Assessing and Ensuring GOES-R Magnetometer Accuracy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carter, Delano R.; Todirita, Monica; Kronenwetter, Jeffrey; Chu, Donald

2016-01-01

The GOES-R magnetometer subsystem accuracy requirement is 1.7 nanoteslas (nT). During quiet times (100 nT), accuracy is defined as absolute mean plus 3 sigma. During storms (300 nT), accuracy is defined as absolute mean plus 2 sigma. Error comes both from outside the magnetometers, e.g. spacecraft fields and misalignments, as well as inside, e.g. zero offset and scale factor errors. Because zero offset and scale factor drift over time, it will be necessary to perform annual calibration maneuvers. To predict performance before launch, we have used Monte Carlo simulations and covariance analysis. Both behave as expected, and their accuracy predictions agree within 30%. With the proposed calibration regimen, both suggest that the GOES-R magnetometer subsystem will meet its accuracy requirements.

Constitutional dynamic chemistry: bridge from supramolecular chemistry to adaptive chemistry.

PubMed

Lehn, Jean-Marie

2012-01-01

Supramolecular chemistry aims at implementing highly complex chemical systems from molecular components held together by non-covalent intermolecular forces and effecting molecular recognition, catalysis and transport processes. A further step consists in the investigation of chemical systems undergoing self-organization, i.e. systems capable of spontaneously generating well-defined functional supramolecular architectures by self-assembly from their components, thus behaving as programmed chemical systems. Supramolecular chemistry is intrinsically a dynamic chemistry in view of the lability of the interactions connecting the molecular components of a supramolecular entity and the resulting ability of supramolecular species to exchange their constituents. The same holds for molecular chemistry when the molecular entity contains covalent bonds that may form and break reversibility, so as to allow a continuous change in constitution by reorganization and exchange of building blocks. These features define a Constitutional Dynamic Chemistry (CDC) on both the molecular and supramolecular levels.CDC introduces a paradigm shift with respect to constitutionally static chemistry. The latter relies on design for the generation of a target entity, whereas CDC takes advantage of dynamic diversity to allow variation and selection. The implementation of selection in chemistry introduces a fundamental change in outlook. Whereas self-organization by design strives to achieve full control over the output molecular or supramolecular entity by explicit programming, self-organization with selection operates on dynamic constitutional diversity in response to either internal or external factors to achieve adaptation.The merging of the features: -information and programmability, -dynamics and reversibility, -constitution and structural diversity, points to the emergence of adaptive and evolutive chemistry, towards a chemistry of complex matter.

An asymptotic preserving multidimensional ALE method for a system of two compressible flows coupled with friction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Pino, S.; Labourasse, E.; Morel, G.

2018-06-01

We present a multidimensional asymptotic preserving scheme for the approximation of a mixture of compressible flows. Fluids are modelled by two Euler systems of equations coupled with a friction term. The asymptotic preserving property is mandatory for this kind of model, to derive a scheme that behaves well in all regimes (i.e. whatever the friction parameter value is). The method we propose is defined in ALE coordinates, using a Lagrange plus remap approach. This imposes a multidimensional definition and analysis of the scheme.

Shape-tailored polymer colloids on the road to become structural motifs for hierarchically organized materials.

PubMed

Plüisch, Claudia Simone; Wittemann, Alexander

2013-12-01

Anisometric polymer colloids are likely to behave differently when compared with centrosymmetric particles. Their study may not only shine new light on the organization of matter; they may also serve as building units with specific symmetries and complexity to build new materials from them. Polymer colloids of well-defined complex geometries can be obtained by packing a limited number of spherical polymer particles into clusters with defined configurations. Such supracolloidal architectures can be fabricated at larger scales using narrowly dispersed emulsion droplets as templates. Assemblies built from at least two different types of particles as elementary building units open perspectives in selective targeting of colloids with specific properties, aiming for mesoscale building blocks with tailor-made morphologies and multifunctionality. Polymer colloids with defined geometries are also ideal to study shape-dependent properties such as the diffusion of complex particles. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Motivating Programming: Using Storytelling to Make Computer Programming Attractive to Middle School Girls

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-11-01

them with a particular tool, they will dance, slip on banana peels , do somersaults, etc. After children have played in the courtyard space, they can be...character doing a Matrix-style kick, and dogs throwing bananas at a dogcatcher. These slightly extreme reactions to things are very appealing to...the humor and the fact that the characters are behaving in ways that the children themselves cannot behave (e.g. “They can throw bananas

BEHAVE: fire behavior prediction and fuel modeling system-BURN Subsystem, part 1

Treesearch

Patricia L. Andrews

1986-01-01

Describes BURN Subsystem, Part 1, the operational fire behavior prediction subsystem of the BEHAVE fire behavior prediction and fuel modeling system. The manual covers operation of the computer program, assumptions of the mathematical models used in the calculations, and application of the predictions.

Joint Services Electronics Program.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-12-01

backscatter from an ellipsoid. 115 fvii I Ii I i T I. INTRODUCTION This report presents the fifth annual summary of research at Ohio State sponsored by the... factoring the system response before attempting synthesis has been clearly established in this approach, which differs I from other one-dimensional...treated by Anderson [5] do not appear to be well behaved for near edge on plane wave incidence. In contrast, the Wiener-Hopf factors being employed in

Well behaved parametric class of relativistic charged fluid ball in general relativity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pant, Neeraj

2011-04-01

The paper presents a class of interior solutions of Einstein-Maxwell field equations of general relativity for a static, spherically symmetric distribution of the charged fluid. This class of solutions describes well behaved charged fluid balls. The class of solutions gives us wide range of parameter K (0≤ K≤42) for which the solution is well behaved hence, suitable for modeling of super dense star. For this solution the mass of a star is maximized with all degree of suitability and by assuming the surface density ρ b =2×1014 g/cm3. Corresponding to K=2 and X=0.30, the maximum mass of the star comes out to be 4.96 M Θ with linear dimension 34.16 km and central redshift and surface redshift 2.1033 and 0.683 respectively. In absence of the charge we are left behind with the well behaved fourth model of Durgapal (J. Phys., A, Math. Gen. 15:2637, 1982).

Statistical analysis of an inter-laboratory comparison of small-scale safety and thermal testing of RDX

DOE PAGES

Brown, Geoffrey W.; Sandstrom, Mary M.; Preston, Daniel N.; ...

2014-11-17

In this study, the Integrated Data Collection Analysis (IDCA) program has conducted a proficiency test for small-scale safety and thermal (SSST) testing of homemade explosives (HMEs). Described here are statistical analyses of the results from this test for impact, friction, electrostatic discharge, and differential scanning calorimetry analysis of the RDX Class 5 Type II standard. The material was tested as a well-characterized standard several times during the proficiency test to assess differences among participants and the range of results that may arise for well-behaved explosive materials.

Numerical investigation for one bad-behaved flow in a Pelton turbine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, X. Z.; Yang, K.; Wang, H. J.; Gong, R. Z.; Li, D. Y.

2015-01-01

The gas-liquid two-phase flow in pelton turbines is very complicated, there are many kinds of bad-behaved flow in pelton turbines. In this paper, CFD numerical simulation for the pelton turbine was conducted using VOF two-phase model. One kind of bad-behaved flow caused by the two jets was captured, and the bad-behaved flow was analysed by torque on buckets. It can be concluded that the angle between the two jets and the value of ratio of runner diameter and jet diameter are important parameters for the bad-behaved flow. Furthermore, the reason why the efficiency of some multi-jet type turbines is very low can be well explained by the analysis of bad-behaved flow. Finally, some suggestions for improvement were also provided in present paper.

BEHAVE: fire behavior prediction and fuel modeling system - BURN subsystem, Part 2

Treesearch

Patricia L. Andrews; Carolyn H. Chase

1989-01-01

This is the third publication describing the BEHAVE system of computer programs for predicting behavior of wildland fires. This publication adds the following predictive capabilities: distance firebrands are lofted ahead of a wind-driven surface fire, probabilities of firebrands igniting spot fires, scorch height of trees, and percentage of tree mortality. The system...

A charged anisotropic well-behaved Adler-Finch-Skea solution satisfying Karmarkar condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhar, Piyali; Singh, Ksh. Newton; Rahaman, Farook; Pant, Neeraj; Banerjee, Sumita

In the present paper, we discover a new well-behaved charged anisotropic solution of Einstein-Maxwell’s field equations. We ansatz the metric potential g00 of the form given by Maurya et al. (Eur. Phys. J. C 76(12) (2016) 693) with n = 2. In their paper, it is mentioned that for n = 2, the solution is not well-behaved for neutral configuration as the speed of sound is nondecreasing radially outward. However, the solution can represent a physically possible configuration with the inclusion of some net electric charge, i.e. the solution can become a well-behaved solution with decreasing sound speed radially outward for a charged configuration. Due to the inclusion of electric charge, the solution leads to a very stiff equation-of-state (EoS) with the velocity of sound at the center vr02 = 0.819, vt02 = 0.923 and the compactness parameter u = 0.823 is close to the Buchdahl limit 0.889. This stiff EoS support a compact star configuration of mass 5.418M⊙ and radius of 10.1km.

["I say no, she says yes": matrimonial violence according to male speech].

PubMed

Alves, Sandra Lúcia Belo; Diniz, Normélia Maria Freire

2005-01-01

This study aims to analize the violence between couples from the man's point of view. We adopted a qualitative methodology approach having as reference the Social Representation Theory. Ten adult men took part in the survey. They live in the Calafate community, in San Martin, Salvador-BA and had a relationship for at least 2 years. In order to collect the data, a semi-estructured interview was used. As a result, it was observed that the respondents agree directly with the process of men and women's socialization in order to define the way husband and wife behave in a relationship. This is an asymetric and hierarchical perspective, where the masculine tendencies are defined by the society, as well as the women's undefined social role. These two motives are pointed out as the explanation for the violence between couples.

BehavePlus fire modeling system, version 5.0: Design and Features

Treesearch

Faith Ann Heinsch; Patricia L. Andrews

2010-01-01

The BehavePlus fire modeling system is a computer program that is based on mathematical models that describe wildland fire behavior and effects and the fire environment. It is a flexible system that produces tables, graphs, and simple diagrams. It can be used for a host of fire management applications, including projecting the behavior of an ongoing fire, planning...

BehavePlus fire modeling system, version 4.0: User's Guide

Treesearch

Patricia L. Andrews; Collin D. Bevins; Robert C. Seli

2005-01-01

The BehavePlus fire modeling system is a program for personal computers that is a collection of mathematical models that describe fire and the fire environment. It is a flexible system that produces tables, graphs, and simple diagrams. It can be used for a multitude of fire management applications including projecting the behavior of an ongoing fire, planning...

Turkish Secondary Education Students' Perceptions of Justice and Their Experiences of Unjustice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tarhan, Sinem

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify how secondary education students define the concept of justice, based on which criteria they define their experiences as just/unjust, what they see as the source of injustice, how they feel and how they behave when they face injustice. This study was designed as a qualitative research study. Open-ended…

Modeling with Livingstone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurien, J.; Nayak, P.; Williams, B.; Koga, Dennis (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

MPL is the language with which a modeler describes a system to be diagnosed or controlled by Livingstone. MPL is used to specify what are the components of the system, how they are interconnected, and how they behave both nominally and when failed. Component behavioral models used by Livingstone are described by a set of propositional, well-formed formula (wff). An understanding of well-formed formula, primitive component types specified through defcomponent, and device structure specified by defmodule, is essential to understanding of MPL, This document describes: welI-formed formula (wff): The basis for describing the behavior of a component in a system defvalues: Specifies the domain (legal values) of a variable defcomponent: Defines the modes, behaviors and mode transitions for primitive components deftnodule: Defines composite devices, consisting of interconnected components defrelation: A macro mechanism for expanding a complex wff according to the value of an argument forall: An iteration construct used to expand a wff or relation on a set of arguments defsymbol-expansion: A mechanism for naming a collection of symbols (eg the name of all valves in the system)

Product-sum universality and Rushbrooke inequality in explosive percolation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sabbir, M. M. H.; Hassan, M. K.

2018-05-01

We study explosive percolation (EP) on an Erdös-Rényi network for product rule (PR) and sum rule (SR). Initially, it was claimed that EP describes discontinuous phase transition; now it is well accepted as a probabilistic model for thermal continuous phase transition (CPT). However, no model for CPT is complete unless we know how to relate its observable quantities with those of thermal CPT. To this end, we define entropy and specific heat, redefine susceptibility, and show that they behave exactly like their thermal counterparts. We obtain the critical exponents ν ,α ,β , and γ numerically and find that both PR and SR belong to the same universality class and obey Rushbrooke inequality.

A Generalization of the Einstein-Maxwell Equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cotton, Fredrick

2016-03-01

The proposed modifications of the Einstein-Maxwell equations include: (1) the addition of a scalar term to the electromagnetic side of the equation rather than to the gravitational side, (2) the introduction of a 4-dimensional, nonlinear electromagnetic constitutive tensor and (3) the addition of curvature terms arising from the non-metric components of a general symmetric connection. The scalar term is defined by the condition that a spherically symmetric particle be force-free and mathematically well-behaved everywhere. The constitutive tensor introduces two auxiliary fields which describe the particle structure. The additional curvature terms couple both to particle solutions and to electromagnetic and gravitational wave solutions. http://sites.google.com/site/fwcotton/em-30.pdf

On Hunting Animals of the Biometric Menagerie for Online Signature.

PubMed

Houmani, Nesma; Garcia-Salicetti, Sonia

2016-01-01

Individuals behave differently regarding to biometric authentication systems. This fact was formalized in the literature by the concept of Biometric Menagerie, defining and labeling user groups with animal names in order to reflect their characteristics with respect to biometric systems. This concept was illustrated for face, fingerprint, iris, and speech modalities. The present study extends the Biometric Menagerie to online signatures, by proposing a novel methodology that ties specific quality measures for signatures to categories of the Biometric Menagerie. Such measures are combined for retrieving automatically writer categories of the extended version of the Biometric Menagerie. Performance analysis with different types of classifiers shows the pertinence of our approach on the well-known MCYT-100 database.

Experimental determination of dynamic parameters of an industrial robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banas, W.; Cwikła, G.; Foit, K.; Gwiazda, A.; Monica, Z.; Sekala, A.

2017-08-01

In an industry increasingly used are industrial robots. Commonly used are two basic methods of programming, on-line programming and off-line programming. In both cases, the programming consists in getting to the selected points record this position, and set the order of movement of the robot, and the introduction of logical tests. Such a program is easy to write, and it is suitable for most industrial applications. Especially when the process is known, respectively slow and unchanging. In this case, the program is being prepared for a universal model of the robot with the appropriate geometry and are checked only collisions. Is not taken into account the dynamics of the robot and how it will really behave while in motion. For this reason, the robot programmed to be tested at a reduced speed, which is raised gradually to the final value. Depending on the complexity of the move and the proximity of the elements it takes a lot of time. It is easy to notice that the robot at different speeds have different trajectories and behaves differently.

Behave Yourself--This Is a Library!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uhler, Scott; Weiss, Philippe

1995-01-01

As a result of the 1992 federal appellate court decision, "Kreimer versus Morristown," libraries have the right to define appropriate patron behavior while in a library and to address behavior considered disruptive. Discusses details of the case and practical interpretations of the ruling. (JKP)

Verification of floating-point software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoover, Doug N.

1990-01-01

Floating point computation presents a number of problems for formal verification. Should one treat the actual details of floating point operations, or accept them as imprecisely defined, or should one ignore round-off error altogether and behave as if floating point operations are perfectly accurate. There is the further problem that a numerical algorithm usually only approximately computes some mathematical function, and we often do not know just how good the approximation is, even in the absence of round-off error. ORA has developed a theory of asymptotic correctness which allows one to verify floating point software with a minimum entanglement in these problems. This theory and its implementation in the Ariel C verification system are described. The theory is illustrated using a simple program which finds a zero of a given function by bisection. This paper is presented in viewgraph form.

Problem Space Matters: Evaluation of a German Enrichment Program for Gifted Children.

PubMed

Welter, Marisete M; Jaarsveld, Saskia; Lachmann, Thomas

2018-01-01

We studied the development of cognitive abilities related to intelligence and creativity ( N = 48, 6-10 years old), using a longitudinal design (over one school year), in order to evaluate an Enrichment Program for gifted primary school children initiated by the government of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate ( Entdeckertag Rheinland Pfalz , Germany; ET; Day of Discoverers). A group of German primary school children ( N = 24), identified earlier as intellectually gifted and selected to join the ET program was compared to a gender-, class- and IQ- matched group of control children that did not participate in this program. All participants performed the Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) test, which measures intelligence in well-defined problem space; the Creative Reasoning Task (CRT), which measures intelligence in ill-defined problem space; and the test of creative thinking-drawing production (TCT-DP), which measures creativity, also in ill-defined problem space. Results revealed that problem space matters: the ET program is effective only for the improvement of intelligence operating in well-defined problem space. An effect was found for intelligence as measured by SPM only, but neither for intelligence operating in ill-defined problem space (CRT) nor for creativity (TCT-DP). This suggests that, depending on the type of problem spaces presented, different cognitive abilities are elicited in the same child. Therefore, enrichment programs for gifted, but also for children attending traditional schools, should provide opportunities to develop cognitive abilities related to intelligence, operating in both well- and ill-defined problem spaces, and to creativity in a parallel, using an interactive approach.

Problem Space Matters: Evaluation of a German Enrichment Program for Gifted Children

PubMed Central

Welter, Marisete M.; Jaarsveld, Saskia; Lachmann, Thomas

2018-01-01

We studied the development of cognitive abilities related to intelligence and creativity (N = 48, 6–10 years old), using a longitudinal design (over one school year), in order to evaluate an Enrichment Program for gifted primary school children initiated by the government of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate (Entdeckertag Rheinland Pfalz, Germany; ET; Day of Discoverers). A group of German primary school children (N = 24), identified earlier as intellectually gifted and selected to join the ET program was compared to a gender-, class- and IQ- matched group of control children that did not participate in this program. All participants performed the Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) test, which measures intelligence in well-defined problem space; the Creative Reasoning Task (CRT), which measures intelligence in ill-defined problem space; and the test of creative thinking-drawing production (TCT-DP), which measures creativity, also in ill-defined problem space. Results revealed that problem space matters: the ET program is effective only for the improvement of intelligence operating in well-defined problem space. An effect was found for intelligence as measured by SPM only, but neither for intelligence operating in ill-defined problem space (CRT) nor for creativity (TCT-DP). This suggests that, depending on the type of problem spaces presented, different cognitive abilities are elicited in the same child. Therefore, enrichment programs for gifted, but also for children attending traditional schools, should provide opportunities to develop cognitive abilities related to intelligence, operating in both well- and ill-defined problem spaces, and to creativity in a parallel, using an interactive approach. PMID:29740367

Color Algebras

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mulligan, Jeffrey B.

2017-01-01

A color algebra refers to a system for computing sums and products of colors, analogous to additive and subtractive color mixtures. We would like it to match the well-defined algebra of spectral functions describing lights and surface reflectances, but an exact correspondence is impossible after the spectra have been projected to a three-dimensional color space, because of metamerism physically different spectra can produce the same color sensation. Metameric spectra are interchangeable for the purposes of addition, but not multiplication, so any color algebra is necessarily an approximation to physical reality. Nevertheless, because the majority of naturally-occurring spectra are well-behaved (e.g., continuous and slowly-varying), color algebras can be formulated that are largely accurate and agree well with human intuition. Here we explore the family of algebras that result from associating each color with a member of a three-dimensional manifold of spectra. This association can be used to construct a color product, defined as the color of the spectrum of the wavelength-wise product of the spectra associated with the two input colors. The choice of the spectral manifold determines the behavior of the resulting system, and certain special subspaces allow computational efficiencies. The resulting systems can be used to improve computer graphic rendering techniques, and to model various perceptual phenomena such as color constancy.

Supramolecular macrocycles reversibly assembled by Te…O chalcogen bonding

PubMed Central

Ho, Peter C.; Szydlowski, Patrick; Sinclair, Jocelyn; Elder, Philip J. W.; Kübel, Joachim; Gendy, Chris; Lee, Lucia Myongwon; Jenkins, Hilary; Britten, James F.; Morim, Derek R.; Vargas-Baca, Ignacio

2016-01-01

Organic molecules with heavy main-group elements frequently form supramolecular links to electron-rich centres. One particular case of such interactions is halogen bonding. Most studies of this phenomenon have been concerned with either dimers or infinitely extended structures (polymers and lattices) but well-defined cyclic structures remain elusive. Here we present oligomeric aggregates of heterocycles that are linked by chalcogen-centered interactions and behave as genuine macrocyclic species. The molecules of 3-methyl-5-phenyl-1,2-tellurazole 2-oxide assemble a variety of supramolecular aggregates that includes cyclic tetramers and hexamers, as well as a helical polymer. In all these aggregates, the building blocks are connected by Te…O–N bridges. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic experiments demonstrate that the two types of annular aggregates are persistent in solution. These self-assembled structures form coordination complexes with transition-metal ions, act as fullerene receptors and host small molecules in a crystal. PMID:27090355

Binding branched and linear DNA structures: From isolated clusters to fully bonded gels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez-Castanon, J.; Bomboi, F.; Sciortino, F.

2018-01-01

The proper design of DNA sequences allows for the formation of well-defined supramolecular units with controlled interactions via a consecution of self-assembling processes. Here, we benefit from the controlled DNA self-assembly to experimentally realize particles with well-defined valence, namely, tetravalent nanostars (A) and bivalent chains (B). We specifically focus on the case in which A particles can only bind to B particles, via appropriately designed sticky-end sequences. Hence AA and BB bonds are not allowed. Such a binary mixture system reproduces with DNA-based particles the physics of poly-functional condensation, with an exquisite control over the bonding process, tuned by the ratio, r, between B and A units and by the temperature, T. We report dynamic light scattering experiments in a window of Ts ranging from 10 °C to 55 °C and an interval of r around the percolation transition to quantify the decay of the density correlation for the different cases. At low T, when all possible bonds are formed, the system behaves as a fully bonded network, as a percolating gel, and as a cluster fluid depending on the selected r.

On Hunting Animals of the Biometric Menagerie for Online Signature

PubMed Central

Houmani, Nesma; Garcia-Salicetti, Sonia

2016-01-01

Individuals behave differently regarding to biometric authentication systems. This fact was formalized in the literature by the concept of Biometric Menagerie, defining and labeling user groups with animal names in order to reflect their characteristics with respect to biometric systems. This concept was illustrated for face, fingerprint, iris, and speech modalities. The present study extends the Biometric Menagerie to online signatures, by proposing a novel methodology that ties specific quality measures for signatures to categories of the Biometric Menagerie. Such measures are combined for retrieving automatically writer categories of the extended version of the Biometric Menagerie. Performance analysis with different types of classifiers shows the pertinence of our approach on the well-known MCYT-100 database. PMID:27054836

Peer and Parent Influences on School Engagement Among Early Adolescents

PubMed Central

Chen, Rusan

2008-01-01

This PDF receipt will only be used as the basis for generating PubMed Central (PMC) documents. PMC documents will be made available for review after conversion (approx. 2-3 weeks time). Any corrections that need to be made will be done at that time. No materials will be released to PMC without the approval of an author. Only the PMC documents will appear on PubMed Central -- this PDF Receipt will not appear on PubMed Central. Students who are not motivated and do not try to do well are unlikely to achieve at a level consistent with their abilities. This research assessed the relationships over time between school engagement and parenting practices and peer affiliation among 6th–9th graders using latent growth models (LGM). Participants included 2,453 students recruited from 7 public middle schools who were assessed 5 times between fall of 6th and 9th grades as part of a program evaluation study. During this period school engagement and adjustment declined somewhat, while substance use, conduct problems, and problem behaving friends increased, and authoritative parenting practices declined. The significant, positive over-time associations between school engagement and parent involvement, expectations, and monitoring were fully mediated by growth in problem behaving friends. School adjustment mediated the relationship between school engagement and parent expectations. These findings suggest that authoritative parenting practices may foster school engagement directly and also indirectly by discouraging affiliation with problem behaving friends and facilitating school adjustment. PMID:19888349

Defining Antimicrobial Textile Requirements for Military Applications - A Gap Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-09

biocide that has broad spectrum antibacterial , antiviral, and antifungal activity . Copper behaves similarly to silver by binding and inactivating...urogenital health conditions in active duty Soldiers from 2002-2011...personnel in order to generate and update requirements and standards for incorporating anti-odor, antibacterial , and antifungal properties into CIE

Looking for the Inviting and Just School Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, A. C.; Novak, J. M.

This paper explores the relationship between invitational and moral education. Invitational education is defined as a system which intentionally invites students to perceive themselves as valuable, able, and responsible and to behave accordingly. Moral education is a process based on Lawrence Kohlberg's levels of moral reasoning which advocates…

Impression Management in the Psychiatric Interview: Quality, Style, and Individual Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherman, Mark; And Others

1975-01-01

The ability of 24 Veterans Administration Day Treatment Center psychiatric outpatients to vary intentionally their degree of apparent psychopathology during structured interviews was studied. Patients defined as sick presenters behaved in a significantly more pathological manner during an interview preceded by "fake sick" instructions than they…

The Psychology of Parental Control: How Well-Meant Parenting Backfires.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grolnick, Wendy S.

Parental control, a focus in much of the parenting research over the past 50 years, involves pushes or pressures for children to think, feel, or behave in specific ways. Based on the view that when parents communicate in controlling ways, they undermine their children's ability to initiate their own actions and induce them to behave because of…

A comparative study of behavioral and psychological signs and symptoms of dementia in patients with dementia referred to psychogeriatric services in Korea and the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Shah, Ajit; Ellanchenny, Nalini; Suh, Guk-Hee

2004-06-01

There is a paucity of cross-cultural studies of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). BPSD were examined in a consecutive series of referrals to a psychogeriatric service in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and in Korea, using the BEHAVE-AD, the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia and the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE). The U.K. service served a well-defined geographical catchment area with a multidisciplinary team and emphasis on home assessments. The Korean service was a nationwide service with limited community resources. The correlates of individual BPSD in each country and the differences between the two countries were examined. Koreans were younger, were more likely to be married, less likely to be single, had a greater number of people in their household and were more likely to live in their own homes than the U.K. sample. Koreans were more likely to be referred by general psychiatrists or family members, and the U.K. sample was more likely to be referred by general practitioners. Koreans were more likely to have Alzheimer's disease and the U.K. sample to have vascular dementia. The Korean sample had a lower MMSE score than the U.K. sample. In both countries, the total BEHAVE-AD score and most subscale scores were negatively correlated with the MMSE score. The total BEHAVE-AD score and all subscale scores were higher in the Korean sample than in the U.K. sample. The prevalence of all BPSD measured with the BEHAVE-AD were higher in the Korean sample (except aggressivity). These differences may be explained by differing interpretation and administration of the measurement instruments, models of service delivery, availability of primary and secondary care services, health seeking behavior of patients and families, cultural influences, and knowledge, expectations and recognition of BPSD by professionals in primary and secondary care. However, despite this, there was possible evidence of genuine differences worthy of further cross-cultural population-based epidemiological study of BPSD between these two countries.

Behavioral competence as a positive youth development construct: conceptual bases and implications for curriculum development.

PubMed

Ma, Hing Keung

2006-01-01

Behavioral competence refers to the ability to use non-verbal and verbal strategies to perform socially acceptable and normative behavior in social interactions. The main objective is to teach our children to be courteous, graceful, and fair so that they behave with respect and responsibility in social interactions with others. The importance of behavioral competence is discussed and it is emphasized that the competence to behave or act effectively must be based on a positive or prosocial motivation or disposition. The behavioral program units cover the following three types of behaviors: applause, criticism, and apology. The general goal is to foster the development of socially acceptable character, manner, and normative behavior. This paper is part of the development of the positive youth development program in Hong Kong.

Self-Presentations of Just Social Exchange.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reis, Harry T.

A self-presentational framework for understanding how people define a just exchange and why behaving justly is important to them is proposed. A case is posited for two self-presentational principles of justice -- that one is responsive to the perceived beliefs of significant others in determining what is just; and that one usually comes to believe…

Psychological Unsafety in Schools: The Development and Validation of a Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yildirim, Kamil; Yenipinar, Senyurt

2017-01-01

Work related psychological unsafety defined as the degree to which employee perceive the risky work environment that hinder them to behave comfortably or to speak up what they think without fear of its possible negative consequences. The importance of psychological unsafety has already been laid down for organizational viability and development,…

3D gate-all-around bandgap-engineered SONOS flash memory in vertical silicon pillar with metal gate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Jae-Sub; Yang, Seong-Dong; Lee, Sang-Youl; Kim, Young-Su; Kang, Min-Ho; Lim, Sung-Kyu; Lee, Hi-Deok; Lee, Ga-Won

2013-08-01

In this paper, a gate-all-around bandgap-engineered silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon device with a vertical silicon pillar structure and a Ti metal gate are demonstrated for a potential solution to overcome the scaling-down of flash memory device. The devices were fabricated using CMOS-compatible technology and exhibited well-behaved memory characteristics in terms of the program/erase window, retention, and endurance properties. Moreover, the integration of the Ti metal gate demonstrated a significant improvement in the erase characteristics due to the efficient suppression of the electron back tunneling through the blocking oxide.

[An exercise program for women suffering from constipation].

PubMed

Blanke, B; Landeck, K J; Meyer, I

2001-11-29

An activity programme facing the psychological and psychosomatic aspects of constipation has been developed and put into practice. The experience of exceeding the limits in respect of common orientation and the way of life they are used was an essential part of this programme as the reflection of the "female" way of behaving and moving was relevant. The evaluation showed: the self-concept "living without symptoms" and the potential effect experienced by the participants of the course were so similar, that we can expect, step by step, a lasting change concerning their well-being and way of life and thereby a reduction of symptoms due to the outlined programme.

History of Medford School District Library Media Centers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisely, Steve

2002-01-01

Describes the development of library media centers, programs, and staff at the Medford School District (Oregon). Information from the standards and research used to define roles and responsibilities is summarized, and relevant Oregon state educational organizations are listed. Some of the results of the district's well-defined library programs and…

The Portrayal of Families on Prime Time Television.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larson, Mary Strom

A study explored the interaction of television families with attention to how parents behave in families and how children interact both with and without their parents and their siblings. Programs selected for the study were nine episodes of "The Cosby Show" and "Growing Pains"; both of these programs feature two-parent families with dependent…

NLSCIDNT user's guide maximum likehood parameter identification computer program with nonlinear rotorcraft model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

A nonlinear, maximum likelihood, parameter identification computer program (NLSCIDNT) is described which evaluates rotorcraft stability and control coefficients from flight test data. The optimal estimates of the parameters (stability and control coefficients) are determined (identified) by minimizing the negative log likelihood cost function. The minimization technique is the Levenberg-Marquardt method, which behaves like the steepest descent method when it is far from the minimum and behaves like the modified Newton-Raphson method when it is nearer the minimum. Twenty-one states and 40 measurement variables are modeled, and any subset may be selected. States which are not integrated may be fixed at an input value, or time history data may be substituted for the state in the equations of motion. Any aerodynamic coefficient may be expressed as a nonlinear polynomial function of selected 'expansion variables'.

A Graphical Representation for the Fugacity of a Pure Substance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Book, Neil L.; Sitton, Oliver C.

2010-01-01

The thermodynamic equations used to define and compute the fugacity of a pure substance are depicted as processes on a semi-logarithmic plot of pressure vs. molar Gibbs energy (PG diagram) with isotherms for the substance behaving as an ideal gas superimposed. The PG diagram clearly demonstrates the physical basis for the definitions and the…

The Key to Leadership Effectiveness--Leader Authenticity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, James E.

When an education leader develops and maintains policies that line up with the imperatives of ethical and authentic behavior, this defines the character of both the leader and the organization. Some of the questions surrounding this assertion are examined in this paper. It looks at what it means when a leader behaves in an authentic fashion, how…

Some Thoughts on the Matter of Self-Determination and Will.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deci, Edward L.

"Will" is defined in this paper as the capacity to decide how to behave based on a processing of relevant information. A sequence of motivated behavior begins with informational inputs or stimuli. These come from three sources: the environment, one's physiology, and one's memory. These inputs lead to the formation of motives or awareness of a…

Students Behaving Badly: Policies on Weapons Violations in Florida Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dickinson, Wendy B.; Hall, Bruce W.

2003-01-01

This study looks at existing aspects of written school violence policies (Codes of Student Conduct) across large, mid-size, and small school districts in Florida. The aim was to provide a clearer picture of how weapons are defined, and the consequences of their possession, use, or display. Two research areas were addressed: (1) What constitutes a…

The Big Picture in Bilingual Education: A Meta-Analysis Corrected for Gersten's Coding Error

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rolstad, Kellie; Mahoney, Kate; Glass, Gene V.

2008-01-01

In light of a recent revelation that Gersten (1985) included erroneous information on one of two programs for English Language Learners (ELLs), the authors re-calculate results of their earlier meta-analysis of program effectiveness studies for ELLs in which Gersten's studies had behaved as outliers (Rolstad, Mahoney & Glass, 2005). The correction…

Time to Pay Up: Analyzing the Motivational Potential of Financial Awards in a TIF Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Jennifer King; Malen, Betty; Jackson, Cara; Hoyer, Kathleen Mulvaney

2015-01-01

The effectiveness of educator incentive programs rests on the assumption that the potential rewards for participants will motivate them to behave in certain ways (e.g., choose certain jobs, expend greater effort, engage in capacity-building professional development). Some researchers have examined the impact of financial incentives on teacher…

Self-assembly of crystalline nanotubes from monodisperse amphiphilic diblock copolypeptoid tiles

DOE PAGES

Sun, Jing; Jiang, Xi; Lund, Reidar; ...

2016-03-28

The folding and assembly of sequence-defined polymers into precisely ordered nanostructures promises a class of well-defined biomimetic architectures with specific function. Amphiphilic diblock copolymers are known to self-assemble in water to form a variety of nanostructured morphologies including spheres, disks, cylinders, and vesicles. In all of these cases, the predominant driving force for assembly is the formation of a hydrophobic core that excludes water, whereas the hydrophilic blocks are solvated and extend into the aqueous phase. However, such polymer systems typically have broad molar mass distributions and lack the purity and sequence-defined structure often associated with biologically derived polymers. Here,more » we demonstrate that purified, monodisperse amphiphilic diblock copolypeptoids, with chemically distinct domains that are congruent in size and shape, can behave like molecular tile units that spontaneously assemble into hollow, crystalline nanotubes in water. The nanotubes consist of stacked, porous crystalline rings, and are held together primarily by side-chain van der Waals interactions. The peptoid nanotubes form without a central hydrophobic core, chirality, a hydrogen bond network, and electrostatic or π-π interactions. These results demonstrate the remarkable structure-directing influence of n-alkane and ethyleneoxy side chains in polymer self-assembly. More broadly, this work suggests that flexible, low-molecular-weight sequence-defined polymers can serve as molecular tile units that can assemble into precision supramolecular architectures.« less

Self-assembly of crystalline nanotubes from monodisperse amphiphilic diblock copolypeptoid tiles

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

Sun, Jing; Jiang, Xi; Lund, Reidar

The folding and assembly of sequence-defined polymers into precisely ordered nanostructures promises a class of well-defined biomimetic architectures with specific function. Amphiphilic diblock copolymers are known to self-assemble in water to form a variety of nanostructured morphologies including spheres, disks, cylinders, and vesicles. In all of these cases, the predominant driving force for assembly is the formation of a hydrophobic core that excludes water, whereas the hydrophilic blocks are solvated and extend into the aqueous phase. However, such polymer systems typically have broad molar mass distributions and lack the purity and sequence-defined structure often associated with biologically derived polymers. Here,more » we demonstrate that purified, monodisperse amphiphilic diblock copolypeptoids, with chemically distinct domains that are congruent in size and shape, can behave like molecular tile units that spontaneously assemble into hollow, crystalline nanotubes in water. The nanotubes consist of stacked, porous crystalline rings, and are held together primarily by side-chain van der Waals interactions. The peptoid nanotubes form without a central hydrophobic core, chirality, a hydrogen bond network, and electrostatic or π-π interactions. These results demonstrate the remarkable structure-directing influence of n-alkane and ethyleneoxy side chains in polymer self-assembly. More broadly, this work suggests that flexible, low-molecular-weight sequence-defined polymers can serve as molecular tile units that can assemble into precision supramolecular architectures.« less

Swarm formation control utilizing elliptical surfaces and limiting functions.

PubMed

Barnes, Laura E; Fields, Mary Anne; Valavanis, Kimon P

2009-12-01

In this paper, we present a strategy for organizing swarms of unmanned vehicles into a formation by utilizing artificial potential fields that were generated from normal and sigmoid functions. These functions construct the surface on which swarm members travel, controlling the overall swarm geometry and the individual member spacing. Nonlinear limiting functions are defined to provide tighter swarm control by modifying and adjusting a set of control variables that force the swarm to behave according to set constraints, formation, and member spacing. The artificial potential functions and limiting functions are combined to control swarm formation, orientation, and swarm movement as a whole. Parameters are chosen based on desired formation and user-defined constraints. This approach is computationally efficient and scales well to different swarm sizes, to heterogeneous systems, and to both centralized and decentralized swarm models. Simulation results are presented for a swarm of 10 and 40 robots that follow circle, ellipse, and wedge formations. Experimental results are included to demonstrate the applicability of the approach on a swarm of four custom-built unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).

Dirac fermions and pseudomagnetic fields in two-dimensional electron gases with triangular antidot lattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yun-Mei; Zhou, Xiaoying; Zhang, Yan-Yang; Zhang, Dong; Chang, Kai

2017-07-01

We investigate theoretically the electronic properties of two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) with regular and distorted triangular antidot lattices. We show that the triangular antidot lattices embedded in 2DEGs behave like artificial graphene and host Dirac fermions. By introducing the Wannier representation, we obtain a tight-binding Hamiltonian including the second-nearest-neighboring hopping, which agrees well with the numerically exact solutions. Based on the tight-binding model, we find that spatially nonuniform distortions of the antidot lattices strongly modify the electronic structures, generate pseudomagnetic fields and the well-defined Landau levels. In contrast to graphene, we can design the nonuniform distortions to generate various configurations of pseudomagnetic fields. We show that the snake orbital states arise by designing the ±B pseudomagnetic field configuration. We find that the disorders of antidot lattices during fabrication would not affect the basic feature of the Dirac electrons, but they lead to a reduction in conductance in strong disorder cases.

The Children’s Behavior Questionnaire very short scale: Psychometric properties and development of a one-item temperament scale

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Little research has been conducted on the psychometrics of the very short scale (36 items) of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire, and no one-item temperament scale has been tested for use in applied work. In this study, 237 United States caregivers completed a survey to define their child’s behav...

Strategies to Avoid Audism in Adult Educational Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ballenger, Sheryl

2013-01-01

Humphries first defined the term "audism" as "the notion that one is superior based on one's ability to hear or behave in the manner of one who hears". Audism is a prejudice related to the physical hearing condition of the human body. The point of this article is not to substantiate or negate the term's importance but…

Mother and Child Behaviour in Very Preterm and Term Dyads at 6 and 8 Years

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaekel, Julia; Wolke, Dieter; Chernova, Julia

2012-01-01

Aim: Mothers of very preterm children have been reported to behave less sensitively and to be more controlling. It is unknown whether this is the result of maternal factors or due to maternal adaptation to children's cognitive problems. Method: We investigated a geographically defined prospective whole-population sample of very low birthweight (…

Non-Rated Air Force Line Officer Attrition Rates Using Survival Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-26

69 viii List of Figures Figure Page 1 Odds Ratio of Retention for Gender ...branches with the highest probability may require incentives to increase attrition. The branches could be defined by gender , career field, religion...per occupational field with gender , race, [and] citizenship” [14] and concluded that each subgroup of Marines behaved differently over time and should

On use of image quality metrics for perceptual blur modeling: image/video compression case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cha, Jae H.; Olson, Jeffrey T.; Preece, Bradley L.; Espinola, Richard L.; Abbott, A. Lynn

2018-02-01

Linear system theory is employed to make target acquisition performance predictions for electro-optical/infrared imaging systems where the modulation transfer function (MTF) may be imposed from a nonlinear degradation process. Previous research relying on image quality metrics (IQM) methods, which heuristically estimate perceived MTF has supported that an average perceived MTF can be used to model some types of degradation such as image compression. Here, we discuss the validity of the IQM approach by mathematically analyzing the associated heuristics from the perspective of reliability, robustness, and tractability. Experiments with standard images compressed by x.264 encoding suggest that the compression degradation can be estimated by a perceived MTF within boundaries defined by well-behaved curves with marginal error. Our results confirm that the IQM linearizer methodology provides a credible tool for sensor performance modeling.

Autocorrelation exponent of conserved spin systems in the scaling regime following a critical quench.

PubMed

Sire, Clément

2004-09-24

We study the autocorrelation function of a conserved spin system following a quench at the critical temperature. Defining the correlation length L(t) approximately t(1/z), we find that for times t' and t satisfying L(t')infinity limit, we show that lambda(')(c)=d+2 and phi=z/2. We give a heuristic argument suggesting that this result is, in fact, valid for any dimension d and spin vector dimension n. We present numerical simulations for the conserved Ising model in d=1 and d=2, which are fully consistent with the present theory.

Learning Behaviors and Interaction Patterns among Students in Virtual Learning Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Chi-Syan; Ma, Jung Tsan; Chen, Yi-Lung; Kuo, Ming-Shiou

2010-01-01

The goal of this study is to investigate how students behave themselves in the virtual learning worlds. The study creates a 3D virtual learning world, entitled the Best Digital Village, and implements a learning program on it. The learning program, the Expo, takes place at the Exhibition Center in the Best Digital Village. The space in the Expo is…

Mechanism of Developmental Change in the PLAY Project Home Consultation Program: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahoney, Gerald; Solomon, Richard

2016-01-01

This investigation is a secondary analysis of data from a randomized control trial of the PLAY Home Consultation Intervention Program which was conducted with 112 preschool children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their parents (Solomon et al. in "J Dev Behav Pediatr" 35:475-485, 2014). Subjects were randomly assigned to either a…

Universal Viscous-Brittle Transition in Magmatic Liquids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witcher, T.; Wadsworth, F. B.; Hess, K. U.; Vossen, C.; Unwin, H.; Dingwell, D. B.

2017-12-01

Physical processes occurring in a volcanic conduit are thought to dictate the eruptivebehavior of volcanoes. One of these processes is the rheological response of the liquidmagma to the enormous stresses applied to it during ascent. In this study we investigatedthe behavior of both synthetic and natural silicate glass at high temperature. We chosetemperatures at which the glass viscosity was high in the range of 109 - 1012 Pa s. Afterthermal equilibration, we deformed the samples by uniaxial compression. We measured theforce and displacement applied to 20 x 40 mm glass cylinders at controlled strain rates. Toparameterize the deformation behavior we defined a dimensionless quantity, the Deborahnumber (De), which is a ratio between viscoelastic relaxation time of the liquid (λr) and thedeformation time (λ) both in units of seconds. Each deformed sample had a De assignedto it and was plotted on a 'Deformation Map.' After performing over 60 experiments,three deformational regimes were defined: viscous, transitional, and brittle. We found thatall samples with De < 0.01 behaved purely viscously with no stress drops. Between De =0.01 and De = 0.04 the behavior was unrelaxed, in which small stress drops were observedbetween otherwise viscous flow, indicating the onset of elastic behavior. Furthermore,samples with De > 0.04 were categorized as brittle and behaved purely elastically withlittle to no fracturing before one large stress drop. The implications of this study showthat when a silicate melt is not given enough time to dissipate the stress applied to itthrough viscous flow, it will behave like an elastic solid and support fracture propagation.It is through this capability of brittle failure that magma can rapidly ascend through theshallow crust-the fractures would provide pathways for fluid along the conduit margin.These fluids would lubricate the magma body as it ascends.

Computer-Graphics Emulation of Chemical Instrumentation: Absorption Spectrophotometers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilbert, D. D.; And Others

1982-01-01

Describes interactive, computer-graphics program emulating behavior of high resolution, ultraviolet-visible analog recording spectrophotometer. Graphics terminal behaves as recording absorption spectrophotometer. Objective of the emulation is study of optimization of the instrument to yield accurate absorption spectra, including…

Structural morphology of crystals with the barite (BaSO 4) structure: A revision and extension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartman, P.; Strom, C. S.

1989-09-01

The structural morphology of crystals with the barite (BaSO 4) structure (sulphates, chromates, perchlorates, permanganates and tetrafluoroborates) has been determined with the use of computer programs. Uniquely defined F forms are {002}, {210}, {211}, {020} and {201}. Two different F slices were found for {101} and {200}, 33 for {011}. Attachment energies and specific surface energies have been calculated for an electrostatic point charge model as a function of the charge distribution in the anion. On this basis it is concluded that {101} behaves as an F form, {200} as an S form and {011} as a K form. The theoretical growth form shows {210}, {101} and {002} as main forms. A comparison is made with habits of natural and synthetic crystals. Experiments on KCIO 4 show that {011} appears at high supersaturations (>38; ;20%). It is shown that a broken bond model provides relative attachment energies that are higher by a factor of about three.

Can Computers be Social?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ekdahl, Bertil

2002-09-01

Of main concern in agent based computing is the conception that software agents can attain socially responsible behavior. This idea has its origin in the need for agents to interact with one another in a cooperating manner. Such interplay between several agents can be seen as a combinatorial play where the rules are fixed and the actors are supposed to closely analyze the play in order to behave rational. This kind of rationality has successfully being mathematically described. When the social behavior is extended beyond rational behavior, mere mathematical analysis falls short. For such behavior language is decisive for transferring concepts and language is a holistic entity that cannot be analyzed and defined mathematically. Accordingly, computers cannot be furnished with a language in the sense that meaning can be conveyed and consequently they lack all the necessary properties to be made social. The attempts to postulate mental properties to computer programs are a misconception that is blamed the lack of true understanding of language and especially the relation between formal system and its semantics.

The IGNITE (investigation to guide new insight into translational effectiveness) trial: Protocol for a translational study of an evidenced-based wellness program in fire departments

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Worksites are important locations for interventions to promote health. However, occupational programs with documented efficacy often are not used, and those being implemented have not been studied. The research in this report was funded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act Challenge Topic 'Pathways for Translational Research,' to define and prioritize determinants that enable and hinder translation of evidenced-based health interventions in well-defined settings. Methods The IGNITE (investigation to guide new insights for translational effectiveness) trial is a prospective cohort study of a worksite wellness and injury reduction program from adoption to final outcomes among 12 fire departments. It will employ a mixed methods strategy to define a translational model. We will assess decision to adopt, installation, use, and outcomes (reach, individual outcomes, and economic effects) using onsite measurements, surveys, focus groups, and key informant interviews. Quantitative data will be used to define the model and conduct mediation analysis of each translational phase. Qualitative data will expand on, challenge, and confirm survey findings and allow a more thorough understanding and convergent validity by overcoming biases in qualitative and quantitative methods used alone. Discussion Findings will inform worksite wellness in fire departments. The resultant prioritized influences and model of effective translation can be validated and manipulated in these and other settings to more efficiently move science to service. PMID:20932290

A programmable closed-loop recording and stimulating wireless system for behaving small laboratory animals

PubMed Central

Angotzi, Gian Nicola; Boi, Fabio; Zordan, Stefano; Bonfanti, Andrea; Vato, Alessandro

2014-01-01

A portable 16-channels microcontroller-based wireless system for a bi-directional interaction with the central nervous system is presented in this work. The device is designed to be used with freely behaving small laboratory animals and allows recording of spontaneous and evoked neural activity wirelessly transmitted and stored on a personal computer. Biphasic current stimuli with programmable duration, frequency and amplitude may be triggered in real-time on the basis of the recorded neural activity as well as by the animal behavior within a specifically designed experimental setup. An intuitive graphical user interface was developed to configure and to monitor the whole system. The system was successfully tested through bench tests and in vivo measurements on behaving rats chronically implanted with multi-channels microwire arrays. PMID:25096831

Well behaved anisotropic compact star models in general relativity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jasim, M. K.; Maurya, S. K.; Gupta, Y. K.; Dayanandan, B.

2016-11-01

Anisotropic compact star models have been constructed by assuming a particular form of a metric function e^{λ}. We solved the Einstein field equations for determining the metric function e^{ν}. For this purpose we have assumed a physically valid expression of radial pressure (pr). The obtained anisotropic compact star model is representing the realistic compact objects such as PSR 1937 +21. We have done an extensive study about physical parameters for anisotropic models and found that these parameters are well behaved throughout inside the star. Along with these we have also determined the equation of state for compact star which gives the radial pressure is purely the function of density i.e. pr=f(ρ).

Klusters, NeuroScope, NDManager: a free software suite for neurophysiological data processing and visualization.

PubMed

Hazan, Lynn; Zugaro, Michaël; Buzsáki, György

2006-09-15

Recent technological advances now allow for simultaneous recording of large populations of anatomically distributed neurons in behaving animals. The free software package described here was designed to help neurophysiologists process and view recorded data in an efficient and user-friendly manner. This package consists of several well-integrated applications, including NeuroScope (http://neuroscope.sourceforce.net), an advanced viewer for electrophysiological and behavioral data with limited editing capabilities, Klusters (http://klusters.sourceforge.net), a graphical cluster cutting application for manual and semi-automatic spike sorting, NDManager (GPL,see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html), an experimental parameter and data processing manager. All of these programs are distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL, see ), which gives its users legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software. Also included are extensive user manuals and sample data, as well as source code and documentation.

Workplace Wellness Programs to Promote Cancer Prevention.

