vocation. The drive cycles, which are suitable for chassis dynamometer testing, were compared to several existing test cycles. This paper presents the clustering methodology, accompanying results of the port drayage duty cycle analysis and custom drive cycle creation.« less

Loyalty-based management.

PubMed

Reichheld, F F

1993-01-01

Despite a flurry of activities aimed at serving customers better, few companies have systematically revamped their operations with customer loyalty in mind. Instead, most have adopted improvement programs ad hoc, and paybacks haven't materialized. Building a highly loyal customer base must be integral to a company's basic business strategy. Loyalty leaders like MBNA credit cards are successful because they have designed their entire business systems around customer loyalty--a self-reinforcing system in which the company delivers superior value consistently and reinvents cash flows to find and keep high-quality customers and employees. The economic benefits of high customer loyalty are measurable. When a company consistently delivers superior value and wins customer loyalty, market share and revenues go up, and the cost of acquiring new customers goes down. The better economics mean the company can pay workers better, which sets off a whole chain of events. Increased pay boosts employee moral and commitment; as employees stay longer, their productivity goes up and training costs fall; employees' overall job satisfaction, combined with their experience, helps them serve customers better; and customers are then more inclined to stay loyal to the company. Finally, as the best customers and employees become part of the loyalty-based system, competitors are left to survive with less desirable customers and less talented employees. To compete on loyalty, a company must understand the relationships between customer retention and the other parts of the business--and be able to quantify the linkages between loyalty and profits. It involves rethinking and aligning four important aspects of the business: customers, product/service offering, employees, and measurement systems.

Retaining customers in a managed care market. Hospitals must understand the connection between patient satisfaction, loyalty, retention, and revenue.

PubMed

Gemme, E M

1997-01-01

Traditionally, health care patients have been treated by health care professionals as people with needs rather than as customers with options. Although managed care has restricted patient choice, choice has not been eliminated. The premise of this article is that patients are primary health care consumers. Adopting such a premise and developing an active customer retention program can help health care organizations change their culture for the better, which may lead to higher customer retention levels and increased revenues. Customer retention programs based on service excellence that empower employees to provide excellent care can eventually lead to a larger market share for health care organizations trying to survive this era of intense competition.

Case study: the health SmartLibrary experiences in web personalization and customization at the Galter health sciences library, Northwestern University.

PubMed

Shedlock, James; Frisque, Michelle; Hunt, Steve; Walton, Linda; Handler, Jonathan; Gillam, Michael

2010-04-01

How can the user's access to health information, especially full-text articles, be improved? The solution is building and evaluating the Health SmartLibrary (HSL). The setting is the Galter Health Sciences Library, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. The HSL was built on web-based personalization and customization tools: My E-Resources, Stay Current, Quick Search, and File Cabinet. Personalization and customization data were tracked to show user activity with these value-added, online services. Registration data indicated that users were receptive to personalized resource selection and that the automated application of specialty-based, personalized HSLs was more frequently adopted than manual customization by users. Those who did customize customized My E-Resources and Stay Current more often than Quick Search and File Cabinet. Most of those who customized did so only once. Users did not always take advantage of the services designed to aid their library research experiences. When personalization is available at registration, users readily accepted it. Customization tools were used less frequently; however, more research is needed to determine why this was the case.

Collaboration, Communication and Co-ordination in Agile Software Development Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, Hugh; Sharp, Helen

This chapter analyses the results of a series of observational studies of agile software developmentagile software development teams, identifying commonalities in collaboration, co-ordination and communication activities. Pairing and customer collaborationcustomer collaboration are focussed on to illustrate the nature of collaboration and communication, as are two simple physical artefacts that emerged through analysis as being an information-rich focal point for the co-ordination of collaboration and communication activities. The analysis shows that pairingpairing has common characteristics across all teams, while customer collaboration differs between the teams depending on the application and organisational context of development.

The mismanagement of customer loyalty.

PubMed

Reinartz, Werner; Kumar, V

2002-07-01

Who wouldn't want loyal customers? Surely they should cost less to serve, they'd be willing to pay more than other customers, and they'd actively market your company by word of mouth, right? Maybe not. Careful study of the relationship between customer loyalty and profits plumbed from 16,000 customers in four companies' databases tells a different story. The authors found no evidence to support any of these claims. What they did find was that the link between customers and profitability was more complicated because customers fall into four groups, not two. Simply put: Not all loyal customers are profitable, and not all profitable customers are loyal. Traditional tools for segmenting customers do a poor job of identifying that latter group, causing companies to chase expensively after initially profitable customers who hold little promise of future profits. The authors suggest an alternative approach, based on well-established "event-history modeling" techniques, that more accurately predicts future buying probabilities. Armed with such a tool, marketers can correctly identify which customers belong in which category and market accordingly. The challenge in managing customers who are profitable but disloyal--the "butterflies"--is to milk them for as much as you can while they're buying from you. A softly-softly approach is more appropriate for the profitable customers who are likely to stay loyal--your "true friends." As for highly loyal but not very profitable customers--the "barnacles"--you need to find out if they have the potential to spend more than they currently do. And, of course, for the "strangers"--those who generate no loyalty and no profits--the answer is simple: Identify early and don't invest anything.

75 FR 40847 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 1660-0036...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-14

... Emergency Management Agency Individual Assistance Customer Satisfaction Surveys AGENCY: Federal Emergency..., timeliness and satisfaction with initial, continuing and final delivery of disaster-related assistance. DATES..., Customer Satisfaction Analysis Section, Texas National Processing Service Center, Recovery Directorate...

Randomized controlled pilot study of customized pamphlets to promote physical activity and symptom self-management in women with multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Plow, Matthew; Bethoux, Francois; McDaniel, Corey; McGlynn, Mark; Marcus, Bess

2014-02-01

Investigate the feasibility and potential efficacy of a customized print-based intervention to promote physical activity and symptom self-management in women with multiple sclerosis. A randomly allocated two-group repeated measures design, with a delayed-treatment contact group serving as the control. Participants were randomized to receive the intervention immediately (n =14) or receive it at week 12 (n =16). Outcome measures were administered at weeks 1, 12, and 24. Community-based in metropolitan area. Thirty women with multiple sclerosis. Prescribing a home-exercise program and following up with customized pamphlets, which are matched to participants' stage of readiness to change physical activity behavior and physical activity barriers (e.g. encouraging self-management of symptoms). Physical Activity and Disability Survey-revised, Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, SF-12, Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis Scale, and 6-minute walk test. Intent-to-treat analyses using mixed multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were conducted on (1) physical activity levels and (2) health and function outcomes. The mixed MANOVAs for physical activity levels and health and function outcomes indicated significant improvements in the immediate group compared with the delayed group (i.e. condition by time interaction was significant, Wilks' λ = 0.59, F(2, 27) = 9.31, P = 0.001 and Wilks' λ = 0.70, F(4, 25) = 2.72, P = 0.052, respectively). The intervention had moderate to large effect sizes in improving physical activity levels (d = 0.63 to 0.89), perceptions of physical function (d = 0.63), and 6-minute walk test (d=0.86). This pilot study indicates that a customized print-based intervention shows promise in improving physical activity levels and health and function in women with multiple sclerosis.

14 CFR 1214.805 - Unforeseen customer delay.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... problem pose a threat of delay to the Shuttle launch schedule or critical off-line activities, NASA shall... availability of facilities, equipment, and personnel. In requesting NASA to make such special efforts, the customer shall agree to reimburse NASA the estimated additional cost incurred. ...

14 CFR 1214.805 - Unforeseen customer delay.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... problem pose a threat of delay to the Shuttle launch schedule or critical off-line activities, NASA shall... availability of facilities, equipment, and personnel. In requesting NASA to make such special efforts, the customer shall agree to reimburse NASA the estimated additional cost incurred. ...

14 CFR 1214.805 - Unforeseen customer delay.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... problem pose a threat of delay to the Shuttle launch schedule or critical off-line activities, NASA shall... availability of facilities, equipment, and personnel. In requesting NASA to make such special efforts, the customer shall agree to reimburse NASA the estimated additional cost incurred. ...

7 CFR 1767.28 - Customer accounts expenses.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... performed by meter readers and the work represents a minor activity incidental to regular meter reading... funds or to insurance companies for pension purposes. 2. Group and life insurance premiums (credit... used, and expenses incurred in work on customer applications, contracts, orders, credit investigations...

25 CFR 141.30 - Retaliation prohibited.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES BUSINESS PRACTICES ON THE NAVAJO, HOPI AND ZUNI RESERVATIONS General Business Practices § 141.30 Retaliation prohibited. No licensee may refuse service to any customer for the purpose of retaliating against that customer for...

75 FR 29779 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 1660-0102...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-27

... Emergency Management Agency Housing Inspection Services Customer Satisfaction Survey AGENCY: Federal... Management Agency Housing Inspection Services Customer Satisfaction Survey. SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency... Notice seeks comments concerning FEMA conducting surveys to determine the level of satisfaction of...

A comparison of kinematic algorithms to estimate gait events during overground running.

PubMed

Smith, Laura; Preece, Stephen; Mason, Duncan; Bramah, Christopher

2015-01-01

The gait cycle is frequently divided into two distinct phases, stance and swing, which can be accurately determined from ground reaction force data. In the absence of such data, kinematic algorithms can be used to estimate footstrike and toe-off. The performance of previously published algorithms is not consistent between studies. Furthermore, previous algorithms have not been tested at higher running speeds nor used to estimate ground contact times. Therefore the purpose of this study was to both develop a new, custom-designed, event detection algorithm and compare its performance with four previously tested algorithms at higher running speeds. Kinematic and force data were collected on twenty runners during overground running at 5.6m/s. The five algorithms were then implemented and estimated times for footstrike, toe-off and contact time were compared to ground reaction force data. There were large differences in the performance of each algorithm. The custom-designed algorithm provided the most accurate estimation of footstrike (True Error 1.2 ± 17.1 ms) and contact time (True Error 3.5 ± 18.2 ms). Compared to the other tested algorithms, the custom-designed algorithm provided an accurate estimation of footstrike and toe-off across different footstrike patterns. The custom-designed algorithm provides a simple but effective method to accurately estimate footstrike, toe-off and contact time from kinematic data. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

How Healthcare Can Refocus on Its Super-Customers (Patients, n =1) and Customers (Doctors and Nurses) by Leveraging Lessons from Amazon, Uber, and Watson.

PubMed

Kolker, Evelyne; Özdemir, Vural; Kolker, Eugene

2016-06-01

Healthcare is transforming with data-intensive omics technologies and Big Data. The "revolution" has already happened in technology, but the bottlenecks have shifted to the social domain: Who can be empowered by Big Data? Who are the users and customers? In this review and innovation field analysis, we introduce the idea of a "super-customer" versus "customer" and relate both to 21st century healthcare. A "super-customer" in healthcare is the patient, sample size of n = 1, while "customers" are the providers of healthcare (e.g., doctors and nurses). The super-customers have been patients, enabled by unprecedented social practices, such as the ability to track one's physical activities, personal genomics, patient advocacy for greater autonomy, and self-governance, to name but a few. In contrast, the originally intended customers-providers, doctors, and nurses-have relatively lagged behind. With patients as super-customers, there are valuable lessons to be learned from industry examples, such as Amazon and Uber. To offer superior quality service, healthcare organizations have to refocus on the needs, pains, and aspirations of their super-customers by enabling the customers. We propose a strategic solution to this end: the PPT-DAM (People-Process-Technology empowered by Data, Analytics, and Metrics) approach. When applied together with the classic Experiment-Execute-Evaluate iterative methodology, we suggest PPT-DAM is an extremely powerful approach to deliver quality health services to super-customers and customers. As an example, we describe the PPT-DAM implementation by the Benchmarking Improvement Program at the Seattle Children's Hospital. Finally, we forecast that cognitive systems in general and IBM Watson in particular, if properly implemented, can bring transformative and sustainable capabilities in healthcare far beyond the current ones.

Profiling online recreational/prescription drugs' customers and overview of drug vending virtual marketplaces.

PubMed

Orsolini, Laura; Francesconi, Giulia; Papanti, Duccio; Giorgetti, Arianna; Schifano, Fabrizio

2015-07-01

Internet and social networking sites play a significant role in the marketing and distribution of recreational/prescription drugs without restrictions. We aimed here at reviewing data relating to the profile of the online drug customer and at describing drug vending websites. The PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases were searched here in order to elicit data on the socio-demographic characteristics of the recreational marketplaces/online pharmacies' customers and the determinants relating to online drug purchasing activities. Typical online recreational drugs' customers seem to be Caucasian, men, in their 20s, highly educated, and using the web to impact as minimally as possible on their existing work/professional status. Conversely, people without any health insurance seemed to look at the web as a source of more affordable prescription medicines. Drug vending websites are typically presented here with a "no prescription required" approach, together with aggressive marketing strategies. The online availability of recreational/prescriptions drugs remains a public health concern. A more precise understanding of online vending sites' customers may well facilitate the drafting and implementation of proper prevention campaigns aimed at counteracting the increasing levels of online drug acquisition and hence intake activities. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Naval Research Logistics Quarterly. Volume 23, Number 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-03-01

time in a single cycle. That such a study is indeed sufficient follows from the periodicity of the inventory history. The firm’s quest reduces then to...established record of customer service. This study focuses upon the operating characteristics of the stahili/.ed system. Kor the moment, consider...and H. Scari, Studies in the Mathematical Theory of Inventory and Produc- tion (Stanford University Press. Stanford, Calif., 1958

Microsystem Cooler Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moran, Matthew E.; Wesolek, Danielle M.; Berhane, Bruk T.; Rebello, Keith J.

