19 CFR 151.54 - Testing by Customs laboratory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Testing by Customs laboratory. 151.54 Section 151... Other Metal-Bearing Materials § 151.54 Testing by Customs laboratory. Samples taken in accordance with § 151.52 shall be promptly forwarded to the appropriate Customs laboratory for testing in accordance...

Basic Features of Customer Satisfaction with Train Schedules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murakoshi, Akiko; Kunimatsu, Taketoshi; Saito, Ayano

This paper aims to reveal the fundamental features of customer satisfaction with train schedules, which is one of the most basic services provided by a railway company. A customer satisfaction survey of passengers who frequently utilize three lines in the metropolitan area was conducted; we obtained the following findings: (a) out of nine factors to evaluate a train schedule from a passenger's viewpoint, the four most important ones are the frequency of trains running, punctuality, congestion rate, and time distance; (b) the ride-frequency influences the degree of satisfaction with train schedules in a particular line; and (c) it is important to set a numeric goal for the level of customer satisfaction by grasping the relationship between the transport service and a passenger's satisfaction with that service. The difference between customer satisfaction and passenger disutility is also discussed. The findings are expected to help conduct customer satisfaction surveys and also to form the basis for establishing a method by which to evaluate a train schedule from passengers' satisfaction ratings.

RASTtk: A modular and extensible implementation of the RAST algorithm for building custom annotation pipelines and annotating batches of genomes

DOE PAGES

Brettin, Thomas; Davis, James J.; Disz, Terry; ...

2015-02-10

The RAST (Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology) annotation engine was built in 2008 to annotate bacterial and archaeal genomes. It works by offering a standard software pipeline for identifying genomic features (i.e., protein-encoding genes and RNA) and annotating their functions. Recently, in order to make RAST a more useful research tool and to keep pace with advancements in bioinformatics, it has become desirable to build a version of RAST that is both customizable and extensible. In this paper, we describe the RAST tool kit (RASTtk), a modular version of RAST that enables researchers to build custom annotation pipelines. RASTtk offersmore » a choice of software for identifying and annotating genomic features as well as the ability to add custom features to an annotation job. RASTtk also accommodates the batch submission of genomes and the ability to customize annotation protocols for batch submissions. This is the first major software restructuring of RAST since its inception.« less

Additive value of patch testing custom epoxy materials from the workplace at the occupational disease specialty clinic in Toronto.

PubMed

Houle, Marie-Claude; Holness, D Linn; Dekoven, Joel; Skotnicki, Sandy

2012-01-01

Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) to epoxy resins is one of the major causes of occupationally induced ACD. Testing of custom epoxy materials from the workplace is often performed to diagnose ACD. The objective of this study was to investigate the additive value of patch testing custom-made epoxy materials. We retrospectively analyzed outcomes of 24 patients who were tested to custom epoxy resin materials between January 2002 and July 2011. For 11 patients (46%), the testing of their materials from work had no additional value (negative results). For 13 patients (54%), there was an additional value of testing custom allergens. Of those, 7 patients (54%) had positive reactions to custom epoxy materials that reinforced the test results found with the commercially available allergens, and 6 (46%) patients had positive reactions only to custom epoxy materials. Therefore, for 6 patients (25%), there was a definite additive value of testing custom epoxy materials because the allergy was discovered with custom testing and not with the commercially available allergens. Because of the high percentage (54%) of patients with additive value of patch testing custom epoxy materials, we think that the inclusion of actual workplace epoxy materials should be strongly considered when patch testing patients with occupational epoxy exposure.

19 CFR 151.54 - Testing by Customs laboratory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Testing by Customs laboratory. 151.54 Section 151.54 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Metal-Bearing Ores and...

19 CFR 151.54 - Testing by Customs laboratory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Testing by Customs laboratory. 151.54 Section 151.54 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Metal-Bearing Ores and...

19 CFR 151.54 - Testing by Customs laboratory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Testing by Customs laboratory. 151.54 Section 151.54 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Metal-Bearing Ores and...

eShopper modeling and simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrushin, Valery A.

2001-03-01

The advent of e-commerce gives an opportunity to shift the paradigm of customer communication into a highly interactive mode. The new generation of commercial Web servers, such as the Blue Martini's server, combines the collection of data on a customer behavior with real-time processing and dynamic tailoring of a feedback page. The new opportunities for direct product marketing and cross selling are arriving. The key problem is what kind of information do we need to achieve these goals, or in other words, how do we model the customer? The paper is devoted to customer modeling and simulation. The focus is on modeling an individual customer. The model is based on the customer's transaction data, click stream data, and demographics. The model includes the hierarchical profile of a customer's preferences to different types of products and brands; consumption models for the different types of products; the current focus, trends, and stochastic models for time intervals between purchases; product affinity models; and some generalized features, such as purchasing power, sensitivity to advertising, price sensitivity, etc. This type of model is used for predicting the date of the next visit, overall spending, and spending for different types of products and brands. For some type of stores (for example, a supermarket) and stable customers, it is possible to forecast the shopping lists rather accurately. The forecasting techniques are discussed. The forecasting results can be used for on- line direct marketing, customer retention, and inventory management. The customer model can also be used as a generative model for simulating the customer's purchasing behavior in different situations and for estimating customer's features.

Gaining customer knowledge: obtaining and using customer judgments for hospitalwide quality improvement.

PubMed

Nelson, E C; Caldwell, C; Quinn, D; Rose, R

1991-03-01

Customer knowledge is an essential feature of hospitalwide quality improvement. All systems and processes have customers. The aim is to use customer knowledge and voice of the customer measurement to plan, design, improve, and monitor these systems and processes continuously. In this way, the hospital stands the best chance of meeting customers' needs and, hopefully, delivering services that are so outstanding that customers will be surprised and delighted. There are many methods, both soft and hard, that can be used to increase customer knowledge. One useful strategy is to use a family of quality measures that reflect the voice of the customer. These measures can generate practical and powerful customer knowledge information that is essential to performing strategic planning, deploying quality policy, designing new services, finding targets for improvements, and monitoring those continuous improvements based on customers' judgments.

Marketing: The roots of your business

Treesearch

Susan S. Franko

2008-01-01

These tools will help you turn the features of your products and services into benefits. A feature is defined from your point of view; a benefit is defined from the customer's point of view. The potential customer has to be helped to understand why you are the right choice for him or her. In this way, you lead them to the decision you want them to make, that is,...

Integrated Cryogenic Electronics Testbed (ICE-T) for Evaluation of Superconductor and Cryo-Semiconductor Integrated Circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dotsenko, V. V.; Sahu, A.; Chonigman, B.; Tang, J.; Lehmann, A. E.; Gupta, V.; Talalevskii, A.; Ruotolo, S.; Sarwana, S.; Webber, R. J.; Gupta, D.

2017-02-01

Research and development of cryogenic application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), such as high-frequency (tens of GHz) semiconductor and superconductor mixed-signal circuits and large-scale (>10,000 Josephson Junctions) superconductor digital circuits, have long been hindered by the absence of specialized cryogenic test apparatus. During their iterative development phase, most ASICs require many additional input-output lines for applying independent bias controls, injecting test signals, and monitoring outputs of different sub-circuits. We are developing a full suite of modular test apparatus based on cryocoolers that do not consume liquid helium, and support extensive electrical interfaces to standard and custom test equipment. Our design separates the cryogenics from electrical connections, allowing even inexperienced users to conduct testing by simply mounting their ASIC on a removable electrical insert. Thermal connections between the cold stages and the inserts are made with robust thermal links. ICE-T accommodates two independent electrical inserts at the same time. We have designed various inserts, such as universal ones with all 40 or 80 coaxial cables and those with customized wiring and temperature-controlled stages. ICE-T features fast thermal cycling for rapid testing, enables detailed testing over long periods (days to months, if necessary), and even supports automated testing of digital ICs with modular additions.

An Electronic Service Quality Reference Model for Designing E-Commerce Websites Which Maximizes Customer Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaheen, Amer N.

2011-01-01

This research investigated Electronic Service Quality (E-SQ) features that contribute to customer satisfaction in an online environment. The aim was to develop an approach which improves E-CRM processes and enhances online customer satisfaction. The research design adopted mixed methods involving qualitative and quantitative methods to…

Integrating sentiment analysis and term associations with geo-temporal visualizations on customer feedback streams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Ming; Rohrdantz, Christian; Janetzko, Halldór; Keim, Daniel; Dayal, Umeshwar; Haug, Lars-Erik; Hsu, Mei-Chun

2012-01-01

Twitter currently receives over 190 million tweets (small text-based Web posts) and manufacturing companies receive over 10 thousand web product surveys a day, in which people share their thoughts regarding a wide range of products and their features. A large number of tweets and customer surveys include opinions about products and services. However, with Twitter being a relatively new phenomenon, these tweets are underutilized as a source for determining customer sentiments. To explore high-volume customer feedback streams, we integrate three time series-based visual analysis techniques: (1) feature-based sentiment analysis that extracts, measures, and maps customer feedback; (2) a novel idea of term associations that identify attributes, verbs, and adjectives frequently occurring together; and (3) new pixel cell-based sentiment calendars, geo-temporal map visualizations and self-organizing maps to identify co-occurring and influential opinions. We have combined these techniques into a well-fitted solution for an effective analysis of large customer feedback streams such as for movie reviews (e.g., Kung-Fu Panda) or web surveys (buyers).

Mining consumer reviews to generate ratings of different product attributes while producing feature-based review-summary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kangale, Akshay; Krishna Kumar, S.; Arshad Naeem, Mohd; Williams, Mark; Tiwari, M. K.

2016-10-01

With the massive growth of the internet, product reviews increasingly serve as an important source of information for customers to make choices online. Customers depend on these reviews to understand users' experience, and manufacturers rely on this user-generated content to capture user sentiments about their product. Therefore, it is in the best interest of both customers and manufacturers to have a portal where they can read a complete comprehensive summary of these reviews in minimum time. With this in mind, we arrived at our first objective which is to generate a feature-based review-summary. Our second objective is to develop a predictive model to know the next week's product sales based on numerical review ratings and textual features embedded in the reviews. When it comes to product features, every user has different priorities for different features. To capture this aspect of decision-making, we have designed a new mechanism to generate a numerical rating for every feature of the product individually. The data have been collected from a well-known commercial website for two different products. The validation of the model is carried out using a crowd-sourcing technique.

Central Inertial and GPS Test Facility (CIGTF) Customer Handbook

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-08-01

capabilities offer the customer a cost-effective means to evaluate their guidance and navigation systems. The 746 TS also manages the tri-service GPS...minimum your test manager ur test or current phase of testing is complete. 4.0 Customer Feedback The 746 TS works very hard to provide its customers ... Customer Handbook August 2007 HOLLOMAN AFB, NEW MEXICO Distribution Statement A Approved for public release: distribution is

Analysis of the single-vehicle cyclic inventory routing problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aghezzaf, El-Houssaine; Zhong, Yiqing; Raa, Birger; Mateo, Manel

2012-11-01

The single-vehicle cyclic inventory routing problem (SV-CIRP) consists of a repetitive distribution of a product from a single depot to a selected subset of customers. For each customer, selected for replenishments, the supplier collects a corresponding fixed reward. The objective is to determine the subset of customers to replenish, the quantity of the product to be delivered to each and to design the vehicle route so that the resulting profit (difference between the total reward and the total logistical cost) is maximised while preventing stockouts at each of the selected customers. This problem appears often as a sub-problem in many logistical problems. In this article, the SV-CIRP is formulated as a mixed-integer program with a nonlinear objective function. After a thorough analysis of the structure of the problem and its features, an exact algorithm for its solution is proposed. This exact algorithm requires only solutions of linear mixed-integer programs. Values of a savings-based heuristic for this problem are compared to the optimal values obtained for a set of some test problems. In general, the gap may get as large as 25%, which justifies the effort to continue exploring and developing exact and approximation algorithms for the SV-CIRP.

Application of text mining for customer evaluations in commercial banking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Jing; Du, Xiaojiang; Hao, Pengpeng; Wang, Yanbo J.

2015-07-01

Nowadays customer attrition is increasingly serious in commercial banks. To combat this problem roundly, mining customer evaluation texts is as important as mining customer structured data. In order to extract hidden information from customer evaluations, Textual Feature Selection, Classification and Association Rule Mining are necessary techniques. This paper presents all three techniques by using Chinese Word Segmentation, C5.0 and Apriori, and a set of experiments were run based on a collection of real textual data that includes 823 customer evaluations taken from a Chinese commercial bank. Results, consequent solutions, some advice for the commercial bank are given in this paper.

Using computed tomography and 3D printing to construct custom prosthetics attachments and devices.

PubMed

Liacouras, Peter C; Sahajwalla, Divya; Beachler, Mark D; Sleeman, Todd; Ho, Vincent B; Lichtenberger, John P

2017-01-01

The prosthetic devices the military uses to restore function and mobility to our wounded warriors are highly advanced, and in many instances not publically available. There is considerable research aimed at this population of young patients who are extremely active and desire to take part in numerous complex activities. While prosthetists design and manufacture numerous devices with standard materials and limb assemblies, patients often require individualized prosthetic design and/or modifications to enable them to participate fully in complex activities. Prosthetists and engineers perform research and implement digitally designs in collaboration to generate equipment for their patient's rehabilitation needs. 3D printing allows for these devices to be manufactured from an array of materials ranging from plastic to titanium alloy. Many designs require form fitting to a prosthetic socket or a complex surface geometry. Specialty items can be scanned using computed tomography and digitally reconstructed to produce a virtual 3D model the engineer can use to design the necessary features of the desired prosthetic, device, or attachment. Completed devices are tested for fit and function. Numerous custom prostheses and attachments have been successfully translated from the research domain to clinical reality, in particular, those that feature the use of computed tomography (CT) reconstructions. The purpose of this project is to describe the research pathways to implementation for the following clinical designs: sets of bilateral hockey skates; custom weightlifting prosthetic hands; and a wine glass holder. This article will demonstrate how to incorporate CT imaging and 3D printing in the design and manufacturing process of custom attachments and assistive technology devices. Even though some of these prosthesis attachments may be relatively simple in design to an engineer, they have an enormous impact on the lives of our wounded warriors.

Application of clustering for customer segmentation in private banking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xuan; Chen, Jin; Hao, Pengpeng; Wang, Yanbo J.

2015-07-01

With fierce competition in banking industry, more and more banks have realised that accurate customer segmentation is of fundamental importance, especially for the identification of those high-value customers. In order to solve this problem, we collected real data about private banking customers of a commercial bank in China, conducted empirical analysis by applying K-means clustering technique. When determine the K value, we propose a mechanism that meet both academic requirements and practical needs. Through K-means clustering, we successfully segmented the customers into three categories, and features of each group have been illustrated in details.

Patch testing custom isocyanate materials from the workplace.

PubMed

Burrows, Dianne; Houle, Marie-Claude; Holness, D Linn; DeKoven, Joel; Skotnicki, Sandy

2015-01-01

Patch testing with standard trays of commercially available allergens is the current practice for investigating suspected cases of isocyanate-induced allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). In some facilities, these standard trays are further supplemented with custom preparations of isocyanate-containing materials. The aim was to determine whether added value exists in patch testing patients to custom isocyanate preparations in suspected cases of ACD. We performed a retrospective analysis of 11 patients referred to our specialty clinic between January 2003 and March 2011 for suspected patients of ACD who had custom testing with isocyanate materials from their workplace. In addition to standard trays of allergens, all patients were patch tested with custom isocyanate materials from their workplaces. Three (27%) of 11 patients showed an added value in testing to custom isocyanate allergens. Of these 3 patients, one had a reaction that reinforced positive reactions to the standard isocyanate tray, but the other 2 (18%) had no reactions to any of the commercially available allergens. Because of the high proportion of reactions (27%), we recommend the use of custom testing to workplace isocyanate products as a supplement to current standard patch testing procedures.

Software engineering project management - A state-of-the-art report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thayer, R. H.; Lehman, J. H.

1977-01-01

The management of software engineering projects in the aerospace industry was investigated. The survey assessed such features as contract type, specification preparation techniques, software documentation required by customers, planning and cost-estimating, quality control, the use of advanced program practices, software tools and test procedures, the education levels of project managers, programmers and analysts, work assignment, automatic software monitoring capabilities, design and coding reviews, production times, success rates, and organizational structure of the projects.

Mit castor satellite: Design, implementation, and testing of the communication system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babuscia, Alessandra; McCormack, Matthew Michael; Munoz, Michael; Parra, Spencer; Miller, David W.

2012-12-01

Cathode Anode Satellite Thruster for Orbital Reposition (CASTOR) is an orbital manoeuvre and transfer micro-satellite bus developed at MIT Space System Laboratory. The technical objective of the mission is achieving 1 km/s of delta-V over a 1 year mission in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This will be accomplished using a novel electric propulsion system, the Diverging Cusped Field Thruster (DCFT), which enables high efficiency orbital changes of the ESPA-ring class satellite. CASTOR is capable of improving rapid access to space capabilities by providing an orbital transfer platform with a very high performance to mass ratio, thus greatly reducing launch costs and allowing for highly efficient orbital manoeuvre. Furthermore, CASTOR is highly scalable and modular, allowing it to be adapted to a wide range of scales and applications. CASTOR is developed as part of the University Nanosatellite Program (UNP) funded by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). In order to accomplish CASTOR mission objective, a highly optimized, scalable, light weight, and low cost communication system needed to be developed. These constraints imply the development of trade studies to select the final communication system architecture able to maximize the amount of data transmitted, while guaranteeing reliability, redundancy and limited mass, power consumption, and cost. A special attention is also required to guarantee a reliable communication system in cases of tumbling, or in case of strong Doppler shift which is inevitable due to the high delta-V capabilities of the vehicle. In order to accomplish all the mission requirements, different features have been introduced in the design of the communication system for this mission. Specifically, customized patch antennas have been realized, and a customized communication protocol has been designed and implemented. The communication subsystem has been validated through an intense testing campaign which included software tests in the laboratory, hardware tests in anechoic chamber, and in flight tests through a balloon experiment. The article presents an overview of CASTOR mission, a presentation of the trade studies analysis and of the final communication architecture selected, a description of the customized antenna developed, of the customized protocol designed, and a presentation of the results of the tests performed.

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Transformations, Inc., Custom House, Devens, Massachusetts

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

none,

2013-09-01

This single-family home features a superinsulated shell with 12-inch double walls filled with open cell spray foam, as well as R-5 triple-pane windows. The 18.33 kW photovoltaic system can produce all the electricity the home can use in a year with enough left over to power an electric car for 30,000 miles.These features helped the builder to win a 2013 Housing Innovation Award in the custom home category.

78 FR 53466 - Modification of Two National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) Tests Concerning Automated...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-29

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Modification of Two National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) Tests Concerning Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Document Image System (DIS) and Simplified Entry (SE); Correction AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department...

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

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

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

Customers' expectations of complaint handling by airline service: privilege status and reasonability of demands from a social learning perspective.

PubMed

Chiou, Wen-Bin; Chang, Ming-Hsu; Yang, Chao-Chin

2009-04-01

In the airline industry, membership and cabin class are noticeable servicescape features of customers' privilege status. Customers may learn that higher privilege customers are more desired and endured by the airline. From the customers' point of view, those with higher privilege may expect their demands to be complied with when they complain. The present study employed hypothetical scenarios to investigate how the privilege status of passengers and reasonability of their demands influenced their expectations toward the compliance of airline personnel. Analysis showed that higher privilege customers were more likely to expect airline personnel to comply with their demands. Moreover, participants with medium or high levels of privilege status had greater expectations of compliance even when demands were unreasonable. In sum, customer expectations toward complaint handling reflected predictions based on social learning.

An Integrated Information System for Supporting Quality Management Tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beyer, N.; Helmreich, W.

2004-08-01

In a competitive environment, well defined processes become the strategic advantage of a company. Hence, targeted Quality Management ensures efficiency, trans- parency and, ultimately, customer satisfaction. In the particular context of a Space Test Centre, a num- ber of specific Quality Management standards have to be applied. According to the revision of ISO 9001 dur- ing 2000, and due to the adaptation of ECSS-Q20-07, process orientation and data analysis are key tasks for ensuring and evaluating the efficiency of a company's processes. In line with these requirements, an integrated management system for accessing the necessary infor- mation to support Quality Management and other proc- esses has been established. Some of its test-related fea- tures are presented here. Easy access to the integrated management system from any work place at IABG's Space Test Centre is ensured by means of an intranet portal. It comprises a full set of quality-related process descriptions, information on test facilities, emergency procedures, and other relevant in- formation. The portal's web interface provides direct access to a couple of external applications. Moreover, easy updating of all information and low cost mainte- nance are features of this integrated information system. The timely and transparent management of non- conformances is covered by a dedicated NCR database which incorporates full documentation capability, elec- tronic signature and e-mail notification of concerned staff. A search interface allows for queries across all documented non-conformances. Furthermore, print ver- sions can be generated at any stage in the process, e.g. for distribution to customers. Feedback on customer satisfaction is sought through a web-based questionnaire. The process is initiated by the responsible test manager through submission of an e- mail that contains a hyperlink to a secure website, ask- ing the customer to complete the brief online form, which is directly fed to a database for subsequent evaluation by the Quality Manager. All such information can be processed and presented in an appropriate manner for internal or external audits, as well as for regular management reviews.

Technical Note: Characterization of custom 3D printed multimodality imaging phantoms.

PubMed

Bieniosek, Matthew F; Lee, Brian J; Levin, Craig S

2015-10-01

Imaging phantoms are important tools for researchers and technicians, but they can be costly and difficult to customize. Three dimensional (3D) printing is a widely available rapid prototyping technique that enables the fabrication of objects with 3D computer generated geometries. It is ideal for quickly producing customized, low cost, multimodal, reusable imaging phantoms. This work validates the use of 3D printed phantoms by comparing CT and PET scans of a 3D printed phantom and a commercial "Micro Deluxe" phantom. This report also presents results from a customized 3D printed PET/MRI phantom, and a customized high resolution imaging phantom with sub-mm features. CT and PET scans of a 3D printed phantom and a commercial Micro Deluxe (Data Spectrum Corporation, USA) phantom with 1.2, 1.6, 2.4, 3.2, 4.0, and 4.8 mm diameter hot rods were acquired. The measured PET and CT rod sizes, activities, and attenuation coefficients were compared. A PET/MRI scan of a custom 3D printed phantom with hot and cold rods was performed, with photon attenuation and normalization measurements performed with a separate 3D printed normalization phantom. X-ray transmission scans of a customized two level high resolution 3D printed phantom with sub-mm features were also performed. Results show very good agreement between commercial and 3D printed micro deluxe phantoms with less than 3% difference in CT measured rod diameter, less than 5% difference in PET measured rod diameter, and a maximum of 6.2% difference in average rod activity from a 10 min, 333 kBq/ml (9 μCi/ml) Siemens Inveon (Siemens Healthcare, Germany) PET scan. In all cases, these differences were within the measurement uncertainties of our setups. PET/MRI scans successfully identified 3D printed hot and cold rods on PET and MRI modalities. X-ray projection images of a 3D printed high resolution phantom identified features as small as 350 μm wide. This work shows that 3D printed phantoms can be functionally equivalent to commercially available phantoms. They are a viable option for quickly distributing and fabricating low cost, customized phantoms.

Enhanced Product Generation at NASA Data Centers Through Grid Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barkstrom, Bruce R.; Hinke, Thomas H.; Gavali, Shradha; Seufzer, William J.

2003-01-01

This paper describes how grid technology can support the ability of NASA data centers to provide customized data products. A combination of grid technology and commodity processors are proposed to provide the bandwidth necessary to perform customized processing of data, with customized data subsetting providing the initial example. This customized subsetting engine can be used to support a new type of subsetting, called phenomena-based subsetting, where data is subsetted based on its association with some phenomena, such as mesoscale convective systems or hurricanes. This concept is expanded to allow the phenomena to be detected in one type of data, with the subsetting requirements transmitted to the subsetting engine to subset a different type of data. The subsetting requirements are generated by a data mining system and transmitted to the subsetter in the form of an XML feature index that describes the spatial and temporal extent of the phenomena. For this work, a grid-based mining system called the Grid Miner is used to identify the phenomena and generate the feature index. This paper discusses the value of grid technology in facilitating the development of a high performance customized product processing and the coupling of a grid mining system to support phenomena-based subsetting.

Semantic Enhancement for Enterprise Data Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Li; Sun, Xingzhi; Cao, Feng; Wang, Chen; Wang, Xiaoyuan; Kanellos, Nick; Wolfson, Dan; Pan, Yue

Taking customer data as an example, the paper presents an approach to enhance the management of enterprise data by using Semantic Web technologies. Customer data is the most important kind of core business entity a company uses repeatedly across many business processes and systems, and customer data management (CDM) is becoming critical for enterprises because it keeps a single, complete and accurate record of customers across the enterprise. Existing CDM systems focus on integrating customer data from all customer-facing channels and front and back office systems through multiple interfaces, as well as publishing customer data to different applications. To make the effective use of the CDM system, this paper investigates semantic query and analysis over the integrated and centralized customer data, enabling automatic classification and relationship discovery. We have implemented these features over IBM Websphere Customer Center, and shown the prototype to our clients. We believe that our study and experiences are valuable for both Semantic Web community and data management community.

Self-Check Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zeiher, Lynne

2006-01-01

This article features the Pierce County Library System (PCLS) in Tacoma, where new services are changing the way customers experience the library. PCLS is comprised of 17 branches, two bookmobiles, one Explorer Kid's bookmobile, serves 509,000 people, and has 234,000 cardholders. The evolution of customer expectations and needs motivated the…

Teacher Use of Evidence to Customize Inquiry Science Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerard, Libby F.; Spitulnik, Michele; Linn, Marcia C.

2010-01-01

This study investigated how professional development featuring evidence-based customization of technology-enhanced curriculum projects can improve inquiry science teaching and student knowledge integration in earth science. Participants included three middle school sixth-grade teachers and their classes of students (N = 787) for three consecutive…

High-temperature test facility at the NASA Lewis engine components research laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colantonio, Renato O.

1990-01-01

The high temperature test facility (HTTF) at NASA-Lewis Engine Components Research Laboratory (ECRL) is presently used to evaluate the survivability of aerospace materials and the effectiveness of new sensing instrumentation in a realistic afterburner environment. The HTTF has also been used for advanced heat transfer studies on aerospace components. The research rig uses pressurized air which is heated with two combustors to simulate high temperature flow conditions for test specimens. Maximum airflow is 31 pps. The HTTF is pressure rated for up to 150 psig. Combustors are used to regulate test specimen temperatures up to 2500 F. Generic test sections are available to house test plates and advanced instrumentation. Customized test sections can be fabricated for programs requiring specialized features and functions. The high temperature test facility provides government and industry with a facility for testing aerospace components. Its operation and capabilities are described.

pFUnit 3.0 Tutorial Advanced

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clune, Tom

2014-01-01

This tutorial will introduce Fortran developers to unit-testing and test-driven development (TDD) using pFUnit. As with other unit-testing frameworks, pFUnit, simplifies the process of writing, collecting, and executing tests while providing clear diagnostic messages for failing tests. pFUnit specifically targets the development of scientific-technical software written in Fortran and includes customized features such as: assertions for multi-dimensional arrays, distributed (MPI) and thread-based (OpenMP) parallellism, and flexible parameterized tests.These sessions will include numerous examples and hands-on exercises that gradually build in complexity. Attendees are expected to have working knowledge of F90, but familiarity with object-oriented syntax in F2003 and MPI will be of benefit for the more advanced examples. By the end of the tutorial the audience should feel comfortable in applying pFUnit within their own development environment.

Concept of Draft International Standard for a Unified Approach to Space Program Quality Assurance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stryzhak, Y.; Vasilina, V.; Kurbatov, V.

2002-01-01

For want of the unified approach to guaranteed space project and product quality assurance, implementation of many international space programs has become a challenge. Globalization of aerospace industry and participation of various international ventures with diverse quality assurance requirements in big international space programs requires for urgent generation of unified international standards related to this field. To ensure successful fulfillment of space missions, aerospace companies should design and process reliable and safe products with properties complying or bettering User's (or Customer's) requirements. Quality of the products designed or processed by subcontractors (or other suppliers) should also be in compliance with the main user (customer)'s requirements. Implementation of this involved set of unified requirements will be made possible by creating and approving a system (series) of international standards under a generic title Space Product Quality Assurance based on a system consensus principle. Conceptual features of the baseline standard in this system (series) should comprise: - Procedures for ISO 9000, CEN and ECSS requirements adaptation and introduction into space product creation, design, manufacture, testing and operation; - Procedures for quality assurance at initial (design) phases of space programs, with a decision on the end product made based on the principle of independence; - Procedures to arrange incoming inspection of products delivered by subcontractors (including testing, audit of supplier's procedures, review of supplier's documentation), and space product certification; - Procedures to identify materials and primary products applied; - Procedures for quality system audit at the component part, primary product and materials supplier facilities; - Unified procedures to form a list of basic performances to be under configuration management; - Unified procedures to form a list of critical space product components, and unified procedures to define risks related to the specific component application and evaluate safety for the entire program implementation. In the eyes of the authors, those features together with a number of other conceptual proposals should constitute a unified standard-technical basis for implementing international space programs.

EPA Office of Water (OW): Nonpoint Source Projects NHDPlus Indexed Dataset

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

GRTS locational data for nonpoint source projects. GRTS locations are coded onto NHDPlus v2.1 flowline features to create point and line events or coded onto NHDPlus v2.1 waterbody features to create area events. In addition to NHDPlus reach indexed data there may also be custom events (point, line or area) that are not associated with NHD and are in an EPA standard format that is compatible with EPA's Reach Address Database. Custom events are used to represent GRTS locations that are not represented well in NHDPlus.

A Novel Computer-Aided Approach for Parametric Investigation of Custom Design of Fracture Fixation Plates.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaozhong; He, Kunjin; Chen, Zhengming

2017-01-01

The present study proposes an integrated computer-aided approach combining femur surface modeling, fracture evidence recover plate creation, and plate modification in order to conduct a parametric investigation of the design of custom plate for a specific patient. The study allows for improving the design efficiency of specific plates on the patients' femur parameters and the fracture information. Furthermore, the present approach will lead to exploration of plate modification and optimization. The three-dimensional (3D) surface model of a detailed femur and the corresponding fixation plate were represented with high-level feature parameters, and the shape of the specific plate was recursively modified in order to obtain the optimal plate for a specific patient. The proposed approach was tested and verified on a case study, and it could be helpful for orthopedic surgeons to design and modify the plate in order to fit the specific femur anatomy and the fracture information.

Emotion Analysis of Telephone Complaints from Customer Based on Affective Computing.

PubMed

Gong, Shuangping; Dai, Yonghui; Ji, Jun; Wang, Jinzhao; Sun, Hai

2015-01-01

Customer complaint has been the important feedback for modern enterprises to improve their product and service quality as well as the customer's loyalty. As one of the commonly used manners in customer complaint, telephone communication carries rich emotional information of speeches, which provides valuable resources for perceiving the customer's satisfaction and studying the complaint handling skills. This paper studies the characteristics of telephone complaint speeches and proposes an analysis method based on affective computing technology, which can recognize the dynamic changes of customer emotions from the conversations between the service staff and the customer. The recognition process includes speaker recognition, emotional feature parameter extraction, and dynamic emotion recognition. Experimental results show that this method is effective and can reach high recognition rates of happy and angry states. It has been successfully applied to the operation quality and service administration in telecom and Internet service company.

Emotion Analysis of Telephone Complaints from Customer Based on Affective Computing

PubMed Central

Gong, Shuangping; Ji, Jun; Wang, Jinzhao; Sun, Hai

2015-01-01

Customer complaint has been the important feedback for modern enterprises to improve their product and service quality as well as the customer's loyalty. As one of the commonly used manners in customer complaint, telephone communication carries rich emotional information of speeches, which provides valuable resources for perceiving the customer's satisfaction and studying the complaint handling skills. This paper studies the characteristics of telephone complaint speeches and proposes an analysis method based on affective computing technology, which can recognize the dynamic changes of customer emotions from the conversations between the service staff and the customer. The recognition process includes speaker recognition, emotional feature parameter extraction, and dynamic emotion recognition. Experimental results show that this method is effective and can reach high recognition rates of happy and angry states. It has been successfully applied to the operation quality and service administration in telecom and Internet service company. PMID:26633967

Dynamic of small photovoltaic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehrmann, A.; Kleinkauf, W.; Pigorsch, W.; Steeb, H.

The results of 1.5 yr of field-testing of two photovoltaic (PV) power plants, one equipped with an electrolyzer and H2 storage, are reported. Both systems were interconnected with the grid and featured the PV module, a power conditioning unit, ac and dc load connections, and control units. The rated power of both units was 100 Wp. The system with electrolysis was governed by control laws which maximized the electrolyzer current. The tests underscored the preference for a power conditioning unit, rather than direct output to load connections. A 1 kWp system was developed in a follow-up program and will be tested in concert with electrolysis and interconnection with several grid customers. The program is geared to eventual development of larger units for utility-size applications.

Integrating the patient portal into the health management work ecosystem: user acceptance of a novel prototype

PubMed Central

Eschler, Jordan; Meas, Perry Lin; Lozano, Paula; McClure, Jennifer B.; Ralston, James D.; Pratt, Wanda

2016-01-01

People with a chronic illness must manage a myriad of tasks to support their health. Online patient portals can provide vital information and support in managing health tasks through notification and reminder features. However, little is known about the efficacy of these features in managing health tasks via the portal. To elicit feedback about reminder and notification features in patient portals, we employed a patient-centered approach to design new features for managing health tasks within an existing portal tool. We tested three iteratively designed prototypes with 19 patients and caregivers. Our findings provide insights into users’ attitudes, behavior, and motivations in portal use. Design implications based on these insights include: (1) building on positive aspects of clinician relationships to enhance engagement with the portal; (2) using face-to-face visits to promote clinician collaboration in portal use; and (3) allowing customization of portal modules to support tasks based on user roles. PMID:28269850

Integrating the patient portal into the health management work ecosystem: user acceptance of a novel prototype.

PubMed

Eschler, Jordan; Meas, Perry Lin; Lozano, Paula; McClure, Jennifer B; Ralston, James D; Pratt, Wanda

2016-01-01

People with a chronic illness must manage a myriad of tasks to support their health. Online patient portals can provide vital information and support in managing health tasks through notification and reminder features. However, little is known about the efficacy of these features in managing health tasks via the portal. To elicit feedback about reminder and notification features in patient portals, we employed a patient-centered approach to design new features for managing health tasks within an existing portal tool. We tested three iteratively designed prototypes with 19 patients and caregivers. Our findings provide insights into users' attitudes, behavior, and motivations in portal use. Design implications based on these insights include: (1) building on positive aspects of clinician relationships to enhance engagement with the portal; (2) using face-to-face visits to promote clinician collaboration in portal use; and (3) allowing customization of portal modules to support tasks based on user roles.

Laboratory test for ice adhesion strength using commercial instrumentation.

PubMed

Wang, Chenyu; Zhang, Wei; Siva, Adarsh; Tiea, Daniel; Wynne, Kenneth J

2014-01-21

A laboratory test method for evaluating ice adhesion has been developed employing a commercially available instrument normally used for dynamic mechanical analysis (TA RSA-III). This is the first laboratory ice adhesion test that does not require a custom-built apparatus. The upper grip range of ∼10 mm is an enabling feature that is essential for the test. The method involves removal of an ice cylinder from a polymer coating with a probe and the determination of peak removal force (Ps). To validate the test method, the strength of ice adhesion was determined for a prototypical glassy polymer, poly(methyl methacrylate). The distance of the probe from the PMMA surface has been identified as a critical variable for Ps. The new test provides a readily available platform for investigating fundamental surface characteristics affecting ice adhesion. In addition to the ice release test, PMMA coatings were characterized using DSC, DCA, and TM-AFM.

User-customized brain computer interfaces using Bayesian optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bashashati, Hossein; Ward, Rabab K.; Bashashati, Ali

2016-04-01

Objective. The brain characteristics of different people are not the same. Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) should thus be customized for each individual person. In motor-imagery based synchronous BCIs, a number of parameters (referred to as hyper-parameters) including the EEG frequency bands, the channels and the time intervals from which the features are extracted should be pre-determined based on each subject’s brain characteristics. Approach. To determine the hyper-parameter values, previous work has relied on manual or semi-automatic methods that are not applicable to high-dimensional search spaces. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic, scalable and computationally inexpensive algorithm that uses Bayesian optimization to tune these hyper-parameters. We then build different classifiers trained on the sets of hyper-parameter values proposed by the Bayesian optimization. A final classifier aggregates the results of the different classifiers. Main Results. We have applied our method to 21 subjects from three BCI competition datasets. We have conducted rigorous statistical tests, and have shown the positive impact of hyper-parameter optimization in improving the accuracy of BCIs. Furthermore, We have compared our results to those reported in the literature. Significance. Unlike the best reported results in the literature, which are based on more sophisticated feature extraction and classification methods, and rely on prestudies to determine the hyper-parameter values, our method has the advantage of being fully automated, uses less sophisticated feature extraction and classification methods, and yields similar or superior results compared to the best performing designs in the literature.

Validation of hand and foot anatomical feature measurements from smartphone images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amini, Mohammad; Vasefi, Fartash; MacKinnon, Nicholas

2018-02-01

A smartphone mobile medical application, previously presented as a tool for individuals with hand arthritis to assess and monitor the progress of their disease, has been modified and expanded to include extraction of anatomical features from the hand (joint/finger width, and angulation) and foot (length, width, big toe angle, and arch height index) from smartphone camera images. Image processing algorithms and automated measurements were validated by performing tests on digital hand models, rigid plastic hand models, and real human hands and feet to determine accuracy and reproducibility compared to conventional measurement tools such as calipers, rulers, and goniometers. The mobile application was able to provide finger joint width measurements with accuracy better than 0.34 (+/-0.25) millimeters. Joint angulation measurement accuracy was better than 0.50 (+/-0.45) degrees. The automatically calculated foot length accuracy was 1.20 (+/-1.27) millimeters and the foot width accuracy was 1.93 (+/-1.92) millimeters. Hallux valgus angle (used in assessing bunions) accuracy was 1.30 (+/-1.29) degrees. Arch height index (AHI) measurements had an accuracy of 0.02 (+/-0.01). Combined with in-app documentation of symptoms, treatment, and lifestyle factors, the anatomical feature measurements can be used by both healthcare professionals and manufacturers. Applications include: diagnosing hand osteoarthritis; providing custom finger splint measurements; providing compression glove measurements for burn and lymphedema patients; determining foot dimensions for custom shoe sizing, insoles, orthotics, or foot splints; and assessing arch height index and bunion treatment effectiveness.

ARCADIA{sup R} - A New Generation of Coupled Neutronics / Core Thermal- Hydraulics Code System at AREVA NP

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

Curca-Tivig, Florin; Merk, Stephan; Pautz, Andreas

2007-07-01

Anticipating future needs of our customers and willing to concentrate synergies and competences existing in the company for the benefit of our customers, AREVA NP decided in 2002 to develop the next generation of coupled neutronics/ core thermal-hydraulic (TH) code systems for fuel assembly and core design calculations for both, PWR and BWR applications. The global CONVERGENCE project was born: after a feasibility study of one year (2002) and a conceptual phase of another year (2003), development was started at the beginning of 2004. The present paper introduces the CONVERGENCE project, presents the main feature of the new code systemmore » ARCADIA{sup R} and concludes on customer benefits. ARCADIA{sup R} is designed to meet AREVA NP market and customers' requirements worldwide. Besides state-of-the-art physical modeling, numerical performance and industrial functionality, the ARCADIA{sup R} system is featuring state-of-the-art software engineering. The new code system will bring a series of benefits for our customers: e.g. improved accuracy for heterogeneous cores (MOX/ UOX, Gd...), better description of nuclide chains, and access to local neutronics/ thermal-hydraulics and possibly thermal-mechanical information (3D pin by pin full core modeling). ARCADIA is a registered trademark of AREVA NP. (authors)« less

B-CAN: a resource sharing platform to improve the operation, visualization and integrated analysis of TCGA breast cancer data.

PubMed

Wen, Can-Hong; Ou, Shao-Min; Guo, Xiao-Bo; Liu, Chen-Feng; Shen, Yan-Bo; You, Na; Cai, Wei-Hong; Shen, Wen-Jun; Wang, Xue-Qin; Tan, Hai-Zhu

2017-12-12

Breast cancer is a high-risk heterogeneous disease with myriad subtypes and complicated biological features. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) breast cancer database provides researchers with the large-scale genome and clinical data via web portals and FTP services. Researchers are able to gain new insights into their related fields, and evaluate experimental discoveries with TCGA. However, it is difficult for researchers who have little experience with database and bioinformatics to access and operate on because of TCGA's complex data format and diverse files. For ease of use, we build the breast cancer (B-CAN) platform, which enables data customization, data visualization, and private data center. The B-CAN platform runs on Apache server and interacts with the backstage of MySQL database by PHP. Users can customize data based on their needs by combining tables from original TCGA database and selecting variables from each table. The private data center is applicable for private data and two types of customized data. A key feature of the B-CAN is that it provides single table display and multiple table display. Customized data with one barcode corresponding to many records and processed customized data are allowed in Multiple Tables Display. The B-CAN is an intuitive and high-efficient data-sharing platform.

Attitudes About Regulation Among Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Customers

PubMed Central

Green, Robert C.; Kaufman, David

2013-01-01

Introduction: The first regulatory rulings by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing services are expected soon. As the process of regulating these and other genetic tests moves ahead, it is important to understand the preferences of DTC genetic testing customers about the regulation of these products. Methods: An online survey of customers of three DTC genetic testing companies was conducted 2–8 months after they had received their results. Participants were asked about the importance of regulating the companies selling DTC genetic tests. Results: Most of the 1,046 respondents responded that it would be important to have a nongovernmental (84%) or governmental agency (73%) monitor DTC companies' claims to ensure the consistency with scientific evidence. However, 66% also felt that it was important that DTC tests be available without governmental oversight. Nearly, all customers favored a policy to ensure that insurers and law enforcement officials could not access their information. Discussion: Although many DTC customers want access to genetic testing services without restrictions imposed by the government regulation, most also favor an organization operating alongside DTC companies that will ensure that the claims made by the companies are consistent with sound scientific evidence. This seeming contradiction may indicate that DTC customers want to ensure that they have unfettered access to high-quality information. Additionally, policies to help ensure privacy of data would be welcomed by customers, despite relatively high confidence in the companies. PMID:23560882

Attitudes about regulation among direct-to-consumer genetic testing customers.

PubMed

Bollinger, Juli Murphy; Green, Robert C; Kaufman, David

2013-05-01

The first regulatory rulings by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing services are expected soon. As the process of regulating these and other genetic tests moves ahead, it is important to understand the preferences of DTC genetic testing customers about the regulation of these products. An online survey of customers of three DTC genetic testing companies was conducted 2-8 months after they had received their results. Participants were asked about the importance of regulating the companies selling DTC genetic tests. Most of the 1,046 respondents responded that it would be important to have a nongovernmental (84%) or governmental agency (73%) monitor DTC companies' claims to ensure the consistency with scientific evidence. However, 66% also felt that it was important that DTC tests be available without governmental oversight. Nearly, all customers favored a policy to ensure that insurers and law enforcement officials could not access their information. Although many DTC customers want access to genetic testing services without restrictions imposed by the government regulation, most also favor an organization operating alongside DTC companies that will ensure that the claims made by the companies are consistent with sound scientific evidence. This seeming contradiction may indicate that DTC customers want to ensure that they have unfettered access to high-quality information. Additionally, policies to help ensure privacy of data would be welcomed by customers, despite relatively high confidence in the companies.

Wear and Reactivity Studies of Melt infiltrated Ceramic Matrix Composite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jarmon, David C.; Ojard, Greg; Brewer, David N.

2013-01-01

As interest grows in the use of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) for critical gas turbine engine components, the effects of the CMCs interaction with the adjoining structure needs to be understood. A series of CMC/material couples were wear tested in a custom elevated temperature test rig and tested as diffusion couples, to identify interactions. Specifically, melt infiltrated silicon carbide/silicon carbide (MI SiC/SiC) CMC was tested in combination with a nickel-based super alloy, Waspaloy, a thermal barrier coating, Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ), and a monolithic ceramic, silicon nitride (Si3N4). To make the tests more representative of actual hardware, the surface of the CMC was kept in the as-received state (not machined) with the full surface features/roughness present. Test results include: scanning electron microscope characterization of the surfaces, micro-structural characterization, and microprobe analysis.

Progress on development of SPIDER diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasqualotto, R.; Agostini, M.; Barbisan, M.; Bernardi, M.; Brombin, M.; Cavazzana, R.; Croci, G.; Palma, M. Dalla; Delogu, R. S.; Gorini, G.; Lotto, L.; Muraro, A.; Peruzzo, S.; Pimazzoni, A.; Pomaro, N.; Rizzolo, A.; Serianni, G.; Spolaore, M.; Tardocchi, M.; Zaniol, B.; Zaupa, M.

2017-08-01

SPIDER experiment, the full size prototype of the beam source for the ITER heating neutral beam injector, has to demonstrate extraction and acceleration to 100 kV of a large negative ion hydrogen or deuterium beam with co-extracted electron fraction e-/D- <1 and beam uniformity within 10%, for up to one hour beam pulses. Main RF source plasma and beam parameters are measured with different complementary techniques to exploit the combination of their specific features. While SPIDER plant systems are being installed, the different diagnostic systems are in the procurement phase. Their final design is described here with a focus on some key solutions and most original and cost effective implementations. Thermocouples used to measure the power load distribution in the source and over the beam dump front surface will be efficiently fixed with proven technique and acquired through commercial and custom electronics. Spectroscopy needs to use well collimated lines of sight and will employ novel design spectrometers with higher efficiency and resolution and filtered detectors with custom built amplifiers. The electrostatic probes will be operated through electronics specifically developed to cope with the challenging environment of the RF source. The instrumented calorimeter STRIKE will use new CFC tiles, still under development. Two linear cameras, one built in house, have been tested as suitable for optical beam tomography. Some diagnostic components are off the shelf, others are custom developed: some of these are being prototyped or are under test before final production and installation, which will be completed before start of SPIDER operation.

[Responses to customer complaints at commercial laboratories].

PubMed

Honma, M

1997-10-01

For commercial laboratories, one of the routine duties involves responding to various kinds of inquiries and complaints received from customers. As causes of complaints, lack of communication between the laboratory and customer, and test errors were considered. In this paper, complaints received by our laboratory were collected and classified by content, and measures to prevent test error are reported. We think the complaints contain important information that can be used to improve the quality of our laboratory. We hope that reinforcement of communication with customers and promoting test knowledge among the customers can produce more clearly worded complaints which will provide more valuable information. We try to receive and deal with these complaints seriously.

Technical Note: Characterization of custom 3D printed multimodality imaging phantoms

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

Bieniosek, Matthew F.; Lee, Brian J.; Levin, Craig S., E-mail: cslevin@stanford.edu

Purpose: Imaging phantoms are important tools for researchers and technicians, but they can be costly and difficult to customize. Three dimensional (3D) printing is a widely available rapid prototyping technique that enables the fabrication of objects with 3D computer generated geometries. It is ideal for quickly producing customized, low cost, multimodal, reusable imaging phantoms. This work validates the use of 3D printed phantoms by comparing CT and PET scans of a 3D printed phantom and a commercial “Micro Deluxe” phantom. This report also presents results from a customized 3D printed PET/MRI phantom, and a customized high resolution imaging phantom withmore » sub-mm features. Methods: CT and PET scans of a 3D printed phantom and a commercial Micro Deluxe (Data Spectrum Corporation, USA) phantom with 1.2, 1.6, 2.4, 3.2, 4.0, and 4.8 mm diameter hot rods were acquired. The measured PET and CT rod sizes, activities, and attenuation coefficients were compared. A PET/MRI scan of a custom 3D printed phantom with hot and cold rods was performed, with photon attenuation and normalization measurements performed with a separate 3D printed normalization phantom. X-ray transmission scans of a customized two level high resolution 3D printed phantom with sub-mm features were also performed. Results: Results show very good agreement between commercial and 3D printed micro deluxe phantoms with less than 3% difference in CT measured rod diameter, less than 5% difference in PET measured rod diameter, and a maximum of 6.2% difference in average rod activity from a 10 min, 333 kBq/ml (9 μCi/ml) Siemens Inveon (Siemens Healthcare, Germany) PET scan. In all cases, these differences were within the measurement uncertainties of our setups. PET/MRI scans successfully identified 3D printed hot and cold rods on PET and MRI modalities. X-ray projection images of a 3D printed high resolution phantom identified features as small as 350 μm wide. Conclusions: This work shows that 3D printed phantoms can be functionally equivalent to commercially available phantoms. They are a viable option for quickly distributing and fabricating low cost, customized phantoms.« less

Training Vegetable Parenting Practices Through a Mobile Game: Iterative Qualitative Alpha Test

PubMed Central

Beltran, Alicia; Buday, Richard; Hughes, Sheryl; O'Connor, Teresia; Baranowski, Janice; Dadabhoy, Hafza R; Diep, Cassandra S; Baranowski, Tom

2015-01-01

Background Vegetable consumption protects against chronic diseases, but many young children do not eat vegetables. One quest within the mobile application Mommio was developed to train mothers of preschoolers in effective vegetable parenting practices, or ways to approach getting their child to eat and enjoy vegetables. A much earlier version of the game, then called Kiddio, was alpha tested previously, but the game has since evolved in key ways. Objective The purpose of this research was to alpha test the first quest, substantiate earlier findings and obtain feedback on new game features to develop an effective, compelling parenting game. Methods Mothers of preschool children (n=20) played a single quest of Mommio 2 to 4 times, immediately after which a semi-structured interview about their experience was completed. Interviews were transcribed and double coded using thematic analysis methods. Results Mothers generally liked the game, finding it realistic and engaging. Some participants had difficulties with mechanics for moving around the 3-D environment. Tips and hints were well received, and further expansion and customization were desired. Conclusions Earlier findings were supported, though Mommio players reported more enjoyment than Kiddio players. Continued development will include more user-friendly mechanics, customization, opportunities for environment interaction, and food parenting scenarios. PMID:26208899

System theory in medical diagnostic devices: an overview.

PubMed

Baura, Gail D

2006-01-01

Medical diagnostics refers to testing conducted either in vitro or in vivo to provide critical health care information for risk assessment, early diagnosis, treatment, or disease management. Typical in vivo diagnostic tests include the computed tomography scan, magnetic resonance imaging, and blood pressure screening. Typical in vitro diagnostic tests include cholesterol, Papanicolaou smear, and conventional glucose monitoring tests. Historically, devices associated with both types of diagnostics have used heuristic curve fitting during signal analysis. However, since the early 1990s, a few enterprising engineers and physicians have used system theory to improve their core processing for feature detection and system identification. Current applications include automated Pap smear screening for detection of cervical cancer and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Future applications, such as disease prediction before symptom onset and drug treatment customization, have been catalyzed by the Human Genome Project.