PubMed

Soldano, Sharon K

2016-08-01

To define the diversity of and business case for workplace wellness programs, highlight best practices for a comprehensive health promotion program, and describe the opportunities for employees to become wellness advocates. Current literature and articles published between 2010 and 2016, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Enhancement Research Organization, National Business Group on Health, Wellness Councils of America, best practice program guidelines and internet resources. Employers are increasingly affected by rising health care costs and epidemic rates of obesity and associated chronic diseases within the workforce. Employers who offer workplace wellness programs can contribute to the overall health and well-being of their employees, improve employee productivity and retention, and reduce absenteeism and health care costs. Employees participating in workplace wellness programs can reduce their health risks and serve as health promotion advocates. Nurses can lead by example by participating in their workplace wellness programs, serving as an advocate to influence their employers and colleagues, and educating their patients regarding the benefits of workplace wellness programs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Growth dynamics of L-cysteine SAMs on single-crystal gold surfaces: a metastable deexcitation spectroscopy study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Canepa, M.; Lavagnino, L.; Pasquali, L.; Moroni, R.; Bisio, F.; DeRenzi, V.; Terreni, S.; Mattera, L.

2009-07-01

We report on a metastable deexcitation spectroscopy investigation of the growth of L-cysteine layers deposited under UHV conditions on well-defined Au(110)- (1 × 2) and Au(111) surfaces. The interaction of He* with molecular orbitals gave rise to well-defined UPS-like Penning spectra which provided information on the SAM assembly dynamics and adsorption configurations. Penning spectra have been interpreted through comparison with molecular orbital DFT calculations of the free molecule and have been compared with XPS results of previous works. Regarding adsorption of first-layer molecules at room temperature (RT), two different growth regimes were observed. On Au(110), the absence of spectral features related to orbitals associated with SH groups indicated the formation of a compact SAM of thiolate molecules. On Au(111), the data demonstrated the simultaneous presence, since the early stages of growth, of strongly and weakly bound molecules, the latter showing intact SH groups. The different growth mode was tentatively assigned to the added rows of the reconstructed Au(110) surface which behave as extended defects effectively promoting the formation of the S-Au bond. The growth of the second molecular layer was instead observed to proceed similarly for both substrates. Second-layer molecules preferably adopt an adsorption configuration in which the SH group protrudes into the vacuum side.

A VLSI Neural Monitoring System With Ultra-Wideband Telemetry for Awake Behaving Subjects.

PubMed

Greenwald, E; Mollazadeh, M; Hu, C; Wei Tang; Culurciello, E; Thakor, V

2011-04-01

Long-term monitoring of neuronal activity in awake behaving subjects can provide fundamental information about brain dynamics for neuroscience and neuroengineering applications. Here, we present a miniature, lightweight, and low-power recording system for monitoring neural activity in awake behaving animals. The system integrates two custom designed very-large-scale integrated chips, a neural interface module fabricated in 0.5 μm complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology and an ultra-wideband transmitter module fabricated in a 0.5 μm silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) technology. The system amplifies, filters, digitizes, and transmits 16 channels of neural data at a rate of 1 Mb/s. The entire system, which includes the VLSI circuits, a digital interface board, a battery, and a custom housing, is small and lightweight (24 g) and, thus, can be chronically mounted on small animals. The system consumes 4.8 mA and records continuously for up to 40 h powered by a 3.7-V, 200-mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Experimental benchtop characterizations as well as in vivo multichannel neural recordings from awake behaving rats are presented here.

Binary colloidal structures assembled through Ising interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khalil, Karim S.; Sagastegui, Amanda; Li, Yu; Tahir, Mukarram A.; Socolar, Joshua E. S.; Wiley, Benjamin J.; Yellen, Benjamin B.

2012-04-01

New methods for inducing microscopic particles to assemble into useful macroscopic structures could open pathways for fabricating complex materials that cannot be produced by lithographic methods. Here we demonstrate a colloidal assembly technique that uses two parameters to tune the assembly of over 20 different pre-programmed structures, including kagome, honeycomb and square lattices, as well as various chain and ring configurations. We programme the assembled structures by controlling the relative concentrations and interaction strengths between spherical magnetic and non-magnetic beads, which behave as paramagnetic or diamagnetic dipoles when immersed in a ferrofluid. A comparison of our experimental observations with potential energy calculations suggests that the lowest energy configuration within binary mixtures is determined entirely by the relative dipole strengths and their relative concentrations.

Imaging Neural Activity Using Thy1-GCaMP Transgenic mice

PubMed Central

Chen, Qian; Cichon, Joseph; Wang, Wenting; Qiu, Li; Lee, Seok-Jin R.; Campbell, Nolan R.; DeStefino, Nicholas; Goard, Michael J.; Fu, Zhanyan; Yasuda, Ryohei; Looger, Loren L.; Arenkiel, Benjamin R.; Gan, Wen-Biao; Feng, Guoping

2014-01-01

Summary The ability to chronically monitor neuronal activity in the living brain is essential for understanding the organization and function of the nervous system. The genetically encoded green fluorescent protein based calcium sensor GCaMP provides a powerful tool for detecting calcium transients in neuronal somata, processes, and synapses that are triggered by neuronal activities. Here we report the generation and characterization of transgenic mice that express improved GCaMPs in various neuronal subpopulations under the control of the Thy1 promoter. In vitro and in vivo studies show that calcium transients induced by spontaneous and stimulus-evoked neuronal activities can be readily detected at the level of individual cells and synapses in acute brain slices, as well as chronically in awake behaving animals. These GCaMP transgenic mice allow investigation of activity patterns in defined neuronal populations in the living brain, and will greatly facilitate dissecting complex structural and functional relationships of neural networks. PMID:23083733

Charge storage in oxygen deficient phases of TiO2: defect Physics without defects.

PubMed

Padilha, A C M; Raebiger, H; Rocha, A R; Dalpian, G M

2016-07-01

Defects in semiconductors can exhibit multiple charge states, which can be used for charge storage applications. Here we consider such charge storage in a series of oxygen deficient phases of TiO2, known as Magnéli phases. These Magnéli phases (TinO2n-1) present well-defined crystalline structures, i.e., their deviation from stoichiometry is accommodated by changes in space group as opposed to point defects. We show that these phases exhibit intermediate bands with an electronic quadruple donor transitions akin to interstitial Ti defect levels in rutile TiO2. Thus, the Magnéli phases behave as if they contained a very large pseudo-defect density: ½ per formula unit TinO2n-1. Depending on the Fermi Energy the whole material will become charged. These crystals are natural charge storage materials with a storage capacity that rivals the best known supercapacitors.

Investigation of ultrashort pulse laser ablation of the cornea and hydrogels for eye microsurgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girard, Guillaume; Zhou, Sheng; Bigaouette, Nicolas; Brunette, Isabelle; Chaker, Mohamed; Germain, Lucie; Lavertu, Pierre-Luc; Martin, François; Olivié, Gilles; Ozaki, Tsuneyuki; Parent, Mireille; Vidal, François; Kieffer, Jean-Claude

2004-10-01

The Femtosecond laser is a very promising tool for performing accurate dissection in various cornea layers. Clearly, the development of this application requires basic knowledge about laser-tissue interaction. One of the most significant parameter in laser applications is the ablation threshold, defined as the minimal laser energy per unit surface required for ablation. This paper investigates the ablation threshold as a function of the laser pulse duration for two corneal layers (endothelium and epithelium) as well as for hydrogel with different hydration degrees. The measured ablation thresholds prove to behave very differently as a function of the pulse duration for the various materials investigated, although the values obtained for the shortest laser pulses are quite similar. Our experimental results are fitted with a simple model for laser-matter interaction in order to determine some intrinsic physical parameters characterizing each target.

Simultaneous sensing of light and sound velocities of fluids in a two-dimensional phoXonic crystal with defects

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

Amoudache, Samira; Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie Quantique, Université Mouloud Mammeri, B.P. 17 RP, 15000 Tizi-Ouzou; Pennec, Yan, E-mail: yan.pennec@univ-lille1.fr

2014-04-07

We theoretically investigate the potentiality of dual phononic-photonic (the so-called phoxonic) crystals for liquid sensing applications. We study the transmission through a two-dimensional (2D) crystal made of infinite cylindrical holes in a silicon substrate, where one row of holes oriented perpendicular to the propagation direction is filled with a liquid. The infiltrated holes may have a different radius than the regular holes. We show, in the defect structure, the existence of well-defined features (peaks or dips) in the transmission spectra of acoustic and optical waves and estimate their sensitivity to the sound and light velocity of the analyte. Some ofmore » the geometrical requirements behave in opposite directions when searching for an efficient sensing of either sound or light velocities. Hence, a compromise in the choice of the parameters may become necessary in making the phoxonic sensor.« less

A new flux splitting scheme

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liou, Meng-Sing; Steffen, Christopher J., Jr.

1993-01-01

A new flux splitting scheme is proposed. The scheme is remarkably simple and yet its accuracy rivals and in some cases surpasses that of Roe's solver in the Euler and Navier-Stokes solutions performed in this study. The scheme is robust and converges as fast as the Roe splitting. An approximately defined cell-face advection Mach number is proposed using values from the two straddling cells via associated characteristic speeds. This interface Mach number is then used to determine the upwind extrapolation for the convective quantities. Accordingly, the name of the scheme is coined as Advection Upstream Splitting Method (AUSM). A new pressure splitting is introduced which is shown to behave successfully, yielding much smoother results than other existing pressure splittings. Of particular interest is the supersonic blunt body problem in which the Roe scheme gives anomalous solutions. The AUSM produces correct solutions without difficulty for a wide range of flow conditions as well as grids.

A new flux splitting scheme

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liou, Meng-Sing; Steffen, Christopher J., Jr.

1991-01-01

A new flux splitting scheme is proposed. The scheme is remarkably simple and yet its accuracy rivals and in some cases surpasses that of Roe's solver in the Euler and Navier-Stokes solutions performed in this study. The scheme is robust and converges as fast as the Roe splitting. An approximately defined cell-face advection Mach number is proposed using values from the two straddling cells via associated characteristic speeds. This interface Mach number is then used to determine the upwind extrapolation for the convective quantities. Accordingly, the name of the scheme is coined as Advection Upstream Splitting Method (AUSM). A new pressure splitting is introduced which is shown to behave successfully, yielding much smoother results than other existing pressure splittings. Of particular interest is the supersonic blunt body problem in which the Roe scheme gives anomalous solutions. The AUSM produces correct solutions without difficulty for a wide range of flow conditions as well as grids.

Comparison between maximum radial expansion of ultrasound contrast agents and experimental postexcitation signal results.

PubMed

King, Daniel A; O'Brien, William D

2011-01-01

Experimental postexcitation signal data of collapsing Definity microbubbles are compared with the Marmottant theoretical model for large amplitude oscillations of ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs). After taking into account the insonifying pulse characteristics and size distribution of the population of UCAs, a good comparison between simulated results and previously measured experimental data is obtained by determining a threshold maximum radial expansion (Rmax) to indicate the onset of postexcitation. This threshold Rmax is found to range from 3.4 to 8.0 times the initial bubble radius, R0, depending on insonification frequency. These values are well above the typical free bubble inertial cavitation threshold commonly chosen at 2R0. The close agreement between the experiment and models suggests that lipid-shelled UCAs behave as unshelled bubbles during most of a large amplitude cavitation cycle, as proposed in the Marmottant equation.

Lodestone: Nature's own permanent magnet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wasilewski, P.

1976-01-01

Magnetic hysteresis and microstructural details are presented which explain why the class of magnetic iron ores defined as proto-lodestones, can behave as permanent magnets, i.e. lodestones. Certain of these proto-lodestones which are not permanent magnets can be made into permanent magnets by charging in a field greater than 1000 oersted. This fact, other experimental observations, and field evidence from antiquity and the middle ages, which seems to indicate that lodestones are found as localized patches within massive ore bodies, suggests that lightning might be responsible for the charging of lodestones. The large remanent magnetization, high values of coercive force, and good time stability for the remanent magnetization are all characteristics of proto-lodestone iron ores which behave magnetically as fine scale ( 10 micrometer) intergrowths when subjected to magnetic hysteresis analysis. The magnetic results are easily understood by analysis of the complex proto lodestone microstructural patterns observable at the micrometer scale and less.

Physical plausibility of cold star models satisfying Karmarkar conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuloria, Pratibha; Pant, Neeraj

2017-11-01

In the present article, we have obtained a new well behaved solution to Einstein's field equations in the background of Karmarkar spacetime. The solution has been used for stellar modelling within the demand of current observational evidences. All the physical parameters are well behaved inside the stellar interior and our model satisfies all the required conditions to be physically realizable. The obtained compactness parameter is within the Buchdahl limit, i.e. 2M/R ≤ 8/9 . The TOV equation is well maintained inside the fluid spheres. The stability of the models has been further confirmed by using Herrera's cracking method. The models proposed in the present work are compatible with observational data of compact objects 4U1608-52 and PSRJ1903+327. The necessary graphs have been shown to authenticate the physical viability of our models.

Taking Care of Risky Business.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Tammie; Taylor, Stephen

1994-01-01

American children do not bring uniform characteristics to the school setting. The at-risk student actually learns, behaves, and thinks differently from the student considered ideally suited to traditional programming. The poor "fit" between the at-risk students' natural characteristics and the expectations of the traditional school…

Expression of Self-Concept and Adjustment against Repeated Aggressions: The Case of a Longitudinal Study on School Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Houbre, Barbara; Tarquinio, Cyril; Lanfranchi, Jean-Baptiste

2010-01-01

Bullying between students in the school setting is an increasing problem. Bullying can be defined as any form of repeated mental or physical violence carried out by one or several individuals on a person who is not capable of defending himself (Roland and Idsoe, "Aggress Behav" 27:446-462, 2001). The aim of this paper is to observe the expression…

Computerized optimization of radioimmunoassays for hCG and estradiol: an experimental evaluation

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

Yanagishita, M.; Rodbard, D.

1978-07-15

The mathematical and statistical theory of radioimmunoassays (RIAs) has been used to develop a series of computer programs to optimize sensitivity or precision at any desired dose level for either equilibrium or nonequilibrium assays. These computer programs provide for the calculation of the equilibrium constants of association and binding capacities for antisera (parameters of Scatchard plots), the association and dissociation rate constants, and prediction of optimum concentration of labeled ligand and antibody and optimum incubation times for the assay. This paper presents an experimental evaluation of the use of these computer programs applied to RIAs for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)more » and estradiol. The experimental results are in reasonable semiquantitative agreement with the predictions of the computer simulations (usually within a factor of two) and thus partially validate the use of computer techniques to optimize RIAs that are reasonably well behaved, as in the case of the hCG and estradiol RIAs. Further, these programs can provide insights into the nature of the RIA system, e.g., the general nature of the sensitivity and precision surfaces. This facilitates empirical optimization of conditions.« less

THE COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOLS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

SMITH, REX M.

THE COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM IS DEFINED AS ONE WHICH MEETS THE NEEDS OF ALL STUDENTS AT ALL LEVELS BY PROVIDING COMPREHENSIVE AND ELECTIVE PROGRAMS FOR THOSE STUDENTS REQUIRING SALABLE SKILLS UPON GRADUATION FROM HIGH SCHOOL, AS WELL AS A BROAD ELECTIVE PROGRAM FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO CONTINUE THEIR EDUCATION. INCLUDED ARE SUMMARIES OF THE…

Factors in adoption of a fire department wellness program: champ-and-chief model.

PubMed

Kuehl, Hannah; Mabry, Linda; Elliot, Diane L; Kuehl, Kerry S; Favorite, Kim C

2013-04-01

To identify and evaluate determinants of fire departments' wellness program adoption. The Promoting Healthy Lifestyles: Alternative Models' Effects fire service wellness program was offered for free to all medium-sized fire departments in Oregon and Washington. An invitation to participate was mailed to key fire department decision makers (chief, union president, and wellness officer). These key decision makers from 12 sites that adopted the program and 24 matched nonadopting sites were interviewed and results were analyzed to define adoption determinants. Three adoption requirements were identified: (1) mailer connection, (2) local firefighter wellness champion, and (3) willing fire chief, whereas a fourth set of organizational factors had little or no impact on adoption including previous and ongoing wellness activities, financial pressures, and resistance to change. Findings identified determinants of medium-sized fire service wellness program adoption.

Scholarly Activities of Family Medicine Faculty: Results of a National Survey.

PubMed

Hinojosa, Jose; Benè, Kristen L; Hickey, Colleen; Marvel, Kim

2006-12-01

This survey examined how family medicine residency programs define scholarly activity, the productivity of programs, and perceived barriers to scholarly work. Five types of residency programs are compared: university-based, community-based (unaffiliated, university-affiliated, university-administered), and military. A 13 item web-based questionnaire was sent to all 455 U. S. family medicine residency programs. The survey solicited demographic information as well as program expectations of faculty, presence of a research coordinator/director, activities considered scholarly, productivity, and perceived barriers. A total of 177 surveys were completed for a response rate of 38%, similar to response rates of web-based surveys in the literature. 67.6% of programs encouraged, but did not require scholarly activity, and 44.5% indicated their program had no research coordinator/ director. University-based programs had the highest levels of productivity compared to other program types. Primary barriers to scholarly activity noted were lack of time (73/138, 53%) and lack of supportive infrastructure (37/138, 27%). While interpretations are limited by the response rate of the survey, results provide an increased understanding of how programs define scholarly activity as well as reference points for faculty productivity. This information can help program directors when setting criteria for scholarly work.

Space-time modeling in EPA's Ecosystem Services Research Program

EPA Science Inventory

The US EPA is conducting a long-term research program on the effects of human actions on ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are defined in this program as “the products of ecological functions or processes that directly or indirectly contribute to human well-being.” Modelin...

Analyzing long-term correlated stochastic processes by means of recurrence networks: Potentials and pitfalls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Yong; Donner, Reik V.; Kurths, Jürgen

2015-02-01

Long-range correlated processes are ubiquitous, ranging from climate variables to financial time series. One paradigmatic example for such processes is fractional Brownian motion (fBm). In this work, we highlight the potentials and conceptual as well as practical limitations when applying the recently proposed recurrence network (RN) approach to fBm and related stochastic processes. In particular, we demonstrate that the results of a previous application of RN analysis to fBm [Liu et al. Phys. Rev. E 89, 032814 (2014), 10.1103/PhysRevE.89.032814] are mainly due to an inappropriate treatment disregarding the intrinsic nonstationarity of such processes. Complementarily, we analyze some RN properties of the closely related stationary fractional Gaussian noise (fGn) processes and find that the resulting network properties are well-defined and behave as one would expect from basic conceptual considerations. Our results demonstrate that RN analysis can indeed provide meaningful results for stationary stochastic processes, given a proper selection of its intrinsic methodological parameters, whereas it is prone to fail to uniquely retrieve RN properties for nonstationary stochastic processes like fBm.

Characterization of cannabinoid receptor ligands in tissues natively expressing cannabinoid CB2 receptors

PubMed Central

Marini, Pietro; Cascio, Maria-Grazia; King, Angela; Pertwee, Roger G; Ross, Ruth A

2013-01-01

Background and Purpose Although cannabinoid CB2 receptor ligands have been widely characterized in recombinant systems in vitro, little pharmacological characterization has been performed in tissues natively expressing CB2 receptors. The aim of this study was to compare the pharmacology of CB2 receptor ligands in tissue natively expressing CB2 receptors (human, rat and mouse spleen) and hCB2-transfected CHO cells. Experimental Approach We tested the ability of well-known cannabinoid CB2 receptor ligands to stimulate or inhibit [35S]GTPγS binding to mouse, rat and human spleen membranes and to hCB2-transfected CHO cell membranes. cAMP assays were also performed in hCB2-CHO cells. Key Results The data presented demonstrate that: (i) CP 55,940, WIN 55,212-2 and JWH 133 behave as CB2 receptor full agonists both in spleen and hCB2-CHO cells, in both [35S]GTPγS and cAMP assays; (ii) JWH 015 behaves as a low-efficacy agonist in spleen as well as in hCB2-CHO cells when tested in the [35S]GTPγS assay, while it displays full agonism when tested in the cAMP assay using hCB2-CHO cells; (iii) (R)-AM 1241 and GW 405833 behave as agonists in the [35S]GTPγS assay using spleen, instead it behaves as a low-efficacy inverse agonist in hCB2-CHO cells; and (iv) SR 144528, AM 630 and JTE 907 behave as CB2 receptor inverse agonists in all the tissues. Conclusion and Implications Our results demonstrate that CB2 receptor ligands can display differential pharmacology when assays are conducted in tissues that natively express CB2 receptors and imply that conclusions from recombinant CB2 receptors should be treated with caution. PMID:23711022

Payload training methodology study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

The results of the Payload Training Methodology Study (PTMS) are documented. Methods and procedures are defined for the development of payload training programs to be conducted at the Marshall Space Flight Center Payload Training Complex (PCT) for the Space Station Freedom program. The study outlines the overall training program concept as well as the six methodologies associated with the program implementation. The program concept outlines the entire payload training program from initial identification of training requirements to the development of detailed design specifications for simulators and instructional material. The following six methodologies are defined: (1) The Training and Simulation Needs Assessment Methodology; (2) The Simulation Approach Methodology; (3) The Simulation Definition Analysis Methodology; (4) The Simulator Requirements Standardization Methodology; (5) The Simulator Development Verification Methodology; and (6) The Simulator Validation Methodology.

The use of propagation path corrections to improve regional seismic event location in western China

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

Steck, L.K.; Cogbill, A.H.; Velasco, A.A.

1999-03-01

In an effort to improve the ability to locate seismic events in western China using only regional data, the authors have developed empirical propagation path corrections (PPCs) and applied such corrections using both traditional location routines as well as a nonlinear grid search method. Thus far, the authors have concentrated on corrections to observed P arrival times for shallow events using travel-time observations available from the USGS EDRs, the ISC catalogs, their own travel-tim picks from regional data, and data from other catalogs. They relocate events with the algorithm of Bratt and Bache (1988) from a region encompassing China. Formore » individual stations having sufficient data, they produce a map of the regional travel-time residuals from all well-located teleseismic events. From these maps, interpolated PPC surfaces have been constructed using both surface fitting under tension and modified Bayesian kriging. The latter method offers the advantage of providing well-behaved interpolants, but requires that the authors have adequate error estimates associated with the travel-time residuals. To improve error estimates for kriging and event location, they separate measurement error from modeling error. The modeling error is defined as the travel-time variance of a particular model as a function of distance, while the measurement error is defined as the picking error associated with each phase. They estimate measurement errors for arrivals from the EDRs based on roundoff or truncation, and use signal-to-noise for the travel-time picks from the waveform data set.« less

When Worlds Collide: Evaluating the Impact of Short-Term Study Abroad Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sato, Deirdre Colby

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether and how short-term study abroad programs transform college students' perspectives. The study examined attitudes about host country and international outlook, as well as intellectual, social and personal understandings. Short-term programs were defined as programs of less than a semester or a…

Comet Tempel 2: Orbit, ephemerides and error analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yeomans, D. K.

1978-01-01

The dynamical behavior of comet Tempel 2 is investigated and the comet is found to be very well behaved and easily predictable. The nongravitational forces affecting the motion of this comet are the smallest of any comet that is affected by nongravitational forces. The sign and time history of these nongravitational forces imply (1) a direct rotation of the comet's nucleus and (2) the comet's ability to outgas has not changed substantially over its entire observational history. The well behaved dynamical motion of the comet, the well observed past apparitions, the small nongravitational forces and the excellent 1988 ground based observing conditions all contribute to relatively small position and velocity errors in 1988 -- the year of a proposed rendezvous space mission to this comet. To assist in planned ground based and earth orbital observations of this comet, ephemerides are given for the 1978-79, 1983-84 and 1988 apparitions.

Using social marketing to manage population health performance.

PubMed

Rothschild, Michael L

2010-09-01

Population health can be affected by implementing pay-for-performance measures with key players. From a social marketing perspective, people (both consumers and managers) have choices and will do what they perceive enhances their own self-interest. The bottom-up focus of social marketing begins with an understanding of the people whose behaviors are targeted. Desired behavior results when people perceive that they will get more value than the cost of behaving and when the resulting offer is perceived to be better than what is obtainable through alternative choices. Incentives should be offered to consumers; managers should receive motivation for their own behavior and understand how to motivate relevant consumers. Pay can be monetary or nonmonetary, tangible or intangible. Everyone is paid for performance. Some are paid well enough to behave as desired; others are offered a poor rate of pay and choose not to behave.

Equipped for Life: More than a Game.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shively, Randy

2002-01-01

The EQUIP Program teaches antisocial youth to think and behave more pro-socially and addresses motivating youth to use these tools. The Equipped for Life game is a motivational tool, which provides students with opportunities for social learning. Topics revolve around community reintegration and can be easily adapted to any cognitive behavioral…

Early Childhood Television Viewing and Adolescent Behavior: The Recontact Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Daniel R.; Huston, Aletha C.; Schmitt, Kelly L.; Linebarger, Deborah L.; Wright, John C.

2001-01-01

Followed up on 570 adolescents studied as preschoolers. Found that preschoolers' viewing of educational television programs was associated with achieving higher grades, reading more books, placing more value on achievement, exhibiting greater creativity, and behaving less aggressively as adolescents more consistently for boys than girls. Found…

Magnetometer instrument team studies for the definition phase of the outer planets grand tour

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coleman, P. J., Jr.

1972-01-01

The objectives of magnetic field investigations on missions to the outer planets were defined as well as an instrumentation system, a program of studies and instrument development tasks was proposed for the mission definition phase of the Outer Planets Grand Tour project. A report on the status of this program is given. Requirements were also established for the spacecraft and the mission which would insure their compatibility with the magnetic field investigation proposed for the outer planets missions and developed figures of merit for encounter trajectories. The spacecraft-instrumentation interface and the on-board data handling system were defined in various reports by the Project Team and in the reports by the Science Steering Group. The defining program for exploring the outer planets within the more restrictive constraints of the Mariner Jupiter-Saturn project included defining a limited magnetic field investigation.

Gas/Liquid Separator Being Developed for Microgravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoffmann, Monica I.

2002-01-01

The examination and research of how liquids and gases behave in very low gravity will improve our understanding of the behavior of fluids on Earth. The knowledge of multiphase fluid behavior is applicable to many industries on Earth, including the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, and nuclear industries, just to name a few. In addition, this valuable knowledge applies very well to the engineering and design of microgravity materials processing and of life-support systems for extended space flight. Professors Ashok Sangani of Syracuse University and Donald Koch of Cornell University are principal investigators in the Microgravity Fluid Physics Program, which is managed and sponsored by the NASA Glenn Research Center. Their flight experiment entitled "Microgravity Observations of Bubble Interactions" (MOBI) is planned for operation in the Fluids and Combustion Facility aboard the International Space Station.

Analysis of Structures with Rotating, Flexible Substructures Applied to Rotorcraft Aeroelasticity in GRASP (General Rotorcraft Aeromechanical Stability Program),

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-01

two nodes behave identically. In GRASP, these constraints are entirely invisible from the user’s point of view. GRASP (Recall that the Levi - Civita ...virtual rotation GRASP is the first program implementing a new methodWl( = Levi -Ciudta symbol op for dynamic analysis of structures, parts of which may...natural coordinatization of sis for this methodology, which incorporates body flexibility components. with the large discrete motions previously

Specifying and Verifying Concurrent Programs.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-02-01

for Verification and Specification of Concurrent Systems, held in La - Colle - Sur - Loup , France in October, 1984. Work Supported in part by the National...Proc. ACM Symposium on Princi- 0 ples of Programming Languages, Las Vegas, (January 1980), 251-261. [7] J. V. Guttag and J. J. Horning. An Introduction...names in ’V(S). However, the two formulas behave differently under a renaming mapping p. In particu- lar. p(Vv :A( LA )) equals Vv :p(A(v)), so the

Software reliability: Application of a reliability model to requirements error analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Logan, J.

1980-01-01

The application of a software reliability model having a well defined correspondence of computer program properties to requirements error analysis is described. Requirements error categories which can be related to program structural elements are identified and their effect on program execution considered. The model is applied to a hypothetical B-5 requirement specification for a program module.

Dynamics of Disordered PI-PtBS Diblock Copolymer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, Hiroshi

2009-03-01

Viscoelastic (G^*) and dielectric (ɛ'') data were examined for a LCST-type diblock copolymer composed of polyisoprene (PI; M = 53K) and poly(p-tert- butyl styrene) (PtBS; M = 42K) blocks disordered at T <=120 C^o. Only PI had the type-A dipole parallel along the chain backbone. Thus, the ɛ'' data reflected the global motion of the PI block, while the G^* data detected the motion of the copolymer chain as a whole. Comparison of these data indicated that the PI block relaxed much faster than the PtBS block at low T and the dynamic heterogeneity due to PtBS was effectively quenched to give a frictional nonuniformity for the PI block relaxation. The ɛ'' data were thermo-rheologically complex at low T, partly due to this nonuniformity. However, the block connectivity could have also led to the complexity. For testing this effect, the ɛ'' data were reduced at the iso- frictional state defined with respect to bulk PI. In this state, the ɛ'' data of the copolymer at low and high T, respectively, were close to the data for the star-branched and linear bulk PI. Thus, the PI block appeared to be effectively tethered in space at low T thereby behaving similarly to the star arm while the PI block tended to move cooperatively with the PtBS block at high T to behave similarly to the linear PI, which led to the complexity of the ɛ'' data. The PtBS block also exhibited the complexity (noted from the G^* data), which was well correlated with the complexity of the PI block.

The genetic network controlling plasma cell differentiation.

PubMed

Nutt, Stephen L; Taubenheim, Nadine; Hasbold, Jhagvaral; Corcoran, Lynn M; Hodgkin, Philip D

2011-10-01

Upon activation by antigen, mature B cells undergo immunoglobulin class switch recombination and differentiate into antibody-secreting plasma cells, the endpoint of the B cell developmental lineage. Careful quantitation of these processes, which are stochastic, independent and strongly linked to the division history of the cell, has revealed that populations of B cells behave in a highly predictable manner. Considerable progress has also been made in the last few years in understanding the gene regulatory network that controls the B cell to plasma cell transition. The mutually exclusive transcriptomes of B cells and plasma cells are maintained by the antagonistic influences of two groups of transcription factors, those that maintain the B cell program, including Pax5, Bach2 and Bcl6, and those that promote and facilitate plasma cell differentiation, notably Irf4, Blimp1 and Xbp1. In this review, we discuss progress in the definition of both the transcriptional and cellular events occurring during late B cell differentiation, as integrating these two approaches is crucial to defining a regulatory network that faithfully reflects the stochastic features and complexity of the humoral immune response. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits

Science.gov Websites

Enrollment Retiree News View All Headlines Legislation Programs Defined Contribution Defined Benefit Health ; Brochures Division Headlines Get My RIN ADA Accessibility Retiree Health Plan Advisory Board Welcome to and TRS CAFRs are now available online. 2017 CAFR Health and Wellness Services The Coalition Health

How Do States Define Alternative Education? REL 2014-038

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porowski, Allan; O'Conner, Rosemarie; Luo, Jia Lisa

2014-01-01

This study provides an overview of similarities and differences in how states and state education agencies define alternative education, as well as which states have alternative education standards and what those standards entail. The study reviewed information on alternative education definitions and programs from state and federal websites and…

Dynamic Trust Management (DTM)

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-11-04

as the DoD/IC GIG, Navy FORCEnet and Clouds – The ability to define policies for scalable decentralized defense against emergent cyber-threats by... the service you wanted 6. (B) uses (S) Reputation DB 2. How has (B) behaved in the past? (S->B) - Pos: 9 Neg: 1 (S->A) - Pos: 5 Neg: 0 (A->B) - Pos...to create a novel method for trust evaluation The QuanTM Architecture Trust Dependency Graph (TDG), encoding PTM relationships useful for RTM

Lightweight active router-queue management for multimedia networking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parris, Mark; Jeffay, Kevin; Smith, F. D.

1998-12-01

The Internet research community is promoting active queue management in routers as a proactive means of addressing congestion in the Internet. Active queue management mechanisms such as Random Early Detection (RED) work well for TCP flows but can fail in the presence of unresponsive UDP flows. Recent proposals extend RED to strongly favor TCP and TCP-like flows and to actively penalize `misbehaving' flows. This is problematic for multimedia flows that, although potentially well-behaved, do not, or can not, satisfy the definition of a TCP-like flow. In this paper we investigate an extension to RED active queue management called Class-Based Thresholds (CBT). The goal of CBT is to reduce congestion in routers and to protect TCP from all UDP flows while also ensuring acceptable throughput and latency for well-behaved UDP flows. CBT attempts to realize a `better than best effort' service for well-behaved multimedia flows that is comparable to that achieved by a packet or link scheduling discipline, however, CBT does this by queue management rather than by scheduling. We present results of experiments comparing our mechanisms to plain RED and to FRED, a variant of RED designed to ensure fair allocation of bandwidth amongst flows. We also compare CBT to a packet scheduling scheme. The experiments show that CBT (1) realizes protection for TCP, and (2) provides throughput and end-to-end latency for tagged UDP flows, that is better than that under FRED and RED and comparable to that achieved by packet scheduling. Moreover CBT is a lighter-weight mechanism than FRED in terms of its state requirements and implementation complexity.

Media/Visual Literacy Art Education: Sexism in Hip-Hop Music Videos

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chung, Sheng Kuan

2007-01-01

Media programs like hip-hop music videos are powerful aesthetic agents that inspire teenagers. Thus, they have tremendous influence on young people's identity formation, lifestyle choices, and knowledge construction which are manifested in the ways teens dress, express themselves, behave, and interact with each other. However, because of the…

Making IBM's Computer, Watson, Human

PubMed Central

Rachlin, Howard

2012-01-01

This essay uses the recent victory of an IBM computer (Watson) in the TV game, Jeopardy, to speculate on the abilities Watson would need, in addition to those it has, to be human. The essay's basic premise is that to be human is to behave as humans behave and to function in society as humans function. Alternatives to this premise are considered and rejected. The viewpoint of the essay is that of teleological behaviorism. Mental states are defined as temporally extended patterns of overt behavior. From this viewpoint (although Watson does not currently have them), essential human attributes such as consciousness, the ability to love, to feel pain, to sense, to perceive, and to imagine may all be possessed by a computer. Most crucially, a computer may possess self-control and may act altruistically. However, the computer's appearance, its ability to make specific movements, its possession of particular internal structures (e.g., whether those structures are organic or inorganic), and the presence of any nonmaterial “self,” are all incidental to its humanity. PMID:22942530

Electrical Behavior of Copper Mine Tailings During EKR with Modified Electric Fields.

PubMed

Rojo, Adrian; Hansen, Henrik K; Monárdez, Omara; Jorquera, Carlos; Santis, Paulina; Inostroza, Paula

2017-03-01

Electro-kinetic remediation (EKR) with sinusoidal electric field obtained simultaneously with DC/AC voltage reduce the polarization of the EKR with DC voltage. The DC voltage value defines the presence of a periodic polarity reversal of the cell and the electrical charge for electro-kinetic transport. In this case, the AC frequency favors the breaking of polarization conditions resulting from the EKR with DC voltage. However, with high frequencies a negative effect occurs where the tailings behave as a filter circuit, discriminating frequencies of an electric signal. The goal of this work is to analyse the electrical behaviour of tailings in EKR experiments. The conditions selected were: DC/AC voltages: 10/15 and 20/25 V (peak values), and AC voltage frequencies 50-2000 Hz. When the AC frequency reaches 2000 Hz, the copper removal tends to zero, indicating that the tailing behaves as a high-pass filter in which the DC voltage was filtered out.

Making IBM's Computer, Watson, Human.

PubMed

Rachlin, Howard

2012-01-01

This essay uses the recent victory of an IBM computer (Watson) in the TV game, Jeopardy, to speculate on the abilities Watson would need, in addition to those it has, to be human. The essay's basic premise is that to be human is to behave as humans behave and to function in society as humans function. Alternatives to this premise are considered and rejected. The viewpoint of the essay is that of teleological behaviorism. Mental states are defined as temporally extended patterns of overt behavior. From this viewpoint (although Watson does not currently have them), essential human attributes such as consciousness, the ability to love, to feel pain, to sense, to perceive, and to imagine may all be possessed by a computer. Most crucially, a computer may possess self-control and may act altruistically. However, the computer's appearance, its ability to make specific movements, its possession of particular internal structures (e.g., whether those structures are organic or inorganic), and the presence of any nonmaterial "self," are all incidental to its humanity.

Scaling properties of marathon races

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvarez-Ramirez, Jose; Rodriguez, Eduardo

2006-06-01

Some regularities in popular marathon races are identified in this paper. It is found for high-performance participants (i.e., racing times in the range [2:15,3:15] h), the average velocity as a function of the marathoner's ranking behaves as a power-law, which may be suggesting the presence of critical phenomena. Elite marathoners with racing times below 2:15 h can be considered as outliers with respect to this behavior. For the main marathon pack (i.e., racing times in the range [3:00,6:00] h), the average velocity as a function of the marathoner's ranking behaves linearly. For this racing times, the interpersonal velocity, defined as the difference of velocities between consecutive runners, displays a continuum of scaling behavior ranging from uncorrelated noise for small scales to correlated 1/f-noise for large scales. It is a matter of fact that 1/f-noise is characterized by correlations extended over a wide range of scales, a clear indication of some sort of cooperative effect.

Integrated Data Collection Analysis (IDCA) Program - Statistical Analysis of RDX Standard Data Sets

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

Sandstrom, Mary M.; Brown, Geoffrey W.; Preston, Daniel N.

2015-10-30

The Integrated Data Collection Analysis (IDCA) program is conducting a Proficiency Test for Small- Scale Safety and Thermal (SSST) testing of homemade explosives (HMEs). Described here are statistical analyses of the results for impact, friction, electrostatic discharge, and differential scanning calorimetry analysis of the RDX Type II Class 5 standard. The material was tested as a well-characterized standard several times during the proficiency study to assess differences among participants and the range of results that may arise for well-behaved explosive materials. The analyses show that there are detectable differences among the results from IDCA participants. While these differences are statisticallymore » significant, most of them can be disregarded for comparison purposes to assess potential variability when laboratories attempt to measure identical samples using methods assumed to be nominally the same. The results presented in this report include the average sensitivity results for the IDCA participants and the ranges of values obtained. The ranges represent variation about the mean values of the tests of between 26% and 42%. The magnitude of this variation is attributed to differences in operator, method, and environment as well as the use of different instruments that are also of varying age. The results appear to be a good representation of the broader safety testing community based on the range of methods, instruments, and environments included in the IDCA Proficiency Test.« less

Information systems requirements for the Microgravity Science and Applications Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kicza, M. E.; Kreer, J. R.

1991-01-01

NASA's Microgravity Science and Applications (MSAD) Program is presented. Additionally, the types of information produced wiithin the program and the anticipated growth in information system requirements as the program transitions to Space Station Freedom utilization are discussed. Plans for payload operations support in the Freedom era are addressed, as well as current activities to define research community requirements for data and sample archives.

Information systems requirements for the microgravity science and applications program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kicza, M. E.; Kreer, J. R.

1990-01-01

NASA's Microgravity Science and Applications (MSAD) Program is presented. Additionally, the types of information produced within the program and the anticipated growth in information system requirements as the program transitions to Space Station Freedom utilization are discussed. Plans for payload operations support in the Freedom era are addressed, as well as current activities to define research community requirements for data and sample archives.

Alternative Schools and Programs, Iowa. "Reaching Out to Help People." 1983-84 State Directory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morley, Raymond E.; Clay, Helen I.

This directory was developed in response to requests for information on alternative programs for dropouts and potential dropouts. The scope of the dropout problem in Iowa is defined. Presented are definitions of dropout prevention alternative programs as well as a detailed account of useful prevention approaches. The directory includes needs…

Practical multipeptide synthesis: dedicated software for the definition of multiple, overlapping peptides covering polypeptide sequences.

PubMed

Heegaard, P M; Holm, A; Hagerup, M

1993-01-01

A personal computer program for the conversion of linear amino acid sequences to multiple, small, overlapping peptide sequences has been developed. Peptide lengths and "jumps" (the distance between two consecutive overlapping peptides) are defined by the user. To facilitate the use of the program for parallel solid-phase chemical peptide syntheses for the synchronous production of multiple peptides, amino acids at each acylation step are laid out by the program in a convenient standard multi-well setup. Also, the total number of equivalents, as well as the derived amount in milligrams (depend-ending on user-defined equivalent weights and molar surplus), of each amino acid are given. The program facilitates the implementation of multipeptide synthesis, e.g., for the elucidation of polypeptide structure-function relationships, and greatly reduces the risk of introducing mistakes at the planning step. It is written in Pascal and runs on any DOS-based personal computer. No special graphic display is needed.

A wireless neural recording system with a precision motorized microdrive for freely behaving animals

PubMed Central

Hasegawa, Taku; Fujimoto, Hisataka; Tashiro, Koichiro; Nonomura, Mayu; Tsuchiya, Akira; Watanabe, Dai

2015-01-01

The brain is composed of many different types of neurons. Therefore, analysis of brain activity with single-cell resolution could provide fundamental insights into brain mechanisms. However, the electrical signal of an individual neuron is very small, and precise isolation of single neuronal activity from moving subjects is still challenging. To measure single-unit signals in actively behaving states, establishment of technologies that enable fine control of electrode positioning and strict spike sorting is essential. To further apply such a single-cell recording approach to small brain areas in naturally behaving animals in large spaces or during social interaction, we developed a compact wireless recording system with a motorized microdrive. Wireless control of electrode placement facilitates the exploration of single neuronal activity without affecting animal behaviors. Because the system is equipped with a newly developed data-encoding program, the recorded data are readily compressed almost to theoretical limits and securely transmitted to a host computer. Brain activity can thereby be stably monitored in real time and further analyzed using online or offline spike sorting. Our wireless recording approach using a precision motorized microdrive will become a powerful tool for studying brain mechanisms underlying natural or social behaviors. PMID:25597933

A New Method for Nonlinear and Nonstationary Time Series Analysis and Its Application to the Earthquake and Building Response Records

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huang, Norden E.

1999-01-01

A new method for analyzing nonlinear and nonstationary data has been developed. The key part of the method is the Empirical Mode Decomposition method with which any complicated data set can be decomposed into a finite and often small number of Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMF). An IMF is defined as any function having the same numbers of zero-crossing and extrema, and also having symmetric envelopes defined by the local maxima and minima respectively. The IMF also admits well-behaved Hilbert transform. This decomposition method is adaptive, and, therefore, highly efficient. Since the decomposition is based on the local characteristic time scale of the data, it is applicable to nonlinear and nonstationary processes. With the Hilbert transform, the Intrinsic Mode Functions yield instantaneous frequencies as functions of time that give sharp identifications of imbedded structures. The final presentation of the results is an energy-frequency-time distribution, designated as the Hilbert Spectrum, Example of application of this method to earthquake and building response will be given. The results indicate those low frequency components, totally missed by the Fourier analysis, are clearly identified by the new method. Comparisons with Wavelet and window Fourier analysis show the new method offers much better temporal and frequency resolutions.

Behaving as or behaving as if? Children's conceptions of personified robots and the emergence of a new ontological category.

PubMed

Severson, Rachel L; Carlson, Stephanie M

2010-01-01

Imagining another's perspective is an achievement in social cognition and underlies empathic concern and moral regard. Imagination is also within the realm of fantasy, and may take the form of imaginary play in children and imaginative production in adults. Yet, an interesting and provocative question emerges in the case of personified robots: How do people conceive of life-like robots? Do people imagine about robots' experiences? If so, do these imaginings reflect their actual or pretend beliefs about robots? The answers to these questions bear on the possibility that personified robots represent the emergence of a new ontological category. We draw on simulation theory as a framework for imagining others' internal states as well as a means for imaginative play. We then turn to the literature on people's and, in particular, children's conceptions of personified technologies and raise the question of the veracity of children's beliefs about personified robots (i.e., are they behaving as or behaving as if?). Finally, we consider the suggestion that such personified technologies represent the emergence of a new ontological category and offer some suggestions for future research in this important emerging area of social cognition. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Survivor-Defined Practice in Domestic Violence Work: Measure Development and Preliminary Evidence of Link to Empowerment.

PubMed

Goodman, Lisa A; Thomas, Kristie; Cattaneo, Lauren Bennett; Heimel, Deborah; Woulfe, Julie; Chong, Siu Kwan

2016-01-01

Survivor-defined practice, characterized by an emphasis on client choice, partnership, and sensitivity to the unique needs, contexts, and coping strategies of individual survivors, is an aspirational goal of the domestic violence (DV) movement, assumed to be a key contributor to empowerment and other positive outcomes among survivors. Despite its central role in DV program philosophy, training, and practice, however, our ability to assess its presence and its presumed link to well-being has been hampered by the absence of a way to measure it from survivors' perspectives. As part of a larger university-community collaboration, this study had two aims: (a) to develop a measure of survivor-defined practice from the perspective of participants, and (b) to assess its relationship to safety-related empowerment after controlling for other contributors to survivor well-being (e.g., financial stability and social support). Results supported the reliability and validity of the Survivor-Defined Practice Scale (SDPS), a nine-item measure that assesses participants' perception of the degree to which their advocates help them achieve goals they set for themselves, facilitate a spirit of partnership, and show sensitivity to their individual needs and styles. The items combined to form one factor indicating that the three theoretical aspects of survivor-defined practice may be different manifestations of one underlying construct. Results also support the hypothesized link between survivor-defined practice and safety-related empowerment. The SDPS offers DV programs a mechanism for process evaluation that is rigorous and rooted in the feminist empowerment philosophy that so many programs espouse. © The Author(s) 2014.

Defining a "Zone of Impact": Transport Processes and Patterns for Small-Scale Land Runoff.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Largier, J. L.; Basdurak, B.

2016-12-01

Nearshore pollution is a well-recognized environmental problem, yet the pattern of this pollution is not well studied and it is little recognized in policy. Whether nutrients, pathogens or toxins, the highest concentrations of pollutants in the nearfield are controlled by transport and mixing, rather than decay of the constituent. Thus, this becomes a challenge to determine patterns of runoff (and tidal outflow) and to account for the dominant processes that control these patterns. Salinity and fecal indicator bacteria data exhibit coherent space-time patterns, indicating that a coherent "zone of impact" can be determined, i.e., a time-varying spatial zone in which the constituent of concern exceeds a reference concentration (level of concern). To explain field observations, modeling of small-scale runoff plumes and wave-driven transport can be used. In contrast to larger river plumes, wind forcing is a critical factor in plume behavior and the resultant pattern of pollution. This preliminary work suggests that coherent spatio-temporal patterns can explain the apparently not-so-well-behaved patterns of pollution that are reported when concentrations are under-sampled. And it throws out a challenge to nearshore oceanographers to better explain transport and mixing patterns for the benefit of reducing coastal pollution and its impacts.

Genomic profiling of dedifferentiated liposarcoma compared to matched well-differentiated liposarcoma reveals higher genomic complexity and a common origin

PubMed Central

Beird, Hannah C.; Wu, Chia-Chin; Ingram, Davis R.; Wang, Wei-Lien; Alimohamed, Asrar; Gumbs, Curtis; Little, Latasha; Song, Xingzhi; Feig, Barry W.; Roland, Christina L.; Zhang, Jianhua; Benjamin, Robert S.; Hwu, Patrick; Lazar, Alexander J.; Futreal, P. Andrew; Somaiah, Neeta

2018-01-01

Well-differentiated (WD) liposarcoma is a low-grade mesenchymal tumor with features of mature adipocytes and high propensity for local recurrence. Often, WD patients present with or later progress to a higher-grade nonlipogenic form known as dedifferentiated (DD) liposarcoma. These DD tumors behave more aggressively and can metastasize. Both WD and DD liposarcomas harbor neochromosomes formed from amplifications and rearrangements of Chr 12q that encode oncogenes (MDM2, CDK4, and YEATS2) and adipocytic differentiation factors (HMGA2 and CPM). However, genomic changes associated with progression from WD to DD have not been well-defined. Therefore, we selected patients with matched WD and DD tumors for extensive genomic profiling in order to understand their clonal relationships and to delineate any defining alterations for each entity. Exome and transcriptomic sequencing was performed for 17 patients with both WD and DD diagnoses. Somatic point and copy-number alterations were integrated with transcriptional analyses to determine subtype-associated genomic features and pathways. The results were, on average, that only 8.3% of somatic mutations in WD liposarcoma were shared with their cognate DD component. DD tumors had higher numbers of somatic copy-number losses, amplifications involving Chr 12q, and fusion transcripts than WD tumors. HMGA2 and CPM rearrangements occur more frequently in DD components. The shared somatic mutations indicate a clonal origin for matched WD and DD tumors and show early divergence with ongoing genomic instability due to continual generation and selection of neochromosomes. Stochastic generation and subsequent expression of fusion transcripts from the neochromosome that involve adipogenesis genes such as HMGA2 and CPM may influence the differentiation state of the subsequent tumor. PMID:29610390

Intergenerational Programs: A Resource for Community Renewal.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thorp, Kathlyn

A four-part publication places intergenerational programming in the larger context of community renewal and well-being. Part I, "The Basics: What, Who, and Why," contains two articles. The first, by Kathlyn Thorp, defines intergenerational activities and considers organizations which should be involved in such activities and possible…

36 CFR 910.3 - Program administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... DEVELOPMENT AREA General § 910.3 Program administration. (a) This part 910, together with Square Guidelines... understand and participate in the process of square development within the Development Area. (1) This part... provides a glossary of defined terms applicable to this part as well as Square Guidelines. (2) Square...

