Using CORBA to integrate manufacturing cells to a virtual enterprise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pancerella, Carmen M.; Whiteside, Robert A.

1997-01-01

It is critical in today's enterprises that manufacturing facilities are not isolated from design, planning, and other business activities and that information flows easily and bidirectionally between these activities. It is also important and cost-effective that COTS software, databases, and corporate legacy codes are well integrated in the information architecture. Further, much of the information generated during manufacturing must be dynamically accessible to engineering and business operations both in a restricted corporate intranet and on the internet. The software integration strategy in the Sandia Agile Manufacturing Testbed supports these enterprise requirements. We are developing a CORBA-based distributed object software system for manufacturing. Each physical machining device is a CORBA object and exports a common IDL interface to allow for rapid and dynamic insertion, deletion, and upgrading within the manufacturing cell. Cell management CORBA components access manufacturing devices without knowledge of any device-specific implementation. To support information flow from design to planning data is accessible to machinists on the shop floor. CORBA allows manufacturing components to be easily accessible to the enterprise. Dynamic clients can be created using web browsers and portable Java GUI's. A CORBA-OLE adapter allows integration to PC desktop applications. Other commercial software can access CORBA network objects in the information architecture through vendor API's.

DataONE: A Distributed Environmental and Earth Science Data Network Supporting the Full Data Life Cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, R.; Michener, W.; Vieglais, D.; Budden, A.; Koskela, R.

2012-04-01

Addressing grand environmental science challenges requires unprecedented access to easily understood data that cross the breadth of temporal, spatial, and thematic scales. Tools are needed to plan management of the data, discover the relevant data, integrate heterogeneous and diverse data, and convert the data to information and knowledge. Addressing these challenges requires new approaches for the full data life cycle of managing, preserving, sharing, and analyzing data. DataONE (Observation Network for Earth) represents a virtual organization that enables new science and knowledge creation through preservation and access to data about life on Earth and the environment that sustains it. The DataONE approach is to improve data collection and management techniques; facilitate easy, secure, and persistent storage of data; continue to increase access to data and tools that improve data interoperability; disseminate integrated and user-friendly tools for data discovery and novel analyses; work with researchers to build intuitive data exploration and visualization tools; and support communities of practice via education, outreach, and stakeholder engagement.

An exploratory study into the effect of time-restricted internet access on face-validity, construct validity and reliability of postgraduate knowledge progress testing

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Yearly formative knowledge testing (also known as progress testing) was shown to have a limited construct-validity and reliability in postgraduate medical education. One way to improve construct-validity and reliability is to improve the authenticity of a test. As easily accessible internet has become inseparably linked to daily clinical practice, we hypothesized that allowing internet access for a limited amount of time during the progress test would improve the perception of authenticity (face-validity) of the test, which would in turn improve the construct-validity and reliability of postgraduate progress testing. Methods Postgraduate trainees taking the yearly knowledge progress test were asked to participate in a study where they could access the internet for 30 minutes at the end of a traditional pen and paper test. Before and after the test they were asked to complete a short questionnaire regarding the face-validity of the test. Results Mean test scores increased significantly for all training years. Trainees indicated that the face-validity of the test improved with internet access and that they would like to continue to have internet access during future testing. Internet access did not improve the construct-validity or reliability of the test. Conclusion Improving the face-validity of postgraduate progress testing, by adding the possibility to search the internet for a limited amount of time, positively influences test performance and face-validity. However, it did not change the reliability or the construct-validity of the test. PMID:24195696

Awareness and Knowledge of Autism Spectrum Disorders Among Pharmacists: A Cross-Sectional Study in Palestinian Pharmacy Practice.

PubMed

Shawahna, Ramzi; Fahed, Basel; Qadri, Dana; Sharawi, Lamees; Soroghli, Mai; Dweik, Maen

2017-06-01

Pharmacists are trusted and easily accessible healthcare providers. We assessed awareness and knowledge of symptoms, etiology, and treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) among pharmacists practicing in Palestine. The pharmacists reported low familiarity with ASDs. The median score on the 12-item knowledge section was 50.0% with an interquartile range of 16.7%. Having course(s) or lecture(s) on ASDs during pharmacy degree program was significantly associated with familiarity (p value <0.001), knowledge (p value <0.001), and confidence (p value <0.05) scores. Nearly 62% of the pharmacists reported as not feeling confident enough in their ability to counsel parents about medications used for their children with ASDs and their side effects. This study revealed gaps in awareness and knowledge of ASDs among pharmacists.

Military Knowledge Handbook for Commanders (Selected Section)

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-28

8217 Accession For NTIS GRA&I DTIC TAB 0l Unannoun ed 0] ju,.it . " t ation Distri’muti on/ Availabilit %Codes Dist cSpeial GRAPHICS DISCLAIMER...cloud layers, the energy of ray radiation on the ground will increase due to reflection effect of the cloud layers. Water surface, ice, accumulated... water flow can direct the radioactive fallout into defense works and water sources to worsen contaminations; radioactive fallout can easily be retained in

Featured Article: Genotation: Actionable knowledge for the scientific reader

PubMed Central

Willis, Ethan; Sakauye, Mark; Jose, Rony; Chen, Hao; Davis, Robert L

2016-01-01

We present an article viewer application that allows a scientific reader to easily discover and share knowledge by linking genomics-related concepts to knowledge of disparate biomedical databases. High-throughput data streams generated by technical advancements have contributed to scientific knowledge discovery at an unprecedented rate. Biomedical Informaticists have created a diverse set of databases to store and retrieve the discovered knowledge. The diversity and abundance of such resources present biomedical researchers a challenge with knowledge discovery. These challenges highlight a need for a better informatics solution. We use a text mining algorithm, Genomine, to identify gene symbols from the text of a journal article. The identified symbols are supplemented with information from the GenoDB knowledgebase. Self-updating GenoDB contains information from NCBI Gene, Clinvar, Medgen, dbSNP, KEGG, PharmGKB, Uniprot, and Hugo Gene databases. The journal viewer is a web application accessible via a web browser. The features described herein are accessible on www.genotation.org. The Genomine algorithm identifies gene symbols with an accuracy shown by .65 F-Score. GenoDB currently contains information regarding 59,905 gene symbols, 5633 drug–gene relationships, 5981 gene–disease relationships, and 713 pathways. This application provides scientific readers with actionable knowledge related to concepts of a manuscript. The reader will be able to save and share supplements to be visualized in a graphical manner. This provides convenient access to details of complex biological phenomena, enabling biomedical researchers to generate novel hypothesis to further our knowledge in human health. This manuscript presents a novel application that integrates genomic, proteomic, and pharmacogenomic information to supplement content of a biomedical manuscript and enable readers to automatically discover actionable knowledge. PMID:26900164

Featured Article: Genotation: Actionable knowledge for the scientific reader.

PubMed

Nagahawatte, Panduka; Willis, Ethan; Sakauye, Mark; Jose, Rony; Chen, Hao; Davis, Robert L

2016-06-01

We present an article viewer application that allows a scientific reader to easily discover and share knowledge by linking genomics-related concepts to knowledge of disparate biomedical databases. High-throughput data streams generated by technical advancements have contributed to scientific knowledge discovery at an unprecedented rate. Biomedical Informaticists have created a diverse set of databases to store and retrieve the discovered knowledge. The diversity and abundance of such resources present biomedical researchers a challenge with knowledge discovery. These challenges highlight a need for a better informatics solution. We use a text mining algorithm, Genomine, to identify gene symbols from the text of a journal article. The identified symbols are supplemented with information from the GenoDB knowledgebase. Self-updating GenoDB contains information from NCBI Gene, Clinvar, Medgen, dbSNP, KEGG, PharmGKB, Uniprot, and Hugo Gene databases. The journal viewer is a web application accessible via a web browser. The features described herein are accessible on www.genotation.org The Genomine algorithm identifies gene symbols with an accuracy shown by .65 F-Score. GenoDB currently contains information regarding 59,905 gene symbols, 5633 drug-gene relationships, 5981 gene-disease relationships, and 713 pathways. This application provides scientific readers with actionable knowledge related to concepts of a manuscript. The reader will be able to save and share supplements to be visualized in a graphical manner. This provides convenient access to details of complex biological phenomena, enabling biomedical researchers to generate novel hypothesis to further our knowledge in human health. This manuscript presents a novel application that integrates genomic, proteomic, and pharmacogenomic information to supplement content of a biomedical manuscript and enable readers to automatically discover actionable knowledge. © 2016 by the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

Genalogical approaches to ethical implications of informational assimilative integrated discovery systems (AIDS) in business

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

Pharhizgar, K.D.; Lunce, S.E.

1994-12-31

Development of knowledge-based technological acquisition techniques and customers` information profiles are known as assimilative integrated discovery systems (AIDS) in modern organizations. These systems have access through processing to both deep and broad domains of information in modern societies. Through these systems organizations and individuals can predict future trend probabilities and events concerning their customers. AIDSs are new techniques which produce new information which informants can use without the help of the knowledge sources because of the existence of highly sophisticated computerized networks. This paper has analyzed the danger and side effects of misuse of information through the illegal, unethical andmore » immoral access to the data-base in an integrated and assimilative information system as described above. Cognivistic mapping, pragmatistic informational design gathering, and holistic classifiable and distributive techniques are potentially abusive systems whose outputs can be easily misused by businesses when researching the firm`s customers.« less

Voice-enabled Knowledge Engine using Flood Ontology and Natural Language Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sermet, M. Y.; Demir, I.; Krajewski, W. F.

2015-12-01

The Iowa Flood Information System (IFIS) is a web-based platform developed by the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) to provide access to flood inundation maps, real-time flood conditions, flood forecasts, flood-related data, information and interactive visualizations for communities in Iowa. The IFIS is designed for use by general public, often people with no domain knowledge and limited general science background. To improve effective communication with such audience, we have introduced a voice-enabled knowledge engine on flood related issues in IFIS. Instead of navigating within many features and interfaces of the information system and web-based sources, the system provides dynamic computations based on a collection of built-in data, analysis, and methods. The IFIS Knowledge Engine connects to real-time stream gauges, in-house data sources, analysis and visualization tools to answer natural language questions. Our goal is the systematization of data and modeling results on flood related issues in Iowa, and to provide an interface for definitive answers to factual queries. The goal of the knowledge engine is to make all flood related knowledge in Iowa easily accessible to everyone, and support voice-enabled natural language input. We aim to integrate and curate all flood related data, implement analytical and visualization tools, and make it possible to compute answers from questions. The IFIS explicitly implements analytical methods and models, as algorithms, and curates all flood related data and resources so that all these resources are computable. The IFIS Knowledge Engine computes the answer by deriving it from its computational knowledge base. The knowledge engine processes the statement, access data warehouse, run complex database queries on the server-side and return outputs in various formats. This presentation provides an overview of IFIS Knowledge Engine, its unique information interface and functionality as an educational tool, and discusses the future plans for providing knowledge on flood related issues and resources. IFIS Knowledge Engine provides an alternative access method to these comprehensive set of tools and data resources available in IFIS. Current implementation of the system accepts free-form input and voice recognition capabilities within browser and mobile applications.

Increasing global accessibility and understanding of water column sonar data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wall, C.; Anderson, C.; Mesick, S.; Parsons, A. R.; Boyer, T.; McLean, S. J.

2016-02-01

Active acoustic (sonar) technology is of increasing importance for research examining the water column. NOAA uses water column sonar data to map acoustic properties from the ocean surface to the seafloor - from bubbles to biology to bottom. Scientific echosounders aboard fishery survey vessels are used to estimate biomass, measure fish school morphology, and characterize habitat. These surveys produce large volumes of data that are costly and difficult to maintain due to their size, complexity, and proprietary format that require specific software and extensive knowledge. However, through proper management they can deliver valuable information beyond their original collection purpose. In order to maximize the benefit to the public, the data must be easily discoverable and accessible. Access to ancillary data is also needed for complete environmental context and ecosystem assessment. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information, in partnership with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service and the University of Colorado, created a national archive for the stewardship and distribution of water column sonar data collected on NOAA and academic vessels. A web-based access page allows users to query the metadata and access the raw sonar data. Visualization products being developed allow researchers and the public to understand the quality and content of large volumes of archived data more easily. Such products transform the complex data into a digestible image or graphic and are highly valuable for a broad audience of varying backgrounds. Concurrently collected oceanographic data and bathymetric data are being integrated into the data access web page to provide an ecosystem-wide understanding of the area ensonified. Benefits of the archive include global access to an unprecedented nationwide dataset and the increased potential for researchers to address cross-cutting scientific questions to advance the field of marine ecosystem acoustics.

Atomic Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whelan, Colm T.

2018-04-01

A knowledge of atomic theory should be an essential part of every physicist's and chemist's toolkit. This book provides an introduction to the basic ideas that govern our understanding of microscopic matter, and the essential features of atomic structure and spectra are presented in a direct and easily accessible manner. Semi-classical ideas are reviewed and an introduction to the quantum mechanics of one and two electron systems and their interaction with external electromagnetic fields is featured. Multielectron atoms are also introduced, and the key methods for calculating their properties reviewed.

A primer on intraosseous access: History, clinical considerations, and current devices.

PubMed

Burgert, James M

2016-01-01

Intraosseous (IO) access is a method recommended by the American Heart Association and the European Resuscitation Council to administer resuscitative drugs and fluids when intravenous (IV) access cannot be rapidly or easily obtained. Many clinicians have limited knowledge or experience with the IO route. The purpose of this review was to provide the reader with a succinct review of the history, clinical considerations, and devices associated with IO access. Narrative review. University-based academic research cell. Not applicable. Not applicable. IO access is a lifesaving bridge to definitive vascular access that may be considered when an IV cannot be rapidly attained and the patient's outcome may be negatively affected without prompt circulatory access. The IO route has few contraindications for use and a low rate of serious complications. Multiple manual and powered devices that may be placed in several anatomic sites are commercially available. All clinicians who provide acute care or respond to cardiovascular emergencies should obtain training and maintain proficiency in placing and using IO devices as the IO route is recommended by the major resuscitation organizations as the preferred route of infusion when rapid, reliable IV access is unavailable.

A User-Centered Approach to Adaptive Hypertext Based on an Information Relevance Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mathe, Nathalie; Chen, James

1994-01-01

Rapid and effective to information in large electronic documentation systems can be facilitated if information relevant in an individual user's content can be automatically supplied to this user. However most of this knowledge on contextual relevance is not found within the contents of documents, it is rather established incrementally by users during information access. We propose a new model for interactively learning contextual relevance during information retrieval, and incrementally adapting retrieved information to individual user profiles. The model, called a relevance network, records the relevance of references based on user feedback for specific queries and user profiles. It also generalizes such knowledge to later derive relevant references for similar queries and profiles. The relevance network lets users filter information by context of relevance. Compared to other approaches, it does not require any prior knowledge nor training. More importantly, our approach to adaptivity is user-centered. It facilitates acceptance and understanding by users by giving them shared control over the adaptation without disturbing their primary task. Users easily control when to adapt and when to use the adapted system. Lastly, the model is independent of the particular application used to access information, and supports sharing of adaptations among users.

Hypertension: are you and your patients up to date?

PubMed

Allu, Selina Omar; Bellerive, Jocelyne; Walker, Robin L; Campbell, Norm R C

2010-05-01

While there have been substantive efforts to improve treatment and control of hypertension in Canada, many individuals with hypertension remain unaware of their condition and many health care professionals are unaware of key hypertension management recommendations. The present article reviews the new Canadian strategic direction for increased knowledge translation and dissemination of information to patients and health care professionals by providing new, innovative and easily accessible resources for hypertension education in Canada. A multitude of resources that address the diverse learning needs of health care professionals and the general public are highlighted.

PRINTO scholarships: the Italian experience

PubMed Central

Munitis, Pablo Garcia

2007-01-01

The increasing availability of the internet allows physicians to access actualized medical information quickly and easily, but it is not comparable with the possibility of working in a well known international medical centre. International collaboration (scholarships, courses and research), such as the PRINTO alpha project, allows professionals not only to increase and share scientific knowledge and experiences but also to integrate into a working team in a foreign country which leads to an understanding among cultures. PRINTO has set up a scientific and technical collaborative research network in Paediatric Rheumatology for Latin American physicians. PMID:17900338

Context-based electronic health record: toward patient specific healthcare.

PubMed

Hsu, William; Taira, Ricky K; El-Saden, Suzie; Kangarloo, Hooshang; Bui, Alex A T

2012-03-01

Due to the increasingly data-intensive clinical environment, physicians now have unprecedented access to detailed clinical information from a multitude of sources. However, applying this information to guide medical decisions for a specific patient case remains challenging. One issue is related to presenting information to the practitioner: displaying a large (irrelevant) amount of information often leads to information overload. Next-generation interfaces for the electronic health record (EHR) should not only make patient data easily searchable and accessible, but also synthesize fragments of evidence documented in the entire record to understand the etiology of a disease and its clinical manifestation in individual patients. In this paper, we describe our efforts toward creating a context-based EHR, which employs biomedical ontologies and (graphical) disease models as sources of domain knowledge to identify relevant parts of the record to display. We hypothesize that knowledge (e.g., variables, relationships) from these sources can be used to standardize, annotate, and contextualize information from the patient record, improving access to relevant parts of the record and informing medical decision making. To achieve this goal, we describe a framework that aggregates and extracts findings and attributes from free-text clinical reports, maps findings to concepts in available knowledge sources, and generates a tailored presentation of the record based on the information needs of the user. We have implemented this framework in a system called Adaptive EHR, demonstrating its capabilities to present and synthesize information from neurooncology patients. This paper highlights the challenges and potential applications of leveraging disease models to improve the access, integration, and interpretation of clinical patient data. © 2012 IEEE

Semantically enabling pharmacogenomic data for the realization of personalized medicine

PubMed Central

Samwald, Matthias; Coulet, Adrien; Huerga, Iker; Powers, Robert L; Luciano, Joanne S; Freimuth, Robert R; Whipple, Frederick; Pichler, Elgar; Prud’hommeaux, Eric; Dumontier, Michel; Marshall, M Scott

2014-01-01

Understanding how each individual’s genetics and physiology influences pharmaceutical response is crucial to the realization of personalized medicine and the discovery and validation of pharmacogenomic biomarkers is key to its success. However, integration of genotype and phenotype knowledge in medical information systems remains a critical challenge. The inability to easily and accurately integrate the results of biomolecular studies with patients’ medical records and clinical reports prevents us from realizing the full potential of pharmacogenomic knowledge for both drug development and clinical practice. Herein, we describe approaches using Semantic Web technologies, in which pharmacogenomic knowledge relevant to drug development and medical decision support is represented in such a way that it can be efficiently accessed both by software and human experts. We suggest that this approach increases the utility of data, and that such computational technologies will become an essential part of personalized medicine, alongside diagnostics and pharmaceutical products. PMID:22256869

Access High Quality Imagery from the NOAA View Portal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pisut, D.; Powell, A. M.; Loomis, T.; Goel, V.; Mills, B.; Cowan, D.

2013-12-01

NOAA curates a vast treasure trove of environmental data, but one that is sometimes not easily accessed, especially for education, outreach, and media purposes. Traditional data portals in NOAA require extensive knowledge of the specific names of observation platforms, models, and analyses, along with nomenclature for variable outputs. A new website and web mapping service (WMS) from NOAA attempts to remedy such issues. The NOAA View data imagery portal provides a seamless entry point into data from across the agency: satellite, models, in-situ analysis, etc. The system provides the user with ability to browse, animate, and download high resolution (e.g., 4,000 x 2,000 pixel) imagery, Google Earth, and even proxy data files. The WMS architecture also allows the resources to be ingested into other software systems or applications.

Medical Images Remote Consultation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferraris, Maurizio; Frixione, Paolo; Squarcia, Sandro

Teleconsultation of digital images among different medical centers is now a reality. The problem to be solved is how to interconnect all the clinical diagnostic devices in a hospital in order to allow physicians and health physicists, working in different places, to discuss on interesting clinical cases visualizing the same diagnostic images at the same time. Applying World Wide Web technologies, the proposed system can be easily used by people with no specific computer knowledge providing a verbose help to guide the user through the right steps of execution. Diagnostic images are retrieved from a relational database or from a standard DICOM-PACS through the DICOM-WWW gateway allowing connection of the usual Web browsers to DICOM applications via the HTTP protocol. The system, which is proposed for radiotherapy implementation, where radiographies play a fundamental role, can be easily converted to different field of medical applications where a remote access to secure data are compulsory.

Lightweight Object Oriented Structure analysis: Tools for building Tools to Analyze Molecular Dynamics Simulations

PubMed Central

Romo, Tod D.; Leioatts, Nicholas; Grossfield, Alan

2014-01-01

LOOS (Lightweight Object-Oriented Structure-analysis) is a C++ library designed to facilitate making novel tools for analyzing molecular dynamics simulations by abstracting out the repetitive tasks, allowing developers to focus on the scientifically relevant part of the problem. LOOS supports input using the native file formats of most common biomolecular simulation packages, including CHARMM, NAMD, Amber, Tinker, and Gromacs. A dynamic atom selection language based on the C expression syntax is included and is easily accessible to the tool-writer. In addition, LOOS is bundled with over 120 pre-built tools, including suites of tools for analyzing simulation convergence, 3D histograms, and elastic network models. Through modern C++ design, LOOS is both simple to develop with (requiring knowledge of only 4 core classes and a few utility functions) and is easily extensible. A python interface to the core classes is also provided, further facilitating tool development. PMID:25327784

Lightweight object oriented structure analysis: tools for building tools to analyze molecular dynamics simulations.

PubMed

Romo, Tod D; Leioatts, Nicholas; Grossfield, Alan

2014-12-15

LOOS (Lightweight Object Oriented Structure-analysis) is a C++ library designed to facilitate making novel tools for analyzing molecular dynamics simulations by abstracting out the repetitive tasks, allowing developers to focus on the scientifically relevant part of the problem. LOOS supports input using the native file formats of most common biomolecular simulation packages, including CHARMM, NAMD, Amber, Tinker, and Gromacs. A dynamic atom selection language based on the C expression syntax is included and is easily accessible to the tool-writer. In addition, LOOS is bundled with over 140 prebuilt tools, including suites of tools for analyzing simulation convergence, three-dimensional histograms, and elastic network models. Through modern C++ design, LOOS is both simple to develop with (requiring knowledge of only four core classes and a few utility functions) and is easily extensible. A python interface to the core classes is also provided, further facilitating tool development. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Development of an intelligent interface for adding spatial objects to a knowledge-based geographic information system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, William J.; Goettsche, Craig

1989-01-01

Earth Scientists lack adequate tools for quantifying complex relationships between existing data layers and studying and modeling the dynamic interactions of these data layers. There is a need for an earth systems tool to manipulate multi-layered, heterogeneous data sets that are spatially indexed, such as sensor imagery and maps, easily and intelligently in a single system. The system can access and manipulate data from multiple sensor sources, maps, and from a learned object hierarchy using an advanced knowledge-based geographical information system. A prototype Knowledge-Based Geographic Information System (KBGIS) was recently constructed. Many of the system internals are well developed, but the system lacks an adequate user interface. A methodology is described for developing an intelligent user interface and extending KBGIS to interconnect with existing NASA systems, such as imagery from the Land Analysis System (LAS), atmospheric data in Common Data Format (CDF), and visualization of complex data with the National Space Science Data Center Graphics System. This would allow NASA to quickly explore the utility of such a system, given the ability to transfer data in and out of KBGIS easily. The use and maintenance of the object hierarchies as polymorphic data types brings, to data management, a while new set of problems and issues, few of which have been explored above the prototype level.

An SQL query generator for CLIPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Snyder, James; Chirica, Laurian

1990-01-01

As expert systems become more widely used, their access to large amounts of external information becomes increasingly important. This information exists in several forms such as statistical, tabular data, knowledge gained by experts and large databases of information maintained by companies. Because many expert systems, including CLIPS, do not provide access to this external information, much of the usefulness of expert systems is left untapped. The scope of this paper is to describe a database extension for the CLIPS expert system shell. The current industry standard database language is SQL. Due to SQL standardization, large amounts of information stored on various computers, potentially at different locations, will be more easily accessible. Expert systems should be able to directly access these existing databases rather than requiring information to be re-entered into the expert system environment. The ORACLE relational database management system (RDBMS) was used to provide a database connection within the CLIPS environment. To facilitate relational database access a query generation system was developed as a CLIPS user function. The queries are entered in a CLlPS-like syntax and are passed to the query generator, which constructs and submits for execution, an SQL query to the ORACLE RDBMS. The query results are asserted as CLIPS facts. The query generator was developed primarily for use within the ICADS project (Intelligent Computer Aided Design System) currently being developed by the CAD Research Unit in the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). In ICADS, there are several parallel or distributed expert systems accessing a common knowledge base of facts. Expert system has a narrow domain of interest and therefore needs only certain portions of the information. The query generator provides a common method of accessing this information and allows the expert system to specify what data is needed without specifying how to retrieve it.

Design of Knowledge Bases for Plant Gene Regulatory Networks.

PubMed

Mukundi, Eric; Gomez-Cano, Fabio; Ouma, Wilberforce Zachary; Grotewold, Erich

2017-01-01

Developing a knowledge base that contains all the information necessary for the researcher studying gene regulation in a particular organism can be accomplished in four stages. This begins with defining the data scope. We describe here the necessary information and resources, and outline the methods for obtaining data. The second stage consists of designing the schema, which involves defining the entire arrangement of the database in a systematic plan. The third stage is the implementation, defined by actualization of the database by using software according to a predefined schema. The final stage is development, where the database is made available to users in a web-accessible system. The result is a knowledgebase that integrates all the information pertaining to gene regulation, and which is easily expandable and transferable.

Why do patients in acute care hospitals fall? Can falls be prevented?

PubMed

Dykes, Patricia C; Carroll, Diane L; Hurley, Ann C; Benoit, Angela; Middleton, Blackford

2009-06-01

Obtain the views of nurses and assistants as to why patients in acute care hospitals fall. Despite a large quantitative evidence base for guiding fall risk assessment and not needing highly technical, scarce, or expensive equipment to prevent falls, falls are serious problems in hospitals. Basic content analysis methods were used to interpret descriptive data from 4 focus groups with nurses (n = 23) and 4 with assistants (n = 19). A 2-person consensus approach was used for analysis. Positive and negative components of 6 concepts-patient report, information access, signage, environment, teamwork, and involving patient/family-formed 2 core categories: knowledge/ communication and capability/actions that are facilitators or barriers, respectively, to preventing falls. Two conditions are required to reduce patient falls. A patient care plan including current and accurate fall risk status with associated tailored and feasible interventions needs to be easily and immediately accessible to all stakeholders (entire healthcare team, patients, and family). Second, stakeholders must use that information plus their own knowledge and skills and patient and hospital resources to carry out the plan.

Why Do Patients in Acute Care Hospitals Fall? Can Falls Be Prevented?

PubMed Central

Dykes, Patricia C.; Carroll, Diane L.; Hurley, Ann C.; Benoit, Angela; Middleton, Blackford

2011-01-01

Objective Obtain the views of nurses and assistants as to why patients in acute care hospitals fall. Background Despite a large quantitative evidence base for guiding fall risk assessment and not needing highly technical, scarce, or expensive equipment to prevent falls, falls are serious problems in hospitals. Methods Basic content analysis methods were used to interpret descriptive data from 4 focus groups with nurses (n = 23) and 4 with assistants (n = 19). A 2-person consensus approach was used for analysis. Results Positive and negative components of 6 concepts—patient report, information access, signage, environment, teamwork, and involving patient/family—formed 2 core categories: knowledge/communication and capability/actions that are facilitators or barriers, respectively, to preventing falls. Conclusion Two conditions are required to reduce patient falls. A patient care plan including current and accurate fall risk status with associated tailored and feasible interventions needs to be easily and immediately accessible to all stakeholders (entire healthcare team, patients, and family). Second, stakeholders must use that information plus their own knowledge and skills and patient and hospital resources to carry out the plan. PMID:19509605

Information Communication using Knowledge Engine on Flood Issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, I.; Krajewski, W. F.

2012-04-01

The Iowa Flood Information System (IFIS) is a web-based platform developed by the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) to provide access to and visualization of flood inundation maps, real-time flood conditions, flood forecasts both short-term and seasonal, and other flood-related data for communities in Iowa. The system is designed for use by general public, often people with no domain knowledge and poor general science background. To improve effective communication with such audience, we have introduced a new way in IFIS to get information on flood related issues - instead of by navigating within hundreds of features and interfaces of the information system and web-based sources-- by providing dynamic computations based on a collection of built-in data, analysis, and methods. The IFIS Knowledge Engine connects to distributed sources of real-time stream gauges, and in-house data sources, analysis and visualization tools to answer questions grouped into several categories. Users will be able to provide input based on the query within the categories of rainfall, flood conditions, forecast, inundation maps, flood risk and data sensors. Our goal is the systematization of knowledge on flood related issues, and to provide a single source for definitive answers to factual queries. Long-term goal of this knowledge engine is to make all flood related knowledge easily accessible to everyone, and provide educational geoinformatics tool. The future implementation of the system will be able to accept free-form input and voice recognition capabilities within browser and mobile applications. We intend to deliver increasing capabilities for the system over the coming releases of IFIS. This presentation provides an overview of our Knowledge Engine, its unique information interface and functionality as an educational tool, and discusses the future plans for providing knowledge on flood related issues and resources.

Putting the methodological brakes on claims to measure national happiness through Twitter: Methodological limitations in social media analytics.

PubMed

Jensen, Eric Allen

2017-01-01

With the rapid global proliferation of social media, there has been growing interest in using this existing source of easily accessible 'big data' to develop social science knowledge. However, amidst the big data gold rush, it is important that long-established principles of good social research are not ignored. This article critically evaluates Mitchell et al.'s (2013) study, 'The Geography of Happiness: Connecting Twitter Sentiment and Expression, Demographics, and Objective Characteristics of Place', demonstrating the importance of attending to key methodological issues associated with secondary data analysis.

Workflow based framework for life science informatics.

PubMed

Tiwari, Abhishek; Sekhar, Arvind K T

2007-10-01

Workflow technology is a generic mechanism to integrate diverse types of available resources (databases, servers, software applications and different services) which facilitate knowledge exchange within traditionally divergent fields such as molecular biology, clinical research, computational science, physics, chemistry and statistics. Researchers can easily incorporate and access diverse, distributed tools and data to develop their own research protocols for scientific analysis. Application of workflow technology has been reported in areas like drug discovery, genomics, large-scale gene expression analysis, proteomics, and system biology. In this article, we have discussed the existing workflow systems and the trends in applications of workflow based systems.

ESASky: All the sky you need

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Marchi, Guido; ESASky Team

2018-06-01

ESASky is a discovery portal giving to all astronomers, professional and amateur alike, an easy way to access high-quality scientific data from their computer, tablet, or mobile device. It includes over half a million images, 300,000 spectra, and more than a billion catalogue sources. From gamma rays to radio wavelengths, it allows users to explore the cosmos with data from a dozen space missions from the astronomical archives of ESA, NASA, and JAXA and does not require prior knowledge of any particular mission. ESASky features an all-sky exploration interface, letting users easily zoom in for stars as single targets or as part of a whole galaxy, visualise them and retrieve the relevant data taken in an area of the sky with just a few clicks. Users can easily compare observations of the same source obtained by different space missions at different times and wavelengths. They can also use ESASky to plan future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope, comparing the relevant portion of the sky as observed by Hubble and other missions. We will illustrate the many options to visualise and access astronomical data: interactive footprints for each instrument, tree-maps, filters, and solar-system object trajectories can all be combined and displayed. The most recent version of ESASky, released in February, also includes access to scientific publications, allowing users to visualise on the sky all astronomical objects with associated scientific publications and to link directly back to the papers in the NASA Astrophysics Data System.

Structuring osteosarcoma knowledge: an osteosarcoma-gene association database based on literature mining and manual annotation.

PubMed

Poos, Kathrin; Smida, Jan; Nathrath, Michaela; Maugg, Doris; Baumhoer, Daniel; Neumann, Anna; Korsching, Eberhard

2014-01-01

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone cancer exhibiting high genomic instability. This genomic instability affects multiple genes and microRNAs to a varying extent depending on patient and tumor subtype. Massive research is ongoing to identify genes including their gene products and microRNAs that correlate with disease progression and might be used as biomarkers for OS. However, the genomic complexity hampers the identification of reliable biomarkers. Up to now, clinico-pathological factors are the key determinants to guide prognosis and therapeutic treatments. Each day, new studies about OS are published and complicate the acquisition of information to support biomarker discovery and therapeutic improvements. Thus, it is necessary to provide a structured and annotated view on the current OS knowledge that is quick and easily accessible to researchers of the field. Therefore, we developed a publicly available database and Web interface that serves as resource for OS-associated genes and microRNAs. Genes and microRNAs were collected using an automated dictionary-based gene recognition procedure followed by manual review and annotation by experts of the field. In total, 911 genes and 81 microRNAs related to 1331 PubMed abstracts were collected (last update: 29 October 2013). Users can evaluate genes and microRNAs according to their potential prognostic and therapeutic impact, the experimental procedures, the sample types, the biological contexts and microRNA target gene interactions. Additionally, a pathway enrichment analysis of the collected genes highlights different aspects of OS progression. OS requires pathways commonly deregulated in cancer but also features OS-specific alterations like deregulated osteoclast differentiation. To our knowledge, this is the first effort of an OS database containing manual reviewed and annotated up-to-date OS knowledge. It might be a useful resource especially for the bone tumor research community, as specific information about genes or microRNAs is quick and easily accessible. Hence, this platform can support the ongoing OS research and biomarker discovery. Database URL: http://osteosarcoma-db.uni-muenster.de. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

Structuring osteosarcoma knowledge: an osteosarcoma-gene association database based on literature mining and manual annotation

PubMed Central

Poos, Kathrin; Smida, Jan; Nathrath, Michaela; Maugg, Doris; Baumhoer, Daniel; Neumann, Anna; Korsching, Eberhard

2014-01-01

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone cancer exhibiting high genomic instability. This genomic instability affects multiple genes and microRNAs to a varying extent depending on patient and tumor subtype. Massive research is ongoing to identify genes including their gene products and microRNAs that correlate with disease progression and might be used as biomarkers for OS. However, the genomic complexity hampers the identification of reliable biomarkers. Up to now, clinico-pathological factors are the key determinants to guide prognosis and therapeutic treatments. Each day, new studies about OS are published and complicate the acquisition of information to support biomarker discovery and therapeutic improvements. Thus, it is necessary to provide a structured and annotated view on the current OS knowledge that is quick and easily accessible to researchers of the field. Therefore, we developed a publicly available database and Web interface that serves as resource for OS-associated genes and microRNAs. Genes and microRNAs were collected using an automated dictionary-based gene recognition procedure followed by manual review and annotation by experts of the field. In total, 911 genes and 81 microRNAs related to 1331 PubMed abstracts were collected (last update: 29 October 2013). Users can evaluate genes and microRNAs according to their potential prognostic and therapeutic impact, the experimental procedures, the sample types, the biological contexts and microRNA target gene interactions. Additionally, a pathway enrichment analysis of the collected genes highlights different aspects of OS progression. OS requires pathways commonly deregulated in cancer but also features OS-specific alterations like deregulated osteoclast differentiation. To our knowledge, this is the first effort of an OS database containing manual reviewed and annotated up-to-date OS knowledge. It might be a useful resource especially for the bone tumor research community, as specific information about genes or microRNAs is quick and easily accessible. Hence, this platform can support the ongoing OS research and biomarker discovery. Database URL: http://osteosarcoma-db.uni-muenster.de PMID:24865352

A randomized trial comparing two intraosseous access devices in intrahospital healthcare providers with a focus on retention of knowledge, skill, and self-efficacy.

PubMed

Derikx, H J G M; Gerritse, B M; Gans, R; van der Meer, N J M

2014-10-01

Intraosseous access is recommended in vitally compromised patients if an intravenous access cannot be easily obtained. Intraosseous infusion can be initiated by various healthcare providers. Currently, there are two mechanical intraosseous devices approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in adults and children. A comparison is made in this study of the theoretical and practical performance by anesthesiologists and registered nurses of anesthesia (RNAs) in the use of the battery-powered device (device A) versus the spring-loaded needle device (device B). This study entailed a 12-month follow-up of knowledge, skill retention, and self-efficacy measured by standardized testing. A prospective randomized trial was performed, initially comparing 15 anesthesiologists and 15 RNAs, both on using the two types of intraosseous devices. A structured lecture and skill station was given with the educational aids provided by the respective manufacturers. Individual knowledge and practical skills were tested at 0, 3, and 12 months after the initial course. There was no statistical significant difference in the retention of theoretical knowledge between RNAs and anesthesiologists on all testing occasions. However, the self-efficacy of the anesthesiologists is significantly higher (p < 0.01) than the self-efficacy of the RNAs for both devices, on any testing occasion. Insufficient skills were local disinfection (both groups, both devices) and attachment of the needle to the intravenous line (RNAs with both devices). In 33 % of all device B handlings, unsafe practice occurred. The use of device A is safer in handling in comparison to device B at 12 months follow-up. The hypothesis that doctors are more qualified in obtaining intraosseous access has been disproven, as anesthesiologists were as successful as RNAs. However, the low self-efficacy of RNAs in the use of intraosseous devices could diminish the chance of them actually using one.

D and D Knowledge Management Information Tool - 2012 - 12106

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

Upadhyay, H.; Lagos, L.; Quintero, W.

2012-07-01

Deactivation and decommissioning (D and D) work is a high priority activity across the Department of Energy (DOE) complex. Subject matter specialists (SMS) associated with the different ALARA (As-Low-As-Reasonably-Achievable) Centers, DOE sites, Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) and the D and D community have gained extensive knowledge and experience over the years in the cleanup of the legacy waste from the Manhattan Project. To prevent the D and D knowledge and expertise from being lost over time from the evolving and aging workforce, DOE and the Applied Research Center (ARC) at Florida International University (FIU) proposed to capture and maintainmore » this valuable information in a universally available and easily usable system. D and D KM-IT provides single point access to all D and D related activities through its knowledge base. It is a community driven system. D and D KM-IT makes D and D knowledge available to the people who need it at the time they need it and in a readily usable format. It uses the World Wide Web as the primary source for content in addition to information collected from subject matter specialists and the D and D community. It brings information in real time through web based custom search processes and its dynamic knowledge repository. Future developments include developing a document library, providing D and D information access on mobile devices for the Technology module and Hotline, and coordinating multiple subject matter specialists to support the Hotline. The goal is to deploy a high-end sophisticated and secured system to serve as a single large knowledge base for all the D and D activities. The system consolidates a large amount of information available on the web and presents it to users in the simplest way possible. (authors)« less

Korean adolescents' perceptions of nutrition and health towards fast foods in Busan area

PubMed Central

Yoon, Ji-young; Lee, Kyung-a

2008-01-01

Adolescents in Busan area were asked in a survey about their perception and attitudes towards fast food. Most respondents answered that they consume fast food once a month because it is fast, easily accessible and tasty. Although they perceived fast food as unhealthy and less nutritious, they were less aware of its effect on their health and nutritional status. The more knowledgeable respondents were about nutrition and health the less likely they were to choose fast food over other meals. However, respondents who had little or no knowledge about the nutritional factors of fast food accounted for 43.1%. As to their source of dietary information, students relied on themselves (31.0%), parents (20.5%) and friends (19.9%). The medium through which students got the most nutrition and health information was television (66.8%), followed by the Internet (36.7%) and magazines (29.7%). This study will enable educators to plan more effective strategies for improving the dietary knowledge of the adolescent population. PMID:20126603

A qualitative content analysis of knowledge storage in nursing education system.

PubMed

Karimi Moonaghi, Hossein; Ahanchian, Mohammad Reza; Hassanian, Zahra Marzieh

2014-10-01

The need for effective management of intellectual and academic assets is constantly growing. The nursing educational system should be considered as a storage of knowledge since it is deposited in the nursing educational system in the form of intellectual investment. The purpose of the present study was to explore nursing knowledge storage in the nursing educational system. The participants of this study consisted of eight nursing educators and five students. The inductive content analysis method was used in this research. Participants were interviewed through the semi-structured method. Data analysis was done by five stage framework approaches. The trustworthiness of the study was ensured through validity and acceptability criteria. Data analysis showed that nursing educators and students were involve in teaching and learning activities by storing knowledge in subjective and objective forms. Knowledge was gained through the different educational activities of the nursing educators and through contact with their peers. Moreover, the nursing students gained knowledge for better learning and a more knowledgeable and advanced performance with the help of the educators. This study revealed the main components of knowledge storage. An enhanced preservation of explicit knowledge is recommended in the nursing educational system so that in the future, students and educators can easily access the same knowledge from storage sources and not from individuals who might be carrying only a single experience of the subject.

A Qualitative Content Analysis of Knowledge Storage in Nursing Education System

PubMed Central

Karimi Moonaghi, Hossein; Ahanchian, Mohammad Reza; Hassanian, Zahra Marzieh

2014-01-01

Background: The need for effective management of intellectual and academic assets is constantly growing. The nursing educational system should be considered as a storage of knowledge since it is deposited in the nursing educational system in the form of intellectual investment. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to explore nursing knowledge storage in the nursing educational system. Materials and Methods: The participants of this study consisted of eight nursing educators and five students. The inductive content analysis method was used in this research. Participants were interviewed through the semi-structured method. Data analysis was done by five stage framework approaches. The trustworthiness of the study was ensured through validity and acceptability criteria. Results: Data analysis showed that nursing educators and students were involve in teaching and learning activities by storing knowledge in subjective and objective forms. Knowledge was gained through the different educational activities of the nursing educators and through contact with their peers. Moreover, the nursing students gained knowledge for better learning and a more knowledgeable and advanced performance with the help of the educators. Conclusions: This study revealed the main components of knowledge storage. An enhanced preservation of explicit knowledge is recommended in the nursing educational system so that in the future, students and educators can easily access the same knowledge from storage sources and not from individuals who might be carrying only a single experience of the subject. PMID:25558388

Electronic digital display watch having solar and geographical functions

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

Salah, I.M.

1984-10-30

In order to provide easily accessible knowledge of the correlations between time, the geographical locale and the solar positions, the watch in question in addition to time-keeping means capable of displaying the current time also provides means capable of storing, processing in a microprocessor mode and displaying in a particular panel mode data of solar elevation and azimuth as well as date data, a computer performing correlating operations between these various values. Pushbuttons (BPH', BPM', BPB') allow using this watch in various operational and correction situations, and other pushbuttons (BPH, BPM, BPB) allow more specific commands for correction, for searchmore » operations regarding date and place based on the solar data, for storage and call from memory of the various processed data. This watch can easily be implemented as a small wrist watch. It will be advantageously used by those interested in knowing the solar positions, by solar facility engineers, architects, airline pilots, believers in the Moslem faith etc.« less

Whatever the cost? Information integration in memory-based inferences depends on cognitive effort.

PubMed

Hilbig, Benjamin E; Michalkiewicz, Martha; Castela, Marta; Pohl, Rüdiger F; Erdfelder, Edgar

2015-05-01

One of the most prominent models of probabilistic inferences from memory is the simple recognition heuristic (RH). The RH theory assumes that judgments are based on recognition in isolation, such that other information is ignored. However, some prior research has shown that available knowledge is not generally ignored. In line with the notion of adaptive strategy selection--and, thus, a trade-off between accuracy and effort--we hypothesized that information integration crucially depends on how easily accessible information beyond recognition is, how much confidence decision makers have in this information, and how (cognitively) costly it is to acquire it. In three experiments, we thus manipulated (a) the availability of information beyond recognition, (b) the subjective usefulness of this information, and (c) the cognitive costs associated with acquiring this information. In line with the predictions, we found that RH use decreased substantially, the more easily and confidently information beyond recognition could be integrated, and increased substantially with increasing cognitive costs.

Practical, microfabrication-free device for single-cell isolation.

PubMed

Lin, Liang-I; Chao, Shih-Hui; Meldrum, Deirdre R

2009-08-21

Microfabricated devices have great potential in cell-level studies, but are not easily accessible for the broad biology community. This paper introduces the Microscale Oil-Covered Cell Array (MOCCA) as a low-cost device for high throughput single-cell analysis that can be easily produced by researchers without microengineering knowledge. Instead of using microfabricated structures to capture cells, MOCCA isolates cells in discrete aqueous droplets that are separated by oil on patterned hydrophilic areas across a relatively more hydrophobic substrate. The number of randomly seeded Escherichia coli bacteria in each discrete droplet approaches single-cell levels. The cell distribution on MOCCA is well-fit with Poisson distribution. In this pioneer study, we created an array of 900-picoliter droplets. The total time needed to seed cells in approximately 3000 droplets was less than 10 minutes. Compared to traditional microfabrication techniques, MOCCA dramatically lowers the cost of microscale cell arrays, yet enhances the fabrication and operational efficiency for single-cell analysis.

[The QR code in society, economy and medicine--fields of application, options and chances].

PubMed

Flaig, Benno; Parzeller, Markus

2011-01-01

2D codes like the QR Code ("Quick Response") are becoming more and more common in society and medicine. The application spectrum and benefits in medicine and other fields are described. 2D codes can be created free of charge on any computer with internet access without any previous knowledge. The codes can be easily used in publications, presentations, on business cards and posters. Editors choose between contact details, text or a hyperlink as information behind the code. At expert conferences, linkage by QR Code allows the audience to download presentations and posters quickly. The documents obtained can then be saved, printed, processed etc. Fast access to stored data in the internet makes it possible to integrate additional and explanatory multilingual videos into medical posters. In this context, a combination of different technologies (printed handout, QR Code and screen) may be reasonable.

A web-based system architecture for ontology-based data integration in the domain of IT benchmarking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pfaff, Matthias; Krcmar, Helmut

2018-03-01

In the domain of IT benchmarking (ITBM), a variety of data and information are collected. Although these data serve as the basis for business analyses, no unified semantic representation of such data yet exists. Consequently, data analysis across different distributed data sets and different benchmarks is almost impossible. This paper presents a system architecture and prototypical implementation for an integrated data management of distributed databases based on a domain-specific ontology. To preserve the semantic meaning of the data, the ITBM ontology is linked to data sources and functions as the central concept for database access. Thus, additional databases can be integrated by linking them to this domain-specific ontology and are directly available for further business analyses. Moreover, the web-based system supports the process of mapping ontology concepts to external databases by introducing a semi-automatic mapping recommender and by visualizing possible mapping candidates. The system also provides a natural language interface to easily query linked databases. The expected result of this ontology-based approach of knowledge representation and data access is an increase in knowledge and data sharing in this domain, which will enhance existing business analysis methods.

Deciding with the eye: how the visually manipulated accessibility of information in memory influences decision behavior.

PubMed

Platzer, Christine; Bröder, Arndt; Heck, Daniel W

2014-05-01

Decision situations are typically characterized by uncertainty: Individuals do not know the values of different options on a criterion dimension. For example, consumers do not know which is the healthiest of several products. To make a decision, individuals can use information about cues that are probabilistically related to the criterion dimension, such as sugar content or the concentration of natural vitamins. In two experiments, we investigated how the accessibility of cue information in memory affects which decision strategy individuals rely on. The accessibility of cue information was manipulated by means of a newly developed paradigm, the spatial-memory-cueing paradigm, which is based on a combination of the looking-at-nothing phenomenon and the spatial-cueing paradigm. The results indicated that people use different decision strategies, depending on the validity of easily accessible information. If the easily accessible information is valid, people stop information search and decide according to a simple take-the-best heuristic. If, however, information that comes to mind easily has a low predictive validity, people are more likely to integrate all available cue information in a compensatory manner.

BioPortal: enhanced functionality via new Web services from the National Center for Biomedical Ontology to access and use ontologies in software applications.

PubMed

Whetzel, Patricia L; Noy, Natalya F; Shah, Nigam H; Alexander, Paul R; Nyulas, Csongor; Tudorache, Tania; Musen, Mark A

2011-07-01

The National Center for Biomedical Ontology (NCBO) is one of the National Centers for Biomedical Computing funded under the NIH Roadmap Initiative. Contributing to the national computing infrastructure, NCBO has developed BioPortal, a web portal that provides access to a library of biomedical ontologies and terminologies (http://bioportal.bioontology.org) via the NCBO Web services. BioPortal enables community participation in the evaluation and evolution of ontology content by providing features to add mappings between terms, to add comments linked to specific ontology terms and to provide ontology reviews. The NCBO Web services (http://www.bioontology.org/wiki/index.php/NCBO_REST_services) enable this functionality and provide a uniform mechanism to access ontologies from a variety of knowledge representation formats, such as Web Ontology Language (OWL) and Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) format. The Web services provide multi-layered access to the ontology content, from getting all terms in an ontology to retrieving metadata about a term. Users can easily incorporate the NCBO Web services into software applications to generate semantically aware applications and to facilitate structured data collection.

Interventional nephrology: Physical examination as a tool for surveillance for the hemodialysis arteriovenous access.

PubMed

Salman, Loay; Beathard, Gerald

2013-07-01

The prospective recognition of stenosis affecting dialysis vascular access and its prospective treatment is important in the management of the hemodialysis patient. Surveillance by physical examination is easily learned, easily performed, quickly done, and economical. In addition, it has a level of accuracy and reliability equivalent to other approaches that require special instrumentation. Physical examination should be part of any education to all hemodialysis care givers. This review presents the basic principles of physical examination of the hemodialysis vascular access and discusses the evidence behind its value.

Towards an Earth System Knowledge Environment Designed to Promote More Usable Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Killeen, T. L.

2006-12-01

It is abundantly clear that fundamental decisions about how to manage future human society will need to be informed by quantitative scientific analyses of processes, options, impacts, and responses. In fact, one could argue that the human experience into the foreseeable future will increasingly be tied to the integrating of information, understanding, and experiences to create knowledge and with it solutions to emerging problems as well as opportunities for further progress. This is particularly true for the Geosciences. Our scientific field, and by extension our Union, has a special responsibility for informing policy makers and the public about how the earth system functions and about the relationship between environmental stressors and human activities. In this regard, a greatly improved working interface between natural and social scientists is needed. In this talk, I argue that something like an "Earth System Knowledge Environment" or "Earth System Collaboratory" should be developed using modern information technologies to encapsulate and make accessible existing and emerging interdisciplinary knowledge of particular use to decision makers. Such a "work place" should be open to all and could provide access to observations, models and theories in ways that more easily allow for credible scientific understanding to be translated into policy options at all levels. Examples of fledgling efforts along these lines will be cited in areas such as severe weather impacts and climate change. The challenges involved in creating more usable scientific knowledge are, of course, quite significant and include major issues such as: institutional impediments to interdisciplinary research, the role of proprietary interests, the difficulties involved in working across the natural/social science boundary, and the challenge of developing the kind of human capital needed to effectively close the gap between good science and public policy.

Rich Language Analysis for Counterterrorism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guidère, Mathieu; Howard, Newton; Argamon, Shlomo

Accurate and relevant intelligence is critical for effective counterterrorism. Too much irrelevant information is as bad or worse than not enough information. Modern computational tools promise to provide better search and summarization capabilities to help analysts filter and select relevant and key information. However, to do this task effectively, such tools must have access to levels of meaning beyond the literal. Terrorists operating in context-rich cultures like fundamentalist Islam use messages with multiple levels of interpretation, which are easily misunderstood by non-insiders. This chapter discusses several kinds of such “encryption” used by terrorists and insurgents in the Arabic language, and how knowledge of such methods can be used to enhance computational text analysis techniques for use in counterterrorism.

