Spirituality and Mental Health among Homeless Mothers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodge, David R.; Moser, Stephanie E.; Shafer, Michael S.

2012-01-01

Mothers are one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population in the United States. Although mental health problems often contribute to homelessness, little is known about the factors that affect mothers' mental health. To help identify protective factors, this longitudinal study examined the relationship between spirituality and…

Refugees and Homeless: Nomads of the World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steiner, Stanley F.; Cobiskey, Lane

1998-01-01

The United States has the most homeless people of the industrialized nations, and children are the fastest growing segment of the homeless. This article discusses refugees and homeless persons and presents an annotated bibliography of picture books, fiction, and nonfiction for grades K-12. Suggests class activities in drama, language arts, and…

Student Multicultural Awareness in Online Community College Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Warren J.

2010-01-01

Purpose: US community colleges are based on an open-door mission and serve to provide access to students of diverse backgrounds. Online learning is one of the fastest growing segments of community college offerings--serving both local and geographical dispersed students. If the community college system embraces its open-door mission, it must…

The New Gold Rush: Establishing Effective Online Learning Policies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Serim, Ferdi

2007-01-01

Online learning is the fastest growing segment of educational technology, for both the best and worst of reasons. The promise of delivering student-centered education, anytime, anywhere, at any pace provides the best reason. Online learning certainly has the potential to finally deliver on these promises. The temptation to replace highly skilled…

English Language Learners' Pathways to Four-Year Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanno, Yasuko; Cromley, Jennifer G.

2015-01-01

Background/Context: English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing segment of the K-12 student population in the United States, yet they encounter substantial problems entering higher education. The gap between ELLs and non-ELLs is particularly acute for four-year college access. Research has been largely silent on ELLs' college…

The Role of Acculturative Stress on Mental Health Symptoms for Immigrant Adolescents: A Longitudinal Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sirin, Selcuk R.; Ryce, Patrice; Gupta, Taveeshi; Rogers-Sirin, Lauren

2013-01-01

Immigrant-origin adolescents represent the fastest growing segment of youth population in the United States, and in many urban schools they represent the majority of students. In this 3-wave longitudinal study, we explored trajectories of internalizing mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms). The participants included…

Our Children's "Golden Years"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silverman, Wayne

2009-01-01

People commonly expect to stay active well into their 80s, and while it may be hard to believe, people over 100 make up the fastest growing segment of the population. Thankfully, these impressive increases in longevity have also benefited people with developmental disabilities (DD), most of whom can now expect to live just as long as their…

Examining Social Presence Influence on Students' Satisfaction with Online Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dajani, Fadi Khalil

2014-01-01

In recent years, many individuals started pursuing higher education to increase their marketability. The growth in the online market was significant and due to full-time workers, the fastest growing segment of the student population. Evidence indicates that many students become frustrated after their initial online experience and fail to pursue…

Suicidal Behavior among Latina College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chesin, Megan S.; Jeglic, Elizabeth L.

2012-01-01

Latina college students are one of the fastest-growing segments of the college student population. Although there is evidence suggesting Latina high school students are at increased risk of engaging in suicidal behavior, it is unclear Bwhether this risk continues in college. Over the course of 3 years, 554 Latina college students, the majority of…

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Older Adults: Rationale and Considerations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petkus, Andrew J.; Wetherell, Julie Loebach

2013-01-01

Older adults are the fastest growing segment of the population. With these changing demographics, mental health professionals will be seeing more older clients. Additionally, older adults are an underserved population in that most older adults in need of mental health services do not receive treatment. Thus, it is essential that treatments for…

Latino/a Student Misbehavior and School Punishment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peguero, Anthony A.; Shekarkhar, Zahra

2011-01-01

Although Latino/as are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. student population, Latino/a youth face a number of educational hurdles, such as disproportionate school punishment. This topic is particularly relevant today in the midst of the current social, political, and economic debate over the influence of Latino/a immigration in the US school…

Multicultural Curriculum Development in Online Classes: Practices from Washington State Community Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Warren J.

2013-01-01

The community college system is based on an open-door mission and serves to provide access to students of diverse backgrounds. Online learning is one of the fastest growing segments of community college offerings. If the community college system embraces its open-door mission, it must also embrace new ways of providing multicultural experiences…

Employment and Hawaii's Elderly.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huffman, Marcia D.

A study was conducted in Hawaii to determine the status of elderly persons in regard to employment, as well as attitudes toward employment of the elderly, defined in this study as aged 55 and over. Elderly persons aged 65 and over are the fastest growing segment of Hawaii's population, projected to increase from 73,700 in 1980 to 141,000 in 2000.…

Economic and environmental performance of traditional and grass-fed organic dairies using the Integrated Farm System Model

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Organic milk production is one of the fastest growing segments of US agriculture. There is an increasing number of US organic farmers who are transitioning to no grain supplementation due to additional premiums paid by some milk processors. However, there is limited information about the economic an...

Soy Mujer!: A Case Study for Understanding Latina Achievement in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephens, Elizabeth

2012-01-01

Latinas are one of fastest growing segments of the population in the United States, which clearly shows a need to better understand and support education for Latinas within higher education. This study sought to understand the process for and experience of Latinas' academic achievement within higher education. The study focused particularly on the…

ESSA and English Language Learners. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 21

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parsi, Ace

2016-01-01

Representing an estimated 4.4 million students in the United States, English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing segment of the public school population and yet are twice as likely to drop out of high school and significantly less likely to attend and complete postsecondary education. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes…

American Indian English Language Learners: Misunderstood and Under-Served

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carjuzaa, Jioanna; Ruff, William G.

2016-01-01

English Language Learners (ELLs) represent the fastest growing segment of pre-K-12 students in the United States. Currently, Montana has the highest percentage of ELLs who are American Indian/Alaska Native. Although there is tremendous linguistic diversity among students, more than 80% of ELLs in the US speak Spanish as their first language. This…

Welcome to the Post-Bachelor's World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallagher, Sean

2016-01-01

Post-baccalaureate education has emerged as one of the fastest growing segments of higher education. Over the past decade, master's degree enrollment in the U.S. has grown 35%--and the share of adults that hold a master's degree has gone from less than 7% to nearly 9% of the population. Keeping the supply and demand dynamics of basic economic…

English Language Learners: Effective Teaching Strategies, Practices for FCS Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allison, Barbara N.; Rehm, Marsha L.

2011-01-01

English language learners represent the fastest growing segment of the U.S. school-age population, raising the question of how best to teach this new and challenging group of students. The research and scholarly literature has identified a number of instructional strategies and classroom practices that have been shown to be effective in teaching…

Arizona Head Start for Homeless Children and Families Project. 1995-96 Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulholland, Lori

Homeless families with children constitute the fastest growing segment of the United States homeless population. This study evaluated Year 2 of the Arizona Head Start for Homeless Children and Families Project, designed to meet educational and social needs of homeless children and families, and to assist Head Start agencies in developing effective…

Arizona Head Start for Homeless Children and Families Project. 1994-95 Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulholland, Lori; Greene, Andrea

Homeless families with children comprise the fastest growing segment of the United States homeless population. This study evaluated Year 1 of the Arizona Head Start for Homeless Children and Families Project, designed to meet educational and social needs of homeless children and families, and to assist Head Start agencies in developing effective…

Linguistic and Cultural Issues in Developing Disciplinary Literacy for Adolescent English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Schonewise, Estella Almanza; Klingner, Janette K.

2012-01-01

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing segment of the student population. An understanding of the diversity these students bring to contexts of disciplinary learning is critical to determining how best to teach them. At the secondary level, ELLs are required to learn content and build English language proficiency simultaneously.…

An Exploratory Study of Distinguishing Challenges Faced by Mid-Life Teacher Candidates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanksley, James F.

2012-01-01

The United States public education system is facing a possible shortage of several hundred thousand teachers over the next decade. To overcome the projected shortfall in teacher supply, schools of education of state university and college systems may need to look to the fastest growing segment of the college student population, the non-traditional…

Maintaining High-Tech Programs on a Low-Tech Budget

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donham, Brent

2003-01-01

Technology is and will continue to be a driving force in the United States economy. The U.S. Department of Labor (2003) projects computer and data processing services to be the fastest growing segment of the economy between the years 2000-2010. A study by the National Association of Manufacturers (2001) indicates that more than 80 percent of…

Medical tourism-A New Arena.

PubMed

Puri, S; Singh, A; Yashik

2010-01-01

Globalisation has given birth to medical tourism. Health and medical tourism are the fastest growing segments in not only developed nations but in developing countries too. India has become a hot destination, as the Indian medical standards match up to the highly prescribed international standards at a very low cost. However, it is an unmixed blessing; along with advantages, it has many unintended side effects also.

Administrators' Sense of Self-Efficacy in Supervision of Teachers of English as a Second Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Audrey Figueroa; Torff, Bruce

2012-01-01

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. school population, which means schools are hiring significant numbers of new ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers. This burgeoning pool of ESL teachers must be supervised by administrative staff, and the stakes are considerably higher now that teacher-evaluation…

Barriers to Wellness: Voices and Views from Young People in Five Cities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinez, Linda Sprague

2016-01-01

Youth of color represent the fastest growing segment of the U.S. child population and make up the majority of the youth population in about half of the 100 largest U.S. cities. Fear, along with inequitable access to social supports, opportunities, and experiences essential for healthy development, place this group at increased risk for poor health…

School-Age Child Care Trend Report: Part 2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neugebauer, Roger

2007-01-01

According to the author, school-age care is the fastest growing segment of the early childhood arena and possibly the least visible. While programs have been serving school-age children in out-of-school hours since the turn of the century, it is only in recent years that professionals have started to view school-age care as a distinct discipline…

Bilingual Language Development and Disorders in Spanish-English Speakers. Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldstein, Brian A., Ed.

2012-01-01

Because dual language learners are the fastest--growing segment of the U.S. student population--and the majority speak Spanish as a first language--the new generation of SLPs must have comprehensive knowledge of how to work effectively with bilingual speakers. That's what they'll get in the second edition of this book, an ideal graduate-level text…

Customer Satisfaction versus Infrastructural Facilities in the Realm of Higher Education--A Case Study of Sri Venkateswara University Tirupati

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Janardhana, G.; Rajasekhar, Mamilla

2012-01-01

This article analyses the levels of students' satisfaction and how institution provides infrastructure facilities in the field of higher education. Infrastructure is the fastest growing segment of the higher education scenario. Universities play a very vital role in a country in terms of their potential. It contributes to employment and growth.…

The Cost of Providing an Adequate Education to English Language Learners: A Review of the Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jimenez-Castellanos, Oscar; Topper, Amelia M.

2012-01-01

This article systematically reviews the cost study literature as it relates to the treatment of English language learners (ELLs). Despite the substantial number of costing out studies that have been conducted over the past several decades, the school finance literature has failed to focus on ELLs--the fastest growing segment of the school-age…

Health/Home Economics Classroom Activities for Secondary Schools. Schools in an Aging Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connecticut State Dept. of Education, Hartford.

As the fastest-growing segment of society, older adults can be valuable resources for schools. The intent of this guide is to promote education for, with, and about older adults; to confront stereotypic images; and to present an accurate and balanced view of aging. The manual consists of 21 lesson plans for secondary teachers of health and home…

Step Up & Lead for Equity: What Higher Education Can Do to Reverse Our Deepening Divides

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2015

2015-01-01

"Step Up & Lead Equity: What Higher Education Can Do to Reverse Our Deepening Divides" makes the case that America's persistent gaps in education, income, and wealth are widening, with the fastest growing segments of our population the least likely to have the opportunities they need to succeed. It argues that, to effectively educate…

Employers and Child Care: Establishing Services through the Workplace. Pamphlet 23. Revised Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perry, Kathryn Senn; Moore, Gary T.

The fastest growing segment of the labor force today is the category of mothers with preschool children. As the number of working mothers increases, so does the need for reliable, quality child care during the work day. Heightening its traditional concern for working parents in need of quality child care services, the Women's Bureau has chosen as…

For Profit, for Success, for Black Men: A Review of Literature on Urban For-Profit Colleges and Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boykin, Tiffany F.

2017-01-01

In the last 20 years, the U.S. higher education system has witnessed the tremendous growth of for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs). In fact, FPCUs have quickly become the fastest growing segment of postsecondary education. With innovative practices and alternative delivery of educational services, FPCUs have established a considerable…

Punishing Latina/o Youth: School Justice, Fairness, Order, Dropping Out, and Gender Disparities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peguero, Anthony A.; Bondy, Jennifer M.; Shekarkhar, Zahra

2017-01-01

Although Latina/o youth are one the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population, they face a number of educational hurdles, such as disproportionate school punishment and increased risk of dropping out of high school. This topic is particularly relevant today in the midst of the current social, political, and economic debate over the…

Medical tourism-A New Arena

PubMed Central

Puri, S; Singh, A; Yashik

2010-01-01

Globalisation has given birth to medical tourism. Health and medical tourism are the fastest growing segments in not only developed nations but in developing countries too. India has become a hot destination, as the Indian medical standards match up to the highly prescribed international standards at a very low cost. However, it is an unmixed blessing; along with advantages, it has many unintended side effects also. PMID:23113017

Reasons for Working and their Relationship to Retirement Attitudes, Job Satisfaction and Occupational Self-Efficacy of Bridge Employees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dendinger, Veronica M.; Adams, Gary A.; Jacobson, Jamie D.

2005-01-01

Although the Baby Boomers are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population and they are quickly approaching retirement age, research has widely neglected to look at the reasons as to why many of them intend on opting for bridge employment as opposed to completely retiring. This study examined the relationships among four reasons for working…

Trends in Hispanic Teen Births: Differences across States. Research Brief. Publication #2007-22

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franzetta, Kerry; Schelar, Erin; Manlove, Jennifer

2007-01-01

Hispanics represent one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population, and this rapid growth is projected to be even more dramatic for Hispanic teens. The number of Hispanic teens is projected to increase by 50 percent by 2025, even though the total teen population is expected to increase by only 6 percent in the same time period.…

Involvement of Ultramarathon Runners: Understanding Intention, Behavior, and Perceived Skill of the "Absolute Unitary Being"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mueller, Thomas S.

2012-01-01

Ultramarathon running, competing in distances beyond the 26.2 mile marathon, is one of the fastest growing segments of endurance competition. The sport has more than tripled in entrant size over the past 12 years and now attracts over 26,000 athletes on an annual basis. However, there is a limited understanding of what motivates individuals to…

Unaccompanied, Unidentified and Uncounted: Developing Strategies to Meet the Needs of America's Homeless Youth. Issue Brief on the Education of Unaccompanied Homeless Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Appleseed, 2012

2012-01-01

Unaccompanied homeless youth appear to be one of the fastest growing and most vulnerable segments of the larger homeless population, but flawed information-gathering by government entities makes it impossible to be sure. This issue brief examines reasons why the plight of unaccompanied homeless youth is not fully captured through current models of…

Children of Latino Immigrants and Out-of-School Time Programs. Research-to-Results Brief. Publication #2011-30

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valladares, Sherylls; Ramos, Manica F.

2011-01-01

Children who have at least one parent born outside the United States or U.S. territories presently make up almost one-quarter of the children in the country. Moreover, these children represent the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. child population. As of 2006, the majority of children of immigrants were Latino, with 41 percent of all child…

What Older Adults Know about HIV/AIDS: Lessons from an HIV/AIDS Education Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Small, La Fleur F.

2010-01-01

Despite being one of the fastest growing segments of the HIV/AIDS caseload, persons age 50 and older have been largely neglected in terms of HIV/AIDS education. This study describes a project involving HIV-related health education for persons [greater than or equal] 50 in an urban area of Ohio. Data from 50 persons age [greater than or equal] 50…

New Research on Securing Educational Excellence & Equity for English Language Learners in Texas Secondary Schools. IDRA Jose A. Cardenas School Finance Fellows Program 2015 Symposium Proceedings (San Antonio, Texas, February 2, 2015)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Intercultural Development Research Association, 2015

2015-01-01

English language learners make up the fastest growing segment of the student population, but they are one of the lowest academically performing groups of students and the achievement gap widens as students progress through school. Dr. Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, the Intercultural Development Research Association's (IDRA's) inaugural Jose A.…

Speaking with Them or Speaking for Them: A Conversation about the Effect of Stereotypes in the Latina/Hispanic Women's Experiences in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopez, Johana P.

2013-01-01

Hispanics represent one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population. Recent census reports estimate that Hispanics comprise 16 percent of the U.S. population. By 2050, it is estimated that nearly one out of every three Americans will be Hispanic. Many researchers have begun earnestly studying their impact on U.S. economy, culture,…

"Mexicans Are Like Thieves and Bad People, and We're Not Really Like That": Immigrant Youth Use Photovoice to Counter Racism and Discrimination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roxas, Kevin C.; Gabriel, María L.; Becker, Kent

2017-01-01

One of the fastest growing segments of the student population in the U.S. includes students from immigrant backgrounds. However, there is a lack of research about how school counselors can access and listen to the voices of these youth. This article seeks to add to the existing research on multicultural school counseling for immigrant youth with a…

Differential Risk of Injury to Child Occupants by SUV Size

PubMed Central

Kallan, Michael J.; Durbin, Dennis R.; Elliott, Michael R.; Arbogast, Kristy B.; Winston, Flaura K.

2004-01-01

In the United States, the sport utility vehicle (SUV) is the fastest growing segment of the passenger vehicle fleet, yet SUVs vary widely in size and crashworthiness. Using data collected from a population-based sample of crashes in insured vehicles, we quantified the risk of injury to child occupants in SUVs by vehicle weight. There is an increased risk in both Small and Midsize SUVs when compared to Large SUVs. Parents who are purchasing a SUV should strongly consider the size of the vehicle and its crashworthiness. PMID:15319119

Assessing local market and organizational readiness for the integration of complementary and alternative medicine into ambulatory care centers.

PubMed

Makowski, Suzana K E

2004-01-01

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is one of the fastest growing segments of the health care industry today, with studies suggesting that between 30% and 50% of the adult population in the United States uses some form of CAM. Many ambulatory care centers are considering integrating CAM into their clinical services. This article will review some of the national trends and present a framework for assessing local market demand for CAM in order to help prioritize an organization's CAM integration strategy.

The Tail of BPM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kruba, Steve; Meyer, Jim

Business process management suites (BPMS's) represent one of the fastest growing segments in the software industry as organizations automate their key business processes. As this market matures, it is interesting to compare it to Chris Anderson's 'Long Tail.' Although the 2004 "Long Tail" article in Wired magazine was primarily about the media and entertainment industries, it has since been applied (and perhaps misapplied) to other markets. Analysts describe a "Tail of BPM" market that is, perhaps, several times larger than the traditional BPMS product market. This paper will draw comparisons between the concepts in Anderson's article (and subsequent book) and the BPM solutions market.

Math and Science Gateways to California's Fastest Growing Careers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

EdSource, 2008

2008-01-01

Some students--and parents--think math and science are not too important for their future. As everyday life becomes more dependent on technology, most people will need a better background in math and science to succeed in today's global economy. To get high-paying jobs in some of California's fastest-growing occupations, a strong background in…

Employment, Salary and Placement Information Related to Career Programs at Johnson County Community College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conklin, Karen A.

Johnson County Community College (JCCC), in Kansas, offers formal career programs for 12 of the 20 fastest growing occupations requiring postsecondary training, and for 13 of the 30 occupations projected to be the fastest growing between 1990 and 2005. Following an introduction to general trends and data sources, this guide presents profiles of…

Toward a VA Women's Health Research Agenda: setting evidence-based priorities to improve the health and health care of women veterans.

PubMed

Yano, Elizabeth M; Bastian, Lori A; Frayne, Susan M; Howell, Alexandra L; Lipson, Linda R; McGlynn, Geraldine; Schnurr, Paula P; Seaver, Margaret R; Spungen, Ann M; Fihn, Stephan D

2006-03-01

The expansion of women in the military is reshaping the veteran population, with women now constituting the fastest growing segment of eligible VA health care users. In recognition of the changing demographics and special health care needs of women, the VA Office of Research & Development recently sponsored the first national VA Women's Health Research Agenda-setting conference to map research priorities to the needs of women veterans and position VA as a national leader in Women's Health Research. This paper summarizes the process and outcomes of this effort, outlining VA's research priorities for biomedical, clinical, rehabilitation, and health services research.

Toward a VA Women's Health Research Agenda: Setting Evidence-based Priorities to Improve the Health and Health Care of Women Veterans

PubMed Central

Yano, Elizabeth M; Bastian, Lori A; Frayne, Susan M; Howell, Alexandra L; Lipson, Linda R; McGlynn, Geraldine; Schnurr, Paula P; Seaver, Margaret R; Spungen, Ann M; Fihn, Stephan D

2006-01-01

The expansion of women in the military is reshaping the veteran population, with women now constituting the fastest growing segment of eligible VA health care users. In recognition of the changing demographics and special health care needs of women, the VA Office of Research & Development recently sponsored the first national VA Women's Health Research Agenda-setting conference to map research priorities to the needs of women veterans and position VA as a national leader in Women's Health Research. This paper summarizes the process and outcomes of this effort, outlining VA's research priorities for biomedical, clinical, rehabilitation, and health services research. PMID:16637953

Inhalation delivery of protein therapeutics.

PubMed

Kane, Colleen; O'Neil, Karyn; Conk, Michelle; Picha, Kristen

2013-04-01

Inhaled therapeutics are used routinely to treat a variety of pulmonary diseases including asthma, COPD and cystic fibrosis. In addition, biological therapies represent the fastest growing segment of approved pharmaceuticals. However, despite the increased availability of biological therapies, nearly all inhaled therapeutics are small molecule drugs with only a single inhaled protein therapeutic approved. There remains a significant unmet need for therapeutics in pulmonary diseases, and biological therapies with potential to alter disease progression represent a significant opportunity to treat these challenging diseases. This review provides a background into efforts to develop inhaled biological therapies and highlights some of the associated challenges. In addition, we speculate on the ideal properties of a biologic therapy for inhaled delivery.

Automatic ultrasound image enhancement for 2D semi-automatic breast-lesion segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Kongkuo; Hall, Christopher S.

2014-03-01

Breast cancer is the fastest growing cancer, accounting for 29%, of new cases in 2012, and second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States and worldwide. Ultrasound (US) has been used as an indispensable tool for breast cancer detection/diagnosis and treatment. In computer-aided assistance, lesion segmentation is a preliminary but vital step, but the task is quite challenging in US images, due to imaging artifacts that complicate detection and measurement of the suspect lesions. The lesions usually present with poor boundary features and vary significantly in size, shape, and intensity distribution between cases. Automatic methods are highly application dependent while manual tracing methods are extremely time consuming and have a great deal of intra- and inter- observer variability. Semi-automatic approaches are designed to counterbalance the advantage and drawbacks of the automatic and manual methods. However, considerable user interaction might be necessary to ensure reasonable segmentation for a wide range of lesions. This work proposes an automatic enhancement approach to improve the boundary searching ability of the live wire method to reduce necessary user interaction while keeping the segmentation performance. Based on the results of segmentation of 50 2D breast lesions in US images, less user interaction is required to achieve desired accuracy, i.e. < 80%, when auto-enhancement is applied for live-wire segmentation.

The Top 100. The Fastest Growing Careers for the 21st Century. Revised Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

1998

This publication presents 100 careers the U.S. Department of Labor and other sources project as the fastest growing through the year 2006. A shaded bar on the bottom of the title page of each article contains a listing of codes for three commonly used government classification systems. Shaded bars at the bottom of other pages provide quick facts.…

Hispanic Medical Organizations' Support for LGBT Health Issues.

PubMed

Sánchez, John Paul; Sola, Orlando; Ramallo, Jorge; Sánchez, Nelson Felix; Dominguez, Kenneth; Romero-Leggott, Valerie

2014-09-01

Hispanics represent the fastest growing ethnic segment of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in the United States and are disproportionately burdened by LGBT-related health issues and limited political support from Hispanic medical organizations. Recently, the Latino Medical Student Association, the National Hispanic Medical Association, and the Hispanic Serving Health Professions Schools, representing over 60,000 Hispanic students and providers and 35 institutions, collaborated to support a resolution opposing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and recognizing the obstacles encountered by LGBTQ Hispanics. The resolution provides an important framework for organizational members and leaders to address LGBT health issues and serve to support a more positive sociopolitical climate for the Hispanic LGBT community nationally and internationally.

Occupational therapists lead a national injury prevention strategy to help older drivers.

PubMed

Craik, Janet M

2011-04-01

As older adults are the fastest growing segment of the driving population, the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) has taken older driver safety as a key priority. The purpose of this paper is to present the National Blueprint for Injury Prevention in Older Drivers (Blueprint) and its related activities. Since 2006, CAOT has been working on initiatives relating to the National Blueprint for Injury Prevention in Older Drivers. The most recent activities include the launch of informational brochures and a website. The Blueprint and its related activities were developed with the intent to prolong safe driving among older adults in Canada, and to propose future actions to be addressed by all stakeholders interested in older driver safety.

Novel botanical ingredients for beverages.

PubMed

Gruenwald, Joerg

2009-01-01

Natural substances are generally preferred over chemical ones and are generally seen as healthy. The increasing demand for natural ingredients, improving health and appearance, is also attracting beverages as the fastest growing segment on the functional food market. Functional beverages are launched as fortified water, tea, diary or juices claiming overall nutrition, energy, anti-aging or relaxing effects. The substitution of so called superfruits, such as berries, grapes, or pomegranate delivers an effective range of beneficial compounds, including vitamins, fatty acids, minerals, and anti-oxidants. In this context, new exotic and African fruits could be useful sources in the near future. Teas and green botanicals, such as algae or aloe vera are also rich in effective bioactives and have been used traditionally. The botanical kingdom offers endless possibilities.

Assessing the Future of Distributed Wind: Opportunities for Behind-the-Meter Projects

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

Lantz, Eric; Sigrin, Benjamin; Gleason, Michael

2016-11-01

Wind power is one of the fastest growing sources of new electricity generation in the United States. Cumulative installed capacity was more than 74,000 megawatts (MW) at year-end 2015 and wind power supplied 4.7% of total 2015 U.S. electricity generation. Despite the growth of the wind power industry, the distributed wind market has remained limited. Cumulative installations of distributed wind through 2015 totaled 934 MW. This first-of-a-kind exploratory analysis characterizes the future opportunity for behind-the-meter distributed wind, serving primarily rural or suburban homes, farms, and manufacturing facilities. This work focuses only on the grid-connected, behind-the-meter subset of the broader distributedmore » wind market. We estimate this segment to be approximately half of the 934 MW of total installed distributed wind capacity at year-end 2015. Potential from other distributed wind market segments including systems installed in front of the meter (e.g., community wind) and in remote, off-grid locations is not assessed in this analysis and therefore, would be additive to results presented here. These other distributed wind market segments are not considered in this initial effort because of their relatively unique economic and market attributes.« less

Progress Toward Meeting the Propulsion Technology Challenges for a 21st Century High-Speed Civil Transport

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaw, Robert J.; Koops, Leigh; Hines, Richard

1997-01-01

Ongoing NASA-funded and privately funded studies continue to indicate that an opportunity exists for a second generation supersonic commercial airliner, or High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT), to become a key part of the 21st century international air transportation system. Long distance air travel is projected to increase at about 5 percent per annum over the next two decades. This projection suggests that by the year 2015, more than 600,000 passengers per day will be traveling long distances, predominantly over water. These routes would be among the most desirable for an HSCT as part of the international air transportation system. Beyond the year 2000, this portion of the air transportation market is projected to be the fastest growing segment.

Coarse grained modeling of transport properties in monoclonal antibody solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swan, James; Wang, Gang

Monoclonal antibodies and their derivatives represent the fastest growing segment of the bio pharmaceutical industry. For many applications such as novel cancer therapies, high concentration, sub-cutaneous injections of these protein solutions are desired. However, depending on the peptide sequence within the antibody, such high concentration formulations can be too viscous to inject via human derived force alone. Understanding how heterogenous charge distribution and hydrophobicity within the antibodies leads to high viscosities is crucial to their future application. In this talk, we explore a coarse grained computational model of therapeutically relevant monoclonal antibodies that accounts for electrostatic, dispersion and hydrodynamic interactions between suspended antibodies to predict assembly and transport properties in concentrated antibody solutions. We explain the high viscosities observed in many experimental studies of the same biologics.

YOUR TALENTS--LET'S NOT WASTE THEM.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

KEYSERLING, MARY DUBLIN

AMERICAN WOMAN POWER NEEDS TO BE MORE FULLY UTILIZED TO MEET THE NATION'S MANPOWER REQUIREMENTS. PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL OCCUPATIONS ARE THE FASTEST GROWING CAREER FIELDS, AND MEN ALONE CANNOT MEET THEIR MANPOWER DEMANDS. CLERICAL WORK AND SERVICE OCCUPATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO SHOW THE SECOND AND FASTEST RATE OF GROWTH. SALES OCCUPATIONS ARE ALSO…

Height Growth of Mahogany Seedlings

Treesearch

C. B. Briscoe; R. W. Nobles

1962-01-01

Since the recognition of natural hybridization of small-leaf (West Indies) mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni Jacq.) with bigleaf (Honduras) mahogany (S. macrophylla King) there has been conjecture about their relative growth rates. One would expect small-leaf to be the fastest growing on dry sites, the hybrids to be fastest on intermediate sites, and bigleaf to excel on wet...

Health disparities among highly vulnerable populations in the United States: a call to action for medical and oral health care.

PubMed

Vanderbilt, Allison A; Isringhausen, Kim T; VanderWielen, Lynn M; Wright, Marcie S; Slashcheva, Lyubov D; Madden, Molly A

2013-03-26

Healthcare in the United States (US) is burdened with enormous healthcare disparities associated with a variety of factors including insurance status, income, and race. Highly vulnerable populations, classified as those with complex medical problems and/or social needs, are one of the fastest growing segments within the US. Over a decade ago, the US Surgeon General publically challenged the nation to realize the importance of oral health and its relationship to general health and well-being, yet oral health disparities continue to plague the US healthcare system. Interprofessional education and teamwork has been demonstrated to improve patient outcomes and provide benefits to participating health professionals. We propose the implementation of interprofessional education and teamwork as a solution to meet the increasing oral and systemic healthcare demands of highly vulnerable US populations.

Health disparities among highly vulnerable populations in the United States: a call to action for medical and oral health care.

PubMed

Vanderbilt, Allison A; Isringhausen, Kim T; VanderWielen, Lynn M; Wright, Marcie S; Slashcheva, Lyubov D; Madden, Molly A

2013-01-01

Healthcare in the United States (US) is burdened with enormous healthcare disparities associated with a variety of factors including insurance status, income, and race. Highly vulnerable populations, classified as those with complex medical problems and/or social needs, are one of the fastest growing segments within the US. Over a decade ago, the US Surgeon General publically challenged the nation to realize the importance of oral health and its relationship to general health and well-being, yet oral health disparities continue to plague the US healthcare system. Interprofessional education and teamwork has been demonstrated to improve patient outcomes and provide benefits to participating health professionals. We propose the implementation of interprofessional education and teamwork as a solution to meet the increasing oral and systemic healthcare demands of highly vulnerable US populations.