Customization in the Design and Implementation of the RiverWeb Water Quality Simulator (WQS).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Verona, Mary Ellen; Curtis, David

When developing curriculum materials for new contexts, designers feed forward work from similar projects. This customization process must attend to various influences to determine how features from previous efforts will be emphasized and combined. This paper discusses resources and ideas that influenced the design of the RiverWeb Water Quality…

Component Prioritization Schema for Achieving Maximum Time and Cost Benefits from Software Testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srivastava, Praveen Ranjan; Pareek, Deepak

Software testing is any activity aimed at evaluating an attribute or capability of a program or system and determining that it meets its required results. Defining the end of software testing represents crucial features of any software development project. A premature release will involve risks like undetected bugs, cost of fixing faults later, and discontented customers. Any software organization would want to achieve maximum possible benefits from software testing with minimum resources. Testing time and cost need to be optimized for achieving a competitive edge in the market. In this paper, we propose a schema, called the Component Prioritization Schema (CPS), to achieve an effective and uniform prioritization of the software components. This schema serves as an extension to the Non Homogenous Poisson Process based Cumulative Priority Model. We also introduce an approach for handling time-intensive versus cost-intensive projects.

KSC-2010-5310

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-10-27

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 600-Ton Test Fixture outside the Launch Equipment Test Facility conducts a 500,000-pound pull test of a bridge crane lifting element, which is used to lift space shuttles in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The fixture proofload tests, in tension and compression, a variety of ground support equipment, including slings, lifting beams and other critical lifting hardware that require periodic proofloading. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. The facility recently underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a 6,000-square-foot high bay, cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator, launch simulation towers and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

KSC-2010-5308

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-10-27

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 600-Ton Test Fixture outside the Launch Equipment Test Facility is prepared to conduct a 500,000-pound pull test of a bridge crane lifting element, which is used to lift space shuttles in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The fixture proofload tests, in tension and compression, a variety of ground support equipment, including slings, lifting beams and other critical lifting hardware that require periodic proofloading. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. The facility recently underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a 6,000-square-foot high bay, cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator, launch simulation towers and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

KSC-2010-5311

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-10-27

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 600-Ton Test Fixture outside the Launch Equipment Test Facility conducts a 500,000-pound pull test of a bridge crane lifting element, which is used to lift space shuttles in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The fixture proofload tests, in tension and compression, a variety of ground support equipment, including slings, lifting beams and other critical lifting hardware that require periodic proofloading. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. The facility recently underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a 6,000-square-foot high bay, cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator, launch simulation towers and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

KSC-2010-5309

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-10-27

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 600-Ton Test Fixture outside the Launch Equipment Test Facility conducts a 500,000-pound pull test of a bridge crane lifting element, which is used to lift space shuttles in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The fixture proofload tests, in tension and compression, a variety of ground support equipment, including slings, lifting beams and other critical lifting hardware that require periodic proofloading. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. The facility recently underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a 6,000-square-foot high bay, cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator, launch simulation towers and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

JETCAL 2000R Analyzer H337PA-603 Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) on H-53 E/J Aircraft and H46 D/E Aircraft

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-01-28

Proposal Title PORTABLE TEST CELL - JETCAL 2000(R) Lead Proposer HOWELL INSTRUMENTS Military Customer NAVY/MARINE H53...B-4 Proposal Title PORTABLE TEST CELL - JETCAL 2000(R) Lead Proposer HOWELL INSTRUMENTS Military Customer...TEST CELL - JETCAL 2000(R) Lead Proposer HOWELL INSTRUMENTS Military Customer NAVY/MARINE H53 AIRCRAFT Baseline Costs -- DoD’s Costs When COSSI is NOT

Provider management strategies of abnormal test result alerts: a cognitive task analysis

PubMed Central

Sawhney, Mona K; Wilson, Lindsay; Sittig, Dean F; Espadas, Donna; Davis, Traber; Singh, Hardeep

2010-01-01

Objective Electronic medical records (EMRs) facilitate abnormal test result communication through “alert” notifications. The aim was to evaluate how primary care providers (PCPs) manage alerts related to critical diagnostic test results on their EMR screens, and compare alert-management strategies of providers with high versus low rates of timely follow-up of results. Design 28 PCPs from a large, tertiary care Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) were purposively sampled according to their rates of timely follow-up of alerts, determined in a previous study. Using techniques from cognitive task analysis, participants were interviewed about how and when they manage alerts, focusing on four alert-management features to filter, sort and reduce unnecessary alerts on their EMR screens. Results Provider knowledge of alert-management features ranged between 4% and 75%. Almost half (46%) of providers did not use any of these features, and none used more than two. Providers with higher versus lower rates of timely follow-up used the four features similarly, except one (customizing alert notifications). Providers with low rates of timely follow-up tended to manually scan the alert list and process alerts heuristically using their clinical judgment. Additionally, 46% of providers used at least one workaround strategy to manage alerts. Conclusion Considerable heterogeneity exists in provider use of alert-management strategies; specific strategies may be associated with lower rates of timely follow-up. Standardization of alert-management strategies including improving provider knowledge of appropriate tools in the EMR to manage alerts could reduce the lack of timely follow-up of abnormal diagnostic test results. PMID:20064805

Provider management strategies of abnormal test result alerts: a cognitive task analysis.

PubMed

Hysong, Sylvia J; Sawhney, Mona K; Wilson, Lindsay; Sittig, Dean F; Espadas, Donna; Davis, Traber; Singh, Hardeep

2010-01-01

Electronic medical records (EMRs) facilitate abnormal test result communication through "alert" notifications. The aim was to evaluate how primary care providers (PCPs) manage alerts related to critical diagnostic test results on their EMR screens, and compare alert-management strategies of providers with high versus low rates of timely follow-up of results. 28 PCPs from a large, tertiary care Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) were purposively sampled according to their rates of timely follow-up of alerts, determined in a previous study. Using techniques from cognitive task analysis, participants were interviewed about how and when they manage alerts, focusing on four alert-management features to filter, sort and reduce unnecessary alerts on their EMR screens. Provider knowledge of alert-management features ranged between 4% and 75%. Almost half (46%) of providers did not use any of these features, and none used more than two. Providers with higher versus lower rates of timely follow-up used the four features similarly, except one (customizing alert notifications). Providers with low rates of timely follow-up tended to manually scan the alert list and process alerts heuristically using their clinical judgment. Additionally, 46% of providers used at least one workaround strategy to manage alerts. Considerable heterogeneity exists in provider use of alert-management strategies; specific strategies may be associated with lower rates of timely follow-up. Standardization of alert-management strategies including improving provider knowledge of appropriate tools in the EMR to manage alerts could reduce the lack of timely follow-up of abnormal diagnostic test results.

78 FR 66039 - Modification of National Customs Automation Program Test Concerning Automated Commercial...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-04

... Customs Automation Program Test Concerning Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Cargo Release (Formerly... Simplified Entry functionality in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). Originally, the test was known...) test concerning Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Simplified Entry (SE test) functionality is...

Evaluation of effectiveness of wavelet based denoising schemes using ANN and SVM for bearing condition classification.

PubMed

Vijay, G S; Kumar, H S; Srinivasa Pai, P; Sriram, N S; Rao, Raj B K N

2012-01-01

The wavelet based denoising has proven its ability to denoise the bearing vibration signals by improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and reducing the root-mean-square error (RMSE). In this paper seven wavelet based denoising schemes have been evaluated based on the performance of the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and the Support Vector Machine (SVM), for the bearing condition classification. The work consists of two parts, the first part in which a synthetic signal simulating the defective bearing vibration signal with Gaussian noise was subjected to these denoising schemes. The best scheme based on the SNR and the RMSE was identified. In the second part, the vibration signals collected from a customized Rolling Element Bearing (REB) test rig for four bearing conditions were subjected to these denoising schemes. Several time and frequency domain features were extracted from the denoised signals, out of which a few sensitive features were selected using the Fisher's Criterion (FC). Extracted features were used to train and test the ANN and the SVM. The best denoising scheme identified, based on the classification performances of the ANN and the SVM, was found to be the same as the one obtained using the synthetic signal.

Effects of Platform Design on the Customer Experience in an Online Solar PV Marketplace

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

OShaughnessy, Eric J.; Margolis, Robert M.; Leibowicz, Benjamin

We analyze a unique dataset of residential solar PV quotes offered in an online marketplace to understand how platform design changes affect customer outcomes. Three of the four design changes are associated with statistically significant and robust reductions in offer prices, though none of the policies were designed explicitly to reduce prices. The results suggest that even small changes in how prospective solar PV customers interact with installers can affect customer outcomes such as prices. Specifically, the four changes we evaluate are: 1) a customer map that shows potential new EnergySage registrants the locations of nearby customers; 2) a quotemore » cap that precludes more than seven installers from bidding on any one customer; 3) a price guidance feature that informs installers about competitive prices in the customer's market before they submit quotes; and 4) no pre-quote messaging to prohibit installers from contacting customers prior to offering quotes. We calculate descriptive statistics to investigate whether each design change accomplished its specific objectives. Then, we econometrically evaluate the impacts of the design changes on PV quote prices and purchase prices using a regression discontinuity approach.« less

What Is Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing?

MedlinePlus

... different: these genetic tests are marketed directly to customers via television, print advertisements, or the Internet, and ... tests can be bought online or in stores. Customers send the company a DNA sample and receive ...

Real-Time Classification of Patients with Balance Disorders vs. Normal Subjects Using a Low-Cost Small Wireless Wearable Gait Sensor.

PubMed

Nukala, Bhargava Teja; Nakano, Taro; Rodriguez, Amanda; Tsay, Jerry; Lopez, Jerry; Nguyen, Tam Q; Zupancic, Steven; Lie, Donald Y C

2016-11-29

Gait analysis using wearable wireless sensors can be an economical, convenient and effective way to provide diagnostic and clinical information for various health-related issues. In this work, our custom designed low-cost wireless gait analysis sensor that contains a basic inertial measurement unit (IMU) was used to collect the gait data for four patients diagnosed with balance disorders and additionally three normal subjects, each performing the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) tests while wearing the custom wireless gait analysis sensor (WGAS). The small WGAS includes a tri-axial accelerometer integrated circuit (IC), two gyroscopes ICs and a Texas Instruments (TI) MSP430 microcontroller and is worn by each subject at the T4 position during the DGI tests. The raw gait data are wirelessly transmitted from the WGAS to a near-by PC for real-time gait data collection and analysis. In order to perform successful classification of patients vs. normal subjects, we used several different classification algorithms, such as the back propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN), support vector machine (SVM), k -nearest neighbors (KNN) and binary decision trees (BDT), based on features extracted from the raw gait data of the gyroscopes and accelerometers. When the range was used as the input feature, the overall classification accuracy obtained is 100% with BP-ANN, 98% with SVM, 96% with KNN and 94% using BDT. Similar high classification accuracy results were also achieved when the standard deviation or other values were used as input features to these classifiers. These results show that gait data collected from our very low-cost wearable wireless gait sensor can effectively differentiate patients with balance disorders from normal subjects in real time using various classifiers, the success of which may eventually lead to accurate and objective diagnosis of abnormal human gaits and their underlying etiologies in the future, as more patient data are being collected.

B-CAN: a resource sharing platform to improve the operation, visualization and integrated analysis of TCGA breast cancer data

PubMed Central

Wen, Can-Hong; Ou, Shao-Min; Guo, Xiao-Bo; Liu, Chen-Feng; Shen, Yan-Bo; You, Na; Cai, Wei-Hong; Shen, Wen-Jun; Wang, Xue-Qin; Tan, Hai-Zhu

2017-01-01

Breast cancer is a high-risk heterogeneous disease with myriad subtypes and complicated biological features. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) breast cancer database provides researchers with the large-scale genome and clinical data via web portals and FTP services. Researchers are able to gain new insights into their related fields, and evaluate experimental discoveries with TCGA. However, it is difficult for researchers who have little experience with database and bioinformatics to access and operate on because of TCGA’s complex data format and diverse files. For ease of use, we build the breast cancer (B-CAN) platform, which enables data customization, data visualization, and private data center. The B-CAN platform runs on Apache server and interacts with the backstage of MySQL database by PHP. Users can customize data based on their needs by combining tables from original TCGA database and selecting variables from each table. The private data center is applicable for private data and two types of customized data. A key feature of the B-CAN is that it provides single table display and multiple table display. Customized data with one barcode corresponding to many records and processed customized data are allowed in Multiple Tables Display. The B-CAN is an intuitive and high-efficient data-sharing platform. PMID:29312567

Customer Communication Document

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2009-01-01

This procedure communicates to the Customers of the Automation, Robotics and Simulation Division (AR&SD) Dynamics Systems Test Branch (DSTB) how to obtain services of the Six-Degrees-Of-Freedom Dynamic Test System (SDTS). The scope includes the major communication documents between the SDTS and its Customer. It established the initial communication and contact points as well as provides the initial documentation in electronic media for the customer. Contact the SDTS Manager (SM) for the names of numbers of the current contact points.

Technology Acquisition Reform

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-03-01

technologies until they are ready to be handed over to an established program. This office would also provide a home for disruptive technologies emerging...the development and acquisition of disruptive technologies .3 Disruptive technologies threaten programs of record but are essential to future Naval...and rarely emerge in response to customer demand. Disruptive technologies have features that a few fringe (and generally new) customers value

Custom E-Learning Experiences: Working with Profiles for Multiple Content Sources Access and Adaptation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferretti, Stefano; Roccetti, Marco; Salomoni, Paola; Mirri, Silvia

2009-01-01

It is a common belief that the problem of extracting learners' profiles to be used for delivering custom learning experiences is a closed case. Yet, practical solutions do not completely cope with the complex issue of capturing all the features of users, especially those of heterogeneous learners, who may have special needs or characteristics…

A 4×8-Gbps VCSEL array driver ASIC and integration with a custom array transmitter module for the LHC front-end transmission

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

Guo, Di; Liu, Chonghan; Chen, Jinghong

This paper describes the design, fabrication and experiment results of a 4×8-Gbps Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) array driver ASIC with the adjustable active-shunt peaking technique and the novel balanced output structure under the Silicon-on-Sapphire (SOS) process, and a custom array optical transmitter module, featuring a compact size of 10 mm×15 mm×5.3 mm. Both the array driver ASIC and the module have been fully tested after integration as a complete parallel transmitter. Optical eye diagram of each channel passes the eye mask at 8 Gbps/ch with adjacent channel working simultaneously with a power consumption of 150 mW/ch. As a result, themore » optical transmission of Bit-Error Rate (BER) less than 10E-12 is achieved at an aggregated data rate of 4×8-Gbps.« less

A 4×8-Gbps VCSEL array driver ASIC and integration with a custom array transmitter module for the LHC front-end transmission

DOE PAGES

Guo, Di; Liu, Chonghan; Chen, Jinghong; ...

2016-03-21

This paper describes the design, fabrication and experiment results of a 4×8-Gbps Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) array driver ASIC with the adjustable active-shunt peaking technique and the novel balanced output structure under the Silicon-on-Sapphire (SOS) process, and a custom array optical transmitter module, featuring a compact size of 10 mm×15 mm×5.3 mm. Both the array driver ASIC and the module have been fully tested after integration as a complete parallel transmitter. Optical eye diagram of each channel passes the eye mask at 8 Gbps/ch with adjacent channel working simultaneously with a power consumption of 150 mW/ch. As a result, themore » optical transmission of Bit-Error Rate (BER) less than 10E-12 is achieved at an aggregated data rate of 4×8-Gbps.« less

The Mobile Chamber

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scharfstein, Gregory; Cox, Russell

2012-01-01

A document discusses a simulation chamber that represents a shift from the thermal-vacuum chamber stereotype. This innovation, currently in development, combines the capabilities of space simulation chambers, the user-friendliness of modern-day electronics, and the modularity of plug-and-play computing. The Mobile Chamber is a customized test chamber that can be deployed with great ease, and is capable of bringing payloads at temperatures down to 20 K, in high vacuum, and with the desired metrology instruments integrated to the systems control. Flexure plans to lease Mobile Chambers, making them affordable for smaller budgets and available to a larger customer base. A key feature of this design will be an Apple iPad-like user interface that allows someone with minimal training to control the environment inside the chamber, and to simulate the required extreme environments. The feedback of thermal, pressure, and other measurements is delivered in a 3D CAD model of the chamber's payload and support hardware. This GUI will provide the user with a better understanding of the payload than any existing thermal-vacuum system.

Understanding customer experience.

PubMed

Meyer, Christopher; Schwager, Andre

2007-02-01

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

Re-examining the Gene in Personalized Genomics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartol, Jordan

2013-10-01

Personalized genomics companies (PG; also called `direct-to-consumer genetics') are businesses marketing genetic testing to consumers over the Internet. While much has been written about these new businesses, little attention has been given to their roles in science communication. This paper provides an analysis of the gene concept presented to customers and the relation between the information given and the science behind PG. Two quite different gene concepts are present in company rhetoric, but only one features in the science. To explain this, we must appreciate the delicate tension between PG, academic science, public expectation, and market forces.

A Feature Selection Method Based on Fisher's Discriminant Ratio for Text Sentiment Classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Suge; Li, Deyu; Wei, Yingjie; Li, Hongxia

With the rapid growth of e-commerce, product reviews on the Web have become an important information source for customers' decision making when they intend to buy some product. As the reviews are often too many for customers to go through, how to automatically classify them into different sentiment orientation categories (i.e. positive/negative) has become a research problem. In this paper, based on Fisher's discriminant ratio, an effective feature selection method is proposed for product review text sentiment classification. In order to validate the validity of the proposed method, we compared it with other methods respectively based on information gain and mutual information while support vector machine is adopted as the classifier. In this paper, 6 subexperiments are conducted by combining different feature selection methods with 2 kinds of candidate feature sets. Under 1006 review documents of cars, the experimental results indicate that the Fisher's discriminant ratio based on word frequency estimation has the best performance with F value 83.3% while the candidate features are the words which appear in both positive and negative texts.

76 FR 34246 - Automated Commercial Environment (ACE); Announcement of National Customs Automation Program Test...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-13

... CBP with authority to conduct limited test programs or procedures designed to evaluate planned... aspects of this test, including the design, conduct and implementation of the test, in order to determine... Environment (ACE); Announcement of National Customs Automation Program Test of Automated Procedures for In...

Mspire-Simulator: LC-MS shotgun proteomic simulator for creating realistic gold standard data.

PubMed

Noyce, Andrew B; Smith, Rob; Dalgleish, James; Taylor, Ryan M; Erb, K C; Okuda, Nozomu; Prince, John T

2013-12-06

The most important step in any quantitative proteomic pipeline is feature detection (aka peak picking). However, generating quality hand-annotated data sets to validate the algorithms, especially for lower abundance peaks, is nearly impossible. An alternative for creating gold standard data is to simulate it with features closely mimicking real data. We present Mspire-Simulator, a free, open-source shotgun proteomic simulator that goes beyond previous simulation attempts by generating LC-MS features with realistic m/z and intensity variance along with other noise components. It also includes machine-learned models for retention time and peak intensity prediction and a genetic algorithm to custom fit model parameters for experimental data sets. We show that these methods are applicable to data from three different mass spectrometers, including two fundamentally different types, and show visually and analytically that simulated peaks are nearly indistinguishable from actual data. Researchers can use simulated data to rigorously test quantitation software, and proteomic researchers may benefit from overlaying simulated data on actual data sets.

Validation of Underwater Sensor Package Using Feature Based SLAM

PubMed Central

Cain, Christopher; Leonessa, Alexander

2016-01-01

Robotic vehicles working in new, unexplored environments must be able to locate themselves in the environment while constructing a picture of the objects in the environment that could act as obstacles that would prevent the vehicles from completing their desired tasks. In enclosed environments, underwater range sensors based off of acoustics suffer performance issues due to reflections. Additionally, their relatively high cost make them less than ideal for usage on low cost vehicles designed to be used underwater. In this paper we propose a sensor package composed of a downward facing camera, which is used to perform feature tracking based visual odometry, and a custom vision-based two dimensional rangefinder that can be used on low cost underwater unmanned vehicles. In order to examine the performance of this sensor package in a SLAM framework, experimental tests are performed using an unmanned ground vehicle and two feature based SLAM algorithms, the extended Kalman filter based approach and the Rao-Blackwellized, particle filter based approach, to validate the sensor package. PMID:26999142

Association between store food environment and customer purchases in small grocery stores, gas-marts, pharmacies and dollar stores.

PubMed

Caspi, Caitlin E; Lenk, Kathleen; Pelletier, Jennifer E; Barnes, Timothy L; Harnack, Lisa; Erickson, Darin J; Laska, Melissa N

2017-06-05

Purchases at small/non-traditional food stores tend to have poor nutritional quality, and have been associated with poor health outcomes, including increased obesity risk The purpose of this study was to examine whether customers who shop at small/non-traditional food stores with more health promoting features make healthier purchases. In a cross-sectional design, data collectors assessed store features in a sample of 99 small and non-traditional food stores not participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN in 2014. Customer intercept interviews (n = 594) collected purchase data from a bag check and demographics from a survey. Store measures included fruit/vegetable and whole grain availability, an overall Healthy Food Supply Score (HFSS), healthy food advertisements and in-store placement, and shelf space of key items. Customer nutritional measures were analyzed using Nutrient Databases System for Research (NDSR), and included the purchase of ≥1 serving of fruits/vegetables; ≥1 serving of whole grains; and overall Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010) score for foods/beverages purchased. Associations between store and customer measures were estimated in multilevel linear and logistic regression models, controlling for customer characteristics and store type. Few customers purchased fruits and vegetables (8%) or whole grains (8%). In fully adjusted models, purchase HEI-2010 scores were associated with fruit/vegetable shelf space (p = 0.002) and the ratio of shelf space devoted to healthy vs. less healthy items (p = 0.0002). Offering ≥14 varieties of fruit/vegetables was associated with produce purchases (OR 3.9, 95% CI 1.2-12.3), as was having produce visible from the store entrance (OR 2.3 95% CI 1.0 to 5.8), but whole grain availability measures were not associated with whole grain purchases. Strategies addressing both customer demand and the availability of healthy food may be necessary to improve customer purchases. ClinialTrials.gov: NCT02774330 . Registered May 4, 2016 (retrospectively registered).

A knowledge based application of the extended aircraft interrogation and display system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glover, Richard D.; Larson, Richard R.

1991-01-01

A family of multiple-processor ground support test equipment was used to test digital flight-control systems on high-performance research aircraft. A unit recently built for the F-18 high alpha research vehicle project is the latest model in a series called the extended aircraft interrogation and display system. The primary feature emphasized monitors the aircraft MIL-STD-1553B data buses and provides real-time engineering units displays of flight-control parameters. A customized software package was developed to provide real-time data interpretation based on rules embodied in a highly structured knowledge database. The configuration of this extended aircraft interrogation and display system is briefly described, and the evolution of the rule based package and its application to failure modes and effects testing on the F-18 high alpha research vehicle is discussed.

Mobile Code: The Future of the Internet

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-01-01

code ( mobile agents) to multiple proxies or servers " Customization " (e.g., re-formatting, filtering, metasearch) Information overload Diversified... Mobile code is necessary, rather than client-side code, since many customization features (such as information monitoring) do not work if the...economic foundation for Web sites, many Web sites earn money solely from advertisements . If these sites allow mobile agents to easily access the content

Explaining, not just predicting, drives interest in personal genomics.

PubMed

Meisel, Susanne F; Carere, Deanna Alexis; Wardle, Jane; Kalia, Sarah S; Moreno, Tanya A; Mountain, Joanna L; Roberts, J Scott; Green, Robert C

2015-01-01

There is a widespread assumption that risk prediction is the major driver of customer interest in personal genomic testing (PGT). However, some customers may also be motivated by finding out whether their existing diseases have a genetic etiology. We evaluated the impact of an existing medical diagnosis on customer interest in condition-specific results from PGT. Using a prospective online survey of PGT customers, we measured customer interest prior to receiving PGT results for 11 health conditions, and examined the association between interest and personal medical history of these conditions using logistic regression. We analyzed data from 1,538 PGT customers, mean age 48.7 years, 61 % women, 90 % White, and 47 % college educated. The proportion of customers who were 'very interested' in condition-specific PGT varied considerably, from 28 % for ulcerative colitis to 68% for heart disease. After adjusting for demographic and personal characteristics including family history, having a diagnosis of the condition itself was significantly associated with interest in genetic testing for risk of that condition, with odds ratios ranging from 2.07 (95 % CI 1.28-3.37) for diabetes to 19.99 (95 % CI 4.57-87.35) for multiple sclerosis. PGT customers are particularly interested in genetic markers for their existing medical conditions, suggesting that the value of genetic testing is not only predictive, but also explanatory.

Excitation-scanning hyperspectral imaging as a means to discriminate various tissues types

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deal, Joshua; Favreau, Peter F.; Lopez, Carmen; Lall, Malvika; Weber, David S.; Rich, Thomas C.; Leavesley, Silas J.

2017-02-01

Little is currently known about the fluorescence excitation spectra of disparate tissues and how these spectra change with pathological state. Current imaging diagnostic techniques have limited capacity to investigate fluorescence excitation spectral characteristics. This study utilized excitation-scanning hyperspectral imaging to perform a comprehensive assessment of fluorescence spectral signatures of various tissues. Immediately following tissue harvest, a custom inverted microscope (TE-2000, Nikon Instruments) with Xe arc lamp and thin film tunable filter array (VersaChrome, Semrock, Inc.) were used to acquire hyperspectral image data from each sample. Scans utilized excitation wavelengths from 340 nm to 550 nm in 5 nm increments. Hyperspectral images were analyzed with custom Matlab scripts including linear spectral unmixing (LSU), principal component analysis (PCA), and Gaussian mixture modeling (GMM). Spectra were examined for potential characteristic features such as consistent intensity peaks at specific wavelengths or intensity ratios among significant wavelengths. The resultant spectral features were conserved among tissues of similar molecular composition. Additionally, excitation spectra appear to be a mixture of pure endmembers with commonalities across tissues of varied molecular composition, potentially identifiable through GMM. These results suggest the presence of common autofluorescent molecules in most tissues and that excitationscanning hyperspectral imaging may serve as an approach for characterizing tissue composition as well as pathologic state. Future work will test the feasibility of excitation-scanning hyperspectral imaging as a contrast mode for discriminating normal and pathological tissues.

Statistical performance of image cytometry for DNA, lipids, cytokeratin, & CD45 in a model system for circulation tumor cell detection.

PubMed

Futia, Gregory L; Schlaepfer, Isabel R; Qamar, Lubna; Behbakht, Kian; Gibson, Emily A

2017-07-01

Detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in a blood sample is limited by the sensitivity and specificity of the biomarker panel used to identify CTCs over other blood cells. In this work, we present Bayesian theory that shows how test sensitivity and specificity set the rarity of cell that a test can detect. We perform our calculation of sensitivity and specificity on our image cytometry biomarker panel by testing on pure disease positive (D + ) populations (MCF7 cells) and pure disease negative populations (D - ) (leukocytes). In this system, we performed multi-channel confocal fluorescence microscopy to image biomarkers of DNA, lipids, CD45, and Cytokeratin. Using custom software, we segmented our confocal images into regions of interest consisting of individual cells and computed the image metrics of total signal, second spatial moment, spatial frequency second moment, and the product of the spatial-spatial frequency moments. We present our analysis of these 16 features. The best performing of the 16 features produced an average separation of three standard deviations between D + and D - and an average detectable rarity of ∼1 in 200. We performed multivariable regression and feature selection to combine multiple features for increased performance and showed an average separation of seven standard deviations between the D + and D - populations making our average detectable rarity of ∼1 in 480. Histograms and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves for these features and regressions are presented. We conclude that simple regression analysis holds promise to further improve the separation of rare cells in cytometry applications. © 2017 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry. © 2017 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

75 FR 55811 - Testing Method of Pressed and Toughened (Specially Tempered) Glassware

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-14

.... 10-31] Testing Method of Pressed and Toughened (Specially Tempered) Glassware AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: Notice of method CBP uses to test... document adopts modifications to the test method currently applied by U.S. Customs and Border Protection...

78 FR 27984 - Modification of the National Customs Automation Program Test (NCAP) Regarding Reconciliation for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-13

... Customs Automation Program Test (NCAP) Regarding Reconciliation for Filing Certain Post-Importation Claims... Automation Program (NCAP) Reconciliation prototype test to include the filing of post-importation [[Page... notices. DATES: The test is modified to allow Reconciliation of post-importation preferential tariff...

A Customized Attention-Based Long Short-Term Memory Network for Distant Supervised Relation Extraction.

PubMed

He, Dengchao; Zhang, Hongjun; Hao, Wenning; Zhang, Rui; Cheng, Kai

2017-07-01

Distant supervision, a widely applied approach in the field of relation extraction can automatically generate large amounts of labeled training corpus with minimal manual effort. However, the labeled training corpus may have many false-positive data, which would hurt the performance of relation extraction. Moreover, in traditional feature-based distant supervised approaches, extraction models adopt human design features with natural language processing. It may also cause poor performance. To address these two shortcomings, we propose a customized attention-based long short-term memory network. Our approach adopts word-level attention to achieve better data representation for relation extraction without manually designed features to perform distant supervision instead of fully supervised relation extraction, and it utilizes instance-level attention to tackle the problem of false-positive data. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed approach is effective and achieves better performance than traditional methods.

Design of a Facility to Test the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator Engineering Unit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewandowski, Edward J.; Schreiber, Jeffrey G.; Oriti, Salvatore M.; Meer, David W.; Brace, Michael H.; Dugala, Gina

2009-01-01

The Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) is being considered to power deep space missions. An engineering unit, the ASRG-EU, was designed and fabricated by Lockheed Martin under contract to the Department of Energy. This unit is currently on an extended operation test at NASA Glenn Research Center to generate performance data and validate the life and reliability predictions for the generator and the Stirling convertors. A special test facility was designed and built for testing the ASRG-EU. Details of the test facility design are discussed. The facility can operate the convertors under AC bus control or with the ASRG-EU controller. It can regulate input thermal power in either a fixed temperature or fixed power mode. An enclosure circulates cooled air around the ASRG-EU to remove heat rejected from the ASRG-EU by convection. A custom monitoring and data acquisition system supports the test. Various safety features, which allow 2417 unattended operation, are discussed.

Custom Super-Resolution Microscope for the Structural Analysis of Nanostructures

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-05-29

research community. As part of our validation of the new design approach, we performed two - color imaging of pairs of adjacent oligo probes hybridized...nanostructures and biological targets. Our microscope features a large field of view and custom optics that facilitate 3D imaging and enhanced contrast in...our imaging throughput by creating two microscopy platforms for high-throughput, super-resolution materials characterization, with the AO set-up being

A field critique of the 3-year pilot test for the CUSTOMER recreation visitor survey

Treesearch

Patrick Reed; Gwen Hirsch

1995-01-01

From 1990 to 1992, the USDA Forest Service implemented a 3-year pilot test of CUSTOMER, a standardized nationwide recreation visitor survey. Intended as a partnership between the agency's Research and National Forest System branches, CUSTOMER has been a limited success to date. By the end of 1993, nearly 20,000 recreation visitors had been interviewed in more than...

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

Sturgeon, J I

This volume relates primarily to Time-of-Day rates standard, PURPA IB(d)3, and deals with the content and methods of providing rate and conservation information to customers when Time-of-Day rates are used. Information to customers in the Demonstration and Pilot Projects fell mainly into four categories: administrative communications; explanations of new rate structures; information and advice on load management; and facts, recommendations and encouragements about energy conservation and end-use improvement. Administrative communications were about such matters as the existence of Projects, their funding, their periods of performance, the selection of their test customers, conditions of participation, procedural changes during the tests, andmore » the time and conditions of ending the tests. These communications were important to good customer cooperation. All Demonstration Projects devoted considerable effort to the crucial task of clearly explaining the rationale of Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing and the test rate structures. The Projects then presented the concept of TOU pricing as a means of (a) fairly charging customers the true cost of their electricity and (b) rewarding them for shifting consumption to times when costs are less. For the most part, Demonstration Projects gave specific information on the individual customer's own rate structure and none on any others that were under test. The information was presented in face-to-face interviews, group presentations, television, radio, and print media, and traveling exhibits. The results are evaluated. (LCL)« less

CMOS gate array characterization procedures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spratt, James P.

1993-09-01

Present procedures are inadequate for characterizing the radiation hardness of gate array product lines prior to personalization because the selection of circuits to be used, from among all those available in the manufacturer's circuit library, is usually uncontrolled. (Some circuits are fundamentally more radiation resistant than others.) In such cases, differences in hardness can result between different designs of the same logic function. Hardness also varies because many gate arrays feature large custom-designed megacells (e.g., microprocessors and random access memories-MicroP's and RAM's). As a result, different product lines cannot be compared equally. A characterization strategy is needed, along with standardized test vehicle(s), methodology, and conditions, so that users can make informed judgments on which gate arrays are best suited for their needs. The program described developed preferred procedures for the radiation characterization of gate arrays, including a gate array evaluation test vehicle, featuring a canary circuit, designed to define the speed versus hardness envelope of the gate array. A multiplier was chosen for this role, and a baseline multiplier architecture is suggested that could be incorporated into an existing standard evaluation circuit chip.

Hard ceramic coatings: an experimental study on a novel damping treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patsias, Sophoclis; Tassini, Nicola; Stanway, Roger

2004-07-01

This paper describes a novel damping treatment, namely hard ceramic coatings. These materials can be applied on almost any surface (internal or external) of a component. Their effect is the significant reduction of vibration levels and hence the extension of life expectancy of the component. The damping features of air-plasma-sprayed ceramic coatings (for example amplitude dependence, influence of initial amplitude) are discussed and the experimental procedure employed for testing and characterising such materials is also described. This test procedure is based around a custom-developed rig that allows one to measure the damping (internal friction) of specimens at controlled frequencies, strain amplitudes and, if required, various temperatures. A commonly used Thermal Barrier Coating, Yttria Stabilised Zirconia (8%), is used to demonstrate the above mentioned features. The damping effectiveness of this coating is then compared against two established damping treatments: polymer Free Layer Damping (FLD) and Constrained Layer Damping (CLD). The paper discusses the major issues in characterising ceramic damping coatings and their damping effectiveness when compared against the "traditional" approaches. Finally, the paper concludes with suggestions for further research.

The LArIAT experiment at Fermilab

DOE PAGES

Nutini, Irene

2016-03-01

The LArIAT experiment at Fermilab is part of the International Neutrino program recently approved in the US. LArIAT aims to measure the main features of charged particles interactions in argon in the energy range (0.2 - 2.0 GeV) corresponding to the energy spectrum of the same particles when produced in a neutrino-argon interaction (neutrino energies of few GeV) typical of the short- and long-baseline neutrino beams of the Neutrino Program. Data collected from the 1 st Run are being analyzed for both Physics studies and a technical characterization of the scintillation light collection system. Furthermore, two analysis topics are reported:more » the method developed for charged pion cross section measurement, based on the specific features of the LArTPC, and the development and test of the LArIAT custom-designed cold front-end electronics for SiPM devices to collect LAr scintillation light.« less

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

Krishnamurthy, Dheepak

This paper is an overview of Power System Simulation Toolbox (psst). psst is an open-source Python application for the simulation and analysis of power system models. psst simulates the wholesale market operation by solving a DC Optimal Power Flow (DCOPF), Security Constrained Unit Commitment (SCUC) and a Security Constrained Economic Dispatch (SCED). psst also includes models for the various entities in a power system such as Generator Companies (GenCos), Load Serving Entities (LSEs) and an Independent System Operator (ISO). psst features an open modular object oriented architecture that will make it useful for researchers to customize, expand, experiment beyond solvingmore » traditional problems. psst also includes a web based Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows for user friendly interaction and for implementation on remote High Performance Computing (HPCs) clusters for parallelized operations. This paper also provides an illustrative application of psst and benchmarks with standard IEEE test cases to show the advanced features and the performance of toolbox.« less

Tailored Algorithm for Sensitivity Enhancement of Gas Concentration Sensors Based on Tunable Laser Absorption Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Vargas-Rodriguez, Everardo; Guzman-Chavez, Ana Dinora; Baeza-Serrato, Roberto

2018-06-04

In this work, a novel tailored algorithm to enhance the overall sensitivity of gas concentration sensors based on the Direct Absorption Tunable Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (DA-ATLAS) method is presented. By using this algorithm, the sensor sensitivity can be custom-designed to be quasi constant over a much larger dynamic range compared with that obtained by typical methods based on a single statistics feature of the sensor signal output (peak amplitude, area under the curve, mean or RMS). Additionally, it is shown that with our algorithm, an optimal function can be tailored to get a quasi linear relationship between the concentration and some specific statistics features over a wider dynamic range. In order to test the viability of our algorithm, a basic C 2 H 2 sensor based on DA-ATLAS was implemented, and its experimental measurements support the simulated results provided by our algorithm.

78 FR 20345 - Modification and Expansion of CBP Centers of Excellence and Expertise Test To Include Six...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-04

... CBP Centers of Excellence and Expertise Test To Include Six Additional Centers AGENCY: U.S. Customs... announces U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) plan to modify and expand its test for the Centers of... the test program, identifies the purpose of the test and the regulations that will be affected...

78 FR 59948 - Accreditation and Approval of Inspectorate America Corporation, as a Commercial Gauger and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-30

... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes, in...

78 FR 59947 - Accreditation and Approval of Inspectorate America Corporation, as a Commercial Gauger and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-30

... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for... accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs...

78 FR 52958 - Accreditation and Approval of Inspectorate America Corporation, as a Commercial Gauger and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-27

... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for... to test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes...

78 FR 29377 - Accreditation and Approval of Inspectorate America Corporation, as a Commercial Gauger and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-20

... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes, in...

78 FR 32681 - Accreditation and Approval of Inspectorate America Corporation, as a Commercial Gauger and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-31

... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for... accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs...

78 FR 59948 - Accreditation and Approval of Inspectorate America Corporation, as a Commercial Gauger and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-30

... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for... accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs...

The GIS map coloring support decision-making system based on case-based reasoning and simulated annealing algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Shuang; Xiang, Wenting; Tian, Yangge

2009-10-01

Map coloring is a hard task even to the experienced map experts. In the GIS project, usually need to color map according to the customer, which make the work more complex. With the development of GIS, more and more programmers join the project team, which lack the training of cartology, their coloring map are harder to meet the requirements of customer. From the experience, customers with similar background usually have similar tastes for coloring map. So, we developed a GIS color scheme decision-making system which can select color schemes of similar customers from case base for customers to select and adjust. The system is a BS/CS mixed system, the client side use JSP and make it possible for the system developers to go on remote calling of the colors scheme cases in the database server and communicate with customers. Different with general case-based reasoning, even the customers are very similar, their selection may have difference, it is hard to provide a "best" option. So, we select the Simulated Annealing Algorithm (SAA) to arrange the emergence order of different color schemes. Customers can also dynamically adjust certain features colors based on existing case. The result shows that the system can facilitate the communication between the designers and the customers and improve the quality and efficiency of coloring map.

The use of fatigue tests in the manufacture of automotive steel wheels.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drozyner, P.; Rychlik, A.

2016-08-01

Production for the automotive industry must be particularly sensitive to the aspect of safety and reliability of manufactured components. One of such element is the rim, where durability is a feature which significantly affects the safety of transport. Customer complaints regarding this element are particularly painful for the manufacturer because it is almost always associated with the event of accident or near-accident. Authors propose original comprehensive method of quality control at selected stages of rims production: supply of materials, production and pre-shipment inspections. Tests by the proposed method are carried out on the originally designed inertial fatigue machine The machine allows bending fatigue tests in the frequency range of 0 to 50 Hz at controlled increments of vibration amplitude. The method has been positively verified in one of rims factory in Poland. Implementation resulted in an almost complete elimination of complaints resulting from manufacturing and material errors.

78 FR 52958 - Announcement of Test Concerning Manifesting and Entry of Residue Found in Instruments of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-27

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Announcement of Test Concerning... announces U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) plan to conduct a test concerning the manifesting and... test announced in this document begins. In HQ Ruling H026715, CBP held that in order to ensure the...

78 FR 22895 - Test To Allow Customs Brokers To Pre-Certify Importers for Participation in the Importer Self...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-17

... pre-certify importers for participation in the Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) program. The test will be known as the Customs Broker Importer Self-Assessment Pre- Certification (Broker ISA PC) test. The... Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) program. The Broker Importer Self-Assessment Pre-Certification (ISA PC) test...

78 FR 13371 - Accreditation and Approval of Camin Cargo Control, Inc., as a Commercial Gauger and Laboratory

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-27

... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes, in...

ANN based Performance Evaluation of BDI for Condition Monitoring of Induction Motor Bearings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patel, Raj Kumar; Giri, V. K.

2017-06-01

One of the critical parts in rotating machines is bearings and most of the failure arises from the defective bearings. Bearing failure leads to failure of a machine and the unpredicted productivity loss in the performance. Therefore, bearing fault detection and prognosis is an integral part of the preventive maintenance procedures. In this paper vibration signal for four conditions of a deep groove ball bearing; normal (N), inner race defect (IRD), ball defect (BD) and outer race defect (ORD) were acquired from a customized bearing test rig, under four different conditions and three different fault sizes. Two approaches have been opted for statistical feature extraction from the vibration signal. In the first approach, raw signal is used for statistical feature extraction and in the second approach statistical features extracted are based on bearing damage index (BDI). The proposed BDI technique uses wavelet packet node energy coefficients analysis method. Both the features are used as inputs to an ANN classifier to evaluate its performance. A comparison of ANN performance is made based on raw vibration data and data chosen by using BDI. The ANN performance has been found to be fairly higher when BDI based signals were used as inputs to the classifier.

IFPTarget: A Customized Virtual Target Identification Method Based on Protein-Ligand Interaction Fingerprinting Analyses.

PubMed

Li, Guo-Bo; Yu, Zhu-Jun; Liu, Sha; Huang, Lu-Yi; Yang, Ling-Ling; Lohans, Christopher T; Yang, Sheng-Yong

2017-07-24

Small-molecule target identification is an important and challenging task for chemical biology and drug discovery. Structure-based virtual target identification has been widely used, which infers and prioritizes potential protein targets for the molecule of interest (MOI) principally via a scoring function. However, current "universal" scoring functions may not always accurately identify targets to which the MOI binds from the retrieved target database, in part due to a lack of consideration of the important binding features for an individual target. Here, we present IFPTarget, a customized virtual target identification method, which uses an interaction fingerprinting (IFP) method for target-specific interaction analyses and a comprehensive index (Cvalue) for target ranking. Evaluation results indicate that the IFP method enables substantially improved binding pose prediction, and Cvalue has an excellent performance in target ranking for the test set. When applied to screen against our established target library that contains 11,863 protein structures covering 2842 unique targets, IFPTarget could retrieve known targets within the top-ranked list and identified new potential targets for chemically diverse drugs. IFPTarget prediction led to the identification of the metallo-β-lactamase VIM-2 as a target for quercetin as validated by enzymatic inhibition assays. This study provides a new in silico target identification tool and will aid future efforts to develop new target-customized methods for target identification.

Customer value propositions in business markets.

PubMed

Anderson, James C; Narus, James A; van Rossum, Wouter

2006-03-01

Examples of consumer value propositions that resonate with customers are exceptionally difficult to find. When properly constructed, value propositions force suppliers to focus on what their offerings are really worth. Once companies become disciplined about understanding their customers, they can make smarter choices about where to allocate scarce resources. The authors illuminate the pitfalls of current approaches, then present a systematic method for developing value propositions that are meaningful to target customers and that focus suppliers' efforts on creating superior value. When managers construct a customer value proposition, they often simply list all the benefits their offering might deliver. But the relative simplicity of this all-benefits approach may have a major drawback: benefit assertion. In other words, managers may claim advantages for features their customers don't care about in the least. Other suppliers try to answer the question, Why should our firm purchase your offering instead of your competitor's? But without a detailed understanding of the customer's requirements and preferences, suppliers can end up stressing points of difference that deliver relatively little value to the target customer. The pitfall with this approach is value presumption: assuming that any favorable points of difference must be valuable for the customer. Drawing on the best practices of a handful of suppliers in business markets, the authors advocate a resonating focus approach. Suppliers can provide simple, yet powerfully captivating, consumer value propositions by making their offerings superior on the few elements that matter most to target customers, demonstrating and documenting the value of this superior performance, and communicating it in a way that conveys a sophisticated understanding of the customer's business priorities.

Implementation of age and gender recognition system for intelligent digital signage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sang-Heon; Sohn, Myoung-Kyu; Kim, Hyunduk

2015-12-01

Intelligent digital signage systems transmit customized advertising and information by analyzing users and customers, unlike existing system that presented advertising in the form of broadcast without regard to type of customers. Currently, development of intelligent digital signage system has been pushed forward vigorously. In this study, we designed a system capable of analyzing gender and age of customers based on image obtained from camera, although there are many different methods for analyzing customers. We conducted age and gender recognition experiments using public database. The age/gender recognition experiments were performed through histogram matching method by extracting Local binary patterns (LBP) features after facial area on input image was normalized. The results of experiment showed that gender recognition rate was as high as approximately 97% on average. Age recognition was conducted based on categorization into 5 age classes. Age recognition rates for women and men were about 67% and 68%, respectively when that conducted separately for different gender.

Application of Classification Methods for Forecasting Mid-Term Power Load Patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piao, Minghao; Lee, Heon Gyu; Park, Jin Hyoung; Ryu, Keun Ho

Currently an automated methodology based on data mining techniques is presented for the prediction of customer load patterns in long duration load profiles. The proposed approach in this paper consists of three stages: (i) data preprocessing: noise or outlier is removed and the continuous attribute-valued features are transformed to discrete values, (ii) cluster analysis: k-means clustering is used to create load pattern classes and the representative load profiles for each class and (iii) classification: we evaluated several supervised learning methods in order to select a suitable prediction method. According to the proposed methodology, power load measured from AMR (automatic meter reading) system, as well as customer indexes, were used as inputs for clustering. The output of clustering was the classification of representative load profiles (or classes). In order to evaluate the result of forecasting load patterns, the several classification methods were applied on a set of high voltage customers of the Korea power system and derived class labels from clustering and other features are used as input to produce classifiers. Lastly, the result of our experiments was presented.

29 CFR 794.131 - “Customer * * * engaged in bulk distribution”.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... petroleum products to gasoline stations would clearly be a sale to a customer described in section 7(b)(3). The essential tests are: first, that the customer must be one who is engaged in the distribution of...

Analysis of direct-to-consumer marketed Chlamydia trachomatis diagnostic tests in Norway.

PubMed

Reinton, Nils; Hjelmevoll, Stig Ove; Håheim, Håkon; Garstad, Kjersti; Mørch-Reiersen, Lisa Therese; Moghaddam, Amir

2015-08-01

Background In 2014, and for the first time in Norway, a pharmacy chain started selling home sampling kits for Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) detection. Direct-to-consumer diagnostic kits for C. trachomatis have been available in Norway from an Internet company since 2005. There has been little assessment of persons who purchase direct-to-consumer diagnostic tests for sexually transmissible infections (STIs) detection and if low-risk populations are being unnecessarily encouraged to buy these tests. The prevalence of C. trachomatis in customers who purchased home sampling kits from the pharmacy chain and from the commercial Internet Co. were compared to that of patients attending STI clinics and other free primary healthcare services. Prevalences of other STIs in pharmacy and Internet customers were also determined. The prevalence of C. trachomatis among pharmacy customers was 11%, almost identical to the prevalence among Internet customers (12%). In comparison, the prevalence among patients attending STI clinics in Oslo was 7.2%, which is similar to the prevalence among patients who have been tested through primary healthcare services. The prevalence of Mycoplasma genitalium was two-fold less than that of C. trachomatis in the STI and primary physician population, and significantly less in the Internet and the pharmacy population. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was not detected in urine samples from pharmacy customers or from Internet customers. Both pharmacy and Internet C. trachomatis home-sampling kits seem to be purchased by the right risk population. Marketing of direct-to-consumer N. gonorrhoeae tests and possibly M. genitalium tests cannot be justified in Norway. Direct-to-consumer diagnostic tests should be actively utilised as part of national programs in preventing the spread of C. trachomatis.

Customer service providers' attitudes relating to customer service and customer satisfaction in the customer-server exchange.

PubMed

Susskind, Alex M; Kacmar, K Michele; Borchgrevink, Carl P

2003-02-01

The authors proposed and tested a model describing the relationship between customer service providers' perceptions and attitudes toward their service-related duties and their customers' perceptions of satisfaction with their service experiences. Results indicated that the perception of having standards for service delivery in an organization is strongly related to line-level employees' perceptions of support from coworkers and supervisors. Perceived support from coworkers was significantly related to service providers' customer orientation, whereas perceived support from supervisors showed a weaker relationship to a customer orientation. Ultimately, service providers' customer orientation was strongly related to customers' satisfaction with service. Finally, a set of post hoc analyses indicated that coworker and supervisory support explained a greater proportion of incremental variance in the model than did perceived organizational support alone.

Quality control, analysis and secure sharing of Luminex® immunoassay data using the open source LabKey Server platform

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Immunoassays that employ multiplexed bead arrays produce high information content per sample. Such assays are now frequently used to evaluate humoral responses in clinical trials. Integrated software is needed for the analysis, quality control, and secure sharing of the high volume of data produced by such multiplexed assays. Software that facilitates data exchange and provides flexibility to perform customized analyses (including multiple curve fits and visualizations of assay performance over time) could increase scientists’ capacity to use these immunoassays to evaluate human clinical trials. Results The HIV Vaccine Trials Network and the Statistical Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Prevention collaborated with LabKey Software to enhance the open source LabKey Server platform to facilitate workflows for multiplexed bead assays. This system now supports the management, analysis, quality control, and secure sharing of data from multiplexed immunoassays that leverage Luminex xMAP® technology. These assays may be custom or kit-based. Newly added features enable labs to: (i) import run data from spreadsheets output by Bio-Plex Manager™ software; (ii) customize data processing, curve fits, and algorithms through scripts written in common languages, such as R; (iii) select script-defined calculation options through a graphical user interface; (iv) collect custom metadata for each titration, analyte, run and batch of runs; (v) calculate dose–response curves for titrations; (vi) interpolate unknown concentrations from curves for titrated standards; (vii) flag run data for exclusion from analysis; (viii) track quality control metrics across runs using Levey-Jennings plots; and (ix) automatically flag outliers based on expected values. Existing system features allow researchers to analyze, integrate, visualize, export and securely share their data, as well as to construct custom user interfaces and workflows. Conclusions Unlike other tools tailored for Luminex immunoassays, LabKey Server allows labs to customize their Luminex analyses using scripting while still presenting users with a single, graphical interface for processing and analyzing data. The LabKey Server system also stands out among Luminex tools for enabling smooth, secure transfer of data, quality control information, and analyses between collaborators. LabKey Server and its Luminex features are freely available as open source software at http://www.labkey.com under the Apache 2.0 license. PMID:23631706

Quality control, analysis and secure sharing of Luminex® immunoassay data using the open source LabKey Server platform.