36 CFR 910.3 - Program administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... DEVELOPMENT AREA General § 910.3 Program administration. (a) This part 910, together with Square Guidelines... understand and participate in the process of square development within the Development Area. (1) This part... provides a glossary of defined terms applicable to this part as well as Square Guidelines. (2) Square...

36 CFR 910.3 - Program administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... DEVELOPMENT AREA General § 910.3 Program administration. (a) This part 910, together with Square Guidelines... understand and participate in the process of square development within the Development Area. (1) This part... provides a glossary of defined terms applicable to this part as well as Square Guidelines. (2) Square...

36 CFR 910.3 - Program administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... DEVELOPMENT AREA General § 910.3 Program administration. (a) This part 910, together with Square Guidelines... understand and participate in the process of square development within the Development Area. (1) This part... provides a glossary of defined terms applicable to this part as well as Square Guidelines. (2) Square...

Subnetworks of percolation backbones to model karst systems around Tulum, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendrick, Martin; Renard, Philippe

2016-11-01

Karstic caves, which play a key role in groundwater transport, are often organized as complex connected networks resulting from the dissolution of carbonate rocks. In this work, we propose a new model to describe and study the structures of the two largest submersed karst networks in the world. Both of these networks are located in the area of Tulum (Quintana Roo, Mexico). In a previous work te{hendrick2016fractal} we showed that these networks behave as self-similar structures exhibiting well-defined scaling behaviours. In this paper, we suggest that these networks can be modeled using substructures of percolation clusters (θ-subnetworks) having similar structural behaviour (in terms of fractal dimension and conductivity exponent) to those observed in Tulum's karst networks. We show in addition that these θ-subnetworks correspond to structures that minimise a global function, where this global function includes energy dissipation by the viscous forces when water flows through the network, and the cost of network formation itself.

Generalized quantum theory of recollapsing homogeneous cosmologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Craig, David; Hartle, James B.

2004-06-01

A sum-over-histories generalized quantum theory is developed for homogeneous minisuperspace type A Bianchi cosmological models, focusing on the particular example of the classically recollapsing Bianchi type-IX universe. The decoherence functional for such universes is exhibited. We show how the probabilities of decoherent sets of alternative, coarse-grained histories of these model universes can be calculated. We consider in particular the probabilities for classical evolution defined by a suitable coarse graining. For a restricted class of initial conditions and coarse grainings we exhibit the approximate decoherence of alternative histories in which the universe behaves classically and those in which it does not. For these situations we show that the probability is near unity for the universe to recontract classically if it expands classically. We also determine the relative probabilities of quasiclassical trajectories for initial states of WKB form, recovering for such states a precise form of the familiar heuristic “JṡdΣ” rule of quantum cosmology, as well as a generalization of this rule to generic initial states.

Encoding of temporal signals by the TGF-β pathway and implications for embryonic patterning

PubMed Central

Sorre, Benoit; Warmflash, Aryeh; Brivanlou, Ali H.; Siggia, Eric D.

2014-01-01

Summary Genetics and biochemistry have defined the components and wiring of the signaling pathways that pattern the embryo. Among them, the TGF-β pathway has the potential to behave as a morphogen: invitro experiments have clearly established that it can dictate cell fate in a concentration dependent manner. How morphogens convey positional information in a developing embryo, where signal levels are changing with time, is less understood. Using integrated microfluidic cell culture and time-lapse microscopy, we demonstrate here that the speed of ligand presentation has a key and previously unexpected influence on TGF-β signaling outcomes. The response to a TGF-β concentration step is transient and adaptive, slowly increasing the ligand concentration diminishes the response and well-spaced pulses of ligand combine additively resulting in greater pathway output than with constant stimulation. Our results suggest that in an embryonic context, the speed of change of ligand concentration is an instructive signal for patterning. PMID:25065773

Short term memory bowing effect is consistent with presentation rate dependent decay.

PubMed

Tarnow, Eugen

2010-12-01

I reanalyze the free recall data of Murdock, J Exp Psychol 64(5):482-488 (1962) and Murdock and Okada, J Verbal Learn and Verbal Behav 86:263-267 (1970) which show the famous bowing effect in which initial and recent items are recalled better than intermediate items (primacy and recency effects). Recent item recall probabilities follow a logarithmic decay with time of recall consistent with the tagging/retagging theory. The slope of the decay increases with increasing presentation rate. The initial items, with an effectively low presentation rate, decay with the slowest logarithmic slope, explaining the primacy effect. The finding that presentation rate limits the duration of short term memory suggests a basis for memory loss in busy adults, for the importance of slow music practice, for long term memory deficiencies for people with attention deficits who may be artificially increasing the presentation rates of their surroundings. A well-defined, quantitative measure of the primacy effect is introduced.

Topological Origins of the Slow Solar Wind

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Antiochos, Spiro

2008-01-01

Although the slow solar wind has been studied for decades with both in situ and remote sensing observations, its origin is still a matter of intense debate. In the standard quasi-steady model, the slow wind is postulated to originate near coronal hole boundaries that define topologically well-behaved separatrices between open and closed field regions. In the interchange model, on the other hand, the slow wind is postulated to originate on open flux that is dynamically diffusing throughout the seemingly closed-field corona. We argue in favor of the quasi-steady scenario and propose that the slow wind is due to two effects: First, the open-closed boundary is highly complex due to the complexity of the photospheric flux distribution. Second, this boundary is continuously driven by the transport of magnetic helicity from the closed field region into the open. The implications of this model for the structure and dynamics of the corona and slow wind are discussed, and observational tests of the mode

Defining Tumor Cell and Immune Cell Behavior in Vivo during Pulmonary Metastasis of Breast Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

cancer cell extravasation , establishment and growth. PLoS One 4, e6562, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006562 (2009). 2 Qian, B. Z. et al. CCL2...cytoplast­ingesting cells behaved with respect to extravasation . We used i.v. injection of labelled anti­CD45 antibody15 to localize ZsGreen+ populations relative...to the vasculature at 4 and 24 h after injection. Consistent with previous data3, non­alveolar macrophages extravasated over this time period (Fig

Well-Meaning Liberal Male: Typical Hypocrite or Uncomfortable Alien.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gackenbach, Jayne; And Others

The well-meaning liberal male (WMLM) is a man who talks a liberal stereotype but behaves inconsistently with his professed beliefs. Using Ajzen and Fishbein's model of behavioral prediction based on attitudinal assessment, males identified as WMLM's, sincere liberals, and traditionalists from the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) were compared.…

Levels of Mental Health Continuum and Personality Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joshanloo, Mohsen; Nosratabadi, Masoud

2009-01-01

Empirically, mental health and mental illness are not opposite ends of a single measurement continuum. In view of this fact, Keyes ("J Health Soc Behav," 43:207-202, 2002) operationalizes mental health as a syndrome of symptoms of both positive feelings (emotional well-being) and positive functioning (psychological and social well-being)…

ABA and Diverse Cultural and Linguistic Environments: A Welsh Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, E. W.; Hoerger, M.; Hughes, J. C.; Williams, B. M.; Jones, B.; Moseley, Y.; Hughes, D. R.; Prys, D.

2011-01-01

Gwynedd Local Education Authority (LEA) in North West Wales, UK, is funding a small-scale autism-specific specialist education service using ABA methodology. The program is available through the medium of Welsh, English or bilingually, depending on the individual needs of the child (Jones and Hoerger in Eur J Behav Anal 10:249-253,…

Low- and High-IQ Learning Disabled Children in the Mainstream.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gottlieb, Jay; And Others

1983-01-01

Nine low IQ (less than 80) and 12 high IQ (100 plus) learning disabled children (grades four through six) who attended resource room programs were observed in regular classes. Results indicated that teachers did not perceive the two groups of LD children differently but that the teachers behaved differently toward the two groups. (Author/MC)

The Swedish Principal: Leadership Style, Decision-Making Style, and Motivation Profile

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hansson, Per H.; Andersen, Jon Aarum

2007-01-01

The Swedish schools have been under pressure for change for several decades. How leaders behave can be of vital importance in times of change. The principal is responsible for both the educational program and for the school budget. Two hundred Swedish principals (male and female) responded to questionnaires concerning their leadership style,…

The geometry of chaotic dynamics — a complex network perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donner, R. V.; Heitzig, J.; Donges, J. F.; Zou, Y.; Marwan, N.; Kurths, J.

2011-12-01

Recently, several complex network approaches to time series analysis have been developed and applied to study a wide range of model systems as well as real-world data, e.g., geophysical or financial time series. Among these techniques, recurrence-based concepts and prominently ɛ-recurrence networks, most faithfully represent the geometrical fine structure of the attractors underlying chaotic (and less interestingly non-chaotic) time series. In this paper we demonstrate that the well known graph theoretical properties local clustering coefficient and global (network) transitivity can meaningfully be exploited to define two new local and two new global measures of dimension in phase space: local upper and lower clustering dimension as well as global upper and lower transitivity dimension. Rigorous analytical as well as numerical results for self-similar sets and simple chaotic model systems suggest that these measures are well-behaved in most non-pathological situations and that they can be estimated reasonably well using ɛ-recurrence networks constructed from relatively short time series. Moreover, we study the relationship between clustering and transitivity dimensions on the one hand, and traditional measures like pointwise dimension or local Lyapunov dimension on the other hand. We also provide further evidence that the local clustering coefficients, or equivalently the local clustering dimensions, are useful for identifying unstable periodic orbits and other dynamically invariant objects from time series. Our results demonstrate that ɛ-recurrence networks exhibit an important link between dynamical systems and graph theory.

Chile Crece Contigo: Implementation, results, and scaling-up lessons.

PubMed

Torres, A; Lopez Boo, F; Parra, V; Vazquez, C; Segura-Pérez, S; Cetin, Z; Pérez-Escamilla, R

2018-01-01

Chile Crece Contigo (ChCC) is defined as a comprehensive, intersectoral, and multicomponent policy that aims to help all children reach their full potential for development, regardless of their socio-economic status. This case study was developed on the basis of grey literature review and key informants' interviews. ChCC behaves as a complex adaptive system that combines universal and targeted benefits for the more vulnerable starting since gestation and until the children are 4 years old. Three key ministries are involved in ChCC management: health, education, and social development. Studies show adequate programme implementation and positive effects of ChCC on child development. In addition, it was found that the more families use ChCC benefits and the longer the subsystem has been operating in the commune, the greater the positive effects. Strong political support based on principles of equity and child rights combined with strong evidence and funding commitment from government has been central to emergence, scaling up, and sustainability of ChCC. Further sustainability of ChCC will rely on firmly establishing a well-trained and compensated cadre of early child development professionals and paraprofessionals as well as an improved management and evaluation decentralized system. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Iterative absolute electroanalytical approach to characterization of bulk redox conducting systems.

PubMed

Lewera, Adam; Miecznikowski, Krzysztof; Chojak, Malgorzata; Makowski, Oktawian; Golimowski, Jerzy; Kulesza, Pawel J

2004-05-15

A novel electroanalytical approach is proposed here, and it is demonstrated with the direct and simultaneous determination of two unknowns: the concentration of redox sites and the apparent diffusion coefficient for charge propagation in a single crystal of dodecatungstophosphoric acid. This Keggin-type polyoxometalate serves as a model bulk redox conducting inorganic material for solid-state voltammetry. The system has been investigated using an ultramicrodisk working electrode in the absence of external liquid supporting electrolyte. The analytical method requires numerical solution of the combination of two equations in which the first one describes current (or charge) in a well-defined (either spherical or linear) diffusional regime and the second general equation describes chronoamperometric (or normal pulse voltammetric current) under mixed (linear-spherical) conditions. The iterative approach is based on successive approximations through calculation and minimizing the least-squares error function. The method is fairly universal, and in principle, it can be extended to the investigation of other bulk systems including sol-gel processed materials, redox melts, and solutions on condition that they are electroactive and well behaved, they contain redox centers at sufficiently high level, and a number of electrons for the redox reaction considered is known.

Ostrogradsky in theories with multiple fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Rham, Claudia; Matas, Andrew

2016-06-01

We review how the (absence of) Ostrogradsky instability manifests itself in theories with multiple fields. It has recently been appreciated that when multiple fields are present, the existence of higher derivatives may not automatically imply the existence of ghosts. We discuss the connection with gravitational theories like massive gravity and beyond Horndeski which manifest higher derivatives in some formulations and yet are free of Ostrogradsky ghost. We also examine an interesting new class of Extended Scalar-Tensor Theories of gravity which has been recently proposed. We show that for a subclass of these theories, the tensor modes are either not dynamical or are infinitely strongly coupled. Among the remaining theories for which the tensor modes are well-defined one counts one new model that is not field-redefinable to Horndeski via a conformal and disformal transformation but that does require the vacuum to break Lorentz invariance. We discuss the implications for the effective field theory of dark energy and the stability of the theory. In particular we find that if we restrict ourselves to the Extended Scalar-Tensor class of theories for which the tensors are well-behaved and the scalar is free from gradient or ghost instabilities on FLRW then we recover Horndeski up to field redefinitions.

A complete set of two-dimensional harmonic vortices on a spherical surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esparza, Christian; Rendón, Pablo Luis; Ley Koo, Eugenio

2018-03-01

The solutions of the Euler equations on a spherical surface are constructed, starting from a vector velocity potential A in the radial direction and with a two-dimensional spherical harmonic variation of order m and well-defined parity under \\varphi \\mapsto -\\varphi . The solutions are well-behaved on the entire surface and continuous at the position of a parallel circle θ ={θ }0, where the vorticity is shown to be harmonically distributed. The velocity field is evaluated as the curl of the vector potential: it is shown that the velocity is divergenceless and distributed on the spherical surface. Its polar components at the parallel circle are shown to be continuous, confirming its divergenceless nature, while its azimuthal components are discontinuous at the circle, and their discontinuity is a measure of the vorticity in the radial direction. A closed form for the velocity field lines is also obtained in terms of fixed values of the scalar harmonic function associated with the vector potential. Additionally, the connections of the solutions on a spherical surface with their circular, elliptic and bipolar counterparts on the equatorial plane are implemented via stereographic projections.

2008 Program of Study: Perspectives and Challenges in GFD (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics)

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

half of the complex k- plane , and Φ− is similarly well defined in the lower half of 338 PSfrag replacements Im k Re k−i +i Figure 2: Branch cuts in...domains ⊕ and , which include, respectively, the upper and lower half k- planes . The full Fourier transform of φ (and of h, d, etc.) is then well defined in...contour at infinity in the lower half k- plane ; the solution will only contain waves arising from poles located in the

Criteria for Reviewing District Competency Tests.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herman, Joan L.

A formative evaluation minimum competency test model is examined. The model systematically uses assessment information to support and facilitate program improvement. In terms of the model, four inter-related qualities are essential for a sound testing program. The content validity perspective looks at how well the district has defined competency…

Multi-Dimensional Planning/Evaluation Schema for Community Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merkel-Keller, Claudia; Herr, Audrey

A model for planning and evaluating community education programs--Stufflebeam's context, input, process, product (CIPP) evaluation model--was described and field-tested with the community education programs in Lakewood, New Jersey. Community education was defined as a concern for everything that affects the well-being of all citizens within a…

Dispositions by Committee for Educator Preparation Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pufpaff, Lisa A.; Sciuchetti, Maria B.; Taylor, Linda

2017-01-01

This article describes the process undertaken by a teacher education sub-committee charged with identifying and defining dispositions, as well as development of an assessment instrument to be used by 30 different preservice educator preparation programs at a large Mid-Western university. Through a search of related literature, a content-analysis…

A family of well behaved charge analogues of Durgapal's perfect fluid exact solution in general relativity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murad, Mohammad Hassan; Fatema, Saba

2013-02-01

This paper presents a new family of interior solutions of Einstein-Maxwell field equations in general relativity for a static spherically symmetric distribution of a charged perfect fluid with a particular form of charge distribution. This solution gives us wide range of parameter, K, for which the solution is well behaved hence, suitable for modeling of superdense star. For this solution the gravitational mass of a star is maximized with all degree of suitability by assuming the surface density equal to normal nuclear density, ρ nm=2.5×1017 kg m-3. By this model we obtain the mass of the Crab pulsar, M Crab, 1.36 M ⊙ and radius 13.21 km, constraining the moment of inertia > 1.61×1038 kg m2 for the conservative estimate of Crab nebula mass 2 M ⊙. And M Crab=1.96 M ⊙ with radius R Crab=14.38 km constraining the moment of inertia > 3.04×1038 kg m2 for the newest estimate of Crab nebula mass, 4.6 M ⊙. These results are quite well in agreement with the possible values of mass and radius of Crab pulsar. Besides this, our model yields moments of inertia for PSR J0737-3039A and PSR J0737-3039B, I A =1.4285×1038 kg m2 and I B =1.3647×1038 kg m2 respectively. It has been observed that under well behaved conditions this class of solutions gives us the overall maximum gravitational mass of super dense object, M G(max)=4.7487 M ⊙ with radius R_{M_{max}}=15.24 km, surface redshift 0.9878, charge 7.47×1020 C, and central density 4.31 ρ nm.

Do you BEHAVE? - Application of the BehavePlus fire modeling system

Treesearch

Pat Andrews

2010-01-01

The BehavePlus fire modeling system is the successor to BEHAVE, which was first used in the field in 1984. It is public domain software, available for free use on personal computers. Information on user communities and fire management applications can be useful in designing next generation systems. Several sources of information about BehavePlus are summarized to...

Client - server programs analysis in the EPOCA environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donatelli, Susanna; Mazzocca, Nicola; Russo, Stefano

1996-09-01

Client - server processing is a popular paradigm for distributed computing. In the development of client - server programs, the designer has first to ensure that the implementation behaves correctly, in particular that it is deadlock free. Second, he has to guarantee that the program meets predefined performance requirements. This paper addresses the issues in the analysis of client - server programs in EPOCA. EPOCA is a computer-aided software engeneering (CASE) support system that allows the automated construction and analysis of generalized stochastic Petri net (GSPN) models of concurrent applications. The paper describes, on the basis of a realistic case study, how client - server systems are modelled in EPOCA, and the kind of qualitative and quantitative analysis supported by its tools.

A Silent Safety Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodin, James Ronald

2006-01-01

NASA's Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) referred 8 times to the NASA "Silent Safety Program." This term, "Silent Safety Program" was not an original observation but first appeared in the Rogers Commission's Investigation of the Challenger Mishap. The CAIB on page 183 of its report in the paragraph titled 'Encouraging Minority Opinion,' stated "The Naval Reactor Program encourages minority opinions and "bad news." Leaders continually emphasize that when no minority opinions are present, the responsibility for a thorough and critical examination falls to management. . . Board interviews revealed that it is difficult for minority and dissenting opinions to percolate up through the agency's hierarchy. . ." The first question and perhaps the only question is - what is a silent safety program? Well, a silent safety program may be the same as the dog that didn't bark in Sherlock Holmes' "Adventure of the Silver Blaze" because system safety should behave as a devil's advocate for the program barking on every occasion to insure a critical review inclusion. This paper evaluates the NASA safety program and provides suggestions to prevent the recurrence of the silent safety program alluded to in the Challenger Mishap Investigation. Specifically targeted in the CAM report, "The checks and balances the safety system was meant to provide were not working." A silent system safety program is not unique to NASA but could emerge in any and every organization. Principles developed by Irving Janis in his book, Groupthink, listed criteria used to evaluate an organization's cultural attributes that allows a silent safety program to evolve. If evidence validates Jams's criteria, then Jams's recommendations for preventing groupthink can also be used to improve a critical evaluation and thus prevent the development of a silent safety program.

The influence of modifications of a fatigue loading history program on fatigue lifetime

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Branger, J.

1972-01-01

Rectangular specimens of 7075 and 2014 aluminum alloys with two holes (stress concentration factor of 3.24) have been tested under axial fatigue loading on a six-rod test bed with modifications of the loading program, the surface particulars, and the frequency. The length of the precrack stage was investigated by use of a new crack detector. In most cases the two alloys behaved similarly, with similar life to crack start under the same loading. Some overloads lengthened the life. Truncation by omission of the lowest peak loads should be limited to about 20 percent of the ultimate load. Simplifying counting methods gave misleading results. Very thin surface layers of anodizing, protection by vinyl, dry nitrogen atmosphere, as well as stepwise reaming or grinding the surface of the holes, lengthened the life; thick anodized layers shortened the life. Compressing the hole surface by rolling had no influence. Frequencies at about 210 to 240 cpm produced shorter lives than those at 40 cpm. At 5.4 cpm the life was considerably longer. A model to better understand the precrack-stage fatigue mechanism is discussed.

Non-linear macro evolution of a dc driven micro atmospheric glow discharge

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

Xu, S. F.; Zhong, X. X., E-mail: xxzhong@sjtu.edu.cn

2015-10-15

We studied the macro evolution of the micro atmospheric glow discharge generated between a micro argon jet into ambient air and static water. The micro discharge behaves similarly to a complex ecosystem. Non-linear behaviors are found for the micro discharge when the water acts as a cathode, different from the discharge when water behaves as an anode. Groups of snapshots of the micro discharge formed at different discharge currents are captured by an intensified charge-coupled device with controlled exposure time, and each group consisted of 256 images taken in succession. Edge detection methods are used to identify the water surfacemore » and then the total brightness is defined by adding up the signal counts over the area of the micro discharge. Motions of the water surface at different discharge currents show that the water surface lowers increasingly rapidly when the water acts as a cathode. In contrast, the water surface lowers at a constant speed when the water behaves as an anode. The light curves are similar to logistic growth curves, suggesting that a self-inhibition process occurs in the micro discharge. Meanwhile, the total brightness increases linearly during the same time when the water acts as an anode. Discharge-water interactions cause the micro discharge to evolve. The charged particle bomb process is probably responsible for the different behaviors of the micro discharges when the water acts as cathode and anode.« less

Reply to the comments by Roger B. Lazarus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishkin, Eli A.

1980-04-01

It is claimed that because the pressure, density and velocity, behind the shock front, must be well behaved analytical functions the pressure must have an extremum. The claim by Lazarus of circular reasoning is refuted. (AIP)

'Behaving well': the transition to respectable womanhood in rural South Africa.

PubMed

Sennott, Christie; A Mojola, Sanyu

2017-07-01

Few studies of the transition to adulthood in Africa analyse young people's own definitions of the events that confer adult status, and how adulthood is actually attained. This paper examines the experience of transitioning to womanhood in rural Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, drawing on interviews with 18 women aged 18-39. Three primary experiences characterised this transition: puberty and emerging body awareness, spending time with boys, and having a child. More important than the timing of these experiences, however, was whether women 'behaved well' and maintained respectability as they transitioned to adulthood. Behavioural standards reinforcing ideal femininity were focused on dress, manner and talk, and were particularly stringent for mothers. Findings emphasise the value of emic models of adulthood for understanding how youth experience this transition and provide an important counter-narrative to the literature focused primarily on the risk African youth face during this period of change in the life course.

Model Checking Abstract PLEXIL Programs with SMART

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siminiceanu, Radu I.

2007-01-01

We describe a method to automatically generate discrete-state models of abstract Plan Execution Interchange Language (PLEXIL) programs that can be analyzed using model checking tools. Starting from a high-level description of a PLEXIL program or a family of programs with common characteristics, the generator lays the framework that models the principles of program execution. The concrete parts of the program are not automatically generated, but require the modeler to introduce them by hand. As a case study, we generate models to verify properties of the PLEXIL macro constructs that are introduced as shorthand notation. After an exhaustive analysis, we conclude that the macro definitions obey the intended semantics and behave as expected, but contingently on a few specific requirements on the timing semantics of micro-steps in the concrete executive implementation.

Defining, illustrating and reflecting on logic analysis with an example from a professional development program.

PubMed

Tremblay, Marie-Claude; Brousselle, Astrid; Richard, Lucie; Beaudet, Nicole

2013-10-01

Program designers and evaluators should make a point of testing the validity of a program's intervention theory before investing either in implementation or in any type of evaluation. In this context, logic analysis can be a particularly useful option, since it can be used to test the plausibility of a program's intervention theory using scientific knowledge. Professional development in public health is one field among several that would truly benefit from logic analysis, as it appears to be generally lacking in theorization and evaluation. This article presents the application of this analysis method to an innovative public health professional development program, the Health Promotion Laboratory. More specifically, this paper aims to (1) define the logic analysis approach and differentiate it from similar evaluative methods; (2) illustrate the application of this method by a concrete example (logic analysis of a professional development program); and (3) reflect on the requirements of each phase of logic analysis, as well as on the advantages and disadvantages of such an evaluation method. Using logic analysis to evaluate the Health Promotion Laboratory showed that, generally speaking, the program's intervention theory appeared to have been well designed. By testing and critically discussing logic analysis, this article also contributes to further improving and clarifying the method. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Achieving Workplace Health through Application of Wellness Strategies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, Judith L.

2008-01-01

Purpose: 1) Understand and measure JSC workplace health: a) levels, sources, indicators & effects of negative, work-related stress; b) define leading indicators of emerging issues. 2 Provide linkage to outcomes: a) Focus application of wellness strategies & HR tools; b) Increase quality of work life and productivity. 3) Current effort will result in: a) Online assessment tool; b) Assessment of total JSC population (civil service & contractors); c) Application of mitigation tools and strategies. 4) Product of the JSC Employee Wellness Program. 5) Collaboration with Corporate Health Improvement Program/University of Arizona.

Hydrophobic effect as a driving force for host-guest chemistry of a multi-receptor Keplerate-type capsule.

PubMed

Watfa, Nancy; Melgar, Dolores; Haouas, Mohamed; Taulelle, Francis; Hijazi, Akram; Naoufal, Daoud; Avalos, Josep Bonet; Floquet, Sébastien; Bo, Carles; Cadot, Emmanuel

2015-05-06

The effectiveness of the interactions between various alkylammonium cations and the well-defined spherical Keplerate-type {Mo132} capsule has been tracked by (1)H DOSY NMR methodology, revealing a strong dependence on the self-diffusion coefficient of the cationic guests balanced between the solvated and the plugging situations. Analysis of the data is fully consistent with a two-site exchange regime involving the 20 independent {Mo9O9} receptors of the capsule. Furthermore, quantitative analysis allowed us to determine the stability constants associated with the plugging process of the pores. Surprisingly, the affinity of the capsule for a series of cationic guests increases continuously with its apolar character, as shown by the significant change of the stability constant from 370 to 6500 for NH4(+) and NEt4(+), respectively. Such observations, supported by the thermodynamic parameters, evidence that the major factor dictating selectivity in the trapping process is the so-called "hydrophobic effect". Computational studies, using molecular dynamics simulations, have been carried out in conjunction with the experiments. Analysis of the radial distribution functions g(r) reveals that NH4(+) and NMe4(+) ions behave differently in the vicinity of the capsule. The NH4(+) ions do not exhibit well-defined distributions when in close vicinity. In contrast, the NMe4(+) ions displayed sharp distributions related to different scenarios, such as firmly trapped or labile guest facing the {Mo9O9} pores. Together, these experimental and theoretical insights should aid in the exploitation of these giant polyoxometalates in solution for various applications.

Acting, Accidents and Performativity: Challenging the Hegemonic Good Student in Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Greg

2010-01-01

Current educational practice tends to ascribe a limiting vision of the good student as one who is well behaved, performs well in assessments and demonstrates values in keeping with dominant expectations. This paper argues that this vision of the good student is antithetical to the lived experience of students as they negotiate their positionality…

Self-Assembly of Hierarchical DNA Nanotube Architectures with Well-Defined Geometries.

PubMed

Jorgenson, Tyler D; Mohammed, Abdul M; Agrawal, Deepak K; Schulman, Rebecca

2017-02-28

An essential motif for the assembly of biological materials such as actin at the scale of hundreds of nanometers and beyond is a network of one-dimensional fibers with well-defined geometry. Here, we demonstrate the programmed organization of DNA filaments into micron-scale architectures where component filaments are oriented at preprogrammed angles. We assemble L-, T-, and Y-shaped DNA origami junctions that nucleate two or three micron length DNA nanotubes at high yields. The angles between the nanotubes mirror the angles between the templates on the junctions, demonstrating that nanoscale structures can control precisely how micron-scale architectures form. The ability to precisely program filament orientation could allow the assembly of complex filament architectures in two and three dimensions, including circuit structures, bundles, and extended materials.

PACES: A Model of Student Well-Being

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Mark D.; Tarabochia, Dawn W.; Koltz, Rebecca L.

2015-01-01

School counselors design, deliver, and evaluate comprehensive, developmental school counseling programs that are focused on enhancing student development and success. A model of student well-being, known as PACES, is defined and described that consists of five distinct and interactive domains: physical, affective, cognitive, economic, and social.…

The Use of Skinnerian Teaching Machines and Programmed Instruction in the United States, 1960-1970.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casas, Martha

B.F. Skinner applied his concept of operant conditioning to education. Skinner believed that people acted the way they did because they had been reinforced for behaving in a certain manner. His orientation to pedagogy was predicated upon the notion that a student's behavior could be modified by guiding the student through the learning process…

Making Friends, PreK-3: A Social Skills Program for Inclusive Settings. Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Ruth Herron; Roberts-Pacchione, Beth

2011-01-01

Research shows that a child's social and behavioral skills affect the development of cognitive and physical abilities. Set students on a path to success and have fun doing it with this activity-packed second edition of "Wanna Play". The authors provide hundreds of activities that help children learn how to behave appropriately and make friends.…

42 CFR 410.15 - Annual wellness visits providing Personalized Prevention Plan Services: Conditions for and...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... appropriate, to health education or preventive counseling services or programs aimed at reducing identified..., sexual health, motor vehicle safety (seat belt use), and home safety. (E) Activities of daily living... counseling services or programs as that advice and related services are defined in paragraph (a) of this...

Designing and Evaluating a Personal Skills Development Program for Management Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pang, Elvy; Hung, Humphry

2012-01-01

Success in preparing business students for professional careers requires these students to develop a set of well-defined personal skills. The present study examined 145 business students to assess the effectiveness of a personal skills development (PSD) program by measuring the impact of the training on the students' attitudes in skill development…

Suicide Surveillance in the U.S. Military?Reporting and Classification Biases in Rate Calculations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carr, Joel R.; Hoge, Charles W.; Gardner, John; Potter, Robert

2004-01-01

The military has a well-defined population with suicide prevention programs that have been recognized as possible models for civilian suicide prevention efforts. Monitoring prevention programs requires accurate reporting. In civilian settings, several studies have confirmed problems in the reporting and classification of suicides. This analysis…

The Development of an Innovative Health Educational Program for the Well Elderly.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahoney, Diane Feeney

This paper describes a nurse practitioner directed health center education program for senior citizens in Medford, Massachusetts. The planning process, including needs and location decisions, is defined, and a summary of needs survey data on the population is offered, including health problems (medication problems, lack of exercise, depression,…

Pupils' reasons for learning and behaving and for not learning and behaving in English and maths lessons in a secondary school.

PubMed

Norwich, B

1999-12-01

There is renewed interest in motivation and school learning, though there has been relatively little theory-linked research in English schools. In the first stage, to explore pupils' reasons for learning and behaving and for not learning and behaving in English, maths and other subjects. In the second stage, to examine differences in reasons across subjects, for learning and behaving and for not learning and behaving for boys and girls in two year groups in one secondary school. Stage 1, 16 pupils in years 7, 8 and 9 in two London secondary schools; Stage 2, 267 pupils in years 7 and 9 in one of these schools. Stage 1--semi-structured interviews were conducted to elicit different kinds of reasons conceptualised in terms of the Deci & Ryan's (1985) framework of self-determination. From these elicited reasons, an inventory 'Why I Learn' was designed. Stage 2--the inventory was administered to identify reasons for learning and behaving and for not learning and behaving in English and maths. Parent introjected reasons were the highest for learning and behaving while teacher introjected and intrinsic reasons were the lowest. Intrinsic reasons were highest for not learning and behaving. Year group differences in reason levels were more significant than gender or subject differences. Reasons for learning and behaving were more differentiated from each other than reasons for not learning and behaving. The results are discussed in terms of their significance for self-determination theory, research into the conditions promoting greater self-determination in school learning and further development of the inventory for programme evaluation.

Defining Persistent Hotspots: Areas That Fail to Decrease Meaningfully in Prevalence after Multiple Years of Mass Drug Administration with Praziquantel for Control of Schistosomiasis.

PubMed

Kittur, Nupur; Binder, Sue; Campbell, Carl H; King, Charles H; Kinung'hi, Safari; Olsen, Annette; Magnussen, Pascal; Colley, Daniel G

2017-12-01

Preventive chemotherapy with praziquantel for schistosomiasis morbidity control is commonly done by mass drug administration (MDA). MDA regimen is usually based on prevalence in a given area, and effectiveness is evaluated by decreases in prevalence and/or intensity of infection after several years of implementation. Multiple studies and programs now find that even within well-implemented, multiyear, annual MDA programs there often remain locations that do not decline in prevalence and/or intensity to expected levels. We term such locations "persistent hotspots." To study and address persistent hotspots, investigators and neglected tropical disease (NTD) program managers need to define them based on changes in prevalence and/or intensity. But how should the data be analyzed to define a persistent hotspot? We have analyzed a dataset from an operational research study in western Tanzania after three annual MDAs using four different approaches to define persistent hotspots. The four approaches are 1) absolute percent change in prevalence; 2) percent change in prevalence; 3) change in World Health Organization guideline categories; 4) change (absolute or percent) in both prevalence and intensity. We compare and contrast the outcomes of these analyses. Our intent is to show how the same dataset yields different numbers of persistent hotspots depending on the approach used to define them. We suggest that investigators and NTD program managers use the approach most suited for their study or program, but whichever approach is used, it should be clearly stated so that comparisons can be made within and between studies and programs.

Defining Persistent Hotspots: Areas That Fail to Decrease Meaningfully in Prevalence after Multiple Years of Mass Drug Administration with Praziquantel for Control of Schistosomiasis

PubMed Central

Kittur, Nupur; Binder, Sue; Campbell, Carl H.; King, Charles H.; Kinung’hi, Safari; Olsen, Annette; Magnussen, Pascal; Colley, Daniel G.

2017-01-01

Abstract. Preventive chemotherapy with praziquantel for schistosomiasis morbidity control is commonly done by mass drug administration (MDA). MDA regimen is usually based on prevalence in a given area, and effectiveness is evaluated by decreases in prevalence and/or intensity of infection after several years of implementation. Multiple studies and programs now find that even within well-implemented, multiyear, annual MDA programs there often remain locations that do not decline in prevalence and/or intensity to expected levels. We term such locations “persistent hotspots.” To study and address persistent hotspots, investigators and neglected tropical disease (NTD) program managers need to define them based on changes in prevalence and/or intensity. But how should the data be analyzed to define a persistent hotspot? We have analyzed a dataset from an operational research study in western Tanzania after three annual MDAs using four different approaches to define persistent hotspots. The four approaches are 1) absolute percent change in prevalence; 2) percent change in prevalence; 3) change in World Health Organization guideline categories; 4) change (absolute or percent) in both prevalence and intensity. We compare and contrast the outcomes of these analyses. Our intent is to show how the same dataset yields different numbers of persistent hotspots depending on the approach used to define them. We suggest that investigators and NTD program managers use the approach most suited for their study or program, but whichever approach is used, it should be clearly stated so that comparisons can be made within and between studies and programs. PMID:29016344

Dust agglomeration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

John Marshall, an investigator at Ames Research Center and a principal investigator in the microgravity fluid physics program, is studying the adhesion and cohesion of particles in order to shed light on how granular systems behave. These systems include everything from giant dust clouds that form planets to tiny compressed pellets, such as the ones you swallow as tablets. This knowledge should help us control the grains, dust, and powders that we encounter or use on a daily basis. Marshall investigated electrostatic charge in microgravity on the first and second U.S. Microgravity Laboratory shuttle missions to see how grains aggregate, or stick together. With gravity's effects eliminated on orbit, Marshall found that the grains of sand that behaved ever so freely on Earth now behaved like flour. They would just glom together in clumps and were quite difficult to disperse. That led to an understanding of the prevalence of the electrostatic forces. The granules wanted to aggregate as little chains, like little hairs, and stack end to end. Some of the chains had 20 or 30 grains. This phenomenon indicated that another force, what Marshall believes to be an electrostatic dipole, was at work.(The diagram on the right emphasizes the aggregating particles in the photo on the left, taken during the USML-2 mission in 1995.)

Microgravity

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-05-15

John Marshall, an investigator at Ames Research Center and a principal investigator in the microgravity fluid physics program, is studying the adhesion and cohesion of particles in order to shed light on how granular systems behave. These systems include everything from giant dust clouds that form planets to tiny compressed pellets, such as the ones you swallow as tablets. This knowledge should help us control the grains, dust, and powders that we encounter or use on a daily basis. Marshall investigated electrostatic charge in microgravity on the first and second U.S. Microgravity Laboratory shuttle missions to see how grains aggregate, or stick together. With gravity's effects eliminated on orbit, Marshall found that the grains of sand that behaved ever so freely on Earth now behaved like flour. They would just glom together in clumps and were quite difficult to disperse. That led to an understanding of the prevalence of the electrostatic forces. The granules wanted to aggregate as little chains, like little hairs, and stack end to end. Some of the chains had 20 or 30 grains. This phenomenon indicated that another force, what Marshall believes to be an electrostatic dipole, was at work.(The diagram on the right emphasizes the aggregating particles in the photo on the left, taken during the USML-2 mission in 1995.)

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

Humble, Travis S; Sadlier, Ronald J

Quantum communication systems harness modern physics through state-of-the-art optical engineering to provide revolutionary capabilities. An important concern for quantum communication engineering is designing and prototyping these systems to prototype proposed capabilities. We apply the paradigm of software-defined communica- tion for engineering quantum communication systems to facilitate rapid prototyping and prototype comparisons. We detail how to decompose quantum communication terminals into functional layers defining hardware, software, and middleware concerns, and we describe how each layer behaves. Using the super-dense coding protocol as a test case, we describe implementations of both the transmitter and receiver, and we present results from numerical simulationsmore » of the behavior. We find that while the theoretical benefits of super dense coding are maintained, there is a classical overhead associated with the full implementation.« less

Reasoning about Probabilistic Security Using Task-PIOAs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaggard, Aaron D.; Meadows, Catherine; Mislove, Michael; Segala, Roberto

Task-structured probabilistic input/output automata (Task-PIOAs) are concurrent probabilistic automata that, among other things, have been used to provide a formal framework for the universal composability paradigms of protocol security. One of their advantages is that that they allow one to distinguish high-level nondeterminism that can affect the outcome of the protocol, from low-level choices, which can't. We present an alternative approach to analyzing the structure of Task-PIOAs that relies on ordered sets. We focus on two of the components that are required to define and apply Task-PIOAs: discrete probability theory and automata theory. We believe our development gives insight into the structure of Task-PIOAs and how they can be utilized to model crypto-protocols. We illustrate our approach with an example from anonymity, an area that has not previously been addressed using Task-PIOAs. We model Chaum's Dining Cryptographers Protocol at a level that does not require cryptographic primitives in the analysis. We show via this example how our approach can leverage a proof of security in the case a principal behaves deterministically to prove security when that principal behaves probabilistically.

Hypothesis: solid tumours behave as systemic metabolic dictators.

PubMed

Lee, Yang-Ming; Chang, Wei-Chun; Ma, Wen-Lung

2016-06-01

Current knowledge regarding mechanisms of carcinogenesis in human beings centres around the accumulation of genetic instability, amplified cellular signalling, disturbed cellular energy metabolism and microenvironmental regulation governed by complicated cell-cell interactions. In this article, we provide an alternative view of cancer biology. We propose that cancer behaves as a systemic dictator that interacts with tissues throughout the body to control their metabolism and eventually homeostasis. The mechanism of development of this endocrine organ-like tumour (EOLT) tissue might be the driving force for cancer progression. Here, we review the literature that led to the development of this hypothesis. The EOLT phenotype can be defined as a tumour that alters systemic homeostasis. The literature indicates that the EOLT phenotype is present throughout cancer progression. The feedback mechanism that governs the interaction between tumours and various organs is unknown. We believe that investigating the mechanism of EOLT development may advance the current knowledge of regulation within the tumour macroenvironment and consequently lead to new diagnostic methods and therapy. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

45 CFR 146.121 - Prohibiting discrimination against participants and beneficiaries based on a health factor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... experience; (iv) Receipt of health care; (v) Medical history; (vi) Genetic information, as defined in § 146... that provides a reward to employees who complete a health risk assessment regarding current health... of genetic information.) (iii) Health-contingent wellness programs. A health-contingent wellness...

45 CFR 146.121 - Prohibiting discrimination against participants and beneficiaries based on a health factor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... experience; (iv) Receipt of health care; (v) Medical history; (vi) Genetic information, as defined in § 146... that provides a reward to employees who complete a health risk assessment regarding current health... of genetic information.) (iii) Health-contingent wellness programs. A health-contingent wellness...

Giving wellness a spiritual workout. Two model programs emphasize the development of self-reliance.

PubMed

Seaward, B L

1989-04-01

Many hospitals, corporations, and communities have developed wellness programs to help people maintain a healthy life-style. Today's wellness doctrine reflects modern medical thinking that, to achieve optimal human potential, a person must enjoy physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Most wellness programs, however, concentrate on the physical; few take into account spiritual well-being. Wellness programs developed by the Boulder County YMCA, Longmont, CO, and the University of Maryland, College Park, were based on an interpretation of a model suggested by Carl Jung that defines spirituality as the development of self-reliance. According to Jung, the constituents of self-reliance include awareness, inner faith, self-worth, humility, patience, acceptance, and self-confidence. He suggested that the absence of any one of these could cause a breakdown in a person's belief system and lead to a spiritual crisis. These programs trained participants to recognize the importance of their spiritual well-being and to find practical ways to improve it. Key components were a stress management course; workshops in confidence building and values clarification; and classes, lectures, and workshops that emphasize the integration of spiritual and physical well-being.

Modulating bacterial and gut mucosal interactions with engineered biofilm matrix proteins.

PubMed

Duraj-Thatte, Anna M; Praveschotinunt, Pichet; Nash, Trevor R; Ward, Frederick R; Joshi, Neel S

2018-02-22

Extracellular appendages play a significant role in mediating communication between bacteria and their host. Curli fibers are a class of bacterial fimbria that is highly amenable to engineering. We demonstrate the use of engineered curli fibers to rationally program interactions between bacteria and components of the mucosal epithelium. Commensal E. coli strains were engineered to produce recombinant curli fibers fused to the trefoil family of human cytokines. Biofilms formed from these strains bound more mucins than those producing wild-type curli fibers, and modulated mucin rheology as well. When treated with bacteria producing the curli-trefoil fusions mammalian cells behaved identically in terms of their migration behavior as when they were treated with the corresponding soluble trefoil factors. Overall, this demonstrates the potential utility of curli fibers as a scaffold for the display of bioactive domains and an untapped approach to rationally modulating host-microbe interactions using bacterial matrix proteins.

Feasibility Study On Missile Launch Detection And Trajectory Tracking

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

Vehicles ( UAVs ) in military operations, their role in a missile defense operation is not well defined. The simulation program discussed in this thesis ...targeting information to an attacking UAV to reliably intercept the missile. B . FURTHER STUDIES The simulation program can be enhanced to improve the...intercept the threat. This thesis explores the challenges in creating a simulation program to process video footage from an unstable platform and the

Traveling Wave Modes of a Plane Layered Anelastic Earth

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-20

dependent anelastic moduli. The anelastic moduli must be frequency dependent and satisfy the Kramers- Kronig relations to preserve causality. The...the complex, frequency dependent moduli satisfy the Kramers- Kronig relations. Stable, well-behaved numerical algorithms exist for solving the complex

Evolution of biological complexity

PubMed Central

Adami, Christoph; Ofria, Charles; Collier, Travis C.

2000-01-01

To make a case for or against a trend in the evolution of complexity in biological evolution, complexity needs to be both rigorously defined and measurable. A recent information-theoretic (but intuitively evident) definition identifies genomic complexity with the amount of information a sequence stores about its environment. We investigate the evolution of genomic complexity in populations of digital organisms and monitor in detail the evolutionary transitions that increase complexity. We show that, because natural selection forces genomes to behave as a natural “Maxwell Demon,” within a fixed environment, genomic complexity is forced to increase. PMID:10781045

How to simulate pedestrian behaviors in seismic evacuation for vulnerability reduction of existing buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quagliarini, Enrico; Bernardini, Gabriele; D'Orazio, Marco

2017-07-01

Understanding and representing how individuals behave in earthquake emergencies would be essentially to assess the impact of vulnerability reduction strategies on existing buildings in seismic areas. In fact, interactions between individuals and the scenario (modified by the earthquake occurrence) are really important in order to understand the possible additional risks for people, especially during the evacuation phase. The current approach is based on "qualitative" aspects, in order to define best practice guidelines for Civil Protection and populations. On the contrary, a "quantitative" description of human response and evacuation motion in similar conditions is urgently needed. Hence, this work defines the rules for pedestrians' earthquake evacuation in urban scenarios, by taking advantages of previous results of real-world evacuation analyses. In particular, motion laws for pedestrians is defined by modifying the Social Force model equation. The proposed model could be used for evaluating individuals' evacuation process and so for defining operative strategies for interferences reduction in critical urban fabric parts (e.g.: interventions on particular buildings, evacuation strategies definition, city parts projects).

Applications of Hilbert Spectral Analysis for Speech and Sound Signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huang, Norden E.

2003-01-01

A new method for analyzing nonlinear and nonstationary data has been developed, and the natural applications are to speech and sound signals. The key part of the method is the Empirical Mode Decomposition method with which any complicated data set can be decomposed into a finite and often small number of Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMF). An IMF is defined as any function having the same numbers of zero-crossing and extrema, and also having symmetric envelopes defined by the local maxima and minima respectively. The IMF also admits well-behaved Hilbert transform. This decomposition method is adaptive, and, therefore, highly efficient. Since the decomposition is based on the local characteristic time scale of the data, it is applicable to nonlinear and nonstationary processes. With the Hilbert transform, the Intrinsic Mode Functions yield instantaneous frequencies as functions of time, which give sharp identifications of imbedded structures. This method invention can be used to process all acoustic signals. Specifically, it can process the speech signals for Speech synthesis, Speaker identification and verification, Speech recognition, and Sound signal enhancement and filtering. Additionally, as the acoustical signals from machinery are essentially the way the machines are talking to us. Therefore, the acoustical signals, from the machines, either from sound through air or vibration on the machines, can tell us the operating conditions of the machines. Thus, we can use the acoustic signal to diagnosis the problems of machines.

Attention HIV: older African American women define sexual risk.

PubMed

McCord, Laneshia R

2014-01-01

Understanding sexual-risk behaviours as defined by a culture presents new challenges for human service professionals. Older African American women constitute the fastest growing group of new cases of HIV in the USA. With heterosexual sex as the primary mode of transmission among this group, there exist minimal programmes that are culture and age-specific in terms of primary and secondary prevention. In an attempt to address this gap in knowledge, this study examined how a group of older African American women defined sexual-risk behaviour. A focus group was conducted with seven women age 45 and older, who were recruited from a community centre. This paper examines the way that sexual-risk behaviour was defined through thematic analysis and conceptualises the locus of sexual risk behaviour as defined by the participants. The major theme of the study was social prescription, how to behave sexually as an ageing adult. Underlying ideas that arose were that unprotected sex occurred out of habit, that impulsivity was associated with risky sex and that older women needed to be aware of warning signs and behaviours of potential mates. Micro- and macro-level implications for human service professionals are discussed.

Spacelab

NASA Image and Video Library

1992-06-01

The first United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-1) was one of NASA's science and technology programs that provided scientists an opportunity to research various scientific investigations in a weightless environment inside the Spacelab module. It also provided demonstrations of new equipment to help prepare for advanced microgravity research and processing aboard the Space Station. The USML-1 flew in orbit for extended periods, providing greater opportunities for research in materials science, fluid dynamics, biotechnology (crystal growth), and combustion science. This photograph shows astronaut Ken Bowersox conducting the Astroculture experiment in the middeck of the orbiter Columbia. This experiment was to evaluate and find effective ways to supply nutrient solutions for optimizing plant growth and avoid releasing solutions into the crew quarters in microgravity. Since fluids behave differently in microgravity, plant watering systems that operate well on Earth do not function effectively in space. Plants can reduce the costs of providing food, oxygen, and pure water as well as lower the costs of removing carbon dioxide in human space habitats. The Astroculture experiment flew aboard the STS-50 mission in June 1992 and was managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center.

Self-determination, smoking, diet and health.

PubMed

Williams, Geoffrey C; Minicucci, Daryl S; Kouides, Ruth W; Levesque, Chantal S; Chirkov, Valery I; Ryan, Richard M; Deci, Edward L

2002-10-01

A Clinical Trial will test (1) a Self-Determination Theory (SDT) model of maintained smoking cessation and diet improvement, and (2) an SDT intervention, relative to usual care, for facilitating maintained behavior change and decreasing depressive symptoms for those who quit smoking. SDT is the only empirically derived theory which emphasizes patient autonomy and has a validated measure for each of its constructs, and this is the first trial to evaluate an SDT intervention. Adult smokers will be stratified for whether they are at National Cholesterol Education Program (1996) recommended goal for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Those with elevated LDL-C will be studied for diet improvement as well as smoking cessation. Six-month interventions involve a behavior-change counselor using principles of SDT to facilitate autonomous motivation and perceived competence for healthier behaving. Cotinine-validated smoking cessation and LDL-C-validated dietary recall of reduced fat intake, as well as depressive symptoms, will be assessed at 6 and 18 months. Structural equation modeling will test the model for both behaviors within the intervention and usual-care conditions.