2004-01-01

A patented microsystem Stirling cooler is under development with potential application to electronics, sensors, optical and radio frequency (RF) systems, microarrays, and other microsystems. The microsystem Stirling cooler is most suited to volume-limited applications that require cooling below the ambient or sink temperature. Primary components of the planar device include: two diaphragm actuators that replace the pistons found in traditional-scale Stirling machines; and a micro-regenerator that stores and releases thermal energy to the working gas during the Stirling cycle. The use of diaphragms eliminates frictional losses and bypass leakage concerns associated with pistons, while permitting reversal of the hot and cold sides of the device during operation to allow precise temperature control. Three candidate microregenerators were custom fabricated for initial evaluation: two constructed of porous ceramic, and one made of multiple layers of nickel and photoresist in an offset grating pattern. An additional regenerator was prepared with a random stainless steel fiber matrix commonly used in existing Stirling machines for comparison to the custom fabricated regenerators. The candidate regenerators were tested in a piezoelectric-actuated test apparatus designed to simulate the Stirling refrigeration cycle. In parallel with the regenerator testing, electrostatically-driven comb-drive diaphragm actuators for the prototype device have been designed for deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) fabrication.

Engineering Changes in Product Design - A Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karthik, K.; Janardhan Reddy, K., Dr

2016-09-01

Changes are fundamental to product development. Engineering changes are unavoidable and can arise at any phase of the product life cycle. The consideration of market requirements, customer/user feedbacks, manufacturing constraints, design innovations etc., turning them into viable products can be accomplished when product change is managed properly. In the early design cycle, informal changes are accepted. However, changes become formal when its complexity and cost increases, and as product matures. To maximize the market shares, manufacturers have to effectively and efficiently manage engineering changes by means of Configuration Control. The paper gives a broad overview about ‘Engineering Change Management’ (ECM) through configuration management and its implications in product design. The aim is to give an idea and understanding about the engineering changes in product design scenario to the new researchers. This paper elaborates the significant aspect of managing the engineering changes and the importance of ECM in a product life cycle.

Analysis of Central Design Agency Alternatives for Navy Industrial Fund Accounting Systems: A Proposed Methodology.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-03-01

creation of a "buyer- seller" relationship between the producer of the good or ser- vice and the customer activity. The notion of "free" supplies and...riors in the customers ’ chains of command from whom they receive their funding) [2;28-30]. C. NAVY INDUSTRIAL FUND ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS The...project budget levels unchanged 2. standardization efforts hindered 3. current customer relationships 3. inefficient ptilization of unc hanged

Government Activities to Detect, Deter and Disrupt Threats Enumerating from the Dark Web

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-09

the surface selling web website, the Silk Road site offered a variety of illegal goods and served as a grant for the customer transaction. The...order to degrade human prosperity. Tor network, besides offering legal anonymity, services is an infrastructure for illicit online services which are... customer ordered illegal goods from the website located on the dark web and paid in Bitcoins. The money stays on the site wallet until the customer

List of DOE radioisotope customers with summary of radioisotope shipments, FY 1980

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

Burlison, J.S.

1981-08-01

The sixteenth edition of the radioisotope customer list was prepared at the request of the Office of Health and Environmental Research, Office of energy Research, Department of Energy (DOE). This document lists DOE's radioisotope production and distribution activities by its facilities at Argonne National Laboratory; Pacific Northwest Laboratory; Brookhaven National Laboraory; Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory; Idaho Operations Office; Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory; Mound Facility; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Savannah River Laboratory; and UNC Nuclear Industries, Inc. The information is divided into five sections: (1) isotope suppliers, facility, contracts and isotopes or services supplied; (2) alphabetical list of customers, and isotopesmore » purchased; (3) alphabetical list of isotopes cross-referenced to customer numbers; (4) geographical location of radioisotope customers; and (5) radioisotope sales and transfers-FY 1980.« less

List of DOE radioisotope customers with summary of radioisotope shipments, FY 1979

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

Burlison, J.S.

1980-06-01

The fifteenth edition of the radioisotope customer list was prepared at the request of the Division of Financial Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Environment, Department of Energy (DOE). This document lists DOE's radioisotope production and distribution activities by its facilities at Argonne National Laboratory; Pacific Northwest Laboratory; Brookhaven National Laboratory; Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory; Idaho Operations Office; Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory; Mound Facility; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Rocky Flats Area Office; Savannah River Laboratory; and UNC Nuclear Industries, Inc. The information is divided into five sections: Isotope suppliers, facility, contracts and isotopes or services supplied; alphabetical list ofmore » customers, and isotopes purchased; alphabetical list of isotopes cross-referenced to customer numbers; geographical location of radioisotope customers; and radioisotope sales and transfers-FY 1979.« less

List of DOE radioisotope customers with summary of radioisotope shipments, FY 1981

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

Burlison, J.S.

1982-09-01

The seventeenth edition of the radioisotope customer list was prepared at the request of the Office of Health and Environmental Research, Office of Energy Research, Department of Energy (DOE). This document lists DOE's radioisotope production and distribution activities by its facilities at Argonne National Laboratory: Pacific Northwest Laboratory; Brookhaven National Laboratory; Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory; Idaho Operations Office; Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory; Mound Facility; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Savannah River Laboratory; and UNC Nuclear Industries, Inc. The information is divided into five sections: (1) isotope suppliers, facility, contracts and isotopes or services supplied; (2) alphabetical list of customers, and isotopesmore » purchased; (3) alphabetical list of isotopes cross-referenced to customer numbers; (4) geographical location of radioisotope customers; and (5) radioisotope sales and transfers-FY 1980.« less

Video-CRM: understanding customer behaviors in stores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haritaoglu, Ismail; Flickner, Myron; Beymer, David

2013-03-01

This paper describes two real-time computer vision systems created 10 years ago that detect and track people in stores to obtain insights of customer behavior while shopping. The first system uses a single color camera to identify shopping groups in the checkout line. Shopping groups are identified by analyzing the inter-body distances coupled with the cashier's activities to detect checkout transactions start and end times. The second system uses multiple overhead narrow-baseline stereo cameras to detect and track people, their body posture and parts to understand customer interactions with products such as "customer picking a product from a shelf". In pilot studies both systems demonstrated real-time performance and sufficient accuracy to enable more detailed understanding of customer behavior and extract actionable real-time retail analytics.

Importance/performance analysis: a tool for service quality control by clinical laboratories.

PubMed

Scammon, D L; Weiss, R

1991-01-01

A study of customer satisfaction with clinical laboratory service is used as the basis for identifying potential improvements in service and more effectively targeting marketing activities to enhance customer satisfaction. Data on customer satisfaction are used to determine the aspects of service most critical to customers, how well the organization is doing in delivery of service, and how consistent service delivery is. Importance-performance analysis is used to highlight areas for future resource reallocation and strategic emphasis. Suggestions include the establishment of performance guidelines for customer contact personnel, the enhancement of timely delivery of reports via electronic transmission (computer and fax), and the development of standardized graphics for request and report forms to facilitate identification of appropriate request forms and guide clients to key items of information on reports.

Ultraviolet stress delays chromosome replication in light/dark synchronized cells of the marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus marinus PCC9511

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background The marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus is very abundant in warm, nutrient-poor oceanic areas. The upper mixed layer of oceans is populated by high light-adapted Prochlorococcus ecotypes, which despite their tiny genome (~1.7 Mb) seem to have developed efficient strategies to cope with stressful levels of photosynthetically active and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. At a molecular level, little is known yet about how such minimalist microorganisms manage to sustain high growth rates and avoid potentially detrimental, UV-induced mutations to their DNA. To address this question, we studied the cell cycle dynamics of P. marinus PCC9511 cells grown under high fluxes of visible light in the presence or absence of UV radiation. Near natural light-dark cycles of both light sources were obtained using a custom-designed illumination system (cyclostat). Expression patterns of key DNA synthesis and repair, cell division, and clock genes were analyzed in order to decipher molecular mechanisms of adaptation to UV radiation. Results The cell cycle of P. marinus PCC9511 was strongly synchronized by the day-night cycle. The most conspicuous response of cells to UV radiation was a delay in chromosome replication, with a peak of DNA synthesis shifted about 2 h into the dark period. This delay was seemingly linked to a strong downregulation of genes governing DNA replication (dnaA) and cell division (ftsZ, sepF), whereas most genes involved in DNA repair (such as recA, phrA, uvrA, ruvC, umuC) were already activated under high visible light and their expression levels were only slightly affected by additional UV exposure. Conclusions Prochlorococcus cells modified the timing of the S phase in response to UV exposure, therefore reducing the risk that mutations would occur during this particularly sensitive stage of the cell cycle. We identified several possible explanations for the observed timeshift. Among these, the sharp decrease in transcript levels of the dnaA gene, encoding the DNA replication initiator protein, is sufficient by itself to explain this response, since DNA synthesis starts only when the cellular concentration of DnaA reaches a critical threshold. However, the observed response likely results from a more complex combination of UV-altered biological processes. PMID:20670397

19 CFR 201.111 - Notice.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Notice. 201.111 Section 201.111 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.101 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Purpose. 201.101 Section 201.101 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.140 - Employment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Employment. 201.140 Section 201.140 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.102 - Application.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Application. 201.102 Section 201.102 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.111 - Notice.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Notice. 201.111 Section 201.111 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.102 - Application.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Application. 201.102 Section 201.102 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.140 - Employment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Employment. 201.140 Section 201.140 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.111 - Notice.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Notice. 201.111 Section 201.111 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.103 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Definitions. 201.103 Section 201.103 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.140 - Employment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Employment. 201.140 Section 201.140 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.140 - Employment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Employment. 201.140 Section 201.140 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.103 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Definitions. 201.103 Section 201.103 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.140 - Employment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Employment. 201.140 Section 201.140 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.101 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Purpose. 201.101 Section 201.101 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.102 - Application.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Application. 201.102 Section 201.102 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.111 - Notice.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Notice. 201.111 Section 201.111 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.103 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Definitions. 201.103 Section 201.103 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.111 - Notice.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Notice. 201.111 Section 201.111 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.101 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Purpose. 201.101 Section 201.101 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.101 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Purpose. 201.101 Section 201.101 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.101 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Purpose. 201.101 Section 201.101 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.102 - Application.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Application. 201.102 Section 201.102 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.102 - Application.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Application. 201.102 Section 201.102 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

12 CFR 208.37 - Government securities sales practices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

...-institutional customer means any customer other than: (i) A bank, savings association, insurance company, or registered investment company; (ii) An investment adviser registered under section 203 of the Investment... Securities-Related Activities § 208.37 Government securities sales practices. (a) Scope. This subpart is...

19 CFR 351.514 - Export subsidies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Export subsidies. 351.514 Section 351.514 Customs Duties INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ANTIDUMPING AND COUNTERVAILING DUTIES... government, a benefit does not exist if the Secretary determines that the activities consist of general...

14 CFR § 1214.805 - Unforeseen customer delay.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... problem pose a threat of delay to the Shuttle launch schedule or critical off-line activities, NASA shall... availability of facilities, equipment, and personnel. In requesting NASA to make such special efforts, the customer shall agree to reimburse NASA the estimated additional cost incurred. ...

31 CFR 103.123 - Customer identification programs for futures commission merchants and introducing brokers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... TRANSACTIONS Anti-Money Laundering Programs Anti-Money Laundering Programs § 103.123 Customer identification... each futures commission merchant's and introducing broker's anti-money laundering compliance program... money laundering activities, Federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify, and...

78 FR 12141 - Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-21

... Bureau to monitor consumers' behavior--specifically, consumer use of deposit accounts as transactional... of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau), and state supervisors of banks and savings associations... consumer customers compared to business customers, and [cir] For those institutions with $1 billion or more...

76 FR 64092 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request, Title: Public...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-17

..., Title: Public Assistance Customer Satisfaction Survey AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.... Collection of Information Title: Public Assistance Customer Satisfaction Survey. Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved information collection. OMB Number: 1660-0107. Form Titles and...

34 CFR 361.23 - Requirements related to the statewide workforce investment system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... technology for individuals with disabilities; (ii) The use of information and financial management systems... statistics, job vacancies, career planning, and workforce investment activities; (iii) The use of customer service features such as common intake and referral procedures, customer databases, resource information...

Projection display technology for avionics applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalmanash, Michael H.; Tompkins, Richard D.

2000-08-01

Avionics displays often require custom image sources tailored to demanding program needs. Flat panel devices are attractive for cockpit installations, however recent history has shown that it is not possible to sustain a business manufacturing custom flat panels in small volume specialty runs. As the number of suppliers willing to undertake this effort shrinks, avionics programs unable to utilize commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) flat panels are placed in serious jeopardy. Rear projection technology offers a new paradigm, enabling compact systems to be tailored to specific platform needs while using a complement of COTS components. Projection displays enable improved performance, lower cost and shorter development cycles based on inter-program commonality and the wide use of commercial components. This paper reviews the promise and challenges of projection technology and provides an overview of Kaiser Electronics' efforts in developing advanced avionics displays using this approach.

Case study: the Health SmartLibrary* experiences in web personalization and customization at the Galter Health Sciences Library, Northwestern University

PubMed Central

Shedlock, James; Frisque, Michelle; Hunt, Steve; Walton, Linda; Handler, Jonathan; Gillam, Michael

2010-01-01

Question: How can the user's access to health information, especially full-text articles, be improved? The solution is building and evaluating the Health SmartLibrary (HSL). Setting: The setting is the Galter Health Sciences Library, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. Method: The HSL was built on web-based personalization and customization tools: My E-Resources, Stay Current, Quick Search, and File Cabinet. Personalization and customization data were tracked to show user activity with these value-added, online services. Main Results: Registration data indicated that users were receptive to personalized resource selection and that the automated application of specialty-based, personalized HSLs was more frequently adopted than manual customization by users. Those who did customize customized My E-Resources and Stay Current more often than Quick Search and File Cabinet. Most of those who customized did so only once. Conclusion: Users did not always take advantage of the services designed to aid their library research experiences. When personalization is available at registration, users readily accepted it. Customization tools were used less frequently; however, more research is needed to determine why this was the case. PMID:20428276

Synthesis of monopolar ultrasound pulses for therapy: the frequency-compounding transducer.