Lunar e-Library: Putting Space History to Work

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McMahan, Tracy A.; Shea, Charlotte A.; Finckenor, Miria

2006-01-01

As NASA plans and implements the Vision for Space Exploration, managers, engineers, and scientists need historically important information that is readily available and easily accessed. The Lunar e-Library - a searchable collection of 1100 electronic (.PDF) documents - makes it easy to find critical technical data and lessons learned and put space history knowledge in action. The Lunar e-Library, a DVD knowledge database, was developed by NASA to shorten research time and put knowledge at users' fingertips. Funded by NASA's Space Environments and Effects (SEE) Program headquartered at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the MSFC Materials and Processes Laboratory, the goal of the Lunar e- Library effort was to identify key lessons learned from Apollo and other lunar programs and missions and to provide technical information from those programs in an easy-to-use format. The SEE Program began distributing the Lunar e-Library knowledge database in 2006. This paper describes the Lunar e-Library development process (including a description of the databases and resources used to acquire the documents) and the contents of the DVD product, demonstrates its usefulness with focused searches, and provides information on how to obtain this free resource.

[Distance learning in postgraduate training of professionals. Example of occupational medicine specialization].

PubMed

Marcinkiewicz, Andrzej; Cybart, Adam; Chromińska-Szosland, Dorota

2002-01-01

The rapid development of science, technology, economy and the society has one along with the wide recognition of lifelong education and learning society concepts. Scientific centres worldwide conduct research how the access to the information and multimedia technology could bring about positive changes in our lives including improvement in education and the learning environment. Mankind development in conformity with social progress and sustainable development faces a new educational concept of learning society and open education in the information age, supported with multimedia and data processing technology. Constrains in resources availability for broadening the access to education had led to search for alternative, more time and cost-effective systems of education. One of them is distance learning, applied with success in many countries. The benefits of distance learning are well proven and can be extended to occupational medicine. Major advantages include: the integration of studies with work experience, flexibility, allowing studies to be matched to work requirements, perceived work and leisure timing, continuity of career progression. Likewise is in Poland this form of education becomes more and more popular. The distance education systems have been seen as an investment in human resource development. The vast variety of courses and educational stages makes possible the modern method of knowledge to be easily accessible. Experience of the School of Public Health in Łódź in distance learning had shown remarkable benefits of the method with comparable quality of intramural and distance learning in respect of the knowledge and experience gained by students.

Using information communication technologies to increase the institutional capacity of local health organisations in Africa: a case study of the Kenya Civil Society Portal for Health.

PubMed

Juma, Charles; Sundsmo, Aaron; Maket, Boniface; Powell, Richard; Aluoch, Gilbert

2015-01-01

Achieving the healthcare components of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals is significantly premised on effective service delivery by civil society organisations (CSOs). However, many CSOs across Africalack the necessary capacity to perform this role robustly. This paper reports on an evaluation of the use, and perceived impact, of aknowledge management tool upon institutional strengthening among CSOs working in Kenya's health sector. Three methods were used: analytics data; user satisfaction surveys; and a furtherkey informant survey. Satisfaction with the portal was consistently high, with 99% finding the quality and relevance of the content very good or good for institutional strengthening standards, governance, and planning and resource mobilisation. Critical facilitators to the success of knowledge management for CSO institutional strengthening were identified as people/culture (developed resources and organisational narratives) and technology (easily accessible, enabling information exchange, tools/resources available, access to consultants/partners). Critical barriers were identified as people/culture (database limitations, materials limitations, and lack of active users), and process (limited access, limited interactions, and limited approval process). This pilot study demonstrated the perceived utility of a web-based knowledge management portal among developing nations' CSOs, with widespread satisfaction across multiple domains, which increased over time. Providing increased opportunities for collective mutual learning, promoting a culture of data use for decision making, and encouraging all health organisations to be learning institutions should be a priority for those interested in promoting sustainable long-term solutions for Africa.

Mental health problems of undocumented migrants (UMs) in the Netherlands: a qualitative exploration of help-seeking behaviour and experiences with primary care

PubMed Central

Teunissen, Erik; Sherally, Jamilah; van den Muijsenbergh, Maria; Dowrick, Chris; van Weel-Baumgarten, Evelyn; van Weel, Chris

2014-01-01

Objective To explore health-seeking behaviour and experiences of undocumented migrants (UMs) in general practice in relation to mental health problems. Design Qualitative study using semistructured interviews and thematic analysis. Participants 15 UMs in the Netherlands, varying in age, gender, country of origin and education; inclusion until theoretical saturation was reached. Setting 4 cities in the Netherlands. Results UMs consider mental health problems to be directly related to their precarious living conditions. For support, they refer to friends and religion first, the general practitioner (GP) is their last resort. Barriers for seeking help include taboo on mental health problems, lack of knowledge of and trust in GPs competencies regarding mental health and general barriers in accessing healthcare as an UM (lack of knowledge of the right to access healthcare, fear of prosecution, financial constraints and practical difficulties). Once access has been gained, satisfaction with care is high. This is primarily due to the attitude of the GPs and the effectiveness of the treatment. Reasons for dissatisfaction with GP care are an experienced lack of time, lack of personal attention and absence of physical examination. Expectations of the GP vary, medication for mental health problems is not necessarily seen as a good practice. Conclusions UMs often see their precarious living conditions as an important determinant of their mental health; they do not easily seek help for mental health problems and various barriers hamper access to healthcare for them. Rather than for medication, UMs are looking for encouragement and support from their GP. We recommend that barriers experienced in seeking professional care are tackled at an institutional level as well as at the level of GP. PMID:25416057

A Simple and Novel Method to Attain Retrograde Ureteral Access after Previous Cohen Cross-Trigonal Ureteral Reimplantation

PubMed Central

Adam, Ahmed

2017-01-01

Objective To describe a simple, novel method to achieve ureteric access in the Cohen crossed reimplanted ureter, which will allow retrograde working access via the conventional transurethral method. Materials and Methods Under cystoscopic vision, suprapubic needle puncture was performed. The needle was directed (bevel facing) towards the desired ureteric orifice (UO). A guidewire (with a floppy-tip) was then inserted into the suprapubic needle passing into the bladder, and then easily passed into the crossed-reimplanted UO. The distal end of the guidewire was then removed through the urethra with cystoscopic grasping forceps. The straightened ureter then easily facilitated ureteroscopy access, retrograde pyelogram studies, and JJ stent insertion in a conventional transurethral method. Results The UO and ureter were aligned in a more conventional orthotopic course, to allow for conventional transurethral working access. Conclusion A novel method to access the Cohen crossed reimplanted ureter was described. All previously published methods of accessing the crossed ureter were critically appraised. PMID:29463976

FAIR principles and the IEDB: short-term improvements and a long-term vision of OBO-foundry mediated machine-actionable interoperability

PubMed Central

Vita, Randi; Overton, James A; Mungall, Christopher J; Sette, Alessandro

2018-01-01

Abstract The Immune Epitope Database (IEDB), at www.iedb.org, has the mission to make published experimental data relating to the recognition of immune epitopes easily available to the scientific public. By presenting curated data in a searchable database, we have liberated it from the tables and figures of journal articles, making it more accessible and usable by immunologists. Recently, the principles of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability have been formulated as goals that data repositories should meet to enhance the usefulness of their data holdings. We here examine how the IEDB complies with these principles and identify broad areas of success, but also areas for improvement. We describe short-term improvements to the IEDB that are being implemented now, as well as a long-term vision of true ‘machine-actionable interoperability’, which we believe will require community agreement on standardization of knowledge representation that can be built on top of the shared use of ontologies. PMID:29688354

Making a web based ulcer record work by aligning architecture, legislation and users - a formative evaluation study.

PubMed

Ekeland, Anne G; Skipenes, Eva; Nyheim, Beate; Christiansen, Ellen K

2011-01-01

The University Hospital of North Norway selected a web-based ulcer record used in Denmark, available from mobile phones. Data was stored in a common database and easily accessible. According to Norwegian legislation, only employees of the organization that owns an IT system can access the system, and use of mobile units requires strong security solutions. The system had to be changed. The paper addresses interactions in order to make the system legal, and assesses regulations that followed. By addressing conflicting scripts and the contingent nature of knowledge, we conducted a formative evaluation aiming at improving the object being studied. Participatory observation in a one year process, minutes from meetings and information from participants, constitute the data material. In the technological domain, one database was replaced by four. In the health care delivery domain, easy access was replaced by a more complicated log on procedure, and in the domain of law and security, a clarification of risk levels was obtained, thereby allowing for access by mobile phones with today's authentication mechanisms. Flexibility concerning predefined scripts was important in all domains. Changes were made that improved the platform for further development of legitimate communication of patient data via mobile units. The study also shows the value of formative evaluations in innovations.

An information technology infrastructure to enable evidence-based nursing practice.

PubMed

Pochciol, Joan M; Warren, Joan I

2009-01-01

The movement toward evidence-based practice (EBP) poses new organizational challenges to provide the necessary infrastructure to promote effective nursing interventions based on the best available evidence. The purpose of this article is to describe a collaborative effort between nursing and library services to provide readily accessible information at the bedside to support nurses using the best available evidence. In collaboration with nursing, the Health Services Librarian created an information resource titled "Research-based Nursing Practice: Finding the Evidence," which enables nursing staff to access the resources at the bedside without having to perform lengthy searches. Every known resource that will educate nurses in defining EBP to providing them with the links to Web sites, published articles, and all the information resources is included in the tool. Much has been written about building the organizational infrastructure to promote EBP and finding the filtered, synthesized research evidence, but to our knowledge, little has been published on building the information technology infrastructure, which will give nurses real-time access at the point-of-care to the research evidence. The research-based nursing practice system is helping bridge the gap between evidence-based resources and practice by compiling the literature in one place and making it easily and readily accessible.

Integration of object-oriented knowledge representation with the CLIPS rule based system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Logie, David S.; Kamil, Hasan

1990-01-01

The paper describes a portion of the work aimed at developing an integrated, knowledge based environment for the development of engineering-oriented applications. An Object Representation Language (ORL) was implemented in C++ which is used to build and modify an object-oriented knowledge base. The ORL was designed in such a way so as to be easily integrated with other representation schemes that could effectively reason with the object base. Specifically, the integration of the ORL with the rule based system C Language Production Systems (CLIPS), developed at the NASA Johnson Space Center, will be discussed. The object-oriented knowledge representation provides a natural means of representing problem data as a collection of related objects. Objects are comprised of descriptive properties and interrelationships. The object-oriented model promotes efficient handling of the problem data by allowing knowledge to be encapsulated in objects. Data is inherited through an object network via the relationship links. Together, the two schemes complement each other in that the object-oriented approach efficiently handles problem data while the rule based knowledge is used to simulate the reasoning process. Alone, the object based knowledge is little more than an object-oriented data storage scheme; however, the CLIPS inference engine adds the mechanism to directly and automatically reason with that knowledge. In this hybrid scheme, the expert system dynamically queries for data and can modify the object base with complete access to all the functionality of the ORL from rules.

Effectiveness of a Technology-Based Injury Prevention Program for Enhancing Mothers’ Knowledge of Child Safety: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Chow, Chun Bong; Wong, Wilfred Hing-Sang; Leung, Wing Cheong; Tang, Mary Hoi-Yin; Chan, Ko Ling; Or, Calvin KL; Li, Tim MH; Ho, Frederick Ka Wing; Lo, Daniel

2016-01-01

Background Provision of anticipatory guidance for parents is recommended as an effective strategy to prevent injuries among young children. Technology-based anticipatory guidance has been suggested to reinforce the effectiveness of injury prevention and improve parents’ knowledge of child safety. Objective This study aims to examine the effectiveness of a technology-based injury prevention program with parental anticipatory guidance for enhancing mothers’ knowledge of child safety. Methods In this randomized controlled trial, 308 mothers will be recruited from the antenatal clinics and postnatal wards of two major public hospitals in Hong Kong. Participating mothers will be randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. Mothers in the intervention group will be given free access to a technology-based injury prevention program with anticipatory guidance, whereas mothers in the control group will be given a relevant booklet on parenting. The injury prevention program, available as a website or on a mobile app, includes behavioral components based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. The primary outcome measure will be the change in the mother’s knowledge of child safety. The secondary outcome measures will be age-appropriate domestic safety knowledge, attitudes, intentions, perceived behavioral control, and self-reported behavior related to home safety practice. We will also determine dose-response relationships between the outcome measures and the website and mobile app usage. Results Enrolment of participants will begin in October 2016. Results are expected by June 2018. Conclusions Parents will be able to easily access the domestic injury prevention website to find information regarding child injury prevention. It is anticipated that the technology-based intervention will help parents improve their knowledge of child safety and raise their awareness about the consequences of domestic injuries and the importance of prevention. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02835768; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02835768 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation/6lbXYM6b9) PMID:27799138

A prototype knowledge-based simulation support system

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

Hill, T.R.; Roberts, S.D.

1987-04-01

As a preliminary step toward the goal of an intelligent automated system for simulation modeling support, we explore the feasibility of the overall concept by generating and testing a prototypical framework. A prototype knowledge-based computer system was developed to support a senior level course in industrial engineering so that the overall feasibility of an expert simulation support system could be studied in a controlled and observable setting. The system behavior mimics the diagnostic (intelligent) process performed by the course instructor and teaching assistants, finding logical errors in INSIGHT simulation models and recommending appropriate corrective measures. The system was programmed inmore » a non-procedural language (PROLOG) and designed to run interactively with students working on course homework and projects. The knowledge-based structure supports intelligent behavior, providing its users with access to an evolving accumulation of expert diagnostic knowledge. The non-procedural approach facilitates the maintenance of the system and helps merge the roles of expert and knowledge engineer by allowing new knowledge to be easily incorporated without regard to the existing flow of control. The background, features and design of the system are describe and preliminary results are reported. Initial success is judged to demonstrate the utility of the reported approach and support the ultimate goal of an intelligent modeling system which can support simulation modelers outside the classroom environment. Finally, future extensions are suggested.« less

D and D knowledge management information tool - a web based system developed to share D and D knowledge worldwide

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

Lagos, L.; Upadhyay, H.; Shoffner, P.

2013-07-01

Deactivation and decommissioning (D and D) work is a high risk and technically challenging enterprise within the U.S. Department of Energy complex. During the past three decades, the DOE's Office of Environmental Management has been in charge of carrying out one of the largest environmental restoration efforts in the world: the cleanup of the Manhattan Project legacy. In today's corporate world, worker experiences and knowledge that have developed over time represent a valuable corporate asset. The ever-dynamic workplace, coupled with an aging workforce, presents corporations with the ongoing challenge of preserving work-related experiences and knowledge for cross-generational knowledge transfer tomore » the future workforce [5]. To prevent the D and D knowledge base and expertise from being lost over time, the DOE and the Applied Research Center at Florida International University (FIU) have developed the web-based Knowledge Management Information Tool (KM-IT) to capture and maintain this valuable information in a universally available and easily accessible and usable system. The D and D KM-IT was developed in collaboration with DOE Headquarters (HQ), the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG), and the ALARA [as low as reasonably achievable] Centers at Savannah River Sites to preserve the D and D information generated and collected by the D and D community. This is an open secured system that can be accessed from https://www.dndkm.org over the web and through mobile devices at https://m.dndkm.org. This knowledge system serves as a centralized repository and provides a common interface for D and D-related activities. It also improves efficiency by reducing the need to rediscover knowledge and promotes the reuse of existing knowledge. It is a community-driven system that facilitates the gathering, analyzing, storing, and sharing of knowledge and information within the D and D community. It assists the DOE D and D community in identifying potential solutions to their problem areas by using the vast resources and knowledge base available throughout the global D and D community. The D and D KM-IT offers a mechanism to the global D and D community for searching relevant D and D information and is focused on providing a single point of access into the collective knowledge base of the D and D community within and outside of the DOE. Collecting information from subject matter specialists, it builds a knowledge repository for future reference archiving Lessons Learned, Best Practices, ALARA reports, and other relevant documents and maintains a secured collaboration platform for the global D and D community to share knowledge. With the dynamic nature and evolution of the D and D knowledge base due to multiple factors such as changes in the workforce, new technologies and methodologies, economics, and regulations, the D and D KM-IT is being developed in a phased and modular fashion. (authors)« less

Knowledge acquisition in the fuzzy knowledge representation framework of a medical consultation system.

PubMed

Boegl, Karl; Adlassnig, Klaus-Peter; Hayashi, Yoichi; Rothenfluh, Thomas E; Leitich, Harald

2004-01-01

This paper describes the fuzzy knowledge representation framework of the medical computer consultation system MedFrame/CADIAG-IV as well as the specific knowledge acquisition techniques that have been developed to support the definition of knowledge concepts and inference rules. As in its predecessor system CADIAG-II, fuzzy medical knowledge bases are used to model the uncertainty and the vagueness of medical concepts and fuzzy logic reasoning mechanisms provide the basic inference processes. The elicitation and acquisition of medical knowledge from domain experts has often been described as the most difficult and time-consuming task in knowledge-based system development in medicine. It comes as no surprise that this is even more so when unfamiliar representations like fuzzy membership functions are to be acquired. From previous projects we have learned that a user-centered approach is mandatory in complex and ill-defined knowledge domains such as internal medicine. This paper describes the knowledge acquisition framework that has been developed in order to make easier and more accessible the three main tasks of: (a) defining medical concepts; (b) providing appropriate interpretations for patient data; and (c) constructing inferential knowledge in a fuzzy knowledge representation framework. Special emphasis is laid on the motivations for some system design and data modeling decisions. The theoretical framework has been implemented in a software package, the Knowledge Base Builder Toolkit. The conception and the design of this system reflect the need for a user-centered, intuitive, and easy-to-handle tool. First results gained from pilot studies have shown that our approach can be successfully implemented in the context of a complex fuzzy theoretical framework. As a result, this critical aspect of knowledge-based system development can be accomplished more easily.

ExpoCastDB: A Publicly Accessible Database for Observational Exposure Data

EPA Science Inventory

The application of environmental informatics tools for human health risk assessment will require the development of advanced exposure information technology resources. Exposure data for chemicals is often not readily accessible. There is a pressing need for easily accessible, che...

[Gustav Simon--Surgery of the kidneys].

PubMed

Moll, F; Rathert, P

2005-02-01

In the English-speaking world anthologies about "classic works in urology" have been en vogue for years and have been published several times, but they do not exist in Germany. Due to the short half-life of knowledge, these pioneering publications were forgotten and are not readily available or easily accessible. Furthermore, for reasons of preservation libraries do not allow borrowing these old books or copying them. These articles thus remain inaccessible to the public. The work of the famous Gustav Simon ranks along with Nitze's "Kystoscopy" among the most important works for our specialty. The Museum and Archives of the German Urologic Society, located at the head office in Dusseldorf, has a well-renowned collection of papers, monographs, and books from across the centuries.

High-precision QCD at hadron colliders:electroweak gauge boson rapidity distributions at NNLO

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

Anastasiou, C.

2004-01-05

We compute the rapidity distributions of W and Z bosons produced at the Tevatron and the LHC through next-to-next-to leading order in QCD. Our results demonstrate remarkable stability with respect to variations of the factorization and renormalization scales for all values of rapidity accessible in current and future experiments. These processes are therefore ''gold-plated'': current theoretical knowledge yields QCD predictions accurate to better than one percent. These results strengthen the proposal to use $W$ and $Z$ production to determine parton-parton luminosities and constrain parton distribution functions at the LHC. For example, LHC data should easily be able to distinguish themore » central parton distribution fit obtained by MRST from that obtained by Alekhin.« less

The potential diagnostic power of circulating tumor cell analysis for non-small-cell lung cancer.

PubMed

Ross, Kirsty; Pailler, Emma; Faugeroux, Vincent; Taylor, Melissa; Oulhen, Marianne; Auger, Nathalie; Planchard, David; Soria, Jean-Charles; Lindsay, Colin R; Besse, Benjamin; Vielh, Philippe; Farace, Françoise

2015-01-01

In non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), genotyping tumor biopsies for targetable somatic alterations has become routine practice. However, serial biopsies have limitations: they may be technically difficult or impossible and could incur serious risks to patients. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) offer an alternative source for tumor analysis that is easily accessible and presents the potential to identify predictive biomarkers to tailor therapies on a personalized basis. Examined here is our current knowledge of CTC detection and characterization in NSCLC and their potential role in EGFR-mutant, ALK-rearranged and ROS1-rearranged patients. This is followed by discussion of the ongoing issues such as the question of CTC partnership as diagnostic tools in NSCLC.

Spreadsheet log analysis in subsurface geology

USGS Publications Warehouse

Doveton, J.H.

2000-01-01

Most of the direct knowledge of the geology of the subsurface is gained from the examination of core and drill-cuttings recovered from boreholes drilled by the petroleum and water industries. Wireline logs run in these same boreholes generally have been restricted to tasks of lithostratigraphic correlation and thee location of hydrocarbon pay zones. However, the range of petrophysical measurements has expanded markedly in recent years, so that log traces now can be transformed to estimates of rock composition. Increasingly, logs are available in a digital format that can be read easily by a desktop computer and processed by simple spreadsheet software methods. Taken together, these developments offer accessible tools for new insights into subsurface geology that complement the traditional, but limited, sources of core and cutting observations.

Using information communication technologies to increase the institutional capacity of local health organisations in Africa: a case study of the Kenya Civil Society Portal for Health

PubMed Central

Juma, Charles; Sundsmo, Aaron; Maket, Boniface; Powell, Richard; Aluoch, Gilbert

2015-01-01

Introduction Achieving the healthcare components of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals is significantly premised on effective service delivery by civil society organisations (CSOs). However, many CSOs across Africalack the necessary capacity to perform this role robustly. This paper reports on an evaluation of the use, and perceived impact, of aknowledge management tool upon institutional strengthening among CSOs working in Kenya's health sector. Methods Three methods were used: analytics data; user satisfaction surveys; and a furtherkey informant survey. Results Satisfaction with the portal was consistently high, with 99% finding the quality and relevance of the content very good or good for institutional strengthening standards, governance, and planning and resource mobilisation. Critical facilitators to the success of knowledge management for CSO institutional strengthening were identified as people/culture (developed resources and organisational narratives) and technology (easily accessible, enabling information exchange, tools/resources available, access to consultants/partners). Critical barriers were identified as people/culture (database limitations, materials limitations, and lack of active users), and process (limited access, limited interactions, and limited approval process). Conclusion This pilot study demonstrated the perceived utility of a web-based knowledge management portal among developing nations’ CSOs, with widespread satisfaction across multiple domains, which increased over time. Providing increased opportunities for collective mutual learning, promoting a culture of data use for decision making, and encouraging all health organisations to be learning institutions should be a priority for those interested in promoting sustainable long-term solutions for Africa. PMID:26401217

What Remains on Your Mind After You Are Done?: Flexible Regulation of Knowledge Accessibility

PubMed Central

Hedberg, Per H.; Higgins, E. Tory

2011-01-01

The accessibility of stored knowledge has been found to decline over time after activation without further stimulation. A special case is goal pursuit; goal-related knowledge remains accessible until goal completion, and then its accessibility declines rapidly. We hypothesized that after goal completion the decline in accessibility of goal-related knowledge would be especially rapid for strong promotion-focused individuals because their motivation to eagerly advance beyond the status quo would make accessibility of this knowledge an irrelevant detriment. We hypothesized an opposite effect for strongly prevention-predominant individuals because their motivation to vigilantly maintain a satisfactory state would make accessibility of this knowledge continually relevant. The results of two studies supported both these predicted moderators of accessibility change. Indeed, we found that for strongly prevention-predominant participants, knowledge accessibility actually increased over time after goal completion. We discuss how even basic cognitive mechanisms, like changes in accessibility, can be affected by general motivational concerns. PMID:21765541

Establishing Community Learning and Information Centers (CLICs) in Underserved Malian Communities. Final Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Academy for Educational Development, 2005

2005-01-01

The purpose of the Community Learning and Information Center (CLIC) project was "to accelerate economic, social and political growth by providing residents in twelve underserved Malian communities with access to easily accessible development information and affordable access to information and communication technology (ICT), high-value…

E-learning for grass-roots emergency public health personnel: Preliminary lessons from a national program in China.

PubMed

Xu, Wangquan; Jiang, Qicheng; Qin, Xia; Fang, Guixia; Hu, Zhi

2016-07-19

In China, grass-roots emergency public health personnel have relatively limited emergency response capabilities and they are constantly required to update their professional knowledge and skills due to recurring and new public health emergencies. However, professional training, a principal solution to this problem, is inadequate because of limitations in manpower and financial resources at grass-roots public health agencies. In order to provide a cost-effective and easily expandable way for grass-roots personnel to acquire knowledge and skills, the National Health Planning Commission of China developed an emergency response information platform and provided trial access to this platform in Anhui and Heilongjiang provinces in China. E-learning was one of the modules of the platform and this paper has focused on an e-learning pilot program. Results indicated that e-learning had satisfactorily improved the knowledge and ability of grass-roots emergency public health personnel, and the program provided an opportunity to gain experience in e-course design and implementing e-learning. Issues such as the lack of personalized e-courses and the difficulty of evaluating the effectiveness of e-learning are topics for further study.

The Challenges of Searching, Finding, Reading, Understanding and Using Mars Mission Datasets for Science Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Jeffrey R.

2006-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the problems that non-mission researchers have in accessing data to use in their analysis of Mars. The increasing complexity of Mars datasets results in custom software development by instrument teams that is often the only means to visualize and analyze the data. The solutions to the problem are to continue efforts toward synergizing data from multiple missions and making the data, s/w, derived products available in standardized, easily-accessible formats, encourage release of "lite" versions of mission-related software prior to end-of-mission, and planetary image data should be systematically processed in a coordinated way and made available in an easily accessed form. The recommendations of Mars Environmental GIS Workshop are reviewed.

Embedding online patient record access in UK primary care: a survey of stakeholder experiences.

PubMed

Pagliari, Claudia; Shand, Tim; Fisher, Brian

2012-05-01

To explore the integration of online patient Record Access within UK Primary Care, its perceived impacts on workload and service quality, and barriers to implementation. Mixed format survey of clinicians, administrators and patients. Telephone interviews with non-users. Primary care centres within NHS England that had offered online record access for the preceding year. Of the 57 practices initially agreeing to pilot the system, 32 had adopted it and 16 of these returned questionnaires. The 42 individual respondents included 14 practice managers, 15 clinicians and 13 patients. Follow-up interviews were conducted with one participant from 15 of the 25 non-adopter practices. Most professionals believed that the system is easy to integrate within primary care; while most patients found it easy to integrate within their daily lives. Professionals perceived no increase in the volume of patient queries or clinical consultations as a result of Record Access; indeed some believed that these had decreased. Most clinicians and patients believed that the service had improved mutual trust, communication, patients' health knowledge and health behaviour. Inhibiting factors included concerns about security, liability and resource requirements. Non-adoption was most frequently attributed to competing priorities, rather than negative beliefs about the service. Record access has an important role to play in supporting patient-focused healthcare policies in the UK and may be easily accommodated within existing services. Additional materials to facilitate patient recruitment, inform system set-up processes, and assure clinicians of their legal position are likely to encourage more widespread adoption.

Simplified Metadata Curation via the Metadata Management Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shum, D.; Pilone, D.

2015-12-01

The Metadata Management Tool (MMT) is the newest capability developed as part of NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System's (EOSDIS) efforts to simplify metadata creation and improve metadata quality. The MMT was developed via an agile methodology, taking into account inputs from GCMD's science coordinators and other end-users. In its initial release, the MMT uses the Unified Metadata Model for Collections (UMM-C) to allow metadata providers to easily create and update collection records in the ISO-19115 format. Through a simplified UI experience, metadata curators can create and edit collections without full knowledge of the NASA Best Practices implementation of ISO-19115 format, while still generating compliant metadata. More experienced users are also able to access raw metadata to build more complex records as needed. In future releases, the MMT will build upon recent work done in the community to assess metadata quality and compliance with a variety of standards through application of metadata rubrics. The tool will provide users with clear guidance as to how to easily change their metadata in order to improve their quality and compliance. Through these features, the MMT allows data providers to create and maintain compliant and high quality metadata in a short amount of time.

Factors influencing the use of outcome measures in physical therapy practice.

PubMed

Wedge, Frances M; Braswell-Christy, Jennifer; Brown, Cynthia J; Foley, Kathleen T; Graham, Cecilia; Shaw, Sharon

2012-02-01

Use of outcome measures in physical therapy practice is central to evaluating the effectiveness of treatment interventions, providing accountability and addressing quality of physical therapy programs. There is limited discussion on barriers and facilitators to using outcome measures in physical therapy practice. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence a physical therapist when deciding to use outcome measures in clinical practice. Participants were 21 physical therapists, seven each from skilled nursing facilities, outpatient clinics, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. A grounded theory approach was used for interview and data collection. Common themes were determined from the data and a theory developed to explain the rationale behind physical therapists' decisions to use or not use outcome measures in clinical practice. Three overlapping themes related to (1) concepts of time, (2) knowledge, and (3) facility culture were indentified as factors influencing the use of outcome measures. A fourth encompassing theme, professionalism, identified the value placed on the use of outcome measures in practice. Data revealed that therapists require more information on the outcome measures available, and this information needs to be easily accessible within the workplace. Therapists value information generated by using outcome measures in the clinical setting, but need information on what measures are available and psychometric properties. Information must be easily accessible and measures easy to use. Newer graduates and recent learners have a foundation in the use of outcome measures, but more needs to be done in the clinic and through continuing education to promote increased use and understanding.

What can Natural Language Processing do for Clinical Decision Support?

PubMed Central

Demner-Fushman, Dina; Chapman, Wendy W.; McDonald, Clement J.

2009-01-01

Computerized Clinical Decision Support (CDS) aims to aid decision making of health care providers and the public by providing easily accessible health-related information at the point and time it is needed. Natural Language Processing (NLP) is instrumental in using free-text information to drive CDS, representing clinical knowledge and CDS interventions in standardized formats, and leveraging clinical narrative. The early innovative NLP research of clinical narrative was followed by a period of stable research conducted at the major clinical centers and a shift of mainstream interest to biomedical NLP. This review primarily focuses on the recently renewed interest in development of fundamental NLP methods and advances in the NLP systems for CDS. The current solutions to challenges posed by distinct sublanguages, intended user groups, and support goals are discussed. PMID:19683066

A user-friendly mathematical modelling web interface to assist local decision making in the fight against drug-resistant tuberculosis.

PubMed

Ragonnet, Romain; Trauer, James M; Denholm, Justin T; Marais, Ben J; McBryde, Emma S

2017-05-30

Multidrug-resistant and rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) represent an important challenge for global tuberculosis (TB) control. The high rates of MDR/RR-TB observed among re-treatment cases can arise from diverse pathways: de novo amplification during initial treatment, inappropriate treatment of undiagnosed MDR/RR-TB, relapse despite appropriate treatment, or reinfection with MDR/RR-TB. Mathematical modelling allows quantification of the contribution made by these pathways in different settings. This information provides valuable insights for TB policy-makers, allowing better contextualised solutions. However, mathematical modelling outputs need to consider local data and be easily accessible to decision makers in order to improve their usefulness. We present a user-friendly web-based modelling interface, which can be used by people without technical knowledge. Users can input their own parameter values and produce estimates for their specific setting. This innovative tool provides easy access to mathematical modelling outputs that are highly relevant to national TB control programs. In future, the same approach could be applied to a variety of modelling applications, enhancing local decision making.

Owlready: Ontology-oriented programming in Python with automatic classification and high level constructs for biomedical ontologies.

PubMed

Lamy, Jean-Baptiste

2017-07-01

Ontologies are widely used in the biomedical domain. While many tools exist for the edition, alignment or evaluation of ontologies, few solutions have been proposed for ontology programming interface, i.e. for accessing and modifying an ontology within a programming language. Existing query languages (such as SPARQL) and APIs (such as OWLAPI) are not as easy-to-use as object programming languages are. Moreover, they provide few solutions to difficulties encountered with biomedical ontologies. Our objective was to design a tool for accessing easily the entities of an OWL ontology, with high-level constructs helping with biomedical ontologies. From our experience on medical ontologies, we identified two difficulties: (1) many entities are represented by classes (rather than individuals), but the existing tools do not permit manipulating classes as easily as individuals, (2) ontologies rely on the open-world assumption, whereas the medical reasoning must consider only evidence-based medical knowledge as true. We designed a Python module for ontology-oriented programming. It allows access to the entities of an OWL ontology as if they were objects in the programming language. We propose a simple high-level syntax for managing classes and the associated "role-filler" constraints. We also propose an algorithm for performing local closed world reasoning in simple situations. We developed Owlready, a Python module for a high-level access to OWL ontologies. The paper describes the architecture and the syntax of the module version 2. It details how we integrated the OWL ontology model with the Python object model. The paper provides examples based on Gene Ontology (GO). We also demonstrate the interest of Owlready in a use case focused on the automatic comparison of the contraindications of several drugs. This use case illustrates the use of the specific syntax proposed for manipulating classes and for performing local closed world reasoning. Owlready has been successfully used in a medical research project. It has been published as Open-Source software and then used by many other researchers. Future developments will focus on the support of vagueness and additional non-monotonic reasoning feature, and automatic dialog box generation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of a digital platform for sharing knowledge on headache management: a two-year experience.

PubMed

Raieli, Vincenzo; Correnti, E; Sandullo, A; Romano, M; Marchese, F; Loiacono, C; Brighina, Filippo

It is crucial that all headache specialists receive adequate training. Considering the unsatisfactory results obtained with standard updating courses and the growing need for continuing professional education, a digital platform was developed as a training tool. The platform has been active since 1 October 2014. It is readily accessible to doctors by free registration. Users have access to all the material available on the platform, which includes scientific articles, e-books, presentations and images. Users can share their own material and clinical cases directly. At the time of this study, the platform had 37 users. In the second year following its launch 316 files were downloaded and five discussions were started. These saw 22 contributions. Fifteen of the 37 members did not perform any action on the platform. In total, 74 files were uploaded in the second year of activity, but 90% of the contributions came from a very small group of users. There were no significant differences in use of the platform between members of the Italian Society for the Study of Headache and other specialists. Even though the platform appears to be an easily accessible, interactive and inexpensive instrument, the higher number of downloads than uploads suggests that it is used passively.

Digital Object Identifiers (DOI's) usage and adoption in U.S Geological Survey (USGS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frame, M. T.; Palanisamy, G.

2013-12-01

Addressing grand environmental science challenges requires unprecedented access to easily understood data that cross the breadth of temporal, spatial, and thematic scales. From a scientist's perspective, the big challenges lie in discovering the relevant data, dealing with extreme data heterogeneity, large data volumes, and converting data to information and knowledge. Historical linkages between derived products, i.e. Publications, and associated datasets has not existed in the earth science community. The USGS Core Science Analytics and Synthesis, in collaboration with DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Mercury Consortium (funded by NASA, USGS and DOE), established a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) service for USGS data, metadata, and other media. This service is offered in partnership through the University of California Digital Library EZID service. USGS scientists, data managers, and other professionals can generate globally unique, persistent and resolvable identifiers for any kind of digital objects. Additional efforts to assign DOIs to historical data and publications have also been underway. These DOI identifiers are being used to cite data in journal articles, web-accessible datasets, and other media for distribution, integration, and in support of improved data management practices. The session will discuss the current DOI efforts within USGS, including a discussion on adoption, challenges, and future efforts necessary to improve access, reuse, sharing, and discoverability of USGS data and information.

Insert Modifications Improve Access to Artificial Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Next Cavities

Treesearch

John W. Edwards; Ernest E. Stevens; Charles A. Dachelet

1997-01-01

A designfor a modified, artificial Red-cockaded Woodpecker(Picoides borealis) cavity insert is presented. This modification allowed eggs and young to be inspected easily, removed, and replaced throughout the nesting period. Modifications to cavity inserts are best done before installation, but can be easily retrofitted in existing artificial cavities...

PGen: large-scale genomic variations analysis workflow and browser in SoyKB.

PubMed

Liu, Yang; Khan, Saad M; Wang, Juexin; Rynge, Mats; Zhang, Yuanxun; Zeng, Shuai; Chen, Shiyuan; Maldonado Dos Santos, Joao V; Valliyodan, Babu; Calyam, Prasad P; Merchant, Nirav; Nguyen, Henry T; Xu, Dong; Joshi, Trupti

2016-10-06

With the advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology and significant reductions in sequencing costs, it is now possible to sequence large collections of germplasm in crops for detecting genome-scale genetic variations and to apply the knowledge towards improvements in traits. To efficiently facilitate large-scale NGS resequencing data analysis of genomic variations, we have developed "PGen", an integrated and optimized workflow using the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) high-performance computing (HPC) virtual system, iPlant cloud data storage resources and Pegasus workflow management system (Pegasus-WMS). The workflow allows users to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertion-deletions (indels), perform SNP annotations and conduct copy number variation analyses on multiple resequencing datasets in a user-friendly and seamless way. We have developed both a Linux version in GitHub ( https://github.com/pegasus-isi/PGen-GenomicVariations-Workflow ) and a web-based implementation of the PGen workflow integrated within the Soybean Knowledge Base (SoyKB), ( http://soykb.org/Pegasus/index.php ). Using PGen, we identified 10,218,140 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 1,398,982 indels from analysis of 106 soybean lines sequenced at 15X coverage. 297,245 non-synonymous SNPs and 3330 copy number variation (CNV) regions were identified from this analysis. SNPs identified using PGen from additional soybean resequencing projects adding to 500+ soybean germplasm lines in total have been integrated. These SNPs are being utilized for trait improvement using genotype to phenotype prediction approaches developed in-house. In order to browse and access NGS data easily, we have also developed an NGS resequencing data browser ( http://soykb.org/NGS_Resequence/NGS_index.php ) within SoyKB to provide easy access to SNP and downstream analysis results for soybean researchers. PGen workflow has been optimized for the most efficient analysis of soybean data using thorough testing and validation. This research serves as an example of best practices for development of genomics data analysis workflows by integrating remote HPC resources and efficient data management with ease of use for biological users. PGen workflow can also be easily customized for analysis of data in other species.

A diagnosis system using object-oriented fault tree models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iverson, David L.; Patterson-Hine, F. A.

1990-01-01

Spaceborne computing systems must provide reliable, continuous operation for extended periods. Due to weight, power, and volume constraints, these systems must manage resources very effectively. A fault diagnosis algorithm is described which enables fast and flexible diagnoses in the dynamic distributed computing environments planned for future space missions. The algorithm uses a knowledge base that is easily changed and updated to reflect current system status. Augmented fault trees represented in an object-oriented form provide deep system knowledge that is easy to access and revise as a system changes. Given such a fault tree, a set of failure events that have occurred, and a set of failure events that have not occurred, this diagnosis system uses forward and backward chaining to propagate causal and temporal information about other failure events in the system being diagnosed. Once the system has established temporal and causal constraints, it reasons backward from heuristically selected failure events to find a set of basic failure events which are a likely cause of the occurrence of the top failure event in the fault tree. The diagnosis system has been implemented in common LISP using Flavors.

Calcium orthophosphates and human beings

PubMed Central

Dorozhkin, Sergey V.

2012-01-01

The historical development of a scientific knowledge on calcium orthophosphates from the 1770s until 1940 is described. Many forgotten and poorly known historical facts and approaches have been extracted from old publications and then they have been analyzed, systematized and reconsidered from the modern point of view. The chosen time scale starts with the earliest available studies of 1770s (to the best of my findings, calcium orthophosphates had been unknown before), passes through the entire 19th century and finishes in 1940, because since then the amount of publications on calcium orthophosphates rapidly increases and the subject becomes too broad. Furthermore, since publications of the second half of the 20th century are easily accessible, a substantial amount of them have already been reviewed by other researchers. The reported historical findings clearly demonstrate that the substantial amount of the scientific facts and experimental approaches have been known for very many decades and, in fact, the considerable quantity of relatively recent investigations on calcium orthophosphates is just either a further development of the earlier studies or a rediscovery of the already forgotten knowledge. PMID:23507803

Disabled persons' knowledge of HIV prevention and access to health care prevention services in South Africa.

PubMed

Eide, Arne Henning; Schür, Clare; Ranchod, Chitra; Rohleder, Poul; Swartz, Leslie; Schneider, Marguerite

2011-12-01

The main research question in this article is how access to information about HIV/AIDS and level of HIV/AIDS prevention related knowledge are distributed among disabled people, and whether level of knowledge predicts access to HIV/AIDS related services. A survey was carried out among a sample of 285 disabled people from three provinces in South Africa. Analyses of the data revealed that gender and level of education, together with geographical differences, are key predictors for access to information and knowledge about HIV/AIDS among disabled people. For male respondents number of information sources predicts access to voluntary counselling and testing services and HIV testing, while knowledge about prevention predicts access to Voluntary Counselling and Testing centres. Significant gender differences with regards to information, knowledge and access to services highlight the need for gender specific prevention strategies among disabled people.

[Knowledge management system for laboratory work and clinical decision support].

PubMed

Inada, Masanori; Sato, Mayumi; Yoneyama, Akiko

2011-05-01

This paper discusses a knowledge management system for clinical laboratories. In the clinical laboratory of Toranomon Hospital, we receive about 20 questions relevant to laboratory tests per day from medical doctors or co-medical staff. These questions mostly involve the essence to appropriately accomplish laboratory tests. We have to answer them carefully and suitably because an incorrect answer may cause a medical accident. Up to now, no method has been in place to achieve a rapid response and standardized answers. For this reason, the laboratory staff have responded to various questions based on their individual knowledge. We began to develop a knowledge management system to promote the knowledge of staff working for the laboratory. This system is a type of knowledge base for assisting the work, such as inquiry management, laboratory consultation, process management, and clinical support. It consists of several functions: guiding laboratory test information, managing inquiries from medical staff, reporting results of patient consultation, distributing laboratory staffs notes, and recording guidelines for laboratory medicine. The laboratory test information guide has 2,000 records of medical test information registered in the database with flexible retrieval. The inquiry management tool provides a methos to record all questions, answer easily, and retrieve cases. It helps staff to respond appropriately in a short period of time. The consulting report system treats patients' claims regarding medical tests. The laboratory staffs notes enter a file management system so they can be accessed to aid in clinical support. Knowledge sharing using this function can achieve the transition from individual to organizational learning. Storing guidelines for laboratory medicine will support EBM. Finally, it is expected that this system will support intellectual activity concerning laboratory work and contribute to the practice of knowledge management for clinical work support.

Access to Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brunken, Anna; Delly, Pamela

2011-01-01

Changes to education in Australia have seen new government legislations increasing educational pathways so students can more easily enter university, the aim being to increase participation. Now, many domestic students utilise various pathways to access university. Some have undertaken basic Further Education Diplomas, received subject credits,…

NASA PDS IMG: Accessing Your Planetary Image Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padams, J.; Grimes, K.; Hollins, G.; Lavoie, S.; Stanboli, A.; Wagstaff, K.

2018-04-01

The Planetary Data System Cartography and Imaging Sciences Node provides a number of tools and services to integrate the 700+ TB of image data so information can be correlated across missions, instruments, and data sets and easily accessed by the science community.

Breakthrough Science Enabled by Regular Access to Orbits Beyond Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorjian, V.

2018-02-01

Regular launches to the Deep Space Gateway (DSG) will enable smallsats to access orbits not currently easily available to low cost missions. These orbits will allow great new science, especially when using the DSG as an optical hub for downlink.

A Theory of the Measurement of Knowledge Content, Access, and Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pirolli, Peter; Wilson, Mark

1998-01-01

An approach to the measurement of knowledge content, knowledge access, and knowledge learning is developed. First a theoretical view of cognition is described, and then a class of measurement models, based on Rasch modeling, is presented. Knowledge access and content are viewed as determining the observable actions selected by an agent to achieve…

Engineering 2.0: Exploring Lightweight Technologies for the Virtual Enterprise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larsson, Andreas; Ericson, Åsa; Larsson, Tobias; Isaksson, Ola; Bertoni, Marco

In a traditional business partnership, the partner companies are under contractual obligation to share data, information, and knowledge through one or several information systems that the leading firm decides. In such a case, the issue of sharing "whatever needs to be shared" is settled in contracts before any action is taken, however, also giving the implications that sharing expertise becomes a heavy and time-consuming activity. In turn, it can be argued that the heavy administration affects the lead time of product development negatively since the necessary input flows are delayed. In addition, the adaptation to certain predefined collaborative information systems is both expensive and resource-consuming (e.g., educating staff to use them). Also, the system might not be adaptable to the existing internal technology structure, causing a "translation" procedure, again taking up resources. Another structure for collaboration is a network or alliance of independent partner companies. One motivation for a network structure is that the partners can join or leave it more easily. A reason for joining and staying is an implicit sense of knowledge sharing (Tomkins 2001) and access to a "win-win" environment. Furthermore, the partners can be linked by information technology, i.e., forming a virtual ­structure rather than a physical one. The technologies provide the channels with additional knowledge. In a best-case scenario, a company would get access to a wide range of useful competences, and in a worst-case scenario the company would be drained of its core competences. Accordingly, at least two considerations for joining a partner network can be considered. First, the resources needed to couple the technologies have to be reasonable, due to the underpinning logic of going in and out of more than one network. Second, the company has to identify its knowledge base and evaluate the prospective gains and losses of sharing its expertise.

Spatial data available on the web at http://mrdata.usgs.gov/

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Bruce

2002-01-01

Earth science information is important to decisionmakers who formulate public policy related to mineral resource sustainability, land stewardship, environmental hazards, the economy, and public health. To meet the growing demand for easily accessible data, the Mineral Resources Program has developed, in cooperation with other Federal and State agencies, an Internet-based, data-delivery system that allows interested customers worldwide to download accurate, up-to-date mineral resource-related data at any time. All data in the system are spatially located and customers with Internet access and a modern Web browser can easily produce maps having user-defined overlays for any region of interest.

Easily disassembled electrical connector for high voltage, high frequency connections

DOEpatents

Milner, Joseph R.

1994-01-01

An easily accessible electrical connector capable of rapid assembly and disassembly wherein a wide metal conductor sheet may be evenly contacted over the entire width of the conductor sheet by opposing surfaces on the connector which provide an even clamping pressure against opposite surfaces of the metal conductor sheet using a single threaded actuating screw.

Oceans of Data: In what ways can learning research inform the development of electronic interfaces and tools for use by students accessing large scientific databases?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krumhansl, R. A.; Foster, J.; Peach, C. L.; Busey, A.; Baker, I.

2012-12-01

The practice of science and engineering is being revolutionized by the development of cyberinfrastructure for accessing near real-time and archived observatory data. Large cyberinfrastructure projects have the potential to transform the way science is taught in high school classrooms, making enormous quantities of scientific data available, giving students opportunities to analyze and draw conclusions from many kinds of complex data, and providing students with experiences using state-of-the-art resources and techniques for scientific investigations. However, online interfaces to scientific data are built by scientists for scientists, and their design can significantly impede broad use by novices. Knowledge relevant to the design of student interfaces to complex scientific databases is broadly dispersed among disciplines ranging from cognitive science to computer science and cartography and is not easily accessible to designers of educational interfaces. To inform efforts at bridging scientific cyberinfrastructure to the high school classroom, Education Development Center, Inc. and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography conducted an NSF-funded 2-year interdisciplinary review of literature and expert opinion pertinent to making interfaces to large scientific databases accessible to and usable by precollege learners and their teachers. Project findings are grounded in the fundamentals of Cognitive Load Theory, Visual Perception, Schemata formation and Universal Design for Learning. The Knowledge Status Report (KSR) presents cross-cutting and visualization-specific guidelines that highlight how interface design features can address/ ameliorate challenges novice high school students face as they navigate complex databases to find data, and construct and look for patterns in maps, graphs, animations and other data visualizations. The guidelines present ways to make scientific databases more broadly accessible by: 1) adjusting the cognitive load imposed by the user interface and visualizations so that it doesn't exceed the amount of information the learner can actively process; 2) drawing attention to important features and patterns; and 3) enabling customization of visualizations and tools to meet the needs of diverse learners.

Entomopathogen ID: a curated sequence resource for entomopathogenic fungi

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

We report the development of a publicly accessible, curated database of Hypocrealean entomopathogenic fungi sequence data. The goal is to provide a platform for users to easily access sequence data from reference strains. The database can be used to accurately identify unknown entomopathogenic fungi...

20. Perimeter acquisition radar building room #105, shockisolated platform for ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

20. Perimeter acquisition radar building room #105, shock-isolated platform for chillers is easily seen on the right - Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex, Perimeter Acquisition Radar Building, Limited Access Area, between Limited Access Patrol Road & Service Road A, Nekoma, Cavalier County, ND

Midwest Growers’ Mail Survey of Contributors to Migrant Health and Nutrition

PubMed Central

Kilanowski, Jill F.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to solicit information from farm owners (growers), as representatives of their farm businesses, regarding descriptive information on migrant camp housing that may contribute to the health and nutritional status of employed workers and their families. This cross–sectional descriptive mail survey was sent to 802 growers in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania via the US Postal Service. The growers were identified by an Internet search for licensed agricultural work camps in Midwest departments of agriculture. Response rate was 34%. Overall, growers reported a median of one migrant camp with 23 residents, employing workers seasonally for either 10 weeks or 6 months, with seven accompanying children on site. Individual kitchen appliances varied across the states, potentially influencing the preparation of healthy meals. Three themes were identified from the results. First, over one third of owners lacked or had limited knowledge about the health services available to migrant families. Second, migrant workers may have limited access to a variety of fresh produce for household meal preparation. Third, migrant children were unable to easily access public play areas, and families lacked recreational spaces in agricultural work camps. Play areas in migrant camps were mostly identified as open fields with little play equipment on site. Knowledge learned can influence future agricultural camp practices and the design of future research studies, and provide direction for grower education topics presented at agricultural conferences and by extension services. PMID:22994639

Accessible and informative sectioned images, color-coded images, and surface models of the ear.

PubMed

Park, Hyo Seok; Chung, Min Suk; Shin, Dong Sun; Jung, Yong Wook; Park, Jin Seo

2013-08-01

In our previous research, we created state-of-the-art sectioned images, color-coded images, and surface models of the human ear. Our ear data would be more beneficial and informative if they were more easily accessible. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to distribute the browsing software and the PDF file in which ear images are to be readily obtainable and freely explored. Another goal was to inform other researchers of our methods for establishing the browsing software and the PDF file. To achieve this, sectioned images and color-coded images of ear were prepared (voxel size 0.1 mm). In the color-coded images, structures related to hearing, equilibrium, and structures originated from the first and second pharyngeal arches were segmented supplementarily. The sectioned and color-coded images of right ear were added to the browsing software, which displayed the images serially along with structure names. The surface models were reconstructed to be combined into the PDF file where they could be freely manipulated. Using the browsing software and PDF file, sectional and three-dimensional shapes of ear structures could be comprehended in detail. Furthermore, using the PDF file, clinical knowledge could be identified through virtual otoscopy. Therefore, the presented educational tools will be helpful to medical students and otologists by improving their knowledge of ear anatomy. The browsing software and PDF file can be downloaded without charge and registration at our homepage (http://anatomy.dongguk.ac.kr/ear/). Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Tool and Application Programming Interface for Browsing Historical Geostationary Satellite Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chee, T.; Nguyen, L.; Minnis, P.; Spangenberg, D.; Ayers, J.

2013-12-01

Providing access to information is a key concern for NASA Langley Research Center. We describe a tool and method that allows end users to easily browse and access information that is otherwise difficult to acquire and manipulate. The tool described has as its core the application-programming interface that is made available to the public. One goal of the tool is to provide a demonstration to end users so that they can use the enhanced imagery as an input into their own work flows. This project builds upon NASA Langley Cloud and Radiation Group's experience with making real-time and historical satellite imagery accessible and easily searchable. As we see the increasing use of virtual supply chains that provide additional value at each link there is value in making satellite imagery available through a simple access method as well as allowing users to browse and view that imagery as they need rather than in a manner most convenient for the data provider.