SUICIDE IN OLDER ADULTS: NURSING ASSESSMENT OF SUICIDE RISK

PubMed Central

Garand, Linda; Mitchell, Ann M.; Dietrick, Ann; Hijjawi, Sophia P.; Pan, Di

2010-01-01

A fundamental objective of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention is the prevention of suicide in older adults, especially elderly males, because these individuals are at higher risk for suicide than any other age group. Furthermore, they are the fastest growing segment of the population. The suicide rates for older Caucasian men are particularly high. Because nurses play an important role in the identification of persons at risk for suicide, it is important that they be cognizant of the complex risk factors involved in late life suicide. Toward that end, we review the prevalence of suicidal behaviors in older adults and discuss risk factors that contribute to completed suicide in these individuals. Lastly, we discuss the role of nurses in the identification of older adults at risk for suicidal behavior so that life-saving treatment measures can be implemented. PMID:16546935

The Impact of Advanced Age on Driving Safety in Adults with Medical Conditions.

PubMed

Moon, Sanghee; Ranchet, Maud; Akinwuntan, Abiodun Emmanuel; Tant, Mark; Carr, David Brian; Raji, Mukaila Ajiboye; Devos, Hannes

2018-01-01

Adults aged 85 and older, often referred to as the oldest-old, are the fastest-growing segment of the population. The rapidly increasing number of older adults with chronic and multiple medical conditions poses challenges regarding their driving safety. To investigate the effect of advanced age on driving safety in drivers with medical conditions. We categorized 3,425 drivers with preexisting medical conditions into four age groups: middle-aged (55-64 years, n = 1,386), young-old (65-74 years, n = 1,013), old-old (75-84 years, n = 803), or oldest-old (85 years and older, n = 223). All underwent a formal driving evaluation. The outcome measures included fitness to drive recommendation by the referring physician, comprehensive fitness to drive decision from an official driving evaluation center, history of motor vehicle crashes (MVCs), and history of traffic violations. The oldest-old reported more cardiopulmonary and visual conditions, but less neurological conditions than the old-old. Compared to the middle-aged, the oldest-old were more likely to be considered unfit to drive by the referring physicians (odds ratio [OR] = 4.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.20-9.10) and by the official driving evaluation center (OR = 2.74, 95% CI 1.87-4.03). The oldest-old reported more MVCs (OR = 2.79, 95% CI 1.88-4.12) compared to the middle-aged. Advanced age adversely affected driving safety outcomes. The oldest-old are a unique age group with medical conditions known to interfere with safe driving. Driving safety strategies should particularly target the oldest-old since they are the fastest-growing group and their increased frailty is associated with severe or fatal injuries due to MVCs. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Melanoma segmentation based on deep learning.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaoqing

2017-12-01

Malignant melanoma is one of the most deadly forms of skin cancer, which is one of the world's fastest-growing cancers. Early diagnosis and treatment is critical. In this study, a neural network structure is utilized to construct a broad and accurate basis for the diagnosis of skin cancer, thereby reducing screening errors. The technique is able to improve the efficacy for identification of normally indistinguishable lesions (such as pigment spots) versus clinically unknown lesions, and to ultimately improve the diagnostic accuracy. In the field of medical imaging, in general, using neural networks for image segmentation is relatively rare. The existing traditional machine-learning neural network algorithms still cannot completely solve the problem of information loss, nor detect the precise division of the boundary area. We use an improved neural network framework, described herein, to achieve efficacious feature learning, and satisfactory segmentation of melanoma images. The architecture of the network includes multiple convolution layers, dropout layers, softmax layers, multiple filters, and activation functions. The number of data sets can be increased via rotation of the training set. A non-linear activation function (such as ReLU and ELU) is employed to alleviate the problem of gradient disappearance, and RMSprop/Adam are incorporated to optimize the loss algorithm. A batch normalization layer is added between the convolution layer and the activation layer to solve the problem of gradient disappearance and explosion. Experiments, described herein, show that our improved neural network architecture achieves higher accuracy for segmentation of melanoma images as compared with existing processes.

Influx of Asian Pacific Americans/Veterans in American Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Steven

2011-01-01

Asian Pacific Americans (APA's) are one of the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups within the United States and among most of the college student vast population (Escueta and O'Brien, 1995). APA's represented 5.8% of all college students in 1996, an 83.8% gain in population since 1986 (Wilds and Wilson, 1998), and the fastest increase amongst all…

Relationship between age and lower extremity fractures in frontal motor vehicle collisions.

PubMed

Moran, Stephan G; McGwin, Gerald; Metzger, Jesse S; Alonso, Jorge E; Rue, Loring W

2003-02-01

Older adults (aged > or = 65 years) represent the single fastest growing segment of the United States population and will comprise one in five Americans during the third decade of this century. As this population segment rapidly expands, lower extremity fractures (LE Fx) and their associated disability will become a greater public health concern. The purpose of this study was to quantify the risk for LE Fx from motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) according to age. The 1995 to 2000 National Automotive Sampling System data files were used. Study entry was limited to front-seat occupants involved in frontal MVCs. Risk ratios for LE Fx and age were adjusted for gender, driver versus passenger, seat belt use, airbag deployment, delta-V, intrusion, and vehicle type. Beginning in the fourth decade, there was a trend of higher relative risk for LE Fx with age that reached statistical significance in the seventh decade of life. This study documented an increased risk of LE Fx in older MVC occupants. Efforts to prevent these disabling injuries and to better protect occupants' lower extremities in MVCs should include improved vehicle design and reevaluation of the existing federal motor vehicle safety standards.

An Analysis of the Impact of Sport Utility Vehicles in the United States

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

Davis, S.C.; Truett, L.F.

2000-08-01

It may be labeled sport utility vehicle, SUV, sport-ute, suburban assault vehicle, or a friend of OPEC (Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries). It has been the subject of comics, the object of high-finance marketing ploys, and the theme of Dateline. Whatever the label or the occasion, this vehicle is in great demand. The popularity of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) has increased dramatically since the late 1970s, and SUVs are currently the fastest growing segment of the motor vehicle industry. Hoping to gain market share due to the popularity of the expanding SUV market, more and more manufacturers are adding SUVsmore » to their vehicle lineup. One purpose of this study is to analyze the world of the SUV to determine why this vehicle has seen such a rapid increase in popularity. Another purpose is to examine the impact of SUVs on energy consumption, emissions, and highway safety.« less

Chemical denaturation as a tool in the formulation optimization of biologics

PubMed Central

Freire, Ernesto; Schön, Arne; Hutchins, Burleigh M.; Brown, Richard K.

2013-01-01

Biologics have become the fastest growing segment in the pharmaceutical industry. As is the case with all proteins, biologics are susceptible to denature or to aggregate; conditions that, if present, preclude their use as pharmaceuticals. Identifying the solvent conditions that maximize their structural stability is crucial during development. Since the structural stability of a protein is susceptible to different chemical and physical conditions, the use of several complementary techniques can be expected to provide the best answers. Stability measurements that rely on temperature or chemical [urea or guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl)] denaturation have been the preferred ones in research laboratories and together provide a thorough evaluation of protein stability. In this review, we will discuss chemical denaturation as a tool in the optimization of formulation conditions for biologics, and how chemical denaturation complements the role of thermal denaturation for this purpose. PMID:23796912

Dementia in the Oldest Old

PubMed Central

Bullain, Szófia S.; Corrada, María M.

2013-01-01

Purpose of Review: This article discusses some of the unique features of dementia in the oldest old, including some of the most common diagnostic challenges, and potential strategies to overcome them. Recent Findings: Advances include new insight into the role of common risk factors and the effects of multiple underlying neuropathologic features for dementia in the oldest old. In addition, this article contains the latest age-specific normative data for commonly used neuropsychological tests for the oldest old. Summary: The oldest old—people aged 90 years and older—are the fastest-growing segment of society and have the highest rates of dementia in the population. The risk factors, diagnostic challenges, and underlying neuropathologic features of dementia are strikingly different in the 90-years-and-older population compared to younger elderly. Special consideration of these unique features of dementia is necessary when evaluating oldest-old subjects with cognitive impairment. PMID:23558489

Natural and man-made V-gene repertoires for antibody discovery

PubMed Central

Finlay, William J. J.; Almagro, Juan C.

2012-01-01

Antibodies are the fastest-growing segment of the biologics market. The success of antibody-based drugs resides in their exquisite specificity, high potency, stability, solubility, safety, and relatively inexpensive manufacturing process in comparison with other biologics. We outline here the structural studies and fundamental principles that define how antibodies interact with diverse targets. We also describe the antibody repertoires and affinity maturation mechanisms of humans, mice, and chickens, plus the use of novel single-domain antibodies in camelids and sharks. These species all utilize diverse evolutionary solutions to generate specific and high affinity antibodies and illustrate the plasticity of natural antibody repertoires. In addition, we discuss the multiple variations of man-made antibody repertoires designed and validated in the last two decades, which have served as tools to explore how the size, diversity, and composition of a repertoire impact the antibody discovery process. PMID:23162556

Highway safety needs of U.S. Hispanic communities : issues and strategies

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-09-01

Growing diversity within the U.S. population is presenting new challenges to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other agencies that serve the public. One of the fastest growing demographic groups is the Hispanic population. The te...

Highway Safety Needs of U.S. Hispanic Communities: Issues and Strategies

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-09-01

Growing diversity within the U.S. population is presenting new challenges to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other agencies that serve the public. One of the fastest growing demographic groups is the Hispanic population. The te...

Renewable Selections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pye, Linda

2009-01-01

Studies show that well designed interiors can influence education profoundly. Awareness of the importance of sustainability and its role within the learning environment is growing. Research indicates a possible link between sustainable facilities and better learning outcomes. Education is one of the fastest growing markets for green buildings and…

The growth of tissue engineering.

PubMed

Lysaght, M J; Reyes, J

2001-10-01

This report draws upon data from a variety of sources to estimate the size, scope, and growth rate of the contemporary tissue engineering enterprise. At the beginning of 2001, tissue engineering research and development was being pursued by 3,300 scientists and support staff in more than 70 startup companies or business units with a combined annual expenditure of over $600 million. Spending by tissue engineering firms has been growing at a compound annual rate of 16%, and the aggregate investment since 1990 now exceeds $3.5 billion. At the beginning of 2001, the net capital value of the 16 publicly traded tissue engineering startups had reached $2.6 billion. Firms focusing on structural applications (skin, cartilage, bone, cardiac prosthesis, and the like) comprise the fastest growing segment. In contrast, efforts in biohybrid organs and other metabolic applications have contracted over the past few years. The number of companies involved in stem cells and regenerative medicine is rapidly increasing, and this area represents the most likely nidus of future growth for tissue engineering. A notable recent trend has been the emergence of a strong commercial activity in tissue engineering outside the United States, with at least 16 European or Australian companies (22% of total) now active.

Evolution of the fastest-growing relativistic mixed mode instability driven by a tenuous plasma beam in one and two dimensions

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

Dieckmann, M. E.; Frederiksen, J. T.; Bret, A.

2006-11-15

Particle-in-cell simulations confirm here that a mixed plasma mode is the fastest growing when a highly relativistic tenuous electron-proton beam interacts with an unmagnetized plasma. The mixed modes grow faster than the filamentation and two-stream modes in simulations with beam Lorentz factors {gamma} of 4, 16, and 256, and are responsible for thermalizing the electrons. The mixed modes are followed to their saturation for the case of {gamma}=4 and electron phase space holes are shown to form in the bulk plasma, while the electron beam becomes filamentary. The initial saturation is electrostatic in nature in the considered one- and two-dimensionalmore » geometries. Simulations performed with two different particle-in-cell simulation codes evidence that a finite grid instability couples energy into high-frequency electromagnetic waves, imposing simulation constraints.« less

Fate and Transport of Silver Nanoparticles and Related Products in Saturated Porous Media

EPA Science Inventory

Nanosilver is the largest and fastest growing category of nanomaterials. A growing number of studies show that nanosilver may pose significant adverse human and environmental effects. Given the ubiquity of nanosilver and its potential toxicity, it is incumbent upon us to unders...

Factors Affecting Adoption of Video Games in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenny, Robert; Gunter, Glenda

2011-01-01

Video games are one of the fastest growing elements of informal, virtual learning. While their popularity in informal learning situations continues to grow, adoption in the K-12 classrooms remains stagnant. We attribute this to two separate but inter-related phenomena. Game designers and developers fail to incorporate important pedagogic…

Issues in Curriculum and Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hogan, Kathleen; Hathcote, Andrea

2014-01-01

Teachers are being asked to educate a variety of students, including a growing number of students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds (Diaz-Rico, 2012. "A course for teaching English learners." Upper Saddle River, NY: Pearson). Because students from diverse backgrounds are the fastest growing population in…

Planting Cottonwoods on Bottomlands

Treesearch

Henry Bull; H. H. Muntz

1943-01-01

Eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides virginiana) is one of the fastest-growing trees of commercial importance native to this country. The wood is in demand for a great variety of uses and usually brings good stumpage prices. Rapid growth and relatively high value make cottonwood a very desirable tree to grow in plantations.

Weed Control Trials in Cottonwood Plantations

Treesearch

R. M. Krinard

1964-01-01

Weed control in the first year is essential for establishing a cottonwood plantation, for the young trees can neither survive nor grow well if they must compete with other plants. Once the light and moisture conditions are established in its favor, cottonwood becomes the fastest growing tree in the South.

Meeting the research infrastructure needs of micropolitan and rural communities.

PubMed

Strasburger, Janette F

2009-05-01

In the 1800s, this country chose to establish land-grant colleges to see that the working class could attain higher education, and that the research needs of the agricultural and manufacturing segments of this country could be met. It seems contrary to our origins to see so little support at present for research infrastructure going to the very communities that need such research to sustain their populations, grow their economies, to attract physicians, to provide adequate health care, and to educate, retain, and employ their youth. Cities are viewed as sources for high-paying jobs, yet many of these same jobs could be translated to rural and micropolitan areas, provided that the resources are established to support it. One of the fastest growing economic periods in this country's history was during World War II, when even the smallest and most remote towns contributed substantially to the innovations, manufacture, and production of goods benefiting our nation as a whole. Rural areas have always lagged somewhat behind metropolitan areas in acquisition of new technology. Rural electricity and rural phone access are examples from the past. Testing our universities' abilities to grow distributive research networks beyond their campuses will create a competitive edge regionally, against global workplace, educational, and research competition, and will lay the groundwork for efficiency in research and for new innovation.

Populus deltoides Bartr ex Marsh.

Treesearch

D. T. Cooper

1980-01-01

Eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides), one of the largest eastern hardwoods, is short-lived but the fastest-growing commercial forest species in North America. It grows best on moist well-drained sands or silts near streams, often in pure stands. The lightweight, rather soft wood is used primarily for core stock in manufacturing fumiture and for pulpwood. Eastern...

Latinos and public lands in California

Treesearch

Deborah J. Chavez

2005-01-01

Management of leisure resources in California would be incomplete with out consideration of the fastest growing ethnic group-Latinos. There are approximately 12 million Latinos in California (about one-third of California's population; Bear Facts, 2004), and this is expected to grow to 21 million Latinos by the year 2025 (about 40% of California's population...

LANDSCAPE CHANGE OF THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY, 1972 TO 1998

EPA Science Inventory

Las Vegas has become one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States. The cities population has doubled from 1980 to 1994 and in 1995 Las Vegas has surpassed the one million mark. The population of Las Vegas is currently growing at a rate of 7 percent annually....

Ecology and silviculture of poplar plantations

Treesearch

John A. Stanturf; Cees van Oosten; Daniel A. Netzer; Mark D. Coleman; C. Jeffrey Portwood

2002-01-01

Poplars are some of the fastest growing trees in North America and foresters have sought to capitalize on this potential since the 1940s. Interest in growing poplars has fluctuated, and objectives have shifted between producing sawlogs, pulp-wood, or more densely spaced "woodgrass" or biofuels. Currently, most poplar plantations are established for pulpwood...

Policy Implications of Latino Poverty.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Enchautegui, Maria E.

The growing Latino presence in the United States underscores the need to address Latino poverty, previously overlooked in public policy discussions. Latinos are the fastest growing U.S. minority group, and Latino poverty is also rising. In 1990, one in every four Latinos was poor, and 40 percent of Latino children lived in poverty. Latino poverty…

School of Faith: Evangelical Christian Schools Represent the Fastest-Growing Sector of Private Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zehr, Mary Ann

2005-01-01

More families are seeking the Christian-based culture of evangelical schools. Schools, like Fredericksburg Christian, that are run by evangelical Christians have been growing in number, total enrollment, and proportion of the private school market, according to data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics. The most recent…

Latino/a Students and Faculty Interaction: Las Voces De Persistencia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hampton, Joyce L.

2010-01-01

Latinos consistently have the lowest degree completion rate throughout the United States (Kurlaender & Flores, 2005). At the same time, Latinos are the fastest growing sector of the U.S. population. Taken together, these facts demonstrate an ongoing and growing inequity in educational opportunities and outcomes for a significant portion of the…

GMLC Hawaii Regional Partnership: Distributed Inverter-Based Grid Frequency Support

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

Nelson, Austin; Hoke, Andy

This presentation is part of a panel session at the IEEE ISGT conference on Grid Modernization Initiative projects. This segment of the panel session provides a brief overview of a Hawaii Regional Partnership project focusing grid frequency support from distributed resources on the fastest time scales.

Fruit and vegetable intake among older adults: a scoping review

PubMed Central

Kadell, Andria R.

2013-01-01

Older adults are the fastest growing segment of the world population. Older adults are also at heightened risk of chronic conditions (such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer) and specific geriatric conditions (such as cognitive impairment, frailty, and falls). Research studies have examined the relationship between fruit and vegetable intake and subsequent health outcomes and the correlates of fruit and vegetable intake in the U.S. population. However, relatively few studies have specifically examined health impacts and correlates of fruit and vegetable intake among older adults, who have unique biophysical and socioeconomic circumstances. Evidence is reviewed to (1) describe findings related to consumption and chronic, geriatric, and other health outcomes among older adults and (2) describe patterns in fruit and vegetable consumption among older adults and how these patterns vary within and among populations. This review addresses specific barriers faced by older adults in obtaining and consuming fruits and vegetables in community settings. Recommendations for practice and policy are discussed. PMID:23769545

Using a Cultural and RDoC Framework to Conceptualize Anxiety in Asian Americans

PubMed Central

Liu, Huiting; Lieberman, Lynne; Stevens, Elizabeth; Auerbach, Randy P.; Shankman, Stewart A.

2016-01-01

Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing minority group in the United States; however, mental health within this population segment, particularly anxiety disorders, remains significantly understudied. Both the heterogeneity within the Asian American population, along with the multidimensional nature of anxiety, contribute to difficulties in understanding anxiety in this population. The present paper will review two sources of heterogeneity within anxiety in Asian Americans: (1) cultural variables and (2) mechanisms or components of anxiety. Specifically, we will examine four cultural variables most commonly found in research related to anxiety in Asian Americans: acculturation, affect valuation, loss of face, and individualism-collectivism. We will also discuss ways to parse anxiety through a Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, specifically focusing on sensitivity to acute and potential threat, constructs within the Negative Valence System. We also present previously unpublished preliminary data to illustrate one way of examining ethnic differences in anxiety using an RDoC framework. Finally, this paper offers recommendations for future work in this area. PMID:27659553

Being a Female Veteran: A Grounded Theory of Coping With Transitions

PubMed Central

Burkhart, Lisa; Hogan, Nancy

2015-01-01

Female veterans, the fastest growing segment in the military, have unique pre-military histories and military experiences that are associated with post-military physical and mental health service needs. Successful treatment is contingent on a clearer understanding of the processes underlying these experiences. Data from 20 female veterans who served post–Gulf War were analyzed to generate a substantive theory of the process of women who entered, served in, and transitioned out of the military. Coping with transitions emerged as the basic psychosocial process used by female veterans. The Coping with transitions process is comprised of seven categories: Choosing the Military, Adapting to the Military, Being in the Military, Being a Female in the Military, Departing the Military, Experiencing Stressors of Being a Civilian, and Making Meaning of Being a Veteran-Civilian. The results of this study provide a theoretical description of the process female veterans experience when transitioning from a civilian identity, through military life stressors and adaptations, toward gaining a dual identity of being a veteran-civilian. PMID:25745366

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Older Adults: Rationale and Considerations

PubMed Central

Petkus, Andrew J; M.A; Wetherell, Julie Loebach

2015-01-01

Older adults are the fastest growing segment of the population. With these changing demographics, mental health professionals will be seeing more older clients. Additionally, older adults are an underserved population in that most older adults in need of mental health services do not receive treatment. Thus, it is essential that treatments for mental and behavioral health problems are empirically supported with older adults and that mental health professionals are aware of the special needs of older adult populations. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an emerging approach to the treatment of distress. The purpose of this article is to provide a rationale for using ACT with older adults based on gerontological theory and research. We also review research on ACT-related processes in later life. We present a case example of an older man with depression and anxiety whom we treated with ACT. Finally, we describe treatment recommendations and important adaptations that need to be considered when using ACT with older adults and discuss important areas for future research. PMID:26997859

Prevalence and correlates of depression among new U.S. immigrants.

PubMed

Wong, Eunice C; Miles, Jeremy N V

2014-06-01

Although immigrants comprise one of the fastest growing segments of society, information on their adjustment to life in the US remains limited. The present study examined the prevalence of depression and associated correlates among a national sample of immigrants newly admitted to legal permanent residence to the US. Data were derived from the baseline adult cohort of the New Immigrant Survey, a national representative sample of immigrants who had obtained legal permanent residence between May and November 2003. Approximately 3% of respondents met criteria for probable depression in the past 12 months. Respondents who were female, younger in age, in the US for a longer period of time, and exposed to political violence in their country of origin were more likely to meet criteria for probable depression. Both pre-immigration and resettlement related factors were associated with probable depression. Further research is needed to better understand how processes in the country of origin and in the resettlement country influence the adjustment of immigrants.

Using a cultural and RDoC framework to conceptualize anxiety in Asian Americans.

PubMed

Liu, Huiting; Lieberman, Lynne; Stevens, Elizabeth S; Auerbach, Randy P; Shankman, Stewart A

2017-05-01

Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing minority groups in the United States; however, mental health within this population segment, particularly anxiety disorders, remains significantly understudied. Both the heterogeneity within the Asian American population and the multidimensional nature of anxiety contribute to difficulties in understanding anxiety in this population. The present paper reviewed two sources of heterogeneity within anxiety in Asian Americans: (1) cultural variables and (2) mechanisms or components of anxiety. Specifically, we examined four cultural variables most commonly found in research related to anxiety in Asian Americans: acculturation, loss of face, affect valuation, and individualism-collectivism. We also discussed ways to parse anxiety through a Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, specifically focusing on sensitivity to acute and potential threat, constructs within the Negative Valence System. Previously unpublished preliminary data were presented to illustrate one way of examining ethnic differences in anxiety using an RDoC framework. Finally, this paper offered recommendations for future work in this area. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nanotechnology-Based Cosmeceuticals

PubMed Central

Lohani, Alka; Verma, Anurag; Joshi, Himanshi; Yadav, Niti; Karki, Neha

2014-01-01

Cosmeceuticals are the fastest growing segment of the personal care industry, and a number of topical cosmeceutical treatments for conditions such as photoaging, hyperpigmentation, wrinkles, and hair damage have come into widespread use. In the cosmeceutical arena nanotechnology has played an important role. Using new techniques to manipulate matter at an atomic or molecular level, they have been at the root of numerous innovations, opening up new perspectives for the future of cosmeceutical industry. Nanotechnology-based cosmeceuticals offer the advantage of diversity in products, and increased bioavailability of active ingredients and increase the aesthetic appeal of cosmeceutical products with prolonged effects. However increased use of nanotechnology in cosmeceuticals has raised concern about the possible penetration of nanoparticles through the skin and potential hazards to the human health. This review outlines the different nanoparticles used in various classes of cosmeceuticals, nanotechnology-based cosmeceutical products present in the market, and the potential risk caused by nanoparticles on exposure and recent regulatory steps taken to overcome them. PMID:24963412

Shaping the future of the international satellite organizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, David

Most of the world's satellite communications traffic is carried by three organizations - Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Eutelsat. These three organizations are at the heart of the multibillion dollar communications satellite industry. The international satellite organizations (ISOs) generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year. They have purchased billions of dollars worth of satellites. Manufacturers have earned more billions from the sale of earth stations and the launchers used to put the satellites into orbit. The ISOs are at the leading edge of satellite technology in one of the fastest growing sectors in one of the world's fastest growing industries. The structure of the ISOs at the heart of this huge and rapidly growing industry is now under serious review. Changes in their institutional structure could ripple far beyond the organizations themselves. This paper reviews the existing structure of the ISOs, the pressures for structural change, and some of the consequences likely to result from change. Although all three ISOs are considered, most emphasis has been placed on Inmarsat.

Intrageneric Primer Design: Bringing Bioinformatics Tools to the Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lima, Andre O. S.; Garces, Sergio P. S.

2006-01-01

Bioinformatics is one of the fastest growing scientific areas over the last decade. It focuses on the use of informatics tools for the organization and analysis of biological data. An example of their importance is the availability nowadays of dozens of software programs for genomic and proteomic studies. Thus, there is a growing field (private…

Growth and stocking of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) in New England

Treesearch

Dale S. Solomon; William B. Leak

2000-01-01

Summarization of the limited growth information in mixed-species stands in New England indicates that eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) may be one of the fastest growing species in diameter, second only to white pine. However, on some sites hemlock diameter growth is about equal to that of associated hardwoods. Hemlock grows slowly in height and...

Islam: Sunnis and Shiites.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanif, Muhammad

1994-01-01

Asserts that Islam is one of the world's fastest growing religions and an increasingly important political force in the world. Provides background information on Sunni and Shiite Islam, highlighting their historical, religious, and ideological differences. (CFR)

Manufacture of industrial products from oak

Treesearch

Hugh W. Reynolds

1971-01-01

The three largest and fastest growing markets for oak are railroad crossties, reusable pallets, and truck and container flooring. Manufacturers of oak lumber are advised to keep these products in mind when planning their production.

Hybrid poplar planting in the Lake States

Treesearch

Paul O. Rudolf

1948-01-01

Poplars are among our fastest growing trees. Many of them are also relatively easy to grow from cuttings and to hybridize by means of cut flower-bearing twigs. Their wood is in demand for pulpwood, veneer for match and crate production, boxboards, and other uses. For these reasons there has been interest in many countries in selecting and breeding poplars. The tree...

Back to School--Lacrosse Style: Physical Education Teachers Bring Fast-Paced, Fast-Growing Sport into the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krome. Paul; Smith, Erin

2006-01-01

Lacrosse has been the fastest growing team sport at the interscholastic athletic level for the past 10 years according to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). As a result, many physical educators are branching out from their traditional team sport units and teaching lacrosse in their classrooms. They are exposing…

"I Fully Expect to Die with This Debt"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patton, Stacey

2013-01-01

Student-loan debt is not just a problem for young, recent college graduates searching for their first jobs. Growing numbers of adults nearing the ends of their careers are accumulating such big debt, too, and they don't have a lifetime to pay it back. In fact, student-loan debt is growing fastest among adults ages 60 and older, with more than two…

Research Facts on Homeschooling. General Facts and Trends

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ray, Brian D.

2006-01-01

This fact sheet presents the following general facts and trends. Homeschooling may be the fastest-growing form of education in the United States and it is also growing around the world in many nations. There are about 2 million homeschool students in the United States. There were an estimated 1.9 to 2.4 million children (in grades K to 12) home…

The U.S. Economy to 2006. Employment Outlook: 1996-2006.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boustead, Thomas

1997-01-01

Slowing gross domestic product (GDP) growth is tied to slowing labor force growth; exports and imports continue to be the fastest growing components of GDP, with high technology products leading the way. (Author)

Disparities in the treatment and outcomes of vascular disease in Hispanic patients

PubMed Central

Morrissey, Nicholas J.; Giacovelli, Jeannine; Egorova, Natalia; Gelijns, Annetine; Moskowitz, Alan; McKinsey, James; Kent, Kenneth Craig; Greco, Giampaolo

2008-01-01

Background The Hispanic population represents the fastest growing minority in the United States. As the population grows and ages, the vascular surgery community will be providing increasing amounts of care to this diverse group. To appropriately administer preventive and therapeutic care, it is important to understand the incidence, risk factors, and natural history of vascular disease in Hispanic patients. Methods We analyzed hospital discharge databases from New York and Florida to determine the rate of lower extremity revascularization (LER), carotid revascularization (CR), and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair in Hispanics relative to the general population. The rates of common comorbidities, the indications for the procedures, and outcomes during the same hospitalization as the index procedure were determined. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the differences between Hispanics and white non-Hispanics with respect to rate of procedure, symptoms at presentation, and outcome after procedure. Demographic variables and length of stay were also analyzed. Results The rate of LER, CR, and AAA repair was significantly lower in Hispanic patients than in white non-Hispanics. Despite this lower rate of intervention, Hispanics were significantly more likely than whites to present with limb-threatening lower extremity ischemia (odds ratio [OR], 2.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.91 to 2.29), symptomatic carotid artery disease (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.4 to 1.75), and ruptured AAA (OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.04-1.52) than white non-Hispanics These differences were maintained after controlling for the presence of diabetes mellitus and other comorbidities. Hispanic patients had higher rates of amputation during the same hospitalization after LER (6.2% vs 3.4%, P < .0001) and higher mortality after elective AAA repair (5% vs 3.4%, P = .0032). Length of stay after LER, CR, and AAA repair was longer for Hispanic patients than white non-Hispanics. Conclusion Significant disparities in the rate of utilization of three common vascular surgical procedures exist between Hispanic patients and the general population. In addition, Hispanics appear to present with more advanced disease and have worse outcomes in some cases. Reasons for these disparities must be determined to improve these results in the fastest growing segment of our society. PMID:17980283

Viva la Evolucion!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haro, Robert P.

1979-01-01

Developments in library services to Hispanic Americans include special collection development and outreach services to non-users but change is coming too slowly for America's fastest growing minority. Professional education has responded slowly, if at all to the Hispanic population's needs. (MBR)

Out before the Game Begins: Hispanic Leaders Talk about What's Needed to Bring More Hispanic Youngsters into Science, Technology and Math Professions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gasbarra, Paul; Johnson, Jean

2008-01-01

Hispanics are one of the largest and fastest-growing minority groups in the United States. Projections indicate a need for an increase of 20% of practicing engineers by 2010. Despite the growing number of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers in the American economy, education statistics suggest that too few Hispanic students…

Community College Nursing and Allied Health Education Programs, and Iowa's Healthcare Workforce

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLaughlin, Michael P.