PubMed

Lin, Kuang-Wei; Hall, Timothy L; McGough, Robert J; Xu, Zhen; Cain, Charles A

2014-07-01

In diagnostic ultrasound, broadband transducers capable of short acoustic pulse emission and reception can improve axial resolution and provide sufficient bandwidth for harmonic imaging and multi-frequency excitation techniques. In histotripsy, a cavitation-based ultrasound therapy, short acoustic pulses (<2 cycles) can produce precise tissue ablation wherein lesion formation only occurs when the applied peak negative pressure exceeds an intrinsic threshold of the medium. This paper investigates a frequency compounding technique to synthesize nearly monopolar (half-cycle) ultrasound pulses. More specifically, these pulses were generated using a custom transducer composed of 23 individual relatively-broadband piezoceramic elements with various resonant frequencies (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 MHz). Each frequency component of the transducer was capable of generating 1.5-cycle pulses with only one high-amplitude negative half-cycle using a custom 23-channel high-voltage pulser. By varying time delays of individual frequency components to allow their principal peak negative peaks to arrive at the focus of the transducer constructively, destructive interference occurs elsewhere in time and space, resulting in a monopolar pulse approximation with a dominant negative phase (with measured peak negative pressure [P-]: peak positive pressure [P+] = 4.68: 1). By inverting the excitation pulses to individual elements, monopolar pulses with a dominant positive phase can also be generated (with measured P+: P- = 4.74: 1). Experiments in RBC phantoms indicated that monopolar pulses with a dominant negative phase were able to produce very precise histotripsy-type lesions using the intrinsic threshold mechanism. Monopolar pulses with a dominant negative phase can inhibit shock scattering during histotripsy, leading to more predictable lesion formation using the intrinsic threshold mechanism, while greatly reducing any constructive interference, and potential hot-spots elsewhere. Moreover, these monopolar pulses could have many potential benefits in ultrasound imaging, including axial resolution improvement, speckle reduction, and contrast enhancement in pulse inversion imaging.

Silo busting: how to execute on the promise of customer focus.

PubMed

Gulati, Ranjay

2007-05-01

For many senior executives, shifting from selling products to selling solutions--packages of products and services--is a priority in today's increasingly commoditized markets. Companies, however, aren't always structured to make that shift. Knowledge and expertise often reside in silos, and many companies have trouble harnessing their resources across those boundaries in a way that customers value and are willing to pay for. Some companies--like GE Healthcare, Best Buy, and commercial real estate provider Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL)--have restructured themselves around customer needs to deliver true solutions. They did so by engaging in four sets of activities: COORDINATION: To deliver customer-focused solutions, three things must occur easily across boundaries: information sharing, division of labor, and decision making. Sometimes this involves replacing traditional silos with customer-focused ones, but more often it entails transcending existing boundaries. JLL has experimented with both approaches. COOPERATION: Customer-centric companies, such as Cisco Systems, develop metrics for customer satisfaction and incentives that reward customer-focused cooperation. Most also shake up the power structure so that people who are closest to customers have the authority to act on their behalf. CAPABILITY: Delivering customer-focused solutions requires some employees to be generalists instead of specialists. They need experience with more than one product or service, a deep knowledge of customer needs, and the ability to traverse internal boundaries. CONNECTION: By combining their offerings with those of a partner, companies can cut costs even as they create higher-value solutions, as Starbucks has found through its diverse partnerships. To stand out in a commoditized market, companies must understand what customers value. Ultimately, some customers may be better off purchasing products and services piecemeal.

77 FR 51534 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection Renewal; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-24

... FDIC: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive... of information: 1. Title: Notice Regarding Unauthorized Access to Customer Information. OMB Number... of FDIC regulated banks that will notify customers: 93. Estimated Time per Response: 29 hours. Annual...

19 CFR 201.203 - Delegation of authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Delegation of authority. 201.203 Section 201.203 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Debt Collection § 201.203 Delegation of authority. Authority to conduct the following activities is hereby...

19 CFR 201.110 - Self-evaluation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Self-evaluation. 201.110 Section 201.110 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.110 - Self-evaluation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Self-evaluation. 201.110 Section 201.110 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.110 - Self-evaluation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Self-evaluation. 201.110 Section 201.110 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.203 - Delegation of authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Delegation of authority. 201.203 Section 201.203 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Debt Collection § 201.203 Delegation of authority. Authority to conduct the following activities is hereby...

19 CFR 201.203 - Delegation of authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Delegation of authority. 201.203 Section 201.203 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Debt Collection § 201.203 Delegation of authority. Authority to conduct the following activities is hereby...

19 CFR 201.203 - Delegation of authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Delegation of authority. 201.203 Section 201.203 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Debt Collection § 201.203 Delegation of authority. Authority to conduct the following activities is hereby...

19 CFR 201.203 - Delegation of authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Delegation of authority. 201.203 Section 201.203 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Debt Collection § 201.203 Delegation of authority. Authority to conduct the following activities is hereby...

19 CFR 201.110 - Self-evaluation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Self-evaluation. 201.110 Section 201.110 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

19 CFR 201.110 - Self-evaluation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Self-evaluation. 201.110 Section 201.110 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade...

78 FR 77139 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Small Vessel Reporting System

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-20

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection... Security. ACTION: 30-Day notice and request for comments; Extension of an existing information collection: 1651-0137. SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of Homeland Security...

78 FR 22022 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments; Clearance of Renewed Approval of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-12

... Aviation Administration to measure management objectives and analyze customer feedback for ISO-9001. DATES... Aviation System Standards Distribution Dissemination Quality Plan states that the organization shall... Quality Management System in relation to customer satisfaction. The Glenn Dale Distribution Center...

76 FR 17142 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-28

.... Project: Disaster Technical Assistance Center Disaster Mental Health Needs Assessment and Customer... efforts: the Disaster Behavioral Health Needs Assessment (DBHNA) and the Customer Satisfaction Survey. The... also been included. Disaster Behavior Health Needs Assessment. The DBHNA will assist SAMHSA DTAC in...

77 FR 52380 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently-Approved Information Collection...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-29

... Request: Information Technology Services Survey Portal Customer Satisfaction Assessment (Formerly COMPASS Portal Consumer Satisfaction Assessment) AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT... collected will be used to assess the satisfaction of Federal, State, and industry customers with the FMCSA...

77 FR 1946 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, Public...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-12

..., Public Assistance Customer Satisfaction Survey AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION... Satisfaction Survey. Type of information collection: Revision of a currently approved information collection... Satisfaction Survey (Telephone); FEMA Form 519-0-1 INT, Public Assistance Customer Satisfaction Survey (Web...

Advanced Lithium-Ion Cell Development for NASA's Constellation Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reid, Concha M.; Miller, Thomas B.; Manzo, Michelle A.; Mercer, Carolyn R.

2008-01-01

The Energy Storage Project of NASA s Exploration Technology Development Program is developing advanced lithium-ion batteries to meet the requirements for specific Constellation missions. NASA GRC, in conjunction with JPL and JSC, is leading efforts to develop High Energy and Ultra High Energy cells for three primary Constellation customers: Altair, Extravehicular Activities (EVA), and Lunar Surface Systems. The objective of the High Energy cell development is to enable a battery system that can operationally deliver approximately 150 Wh/kg for 2000 cycles. The Ultra High Energy cell development will enable a battery system that can operationally deliver 220 Wh/kg for 200 cycles. To accomplish these goals, cathode, electrolyte, separator, and safety components are being developed for High Energy Cells. The Ultra High Energy cell development adds lithium alloy anodes to the component development portfolio to enable much higher cell-level specific energy. The Ultra High Energy cell development is targeted for the ascent stage of Altair, which is the Lunar Lander, and for power for the Portable Life support System of the EVA Lunar spacesuit. For these missions, mass is highly critical, but only a limited number of cycles are required. The High Energy cell development is primarily targeted for Mobility Systems (rovers) for Lunar Surface Systems, however, due to the high risk nature of the Ultra High Energy cell development, the High Energy cell will also serve as a backup technology for Altair and EVA. This paper will discuss mission requirements and the goals of the material, component, and cell development efforts in further detail.

The Effective Business Practices of Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs)

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

perspective, such as previous release dates of the iPhone or changes in supporting platforms such as iTunes . Through this type of analysis, which breaks down...For example, Apple’s iPod/ iTunes business model encompassed two main activities: provide customers with an easy way to browse, purchase, and listen to...two separate activities, each with different customers, value, and infrastructure, in order to make up its iPod/ iTunes business model. This is

An integrated conceptual framework for selecting reverse logistics providers in the presence of vagueness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fırdolaş, Tugba; Önüt, Semih; Kongar, Elif

2005-11-01

In recent years, relating organization's attitude towards sustainable development, environmental management is gaining an increasing interest among researchers in supply chain management. With regard to a long term requirement of a shift from a linear economy towards a cycle economy, businesses should be motivated to embrace change brought about by consumers, government, competition, and ethical responsibility. To achieve business goals and objectives, a company must reply to increasing consumer demand for "green" products and implement environmentally responsible plans. Reverse logistics is an activity within organizations delegated to the customer service function, where customers with warranted or defective products would return them to their supplier. Emergence of reverse logistics enables to provide a competitive advantage and significant return on investment with an indirect effect on profitability. Many organizations are hiring third-party providers to implement reverse logistics programs designed to retain value by getting products back. Reverse logistics vendors play an important role in helping organizations in closing the loop for products offered by the organizations. In this regard, the selection of third-party providers issue is increasingly becoming an area of reverse logistics concept and practice. This study aims to assist managers in determining which third-party logistics provider to collaborate in the reverse logistics process with an alternative approach based on an integrated model using neural networks and fuzzy logic. An illustrative case study is discussed and the best provider is identified through the solution of this model.

Consumption Behavior Analytics-Aided Energy Forecasting and Dispatch

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

Zhang, Yingchen; Yang, Rui; Jiang, Huaiguang

For decades, electricity customers have been treated as mere recipients of electricity in vertically integrated power systems. However, as customers have widely adopted distributed energy resources and other forms of customer participation in active dispatch (such as demand response) have taken shape, the value of mining knowledge from customer behavior patterns and using it for power system operation is increasing. Further, the variability of renewable energy resources has been considered a liability to the grid. However, electricity consumption has shown the same level of variability and uncertainty, and this is sometimes overlooked. This article investigates data analytics and forecasting methodsmore » to identify correlations between electricity consumption behavior and distributed photovoltaic (PV) output. The forecasting results feed into a predictive energy management system that optimizes energy consumption in the near future to balance customer demand and power system needs.« less

78 FR 68505 - Enhancing Protections Afforded Customers and Customer Funds Held by Futures Commission Merchants...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-14

...The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') is adopting new regulations and amending existing regulations to require enhanced customer protections, risk management programs, internal monitoring and controls, capital and liquidity standards, customer disclosures, and auditing and examination programs for futures commission merchants (``FCMs''). The regulations also address certain related issues concerning derivatives clearing organizations (``DCOs'') and chief compliance officers (``CCOs''). The final rules will afford greater assurances to market participants that: Customer segregated funds, secured amount funds, and cleared swaps funds are protected; customers are provided with appropriate notice of the risks of futures trading and of the FCMs with which they may choose to do business; FCMs are monitoring and managing risks in a robust manner; the capital and liquidity of FCMs are strengthened to safeguard their continued operations; and the auditing and examination programs of the Commission and the self- regulatory organizations (``SROs'') are monitoring the activities of FCMs in a prudent and thorough manner.

How to sell services more profitably.

PubMed

Reinartz, Werner; Ulaga, Wolfgang

2008-05-01

When products become commodities, manufacturing companies may seek to differentiate themselves with value-added services--a potentially profitable strategy. Unfortunately, companies often stumble in the effort. Reinartz and Ulaga conducted in-depth studies of 18 leading companies in a broad variety of product markets to learn what distinguished the successes from the rest. They discovered four steps to developing a profitable services capability. RECOGNIZE THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE A SERVICE COMPANY: You can identify and charge for simple services--as Merck did when it stopped quietly absorbing shipping costs. Switching services from free to fee clarifies their value for managers as well as for customers. INDUSTRIALIZE THE BACK OFFICE: To prevent delivery costs from eating up service-offering margins, build flexible service platforms, closely monitor process costs, and exploit new technologies that enable process innovations. The Swedish bearings manufacturer SKF provided off-site access to an online monitoring tool that could warn of potential failure in customers' machines. CREATE A SERVICE-SAVVY SALES FORCE: Services require longer sales cycles and, often, decisions from high up in a customer's hierarchy; what's more, product salespeople may be inimical to change. Schneider-Electric did a major overhaul of its sales organization and trained its people to switch from cost-plus pricing to value-based pricing. FOCUS ON CUSTOMERS' PROCESSES AND THE OPPORTUNITIES THEY AFFORD FOR NEW SERVICE OFFERINGS: You may need to acquire new capabilities to take advantage of those opportunities: The industrial coatings specialist PPG had to learn how painting robots function after it offered to take over Fiat's Torino paint shop. Services can both lock in customers and help acquire new accounts. They should be developed with care and attention.

Integrated centralized utility services to a chemical complex on Jurong Island, Singapore.

PubMed

Yan, Y G; Wong, P C Y; Tan, C G; Tang, K F

2003-01-01

SUT pioneered centralized utility services for the chemical industry on Jurong Island, which are cost-effective due to economies of scale, reliable due to inter-connection of satellite operations, and customer tailored for special requirements. The utility services range from the supply of steam and water, wastewater treatment, incineration, terminalling, service corridor to fire fighting. Among the services, water management achieves the complete cycle from wastewater treatment to effluent recycling.