Enabling New and More Transparent Science via DataONE—a Virtual Data Observation Network for Earth (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michener, W.

2010-12-01

Addressing grand environmental science challenges requires unprecedented access to easily understood data that cross the breadth of temporal, spatial, and thematic scales. From a scientist’s perspective, the big challenges lie in discovering the relevant data, dealing with extreme data heterogeneity, and converting data to information and knowledge. Addressing these challenges requires new approaches for managing, preserving, analyzing, and sharing data. DataONE is designed to be the foundation of new innovative environmental research that addresses questions of relevance to science and society. DataONE will ensure preservation and access to multi-scale, multi-discipline, and multi-national data. Operationally, DataONE encompasses a distributed global network of Member Nodes (i.e., data repositories) that provide open and persistent access to well-described and easily discovered Earth observational data. In addition, a smaller number of Coordinating Nodes (i.e., metadata repositories and service centers) support network-wide services such as data replication and access to an array of enabling tools. DataONE’s objectives are to: make biological data available from the genome to the ecosystem; make environmental data available from atmospheric, ecological, hydrological, and oceanographic sources; provide secure and long-term preservation and access; and engage scientists, land-managers, policy makers, students, educators, and the public through logical access and intuitive visualizations. The foundation for excellence of DataONE is the established collaboration among participating organizations that have multi-decade expertise in a wide range of fields that includes: existing archive initiatives, libraries, environmental observing systems and research networks, data and information management, science synthesis centers, and professional societies. DataONE is a means to serve a broad range of science domains directly and indirectly through interoperability with partnering networks. DataONE engages its community of partners through working groups focused on identifying, describing, and implementing the DataONE cyberinfrastructure, governance, and sustainability models. These working groups, which consist of a diverse group of graduate students, educators, government and industry representatives, and leading computer, information, and library scientists: (1) perform computer science, informatics, and social science research related to all stages of the data life cycle; (2) develop DataONE interfaces and prototypes; (3) adopt/adapt interoperability standards; (4) create value-added technologies (e.g., semantic mediation, scientific workflow, and visualization) that facilitate data integration, analysis, and understanding; (5) address socio-cultural barriers to sustainable data preservation and data sharing; and (6) promote the adoption of best practices for managing the full data life cycle.

Organizational Approaches to Managing Tacit Knowledge Loss of Legacy System Information Technology Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bitner, Michael

2012-01-01

Information Technology (IT) employment shortages may be related to employee retirement or normal attrition. Within IT job shortages, tacit knowledge is lost when employees retire or leave organizations. Tacit knowledge is unwritten or unspoken knowledge that is not easily articulated, and exists only with the individuals who obtain the knowledge…

Skin signs of primary immunodeficiencies: how to find the genes to check.

PubMed

Ettinger, M; Schreml, J; Wirsching, K; Berneburg, M; Schreml, S

2018-02-01

Primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) are a heterogeneous group of rare diseases that result from defects in immune system development and/or function. The clinical manifestations of PIDs are highly variable, but most disorders involve at least an increased susceptibility to infection. Furthermore, cutaneous manifestations are very common in PIDs. As an easily accessible organ, the skin can be crucial for early diagnosis and treatment. This is relevant for preventing significant disease-associated morbidity and mortality. We provide a table that enables the reader to find the possible diseases and corresponding gene defects based on the skin manifestations of the suspected PIDs. To our knowledge, this is the first review that allows the reader to find relevant PIDs and the respective gene defects through solitary or combined skin signs. © 2017 British Association of Dermatologists.

Facilitating Geoscience Education in Higher-Education Institutes Worldwide With GeoBrain -- An Online Learning and Research Environment for Classroom Innovations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, M.; di, L.

2006-12-01

Higher education in geosciences has imminent goals to prepare students with modern geoscience knowledge and skills to meet the increased demand on trained professionals for working on the big challenges faced by geoscience disciplines, such as the global environmental change, world energy supplies, sustainable development, etc. In order to reach the goal, the geoscience education in post-secondary institutes worldwide has to attract and retain enough students and to train students with knowledge and skills needed by the society. The classroom innovations that can encourage and support student investigations and research activities are key motivation mechanisms that help to reach the goal. This presentation describes the use of GeoBrain, an innovative geospatial knowledge system, as a powerful educating tool for motivating and facilitating innovative undergraduate and graduate teaching and research in geosciences. Developed in a NASA funded project, the GeoBrain system has adopted and implemented the latest Web services and knowledge management technologies for providing innovative methods in publishing, accessing, visualizing, and analyzing geospatial data and in building/sharing geoscience knowledge. It provides a data-rich online learning and research environment enabled by wealthy data and information available at NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Students, faculty members, and researchers from institutes worldwide can easily access, analyze, and model with the huge amount of NASA EOS data just like they possess such vast resources locally at their desktops. The online environment provided by GeoBrain has brought significant positive changes to geosciences education in higher-education institutes because of its new concepts and technologies, motivation mechanisms, free exploration resources, and advanced geo- processing capabilities. With the system, the used-to-be very challenging or even impossible teaching tasks has become much easier or practical. For an instance, dynamic classroom demonstration and training for students to deal with data-intensive global climate and environment change issues in real-world applications through the system has become a very pleasant experience instead of the struggling efforts in the past. With GeoBrain, each student can be easily trained to handle multi-terabytes of EOS and other geospatial data in simulation and modeling for solving global-scale problems catering his own interests with a simple Internet connected computer. Preliminary classroom use of GeoBrain in multiple universities has demonstrated that the system is very useful for facilitating the transition of both undergraduate and graduate students from learners to investigators. It has also shown the system can improve teaching effectiveness, refine student's learning habit, and inspire students' interests in pursuing geoscience as their career. As an on-going project, GeoBrain has not reached its maturity. Surely it will improve its functionalities and make great advances in the above areas continuously.

Multiple-choice tests stabilize access to marginal knowledge.

PubMed

Cantor, Allison D; Eslick, Andrea N; Marsh, Elizabeth J; Bjork, Robert A; Bjork, Elizabeth Ligon

2015-02-01

Marginal knowledge refers to knowledge that is stored in memory, but is not accessible at a given moment. For example, one might struggle to remember who wrote The Call of the Wild, even if that knowledge is stored in memory. Knowing how best to stabilize access to marginal knowledge is important, given that new learning often requires accessing and building on prior knowledge. While even a single opportunity to restudy marginal knowledge boosts its later accessibility (Berger, Hall, & Bahrick, 1999), in many situations explicit relearning opportunities are not available. Our question is whether multiple-choice tests (which by definition expose the learner to the correct answers) can also serve this function and, if so, how testing compares to restudying given that tests can be particularly powerful learning devices (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). In four experiments, we found that multiple-choice testing had the power to stabilize access to marginal knowledge, and to do so for at least up to a week. Importantly, such tests did not need to be paired with feedback, although testing was no more powerful than studying. Overall, the results support the idea that one's knowledge base is unstable, with individual pieces of information coming in and out of reach. The present findings have implications for a key educational challenge: ensuring that students have continuing access to information they have learned.

AnatomicalTerms.info: heading for an online solution to the anatomical synonym problem hurdles in data-reuse from the Terminologia Anatomica and the foundational model of anatomy and potentials for future development.

PubMed

Gobée, O Paul; Jansma, Daniël; DeRuiter, Marco C

2011-10-01

The many synonyms for anatomical structures confuse medical students and complicate medical communication. Easily accessible translations would alleviate this problem. None of the presently available resources-Terminologia Anatomica (TA), digital terminologies such as the Foundational Model of Anatomy (FMA), and websites-are fully satisfactory to this aim. Internet technologies offer new possibilities to solve the problem. Several authors have called for an online TA. An online translation resource should be easily accessible, user-friendly, comprehensive, expandable, and its quality determinable. As first step towards this goal, we built a translation website that we named www.AnatomicalTerms.info, based on the database of the FMA. It translates between English, Latin, eponyms, and to a lesser extent other languages, and presently contains over 31,000 terms for 7,250 structures, covering 95% of TA. In addition, it automatically presents searches for images, documents and anatomical variations regarding the sought structure. Several terminological and conceptual issues were encountered in transferring data from TA and FMA into AnatomicalTerms.info, resultant from these resources' different set-ups (paper versus digital) and targets (machine versus human-user). To the best of our knowledge, AnatomicalTerms.info is unique in its combination of user-friendliness and comprehensiveness. As next step, wiki-like expandability will be added to enable open contribution of clinical synonyms and terms in different languages. Specific quality measures will be taken to strike a balance between open contribution and quality assurance. AnatomicalTerms.info's mechanism that "translates" terms to structures furthermore may enhance targeted searching by linking images, descriptions, and other anatomical resources to the structures. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Which Subsystems used to produce archival science products?

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2014-12-08

... - Combine telemetry and ephemeris data to produce Earth location geometry and convert radiometric counts produced by the ... inversion techniques. Daily and Monthly Time/Space Averaging - Convert from time-ordered to regionally-accessible data ... Data Products - Generate well-documented science archival products in an easily accessible format. ...

An evidential approach to problem solving when a large number of knowledge systems is available

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dekorvin, Andre

1989-01-01

Some recent problems are no longer formulated in terms of imprecise facts, missing data or inadequate measuring devices. Instead, questions pertaining to knowledge and information itself arise and can be phrased independently of any particular area of knowledge. The problem considered in the present work is how to model a problem solver that is trying to find the answer to some query. The problem solver has access to a large number of knowledge systems that specialize in diverse features. In this context, feature means an indicator of what the possibilities for the answer are. The knowledge systems should not be accessed more than once, in order to have truly independent sources of information. Moreover, these systems are allowed to run in parallel. Since access might be expensive, it is necessary to construct a management policy for accessing these knowledge systems. To help in the access policy, some control knowledge systems are available. Control knowledge systems have knowledge about the performance parameters status of the knowledge systems. In order to carry out the double goal of estimating what units to access and to answer the given query, diverse pieces of evidence must be fused. The Dempster-Shafer Theory of Evidence is used to pool the knowledge bases.

Cell-tower deployment of counter-sniper sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Storch, Michael T.

2004-09-01

Cellular telephone antenna towers are evaluated as sites for rapid, effective & efficient deployment of counter-sniper sensors, especially in urban environments. They are expected to offer a suitable density, excellent LOS, and a generally limited variety of known or readily-characterized mechanical interfaces. Their precise locations are easily mapped in advance of deployment, are easily accessible by ground and air, and are easily spotted by deployment teams in real-time. We survey issues of EMI & RFI, susceptibility to denial & ambush in military scenarios, and the impact of trends in cell tower design & construction.

Making On-Line Science Course Materials Easily Translatable and Accessible Worldwide: Challenges and Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Wendy K.; Alhadlaq, Hisham; Malley, Christopher V.; Perkins, Katherine K.; Olson, Jonathan; Alshaya, Fahad; Alabdulkareem, Saleh; Wieman, Carl E.

2012-01-01

The PhET Interactive Simulations Project partnered with the Excellence Research Center of Science and Mathematics Education at King Saud University with the joint goal of making simulations useable worldwide. One of the main challenges of this partnership is to make PhET simulations and the website easily translatable into any language. The PhET…

Easily disassembled electrical connector for high voltage, high frequency connections

DOEpatents

Milner, J.R.

1994-05-10

An easily accessible electrical connector capable of rapid assembly and disassembly is described wherein a wide metal conductor sheet may be evenly contacted over the entire width of the conductor sheet by opposing surfaces on the connector which provide an even clamping pressure against opposite surfaces of the metal conductor sheet using a single threaded actuating screw. 13 figures.

Potential of Traditional Knowledge of Plants in the Management of Arthropods in Livestock Industry with Focus on (Acari) Ticks

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Antitick plants and related ethnoknowledge/ethnopractices with potential for integrated tick control and management strategies to improve livestock production are reviewed. About 231 plants reviewed showed a variety of bioactive properties, namely, being toxic, repellent, antifeedant, and antiovipositant and ability to immobilize target tick species. These ethnobotanical substances are potentially useful in developing sustainable, efficient, and effective antitick agents suitable for rural livestock farmers. Majority of these plants are holistic in action, economically affordable, user friendly, easily adaptable and accessible, and environmentally friendly and help develop community-driven tick control interventions well suited to local conditions and specific to different livestock communities. Such a multipurpose intervention best fits the recent ascendancy of individual livestock owners as the key players in tick control programmes, particularly following the withdrawal of subsidies accorded to tick control programmes by most African government agencies since mid-1980s. However, scientific validation of antitick ethnobotanicals on their efficacy and formulation of packages easily handled by local communities is necessary to achieve a significantly increased use of such remedies. It is envisaged that the results of validation may lead to the discovery of effective and affordable antitick products. The effectiveness of these “best bets” ethnopractices can be greatest, if they are appropriately blended with conventional technologies. PMID:28798806

PASMet: a web-based platform for prediction, modelling and analyses of metabolic systems

PubMed Central

Sriyudthsak, Kansuporn; Mejia, Ramon Francisco; Arita, Masanori; Hirai, Masami Yokota

2016-01-01

PASMet (Prediction, Analysis and Simulation of Metabolic networks) is a web-based platform for proposing and verifying mathematical models to understand the dynamics of metabolism. The advantages of PASMet include user-friendliness and accessibility, which enable biologists and biochemists to easily perform mathematical modelling. PASMet offers a series of user-functions to handle the time-series data of metabolite concentrations. The functions are organised into four steps: (i) Prediction of a probable metabolic pathway and its regulation; (ii) Construction of mathematical models; (iii) Simulation of metabolic behaviours; and (iv) Analysis of metabolic system characteristics. Each function contains various statistical and mathematical methods that can be used independently. Users who may not have enough knowledge of computing or programming can easily and quickly analyse their local data without software downloads, updates or installations. Users only need to upload their files in comma-separated values (CSV) format or enter their model equations directly into the website. Once the time-series data or mathematical equations are uploaded, PASMet automatically performs computation on server-side. Then, users can interactively view their results and directly download them to their local computers. PASMet is freely available with no login requirement at http://pasmet.riken.jp/ from major web browsers on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. PMID:27174940

Knowledge, Education and Research: Making Common Cause across Communities of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moss, Gemma

2016-01-01

This article considers how knowledge, education and research interact as the institutional structures that support them change. Many efforts at large-scale education reform depend upon the proposition that what counts as useful knowledge can be easily defined, without reference to the specific contexts in which that knowledge will be set to work.…

Effects of Peer-Tutor Competences on Learner Cognitive Load and Learning Performance during Knowledge Sharing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsiao, Ya-Ping; Brouns, Francis; van Bruggen, Jan; Sloep, Peter B.

2012-01-01

In Learning Networks, learners need to share knowledge with others to build knowledge. In particular, when working on complex tasks, they often need to acquire extra cognitive resources from others to process a high task load. However, without support high task load and organizing knowledge sharing themselves might easily overload learners'…

Using collaborative technology to enhance pre-service teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donnelly, Dermot Francis; Hume, Anne

2015-01-01

Background:Supporting pre-service teacher (PT) collaboration as a means of professional learning is a challenging but essential task for effective practice. However, teacher placements or practicums in schools, which is common practice within teacher education programmes, can often isolate PTs from sharing their experiences with each other. Further, the articulation of effective pedagogical practices by high-quality teachers is limited, restricting PTs' ability to access such professional knowledge. Purpose:This study investigates how the introduction of a collaborative technology, a wiki, may enhance existing and new opportunities for pre-service teachers' (PTs) to develop pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Sample:Seven PT chemistry teachers of varied backgrounds participated in this study. Design and method:The PTs were learning to collaboratively formulate and document their early topic-specific teaching knowledge using a pedagogical tool known as Content Representation (CoRe) design. Once scaffolded into this process, the PTs continued and extended this collaborative work online through the introduction of a wiki. Data were collected for qualitative analysis through the CoRe artefacts, a semi-structured focus group interview, and PTs' reflective essays about their collaborative experiences representing their teaching knowledge in CoRes through the wiki. Results:Data analysis highlighted that while wiki use showed some potential for collaborative representation when participants were not face-to-face, the PTs were hesitant in critiquing each other's work. As such, the online representations remained relatively static without face-to-face interaction. However, developing artefacts online was favoured over established practice and the access to artefacts of their peers on the wiki enhanced PTs' consideration for their own PCK. Conclusion:Wikis show some potential in the hosting of CoRes, but issues in simultaneous posting and lack of chat functionality may hinder PTs' ability to easily critique each others' work. However, the PTs in this study also demonstrated a broader unwillingness to critique each other's CoRes that teacher educators need to challenge. The use of technology to support PTs' CoRes and critiquing warrants further research.

Mobile Learning and Achievement Goal Orientation Profiles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asplund, Minna

2014-01-01

Students with different achievement goal orientations have different approaches towards learning and studying. There is a widespread interest to find an easy access into learning spaces for those students who have low motivation with fear of failure and academic withdrawal. Mobile learning offers an easily accessible chance with low threshold to…

Development and applications of the EntomopathogenID MLSA database for use in agricultural systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The current study reports the development and application of a publicly accessible, curated database of Hypocrealean entomopathogenic fungi sequence data. The goal was to provide a platform for users to easily access sequence data from reference strains. The database can be used to accurately identi...

Integrating across Episodes: Investigating the Long-term Accessibility of Self-derived Knowledge in 4-Year-Old Children

PubMed Central

Varga, Nicole L.; Stewart, Rebekah A.; Bauer, Patricia J.

2016-01-01

Semantic memory, defined as our store of knowledge about the world, provides representational support for all of our higher order cognitive functions. As such, it is crucial that the contents of semantic memory remain accessible over time. Although memory for knowledge learned through direct observation has been previously investigated, we know very little about the retention of knowledge derived through integration of information acquired across separate learning episodes. The present research investigated cross-episode integration in 4-year-old children. Participants were presented with novel facts via distinct story episodes and tested for knowledge extension through cross-episode integration, as well as for retention of the information over a 1-week delay. In Experiment 1, children retained the self-derived knowledge over the delay, though performance was primarily evidenced in a forced-choice format. In Experiment 2, we sought to facilitate the accessibility and robustness of self-derived knowledge by providing a verbal reminder after the delay. The accessibility of self-derived knowledge increased, irrespective of whether participants successfully demonstrated knowledge of the integration facts during the first visit. The results suggest knowledge extended through integration remains accessible after delays, even in a population in which this learning process is less robust. The findings also demonstrate the facilitative effect of reminders on the accessibility and further extension of knowledge over extended time periods. PMID:26774259

Setting Access Permission through Transitive Relationship in Web-based Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Dan; Shen, Vincent Y.

The rising popularity of various social networking websites has created a huge problem on Internet privacy. Although it is easy to post photos, comments, opinions on some events, etc. on the Web, some of these data (such as a person’s location at a particular time, criticisms of a politician, etc.) are private and should not be accessed by unauthorized users. Although social networks facilitate sharing, the fear of sending sensitive data to a third party without knowledge or permission of the data owners discourages people from taking full advantage of some social networking applications. We exploit the existing relationships on social networks and build a ‘‘trust network’’ with transitive relationship to allow controlled data sharing so that the privacy and preferences of data owners are respected. The trust network linking private data owners, private data requesters, and intermediary users is a directed weighted graph. The permission value for each private data requester can be automatically assigned in this network based on the transitive relationship. Experiments were conducted to confirm the feasibility of constructing the trust network from existing social networks, and to assess the validity of permission value assignments in the query process. Since the data owners only need to define the access rights of their closest contacts once, this privacy scheme can make private data sharing easily manageable by social network participants.

Topological Landscapes: A Terrain Metaphor for ScientificData

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

Weber, Gunther H.; Bremer, Peer-Timo; Pascucci, Valerio

2007-08-01

Scientific visualization and illustration tools are designed to help people understand the structure and complexity of scientific data with images that are as informative and intuitive as possible. In this context, the use of metaphors plays an important role, since they make complex information easily accessible by using commonly known concepts. In this paper we propose a new metaphor, called 'Topological Landscapes', which facilitates understanding the topological structure of scalar functions. The basic idea is to construct a terrain with the same topology as a given dataset and to display the terrain as an easily understood representation of the actualmore » input data. In this projection from an n-dimensional scalar function to a two-dimensional (2D) model we preserve function values of critical points, the persistence (function span) of topological features, and one possible additional metric property (in our examples volume). By displaying this topologically equivalent landscape together with the original data we harness the natural human proficiency in understanding terrain topography and make complex topological information easily accessible.« less

An AAA-DDD triply hydrogen-bonded complex easily accessible for supramolecular polymers.

PubMed

Han, Yi-Fei; Chen, Wen-Qiang; Wang, Hong-Bo; Yuan, Ying-Xue; Wu, Na-Na; Song, Xiang-Zhi; Yang, Lan

2014-12-15

For a complementary hydrogen-bonded complex, when every hydrogen-bond acceptor is on one side and every hydrogen-bond donor is on the other, all secondary interactions are attractive and the complex is highly stable. AAA-DDD (A=acceptor, D=donor) is considered to be the most stable among triply hydrogen-bonded sequences. The easily synthesized and further derivatized AAA-DDD system is very desirable for hydrogen-bonded functional materials. In this case, AAA and DDD, starting from 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, were synthesized with the Hantzsch pyridine synthesis and Friedländer annulation reaction. The association constant determined by fluorescence titration in chloroform at room temperature is 2.09×10(7)  M(-1) . The AAA and DDD components are not coplanar, but form a V shape in the solid state. Supramolecular polymers based on AAA-DDD triply hydrogen bonded have also been developed. This work may make AAA-DDD triply hydrogen-bonded sequences easily accessible for stimuli-responsive materials. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Knowledge of Concussion and Reporting Behaviors in High School Athletes With or Without Access to an Athletic Trainer

PubMed Central

Wallace, Jessica; Covassin, Tracey; Nogle, Sally; Gould, Daniel; Kovan, Jeffrey

2017-01-01

Context: Increased sport participation and sport-related concussion incidence has led to an emphasis on having an appropriate medical professional available to high school athletes. The medical professional best suited to provide medical care to high school athletes is a certified athletic trainer (AT). Access to an AT may influence the reporting of sport-related concussion in the high school athletic population; however, little is known about how the presence of an AT affects concussion knowledge, prevention, and recognition. Objective: To evaluate knowledge of concussion and reporting behaviors in high school athletes who did or did not have access to an AT. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Survey. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 438 athletes with access to an AT and 277 without access to an AT. Intervention(s): A validated knowledge-of-concussion survey consisting of 83 items addressing concussion history, concussion knowledge, scenario questions, signs and symptoms of a concussion, and reasons why an athlete would not report a concussion. The independent variable was access to an AT. Main Outcome Measure(s): We examined the proportion of athletes who correctly identified knowledge of concussion, signs and symptoms of concussion, and reasons why high school student-athletes would not disclose a potential concussive injury by access to an AT. Frequency statistics, χ2 tests, independent t tests, and linear regression were conducted to analyze the data. Results: The underreporting of concussion among high school athletes was 55%. Athletes with access to an AT had more knowledge of concussion than did athletes without such access (P ≤ .001). Chi-square tests did not demonstrate a significant relationship between AT access and a higher percentage reporting concussions. Conclusions: High school athletes with access to an AT had more concussion knowledge, but they did not report suspected concussions to an authority figure more frequently than athletes without access to an AT. PMID:28387561

Advanced software development workstation project ACCESS user's guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

ACCESS is a knowledge based software information system designed to assist the user in modifying retrieved software to satisfy user specifications. A user's guide is presented for the knowledge engineer who wishes to create for ACCESS a knowledge base consisting of representations of objects in some software system. This knowledge is accessible to an end user who wishes to use the catalogued software objects to create a new application program or an input stream for an existing system. The application specific portion of an ACCESS knowledge base consists of a taxonomy of object classes, as well as instances of these classes. All objects in the knowledge base are stored in an associative memory. ACCESS provides a standard interface for the end user to browse and modify objects. In addition, the interface can be customized by the addition of application specific data entry forms and by specification of display order for the taxonomy and object attributes. These customization options are described.

Knowledge and Valorization of Historical Sites Through 3d Documentation and Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farella, E.; Menna, F.; Nocerino, E.; Morabito, D.; Remondino, F.; Campi, M.

2016-06-01

The paper presents the first results of an interdisciplinary project related to the 3D documentation, dissemination, valorization and digital access of archeological sites. Beside the mere 3D documentation aim, the project has two goals: (i) to easily explore and share via web references and results of the interdisciplinary work, including the interpretative process and the final reconstruction of the remains; (ii) to promote and valorize archaeological areas using reality-based 3D data and Virtual Reality devices. This method has been verified on the ruins of the archeological site of Pausilypon, a maritime villa of Roman period (Naples, Italy). Using Unity3D, the virtual tour of the heritage site was integrated and enriched with the surveyed 3D data, text documents, CAAD reconstruction hypotheses, drawings, photos, etc. In this way, starting from the actual appearance of the ruins (panoramic images), passing through the 3D digital surveying models and several other historical information, the user is able to access virtual contents and reconstructed scenarios, all in a single virtual, interactive and immersive environment. These contents and scenarios allow to derive documentation and geometrical information, understand the site, perform analyses, see interpretative processes, communicate historical information and valorize the heritage location.

DISTRIBUTED STRUCTURE-SEARCHABLE TOXICITY ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The ability to assess the potential genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, or other toxicity of pharmaceutical or industrial chemicals based on chemical structure information is a highly coveted and shared goal of varied academic, commercial, and government regulatory groups. These diverse interests often employ different approaches and have different criteria and use for toxicity assessments, but they share a need for unrestricted access to existing public toxicity data linked with chemical structure information. Currently, there exists no central repository of toxicity information, commercial or public, that adequately meets the data requirements for flexible analogue searching, SAR model development, or building of chemical relational databases (CRD). The Distributed Structure-Searchable Toxicity (DSSTox) Public Database Network is being proposed as a community-supported, web-based effort to address these shared needs of the SAR and toxicology communities. The DSSTox project has the following major elements: 1) to adopt and encourage the use of a common standard file format (SDF) for public toxicity databases that includes chemical structure, text and property information, and that can easily be imported into available CRD applications; 2) to implement a distributed source approach, managed by a DSSTox Central Website, that will enable decentralized, free public access to structure-toxicity data files, and that will effectively link knowledgeable toxicity data s

Ethnobotanical survey of knowledge and usage custom of traditional insect/mosquito repellent plants among the Ethiopian Oromo ethnic group.

PubMed

Karunamoorthi, Kaliyaperumal; Ilango, Kandan; Endale, Aschalew

2009-09-07

Repellent plants usage is an integral part of Ethiopian tradition and has been practiced over many centuries. Hence, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and usage custom of traditional insect/mosquito repellent plants among the Oromo ethnic group in Ethiopia. The ethnobotanical survey was conducted between January and March 2009. All 276 household members were interviewed on knowledge and usage custom of traditional repellent plants, using a pre-tested questionnaire in Kofe kebele, Jimma zone, Ethiopia. 83.6% respondents had adequate knowledge and usage custom regarding insect/mosquito repellent plants. Application of smoke by burning the repellent plant materials was the most common practice. The chi-square test result revealed that there was no statistically significant association found between the knowledge about insect repellent plants and sex (p-value=0.8912), educational status (p-value=0.7504), and age (p-value=0.1631) of the respondents. However, usage custom of repellent plants was significantly associated with sex (p-value=0.0002) and average monthly income (p-value=0.0001) although not with educational status (p-value=0.5206) of the respondents. Repellent efficacy of these plants is undetermined and therefore the scientific validity should be evaluated by conducting further laboratory and field research. Majority of the repellent plants have been used as medicine to treat various ailments by the local community. Furthermore, they are easily available, accessible and affordable therefore usage of traditional repellent plants should be promoted among the local residents in order to reduce vector-borne disease prevalence.

Knowledge retrieval as one type of knowledge-based decision support in medicine: results of an evaluation study.

PubMed

Haux, R; Grothe, W; Runkel, M; Schackert, H K; Windeler, H J; Winter, A; Wirtz, R; Herfarth, C; Kunze, S

1996-04-01

We report on a prospective, prolective observational study, supplying information on how physicians and other health care professionals retrieve medical knowledge on-line within the Heidelberg University Hospital information system. Within this hospital information system, on-line access to medical knowledge has been realised by installing a medical knowledge server in the range of about 24 GB and by providing access to it by health care professional workstations in wards, physicians' rooms, etc. During the study, we observed about 96 accesses per working day. The main group of health care professionals retrieving medical knowledge were physicians and medical students. Primary reasons for its utilisation were identified as support for the users' scientific work (50%), own clinical cases (19%), general medical problems (14%) and current clinical problems (13%). Health care professionals had accesses to medical knowledge bases such as MEDLINE (79%), drug bases ('Rote Liste', 6%), and to electronic text books and knowledge base systems as well. Sixty-five percent of accesses to medical knowledge were judged to be successful. In our opinion, medical knowledge retrieval can serve as a first step towards knowledge processing in medicine. We point out the consequences for the management of hospital information systems in order to provide the prerequisites for such a type of knowledge retrieval.

High-Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy and Immuno-Gold Labeling of the Nuclear Lamina and Nuclear Pore Complex.

PubMed

Goldberg, Martin W

2016-01-01

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a technique used to image surfaces. Field emission SEMs (feSEMs) can resolve structures that are ~0.5-1.5 nm apart. FeSEM, therefore is a useful technique for imaging molecular structures that exist at surfaces such as membranes. The nuclear envelope consists of four membrane surfaces, all of which may be accessible for imaging. Imaging of the cytoplasmic face of the outer membrane gives information about ribosomes and cytoskeletal attachments, as well as details of the cytoplasmic peripheral components of the nuclear pore complex, and is the most easily accessed surface. The nucleoplasmic face of the inner membrane is easily accessible in some cells, such as amphibian oocytes, giving valuable details about the organization of the nuclear lamina and how it interacts with the nuclear pore complexes. The luminal faces of both membranes are difficult to access, but may be exposed by various fracturing techniques. Protocols are presented here for the preparation, labeling, and feSEM imaging of Xenopus laevis oocyte nuclear envelopes.

'What I Really Needed Was the Truth'. Exploring the Information Needs of People with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

PubMed

Grieve, Sharon; Adams, Jo; McCabe, Candida

2016-03-01

UK guidelines indicate that individuals with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) require information and education to support self-management. The present qualitative study explored the specific information requirements of patients with CRPS and provides insight into how health professionals can best provide this. Following informed consent, eight semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with adults living with CRPS. Participants were asked about their experience of receiving information since diagnosis and the information that they would prefer to receive. Interviews were transcribed and data analysed using thematic analysis. Two themes related to individuals' experience of receiving information. These were: 'Facing the unknown', which describes how participants reported that little information was available and the impact of this; and 'The need to be an expert', which describes how they needed to be proactive to seek this information themselves. Three themes related to the information that the individual would choose to receive. These were: 'Seeking the truth', which describes the need for knowledge - particularly accurate, honest information; 'The shared experience', which describes the positive and negative aspects of sharing information with others experiencing CRPS; and 'Access to expertise', which describes the need for access to reliable information, resources and expertise. The reported lack of information resulted in a struggle for participants to understand their condition, and access professional expertise and appropriate treatments. Health professionals require access to accurate information in order to share this with individuals with CRPS in a timely manner. Easily accessible and high-quality patient resources to facilitate early referral for expertise are required. A central resource to identify local expertise would be valuable. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Space environment data storage and access: lessons learned and recommendations for the future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Hugh; Heynderickx, Daniel

2012-07-01

With the ever increasing volume of space environment data available at present and planned for the near future, the demands on data storage and access methods are increasing as well. In addition, continued access to historical, archived data remains crucial. On the basis of many years of experience, the authors identify the following issues as important for continued and efficient handling of datasets now and in the future: The huge data volumes currently or very soon avaiable from a number of space missions will limi direct Internet download access to even relatively short epoch ranges of data. Therefore, data providers should establish or extend standardised data (post-) processing services so that only data query results should be downloaded. Although a single standardised data format will in all likelihood remain utopia, data providers should at least include extensive metadata with their data products, according to established standards and practices (e.g. ISTP, SPASE). Standardisation of (sets of) metadata greatly facilitates data mining and querying. The use of SQL database storage should be considered instead of, or in parallel with, classic storage of data files. The use of SQL does away with having to handle file parsing and processing, while at the same time standard access protocols can be used to (remotely) connect to such data repositories. Many data holdings are still lacking in extensive descriptions of data provenance (e.g. instrument description), content and format. Unfortunately, detailed data information is usually rejected by scientific and technical journals. Re-processing of historical archived datasets into modern formats, making them easily available and usable, is urgently required, as knowledge is being lost. A global data directory has still not been achieved; policy makers should enforce stricter rules for "broadcasting" dataset information.

Become a Star: Teaching the Process of Design and Implementation of an Intelligent System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venables, Anne; Tan, Grace

2005-01-01

Teaching future knowledge engineers, the necessary skills for designing and implementing intelligent software solutions required by business, industry and research today, is a very tall order. These skills are not easily taught in traditional undergraduate computer science lectures; nor are the practical experiences easily reinforced in laboratory…

Interactive Problem Solving Tutorials Through Visual Programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Undreiu, Lucian; Schuster, David; Undreiu, Adriana

2008-10-01

We have used LabVIEW visual programming to build an interactive tutorial to promote conceptual understanding in physics problem solving. This programming environment is able to offer a web-accessible problem solving experience that enables students to work at their own pace and receive feedback. Intuitive graphical symbols, modular structures and the ability to create templates are just a few of the advantages this software has to offer. The architecture of an application can be designed in a way that allows instructors with little knowledge of LabVIEW to easily personalize it. Both the physics solution and the interactive pedagogy can be visually programmed in LabVIEW. Our physics pedagogy approach is that of cognitive apprenticeship, in that the tutorial guides students to develop conceptual understanding and physical insight into phenomena, rather than purely formula-based solutions. We demonstrate how this model is reflected in the design and programming of the interactive tutorials.

Towards the engineering of in vitro systems.

PubMed

Hold, Christoph; Panke, Sven

2009-08-06

Synthetic biology aims at rationally implementing biological systems from scratch. Given the complexity of living systems and our current lack of understanding of many aspects of living cells, this is a major undertaking. The design of in vitro systems can be considerably easier, because they can consist of fewer constituents, are quasi time invariant, their parameter space can be better accessed and they can be much more easily perturbed and then analysed chemically and mathematically. However, even for simplified in vitro systems, following a comprehensively rational design procedure is still difficult. When looking at a comparatively simple system, such as a medium-sized enzymatic reaction network as it is represented by glycolysis, major issues such as a lack of comprehensive enzyme kinetics and of suitable knowledge on crucial design parameters remain. Nevertheless, in vitro systems are very suitable to overcome these obstacles and therefore well placed to act as a stepping stone to engineering living systems.

User Interface Composition with COTS-UI and Trading Approaches: Application for Web-Based Environmental Information Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Criado, Javier; Padilla, Nicolás; Iribarne, Luis; Asensio, Jose-Andrés

Due to the globalization of the information and knowledge society on the Internet, modern Web-based Information Systems (WIS) must be flexible and prepared to be easily accessible and manageable in real-time. In recent times it has received a special interest the globalization of information through a common vocabulary (i.e., ontologies), and the standardized way in which information is retrieved on the Web (i.e., powerful search engines, and intelligent software agents). These same principles of globalization and standardization should also be valid for the user interfaces of the WIS, but they are built on traditional development paradigms. In this paper we present an approach to reduce the gap of globalization/standardization in the generation of WIS user interfaces by using a real-time "bottom-up" composition perspective with COTS-interface components (type interface widgets) and trading services.

User interface design principles for the SSM/PMAD automated power system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jakstas, Laura M.; Myers, Chris J.

1991-01-01

Martin Marietta has developed a user interface for the space station module power management and distribution (SSM/PMAD) automated power system testbed which provides human access to the functionality of the power system, as well as exemplifying current techniques in user interface design. The testbed user interface was designed to enable an engineer to operate the system easily without having significant knowledge of computer systems, as well as provide an environment in which the engineer can monitor and interact with the SSM/PMAD system hardware. The design of the interface supports a global view of the most important data from the various hardware and software components, as well as enabling the user to obtain additional or more detailed data when needed. The components and representations of the SSM/PMAD testbed user interface are examined. An engineer's interactions with the system are also described.

Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting Mitigation With Music Interventions
.

PubMed

Kiernan, Jason M; Conradi Stark, Jody; Vallerand, April H

2018-01-01

Despite three decades of studies examining music interventions as a mitigant of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), to date, no systematic review of this literature exists.
. PubMed, Scopus, PsycInfo®, CINAHL®, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched. Keywords for all databases were music, chemotherapy, and nausea.
. All studies were appraised for methodology and results.
. 10 studies met inclusion criteria for review. Sample sizes were generally small and nonrandomized. Locus of control for music selection was more often with the investigator rather than the participant. Few studies controlled for the emetogenicity of the chemotherapy administered, nor for known patient-specific risk factors for CINV.
. The existing data have been largely generated by nurse scientists, and implications for nursing practice are many, because music interventions are low-cost, easily accessible, and without known adverse effects. However, this specific body of knowledge requires additional substantive inquiry to generate clinically relevant data.

Flexible solution for interoperable cloud healthcare systems.

PubMed

Vida, Mihaela Marcella; Lupşe, Oana Sorina; Stoicu-Tivadar, Lăcrămioara; Bernad, Elena

2012-01-01

It is extremely important for the healthcare domain to have a standardized communication because will improve the quality of information and in the end the resulting benefits will improve the quality of patients' life. The standards proposed to be used are: HL7 CDA and CCD. For a better access to the medical data a solution based on cloud computing (CC) is investigated. CC is a technology that supports flexibility, seamless care, and reduced costs of the medical act. To ensure interoperability between healthcare information systems a solution creating a Web Custom Control is presented. The control shows the database tables and fields used to configure the two standards. This control will facilitate the work of the medical staff and hospital administrators, because they can configure the local system easily and prepare it for communication with other systems. The resulted information will have a higher quality and will provide knowledge that will support better patient management and diagnosis.

Design reflowable digital book template

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasetya, Didik Dwi; Widiyaningtyas, Triyanna; Arifin, M. Zainal; Wahyu Sakti G., I.

2017-09-01

Electronic books (e-books or digital books) increasingly in demand and continue to grow in the form of future books. One of the standard format electronic books that potential is EPUB (electronic publication) published by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). This digital book has major advantages are able to provide interactive and reflowable content, which are not found in another book format, such as PDF. Reflowable content allows the book can be accessed through a variety of reader device, like desktop and mobile with a fit and comfort view. However, because the generating process of an EPUB digital book is not as easy a PDF, so this format is less popular. Therefore, in order to help overcome the existing problems, this paper develops digital reflowable text book templates to support electronic learning, especially in Indonesia. This template can be used by anyone to produce a standard digital book quickly and easily without requiring additional specialized knowledge.

The BIRN Project: Imaging the Nervous System

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

Ellisman, Mark

The grand goal in neuroscience research is to understand how the interplay of structural, chemical and electrical signals in nervous tissue gives rise to behavior. Experimental advances of the past decades have given the individual neuroscientist an increasingly powerful arsenal for obtaining data, from the level of molecules to nervous systems. Scientists have begun the arduous and challenging process of adapting and assembling neuroscience data at all scales of resolution and across disciplines into computerized databases and other easily accessed sources. These databases will complement the vast structural and sequence databases created to catalogue, organize and analyze gene sequences andmore » protein products. The general premise of the neuroscience goal is simple; namely that with "complete" knowledge of the genome and protein structures accruing rapidly we next need to assemble an infrastructure that will facilitate acquisition of an understanding for how functional complexes operate in their cell and tissue contexts.« less

The BIRN Project: Imaging the Nervous System

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

Ellisman, Mark

The grand goal in neuroscience research is to understand how the interplay of structural, chemical and electrical signals in nervous tissue gives rise to behavior. Experimental advances of the past decades have given the individual neuroscientist an increasingly powerful arsenal for obtaining data, from the level of molecules to nervous systems. Scientists have begun the arduous and challenging process of adapting and assembling neuroscience data at all scales of resolution and across disciplines into computerized databases and other easily accessed sources. These databases will complement the vast structural and sequence databases created to catalogue, organize and analyze gene sequences andmore » protein products. The general premise of the neuroscience goal is simple; namely that with 'complete' knowledge of the genome and protein structures accruing rapidly we next need to assemble an infrastructure that will facilitate acquisition of an understanding for how functional complexes operate in their cell and tissue contexts.« less

Practising cloud-based telemedicine in developing countries.

PubMed

Puustjärvi, Juha; Puustjärvi, Leena

2013-01-01

In industrialised countries, telemedicine has proven to be a valuable tool for enabling access to knowledge and allowing information exchange, and showing that it is possible to provide good quality of healthcare to isolated communities. However, there are many barriers to the widespread implementation of telemedicine in rural areas of developing countries. These include deficient internet connectivity and sophisticated peripheral medical devices. Furthermore, developing countries have very high patients-per-doctor ratios. In this paper, we report our work on developing a cloud-based health information system, which promotes telemedicine and patient-centred healthcare by exploiting modern information and communication technologies such as OWL-ontologies and SQL-triggers. The reason for using cloud technology is twofold. First, cloud service models are easily adaptable for sharing patients health information, which is of prime importance in patient-centred healthcare as well as in telemedicine. Second, the cloud and the consulting physicians may locate anywhere in the internet.

Influenza Virus Induces Bacterial and Nonbacterial Otitis Media

PubMed Central

Diavatopoulos, Dimitri A.; Thornton, Ruth; Pedersen, John; Strugnell, Richard A.; Wise, Andrew K.; Reading, Patrick C.; Wijburg, Odilia L.

2011-01-01

Otitis media (OM) is one of the most common childhood diseases. OM can arise when a viral infection enables bacteria to disseminate from the nasopharynx to the middle ear. Here, we provide the first infant murine model for disease. Mice coinfected with Streptococcus pneumoniae and influenza virus had high bacterial load in the middle ear, middle ear inflammation, and hearing loss. In contrast, mice colonized with S. pneumoniae alone had significantly less bacteria in the ear, minimal hearing loss, and no inflammation. Of interest, infection with influenza virus alone also caused some middle ear inflammation and hearing loss. Overall, this study provides a clinically relevant and easily accessible animal model to study the pathogenesis and prevention of OM. Moreover, we provide, to our knowledge, the first evidence that influenza virus alone causes middle ear inflammation in infant mice. This inflammation may then play an important role in the development of bacterial OM. PMID:21930608

The Socially Skilled Teacher and the Development of Tacit Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliott, Julian G.; Stemler, Steven E.; Sternberg, Robert J.; Grigorenko, Elena L.; Hoffman, Newman

2011-01-01

Skilled interpersonal relations are crucial for effective teaching and learning but much professional knowledge here is tacit and thus not easily communicated. This article presents the results of a study that examined the tacit knowledge of trainee and experienced teachers in relation to various problematic interpersonal aspects of school life.…

Enhancing Discovery, Search, and Access of NASA Hydrological Data by Leveraging GEOSS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Teng, William L.

2015-01-01

An ongoing NASA-funded project has removed a longstanding barrier to accessing NASA data (i.e., accessing archived time-step array data as point-time series) for selected variables of the North American and Global Land Data Assimilation Systems (NLDAS and GLDAS, respectively) and other EOSDIS (Earth Observing System Data Information System) data sets (e.g., precipitation, soil moisture). These time series (data rods) are pre-generated. Data rods Web services are accessible through the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System (HIS) and the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) but are not easily discoverable by users of other non-NASA data systems. The Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) is a logical mechanism for providing access to the data rods. An ongoing GEOSS Water Services project aims to develop a distributed, global registry of water data, map, and modeling services cataloged using the standards and procedures of the Open Geospatial Consortium and the World Meteorological Organization. The ongoing data rods project has demonstrated the feasibility of leveraging the GEOSS infrastructure to help provide access to time series of model grid information or grids of information over a geographical domain for a particular time interval. A recently-begun, related NASA-funded ACCESS-GEOSS project expands on these prior efforts. Current work is focused on both improving the performance of the generation of on-the-fly (OTF) data rods and the Web interfaces from which users can easily discover, search, and access NASA data.

A history of calcium orthophosphates (CaPO4) and their biomedical applications.

PubMed

Dorozhkin, S V

2017-09-01

The historical development of a scientific knowledge on calcium orthophosphates (CaPO 4 ) from 1770-s till 1950 is described. Many forgotten and poorly known historical facts and approaches have been extracted from old publications and then they have been analyzed, systematized and reconsidered from the modern point of view. The chosen time scale starts with the earliest available studies of 1770-s (to the best of my findings, CaPO 4 had been unknown before), passes through the entire 19th century and finishes in 1950, because since then the amount of publications on CaPO 4 rapidly increases and the subject becomes too broad. Furthermore, since publications of the second half of the 20th century are easily accessible, the substantial amount of them has been already reviewed by other researchers. The reported historical findings clearly demonstrate that the substantial amount of the scientific facts and experimental approaches has been known for very many decades and, in fact, the considerable quantity of relatively recent investigations on CaPO 4 is just either a further development of the earlier studies or a rediscovery of the already forgotten knowledge. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Does the Medicare Part D Decision-Making Experience Differ by Rural/Urban Location?

PubMed

Henning-Smith, Carrie; Casey, Michelle; Moscovice, Ira

2017-01-01

Although much has been written about Medicare Part D enrollment, much less is known about beneficiaries' personal experiences with choosing a Part D plan, especially among rural residents. This study sought to address this gap by examining geographic differences in Part D enrollees' perceptions of the plan decision-making process, including their confidence in their choice, their knowledge about the program, and their satisfaction with available information. We used data from the 2012 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey and included adults ages 65 and older who were enrolled in Part D at the time of the survey (n = 3,706). We used ordered logistic regression to model 4 outcomes based on beneficiaries' perceptions of the Part D decision-making and enrollment process, first accounting only for differences by rurality, then adjusting for sociodemographic, health, and coverage characteristics. Overall, half of all beneficiaries were not very confident in their Part D knowledge. Rural beneficiaries had lower odds of being confident in the plan they chose and in being satisfied with the amount of information available to them during the decision-making process. After adjusting for all covariates, micropolitan residents continued to have lower odds of being confident in the plan that they chose. Policy-makers should pay particular attention to making information about Part D easily accessible for all beneficiaries and to addressing unique barriers that rural residents have in accessing information while making decisions, such as reduced Internet availability. Furthermore, confidence in the decision-making process may be improved by simplifying the Part D program. © 2016 National Rural Health Association.

Ask an anatomist: Identifying global trends, topics and themes of academic anatomists using twitter.

PubMed

Marsland, Madeleine J; Lazarus, Michelle D

2018-05-06

Social media (SoMe) is increasingly used in higher education (HE) to access knowledge and enable global communication. The SoMe platform Twitter ® is particularly beneficial in these contexts because it is readily accessible, easily searchable (via hashtags) and global. Given these advantages, the twitter platform @AskAnatomist was created to foster a global weekly tweet chat, where students and academics can ask and address anatomy-related questions. The aim of this study was to identify themes arising in the early stages of the @AskAnatomy Twitter community to gain insights into current needs/key areas for academic anatomists, students, and other followers. A qualitative analysis of tweets including the hashtag #AnatQ, (the associated @AskAnatomist hashtag), was undertaken to achieve this aim. Thematic analysis revealed three core themes arising in the formative stages of the @AskAnatomist Twitter site: (1) anatomical education modalities, (2) specific anatomy content, and (3) research motivations. These themes reveal controversies within the field of anatomical sciences, areas for potential education resource improvement and research, as well as the humor of anatomists. Though the original intent of the @AskAnatomist site was to engage the general public in anatomy content and knowledge, tweet analysis suggests that academic anatomists were the primary active "tweeters". Interestingly, this analysis reveals that the @AskAnatomist site progressed into a web-based community of practice (CoP), suggesting an additional benefit of SoMe communities in the field of anatomy. Anat Sci Educ 11: 270-281. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.

A unified approach to the design of clinical reporting systems.

PubMed

Gouveia-Oliveira, A; Salgado, N C; Azevedo, A P; Lopes, L; Raposo, V D; Almeida, I; de Melo, F G

1994-12-01

Computer-based Clinical Reporting Systems (CRS) for diagnostic departments that use structured data entry have a number of functional and structural affinities suggesting that a common software architecture for CRS may be defined. Such an architecture should allow easy expandability and reusability of a CRS. We report the development methodology and the architecture of SISCOPE, a CRS originally designed for gastrointestinal endoscopy that is expandable and reusable. Its main components are a patient database, a knowledge base, a reports base, and screen and reporting engines. The knowledge base contains the description of the controlled vocabulary and all the information necessary to control the menu system, and is easily accessed and modified with a conventional text editor. The structure of the controlled vocabulary is formally presented as an entity-relationship diagram. The screen engine drives a dynamic user interface and the reporting engine automatically creates a medical report; both engines operate by following a set of rules and the information contained in the knowledge base. Clinical experience has shown this architecture to be highly flexible and to allow frequent modifications of both the vocabulary and the menu system. This structure provided increased collaboration among development teams, insulating the domain expert from the details of the database, and enabling him to modify the system as necessary and to test the changes immediately. The system has also been reused in several different domains.

Dirt: Integrating Scientific and Local Knowledge to Support Global Land Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okin, G.; Herrick, J.; Bestelmeyer, B.; Hanan, N. P.; Neff, J. C.; Peters, D. P. C.; Sala, O.; Salley, S. W.; Vivoni, E. R.; Wills, S. A.

2017-12-01

"Dirt." "It's that elm shade, red rust clay you grew up on - That plowed up ground that your dad damned his luck on." We will draw on the first lines of the chorus from a song by Florida Georgia Line to explain how our collective research can provide insights to help prevent the next Dust Bowl, increase returns on investments in land restoration, and limit nutrient runoff to the Gulf of Mexico. Our presentation will show how we are supporting management decisions in New Mexico, Namibia and Mongolia by integrating NRCS soil survey information with an understanding of soil variability, and landscape patterns and dynamics developed at the Jornada LTER and USDA-ARS research unit, working with and drawing on related research from around the world. We will highlight work identifying wind erosion thresholds based on easily measured changes in vegetation structure. We will also demonstrate how landscape stratification by soils can be used to increase the probability of success of restoration treatments. We will end with a demonstration of a suite of mobile phone apps that are being developed to increase access to scientific knowledge by farmers, policymakers and natural resource managers around the world, and to allow them to contextualize and share their own soil-specific local knowledge. A co-benefit is the use as a crowd-sourcing tool.