PubMed

Eckels, Josh; Nathe, Cory; Nelson, Elizabeth K; Shoemaker, Sara G; Nostrand, Elizabeth Van; Yates, Nicole L; Ashley, Vicki C; Harris, Linda J; Bollenbeck, Mark; Fong, Youyi; Tomaras, Georgia D; Piehler, Britt

2013-04-30

Immunoassays that employ multiplexed bead arrays produce high information content per sample. Such assays are now frequently used to evaluate humoral responses in clinical trials. Integrated software is needed for the analysis, quality control, and secure sharing of the high volume of data produced by such multiplexed assays. Software that facilitates data exchange and provides flexibility to perform customized analyses (including multiple curve fits and visualizations of assay performance over time) could increase scientists' capacity to use these immunoassays to evaluate human clinical trials. The HIV Vaccine Trials Network and the Statistical Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Prevention collaborated with LabKey Software to enhance the open source LabKey Server platform to facilitate workflows for multiplexed bead assays. This system now supports the management, analysis, quality control, and secure sharing of data from multiplexed immunoassays that leverage Luminex xMAP® technology. These assays may be custom or kit-based. Newly added features enable labs to: (i) import run data from spreadsheets output by Bio-Plex Manager™ software; (ii) customize data processing, curve fits, and algorithms through scripts written in common languages, such as R; (iii) select script-defined calculation options through a graphical user interface; (iv) collect custom metadata for each titration, analyte, run and batch of runs; (v) calculate dose-response curves for titrations; (vi) interpolate unknown concentrations from curves for titrated standards; (vii) flag run data for exclusion from analysis; (viii) track quality control metrics across runs using Levey-Jennings plots; and (ix) automatically flag outliers based on expected values. Existing system features allow researchers to analyze, integrate, visualize, export and securely share their data, as well as to construct custom user interfaces and workflows. Unlike other tools tailored for Luminex immunoassays, LabKey Server allows labs to customize their Luminex analyses using scripting while still presenting users with a single, graphical interface for processing and analyzing data. The LabKey Server system also stands out among Luminex tools for enabling smooth, secure transfer of data, quality control information, and analyses between collaborators. LabKey Server and its Luminex features are freely available as open source software at http://www.labkey.com under the Apache 2.0 license.

Sustainable and long-time 'rejuvenation' of biomimetic water-repellent silica coating on polyester fabrics induced by rough mechanical abrasion.

PubMed

Rosu, Cornelia; Lin, Haisheng; Jiang, Lu; Breedveld, Victor; Hess, Dennis W

2018-04-15

The economical use of water-repellent coatings on polymeric materials in commercial and industrial applications is limited by their mechanical wear robustness and long-term durability. In this study, we demonstrate that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric modified with inorganic, methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS)-based coatings shows excellent resistance against various types of wear damage, thereby mimicking superhydrophobic biological materials. These features were facilitated by the rational design of coating processing that also enabled tunable hierarchical surface structure. A series of custom and standard testing protocols revealed that coating-to-substrate adhesion was remarkably high, as was the resistance to various mechanical abradents. The most intriguing characteristic observed during aging and abrasion cycles was the enhancement in non-wettability or 'rejuvenation' reflected by water droplet roll-off behavior, a characteristic of self-cleaning materials. Water-repellent properties of coated polyester were also enhanced by prolonged thermal annealing and were maintained after custom laundry. The developed technology offers opportunities to design low cost, durable and functional textiles for both indoor and outdoor applications. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The MROI fast tip-tilt correction and target acquisition system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, John; Buscher, David; Fisher, Martin; Haniff, Christopher; Rea, Alexander; Seneta, Eugene B.; Sun, Xiaowei; Wilson, Donald; Farris, Allen; Olivares, Andres; Selina, Robert

2012-07-01

The fast tip-tilt correction system for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (MROI) is being designed and fabricated by the University of Cambridge. The design of the system is currently at an advanced stage and the performance of its critical subsystems has been verified in the laboratory. The system has been designed to meet a demanding set of specifications including satisfying all performance requirements in ambient temperatures down to -5 °C, maintaining the stability of the tip-tilt fiducial over a 5 °C temperature change without recourse to an optical reference, and a target acquisition mode with a 60” field-of-view. We describe the important technical features of the system, which uses an Andor electron-multiplying CCD camera protected by a thermal enclosure, a transmissive optical system with mounts incorporating passive thermal compensation, and custom control software running under Xenomai real-time Linux. We also report results from laboratory tests that demonstrate (a) the high stability of the custom optic mounts and (b) the low readout and compute latencies that will allow us to achieve a 40 Hz closed-loop bandwidth on bright targets.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to I&T

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wright, Michael R.

1999-01-01

With over two dozen missions since the first in 1986, the Hitchhiker project has a reputation for providing quick-reaction, low-cost flight services for Shuttle Small Payloads Project (SSPP) customers. Despite the successes, several potential improvements in customer payload integration and test (I&T) deserve consideration. This paper presents suggestions to Hitchhiker customers on how to help make the I&T process run smoother. Included are: customer requirements and interface definition, pre-integration test and evaluation, configuration management, I&T overview and planning, problem mitigation, and organizational communication. In this era of limited flight opportunities and new ISO-based requirements, issues such as these have become more important than ever.

Risky business: risk perception and the use of medical services among customers of DTC personal genetic testing.

PubMed

Kaufman, David J; Bollinger, Juli M; Dvoskin, Rachel L; Scott, Joan A

2012-06-01

Direct-to-consumer genetic testing has generated speculation about how customers will interpret results and how these interpretations will influence healthcare use and behavior; however, few empirical data on these topics exist. We conducted an online survey of DTC customers of 23andMe, deCODEme, and Navigenics to begin to address these questions. Random samples of U.S. DTC customers were invited to participate. Survey topics included demographics, perceptions of two sample DTC results, and health behaviors following DTC testing. Of 3,167 DTC customers invited, 33% (n = 1,048) completed the survey. Forty-three percent of respondents had sought additional information about a health condition tested; 28% had discussed their results with a healthcare professional; and 9% had followed up with additional lab tests. Sixteen percent of respondents had changed a medication or supplement regimen, and one-third said they were being more careful about their diet. Many of these health-related behaviors were significantly associated with responses to a question that asked how participants would perceive their colon cancer risk (as low, moderate, or high) if they received a test result showing an 11% lifetime risk, as compared to 5% risk in the general population. Respondents who would consider themselves to be at high risk for colon cancer were significantly more likely to have sought information about a disease (p = 0.03), discussed results with a physician (p = 0.05), changed their diet (p = 0.02), and started exercising more (p = 0.01). Participants' personal health contexts--including personal and family history of disease and quality of self-perceived health--were also associated with health-related behaviors after testing. Subjective interpretations of genetic risk data and personal context appear to be related to health behaviors among DTC customers. Sharing DTC test results with healthcare professionals may add perceived utility to the tests.

Product assurance technology for custom LSI/VLSI electronics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buehler, M. G.; Blaes, B. R.; Jennings, G. A.; Moore, B. T.; Nixon, R. H.; Pina, C. A.; Sayah, H. R.; Sievers, M. W.; Stahlberg, N. F.

1985-01-01

The technology for obtaining custom integrated circuits from CMOS-bulk silicon foundries using a universal set of layout rules is presented. The technical efforts were guided by the requirement to develop a 3 micron CMOS test chip for the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES). This chip contains both analog and digital circuits. The development employed all the elements required to obtain custom circuits from silicon foundries, including circuit design, foundry interfacing, circuit test, and circuit qualification.

Measurement of distances between anatomical structures using a translating stage with mounted endoscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kahrs, Lueder A.; Blachon, Gregoire S.; Balachandran, Ramya; Fitzpatrick, J. Michael; Labadie, Robert F.

2012-02-01

During endoscopic procedures it is often desirable to determine the distance between anatomical features. One such clinical application is percutaneous cochlear implantation (PCI), which is a minimally invasive approach to the cochlea via a single, straight drill path and can be achieved accurately using bone-implanted markers and customized microstereotactic frame. During clinical studies to validate PCI, traditional open-field cochlear implant surgery was performed and prior to completion of the surgery, a customized microstereotactic frame designed to achieve the desired PCI trajectory was attached to the bone-implanted markers. To determine whether this trajectory would have safely achieved the target, a sham drill bit is passed through the frame to ensure that the drill bit would reach the cochlea without damaging vital structures. Because of limited access within the facial recess, the distances from the bit to anatomical features could not be measured with calipers. We hypothesized that an endoscope mounted on a sliding stage that translates only along the trajectory, would provide sufficient triangulation to accurately measure these distances. In this paper, the design, fabrication, and testing of such a system is described. The endoscope is mounted so that its optical axis is approximately aligned with the trajectory. Several images are acquired as the stage is moved, and threedimensional reconstruction of selected points allows determination of distances. This concept also has applicability in a large variety of rigid endoscopic interventions including bronchoscopy, laparoscopy, and sinus endoscopy.

Frequency and clinical features of patients who attempted suicide by Hara-Kiri in Japan.

PubMed

Kato, Koji; Kimoto, Keitaro; Kimoto, Kousuke; Takahashi, Yuki; Sato, Reiko; Matsumoto, Hideo

2014-09-01

Hara-kiri is a unique Japanese custom, primarily stemming from the manners and customs that a samurai held. The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical features of individuals who attempted suicide by hara-kiri. We enrolled 647 patients who had attempted suicide. Clinical features were compared between those who had employed hara-kiri and those who had used other methods. 25 of the 647 subjects had attempted suicide by hara-kiri. The ratio of men to women and the proportion of patients with mood disorders were significantly higher in the hara-kiri group than in the other methods group. The average length of stay in either the hospital or in the intensive care unit was also longer in the hara-kiri group than in the other methods group. Hara-kiri is an original Japanese method of attempting suicide, and suicide attempts by hara-kiri may be aimed at maintaining a reputation or taking responsibility. © 2014 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Iris Positioning Using a Grid Attached to a Spring Bow for a Custom Ocular Prosthesis.

PubMed

Chamaria, Ankita; Aras, Meena Ajay; Chitre, Vidya; Costa, Godwin Clovis Da

2017-03-01

Eyes are among the first features of the face to be noticed. Loss of an eye due to congenital, traumatic or pathologic aetiologies causes disfigurement and loss of sensory feedback. It leaves a psychological impact on the patient, thus prosthesis should be provided at the earliest to raise the spirits of the afflicted. Iris positioning is one of the important steps in fabricating customized ocular prosthesis. In facial asymmetry cases, comparison of both irises together can be a major disadvantage. This case report illustrates the use of a unique customized frame spring bow assembly to position the iris disk using the established parallelism between inter pupillary line to the horizontal plane.

Balancing generality and specificity in component-based reuse

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eichmann, David A.; Beck, Jon

1992-01-01

For a component industry to be successful, we must move beyond the current techniques of black box reuse and genericity to a more flexible framework supporting customization of components as well as instantiation and composition of components. Customization of components strikes a balanced between creating dozens of variations of a base component and requiring the overhead of unnecessary features of an 'everything but the kitchen sink' component. We argue that design and instantiation of reusable components have competing criteria - design-for-use strives for generality, design-with-reuse strives for specificity - and that providing mechanisms for each can be complementary rather than antagonistic. In particular, we demonstrate how program slicing techniques can be applied to customization of reusable components.

DEIVA: a web application for interactive visual analysis of differential gene expression profiles.

PubMed

Harshbarger, Jayson; Kratz, Anton; Carninci, Piero

2017-01-07

Differential gene expression (DGE) analysis is a technique to identify statistically significant differences in RNA abundance for genes or arbitrary features between different biological states. The result of a DGE test is typically further analyzed using statistical software, spreadsheets or custom ad hoc algorithms. We identified a need for a web-based system to share DGE statistical test results, and locate and identify genes in DGE statistical test results with a very low barrier of entry. We have developed DEIVA, a free and open source, browser-based single page application (SPA) with a strong emphasis on being user friendly that enables locating and identifying single or multiple genes in an immediate, interactive, and intuitive manner. By design, DEIVA scales with very large numbers of users and datasets. Compared to existing software, DEIVA offers a unique combination of design decisions that enable inspection and analysis of DGE statistical test results with an emphasis on ease of use.

KSC-2010-5293

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-10-21

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, testing of the Tilt-Up Umbilical Arm (TUUA) prototype's Environmental Control System Quick Disconnect takes place in the Launch Equipment Test Facility's 6,000-square-foot high bay. The prototype is used to demonstrate the safe disconnect and retraction of ground umbilical plates and associated hardware of a launch vehicle's upper stage and service module. The Environmental Control System consists of regulated air, which would be used to purge an inner tank and crew module. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. The facility recently underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator, 600-ton test fixture, launch simulation towers and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

KSC-2010-5290

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-10-21

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, testing of the Tilt-Up Umbilical Arm (TUUA) prototype's Environmental Control System Quick Disconnect takes place in the Launch Equipment Test Facility's 6,000-square-foot high bay. The prototype is used to demonstrate the safe disconnect and retraction of ground umbilical plates and associated hardware of a launch vehicle's upper stage and service module. The Environmental Control System consists of regulated air, which would be used to purge an inner tank and crew module. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. The facility recently underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator, 600-ton test fixture, launch simulation towers and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

KSC-2010-5292

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-10-21

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, testing of the Tilt-Up Umbilical Arm (TUUA) prototype's Environmental Control System Quick Disconnect takes place in the Launch Equipment Test Facility's 6,000-square-foot high bay. The prototype is used to demonstrate the safe disconnect and retraction of ground umbilical plates and associated hardware of a launch vehicle's upper stage and service module. The Environmental Control System consists of regulated air, which would be used to purge an inner tank and crew module. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. The facility recently underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator, 600-ton test fixture, launch simulation towers and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

KSC-2010-5291

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-10-21

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, testing of the Tilt-Up Umbilical Arm (TUUA) prototype's Environmental Control System Quick Disconnect takes place in the Launch Equipment Test Facility's 6,000-square-foot high bay. The prototype is used to demonstrate the safe disconnect and retraction of ground umbilical plates and associated hardware of a launch vehicle's upper stage and service module. The Environmental Control System consists of regulated air, which would be used to purge an inner tank and crew module. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. The facility recently underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator, 600-ton test fixture, launch simulation towers and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

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

none,

The first Challenge Home built in New England features cool-roof shingles, HERS 20–42, and walls densely packed with blown fiberglass. This house won a 2013 Housing Innovation Award in the custom builder category.

New Features in the Computational Infrastructure for Nuclear Astrophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, M. S.; Lingerfelt, E. J.; Scott, J. P.; Hix, W. R.; Nesaraja, C. D.; Koura, H.; Roberts, L. F.

2006-04-01

The Computational Infrastructure for Nuclear Astrophysics is a suite of computer codes online at nucastrodata.org that streamlines the incorporation of recent nuclear physics results into astrophysical simulations. The freely-available, cross- platform suite enables users to upload cross sections and s-factors, convert them into reaction rates, parameterize the rates, store the rates in customizable libraries, setup and run custom post-processing element synthesis calculations, and visualize the results. New features include the ability for users to comment on rates or libraries using an email-type interface, a nuclear mass model evaluator, enhanced techniques for rate parameterization, better treatment of rate inverses, and creation and exporting of custom animations of simulation results. We also have online animations of r- process, rp-process, and neutrino-p process element synthesis occurring in stellar explosions.

Bond strengths of custom cast and prefabricated posts luted with two cements.

PubMed

Aleisa, Khalil Ibrahim

2011-02-01

This in vitro study evaluated the bond strength of custom cast and prefabricated posts luted with resin or zinc phosphate cements into unobturated canals of extracted teeth. Forty-eight custom cast and prefabricated posts were placed into extracted single-rooted human teeth. Post-cavity preparation was 1.5 mm in diameter and 10 mm in depth. Specimens were randomly divided into 4 groups of 12 each. Two of the groups were then luted with resin cement, while the other two groups were luted with zinc phosphate cement. A pull-out bond strength evaluation was performed using a universal testing machine. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to prove normal distribution. Data were statistically analyzed using two-way ANOVA and the Student t test (alpha = .05). For both luting agents, the prefabricated posts group exhibited significantly less bond strength than the custom cast posts group (P = .0001). There were statistically significant differences in mean bond strength for the prefabricated posts group luted with resin cement vs the group cemented with zinc phosphate cement (P = .002). There was no significant difference between the mean bond strength values of custom cast posts luted with resin cement or zinc phosphate cement. Custom cast posts showed significantly greater bond strength than prefabricated posts when luted with either resin or zinc phosphate cements. The type of cement had less significance on the retention of custom cast posts.

Thermal performance of a customized multilayer insulation (MLI)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leonhard, K. E.

1976-01-01

The thermal performance of a LH2 tank on a shroudless vehicle was investigated. The 1.52 m (60 in) tank was insulated with 2 MLI blankets consisting of 18 double aluminized Mylar radiation shields and 19 silk net spacers. The temperature of outer space was simulated by using a cryoshroud which was maintained at near liquid hydrogen temperature. The heating effects of a payload were simulated by utilizing a thermal payload simulator (TPS) viewing the tank. The test program consisted of three major test categories: (1) null testing, (2) thermal performance testing of the tank installed MLI system, and (3) thermal testing of a customized MLI configuration. TPS surface temperatures during the null test were maintained at near hydrogen temperature and during test categories 2 and 3 at 289 K (520R). The heat flow rate through the tank installed MLI at a tank/TPS spacing of 0.457 m was 1.204 watts with no MLI on the TPS and 0.059 watts through the customized MLI with three blankets on the TPS. Reducing the tank/TPS spacing from 0.457 m to 0.152 m the heat flow through the customized MLI increased by 10 percent.

An empirical research on customer satisfaction study: a consideration of different levels of performance.

PubMed

Lee, Yu-Cheng; Wang, Yu-Che; Lu, Shu-Chiung; Hsieh, Yi-Fang; Chien, Chih-Hung; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Dong, Weiwei

2016-01-01

Customer satisfaction is the key factor for successful and depends highly on the behaviors of frontline service providers. Customers should be managed as assets, and that customers vary in their needs, preferences, and buying behavior. This study applied the Taiwan Customer Satisfaction Index model to a tourism factory to analyze customer satisfaction and loyalty. We surveyed 242 customers served by one tourism factory organizations in Taiwan. A partial least squares was performed to analyze and test the theoretical model. The results show that perceived quality had the greatest influence on the customer satisfaction for satisfied and dissatisfied customers. In addition, in terms of customer loyalty, the customer satisfaction is more important than image for satisfied and dissatisfied customers. The contribution of this paper is to propose two satisfaction levels of CSI models for analyzing customer satisfaction and loyalty, thereby helping tourism factory managers improve customer satisfaction effectively. Compared with traditional techniques, we believe that our method is more appropriate for making decisions about allocating resources and for assisting managers in establishing appropriate priorities in customer satisfaction management.

Materials Test Branch

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gordon, Gail

2012-01-01

The Materials Test Branch resides at Marshall Space Flight Center's Materials and Processing laboratory and has a long history of supporting NASA programs from Mercury to the recently retired Space Shuttle. The Materials Test Branch supports its customers by supplying materials testing expertise in a wide range of applications. The Materials Test Branch is divided into three Teams, The Chemistry Team, The Tribology Team and the Mechanical Test Team. Our mission and goal is to provide world-class engineering excellence in materials testing with a special emphasis on customer service.

A 128K-bit CCD buffer memory system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siemens, K. H.; Wallace, R. W.; Robinson, C. R.

1976-01-01

A prototype system was implemented to demonstrate that CCD's can be applied advantageously to the problem of low power digital storage and particularly to the problem of interfacing widely varying data rates. 8K-bit CCD shift register memories were used to construct a feasibility model 128K-bit buffer memory system. Peak power dissipation during a data transfer is less than 7 W., while idle power is approximately 5.4 W. The system features automatic data input synchronization with the recirculating CCD memory block start address. Descriptions are provided of both the buffer memory system and a custom tester that was used to exercise the memory. The testing procedures and testing results are discussed. Suggestions are provided for further development with regards to the utilization of advanced versions of CCD memory devices to both simplified and expanded memory system applications.

Method for matching customer and manufacturer positions for metal product parameters standardization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polyakova, Marina; Rubin, Gennadij; Danilova, Yulija

2018-04-01

Decision making is the main stage of regulation the relations between customer and manufacturer during the design the demands of norms in standards. It is necessary to match the positions of the negotiating sides in order to gain the consensus. In order to take into consideration the differences of customer and manufacturer estimation of the object under standardization process it is obvious to use special methods of analysis. It is proposed to establish relationships between product properties and its functions using functional-target analysis. The special feature of this type of functional analysis is the consideration of the research object functions and properties. It is shown on the example of hexagonal head crew the possibility to establish links between its functions and properties. Such approach allows obtaining a quantitative assessment of the closeness the positions of customer and manufacturer at decision making during the standard norms establishment.

Heat intolerance

MedlinePlus

... this page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003094.htm Heat intolerance To use the sharing features on this ... must be authorized in writing by ADAM Health Solutions. About MedlinePlus Site Map FAQs Customer Support Get ...

Customer emotion regulation in the service interactions: its relationship to employee ingratiation, satisfaction and loyalty intentions.

PubMed

Medler-Liraz, Hana; Yagil, Dana

2013-01-01

Many studies have explored emotional regulation on the part of service employees, and its antecedents. However, customers' emotional regulation in general, and how it is affected by service employee behavior in particular, have received only scant attention. The present article explores a model suggesting that service employees' ingratiatory behavior relates to customer emotion regulation strategies, which in turn are related to customer satisfaction and loyalty. The model was tested with 131 service employee-customer dyads. The results show that service employee ingratiation was positively related to customers' deep acting but not related to surface acting. Customers' deep acting was positively related to their satisfaction. A positive relationship was found between customer satisfaction and loyalty.

19 CFR 151.52 - Sampling procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Sampling procedures. 151.52 Section 151.52 Customs... (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Metal-Bearing Ores and Other Metal-Bearing Materials § 151.52 Sampling procedures. (a) Commercial samples taken under Customs supervision...

19 CFR 151.52 - Sampling procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Sampling procedures. 151.52 Section 151.52 Customs... (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Metal-Bearing Ores and Other Metal-Bearing Materials § 151.52 Sampling procedures. (a) Commercial samples taken under Customs supervision...

19 CFR 151.31 - [Reserved

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false [Reserved] 151.31 Section 151.31 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Sugars, Sirups, and Molasses § 151.31 [Reserved] ...

19 CFR 151.21 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Definitions. 151.21 Section 151.21 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Sugars, Sirups, and Molasses § 151.21...

19 CFR 151.31 - [Reserved

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false [Reserved] 151.31 Section 151.31 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Sugars, Sirups, and Molasses § 151.31 [Reserved] ...

19 CFR 151.21 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Definitions. 151.21 Section 151.21 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Sugars, Sirups, and Molasses § 151.21...

A social model based on customers' profiles for analyzing the churning process in the mobile market of data plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Postigo-Boix, Marcos; Melús-Moreno, José L.

2018-04-01

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) present wireless services of the same kind in identical zones, clients select the service taking into account any element they consider relevant. Churning hits on the design of the network and the method to assign prices by MNOs, and of course their earnings. Therefore, MNOs try to reduce churn detecting potential churners before they leave the service. Our approach to churn prediction considers each customer individually. Previous research shows that members of the social circle of a subscriber may influence churn. Thus, many scenarios that describe social relations, and in which churning processes could be expected, set an emerging challenge with practical implications. This paper uses the Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) technique to model customers. The model's parameters include demographic and psychographic features as well as usage profiles according to their social behavior considering their customers' profiles. Our model modifies and extends an existing real social network generator algorithm that considers customer's profiles and homophily considerations to create connections. We show that using our approach, groups of customers with greater tendency to churn due to the influence of their social networks can be identified better.

19 CFR 151.52 - Sampling procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

.... Representative commercial moisture and assay samples shall be taken under Customs supervision for testing by the Customs laboratory. The samples used for the moisture test shall be representative of the shipment at the... verified commercial moisture sample and prepared assay sample certified to be representative of the...

The Virtual Shopping Aisle: More or Less Work?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliver, Dave; Livermore, Celia Romm

This chapter explores Internet-based grocery shopping. A review of self-service and associated technologies is followed by a discussion of the three main styles of grocery shopping: over-the-counter, self-service and online. The chapter focuses on the distribution of work between the supplier and the customer in each of these modes. We observe some features of the self-service phenomenon which question prevailing assumptions about self-service activities, namely that they replace work done by employees with work done by customers.

19 CFR 151.10 - Sampling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Sampling. 151.10 Section 151.10 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE General § 151.10 Sampling. When necessary, the port director...

19 CFR 151.10 - Sampling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Sampling. 151.10 Section 151.10 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE General § 151.10 Sampling. When necessary, the port director...

From People to Profits.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barber, L.; Hayday, S.; Bevan, S.

An empirical test of the service-profit chain in a large United Kingdom retail business explored how employee attitudes and behavior can improve customer retention and, consequently, company sales performance. Data were collected from 65,000 employees and 25,000 customers from almost 100 stores. The business collected customer satisfaction for…

Using gaze patterns to predict task intent in collaboration.

PubMed

Huang, Chien-Ming; Andrist, Sean; Sauppé, Allison; Mutlu, Bilge

2015-01-01

In everyday interactions, humans naturally exhibit behavioral cues, such as gaze and head movements, that signal their intentions while interpreting the behavioral cues of others to predict their intentions. Such intention prediction enables each partner to adapt their behaviors to the intent of others, serving a critical role in joint action where parties work together to achieve a common goal. Among behavioral cues, eye gaze is particularly important in understanding a person's attention and intention. In this work, we seek to quantify how gaze patterns may indicate a person's intention. Our investigation was contextualized in a dyadic sandwich-making scenario in which a "worker" prepared a sandwich by adding ingredients requested by a "customer." In this context, we investigated the extent to which the customers' gaze cues serve as predictors of which ingredients they intend to request. Predictive features were derived to represent characteristics of the customers' gaze patterns. We developed a support vector machine-based (SVM-based) model that achieved 76% accuracy in predicting the customers' intended requests based solely on gaze features. Moreover, the predictor made correct predictions approximately 1.8 s before the spoken request from the customer. We further analyzed several episodes of interactions from our data to develop a deeper understanding of the scenarios where our predictor succeeded and failed in making correct predictions. These analyses revealed additional gaze patterns that may be leveraged to improve intention prediction. This work highlights gaze cues as a significant resource for understanding human intentions and informs the design of real-time recognizers of user intention for intelligent systems, such as assistive robots and ubiquitous devices, that may enable more complex capabilities and improved user experience.

From EGEE Operations Portal towards EGI Operations Portal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cordier, Hélène; L'Orphelin, Cyril; Reynaud, Sylvain; Lequeux, Olivier; Loikkanen, Sinikka; Veyre, Pierre

Grid operators in EGEE have been using a dedicated dashboard as their central operational tool, stable and scalable for the last 5 years despite continuous upgrade from specifications by users, monitoring tools or data providers. In EGEE-III, recent regionalisation of operations led the Operations Portal developers to conceive a standalone instance of this tool. We will see how the dashboard reorganization paved the way for the re-engineering of the portal itself. The outcome is an easily deployable package customized with relevant information sources and specific decentralized operational requirements. This package is composed of a generic and scalable data access mechanism, Lavoisier; a renowned php framework for configuration flexibility, Symfony and a MySQL database. VO life cycle and operational information, EGEE broadcast and Downtime notifications are next for the major reorganization until all other key features of the Operations Portal are migrated to the framework. Features specifications will be sketched at the same time to adapt to EGI requirements and to upgrade. Future work on feature regionalisation, on new advanced features or strategy planning will be tracked in EGI- Inspire through the Operations Tools Advisory Group, OTAG, where all users, customers and third parties of the Operations Portal are represented from January 2010.

19 CFR 115.66 - Examination, inspection, and testing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CARGO CONTAINER AND ROAD VEHICLE CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMS CONVENTIONS Procedures for Approval of Road Vehicles by Design Type § 115.66 Examination, inspection, and... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Examination, inspection, and testing. 115.66...

19 CFR 115.66 - Examination, inspection, and testing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

...; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CARGO CONTAINER AND ROAD VEHICLE CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMS CONVENTIONS Procedures for Approval of Road Vehicles by Design Type § 115.66 Examination, inspection, and... 19 Customs Duties 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Examination, inspection, and testing. 115.66...

19 CFR 115.66 - Examination, inspection, and testing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

...; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CARGO CONTAINER AND ROAD VEHICLE CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMS CONVENTIONS Procedures for Approval of Road Vehicles by Design Type § 115.66 Examination, inspection, and... 19 Customs Duties 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Examination, inspection, and testing. 115.66...

19 CFR 115.66 - Examination, inspection, and testing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

...; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CARGO CONTAINER AND ROAD VEHICLE CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMS CONVENTIONS Procedures for Approval of Road Vehicles by Design Type § 115.66 Examination, inspection, and... 19 Customs Duties 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Examination, inspection, and testing. 115.66...

19 CFR 115.66 - Examination, inspection, and testing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CARGO CONTAINER AND ROAD VEHICLE CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMS CONVENTIONS Procedures for Approval of Road Vehicles by Design Type § 115.66 Examination, inspection, and... 19 Customs Duties 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Examination, inspection, and testing. 115.66...

76 FR 37136 - Post-Summary Corrections to Entry Summaries Filed in ACE Pursuant to the ESAR IV Test

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-24

... Phased Out for Entry Summaries Filed in ACE The Post-Entry Amendment (PEA) test allows importers to amend... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Post-Summary Corrections to Entry Summaries Filed in ACE Pursuant to the ESAR IV Test AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection...

Ultra-low-power wearable biopotential sensor nodes.

PubMed

Yazicioglu, R F; Torfs, T; Penders, J; Romero, I; Kim, H; Merken, P; Gyselinckx, B; Yoo, H J; Van Hoof, C

2009-01-01

This paper discusses ultra-low-power wireless sensor nodes intended for wearable biopotential monitoring. Specific attention is given to mixed-signal design approaches and their impact on the overall system power dissipation. Examples of trade-offs in power dissipation between analog front-ends and digital signal processing are also given. It is shown how signal filtering can further reduce the internal power consumption of a node. Such power saving approaches are indispensable as real-life tests of custom wireless ECG patches reveal the need for artifact detection and correction. The power consumption of such additional features has to come from power savings elsewhere in the system as the overall power budget cannot increase.

Embedded Control System for Smart Walking Assistance Device.

PubMed

Bosnak, Matevz; Skrjanc, Igor

2017-03-01

This paper presents the design and implementation of a unique control system for a smart hoist, a therapeutic device that is used in rehabilitation of walking. The control system features a unique human-machine interface that allows the human to intuitively control the system just by moving or rotating its body. The paper contains an overview of the complete system, including the design and implementation of custom sensors, dc servo motor controllers, communication interfaces and embedded-system based central control system. The prototype of the complete system was tested by conducting a 6-runs experiment on 11 subjects and results are showing that the proposed control system interface is indeed intuitive and simple to adopt by the user.

Design and Testing of a Transcutaneous RF Recharging System for a Fetal Micropacemaker.

PubMed

Vest, Adriana N; Zhou, Li; Huang, Xuechen; Norekyan, Viktoria; Bar-Cohen, Yaniv; Chmait, Ramen H; Loeb, Gerald Eli

2017-04-01

We have developed a rechargeable fetal micropacemaker in order to treat severe fetal bradycardia with comorbid hydrops fetalis. The necessarily small form factor of the device, small patient population, and fetal anatomy put unique constraints on the design of the recharging system. To overcome these constraints, a custom high power field generator was built and the recharging process was controlled by utilizing pacing rate as a measure of battery state, a feature of the relaxation oscillator used to generate stimuli. The design and in vitro and in vivo verification of the recharging system is presented here, showing successful generation of recharging current in a fetal lamb model.

Design and Testing of a Transcutaneous RF Recharging System for a Fetal Micropacemaker

PubMed Central

Vest, Adriana N.; Zhou, Li; Huang, Xuechen; Norekyan, Viktoria; Bar-Cohen, Yaniv; Chmait, Ramen H.; Loeb, Gerald Eli

2017-01-01

We have developed a rechargeable fetal micropacemaker in order to treat severe fetal bradycardia with comorbid hydrops fetalis. The necessarily small form factor of the device, small patient population, and fetal anatomy put unique constraints on the design of the recharging system. To overcome these constraints, a custom high power field generator was built and the recharging process was controlled by utilizing pacing rate as a measure of battery state, a feature of the relaxation oscillator used to generate stimuli. The design and in vitro and in vivo verification of the recharging system is presented here, showing successful generation of recharging current in a fetal lamb model. PMID:28212097

A 100-Channel Hermetically Sealed Implantable Device for Chronic Wireless Neurosensing Applications

PubMed Central

Yin, Ming; Borton, David A.; Aceros, Juan; Patterson, William R.; Nurmikko, Arto V.

2014-01-01

A 100-channel fully implantable wireless broadband neural recording system was developed. It features 100 parallel broadband (0.1 Hz–7.8 kHz) neural recording channels, a medical grade 200 mAh Li-ion battery recharged inductively at 150 kHz, and data telemetry using 3.2 GHz to 3.8 GHz FSK modulated wireless link for 48 Mbps Manchester encoded data. All active electronics are hermetically sealed in a titanium enclosure with a sapphire window for electromagnetic transparency. A custom, high-density configuration of 100 individual hermetic feedthrough pins enable connection to an intracortical neural recording microelectrode array. A 100 MHz bandwidth custom receiver was built to remotely receive the FSK signal and achieved −77.7 dBm sensitivity with 10−8 BER at 48 Mbps data rate. ESD testing on all the electronic inputs and outputs has proven that the implantable device satisfies the HBM Class-1B ESD Standard. In addition, the evaluation of the worst-case charge density delivered to the tissue from each I/O pin verifies the patient safety of the device in the event of failure. Finally, the functionality and reliability of the complete device has been tested on-bench and further validated chronically in ongoing freely moving swine and monkey animal trials for more than one year to date. PMID:23853294

19 CFR 151.83 - Method of sampling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Method of sampling. 151.83 Section 151.83 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Cotton § 151.83 Method of sampling. For...

19 CFR 151.67 - Sampling by importer.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Sampling by importer. 151.67 Section 151.67 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Wool and Hair § 151.67 Sampling by...

Do Professors Have Customer-Based Brand Equity?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jillapalli, Ravi K.; Jillapalli, Regina

2014-01-01

This research endeavors to understand whether certain professors have customer-based brand equity (CBBE) in the minds of students. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to conceptualize, develop, and empirically test a model of customer-based professor brand equity. Survey data gathered from 465 undergraduate business students were used to…

19 CFR 151.30 - Sugar closets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Sugar closets. 151.30 Section 151.30 Customs... (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Sugars, Sirups, and Molasses § 151.30 Sugar closets. Sugar closets for samples shall be substantially built and secured by locks furnished by Customs...

19 CFR 151.30 - Sugar closets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Sugar closets. 151.30 Section 151.30 Customs... (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Sugars, Sirups, and Molasses § 151.30 Sugar closets. Sugar closets for samples shall be substantially built and secured by locks furnished by Customs...

19 CFR 151.66 - Duty on samples.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Duty on samples. 151.66 Section 151.66 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Wool and Hair § 151.66 Duty on samples. Duty...

19 CFR 151.66 - Duty on samples.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Duty on samples. 151.66 Section 151.66 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Wool and Hair § 151.66 Duty on samples. Duty...

19 CFR 151.66 - Duty on samples.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Duty on samples. 151.66 Section 151.66 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Wool and Hair § 151.66 Duty on samples. Duty...

19 CFR 151.76 - Grading of wool.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Grading of wool. 151.76 Section 151.76 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Wool and Hair § 151.76 Grading of wool. (a...

19 CFR 151.76 - Grading of wool.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Grading of wool. 151.76 Section 151.76 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Wool and Hair § 151.76 Grading of wool. (a...

19 CFR 151.76 - Grading of wool.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Grading of wool. 151.76 Section 151.76 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Wool and Hair § 151.76 Grading of wool. (a...

19 CFR 151.66 - Duty on samples.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Duty on samples. 151.66 Section 151.66 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Wool and Hair § 151.66 Duty on samples. Duty...

19 CFR 151.66 - Duty on samples.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Duty on samples. 151.66 Section 151.66 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Wool and Hair § 151.66 Duty on samples. Duty...

19 CFR 151.76 - Grading of wool.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Grading of wool. 151.76 Section 151.76 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Wool and Hair § 151.76 Grading of wool. (a...

19 CFR 151.76 - Grading of wool.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Grading of wool. 151.76 Section 151.76 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Wool and Hair § 151.76 Grading of wool. (a...

19 CFR 151.30 - Sugar closets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Sugar closets. 151.30 Section 151.30 Customs... (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Sugars, Sirups, and Molasses § 151.30 Sugar closets. Sugar closets for samples shall be substantially built and secured by locks furnished by Customs...

19 CFR 151.30 - Sugar closets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Sugar closets. 151.30 Section 151.30 Customs... (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Sugars, Sirups, and Molasses § 151.30 Sugar closets. Sugar closets for samples shall be substantially built and secured by locks furnished by Customs...

19 CFR 151.30 - Sugar closets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Sugar closets. 151.30 Section 151.30 Customs... (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Sugars, Sirups, and Molasses § 151.30 Sugar closets. Sugar closets for samples shall be substantially built and secured by locks furnished by Customs...

19 CFR 151.55 - Deductions for loss during processing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Deductions for loss during processing. 151.55 Section 151.55 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Metal-Bearing Ores...

19 CFR 151.55 - Deductions for loss during processing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Deductions for loss during processing. 151.55 Section 151.55 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) EXAMINATION, SAMPLING, AND TESTING OF MERCHANDISE Metal-Bearing Ores...

A New Gustometer for Taste Testing in Rodents

PubMed Central

Blonde, Ginger D.; Henderson, Ross P.; Treesukosol, Yada; Hendrick, Paul; Newsome, Ryan; Fletcher, Fred H.; Tang, Te; Donaldson, James A.

2015-01-01

In recent years, to circumvent the interpretive limitations associated with intake tests commonly used to assess taste function in rodents, investigators have developed devices called gustometers to deliver small volumes of taste samples and measure immediate responses, thereby increasing confidence that the behavior of the animal is under orosensory control. Most of these gustometers can be used to measure unconditioned licking behavior to stimuli presented for short durations and/or can be used to train the animal to respond to various fluid stimuli differentially so as to obtain a reward and/or avoid punishment. Psychometric sensitivity and discrimination functions can thus be derived. Here, we describe a new gustometer design, successfully used in behavioral experiments, that was guided by our experience with an older version used for over 2 decades. The new computer-controlled gustometer features no dead space in stimulus delivery lines, effective cleaning of the licking substrate, and the ability to measure licking without passing electrical current through the animal. The parts and dimensions are detailed, and the benefits and limitations of certain design features are discussed. Schematics for key circuits are provided as supplemental information. Accordingly, it should be possible to fabricate this device in a fashion customized for one’s needs. PMID:25616763

Arbitrating Control of Control and Display Units

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sugden, Paul C.

2007-01-01

The ARINC 739 Switch is a computer program that arbitrates control of two multi-function control and display units (MCDUs) between (1) a commercial flight-management computer (FMC) and (2) NASA software used in research on transport aircraft. (MCDUs are the primary interfaces between pilots and FMCs on many commercial aircraft.) This program was recently redesigned into a software library that can be embedded in research application programs. As part of the redesign, this software was combined with software for creating custom pages of information to be displayed on a CDU. This software commands independent switching of the left (pilot s) and right (copilot s) MCDUs. For example, a custom CDU page can control the left CDU while the FMC controls the right CDU. The software uses menu keys to switch control of the CDU between the FMC or a custom CDU page. The software provides an interface that enables custom CDU pages to insert keystrokes into the FMC s CDU input interface. This feature allows the custom CDU pages to manipulate the FMC as if it were a pilot.

All new custom path photo book creation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wiley; Muzzolini, Russ

2012-03-01

In this paper, we present an all new custom path to allow consumers to have full control to their photos and the format of their books, while providing them with guidance to make their creation fast and easy. The users can choose to fully automate the initial creation, and then customize every page. The system manage many design themes along with numerous design elements, such as layouts, backgrounds, embellishments and pattern bands. The users can also utilize photos from multiple sources including their computers, Shutterfly accounts, Shutterfly Share sites and Facebook. The users can also use a photo as background, add, move and resize photos and text - putting what they want where they want instead of being confined to templates. The new path allows users to add embellishments anywhere in the book, and the high-performance platform can support up to 1,000 photos per book and up to 25 pictures per page. The path offers either Smart Autofill or Storyboard features allowing customers to populate their books with photos so they can add captions and customize the pages.

State of the Art of Network Security Perspectives in Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Tae Hwan; Lim, Shinyoung; Choi, Young B.; Park, Kwang-Roh; Lee, Heejo; Choi, Hyunsang

Cloud computing is now regarded as one of social phenomenon that satisfy customers' needs. It is possible that the customers' needs and the primary principle of economy - gain maximum benefits from minimum investment - reflects realization of cloud computing. We are living in the connected society with flood of information and without connected computers to the Internet, our activities and work of daily living will be impossible. Cloud computing is able to provide customers with custom-tailored features of application software and user's environment based on the customer's needs by adopting on-demand outsourcing of computing resources through the Internet. It also provides cloud computing users with high-end computing power and expensive application software package, and accordingly the users will access their data and the application software where they are located at the remote system. As the cloud computing system is connected to the Internet, network security issues of cloud computing are considered as mandatory prior to real world service. In this paper, survey and issues on the network security in cloud computing are discussed from the perspective of real world service environments.

An Evaluation of the Additional Acoustic Power Needed to Overcome the Effects of a Test-Article's Absorption During Reverberant Chamber Acoustic Testing of Spaceflight Hardware

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hozman, Aron D.; Hughes, William O.

2014-01-01

The exposure of a customer's aerospace test-article to a simulated acoustic launch environment is typically performed in a reverberant acoustic test chamber. The acoustic pre-test runs that will ensure that the sound pressure levels of this environment can indeed be met by a test facility are normally performed without a test-article dynamic simulator of representative acoustic absorption and size. If an acoustic test facility's available acoustic power capability becomes maximized with the test-article installed during the actual test then the customer's environment requirement may become compromised. In order to understand the risk of not achieving the customer's in-tolerance spectrum requirement with the test-article installed, an acoustic power margin evaluation as a function of frequency may be performed by the test facility. The method for this evaluation of acoustic power will be discussed in this paper. This method was recently applied at the NASA Glenn Research Center Plum Brook Station's Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility for the SpaceX Falcon 9 Payload Fairing acoustic test program.

An Evaluation of the Additional Acoustic Power Needed to Overcome the Effects of a Test-Article's Absorption during Reverberant Chamber Acoustic Testing of Spaceflight Hardware

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hozman, Aron D.; Hughes, William O.

2014-01-01

The exposure of a customers aerospace test-article to a simulated acoustic launch environment is typically performed in a reverberant acoustic test chamber. The acoustic pre-test runs that will ensure that the sound pressure levels of this environment can indeed be met by a test facility are normally performed without a test-article dynamic simulator of representative acoustic absorption and size. If an acoustic test facilitys available acoustic power capability becomes maximized with the test-article installed during the actual test then the customers environment requirement may become compromised. In order to understand the risk of not achieving the customers in-tolerance spectrum requirement with the test-article installed, an acoustic power margin evaluation as a function of frequency may be performed by the test facility. The method for this evaluation of acoustic power will be discussed in this paper. This method was recently applied at the NASA Glenn Research Center Plum Brook Stations Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility for the SpaceX Falcon 9 Payload Fairing acoustic test program.

A Hierarchical multi-input and output Bi-GRU Model for Sentiment Analysis on Customer Reviews

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Liujie; Zhou, Yanquan; Duan, Xiuyu; Chen, Ruiqi

2018-03-01

Multi-label sentiment classification on customer reviews is a practical challenging task in Natural Language Processing. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical multi-input and output model based bi-directional recurrent neural network, which both considers the semantic and lexical information of emotional expression. Our model applies two independent Bi-GRU layer to generate part of speech and sentence representation. Then the lexical information is considered via attention over output of softmax activation on part of speech representation. In addition, we combine probability of auxiliary labels as feature with hidden layer to capturing crucial correlation between output labels. The experimental result shows that our model is computationally efficient and achieves breakthrough improvements on customer reviews dataset.

Iris Positioning Using a Grid Attached to a Spring Bow for a Custom Ocular Prosthesis

PubMed Central

Aras, Meena Ajay; Chitre, Vidya; Costa, Godwin Clovis Da

2017-01-01

Eyes are among the first features of the face to be noticed. Loss of an eye due to congenital, traumatic or pathologic aetiologies causes disfigurement and loss of sensory feedback. It leaves a psychological impact on the patient, thus prosthesis should be provided at the earliest to raise the spirits of the afflicted. Iris positioning is one of the important steps in fabricating customized ocular prosthesis. In facial asymmetry cases, comparison of both irises together can be a major disadvantage. This case report illustrates the use of a unique customized frame spring bow assembly to position the iris disk using the established parallelism between inter pupillary line to the horizontal plane. PMID:28511522

The behavioral consequences of service quality: an empirical study in the Chinese retail pharmacy industry.

PubMed

Chen, Yuwen; Fu, Frank Q

2015-01-01

This study focuses on the impacts of service quality and examines the mediating effects of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty on willingness to pay more. The authors collected survey data from 479 actual retail pharmacy customers in China and used the structural equation modeling approach to test the hypotheses. The results reveal six dimensions of service quality and the differential impact of these dimensions on customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. This study contributes to the existing literature by exploring the dimensionality of the service quality construct and mediating effects of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in a non-Western setting.

Key facilitators and best practices of hotel-style room service in hospitals.

PubMed

Sheehan-Smith, Lisa

2006-04-01

This qualitative study sought to identify the features, advantages, and disadvantages of hotel-style room service; the barriers to, and facilitators for, implementing the process; and "best practices." The study took place in four heterogeneous hospitals. Participants included hospital administrators, managers, and room-service employees. Data-collection methods included semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis. Common features of hotel-style room service were meal delivery within 30 to 45 minutes, a restaurant-style menu, procedures to feed ineligible patients, tray assembly on demand, scripting, and waitstaff uniforms for room-service employees. The major barrier to implementing room service was obtaining nursing support. The key facilitators were the hospital's service-oriented culture, using a multidisciplinary planning team, engaging nursing departments early in the planning stages, and intense customer-service training of room-service employees. The overwhelming advantage was patients' control over their food choices. The main disadvantage was cost. Initial best practices in hotel-style room service include: (a) taking a multidisciplinary team approach for developing and implementing the process, (b) customer-service training, (c) using a customer-driven menu, (d) wearing waitstaff uniforms, and (e) using carts with airpots for dispensing hot beverages.

A healthful options food station can improve satisfaction and generate gross profit in a worksite cafeteria.

PubMed

Kimathi, Amber N; Gregoire, Mary B; Dowling, Rebecca A; Stone, Marcelle K

2009-05-01

The objectives of this study were to determine customer satisfaction with a healthful options food station offered in a worksite cafeteria and document the financial contribution of such a station. The healthful options station featured daily entrées with fewer than 500 calories and less than 30% of calories from fat. Questionnaires from 655 (24.5% response) employees and students provided data on satisfaction with and usage of the station. The majority of the respondents who had purchased from the healthful options station were female (77.3%), white (51.6%), aged 30 to 50 years (52.0%), and had annual incomes of $60,000 to $100,000 (29.3%) or $20,000 to $39,999 (22.2%). Sales and gross profit from the healthful options station were compared to those of the comfort station. Customers were satisfied with attributes of the healthful options station (means >3 on a 5-point scale). Results of paired t tests suggested that customers who had purchased from the healthful options station rated the station significantly (P<0.001) higher for healthfulness of entrées, food presentation, food quality, overall quality of the cafeteria, length of line, and food choices available compared to their ratings for the cafeteria in general. The healthful options station generated average daily sales of $458 and gross profit of $306. However, the sales and gross profit were significantly (P<0.05) less than the comparison comfort station.

Customized overhead cranes for installation of India's largest 3.6m optical telescope at Devasthal, Nainital, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bangia, Tarun; Yadava, Shobhit; Kumar, Brijesh; Ghanti, A. S.; Hardikar, P. M.

2016-07-01

India's largest 3.6 m aperture optical telescope facility has been recently established at Devasthal site by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observation Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous Institute under Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The telescope is equipped with active optics and it is designed to be used for seeinglimited observations at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. A steel building with rotating cylindrical steel Dome was erected to house 3.6m telescope and its accessories at hilltop of Devasthal site. Customized cranes were essentially required inside the building as there were space constraints around the telescope building for operating big external heavy duty cranes from outside, transportation constraints in route for bringing heavy weight cranes, altitude of observatory, and sharp bends etc. to site. To meet the challenge of telescope installation from inside the telescope building by lifting components through its hatch, two Single Girder cranes and two Under Slung cranes of 10 MT capacity each were specifically designed and developed. All the four overhead cranes were custom built to achieve the goal of handling telescope mirror and its various components during installation and assembly. Overhead cranes were installed in limited available space inside the building and tested as per IS 3177. Cranes were equipped with many features like VVVFD compatibility, provision for tandem operation, digital load display, anti-collision mechanism, electrical interlocks, radio remote, low hook height and compact carriage etc. for telescope integration at site.

Automated concept-level information extraction to reduce the need for custom software and rules development.

PubMed

D'Avolio, Leonard W; Nguyen, Thien M; Goryachev, Sergey; Fiore, Louis D

2011-01-01

Despite at least 40 years of promising empirical performance, very few clinical natural language processing (NLP) or information extraction systems currently contribute to medical science or care. The authors address this gap by reducing the need for custom software and rules development with a graphical user interface-driven, highly generalizable approach to concept-level retrieval. A 'learn by example' approach combines features derived from open-source NLP pipelines with open-source machine learning classifiers to automatically and iteratively evaluate top-performing configurations. The Fourth i2b2/VA Shared Task Challenge's concept extraction task provided the data sets and metrics used to evaluate performance. Top F-measure scores for each of the tasks were medical problems (0.83), treatments (0.82), and tests (0.83). Recall lagged precision in all experiments. Precision was near or above 0.90 in all tasks. Discussion With no customization for the tasks and less than 5 min of end-user time to configure and launch each experiment, the average F-measure was 0.83, one point behind the mean F-measure of the 22 entrants in the competition. Strong precision scores indicate the potential of applying the approach for more specific clinical information extraction tasks. There was not one best configuration, supporting an iterative approach to model creation. Acceptable levels of performance can be achieved using fully automated and generalizable approaches to concept-level information extraction. The described implementation and related documentation is available for download.

How rude! Emotional labor as a mediator between customer incivility and employee outcomes.

PubMed

Sliter, Michael; Jex, Steve; Wolford, Katherine; McInnerney, Joanne

2010-10-01

Because of the large number of people employed in service occupations, customer incivility has become an increasingly prevalent and important workplace stressor. Unfortunately, relatively little research has examined the effects of customer incivility; of the research that does exist, virtually all of it has focused solely on employee mental health outcomes. The present study was designed to replicate previous research linking customer incivility to the emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout and to expand on previous research by examining the effects of customer incivility on customer service quality. In addition, two models were proposed and tested in which emotional labor mediated the relationship between customer incivility and outcomes. Data from 120 bank tellers revealed that customer incivility was positively related to emotional exhaustion and negatively related to customer service performance. In addition, both proposed models were supported. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings and future directions are discussed. © 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Effects of customization on application decisions and applicant pool characteristics in a web-based recruitment context.

