A Hybrid Satellite-Terrestrial Approach to Aeronautical Communication Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kerczewski, Robert J.; Chomos, Gerald J.; Griner, James H.; Mainger, Steven W.; Martzaklis, Konstantinos S.; Kachmar, Brian A.

2000-01-01

Rapid growth in air travel has been projected to continue for the foreseeable future. To maintain a safe and efficient national and global aviation system, significant advances in communications systems supporting aviation are required. Satellites will increasingly play a critical role in the aeronautical communications network. At the same time, current ground-based communications links, primarily very high frequency (VHF), will continue to be employed due to cost advantages and legacy issues. Hence a hybrid satellite-terrestrial network, or group of networks, will emerge. The increased complexity of future aeronautical communications networks dictates that system-level modeling be employed to obtain an optimal system fulfilling a majority of user needs. The NASA Glenn Research Center is investigating the current and potential future state of aeronautical communications, and is developing a simulation and modeling program to research future communications architectures for national and global aeronautical needs. This paper describes the primary requirements, the current infrastructure, and emerging trends of aeronautical communications, including a growing role for satellite communications. The need for a hybrid communications system architecture approach including both satellite and ground-based communications links is explained. Future aeronautical communication network topologies and key issues in simulation and modeling of future aeronautical communications systems are described.

Physicians' recognition of death in the foreseeable future in patients with intellectual disabilities.

PubMed

Vrijmoeth, C; Christians, M G M; Festen, D A M; Groot, M; Tonino, M; Echteld, M A

2016-03-01

Physicians are increasingly confronted with people with intellectual disabilities (ID) who are facing life-threatening diseases. We aimed to explore when and based on which information sources and signals physicians recognised that a patient with ID would die in the foreseeable future. Insights may help in identifying patients in need of palliative care. In this study, 81 physicians for people with ID and 16 general practitioners completed a retrospective survey about their last case of a patient with ID with a non-sudden death. More than 20% of all physicians foresaw death not until the last week of life. In 30% of all patients, the physician did not discuss the start of the palliative care phase until the last week. The most reported information sources based on which physicians foresaw death were the physicians themselves and professional caregivers. We found 40 different signals that lead to physicians' foreseeing death. These were not only medical signals but also behavioural and physical signals. Results indicate that the physicians' ability to foresee death is a result of a process of growing awareness in which multiple signals from different information sources converge. This demands continuous multi-disciplinary communication because people involved have their own unique interactions with the patient and can therefore contribute to a growing and timely awareness of patients' death in the future. © 2015 MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The modern brain tumor operating room: from standard essentials to current state-of-the-art.

PubMed

Barnett, Gene H; Nathoo, Narendra

2004-01-01

It is just over a century since successful brain tumor resection. Since then the diagnosis, imaging, and management of brain tumors have improved, in large part due to technological advances. Similarly, the operating room (OR) for brain tumor surgery has increased in complexity and specificity with multiple forms of equipment now considered necessary as technical adjuncts. It is evident that the theme of minimalism in combination with advanced image-guidance techniques and a cohort of sophisticated technologies (e.g., robotics and nanotechnology) will drive changes in the current OR environment for the foreseeable future. In this report we describe what may be regarded today as standard essentials in an operating room for the surgical management of brain tumors and what we believe to be the current 'state-of-the-art' brain tumor OR. Also, we speculate on the additional capabilities of the brain tumor OR of the near future.

When microchip implants do more than drug delivery: blending, blurring, and bundling of protected health information and patient monitoring.

PubMed

Bramstedt, Katrina A

2005-01-01

Although currently in the research stage, scientists argue that drug-releasing microchip implants are on the horizon for future patients. This paper presents ethical reflection on these implants and identifies specific areas of concern; namely, patient monitoring and tracking, and patient privacy and confidentiality. It is foreseeable that drug delivery chips could be multifunctional with the overt or covert addition of sensors that monitor more than just the bloodstream concentrations of prescribed drugs (e.g., cotinine and alcohol in non-compliant patients, patient location via radio frequency or global positioning satellite). Similarly, it is foreseeable that these chips could be embedded with a patient's protected health information that could potentially be accessed and used by unauthorized persons. While drug delivery microchips are theoretically convenient and accurate for dosing, and might offer faster drug delivery with fewer side effects, ethical issues loom and should be contemplated now, while the technology is still under development.

Editorial overview: Molecular and genetic bases of disease: the double life of DNA.

PubMed

McMurray, Cynthia T; Vijg, Jan

2014-06-01

This issue of Current Opinions focuses on the dual role of DNA in life and death. In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus is the god who looks both to the past and to the future. He guides the beginnings of life, its progression from one condition to another, and he foresees distant events. The analogy to DNA could not be stronger. Closely interacting with the environment, our basic genetics provides the origin of life, guides the quality of health with age, predicts disease, and ultimately foresees our end. A shared and deep interest with the origin of life has long prompted our desire to define aging, and, ultimately, to understand whether it can be reversed. In this special issue, the authors collectively review concepts of normative aging, DNA instability, DNA repair, the genetic contribution of age and diet to disease, and how the basic molecular transactions of DNA guide both the transitions to life as well as the transitions to death. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The double life of DNA

PubMed Central

McMurray, Cynthia T.; Vijg, Jan

2015-01-01

This issue of Current Opinions focuses on the dual role of DNA in life and death. In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus is the god who looks both to the past and to the future. He guides the beginnings of life, its progression from one condition to another, and he foresees distant events. The analogy to DNA could not be stronger. Closely interacting with the environment, our basic genetics provides the origin of life, guides the quality of health with age, predicts disease, and ultimately foresees our end. A shared and deep interest in the origin of life has long prompted our desire to define aging, and, ultimately, to understand whether it can be reversed. In this special issue, the authors collectively review concepts of normative aging, DNA instability, DNA repair, the genetic contribution of age and diet to disease, and how the basic molecular transactions of DNA give it a double life that guides health and survival, as well as the transitions to death. PMID:25282314

Western Europe: Battery forecast report - status 1995 and outlook. Summary

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

Kellinghusen, G.

1996-09-01

This presentation will cover the following main topics: (1) The market situation and the market players; (2) The Western European starter battery market in 1995 and outlook and 3. New European starter battery coding system: European Type Number (ETN). The current situation in the Western Europe lead battery market has the following features: (a) Market globalization; (b) a dramatic erosion of prices; (c) the acceleration of technological change; (d) {open_quotes}time to market{close_quotes} as a new competitive dimension and, (e) a strong German currency in the foreseeable future.

Foresee: A user-centric home energy management system for energy efficiency and demand response

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

Jin, Xin; Baker, Kyri A.; Christensen, Dane T.

This paper presents foresee, a user-centric home energy management system that can help optimize how a home operates to concurrently meet users' needs, achieve energy efficiency and commensurate utility cost savings, and reliably deliver grid services based on utility signals. Foresee is built on a multiobjective model predictive control framework, wherein the objectives consist of energy cost, thermal comfort, user convenience, and carbon emission. Foresee learns user preferences on different objectives and acts on their behalf to operate building equipment, such as home appliances, photovoltaic systems, and battery storage. In this work, machine-learning algorithms were used to derive data-driven appliancemore » models and usage patterns to predict the home's future energy consumption. This approach enables highly accurate predictions of comfort needs, energy costs, environmental impacts, and grid service availability. Simulation studies were performed on field data from a residential building stock data set collected in the Pacific Northwest. Results indicated that foresee generated up to 7.6% whole-home energy savings without requiring substantial behavioral changes. When responding to demand response events, foresee was able to provide load forecasts upon receipt of event notifications and delivered the committed demand response services with 10% or fewer errors. Foresee fully utilized the potential of the battery storage and controllable building loads and delivered up to 7.0-kW load reduction and 13.5-kW load increase. As a result, these benefits are provided while maintaining the occupants' thermal comfort or convenience in using their appliances.« less

Foresee: A user-centric home energy management system for energy efficiency and demand response

DOE PAGES

Jin, Xin; Baker, Kyri A.; Christensen, Dane T.; ...