Spacelab

NASA Image and Video Library

1992-06-01

The first United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-1) was one of NASA's science and technology programs that provided scientists an opportunity to research various scientific investigations in a weightless environment inside the Spacelab module. It also provided demonstrations of new equipment to help prepare for advanced microgravity research and processing aboard the Space Station. The USML-1 flew in orbit for extended periods, providing greater opportunities for research in materials science, fluid dynamics, biotechnology (crystal growth), and combustion science. This is a close-up view of the Astroculture experiment rack in the middeck of the orbiter. The Astroculture experiment was to evaluate and find effective ways to supply nutrient solutions for optimizing plant growth and avoid releasing solutions into the crew quarters in microgravity. Since fluids behave differently in microgravity, plant watering systems that operate well on Earth do not function effectively in space. Plants can reduce the costs of providing food, oxygen, and pure water, as well as lower the costs of removing carbon dioxide in human space habitats. The USML-1 flew aboard the STS-50 mission on June 1992 and was managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center.

ANOPP programming and documentation standards document

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

Standards defining the requirements for preparing software for the Aircraft Noise Prediction Program (ANOPP) were given. It is the intent of these standards to provide definition, design, coding, and documentation criteria for the achievement of a unity among ANOPP products. These standards apply to all of ANOPP's standard software system. The standards encompass philosophy as well as techniques and conventions.

6. Monitoring and the Northwest Forest Plan

Treesearch

Leslie M. Reid

1994-01-01

Abstract - Monitoring will ensure that the Northwest Forest Plan is implemented as intended, determine whether the plan is achieving its intended objectives, and provide information needed to improve the plan. The credibility of the Forest Plan rests on the credibility of its monitoring program. If the monitoring program is to succeed, it must focus on well-defined...

Enhancing the Application and Evaluation of a Discrete Trial Intervention Package for Eliciting First Words in Preverbal Preschoolers with ASD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsiouri, Ioanna; Simmons, Elizabeth Schoen; Paul, Rhea

2012-01-01

This study evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention package including a discrete trial program (Rapid Motor Imitation Antecedent Training (Tsiouri and Greer, "J Behav Educat" 12:185-206, 2003) combined with parent education for eliciting first words in children with ASD who had little or no spoken language. Evaluation of the approach…

Apollo guidance, navigation and control: Guidance system operations plans for manned LM earth orbital and lunar missions using Program COLOSSUS 3. Section 7: Erasable memory programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamilton, M. H.

1972-01-01

Erasable-memory programs (EMPs) designed for the guidance computers used in the command (CMC) and lunar modules (LGC) are described. CMC programs are designated COLOSSUS 3, and the associated EMPs are identified by a three-digit number beginning with 5. LGC programs are designated LUMINARY 1E, and the associated EMPs are identified, with one exception, by a three-digit number beginning with 1. The exception is EMP 99. The EMPs vary in complexity from a simple flagbit setting to a long and intricate logical structure. They all, however, cause the computer to behave in a way not intended in the original design of the programs; they accomplish this off-nominal behavior by some alteration of erasable memory to interface with existing fixed-memory programs to effect a desired result.

The commercial implications of the EELV program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasso, Steven E.

1998-01-01

There have been several studies over the past 15 years intended to define and develop a space launch system that would meet future needs of the United States Government (USG). While these past studies (Advanced Launch System, National Launch System, Spacelifter, etc) yielded valuable data, none were carried to fruition. Overriding issues included high development cost, changing requirements, and uncertainty in the mission model, as well lack of a clear direction for where this nation should be headed. In 1995, the Air Force embarked on the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program as a way of defining and developing the next-generation expendable launch system. This time groundrules for this effort were clearly defined-the program relied on the use of evolving a system rather than developing a high-technology solution to reduce development cost, and the commercial market was factored in as a way of reducing cost to the USG. The EELV program is nearing the engineering manufacturing development (EMD) phase by mid-1998 with first flight planned for early 2001. This paper describes the planned Lockheed Martin EELV program and its ability to utilize the commercial market to benefit the USG in its need to develop the next-generation expendable launch vehicle.

FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION: Uniqueness of static black holes without analyticity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chruściel, Piotr T.; Galloway, Gregory J.

2010-08-01

We show that the hypothesis of analyticity in the uniqueness theory of vacuum, or electrovacuum, static black holes is not needed. More generally, we show that prehorizons covering a closed set cannot occur in well-behaved domains of outer communications.

The Scaling of Sociometric Nominations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veldman, Donald J.; Sheffield, John R.

1979-01-01

A sociometric nominations instrument called Guess Who was administered to 13,045 elementary school children and then subjected to an image analysis. Four factors were extracted--disruptive, bright, dull, and quiet/well-behaved--and related to teacher ratings, self-reports and other measures. (Author/JKS)

Communities defining environmental health: examples from the Colorado (U.S.A.) Healthy Communities Initiative.

PubMed

Conner, R F; Tanjasiri, S P

2000-01-01

Communities are increasingly defining 'health' for themselves, then becoming the main actors in actions to improve their health and well being. These community members work from a broad and inclusive definition of 'health' that often incorporates environmental health as a key aspect. They also assume an ecological, or systems, viewpoint that integrates many aspects of the community that affect health and well being, including housing, health, economy, education, transportation, youth and family issues, as well as health and illness care. This paper describes a program that involves 28 large and small, urban and rural communities in the United States state of Colorado that undertook this type of community-based health improvement project. The Colorado Healthy Communities Initiative (CHCI) was designed to bring together citizens in Colorado to work collaboratively to make their communities healthier. This paper describes the program's background, including its principles, processes, and participants, then focuses on the particular aspects of environmental health that communities included in their definitions of a 'healthy community'.

A Cache Design to Exploit Structural Locality

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-12-01

memory and secondary storage. Main memory was used to store the instructions and data of an executing pro- gram, while secondary storage held programs ...efficiency of the CPU and faster turnaround of executing programs . In addition to the well known spatial and temporal aspects of locality, Hobart has...identified a third aspect, which he has called structural locality (9). This type of locality is defined as the tendency of an executing program to

Effects of cumulative risk on behavioral and psychological well-being in first grade: moderation by neighborhood context.

PubMed

Lima, Julie; Caughy, Margaret; Nettles, Saundra M; O'Campo, Patricia J

2010-10-01

This study builds upon existing research by examining whether risk indices for child psychological well-being behave in the same way in different types of neighborhoods. Specifically, we sought to determine if neighborhood characteristics acted to exacerbate or, alternatively, to buffer risk factors at the family and/or child level. Families with a child entering first grade in Fall 2002 were recruited from Baltimore City neighborhoods, defined as census block groups. This study included 405 children, and data came from an interview with the primary caregiver and an assessment of the first grader. The dependent variables were externalizing behavior and internalizing problems. A family risk index consisting of 13 measures, and a child risk index consisting of three measures were the main independent variables of interest. We examined the effects of these indices on child psychological well-being and behavior across two neighborhood characteristics: neighborhood potential for community involvement with children and neighborhood negative social climate. Results of multivariate analyses indicated that cumulative family risk was associated with an increase in both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Perceived negative social climate moderated the effect of family risks on behavior problems such that more risk was associated with a larger increment in both externalizing behavior problems and psychological problems for children living in high versus low risk neighborhoods. These findings further emphasize the importance of considering neighborhood context in the study of child psychological well-being. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

No More Flying Blind.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowland, Howard Ray

1985-01-01

Institutional advancement as a profession has not put enough emphasis on formal research. Research helps to analyze media, define audiences, and target publications, as well as help in conducting long-range planning, marketing programs, and fund-raising campaigns. (MLW)

Spacecraft alignment estimation. [for onboard sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shuster, Malcolm D.; Bierman, Gerald J.

1988-01-01

A numerically well-behaved factorized methodology is developed for estimating spacecraft sensor alignments from prelaunch and inflight data without the need to compute the spacecraft attitude or angular velocity. Such a methodology permits the estimation of sensor alignments (or other biases) in a framework free of unknown dynamical variables. In actual mission implementation such an algorithm is usually better behaved than one that must compute sensor alignments simultaneously with the spacecraft attitude, for example by means of a Kalman filter. In particular, such a methodology is less sensitive to data dropouts of long duration, and the derived measurement used in the attitude-independent algorithm usually makes data checking and editing of outliers much simpler than would be the case in the filter.

Particlelike solutions of the Einstein-Dirac equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finster, Felix; Smoller, Joel; Yau, Shing-Tung

1999-05-01

The coupled Einstein-Dirac equations for a static, spherically symmetric system of two fermions in a singlet spinor state are derived. Using numerical methods, we construct an infinite number of solitonlike solutions of these equations. The stability of the solutions is analyzed. For weak coupling (i.e., small rest mass of the fermions), all the solutions are linearly stable (with respect to spherically symmetric perturbations), whereas for stronger coupling, both stable and unstable solutions exist. For the physical interpretation, we discuss how the energy of the fermions and the (ADM) mass behave as functions of the rest mass of the fermions. Although gravitation is not renormalizable, our solutions of the Einstein-Dirac equations are regular and well behaved even for strong coupling.

Study on the physical and non-physical drag coefficients for spherical satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Man, Haijun; Li, Huijun; Tang, Geshi

In this study, the physical and non-physical drag coefficients (C_D) for spherical satellites in ANDERR are retrieved from the number density of atomic oxygen and the orbit decay data, respectively. We concern on what changes should be taken to the retrieved physical C_D and non-physical C_D as the accuracy of the atmospheric density model is improved. Firstly, Lomb-Scargle periodograms to these C_D series as well as the environmental parameters indicate that: (1) there are obvious 5-, 7-, and 9-day periodic variations in the daily Ap indices and the solar wind speed at 1 AU as well as the model density, which has been reported as a result from the interaction between the corotating solar wind and the magnetosphere; (2) The same short periods also exist in the retrieved C_D except for the significance level for each C_D series; (3) the physical and non-physical C_D have behaved almost homogeneously with model densities along the satellite trajectory. Secondly, corrections to each type of C_D are defined as the differences between the values derived from the density model of NRLMSISE-00 and that of JB2008. It has shown that: (1) the bigger the density corrections are, the bigger the corrections to C_D of both types have. In addition, corrections to the physical C_D distribute within an extension of 0.05, which is about an order lower than the extension that the non-physical C_D distribute (0.5). (2) Corrections to the non-physical C_D behaved reciprocally to the density corrections, while a similar relationship is also existing between corrections to the physical C_D and that of the model density. (3) As the orbital altitude are lower than 200 km, corrections to the C_D and the model density are both decreased asymptotically to zero. Results in this study highlight that the physical C_D for spherical satellites should play an important role in technique renovations for accurate density corrections with the orbital decay data or in searching for a way to decouple the product of density and C_D wrapped in the orbital decay data.

Mobility and Oxidation of Adsorbed CO on Shape-Controlled Pt Nanoparticles in Acidic Medium.

PubMed

Farias, Manuel J S; Busó-Rogero, Carlos; Vidal-Iglesias, Francisco J; Solla-Gullón, José; Camara, Giuseppe A; Feliu, Juan M

2017-01-31

The knowledge about how CO occupies and detaches from specific surface sites on well-structured Pt surfaces provides outstanding information on both dynamics/mobility of CO ads and oxidation of this molecule under electrochemical conditions. This work reports how the potentiostatic growth of different coverage CO adlayers evolves with time on both cubic and octahedral Pt nanoparticles in acidic medium. Data suggest that during the growth of the CO adlayer, CO ads molecules slightly shift toward low coordination sites only on octahedral Pt nanoparticles, so that these undercoordinated sites are the first filled on octahedral Pt nanoparticles. Conversely, on cubic Pt nanoparticles, adsorbed CO behaves as an immobile species, and low coordinated sites as well as (100) terraces are apparently filled uniformly and simultaneously. However, once the adlayer is complete, irrespectively of whether the CO is oxidized in a single step or in a sequence of different potential steps, results suggest that CO ads behaves as an immobile species during its oxidation on both octahedral and cubic Pt nanoparticles.

Draft Tube Baffle (DTB) crystallizers: A study of stationary and dynamically behaving Crystal Size Distributions (CSD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deleer, B. G. M.

1981-11-01

Based on population balance, CSD behavior as a function of geometrical and operating variables was studied, using a crystallizer. A potash alum-water system, involving a separation technique which uses surface active agents and an apolar, organic liquid to separate potash alum crystals from mother liquid under the influence of gravity was used to check experimental findings against literature data. Results show action of annular settling spaces is strongly influenced by fluid velocities perpendicular to those directed upwards. The well-mixed volume decreases with increasing crystallizer size until a minimum effective volume is reached. As supersaturation is constant throughout the crystallizer volume under stationary operating conditions, the annular settling space behaves like a growth chamber for crystals in its volume. Swirl in the lower part of the annular volume introduces significant back mixing. Crystals within this space either grow and return to the well-mixed part, or withdraw from the annular volume permanently.

A new relativistic stellar model with anisotropic fluid in Karmarkar space-time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Ksh. Newton; Pant, Neeraj; Troconis, O.

2017-02-01

We are presenting a new class of well-behaved solutions in embedding class-I. We proceed our calculations by assuming a new type of grr metric potential and solved for the other metric gtt using Karmarkar condition. The necessary condition that any solutions of Einstein's field equations to be class-I is to satisfy Karmarkar condition and sufficient condition is to satisfy Pandey-Sharma condition i.e. R2323 ≠ 0. The solution also satisfies strong energy condition, null energy condition, dominant energy condition and weak energy condition. The obtained compactness parameter is within Buchdahl limit i.e. 2 M / R ≤ 8 / 9. The solution also satisfies the causality condition and can represent stable stellar fluid system as the adiabatic index Γ > 4 / 3 and the stability factor holds - 1 ≤ vt2- vr2 ≤ 0 good. Finally, we have tuned our solution for two compact stars PSR J1614-2230 and 4U1608-52 which are well-behaved in all respects.

Ostrogradsky in theories with multiple fields

DOE PAGES

de Rham, Claudia; Matas, Andrew

2016-06-23

We review how the (absence of) Ostrogradsky instability manifests itself in theories with multiple fields. It has recently been appreciated that when multiple fields are present, the existence of higher derivatives may not automatically imply the existence of ghosts. We discuss the connection with gravitational theories like massive gravity and beyond Horndeski which manifest higher derivatives in some formulations and yet are free of Ostrogradsky ghost. We also examine an interesting new class of Extended Scalar-Tensor Theories of gravity which has been recently proposed. We show that for a subclass of these theories, the tensor modes are either not dynamicalmore » or are infinitely strongly coupled. Among the remaining theories for which the tensor modes are well-defined one counts one new model that is not field-redefinable to Horndeski via a conformal and disformal transformation but that does require the vacuum to break Lorentz invariance. We discuss the implications for the effective field theory of dark energy and the stability of the theory. In particular we find that if we restrict ourselves to the Extended Scalar-Tensor class of theories for which the tensors are well-behaved and the scalar is free from gradient or ghost instabilities on FLRW then we recover Horndeski up to field redefinitions.« less

Formation of Kinneyia via shear-induced instabilities in microbial mats.

PubMed

Thomas, Katherine; Herminghaus, Stephan; Porada, Hubertus; Goehring, Lucas

2013-01-01

Kinneyia are a class of microbially mediated sedimentary fossils. Characterized by clearly defined ripple structures, Kinneyia are generally found in areas that were formally littoral habitats and covered by microbial mats. To date, there has been no conclusive explanation of the processes involved in the formation of these fossils. Microbial mats behave like viscoelastic fluids. We propose that the key mechanism involved in the formation of Kinneyia is a Kelvin-Helmholtz-type instability induced in a viscoelastic film under flowing water. A ripple corrugation is spontaneously induced in the film and grows in amplitude over time. Theoretical predictions show that the ripple instability has a wavelength proportional to the thickness of the film. Experiments carried out using viscoelastic films confirm this prediction. The ripple pattern that forms has a wavelength roughly three times the thickness of the film. This behaviour is independent of the viscosity of the film and the flow conditions. Laboratory-analogue Kinneyia were formed via the sedimentation of glass beads, which preferentially deposit in the troughs of the ripples. Well-ordered patterns form, with both honeycomb-like and parallel ridges being observed, depending on the flow speed. These patterns correspond well with those found in Kinneyia, with similar morphologies, wavelengths and amplitudes being observed.

Formation of Kinneyia via shear-induced instabilities in microbial mats.

PubMed

Thomas, Katherine; Herminghaus, Stephan; Porada, Hubertus; Goehring, Lucas

2013-12-13

Kinneyia are a class of microbially mediated sedimentary fossils. Characterized by clearly defined ripple structures, Kinneyia are generally found in areas that were formally littoral habitats and covered by microbial mats. To date, there has been no conclusive explanation of the processes involved in the formation of these fossils. Microbial mats behave like viscoelastic fluids. We propose that the key mechanism involved in the formation of Kinneyia is a Kelvin-Helmholtz-type instability induced in a viscoelastic film under flowing water. A ripple corrugation is spontaneously induced in the film and grows in amplitude over time. Theoretical predictions show that the ripple instability has a wavelength proportional to the thickness of the film. Experiments carried out using viscoelastic films confirm this prediction. The ripple pattern that forms has a wavelength roughly three times the thickness of the film. This behaviour is independent of the viscosity of the film and the flow conditions. Laboratory-analogue Kinneyia were formed via the sedimentation of glass beads, which preferentially deposit in the troughs of the ripples. Well-ordered patterns form, with both honeycomb-like and parallel ridges being observed, depending on the flow speed. These patterns correspond well with those found in Kinneyia, with similar morphologies, wavelengths and amplitudes being observed.

Ostrogradsky in theories with multiple fields

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

de Rham, Claudia; Matas, Andrew

We review how the (absence of) Ostrogradsky instability manifests itself in theories with multiple fields. It has recently been appreciated that when multiple fields are present, the existence of higher derivatives may not automatically imply the existence of ghosts. We discuss the connection with gravitational theories like massive gravity and beyond Horndeski which manifest higher derivatives in some formulations and yet are free of Ostrogradsky ghost. We also examine an interesting new class of Extended Scalar-Tensor Theories of gravity which has been recently proposed. We show that for a subclass of these theories, the tensor modes are either not dynamicalmore » or are infinitely strongly coupled. Among the remaining theories for which the tensor modes are well-defined one counts one new model that is not field-redefinable to Horndeski via a conformal and disformal transformation but that does require the vacuum to break Lorentz invariance. We discuss the implications for the effective field theory of dark energy and the stability of the theory. In particular we find that if we restrict ourselves to the Extended Scalar-Tensor class of theories for which the tensors are well-behaved and the scalar is free from gradient or ghost instabilities on FLRW then we recover Horndeski up to field redefinitions.« less

An Android Research and Development Program.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-03-01

reprogrammable multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or special devices, through variable programmed motions for the performance...thesis: 1. An ’industrial robot’ is a [mechanized,] reprogrammable multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or...insertion is also well defined in space. These manipulators are currently in use in the automobile industry, and two were were demonstrated by Kohol

(2+1)-dimensional stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lubo, M.; Rooman, M.; Spindel, Ph.

1999-02-01

We investigate, in the framework of (2+1)-dimensional gravity, stationary rotationally symmetric gravitational sources of the perfect fluid type, embedded in a space of an arbitrary cosmological constant. We show that the matching conditions between the interior and exterior geometries imply restrictions on the physical parameters of the solutions. In particular, imposing finite sources and the absence of closed timelike curves privileges negative values of the cosmological constant, yielding exterior vacuum geometries of rotating black hole type. In the special case of static sources, we prove the complete integrability of the field equations and show that the sources' masses are bounded from above and, for a vanishing cosmological constant, generally equal to 1. We also discuss and illustrate the stationary configurations by explicitly solving the field equations for constant mass-energy densities. If the pressure vanishes, we recover as interior geometries Gödel-like metrics defined on causally well behaved domains, but with unphysical values of the mass to angular momentum ratio. The introduction of pressure in the sources cures the latter problem and leads to physically more relevant models.

Uncovering collective listening habits and music genres in bipartite networks.

PubMed

Lambiotte, R; Ausloos, M

2005-12-01

In this paper, we analyze web-downloaded data on people sharing their music library, that we use as their individual musical signatures. The system is represented by a bipartite network, nodes being the music groups and the listeners. Music groups' audience size behaves like a power law, but the individual music library size is an exponential with deviations at small values. In order to extract structures from the network, we focus on correlation matrices, that we filter by removing the least correlated links. This percolation idea-based method reveals the emergence of social communities and music genres, that are visualized by a branching representation. Evidence of collective listening habits that do not fit the neat usual genres defined by the music industry indicates an alternative way of classifying listeners and music groups. The structure of the network is also studied by a more refined method, based upon a random walk exploration of its properties. Finally, a personal identification-community imitation model for growing bipartite networks is outlined, following Potts ingredients. Simulation results do reproduce quite well the empirical data.

Thermalization Time Bounds for Pauli Stabilizer Hamiltonians

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Temme, Kristan

2017-03-01

We prove a general lower bound to the spectral gap of the Davies generator for Hamiltonians that can be written as the sum of commuting Pauli operators. These Hamiltonians, defined on the Hilbert space of N-qubits, serve as one of the most frequently considered candidates for a self-correcting quantum memory. A spectral gap bound on the Davies generator establishes an upper limit on the life time of such a quantum memory and can be used to estimate the time until the system relaxes to thermal equilibrium when brought into contact with a thermal heat bath. The bound can be shown to behave as {λ ≥ O(N^{-1} exp(-2β overline{ɛ}))}, where {overline{ɛ}} is a generalization of the well known energy barrier for logical operators. Particularly in the low temperature regime we expect this bound to provide the correct asymptotic scaling of the gap with the system size up to a factor of N -1. Furthermore, we discuss conditions and provide scenarios where this factor can be removed and a constant lower bound can be proven.

Toward an Accurate Theoretical Framework for Describing Ensembles for Proteins under Strongly Denaturing Conditions

PubMed Central

Tran, Hoang T.; Pappu, Rohit V.

2006-01-01

Our focus is on an appropriate theoretical framework for describing highly denatured proteins. In high concentrations of denaturants, proteins behave like polymers in a good solvent and ensembles for denatured proteins can be modeled by ignoring all interactions except excluded volume (EV) effects. To assay conformational preferences of highly denatured proteins, we quantify a variety of properties for EV-limit ensembles of 23 two-state proteins. We find that modeled denatured proteins can be best described as follows. Average shapes are consistent with prolate ellipsoids. Ensembles are characterized by large correlated fluctuations. Sequence-specific conformational preferences are restricted to local length scales that span five to nine residues. Beyond local length scales, chain properties follow well-defined power laws that are expected for generic polymers in the EV limit. The average available volume is filled inefficiently, and cavities of all sizes are found within the interiors of denatured proteins. All properties characterized from simulated ensembles match predictions from rigorous field theories. We use our results to resolve between conflicting proposals for structure in ensembles for highly denatured states. PMID:16766618

Singular unlocking transition in the Winfree model of coupled oscillators.

PubMed

Quinn, D Dane; Rand, Richard H; Strogatz, Steven H

2007-03-01

The Winfree model consists of a population of globally coupled phase oscillators with randomly distributed natural frequencies. As the coupling strength and the spread of natural frequencies are varied, the various stable states of the model can undergo bifurcations, nearly all of which have been characterized previously. The one exception is the unlocking transition, in which the frequency-locked state disappears abruptly as the spread of natural frequencies exceeds a critical width. Viewed as a function of the coupling strength, this critical width defines a bifurcation curve in parameter space. For the special case where the frequency distribution is uniform, earlier work had uncovered a puzzling singularity in this bifurcation curve. Here we seek to understand what causes the singularity. Using the Poincaré-Lindstedt method of perturbation theory, we analyze the locked state and its associated unlocking transition, first for an arbitrary distribution of natural frequencies, and then for discrete systems of N oscillators. We confirm that the bifurcation curve becomes singular for a continuum uniform distribution, yet find that it remains well behaved for any finite N , suggesting that the continuum limit is responsible for the singularity.

Uncovering collective listening habits and music genres in bipartite networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lambiotte, R.; Ausloos, M.

2005-12-01

In this paper, we analyze web-downloaded data on people sharing their music library, that we use as their individual musical signatures. The system is represented by a bipartite network, nodes being the music groups and the listeners. Music groups’ audience size behaves like a power law, but the individual music library size is an exponential with deviations at small values. In order to extract structures from the network, we focus on correlation matrices, that we filter by removing the least correlated links. This percolation idea-based method reveals the emergence of social communities and music genres, that are visualized by a branching representation. Evidence of collective listening habits that do not fit the neat usual genres defined by the music industry indicates an alternative way of classifying listeners and music groups. The structure of the network is also studied by a more refined method, based upon a random walk exploration of its properties. Finally, a personal identification-community imitation model for growing bipartite networks is outlined, following Potts ingredients. Simulation results do reproduce quite well the empirical data.

Modification of the quantum mechanical flux formula for electron-hydrogen ionization through Bohm's velocity field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Randazzo, J. M.; Ancarani, L. U.

2015-12-01

For the single differential cross section (SDCS) for hydrogen ionization by electron impact (e -H problem), we propose a correction to the flux formula given by R. Peterkop [Theory of Ionization of Atoms by Electron Impact (Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder, 1977)]. The modification is based on an alternative way of defining the kinetic energy fraction, using Bohm's definition of velocities instead of the usual asymptotic kinematical, or geometrical, approximation. It turns out that the solution-dependent, modified energy fraction is equally related to the components of the probability flux. Compared to what is usually observed, the correction yields a finite and well-behaved SDCS value in the asymmetrical situation where one of the continuum electrons carries all the energy while the other has zero energy. We also discuss, within the S -wave model of the e -H ionization process, the continuity of the SDCS derivative at the equal energy sharing point, a property not so clearly observed in published benchmark results obtained with integral and S -matrix formulas with unequal final states.

Observation of rotational revivals for iodine molecules in helium droplets using a near-adiabatic laser pulse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shepperson, Benjamin; Chatterley, Adam S.; Christiansen, Lars; Søndergaard, Anders A.; Stapelfeldt, Henrik

2018-01-01

A 160-ps near-Gaussian, linearly polarized laser pulse is used to align iodine (I2) molecules embedded in helium nanodroplets. The rise time of the laser pulse is sufficiently long and smooth that the alignment, characterized by , behaves adiabatically during the pulse turnon. However, after the laser pulse has turned off stays above 0.50 and a recurrence structure occurs ˜650 ps later. Measurements on isolated (I2) molecules with identical laser pulses are used to identify, through analysis of the observed half- and full-rotational revivals, that the nonadiabatic postpulse alignment dynamics results from a mild truncation of the trailing edge of the laser pulse. This truncation establishes a well-defined starting time for coherent rotation, which leads to the revival structures observed both for isolated molecules and molecules in He droplets. In the latter case the time-dependent trace recorded here is compared to that obtained previously for a 450-fs alignment pulse. It is found that the observed revivals are very similar.

Immunology and immunity against infection: General rules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zinkernagel, Rolf M.

2005-12-01

Simplified and generalizable rules of immune responses against infections or vaccines have been summarized into 20 statements previously (Scand. J. Immunol. 60 (2004) 9-13) and are restated in a slightly different form here. The key terms of immunology (e.g. specificity, tolerance and memory) are explained in terms of their co-evolutionary importance in the equilibrium between infectious agents and diseases with higher vertebrate hosts. Specificity is best defined by protective antibodies or protective activated T cells; e.g. serotype specific neutralizing antibodies against polio viruses represent the discriminatory power of an immune response very well indeed. Tolerance is reviewed in terms of reactivity rather than self-nonself discrimination. Immune respones are deleted against antigens expressed at sufficient levels within the lymphoheamopoetic system, but may well exist at both, the T and the B cell level against antigens strictly outside of secondary lymphatic organs. In this respect the immune system behaves identically against virus infections and against self antigens. Persistent virus infections delete responsive T cells, once eliminated immune T cell responses wane, if a virus keeps outside of secondary lymphatic tissues no immune response is induced. Immunological memory is usually defined as earlier and greater responses but this does not correlate with protective immunity stringently. It is summarized here that pre-existing titers of protective neutralizing antibodies or pre-existence of activated T cells are the correlates of protection acute cytopathic lethal infections and toxins or against intracellular parasites. It is concluded that many discrepancies and uncertainties in immunological research derive from model situations and experimental results that are correctly measured but cannot be related to co-evolutionary contexts, i.e. survival.

PLDAPS: A Hardware Architecture and Software Toolbox for Neurophysiology Requiring Complex Visual Stimuli and Online Behavioral Control.

PubMed

Eastman, Kyler M; Huk, Alexander C

2012-01-01

Neurophysiological studies in awake, behaving primates (both human and non-human) have focused with increasing scrutiny on the temporal relationship between neural signals and behaviors. Consequently, laboratories are often faced with the problem of developing experimental equipment that can support data recording with high temporal precision and also be flexible enough to accommodate a wide variety of experimental paradigms. To this end, we have developed a MATLAB toolbox that integrates several modern pieces of equipment, but still grants experimenters the flexibility of a high-level programming language. Our toolbox takes advantage of three popular and powerful technologies: the Plexon apparatus for neurophysiological recordings (Plexon, Inc., Dallas, TX, USA), a Datapixx peripheral (Vpixx Technologies, Saint-Bruno, QC, Canada) for control of analog, digital, and video input-output signals, and the Psychtoolbox MATLAB toolbox for stimulus generation (Brainard, 1997; Pelli, 1997; Kleiner et al., 2007). The PLDAPS ("Platypus") system is designed to support the study of the visual systems of awake, behaving primates during multi-electrode neurophysiological recordings, but can be easily applied to other related domains. Despite its wide range of capabilities and support for cutting-edge video displays and neural recording systems, the PLDAPS system is simple enough for someone with basic MATLAB programming skills to design their own experiments.

Ethical decision making in the conduct of research: role of individual, contextual and organizational factors. Commentary on "Science, human nature, and a new paradigm for ethics education".

PubMed

Langlais, Philip J

2012-09-01

Despite the importance of scientific integrity to the well-being of society, recent findings suggest that training and mentoring in the responsible conduct of research are not very reliable or effective inhibitors of research misbehavior. Understanding how and why individual scientists decide to behave in ways that conform to or violate norms and standards of research is essential to the development of more effective training programs and the creation of more supportive environments. Scholars in business management, psychology, and other disciplines have identified many important factors that affect ethical behavior, including individual, contextual, and organizational factors. Surprisingly little research has been conducted to examine the role of these factors in either the development of ethical decision-making skills, or their applicability to ethical issues commonly encountered in research and other scholarly and professional activities. Interdisciplinary approaches combined with research and discipline relevant paradigms should greatly enhance understanding of the individual contextual and organizational factors involved in ethical and unethical research conduct. Such studies will inform and facilitate the development of more effective ethics education programs in the sciences and engineering professions.

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.

Prisoner's Dilemma: Reflections and Recollections.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rapoport, Anatol

1995-01-01

Traces the roots of social trap situations and describes a parasitism-symbiosis model, showing that when each organism attempts to maximize its survival potential without regard for the other's, neither does as well as when they behave collectively. Discusses a model social trap situation, "Prisoner's Dilemma" ("PD") and a…

INNOVATIVE METHODS FOR THE OPTIMIZATION OF GRAVITY STORM SEWER DESIGN

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of this paper is to describe a new method for optimizing the design of urban storm sewer systems. Previous efforts to optimize gravity sewers have met with limited success because classical optimization methods require that the problem be well behaved, e.g. describ...

Top-down, bottom-up, and around the jungle gym: a social exchange and networks approach to engaging afterschool programs in implementing evidence-based practices.

PubMed

Smith, Emilie Phillips; Wise, Eileen; Rosen, Howard; Rosen, Alison; Childs, Sharon; McManus, Margaret

2014-06-01

This paper uses concepts from social networks and social exchange theories to describe the implementation of evidence-based practices in afterschool programs. The members of the LEGACY Together Afterschool Project team have been involved in conducting collaborative research to migrate a behavioral strategy that has been documented to reduce disruptive behaviors in classroom settings to a new setting-that of afterschool programs. We adapted the Paxis Institute's version of the Good Behavior Game to afterschool settings which differ from in-school settings, including more fluid attendance, multiple age groupings, diverse activities that may take place simultaneously, and differences in staff training and experience (Barrish et al. in J Appl Behav Anal 2(2):119-124, 1969; Embry et al. in The Pax Good Behavior Game. Hazelden, Center City, 2003; Hynes et al. in J Child Serv 4(3):4-20, 2009; Kellam et al. in Drug Alcohol Depend 95:S5-S28, 2008; Tingstrom et al. in Behav Modif 30(2):225-253, 2006). This paper presents the experiences of the three adult groups involved in the implementation process who give first-person accounts of implementation: (1) university-based scientist-practitioners, (2) community partners who trained and provided technical assistance/coaching, and (3) an afterschool program administrator. We introduce here the AIMS model used to frame the implementation process conceptualized by this town-gown collaborative team. AIMS builds upon previous work in implementation science using four phases in which the three collaborators have overlapping roles: approach/engagement, implementation, monitoring, and sustainability. Within all four phases principles of Social Exchange Theory and Social Network Theory are highlighted.

Survey of rural, private wells. Statistical design

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mehnert, Edward; Schock, Susan C.; ,

1991-01-01

Half of Illinois' 38 million acres were planted in corn and soybeans in 1988. On the 19 million acres planted in corn and soybeans, approximately 1 million tons of nitrogen fertilizer and 50 million pounds of pesticides were applied. Because groundwater is the water supply for over 90 percent of rural Illinois, the occurrence of agricultural chemicals in groundwater in Illinois is of interest to the agricultural community, the public, and regulatory agencies. The occurrence of agricultural chemicals in groundwater is well documented. However, the extent of this contamination still needs to be defined. This can be done by randomly sampling wells across a geographic area. Key elements of a random, water-well sampling program for regional groundwater quality include the overall statistical design of the program, definition of the sample population, selection of wells to be sampled, and analysis of survey results. These elements must be consistent with the purpose for conducting the program; otherwise, the program will not provide the desired information. The need to carefully design and conduct a sampling program becomes readily apparent when one considers the high cost of collecting and analyzing a sample. For a random sampling program conducted in Illinois, the key elements, as well as the limitations imposed by available information, are described.

Agricultural Research Service: biodefense research.

PubMed

Gay, C G

2013-01-01

The National Animal Health Program at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), includes research programs dedicated to the defense of animal agriculture against the treat of biological agents with the potential of significant economic harm and/or public health consequences. This article provides a summary of the program and identifies its relevance to national initiatives to protect livestock and poultry as well as global food security. An introduction to setting research priorities and a selection of research accomplishments that define the scope of the biodefense research program is provided.

Closing the Gap Between Specification and Programming: VDM++ and SCALA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Havelund, Klaus

2011-01-01

We argue that a modern programming language such as Scala offers a level of succinctness, which makes it suitable for program and systems specification as well as for high-level programming. We illustrate this by comparing the language with the Vdm++ specification language. The comparison also identifies areas where Scala perhaps could be improved, inspired by Vdm++. We furthermore illustrate Scala's potential as a specification language by augmenting it with a combination of parameterized state machines and temporal logic, defined as a library, thereby forming an expressive but simple runtime verification framework.

Characterizing and reaching high-risk drinkers using audience segmentation.

PubMed

Moss, Howard B; Kirby, Susan D; Donodeo, Fred

2009-08-01

Market or audience segmentation is widely used in social marketing efforts to help planners identify segments of a population to target for tailored program interventions. Market-based segments are typically defined by behaviors, attitudes, knowledge, opinions, or lifestyles. They are more helpful to health communication and marketing planning than epidemiologically defined groups because market-based segments are similar in respect to how they behave or might react to marketing and communication efforts. However, market segmentation has rarely been used in alcohol research. As an illustration of its utility, we employed commercial data that describes the sociodemographic characteristics of high-risk drinkers as an audience segment, including where they tend to live, lifestyles, interests, consumer behaviors, alcohol consumption behaviors, other health-related behaviors, and cultural values. Such information can be extremely valuable in targeting and planning public health campaigns, targeted mailings, prevention interventions, and research efforts. We described the results of a segmentation analysis of those individuals who self-reported to consume 5 or more drinks per drinking episode at least twice in the last 30 days. The study used the proprietary PRIZM (Claritas, Inc., San Diego, CA) audience segmentation database merged with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) database. The top 10 of the 66 PRIZM audience segments for this risky drinking pattern are described. For five of these segments we provided additional in-depth details about consumer behavior and the estimates of the market areas where these risky drinkers resided. The top 10 audience segments (PRIZM clusters) most likely to engage in high-risk drinking are described. The cluster with the highest concentration of binge-drinking behavior is referred to as the "Cyber Millenials." This cluster is characterized as "the nation's tech-savvy singles and couples living in fashionable neighborhoods on the urban fringe." Almost 65% of Cyber Millenials households are found in the Pacific and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. Additional consumer behaviors of the Cyber Millenials and other segments are also described. Audience segmentation can assist in identifying and describing target audience segments, as well as identifying places where segments congregate on- or offline. This information can be helpful for recruiting subjects for alcohol prevention research as well as planning health promotion campaigns. Through commercial data about high-risk drinkers as "consumers," planners can develop interventions that have heightened salience in terms of opportunities, perceptions, and motivations, and have better media channel identification.

Characterizing and Reaching High-Risk Drinkers Using Audience Segmentation

PubMed Central

Moss, Howard B.; Kirby, Susan D.; Donodeo, Fred

2010-01-01

Background Market or audience segmentation is widely used in social marketing efforts to help planners identify segments of a population to target for tailored program interventions. Market-based segments are typically defined by behaviors, attitudes, knowledge, opinions, or lifestyles. They are more helpful to health communication and marketing planning than epidemiologically-defined groups because market-based segments are similar in respect to how they behave or might react to marketing and communication efforts. However, market segmentation has rarely been used in alcohol research. As an illustration of its utility, we employed commercial data that describes the sociodemographic characteristics of high-risk drinkers as an audience segment; where they tend to live, lifestyles, interests, consumer behaviors, alcohol consumption behaviors, other health-related behaviors, and cultural values. Such information can be extremely valuable in targeting and planning public health campaigns, targeted mailings, prevention interventions and research efforts. Methods We describe the results of a segmentation analysis of those individuals who self-report consuming five or more drinks per drinking episode at least twice in the last 30-days. The study used the proprietary PRIZM™ audience segmentation database merged with Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) database. The top ten of the 66 PRIZM™ audience segments for this risky drinking pattern are described. For five of these segments we provide additional in-depth details about consumer behavior and the estimates of the market areas where these risky drinkers reside. Results The top ten audience segments (PRIZM clusters) most likely to engage in high-risk drinking are described. The cluster with the highest concentration of binge drinking behavior is referred to as the “Cyber Millenials.” This cluster is characterized as “the nation's tech-savvy singles and couples living in fashionable neighborhoods on the urban fringe. Almost 65% of Cyber Millenials households are found in the Pacific and Middle Atlantic regions of the U.S. Additional consumer behaviors of the Cyber Millenials and other segments are also described. Conclusions Audience segmentation can assist in identifying and describing target audience segments, as well as identifying places where segments congregate on- or offline. This information can be helpful for recruiting subjects for alcohol prevention research, as well as planning health promotion campaigns. Through commercial data about high-risk drinkers as “consumers,” planners can develop interventions that have heightened salience in terms of opportunities, perceptions, and motivations, and have better media channel identification. PMID:19413650

32 CFR 1801.33 - Allocation of resources; agreed extensions of time.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...” basis and utilizing two or more processing queues to ensure that smaller as well as larger (i.e... management of the NACIC-wide program defined by this part and for establishing priorities for cases...

Making ITS/CVO happen : Pennsylvania's ITS/CVO business plan

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-12-31

This business plan will be used to coordinate the deployment of CVO technologies in Pennsylvania. It provides a 'roadmap' for Pennsylvania's ITS/CVO program by defining broad goals and objectives, as well as specific projects, milestones, responsibil...

Transpiration and film cooling boundary layer computer program. Volume 2: Computer program and user's manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gloss, R. J.

1971-01-01

A finite difference turbulent boundary layer computer program which allows for mass transfer wall cooling and equilibrium chemistry effects is presented. The program is capable of calculating laminar or turbulent boundary layer solutions for an arbitrary ideal gas or an equilibrium hydrogen oxygen system. Either two dimensional or axisymmetric geometric configurations may be considered. The equations are solved, in nondimension-alized physical coordinates, using the implicit Crank-Nicolson technique. The finite difference forms of the conservation of mass, momentum, total enthalpy and elements equations are linearized and uncoupled, thereby generating easily solvable tridiagonal sets of algebraic equations. A detailed description of the computer program, as well as a program user's manual is provided. Detailed descriptions of all boundary layer subroutines are included, as well as a section defining all program symbols of principal importance. Instructions are then given for preparing card input to the program and for interpreting the printed output. Finally, two sample cases are included to illustrate the use of the program.

Transport and Junction Physics of Semiconductor-Metal Eutectic Composites

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-06-01

eutectic junction and includes the method for making contacts as well as current-voltage (I-V), capacitance- voltage (C-V), and electron-beam-induced current...junction was performed with another RTA at 8000C to 9000C for 10 s. This technique also worked well to provide the necessary ohmic contact. The necessary...solid state diffusion of Ta and Si. The diode is well behaved, with an ideality factor n = 1.10 ± 0.05. Deviation from the straight line forward

Function and specificity of synthetic Hox transcription factors in vivo

PubMed Central

Papadopoulos, Dimitrios K.; Vukojević, Vladana; Adachi, Yoshitsugu; Terenius, Lars; Rigler, Rudolf; Gehring, Walter J.

2010-01-01

Homeotic (Hox) genes encode transcription factors that confer segmental identity along the anteroposterior axis of the embryo. However the molecular mechanisms underlying Hox-mediated transcription and the differential requirements for specificity in the regulation of the vast number of Hox-target genes remain ill-defined. Here we show that synthetic Sex combs reduced (Scr) genes that encode the Scr C terminus containing the homedomain (HD) and YPWM motif (Scr-HD) are functional in vivo. Synthetic Scr-HD peptides can induce ectopic salivary glands in the embryo and homeotic transformations in the adult fly, act as transcriptional activators and repressors during development, and participate in protein-protein interactions. Their transformation capacity was found to be enhanced over their full-length counterpart and mutations known to transform the full-length protein into constitutively active or inactive variants behaved accordingly in the synthetic peptides. Our results show that synthetic Scr-HD genes are sufficient for homeotic function in Drosophila and suggest that the N terminus of Scr has a role in transcriptional potency, rather than specificity. We also demonstrate that synthetic peptides behave largely in a predictable way, by exhibiting Scr-specific phenotypes throughout development, which makes them an important tool for synthetic biology. PMID:20147626

Optimal inference with suboptimal models: Addiction and active Bayesian inference

PubMed Central

Schwartenbeck, Philipp; FitzGerald, Thomas H.B.; Mathys, Christoph; Dolan, Ray; Wurst, Friedrich; Kronbichler, Martin; Friston, Karl

2015-01-01

When casting behaviour as active (Bayesian) inference, optimal inference is defined with respect to an agent’s beliefs – based on its generative model of the world. This contrasts with normative accounts of choice behaviour, in which optimal actions are considered in relation to the true structure of the environment – as opposed to the agent’s beliefs about worldly states (or the task). This distinction shifts an understanding of suboptimal or pathological behaviour away from aberrant inference as such, to understanding the prior beliefs of a subject that cause them to behave less ‘optimally’ than our prior beliefs suggest they should behave. Put simply, suboptimal or pathological behaviour does not speak against understanding behaviour in terms of (Bayes optimal) inference, but rather calls for a more refined understanding of the subject’s generative model upon which their (optimal) Bayesian inference is based. Here, we discuss this fundamental distinction and its implications for understanding optimality, bounded rationality and pathological (choice) behaviour. We illustrate our argument using addictive choice behaviour in a recently described ‘limited offer’ task. Our simulations of pathological choices and addictive behaviour also generate some clear hypotheses, which we hope to pursue in ongoing empirical work. PMID:25561321

Local Solutions in the Estimation of Growth Mixture Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hipp, John R.; Bauer, Daniel J.

2006-01-01

Finite mixture models are well known to have poorly behaved likelihood functions featuring singularities and multiple optima. Growth mixture models may suffer from fewer of these problems, potentially benefiting from the structure imposed on the estimated class means and covariances by the specified growth model. As demonstrated here, however,…

Polarizability properties of bianisotropic spheres with noncomplete magnetoelectric dyadics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sihvola, A. H.

1994-02-01

The polarizability expressions for bianisotropic scatterers are often complicated expressions of the material parameters. The communication treats the question how the dyadic inversion operations needed in the expressions can be carried out in a well-behaving way. Also, the particular polarizabilities of biaxial chiral spheres are studied in detail.

Action Learning, Performativity and Negative Capability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edmonstone, John

2016-01-01

The paper examines the concept of negative capability as a human capacity for containment and contrasts it with well-valued positive capability as expressed through performativity in organisations and society. It identifies the problem of dispersal--the complex ways we behave in order to avoid the emotional challenges of living with uncertainty.…

From Implementation to Outcomes to Impacts: Designing a Comprehensive Program Evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shebby, S.

2015-12-01

Funders are often interested in learning about the impact of program activities, yet before the impacts are determined, educational evaluations should first examine program implementation and outcomes. Implementation evaluation examines how and the extent to which program activities are delivered as intended, including the extent to which activities reached the targeted participants. Outcome evaluation is comprised of a systematic examination of the effects that a program has on program participants, such as changes in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviors. In this presentation, presenters will share insights on evaluating the implementation, outcomes, and impacts associated with an online science curriculum for K-2 students. The science curriculum was designed to provide students with access to science concepts and skills in an interactive and innovative environment, and teachers with embedded, aligned, and on-demand professional development. One of the most important—and challenging—steps in this evaluation was to select outcomes that were well-defined, measurable, and aligned to program activities, as well as relevant to program stakeholders. An additional challenge was to measure implementation given limited access to the classroom environment. This presentation will include a discussion of the process evaluators used to select appropriate implementation indicators and outcomes (teacher and student), design an evaluation approach, and craft data collection instruments. Although examples provided are specific to the K-2 science intervention, the best practices discussed are pertinent to all program and event evaluations. Impact evaluation goes beyond implementation and outcome evaluation to inform whether a program is working or not. It requires a comparison group to inform what outcomes would have been in the absence of the intervention. As such, this presentation will also include a discussion of impacts, including how impacts are defined and measured, and some common challenges in evaluating program impact.

Moessfit. A free Mössbauer fitting program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamusella, Sirko; Klauss, Hans-Henning

2016-12-01

A free data analysis program for Mössbauer spectroscopy was developed to solve commonly faced problems such as simultaneous fitting of multiple data sets, Maximum Entropy Method and a proper error estimation. The program is written in C++ using the Qt application framework and the Gnu Scientific Library. Moessfit makes use of multithreading to reasonably apply the multi core CPU capacities of modern PC. The whole fit is specified in a text input file issued to simplify work flow for the user and provide a simple start in the Mössbauer data analysis for beginners. However, the possibility to define arbitrary parameter dependencies and distributions as well as relaxation spectra makes Moessfit interesting for advanced user as well.

An analytical procedure and automated computer code used to design model nozzles which meet MSFC base pressure similarity parameter criteria. [space shuttle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sulyma, P. R.

1980-01-01

Fundamental equations and similarity definition and application are described as well as the computational steps of a computer program developed to design model nozzles for wind tunnel tests conducted to define power-on aerodynamic characteristics of the space shuttle over a range of ascent trajectory conditions. The computer code capabilities, a user's guide for the model nozzle design program, and the output format are examined. A program listing is included.

Space Station Systems Analysis Study. Volume 2: Program options, book 1, parts 1 and 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

Program options are defined and requirements are determined for integrating crew, mass, volume, and electrical power for a space construction base which incorporates the space shuttle external tanks. Orbits, stabilization, flight control hardware, as well as modules and aids for orbital assembly and servicing are considered. The effectiveness of various program options for life science and radio astronomy missions, for the solar terrestrial observatory, and for public service platforms is assessed. Technology development items are identified and costs are estimated.

Prevalence and associated behavioral symptoms of depression in mild cognitive impairment and dementia due to Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Van der Mussele, Stefan; Bekelaar, Kim; Le Bastard, Nathalie; Vermeiren, Yannick; Saerens, Jos; Somers, Nore; Mariën, Peter; Goeman, Johan; De Deyn, Peter P; Engelborghs, Sebastiaan

2013-09-01

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a clinical concept that categorizes subjects who are in an intermediate cognitive state between normal aging and dementia. The aims of this study are to determine the prevalence of significant depressive symptoms in MCI and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and to characterize the behavior associated with significant depressive symptoms in MCI and AD patients. A cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a prospective, longitudinal study on behavioral symptoms of dementia and MCI was performed. The study population consisted of 270 MCI and 402 AD patients. Behavioral assessment was performed by means of Middelheim Frontality Score, Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale (Behave-AD) and Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory. The presence of significant depressive symptoms was defined as a Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia total score >7. The prevalence of significant depressive symptoms in AD patients (25%) was higher compared with MCI patients (16%) (p = 0.005). Patients with significant depressive symptoms showed an increased severity of frontal lobe symptoms, behavioral symptoms and agitation (Middelheim Frontality Score, Behave-AD and Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory total scores; p < 0.001). Also, most of the individual frontal lobe and behavioral symptoms were more prevalent and severe, resulting in higher Behave-AD global scores. Mild cognitive impairment patients with depressive symptoms showed more severe behavioral symptoms and more severe verbally agitated behavior than AD patients without depressive symptoms (p < 0.001). Frontal lobe and behavioral symptoms are more prevalent and severe in MCI and AD patients with significant depressive symptoms as compared with patients without depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Performance of Cracked and Seated Rigid Airport Pavements.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-04-01

situ properties of the cracked PCC material and of the uncracked PCC. Additionally, a visual condition survey of the pavements under investigation was...the overall pavement evaluation effort. Results of the NDT testing program were used to determine the in-situ properties of the cracked PCC material ...combined with the NDT deflection basin slopes, led to the conclusion that the cracked and seated PCC layer is behaving as a semi-rigid material . 45 OVERLAY

Psychosocial Aspects of HIV and AIDS and the Evaluation of Preventive Strategies: Report on a WHO Meeting (Lisbon, Portugal, May 28-June 1, 1990). WHO Regional Publications, European Series, No. 36.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

World Health Organization, Copenhagen (Denmark). Regional Office for Europe.

The spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) depends very much on the way people behave. Individuals from some groups have been successfully persuaded to modify behaviors that put them at increased risk of HIV infection. The salient questions for future AIDS prevention and control programs are…

SKOSFIRE: Semantically Accessible Vocabularies for Wildland Fire Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nordgren, B.; Urbanski, S. P.

2012-12-01

The field of wildland fire science is experiencing mounting pressure to perform better data management. Large field campaigns produce all manner of data covering a variety of disciplines, including: spreadsheets of fuel measurements, meteorological data, visible and thermal infrared video, and volumetric datasets produced by scanning LIDAR. These data enable the advancement and validation of state of the art modeling tools. Curating these data with the objective of enabling future users to quickly and efficiently locate observations of interest is becoming a critical need, particularly in an era of shrinking budgets. As a first step towards the eventual goal of developing a Wildland Fire Science ontology for use with semantically-aware repository services, peer reviewed glossaries within the domain have been converted to the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) format. The "Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology" is an interagency publication of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG), and serves to provide many concepts relevant to the land management agencies acting as consumers of fire science. "Firewords" is managed by fire scientists and provides concepts of interest to a scientific audience. Finally, a volume has been published to define the variables required by the BehavePlus fire modeling system, which should serve to describe many measurement fields. This work describes the steps taken to transition each of these sources from a term-centered glossary to a collection of well defined concepts serving as the foundation of a future Wildland Fire Science ontology.

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

Bruening, W.; Nakagama, H.: Bardessy, N.

Wilms` tumor (WT), an embryonal malignancy of the kidney, occurs most frequently in children under the age of 5 years, affecting {approximately}1 in 10,000 individuals. The WT1 tumor suppressor gene, residing at 11p13, is structurally altered in {approximately}10-15% of WT cases. Individuals with germline mutations within the WT1 gene suffer from predisposition to WT and developmental defects of the urogenital system. Patients with heterozygous deletions of the WT1 gene, or mutations predicted to cause inactivation of one WT1 allele, suffer relatively mild genital system defects (notably hypospadias and cryptorchidism in males) and a predisposition to WT. These results suggest thatmore » developing genital system development is sensitive to the absolute concentrations of the WT1 gene products. Patients with missense mutations within the WT1 gene, however, can suffer from a much more severe disorder known as Denys-Drash syndrome (DDS). This syndrome is characterized by intersex disorders, renal nephropathy, and a predisposition to WTs. The increased severity of the developmental defects associated with DDS, compared to those individuals with mild genital system anomalies and WTs, suggests that mutations defined in patients with DDS behave in a dominant-negative fashion. We have identified a novel WT1 mutation in a patient with DDS. This mutation, predicted to produce a truncated WT1 polypeptide encompassing exons 1, 2, and 3, defines a domain capable of behaving as an antimorph. We have also demonstrated that WT1 can self-associate in vivo using yeast two-hybrid systems. Deletion analysis have mapped the interacting domains to the amino terminus of the WT1 polypeptide, within exons 1 and 2. These results provide a molecular mechanism to explain how WT1 mutations can function in a dominant-negative fashion to eliminate wild-type WT1 activity, leading to DDS.« less

Rotating drum tests of particle suspensions within a fines dispersion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cabrera, Miguel Angel; Gollin, Devis; Kaitna, Roland; Wu, Wei

2014-05-01

Natural flows like mudflows, debris flow, and hyperconcentrated flows are commonly composed by a matrix of particles suspended in a viscous fluid. The nature of the interactions between particles immersed in a fluid is related to its size. While coarse particles (sand, gravel, and boulders) interact with each other or with the surrounding fluid, a dispersion of fine particles interacts with each other through colloidal forces or Brownian motion effects (Coussot and Piau, 1995, and Ancey and Jorrot, 2001). The predominance of one of the previous interactions defines the rheology of the flow. On this sense, experimental insight is required to validate the limits where the rheology of a dispersion of fines is valid. For this purpose, an experimental program in a rotating drum is performed over samples of sand, loess, and kaolin. The solid concentration and angular velocity of the rotating drum are varied. Height and normal loads are measured during flow. High-speed videos are performed to obtain the flow patterns of the mixtures. The experiments provide new laboratory evidence of granular mixture behaviour within an increased viscous fluid phase and its characterization. The results show an apparent threshold in terms of solid concentration, in which the mixtures started to behave as a shear-dependent material.

Department of the Navy Acquisition and Capabilities Guidebook

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-01

Cost Estimates/Service Cost Position..................................... 5-1 5.1.2 Cost Analysis Requirements Description ( CARD ) 5-2 5.1.3...Description ( CARD ). 7. Satisfactory review of program health. 8. Concurrence with draft TDS, TES, and SEP. 9. Approval of full funding...Description ( CARD ) SECNAV M-5000.2 May 2012 5-3 Enclosure (1) A sound cost estimate is based on a well-defined program. The CARD is used

40 CFR 148.1 - Purpose, scope and applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

....1 Section 148.1 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) WATER PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) HAZARDOUS WASTE INJECTION RESTRICTIONS General § 148.1 Purpose, scope and applicability. (a) This part identifies wastes that are restricted from disposal into Class I wells and defines those...

36 CFR § 910.3 - Program administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Square Guidelines, described below, provides interested parties with the urban planning and design information sufficient to understand and participate in the process of square development within the... Development Area, and provides a glossary of defined terms applicable to this part as well as Square...

Behavior, neuropsychology and fMRI.

PubMed

Bennett, Maxwell R; Hatton, Sean; Hermens, Daniel F; Lagopoulos, Jim

Cognitive neuroscientists in the late 20th century began the task of identifying the part(s) of the brain concerned with normal behavior as manifest in the psychological capacities as affective powers, reasoning, behaving purposively and the pursuit of goals, following introduction of the 'functional magnetic resonance imaging' (fMRI) method for identifying brain activity. For this research program to be successful two questions require satisfactory answers. First, as the fMRI method can currently only be used on stationary subjects, to what extent can neuropsychological tests applicable to such stationary subjects be correlated with normal behavior. Second, to what extent can correlations between the various neuropsychological tests on the one hand, and sites of brain activity determined with fMRI on the other, be regarded as established. The extent to which these questions have yet received satisfactory answers is reviewed, and suggestions made both for improving correlations of neuropsychological tests with behavior as well as with the results of fMRI-based observations. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Application of the time-temperature superposition principle to the mechanical characterization of elastomeric adhesives for crash simulation purposes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rauh, A.; Hinterhölzl, R.; Drechsler, K.

2012-05-01

In the automotive industry, finite element simulation is widely used to ensure crashworthiness. Mechanical material data over wide strain rate and temperature ranges are required as a basis. This work proposes a method reducing the cost of mechanical material characterization by using the time-temperature superposition principle on elastomeric adhesives. The method is based on the time and temperature interdependence which is characteristic for mechanical properties of polymers. Based on the assumption that polymers behave similarly at high strain rates and at low temperatures, a temperature-dominated test program is suggested, which can be used to deduce strain rate dependent material behavior at different reference temperatures. The temperature shift factor is found by means of dynamic mechanical analysis according to the WLF-equation, named after Williams, Landel and Ferry. The principle is applied to the viscoelastic properties as well as to the failure properties of the polymer. The applicability is validated with high strain rate tests.

Influence of Classroom and School Climate on Teacher Perceptions of Student Problem Behavior

PubMed Central

O’Brennan, Lindsey M.; Bradshaw, Catherine P.; Furlong, Michael J.

2014-01-01

Reducing student problem behavior remains a leading concern for school staff, as disruptive and aggressive behavior interferes with student achievement and the school climate. However, the multi-systemic nature of schools makes it difficult for researchers and practitioners to identify factors influencing to students’ behavior. The current study examined student problem behavior through an ecological lens by taking into account individual (e.g., gender, ethnicity, prosocial behavior), classroom (e.g., class size, average classroom behavior), and school-level factors (e.g., location, school climate). Using data from 37 elementary schools, 467 classrooms, and 8,750 students, a series of hierarchical linear models was tested. Multilevel analyses revealed that while individual student characteristics had the largest influence on problem behavior, average prosocial behavior and concentration problems of students within the classroom, as well as teacher perceptions of the school climate significantly related to how students behaved. These findings support the use of classroom-based intervention programs to reduce student problem behavior. PMID:25346779

Do individuals respond to cost-sharing subsidies in their selections of marketplace health insurance plans?

PubMed

DeLeire, Thomas; Chappel, Andre; Finegold, Kenneth; Gee, Emily

2017-12-01

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides assistance to low-income consumers through both premium subsidies and cost-sharing reductions (CSRs). Low-income consumers' lack of health insurance literacy or information regarding CSRs may lead them to not take-up CSR benefits for which they are eligible. We use administrative data from 2014 to 2016 on roughly 22 million health insurance plan choices of low-income individuals enrolled in ACA Marketplace coverage to assess whether they behave in a manner consistent with being aware of the availability of CSRs. We take advantage of discontinuous changes in the schedule of CSR benefits to show that consumers are highly sensitive to the value of CSRs when selecting insurance plans and that a very low percentage select dominated plans. These findings suggest that CSR subsidies are salient to consumers and that the program is well designed to account for any lack of health insurance literacy among the low-income population it serves. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Loving without Spoiling: And 100 Other Timeless Tips for Raising Terrific Kids.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samalin, Nancy

Noting that raising well-behaved, considerate children requires learning how to balance firm discipline with equal doses of love and humor, this book provides parents with effective and realistic solutions to countless parenting challenges. The strategies are organized into the following categories: (1) "Avoid Power Struggles"; (2) "Minimize Daily…

A New Model for Teaching Ethical Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sternberg, Robert J.

2009-01-01

One can scarcely open the newspaper without finding examples of smart, well-educated people who have behaved in ethically challenged ways. What is frightening about ethical lapses is not that they happen to the ethically outrageous but that they can sneak up on just about everyone. An informal classroom "experiment" recently performed by this…

Racial Diversity in the Schools: A Necessary Evil?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markowitz, Linda; Puchner, Laurel

2014-01-01

White teachers see racial diversity in the schools as a "necessary evil." Common beliefs are that (1) Black students are saved by nurturing White teachers and well-behaved White children; and (2) White students learn from "disadvantaged" Black children the dual lesson of empathy and gratitude. A pilot project in the fall of…

Aristotle, Motion, and Rhetoric.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutton, Jane

Aristotle rejects a world vision of changing reality as neither useful nor beneficial to human life, and instead he reaffirms both change and eternal reality, fuses motion and rest, and ends up with "well-behaved" changes. This concept of motion is foundational to his world view, and from it emerges his theory of knowledge, philosophy of…

Loyalty to Computer Terminals: Is it Anthropomorphism or Consistency?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sundar, S. Shyam

2004-01-01

The psychological tendency to behave socially with a computer is quite well documented in the literature. But does the short-term socialness of human-computer interaction extend over to long-term social relationships with computers? In particular, do we show loyalty to particular computer terminals over a period of time? An electronic observation…

Using the Domenico Solution to Teach Contaminant Transport Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Devlin, J. F.; Brookfield, A.; Huang, B.; Schillig, P. C.

2012-01-01

The Domenico solution is a heuristic simplification of a solution to the transport equation. Although there is a growing consensus that the Domenico solution is undesirable for use in professional and research applications due to departures from exact solutions under certain conditions, it behaves well under conditions suitable for instruction.…

The importance of exploring the asteroid belt.

PubMed

Papagiannis, M D

1983-01-01

Following life's innate tendency to expand into every available space, technological civilizations will inevitably colonize the entire galaxy establishing space habitats around all its well-behaved stars. The most reasonable place in our solar system to test this possibility is the asteroid belt, which is an ideal source of raw materials for space colonies.

Be All You Can Be: Taking the Accountability Dilemma

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Robert

2013-01-01

Independent school students are the most teachable in America: they are typically bright, motivated, and well behaved, and they typically come from supportive, upper-middle-class families. Plus, they are generally placed in small classes and their teachers generally have small pupil loads. Given all this, the essential question is not whether the…

A Memory Advantage for Untrustworthy Faces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rule, Nicholas O.; Slepian, Michael L.; Ambady, Nalini

2012-01-01

Inferences of others' social traits from their faces can influence how we think and behave towards them, but little is known about how perceptions of people's traits may affect downstream cognitions, such as memory. Here we explored the relationship between targets' perceived social traits and how well they were remembered following a single brief…

Adding Color to Conflict: Disruptive Students' Drawings of Themselves with Their Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGrath, Kevin Francis; Van Bergen, Penny; Sweller, Naomi

2017-01-01

Building on work examining teachers' perceptions of the student-teacher relationship, this study investigated how young students draw themselves with their teachers. Fourteen kindergarten and first-grade teachers each nominated 2 disruptive and 2 well-behaved students. Students then completed 1 drawing of themselves with their classroom teacher…

Improving Mental Health in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rossen, Eric; Cowan, Katherine C.

2015-01-01

Students do not leave their mental health at the front door when they come to school. From wellness to serious illness, a student's mental health status is integral to how they think, feel, interact, behave, and learn. Decades of research and experience have laid a solid foundation and framework for effectively providing mental health…

Naughty or Nice?: Equity, Gender and Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koch, Pamela Ray; Steelman, Lala Carr; Mulkey, Lynn; Catsambis, Sophia

2008-01-01

We review the debate over behavior, gender and classroom placement in ability groups for kindergartners. Using vignettes we vary children's gender in three ways; male, female, or unspecified gender and also describe them as behaving well, average, or misbehaving. Our aim is to probe how much gender and behavior matter with respect to mock reading…

Printing 1D Assembly Array of Single Particle Resolution for Magnetosensing.

PubMed

Gao, Meng; Kuang, Minxuan; Li, Lihong; Liu, Meijin; Wang, Libin; Song, Yanlin

2018-05-01

Magnetosensing is a ubiquitous ability for many organism species in nature. 1D assembly, especially that arranged in single-particle-resolution regulation, is able to sense the direction of magnetic field depending on the enhanced dipolar interaction in the linear orientation. Inspired by the magnetosome structure in magnetotactic bacteria, a 1D assembly array of single particle resolution with controlled length and well-behaved configuration is prepared via inkjet printing method assisted with magnetic guiding. In the fabrication process, chains in a "tip-to-tip" regulation with the desired number of particles are prepared in a confined tiny inkjet-printed droplet. By adjusting the receding angle of the substrate, the assembled 1D morphology is kept/deteriorated depending on the pinning/depinning behavior during ink evaporation, which leads to the formation of well-behaved 1D assembly/aggregated dot assembly. Owing to the high-aspect-ratio characteristic of the assembled structure, the as-prepared 1D arrays can be used for magnetic field sensing with anisotropic magnetization M // /M ⊥ up to 6.03. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Stability of recursive out-of-sequence measurement filters: an open problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Lingji; Moshtagh, Nima; Mehra, Raman K.

2011-06-01

In many applications where communication delays are present, measurements with earlier time stamps can arrive out-of-sequence, i.e., after state estimates have been obtained for the current time instant. To incorporate such an Out-Of-Sequence Measurement (OOSM), many algorithms have been proposed in the literature to obtain or approximate the optimal estimate that would have been obtained if the OOSM had arrived in-sequence. When OOSM occurs repeatedly, approximate estimations as a result of incorporating one OOSM have to serve as the basis for incorporating yet another OOSM. The question of whether the "approximation of approximation" is well behaved, i.e., whether approximation errors accumulate in a recursive setting, has not been adequately addressed in the literature. This paper draws attention to the stability question of recursive OOSM processing filters, formulates the problem in a specific setting, and presents some simulation results that suggest that such filters are indeed well-behaved. Our hope is that more research will be conducted in the future to rigorously establish stability properties of these filters.

Well-behaved dynamics in a dissipative nonideal periodically kicked rotator.

PubMed

Chacón, R; Martínez García-Hoz, A

2003-12-01

Well-behaved dynamical properties are found in a dissipative kicked rotator subjected to a periodic string of asymmetric pulses of finite amplitude and width. The stability boundaries of the equilibrium are determined to arbitrary approximation for trigonometric pulses by means of circular harmonic balance, and to first approximation for general elliptic pulses by means of an elliptic harmonic balance method. The bifurcation behavior at the stability boundaries is determined numerically. We show how the extension of the instability region of the equilibrium in pulse parameter space reaches a maximum as the pulse width is varied. We also characterize the dependence of the mean duration of the transients to the equilibrium on the pulse width. The evolution of the basins of attraction of chaotic attractors when solely the pulse width is varied is characterized numerically. Finally, we show that the order-chaos route when solely the width of the pulses is altered appears to be especially rich, including different types of crises. The mechanism underlying these reshaping-induced crises is discussed with the aid of a two-dimensional map.

Toward an epistemology of clinical psychoanalysis.

PubMed

Ahumada, J L

1997-01-01

Epistemology emerges from the study of the ways knowledge is gained in the different fields of scientific endeavor. Current polemics on the nature of psychoanalytic knowledge involve counterposed misconceptions of the nature of mind. On one side clinical psychoanalysis is under siege from philosophical "hard science" stalwarts who, upholding as the unitary model of scientific knowledge of Galilean model of science built around the "well-behaved" variables of mechanics and cosmology, argue clinical psychoanalysis does not meet empirical criteria for the validation of its claims. On the other side, its empirical character is renounced by hermeneuticists who, agreeing with "hard science" advocates on what science is, dismiss the animal nature of human beings and hold that clinical psychoanalysis is not an empirical science but a "human" interpretive one. Taking Adolf Grünbaum's critique as its referent, this paper examines how, by ignoring the differences between "exact" and observational science, the "hard science" demand for well-behaved variables misconstrues the nature of events in the realm of mind. Criteria for an epistemology fit for the facts of clinical psychoanalysis as an empirical, observational science of mind are then proposed.

Representing and comparing protein structures as paths in three-dimensional space

PubMed Central

Zhi, Degui; Krishna, S Sri; Cao, Haibo; Pevzner, Pavel; Godzik, Adam

2006-01-01

Background Most existing formulations of protein structure comparison are based on detailed atomic level descriptions of protein structures and bypass potential insights that arise from a higher-level abstraction. Results We propose a structure comparison approach based on a simplified representation of proteins that describes its three-dimensional path by local curvature along the generalized backbone of the polypeptide. We have implemented a dynamic programming procedure that aligns curvatures of proteins by optimizing a defined sum turning angle deviation measure. Conclusion Although our procedure does not directly optimize global structural similarity as measured by RMSD, our benchmarking results indicate that it can surprisingly well recover the structural similarity defined by structure classification databases and traditional structure alignment programs. In addition, our program can recognize similarities between structures with extensive conformation changes that are beyond the ability of traditional structure alignment programs. We demonstrate the applications of procedure to several contexts of structure comparison. An implementation of our procedure, CURVE, is available as a public webserver. PMID:17052359

Programming Enzyme-Initiated Autonomous DNAzyme Nanodevices in Living Cells.

PubMed

Chen, Feng; Bai, Min; Cao, Ke; Zhao, Yue; Cao, Xiaowen; Wei, Jing; Wu, Na; Li, Jiang; Wang, Lihua; Fan, Chunhai; Zhao, Yongxi

2017-12-26

Molecular nanodevices are computational assemblers that switch defined states upon external stimulation. However, interfacing artificial nanodevices with natural molecular machineries in living cells remains a great challenge. Here, we delineate a generic method for programming assembly of enzyme-initiated DNAzyme nanodevices (DzNanos). Two programs including split assembly of two partzymes and toehold exchange displacement assembly of one intact DNAzyme initiated by telomerase are computed. The intact one obtains higher assembly yield and catalytic performance ascribed to proper conformation folding and active misplaced assembly. By employing MnO 2 nanosheets as both DNA carriers and source of Mn 2+ as DNAzyme cofactor, we find that this DzNano is well assembled via a series of conformational states in living cells and operates autonomously with sustained cleavage activity. Other enzymes can also induce corresponding DzNano assembly with defined programming modules. These DzNanos not only can monitor enzyme catalysis in situ but also will enable the implementation of cellular stages, behaviors, and pathways for basic science, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications as genetic circuits.

In-School Neighborhood Youth Corps. 14/15 Year-Old Black Teenage Girl Project, Memphis, Tennessee. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fox, Andrew; And Others

This study analyzes the effects on 14- and 15-year-old black teenage girls of entering and participating in a specially designed work program. The girls were provided with supports in their work settings, well-defined tasks, supervisors as well as regularly scheduled peer interaction groups led by a young black woman considered to be an…

Preliminary Analysis of Lipids and Fatty Acids of Green Bacteria and Chloroflexus aurantiacus

PubMed Central

Kenyon, Christine N.; Gray, Alane M.

1974-01-01

The complex lipids and fatty acids of the seven type species of green bacteria and three strains of Chloroflexus aurantiacus were analyzed. The green bacteria contained lipids that behaved as cardiolipin and phosphatidylglycerol on thin-layer chromatography. They did not contain phosphatidylethanolamine or phosphatidylserine. Similarly, Chloroflexus contained lipids that behaved as phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol on thin-layer chromatography and did not contain phosphatidylethanolamine or phosphatidylserine. The green bacteria contained glycolipids I and II of Constantopoulos and Bloch (monogalactosyldiglyceride and a galactose- and rhamnose-containing diglyceride). Chloroflexus exhibited galactose-containing glycolipids that behaved identically with the mono- and digalactosyldiglycerides of spinach on thin-layer chromatography, and each contained galactose as well as at least one other sugar. The fatty acids of both groups of bacteria consisted entirely of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. In the green bacteria, myristic, palmitic, and hexadecenoic acids predominated. In Chloroflexus, palmitic, stearic, and oleic acids predominated. The positions of the double bonds in the monounsaturated fatty acids of Chloroflexus indicated synthesis by the anaerobic pathway. The lipid analyses suggest a close relationship between the green bacteria and Chloroflexus and further suggest that these groups of photosynthetic bacteria are more closely related to the blue-green algae than are the purple bacteria. Images PMID:4421249

Creating a Climate for Service Learning Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeandron, Carol; Robinson, Gail

2010-01-01

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) defines service learning as the combination of classroom instruction with community service, focusing on critical, reflective thinking as well as personal and civic responsibility. Service learning programs involve students in activities that address local, community-identified needs while…

Human Research Program Requirements Document (Revision C)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vargas, Paul R.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this document is to define, document, and allocate the Human Research Program (HRP) requirements to the HRP Program Elements. It establishes the flow-down of requirements from Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) and Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer (OCHMO) to the various Program Elements of the HRP to ensure that human research and technology countermeasure investments are made to insure the delivery of countermeasures and technologies that satisfy ESMD's and OCHMO's exploration mission requirements. Requirements driving the HRP work and deliverables are derived from the exploration architecture, as well as Agency standards regarding the maintenance of human health and performance. Agency human health and performance standards will define acceptable risk for each type and duration of exploration mission. It is critical to have the best available scientific and clinical evidence in setting and validating these standards. In addition, it is imperative that the best available evidence on preventing and mitigating human health and performance risks is incorporated into exploration mission and vehicle designs. These elements form the basis of the HRP research and technology development requirements and highlight the importance of HRP investments in enabling NASA's exploration missions. This PRD defines the requirements of the HRP which is comprised of the following major Program Elements: Behavioral Health and Performance (BHP), Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC), Human Health Countermeasures (HHC), ISS Medical Project (ISSMP), Space Human Factors and Habitability (SHFH), and Space Radiation (SR).

Achieving successful evidence-based practice implementation in juvenile justice: The importance of diagnostic and evaluative capacity.

PubMed

Walker, Sarah Cusworth; Bumbarger, Brian K; Phillippi, Stephen W

2015-10-01

Evidence-based programs (EBPs) are an increasingly visible aspect of the treatment landscape in juvenile justice. Research demonstrates that such programs yield positive returns on investment and are replacing more expensive, less effective options. However, programs are unlikely to produce expected benefits when they are not well-matched to community needs, not sustained and do not reach sufficient reach and scale. We argue that achieving these benchmarks for successful implementation will require states and county governments to invest in data-driven decision infrastructure in order to respond in a rigorous and flexible way to shifting political and funding climates. We conceptualize this infrastructure as diagnostic capacity and evaluative capacity: Diagnostic capacity is defined as the process of selecting appropriate programing and evaluative capacity is defined as the ability to monitor and evaluate progress. Policy analyses of Washington State, Pennsylvania and Louisiana's program implementation successes are used to illustrate the benefits of diagnostic and evaluate capacity as a critical element of EBP implementation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NASA's Space Environments and Effects Program: Technology for the New Millennium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hardage, Donna M.; Pearson, Steven D.

2000-01-01

Current trends in spacecraft development include the use of advanced technologies while maintaining the "faster, better, cheaper" philosophy. Spacecraft designers are continually designing with smaller and faster electronics as well as lighter and thinner materials providing better performance, lower weight, and ultimately lower costs. Given this technology trend, spacecraft will become increasingly susceptible to the harsh space environments, causing damaging or even disabling effects on space systems. NASA's Space Environments and Effects (SEE) Program defines the space environments and provides advanced technology development to support the design, development, and operation of spacecraft systems that will accommodate or mitigate effects due to the harsh space environments. This Program provides a comprehensive and focused approach to understanding the space environment, to define the best techniques for both flight and ground-based experimentation, to update the models which predict both the environments and the environmental effects on spacecraft, and finally to ensure that this multitudinous information is properly maintained and inserted into spacecraft design programs. A description of the SEE Program, its accomplishments, and future activities is provided.

Investigating emotional contagion in dogs (Canis familiaris) to emotional sounds of humans and conspecifics.

PubMed

Huber, Annika; Barber, Anjuli L A; Faragó, Tamás; Müller, Corsin A; Huber, Ludwig

2017-07-01

Emotional contagion, a basic component of empathy defined as emotional state-matching between individuals, has previously been shown in dogs even upon solely hearing negative emotional sounds of humans or conspecifics. The current investigation further sheds light on this phenomenon by directly contrasting emotional sounds of both species (humans and dogs) as well as opposed valences (positive and negative) to gain insights into intra- and interspecies empathy as well as differences between positively and negatively valenced sounds. Different types of sounds were played back to measure the influence of three dimensions on the dogs' behavioural response. We found that dogs behaved differently after hearing non-emotional sounds of their environment compared to emotional sounds of humans and conspecifics ("Emotionality" dimension), but the subjects responded similarly to human and conspecific sounds ("Species" dimension). However, dogs expressed more freezing behaviour after conspecific sounds, independent of the valence. Comparing positively with negatively valenced sounds of both species ("Valence" dimension), we found that, independent of the species from which the sound originated, dogs expressed more behavioural indicators for arousal and negatively valenced states after hearing negative emotional sounds. This response pattern indicates emotional state-matching or emotional contagion for negative sounds of humans and conspecifics. It furthermore indicates that dogs recognized the different valences of the emotional sounds, which is a promising finding for future studies on empathy for positive emotional states in dogs.

3D chiral and 2D achiral cobalt(ii) compounds constructed from a 4-(benzimidazole-1-yl)benzoic ligand exhibiting field-induced single-ion-magnet-type slow magnetic relaxation.

PubMed

Wang, Yu-Ling; Chen, Lin; Liu, Cai-Ming; Du, Zi-Yi; Chen, Li-Li; Liu, Qing-Yan

2016-05-04

Organizing magnetically isolated 3d transition metal ions, which behave as single-ion magnet (SIM) units, in a coordination network is a promising approach to design novel single-molecule magnets (SMMs). Herein 3D chiral and 2D achiral cobalt(ii) coordination compounds based on single metal nodes with a 4-(benzimidazole-1-yl)benzoic acid (Hbmzbc) ligand, namely, [Co(bmzbc)2(1,2-etdio)]n () (1,2-etdio = 1,2-ethanediol) and [Co(bmzbc)2(Hbmzbc)]n (), have been synthesized and structurally characterized. The 3D chiral structure with 2-fold interpenetrating qtz topological nets consisting of totally achiral components was obtained via spontaneous resolution, while the achiral structure is a 2D (4,4) net. In both structures, individual cobalt(ii) ions are spatially well separated by the long organic ligands in the well-defined networks. Magnetic measurements on and showed field-induced slow magnetic relaxation resulting from single-ion anisotropy of the individual Co(ii) ions. Analysis of the dynamic ac susceptibilities with the Arrhenius law afforded an anisotropy energy barrier of 16.8(3) and 31.3(2) K under a 2 kOe static magnetic field for and , respectively. The distinct coordination environments of the Co(ii) ions in and lead to the different anisotropic energy barriers.

A software for managing after-hours activities in research user facilities

DOE PAGES

Camino, F. E.

2017-05-01

Here, we present an afterhours activity management program for shared facilities, which handles the processes required for afterhours access (request, approval, extension, etc.). It implements the concept of permitted afterhours activities, which consists of a list of well-defined activities that each user can perform afterhours. The program provides an easy and unambiguous way for users to know which activities they are allowed to perform afterhours. In addition, the program can enhance its safety efficacy by interacting with lab and instrument access control systems commonly present in user facilities.

Scientific Merit Review of Directed Research Tasks Within the NASA Human Research Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Charles, John B.

2010-01-01

The Human Research Program is instrumental in developing and delivering research findings, health countermeasures, and human systems technologies for spacecraft. :HRP is subdivided into 6 research entities, or Elements. Each Element is charged with providing the Program with knowledge and capabilities to conduct research to address the human health and performance risks as well as advance the readiness levels of technology and countermeasures. Project: An Element may be further subdivided into Projects, which are defined as an integrated set of tasks undertaken to deliver a product or set of products

A software for managing after-hours activities in research user facilities

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

Camino, F. E.

Here, we present an afterhours activity management program for shared facilities, which handles the processes required for afterhours access (request, approval, extension, etc.). It implements the concept of permitted afterhours activities, which consists of a list of well-defined activities that each user can perform afterhours. The program provides an easy and unambiguous way for users to know which activities they are allowed to perform afterhours. In addition, the program can enhance its safety efficacy by interacting with lab and instrument access control systems commonly present in user facilities.

Two stochastic models useful in petroleum exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaufman, G. M.; Bradley, P. G.

1972-01-01

A model of the petroleum exploration process that tests empirically the hypothesis that at an early stage in the exploration of a basin, the process behaves like sampling without replacement is proposed along with a model of the spatial distribution of petroleum reserviors that conforms to observed facts. In developing the model of discovery, the following topics are discussed: probabilitistic proportionality, likelihood function, and maximum likelihood estimation. In addition, the spatial model is described, which is defined as a stochastic process generating values of a sequence or random variables in a way that simulates the frequency distribution of areal extent, the geographic location, and shape of oil deposits

Relationship between Physical Inactivity and Health Characteristics among Participants in an Employee Wellness Program

PubMed Central

Birdee, Gurjeet S.; Byrne, Daniel W.; McGown, Paula W.; Rothman, Russell L.; Rolando, Lori A.; Holmes, Marilyn C.; Yarbrough, Mary I.

2013-01-01

Objective To characterize factors associated with physical inactivity among employees with access to workplace wellness program. Methods We examined data on physical inactivity, defined as exercise less than once a week, from the 2010 health risk assessment (HRA) completed by employees at a major academic institution (n=16,976). Results Among employees, 18% individuals reported physical activity less than once a week. Individuals who were physically inactive as compared with physically active reported higher prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (AOR 1.36 [1.23–1.51], fair or poor health status (AOR 3.52 [2.97–4.17]) and absenteeism from work (AOR 1.59 [1.41–1.79]). Overall, physically inactive employees as compared to physically active employees reported more interest in health education programs. Conclusions Future research is needed to address barriers to physical inactivity to improve employee wellness and potentially lower health utility costs. PMID:23618884

Perifornical orexinergic neurons modulate REM sleep by influencing locus coeruleus neurons in rats.

PubMed

Choudhary, R C; Khanday, M A; Mitra, A; Mallick, B N

2014-10-24

Activation of the orexin (OX)-ergic neurons in the perifornical (PeF) area has been reported to induce waking and reduce rapid eye movement sleep (REMS). The activities of OX-ergic neurons are maximum during active waking and they progressively reduce during non-REMS (NREMS) and REMS. Apparently, the locus coeruleus (LC) neurons also behave in a comparable manner as that of the OX-ergic neurons particularly in relation to waking and REMS. Further, as PeF OX-ergic neurons send dense projections to LC, we argued that the former could drive the LC neurons to modulate waking and REMS. Studies in freely moving normally behaving animals where simultaneously neuro-chemo-anatomo-physio-behavioral information could be deciphered would significantly strengthen our understanding on the regulation of REMS. Therefore, in this study in freely behaving chronically prepared rats we stimulated the PeF neurons without or with simultaneous blocking of specific subtypes of OX-ergic receptors in the LC while electrophysiological recording characterizing sleep-waking was continued. Single dose of glutamate stimulation as well as sustained mild electrical stimulation of PeF (both bilateral) significantly increased waking and reduced REMS as compared to baseline. Simultaneous application of OX-receptor1 (OX1R) antagonist bilaterally into the LC prevented PeF stimulation-induced REMS suppression. Also, the effect of electrical stimulation of the PeF was long lasting as compared to that of the glutamate stimulation. Further, sustained electrical stimulation significantly decreased both REMS duration as well as REMS frequency, while glutamate stimulation decreased REMS duration only. Copyright © 2014 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

COREST: A FORTRAN computer program to analyze paralinear oxidation behavior and its application to chromic oxide forming alloys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barrett, C. E.; Presler, A. F.

1976-01-01

A FORTRAN computer program (COREST) was developed to analyze the high-temperature paralinear oxidation behavior of metals. It is based on a mass-balance approach and uses typical gravimetric input data. COREST was applied to predominantly Cr2O3-forming alloys tested isothermally for long times. These alloys behaved paralinearly above 1100 C as a result of simultaneous scale formation and scale vaporization. Output includes the pertinent formation and vaporization constants and kinetic values of interest. COREST also estimates specific sample weight and specific scale weight as a function of time. Most importantly, from a corrosion standpoint, it estimates specific metal loss.

Synaptic plasticity and oscillation at zinc tin oxide/silver oxide interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murdoch, Billy J.; McCulloch, Dougal G.; Partridge, James G.

2017-02-01

Short-term plasticity, long-term potentiation, and pulse interval dependent plasticity learning/memory functions have been observed in junctions between amorphous zinc-tin-oxide and silver-oxide. The same junctions exhibited current-controlled negative differential resistance and when connected in an appropriate circuit, they behaved as relaxation oscillators. These oscillators produced voltage pulses suitable for device programming. Transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and electrical measurements suggest that the characteristics of these junctions arise from Ag+/O- electromigration across a highly resistive interface layer. With memory/learning functions and programming spikes provided in a single device structure, arrays of similar devices could be used to form transistor-free neuromorphic circuits.

The NASA Langley building solar project and the supporting Lewis solar technology program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ragsdale, R. G.; Namkoong, D.

1974-01-01

A solar energy technology program is described that includes solar collector testing in an indoor solar simulator facility and in an outdoor test facility, property measurements of solar panel coatings, and operation of a laboratory-scale solar model system test facility. Early results from simulator tests indicate that non-selective coatings behave more nearly in accord with predicted performance than do selective coatings. Initial experiments on the decay rate of thermally stratified hot water in a storage tank have been run. Results suggest that where high temperature water is required, excess solar energy collected by a building solar system should be stored overnight in the form of chilled water rather than hot water.

Summary of selected U.S. Geological survey data on domestic well water quality for the Centers for Disease Control's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bartholomay, Roy C.; Carter, Janet M.; Qi, Sharon L.; Squillace, Paul J.; Rowe, Gary L.

2007-01-01

About 10 to 30 percent of the population in most States uses domestic (private) water supply. In many States, the total number of people served by domestic supplies can be in the millions. The water quality of domestic supplies is inconsistently regulated and generally not well characterized. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has two water-quality data sets in the National Water Information System (NWIS) database that can be used to help define the water quality of domestic-water supplies: (1) data from the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, and (2) USGS State data. Data from domestic wells from the NAWQA Program were collected to meet one of the Program's objectives, which was to define the water quality of major aquifers in the United States. These domestic wells were located primarily in rural areas. Water-quality conditions in these major aquifers as defined by the NAWQA data can be compared because of the consistency of the NAWQA sampling design, sampling protocols, and water-quality analyses. The NWIS database is a repository of USGS water data collected for a variety of projects; consequently, project objectives and analytical methods vary. This variability can bias statistical summaries of contaminant occurrence and concentrations; nevertheless, these data can be used to define the geographic distribution of contaminants. Maps created using NAWQA and USGS State data in NWIS can show geographic areas where contaminant concentrations may be of potential human-health concern by showing concentrations relative to human-health water-quality benchmarks. On the basis of national summaries of detection frequencies and concentrations relative to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) human-health benchmarks for trace elements, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds, 28 water-quality constituents were identified as contaminants of potential human-health concern. From this list, 11 contaminants were selected for summarization of water-quality data in 16 States (grantee States) that were funded by the Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Only data from domestic-water supplies were used in this summary because samples from these wells are most relevant to human exposure for the targeted population. Using NAWQA data, the concentrations of the 11 contaminants were compared to USEPA human-health benchmarks. Using NAWQA and USGS State data in NWIS, the geographic distribution of the contaminants were mapped for the 16 grantee States. Radon, arsenic, manganese, nitrate, strontium, and uranium had the largest percentages of samples with concentrations greater than their human-health benchmarks. In contrast, organic compounds (pesticides and volatile organic compounds) had the lowest percentages of samples with concentrations greater than human-health benchmarks. Results of data retrievals and spatial analysis were compiled for each of the 16 States and are presented in State summaries for each State. Example summary tables, graphs, and maps based on USGS data for New Jersey are presented to illustrate how USGS water-quality and associated ancillary geospatial data can be used by the CDC to address goals and objectives of the EPHT Program.

Project BIOTECH: Use of Modules in Technician Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glazer, Richard B.

1974-01-01

Describes Project Biotech, a program that utilizes the audio-tutorial principle to develop skill-oriented modules. The modules are self-pacing, independent units of instruction which concentrate on a few well-defined objectives and allow the student to learn at his own rate with minimal supervision. (PB)

Trauma-related self-defining memories and future goals in Dissociative Identity Disorder.

PubMed

Huntjens, Rafaële J C; Wessel, Ineke; Ostafin, Brian D; Boelen, Paul A; Behrens, Friederike; van Minnen, Agnes

2016-12-01

This study examined the content of self-defining autobiographical memories in different identities in patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and comparison groups of patients with PTSD, healthy controls, and DID simulators. Consistent with the DID trauma model, analyses of objective ratings showed that DID patients in trauma identities retrieved more negative and trauma-related self-defining memories than DID patients in avoidant identities. Inconsistent with the DID trauma model, DID patients' self-rated trauma-relatedness of self-defining memories and future life goals did not differ between trauma identities and trauma avoidant identities. That is, the DID patients did not seem to be "shut off" from their trauma while in their avoidant identity. Furthermore, DID patients in both identities reported a higher proportion of avoidance goals compared to PTSD patients, with the latter group scoring comparably to healthy controls. The simulators behaved according to the instructions to respond differently in each identity (i.e., to report memories and goals consistent with the identity tested). The discrepant task behavior by DID patients and simulators indicated that DID patients did not seem to intentionally produce the hypothesized differences in performance between identities. In conclusion, for patients with DID (i.e., in both identities) and patients with PTSD, trauma played a central role in the retrieval of self-defining memories and in the formulation of life goals. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental Learning in Regions: A Social Capital Based Approach. The Case of Latvia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sechi, Guido; Borri, Dino; De Lucia, Caterina; Celmins, Viesturs

2018-01-01

How do people learn about the environment and behave accordingly? What is the cognitive process at the base of this learning mechanism? The present paper is a pilot work investigating the dynamics of individual environmental knowledge on the basis of social capital theory. Using Tsai and Ghoshal's findings, a well known framework widely accepted…

Hooked on Sardonics: A Queer Success Story

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suhor, Charles

2009-01-01

The author's late son Greg, who became known as Stephan Sure, started life as a teacher's and parent's dream. Not so much because he "behaved well" but because he was a natural wordsmith. Stephan's knack for clever language was visible through the years in crisp repartee and hilarious storytelling, but his secret life as a writer didn't fully…

Exhibition

Science.gov Websites

It! What is Soil? Chip Off the Old Block Soil Forming Factors Matters of Life and Death Underneath It have been sizing up soils. Today, soil scientists analyze soils and predict how they will behave. But Big Picture TheBigPicture How well do you know the world beneath your feet? Take our Soil Quiz and

Collection Development "Dog Care & Training": The Well-Behaved Dog

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alpi, Kristine M.; Sherman, Barbara L.

2008-01-01

Dogs are indeed people's best friends. A majority of owners report that their dog is a "member of the family," and that acceptable canine behavior and optimal care are high priorities for them. The human-animal bond, the close connection between people and their pets, is forged by positive interactions, but unacceptable canine behaviors that…

The Benefits of Being Latino: Differential Interpretations of Student Behavior and the Social Construction of Being Well Behaved

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rueda, Eréndira

2015-01-01

Students of color are overrepresented in school disciplinary records nationally, but little is known about how disciplinary disproportionality varies among groups. Classroom observations in 1 elementary school suggested that when Latino students misbehaved, teachers were less inclined to interpret their behavior as problematic and less inclined to…

The Critical Thinking Skills of Teacher Candidates Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Sampling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Serin, Oguz

2013-01-01

Problem Statement: The main function of education is to prepare individuals for life. In this context, education aims to equip individuals throughout the different stages of education, where most of the time individuals learn how they should behave, as well as how to manage problems with effective problem-solving and critical thinking skills. The…

Toward a definition of teamwork in emergency medicine.

PubMed

Fernandez, Rosemarie; Kozlowski, Steve W J; Shapiro, Marc J; Salas, Eduardo

2008-11-01

The patient safety literature from the past decade emphasizes the importance of teamwork skills and human factors in preventing medical errors. Simulation has been used within aviation, the military, and now health care domains to effectively teach and assess teamwork skills. However, attempts to expand and generalize research and training principles have been limited due to a lack of a well-defined, well-researched taxonomy. As part of the 2008 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference on "The Science of Simulation in Healthcare," a subset of the group expertise and group assessment breakout sections identified evidence-based recommendations for an emergency medicine (EM) team taxonomy and performance model. This material was disseminated within the morning session and was discussed both during breakout sessions and via online messaging. Below we present a well-defined, well-described taxonomy that will help guide design, implementation, and assessment of simulation-based team training programs.

Renormalization of generalized scalar Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau electrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bufalo, R.; Cardoso, T. R.; Nogueira, A. A.; Pimentel, B. M.

2018-05-01

We establish the multiplicative renormalization procedure of generalized scalar Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau electrodynamics (GSDKP4 ) in the mass shell. We show an explicit calculation of the first radiative corrections (one-loop) associated with the photon propagator, meson propagator, vertex function, and photon-photon four-point function utilizing the dimensional regularization method, where the gauge symmetry is manifest. As we will see, one of the consequences of the study is that, from the complete photon propagator renormalization condition, imposing that it behaves as a massless field, an energy range where GSDKP4 is well defined is m2≪k2

On the Time Evolution of Gamma-Ray Burst Pulses: A Self-Consistent Description.

PubMed

Ryde; Svensson

2000-01-20

For the first time, the consequences of combining two well-established empirical relations that describe different aspects of the spectral evolution of observed gamma-ray burst (GRB) pulses are explored. These empirical relations are (1) the hardness-intensity correlation and (2) the hardness-photon fluence correlation. From these we find a self-consistent, quantitative, and compact description for the temporal evolution of pulse decay phases within a GRB light curve. In particular, we show that in the case in which the two empirical relations are both valid, the instantaneous photon flux (intensity) must behave as 1&solm0;&parl0;1+t&solm0;tau&parr0;, where tau is a time constant that can be expressed in terms of the parameters of the two empirical relations. The time evolution is fully defined by two initial constants and two parameters. We study a complete sample of 83 bright GRB pulses observed by the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory and identify a major subgroup of GRB pulses ( approximately 45%) which satisfy the spectral-temporal behavior described above. In particular, the decay phase follows a reciprocal law in time. It is unclear what physics causes such a decay phase.

Three-Dimensional Properties of Coronal Mass Ejections from STEREO/SECCHI Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bosman, E.; Bothmer, V.; Nisticò, G.; Vourlidas, A.; Howard, R. A.; Davies, J. A.

2012-11-01

We identify 565 coronal mass ejections (CMEs) between January 2007 and December 2010 in observations from the twin STEREO/SECCHI/COR2 coronagraphs aboard the STEREO mission. Our list is in full agreement with the corresponding SOHO/LASCO CME Catalog (http://cdaw.gsfc.nasa.gov/CME_list/) for events with angular widths of 45∘ and up. The monthly event rates behave similarly to sunspot rates showing a three- to fourfold rise between September 2009 and March 2010. We select 51 events with well-defined white-light structure and model them as three-dimensional (3D) flux ropes using a forward-modeling technique developed by Thernisien, Howard and Vourlidas (Astrophys. J. 652, 763 - 773, 2006). We derive their 3D properties and identify their source regions. We find that the majority of the CME flux ropes (82 %) lie within 30∘ of the solar equator. Also, 82 % of the events are displaced from their source region, to a lower latitude, by 25∘ or less. These findings provide strong support for the deflection of CMEs towards the solar equator reported in earlier observations, e.g. by Cremades and Bothmer ( Astron. Astrophys. 422, 307 - 322, 2004).

Bioengineered-inorganic nanosystems for nanophotonics and bio-nanotechnology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leong, Kirsty; Zin, Melvin T.; Ma, Hong; Huang, Fei; Sarikaya, Mehmet; Jen, Alex K.

2008-08-01

Here we nanoengineered tunable quantum dot and cationic conjugated polymer nanoarrays based on surface plasmon enhanced fluorescence where we achieved a 15-fold and 25-fold increase in their emission intensities, respectively. These peptide mediated hybrid systems were fabricated by horizontally tuning the localized surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoarrays and laterally tuning the distance of the fluorophore from the metal surface. This approach permits a comprehensive control both laterally (i.e., lithographically defined gold nanoarrays) and vertically (i.e., QD/CCP-metal distance) of the collectively behaving QD-NP and CP-NP assemblies by way of biomolecular recognition. The highest photoluminescence was achieved when the quantum dots and cationic conjugated polymers were self-assembled at a distance of 16.00 nm and 18.50 nm from the metal surface, respectively. Specifically, we demonstrated the spectral tuning of plasmon resonant metal nanoarrays and the self-assembly of protein-functionalized QDs/CCPs in a step-wise fashion with a concomitant incremental increase in separation from the metal surface through biotin-streptavidin spacer units. These well-controlled self-assembled patterned arrays provide highly organized architectures for improving optoelectronic devices and/or increasing the sensitivity of bio-chemical sensors.

Diversity, competition, extinction: the ecophysics of language change.

PubMed

Solé, Ricard V; Corominas-Murtra, Bernat; Fortuny, Jordi

2010-12-06

As indicated early by Charles Darwin, languages behave and change very much like living species. They display high diversity, differentiate in space and time, emerge and disappear. A large body of literature has explored the role of information exchanges and communicative constraints in groups of agents under selective scenarios. These models have been very helpful in providing a rationale on how complex forms of communication emerge under evolutionary pressures. However, other patterns of large-scale organization can be described using mathematical methods ignoring communicative traits. These approaches consider shorter time scales and have been developed by exploiting both theoretical ecology and statistical physics methods. The models are reviewed here and include extinction, invasion, origination, spatial organization, coexistence and diversity as key concepts and are very simple in their defining rules. Such simplicity is used in order to catch the most fundamental laws of organization and those universal ingredients responsible for qualitative traits. The similarities between observed and predicted patterns indicate that an ecological theory of language is emerging, supporting (on a quantitative basis) its ecological nature, although key differences are also present. Here, we critically review some recent advances and outline their implications and limitations as well as highlight problems for future research.