PubMed

Dineen, Brian R; Noe, Raymond A

2009-01-01

The authors examined 2 forms of customization in a Web-based recruitment context. Hypotheses were tested in a controlled study in which participants viewed multiple Web-based job postings that each included information about multiple fit categories. Results indicated that customization of information regarding person-organization (PO), needs-supplies, and demands-abilities (DA) fit (fit information customization) and customization of the order in which these fit categories were presented (configural customization) had differential effects on outcomes. Specifically, (a) applicant pool PO and DA fit were greater when fit information customization was provided, (b) applicant pool fit in high- versus low-relevance fit categories was better differentiated when configural customization was provided, and (c) overall application rates were lower when either or both forms of customization were provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Preventing the premature death of relationship marketing.

PubMed

Fournier, S; Dobscha, S; Mick, D G

1998-01-01

Relationship marketing is in vogue. And why not? The new, increasingly efficient ways that companies have of understanding and responding to customers' needs and preferences seemingly allow them to build more meaningful connections with consumers than ever before. These connections promise to benefit the bottom line by reducing costs and increasing revenue. Unfortunately, a close look suggests that the relationships between companies and customers are troubled ones, at best. Companies may delight in learning more about their customers and in being able to provide features and services to please every possible palate. But customers delight in neither. In fact, customer satisfaction rates in the United States are at an all-time low, while complaints, boycotts, and other expressions of consumer discontent are on the rise. This mounting wave of unhappiness has yet to reach the bottom line. Sooner or later, however, corporate performance will suffer unless relationship marketing becomes what it is supposed to be--the epitome of customer orientation. Ironically, the very things that marketers are doing to build relationships with customers are often the things that are destroying those relationships. Relationship marketing is powerful in theory but troubled in practice. To prevent its premature death, marketers need to take the time to figure out how and why they are undermining their own best efforts, as well as how they can get things back on track.

The relationships among social capital, organisational commitment and customer-oriented prosocial behaviour of hospital nurses.

PubMed

Hsu, Chiu-Ping; Chang, Chia-Wen; Huang, Heng-Chiang; Chiang, Chi-Yun

2011-05-01

This study examines the perceptions of registered nurses of social capital, organisational commitment and customer-oriented prosocial behaviour. Additionally, this study also addresses a conceptual model for testing how registered nurses' perceptions of three types of social capital influence their organisational commitment, in turn intensifying customer-oriented prosocial behaviour, including role-prescribed customer service and extra-role customer service. Customer-oriented prosocial behaviour explains differences in job satisfaction and job performance. However, the critical role of customer orientation in the hospital setting has yet to be explored. Survey. The survey was conducted to obtain data from registered nurses working for a large Taiwanese medical centre, yielding 797 usable responses and a satisfactory response rate of 86.7%. The partial least squares method was adopted to obtain parameter estimates and test proposed hypotheses. The study measurements display satisfactory reliability, as well as both convergent and discriminant validities. All hypotheses were supported. Empirical results indicate that registered nurses' perceptions of social capital were significantly impacted the extent of organisational commitment, which in turn significantly influenced customer-oriented prosocial behaviour. By stimulating nursing staff commitment, health care providers can urge them to pursue organisational goals and provide high quality customer service. To enhance organisational commitment, health care managers should endeavour to create interpersonal interaction platforms in addition to simply offering material rewards. Nurses act as contact employees for their patient customers in the hospital, and they are required to provide patient safety and service quality. This study shows that nurses with high organisational commitment are willing to provide customer-oriented prosocial activities, which in turn enhances patient satisfaction. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

18 CFR 367.9030 - Account 903, Customer records and collection expenses.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Account 903, Customer records and collection expenses. 367.9030 Section 367.9030 Conservation of Power and Water Resources..., transfers or meter tests initiated by the customer, excluding the cost of carrying out the orders, that is...

Personalization Versus Customization: The Importance of Agency, Privacy, and Power Usage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sundar, S. Shyam; Marathe, Sampada S.

2010-01-01

What makes customization so appealing? Is it because the content is tailored or because the user feels greater agency? Study 1 tested these propositions with a news-aggregator Website that was either personalized (system-tailored), customized (user-tailored), or neither. Power users rated content quality higher when it had a customizable…

Horizontal and vertical integration in hospital laboratories and the laboratory information system.

PubMed

Friedman, B A; Mitchell, W

1990-09-01

An understanding of horizontal and vertical integration and their quasi-integration variants is important for pathologists to formulate a competitive strategy for hospital clinical laboratories. These basic organizational concepts, in turn, are based on the need to establish control over critical laboratory inputs and outputs. The pathologist seeks greater control of mission-critical system inputs and outputs to increase the quality and efficiency of the laboratory operations. The LIS produces horizontal integration of the various hospital laboratories by integrating them vertically. Forward vertical quasi-integration of the laboratories is mediated primarily by the LIS through front-end valued-added features such as reporting of results and creating a long-term on-line test result archive. These features increase the value of the information product of pathology for clinicians and increase the cost of switching to another system. The LIS can also serve as a means for customizing the information product of the laboratories to appeal to new market segments such as hospital administrators.

A Study on the Interrelations between the Security-Related Antecedents of Customers' Online Trust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peikari, Hamid Reza

Despite the wide attention of previous studies to explore the influence of different security-related factors on customers' online trust, the interrelations between such factors and their direct and indirect influences on customers' trust have been neglected. This study investigates the direct and indirect interrelations between the factors authentication, encryption, technical protection and externally provided assurances including third party security and privacy seals with customers' trust in the business-to-customer (B2C) environment. The data was collected from 238 respondents and after the test of reliability and validity of the scale, the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. The results showed that customers' perception of encryption and authentication mechanisms implemented by a Website have a positive significant influence on their perceived technical protection while technical protection was found to significantly influence customers' trust to the Website. However, the analysis did not find any relation between the third party assurance and customers' trust, indicating that despite the high expenses companies involve to obtain such assurances from reputed third parties, such mechanisms and assurances do not have any direct or indirect significant influence on customers' trust; which raises questions on the value of such mechanisms .finally, after discussing the findings and implication of this study for both academic and business worlds, suggestions for future studies were made to have a better understanding of the dimensions of the interrelations between the security-related factors.

Genetics Home Reference: lysosomal acid lipase deficiency

MedlinePlus

... Cegielska J, Whitley CB, Eckert S, Valayannopoulos V, Quinn AG. Clinical Features of Lysosomal Acid Lipase Deficiency. J ... qualified healthcare professional . About Selection Criteria for Links Data Files & API Site Map Subscribe Customer Support USA. ...

Preliminary study of high energy density Zn/Ni flow batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jin; Wang, Yan

2015-10-01

The escalation of power system promotes the development of energy storage technologies (ESTs). Among all of ESTs, battery technologies develop quickly and diversely because of its huge application market. Aqueous redox flow batteries (RFBs) are very attractive to customers in the energy grid system, and their noticeable technological innovations in past decades are driving them to gradually replace the conventional ESTs under certain circumstance. Here, the first fully-flow-able zinc-nickel flow battery (ZNFB) is preliminary reported in this paper, and its superior performance is supposed to be suitable for both large-scale storage need and carry-on powertrain in cars. Through using semi-solid fuel cell (SSFC) technology, we incorporates the beneficial features of Zn/Ni chemistry (essentially sustainable, eco-friendly and deposit-abundant) into RFB structure to make a ;hybrid; flow battery system, which can take the advantage of both. The relationship between carbon loading and suspension conductivity is determined. Electrochemical properties of ZNFB as static test, cycling test, and fully flowing test are studied to demonstrate our design.

78 FR 29377 - Accreditation and Approval of Inspectorate America Corporation, as a Commercial Gauger and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-20

... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for... 70123), has been approved to gauge and accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes, in accordance with the provisions of 19 CFR 151.12 and 19...

Development of a 35-MHz piezo-composite ultrasound array for medical imaging.

PubMed

Cannata, Jonathan M; Williams, Jay A; Zhou, Qifa; Ritter, Timothy A; Shung, K Kirk

2006-01-01

This paper discusses the development of a 64-element 35-MHz composite ultrasonic array. This array was designed primarily for ocular imaging applications, and features 2-2 composite elements mechanically diced out of a fine-grain high-density Navy Type VI ceramic. Array elements were spaced at a 50-micron pitch, interconnected via a custom flexible circuit and matched to the 50-ohm system electronics via a 75-ohm transmission line coaxial cable. Elevation focusing was achieved using a cylindrically shaped epoxy lens. One functional 64-element array was fabricated and tested. Bandwidths averaging 55%, 23-dB insertion loss, and crosstalk less than -24 dB were measured. An image of a tungsten wire target phantom was acquired using a synthetic aperture reconstruction algorithm. The results from this imaging test demonstrate resolution exceeding 50 microm axially and 100 microm laterally.

Integrated optomechanical analysis and testing software development at MIT Lincoln Laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stoeckel, Gerhard P.; Doyle, Keith B.

2013-09-01

Advanced analytical software capabilities are being developed to advance the design of prototypical hardware in the Engineering Division at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The current effort is focused on the integration of analysis tools tailored to the work flow, organizational structure, and current technology demands. These tools are being designed to provide superior insight into the interdisciplinary behavior of optical systems and enable rapid assessment and execution of design trades to optimize the design of optomechanical systems. The custom software architecture is designed to exploit and enhance the functionality of existing industry standard commercial software, provide a framework for centralizing internally developed tools, and deliver greater efficiency, productivity, and accuracy through standardization, automation, and integration. Specific efforts have included the development of a feature-rich software package for Structural-Thermal-Optical Performance (STOP) modeling, advanced Line Of Sight (LOS) jitter simulations, and improved integration of dynamic testing and structural modeling.

KSC-2011-1449

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-02-15

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers receive training atop a mast climber that is attached to launch simulation towers outside the Launch Equipment Test Facility. The training includes attaching carrier plates, water and air systems, and electricity to the climber to simulate working in Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Mast climbers can be substituted for fixed service structures currently inside the VAB to provide access to any type of launch vehicle. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. Last year, the facility underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a 6,000-square-foot high bay, cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

KSC-2011-1446

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-02-15

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers receive training atop a mast climber that is attached to launch simulation towers outside the Launch Equipment Test Facility. The training includes attaching carrier plates, water and air systems, and electricity to the climber to simulate working in Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Mast climbers can be substituted for fixed service structures currently inside the VAB to provide access to any type of launch vehicle. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. Last year, the facility underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a 6,000-square-foot high bay, cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

KSC-2011-1450

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-02-15

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, training takes place atop a mast climber that is attached to launch simulation towers outside the Launch Equipment Test Facility. The training includes attaching carrier plates, water and air systems, and electricity to the climber to simulate working in Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Mast climbers can be substituted for fixed service structures currently inside the VAB to provide access to any type of launch vehicle. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. Last year, the facility underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a 6,000-square-foot high bay, cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

KSC-2011-1448

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-02-15

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers receive training atop a mast climber that is attached to launch simulation towers outside the Launch Equipment Test Facility. The training includes attaching carrier plates, water and air systems, and electricity to the climber to simulate working in Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Mast climbers can be substituted for fixed service structures currently inside the VAB to provide access to any type of launch vehicle. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. Last year, the facility underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a 6,000-square-foot high bay, cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

KSC-2011-1447

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-02-15

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers receive training on a mast climber that is attached to launch simulation towers outside the Launch Equipment Test Facility. The training includes attaching carrier plates, water and air systems, and electricity to the climber to simulate working in Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Mast climbers can be substituted for fixed service structures currently inside the VAB to provide access to any type of launch vehicle. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. Last year, the facility underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a 6,000-square-foot high bay, cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

regioneR: an R/Bioconductor package for the association analysis of genomic regions based on permutation tests.

PubMed

Gel, Bernat; Díez-Villanueva, Anna; Serra, Eduard; Buschbeck, Marcus; Peinado, Miguel A; Malinverni, Roberto

2016-01-15

Statistically assessing the relation between a set of genomic regions and other genomic features is a common challenging task in genomic and epigenomic analyses. Randomization based approaches implicitly take into account the complexity of the genome without the need of assuming an underlying statistical model. regioneR is an R package that implements a permutation test framework specifically designed to work with genomic regions. In addition to the predefined randomization and evaluation strategies, regioneR is fully customizable allowing the use of custom strategies to adapt it to specific questions. Finally, it also implements a novel function to evaluate the local specificity of the detected association. regioneR is an R package released under Artistic-2.0 License. The source code and documents are freely available through Bioconductor (http://www.bioconductor.org/packages/regioneR). rmalinverni@carrerasresearch.org. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

[Analysis of on-call consultations with clinical pathologists--identification of customer's satisfaction].

PubMed

Yanai, M

2000-09-01

One aspect whereby effectiveness of clinical pathologists can be measured is customer service and satisfaction. Clinical pathologist should identify their customers, their processes and procedures to meet these needs to the customer's satisfaction. To identify customer's satisfaction, the records of on-call consultations with clinical pathologists were analyzed. Between January 1996 and December 1998, 1327 consultations were recorded, 40% of which were consultations from physicians, 50% from medical technologists. Physicians requested interpretation of laboratory data obtained, and clinical knowledge mainly concerning the microbiology and hematology during office hours. On holidays, physicians needed help performing emergency tests such as Gram stain and Wright-Giemsa stain. During office hours, medical technologists requested clinical information concerning patients in whom unreasonable data would be reported and the contact to the clinical side. Furthermore, technologists inquired about the methodology of laboratory tests during day duty on holidays. These results indicated that the clinical pathologist in our hospital could satisfy the customer(physicians and medical technologists), by providing 1) a wide range of clinical knowledge concerning not only the laboratory medicine but clinical medicine including therapeutics, 2) capability of performing emergency tests such as Gram stain and Wright-Giemsa stain, and 3) capability of interpreting the results obtained. Although these would not be adopted in every hospital, every clinical pathologist should examine his role in the hospital.

Links among high-performance work environment, service quality, and customer satisfaction: an extension to the healthcare sector.

PubMed

Scotti, Dennis J; Harmon, Joel; Behson, Scott J

2007-01-01

Healthcare managers must deliver high-quality patient services that generate highly satisfied and loyal customers. In this article, we examine how a high-involvement approach to the work environment of healthcare employees may lead to exceptional service quality, satisfied patients, and ultimately to loyal customers. Specifically, we investigate the chain of events through which high-performance work systems (HPWS) and customer orientation influence employee and customer perceptions of service quality and patient satisfaction in a national sample of 113 Veterans Health Administration ambulatory care centers. We present a conceptual model for linking work environment to customer satisfaction and test this model using structural equations modeling. The results suggest that (1) HPWS is linked to employee perceptions of their ability to deliver high-quality customer service, both directly and through their perceptions of customer orientation; (2) employee perceptions of customer service are linked to customer perceptions of high-quality service; and (3) perceived service quality is linked with customer satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings, including suggestions of how healthcare managers can implement changes to their work environments, are discussed.

Evolutionary multidimensional access architecture featuring cost-reduced components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farjady, Farsheed; Parker, Michael C.; Walker, Stuart D.

1998-12-01

We describe a three-stage wavelength-routed optical access network, utilizing coarse passband-flattened arrayed- waveguide grating routers. An N-dimensional addressing strategy enables 6912 customers to be bi-directionally addressed with multi-Gb/s data using only 24 wavelengths spaced by 1.6 nm. Coarse wavelength separation allows use of increased tolerance WDM components at the exchange and customer premises. The architecture is designed to map onto standard access network topologies, allowing elegant upgradability from legacy PON infrastructures at low cost. Passband-flattening of the routers is achieved through phase apodization.

Encounters in an online brand community: development and validation of a metric for value co-creation by customers.

PubMed

Hsieh, Pei-Ling

2015-05-01

Recent developments in service marketing have demonstrated the potential value co-creation by customers who participate in online brand communities (OBCs). Therefore, this study forecasts the co-created value by understanding the participation/behavior of customers in a multi-stakeholder OBC. This six-phase qualitative and quantitative investigation conceptualizes, constructs, refines, and tests a 12-item three-dimensional scale for measuring key factors that are related to the experience, interpersonal interactions, and social relationships that affect the value co-creation by customers in an OBC. The scale captures stable psychometric properties, measured using various reliability and validity tests, and can be applied across various industries. Finally, the utility implications and limitations of the proposed scale are discussed, and potential future research directions considered.

Handling imbalance data in churn prediction using combined SMOTE and RUS with bagging method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pura Hartati, Eka; Adiwijaya; Arif Bijaksana, Moch

2018-03-01

Customer churn has become a significant problem and also a challenge for Telecommunication company such as PT. Telkom Indonesia. It is necessary to evaluate whether the big problems of churn customer and the company’s managements will make appropriate strategies to minimize the churn and retaining the customer. Churn Customer data which categorized churn Atas Permintaan Sendiri (APS) in this Company is an imbalance data, and this issue is one of the challenging tasks in machine learning. This study will investigate how is handling class imbalance in churn prediction using combined Synthetic Minority Over-Sampling (SMOTE) and Random Under-Sampling (RUS) with Bagging method for a better churn prediction performance’s result. The dataset that used is Broadband Internet data which is collected from Telkom Regional 6 Kalimantan. The research firstly using data preprocessing to balance the imbalanced dataset and also to select features by sampling technique SMOTE and RUS, and then building churn prediction model using Bagging methods and C4.5.

How Well Do Customers of Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genomic Testing Services Comprehend Genetic Test Results? Findings from the Impact of Personal Genomics Study.

PubMed

Ostergren, Jenny E; Gornick, Michele C; Carere, Deanna Alexis; Kalia, Sarah S; Uhlmann, Wendy R; Ruffin, Mack T; Mountain, Joanna L; Green, Robert C; Roberts, J Scott

2015-01-01

To assess customer comprehension of health-related personal genomic testing (PGT) results. We presented sample reports of genetic results and examined responses to comprehension questions in 1,030 PGT customers (mean age: 46.7 years; 59.9% female; 79.0% college graduates; 14.9% non-White; 4.7% of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity). Sample reports presented a genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease and type 2 diabetes, carrier screening summary results for >30 conditions, results for phenylketonuria and cystic fibrosis, and drug response results for a statin drug. Logistic regression was used to identify correlates of participant comprehension. Participants exhibited high overall comprehension (mean score: 79.1% correct). The highest comprehension (range: 81.1-97.4% correct) was observed in the statin drug response and carrier screening summary results, and lower comprehension (range: 63.6-74.8% correct) on specific carrier screening results. Higher levels of numeracy, genetic knowledge, and education were significantly associated with greater comprehension. Older age (≥ 60 years) was associated with lower comprehension scores. Most customers accurately interpreted the health implications of PGT results; however, comprehension varied by demographic characteristics, numeracy and genetic knowledge, and types and format of the genetic information presented. Results suggest a need to tailor the presentation of PGT results by test type and customer characteristics. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

How Well Do Customers of Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genomic Testing Services Comprehend Genetic Test Results? Findings from the Impact of Personal Genomics Study

PubMed Central

Ostergren, Jenny E.; Gornick, Michele C.; Carere, Deanna Alexis; Kalia, Sarah S.; Uhlmann, Wendy R.; Ruffin, Mack T.; Mountain, Joanna L.; Green, Robert C.; Roberts, J. Scott

2016-01-01

Aim To assess customer comprehension of health-related personal genomic testing (PGT) results. Methods We presented sample reports of genetic results and examined responses to comprehension questions in 1,030 PGT customers (mean age: 46.7 years; 59.9% female; 79.0% college graduates; 14.9% non-White; 4.7% of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity). Sample reports presented a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes, carrier screening summary results for >30 conditions, results for phenylketonuria and cystic fibrosis, and drug response results for a statin drug. Logistic regression was used to identify correlates of participant comprehension. Results Participants exhibited high overall comprehension (mean score: 79.1% correct). The highest comprehension (range: 81.1–97.4% correct) was observed in the statin drug response and carrier screening summary results, and lower comprehension (range: 63.6–74.8% correct) on specific carrier screening results. Higher levels of numeracy, genetic knowledge, and education were significantly associated with greater comprehension. Older age (≥ 60 years) was associated with lower comprehension scores. Conclusions Most customers accurately interpreted the health implications of PGT results; however, comprehension varied by demographic characteristics, numeracy and genetic knowledge, and types and format of the genetic information presented. Results suggest a need to tailor the presentation of PGT results by test type and customer characteristics. PMID:26087778

Antecedents and consequences of customer-company identification: expanding the role of relationship marketing.

PubMed

Ahearne, Michael; Bhattacharya, C B; Gruen, Thomas

2005-05-01

This article presents an empirical test of organizational identification in the context of customer-company (C-C) relationships. It investigates whether customers identify with companies and what the antecedents and consequences of such identification are. The model posits that perceived company characteristics, construed external image, and the perception of the company's boundary-spanning agent lead to C-C identification. In turn, such identification is expected to impact both in-role behavior (i.e., product utilization) as well as extra-role behavior (i.e., citizenship). The model was tested in a consultative selling context of pharmaceutical sales reps calling on physicians. Results from the empirical test indicated that customers do indeed identify with organizations and that C-C identification positively impacts both product utilization behavior and extra-role behavior even when the effect of brand perception is accounted for. Second, the study found that the organization's characteristics as well as the salesperson's characteristics contributed to the development of C-C identification.

Automatic user customization for improving the performance of a self-paced brain interface system.

PubMed

Fatourechi, Mehrdad; Bashashati, Ali; Birch, Gary E; Ward, Rabab K

2006-12-01

Customizing the parameter values of brain interface (BI) systems by a human expert has the advantage of being fast and computationally efficient. However, as the number of users and EEG channels grows, this process becomes increasingly time consuming and exhausting. Manual customization also introduces inaccuracies in the estimation of the parameter values. In this paper, the performance of a self-paced BI system whose design parameter values were automatically user customized using a genetic algorithm (GA) is studied. The GA automatically estimates the shapes of movement-related potentials (MRPs), whose features are then extracted to drive the BI. Offline analysis of the data of eight subjects revealed that automatic user customization improved the true positive (TP) rate of the system by an average of 6.68% over that whose customization was carried out by a human expert, i.e., by visually inspecting the MRP templates. On average, the best improvement in the TP rate (an average of 9.82%) was achieved for four individuals with spinal cord injury. In this case, the visual estimation of the parameter values of the MRP templates was very difficult because of the highly noisy nature of the EEG signals. For four able-bodied subjects, for which the MRP templates were less noisy, the automatic user customization led to an average improvement of 3.58% in the TP rate. The results also show that the inter-subject variability of the TP rate is also reduced compared to the case when user customization is carried out by a human expert. These findings provide some primary evidence that automatic user customization leads to beneficial results in the design of a self-paced BI for individuals with spinal cord injury.

Hybrid Vehicle Technologies and their potential for reducing oil use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

German, John

2006-04-01

Vehicles with hybrid gasoline-electric powertrains are starting to gain market share. Current hybrid vehicles add an electric motor, battery pack, and power electronics to the conventional powertrain. A variety of engine/motor configurations are possible, each with advantages and disadvantages. In general, efficiency is improved due to engine shut-off at idle, capture of energy during deceleration that is normally lost as heat in the brakes, downsizing of the conventional engine, and, in some cases, propulsion on the electric motor alone. Ongoing increases in hybrid market share are dependent on cost reduction, especially the battery pack, efficiency synergies with other vehicle technologies, use of the high electric power to provide features desired by customers, and future fuel price and availability. Potential barriers include historically low fuel prices, high discounting of the fuel savings by new vehicle purchasers, competing technologies, and tradeoffs with other factors desired by customers, such as performance, utility, safety, and luxury features.

Dimensional control of die castings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karve, Aniruddha Ajit

The demand for net shape die castings, which require little or no machining, is steadily increasing. Stringent customer requirements are forcing die casters to deliver high quality castings in increasingly short lead times. Dimensional conformance to customer specifications is an inherent part of die casting quality. The dimensional attributes of a die casting are essentially dependent upon many factors--the quality of the die and the degree of control over the process variables being the two major sources of dimensional error in die castings. This study focused on investigating the nature and the causes of dimensional error in die castings. The two major components of dimensional error i.e., dimensional variability and die allowance were studied. The major effort of this study was to qualitatively and quantitatively study the effects of casting geometry and process variables on die casting dimensional variability and die allowance. This was accomplished by detailed dimensional data collection at production die casting sites. Robust feature characterization schemes were developed to describe complex casting geometry in quantitative terms. Empirical modeling was utilized to quantify the effects of the casting variables on dimensional variability and die allowance for die casting features. A number of casting geometry and process variables were found to affect dimensional variability in die castings. The dimensional variability was evaluated by comparisons with current published dimensional tolerance standards. The casting geometry was found to play a significant role in influencing the die allowance of the features measured. The predictive models developed for dimensional variability and die allowance were evaluated to test their effectiveness. Finally, the relative impact of all the components of dimensional error in die castings was put into perspective, and general guidelines for effective dimensional control in the die casting plant were laid out. The results of this study will contribute to enhancement of dimensional quality and lead time compression in the die casting industry, thus making it competitive with other net shape manufacturing processes.

Reinventing the International Space Station Payload Integration Processes and Capabilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Rod; Price, Carmen; Copeland, Scott; Geiger, Wade; Geiger, Wade; Rice, Amanda; Lauchner, Adam

2011-01-01

The fundamental ISS payload integration philosophy, processes and capabilities were established in the context of how NASA science programs were conducted and executed in the early 1990 s. Today, with the designation of the United States (US) portion of ISS as a National Lab, the ISS payload customer base is growing to include other government agencies, private and commercial research. The fields of research are becoming more diverse expanding from the NASA centric physical, materials and human research sciences to test beds for exploration and technology demonstration, biology and biotechnology, and as an Earth and Space science platform. This new customer base has a broader more diverse set of expectations and requirements for payload design, verification, integration, test, training, and operations. One size fits all processes are not responsive to this broader customer base. To maintain an organization s effectiveness it must listen to its customers, understand their needs, learn from its mistakes, and foster an environment of continual process improvement. The ISS Payloads office is evolving to meet these new customer expectations.

19 CFR 151.68 - Merchandise to be sampled and tested by Customs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... Hair § 151.68 Merchandise to be sampled and tested by Customs. The following shall be weighed, sampled... wool or hair subject to duty at a rate per clean kilogram, except importations entered directly for... imported wool or hair manipulated under the provisions of section 562, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U...

19 CFR 151.68 - Merchandise to be sampled and tested by Customs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... Hair § 151.68 Merchandise to be sampled and tested by Customs. The following shall be weighed, sampled... wool or hair subject to duty at a rate per clean kilogram, except importations entered directly for... imported wool or hair manipulated under the provisions of section 562, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U...

19 CFR 151.68 - Merchandise to be sampled and tested by Customs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... Hair § 151.68 Merchandise to be sampled and tested by Customs. The following shall be weighed, sampled... wool or hair subject to duty at a rate per clean kilogram, except importations entered directly for... imported wool or hair manipulated under the provisions of section 562, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U...

19 CFR 151.68 - Merchandise to be sampled and tested by Customs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... Hair § 151.68 Merchandise to be sampled and tested by Customs. The following shall be weighed, sampled... wool or hair subject to duty at a rate per clean kilogram, except importations entered directly for... imported wool or hair manipulated under the provisions of section 562, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U...

19 CFR 151.68 - Merchandise to be sampled and tested by Customs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... Hair § 151.68 Merchandise to be sampled and tested by Customs. The following shall be weighed, sampled... wool or hair subject to duty at a rate per clean kilogram, except importations entered directly for... imported wool or hair manipulated under the provisions of section 562, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U...

Early recognition of coeliac disease through community pharmacies: a proof of concept study.

PubMed

Urwin, Heidi; Wright, David; Twigg, Michael; McGough, Norma

2016-10-01

Setting Fifteen community pharmacies in the UK. Objective Proof of concept study to test the use of community pharmacies for active case finding of patients with coeliac disease. Methods Customers accessing over-the counter and prescription medicines indicated in the treatment of possible symptoms of coeliac disease over a 6 month period were offered a free point of care test. All patients were given advice regarding the test results and those who tested positive were advised to make an appointment with their general practitioner. Patients and pharmacists involved in service provision were asked to complete a satisfaction survey. Pharmacists were additionally invited to undertake interviews to better understand their views on the service. Main outcome measures Feasibility of service, acceptability to stakeholders and proportion testing positive for coeliac disease. Results Of the 551 individuals tested, 52 (9.4 %) tested positive. 277 (50.3 %) were tested for accessing irritable bowel syndrome treatment, 142 (25.8 %) due to presenting for diarrhoea. The proportion of patients testing positive with different symptoms or for different treatments were similar. Of 43 customers who returned the satisfaction survey, all would recommend the service to others, believing the community pharmacy to be a suitable location. Community pharmacists believed that it enabled them to improve relationships with their customers and that medical practices were receptive to the service. Conclusion This proof of concept study has shown that community pharmacies using a point of care test can effectively recognise and refer patients for confirmatory coeliac disease testing with high levels of customer and service provider satisfaction.

Custom Unit Pump Design and Testing for the EVA PLSS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schuller, Michael; Kurwitz, Cable; Goldman, Jeff; Morris, Kim; Trevino, Luis

2009-01-01

This paper describes the effort by the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and Honeywell for NASA to design and test a pre-flight prototype pump for use in the Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) portable life support subsystem (PLSS). Major design decisions were driven by the need to reduce the pump s mass, power, and volume compared to the existing PLSS pump. In addition, the pump must accommodate a much wider range of abnormal conditions than the existing pump, including vapor/gas bubbles and increased pressure drop when employed to cool two suits simultaneously. A positive displacement, external gear type pump was selected because it offers the most compact and highest efficiency solution over the required range of flow rates and pressure drops. An additional benefit of selecting a gear pump design is that it is self priming and capable of ingesting non-condensable gas without becoming air locked. The chosen pump design consists of a 28 V DC, brushless, sealless, permanent magnet motor driven, external gear pump that utilizes a Honeywell development that eliminates the need for magnetic coupling. Although the planned flight unit will use a sensorless motor with custom designed controller, the pre-flight prototype to be provided for this project incorporates Hall effect sensors, allowing an interface with a readily available commercial motor controller. This design approach reduced the cost of this project and gives NASA more flexibility in future PLSS laboratory testing. The pump design was based on existing Honeywell designs, but incorporated features specifically for the PLSS application, including all of the key features of the flight pump. Testing at TEES verified that the pump meets the design requirements for range of flow rates, pressure drop, power consumption, working fluid temperature, operating time, gas ingestion , and restart capability under both ambient and vacuum conditions. The pump operated between 40 and 240 lbm/hr flowrate, 35 to 100 F pump temperature range, and 5 to 10 psid pressure rise. Power consumption of the pump controller at the nominal operating point in both ambient and vacuum conditions was 9.5 W, which was less than the 12 W predicted. Gas ingestion capabilities were tested by injecting 100 cc of air into the fluid line; the pump operated normally throughout this test. The test results contained a number of anomalies, specifically power increases and a few flow stoppages, that prompted TEES and Honeywell to disassemble and inspect the pump. Inspection indicated contamination in the pump and fit issues may have played roles in the observed anomalies. Testing following reassembly indicated that the performance of the pump 1) matched both the predicted performance values, 2) the performance values measured prior to disassembly, and 3) was free of the anomalies noted in the pre-disassembly testing.

Practical End-to-End Performance Testing Tool for High Speed 3G-Based Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shinbo, Hiroyuki; Tagami, Atsushi; Ano, Shigehiro; Hasegawa, Toru; Suzuki, Kenji

High speed IP communication is a killer application for 3rd generation (3G) mobile systems. Thus 3G network operators should perform extensive tests to check whether expected end-to-end performances are provided to customers under various environments. An important objective of such tests is to check whether network nodes fulfill requirements to durations of processing packets because a long duration of such processing causes performance degradation. This requires testers (persons who do tests) to precisely know how long a packet is hold by various network nodes. Without any tool's help, this task is time-consuming and error prone. Thus we propose a multi-point packet header analysis tool which extracts and records packet headers with synchronized timestamps at multiple observation points. Such recorded packet headers enable testers to calculate such holding durations. The notable feature of this tool is that it is implemented on off-the shelf hardware platforms, i.e., lap-top personal computers. The key challenges of the implementation are precise clock synchronization without any special hardware and a sophisticated header extraction algorithm without any drop.

Sources of Interactional Problems in a Survey of Racial/Ethnic Discrimination

PubMed Central

Johnson, Timothy P.; Shariff-Marco, Salma; Willis, Gordon; Cho, Young Ik; Breen, Nancy; Gee, Gilbert C.; Krieger, Nancy; Grant, David; Alegria, Margarita; Mays, Vickie M.; Williams, David R.; Landrine, Hope; Liu, Benmei; Reeve, Bryce B.; Takeuchi, David; Ponce, Ninez A.

2014-01-01

Cross-cultural variability in respondent processing of survey questions may bias results from multiethnic samples. We analyzed behavior codes, which identify difficulties in the interactions of respondents and interviewers, from a discrimination module contained within a field test of the 2007 California Health Interview Survey. In all, 553 (English) telephone interviews yielded 13,999 interactions involving 22 items. Multilevel logistic regression modeling revealed that respondent age and several item characteristics (response format, customized questions, length, and first item with new response format), but not race/ethnicity, were associated with interactional problems. These findings suggest that item function within a multi-cultural, albeit English language, survey may be largely influenced by question features, as opposed to respondent characteristics such as race/ethnicity. PMID:26166949

Inbound Call Centers and Emotional Dissonance in the Job Demands – Resources Model

PubMed Central

Molino, Monica; Emanuel, Federica; Zito, Margherita; Ghislieri, Chiara; Colombo, Lara; Cortese, Claudio G.

2016-01-01

Background: Emotional labor, defined as the process of regulating feelings and expressions as part of the work role, is a major characteristic in call centers. In particular, interacting with customers, agents are required to show certain emotions that are considered acceptable by the organization, even though these emotions may be different from their true feelings. This kind of experience is defined as emotional dissonance and represents a feature of the job especially for call center inbound activities. Aim: The present study was aimed at investigating whether emotional dissonance mediates the relationship between job demands (workload and customer verbal aggression) and job resources (supervisor support, colleague support, and job autonomy) on the one hand, and, on the other, affective discomfort, using the job demands-resources model as a framework. The study also observed differences between two different types of inbound activities: customer assistance service (CA) and information service. Method: The study involved agents of an Italian Telecommunication Company, 352 of whom worked in the CA and 179 in the information service. The hypothesized model was tested across the two groups through multi-group structural equation modeling. Results: Analyses showed that CA agents experience greater customer verbal aggression and emotional dissonance than information service agents. Results also showed, only for the CA group, a full mediation of emotional dissonance between workload and affective discomfort, and a partial mediation of customer verbal aggression and job autonomy, and affective discomfort. Conclusion: This study’s findings contributed both to the emotional labor literature, investigating the mediational role of emotional dissonance in the job demands-resources model, and to call center literature, considering differences between two specific kinds of inbound activities. Suggestions for organizations and practitioners emerged in order to identify practical implications useful both to support employees in coping with emotional labor and to promote well-being in inbound call centers. In detail, results showed the need to improve training programs in order to enhance employees’ emotion regulation skills, and to introduce human resource practices aimed at clarifying emotional requirements of the job. PMID:27516752

Inbound Call Centers and Emotional Dissonance in the Job Demands - Resources Model.

PubMed

Molino, Monica; Emanuel, Federica; Zito, Margherita; Ghislieri, Chiara; Colombo, Lara; Cortese, Claudio G

2016-01-01

Emotional labor, defined as the process of regulating feelings and expressions as part of the work role, is a major characteristic in call centers. In particular, interacting with customers, agents are required to show certain emotions that are considered acceptable by the organization, even though these emotions may be different from their true feelings. This kind of experience is defined as emotional dissonance and represents a feature of the job especially for call center inbound activities. The present study was aimed at investigating whether emotional dissonance mediates the relationship between job demands (workload and customer verbal aggression) and job resources (supervisor support, colleague support, and job autonomy) on the one hand, and, on the other, affective discomfort, using the job demands-resources model as a framework. The study also observed differences between two different types of inbound activities: customer assistance service (CA) and information service. The study involved agents of an Italian Telecommunication Company, 352 of whom worked in the CA and 179 in the information service. The hypothesized model was tested across the two groups through multi-group structural equation modeling. Analyses showed that CA agents experience greater customer verbal aggression and emotional dissonance than information service agents. RESULTS also showed, only for the CA group, a full mediation of emotional dissonance between workload and affective discomfort, and a partial mediation of customer verbal aggression and job autonomy, and affective discomfort. This study's findings contributed both to the emotional labor literature, investigating the mediational role of emotional dissonance in the job demands-resources model, and to call center literature, considering differences between two specific kinds of inbound activities. Suggestions for organizations and practitioners emerged in order to identify practical implications useful both to support employees in coping with emotional labor and to promote well-being in inbound call centers. In detail, results showed the need to improve training programs in order to enhance employees' emotion regulation skills, and to introduce human resource practices aimed at clarifying emotional requirements of the job.

[A cross-level analysis of the links between service quality and disconfirmation of expectations and customer satisfaction].

PubMed

Sánchez-Hernández, Rosa M; Martínez-Tur, Vicente; González-Morales, M Gloria; Ramos, José; Peiró, José M

2009-08-01

This article examines links between disconfirmation of expectations and functional and relational service quality perceived by employees and customer satisfaction. A total of 156 employees, who were working in 52 work units, participated in the research study. In addition, 517 customers who were assisted by these work units were surveyed. Using a cross-level approach, we used a random coefficient model to test the aforementioned relationships. A strong relationship between disconfirmation of expectations and customer satisfaction was observed. Also, the results confirmed that functional service quality maintains an additional and significant association with customer satisfaction. In contrast, there were no significant relationships between relational service quality and customer satisfaction. The article concludes with a discussion of these results.

Static Extraction and Conformance Analysis of Hierarchical Runtime Architectural Structure

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-14

Example: CryptoDB 253 Architectural Component Java Class Note CustomerManager cryptodb.test.CustomerManager AKA “ crypto consumer” CustomerManager.Receipts...PROVIDERS PLAIN KEYID KEYMANAGEMENT KEYSTORAGE CRYPTO (+) (+) (+) (+) (+) (+) (+)(+) Figure 7.29: CryptoDB: Level-0 OOG with String objects...better understand this communication, we declared different domains for plain-text (PLAIN), encrypted ( CRYPTO ), alias identifier (ALIASID), and key

Pilot study comparing market orientation culture of businesses and schools of business.

PubMed

Harmon, Harry A; Webster, Robert L; Hammond, Kevin L

2003-08-01

A market orientation culture has been described as one that blends an organization's commitment to customer value with a process of continuously creating superior value for customers. Developing such a culture is further described as (1) obtaining information about customers, competitors, and markets, (2) examining the gathered information from a total organizational perspective, (3) deciding how to deliver superior customer value, and (4) implementing actions to provide value to customers. A market orientation culture focuses on the customer, identifies issues in the competitive environment, and coordinates all functional areas to achieve organizational objectives. Research has found businesses with higher market orientation are more successful in achieving organizational objectives. The measurement of market orientation within businesses has been empirically tested and validated. However, empirical research on market orientation in nonprofit organizations such as universities has not been examined. This study investigated market orientation within the university setting, specifically Schools of Business Administration, and compared these data with previously published data within the business sector. Data for comparative purposes were collected via a national survey. Hypothesis testing was conducted. Results indicated significantly lower market orientation culture within the schools of business as reported by AACSB Business School Deans vis-à-vis managers of business enterprises.

ECOTOX knowledgebase: Search features and customized reports

EPA Science Inventory

The ECOTOXicology knowledgebase (ECOTOX) is a comprehensive, publicly available knowledgebase developed and maintained by ORD/NHEERL. It is used for environmental toxicity data on aquatic life, terrestrial plants and wildlife. ECOTOX has the capability to refine and filter search...

Personal Genomic Testing for Cancer Risk: Results From the Impact of Personal Genomics Study.

PubMed

Gray, Stacy W; Gollust, Sarah E; Carere, Deanna Alexis; Chen, Clara A; Cronin, Angel; Kalia, Sarah S; Rana, Huma Q; Ruffin, Mack T; Wang, Catharine; Roberts, J Scott; Green, Robert C

2017-02-20

Purpose Significant concerns exist regarding the potential for unwarranted behavior changes and the overuse of health care resources in response to direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing (PGT). However, little is known about customers' behaviors after PGT. Methods Longitudinal surveys were given to new customers of 23andMe (Mountain View, CA) and Pathway Genomics (San Diego, CA). Survey data were linked to individual-level PGT results through a secure data transfer process. Results Of the 1,042 customers who completed baseline and 6-month surveys (response rate, 71.2%), 762 had complete cancer-related data and were analyzed. Most customers reported that learning about their genetic risk of cancers was a motivation for testing (colorectal, 88%; prostate, 95%; breast, 94%). No customers tested positive for pathogenic mutations in highly penetrant cancer susceptibility genes. A minority of individuals received elevated single nucleotide polymorphism-based PGT cancer risk estimates (colorectal, 24%; prostate, 24%; breast, 12%). At 6 months, customers who received elevated PGT cancer risk estimates were not significantly more likely to change their diet, exercise, or advanced planning behaviors or engage in cancer screening, compared with individuals at average or reduced risk. Men who received elevated PGT prostate cancer risk estimates changed their vitamin and supplement use more than those at average or reduced risk (22% v 7.6%, respectively; adjusted odds ratio, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.44 to 8.18). Predictors of 6-month behavior include baseline behavior (exercise, vitamin or supplement use, and screening), worse health status (diet and vitamin or supplement use), and older age (advanced planning, screening). Conclusion Most adults receiving elevated direct-to-consumer PGT single nucleotide polymorphism-based cancer risk estimates did not significantly change their diet, exercise, advanced care planning, or cancer screening behaviors.

Dynamic weight bearing analysis is effective for evaluation of tendinopathy using a customized corridor with multi-directional force sensors in a rat model.

PubMed

Wu, Po-Ting; Hsu, Chieh-Hsiang; Su, Fong-Chin; Jou, I-Ming; Chen, Shih-Yao; Wu, Chao-Liang; Su, Wei-Ren; Kuo, Li-Chieh

2017-08-18

Few studies discuss kinetic changes in tendinopathy models. We propose a customized corridor to evaluate dynamic weight bearing (DWB) and shearing forces. Sixty rats were randomly given ultrasound-assisted collagenase injections (Collagenase rats) or needle punctures (Control rats) in their left Achilles tendons, and then evaluated 1, 4, and 8 weeks later. The Collagenase rats always had significantly (p < 0.001) higher histopathological and ultrasound feature scores than did the Controls, significantly lower DWB values in the injured than in the right hindlimbs, and compensatorily higher (p < 0.05) DWB values in the contralateral than in the left forelimbs. The injured hindlimbs had lower outward shearing force 1 and 4 weeks later, and higher (p < 0.05) push-off shearing force 8 weeks later, than did the contralateral hindlimbs. Injured Control rat hindlimbs had lower DWB values than did the contralateral only at week 1. The Collagenase rats had only lower static weight bearing ratios (SWBRs) values than did the Controls at week 1 (p < 0.05). Our customized corridor showed changes in DWB compatible with histopathological and ultrasound feature changes in the rat tendinopathy model. The hindlimb SWBRs did not correspond with any tendinopathic changes.

The influence of corporate social responsibility, ability, reputation, and transparency on hotel customer loyalty in the U.S.: a gender-based approach.

PubMed

Kim, Sung-Bum; Kim, Dae-Young

2016-01-01

This research explored a conceptual framework incorporating interrelationships among corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate ability (CA), corporate reputation (CR), and CSR-related transparency on customer loyalty within the hotel context. In this study, we also analyzed consumers' propensity to support CSR initiatives through the socio-demographic indicator of gender. We used independent sample t test and multiple regression analysis to test hypotheses based on 487 responses from American participants. Four antecedents (i.e., CSR, CA, CR, and transparency) exhibited favorable effects on customer loyalty. Among these four factors, the positively perceived CSR initiatives had a greater impact on customer loyalty. In addition, according to our findings, female participants were more likely to have a positive perception of the four antecedents than males.

Fracture loads and failure modes of customized and non-customized zirconia abutments.

PubMed

Moris, Izabela Cristina Maurício; Chen, Yung-Chung; Faria, Adriana Cláudia Lapria; Ribeiro, Ricardo Faria; Fok, Alex Sui-Lun; Rodrigues, Renata Cristina Silveira

2018-05-05

This study aimed to evaluate the fracture load and pattern of customized and non-customized zirconia abutments with Morse-taper connection. 18 implants were divided into 3 groups according to the abutments used: Zr - with non-customized zirconia abutments; Zrc - with customized zirconia abutments; and Ti - with titanium abutments. To test their load capacity, a universal test machine with a 500-kgf load cell and a 0.5-mm/min speed were used. After, one implant-abutment assembly from each group was analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). For fractographic analysis, the specimens were transversely sectioned above the threads of the abutment screw in order to examine their fracture surfaces using SEM. A significant difference was noted between the groups (Zr=573.7±11.66N, Zrc=768.0±8.72N and Ti=659.1±7.70N). Also, the zirconia abutments fractured while the titanium abutments deformed plastically. Zrc presented fracture loads significantly higher than Zr (p=0.009). All the zirconia abutments fractured below the implant platform, starting from the area of contact between the abutment and implant and propagating to the internal surface of the abutment. All the zirconia abutments presented complete cleavage in the mechanical test. Fractography detected differences in the position and pattern of fracture between the two groups with zirconia abutments, probably because of the different diameters in the transmucosal region. Customization of zirconia abutments did not affect their fracture loads, which were comparable to that of titanium and much higher than the maximum physiological limit for the anterior region of the maxilla. Copyright © 2018 The Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Variables contributing to an excellent customer service management profile within the regulated electric utility industry: A comparison of self-concept with customer satisfaction for customer service management

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

Johnson, L.E.

1991-01-01

This research sought to address the relationship between self-concept and customer satisfaction: can customer satisfaction with a major electric utility be explained in terms of the self-reported, self-concept of the utility's managers The population to which the results of this study were generalized consisted of customer service managers in public electric utilities across the United States. In order to represent this population, a sample was selected consisting of customer service managers at a midwestern electric utility based in a large metropolitan area. Participants in this study were managers of four direct customer contact service organizations within six geographic division organizations.more » The methodology included comparisons of these four customer contact service organizations on twelve independent, self-concept variables and six customer satisfaction dependent variables using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Scheffe' tests, Chi-Square, and Stepwise multiple regression. The groups were found not to be significantly different and knowledge of the self-concept scores for managers will not increase the ability to predict customer satisfaction over no knowledge of self-concept scores.« less

Towards plug-and-play integration of archetypes into legacy electronic health record systems: the ArchiMed experience.

PubMed

Duftschmid, Georg; Chaloupka, Judith; Rinner, Christoph

2013-01-22

The dual model approach represents a promising solution for achieving semantically interoperable standardized electronic health record (EHR) exchange. Its acceptance, however, will depend on the effort required for integrating archetypes into legacy EHR systems. We propose a corresponding approach that: (a) automatically generates entry forms in legacy EHR systems from archetypes; and (b) allows the immediate export of EHR documents that are recorded via the generated forms and stored in the EHR systems' internal format as standardized and archetype-compliant EHR extracts. As a prerequisite for applying our approach, we define a set of basic requirements for the EHR systems. We tested our approach with an EHR system called ArchiMed and were able to successfully integrate 15 archetypes from a test set of 27. For 12 archetypes, the form generation failed owing to a particular type of complex structure (multiple repeating subnodes), which was prescribed by the archetypes but not supported by ArchiMed's data model. Our experiences show that archetypes should be customized based on the planned application scenario before their integration. This would allow problematic structures to be dissolved and irrelevant optional archetype nodes to be removed. For customization of archetypes, openEHR templates or specialized archetypes may be employed. Gaps in the data types or terminological features supported by an EHR system will often not preclude integration of the relevant archetypes. More work needs to be done on the usability of the generated forms.

Towards plug-and-play integration of archetypes into legacy electronic health record systems: the ArchiMed experience

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The dual model approach represents a promising solution for achieving semantically interoperable standardized electronic health record (EHR) exchange. Its acceptance, however, will depend on the effort required for integrating archetypes into legacy EHR systems. Methods We propose a corresponding approach that: (a) automatically generates entry forms in legacy EHR systems from archetypes; and (b) allows the immediate export of EHR documents that are recorded via the generated forms and stored in the EHR systems’ internal format as standardized and archetype-compliant EHR extracts. As a prerequisite for applying our approach, we define a set of basic requirements for the EHR systems. Results We tested our approach with an EHR system called ArchiMed and were able to successfully integrate 15 archetypes from a test set of 27. For 12 archetypes, the form generation failed owing to a particular type of complex structure (multiple repeating subnodes), which was prescribed by the archetypes but not supported by ArchiMed’s data model. Conclusions Our experiences show that archetypes should be customized based on the planned application scenario before their integration. This would allow problematic structures to be dissolved and irrelevant optional archetype nodes to be removed. For customization of archetypes, openEHR templates or specialized archetypes may be employed. Gaps in the data types or terminological features supported by an EHR system will often not preclude integration of the relevant archetypes. More work needs to be done on the usability of the generated forms. PMID:23339403

SPACEHAB missions as pathfinders for ISS services development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamill, Doris; Jackson, Kenneth; Mirra, Carlo

2003-01-01

SPACEHAB, Inc. has established a commercial business model for providing access to space. The model, based on private initiative and investment, has offered "turn key" access to space including both launch and integration and operations services. Some features of this business model should be applied directly to providing service in the ISS era: offering packaged service at a fixed price; customer focus; private investment as the basis for offering services; and efficient and continually improving customer service. But International Space Station (ISS) will pose challenges that have not been pioneered in the STS era: a new base of customers must be developed; on-orbit hardware will be more difficult to modify; access to ISS is controlled by government space agencies. These problems will tax the ingenuity of those who wish to provide services in space on a commercial business model.

The Unmanned Mission Avionics Test Heliciopter - a Flexible and Versatile Vtol-Uas Experimental System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schulz, H.-W., , Dr.

2011-09-01

civil customers. These applications cover a wide spectrum from R&D programs for the military customer to special services for the civil customer. This paper focuses on the technical conversion of a commercially available VTOL-UAS to ESG's Unmanned Mission Avionics Test Helicopter (UMAT), its concept and operational capabilities. At the end of the paper, the current integration of a radar sensor is described as an example of the UMATs flexibility. The radar sensor is developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques (FHR). It is integrated by ESG together with the industrial partner SWISS UAV.

Histocompatibility antigen test

MedlinePlus

... MedlinePlus GO GO About MedlinePlus Site Map FAQs Customer Support Health Topics Drugs & Supplements Videos & Tools Español ... ADAM Health Solutions. About MedlinePlus Site Map FAQs Customer Support Get email updates Subscribe to RSS Follow ...

78 FR 52958 - Accreditation and Approval of Inspectorate America Corporation, as a Commercial Gauger and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-27

... test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for... petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes, in accordance...

An examination of the role of perceived support and employee commitment in employee-customer encounters.