2009-01-01

As the nation's population ages and the Baby Boom generation nears retirement, the need for skilled healthcare workers in Iowa and across the nation grows. Healthcare is one of the fastest growing sectors of the U.S. economy, and one of the top industries for job growth and job creation in Iowa. The increase in the number of healthcare positions…

Adapting Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Mexican American Students with Anxiety Disorders: Recommendations for School Psychologists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Jeffrey J.; Chiu, Angela W.; Hwang, Wei-Chin; Jacobs, Jeffrey; Ifekwunigwe, Muriel

2008-01-01

Mexican American students are the fastest growing group in U.S. public schools. There is a growing body of research indicating that Mexican American families underutilize mental health services and are more likely to drop out of care prematurely when they do seek help. These findings may indicate that our health care system is not providing ethnic…

Job Prospects for Manufacturing Engineers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Basta, Nicholas

1985-01-01

Coming from a variety of disciplines, manufacturing engineers are keys to industry's efforts to modernize, with demand exceeding supply. The newest and fastest-growing areas include machine vision, composite materials, and manufacturing automation protocols, each of which is briefly discussed. (JN)

Simple Activity Demonstrates Wind Energy Principles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roman, Harry T.

2012-01-01

Wind energy is an exciting and clean energy option often described as the fastest-growing energy system on the planet. With some simple materials, teachers can easily demonstrate its key principles in their classroom. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)

ESTIMATING AND PROJECTING IMPERVIOUS COVER IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

EPA Science Inventory

Urban/suburban land constitutes the fastest growing land use class in the Southeastern United States. Predominant development practices increase impervious surface--areas preventing infiltration of water into the underlying soil. Uncontrolled increase of impervious areas (roads,...

ESTIMATING AND PROJECTING IMPERVIOUS COVER IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

EPA Science Inventory

Urban/suburban land use constitutes the fastest growing land use class in the Southeastern United States. Predominant development practices increase impervious surface--areas preventing infiltration of water into the underlying soil. Uncontrolled increase of impervious areas (ro...

Is visual image segmentation a bottom-up or an interactive process?

PubMed

Vecera, S P; Farah, M J

1997-11-01

Visual image segmentation is the process by which the visual system groups features that are part of a single shape. Is image segmentation a bottom-up or an interactive process? In Experiments 1 and 2, we presented subjects with two overlapping shapes and asked them to determine whether two probed locations were on the same shape or on different shapes. The availability of top-down support was manipulated by presenting either upright or rotated letters. Subjects were fastest to respond when the shapes corresponded to familiar shapes--the upright letters. In Experiment 3, we used a variant of this segmentation task to rule out the possibility that subjects performed same/different judgments after segmentation and recognition of both letters. Finally, in Experiment 4, we ruled out the possibility that the advantage for upright letters was merely due to faster recognition of upright letters relative to rotated letters. The results suggested that the previous effects were not due to faster recognition of upright letters; stimulus familiarity influenced segmentation per se. The results are discussed in terms of an interactive model of visual image segmentation.

Dysart Unified School District: How One School District Used Collaborative Planning to Improve Outcomes for All Students. From the Field. Digital Learning Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slaven, Chip; Hall, Sara; Schwartzbeck, Terri Duggan; Jones, Rachel; Wolf, Mary Ann

2013-01-01

The Dysart Unified School District (Dysart) in Arizona covers 140 square miles and serves numerous communities, including the cities of Surprise and El Mirage and some unincorporated areas of Maricopa County. At one time the fastest-growing school system in Arizona, Dysart has tripled in size since 2000. The district continues to grow, and in…

Advances in postharvest technologies to extend the storage life of minimally processed fruits and vegetables.

PubMed

Ali, Asgar; Yeoh, Wei Keat; Forney, Charles; Siddiqui, Mohammed Wasim

2017-10-26

Minimally processed fresh produce is one of the fastest growing segments of the food industry due to consumer demand for fresh, healthy, and convenient foods. However, mechanical operations of cutting and peeling induce the liberation of cellular contents at the site of wounding that can promote the growth of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms. In addition, rates of tissue senescence can be enhanced resulting in reduced storage life of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. Chlorine has been widely adopted in the disinfection and washing procedures of fresh-cut produce due to its low cost and efficacy against a broad spectrum of microorganisms. Continuous replenishment of chlorine in high organic wash water can promote the formation of carcinogenic compounds such as trihalomethanes, which threaten human and environmental health. Alternative green and innovative chemical and physical postharvest treatments such as ozone, electrolyzed water, hydrogen peroxide, ultraviolet radiation, high pressure processing, and ultrasound can achieve similar reduction of microorganisms as chlorine without the production of harmful compounds or compromising the quality of fresh-cut produce.

Specialty pharmacy cost management strategies of private health care payers.

PubMed

Stern, Debbie; Reissman, Debi

2006-01-01

The rate of increase in spending on specialty pharmaceuticals is outpacing by far the rate of increase in spending for other drugs. To explore the strategies payers are using in response to challenges related to coverage, cost, clinical management, and access of specialty pharmaceuticals and to describe the potential implications for key stakeholders, including patients, physicians, and health care purchasers. Sources of information were identified in the course of providing consulting services in the subject area of specialty pharmaceuticals to health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, employers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Specialty pharmaceuticals represent the fastest growing segment of drug spending due to new product approvals, high unit costs, and increasing use. Health care payers are faced with significant challenges related to coverage, cost, clinical management, and access. A variety of short- and long-term strategies have been employed to address these challenges. Current management techniques for specialty pharmaceuticals often represent a stop-gap approach for controlling rising drug costs. Optimum cost and care management methods will evolve as further research identifies the true clinical and economic value of various specialty pharmaceuticals.

Licensing procedures and older drivers : traffic tech.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-09-01

People 65 and older are the fastest growing demographic : group in the United States. This is cause for concern given : that the youngest and oldest drivers have the highest crash : rates per unit of distance traveled, with rates increasing for : old...

Exploitation of insect vibrational signals reveals a new method of pest management.

PubMed

Eriksson, Anna; Anfora, Gianfranco; Lucchi, Andrea; Lanzo, Francesco; Virant-Doberlet, Meta; Mazzoni, Valerio

2012-01-01

Food production is considered to be the main source of human impact on the environment and the concerns about detrimental effects of pesticides on biodiversity and human health are likely to lead to an increasingly restricted use of chemicals in agriculture. Since the first successful field trial, pheromone based mating disruption enabled sustainable insect control, which resulted in reduced levels of pesticide use. Organic farming is one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture and with the continuously growing public concern about use of pesticides, the main remaining challenge in increasing the safety of the global food production is to identify appropriate alternative mating disruption approaches for the numerous insect pests that do not rely on chemical communication. In the present study, we show for the first time that effective mating disruption based on substrate-borne vibrational signals can be achieved in the field. When disruptive vibrational signals were applied to grapevine plants through a supporting wire, mating frequency of the leafhopper pest Scaphoideus titanus dropped to 9 % in semi-field conditions and to 4 % in a mature vineyard. The underlying mechanism of this environmentally friendly pest-control tactic is a masking of the vibrational signals used in mate recognition and location. Because vibrational communication is widespread in insects, mating disruption using substrate vibrations can transform many open field and greenhouse based farming systems.

Influence of Pro-Oxidant on Photodegradation of a Low-Density Polyethylene-Nanosilica Composite

EPA Science Inventory

Use of polymer nanocomposites is burgeoning and they represent one of the fastest growing components of the manufactured nanomaterials market. Incorporation of nanoscale fillers in these plastics significantly improves their stiffness and other key mechanical properties. Although...

RENEWABLE RESOURCES EVALUATION

EPA Science Inventory

The role of wind energy and solar photovoltaics (PV) in producing grid connected electricity and reducing CO2 emissions in the U.S. will be evaluated. Growth in the wind energy is booming , and wind is the World's fastest growing source of energy. Growth in wind turbine sales...

Globalized E-Learning Cultural Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edmundson, Andrea, Ed.

2007-01-01

"Globalized E-Learning Cultural Challenges" explores the issues educators, administrators, and instructional designers face when transferring knowledge and skills to other cultures through e-learning. Most e-learning courses have been designed in Western cultures, but the largest and fastest-growing consumer groups live in Eastern…

Handling Rapid Growth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scheideman, Dale; Dufresne, Ray

2001-01-01

Nevada's Clark County, the fastest growing school district in the nation, uses a life-cycle facilities management approach that monitors the individual components of each building on a database. The district's 10-year building program is addressing facilities infrastructure renewal, deferred maintenance, replacement, and new school construction.…

New Media Publishing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ritchie, Ian

The media industry is the fastest growing business in the world today; additional leisure time, coupled with increasingly global distribution, has created large international markets for information and entertainment. The United Kingdom is relatively strong in the three main areas concerned with new media publishing: information technology,…

An Exploratory Investigation of the Impact of National Culture on Motivation and Learning Styles of B-School Students from India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gopalan, Suresh; Cherikh, Moula; Khojasteh, Mak

2011-01-01

India has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Business magazines and newspapers routinely refer to India as an emerging global powerhouse along with Brazil, China, and Russia (commonly referred to as the BRIC economies). The Indian GDP has experienced a real growth of 8.9 percent from 2003-2007 and is projected to grow by…

The Undereducation and Overcriminalization of U.S. Latinas/os: A Post-Los Angeles Riots LatCrit Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez, Juan Carlos; Portillos, Edwardo L.

2007-01-01

At 40.4 million strong (14% of the U.S. population; U.S. Bureau of the Census 2005), Latinas/os are the largest and fastest growing U.S. ethnic minority group. In the last 15 years, since the Los Angeles riots of 1992, Anglo perceptions that the Latina/o population is too large, growing too fast, and too illegal have both continued and perpetuated…

Financial Barriers to STEM Study in College: Causal Effect Estimates of Need-Based Grants on the Pursuit and Completion of Courses and Degrees in STEM Fields

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castleman, Benjamin L.; Long, Bridget Terry; Mabel, Zachary A.

2014-01-01

The fastest growing supply of jobs in the United States today is in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Yet despite the availability of work in STEM, there is not a sufficient supply of workers to fill open positions. Amidst the growing demand for STEM workers, educational achievement and attainment in STEM fields in…

A Brick and Mortar Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tretter, Thomas; Ardasheva, Yuliya; Bookstrom, Eric

2014-01-01

Literacy skills are critical for building science knowledge. For English Language Learners (ELLs)--the fastest growing population in U.S. schools (Goldenberg 2008)--learning English compounds the challenge of learning complex science concepts. This challenge is particularly acute for learning academic, science-specific English words and language…

Beyond Spam! Netiquette in Virtual Teams.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ashe, Carolyn; Nealy, Chynette

While electronic mail (e-mail) has accomplished an "instructional objective" of the fastest growing method of communication, the backlash can be harmful with respect to workforce productivity. The capabilities of online communications have broadened methods in which instructors and students can interact, business operate, and people…

Aggregation, sedimentation, dissolution and bioavailability of quantum dots in estuarine systems

EPA Science Inventory

Due to increasing use in flat screen applications, solar cells, ink–jet printing, and medical devices, cadmium-based quantum dots (QDs) are among the fastest growing classes of engineered nanomaterial. These wide-ranging consumer product applications and end of use disposal issu...

At Home in Your Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Susan

1994-01-01

Young mothers with children are fastest growing subgroup of homeless people in the United States. Frequently moving or "transient" children are prime homeless candidates. School officials can help by tending to kids' basic needs (food, rest, clothing, and school supplies) before expecting reasonable behavior or learning effort.…

Development of a mix design process for cold-in-place rehabilitation using foamed asphalt.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-12-01

This study evaluates one of the recycling techniques used to rehabilitate pavement, called Cold In-Place Recycling (CIR). CIR is one of the fastest growing road rehabilitation techniques because it is quick and cost-effective. The document reports on...

Study of ion-gyroscale fluctuations in low-density L-mode plasmas heated by NBI on KSTAR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, W.; Ko, S. H.; Leem, J.; Yun, G. S.; Park, H. K.; Wang, W. X.; Budny, R. V.; Kim, K. W.; Luhmann, N. C., Jr.; The KSTAR Team

2018-04-01

Broadband density fluctuations with peak frequency ranging from 150 to 400 kHz were measured using a multichannel microwave imaging reflectometer in core region of the low-density L-mode plasmas heated by neutral beam injection on KSTAR. These fluctuations have been studied by comparing the dominant mode scales estimated from the measurement with those predicted from linear gyrokinetic simulation. The measured poloidal wavenumbers are qualitatively comparable to those of the ‘fastest growing modes’ from simulations, whereas they are larger than those of the ‘transport-dominant modes’ by about a factor of three. The agreement on wavenumbers between the measurement and linear simulation (for the fastest growing modes) is probably due to sufficiently weak E × B flow shear compared to the maximum linear growth rate. Meanwhile, the transport-dominant modes seem to be related to the fluctuations in lower frequencies (˜80-150 kHz) observed in some of the measurement.

Linear stability analysis of particle-laden hypopycnal plumes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farenzena, Bruno Avila; Silvestrini, Jorge Hugo

2017-12-01

Gravity-driven riverine outflows are responsible for carrying sediments to the coastal waters. The turbulent mixing in these flows is associated with shear and gravitational instabilities such as Kelvin-Helmholtz, Holmboe, and Rayleigh-Taylor. Results from temporal linear stability analysis of a two-layer stratified flow are presented, investigating the behavior of settling particles and mixing region thickness on the flow stability in the presence of ambient shear. The particles are considered suspended in the transport fluid, and its sedimentation is modeled with a constant valued settling velocity. Three scenarios, regarding the mixing region thickness, were identified: the poorly mixed environment, the strong mixed environment, and intermediate scenario. It was observed that Kelvin-Helmholtz and settling convection modes are the two fastest growing modes depending on the particles settling velocity and the total Richardson number. The second scenario presents a modified Rayleigh-Taylor instability, which is the dominant mode. The third case can have Kelvin-Helmholtz, settling convection, and modified Rayleigh-Taylor modes as the fastest growing mode depending on the combination of parameters.

Convection without eddy viscosity: An attempt to model the interiors of giant planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ingersoll, A. P.

1986-01-01

In the theory of hydrostatic quasi-geostrophic flow in the Earth's atmosphere the principal results do not depend on the eddy viscosity. This contrasts with published theories of convection in deep rotating fluid spheres, where the wavelength of the fastest growing disturbance varies as E sup 1/3, where E, the Ekman number, is proportional to the eddy viscosity. A new theory of quasi-columnar motions in stably stratified fluid spheres attempts to capture the luck of the meteorologists. The theory allows one to investigate the stability of barotropic and baroclinic zonal flows that extend into the planetary interior. It is hypothesized that the internal heat Jupiter and Saturn comes out not radially but on sloping surfaces defined by the internal entropy distribution. To test the hypothesis one searches for basic states in which the wavelength of the fastest-growing disturbance remains finite as E tends to zero, and is which the heat flux vector is radially outward and poleward.

A fast 3D region growing approach for CT angiography applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Zhen; Lin, Zhongmin; Lu, Cheng-chang

2004-05-01

Region growing is one of the most popular methods for low-level image segmentation. Many researches on region growing have focused on the definition of the homogeneity criterion or growing and merging criterion. However, one disadvantage of conventional region growing is redundancy. It requires a large memory usage, and the computation-efficiency is very low especially for 3D images. To overcome this problem, a non-recursive single-pass 3D region growing algorithm named SymRG is implemented and successfully applied to 3D CT angiography (CTA) applications for vessel segmentation and bone removal. The method consists of three steps: segmenting one-dimensional regions of each row; doing region merging to adjacent rows to obtain the region segmentation of each slice; and doing region merging to adjacent slices to obtain the final region segmentation of 3D images. To improve the segmentation speed for very large volume 3D CTA images, this algorithm is applied repeatedly to newly updated local cubes. The next new cube can be estimated by checking isolated segmented regions on all 6 faces of the current local cube. This local non-recursive 3D region-growing algorithm is memory-efficient and computation-efficient. Clinical testings of this algorithm on Brain CTA show this technique could effectively remove whole skull, most of the bones on the skull base, and reveal the cerebral vascular structures clearly.

Effective Teaching in Accelerated Learning Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, Drick

2004-01-01

According to Wlodkowski (2003), "accelerated learning programs are one of the fastest growing transformations in higher education" (p. 5). The Center for the Study of Accelerated Learning at Regis University has documented at least 250 colleges or universities that offer accelerated learning programs for working adults. By definition, accelerated…

Best Audiobooks of 2007

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Ann

2008-01-01

Heard any good books lately? Apparently, lots of people are listening. According to a survey conducted by the Audio Publishers Association, annual audiobook sales are now estimated at $923 million. Customers find books at libraries, retail stores, and through downloading, which is becoming the fastest-growing audiobook format. This article…

A hybrid 3D region growing and 4D curvature analysis-based automatic abdominal blood vessel segmentation through contrast enhanced CT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maklad, Ahmed S.; Matsuhiro, Mikio; Suzuki, Hidenobu; Kawata, Yoshiki; Niki, Noboru; Shimada, Mitsuo; Iinuma, Gen

2017-03-01

In abdominal disease diagnosis and various abdominal surgeries planning, segmentation of abdominal blood vessel (ABVs) is a very imperative task. Automatic segmentation enables fast and accurate processing of ABVs. We proposed a fully automatic approach for segmenting ABVs through contrast enhanced CT images by a hybrid of 3D region growing and 4D curvature analysis. The proposed method comprises three stages. First, candidates of bone, kidneys, ABVs and heart are segmented by an auto-adapted threshold. Second, bone is auto-segmented and classified into spine, ribs and pelvis. Third, ABVs are automatically segmented in two sub-steps: (1) kidneys and abdominal part of the heart are segmented, (2) ABVs are segmented by a hybrid approach that integrates a 3D region growing and 4D curvature analysis. Results are compared with two conventional methods. Results show that the proposed method is very promising in segmenting and classifying bone, segmenting whole ABVs and may have potential utility in clinical use.

The effect of hyperbaric oxygen treatment on early regeneration of sensory axons after nerve crush in the rat.

PubMed

Bajrović, Fajko F; Sketelj, Janez; Jug, Marko; Gril, Iztok; Mekjavić, Igor B

2002-09-01

Abstract The effect of hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBO) on sensory axon regeneration was examined in the rat. The sciatic nerve was crushed in both legs. In addition, the distal stump of the sural nerve on one side was made acellular and its blood perfusion was compromised by freezing and thawing. Two experimental groups received hyperbaric exposures (2.5 ATA) to either compressed air (pO2 = 0.5 ATA) or 100% oxygen (pO2 = 2.5 ATA) 90 minutes per day for 6 days. Sensory axon regeneration in the sural nerve was thereafter assessed by the nerve pinch test and immunohistochemical reaction to neurofilament. HBO treatment increased the distances reached by the fastest regenerating sensory axons by about 15% in the distal nerve segments with preserved and with compromised blood perfusion. There was no significant difference between the rats treated with different oxygen tensions. The total number of regenerated axons in the distal sural nerve segments after a simple crush injury was not affected, whereas in the nerve segments with compromised blood perfusion treated by the higher pO2, the axon number was about 30% lower than that in the control group. It is concluded that the beneficial effect of HBO on sensory axon regeneration is not dose-dependent between 0.5 and 2.5 ATA pO2. Although the exposure to 2.5 ATA of pO2 moderately enhanced early regeneration of the fastest sensory axons, it decreased the number of regenerating axons in the injured nerves with compromised blood perfusion of the distal nerve stump.

Tuition Discounting for Revenue Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hillman, Nicholas W.

2012-01-01

Over the past decade, institutionally-funded financial aid (or "tuition discounts") have been the fastest-growing item within most public four-year college and university operating budgets. One explanation for this trend is due to the changing structure of public colleges' revenue streams, as tuition and fees have replaced state appropriations as…

The Impact of CO2 Emission Reduction on U.S. Electric Sector Water Use

EPA Science Inventory

The electric power sector is currently one of the largest water withdrawers and fastest growing water consumers in the U.S. Water supply in the United States is becoming increasingly stressed due to growth in population, per capita energy consumption and industrial water use. A...

The Impact of CO2 Emission Reductions on U.S. Electric Sector Water Use

EPA Science Inventory

The electric power sector is currently one of the largest water withdrawers and fastest growing water consumers in the U.S. Water supply in the United States is becoming increasingly stressed due to growth in population, per capita energy consumption and industrial water use. At ...

Applying Cultura in the Community College Counseling Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arteaga, Blanca E.

2015-01-01

Latino students represent the fastest-growing population in the state of California, the United States, and the California Community College (CCC) system. Unfortunately, compared to other ethnic groups, Latino community college students continue to lag academically. Given the importance of counseling services and the scarce research related to…

Scrapbook This

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sacchetti, Susanne

2006-01-01

Scrapbooking is one of the fastest-growing crafts in the world. Unlike sports or other recreational activities, scrapbooking has no rules; it is a form of creative expression that allows a person to share and preserve his or her experiences and memories in albums that usually consist of photographs, newspaper clippings, and other mementos, in…

A research update for the Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Aquaculture (fish farming) has played an ever-increasing role in providing people with fish, shrimp, and shellfish. Aquaculture is currently the fastest growing sector of global food production and in 2016 totaled 90 million tons valued at $180 billion. The production of food-fish from aquaculture...

Cultural Resources for Mexican American Education. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collins, Timothy; Hagerman, Robert

Even though Mexican Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, their history and literature receive limited attention in schools. Incorporating Mexican American culture and history into the curriculum should help minimize the cultural myopia characteristic of many students and the cultural alienation that may contribute…

Computing and Engineering in Afterschool. Afterschool Alert. Issue Brief No. 62

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Afterschool Alliance, 2013

2013-01-01

This Afterschool Alert Issue Brief explores how afterschool programs are offering innovative, hands-on computing and engineering education opportunities. Both these subjects have emerged as priority areas within the "STEM" fields. Computing is one of the fastest growing industries, and yet current rates of college graduation in computer…

A Review of Applicability and Effectiveness of Low Impact Development/Green Infrastructure Practices in Arid/Semi-Arid United States

EPA Science Inventory

Southwestern/Western United States is among the fastest growing urbanized area and faces multiple water resource challenges. Low Impact Development (LID) /Green Infrastructure (GI) practices are increasingly popular technologies for managing stormwater; however, LID is often not ...

"If You Only Knew": Lessons Learned from Successful Black Entrepreneurs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Cheryl A.

2001-01-01

A qualitative study investigated success in entrepreneurship from the standpoint of Black women entrepreneurs, one of the fastest growing groups of new small business owners. It explored the business and learning experiences of successful Black women graduates of an entrepreneurship training program in New York State to identify learning…

Organizational Cultures and the Role of Professional Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Thomas E.

Understanding organizational cultures offers important and useful insights for the professional communicator. The fastest-growing area of interest in the study of modern organizations and their behavior is that of organizational cultures. There are at least two specific ways to categorize and discuss these cultures. The first is to divide them…

Facebook: Perils, Perceptions and Precautions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

La Roche, Claire Reeves; Flanigan, Mary A.; La Roche, St. Clair Reeves

2009-01-01

Facebook is one of the fastest growing applications of the Internet. Social networking via Facebook provides a popular way for students and others to connect with a wide audience and expand their circle of friends. Facebook account holders have been denied admission to universities, not hired for jobs, lost scholarships, been disciplined by…

Go East, Young Teacher!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lucenta, Lindsey

2011-01-01

Because China is the world's fastest growing economy, the Chinese school system has a huge demand for English teachers at all levels. Teaching English as a second language (ESL) offers a plethora of benefits, such as developing a more critical approach to cultural understanding, more opportunities for travel, overseas experience during a time of…

Update on RR gene flow research

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The United States is a major exporter of alfalfa seed and hay and the organic dairy industry is one of the fastest growing agricultural sectors. Because of this, many alfalfa producers are impacted by market sensitivity to adventitious presence (AP) of GM traits. Our objective was to quantify the ex...

Higher Education Exports in South Africa: A Case Study of Stellenbosch University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

du Plessis, E.; Fourie, J.

2011-01-01

International trade in higher education services is one of the fastest growing tradable service sectors globally. Apart from the positive externalities international students create through knowledge mobility and spill-over, campus diversity, and local community development participation, spending by international students in the host city and…

Skiing trends

Treesearch

Charles R. Goeldner; Stacy Standley

1980-01-01

A brief historical overview of skiing is presented, followed by a review of factors such as energy, population trends, income, sex, occupation and attitudes which affect the future of skiing. A. C. Neilson's Sports Participation Surveys show that skiing is the second fastest growing sport in the country. Skiing Magazine's study indicates there are...

Latino Youths at a Crossroads.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Children's Defense Fund, Washington, DC.

This document provides an overview of the status of Latino youth and their families and makes recommendations for improving their educational achievement. The following key facts are reported: (1) Latino youth comprise the fastest growing group of young people in the United States; (2) young Latinos are at economic and educational risk because…

The Characteristics and Motivations of Contemporary Entrepreneurship Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duval-Couetil, Nathalie; Gotch, Chad M.; Yi, Soohyun

2014-01-01

Entrepreneurship is among the fastest growing curricular areas at universities. The rationale for delivering entrepreneurship education to students is well understood; however, minimal research has examined the characteristics, motivations, and attitudes of those choosing to enroll. The authors examine data collected across 5 years from 2,664…

Diversity Issues and Business Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foxman, Ellen; And Others

1995-01-01

Thirty-two marketing textbooks were examined for content related to workforce diversity. Age was most frequently discussed at young/old extremes, although 53% of the population are in middle age groups. Racial/ethnic coverage was 60% about Hispanics, although African Americans have a larger population and Asians are the fastest growing group.…

A Theoretical Examination of Psychosocial Issues for Asian Pacific American Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kodama, Corinne Maekawa; McEwen, Marylu K.; Liang, Christopher T. H.; Lee, Sunny

2001-01-01

Examines psychosocial issues for Asian Pacific American (APA) students, one of the fastest growing but most understudied college populations. Finds that general groupings of developmental issues align somewhat with traditional psychosocial theory, although the underlying assumptions and specific developmental tasks do not fit the experience of…

Interview with Dr. David H. Kalsbeek

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sauter, David M.

2005-01-01

David H. Kalsbeek currently is vice president for enrollment management at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. In that capacity, he leads the marketing and enrollment development strategies for the nation's largest and fastest-growing Catholic university, enrolling 23,000 students in eight colleges and six campuses throughout the greater…

Educational Engagement Practices of Urban Immigrant Latina Mothers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenberg, Joy Pastan

2012-01-01

Although numerous studies have documented the positive association between parental involvement in children's education and a range of academic and motivational outcomes, less work has focused on the Latino immigrant population. Yet, Latino students constitute the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States. This study examines the…

Inverse Relationship Between Urban Green Space and Childhood Autism in California Elementary School Districts

EPA Science Inventory

Green space has a variety of health benefits. However, little is known about its impact on autism, the fastest-growing neurodevelopmental disorder in children. This study examined the relationship between green space and childhood autism prevalence.Autism count data in 2010 were ...

Historical Perspectives on Diverse Asian American Communities: Immigration, Incorporation, and Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paik, Susan J.; Kula, Stacy M.; Saito, L. Erika; Rahman, Zaynah; Witenstein, Matthew A.

2014-01-01

Background/Context: Asian Americans have recently been reported as the largest incoming immigrant population and the fastest growing racial group. Diverse in culture, tradition, language, and history, they have unique immigrant stories both before and after the Immigration Act in 1965. Historians, sociologists, educators, and other experts inform…

New Projections to 1995.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Occupational Outlook Quarterly, 1986

1986-01-01

Projections of job outlook result from analysis of the economy, including labor force, consumer, and government spending trends. This article looks at expected changes in such factors and shows how they affect job prospects. Includes lists of the fastest growing occupations and the occupations that will provide the most new jobs between now and…

A Research Update for the Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Aquaculture (fish farming) has played an ever-increasing role in providing people with fish, shrimp, and shellfish. Aquaculture is currently the fastest growing sector of global food production and in 2014 totaled 80 million tons valued at $140 billion. The production of food-fish from aquaculture...

The camper

Treesearch

Gerald L. Cole; Bruce T. Wilkins

1971-01-01

Camping is one of the fastest growing outdoor recreation activities in the United States. The role of public agencies in providing camping opportunities is outlined. A profile of socioeconomic characteristics of campers is discussed, together with some of the reasons why they camp. Management implications are offered for public-agency personnel, based upon current...

Commentary: Centering the "Marginalized Majority"--How Hispanic-Serving Institutions Advance Postsecondary Attainment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Núñez, Anne-Marie

2017-01-01

Advancing the educational success of the Latinx population can significantly affect overall postsecondary attainment since Latinxs comprise the largest and fastest growing non-White population in the country yet historically have among the lowest rates of postsecondary attainment (Kelly, Schneider, & Carey, 2010). Arguably, Hispanic-Serving…

Being Black (and) Immigrant Students: When Race, Ethnicity, and Nativity Collide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mwangi, Chrystal A. George; English, Shelvia

2017-01-01

While Black immigrants share some of the racialized experiences of native-Black Americans, they also have distinctive experiences. U.S. education presents an important environment to investigate these experiences as immigrants have the fastest growing child population and these children are increasingly entering the education system. This paper…

Serving Adult and Returning Students: One College's Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennamer, Michael A.; Campbell, J. David

2011-01-01

In 2009, "Community College Week" named Northeast Alabama Community College (NACC) one of the fastest growing community colleges in America. In the early 2000s, the college, which is located in the rural Appalachian region of Alabama, had begun efforts to increase enrollment. These efforts included providing online registration, online…

Coaching: An Apprenticeship Approach for the 21st Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salavert, Roser

2015-01-01

Coaching, an apprentice-based approach to support professional and personal development towards achieving set goals, is a well-established practice in the fields of sports training and management and one of the fastest growing professional development methods in the education field. How the coaching partnership fosters leadership and improves…

Into the Mainstream

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scully, Maura King

2009-01-01

It's official: Online social networking is mainstream. Once the domain of teenagers and techno-geeks, sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter are rapidly gaining popularity with the multi-aged masses. Last year, in fact, Facebook reported its fastest growing demographic was those 25 years and older. There's no question that this new…

Educational Attainment Effects of Public and Private School Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foreman, Leesa M.

2017-01-01

The two fastest growing school choice options are charter schools and private school choice programs, which include vouchers, tax credit scholarships, and education savings accounts. Most research assessing the effects of these programs focuses on student achievement. I review the literature to determine the impact public and private school choice…

Using Radio To Promote Family Planning in Sub-Saharan Africa.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henry, Kathleen

Family planning programs in sub-Saharan Africa (42 countries and 450 million population), the fastest growing and poorest region in the world, need effective communications campaigns to educate people about the benefits of contraception, help change attitudes about fertility control and family size, and provide information about available…

The Mutual Benefits of Children's Museum/School of Education Cooperation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ault, Charles R., Jr.; And Others

Museums are the fastest growing educational institutions in the United States. They provide the introduction to science for many children and are a major source of continuing education for adults. This paper discusses cooperative programs between The Children's Museum (Indianapolis) and the Indiana University School of Education. These programs…

A Curriculum Framework for Geographical Information Science (GISc) Training at South African Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

du Plessis, H.; van Niekerk, A.