Changes in Cleanup Strategies and Long-Term Monitoring Costs for DOE FUSRAP Sites-17241

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

Castillo, Darina; Carpenter, Cliff; Roberts, Rebecca

2017-03-05

LM is preparing for the transfer of 11 new FUSRAP sites within the next 10 years from USACE, many of which will have substantially greater LTSM requirements than the current Completed sites. LM is analyzing the estimates for the level of effort required to monitor the new sites in order to make more customized and accurate predictions of future life cycle costs and environmental liabilities of these sites.

High Acceleration, High Life Cycle, Reusable In-Space Main Engine: 2000-2004

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

This custom bibliography from the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program lists a sampling of records found in the NASA Aeronautics and Space Database. The scope of this topic includes technologies for the crew exploration vehicle. This area of focus is one of the enabling technologies as defined by NASA s Report of the President s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, published in June 2004.

78 FR 8159 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-05

... Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Customer Satisfaction instruments (OMB No. 0930-0197). CSAT is not seeking... under CSAT Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Customer Satisfaction form (OMB 0930- 0197...: Technical assistance events, meetings, and trainings. An ATTC technical assistance event is defined as a...

76 FR 22113 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Office of Infrastructure Protection; Infrastructure...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-20

... outcome indicators.'' Also, the Act defines customer service measure as ``an assessment of service... effectiveness and public accountability by promoting a new focus on results, service quality, and customer satisfaction; and (4) Help Federal managers improve service delivery, by requiring that they plan for meeting...

20 CFR 663.595 - What requirements apply to providers of OJT and customized training?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... and customized training? 663.595 Section 663.595 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER ACTIVITIES UNDER TITLE I OF THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT Eligible Training Providers § 663.595 What requirements apply to providers of OJT and...

20 CFR 663.715 - What is customized training?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false What is customized training? 663.715 Section 663.715 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER ACTIVITIES UNDER TITLE I OF THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT On-the-Job Training (OJT) and...

20 CFR 663.715 - What is customized training?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What is customized training? 663.715 Section 663.715 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER ACTIVITIES UNDER TITLE I OF THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT On-the-Job Training (OJT) and...

20 CFR 663.595 - What requirements apply to providers of OJT and customized training?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... and customized training? 663.595 Section 663.595 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER ACTIVITIES UNDER TITLE I OF THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT Eligible Training Providers § 663.595 What requirements apply to providers of OJT and...

75 FR 58416 - Statement of Organization, Functions and Delegations of Authority

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-24

..., customer service and system and analytical support. Chapter RU--Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service..., coordinates and evaluates Bureau-wide management activities; (3) maintains effective relationships within HRSA... including but not limited to the Bureau Web site, BCRS Call Center and customer service portal, and...

77 FR 49444 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection Renewal; Comment Request (3064-0152)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-16

...: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office... regarding identity theft with respect to their account holders and customers; (ii) regulations requiring... implementing the guidelines to identify possible risks to account holders or customers or to the safety and...

75 FR 2882 - Agency Information Collection Activities: New Information Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-19

... information collection for review; 287(g) Candidate questionnaire; OMB Control No. 1653-NEW. The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE), is submitting the following... Budget. Comments should be addressed to the OMB Desk Officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

"Check This out": Assessing Customer Service at the Circulation Desk

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Dallas

2012-01-01

The access services staff at Milner Library, Illinois State University, designed a customer service assessment to evaluate how effectively the department was carrying out its mission statement. Areas of assessment included the department's waiting times, helpfulness, and courtesy. The assessment activity focused on circulation services, which is…

19 CFR 201.1 - Applicability of part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Applicability of part. 201.1 Section 201.1 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION § 201.1 Applicability of part. This part relates generally to functions and activities of the Commission under various...

19 CFR 201.151 - Program accessibility: New construction and alterations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Program accessibility: New construction and alterations. 201.151 Section 201.151 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES... Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade Commission § 201.151 Program accessibility: New...

19 CFR 201.1 - Applicability of part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Applicability of part. 201.1 Section 201.1 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION § 201.1 Applicability of part. This part relates generally to functions and activities of the Commission under various...

19 CFR 201.1 - Applicability of part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Applicability of part. 201.1 Section 201.1 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION § 201.1 Applicability of part. This part relates generally to functions and activities of the Commission under various...

19 CFR 201.1 - Applicability of part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Applicability of part. 201.1 Section 201.1 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION § 201.1 Applicability of part. This part relates generally to functions and activities of the Commission under various...

19 CFR 201.151 - Program accessibility: New construction and alterations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Program accessibility: New construction and alterations. 201.151 Section 201.151 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES... Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade Commission § 201.151 Program accessibility: New...

19 CFR 201.151 - Program accessibility: New construction and alterations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Program accessibility: New construction and alterations. 201.151 Section 201.151 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES... Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade Commission § 201.151 Program accessibility: New...

19 CFR 201.151 - Program accessibility: New construction and alterations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Program accessibility: New construction and alterations. 201.151 Section 201.151 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES... Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade Commission § 201.151 Program accessibility: New...

19 CFR 201.1 - Applicability of part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Applicability of part. 201.1 Section 201.1 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION § 201.1 Applicability of part. This part relates generally to functions and activities of the Commission under various...

19 CFR 201.151 - Program accessibility: New construction and alterations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Program accessibility: New construction and alterations. 201.151 Section 201.151 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION GENERAL RULES... Activities Conducted by the U.S. International Trade Commission § 201.151 Program accessibility: New...

76 FR 82314 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Small Vessel Reporting System

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-30

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection... Security. ACTION: 30-Day notice and request for comments; Establishment of a new collection of information. SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of Homeland Security will be...

77 FR 13617 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Customs Modernization Act Recordkeeping Requirements

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-07

... collection techniques or the use of other forms of information technology; and (e) the annual cost burden to... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection... existing collection of information. SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and...

17 CFR 30.10 - Petitions for exemption.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... Commission's satisfaction that the exemption is not otherwise contrary to the public interest or to the..., office or division will refer any foreign futures or foreign options customer to the foreign person or... foreign option customers or otherwise engage in any activity subject to regulation under this part or...

77 FR 37735 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments for a New Information Collection

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-22

... p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael... from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Customer Satisfaction Surveys. Background: Executive Order 12862, ``Setting Customer Service Standards...

78 FR 16666 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-18

... perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be....) for review and reinstatement of the Form DOE-887, ``DOE Customer Surveys,'' OMB Control Number 1901...: 1901-0302. 2. Information Collection Request Title: DOE-887, ``DOE Customer Survey''. 3. Type of...

78 FR 23280 - Agency Information Collection Activities: United States-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection... Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: 60-Day Notice and request for comments; Extension... assured of consideration. ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to U.S. Customs and Border Protection...

25 CFR 141.19 - Check cashing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... cashing a draft, check or money order. (b) A reservation business owner or employee may advise a customer... or any other obligation the customer owes to the business, but in no event may the owner or employee... INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES BUSINESS PRACTICES ON THE NAVAJO, HOPI...

78 FR 22332 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection, Comments Requested; Notice of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-15

... to Customer Service Satisfaction ACTION: 60-day Notice. SUMMARY: The Department of Justice, Federal.... Overview of this Information Collection (1) Type of information collection: Customer satisfaction ratings... Satisfaction Survey (3) There is no agency form number applicable to this survey. (4) The survey will be...

78 FR 39341 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection, Comments Requested: Notice of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-01

... to Customer Service Satisfaction ACTION: 30-day Notice. The Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of... this information collection: (1) Type of information collection: Customer satisfaction ratings... Satisfaction Survey. (3) There is no agency form number applicable to this survey. (4) The survey will be...

78 FR 2416 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Application To Establish a Centralized Examination Station

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-11

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection... Protection, Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for comments; Extension of an...: Direct all written comments to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Attn: Tracey Denning, Office of...

78 FR 16520 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Application To Establish a Centralized Examination Station

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-15

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection... Protection, Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: 30-Day notice and request for comments; Extension of an existing information collection: 1651-0061. SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the...

77 FR 26776 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of Persons Who Performed Repairs or...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-07

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection... Protection, Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: 30-Day notice and request for comments; Extension of an existing information collection. SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of...

The power of cross-functional teams in driving total quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McClung, Tim M.; McMaster, Tom J.

Garrett Canada, a Division of Allied-Signal Aerospace Canada, has been a member of the Canadian aerospace industry for 40 years. Although Garrett Canada has always been a profitable division with a solid market share, the changing and turbulent business environment and globalization of the aerospace industry has created new demands and challenges. The marketplace is demanding faster introduction of new products, as well as shorter leadtimes for repairs and spares. It was recognized that reducing cycle times for new products and for ongoing production would not only satisfy our customers, it would also enhance our business performance through reduced inventories, lower past due, and more responsiveness to change. It was evident that drastic function changes were required if we were to maintain our position as a premier aerospace supplier. The challenge was to convert a stable, somewhat slow-paced work environment with strong functional boundaries into a boundaryless world class team functioning in a total quality environment and focused on customer satisfaction. Complete and uncompromised customer satisfaction has become our driving force, with Total Quality being our engine to continuously improve our processes and increase our speed. The way in which this transition has been brought about is the subject of this presentation.

Total quality management: It works for aerospace information services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erwin, James; Eberline, Carl; Colquitt, Wanda

1993-01-01

Today we are in the midst of information and 'total quality' revolutions. At the NASA STI Program's Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI), we are focused on using continuous improvements techniques to enrich today's services and products and to ensure that tomorrow's technology supports the TQM-based improvement of future STI program products and services. The Continuous Improvements Program at CASI is the foundation for Total Quality Management in products and services. The focus is customer-driven; its goal, to identify processes and procedures that can be improved and new technologies that can be integrated with the processes to gain efficiencies, provide effectiveness, and promote customer satisfaction. This Program seeks to establish quality through an iterative defect prevention approach that is based on the incorporation of standards and measurements into the processing cycle. Four projects are described that utilize cross-functional, problem-solving teams for identifying requirements and defining tasks and task standards, management participation, attention to critical processes, and measurable long-term goals. The implementation of these projects provides the customer with measurably improved access to information that is provided through several channels: the NASA STI Database, document requests for microfiche and hardcopy, and the Centralized Help Desk.

The power of cross-functional teams in driving total quality

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcclung, Tim M.; Mcmaster, Tom J.

1992-01-01

Garrett Canada, a Division of Allied-Signal Aerospace Canada, has been a member of the Canadian aerospace industry for 40 years. Although Garrett Canada has always been a profitable division with a solid market share, the changing and turbulent business environment and globalization of the aerospace industry has created new demands and challenges. The marketplace is demanding faster introduction of new products, as well as shorter leadtimes for repairs and spares. It was recognized that reducing cycle times for new products and for ongoing production would not only satisfy our customers, it would also enhance our business performance through reduced inventories, lower past due, and more responsiveness to change. It was evident that drastic function changes were required if we were to maintain our position as a premier aerospace supplier. The challenge was to convert a stable, somewhat slow-paced work environment with strong functional boundaries into a boundaryless world class team functioning in a total quality environment and focused on customer satisfaction. Complete and uncompromised customer satisfaction has become our driving force, with Total Quality being our engine to continuously improve our processes and increase our speed. The way in which this transition has been brought about is the subject of this presentation.

Integrated Component-based Data Acquisition Systems for Aerospace Test Facilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ross, Richard W.

2001-01-01

The Multi-Instrument Integrated Data Acquisition System (MIIDAS), developed by the NASA Langley Research Center, uses commercial off the shelf (COTS) products, integrated with custom software, to provide a broad range of capabilities at a low cost throughout the system s entire life cycle. MIIDAS combines data acquisition capabilities with online and post-test data reduction computations. COTS products lower purchase and maintenance costs by reducing the level of effort required to meet system requirements. Object-oriented methods are used to enhance modularity, encourage reusability, and to promote adaptability, reducing software development costs. Using only COTS products and custom software supported on multiple platforms reduces the cost of porting the system to other platforms. The post-test data reduction capabilities of MIIDAS have been installed at four aerospace testing facilities at NASA Langley Research Center. The systems installed at these facilities provide a common user interface, reducing the training time required for personnel that work across multiple facilities. The techniques employed by MIIDAS enable NASA to build a system with a lower initial purchase price and reduced sustaining maintenance costs. With MIIDAS, NASA has built a highly flexible next generation data acquisition and reduction system for aerospace test facilities that meets customer expectations.

How to survive climate change and still run a thriving business.

PubMed

Lowitt, Eric

2014-04-01

Climate change presents clear and pressing threats to business--materials and product shortages, price volatility, legal bans or consumer backlash, and damaged transportation infrastructure, to name just a few. But there are opportunities as well. Lowitt, a consultant in the sustainability field, has developed a series of detailed checklists that will help smart managers reduce operational, regulatory, and reputational risk while finding new ways to cut costs, improve performance, enhance customer relationships, and otherwise increase competitiveness. The checklist recommendations, tested and refined through Lowitt's research into and work with firms including Coca-Cola, GE, and Owens Corning, cover four broad areas in the product life cycle: sourcing, manufacturing, distribution, and consumption. Actions range from educating and incentivizing employees to use climate change-conscious behavior to measuring and reporting key metrics to determining when alternative materials, methods, sites, or contract partners may be called for. Like any such tool, the checklists don't provide a one-size-fits-all plan. Rather, they equip executives to customize their strategies according to factors such as their goods and services, risk tolerance, customer needs, and reliance on third parties throughout the value chain.

Is your company ready for one-to-one marketing?