2017-08-23

This paper presents foresee, a user-centric home energy management system that can help optimize how a home operates to concurrently meet users' needs, achieve energy efficiency and commensurate utility cost savings, and reliably deliver grid services based on utility signals. Foresee is built on a multiobjective model predictive control framework, wherein the objectives consist of energy cost, thermal comfort, user convenience, and carbon emission. Foresee learns user preferences on different objectives and acts on their behalf to operate building equipment, such as home appliances, photovoltaic systems, and battery storage. In this work, machine-learning algorithms were used to derive data-driven appliancemore » models and usage patterns to predict the home's future energy consumption. This approach enables highly accurate predictions of comfort needs, energy costs, environmental impacts, and grid service availability. Simulation studies were performed on field data from a residential building stock data set collected in the Pacific Northwest. Results indicated that foresee generated up to 7.6% whole-home energy savings without requiring substantial behavioral changes. When responding to demand response events, foresee was able to provide load forecasts upon receipt of event notifications and delivered the committed demand response services with 10% or fewer errors. Foresee fully utilized the potential of the battery storage and controllable building loads and delivered up to 7.0-kW load reduction and 13.5-kW load increase. As a result, these benefits are provided while maintaining the occupants' thermal comfort or convenience in using their appliances.« less

The role of the deep space network's frequency and timing system in the detection of gravitational waves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mankins, J. C.

1982-01-01

A review of the Deep Space Network's (DSN) use of precision Doppler-tracking of deep space vehicles is presented. The review emphasizes operational and configurational aspects and considers: the projected configuration of the DSN's frequency and timing system; the environment within the DSN provided by the precision atomic standards within the frequency and timing system--both current and projected; and the general requirements placed on the DSN and the frequency and timing system for both the baseline and the nominal gravitational wave experiments. A comment is made concerning the current probability that such an experiment will be carried out in the foreseeable future.

[Technology and future ways of thinking related to work from ergonomics points of views in moments of global crisis].

PubMed

Puentes-Lagos, David E; García-Acosta, Gabriel

2012-06-01

Is it possible to establish (at short, medium and long term) future work conditions or expected work conditions for Colombian people considering upcoming work technologies? Is it possible to anticipate future work desirable work conditions for Colombian people in order to plan (foresee?) work technologies? These questions guided this research and they point to an action thesis and to a reaction one in this context of work crisis. Even though a work technology establishes where, when, how, who, who with, and using what element work is done, it also establishes certain work conditions. Besides, multiple forms of considering and deconstructing past have been created from many disciplines. However, in order to foresee or construct work technologies requires a different perspective for looking further. This research has been carried out considering other disciplines points of view regarding Future Studies and Future Thinking Studies. This research has the purpose of finding future paths for Future Thinking Studies from ergonomics point of view in this moment of global work crisis we are going through.

Remote sensing: A tool for resistance monitoring in Bt crops

EPA Science Inventory

Corn forecasts anticipated significant increases in transgenic corn plantings in the United States for the 2007 growing season and foreseeable future. Driven by biofuel demand, significant increases in GM corn acreage for the 2007 growing season were expected with future planted...

In defense of genuine ignorance: supporting vitality and relevance in graduate curricula.

PubMed

Goren, S; Peter, L; Fischer, S

1992-01-01

Genuine ignorance, defined by John Dewey as curiosity and openmindedness in opposition to repetition of catch phrases and familiar propositions, is nurtured in graduate nursing curricula in which the educational process is congruent with course content. Preparation for advanced practice in the mental health environment of the foreseeable future required abandonment of the familiar medical model in favor of conceptual models consistent with current thinking in psychiatric nursing and exposure to current problems (homelessness, family violence, AIDS) and current problem solving strategies (brief treatment, family preservation). Involvement in practice-based research and operationalizing new perspectives on familiar clinical problems, are suggested as strategies for developing the advanced practitioner. Two of the authors, former graduate students, describe the impact of changed perspectives and research activity on their own practice.

Improving the current system for supplying organs for transplantation.

PubMed

Horton, R L; Horton, P J

1993-01-01

The United States currently relies on a voluntary, altruistic system for supplying organs for transplantation. It is now generally recognized that this system, as currently operated, produces a seriously inadequate supply of organs. A number of scholars have argued that some type of (generally unspecified) market system is necessary. Two articles appearing in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law have proposed relatively specific market systems for increasing the supply of organs. In this paper we argue that market systems are at best premature. In particular, there is little to suggest that any type of market system for organs will be permitted in the United States in the foreseeable future. We present data that strongly suggest that the current voluntary, altruistic system has not been developed to its full potential and offer a number of specific suggestions for improving the system.

Cost-effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in the Hawaii District

USGS Publications Warehouse

Matsuoka, I.; Lee, R.; Thomas, W.O.

1985-01-01

This project documents the results of a study of the cost-effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in the Hawaii District. The stream gages in the District were divided into two groups, the State of Hawaii and the Other Pacific Areas. Data uses and funding sources were identified for the 124 continuous stream gages currently being operated in the Hawaii District with a budget of $570,620. All the stream-gages were identified as having sufficient reason to continue their operation and they should be maintained in the program for the foreseeable future. (USGS)

Artificial Intelligence in Autonomous Telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahoney, William; Thanjavur, Karun

2011-03-01

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is key to the natural evolution of today's automated telescopes to fully autonomous systems. Based on its rapid development over the past five decades, AI offers numerous, well-tested techniques for knowledge based decision making essential for real-time telescope monitoring and control, with minimal - and eventually no - human intervention. We present three applications of AI developed at CFHT for monitoring instantaneous sky conditions, assessing quality of imaging data, and a prototype for scheduling observations in real-time. Closely complementing the current remote operations at CFHT, we foresee further development of these methods and full integration in the near future.

Perceptions of adolescent bullying: attributions of blame and responsibility in cases of cyber-bullying.

PubMed

Morrow, Allison; Downey, Christina A

2013-12-01

Cyber-bullying (where victims are targeted via online social networking or other electronic means) has gained increased attention in research and the broadcast media, but previous research has not investigated attribution of blame in such cyber-bullying events. This experiment hypothesized that participants would assign higher ratings of blame to bullying perpetrators when the bullying situations were depicted as having highly foreseeable outcomes (vs. unforeseeable outcomes), and as occurring in school (vs. online). In addition, a significant interaction was predicted between outcome foreseeability and bullying situation, with highly foreseeable in-school events being rated as the most predictable and attributable to the bully's actions. One-hundred sixty-three participants completed surveys containing demographic items, items regarding their past experiences of victimization, and one of four randomly-assigned vignettes detailing a bullying situation (which participants rated). While hypotheses regarding outcome foreseeability were supported, no cyber-bullying vs. in-school main effects (or corresponding interaction effects) were detected. Implications for future research and practice, as well as study limitations, are discussed. © 2013 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Treatment of phosphate retention: The earlier the better?

PubMed Central

Biggar, Patrick; Fung, Samuel K.S.; Ketteler, Markus

2014-01-01

Over the last 15 years, our knowledge and understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved in the regulation of calcium and phosphate homeostasis in chronic kidney disease have advanced dramatically. Contrary to general opinion in the 20th century that moderate hypercalcemia and hyperphosphatemia were acceptable in treating secondary hyperparathyroidism, the calcium and phosphate load is increasingly perceived to be a major trigger of vascular and soft tissue calcification. The current treatment options are discussed in view of historical developments and the expectations of the foreseeable future, focusing on the early treatment of hyperphosphatemia. At present, we lack indisputable evidence that active intervention using currently available drugs is of benefit to patients in chronic kidney disease stages 3 and 4. PMID:26877944

Population Pressure and the Future of Saudi State Stability

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

Political stability in Saudi Arabia is a key strategic concern of the United States and the international community. As the largest producer of oil...will likely be able to maintain political stability in the foreseeable future. While we conclude that Saudi Arabia will not face revolutionary

Rheumatology in the community of Madrid: current availability of rheumatologists and future needs using a predictive model.