2012-01-01

Geographical information science (GISc) is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. Being a relatively new discipline, universities often provide training as part of geography, surveying, town planning, environmental and computer science programmes. This complicates professional accreditation assessments as the content, outcomes, extent…

Analyzing the Natural Resource Extension Needs of Spanish-Speakers: A Perspective from Florida

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wyman, Miriam; Escobedo, Francisco; Varela, Sebastian; Asuaje, Cesar; Mayer, Henry; Swisher, Mickie; Hermansen-Baez, Annie

2011-01-01

Hispanics are the country's fastest growing minority group. The study reported here surveyed and assessed Extension agents from two demographically different regions in Florida on perceptions and attitudes about the need, quality, and dissemination of Spanish Extension materials. Results showed Extension programs are important sources of…

Chesapeake Bay Tidal Flooding Study. Appendix D. Social and Cultural Resources. Appendix E. Engineering Design and Cost Estimates. Appendix F. Economics.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-09-01

provided by private airline. Facilities and services include fuel, storage and outside tiedown, instruction, rental planes, unicorn radio and aircraft...project the population to grow between 41 and 44.5 percent from 1980 to 2030. The greatest increases in population are anticipated for Chesapeake and...VIRGINIA DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS Poquoson has been one of the fastest growing cities in Virginia over the past 20 years. While the surrounding

The Brain in Congenital Heart Disease across the Lifespan: The Cumulative Burden of Injury

PubMed Central

Marelli, Ariane; Miller, Steven P.; Marino, Bradley Scott; Jefferson, Angela L.; Newburger, Jane W.

2017-01-01

The number of patients surviving with congenital heart disease (CHD) has soared over the last three decades. Adults constitute the fastest growing segment of the CHD population, now outnumbering children. Research to date on the heart-brain intersection in this population has largely been focused on neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood and adolescence. Mutations in genes that are highly expressed in heart and brain may cause cerebral dysgenesis. Together with altered cerebral perfusion in utero, these factors are associated with abnormalities of brain structure and brain immaturity in a significant portion of neonates with critical CHD even before they undergo cardiac surgery. In infancy and childhood, the brain may be affected by risk factors related to heart disease itself or to its interventional treatments. As children with CHD become adults, they increasingly develop heart failure, atrial fibrillation, hypertension, diabetes and coronary disease. These acquired cardiovascular comorbidities can be expected to have effects similar to those in the general population on cerebral blood flow, brain volumes, and dementia. In both children and adults, cardiovascular disease may have adverse effects on achievement, executive function, memory, language, social interactions, and quality of life. In summary, against the backdrop of shifting demographics, risk factors for brain injury in the CHD population are cumulative and synergistic. As neurodevelopmental sequelae in children with CHD evolve to cognitive decline or dementia during adulthood, a growing population of CHD can be expected to require support services. We highlight evidence gaps and future research directions. PMID:27185022

Hierarchical Image Segmentation of Remotely Sensed Data using Massively Parallel GNU-LINUX Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilton, James C.

2003-01-01

A hierarchical set of image segmentations is a set of several image segmentations of the same image at different levels of detail in which the segmentations at coarser levels of detail can be produced from simple merges of regions at finer levels of detail. In [1], Tilton, et a1 describes an approach for producing hierarchical segmentations (called HSEG) and gave a progress report on exploiting these hierarchical segmentations for image information mining. The HSEG algorithm is a hybrid of region growing and constrained spectral clustering that produces a hierarchical set of image segmentations based on detected convergence points. In the main, HSEG employs the hierarchical stepwise optimization (HSWO) approach to region growing, which was described as early as 1989 by Beaulieu and Goldberg. The HSWO approach seeks to produce segmentations that are more optimized than those produced by more classic approaches to region growing (e.g. Horowitz and T. Pavlidis, [3]). In addition, HSEG optionally interjects between HSWO region growing iterations, merges between spatially non-adjacent regions (i.e., spectrally based merging or clustering) constrained by a threshold derived from the previous HSWO region growing iteration. While the addition of constrained spectral clustering improves the utility of the segmentation results, especially for larger images, it also significantly increases HSEG s computational requirements. To counteract this, a computationally efficient recursive, divide-and-conquer, implementation of HSEG (RHSEG) was devised, which includes special code to avoid processing artifacts caused by RHSEG s recursive subdivision of the image data. The recursive nature of RHSEG makes for a straightforward parallel implementation. This paper describes the HSEG algorithm, its recursive formulation (referred to as RHSEG), and the implementation of RHSEG using massively parallel GNU-LINUX software. Results with Landsat TM data are included comparing RHSEG with classic region growing.

Topological leakage detection and freeze-and-grow propagation for improved CT-based airway segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nadeem, Syed Ahmed; Hoffman, Eric A.; Sieren, Jered P.; Saha, Punam K.

2018-03-01

Numerous large multi-center studies are incorporating the use of computed tomography (CT)-based characterization of the lung parenchyma and bronchial tree to understand chronic obstructive pulmonary disease status and progression. To the best of our knowledge, there are no fully automated airway tree segmentation methods, free of the need for user review. A failure in even a fraction of segmentation results necessitates manual revision of all segmentation masks which is laborious considering the thousands of image data sets evaluated in large studies. In this paper, we present a novel CT-based airway tree segmentation algorithm using topological leakage detection and freeze-and-grow propagation. The method is fully automated requiring no manual inputs or post-segmentation editing. It uses simple intensity-based connectivity and a freeze-and-grow propagation algorithm to iteratively grow the airway tree starting from an initial seed inside the trachea. It begins with a conservative parameter and then, gradually shifts toward more generous parameter values. The method was applied on chest CT scans of fifteen subjects at total lung capacity. Airway segmentation results were qualitatively assessed and performed comparably to established airway segmentation method with no major visual leakages.

Role of Nanotechnology in Cosmeceuticals: A Review of Recent Advances.

PubMed

Kaul, Shreya; Gulati, Neha; Verma, Deepali; Mukherjee, Siddhartha; Nagaich, Upendra

2018-01-01

Nanotechnology manifests the progression in the arena of research and development, by increasing the efficacy of the product through delivery of innovative solutions. To overcome certain drawbacks associated with the traditional products, application of nanotechnology is escalating in the area of cosmeceuticals. Cosmeceuticals are regarded as the fastest growing segment of the personal care industry and the use has risen drastically over the years. Nanocosmeceuticals used for skin, hair, nail, and lip care, for conditions like wrinkles, photoaging, hyperpigmentation, dandruff, and hair damage, have come into widespread use. Novel nanocarriers like liposomes, niosomes, nanoemulsions, microemulsion, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carrier, and nanospheres have replaced the usage of conventional delivery system. These novel nanocarriers have advantages of enhanced skin penetration, controlled and sustained drug release, higher stability, site specific targeting, and high entrapment efficiency. However, nanotoxicological researches have indicated concern regarding the impact of increased use of nanoparticles in cosmeceuticals as there are possibilities of nanoparticles to penetrate through skin and cause health hazards. This review on nanotechnology used in cosmeceuticals highlights the various novel carriers used for the delivery of cosmeceuticals, their positive and negative aspects, marketed formulations, toxicity, and regulations of nanocosmeceuticals.

Role of Nanotechnology in Cosmeceuticals: A Review of Recent Advances

PubMed Central

Kaul, Shreya; Gulati, Neha; Verma, Deepali; Mukherjee, Siddhartha

2018-01-01

Nanotechnology manifests the progression in the arena of research and development, by increasing the efficacy of the product through delivery of innovative solutions. To overcome certain drawbacks associated with the traditional products, application of nanotechnology is escalating in the area of cosmeceuticals. Cosmeceuticals are regarded as the fastest growing segment of the personal care industry and the use has risen drastically over the years. Nanocosmeceuticals used for skin, hair, nail, and lip care, for conditions like wrinkles, photoaging, hyperpigmentation, dandruff, and hair damage, have come into widespread use. Novel nanocarriers like liposomes, niosomes, nanoemulsions, microemulsion, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carrier, and nanospheres have replaced the usage of conventional delivery system. These novel nanocarriers have advantages of enhanced skin penetration, controlled and sustained drug release, higher stability, site specific targeting, and high entrapment efficiency. However, nanotoxicological researches have indicated concern regarding the impact of increased use of nanoparticles in cosmeceuticals as there are possibilities of nanoparticles to penetrate through skin and cause health hazards. This review on nanotechnology used in cosmeceuticals highlights the various novel carriers used for the delivery of cosmeceuticals, their positive and negative aspects, marketed formulations, toxicity, and regulations of nanocosmeceuticals. PMID:29785318

Memory activation in healthy nonagenarians.

PubMed

Beeri, Michal Schnaider; Lee, Hedok; Cheng, Hu; Wollman, Daniel; Silverman, Jeremy M; Prohovnik, Isak

2011-03-01

Little is known about brain function in the oldest old, although this is the fastest growing segment of the population in developed countries and is of paramount importance in public health considerations. In this study, we investigated the cerebral response to a memory task in healthy subjects over age 90 compared with healthy younger elderly. We studied 29 healthy elderly subjects, 12 over age 90 and 17 between age 70 and 80. All subjects were cognitively intact, as verified by a neuropsychological battery, and performed a nonverbal memory task while undergoing a functional MRI (fMRI). Activation results were analyzed by a random-effects ANCOVA using SPM5. The task resulted in activation of similar areas of the posterior temporal, parietal, and posterior frontal cortexes, but the activation was more robust in the younger subjects, especially in the right hippocampus, and parietal and temporal cortices. This finding remained after controlling for education, cognition, task performance or cerebral atrophy. The phenomenon of relatively maintained performance, despite significant brain atrophy and lower activation is consistent with the cognitive reserve theory and may be specific to subjects with extremely successful aging. Further investigation of brain activation patterns in the oldest old is warranted. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding cervical cancer prevention and screening in Chuukese women in Hawaii.

PubMed

Wong, Vanessa S; Kawamoto, Crissy T

2010-06-01

Cervical cancer is the primary cause of death due to cancer in women in Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia. The Chuukese population is the fastest growing segment of the Micronesian community in Hawaii. Little is known about the health beliefs or practices of this population in Hawaii. The purpose of this project was to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of Chuukese women in Hawaii regarding cervical cancer prevention and screening. Research assistants from the Chuukese community were recruited and trained as members of the research team. A culturally sensitive survey tool was developed and piloted by the research team and used to interview ten key informants from the Chuukese community in Honolulu, Hawaii. There is limited knowledge about cervical cancer, especially the association with human papillomavirus (HPV). This may be indicative of a lack of health information in general. Fear, privacy concerns, lack of awareness and cultural beliefs represent the main barriers mentioned when discussing cervical cancer. Education, done in a group setting with other women, is the most recommended method of informing this community and improving preventive and screening services for cervical cancer in these women. Hawaii Medical Journal Copyright 2010.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Using Qualitative Methods to Inform the Development of an Internet Portal for Multiple Sclerosis Patients

PubMed Central

Atreja, Ashish; Mehta, Neil; Miller, Deborah; Moore, Shirley; Nichols, Karen; Miller, Holly; Harris, C Martin

2005-01-01

Disabled and elderly populations are the fastest growing segment of Internet usage. However, these people face an “Inverse Information law”- access to appropriate information is particularly difficult to those who need it the most. Our tertiary care Multiple Sclerosis (MS) center received funding to develop a MS specific patient portal linked to web messaging system so as to empower patients to become more active participants in their health care. In order to design an effective portal, we conducted a qualitative study using focus groups and direct observation techniques. The study explores the perceptions, expectations and interactions of MS patients with the portal and underscores the many challenges MS patients face in getting quality health information on the Internet. Many of the patient barriers were due to inappropriate font sizes, low contrast, cluttering of web page and use of dynamic and flashing objects. Some of these issues are not addressed by Section 508 accessibility guidelines. We believe that any future patient portal or health information web site needs to address these issues and educate the patients about accessibility options to enhance utilization and user satisfaction. PMID:16778993

Incorporating Edge Information into Best Merge Region-Growing Segmentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilton, James C.; Pasolli, Edoardo

2014-01-01

We have previously developed a best merge region-growing approach that integrates nonadjacent region object aggregation with the neighboring region merge process usually employed in region growing segmentation approaches. This approach has been named HSeg, because it provides a hierarchical set of image segmentation results. Up to this point, HSeg considered only global region feature information in the region growing decision process. We present here three new versions of HSeg that include local edge information into the region growing decision process at different levels of rigor. We then compare the effectiveness and processing times of these new versions HSeg with each other and with the original version of HSeg.

Improving semi-automated segmentation by integrating learning with active sampling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huo, Jing; Okada, Kazunori; Brown, Matthew

2012-02-01

Interactive segmentation algorithms such as GrowCut usually require quite a few user interactions to perform well, and have poor repeatability. In this study, we developed a novel technique to boost the performance of the interactive segmentation method GrowCut involving: 1) a novel "focused sampling" approach for supervised learning, as opposed to conventional random sampling; 2) boosting GrowCut using the machine learned results. We applied the proposed technique to the glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumor segmentation, and evaluated on a dataset of ten cases from a multiple center pharmaceutical drug trial. The results showed that the proposed system has the potential to reduce user interaction while maintaining similar segmentation accuracy.

Virtual Schooling: A Guide to Optimizing Your Child's Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanna, Elizabeth; Gillis, Lisa

2009-01-01

Today, millions of school-age children are learning outside of a traditional classroom and using cutting edge educational options. Policy experts predict that in a decade half of all education will be delivered virtually. In "Virtual Schooling" three top authorities help you navigate the fastest growing movement in education--regardless of whether…

Lessons in Character Impact Evaluation. Final Report. NCEE 2012-4004

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanson, Thomas; Dietsch, Barbara; Zheng, Hong

2012-01-01

Character education has become one of the fastest growing reform movements in K-12 education today, partially in response to unacceptable levels of student misbehavior and inadequate endorsement of good character values (Williams 2000). Between 1993 and 2009, 36 states passed laws mandating or recommending some aspect of character education in…

Understanding the Experiences of Students with Psychiatric Disabilities: A Foundation for Creating Conditions of Support and Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belch, Holley A.

2011-01-01

One of the fastest-growing categories of disability in the college student population is psychiatric disabilities: bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, and borderline personality disorders, among other. Appropriate treatment and support can provide students with psychiatric disabilities the opportunity to develop their talents and realize their…

Reading for Learning: Literacy Supports for 21st-Century Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gomez, Louis M.; Gomez, Kimberley

2007-01-01

The U.S. work force is changing. Professional and related occupations and service occupations will be the fastest-growing sectors for the foreseeable future. Both demand strong communication skills for sharing complex ideas across diverse communities. In addition, the 21st-century economy will require its members to think creatively and critically…

Training Educators to Design Lessons Incorporating Virtual Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Downey, Steve

2012-01-01

In the past decade, virtual worlds have progressed from isolated sectors of the Internet, inhabited by computer and fantasy role-playing enthusiasts, to one of the fastest growing sectors in the gaming industry. In the process, they have established themselves as promising venues for the delivery of online instruction. Unfortunately, during that…

Influence of pH on the Transport of Silver Nanoparticles in Saturated Porous Media: Laboratory Experiments and Modeling

EPA Science Inventory

Given the ubiquity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), the largest and fastest growing category of nanomaterials, and their potential for toxic effects to both humans and the environment, it is important to understand their environmental fate and transport. The purpose of this stud...

States Grapple with Autism's Rising Tide. Special Education: Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kreck, Carol

2014-01-01

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States. In recognizing the increasing needs of children affected by ASD, as well as the associated financial implications for local governments, some states are re-assessing their current systems of support and looking for better and more efficient ways…

For-Profit Colleges: Growth, Outcomes, Regulation. Research Brief. October 2013

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Education and Employment, 2013

2013-01-01

For-profit, or proprietary, colleges are the fastest growing postsecondary schools in the nation, enrolling a disproportionately high share of disadvantaged and minority students and those ill-prepared for college. Because these schools--many of them big national chains--derive most of their revenue from taxpayer-funded student financial aid, they…

Paying Your Way to the Top: Search Engine Advertising.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, David M.

2003-01-01

Explains how organizations can buy listings on major Web search engines, making it the fastest growing form of advertising. Highlights include two network models, Google and Overture; bidding on phrases to buy as links to use with ads; ad ranking; benefits for small businesses; and paid listings versus regular search results. (LRW)

Forensic Ethics and Indirect Practice for the Rehabilitation Counselor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barros-Bailey, Mary; Carlisle, Jeffrey; Blackwell, Terry L.

2010-01-01

For nearly 50 years, the specialty area of forensics has emerged as an established practice setting in rehabilitation counseling, and it is predicted to be the fastest-growing area of practice in the profession. Reflecting the increased number of practitioners in the specialty, the revised "Code for Professional Ethics of Rehabilitation…

Utah Career Guide for Adults, 2000-2002.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blaine, Connie, Ed.

This career guide provides Utah job seekers with information leading to job success. Section 1, Getting Started, provides suggestions for committing to a job search. Section 2, Utah Job Trends, identifies the fastest growing occupations or most openings; top 50 occupations; and new Utah jobs. Section 3, Self-Assessment, covers knowing oneself;…

Resource Guide: Accountability for English Learners under the ESEA. Non-Regulatory Guidance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, US Department of Education, 2017

2017-01-01

English learners (ELs) are among the fastest-growing populations of students in our nation's public schools. This diverse subgroup of approximately 4.5 million students brings important cultural and linguistic assets to the public education system, but also faces a greater likelihood of lower graduation rates, academic achievement, and college…

Unity and Diversity in STS Curricula.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de la Mothe, John R.

The study of science, technology, and society (STS) has, over the past decade, become established in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States as the fastest growing area of teaching and research in institutes of higher education. While it is reasonable to describe STS as an important socio-educational movement, it is thematically erroneous to…

"Soccer": The Beautiful Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spires, Todd

2008-01-01

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

Incorporating Mexican American History and Culture into the Social Studies Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Escamilla, Kathy

Although Mexican Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, their history and literature are seldom taught in American classrooms. A study of over 3,000 high school sophomores in the Southwest revealed that neither Anglos nor Hispanics were aware of the contributions of Mexican Americans. Incorporating Mexican American…

"Salud America!" Developing a National Latino Childhood Obesity Research Agenda

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramirez, Amelie G.; Chalela, Patricia; Gallion, Kipling J.; Green, Lawrence W.; Ottoson, Judith

2011-01-01

U.S. childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions, with one third of children overweight or obese. Latino children have some of the highest obesity rates, a concern because they are part of the youngest and fastest-growing U.S. minority group. Unfortunately, scarce research data on Latinos hinders the development and implementation of…

Rhetorical Analysis of Fast-Growth Businesses' Job Advertisements: Implications for Job Search

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engstrom, Craig L.; Petre, James T.; Petre, Elizabeth A.

2017-01-01

This article presents findings from a rhetorical analysis of job advertisements posted by the fastest growing companies in the United States (Inc. 5000 rankings). The analysis suggests that companies rely on standard rhetorical figures and share similar rhetorical visions of novelty that likely effect their organizational culture, paradoxically…

Asian American Female School Administrators' Self-Concept and Expectations for Students' Educational Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liang, Jia G.; Liou, Daniel D.

2018-01-01

Historically, Asian American school administrators' experiences leading the K-12 educational system have been under-researched and under-theorized. Today, as the fastest growing population in the United States, Asian American educators' experiences and contributions can no longer be ignored in educational policy and research. Drawing on the…

Power from the Wind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roman, Harry T.

2004-01-01

Wind energy is the fastest-growing renewable energy source in the world. Over the last 20 years, the wind industry has done a very good job of engineering machines, improving materials, and economies of production, and making this energy source a reality. Like all renewable energy forms, wind energy's successful application is site specific. Also,…

ReVisioning the Public Library as an Oasis of Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cassell, Mary A.; Bamdas, Jo Ann M.; Bryan, Valerie C.

2012-01-01

Culturally diverse older adult learners are among the fastest growing age groups for which public libraries promote the needs of lifelong learning today. This article explores the past, present, and future of informal and non-formal public learning environments as safe and welcoming, with supportive educational programming provided by librarians…

What Should We Know about Developmental Education?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lake, Pat, Ed.

2001-01-01

This document argues that the availability of developmental education is essential to the well being of the American economy and social structure. By the year 2050, U.S. citizens will be older and nearly 50% will belong to a minority group. The fastest growing population is Hispanic American, resulting from immigration and higher birth rates. This…

Sustainability and Preservation in an Age of Campus Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Landsmark, Ted

2011-01-01

Online course delivery has now surpassed on-site learning as the primary way for Americans to receive a college education. The fastest growing American colleges are now actively using online teaching and learning. The high cost of maintaining college campuses, coupled with rising educational costs and the inconveniences of matching adult student…

Technical College Transition Experience from English as a Second Language through Graduation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Solomon, Debra J.

2012-01-01

In the United States, adult students of English as a second language (ESL) comprise both the majority and the fastest growing group of adult education students (Crandall & Sheppard, 2007). After ESL, many must seek higher education to earn a sustainable living wage (Wrigley, Richer, Martinson, Kubo, & Strawn, 2003). This study described…

Social Work Practice with Latinos: Key Issues for Social Workers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furman, Rich; Negi, Nalini Junko; Iwamoto, Derek Kenji; Rowan, Diana; Shukraft, Allison; Gragg, Jennifer

2009-01-01

The Latino population is the fastest growing group in the United States; thus, it is imperative that social workers and other mental health practitioners be knowledgeable about the current literature on how to effectively serve this population. This article elucidates key issues and knowledge, such as immigration and migration concerns; discusses…

Superintendents' Perceptions of 1:1 Initiative Implementation and Sustainability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, Bobby Virgil, Jr.; Sauers, Nicholas J.

2018-01-01

One of the fastest growing, most discussed, and most expensive technology initiatives over the last decade has been one-to-one (1:1) computing initiatives. The purpose of this study was to examine key factors that influenced implementing and sustaining 1:1 computing initiatives from the perspective of school superintendents. Nine superintendents…

Sunni-Muslim American Religious Development during Emerging Adulthood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Etengoff, Chana; Daiute, Colette

2013-01-01

Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in America, with approximately 6 to 7 million Muslims living in America within the past decade. However, there has been little psychological research conducted focusing on the development of the Muslim American self. This inquiry addresses that gap by focusing on how familial religious affiliation…

A Qualitative Investigation of Need Fulfillment and Motivational Profiles in Collegiate Cheerleading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raabe, Johannes; Readdy, Tucker

2016-01-01

Purpose: Cheerleading is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States. Members of spirit squads play an undeniable role in developing a university's athletic image, and participation in cheer has the potential to affect adolescents and young adults in a positive manner. Yet, cheerleaders also encounter stereotypes, constant…

Success in Online Credit Recovery: Factors Influencing Student Academic Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nourse, David

2017-01-01

Recent estimates show nearly 90% of school districts nationwide offer some form of online credit recovery. Additionally, credit recovery services have become one of the fastest growing areas of educational software. Despite the widespread adoption of these programs, there is a lack of scholarly research on the effectiveness, rigor, and suitability…

Language Intervention for Hispanic Children with Language-Learning Disabilities: Evidence-Based Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kummerer, Sharon Elizabeth

2010-01-01

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (1996) estimated that 10% of the United States population has a disorder of speech, language, or hearing, with proportional distribution among members of racially and ethnically diverse groups. Individuals of Hispanic origin are the fastest-growing minority group in the country. Current national…

Transgene movement in commercial alfalfa seed production: Implications for seed purity

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The United States is a major exporter of alfalfa seed and hay and the organic dairy industry is one of the fastest growing agricultural sectors. With the advent of genetically-engineered (GE) alfalfa concerns have risen regarding the coexistence of GE and non GE alfalfa since the crop is largely ou...

Life Experiences of Hispanic Adolescents: Developmental and Language Considerations in Acculturation Stress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cervantes, Richard C.; Cordova, David

2011-01-01

Hispanic youth currently constitute the largest and fastest growing of all ethnic and racial groups in the United States. In addition to normal developmental life stressors, Hispanic youth also face minority status and acculturation-related stress. This study examined the psychosocial and acculturative stressors of Hispanic youth (n=170) residing…

The Experiences of Marine Student Veterans in Undergraduate Composition Courses: A Phenomenological Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hinton, Corrine E.

2012-01-01

Student veterans represent one of the fastest growing undergraduate student populations in higher education, thanks largely to the expanded federal benefits provided by the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. Understanding the transitional and academic experiences of student veterans is critical to creating military-friendly institutions. Existing research in…

Formational Mechanism and Regional Growth Patterns of Private Higher Education in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Bao

2009-01-01

Private higher education was probably the fastest-growing sector of postsecondary education worldwide at the turn of the twenty-first century. China is no exception. With the recent expansion and differentiation of higher education, private higher education, in conjunction with public higher education, has become a main force for enhancing the…

Sibling Behaviors and Mexican-Origin Adolescents' After-School Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Price, Chara D.; Simpkins, Sandra D.; Menjívar, Cecilia

2017-01-01

Families are theorized to influence adolescents' participation in skill-based after-school activities, but research has focused on the role of parents while neglecting the role of siblings. Siblings might be especially critical for Mexican-origin youth, the fastest growing youth population in the United States, due to a high value of family as…

Career Attainment among Healthcare Executives: Is the Gender Gap Narrowing?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Branin, Joan Julia

2009-01-01

Health care occupations are expected to be among the fastest growing professions in the next ten years. With such incredible growth expected in employment and wages, and with women's participation in the industry remaining strong, are women in the health care industry, particularly those in health care administration, experiencing a narrowing of…

Pollen and seed mediated gene flow in commercial alfalfa seed production fields

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The potential for gene flow has been widely recognized since alfalfa is pollinated by bees. The Western US is a major exporter of alfalfa seed and hay and the organic dairy industry is one of the fastest growing agricultural sectors. Because of this, many alfalfa producers are impacted by market sen...

Bilingual and Multilingual Education in the 21st Century: Building on Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abello-Contesse, Christian, Ed.; Chandler, Paul M., Ed.; López-Jiménez, María Dolores, Ed.; Chacón-Beltrán, Rubén, Ed.

2013-01-01

Bilingual education is one of the fastest growing disciplines within applied linguistics. This book includes the work of 20 specialists working in various educational contexts across Europe, Latin America, and North America to create a volume which is both comprehensive in scope and multidimensional in its coverage of current bilingual…

Coordinated effort to advance genomes-to-phenomes through the integration of bioinformatics with aquaculture research

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production system in the world. The research program at the USDA-ARS-SNARC strives to improve the efficiency and sustainability of warmwater U.S. aquaculture. SNARC scientists have impacted the catfish (#1 U.S. aquaculture industry), tilapia (#3) and hybrid st...

Employment, Salary and Placement Information for Johnson County Community College Career Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conklin, Karen A.

Drawing from local, state, and national data sources, this report from Johnson County Community College (JCCC) in Kansas summarizes the employment outlook in occupations corresponding to the college's career programs. The first section of the report offers 1992-2005 national employment projections, focusing on the fastest growing occupations,…

77 FR 73045 - Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Pima County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-07

... County, Arizona, has had one of the fastest growing human populations of any county in the United States... opportunities. Urban growth has resulted in significant development, which is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. A significant proportion of the predicted future development is anticipated to occur in...

Latina Student Mothers' "Trenzas de Identidades" in the Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiménez, Hortencia; Oliva, Nereida

2017-01-01

Latinx are one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the country and their growth is visible in higher education. Using focus groups with student mothers, we examine the narratives of four Latina student mothers pursuing higher education at the community college. Using Chicana Feminist Theory as our theoretical framework, we apply…

The Impact of Being Homeless on Young Children and Their Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Tenisha L.

2012-01-01

Families with young children are the fastest growing population of the homeless. Homeless young children (under the age of 5) are especially vulnerable as early childhood professionals consider the early years to be the most critical developmental period in all domains (cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and language). The disruptions to a…

Latin American Immigrant Women and Intergenerational Sex Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alcalde, Maria Cristina; Quelopana, Ana Maria

2013-01-01

People of Latin American descent make up the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the USA. Rates of pregnancy, childbirth, and sexually transmitted infections among people of Latin American descent are higher than among other ethnic groups. This paper builds on research that suggests that among families of Latin American descent, mothers…

The Theory and Practice of Teaching English for Special Purposes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cruickshank, Donald W.

English for special purposes (ESP) is the fastest growing facet of language teaching, led by the efforts of British and American linguists. The learner-centered orientation in English-as-a-second-language instruction and the expressed need of people around the world have stimulated development in the field. ESP courses are generally either…

Contingent Faculty at For-Profit Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proper, Eve

2017-01-01

Most instruction at for-profit institutions is conducted by contingency faculty. This chapter will examine who contingency faculty are and how they have helped for-profits be the fastest growing higher education sector for the last 20 years. This chapter will also examine how having a majority of part-time faculty may also have negative impacts,…

Understanding the Plight of Immigrant and Refugee Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruiz, Melissa; Kabler, Brenda; Sugarman, Melissa

2011-01-01

Refugee and immigrant children constitute one of the fastest growing groups in the United States, with numbers increasing to an estimated 9 million children by the end of 2010. The Upper Darby School District, located in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania, has witnessed the rapid growth of a diverse immigrant and refugee population during the…

Types of Mathematics-Language Reading Interactions that Unnecessarily Hinder Algebra Learning and Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lager, Carl A.

2006-01-01

English language learners (ELLs)--one of the lowest-achieving and fastest growing middle-school subpopulations--are challenged in the classroom by language components which could potentially jumpstart real mathematical growth for these and, eventually, all other students as well. Going beyond traditional word problems, this study documented and…

The Bridge of Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dong, Yu Ren

2014-01-01

Although many English language learners (ELLs) in the United States have knowledge gaps that make it hard for them to master high-level content and skills, ELLs also often have background knowledge relevant to school learning that teachers neglect to access, this author argues. In the Common Core era, with ELLs being the fastest growing population…

Culture and Tourism in the Learning Age: A Discussion Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2000

Cultural services and tourism are among the United Kingdom's fastest growing sectors in terms of employment and consumer demand. Cultural services and tourism bring the following elements to lifelong learning: active rather than passive learning; a means of interpreting the world around us; exposure to cultures other than one's own; confidence and…

Korean Sojourners in the Deep South: The Push/Pull Dynamics of Immigration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynn, C. Allen; Lee, Sun-A.

2013-01-01

Asians are now the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. And although disproportionately more likely to live in Western states, some are settling in nontraditional host communities. Focusing on one such instance in southeast Georgia, the present ethnographic case study considers a poultry processing plant's decision to recruit dozens…

Developing a Competence-Based Addiction Medicine Curriculum in Indonesia: The Training Needs Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pinxten, W. J. L.; De Jong, C.; Hidayat, T.; Istiqomah, A. N.; Achmad, Y. M.; Raya, R. P.; Norviatin, D.; Siregar, I. M. P.

2011-01-01

Indonesia has one of the fastest growing, injecting drugs user-driven, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemics in Asia. Coverage of needle and syringe programs (NSPs), opioid substitution therapy (OST), and antiretroviral treatment (ART) is increasing, but is still low, whereas professional training in addiction medicine is not yet…

Emergent Practices in Translingual Pedagogy: Teachers Learning to Facilitate Collaborative Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

David, Samuel S.