PubMed

Peppers, D; Rogers, M; Dorf, B

1999-01-01

One-to-one marketing, also known as relationship marketing, promises to increase the value of your customer base by establishing a learning relationship with each customer. The customer tells you of some need, and you customize your product or service to meet it. Every interaction and modification improves your ability to fit your product to the particular customer. Eventually, even if a competitor offers the same type of service, your customer won't be able to enjoy the same level of convenience without taking the time to teach your competitor the lessons your company has already learned. Although the theory behind one-to-one marketing is simple, implementation is complex. Too many companies have jumped on the one-to-one band-wagon without proper preparation--mistakenly understanding it as an excuse to badger customers with excessive telemarketing and direct mail campaigns. The authors offer practical advice for implementing a one-to-one marketing program correctly. They describe four key steps: identifying your customers, differentiating among them, interacting with them, and customizing your product or service to meet each customer's needs. And they provide activities and exercises, to be administered to employees and customers, that will help you identify your company's readiness to launch a one-to-one initiative. Although some managers dismiss the possibility of one-to-one marketing as an unattainable goal, even a modest program can produce substantial benefits. This tool kit will help you determine what type of program your company can implement now, what you need to do to position your company for a large-scale initiative, and how to set priorities.

Status of Cycle 23 Forecasts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hathaway, D. H.

2000-01-01

A number of techniques for predicting solar activity on a solar cycle time scale are identified, described, and tested with historical data. Some techniques, e.g,, regression and curve-fitting, work well as solar activity approaches maximum and provide a month- by-month description of future activity, while others, e.g., geomagnetic precursors, work well near solar minimum but provide an estimate only of the amplitude of the cycle. A synthesis of different techniques is shown to provide a more accurate and useful forecast of solar cycle activity levels. A combination of two uncorrelated geomagnetic precursor techniques provides the most accurate prediction for the amplitude of a solar activity cycle at a time well before activity minimum. This precursor method gave a smoothed sunspot number maximum of 154+21 for cycle 23. A mathematical function dependent upon the time of cycle initiation and the cycle amplitude then describes the level of solar activity for the complete cycle. As the time of cycle maximum approaches a better estimate of the cycle activity is obtained by including the fit between recent activity levels and this function. This Combined Solar Cycle Activity Forecast now gives a smoothed sunspot maximum of 140+20 for cycle 23. The success of the geomagnetic precursors in predicting future solar activity suggests that solar magnetic phenomena at latitudes above the sunspot activity belts are linked to solar activity, which occurs many years later in the lower latitudes.

Focusing on customer service.

PubMed

1996-01-01

This booklet is devoted to a consideration of how good customer service in family planning programs can generate demand for products and services, bring customers back, and reduce costs. Customer service is defined as increasing client satisfaction through continuous concern for client preferences, staff accountability to clients, and respect for the rights of clients. Issues discussed include the introduction of a customer service approach and gaining staff commitment. The experience of PROSALUD in Bolivia in recruiting appropriate staff, supervising staff, soliciting client feedback, and marketing services is offered as an example of a successful customer service approach. The key customer service functions are described as 1) establishing a welcoming atmosphere, 2) streamlining client flow, 3) personalizing client services, and 4) organizing and providing clear information to clients. The role of the manager in developing procedures is explored, and the COPE (Client-Oriented Provider-Efficient) process is presented as a good way to begin to make improvements. Techniques in staff training in customer service include brainstorming, role playing, using case studies (examples of which are provided), and engaging in practice sessions. Training also leads to the development of effective customer service attitudes, and the differences between these and organizational/staff-focused attitudes are illustrated in a chart. The use of communication skills (asking open-ended questions, helping clients express their concerns, engaging in active listening, and handling difficult situations) is considered. Good recovery skills are important when things go wrong. Gathering and using client feedback is the next topic considered. This involves identifying, recording, and discussing customer service issues as well as taking action on these issues and evaluating the results. The booklet ends by providing a sample of customer service indicators, considering the maintenance of a customer service focus, and reporting comments from the reviewers of the booklet.

Note: Fully integrated active quenching circuit achieving 100 MHz count rate with custom technology single photon avalanche diodes.

PubMed

Acconcia, G; Labanca, I; Rech, I; Gulinatti, A; Ghioni, M

2017-02-01

The minimization of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) dead time is a key factor to speed up photon counting and timing measurements. We present a fully integrated Active Quenching Circuit (AQC) able to provide a count rate as high as 100 MHz with custom technology SPAD detectors. The AQC can also operate the new red enhanced SPAD and provide the timing information with a timing jitter Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) as low as 160 ps.

Optimal design of microtube recuperators for an indirect supercritical carbon dioxide recompression closed Brayton cycle

DOE PAGES

Jiang, Yuan; Liese, Eric; Zitney, Stephen E.; ...

2018-02-25

This paper presents a baseline design and optimization approach developed in Aspen Custom Modeler (ACM) for microtube shell-and-tube exchangers (MSTEs) used for high- and low-temperature recuperation in a 10 MWe indirect supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2) recompression closed Brayton cycle (RCBC). The MSTE-type recuperators are designed using one-dimensional models with thermal-hydraulic correlations appropriate for sCO 2 and properties models that capture considerable nonlinear changes in CO 2 properties near the critical and pseudo-critical points. Using the successive quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm in ACM, optimal recuperator designs are obtained for either custom or industry-standard microtubes considering constraints based on current advancedmore » manufacturing techniques. The three decision variables are the number of tubes, tube pitch-to-diameter ratio, and tube diameter. Five different objective functions based on different key design measures are considered: minimization of total heat transfer area, heat exchanger volume, metal weight, thermal residence time, and maximization of compactness. Sensitivities studies indicate the constraint on the maximum number of tubes per shell does affect the number of parallel heat exchanger trains but not the tube selection, total number of tubes, tube length and other key design measures in the final optimal design when considering industry-standard tubes. In this study, the optimally designed high- and low-temperature recuperators have 47,000 3/32 inch tubes and 63,000 1/16 inch tubes, respectively. In addition, sensitivities to the design temperature approach and maximum allowable pressure drop are studied, since these specifications significantly impact the optimal design of the recuperators as well as the thermal efficiency and the economic performance of the entire sCO 2 Brayton cycle.« less

Optimal design of microtube recuperators for an indirect supercritical carbon dioxide recompression closed Brayton cycle

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

Jiang, Yuan; Liese, Eric; Zitney, Stephen E.

This paper presents a baseline design and optimization approach developed in Aspen Custom Modeler (ACM) for microtube shell-and-tube exchangers (MSTEs) used for high- and low-temperature recuperation in a 10 MWe indirect supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2) recompression closed Brayton cycle (RCBC). The MSTE-type recuperators are designed using one-dimensional models with thermal-hydraulic correlations appropriate for sCO 2 and properties models that capture considerable nonlinear changes in CO 2 properties near the critical and pseudo-critical points. Using the successive quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm in ACM, optimal recuperator designs are obtained for either custom or industry-standard microtubes considering constraints based on current advancedmore » manufacturing techniques. The three decision variables are the number of tubes, tube pitch-to-diameter ratio, and tube diameter. Five different objective functions based on different key design measures are considered: minimization of total heat transfer area, heat exchanger volume, metal weight, thermal residence time, and maximization of compactness. Sensitivities studies indicate the constraint on the maximum number of tubes per shell does affect the number of parallel heat exchanger trains but not the tube selection, total number of tubes, tube length and other key design measures in the final optimal design when considering industry-standard tubes. In this study, the optimally designed high- and low-temperature recuperators have 47,000 3/32 inch tubes and 63,000 1/16 inch tubes, respectively. In addition, sensitivities to the design temperature approach and maximum allowable pressure drop are studied, since these specifications significantly impact the optimal design of the recuperators as well as the thermal efficiency and the economic performance of the entire sCO 2 Brayton cycle.« less

Life Cycle Analysis of Dedicated Nano-Launch Technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zapata, Edgar; McCleskey, Carey (Editor); Martin, John; Lepsch, Roger; Ternani, Tosoc

2014-01-01

Recent technology advancements have enabled the development of small cheap satellites that can perform useful functions in the space environment. Currently, the only low cost option for getting these payloads into orbit is through ride share programs - small satellites awaiting the launch of a larger satellite, and then riding along on the same launcher. As a result, these small satellite customers await primary payload launches and a backlog exists. An alternative option would be dedicated nano-launch systems built and operated to provide more flexible launch services, higher availability, and affordable prices. The potential customer base that would drive requirements or support a business case includes commercial, academia, civil government and defense. Further, NASA technology investments could enable these alternative game changing options. With this context, in 2013 the Game Changing Development (GCD) program funded a NASA team to investigate the feasibility of dedicated nano-satellite launch systems with a recurring cost of less than $2 million per launch for a 5 kg payload to low Earth orbit. The team products would include potential concepts, technologies and factors for enabling the ambitious cost goal, exploring the nature of the goal itself, and informing the GCD program technology investment decision making process. This paper provides an overview of the life cycle analysis effort that was conducted in 2013 by an inter-center NASA team. This effort included the development of reference nano-launch system concepts, developing analysis processes and models, establishing a basis for cost estimates (development, manufacturing and launch) suitable to the scale of the systems, and especially, understanding the relationship of potential game changing technologies to life cycle costs, as well as other factors, such as flights per year.

Life cycle assessment of post-consumer plastics production from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) treatment residues in a Central European plastics recycling plant.

PubMed

Wäger, Patrick A; Hischier, Roland

2015-10-01

Plastics play an increasingly important role in reaching the recovery and recycling rates defined in the European WEEE Directive. In a recent study we have determined the life cycle environmental impacts of post-consumer plastics production from mixed, plastics-rich WEEE treatment residues in the Central European plant of a market-leading plastics recycler, both from the perspective of the customers delivering the residues and the customers buying the obtained post-consumer recycled plastics. The results of our life cycle assessments, which were extensively tested with sensitivity analyses, show that from both perspectives plastics recycling is clearly superior to the alternatives considered in this study (i.e. municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) and virgin plastics production). For the three ReCiPe endpoint damage categories, incineration in an MSWI plant results in an impact exceeding that of the examined plastics recycling facility each by about a factor of 4, and the production of virgin plastics has an impact exceeding that of the post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics production each by a factor of 6-10. On a midpoint indicator level the picture is more differentiated, showing that the environmental impacts of the recycling options are lower by 50% and more for almost all impact factors. While this provides the necessary evidence for the environmental benefits of plastics recycling compared to existing alternatives, it can, however, not be taken as conclusive evidence. To be conclusive, future research will have to address the fate of hazardous substances in the outputs of such recycling systems in more detail. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Utilizing Lean Six Sigma Methodology to Improve the Authored Works Command Approval Process at Naval Medical Center San Diego.

PubMed

Valdez, Michelle M; Liwanag, Maureen; Mount, Charles; Rodriguez, Rechell; Avalos-Reyes, Elisea; Smith, Andrew; Collette, David; Starsiak, Michael; Green, Richard

2018-03-14

Inefficiencies in the command approval process for publications and/or presentations negatively impact DoD Graduate Medical Education (GME) residency programs' ability to meet ACGME scholarly activity requirements. A preliminary review of the authored works approval process at Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) disclosed significant inefficiency, variation in process, and a low level of customer satisfaction. In order to facilitate and encourage scholarly activity at NMCSD, and meet ACGME requirements, the Executive Steering Council (ESC) chartered an interprofessional team to lead a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Rapid Improvement Event (RIE) project. Two major outcome metrics were identified: (1) the number of authored works submissions containing all required signatures and (2) customer satisfaction with the authored works process. Primary metric baseline data were gathered utilizing a Clinical Investigations database tracking publications and presentations. Secondary metric baseline data were collected via a customer satisfaction survey to GME faculty and residents. The project team analyzed pre-survey data and utilized LSS tools and methodology including a "gemba" (environment) walk, cause and effect diagram, critical to quality tree, voice of the customer, "muda" (waste) chart, and a pre- and post-event value stream map. The team selected an electronic submission system as the intervention most likely to positively impact the RIE project outcome measures. The number of authored works compliant with all required signatures improved from 52% to 100%. Customer satisfaction rated as "completely or mostly satisfied" improved from 24% to 97%. For both outcomes, signature compliance and customer satisfaction, statistical significance was achieved with a p < 0.0001. This RIE project utilized LSS methodology and tools to improve signature compliance and increase customer satisfaction with the authored works approval process, leading to 100% signature compliance, a comprehensive longitudinal repository of all authored work requests, and a 97% "completely or mostly satisfied" customer rating of the process.

Life Prediction of Large Lithium-Ion Battery Packs with Active and Passive Balancing

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

Shi, Ying; Smith, Kandler A; Zane, Regan

Lithium-ion battery packs take a major part of large-scale stationary energy storage systems. One challenge in reducing battery pack cost is to reduce pack size without compromising pack service performance and lifespan. Prognostic life model can be a powerful tool to handle the state of health (SOH) estimate and enable active life balancing strategy to reduce cell imbalance and extend pack life. This work proposed a life model using both empirical and physical-based approaches. The life model described the compounding effect of different degradations on the entire cell with an empirical model. Then its lower-level submodels considered the complex physicalmore » links between testing statistics (state of charge level, C-rate level, duty cycles, etc.) and the degradation reaction rates with respect to specific aging mechanisms. The hybrid approach made the life model generic, robust and stable regardless of battery chemistry and application usage. The model was validated with a custom pack with both passive and active balancing systems implemented, which created four different aging paths in the pack. The life model successfully captured the aging trajectories of all four paths. The life model prediction errors on capacity fade and resistance growth were within +/-3% and +/-5% of the experiment measurements.« less

The Research-to-Operations-to-Research Cycle at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singer, H. J.

2017-12-01

The provision of actionable space weather products and services by NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center relies on observations, models and scientific understanding of our dynamic space environment. It also depends on a deep understanding of the systems and capabilities that are vulnerable to space weather, as well as national and international partnerships that bring together resources, skills and applications to support space weather forecasters and customers. While these activities have been evolving over many years, in October 2015, with the release of the National Space Weather Strategy and National Space Weather Action Plan (NSWAP) by National Science and Technology Council in the Executive Office of the President, there is a new coordinated focus on ensuring the Nation is prepared to respond to and recover from severe space weather storms. One activity highlighted in the NSWAP is the Operations to Research (O2R) and Research to Operations (R2O) process. In this presentation we will focus on current R2O and O2R activities that advance our ability to serve those affected by space weather and give a vision for future programs. We will also provide examples of recent research results that lead to improved operational capabilities, lessons learned in the transition of research to operations, and challenges for both the science and operations communities.