PubMed

Lázaro y De Mercado, Pablo; Blasco Bravo, Antonio Javier; Lázaro y De Mercado, Ignacio; Castañeda, Santos; López Robledillo, Juan Carlos

2013-01-01

To: 1) describe the distribution of the public sector rheumatologists; 2) identify variables on which the workload in Rheumatology depends; and 3) build a predictive model on the need of rheumatologists for the next 10 years, in the Community of Madrid (CM). The information was obtained through structured questionnaires sent to all services/units of Rheumatology of public hospitals in the CM. The population figures, current and forecasted, were obtained from the National Statistics Institute. A predictive model was built based on information about the current and foreseeable supply, current and foreseeable demand, and the assumptions and criteria used to match supply with demand. The underlying uncertainty in the model was assessed by sensitivity analysis. In the CM in 2011 there were 150 staff rheumatologists and 49 residents in 27 centers, which is equivalent to one rheumatologist for every 33,280 inhabitants in the general population, and one for every 4,996 inhabitants over 65 years. To keep the level of assistance of 2011 in 2021 in the general population, it would be necessary to train more residents or hire more rheumatologists in scenarios of demand higher than 15%. However, to keep the level of assistance in the population over 65 years of age it would be necessary to train more residents or hire more specialists even without increased demand. The model developed may be very useful for planning, with the CM policy makers, the needs of human resources in Rheumatology in the coming years. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

Water management: Current and future challenges and research directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cosgrove, William J.; Loucks, Daniel P.

2015-06-01

Water distinguishes our planet compared to all the others we know about. While the global supply of available freshwater is more than adequate to meet all current and foreseeable water demands, its spatial and temporal distributions are not. There are many regions where our freshwater resources are inadequate to meet domestic, economic development and environmental needs. In such regions, the lack of adequate clean water to meet human drinking water and sanitation needs is indeed a constraint on human health and productivity and hence on economic development as well as on the maintenance of a clean environment and healthy ecosystems. All of us involved in research must find ways to remove these constraints. We face multiple challenges in doing that, especially given a changing and uncertain future climate, and a rapidly growing population that is driving increased social and economic development, globalization, and urbanization. How best to meet these challenges requires research in all aspects of water management. Since 1965, the journal Water Resources Research has played an important role in reporting and disseminating current research related to managing the quantity and quality and cost of this resource. This paper identifies the issues facing water managers today and future research needed to better inform those who strive to create a more sustainable and desirable future.

Future Leaders' Views on Organizational Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maloney, Krisellen; Antelman, Kristin; Arlitsch, Kenning; Butler, John

2010-01-01

Research libraries will continue to be affected by rapid and transformative changes in information technology and the networked environment for the foreseeable future. The pace and direction of these changes will profoundly challenge libraries and their staffs to respond effectively. This paper presents the results of a survey that was designed to…

Industrialization of mAb production technology The bioprocessing industry at a crossroads

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Manufacturing processes for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have evolved tremendously since the first licensed mAb product in 1986. The rapid growth in product demand for mAbs triggered parallel efforts to increase production capacity through construction of large bulk manufacturing plants as well as improvements in cell culture processes to raise product titers. This combination has led to an excess of manufacturing capacity, and together with improvements in conventional purification technologies, promises nearly unlimited production capacity in the foreseeable future. The increase in titers has also led to a marked reduction in production costs, which could then become a relatively small fraction of sales price for future products which are sold at prices at or near current levels. The reduction of capacity and cost pressures for current state-of-the-art bulk production processes may shift the focus of process development efforts and have important implications for both plant design and product development strategies for both biopharmaceutical and contract manufacturing companies. PMID:20065641

Urologists on a tightrope--do we have a net?

PubMed

Loughlin, Kevin R

2003-12-01

The purpose of this review is to analyze the current health care environment and its impact on urological practice. The medical and lay literature as it pertains to the socioeconomics of health care was reviewed. Analysis of the political and economic factors that influence the delivery of health care today reveals alarming realities. More than 40 million Americans remain uninsured, and with a retrenched economy that number is likely to increase. Neither government nor the private sector has been either willing or able to address the health care problem in a coherent or comprehensive way. As the population ages, the Medicare and Medicaid programs will become further stressed. Employers are increasingly unwilling to finance the health care expenses of their employees. Academic medical centers are facing unique exigencies that, if left uncorrected, will jeopardize the future training of physicians. In the current environment of a depressed economy, further proposed tax cuts and increased military spending it appears inevitable that the economic restraints on medical care will increase substantially in the foreseeable future.

Virulence determinants of pandemic influenza viruses

PubMed Central

Tscherne, Donna M.; García-Sastre, Adolfo

2011-01-01

Influenza A viruses cause recurrent, seasonal epidemics and occasional global pandemics with devastating levels of morbidity and mortality. The ability of influenza A viruses to adapt to various hosts and undergo reassortment events ensures constant generation of new strains with unpredictable degrees of pathogenicity, transmissibility, and pandemic potential. Currently, the combination of factors that drives the emergence of pandemic influenza is unclear, making it impossible to foresee the details of a future outbreak. Identification and characterization of influenza A virus virulence determinants may provide insight into genotypic signatures of pathogenicity as well as a more thorough understanding of the factors that give rise to pandemics. PMID:21206092

Clean coal : DOE should prepare a comprehensive analysis of the relative costs, benefits, and risks of a range of options for FutureGen

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-03-11

According to various energy experts, for the foreseeable future, because coal is abundant and relatively inexpensive, it will remain a significant fuel for the generation of electric power in the United States and the world. However, coal-fired power...

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

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-07

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

REDUCTIONS WITHOUT REGRET: DEFINING THE NEEDED CAPABILITIES

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

Swegle, J.; Tincher, D.

This is the second of three papers (in addition to an introductory summary) aimed at providing a framework for evaluating future reductions or modifications of the U.S. nuclear force, first by considering previous instances in which nuclear-force capabilities were eliminated; second by looking forward into at least the foreseeable future at the features of global and regional deterrence (recognizing that new weapon systems currently projected will have expected lifetimes stretching beyond our ability to predict the future); and third by providing examples of past or possible undesirable outcomes in the shaping of the future nuclear force, as well as somemore » closing thoughts for the future. This paper begins with a discussion of the current nuclear force and the plans and procurement programs for the modernization of that force. Current weapon systems and warheads were conceived and built decades ago, and procurement programs have begun for the modernization or replacement of major elements of the nuclear force: the heavy bomber, the air-launched cruise missile, the ICBMs, and the ballistic-missile submarines. In addition, the Nuclear Weapons Council has approved a new framework for nuclear-warhead life extension not fully fleshed out yet that aims to reduce the current number of nuclear explosives from seven to five, the so-called 3+2 vision. This vision includes three interoperable warheads for both ICBMs and SLBMs (thus eliminating one backup weapon) and two warheads for aircraft delivery (one gravity bomb and one cruise-missile, eliminating a second backup gravity bomb). This paper also includes a discussion of the current and near-term nuclear-deterrence mission, both global and regional, and offers some observations on future of the strategic deterrence mission and the challenges of regional and extended nuclear deterrence.« less

Targeted therapy for non-small cell lung cancer: current standards and the promise of the future

PubMed Central

Chan, Bryan A.

2015-01-01

In recent years, there has been a major paradigm shift in the management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC should now be further sub-classified by histology and driver mutation if one is known or present. Translational research advances now allow such mutations to be inhibited by either receptor monoclonal antibodies (mAb) or small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). Whilst empirical chemotherapy with a platinum-doublet remains the gold standard for advanced NSCLC without a known driver mutation, targeted therapy is pushing the boundary to significantly improve patient outcomes and quality of life. In this review, we will examine the major subtypes of oncogenic drivers behind NSCLC as well as the development of targeted agents available to treat them both now and in the foreseeable future. PMID:25806345

Antibiotic and Anti-Inflammatory Therapies for Cystic Fibrosis

PubMed Central

Chmiel, James F.; Konstan, Michael W.; Elborn, J. Stuart

2013-01-01

Cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease is characterized by chronic bacterial infection and an unremitting inflammatory response, which are responsible for most of CF morbidity and mortality. The median expected survival has increased from <6 mo in 1940 to >38 yr now. This dramatic improvement, although not great enough, is due to the development of therapies directed at secondary disease pathologies, especially antibiotics. The importance of developing treatments directed against the vigorous inflammatory response was realized in the 1990s. New therapies directed toward the basic defect are now visible on the horizon. However, the impact of these drugs on downstream pathological consequences is unknown. It is likely that antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs will remain an important part of the maintenance regimen for CF in the foreseeable future. Current and future antibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapies for CF are reviewed. PMID:23880054

Strategic charging infrastructure deployment for electric vehicles.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-05-01

Electric vehicles (EV) are promoted as a foreseeable future vehicle technology to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and greenhouse : gas emissions associated with conventional vehicles. This paper proposes a data-driven approach to improving the elec...