The Social Dimension of Learning through Argumentation: Effects of Human Presence and Discourse Style

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asterhan, Christa S. C.; Babichenko, Miriam

2015-01-01

In spite of its potential for learning, and in particular knowledge revision, argumentation on science concepts is neither easily elicited nor easily sustained. Students may feel uneasy critiquing and being critiqued, especially on complex science topics. We report on a controlled study that tested the role of 2 potential factors that may either…

The Effects of Locus of Control on University Students' Mobile Learning Adoption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsia, Jung-Wen

2016-01-01

Since mobile devices have become cheaper, easily accessible, powerful, and popular and the cost of wireless access has declined gradually, mobile learning (m-learning) has begun to spread rapidly. To further improve the effectiveness and efficiency of m-learning for university students, it is critical to understand whether they use m-learning.…

Smartphones as Tools for Delivering Sun-Smart Education to Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Igoe, Damien; Parisi, Alfio; Carter, Brad

2013-01-01

Smartphones are used widely by the general public and students. They are one of the most popular and easily accessible technologies. These devices were originally designed as a means of communication. However, they have evolved into a mobile computing platform with built in sensors and the ability to access a vast number of applications. This…

Designing Interaction as a Learning Process: Supporting Users' Domain Knowledge Development in Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Jung-Min

2010-01-01

The primary concern in current interaction design is focused on how to help users solve problems and achieve goals more easily and efficiently. While users' sufficient knowledge acquisition of operating a product or system is considered important, their acquisition of problem-solving knowledge in the task domain has largely been disregarded. As a…

Machine learning research 1989-90

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Porter, Bruce W.; Souther, Arthur

1990-01-01

Multifunctional knowledge bases offer a significant advance in artificial intelligence because they can support numerous expert tasks within a domain. As a result they amortize the costs of building a knowledge base over multiple expert systems and they reduce the brittleness of each system. Due to the inevitable size and complexity of multifunctional knowledge bases, their construction and maintenance require knowledge engineering and acquisition tools that can automatically identify interactions between new and existing knowledge. Furthermore, their use requires software for accessing those portions of the knowledge base that coherently answer questions. Considerable progress was made in developing software for building and accessing multifunctional knowledge bases. A language was developed for representing knowledge, along with software tools for editing and displaying knowledge, a machine learning program for integrating new information into existing knowledge, and a question answering system for accessing the knowledge base.

Ada as an implementation language for knowledge based systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rochowiak, Daniel

1990-01-01

Debates about the selection of programming languages often produce cultural collisions that are not easily resolved. This is especially true in the case of Ada and knowledge based programming. The construction of programming tools provides a desirable alternative for resolving the conflict.

Reproductive health information for young women in Kazakhstan: disparities in access by channel.

PubMed

Buckley, Cynthia; Barrett, Jennifer; Adkins, Kristen

2008-01-01

This study explores young women's reliance on reproductive and sexual health information channels, examining the relationship between information sources and reproductive health knowledge. Utilizing 1995 and 1999 Kazakhstan Demographic and Health Surveys, we investigate access to reproductive health knowledge among young women (ages 15-24) during a key period in the development of wide-scale reproductive health programs in Kazakhstan. Despite reproductive health campaigns throughout the 1990s, we find consistently high proportions of young women without family planning information access. Among young women with access to information, few received information from channels most strongly linked to knowledge and behavioral changes (family and medical professionals). Mass media sources and peer information networks remained the most often utilized channels. Urban residence, non-Kazakh ethnicity, older age (20-24), and higher education significantly increased the odds of accessing family planning information among young Kazakhstani women, and these same factors were especially important in terms of the relative odds of accessing medical and parental channels. While overall contraceptive knowledge and prevalence rose in Kazakhstan during the 1990s, we find knowledge varied by the information channel accessed. Findings also indicate that young women, regardless of marital status, possessed consistently low levels of reproductive health knowledge at the decade's end.

An Approach to Dynamic Service Management in Pervasive Computing Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

standard interface to them that is easily accessible by any user. This paper outlines the design of Centaurus , an infrastructure for presenting...based on Extensi- ble Markup Language (XML) for communication, giving the system a uniform and easily adaptable interface. Centaurus defines a...easy and automatic usage. This is the vision that guides our re- search on the Centaurus system. We define a SmartSpace as a dynamic environment that

36 CFR 1193.51 - Compatibility.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... BOARD TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES Requirements for Compatibility With Peripheral... user to easily turn any microphone on and off to allow the user to intermix speech with TTY use. (e...

36 CFR 1193.51 - Compatibility.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... BOARD TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES Requirements for Compatibility With Peripheral... user to easily turn any microphone on and off to allow the user to intermix speech with TTY use. (e...

Federal Medication Terminologies

Cancer.gov

Federal Medication (FedMed) collaboration of 8 partner agencies agreed on a set of standard, comprehensive, freely and easily accessible FMT terminologies to improve the exchange and public availability of medication information.

Knowledge Network Values: Learning at Risk?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Peter R.

The boundaries between various information, entertainment, and communication fields are shifting. The edges between our library systems and communication networks are becoming increasingly fuzzy. These fuzzy edges affect concepts of education, learning, and knowledge. The existing library paradigm does not easily accommodate the new, fluid and…

What's on the News? The Use of Media Texts in Exams of Clinical Biochemistry for Medical and Nutrition Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliveira, Julia Martins; Mesquita, Diego Martins; Hermes-Lima, Marcelo

2010-01-01

Health-related popular articles are easily found among media sources. With the increasing popularity of the internet, medical information--full of misconceptions--has become easily available to the lay people. The ability to recognize misconceptions may require good biomedical knowledge. In this sense, we decided to use articles from the internet…

WOVOdat Design Document: The Schema, Table Descriptions, and Create Table Statements for the Database of Worldwide Volcanic Unrest (WOVOdat Version 1.0)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Venezky, Dina Y.; Newhall, Christopher G.

2007-01-01

WOVOdat Overview During periods of volcanic unrest, the ability to forecast near future activity has been a primary concern for human populations living near volcanoes. Our ability to forecast future activity and mitigate hazards is based on knowledge of previous activity at the volcano exhibiting unrest and knowledge of previous activity at similar volcanoes. A small set of experts with past experience are often involved in forecasting. We need to both preserve the knowledge the experts use and continue to investigate volcanic data to make better forecasts. Advances in instrumentation, networking, and data storage technologies have greatly increased our ability to collect volcanic data and share observations with our colleagues. The wealth of data creates numerous opportunities for gaining a better understanding of magmatic conditions and processes, if the data can be easily accessed for comparison. To allow for comparison of volcanic unrest data, we are creating a central database called WOVOdat. WOVOdat will contain a subset of time-series and geo-referenced data from each WOVO observatory in common and easily accessible formats. WOVOdat is being created for volcano experts in charge of forecasting volcanic activity, scientists investigating volcanic processes, and the public. The types of queries each of these groups might ask range from, 'What volcanoes were active in November of 2002?' and 'What are the relationships between tectonic earthquakes and volcanic processes?' to complex analyses of volcanic unrest to determine what future activity might occur. A new structure for storing and accessing our data was needed to examine processes across a wide range of volcanologic conditions. WOVOdat provides this new structure using relationships to connect the data parameters such that searches can be created for analogs of unrest. The subset of data that will fill WOVOdat will continue to be collected by the observatories, who will remain the primary archives of raw and detailed data on individual episodes of unrest. MySQL, an Open Source database, was chosen as the WOVOdat database for its integration with common web languages. The question of where the data will be stored and how the disparate data sets will be integrated will not be discussed in detail here. The focus of this document is to explain the data types, formats, and table organization chosen for WOVOdat 1.0. It was written for database administrators, data loaders, query writers, and anyone who monitors volcanoes. We begin with an overview of several challenges faced and solutions used in creating the WOVOdat schema. Specifics are then given for the parameters and table organization. After each table organization section, basic create table statements are included for viewing the database field formats. In the next stage of the project, scripts will be needed for data conversion, entry, and cleansing. Views will also need to be created once the data have been loaded and the basic queries are better known. Many questions and opportunities remain. We look forward to the growth and continual improvement in efficiency of the system. We hope WOVOdat will improve our understanding of magmatic systems and help mitigate future volcanic hazards.

[Open access to academic scholarship as a public policy resource: a study of the Capes database on Brazilian theses and dissertations].

PubMed

da Silva Rosa, Teresa; Carneiro, Maria José

2010-12-01

Access to scientific knowledge is a valuable resource than can inform and validate positions taken in formulating public policy. But access to this knowledge can be challenging, given the diversity and breadth of available scholarship. Communication between the fields of science and of politics requires the dissemination of scholarship and access to it. We conducted a study using an open-access search tool in order to map existent knowledge on a specific topic: agricultural contributions to the preservation of biodiversity. The present article offers a critical view of access to the information available through the Capes database on Brazilian theses and dissertations.

Spatial access priority mapping (SAPM) with fishers: a quantitative GIS method for participatory planning.

PubMed

Yates, Katherine L; Schoeman, David S

2013-01-01

Spatial management tools, such as marine spatial planning and marine protected areas, are playing an increasingly important role in attempts to improve marine management and accommodate conflicting needs. Robust data are needed to inform decisions among different planning options, and early inclusion of stakeholder involvement is widely regarded as vital for success. One of the biggest stakeholder groups, and the most likely to be adversely impacted by spatial restrictions, is the fishing community. In order to take their priorities into account, planners need to understand spatial variation in their perceived value of the sea. Here a readily accessible, novel method for quantitatively mapping fishers' spatial access priorities is presented. Spatial access priority mapping, or SAPM, uses only basic functions of standard spreadsheet and GIS software. Unlike the use of remote-sensing data, SAPM actively engages fishers in participatory mapping, documenting rather than inferring their priorities. By so doing, SAPM also facilitates the gathering of other useful data, such as local ecological knowledge. The method was tested and validated in Northern Ireland, where over 100 fishers participated in a semi-structured questionnaire and mapping exercise. The response rate was excellent, 97%, demonstrating fishers' willingness to be involved. The resultant maps are easily accessible and instantly informative, providing a very clear visual indication of which areas are most important for the fishers. The maps also provide quantitative data, which can be used to analyse the relative impact of different management options on the fishing industry and can be incorporated into planning software, such as MARXAN, to ensure that conservation goals can be met at minimum negative impact to the industry. This research shows how spatial access priority mapping can facilitate the early engagement of fishers and the ready incorporation of their priorities into the decision-making process in a transparent, quantitative way.

Establishment of the U.S. castor (Ricinus communis L.) core collection using seed chemical composition analysis and genotyping with EST-SSR markers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Natural genetic variation exists in the plant germplasm collections. Normally the germplasm collection for a specific species encompasses many accessions. Due to its large number of accessions, the entire collection is hard to handle and can’t be easily utilized. To facilitate the end-users (such as...

Use of the Geographic Information System (GIS) in nurseries

Treesearch

Brent Olson; Chad Loreth

2002-01-01

The use of GIs in nursery operations provides a variety of opportunities. All planning activities can be incorporated into an accessible database. GIS can be used to create ways for employees to access and analyze data. The program can be used for historical record keeping. Use of GIS in planning can improve the efficiency of nursery operations. GIS can easily be used...

Conveying International Space Station Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goza, Sharon P.

2017-01-01

Over 1,000 experiments have been completed, and others are being conducted and planed on the International Space Station (ISS). In order to make the information on these experiments accessible, the IGOAL develops mobile applications to easily access this content and video products to convey high level concepts. This presentation will feature the Space Station Research Explorer as well as several publicly available video examples.

Bayesian Inference: with ecological applications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Link, William A.; Barker, Richard J.

2010-01-01

This text provides a mathematically rigorous yet accessible and engaging introduction to Bayesian inference with relevant examples that will be of interest to biologists working in the fields of ecology, wildlife management and environmental studies as well as students in advanced undergraduate statistics.. This text opens the door to Bayesian inference, taking advantage of modern computational efficiencies and easily accessible software to evaluate complex hierarchical models.

The association between insured male expatriates' knowledge of health insurance benefits and lack of access to health care in Saudi Arabia.

PubMed

Alkhamis, Abdulwahab A

2018-03-15

Insufficient knowledge of health insurance benefits could be associated with lack of access to health care, particularly for minority populations. This study aims to assess the association between expatriates' knowledge of health insurance benefits and lack of access to health care. A cross-sectional study design was conducted from March 2015 to February 2016 among 3398 insured male expatriates in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The dependent variable was binary and expresses access or lack of access to health care. Independent variables included perceived and validated knowledge of health insurance benefits and other variables. Data were summarized by computing frequencies and percentage of all quantities of variables. To evaluate variations in knowledge, personal and job characteristics with lack of access to health care, the Chi square test was used. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were recorded for each independent variable. Multiple logistic regression and stepwise logistic regression were performed and adjusted ORs were extracted. Descriptive analysis showed that 15% of participants lacked access to health care. The majority of these were unskilled laborers, usually with no education (17.5%), who had been working for less than 3 years (28.1%) in Saudi Arabia. A total of 23.3% worked for companies with less than 50 employees and 16.5% earned less than 4500 Saudi Riyals monthly ($1200). Many (20.3%) were young (< 30 years old) or older (17.9% ≥ 56 years old) and had no formal education (24.7%). Nearly half had fair or poor health status (49.5%), were uncomfortable conversing in Arabic (29.7%) or English (16.7%) and lacked previous knowledge of health insurance (18%). For perceived knowledge of health insurance, 55.2% scored 1 or 0 from total of 3. For validated knowledge, 16.9% scored 1 or 0 from total score of 4. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that only perceived knowledge of health insurance had significant associations with lack of access to health care ((OR) = 0.393, (CI) = 0.335-0.461), but the result was insignificant for validated knowledge. Stepwise logistic regression gave similar findings. Our results confirmed that low perceived knowledge of health insurance in expatriates was associated with less access to health care.

Using Virtual Reality to Provide Health Care Information to People With Intellectual Disabilities: Acceptability, Usability, and Potential Utility

PubMed Central

Conboy-Hill, Suzanne; Taylor, Dave

2011-01-01

Background People with intellectual disabilities have poor access to health care, which may be further compromised by a lack of accessible health information. To be effective, health information must be easily understood and remembered. People with intellectual disabilities learn better from multimodal information sources, and virtual reality offers a 3-dimensional (3D) computer-generated environment that can be used for providing information and learning. To date, research into virtual reality experiences for people with intellectual disabilities has been limited to skill-based training and leisure opportunities within the young to mid age ranges. Objective This study assessed the acceptability, usability, and potential utility of a virtual reality experience as a means of providing health care-related information to people with intellectual disabilities. We designed a prototype multimodal experience based on a hospital scenario and situated on an island in the Second Life 3D virtual world. We wanted to know how people of different ages and with varying levels of cognitive function would participate in the customized virtual environment, what they understood from being there, and what they remembered a week later. Methods The study drew on qualitative data. We used a participatory research approach that involved working alongside people with intellectual disabilities and their supporters in a community setting. Cognitive function was assessed, using the Matrix Analogies Test and the British Picture Vocabulary Scale, to describe the sample. Participants, supported by facilitators, were video recorded accessing and engaging with the virtual environment. We assessed recall 1 week later, using a specialized interview technique. Data were downloaded into NVivo 8 and analyzed using the framework analysis technique. Results Study participants were 20 people aged between 20 and 80 years with mild to severe intellectual disabilities. All participants were able to access the environment and voluntarily stayed there for between 23 and 57 minutes. With facilitator support, all participants moved the avatar themselves. Participants engaged with the scenario as if they were actually there, indicating cognitive presence. Some referred back to previous medical experiences, indicating the potential for experiential knowledge to become the foundation of new learning and retention of knowledge. When interviewed, all participants remembered some aspects of the environment. Conclusions A sample of adults with intellectual disabilities of all ages, and with varying levels of cognitive function, accessed and enjoyed a virtual-world environment that drew on a health care-related scenario, and remembered aspects of it a week later. The small sample size limits generalizability of findings, but the potential shown for experiential learning to aid retention of knowledge on which consent is based appears promising. Successfully delivering health care-related information in a non-National Health Service setting indicates potential for delivery in institutional, community, or home settings, thereby widening access to the information. PMID:22082765

WebProtégé: A Collaborative Ontology Editor and Knowledge Acquisition Tool for the Web

PubMed Central

Tudorache, Tania; Nyulas, Csongor; Noy, Natalya F.; Musen, Mark A.

2012-01-01

In this paper, we present WebProtégé—a lightweight ontology editor and knowledge acquisition tool for the Web. With the wide adoption of Web 2.0 platforms and the gradual adoption of ontologies and Semantic Web technologies in the real world, we need ontology-development tools that are better suited for the novel ways of interacting, constructing and consuming knowledge. Users today take Web-based content creation and online collaboration for granted. WebProtégé integrates these features as part of the ontology development process itself. We tried to lower the entry barrier to ontology development by providing a tool that is accessible from any Web browser, has extensive support for collaboration, and a highly customizable and pluggable user interface that can be adapted to any level of user expertise. The declarative user interface enabled us to create custom knowledge-acquisition forms tailored for domain experts. We built WebProtégé using the existing Protégé infrastructure, which supports collaboration on the back end side, and the Google Web Toolkit for the front end. The generic and extensible infrastructure allowed us to easily deploy WebProtégé in production settings for several projects. We present the main features of WebProtégé and its architecture and describe briefly some of its uses for real-world projects. WebProtégé is free and open source. An online demo is available at http://webprotege.stanford.edu. PMID:23807872

Vascular access: a never-ending story.

PubMed

Hedin, U

2014-12-01

Vascular surgeons are more and more becoming responsible for "life-line" creation well functioning and maintenance of hemodialysis patients and to provide a well functioning and multidisciplinary access service together with nefrologists, dialysis staff, and interventional radiology. For many, this sometimes arduous surgery with associated complicated clinical decision making, becomes a constant and challenging burden but much through the appearance of national and international guidelines and especially the endovascular technology, feasible solutions are easily at hand and the life as an access surgeon more pleasant. Here, basics in dialysis access care are presented together with some examples of novel available solutions to troublesome clinical problems.

Design and Implementation of an Environmental Mercury Database for Northeastern North America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clair, T. A.; Evers, D.; Smith, T.; Goodale, W.; Bernier, M.

2002-12-01

An important issue faced when attempting to interpret geochemical variability studies across large regions, is the accumulation, access and consistent display of data from a large number of sources. We were given the opportunity to provide a regional assessment of mercury distribution in surface waters, sediments, invertebrates, fish, and birds in a region extending from New York State to the Island of Newfoundland. We received over 20 individual databases from State, Provincial, and Federal governments, as well as university researchers from both Canada and the United States. These databases came in a variety of formats and sizes. Our challenge was to find a way of accumulating and presenting the large amounts of acquired data, in a consistent, easily accessible fashion, which could then be more easily interpreted. Moreover, the database had to be portable and easily distributable to the large number of study participants. We developed a static database structure using a web-based approach which we were then able to mount on a server which was accessible to all project participants. The site also contained all the necessary documentation related to the data, its acquisition, as well as the methods used in its analysis and interpretation. We then copied the complete web site on CDROM's which we then distributed to all project participants, funding agencies, and other interested parties. The CDROM formed a permanent record of the project and was issued ISSN and ISBN numbers so that the information remained accessible to researchers in perpetuity. Here we present an overview of the CDROM and data structures, of the information accumulated over the first year of the study, and initial interpretation of the results.

Across the health-social care divide: elderly people as active users of health care and social care.

PubMed

Roberts, K

2001-03-01

Several ways in which elderly people may assume an active role when using welfare services are discussed here. Selected findings are presented from a study that explored the experience and behaviour of elderly people on discharge from inpatient care with regard to criteria indicating user influence or control (namely participation, representation, access, choice, information and redress). Data were collected via semistructured interviews with service users (n = 30) soon after their return home from hospital. A number of differences were revealed between health care and social care in relation to users being provided with opportunities to assume an active role and in being willing and able to assume an active role. These differences were manifest in elderly service users accessing services, seeking information, exercising choice and acting independently of service providers. It appeared paradoxical that contact points were more easily defined with regard to health care yet users were more likely to exercise choice and act independently in securing social care. It is suggested that social care needs and appropriate service delivery are more easily recognised than making the link between perceived health care needs and appropriate services. In addition, it appeared that informal and private providers are more widely available and accessible for social care. If comprehensive continuing care is to be provided, incorporating both health and social care elements, greater uniformity appears to be required across the welfare sector. Lessons for social care provision from the delivery of health care suggest the clear definition of contact points to facilitate service use. Making health care more accessible, however, does not appear to be easily attainable due to the monopoly provision of health care and the lack of direct purchasing power by potential users.

Access and privacy rights using web security standards to increase patient empowerment.

PubMed

Falcão-Reis, Filipa; Costa-Pereira, Altamiro; Correia, Manuel E

2008-01-01

Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are becoming more and more sophisticated and include nowadays numerous applications, which are not only accessed by medical professionals, but also by accounting and administrative personnel. This could represent a problem concerning basic rights such as privacy and confidentiality. The principles, guidelines and recommendations compiled by the OECD protection of privacy and trans-border flow of personal data are described and considered within health information system development. Granting access to an EHR should be dependent upon the owner of the record; the patient: he must be entitled to define who is allowed to access his EHRs, besides the access control scheme each health organization may have implemented. In this way, it's not only up to health professionals to decide who have access to what, but the patient himself. Implementing such a policy is walking towards patient empowerment which society should encourage and governments should promote. The paper then introduces a technical solution based on web security standards. This would give patients the ability to monitor and control which entities have access to their personal EHRs, thus empowering them with the knowledge of how much of his medical history is known and by whom. It is necessary to create standard data access protocols, mechanisms and policies to protect the privacy rights and furthermore, to enable patients, to automatically track the movement (flow) of their personal data and information in the context of health information systems. This solution must be functional and, above all, user-friendly and the interface should take in consideration some heuristics of usability in order to provide the user with the best tools. The current official standards on confidentiality and privacy in health care, currently being developed within the EU, are explained, in order to achieve a consensual idea of the guidelines that all member states should follow to transfer such principles into national laws. A perspective is given on the state of the art concerning web security standards, which can be used to easily engineer health information systems complying with the patient empowering goals. In conclusion health systems with the characteristics thus described are technically feasible and should be generally implemented and deployed.

The Proteins API: accessing key integrated protein and genome information

PubMed Central

Antunes, Ricardo; Alpi, Emanuele; Gonzales, Leonardo; Liu, Wudong; Luo, Jie; Qi, Guoying; Turner, Edd

2017-01-01

Abstract The Proteins API provides searching and programmatic access to protein and associated genomics data such as curated protein sequence positional annotations from UniProtKB, as well as mapped variation and proteomics data from large scale data sources (LSS). Using the coordinates service, researchers are able to retrieve the genomic sequence coordinates for proteins in UniProtKB. This, the LSS genomics and proteomics data for UniProt proteins is programmatically only available through this service. A Swagger UI has been implemented to provide documentation, an interface for users, with little or no programming experience, to ‘talk’ to the services to quickly and easily formulate queries with the services and obtain dynamically generated source code for popular programming languages, such as Java, Perl, Python and Ruby. Search results are returned as standard JSON, XML or GFF data objects. The Proteins API is a scalable, reliable, fast, easy to use RESTful services that provides a broad protein information resource for users to ask questions based upon their field of expertise and allowing them to gain an integrated overview of protein annotations available to aid their knowledge gain on proteins in biological processes. The Proteins API is available at (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/proteins/api/doc). PMID:28383659

NASA Earth Observations (NEO): Data Access for Informal Education and Outreach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ward, Kevin; Herring, David

2005-01-01

The NEO (NASA Earth Observations) web space is currently under development with the goal of significantly increasing the demand for NASA remote sensing data while dramatically simplifying public access to georeferenced images. NEO will target the unsophisticated, nontraditional data users who are currently underserved by the existing data ordering systems. These users will include formal and informal educators, museum and science center personnel, professional communicators, and citizen scientists and amateur Earth observers. Users will be able to view and manipulate georeferenced browse imagery and, if they desire, download directly or order the source HDF data from the data provider (e.g., NASA DAAC or science team) via a single, integrated interface. NE0 will accomplish this goal by anticipating users expectations and knowledge level, thus providing an interface that presents material to users in a more simplified manner, without relying upon the jargon/technical terminology that make even the identification of the appropriate data set a significant hurdle. NEO will also act as a gateway that manages users expectations by providing specific details about images and data formats, developing tutorials regarding the manipulation of georeferenced imagery and raw data, links to software tools and ensuring that users are able to get the image they want in the format they want as easily as possible.

The Proteins API: accessing key integrated protein and genome information.

PubMed

Nightingale, Andrew; Antunes, Ricardo; Alpi, Emanuele; Bursteinas, Borisas; Gonzales, Leonardo; Liu, Wudong; Luo, Jie; Qi, Guoying; Turner, Edd; Martin, Maria

2017-07-03

The Proteins API provides searching and programmatic access to protein and associated genomics data such as curated protein sequence positional annotations from UniProtKB, as well as mapped variation and proteomics data from large scale data sources (LSS). Using the coordinates service, researchers are able to retrieve the genomic sequence coordinates for proteins in UniProtKB. This, the LSS genomics and proteomics data for UniProt proteins is programmatically only available through this service. A Swagger UI has been implemented to provide documentation, an interface for users, with little or no programming experience, to 'talk' to the services to quickly and easily formulate queries with the services and obtain dynamically generated source code for popular programming languages, such as Java, Perl, Python and Ruby. Search results are returned as standard JSON, XML or GFF data objects. The Proteins API is a scalable, reliable, fast, easy to use RESTful services that provides a broad protein information resource for users to ask questions based upon their field of expertise and allowing them to gain an integrated overview of protein annotations available to aid their knowledge gain on proteins in biological processes. The Proteins API is available at (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/proteins/api/doc). © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Informing Nutrition Care in the Antenatal Period: Pregnant Women's Experiences and Need for Support

PubMed Central

Yeatman, Heather; Williamson, Moira

2017-01-01

This study aimed to provide insights into Australian women's experiences in gaining nutrition information during pregnancy. Individual semistructured telephone interviews were conducted with 17 pregnant (across all trimesters) and 9 postpartum women in five Australian states. Data were transcribed and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Women valued nutrition information, actively sought it, and passively received it mainly from three sources: healthcare providers (HCPs), media, and their social networks. Women reported HCPs as highest for reliability but they had limited time and indifferent approaches. Various media were easily and most frequently accessed but were less reliable. Social networks were considered to be the least reliable and least accessed. Women reported becoming overwhelmed and confused. This in turn influenced their decisions (pragmatic/rational) and their eating behaviours (“overdo it,” “loosen it,” “ignore it,” and “positive response”). Individual and environmental barriers impacted their application of knowledge to dietary practice. Women wanted more constructive and interactive engagement with their HCPs. This study identified the need to establish and maintain mutually respectful environments where women feel able to raise issues with their HCPs throughout their pregnancies and where they are confident that the information they receive will be accurate and meet their needs. PMID:28890896

Using More of Your Existing Knowledge to Make Better Strategic Decisions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brockmann, Erich N.

2008-01-01

We contend that managers make better decisions when they are better able to tap into their vast storehouses of knowledge than their peers can. More specifically, we contend that accessing their tacit knowledge has the most noticeable and positive impact on their decision quality. Furthermore, techniques for better accessing knowledge can be…

Workplace Learning: The Roles of Knowledge Accessibility and Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Jessica; Brake, Gary; Champion, Angeline; Fuller, Tony; Gabel, Sandy; Hatcher-Busch, Lori

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how knowledge management systems have been used by the studied organizations to improve knowledge accessibility and knowledge sharing in order to increase workplace learning. Design/methodology/approach: The study relies on a qualitative multisite case study method. Data were obtained from five…

Stromquist, N., & Samoff, J. (2000). Knowledge Management Systems: On the Promise and Actual Forms of Information Technologies. "British Association for International and Comparative Education," 30(3), 323-332

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gramlich, Catherine

2003-01-01

In their article," Knowledge Management Systems: On the Promise and Actual Forms of Information Technologies, Stromquist and Samoff (2000)" critically examined the role of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) in education. Stromquist and Samoff (2000) defined a KMS as a system "which proposes to produce easily retrievable materials…

Formal Education with LSST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrold, Ardis; Bauer, Amanda, Dr.; Peterson, J. Matt; Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Education and Public Outreach Team

2018-01-01

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will usher in a new age of astronomical data exploration for science educators and students. LSST data sets will be large, deep, and dynamic, and will establish a time-domain record that will extend over a decade. They will be used to provide engaging, relevant learning experiences.The EPO Team will develop online investigations using authentic LSST data that offer varying levels of challenge and depth by the start of telescope operations, slated to begin in 2022. The topics will cover common introductory astronomy concepts, and will align with the four science domains of LSST: The Milky Way, the changing sky (transients), solar system (moving) objects, and dark matter and dark energy.Online Jupyter notebooks will make LSST data easily available to access and analyze by students at the advanced middle school through college levels. Using online notebooks will circumvent common obstacles caused by firewalls, bandwidth issues, and the need to download software, as they will be accessible from any computer or tablet with internet access. Although the LSST EPO Jupyter notebooks are Python-based, a knowledge of programming will not be required to use them.Each topical investigation will include teacher and student versions of Jupyter notebooks, instructional videos, and access to a suite of support materials including a forum, and professional development training and tutorial videos.Jupyter notebooks will contain embedded widgets to process data, eliminating the need to use external spreadsheets and plotting software. Students will be able to analyze data by using some of the existing modules already developed for professional astronomers. This will shorten the time needed to conduct investigations and will shift the emphasis to understanding the underlying science themes, which is often lost with novice learners.

Astronomy: On the Bleeding Edge of Scholarly Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borgman, Christine; Sands, A.; Wynholds, L. A.

2013-01-01

The infrastructure for scholarship has moved online, making data, articles, papers, journals, catalogs, and other scholarly resources nodes in a deeply interconnected network. Astronomy has led the way on several fronts, developing tools such as ADS to provide unified access to astronomical publications and reaching agreement on a common data file formats such as FITS. Astronomy also was among the first fields to establish open access to substantial amounts of observational data. We report on the first three years of a long-term research project to study knowledge infrastructures in astronomy, funded by the NSF and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Early findings indicate that the availability and use of networked technologies for integrating scholarly resources varies widely within astronomy. Substantial differences arise in the management of data between ground-based and space-based missions and between subfields of astronomy, for example. While large databases such as SDSS and MAST are essential resources for many researchers, much pointed, ground-based observational data exist only on local servers, with minimal curation. Some astronomy data are easily discoverable and usable, but many are not. International coordination activities such as IVOA and distributed access to high-level data products servers such as SIMBAD and NED are enabling further integration of published data. Astronomers are tackling yet more challenges in new forms of publishing data, algorithms, visualizations, and in assuring interoperability with parallel infrastructure efforts in related fields. New issues include data citation, attribution, and provenance. Substantial concerns remain for the long term discoverability, accessibility, usability, and curation of astronomy data and other scholarly resources. The presentation will outline these challenges, how they are being addressed by astronomy and related fields, and identify concerns and accomplishments expressed by the astronomers we have interviewed and observed.

Comparison of quality of internet pages on human papillomavirus immunization in Italian and in English.

PubMed

Tozzi, Alberto Eugenio; Buonuomo, Paola Sabrina; Ciofi degli Atti, Marta Luisa; Carloni, Emanuela; Meloni, Marco; Gamba, Fiorenza

2010-01-01

Information available on the Internet about immunizations may influence parents' perception about human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization and their attitude toward vaccinating their daughters. We hypothesized that the quality of information on HPV available on the Internet may vary with language and with the level of knowledge of parents. To this end we compared the quality of a sample of Web pages in Italian with a sample of Web pages in English. Five reviewers assessed the quality of Web pages retrieved with popular search engines using criteria adapted from the Good Information Practice Essential Criteria for Vaccine Safety Web Sites recommended by the World Health Organization. Quality of Web pages was assessed in the domains of accessibility, credibility, content, and design. Scores in these domains were compared through nonparametric statistical tests. We retrieved and reviewed 74 Web sites in Italian and 117 in English. Most retrieved Web pages (33.5%) were from private agencies. Median scores were higher in Web pages in English compared with those in Italian in the domain of accessibility (p < .01), credibility (p < .01), and content (p < .01). The highest credibility and content scores were those of Web pages from governmental agencies or universities. Accessibility scores were positively associated with content scores (p < .01) and with credibility scores (p < .01). A total of 16.2% of Web pages in Italian opposed HPV immunization compared with 6.0% of those in English (p < .05). Quality of information and number of Web pages opposing HPV immunization may vary with the Web site language. High-quality Web pages on HPV, especially from public health agencies and universities, should be easily accessible and retrievable with common Web search engines. Copyright 2010 Society for Adolescent Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Electronic access to scientific nursing knowledge: the Virginia Henderson International Nursing Library.

PubMed

Graves, J R

2001-02-01

To inform oncology nurses about the electronic knowledge resources offered by the Sigma Theta Tau International Virginia Henderson International Nursing Library. Published articles and research studies. Clinical nursing research dissemination has been seriously affected by publication bias. The Virginia Henderson International Nursing Library has introduced both a new publishing paradigm for research and a new knowledge indexing strategy for improving electronic access to research knowledge (findings). The ability of oncology nursing to evolve, as an evidence-based practice, is largely dependent on access to research findings.

Parent Book Talk to Accelerate Spanish Content Vocabulary Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pollard-Durodola, Sharolyn D.; Gonzalez, Jorge E.; Satterfield, Teresa; Benki, José R.; Vaquero, Juana; Ungco, Camille

2017-01-01

This article bridges research to practice by summarizing an interactive content-enriched shared book reading approach that Spanish-speaking parents of preschool-age children can easily use in the home to accelerate content vocabulary knowledge in Spanish. The approach was implemented in preschool classrooms using a transitional bilingual education…

Lessons Learned from a Decade of Serving Data to Students and the Public

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chambers, L. H.; Martin, A. M.; Riebeek, H.; Jackson, R.

2015-12-01

NASA holds petabytes of Earth science data from a fleet of satellites going back decades. While these data can be invaluable for use in STEM education and communication (E/C), the simple fact that the archive is public is not enough. The key to successful use is to provide technological tools in strategic combination with best practices to meet the needs of various audiences. Students and teachers need access points that are specifically tailored to meet the technology resources in the classroom; citizen scientists need to feel a connection to NASA, easy-to-use technological interfaces, and are motivated by contributing to real research activities; the general public needs short, focused, easily digested tidbits. NASA's Earth science E/C teams have developed strategies combining audience knowledge with new technical capabilities through programs like MY NASA DATA, S'COOL, Earth Observatory, Giovanni, climate.gov, etc. The capability to offer a range of resources targeted to specific audience needs has advanced along several fronts over the last decade through use of the following key strategies: Regularly publishing articles, fact sheets and image captions written with greater detail than media releases to connect basic science concepts with current NASA research. Providing for differing levels of engagement, with basic, intermediate and advanced data access tools as well as lesson plans for grades K-2 through high school. Facilitating the important scientific process of asking questions once students are actively engaged though exploration and manipulation of current Earth data delivered through desktop and mobile apps.. Providing curated data sets that students can more easily interpret. Assessing users' needs through ongoing formative evaluation. Using Analytics to make data-driven decisions about technologies and approaches. We will survey the range of approaches to enabling data use for STEM E/C and will share some of the key lessons learned.

Postpartum Health Information Seeking Using Mobile Phones: Experiences of Low-Income Mothers.

PubMed

Guerra-Reyes, Lucia; Christie, Vanessa M; Prabhakar, Annu; Harris, Asia L; Siek, Katie A

2016-11-01

Objectives To assess low-income mothers' perceptions of their postpartum information needs; describe their information seeking behavior; explore their use of mobile technology to address those needs; and to contribute to the sparse literature on postpartum health and wellness. Methods Exploratory community-based qualitative approach. Interviewees were recruited among clients of community partners and had children aged 48 months and under. A survey assessing demographics was used to identify low-income mothers. 10 low-income mothers were recruited from survey participants to complete in-depth interviews regarding postpartum information needs, information seeking, and technology use. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded by three researchers independently. Narratives were analyzed along predetermined (etic) and emergent (emic) categories. Results Establishing breastfeeding and solving breastfeeding problems were central postpartum concerns leading to information seeking. Interviewees reported almost exclusive use of mobile phones to access the Internet. Mobile applications were widely used during pregnancy, but were not valuable postpartum. Face-to-face information from medical professionals was found to be repetitive. Online information seeking was mediated by default mobile phone search engines, and occurred over short, fragmented time periods. College graduates reported searching for authoritative knowledge sources; non-graduates preferred forums. Conclusions for Practice Low-income postpartum women rely on their smartphones to find online infant care and self-care health information. Websites replace pregnancy-related mobile applications and complement face-to-face information. Changes in searching behavior and multitasking mean information must be easily accessible and readily understood. Knowledge of page-rank systems and use of current and emergent social media will allow health-related organizations to better engage with low-income mothers online and promote evidence-based information.

Accessing Suomi NPP OMPS Products through the GES DISC Online Data Services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, J.; Wei, J.; Gerasimov, I.; Vollmer, Bruce E.

2017-01-01

This presentation will provide an overview of the OMPS products available at the GES DISC archive, as well as demonstrate the various data services provided by the GES DISC. Since the TOMS, SBUV, and EOS Aura (OMI, MLS, HIRDLS) data products are also available from the GES DISC archive, these can be easily accessed and compared with the OMPS data.

New Tools to Convert PDF Math Contents into Accessible e-Books Efficiently.

PubMed

Suzuki, Masakazu; Terada, Yugo; Kanahori, Toshihiro; Yamaguchi, Katsuhito

2015-01-01

New features in our math-OCR software to convert PDF math contents into accessible e-books are shown. A method for recognizing PDF is thoroughly improved. In addition, contents in any selected area including math formulas in a PDF file can be cut and pasted into a document in various accessible formats, which is automatically recognized and converted into texts and accessible math formulas through this process. Combining it with our authoring tool for a technical document, one can easily produce accessible e-books in various formats such as DAISY, accessible EPUB3, DAISY-like HTML5, Microsoft Word with math objects and so on. Those contents are useful for various print-disabled students ranging from the blind to the dyslexic.

Recent study, but not retrieval, of knowledge protects against learning errors.

PubMed

Mullet, Hillary G; Umanath, Sharda; Marsh, Elizabeth J

2014-11-01

Surprisingly, people incorporate errors into their knowledge bases even when they have the correct knowledge stored in memory (e.g., Fazio, Barber, Rajaram, Ornstein, & Marsh, 2013). We examined whether heightening the accessibility of correct knowledge would protect people from later reproducing misleading information that they encountered in fictional stories. In Experiment 1, participants studied a series of target general knowledge questions and their correct answers either a few minutes (high accessibility of knowledge) or 1 week (low accessibility of knowledge) before exposure to misleading story references. In Experiments 2a and 2b, participants instead retrieved the answers to the target general knowledge questions either a few minutes or 1 week before the rest of the experiment. Reading the relevant knowledge directly before the story-reading phase protected against reproduction of the misleading story answers on a later general knowledge test, but retrieving that same correct information did not. Retrieving stored knowledge from memory might actually enhance the encoding of relevant misinformation.

Accessible medical equipment for patients with disabilities in primary care clinics: why is it lacking?

PubMed

Pharr, Jennifer

2013-04-01

Previous research has identified inaccessible medical equipment as a barrier to health care services encountered by people with disabilities. However, no research has been conducted to understand why medical practices lack accessible equipment. The purpose of this study was to examine practice administrators' knowledge of accessible medical equipment and cost of accessible medical equipment to understand why medical practices lack such equipment. Hypotheses were: 1) Practice administrators lacked knowledge about accessible medical equipment and 2) The cost of accessible medical equipment was too great compared to standard equipment for the clinic. This study was a mixed methods survey of primary care practice administrators. The sixty-three participates were members of a medical management organization. Data were collected between December 20, 2011 and January 17, 2012. Proportions, Guttman scalogram, and Spearman's Rho correlation analyses were utilized. For this sample, less than half of the administrators knew that accessible equipment existed and a fourth knew what accessible equipment existed. There was a significant (p < 0.01), positive correlation between knowledge of accessible equipment and pieces of accessible equipment in the clinics. Because less than half of the administrators had ever considered purchasing accessible equipment, it was inconclusive if cost of accessible equipment was too great. Practice administrators' lack of knowledge of accessible medical equipment emphasizes the need not only for more education about the availability of accessible equipment but also about the importance of accessible equipment for their patients with disabilities and for physicians who provide them care. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Field Audit Checklist Tool (FACT)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Download EPA's The Field Audit Checklist Tool (FACT). FACT is intended to help auditors perform field audits, to easily view monitoring plan, quality assurance and emissions data and provides access to data collected under MATS.

39 CFR 7.6 - Certification and transcripts of closed meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Corporate Communications Department at Postal Service Headquarters, or in another place easily accessible to... of this electronic recording disclosing the identity of each speaker, to any person at the actual...

39 CFR 7.6 - Certification and transcripts of closed meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Corporate Communications Department at Postal Service Headquarters, or in another place easily accessible to... of this electronic recording disclosing the identity of each speaker, to any person at the actual...

39 CFR 7.6 - Certification and transcripts of closed meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Corporate Communications Department at Postal Service Headquarters, or in another place easily accessible to... of this electronic recording disclosing the identity of each speaker, to any person at the actual...

39 CFR 7.6 - Certification and transcripts of closed meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Corporate Communications Department at Postal Service Headquarters, or in another place easily accessible to... of this electronic recording disclosing the identity of each speaker, to any person at the actual...

39 CFR 7.6 - Certification and transcripts of closed meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Corporate Communications Department at Postal Service Headquarters, or in another place easily accessible to... of this electronic recording disclosing the identity of each speaker, to any person at the actual...

Find a Support Group (Brain Tumor)

MedlinePlus

... seek support. Located in the heart of Union Square and easily accessible by the 4,5,6, ... subway lines. Meeting location: Mount Sinai Downtown Union Square, 10 Union Square East, 5th floor, Conference Room ...

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (EIMS)

EPA Science Inventory

The Environmental Information Management System (EIMS) organizes descriptive information (metadata) for data sets, databases, documents, models, projects, and spatial data. The EIMS design provides a repository for scientific documentation that can be easily accessed with standar...

Going "open" with mesoscopy: a new dimension on multi-view imaging.

PubMed

Gualda, Emilio; Moreno, Nuno; Tomancak, Pavel; Martins, Gabriel G

2014-03-01

OpenSPIM and OpenSpinMicroscopy emerged as open access platforms for Light Sheet and Optical Projection Imaging, often called as optical mesoscopy techniques. Both projects can be easily reproduced using comprehensive online instructions that should foster the implementation and further development of optical imaging techniques with sample rotation control. This additional dimension in an open system offers the possibility to make multi-view microscopy easily modified and will complement the emerging commercial solutions. Furthermore, it is deeply based on other open platforms such as MicroManager and Arduino, enabling development of tailored setups for very specific biological questions. In our perspective, the open access principle of OpenSPIM and OpenSpinMicroscopy is a game-changer, helping the concepts of light sheet and optical projection tomography (OPT) to enter the mainstream of biological imaging.

Effects of Dimensions of Word Knowledge and Their Accessibility on Different Levels of Reading Comprehension in Adolescent EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Yunjeong

2017-01-01

Researchers have investigated that different dimensions of word knowledge (breadth versus depth) may play distinct roles in second language (L2) reading comprehension. Yet, little research has addressed how learners' efficiency of accessing those dimensions of knowledge functions in their comprehension (i.e., the issue of knowledge availability…

Open Access to Scientific Literature: An Assessment of Awareness Support and Usage among Academic Librarians at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Marsha Ann Johnson

2012-01-01

Open Access (OA) to scholarly communications is a critical component in providing equitable admission to scholarly information and a key vehicle toward the achievement of global access to research in the knowledge building process. A standard and universally accepted process for guaranteeing OA permits complimentary access to knowledge, research…

Social organization influences the exchange and species richness of medicinal plants in Amazonian homegardens.

PubMed

2016-03-01

Medicinal plants provide indigenous and peasant communities worldwide with means to meet their healthcare needs. Homegardens often act as medicine cabinets, providing easily accessible medicinal plants for household needs. Social structure and social exchanges have been proposed as factors influencing the species diversity that people maintain in their homegardens. Here, we assess the association between the exchange of medicinal knowledge and plant material and medicinal plant richness in homegardens. Using Tsimane' Amazonian homegardens as a case study, we explore whether social organization shapes exchanges of medicinal plant knowledge and medicinal plant material. We also use network centrality measures to evaluate people's location and performance in medicinal plant knowledge and plant material exchange networks. Our results suggest that social organization, specifically kinship and gender relations, influences medicinal plant exchange patterns significantly. Homegardens total and medicinal plant species richness are related to gardeners' centrality in the networks, whereby people with greater centrality maintain greater plant richness. Thus, together with agroecological conditions, social relations among gardeners and the culturally specific social structure seem to be important determinants of plant richness in homegardens. Understanding which factors pattern general species diversity in tropical homegardens, and medicinal plant diversity in particular, can help policy makers, health providers, and local communities to understand better how to promote and preserve medicinal plants in situ. Biocultural approaches that are also gender sensitive offer a culturally appropriate means to reduce the global and local loss of both biological and cultural diversity.

Ethical issues in psychiatric genetics.

PubMed

Appelbaum, Paul S

2004-11-01

As knowledge grows regarding the genetic bases of psychiatric disorders, a variety of ethical issues will need to be confronted. Current evidence suggests that the etiology of most psychiatric disorders rests on a combination of multiple genes and environmental factors. As tests for the genes involved become more easily available, pressures will arise to use them for prenatal testing, screening of children and adults, selection of potential adoptees, and pre-marital screening. Common problems that will need to be addressed include popular misunderstanding of the consequences of possessing an affected allele, impact of knowledge of one's genetic make-up on one's sense of self, and the discriminatory use of genetic information to deny persons access to insurance and employment. Although most states have some legislation aimed at preventing discrimination, the laws' coverage is spotty and federal rules are lacking. Physicians may find that newly available genetic information creates new duties for them, including warning third parties who may share the patient's genetic endowment. And genetics research itself has raised questions about when to disclose information to subjects and their family members about the genes that are being studied, and how to define the subjects of the research when information is collected about family members other than the proband. Knowledge of these dilemmas is a first step to resolving them, something that the medical profession will need to attend to in the near-term. Neglect will lead others to set the rules that will control medical practice, including the practice of psychiatry, in the new world of genetic medicine.

Integrating Indigenous Traditional, Local and Scientific Knowledge for Improved Management, Policy and Decision-Making in Reindeer Husbandry in the Russian Arctic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maynard, Nancy G.; Yurchak, Boris; Turi, Johan Mathis; Mathiesen, Svein D.; Aissi-Wespi, Rita L.

2004-01-01

As scientists and policy-makers from both indigenous and non-indigenous communities begin to build closer partnerships to address common sustainability issues such as the health impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities, it becomes increasingly important to create shared information management systems which integrate all relevant factors for optimal information sharing and decision-making. This paper describes a new GIs-based system being designed to bring local and indigenous traditional knowledge together with scientific data and information, remote sensing, and information technologies to address health-related environment, weather, climate, pollution and land use change issues for improved decision/policy-making for reindeer husbandry. The system is building an easily-accessible archive of relevant current and historical, traditional, local and remotely-sensed and other data and observations for shared analysis, measuring, and monitoring parameters of interest. Protection of indigenous culturally sensitive information will be respected through appropriate data protocols. A mechanism which enables easy information sharing among all participants, which is real time and geo-referenced and which allows interconnectivity with remote sites is also being designed into the system for maximum communication among partners. A preliminary version of our system will be described for a Russian reindeer test site, which will include a combination of indigenous knowledge about local conditions and issues, remote sensing and ground-based data on such parameters as the vegetation state and distribution, snow cover, temperature, ice condition, and infrastructure.

Environmental Impact on DNA Methylation in the Germline: State of the Art and Gaps of Knowledge

PubMed Central

Pacchierotti, Francesca; Spanò, Marcello

2015-01-01

The epigenome consists of chemical changes in DNA and chromatin that without modifying the DNA sequence modulate gene expression and cellular phenotype. The epigenome is highly plastic and reacts to changing external conditions with modifications that can be inherited to daughter cells and across generations. Whereas this innate plasticity allows for adaptation to a changing environment, it also implies the potential of epigenetic derailment leading to so-called epimutations. DNA methylation is the most studied epigenetic mark. DNA methylation changes have been associated with cancer, infertility, cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, immunologic, and neurodegenerative pathologies. Experiments in rodents demonstrate that exposure to a variety of chemical stressors, occurring during the prenatal or the adult life, may induce DNA methylation changes in germ cells, which may be transmitted across generations with phenotypic consequences. An increasing number of human biomonitoring studies show environmentally related DNA methylation changes mainly in blood leukocytes, whereas very few data have been so far collected on possible epigenetic changes induced in the germline, even by the analysis of easily accessible sperm. In this paper, we review the state of the art on factors impinging on DNA methylation in the germline, highlight gaps of knowledge, and propose priorities for future studies. PMID:26339587

Awareness of cervical cancer and Pap smear among nursing staff at a rural tertiary care hospital in Central India.

PubMed

Jain, S M; Bagde, M N; Bagde, N D

2016-01-01

Cancer cervix is the leading cause of cancer deaths in females in developing countries and one in five women suffering from cervical cancer lives in India. The aim of this study is to determine the awareness about cervical cancer and Pap smear among nurses working in a tertiary care institute. Study Setting and Design: Cross-sectional survey in a tertiary care institute. Nurses working at our institute excluding those who have worked or working in the Obstetrics and Gynecology department were provided with a pre-designed questionnaire testing their knowledge about cervical cancer. Approximately, 86% were aware about cancer cervix and 69% were aware of a pre-cancerous stage. 42.3% were not aware of any risk factor and 27.6% were not aware of any symptom of cancer cervix. 86.2% were aware about Pap smear, but only 58.6% were aware that facilities of Pap smear were available at our hospital. Knowledge about cervical cancer and awareness of Pap smear as screening test was inadequate in nursing staff. Awareness programs about cervical cancer and screening are needed to increase awareness for this preventable condition. There is a need to arrange reorientation programs to sensitize nurses and establish cytology clinics to offer facilities for easily accessible and affordable screening.

Structural knowledge learning from maps for supervised land cover/use classification: Application to the monitoring of land cover/use maps in French Guiana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bayoudh, Meriam; Roux, Emmanuel; Richard, Gilles; Nock, Richard

2015-03-01

The number of satellites and sensors devoted to Earth observation has become increasingly elevated, delivering extensive data, especially images. At the same time, the access to such data and the tools needed to process them has considerably improved. In the presence of such data flow, we need automatic image interpretation methods, especially when it comes to the monitoring and prediction of environmental and societal changes in highly dynamic socio-environmental contexts. This could be accomplished via artificial intelligence. The concept described here relies on the induction of classification rules that explicitly take into account structural knowledge, using Aleph, an Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) system, combined with a multi-class classification procedure. This methodology was used to monitor changes in land cover/use of the French Guiana coastline. One hundred and fifty-eight classification rules were induced from 3 diachronic land cover/use maps including 38 classes. These rules were expressed in first order logic language, which makes them easily understandable by non-experts. A 10-fold cross-validation gave significant average values of 84.62%, 99.57% and 77.22% for classification accuracy, specificity and sensitivity, respectively. Our methodology could be beneficial to automatically classify new objects and to facilitate object-based classification procedures.

Unconventional Pretreatment of Lignocellulose with Low-Temperature Plasma.

PubMed

Vanneste, Jens; Ennaert, Thijs; Vanhulsel, Annick; Sels, Bert

2017-01-10

Lignocellulose represents a potential supply of sustainable feedstock for the production of biofuels and chemicals. There is, however, an important cost and efficiency challenge associated with the conversion of such lignocellulosics. Because its structure is complex and not prone to undergo chemical reactions very easily, chemical and mechanical pretreatments are usually necessary to be able to refine them into the compositional building blocks (carbohydrates and lignin) from which value-added platform molecules, such as glucose, ethylene glycol, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and levulinic acid, and biofuels, such as bioderived naphtha, kerosene, and diesel fractions, will be produced. Conventional (wet) methods are usually polluting, aggressive, and highly energy consuming, so any alternative activation procedure of the lignocellulose is highly recommended and anticipated in recent and future biomass research. Lignocellulosic plasma activation has emerged as an interesting (dry) treatment technique. In the long run, in particular, in times of fairly accessible renewable electricity, plasma may be considered as an alternative to conventional pretreatment methods, but current knowledge is too little and examples too few to guarantee that statement. This review therefore highlights recent knowledge, advancements, and shortcomings in the field of plasma treatment of cellulose and lignocellulose with regard to the (structural and chemical) effects and impact on the future of pretreatment methods. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The CDC Hemophilia B mutation project mutation list: a new online resource.