PubMed

Vandenberghe, Christian; Bentein, Kathleen; Michon, Richard; Chebat, Jean-Charles; Tremblay, Michel; Fils, Jean-François

2007-07-01

The authors examined the relationships between perceived organizational support, organizational commitment, commitment to customers, and service quality in a fast-food firm. The research design matched customer responses with individual employees' attitudes, making this study a true test of the service provider-customer encounter. On the basis of a sample of matched employee-customer data (N = 133), hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed that perceived organizational support had both a unit-level and an employee-level effect on 1 dimension of service quality: helping behavior. Contrary to affective organizational commitment, affective commitment to customers enhanced service quality. The 2 sub-dimensions of continuance commitment to the organization--perceived high sacrifice and perceived lack of alternatives--exerted effects opposite in sign: The former fostered service quality, whereas the latter reduced it. The implications of these findings are discussed within the context of research on employee-customer encounters.

Online History Textbooks: Breaking the Mold.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schick, James B. M.

2001-01-01

Outlines recommended conditions and features of online history textbooks: link control, coverage of methodology, maps, breadth and depth of information, layered storytelling approach, tools, tutorials, customization, team teaching, short movies, interviews, reading activities and skill building activities, overcharging, and password protection.…

Discovering Patterns in Interarrival Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Roger W.

2017-01-01

It is suggested that students collect interarrival data for customers arriving at a queue. Two common features will often occur across these various datasets. Some data collection hints, some problems for students to pursue and a few pointers to the literature are given.

Program evaluation in integrated resource planning

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

Council, C.D.

1994-12-31

The Western Area Power Administration along with the Southwestern and Southeastern Power Administrations joined together to develop a set of integrated resource planning (IRP) tools to help their customers development and implement an IRP process. The project has been entitled the Resource Planning Guide (RPG), and is specifically designed to help small- to mid-sized utilities analyze supply- and demand-side alternatives as part of an IRP process. The RPG project will be available in January 1994 and will include such support as: workshops, technical assistance, an RPG hotline, and an RPG User`s Group for the project. The RPG grew out ofmore » the interest shown by utility customers who wanted a user-friendly tool to aid in their application of the IRP process. The project has been field tested by 43 utilities and related organizations over the last year, has sparked interest both nationally and internationally, and is now available for public use. The program evaluation aspects of the IRP process are heightened by a requirement of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 which requires all long-term power customers of the Western Area Power Administration to develop, implement, and monitor an IRP process. The EPAct defines IRP as: A planning process for new energy resources that evaluates the full range of alternatives, including new generating capacity, power purchases, energy conservation and efficiency, cogeneration and district heating and cooling applications, and renewable energy resources, to provide adequate and reliable service to its electric customers at the lowest system cost. The process takes into account necessary features for system operation, such as diversity, reliability, dispatchability, and other factors of risk; the ability to verify energy savings achieved through energy conservation and efficiency and the projected durability of such savings measured over time; and treats demand and supply resources on a consistent and integrated basis.« less

Validation of the CSI health station 6K blood pressure kiosk.

PubMed

Buxton, Iain L O; Adams, John Q; Gore, Mark; Sullivan, Charles R

2007-01-01

Established in 1978, Computerized Screening Inc. (CSI) is the manufacturer of medical kiosks that combine non-invasive & invasive preventive health-screening technology and services in the U.S. The centerpiece of CSl's health complement is the CSI Health Station, one-stop health information and screening using patented technology. The CSI Health Station (Model 6K) represents the corporation's evolution from its self-administered automated blood pressure monitors (Model 3K). CSI Health Stations also offer touch screen activated heart rate testing, patented, seated weight measurement and fitness evaluations plus other non-invasive features like BMI, resting metabolic rate, spirometry, pulse oximetry and customized health risk assessments or triage guidelines. Invasive testing such as urine analysis, cholesterol, and glucose is also accommodated in an attended setting. In addition, CSI Health Stations feature comprehensive, one-stop availability of health information, with access to a drug encyclopedia and an extensive library of health education videos, and information on local health providers and services. It also is web enabled and supports secure website access direct from the kiosk. The purpose of this study was to determine, using current standards from the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), whether or not the CSI 6K could accurately and reproducibly measure blood pressure in an ambulatory population in comparison to manual auscultation.

A system for counting fetal and maternal red blood cells.

PubMed

Ge, Ji; Gong, Zheng; Chen, Jun; Liu, Jun; Nguyen, John; Yang, Zongyi; Wang, Chen; Sun, Yu

2014-12-01

The Kleihauer-Betke (KB) test is the standard method for quantitating fetal-maternal hemorrhage in maternal care. In hospitals, the KB test is performed by a certified technologist to count a minimum of 2000 fetal and maternal red blood cells (RBCs) on a blood smear. Manual counting suffers from inherent inconsistency and unreliability. This paper describes a system for automated counting and distinguishing fetal and maternal RBCs on clinical KB slides. A custom-adapted hardware platform is used for KB slide scanning and image capturing. Spatial-color pixel classification with spectral clustering is proposed to separate overlapping cells. Optimal clustering number and total cell number are obtained through maximizing cluster validity index. To accurately identify fetal RBCs from maternal RBCs, multiple features including cell size, roundness, gradient, and saturation difference between cell and whole slide are used in supervised learning to generate feature vectors, to tackle cell color, shape, and contrast variations across clinical KB slides. The results show that the automated system is capable of completing the counting of over 60,000 cells (versus ∼2000 by technologists) within 5 min (versus ∼15 min by technologists). The throughput is improved by approximately 90 times compared to manual reading by technologists. The counting results are highly accurate and correlate strongly with those from benchmarking flow cytometry measurement.

Suitability of digital camcorders for virtual reality image data capture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Apuzzo, Nicola; Maas, Hans-Gerd

1998-12-01

Today's consumer market digital camcorders offer features which make them appear quite interesting devices for virtual reality data capture. The paper compares a digital camcorder with an analogue camcorder and a machine vision type CCD camera and discusses the suitability of these three cameras for virtual reality applications. Besides the discussion of technical features of the cameras, this includes a detailed accuracy test in order to define the range of applications. In combination with the cameras, three different framegrabbers are tested. The geometric accuracy potential of all three cameras turned out to be surprisingly large, and no problems were noticed in the radiometric performance. On the other hand, some disadvantages have to be reported: from the photogrammetrists point of view, the major disadvantage of most camcorders is the missing possibility to synchronize multiple devices, limiting the suitability for 3-D motion data capture. Moreover, the standard video format contains interlacing, which is also undesirable for all applications dealing with moving objects or moving cameras. Further disadvantages are computer interfaces with functionality, which is still suboptimal. While custom-made solutions to these problems are probably rather expensive (and will make potential users turn back to machine vision like equipment), this functionality could probably be included by the manufacturers at almost zero cost.

New mission requirements methodologies for services provided by the Office of Space Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holmes, Dwight P.; Hall, J. R.; Macoughtry, William; Spearing, Robert

1993-01-01

The Office of Space Communications, NASA Headquarters, has recently revised its methodology for receiving, accepting and responding to customer requests for use of that office's tracking and communications capabilities. This revision is the result of a process which has become over-burdened by the size of the currently active and proposed missions set, requirements reviews that focus on single missions rather than on mission sets, and negotiations most often not completed early enough to effect needed additions to capacity or capability prior to launch. The requirements-coverage methodology described is more responsive to project/program needs and provides integrated input into the NASA budget process early enough to effect change, and describes the mechanisms and tools in place to insure a value-added process which will benefit both NASA and its customers. Key features of the requirements methodology include the establishment of a mechanism for early identification of and systems trades with new customers, and delegates the review and approval of requirements documents to NASA centers in lieu of Headquarters, thus empowering the system design teams to establish and negotiate the detailed requirements with the user. A Mission Requirements Request (MRR) is introduced to facilitate early customer interaction. The expected result is that the time to achieve an approved set of implementation requirements which meet the customer's needs can be greatly reduced. Finally, by increasing the discipline in requirements management, through the use of base lining procedures, a tighter coupling between customer requirements and the budget is provided. A twice-yearly projection of customer requirements accommodation, designated as the Capacity Projection Plan (CPP), provides customer feedback allowing the entire mission set to be serviced.

Developing Simulated Cyber Attack Scenarios Against Virtualized Adversary Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

MAST is a custom software framework originally designed to facilitate the training of network administrators on live networks using SimWare. The MAST...or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington headquarters Services ...scenario development and testing in a virtual test environment. Commercial and custom software tools that provide the ability to conduct network

Customized Multiwavelets for Planetary Gearbox Fault Detection Based on Vibration Sensor Signals

PubMed Central

Sun, Hailiang; Zi, Yanyang; He, Zhengjia; Yuan, Jing; Wang, Xiaodong; Chen, Lue

2013-01-01

Planetary gearboxes exhibit complicated dynamic responses which are more difficult to detect in vibration signals than fixed-axis gear trains because of the special gear transmission structures. Diverse advanced methods have been developed for this challenging task to reduce or avoid unscheduled breakdown and catastrophic accidents. It is feasible to make fault features distinct by using multiwavelet denoising which depends on the feature separation and the threshold denoising. However, standard and fixed multiwavelets are not suitable for accurate fault feature detections because they are usually independent of the measured signals. To overcome this drawback, a method to construct customized multiwavelets based on the redundant symmetric lifting scheme is proposed in this paper. A novel indicator which combines kurtosis and entropy is applied to select the optimal multiwavelets, because kurtosis is sensitive to sharp impulses and entropy is effective for periodic impulses. The improved neighboring coefficients method is introduced into multiwavelet denoising. The vibration signals of a planetary gearbox from a satellite communication antenna on a measurement ship are captured under various motor speeds. The results show the proposed method could accurately detect the incipient pitting faults on two neighboring teeth in the planetary gearbox. PMID:23334609

78 FR 29376 - Accreditation and Approval of Quality Custom Inspections & Laboratories, LLC, as a Commercial...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-20

..., has been approved to gauge and accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals... petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes, in accordance...

Imaging performance and challenges of 10nm and 7nm logic nodes with 0.33 NA EUV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Setten, Eelco; Schiffelers, Guido; Psara, Eleni; Oorschot, Dorothe; Davydova, Natalia; Finders, Jo; Depre, Laurent; Farys, Vincent

2014-10-01

The NXE:3300B is ASML's third generation EUV system and has an NA of 0.33 and is positioned at a resolution of 22nm, which can be extended down to 18nm and below with off-axis illumination at full transmission. Multiple systems have been qualified and installed at customers. The NXE:3300B succeeds the NXE:3100 system (NA of 0.25), which has allowed customers to gain valuable EUV experience. It is expected that EUV will be adopted first for critical Logic layers at 10nm and 7nm nodes, such as Metal-1, to avoid the complexity of triple patterning schemes using ArF immersion. In this paper we will evaluate the imaging performance of (sub-)10nm node Logic M1 on the NXE:3300B EUV scanner. We will show the line-end performance of tip-to-tip and tip-to-space test features for various pitches and illumination settings and the performance enhancement obtained by means of a 1st round of OPC. We will also show the magnitude of local variations. The Logic M1 cell is evaluated at various critical features to identify hot spots. A 2nd round OPC model was calibrated of which we will show the model accuracy and ability to predict hot spots in the Logic M1 cell. The calibrated OPC model is used to predict the expected performance at 7nm node Logic using off-axis illumination at 16nm minimum half pitch. Initial results of L/S exposed on the NXE:3300B at 7nm node resolutions will be shown. An outlook is given to future 0.33 NA systems on the ASML roadmap with enhanced illuminator capabilities to further improve performance and process window.

Multidimensional team-based intervention using musical cues to reduce odds of facility-acquired pressure ulcers in long-term care: a paired randomized intervention study.

PubMed

Yap, Tracey L; Kennerly, Susan M; Simmons, Mark R; Buncher, Charles R; Miller, Elaine; Kim, Jay; Yap, Winston Y

2013-09-01

To test the effectiveness of a pressure ulcer (PU) prevention intervention featuring musical cues to remind all long-term care (LTC) staff (nursing and ancillary) to help every resident move or reposition every 2 hours. Twelve-month paired-facility two-arm (with one-arm crossover) randomized intervention trial. Ten midwestern U.S. LTC facilities. Four treatment facilities received intervention during Months 1 to 12, four comparison facilities received intervention during Months 7 to 12, and two pseudo-control facilities received no intervention. LTC facility residents (N = 1,928). All facility staff received in-person education, video, and handouts, and visiting family members received informational pamphlets on PU prevention and an intervention featuring musical cues. Nurse-led multidisciplinary staff teams presented the cues as prompts for staff and family to reposition residents or remind them to move. Musical selections (with and without lyrics) customized to facility preferences were played daily over the facility intercom or public address system every 2 hours for the 12-hour daytime period. Primary outcome measure was the frequency of new facility-acquired PUs divided by the total number of facility Minimum Data Set (MDS) resident assessments conducted during the study period. Odds of a new PU were lower in intervention facilities (P = .08) for MDS 2.0 assessments and were significantly lower (P = .05) for MDS 3.0. Mean odds ratios suggested intervention facility residents were 45% less likely than comparison facility residents to develop a new PU. Customized musical cues that prompt multidisciplinary staff teams to encourage or enable movement of all residents hold promise for reducing facility-acquired PUs in LTC settings. © 2013, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2013, The American Geriatrics Society.

Optimizing Conferencing Freeware

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baggaley, Jon; Klaas, Jim; Wark, Norine; Depow, Jim

2005-01-01

The increasing range of options provided by two popular conferencing freeware products, "Yahoo Messenger" and "MSN Messenger," are discussed. Each tool contains features designed primarily for entertainment purposes, which can be customized for use in online education. This report provides suggestions for optimizing the educational potential of…

A Tool for Requirements-Based Programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rash, James L.; Hinchey, Michael G.; Rouff, Christopher A.; Gracanin, Denis; Erickson, John

2005-01-01

Absent a general method for mathematically sound, automated transformation of customer requirements into a formal model of the desired system, developers must resort to either manual application of formal methods or to system testing (either manual or automated). While formal methods have afforded numerous successes, they present serious issues, e.g., costs to gear up to apply them (time, expensive staff), and scalability and reproducibility when standards in the field are not settled. The testing path cannot be walked to the ultimate goal, because exhaustive testing is infeasible for all but trivial systems. So system verification remains problematic. System or requirements validation is similarly problematic. The alternatives available today depend on either having a formal model or pursuing enough testing to enable the customer to be certain that system behavior meets requirements. The testing alternative for non-trivial systems always have some system behaviors unconfirmed and therefore is not the answer. To ensure that a formal model is equivalent to the customer s requirements necessitates that the customer somehow fully understands the formal model, which is not realistic. The predominant view that provably correct system development depends on having a formal model of the system leads to a desire for a mathematically sound method to automate the transformation of customer requirements into a formal model. Such a method, an augmentation of requirements-based programming, will be briefly described in this paper, and a prototype tool to support it will be described. The method and tool enable both requirements validation and system verification for the class of systems whose behavior can be described as scenarios. An application of the tool to a prototype automated ground control system for NASA mission is presented.

Use of nutritional supplements by Danish elite athletes and fitness customers.

PubMed

Solheim, S A; Nordsborg, N B; Ritz, C; Berget, J; Kristensen, A H; Mørkeberg, J

2017-08-01

The nutritional supplement (NS) industry is one of the fastest growing in the world, and NS use in Denmark is among the highest in Europe. However, the exact use in elite athletes and fitness customers targeted for doping control is unknown. Information from 634 doping control forms obtained in 2014 was evaluated (elite athletes: n = 361; fitness customers: n = 273). The majority of female (92.6%) and male (85.0%) elite athletes and female (100.0%) and male (94.0%) fitness customers declared using one or more NS. The use of non-ergogenic NS was more prevalent in women than in men and in younger (15-34 years) compared with older (35-49 years) subjects, but it was less prevalent in intermittent compared with endurance and power/strength sports. Additionally, fitness customers who tested positive for doping also reported using more NS than subjects testing negative, indicating an association between NS and doping abuse. The present results demonstrate a very high prevalence of NS usage in both elite athletes and fitness customers. This highlights the importance of a strong national regulation of NS to avoid contamination of NS with doping substances. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effect of Anatomical Customization of the Fiber Post on the Bond Strength of a Self-Adhesive Resin Cement.

PubMed

Rocha, Adricyla Teixeira; Gonçalves, Leticia Machado; Vasconcelos, Ana Júlia de Carvalho; Matos Maia Filho, Etevaldo; Nunes Carvalho, Ceci; De Jesus Tavarez, Rudys Rodolfo

2017-01-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate, by means of the push-out test, the effect of the anatomical customization of the fiber post on the bond strength of a self-adhesive resin cement. Twelve endodontically treated, human, upper central incisors were randomly divided into two groups ( n = 6): control (glass fiber posts cemented with Relyx® U200) and customized (glass fiber posts anatomically customized with translucent composite resin cemented with Relyx U200). The roots were sectioned into three slices, cervical, middle, and apical, and photographed with a digital camera attached to a stereomicroscopic loupe. The images were analyzed by software, for evaluation of the cement line. The slices were subsequently submitted to the push-out test until the post had completely extruded, and the fracture mode was analyzed with a stereomicroscopic loupe. The results showed significant differences between the groups in the different root thirds in relation to the area occupied by air bubbles ( p < 0.05). Bond strength, when all the thirds are considered, was 8.77 ± 4.89 MPa for the control group and 16.96 ± 4.85 MPa for the customized group. The customized group showed greater bond resistance than the control group and a more uniform cement layer.

Development of a novel imaging informatics-based system with an intelligent workflow engine (IWEIS) to support imaging-based clinical trials

PubMed Central

Wang, Ximing; Liu, Brent J; Martinez, Clarisa; Zhang, Xuejun; Winstein, Carolee J

2015-01-01

Imaging based clinical trials can benefit from a solution to efficiently collect, analyze, and distribute multimedia data at various stages within the workflow. Currently, the data management needs of these trials are typically addressed with custom-built systems. However, software development of the custom- built systems for versatile workflows can be resource-consuming. To address these challenges, we present a system with a workflow engine for imaging based clinical trials. The system enables a project coordinator to build a data collection and management system specifically related to study protocol workflow without programming. Web Access to DICOM Objects (WADO) module with novel features is integrated to further facilitate imaging related study. The system was initially evaluated by an imaging based rehabilitation clinical trial. The evaluation shows that the cost of the development of system can be much reduced compared to the custom-built system. By providing a solution to customize a system and automate the workflow, the system will save on development time and reduce errors especially for imaging clinical trials. PMID:25870169

Impact of information and communications technologies on residental customer energy services

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

Goldman, C.; Kempton, W.; Eide, A.

1996-10-01

This study analyzes the potential impact of information and communications technologies on utility delivery of residential customer energy services. Many utilities are conducting trials which test energy-related and non-energy services using advanced communications systems.

A Bayesian approach to the creation of a study-customized neonatal brain atlas

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yajing; Chang, Linda; Ceritoglu, Can; Skranes, Jon; Ernst, Thomas; Mori, Susumu; Miller, Michael I.; Oishi, Kenichi

2014-01-01

Atlas-based image analysis (ABA), in which an anatomical “parcellation map” is used for parcel-by-parcel image quantification, is widely used to analyze anatomical and functional changes related to brain development, aging, and various diseases. The parcellation maps are often created based on common MRI templates, which allow users to transform the template to target images, or vice versa, to perform parcel-by-parcel statistics, and report the scientific findings based on common anatomical parcels. The use of a study-specific template, which represents the anatomical features of the study population better than common templates, is preferable for accurate anatomical labeling; however, the creation of a parcellation map for a study-specific template is extremely labor intensive, and the definitions of anatomical boundaries are not necessarily compatible with those of the common template. In this study, we employed a Volume-based Template Estimation (VTE) method to create a neonatal brain template customized to a study population, while keeping the anatomical parcellation identical to that of a common MRI atlas. The VTE was used to morph the standardized parcellation map of the JHU-neonate-SS atlas to capture the anatomical features of a study population. The resultant “study-customized” T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) template, with three-dimensional anatomical parcellation that defined 122 brain regions, was compared with the JHU-neonate-SS atlas, in terms of the registration accuracy. A pronounced increase in the accuracy of cortical parcellation and superior tensor alignment were observed when the customized template was used. With the customized atlas-based analysis, the fractional anisotropy (FA) detected closely approximated the manual measurements. This tool provides a solution for achieving normalization-based measurements with increased accuracy, while reporting scientific findings in a consistent framework. PMID:25026155

Radiation testing campaign results for understanding the suitability of FPGAs in detector electronics

DOE PAGES

Citterio, M.; Camplani, A.; Cannon, M.; ...

2015-11-19

SRAM based Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have been rarely used in High Energy Physics (HEP) due to their sensitivity to radiation. The last generation of commercial FPGAs based on 28 nm feature size and on Silicon On Insulator (SOI) technologies are more tolerant to radiation to the level that their use in front-end electronics is now feasible. FPGAs provide re-programmability, high-speed computation and fast data transmission through the embedded serial transceivers. They could replace custom application specific integrated circuits in front end electronics in locations with moderate radiation field. Finally, the use of a FPGA in HEP experiments ismore » only limited by our ability to mitigate single event effects induced by the high energy hadrons present in the radiation field.« less

Diamond field emitter array cathodes and possibilities for employing additive manufacturing for dielectric laser accelerating structures

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

Simakov, Evgenya Ivanovna; Andrews, Heather Lynn; Herman, Matthew Joseph

2016-09-20

These are slides for a presentation at Stanford University. The outline is as follows: Motivation: customers for compact accelerators, LANL's technologies for laser acceleration, DFEA cathodes, and additive manufacturing of micron-size structures. Among the stated conclusions are the following: preliminary study identified DFEA cathodes as promising sources for DLAs--high beam current and small emittance; additive manufacturing with Nanoscribe Professional GT can produce structures with the right scale features for a DLA operating at micron wavelengths (fabrication tolerances need to be studied, DLAs require new materials). Future plans include DLA experiment with a beam produced by the DFEA cathode with fieldmore » emission, demonstration of photoemission from DFEAs, and new structures to print and test.« less

Comparison of custom-moulded ankle orthosis with hinged joints and off-the-shelf ankle braces in preventing ankle sprain in lateral cutting movements.

PubMed

Lee, Winson C C; Kobayashi, Toshiki; Choy, Barton T S; Leung, Aaron K L

2012-06-01

A custom moulded ankle orthosis with hinged joints potentially offers a better control over the subtalar joint and the ankle joint during lateral cutting movements, due to total contact design and increase in material strength. To test the above hypothesis by comparing it to three other available orthoses. Repeated measures. Eight subjects with a history of ankle sprains (Grade 2), and 11 subjects without such history performed lateral cutting movements in four test conditions: 1) non-orthotic, 2) custom-moulded ankle orthosis with hinges, 3) Sport-Stirrup, and 4) elastic ankle sleeve with plastic support. A VICON motion analysis system was used to study the motions at the ankle and subtalar joints. The custom-moulded ankle orthosis significantly lowered the inversion angle at initial contact (p = 0.006) and the peak inversion angle (p = 0.000) during lateral cutting movements in comparison to non-orthotic condition, while the other two orthoses did not. The three orthoses did not affect the plantarflexion motions, which had been suggested by previous studies to be important in shock wave attenuation. The custom-moulded ankle orthosis with hinges could better control inversion and thus expected to better prevent ankle sprain in lateral cutting movements. Custom-moulded ankle orthoses are not commonly used in preventing ankle sprains. This study raises the awareness of the use of custom-moulded ankle orthoses which are expected to better prevent ankle sprains.

Onboard spectral imager data processor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Otten, Leonard J.; Meigs, Andrew D.; Franklin, Abraham J.; Sears, Robert D.; Robison, Mark W.; Rafert, J. Bruce; Fronterhouse, Donald C.; Grotbeck, Ronald L.

1999-10-01

Previous papers have described the concept behind the MightySat II.1 program, the satellite's Fourier Transform imaging spectrometer's optical design, the design for the spectral imaging payload, and its initial qualification testing. This paper discusses the on board data processing designed to reduce the amount of downloaded data by an order of magnitude and provide a demonstration of a smart spaceborne spectral imaging sensor. Two custom components, a spectral imager interface 6U VME card that moves data at over 30 MByte/sec, and four TI C-40 processors mounted to a second 6U VME and daughter card, are used to adapt the sensor to the spacecraft and provide the necessary high speed processing. A system architecture that offers both on board real time image processing and high-speed post data collection analysis of the spectral data has been developed. In addition to the on board processing of the raw data into a usable spectral data volume, one feature extraction technique has been incorporated. This algorithm operates on the basic interferometric data. The algorithm is integrated within the data compression process to search for uploadable feature descriptions.

Performance Analysis of Continuous Black-Box Optimization Algorithms via Footprints in Instance Space.

PubMed

Muñoz, Mario A; Smith-Miles, Kate A

2017-01-01

This article presents a method for the objective assessment of an algorithm's strengths and weaknesses. Instead of examining the performance of only one or more algorithms on a benchmark set, or generating custom problems that maximize the performance difference between two algorithms, our method quantifies both the nature of the test instances and the algorithm performance. Our aim is to gather information about possible phase transitions in performance, that is, the points in which a small change in problem structure produces algorithm failure. The method is based on the accurate estimation and characterization of the algorithm footprints, that is, the regions of instance space in which good or exceptional performance is expected from an algorithm. A footprint can be estimated for each algorithm and for the overall portfolio. Therefore, we select a set of features to generate a common instance space, which we validate by constructing a sufficiently accurate prediction model. We characterize the footprints by their area and density. Our method identifies complementary performance between algorithms, quantifies the common features of hard problems, and locates regions where a phase transition may lie.

ANKA, a customer-oriented synchrotron radiation facility for microfabrication and analytical services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pea Anka Project Group; Buth, G.; Doyle, S.; Einfeld, D.; Hagelstein, M.; Hermle, S.; Huttel, E.; Krüssel, A.; Lange, M.; Mathis, Y.-L.; Mexner, W.; Moser, H. O.; Pellegrin, E.; Ristau, U.; Rossmanith, R.; Schaper, J.; Schieler, H.; Simon, R.; Steininger, R.; Voigt, S.; Walther, R.; Perez, F.; Pont, M.; Plesko, M.

1998-03-01

ANKA (Angströmquelle Karlsruhe) is a state-of-the-art synchrotron radiation facility under construction at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. Based on a 2.5 GeV electron storage ring it will deliver photons predominantly in the hard X-ray range but it will also feature both XUV and infrared beamlines. In its first operational phase the radiation will be taken out of normal-conducting dipole bending magnets, while five free long straight sections are foreseen to accommodate insertion devices later on. ANKA has a novel mission, namely to provide synchrotron-radiation based services to industrial and other customers, in the fields of microfabrication and materials analysis. A limited liability company, ANKA GmbH, is being founded to operate the facility. Although commercial services to customers will represent more than half of the overall activity, these services will be complemented by providing beam time for research users.

Making the Net More Intelligent.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Somers, Doug

1998-01-01

Discusses how service providers can address the challenge of costs and the need for attractive services valuable to business customers. Focuses on Internet service control; applying intelligent networking features to the internet working services dilemma; and providing access control over network-based applications for Internet virtual private…

Robust Sex Differences in Jigsaw Puzzle Solving—Are Boys Really Better in Most Visuospatial Tasks?

PubMed Central

Kocijan, Vid; Horvat, Marina; Majdic, Gregor

2017-01-01

Sex differences are consistently reported in different visuospatial tasks with men usually performing better in mental rotation tests while women are better on tests for memory of object locations. In the present study, we investigated sex differences in solving jigsaw puzzles in children. In total 22 boys and 24 girls were tested using custom build tablet application representing a jigsaw puzzle consisting of 25 pieces and featuring three different pictures. Girls outperformed boys in solving jigsaw puzzles regardless of the picture. Girls were faster than boys in solving the puzzle, made less incorrect moves with the pieces of the puzzle, and spent less time moving the pieces around the tablet. It appears that the strategy of solving the jigsaw puzzle was the main factor affecting differences in success, as girls tend to solve the puzzle more systematically while boys performed more trial and error attempts, thus having more incorrect moves with the puzzle pieces. Results of this study suggest a very robust sex difference in solving the jigsaw puzzle with girls outperforming boys by a large margin. PMID:29109682

Basic test framework for the evaluation of text line segmentation and text parameter extraction.

PubMed

Brodić, Darko; Milivojević, Dragan R; Milivojević, Zoran

2010-01-01

Text line segmentation is an essential stage in off-line optical character recognition (OCR) systems. It is a key because inaccurately segmented text lines will lead to OCR failure. Text line segmentation of handwritten documents is a complex and diverse problem, complicated by the nature of handwriting. Hence, text line segmentation is a leading challenge in handwritten document image processing. Due to inconsistencies in measurement and evaluation of text segmentation algorithm quality, some basic set of measurement methods is required. Currently, there is no commonly accepted one and all algorithm evaluation is custom oriented. In this paper, a basic test framework for the evaluation of text feature extraction algorithms is proposed. This test framework consists of a few experiments primarily linked to text line segmentation, skew rate and reference text line evaluation. Although they are mutually independent, the results obtained are strongly cross linked. In the end, its suitability for different types of letters and languages as well as its adaptability are its main advantages. Thus, the paper presents an efficient evaluation method for text analysis algorithms.

Robust Sex Differences in Jigsaw Puzzle Solving-Are Boys Really Better in Most Visuospatial Tasks?

PubMed

Kocijan, Vid; Horvat, Marina; Majdic, Gregor

2017-01-01

Sex differences are consistently reported in different visuospatial tasks with men usually performing better in mental rotation tests while women are better on tests for memory of object locations. In the present study, we investigated sex differences in solving jigsaw puzzles in children. In total 22 boys and 24 girls were tested using custom build tablet application representing a jigsaw puzzle consisting of 25 pieces and featuring three different pictures. Girls outperformed boys in solving jigsaw puzzles regardless of the picture. Girls were faster than boys in solving the puzzle, made less incorrect moves with the pieces of the puzzle, and spent less time moving the pieces around the tablet. It appears that the strategy of solving the jigsaw puzzle was the main factor affecting differences in success, as girls tend to solve the puzzle more systematically while boys performed more trial and error attempts, thus having more incorrect moves with the puzzle pieces. Results of this study suggest a very robust sex difference in solving the jigsaw puzzle with girls outperforming boys by a large margin.

Basic Test Framework for the Evaluation of Text Line Segmentation and Text Parameter Extraction

PubMed Central

Brodić, Darko; Milivojević, Dragan R.; Milivojević, Zoran

2010-01-01

Text line segmentation is an essential stage in off-line optical character recognition (OCR) systems. It is a key because inaccurately segmented text lines will lead to OCR failure. Text line segmentation of handwritten documents is a complex and diverse problem, complicated by the nature of handwriting. Hence, text line segmentation is a leading challenge in handwritten document image processing. Due to inconsistencies in measurement and evaluation of text segmentation algorithm quality, some basic set of measurement methods is required. Currently, there is no commonly accepted one and all algorithm evaluation is custom oriented. In this paper, a basic test framework for the evaluation of text feature extraction algorithms is proposed. This test framework consists of a few experiments primarily linked to text line segmentation, skew rate and reference text line evaluation. Although they are mutually independent, the results obtained are strongly cross linked. In the end, its suitability for different types of letters and languages as well as its adaptability are its main advantages. Thus, the paper presents an efficient evaluation method for text analysis algorithms. PMID:22399932

Mechanical verification of soft-tissue attachment on bioactive glasses and titanium implants.

PubMed

Zhao, Desheng; Moritz, Niko; Vedel, Erik; Hupa, Leena; Aro, Hannu T

2008-07-01

Soft-tissue attachment is a desired feature of many clinical biomaterials. The aim of the current study was to design a suitable experimental method for tensile testing of implant incorporation with soft-tissues. Conical implants were made of three compositions of bioactive glass (SiO(2)-P(2)O(5)-B(2)O(3)-Na(2)O-K(2)O-CaO-MgO) or titanium fiber mesh (porosity 84.7%). The implants were surgically inserted into the dorsal subcutaneous soft-tissue or back muscles in the rat. Soft-tissue attachment was evaluated by pull-out testing using a custom-made jig 8 weeks after implantation. Titanium fiber mesh implants had developed a relatively high pull-out force in subcutaneous tissue (12.33+/-5.29 N, mean+/-SD) and also measurable attachment with muscle tissue (2.46+/-1.33 N). The bioactive glass implants failed to show mechanically relevant soft-tissue bonding. The experimental set-up of mechanical testing seems to be feasible for verification studies of soft-tissue attachment. The inexpensive small animal model is beneficial for large-scale in vivo screening of new biomaterials.

InfoTrac TFD: a microcomputer implementation of the Transcription Factor Database TFD with a graphical user interface.

PubMed

Hoeck, W G

1994-06-01

InfoTrac TFD provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for viewing and manipulating datasets in the Transcription Factor Database, TFD. The interface was developed in Filemaker Pro 2.0 by Claris Corporation, which provides cross platform compatibility between Apple Macintosh computers running System 7.0 and higher and IBM-compatibles running Microsoft Windows 3.0 and higher. TFD ASCII-tables were formatted to fit data into several custom data tables using Add/Strip, a shareware utility and Filemaker Pro's lookup feature. The lookup feature was also put to use to allow TFD data tables to become linked within a flat-file database management system. The 'Navigator', consisting of several pop-up menus listing transcription factor abbreviations, facilitates the search for transcription factor entries. Data are presented onscreen in several layouts, that can be further customized by the user. InfoTrac TFD makes the transcription factor database accessible to a much wider community of scientists by making it available on two popular microcomputer platforms.

Using Mobile Devices to Display, Overlay, and Animate Geophysical Data and Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batzli, S.; Parker, D.

2011-12-01

A major challenge in mobile-device map application development is to offer rich content and features with simple and intuitive controls and fast performance. Our goal is to bring visualization, animation, and notifications of near real-time weather and earth observation information derived from satellite and sensor data to mobile devices. Our robust back-end processing infrastructure can deliver content in the form of images, shapes, standard descriptive formats (eg. KML, JSON) or raw data to a variety of desktop software, browsers, and mobile devices on demand. We have developed custom interfaces for low-bandwidth browsers (including mobile phones) and high-feature browsers (including smartphones), as well as native applications for Android and iOS devices. Mobile devices offer time- and location-awareness and persistent data connections, allowing us to tailor timely notifications and displays to the user's geographic and time context. This presentation includes a live demo of how our mobile apps deliver animation of standard and custom data products in an interactive map interface.

Enhancing the Sensitivity of Pharmacophore-Based Virtual Screening by Incorporating Customized ZBG Features: A Case Study Using Histone Deacetylase 8.

PubMed

Hou, Xuben; Du, Jintong; Liu, Renshuai; Zhou, Yi; Li, Minyong; Xu, Wenfang; Fang, Hao

2015-04-27

As key regulators of epigenetic regulation, human histone deacetylases (HDACs) have been identified as drug targets for the treatment of several cancers. The proper recognition of zinc-binding groups (ZBGs) will help improve the accuracy of virtual screening for novel HDAC inhibitors. Here, we developed a high-specificity ZBG-based pharmacophore model for HDAC8 inhibitors by incorporating customized ZBG features. Subsequently, pharmacophore-based virtual screening led to the discovery of three novel HDAC8 inhibitors with low micromole IC50 values (1.8-1.9 μM). Further studies demonstrated that compound H8-A5 was selective for HDAC8 over HDAC 1/4 and showed antiproliferation activity in MDA-MB-231 cancer cells. Molecular docking and molecular dynamic studies suggested a possible binding mode for H8-A5, which provides a good starting point for the development of HDAC8 inhibitors in cancer treatment.

EGSE customization for the Euclid NISP Instrument AIV/AIT activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franceschi, E.; Trifoglio, M.; Gianotti, F.; Conforti, V.; Andersen, J. J.; Stephen, J. B.; Valenziano, L.; Auricchio, N.; Bulgarelli, A.; De Rosa, A.; Fioretti, V.; Maiorano, E.; Morgante, G.; Nicastro, L.; Sortino, F.; Zoli, A.; Balestra, A.; Bonino, D.; Bonoli, C.; Bortoletto, F.; Capobianco, V.; Corcione, L.; Dal Corso, F.; Debei, S.; Di Ferdinando, D.; Dusini, S.; Farinelli, R.; Fornari, F.; Giacomini, F.; Guizzo, G. P.; Laudisio, F.; Ligori, S.; Mauri, N.; Medinaceli, E.; Patrizii, L.; Sirignano, C.; Sirri, G.; Stanco, L.; Tenti, M.; Valieri, C.; Ventura, S.

2016-07-01

The Near Infrared Spectro-Photometer (NISP) on board the Euclid ESA mission will be developed and tested at various levels of integration by using various test equipment. The Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) shall be required to support the assembly, integration, verification and testing (AIV/AIT) and calibration activities at instrument level before delivery to ESA, and at satellite level, when the NISP instrument is mounted on the spacecraft. In the case of the Euclid mission this EGSE will be provided by ESA to NISP team, in the HW/SW framework called "CCS Lite", with a possible first usage already during the Warm Electronics (WE) AIV/AIT activities. In this paper we discuss how we will customize that "CCS Lite" as required to support both the WE and Instrument test activities. This customization will primarily involve building the NISP Mission Information Base (the CCS MIB tables) by gathering the relevant data from the instrument sub-units and validating these inputs through specific tools. Secondarily, it will imply developing a suitable set of test sequences, by using uTOPE (an extension to the TCL scripting language, included in the CCS framework), in order to implement the foreseen test procedures. In addition and in parallel, custom interfaces shall be set up between the CCS and the NI-IWS (the NISP Instrument Workstation, which will be in use at any level starting from the WE activities), and also between the CCS and the TCC (the Telescope Control and command Computer, to be only and specifically used during the instrument level tests).

Design, characterization and control of the Unique Mobility Corporation robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Velasco, Virgilio B., Jr.; Newman, Wyatt S.; Steinetz, Bruce; Kopf, Carlo; Malik, John

1994-01-01

Space and mass are at a premium on any space mission, and thus any machinery designed for space use should be lightweight and compact, without sacrificing strength. It is for this reason that NASA/LeRC contracted Unique Mobility Corporation to exploit their novel actuator designs to build a robot that would advance the present state of technology with respect to these requirements. Custom-designed motors are the key feature of this robot. They are compact, high-performance dc brushless servo motors with a high pole count and low inductance, thus permitting high torque generation and rapid phase commutation. Using a custom-designed digital signal processor-based controller board, the pulse width modulation power amplifiers regulate the fast dynamics of the motor currents. In addition, the programmable digital signal processor (DSP) controller permits implementation of nonlinear compensation algorithms to account for motoring vs. regeneration, torque ripple, and back-EMF. As a result, the motors produce a high torque relative to their size and weight, and can do so with good torque regulation and acceptably high velocity saturation limits. This paper presents the Unique Mobility Corporation robot prototype: its actuators, its kinematic design, its control system, and its experimental characterization. Performance results, including saturation torques, saturation velocities and tracking accuracy tests are included.

CoNNeCT Baseband Processor Module Boot Code SoftWare (BCSW)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yamamoto, Clifford K.; Orozco, David S.; Byrne, D. J.; Allen, Steven J.; Sahasrabudhe, Adit; Lang, Minh

2012-01-01

This software provides essential startup and initialization routines for the CoNNeCT baseband processor module (BPM) hardware upon power-up. A command and data handling (C&DH) interface is provided via 1553 and diagnostic serial interfaces to invoke operational, reconfiguration, and test commands within the code. The BCSW has features unique to the hardware it is responsible for managing. In this case, the CoNNeCT BPM is configured with an updated CPU (Atmel AT697 SPARC processor) and a unique set of memory and I/O peripherals that require customized software to operate. These features include configuration of new AT697 registers, interfacing to a new HouseKeeper with a flash controller interface, a new dual Xilinx configuration/scrub interface, and an updated 1553 remote terminal (RT) core. The BCSW is intended to provide a "safe" mode for the BPM when initially powered on or when an unexpected trap occurs, causing the processor to reset. The BCSW allows the 1553 bus controller in the spacecraft or payload controller to operate the BPM over 1553 to upload code; upload Xilinx bit files; perform rudimentary tests; read, write, and copy the non-volatile flash memory; and configure the Xilinx interface. Commands also exist over 1553 to cause the CPU to jump or call a specified address to begin execution of user-supplied code. This may be in the form of a real-time operating system, test routine, or specific application code to run on the BPM.

AUTOMATED UTILITY SERVICE AREA ASSESSMENT UNDER EMERGENCY CONDITIONS

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

G. TOOLE; S. LINGER

2001-01-01

All electric utilities serve power to their customers through a variety of functional levels, notably substations. The majority of these components consist of distribution substations operating at lower voltages while a small fraction are transmission substations. There is an associated geographical area that encompasses customers who are served, defined as the service area. Analysis of substation service areas is greatly complicated by several factors: distribution networks are often highly interconnected which allows a multitude of possible switching operations; also, utilities dynamically alter the network topology in order to respond to emergency events. As a result, the service area for amore » substation can change radically. A utility will generally attempt to minimize the number of customers outaged by switching effected loads to alternate substations. In this manner, all or a portion of a disabled substation's load may be served by one or more adjacent substations. This paper describes a suite of analytical tools developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which address the problem of determining how a utility might respond to such emergency events. The estimated outage areas derived using the tools are overlaid onto other geographical and electrical layers in a geographic information system (GIS) software application. The effects of a power outage on a population, other infrastructures, or other physical features, can be inferred by the proximity of these features to the estimated outage area.« less

Customized shaping of vibration modes by acoustic metamaterial synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Jiawen; Li, Shilong; Tang, J.

2018-04-01

Acoustic metamaterials have attractive potential in elastic wave guiding and attenuation over specific frequency ranges. The vast majority of related investigations are on transient waves. In this research we focus on stationary wave manipulation, i.e., shaping of vibration modes. Periodically arranged piezoelectric transducers shunted with inductive circuits are integrated to a beam structure to form a finite-length metamaterial beam. We demonstrate for the first time that, under a given operating frequency of interest, we can facilitate a metamaterial design such that this frequency becomes a natural frequency of the integrated system. Moreover, the vibration mode corresponding to this natural frequency can be customized and shaped to realize tailored/localized response distribution. This is fundamentally different from previous practices of utilizing geometry modification and/or feedback control to achieve mode tailoring. The metamaterial design is built upon the combinatorial effects of the bandgap feature and the effective resonant cavity feature, both attributed to the dynamic characteristics of the metamaterial beam. Analytical investigations based on unit-cell dynamics and modal analysis of the metamaterial beam are presented to reveal the underlying mechanism. Case illustrations are validated by finite element analyses. Owing to the online tunability of circuitry integrated, the proposed mode shaping technique can be online adjusted to fit specific requirements. The customized shaping of vibration modes by acoustic metamaterial synthesis has potential applications in vibration suppression, sensing enhancement and energy harvesting.

Enhanced Vertical Perception through Head-Related Impulse Response Customization Based on Pinna Response Tuning in the Median Plane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shin, Ki Hoon; Park, Youngjin

Human's ability to perceive elevation of a sound and distinguish whether a sound is coming from the front or rear strongly depends on the monaural spectral features of the pinnae. In order to realize an effective virtual auditory display by HRTF (head-related transfer function) customization, the pinna responses were isolated from the median HRIRs (head-related impulse responses) of 45 individual HRIRs in the CIPIC HRTF database and modeled as linear combinations of 4 or 5 basic temporal shapes (basis functions) per each elevation on the median plane by PCA (principal components analysis) in the time domain. By tuning the weight of each basis function computed for a specific height to replace the pinna response in the KEMAR HRIR at the same height with the resulting customized pinna response and listening to the filtered stimuli over headphones, 4 individuals with normal hearing sensitivity were able to create a set of HRIRs that outperformed the KEMAR HRIRs in producing vertical effects with reduced front/back ambiguity in the median plane. Since the monaural spectral features of the pinnae are almost independent of azimuthal variation of the source direction, similar vertical effects could also be generated at different azimuthal directions simply by varying the ITD (interaural time difference) according to the direction as well as the size of each individual's own head.

Development of a beam test telescope based on the Alibava readout system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marco-Hernández, R.

2011-01-01

A telescope for a beam test have been developed as a result of a collaboration among the University of Liverpool, Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica (CNM) of Barcelona and Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC) of Valencia. This system is intended to carry out both analogue charge collection and spatial resolution measurements with different types of microstrip or pixel silicon detectors in a beam test environment. The telescope has four XY measurement as well as trigger planes (XYT board) and it can accommodate up to twelve devices under test (DUT board). The DUT board uses two Beetle ASICs for the readout of chilled silicon detectors. The board could operate in a self-triggering mode. The board features a temperature sensor and it can be mounted on a rotary stage. A peltier element is used for cooling the DUT. Each XYT board measures the track space points using two silicon strip detectors connected to two Beetle ASICs. It can also trigger on the particle tracks in the beam test. The board includes a CPLD which allows for the synchronization of the trigger signal to a common clock frequency, delaying and implementing coincidence with other XYT boards. An Alibava mother board is used to read out and to control each XYT/DUT board from a common trigger signal and a common clock signal. The Alibava board has a TDC on board to have a time stamp of each trigger. The data collected by each Alibava board is sent to a master card by means of a local data/address bus following a custom digital protocol. The master board distributes the trigger, clock and reset signals. It also merges the data streams from up to sixteen Alibava boards. The board has also a test channel for testing in a standard mode a XYT or DUT board. This board is implemented with a Xilinx development board and a custom patch board. The master board is connected with the DAQ software via 100M Ethernet. Track based alignment software has also been developed for the data obtained with the DAQ software.

Inspecting Engineering Samples

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Goddard's Ritsko Wins 2011 SAVE Award The winner of the 2011 SAVE Award is Matthew Ritsko, a Goddard financial manager. His tool lending library would track and enable sharing of expensive space-flight tools and hardware after projects no longer need them. This set of images represents the types of tools used at NASA. To read more go to: www.nasa.gov/topics/people/features/ritsko-save.html Dr. Doug Rabin (Code 671) and PI La Vida Cooper (Code 564) inspect engineering samples of the HAS-2 imager which will be tested and readout using a custom ASIC with a 16-bit ADC (analog to digital converter) and CDS (correlated double sampling) circuit designed by the Code 564 ASIC group as a part of an FY10 IRAD. The purpose of the IRAD was to develop and high resolution digitizer for Heliophysics applications such as imaging. Future goals for the collaboration include characterization testing and eventually a sounding rocket flight of the integrated system. *ASIC= Application Specific Integrated Circuit NASA/GSFC/Chris Gunn

An Integrated Cardiology Patient Management System

PubMed Central

Kiely, F. Michael

1988-01-01

An integrated clinical database has been developed for all diagnostic cardiac services at Vancouver General Hospital. The system is installed on a Data General MV/10000 computer and utilizes the Flagship Application Generator from EPIC Systems Corp. Clinical information, as well as demographic and administrative data, is collected. The system features a custom menu for each user, whose selections provide direct access to the desired functional modules. The intention is to collect data from all the diagnostic areas of the Division of Cardiology, viz., Cardiac Ultrasound, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, Pacemaker Clinic and Electrocardiology (including 24 hour ambulatory EKGs and exercise testing). Automated links to the hospital's Admitting/Discharge/Transfer and Billing/Accounts Receivable systems have been implemented over the hospital's local area network. The system is used to produce routine reports of test results, patient billings, and departmental workload statistics. Inquiry functions permit the rapid location of patient records and produce an integrated profile of cardiology activity. In addition, selective searches of the data are available for research and/or other purposes.

Chronic, percutaneous connector for electrical recording and stimulation with microelectrode arrays.

PubMed

Shah, Kedar G; Lee, Kye Young; Tolosa, Vanessa; Tooker, Angela; Felix, Sarah; Benett, William; Pannu, Satinderpall

2014-01-01

The translation of advances in neural stimulation and recording research into clinical practice hinges on the ability to perform chronic experiments in awake and behaving animal models. Advances in microelectrode array technology, most notably flexible polymer arrays, have significantly improved reliability of the neural interface. However, electrical connector technology has lagged and is prone to failure from non-biocompatibility, large size, contamination, corrosion, and difficulty of use. We present a novel chronic, percutaneous electrical connector system that is suitable for neural stimulation and recording. This system features biocompatible materials, low connect and disconnect forces, passive alignment, and a protective cap during non-use. We have successfully designed, assembled, and tested in vitro both a 16-channel system and a high density 64-channel system. Custom, polyimide, 16-channel, microelectrode arrays were electrically assembled with the connector system and tested using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. This connector system is versatile and can be used with a variety of microelectrode array technologies for chronic studies.

ArrayInitiative - a tool that simplifies creating custom Affymetrix CDFs

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Probes on a microarray represent a frozen view of a genome and are quickly outdated when new sequencing studies extend our knowledge, resulting in significant measurement error when analyzing any microarray experiment. There are several bioinformatics approaches to improve probe assignments, but without in-house programming expertise, standardizing these custom array specifications as a usable file (e.g. as Affymetrix CDFs) is difficult, owing mostly to the complexity of the specification file format. However, without correctly standardized files there is a significant barrier for testing competing analysis approaches since this file is one of the required inputs for many commonly used algorithms. The need to test combinations of probe assignments and analysis algorithms led us to develop ArrayInitiative, a tool for creating and managing custom array specifications. Results ArrayInitiative is a standalone, cross-platform, rich client desktop application for creating correctly formatted, custom versions of manufacturer-provided (default) array specifications, requiring only minimal knowledge of the array specification rules and file formats. Users can import default array specifications, import probe sequences for a default array specification, design and import a custom array specification, export any array specification to multiple output formats, export the probe sequences for any array specification and browse high-level information about the microarray, such as version and number of probes. The initial release of ArrayInitiative supports the Affymetrix 3' IVT expression arrays we currently analyze, but as an open source application, we hope that others will contribute modules for other platforms. Conclusions ArrayInitiative allows researchers to create new array specifications, in a standard format, based upon their own requirements. This makes it easier to test competing design and analysis strategies that depend on probe definitions. Since the custom array specifications are easily exported to the manufacturer's standard format, researchers can analyze these customized microarray experiments using established software tools, such as those available in Bioconductor. PMID:21548938

Impact of the New Abbott mPLUS Feature on Clinical Laboratory Efficiencies of Abbott RealTime Assays for Detection of HIV-1, Hepatitis C Virus, Hepatitis B Virus, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae

PubMed Central

Jones, Sara; Wiesneth, Russ; Barry, Cathy; Webb, Erika; Belova, Larissa; Dolan, Peggy; Ho, Shiaolan; Abravaya, Klara; Cloherty, Gavin

2013-01-01

Diagnostic laboratories are under increasing pressure to improve and expand their services. Greater flexibility in sample processing is a critical factor that can improve the time to results while reducing reagent waste, making laboratories more efficient and cost-effective. The introduction of the Abbott mPLUS feature, with the capacity for extended use of amplification reagents, significantly increases the flexibility of the m2000 platform and enables laboratories to customize their workflows based on sample arrival patterns. The flexibility in sample batch size offered by mPLUS enables significant reductions in processing times. For hepatitis B virus tests, a reduction in sample turnaround times of up to 30% (105 min) was observed for batches of 12 samples compared with those for batches of 24 samples; for Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae tests, the ability to run batches of 24 samples reduced the turnaround time by 83% (54 min) compared with that for batches of 48 samples. Excellent correlations between mPLUS and m2000 standard condition results were observed for all RealTime viral load assays evaluated in this study, with correlation r values of 0.998 for all assays tested. For the qualitative RealTime C. trachomatis/N. gonorrhoeae assay, the overall agreements between the two conditions tested were >98% for C. trachomatis and 100% for N. gonorrhoeae. Comparable precision results were observed for the two conditions tested for all RealTime assays. The enhanced mPLUS capability provides clinical laboratories with increased efficiencies to meet increasingly stringent turnaround time requirements without increased costs associated with discarding partially used amplification reagents. PMID:24088850

Impact of the New Abbott mPLUS feature on clinical laboratory efficiencies of abbott RealTime assays for detection of HIV-1, Hepatitis C Virus, Hepatitis B Virus, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

PubMed

Lucic, Danijela; Jones, Sara; Wiesneth, Russ; Barry, Cathy; Webb, Erika; Belova, Larissa; Dolan, Peggy; Ho, Shiaolan; Abravaya, Klara; Cloherty, Gavin

2013-12-01

Diagnostic laboratories are under increasing pressure to improve and expand their services. Greater flexibility in sample processing is a critical factor that can improve the time to results while reducing reagent waste, making laboratories more efficient and cost-effective. The introduction of the Abbott mPLUS feature, with the capacity for extended use of amplification reagents, significantly increases the flexibility of the m2000 platform and enables laboratories to customize their workflows based on sample arrival patterns. The flexibility in sample batch size offered by mPLUS enables significant reductions in processing times. For hepatitis B virus tests, a reduction in sample turnaround times of up to 30% (105 min) was observed for batches of 12 samples compared with those for batches of 24 samples; for Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae tests, the ability to run batches of 24 samples reduced the turnaround time by 83% (54 min) compared with that for batches of 48 samples. Excellent correlations between mPLUS and m2000 standard condition results were observed for all RealTime viral load assays evaluated in this study, with correlation r values of 0.998 for all assays tested. For the qualitative RealTime C. trachomatis/N. gonorrhoeae assay, the overall agreements between the two conditions tested were >98% for C. trachomatis and 100% for N. gonorrhoeae. Comparable precision results were observed for the two conditions tested for all RealTime assays. The enhanced mPLUS capability provides clinical laboratories with increased efficiencies to meet increasingly stringent turnaround time requirements without increased costs associated with discarding partially used amplification reagents.