Diversity, competition, extinction: the ecophysics of language change

PubMed Central

Solé, Ricard V.; Corominas-Murtra, Bernat; Fortuny, Jordi

2010-01-01

As indicated early by Charles Darwin, languages behave and change very much like living species. They display high diversity, differentiate in space and time, emerge and disappear. A large body of literature has explored the role of information exchanges and communicative constraints in groups of agents under selective scenarios. These models have been very helpful in providing a rationale on how complex forms of communication emerge under evolutionary pressures. However, other patterns of large-scale organization can be described using mathematical methods ignoring communicative traits. These approaches consider shorter time scales and have been developed by exploiting both theoretical ecology and statistical physics methods. The models are reviewed here and include extinction, invasion, origination, spatial organization, coexistence and diversity as key concepts and are very simple in their defining rules. Such simplicity is used in order to catch the most fundamental laws of organization and those universal ingredients responsible for qualitative traits. The similarities between observed and predicted patterns indicate that an ecological theory of language is emerging, supporting (on a quantitative basis) its ecological nature, although key differences are also present. Here, we critically review some recent advances and outline their implications and limitations as well as highlight problems for future research. PMID:20591847

Pb-Pb dating of individual chondrules from the CBa chondrite Gujba: Assessment of the impact plume formation model

PubMed Central

Bollard, Jean; Connelly, James N.; Bizzarro, Martin

2016-01-01

The CB chondrites are metal-rich meteorites with characteristics that sharply distinguish them from other chondrite groups. Their unusual chemical and petrologic features and a young formation age of bulk chondrules dated from the CBa chondrite Gujba are interpreted to reflect a single-stage impact origin. Here, we report high-precision internal isochrons for four individual chondrules of the Gujba chondrite to probe the formation history of CB chondrites and evaluate the concordancy of relevant short-lived radionuclide chronometers. All four chondrules define a brief formation interval with a weighted mean age of 4562.49 ± 0.21 Myr, consistent with its origin from the vapor-melt impact plume generated by colliding planetesimals. Formation in a debris disk mostly devoid of nebular gas and dust sets an upper limit for the solar protoplanetary disk lifetime at 4.8 ± 0.3 Myr. Finally, given the well-behaved Pb-Pb systematics of all four chondrules, a precise formation age and the concordancy of the Mn-Cr, Hf-W, and I-Xe short-lived radionuclide relative chronometers, we propose that Gujba may serve as a suitable time anchor for these systems. PMID:27429545

Functionalized nanoparticle interactions with polymeric membranes

PubMed Central

Ladner, D.A.; Steele, M.; Weir, A.; Hristovski, K.; Westerhoff, P.

2011-01-01

A series of experiments was performed to measure the retention of a class of functionalized nanoparticles (NPs) onporous (microfiltration and ultrafiltration) membranes. The findings impact engineered water and wastewater treatment using membrane technology, characterization and analytical schemes for NP detection, and the use of NPs in waste treatment scenarios. The NPs studied were composed of silver, titanium dioxide, and gold; had organic coatings to yield either positive or negative surface charge; and were between 2 and 10 nm in diameter. NP solutions were applied to polymeric membranes composed of different materials and pore sizes (ranging from ~2 nm [3 kDa molecular weight cutoff] to 0.2 μm). Greater than 99% rejection was observed of positively charged NPs by negatively charged membranes even though pore diameters were up to 20 times the NP diameter; thus, sorption caused rejection. Negatively charged NPs were less well rejected, but behavior was dependant not only on surface functionality but on NP core material (Ag, TiO2, or Au). NP rejection depended more upon NP properties than membrane properties; all of the negatively charged polymeric membranes behaved similarly. The NP-membrane interaction behavior fell into four categories, which are defined and described here. PMID:22177020

Relationships for electron-vibrational coupling in conjugated π organic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Neill, L.; Lynch, P.; McNamara, M.; Byrne, H. J.

2005-06-01

A series of π conjugated systems were studied by absorption, photoluminescence and vibrational spectroscopy. As is common for these systems, a linear relationship between the positioning of the absorption and photoluminescence maxima plotted against inverse conjugation length is observed. The relationships are in good agreement with the simple particle in a box method, one of the earliest descriptions of the properties of one-dimensional organic molecules. In addition to the electronic transition energies, it was observed that the Stokes shift also exhibited a well-defined relationship with increasing conjugation length, implying a correlation between the electron-vibrational coupling and chain length. This correlation is further examined using Raman spectroscopy, whereby the integrated Raman scattering is seen to behave superlinearly with chain length. There is a clear indication that the vibrational activity and thus nonradiative decay processes are controllable through molecular structure. The correlations between the Stokes energies and the vibrational structure are also observed in a selection of PPV based polymers and a clear trend of increasing luminescence efficiency with decreasing vibrational activity and Stokes shift is observable. The implications of such structure property relationships in terms of materials design are discussed.

Macroscopically Oriented Porous Materials with Periodic Ordered Structures: From Zeolites and Metal-Organic Frameworks to Liquid-Crystal-Templated Mesoporous Materials.

PubMed

Cho, Joonil; Ishida, Yasuhiro

2017-07-01

Porous materials with molecular-sized periodic structures, as exemplified by zeolites, metal-organic frameworks, or mesoporous silica, have attracted increasing attention due to their range of applications in storage, sensing, separation, and transformation of small molecules. Although the components of such porous materials have a tendency to pack in unidirectionally oriented periodic structures, such ideal types of packing cannot continue indefinitely, generally ceasing when they reach a micrometer scale. Consequently, most porous materials are composed of multiple randomly oriented domains, and overall behave as isotropic materials from a macroscopic viewpoint. However, if their channels could be unidirectionally oriented over a macroscopic scale, the resultant porous materials might serve as powerful tools for manipulating molecules. Guest molecules captured in macroscopically oriented channels would have their positions and directions well-defined, so that molecular events in the channels would proceed in a highly controlled manner. To realize such an ideal situation, numerous efforts have been made to develop various porous materials with macroscopically oriented channels. An overview of recent studies on the synthesis, properties, and applications of macroscopically oriented porous materials is presented. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Nanosensors: towards morphological control of gas sensing activity. SnO2, In2O3, ZnO and WO3 case studies.

PubMed

Gurlo, Aleksander

2011-01-01

Anisotropy is a basic property of single crystals. Dissimilar facets/surfaces have different geometric and electronic structure that results in dissimilar functional properties. Several case studies unambiguously demonstrated that the gas sensing activity of metal oxides is determined by the nature of surfaces exposed to ambient gas. Accordingly, a control over crystal morphology, i.e. over the angular relationships, size and shape of faces in a crystal, is required for the development of better sensors with increased selectivity and sensitivity in the chemical determination of gases. The first step toward this nanomorphological control of the gas sensing properties is the design and synthesis of well-defined nanocrystals which are uniform in size, shape and surface structure. These materials possess the planes of the symmetrical set {hkl} and must therefore behave identically in chemical reactions and adsorption processes. Because of these characteristics, the form-controlled nanocrystals are ideal candidates for fundamental studies of mechanisms of gas sensing which should involve (i) gas sensing measurements on specific surfaces, (ii) their atomistic/quantum chemical modelling and (ii) spectroscopic information obtained on same surfaces under operation conditions of sensors.

Testing and evaluation for astronaut extravehicular activity (EVA) operability.

PubMed

Shields, N; King, L C

1998-09-01

Because it is the human component that defines space mission success, careful planning is required to ensure that hardware can be operated and maintained by crews on-orbit. Several methods exist to allow researchers and designers to better predict how hardware designs will behave under the harsh environment of low Earth orbit, and whether designs incorporate the necessary features for Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) operability. Testing under conditions of simulated microgravity can occur during the design concept phase when verifying design operability, during mission training, or concurrently with on-orbit mission operations. The bulk of testing is focused on normal operations, but also includes evaluation of credible mission contingencies or "what would happen if" planning. The astronauts and cosmonauts who fly these space missions are well prepared and trained to survive and be productive in Earth's orbit. The engineers, designers, and training crews involved in space missions subject themselves to Earth based simulation techniques that also expose them to extreme environments. Aircraft falling ten thousand feet, alternating g-loads, underwater testing at 45 foot depth, enclosure in a vacuum chamber and subject to thermal extremes, each carries with it inherent risks to the humans preparing for space missions.

Self-defining memories, scripts, and the life story: narrative identity in personality and psychotherapy.

PubMed

Singer, Jefferson A; Blagov, Pavel; Berry, Meredith; Oost, Kathryn M

2013-12-01

An integrative model of narrative identity builds on a dual memory system that draws on episodic memory and a long-term self to generate autobiographical memories. Autobiographical memories related to critical goals in a lifetime period lead to life-story memories, which in turn become self-defining memories when linked to an individual's enduring concerns. Self-defining memories that share repetitive emotion-outcome sequences yield narrative scripts, abstracted templates that filter cognitive-affective processing. The life story is the individual's overarching narrative that provides unity and purpose over the life course. Healthy narrative identity combines memory specificity with adaptive meaning-making to achieve insight and well-being, as demonstrated through a literature review of personality and clinical research, as well as new findings from our own research program. A clinical case study drawing on this narrative identity model is also presented with implications for treatment and research. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Current status and future needs of the BehavePlus Fire Modeling System

Treesearch

Patricia L. Andrews

2014-01-01

The BehavePlus Fire Modeling System is among the most widely used systems for wildland fire prediction. It is designed for use in a range of tasks including wildfire behaviour prediction, prescribed fire planning, fire investigation, fuel hazard assessment, fire model understanding, communication and research. BehavePlus is based on mathematical models for fire...

[Urodynamics foundations: contractile potency and urethral doppler].

PubMed

Benítez Navío, Julio; Caballero Gómez, Pilar; Delgado Elipe, Ildefonso

2002-12-01

To calculate the bladder softening factor, elastic constant and contractile potency. For the analysis we considered bladder behavior like that of a spring. See articles 1 and 2 published in this issue. Using flowmetry, Doppler ultrasound and abdominal pressure (Transrectal pressure register catheter) an analytical solution that permits calculation of factors defining bladder behavior was looked for. Doppler ultrasound allows us to know urine velocity through the prostatic urethra and, therefore, to calculate bladder contractile potency. Equations are solved reaching an analytical solution that allows calculating those factors that define bladder behavior: Bladder contractile potency, detrusor elastic constant, considering it behaves like a spring, and calculation of muscle resistance to movement. All thanks to Doppler ultrasound that allows to know urine speed. The bladder voiding phase is defined with the aforementioned factors; storage phase behavior can be indirectly inferred. Only uroflowmetry curves, Doppler ultrasound and abdominal pressure value are used. We comply with the so called non invasive urodynamics although for us it is just another phase in the biomechanical study of the detrusor muscle. Main conclusion is the addition of Doppler ultrasound to the urodynamist armamentarium as an essential instrument for the comprehension of bladder dynamics and calculation of bladder behavior defining factors. It is not a change in the focus but in the methods, gaining knowledge and diminishing invasion.

Quantum probabilistic logic programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balu, Radhakrishnan

2015-05-01

We describe a quantum mechanics based logic programming language that supports Horn clauses, random variables, and covariance matrices to express and solve problems in probabilistic logic. The Horn clauses of the language wrap random variables, including infinite valued, to express probability distributions and statistical correlations, a powerful feature to capture relationship between distributions that are not independent. The expressive power of the language is based on a mechanism to implement statistical ensembles and to solve the underlying SAT instances using quantum mechanical machinery. We exploit the fact that classical random variables have quantum decompositions to build the Horn clauses. We establish the semantics of the language in a rigorous fashion by considering an existing probabilistic logic language called PRISM with classical probability measures defined on the Herbrand base and extending it to the quantum context. In the classical case H-interpretations form the sample space and probability measures defined on them lead to consistent definition of probabilities for well formed formulae. In the quantum counterpart, we define probability amplitudes on Hinterpretations facilitating the model generations and verifications via quantum mechanical superpositions and entanglements. We cast the well formed formulae of the language as quantum mechanical observables thus providing an elegant interpretation for their probabilities. We discuss several examples to combine statistical ensembles and predicates of first order logic to reason with situations involving uncertainty.

Risk, Resiliency, and Coping in National Guard Families

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

asleep SP_ITSEA17 hhh . Runs away in public places SP_ITSEA18 iii. Plays well with other children (not including brothers/sisters) SP_...to myself "this isn’t real." P_COPE3 hhh . I’ve been using alcohol or other drugs to make myself feel better. P_COPE4 iii. I’ve been...P_SDQ4 ggg. Often loses temper P_SDQ5 hhh . Rather solitary, prefers to play alone P_SDQ6 iii. Generally well behaved, usually does what

Cultural sensitivity in public health: defined and demystified.

PubMed

Resnicow, K; Baranowski, T; Ahluwalia, J S; Braithwaite, R L

1999-01-01

There is consensus that health promotion programs should be culturally sensitive (CS). Yet, despite the ubiquitous nature of CS within public health research and practice, there has been surprisingly little attention given to defining CS or delineating a framework for developing culturally sensitive programs and practitioners. This paper describes a model for understanding CS from a public health perspective; describes a process for applying this model in the development of health promotion and disease prevention interventions; and highlights research priorities. Cultural sensitivity is defined by two dimensions: surface and deep structures. Surface structure involves matching intervention materials and messages to observable, "superficial" characteristics of a target population. This may involve using people, places, language, music, food, locations, and clothing familiar to, and preferred by, the target audience. Surface structure refers to how well interventions fit within a specific culture. Deep structure involves incorporating the cultural, social, historical, environmental and psychological forces that influence the target health behavior in the proposed target population. Whereas surface structure generally increases the "receptivity" or "acceptance" of messages, deep structure conveys salience. Techniques, borrowed from social marketing and health communication theory, for developing culturally sensitive interventions are described. Research is needed to determine the effectiveness of culturally sensitive programs.

Affective Balance, Team Prosocial Efficacy and Team Trust: A Multilevel Analysis of Prosocial Behavior in Small Groups.

PubMed

Cuadrado, Esther; Tabernero, Carmen

2015-01-01

Little research has focused on how individual- and team-level characteristics jointly influence, via interaction, how prosocially individuals behave in teams and few studies have considered the potential influence of team context on prosocial behavior. Using a multilevel perspective, we examined the relationships between individual (affective balance) and group (team prosocial efficacy and team trust) level variables and prosocial behavior towards team members. The participants were 123 students nested in 45 small teams. A series of multilevel random models was estimated using hierarchical linear and nonlinear modeling. Individuals were more likely to behave prosocially towards in-group members when they were feeling good. Furthermore, the relationship between positive affective balance and prosocial behavior was stronger in teams with higher team prosocial efficacy levels as well as in teams with higher team trust levels. Finally, the relevance of team trust had a stronger influence on behavior than team prosocial efficacy.

Advances in Light Microscopy for Neuroscience

PubMed Central

Wilt, Brian A.; Burns, Laurie D.; Ho, Eric Tatt Wei; Ghosh, Kunal K.; Mukamel, Eran A.

2010-01-01

Since the work of Golgi and Cajal, light microscopy has remained a key tool for neuroscientists to observe cellular properties. Ongoing advances have enabled new experimental capabilities using light to inspect the nervous system across multiple spatial scales, including ultrastructural scales finer than the optical diffraction limit. Other progress permits functional imaging at faster speeds, at greater depths in brain tissue, and over larger tissue volumes than previously possible. Portable, miniaturized fluorescence microscopes now allow brain imaging in freely behaving mice. Complementary progress on animal preparations has enabled imaging in head-restrained behaving animals, as well as time-lapse microscopy studies in the brains of live subjects. Mouse genetic approaches permit mosaic and inducible fluorescence-labeling strategies, whereas intrinsic contrast mechanisms allow in vivo imaging of animals and humans without use of exogenous markers. This review surveys such advances and highlights emerging capabilities of particular interest to neuroscientists. PMID:19555292

Psychometric Properties of an Intimate Partner Violence Tool for Health Care Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connor, Pamela D.; Nouer, Simonne S.; Mackey, See Trail N.; Tipton, Nathan G.; Lloyd, Angela K.

2011-01-01

Health care professionals have acknowledged intimate partner violence (IPV) as a highly prevalent public health problem necessitating the creation of standardized education programs, survey tools, and well-defined outcome measures. Testing and evaluation of these measures, however, has been limited to specific populations of health care…

The national strategic plan for federal aquaculture research, specific goal #4: Improve production efficiency and well-being

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The 2014-2019 National Strategic Plan for Federal Aquaculture Research identifies a series of specific goals that identify research priorities for Federal agency and interagency research programs. Collectively, these priorities define research activities with the broad outcome of supporting aquacul...

Applied Nutrition in Dental Education; Issues and Challenges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Carole A.

1990-01-01

The status of nutrition programs in dental education and practice is reviewed, problems are analyzed, and solutions are offered. Problems include lack of well-defined policy guidelines, confusion over the state of scientific knowledge, and the scope of nutrition counseling. Among conclusions and recommendations are the need to emphasize clinical…

The High/Scope Preschool Curriculum Comparison Study through Age 23.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schweinhart, Lawrence J.; Weikart, David P.

1997-01-01

Assessed the relative effects through age 23 on young participants born in poverty of the High/Scope, Direct Instruction, and traditional Nursery School preschool curriculum models. Found against using Direct Instruction in preschool programs and for using a well-defined curriculum model based on child-initiated learning activities. (Author)

The Neurochip-2: An Autonomous Head-Fixed Computer for Recording and Stimulating in Freely Behaving Monkeys

PubMed Central

Zanos, Stavros; Richardson, Andrew G.; Shupe, Larry; Miles, Frank P.; Fetz, Eberhard E.

2011-01-01

The Neurochip-2 is a second generation, battery-powered device for neural recording and stimulating that is small enough to be carried in a chamber on a monkey’s head. It has three recording channels, with user-adjustable gains, filters, and sampling rates, that can be optimized for recording single unit activity, local field potentials, electrocorticography, electromyography, arm acceleration, etc. Recorded data are stored on a removable, flash memory card. The Neurochip-2 also has three separate stimulation channels. Two “programmable-system-on-chips” (PSoCs) control the data acquisition and stimulus output. The PSoCs permit flexible real-time processing of the recorded data, such as digital filtering and time-amplitude window discrimination. The PSoCs can be programmed to deliver stimulation contingent on neural events or deliver preprogrammed stimuli. Access pins to the microcontroller are also available to connect external devices, such as accelerometers. The Neurochip-2 can record and stimulate autonomously for up to several days in freely behaving monkeys, enabling a wide range of novel neurophysiological and neuroengineering experiments. PMID:21632309

Simulation Based Training Improves Airway Management for Helicopter EMS Teams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dhindsa, Harinder S.; Reid, Renee; Murray, David; Lovelady, James; Powell, Katie; Sayles, Jeff; Stevenson, Christopher; Baker, Kathy; Solada, Brian; Carroll, Scott;

Software for Secondary-School Learning About Robotics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shelton, Robert O.; Smith, Stephanie L.; Truong, Dat; Hodgson, Terry R.

2005-01-01

The ROVer Ranch is an interactive computer program designed to help secondary-school students learn about space-program robotics and related basic scientific concepts by involving the students in simplified design and programming tasks that exercise skills in mathematics and science. The tasks involve building simulated robots and then observing how they behave. The program furnishes (1) programming tools that a student can use to assemble and program a simulated robot and (2) a virtual three-dimensional mission simulator for testing the robot. First, the ROVer Ranch presents fundamental information about robotics, mission goals, and facts about the mission environment. On the basis of this information, and using the aforementioned tools, the student assembles a robot by selecting parts from such subsystems as propulsion, navigation, and scientific tools, the student builds a simulated robot to accomplish its mission. Once the robot is built, it is programmed and then placed in a three-dimensional simulated environment. Success or failure in the simulation depends on the planning and design of the robot. Data and results of the mission are available in a summary log once the mission is concluded.

Methods for comparative evaluation of propulsion system designs for supersonic aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tyson, R. M.; Mairs, R. Y.; Halferty, F. D., Jr.; Moore, B. E.; Chaloff, D.; Knudsen, A. W.

1976-01-01

The propulsion system comparative evaluation study was conducted to define a rapid, approximate method for evaluating the effects of propulsion system changes for an advanced supersonic cruise airplane, and to verify the approximate method by comparing its mission performance results with those from a more detailed analysis. A table look up computer program was developed to determine nacelle drag increments for a range of parametric nacelle shapes and sizes. Aircraft sensitivities to propulsion parameters were defined. Nacelle shapes, installed weights, and installed performance was determined for four study engines selected from the NASA supersonic cruise aircraft research (SCAR) engine studies program. Both rapid evaluation method (using sensitivities) and traditional preliminary design methods were then used to assess the four engines. The method was found to compare well with the more detailed analyses.

Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) system concept and technology definition study. Volume 2: Technology assessment and technology development plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agnew, Donald L.; Jones, Peter A.

1989-01-01

A study was conducted to define reasonable and representative LDR system concepts for the purpose of defining a technology development program aimed at providing the requisite technological capability necessary to start LDR development by the end of 1991. This volume presents thirteen technology assessments and technology development plans, as well as an overview and summary of the LDR concepts. Twenty-two proposed augmentation projects are described (selected from more than 30 candidates). The five LDR technology areas most in need of supplementary support are: cryogenic cooling; astronaut assembly of the optically precise LDR in space; active segmented primary mirror; dynamic structural control; and primary mirror contamination control. Three broad, time-phased, five-year programs were synthesized from the 22 projects, scheduled, and funding requirements estimated.

Molecular cooperativity and compatibility via full atomistic simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwan Yang, Kenny

Civil engineering has customarily focused on problems from a large-scale perspective, encompassing structures such as bridges, dams, and infrastructure. However, present day challenges in conjunction with advances in nanotechnology have forced a re-focusing of expertise. The use of atomistic and molecular approaches to study material systems opens the door to significantly improve material properties. The understanding that material systems themselves are structures, where their assemblies can dictate design capacities and failure modes makes this problem well suited for those who possess expertise in structural engineering. At the same time, a focus has been given to the performance metrics of materials at the nanoscale, including strength, toughness, and transport properties (e.g., electrical, thermal). Little effort has been made in the systematic characterization of system compatibility -- e.g., how to make disparate material building blocks behave in unison. This research attempts to develop bottom-up molecular scale understanding of material behavior, with the global objective being the application of this understanding into material design/characterization at an ultimate functional scale. In particular, it addresses the subject of cooperativity at the nano-scale. This research aims to define the conditions which dictate when discrete molecules may behave as a single, functional unit, thereby facilitating homogenization and up-scaling approaches, setting bounds for assembly, and providing a transferable assessment tool across molecular systems. Following a macro-scale pattern where the compatibility of deformation plays a vital role in the structural design, novel geometrical cooperativity metrics based on the gyration tensor are derived with the intention to define nano-cooperativity in a generalized way. The metrics objectively describe the general size, shape and orientation of the structure. To validate the derived measures, a pair of ideal macromolecules, where the density of cross-linking dictates cooperativity, is used to gauge the effectiveness of the triumvirate of gyration metrics. The metrics are shown to identify the critical number of cross-links that allowed the pair to deform together. The next step involves looking at the cooperativity features on a real system. We investigate a representative collagen molecule (i.e., tropocollagen), where single point mutations are known to produce kinks that create local unfolding. The results indicate that the metrics are effective, serving as a validation of the cooperativity metrics in a palpable material system. Finally a preliminary study on a carbon nanotube and collagen composite is proposed with a long-term objective of understanding the interactions between them as a means to corroborate experimental efforts in reproducing a d-banded collagen fiber. The emerging needs for more robust and resilient structures, as well as sustainable are serving as motivation to think beyond the traditional design methods. The characterization of cooperativity is thus key in materiomics, an emerging field that focuses on developing a "nano-to-macro" synergistic platform, which provides the necessary tools and procedures to validate future structural models and other critical behavior in a holistic manner, from atoms to application.

Virtual milgram: empathic concern or personal distress? Evidence from functional MRI and dispositional measures.

PubMed

Cheetham, Marcus; Pedroni, Andreas F; Antley, Angus; Slater, Mel; Jäncke, Lutz

2009-01-01

One motive for behaving as the agent of another's aggression appears to be anchored in as yet unelucidated mechanisms of obedience to authority. In a recent partial replication of Milgram's obedience paradigm within an immersive virtual environment, participants administered pain to a female virtual human and observed her suffering. Whether the participants' response to the latter was more akin to other-oriented empathic concern for her well-being or to a self-oriented aversive state of personal distress in response to her distress is unclear. Using the stimuli from that study, this event-related fMRI-based study analysed brain activity during observation of the victim in pain versus not in pain. This contrast revealed activation in pre-defined brain areas known to be involved in affective processing but not in those commonly associated with affect sharing (e.g., ACC and insula). We then examined whether different dimensions of dispositional empathy predict activity within the same pre-defined brain regions: While personal distress and fantasy (i.e., tendency to transpose oneself into fictional situations and characters) predicted brain activity, empathic concern and perspective taking predicted no change in neuronal response associated with pain observation. These exploratory findings suggest that there is a distinct pattern of brain activity associated with observing the pain-related behaviour of the victim within the context of this social dilemma, that this observation evoked a self-oriented aversive state of personal distress, and that the objective "reality" of pain is of secondary importance for this response. These findings provide a starting point for experimentally more rigorous investigation of obedience.

5 years of experience with a large-scale mentoring program for medical students.

PubMed

Pinilla, Severin; Pander, Tanja; von der Borch, Philip; Fischer, Martin R; Dimitriadis, Konstantinos

2015-01-01

In this paper we present our 5-year-experience with a large-scale mentoring program for undergraduate medical students at the Ludwig Maximilians-Universität Munich (LMU). We implemented a two-tiered program with a peer-mentoring concept for preclinical students and a 1:1-mentoring concept for clinical students aided by a fully automated online-based matching algorithm. Approximately 20-30% of each student cohort participates in our voluntary mentoring program. Defining ideal program evaluation strategies, recruiting mentors from beyond the academic environment and accounting for the mentoring network reality remain challenging. We conclude that a two-tiered program is well accepted by students and faculty. In addition the online-based matching seems to be effective for large-scale mentoring programs.

On the Mechanical Behavior of Advanced Composite Material Structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vinson, Jack

During the period between 1993 and 2004, the author, as well as some colleagues and graduate students, had the honor to be supported by the Office of Naval Research to conduct research in several aspects of the behavior of structures composed of composite materials. The topics involved in this research program were numerous, but all contributed to increasing the understanding of how various structures that are useful for marine applications behaved. More specifically, the research topics focused on the reaction of structures that were made of fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites when subjected to various loads and environmental conditions. This included the behavior of beam, plate/panel and shell structures. It involved studies that are applicable to fiberglass, graphite/carbon and Kevlar fibers imbedded in epoxy, polyester and other polymeric matrices. Unidirectional, cross-ply, angle ply, and woven composites were involved, both in laminated, monocoque as well as in sandwich constructions. Mid-plane symmetric as well as asymmetric laminates were studied, the latter involving bending-stretching coupling and other couplings that only can be achieved with advanced composite materials. The composite structures studied involved static loads, dynamic loading, shock loading as well as thermal and hygrothermal environments. One major consideration was determining the mechanical properties of composite materials subjected to high strain rates because the mechanical properties vary so significantly as the strain rate increases. A considerable number of references are cited for further reading and study for those interested.

Predicting efficiency of solar cells based on transparent conducting electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Ankush

2017-01-01

Efficiency of a solar cell is directly correlated with the performance of its transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) which dictates its two core processes, viz., absorption and collection efficiencies. Emerging designs of a TCE involve active networks of carbon nanotubes, silver nanowires and various template-based techniques providing diverse structures; here, voids are transparent for optical transmittance while the conducting network acts as a charge collector. However, it is still not well understood as to which kind of network structure leads to an optimum solar cell performance; therefore, mostly an arbitrary network is chosen as a solar cell electrode. Herein, we propose a new generic approach for understanding the role of TCEs in determining the solar cell efficiency based on analysis of shadowing and recombination losses. A random network of wires encloses void regions of different sizes and shapes which permit light transmission; two terms, void fraction and equivalent radius, are defined to represent the TCE transmittance and wire spacings, respectively. The approach has been applied to various literature examples and their solar cell performance has been compared. To obtain high-efficiency solar cells, optimum density of the wires and their aspect ratio as well as active layer thickness are calculated. Our findings show that a TCE well suitable for one solar cell may not be suitable for another. For high diffusion length based solar cells, the void fraction of the network should be low while for low diffusion length based solar cells, the equivalent radius should be lower. The network with less wire spacing compared to the diffusion length behaves similar to continuous film based TCEs (such as indium tin oxide). The present work will be useful for architectural as well as material engineering of transparent electrodes for improvisation of solar cell performance.

Human-machine analytics for closed-loop sense-making in time-dominant cyber defense problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henry, Matthew H.

2017-05-01

Many defense problems are time-dominant: attacks progress at speeds that outpace human-centric systems designed for monitoring and response. Despite this shortcoming, these well-honed and ostensibly reliable systems pervade most domains, including cyberspace. The argument that often prevails when considering the automation of defense is that while technological systems are suitable for simple, well-defined tasks, only humans possess sufficiently nuanced understanding of problems to act appropriately under complicated circumstances. While this perspective is founded in verifiable truths, it does not account for a middle ground in which human-managed technological capabilities extend well into the territory of complex reasoning, thereby automating more nuanced sense-making and dramatically increasing the speed at which it can be applied. Snort1 and platforms like it enable humans to build, refine, and deploy sense-making tools for network defense. Shortcomings of these platforms include a reliance on rule-based logic, which confounds analyst knowledge of how bad actors behave with the means by which bad behaviors can be detected, and a lack of feedback-informed automation of sensor deployment. We propose an approach in which human-specified computational models hypothesize bad behaviors independent of indicators and then allocate sensors to estimate and forecast the state of an intrusion. State estimates and forecasts inform the proactive deployment of additional sensors and detection logic, thereby closing the sense-making loop. All the while, humans are on the loop, rather than in it, permitting nuanced management of fast-acting automated measurement, detection, and inference engines. This paper motivates and conceptualizes analytics to facilitate this human-machine partnership.

Hydrology and radionuclide migration program 1987 progress report

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

Marsh, K.V.

1991-03-01

This report presents results from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's participation in the Hydrology and Radionuclide Migration Program at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) during the fiscal year 1987. The report discussed initial data from a new well (UE20n-1) drilled at the Cheshire site; presents a description of a proposed laboratory study of migration of colloids in fractured media; lists data collected during the drilling and initial sampling of UE20n-1; and describes a tentative proposal for work to be performed in FY88 by Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory. Groundwater sampled from the new well at the Cheshire site contains tritium concentrations comparablemore » to those measured in previous years from locations above and within the Cheshire cavity. This presence of tritium, as well as several other radionuclides, in a well 100 m away from the cavity region indicates transport of radionuclides, validates a proposed model of the flow path, and provides data on rates of groundwater flow. Previous work at the Cheshire site has shown that radionuclides are transported by colloids through fractured media. However, we have no data that can be used for predictive modeling, and existing theories are not applicable. While physical transport mechanisms of sub-micrometer colloids to defined mineral surfaces are well known, predictions based on well-defined conditions differ from experimental observations by orders of magnitude. The U.C. Berkeley group has designed a laboratory experiment to quantify colloid retention and permeability alteration by the retained colloids.« less

Are Schools Shortchanging Boys or Girls? The Answer Rests on Methods and Assumptions: Reply to Card (2014) and Penner (2014)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson-Cimpian, Joseph P.; Lubienski, Sarah Theule; Ganley, Colleen M.; Copur-Gencturk, Yasemin

2014-01-01

Our target article (Robinson-Cimpian, Lubienski, Ganley, & Copur-Gencturk, 2014) used nationally representative data to examine the development of gender gaps in math achievement. We found that when boys and girls demonstrate equivalent math test performance and are perceived by their teachers to be equally well behaved and engaged with the…

Rewards for Kids! Ready-to-Use Charts and Activities for Positive Parenting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shiller, Viriginia M.; Schneider, Meg F.

Finding ways to encourage preschoolers and elementary school children to behave well without resorting to scolding, threats, or bribery is a challenge for parents. This book advocates the positive parenting technique of rewards as the key to good behavior and shows parents how to use a variety of child-friendly sticker charts and other tools to…

Non-target effects of an introduced biological control agent on deer mouse ecology

Treesearch

Dean E. Pearson; Kevin S. McKelvey; Leonard F. Ruggiero

2000-01-01

Release of exotic insects as biological control agents is a common approach to controlling exotic plants. Though controversy has ensued regarding the deleterious direct effects of biological control agents to non-target species, few have examined the indirect effects of a "well-behaved" biological control agent on native fauna. We studied a grassland in west-...

Changes in Somatosensory Responsiveness in Behaving Primates

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-08-01

visually vs. vibratory-triggered movements; 2) to record from the cerebral cortex of awake , behaving monkeys during the performance of these sensory...vibratory-triggered movements; 2) to record from the cerebral cortex of awake , behaving monkeys during the performance of these sensory-triggered...recording chamber was implanted over the forelimb * region of the left sensorimotor cortices following a craniotomy and secured with smaller bolts and the

Changes in Sensory Responsiveness in Behaving Primates.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-07-14

controlled behavioral training and monitoring, and electrophysiological recording in awake , behaving monkeys. All I, research equipment listed in the original...recording from the sensorimotor cortices was conducted on May 21. Under general anesthesia, a craniotomy was performed over the pre- and postcentral cortices...Department of Neurosurgery at U.T. Dr. Klein is somewhat unusual in that he has had previous experience recording from awake , behaving monkeys. The experience

Validation of BEHAVE fire behavior predictions in oak savannas using five fuel models

Treesearch

Keith Grabner; John Dwyer; Bruce Cutter

1997-01-01

Prescribed fire is a valuable tool in the restoration and management of oak savannas. BEHAVE, a fire behavior prediction system developed by the United States Forest Service, can be a useful tool when managing oak savannas with prescribed fire. BEHAVE predictions of fire rate-of-spread and flame length were validated using four standardized fuel models: Fuel Model 1 (...

How the definition of acceptable antigens and epitope analysis can facilitate transplantation of highly sensitized patients with excellent long-term graft survival.

PubMed

Heidt, Sebastiaan; Haasnoot, Geert W; Claas, Frans H J

2018-05-24

Highly sensitized patients awaiting a renal transplant have a low chance of receiving an organ offer. Defining acceptable antigens and using this information for allocation purposes can vastly enhance transplantation of this subgroup of patients, which is the essence of the Eurotransplant Acceptable Mismatch program. Acceptable antigens can be determined by extensive laboratory testing, as well as on basis of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) epitope analyses. Within the Acceptable Mismatch program, there is no effect of HLA mismatches on long-term graft survival. Furthermore, patients transplanted through the Acceptable Mismatch program have similar long-term graft survival to nonsensitized patients transplanted through regular allocation. Although HLA epitope analysis is already being used for defining acceptable HLA antigens for highly sensitized patients in the Acceptable Mismatch program, increasing knowledge on HLA antibody - epitope interactions will pave the way toward the definition of acceptable epitopes for highly sensitized patients in the future. Allocation based on acceptable antigens can facilitate transplantation of highly sensitized patients with excellent long-term graft survival.

Evaluation of the U.S. Geological Survey Ground-Water Data-Collection Program in Hawaii, 1992

USGS Publications Warehouse

Anthony, Stephen S.

1997-01-01

In 1992, the U.S. Geological Survey ground-water data-collection program in the State of Hawaii consisted of 188 wells distributed among the islands of Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, and Hawaii. Water-level and water-quality (temperature, specific conductance, and chloride concentration) data were collected from observation wells, deep monitoring wells that penetrate the zone of transition between freshwater and saltwater, free-flowing wells, and pumped wells. The objective of the program was to collect sufficient spatial and temporal data to define seasonal and long-term changes in ground-water levels and chloride concentrations induced by natural and human-made stresses for different climatic and hydrogeologic settings. Wells needed to meet this objective can be divided into two types of networks: (1) a water-management network to determine the response of ground-water flow systems to human-induced stresses, such as pumpage, and (2) a baseline network to determine the response of ground-water flow systems to natural stresses for different climatic and hydrogeologic settings. Maps showing the distribution and magnitude of pumpage and the distribution of proposed pumped wells are presented to identify areas in need of water-management networks. Wells in the 1992 U.S. Geological Survey ground-water data-collection program were classified as either water-management or baseline network wells. In addition, locations where additional water-management network wells are needed for water-level and water-quality data were identified.

The Michelangelo phenomenon and personal well-being.

PubMed

Drigotas, Stephen M

2002-02-01

Previous research has demonstrated that when a close romantic partner views you and behaves toward you in a manner that is congruent with your ideal self, you experience movement toward your ideal self (termed the "Michelangelo phenomenon"; Drigotas, Rusbult, Wieselquist, & Whitton, 1999). The present research represents an attempt demonstrate the phenomenon's link to personal well-being. Results of a cross-sectional study of individuals in dating relationships, with a 2-month follow-up assessing breakup, replicated previous findings regarding relationship well-being and revealed strong links between the model and personal well-being, even when accounting for level of relationship satisfaction. Such results provide further evidence for the social construction of the self and personal well-being.

Shapefile for Coastal Zone Management Program counties of the United States and its territories, 2009 (CZMP_counties_2009.shp)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hartwell, Stephen R.; Wingfield, Dana K.; Allwardt, Alan O.; Wong, Florence L.; Lightsom, Frances L.

2013-01-01

A shapefile of 492 Coastal Zone Management Program counties of the United States and its territories, current for the ground condition in 2009, has been extracted from the U.S. Census Bureau MAF/TIGER database. Geospatial information systems with the capability to search user-defined, polygonal geographic areas will be able to utilize this shapefile or secondary products derived from it, such as well-known text representations of the individual polygons within the shapefile.

Robust Programming Problems Based on the Mean-Variance Model Including Uncertainty Factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasuike, Takashi; Ishii, Hiroaki

2009-01-01

This paper considers robust programming problems based on the mean-variance model including uncertainty sets and fuzzy factors. Since these problems are not well-defined problems due to fuzzy factors, it is hard to solve them directly. Therefore, introducing chance constraints, fuzzy goals and possibility measures, the proposed models are transformed into the deterministic equivalent problems. Furthermore, in order to solve these equivalent problems efficiently, the solution method is constructed introducing the mean-absolute deviation and doing the equivalent transformations.

Method for resource control in parallel environments using program organization and run-time support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ekanadham, Kattamuri (Inventor); Moreira, Jose Eduardo (Inventor); Naik, Vijay Krishnarao (Inventor)

2001-01-01

A system and method for dynamic scheduling and allocation of resources to parallel applications during the course of their execution. By establishing well-defined interactions between an executing job and the parallel system, the system and method support dynamic reconfiguration of processor partitions, dynamic distribution and redistribution of data, communication among cooperating applications, and various other monitoring actions. The interactions occur only at specific points in the execution of the program where the aforementioned operations can be performed efficiently.

Method for resource control in parallel environments using program organization and run-time support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ekanadham, Kattamuri (Inventor); Moreira, Jose Eduardo (Inventor); Naik, Vijay Krishnarao (Inventor)

1999-01-01

A system and method for dynamic scheduling and allocation of resources to parallel applications during the course of their execution. By establishing well-defined interactions between an executing job and the parallel system, the system and method support dynamic reconfiguration of processor partitions, dynamic distribution and redistribution of data, communication among cooperating applications, and various other monitoring actions. The interactions occur only at specific points in the execution of the program where the aforementioned operations can be performed efficiently.

What can robots tell us about brains? A synthetic approach towards the study of learning and problem solving.

PubMed

Voegtlin, T; Verschure, P F

1999-01-01

This paper argues for the development of synthetic approaches towards the study of brain and behavior as a complement to the more traditional empirical mode of research. As an example we present our own work on learning and problem solving which relates to the behavioral paradigms of classical and operant conditioning. We define the concept of learning in the context of behavior and lay out the basic methodological requirements a model needs to satisfy, which includes evaluations using robots. In addition, we define a number of design principles neuronal models should obey to be considered relevant. We present in detail the construction of a neural model of short- and long-term memory which can be applied to an artificial behaving system. The presented model (DAC4) provides a novel self-consistent implementation of these processes, which satisfies our principles. This model will be interpreted towards the present understanding of the neuronal substrate of memory.

Single Molecule Analysis of Serotonin Transporter Regulation Using Quantum Dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Jerry; Tomlinson, Ian; Warnement, Michael; Ustione, Alessandro; Carneiro, Ana; Piston, David; Blakely, Randy; Rosenthal, Sandra

2011-03-01

For the first time, we implement a novel, single molecule approach to define the localization and mobility of the brain's major target of widely prescribed antidepressant medications, the serotonin transporter (SERT). SERT labeled with single quantum dot (Qdot) revealed unsuspected features of transporter mobility with cholesterol-enriched membrane microdomains (often referred to as ``lipid rafts'') and cytoskeleton network linked to transporter activation. We document two pools of surface SERT proteins defined by their lateral mobility, one that exhibits relatively free diffusion in the plasma membrane and a second that displays significantly restricted mobility and localizes to cholesterol-enriched microdomains. Diffusion model prediction and instantaneous velocity analysis indicated that stimuli that act through p38 MAPK-dependent signaling pathways to activate SERT trigger rapid SERT movements within membrane microdomains. Cytoskeleton disruption showed that SERT lateral mobility behaves a membrane raft-constrained, cytoskeleton-associated manner. Our results identify an unsuspected aspect of neurotransmitter transporter regulation that we propose reflects the dissociation of inhibitory, SERT-associated cytoskeletal anchors.

[ProteoСat: a tool for planning of proteomic experiments].

PubMed

Skvortsov, V S; Alekseychuk, N N; Khudyakov, D V; Mikurova, A V; Rybina, A V; Novikova, S E; Tikhonova, O V

2015-01-01

ProteoCat is a computer program has been designed to help researchers in the planning of large-scale proteomic experiments. The central part of this program is the subprogram of hydrolysis simulation that supports 4 proteases (trypsin, lysine C, endoproteinases AspN and GluC). For the peptides obtained after virtual hydrolysis or loaded from data file a number of properties important in mass-spectrometric experiments can be calculated or predicted. The data can be analyzed or filtered to reduce a set of peptides. The program is using new and improved modification of our methods developed to predict pI and probability of peptide detection; pI can also be predicted for a number of popular pKa's scales, proposed by other investigators. The algorithm for prediction of peptide retention time was realized similar to the algorithm used in the program SSRCalc. ProteoCat can estimate the coverage of amino acid sequences of proteins under defined limitation on peptides detection, as well as the possibility of assembly of peptide fragments with user-defined size of "sticky" ends. The program has a graphical user interface, written on JAVA and available at http://www.ibmc.msk.ru/LPCIT/ProteoCat.

Quantum transitions through cosmological singularities

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

Bramberger, Sebastian F.; Lehners, Jean-Luc; Hertog, Thomas

2017-07-01

In a quantum theory of cosmology spacetime behaves classically only in limited patches of the configuration space on which the wave function of the universe is defined. Quantum transitions can connect classical evolution in different patches. Working in the saddle point approximation and in minisuperspace we compute quantum transitions connecting inflationary histories across a de Sitter like throat or a singularity. This supplies probabilities for how an inflating universe, when evolved backwards, transitions and branches into an ensemble of histories on the opposite side of a quantum bounce. Generalising our analysis to scalar potentials with negative regions we identify saddlemore » points describing a quantum transition between a classically contracting, crunching ekpyrotic phase and an inflationary universe.« less

Integration over families of Lagrangian submanifolds in BV formalism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mikhailov, Andrei

2018-03-01

Gauge fixing is interpreted in BV formalism as a choice of Lagrangian submanifold in an odd symplectic manifold (the BV phase space). A natural construction defines an integration procedure on families of Lagrangian submanifolds. In string perturbation theory, the moduli space integrals of higher genus amplitudes can be interpreted in this way. We discuss the role of gauge symmetries in this construction. We derive the conditions which should be imposed on gauge symmetries for the consistency of our integration procedure. We explain how these conditions behave under the deformations of the worldsheet theory. In particular, we show that integrated vertex operator is actually an inhomogeneous differential form on the space of Lagrangian submanifolds.

Chern-Simons theory and Wilson loops in the Brillouin zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lian, Biao; Vafa, Cumrun; Vafa, Farzan; Zhang, Shou-Cheng

2017-03-01

Berry connection is conventionally defined as a static gauge field in the Brillouin zone. Here we show that for three-dimensional (3D) time-reversal invariant superconductors, a generalized Berry gauge field behaves as a fluctuating field of a Chern-Simons gauge theory. The gapless nodal lines in the momentum space play the role of Wilson loop observables, while their linking and knot invariants modify the gravitational theta angle. This angle induces a topological gravitomagnetoelectric effect where a temperature gradient induces a rotational energy flow. We also show how topological strings may be realized in the six-dimensional phase space, where the physical space defects play the role of topological D-branes.

Dynamical Chern-Simons Theory in the Brillouin Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lian, Biao; Vafa, Cumrun; Vafa, Farzan; Zhang, Shou-Cheng

Berry connection is conventionally defined as a static gauge field in the Brillouin zone. Here we show that for three-dimensional (3d) time-reversal invariant superconductors, a generalized Berry gauge field behaves as a dynamical fluctuating field of a Chern-Simons gauge theory. The gapless nodal lines in the momentum space play the role of Wilson loop observables, while their linking and knot invariants modify the gravitational theta angle. This angle induces a topological gravitomagnetoelectric effect where a temperature gradient induces a rotational energy flow. We also show how topological strings may be realized in the 6 dimensional phase space, where the physical space defects play the role of topological D-branes.

Wigner functions on non-standard symplectic vector spaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dias, Nuno Costa; Prata, João Nuno

2018-01-01

We consider the Weyl quantization on a flat non-standard symplectic vector space. We focus mainly on the properties of the Wigner functions defined therein. In particular we show that the sets of Wigner functions on distinct symplectic spaces are different but have non-empty intersections. This extends previous results to arbitrary dimension and arbitrary (constant) symplectic structure. As a by-product we introduce and prove several concepts and results on non-standard symplectic spaces which generalize those on the standard symplectic space, namely, the symplectic spectrum, Williamson's theorem, and Narcowich-Wigner spectra. We also show how Wigner functions on non-standard symplectic spaces behave under the action of an arbitrary linear coordinate transformation.

Quantum transitions through cosmological singularities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bramberger, Sebastian F.; Hertog, Thomas; Lehners, Jean-Luc; Vreys, Yannick

2017-07-01

In a quantum theory of cosmology spacetime behaves classically only in limited patches of the configuration space on which the wave function of the universe is defined. Quantum transitions can connect classical evolution in different patches. Working in the saddle point approximation and in minisuperspace we compute quantum transitions connecting inflationary histories across a de Sitter like throat or a singularity. This supplies probabilities for how an inflating universe, when evolved backwards, transitions and branches into an ensemble of histories on the opposite side of a quantum bounce. Generalising our analysis to scalar potentials with negative regions we identify saddle points describing a quantum transition between a classically contracting, crunching ekpyrotic phase and an inflationary universe.

Sustainability at the community level: Searching for common ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC) research program is intended to support resource sustainability and decision making at the community level. Sustainability is defined as the ability of a community to meet present needs without compromising the ability of society and the environment to meet the economic, social, and environmental needs of future generations. The USEPA and its partners seek a national strategy that maximizes impacts by identifying common ground among communities that can inform the decision process. In this report, communities are compared based on four distinct metrics (community type; human well-being index; stakeholder priorities; and availability of ecosystem goods and services) with the purpose of seeking common ground for defining and measuring sustainability at the local scale. Overlying this comparison is the question of the usefulness of a community classification system (CCS) for generalizing the findings to new communities. Community type was found to be informative regarding the relative importance of elements of well-being. Two major delineations of community type are considered here. First is geographic, or simply asking if place defines how communities measure well-being. The second was the CCS described in report Section 2. We then examine whether values of a specific measure of well-being, the human well-being index (HWBI), differ either geographically or by community type. Stakeholder priorities are then examined in

[Much more than information].

PubMed

1996-04-01

HIV prevention programs too often focus upon providing information and other measures to encourage people to modify their behaviors. But sexual behavior is influenced by a number of factors, such as individuals¿ knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, self-respect, abilities, social pressures and influences, and the broader social context. That context refers to the prevailing cultural norms, religion, economics, health policies, legislation, and services. It is not enough to simply know the facts. Age and sex also influence behavior. For example, men and women are programmed to behave differently from each other. Since all of these factors affect individuals¿ attitudes about themselves and their health, programs designed to promote safer sexual behavior must attempt to understand how they will impact upon program design, implementation, and success. At the individual level, populations need ways to consolidate their personal knowledge, abilities, and self-confidence. At the broader community level, programs should work together with local organizations, decision-makers, and the media to encourage social, economic, and cultural change. Program participation, satisfying individual needs, social and cultural influences, and existing community-level constraints are discussed.

1976 Pennsylvania Public Television Network Audience Research Project: Phase 1. Audience Definition and Estimation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindsay, Carl A.; Southworth, Harrison T.

The first of three phases to provide the Pennsylvania Public Television Network (PPTN) and its seven component stations with information and procedures for defining, estimating and characterizing audiences, as well as developing programs and assessing reactions to them, this study concentrated on establishing audience definitions. The basic…

HyperCard Monitor System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Julian; Maurer, Hermann

An investigation into high level event monitoring within the scope of a well-known multimedia application, HyperCard--a program on the Macintosh computer, is carried out. A monitoring system is defined as a system which automatically monitors usage of some activity and gathers statistics based on what is has observed. Monitor systems can give the…

Science. A Guide to Curriculum Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connecticut State Dept. of Education, Hartford.

The purpose of this guide is to aid K-12 curriculum planners in the development and implementation of well-defined programs of study in science suitable for their local school districts. Among the national trends reflected in this guide are the interdisciplinary approach; the use of performance-based student assessments; the utilization of diverse…

Inquiry and Critical Thinking in an Elementary Art Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lampert, Nancy

2013-01-01

Critical thinking is thought-focused on how to solve a well-defined problem when several alternatives solutions to the problem exist. Because critical thinking may help to build tolerance toward others, the author believes it is a worthwhile subject to investigate, given that people are living in an increasingly multicultural society full of…

Defining Projects to Integrate Evolving Team Fundamentals and Project Management Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Harold, III; Smarkusky, Debra; Corrigall, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

Industry has indicated the desire for academic programs to produce graduates that are well-versed in collaborative problem solving and general project management concepts in addition to technical skills. The primary focus of a curriculum is typically centered on the technical training with minimal attention given to coalescing team and project…

Towards a Caring Community: Modeling, Dialogue, Practice, and Confirmation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Charlotte Matthews

A teacher educator, engaged in ongoing practitioner inquiry to explore self as well as program, examines her evolution as a teacher of teachers through reflection, systematic inquiry, and collaboration. Relating autobiographically, she conjures up her professional stories and listens to her voice in an effort to define and refine her role, reflect…

Postdoctoral Fellow | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

One postdoctoral position is available immediately to join the ongoing laboratory research program aimed at defining the mechanism that ensures chromosome stability in normal cells, stem cells as well as in pre-cancerous cells. This research project aims to provide critical insight into the molecular pathways that cause genome instability and promote tumorigenesis. The ideal

A Mindfulness-Based Health Wellness Program for an Adolescent with Prader-Willi Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Nirbhay N.; Lancioni, Giulio E.; Singh, Ashvind N.; Winton, Alan S. W.; Singh, Judy; McAleavey, Kristen M.; Adkins, Angela D.