Who walks into vape shops in Southern California?: a naturalistic observation of customers.

PubMed

Sussman, Steve; Allem, Jon-Patrick; Garcia, Jocelyn; Unger, Jennifer B; Cruz, Tess Boley; Garcia, Robert; Baezconde-Garbanati, Lourdes

2016-01-01

The rising popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has been accompanied by the proliferation of vape shops in the United States. Vape shops are devoted to the sale of e-cigarettes and e-juices. This study aimed to describe the age, gender, and ethnicity of customers who frequent these shops, determine whether conversations transpire between retailers and customers, as well as identify the types of activities taking place while customers are inside the store. A naturalistic observation study of 186 customers in 59 vape shops in Southern California was completed in locations that were relatively high in Korean, Non-Hispanic white, Hispanic, or African American ethnicity. Across all shops, the average estimated age of customers was 30.29 years old (SD = 9.70), 53 % were estimated to be non-Hispanic white, and 79 % were males; few minors entered the shops. Conversations about vaping related topics were prevalent (e.g., sampling e-juices, receiving help on hardware, and talking about vaping). Purchases were commonly observed as well as customers lounging in the shop. Vape shops provide consumers a place to purchase and discuss e-cigarettes and offer an environment that serves as a place of recreation with customers lounging once inside. Findings should inform local tobacco control efforts and regulatory policies in the future.

Customized binary and multi-level HfO2-x-based memristors tuned by oxidation conditions.

PubMed

He, Weifan; Sun, Huajun; Zhou, Yaxiong; Lu, Ke; Xue, Kanhao; Miao, Xiangshui

2017-08-30

The memristor is a promising candidate for the next generation non-volatile memory, especially based on HfO 2-x , given its compatibility with advanced CMOS technologies. Although various resistive transitions were reported independently, customized binary and multi-level memristors in unified HfO 2-x material have not been studied. Here we report Pt/HfO 2-x /Ti memristors with double memristive modes, forming-free and low operation voltage, which were tuned by oxidation conditions of HfO 2-x films. As O/Hf ratios of HfO 2-x films increase, the forming voltages, SET voltages, and R off /R on windows increase regularly while their resistive transitions undergo from gradually to sharply in I/V sweep. Two memristors with typical resistive transitions were studied to customize binary and multi-level memristive modes, respectively. For binary mode, high-speed switching with 10 3 pulses (10 ns) and retention test at 85 °C (>10 4 s) were achieved. For multi-level mode, the 12-levels stable resistance states were confirmed by ongoing multi-window switching (ranging from 10 ns to 1 μs and completing 10 cycles of each pulse). Our customized binary and multi-level HfO 2-x -based memristors show high-speed switching, multi-level storage and excellent stability, which can be separately applied to logic computing and neuromorphic computing, further suitable for in-memory computing chip when deposition atmosphere may be fine-tuned.

The Effect of Cycling Intensity on Cycling Economy During Seated and Standing Cycling.

PubMed

Arkesteijn, Marco; Jobson, Simon; Hopker, James; Passfield, Louis

2016-10-01

Previous research has shown that cycling in a standing position reduces cycling economy compared with seated cycling. It is unknown whether the cycling intensity moderates the reduction in cycling economy while standing. The aim was to determine whether the negative effect of standing on cycling economy would be decreased at a higher intensity. Ten cyclists cycled in 8 different conditions. Each condition was either at an intensity of 50% or 70% of maximal aerobic power at a gradient of 4% or 8% and in the seated or standing cycling position. Cycling economy and muscle activation level of 8 leg muscles were recorded. There was an interaction between cycling intensity and position for cycling economy (P = .03), the overall activation of the leg muscles (P = .02), and the activation of the lower leg muscles (P = .05). The interaction showed decreased cycling economy when standing compared with seated cycling, but the difference was reduced at higher intensity. The overall activation of the leg muscles and the lower leg muscles, respectively, increased and decreased, but the differences between standing and seated cycling were reduced at higher intensity. Cycling economy was lower during standing cycling than seated cycling, but the difference in economy diminishes when cycling intensity increases. Activation of the lower leg muscles did not explain the lower cycling economy while standing. The increased overall activation, therefore, suggests that increased activation of the upper leg muscles explains part of the lower cycling economy while standing.

Custom-Made Total Talonavicular Replacement in a Professional Rock Climber.

PubMed

Giannini, Sandro; Cadossi, Matteo; Mazzotti, Antonio; Ramponi, Laura; Belvedere, Claudio; Leardini, Alberto

Professional athletes are often eager to resume sporting activities at preinjury levels. When facing the challenge of restoring joint function after a complex articular fracture, innovative solutions must be explored. We describe the results of what we believe to be the first custom-made talonavicular prosthesis implanted in a professional rock climber who had developed post-traumatic ankle and talonavicular arthritis as sequelae of a complex talar and navicular fracture. Using computed tomography scan reconstruction of the contralateral healthy ankle and direct metal laser sintering, a custom-made talonavicular prosthesis was obtained and implanted using an anteromedial approach. The patient was clinically and radiographically evaluated every 6 months after surgery for 30 months. A 3-dimensional videofluoroscopic analysis was performed to assess the range of motion about the prosthesis. At the last follow-up visit, the functional scores were excellent (Tegner activity scale score of 9 of 10), and he had completely resumed his sporting activity. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society score had increased from 36 to 81 points, and no signs of radiolucency were observed on the radiographs. The 3-dimensional videofluoroscopic analysis showed 15° of dorsiflexion and 4° of plantar flexion at the ankle. A customized solution is an option when the patient's expectations are not likely to be met by standard treatment, such as arthrodesis. A custom-made talonavicular prosthesis can be an effective solution for complex ankle injury sequelae in patients demanding high functionality. Copyright © 2015 American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Apparatus and Method for Low-Temperature Training of Shape Memory Alloys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swanger, A. M.; Fesmire, J. E.; Trigwell, S.; Gibson, T. L.; Williams, M. K.; Benafan, O.

2015-01-01

An apparatus and method for the low-temperature thermo-mechanical training of shape memory alloys (SMA) has been developed. The experimental SMA materials are being evaluated as prototypes for applicability in novel thermal management systems for future cryogenic applications. Alloys providing two-way actuation at cryogenic temperatures are the chief target. The mechanical training regimen was focused on the controlled movement of rectangular strips, with S-bend configurations, at temperatures as low as 30 K. The custom holding fixture included temperature sensors and a low heat-leak linear actuator with a magnetic coupling. The fixture was mounted to a Gifford-McMahon cryocooler providing up to 25 W of cooling power at 20 K and housed within a custom vacuum chamber. Operations included both training cycles and verification of shape memory movement. The system design and operation are discussed. Results of the training for select prototype alloys are presented.

Comparative study of manufacturing condyle implant using rapid prototyping and CNC machining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bojanampati, S.; Karthikeyan, R.; Islam, MD; Venugopal, S.

2018-04-01

Injuries to the cranio-maxillofacial area caused by road traffic accidents (RTAs), fall from heights, birth defects, metabolic disorders and tumors affect a rising number of patients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and require maxillofacial surgery. Mandibular reconstruction poses a specific challenge in both functionality and aesthetics, and involves replacement of the damaged bone by a custom made implant. Due to material, design cycle time and manufacturing process time, such implants are in many instances not affordable to patients. In this paper, the feasibility of designing and manufacturing low-cost, custom made condyle implant is assessed using two different approaches, consisting of rapid prototyping and three-axis computer numerically controlled (CNC) machining. Two candidate rapid prototyping techniques are considered, namely fused deposition modeling (FDM) and three-dimensional printing followed by sand casting The feasibility of the proposed manufacturing processes is evaluated based on manufacturing time, cost, quality, and reliability.

Association of western diet & lifestyle with decreased fertility

PubMed Central

Nazni, P.

2014-01-01

It has been accepted that food customs are closely associated with the quality of life in both men and women's reproductive life. Food customs are speculated to not only influence the present lifestyle but also to induce gynaecological disorders such as dysmenorrhoea, spermatogenesis and irregular menstruation. Though there is no consistent definition of regular or normal menstruation, epidemiologic evaluation of menstrual cycle has been becoming an important issue. In addition, latent development of organic diseases such as endometriosis, which are accompanied by dysmenorrhoea, is a concern under the current nutritional environment. Thus, it is an important issue to evaluate the present situation of eating habits in couples and estimate the influence of these habits on the quality of reproductive functions. A multi-faceted therapeutic approach to improving fertility involves identifying harmful environmental and occupational risk factors, while correcting underlying nutritional imbalances to encourage optimal reproduction and its function. PMID:25673548

Cost and Business Analysis Module (CABAM). Revision A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Michael Hosung

1997-01-01

In the recent couple of decades, due to international competition, the US launchers lost a considerable amount of market share in the international space launch industry'. Increased international competition has continuously affected the US dominance to eventually place great pressure on future US space launch programs. To compete for future payload and passenger delivery markets, new launch vehicles must first be capable of reliably reaching a number of desired orbital destinations with customer-desired payload capacities. However, the ultimate success of a new launch vehicle program will depend on the launch price it is capable of offering it's customers. Extremely aggressive pricing strategies will be required for a new domestic launch service to compete with low-price international launchers. Low launch prices, then, naturally require a tight budget for the launch program economy. Therefore, budget constraints established by low-pricing requirements eventually place pressure on new launch vehicles to have unprecedentedly low Life Cycle Costs (LCC's).

Predicting Innovation Acceptance by Simulation in Virtual Environments (Theoretical Foundations)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

León, Noel; Duran, Roberto; Aguayo, Humberto; Flores, Myrna

This paper extends the current development of a methodology for Computer Aided Innovation. It begins with a presentation of concepts related to the perceived capabilities of virtual environments in the Innovation Cycle. The main premise establishes that it is possible to predict the acceptance of a new product in a specific market, by releasing an early prototype in a virtual scenario to quantify its general reception and to receive early feedback from potential customers. The paper continues to focus this research on a synergistic extension of techniques that have their origins in optimization and innovation disciplines. TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving), extends the generation of variants with Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) and finally to present the designer and the intended customer, creative and innovative alternatives. All of this developed on a virtual software interface (Virtual World). The work continues with a general description of the project as a step forward to improve the overall strategy.

A mathematical formulation for interface-based modular product design with geometric and weight constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung-Woon Yoo, John

2016-06-01

Since customer preferences change rapidly, there is a need for design processes with shorter product development cycles. Modularization plays a key role in achieving mass customization, which is crucial in today's competitive global market environments. Standardized interfaces among modularized parts have facilitated computational product design. To incorporate product size and weight constraints during computational design procedures, a mixed integer programming formulation is presented in this article. Product size and weight are two of the most important design parameters, as evidenced by recent smart-phone products. This article focuses on the integration of geometric, weight and interface constraints into the proposed mathematical formulation. The formulation generates the optimal selection of components for a target product, which satisfies geometric, weight and interface constraints. The formulation is verified through a case study and experiments are performed to demonstrate the performance of the formulation.

Voluntary Tools Of The Environmental Oriented Product Policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rusko, Miroslav

2015-06-01

Environmentally oriented product policy is in general determined by the relationships between its aims - subjects - objects - tools. It is based on the integrated approach to the product life cycle, which anticipates an enormous amount of information. It has to solve the questions of the international trade as well as the rules of the International Trade Organization. New forms of preventive environmental strategies and especially Green Marketing are being introduced helping to solve environmental problems and environmental motivation of producers. Many producers face great attention of the public regarding their approach to the environment. Despite the fact that the customers buy products fairly prudently and their behaviour is markedly affected by prices, a particular part of the population prefers the products that do not burden the environment. This brings about a situation, in which the producers within their mutual competition and in relation to customers are enforced to behave responsibly.

Improvement of the System of Training of Specialists by University for Coal Mining Enterprises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mikhalchenko, Vadim; Seredkina, Irina

2017-11-01

In the article the ingenious technique of the Quality Function Deployment with reference to the process of training of specialists with higher education by university is considered. The method is based on the step-by-step conversion of customer requirements into specific organizational, meaningful and functional transformations of the technological process of the university. A fully deployed quality function includes four stages of tracking customer requirements while creating a product: product planning and design, process design, production design. The Quality Function Deployment can be considered as one of the methods for optimizing the technological processes of training of specialists with higher education in the current economic conditions. Implemented at the initial stages of the life cycle of the technological process, it ensures not only the high quality of the "product" of graduate school, but also the fullest possible satisfaction of consumer's requests and expectations.

Apparatus and method for low-temperature training of shape memory alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swanger, A. M.; Fesmire, J. E.; Trigwell, S.; Gibson, T. L.; Williams, M. K.; Benafan, O.

2015-12-01

An apparatus and method for the low-temperature thermo-mechanical training of shape memory alloys (SMA) has been developed. The experimental SMA materials are being evaluated as prototypes for applicability in novel thermal management systems for future cryogenic applications. Alloys providing two-way actuation at cryogenic temperatures are the chief target. The mechanical training regimen was focused on the controlled movement of rectangular strips, with S-bend configurations, at temperatures as low as 30 K. The custom holding fixture included temperature sensors and a low heat-leak linear actuator with a magnetic coupling. The fixture was mounted to a Gifford-McMahon cryocooler providing up to 25 W of cooling power at 20 K and housed within a custom vacuum chamber. Operations included both training cycles and verification of shape memory movement. The system design and operation are discussed. Results of the training for select prototype alloys are presented.