2017-01-01

Due to demographic changes, teachers in mainstream U.S. classrooms now work with English language learners (ELLs) in larger numbers than ever before (Sheng, Sheng, & Anderson, 2011). US schools have been diversifying for decades, and students whose first language is not English are the fastest growing population of students in US schools…

The Relationship between Familism and Help-Seeking with Hispanic Nursing Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stearns, Cristina Perez

2012-01-01

Cultural mismatch between providers and patients in the United States emerges as a major factor affecting the health of minority populations. Hispanics are the largest and fastest-growing minority group and are at risk for major healthcare disparities resulting from the lack of Hispanic healthcare personnel. The dearth of Hispanic nurses in…

Female Adult Learners in Rural Community Colleges: A Case Study of Role Perception and Navigation for Student Mothers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Tara Lynn

2013-01-01

Female adult learners, the fastest growing subpopulation in community colleges, face challenges navigating domestic, professional, and academic roles and take time off from school to reconcile issues with multiple role navigation; thus, their education is disjointed and staggered, creating barriers to persistence. This interpretive design…

Essays on Participative Web and Social Media for Information Goods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Young Jin

2010-01-01

Tremendous growth in online consumer participation has facilitated new business models by firms trying to leverage User-Generated Content (UGC). As a type of the outcomes of UGC, social media is one of the fastest-growing media forms and may significantly affect firm's economic actions or performances. My dissertation investigates several…

Research-Based Educational Practices for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, Joseph B.; Hughes, Elizabeth M.; Katsiyannis, Antonis; McDaniel, Melanie; Sprinkle, Cynthia

2011-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has become the fastest growing disability in the United States, with current prevalence rates estimated at as many as 1 in 110 children (CDC, 2010). This increase in the number of students identified with ASD has significant implications for public schools. The most popular research-based educational practices for…

Profiles of U.S. Community Colleges: A Guide for International Students, 2009-2010

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Association of Community Colleges (NJ1), 2009

2009-01-01

This publication contains information about community colleges, the largest and fastest growing sector of U.S. higher education. Designed especially for students thinking about studying abroad in America, this publication provides information about: (1) College selection, application and visa processes, traveling to the United States, living in…

Analyzing the natural resource extension needs of Spanish-speakers: A perspective from Florida

Treesearch

Miriam Wyman; Francisco Escobedo; Sebastian Varela; Cesar Asuaje; Henry Mayer; Mickie Swisher; Annie Hermansen

2011-01-01

Hispanics are the country's fastest growing minority group. The study reported here surveyed and assessed Extension agents from two demographically different regions in Florida on perceptions and attitudes about the need, quality, and dissemination of Spanish Extension materials. Results showed Extension programs are important sources of information for Spanish-...

Latino Demographics, Democratic Individuality, and Educational Accountability: A Pragmatist's View

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinez Aleman, Ana M.

2006-01-01

In an era of heightened teacher and school accountability, what are the implications of standards-based reform for individual Latino children and their democratic self-realization? The educational demography of the fastest-growing and largest ethnic group in the United States suggests that the future of Latino self-realization is in jeopardy.…

Understanding Diversity of English Language Learners: Identification of ELLs and ELLs with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Charity

2014-01-01

English Language Learners (ELLs) are one of the fastest growing student populations throughout the country. With ELLs come unique challenges schools must navigate to best serve these students. One challenge is the identification of these students and proper placement and service within ELL programs offered by schools. Another challenge is…

Syncretizing Students' Spheres of Influence: A Narrative Portrait of Parent and Teacher Expectation Alignment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Travelute, Catherine

2017-01-01

The Spanish-speaking Hispano-Latino diaspora demographic is the largest and fastest-growing English-learning population in the United States. In response to the needs present in these student demographics, two Spanish-speaking mothers and two English-speaking teachers participated in semi-structured interviews regarding their purposes and…

Asphalt Pavements Session 2E-3 : Warm Mix Asphalt : Laboratory Evaluation and Pavement Design [SD .WMV (720x480/29fps/218.0 MB)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-12-01

This study evaluates one of the recycling techniques used to rehabilitate pavement, called Cold In-Place Recycling (CIR). CIR is one of the fastest growing road rehabilitation techniques because it is quick and cost-effective. The document reports on...

Online Health Information Seeking Behaviors of Hispanics in New York City

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Young Ji

2013-01-01

Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group in the United States, but they are the most underserved population in terms of access to online health information. The specific aims of this descriptive, correlational study were to examine factors associated with online health information seeking behaviors of Hispanics and to examine the…

Reaching Out: Best Practices for Educating Mexican-Origin Children and Youth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romo, Harriett D.

School systems in the United States are not serving Latino students well, especially those from low-income families. This book examines difficulties encountered by Mexican-origin students--one of the fastest growing minority groups--and describes why some schools fall short and how others have improved student outcomes. The focus throughout the…

Property and Business Services. Industry Training Monograph No. 12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dumbrell, Tom

Australia's property and business services industry is its third largest industry and has been the fastest growing industry over the last 10 years. The industry is composed of a diverse range of activities, including real estate sales, legal and accountancy practices, employment placement services, labor and equipment hire, scientific and market…

Through the Open Door: Quality and Equality of Education for Language Differentiated Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pugh, Gabriela Alicia Pisano

1980-01-01

As community colleges extend the educational franchise to increasing numbers of non-traditional students, educators face the dilemma of reconciling demands for academic quality with equal educational opportunity. Among these non-traditional students are Hispanic-Americans, one of the fastest growing populations in the country, who experience an…

Voces (Voices): A Profile of Today's Latino College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santiago, Deborah A.

2007-01-01

Latinos are the youngest and fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. It is imperative that institutional leaders and decision makers have a better understanding of Latino students today in order to shape the policies and practices to serve college students in the future. Currently, disparate statistics about Latino students in higher…

I Remember That from My Pins!: Using Pinterest to Encourage Active Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joyce, Amanda

2017-01-01

Social media is integral to students' lives. Pinterest, an online social network for "Pinning" (sharing) links and images, is the fastest-growing social media tool in history. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effectiveness of a semester-long active-learning assignment using the Pinterest platform. Forty-nine…

A living demonstration of certified organic farming by Oklahoma State University and USDA, Agricultural Research Service

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Organic crop production is the fastest growing portion of U.S. agriculture, increasing a minimum of 20% annually during the last 15 years. The establishment of federal guidelines for organic certification in 2002 provided a structure for producers and processors to market certified organic foods. ...

Grandparents against Homework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biscoglio, Joseph; Langer, Nieli

2011-01-01

America now possesses not only the largest and fastest-growing population of older adults in our history but also the healthiest, most vigorous, best educated and civic-minded. By the year 2025, one of every four Americans will be a grandparent. However, the real potential is not in the numbers, but in the emotional attachment between grandparents…

Initiating a Developmental Motor Skills Program for Identified Primary Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harville, Valerie Terrill

A physical education specialist at an elementary school in one of the fastest growing sections of the country developed and implemented a developmental motor skills program for primary school students. The program focused on: (1) developing a method of referring students for testing; (2) providing a specialized motor diagnostic test; (3) improving…

Workforce Brief: Arizona

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, 2006

2006-01-01

In Arizona, one of the country's fastest growing states, the demand for well-educated employees will only increase over the next several years. In the decade leading up to 2013, healthcare occupations will see growth of 50 percent. Almost 1,800 dentists will need to be hired to fill new posts and to cover retirement, for example. Teachers will be…

Teen Perceptions of Cellular Phones as a Communication Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jonas, Denise D.

2011-01-01

The excitement and interest in innovative technologies has spanned centuries. However, the invention of the cellular phone has surpassed previous technology interests, and changed the way we communicate today. Teens make up the fastest growing market of current cellular phone users. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to determine teen…

Pixellated Play: Practical and Theoretical Issues regarding Videogames in Art Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sweeny, Robert W.

2010-01-01

Videogames represent one of the fastest growing and most influential forms of contemporary visual culture. In this article, the author looks to five aspects of current videogames: perspective, interactivity, interface, narrative, and time and movement. Each of these videogame modalities is analyzed as related to a wide range of popular media,…

Cyberbullying. Research into Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, Ronald

2012-01-01

Cyberbullying has emerged as one of the fastest growing issues faced by school leaders. It involves the use of technology to bully another person and can occur through the use of e-mail, instant messaging or texting, blogs, postings on websites, or through social media. The most common definition of cyberbullying is that it includes repeated,…

Using State Assessments for Teaching English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luster, John

2012-01-01

Populations of minority students the United States have increased steadily over the past few decades to 42 percent of public school enrollment (Echevarria, 2011). English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing population of students enrolled in public schools across the United States. Nationally, if an ELL speaks English with difficulty,…

Characteristics and Motivational Factors of Major Donors to Bowling Green State University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Latta, Marcia Sloan

2010-01-01

With declining state support, increased financial need on the part of the fastest growing demographic sections of the population, and public policy that discourages major increases in tuition for public higher education, the only logical source of additional finances for public colleges and universities is increased private funding through…

Adult Basic Education to Community College Transitions Symposium. Proceedings Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Education, 2007

2007-01-01

A college education is becoming more and more of a necessity in today's competitive economy: ninety percent of the fastest-growing jobs require postsecondary education or training. U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has called on states, institutions and the federal government to work together to carry out the recommendations of "A…

Recursive Hierarchical Image Segmentation by Region Growing and Constrained Spectral Clustering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilton, James C.

2002-01-01

This paper describes an algorithm for hierarchical image segmentation (referred to as HSEG) and its recursive formulation (referred to as RHSEG). The HSEG algorithm is a hybrid of region growing and constrained spectral clustering that produces a hierarchical set of image segmentations based on detected convergence points. In the main, HSEG employs the hierarchical stepwise optimization (HS WO) approach to region growing, which seeks to produce segmentations that are more optimized than those produced by more classic approaches to region growing. In addition, HSEG optionally interjects between HSWO region growing iterations merges between spatially non-adjacent regions (i.e., spectrally based merging or clustering) constrained by a threshold derived from the previous HSWO region growing iteration. While the addition of constrained spectral clustering improves the segmentation results, especially for larger images, it also significantly increases HSEG's computational requirements. To counteract this, a computationally efficient recursive, divide-and-conquer, implementation of HSEG (RHSEG) has been devised and is described herein. Included in this description is special code that is required to avoid processing artifacts caused by RHSEG s recursive subdivision of the image data. Implementations for single processor and for multiple processor computer systems are described. Results with Landsat TM data are included comparing HSEG with classic region growing. Finally, an application to image information mining and knowledge discovery is discussed.

Towards Automatic Image Segmentation Using Optimised Region Growing Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alazab, Mamoun; Islam, Mofakharul; Venkatraman, Sitalakshmi

Image analysis is being adopted extensively in many applications such as digital forensics, medical treatment, industrial inspection, etc. primarily for diagnostic purposes. Hence, there is a growing interest among researches in developing new segmentation techniques to aid the diagnosis process. Manual segmentation of images is labour intensive, extremely time consuming and prone to human errors and hence an automated real-time technique is warranted in such applications. There is no universally applicable automated segmentation technique that will work for all images as the image segmentation is quite complex and unique depending upon the domain application. Hence, to fill the gap, this paper presents an efficient segmentation algorithm that can segment a digital image of interest into a more meaningful arrangement of regions and objects. Our algorithm combines region growing approach with optimised elimination of false boundaries to arrive at more meaningful segments automatically. We demonstrate this using X-ray teeth images that were taken for real-life dental diagnosis.

The Indian "girl" psychology: A perspective.

PubMed

Rao, G Prasad; Vidya, K L; Sriramya, V

2015-07-01

India has one of the fastest growing youth populations in the world. Girls below 19 years of age comprise one-quarter of India's rapidly growing population. In spite of India's reputation for respecting women, to an extent to treat her as a goddess, the moment a baby is born, the first thing comes to mind is "boy or girl?" as the differences are beyond just being biological. This article examines the significance of various psychological constructs and psychosocial issues that are important in the life of a "girl" baby born in our country.

Electronic wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Regel-Rosocka, Magdalena

2018-03-01

E-waste amount is growing at about 4% annually, and has become the fastest growing waste stream in the industrialized world. Over 50 million tons of e-waste are produced globally each year, and some of them end up in landfills causing danger of toxic chemicals leakage over time. E-waste is also sent to developing countries where informal processing of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) causes serious health and pollution problems. A huge interest in recovery of valuable metals from WEEE is clearly visible in a great number of scientific, popular scientific publications or government and industrial reports.

Rigor or Restriction: Examining Close Reading with High School English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomason, Betty; Brown, Clara Lee; Ward, Natalia

2017-01-01

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing student subgroup in the United States, and public schools have the challenging task of teaching ELLs both English language and academic content. In spite of the attention given to improving outcomes for ELLs, the achievement gap between ELLs and native English speakers persists, especially…

English Language Learners in America's Great City Schools: Demographics, Achievement and Staffing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uro, Gabriela; Barrio, Alejandra

2013-01-01

English Language Learners (ELLs) are among the fastest-growing demographic group in U.S. public schools. There are numerous recent reports documenting this phenomenon. Some reports estimate the numbers of ELLs enrolled in U.S. public schools, and other reports approximate the growth in ELL enrollment over the past five to ten years. Still, there…

International Students and Global Mobility in Higher Education: National Trends and New Directions. International and Development Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bhandari, Rajika, Ed.; Blumenthal, Peggy, Ed.

2010-01-01

Global student mobility is one of the fastest growing phenomena in higher education in the twenty-first century. Over three million students are currently mobile, crossing geographic, cultural, digital, and educational borders in the pursuit of an international education--a movement that has significant consequences for higher education…

ASSESSING THE SECURITY OF ECOLOGICAL POPULATIONS WITH REGARDS T0 TOXIC AIR POLLUTANTS AND HABITATE THREATS ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

EPA Science Inventory

The Southeastern United States is one of the most biologically diverse regions of the country and is home to significant numbers of threatened and endangered species. It is also one of the fastest growing regions in terms of human population, urban development, and the associated...

Global E-Learning Opportunity for U.S. Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hezel Associates (NJ3), 2005

2005-01-01

E-learning is the fastest-growing sub-sector of a $2.3 trillion global education market, and the market for online higher education is estimated to exceed $69 billion by 2015. One way to minimize risk in marketing and selling courses and programs overseas is to understand the environmental factors in taking programs to market in any selected…

Effects of Exurban Development and Temperature on Bird Species in the Southern Appalachians

Treesearch

Heather A. Lumpkin; Scott M. Pearson

2013-01-01

Land-use dynamics and climatic gradients have large effects on many terrestrial systems. Exurban development, one of the fastest growing forms of land use in the United States, may affect wildlife through habitat fragmentation and building presence may alter habitat quality. We studied the effects of residential development and temperature gradients on bird species...

The Effect of Short-Term Educational Travel Programs on Environmental Citizenship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tarrant, Michael; Lyons, Kevin

2012-01-01

Short-term study abroad is the fastest growing area of international education and there is increasing interest in the role of modified applications of this form (e.g. faculty-led, field/environmental, and/or educational travel) in influencing global citizenship. Using an empirical database of over 650 students registered for a study abroad course…

Effects of CDS and Drying Temperature Levels on the Flowability Behavior of DDGS

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The fuel ethanol industry has been one of the fastest growing industries, with a growth rate of more than 300% since 2000. Due to demand for alternative fuels and the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, the growth of ethanol production is expected to rise in future years. One of the problems ...

The Effects of an Instructional Method on Adult Learners' Perceptions of Self-Efficacy: A Quantitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Croasmun, James T.

2010-01-01

The adult student undergraduate population is growing at the fastest rate on campuses in the United States and many undergraduates are still developing adult learning characteristics. Historically, college courses are generally not designed to meet the needs of adult learner or foster adult learning characteristics in developing adult learners. Is…

Cultural and Linguistic Considerations in Psychodiagnosis with Hispanics: The Need for an Empirically Informed Process Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malgady, Robert G.; Zayas, Luis H.

2001-01-01

Nearly half the population who seeks mental health services in the century ahead will be ethnic minorities. Evidence suggests that Hispanics, who are the fastest growing minority group, present higher levels of psychiatric symptomatology and prevalence rates of disorders. A discussion is included on process variables that can inform social…

Fire in the South 2: The southern wildfire risk assessment

Treesearch

A. Andreu; L.A. Hermansen-Baez

2008-01-01

The South is one of the fastest growing regions in the nation, with an estimated population growth of 1.5 million people per year. The South also consistently has the highest number of wildfires per year. Population growth is pushing housing developments further into natural and forested areas where most of these wildfires occur. This...

Latino Youth and the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Addressing Issued and Achieving Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seroczynski, Alesha D.; Jobst, Amy D.

2016-01-01

Latinos are one of the fastest growing sectors in the American population, and Latinos figure prominently in many political, economic, and educational social systems. Unfortunately, the juvenile justice system is no exception. At least 18,000 Latino youth are incarcerated annually, and they are 2 to 3 times more likely to be incarcerated than…

Teenagers Whose Moms Worked: Did It Make a Difference?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knoblach, Robin; Chambliss, Catherine

One of the fastest growing social and economic trends in the latter half of this century has been the entry of women into the labor force, especially women with children. How a mother's working outside the home affects her children is far from clear. This study examined the relationship between maternal employment status and sex-role concept,…

Factors Influencing Asian Indian Graduate Students' Attitudes toward People with Disabilities: A Conjoint Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parashar, Divya; Chan, Fong; Leierer, Stephen

2008-01-01

Asian Indians are one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in the United States, yet little is known about their attitudes toward persons with disabilities and rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to examine factors influencing Asian Indian students' attitudes toward people with disabilities, using a conjoint analysis design (N = 90).…

The Structure of Professional Profiles for Tourism in the United Kingdom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Chris; And Others

The tourism and leisure industries are among the fastest growing in the United Kingdom, generating jobs and spending and stimulating economic development. The hotel and catering sector is by far the best documented of the tourism industry and is the major employer. It is also an underqualified sector, despite a range of courses from craft to…

Giving Back: A Community Service-Learning Manual for Youth Courts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Degelman, Charles

Youth courts are among the fastest-growing crime intervention in the nation. Youth courts divert minor offenders from overloaded juvenile courts and hold them responsible for their actions. They educate young people about the impact their actions have on others, teach about the legal system, and provide opportunities and a forum to develop and…

Forest disturbance impacts on residential property values

Treesearch

Robert J. Jr. Huggett; Elizabeth A. Murphy; Thomas P. Holmes

2008-01-01

Natural environments and the amenities they offer have fueled much of the population growth in the rural United States (Deller et al. 2001, English et al. 2000). In fact, the fastest growing counties in the United States during the early 1990s were non-metropolitan counties that were destinations for retirees or that offered outdoor recreation opportunities (Johnson...

The Grand Junction Report: Issues of Equality in the Mesa Valley.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, DC.

The Grand Junction Metropolitan Statistical Area is the fifth largest metropolitan area in Colorado and the 12th fastest-growing in the Southwest. Latinos make up approximately 8 percent of total population and 15 percent of school enrollment; these numbers are increased by migrant farmworkers and their families. In May 2001, a public forum was…

Understanding How Biculturalism Contributes to Latinas' Pursuit of Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dominguez, Mariana

2013-01-01

Latina/os are the fastest growing minority group in the United States and in California, yet they have not been able to maintain an adequate educational attainment and achievement level in comparison to other ethnic groups (Marin & Marin, 1991). Typically, Latinas are not able to achieve the amount of education they set out to accomplish…

Women in STEM at a California Community College: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whelan, Garrett C.

2017-01-01

Women are underrepresented in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) from high school to college and into employment. As these are the fastest growing and highest paying fields of the economy this means women are missing the large economic benefits. While there has been a great deal of research into female STEM…

Academic Rigor at the Heart of College Access and Success. A College Readiness Issue Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

TERi (The Education Resources Institute, Inc), 2007

2007-01-01

America's economic and social well-being is increasingly dependent upon the capacity of public education system to prepare all students for college and high-performance careers. With almost 80 percent of today's fastest-growing jobs requiring some postsecondary education, all students--regardless of their race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic or…

Teen Sexual Activity, Pregnancy and Childbearing among Latinos in the United States. Fact Sheet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Washington, DC.

The Latino population is the fastest-growing major racial/ethnic group in the United States. By 2020, approximately 16 percent of the population will be Latino. This increase will be even more pronounced among teens. This fact sheet summarizes data from the National Vital Statistics Reports on reported sexual activity, pregnancy rates, and…

Evidences of Validity of the Brazilian Scale of Learner's Attitude towards Distance Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coelho, Francisco Antonio, Jr.; Cortat, Mariane; Flores, Clarissa Leite; Santos, Flávio Augusto Mendes; Alves, Gleidilson Costa; Faiad, Cristiane; Ramos, Wilsa Maria; Rodrigues da Silva, Alan

2018-01-01

Online learning is one of the fastest growing trends in educational uses of technology. In this study, an instrument to measure the social attitudes of the Brazilian students based on distance education was developed and validated. The study population consisted of public administration undergraduate students that has been providing by distance…

Muslims in America: Identity, Diversity and the Challenge of Understanding. 2001 Carnegie Challenge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Afridi, Sam

This paper discusses challenges and opportunities facing Muslims in the United States, where between 5 to 8 million Muslims live (the fastest growing religion in the country). American Muslims face many challenges, and the public has little understanding of the teachings and practice of Islam. Muslims are prone to negative stereotypes, ethnic…

Pedagogy Matters: Engaging Diverse Students as Community Researchers in Three Computer Science Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryoo, Jean Jinsun

2013-01-01

Computing occupations are among the fastest growing in the U.S. and technological innovations are central to solving world problems. Yet only our most privileged students are learning to use technology for creative purposes through rigorous computer science education opportunities. In order to increase access for diverse students and females who…

Islam in Social Studies Education: What We Should Teach Secondary Students and Why It Matters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, James R.

2006-01-01

One of the most important and difficult challenges facing social studies educators, particularly world history teachers, concerns the role of Islam--one of the world's fastest growing and most dynamic religions--in historical and contemporary domestic and international affairs. What teachers choose to teach about Islam and how they present it are…

Exploring New Roles of Classroom Teachers in Iowa Communities Experiencing Rapid Ethnic Diversification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Cindy R.

2012-01-01

Non-English speakers are currently the fastest growing population group in Iowa schools. Immigrant and refugee families are choosing in record numbers to make Iowa their home. Across the state, newcomers are added daily to classroom rosters, and teachers are challenged to meet the unique social, emotional, and educational needs of students. The…

Zero Energy Schools--Beyond Platinum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hutton, Paul C.

2011-01-01

One of the fastest growing trends in school design is Net Zero Energy Schools. There are now at least a dozen or more schools completed or in construction that have achieved, or have committed to, this incredible level of energy efficiency. In this article, the author examines this trend and take a brief look at some of the exemplary projects that…

Serving Hispanic School-Aged Children in after School Programming: Implications for School Social Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenberg, Joy Pastan

2012-01-01

The U.S. school-age population has been experiencing dramatic demographic changes over the past two decades. Hispanic students constitute the fastest growing student group today, and this growth is expected to continue such that there will be more Hispanic school-aged children than non-Hispanic school-aged children in 2050. Unfortunately, Hispanic…

Developing a Measure of Stigma by Association with African American Adolescents Whose Mothers Have HIV

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mason, Sally; Berger, Barbara; Ferrans, Carol Estwing; Sultzman, Vickey; Fendrich, Michael

2010-01-01

Objectives: African American urban adolescents are one of the fastest growing groups of children affected by their mother's HIV status. These children experience HIV stigma by association with their HIV-positive mothers. Stigma may contribute to adverse outcomes for these teens. Methods: The authors describe a multistage process of scale…

Increasing Educational Attainment and Aspiration in an Underserved Community: The Perspective of Urban-Community Leaders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Person, Dawn; Garcia, Yvonne; Fujimoto, Eugene; Nguyen, Kayla; Saunders, Katherine; Hoffman, John

2014-01-01

Latino students are significantly underrepresented in higher education. As the largest and fastest growing racial/ethnic population in the US, this is cause for national concern. Additionally, this rapid population growth is a call for community and school leaders from underserved communities to assess their service areas and focus on…

Production of the sunn hemp cultivars 'AU Golden' and 'AU Durbin developed by Auburn University

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) is the fastest growing species of the genus Crotalaria and is the most widely grown green manure in the tropics. Sunn hemp is also adapted to a wide range of conditions and soil types, while still producing high biomass yields. These characteristics enable the crop...

A National Inquiry of Mountain Bikers: Applying the Benefits of Hiking Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Eddie; Wygant, Ben; Smith, Brian; Gómez, Edwin

2017-01-01

Mountain biking is currently one of the fastest growing recreational activities in the world (Outdoor Foundation, 2013), but documenting the benefits has been challenging. The Benefits of Hiking Scale (BHS), a 38-item instrument assessing the values and benefits of using trails, has been used in national and state park trail research (Freidt,…

Six Effective Approaches for TechHire Initiatives: Lessons from the Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Tara; Wilson, Randall

2016-01-01

Information technology jobs are among the fastest growing occupations in the country, spanning many industries, yet over a half million IT job openings are unfilled. Many of these jobs do not require university degrees and could be filled by unemployed or underemployed Americans if they obtain training in a community college or certificate…

Latino Immigrant Youth Living in a Nontraditional Migration City: A Social-Ecological Examination of the Complexities of Stress and Resilience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeJonckheere, Melissa J.; Vaughn, Lisa M.; Jacquez, Farrah

2017-01-01

Latino immigrant children represent the fastest-growing population in the United States and families are frequently residing outside of the traditional migration destinations. These cities lack the infrastructure and resources to provide culturally relevant services and bilingual education that supports these youth. Following a social-ecological…

Psychosocial aspects of type 1 diabetes in Latino- and Asian-American youth

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Latino and Asian-Americans represent the fastest growing immigrant populations in the U.S. We aimed to review the current knowledge on the psychosocial factors that influence type 1 diabetes (T1D) care, education, and outcomes in Latino and Asian-American youth immigrants in the U.S., as well as cul...

Eliminating blister rust cankers from sugar pine by pruning.

Treesearch

G. L. Hayes; William I. Stein

1957-01-01

Well-stocked patches of vigorous advance reproduction are found in many deteriorating old-growth stands in southwestern Oregon. If carefully released from the over story, this reproduction can shorten the rotation length of the next crop by many years. Often sugar pine is the fastest-growing component of the reproduction, but it is frequently infected with blister rust...

Culturally Sensitive Support for Hispanic/Latino Online College Students: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galarza, N. Raul

2017-01-01

The Hispanic/Latino population in the United States is growing at the fastest rate compared to all other ethnic groups. However, the percent of Hispanics/Latinos graduating from colleges and universities has not kept pace with this population growth. The gap between ethnic groups' socioeconomic statuses has not changed for decades, reinforcing the…

Demography and Early Academic Skills of Students from Immigrant Families: The Kindergarten Class of 2011

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sullivan, Amanda L.; Houri, Alaa; Sadeh, Shanna

2016-01-01

Children from immigrant families are one of the fastest growing and most diverse groups in America's schools. This study provides a demographic portrait of immigrant children who entered kindergarten in 2010 and describes patterns and predictors of early educational outcomes of students from immigrant families. A nationally representative sample…

Health Literacy Programs for Older Adults: A Systematic Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manafo, Elizabeth; Wong, Sharon

2012-01-01

Older adults make up the fastest growing age group in North America. This has demanded increased attention in supporting the health and well-being of this population and, in particular, the role of health information in promoting the health and well-being of older adults. Increased availability and accessibility of information as well as a greater…

Meta-Travel: A Critical Inquiry into a China Study Tour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riggan, Jennifer; Gwak, Sonya; Lesnick, Joy; Jackson, Kara; Olitsky, Stacey

2011-01-01

Short-term study tours are among the fastest growing of study abroad experiences and serve the largest percentage of students choosing to study abroad. Fifty-six percent of students studying abroad go on short-term study trips lasting anywhere from two to eight weeks. These trips have the advantage of being able to provide study travel experiences…

[Application advances of three-dimensional bioprinting in burn and plastic surgery field].

PubMed

Li, R B; Li, M X; Guo, G H; Zhang, H Y

2017-10-20

Three-dimensional bioprinting is one of the latest and fastest growing technologies in the medical field. It has been implemented to print part of the transplantable tissues and organs, such as skin, ear, and bone. This paper introduces the application status, challenges, and application prospect of three-dimensional bioprinting in burn and plastic surgery field.

The Role of Social Capital and School Structure on Latino Access to Elite Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez, Jeremiah J.

2013-01-01

Latinos make up the fastest growing population in the United States. However, this group has some of the lowest educational outcomes (Gandara & Contreras, 2009). Although large numbers of Latinos fail to achieve high levels of academic success, some Latinos are able to accomplish educational outcomes that compare with those of the most…

Educational Challenges of Molecular Life Science: Characteristics and Implications for Education and Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tibell, Lena A. E.; Rundgren, Carl-Johan

2010-01-01

Molecular life science is one of the fastest-growing fields of scientific and technical innovation, and biotechnology has profound effects on many aspects of daily life--often with deep, ethical dimensions. At the same time, the content is inherently complex, highly abstract, and deeply rooted in diverse disciplines ranging from "pure…

Observational Study of Children with Autism Who Have Participated in Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Tamela Marie

2011-01-01

Autism is the fastest growing disability ever. With the growth comes a lot of questions as to the etiologies and treatment of this condition, often putting parents, schools, and traditional medical personnel at odds with what treatments have efficacy. As the popularity of alternative treatments increase, so does the need for research. …

"Minecraft," Teachers, Parents, and Learning: What They Need to Know and Understand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellison, Tisha Lewis; Evans, Jessica N.

2016-01-01

This article explores six effective principles for teachers to use to understand and apply "Minecraft" in today's classrooms. Video games have become one of the fastest growing forms of media for youth and adult consumers. "Minecraft," a multiplayer online game (MOG), is one of the most popular video games to date. By allowing…

Learning to Resist: Educational Counter-Narratives of Black College Reentry Mothers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sealey-Ruiz, Yolanda

2013-01-01

Background: College reentry women are often older than the traditional college student, and in this study are distinguished from other students because of their parental status as mothers (Johnson-Bailey, 2000; Sealey-Ruiz, 2007). As one of the the fastest growing populations in colleges and universities across the nation, it is alarming that many…

Parents as Instructional Support, 1990. Adult Education Chapter I Staff Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dorchester School District 2, Summerville, SC.

A project was developed in Dorchester County, South Carolina's fastest-growing county, to help parents who lack basic skills become full partners in the education of their children, and to assist children in reaching their full potential as learners, by providing basic skills training for the parents. The program, called Parents as Instructional…

Perspectives on the Development and Future of Advanced Placement® Human Geography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hildebrant, Barbara

2016-01-01

Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography faced a number of hurdles that nearly derailed the course before it launched in 2000-2001. A dedicated cadre of geography professionals and high school teachers rose to the challenge and the course remains one of the fastest growing AP courses currently offered by College Board. Seventeen readers and leaders…

Curriculum as Colonizer: (Asian) American Education in the Current U.S. Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodwin, A. Lin

2010-01-01

Background/Context: The United States is currently undergoing a period of unprecedented immigration, with the majority of new arrivals coming from Asia and Latin America, not Europe. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (APIs) represent the fastest growing racial group in the United States, and schools are again being asked to socialize newcomer…

College Student Persistence in Scientific Disciplines: Cultural and Social Capital as Contributing Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ceglie, Robert John; Settlage, John

2016-01-01

Underrepresentation of women of color in science majors and careers continues to be a concern for many science educators. Despite being the fastest growing population of college students, women of color have made insufficient gains in college science degree attainment. Sixteen women of color who were undergraduates majoring in a science field…

Optimized horse trail design for Illinois soil

Treesearch

C.J. Jones; Logan O. Park

2014-01-01

One of the fastest growing forms of outdoor recreation is equestrian trail riding. In a study examining long-term trends of use on Forest Service lands, equestrian-based recreation was identified as one of the top five activities experiencing growth. As the numbers of horse riders rise, the economic impact of equestrian recreation can be expected to increase across the...