2008-01-01

Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome have hyperphagia, a characteristic eating disorder defined by a marked delay in the satiety response when compared to controls. This eating disorder has been particularly difficult to control. The authors taught and evaluated effectiveness of regular exercise alone, regular exercise plus healthy eating, and…

Enticing Readers: The Teen Romance Craze.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parrish, Berta; Atwood, Karen

With the rise in popularity of teen romantic fiction, many teachers wonder about the nature of such books and whether they should be used in the reading program. Most of the teen romantic fiction is written to a well-defined formula, based on guidelines from the publishers and on high-interest low-vocabulary literature. Characteristics with the…

Stress Management in the Workplace. WBGH Worksite Wellness Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaffe, Dennis T.; And Others

This paper on designing and implementing a stress management program in the workplace begins by defining stress. A brief overview of the relationship of stress to health and personal style follows. The subsequent discussion of the relationship between stress and work focuses on these topics: work contributes to stress; stress affects work…

Making E-Working Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirk, James; Belovics, Robert

2006-01-01

It is estimated that by 2010 there will be 20 million full- and part-time telecommuters working in the United States. The purpose of this article is to assist employment counselors in their work with organizations in implementing e-worker programs as well as in their counseling of e-workers. The authors define e-worker, summarize the growth of…

Effect of Purification Procedures on DIF Analysis in IRTPRO

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fikis, David R. J.; Oshima, T. C.

2017-01-01

Purification of the test has been a well-accepted procedure in enhancing the performance of tests for differential item functioning (DIF). As defined by Lord, purification requires reestimation of ability parameters after removing DIF items before conducting the final DIF analysis. IRTPRO 3 is a recently updated program for analyses in item…

The Business Case for Environmental and Sustainability Employee Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gullo, Krista; Haygood, Leah

2010-01-01

This white paper examines the business case for environmental and sustainability (E&S) employee education and engagement. The "business case" is defined as both quantifiable measures of the business value for the sustainability program (e.g. money saved, energy use reduction, etc.) as well as less easily measurable assets such as…

Equilibrator: Modeling Chemical Equilibria with Excel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vander Griend, Douglas A.

2011-01-01

Equilibrator is a Microsoft Excel program for learning about chemical equilibria through modeling, similar in function to EQS4WIN, which is no longer supported and does not work well with newer Windows operating systems. Similar to EQS4WIN, Equilibrator allows the user to define a system with temperature, initial moles, and then either total…

General Constraints on Sampling Wildlife on FIA Plots

Treesearch

Larissa L. Bailey; John R. Sauer; James D. Nichols; Paul H. Geissler

2005-01-01

This paper reviews the constraints to sampling wildlife populations at FIA points. Wildlife sampling programs must have well-defined goals and provide information adequate to meet those goals. Investigators should choose a State variable based on information needs and the spatial sampling scale. We discuss estimation-based methods for three State variables: species...

Program SimAssem: software for simulating species assemblages and estimating species richness

Treesearch

Gordon C. Reese; Kenneth R. Wilson; Curtis H. Flather

2013-01-01

1. Species richness, the number of species in a defined area, is the most frequently used biodiversity measure. Despite its intuitive appeal and conceptual simplicity, species richness is often difficult to quantify, even in well surveyed areas, because of sampling limitations such as survey effort and species detection probability....

Media Literacy: The School Library Media Center's New Curriculum Baby.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Julia

1994-01-01

Defines seven key concepts of media literacy education. Discusses reading visual media as well as print media and computer programs; determining values and ethics; decoding or deconstructing; critical thinking; the promotion of media literacy by interest groups; and educational restructuring with the role of the school library media specialist as…

Shoplifting: A Consumer Concern. Consumer Education Training Module.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Speers, Mary Lou

This guide provides a framework to help secondary teachers and students explore the growing societal problems of shoplifting. The guide can be used in inservice programs as well. Five sessions are designed to inform students of the social, legal, and economic aspects of stealing. In these sessions, students define shoplifting, discuss the types of…

[Long-term physical activity after a myocardial infarction : a permanent challenge].

PubMed

Tessitore, Elena; Sigaud, Philippe; Meyer, Philippe; Mach, François

2017-05-24

Cardiac rehabilitation is a well-defined multidisciplinary program with the objective to reduce mortality and morbidity, while also improving the exercise capacity and quality of life of the patient following a myocardial infarction. Despite the fact that a cardiovascular rehabilitation program is now recommended by international guidelines for all patients who have suffered from an acute coronary syndrome, only half of all patients actually participate to such a program in Switzerland. Even worse, especially when taking into consideration the population in Geneva, less than 5 % of patients follow a long-term cardiac maintenance program (phase III). Since 2015, our project has been to encourage patients who have completed a phase II cardiac rehabilitation program, to resume regular physical activity in the long term.

Gaze control for an active camera system by modeling human pursuit eye movements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toelg, Sebastian

1992-11-01

The ability to stabilize the image of one moving object in the presence of others by active movements of the visual sensor is an essential task for biological systems, as well as for autonomous mobile robots. An algorithm is presented that evaluates the necessary movements from acquired visual data and controls an active camera system (ACS) in a feedback loop. No a priori assumptions about the visual scene and objects are needed. The algorithm is based on functional models of human pursuit eye movements and is to a large extent influenced by structural principles of neural information processing. An intrinsic object definition based on the homogeneity of the optical flow field of relevant objects, i.e., moving mainly fronto- parallel, is used. Velocity and spatial information are processed in separate pathways, resulting in either smooth or saccadic sensor movements. The program generates a dynamic shape model of the moving object and focuses its attention to regions where the object is expected. The system proved to behave in a stable manner under real-time conditions in complex natural environments and manages general object motion. In addition it exhibits several interesting abilities well-known from psychophysics like: catch-up saccades, grouping due to coherent motion, and optokinetic nystagmus.

MODOPTIM: A general optimization program for ground-water flow model calibration and ground-water management with MODFLOW

USGS Publications Warehouse

Halford, Keith J.

2006-01-01

MODOPTIM is a non-linear ground-water model calibration and management tool that simulates flow with MODFLOW-96 as a subroutine. A weighted sum-of-squares objective function defines optimal solutions for calibration and management problems. Water levels, discharges, water quality, subsidence, and pumping-lift costs are the five direct observation types that can be compared in MODOPTIM. Differences between direct observations of the same type can be compared to fit temporal changes and spatial gradients. Water levels in pumping wells, wellbore storage in the observation wells, and rotational translation of observation wells also can be compared. Negative and positive residuals can be weighted unequally so inequality constraints such as maximum chloride concentrations or minimum water levels can be incorporated in the objective function. Optimization parameters are defined with zones and parameter-weight matrices. Parameter change is estimated iteratively with a quasi-Newton algorithm and is constrained to a user-defined maximum parameter change per iteration. Parameters that are less sensitive than a user-defined threshold are not estimated. MODOPTIM facilitates testing more conceptual models by expediting calibration of each conceptual model. Examples of applying MODOPTIM to aquifer-test analysis, ground-water management, and parameter estimation problems are presented.

Current directions in behavioral medicine research on genetic testing for disease susceptibility: introduction to the special section.

PubMed

Sherman, Kerry A; Cameron, Linda D

2015-10-01

The aim of this special section is to showcase research contributing to our understanding of factors influencing decisions to undergo genetic testing and the impact of the genetic testing process on health-related behaviors of tested individuals. The first two articles report studies investigating factors associated with interest in genetic testing and acceptance of test results (Sherman et al. in J Behav Med doi: 10.1007/s10865-015-9630-9 , 2015; Taber et al. in J Behav Med doi: 10.1007/s10865-015-9642-5 , 2015b). The next two papers address the unique contribution of genetic risk information to understanding risk beyond genetic counseling alone (Heiniger et al. in J Behav Med doi 10.1007/s10865-015-9632-7 , 2015; Taber et al. in J Behav Med doi: 10.1007/s10865-015-9648-z , 2015a). The final three articles investigate the effects of genetic risk information on beliefs about disease control and prevention (Aspinwall et al. in J Behav Med doi: 10.1007/s10865-015-9631-8 , 2015; Kelly et al. in J Behav Med doi 10.1007/s10865-014-9613-2 , 2014; Myers et al. in J Behav Med doi: 10.1007/s10865-015-9626-5 , 2015). Collectively, the special section of papers highlights the diverse ways in which behavioural medicine contributes to our understanding of genetic testing for disease risk, and points to the value of further research to better understand ways in which individuals perceive, interpret and respond to genetic risk information.

An investigation of perceptions of programme quality support of adult basic education programmes.

PubMed

Udouj, Gary; Grover, Kenda; Belcher, Greg; Kacirek, Kit

2017-04-01

This study was designed to identify the degree to which the directors of adult basic education programs perceive they have program quality support, as evidenced by a well-defined mission and role in the community, a management system, human resources management, and a suitable learning environment. NSCALL's Evidence-based program self-assessment (2006) was modified and administered electronically to administrators of adult education programs in a mid-southern state. Findings indicated that most directors perceive they are implementing the indicators of program quality support in all of the areas surveyed. A research-based annual self-study that considers the quality indicators is recommended, leaving a need for an update to the NCSALL assessment for use as a program assessment instrument. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Common tester platform concept.

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

Hurst, Michael James

This report summarizes the results of a case study on the doctrine of a common tester platform, a concept of a standardized platform that can be applicable across the broad spectrum of testing requirements throughout the various stages of a weapons program, as well as across the various weapons programs. The common tester concept strives to define an affordable, next-generation design that will meet testing requirements with the flexibility to grow and expand; supporting the initial development stages of a weapons program through to the final production and surveillance stages. This report discusses a concept investing key leveraging technologies andmore » operational concepts combined with prototype tester-development experiences and practical lessons learned gleaned from past weapons programs.« less

XPI: The Xanadu Parameter Interface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, N.; Barrett, P.; Oneel, B.; Jacobs, P.

1992-01-01

XPI is a table driven parameter interface which greatly simplifies both command driven programs such as BROWSE and XIMAGE as well as stand alone single-task programs. It moves all of the syntax and semantic parsing of commands and parameters out of the users code into common code and externally defined tables. This allows the programmer to concentrate on writing the code unique to the application rather than reinventing the user interface and for external graphical interfaces to interface with no changes to the command driven program. XPI also includes a compatibility library which allows programs written using the IRAF host interface (Mandel and Roll) to use XPI in place of the IRAF host interface.

The KiVa antibullying program in primary schools in Chile, with and without the digital game component: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Gaete, Jorge; Valenzuela, Daniela; Rojas-Barahona, Cristian; Valenzuela, Eduardo; Araya, Ricardo; Salmivalli, Christina

2017-02-20

Bullying is a major problem worldwide and Chile is no exception. Bullying is defined as a systematic aggressive behavior against a victim who cannot defend him or herself. Victims suffer social isolation and psychological maladjustment, while bullies have a higher risk for conduct problems and substance use disorders. These problems appear to last over time. The KiVa antibullying program has been evaluated in Finland and other European countries, showing preventive effects on victimization and self-reported bullying. The aims of this study are (1) to develop a culturally appropriate version of the KiVa material and (2) to test the effectiveness of the KiVa program, with and without the online game, on reducing experiences of victimization and bullying behavior among vulnerable primary schools in Santiago (Chile), using a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design with three arms: (1) full KiVa program group, (2) partial KiVa (without online game) program group and (3) control group. This is a three-arm, single-blind, cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a target enrolment of 1495 4th and 5th graders attending 13 vulnerable schools per arm. Students in the full and partial KiVa groups will receive universal actions: ten 2-h lessons delivered by trained teachers during 1 year; they will be exposed to posters encouraging them to support victims and behave constructively when witnessing bullying; and a person designated by the school authorities will be present in all school breaks and lunchtimes using a visible KiVa vest to remind everybody that they are in a KiVa school. KiVa schools also will have indicated actions, which consist of a set of discussion groups with the victims and with the bullies, with proper follow-up. Only full KiVa schools will also receive an online game which has the aim to raise awareness of the role of the group in bullying, increase empathy and promote strategies to support victimized peers. Self-reported victimization, bullying others and peer-reported bullying actions, psychological and academic functioning, and sense of school membership will be measured at baseline and 12 months after randomization. This is the first cluster RCT of the KiVa antibullying program in Latin America. ClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier: NCT02898324 . Registered on 8 September 2016.

Advancing Well-Being Through Total Worker Health®.

PubMed

Schill, Anita L

2017-04-01

Total Worker Health® (TWH) is a paradigm-shifting approach to safety, health, and well-being in the workplace. It is defined as policies, programs, and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being. The most current TWH concepts are presented, including a description of issues relevant to TWH and introduction of a hierarchy of controls applied to TWH. Total Worker Health advocates for a foundation of safety and health through which work can contribute to higher levels of well-being.

Disease management programs for the underserved.

PubMed

Horswell, Ronald; Butler, Michael K; Kaiser, Michael; Moody-Thomas, Sarah; McNabb, Shannon; Besse, Jay; Abrams, Amir

2008-06-01

Disease management has become an important tool for improving population patient outcomes. The Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division (HCSD) has used this tool to provide care to a largely uninsured population for approximately 10 years. Eight programs currently exist within the HCSD focusing on diabetes, asthma, congestive heart failure, HIV, cancer screening, smoking cessation, chronic kidney disease, and diet, exercise, and weight control. These programs operate at hospital and clinic sites located in 8 population centers throughout southern Louisiana. The programs are structured to be managed at the system level with a clinical expert for each area guiding the scope of the program and defining new goals. Care largely adheres to evidence-based guidelines set forth by professional organizations. To monitor quality of care, indicators are defined within each area and benchmarked to achieve the most effective measures in our population. For example, hemoglobin A1c levels have shown improvements with nearly 54% of the population <7.0%. To support these management efforts, HCSD utilizes an electronic data repository that allows physicians to track patient labs and other tests as well as reminders. To ensure appropriate treatment, patients are able to enroll in the Medication Assistance program. This largely improves adherence to medications for those patients unable to afford them otherwise.

Audiomagnetotelluric investigation of Snake Valley, eastern Nevada and western Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

McPhee, Darcy K.; Pari, Keith; Baird, Frank

2009-01-01

As support for an exploratory well-drilling and hydraulic-testing program, AMT data were collected using a Geometrics Stratagem EH4 system along four profiles that extend roughly east-west from the southern Snake Range into Snake Valley. The profiles range from 3 to 5 kilometers in length, and station spacing was 200 to 400 meters. Two-dimensional inverse models were computed using the data from the transverse-electric (TE), transverse-magnetic (TM), and combined (TE+TM) mode using a conjugate gradient, finite-difference method. Interpretation of the 2-D AMT models defines several faults, some of which may influence ground-water flow in the basins, as well as identify underlying Paleozoic carbonate and clastic rocks and the thickness of basin-fill sediments. These AMT data and models, coupled with the geologic mapping and other surface geophysical methods, form the basis for identifying potential well sites and defining the subsurface structures and stratigraphy within Snake Valley.

Volume I. Percussion Sextet. (original Composition). Volume II. The Simulation of Acoustical Space by Means of Physical Modeling.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manzara, Leonard Charles

1990-01-01

The dissertation is in two parts:. 1. Percussion Sextet. The Percussion Sextet is a one movement musical composition with a length of approximately fifteen minutes. It is for six instrumentalists, each on a number of percussion instruments. The overriding formal problem was to construct a coherent and compelling structure which fuses a diversity of musical materials and textures into a dramatic whole. Particularly important is the synthesis of opposing tendencies contained in stochastic and deterministic processes: global textures versus motivic detail, and randomness versus total control. Several compositional techniques are employed in the composition. These methods of composition will be aided, in part, by the use of artificial intelligence techniques programmed on a computer. Finally, the percussion ensemble is the ideal medium to realize the above processes since it encompasses a wide range of both pitched and unpitched timbres, and since a great variety of textures and densities can be created with a certain economy of means. 2. The simulation of acoustical space by means of physical modeling. This is a written report describing the research and development of a computer program which simulates the characteristics of acoustical space in two dimensions. With the computer program the user can simulate most conventional acoustical spaces, as well as those physically impossible to realize in the real world. The program simulates acoustical space by means of geometric modeling. This involves defining wall equations, phantom source points and wall diffusions, and then processing input files containing digital signals through the program, producing output files ready for digital to analog conversion. The user of the program is able to define wall locations and wall reflectivity and roughness characteristics, all of which can be changed over time. Sound source locations are also definable within the acoustical space and these locations can be changed independently at any rate of speed. The sounds themselves are generated from any external sound synthesis program or appropriate sampling system. Finally, listener location and orientation is also user definable and dynamic in nature. A Receive-ReBroadcast (RRB) model is used to play back the sound and is definable from two to eight channels of sound. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).

Thematic mapper critical elements breadboard program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dale, C. H., Jr.; Engel, J. L.; Harney, E. D.

1976-01-01

A 40.6 cm bidirectional scan mirror assembly, a scan line corrector and a silicon photodiode array with integral preamplifier input stages were designed, fabricated, and tested to demonstrate performance consistent with requirements of the Hughes thematic mapper system. The measured performance met or exceeded the original design goals in all cases with the qualification that well defined and well understood deficiencies in the design of the photodiode array package will require the prescribed corrections before flight use.

Functional organization of the insula and inner perisylvian regions

PubMed Central

Jezzini, Ahmad; Caruana, Fausto; Stoianov, Ivilin; Gallese, Vittorio; Rizzolatti, Giacomo

2012-01-01

In the last few years, the insula has been the focus of many brain-imaging studies, mostly devoted to clarify its role in emotions and social communication. Physiological data, however, on which one may ground these correlative findings are almost totally lacking. Here, we investigated the functional properties of the insular cortex in behaving monkeys using intracortical microstimulation. Behavioral responses and heart rate changes were recorded. The results showed that the insula is functionally formed by two main subdivisions: (i) a sensorimotor field occupying the caudal–dorsal portion of the insula and appearing as an extension of the parietal lobe; and (ii) a mosaic of orofacial motor programs located in the anterior and centroventral insula sector. These programs show a progressive shift from dorsally located nonemotional motor programs (ingestive activity) to ventral ones laden with emotional and communicative content. The relationship between ingestive and other behaviors is discussed in an evolutionary perspective. PMID:22647599

FLEX: A Decisive Step Forward in NASA's Combustion Research Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hickman, John M.; Dietrich, Daniel L.; Hicks, Michael C.; Nayagam, Vedha; Stocker, Dennis

2012-01-01

Stemming from the need to prevent, detect and suppress on-board spacecraft fires, the NASA microgravity combustion research program has grown to include fundamental research. From early experiment, we have known that flames behave differently in microgravity, and this environment would provide an ideal laboratory for refining many of the long held principals of combustion science. A microgravity environment can provide direct observation of phenomena that cannot be observed on Earth. Through the years, from precursor work performed in drop towers leading to experiments on the International Space Station (ISS), discoveries have been made about the nature of combustion in low gravity environments. These discoveries have uncovered new phenomena and shed a light on many of the fundamental phenomena that drive combustion processes. This paper discusses the NASA microgravity combustion research program taking place in the ISS Combustion Integrated Rack, its various current and planned experiments, and the early results from the Flame Extinguishment (FLEX) Experiment.

Description and results of test-drilling program at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, 1982-84

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harte, P.T.; Sargent, B.P.; Vowinkel, E.F.

1986-01-01

Picatinny Arsenal, located in north-central New Jersey, has a long history of explosives manufacturing. Past industrial activities and past waste-disposal practices have caused some groundwater contamination problems. In 1982, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army, began a water resources investigation of the Arsenal. The test drilling program is designed to define the hydrogeology and install observation wells. Twenty-two boreholes were drilled and 21 observation wells installed in these holes. All drilling was done in a glaciated valley. The report includes lithologic and gamma-ray logs, results of grain-size analyses, well-construction data, and some groundwater levels. The generalized stratigraphic sequence of geologic units penetrated from the test-drilling program are from lower to upper: (1) pre-dominantly dolomitic Leithsville Formation, (2) in the upper part of bedrock, a weathered dolomite zone, (3) a thin discontinuous mantle of till, and (4) stratified drift deposit up to 208 ft thick. (USGS)

Biomedical Engineering curriculum at UAM-I: a critical review.

PubMed

Martinez Licona, Fabiola; Azpiroz-Leehan, Joaquin; Urbina Medal, E Gerardo; Cadena Mendez, Miguel

2014-01-01

The Biomedical Engineering (BME) curriculum at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) has undergone at least four major transformations since the founding of the BME undergraduate program in 1974. This work is a critical assessment of the curriculum from the point of view of its results as derived from an analysis of, among other resources, institutional databases on students, graduates and their academic performance. The results of the evaluation can help us define admission policies as well as reasonable limits on the maximum duration of undergraduate studies. Other results linked to the faculty composition and the social environment can be used to define a methodology for the evaluation of teaching and the implementation of mentoring and tutoring programs. Changes resulting from this evaluation may be the only way to assure and maintain leadership and recognition from the BME community.

A FORTRAN IV Computer Program for the Time Domain Analysis of the Two- Dimensional Dynamic Motions of General Buoy-Cable-Body Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-06-01

SPHEROIDAL BUOYS As mentioned previously, for the limiting case of zero ; educed frequency where tile free surface behaves as a rigid plane, the...4P ) -4 -4 ft O D - % Cdd :# P) fy ou Cd 1d Cd’. . 6 - C3 ’o .. eg S w Cd *g.4C~dI~**II~.a Ký 0 4 : 10 In H-C IV ..4 _ C) bu 0 40 la W C2C W cc lp lqa

SMP84: Improvements to Capability and Prediction Accuracy of the Standard Ship Motion Program SMP81

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-01

active fin behaves in a manner similar to a rotating cylinder in a flow. The general form of the Magnus Lift term is FML z 2,(Vt/V)(2rs)(PV2 /2) (38...DEPARTMENT [AVIATION AND "SHIP PERFORMANCE SURFACE EFFECTS • ~ ~~~~DEPARTMENTSUFEEF T PT 1DEPARTMENT• 15 16 COMPUTATION.STRUCTURES MATHEMATICS...Force vector developed by active motion of tin F* Magnitude of force due to active motion of fin FML Magnus lift term FP Forward perpendicular Fv

Real-time Implementation of a Dual-Mode Ultrasound Array System: In Vivo Results

PubMed Central

Casper, Andrew J.; Liu, Dalong; Ballard, John R.; Ebbini, Emad S.

2013-01-01

A real-time dual-mode ultrasound array (DMUA) system for imaging and therapy is described. The system utilizes a concave (40-mm radius of curvature) 3.5 MHz, 32 element array and modular multi-channel transmitter/receiver. It is capable of operating in a variety of imaging and therapy modes (on transmit) and continuous receive on all array elements even during high-power operation. A signal chain consisting of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and graphical processing units (GPU) is used to enable real-time, software-defined beamforming and image formation. Imaging data, from quality assurance phantoms as well as in vivo small and large animal models, are presented and discussed. Corresponding images obtained using a temporally-synchronized and spatially-aligned diagnostic probe confirm the DMUA’s ability to form anatomically-correct images with sufficient contrast in an extended field of view (FOV) around its geometric center. In addition, high frame rate DMUA data also demonstrate the feasibility of detection and localization of echo changes indicative of cavitation and/or tissue boiling during HIFU exposures with 45 – 50 dB dynamic range. The results also show that the axial and lateral resolution of the DMUA are consistent with its fnumber and bandwidth with well behaved speckle cell characteristics. These results point the way to a theranostic DMUA system capable of quantitative imaging of tissue property changes with high specificity to lesion formation using focused ultrasound. PMID:23708766

Probing CP violation in e + e − production of the Higgs boson and toponia

DOE PAGES

Hagiwara, Kaoru; Ma, Kai; Yokoya, Hiroshi

2016-06-01

We study the CP violation in the Higgs boson and toponia production process at the ILC where the toponia are produced near the threshold. With the approximation that the production vertex of the Higgs boson and toponia is contact, and neglecting the P-wave toponia, we analytically calculated the density matrix for the production and decay of the toponia. Under these assumptions, the production spectrum of the toponia is solely determined by the spin quantum number, therefore the toponia can be either singlet or triplet. We find that the production rate of the singlet toponium is highly suppressed, and behaves justmore » like the production of a P-wave toponia. In the case of the triplet toponium, three completely independent CP observables, namely azimuthal angles of lepton and antilepton in the toponium rest-frame as well as their sum, are predicted based on our analytical results, and checked by using the tree-level event generator. The non-trivial correlations come from the longitudinal-transverse interferences for the azimuthal angles of leptons, and the transverse-transverse interference for their sum. These three observables are well defined at the ILC, where the rest frame of the toponium can be reconstructed directly. Furthermore, the QCD-strong corrections, which are important near the threshold region, are also studied with the approximation of spin-independent QCD-Coulomb potential. While the total cross section is enhanced, the spin correlations predicted in this paper are not affected.« less

Asymptotic structure of the Einstein-Maxwell theory on AdS3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez, Alfredo; Riquelme, Miguel; Tempo, David; Troncoso, Ricardo

2016-02-01

The asymptotic structure of AdS spacetimes in the context of General Relativity coupled to the Maxwell field in three spacetime dimensions is analyzed. Although the fall-off of the fields is relaxed with respect to that of Brown and Henneaux, the variation of the canonical generators associated to the asymptotic Killing vectors can be shown to be finite once required to span the Lie derivative of the fields. The corresponding surface integrals then acquire explicit contributions from the electromagnetic field, and become well-defined provided they fulfill suitable integrability conditions, implying that the leading terms of the asymptotic form of the electromagnetic field are functionally related. Consequently, for a generic choice of boundary conditions, the asymptotic symmetries are broken down to {R}⊗ U(1)⊗ U(1) . Nonetheless, requiring compatibility of the boundary conditions with one of the asymptotic Virasoro symmetries, singles out the set to be characterized by an arbitrary function of a single variable, whose precise form depends on the choice of the chiral copy. Remarkably, requiring the asymptotic symmetries to contain the full conformal group selects a very special set of boundary conditions that is labeled by a unique constant parameter, so that the algebra of the canonical generators is given by the direct sum of two copies of the Virasoro algebra with the standard central extension and U (1). This special set of boundary conditions makes the energy spectrum of electrically charged rotating black holes to be well-behaved.

Probing CP violation in e +e - production of the Higgs boson and toponia

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

Hagiwara, Kaoru; Ma, Kai; Yokoya, Hiroshi

We study the CP violation in the Higgs boson and toponia production process at the ILC where the toponia are produced near the threshold. With the approximation that the production vertex of the Higgs boson and toponia is contact, and neglecting the P-wave toponia, we analytically calculated the density matrix for the production and decay of the toponia. Under these assumptions, the production spectrum of the toponia is solely determined by the spin quantum number, therefore the toponia can be either singlet or triplet. We find that the production rate of the singlet toponium is highly suppressed, and behaves justmore » like the production of a P-wave toponia. In the case of the triplet toponium, three completely independent CP observables, namely azimuthal angles of lepton and antilepton in the toponium rest-frame as well as their sum, are predicted based on our analytical results, and checked by using the tree-level event generator. The non-trivial correlations come from the longitudinal-transverse interferences for the azimuthal angles of leptons, and the transverse-transverse interference for their sum. These three observables are well defined at the ILC, where the rest frame of the toponium can be reconstructed directly. Furthermore, the QCD-strong corrections, which are important near the threshold region, are also studied with the approximation of spin-independent QCD-Coulomb potential. While the total cross section is enhanced, the spin correlations predicted in this paper are not affected.« less

Probing CP violation in e +e - production of the Higgs boson and toponia

DOE PAGES

Hagiwara, Kaoru; Ma, Kai; Yokoya, Hiroshi

2016-06-08

We study the CP violation in the Higgs boson and toponia production process at the ILC where the toponia are produced near the threshold. With the approximation that the production vertex of the Higgs boson and toponia is contact, and neglecting the P-wave toponia, we analytically calculated the density matrix for the production and decay of the toponia. Under these assumptions, the production spectrum of the toponia is solely determined by the spin quantum number, therefore the toponia can be either singlet or triplet. We find that the production rate of the singlet toponium is highly suppressed, and behaves justmore » like the production of a P-wave toponia. In the case of the triplet toponium, three completely independent CP observables, namely azimuthal angles of lepton and antilepton in the toponium rest-frame as well as their sum, are predicted based on our analytical results, and checked by using the tree-level event generator. The non-trivial correlations come from the longitudinal-transverse interferences for the azimuthal angles of leptons, and the transverse-transverse interference for their sum. These three observables are well defined at the ILC, where the rest frame of the toponium can be reconstructed directly. Furthermore, the QCD-strong corrections, which are important near the threshold region, are also studied with the approximation of spin-independent QCD-Coulomb potential. While the total cross section is enhanced, the spin correlations predicted in this paper are not affected.« less

Real-time implementation of a dual-mode ultrasound array system: in vivo results.

PubMed

Casper, Andrew J; Liu, Dalong; Ballard, John R; Ebbini, Emad S

2013-10-01

A real-time dual-mode ultrasound array (DMUA) system for imaging and therapy is described. The system utilizes a concave (40-mm radius of curvature) 3.5 MHz, 32 element array, and modular multichannel transmitter/receiver. The system is capable of operating in a variety of imaging and therapy modes (on transmit) and continuous receive on all array elements even during high-power operation. A signal chain consisting of field-programmable gate arrays and graphical processing units is used to enable real time, software-defined beamforming and image formation. Imaging data, from quality assurance phantoms as well as in vivo small- and large-animal models, are presented and discussed. Corresponding images obtained using a temporally-synchronized and spatially-aligned diagnostic probe confirm the DMUA's ability to form anatomically-correct images with sufficient contrast in an extended field of view around its geometric center. In addition, high-frame rate DMUA data also demonstrate the feasibility of detection and localization of echo changes indicative of cavitation and/or tissue boiling during high-intensity focused ultrasound exposures with 45-50 dB dynamic range. The results also show that the axial and lateral resolution of the DMUA are consistent with its f(number) and bandwidth with well-behaved speckle cell characteristics. These results point the way to a theranostic DMUA system capable of quantitative imaging of tissue property changes with high specificity to lesion formation using focused ultrasound.

Definition of an Ontology Matching Algorithm for Context Integration in Smart Cities

PubMed Central

Otero-Cerdeira, Lorena; Rodríguez-Martínez, Francisco J.; Gómez-Rodríguez, Alma

2014-01-01

In this paper we describe a novel proposal in the field of smart cities: using an ontology matching algorithm to guarantee the automatic information exchange between the agents and the smart city. A smart city is composed by different types of agents that behave as producers and/or consumers of the information in the smart city. In our proposal, the data from the context is obtained by sensor and device agents while users interact with the smart city by means of user or system agents. The knowledge of each agent, as well as the smart city's knowledge, is semantically represented using different ontologies. To have an open city, that is fully accessible to any agent and therefore to provide enhanced services to the users, there is the need to ensure a seamless communication between agents and the city, regardless of their inner knowledge representations, i.e., ontologies. To meet this goal we use ontology matching techniques, specifically we have defined a new ontology matching algorithm called OntoPhil to be deployed within a smart city, which has never been done before. OntoPhil was tested on the benchmarks provided by the well known evaluation initiative, Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative, and also compared to other matching algorithms, although these algorithms were not specifically designed for smart cities. Additionally, specific tests involving a smart city's ontology and different types of agents were conducted to validate the usefulness of OntoPhil in the smart city environment. PMID:25494353

Definition of an Ontology Matching Algorithm for Context Integration in Smart Cities.

PubMed

Otero-Cerdeira, Lorena; Rodríguez-Martínez, Francisco J; Gómez-Rodríguez, Alma

2014-12-08

In this paper we describe a novel proposal in the field of smart cities: using an ontology matching algorithm to guarantee the automatic information exchange between the agents and the smart city. A smart city is composed by different types of agents that behave as producers and/or consumers of the information in the smart city. In our proposal, the data from the context is obtained by sensor and device agents while users interact with the smart city by means of user or system agents. The knowledge of each agent, as well as the smart city's knowledge, is semantically represented using different ontologies. To have an open city, that is fully accessible to any agent and therefore to provide enhanced services to the users, there is the need to ensure a seamless communication between agents and the city, regardless of their inner knowledge representations, i.e., ontologies. To meet this goal we use ontology matching techniques, specifically we have defined a new ontology matching algorithm called OntoPhil to be deployed within a smart city, which has never been done before. OntoPhil was tested on the benchmarks provided by the well known evaluation initiative, Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative, and also compared to other matching algorithms, although these algorithms were not specifically designed for smart cities. Additionally, specific tests involving a smart city's ontology and different types of agents were conducted to validate the usefulness of OntoPhil in the smart city environment.

Development of a well-behaved site index equation: jack pine in north central Ontario

Treesearch

J. C. G. Goelz; T. E. Burke

1992-01-01

A base-age invariant site index equation for jack pine based on the Chapman-Richards function was produced that satisfied nine criteria of preferred behavior for site index equations. A difference form of the Chapman-Richards equation produced the best behavior; height equaled site index at base age, and the shape of the curves reflected the data. The data structure...

Arbiters of Social Unrest: Military Responses to the Arab Spring

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

of the Tunisian, Egyptian , Libyan, and Syrian militaries; and conclusions and suggestions for further research. This case study approach will...respective militaries behaved differently toward widespread protests. The Tunisian military refused to intervene in political affairs, while the Egyptian ...Libyan military and political leaders to the popular protests as well as the contentious deliberations among Egyptian military elites on whether or not

Derivation of two well-behaved theoretical contagion indices and their sampling properties and application for assessing forest landscape diversity

Treesearch

Bernard R. Parresol

2011-01-01

Studies of spatial patterns of landscapes are useful to quantify human impact, predict wildlife effects, or describe variability of landscape features. A common approach to identify and quantify landscape structure is with a landscape scale model known as a contagion index. A contagion index quantifies two distinct components of landscape diversity: composition and...

The external kink mode in diverted tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turnbull, A. D.; Hanson, J. M.; Turco, F.; Ferraro, N. M.; Lanctot, M. J.; Lao, L. L.; Strait, E. J.; Piovesan, P.; Martin, P.

2016-06-01

> . The resistive kink behaves much like the ideal kink with predominantly kink or interchange parity and no real sign of a tearing component. However, the growth rates scale with a fractional power of the resistivity near the surface. The results have a direct bearing on the conventional edge cutoff procedures used in most ideal MHD codes, as well as implications for ITER and for future reactor options.

Proactive Classroom Management, K-8: A Practical Guide to Empower Students and Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denti, Louis G.

2012-01-01

Every teacher dreams of the perfect, well-behaved class, but the reality can be quite different. On those less-than-perfect days, having a system in place helps you and your students stay on track. This gold mine of teacher-developed and -approved strategies goes beyond classroom management theory and gives you ready-to-use tools that not only…

FINITE ELEMENT MODEL FOR TIDAL AND RESIDUAL CIRCULATION.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walters, Roy A.

1986-01-01

Harmonic decomposition is applied to the shallow water equations, thereby creating a system of equations for the amplitude of the various tidal constituents and for the residual motions. The resulting equations are elliptic in nature, are well posed and in practice are shown to be numerically well-behaved. There are a number of strategies for choosing elements: the two extremes are to use a few high-order elements with continuous derivatives, or to use a large number of simpler linear elements. In this paper simple linear elements are used and prove effective.

Two Different Template Replicators Coexisting in the Same Protocell: Stochastic Simulation of an Extended Chemoton Model

PubMed Central

Zachar, István; Fedor, Anna; Szathmáry, Eörs

2011-01-01

The simulation of complex biochemical systems, consisting of intertwined subsystems, is a challenging task in computational biology. The complex biochemical organization of the cell is effectively modeled by the minimal cell model called chemoton, proposed by Gánti. Since the chemoton is a system consisting of a large but fixed number of interacting molecular species, it can effectively be implemented in a process algebra-based language such as the BlenX programming language. The stochastic model behaves comparably to previous continuous deterministic models of the chemoton. Additionally to the well-known chemoton, we also implemented an extended version with two competing template cycles. The new insight from our study is that the coupling of reactions in the chemoton ensures that these templates coexist providing an alternative solution to Eigen's paradox. Our technical innovation involves the introduction of a two-state switch to control cell growth and division, thus providing an example for hybrid methods in BlenX. Further developments to the BlenX language are suggested in the Appendix. PMID:21818258

Two different template replicators coexisting in the same protocell: stochastic simulation of an extended chemoton model.

PubMed

Zachar, István; Fedor, Anna; Szathmáry, Eörs

2011-01-01

The simulation of complex biochemical systems, consisting of intertwined subsystems, is a challenging task in computational biology. The complex biochemical organization of the cell is effectively modeled by the minimal cell model called chemoton, proposed by Gánti. Since the chemoton is a system consisting of a large but fixed number of interacting molecular species, it can effectively be implemented in a process algebra-based language such as the BlenX programming language. The stochastic model behaves comparably to previous continuous deterministic models of the chemoton. Additionally to the well-known chemoton, we also implemented an extended version with two competing template cycles. The new insight from our study is that the coupling of reactions in the chemoton ensures that these templates coexist providing an alternative solution to Eigen's paradox. Our technical innovation involves the introduction of a two-state switch to control cell growth and division, thus providing an example for hybrid methods in BlenX. Further developments to the BlenX language are suggested in the Appendix.

The value of value-based insurance design: savings from eliminating drug co-payments.

PubMed

Maeng, Daniel D; Pitcavage, James M; Snyder, Susan R; Davis, Duane E

2016-02-01

To estimate the cost impact of a $0 co-pay prescription drug program implemented by a large healthcare employer as a part of its employee wellness program. A $0 co-pay program that included approximately 200 antihypertensive, antidiabetic, and antilipid medications was offered to Geisinger Health System (GHS) employees covered by Geisinger Health Plan (GHP) in 2007. Claims data from GHP for the years 2005 to 2011 were obtained. The sample was restricted to continuously enrolled members with Geisinger primary care providers throughout the study period. The intervention group, defined as 2251 GHS employees receiving any of the drugs eligible for $0 co-pay, was propensity score matched based on 2 years of pre-intervention claims data to a comparison group, which was defined as 3857 non-GHS employees receiving the same eligible drugs at the same time. Generalized linear models were used to estimate differences in terms of per-member-per-month (PMPM) claims amounts related to prescription drugs and medical care. Total healthcare spending (medical plus prescription drug spending) among the GHS employees was lower by $144 PMPM (13%; 95% CI, $38-$250) during the months when they were taking any of the eligible drugs. Considering the drug acquisition cost and the forgone co-pay, the estimated return on investment over a 5-year period was 1.8. This finding suggests that VBID implementation within the context of a wider employee wellness program targeting the appropriate population can potentially lead to positive cost savings.

Characterization of helium diffusion behavior from continuous heating experiments: Sample screening and identification of multiple 4He components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDannell, K. T.; Idleman, B. D.; Zeitler, P. K.

2015-12-01

Old, slowly cooled apatites often yield overdispersed helium ages due to factors such as parent zonation, He implantation, radiation damage, crystal defects, and fluid inclusions. Careful mineral selection and many replicate analyses can mitigate the impact of some of these effects. However, this approach adds unnecessary costs in time and resources when dating well-behaved apatites and is generally ineffective at identifying the root cause of age dispersion and providing suitable age corrections for poorly behaved samples. We assess a new technique utilizing static-gas measurement during continuous heating as a means to rapidly screen apatite samples. In about the time required for a conventional total-gas analysis, this method can discriminate between samples showing the volume-diffusion behavior expected for apatite and those showing anomalous release patterns, inconsistent with their use in thermochronologic applications. This method may also have the potential to quantify and discriminate between the radiogenic and extraneous 4He fractions released by a sample. Continuously heated samples that outgas by volume diffusion during a linear heating schedule should produce a characteristic sigmoidal 4He fractional loss profile, with the exact shape and position of these profiles (in loss vs. heating time space) controlled by sample kinetics, grain size, and heating rate. Secondary factors such as sample zoning and alpha-loss distribution have a relatively minor impact on such profiles. Well-behaved examples such as the Durango standard and other apatites with good age reproducibility show the expected smooth, sigmoidal gas release with complete exhaustion by temperatures predicted for volume diffusion using typical apatite kinetics (e.g., by ~900˚C for linear heating at 20˚C/minute). In contrast, "bad actor" samples that do not replicate well show significant degrees of helium release deferred to higher temperatures. We report on screening results for a range of samples including a suite of slowly cooled Cretaceous apatites from the Hangay Dome in central Mongolia, assessing the degree to which screening using cumulative heating can reliably identify bad-actor grains, and possibly, correct their ages.

Simulation of ground-water flow and delineation of areas contributing recharge within the Mt. Simon-Hinckley Aquifer to well fields in the Prairie Island Indian Community, Minnesota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ruhl, J.F.

2002-01-01

A steady state single layer, two-dimensional ground-water flow model constructed with the computer program MODFLOW,combined with the particle-tracking computer program MODPATH, was used to track water particles (upgradient) from the two well fields. A withdrawal rate of 625 m3/d was simulated for each well field. The ground-water flow paths delineated areas of contributing recharge that are 0.38 and 0.65 km2 based on 10- and 50-year travel times, respectively. The flow paths that define these areas extend for maximum distances of about 350 and 450 m, respectively, from the wells. At well field A the area of contributing recharge was delineated for each well as separate withdrawal points. At well field B the area of contributing recharge was delineated for the two wells as a single withdrawal point. Delineation of areas of contributing recharge to the well fields from land surface would require construction of a multi-layer ground-water flow model.

Interfacial sharpness and intermixing in a Ge-SiGe multiple quantum well structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bashir, A.; Gallacher, K.; Millar, R. W.; Paul, D. J.; Ballabio, A.; Frigerio, J.; Isella, G.; Kriegner, D.; Ortolani, M.; Barthel, J.; MacLaren, I.

2018-01-01

A Ge-SiGe multiple quantum well structure created by low energy plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition, with nominal well thickness of 5.4 nm separated by 3.6 nm SiGe spacers, is analysed quantitatively using scanning transmission electron microscopy. Both high angle annular dark field imaging and electron energy loss spectroscopy show that the interfaces are not completely sharp, suggesting that there is some intermixing of Si and Ge at each interface. Two methods are compared for the quantification of the spectroscopy datasets: a self-consistent approach that calculates binary substitutional trends without requiring experimental or computational k-factors from elsewhere and a standards-based cross sectional calculation. Whilst the cross section approach is shown to be ultimately more reliable, the self-consistent approach provides surprisingly good results. It is found that the Ge quantum wells are actually about 95% Ge and that the spacers, whilst apparently peaking at about 35% Si, contain significant interdiffused Ge at each side. This result is shown to be not just an artefact of electron beam spreading in the sample, but mostly arising from a real chemical interdiffusion resulting from the growth. Similar results are found by use of X-ray diffraction from a similar area of the sample. Putting the results together suggests a real interdiffusion with a standard deviation of about 0.87 nm, or put another way—a true width defined from 10%-90% of the compositional gradient of about 2.9 nm. This suggests an intrinsic limit on how sharp such interfaces can be grown by this method and, whilst 95% Ge quantum wells (QWs) still behave well enough to have good properties, any attempt to grow thinner QWs would require modifications to the growth procedure to reduce this interdiffusion, in order to maintain a composition of ≥95% Ge.

Clinical implementation of stereotaxic brain implant optimization

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

Rosenow, U.F.; Wojcicka, J.B.

1991-03-01

This optimization method for stereotaxic brain implants is based on seed/strand configurations of the basic type developed for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) atlas of regular brain implants. Irregular target volume shapes are determined from delineation in a stack of contrast enhanced computed tomography scans. The neurosurgeon may then select up to ten directions, or entry points, of surgical approach of which the program finds the optimal one under the criterion of smallest target volume diameter. Target volume cross sections are then reconstructed in 5-mm-spaced planes perpendicular to the implantation direction defined by the entry point and the target volumemore » center. This information is used to define a closed line in an implant cross section along which peripheral seed strands are positioned and which has now an irregular shape. Optimization points are defined opposite peripheral seeds on the target volume surface to which the treatment dose rate is prescribed. Three different optimization algorithms are available: linear least-squares programming, quadratic programming with constraints, and a simplex method. The optimization routine is implemented into a commercial treatment planning system. It generates coordinate and source strength information of the optimized seed configurations for further dose rate distribution calculation with the treatment planning system, and also the coordinate settings for the stereotaxic Brown-Roberts-Wells (BRW) implantation device.« less

Productive engagement in older adults: a concept analysis.

PubMed

Thanakwang, Kattika; Isaramalai, Sang-Arun

2013-03-01

This study aimed to clarify the concept of productive engagement as it applies to older adults. The concept analysis was based on Walker and Avant's eight-step method. A literature review of articles published in English between 1990 and 2011 (n = 37) was conducted, using an electronic search of multiple sources. Results revealed that four defining attributes for productive engagement include continuing to work either paid or unpaid, caring for others, engaging in social activities, and growing spirituality. The antecedents of productive engagement are sociocultural factors as well as individual and institutional capacities. Meanwhile, the consequences are increased feelings of usefulness, improved health and well-being, aged successfully, and enhanced quality of life. Model, borderline, and contrary cases are presented to illustrate the concept's defining attributes. Defining the concept of productive engagement provides a basis for nurses and other health professionals to better understand productive engagement in older adults, thus effective strategic plans or programs for promoting productive roles among older adults can be further developed. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Cooperation, psychological game theory, and limitations of rationality in social interaction.

PubMed

Colman, Andrew M

2003-04-01

Rational choice theory enjoys unprecedented popularity and influence in the behavioral and social sciences, but it generates intractable problems when applied to socially interactive decisions. In individual decisions, instrumental rationality is defined in terms of expected utility maximization. This becomes problematic in interactive decisions, when individuals have only partial control over the outcomes, because expected utility maximization is undefined in the absence of assumptions about how the other participants will behave. Game theory therefore incorporates not only rationality but also common knowledge assumptions, enabling players to anticipate their co-players' strategies. Under these assumptions, disparate anomalies emerge. Instrumental rationality, conventionally interpreted, fails to explain intuitively obvious features of human interaction, yields predictions starkly at variance with experimental findings, and breaks down completely in certain cases. In particular, focal point selection in pure coordination games is inexplicable, though it is easily achieved in practice; the intuitively compelling payoff-dominance principle lacks rational justification; rationality in social dilemmas is self-defeating; a key solution concept for cooperative coalition games is frequently inapplicable; and rational choice in certain sequential games generates contradictions. In experiments, human players behave more cooperatively and receive higher payoffs than strict rationality would permit. Orthodox conceptions of rationality are evidently internally deficient and inadequate for explaining human interaction. Psychological game theory, based on nonstandard assumptions, is required to solve these problems, and some suggestions along these lines have already been put forward.

Perinatal market penetration rate. A tool to evaluate regional perinatal programs.

PubMed

Powers, W F; McGill, L

1987-01-01

Very small babies born in tertiary centers fare better than outborn babies referred for tertiary care after birth. Viewing the 1001-1500 gm regional cohort of fetuses as a potential "market" for center delivery, and measuring a center's penetration into this market, quantitates how well a center draws to itself these small, high-risk fetuses for delivery. An Illinois center's annual penetration rate into its regional market for the years 1973-1983 is presented and significant increases are found. The penetration rates of nine Illinois perinatal centers are calculated and wide discrepancies are found. Defining a high-risk regional cohort as a market stresses a perinatal center's obligation to its region. The penetration rate into a defined market measures how well a center fulfills this obligation.

Autonomous navigation of structured city roads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aubert, Didier; Kluge, Karl C.; Thorpe, Chuck E.

1991-03-01

Autonomous road following is a domain which spans a range of complexity from poorly defined unmarked dirt roads to well defined well marked highly struc-. tured highways. The YARF system (for Yet Another Road Follower) is designed to operate in the middle of this range of complexity driving on urban streets. Our research program has focused on the use of feature- and situation-specific segmentation techniques driven by an explicit model of the appearance and geometry of the road features in the environment. We report results in robust detection of white and yellow painted stripes fitting a road model to detected feature locations to determine vehicle position and local road geometry and automatic location of road features in an initial image. We also describe our planned extensions to include intersection navigation.

Do gray wolves (Canis lupus) support pack mates during aggressive inter-pack interactions?

PubMed

Cassidy, Kira A; McIntyre, Richard T

2016-09-01

For group-living mammals, social coordination increases success in everything from hunting and foraging (Crofoot and Wrangham in Mind the Gap, Springer, Berlin, 2010; Bailey et al. in Behav Ecol Sociobiol 67:1-17, 2013) to agonism (Mosser and Packer in Anim Behav 78:359-370, 2009; Wilson et al. in Anim Behav 83:277-291, 2012; Cassidy et al. in Behav Ecol 26:1352-1360, 2015). Cooperation is found in many species and, due to its low costs, likely is a determining factor in the evolution of living in social groups (Smith in Anim Behav 92:291-304, 2014). Beyond cooperation, many mammals perform costly behaviors for the benefit of group mates (e.g., parental care, food sharing, grooming). Altruism is considered the most extreme case of cooperation where the altruist increases the fitness of the recipient while decreasing its own fitness (Bell in Selection: the mechanism of evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2008). Gray wolf life history requires intra-pack familiarity, communication, and cooperation in order to succeed in hunting (MacNulty et al. in Behav Ecol doi: 10.1093/beheco/arr159 2011) and protecting group resources (Stahler et al. in J Anim Ecol 82: 222-234, 2013; Cassidy et al. in Behav Ecol 26:1352-1360, 2015). Here, we report 121 territorial aggressive inter-pack interactions in Yellowstone National Park between 1 April 1995 and 1 April 2011 (>5300 days of observation) and examine each interaction where one wolf interferes when its pack mate is being attacked by a rival group. This behavior was recorded six times (17.6 % of interactions involving an attack) and often occurred between dyads of closely related individuals. We discuss this behavior as it relates to the evolution of cooperation, sociality, and altruism.