Multimodal visualization interface for data management, self-learning and data presentation.

PubMed

Van Sint Jan, S; Demondion, X; Clapworthy, G; Louryan, S; Rooze, M; Cotten, A; Viceconti, M

2006-10-01

A multimodal visualization software, called the Data Manager (DM), has been developed to increase interdisciplinary communication around the topic of visualization and modeling of various aspects of the human anatomy. Numerous tools used in Radiology are integrated in the interface that runs on standard personal computers. The available tools, combined to hierarchical data management and custom layouts, allow analyzing of medical imaging data using advanced features outside radiological premises (for example, for patient review, conference presentation or tutorial preparation). The system is free, and based on an open-source software development architecture, and therefore updates of the system for custom applications are possible.

Custom sample environments at the ALBA XPEEM.

PubMed

Foerster, Michael; Prat, Jordi; Massana, Valenti; Gonzalez, Nahikari; Fontsere, Abel; Molas, Bernat; Matilla, Oscar; Pellegrin, Eric; Aballe, Lucia

2016-12-01

A variety of custom-built sample holders offer users a wide range of non-standard measurements at the ALBA synchrotron PhotoEmission Electron Microscope (PEEM) experimental station. Some of the salient features are: an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) suitcase compatible with many offline deposition and characterization systems, built-in electromagnets for uni- or biaxial in-plane (IP) and out-of-plane (OOP) fields, as well as the combination of magnetic fields with electric fields or current injection. Electronics providing a synchronized sinusoidal signal for sample excitation enable time-resolved measurements at the 500MHz storage ring RF frequency. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

75 FR 69334 - International Product and Price Changes

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-12

... the following product features and classification changes: Permit Imprint To provide additional payment options for customers we are authorizing permit imprint as a new postage payment option for GXG... (GSS) and pay for postage with a permit imprint through an advance deposit account. The commercial base...

An Uncommon Cottage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Scott

2008-01-01

This article features the Cliffs Cottage, a "showcase home" at Furman University which demonstrates the use of green technology in residential building and teaches about sustainability. Custom-built for the shelter-magazine dreams of "Southern Living," a sponsor of the home, the house seems better suited for a tony subdivision.…

Innovation Expo

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-03

During the 2016 Innovation Expo at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, representatives from Parker Brothers, known for designing and building outrageous custom vehicles, spoke to Kennedy employees about their creative thinking processes. Employees also were given an up-close look at their Neutron bike, featured in the movie “Tron.”

77 FR 18707 - USPS Package Intercept-New Product Offerings

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-28

... service that replaced the former recall of mail process. Plans were announced to implement new features.... Additionally, customers using the electronic process will have the option of adding selected extra services to... POSTAL SERVICE 39 CFR Part 111 USPS Package Intercept--New Product Offerings AGENCY: Postal...

ISS Double-Gimbaled CMG Subsystem Simulation Using the Agile Development Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Inampudi, Ravi

2016-01-01

This paper presents an evolutionary approach in simulating a cluster of 4 Control Moment Gyros (CMG) on the International Space Station (ISS) using a common sense approach (the agile development method) for concurrent mathematical modeling and simulation of the CMG subsystem. This simulation is part of Training systems for the 21st Century simulator which will provide training for crew members, instructors, and flight controllers. The basic idea of how the CMGs on the space station are used for its non-propulsive attitude control is briefly explained to set up the context for simulating a CMG subsystem. Next different reference frames and the detailed equations of motion (EOM) for multiple double-gimbal variable-speed control moment gyroscopes (DGVs) are presented. Fixing some of the terms in the EOM becomes the special case EOM for ISS's double-gimbaled fixed speed CMGs. CMG simulation development using the agile development method is presented in which customer's requirements and solutions evolve through iterative analysis, design, coding, unit testing and acceptance testing. At the end of the iteration a set of features implemented in that iteration are demonstrated to the flight controllers thus creating a short feedback loop and helping in creating adaptive development cycles. The unified modeling language (UML) tool is used in illustrating the user stories, class designs and sequence diagrams. This incremental development approach of mathematical modeling and simulating the CMG subsystem involved the development team and the customer early on, thus improving the quality of the working CMG system in each iteration and helping the team to accurately predict the cost, schedule and delivery of the software.

Effect of Anatomical Customization of the Fiber Post on the Bond Strength of a Self-Adhesive Resin Cement

PubMed Central

Rocha, Adricyla Teixeira; Vasconcelos, Ana Júlia de Carvalho; Nunes Carvalho, Ceci

2017-01-01

Aim The aim of the study was to evaluate, by means of the push-out test, the effect of the anatomical customization of the fiber post on the bond strength of a self-adhesive resin cement. Methods Twelve endodontically treated, human, upper central incisors were randomly divided into two groups (n = 6): control (glass fiber posts cemented with Relyx® U200) and customized (glass fiber posts anatomically customized with translucent composite resin cemented with Relyx U200). The roots were sectioned into three slices, cervical, middle, and apical, and photographed with a digital camera attached to a stereomicroscopic loupe. The images were analyzed by software, for evaluation of the cement line. The slices were subsequently submitted to the push-out test until the post had completely extruded, and the fracture mode was analyzed with a stereomicroscopic loupe. Results The results showed significant differences between the groups in the different root thirds in relation to the area occupied by air bubbles (p < 0.05). Bond strength, when all the thirds are considered, was 8.77 ± 4.89 MPa for the control group and 16.96 ± 4.85 MPa for the customized group. Conclusion The customized group showed greater bond resistance than the control group and a more uniform cement layer. PMID:28785281

Extreme Programming: Maestro Style

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norris, Jeffrey; Fox, Jason; Rabe, Kenneth; Shu, I-Hsiang; Powell, Mark

2009-01-01

"Extreme Programming: Maestro Style" is the name of a computer programming methodology that has evolved as a custom version of a methodology, called extreme programming that has been practiced in the software industry since the late 1990s. The name of this version reflects its origin in the work of the Maestro team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory that develops software for Mars exploration missions. Extreme programming is oriented toward agile development of software resting on values of simplicity, communication, testing, and aggressiveness. Extreme programming involves use of methods of rapidly building and disseminating institutional knowledge among members of a computer-programming team to give all the members a shared view that matches the view of the customers for whom the software system is to be developed. Extreme programming includes frequent planning by programmers in collaboration with customers, continually examining and rewriting code in striving for the simplest workable software designs, a system metaphor (basically, an abstraction of the system that provides easy-to-remember software-naming conventions and insight into the architecture of the system), programmers working in pairs, adherence to a set of coding standards, collaboration of customers and programmers, frequent verbal communication, frequent releases of software in small increments of development, repeated testing of the developmental software by both programmers and customers, and continuous interaction between the team and the customers. The environment in which the Maestro team works requires the team to quickly adapt to changing needs of its customers. In addition, the team cannot afford to accept unnecessary development risk. Extreme programming enables the Maestro team to remain agile and provide high-quality software and service to its customers. However, several factors in the Maestro environment have made it necessary to modify some of the conventional extreme-programming practices. The single most influential of these factors is that continuous interaction between customers and programmers is not feasible.

Customer Satisfaction with Training Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulder, Martin

2001-01-01

A model for evaluating customer satisfaction with training programs was tested with training purchasers. The model confirmed two types of projects: training aimed at achieving learning results and at changing job performance. The model did not fit for training intended to support organizational change. (Contains 31 references.) (SK)

Breaking the trade-off between efficiency and service.

PubMed

Frei, Frances X

2006-11-01

For manufacturers, customers are the open wallets at the end of the supply chain. But for most service businesses, they are key inputs to the production process. Customers introduce tremendous variability to that process, but they also complain about any lack of consistency and don't care about the company's profit agenda. Managing customer-introduced variability, the author argues, is a central challenge for service companies. The first step is to diagnose which type of variability is causing mischief: Customers may arrive at different times, request different kinds of service, possess different capabilities, make varying degrees of effort, and have different personal preferences. Should companies accommodate variability or reduce it? Accommodation often involves asking employees to compensate for the variations among customers--a potentially costly solution. Reduction often means offering a limited menu of options, which may drive customers away. Some companies have learned to deal with customer-introduced variability without damaging either their operating environments or customers' service experiences. Starbucks, for example, handles capability variability among its customers by teaching them the correct ordering protocol. Dell deals with arrival and request variability in its high-end server business by outsourcing customer service while staying in close touch with customers to discuss their needs and assess their experiences with third-party providers. The effective management of variability often requires a company to influence customers' behavior. Managers attempting that kind of intervention can follow a three-step process: diagnosing the behavioral problem, designing an operating role for customers that creates new value for both parties, and testing and refining approaches for influencing behavior.

The value of price transparency in residential solar photovoltaic markets

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

O'Shaughnessy, Eric; Margolis, Robert

Installed prices for residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have declined significantly in recent years. However price dispersion and limited customer access to PV quotes prevents some prospective customers from obtaining low price offers. This study shows that improved customer access to prices - also known as price transparency - is a potential policy lever for further PV price reductions. We use customer search and strategic pricing theory to show that PV installation companies face incentives to offer lower prices in markets with more price transparency. We test this theoretical framework using a unique residential PV quote dataset. Our results showmore » that installers offer lower prices to customers that are expected to receive more quotes. Our study provides a rationale for policies to improve price transparency in residential PV markets.« less

The value of price transparency in residential solar photovoltaic markets

DOE PAGES

O'Shaughnessy, Eric; Margolis, Robert

2018-04-05

Installed prices for residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have declined significantly in recent years. However price dispersion and limited customer access to PV quotes prevents some prospective customers from obtaining low price offers. This study shows that improved customer access to prices - also known as price transparency - is a potential policy lever for further PV price reductions. We use customer search and strategic pricing theory to show that PV installation companies face incentives to offer lower prices in markets with more price transparency. We test this theoretical framework using a unique residential PV quote dataset. Our results showmore » that installers offer lower prices to customers that are expected to receive more quotes. Our study provides a rationale for policies to improve price transparency in residential PV markets.« less

A Review of Power Distribution Test Feeders in the United States and the Need for Synthetic Representative Networks

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

Postigo Marcos, Fernando E.; Domingo, Carlos Mateo; San Roman, Tomas Gomez

Under the increasing penetration of distributed energy resources and new smart network technologies, distribution utilities face new challenges and opportunities to ensure reliable operations, manage service quality, and reduce operational and investment costs. Simultaneously, the research community is developing algorithms for advanced controls and distribution automation that can help to address some of these challenges. However, there is a shortage of realistic test systems that are publically available for development, testing, and evaluation of such new algorithms. Concerns around revealing critical infrastructure details and customer privacy have severely limited the number of actual networks published and that are available formore » testing. In recent decades, several distribution test feeders and US-featured representative networks have been published, but the scale, complexity, and control data vary widely. This paper presents a first-of-a-kind structured literature review of published distribution test networks with a special emphasis on classifying their main characteristics and identifying the types of studies for which they have been used. As a result, this both aids researchers in choosing suitable test networks for their needs and highlights the opportunities and directions for further test system development. In particular, we highlight the need for building large-scale synthetic networks to overcome the identified drawbacks of current distribution test feeders.« less

A Review of Power Distribution Test Feeders in the United States and the Need for Synthetic Representative Networks

DOE PAGES

Postigo Marcos, Fernando E.; Domingo, Carlos Mateo; San Roman, Tomas Gomez; ...

2017-11-18

Under the increasing penetration of distributed energy resources and new smart network technologies, distribution utilities face new challenges and opportunities to ensure reliable operations, manage service quality, and reduce operational and investment costs. Simultaneously, the research community is developing algorithms for advanced controls and distribution automation that can help to address some of these challenges. However, there is a shortage of realistic test systems that are publically available for development, testing, and evaluation of such new algorithms. Concerns around revealing critical infrastructure details and customer privacy have severely limited the number of actual networks published and that are available formore » testing. In recent decades, several distribution test feeders and US-featured representative networks have been published, but the scale, complexity, and control data vary widely. This paper presents a first-of-a-kind structured literature review of published distribution test networks with a special emphasis on classifying their main characteristics and identifying the types of studies for which they have been used. As a result, this both aids researchers in choosing suitable test networks for their needs and highlights the opportunities and directions for further test system development. In particular, we highlight the need for building large-scale synthetic networks to overcome the identified drawbacks of current distribution test feeders.« less

From customer satisfaction survey to corrective actions in laboratory services in a university hospital.

PubMed

Oja, Paula I; Kouri, Timo T; Pakarinen, Arto J

2006-12-01

To find out the satisfaction of clinical units with laboratory services in a university hospital, to point out the most important problems and defects in services, to carry out corrective actions, and thereafter to identify the possible changes in satisfaction. and Senior physicians and nurses-in-charge of the clinical units at Oulu University Hospital, Finland. Customer satisfaction survey using a questionnaire was carried out in 2001, indicating the essential aspects of laboratory services. Customer-specific problems were clarified, corrective actions were performed, and the survey was repeated in 2004. In 2001, the highest dissatisfaction rates were recorded for computerized test requesting and reporting, turnaround times of tests, and the schedule of phlebotomy rounds. The old laboratory information system was not amenable to major improvements, and it was renewed in 2004-05. Several clinical units perceived turnaround times to be long, because the tests were ordered as routine despite emergency needs. Instructions about stat requesting were given to these units. However, no changes were evident in the satisfaction level in the 2004 survey. Following negotiations with the clinics, phlebotomy rounds were re-scheduled. This resulted in a distinct increase in satisfaction in 2004. Satisfaction survey is a screening tool that identifies topics of dissatisfaction. Without further clarifications, it is not possible to find out the specific problems of customers and to undertake targeted corrective actions. Customer-specific corrections are rarely seen as improvements in overall satisfaction rates.

Personal Genomic Testing for Cancer Risk: Results From the Impact of Personal Genomics Study

PubMed Central

Gollust, Sarah E.; Carere, Deanna Alexis; Chen, Clara A.; Cronin, Angel; Kalia, Sarah S.; Rana, Huma Q.; Ruffin, Mack T.; Wang, Catharine; Roberts, J. Scott; Green, Robert C.

2017-01-01

Purpose Significant concerns exist regarding the potential for unwarranted behavior changes and the overuse of health care resources in response to direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing (PGT). However, little is known about customers’ behaviors after PGT. Methods Longitudinal surveys were given to new customers of 23andMe (Mountain View, CA) and Pathway Genomics (San Diego, CA). Survey data were linked to individual-level PGT results through a secure data transfer process. Results Of the 1,042 customers who completed baseline and 6-month surveys (response rate, 71.2%), 762 had complete cancer-related data and were analyzed. Most customers reported that learning about their genetic risk of cancers was a motivation for testing (colorectal, 88%; prostate, 95%; breast, 94%). No customers tested positive for pathogenic mutations in highly penetrant cancer susceptibility genes. A minority of individuals received elevated single nucleotide polymorphism-based PGT cancer risk estimates (colorectal, 24%; prostate, 24%; breast, 12%). At 6 months, customers who received elevated PGT cancer risk estimates were not significantly more likely to change their diet, exercise, or advanced planning behaviors or engage in cancer screening, compared with individuals at average or reduced risk. Men who received elevated PGT prostate cancer risk estimates changed their vitamin and supplement use more than those at average or reduced risk (22% v 7.6%, respectively; adjusted odds ratio, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.44 to 8.18). Predictors of 6-month behavior include baseline behavior (exercise, vitamin or supplement use, and screening), worse health status (diet and vitamin or supplement use), and older age (advanced planning, screening). Conclusion Most adults receiving elevated direct-to-consumer PGT single nucleotide polymorphism-based cancer risk estimates did not significantly change their diet, exercise, advanced care planning, or cancer screening behaviors. PMID:27937091

ICoN, the Interactive Chart of Nuclides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Kevin; Mumpower, Matthew; Aprahamian, Ani

2015-10-01

Nuclear data is critical to research fields from medicine to astrophysics. The chart of nuclides is a more descriptive version of the periodic table that can be used to visualize nuclear properties such as half-lives and mass. We have created ICoN (simply short for Interactive Chart of Nuclides), an API which can be used to visualize theoretical and experimental datasets. This visualization is achieved by using D3 (Data Driven Documents), HTML, and CSS3 to plot the elements and color them accordingly. ICoN features many customization options that users can access that are dynamically applied to the chart without reloading the page. Users can save the customized chart they create to various formats. We have constructed these features in order to provide a unique approach for researchers to interface with nuclear data. ICoN can also be used on all electronic devices without loss of support. We report on the current progress of this project and will present a working demo that highlights each aspect of the aforementioned features. This is the first time that all available technologies are put to use to make nuclear data more accessible than ever before. This is a first and we will make it available as open source ware.

Why people continue to play online games: in search of critical design factors to increase customer loyalty to online contents.

PubMed

Choi, Dongseong; Kim, Jinwoo

2004-02-01

As people increasingly play online games, numerous new features have been proposed to increase players' log-on time at online gaming sites. However, few studies have investigated why people continue to play certain online games or which design features are most closely related to the amount of time spent by players at particular online gaming sites. This study proposes a theoretical model using the concepts of customer loyalty, flow, personal interaction, and social interaction to explain why people continue to play online network games. The study then conducts a large-scale survey to validate the model. Finally, it analyzes current online games to identify design features that are closely related to the theoretical concepts. The results indicate that people continue to play online games if they have optimal experiences while playing the games. This optimal experience can be attained if the player has effective personal interaction with the system or pleasant social interactions with other people connected to the Internet. Personal interaction can be facilitated by providing appropriate goals, operators and feedback; social interaction can be facilitated through appropriate communication places and tools. This paper ends with the implications of applying the study results to other domains such as e-commerce and cyber communities.

HyperCard--A Science Teaching Tool.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Carol

1992-01-01

Discussion of new technological resources available for science instruction focuses on the use of the HyperCard software for the Macintosh to design customized materials. Topics addressed include general features of HyperCard, designing HyperCard stacks, graphics, and designing buttons (i.e., links for moving through the stacks). Several sample…

Innovation Expo

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-03

Representatives from Parker Brothers, known for designing and building outrageous custom vehicles, spoke to employees at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida about their creative thinking processes. The event took place during the center's 2016 Innovation Expo. Employees also were given an up-close look at their Neutron bike, featured in the movie “Tron.”

The Digital School Library: A World-Wide Development and a Fascinating Challenge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loertscher, David

2003-01-01

Explores the academic environment of a total information system for school libraries based on the idea of a digital intranet. Discusses safety; customization; the core library collection; curriculum-specific collections; access to short-term resources; Internet access; personalized features; search engines; equity issues; and staffing. (LRW)

Practical Innovations Mark the 2011 Effective & Innovative Practices Award Winners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Facilities Manager, 2011

2011-01-01

APPA's Effective & Innovative Practices Award continues to highlight the best of the most creative and practical programs and processes that enhance and transform service delivery, lower costs, increase productivity, improve customer service, generate revenue, or otherwise benefit an educational institution. This article features five 2011…

English Around the World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marquardt, William F.; And Others

A feature of this aural-oral program for teaching English language skills to non-English speaking children in the primary grades is the colorfully illustrated, international context in which the pupils are introduced to customs and styles from around the world. The course consists of (1) teachers' guidebooks with detailed instructions for lesson…

Variety and Service Highlight the 2010 Effective and Innovative Practices Award Winners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Facilities Manager, 2010

2010-01-01

APPA's Effective & Innovative Practices Award continues to highlight the best of the most creative and practical programs and processes that enhance and transform service delivery, lower costs, increase productivity, improve customer service, generate revenue, or otherwise benefit an educational institution. This article features five 2010…

Onboard tagging for real-time quality assessment of photoplethysmograms acquired by a wireless reflectance pulse oximeter.

PubMed

Li, Kejia; Warren, Steve; Natarajan, Balasubramaniam

2012-02-01

Onboard assessment of photoplethysmogram (PPG) quality could reduce unnecessary data transmission on battery-powered wireless pulse oximeters and improve the viability of the electronic patient records to which these data are stored. These algorithms show promise to increase the intelligence level of former "dumb" medical devices: devices that acquire and forward data but leave data interpretation to the clinician or host system. To this end, the authors have developed a unique onboard feature detection algorithm to assess the quality of PPGs acquired with a custom reflectance mode, wireless pulse oximeter. The algorithm uses a Bayesian hypothesis testing method to analyze four features extracted from raw and decimated PPG data in order to determine whether the original data comprise valid PPG waveforms or whether they are corrupted by motion or other environmental influences. Based on these results, the algorithm further calculates heart rate and blood oxygen saturation from a "compact representation" structure. PPG data were collected from 47 subjects to train the feature detection algorithm and to gauge their performance. A MATLAB interface was also developed to visualize the features extracted, the algorithm flow, and the decision results, where all algorithm-related parameters and decisions were ascertained on the wireless unit prior to transmission. For the data sets acquired here, the algorithm was 99% effective in identifying clean, usable PPGs versus nonsaturated data that did not demonstrate meaningful pulsatile waveshapes, PPGs corrupted by motion artifact, and data affected by signal saturation.

Genotype imputation efficiency in Nelore Cattle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Genotype imputation efficiency in Nelore cattle was evaluated in different scenarios of lower density (LD) chips, imputation methods and sets of animals to have their genotypes imputed. Twelve commercial and virtual custom LD chips with densities varying from 7K to 75K SNPs were tested. Customized L...

Fabrication of custom-shaped grafts for cartilage regeneration.

PubMed

Koo, Seungbum; Hargreaves, Brian A; Gold, Garry E; Dragoo, Jason L

2010-10-01

to create a custom-shaped graft through 3D tissue shape reconstruction and rapid-prototype molding methods using MRI data, and to test the accuracy of the custom-shaped graft against the original anatomical defect. An iatrogenic defect on the distal femur was identified with a 1.5 Tesla MRI and its shape was reconstructed into a three-dimensional (3D) computer model by processing the 3D MRI data. First, the accuracy of the MRI-derived 3D model was tested against a laser-scan based 3D model of the defect. A custom-shaped polyurethane graft was fabricated from the laser-scan based 3D model by creating custom molds through computer aided design and rapid-prototyping methods. The polyurethane tissue was laser-scanned again to calculate the accuracy of this process compared to the original defect. The volumes of the defect models from MRI and laser-scan were 537 mm3 and 405 mm3, respectively, implying that the MRI model was 33% larger than the laser-scan model. The average (±SD) distance deviation of the exterior surface of the MRI model from the laser-scan model was 0.4 ± 0.4 mm. The custom-shaped tissue created from the molds was qualitatively very similar to the original shape of the defect. The volume of the custom-shaped cartilage tissue was 463 mm3 which was 15% larger than the laser-scan model. The average (±SD) distance deviation between the two models was 0.04 ± 0.19 mm. This investigation proves the concept that custom-shaped engineered grafts can be fabricated from standard sequence 3-D MRI data with the use of CAD and rapid-prototyping technology. The accuracy of this technology may help solve the interfacial problem between native cartilage and graft, if the grafts are custom made for the specific defect. The major source of error in fabricating a 3D custom-shaped cartilage graft appears to be the accuracy of a MRI data itself; however, the precision of the model is expected to increase by the utilization of advanced MR sequences with higher magnet strengths.

Promoting Healthy Choices in Non-Chain Restaurants: Effects of a Simple Cue to Customers

PubMed Central

Nothwehr, Faryle K.; Snetselaar, Linda; Dawson, Jeffrey; Schultz, Ulrike

2014-01-01

This study tested a novel intervention to influence restaurant customer ordering behavior, with measurements at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months postintervention in four owner-operated restaurants in the Midwest. A sample of 141 to 370 customers was surveyed at each time point. The response rate was 70% to 84% with 59% women, 98% White, and a mean age of 53 years. Table signs listed changes customers might consider, for example, asking for meat broiled instead of fried or requesting smaller portions. Customer surveys measured program reach and effectiveness. Owner interviews measured perceptions of program burden and customer response. Order slips were analyzed for evidence of changes in ordering. Window signs were noticed by 40%, 48%, and 45% of customers at each follow-up, respectively. Table signs were noticed by 67%, 71%, and 69% of customers, respectively. Of those, 34% at each time point stated that the signs influenced their order. Examples of how orders were influenced were elicited. Order slip data not only did not show significant changes but was also found to be an inadequate measure for the intervention. Owners reported no concerns or complaints. This intervention resulted in small but positive behavior changes among a portion of customers. Because of its simplicity and acceptability, it has great potential for dissemination. PMID:23048009

Promoting healthy choices in non-chain restaurants: effects of a simple cue to customers.

PubMed

Nothwehr, Faryle K; Snetselaar, Linda; Dawson, Jeffrey; Schultz, Ulrike

2013-01-01

This study tested a novel intervention to influence restaurant customer ordering behavior, with measurements at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months postintervention in four owner-operated restaurants in the Midwest. A sample of 141 to 370 customers was surveyed at each time point. The response rate was 70% to 84% with 59% women, 98% White, and a mean age of 53 years. Table signs listed changes customers might consider, for example, asking for meat broiled instead of fried or requesting smaller portions. Customer surveys measured program reach and effectiveness. Owner interviews measured perceptions of program burden and customer response. Order slips were analyzed for evidence of changes in ordering. Window signs were noticed by 40%, 48%, and 45% of customers at each follow-up, respectively. Table signs were noticed by 67%, 71%, and 69% of customers, respectively. Of those, 34% at each time point stated that the signs influenced their order. Examples of how orders were influenced were elicited. Order slip data not only did not show significant changes but was also found to be an inadequate measure for the intervention. Owners reported no concerns or complaints. This intervention resulted in small but positive behavior changes among a portion of customers. Because of its simplicity and acceptability, it has great potential for dissemination.

Sensor Prototype to Evaluate the Contact Force in Measuring with Coordinate Measuring Arms

PubMed Central

Cuesta, Eduardo; Telenti, Alejandro; Patiño, Hector; González-Madruga, Daniel; Martínez-Pellitero, Susana

2015-01-01

This paper describes the design, development and evaluation tests of an integrated force sensor prototype for portable Coordinate Measuring Arms (CMAs or AACMMs). The development is based on the use of strain gauges located on the surface of the CMAs’ hard probe. The strain gauges as well as their cables and connectors have been protected with a custom case, made by Additive Manufacturing techniques (Polyjet 3D). The same method has been selected to manufacture an ergonomic handle that includes trigger mechanics and the electronic components required for synchronizing the trigger signal when probing occurs. The paper also describes the monitoring software that reads the signals in real time, the calibration procedure of the prototype and the validation tests oriented towards increasing knowledge of the forces employed in manual probing. Several experiments read and record the force in real time comparing different ways of probing (discontinuous and continuous contact) and measuring different types of geometric features, from single planes to exterior cylinders, cones, or spheres, through interior features. The probing force is separated into two components allowing the influence of these strategies in probe deformation to be known. The final goal of this research is to improve the probing technique, for example by using an operator training programme, allowing extra-force peaks and bad contacts to be minimized or just to avoid bad measurements. PMID:26057038

Innovations in user-defined analysis: dynamic grouping and customized user datasets in VistaPHw.

PubMed

Solet, David; Glusker, Ann; Laurent, Amy; Yu, Tianji

2006-01-01

Flexible, ready access to community health assessment data is a feature of innovative Web-based data query systems. An example is VistaPHw, which provides access to Washington state data and statistics used in community health assessment. Because of its flexible analysis options, VistaPHw customizes local, population-based results to be relevant to public health decision-making. The advantages of two innovations, dynamic grouping and the Custom Data Module, are described. Dynamic grouping permits the creation of user-defined aggregations of geographic areas, age groups, race categories, and years. Standard VistaPHw measures such as rates, confidence intervals, and other statistics may then be calculated for the new groups. Dynamic grouping has provided data for major, successful grant proposals, building partnerships with local governments and organizations, and informing program planning for community organizations. The Custom Data Module allows users to prepare virtually any dataset so it may be analyzed in VistaPHw. Uses for this module may include datasets too sensitive to be placed on a Web server or datasets that are not standardized across the state. Limitations and other system needs are also discussed.

In the year 2525, if x ray is still alive, if lithography can survive, they may find...

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nistler, John L.; Michael, Mark; Hause, Fred N.; Edwards, Richard D.

1998-12-01

Data and discussions will be presented on the NTRM, National Technology Roadmap, for reticles based on a Process Integration perception. Specifically two layers are considered for this paper, the gate layer which is primarily a chrome geometry mask with a lot of open glass and a local interconnect layer which is primarily a chrome plate using clear geometries. Information from other sources is used where appropriate and actual in-house data is used to illustrate specific points. Realizing that demands from different customers for specific types of features tend to drive specific mask makers and their decisions on equipment purchases and processes. We attempt to help predict where Integration approaches have either caused a lag in technology pushes or have actually speeded up certain requirements. Discussions of integration requirements, which tend to push maskmakers, will be presented. Along with typical design approaches in OPC and PSM which either will push technology or actually slow down the trend towards smaller geometries. In addition, data will be presented showing how specific stepper characteristics may actually drive the customer's criteria, thus changing the requirements from customer to customer.

Relationships between Personal Traits, Emotional Intelligence, Internal Marketing, Service Management, and Customer Orientation in Korean Outpatient Department Nurses.

PubMed

Kim, Bogyun; Lee, Jia

2016-03-01

Current increase and complexity of medical tests and surgical procedures at outpatient department (OPD) require OPD nurses to have customer orientation focusing on various customers' interests and needs. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors associated with customer orientation in nurses working at OPD of hospitals. The study used a descriptive correlational design with cross-sectional survey. The study settings were four general hospitals in Seoul and its metropolitan area. Data were collected from 138 OPD nurses from general hospitals. Study variables were personal traits, emotional intelligence, internal marketing, service management and customer orientation. Factors associated with customer orientation were identified as conscientiousness from personal traits (β = .37, p < .001), emotional intelligence from individual characteristics (β = .21, p = .032), and internal marketing from environmental characteristics (β = .21, p = .001). Hospital administrators should support OPD nurses to cultivate sincere and sociable personal traits and emotional intelligence, and to consider employees as internal customers to improve patient-oriented services and satisfaction. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Visual Analytics for Heterogeneous Geoscience Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Y.; Yu, L.; Zhu, F.; Rilee, M. L.; Kuo, K. S.; Jiang, H.; Yu, H.

2017-12-01

Geoscience data obtained from diverse sources have been routinely leveraged by scientists to study various phenomena. The principal data sources include observations and model simulation outputs. These data are characterized by spatiotemporal heterogeneity originated from different instrument design specifications and/or computational model requirements used in data generation processes. Such inherent heterogeneity poses several challenges in exploring and analyzing geoscience data. First, scientists often wish to identify features or patterns co-located among multiple data sources to derive and validate certain hypotheses. Heterogeneous data make it a tedious task to search such features in dissimilar datasets. Second, features of geoscience data are typically multivariate. It is challenging to tackle the high dimensionality of geoscience data and explore the relations among multiple variables in a scalable fashion. Third, there is a lack of transparency in traditional automated approaches, such as feature detection or clustering, in that scientists cannot intuitively interact with their analysis processes and interpret results. To address these issues, we present a new scalable approach that can assist scientists in analyzing voluminous and diverse geoscience data. We expose a high-level query interface that allows users to easily express their customized queries to search features of interest across multiple heterogeneous datasets. For identified features, we develop a visualization interface that enables interactive exploration and analytics in a linked-view manner. Specific visualization techniques such as scatter plots to parallel coordinates are employed in each view to allow users to explore various aspects of features. Different views are linked and refreshed according to user interactions in any individual view. In such a manner, a user can interactively and iteratively gain understanding into the data through a variety of visual analytics operations. We demonstrate with use cases how scientists can combine the query and visualization interfaces to enable a customized workflow facilitating studies using heterogeneous geoscience datasets.

Low Earth Orbit satellite traffic simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoelzel, John

1995-01-01

This paper describes a significant tool for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) capacity analysis, needed to support marketing, economic, and design analysis, known as a Satellite Traffic Simulator (STS). LEO satellites typically use multiple beams to help achieve the desired communication capacity, but the traffic demand in these beams in usually not uniform. Simulations of dynamic, average, and peak expected demand per beam is a very critical part of the marketing, economic, and design analysis necessary to field a viable LEO system. An STS is described in this paper which can simulate voice, data and FAX traffic carried by LEO satellite beams and Earth Station Gateways. It is applicable world-wide for any LEO satellite constellations operating over any regions. For aeronautical applications to LEO satellites. the anticipates aeronautical traffic (Erlangs for each hour of the day to be simulated) is prepared for geographically defined 'area targets' (each major operational region for the respective aircraft), and used as input to the STS. The STS was designed by Constellations Communications Inc. (CCI) and E-Systems for usage in Brazil in accordance with an ESCA/INPE Statement Of Work, and developed by Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI) to execute on top of its Satellite Tool Kit (STK) commercial software. The STS simulates constellations of LEO satellite orbits, with input of traffic intensity (Erlangs) for each hour of the day generated from area targets (such as Brazilian States). accumulated in custom LEO satellite beams, and then accumulated in Earth Station Gateways. The STS is a very general simulator which can accommodate: many forms of orbital element and Walker Constellation input; simple beams or any user defined custom beams; and any location of Gateways. The paper describes some of these features, including Manual Mode dynamic graphical display of communication links, to illustrate which Gateway links are accessible and which links are not, at each 'step' of the satellite orbit. In the two Performance Modes, either Channel capacity or Grade Of Service (GOS) for objects (Satellite beams, Gateways, and an entire satellite) are computed respectively by standard traffic table capacity lookup and blocking probability equations. GOS can be input, with number of channels calculated, or number of channels can be input, with GOS calculated. Also described are some of the STS Test Procedure approach and results. AGI plans to make the STS features available through their normal commercial STK products. E-Systems is a co-developer, tester, and user of the STS. The Test Procedure for the STS was prepared by E-Systems, as an independent tester for CCI, to support the CCI delivery of the STS to ESCA, for their customer INPE.

adLIMS: a customized open source software that allows bridging clinical and basic molecular research studies.

PubMed

Calabria, Andrea; Spinozzi, Giulio; Benedicenti, Fabrizio; Tenderini, Erika; Montini, Eugenio

2015-01-01

Many biological laboratories that deal with genomic samples are facing the problem of sample tracking, both for pure laboratory management and for efficiency. Our laboratory exploits PCR techniques and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) methods to perform high-throughput integration site monitoring in different clinical trials and scientific projects. Because of the huge amount of samples that we process every year, which result in hundreds of millions of sequencing reads, we need to standardize data management and tracking systems, building up a scalable and flexible structure with web-based interfaces, which are usually called Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). We started collecting end-users' requirements, composed of desired functionalities of the system and Graphical User Interfaces (GUI), and then we evaluated available tools that could address our requirements, spanning from pure LIMS to Content Management Systems (CMS) up to enterprise information systems. Our analysis identified ADempiere ERP, an open source Enterprise Resource Planning written in Java J2EE, as the best software that also natively implements some highly desirable technological advances, such as the high usability and modularity that grants high use-case flexibility and software scalability for custom solutions. We extended and customized ADempiere ERP to fulfil LIMS requirements and we developed adLIMS. It has been validated by our end-users verifying functionalities and GUIs through test cases for PCRs samples and pre-sequencing data and it is currently in use in our laboratories. adLIMS implements authorization and authentication policies, allowing multiple users management and roles definition that enables specific permissions, operations and data views to each user. For example, adLIMS allows creating sample sheets from stored data using available exporting operations. This simplicity and process standardization may avoid manual errors and information backtracking, features that are not granted using track recording on files or spreadsheets. adLIMS aims to combine sample tracking and data reporting features with higher accessibility and usability of GUIs, thus allowing time to be saved on doing repetitive laboratory tasks, and reducing errors with respect to manual data collection methods. Moreover, adLIMS implements automated data entry, exploiting sample data multiplexing and parallel/transactional processing. adLIMS is natively extensible to cope with laboratory automation through platform-dependent API interfaces, and could be extended to genomic facilities due to the ERP functionalities.

Programmable neural processing on a smartdust for brain-computer interfaces.

PubMed

Yuwen Sun; Shimeng Huang; Oresko, Joseph J; Cheng, Allen C

2010-10-01

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) offer tremendous promise for improving the quality of life for disabled individuals. BCIs use spike sorting to identify the source of each neural firing. To date, spike sorting has been performed by either using off-chip analysis, which requires a wired connection penetrating the skull to a bulky external power/processing unit, or via custom application-specific integrated circuits that lack the programmability to perform different algorithms and upgrades. In this research, we propose and test the feasibility of performing on-chip, real-time spike sorting on a programmable smartdust, including feature extraction, classification, compression, and wireless transmission. A detailed power/performance tradeoff analysis using DVFS is presented. Our experimental results show that the execution time and power density meet the requirements to perform real-time spike sorting and wireless transmission on a single neural channel.

Silk Film Embossing System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paquette, Mark S.

New tools are often required to facilitate new discoveries and test new methods. Commercial offerings can be prohibitively expensive and difficult to customize. The development of ad-hoc tools provides the most flexibility and provides an opportunity to modify and refine a technology. An embossing system was developed for silk film imprinting and stamping in order to facilitate and add versatility to the efforts involving micro- and nanoscale device manufacturing in biopolymers. This system features temperature controlled embossing surfaces, adjustable embossing pressures, and variable embossing times. The device can also be fitted with interchangeable temperature controlled embossing and stamping tools. The design, development, fabrication, applications, and future improvements are explored for the system. This device may facilitate new discoveries in the realm of biopolymer micro- and nanomanufacturing and may provide a path towards high volume production of silk film based technologies.

X-ray tomography system to investigate granular materials during mechanical loading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Athanassiadis, Athanasios G.; La Rivière, Patrick J.; Sidky, Emil; Pelizzari, Charles; Pan, Xiaochuan; Jaeger, Heinrich M.

2014-08-01

We integrate a small and portable medical x-ray device with mechanical testing equipment to enable in situ, non-invasive measurements of a granular material's response to mechanical loading. We employ an orthopedic C-arm as the x-ray source and detector to image samples mounted in the materials tester. We discuss the design of a custom rotation stage, which allows for sample rotation and tomographic reconstruction under applied compressive stress. We then discuss the calibration of the system for 3D computed tomography, as well as the subsequent image reconstruction process. Using this system to reconstruct packings of 3D-printed particles, we resolve packing features with 0.52 mm resolution in a (60 mm)3 field of view. By analyzing the performance bounds of the system, we demonstrate that the reconstructions exhibit only moderate noise.

"Where Is My Answer?": A Customer Service Status Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marcinko, Randy

1997-01-01

Describes the results of a study that tested the customer service responses from 11 companies selling online information including online hosts, database producers, and World Wide Web search engine companies. Highlights include content-oriented issues, costs, training, human interaction, and the use of technology to save time and increase…

Hypoxia, Monitoring, and Mitigation System

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-01

Oxygen Saturation Measured via Pulse - Oximeter SRS Software Requirements Specification SW Software TI Texas Instruments uPROC Micro-Processor USAARL...Financial) Table of Figures Figure 1: Pulse OX custom module...Tasks 3, 4 and 5 have not been exercised. Sensor definition testing continued on the custom pulse -ox design. Additional refinement on the pulse

Person-Environment Congruence as a Predictor of Customer Service Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fritzsche, Barbara A.; Powell, Amy B.; Hoffman, Russell

1999-01-01

Customer service representatives (n=90) completed the Position Classification Inventory (PCI), Self-Directed Search, and a cognitive ability test. PCI was similar to the Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes in predicting performance. Cognitive ability was not significantly correlated with performance. Person/environment fit was supported as a…

77 FR 12867 - Accreditation of ALTOL Chemical and Environmental Lab Inc., as a Commercial Laboratory

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-02

... accredited to test petroleum, petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Accreditation of ALTOL Chemical..., Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: Notice of accreditation of Altol Chemical and Environmental Lab Inc...

Custom chipset and compact module design for a 75-110 GHz laboratory signal source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, Matthew A.; Boyd, Tod A.; Castro, Jason J.

2016-12-01

We report on the development and characterization of a compact, full-waveguide bandwidth (WR-10) signal source for general-purpose testing of mm-wave components. The monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) based multichip module is designed for compactness and ease-of-use, especially in size-constrained test sets such as a wafer probe station. It takes as input a cm-wave continuous-wave (CW) reference and provides a factor of three frequency multiplication as well as amplification, output power adjustment, and in situ output power monitoring. It utilizes a number of custom MMIC chips such as a Schottky-diode limiter and a broadband mm-wave detector, both designed explicitly for this module, as well as custom millimeter-wave multipliers and amplifiers reported in previous papers.

Efficiently Distributing Component-based Applications Across Wide-Area Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-01-01

a variety of sophisticated network-accessible services such as e-mail, banking, on-line shopping, entertainment, and serv - ing as a data exchange...product database Customer Serves as a façade to Order and Account Stateful Session Beans ShoppingCart Maintains list of items to be bought by customer...Pet Store tests; and JBoss 3.0.3 with Jetty 4.1.0, for the RUBiS tests) and a sin- gle database server ( Oracle 8.1.7 Enterprise Edition), each running

User-Centered Design of a Controller-Free Game for Hand Rehabilitation.

PubMed

Proffitt, Rachel; Sevick, Marisa; Chang, Chien-Yen; Lange, Belinda

2015-08-01

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a hand therapy game using the Microsoft (Redmond, WA) Kinect(®) sensor with a customized videogame. Using the Microsoft Kinect sensor as an input device, a customized game for hand rehabilitation was developed that required players to perform various gestures to accomplish a virtual cooking task. Over the course of two iterative sessions, 11 participants with different levels of wrist, hand, and finger injuries interacted with the game in a single session, and user perspectives and feedback were obtained via a questionnaire and semistructured interviews. Participants reported high levels of enjoyment, specifically related to the challenging nature of the game and the visuals. Participant feedback from the first iterative round of testing was incorporated to produce a second prototype for the second round of testing. Additionally, participants expressed the desire to have the game adapt and be customized to their unique hand therapy needs. The game tested in this study has the potential to be a unique and cutting edge method for the delivery of hand rehabilitation for a diverse population.

High pressure single-crystal micro X-ray diffraction analysis with GSE_ADA/RSV software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dera, Przemyslaw; Zhuravlev, Kirill; Prakapenka, Vitali; Rivers, Mark L.; Finkelstein, Gregory J.; Grubor-Urosevic, Ognjen; Tschauner, Oliver; Clark, Simon M.; Downs, Robert T.

2013-08-01

GSE_ADA/RSV is a free software package for custom analysis of single-crystal micro X-ray diffraction (SCμXRD) data, developed with particular emphasis on data from samples enclosed in diamond anvil cells and subject to high pressure conditions. The package has been in extensive use at the high pressure beamlines of Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory and Advanced Light Source (ALS), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The software is optimized for processing of wide-rotation images and includes a variety of peak intensity corrections and peak filtering features, which are custom-designed to make processing of high pressure SCμXRD easier and more reliable.

Integrated Component-based Data Acquisition Systems for Aerospace Test Facilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ross, Richard W.

2001-01-01

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

A mechanical property and stress corrosion evaluation of Custom 455 stainless steel alloy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montano, J. W.

1972-01-01

The mechanical and stress corrosion properties are presented of vacuum melted Custom 455 stainless steel alloy bar (1.0-inch diameter) and sheet (0.083-inch thick) material aged at 950 F, 1000 F, and 1050 F. Low temperature mechanical properties were determined at temperatures of 80 F, 0 F, -100 F, and -200 F. For all three aging treatments, the ultimate tensile and 0.2 percent offset yield strengths increased with decreasing test temperatures while the elongation held fairly constant down to -100 F and decreased at -200 F. Reduction in Area decreased moderately with decreasing temperature for the longitudinal round (0.250-inch diameter) specimens. Notched tensile strength and charpy V-notched impact strength decreased with decreasing test temperature. For all three aging treatments, no failures were observed in the unstressed specimens or the specimens stressed to 50, 75, and 100 percent of their yield strengths for 180 days of alternate immersion testing in a 3.5 percent NaCl solution. As indicated by the results of tensile tests performed after alternate immersion testing, the mechanical properties of Custom 455 alloy were not affected by stress or exposure under the conditions of the evaluation.

Science on Drupal: An evaluation of CMS Technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vinay, S.; Gonzalez, A.; Pinto, A.; Pascuzzi, F.; Gerard, A.

2011-12-01

We conducted an extensive evaluation of various Content Management System (CMS) technologies for implementing different websites supporting interdisciplinary science data and information. We chose two products, Drupal and Bluenog/Hippo CMS, to meet our specific needs and requirements. Drupal is an open source product that is quick and easy to setup and use. It is a very mature, stable, and widely used product. It has rich functionality supported by a large and active user base and developer community. There are many plugins available that provide additional features for managing citations, map gallery, semantic search, digital repositories (fedora), scientific workflows, collaborative authoring, social networking, and other functions. All of these work very well within the Drupal framework if minimal customization is needed. We have successfully implemented Drupal for multiple projects such as: 1) the Haiti Regeneration Initiative (http://haitiregeneration.org/); 2) the Consortium on Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (http://beta.ccrun.org/); and 3) the Africa Soils Information Service (http://africasoils.net/). We are also developing two other websites, the Côte Sud Initiative (CSI) and Emerging Infectious Diseases, using Drupal. We are testing the Drupal multi-site install for managing different websites with one install to streamline the maintenance. In addition, paid support and consultancy for Drupal website development are available at affordable prices. All of these features make Drupal very attractive for implementing state-of-the-art scientific websites that do not have complex requirements. One of our major websites, the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), has a very complex set of requirements. It has to easily re-purpose content across multiple web pages and sites with different presentations. It has to serve the content via REST or similar standard interfaces so that external client applications can access content in the CMS repository. This means the content repository and structure should be completely separated from the content presentation and site structure. In addition to the CMS repository, the front-end website has to be able to consume, integrate, and display diverse content flexibly from multiple back-end systems, including custom and legacy systems, such as Oracle, Geoserver, Flickr, Fedora, and other web services. We needed the ability to customize the workflow to author, edit, approve, and publish content based on different content types and project requirements. In addition, we required the ability to use the existing active directory for user management with support for roles and groups and permissions using Access Control List (ACL) model. The ability to version and lock content was also important. We determined that most of these capabilities are difficult to implement with Drupal and needed significant customization. The Bluenog eCMS (enterprise CMS) product satisfied most of these requirements. Bluenog eCMS is based on an open source product called Hippo with customizations and support provided by the vendor Bluenog. Our newly redesigned and recently released SEDAC website, http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu, is implemented using Bluenog eCMS. Other products we evaluated include WebLogic portal, Magnolia, Liferay portal, and Alfresco.

Personal customizing exercise with a wearable measurement and control unit.

PubMed

Wang, Zhihui; Kiryu, Tohru; Tamura, Naoki

2005-06-28

Recently, wearable technology has been used in various health-related fields to develop advanced monitoring solutions. However, the monitoring function alone cannot meet all the requirements of customizing machine-based exercise on an individual basis by relying on biosignal-based controls. We propose a new wearable unit design equipped with measurement and control functions to support the customization process. The wearable unit can measure the heart rate and electromyogram signals during exercise performance and output workload control commands to the exercise machines. The workload is continuously tracked with exercise programs set according to personally customized workload patterns and estimation results from the measured biosignals by a fuzzy control method. Exercise programs are adapted by relying on a computer workstation, which communicates with the wearable unit via wireless connections. A prototype of the wearable unit was tested together with an Internet-based cycle ergometer system to demonstrate that it is possible to customize exercise on an individual basis. We tested the wearable unit in nine people to assess its suitability to control cycle ergometer exercise. The results confirmed that the unit could successfully control the ergometer workload and continuously support gradual changes in physical activities. The design of wearable units equipped with measurement and control functions is an important step towards establishing a convenient and continuously supported wellness environment.

Good Features to Correlate for Visual Tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gundogdu, Erhan; Alatan, A. Aydin

2018-05-01

During the recent years, correlation filters have shown dominant and spectacular results for visual object tracking. The types of the features that are employed in these family of trackers significantly affect the performance of visual tracking. The ultimate goal is to utilize robust features invariant to any kind of appearance change of the object, while predicting the object location as properly as in the case of no appearance change. As the deep learning based methods have emerged, the study of learning features for specific tasks has accelerated. For instance, discriminative visual tracking methods based on deep architectures have been studied with promising performance. Nevertheless, correlation filter based (CFB) trackers confine themselves to use the pre-trained networks which are trained for object classification problem. To this end, in this manuscript the problem of learning deep fully convolutional features for the CFB visual tracking is formulated. In order to learn the proposed model, a novel and efficient backpropagation algorithm is presented based on the loss function of the network. The proposed learning framework enables the network model to be flexible for a custom design. Moreover, it alleviates the dependency on the network trained for classification. Extensive performance analysis shows the efficacy of the proposed custom design in the CFB tracking framework. By fine-tuning the convolutional parts of a state-of-the-art network and integrating this model to a CFB tracker, which is the top performing one of VOT2016, 18% increase is achieved in terms of expected average overlap, and tracking failures are decreased by 25%, while maintaining the superiority over the state-of-the-art methods in OTB-2013 and OTB-2015 tracking datasets.

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

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

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

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

Fabrication technique for a custom face mask for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.