PubMed

Li, Tengguo; Miller, Connie H; Payne, Amanda B; Craig Hooper, W

2013-11-01

Hemophilia B (HB) is caused by mutations in the human gene F9. The mutation type plays a pivotal role in genetic counseling and prediction of inhibitor development. To help the HB community understand the molecular etiology of HB, we have developed a listing of all F9 mutations that are reported to cause HB based on the literature and existing databases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Hemophilia B Mutation Project (CHBMP) mutation list is compiled in an easily accessible format of Microsoft Excel and contains 1083 unique mutations that are reported to cause HB. Each mutation is identified using Human Genome Variation Society (HGVS) nomenclature standards. The mutation types and the predicted changes in amino acids, if applicable, are also provided. Related information including the location of mutation, severity of HB, the presence of inhibitor, and original publication reference are listed as well. Therefore, our mutation list provides an easily accessible resource for genetic counselors and HB researchers to predict inhibitors. The CHBMP mutation list is freely accessible at http://www.cdc.gov/hemophiliamutations.

Why Knowledge Matters in Curriculum: A Social Realist Argument. New Studies in Critical Realism and Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wheelahan, Leesa

2012-01-01

What should we teach in our schools and vocational education and higher education institutions? Is theoretical knowledge still important? This book argues that providing students with access to knowledge should be the raison d'etre of education. Its premise is that access to knowledge is an issue of social justice because society uses it to…

Improving Access to Transit Through Crowdsourced Information

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-11-01

The purpose of this research was to facilitate the ongoing collection of information from the public about potential areas of multimodal service and infrastructure improvements and easily share these problems with transit agencies, departments of tra...

India: Gujarat

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-16

... Gujarat), and in areas close to the earthquake epicenter.  Research uses the unique capabilities of the Multi-angle Imaging ... Indo-Pakistani border, which were not easily accessible to survey teams on the ground. Changes in reflection at different view angles ...

WILLIAMSBURG BROOKLYN ASTHMA AND ENVIRONMENT CONSORTIUM

EPA Science Inventory

The Consortium expects to develop a family health promotion model in which organized residents have access to easily understood, scientifically accurate, community-specific information about their health, their environment, and the relationship between the two,...

Efficient generation of integration-free human induced pluripotent stem cells from keratinocytes by simple transfection of episomal vectors.

PubMed

Piao, Yulan; Hung, Sandy Shen-Chi; Lim, Shiang Y; Wong, Raymond Ching-Bong; Ko, Minoru S H

2014-07-01

Keratinocytes represent an easily accessible cell source for derivation of human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells, reportedly achieving higher reprogramming efficiency than fibroblasts. However, most studies utilized a retroviral or lentiviral method for reprogramming of keratinocytes, which introduces undesirable transgene integrations into the host genome. Moreover, current protocols of generating integration-free hiPS cells from keratinocytes are mostly inefficient. In this paper, we describe a more efficient, simple-to-use, and cost-effective method for generating integration-free hiPS cells from keratinocytes. Our improved method using lipid-mediated transfection achieved a reprogramming efficiency of ∼0.14% on average. Keratinocyte-derived hiPS cells showed no integration of episomal vectors, expressed stem cell-specific markers and possessed potentials to differentiate into all three germ layers by in vitro embryoid body formation as well as in vivo teratoma formation. To our knowledge, this represents the most efficient method to generate integration-free hiPS cells from keratinocytes. ©AlphaMed Press.

Currency arbitrage detection using a binary integer programming model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soon, Wanmei; Ye, Heng-Qing

2011-04-01

In this article, we examine the use of a new binary integer programming (BIP) model to detect arbitrage opportunities in currency exchanges. This model showcases an excellent application of mathematics to the real world. The concepts involved are easily accessible to undergraduate students with basic knowledge in Operations Research. Through this work, students can learn to link several types of basic optimization models, namely linear programming, integer programming and network models, and apply the well-known sensitivity analysis procedure to accommodate realistic changes in the exchange rates. Beginning with a BIP model, we discuss how it can be reduced to an equivalent but considerably simpler model, where an efficient algorithm can be applied to find the arbitrages and incorporate the sensitivity analysis procedure. A simple comparison is then made with a different arbitrage detection model. This exercise helps students learn to apply basic Operations Research concepts to a practical real-life example, and provides insights into the processes involved in Operations Research model formulations.

Pan-Nematoda Transcriptomic Elucidation of Essential Intestinal Functions and Therapeutic Targets With Broad Potential

PubMed Central

Wang, Qi; Rosa, Bruce A.; Jasmer, Douglas P.; Mitreva, Makedonka

2015-01-01

The nematode intestine is continuous with the outside environment, making it easily accessible to anthelmintics for parasite control, but the development of new therapeutics is impeded by limited knowledge of nematode intestinal cell biology. We established the most comprehensive nematode intestinal functional database to date by generating transcriptional data from the dissected intestines of three parasitic nematodes spanning the phylum, and integrating the results with the whole proteomes of 10 nematodes (including 9 pathogens of humans or animals) and 3 host species and 2 outgroup species. We resolved 10,772 predicted nematode intestinal protein families (IntFams), and studied their presence and absence within the different lineages (births and deaths) among nematodes. Conserved intestinal cell functions representing ancestral functions of evolutionary importance were delineated, and molecular features useful for selective therapeutic targeting were identified. Molecular patterns conserved among IntFam proteins demonstrated large potential as therapeutic targets to inhibit intestinal cell functions with broad applications towards treatment and control of parasitic nematodes. PMID:26501106

The convergence of gambling and digital media: implications for gambling in young people.

PubMed

King, Daniel; Delfabbro, Paul; Griffiths, Mark

2010-06-01

Adolescents' use of the Internet and other digital media for the purpose of gambling represents a serious concern in modern society. This paper overviews some of the available monetary and non-monetary forms of gambling within new digital and online media and monetary forms of games with gambling-like experiences. With reference to current psychological knowledge on the risk factors that promote adolescent gambling, it is suggested that new gambling technologies may: (a) make gambling more accessible and attractive to young people, (b) may promote factually incorrect information about gambling, (c) provide an easy escape from real world problems such as depression and social isolation, (d) create a gambling environment that easily facilitates peer pressures to gamble, (e) ease parental transmission of gambling attitudes and beliefs, and (f) make gambling more ubiquitous and socially acceptable. The unique risks of Internet gambling for young people are critically discussed, as well as the lack of restricted classification for video games and other media that feature interactive, non-monetary forms of gambling.

Real-Time Data Filtering and Compression in Wide Area Simulation Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-10-02

Area Simulation Networks Achieving the real-time linkage among multiple , geographically-distant, local area networks that support distributed...November 1989, pp. 52-61. [IEEE85] IEEE/ANSI Standard 8802/3 "Carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) access method and...decoding/encoding of multiple bits. The hardware is programmable, easily adaptable and yields a high compression rate. A prototype 2-micron VLSI chip

Facilitating knowledge discovery and visualization through mining contextual data from published studies: lessons from JournalMap

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Valuable information on the location and context of ecological studies are locked up in publications in myriad formats that are not easily machine readable. This presents significant challenges to building geographic-based tools to search for and visualize sources of ecological knowledge. JournalMap...

The Role of Social Media Tools: Accessible Tourism for Disabled Citizens

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altinay, Zehra; Saner, Tulen; Bahçelerli, Nesrin M.; Altinay, Fahriye

2016-01-01

Knowledge sharing becomes important to accomplish digital citizenship. Social media tools become popular to share and diffuse the knowledge in the digitalization. This social media learning and knowledge sharing platforms provides accessibility to the services within societies especially for disabled citizens. This research study aims to evaluate…

The effect of an educational program for vascular access care on nurses' knowledge at dialysis centers in Khartoum State, Sudan.

PubMed

Yousif, Kalthoum Ibrahim; Abu-Aisha, Hasan; Abboud, Omar Ibrahim

2017-01-01

End-stage renal disease is a worldwide problem that requires highly skilled nursing care. Hemodialysis (HD) is a corner-stone procedure in the management of most patients who require renal replacement therapy. Adequate vascular access is essential for the successful use of HD. Appropriate knowledge in taking care of vascular access is essential for minimizing complications and accurately recognizing vascular access-related problems. This study was to evaluate the effect of an educational program for vascular access care on nurses' knowledge at nine dialysis centers in Khartoum State. This was a Quasi experimental study (pre-and post-test for the same group). Sixty-one nurses working in these HD centers were chosen by simple random sampling method. A structured face-to-face interview questionnaire based on the Kidney Dialysis Outcome Quality Initiative (K/DOQI) clinical practice guidelines for vascular access care was used. Instrument validity was determined through content validity by a panel of experts. Reliability of the instrument was tested by a pilot study to test the knowledge scores for 15 nurses. The Pearson correlation coefficient obtained was (r = 0.82). Data collection was taken before and after the educational intervention. A follow-up test was performed three month later, using the same data collection tools. Twenty-two individual variables assessing the knowledge levels in aspects related to the six K/DOQI guidelines showed improvement in all scores of the nurses' knowledge after the educational intervention; and the differences from the preeducational scores were statistically significant (P < 0.001). The study showed that a structured educational program based on the K/DOQI clinical practice guidelines had a significant impact on the dialysis nurses knowledge in caring for vascular access in HD patients. The knowledge level attained was maintained for at least three months after the educational intervention.

Providing Access and Visualization to Global Cloud Properties from GEO Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chee, T.; Nguyen, L.; Minnis, P.; Spangenberg, D.; Palikonda, R.; Ayers, J. K.

2015-12-01

Providing public access to cloud macro and microphysical properties is a key concern for the NASA Langley Research Center Cloud and Radiation Group. This work describes a tool and method that allows end users to easily browse and access cloud information that is otherwise difficult to acquire and manipulate. The core of the tool is an application-programming interface that is made available to the public. One goal of the tool is to provide a demonstration to end users so that they can use the dynamically generated imagery as an input into their own work flows for both image generation and cloud product requisition. This project builds upon NASA Langley Cloud and Radiation Group's experience with making real-time and historical satellite cloud product imagery accessible and easily searchable. As we see the increasing use of virtual supply chains that provide additional value at each link there is value in making satellite derived cloud product information available through a simple access method as well as allowing users to browse and view that imagery as they need rather than in a manner most convenient for the data provider. Using the Open Geospatial Consortium's Web Processing Service as our access method, we describe a system that uses a hybrid local and cloud based parallel processing system that can return both satellite imagery and cloud product imagery as well as the binary data used to generate them in multiple formats. The images and cloud products are sourced from multiple satellites and also "merged" datasets created by temporally and spatially matching satellite sensors. Finally, the tool and API allow users to access information that spans the time ranges that our group has information available. In the case of satellite imagery, the temporal range can span the entire lifetime of the sensor.

Deficits in Young Men's Knowledge about Accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bersamin, Melina; Fisher, Deborah A.; Marcell, Arik V.; Finan, Laura J.

2017-01-01

Objective: The current study aimed to examine (1) gender differences in college students' knowledge of sexual and reproductive health care (K-SRHC) service access points, and (2) the relationship between demographic and psychosocial factors and college students' overall K-SRHC service access points. Methods and Participants: Self-report online…

77 FR 71460 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-30

... notice for a period of at least two years in an easily accessible place. This rule addresses the problem... of $27,750 (3,700 notices multiplied by $7.50 per notice). The Commission may not conduct or sponsor...

Action Planning for Prevention and Recovery: A Self-Help Guide

MedlinePlus

... everything, from really easily accessible things, like taking deep breaths, to things you only do once in ... self-help books that help you relax through deep breathing and focusing your attention on cer- tain ...

Facial attractiveness impressions precede trustworthiness inferences: lower detection thresholds and faster decision latencies.

PubMed

Gutiérrez-García, Aida; Beltrán, David; Calvo, Manuel G

2018-02-26

Prior research has found a relationship between perceived facial attractiveness and perceived personal trustworthiness. We examined the time course of attractiveness relative to trustworthiness evaluation of emotional and neutral faces. This served to explore whether attractiveness might be used as an easily accessible cue and a quick shortcut for judging trustworthiness. Detection thresholds and judgment latencies as a function of expressive intensity were measured. Significant correlations between attractiveness and trustworthiness consistently held for six emotional expressions at four intensities, and neutral faces. Importantly, perceived attractiveness preceded perceived trustworthiness, with lower detection thresholds and shorter decision latencies. This reveals a time course advantage for attractiveness, and suggests that earlier attractiveness impressions could bias trustworthiness inferences. A heuristic cognitive mechanism is hypothesised to ease processing demands by relying on simple and observable clues (attractiveness) as a substitute for more complex and not easily accessible information (trustworthiness).

WHITE BOX: LOW COST BOX FOR LAPAROSCOPIC TRAINING

PubMed Central

MARTINS, João Maximiliano Pedron; RIBEIRO, Roberto Vanin Pinto; CAVAZZOLA, Leandro Totti

2015-01-01

Background: Laparoscopic surgery is a reality in almost all surgical centers. Although with initial greater technical difficulty for surgeons, the rapid return to activities, less postoperative pain and higher quality aesthetic stimulates surgeons to evolve technically in this area. However, unlike open surgery where learning opportunities are more accessible, the laparoscopic training represents a challenge in surgeon formation. Aim: To present a low cost model for laparoscopic training box. Methods: This model is based in easily accessible materials; the equipment can be easily found based on chrome mini jet and passes rubber thread and a webcam attached to an aluminum handle. Results: It can be finalized in two days costing R$ 280,00 (US$ 90). Conclusion: It is possible to stimulate a larger number of surgeons to have self training in laparoscopy at low cost seeking to improve their surgical skills outside the operating room. PMID:26537148

The INDIGO-Datacloud Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceccanti, A.; Hardt, M.; Wegh, B.; Millar, AP; Caberletti, M.; Vianello, E.; Licehammer, S.

2017-10-01

Contemporary distributed computing infrastructures (DCIs) are not easily and securely accessible by scientists. These computing environments are typically hard to integrate due to interoperability problems resulting from the use of different authentication mechanisms, identity negotiation protocols and access control policies. Such limitations have a big impact on the user experience making it hard for user communities to port and run their scientific applications on resources aggregated from multiple providers. The INDIGO-DataCloud project wants to provide the services and tools needed to enable a secure composition of resources from multiple providers in support of scientific applications. In order to do so, a common AAI architecture has to be defined that supports multiple authentication mechanisms, support delegated authorization across services and can be easily integrated in off-the-shelf software. In this contribution we introduce the INDIGO Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure, describing its main components and their status and how authentication, delegation and authorization flows are implemented across services.

3,4-Dihydro-2H-pyrrole-2-carbonitriles: Useful Intermediates in the Synthesis of Fused Pyrroles and 2,2'-Bipyrroles.

PubMed

Nebe, Marco M; Kucukdisli, Murat; Opatz, Till

2016-05-20

Various heterocyclic structures containing the pyrrole moiety have been synthesized from easily accessible 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrrole-2-carbonitriles in one-pot procedures. 5,6,7,8-Tetrahydroindolizines, 2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolizines as well as 6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-a]azepines were obtained from these precursors in high yields in an alkylation/annulation sequence. The same conditions were applied in the synthesis of a 5,8-dihydroindolizine, which could easily be transformed to the corresponding indolizine by dehydrogenation. Furthermore, oxidative couplings of 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrrole-2-carbonitriles with copper(II)-salts furnished 2,2'-bipyrroles as well as 5,5'-bis(5-cyano-1-pyrrolines), depending on the reaction conditions. Overall, these methods give high yielding access to a variety of pyrrole-containing heterocyles in two steps from commercially available starting materials.

Generalized Nanosatellite Avionics Testbed Lab

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frost, Chad R.; Sorgenfrei, Matthew C.; Nehrenz, Matt

2015-01-01

The Generalized Nanosatellite Avionics Testbed (G-NAT) lab at NASA Ames Research Center provides a flexible, easily accessible platform for developing hardware and software for advanced small spacecraft. A collaboration between the Mission Design Division and the Intelligent Systems Division, the objective of the lab is to provide testing data and general test protocols for advanced sensors, actuators, and processors for CubeSat-class spacecraft. By developing test schemes for advanced components outside of the standard mission lifecycle, the lab is able to help reduce the risk carried by advanced nanosatellite or CubeSat missions. Such missions are often allocated very little time for testing, and too often the test facilities must be custom-built for the needs of the mission at hand. The G-NAT lab helps to eliminate these problems by providing an existing suite of testbeds that combines easily accessible, commercial-offthe- shelf (COTS) processors with a collection of existing sensors and actuators.

Tamara Shapiro Ledley Receives 2013 Excellence in Geophysical Education Award: Citation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reiff, Patricia

2014-01-01

It gives me great pleasure to cite Tamara Shapiro Ledley for the AGU Excellence in Geophysical Education Award "for her outstanding sustained leadership in Earth systems and climate change education." Tamara has shown an ongoing commitment to bridging the scientific and educational communities to make geophysical science knowledge and data accessible and usable to teachers and students and by extension to all citizens. She works extensively with both the scientific and educational communities. She began her educational work in 1990 as the leader for weather and climate in my Teacher Research program at Rice University. She continued as the lead for atmospheric sciences in our projects Earth Today and Museums Teaching Planet Earth, which introduced her to the Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP Federation). She has served many roles at ESIP, including creating the Standing Committee for Education and serving as vice president. ESIP recognized her many accomplishments with its President's Award in 2012. At TERC her education and outreach efforts have blossomed. She was the lead author of the "Earth as a System" investigation of the GLOBE Teacher's Guide. She was a member of the original Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) Data Access Working Group in 2001, where the idea for a cookbook-like resource to facilitate the use of Earth science data by teachers and students resulted in her leading the development of the "Earth Exploration Toolbook" (EET), which allows teachers to easily access and use real scientific data in the classroom. Her efforts were recognized with the EET being awarded Science Magazine's Science Prize for Online Research in Education in 2011.

Probing protein surface with a solvent mimetic carbene coupled to detection by mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Gómez, Gabriela E; Mundo, Mariana R; Craig, Patricio O; Delfino, José M

2012-01-01

Much knowledge into protein folding, ligand binding, and complex formation can be derived from the examination of the nature and size of the accessible surface area (SASA) of the polypeptide chain, a key parameter in protein science not directly measurable in an experimental fashion. To this end, an ideal chemical approach should aim at exerting solvent mimicry and achieving minimal selectivity to probe the protein surface regardless of its chemical nature. The choice of the photoreagent diazirine to fulfill these goals arises from its size comparable to water and from being a convenient source of the extremely reactive methylene carbene (:CH(2)). The ensuing methylation depends primarily on the solvent accessibility of the polypeptide chain, turning it into a valuable signal to address experimentally the measurement of SASA in proteins. The superb sensitivity and high resolution of modern mass spectrometry techniques allows us to derive a quantitative signal proportional to the extent of modification (EM) of the sample. Thus, diazirine labeling coupled to electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) detection can shed light on conformational features of the native as well as non-native states, not easily addressable by other methods. Enzymatic fragmentation of the polypeptide chain at the level of small peptides allows us to locate the covalent tag along the amino acid sequence, therefore enabling the construction of a map of solvent accessibility. Moreover, by subsequent MS/MS analysis of peptides, we demonstrate here the feasibility of attaining amino acid resolution in defining the target sites. © American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 2011

Space Weather Research in Armenia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chilingarian, A. A.

DVIN for ASEC (Data Visualization interactive Network for Aragats Space Environmental Center) is product for accessing and analysis the on-line data from Solar Monitors located at high altitude research station on Mt. Aragats in Armenia. Data from ASEC monitors is used worldwide for scientific purposes and for monitoring of severe solar storms in progress. Alert service, based on the automatic analysis of variations of the different species of cosmic ray particles is available for subscribers. DVIN advantages: DVIN is strategically important as a scientific application to help develop space science and to foster global collaboration in forecasting potential hazards of solar storms. It precisely fits with the goals of the new evolving information society to provide long-term monitoring and collection of high quality scientific data, and enables adequate dialogue between scientists, decision makers, and civil society. The system is highly interactive and exceptional information is easily accessible online. Data can be monitored and analyzed for desired time spans in a fast and reliable manner. The ASEC activity is an example of a balance between the scientific independence of fundamental research and the needs of civil society. DVIN is also an example of how scientific institutions can apply the newest powerful methods of information technologies, such as multivariate data analysis, to their data and also how information technologies can provide convenient and reliable access to this data and to new knowledge for the world-wide scientific community. DVIN provides very wide possibilities for sharing data and sending warnings and alerts to scientists and other entities world-wide, which have fundamental and practical interest in knowing the space weather conditions.

Cancer's Margins: Trans* and Gender Nonconforming People's Access to Knowledge, Experiences of Cancer Health, and Decision-Making

PubMed Central

Bryson, Mary K.

2016-01-01

Abstract Purpose: Research in Canada and the United States indicates that minority gender and sexuality status are consistently associated with health disparities and poor health outcomes, including cancer health. This article investigates experiences of cancer health and care, and access to knowledge for trans* and gender nonconforming people diagnosed with and treated for breast and/or gynecologic cancer. Our study contributes new understandings about gender minority populations that will advance knowledge concerning the provision of culturally appropriate care. This is the first study we are aware of that focuses on trans* and gender nonconforming peoples' experiences of cancer care and treatment, support networks, and access to and mobilization of knowledge. Methods: This article analyzes trans* and gender nonconforming patient interviews from the Cancer's Margins project (www.lgbtcancer.ca): Canada's first nationally-funded project that investigates the complex intersections of sexual and/or gender marginality, cancer knowledge, treatment experiences, and modes of the organization of support networks. Results: Our analysis documents how different bodies of knowledge relative to cancer treatment and gendered embodiment are understood, accessed, and mobilized by trans* and gender nonconforming patients. Findings reported here suggest that one's knowledge of a felt sense of gender is closely interwoven with knowledge concerning cancer treatment practices; a dynamic which organizes knowledge mobilities in cancer treatment. Conclusions: The findings support the assertion that cisgender models concerning changes to the body that occur as a result of biomedical treatment for breast and/or gynecologic cancer are wholly inadequate in order to account for trans* and gender nonconforming peoples' experiences of cancer treatments, and access to and mobilization of related knowledge. PMID:26789402

Students Designing Their Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Gareth

2011-01-01

Education today is not just about "learning knowledge"--knowledge is instantly accessible, anywhere simply at the click of a mouse button. Learning now has to be much more about developing a range of skills for life and work, thinking creatively, learning where to access knowledge, verify it and apply it to the particular tasks. Admittedly there…

Intramolecular oxidative deselenization of acylselenoureas: a facile synthesis of benzoxazole amides and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors.

PubMed

Angeli, A; Peat, T S; Bartolucci, G; Nocentini, A; Supuran, C T; Carta, F

2016-12-28

A mild, efficient and one pot procedure to access benzoxazoles using easily accessible acylselenoureas as starting materials has been discovered. Mechanistic studies revealed a pH dependent intramolecular oxidative deselenization, with ring closure due to an intramolecular nucleophilic attack of a phenoxide ion. All the benzoxazoles herein reported possessed a primary sulfonamide zinc binding group and showed effective inhibitory action on the enzymes, carbonic anhydrases.

Ratio measures in leading medical journals: structured review of accessibility of underlying absolute risks

PubMed Central

Schwartz, Lisa M; Dvorin, Evan L; Welch, H Gilbert

2006-01-01

Objective To examine the accessibility of absolute risk in articles reporting ratio measures in leading medical journals. Design Structured review of abstracts presenting ratio measures. Setting Articles published between 1 June 2003 and 1 May 2004 in Annals of Internal Medicine, BMJ, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Lancet, and New England Journal of Medicine. Participants 222 articles based on study designs in which absolute risks were directly calculable (61 randomised trials, 161 cohort studies). Main outcome measure Accessibility of the absolute risks underlying the first ratio measure in the abstract. Results 68% of articles (150/222) failed to report the underlying absolute risks for the first ratio measure in the abstract (range 55−81% across the journals). Among these articles, about half did report the underlying absolute risks elsewhere in the article (text, table, or figure) but half did not report them anywhere. Absolute risks were more likely to be reported in the abstract for randomised trials compared with cohort studies (62% v 21%; relative risk 3.0, 95% confidence interval 2.1 to 4.2) and for studies reporting crude compared with adjusted ratio measures (62% v 21%; relative risk 3.0, 2.1 to 4.3). Conclusion Absolute risks are often not easily accessible in articles reporting ratio measures and sometimes are missing altogether—this lack of accessibility can easily exaggerate readers' perceptions of benefit or harm. PMID:17060338

Mapping the Knowledge Topography: A Critical Appraisal of Geography Textbook Questions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mishra, Rishabh Kumar

2015-01-01

Textbook questions and exercises are quintessential part of every textbook. One can easily locate textbook questions at the end of the every chapter and also in between the texts. What are they meant for? Usually we think they are meant for assessing learners' understanding regarding subject knowledge, providing clue to teacher to form other…

A randomized controlled trial of the impact of a family planning mHealth service on knowledge and use of contraception.

PubMed

Johnson, Douglas; Juras, Randall; Riley, Pamela; Chatterji, Minki; Sloane, Phoebe; Choi, Soon Kyu; Johns, Ben

2017-01-01

mHealth, or the use of mobile phones for health, is a promising but largely untested method for increasing family planning knowledge in developing countries. This study estimates the effect of m4RH, an mHealth service in Kenya that provides family planning information via text message, on consumers' knowledge and use of contraception. We randomly assigned new consumers of the m4RH service to receive either full access or limited access to m4RH. We collected data on outcomes by sending questions directly to consumers via text message. Response rates to the text message surveys ranged from 51.8% to 13.5%. Despite relatively low response rates, response rates were very similar across the full-access and limited-access groups. We find that full access to m4RH increased consumers' scores on a test of contraceptive knowledge by 14% (95% confidence interval: 9.9%-18.2%) compared to a control group with limited access to m4RH. m4RH did not increase consumers' use of contraception, likelihood of discussing family planning with their partners, or likelihood of visiting a clinic to discuss family planning. Text messages may increase family planning knowledge but do not, by themselves, lead to behavior change. Text messages can be an effective method of increasing family planning knowledge but may be insufficient on their own to cause behavior change. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Police training to align law enforcement and HIV prevention: preliminary evidence from the field.

PubMed

Beletsky, Leo; Agrawal, Alpna; Moreau, Bruce; Kumar, Pratima; Weiss-Laxer, Nomi; Heimer, Robert

2011-11-01

Having identified gaps in implementation of Rhode Island's syringe access law and police occupational safety education, public health and police professionals developed police training to boost legal knowledge, improve syringe access attitudes, and address needlestick injuries. Baseline data (94 officers) confirmed anxiety about needlestick injuries, poor legal knowledge, and occupational risk overestimation. Before training, respondents believed that syringe access promotes drug use (51%), increases likelihood of police needlestick injuries (58%), and fails to reduce epidemics (38%). Pretraining to posttraining evaluation suggested significant shifts in legal and occupational safety knowledge; changes in attitudes toward syringe access were promising. Training that combines occupational safety with syringe access content can help align law enforcement with public health goals. Additional research is needed to assess street-level effect and to inform intervention tailoring.

Herbal supplements: Research findings and safety.

PubMed

Pruitt, Rosanne; Lemanski, Ashley; Carroll, Adam

2018-05-17

Herbal supplements are used extensively worldwide without much awareness regarding their safety and efficacy. Extensive research to determine the safety, utility, and level of research support for commonly used herbs has culminated in an easily accessible summary chart for NP providers.

Developing a bike-sharing program at Kent State University and Kent, Ohio.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-01-01

Sustainable transportation frequently describes the use of non-motorized transportation : sources, primarily walking and bicycling (Toor and Havlick, 2004). Walking is a time : honored method of getting around that most people can easily access. But ...

Leon M. Lederman Science Education Center: General Information

Science.gov Websites

field trips. Location: Located at Fermilab about 35 miles west of Chicago, the Center is easily accessible from the Fermilab main entrance at Kirk Road and Pine Street in Batavia, just three miles north of

Cabled observatories: Connecting coastal communities to local ocean data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pelz, M.; Hoeberechts, M.; Brown, J. C. K.; McLean, M. A.; Ewing, N.; Moran, K.

2015-12-01

Coastal communities are facing a wide range of rapid changes due to anthropogenic and natural environmental influences. Communities are under pressure to adapt to effects of climate change, including altered shorelines, changes in availability of seafood, and in northern regions, changes to the extent, formation and break-up of land-fast and sea-ice. Access to up-to-date scientific data and basic climate literacy are essential tools to enable community members to make informed decisions about their own coast. Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) operates the world-leading NEPTUNE and VENUS cabled ocean observatories off the west coast of British Columbia (BC). ONC also operates smaller, coastal community observatories which provide data for both scientific and educational initiatives.The first Arctic community observatory, deployed in 2012, is located in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Real-time data flowing from the platform are collected by a range of instruments, including a conductivity-temperature-depth sensor (CTD), hydrophone, video camera, and an ice profiler. There is also a meteorological station and time lapse camera on the dock. Five additional community observatories are being installed over the next year along the coast of BC. Indigenous communities, including the Inuit population in Cambridge Bay and First Nations on BC's north and central coast, are key partners and collaborators of this initiative.Benefits to communities from cabled observatory ocean monitoring can only be achieved if the data collected are relevant to community members and contribute to research priorities identified within the community. The data must be easily accessible and complement existing environmental monitoring initiatives. Community members must possess knowledge and tools to analyze and interpret the data for their purposes. For these reasons, community involvement is critical to the project, including the design of user interfaces for data access, development of educational programs, and long-term planning.Here we describe Ocean Networks Canada's community initiatives including collaboration with Indigenous knowledge holders and local experts, programs in community schools to foster K-12 climate literacy and post-secondary programs targeted to community members.

An Open-source Toolbox for Analysing and Processing PhysioNet Databases in MATLAB and Octave.

PubMed

Silva, Ikaro; Moody, George B

The WaveForm DataBase (WFDB) Toolbox for MATLAB/Octave enables integrated access to PhysioNet's software and databases. Using the WFDB Toolbox for MATLAB/Octave, users have access to over 50 physiological databases in PhysioNet. The toolbox provides access over 4 TB of biomedical signals including ECG, EEG, EMG, and PLETH. Additionally, most signals are accompanied by metadata such as medical annotations of clinical events: arrhythmias, sleep stages, seizures, hypotensive episodes, etc. Users of this toolbox should easily be able to reproduce, validate, and compare results published based on PhysioNet's software and databases.

TheCellMap.org: A Web-Accessible Database for Visualizing and Mining the Global Yeast Genetic Interaction Network

PubMed Central

Usaj, Matej; Tan, Yizhao; Wang, Wen; VanderSluis, Benjamin; Zou, Albert; Myers, Chad L.; Costanzo, Michael; Andrews, Brenda; Boone, Charles

2017-01-01

Providing access to quantitative genomic data is key to ensure large-scale data validation and promote new discoveries. TheCellMap.org serves as a central repository for storing and analyzing quantitative genetic interaction data produced by genome-scale Synthetic Genetic Array (SGA) experiments with the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In particular, TheCellMap.org allows users to easily access, visualize, explore, and functionally annotate genetic interactions, or to extract and reorganize subnetworks, using data-driven network layouts in an intuitive and interactive manner. PMID:28325812

TheCellMap.org: A Web-Accessible Database for Visualizing and Mining the Global Yeast Genetic Interaction Network.

PubMed

Usaj, Matej; Tan, Yizhao; Wang, Wen; VanderSluis, Benjamin; Zou, Albert; Myers, Chad L; Costanzo, Michael; Andrews, Brenda; Boone, Charles

2017-05-05

Providing access to quantitative genomic data is key to ensure large-scale data validation and promote new discoveries. TheCellMap.org serves as a central repository for storing and analyzing quantitative genetic interaction data produced by genome-scale Synthetic Genetic Array (SGA) experiments with the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae In particular, TheCellMap.org allows users to easily access, visualize, explore, and functionally annotate genetic interactions, or to extract and reorganize subnetworks, using data-driven network layouts in an intuitive and interactive manner. Copyright © 2017 Usaj et al.

Fulfilment of knowledge expectations among family members of patients undergoing arthroplasty: a European perspective.

PubMed

Sigurdardottir, Arun K; Leino-Kilpi, Helena; Charalambous, Andreas; Katajisto, Jouko; Stark, Åsa Johansson; Sourtzi, Panayota; Zabalegui, Adelaida; Valkeapää, Kirsi

2015-12-01

In the recovery process of arthroplasty patients, their family members play an important role due to short hospital stay and increased age of patients. Family members need to have knowledge to be able to support the patient. The aim of this study was to explore expected and received knowledge in family members of arthroplasty patients and describe the relationships between the differences in received and expected knowledge and background factors, country, information and control preferences and access to knowledge. The study was conducted in six European countries (Cyprus, Greece, Finland, Iceland, Spain and Sweden). The study design was cross-cultural, prospective and comparative with two measurement points: pre-operative and at discharge from hospital. Knowledge Expectations of significant other-scale and Krantz Health Opinion Survey were used before surgery and Received Knowledge of significant other-scale and Access to Knowledge at discharge. Patients undergoing elective hip or knee arthroplasty in seventeen hospitals were asked to identify one family member. The sample size was decided by power calculation. A total of 615 participants answered the questionnaires at both measurements. Family members perceived to receive less knowledge than they expected to have, most unfulfilled knowledge expectations were in the financial, social and experiential dimensions of knowledge. Seventy-four per cent of participants had unfulfilled knowledge expectations. Increased access to information from healthcare providers decreased the difference between received and expected knowledge. Compared to family members in southern Europe, those in the Nordic countries had more unfulfilled knowledge expectations and less access to information from healthcare providers. The evidence from this study highlights the need to involve the family members in the educational approach. © 2015 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Producing More Actionable Science Isn't the Problem; It's Providing Decision-Makers with Access to Right Actionable Knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trexler, M.

2017-12-01

Policy-makers today have almost infinite climate-relevant scientific and other information available to them. The problem for climate change decision-making isn't missing science or inadequate knowledge of climate risks; the problem is that the "right" climate change actionable knowledge isn't getting to the right decision-maker, or is getting there too early or too late to effectively influence her decision-making. Actionable knowledge is not one-size-fit-all, and for a given decision-maker might involve scientific, economic, or risk-based information. Simply producing more and more information as we are today is not the solution, and actually makes it harder for individual decision-makers to access "their" actionable knowledge. The Climatographers began building the Climate Web five years ago to test the hypothesis that a knowledge management system could help navigate the gap between infinite information and individual actionable knowledge. Today the Climate Web's more than 1,500 index terms allow instant access to almost any climate change topic. It is a curated public-access knowledgebase of more than 1,000 books, 2,000 videos, 15,000 reports and articles, 25,000 news stories, and 3,000 websites. But it is also much more, linking together tens of thousands of individually extracted ideas and graphics, and providing Deep Dives into more than 100 key topics from changing probability distributions of extreme events to climate communications best practices to cognitive dissonance in climate change decision-making. The public-access Climate Web is uniquely able to support cross-silo learning, collaboration, and actionable knowledge dissemination. The presentation will use the Climate Web to demonstrate why knowledge management should be seen as a critical component of science and policy-making collaborations.

Conceptualising Knowledge for Access in the Sciences: Academic Development from a Social Realist Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellery, Karen

2017-01-01

Whilst arguing from a social realist perspective that knowledge matters in academic development (AD) curricula, this paper addresses the question of what knowledge types and practices are necessary for enabling epistemological access. It presents a single, in-depth, qualitative case study in which the curriculum of a science AD course is…

Issues of Access in the New Information Age.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bergen, Dan

This paper suggests that library and information systems provide access to claims to knowledge rather than to knowledge or information and that such claims to knowledge are in fact claims to truth. The stated purpose of the paper is to explain why the library and information community should adhere to at least soft, if not hard, skepticism with…

When being a girl matters less: accessibility of gender-related self-knowledge in single-sex and coeducational classes and its impact on students' physics-related self-concept of ability.

PubMed

Kessels, Ursula; Hannover, Bettina

2008-06-01

Establishing or preserving single-sex schooling has been widely discussed as a way of bringing more girls into the natural sciences. We test the assumption that the beneficial effects of single-sex education on girls' self-concept of ability in masculine subjects such as physics are due to the lower accessibility of gender-related self-knowledge in single-sex classes. N=401 eighth-graders (mean age 14.0 years) from coeducational comprehensive schools. Random assignment of students to single-sex vs. coeducational physics classes throughout the eighth grade. At the end of the year, students' physics-related self-concept of ability was measured using a questionnaire. In a subsample of N=134 students, the accessibility of gender-related self-knowledge during physics classes was assessed by measuring latencies and endorsement of sex-typed trait adjectives. Girls from single-sex physics classes reported a better physics-related self-concept of ability than girls from coeducational classes, while boys' self-concept of ability did not vary according to class composition. For both boys and girls, gender-related self-knowledge was less accessible in single-sex classes than in mixed-sex classes. To the extent that girls' feminine self-knowledge was relatively less accessible than their masculine self-knowledge, their physics-related self-concept of ability improved at the end of the school year. By revealing the importance of the differential accessibility of gender-related self-knowledge in single- and mixed-sex settings, our study clarifies why single-sex schooling helps adolescents to gain a better self-concept of ability in school subjects that are considered inappropriate for their own sex.

An Analysis of Website Accessibility in Higher Education in Indonesia Based on WCAG 2.0 Guidelines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arasid, W.; Abdullah, A. G.; Wahyudin, D.; Abdullah, C. U.; Widiaty, I.; Zakaria, D.; Amelia, N.; Juhana, A.

2018-02-01

Website accessibility is a simple way to access a website by everyone so that information on the website can be easily understood. This study aims to improve the accessibility of universities’ website to analyze website accessibility problems based on WCAG 2.0 guidelines. This study analyzed 13 universities’ websites in West Java, Indonesia by using TAW as an evaluation tool. The evaluation results were presented in a graph showing the error rate of each university’s website. The same errors that occurred in almost all websites were: non-text content, info and relationships, page title, link purpose, language of page, on input, labels and instructions, parsing, and name, role, value criteria. This study was expected to provide information to the university and to perform as guidelines for website accessibility improvements.

U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture Accomplishments in Fiscal Year 2015

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chullen, Cinda; Oliva, Vladenka R.

2016-01-01

The NASA U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture (SKC) Program continues to capture, share, and archive significant spacesuit-related knowledge with engineers and other technical staff and invested entities. Since its 2007 inception, the SKC Program has hosted and recorded more than 75 events. By the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2015, 40 of these were processed and uploaded to a publically accessible NASA Web site where viewers can expand their knowledge about the spacesuit's evolution, known capabilities and limitations, and lessons learned. Sharing this knowledge with entities beyond NASA can increase not only more people's understanding of the technical effort and importance involved in designing a spacesuit, it can also expand the interest and support in this valuable program that ensures significant knowledge is retained and accessible. This paper discusses the FY 2015 SKC events, the release and accessibility of the approved events, and the program's future plans.

U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture Accomplishments in Fiscal Year 2015

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chullen, Cinda; Oliva, Vladenka R.

2016-01-01

The NASA U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture (SKC) Program continues to capture, share, and archive significant spacesuit-related knowledge with engineers and other technical staff and invested entities. Since its 2007 inception, the SKC Program has hosted and recorded more than 65 events. By the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2015, 40 of these were processed and uploaded to a publically accessible NASA Web site where viewers can expand their knowledge about the spacesuit's evolution, known capability and limitations, and lessons learned. Sharing this knowledge with entities beyond NASA can increase not only more people's understanding of the technical effort and importance involved in designing a spacesuit, it can also expand the interest and support in this valuable program that ensures significant knowledge is retained and accessible. This paper discusses the FY 2015 SKC events, the release and accessibility of the approved events, and the program's future plans.

Mental health in the island nations of the Western Pacific: a rapid review of the literature.

PubMed

Hunter, Ernest; Thusanth, Sneha; McCalman, Janya; Gopalkrishnan, Narayan

2015-12-01

The aim of the study was to identify mental-health-relevant literature accessible to policy makers and healthcare workers in the island nations of the Western Pacific. Material collated to support the inaugural Leadership in Mental Health: Island Nations course held in Cairns in May 2015 was used as the basis of a "rapid review". The rapid review considered 303 documents identified by a search carried out using James Cook University's OneSearch, Google Scholar, and the authors' knowledge. Search terms included mental health and the like, and terms with Pacific and current Pacific island country names. Findings were classified by region/country, year of release/publication, mental health issue addressed, peer-reviewed or grey literature, and type of study. Almost half of the findings had been released in the previous five years. However, only 36% were peer-reviewed publications and only 3.6% of the findings were intervention studies. There is limited easily accessible documentation to confidently direct practice or policies regarding which strategies are likely to be effective in responding to the high rates of mental ill-health experienced in the Pacific island nations, or to plan for increases as a consequence of rapid social and demographic changes that are transforming Pacific island societies. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Viral genome analysis and knowledge management.

PubMed

Kuiken, Carla; Yoon, Hyejin; Abfalterer, Werner; Gaschen, Brian; Lo, Chienchi; Korber, Bette

2013-01-01

One of the challenges of genetic data analysis is to combine information from sources that are distributed around the world and accessible through a wide array of different methods and interfaces. The HIV database and its footsteps, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hemorrhagic fever virus (HFV) databases, have made it their mission to make different data types easily available to their users. This involves a large amount of behind-the-scenes processing, including quality control and analysis of the sequences and their annotation. Gene and protein sequences are distilled from the sequences that are stored in GenBank; to this end, both submitter annotation and script-generated sequences are used. Alignments of both nucleotide and amino acid sequences are generated, manually curated, distilled into an alignment model, and regenerated in an iterative cycle that results in ever better new alignments. Annotation of epidemiological and clinical information is parsed, checked, and added to the database. User interfaces are updated, and new interfaces are added based upon user requests. Vital for its success, the database staff are heavy users of the system, which enables them to fix bugs and find opportunities for improvement. In this chapter we describe some of the infrastructure that keeps these heavily used analysis platforms alive and vital after nearly 25 years of use. The database/analysis platforms described in this chapter can be accessed at http://hiv.lanl.gov http://hcv.lanl.gov http://hfv.lanl.gov.

Coyotes, Skunks, and Bears in the Sky --- A Multicultural Approach to Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebofsky, N. R.; Lebofsky, L. A.; Canizo, T.

1994-12-01

Staff and teacher/facilitators from the ARTIST (Astronomy-Related Teacher Inservice Training) and ACCESS! (All Children Can Explore the Solar System!) PROJECTS use myths, legends, creative writing, and related activities to augment astronomy lessons. In both elementary and middle school classrooms teachers use an integrated curriculum approach to extend the science lesson into language arts, social studies, fine arts, and math. Reading, writing, storytelling, and art projects blend easily with lessons on constellations, planets, Sun, Moon, and sky. Including myths and legends from a variety of cultures and time periods underscores the universal appeal of both sky-watching and creativity. Through a variety of inservice programs and materials development, the authors provide scientific background and classroom activities for teachers in grades K--8. Project facilitators report marked improvement in primary grade reading and writing skills and improved language acquisition for bilingual students when a high interest topic such as astronomy is introduced and integrated with language arts lessons. Facilitators have used astronomy to empower special education students to share both their knowledge and appreciation of the universe with the general school population. A slide-and-music presentation and samples of student work will highlight activities developed through PROJECT ARTIST. PROJECT ARTIST is funded by the National Science Foundation. PROJECT ACCESS! is funded by the Arizona Board of Regents (Eisenhower Math and Science Program).

ZBIT Bioinformatics Toolbox: A Web-Platform for Systems Biology and Expression Data Analysis

PubMed Central

Römer, Michael; Eichner, Johannes; Dräger, Andreas; Wrzodek, Clemens; Wrzodek, Finja; Zell, Andreas

2016-01-01

Bioinformatics analysis has become an integral part of research in biology. However, installation and use of scientific software can be difficult and often requires technical expert knowledge. Reasons are dependencies on certain operating systems or required third-party libraries, missing graphical user interfaces and documentation, or nonstandard input and output formats. In order to make bioinformatics software easily accessible to researchers, we here present a web-based platform. The Center for Bioinformatics Tuebingen (ZBIT) Bioinformatics Toolbox provides web-based access to a collection of bioinformatics tools developed for systems biology, protein sequence annotation, and expression data analysis. Currently, the collection encompasses software for conversion and processing of community standards SBML and BioPAX, transcription factor analysis, and analysis of microarray data from transcriptomics and proteomics studies. All tools are hosted on a customized Galaxy instance and run on a dedicated computation cluster. Users only need a web browser and an active internet connection in order to benefit from this service. The web platform is designed to facilitate the usage of the bioinformatics tools for researchers without advanced technical background. Users can combine tools for complex analyses or use predefined, customizable workflows. All results are stored persistently and reproducible. For each tool, we provide documentation, tutorials, and example data to maximize usability. The ZBIT Bioinformatics Toolbox is freely available at https://webservices.cs.uni-tuebingen.de/. PMID:26882475

Water and sanitation hygiene knowledge attitude practice in urban slum settings.

PubMed

Joshi, Ashish; Prasad, Satish; Kasav, Jyoti B; Segan, Mehak; Singh, Awnish K

2013-11-18

Access to improved drinking water, sanitation and hygiene is one of the prime concerns around the globe. This study aimed at assessing water and sanitation hygiene-related attitude and practices, and quality of water in urban slums of south Delhi, India. This pilot cross sectional study was performed during July 2013 across four urban slums of South Delhi. A convenient sample of 40 participants was enrolled. A modified version of previously validated questionnaire was used to gather information on socio-demographics, existing water and sanitation facilities and water treatment practices. Water quality testing was additionally performed using hydrogen sulphide (H2S) vials. Average age of participants was 36 years (SD=10). 83% of the participants perceived gastrointestinal tract infection as the most important health problem. 75% of the participants did not use any method for drinking water treatment. 45% of the participants consumed water from privately-owned tube well/ bore well. Water shortage lasted two days or more (50%) at a stretch with severe scarcity occurring twice a year (40%). Females aged 15 years and above were largely responsible (93%) for fetching water from water source. 45% of the participants had toilets within their households. 53% of drinking water samples collected from storage containers showed positive bacteriological contamination. There is an urgent need to develop family centered educational programs that would enhance awareness about water treatment methods that are cost effective and easily accessible.

Development of an IHE MRRT-compliant open-source web-based reporting platform.

PubMed

Pinto Dos Santos, Daniel; Klos, G; Kloeckner, R; Oberle, R; Dueber, C; Mildenberger, P

2017-01-01

To develop a platform that uses structured reporting templates according to the IHE Management of Radiology Report Templates (MRRT) profile, and to implement this platform into clinical routine. The reporting platform uses standard web technologies (HTML / JavaScript and PHP / MySQL) only. Several freely available external libraries were used to simplify the programming. The platform runs on a standard web server, connects with the radiology information system (RIS) and PACS, and is easily accessible via a standard web browser. A prototype platform that allows structured reporting to be easily incorporated into the clinical routine was developed and successfully tested. To date, 797 reports were generated using IHE MRRT-compliant templates (many of them downloaded from the RSNA's radreport.org website). Reports are stored in a MySQL database and are easily accessible for further analyses. Development of an IHE MRRT-compliant platform for structured reporting is feasible using only standard web technologies. All source code will be made available upon request under a free license, and the participation of other institutions in further development is welcome. • A platform for structured reporting using IHE MRRT-compliant templates is presented. • Incorporating structured reporting into clinical routine is feasible. • Full source code will be provided upon request under a free license.

Preserving and vouchering butterflies and moths for large-scale museum-based molecular research

PubMed Central

Epstein, Samantha W.; Mitter, Kim; Hamilton, Chris A.; Plotkin, David; Mitter, Charles

2016-01-01

Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) comprise significant portions of the world’s natural history collections, but a standardized tissue preservation protocol for molecular research is largely lacking. Lepidoptera have traditionally been spread on mounting boards to display wing patterns and colors, which are often important for species identification. Many molecular phylogenetic studies have used legs from pinned specimens as the primary source for DNA in order to preserve a morphological voucher, but the amount of available tissue is often limited. Preserving an entire specimen in a cryogenic freezer is ideal for DNA preservation, but without an easily accessible voucher it can make specimen identification, verification, and morphological work difficult. Here we present a procedure that creates accessible and easily visualized “wing vouchers” of individual Lepidoptera specimens, and preserves the remainder of the insect in a cryogenic freezer for molecular research. Wings are preserved in protective holders so that both dorsal and ventral patterns and colors can be easily viewed without further damage. Our wing vouchering system has been implemented at the University of Maryland (AToL Lep Collection) and the University of Florida (Florida Museum of Natural History, McGuire Center of Lepidoptera and Biodiversity), which are among two of the largest Lepidoptera molecular collections in the world. PMID:27366654

Astronaut Demographic Database: Everything You Want to Know About Astronauts and More

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keeton, Kathryn; Patterson, Holly

2011-01-01

A wealth of information regarding the astronaut population is available that could be especially useful to researchers. However, until now, it has been difficult to obtain that information in a systematic way. Therefore, this "astronaut database" began as a way for researchers within the Behavioral Health and Performance Group to keep track of the ever growing astronaut corps population. Before our effort, compilation of such data could be found, but not in a way that was easily acquired or accessible. One would have to use internet search engines, read through lengthy and potentially inaccurate informational sites, or read through astronaut biographies compiled by NASA. Astronauts are a unique class of individuals and, by examining such information, which we dubbed "Demographics," we hoped to find some commonalities that may be useful for other research areas and future research topics. By organizing the information pertaining to astronauts1 in a formal, unified catalog, we believe we have made the information more easily accessible, readily useable, and user friendly. Our end goal is to provide this database to others as a highly functional resource within the research community. Perhaps the database can eventually be an official, published document for researchers to gain full access.

Over-the-Counter Medicines: What's Right for You?

MedlinePlus

... Contents: Advice for Americans about Self-Care: Access + Knowledge = Power OTC Know-How: It's on the Label Drug ... Tampering Advice for Americans about Self-Care: Access + Knowledge = Power American medicine cabinets contain a growing choice of ...

The relationships of information efficacy and media literacy skills to knowledge and self-efficacy for health-related decision making.

PubMed

Austin, Erica Weintraub; Pinkleton, Bruce E; Austin, Bruce W; Van de Vord, Rebecca

2012-01-01

To compare the extent to which information efficacy (confidence for acquiring useful information) and media literacy skills predict knowledge and self-efficacy for preventing or treating the health threat of influenza. A random-sample survey of 1,379 residential students enrolled at a northwestern public university was conducted in fall 2009. Students accessed an Internet survey through a link provided in an e-mail. Students who self-diagnosed correctly demonstrated higher levels of media literacy skills than those who self-diagnosed incorrectly. Among those who self-diagnosed incorrectly, the only predictor of knowledge was accessibility of information sources; low accessibility was associated with reduced knowledge. Information efficacy predicted self-efficacy for both groups. The results illustrate the limitations of information efficacy in the absence of media literacy skills. To decrease health risks, college health practitioners should promote media literacy while also ensuring easy access to high-quality information.

A Cognitive Agent for Spectrum Monitoring and Informed Spectrum Access

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

electromagnetic environments (EMEs) to understand what spectrum bands are accessed, when those bands are accessed, and how much energy is...recall. The cognitive agent in this report uses the second approach. The knowledge domain of the cognitive agent is the electromagnetic spectrum. The...Knowledge DTV digital television EME electromagnetic environments FM frequency modulated RF radio frequency VHF very high frequency

14 CFR 23.901 - Installation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS... maintenance. (c) Engine cowls and nacelles must be easily removable or openable by the pilot to provide adequate access to and exposure of the engine compartment for preflight checks. (d) Each turbine engine...