Comparative study of helimagnets MnSi and Cu2OSeO3 at high pressures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stishov, Sergei; Sidorov, Vladimir; Petrova, Alla; Berdonosov, Peter; Dolgikh, Valery

2014-03-01

The heat capacity of helical magnets Cu2OSeO3 and MnSi has been investigated at high pressures by the ac-calorimetric technique. Despite the differing nature of their magnetic moments, Cu2OSeO3 and MnSi demonstrate a surprising similarity in behavior of their magnetic and thermodynamic properties at the phase transition. Two characteristic features of the heat capacity at the phase transitions of both substances (peak and shoulder) behave also in a similar way at high pressures if analyzed as a function of temperature. This probably implies that the longitudinal spin fluctuations typical of weak itinerant magnets like MnSi contribute little to the phase transition. The shoulders of the heat capacity curves shrink with decreasing temperature suggesting that they arise from classical fluctuations. In case of MnSi the sharp peak and shoulder at the heat capacity disappear simultaneously probably signifying the existence of a tricritical point and confirming the fluctuation nature of the first order phase transition in MnSi as well as in Cu2OSeO3. This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 12-02-00376-a, 12-03-92604), Program of the Physics Department of RAS on Strongly Correlated Electron Systems and Program of the Presidium of RAS on Strongly Compressed Matter.

Satellite Power System (SPS) concept definition study (exhibit C)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haley, G. M.

1979-01-01

The major outputs of the study are the constructability studies which resulted in the definition of the concepts for satellite, rectenna, and satellite construction base construction. Transportation analyses resulted in definition of heavy-lift launch vehicle, electric orbit transfer vehicle, personnel orbit transfer vehicle, and intra-orbit transfer vehicle as well as overall operations related to transportation systems. The experiment/verification program definition resulted in the definition of elements for the Ground-Based Experimental Research and Key Technology plans. These studies also resulted in conceptual approaches for early space technology verification. The cost analysis defined the overall program and cost data for all program elements and phases.

Users manual for Streamtube Curvature Analysis: Analytical method for predicting the pressure distribution about a nacelle at transonic speeds, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keith, J. S.; Ferguson, D. R.; Heck, P. H.

1972-01-01

The computer program, Streamtube Curvature Analysis, is described for the engineering user and for the programmer. The user oriented documentation includes a description of the mathematical governing equations, their use in the solution, and the method of solution. The general logical flow of the program is outlined and detailed instructions for program usage and operation are explained. General procedures for program use and the program capabilities and limitations are described. From the standpoint of the grammar, the overlay structure of the program is described. The various storage tables are defined and their uses explained. The input and output are discussed in detail. The program listing includes numerous comments so that the logical flow within the program is easily followed. A test case showing input data and output format is included as well as an error printout description.

[Rehabilitation, ethics and technique].

PubMed

De Martini, André

2011-04-01

This paper initially includes the presentation of some ideas on the deficiency and the process of rehabilitation, whereby the latter is defined in its "condition" as a process. A few differences in relation to the idea of a program in the strict sense (defined as a fixed set of previously defined procedures or techniques) will be detected, as well as some ethical implications in the social, health or educational fields for professionals working with the disabled. Thus, the handling of the technique and the use of institutional measures will be discussed in this context, inasmuch as they are related to subjective and educational processes inherent to rehabilitation work. In so doing, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of the role pertaining to these professionals.

Design principles for HgTe based topological insulator devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sengupta, Parijat; Kubis, Tillmann; Tan, Yaohua; Povolotskyi, Michael; Klimeck, Gerhard

2013-07-01

The topological insulator properties of CdTe/HgTe/CdTe quantum wells are theoretically studied. The CdTe/HgTe/CdTe quantum well behaves as a topological insulator beyond a critical well width dimension. It is shown that if the barrier (CdTe) and well-region (HgTe) are altered by replacing them with the alloy CdxHg1-xTe of various stoichiometries, the critical width can be changed. The critical quantum well width is shown to depend on temperature, applied stress, growth directions, and external electric fields. Based on these results, a novel device concept is proposed that allows to switch between a normal semiconducting and topological insulator state through application of moderate external electric fields.

Access to a College Degree or Just College Debt? Moving beyond Admission to Graduation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, Deborah

2008-01-01

A defining feature of U.S. higher education is its commitment to access and opportunity. The growing number of policies and programs targeting college access demonstrates that this commitment remains steadfast. In order to make college affordable for the economically disadvantaged, an increasing number of selective, well-endowed colleges and…

Land Application of Wastes: An Educational Program. Nitrogen Considerations - Module 15, Objectives, Script and Booklet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clarkson, W. W.; And Others

This module expands on the introductory discussion of nitrogen in other modules. The various chemical forms of nitrogen found in land treatment systems are defined. Inputs from waste application as well as natural sources are quantified for typical situations. A discussion of nitrogen transformations in the soil includes mineralization and…

Defining Content and Language Integrated Learning for Languages Education in Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cross, Russell

2014-01-01

While there is much that Australia has done well with respect to languages education, many problems still persist in terms of mainstream provision of quality languages programs, attaining real outcomes and gains in language learning, and in relation to retention of students studying languages through to the senior years of school. The success of…

Early Success Is Vital in Minimal Worksite Wellness Interventions at Small Worksites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ablah, Elizabeth; Dong, Frank; Konda, Kurt; Konda, Kelly; Armbruster, Sonja; Tuttle, Becky

2015-01-01

Intervention: In an effort to increase physical activity, 15 workplaces participated in a minimal-contact 10,000-steps-a-day program sponsored by the Sedgwick County Health Department in 2007 and 2008. Pedometers were provided to measure participants' weekly steps for the 10-week intervention. Method: Participants were defined as those who…

Applying the Five-Step Model of Fidelity Assessment to a Randomized Experiment of a High School STEM Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kopp, Jason P.; Hulleman, Chris S.; Harackiewicz, Judith M.; Rozek, Chris

2012-01-01

Assessing fidelity of implementation is becoming increasingly important in education research, in particular as a tool for understanding variations in treatment effectiveness. Fidelity of implementation is defined as "the determination of how well an intervention is implemented in comparison with the original program design during an efficacy…

Contributions of Academic Language, Perspective Taking, and Complex Reasoning to Deep Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaRusso, Maria; Kim, Ha Yeon; Selman, Robert; Uccelli, Paola; Dawson, Theo; Jones, Stephanie; Donovan, Suzanne; Snow, Catherine

2016-01-01

"Deep reading comprehension" refers to the process required to succeed at tasks defined by the Common Core State Literacy Standards, as well as to achieve proficiency on the more challenging reading tasks in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) framework. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that three…

Modifying Anti-Bullying Programs to Include Students with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raskauskas, Juliana; Modell, Scott

2011-01-01

"Bullying" is defined as any aggressive behavior with the intent to harm that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Bullying is identified as one of the most predominant problems faced by children in the United States education system, as well as one of the most significant health risks to children. Exactly how prevalent this issue is…

Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program: Atmospheric Remote Sensing and Assessment Program -- Final Report. Part 1: The lower atmosphere

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

Tooman, T.P.

1997-01-01

This report documents work done between FY91 and FY95 for the lower atmospheric portion of the joint Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Remote Sensing and Assessment Program (ARSAP) within the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). The work focused on (1) developing new measurement capabilities and (2) measuring atmospheric heating in a well-defined layer and then relating it to cloud properties an water vapor content. Seven new instruments were develop3ed for use with Unmanned Aerospace Vehicles (UAVs) as the host platform for flux, radiance, cloud, and water vapor measurements. Four major field campaigns weremore » undertaken to use these new as well as existing instruments to make critically needed atmospheric measurements. Scientific results include the profiling of clear sky fluxes from near surface to 14 km and the strong indication of cloudy atmosphere absorption of solar radiation considerably greater than predicted by extant models.« less

Evaluation readiness: improved evaluation planning using a data inventory framework.

PubMed

Cohen, A B; Hall, K C; Cohodes, D R

1985-01-01

Factors intrinsic to many programs, such as ambiguously stated objectives, inadequately defined performance measures, and incomplete or unreliable databases, often conspire to limit the evaluability of these programs. Current evaluation planning approaches are somewhat constrained in their ability to overcome these obstacles and to achieve full preparedness for evaluation. In this paper, the concept of evaluation readiness is introduced as a complement to other evaluation planning approaches, most notably that of evaluability assessment. The basic products of evaluation readiness--the formal program definition and the data inventory framework--are described, along with a guide for assuring more timely and appropriate evaluation response capability to support the decision making needs of program managers. The utility of evaluation readiness for program planning, as well as for effective management, is also discussed.

Development and application of an optogenetic platform for controlling and imaging a large number of individual neurons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammed, Ali Ibrahim Ali

The understanding and treatment of brain disorders as well as the development of intelligent machines is hampered by the lack of knowledge of how the brain fundamentally functions. Over the past century, we have learned much about how individual neurons and neural networks behave, however new tools are critically needed to interrogate how neural networks give rise to complex brain processes and disease conditions. Recent innovations in molecular techniques, such as optogenetics, have enabled neuroscientists unprecedented precision to excite, inhibit and record defined neurons. The impressive sensitivity of currently available optogenetic sensors and actuators has now enabled the possibility of analyzing a large number of individual neurons in the brains of behaving animals. To promote the use of these optogenetic tools, this thesis integrates cutting edge optogenetic molecular sensors which is ultrasensitive for imaging neuronal activity with custom wide field optical microscope to analyze a large number of individual neurons in living brains. Wide-field microscopy provides a large field of view and better spatial resolution approaching the Abbe diffraction limit of fluorescent microscope. To demonstrate the advantages of this optical platform, we imaged a deep brain structure, the Hippocampus, and tracked hundreds of neurons over time while mouse was performing a memory task to investigate how those individual neurons related to behavior. In addition, we tested our optical platform in investigating transient neural network changes upon mechanical perturbation related to blast injuries. In this experiment, all blasted mice show a consistent change in neural network. A small portion of neurons showed a sustained calcium increase for an extended period of time, whereas the majority lost their activities. Finally, using optogenetic silencer to control selective motor cortex neurons, we examined their contributions to the network pathology of basal ganglia related to Parkinson's disease. We found that inhibition of motor cortex does not alter exaggerated beta oscillations in the striatum that are associated with parkinsonianism. Together, these results demonstrate the potential of developing integrated optogenetic system to advance our understanding of the principles underlying neural network computation, which would have broad applications from advancing artificial intelligence to disease diagnosis and treatment.

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration and social behaviour: Dissociation between the knowledge of its consequences and its conceptual meaning.

PubMed

Zahn, Roland; Green, Sophie; Beaumont, Helen; Burns, Alistair; Moll, Jorge; Caine, Diana; Gerhard, Alexander; Hoffman, Paul; Shaw, Benjamin; Grafman, Jordan; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A

2017-08-01

Inappropriate social behaviour is an early symptom of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) in both behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and semantic dementia (SD) subtypes. Knowledge of social behaviour is essential for appropriate social conduct. The superior anterior temporal lobe (ATL) has been identified as one key neural component for the conceptual knowledge of social behaviour, but it is unknown whether this is dissociable from knowledge of the consequences of social behaviour. Here, we used a newly-developed test of knowledge about long-term and short-term consequences of social behaviour to investigate its impairment in patients with FTLD relative to a previously-developed test of social conceptual knowledge. We included 19 healthy elderly control participants and 19 consecutive patients with features of bvFTD or SD and defined dissociations as performance differences between tasks for each patient (Bonferroni-corrected p < .05). Knowledge of long-term consequences was selectively impaired relative to short-term consequences in five patients and the reverse dissociation occurred in one patient. Six patients showed a selective impairment of social concepts relative to long-term consequences with the reverse dissociation occurring in one patient. These results corroborate the hypothesis that knowledge of long-term consequences of social behaviour is dissociable from knowledge of short-term consequences, as well as of social conceptual knowledge. Confirming our hypothesis, we found that patients with more marked grey matter (GM) volume loss in frontopolar relative to right superior ATL regions of interest exhibited poorer knowledge of the long-term consequences of social behaviour relative to the knowledge of its conceptual meaning and vice versa (n = 15). These findings support the hypothesis that frontopolar and ATL regions represent distinct aspects of social knowledge. This suggests that rather than being unable to suppress urges to behave inappropriately, FTLD patients often lose the knowledge of what appropriate social behaviour is and can therefore not be expected to behave accordingly. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polymer mobility in cell walls of cucumber hypocotyls

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fenwick, K. M.; Apperley, D. C.; Cosgrove, D. J.; Jarvis, M. C.

1999-01-01

Cell walls were prepared from the growing region of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) hypocotyls and examined by solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy, in both enzymically active and inactivated states. The rigidity of individual polymer segments within the hydrated cell walls was assessed from the proton magnetic relaxation parameter, T2, and from the kinetics of cross-polarisation from 1H to 13C. The microfibrils, including most of the xyloglucan in the cell wall, as well as cellulose, behaved as very rigid solids. A minor xyloglucan fraction, which may correspond to cross-links between microfibrils, shared a lower level of rigidity with some of the pectic galacturonan. Other pectins, including most of the galactan side-chain residues of rhamnogalacturonan I, were much more mobile and behaved in a manner intermediate between the solid and liquid states. The only difference observed between the enzymically active and inactive cell walls, was the loss of a highly mobile, methyl-esterified galacturonan fraction, as the result of pectinesterase activity.

Affective Balance, Team Prosocial Efficacy and Team Trust: A Multilevel Analysis of Prosocial Behavior in Small Groups

PubMed Central

Cuadrado, Esther; Tabernero, Carmen

2015-01-01

Little research has focused on how individual- and team-level characteristics jointly influence, via interaction, how prosocially individuals behave in teams and few studies have considered the potential influence of team context on prosocial behavior. Using a multilevel perspective, we examined the relationships between individual (affective balance) and group (team prosocial efficacy and team trust) level variables and prosocial behavior towards team members. The participants were 123 students nested in 45 small teams. A series of multilevel random models was estimated using hierarchical linear and nonlinear modeling. Individuals were more likely to behave prosocially towards in-group members when they were feeling good. Furthermore, the relationship between positive affective balance and prosocial behavior was stronger in teams with higher team prosocial efficacy levels as well as in teams with higher team trust levels. Finally, the relevance of team trust had a stronger influence on behavior than team prosocial efficacy. PMID:26317608

Practical implications of empirically studying moral decision-making.

PubMed

Heinzelmann, Nora; Ugazio, Giuseppe; Tobler, Philippe N

2012-01-01

This paper considers the practical question of why people do not behave in the way they ought to behave. This question is a practical one, reaching both into the normative and descriptive domains of morality. That is, it concerns moral norms as well as empirical facts. We argue that two main problems usually keep us form acting and judging in a morally decent way: firstly, we make mistakes in moral reasoning. Secondly, even when we know how to act and judge, we still fail to meet the requirements due to personal weaknesses. This discussion naturally leads us to another question: can we narrow the gap between what people are morally required to do and what they actually do? We discuss findings from neuroscience, economics, and psychology, considering how we might bring our moral behavior better in line with moral theory. Potentially fruitful means include nudging, training, pharmacological enhancement, and brain stimulation. We conclude by raising the question of whether such methods could and should be implemented.

Memories of good deeds past: The reinforcing power of prosocial behavior in children.

PubMed

Tasimi, Arber; Young, Liane

2016-07-01

Does considering one's past prosociality affect future behavior? Prior research has revealed instances in which adults engage in additional prosocial behavior-moral reinforcement-as well as instances in which adults engage in worse behavior-moral licensing. The current study examined the developmental origins of these effects by testing whether 6- to 8-year-old children (N=225) are more or less generous after recalling their own good deeds. Children were asked to recount a time when they were nice, were mean, or watched a movie. Children behaved more generously after recalling a time when they were nice. We show that this boost in generosity was not simply the result of instructing children to consider nice behavior; children's giving did not increase after recalling others' good deeds. We also show that, even after recounting multiple instances of their past goodness, children continue to behave more generously. These findings suggest that doing good leads to more good in children. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Practical Implications of Empirically Studying Moral Decision-Making

PubMed Central

Heinzelmann, Nora; Ugazio, Giuseppe; Tobler, Philippe N.

2012-01-01

This paper considers the practical question of why people do not behave in the way they ought to behave. This question is a practical one, reaching both into the normative and descriptive domains of morality. That is, it concerns moral norms as well as empirical facts. We argue that two main problems usually keep us form acting and judging in a morally decent way: firstly, we make mistakes in moral reasoning. Secondly, even when we know how to act and judge, we still fail to meet the requirements due to personal weaknesses. This discussion naturally leads us to another question: can we narrow the gap between what people are morally required to do and what they actually do? We discuss findings from neuroscience, economics, and psychology, considering how we might bring our moral behavior better in line with moral theory. Potentially fruitful means include nudging, training, pharmacological enhancement, and brain stimulation. We conclude by raising the question of whether such methods could and should be implemented. PMID:22783157

Developmental Dyspraxia

MedlinePlus

... disorder may be of average or above average intelligence, they may behave immaturely. × Definition Developmental dyspraxia is ... disorder may be of average or above average intelligence, they may behave immaturely. View Full Definition Treatment ...

An inlet analysis for the NASA hypersonic research engine aerothermodynamic integration model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Andrews, E. H., Jr.; Russell, J. W.; Mackley, E. A.; Simmonds, A. L.

1974-01-01

A theoretical analysis for the inlet of the NASA Hypersonic Research Engine (HRE) Aerothermodynamic Integration Model (AIM) has been undertaken by use of a method-of-characteristics computer program. The purpose of the analysis was to obtain pretest information on the full-scale HRE inlet in support of the experimental AIM program (completed May 1974). Mass-flow-ratio and additive-drag-coefficient schedules were obtained that well defined the range effected in the AIM tests. Mass-weighted average inlet total-pressure recovery, kinetic energy efficiency, and throat Mach numbers were obtained.

Markers of Developmentally Regulated Programmed Cell Death and Their Analysis in Cereal Seeds.

PubMed

Domínguez, Fernando; Cejudo, Francisco Javier

2018-01-01

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a key process for the development and differentiation of multicellular organisms, which is characterized by well-defined morphological and biochemical features. These include chromatin condensation, DNA degradation and nuclear fragmentation, with nucleases and proteases playing a relevant function in these processes. In this chapter we describe methods routinely used for the analysis of hallmarks of developmentally regulated PCD in cereal seed tissues, which are based on agarose and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, in situ staining of DNA fragmentation, and cell-free assays of relevant enzymatic activities.

Fault Management Technology Maturation for NASA's Constellation Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waterman, Robert D.

2010-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the maturation of fault management technology in preparation for the Constellation Program. There is a review of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) and a discussion of a couple of incidents with the shuttle main engine and tanking that indicated the necessity for predictive maintenance. Included is a review of the planned Ares I-X Ground Diagnostic Prototype (GDP) and further information about detection and isolation of faults using Testability Engineering and Maintenance System (TEAMS). Another system that being readied for use that detects anomalies, the Inductive Monitoring System (IMS). The IMS automatically learns how the system behaves and alerts operations it the current behavior is anomalous. The comparison of STS-83 and STS-107 (i.e., the Columbia accident) is shown as an example of the anomaly detection capabilities.

Greenhouse effect simulator - An educational application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machado, Alan Freitas; Viveiros, Bruno Martins; da Silva, Claudio Elias

2016-12-01

Using the program "Modellus", we intend to create a simple simulation to show the impacts that the Greenhouse Effect might have, in a didactic and friendly way, in order to expose this notions to high and middle school students. In order to do so, we created a program that will simulate a sweep, through the Troposphere, and create two lines in a graphic, one showing the temperatures behavior, in normal conditions, and the other showing how the temperature behaves in the presence of excess of Greenhouse gases. The main purpose of the project is to use the model in schools and try to make kids more conscious of their roles in our so society, showing them the consequences of the tendency of our acts, stimulating them to be more proactives to change the future.

Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Jimmy; Watkins, Sharmila; Baumann, David

2010-01-01

During missions to the Moon or Mars, the crew will need medical capabilities to diagnose and treat disease as well as for maintaining their health. The Exploration Medical Capability Element develops medical technologies, medical informatics, and clinical capabilities for different levels of care during space missions. The work done by team members in this Element is leading edge technology, procedure, and pharmacological development. They develop data systems that protect patient's private medical information, aid in the diagnosis of medical conditions, and act as a repository of relevant NASA life sciences experimental studies. To minimize the medical risks to crew health the physicians and scientists in this Element develop models to quantify the probability of medical events occurring during a mission. They define procedures to treat an ill or injured crew member who does not have access to an emergency room and who must be cared for in a microgravity environment where both liquids and solids behave differently than on Earth. To support the development of these medical capabilities, the Element manages the development of medical technologies that prevent, monitor, diagnose, and treat an ill or injured crewmember. The Exploration Medical Capability Element collaborates with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), the Department of Defense, other Government-funded agencies, academic institutions, and industry.

Cluster formation and drag reduction-proposed mechanism of particle recirculation within the partition column of the bottom spray fluid-bed coater.

PubMed

Wang, Li Kun; Heng, Paul Wan Sia; Liew, Celine Valeria

2015-04-01

Bottom spray fluid-bed coating is a common technique for coating multiparticulates. Under the quality-by-design framework, particle recirculation within the partition column is one of the main variability sources affecting particle coating and coat uniformity. However, the occurrence and mechanism of particle recirculation within the partition column of the coater are not well understood. The purpose of this study was to visualize and define particle recirculation within the partition column. Based on different combinations of partition gap setting, air accelerator insert diameter, and particle size fraction, particle movements within the partition column were captured using a high-speed video camera. The particle recirculation probability and voidage information were mapped using a visiometric process analyzer. High-speed images showed that particles contributing to the recirculation phenomenon were behaving as clustered colonies. Fluid dynamics analysis indicated that particle recirculation within the partition column may be attributed to the combined effect of cluster formation and drag reduction. Both visiometric process analysis and particle coating experiments showed that smaller particles had greater propensity toward cluster formation than larger particles. The influence of cluster formation on coating performance and possible solutions to cluster formation were further discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.

Microbial weeds in hypersaline habitats: the enigma of the weed-like Haloferax mediterranei.

PubMed

Oren, Aharon; Hallsworth, John E

2014-10-01

Heterotrophic prokaryotic communities that inhabit saltern crystallizer ponds are typically dominated by two species, the archaeon Haloquadratum walsbyi and the bacterium Salinibacter ruber, regardless of location. These organisms behave as 'microbial weeds' as defined by Cray et al. (Microb Biotechnol 6: 453-492, 2013) that possess the biological traits required to dominate the microbiology of these open habitats. Here, we discuss the enigma of the less abundant Haloferax mediterranei, an archaeon that grows faster than any other, comparable extreme halophile. It has a wide window for salt tolerance, can grow on simple as well as on complex substrates and degrade polymeric substances, has different modes of anaerobic growth, can accumulate storage polymers, produces gas vesicles, and excretes halocins capable of killing other Archaea. Therefore, Hfx. mediterranei is apparently more qualified as a 'microbial weed' than Haloquadratum and Salinibacter. However, the former differs because it produces carotenoid pigments only in the lower salinity range and lacks energy-generating retinal-based, light-driven ion pumps such as bacteriorhodopsin and halorhodopsin. We discuss these observations in relation to microbial weed biology in, and the open-habitat ecology of, hypersaline systems. © 2014 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.

Special issue on aluminium plasmonics

DOE PAGES

Gerard, Davy; Gray, Stephen K.

2015-04-08

Plasmonics is a rapidly growing field that takes advantage of the intense and confined electromagnetic fields that appear near metallic nanostructures illuminated at frequencies near their surface plasmon resonances. As plasmonics continues to develop, it faces the need to find new materials supporting well-defined surface plasmon resonances in different frequency ranges. In the visible and near-infrared ranges the noble metals, most typically gold and silver, exhibit relatively low losses. This is why they are quite ubiquitous in plasmonics literature. However it is somewhat ironic to see that a non-noble metal, aluminium, the metal upon which surface plasmons where first evidencedmore » in the 1950s, is now reappearing after fifty years of near oblivion as one of the 'hottest' materials for plasmonics. Several reasons explain the return of aluminium to the centre stage. First, aluminium exhibits good plasmonic properties in the ultraviolet and deep ultraviolet—a spectral range where gold and silver no longer behave as metals. Second, aluminium is cheap and widely available (Al is the third most abundant element in the earth's crust), criteria of paramount importance when discussing industry-related applications. It is furthermore compatible with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology. In conclusion, this is why an ever-increasing number of papers report new advances on aluminium plasmonics.« less

Special issue on aluminium plasmonics

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

Gerard, Davy; Gray, Stephen K.

Plasmonics is a rapidly growing field that takes advantage of the intense and confined electromagnetic fields that appear near metallic nanostructures illuminated at frequencies near their surface plasmon resonances. As plasmonics continues to develop, it faces the need to find new materials supporting well-defined surface plasmon resonances in different frequency ranges. In the visible and near-infrared ranges the noble metals, most typically gold and silver, exhibit relatively low losses. This is why they are quite ubiquitous in plasmonics literature. However it is somewhat ironic to see that a non-noble metal, aluminium, the metal upon which surface plasmons where first evidencedmore » in the 1950s, is now reappearing after fifty years of near oblivion as one of the 'hottest' materials for plasmonics. Several reasons explain the return of aluminium to the centre stage. First, aluminium exhibits good plasmonic properties in the ultraviolet and deep ultraviolet—a spectral range where gold and silver no longer behave as metals. Second, aluminium is cheap and widely available (Al is the third most abundant element in the earth's crust), criteria of paramount importance when discussing industry-related applications. It is furthermore compatible with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology. In conclusion, this is why an ever-increasing number of papers report new advances on aluminium plasmonics.« less

Visualization of Electronic Multiple Ordering and Its Dynamics in High Magnetic Field: Evidence of Electronic Multiple Ordering Crystals.

PubMed

Sheng, Zhigao; Feng, Qiyuan; Zhou, Haibiao; Dong, Shuai; Xu, Xueli; Cheng, Long; Liu, Caixing; Hou, Yubin; Meng, Wenjie; Sun, Yuping; Nakamura, Masao; Tokura, Yoshinori; Kawasaki, Masashi; Lu, Qingyou

2018-06-13

Constituent atoms and electrons determine matter properties together, and they can form long-range ordering respectively. Distinguishing and isolating the electronic ordering out from the lattice crystal is a crucial issue in contemporary materials science. However, the intrinsic structure of a long-range electronic ordering is difficult to observe because it can be easily affected by many external factors. Here, we present the observation of electronic multiple ordering (EMO) and its dynamics at the micrometer scale in a manganite thin film. The strong internal couplings among multiple electronic degrees of freedom in the EMO make its morphology robust against external factors and visible via well-defined boundaries along specific axes and cleavage planes, which behave like a multiple-ordered electronic crystal. A strong magnetic field up to 17.6 T is needed to completely melt such EMO at 7 K, and the corresponding formation, motion, and annihilation dynamics are imaged utilizing a home-built high-field magnetic force microscope. The EMO is parasitic within the lattice crystal house, but its dynamics follows its own rules of electronic correlation, therefore becoming distinguishable and isolatable as the electronic ordering. Our work provides a microscopic foundation for the understanding and control of the electronic ordering and the designs of the corresponding devices.

Ghost instabilities of cosmological models with vector fields nonminimally coupled to the curvature

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

Himmetoglu, Burak; Peloso, Marco; Contaldi, Carlo R.

2009-12-15

We prove that many cosmological models characterized by vectors nonminimally coupled to the curvature (such as the Turner-Widrow mechanism for the production of magnetic fields during inflation, and models of vector inflation or vector curvaton) contain ghosts. The ghosts are associated with the longitudinal vector polarization present in these models and are found from studying the sign of the eigenvalues of the kinetic matrix for the physical perturbations. Ghosts introduce two main problems: (1) they make the theories ill defined at the quantum level in the high energy/subhorizon regime (and create serious problems for finding a well-behaved UV completion), andmore » (2) they create an instability already at the linearized level. This happens because the eigenvalue corresponding to the ghost crosses zero during the cosmological evolution. At this point the linearized equations for the perturbations become singular (we show that this happens for all the models mentioned above). We explicitly solve the equations in the simplest cases of a vector without a vacuum expectation value in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker geometry, and of a vector with a vacuum expectation value plus a cosmological constant, and we show that indeed the solutions of the linearized equations diverge when these equations become singular.« less

Function and structure of the deep cervical extensor muscles in patients with neck pain.

PubMed

Schomacher, Jochen; Falla, Deborah

2013-10-01

The deep cervical extensors are anatomically able to control segmental movements of the cervical spine in concert with the deep cervical flexors. Several investigations have confirmed changes in cervical flexor muscle control in patients with neck pain and as a result, effective evidence-based therapeutic exercises have been developed to address such dysfunctions. However, knowledge on how the deep extensor muscles behave in patients with neck pain disorders is scare. Structural changes such as higher concentration of fat within the muscle, variable cross-sectional area and higher proportions of type II fibres have been observed in the deep cervical extensors of patients with neck pain compared to healthy controls. These findings suggest that the behaviour of the deep extensors may be altered in patients with neck pain. Consistent with this hypothesis, a recent series of studies confirm that patients display reduced activation of the deep cervical extensors as well as less defined activation patterns. This article provides an overview of the various different structural and functional changes in the deep neck extensor muscles documented in patients with neck pain. Relevant recommendations for the management of muscle dysfunction in patients with neck pain are presented. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Morphology inherence from hollow MOFs to hollow carbon polyhedrons in preparing carbon-based electrocatalysts

DOE PAGES

Pei, Yuchen; Qi, Zhiyuan; Li, Xinle; ...

2017-02-21

Hollow carbon nanostructures are emerging as advanced electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to the effective usage of active sites and the reduced dependence on expensive noble metals. Conventional preparation of these hollow structures is achieved through templates (e.g. SiO 2, CdS, and Ni 3C), which serve to retain the void interiors during carbonization, leading to an essential template-removal procedure using hazardous chemical etchants. Herein, we demonstrate the direct carbonization of unique hollow zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) for the synthesis of hollow carbon polyhedrons (HCPs) with well-defined morphologies. The hollow ZIF particles behave bi-functionally as a carbon sourcemore » and a morphology directing agent. This method evidences the strong morphology inherence from the hollow ZIFs during the carbonization, advancing the significant simplicity and environmental friendliness of this synthesis strategy. The as-prepared HCPs show a uniform polyhedral morphology and large void interiors, which enable their superior ORR activity. Iron can be doped into the HCPs (Fe/HCPs), providing the Fe/HCPs with enhanced ORR properties ( E 1/2 = 0.850 V) in comparison with those of HCPs. As a result, we highlight the efficient structural engineering to transform ZIFs into advanced carbon nanostructures accomplishing morphological control and high electrocatalytic activity.« less

Prostate cancer molecular profiling: the Achilles heel for the implementation of precision medicine.

PubMed

Oliveira-Barros, Eliane Gouvêa; Nicolau-Neto, Pedro; Da Costa, Nathalia Meireles; Pinto, Luís Felipe Ribeiro; Palumbo, Antonio; Nasciutti, Luiz Eurico

2017-11-01

Cancer has been mainly treated by traditional therapeutic approaches which do not consider the human genetic diversity and present limitations, probably as a consequence of a poor knowledge of both patient's genetic background and tumor biology. Due to genome project conclusion and large-scale gene analyses emergence, the therapeutic management of several prevalent and aggressive tumors has dramatically improved and represents the closest examples of a precision medicine intervention in this field. Nonetheless, prostate cancer (PCa) remains as a challenge to personalized medicine implementation, probably due to its notorious heterogeneous molecular profile. Cancer treatment personalized approaches rely on the premise that a well-defined panorama of tumor molecular alterations can help selecting new and specific therapeutic targets for its treatment and potentially discriminate tumors which behave differentially. Lately, molecular and genetic studies have been investigating PCa basis, revealing multiple recurrent genomic alterations that include mutations, DNA copy-number variations, rearrangements, and gene fusions, among others. In addition to the increment on PCa molecular biology knowledge, mapping the molecular alterations pattern of this neoplasia, especially the differences existent between tumors displaying distinct behaviors, could represent a great improvement concerning the identification of new targets, personalized medicine, and patients' management and prognosis. © 2017 International Federation for Cell Biology.

Hard diffraction and deep inelastic scattering

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

Bjorken, J.D.

1994-04-01

Since the advent of hard-collision physics, the study of diffractive processes - shadow physics - has been less prominent than before. However, there is now a renewed interest in the subject, especially in that aspect which synthesizes the short-distance, hard-collision phenomena with the classical physics of large rapidity-gaps. This is especially stimulated by the recent data on deep-inelastic scattering from HERA, as well as the theoretical work which relates to it. The word diffraction is sometimes used by high-energy physicists in a loose way. The author defines this term to mean: A diffractive process occurs if and only if theremore » is a large rapidity gap in the produced-particle phase space which is not exponentially suppressed. Here a rapidity gap means essentially no hadrons produced into the rapidity gap (which operates in the {open_quotes}lego{close_quotes} phase-space of pseudo-rapidity and azimuthal angle). And non-exponential suppression implies that the cross-section for creating a gap with width {Delta}{eta} does not have a power-law decrease with increasing subenergy s=e{sup {Delta}{eta}}, but behaves at most like some power of pseudorapidity {Delta}{eta}{approx}log(s). The term hard diffraction shall simply refer to those diffractive process which have jets in the final-state phase-space.« less

Individual variation in prelaying behaviour and the incidence of floor eggs.

PubMed

Cooper, J J; Appleby, M C

1996-05-01

1. Floor eggs are a problem in non-cage systems for laying hens, as they require secondary egg collecting. Failure to lay in a well-defined nest site may also be a welfare problem for the hens, but only if their nesting motivation has been thwarted. We investigated the relationships between a hen's prelaying behaviour and its tendency to lay on the floor by recording the behaviour of 20 hens housed individually in wire cages with single littered nest boxes. 3. Most floor eggs (80%) were laid by the same 6 hens. These 6 "floor-layers" performed more nest seeking behaviour, less nest-building behaviour and less sitting prior to oviposition than the 14 hens that consistently laid in nest boxes. 4. The incidence of floor eggs declined with age. Both nest and floor laying hens performed less nest seeking behaviour with age. Floor layers, however, increased their performance of nesting behaviour, whilst nest layers performed less nesting behaviour with age. 5. Floor laying hens behaved as if they found the nest box less attractive than nest-laying hens; perhaps because they had lower nesting motivation, or perhaps because their nesting motivation was as high, but they less readily perceived the nest box as an appropriate nest site.

Functionalized nanoparticle interactions with polymeric membranes.

PubMed

Ladner, D A; Steele, M; Weir, A; Hristovski, K; Westerhoff, P

2012-04-15

A series of experiments was performed to measure the retention of a class of functionalized nanoparticles (NPs) on porous (microfiltration and ultrafiltration) membranes. The findings impact engineered water and wastewater treatment using membrane technology, characterization and analytical schemes for NP detection, and the use of NPs in waste treatment scenarios. The NPs studied were composed of silver, titanium dioxide, and gold; had organic coatings to yield either positive or negative surface charge; and were between 2 and 10nm in diameter. NP solutions were applied to polymeric membranes composed of different materials and pore sizes (ranging from ≈ 2 nm [3 kDa molecular weight cutoff] to 0.2 μm). Greater than 99% rejection was observed of positively charged NPs by negatively charged membranes even though pore diameters were up to 20 times the NP diameter; thus, sorption caused rejection. Negatively charged NPs were less well rejected, but behavior was dependent not only on surface functionality but on NP core material (Ag, TiO(2), or Au). NP rejection depended more upon NP properties than membrane properties; all of the negatively charged polymeric membranes behaved similarly. The NP-membrane interaction behavior fell into four categories, which are defined and described here. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Morphology inherence from hollow MOFs to hollow carbon polyhedrons in preparing carbon-based electrocatalysts

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

Pei, Yuchen; Qi, Zhiyuan; Li, Xinle

Hollow carbon nanostructures are emerging as advanced electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to the effective usage of active sites and the reduced dependence on expensive noble metals. Conventional preparation of these hollow structures is achieved through templates (e.g. SiO 2, CdS, and Ni 3C), which serve to retain the void interiors during carbonization, leading to an essential template-removal procedure using hazardous chemical etchants. Herein, we demonstrate the direct carbonization of unique hollow zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) for the synthesis of hollow carbon polyhedrons (HCPs) with well-defined morphologies. The hollow ZIF particles behave bi-functionally as a carbon sourcemore » and a morphology directing agent. This method evidences the strong morphology inherence from the hollow ZIFs during the carbonization, advancing the significant simplicity and environmental friendliness of this synthesis strategy. The as-prepared HCPs show a uniform polyhedral morphology and large void interiors, which enable their superior ORR activity. Iron can be doped into the HCPs (Fe/HCPs), providing the Fe/HCPs with enhanced ORR properties ( E 1/2 = 0.850 V) in comparison with those of HCPs. As a result, we highlight the efficient structural engineering to transform ZIFs into advanced carbon nanostructures accomplishing morphological control and high electrocatalytic activity.« less

Is gerontology ready for accreditation?

PubMed

Haley, William E; Ferraro, Kenneth F; Montgomery, Rhonda J V

2012-01-01

The authors review widely accepted criteria for program accreditation and compare gerontology with well-established accredited fields including clinical psychology and social work. At present gerontology lacks many necessary elements for credible professional accreditation, including defined scope of practice, applied curriculum, faculty with applied professional credentials, and resources necessary to support professional credentialing review. Accreditation with weak requirements will be dismissed as "vanity" accreditation, and strict requirements will be impossible for many resource-poor programs to achieve, putting unaccredited programs at increased risk for elimination. Accreditation may be appropriate in the future, but it should be limited to professional or applied gerontology, perhaps for programs conferring bachelor's or master's degrees. Options other than accreditation to enhance professional skills and employability of gerontology graduates are discussed.

The implementation and use of Ada on distributed systems with reliability requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reynolds, P. F.; Knight, J. C.; Urquhart, J. I. A.

1983-01-01

The issues involved in the use of the programming language Ada on distributed systems are discussed. The effects of Ada programs on hardware failures such as loss of a processor are emphasized. It is shown that many Ada language elements are not well suited to this environment. Processor failure can easily lead to difficulties on those processors which remain. As an example, the calling task in a rendezvous may be suspended forever if the processor executing the serving task fails. A mechanism for detecting failure is proposed and changes to the Ada run time support system are suggested which avoid most of the difficulties. Ada program structures are defined which allow programs to reconfigure and continue to provide service following processor failure.

Acoustic environmental accuracy requirements for response determination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pettitt, M. R.

1983-01-01

A general purpose computer program was developed for the prediction of vehicle interior noise. This program, named VIN, has both modal and statistical energy analysis capabilities for structural/acoustic interaction analysis. The analytic models and their computer implementation were verified through simple test cases with well-defined experimental results. The model was also applied in a space shuttle payload bay launch acoustics prediction study. The computer program processes large and small problems with equal efficiency because all arrays are dynamically sized by program input variables at run time. A data base is built and easily accessed for design studies. The data base significantly reduces the computational costs of such studies by allowing the reuse of the still-valid calculated parameters of previous iterations.

Improving oncology nurses' communication skills for difficult conversations.

PubMed

Baer, Linda; Weinstein, Elizabeth

2013-06-01

When oncology nurses have strong communication skills, they play a pivotal role in influencing patient satisfaction, adherence to plans of care, and overall clinical outcomes. However, research studies indicate that nurses tend to keep communication with patients and families at a superficial, nontherapeutic level. Processes for teaching goals-of-care communication skills and for implementing skills into clinical practice are not clearly defined. Nurses at a large comprehensive cancer center recognized the need for help with this skill set and sought out communication experts to assist in providing the needed education. An educational project was developed to improve therapeutic communication skills in oncology nurses during goals-of-care discussions and giving bad news. The program was tailored to nurses and social workers providing care to patients in a busy, urban, academic, outpatient oncology setting. Program topics included exploring the patient's world, eliciting hopes and concerns, and dealing with conflict about goals. Sharing and discussing specific difficult questions and scenarios were encouraged throughout the program. The program was well attended and well received by oncology nurses and social workers. Participants expressed interest in the continuation of communication programs to further enhance skills.

Smurf2 Regulates DNA Repair and Packaging to Prevent Tumors | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

The blueprint for all of a cell’s functions is written in the genetic code of DNA sequences as well as in the landscape of DNA and histone modifications. DNA is wrapped around histones to package it into chromatin, which is stored in the nucleus. It is important to maintain the integrity of the chromatin structure to ensure that the cell continues to behave appropriately.

Extreme Programming in a Research Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wood, William A.; Kleb, William L.

2002-01-01

This article explores the applicability of Extreme Programming in a scientific research context. The cultural environment at a government research center differs from the customer-centric business view. The chief theoretical difficulty lies in defining the customer to developer relationship. Specifically, can Extreme Programming be utilized when the developer and customer are the same person? Eight of Extreme Programming's 12 practices are perceived to be incompatible with the existing research culture. Further, six of the nine 'environments that I know don't do well with XP' apply. A pilot project explores the use of Extreme Programming in scientific research. The applicability issues are addressed and it is concluded that Extreme Programming can function successfully in situations for which it appears to be ill-suited. A strong discipline for mentally separating the customer and developer roles is found to be key for applying Extreme Programming in a field that lacks a clear distinction between the customer and the developer.

Noise-driven neuromorphic tuned amplifier.

PubMed

Fanelli, Duccio; Ginelli, Francesco; Livi, Roberto; Zagli, Niccoló; Zankoc, Clement

2017-12-01

We study a simple stochastic model of neuronal excitatory and inhibitory interactions. The model is defined on a directed lattice and internodes couplings are modulated by a nonlinear function that mimics the process of synaptic activation. We prove that such a system behaves as a fully tunable amplifier: the endogenous component of noise, stemming from finite size effects, seeds a coherent (exponential) amplification across the chain generating giant oscillations with tunable frequencies, a process that the brain could exploit to enhance, and eventually encode, different signals. On a wider perspective, the characterized amplification process could provide a reliable pacemaking mechanism for biological systems. The device extracts energy from the finite size bath and operates as an out of equilibrium thermal machine, under stationary conditions.

Role theory: a framework to investigate the community nurse role in contemporary health care systems.

PubMed

Brookes, Kim; Davidson, Patricia M; Daly, John; Halcomb, Elizabeth J

2007-01-01

Nurses' perceptions of their role are influenced by societal attitudes, government policies and trends in professional issues. Dynamic factors in contemporary health environments challenge traditional nursing roles, in particular those of community nurses. Role theory is a conceptual framework that defines how individuals behave in social situations and how these behaviours are perceived by external observers. This paper reviews the role theory literature as a conceptual framework to explore community nurses' perceptions of their role. Three theoretical perspectives of role theory have emerged from the literature review: 1. social structuralism 2. symbolic interactionism and 3. the dramaturgical perspective. These philosophical perspectives provide a useful framework to investigate the role of community nurses in the contemporary health care system.

Leisure, recreation, and play from a developmental context.

PubMed

Caldwell, Linda L; Witt, Peter A

2011-01-01

Participation in activities and experiences defined as play, recreation,and leisure has important developmental implications for youth. Elements and characteristics of leisure experiences contribute directly to the development of identity, autonomy, competence,initiative, civic duty, and social connections. Whether in informal or formal, appropriately structured and organized programs,leisure experiences can help facilitate adolescent development in these areas. For example, one of the defining elements of leisure is that it is characterized by free choice and self-determination. Programs that promote leadership, choice, autonomy, and initiative can help adolescents deal with developmental challenges associated with this age group. Leisure experiences can also promote civic engagement and provide important peer-to-peer, peer to-adult, and peer-to-community connections. The social context of leisure is important to adolescent development in that it provides opportunities to learn empathy, loyalty, and intimacy in their group activities, as well as to negotiate with peers, resolve conflict,and work together for communal goals. In addition, adolescents often report positive emotional experiences in leisure, which can serve as a relief from the stress they feel in other areas of their lives and contribute to positive psychological adjustment and well-being. A case study is used to show how planned, purposive programs can be used as critical components of efforts to contribute to adolescent development. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Virtual Milgram: Empathic Concern or Personal Distress? Evidence from Functional MRI and Dispositional Measures

PubMed Central

Cheetham, Marcus; Pedroni, Andreas F.; Antley, Angus; Slater, Mel; Jäncke, Lutz

2009-01-01

One motive for behaving as the agent of another's aggression appears to be anchored in as yet unelucidated mechanisms of obedience to authority. In a recent partial replication of Milgram's obedience paradigm within an immersive virtual environment, participants administered pain to a female virtual human and observed her suffering. Whether the participants’ response to the latter was more akin to other-oriented empathic concern for her well-being or to a self-oriented aversive state of personal distress in response to her distress is unclear. Using the stimuli from that study, this event-related fMRI-based study analysed brain activity during observation of the victim in pain versus not in pain. This contrast revealed activation in pre-defined brain areas known to be involved in affective processing but not in those commonly associated with affect sharing (e.g., ACC and insula). We then examined whether different dimensions of dispositional empathy predict activity within the same pre-defined brain regions: While personal distress and fantasy (i.e., tendency to transpose oneself into fictional situations and characters) predicted brain activity, empathic concern and perspective taking predicted no change in neuronal response associated with pain observation. These exploratory findings suggest that there is a distinct pattern of brain activity associated with observing the pain-related behaviour of the victim within the context of this social dilemma, that this observation evoked a self-oriented aversive state of personal distress, and that the objective “reality” of pain is of secondary importance for this response. These findings provide a starting point for experimentally more rigorous investigation of obedience. PMID:19876407

Generation of ROS mediated by mechanical waves (ultrasound) and its possible applications.

PubMed

Duco, Walter; Grosso, Viviana; Zaccari, Daniel; Soltermann, Arnaldo T

2016-10-15

The thermal decomposition of 9,10 diphenylanthracene peroxide (DPAO 2 ) generates DPA and a mix of triplet and singlet molecular oxygen. For DPAO 2 the efficiency to produce singlet molecular oxygen is 0.35. On the other hand, it has shown that many thermal reactions can be carried out through the interaction of molecules with ultrasound. Ultrasound irradiation can create hydrodynamic stress (sonomechanical process), inertial cavitation (pyrolitic process) and long range effects mediated by radicals or ROS. Sonochemical reactions can be originated by pyrolytic like process, shock mechanical waves, thermal reactions and radical and ROS mediated reactions. Sonolysis of pure water can yield hydrogen or hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide (ROS). When DPAO 2 in 1,4 dioxane solution is treated with 20 or 24kHz and different power intensity the production of molecular singlet oxygen is observed. Specific scavengers like tetracyclone (TC) are used to demonstrate it. The efficiency now is 0.85 showing that the sonochemical process is much more efficient that the thermal one. Another endoperoxide, artemisinin was also studied. Unlike the concept of photosensitizer of photodynamic therapy, in spite of large amount of reported results in literature, the term sonosensitizer and the sonosensitization process are not well defined. We define sonosensitized reaction as one in which a chemical species decompose as consequence of cavitation phenomena producing ROS or other radicals and some other target species does undergo a chemical reaction. The concept could be reach rapidly other peroxides which are now under experimental studies. For artemisinin, an important antimalarian and anticancer drug, was established that ultrasound irradiation increases the effectiveness of the treatment but without any explanation. We show that artemisinin is an endoperoxide and behaves as a sonosensitizer in the sense of our definition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Seismic imaging of lithospheric discontinuities and continental evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bostock, M. G.

1999-09-01

Discontinuities in physical properties within the continental lithosphere reflect a range of processes that have contributed to craton stabilization and evolution. A survey of recent seismological studies concerning lithospheric discontinuities is made in an attempt to document their essential characteristics. Results from long-period seismology are inconsistent with the presence of continuous, laterally invariant, isotropic boundaries within the upper mantle at the global scale. At regional scales, two well-defined interfaces termed H (˜60 km depth) and L (˜200 km depth) of continental affinity are identified, with the latter boundary generally exhibiting an anisotropic character. Long-range refraction profiles are frequently characterized by subcontinental mantle that exhibits a complex stratification within the top 200 km. The shallow layering of this package can behave as an imperfect waveguide giving rise to the so-called teleseismic Pn phase, while the L-discontinuity may define its lower base as the culmination of a low velocity zone. High-resolution, seismic reflection profiling provides sufficient detail in a number of cases to document the merging of mantle interfaces into lower continental crust below former collisional sutures and magmatic arcs, thus unambiguously identifying some lithospheric discontinuities with thrust faults and subducted oceanic lithosphere. Collectively, these and other seismic observations point to a continental lithosphere whose internal structure is dominated by a laterally variable, subhorizontal layering. This stratigraphy appears to be more pronounced at shallower lithospheric levels, includes dense, anisotropic layers of order 10 km in thickness, and exhibits horizontal correlation lengths comparable to the lateral dimensions of overlying crustal blocks. A model of craton evolution which relies on shallow subduction as a principal agent of craton stabilization is shown to be broadly compatible with these characteristics.