A Detailed Rubric for Assessing the Quality of Teacher Resource Apps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cherner, Todd; Lee, Cheng-Yuan; Fegely, Alex; Santaniello, Lauren

2016-01-01

Since the advent of the iPhone and rise of mobile technologies, educational apps represent one of the fastest growing markets, and both the mobile technology and educational app markets are predicted to continue experiencing growth into the foreseeable future. The irony, however, is that even with a booming market for educational apps, very little…

Effects of low-density housing development on shrubland birds in western Massachusetts

Treesearch

Scott Schlossberg; David I. King; Richard B. Chandler

2011-01-01

Housing development in rural areas is the fastest-growing type of land use in the U.S. For birds, development near natural habitats is a problem because it can reduce abundances and nesting success and increase brood parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater). In southern New England, populations of shrubland birds are declining rapidly...

Cottonwood - A Promising Tree for Intensive Management

Treesearch

Henry Bull

1945-01-01

Eastern cottonwood is by far the most important of ten closely related native species of cottonwood-most of which have numerous varieties and apparently hybridize frequently. It is one of our fastest-growing native trees and the wood is widely used in many different product8. Because of exceptionally fast growth and relatively high value. eastern cottonwood is a very...

Asphalt Pavements Session 2E-1 : Development of Mix Design Process for Cold-In-Place Recycling [SD .WMV (720x480/29fps/203.0 MB)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-12-01

This study evaluates one of the recycling techniques used to rehabilitate pavement, called Cold In-Place Recycling (CIR). CIR is one of the fastest growing road rehabilitation techniques because it is quick and cost-effective. The document reports on...

Asphalt Pavements Session 2E-2 : Missouri's Use of Recycled Asphalt Shingles in Hot Asphalt [SD .WMV (720x480/29fps/289.0 MB)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-12-01

This study evaluates one of the recycling techniques used to rehabilitate pavement, called Cold In-Place Recycling (CIR). CIR is one of the fastest growing road rehabilitation techniques because it is quick and cost-effective. The document reports on...

Understanding High School Graduation Rates in the District of Columbia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alliance for Excellent Education, 2009

2009-01-01

Graduation rates are a fundamental indicator of whether or not the nation's public school system is doing what it is intended to do: enroll, engage, and educate youth to be productive members of society. Since almost 90 percent of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs require some postsecondary education, having a high school diploma and the…

Effects of Artificial Defoliation on the Growth of Cottonwood: Simulation of Cottonwood Leaf Beetle Defoliation

Treesearch

Steven A. Tucker; T. Evan Nebeker; Michael D. Warriner; William D. Jones; T. Keith Beatty

2004-01-01

Populus are among the fastest growing commercial forest trees but are not without problems. Insects and diseases can take their toll. The cottonwood leaf beetle (Chrysomela scripta F.; CLB) is of concern. Although damage by the CLB can result in terminal dieback, reduction in growth, and potential mortality, the impact on ...

Affordability and the Return on Investment of College Completion: Unique Challenges and Opportunities for Adult Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowers, Amanda; Bergman, Matt

2016-01-01

It is increasingly understood that in order to be successful in today's economy a postsecondary degree is needed (National College Access Network, 2012). Approximately 65% of jobs in 2020 will require some form of postsecondary education (Carnevale, Smith, & Strohl, 2013), and of the 30 fastest growing occupations, more than half require…

Exploring the Academic Achievement Gap among Hispanic Students on State Standardized Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melendez, Ruth L.

2013-01-01

Historically Hispanic students have lagged behind African American, White, and other ethnic groups in academics. The Hispanic population is the fastest growing minority group in the United States. The increase of Hispanic students in our schools has created significant concerns among educators. The schools are not prepared to meet the needs of…

Critical Moral Leadership: Toward Social Justice for English Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wise, Gregory

2017-01-01

English learners (EL) account for approximately 10 percent of American public school students and a quarter of all public school students in the state of California. This student group, while already a sizable minority, is also the fastest growing group of students across the state and nation. Therefore, ways that public school systems meet, or…

Talking about a Revolution: Looking to the Past to Save Our Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Desmond, Charles; Goldman, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

The face of New England is changing. Immigrant populations, people from low-income families, and young people of color are now among the fastest-growing populations in New England. In addition, the foundation of the region's economic prosperity is expected to be intellectual. In this article, the authors discuss how New England's six land-grant…

Educational Journeys of Hispanic Women in Nursing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herrera, Antoinette Navalta

2012-01-01

Hispanics continue to be the fastest growing minority population in the Nation. According to U.S. Census Bureau (2011; 2008), the Hispanic or Latino population was 16.3 percent in 2010 and is projected to be over 30 percent in 2050. However, only 3.6% of the RN population is Hispanic indicating an unrealistic representation of today's…

The Older Worker: A Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Changar-Shaw, Ilene

The number of Americans between the ages fifty-five and seventy-four will significantly increase during the next few decades. Within this group is the fastest growing poverty group in the country. For them the right to work is basic to the right to survive. Studies have shown that older workers are able to produce work which is, in quality and…

Gender-based motivations of non-residential birdwatchers in New York state: a qualitative study

Treesearch

Mary Joyce G. Sali; Diane M. Kuehn

2007-01-01

Birdwatching is the fastest growing outdoor recreation activity in the United States, and birdwatchers are an important economic development force in many rural communities. Wildlife management agencies are being challenged to develop products and programs for non-consumptive natural resource users such as birdwatchers. For effective planning and management of these...

A New Protocol for Teaching English Language Learners in Middle and Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luster, John

2011-01-01

In the United States, the population of minority students in 2005 increased to 42 percent of public school enrollment (Echevarria & Short, 2010). English learners (ELs) are the fastest growing population of students enrolled in public school across the United States. California alone has 1.5 million ELs attending public schools (Echevarria,…

Integration amidst Separation: Religion, Urban Education, and the First Amendment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magaldi-Dopman, Danielle; Park-Taylor, Jennie

2014-01-01

In today's urban schools, foreign-born children and children of immigrants are the fastest growing sector of the student population and as a result of this changing demographic, our schools are more ethnically, racially and religiously diverse than they have ever been (Suárez-Orozco et al. in "Thriving and spirituality among youth:…

Effect of Herbicides on Soil Productivity and Water Quality

Treesearch

Daniel G. Neary; Jerry L. Michael

1989-01-01

The southern yellow pine and hardwood forests of the South constitute some of the most intensively managed forest ecosystems in the world (Stone 1983; Kellison and Gingrich 1982). These forests also occur in a region with one of the fastest growing human populations in the United States. Furthermore, future resource demands in the South will certainly intensify...

Assessing conservation lands for forest birds in an exurban landscape

Treesearch

Paige F.B. Ferguson; Michael J. Conroy; Jeffrey Hepinstall-Cymerman

2017-01-01

Exurban development is the fastest growing type of land use in the United States and is prominent in the southern Appalachian region. A potential consequence of exurban development is the loss and fragmentation of wildlife habitat. We used a Bayesian model that accounts for false positive and false negative detections to make inferences about how the occupancy...

Examining Services for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Parent Satisfaction and Predictors of Service Utilization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McIntyre, Laura Lee; Zemantic, Patricia K.

2017-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the fastest growing group of neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood. Earlier detection means an increased need for early intervention and other educational services. This study examined what services a sample of young children with ASD received, what variables predicted service utilization, and how satisfied…

The Effect of Cultures in Eighth Grade Mathematics Classroom: A Case Study of a LEP Student.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duncan, Aki

The fastest-growing sector of the American school population is the limited English proficient (LEP) students, those students whose native language is not English. When mainstreamed they are usually enrolled in physical education, art, and music classes first. The students then enter mathematics classes under the assumption that mathematics is…

Expectations, Motivations, and Barriers to Professional Development: Perspectives from Adjunct Instructors Teaching Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dailey-Hebert, Amber; Mandernach, B. Jean; Donnelli-Sallee, Emily; Norris, Virgil Rusty

2014-01-01

Adjunct instructors are the fastest growing population of faculty in the academy; and, given the current economic condition and its impact on institutions of higher learning, the proportion of adjunct faculty is likely to increase (Gappa, Austin & Trice, 2007; NCES, 2011). Yet the adjunct population continues to remain disconnected from the…

Supporting the Literacy Development of English Learners: Increasing Success in All Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Terrell A., Ed.; Hadaway, Nancy L., Ed.

2006-01-01

English learners are the fastest growing student population in the United States. Many of these students are placed in classrooms with teachers who lack the preparation to help diverse children excel. This book helps bridge the gap between students' needs and K-12 teachers' preparation, offering an overview of English learners and…

Magnetorotational instability: nonmodal growth and the relationship of global modes to the shearing box

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

Squire, J.; Bhattacharjee, A.

2014-12-10

We study magnetorotational instability (MRI) using nonmodal stability techniques. Despite the spectral instability of many forms of MRI, this proves to be a natural method of analysis that is well-suited to deal with the non-self-adjoint nature of the linear MRI equations. We find that the fastest growing linear MRI structures on both local and global domains can look very different from the eigenmodes, invariably resembling waves shearing with the background flow (shear waves). In addition, such structures can grow many times faster than the least stable eigenmode over long time periods, and be localized in a completely different region ofmore » space. These ideas lead—for both axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric modes—to a natural connection between the global MRI and the local shearing box approximation. By illustrating that the fastest growing global structure is well described by the ordinary differential equations (ODEs) governing a single shear wave, we find that the shearing box is a very sensible approximation for the linear MRI, contrary to many previous claims. Since the shear wave ODEs are most naturally understood using nonmodal analysis techniques, we conclude by analyzing local MRI growth over finite timescales using these methods. The strong growth over a wide range of wave-numbers suggests that nonmodal linear physics could be of fundamental importance in MRI turbulence.« less

Hierarchical image segmentation via recursive superpixel with adaptive regularity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamura, Kensuke; Hong, Byung-Woo

2017-11-01

A fast and accurate segmentation algorithm in a hierarchical way based on a recursive superpixel technique is presented. We propose a superpixel energy formulation in which the trade-off between data fidelity and regularization is dynamically determined based on the local residual in the energy optimization procedure. We also present an energy optimization algorithm that allows a pixel to be shared by multiple regions to improve the accuracy and appropriate the number of segments. The qualitative and quantitative evaluations demonstrate that our algorithm, combining the proposed energy and optimization, outperforms the conventional k-means algorithm by up to 29.10% in F-measure. We also perform comparative analysis with state-of-the-art algorithms in the hierarchical segmentation. Our algorithm yields smooth regions throughout the hierarchy as opposed to the others that include insignificant details. Our algorithm overtakes the other algorithms in terms of balance between accuracy and computational time. Specifically, our method runs 36.48% faster than the region-merging approach, which is the fastest of the comparing algorithms, while achieving a comparable accuracy.

Fast segmentation of industrial quality pavement images using Laws texture energy measures and k -means clustering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathavan, Senthan; Kumar, Akash; Kamal, Khurram; Nieminen, Michael; Shah, Hitesh; Rahman, Mujib

2016-09-01

Thousands of pavement images are collected by road authorities daily for condition monitoring surveys. These images typically have intensity variations and texture nonuniformities that make their segmentation challenging. The automated segmentation of such pavement images is crucial for accurate, thorough, and expedited health monitoring of roads. In the pavement monitoring area, well-known texture descriptors, such as gray-level co-occurrence matrices and local binary patterns, are often used for surface segmentation and identification. These, despite being the established methods for texture discrimination, are inherently slow. This work evaluates Laws texture energy measures as a viable alternative for pavement images for the first time. k-means clustering is used to partition the feature space, limiting the human subjectivity in the process. Data classification, hence image segmentation, is performed by the k-nearest neighbor method. Laws texture energy masks are shown to perform well with resulting accuracy and precision values of more than 80%. The implementations of the algorithm, in both MATLAB® and OpenCV/C++, are extensively compared against the state of the art for execution speed, clearly showing the advantages of the proposed method. Furthermore, the OpenCV-based segmentation shows a 100% increase in processing speed when compared to the fastest algorithm available in literature.

Spatial connectivity in a highly heterogeneous aquifer: From cores to preferential flow paths

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bianchi, M.; Zheng, C.; Wilson, C.; Tick, G.R.; Liu, Gaisheng; Gorelick, S.M.

2011-01-01

This study investigates connectivity in a small portion of the extremely heterogeneous aquifer at the Macrodispersion Experiment (MADE) site in Columbus, Mississippi. A total of 19 fully penetrating soil cores were collected from a rectangular grid of 4 m by 4 m. Detailed grain size analysis was performed on 5 cm segments of each core, yielding 1740 hydraulic conductivity (K) estimates. Three different geostatistical simulation methods were used to generate 3-D conditional realizations of the K field for the sampled block. Particle tracking calculations showed that the fastest particles, as represented by the first 5% to arrive, converge along preferential flow paths and exit the model domain within preferred areas. These 5% fastest flow paths accounted for about 40% of the flow. The distribution of preferential flow paths and particle exit locations is clearly influenced by the occurrence of clusters formed by interconnected cells with K equal to or greater than the 0.9 decile of the data distribution (10% of the volume). The fraction of particle paths within the high-K clusters ranges from 43% to 69%. In variogram-based K fields, some of the fastest paths are through media with lower K values, suggesting that transport connectivity may not require fully connected zones of relatively homogenous K. The high degree of flow and transport connectivity was confirmed by the values of two groups of connectivity indicators. In particular, the ratio between effective and geometric mean K (on average, about 2) and the ratio between the average arrival time and the arrival time of the fastest particles (on average, about 9) are consistent with flow and advective transport behavior characterized by channeling along preferential flow paths. ?? 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

Image segmentation by iterative parallel region growing with application to data compression and image analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilton, James C.

1988-01-01

Image segmentation can be a key step in data compression and image analysis. However, the segmentation results produced by most previous approaches to region growing are suspect because they depend on the order in which portions of the image are processed. An iterative parallel segmentation algorithm avoids this problem by performing globally best merges first. Such a segmentation approach, and two implementations of the approach on NASA's Massively Parallel Processor (MPP) are described. Application of the segmentation approach to data compression and image analysis is then described, and results of such application are given for a LANDSAT Thematic Mapper image.

Substance use disorders and co-morbidities among Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders.

PubMed

Wu, L-T; Blazer, D G

2015-02-01

Asian Americans (AAs) and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders (NHs/PIs) are the fastest growing segments of the US population. However, their population sizes are small, and thus AAs and NHs/PIs are often aggregated into a single racial/ethnic group or omitted from research and health statistics. The groups' substance use disorders (SUDs) and treatment needs have been under-recognized. We examined recent epidemiological data on the extent of alcohol and drug use disorders and the use of treatment services by AAs and NHs/PIs. NHs/PIs on average were less educated and had lower levels of household income than AAs. Considered as a single group, AAs and NHs/PIs showed a low prevalence of substance use and disorders. Analyses of survey data that compared AAs and NHs/PIs revealed higher prevalences of substance use (alcohol, drugs), depression and delinquency among NHs than among AAs. Among treatment-seeking patients in mental healthcare settings, NHs/PIs had higher prevalences of DSM-IV diagnoses than AAs (alcohol/drug, mood, adjustment, childhood-onset disruptive or impulse-control disorders), although co-morbidity was common in both groups. AAs and NHs/PIs with an SUD were unlikely to use treatment, especially treatment for alcohol problems, and treatment use tended to be related to involvement with the criminal justice system. Although available data are limited by small sample sizes of AAs and NHs/PIs, they demonstrate the need to separate AAs and NHs/PIs in health statistics and increase research into substance use and treatment needs for these fast-growing but understudied population groups.

Cellular automata segmentation of the boundary between the compacta of vertebral bodies and surrounding structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Egger, Jan; Nimsky, Christopher

2016-03-01

Due to the aging population, spinal diseases get more and more common nowadays; e.g., lifetime risk of osteoporotic fracture is 40% for white women and 13% for white men in the United States. Thus the numbers of surgical spinal procedures are also increasing with the aging population and precise diagnosis plays a vital role in reducing complication and recurrence of symptoms. Spinal imaging of vertebral column is a tedious process subjected to interpretation errors. In this contribution, we aim to reduce time and error for vertebral interpretation by applying and studying the GrowCut - algorithm for boundary segmentation between vertebral body compacta and surrounding structures. GrowCut is a competitive region growing algorithm using cellular automata. For our study, vertebral T2-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans were first manually outlined by neurosurgeons. Then, the vertebral bodies were segmented in the medical images by a GrowCut-trained physician using the semi-automated GrowCut-algorithm. Afterwards, results of both segmentation processes were compared using the Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) and the Hausdorff Distance (HD) which yielded to a DSC of 82.99+/-5.03% and a HD of 18.91+/-7.2 voxel, respectively. In addition, the times have been measured during the manual and the GrowCut segmentations, showing that a GrowCutsegmentation - with an average time of less than six minutes (5.77+/-0.73) - is significantly shorter than a pure manual outlining.

Latino Men with HIV/AIDS in New York State: Factors Influencing Use of Vocational Rehabilitation Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Datti, Paul Angelo

2009-01-01

As part of the fastest growing minority population in the U.S., Latino men are an ethnically and racially diverse group who are disproportionately affected by both HIV/AIDS and unemployment. As people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) continue to live longer and healthier lives, interest in their vocational development has been increasing, and research…

Evaluating the Validity of Accommodations for English Learners through Evidence Based on Response Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crotts, Katrina M.

2013-01-01

English learners (ELs) represent one of the fastest growing student populations in the United States. Given that language can serve as a barrier in EL performance, test accommodations are provided to help level the playing field and allow ELs to better demonstrate their true performance level. Test accommodations on the computer offer the ability…

Exposure of Hispanic Youth to Alcohol Advertising.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2003

Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. This Hispanic population is also younger than the general population: 40% of Hispanics are under 21, versus 30% of the entire population. The number of Hispanics under the age of 21 grew 61% between 1990 and 2000, totaling 17% of the nation's youth under 21 in 2000. The Center on…

Relationships of Noncognitive Predictors and Academic Success: A Study of Students at a Public Land-Grant Midwestern Institution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Linde

2013-01-01

While access to higher education has received a great deal of attention, the focus has more recently shifted to issues of student success. Student retention and degree completion have taken the forefront, and evidence indicates that the fastest growing occupations will require some level of postsecondary training. Without greater degree…

Lifelong Learning: Becoming Computer Savvy at a Later Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seals, Cheryl D.; Clanton, Kelley; Agarwal, Ravikant; Doswell, Felicia; Thomas, Chippewa M.

2008-01-01

Senior citizens represent the fastest growing demographic worldwide. As indicated in the Year 2000 U.S. Census, there are 35 million people 65 or older in the United States (U.S.). By 2030, it is estimated that there will be about 70 million older adults in the U.S. alone (Chadwick-Dias, McNulty, & Tullis, 2003). With the older population…

Molecular diagnostics: the changing culture of medical microbiology.

PubMed

Bullman, Susan; Lucey, Brigid; Sleator, Roy D

2012-01-01

Diagnostic molecular biology is arguably the fastest growing area in current laboratory-based medicine. Growth of the so called 'omics' technologies has, over the last decade, led to a gradual migration away from the 'one test, one pathogen' paradigm, toward multiplex approaches to infectious disease diagnosis, which have led to significant improvements in clinical diagnostics and ultimately improved patient care.

Immigrant Asian Indians in the U.S.: A Population at Risk for Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Misra, Ranjita

2009-01-01

Asian Indians are the third largest and fastest growing Asian subgroup in the U.S. and considered the model minority due to their high education and income level. Unlike other Asian immigrants, they are a more heterogeneous group with a genetic predisposition for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Current national surveys are incapable of…

Early root development of poplars ( Populus spp.) in relation to moist and saturated soil conditions

Treesearch

Rebecka Mc Carthy; Magnus Löf; Emile S. Gardiner

2017-01-01

Poplars (Populus spp.) are among the fastest growing trees raised in temperate regions of the world. Testing of newly developed cultivars informs assessment of potential planting stock for local environments. Initial rooting by nine poplar clones was tested in moist and saturated soil conditions during an 18-day greenhouse experiment. Clones responded differently to...

Weight loss in individuals with metabolic syndrome given DASH diet counseling when provided a low sodium vegetable juice: A randomized controlled trial

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Metabolic syndrome, a constellation of metabolic risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, is one of the fastest growing disease entities in the world. Weight loss is thought to be a key to improving all aspects of metabolic syndrome. Research studies have suggested benefits from ...

Strategies for Achieving the New SHAPE America Standards and Grade-Level Outcomes: Bringing Obstacle Course Training into Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kulik, Keri S.; Brewer, Hannah; Windish, Lance; Carlson, Hollie

2017-01-01

The new SHAPE America standards and grade level outcomes for high-school physical education focus exclusively on physical activities that are suitable for lifelong participation. Some of the fastest-growing physical activities for adults in the United States are non-traditional multi-sport events and obstacle course races. As "Healthy People…

The Levels of Physical Activity and Motor Skills in Young Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder, Aged 2-5 Years

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ketcheson, Leah; Hauck, Janet Lynn; Ulrich, Dale

2018-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder is the fastest growing developmental disability in the United States. As such, there is an unprecedented need for research examining factors contributing to the health disparities in this population. This research suggests a relationship between the levels of physical activity and health outcomes. In fact, excessive…

Pinning and Practice: Using Pinterest as a Tool for Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grote-Garcia, Stephanie; Vasinda, Sheri

2014-01-01

Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/) is one of the fastest growing social media sites (Duggan & Smith, 2013) and teachers are using it more and more for pedagogical ideas. In response to the increased use of social media in K-12 classrooms, it is highly important to prepare preservice teachers to incorporate these tools into their pedagogy.…

A Home Away: Meeting the Needs of Infants, Toddlers, and Families Experiencing Homelessness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parlakian, Rebecca

2010-01-01

Families are one of the fastest-growing groups affected by homelessness in the U.S. Very young children are profoundly affected by the loss of a consistent living situation, most especially in the first 3 years when routine and familiarity confer a sense of safety and security. The stress of homelessness--and the multiple traumas that frequently…

Social Media for School Communication. Research into Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, Ronald

2012-01-01

It's easy to dismiss social media as a fascination of young people but to do so minimizes one of the fastest growing trends in technology. The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently found that over 71% of teens have a Facebook profile and 75% of adults have one too. Social media tools have become the way for a school or business to…

Immunolocalization of endogenous indole-3-acetic acid and abscisic acid in the shoot internodes of Fargesia yunnanensis bamboo during development

Treesearch

Shuguang Wang; Yongpeng Ma; Chengbin Wan; Chungyun Hse; Todd F. Shupe; Yujun Wang; Changming Wang

2016-01-01

The Bambusoideae subfamily includes the fastest-growing plants worldwide, as a consequence of fast internode elongation. However, few studies have evaluated the temporal and spatial distribution of endogenous hormones during internode elongation. In this paper, endogenous indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA) were detected in different developmental...

CREATING SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS TO ASSESS THE PHYSICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC VALUES OF GREENING CITIES - A STUDY OF THE MILLION TREES INITIATIVES IN LOS ANGELES, CA

EPA Science Inventory

At a time of increasing concerns for urban sustainability, what are the physical, social, and economic values of urban forests in semi-arid climates where many of the world’s fastest growing cities are located? Although urban forests are increasingly popular to improve enviro...

Exploring the effects of population growth on future land use change in the Las Vegas Wash watershed: an integrated approach of geospatial modeling and analytics

EPA Science Inventory

The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing areas in the southwestern United States. The rapid urbanization has led to many environmental problems. For instance, as population growth and urbanization continue, there will be a problem with water shortage. ...

Traditional and Hybrid Dental Assisting Program: An Exploration of Design and Optimal Outcomes for Community College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sell, Janet A.

2016-01-01

This study was designed to investigate an accredited dental assisting educational program at a Midwest community college. The Bureau of Labor of Statistics (2015) claimed the profession of dental assisting is one of the fastest growing occupation, along with ongoing research that good oral health is linked to overall general health, thereby…

Factors Related to Academic Outcomes of Mexican American and American Indian Students in Doctoral Programs. ASHE Annual Meeting Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, Madeline J.; Fenske, Robert H.

In response to concern about the supply of minority faculty available to replace retiring academics, a study investigated academic achievement in doctoral programs by two of the United States' fastest-growing subpopulations, Mexican-Americans (MA) and American Indians (AI). The objectives were to establish a conceptual framework, to refine…

Oceans Crossing: Factors Contributing to the Social and Academic Integration of Korean, Malaysian, and Taiwanese International Undergraduate Students at a Research University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pham, Hoa

2013-01-01

The number of international students, especially Asian international students, studying at colleges and universities in the United States has increased dramatically during the past 50 years. As the fastest growing population on campus, Asian international students are also attracting more attention than ever before in higher education. However,…

Identity Theft and Consumer Health Education: A Case Study Teaching the Skill of Decision Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jefson, Cristy A.

2007-01-01

Identity theft is the fastest growing white-collar crime in America, increasing 40% annually. Identity theft occurs when personal-identifying information, such as a social security number, date of birth, or address, is used to commit fraud. From January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2005, 255,565 people in the United States were victims of identity…

School Expenditures and Academic Achievement Differences between High-ELL-Performing and Low-ELL-Performing High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiménez-Castellanos, Oscar Hugo; García, David

2017-01-01

English Language Learners (ELLs) are one of the fastest-growing K-12 populations across the nation. Educating secondary ELLs poses a unique challenge to U.S. schools. For instance, ELLs tend to experience high rates of poverty and attend segregated, underfunded, and unsafe schools. With the "League of United Latin American Citizens vs.…

Higher Education Services/Programs: Just for Hispanic Students?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ocasio-Jimenez, Priscilla Irma

2012-01-01

The graduation rates for Hispanic students in higher education are the lowest in the nation in comparison to any other subgroups, yet they are the fastest growing population in the nation. Lack of a rigorous curriculum in a K-12 setting and college readiness skills are factors. There needs to be a strong partnership among K-12 school districts and…

These Aren't Your Father's Funny Papers: The New World of Digital Graphic Novels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moorefield-Lang, Heather; Gavigan, Karen

2012-01-01

Due to the development of new 21st-century technologies, the world of children's and young adult literature is continually changing. For example, one of the fastest-growing multimodal formats that today's visually literate youth embrace is the digital graphic novel. Digital graphic novels are graphic novels produced on and/or accessed on some form…

Online Poker Gambling in University Students: Further Findings from an Online Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffiths, Mark; Parke, Jonathan; Wood, Richard; Rigbye, Jane

2010-01-01

Online poker is one of the fastest growing forms of online gambling yet there has been relatively little research to date. This study comprised 422 online poker players (362 males and 60 females) and investigated some of the predicting factors of online poker success and problem gambling using an online questionnaire. Results showed that length of…

Systematic Instruction in Reading for Spanish-Speaking Students. Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duran, Elva

2012-01-01

Students whose first language is not English are the fastest-growing group in public schools in all regions of the United States. Almost 10 million children between the ages of five and 17 live in the homes and communities in which a language other than English in spoken and presently most schools in the U.S. are under-educating many English…

Examining Empowerment, Family-School Partnerships, and Advocacy among Rural and Urban Latino Families of Children with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burke, Meghan M.

2017-01-01

Latino students and their families are the fastest growing minority group in the country, yet it is unclear whether rural (vs. urban) Latino families of students with disabilities have different needs. In this pilot study, 65 Latino family members of students with disabilities (15 rural; 50 urban) responded to a questionnaire about empowerment,…

Desi Women on the Forty Acres: Exploring Intergenerational Issues and Identity Development of South Asian American College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruzicka, Smita Sundaresan

2011-01-01

South Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing sub-groups within the Asian American population in the United States today. Between 1960 and 1990, the South Asian American population witnessed an increase of approximately 900% (Leonard, 1997). This increase in population also corresponds with the increase in South Asian American students…

"I Need Somebody to Hear Me": YouTube and Identity Expression of Biracial Individuals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patterson, Ashley

2017-01-01

The first time multiracial individuals were afforded the opportunity to identify with more than one race on the US Census was in the year 2000. Between 2000 and 2010, the black-white multiracial subpopulation was the largest and fastest growing within the two or more races category. The identities of many within this particularly youthful group…

University Student's Perspectives on Using Cell Phones in Classrooms--Are They Dialing up Disaster?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernandez, Simon

2018-01-01

Mobile phones are one of the fastest growing technologies in this century all over the world and these devices are extremely influencing the adolescents. The present study was sought to establish students' views on cell phones usage in university classrooms in an educational district in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study employed…

Review of wood-based panel sector in United States and Canada

Treesearch

H. N. Spelter; D. B. McKeever; I. Durbak

1997-01-01

Structural and nonstructural panels have been the fastest growing sector among wood products for the past two decades. The recent spate of plant construction and drop in product prices indicate slower growth and consolidation in the next 2 years. Growth in demand is unlikely to catch up with projected capacities until the next century, unless attrition of some existing...

Motivation of Latina/o Students in Algebra I: Intertwining Research and Reflections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruiz, Elsa Cantu

2011-01-01

Latinas/os, the largest and fastest growing minority ethnic group in the United States (impels research that focuses on the education of Latinas/os and the need to reduce the achievement gap that persists between Latinas/os and other groups. Such research has gained in popularity; however, it is still very limited. I use my teaching experience…

The State of Higher Education in California: Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valliani, Nadia; Byrd, Daniel

2015-01-01

Approximately, 6.3 million Asian Americans and 347,501 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPIs) live in California. The Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community is one that is both significant in size and in diversity. It also represents the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the state. Ensuring their access to and…

Preparing Students for the AP Psychology Exam

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitlock, Kristin

2013-01-01

The Advanced Placement Psychology exam is one of the fastest growing exams offered by the College Board. The average percent of change in the number of students taking this exam over the past five years is 12.4%. With 238,962 students taking the exam in 2013, the AP Psychology exam is the sixth largest exam, surpassing AP Biology and AP World…

Internationalization of the Postdoctorate in the United States: Analyzing the Demand for International Postdoc Labor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cantwell, Brendan; Taylor, Barrett J.

2013-01-01

The American academic research enterprise relies heavily on contributions made by foreign nationals. Of particular note is the large number of international postdocs employed at universities in the United States (US). Postdocs are among the fastest growing group of academic staff in the US, and over 50% of all postdocs in the US are temporary visa…

Keeping Them out of the Hands of the State: Two Critiques of Christian Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Appleby, Scott R.