How Schools Can Control the Increasing Cost of Energy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Hans F.

In a nontechnical way, this small book outlines the present use of energy in schools, what forms of energy will be available in the foreseeable future, how energy is presently wasted in educational facilities, and how energy can be conserved now and in the future. The school administrator can control the energy consumption in his schools and this…

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness and the Future of Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seligman, Martin E. P.; Fowler, Raymond D.

2011-01-01

Psychology responded to the national needs in World War I and World War II and was itself transformed. National need calls a third time: unprecedented levels of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, suicide, and anxiety along with a need for a resilient Army capable of meeting the persistent warfare of the foreseeable future. As a large part…

Needs and Requirements for Future Research Reactors (ORNL Perspectives)

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

Ilas, Germina; Bryan, Chris; Gehin, Jess C.

2016-02-10

The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) is a vital national and international resource for neutron science research, production of radioisotopes, and materials irradiation. While HFIR is expected to continue operation for the foreseeable future, interest is growing in understanding future research reactors features, needs, and requirements. To clarify, discuss, and compile these needs from the perspective of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) research and development (R&D) missions, a workshop, titled “Needs and Requirements for Future Research Reactors”, was held at ORNL on May 12, 2015. The workshop engaged ORNL staff that is directly involved in research using HFIR to collectmore » valuable input on the reactor’s current and future missions. The workshop provided an interactive forum for a fruitful exchange of opinions, and included a mix of short presentations and open discussions. ORNL staff members made 15 technical presentations based on their experience and areas of expertise, and discussed those capabilities of the HFIR and future research reactors that are essential for their current and future R&D needs. The workshop was attended by approximately 60 participants from three ORNL directorates. The agenda is included in Appendix A. This document summarizes the feedback provided by workshop contributors and participants. It also includes information and insights addressing key points that originated from the dialogue started at the workshop. A general overview is provided on the design features and capabilities of high performance research reactors currently in use or under construction worldwide. Recent and ongoing design efforts in the US and internationally are briefly summarized, followed by conclusions and recommendations.« less

Life sciences today and tomorrow: emerging biotechnologies.

PubMed

Williamson, E Diane

2017-08-01

The purpose of this review is to survey current, emerging and predicted future biotechnologies which are impacting, or are likely to impact in the future on the life sciences, with a projection for the coming 20 years. This review is intended to discuss current and future technical strategies, and to explore areas of potential growth during the foreseeable future. Information technology approaches have been employed to gather and collate data. Twelve broad categories of biotechnology have been identified which are currently impacting the life sciences and will continue to do so. In some cases, technology areas are being pushed forward by the requirement to deal with contemporary questions such as the need to address the emergence of anti-microbial resistance. In other cases, the biotechnology application is made feasible by advances in allied fields in biophysics (e.g. biosensing) and biochemistry (e.g. bio-imaging). In all cases, the biotechnologies are underpinned by the rapidly advancing fields of information systems, electronic communications and the World Wide Web together with developments in computing power and the capacity to handle extensive biological data. A rationale and narrative is given for the identification of each technology as a growth area. These technologies have been categorized by major applications, and are discussed further. This review highlights: Biotechnology has far-reaching applications which impinge on every aspect of human existence. The applications of biotechnology are currently wide ranging and will become even more diverse in the future. Access to supercomputing facilities and the ability to manipulate large, complex biological datasets, will significantly enhance knowledge and biotechnological development.

Judgments of cause and blame: the effects of intentionality and foreseeability.

PubMed

Lagnado, David A; Channon, Shelley

2008-09-01

What are the factors that influence everyday attributions of cause and blame? The current studies focus on sequences of events that lead to adverse outcomes, and examine people's cause and blame ratings for key events in these sequences. Experiment 1 manipulated the intentional status of candidate causes and their location in a causal chain. Participants rated intentional actions as more causal, and more blameworthy, than unintentional actions or physical events. There was also an overall effect of location, with later events assigned higher ratings than earlier events. Experiment 2 manipulated both intentionality and foreseeability. The preference for intentional actions was replicated, and there was a strong influence of foreseeability: actions were rated as more causal and more blameworthy when they were highly foreseeable. These findings are interpreted within two prominent theories of blame, [Shaver, K. G. (1985). The attribution of blame: Causality, responsibility, and blameworthiness. New York: Springer-Verlag] and [Alicke, M. D. (2000). Culpable control and the psychology of blame. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 556-574]. Overall, it is argued that the data are more consistent with Alicke's model of culpable control.

Reflections on the Last 25 Years of the American Otological Society and Thoughts on its Future.

PubMed

Welling, D Bradley; Jackler, Robert K

2018-04-01

To review contributions of the American Otological Society (AOS) over the most recent quarter century (1993-2018) and to comment on possible future evolution of the field during the quarter century to come. Retrospective review of selected topics from the AOS transactions, distinguished lectureships over the past 25 years, and selective reflection by the authors. Speculation on potential advances of the next quarter century derived from emerging topics in the current literature and foreseeable trends in science and technology are also proffered for consideration (and possible future ridicule). Integration of multiple disciplines including bioengineering, medical imaging, genetics, molecular biology, physics, and evidence based medicine have substantially benefitted the practice of otology over the past quarter century. The impact of the contributions of members of the AOS in these developments cannot be over estimated. Further scientific advancement will certainly accelerate change in the practice of otologic surgery and medicine over the coming decade in ways that will be marvelous to behold.

The Future of the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brooks, Linton F.

2007-03-01

This paper will examine our plans for the future of the U.S. nuclear weapons program including efforts to ``transform'' the stockpile and supporting infrastructure. We proceed from the premise that the United States will need a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear deterrent for the foreseeable future. Moreover, the Stockpile Stewardship Program is working. Today's stockpile---comprised of legacy warheads left over from the Cold War---is safe and reliable. That said, we see increased risk, absent nuclear testing, in assuring the long-term safety and reliability of our current stockpile. Nor is today's nuclear weapons complex sufficiently ``responsive'' to fixing technical problems in the stockpile, or to potential adverse geopolitical change. Our task is to work to ensure that the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise, including the stockpile and supporting infrastructure, meets long-term national security needs. Our approach is to develop and field replacement warheads for the legacy stockpile---so-called Reliable Replacement Warheads (RRW)---as a means to transform both the nuclear stockpile and supporting infrastructure.

Seismic retrofit benefit considering statewide transportation assessment.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-06-01

The purpose of this study was to identify and demonstrate a methodology to prioritize bridges for : retrofit in the State of Oregon. Given the limited resources available, retrofitting all vulnerable bridges in the foreseeable : future would not be i...

50 CFR 424.11 - Factors for listing, delisting, or reclassifying species.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... more of the following reasons: (1) Extinction. Unless all individuals of the listed species had been... nation, or to be in danger of extinction or likely to become so within the foreseeable future by any...

50 CFR 424.11 - Factors for listing, delisting, or reclassifying species.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... more of the following reasons: (1) Extinction. Unless all individuals of the listed species had been... nation, or to be in danger of extinction or likely to become so within the foreseeable future by any...

50 CFR 424.11 - Factors for listing, delisting, or reclassifying species.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... more of the following reasons: (1) Extinction. Unless all individuals of the listed species had been... nation, or to be in danger of extinction or likely to become so within the foreseeable future by any...

50 CFR 424.11 - Factors for listing, delisting, or reclassifying species.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... more of the following reasons: (1) Extinction. Unless all individuals of the listed species had been... nation, or to be in danger of extinction or likely to become so within the foreseeable future by any...

77 FR 28316 - Filing a Renewed License Application

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-14

... only those environmental impacts and alternatives that are reasonably foreseeable. This means that... action timeframe. With respect to assessing the potential future environmental impacts associated with... its consideration of impacts in the generic and supplemental environmental impact statements (SEISs...

[The role of neurotrophic factors in regeneration of the nervous system].