The Potential of RFID Technology in the Textile and Clothing Industry: Opportunities, Requirements and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Legnani, Elena; Cavalieri, Sergio; Pinto, Roberto; Dotti, Stefano

In the current competitive environment, companies need to extensively exploit the use of advanced technologies in order to develop a sustainable advantage, enhance their operational efficiency and better serve customers. In this context, RFID technology has emerged as a valid support for the company progress and its value is becoming more and more apparent. In particular, the textile and clothing industry, characterised by short life-cycles , quick response production , fast distribution, erratic customer preferences and impulsive purchasing, is one of the sectors which can extensively benefit from the RFID technology. However, actual applications are still very limited, especially in the upstream side of the supply network. This chapter provides an insight into the main benefits and potentials of this technology and highlights the main issues which are currently inhibiting its large scale development in the textile and clothing industry. The experience of two industry-academia projects and the relative fallouts are reported.

EGSE customization for the Euclid NISP Instrument AIV/AIT activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franceschi, E.; Trifoglio, M.; Gianotti, F.; Conforti, V.; Andersen, J. J.; Stephen, J. B.; Valenziano, L.; Auricchio, N.; Bulgarelli, A.; De Rosa, A.; Fioretti, V.; Maiorano, E.; Morgante, G.; Nicastro, L.; Sortino, F.; Zoli, A.; Balestra, A.; Bonino, D.; Bonoli, C.; Bortoletto, F.; Capobianco, V.; Corcione, L.; Dal Corso, F.; Debei, S.; Di Ferdinando, D.; Dusini, S.; Farinelli, R.; Fornari, F.; Giacomini, F.; Guizzo, G. P.; Laudisio, F.; Ligori, S.; Mauri, N.; Medinaceli, E.; Patrizii, L.; Sirignano, C.; Sirri, G.; Stanco, L.; Tenti, M.; Valieri, C.; Ventura, S.

2016-07-01

The Near Infrared Spectro-Photometer (NISP) on board the Euclid ESA mission will be developed and tested at various levels of integration by using various test equipment. The Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) shall be required to support the assembly, integration, verification and testing (AIV/AIT) and calibration activities at instrument level before delivery to ESA, and at satellite level, when the NISP instrument is mounted on the spacecraft. In the case of the Euclid mission this EGSE will be provided by ESA to NISP team, in the HW/SW framework called "CCS Lite", with a possible first usage already during the Warm Electronics (WE) AIV/AIT activities. In this paper we discuss how we will customize that "CCS Lite" as required to support both the WE and Instrument test activities. This customization will primarily involve building the NISP Mission Information Base (the CCS MIB tables) by gathering the relevant data from the instrument sub-units and validating these inputs through specific tools. Secondarily, it will imply developing a suitable set of test sequences, by using uTOPE (an extension to the TCL scripting language, included in the CCS framework), in order to implement the foreseen test procedures. In addition and in parallel, custom interfaces shall be set up between the CCS and the NI-IWS (the NISP Instrument Workstation, which will be in use at any level starting from the WE activities), and also between the CCS and the TCC (the Telescope Control and command Computer, to be only and specifically used during the instrument level tests).

Analog Exercise Hardware to Implement a High Intensity Exercise Program During Bed Rest

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loerch, Linda; Newby, Nate; Ploutz-Snyder, Lori

2012-01-01

Background: In order to evaluate novel countermeasure protocols in a space flight analog prior to validation on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) is sponsoring a multi-investigator bedrest campaign that utilizes a combination of commercial and custom-made exercise training hardware to conduct daily resistive and aerobic exercise protocols. This paper will describe these pieces of hardware and how they are used to support current bedrest studies at NASA's Flight Analog Research Unit in Galveston, TX. Discussion: To implement candidate exercise countermeasure studies during extended bed rest studies the following analog hardware are being utilized: Stand alone Zero-Gravity Locomotion Simulator (sZLS) -- a custom built device by NASA, the sZLS allows bedrest subjects to remain supine as they run on a vertically-oriented treadmill (0-15 miles/hour). The treadmill includes a pneumatic subject loading device to provide variable body loading (0-100%) and a harness to keep the subject in contact with the motorized treadmill to provide a ground reaction force at their feet that is quantified by a Kistler Force Plate. Supine Cycle Ergometer -- a commercially available supine cycle ergometer (Lode, Groningen, Netherlands) is used for all cycle ergometer sessions. The ergometer has adjustable shoulder supports and handgrips to help stabilize the subject during exercise. Horizontal Squat Device (HSD) -- a custom built device by Quantum Fitness Corp (Stafford, TX), the HSD allows for squat exercises to be performed while lying in a supine position. The HSD can provide 0 to 600 pounds of force in selectable 5 lb increments, and allows hip translation in both the vertical and horizontal planes. Prone Leg Curl -- a commercially available prone leg curl machine (Cybex International Inc., Medway, MA) is used to complete leg curl exercises. Horizontal Leg Press -- a commercially available horizontal leg press (Quantum Fitness Corporation) is used for leg press and heel raise exercises. Minor modifications were made to the device including adding 200 lbs to the weight stack, raising the frame by 12 inches, making the footplate adjustable, and providing removable handles. Conclusion: A combination of novel and commercial exercise hardware are used to mimic the exercise hardware capabilities aboard the ISS, allowing scientific investigation of new countermeasure protocols in a space flight analog prior to flight validation

Customer advisory groups: another way to listen to the marketplace.

PubMed

Gombeski, William R; Taylor, Jan; Britt, Jason; Riggs, Karen; Wray, Tanya; Springate, Suzanne; Blair, Geoff; Bernard, Phil

2010-01-01

Customer advisory groups (CAGs) are formal groups of customers (referring physicians, patients, health insurance brokers, etc.) who meet regularly to share their ideas and to provide feedback to proposed or existing marketing strategies, programs, and activities. While CAGs are very prevalent in other industries they appear to be relatively underutilized in health care. This article provides an overview of how CAGs work, their advantages and disadvantages, tips on how to make them work better, and insights from interviews with 39 healthcare chief marketing officers on their use of CAGs.

Developing World-Class Customer Service at Navy Field Contracting Activities: An Assessment of the FISC San Diego Regional Contracts Department.

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-06-01

service quality benchmark is determined and then applied to HSC San Diego Regional Contracts Department to assess service ability and identify areas for possible improvement. This assessment process highlights the recent emphasis on improved service quality both in the Federal Government and the private sector. The thesis defines world-class customer service and then describes various aspects of service quality including the customer’s perspective on service, how service is delivered, how to effectively communicate with the

Supervisory power and its influence on staff members and their customers.

PubMed

Carson, Paula Phillips; Carson, Kerry David; Pence, Patricia Lanier

2002-01-01

The authors examined supervisors' selective use of legitimate, reward, coercive, referent, and expert powers and these power bases' influence on two outcomes: (a) employee perception of organizational support and (b) employee willingness to engage in service recovery activities with the customer. The authors found that the supervisor's use of expert, referent, and reward powers were positively related to perceived organizational support and that the use of coercive power was important in contributing to service recovery initiatives, particularly with regard to the employee's empathetic presentation to the customer.

Pizza Parlor Math.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grieser, Jeanne

2000-01-01

Students set up a pizza parlor and choose a name for the parlor, menus and drinks, the number of customers they will serve, and numbers of table settings and ingredients they will need. Students choose work roles in the parlor, and student customers pay the parlor with paper money they designed. Includes full activity instructions, pizza recipe,…

78 FR 18620 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Extension, Without Change, of an Existing Information...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-27

... Request ACTION: 60-Day Notice of Information Collection for Review; File No. 70-009, 287(g) Candidate Questionnaire; OMB Control No. 1653-0047. The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs... Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Scott Elmore, Forms Manager, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

78 FR 27416 - Notice of Availability of the Final Record of Decision for the Programmatic Environmental Impact...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-10

... improved personal radiation detectors (PRD), RIDs, and NII tools, such as high-energy container scanners... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Notice of Availability of the... Border Activities AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border, Protection, DHS. ACTION: Notice of availability...

75 FR 3540 - Agency Information Collection (Health Eligibility Center (HEC) New Enrollee Survey) Activity...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-21

... used to improve customer service processes for Veterans applying for health care benefits. VA will use this information to determine the quality of customer service given to the Veteran and to identify what... FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denise McLamb, Enterprise Records Service (005R1B), Department of Veterans...

Combining Economic and Conjoint Analysis to Determine Optimal Academic Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Mona Whitley; Sobol, Marion G.

2004-01-01

In today's era of global competition, organizations must manage their functions and activities in a manner such that they are responsive to customers' needs and can provide excellence in service to the customer while also being efficient and cost conscious. These issues are extremely common in corporate organizations, but such concerns are equally…

How to improve the promotion of Korean beef barbecue, bulgogi, for international customers. An application of quality function deployment.

PubMed

Park, So-Hyun; Ham, Sunny; Lee, Min-A

2012-10-01

Quality function deployment (QFD) is a product development technique that translates customer requirements into activities for the development of products and services. This study utilizes QFD to identify American customer's requirements for bulgogi, a popular Korean dish among international customers, and how to fulfill those requirements. A customer survey and an expert opinion survey were conducted for US customers. The top five customer requirements for bulgogi were identified as taste, freshness, flavor, tenderness, and juiciness; ease of purchase was included in the place of tenderness after calculating the weight requirements. Eighteen engineering characteristics were developed, and a 'localization of bulgogi menu' is strongly related to the other characteristics as well. The results from the calculation of relative importance of engineering characteristics identified that the 'control of marinating time', 'localization of bulgogi menu', 'improvement of cooking and serving process', 'development of recipe by parts of beef', and 'use of various seasonings' were the highest contributors to the overall improvement of bulgogi. The relative importance of engineering characteristics, correlation, and technical difficulties are ranked and integrated to develop the most effective strategy. The findings are discussed relative to industry implications. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Systems Analysis to Define the Types of Rations Needed to Support Amphibious Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-01

Navy and the individual Marine) and in cost. • RATION QUALITY - High Acceptance - Maximize Quality - Minimize Menu Cycle As one of four...maintaining high customer acceptance. Carbohydrate-enhanced A- or B-Ration menus would be provided to embarked (shipboard) Marines for approximately 72...assistance; 2) the typical dietery myth that high protein meals are what will "help me perform at my peak" would be circumvented; the Marine would

FloWave.US: validated, open-source, and flexible software for ultrasound blood flow analysis.

PubMed

Coolbaugh, Crystal L; Bush, Emily C; Caskey, Charles F; Damon, Bruce M; Towse, Theodore F

2016-10-01

Automated software improves the accuracy and reliability of blood velocity, vessel diameter, blood flow, and shear rate ultrasound measurements, but existing software offers limited flexibility to customize and validate analyses. We developed FloWave.US-open-source software to automate ultrasound blood flow analysis-and demonstrated the validity of its blood velocity (aggregate relative error, 4.32%) and vessel diameter (0.31%) measures with a skeletal muscle ultrasound flow phantom. Compared with a commercial, manual analysis software program, FloWave.US produced equivalent in vivo cardiac cycle time-averaged mean (TAMean) velocities at rest and following a 10-s muscle contraction (mean bias <1 pixel for both conditions). Automated analysis of ultrasound blood flow data was 9.8 times faster than the manual method. Finally, a case study of a lower extremity muscle contraction experiment highlighted the ability of FloWave.US to measure small fluctuations in TAMean velocity, vessel diameter, and mean blood flow at specific time points in the cardiac cycle. In summary, the collective features of our newly designed software-accuracy, reliability, reduced processing time, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility-offer advantages over existing proprietary options. Further, public distribution of FloWave.US allows researchers to easily access and customize code to adapt ultrasound blood flow analysis to a variety of vascular physiology applications. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Michelob_x is the missing inhibitor of apoptosis protein antagonist in mosquito genomes

PubMed Central

Zhou, Lei; Jiang, Guohua; Chan, Gina; Santos, Carl P; Severson, David W; Xiao, Lei

2005-01-01

Apoptosis is implicated in the life cycle of the malaria parasite in mosquitoes. The genome project for the primary malaria vector Anopheles gambiae showed a significant expansion of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) and caspase gene families in comparison with Drosophila. However, because of extensive sequence divergence, no orthologue was identified for the reaper/grim-like IAP antagonist genes that have a pivotal role in cell death regulation in Drosophila. Using a customized searching strategy, we identified michelob_x(mx), a gene not predicted by the genome project, as the missing IAP antagonist in the An. gambiae and other mosquito genomes. Mx has a highly conserved amino-terminal IAP-binding motif. Expression of Mx induces rapid cell death in insect cell lines and is a potent tissue ablator in vivo. Its proapoptotic activity is totally dependent on the IAP-binding motif. Like reaper in Drosophila, mx is transcriptionally induced by ultraviolet irradiation to mediate cell death. PMID:16041319

In Situ Radiographic Investigation of (De)Lithiation Mechanisms in a Tin-Electrode Lithium-Ion Battery.

PubMed

Sun, Fu; Markötter, Henning; Zhou, Dong; Alrwashdeh, Saad Sabe Sulaiman; Hilger, Andre; Kardjilov, Nikolay; Manke, Ingo; Banhart, John

2016-05-10

The lithiation and delithiation mechanisms of multiple-Sn particles in a customized flat radiography cell were investigated by in situ synchrotron radiography. For the first time, four (de)lithiation phenomena in a Sn-electrode battery system are highlighted: 1) the (de)lithiation behavior varies between different Sn particles, 2) the time required to lithiate individual Sn particles is markedly different from the time needed to discharge the complete battery, 3) electrochemical deactivation of originally electrochemically active particles is reported, and 4) a change of electrochemical behavior of individual particles during cycling is found and explained by dynamic changes of (de)lithiation pathways amongst particles within the electrode. These unexpected findings fundamentaly expand the understanding of the underlying (de)lithiation mechanisms inside commercial lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and would open new design principles for high-performance next-generation LIBs. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The relationships among social capital, organisational commitment and customer-oriented prosocial behaviour of hospital nurses.