14 CFR 23.901 - Installation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS... maintenance. (c) Engine cowls and nacelles must be easily removable or openable by the pilot to provide adequate access to and exposure of the engine compartment for preflight checks. (d) Each turbine engine...

14 CFR 23.901 - Installation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS... maintenance. (c) Engine cowls and nacelles must be easily removable or openable by the pilot to provide adequate access to and exposure of the engine compartment for preflight checks. (d) Each turbine engine...

14 CFR 23.901 - Installation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS... maintenance. (c) Engine cowls and nacelles must be easily removable or openable by the pilot to provide adequate access to and exposure of the engine compartment for preflight checks. (d) Each turbine engine...

14 CFR 23.901 - Installation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS... maintenance. (c) Engine cowls and nacelles must be easily removable or openable by the pilot to provide adequate access to and exposure of the engine compartment for preflight checks. (d) Each turbine engine...

Data in Your Hands.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeagley, Raymond

2001-01-01

A greater challenge than collecting and organizing data is transforming data into easily accessible, useful information that staff members can employ for school improvement. A New Hampshire district developed four guiding principles. They prioritized instructional change, instituted staff training, stressed communication of results, and invited…

Sustainable nano-catalysis

EPA Science Inventory

A novel nano-catalyst system which bridges the homogenous and heterogeneous system is described that is cheaper, easily accessible (sustainable) and requires no need of catalyst filtration during the work-up. Because of its nano-size, i.e. high surface area, the contact between r...

Using a web-based system for the continuous distance education in cytopathology.

PubMed

Stergiou, Nikolaos; Georgoulakis, Giannis; Margari, Niki; Aninos, Dionisios; Stamataki, Melina; Stergiou, Efi; Pouliakis, Abraam; Karakitsos, Petros

2009-12-01

The evolution of information technologies and telecommunications has made the World Wide Web a low cost and easily accessible tool for the dissemination of information and knowledge. Continuous Medical Education (CME) sites dedicated in cytopathology field are rather poor, they do not succeed in following the constant changes and lack the ability of providing cytopathologists with a dynamic learning environment, adaptable to the development of cytopathology. Learning methods including skills such as decision making, reasoning and problem solving are critical in the development of such a learning environment. The objectives of this study are (1) to demonstrate on the basis of a web-based training system the successful application of traditional learning theories and methods and (2) to effectively evaluate users' perception towards the educational program, using a combination of observers, theories and methods. Trainees are given the opportunity to browse through the educational material, collaborate in synchronous and asynchronous mode, practice their skills through problems and tasks and test their knowledge using the self-evaluation tool. On the other hand, the trainers are responsible for editing learning material, attending students' progress and organizing the problem-based and task-based scenarios. The implementation of the web-based training system is based on the three-tier architecture and uses an Apache Tomcat web server and a MySQL database server. By December 2008, CytoTrainer's learning environment contains two courses in cytopathology: Gynaecological Cytology and Thyroid Cytology offering about 2000 digital images and 20 case sessions. Our evaluation method is a combination of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to explore how the various parts of the system and students' attitudes work together. Trainees approved of the course's content, methodology and learning activities. The triangulation of evaluation methods revealed that the training program is suitable for the continuous distance education in cytopathology and that it has improved the trainees' skills in diagnostic cytopathology. The web-based training system can be successfully involved in the continuous distance education in cytopathology. It provides the opportunity to access learning material from any place at any time and supports the acquisition of diagnostic knowledge.

Police Training to Align Law Enforcement and HIV Prevention: Preliminary Evidence From the Field

PubMed Central

Agrawal, Alpna; Moreau, Bruce; Kumar, Pratima; Weiss-Laxer, Nomi; Heimer, Robert

2011-01-01

Having identified gaps in implementation of Rhode Island's syringe access law and police occupational safety education, public health and police professionals developed police training to boost legal knowledge, improve syringe access attitudes, and address needlestick injuries. Baseline data (94 officers) confirmed anxiety about needlestick injuries, poor legal knowledge, and occupational risk overestimation. Before training, respondents believed that syringe access promotes drug use (51%), increases likelihood of police needlestick injuries (58%), and fails to reduce epidemics (38%). Pretraining to posttraining evaluation suggested significant shifts in legal and occupational safety knowledge; changes in attitudes toward syringe access were promising. Training that combines occupational safety with syringe access content can help align law enforcement with public health goals. Additional research is needed to assess street-level effect and to inform intervention tailoring. PMID:21940924

A Web-Based Database for Nurse Led Outreach Teams (NLOT) in Toronto.

PubMed

Li, Shirley; Kuo, Mu-Hsing; Ryan, David

2016-01-01

A web-based system can provide access to real-time data and information. Healthcare is moving towards digitizing patients' medical information and securely exchanging it through web-based systems. In one of Ontario's health regions, Nurse Led Outreach Teams (NLOT) provide emergency mobile nursing services to help reduce unnecessary transfers from long-term care homes to emergency departments. Currently the NLOT team uses a Microsoft Access database to keep track of the health information on the residents that they serve. The Access database lacks scalability, portability, and interoperability. The objective of this study is the development of a web-based database using Oracle Application Express that is easily accessible from mobile devices. The web-based database will allow NLOT nurses to enter and access resident information anytime and from anywhere.

Impact of an online medical internet site on knowledge and practice of health care providers: a mixed methods study of the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence project.

PubMed

Eng, Janice J; Noonan, Vanessa K; Townson, Andrea F; Higgins, Caroline E; Rogers, Jess; Wolfe, Dalton L

2014-12-23

It is not known whether ongoing access to a broad-based Internet knowledge resource can influence the practice of health care providers. We undertook a study to evaluate the impact of a Web-based knowledge resource on increasing access to evidence and facilitating best practice of health care providers. The objective of this study was to evaluate (1) the impact of the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence (SCIRE) project on access to information for health care providers and researchers and (2) how SCIRE influenced health care providers' management of clients. A 4-part mixed methods evaluation was undertaken: (1) monitoring website traffic and utilization using Google Analytics, (2) online survey of users who accessed the SCIRE website, (3) online survey of targeted end-users, that is, rehabilitation health care providers known to work with spinal cord injury (SCI) clients, as well as researchers, and (4) focus groups with health care providers who had previously accessed SCIRE. The online format allowed the content for a relatively specialized field to have far reach (eg, 26 countries and over 6500 users per month). The website survey and targeted end-user survey confirmed that health care providers, as well as researchers perceived that the website increased their access to SCI evidence. Access to SCIRE not only improved knowledge of SCI evidence but helped inform changes to the health providers' clinical practice and improved their confidence in treating SCI clients. The SCIRE information directly influenced the health providers' clinical decision making, in terms of choice of intervention, equipment needs, or assessment tool. A Web-based knowledge resource may be a relatively inexpensive method to increase access to evidence-based information, increase knowledge of the evidence, inform changes to the health providers' practice, and influence their clinical decision making.

Impact of an Online Medical Internet Site on Knowledge and Practice of Health Care Providers: A Mixed Methods Study of the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence Project

PubMed Central

Noonan, Vanessa K; Townson, Andrea F; Higgins, Caroline E; Rogers, Jess; Wolfe, Dalton L

2014-01-01

Background It is not known whether ongoing access to a broad-based Internet knowledge resource can influence the practice of health care providers. We undertook a study to evaluate the impact of a Web-based knowledge resource on increasing access to evidence and facilitating best practice of health care providers. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate (1) the impact of the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence (SCIRE) project on access to information for health care providers and researchers and (2) how SCIRE influenced health care providers' management of clients. Methods A 4-part mixed methods evaluation was undertaken: (1) monitoring website traffic and utilization using Google Analytics, (2) online survey of users who accessed the SCIRE website, (3) online survey of targeted end-users, that is, rehabilitation health care providers known to work with spinal cord injury (SCI) clients, as well as researchers, and (4) focus groups with health care providers who had previously accessed SCIRE. Results The online format allowed the content for a relatively specialized field to have far reach (eg, 26 countries and over 6500 users per month). The website survey and targeted end-user survey confirmed that health care providers, as well as researchers perceived that the website increased their access to SCI evidence. Access to SCIRE not only improved knowledge of SCI evidence but helped inform changes to the health providers’ clinical practice and improved their confidence in treating SCI clients. The SCIRE information directly influenced the health providers’ clinical decision making, in terms of choice of intervention, equipment needs, or assessment tool. Conclusions A Web-based knowledge resource may be a relatively inexpensive method to increase access to evidence-based information, increase knowledge of the evidence, inform changes to the health providers’ practice, and influence their clinical decision making. PMID:25537167

[Digital pathology : The time has come!

PubMed

Grobholz, R

2018-05-01

Digital pathology (DP) and whole-slide imaging (WSI) technology have matured substantially over the last few years. Meanwhile, commercial systems are available that can be used in routine practice. Illustration of DP experiences in a routine diagnostic setting. A DP system offers several advantages: 1) glass slides are no longer unique; 2) access to cases is possible from any location; 3) digital image analysis can be applied; and 4) archived WSI can be easily accessed. From this point, several secondary advantages arise: a) the slide compilation of the case and the case assignment is fast and safe; b) carrying cases to the pathologist is obsolete and paperless work is possible; c) WSI can be used for a second opinion and be accessible in remote locations; d) WSI of referred cases are still accessible after returning the slides; e) histological images can easily be provided in tumor boards; f) the office desk is clean; and g) a "home office" is possible. To introduce a DP system, a comprehensive workflow analysis is needed that clarifies the needs and wishes of the respective institute. In order to optimally meet the requirements, open DP platforms are of particular advantage, because they enable the integration of scanners from various manufacturers. Further developments in image analysis, such as virtual tissue reconstruction, could enrich the diagnostic process in the future and improve treatment quality.

A New Knowledge Society Index: Global Tendencies and an Analysis of Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demir, Oguz; Genc, Elif Guneren; Alp, Elcin Aykac; Yildirim, Figen

2015-01-01

Numerous studies have examined the growth rate and the level of development of countries. According to economy, sociology, and even history, it can be easily observed that knowledge is one of the most important indicators for countries to achieve sustainable growth and development. Education is seen as the main input for a society to be considered…

A Study to Determine the Contribution Made by Concept Maps to a Computer Architecture and Organization Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydogan, Tuncay; Ergun, Serap

2016-01-01

Concept mapping is a method of graphical learning that can be beneficial as a study method for concept linking and organization. Concept maps, which provide an elegant, easily understood representation of an expert's domain knowledge, are tools for organizing and representing knowledge. These tools have been used in educational environments to…

The practice of neogeography in community-based organizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oberle, Patrick

Neogeography and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) are two terms that have emerged recently to describe the practice of geography by those not formally trained in it as a discipline and spatial data provided by individuals through social media and other Web-based tools. Both neogeography and VGI can be directly linked to the growth of various online mapping websites and applications that allow for the creation of electronic maps that are interactive, adaptable, and easily shared via the Internet and Web. As recent phenomena, the practice of neogeography and VGI is not well understood, nor are the links these new fields have to previously established knowledge on Geographic Information Systems and its associated practices. This thesis attempts to fill this knowledge gap through a participatory study of neogeographic practice. Using a participatory workshop format, I observed and documented representatives of community-based organizations in Syracuse, NY as they encountered online mapping tools for the first time. I followed up with two of those organizations in longer case studies to better understand how organizations with no obvious geographic focus come to see geography as a way of communicating complex ideas about space. This study revealed that while the technical complexity of the online mapping software continues to prove to be a hindrance to its use, there remains space for professional geographers to interact with laypeople who make maps. Furthermore, such engagement is necessary to begin to understand the issues involved with location-based information and privacy, access to data, and ability to use and communicate geographic concepts and knowledge.

How relatives of patients with head and neck cancer experience pain, disease progression and treatment: a qualitative interview study.

PubMed

Schaller, Anne; Liedberg, Gunilla M; Larsson, Britt

2014-08-01

This study of relatives to patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) treated with radiotherapy describes how the relatives experienced the patient's situation, especially with respect to pain, and how the relatives themselves experienced the situation. Semi-structured interviews of 21 relatives to HNC patients who suffered from pain were conducted, and a qualitative content analysis was performed. The relatives experienced that the patients suffered from physical, psychological, and social pain. A dark picture consisting of lack of participation and knowledge, psychological distress, and lack of support were reported. Thus, a main category: relatives struggle with loved one's pains related to head and neck cancer treatment and with their own demanding situation - was based on the following four categories: inability to relieve and comprehend the physical suffering of the patients; overwhelming emotions were experienced that affect the patients and the relatives themselves; in need of support from the health care service; and altered daily activities and family roles due to illness and treatment. In patients physical, psychological, and social pain were prominent and in relatives psychological distress, lack of knowledge and support were experienced. Thus, to reduce pain and anxiety in patients and relatives, the health care professionals should provide relevant knowledge about pain management. The health care professionals should also provide educational interventions that address the psychological and social factors that impact pain for HNC patients and their relatives. Well-thought supporting care and easily accessible information about practical concerns should be offered to HNC patients and their relatives. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Toward an integrated understanding of perceived biodiversity values and environmental conditions in a national park

USGS Publications Warehouse

van Riper, Carena J.; Kyle, Gerard T.; Sherrouse, Ben C.; Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Sutton, Stephen G.

2016-01-01

In spatial planning and management of protected areas, increased priority is being given to research that integrates social and ecological data. However, public viewpoints of the benefits provided by ecosystems are not easily quantified and often implicitly folded into natural resource management decisions. Drawing on a spatially explicit participatory mapping exercise and a Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) analysis tool, the present study empirically examined and integrated social values for ecosystem services and environmental conditions within Channel Islands National Park, California. Specifically, a social value indicator of perceived biodiversity was examined using on-site survey data collected from a sample of people who visited the park. This information was modeled alongside eight environmental conditions including faunal species richness for six taxa, vegetation density, categories of marine and terrestrial land cover, and distance to features relevant for decision-makers. Results showed that biodiversity value points assigned to places by the pooled sample of respondents were widely and unevenly mapped, which reflected the belief that biodiversity was embodied to varying degrees by multiple locations in the park. Models generated for two survey subgroups defined by their self-reported knowledge of the Channels Islands revealed distinct spatial patterns of these perceived values. Specifically, respondents with high knowledge valued large spaces that were publicly inaccessible and unlikely to contain on-ground biodiversity, whereas respondents with low knowledge valued places that were experienced first-hand. Accessibility and infrastructure were also important considerations for anticipating how and where people valued the protected land and seascapes of Channel Islands National Park.

3D Geological Mapping - uncovering the subsurface to increase environmental understanding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kessler, H.; Mathers, S.; Peach, D.

2012-12-01

Geological understanding is required for many disciplines studying natural processes from hydrology to landscape evolution. The subsurface structure of rocks and soils and their properties occupies three-dimensional (3D) space and geological processes operate in time. Traditionally geologists have captured their spatial and temporal knowledge in 2 dimensional maps and cross-sections and through narrative, because paper maps and later two dimensional geographical information systems (GIS) were the only tools available to them. Another major constraint on using more explicit and numerical systems to express geological knowledge is the fact that a geologist only ever observes and measures a fraction of the system they study. Only on rare occasions does the geologist have access to enough real data to generate meaningful predictions of the subsurface without the input of conceptual understanding developed from and knowledge of the geological processes responsible for the deposition, emplacement and diagenesis of the rocks. This in turn has led to geology becoming an increasingly marginalised science as other disciplines have embraced the digital world and have increasingly turned to implicit numerical modelling to understand environmental processes and interactions. Recent developments in geoscience methodology and technology have gone some way to overcoming these barriers and geologists across the world are beginning to routinely capture their knowledge and combine it with all available subsurface data (of often highly varying spatial distribution and quality) to create regional and national geological three dimensional geological maps. This is re-defining the way geologists interact with other science disciplines, as their concepts and knowledge are now expressed in an explicit form that can be used downstream to design process models structure. For example, groundwater modellers can refine their understanding of groundwater flow in three dimensions or even directly parameterize their numerical models using outputs from 3D mapping. In some cases model code is being re-designed in order to deal with the increasing geological complexity expressed by Geologists. These 3D maps contain have inherent uncertainty, just as their predecessors, 2D geological maps had, and there remains a significant body of work to quantify and effectively communicate this uncertainty. Here we present examples of regional and national 3D maps from Geological Survey Organisations worldwide and how these are being used to better solve real-life environmental problems. The future challenge for geologists is to make these 3D maps easily available in an accessible and interoperable form so that the environmental science community can truly integrate the hidden subsurface into a common understanding of the whole geosphere.

Inequitable Access to the Knowledge Market in Nigeria: The Case of University Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akinyemi, Samuel; Potokri, Onoride Collins

2016-01-01

In a knowledge market, the knowledge, skills and expertise needed for the economic and sociopolitical transformation of a nation and its citizens are transacted at different prices. Inequitable access to this market poses a serious threat to the economic welfare of the country and its citizens. The authors assess the extent of this threat with…

Ethnoveterinary study of medicinal plants in Malakand Valley, District Dir (Lower), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The Malakand valley of District Dir (Lower) is endowed with a diverse plant wealth. Ethnoveterinary knowledge provides the traditional medicines of livestock that are cheaper than standard treatment and are easily accessible. Methods The present study was conducted to document the traditional knowledge of ethnoveterinary practices in Malakand valley, District Dir (Lower). Data was collected from February 2012 to January 2013 by interviewing 120 inhabitants through semi-structured questionnaires. Different questions were asked to collect appropriate data regarding the use of plants for livestock treatment. Direct matrix ranking (DMR) was carried out to find out the use diversity of medicinal plants. Findings A total of 28 plants belonging to 23 families were collected and identified for the treatment of livestock in the study area. Majority of the plants were collected from wild (68%) habitat and very few from cultivated sources. The leaves (28%) were identified as the major plant part for herbal preparations. The most frequent ailments of livestocks in the study area were stomach disorders and Charmaikh (local disease name). Various ingredients were used along with ethnoveterinary medicines i.e. sugar, flour, milk etc. The elder people of the village had a rich knowledge as compared to the young generation. According to DMR output, Monotheca buxifolia ranked first and Dalbergia sisso and Melia azedarach ranked second due to high multipurpose uses among all species and was found most threatened in the study area. Conclusion It has been concluded that the native of the region heavily dependent on medicinal plants for the treatment of variety of livestock ailments. Traditional knowledge always provides a baseline for further phytochemical and pharmacological investigation. The documentation of the ethnoveterinary practices in study area was necessary before this precious knowledge is lost forever due to rapid socioeconomic, environmental and technological changes. PMID:24580769

Evaluating the MESSAGE Communication Strategies in Dementia training for use with community-based aged care staff working with people with dementia: a controlled pretest-post-test study.

PubMed

Conway, Erin R; Chenery, Helen J

2016-04-01

The study aims to evaluate the effects of a communication skills training programme on community aged care staff's knowledge of communication support in dementia and on staff's care experience. Dementia can lead to impairments in communication. Therefore, quality community-based dementia care requires that staff be skilled communicators, equipped to facilitate interactions with people with dementia. The current investigation evaluated the effectiveness of the MESSAGE Communication Strategies in Dementia for Care Staff training programme with respect to knowledge of communication support and the staff/caregiver experience. A multi-centre controlled pretest/post-test design with randomised cohort allocation was used. Outcome measures were completed at baseline, immediately after training (training group only), and at three-month follow-up. Thirty-eight care staff working in community aged care participated and completed all outcome measures (training = 22; control = 16).Training and control groups completed the following outcome measures: knowledge of communication support strategies, self-efficacy, preparedness to provide care, strain in nursing care and attitude to dementia care. Staff in the training group provided written feedback on the training. A significant improvement in knowledge scores from baseline was found for the training group both immediately after training and at three-month follow-up. There was also a significant training effect for self-efficacy and preparedness to provide care. No significant difference was found for the control group for any measure. No significant training effects were found for measures of strain or attitudes to dementia care. Feedback from staff suggests that the training was well received. The MESSAGE training was positively received by staff and had a significant effect on care staff knowledge, and confidence to provide care for people with dementia. The easily accessible multimedia training programme is well received by staff and has the potential to improve quality of care. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Artificial intelligence techniques for scheduling Space Shuttle missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Henke, Andrea L.; Stottler, Richard H.

1994-01-01

Planning and scheduling of NASA Space Shuttle missions is a complex, labor-intensive process requiring the expertise of experienced mission planners. We have developed a planning and scheduling system using combinations of artificial intelligence knowledge representations and planning techniques to capture mission planning knowledge and automate the multi-mission planning process. Our integrated object oriented and rule-based approach reduces planning time by orders of magnitude and provides planners with the flexibility to easily modify planning knowledge and constraints without requiring programming expertise.

Data Discovery, Exploration, Integration and Delivery - a practical experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirsch, Peter; Barnes, Tim; Breen, Paul

2010-05-01

To fully address the questions and issues arising within Earth Systems Science; the discovery, exploration, integration, delivery and sharing of data, metadata and services across potentially many disciplines and areas of expertise is fundamental. British Antarctic Survey (BAS) collects, manages and curates data across many fields of the geophysical and biological sciences (including upper atmospheric physics, atmospheric chemistry, meteorology, glaciology, oceanography, Polar ecology and biology). BAS, through its Polar Data Centre has an interest to construct and deliver a user-friendly, informative, and administratively low overhead interface onto these data holdings. Designing effective interfaces and frameworks onto the heterogeneous datasets described above is non-trivial. We will discuss some of our approaches and implementations; particularly those addressing the following issues: How to aid and guide the user to accurate discovery of data? Many portals do not inform users clearly enough about the datasets they actually hold. As a result the search interface by which a user is meant to discover information is often inadequate and assumes prior knowledge (for example, that the dataset you are looking for actually exists; that a particular event, campaign, research cruise took place; and that you have a specialist knowledge of the terminology in a particular field), assumptions that cannot be made in multi-disciplinary topic areas. How easily is provenance, quality, and metadata information displayed and accessed? Once informed through the portal that data is available it is often extremely difficult to assess its provenance and quality information and broader documentation (including field reports, notebooks and software repositories). We shall demonstrate some simple methodologies. Can the user access summary data or visualizations of the dataset? It may be that the user is interested in some event, feature or threshold within the dataset; mechanisms need to be provided to allow a user to browse the data (or at least a summary of the data in the most appropriate form be it a plot, table, video etc) prior to making the decision to download or request data. A framework should be flexible enough to allow several methods of visualization. Can datasets be compared and or integrated? By allowing the inclusion of open, 3rd party, standards compliant utilities (e.g. Open Geo-Spatial Consortium WxS clients) into the framework, the utility of a data access system can be made more valuable. Is accessing the actual data straightforward? The process of accessing the data should follow naturally from the data discovery and browsing stages. The user should be made aware of terms and conditions of access. Access restrictions (if applicable) and security should be made as unobtrusive as possible. How is user feedback and comment monitored and acted upon? In general these systems exist to serve science communities, appropriate notice and acknowledgement of their needs and requirements must be taken into account when designing and developing these systems if they are to be of continued use in the future.

Ethical Perspectives on Knowledge Translation in Rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Banja, John D.; Eisen, Arri

2013-01-01

Although the literature on the ethical dimensions of knowledge creation, use, and dissemination is voluminous, it has not particularly examined the ethical dimensions of knowledge translation in rehabilitation. Yet, whether research is done in a wet lab or treatments are provided to patients in therapeutic settings, rehabilitation professionals commonly use (as well as create) knowledge and disseminate it to peers, patients, and various others. This article will refer to knowledge creation, use, and transfer as knowledge translation and examine some of its numerous ethical challenges. Three ethical dimensions of knowledge translation will particularly attract our attention: (1) the quality of knowledge disseminated to rehabilitationists; (2) ethical challenges in being too easily persuaded by or unreasonably resistant to putative knowledge; and (3) organizational barriers to knowledge translation. We will conclude with some recommendations on facilitating the ethical soundness of knowledge translation in rehabilitation. PMID:23168302

Cyberscience and the Knowledge-Based Economy. Open Access and Trade Publishing: From Contradiction to Compatibility with Non-Exclusive Copyright Licensing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Armbruster, Chris

2008-01-01

Open source, open content and open access are set to fundamentally alter the conditions of knowledge production and distribution. Open source, open content and open access are also the most tangible result of the shift towards e-science and digital networking. Yet, widespread misperceptions exist about the impact of this shift on knowledge…

Transparency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaFee, Scott

2009-01-01

Citizens now expect access to information, particularly from public institutions like local school districts. They demand input and accountability. Cultural and technological changes, such as the Internet, make it possible for districts to comply. Yet transparency--the easily seen and understood actions of a school district and the thinking behind…

The Sorghum Headworm Calculator: A speedy tool for headworm management

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Sorghum Headworm Calculator is an interactive decision support system for sorghum headworm management. It was designed to be easily accessible and usable. It provides users with organized information on identification, sampling, and management using images, descriptions and research-based mana...

An integrated study of pervious concrete mixture design for wearing course applications.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-07-01

This report presents the results of the largest and most comprehensive study to date on portland cement pervious concrete (PCPC). It is designed to be widely accessible and easily applied by designers, producers, contractors, and owners. : The projec...

Evaluation of structure from motion for soil microtopography measurement

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Recent developments in low cost structure from motion (SFM) technologies offer new opportunities for geoscientists to acquire high resolution soil microtopography data at a fraction of the cost of conventional techniques. However, these new methodologies often lack easily accessible error metrics an...

Dispelling myths about eggs.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

With the rise of the “Google generation”, consumers can easily access information with a simple click. Unfortunately, this information is not always accurate or honest. This can pose many problems if consumer perception of your product is swayed by erroneous information. Being able to factually a...

Answering consumer questions.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

With the rise of the “Google generation”, consumers can easily access information with a simple click. Unfortunately, this information is not always accurate or honest. This can pose many problems if consumer perception of your product is swayed by erroneous information. Being able to factually a...

Das Deutschlandspiegelvideo (The View-of-Germany-Videos).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pentecost, Gislind E.

1993-01-01

Describes View-of-Germany-Videos, published by the Goethe Institute. The videos are authentic, entertaining, and very versatile in usefulness. In addition they are short, thus easily incorporated into a lesson plan, and free of charge, making them accessible to any educational establishment. (AB)

Usability Testing: A Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chisman, Janet; Walbridge, Sharon; Diller, Karen

1999-01-01

Discusses the development and results of usability testing of Washington State University's Web-based OPAC (online public access catalog); examines how easily users could navigate the catalog and whether they understood what they were seeing; and identifies problems and what action if any was taken. (LRW)

Clear as glass: transparent financial reporting.

PubMed

Valletta, Robert M

2005-08-01

To be transparent, financial information needs to be easily accessible, timely, content-rich, and narrative. Not-for-profit hospitals and health systems should report detailed financial information quarterly. They need internal controls to reduce the level of complexity throughout the organization by creating standardized processes.

Archetype-based semantic integration and standardization of clinical data.

PubMed

Moner, David; Maldonado, Jose A; Bosca, Diego; Fernandez, Jesualdo T; Angulo, Carlos; Crespo, Pere; Vivancos, Pedro J; Robles, Montserrat

2006-01-01

One of the basic needs for any healthcare professional is to be able to access to clinical information of patients in an understandable and normalized way. The lifelong clinical information of any person supported by electronic means configures his/her Electronic Health Record (EHR). This information is usually distributed among several independent and heterogeneous systems that may be syntactically or semantically incompatible. The Dual Model architecture has appeared as a new proposal for maintaining a homogeneous representation of the EHR with a clear separation between information and knowledge. Information is represented by a Reference Model which describes common data structures with minimal semantics. Knowledge is specified by archetypes, which are formal representations of clinical concepts built upon a particular Reference Model. This kind of architecture is originally thought for implantation of new clinical information systems, but archetypes can be also used for integrating data of existing and not normalized systems, adding at the same time a semantic meaning to the integrated data. In this paper we explain the possible use of a Dual Model approach for semantic integration and standardization of heterogeneous clinical data sources and present LinkEHR-Ed, a tool for developing archetypes as elements for integration purposes. LinkEHR-Ed has been designed to be easily used by the two main participants of the creation process of archetypes for clinical data integration: the Health domain expert and the Information Technologies domain expert.

Assessing Evidence-Based Practice Knowledge, Attitudes, Access and Confidence Among Dental Hygiene Educators.

PubMed

Stanley, Jennifer L; Hanson, Carrie L; Van Ness, Christopher J; Holt, Lorie

2015-10-01

To assess U.S. dental hygiene educators' evidence-based practice (EBP) knowledge, attitude, access and confidence and determine whether a correlation exists between assessment scores and level of education, length teaching and teaching setting (didactic, clinical or both). A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of dental hygiene faculty from all 334 U.S. dental hygiene schools. ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient statistical analysis were utilized to investigate relationships between demographic variables and application of evidence-based principles of patient care. This study involved a non-probability sample (n=124), since the total faculty among all U.S. dental hygiene schools was not determined. Analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between EBP knowledge, access and confidence scores indicating that as knowledge scores increased, so did confidence and access scores (r=0.313, p<0.01 and r=0.189, p<0.05, respectively). Study findings also revealed that faculty who held advanced educational degrees scored significantly higher in EBP knowledge (F3,120=2.81, p<0.04) and confidence (F3,120=7.26, p<0.00). This study suggests the level of EBP knowledge, attitude, access and confidence increases with additional education. Therefore, more EBP training may be necessary for faculty who do not possess advanced education. Results of the study indicate that further incorporation of EBP into dental hygiene curricula may occur as dental hygiene educators' knowledge of EBP increases, which in turn could enhance students' acquisition of EBP skills and their application of EBP principles toward patient care. Copyright © 2015 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

Online Knowledge-Based Model for Big Data Topic Extraction.

PubMed

Khan, Muhammad Taimoor; Durrani, Mehr; Khalid, Shehzad; Aziz, Furqan

2016-01-01

Lifelong machine learning (LML) models learn with experience maintaining a knowledge-base, without user intervention. Unlike traditional single-domain models they can easily scale up to explore big data. The existing LML models have high data dependency, consume more resources, and do not support streaming data. This paper proposes online LML model (OAMC) to support streaming data with reduced data dependency. With engineering the knowledge-base and introducing new knowledge features the learning pattern of the model is improved for data arriving in pieces. OAMC improves accuracy as topic coherence by 7% for streaming data while reducing the processing cost to half.

Excluding the poor from accessing biomedical literature: a rights violation that impedes global health.

PubMed

Yamey, Gavin

2008-01-01

Most biomedical journals charge readers a hefty access toll to read the full text version of a published research article. These tolls bring enormous profits to the traditional corporate publishing industry, but they make it impossible for most people worldwide--particularly in low and middle income countries--to access the biomedical literature. Traditional publishers also insist on owning the copyright on these articles, making it illegal for readers to freely distribute and photocopy papers, translate them, or create derivative educational works. This article argues that excluding the poor from accessing and freely using the biomedical research literature is harming global public health. Health care workers, for example, are prevented from accessing the information they need to practice effective medicine, while policymakers are prevented from accessing the essential knowledge they require to build better health care systems. The author proposes that the biomedical literature should be considered a global public good, basing his arguments upon longstanding and recent international declarations that enshrine access to scientific and medical knowledge as a human right. He presents an emerging alternative publishing model, called open access, and argues that this model is a more socially responsive and equitable approach to knowledge dissemination.

Tools for discovering and accessing Great Lakes scientific data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lucido, Jessica M.; Bruce, Jennifer L.

2015-01-01

The USGS strives to develop data products that are easy to find, easy to understand, and easy to use through Web-accessible tools that allow users to learn about the breadth and scope of GLRI activities being undertaken by the USGS and its partners. By creating tools that enable data to be shared and reused more easily, the USGS can encourage collaboration and assist the GL community in finding, interpreting, and understanding the information created during GLRI science activities.

Wired and wireless convergent extended-reach optical access network using direct-detection of all-optical OFDM super-channel signal.

PubMed

Chow, C W; Yeh, C H; Sung, J Y; Hsu, C W

2014-12-15

We propose and demonstrate the feasibility of using all-optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (AO-OFDM) for the convergent optical wired and wireless access networks. AO-OFDM relies on all-optically generated orthogonal subcarriers; hence, high data rate (> 100 Gb/s) can be easily achieved without hitting the speed limit of electronic digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters (DAC/ADC). A proof-of-concept convergent access network using AO-OFDM super-channel (SC) is demonstrated supporting 40 - 100 Gb/s wired and gigabit/s 100 GHz millimeter-wave (MMW) ROF transmissions.

VARIABILITY AND CHARACTER ASSOCIATION IN ROSE COLOURED LEADWORT (PLUMBAGO ROSEA Linn.)

PubMed Central

Kurian, Alice; Anitha, C.A.; Nybe, E.V.

2001-01-01

Forty five plumbago rosea accessions collected from different parts of Kerala state were evaluated for variability in morphological and yield related characters and plumbagin content. Highly significant variation was evident for all the characters studied except leaf size indicating wide variability in the accessions. Accessions PR 25 and PR 31 appear to be promising with respect to root yield and high plumbagin content. Character association revelated significant and positive correlation of all the characters except leaf size with yield. Hence, selection of high yielding types could easily be done based on visual characters expressing more vegetative growth but with reduced leaf size. PMID:22557037

Using the DOE Knowledge Base for Special Event Analysis

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

Armstrong, H.M.; Harris, J.M.; Young, C.J.

1998-10-20

The DOE Knowledge Base is a library of detailed information whose purpose is to support the United States National Data Center (USNDC) in its mission to monitor compliance with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). One of the important tasks which the USNDC must accomplish is to periodically perform detailed analysis of events of high interest, so-called "Special Events", to provide the national authority with information needed to make policy decisions. In this paper we investigate some possible uses of the Knowledge Base for Special Event Analysis (SEA), and make recommendations for improving Knowledge Base support for SEA. To analyzemore » an event in detail, there are two basic types of data which must be used sensor-derived data (wave- forms, arrivals, events, etc.) and regiohalized contextual data (known sources, geological characteristics, etc.). Cur- rently there is no single package which can provide full access to both types of data, so for our study we use a separate package for each MatSeis, the Sandia Labs-developed MATLAB-based seismic analysis package, for wave- form data analysis, and ArcView, an ESRI product, for contextual data analysis. Both packages are well-suited to pro- totyping because they provide a rich set of currently available functionality and yet are also flexible and easily extensible, . Using these tools and Phase I Knowledge Base data sets, we show how the Knowledge Base can improve both the speed and the quality of SEA. Empirically-derived interpolated correction information can be accessed to improve both location estimates and associated error estimates. This information can in turn be used to identi~ any known nearby sources (e.g. mines, volcanos), which may then trigger specialized processing of the sensor data. Based on the location estimate, preferred magnitude formulas and discriminants can be retrieved, and any known blockages can be identified to prevent miscalculations. Relevant historic events can be identilled either by spatial proximity searches or through waveform correlation processing. The locations and waveforms of these events can then be made available for side-by-side comparison and processing. If synthetic modeling is thought to be warranted, a wide variety of rele- vant contextu~l information (e.g. crustal thickness and layering, seismic velocities, attenuation factors) can be retrieved and sent to the appropriate applications. Once formedj the synthetics can then be brought in for side-by-side comparison and fhrther processing. Based on our study, we make two general recommendations. First, proper inter-process communication between sensor data analysis software and contextual data analysis sofisvare should be developed. Second, some of the Knowl- edge Base data sets should be prioritized or winnowed to streamline comparison with observed quantities.« less

Semantic Indexing of Medical Learning Objects: Medical Students' Usage of a Semantic Network

PubMed Central

Gießler, Paul; Ohnesorge-Radtke, Ursula; Spreckelsen, Cord

2015-01-01

Background The Semantically Annotated Media (SAM) project aims to provide a flexible platform for searching, browsing, and indexing medical learning objects (MLOs) based on a semantic network derived from established classification systems. Primarily, SAM supports the Aachen emedia skills lab, but SAM is ready for indexing distributed content and the Simple Knowledge Organizing System standard provides a means for easily upgrading or even exchanging SAM’s semantic network. There is a lack of research addressing the usability of MLO indexes or search portals like SAM and the user behavior with such platforms. Objective The purpose of this study was to assess the usability of SAM by investigating characteristic user behavior of medical students accessing MLOs via SAM. Methods In this study, we chose a mixed-methods approach. Lean usability testing was combined with usability inspection by having the participants complete four typical usage scenarios before filling out a questionnaire. The questionnaire was based on the IsoMetrics usability inventory. Direct user interaction with SAM (mouse clicks and pages accessed) was logged. Results The study analyzed the typical usage patterns and habits of students using a semantic network for accessing MLOs. Four scenarios capturing characteristics of typical tasks to be solved by using SAM yielded high ratings of usability items and showed good results concerning the consistency of indexing by different users. Long-tail phenomena emerge as they are typical for a collaborative Web 2.0 platform. Suitable but nonetheless rarely used keywords were assigned to MLOs by some users. Conclusions It is possible to develop a Web-based tool with high usability and acceptance for indexing and retrieval of MLOs. SAM can be applied to indexing multicentered repositories of MLOs collaboratively. PMID:27731860

Semantic Indexing of Medical Learning Objects: Medical Students' Usage of a Semantic Network.

PubMed

Tix, Nadine; Gießler, Paul; Ohnesorge-Radtke, Ursula; Spreckelsen, Cord

2015-11-11

The Semantically Annotated Media (SAM) project aims to provide a flexible platform for searching, browsing, and indexing medical learning objects (MLOs) based on a semantic network derived from established classification systems. Primarily, SAM supports the Aachen emedia skills lab, but SAM is ready for indexing distributed content and the Simple Knowledge Organizing System standard provides a means for easily upgrading or even exchanging SAM's semantic network. There is a lack of research addressing the usability of MLO indexes or search portals like SAM and the user behavior with such platforms. The purpose of this study was to assess the usability of SAM by investigating characteristic user behavior of medical students accessing MLOs via SAM. In this study, we chose a mixed-methods approach. Lean usability testing was combined with usability inspection by having the participants complete four typical usage scenarios before filling out a questionnaire. The questionnaire was based on the IsoMetrics usability inventory. Direct user interaction with SAM (mouse clicks and pages accessed) was logged. The study analyzed the typical usage patterns and habits of students using a semantic network for accessing MLOs. Four scenarios capturing characteristics of typical tasks to be solved by using SAM yielded high ratings of usability items and showed good results concerning the consistency of indexing by different users. Long-tail phenomena emerge as they are typical for a collaborative Web 2.0 platform. Suitable but nonetheless rarely used keywords were assigned to MLOs by some users. It is possible to develop a Web-based tool with high usability and acceptance for indexing and retrieval of MLOs. SAM can be applied to indexing multicentered repositories of MLOs collaboratively.

A Survey of the Current Utilization of Asynchronous Education Among Emergency Medicine Residents in the United States

PubMed Central

Schlein, Sarah; Doctor, Shaneen; Stroud, Susan; Dawson, Matthew; Fix, Megan

2014-01-01

Problem Medical education is transitioning from traditional learning methods. Resident interest in easily accessible education materials is forcing educators to reevaluate teaching methodology. Approach To determine emergency medicine residents’ current methods of and preferences for obtaining medical knowledge, the authors created a survey and sent it to residents, at all levels of training throughout the United States, whose e-mail addresses were available via their residency’s official Web site (June–December 2012). The eight-question voluntary survey asked respondents about demographics, their use of extracurricular time, and the materials they perceived as most beneficial. The authors used descriptive statistics to analyze results. Outcomes Of the 401 residents who received the e-mailed survey, 226 (56.3%) completed it. Of these, 97.7% reported spending at least one hour per week engaging in extracurricular education, and 34.5% reported spending two to four hours per week (P < .001). Time listening to podcasts was the most popular (reported by 35.0% of residents), followed by reading textbooks (33.6%) and searching Google (21.4%; P < .001). Residents endorsed podcasts as the most beneficial (endorsed by 70.3%) compared with textbooks (endorsed by 54.3%), journals (36.5%), and Google (33.8%; P < .001). Most respondents reported evaluating the quality of evidence or reviewing references “rarely” or less than half the time. A majority (80.0%) selected the topics they accessed based on recent clinical encounters. Next Steps The results suggest that residents are using more open access interactive multimedia tools. Medical educators must engage with current learners to guide appropriate use of these. PMID:24556776

Hole-Center Locating Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Senter, H. F.

1984-01-01

Tool alines center of new hold with existing hole. Tool marks center of new hole drilled while workpiece is in place. Secured with bolts while hole center marked with punch. Used for field installations where reference points unavailable or work area cramped and not easily accessible with conventional tools.

Mathematics of Information Processing and the Internet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hart, Eric W.

2010-01-01

The mathematics of information processing and the Internet can be organized around four fundamental themes: (1) access (finding information easily); (2) security (keeping information confidential); (3) accuracy (ensuring accurate information); and (4) efficiency (data compression). In this article, the author discusses each theme with reference to…

Blended Learning: An Evolving Praxis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fogal, Gary G.; Graham, Floyd H., III.; Lavigne, Anthony G.

2014-01-01

TED (Technology Entertainment Design), a collection of regularly updated talks, offers a web-based platform that is easily accessible. This platform affords language learners across multiple proficiency levels an opportunity to develop autonomy and critical thinking skills alongside their second language (L2) development. With an international…

HANDBOOK FOR OIL SPILL PROTECTION AND CLEANUP PRIORITIES

EPA Science Inventory

This handbook was developed in an easily accessible yet extensive field format for use by federally designated on-scene coordinators (OSC) to guide them in assessing priorities during all phases of an oil spill response. The guidelines presented will enable the OSC to (1) determi...

MedlinePlus FAQ: What's the difference between MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus Connect?

MedlinePlus

... MedlinePlus Connect is a free service that allows electronic health record (EHR) systems to easily link users to MedlinePlus, ... updates Subscribe to RSS Follow us Disclaimers Copyright Privacy Accessibility Quality Guidelines Viewers & Players MedlinePlus Connect for ...

REVISITING NUCLEOPHILIC SUBSTITUTION REACTIONS: MICROWAVE-ASSISTED SYNTHESIS OF AZIDES, THIOCYANATES AND SULFONES IN AQUEOUS MEDIUM

EPA Science Inventory

A practical, rapid and efficient microwave (MW) promoted synthesis of various azides, thiocyanates and sulfones, is described in aqueous medium. This general and expeditious MW-enhanced nucleophilic substitution approach uses easily accessible starting materials such as halides o...

Magnetic Nano-Materials: Truly Sustainable Green Chemistry Nano Catalysis

EPA Science Inventory

We envisioned a novel nano-catalyst system, which can bridge the homogenous and heterogeneous system, and simultaneously be cheaper, easily accessible (sustainable) and possibly does not require elaborate work-up. Because of its nano-size, i.e. high surface area, the contact betw...

FACETS: using open data to measure community social determinants of health.

PubMed

Cantor, Michael N; Chandras, Rajan; Pulgarin, Claudia

2018-04-01

To develop a dataset based on open data sources reflective of community-level social determinants of health (SDH). We created FACETS (Factors Affecting Communities and Enabling Targeted Services), an architecture that incorporates open data related to SDH into a single dataset mapped at the census-tract level for New York City. FACETS (https://github.com/mcantor2/FACETS) can be easily used to map individual addresses to their census-tract-level SDH. This dataset facilitates analysis across different determinants that are often not easily accessible. Wider access to open data from government agencies at the local, state, and national level would facilitate the aggregation and analysis of community-level determinants. Timeliness of updates to federal non-census data sources may limit their usefulness. FACETS is an important first step in standardizing and compiling SDH-related data in an open architecture that can give context to a patient's condition and enable better decision-making when developing a plan of care.

Cpf1-Database: web-based genome-wide guide RNA library design for gene knockout screens using CRISPR-Cpf1.

PubMed

Park, Jeongbin; Bae, Sangsu

2018-03-15

Following the type II CRISPR-Cas9 system, type V CRISPR-Cpf1 endonucleases have been found to be applicable for genome editing in various organisms in vivo. However, there are as yet no web-based tools capable of optimally selecting guide RNAs (gRNAs) among all possible genome-wide target sites. Here, we present Cpf1-Database, a genome-wide gRNA library design tool for LbCpf1 and AsCpf1, which have DNA recognition sequences of 5'-TTTN-3' at the 5' ends of target sites. Cpf1-Database provides a sophisticated but simple way to design gRNAs for AsCpf1 nucleases on the genome scale. One can easily access the data using a straightforward web interface, and using the powerful collections feature one can easily design gRNAs for thousands of genes in short time. Free access at http://www.rgenome.net/cpf1-database/. sangsubae@hanyang.ac.kr.

UUI: Reusable Spatial Data Services in Unified User Interface at NASA GES DISC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petrenko, Maksym; Hegde, Mahabaleshwa; Bryant, Keith; Pham, Long B.

2016-01-01

Unified User Interface (UUI) is a next-generation operational data access tool that has been developed at Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center(GES DISC) to provide a simple, unified, and intuitive one-stop shop experience for the key data services available at GES DISC, including subsetting (Simple Subset Wizard -SSW), granule file search (Mirador), plotting (Giovanni), and other legacy spatial data services. UUI has been built based on a flexible infrastructure of reusable web services self-contained building blocks that can easily be plugged into spatial applications, including third-party clients or services, to easily enable new functionality as new datasets and services become available. In this presentation, we will discuss our experience in designing UUI services based on open industry standards. We will also explain how the resulting framework can be used for a rapid development, deployment, and integration of spatial data services, facilitating efficient access and dissemination of spatial data sets.

MacroEvoLution: A New Method for the Rapid Generation of Novel Scaffold-Diverse Macrocyclic Libraries.

PubMed

Saupe, Jörn; Kunz, Oliver; Haustedt, Lars Ole; Jakupovic, Sven; Mang, Christian

2017-09-04

Macrocycles are a structural class bearing great promise for future challenges in medicinal chemistry. Nevertheless, there are few flexible approaches for the rapid generation of structurally diverse macrocyclic compound collections. Here, an efficient method for the generation of novel macrocyclic peptide-based scaffolds is reported. The process, named here as "MacroEvoLution", is based on a cyclization screening approach that gives reliable access to novel macrocyclic architectures. Classification of building blocks into specific pools ensures that scaffolds with orthogonally addressable functionalities are generated, which can easily be used for the generation of structurally diverse compound libraries. The method grants rapid access to novel scaffolds with scalable synthesis (multi gram scale) and the introduction of further diversity at a late stage. Despite being developed for peptidic systems, the approach can easily be extended for the synthesis of systems with a decreased peptidic character. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

Using the Browser for Science: A Collaborative Toolkit for Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Connolly, A. J.; Smith, I.; Krughoff, K. S.; Gibson, R.

2011-07-01

Astronomical surveys have yielded hundreds of terabytes of catalogs and images that span many decades of the electromagnetic spectrum. Even when observatories provide user-friendly web interfaces, exploring these data resources remains a complex and daunting task. In contrast, gadgets and widgets have become popular in social networking (e.g. iGoogle, Facebook). They provide a simple way to make complex data easily accessible that can be customized based on the interest of the user. With ASCOT (an AStronomical COllaborative Toolkit) we expand on these concepts to provide a customizable and extensible gadget framework for use in science. Unlike iGoogle, where all of the gadgets are independent, the gadgets we develop communicate and share information, enabling users to visualize and interact with data through multiple, simultaneous views. With this approach, web-based applications for accessing and visualizing data can be generated easily and, by linking these tools together, integrated and powerful data analysis and discovery tools can be constructed.

Fertility awareness online: the efficacy of a fertility education website in increasing knowledge and changing fertility beliefs.

PubMed

Daniluk, J C; Koert, E

2015-02-01

How effective is online education in increasing knowledge of fertility and assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and changing beliefs about the timing of parenthood? Exposure to an online educational intervention resulted in immediate changes in participants' beliefs about the ideal timing of parenthood, and a significant increase in their knowledge of fertility and ART treatments and options; most of these changes were not sustained over time, particularly for men. Research has identified significant gaps in men's and women's knowledge of fertility and ART, contributing to the trend to delay childbearing. Effective educational programs need to be developed, to support informed fertility and child-timing decisions. Pre-post intervention study of 199 currently childless men and women, and a 6-month follow-up of 110 of these participants. One hundred and ninety-nine childless participants between the ages of 18 and 35 were asked to complete 4 beliefs and 22 knowledge questions prior to, and immediately after, reading 10 online posts related to: fertility testing and preservation, fertility history and lifespan, the effects of health and fitness on fertility, and assisted reproduction. Six months later, 110 of the original sample repeated the 26-item survey. Participants' fertility and ART knowledge scores increased significantly immediately after the intervention, as did their confidence in their fertility and ART knowledge. Participants' beliefs about the ideal and latest age a woman or man should consider producing a child decreased. However, 6 months later, participants' beliefs and knowledge levels largely returned to their pre-intervention levels, particularly for the men in the study. The sample size and the recruitment methods may limit the generalizability of these findings. Previous studies have demonstrated the short-term efficacy of online educational approaches to increase fertility knowledge and support informed family planning decisions. Web-based approaches have the benefit of being easily and conveniently accessed by individuals worldwide. However, the findings of the current study call into question the long-term efficacy of online fertility education, and suggest that variables such as gender and relevance need to be considered in assessing the efficacy of online fertility education strategies. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Making medical research clinically friendly: a communication-based conceptual framework.

PubMed

McGrath, John; Lawrence, Valerie; Richardson, W Scott

2004-11-01

It often takes a long time before the results of medical research are actually used by health care practitioners in day-to-day clinical settings. This problem, referred to as "the evidence-to-practice gap", has significant implications for patient health care. Practitioners have difficulty keeping up with the latest information in part because it is reported in hundreds of journals that may not be easily accessed and understood. This essay conceptualizes the evidence-to-practice gap as a communication problem and suggests how academic research can be translated into messages that are easier for practitioners to access, comprehend and incorporate into their medical practice. A "translation framework" shows the importance of targeting messages to specific audiences and provides a communication-based conceptual approach for summarizing research for clinicians. Targeting the results of academic research to practitioners will decrease the time it takes for patients to benefit from the latest medical evidence. Translation guidelines can help health researchers write more effectively for both academic and practitioner audiences. Since the evidence-to-practice gap is a systemic problem that begins with how we train our health researchers, educators should consider addressing this topic in the health professions classroom. The framework presented here can serve as the basis for an instructional unit on interpreting and reporting research findings. Finally, information technology can play a much larger role in the communication process because of the enormous advantages of quick access and data organization that computers and the Internet provide. Practitioner-targeted research summaries could be made available on government or not-for-profit sponsored websites as well as by journals themselves. Funding opportunities exist for research that focuses on how technology can help improve health care, and so the time is right for health researchers to investigate ways of making their studies more accessible and quickly usable via web-based distribution. The potential of medical science should not be limited by an information delivery system that we have the knowledge, expertise and resources to improve.

Interactive web-based mapping: bridging technology and data for health.