PubMed

Prehn, Ronald S; Colquitt, Tom

2016-05-01

The development of the positive airway pressure custom mask (TAP-PAP CM) has changed the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. The TAP-PAP CM is used in continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP) and is fabricated from the impression of the face. This mask is then connected to a post screwed into the mechanism of the TAP3 (Thornton Anterior Positioner) oral appliance. This strapless CPAP face mask features an efficient and stable CPAP interface with mandibular stabilization (Hybrid Therapy). A technique with a 2-stage polyvinyl siloxane face impression is described that offers improvements over the established single-stage face impression. This 2-stage impression technique eliminates problems inherent in the single-stage face impression, including voids, compressed tissue, inadequate borders, and a rushed experience due to the setting time of the single stage. The result is a custom mask with an improved seal to the CPAP device. Copyright © 2016 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ideas for Future GPS Timing Improvements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hutsell, Steven T.

1996-01-01

Having recently met stringent criteria for full operational capability (FOC) certification, the Global Positioning System (GPS) now has higher customer expectations than ever before. In order to maintain customer satisfaction, and the meet the even high customer demands of the future, the GPS Master Control Station (MCS) must play a critical role in the process of carefully refining the performance and integrity of the GPS constellation, particularly in the area of timing. This paper will present an operational perspective on several ideas for improving timing in GPS. These ideas include the desire for improving MCS - US Naval Observatory (USNO) data connectivity, an improved GPS-Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) prediction algorithm, a more robust Kalman Filter, and more features in the GPS reference time algorithm (the GPS composite clock), including frequency step resolution, a more explicit use of the basic time scale equation, and dynamic clock weighting. Current MCS software meets the exceptional challenge of managing an extremely complex constellation of 24 navigation satellites. The GPS community will, however, always seek to improve upon this performance and integrity.

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

DOE PAGES

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

2016-08-30

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

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

PubMed Central

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

2016-01-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2016-08-30

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

Food Chains & Webs. A Multimedia CD-ROM. [CD-ROM].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2001

This CD-ROM is designed for classroom and individual use to teach and learn about food chains and food webs. Integrated animations, custom graphics, three-dimensional representations, photographs, and sound are featured for use in user-controlled activities. Interactive lessons are available to reinforce the subject material. Pre- and post-testing…

Workplace Literacy: Its Role in High Performance Organizations. ERIC Digest No. 158.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Imel, Susan

In a high performance work organization (HPWO), employee basic skills are just one of many components. HPWOs feature the following: they have flatter organizational structures, have work done by teams of highly skilled workers, and have a focus on quality, customer service, and continuous improvement. The collaborative approach to workplace…

77 FR 20867 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NASDAQ OMX PHLX LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-06

... Index, Equity and Currency Options) to extend a pilot program that eliminates minimum value sizes for... FLEX Options, FLEX currency options are also traded on the Exchange. These flexible index, equity, and currency options provide investors the ability to customize basic option features including size...

77 FR 33796 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NASDAQ OMX PHLX LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-07

... Index, Equity and Currency Options) to extend a pilot program that eliminates minimum value sizes for... FLEX Options, FLEX currency options are also traded on the Exchange. These flexible index, equity, and currency options provide investors the ability to customize basic option features including size...

Modular Vocational Education and Training in Scotland and the Netherlands: Between Specificity and Coherence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Bruijn, E.; Howieson, C.

1995-01-01

Draws on sociological and learning theory perspectives to compare Scottish and Dutch initiatives in the modularization of initial (postcompulsory) vocational education and training. Features of the modular system in both countries seem closely related to strategies chosen to offer customized vocational training for various client groups while not…

Deux provinces speciales: la bretagne et la provence (Two Special Provinces; Brittany and Provence).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pazery, Paul

1974-01-01

This article contrasts the geography, history, customs, personality features, costumes, language, music, cooking, and way of life of Brittany and of Provence. The Bretons are Celtic peoples and speak a Celtic tongue, "Breton," while the people of Provence were assimilated into the society of their Roman conquerors and speak…

Converting the Rosebud: Sicangu Lakota Catholicism in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markowitz, Harvey

2012-01-01

This article discusses a number of the dominant features of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Indian Catholicism on the Rosebud Reservation, focusing primarily on the Sicangu's responses to the significant differences between their traditional religious customs and the beliefs, rituals, and requirements of Catholicism. It first examines…

VTLS Inc.: The Company, the Products, the Services, the Vision.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chachra, Vinod; And Others

1993-01-01

Describes the range of products and services offered by VTLS, a company that offers comprehensive, integrated library automation software and customer support. VTLS's growth and development in the United States and abroad is described, and nine sidebar articles detail system features and applications in public, academic, and virtual libraries. (20…

How to Personalize Learning in K-12 Schools: Five Essential Design Features

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Dabae

2014-01-01

Personalized learning (PL) is spotlighted as a way to transform K-12 educational systems. PL customizes learning pace, instructional methods, and learning content to individual students. As much as PL sounds promising and complex, little guidance is available to educators and policymakers about how to effectively design PL. Five essential features…

Freshman Admissions Predictor: An Interactive Self-Help Web Counseling Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Head, Joe F.; Hughes, Thomas M.

2004-01-01

Colleges and universities must seek or develop the most competitive enrollment management tools in order to reach and admit qualified students. However, institutions that utilize transactional Web features are more effective if they can personalize services by providing useful customized information in real time for the prospect. Well crafted high…

Gas dynamic design of the pipe line compressor with 90% efficiency. Model test approval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galerkin, Y.; Rekstin, A.; Soldatova, K.

2015-08-01

Gas dynamic design of the pipe line compressor 32 MW was made for PAO SMPO (Sumy, Ukraine). The technical specification requires compressor efficiency of 90%. The customer offered favorable scheme - single-stage design with console impeller and axial inlet. The authors used the standard optimization methodology of 2D impellers. The original methodology of internal scroll profiling was used to minimize efficiency losses. Radically improved 5th version of the Universal modeling method computer programs was used for precise calculation of expected performances. The customer fulfilled model tests in a 1:2 scale. Tests confirmed the calculated parameters at the design point (maximum efficiency of 90%) and in the whole range of flow rates. As far as the authors know none of compressors have achieved such efficiency. The principles and methods of gas-dynamic design are presented below. The data of the 32 MW compressor presented by the customer in their report at the 16th International Compressor conference (September 2014, Saint- Petersburg) and later transferred to the authors.

Emailing Drones: From Design to Test Range to ARS Offices and into the Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuka, D. R.; Singer, S.; Rodriguez, R., III; Collick, A.; Cunningham, A.; Kleinman, P. J. A.; Manoukis, N. C.; Matthews, B.; Ralston, T.; Easton, Z. M.

2017-12-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or `drones') are one of the newest tools available for collecting geo- and biological-science data in the field, though today's commercial drones only come in a small range of options. While scientific research has benefitted from the enhanced topographic and surface characterization data that UAVs can provide through traditional image based remote sensing techniques, drones have significantly greater mission-specific potential than are currently utilized. The reasons for this under-utilization are twofold, 1) because with their broad capabilities comes the need to be careful in implementation, and as such, FAA and other regulatory agencies around the world have blanket regulations that can inhibit new designs from being implemented, and 2) current multi-mission-multi-payload commercial drones have to be over-designed to compensate for the fact that they are very difficult to stabilize for multiple payloads, leading to a much higher cost than necessary. For this project, we explore and demonstrate a workflow to optimize the design, testing, approval, and implementation of embarrassingly inexpensive mission specific drones, with two use cases. The first will follow the process from design (at VTech and UH Hilo) to field implementation (by USDA-ARS in PA and Extension in VA) of several custom water quality monitoring drones, printed on demand at ARS and Extension offices after testing at the Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range Complex (PPUTRC). This type of customized drone can allow for an increased understanding in the transition from non-point source to point source agri-chemical and pollutant transport in watershed systems. The second use case will follow the same process, resulting in customized drones with pest specific traps built into the design. This class of customized drone can facilitate IPM pest monitoring programs nationwide, decreasing the intensive and costly quarantine and population elimination measures that currently exist. This multi-institutional project works toward an optimized workflow where scientists can quickly 1) customize drones to meet specific purposes, 2) have them tested in FAA Test Ranges, and 3) get them certified and working in the field, while 4) cutting their cost to significantly less than what is currently available.

A cross-lagged test of the association between customer satisfaction and employee job satisfaction in a relational context.

PubMed

Zablah, Alex R; Carlson, Brad D; Donavan, D Todd; Maxham, James G; Brown, Tom J

2016-05-01

Due to its practical importance, the relationship between customer satisfaction and frontline employee (FLE) job satisfaction has received significant attention in the literature. Numerous studies to date confirm that the constructs are related and rely on this empirical finding to infer support for the "inside-out" effect of FLE job satisfaction on customer satisfaction. In doing so, prior studies ignore the possibility that-as suggested by the Service Profit Chain's satisfaction mirror-a portion of the observed empirical effect may be due to the "outside-in" impact of customer satisfaction on FLE job satisfaction. Consequently, both the magnitude and direction of the causal relationship between the constructs remain unclear. To address this oversight, this study builds on multisource data, including longitudinal satisfaction data provided by 49,242 customers and 1,470 FLEs from across 209 retail stores, to examine the association between FLE job satisfaction and customer satisfaction in a context where service relationships are the norm. Consistent with predictions rooted in social exchange theory, the results reveal that (a) customer satisfaction and FLE job satisfaction are reciprocally related; (b) the outside-in effect of customer satisfaction on FLE job satisfaction is predominant (i.e., larger in magnitude than the inside-out effect); and (c) customer engagement determines the extent of this outside-in predominance. Contrary to common wisdom, the study's findings suggest that, in relational contexts, incentivizing FLEs to satisfy customers may prove to be more effective for enhancing FLE and customer outcomes than direct investments in FLE job satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

15 CFR 200.109 - Shipping, insurance, and risk of loss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... to NIST for calibration or other test should be made only after the customer has accepted the... attended to by the owner, since NIST will not undertake them except by special arrangement. Apparatus not... charged in accordance with the amount of work done. (b) The customer should pack apparatus sent to NIST so...

15 CFR 200.109 - Shipping, insurance, and risk of loss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... to NIST for calibration or other test should be made only after the customer has accepted the... attended to by the owner, since NIST will not undertake them except by special arrangement. Apparatus not... charged in accordance with the amount of work done. (b) The customer should pack apparatus sent to NIST so...

15 CFR 200.109 - Shipping, insurance, and risk of loss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... to NIST for calibration or other test should be made only after the customer has accepted the... attended to by the owner, since NIST will not undertake them except by special arrangement. Apparatus not... charged in accordance with the amount of work done. (b) The customer should pack apparatus sent to NIST so...

15 CFR 200.109 - Shipping, insurance, and risk of loss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... to NIST for calibration or other test should be made only after the customer has accepted the... attended to by the owner, since NIST will not undertake them except by special arrangement. Apparatus not... charged in accordance with the amount of work done. (b) The customer should pack apparatus sent to NIST so...

15 CFR 200.109 - Shipping, insurance, and risk of loss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... to NIST for calibration or other test should be made only after the customer has accepted the... attended to by the owner, since NIST will not undertake them except by special arrangement. Apparatus not... charged in accordance with the amount of work done. (b) The customer should pack apparatus sent to NIST so...

Natural gas odor level testing: Instruments and applications

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

Roberson, E.H.

1995-12-01

An odor in natural and LP gases is necessary. The statistics are overwhelming; when gas customers can smell a leak before the percentage of gas in air reaches a combustible mixture, the chances of an accident are greatly reduced. How do gas companies determine if there is sufficient odor reaching every gas customers home? Injection equipment is important. The rate and quality of odorant is important. Nevertheless, precision odorization alone does not guarantee that customers` homes always have gas with a readily detectable odor. To secure that goal, odor monitoring instruments are necessary.

Linking service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intention.

PubMed

Woodside, A G; Frey, L L; Daly, R T

1989-12-01

Based on the service quality and script theory literature, a framework of relationships among service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intention for service purchases is proposed. Specific models are developed from the general framework and the models are applied and tested for the highly complex and divergent consumer service of overnight hospital care. Service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intention data were collected from recent patients of two hospitals. The findings support the specific models and general framework. Implications for theory, service marketing, and future research are discussed.

Doing the right thing without being told: joint effects of initiative climate and general self-efficacy on employee proactive customer service performance.

PubMed

Raub, Steffen; Liao, Hui

2012-05-01

We developed and tested a cross-level model of the antecedents and outcomes of proactive customer service performance. Results from a field study of 900 frontline service employees and their supervisors in 74 establishments of a multinational hotel chain located in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia demonstrated measurement equivalence and suggested that, after controlling for service climate, initiative climate at the establishment level and general self-efficacy at the individual level predicted employee proactive customer service performance and interacted in a synergistic way. Results also showed that at the establishment level, controlling for service climate and collective general service performance, initiative climate was positively and indirectly associated with customer service satisfaction through the mediation of aggregated proactive customer service performance. We discuss important theoretical and practical implications of these findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

Man-Machine Interface System for Neuromuscular Training and Evaluation Based on EMG and MMG Signals

PubMed Central

de la Rosa, Ramon; Alonso, Alonso; Carrera, Albano; Durán, Ramon; Fernández, Patricia

2010-01-01

This paper presents the UVa-NTS (University of Valladolid Neuromuscular Training System), a multifunction and portable Neuromuscular Training System. The UVa-NTS is designed to analyze the voluntary control of severe neuromotor handicapped patients, their interactive response, and their adaptation to neuromuscular interface systems, such as neural prostheses or domotic applications. Thus, it is an excellent tool to evaluate the residual muscle capabilities in the handicapped. The UVa-NTS is composed of a custom signal conditioning front-end and a computer. The front-end electronics is described thoroughly as well as the overall features of the custom software implementation. The software system is composed of a set of graphical training tools and a processing core. The UVa-NTS works with two classes of neuromuscular signals: the classic myoelectric signals (MES) and, as a novelty, the myomechanic signals (MMS). In order to evaluate the performance of the processing core, a complete analysis has been done to classify its efficiency and to check that it fulfils with the real-time constraints. Tests were performed both with healthy and selected impaired subjects. The adaptation was achieved rapidly, applying a predefined protocol for the UVa-NTS set of training tools. Fine voluntary control was demonstrated to be reached with the myoelectric signals. And the UVa-NTS demonstrated to provide a satisfactory voluntary control when applying the myomechanic signals. PMID:22163515

Man-machine interface system for neuromuscular training and evaluation based on EMG and MMG signals.

PubMed

de la Rosa, Ramon; Alonso, Alonso; Carrera, Albano; Durán, Ramon; Fernández, Patricia

2010-01-01

This paper presents the UVa-NTS (University of Valladolid Neuromuscular Training System), a multifunction and portable Neuromuscular Training System. The UVa-NTS is designed to analyze the voluntary control of severe neuromotor handicapped patients, their interactive response, and their adaptation to neuromuscular interface systems, such as neural prostheses or domotic applications. Thus, it is an excellent tool to evaluate the residual muscle capabilities in the handicapped. The UVa-NTS is composed of a custom signal conditioning front-end and a computer. The front-end electronics is described thoroughly as well as the overall features of the custom software implementation. The software system is composed of a set of graphical training tools and a processing core. The UVa-NTS works with two classes of neuromuscular signals: the classic myoelectric signals (MES) and, as a novelty, the myomechanic signals (MMS). In order to evaluate the performance of the processing core, a complete analysis has been done to classify its efficiency and to check that it fulfils with the real-time constraints. Tests were performed both with healthy and selected impaired subjects. The adaptation was achieved rapidly, applying a predefined protocol for the UVa-NTS set of training tools. Fine voluntary control was demonstrated to be reached with the myoelectric signals. And the UVa-NTS demonstrated to provide a satisfactory voluntary control when applying the myomechanic signals.

Computerized provider order entry systems.

PubMed

2001-01-01

Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems are designed to replace a hospital's paper-based ordering system. They allow users to electronically write the full range of orders, maintain an online medication administration record, and review changes made to an order by successive personnel. They also offer safety alerts that are triggered when an unsafe order (such as for a duplicate drug therapy) is entered, as well as clinical decision support to guide caregivers to less expensive alternatives or to choices that better fit established hospital protocols. CPOE systems can, when correctly configured, markedly increase efficiency and improve patient safety and patient care. However, facilities need to recognize that currently available CPOE systems require a tremendous amount of time and effort to be spent in customization before their safety and clinical support features can be effectively implemented. What's more, even after they've been customized, the systems may still allow certain unsafe orders to be entered. Thus, CPOE systems are not currently a quick or easy remedy for medical errors. ECRI's Evaluation of CPOE systems--conducted in collaboration with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)--discusses these and other related issues. It also examines and compares CPOE systems from three suppliers: Eclipsys Corp., IDX Systems Corp., and Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services Corp. Our testing focuses primarily on the systems' interfacing capabilities, patient safeguards, and ease of use.

Tempest gas turbine extends EGT product line

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

Chellini, R.

With the introduction of the 7.8 MW (mechanical output) Tempest gas turbine, ECT has extended the company`s line of its small industrial turbines. The new Tempest machine, featuring a 7.5 MW electric output and a 33% thermal efficiency, ranks above the company`s single-shaft Typhoon gas turbine, rated 3.2 and 4.9 MW, and the 6.3 MW Tornado gas turbine. All three machines are well-suited for use in combined heat and power (CHP) plants, as demonstrated by the fact that close to 50% of the 150 Typhoon units sold are for CHP applications. This experience has induced EGT, of Lincoln, England, tomore » announce the introduction of the new gas turbine prior to completion of the testing program. The present single-shaft machine is expected to be used mainly for industrial trial cogeneration. This market segment, covering the needs of paper mills, hospitals, chemical plants, ceramic industry, etc., is a typical local market. Cogeneration plants are engineered according to local needs and have to be assisted by local organizations. For this reason, to efficiently cover the world market, EGT has selected a number of associates that will receive from Lincoln completely engineered machine packages and will engineer the cogeneration system according to custom requirements. These partners will also assist the customer and dispose locally of the spares required for maintenance operations.« less

Spectacle and SpecViz: New Spectral Analysis and Visualization Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Earl, Nicholas; Peeples, Molly; JDADF Developers

2018-01-01

A new era of spectroscopic exploration of our universe is being ushered in with advances in instrumentation and next-generation space telescopes. The advent of new spectroscopic instruments has highlighted a pressing need for tools scientists can use to analyze and explore these new data. We have developed Spectacle, a software package for analyzing both synthetic spectra from hydrodynamic simulations as well as real COS data with an aim of characterizing the behavior of the circumgalactic medium. It allows easy reduction of spectral data and analytic line generation capabilities. Currently, the package is focused on automatic determination of absorption regions and line identification with custom line list support, simultaneous line fitting using Voigt profiles via least-squares or MCMC methods, and multi-component modeling of blended features. Non-parametric measurements, such as equivalent widths, delta v90, and full-width half-max are available. Spectacle also provides the ability to compose compound models used to generate synthetic spectra allowing the user to define various LSF kernels, uncertainties, and to specify sampling.We also present updates to the visualization tool SpecViz, developed in conjunction with the JWST data analysis tools development team, to aid in the exploration of spectral data. SpecViz is an open source, Python-based spectral 1-D interactive visualization and analysis application built around high-performance interactive plotting. It supports handling general and instrument-specific data and includes advanced tool-sets for filtering and detrending one-dimensional data, along with the ability to isolate absorption regions using slicing and manipulate spectral features via spectral arithmetic. Multi-component modeling is also possible using a flexible model fitting tool-set that supports custom models to be used with various fitting routines. It also features robust user extensions such as custom data loaders and support for user-created plugins that add new functionality.This work was supported in part by HST AR #13919, HST GO #14268, and HST AR #14560.

78 FR 34395 - Announcement of Foreign-Trade Zones Test

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-07

... Zones Test AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security. ACTION: General... voluntary general test regarding certain foreign-trade zone (``FTZ'' or ``zone'') activities. Pursuant to the FTZ test, under [[Page 34396

Implementation of enterprise resource planning using Odoo module sales and CRM. Case study: PT Ecosains Hayati

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terminanto, A.; Hidayat, R.; Hidayanto, A. N.

2017-12-01

Marketing is the most important part of PT Ecosains Hayati as a distributor company. Sales looking for prospective buyers and provide product price quotations. Quotations are made by accessing various data in a separate document. It makes the work process less efficient. Implementation of ERP system could improve the efficiency of sales work. It used RAD method that faster than other methods. The selected ERP system is Odoo, which contains various business application programs. Gap and efficiency analysis were performed to compare business processes before and after using Odoo. User Acceptance Test (UAT) is conducted to determine user acceptance of the applications and features available in Odoo module. After implementation of Odoo, there was an increase in the efficiency of the quotations business process by 63% in numberf of activity and by 50% in number of the actors involved. Odoo customization is done on 26 of the 41 module menus used. Based on UAT results, the implementation of Odoo meets the usability aspect with the overall average value 3.7. This indicates that users have a good level of understanding in the use of Odoo, and the features on Odoo can meet the needs of users.

Computational Tools and Algorithms for Designing Customized Synthetic Genes

PubMed Central

Gould, Nathan; Hendy, Oliver; Papamichail, Dimitris

2014-01-01

Advances in DNA synthesis have enabled the construction of artificial genes, gene circuits, and genomes of bacterial scale. Freedom in de novo design of synthetic constructs provides significant power in studying the impact of mutations in sequence features, and verifying hypotheses on the functional information that is encoded in nucleic and amino acids. To aid this goal, a large number of software tools of variable sophistication have been implemented, enabling the design of synthetic genes for sequence optimization based on rationally defined properties. The first generation of tools dealt predominantly with singular objectives such as codon usage optimization and unique restriction site incorporation. Recent years have seen the emergence of sequence design tools that aim to evolve sequences toward combinations of objectives. The design of optimal protein-coding sequences adhering to multiple objectives is computationally hard, and most tools rely on heuristics to sample the vast sequence design space. In this review, we study some of the algorithmic issues behind gene optimization and the approaches that different tools have adopted to redesign genes and optimize desired coding features. We utilize test cases to demonstrate the efficiency of each approach, as well as identify their strengths and limitations. PMID:25340050

Multimodality imaging and state-of-art GPU technology in discriminating benign from malignant breast lesions on real time decision support system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kostopoulos, S.; Sidiropoulos, K.; Glotsos, D.; Dimitropoulos, N.; Kalatzis, I.; Asvestas, P.; Cavouras, D.

2014-03-01

The aim of this study was to design a pattern recognition system for assisting the diagnosis of breast lesions, using image information from Ultrasound (US) and Digital Mammography (DM) imaging modalities. State-of-art computer technology was employed based on commercial Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) cards and parallel programming. An experienced radiologist outlined breast lesions on both US and DM images from 59 patients employing a custom designed computer software application. Textural features were extracted from each lesion and were used to design the pattern recognition system. Several classifiers were tested for highest performance in discriminating benign from malignant lesions. Classifiers were also combined into ensemble schemes for further improvement of the system's classification accuracy. Following the pattern recognition system optimization, the final system was designed employing the Probabilistic Neural Network classifier (PNN) on the GPU card (GeForce 580GTX) using CUDA programming framework and C++ programming language. The use of such state-of-art technology renders the system capable of redesigning itself on site once additional verified US and DM data are collected. Mixture of US and DM features optimized performance with over 90% accuracy in correctly classifying the lesions.

Exploration of virtual body-representation in adolescence: the role of age and sex in avatar customization.

PubMed

Villani, Daniela; Gatti, Elena; Triberti, Stefano; Confalonieri, Emanuela; Riva, Giuseppe

2016-01-01

The malleable nature of the self led researchers to investigate the meaning of virtual identity by exploring virtual self-representation through avatars and its association with users' identity. The present study aims to investigate the changes in virtual body-representation in adolescence related to age levels and sex and the association with adolescents' self-esteem and body esteem. Anthropometric features, body esteem and self-esteem were used to assess adolescents' body image and identity. The scoring code of the "Drawing Me" graphical test was used to evaluate the avatars. The sample is composed of 63 adolescents of different ages-early, middle and late adolescence-balanced by sex. Results show that the creation of a digital avatar changes with age and is partially associated with adolescents' perceptions in terms of body esteem and self-esteem. Moreover, the creation of avatars occurs differently for boys, who enrich their avatars with many sexual features, than for girls, who prefer to detail their avatars' clothing to enrich them. Critical reflections and implications for psychological interventions that may use avatars to investigate adolescents' identity in integration with other tools will be discussed.

Gmz: a Gml Compression Model for Webgis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khandelwal, A.; Rajan, K. S.

2017-09-01

Geography markup language (GML) is an XML specification for expressing geographical features. Defined by Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), it is widely used for storage and transmission of maps over the Internet. XML schemas provide the convenience to define custom features profiles in GML for specific needs as seen in widely popular cityGML, simple features profile, coverage, etc. Simple features profile (SFP) is a simpler subset of GML profile with support for point, line and polygon geometries. SFP has been constructed to make sure it covers most commonly used GML geometries. Web Feature Service (WFS) serves query results in SFP by default. But it falls short of being an ideal choice due to its high verbosity and size-heavy nature, which provides immense scope for compression. GMZ is a lossless compression model developed to work for SFP compliant GML files. Our experiments indicate GMZ achieves reasonably good compression ratios and can be useful in WebGIS based applications.

Automated synthesis, insertion and detection of polyps for CT colonography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sezille, Nicolas; Sadleir, Robert J. T.; Whelan, Paul F.

2003-03-01

CT Colonography (CTC) is a new non-invasive colon imaging technique which has the potential to replace conventional colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening. A novel system which facilitates automated detection of colorectal polyps at CTC is introduced. As exhaustive testing of such a system using real patient data is not feasible, more complete testing is achieved through synthesis of artificial polyps and insertion into real datasets. The polyp insertion is semi-automatic: candidate points are manually selected using a custom GUI, suitable points are determined automatically from an analysis of the local neighborhood surrounding each of the candidate points. Local density and orientation information are used to generate polyps based on an elliptical model. Anomalies are identified from the modified dataset by analyzing the axial images. Detected anomalies are classified as potential polyps or natural features using 3D morphological techniques. The final results are flagged for review. The system was evaluated using 15 scenarios. The sensitivity of the system was found to be 65% with 34% false positive detections. Automated diagnosis at CTC is possible and thorough testing is facilitated by augmenting real patient data with computer generated polyps. Ultimately, automated diagnosis will enhance standard CTC and increase performance.

Customized mandibular reconstruction plates improve mechanical performance in a mandibular reconstruction model

PubMed Central

Gutwald, Ralf; Jaeger, Raimund; Lambers, Floor M.

2017-01-01

Abstract The purpose of this paper was to analyze the biomechanical performance of customized mandibular reconstruction plates with optimized strength. The best locations for increasing bar widths were determined with a sensitivity analysis. Standard and customized plates were mounted on mandible models and mechanically tested. Maximum stress in the plate could be reduced from 573 to 393 MPa (−31%) by increasing bar widths. The median fatigue limit was significantly greater (p < 0.001) for customized plates (650 ± 27 N) than for standard plates (475 ± 27 N). Increasing bar widths at case-specific locations was an effective strategy for increasing plate fatigue performance. PMID:27887036

Motivating nurses' organizational citizenship behaviors by customer-oriented perception for evidence-based practice.

PubMed

Chang, Ching Sheng; Chang, Hae Ching

2010-12-01

There is a gap in the literature about the influence of customer-oriented perception on nursing personnel's organizational citizenship behaviors. Organizational citizenship behaviors are the type of contextual behaviors that are difficult to observe and measure as such behaviors are usually generated in quite subtle and unpredictable ways. This study tested the hypothesis: Customer-oriented perception is associated with increased organizational citizenship behaviors for nurses. If nursing personnel's customer-oriented perception can increase their willingness to display organizational citizenship behaviors, it may facilitate hospital operation and enhance organizational effectiveness. A cross-sectional design using a questionnaire survey of nurses in 10 medical centers was used. Five hundred copies of the questionnaire were distributed, and 232 effective copies were retrieved, with a valid response rate of 46.4%. Structural equation modeling was performed in SPSS 11.0 and Amos 7.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) statistical software packages. The main finding was that favorable customer-oriented perception is associated with increased organizational citizenship behaviors for nurses. Extensive training and customer-oriented performance evaluation are proposed in the hope of creating customer-oriented perception among nursing personnel and subsequently inspiring the display of organizational citizenship behaviors. ©2010 Sigma Theta Tau International.

An Open-Source Hardware and Software System for Acquisition and Real-Time Processing of Electrophysiology during High Field MRI

PubMed Central

Purdon, Patrick L.; Millan, Hernan; Fuller, Peter L.; Bonmassar, Giorgio

2008-01-01

Simultaneous recording of electrophysiology and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique of growing importance in neuroscience. Rapidly evolving clinical and scientific requirements have created a need for hardware and software that can be customized for specific applications. Hardware may require customization to enable a variety of recording types (e.g., electroencephalogram, local field potentials, or multi-unit activity) while meeting the stringent and costly requirements of MRI safety and compatibility. Real-time signal processing tools are an enabling technology for studies of learning, attention, sleep, epilepsy, neurofeedback, and neuropharmacology, yet real-time signal processing tools are difficult to develop. We describe an open source system for simultaneous electrophysiology and fMRI featuring low-noise (< 0.6 uV p-p input noise), electromagnetic compatibility for MRI (tested up to 7 Tesla), and user-programmable real-time signal processing. The hardware distribution provides the complete specifications required to build an MRI-compatible electrophysiological data acquisition system, including circuit schematics, print circuit board (PCB) layouts, Gerber files for PCB fabrication and robotic assembly, a bill of materials with part numbers, data sheets, and vendor information, and test procedures. The software facilitates rapid implementation of real-time signal processing algorithms. This system has used in human EEG/fMRI studies at 3 and 7 Tesla examining the auditory system, visual system, sleep physiology, and anesthesia, as well as in intracranial electrophysiological studies of the non-human primate visual system during 3 Tesla fMRI, and in human hyperbaric physiology studies at depths of up to 300 feet below sea level. PMID:18761038

An open-source hardware and software system for acquisition and real-time processing of electrophysiology during high field MRI.

PubMed

Purdon, Patrick L; Millan, Hernan; Fuller, Peter L; Bonmassar, Giorgio

2008-11-15

Simultaneous recording of electrophysiology and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique of growing importance in neuroscience. Rapidly evolving clinical and scientific requirements have created a need for hardware and software that can be customized for specific applications. Hardware may require customization to enable a variety of recording types (e.g., electroencephalogram, local field potentials, or multi-unit activity) while meeting the stringent and costly requirements of MRI safety and compatibility. Real-time signal processing tools are an enabling technology for studies of learning, attention, sleep, epilepsy, neurofeedback, and neuropharmacology, yet real-time signal processing tools are difficult to develop. We describe an open-source system for simultaneous electrophysiology and fMRI featuring low-noise (<0.6microV p-p input noise), electromagnetic compatibility for MRI (tested up to 7T), and user-programmable real-time signal processing. The hardware distribution provides the complete specifications required to build an MRI-compatible electrophysiological data acquisition system, including circuit schematics, print circuit board (PCB) layouts, Gerber files for PCB fabrication and robotic assembly, a bill of materials with part numbers, data sheets, and vendor information, and test procedures. The software facilitates rapid implementation of real-time signal processing algorithms. This system has been used in human EEG/fMRI studies at 3 and 7T examining the auditory system, visual system, sleep physiology, and anesthesia, as well as in intracranial electrophysiological studies of the non-human primate visual system during 3T fMRI, and in human hyperbaric physiology studies at depths of up to 300 feet below sea level.

Preliminary development of a workstation for craniomaxillofacial surgical procedures: introducing a computer-assisted planning and execution system.

PubMed

Gordon, Chad R; Murphy, Ryan J; Coon, Devin; Basafa, Ehsan; Otake, Yoshito; Al Rakan, Mohammed; Rada, Erin; Susarla, Srinivas; Susarla, Sriniras; Swanson, Edward; Fishman, Elliot; Santiago, Gabriel; Brandacher, Gerald; Liacouras, Peter; Grant, Gerald; Armand, Mehran

2014-01-01

Facial transplantation represents one of the most complicated scenarios in craniofacial surgery because of skeletal, aesthetic, and dental discrepancies between donor and recipient. However, standard off-the-shelf vendor computer-assisted surgery systems may not provide custom features to mitigate the increased complexity of this particular procedure. We propose to develop a computer-assisted surgery solution customized for preoperative planning, intraoperative navigation including cutting guides, and dynamic, instantaneous feedback of cephalometric measurements/angles as needed for facial transplantation and other related craniomaxillofacial procedures. We developed the Computer-Assisted Planning and Execution (CAPE) workstation to assist with planning and execution of facial transplantation. Preoperative maxillofacial computed tomography (CT) scans were obtained on 4 size-mismatched miniature swine encompassing 2 live face-jaw-teeth transplants. The system was tested in a laboratory setting using plastic models of mismatched swine, after which the system was used in 2 live swine transplants. Postoperative CT imaging was obtained and compared with the preoperative plan and intraoperative measures from the CAPE workstation for both transplants. Plastic model tests familiarized the team with the CAPE workstation and identified several defects in the workflow. Live swine surgeries demonstrated utility of the CAPE system in the operating room, showing submillimeter registration error of 0.6 ± 0.24 mm and promising qualitative comparisons between intraoperative data and postoperative CT imaging. The initial development of the CAPE workstation demonstrated that integration of computer planning and intraoperative navigation for facial transplantation are possible with submillimeter accuracy. This approach can potentially improve preoperative planning, allowing ideal donor-recipient matching despite significant size mismatch, and accurate surgical execution for numerous types of craniofacial and orthognathic surgical procedures.

Water Pump Development for the EVA PLSS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schuller, Michael; Kurwitz, Cable; Goldman, Jeff; Morris, Kim; Trevino, Luis

2009-01-01

This paper describes the effort by the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and Honeywell for NASA to design, fabricate, and test a preflight prototype pump for use in the Extravehicular activity (EVA) portable life support subsystem (PLSS). Major design decisions were driven by the need to reduce the pump s mass, power, and volume compared to the existing PLSS pump. In addition, the pump will accommodate a much wider range of abnormal conditions than the existing pump, including vapor/gas bubbles and increased pressure drop when employed to cool two suits simultaneously. A positive displacement, external gear type pump was selected because it offers the most compact and highest efficiency solution over the required range of flow rates and pressure drops. An additional benefit of selecting a gear pump design is that it is self priming and capable of ingesting noncondensable gas without becoming "air locked." The chosen pump design consists of a 28 V DC, brushless, sealless, permanent magnet motor driven, external gear pump that utilizes a Honeywell development that eliminates the need for magnetic coupling. Although the planned flight unit will use a sensorless motor with custom designed controller, the preflight prototype to be provided for this project incorporates Hall effect sensors, allowing an interface with a readily available commercial motor controller. This design approach reduced the cost of this project and gives NASA more flexibility in future PLSS laboratory testing. The pump design was based on existing Honeywell designs, but incorporated features specifically for the PLSS application, including all of the key features of the flight pump. Testing at TEES will simulate the vacuum environment in which the flight pump will operate. Testing will verify that the pump meets design requirements for range of flow rates, pressure rise, power consumption, working fluid temperature, operating time, and restart capability. Pump testing is currently scheduled for March, 2009, after which the pump will be delivered to NASA for further testing.

Fabrication of Custom-Shaped Grafts for Cartilage Regeneration

PubMed Central

Koo, Seungbum; Hargreaves, Brian A.; Gold, Garry E.; Dragoo, Jason L.

2011-01-01

Transplantation of engineered cartilage grafts is a promising method to treat diseased articular cartilage. The interfacial areas between the graft and the native tissues play an important role in the successful integration of the graft to adjacent native tissues. The purposes of the study were to create a custom shaped graft through 3D tissue shape reconstruction and rapid-prototype molding methods using MRI data, and to test the accuracy of the custom shaped graft against the original anatomical defect. An iatrogenic defect on the distal femur was identified with a 1.5 Tesla MRI and its shape was reconstructed into a three-dimensional (3D) computer model by processing the 3D MRI data. First, the accuracy of the MRI-derived 3D model was tested against a laser-scan based 3D model of the defect. A custom-shaped polyurethane graft was fabricated from the laser-scan based 3D model by creating custom molds through computer aided design and rapid-prototyping methods. The polyurethane tissue was laser-scanned again to calculate the accuracy of this process compared to the original defect. The volumes of the defect models from MRI and laser-scan were 537 mm3 and 405 mm3, respectively, implying that the MRI model was 33% larger than the laser-scan model. The average (±SD) distance deviation of the exterior surface of the MRI model from the laser-scan model was 0.4±0.4 mm. The custom-shaped tissue created from the molds was qualitatively very similar to the original shape of the defect. The volume of the custom-shaped cartilage tissue was 463 mm3 which was 15% larger than the laser-scan model. The average (±SD) distance deviation between the two models was 0.04±0.19 mm. Custom-shaped engineered grafts can be fabricated from standard sequence 3-D MRI data with the use of CAD and rapid-prototyping technology, which may help solve the interfacial problem between native cartilage and graft, if the grafts are custom made for the specific defect. The major source of error in fabricating a 3D custom shaped cartilage graft appears to be the accuracy of a MRI data itself; however, the precision of the model is expected to increase by the utilization of advanced MR sequences with higher magnet strengths. PMID:21058268

EPA Office of Water (OW): 303(d) Listed Impaired Waters NHDPlus Indexed Dataset

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The 303(d) Listed Impaired Waters program system provides impaired water data and impaired water features reflecting river segments, lakes, and estuaries designated under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Each State will establish Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for these waters. Note the CWA Section 303(d) list of impaired waters does not represent waters that are impaired but have an EPA-approved TMDL established, impaired waters for which other pollution control mechanisms are in place and expected to attain water quality standards, or waters impaired as a result of pollution and is not caused by a pollutant. Therefore, the Impaired Waters layers do not represent all impaired waters reported in a state's Integrated Report, but only the waters comprised of a state's approved 303(d) list. For more information regarding impaired waters refer to EPA's Integrated Reporting Guidance at: http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/lawsguidance/cwa/tmdl/guidance.cfm. 303(d) waterbodies are coded onto NHDPlus v2.1 flowline and waterbody features to create line, area, and point events. In addition to NHDPlus reach indexed data there may also be custom event data (point, line, or polygon) that are not associated with NHDPlus and are in an EPA standard format that is compatible with EPA's Reach Address Database. These custom features are used to represent locations of 303(d) waterbodies that are not represented well in NHDPlus.

Multi-scale Visualization of Molecular Architecture Using Real-Time Ambient Occlusion in Sculptor.

PubMed

Wahle, Manuel; Wriggers, Willy

2015-10-01

The modeling of large biomolecular assemblies relies on an efficient rendering of their hierarchical architecture across a wide range of spatial level of detail. We describe a paradigm shift currently under way in computer graphics towards the use of more realistic global illumination models, and we apply the so-called ambient occlusion approach to our open-source multi-scale modeling program, Sculptor. While there are many other higher quality global illumination approaches going all the way up to full GPU-accelerated ray tracing, they do not provide size-specificity of the features they shade. Ambient occlusion is an aspect of global lighting that offers great visual benefits and powerful user customization. By estimating how other molecular shape features affect the reception of light at some surface point, it effectively simulates indirect shadowing. This effect occurs between molecular surfaces that are close to each other, or in pockets such as protein or ligand binding sites. By adding ambient occlusion, large macromolecular systems look much more natural, and the perception of characteristic surface features is strongly enhanced. In this work, we present a real-time implementation of screen space ambient occlusion that delivers realistic cues about tunable spatial scale characteristics of macromolecular architecture. Heretofore, the visualization of large biomolecular systems, comprising e.g. hundreds of thousands of atoms or Mega-Dalton size electron microscopy maps, did not take into account the length scales of interest or the spatial resolution of the data. Our approach has been uniquely customized with shading that is tuned for pockets and cavities of a user-defined size, making it useful for visualizing molecular features at multiple scales of interest. This is a feature that none of the conventional ambient occlusion approaches provide. Actual Sculptor screen shots illustrate how our implementation supports the size-dependent rendering of molecular surface features.

The Cold Dark Matter Search test stand warm electronics card

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

Hines, Bruce; /Colorado U., Denver; Hansen, Sten

A card which does the signal processing for four SQUID amplifiers and two charge sensitive channels is described. The card performs the same functions as is presently done with two custom 9U x 280mm Eurocard modules, a commercial multi-channel VME digitizer, a PCI to GPIB interface, a PCI to VME interface and a custom built linear power supply. By integrating these functions onto a single card and using the power over Ethernet standard, the infrastructure requirements for instrumenting a Cold Dark Matter Search (CDMS) detector test stand are significantly reduced.

Payload Performance of TDRS KL and Future Services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toral, Marco A.; Heckler, Gregory W.; Pogorelc, Patricia M.; George, Nicholas E.; Han, Katherine S.

2017-01-01

NASA has accepted two of the 3nd generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, TDRS K, L, and M, designed and built by Boeing Defense, Space Security (DSS). TDRS K, L, and M provide S-band Multiple Access (MA) service and S-band, Ku-band and Ka-band Single Access (SA) services to near Earth orbiting satellites. The TDRS KLM satellites offer improved services relative to the 1st generation TDRS spacecraft, such as: an enhanced MA service featuring increased EIRPs and GT; and Ka-band SA capability which provides a 225 and 650 MHz return service (customer-to-TDRS direction) bandwidth and a 50 MHz forward service (TDRS-to-customer direction) bandwidth. MA services are provided through a 15 element forward phased array that forms up to two beams with onboard active beamforming and a 32 element return phased array supported by ground-based beamforming. SA services are provided through two 4.6m tri-band reflector antennas which support program track pointing and autotrack pointing. Prior to NASAs acceptance of the satellites, payload on-orbit testing was performed on each satellite to determine on-orbit compliance with design requirements. Performance parameters evaluated include: EIRP, GT, antenna gain patterns, SA antenna autotrack performance, and radiometric tracking performance. On-orbit antenna calibration and pointing optimization was also performed on the MA and SA antennas including 24 hour duration tests to characterize and calibrate out diurnal effects. Bit-Error-Rate (BER) tests were performed to evaluate the end-to-end link BER performance of service through a TDRS K and L spacecraft. The TDRS M is planned to be launched in August 2017. This paper summarizes the results of the TDRS KL communications payload on-orbit performance verification and end-to-end service characterization and compares the results with the performance of the 2nd generation TDRS J. The paper also provides a high-level overview of an optical communications application that will augment the data rates supported by the Space Network.

Payload Performance of Third Generation TDRS and Future Services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toral, Marco; Heckler, Gregory; Pogorelc, Patsy; George, Nicholas; Han, Katherine S.

2017-01-01

NASA has accepted two of the 3rd generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, TDRS K, L, and M, designed and built by Boeing Defense, Space & Security (DSS). TDRS K, L, and M provide S-band Multiple Access (MA) service and S-band, Ku-band and Ka-band Single Access (SA) services to near Earth orbiting satellites. The TDRS KLM satellites offer improved services relative to the 1st generation TDRS spacecraft, such as: an enhanced MA service featuring increased EIRPs and G/T; and Ka-band SA capability which provides a 225 and 650 MHz return service (customer-to-TDRS direction) bandwidth and a 50 MHz forward service (TDRS-to-customer direction) bandwidth. MA services are provided through a 15 element forward phased array that forms up to two beams with onboard active beamforming and a 32 element return phased array supported by ground-based beamforming. SA services are provided through two 4.6m tri-band reflector antennas which support program track pointing and autotrack pointing. Prior to NASAs acceptance of the satellites, payload on-orbit testing was performed on each satellite to determine on-orbit compliance with design requirements. Performance parameters evaluated include: EIRP, G/T, antenna gain patterns, SA antenna autotrack performance, and radiometric tracking performance. On-orbit antenna calibration and pointing optimization was also performed on the MA and SA antennas including 24 hour duration tests to characterize and calibrate out diurnal effects. Bit-Error-Rate (BER) tests were performed to evaluate the end-to-end link BER performance of service through a TDRS K and L spacecraft. The TDRS M is planned to be launched in August 2017. This paper summarizes the results of the TDRS KL communications payload on-orbit performance verification and end-to-end service characterization and compares the results with the performance of the 2nd generation TDRS J. The paper also provides a high-level overview of an optical communications application that will augment the data rates supported by the Space Network.

Application of the rapid prototyping technique to design a customized temporomandibular joint used to treat temporomandibular ankylosis

PubMed Central

Chaware, Suresh M.; Bagaria, Vaibhav; Kuthe, Abhay

2009-01-01

Anthropometric variations in humans make it difficult to replace a temporomandibular joint (TMJ), successfully using a standard “one-size-fits-all” prosthesis. The case report presents a unique concept of total TMJ replacement with customized and modified TMJ prosthesis, which is cost-effective and provides the best fit for the patient. The process involved in designing and modifications over the existing prosthesis are also described. A 12-year- old female who presented for treatment of left unilateral TMJ ankylosis underwent the surgery for total TMJ replacement. A three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) scan suggested features of bony ankylosis of left TMJ. CT images were converted to a sterolithographic model using CAD software and a rapid prototyping machine. A process of rapid manufacturing was then used to manufacture the customized prosthesis. Postoperative recovery was uneventful, with an improvement in mouth opening of 3.5 cm and painless jaw movements. Three years postsurgery, the patient is pain-free, has a mouth opening of about 4.0 cm and enjoys a normal diet. The postoperative radiographs concur with the excellent clinical results. The use of CAD/CAM technique to design the custom-made prosthesis, using orthopaedically proven structural materials, significantly improves the predictability and success rates of TMJ replacement surgery. PMID:19881026

A Fully Customized Baseline Removal Framework for Spectroscopic Applications.

PubMed

Giguere, Stephen; Boucher, Thomas; Carey, C J; Mahadevan, Sridhar; Dyar, M Darby

2017-07-01

The task of proper baseline or continuum removal is common to nearly all types of spectroscopy. Its goal is to remove any portion of a signal that is irrelevant to features of interest while preserving any predictive information. Despite the importance of baseline removal, median or guessed default parameters are commonly employed, often using commercially available software supplied with instruments. Several published baseline removal algorithms have been shown to be useful for particular spectroscopic applications but their generalizability is ambiguous. The new Custom Baseline Removal (Custom BLR) method presented here generalizes the problem of baseline removal by combining operations from previously proposed methods to synthesize new correction algorithms. It creates novel methods for each technique, application, and training set, discovering new algorithms that maximize the predictive accuracy of the resulting spectroscopic models. In most cases, these learned methods either match or improve on the performance of the best alternative. Examples of these advantages are shown for three different scenarios: quantification of components in near-infrared spectra of corn and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy data of rocks, and classification/matching of minerals using Raman spectroscopy. Software to implement this optimization is available from the authors. By removing subjectivity from this commonly encountered task, Custom BLR is a significant step toward completely automatic and general baseline removal in spectroscopic and other applications.

Predicting the Reasons of Customer Complaints: A First Step Toward Anticipating Quality Issues of In Vitro Diagnostics Assays with Machine Learning.

PubMed

Aris-Brosou, Stephane; Kim, James; Li, Li; Liu, Hui

2018-05-15

Vendors in the health care industry produce diagnostic systems that, through a secured connection, allow them to monitor performance almost in real time. However, challenges exist in analyzing and interpreting large volumes of noisy quality control (QC) data. As a result, some QC shifts may not be detected early enough by the vendor, but lead a customer to complain. The aim of this study was to hypothesize that a more proactive response could be designed by utilizing the collected QC data more efficiently. Our aim is therefore to help prevent customer complaints by predicting them based on the QC data collected by in vitro diagnostic systems. QC data from five select in vitro diagnostic assays were combined with the corresponding database of customer complaints over a period of 90 days. A subset of these data over the last 45 days was also analyzed to assess how the length of the training period affects predictions. We defined a set of features used to train two classifiers, one based on decision trees and the other based on adaptive boosting, and assessed model performance by cross-validation. The cross-validations showed classification error rates close to zero for some assays with adaptive boosting when predicting the potential cause of customer complaints. Performance was improved by shortening the training period when the volume of complaints increased. Denoising filters that reduced the number of categories to predict further improved performance, as their application simplified the prediction problem. This novel approach to predicting customer complaints based on QC data may allow the diagnostic industry, the expected end user of our approach, to proactively identify potential product quality issues and fix these before receiving customer complaints. This represents a new step in the direction of using big data toward product quality improvement. ©Stephane Aris-Brosou, James Kim, Li Li, Hui Liu. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (http://medinform.jmir.org), 15.05.2018.

Predicting the Reasons of Customer Complaints: A First Step Toward Anticipating Quality Issues of In Vitro Diagnostics Assays with Machine Learning

PubMed Central

Kim, James; Li, Li; Liu, Hui

2018-01-01

Background Vendors in the health care industry produce diagnostic systems that, through a secured connection, allow them to monitor performance almost in real time. However, challenges exist in analyzing and interpreting large volumes of noisy quality control (QC) data. As a result, some QC shifts may not be detected early enough by the vendor, but lead a customer to complain. Objective The aim of this study was to hypothesize that a more proactive response could be designed by utilizing the collected QC data more efficiently. Our aim is therefore to help prevent customer complaints by predicting them based on the QC data collected by in vitro diagnostic systems. Methods QC data from five select in vitro diagnostic assays were combined with the corresponding database of customer complaints over a period of 90 days. A subset of these data over the last 45 days was also analyzed to assess how the length of the training period affects predictions. We defined a set of features used to train two classifiers, one based on decision trees and the other based on adaptive boosting, and assessed model performance by cross-validation. Results The cross-validations showed classification error rates close to zero for some assays with adaptive boosting when predicting the potential cause of customer complaints. Performance was improved by shortening the training period when the volume of complaints increased. Denoising filters that reduced the number of categories to predict further improved performance, as their application simplified the prediction problem. Conclusions This novel approach to predicting customer complaints based on QC data may allow the diagnostic industry, the expected end user of our approach, to proactively identify potential product quality issues and fix these before receiving customer complaints. This represents a new step in the direction of using big data toward product quality improvement. PMID:29764796

The Impact of Rate Design and Net Metering on the Bill Savings from Distributed PV for Residential Customers in California

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

Darghouth, Naim; Barbose, Galen; Wiser, Ryan

2010-03-30

Net metering has become a widespread policy in the U.S. for supporting distributed photovoltaics (PV) adoption. Though specific design details vary, net metering allows customers with PV to reduce their electric bills by offsetting their consumption with PV generation, independent of the timing of the generation relative to consumption - in effect, compensating the PV generation at retail electricity rates (Rose et al. 2009). While net metering has played an important role in jump-starting the residential PV market in the U.S., challenges to net metering policies have emerged in a number of states and contexts, and alternative compensation methods aremore » under consideration. Moreover, one inherent feature of net metering is that the value of the utility bill savings it provides to customers with PV depends heavily on the structure of the underlying retail electricity rate, as well as on the characteristics of the customer and PV system. Consequently, the value of net metering - and the impact of moving to alternative compensation mechanisms - can vary substantially from one customer to the next. For these reasons, it is important for policymakers and others that seek to support the development of distributed PV to understand both how the bill savings varies under net metering, and how the bill savings under net metering compares to other possible compensation mechanisms. To advance this understanding, we analyze the bill savings from PV for residential customers of California's two largest electric utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE). The analysis is based on hourly load data from a sample of 215 residential customers located in the service territories of the two utilities, matched with simulated hourly PV production for the same time period based on data from the nearest of 73 weather stations in the state.« less

Knowledge Management and Information Technology in Customer Support: A Quantitative Assessment of the U.S. Navy's Distance Support Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Malley, Kevin Dermit

2010-01-01

Centralized customer support is an established industry method used to improve revenue and profitability. What remains unknown is whether this cost-saving commercial business practice is similarly applicable to the unique, often isolated military environment. This research study statistically tested a theoretical framework for knowledge management…

78 FR 18362 - Accreditation and Approval of Amspec Services, LLC, as a Commercial Gauger and Laboratory

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-26

... petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes, in accordance with the... Services, LLC, has been approved to gauge and accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for the next three years as of September 21, 2012. DATES...