1989-01-01

Discusses historical aspects of the Christian school movement in the past century as it evolved into one of the fastest-growing branches of private education in America. Compares and contrasts salient themes from Alan Peshkin's profile of a Fundamentalist academy in Illinois and Susan Rose's comparative analysis of a charismatic day school and a…

The Correlates of Academic Performance for English Learner Students in a New England District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Caroline; O'Dwyer, Laura; Irwin, Clare

2016-01-01

English learner students are one of the fastest growing subgroups in America's schools, and gaps between English learner students and their native English-speaking peers in academic outcomes remain large in most districts and states. This study examines data for all English learner students in grades K-12 in the study district who took the…

The Forum Community, the Connectivist Element of an xMOOC

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dubosson, Magali; Emad, Sabine

2015-01-01

One of the fastest growing approaches to teaching and learning in the new digital paradigm is the use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). They are categorised either as cMOOCs following a connectivist approach, or as xMOOCs based on behaviourist principles. However, in xMOOC environments, forums may play a real connectivist role if they are…

Hearing Their Voices: Asian American College Students' Perspectives on Sport and Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Yomee; Hokanson, James F.

2017-01-01

Although Asian Americans are the fastest growing minority in the USA with over 18 million in population, and have a long history, they remain underrepresented in sport and physical education. As we are living in a world that is becoming more diverse and multicultural, it is important to learn about the cultural meanings and significance of sport…

Formative Information Using Student Growth Percentiles for the Quantification of English Language Learners' Progress in Language Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taherbhai, Husein; Seo, Daeryong; O'Malley, Kimberly

2014-01-01

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing subgroup in American schools. These students, by a provision in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, are to be supported in their quest for language proficiency through the creation of systems that more effectively measure ELLs' progress across years. In…

Increasing Student Interaction Online: A Review of the Literature in Teacher Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ravenna, Georgianna; Foster, Chris; Bishop, Carolyn

2012-01-01

Online education is one of the fastest growing trends in the use of technology. This study examined the role of student interaction in an online environment and implications for course development and online instruction. In a review of seminal articles in the area of pre-service teacher education courses, two research questions were addressed: (1)…

Florida’s solution to liability issues

Treesearch

Dale Wade; James Brenner

1995-01-01

Prescribed fire is used to treat roughly 5 percent (1,500,000 acres) of Florida’s wildland each year. Superimposed on this firemaintained landscape is one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. Much of this population increase is a result of immigration from northern states where ancestral ties with fire have been broken. Many immigrants want to...

Survey of Research Approaches Utilised in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Publications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Divan, Aysha; Ludwig, Lynn O.; Matthews, Kelly E.; Motley, Phillip M.; Tomljenovic-Berube, Ana M.

2017-01-01

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has been described as the fastest growing academic development movement in higher education. As this field of inquiry matures, there is a need to understand how SoTL research is conducted. The purpose of our study was to inform this debate by investigating research approaches used in SoTL…

Responses to Soil Moisture Deficiency by Seedlings of Three Hardwood Species

Treesearch

F. T. Bonner

1968-01-01

Growth of terminal shoots of potted sycamore, sweetgum, and Nuttall oak seedlings began to decrease when leaf water deficits reached 6 to 9 percent. Growth limiting soil moisture tensions were much lower and occurred much sooner in Commerce silt loam than in Sharkey clay. Transpiration was greatest in the fastest growing individuals; it decreased steadily as tension...

Katz and Aakhus' Theory of Apparatgeist: Students' Perceptions of Normative and Non-Normative Behaviors for Technology Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lever-Mazzuto, Katie

2012-01-01

Today's students live in a mobile society beset with technologies that allow them to communicate through a wide variety of mediums. Mobile phones, for example, have become the fastest growing technology in history. Students have traditionally been at the forefront of most societal changes and this recent technological influx is certainly no…

Children in Immigrant Families: Looking to America's Future. Social Policy Report. Volume 22, Number 3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hernandez, Donald J.; Denton, Nancy A.; Macartney, Suzanne E.

2008-01-01

Children in immigrant families account for nearly one-in-four children in the U.S. They are the fastest growing population of children, and they are leading the nation's racial and ethnic transformation. As a consequence, baby-boomers will depend heavily for economic support during retirement on race-ethnic minorities, many of whom grew up in…

Investing in Low-Wage Workers: Lessons from Family Child Care in Rhode Island

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roder, Anne; Seavey, Dorie

2006-01-01

While child care is one of the fastest growing occupations in the country, most employment in this field is precarious and low-wage. Investing in Low-Wage Workers profiles the Day Care Justice Co-op, a group of largely Latina and African American women living and working in some of Rhode Island's poorest communities. Determined to improve family…

Difference between electrostriction kinetics, and mechanical response of segmented polyurethane-based EAP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jomaa, M. H.; Seveyrat, L.; Perrin, V.; Lebrun, L.; Masenelli-Varlot, K.; Diguet, Gildas; Cavaille, J. Y.

2017-03-01

Among the key parameters, which must be taken into account for the choice of actuators used as electrical to mechanical energy converters, the response to a step function and/or the frequency dependence of this response is extremely important. For polymeric actuators and more generally for electroactive polymers, three mechanisms can be at the origin of energy losses, namely dielectric relaxations, viscoelastic relaxations and possible electrical conductivity. In a previous paper, we studied the electrical behavior of segmented polyurethanes with different weight fractions of hard (MDI-BDO) and soft (PTMO) segments. They were shown to exhibit three main mechanisms, namely, from the fastest to the slowest, a secondary or β-relaxation, the main or α-relaxation associated with the glass-rubber transition of the soft phase, and finally, their electrical conductivity. In the present work, we present the general viscoelastic response (as measured through mechanical spectrometry) of the same polyurethanes and their respective time dependent electrostriction responses, and compare it with the relaxation characteristic times of electrical and mechanical spectroscopy data.

The Indian “girl” psychology: A perspective

PubMed Central

Rao, G. Prasad; Vidya, K. L.; Sriramya, V.

2015-01-01

India has one of the fastest growing youth populations in the world. Girls below 19 years of age comprise one-quarter of India's rapidly growing population. In spite of India's reputation for respecting women, to an extent to treat her as a goddess, the moment a baby is born, the first thing comes to mind is “boy or girl?” as the differences are beyond just being biological. This article examines the significance of various psychological constructs and psychosocial issues that are important in the life of a “girl” baby born in our country. PMID:26330637

Health issues amongst call center employees, an emerging occupational group in India.

PubMed

Raja, Jeyapal Dinesh; Bhasin, Sanjiv Kumar

2014-07-01

Call center sector in India is a relatively new industry and one of the fastest growing sectors driving employment and growth in modern India today. While employment in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector has meant that young adults are reaching their career milestones and financial goals much earlier than before, surveys and anecdotal evidence show that workers in the BPO sector experience high levels of stress and its related disorders, primarily due to its contemporary work settings. Safeguarding the health of youngsters employed in this new, growing economy becomes an occupational health challenge to public health specialists.

Implementing a successful senior/geriatric health care program for veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and office managers.

PubMed

Fortney, William D

2012-07-01

Geriatrics and gerontology have emerged as one of the fastest growing portions of a progressive small animal practice. A critical component of geriatric medicine is a senior/geriatric health care program with senior profiling. Fifty percent of small animal practices have some form of senior/geriatric health care program and the percentage is growing. Armed with the knowledge gleaned from a successful health care program, the progressive veterinarian is better positioned to prevent and/or manage problems in the earliest stages, increasing the options available plus improving the overall outcome.

Papua New Guinea.

PubMed

1989-07-01

The eastern half of the island of New Guinea (85% of total area); the Bismarck, Trobriand, Louisiade, and D'Entrecasteaux Archipelagos; and Bougainville, Buka, and Woodlark islands constitute the predominantly mountainous country of Papua New Guinea. It is located 160 km northeast of Australia in the South Pacific Ocean. This tropical country has 2 monsoon seasons with average annual rainfall ranging from 200-250 cm. It has 1 of the most heterogenous populations in the world with as many as several 1000 separate communities. Only 650 languages have yet been identified with 160 of them totally unrelated to each other or to any other language. At different times in its history, the country (or parts thereof) has been under the control of Germany, Australia (its largest bilateral aid donor), Japan, and Britain. After independence in 1975, Papua New Guinea established a veritable and strong parliamentary democracy. This democracy has an excellent human rights record and has a clear respect for these rights. 75% of the population live predominately at subsistence level. Gross domestic product (GDP) increased about 2%/year during the 1980s with agriculture making up 35% of GDP (40% of exports) and mining (copper and gold) 15%. In 1989, exports included 40% of GDP. Other than mining, the industrial sector made up 9% of GDP with little contributing to exports. Food processing was the fastest growing segment of the industrial segment. 45% of agricultural production consisted of subsistence cultivation. Coffee and cocoa were the 2 leading cash crops. Financially, the country was sound in 1989 with exports and imports almost equal from 1986. The United States relationship with Papua New Guinea is friendly and the 2 countries have a good trade relationship.

The creation of a global telemedical information society.

PubMed

Marsh, A

1998-01-01

Healthcare is a major candidate for improvement in any vision of the kinds of "information highways" and "information societies" that are now being visualized. The medical information management market is one of the largest and fastest growing segments of the healthcare device industry. The expected revenue by the year 2000 is US$21 billion. Telemedicine currently accounts for only a small segment but is expanding rapidly. In the United States more than 60% of federal telemedicine projects were initiated in the last two years. The concept of telemedicine captures much of what is developing in terms of technology implementations, especially if it is combined with the growth of the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW). It is foreseen that the World Wide Web (WWW) will become the most important communication medium of any future information society. If the development of such a society is to be on a global scale it should not be allowed to develop in an ad hoc manner. The Euromed Project has identified 20 building blocks resulting in 39 steps requiring multi-disciplinary collaborations. Since, the organization of information is therefore critical especially when concerning healthcare the Euromed Project has also introduced a new (global) standard called "Virtual Medical Worlds" which provides the potential to organize existing medical information and provide the foundations for its integration into future forms of medical information systems. Virtual Medical Worlds, based on 3D reconstructed medical models, utilizes the WWW as a navigational medium to remotely access multimedia medical information systems. The visualisation and manipulation of hyper-graphical 3D "body/organ" templates and patient-specific 3D/4D/and VR models is an attempt to define an information infrastructure in an emerging WWW-based telemedical information society.

The Creation of a global telemedical information society.

PubMed

Marsh, A

1998-04-01

Healthcare is a major candidate for improvement in any vision of the kinds of 'information highways' and 'information societies' that are now being visualized. The medical information management market is one of the largest and fastest growing segments of the healthcare device industry. The expected revenue by the year 2000 is US$21 billion. Telemedicine currently accounts for only a small segment but is expanding rapidly. In the USA more than 60% of federal telemedicine projects were initiated in the last 2 years. The concept of telemedicine captures much of what is developing in terms of technology implementations, especially if it is combined with the growth of the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW). It is foreseen that the World Wide Web (WWW) will become the most important communication medium of any future information society. If the development of such a society is to be on a global scale it should not be allowed to develop in an ad hoc manner. For this reason, the Euromed Project has identified 20 building blocks resulting in 39 steps requiring multi-disciplinary collaborations. Since, the organization of information is therefore critical especially when concerning healthcare the Euromed Project has also introduced a new (global) standard called 'Virtual Medical Worlds' which provides the potential to organize existing medical information and provide the foundations for its integration into future forms of medical information systems. Virtual Medical Worlds, based on 3D reconstructed medical models, utilizes the WWW as a navigational medium to remotely access multi-media medical information systems. The visualization and manipulation of hyper-graphical 3D 'body/organ' templates and patient-specific 3D/4D/and VR models is an attempt to define an information infrastructure in an emerging WWW-based telemedical information society.

Spatio-Temporal Video Segmentation with Shape Growth or Shrinkage Constraint

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tarabalka, Yuliya; Charpiat, Guillaume; Brucker, Ludovic; Menze, Bjoern H.

2014-01-01

We propose a new method for joint segmentation of monotonously growing or shrinking shapes in a time sequence of noisy images. The task of segmenting the image time series is expressed as an optimization problem using the spatio-temporal graph of pixels, in which we are able to impose the constraint of shape growth or of shrinkage by introducing monodirectional infinite links connecting pixels at the same spatial locations in successive image frames. The globally optimal solution is computed with a graph cut. The performance of the proposed method is validated on three applications: segmentation of melting sea ice floes and of growing burned areas from time series of 2D satellite images, and segmentation of a growing brain tumor from sequences of 3D medical scans. In the latter application, we impose an additional intersequences inclusion constraint by adding directed infinite links between pixels of dependent image structures.

Segmentation of Large Unstructured Point Clouds Using Octree-Based Region Growing and Conditional Random Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bassier, M.; Bonduel, M.; Van Genechten, B.; Vergauwen, M.

2017-11-01

Point cloud segmentation is a crucial step in scene understanding and interpretation. The goal is to decompose the initial data into sets of workable clusters with similar properties. Additionally, it is a key aspect in the automated procedure from point cloud data to BIM. Current approaches typically only segment a single type of primitive such as planes or cylinders. Also, current algorithms suffer from oversegmenting the data and are often sensor or scene dependent. In this work, a method is presented to automatically segment large unstructured point clouds of buildings. More specifically, the segmentation is formulated as a graph optimisation problem. First, the data is oversegmented with a greedy octree-based region growing method. The growing is conditioned on the segmentation of planes as well as smooth surfaces. Next, the candidate clusters are represented by a Conditional Random Field after which the most likely configuration of candidate clusters is computed given a set of local and contextual features. The experiments prove that the used method is a fast and reliable framework for unstructured point cloud segmentation. Processing speeds up to 40,000 points per second are recorded for the region growing. Additionally, the recall and precision of the graph clustering is approximately 80%. Overall, nearly 22% of oversegmentation is reduced by clustering the data. These clusters will be classified and used as a basis for the reconstruction of BIM models.

Market trends in the projection display industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dash, Sweta

2001-03-01

The projection display industry represents a multibillion- dollar market that includes four distinct technologies. High-volume consumer products and high-value business products drive the market, with different technologies being used in different application markets. The consumer market is dominated by rear CRT technology, especially in the projection TV segment. Rear LCD (liquid crystal display), MEMS/DLP (or Digital Light Processing TM) and LCOS (Liquid-crystal-on-silicon) TVs are slowly emerging as future competitors to rear CRT projectors. Front CRT projectors are also facing challenges from LCD and DLP technology for the home theater market while the business market is completely dominated by front LCD and DLP technology. Three-chip DLP projectors have replaced liquid crystal light valves in large venue applications where projectors have higher light output requirements. In recent years front LCD and LCOS projectors have been increasingly competing with 3-chip DLP projectors especially at the low end of the large venue application market. Within the next five years the projection market will experience very fast growth. Sales and presentation applications, which are the fastest growing applications in the business market, will continue to be the major driving force for the growth for front projectors, and the shift in the consumer market to digital and HDTV products will drive the rear projection market.

Temperature stability of proteins: Analysis of irreversible denaturation using isothermal calorimetry

PubMed Central

Schön, Arne; Clarkson, Benjamin R; Jaime, Maria; Freire, Ernesto

2017-01-01

The structural stability of proteins has been traditionally studied under conditions in which the folding/unfolding reaction is reversible, since thermodynamic parameters can only be determined under these conditions. Achieving reversibility conditions in temperature stability experiments has often required performing the experiments at acidic pH or other nonphysiological solvent conditions. With the rapid development of protein drugs, the fastest growing segment in the pharmaceutical industry, the need to evaluate protein stability under formulation conditions has acquired renewed urgency. Under formulation conditions and the required high protein concentration (~100 mg/mL), protein denaturation is irreversible and frequently coupled to aggregation and precipitation. In this article, we examine the thermal denaturation of hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) under irreversible conditions and concentrations up to 100 mg/mL using several techniques, especially isothermal calorimetry which has been used to measure the enthalpy and kinetics of the unfolding and aggregation/precipitation at 12°C below the transition temperature measured by DSC. At those temperatures the rate of irreversible protein denaturation and aggregation of HEWL is measured to be on the order of 1 day−1. Isothermal calorimetry appears a suitable technique to identify buffer formulation conditions that maximize the long term stability of protein drugs. PMID:28722205

Effect of age on toxicokinetics among human volunteers exposed to propylene glycol methyl ether (PGME).

PubMed

Hopf, Nancy B; Vernez, David; Berthet, Aurelie; Charriere, Nicole; Arnoux, Christine; Tomicic, Catherine

2012-05-20

Aging adults represent the fastest growing population segment in many countries. Physiological and metabolic changes in the aging process may alter how aging adults biologically respond to pollutants. In a controlled human toxicokinetic study (exposure chamber; 12 m³), aging volunteers (n=10; >58 years) were exposed to propylene glycol monomethyl ether (PGME, CAS no. 107-98-2) at 50 ppm for 6 h. The dose-dependent renal excretion of oxidative metabolites, conjugated and free PGME could potentially be altered by age. (1) Compare PGME toxicokinetic profiles between aging and young volunteers (20-25 years) and gender; (2) test the predictive power of a compartmental toxicokinetic (TK) model developed for aging persons against urinary PGME concentrations found in this study. Urine samples were collected before, during, and after the exposure. Urinary PGME was quantified by capillary GC/FID. Differences in urinary PGME profiles were not noted between genders but between age groups. Metabolic parameters had to be changed to fit the age adjusted TK model to the experimental results, implying a slower enzymatic pathway in the aging volunteers. For an appropriate exposure assessment, urinary total PGME should be quantified. Age is a factor that should be considered when biological limit values are developed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Temperature stability of proteins: Analysis of irreversible denaturation using isothermal calorimetry.

PubMed

Schön, Arne; Clarkson, Benjamin R; Jaime, Maria; Freire, Ernesto

2017-11-01

The structural stability of proteins has been traditionally studied under conditions in which the folding/unfolding reaction is reversible, since thermodynamic parameters can only be determined under these conditions. Achieving reversibility conditions in temperature stability experiments has often required performing the experiments at acidic pH or other nonphysiological solvent conditions. With the rapid development of protein drugs, the fastest growing segment in the pharmaceutical industry, the need to evaluate protein stability under formulation conditions has acquired renewed urgency. Under formulation conditions and the required high protein concentration (∼100 mg/mL), protein denaturation is irreversible and frequently coupled to aggregation and precipitation. In this article, we examine the thermal denaturation of hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) under irreversible conditions and concentrations up to 100 mg/mL using several techniques, especially isothermal calorimetry which has been used to measure the enthalpy and kinetics of the unfolding and aggregation/precipitation at 12°C below the transition temperature measured by DSC. At those temperatures the rate of irreversible protein denaturation and aggregation of HEWL is measured to be on the order of 1 day -1 . Isothermal calorimetry appears a suitable technique to identify buffer formulation conditions that maximize the long term stability of protein drugs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Socio-Demographic Variables and Successful Aging of the Angolan Elderly

PubMed Central

Galiana, Laura; Gutiérrez, Melchor; Sancho, Patricia; Francisco, Elizabeth-Hama; Tomás, José M.

2016-01-01

The proportion of elderly people is growing faster than any other age group. Amongst them, the group of oldest old is indeed the segment of the elderly population with the fastest growth rate. The increase in the proportion of elderly in the Angolan population makes research on this area badly needed. Within the theoretical framework of successful aging, the study aims to test for sociodemographic group differences in perceived health, life satisfaction, and social relations in Angolan elderly. The dependent variables are three of the components of what has been called successful aging. Data came from a cross-sectional survey of elderly people living in Luanda. 1003 Angolan elderly were surveyed on sociodemographic information, perceived health, life satisfaction, and social support. MANOVAs were calculated to test for mean differences in the dependent variables. Results permit to conclude that the factors associated with the largest differences on the Angolan elderly's quality of life and social relations were age (becoming oldest old) and institutionalization. The interactions of several factors with age pointed out that the oldest old were clearly a group in which the decreased quality of life due to becoming oldest old could not be compensated by other factors, as it was the case in the group of young old. PMID:27088039

The Chinese American Eye Study: Design and Methods

PubMed Central

Varma, Rohit; Hsu, Chunyi; Wang, Dandan; Torres, Mina; Azen, Stanley P.

2016-01-01

Purpose To summarize the study design, operational strategies and procedures of the Chinese American Eye Study (CHES), a population-based assessment of the prevalence of visual impairment, ocular disease, and visual functioning in Chinese Americans. Methods This population-based, cross-sectional study, included 4,570 Chinese, 50 years and older, residing in the city of Monterey Park, California. Each eligible participant completed a detailed interview and eye examination. The interview included an assessment of demographic, behavioral, and ocular risk factors and health-related and vision-related quality of life. The eye examination included measurements of visual acuity, intraocular pressure, visual fields, fundus and optic disc photography, a detailed anterior and posterior segment examination, and measurements of blood pressure, glycosylated hemoglobin levels, and blood glucose levels. Results The objectives of the CHES are to obtain prevalence estimates of visual impairment, refractive error, diabetic retinopathy, open-angle and angle-closure glaucoma, lens opacities, and age-related macular degeneration in Chinese-Americans. In addition, outcomes include effect estimates for risk factors associated with eye diseases. Lastly, CHES will investigate the genetic determinates of myopia and glaucoma. Conclusion The CHES will provide information about the prevalence and risk factors of ocular diseases in one of the fastest growing minority groups in the United States. PMID:24044409

Assessment of recent HIV testing among older adults in the United States.

PubMed

Guo, Yuqi; Sims, Omar T

2017-10-01

Older adults are the fastest growing segment of people living with HIV, and unfortunately many are unaware of their HIV status. Many providers are reluctant to ask older adults about their sexual histories, evaluate their risk factors, and test for HIV, and older adults have low perception of HIV risk. Using data from the 2013 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, this study assessed the prevalence of recent HIV testing among older adults in the United States (n = 1,056) and identified predictors and barriers to recent HIV testing. The prevalence of recent HIV testing was 28%. Recent HIV testing was associated positively with male gender, education level, having public insurance, having same sex sexual behavior, African, and Hispanic ethnicity, whereas age, income-to-poverty ratio, and Asian ethnicity were associated negatively with recent HIV testing. Public health social workers are advised that targeted HIV testing for Asian, economically disadvantaged, female older adults is needed to increase HIV awareness and detection and to decrease late diagnosis of HIV. Provided public insurance was identified as a predictor of recent HIV testing, facilitating economically disadvantaged older adults' eligibility for public insurance that will likely improve access to HIV testing services and increase HIV testing rates.

Magnetorotational Instability: Nonmodal Growth and the Relationship of Global Modes to the Shearing Box

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

J Squire, A Bhattacharjee

We study the magnetorotational instability (MRI) (Balbus & Hawley 1998) using non-modal stability techniques.Despite the spectral instability of many forms of the MRI, this proves to be a natural method of analysis that is well-suited to deal with the non-self-adjoint nature of the linear MRI equations. We find that the fastest growing linear MRI structures on both local and global domains can look very diff erent to the eigenmodes, invariably resembling waves shearing with the background flow (shear waves). In addition, such structures can grow many times faster than the least stable eigenmode over long time periods, and be localizedmore » in a completely di fferent region of space. These ideas lead – for both axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric modes – to a natural connection between the global MRI and the local shearing box approximation. By illustrating that the fastest growing global structure is well described by the ordinary diff erential equations (ODEs) governing a single shear wave, we find that the shearing box is a very sensible approximation for the linear MRI, contrary to many previous claims. Since the shear wave ODEs are most naturally understood using non-modal analysis techniques, we conclude by analyzing local MRI growth over finite time-scales using these methods. The strong growth over a wide range of wave-numbers suggests that non-modal linear physics could be of fundamental importance in MRI turbulence (Squire & Bhattacharjee 2014).« less

Science and technology issues in coastal ecotourism. Background paper

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

Not Available

Nature-based tourism, increasingly called 'ecotourism'--one of the fastest growing sectors of tourism worldwide, is fast gaining the attention of developed and developing countries as a potential means to conserve natural resources and support sustainable economic progress. The paper presents information on the ecotourism trends; identifies issues related to resource conservation, ecotourism development and management, and planning; and presents questions for possible further consideration.

Examining How Video-Elicited Reflection Mediates Teacher Candidates' Beliefs about English Language Learners: A Multiple Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez, Monica M.

2017-01-01

English Language Learners (ELLs) are students who speak a language other than English; they are the fastest growing student population in United States' (US) public schools and will include over 17 million students by the year 2020 (NCES,2015). The dramatic increase in the ELL student population means that all mainstream classroom teachers will…

Building a Commitment to Partnerships in the Coachella Valley: The Santa Rosa Mountains-A Case Study

Treesearch

Russell L. Kaldenberg

1992-01-01

The Coachella Valley is situated in eastern Riverside County, California, approximately 100 miles east of Los Angeles. During the 1980s it was one of the fastest growing areas in the nation with an annual growth rate of 8.3 percent. As open space diminished, many governing jurisdictions, and environmental and educational organizations began looking for a commitment to...

The Role of Community College First-Year Experience Programs in Promoting Transfer among Latino Male Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peña, Mauro Ivan

2017-01-01

Latina/os are one of the fastest growing populations nationwide. In California, Latino males make up 33% of the total male population. While Latino males in the state are opting to pursue a higher education, only 18% are enrolled in public four-year institutions. Most Latino males begin their academic trajectory in community colleges and aspire to…

Dispelling or Reinforcing Myths? Learning a New Language as Portrayed in Children's Picturebooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadaway, Nancy L.; Young, Terrell A.

2009-01-01

Immigrants currently make up over 12% of the U.S. population, with children of immigrants comprising more than 20% of the population. Consequently, English learners are the fastest growing group in U.S. schools today, accounting for 10.5% of the total public school student population in Pre-K through Grade 12 in 2004-2005, a 56.2% increase over…

The For-Profit Postsecondary School Sector: Nimble Critters or Agile Predators? NBER Working Paper No. 17710

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deming, David J.; Goldin, Claudia; Katz, Lawrence F.

2011-01-01

Private for-profit institutions have been the fastest growing part of the U.S. higher education sector. For-profit enrollment increased from 0.2 percent to 9.1 percent of total enrollment in degree-granting schools from 1970 to 2009, and for-profit institutions account for the majority of enrollments in non-degree granting postsecondary schools.…

The Changing Demographic Landscape of the Nation: Perspectives on College Opportunities for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teranishi, Robert T.; Kim, Victoria

2017-01-01

With the rapidly changing demography of the United States, there is a need for greater attention to expanding opportunities and reducing barriers to education for all. This article focuses on one of the nation's fastest-growing immigrant groups--Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). A case study of a program at a community college shows…

Academic and Social Adjustment of Students Transitioning from an Early College High School Program to an Institution of Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCorry-Andalis, Catherine

2013-01-01

Historically, minority and low-income populations have faced numerous challenges in achieving a higher education particularly students of Latino descent. Gandara and Contreras (2009) explain that Latinos are the fastest growing population in the United States and yet academically, they are further behind than any other ethnic group in the nation.…

From 5 Million to 20 Million a Year: The Challenge of Scale, Quality and Relevance in India's TVET

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mehrotra, Santosh

2014-01-01

In the first decade of this century, India became one of the world's fastest growing large economies, and began to face serious skill-related shortages of workers. Its TVET system has not responded adequately to the growth in demand for semi-skilled and skilled workers. This article describes six sets of reforms that India's educational planners…

Using Computer-Adaptive Assessments of Literacy to Monitor the Progress of English Learner Students. REL 2016-149

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foorman, Barbara; Espinosa, Anabel; Wood, Carla; Wu, Yi-Chieh

2016-01-01

A top education priority in the United States is to address the needs of one of the fastest growing yet lowest performing student populations--English learner students (Capps et al., 2005). English learner students come from homes where a non-English language is spoken and need additional academic support to access the mainstream curriculum. These…

Contributing Factors in Students' Choice of a Physical Therapist Assistant Career: A Contrast with the Physical Therapist Career Pathway

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mele, Robert V.

2009-01-01

The health care professions have gained significant notoriety as one of the fastest growing career opportunities in the country. In particular, physical therapy has gained a reputation as a vital and significant member of the health care team. The physical therapy field has struggled to provide adequate services to meet patients' needs due to the…

At the University of Arizona, Goals Collide with Reality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelderman, Eric

2009-01-01

To be at the University of Arizona these days is, in some ways, to be under siege. The flagship university in one of the nation's fastest-growing states may have to eliminate some 600 jobs and merge dozens of programs to deal with two rounds of budget cuts imposed since June. Now the governor is telling the university and other state agencies to…

Recreation and tourism in south-central Alaska: synthesis of recent trends and prospects.

Treesearch

David J. Brooks; Richard W. Haynes

2001-01-01

Tourism has been the fastest growing component of Alaska’s economy for the past decade and is an important export sector for the regional economy. Opportunities to participate in outdoor recreation are also an important component of the quality of life for residents of Alaska. Successful planning for the Chugach National Forest therefore will require an understanding...

Creating New Economic Opportunities: The Competitive Advantages of Rural America in the Next Century.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isserman, Andrew M.

Much of today's rural America will be the fastest growing part of the nation in the next half century. The spread of large cities and the creation of new ones, the addition of almost 30 million senior citizens, and immigration into rural areas are powerful forces contributing to the development of rural America. Rural areas are competitive in a…

Improving the Validity of English Language Learner Assessment Systems. Full Report. Policy Brief 10, Spring 2010

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolf, Mikyung Kim; Herman, Joan L.; Dietel, Ronald

2010-01-01

English Language Learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing group of students in American public schools. According to Payan and Nettles (2008), the ELL population doubled in 23 states between 1995 and 2005. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by 2050, the Hispanic school-age population will exceed the non-Hispanic white school-age public school…

The Future of Your Only Child: How to Guide Your Child to a Happy and Successful Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pickhardt, Carl E.

2008-01-01

One-child households have doubled over the last two decades making it one of the fastest growing family units in America. The author aids families in understanding the common traits of many adult "onlies"--like shyness, perfection, and intolerance--so that they can better prepare for potential outcomes. He also celebrates the positive qualities of…

Multiply Your Child's Success: Math and Science Can Make Dreams Come True. A Parent's Guide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Math and Science Initiative, 2012

2012-01-01

In today's high-tech world, math and science matter. Of the 10 fastest growing occupations, eight are science, math or technology-related. Whatever a child wants to do--join the military, join the workforce, or go on to college--math and science skills will be important. Become part of the equation to help one's child succeed now and in the…

Family Structure, Family Processes, and Adolescent Delinquency: The Significance of Parental Absence versus Parental Gender

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demuth, Stephen; Brown, Susan L.

2004-01-01

One third of all children are born to unmarried mothers and over one half of children will spend some time in a single-parent family. In fact, single-father families are the fastest growing family form. Using data from the 1995 National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, the authors extend prior research that has investigated the effects of…

Academic Aspirations as a Moderator of the Link between Negative Life Events and Delinquency in a Sample of Latino Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiPierro, Moneika; Fite, Paula J.; Cooley, John L.; Poquiz, John L.

2016-01-01

Background: Latino youth are one of the fastest growing populations in the United States and are at a disproportionately higher risk for experiencing negative life events (NLEs). However, there are few studies examining risk and protective factors for the potentially negative outcomes that Latino youth who experience high levels of NLEs may face.…

Parental Perceptions of Childhood Overweight in the Mexican American Population: An Integrative Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Carroll L.