PubMed

Machaliński, Bogusław; Lażewski-Banaszak, Piotr; Dąbkowska, Elżbieta; Paczkowska, Edyta; Gołąb-Janowska, Monika; Nowacki, Przemysław

2012-01-01

Neurotrophic factors regulate survival, development, and function of nervous tissue. They act via two different classes of receptors and activation of various signaling pathways in the target cells. Illumination of their physiological role in the maintenance of central nervous system homeostasis as well as regeneration of damaged tissue have ignited expectations to heal neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic late-ral sclerosis and Parkinson disease. Advances in pharmaco-therapy, gene therapy, and stem cell biology have enabled development of novel therapies with application of regenerating cell transplantation. In the foreseeable future, it may lead to the establishment of safe and effective ways of treatment of these severe and currently incurable diseases.

A SWOT Analysis of Big Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmadi, Mohammad; Dileepan, Parthasarati; Wheatley, Kathleen K.

2016-01-01

This is the decade of data analytics and big data, but not everyone agrees with the definition of big data. Some researchers see it as the future of data analysis, while others consider it as hype and foresee its demise in the near future. No matter how it is defined, big data for the time being is having its glory moment. The most important…

Blind Optimism: A Cross-Cultural Study of Students' Temporal Constructs and Their Schooling Engagements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rossatto, Cesar Augusto

2004-01-01

This article examines students' perceptions and usage of time, their sense of optimism or lack of it, especially related to schooling. Positionality, or perceptions about life and projections of the future, has great impact on students' success in school. How they interpret the past, live in the present and foresee the future is significantly…

Information, knowledge and the future of machines.

PubMed

MacFarlane, Alistair G J

2003-08-15

This wide-ranging survey considers the future of machines in terms of information, complexity and the growth of knowledge shared amongst agents. Mechanical and human agents are compared and contrasted, and it is argued that, for the foreseeable future, their roles will be complementary. The future development of machines is examined in terms of unions of human and machine agency evolving as part of economic activity. Limits to, and threats posed by, the continuing evolution of such a society of agency are considered.

Environmental regulation of sex determination in oil palm: current knowledge and insights from other species.

PubMed

Adam, Hélène; Collin, Myriam; Richaud, Frédérique; Beulé, Thierry; Cros, David; Omoré, Alphonse; Nodichao, Leifi; Nouy, Bruno; Tregear, James W

2011-12-01

The African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a monoecious species of the palm subfamily Arecoideae. It may be qualified as 'temporally dioecious' in that it produces functionally unisexual male and female inflorescences in an alternating cycle on the same plant, resulting in an allogamous mode of reproduction. The 'sex ratio' of an oil palm stand is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. In particular, the enhancement of male inflorescence production in response to water stress has been well documented. This paper presents a review of our current understanding of the sex determination process in oil palm and discusses possible insights that can be gained from other species. Although some informative phenological studies have been carried out, nothing is as yet known about the genetic basis of sex determination in oil palm, nor the mechanisms by which this process is regulated. Nevertheless new genomics-based techniques, when combined with field studies and biochemical and molecular cytological-based approaches, should provide a new understanding of the complex processes governing oil palm sex determination in the foreseeable future. Current hypotheses and strategies for future research are discussed.

Illusions and Ignorance about the Family-Responsive Workplace.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kingston, Paul W.

1990-01-01

Contends American businesses have made modest headway in instituting family-responsive practices and that it is illusory to expect that market solutions will deliver good or equitable family policy in foreseeable future. Predicts uneven realization of the responsive workplace. (Author/ABL)

How Can the Science Community Support Reality Based Policies to Reducing the Escalating Toll of Natural Hazards?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, E. A.

2012-12-01

Worldwide, the toll of disaster damage caused by foreseeable natural hazards is growing, despite the fact that science is increasingly able to quantify the risk and foresee the likely location of natural events (NCDC 2012; NHC 2010). Those events can cause disastrous consequences if human built infrastructure is not properly designed for both the current state and future events (IBHS, 2012). Our existing approaches are not working at reducing the mounting toll of disasters which follow foreseeable natural events. Rather, even if the climate were not changing, current land use decisions coupled with development, engineering, design, and construction practices are significantly contributing to further increasing an unsustainable toll from disasters (Pielke, Gratz et al. 2007). Safe and proper construction practices developed to reduce flood losses (e.g. Design for Flooding, Watson, Adams et al., 2010) are all too often thought of as a zero sum situation where the community wins and the developer loses. In reality, the United States and the rest of the world often can find win-win solutions based on sound economics, law, ethics, and environmental sustainability that will benefit communities, developers, and natural hazard risk mitigation practitioners. While such solutions are being implemented in a fragmentary manner throughout the United States, communities implementing these solutions are increasingly working together in peer networks, such as the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association (NHMA)'s Resilient Neighbors Network. Examples include the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District that covers the metropolitan Denver area and recent work in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This presentation will set forth the scientific, ethical, and legal basis of higher development standards which, when combined with good negotiations techniques, can significantly decrease the terrible misery from wildfires, tornadoes, floods, and other natural disasters. Communities clearly have the legal right to implement safe design standards (Thomas, Riley Medlock 2008); yet all too often do not (NOAA, 2010). The required negotiations techniques must include outreach even to those who believe the topics of climate change and sustainability are some sort of plot against property rights and the free enterprise system. The presentation will also challenge the scientific community to support reasoned efforts to better prepare society for the even greater challenges posed by climate variability, uncertainty, and change: to work with practitioners who seek to build a safe and sustainable future to identify gaps in scientific knowledge and help develop workable solutions at the local level. Edward A. Thomas Esq. President Natural Hazard Mitigation Association

Best practices in guidance for workforce transition and succession planning.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-04-01

Public sector transportation agencies and the contractors who help them do their work will have a major challenge in meeting their : workforce needs for the foreseeable future. By some estimates, the aging of the baby boom generation could allow up t...

Best practices in guidance for workforce transition and succession planning.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-04-01

"Public sector transportation agencies and the contractors who help them do their work will have a major challenge in meeting their : workforce needs for the foreseeable future. By some estimates, the aging of the baby boom generation could allow up ...

Factors influencing the retention of registered nurses in the Gauteng Province of South Africa.

PubMed

Mokoka, Kgaogelo E; Ehlers, Valerie J; Oosthuizen, Martha J

2011-12-14

South Africa is a source country for many destination countries that recruit registered nurses who emigrate for personal and/or professional reasons. A large number of South African nurses belong to the baby boomer generation (born between 1943 and 1964) who will retire within the foreseeable future. Statistics from the South African Nursing Council show a decline of 42.0% in the number of nurses who completed their training in South Africa from 1996 to 2005. These aspects combine to predict a potential dire shortage of nurses in South Africa within the foreseeable future. Retention of registered nurses should be the focus of health-care planners to avoid crises in South Africa's health-care services. This study attempted to identify factors that would influence registered nurses' decisions to stay with their current employers in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. An exploratory descriptive quantitative design was adopted and questionnaires were sent to a sample of nurses, registered with the South African Nursing Council (SANC), with addresses in the Gauteng Province. A total of 108 nurses completed and returned questionnaires, of whom 77 (73.1%) had considered leaving their current employers. The most important factors that would influence more than 90.0% of these nurses' decisions to stay with their current employers related to finances, safety and security, equipment and/or supplies, management, staff and patients. In terms of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory, deficiency needs (physiological, safety and social needs) should be met by improved salaries revised on an annual basis, paying long-service and outstanding-service bonuses, and improving the safety and security, as well the available equipment and supplies, at institutions. Sufficient numbers of nurses should be employed and vacancies should be filled rapidly. However, not all changes required to enhance nurses' retention rates involve increased costs. Managers should lead by example and respect nurses, and encourage doctors as well as patients to do so, to meet nurses' self-esteem needs. Recognising and rewarding outstanding service would meet nurses' self-actualisation needs, as well as opportunities to further their education.

Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED): A Global Collection of Root Trait Data with Coincident Site, Vegetation, Edaphic, and Climatic Data, Version 1

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

Iversen, C. M.; Powell, A. S.; McCormack, M. L.