78 FR 66758 - Accreditation and Approval of AMSPEC Services, LLC, as a Commercial Gauger and Laboratory

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-06

... petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for the next three years as of... 02149, has been approved to gauge and accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes, in accordance with the provisions of 19 CFR 151.12 and 19...

77 FR 19391 - Notice of Proposed Intelligent Mail Indicia Performance Criteria With Request for Comments

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-30

... products designed to meet new customer needs for access to postage. In addition, changes within the United... opportunities for PES providers to propose new concepts, methods, and processes to enable customers to print pre... support the USPS PES Test and Evaluation Program (the ``Program''). The intent is for the volumes to fully...

Technology Counts 2011: K-12 Seeks Custom Fit--Schools Test Individualized Digital Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Education Week, 2011

2011-01-01

A growing number of educators around the country are turning to technology and different teaching and learning approaches to give students personalized learning experiences that mirror the customized experiences they take for granted outside of school. To meet students' individual needs, they are putting in place 1-to-1 computing programs and…

Automatic detection of service initiation signals used in bars

PubMed Central

Loth, Sebastian; Huth, Kerstin; De Ruiter, Jan P.

2013-01-01

Recognizing the intention of others is important in all social interactions, especially in the service domain. Enabling a bartending robot to serve customers is particularly challenging as the system has to recognize the social signals produced by customers and respond appropriately. Detecting whether a customer would like to order is essential for the service encounter to succeed. This detection is particularly challenging in a noisy environment with multiple customers. Thus, a bartending robot has to be able to distinguish between customers intending to order, chatting with friends or just passing by. In order to study which signals customers use to initiate a service interaction in a bar, we recorded real-life customer-staff interactions in several German bars. These recordings were used to generate initial hypotheses about the signals customers produce when bidding for the attention of bar staff. Two experiments using snapshots and short video sequences then tested the validity of these hypothesized candidate signals. The results revealed that bar staff responded to a set of two non-verbal signals: first, customers position themselves directly at the bar counter and, secondly, they look at a member of staff. Both signals were necessary and, when occurring together, sufficient. The participants also showed a strong agreement about when these cues occurred in the videos. Finally, a signal detection analysis revealed that ignoring a potential order is deemed worse than erroneously inviting customers to order. We conclude that (a) these two easily recognizable actions are sufficient for recognizing the intention of customers to initiate a service interaction, but other actions such as gestures and speech were not necessary, and (b) the use of reaction time experiments using natural materials is feasible and provides ecologically valid results. PMID:24009594

Delivering good service: personal resources, job satisfaction and nurses' 'customer' (patient) orientation.

PubMed

Gountas, Sandra; Gountas, John; Soutar, Geoffrey; Mavondo, Felix

2014-07-01

To explore the complex relationships between nurses' personal resources, job satisfaction and 'customer' (patient) orientation. Previous research has shown that nursing is highly intensive, emotionally charged work, which affects nurses' job performance and their customer orientation as well as patient or 'customer' satisfaction. This study contributes to the literature by examining how nurses' personal resources relate to their personal satisfaction and customer orientation and the relationships between them. Specifically, this study explores the effects of two facets of emotional labour (deep acting and surface acting), empathic concern, self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion on personal job satisfaction and customer orientation. We also test the moderating effects of inauthenticity and emotional contagion. A quantitative survey. Data were collected through a self-completion questionnaire administered to a sample of 159 Australian nurses, in a public teaching hospital, in 2010. The data were analysed using Partial Least Square analysis. Partial Least Square analysis indicates that the final model is a good fit to the data (Goodness of Fit = 0.51). Deep acting and surface acting have different effects (positive and negative) on job satisfaction and 'customer' orientation, self-efficacy has a positive effect on both and emotional exhaustion has a positive effect on customer orientation and a negative effect on job satisfaction. The moderating effects of emotional contagion and empathic concern, in the final model, are discussed. Understanding the complex interactions between personal resources, job satisfaction and customer orientation helps to increase service providers' (nurses in this study) personal satisfaction and 'customer' orientation particularly in difficult contexts. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Databank Software for the 1990s and Beyond--Part 1: The User's Wish List.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Basch, Reva

1990-01-01

Describes desired software enhancements identified by the Southern California Online Users Group in the areas of search language, database selection, document retrieval and display, user interface, customer support, and cost and economic issues. The need to prioritize these wishes and to determine whether features should reside in the mainframe or…

Selling Internet Gambling: Advertising, New Media and the Content of Poker Promotion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMullan, John L.; Kervin, Melissa

2012-01-01

This study examines the web design and engineering, advertising and marketing, and pedagogical features present at a random sample of 71 international poker sites obtained from the Casino City directory in the summer of 2009. We coded for 22 variables related to access, appeal, player protection, customer services, on-site security, use of images,…

Advancing a Complex Systems Approach to Personalized Learning Communities: Bandwidth, Sightlines, and Teacher Generativity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamilton, Eric

2015-01-01

Educational technologies have advanced one of the most important visions of educational reformers, to customize formal and informal learning to individuals. The application of a complex systems framework to the design of learning ecologies suggests that each of a series of ten desirable and malleable features stimulates or propels the other ten,…

MSFC Propulsion Systems Department Knowledge Management Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caraccioli, Paul A.

2007-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the Knowledge Management (KM) project of the Propulsion Systems Department at Marshall Space Flight Center. KM is needed to support knowledge capture, preservation and to support an information sharing culture. The presentation includes the strategic plan for the KM initiative, the system requirements, the technology description, the User Interface and custom features, and a search demonstration.

Effectiveness of Learning Process Using "Web Technology" in the Distance Learning System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Killedar, Manoj

2008-01-01

Web is a globally distributed, still highly personalized media for cost-effective delivery of multimedia information and services. Web is expected to have a strong impact on almost every aspect of how we learn. "Total Quality" is the totality of features, as perceived by the customers of the product or service. Totality of features…

Heat-Energy Analysis for Solar Receivers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lansing, F. L.

1982-01-01

Heat-energy analysis program (HEAP) solves general heat-transfer problems, with some specific features that are "custom made" for analyzing solar receivers. Can be utilized not only to predict receiver performance under varying solar flux, ambient temperature and local heat-transfer rates but also to detect locations of hotspots and metallurgical difficulties and to predict performance sensitivity of neighboring component parameters.

A Stirling Idea

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

Stirling Technology Company developed the components for its BeCOOL line of Cryocoolers with the help of a series of NASA SBIRs (Small Business Innovative Research), through Goddard Space Flight Center and Marshall Space Flight Center. Features include a hermetically sealed design, compact size, and silent operation. The company has already placed several units with commercial customers for computer applications and laboratory use.

77 FR 60161 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-02

... the ability to customize basic option features including size, expiration date, exercise style, and certain exercise prices. The Data would consist of indicative \\5\\ values for three categories of... because they find it is easier to assess the change, or lack of change, in the marketplace from one day to...

MicroRNA Based Liquid Biopsy: The Experience of the Plasma miRNA Signature Classifier (MSC) for Lung Cancer Screening.

PubMed

Mensah, Mavis; Borzi, Cristina; Verri, Carla; Suatoni, Paola; Conte, Davide; Pastorino, Ugo; Orazio, Fortunato; Sozzi, Gabriella; Boeri, Mattia

2017-10-26

The development of a minimally invasive test, such as liquid biopsy, for early lung cancer detection in its preclinical phase is crucial to improve the outcome of this deadly disease. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are tissue specific, small, non-coding RNAs regulating gene expression, which may act as extracellular messengers of biological signals derived from the cross-talk between the tumor and its surrounding microenvironment. They could thus represent ideal candidates for early detection of lung cancer. In this work, a methodological workflow for the prospective validation of a circulating miRNA test using custom made microfluidic cards and quantitative Real-Time PCR in plasma samples of volunteers enrolled in a lung cancer screening trial is proposed. In addition, since the release of hemolysis-related miRNAs and more general technical issues may affect the analysis, the quality control steps included in the standard operating procedures are also presented. The protocol is reproducible and gives reliable quantitative results; however, when using large clinical series, both pre-analytical and analytical features should be cautiously evaluated.

A usability assessment on a virtual reality system for panic disorder treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jaelin; Kawai, Takashi; Yoshida, Nahoko; Izawa, Shuhei; Nomura, Shinobu; Eames, Douglas; Kaiya, Hisanobu

2008-02-01

The authors have developed a virtual reality exposure system that reflects the Japanese culture and environment. Concretely, the system focuses on the subway environment, which is the environment most patients receiving treatment for panic disorder at hospitals in Tokyo, Japan tend to avoid. The system is PC based and features realistic video images and highly interactive functionality. In particular, the system enables instant transformation of the virtual space and allows situations to be freely customized according to the condition and symptoms expressed by each patient. Positive results achieved in therapy assessments aimed at patients with panic disorder accompanying agoraphobia indicate the possibility of indoor treatment. Full utilization of the functionality available requires that the interactive functions be easily operable. Accordingly, there appears to be a need for usability testing aimed at determining whether or not a therapist can operate the system naturally while focusing fully on treatment. In this paper, the configuration of the virtual reality exposure system focusing on the subway environment is outlined. Further, the results of usability tests aimed at assessing how naturally it can be operated while focusing fully on treatment are described.

Tests of PMT signal read-out of liquid argon scintillation with a new fast waveform digitizer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acciarri, R.; Canci, N.; Cavanna, F.; Cortopassi, A.; D'Incecco, M.; Mini, G.; Pietropaolo, F.; Romboli, A.; Segreto, E.; Szelc, A. M.

2012-07-01

The CAEN V1751 is a new generation of Waveform Digitizer recently introduced by CAEN SpA. It features 8 Channels per board, 10 bit, 1 GS/s using Flash ADCs Waveform Digitizers (or 4 channels at 2 GS/s in Dual Edge Sampling mode) with threshold and Auto-Trigger capabilities. This provides a good basis for data acquisition in Dark Matter searches using PMTs to detect scintillation light in liquid argon, as it matches the requirements for measuring the fast scintillation component. The board was tested by operating it in real experimental conditions and by comparing it with a state of the art digital oscilloscope. We find that the sampling at 1 or 2 GS/s is appropriate for the reconstruction of the fast component of the scintillation light in argon (characteristic time of about 6-7 ns) and the extended dynamic range, after a small customization, allows for the detection of signals in the range of energy needed. The bandwidth is found to be adequate and the intrinsic noise is very low.

Design of sensor node platform for wireless biomedical sensor networks.

PubMed

Xijun, Chen; -H Meng, Max; Hongliang, Ren

2005-01-01

Design of low-cost, miniature, lightweight, ultra low-power, flexible sensor platform capable of customization and seamless integration into a wireless biomedical sensor network(WBSN) for health monitoring applications presents one of the most challenging tasks. In this paper, we propose a WBSN node platform featuring an ultra low-power microcontroller, an IEEE 802.15.4 compatible transceiver, and a flexible expansion connector. The proposed solution promises a cost-effective, flexible platform that allows easy customization, energy-efficient computation and communication. The development of a common platform for multiple physical sensors will increase reuse and alleviate costs of transition to a new generation of sensors. As a case study, we present an implementation of an ECG (Electrocardiogram) sensor.

Assessment of Customer Service in Academic Health Care Libraries (ACSAHL): an instrument for measuring customer service*†

PubMed Central

Crossno, Jon E.; Berkins, Brenda; Gotcher, Nancy; Hill, Judith L.; McConoughey, Michelle; Walters, Mitchel

2001-01-01

Objectives: In a pilot study, the library had good results using SERVQUAL, a respected and often-used instrument for measuring customer satisfaction. The SERVQUAL instrument itself, however, received some serious and well-founded criticism from the respondents to our survey. The purpose of this study was to test the comparability of the results of SERVQUAL with a revised and shortened instrument modeled on SERVQUAL. The revised instrument, the Assessment of Customer Service in Academic Health Care Libraries (ACSAHL), was designed to better assess customer service in academic health care libraries. Methods: Surveys were sent to clients who had used the document delivery services at three academic medical libraries in Texas over the previous twelve to eighteen months. ACSAHL surveys were sent exclusively to clients at University of Texas (UT) Southwestern, while the client pools at the two other institutions were randomly divided and provided either SERVQUAL or ACSAHL surveys. Results: Results indicated that more respondents preferred the shorter ACSAHL instrument to the longer and more complex SERVQUAL instrument. Also, comparing the scores from both surveys indicated that ACSAHL elicited comparable results. Conclusions: ACSAHL appears to measure the same type of data in similar settings, but additional testing is recommended both to confirm the survey's results through data replication and to investigate whether the instrument applies to different service areas. PMID:11337948

Engaging Community Businesses in HIV Prevention: A Feasibility Study

PubMed Central

Rovniak, Liza S.; Hovell, Melbourne F.; Hofstetter, C. Richard; Blumberg, Elaine J.; Sipan, Carol L.; Batista, Marcia F.; Martinez-Donate, Ana P.; Mulvihill, Mary M.; Ayala, Guadalupe X.

2009-01-01

Purpose To explore the feasibility of engaging community businesses in HIV prevention. Design Randomly selected business owners/managers were asked to display discreetly wrapped condoms and brochures provided free-of-charge for 3 months. Assessments were conducted at baseline, mid-, and post-program. Customer feedback was obtained through an online survey. Setting San Diego, California neighborhood with a high rate of AIDS. Subjects Fifty-one business owners/managers representing 10 retail categories, and 52 customers. Measures Participation rates, descriptive characteristics, number of condoms and brochures distributed, customer feedback, business owners'/managers' program satisfaction and willingness to provide future support for HIV prevention. Analysis Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U, Fisher's exact, and McNemar's tests were used to analyze data. Results The 20 business owners/managers (39%) who agreed to distribute condoms and brochures reported fewer years in business and more employees than those who agreed only to distribute brochures (20%) or refused to participate (41%), p <.05. Bars were the easiest of ten retail categories to recruit. Businesses with more employees and customers distributed more condoms and brochures, p < .05. More than 90% of customers supported distributing condoms and brochures in businesses and 96% of business owners/managers described their program experience as “positive.” Conclusion Businesses are willing to distribute condoms and brochures to prevent HIV. Policies to increase business participation in HIV prevention should be developed and tested. PMID:20465150

Personal customizing exercise with a wearable measurement and control unit

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhihui; Kiryu, Tohru; Tamura, Naoki

2005-01-01

Background Recently, wearable technology has been used in various health-related fields to develop advanced monitoring solutions. However, the monitoring function alone cannot meet all the requirements of customizing machine-based exercise on an individual basis by relying on biosignal-based controls. We propose a new wearable unit design equipped with measurement and control functions to support the customization process. Methods The wearable unit can measure the heart rate and electromyogram signals during exercise performance and output workload control commands to the exercise machines. The workload is continuously tracked with exercise programs set according to personally customized workload patterns and estimation results from the measured biosignals by a fuzzy control method. Exercise programs are adapted by relying on a computer workstation, which communicates with the wearable unit via wireless connections. A prototype of the wearable unit was tested together with an Internet-based cycle ergometer system to demonstrate that it is possible to customize exercise on an individual basis. Results We tested the wearable unit in nine people to assess its suitability to control cycle ergometer exercise. The results confirmed that the unit could successfully control the ergometer workload and continuously support gradual changes in physical activities. Conclusion The design of wearable units equipped with measurement and control functions is an important step towards establishing a convenient and continuously supported wellness environment. PMID:15982425

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

PubMed

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

2015-01-01

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

Cost effective, high performance transient recorder systems, utilizing the latest ADC`s, S/H`s, memories and PLA`s; Final report, May 14, 1987--February 14, 1990

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

Joerger, F. A.

1990-02-01

This project was to develop five transient recorder modules of various speeds and features. Four of the modules; TR200, 200MHZ recorder; TR2/25, Dual 25MHZ recorder; TR1012, 10MHZ, 12 bit recorder, and the ADC3216, 32 channel, 16 bit recorder were developed in the international CAMAC standard. The fifth unit, VTR1, 25MHZ recorder was packaged in the VME standard. Three of the modules, Models TR200, TR2/25 and VTR1 are already in Phase 3. The ADC3216 has been prototyped and successfully evaluated by a number of customers. The last module, Model TR1012, has been completely designed and the artwork completed. This module willmore » undergo tests shortly. 4 figs.« less

Automated Cough Assessment on a Mobile Platform

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

The development of an Automated System for Asthma Monitoring (ADAM) is described. This consists of a consumer electronics mobile platform running a custom application. The application acquires an audio signal from an external user-worn microphone connected to the device analog-to-digital converter (microphone input). This signal is processed to determine the presence or absence of cough sounds. Symptom tallies and raw audio waveforms are recorded and made easily accessible for later review by a healthcare provider. The symptom detection algorithm is based upon standard speech recognition and machine learning paradigms and consists of an audio feature extraction step followed by a Hidden Markov Model based Viterbi decoder that has been trained on a large database of audio examples from a variety of subjects. Multiple Hidden Markov Model topologies and orders are studied. Performance of the recognizer is presented in terms of the sensitivity and the rate of false alarm as determined in a cross-validation test. PMID:25506590

A programmable and portable NMES device for drop foot correction and blood flow assist applications.

PubMed

Breen, Paul P; Corley, Gavin J; O'Keeffe, Derek T; Conway, Richard; Olaighin, Gearóid

2009-04-01

The Duo-STIM, a new, programmable and portable neuromuscular stimulation system for drop foot correction and blood flow assist applications is presented. The system consists of a programmer unit and a portable, programmable stimulator unit. The portable stimulator features fully programmable, sensor-controlled, constant-voltage, dual-channel stimulation and accommodates a range of customized stimulation profiles. Trapezoidal and free-form adaptive stimulation intensity envelope algorithms are provided for drop foot correction applications, while time dependent and activity dependent algorithms are provided for blood flow assist applications. A variety of sensor types can be used with the portable unit, including force sensitive resistor-based foot switches and MEMS-based accelerometer and gyroscope devices. The paper provides a detailed description of the hardware and block-level system design for both units. The programming and operating procedures for the system are also presented. Finally, functional bench test results for the system are presented.

A programmable and portable NMES device for drop foot correction and blood flow assist applications.

PubMed

Breen, Paul P; Corley, Gavin J; O'Keeffe, Derek T; Conway, Richard; OLaighin, Gearoid

2007-01-01

The Duo-STIM, a new, programmable and portable neuromuscular stimulation system for drop foot correction and blood flow assist applications is presented. The system consists of a programmer unit and a portable, programmable stimulator unit. The portable stimulator features fully programmable, sensor-controlled, constant-voltage, dual-channel stimulation and accommodates a range of customized stimulation profiles. Trapezoidal and free-form adaptive stimulation intensity envelope algorithms are provided for drop foot correction applications, while time dependent and activity dependent algorithms are provided for blood flow assist applications. A variety of sensor types can be used with the portable unit, including force sensitive resistor based foot switches and NMES based accelerometer and gyroscope devices. The paper provides a detailed description of the hardware and block-level system design for both units. The programming and operating procedures for the system are also presented. Finally, functional bench test results for the system are presented.

Molecular dynamics simulations and docking enable to explore the biophysical factors controlling the yields of engineered nanobodies.

PubMed

Soler, Miguel A; de Marco, Ario; Fortuna, Sara

2016-10-10

Nanobodies (VHHs) have proved to be valuable substitutes of conventional antibodies for molecular recognition. Their small size represents a precious advantage for rational mutagenesis based on modelling. Here we address the problem of predicting how Camelidae nanobody sequences can tolerate mutations by developing a simulation protocol based on all-atom molecular dynamics and whole-molecule docking. The method was tested on two sets of nanobodies characterized experimentally for their biophysical features. One set contained point mutations introduced to humanize a wild type sequence, in the second the CDRs were swapped between single-domain frameworks with Camelidae and human hallmarks. The method resulted in accurate scoring approaches to predict experimental yields and enabled to identify the structural modifications induced by mutations. This work is a promising tool for the in silico development of single-domain antibodies and opens the opportunity to customize single functional domains of larger macromolecules.

Molecular dynamics simulations and docking enable to explore the biophysical factors controlling the yields of engineered nanobodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soler, Miguel A.; De Marco, Ario; Fortuna, Sara

2016-10-01

Nanobodies (VHHs) have proved to be valuable substitutes of conventional antibodies for molecular recognition. Their small size represents a precious advantage for rational mutagenesis based on modelling. Here we address the problem of predicting how Camelidae nanobody sequences can tolerate mutations by developing a simulation protocol based on all-atom molecular dynamics and whole-molecule docking. The method was tested on two sets of nanobodies characterized experimentally for their biophysical features. One set contained point mutations introduced to humanize a wild type sequence, in the second the CDRs were swapped between single-domain frameworks with Camelidae and human hallmarks. The method resulted in accurate scoring approaches to predict experimental yields and enabled to identify the structural modifications induced by mutations. This work is a promising tool for the in silico development of single-domain antibodies and opens the opportunity to customize single functional domains of larger macromolecules.

Programmable immersive peripheral environmental system (PIPES): a prototype control system for environmental feedback devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frend, Chauncey; Boyles, Michael

2015-03-01

This paper describes an environmental feedback device (EFD) control system aimed at simplifying the VR development cycle. Programmable Immersive Peripheral Environmental System (PIPES) affords VR developers a custom approach to programming and controlling EFD behaviors while relaxing the required knowledge and expertise of electronic systems. PIPES has been implemented for the Unity engine and features EFD control using the Arduino integrated development environment. PIPES was installed and tested on two VR systems, a large format CAVE system and an Oculus Rift HMD system. A photocell based end-to-end latency experiment was conducted to measure latency within the system. This work extends previously unpublished prototypes of a similar design. Development and experiments described in this paper are part of the VR community goal to understand and apply environment effects to VEs that ultimately add to users' perceived presence.

Solar domestic water heating performance test program - Interim report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Auris, R. H.

Performance results from utility-installed or monitored flat plate collector systems on 13 residences are reported. The systems comprised either drain-down, i.e., emptying the water-working fluid into a reservoir in response to thermistor sensing of sufficiently low temperatures, or water/glycol mixture as freeze protection measures. Installation errors committeed by commercial solar contractors employed by the utility customers are outlined, indicating the uncertainty involved in obtaining a quality installation. Most system failures occurred with the drain-down systems, which also featured the highest system efficiencies. Redundancy in the control systems is suggested to offer significant improvements in system efficiency. The systems provided an average of 40% of the annual hot water needs, and the development of low cost materials, better system designs, low cost financing, and increased tax credits are concluded to be methods of making the systems cost effective.

High performance flight computer developed for deep space applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bunker, Robert L.

1993-01-01

The development of an advanced space flight computer for real time embedded deep space applications which embodies the lessons learned on Galileo and modern computer technology is described. The requirements are listed and the design implementation that meets those requirements is described. The development of SPACE-16 (Spaceborne Advanced Computing Engine) (where 16 designates the databus width) was initiated to support the MM2 (Marine Mark 2) project. The computer is based on a radiation hardened emulation of a modern 32 bit microprocessor and its family of support devices including a high performance floating point accelerator. Additional custom devices which include a coprocessor to improve input/output capabilities, a memory interface chip, and an additional support chip that provide management of all fault tolerant features, are described. Detailed supporting analyses and rationale which justifies specific design and architectural decisions are provided. The six chip types were designed and fabricated. Testing and evaluation of a brass/board was initiated.

CBM First-level Event Selector Input Interface Demonstrator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hutter, Dirk; de Cuveland, Jan; Lindenstruth, Volker

2017-10-01

CBM is a heavy-ion experiment at the future FAIR facility in Darmstadt, Germany. Featuring self-triggered front-end electronics and free-streaming read-out, event selection will exclusively be done by the First Level Event Selector (FLES). Designed as an HPC cluster with several hundred nodes its task is an online analysis and selection of the physics data at a total input data rate exceeding 1 TByte/s. To allow efficient event selection, the FLES performs timeslice building, which combines the data from all given input links to self-contained, potentially overlapping processing intervals and distributes them to compute nodes. Partitioning the input data streams into specialized containers allows performing this task very efficiently. The FLES Input Interface defines the linkage between the FEE and the FLES data transport framework. A custom FPGA PCIe board, the FLES Interface Board (FLIB), is used to receive data via optical links and transfer them via DMA to the host’s memory. The current prototype of the FLIB features a Kintex-7 FPGA and provides up to eight 10 GBit/s optical links. A custom FPGA design has been developed for this board. DMA transfers and data structures are optimized for subsequent timeslice building. Index tables generated by the FPGA enable fast random access to the written data containers. In addition the DMA target buffers can directly serve as InfiniBand RDMA source buffers without copying the data. The usage of POSIX shared memory for these buffers allows data access from multiple processes. An accompanying HDL module has been developed to integrate the FLES link into the front-end FPGA designs. It implements the front-end logic interface as well as the link protocol. Prototypes of all Input Interface components have been implemented and integrated into the FLES test framework. This allows the implementation and evaluation of the foreseen CBM read-out chain.

Perceptions, use and attitudes of pharmacy customers on complementary medicines and pharmacy practice.

PubMed

Braun, Lesley A; Tiralongo, Evelin; Wilkinson, Jenny M; Spitzer, Ondine; Bailey, Michael; Poole, Susan; Dooley, Michael

2010-07-20

Complementary medicines (CMs) are popular amongst Australians and community pharmacy is a major supplier of these products. This study explores pharmacy customer use, attitudes and perceptions of complementary medicines, and their expectations of pharmacists as they relate to these products. Pharmacy customers randomly selected from sixty large and small, metropolitan and rural pharmacies in three Australian states completed an anonymous, self administered questionnaire that had been pre-tested and validated. 1,121 customers participated (response rate 62%). 72% had used CMs within the previous 12 months, 61% used prescription medicines daily and 43% had used both concomitantly. Multivitamins, fish oils, vitamin C, glucosamine and probiotics were the five most popular CMs. 72% of people using CMs rated their products as 'very effective' or 'effective enough'. CMs were as frequently used by customers aged 60 years or older as younger customers (69% vs. 72%) although the pattern of use shifted with older age. Most customers (92%) thought pharmacists should provide safety information about CMs, 90% thought they should routinely check for interactions, 87% thought they should recommend effective CMs, 78% thought CMs should be recorded in customer's medication profile and 58% thought pharmacies stocking CMs should also employ a complementary medicine practitioner. Of those using CMs, 93% thought it important for pharmacists to be knowledgeable about CMs and 48% felt their pharmacist provides useful information about CMs. CMs are widely used by pharmacy customers of all ages who want pharmacists to be more involved in providing advice about these products.

Empirical study of alginate impression materials by customized proportioning system

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

PURPOSE Alginate mixers available in the market do not have the automatic proportioning unit. In this study, an automatic proportioning unit for the alginate mixer and controller software were designed and produced for a new automatic proportioning unit. With this device, it was ensured that proportioning operation could arrange weight-based alginate impression materials. MATERIALS AND METHODS The variation of coefficient in the tested groups was compared with the manual proportioning. Compression tension and tear tests were conducted to determine the mechanical properties of alginate impression materials. The experimental data were statistically analyzed using one way ANOVA and Tukey test at the 0.05 level of significance. RESULTS No statistically significant differences in modulus of elastisity (P>0.3), tensional/compresional strength (P>0.3), resilience (P>0.2), strain in failure (P>0.4), and tear energy (P>0.7) of alginate impression materials were seen. However, a decrease in the standard deviation of tested groups was observed when the customized machine was used. To verify the efficiency of the system, powder and powder/water mixing were weighed and significant decrease was observed. CONCLUSION It was possible to obtain more mechanically stable alginate impression materials by using the custom-made proportioning unit. PMID:27826387

Design and milling manufacture of polyurethane custom contoured cushions for wheelchair users.

PubMed

da Silva, Fabio Pinto; Beretta, Elisa Marangon; Prestes, Rafael Cavalli; Kindlein Junior, Wilson

2011-01-01

The design of custom contoured cushions manufactured in flexible polyurethane foams is an option to improve positioning and comfort for people with disabilities that spend most of the day seated in the same position. These surfaces increase the contact area between the seat and the user. This fact contributes to minimise the local pressures that can generate problems like decubitus ulcers. The present research aims at establishing development routes for custom cushion production to wheelchair users. This study also contributes to the investigation of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining of flexible polyurethane foams. The proposed route to obtain the customised seat began with acquiring the user's contour in adequate posture through plaster cast. To collect the surface geometry, the cast was three-dimensionally scanned and manipulated in CAD/CAM software. CNC milling parameters such as tools, spindle speeds and feed rates to machine flexible polyurethane foams were tested. These parameters were analysed regarding the surface quality. The best parameters were then tested in a customised seat. The possible dimensional changes generated during foam cutting were analysed through 3D scanning. Also, the customised seat pressure and temperature distribution was tested. The best parameters found for foams with a density of 50kg/cm(3) were high spindle speeds (24000 rpm) and feed rates between 2400-4000mm/min. Those parameters did not generate significant deformities in the machined cushions. The custom contoured cushion satisfactorily increased the contact area between wheelchair and user, as it distributed pressure and heat evenly. Through this study it was possible to define routes for the development and manufacturing of customised seats using direct CNC milling in flexible polyurethane foams. It also showed that custom contoured cushions efficiently distribute pressure and temperature, which is believed to minimise tissue lesions such as pressure ulcers.

Setting new standards in MEMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rimskog, Magnus; O'Loughlin, Brian J.

2007-02-01

Silex Microsystems handles a wide range of customized MEMS components. This speech will be describing Silex's MEMS foundry work model for providing customized solutions based on MEMS in a cost effective and well controlled manner. Factors for success are the capabilities to reformulate a customer product concept to manufacturing processes in the wafer fab, using standard process modules and production equipment. A well-controlled system increases the likelihood of a first batch success and enables fast ramp-up into volume production. The following success factors can be listed: strong enduring relationships with the customers; highly qualified well-experienced specialists working close with the customer; process solutions and building blocks ready to use out of a library; addressing manufacturing issues in the early design phase; in-house know how to meet demands for volume manufacturing; access to a wafer fab with high capacity, good organization, high availability of equipment, and short lead times; process development done in the manufacturing environment using production equipment for easy ramp-up to volume production. The article covers a method of working to address these factors: to have a long and enduring relationships with customers utilizing MEMS expertise and working close with customers, to translate their product ideas to MEMS components; to have stable process solutions for features such as Low ohmic vias, Spiked electrodes, Cantilevers, Silicon optical mirrors, Micro needles, etc, which can be used and modified for the customer needs; to use a structured development and design methodology in order to handle hundreds of process modules, and setting up standard run sheets. It is also very important to do real time process development in the manufacturing line. It minimizes the lead-time for the ramp-up of production; to have access to a state of the art Wafer Fab which is well organized, controlled and flexible, with high capacity and short lead-time for prototypes. It is crucial to have intimate control of processes, equipment, organization, production flow control and WIP. This has been addressed by using a fully computerized control and reporting system.

Surface structure and tribology of legless squamate reptiles.

PubMed

Abdel-Aal, Hisham A

2018-03-01

Squamate reptiles (around 10,000 species of snakes and lizards) comprise a myriad of distinct terrestrial vertebrates. The diversity within this biological group offers a great opportunity for customized bio-inspired solutions that address a variety of current technological problems especially within the realm of surface engineering and tribology. One subgroup within squamata is of interest in that context, namely the legless reptiles (mainly snakes and few lizards). The promise of that group lies within their functional adaptation as manifested in optimized surface designs and locomotion that is distinguished by economy of effort even when functioning within hostile tribological environments. Legless reptiles are spread over a wide range in the planet, this geographical diversity demands customized response to local habitats. Customization, in turn, is facilitated through specialized surface design features. In legless reptiles, micro elements of texture, their geometry and topological layout advance mitigation of frictional effects both in locomotion and in general function. Lately, the synergy between functional traits and intrinsic surface features has emerged as focus of research across disciplines. Many investigations have sought to characterize the structural as well as the tribological response of legless species from an engineering point of view. Despite the sizable amount of data that have accumulated in the literature over the past two decades or so, no effort to review the available information, whence this review. This manuscript, therefore, endeavors to assess available data on surface metrology and tribological behavior of legless reptiles and to define aspects of that performance necessary to formulate an advanced paradigm for bio-inspired surface engineering. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perspectives of a mobile application for people with communication disabilities in the community.

PubMed

Crook, Alice; Kenny, Julie; Johnson, Hilary; Davidson, Bronwyn

2017-02-01

Purpose To determine the perceptions of people with complex communication needs (CCN) and business staff regarding the uses and functionality of a mobile application to aid communication access. Method A qualitative study using thematic analysis of transcripts and field notes from focus groups and interviews of 19 people with CCN and nine business staff. Results Four themes and 10 subthemes were drawn from the data. Themes highlighted the desire for: increased communication strategies to support customer interactions, increased access to information, functionality of a mobile application to increase its utility, and preferred technical and visual features of mobile applications. Conclusion People with CCN and business staff perceived a mobile application as a useful tool to aid communication access. This research highlighted the importance of facilitating strategies to communicative interactions and information in the community as the fundamental goal of a mobile application developed to support communication access. Implications for Rehabilitation Mobile applications are widely accepted and used in modern customer service industries and have been identified as tools to increase communication access for people with complex communication needs (CCN). People with CCN identified accessibility, presentation, and customisation as important features of mobile applications for communication access. The diversity of user preferences and needs, and the rapid development of new technologies limit the applicability of a single design for mobile applications for people with CCN. People with CCN should be involved in application design and development. A mobile application for communication access would support customer-business interactions as well as enable more accessible information sharing about disability needs and services.

Extraction of business relationships in supply networks using statistical learning theory.

PubMed

Zuo, Yi; Kajikawa, Yuya; Mori, Junichiro

2016-06-01

Supply chain management represents one of the most important scientific streams of operations research. The supply of energy, materials, products, and services involves millions of transactions conducted among national and local business enterprises. To deliver efficient and effective support for supply chain design and management, structural analyses and predictive models of customer-supplier relationships are expected to clarify current enterprise business conditions and to help enterprises identify innovative business partners for future success. This article presents the outcomes of a recent structural investigation concerning a supply network in the central area of Japan. We investigated the effectiveness of statistical learning theory to express the individual differences of a supply chain of enterprises within a certain business community using social network analysis. In the experiments, we employ support vector machine to train a customer-supplier relationship model on one of the main communities extracted from a supply network in the central area of Japan. The prediction results reveal an F-value of approximately 70% when the model is built by using network-based features, and an F-value of approximately 77% when the model is built by using attribute-based features. When we build the model based on both, F-values are improved to approximately 82%. The results of this research can help to dispel the implicit design space concerning customer-supplier relationships, which can be explored and refined from detailed topological information provided by network structures rather than from traditional and attribute-related enterprise profiles. We also investigate and discuss differences in the predictive accuracy of the model for different sizes of enterprises and types of business communities.

Quality evaluation in health care services based on customer-provider relationships.

PubMed

Eiriz, Vasco; Figueiredo, José António

2005-01-01

To develop a framework for evaluating the quality of Portuguese health care organisations based on the relationship between customers and providers, to define key variables related to the quality of health care services based on a review of the available literature, and to establish a conceptual framework in order to test the framework and variables empirically. Systematic review of the literature. Health care services quality should not be evaluated exclusively by customers. Given the complexity, ambiguity and heterogeneity of health care services, the authors develop a framework for health care evaluation based on the relationship between customers (patients, their relatives and citizens) and providers (managers, doctors, other technical staff and non-technical staff), and considering four quality items (customer service orientation, financial performance, logistical functionality and level of staff competence). This article identifies important changes in the Portuguese health care industry, such as the ownership of health care providers. At the same time, customers are changing their attitudes towards health care, becoming much more concerned and demanding of health services. These changes are forcing Portuguese private and public health care organisations to develop more marketing-oriented services. This article recognises the importance of quality evaluation of health care services as a means of increasing customer satisfaction and organisational efficiency, and develops a framework for health care evaluation based on the relationship between customers and providers.

Department of the Navy Amended FY 1992/FY 1993 Biennial Budget Estimates. R,D,T, and E Descriptive Summaries Submitted to Congress January 1992. Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-01-01

counications between technology producer (Navy RDT&X community) and technology customer (Navy/MarLne Corps operating forces). Program technological...Additional programs as rwured by Fleet customer . 3. (U) 1t 1993 Planes Identify issues and provide link to RDT&3 community. Projects will vary according to...fleet customer requLrements. 4. (U) Program to Cmpletions This is a continuing program. D. (U) WORK pIRFORIpD l: iN-DOSE: NsWC Dahlgren, VA; AC

Can music with prosocial lyrics heal the working world? A field intervention in a call center

PubMed Central

Niven, Karen

2015-01-01

Music with lyrics about helping is shown to reduce aggression in the laboratory. This paper tests whether the prosocial lyric effect generalizes to reducing customer aggression in the workplace. A field experiment involved changing the hold music played to customers of a call center. The results of a 3 week study suggested that music significantly affected customers, but not in the way suggested by previous laboratory experiments; compared with days when instrumental background music was played, caller anger and employee exhaustion were lower on days when callers were played popular music with neutral, but not prosocial, lyrics. The findings suggest that music influences customer aggression, but that the prosocial lyric effect may not generalize from the laboratory to the call center. PMID:26052159

Can music with prosocial lyrics heal the working world? A field intervention in a call center.

PubMed

Niven, Karen

2015-03-01

Music with lyrics about helping is shown to reduce aggression in the laboratory. This paper tests whether the prosocial lyric effect generalizes to reducing customer aggression in the workplace. A field experiment involved changing the hold music played to customers of a call center. The results of a 3 week study suggested that music significantly affected customers, but not in the way suggested by previous laboratory experiments; compared with days when instrumental background music was played, caller anger and employee exhaustion were lower on days when callers were played popular music with neutral, but not prosocial, lyrics. The findings suggest that music influences customer aggression, but that the prosocial lyric effect may not generalize from the laboratory to the call center.

Effect of illumination on colour vision testing with Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test: customized colour vision booth versus room illumination.

PubMed

Zahiruddin, Kowser; Banu, Shaj; Dharmarajan, Ramya; Kulothungan, Vaitheeswaran; Vijayan, Deepa; Raman, Rajiv; Sharma, Tarun

2010-06-01

To evaluate a customized, portable Farnsworth-Munsell 100 (FM 100) hue viewing booth for compliance with colour vision testing standards and to compare it with room illumination in subjects with normal colour vision (trichromats), subjects with acquired colour vision defects (secondary to diabetes mellitus), and subjects with congenital colour vision defects (dichromats). Discrete wavelengths of the tube in the customized booth were measured using a spectrometer using the normal incident method and were compared with the spectral distribution of sunlight. Forty-eight subjects were recruited for the study and were divided into 3 groups: Group 1, Normal Trichromats (30 eyes); Group 2, Congenital Colour Vision Defects (16 eyes); and Group 3, Diabetes Mellitus (20 eyes). The FM 100 hue test performance was compared using two illumination conditions, booth illumination and room illumination. Total error scores of the classical method in Group 2 as mean+/-SD for room and booth illumination was 243.05+/-85.96 and 149.85+/-54.50 respectively (p=0.0001). Group 2 demonstrated lesser correlation (r=0.50, 0.55), lesser reliability (Cronbach's alpha, 0.625, 0.662) and greater variability (Bland & Altman value, 10.5) in total error scores for the classical method and the moment of inertia method between the two illumination conditions when compared to the other two groups. The customized booth demonstrated illumination meeting CIE standards. The total error scores were overestimated by the classical and moment of inertia methods in all groups for room illumination compared with booth illumination, however overestimation was more significant in the diabetes group.

High temperature, high intensity solar array. [for Venus Radar Mapper mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, B. S.; Brooks, G. R.; Pinkerton, R.

1985-01-01

The solar array for the Venus Radar Mapper mission will operate in the high temperature, high intensity conditions of a low Venus orbit environment. To fulfill the performance requirements in this environment at minimum cost and mass while maximizing power density and packing factor on the panel surface, several features were introduced into the design. These features included the use of optical surface reflectors (OSR's) to reduce the operating temperature; new adhesives for conductive bonding of OSR's to avoid electrostatic discharges; custom-designed large area cells and novel shunt diode circuit and panel power harness configurations.

A method of power analysis based on piecewise discrete Fourier transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Miaomiao; Zhang, Yanchi; Xie, Da

2018-04-01

The paper analyzes the existing feature extraction methods. The characteristics of discrete Fourier transform and piecewise aggregation approximation are analyzed. Combining with the advantages of the two methods, a new piecewise discrete Fourier transform is proposed. And the method is used to analyze the lighting power of a large customer in this paper. The time series feature maps of four different cases are compared with the original data, discrete Fourier transform, piecewise aggregation approximation and piecewise discrete Fourier transform. This new method can reflect both the overall trend of electricity change and its internal changes in electrical analysis.

Support for Diagnosis of Custom Computer Hardware

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Molock, Dwaine S.

2008-01-01

The Coldfire SDN Diagnostics software is a flexible means of exercising, testing, and debugging custom computer hardware. The software is a set of routines that, collectively, serve as a common software interface through which one can gain access to various parts of the hardware under test and/or cause the hardware to perform various functions. The routines can be used to construct tests to exercise, and verify the operation of, various processors and hardware interfaces. More specifically, the software can be used to gain access to memory, to execute timer delays, to configure interrupts, and configure processor cache, floating-point, and direct-memory-access units. The software is designed to be used on diverse NASA projects, and can be customized for use with different processors and interfaces. The routines are supported, regardless of the architecture of a processor that one seeks to diagnose. The present version of the software is configured for Coldfire processors on the Subsystem Data Node processor boards of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. There is also support for the software with respect to Mongoose V, RAD750, and PPC405 processors or their equivalents.

77 FR 48527 - National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) Test Concerning Automated Commercial Environment (ACE...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-14

... Program (NCAP) Test Concerning Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Simplified Entry: Modification of... Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). The test's participant selection criteria are modified to reflect... (NCAP) test concerning Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Simplified Entry functionality (Simplified...

78 FR 52556 - Accreditation and Approval of SGS North America, Inc., as a Commercial Gauger and Laboratory

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-23

... petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes for the next three years as of..., LA 70087, has been approved to gauge and accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals and vegetable oils for customs purposes, in accordance with the provisions of 19 CFR 151.12 and 19...

Student Satisfaction with Canadian Music Programmes: The Application of the American Customer Satisfaction Model in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Serenko, Alexander

2011-01-01

The purpose of this project is to empirically investigate several antecedents and consequences of student satisfaction (SS) with Canadian university music programmes as well as to measure students' level of programme satisfaction. For this, the American Customer Satisfaction Model was tested through a survey of 276 current Canadian music students.…

Functional customization: Value creation by individual storage elements in the car interior.

PubMed

Wagner, A-S; Kilincsoy, Ü; Reitmeir, M; Vink, P

2016-07-27

Mobility demands change due to differing life stages of car owners. Car sharing and retail markets seldom offer a possibility for customization by the user in contrast to the freedom of choice of an initial owner of a car. The value creation of functional customization is investigated. Prior to a test with a concept design, different use case scenarios of car drivers are identified regarding the preferred storage location of their personal belongings in different situations. A study with 70 subjects was conducted in order to evaluate the value added by functional customization. Storage habits of users were investigated in general and in relation to a concept design offering the possibility for flexible storage. Smartphones, supplies, beverages and wallets were the most relevant belongings in all driving situations (commuting, leisure, vacation and special occasions) complemented by sports equipment. Smartphones and other valuables are stored within reach and sight of the user. The emotional responses, recorded before and after the test, subdivided in attraction, hope and joy indicated positive feedback. The ease of use and the design proved to be crucial product characteristics of individually adaptable storage solutions. Positive emotions are contributing factors for a user's purchasing decision.

The design and development of a long-term fall detection system incorporated into a custom vest for the elderly.

PubMed

Bourke, Alan K; van de Ven, Pepijn W J; Chaya, Amy E; OLaighin, Gearóid M; Nelson, John

2008-01-01

A fall detection system and algorithm, incorporated into a custom designed garment has been developed. The developed fall detection system uses a tri-axial accelerometer, microcontroller, battery and Bluetooth module. This sensor is attached to a custom designed vest, designed to be worn by the elderly person under clothing. The fall detection algorithm was developed and incorporates both impact and posture detection capability. The vest and fall algorithm was tested on young healthy subjects performing normal activities of daily living (ADL) and falls onto crash mats, while wearing the best and sensor. Results show that falls can de distinguished from normal activities with a sensitivity >90% and a specificity of >99%, from a total data set of 264 falls and 165 normal ADL. By incorporating the fall-detection sensor into a custom designed garment it is anticipated that greater compliance when wearing a fall-detection system can be achieved and will help reduce the incidence of the long-lie, when falls occur in the elderly population. However further long-term testing using elderly subjects is required to validate the systems performance.

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

PubMed

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

2015-01-01

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

Application of Kansei engineering and data mining in the Thai ceramic manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kittidecha, Chaiwat; Yamada, Koichi

2018-01-01

Ceramic is one of the highly competitive products in Thailand. Many Thai ceramic companies are attempting to know the customer needs and perceptions for making favorite products. To know customer needs is the target of designers and to develop a product that must satisfy customers. This research is applied Kansei Engineering (KE) and Data Mining (DM) into the customer driven product design process. KE can translate customer emotions into the product attributes. This method determines the relationships between customer feelings or Kansei words and the design attributes. Decision tree J48 and Class association rule which implemented through Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) software are used to generate a predictive model and to find the appropriate rules. In this experiment, the emotion scores were rated by 37 participants for training data and 16 participants for test data. 6 Kansei words were selected, namely, attractive, ease of drinking, ease of handing, quality, modern and durable. 10 mugs were selected as product samples. The results of this study indicate that the proposed models and rules can interpret the design product elements affecting the customer emotions. Finally, this study provides useful understanding for the application DM in KE and can be applied to a variety of design cases.

Hawaiian Electric Advanced Inverter Grid Support Function Laboratory Validation and Analysis

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

Nelson, Austin; Nagarajan, Adarsh; Prabakar, Kumar

The objective for this test plan was to better understand how to utilize the performance capabilities of advanced inverter functions to allow the interconnection of distributed energy resource (DER) systems to support the new Customer Self-Supply, Customer Grid-Supply, and other future DER programs. The purpose of this project was: 1) to characterize how the tested grid supportive inverters performed the functions of interest, 2) to evaluate the grid supportive inverters in an environment that emulates the dynamics of O'ahu's electrical distribution system, and 3) to gain insight into the benefits of the grid support functions on selected O'ahu island distributionmore » feeders. These goals were achieved through laboratory testing of photovoltaic inverters, including power hardware-in-the-loop testing.« less

Modelling Simulation and Comparison of Refractory Corrosion at RHI's Technology Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregurek, Dean; Ressler, Angelika; Franzkowiak, Anna; Spanring, Alfred

In order to determine the most suitable refractory products and improve the lining lifetime for the diverse furnaces used in the nonferrous metal industry, corrosion tests are performed at RHF's Technology Center. The practical facilities include the cup test, induction furnace, rotary kiln, and drip slag test described in this paper, which enable a comprehensive understanding of the chemo-thermal brick wear on a pilot scale. The corrosion trials are performed with actual slags generated during operations at a customer's plant. To determine the highest influencing wear parameter, every single test is combined with a detailed mineralogical investigation and thermochemical calculations performed using FactSage. Based on the results, tailored refractory solutions for the nonferrous metal industry can be provided in combination with trials conducted at the customer's site.

Shopper marketing: a new challenge for Spanish community pharmacies.

PubMed

Gavilan, Diana; Avello, Maria; Abril, Carmen

2014-01-01

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

Stability of therapeutic retreatment of corneal wavefront customized ablation with the SCHWIND CAM: 4-year data.

PubMed

Aslanides, Ioannis M; Kolli, Sai; Padroni, Sara; Padron, Sara; Arba Mosquera, Samuel

2012-05-01

To evaluate the long-term outcomes of aspheric corneal wavefront ablation profiles for excimer laser retreatment. Eighteen eyes that had previously undergone LASIK or photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) were retreated with LASIK using the corneal wavefront ablation profile. Custom Ablation Manager (SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions, Kleinostheim, Germany) software and the ESIRIS flying spot excimer laser system (SCHWIND) were used to perform the ablations. Refractive outcomes and wavefront data are reported up to 4 years after retreatment. Pre- and postoperative data were compared with Student t tests and (multivariate) correlation tests. P<.05 was considered statistically significant. A bilinear correlation of various postoperative wavefront aberrations versus planned correction and preoperative aberration was performed. Mean manifest refraction spherical equivalent (MRSE) before retreatment was -0.38±1.85 diopters (D) and -0.09±0.22 D at 6 months and -0.10±0.38 D at 4 years postoperatively. The reduction in MRSE was statistically significant at both postoperative time points (P<.005). Postoperative aberrations were statistically lower (spherical aberration P<.05; coma P<.005; root-mean-square higher order aberration P<.0001) at 4 years postoperatively. Distribution of the postoperative uncorrected distance visual acuity (P<.0001) and corrected distance visual acuity (P<.01) were statistically better than preoperative values. Aspheric corneal wavefront customization with the ESIRIS yields visual, optical, and refractive results comparable to those of other wavefront-guided customized techniques for the correction of myopia and myopic astigmatism. The corneal wavefront customized approach shows its strength in cases where abnormal optical systems are expected. Systematic wavefront customized corneal ablation appears safe and efficacious for retreatment cases. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.

Convolutional neural network-based malaria diagnosis from focus stack of blood smear images acquired using custom-built slide scanner.

PubMed

Gopakumar, Gopalakrishna Pillai; Swetha, Murali; Sai Siva, Gorthi; Sai Subrahmanyam, Gorthi R K

2018-03-01

The present paper introduces a focus stacking-based approach for automated quantitative detection of Plasmodium falciparum malaria from blood smear. For the detection, a custom designed convolutional neural network (CNN) operating on focus stack of images is used. The cell counting problem is addressed as the segmentation problem and we propose a 2-level segmentation strategy. Use of CNN operating on focus stack for the detection of malaria is first of its kind, and it not only improved the detection accuracy (both in terms of sensitivity [97.06%] and specificity [98.50%]) but also favored the processing on cell patches and avoided the need for hand-engineered features. The slide images are acquired with a custom-built portable slide scanner made from low-cost, off-the-shelf components and is suitable for point-of-care diagnostics. The proposed approach of employing sophisticated algorithmic processing together with inexpensive instrumentation can potentially benefit clinicians to enable malaria diagnosis. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Heart transplant

MedlinePlus

... Tests of your kidney and liver Tests to evaluate your heart, such as EKG , echocardiogram , and cardiac ... ADAM Health Solutions. About MedlinePlus Site Map FAQs Customer Support Get email updates Subscribe to RSS Follow ...

78 FR 76151 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-16

... better allocate resources. Methodological tests will continue to be designed to examine the feasibility... reporting. Research will involve focus groups, cognitive laboratory testing, customer satisfaction surveys...