PubMed

Highfield, Linda; Arthasarnprasit, Jutas; Ottenweller, Cecelia A; Dasprez, Arnaud

2011-12-23

The Community Health Information System (CHIS) online mapping system was first launched in 1998. Its overarching goal was to provide researchers, residents and organizations access to health related data reflecting the overall health and well-being of their communities within the Greater Houston area. In September 2009, initial planning and development began for the next generation of CHIS. The overarching goal for the new version remained to make health data easily accessible for a wide variety of research audiences. However, in the new version we specifically sought to make the CHIS truly interactive and give the user more control over data selection and reporting. In July 2011, a beta version of the next-generation of the application was launched. This next-generation is also a web based interactive mapping tool comprised of two distinct portals: the Breast Health Portal and Project Safety Net. Both are accessed via a Google mapping interface. Geographic coverage for the portals is currently an 8 county region centered on Harris County, Texas. Data accessed by the application include Census 2000, Census 2010 (underway), cancer incidence from the Texas Cancer Registry (TX Dept. of State Health Services), death data from Texas Vital Statistics, clinic locations for free and low-cost health services, along with service lists, hours of operation, payment options and languages spoken, uninsured and poverty data. The system features query on the fly technology, which means the data is not generated until the query is provided to the system. This allows users to interact in real-time with the databases and generate customized reports and maps. To the author's knowledge, the Breast Health Portal and Project Safety Net are the first local-scale interactive online mapping interfaces for public health data which allow users to control the data generated. For example, users may generate breast cancer incidence rates by Census tract, in real time, for women aged 40-64. Conversely, they could then generate the same rates for women aged 35-55. The queries are user controlled.

Mapping the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's Global Impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chaomei; Zhang, Jian; Vogeley, Michael S.

2009-07-01

The scientific capacity of a country is essential in todayâ's increasingly globalized science and technology ecosystem. Scientific capacity has four increasingly advanced levels of capabilities: absorbing, applying, creating, and retaining scientific knowledge. Moving to a advanced level requires additional skills and training. For example, it requires more specialized skills to apply scientific knowledge than to absorb knowledge. Similarly, making new discoveries requires more knowledge than applying existing procedures. Research has shown the importance of addressing specific, local problems while tapping into globally available expertise and resources. Accessing scientific knowledge is the first step towards absorbing knowledge. Low-income countries have increased their access to scientific literature on the Internet, but to what extent has this access led to more advanced levels of scientific capacity? Interdisciplinary and international collaboration may hold the key to creating and retaining knowledge. For example, creative ideas tend to be associated with inspirations originated from a diverse range of perspectives On the other hand, not all collaborations are productive. Assessing global science and technology needs to address both successes and failures and reasons behind them.

Computational neuroanatomy: ontology-based representation of neural components and connectivity.

PubMed

Rubin, Daniel L; Talos, Ion-Florin; Halle, Michael; Musen, Mark A; Kikinis, Ron

2009-02-05

A critical challenge in neuroscience is organizing, managing, and accessing the explosion in neuroscientific knowledge, particularly anatomic knowledge. We believe that explicit knowledge-based approaches to make neuroscientific knowledge computationally accessible will be helpful in tackling this challenge and will enable a variety of applications exploiting this knowledge, such as surgical planning. We developed ontology-based models of neuroanatomy to enable symbolic lookup, logical inference and mathematical modeling of neural systems. We built a prototype model of the motor system that integrates descriptive anatomic and qualitative functional neuroanatomical knowledge. In addition to modeling normal neuroanatomy, our approach provides an explicit representation of abnormal neural connectivity in disease states, such as common movement disorders. The ontology-based representation encodes both structural and functional aspects of neuroanatomy. The ontology-based models can be evaluated computationally, enabling development of automated computer reasoning applications. Neuroanatomical knowledge can be represented in machine-accessible format using ontologies. Computational neuroanatomical approaches such as described in this work could become a key tool in translational informatics, leading to decision support applications that inform and guide surgical planning and personalized care for neurological disease in the future.

Efficient Access Control in Multimedia Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sachan, Amit; Emmanuel, Sabu

Multimedia social networks (MMSNs) have provided a convenient way to share multimedia contents such as images, videos, blogs, etc. Contents shared by a person can be easily accessed by anybody else over the Internet. However, due to various privacy, security, and legal concerns people often want to selectively share the contents only with their friends, family, colleagues, etc. Access control mechanisms play an important role in this situation. With access control mechanisms one can decide the persons who can access a shared content and who cannot. But continuously growing content uploads and accesses, fine grained access control requirements (e.g. different access control parameters for different parts in a picture), and specific access control requirements for multimedia contents can make the time complexity of access control to be very large. So, it is important to study an efficient access control mechanism suitable for MMSNs. In this chapter we present an efficient bit-vector transform based access control mechanism for MMSNs. The proposed approach is also compatible with other requirements of MMSNs, such as access rights modification, content deletion, etc. Mathematical analysis and experimental results show the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed approach.

Optimal Access to NASA Water Cycle Data for Water Resources Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teng, W. L.; Arctur, D. K.; Espinoza, G. E.; Rui, H.; Strub, R. F.; Vollmer, B.

2016-12-01

A "Digital Divide" in data representation exists between the preferred way of data access by the hydrology community (i.e., as time series of discrete spatial objects) and the common way of data archival by earth science data centers (i.e., as continuous spatial fields, one file per time step). This Divide has been an obstacle, specifically, between the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. Hydrologic Information System (CUAHSI HIS) and NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). An optimal approach to bridging the Divide, developed by the GES DISC, is to reorganize data from the way they are archived to some way that is optimal for the desired method of data access. Specifically for CUAHSI HIS, selected data sets were reorganized into time series files, one per geographical "point." These time series files, termed "data rods," are pre-generated or virtual (generated on-the-fly). Data sets available as data rods include North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS), Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA), Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM), Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA)-Land, and Groundwater and Soil Moisture Conditions from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Data Assimilation drought indicators for North America Drought Monitor (GRACE-DA-DM). In order to easily avail the operational water resources community the benefits of optimally reorganized data, we have developed multiple methods of making these data more easily accessible and usable. These include direct access via RESTful Web services, a browser-based Web map and statistical tool for selected NLDAS variables for the U.S. (CONUS), a HydroShare app (Data Rods Explorer, under development) on the Tethys Platform, and access via the GEOSS Portal. Examples of drought-related applications of these data and data access methods are provided.

Ethical perspectives on knowledge translation in rehabilitation.

PubMed

Banja, John D; Eisen, Arri

2013-01-01

Although the literature on the ethical dimensions of knowledge creation, use, and dissemination is voluminous, it has not particularly examined the ethical dimensions of knowledge translation in rehabilitation. Yet, whether research is done in a wet lab or treatments are provided to patients in therapeutic settings, rehabilitation professionals commonly use (as well as create) knowledge and disseminate it to peers, patients, and various others. This article will refer to knowledge creation, use, and transfer as knowledge translation and examine some of its numerous ethical challenges. Three ethical dimensions of knowledge translation will particularly attract our attention: (1) the quality of knowledge disseminated to rehabilitationists; (2) ethical challenges in being too easily persuaded by or unreasonably resistant to putative knowledge; and (3) organizational barriers to knowledge translation. We will conclude with some recommendations on facilitating the ethical soundness of knowledge translation in rehabilitation. Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Age differences in suggestibility to contradictions of demonstrated knowledge: the influence of prior knowledge.

PubMed

Umanath, Sharda

2016-11-01

People maintain intact general knowledge into very old age and use it to support remembering. Interestingly, when older and younger adults encounter errors that contradict general knowledge, older adults suffer fewer memorial consequences: Older adults use fewer recently-encountered errors as answers for later knowledge questions. Why do older adults show this reduced suggestibility, and what role does their intact knowledge play? In three experiments, I examined suggestibility following exposure to errors in fictional stories that contradict general knowledge. Older adults consistently demonstrated more prior knowledge than younger adults but also gained access to even more across time. Additionally, they did not show a reduction in new learning from the stories, indicating lesser involvement of episodic memory failures. Critically, when knowledge was stably accessible, older adults relied more heavily on that knowledge compared to younger adults, resulting in reduced suggestibility. Implications for the broader role of knowledge in aging are discussed.

Designing Summer Research Experiences for Teachers and Students That Promote Classroom Science Inquiry Projects and Produce Research Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

George, L. A.; Parra, J.; Rao, M.; Offerman, L.

2007-12-01

Research experiences for science teachers are an important mechanism for increasing classroom teachers' science content knowledge and facility with "real world" research processes. We have developed and implemented a summer scientific research and education workshop model for high school teachers and students which promotes classroom science inquiry projects and produces important research results supporting our overarching scientific agenda. The summer training includes development of a scientific research framework, design and implementation of preliminary studies, extensive field research and training in and access to instruments, measurement techniques and statistical tools. The development and writing of scientific papers is used to reinforce the scientific research process. Using these skills, participants collaborate with scientists to produce research quality data and analysis. Following the summer experience, teachers report increased incorporation of research inquiry in their classrooms and student participation in science fair projects. This workshop format was developed for an NSF Biocomplexity Research program focused on the interaction of urban climates, air quality and human response and can be easily adapted for other scientific research projects.

Scotland's Centre of Expertise for Waters - helping address Scotland's water policy challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacDonald, Jannette; Morris, Sue; Hastings, Emily; Ferrier, Bob

2014-05-01

CREW connects water research and policy in Scotland. We deliver easily accessible research and expert opinion to support Scottish Government and its delivery partners in the development and implementation of water policy in Scotland. The main policy areas include the Water Framework Directive, Flooding Directive, and Scotland's Hydro Nation Strategy with links to cross cutting policies such as those relating to agriculture and climate change. CREW is unique in its demand-driven and free service for policy makers and practitioners, managing the engagement between scientists, policy makers and practitioners to work effectively across this interface. CREW aims are to; • deliver timely and accurate advice • coordinate and fund research, analysis and interpretation • stimulate innovative and proactive thinking • develop and implement a programme of knowledge exchange • develop the networks and skills of researchers, policy makers and practitioners to make best use of available science leading to improved environmental, social and economic outcomes for all CREW is a partnership between the James Hutton Institute and Scottish Universities, funded by the Scottish Government. http://www.crew.ac.uk/home

The Design of Lexical Database for Indonesian Language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gunawan, D.; Amalia, A.

2017-03-01

Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI), an official dictionary for Indonesian language, provides lists of words with their meaning. The online version can be accessed via Internet network. Another online dictionary is Kateglo. KBBI online and Kateglo only provides an interface for human. A machine cannot retrieve data from the dictionary easily without using advanced techniques. Whereas, lexical of words is required in research or application development which related to natural language processing, text mining, information retrieval or sentiment analysis. To address this requirement, we need to build a lexical database which provides well-defined structured information about words. A well-known lexical database is WordNet, which provides the relation among words in English. This paper proposes the design of a lexical database for Indonesian language based on the combination of KBBI 4th edition, Kateglo and WordNet structure. Knowledge representation by utilizing semantic networks depict the relation among words and provide the new structure of lexical database for Indonesian language. The result of this design can be used as the foundation to build the lexical database for Indonesian language.

Integrated groundwater data management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fitch, Peter; Brodaric, Boyan; Stenson, Matt; Booth, Nathaniel; Jakeman, Anthony J.; Barreteau, Olivier; Hunt, Randall J.; Rinaudo, Jean-Daniel; Ross, Andrew

2016-01-01

The goal of a data manager is to ensure that data is safely stored, adequately described, discoverable and easily accessible. However, to keep pace with the evolution of groundwater studies in the last decade, the associated data and data management requirements have changed significantly. In particular, there is a growing recognition that management questions cannot be adequately answered by single discipline studies. This has led a push towards the paradigm of integrated modeling, where diverse parts of the hydrological cycle and its human connections are included. This chapter describes groundwater data management practices, and reviews the current state of the art with enterprise groundwater database management systems. It also includes discussion on commonly used data management models, detailing typical data management lifecycles. We discuss the growing use of web services and open standards such as GWML and WaterML2.0 to exchange groundwater information and knowledge, and the need for national data networks. We also discuss cross-jurisdictional interoperability issues, based on our experience sharing groundwater data across the US/Canadian border. Lastly, we present some future trends relating to groundwater data management.

Development of a nursing handoff tool: a web-based application to enhance patient safety.

PubMed

Goldsmith, Denise; Boomhower, Marc; Lancaster, Diane R; Antonelli, Mary; Kenyon, Mary Anne Murphy; Benoit, Angela; Chang, Frank; Dykes, Patricia C

2010-11-13

Dynamic and complex clinical environments present many challenges for effective communication among health care providers. The omission of accurate, timely, easily accessible vital information by health care providers significantly increases risk of patient harm and can have devastating consequences for patient care. An effective nursing handoff supports the standardized transfer of accurate, timely, critical patient information, as well as continuity of care and treatment, resulting in enhanced patient safety. The Brigham and Women's/Faulkner Hospital Healthcare Information Technology Innovation Program (HIP) is supporting the development of a web based nursing handoff tool (NHT). The goal of this project is to develop a "proof of concept" handoff application to be evaluated by nurses on the inpatient intermediate care units. The handoff tool would enable nurses to use existing knowledge of evidence-based handoff methodology in their everyday practice to improve patient care and safety. In this paper, we discuss the results of nursing focus groups designed to identify the current state of handoff practice as well as the functional and data element requirements of a web based Nursing Handoff Tool (NHT).

Biomarkers for diet and cancer prevention research: potentials and challenges.

PubMed

Davis, Cindy D; Milner, John A

2007-09-01

As cancer incidence is projected to increase for decades there is a need for effective preventive strategies. Fortunately, evidence continues to mount that altering dietary habits is an effective and cost-efficient approach for reducing cancer risk and for modifying the biological behavior of tumors. Predictive, validated and sensitive biomarkers, including those that reliably evaluate "intake" or exposure to a specific food or bioactive component, that assess one or more specific biological "effects" that are linked to cancer, and that effectively predict individual "susceptibility" as a function of nutrient-nutrient interactions and genetics, are fundamental to evaluating who will benefit most from dietary interventions. These biomarkers must be readily accessible, easily and reliably assayed, and predictive of a key process(es) involved in cancer. The response to a food is determined not only by the effective concentration of the bioactive food component(s) reaching the target tissue, but also by the amount of the target requiring modification. Thus, this threshold response to foods and their components will vary from individual to individual. The key to understanding a personalized response is a greater knowledge of nutrigenomics, proteomics and metabolomics.

Implementation of a dynamic data entry system for the PHENIX gas system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hagiwara, Masako

2003-10-01

The PHENIX detector at the BNL RHIC facility uses multiple detector technologies that require a precise gas delivery system, including flammable gases that require additional monitoring. During operation of the detector, it is crucial to maintain stable and safe operating conditions by carefully monitoring flows, pressures, and various other gas properties. These systems are monitored during running periods on a continuous basis. For the most part, these records were kept by hand, filling out a paper logsheet every four hours. A dynamic data entry system was needed to replace the paper logsheets. The solution created was to use a PDA or laptop computer with a wireless connection to enter the data directly into a MySQL database. The system uses PHP to dynamically create and update the data entry pages. The data entered can be viewed in graphs as well as tables. As a result, the data recorded will be easily accessible during PHENIX's next running period. It also allows for long term archiving, making the data available during the analysis phase, providing knowledge of the operating conditions of the gas system.

Saliva Liquid Biopsy for Point-of-Care Applications

PubMed Central

Aro, Katri; Wei, Fang; Wong, David T.; Tu, Michael

2017-01-01

Saliva is a non-invasive biofluid, which is easy to collect, transport, and store. Because of its accessibility and connection to systemic diseases, saliva is one of the best candidates for the advancement of point-of-care medicine, where individuals are able to easily monitor their health status by using portable convenient tools such as smartphones. There are a variety of scenarios with which saliva can be used: studies have been conducted on using saliva to measure stress hormones, enzyme levels, developmental disease biomarkers, and even cancer mutations. If validated biomarkers were combined with high-quality detection tools, saliva would open up a new frontier in high-quality healthcare, allowing physicians and patients to work together for real-time health monitoring and high-impact personalized preventative medicine. One of the most exciting emerging frontiers of saliva is liquid biopsy, which is a non-invasive means to assess the presence and characteristics of cancer in a patient. This article will review current basic knowledge of biomarkers, review their relation to different diseases and conditions, and explore liquid biopsy for point-of-care applications. PMID:28443278

Cross-reactivity and masqueraders in seafood reactions.

PubMed

Banks, Taylor A; Gada, Satyen M

2013-01-01

Confounding variables play a significant role in many adverse seafood reactions and a clear understanding of these factors is important in properly characterizing reactions associated with potential masqueraders and mimics. Although the medical literature is replete with reviews of seafood hypersensitivity and reports of cross-reactive and newly characterized allergens, there has not been a recent effort to provide an updated overview of the several processes that may lead clinicians to draw incorrect conclusions in evaluating reported reactions to seafood. Ranging from seafood intoxications to other nonallergic or complex seafood reactions, these events can easily be misconstrued as representing a seafood IgE-mediated allergy. Among these are the more familiar topics of cross-reactivity and scombroid intoxication, and those with a still evolving understanding such as ciguatera fish poisoning and Anisakis reactions. This article seeks to provide an accessible but comprehensive summary of the relevant information surrounding these confounders in assessing adverse reactions to seafood. Such knowledge may be instrumental in unraveling complex or otherwise unclear presentations and aid clinicians in accurately evaluating and managing patients with reported seafood reactions.

Improving performance with knowledge management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sangchul

2018-06-01

People and organization are unable to easily locate their experience and knowledge, so meaningful data is usually fragmented, unstructured, not up-to-date and largely incomplete. Poor knowledge management (KM) leaves a company weak to their knowledge-base - or intellectual capital - walking out of the door each year, that is minimum estimated at 10%. Knowledge management (KM) can be defined as an emerging set of organizational design and operational principles, processes, organizational structures, applications and technologies that helps knowledge workers dramatically leverage their creativity and ability to deliver business value and to reap finally a competitive advantage. Then, this paper proposed various method and software starting with an understanding of the enterprise aspect, and gave inspiration to those who wanted to use KM.

Estuary Data Mapper: A virtual portal to coastal data informing environmental management decisions

EPA Science Inventory

The Estuary Data Mapper (EDM) is a free, interactive graphical application under development at the US EPA that allows environmental researchers and managers to quickly and easily retrieve, view and save subsets of online US coastal estuary-related data. Accessible data include ...

Creating the Future of Games and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Squire, Kurt

2015-01-01

Games for learning are poised to enter mainstream education. Several factors driving this movement are the following: (1) Digital distribution through cloud computing services and ubiquitous connectivity which will make digital learning tools--such as games--affordable and easily accessible; (2) The proliferation of digital devices; (3) Digital…

NASTRAN data deck generation on the PC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guyan, R. J.

1986-01-01

Using two commercial programs an application was developed to aid in generating a run-ready NASTRAN data deck on the PC. Macros are used to access relevant reference material and card files while editing the deck. The application can be easily customized to suit individual or group needs.

Interdisciplinary Invitations: Exploring Gee's Bend Quilts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Rebecca; Whitin, Phyllis; Whitin, David

2012-01-01

Engaging with the quilts of Gee's Bend offers a rich opportunity for students in grades four through eight to develop appreciation for pattern, rhythm, and innovation while learning about history, entrepreneurship, and political activism. By easily accessing print, film, and Internet resources teachers can include these vibrant quilts and…

Playing with Powers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sriraman, Bharath; Strzelecki, Pawel

2004-01-01

This paper explores the wide range of pure mathematics that becomes accessible through the use of problems involving powers. In particular we stress the need to balance an applied and context based pedagogical and curricular approach to mathematics with the powerful pure mathematics beneath the simplicity of easily stated and understandable…

Preparing for the Eclipse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hurst, Anna; Plummer, Julia; Gurton, Suzanne; Schatz, Dennis

2017-01-01

On August 21, 2017, sky gazers all across North America will experience a total solar eclipse, arguably the most breathtaking of all astronomical phenomena. The August eclipse is an ideal astronomical event to observe with young children because it allows them to observe a powerful and easily accessible astronomical phenomenon. Observing…

A new general access to either type of Securinega alkaloids: synthesis of securinine and (-)-allonorsecurinine.

PubMed

Alibés, Ramon; Ballbé, Marta; Busqué, Félix; de March, Pedro; Elias, Laia; Figueredo, Marta; Font, Josep

2004-05-27

The syntheses of securinine and (-)-allonorsecurinine have been achieved starting from easily available alpha-amino acid derivatives and using as key steps a RCM and a Heck reaction for the formation of rings D and C, respectively. [reaction: see text

Starting Point: Pedagogic Resources for Teaching and Learning Economics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maier, Mark H.; McGoldrick, KimMarie; Simkins, Scott P.

2012-01-01

This article describes Starting Point: Teaching and Learning Economics, a Web-based portal that makes innovative pedagogic resources and effective teaching practices easily accessible to economists. Starting Point introduces economists to teaching innovations through 16 online modules, each containing a general description of a specific pedagogic…

Enabling the transition towards Earth Observation Science 2.0

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathieu, Pierre-Philippe; Desnos, Yves-Louis

2015-04-01

Science 2.0 refers to the rapid and systematic changes in doing Research and organising Science driven by the rapid advances in ICT and digital technologies combined with a growing demand to do Science for Society (actionable research) and in Society (co-design of knowledge). Nowadays, teams of researchers around the world can easily access a wide range of open data across disciplines and remotely process them on the Cloud, combining them with their own data to generate knowledge, develop information products for societal applications, and tackle complex integrative complex problems that could not be addressed a few years ago. Such rapid exchange of digital data is fostering a new world of data-intensive research, characterized by openness, transparency, and scrutiny and traceability of results, access to large volume of complex data, availability of community open tools, unprecedented level of computing power, and new collaboration among researchers and new actors such as citizen scientists. The EO scientific community is now facing the challenge of responding to this new paradigm in science 2.0 in order to make the most of the large volume of complex and diverse data delivered by the new generation of EO missions, and in particular the Sentinels. In this context, ESA - in particular within the framework of the Scientific Exploitation of Operational Missions (SEOM) element - is supporting a variety of activities in partnership with research communities to ease the transition and make the most of the data. These include the generation of new open tools and exploitation platforms, exploring new ways to exploit data on cloud-based platforms, dissiminate data, building new partnership with citizen scientists, and training the new generation of data scientists. The paper will give a brief overview of some of ESA activities aiming to facilitate the exploitation of large amount of data from EO missions in a collaborative, cross-disciplinary, and open way, from science to applications and education.

Disaster easily averted? Data confidentiality and the hospital desktop computer.

PubMed

Sethi, Neeraj; Lane, Gethin; Newton, Sophie; Egan, Philip; Ghosh, Samit

2014-05-01

We specifically identified the hospital desktop computer as a potential source of breaches in confidentiality. We aimed to evaluate if there was accessible, unprotected, confidential information stored on the desktop screen on computers in a district general hospital and if so, how a teaching intervention could improve this situation. An unannounced spot check of 59 ward computers was performed. Data were collected regarding how many had confidential information stored on the desktop screen without any password protection. An online learning module was mandated for healthcare staff and a second cycle of inspection performed. A district general hospital. Two doctors conducted the audit. Computers in clinical areas were assessed. All clinical staff with computer access underwent the online learning module. An online learning module regarding data protection and confidentiality. In the first cycle, 55% of ward computers had easily accessible patient or staff confidential information stored on their desktop screen. This included handovers, referral letters, staff sick leave lists, audits and nursing reports. The majority (85%) of computers accessed were logged in under a generic username and password. The intervention produced an improvement in the second cycle findings with only 26% of computers being found to have unprotected confidential information stored on them. The failure to comply with appropriate confidential data protection regulations is a persistent problem. Education produces some improvement but we also propose a systemic approach to solving this problem. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subarachnoid and basal cistern navigation through the sacral hiatus with guide wire assistance.

PubMed

Layer, Lauren; Riascos, Roy; Firouzbakht, Farhood; Amole, Adewumi; Von Ritschl, Rudiger; Dipatre, Pier; Cuellar, Hugo

2011-07-01

Intraspinal navigation with catheters and fiberscopes has shown feasible results for diagnosis and treatment of intraspinal and intracranial lesions. The most common approach, lumbar puncture, has allowed access to the spinal cord, however, coming with the difficulties of fiberscope damage and decreased torque for guidance. Our objective in this study is to allow an alternate access, the sacral hiatus, with guide wire assistance into the subarachnoid and intracranial structures, while easing the angle of entry and increasing torque. We advanced catheters with guide wire and fluoroscopy assistance into the sacral hiatus of three cadavers. After entry, the thecal sac was punctured and the catheter with guide wire was advanced rostrally until positioned in the basal cisterns of the brain. We confirmed catheter placement with contrast injection, autopsy, and dissection. In our study, the sacral hiatus was easily accessed, but resistance was found when attempting to puncture the thecal sac. The advancement of the catheter with guide wire assistance glided easily rostrally until some mild resistance was discovered at entry into the foramen magnum. With redirection, all catheters passed with ease into the basal cisterns. Positioning was confirmed with contrast injection with fluoroscopy evidence, autopsy, and dissection. There was no macroscopic or microscopic evidence of damage to the spinal roots, spinal cord, or cranial nerves. The sacral hiatus with guide wire assistance is an accessible conduit for uncomplicated entry into the subarachnoid and basal cistern space without damaging surrounding structures.

Using open-source programs to create a web-based portal for hydrologic information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, H.

2013-12-01

Some hydrologic data sets, such as basin climatology, precipitation, and terrestrial water storage, are not easily obtainable and distributable due to their size and complexity. We present a Hydrologic Information Portal (HIP) that has been implemented at the University of California for Hydrologic Modeling (UCCHM) and that has been organized around the large river basins of North America. This portal can be easily accessed through a modern web browser that enables easy access and visualization of such hydrologic data sets. Some of the main features of our HIP include a set of data visualization features so that users can search, retrieve, analyze, integrate, organize, and map data within large river basins. Recent information technologies such as Google Maps, Tornado (Python asynchronous web server), NumPy/SciPy (Scientific Library for Python) and d3.js (Visualization library for JavaScript) were incorporated into the HIP to create ease in navigating large data sets. With such open source libraries, HIP can give public users a way to combine and explore various data sets by generating multiple chart types (Line, Bar, Pie, Scatter plot) directly from the Google Maps viewport. Every rendered object such as a basin shape on the viewport is clickable, and this is the first step to access the visualization of data sets.

Costs of Military Pay and Benefits in the Defense Budget

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-01

arithmetic reasoning, mathematics knowledge, paragraph comprehension, and word knowledge. Percentile scores measure aptitude relative to the entire...is not actuarially fair—it does not financially compensate the military retiree for what could easily be four decades of smaller annuity pay- ments...during a month in which the member is serving in a designated combat zone.37 One report estimates that to achieve an actuarially fair out- come, the

Development of a knowledge acquisition tool for an expert system flight status monitor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Disbrow, J. D.; Duke, E. L.; Regenie, V. A.

1986-01-01

Two of the main issues in artificial intelligence today are knowledge acquisition dion and knowledge representation. The Dryden Flight Research Facility of NASA's Ames Research Center is presently involved in the design and implementation of an expert system flight status monitor that will provide expertise and knowledge to aid the flight systems engineer in monitoring today's advanced high-performance aircraft. The flight status monitor can be divided into two sections: the expert system itself and the knowledge acquisition tool. The knowledge acquisition tool, the means it uses to extract knowledge from the domain expert, and how that knowledge is represented for computer use is discussed. An actual aircraft system has been codified by this tool with great success. Future real-time use of the expert system has been facilitated by using the knowledge acquisition tool to easily generate a logically consistent and complete knowledge base.

Development of a knowledge acquisition tool for an expert system flight status monitor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Disbrow, J. D.; Duke, E. L.; Regenie, V. A.

1986-01-01

Two of the main issues in artificial intelligence today are knowledge acquisition and knowledge representation. The Dryden Flight Research Facility of NASA's Ames Research Center is presently involved in the design and implementation of an expert system flight status monitor that will provide expertise and knowledge to aid the flight systems engineer in monitoring today's advanced high-performance aircraft. The flight status monitor can be divided into two sections: the expert system itself and the knowledge acquisition tool. This paper discusses the knowledge acquisition tool, the means it uses to extract knowledge from the domain expert, and how that knowledge is represented for computer use. An actual aircraft system has been codified by this tool with great success. Future real-time use of the expert system has been facilitated by using the knowledge acquisition tool to easily generate a logically consistent and complete knowledge base.

Strengthening Connections between Elementary Classroom Mathematics and Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altieri, Jennifer L.

2009-01-01

Enjoyable literacy strategies help elementary teachers reinforce students' mathematics knowledge. This article shares a number of literacy strategies that can easily connect with mathematics. These strategies include word associations, multimeaning word cards, and games. (Contains 7 figures.)

Design of Accelerator Online Simulator Server Using Structured Data

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

Shen, Guobao; /Brookhaven; Chu, Chungming

2012-07-06

Model based control plays an important role for a modern accelerator during beam commissioning, beam study, and even daily operation. With a realistic model, beam behaviour can be predicted and therefore effectively controlled. The approach used by most current high level application environments is to use a built-in simulation engine and feed a realistic model into that simulation engine. Instead of this traditional monolithic structure, a new approach using a client-server architecture is under development. An on-line simulator server is accessed via network accessible structured data. With this approach, a user can easily access multiple simulation codes. This paper describesmore » the design, implementation, and current status of PVData, which defines the structured data, and PVAccess, which provides network access to the structured data.« less

The Role of Accessibility of Semantic Word Knowledge in Monolingual and Bilingual Fifth-Grade Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cremer, M.; Schoonen, R.

2013-01-01

The influences of word decoding, availability, and accessibility of semantic word knowledge on reading comprehension were investigated for monolingual "("n = 65) and bilingual children ("n" = 70). Despite equal decoding abilities, monolingual children outperformed bilingual children with regard to reading comprehension and…

Synchronic Distance Education from the Perspective of a Handicapped Person

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karal, Hasan; Cebi, Ayca; Turgut, Yigit Emrah

2011-01-01

Nowadays knowledge and communication technologies are developing rapidly and changing people's lives. With the help of the developing technologies, people can access knowledge independent of time and place and distance education technologies offer handicapped students a range of opportunities in order that they may access a better level of…

Access to Knowledge: An Agenda for Our Nation's Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodlad, John I., Ed.; Keating, Pamela, Ed.

This collection of 15 papers reconceptualizes the problem of failure in schools and describe the interlocking structural arrangements, curricular and instructional practices, and other school conditions that constitute barriers blocking all students' access to knowledge. A new agenda is offered for the national reform movement, an agenda that…

Online Knowledge-Based Model for Big Data Topic Extraction

PubMed Central

Khan, Muhammad Taimoor; Durrani, Mehr; Khalid, Shehzad; Aziz, Furqan

2016-01-01

Lifelong machine learning (LML) models learn with experience maintaining a knowledge-base, without user intervention. Unlike traditional single-domain models they can easily scale up to explore big data. The existing LML models have high data dependency, consume more resources, and do not support streaming data. This paper proposes online LML model (OAMC) to support streaming data with reduced data dependency. With engineering the knowledge-base and introducing new knowledge features the learning pattern of the model is improved for data arriving in pieces. OAMC improves accuracy as topic coherence by 7% for streaming data while reducing the processing cost to half. PMID:27195004

Arteriovenous Hybrid Graft with Outflow in the Proximal Axillary Vein.

PubMed

Murga, Allen G; Chiriano, Jason; Kiang, Sharon C; Patel, Sheela; Bianchi, Christian; Abou-Zamzam, Ahmed M; Teruya, Theodore H

2017-07-01

The patency of long-term hemodialysis access in end-stage renal disease patients remains a significant challenge. Often these patients are affected with limited venous outflow options, requiring limb abandonment, and creation of new access in the contralateral arm. Vascular surgeons are familiar with the exposure of the proximal axillary artery via an infraclavicular incision. The axillary vein is easily exposed through this technique. The use of the hybrid Gore graft can make the venous anastomosis easier. A hybrid graft with its venous outflow placed in the proximal axillary vein can extend the options of upper extremity access procedures. We reviewed our early experience with this technique. A review of dialysis procedures at the Loma Linda VA was performed. All patients undergoing placement of arteriovenous grafts utilizing the Gore hybrid placed into the proximal axillary vein for outflow were identified. Outcomes in terms of primary and secondary patency rates were determined. Eight patients had placement of an arteriovenous hybrid graft in the proximal axillary vein via an infraclavicular incision. All patients had exhausted other options for hemodialysis access in the ipsilateral upper extremity. All grafts were used successfully for dialysis. The mean primary and secondary patency rates at 6 months were 37.5% and 62.5%, respectively. One patient developed steal syndrome, requiring proximalization of the graft. Seven out of the 8 patients required secondary procedures including thrombectomy (n = 16) and angioplasty (n = 17). Placement of a hybrid graft in the proximal axillary vein is an effective and suitable option for patients who have exhausted arteriovenous access sites in the arm. This procedure can easily be performed in an outpatient setting with a low complication rate and allowing for preservation of the contralateral upper extremity for future use. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The Adversarial Route Analysis Tool: A Web Application

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

Casson, William H. Jr.

2012-08-02

The Adversarial Route Analysis Tool is a type of Google maps for adversaries. It's a web-based Geospatial application similar to Google Maps. It helps the U.S. government plan operations that predict where an adversary might be. It's easily accessible and maintainble and it's simple to use without much training.

Internet Tools Access Administrative Data at the University of Delaware.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobson, Carl

1995-01-01

At the University of Delaware, World Wide Web tools are used to produce multiplatform administrative applications, including hyperreporting, mixed media, electronic forms, and kiosk services. Web applications are quickly and easily crafted to interact with administrative databases. They are particularly suited to customer outreach efforts,…

Cardiovascular Physiology Teaching: Computer Simulations vs. Animal Demonstrations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samsel, Richard W.; And Others

1994-01-01

At the introductory level, the computer provides an effective alternative to using animals for laboratory teaching. Computer software can simulate the operation of multiple organ systems. Advantages of software include alteration of variables that are not easily changed in vivo, repeated interventions, and cost-effective hands-on student access.…

POPcorn: An online resource providing access to distributed and diverse maize project data

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Maize researchers cannot easily leverage all available genetic and genomic data because the online locations of all resources are not easy to find and individual project websites must be searched independently. In addition, project websites degrade over time and sometimes disappear entirely. We cr...

Supporting Online Learners: Blending High-Tech with High-Touch

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dolan, Sean; Donohue, Chip; Holstrom, Lisa; Pernell, Latonia; Sachdev, Anu

2009-01-01

Effective and easily accessible student support services are essential to the success of adult learners. A student-centered approach is especially important in the design and delivery of online courses, professional certificates, and degree programs for early childhood professionals. A student-first approach is essential for non-traditional adult…

Seeing Is Believing: Using Imagery to Enhance Your Coaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finch, Laura M.

2011-01-01

Imagery is a powerful sport psychology tool easily accessible to coaches. These reminders can help coaches improve their athletes' images and performance: (1) Create vivid and controllable images; (2) Use polysensory images and instructional cues, delivered, ideally, in real time; (3) Use internal and external perspectives; (4) Use imagery during…

Special tool kit aids heavily garmented workers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holmes, A. E.

1966-01-01

Triangular aluminum tool kit, filled with polyurethane is constructed to receive various tools and hold them in a snug but quick-release fit as an aid to heavily gloved workers. The kit is designed to allow mounting within easily accessable reach and to provide protection of the tools during storage.

DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEM FOR AN EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTS INFORMATION EXCHANGE. FINAL REPORT.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

KOMOSKI, P. KENNETH

THIS STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO DESIGN AN EASILY ACCESSIBLE NATIONWIDE SYSTEM FOR EXCHANGING DESCRIPTIVE, EVALUATIVE PRODUCT INFORMATION AMONG ALL SECTORS OF THE EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY ON A COOPERATIVE COST-SHARING BASIS. THE FEASIBILITY OF SUCH A COLLECTION AND EXCHANGE OF DESCRIPTIVE AND EVALUATIVE INFORMATION ABOUT INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS SYSTEMS…

75 FR 63884 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board; Order Approving Proposed...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-18

... unfairly allows institutional and sophisticated investors to more easily access information about a... information directly to EMMA is a more efficient way of disseminating information to investors, noting that... in the level of investor protection provided by the MSRB's information systems and [[Page 63886...

Highlights from Education at a Glance 2010

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

OECD Publishing (NJ3), 2010

2010-01-01

"Highlights from Education at a Glance 2010" is a companion publication to the OECD's flagship compendium of education statistics, Education at a Glance. It provides easily accessible data on key topics in education today, including: education levels and student numbers, economic and social benefits of education, education spending, the school…

14 CFR 23.783 - Doors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... least one adequate and easily accessible external door. (b) Passenger doors must not be located with...) Each external passenger or crew door must comply with the following requirements: (1) There must be a... the internal locking mechanism is in the locked position. (3) There must be a means of opening which...

Defining ecohydrological function to support low impact development in coastal South Carolina

Treesearch

Daniel Hitchcock; A.D. Jayakaran; T. H. Epps; J.A. Palazzolo; T.M. Williams; D.M. Amatya

2016-01-01

In the face of dual pressures in coastal South Carolina - residential and commercial development, along with potential climate change impacts - stakeholders need clear, accurate, relevant, and easily-accessible information for effective decision-making for watershed management and natural resource protection.

Does Research Information Meet the Needs of Stakeholders? Exploring Evidence Selection in the Global Management of Invasive Species

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bayliss, Helen R.; Wilcox, Andrew; Stewart, Gavin B.; Randall, Nicola P.

2012-01-01

This study explored factors affecting information selection by international stakeholders working with invasive species. Despite differences in information requirements between groups, all stakeholders demonstrated a clear preference for free, easily accessible online information, and predominantly used internet search engines and specialist…

The Prospects for Security Sector Reform in Tunisia: A Year After the Revolution

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

included.86 This single, easily accessible, and searchable resource for all laws and amendments pertaining to the secu- rity sector greatly enhances ...Reform of the Peni - tentiary System,” Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, DCAF-Tunisie, October 5, 2011, available from dcaf

Developing a healthcare law library.

PubMed

Sconyers, J M

1998-01-01

Legal materials are expensive, bulky, and extremely time sensitive. Selecting the appropriate means of ensuring easy access to easily-retrievable, timely legal materials is of extreme importance to any lawyer. The author gives an overview of the various means of retrieving necessary research, including the strengths and weaknesses of each of the various options.

Occupational Choice Strategy: A Small Group Vocational Counseling Program. Participant's Workbook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schriner, Kay Fletcher; Roessler, Richard T.

The student workbook is part of the Occupational Choice Strategy (OCS) small group vocational counseling program. OCS incorporates: (1) concise occupational information easily accessed by the participants, (2) assessment methods that clarify a client's self-picture and vocational potential, (3) opportunities to practice decision-making and…

Data-Driven Decision Making in Practice: The NCAA Injury Surveillance System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klossner, David; Corlette, Jill; Agel, Julie; Marshall, Stephen W.

2009-01-01

Putting data-driven decision making into practice requires the use of consistent and reliable data that are easily accessible. The systematic collection and maintenance of accurate information is an important component in developing policy and evaluating outcomes. Since 1982, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has been collecting…

Using a Local Greenway to Study the River Environment and Urban Landscape

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lackstrom, Kirsten; Stroup, Laura J.

2009-01-01

Greenways are prominent features of many urban landscapes and synthesize several geographic topics: human-environment interactions, urban ecosystems, and the promotion of sustainability within riverine corridors. Greenways are easily accessible and provide an opportunity for students at various grade levels to study interactions across physical…

Using Creative Writing to Teach Exposition/Artistic/Report Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, William W.

Teachers who restrict their teaching of writing to elements of exposition are likely to fail because there is insufficient content, interest, or challenge in learning simple exposition, and the techniques that contribute to polished exposition are more easily accessible when approached through aesthetic writing. A teaching sequence for using…

Two Libraries Working toward Common Goals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Potter, Tonya; Johnson, Kara

2017-01-01

Students look to their school library to find new books, seek information, creatively solve problems, and use technology. School libraries play an essential role in students' academic growth and development of lifelong learning skills. All of the wonderful resources and services that school libraries provide are easily accessible to the population…

The Black Belt Librarian: Real-World Safety & Security

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graham, Warren

2012-01-01

Sharing expertise gleaned from more than two decades as a library security manager, Graham demonstrates that libraries can maintain their best traditions of openness and public access by creating an unobtrusive yet effective security plan. In straightforward language, the author: (1) Shows how to easily set clear expectations for visitors'…

Using a Virtual Population to Authentically Teach Epidemiology and Biostatistics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, Peter K.; Donnison, Sharn; Cole, Rachel; Bulmer, Michael

2017-01-01

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution of disease in human populations. This means that authentically teaching primary data collection in epidemiology is difficult as students cannot easily access suitable human populations. Using an action research methodology, this paper studied the use of a virtual human population (called "The…

Intelligent resource discovery using ontology-based resource profiles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, J. Steven; Crichton, Dan; Kelly, Sean; Crichton, Jerry; Tran, Thuy

2004-01-01

Successful resource discovery across heterogeneous repositories is strongly dependent on the semantic and syntactic homogeneity of the associated resource descriptions. Ideally, resource descriptions are easily extracted from pre-existing standardized sources, expressed using standard syntactic and semantic structures, and managed and accessed within a distributed, flexible, and scaleable software framework.

77 FR 31438 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Information Collection; Submission for OMB Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-25

... institution regulated by the FCA (Agency-regulated institutions) who engages in the business of a residential... easily accessible information at no charge regarding the employment history of, and the publicly... (2) personal history and experience, including authorization for the Registry to obtain information...

Determination of Plant Volatiles Using Solid Phase Microextraction GC-MS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Bramer, Scott; Goodrich, Katherine R.

2015-01-01

This experiment combines analytical techniques of solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with easily relatable and accessible plant volatile chemistry (floral and vegetative scents of local/available plants). The biosynthesis and structure of these chemicals are of interest in the areas of organic chemistry,…

Teaching World History with "Things Fall Apart."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldmann, Martha J.

1995-01-01

Recommends using Chinua Achebe's novel of the 19th-century conflict between African tribal culture and English colonists in a world history class. Achebe's rich narrative, written in a graceful prose, is easily accessible to high school students. The novel replaces simplistic and abstract concepts with those more complex and concrete. (MJP)

Dollars for Dreams: Student Affairs Staff as Fundraisers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Penney, Sophie W.; Rose, Barbara B.

This publication provides an educational tool for student affairs professionals involved in fundraising. It is designed to be easily accessible and understood by those with little experience with fundraising, and it will also serve as a useful resource for student affairs professionals who have partnered with fundraisers to, or who themselves…

30 CFR 36.31 - Fire extinguisher.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Fire extinguisher. 36.31 Section 36.31 Mineral... Construction and Design Requirements § 36.31 Fire extinguisher. Each unit of mobile diesel-powered transportation equipment shall be fitted with a fire extinguisher carried in a location easily accessible to the...

A novel glass slide filing system for pathology slides.

PubMed

Tsai, Steve; Kartono, Francisca; Shitabata, Paul K

2007-07-01

The availability of a collection of microscope glass slides for review is essential in the study and practice of pathology. A common problem facing many pathologists is the lack of a well-organized filing system. We present a novel system that would be easily accessible, informative, protective, and portable.

Why Cash Flow Is No Longer for Wimps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curry, John R.; Hutton, Lyn

2012-01-01

Managing liquidity--a college or university's ability to access cash quickly or to easily convert assets to cash--is an increasingly crucial component of enterprise risk management. Liquidity risks lurk around nearly every corner--in the endowment portfolio, the debt portfolio, and in working-capital management. It also influences students'…

The Push for Public Preschool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dessoff, Alan

2010-01-01

From selecting appropriate curricula and teachers to providing classrooms with bathrooms easily accessible to 4-year-olds, public preschool programs present challenges to districts that run the programs, which are designed to prepare children to get off to a good start when they enter kindergarten. While a wide range of private preschool programs…

One Bottleneck at a Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonner, J. Jose; Lotter, Christine; Harwood, William

2004-01-01

Teachers can easily identify what subjects their students have trouble with, whether it is transcription and translation, glycolysis and fermentation, balancing chemical equations, or vector analysis of forces acting on an object. Yet, no matter how teachers try to make these complex issues more accessible to students, or how new editions of…

14 CFR 23.783 - Doors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Doors. 23.783 Section 23.783 Aeronautics... Cargo Accommodations § 23.783 Doors. (a) Each closed cabin with passenger accommodations must have at least one adequate and easily accessible external door. (b) Passenger doors must not be located with...

Visualising "Junk" DNA through Bioinformatics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elwess, Nancy L.; Latourelle, Sandra M.; Cauthorn, Olivia

2005-01-01

One of the hottest areas of science today is the field in which biology, information technology,and computer science are merged into a single discipline called bioinformatics. This field enables the discovery and analysis of biological data, including nucleotide and amino acid sequences that are easily accessed through the use of computers. As…

Assessment and Assurance of Learning Using E-Portfolios

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Papp, Raymond

2014-01-01

Traditional paper portfolios have been used to assess student work for performance and employment purposes for decades. The advent of electronic portfolios incorporating audio, video, hyperlinked documents and scanned images takes the use of portfolios to a new level. Evaluators can use these easily accessible portfolios to gauge student…

New Tools to Search for Data in the European Space Agency's Planetary Science Archive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grotheer, E.; Macfarlane, A. J.; Rios, C.; Arviset, C.; Heather, D.; Fraga, D.; Vallejo, F.; De Marchi, G.; Barbarisi, I.; Saiz, J.; Barthelemy, M.; Docasal, R.; Martinez, S.; Besse, S.; Lim, T.

2016-12-01

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Planetary Science Archive (PSA), which can be accessed at http://archives.esac.esa.int/psa, provides public access to the archived data of Europe's missions to our neighboring planets. These datasets are compliant with the Planetary Data System (PDS) standards. Recently, a new interface has been released, which includes upgrades to make PDS4 data available from newer missions such as ExoMars and BepiColombo. Additionally, the PSA development team has been working to ensure that the legacy PDS3 data will be more easily accessible via the new interface as well. In addition to a new querying interface, the new PSA also allows access via the EPN-TAP and PDAP protocols. This makes the PSA data sets compatible with other archive-related tools and projects, such as the Virtual European Solar and Planetary Access (VESPA) project for creating a virtual observatory.

Easy access to heterobimetallic complexes for medical imaging applications via microwave-enhanced cycloaddition.

PubMed

Desbois, Nicolas; Pacquelet, Sandrine; Dubois, Adrien; Michelin, Clément; Gros, Claude P

2015-01-01

The Cu(I)-catalysed Huisgen cycloaddition, known as "click" reaction, has been applied to the synthesis of a range of triazole-linked porphyrin/corrole to DOTA/NOTA derivatives. Microwave irradiation significantly accelerates the reaction. The synthesis of heterobimetallic complexes was easily achieved in up to 60% isolated yield. Heterobimetallic complexes were easily prepared as potential MRI/PET (SPECT) bimodal contrast agents incorporating one metal (Mn, Gd) for the enhancement of contrast for MRI applications and one "cold" metal (Cu, Ga, In) for future radionuclear imaging applications. Preliminary relaxivity measurements showed that the reported complexes are promising contrast agents (CA) in MRI.

The iPlant Collaborative: Cyberinfrastructure for Enabling Data to Discovery for the Life Sciences.

PubMed

Merchant, Nirav; Lyons, Eric; Goff, Stephen; Vaughn, Matthew; Ware, Doreen; Micklos, David; Antin, Parker

2016-01-01

The iPlant Collaborative provides life science research communities access to comprehensive, scalable, and cohesive computational infrastructure for data management; identity management; collaboration tools; and cloud, high-performance, high-throughput computing. iPlant provides training, learning material, and best practice resources to help all researchers make the best use of their data, expand their computational skill set, and effectively manage their data and computation when working as distributed teams. iPlant's platform permits researchers to easily deposit and share their data and deploy new computational tools and analysis workflows, allowing the broader community to easily use and reuse those data and computational analyses.

Easy access to heterobimetallic complexes for medical imaging applications via microwave-enhanced cycloaddition

PubMed Central

Desbois, Nicolas; Pacquelet, Sandrine; Dubois, Adrien; Michelin, Clément

2015-01-01

Summary The Cu(I)-catalysed Huisgen cycloaddition, known as “click” reaction, has been applied to the synthesis of a range of triazole-linked porphyrin/corrole to DOTA/NOTA derivatives. Microwave irradiation significantly accelerates the reaction. The synthesis of heterobimetallic complexes was easily achieved in up to 60% isolated yield. Heterobimetallic complexes were easily prepared as potential MRI/PET (SPECT) bimodal contrast agents incorporating one metal (Mn, Gd) for the enhancement of contrast for MRI applications and one “cold” metal (Cu, Ga, In) for future radionuclear imaging applications. Preliminary relaxivity measurements showed that the reported complexes are promising contrast agents (CA) in MRI. PMID:26664643

[Antegrade catheterization of the brachial artery during treatment of arteriovenous angiodysplasia of the forearm and hand].

PubMed

Tsygankov, V N; Varava, A B

2013-01-01

The authors share herein their experience with an antegrade brachial access for treatment of patients presenting with arteriovenous angiodysplasia localizing on the distal portions of the upper limbs, also describing the choice of the site for puncture and the technique of antegrade catheterization of the brachial artery. This is followed by reporting the results of successful use of this access in a total of 27 patients. The access is simple to create, making it possible to easily perform the intervention using instruments of standard length. It is also safe, requires no bed rest in the postoperative period, and is well tolerated by the patients.

The hospital library and the enterprise portal.

PubMed

Bandy, Margaret; Fosmire, Brenda

2004-01-01

At Exempla Healthcare, the medical librarians and the e-Business staff are creating an enterprise information portal where medical reference is targeted, easily accessible, and supported by the medical librarians. A team approach has been essential. The e-Business department has worked for nine months coordinating technical challenges required to support personalization, targeted communications, and a single access point for clinical patient data. Exempla medical librarians have been involved in the definition and design of information access needs from the very beginning. The Clinicians Portal was the first developed, with other customizations to follow. Many challenges remain, but by definition, a portal is designed to be flexible and adapt to the changing needs of the enterprise it supports.

Supporting geoscience with graphical-user-interface Internet tools for the Macintosh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robin, Bernard

1995-07-01

This paper describes a suite of Macintosh graphical-user-interface (GUI) software programs that can be used in conjunction with the Internet to support geoscience education. These software programs allow science educators to access and retrieve a large body of resources from an increasing number of network sites, taking advantage of the intuitive, simple-to-use Macintosh operating system. With these tools, educators easily can locate, download, and exchange not only text files but also sound resources, video movie clips, and software application files from their desktop computers. Another major advantage of these software tools is that they are available at no cost and may be distributed freely. The following GUI software tools are described including examples of how they can be used in an educational setting: ∗ Eudora—an e-mail program ∗ NewsWatcher—a newsreader ∗ TurboGopher—a Gopher program ∗ Fetch—a software application for easy File Transfer Protocol (FTP) ∗ NCSA Mosaic—a worldwide hypertext browsing program. An explosive growth of online archives currently is underway as new electronic sites are being added continuously to the Internet. Many of these resources may be of interest to science educators who learn they can share not only ASCII text files, but also graphic image files, sound resources, QuickTime movie clips, and hypermedia projects with colleagues from locations around the world. These powerful, yet simple to learn GUI software tools are providing a revolution in how knowledge can be accessed, retrieved, and shared.

All-optical VPN utilizing DSP-based digital orthogonal filters access for PONs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaoling; Zhang, Chongfu; Chen, Chen; Jin, Wei; Qiu, Kun

2018-04-01

Utilizing digital filtering-enabled signal multiplexing and de-multiplexing, a cost-effective all-optical virtual private network (VPN) system is proposed, for the first time to our best knowledge, in digital filter multiple access passive optical networks (DFMA-PONs). Based on the DFMA technology, the proposed system can be easily designed to meet the requirements of next generation network's flexibility, elasticity, adaptability and compatibility. Through dynamic digital filter allocation and recycling, the proposed all-optical VPN system can provide dynamic establishments and cancellations of multiple VPN communications with arbitrary traffic volumes. More importantly, due to the employment of DFMA technology, the system is not limited to a fixed signal format and different signal formats such as pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) can be used. Moreover, one transceiver is sufficient to simultaneously transmit upstream (US)/VPN data to optical line terminal (OLT) or other VPN optical network units (ONUs), thus leading to great reduction in network constructions and operation expenditures. The proposed all-optical VPN system is demonstrated with the transceiver incorporating the formats of QAM and OFDM, which can be made transparent to downstream (DS), US and VPN communications. The bit error rates (BERs) of DS, US and VPN for OFDM signals are below the forward-error-correction (FEC) limit of 3 . 8 × 10-3 when the received optical powers are about -16.8 dBm, -14.5 dBm and -15.7 dBm, respectively.