To address the need for a centralized root trait database, we are compiling the Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED) from published literature and unpublished data. FRED Version 1 (FRED 1.0) currently houses more than 70,000 observations of root traits and their associated site, vegetation, edaphic, and climatic conditions from across the globe (see image below, which shows the more than 1000 distinct locations associated with observations in FRED 1.0). Data collection is ongoing and will continue for the foreseeable future. The more than 300 root traits currently housed in FRED 1.0 are described in detail here. FRED is focused on finemore » roots (less than 2 mm), as coarse roots are studied using different methodology, often at very different scales, and have different traits and trait interpretations.« less

Feasibility study for liquefied natural gas utilization for commercial vehicles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-10-01

Recent advances in horizontal drilling and fracturing technology in gas shale formations have increased natural gas supply : such that its price has decoupled from petroleum and is likely to remain significantly lower for the foreseeable future. In t...

Synchrotron Radiation from Outer Space and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weisskopf, M. C.

2006-01-01

The universe provides numerous extremely interesting astrophysical sources of synchrotron X radiation. The Chandra X-ray Observatory and other X-ray missions provide powerful probes of these and other cosmic X-ray sources. Chandra is the X-ray component of NASA's Great Observatory Program which also includes the Hubble Space telescope, the Spitzer Infrared Telescope Facility, and the now defunct Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory provides the best angular resolution (sub-arcsecond) of any previous, current, or planned (for the foreseeable near future) space-based X-ray instrumentation. We present here a brief overview of the technical capability of this X-Ray observatory and some of the remarkable discoveries involving cosmic synchrotron sources.

Man-made Boards Technology Trends based on TRIZ Evolution Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Huiling; Fan, Delin

China is one of the world's largest manufacturers and consumers of man-made board applications. A systematic and efficient method of foreseeing future technology trends and their evolutionary potentials is a key task that can help companies guide their planning and allocate their resources. Application of the law of evolution with a S-shaped curve could contribute essentially to the accuracy of the long-term forecast. This research seeks to determine the current stage and the position on the S-curve of man-made board technology in China on the TRIZ evolution theo ryand introduce a methodology which combines patent analysis and technology life cycle forecasting to find a niche space of man-made technology development in China.

Next generation DRM: cryptography or forensics?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robert, Arnaud

2009-02-01

Current content protection systems rely primarily on applied cryptographic techniques but there is an increased use of forensic solutions in images, music and video distribution alike. The two approaches differ significantly, both in terms of technology and in terms of strategy, and thus it begs the question: will one approach take over in the long run, and if so which one? Discussing the evolution of both cryptographic and forensic solutions, we conclude that neither approach is ideal for all constituents, and that in the video space at least they will continue to co-exist for the foreseeable future - even if this may not be the case for other media types. We also analyze shortcomings of these approaches, and suggest that new solutions are necessary in this still emerging marketplace.

Realtime multi-plot graphics system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shipkowski, Michael S.

1990-01-01

The increased complexity of test operations and customer requirements at Langley Research Center's National Transonic Facility (NTF) surpassed the capabilities of the initial realtime graphics system. The analysis of existing hardware and software and the enhancements made to develop a new realtime graphics system are described. The result of this effort is a cost effective system, based on hardware already in place, that support high speed, high resolution, generation and display of multiple realtime plots. The enhanced graphics system (EGS) meets the current and foreseeable future realtime graphics requirements of the NTF. While this system was developed to support wind tunnel operations, the overall design and capability of the system is applicable to other realtime data acquisition systems that have realtime plot requirements.

Opportunities for development of advanced large cargo aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitehead, A. H., Jr.

1976-01-01

A critical review of the history, current state of the art, and future prospects for cargo aircraft systems indicates that three of the major advantages of air cargo are rapid delivery, ability to bridge geographical boundaries, and capability to provide a flexible market response. Foreseeable advances in large aircraft development offer even greater profit potential by increasing the payload ton-miles per pound of fuel. Intermodal containers and handling systems and computerized control and billing may be key ingredients. Details of a NASA program for large aircraft systems technology are outlined, which includes systems studies, research and technology investigations, and determination of the need for critical flight experiments. Innovative advanced technologies and configuration concepts are discussed. Numerous illustrations supplement the text.

Capsule endoscopy of the future: What’s on the horizon?

PubMed Central

Slawinski, Piotr R; Obstein, Keith L; Valdastri, Pietro

2015-01-01

Capsule endoscopes have evolved from passively moving diagnostic devices to actively moving systems with potential therapeutic capability. In this review, we will discuss the state of the art, define the current shortcomings of capsule endoscopy, and address research areas that aim to overcome said shortcomings. Developments in capsule mobility schemes are emphasized in this text, with magnetic actuation being the most promising endeavor. Research groups are working to integrate sensor data and fuse it with robotic control to outperform today’s standard invasive procedures, but in a less intrusive manner. With recent advances in areas such as mobility, drug delivery, and therapeutics, we foresee a translation of interventional capsule technology from the bench-top to the clinical setting within the next 10 years. PMID:26457013

The Fairness Debate in U.S.-Japan Economic Relations

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

economic growth for the foreseeable future; any developments that threaten to undermine it would have enormous consequences for the future of the...foreign businesses. The Japanese view U.S. macroeconomic policy failure as the principal cause of the fairness dispute. There is rep- utable economic...number of comparable political problems. Stereotyping of the other 2 The reason for the dramatic growth of fairness grievances in advanced industrial

Lifelong education for older adults in Malta: Current trends and future visions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Formosa, Marvin

2012-04-01

With European demographic developments causing a decline of the available workforce in the foreseeable future and the unsustainability of dominant pay-as-you-go pension systems (where contributions from the current workforce sustain pensioners), governments need to come up with strategies to deal with this upcoming challenge and to adjust their policies. Based on a study carried out between September 2009 and May 2010, this article evaluates the policies guiding late-life education in Malta, as well as the local plethora of learning opportunities for older adult education, and participation rates. The Maltese government is committed to supporting the inclusion of older persons (aged 60+) in lifelong education policies and programmes, to the extent that local studies have uncovered a recent rise in the overall participation of older adults in formal, non-formal and informal areas of learning. While the present and future prospects for late-life education in Malta seem promising, a critical scrutiny of present ideologies and trends finds the field to be no more than seductive rhetoric. Though the coordination of late-life education in Malta does result in various social benefits to older learners and Maltese society in general, it also occurs within five intersecting lines of inequality - namely an economic rationale, elitism, gender bias, the urban-rural divide and third ageism. This article ends by proposing policy recommendations for the future of late-life education.

Antimicrobial Resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the 21st Century: Past, Evolution, and Future

PubMed Central

Unemo, Magnus

2014-01-01

SUMMARY Neisseria gonorrhoeae is evolving into a superbug with resistance to previously and currently recommended antimicrobials for treatment of gonorrhea, which is a major public health concern globally. Given the global nature of gonorrhea, the high rate of usage of antimicrobials, suboptimal control and monitoring of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and treatment failures, slow update of treatment guidelines in most geographical settings, and the extraordinary capacity of the gonococci to develop and retain AMR, it is likely that the global problem of gonococcal AMR will worsen in the foreseeable future and that the severe complications of gonorrhea will emerge as a silent epidemic. By understanding the evolution, emergence, and spread of AMR in N. gonorrhoeae, including its molecular and phenotypic mechanisms, resistance to antimicrobials used clinically can be anticipated, future methods for genetic testing for AMR might permit region-specific and tailor-made antimicrobial therapy, and the design of novel antimicrobials to circumvent the resistance problems can be undertaken more rationally. This review focuses on the history and evolution of gonorrhea treatment regimens and emerging resistance to them, on genetic and phenotypic determinants of gonococcal resistance to previously and currently recommended antimicrobials, including biological costs or benefits; and on crucial actions and future advances necessary to detect and treat resistant gonococcal strains and, ultimately, retain gonorrhea as a treatable infection. PMID:24982323

Strategic planning features of subsurface management in Kemerovo Oblast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romanyuk, V.; Grinkevich, A.; Akhmadeev, K.; Pozdeeva, G.

2016-09-01

The article discusses the strategic planning features of regional development based on the production and subsurface management in Kemerovo Oblast. The modern approach - SWOT analysis was applied to assess the regional development strategy. The estimation of regional development plan implementation was given for the foreseeable future.