2008-01-01

The prevalence of overweight in Mexican American children has been increasing at a steady rate over the past few years. People of Mexican origin make up the largest proportion of the Hispanic population, which has been reported by the U.S. Census Bureau to be the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. The purpose of this integrative…

The Service Sector and Rural America: Issues for Public Policy and Topics for Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menchik, Mark David

An examination of trends in the service industries, as determined by U.S. Bureau of the Census figures (1970-77), reveals it to be the fastest growing sector in the economy, both nationally and rurally. Employment in this sector increased 24% nationally and accounted for 74% of the net gain in nonmetropolitan employment; growth was at least 65%…

Identifying Effective Student Success and Engagement Practices among Latino/a Students to Increase Graduation Rates: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Karina

2017-01-01

Latino/as are the fastest growing population in the United States and have the second lowest graduation rate among all demographics. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain a better understanding of the barriers affecting Latino/a success as well as exploring self-identified engagement strategies leading to Latino/a student first…

AulaNet[TM]--An Environment for the Development and Maintenance of Courses on the Web.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Lucena, Carlos J. P.; Fuks, Hugo; Milidiu, Ruy; Macedo, Lucas; Santos, Neide; Laufer, Carlos; Blois, Marcelo; Fontoura, Marcus; Chorena, Ricardo; Crespo, Sergio; Torres, Viviane; Daflon, Leandro; Lukowiecki, Leticia

As yet, there are no specialists in the application of information technology to education and training. However, this is one of the fastest growing areas on the Internet due to the recent perception of the enormous potential for the use of Web resources for this purpose. This has attracted the attention of researchers in industry and the academic…

Big Gaps, Small Gaps: Some Colleges and Universities Do Better than Others in Graduating Hispanic Students. College Results Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynch, Mamie; Engle, Jennifer

2010-01-01

The United States' lack of purposefulness in providing high-quality education to all young Americans, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, is literally wasting the future of many young people, including members of the fastest growing group. Poised by 2050 to constitute nearly one-third of the workforce, Latinos currently are the least…

Crossing to the Dark Side? An Interview-Based Comparison of Traditional and For-Profit Higher Education. Private Enterprise in American Education. Special Report 4

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wildavsky, Ben

2011-01-01

In the past year, for-profit higher education providers have been thrust into the spotlight. The fastest growing postsecondary sector has come under unprecedented scrutiny from policymakers, regulators, and the media. Critics have zeroed in on a range of concerns, from perceived dubious recruiting tactics and overblown promises about students'…

Community Schooling and State Control: A Dilemma in the Innovation and Reform of Botswana's Basic Education System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tshireletso, Lucky

This paper examines the Botswana government's objectives and implementation strategies in the development of community secondary schools. With a population of 1.5 million and an annual growth rate of 3.5 percent, Botswana is one of the fastest growing countries in the world. Recent dramatic economic growth, largely due to diamond revenues, has not…

Management's Perspective on Critical Success Factors Affecting Mobile Learning in Higher Education Institutions--An Empirical Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alrasheedi, Muasaad; Capretz, Luiz Fernando; Raza, Arif

2016-01-01

Mobile learning (m-Learning) is considered to be one of the fastest growing learning platforms. The immense interest in m-Learning is attributed to the incredible rate of growth of mobile technology and its proliferation into every aspect of modern life. Despite this, m-Learning has not experienced a similar adoption rate in the education sector,…

Teaching and Learning the Language of Science: A Case Study of Academic Language Acquisition in a Dual Language Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gose, Robin Margaretha

2013-01-01

English language learners (EL) are the fastest growing sub-group of the student population in California, yet ELs also score the lowest on the science section of the California Standardized Tests. In the area of bilingual education, California has dramatically changed its approach to English learners since the passage of Proposition 227 in 1998,…

Riparian ecosystem consequences of water redistribution along the Colorado Front Range

Treesearch

John D. Wiener; Kathleen A. Dwire; Susan K. Skagen; Robert R. Crifasi; David Yates

2008-01-01

Water has shaped the American West. Nowhere is this more evident than along the Front Range of Colorado. At the west end of the famous Great Plains rainfall gradient, the Front Range extends most of the length of Colorado and is one of the fastest growing metropolitan regions in the nation. Annual precipitation along the Front Range averages about 16 inches, and...

An Exploration of Ethos in Irish Muslim Schools: Ethnographic Insights and Perspectives from Parents and Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sai, Youcef

2018-01-01

Islam is the fastest growing faith in the Republic of Ireland, with the number of adherents reported in 2012 at 50,000. However, despite this number there are only three Muslim primary schools. Empirical research on Muslim schools in Ireland is currently very limited. This article aims to provide insight and understanding into the role of ethos as…

Region growing using superpixels with learned shape prior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borovec, Jiří; Kybic, Jan; Sugimoto, Akihiro

2017-11-01

Region growing is a classical image segmentation method based on hierarchical region aggregation using local similarity rules. Our proposed method differs from classical region growing in three important aspects. First, it works on the level of superpixels instead of pixels, which leads to a substantial speed-up. Second, our method uses learned statistical shape properties that encourage plausible shapes. In particular, we use ray features to describe the object boundary. Third, our method can segment multiple objects and ensure that the segmentations do not overlap. The problem is represented as an energy minimization and is solved either greedily or iteratively using graph cuts. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed method and compare it with alternative approaches on the task of segmenting individual eggs in microscopy images of Drosophila ovaries.

Segmentation of remotely sensed data using parallel region growing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilton, J. C.; Cox, S. C.

1983-01-01

The improved spatial resolution of the new earth resources satellites will increase the need for effective utilization of spatial information in machine processing of remotely sensed data. One promising technique is scene segmentation by region growing. Region growing can use spatial information in two ways: only spatially adjacent regions merge together, and merging criteria can be based on region-wide spatial features. A simple region growing approach is described in which the similarity criterion is based on region mean and variance (a simple spatial feature). An effective way to implement region growing for remote sensing is as an iterative parallel process on a large parallel processor. A straightforward parallel pixel-based implementation of the algorithm is explored and its efficiency is compared with sequential pixel-based, sequential region-based, and parallel region-based implementations. Experimental results from on aircraft scanner data set are presented, as is a discussioon of proposed improvements to the segmentation algorithm.

Nucleus and cytoplasm segmentation in microscopic images using K-means clustering and region growing.

PubMed

Sarrafzadeh, Omid; Dehnavi, Alireza Mehri

2015-01-01

Segmentation of leukocytes acts as the foundation for all automated image-based hematological disease recognition systems. Most of the time, hematologists are interested in evaluation of white blood cells only. Digital image processing techniques can help them in their analysis and diagnosis. The main objective of this paper is to detect leukocytes from a blood smear microscopic image and segment them into their two dominant elements, nucleus and cytoplasm. The segmentation is conducted using two stages of applying K-means clustering. First, the nuclei are segmented using K-means clustering. Then, a proposed method based on region growing is applied to separate the connected nuclei. Next, the nuclei are subtracted from the original image. Finally, the cytoplasm is segmented using the second stage of K-means clustering. The results indicate that the proposed method is able to extract the nucleus and cytoplasm regions accurately and works well even though there is no significant contrast between the components in the image. In this paper, a method based on K-means clustering and region growing is proposed in order to detect leukocytes from a blood smear microscopic image and segment its components, the nucleus and the cytoplasm. As region growing step of the algorithm relies on the information of edges, it will not able to separate the connected nuclei more accurately in poor edges and it requires at least a weak edge to exist between the nuclei. The nucleus and cytoplasm segments of a leukocyte can be used for feature extraction and classification which leads to automated leukemia detection.

Nucleus and cytoplasm segmentation in microscopic images using K-means clustering and region growing

PubMed Central

Sarrafzadeh, Omid; Dehnavi, Alireza Mehri

2015-01-01

Background: Segmentation of leukocytes acts as the foundation for all automated image-based hematological disease recognition systems. Most of the time, hematologists are interested in evaluation of white blood cells only. Digital image processing techniques can help them in their analysis and diagnosis. Materials and Methods: The main objective of this paper is to detect leukocytes from a blood smear microscopic image and segment them into their two dominant elements, nucleus and cytoplasm. The segmentation is conducted using two stages of applying K-means clustering. First, the nuclei are segmented using K-means clustering. Then, a proposed method based on region growing is applied to separate the connected nuclei. Next, the nuclei are subtracted from the original image. Finally, the cytoplasm is segmented using the second stage of K-means clustering. Results: The results indicate that the proposed method is able to extract the nucleus and cytoplasm regions accurately and works well even though there is no significant contrast between the components in the image. Conclusions: In this paper, a method based on K-means clustering and region growing is proposed in order to detect leukocytes from a blood smear microscopic image and segment its components, the nucleus and the cytoplasm. As region growing step of the algorithm relies on the information of edges, it will not able to separate the connected nuclei more accurately in poor edges and it requires at least a weak edge to exist between the nuclei. The nucleus and cytoplasm segments of a leukocyte can be used for feature extraction and classification which leads to automated leukemia detection. PMID:26605213

Brain tumor segmentation in MR slices using improved GrowCut algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Chunhong; Yu, Jinhua; Wang, Yuanyuan; Chen, Liang; Shi, Zhifeng; Mao, Ying

2015-12-01

The detection of brain tumor from MR images is very significant for medical diagnosis and treatment. However, the existing methods are mostly based on manual or semiautomatic segmentation which are awkward when dealing with a large amount of MR slices. In this paper, a new fully automatic method for the segmentation of brain tumors in MR slices is presented. Based on the hypothesis of the symmetric brain structure, the method improves the interactive GrowCut algorithm by further using the bounding box algorithm in the pre-processing step. More importantly, local reflectional symmetry is used to make up the deficiency of the bounding box method. After segmentation, 3D tumor image is reconstructed. We evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method on MR slices with synthetic tumors and actual clinical MR images. Result of the proposed method is compared with the actual position of simulated 3D tumor qualitatively and quantitatively. In addition, our automatic method produces equivalent performance as manual segmentation and the interactive GrowCut with manual interference while providing fully automatic segmentation.

DFT Performance Prediction in FFTW

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Liang; Li, Xiaoming

Fastest Fourier Transform in the West (FFTW) is an adaptive FFT library that generates highly efficient Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) implementations. It is one of the fastest FFT libraries available and it outperforms many adaptive or hand-tuned DFT libraries. Its success largely relies on the huge search space spanned by several FFT algorithms and a set of compiler generated C code (called codelets) for small size DFTs. FFTW empirically finds the best algorithm by measuring the performance of different algorithm combinations. Although the empirical search works very well for FFTW, the search process does not explain why the best plan found performs best, and the search overhead grows polynomially as the DFT size increases. The opposite of empirical search is model-driven optimization. However, it is widely believed that model-driven optimization is inferior to empirical search and is particularly powerless to solve problems as complex as the optimization of DFT.

Segmented metallic nanostructures, homogeneous metallic nanostructures and methods for producing same

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

Wong, Stanislaus; Koenigsmann, Christopher

The present invention includes a method of producing a segmented 1D nanostructure. The method includes providing a vessel containing a template wherein on one side of the template is a first metal reagent solution and on the other side of the template is a reducing agent solution, wherein the template comprises at least one pore; allowing a first segment of a 1D nanostructure to grow within a pore of the template until a desired length is reached; replacing the first metal reagent solution with a second metal reagent solution; allowing a second segment of a 1D nanostructure to grow frommore » the first segment until a desired length is reached, wherein a segmented 1D nanostructure is produced.« less

Health, economy, and community: USDA Forest Service managers' perspectives on sustainable outdoor recreation

Treesearch

Kelly S. Bricker; Patricia L. Winter; Jeremy R. Schultz

2010-01-01

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike.” John MuirNature-based recreation is believed to be the fastest growing sector of the recreation and tourism industry globally, generating an estimated 10-12 percent growth in international travel per...

A Comparison of the Effects of Classroom and Multi-User Virtual Environments on the Perceived Speaking Anxiety of Adult Post-Secondary English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abal, Abdulaziz

2013-01-01

The population of English Language Learners (ELLs) globally has been increasing substantially every year. In the United States alone, adult ELLs are the fastest growing portion of learners in adult education programs (Yang, 2005). There is a significant need to improve the teaching of English to ELLs in the United States and other English-speaking…

Structural ceramics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Craig, Douglas F.

1992-01-01

This presentation gives a brief history of the field of materials sciences and goes on to expound the advantages of the fastest growing area in that field, namely ceramics. Since ceramics are moving to fill the demand for lighter, stronger, more corrosion resistant materials, advancements will rely more on processing and modeling from the atomic scale up which is made possible by advanced analytical, computer, and processing techniques. All information is presented in viewgraph format.

Tutorial on photoacoustic tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yong; Yao, Junjie; Wang, Lihong V.

2016-06-01

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) has become one of the fastest growing fields in biomedical optics. Unlike pure optical imaging, such as confocal microscopy and two-photon microscopy, PAT employs acoustic detection to image optical absorption contrast with high-resolution deep into scattering tissue. So far, PAT has been widely used for multiscale anatomical, functional, and molecular imaging of biological tissues. We focus on PAT's basic principles, major implementations, imaging contrasts, and recent applications.

Parental Roles in the Acquisition of Primary Level Skills: An Exploratory View on the Low-Income Hispanic-American Families with 3 and 4-Year Old Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zaman, Ahmed

2006-01-01

This article explores the nature and extent of Primary Learning Skill (PLS) that the Hispanic young children acquire who do not attend any early educational institutions. Literature reviewed for this paper indicated that Hispanic children were the poorest and the fastest growing group who often did not receive formal educational exposure due to…

Interactions of photosynthesis with genome size and function.

PubMed

Raven, John A; Beardall, John; Larkum, Anthony W D; Sánchez-Baracaldo, Patricia

2013-07-19

Photolithotrophs are divided between those that use water as their electron donor (Cyanobacteria and the photosynthetic eukaryotes) and those that use a different electron donor (the anoxygenic photolithotrophs, all of them Bacteria). Photolithotrophs with the most reduced genomes have more genes than do the corresponding chemoorganotrophs, and the fastest-growing photolithotrophs have significantly lower specific growth rates than the fastest-growing chemoorganotrophs. Slower growth results from diversion of resources into the photosynthetic apparatus, which accounts for about half of the cell protein. There are inherent dangers in (especially oxygenic) photosynthesis, including the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and blue light sensitivity of the water spitting apparatus. The extent to which photolithotrophs incur greater DNA damage and repair, and faster protein turnover with increased rRNA requirement, needs further investigation. A related source of environmental damage is ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation (280-320 nm), whose flux at the Earth's surface decreased as oxygen (and ozone) increased in the atmosphere. This oxygenation led to the requirements of defence against ROS, and decreasing availability to organisms of combined (non-dinitrogen) nitrogen and ferrous iron, and (indirectly) phosphorus, in the oxygenated biosphere. Differential codon usage in the genome and, especially, the proteome can lead to economies in the use of potentially growth-limiting elements.

Determinants of Light and Intermittent Smoking in the U.S.: Results from Three Pooled National Health Surveys

PubMed Central

Reyes-Guzman, Carolyn M.; Pfeiffer, Ruth M.; Lubin, Jay; Freedman, Neal D.; Cleary, Sean D.; Levine, Paul H.; Caporaso, Neil E.

2016-01-01

Background Light and/or intermittent smokers have been the fastest growing segment of cigarette smokers in the U.S. over the past two decades. Defining their behavioral characteristics is a critical public health priority. Materials and Methods Our sample included 78,229 U.S. adults from three pooled contemporary population-based surveys: the 2012 NHIS, 2012 NSDUH, and 2011-2012 NHANES. We classified current smokers into four categories (light and intermittent [LITS], light-daily, heavier-intermittent and heavier-daily) and assessed smoking behaviors, illicit drug use, and mental health indicators using weighted analyses. Results Analyses associated smoking categories with nicotine dependence, age of smoking initiation, race/ethnicity and other demographic and behavioral factors. Compared to heavier-daily smokers, smokers who were LITS were most likely to have mild or no nicotine dependence (weighted odds ratio [OR] = 16.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] 13.10-21.85), to start smoking cigarettes regularly after age 21 (OR = 3.42, 95% CI 2.84-4.12), and to be Hispanic (OR = 5.38, 95% CI 4.38-6.61). Additional significant results were found for other categories of smokers. Conclusion Based on pooled data from three large national surveys, light and/or intermittent smokers differed in smoking, drug use and mental health behaviors from heavier-daily, former and never smokers. Notable differences by level of smoking frequency and intensity were observed for nicotine dependence, age of smoking initiation and race/ethnicity. Impact Our results may help focus preventive measures and policies for the growing number of light and/or intermittent smokers in the U.S. because smoking patterns vary by behavioral and socioeconomic factors. PMID:27760782

Segmentation and classification of brain images using firefly and hybrid kernel-based support vector machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selva Bhuvaneswari, K.; Geetha, P.

2017-05-01

Magnetic resonance imaging segmentation refers to a process of assigning labels to set of pixels or multiple regions. It plays a major role in the field of biomedical applications as it is widely used by the radiologists to segment the medical images input into meaningful regions. In recent years, various brain tumour detection techniques are presented in the literature. The entire segmentation process of our proposed work comprises three phases: threshold generation with dynamic modified region growing phase, texture feature generation phase and region merging phase. by dynamically changing two thresholds in the modified region growing approach, the first phase of the given input image can be performed as dynamic modified region growing process, in which the optimisation algorithm, firefly algorithm help to optimise the two thresholds in modified region growing. After obtaining the region growth segmented image using modified region growing, the edges can be detected with edge detection algorithm. In the second phase, the texture feature can be extracted using entropy-based operation from the input image. In region merging phase, the results obtained from the texture feature-generation phase are combined with the results of dynamic modified region growing phase and similar regions are merged using a distance comparison between regions. After identifying the abnormal tissues, the classification can be done by hybrid kernel-based SVM (Support Vector Machine). The performance analysis of the proposed method will be carried by K-cross fold validation method. The proposed method will be implemented in MATLAB with various images.

Morphology of oceanic ridges in spreading colloidal suspensions: Influence of spreading rate and lithospheric thickness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sibrant, A.; Davaille, A.; Mittelstaedt, E. L.

2016-12-01

Oceanic ridges exhibit significant changes in their structural, morphological, and volcanic characteristics with changes in spreading velocity. However, separating the role of correlated affects such as spreading rate and lithospheric thickness on the segmentation of the ridge axis is difficult with only field data. The goal of this study is (a) to conduct properly scaled laboratory simulations of oceanic ridges, and (b) to investigate how the morphology and geometry of spreading-normal oceanic ridges vary separately with extension rate and lithospheric thickness. We present a series of analogue experiments using colloidal silica dispersions as an Earth analogue. Saline water solutions placed in contact with these fluids, cause formation of a skin through salt diffusion, whose rheology evolves from purely viscous to elastic and brittle with increasing salinity. Applying a fixed spreading rate to this pre-formed, brittle plate resulting in cracks, faults and axial ridge structures. Lithospheric (skin) thickness at a given extension rate is varied by changing salinity of the surface water layer. With increasing spreading rate, we observe several regimes: (1) at the slowest spreading rates, the spreading axis is composed of several segments separated by non-transform offsets and has a fault-bounded, deep, U-shaped axial valley. The axis has a large sinuosity, rough topography, and jumps repeatedly. (2) At intermediate spreading rates, the spreading axis shows low sinuosity, overlapping spreading centers (OSC) , a smooth axial morphology, and very few to no jumps. The axial valley is shallow and shows a V-shape morphology. The OSCs have a ratio of length to width of 3 to 1. (3) At faster spreading rates, the axis is continuous and presents an axial high topography. (4) At the fastest spreading rates tested, the spreading axis is again segmented. Each segment is offset by well developed transform faults and the axis has a sinuosity comparable to those of regimes 2 and 3. Rotating and growing microplates are also observed in regimes 3 and 4. For the first time, we are able to independently control spreading rate, lithospheric thickness, and mechanical properties of a simulated ridge axis in the laboratory. We present results of these experiments and discuss the implications for oceanic ridges on Earth.

Segmentation of brain volume based on 3D region growing by integrating intensity and edge for image-guided surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsagaan, Baigalmaa; Abe, Keiichi; Goto, Masahiro; Yamamoto, Seiji; Terakawa, Susumu

2006-03-01

This paper presents a segmentation method of brain tissues from MR images, invented for our image-guided neurosurgery system under development. Our goal is to segment brain tissues for creating biomechanical model. The proposed segmentation method is based on 3-D region growing and outperforms conventional approaches by stepwise usage of intensity similarities between voxels in conjunction with edge information. Since the intensity and the edge information are complementary to each other in the region-based segmentation, we use them twice by performing a coarse-to-fine extraction. First, the edge information in an appropriate neighborhood of the voxel being considered is examined to constrain the region growing. The expanded region of the first extraction result is then used as the domain for the next processing. The intensity and the edge information of the current voxel only are utilized in the final extraction. Before segmentation, the intensity parameters of the brain tissues as well as partial volume effect are estimated by using expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm in order to provide an accurate data interpretation into the extraction. We tested the proposed method on T1-weighted MR images of brain and evaluated the segmentation effectiveness comparing the results with ground truths. Also, the generated meshes from the segmented brain volume by using mesh generating software are shown in this paper.

A kind of color image segmentation algorithm based on super-pixel and PCNN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, GuangZhu; Wang, YaWen; Zhang, Liu; Zhao, JingJing; Fu, YunXia; Lei, BangJun

2018-04-01

Image segmentation is a very important step in the low-level visual computing. Although image segmentation has been studied for many years, there are still many problems. PCNN (Pulse Coupled Neural network) has biological background, when it is applied to image segmentation it can be viewed as a region-based method, but due to the dynamics properties of PCNN, many connectionless neurons will pulse at the same time, so it is necessary to identify different regions for further processing. The existing PCNN image segmentation algorithm based on region growing is used for grayscale image segmentation, cannot be directly used for color image segmentation. In addition, the super-pixel can better reserve the edges of images, and reduce the influences resulted from the individual difference between the pixels on image segmentation at the same time. Therefore, on the basis of the super-pixel, the original PCNN algorithm based on region growing is improved by this paper. First, the color super-pixel image was transformed into grayscale super-pixel image which was used to seek seeds among the neurons that hadn't been fired. And then it determined whether to stop growing by comparing the average of each color channel of all the pixels in the corresponding regions of the color super-pixel image. Experiment results show that the proposed algorithm for the color image segmentation is fast and effective, and has a certain effect and accuracy.

SU-E-J-252: Reproducibility of Radiogenomic Image Features: Comparison of Two Semi-Automated Segmentation Methods

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

Lee, M; Woo, B; Kim, J

Purpose: Objective and reliable quantification of imaging phenotype is an essential part of radiogenomic studies. We compared the reproducibility of two semi-automatic segmentation methods for quantitative image phenotyping in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Methods: MRI examinations with T1 post-gadolinium and FLAIR sequences of 10 GBM patients were downloaded from the Cancer Image Archive site. Two semi-automatic segmentation tools with different algorithms (deformable model and grow cut method) were used to segment contrast enhancement, necrosis and edema regions by two independent observers. A total of 21 imaging features consisting of area and edge groups were extracted automaticallymore » from the segmented tumor. The inter-observer variability and coefficient of variation (COV) were calculated to evaluate the reproducibility. Results: Inter-observer correlations and coefficient of variation of imaging features with the deformable model ranged from 0.953 to 0.999 and 2.1% to 9.2%, respectively, and the grow cut method ranged from 0.799 to 0.976 and 3.5% to 26.6%, respectively. Coefficient of variation for especially important features which were previously reported as predictive of patient survival were: 3.4% with deformable model and 7.4% with grow cut method for the proportion of contrast enhanced tumor region; 5.5% with deformable model and 25.7% with grow cut method for the proportion of necrosis; and 2.1% with deformable model and 4.4% with grow cut method for edge sharpness of tumor on CE-T1W1. Conclusion: Comparison of two semi-automated tumor segmentation techniques shows reliable image feature extraction for radiogenomic analysis of GBM patients with multiparametric Brain MRI.« less

A new 2D segmentation method based on dynamic programming applied to computer aided detection in mammography.

PubMed

Timp, Sheila; Karssemeijer, Nico

2004-05-01

Mass segmentation plays a crucial role in computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems for classification of suspicious regions as normal, benign, or malignant. In this article we present a robust and automated segmentation technique--based on dynamic programming--to segment mass lesions from surrounding tissue. In addition, we propose an efficient algorithm to guarantee resulting contours to be closed. The segmentation method based on dynamic programming was quantitatively compared with two other automated segmentation methods (region growing and the discrete contour model) on a dataset of 1210 masses. For each mass an overlap criterion was calculated to determine the similarity with manual segmentation. The mean overlap percentage for dynamic programming was 0.69, for the other two methods 0.60 and 0.59, respectively. The difference in overlap percentage was statistically significant. To study the influence of the segmentation method on the performance of a CAD system two additional experiments were carried out. The first experiment studied the detection performance of the CAD system for the different segmentation methods. Free-response receiver operating characteristics analysis showed that the detection performance was nearly identical for the three segmentation methods. In the second experiment the ability of the classifier to discriminate between malignant and benign lesions was studied. For region based evaluation the area Az under the receiver operating characteristics curve was 0.74 for dynamic programming, 0.72 for the discrete contour model, and 0.67 for region growing. The difference in Az values obtained by the dynamic programming method and region growing was statistically significant. The differences between other methods were not significant.

Effects of Negative Climate for Diversity on Cognitive Outcomes of Latina/o College Students Attending Selective Institutions: A Comparison by Students' Gender, First-Generation College Status, and Immigrant Status

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franco, Marla A.

2017-01-01

Latinas/os are the fastest-growing racial minority group in the United States, yet there is a lack of parity between their increased population and their participation rates in higher education. The economic strength and vitality of the nation require a college-educated workforce; therefore, the need to improve educational environments that…

Molecular Signature Reveals Which Liver Cancer Patients May Benefit from a New Drug | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

Only one drug currently on the market has the potential to extend survival for patients with advanced-stage liver cancer and only 30 percent of patients are eligible to receive it. As the fastest-growing type of cancer by incidence in the United States, liver cancer represents a major public health problem and there is an urgent need to develop new treatment strategies.

ASEAN Combined Forces Command

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-04-03

10. SOURCE OF FUNDING NUMBERS PROGRAM PROJECT TASK WORK UNIT ELEMENT NO. NO. NO. ACCESSION NO. 11. TITLE (Include Security Classification) ASEAN...region is a consequence of the stability, coordination and team work of ASEAN. With a reduction of U.S. forces presence in the area, the key to securing...fastest-growing regions in the world today. The stability in the region is a consequence of the stability, coordination and team work of ASEAN. With a

Tutorial on photoacoustic tomography

PubMed Central

Zhou, Yong; Yao, Junjie; Wang, Lihong V.

2016-01-01

Abstract. Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) has become one of the fastest growing fields in biomedical optics. Unlike pure optical imaging, such as confocal microscopy and two-photon microscopy, PAT employs acoustic detection to image optical absorption contrast with high-resolution deep into scattering tissue. So far, PAT has been widely used for multiscale anatomical, functional, and molecular imaging of biological tissues. We focus on PAT’s basic principles, major implementations, imaging contrasts, and recent applications. PMID:27086868

Workplace health hazards: Analysis of hotline calls over a six-year period

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

Quint, J.; Handley, M.; Cummings, K.

1990-02-01

Between 1981-1986 a state-based occupational health telephone hotline received more than 8,000 inquiries on over 3,000 hazardous agents. Major caller groups were employees (37%), employers (20%), health care providers, primarily physicians (19%), government agencies (12%), and labor unions (6%). Employees were the fastest growing caller group. Callers inquired about general health hazards of chemicals (65%), the relation of symptoms to work (22%), and risks to pregnancy (13%).

Stress relaxation of cell walls and the yield threshold for growth: demonstration and measurement by micro-pressure probe and psychrometer techniques.

PubMed

Cosgrove, D J; Van Volkenburgh, E; Cleland, R E

1984-01-01

Theory predicts that, for growing plant cells isolated from a supply of water, stress relaxation of the cell wall should decrease cell turgor pressure (P) until the yield threshold for cell explanation is reached. This prediction was tested by direct P measurements of pea (Pisum sativum L.) stem cortical cells before and after excision of the growing region and isolation of the growing tissue from an external water supply. Cell P was measured with the micro-pressure probe under conditions which eliminated transpiration. Psychrometric measurements of water potential confirmed the pressure-probe measurements. Following excision, P of the growing cells decreased in 1 h by an average of 1.8 bar to a mean plateau value of 2.8 bar, and remained constant thereafter. Treatment with 10(-5) M indole-3-acetic acid or 10(-5) M fusicoccin (known growth stimulants) accelerated the rate of P relaxation, whereas various treatments which inhibit growth slowed down or completely stopped P relaxation in apical segments. In contrast, P of basal (nongrowing) segments gradually increased because of absorption of solutes from the cell-wall free space of the tissue. Such solute absorption also occurred in apical segments, but wall relaxation held P at the yield threshold in those segments which were isolated from an external water supply. These results provide a new and rapid method for measuring the yield threshold and they show that P in intact growing pea stems exceeds the yield threshold by about 2 bar. Wall relaxation is shown here to affect the water potential and turgor pressure of excised growing segments. In addition, solute release and absorption upon excision may influence the water potential and turgor pressure of nongrowing excised plant tissues.

HIV/STI interventions targeting women who experience forced sex: A systematic review of global literature.

PubMed

Deming, Michelle E; Bhochhibhoya, Amir; Ingram, LaDrea; Stafford, Crystal; Li, Xiaoming

2018-04-12

Women are disproportionately affected by HIV in many regions of the world and they represent the fastest growing demographic in the HIV epidemic. In addition, sexual violence against women is a global public health issue which increases women's vulnerability of HIV/STI acquisition. However, the relationship between sexual violence and HIV/STI risk are complex and contribute to the growing epidemic of women infected with HIV/STIs. Our purpose for this review is to examine existing HIV/STI interventions that target women who experience forced sex. Interventions designed to address women's unique needs in HIV/STI prevention are critical in reducing women's vulnerability to HIV/STIs.

Multiplatform Mobile Laser Scanning: Usability and Performance

PubMed Central

Kukko, Antero; Kaartinen, Harri; Hyyppä, Juha; Chen, Yuwei

2012-01-01

Mobile laser scanning is an emerging technology capable of capturing three-dimensional data from surrounding objects. With state-of-the-art sensors, the achieved point clouds capture object details with good accuracy and precision. Many of the applications involve civil engineering in urban areas, as well as traffic and other urban planning, all of which serve to make 3D city modeling probably the fastest growing market segment in this field. This article outlines multiplatform mobile laser scanning solutions such as vehicle- and trolley-operated urban area data acquisition, and boat-mounted equipment for fluvial environments. Moreover, we introduce a novel backpack version of mobile laser scanning equipment for surveying applications in the field of natural sciences where the requirements include precision and mobility in variable terrain conditions. In addition to presenting a technical description of the systems, we discuss the performance of the solutions in the light of various applications in the fields of urban mapping and modeling, fluvial geomorphology, snow-cover characterization, precision agriculture, and in monitoring the effects of climate change on permafrost landforms. The data performance of the mobile laser scanning approach is described by the results of an evaluation of the ROAMER on a permanent MLS test field. Furthermore, an in situ accuracy assessment using a field of spherical 3D targets for the newly-introduced Akhka backpack system is conducted and reported on.