What if Finding Data was as Easy as Subscribing to the News?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duerr, R. E.

2011-12-01

Data are the "common wealth of humanity," the fuel that drives the sciences; but much of the data that exist are inaccessible, buried in one of numerous stove-piped data systems, or entirely hidden unless you have direct knowledge of and contact with the investigator that acquired them. Much of the "wealth" is squandered and overall scientific progress inhibited, a situation that is becoming increasingly untenable with the openness required by data-driven science. What are needed are simple interoperability protocols and advertising mechanisms that allow data from disparate data systems to be easily discovered, explored, and accessed. The tools must be simple enough that individual investigators can use them without IT support. The tools cannot rely on centralized repositories or registries but must enable the development of ad-hoc or special purpose aggregations of data and services tailored to individual community needs. In addition, the protocols must scale to support the discovery of and access to the holdings of the global, interdisciplinary community, be they individual investigators or major data centers. NSIDC, in conjunction with other members of the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners and the Polar Information Commons, are working on just such a suite of tools and protocols. In this talk, I discuss data and service casting, aggregation, data badging, and OpenSearch - a suite of tools and protocols which, when used in conjunction with each other, have the potential of completely changing the way that data and services worldwide are discovered and used.

An accessible protocol for solid-phase extraction of N-linked glycopeptides through reductive amination by amine-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles.

PubMed

Zhang, Ying; Kuang, Min; Zhang, Lijuan; Yang, Pengyuan; Lu, Haojie

2013-06-04

In light of the significance of glycosylation for wealthy biological events, it is important to prefractionate glycoproteins/glycopeptides from complex biological samples. Herein, we reported a novel protocol of solid-phase extraction of glycopeptides through a reductive amination reaction by employing the easily accessible 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES)-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles. The amino groups from APTES, which were assembled onto the surface of the nanoparticles through a one-step silanization reaction, could conjugate with the aldehydes from oxidized glycopeptides and, therefore, completed the extraction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of applying the reductive amination reaction into the isolation of glycopeptides. Due to the elimination of the desalting step, the detection limit of glycopeptides was improved by 2 orders of magnitude, compared to the traditional hydrazide chemistry-based solid phase extraction, while the extraction time was shortened to 4 h, suggesting the high sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency for the extraction of N-linked glycopeptides by this method. In the meantime, high selectivity toward glycoproteins was also observed in the separation of Ribonuclease B from the mixtures contaminated with bovine serum albumin. What's more, this technique required significantly less sample volume, as demonstrated in the successful mapping of glycosylation of human colorectal cancer serum with the sample volume as little as 5 μL. Because of all these attractive features, we believe that the innovative protocol proposed here will shed new light on the research of glycosylation profiling.

Digital Scholarship and Open Access

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Losoff, Barbara; Pence, Harry E.

2010-01-01

Open access publications provide scholars with unrestricted access to the "conversation" that is the basis for the advancement of knowledge. The large number of open access journals, archives, and depositories already in existence demonstrates the technical and economic viability of providing unrestricted access to the literature that is the…

TARGET's role in knowledge acquisition, engineering, validation, and documentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levi, Keith R.

1994-01-01

We investigate the use of the TARGET task analysis tool for use in the development of rule-based expert systems. We found TARGET to be very helpful in the knowledge acquisition process. It enabled us to perform knowledge acquisition with one knowledge engineer rather than two. In addition, it improved communication between the domain expert and knowledge engineer. We also found it to be useful for both the rule development and refinement phases of the knowledge engineering process. Using the network in these phases required us to develop guidelines that enabled us to easily translate the network into production rules. A significant requirement for TARGET remaining useful throughout the knowledge engineering process was the need to carefully maintain consistency between the network and the rule representations. Maintaining consistency not only benefited the knowledge engineering process, but also has significant payoffs in the areas of validation of the expert system and documentation of the knowledge in the system.

Development of an expert analysis tool based on an interactive subsidence hazard map for urban land use in the city of Celaya, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alloy, A.; Gonzalez Dominguez, F.; Nila Fonseca, A. L.; Ruangsirikulchai, A.; Gentle, J. N., Jr.; Cabral, E.; Pierce, S. A.

2016-12-01

Land Subsidence as a result of groundwater extraction in central Mexico's larger urban centers initiated in the 80's as a result of population and economic growth. The city of Celaya has undergone subsidence for a few decades and a consequence is the development of an active normal fault system that affects its urban infrastructure and residential areas. To facilitate its analysis and a land use decision-making process we created an online interactive map enabling users to easily obtain information associated with land subsidence. Geological and socioeconomic data of the city was collected, including fault location, population data, and other important infrastructure and structural data has been obtained from fieldwork as part of a study abroad interchange undergraduate course. The subsidence and associated faulting hazard map was created using an InSAR derived subsidence velocity map and population data from INEGI to identify hazard zones using a subsidence gradient spatial analysis approach based on a subsidence gradient and population risk matrix. This interactive map provides a simple perspective of different vulnerable urban elements. As an accessible visualization tool, it will enhance communication between scientific and socio-economic disciplines. Our project also lays the groundwork for a future expert analysis system with an open source and easily accessible Python coded, SQLite database driven website which archives fault and subsidence data along with visual damage documentation to civil structures. This database takes field notes and provides an entry form for uniform datasets, which are used to generate a JSON. Such a database is useful because it allows geoscientists to have a centralized repository and access to their observations over time. Because of the widespread presence of the subsidence phenomena throughout cities in central Mexico, the spatial analysis has been automated using the open source software R. Raster, rgeos, shapefiles, and rgdal libraries have been used to develop the script which permits to obtain the raster maps of horizontal gradient and population density. An advantage is that this analysis can be automated for periodic updates or repurposed for similar analysis in other cities, providing an easily accessible tool for land subsidence hazard assessments.

Gendered medicinal plant knowledge contributions to adaptive capacity and health sovereignty in Amazonia.

PubMed

Díaz-Reviriego, Isabel; Fernández-Llamazares, Álvaro; Salpeteur, Matthieu; Howard, Patricia L; Reyes-García, Victoria

2016-12-01

Local medical systems are key elements of social-ecological systems as they provide culturally appropriate and locally accessible health care options, especially for populations with scarce access to biomedicine. The adaptive capacity of local medical systems generally rests on two pillars: species diversity and a robust local knowledge system, both threatened by local and global environmental change. We first present a conceptual framework to guide the assessment of knowledge diversity and redundancy in local medicinal knowledge systems through a gender lens. Then, we apply this conceptual framework to our research on the local medicinal plant knowledge of the Tsimane' Amerindians. Our results suggest that Tsimane' medicinal plant knowledge is gendered and that the frequency of reported ailments and the redundancy of knowledge used to treat them are positively associated. We discuss the implications of knowledge diversity and redundancy for local knowledge systems' adaptive capacity, resilience, and health sovereignty.

The Second Annual Space Weather Community Operations Workshop: Advancing Operations Into the Next Decade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meehan, Jennifer; Fulgham, Jared; Tobiska, W. Kent

2012-07-01

How can we continue to advance the space weather operational community from lessons already learned when it comes to data reliability, maintainability, accessibility, dependability, safety, and quality? How can we make space weather more easily accessible to each other and outside users? Representatives from operational, commercial, academic, and government organizations weighed in on these important questions at the second annual Space Weather Community Operations Workshop, held 22-23 March 2012 in Park City, Utah, with the unofficial workshop motto being Don’t Reinvent the Wheel.

Development of continuing nursing education offerings for the World Wide Web.

PubMed

Billings, D M; Rowles, C J

2001-01-01

Nurses are seeking continuing professional development that is easily accessible, convenient, and available at any time and any place. As nurses have increasing access to Internets and Intranets at home and their workplace, courses for continuing nursing education must be available to meet this need. This article discusses the planning, implementation, and evaluation of continuing nursing education (CNE) on the World Wide Web. The article explains how to develop a strategic plan, develop course offerings, select technology tools to support teaching and learning, and market and evaluate the courses.

Computational neuroanatomy: ontology-based representation of neural components and connectivity

PubMed Central

Rubin, Daniel L; Talos, Ion-Florin; Halle, Michael; Musen, Mark A; Kikinis, Ron

2009-01-01

Background A critical challenge in neuroscience is organizing, managing, and accessing the explosion in neuroscientific knowledge, particularly anatomic knowledge. We believe that explicit knowledge-based approaches to make neuroscientific knowledge computationally accessible will be helpful in tackling this challenge and will enable a variety of applications exploiting this knowledge, such as surgical planning. Results We developed ontology-based models of neuroanatomy to enable symbolic lookup, logical inference and mathematical modeling of neural systems. We built a prototype model of the motor system that integrates descriptive anatomic and qualitative functional neuroanatomical knowledge. In addition to modeling normal neuroanatomy, our approach provides an explicit representation of abnormal neural connectivity in disease states, such as common movement disorders. The ontology-based representation encodes both structural and functional aspects of neuroanatomy. The ontology-based models can be evaluated computationally, enabling development of automated computer reasoning applications. Conclusion Neuroanatomical knowledge can be represented in machine-accessible format using ontologies. Computational neuroanatomical approaches such as described in this work could become a key tool in translational informatics, leading to decision support applications that inform and guide surgical planning and personalized care for neurological disease in the future. PMID:19208191

Making information accessible and useful to practicing clinicians. Problem-knowledge coupling.

PubMed

Zimny, N J

1992-01-01

Assessments of health care technology will lead to improvements in patient services only if this information is actually used by clinicians. Traditional methods of planning treatment that rely solely on memory limit the clinician's access to and use of the full available body of knowledge in the field. An alternative approach using a computer-assisted methodology is presented as a way to overcome traditional limitations and promote the development and diffusion of knowledge.

Promoting Access: The Role of Organization and Awareness Factors. Elementary Subjects Center Series No. 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prawat, Richard S.

This review presents a framework that accommodates static and dynamic approaches to comprehension of students' transfer of knowledge and skill. The review focuses on three sets of variables considered fundamental to students' ability to access intellectual resources in potentially relevant situations: knowledge bases, strategies, and dispositions.…

Evaluation of an educational website for parents of children with ADHD.

PubMed

Ryan, Gemma Sinead; Haroon, Munib; Melvin, Gail

2015-11-01

ADHD is a relatively common neuro-developmental condition characterized by hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. The provision of timely and accurate information about the condition and about strategies to manage it is vital especially because of widespread misconceptions about it. To see the effect of an educational website on (i) parental perceptions (ii) knowledge levels, and to obtain feedback to optimise user-experience. Parents whose children had ADHD (or were close to diagnosis) were recruited. Following a 30-item baseline knowledge test parents/carers were directed to an educational website on ADHD. After this they were re-contacted for follow up testing and feedback. n=172, 14 were lost to follow up. Ninety-one (59.4 %) participants were known to have accessed the website at follow up. The majority of carers accessed the website just once or twice (32.7%). Of those who did not access the website 65% cited a lack of time as the reason while 29% cited they were unable to access the internet at the time. The majority (74%) of those accessing the site were just browsing for general information. Parents showed increased knowledge post website use p=0.000. Of those accessing the website the majority (85.5%) felt it was relevant to them and would use it again (90.8%). Content analysis of open-ended feedback identified eight core themes including website appearance, content, functionality, perceptions, target audience, usability, usage patterns with areas for improvement noted in four areas. Websites can be used as an adjunct to information given at clinic. Although a majority of parents will access them, there are still barriers to access e.g. time. Websites do seem to improve parent/carer knowledge levels. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does technology help doctors to access, use and share knowledge?

PubMed

Bullock, Alison

2014-01-01

Given the power and pervasiveness of technology, this paper considers whether it can help doctors to access, use and share knowledge and thus contribute to their ability to uphold the part of the Hippocratic Oath concerned with respecting 'the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk' and sharing 'such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow'. How technology supports connections between doctors and knowledge is considered by focusing on the use of mobile technology in the workplace and Web 2.0 tools. Sfard's 'acquisition' and 'participation' models are employed to help develop an understanding of what these uses of technology mean for learning and knowledge sharing. The employment of technology is not neutral in its effects. Issues relate to knowledge ownership, information overload, quality control and interpretations attached to the use of mobile devices in the workplace. These issues raise deeper questions about the nature of knowledge and social theory and socio-material research questions about the effect of technology on workplace learning. Although the empirical and theoretical evidence presented shows how technology has clear potential to contribute both to accessing evidence and sharing knowledge, there is need for further research that applies theoretical frameworks to the analysis of the impact of technology on workplace learning. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Pedagogical content knowledge: Knowledge of pedagogy novice teachers in mathematics learning on limit algebraic function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma'rufi, Budayasa, I. Ketut; Juniati, Dwi

2017-02-01

Teacher is one of the key aspects of student's achievement. Teachers should master content material taught, how to teach it, and can interpret the students' thinking so that students easily understand the subject matter. This research was a qualitative research that aimed at describing profile of PCK's teachers in mathematics on limit algebraic functions in terms of the differences of teaching experience. Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and understanding of teachers is defined as involving the relationship between knowledge of teaching materials, how to transfer the subject matter, and the knowledge of students in mathematics on limit algebraic functions that the subject matter may be understood by students. The PCK components in this research were knowledge of subject matter, knowledge of pedagogy, and knowledge of students. Knowledge of pedagogy defines as knowledge and understanding of teachers about the planning and organization of the learning and teaching strategy of limit algebraic function. The subjects were two mathematics high school teachers who teach in class XI IPS. Data were collected through observation of learning during five meetings and interviews before and after the lesson continued with qualitative data analysis. Focus of this article was to describe novice teacher's knowledge of student in mathematics learning on limit algebraic function. Based on the results of the analysis of qualitative data the data concluded that novice teacher's knowledge of pedagogy in mathematics on limit algebraic function showed: 1) in teaching the definitions tend to identify prior knowledge of the student experience with the material to be studied, but not in the form of a problem, 2) in posing the questions tend to be monotonous non lead and dig, 3) in response to student questions preservice teachers do not take advantage of the characteristics or the potential of other students, 4) in addressing the problem of students, tend to use the drill approach and did not give illustrations easily to understand by students, 5) in teaching application concepts, tend to explain procedurally, without explaining the reasons why these steps are carried out, 6) less varied in the use of learning strategies.

Multiple Intimate Partner Violence Experiences: Knowledge, Access, Utilization and Barriers to Utilization of Resources by Women of the African Diaspora.

PubMed

Sabri, Bushra; Huerta, Julia; Alexander, Kamila A; St Vil, Noelle M; Campbell, Jacquelyn C; Callwood, Gloria B

2015-11-01

This study examined knowledge, access, utilization, and barriers to use of resources among Black women exposed to multiple types of intimate partner violence in Baltimore, Maryland and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). We analyzed quantitative survey data collected by 163 women recruited from primary care, prenatal or family planning clinics in Baltimore and the USVI. In addition we analyzed qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 11 women. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. A substantial proportion of Black women with multiple types of violence experiences lacked knowledge of, did not have access to, and did not use resources. Barriers to resource use were identified at the individual, relationship, and community levels. There is need for programs to develop awareness, promote access and utilization of resources, and eliminate barriers to resource use among abused Black women.

Methodology for identifying and representing knowledge in the scope of CMM inspection resource selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez, S.; Barreiro, J.; Cuesta, E.; Álvarez, B. J.; González, D.

2012-04-01

This paper is focused on the task of elicitation and structuring of knowledge related to selection of inspection resources. The final goal is to obtain an informal model of knowledge oriented to the inspection planning in coordinate measuring machines. In the first tasks, where knowledge is captured, it is necessary to use tools that make easier the analysis and structuring of knowledge, so that rules of selection can be easily stated to configure the inspection resources. In order to store the knowledge a so-called Onto-Process ontology has been developed. This ontology may be of application to diverse processes in manufacturing engineering. This paper describes the decomposition of the ontology in terms of general units of knowledge and others more specific for selection of sensor assemblies in inspection planning with touch sensors.

Accessibility of standardized information of a national colorectal cancer screening program for low health literate screening invitees: A mixed method study.

PubMed

Fransen, Mirjam P; Dekker, Evelien; Timmermans, Daniëlle R M; Uiters, Ellen; Essink-Bot, Marie-Louise

2017-02-01

To explore the accessibility of standardized printed information materials of the national Dutch colorectal cancer screening program among low health literate screening invitees and to assess the effect of the information on their knowledge about colorectal cancer and the screening program. Linguistic tools were used to analyze the text and design characteristics. The accessibility, comprehensibility and relevance of the information materials were explored in interviews and in observations (n=25). The effect of the information on knowledge was assessed in an online survey (n=127). The materials employed a simple text and design. However, respondents expressed problems with the amount of information, and the difference between screening and diagnostic follow-up. Knowledge significantly increased in 10 out of 16 items after reading the information but remained low for colorectal cancer risk, sensitivity of testing, and the voluntariness of colorectal cancer screening. Despite intelligible linguistic and design characteristics, screening invitees with low health literacy had problems in accessing, comprehending and applying standard information materials on colorectal cancer screening, and lacked essential knowledge for informed decision-making about participation. To enable equal access to informed decision-making, information strategies need to be adjusted to the skills of low health literate screening invitees. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The determinants of dietary diversity and nutrition: ethnonutrition knowledge of local people in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania.

PubMed

Powell, Bronwen; Bezner Kerr, Rachel; Young, Sera L; Johns, Timothy

2017-04-27

Diet and nutrition-related behaviours are embedded in cultural and environmental contexts: adoption of new knowledge depends on how easily it can be integrated into existing knowledge systems. As dietary diversity promotion becomes an increasingly common component of nutrition education, understanding local nutrition knowledge systems and local concepts about dietary diversity is essential to formulate efficient messages. This paper draws on in-depth qualitative ethnographic research conducted in small-scale agricultural communities in Tanzania. Data were collected using interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation in the East Usambara Mountains, an area that is home primarily to the Shambaa and Bondei ethnic groups, but has a long history of ethnic diversity and ethnic intermixing. The data showed a high degree of consensus among participants who reported that dietary diversity is important because it maintains and enhances appetite across days, months and seasons. Local people reported that sufficient cash resources, agrobiodiversity, heterogeneity within the landscape, and livelihood diversity all supported their ability to consume a varied diet and achieve good nutritional status. Other variables affecting diet and dietary diversity included seasonality, household size, and gender. The results suggest that dietary diversity was perceived as something all people, both rich and poor, could achieve. There was significant overlap between local and scientific understandings of dietary diversity, suggesting that novel information on the importance of dietary diversity promoted through education will likely be easily integrated into the existing knowledge systems.

Consultation and illness behaviour in response to symptoms: a comparison of models from different disciplinary frameworks and suggestions for future research directions.

PubMed

Wyke, Sally; Adamson, Joy; Dixon, Diane; Hunt, Kate

2013-06-01

We all get ill and social scientific interest in how we respond - the study of illness behaviour - continues unabated. Existing models are useful, but have been developed and applied within disciplinary silos, resulting in wasted intellectual and empirical effort and an absence of accumulation of knowledge across disciplines. We present a critical review and detailed comparison of three process models of response to symptoms: the Illness Action Model, the Common Sense Model of the Self-Regulation of Health and Illness and the Network Episode Model. We suggest an integrated framework in which symptoms, responses and actions are simultaneously interpreted and evaluated in the light of accumulated knowledge and through interactions. Evaluation may be subconscious and is influenced by the extent to which the symptoms impose themselves, expectations of outcomes, the resources available and understanding of symptoms' salience and possible outcomes. Actions taken are part of a process of problem solving through which both individuals and their immediate social network seek to (re)achieve 'normality'. Response is also influenced by social structure (directly and indirectly), cultural expectations of health, the meaning of symptoms, and access to and understandings of the legitimate use of services. Changes in knowledge, in embodied state and in emotions can all be directly influential at any point. We do not underestimate the difficulty of operationalising an integrated framework at different levels of analysis. Attempts to do so will require us to move easily between disciplinary understandings to conduct prospective, longitudinal, research that uses novel methodologies to investigate response to symptoms in the context of affective as well as cognitive responses and interactions within social networks. While challenging such an approach would facilitate accumulation of knowledge across disciplines and enable movement beyond description to change in individual and organisational responses. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Farmers Extension Program Effects on Yield Gap in North China Plain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sum, N.; Zhao, Y.

2015-12-01

Improving crop yield of the lowest yielding smallholder farmers in developing countries is essential to both food security of the country and the farmers' livelihood. Although wheat and maize production in most developed countries have reached 80% or greater of yield potential determined by simulated models, yield gap remains high in the developing world. One of these cases is the yield gap of maize in the North China Plain (NCP), where the average farmer's yield is 41% of his or her potential yield. This large yield gap indicates opportunity to raise yields substantially by improving agronomy, especially in nutrition management, irrigation facility, and mechanization issues such as technical services. Farmers' agronomic knowledge is essential to yield performance. In order to propagate such knowledge to farmers, agricultural extension programs, especially in-the-field guidance with training programs at targeted demonstration fields, have become prevalent in China. Although traditional analyses of the effects of the extension program are done through surveys, they are limited to only one to two years and to a small area. However, the spatial analysis tool Google Earth Engine (GEE) and its extensive satellite imagery data allow for unprecedented spatial temporal analysis of yield variation. We used GEE to analyze maize yield in Quzhou county in the North China Plain from 2007 to 2013. We based our analysis on the distance from a demonstration farm plot, the source of the farmers' agronomic knowledge. Our hypothesis was that the farther the farmers' fields were from the demonstration plot, the less access they would have to the knowledge, and the less increase in yield over time. Testing this hypothesis using GEE helps us determine the effectiveness of the demonstration plot in disseminating optimal agronomic practices in addition to evaluating yield performance of the demonstration field itself. Furthermore, we can easily extend this methodology to analyze the whole NCP and any other parts of the world for any type of crop.

Evidence-Based Practice Knowledge, Perceptions, and Behavior: A Multi-Institutional, Cross-Sectional Study of a Population of U.S. Dental Students.

PubMed

Straub-Morarend, Cheryl L; Wankiiri-Hale, Christine R; Blanchette, Derek R; Lanning, Sharon K; Bekhuis, Tanja; Smith, Becky M; Brodie, Abby J; Oliveira, Deise Cruz; Handysides, Robert A; Dawson, Deborah V; Spallek, Heiko

2016-04-01

The aim of this study was to help inform faculty and curriculum leaders in academic dental institutions about the knowledge, skills, perceptions, and behavior of an institutionally diverse population of dental students with respect to evidence-based practice (EBP). A survey utilizing the validated Knowledge, Attitudes, Access, and Confidence Evaluation instrument developed by Hendricson et al. was conducted in 2012 with fourth-year dental students at seven geographically dispersed U.S. dental schools. The survey addressed elements of EBP knowledge, attitudes toward EBP, behavior in accessing evidence, and perceptions of competence in statistical analysis. A total of 138 students from the seven schools participated. A slight majority of these students correctly responded to the knowledge of critical appraisal questions. While the students demonstrated positive attitudes about EBP, they did not report high levels of confidence in their critical appraisal skills. The findings also showed that the students accessed various sources of evidence with differing frequencies. The most frequently accessed resources were colleagues, the Internet (excluding Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews), and textbooks. The results of this study help to identify areas for improvement in EBP education in order to advance dental students' preparation to become evidence-based practitioners.

Evidence-Based Practice Knowledge, Perceptions, and Behavior: A Multi-Institutional, Cross-Sectional Study of a Population of U.S. Dental Students

PubMed Central

Straub-Morarend, Cheryl L.; Wankiiri-Hale, Christine R.; Blanchette, Derek R.; Lanning, Sharon K.; Bekhuis, Tanja; Smith, Becky M.; Brodie, Abby J.; Oliveira, Deise Cruz; Handy-sides, Robert A.; Dawson, Deborah V.; Spallek, Heiko

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to help inform faculty and curriculum leaders in academic dental institutions about the knowledge, skills, perceptions, and behavior of an institutionally diverse population of dental students with respect to evidence-based practice (EBP). A survey utilizing the validated Knowledge, Attitudes, Access, and Confidence Evaluation instrument developed by Hendricson et al. was conducted in 2012 with fourth-year dental students at seven geographically dispersed U.S. dental schools. The survey addressed elements of EBP knowledge, attitudes toward EBP, behavior in accessing evidence, and perceptions of competence in statistical analysis. A total of 138 students from the seven schools participated. A slight majority of these students correctly responded to the knowledge of critical appraisal questions. While the students demonstrated positive attitudes about EBP, they did not report high levels of confidence in their critical appraisal skills. The findings also showed that the students accessed various sources of evidence with differing frequencies. The most frequently accessed resources were colleagues, the Internet (excluding Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews), and textbooks. The results of this study help to identify areas for improvement in EBP education in order to advance dental students’ preparation to become evidence-based practitioners. PMID:27037451

Fertility awareness online: the efficacy of a fertility education website in increasing knowledge and changing fertility beliefs

PubMed Central

Daniluk, J.C.; Koert, E.

2015-01-01

STUDY QUESTION How effective is online education in increasing knowledge of fertility and assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and changing beliefs about the timing of parenthood? SUMMARY ANSWER Exposure to an online educational intervention resulted in immediate changes in participants' beliefs about the ideal timing of parenthood, and a significant increase in their knowledge of fertility and ART treatments and options; most of these changes were not sustained over time, particularly for men. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Research has identified significant gaps in men's and women's knowledge of fertility and ART, contributing to the trend to delay childbearing. Effective educational programs need to be developed, to support informed fertility and child-timing decisions. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION Pre-post intervention study of 199 currently childless men and women, and a 6-month follow-up of 110 of these participants. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS One hundred and ninety-nine childless participants between the ages of 18 and 35 were asked to complete 4 beliefs and 22 knowledge questions prior to, and immediately after, reading 10 online posts related to: fertility testing and preservation, fertility history and lifespan, the effects of health and fitness on fertility, and assisted reproduction. Six months later, 110 of the original sample repeated the 26-item survey. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Participants' fertility and ART knowledge scores increased significantly immediately after the intervention, as did their confidence in their fertility and ART knowledge. Participants' beliefs about the ideal and latest age a woman or man should consider producing a child decreased. However, 6 months later, participants' beliefs and knowledge levels largely returned to their pre-intervention levels, particularly for the men in the study. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION The sample size and the recruitment methods may limit the generalizability of these findings. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Previous studies have demonstrated the short-term efficacy of online educational approaches to increase fertility knowledge and support informed family planning decisions. Web-based approaches have the benefit of being easily and conveniently accessed by individuals worldwide. However, the findings of the current study call into question the long-term efficacy of online fertility education, and suggest that variables such as gender and relevance need to be considered in assessing the efficacy of online fertility education strategies. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS This research was funded through a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Knowledge Translation Grant #KTB-117428. No competing interests. PMID:25480922

Laser microporation of the skin: prospects for painless application of protective and therapeutic vaccines

PubMed Central

Scheiblhofer, Sandra; Thalhamer, Josef; Weiss, Richard

2013-01-01

Introduction: In contrast to muscle and subcutaneous tissue, the skin is easily accessible and provides unique immunological properties. Increasing knowledge about the complex interplay of skin-associated cell types in the development of cutaneous immune responses has fueled efforts to target the skin for vaccination as well as for immunotherapy. Areas covered: This review provides an overview on skin layers and their resident immunocompetent cell types. Advantages and shortcomings of standard methods and innovative technologies to circumvent the outermost skin barrier are addressed. Studies employing fractional skin ablation by infrared lasers for cutaneous delivery of drugs, as well as high molecular weight molecules such as protein antigens or antibodies, are reviewed, and laserporation is introduced as a versatile transcutaneous vaccination platform. Specific targeting of the epidermis or the dermis by different laser settings, the resulting kinetics of uptake and transport and the immune response types elicited are discussed, and the potential of this transcutaneous delivery platform for allergen-specific immunotherapy is demonstrated. Expert opinion: Needle-free and painless vaccination approaches have the potential to replace standard methods due to their improved safety and optimal patient compliance. The use of fractional laser devices for stepwise ablation of skin layers might be advantageous for both vaccination against microbial pathogens, as well as immunotherapeutic approaches, such as allergen-specific immunotherapy. Thorough investigation of the underlying immunological mechanisms will help to provide the knowledge for a rational design of transcutaneous protective/therapeutic vaccines. PMID:23425032

XGR software for enhanced interpretation of genomic summary data, illustrated by application to immunological traits.

PubMed

Fang, Hai; Knezevic, Bogdan; Burnham, Katie L; Knight, Julian C

2016-12-13

Biological interpretation of genomic summary data such as those resulting from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) studies is one of the major bottlenecks in medical genomics research, calling for efficient and integrative tools to resolve this problem. We introduce eXploring Genomic Relations (XGR), an open source tool designed for enhanced interpretation of genomic summary data enabling downstream knowledge discovery. Targeting users of varying computational skills, XGR utilises prior biological knowledge and relationships in a highly integrated but easily accessible way to make user-input genomic summary datasets more interpretable. We show how by incorporating ontology, annotation, and systems biology network-driven approaches, XGR generates more informative results than conventional analyses. We apply XGR to GWAS and eQTL summary data to explore the genomic landscape of the activated innate immune response and common immunological diseases. We provide genomic evidence for a disease taxonomy supporting the concept of a disease spectrum from autoimmune to autoinflammatory disorders. We also show how XGR can define SNP-modulated gene networks and pathways that are shared and distinct between diseases, how it achieves functional, phenotypic and epigenomic annotations of genes and variants, and how it enables exploring annotation-based relationships between genetic variants. XGR provides a single integrated solution to enhance interpretation of genomic summary data for downstream biological discovery. XGR is released as both an R package and a web-app, freely available at http://galahad.well.ox.ac.uk/XGR .

Mobile learning to improve mathematics teachers mathematical competencies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendrayana, A.; Wahyudin

2018-01-01

The role of teachers is crucial to the success of mathematics learning. One of the learning indicator is characterized by the students’ improved mathematical proficiency. In order to increase that, it is necessary to improve the teacher’s mathematical skills first. For that, it needs an innovative way to get teachers close to easily accessible learning resources through technology. The technology can facilitate teachers to access learning resources anytime and anywhere. The appropriate information technology is mobile learning. Innovations that can make teachers easy to access learning resources are mobile applications that can be accessed anytime and anywhere either online or offline. The research method was research development method. In preliminary analysis, subjects consist of teachers and lecturers in professional teacher education program. The results that the teachers ready to adopt mobile-learning for the improvement of their skills.

Disparities in mobile phone access and maternal health service utilization in Nigeria: a population-based survey.

PubMed

Jennings, Larissa; Omoni, Adetayo; Akerele, Akunle; Ibrahim, Yisa; Ekanem, Ekpenyong

2015-05-01

Mobile communication technologies may reduce maternal health disparities related to cost, distance, and infrastructure. However, the ability of mHealth initiatives to accelerate maternal health goals requires in part that women with the greatest health needs have access to mobile phones. This study examined if women with limited mobile phone access have differential odds of maternal knowledge and health service utilization as compared to female mobile phone users who are currently eligible to participate in maternal mHealth programs. Using household survey data from Nigeria, multivariable logistic regressions were used to examine the odds of maternal knowledge and service utilization by mobile phone strata. Findings showed that in settings with unequal access to mobile phones, mHealth interventions may not reach women who have the poorest maternal knowledge and care-seeking as these women often lacked mobile connectivity. As compared to mobile users, women without mobile phone access had significantly lower odds of antenatal care utilization (OR=0.48, 95%CI: 0.36-0.64), skilled delivery (OR=0.56, 95%CI: 0.45-0.70), and modern contraceptive use (OR=0.50, 95%CI: 0.33-0.76) after adjusting for demographic characteristics. They also had significantly lower knowledge of maternal danger signs (OR=0.69, 95%CI: 0.53-0.90) and knowledge of antenatal (OR=0.46, 95%CI: 0.36-0.59) and skilled delivery care benefits (OR=0.62, 95%CI: 0.47-0.82). No differences were observed by mobile phone strata in uptake of emergency obstetric care, postnatal services, or breastfeeding. As maternal mHealth strategies are increasingly utilized, more efforts are needed to improve women's access to mobile phones and minimize potential health inequities brought on by health systems and technological barriers in access to care. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigating the Knowledge Management Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stylianou, Vasso; Savva, Andreas

2016-01-01

Knowledge Management (KM) efforts aim at leveraging an organization into a knowledge organization thereby presenting knowledge employees with a very powerful tool; organized valuable knowledge accessible when and where needed in flexible, technologically-enhanced modes. The attainment of this aim, i.e., the transformation into a knowledge…

Managing the Social Determinants of Health: Part I: Fundamental Knowledge for Professional Case Management.

PubMed

Fink-Samnick, Ellen

PRIMARY PRACTICE SETTING(S):: Applicable to health and behavioral health settings, wherever case management is practiced. The SDH pose major challenges to the health care workforce in terms of effective resource provision, health and behavioral health treatment planning plus adherence, and overall coordination of care. Obstacles and variances to needed interventions easily lead to less than optimal outcomes for case managers and their health care organizations. Possessing sound knowledge and clear understanding of each SDH, the historical perspectives, main theories, and integral dynamics, as well as creative resource solutions, all support a higher level of intentional and effective professional case management practice. Those persons and communities impacted most by the SDH comprise every case management practice setting. These clients can be among the most vulnerable and disenfranchised members of society, which can easily engender biases on the part of the interprofessional workforce. They are also among the costliest to care for with 50% of costs for only 5% of the population. Critical attention to knowledge about managing the SDH leverages and informs case management practice, evolves more effective programming, and enhances operational outcomes across practice settings.

Access control and privilege management in electronic health record: a systematic literature review.

PubMed

Jayabalan, Manoj; O'Daniel, Thomas

2016-12-01

This study presents a systematic literature review of access control for electronic health record systems to protect patient's privacy. Articles from 2006 to 2016 were extracted from the ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore Digital Library, Science Direct, MEDLINE, and MetaPress using broad eligibility criteria, and chosen for inclusion based on analysis of ISO22600. Cryptographic standards and methods were left outside the scope of this review. Three broad classes of models are being actively investigated and developed: access control for electronic health records, access control for interoperability, and access control for risk analysis. Traditional role-based access control models are extended with spatial, temporal, probabilistic, dynamic, and semantic aspects to capture contextual information and provide granular access control. Maintenance of audit trails and facilities for overriding normal roles to allow full access in emergency cases are common features. Access privilege frameworks utilizing ontology-based knowledge representation for defining the rules have attracted considerable interest, due to the higher level of abstraction that makes it possible to model domain knowledge and validate access requests efficiently.

Blogs: Enhancing Links in a Professional Learning Community of Science and Mathematics Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loving, Cathleen C.; Schroeder, Carolyn; Kang, Rui; Shimek, Christine; Herbert, Bruce

2007-01-01

Anyone who can access the Internet can be part of the knowledge-access, knowledge-building, information-exchanging culture, regardless of location. The research presented in this article is about blogs and their use in a new teacher professional development project. Weblogs were first named and described in 1997 by Jorn Barger (Blood, 2000) and…

A New Measure for Assessing the Contributions of Higher Level Processes to Language Comprehension Performance in Preschoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hannon, Brenda; Frias, Sarah

2012-01-01

The present study reports the development of a theoretically motivated measure that provides estimates of a preschooler's ability to recall auditory text, to make text-based inferences, to access knowledge from long-term memory, and to integrate this accessed knowledge with new information from auditory text. This new preschooler component…

The Role of E-Vocabularies in the Description and Retrieval of Digital Educational Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernández-Pampillón, Ana M.

2017-01-01

Vocabularies are linguistic resources that make it possible to access knowledge through words. They can constitute a mechanism to identify, describe, explore, and access all the digital resources with informational content pertaining to a specific knowledge domain. In this regard, they play a key role as systems for the representation and…

MyPyramid.gov knowledge and access among rural southwest Mississippi African American adolescents

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This study used a qualitative approach to identify knowledge of food recommendations found on MyPyramid.gov and access to MyPyramid.gov among limited-income African American youth. We conducted 5 single-sex focus groups with 9 boys and 30 girls (grades 5th and 6th). Data processing and analysis incl...

Students Seeking Information for Their Masters' Theses: The Effect of the Internet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Junni, Paulina

2007-01-01

Introduction: The Internet has radically changed the global availability of scholarly publications. Today, a substantial part of the resources accessible for researchers and university students are offered through electronic site licenses, making the supply of easily obtainable information larger than ever. This brings forth an important question:…

Women Choose Their Careers: A Study of Natural Decision Making.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eisenhart, Margaret A.

1985-01-01

Ethnographic interviews with 23 college-aged women revealed most considered few career alternatives, relied on easily accessible information sources, made choices early in life, stayed with the choice, and decided to either "earn money" or "stay at home." The others considered several alternatives, pursued them, and linked them to relationships…

77 FR 2575 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-18

... the records specified in Rule 17Ad-6 in an easily accessible place for a period of six months to six... agent). The retention period for the recordkeeping requirements under Rule 17Ad-6 is six months to one... records may be maintained using electronic, microfilm, and microfiche storage methods. These recordkeeping...

The Use of Virtual Patients in Medical School Curricula

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cendan, Juan; Lok, Benjamin

2012-01-01

The demonstration of patient-based cases using automated technology [virtual patients (VPs)] has been available to health science educators for a number of decades. Despite the promise of VPs as an easily accessible and moldable platform, their widespread acceptance and integration into medical curricula have been slow. Here, the authors review…

Technology for the Struggling Reader: Free and Easily Accessible Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berkeley, Sheri; Lindstrom, Jennifer H.

2011-01-01

A fundamental problem for many struggling readers, their parents, and their teachers is that there are few benchmarks to guide decision making about assistive technological supports when the nature of a disability is cognitive (e.g., specific learning disability, SLD) rather than physical. However, resources such as the National Center on…

The Effects of a 12-Week Walking Program on Community-Dwelling Older Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Shun-Ping; Tsai, Tzu-I; Lii, Yun-Kung; Yu, Shu; Chou, Chen-Liang; Chen, I-Ju

2009-01-01

Walking is a popular and easily accessible form of physical activity. However, walking instruction for older adults is based on the evidence gathered from younger populations. This study evaluated walking conditions, strength, balance, and subjective health status after a 12-week walking-training program in community-dwelling adults greater than…

Biochemistry Games: "AZ-Quiz" and "Jeopardy!"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rostejnska, Milada; Klimova, Helena

2011-01-01

"AZ-Quiz" and "Jeopardy!" are popular television shows and serve as the basis for in-class games designed to support and diversify chemistry instruction at the high school level. Both games were created in Microsoft PowerPoint, which is an easily accessible and controllable instrument that enables the creation of engaging animation. The use of…

Free Fall and Harmonic Oscillations: Analyzing Trampoline Jumps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pendrill, Ann-Marie; Eager, David

2015-01-01

Trampolines can be found in many gardens and also in some playgrounds. They offer an easily accessible vertical motion that includes free fall. In this work, the motion on a trampoline is modelled by assuming a linear relation between force and deflection, giving harmonic oscillations for small amplitudes. An expression for the cycle-time is…

The Husky Byte Program: Delivering Nutrition Education One Sound Byte at a Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pierce, Michelle B.; Hudson, Kerrian A.; Lora, Karina R.; Havens, Erin K.; Ferris, Ann M.

2011-01-01

The Husky Byte program uses interactive displays to deliver quick sound bytes of nutrition information to adults in frequented community settings. This innovative program considers time constraints, adult learning theory, diverse learning styles, and is easily accessible to adults. Both process and impact evaluations have demonstrated positive…

A Field Study of a Video Supported Seamless-Learning-Setting with Elementary Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fößl, Thomas; Ebner, Martin; Schön, Sandra; Holzinger, Andreas

2016-01-01

Seamless Learning shall initiate human learning processes that exceeds lesson and classroom limits. At the same time this approach fosters a self-regulated learning, by means of inspirational, open education settings. Advanced learning materials are easily accessible via mobile digital devices connected to the Internet. In this study it was…

Developing Interactive Educational Engineering Software for the World Wide Web with Java.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reed, John A.; Afjeh, Abdollah A.

1998-01-01

Illustrates the design and implementation of a Java applet for use in educational propulsion engineering curricula. The Java Gas Turbine Simulator applet provides an interactive graphical environment which allows the rapid, efficient construction and analysis of arbitrary gas turbine systems. The simulator can be easily accessed from the World…

Some Aspects of Grading Java Code Submissions in MOOCs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Király, Sándor; Nehéz, Károly; Hornyák, Olivér

2017-01-01

Recently, massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been offering a new online approach in the field of distance learning and online education. A typical MOOC course consists of video lectures, reading material and easily accessible tests for students. For a computer programming course, it is important to provide interactive, dynamic, online coding…

Encyclopedia of Smoking and Tobacco.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirschfelder, Arlene B.

This encyclopedia presents an extensive listing of current and historical information relating to tobacco. It aims to provide accurate, current, and balanced information to people of all viewpoints and on both sides of the smoking debate. The A-to-Z format makes a vast amount of current information easily accessible. Over 600 entries are complied…

Active Ingredient - AZ

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA Pesticide Chemical Search allows a user to easily find the pesticide chemical or active ingredient that they are interested in by using an array of simple to advanced search options. Chemical Search provides a single point of reference for easy access to information previously published in a variety of locations, including various EPA web pages and Regulations.gov.

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SOCIETIES PERTINENT TO THE EDUCATION OF TECHNICIANS. TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM SERIES NO. 7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

BROOKING, WALTER J.

THIS LISTING OF SELECTED NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SOCIETIES WAS PUBLISHED TO ASSIST FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, SUPERVISORS, DEPARTMENT HEADS, TEACHERS, LIBRARIANS, AND GUIDANCE PERSONNEL TO UNDERSTAND BETTER THE SERVICES OF SUCH SOCIETIES AND TO PROVIDE AN EASILY ACCESSIBLE AND SCIENTIFIC GUIDE TO THEM. CHAPTER…

Prospects for Gene Therapy in the Fragile X Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rattazzi, Mario C.; LaFauci, Giuseppe; Brown, W. Ted

2004-01-01

Gene therapy is unarguably the definitive way to treat, and possibly cure, genetic diseases. A straightforward concept in theory, in practice it has proven difficult to realize, even when directed to easily accessed somatic cell systems. Gene therapy for diseases in which the central nervous system (CNS) is the target organ presents even greater…

Detecting Plagiarism in MS Access Assignments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Anil

2013-01-01

Assurance of individual effort from students in computer-based assignments is a challenge. Due to digitization, students can easily use a copy of their friend's work and submit it as their own. Plagiarism in assignments puts students who cheat at par with those who work honestly and this compromises the learning evaluation process. Using a…

The Dimensions of the Solar System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneider, Stephen E.; Davis, Kathleen S.

2007-01-01

A few new wrinkles have been added to the popular activity of building a scale model of the solar system. Students can learn about maps and scaling using easily accessible online resources that include satellite images. This is accomplished by taking advantage of some of the special features of Google Earth. This activity gives students a much…

75 FR 82135 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Request for Approval of a New Information...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-29

... off of the success of three meeting-place based dynamic ridesharing systems that exist in Houston, San... dynamic ridesharing systems operate by having drivers and riders meet at central, easily accessible... they are a critical component to these robust dynamic ridesharing systems which serve thousands of...

ALA Conference 2009: The Second City's Newest Restaurants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daugherty, Robert Allen

2009-01-01

In this article, the author lists some of his favorites among Chicago's new restaurants. Most of the restaurants listed are easily accessible from the conference hotels by foot, taxi, or public transportation. The Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) helpful trip planner can be used to determine the quickest and easiest routes. The price guide is…

Introducing ISTE Learning: What Do You Want to Learn Today?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayman, April

2011-01-01

This article introduces ISTE Learning, a new online professional development (PD) program designed specifically to make PD both fun and more easily accessible for busy educators. One thing that makes ISTE Learning different from everything else out there is that the NETS for students, teachers, and administrators are the cornerstone of everything…

Integrating Free Computer Software in Chemistry and Biochemistry Instruction: An International Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cedeno, David L.; Jones, Marjorie A.; Friesen, Jon A.; Wirtz, Mark W.; Rios, Luz Amalia; Ocampo, Gonzalo Taborda

2010-01-01

At the Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia, we used their new computer facilities to introduce chemistry graduate students to biochemical database mining and quantum chemistry calculations using freeware. These hands-on workshops allowed the students a strong introduction to easily accessible software and how to use this software to begin…

Student Teachers' Intrinsic Motivation during a Short-Term Teacher Training Course Abroad

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pfingsthorn, Joanna; Czura, Anna

2017-01-01

While research data concerning study abroad experiences of tertiary level students are easily accessible, relatively little attention has been paid to the role of international programmes in pre-service foreign language (FL) teacher education. The present study involved student teachers of English from three countries and aimed to explore their…

Fundamentals of Library Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAdoo, Monty L.

2012-01-01

Being a great teacher is part and parcel of being a great librarian. In this book, veteran instruction services librarian McAdoo lays out the fundamentals of the discipline in easily accessible language. Succinctly covering the topic from top to bottom, he: (1) Offers an overview of the historical context of library instruction, drawing on recent…

Demonstrating Sound with Music Production Software

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keeports, David

2010-01-01

Readily available software designed for the production of music can be adapted easily to the physics classroom. Programs such as Apple's GarageBand access large libraries of recorded sound waves that can be heard and displayed both before and after alterations. Tools such as real-time spectral analysers, digital effects, and audio file editors…

Taking Advantage of the "Big Mo"--Momentum in Everyday English and Swedish and in Physics Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haglund, Jesper; Jeppsson, Fredrik; Ahrenberg, Lars

2015-01-01

Science education research suggests that our everyday intuitions of motion and interaction of physical objects fit well with how physicists use the term "momentum". Corpus linguistics provides an easily accessible approach to study language in different domains, including everyday language. Analysis of language samples from English text…

Transnational Lives in European Educational Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawn, Martin

2014-01-01

Transnational collaboration by educational researchers in Europe has grown fast since the mid-1990s and the means to support it have become more easily accessible. A study of the growth of the European Educational Research Association (EERA) since its foundation in the mid-1990s shows how transnational research in European education began, and how…

The Bottomless File Box: Electronic Portfolios for Learning and Evaluation Purposes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jarrott, Shannon; Gambrel, Laura Eubanks

2011-01-01

Portfolios have been used for the past three decades in higher education for assessment of student competency and also as a reflection tool to assist student learning. Electronic portfolios, or ePortfolios, have additional benefits compared to paper portfolios in that they are easily accessible, portable, and sharable, and they are more…

GrainGenes: Changing Times, Changing Databases, Digital Evolution.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The GrainGenes database is one of few agricultural databases that had an early start on the Internet and that has changed with the times. Initial goals were to collect a wide range of data relating to the developing maps and attributes of small grains crops, and to make them easily accessible. The ...

39. HISTORIC VIEW LOOKING WEST AT THE TEST STAND WITH ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

39. HISTORIC VIEW LOOKING WEST AT THE TEST STAND WITH THE COLD CALIBRATION TOWER CONSTRUCTED TO THE LEFT OF THE ROCKET AND AN ACCESS PLATFORM BUILT TO REACH THE TOP OF THE ROCKET MORE EASILY. - Marshall Space Flight Center, Redstone Rocket (Missile) Test Stand, Dodd Road, Huntsville, Madison County, AL

Addressing Challenges to the Shared Use of School Recreational Facilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spengler, John O.; Connaughton, Daniel P.; Carroll, Michael S.

2011-01-01

The shared use of school recreational facilities holds the potential to offer activity opportunities for many people, especially those in low-income, minority, and under-resourced communities. School facilities are usually easily accessible and offer safe, free or low cost, and convenient recreation and sport opportunities. However, a number of…

Home Modification Basics: Tips from a Professional Contractor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Apel, Ryan K.

2008-01-01

Accessibility for individuals with disabilities is paramount to successful mobility. No matter where a person with physical disabilities goes, there must be a plan for considering any physical barriers. In a home setting, however, these issues can be easily resolved--allowing for the comforts that all homes should provide. Ryan K. Apel is a…

Marking: A Pain in the Neck! The Computer to the Rescue.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felix, Uschi

1993-01-01

Discusses the annoyances and minor aches accompanying the tedious work of marking students' schoolwork and the application of the computer to providing students with good feedback. Notes that using the computer to mark students' papers is more enjoyable and less time consuming, provides the teacher with an easily accessible record of each…

Student Diversity Requires Different Approaches to College Teaching, Even in Math and Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Craig E.

1996-01-01

Asserts that traditional teaching methods are unintentionally biased towards the elite and against many non-traditional students. Outlines several easily accessible changes in teaching methods that have fostered dramatic changes in student performance with no change in standards. These approaches have proven effective even in the fields of…

New Tools for Sea Ice Data Analysis and Visualization: NSIDC's Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vizcarra, N.; Stroeve, J.; Beam, K.; Beitler, J.; Brandt, M.; Kovarik, J.; Savoie, M. H.; Skaug, M.; Stafford, T.

2017-12-01

Arctic sea ice has long been recognized as a sensitive climate indicator and has undergone a dramatic decline over the past thirty years. Antarctic sea ice continues to be an intriguing and active field of research. The National Snow and Ice Data Center's Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis (ASINA) offers researchers and the public a transparent view of sea ice data and analysis. We have released a new set of tools for sea ice analysis and visualization. In addition to Charctic, our interactive sea ice extent graph, the new Sea Ice Data and Analysis Tools page provides access to Arctic and Antarctic sea ice data organized in seven different data workbooks, updated daily or monthly. An interactive tool lets scientists, or the public, quickly compare changes in ice extent and location. Another tool allows users to map trends, anomalies, and means for user-defined time periods. Animations of September Arctic and Antarctic monthly average sea ice extent and concentration may also be accessed from this page. Our tools help the NSIDC scientists monitor and understand sea ice conditions in near real time. They also allow the public to easily interact with and explore sea ice data. Technical innovations in our data center helped NSIDC quickly build these tools and more easily maintain them. The tools were made publicly accessible to meet the desire from the public and members of the media to access the numbers and calculations that power our visualizations and analysis. This poster explores these tools and how other researchers, the media, and the general public are using them.

bioWeb3D: an online webGL 3D data visualisation tool.

PubMed

Pettit, Jean-Baptiste; Marioni, John C

2013-06-07

Data visualization is critical for interpreting biological data. However, in practice it can prove to be a bottleneck for non trained researchers; this is especially true for three dimensional (3D) data representation. Whilst existing software can provide all necessary functionalities to represent and manipulate biological 3D datasets, very few are easily accessible (browser based), cross platform and accessible to non-expert users. An online HTML5/WebGL based 3D visualisation tool has been developed to allow biologists to quickly and easily view interactive and customizable three dimensional representations of their data along with multiple layers of information. Using the WebGL library Three.js written in Javascript, bioWeb3D allows the simultaneous visualisation of multiple large datasets inputted via a simple JSON, XML or CSV file, which can be read and analysed locally thanks to HTML5 capabilities. Using basic 3D representation techniques in a technologically innovative context, we provide a program that is not intended to compete with professional 3D representation software, but that instead enables a quick and intuitive representation of reasonably large 3D datasets.