40 CFR 1508.7 - Cumulative impact.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Cumulative impact. 1508.7 Section 1508... Cumulative impact. Cumulative impact is the impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions...

A Response to Mortimer Adler's "Paideia Proposal."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gregory, Marshall W.

1984-01-01

Offers a critique of Adler's position on common learning and the future of American education. Sympathizes with Adler's objectives, but sees three flaws inherent in his polemics. Foresees no realization of objectives through Adler's manifesto, but finds it useful for clarifying ideas and generating philosophical discussion. (DMM)

Activated Carbon Fibers For Gas Storage

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

Burchell, Timothy D; Contescu, Cristian I; Gallego, Nidia C

The advantages of Activated Carbon Fibers (ACF) over Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) are reviewed and their relationship to ACF structure and texture are discussed. These advantages make ACF very attractive for gas storage applications. Both adsorbed natural gas (ANG) and hydrogen gas adsorption performance are discussed. The predicted and actual structure and performance of lignin-derived ACF is reviewed. The manufacture and performance of ACF derived monolith for potential automotive natural gas (NG) storage applications is reported Future trends for ACF for gas storage are considered to be positive. The recent improvements in NG extraction coupled with the widespread availability ofmore » NG wells means a relatively inexpensive and abundant NG supply in the foreseeable future. This has rekindled interest in NG powered vehicles. The advantages and benefit of ANG compared to compressed NG offer the promise of accelerated use of ANG as a commuter vehicle fuel. It is to be hoped the current cost hurdle of ACF can be overcome opening ANG applications that take advantage of the favorable properties of ACF versus GAC. Lastly, suggestions are made regarding the direction of future work.« less

3D printing for clinical application in otorhinolaryngology.

PubMed

Zhong, Nongping; Zhao, Xia

2017-12-01

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a promising technology that can use a patient's image data to create complex and personalized constructs precisely. It has made great progress over the past few decades and has been widely used in medicine including medical modeling, surgical planning, medical education and training, prosthesis and implants. Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is a powerful tool that has the potential to fabricate bioengineered constructs of the desired shape layer-by-layer using computer-aided deposition of living cells and biomaterials. Advances in 3D printed implants and future tissue-engineered constructs will bring great progress to the field of otolaryngology. By integrating 3D printing into tissue engineering and materials, it may be possible for otolaryngologists to implant 3D printed functional grafts into patients for reconstruction of a variety of tissue defects in the foreseeable future. In this review, we will introduce the current state of 3D printing technology and highlight the applications of 3D printed prosthesis and implants, 3D printing technology combined with tissue engineering and future directions of bioprinting in the field of otolaryngology.

20 CFR 617.19 - Requirement for participation in training.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... available at a reasonable cost, (D) Funds are not available to pay the total costs of training, or (E... which the individual was separated plans to recall the individual within the reasonably foreseeable future (State agencies must verify planned recalls with the employer), (2) Planned recall. For the...

Space prospects. [european space programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

A strategy for keeping the Common Market's space effort independent of and competitive with NASA and the space shuttle is discussed. Limited financing is the chief obstacle to this. Proposals include an outer space materials processing project and further development of the Ariane rocket. A manned space program is excluded for the foreseeable future.

Insure Thyself: A Look at Alternatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weeks, Richard

2011-01-01

Annual double-digit increases in health insurance premiums may be the reality for school districts and private-sector employers for the foreseeable future. The author presents several factors that account for this unwelcome possibility. One cost-saving alternative for districts is to self-insure employees and assume the risks. Districts are…

Navigating Disruptive Innovation in Undergraduate Business Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Behara, Ravi S.; Davis, Mark M.

2015-01-01

The undergraduate business education landscape is dramatically changing and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Many of the changes are being driven by increasing costs, advances in technology, rapid globalization, and an increasingly diverse workforce and customer base, and are occurring simultaneously in both the business world…

FT-Raman Spectroscopy: A Catalyst for the Raman Explosion?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chase, Bruce

2007-01-01

The limitations of Fourier transform (FT) Raman spectroscopy, which is used to detect and analyze the scattered radiation, are discussed. FT-Raman has served to revitalize a field that was lagging and the presence of Raman instrumentation as a routine analytical tool is established for the foreseeable future.

Building a "cyber forest" in complex terrain at the Andrews Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Donald L. Henshaw; Fred Bierlmaier; Barbara J. Bond; Kari B. O' Connell

2008-01-01

Our vision for a future "cyber forest" at the Andrews Experimental Forest foresees high performance wireless communications enhancing connectivity among remote field research locations, station headquarters, and beyond to the university and outside world. New sensor technologies and collaboration tools foretell exponential increases in data and information...

Deploying the Win TR-20 computational engine as a web service

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Despite its simplicity and limitations, the runoff curve number method remains a widely-used hydrologic modeling tool, and its use through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) computer application WinTR-20 is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. To facilitate timely up...

ORGANIC SULFUR AND HAP REMOVAL FROM COAL USING HYDROTHERMAL TREATMENT. (R827649C001)

EPA Science Inventory

Coal is still the major source of power for electrical generation worldwide and will continue to be in
the foreseeable future. However, the inorganic elements in coal that qualify as hazardous emissions
upon combustion of the coal become an increasingly important concern. P...

Infrastructure for large space telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacEwen, Howard A.; Lillie, Charles F.

2016-10-01

It is generally recognized (e.g., in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration response to recent congressional appropriations) that future space observatories must be serviceable, even if they are orbiting in deep space (e.g., around the Sun-Earth libration point, SEL2). On the basis of this legislation, we believe that budgetary considerations throughout the foreseeable future will require that large, long-lived astrophysics missions must be designed as evolvable semipermanent observatories that will be serviced using an operational, in-space infrastructure. We believe that the development of this infrastructure will include the design and development of a small to mid-sized servicing vehicle (MiniServ) as a key element of an affordable infrastructure for in-space assembly and servicing of future space vehicles. This can be accomplished by the adaptation of technology developed over the past half-century into a vehicle approximately the size of the ascent stage of the Apollo Lunar Module to provide some of the servicing capabilities that will be needed by very large telescopes located in deep space in the near future (2020s and 2030s). We specifically address the need for a detailed study of these servicing requirements and the current proposals for using presently available technologies to provide the appropriate infrastructure.

An expert consortium review of the EC-commissioned report "alternative (Non-Animal) methods for cosmetics testing: current status and future prospects - 2010".

PubMed

Hartung, Thomas; Blaauboer, Bas J; Bosgra, Sieto; Carney, Edward; Coenen, Joachim; Conolly, Rory B; Corsini, Emanuela; Green, Sidney; Faustman, Elaine M; Gaspari, Anthony; Hayashi, Makoto; Wallace Hayes, A; Hengstler, Jan G; Knudsen, Lisbeth E; Knudsen, Thomas B; McKim, James M; Pfaller, Walter; Roggen, Erwin L

2011-01-01

The European cosmetics legislation foresees a review in 2011 and possible postponement of the 2013 marketing ban to enforce the testing ban for systemic and repeated-dose animal tests. For this purpose, a 119-page report commissioned by the European Commission was published recently. Here, a group of 17 independent experts from the US, Europe, and Japan was brought together to evaluate the report. The expert panel strongly endorsed the report and its conclusions. A number of important options not considered were identified; these do not, however, affect the overall conclusions regarding the current lack of availability of a full replacement, especially for the areas of repeated dose toxicity, carcinogenicity testing, and reproductive toxicity, though a roadmap for change is emerging. However, some of these options may provide adequate data for replacement of some animal studies in the near future pending validation. Various recommendations expand the original report. The reviewers agree with the report that there is greater promise in the short term for the areas of sensitization and toxicokinetics. Additional opportunities lie in more global collaborations and the inclusion of other industry sectors.

A review on digital ECG formats and the relationships between them.