PubMed

Hsu, Chiu-Ping; Chang, Chia-Wen; Huang, Heng-Chiang; Chiang, Chi-Yun

2011-05-01

This study examines the perceptions of registered nurses of social capital, organisational commitment and customer-oriented prosocial behaviour. Additionally, this study also addresses a conceptual model for testing how registered nurses' perceptions of three types of social capital influence their organisational commitment, in turn intensifying customer-oriented prosocial behaviour, including role-prescribed customer service and extra-role customer service. Customer-oriented prosocial behaviour explains differences in job satisfaction and job performance. However, the critical role of customer orientation in the hospital setting has yet to be explored. Survey. The survey was conducted to obtain data from registered nurses working for a large Taiwanese medical centre, yielding 797 usable responses and a satisfactory response rate of 86.7%. The partial least squares method was adopted to obtain parameter estimates and test proposed hypotheses. The study measurements display satisfactory reliability, as well as both convergent and discriminant validities. All hypotheses were supported. Empirical results indicate that registered nurses' perceptions of social capital were significantly impacted the extent of organisational commitment, which in turn significantly influenced customer-oriented prosocial behaviour. By stimulating nursing staff commitment, health care providers can urge them to pursue organisational goals and provide high quality customer service. To enhance organisational commitment, health care managers should endeavour to create interpersonal interaction platforms in addition to simply offering material rewards. Nurses act as contact employees for their patient customers in the hospital, and they are required to provide patient safety and service quality. This study shows that nurses with high organisational commitment are willing to provide customer-oriented prosocial activities, which in turn enhances patient satisfaction. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Turn customer input into innovation.

PubMed

Ulwick, Anthony W

2002-01-01

It's difficult to find a company these days that doesn't strive to be customer-driven. Too bad, then, that most companies go about the process of listening to customers all wrong--so wrong, in fact, that they undermine innovation and, ultimately, the bottom line. What usually happens is this: Companies ask their customers what they want. Customers offer solutions in the form of products or services. Companies then deliver these tangibles, and customers just don't buy. The reason is simple--customers aren't expert or informed enough to come up with solutions. That's what your R&D team is for. Rather, customers should be asked only for outcomes--what they want a new product or service to do for them. The form the solutions take should be up to you, and you alone. Using Cordis Corporation as an example, this article describes, in fine detail, a series of effective steps for capturing, analyzing, and utilizing customer input. First come indepth interviews, in which a moderator works with customers to deconstruct a process or activity in order to unearth "desired outcomes." Addressing participants' comments one at a time, the moderator rephrases them to be both unambiguous and measurable. Once the interviews are complete, researchers then compile a comprehensive list of outcomes that participants rank in order of importance and degree to which they are satisfied by existing products. Finally, using a simple mathematical formula called the "opportunity calculation," researchers can learn the relative attractiveness of key opportunity areas. These data can be used to uncover opportunities for product development, to properly segment markets, and to conduct competitive analysis.

A Synthesis of Solar Cycle Prediction Techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hathaway, David H.; Wilson, Robert M.; Reichmann, Edwin J.

1999-01-01

A number of techniques currently in use for predicting solar activity on a solar cycle timescale are tested with historical data. Some techniques, e.g., regression and curve fitting, work well as solar activity approaches maximum and provide a month-by-month description of future activity, while others, e.g., geomagnetic precursors, work well near solar minimum but only provide an estimate of the amplitude of the cycle. A synthesis of different techniques is shown to provide a more accurate and useful forecast of solar cycle activity levels. A combination of two uncorrelated geomagnetic precursor techniques provides a more accurate prediction for the amplitude of a solar activity cycle at a time well before activity minimum. This combined precursor method gives a smoothed sunspot number maximum of 154 plus or minus 21 at the 95% level of confidence for the next cycle maximum. A mathematical function dependent on the time of cycle initiation and the cycle amplitude is used to describe the level of solar activity month by month for the next cycle. As the time of cycle maximum approaches a better estimate of the cycle activity is obtained by including the fit between previous activity levels and this function. This Combined Solar Cycle Activity Forecast gives, as of January 1999, a smoothed sunspot maximum of 146 plus or minus 20 at the 95% level of confidence for the next cycle maximum.

Beyond the throwaway society: A life cycle-based assessment of the environmental benefit of reuse.

PubMed

Castellani, Valentina; Sala, Serenella; Mirabella, Nadia

2015-07-01

In the context of a circular economy, sustainable consumption is often seen as the antithesis of current consumption patterns, which have led to the definition of the so-called throwaway society. Reuse may provide a preferred alternative to other waste management options, because it promotes resource efficiency and may significantly reduce environmental impacts. To appraise the environmental benefits related to reuse of goods, a methodology adopting life cycle assessment (LCA) has been developed. A standardized procedure has been developed, identifying reference products within product category subject to reuse, and collecting reliable inventory data as a basis for calculating environmental impact through LCA. A case study on a second-hand shop is presented, and the avoided impacts are quantified. Inventory data were taken both from the literature and directly from sales and surveys submitted to customers. The results are presented, highlighting: 1) for each product category, the average avoided impacts for 1 unit of reused product considered; and 2) for the overall activities of the second-hand shop, the cumulative avoided impacts in 1 yr. In the case study, the higher contribution to avoided impacts comes from the apparel sector, due to the high amount of items sold, followed by the furniture sector, because of the high amount of environmental impacts avoided by the reuse of each single item. © 2015 SETAC.

Bayesian modeling of consumer behavior in the presence of anonymous visits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novak, Julie Esther

Tailoring content to consumers has become a hallmark of marketing and digital media, particularly as it has become easier to identify customers across usage or purchase occasions. However, across a wide variety of contexts, companies find that customers do not consistently identify themselves, leaving a substantial fraction of anonymous visits. We develop a Bayesian hierarchical model that allows us to probabilistically assign anonymous sessions to users. These probabilistic assignments take into account a customer's demographic information, frequency of visitation, activities taken when visiting, and times of arrival. We present two studies, one with synthetic and one with real data, where we demonstrate improved performance over two popular practices (nearest-neighbor matching and deleting the anonymous visits) due to increased efficiency and reduced bias driven by the non-ignorability of which types of events are more likely to be anonymous. Using our proposed model, we avoid potential bias in understanding the effect of a firm's marketing on its customers, improve inference about the total number of customers in the dataset, and provide more precise targeted marketing to both previously observed and unobserved customers.

17 CFR 242.101 - Activities by distribution participants.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS M, SHO, ATS, AC, AND NMS AND CUSTOMER MARGIN REQUIREMENTS FOR SECURITY FUTURES Regulation M § 242.101 Activities by distribution participants. (a) Unlawful Activity. In connection with a...

The NIFFTE Data Acquisition System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, Hai; Niffte Collaboration

2011-10-01

The Neutron Induced Fission Fragment Tracking Experiment (NIFFTE) will employ a novel, high granularity, pressurized Time Projection Chamber to measure fission cross-sections of the major actinides to high precision over a wide incident neutron energy range. These results will improve nuclear data accuracy and benefit the fuel cycle in the future. The NIFFTE data acquisition system (DAQ) has been designed and implemented on the prototype TPC. Lessons learned from engineering runs have been incorporated into some design changes that are being implemented before the next run cycle. A fully instrumented sextant of EtherDAQ cards (16 sectors, 496 channels) will be used for the next run cycle. The Maximum Integrated Data Acquisition System (MIDAS) has been chosen and customized to configure and run the experiment. It also meets the requirement for remote control and monitoring of the system. The integration of the MIDAS online database with the persistent PostgreSQL database has been implemented for experiment usage. The detailed design and current status of the DAQ system will be presented.

Analysing the external supply chain risk driver competitiveness: a risk mitigation framework and business continuity plan.

PubMed

Blos, Mauricio F; Wee, Hui-Ming; Yang, Joshua

2010-11-01

Innovation challenges for handling supply chain risks have become one of the most important drivers in business competitiveness and differentiation. This study analyses competitiveness at the external supply chain level as a driver of risks and provides a framework for mitigating these risks. The mitigation framework, also called the supply chain continuity framework, provides insight into six stages of the business continuity planning (BCP) process life cycle (risk mitigation management, business impact analysis, supply continuity strategy development, supply continuity plan development, supply continuity plan testing and supply continuity plan maintenance), together with the operational constructs: customer service, inventory management, flexibility, time to market, ordering cycle time and quality. The purpose of the BCP process life cycle and operational constructs working together is to emphasise the way in which a supply chain can deal with disruption risks and, consequently, bring competitive advantage. Future research will consider the new risk scenarios and analyse the consequences to promote the improvement of supply chain resilience.

78 FR 32429 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Extension, Without Change, of an Existing Information...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-30

... Request ACTION: 30-Day notice of information collection for review; File No. 70-009, 287(g) Candidate Questionnaire; OMB Control No. 1653-0047. The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs... Budget. Comments should be addressed to the OMB Desk Officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

Customer requirements process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, Yvonne; Falsetti, Christine M.

1991-01-01

Customer requirements are presented through three viewgraphs. One graph presents the range of services, which include requirements management, network engineering, operations, and applications support. Another viewgraph presents the project planning process. The third viewgraph presents the programs and/or projects actively supported including life sciences, earth science and applications, solar system exploration, shuttle flight engineering, microgravity science, space physics, and astrophysics.

12 CFR 550.130 - How may I conduct multi-state operations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

...) Serving customers in more than one State. When you conduct fiduciary activities in a State: (1) You may market your fiduciary services to, and act as a fiduciary for, customers located in any State, may act as a fiduciary for relationships that include property located in other States, and may act as a...

19 CFR 146.7 - Zone changes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... common or contract carriers transporting goods to or from the zone. [T.D. 86-16, 51 FR 5049, Feb. 11... 19 Customs Duties 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Zone changes. 146.7 Section 146.7 Customs Duties U... (CONTINUED) FOREIGN TRADE ZONES General Provisions § 146.7 Zone changes. (a) Alteration of an activated area...

19 CFR 146.7 - Zone changes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... common or contract carriers transporting goods to or from the zone. [T.D. 86-16, 51 FR 5049, Feb. 11... 19 Customs Duties 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Zone changes. 146.7 Section 146.7 Customs Duties U... (CONTINUED) FOREIGN TRADE ZONES General Provisions § 146.7 Zone changes. (a) Alteration of an activated area...

19 CFR 146.7 - Zone changes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... common or contract carriers transporting goods to or from the zone. [T.D. 86-16, 51 FR 5049, Feb. 11... 19 Customs Duties 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Zone changes. 146.7 Section 146.7 Customs Duties U... (CONTINUED) FOREIGN TRADE ZONES General Provisions § 146.7 Zone changes. (a) Alteration of an activated area...

19 CFR 146.7 - Zone changes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... common or contract carriers transporting goods to or from the zone. [T.D. 86-16, 51 FR 5049, Feb. 11... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Zone changes. 146.7 Section 146.7 Customs Duties U... (CONTINUED) FOREIGN TRADE ZONES General Provisions § 146.7 Zone changes. (a) Alteration of an activated area...

19 CFR 146.7 - Zone changes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... common or contract carriers transporting goods to or from the zone. [T.D. 86-16, 51 FR 5049, Feb. 11... 19 Customs Duties 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Zone changes. 146.7 Section 146.7 Customs Duties U... (CONTINUED) FOREIGN TRADE ZONES General Provisions § 146.7 Zone changes. (a) Alteration of an activated area...

Cleanroom Software Engineering Reference Model. Version 1.0.

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-11-01

teams. It also serves as a baseline for continued evolution of Cleanroom practice. The scope of the CRM is software management , specification...addition to project staff, participants include management , peer organization representatives, and customer representatives as appropriate for...2 Review the status of the process with management , the project team, peer groups, and the customer . These verification activities include

25 CFR 141.20 - Payment for purchase of Indian goods or services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... reservation business owner or employee may advise a customer selling Indian goods or services of the amount... business, but in no event may the owner or employee withhold the proceeds of the sale from the customer on... Section 141.20 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES BUSINESS...

Attachments to places and activities: the relationship of psychological constructs to customer satisfaction attributes

Treesearch

Thomas D. Wickham; Alan R. Graefe

2002-01-01

This study explores the nature of place attachment, enduring involvement and human territoriality and their relationship with customer satisfaction for a diverse group of anglers at lakes in the New England region. Previous work has made limited headway in our understanding of how place attachment, enduring involvement, and human territoriality relate to people's...

From production to performance: solving the positioning dilemma in dental practice.

PubMed

Armstrong, James; Pitt, Leyland; Berthon, Pierre

2006-09-01

Thriving dental practices are excellent at providing a warm personal experience or are efficient, fast and cost-effective. Those that that attempt to do both end up being mediocre at just about everything. Introducing ideas from dramaturgy and service simultaneity in the services marketing literature, the authors provide a model for the conceptualization and redesign of the dental practice. Successful dental practices will be those that concentrate on low customization of activities in the back office or high customization of activities in the front office.

Sunspot Time Series: Passive and Active Intervals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zięba, S.; Nieckarz, Z.

2014-07-01

Solar activity slowly and irregularly decreases from the first spotless day (FSD) in the declining phase of the old sunspot cycle and systematically, but also in an irregular way, increases to the new cycle maximum after the last spotless day (LSD). The time interval between the first and the last spotless day can be called the passive interval (PI), while the time interval from the last spotless day to the first one after the new cycle maximum is the related active interval (AI). Minima of solar cycles are inside PIs, while maxima are inside AIs. In this article, we study the properties of passive and active intervals to determine the relation between them. We have found that some properties of PIs, and related AIs, differ significantly between two group of solar cycles; this has allowed us to classify Cycles 8 - 15 as passive cycles, and Cycles 17 - 23 as active ones. We conclude that the solar activity in the PI declining phase (a descending phase of the previous cycle) determines the strength of the approaching maximum in the case of active cycles, while the activity of the PI rising phase (a phase of the ongoing cycle early growth) determines the strength of passive cycles. This can have implications for solar dynamo models. Our approach indicates the important role of solar activity during the declining and the rising phases of the solar-cycle minimum.