PubMed

Trigo, Jesús Daniel; Alesanco, Alvaro; Martínez, Ignacio; García, José

2012-05-01

A plethora of digital ECG formats have been proposed and implemented. This heterogeneity hinders the design and development of interoperable systems and entails critical integration issues for the healthcare information systems. This paper aims at performing a comprehensive overview on the current state of affairs of the interoperable exchange of digital ECG signals. This includes 1) a review on existing digital ECG formats, 2) a collection of applications and cardiology settings using such formats, 3) a compilation of the relationships between such formats, and 4) a reflection on the current situation and foreseeable future of the interoperable exchange of digital ECG signals. The objectives have been approached by completing and updating previous reviews on the topic through appropriate database mining. 39 digital ECG formats, 56 applications, tools or implantation experiences, 47 mappings/converters, and 6 relationships between such formats have been found in the literature. The creation and generalization of a single standardized ECG format is a desirable goal. However, this unification requires political commitment and international cooperation among different standardization bodies. Ongoing ontology-based approaches covering ECG domain have recently emerged as a promising alternative for reaching fully fledged ECG interoperability in the near future.

The Tissue-Engineered Vascular Graft—Past, Present, and Future

PubMed Central

Pashneh-Tala, Samand; MacNeil, Sheila

2016-01-01

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, with this trend predicted to continue for the foreseeable future. Common disorders are associated with the stenosis or occlusion of blood vessels. The preferred treatment for the long-term revascularization of occluded vessels is surgery utilizing vascular grafts, such as coronary artery bypass grafting and peripheral artery bypass grafting. Currently, autologous vessels such as the saphenous vein and internal thoracic artery represent the gold standard grafts for small-diameter vessels (<6 mm), outperforming synthetic alternatives. However, these vessels are of limited availability, require invasive harvest, and are often unsuitable for use. To address this, the development of a tissue-engineered vascular graft (TEVG) has been rigorously pursued. This article reviews the current state of the art of TEVGs. The various approaches being explored to generate TEVGs are described, including scaffold-based methods (using synthetic and natural polymers), the use of decellularized natural matrices, and tissue self-assembly processes, with the results of various in vivo studies, including clinical trials, highlighted. A discussion of the key areas for further investigation, including graft cell source, mechanical properties, hemodynamics, integration, and assessment in animal models, is then presented. PMID:26447530

Educating and Inspiring Young People for the Next Generation of Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Armstrong, Robert C., Jr.

2007-01-01

With the graying of the nation's scientific workforce and the decline in students pursuing science, technological, engineering, and math related-studies, real challenges lie ahead if America is to continue to sustain the Vision for Space Exploration in the foreseeable future. Likewise, challenges exist in the economic arena as the United States seeks to maintain its preeminence among the technological leaders of the world. Currently, less than 6 percent of high school seniors are pursuing engineering degrees, down from 36 percent a decade ago. Today, China produces six times as many engineers as does the United States and Japan, at half our population, develops twice as many engineers. Despite spending more per capita on public education than any other nation, except Switzerland, U.S. students of high school age are failing to compete with many foreign countries. These trends do not bode well for America's future competitiveness in space and other technically driven areas, such as defense.

Inventory Data Package for Hanford Assessments

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

Kincaid, Charles T.; Eslinger, Paul W.; Aaberg, Rosanne L.

2006-06-01

This document presents the basis for a compilation of inventory for radioactive contaminants of interest by year for all potentially impactive waste sites on the Hanford Site for which inventory data exist in records or could be reasonably estimated. This document also includes discussions of the historical, current, and reasonably foreseeable (1944 to 2070) future radioactive waste and waste sites; the inventories of radionuclides that may have a potential for environmental impacts; a description of the method(s) for estimating inventories where records are inadequate; a description of the screening method(s) used to select those sites and contaminants that might makemore » a substantial contribution to impacts; a listing of the remedial actions and their completion dates for waste sites; and tables showing the best estimate inventories available for Hanford assessments.« less

Keeping Pace With Water and Wastewater Rates

DOE PAGES

Stratton, Hannah; Fuchs, Heidi; Chen, Yuting; ...

2017-10-01

We present that water and wastewater treatment and delivery are the most capital-intensive of all utility services. The literature indicates that historically underpriced water and wastewater rates have exhibited steadily high growth in the past 15 years, while the consumer price index (CPI) of water and sewage maintenance has outpaced the general CPI by an increasingly wide margin. This article employs a chained analysis method to examine water and wastewater rates for a group of utilities across US Census regions between 2000 and 2014. Results demonstrate that water and wastewater prices for this sample group have consistently increased and havemore » surpassed CPI growth since 2006. Finally, current and upcoming challenges facing water and wastewater utilities suggest that rate increases are likely to continue in the foreseeable future.« less

IMPLEMENTATION OF GASTRIC CANCER SCREENING – THE GLOBAL EXPERIENCE

PubMed Central

Leja, Mārcis; You, Weicheng; Camargo, M. Constanza; Saito, Hiroshi

2018-01-01

Gastric cancer (GC) is still an important global healthcare problem, and in absolute figures it is going to remain at the present level in foreseeable future. In general, survival of patients with GC is poor mainly due to advanced-stage diagnosis. Early-stage GC can be cured by endoscopic resection or less invasive surgical treatment. Unfortunately, there is no appropriate screening strategy available for global application. This article provides a description of established national and regional GC screening programs and the screening modalities used. This review also summarizes current approaches to develop cancer-screening biomarkers. Although candidates with initial promising results have been suggested, moving discovery into clinical practice is still a major challenge. Well-designed biomarker studies, with systematic validation steps, are needed to decrease the burden of this fatal disease. PMID:25439074

Keeping Pace With Water and Wastewater Rates

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

Stratton, Hannah; Fuchs, Heidi; Chen, Yuting

We present that water and wastewater treatment and delivery are the most capital-intensive of all utility services. The literature indicates that historically underpriced water and wastewater rates have exhibited steadily high growth in the past 15 years, while the consumer price index (CPI) of water and sewage maintenance has outpaced the general CPI by an increasingly wide margin. This article employs a chained analysis method to examine water and wastewater rates for a group of utilities across US Census regions between 2000 and 2014. Results demonstrate that water and wastewater prices for this sample group have consistently increased and havemore » surpassed CPI growth since 2006. Finally, current and upcoming challenges facing water and wastewater utilities suggest that rate increases are likely to continue in the foreseeable future.« less

Military’s Peacetime Role (Implications of the Civilian Conservation Corps Experience)

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-06-06

containing data and opinion pertinent to various study orientetions . Throughout the literature there are numaeroum but scattered references to the impact of...was indirect and evidenced only by extrapolation. President Roosevelt had predicted that CCC work would be "a means of creating future national wealth...foreseeable future . 2 5 There was virtually no chance of a situation that would require a military response. Furthermore, if the General Staff had 122 thought

Are We There Yet? Alternative Fuels for School Buses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lea, Dennis; Carter, Deborah

2009-01-01

America's annual oil consumption continues to increase and is projected to continue the upward spiral into the foreseeable future. Alternative-fuel options are available that are not only cheaper in some cases on an energy-equivalent basis but are also more environmentally friendly. Education leaders need to be concerned with both these facts.…

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gomez, Louis M.; Gomez, Kimberley

2007-01-01

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

Mind Altering Drugs and the Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Wayne O.

1971-01-01

A researcher in psychopharmacology foresees a flood of new drugs that will make man feel happy, cause him to forget his past, and arouse his sexual desires. Man may actually have the possibility of attaining sustained happiness, or something like it, through drugs, and so must ask the question, Is happiness what I most want?" (Author)

18 CFR 2.23 - Use of reserved authority in hydropower licenses to ameliorate cumulative impacts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL RULES GENERAL... such articles will describe, to the maximum extent possible, reasonably foreseeable future resource... “reopener” articles (see § 2.9 of this part) which reserve authority to the Commission to require, among...

Searching for the Grand Unifying Theory: Reflections on the Field of LD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rueda, Robert

2005-01-01

A recent overview of the field of learning disabilities (Torgesen, 2004) laid out several issues that will likely consume the field for the foreseeable future, including problems of definition and etiology, differentiation of learning disabilities from other disabilities, and issues in identification and service delivery. It has been approximately…

The Future of Pathology: A Delphi Study by Pathology Department Chairmen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodale, Fairfield; Gander, George W.

1976-01-01

Over 100 department chairmen in American and Canadian medical schools participated in this questionnaire study. Most are deeply concerned about increasing federal regulation of medicine, expect more emphasis on the basic science aspects of pathology, and foresee a shift of residency training programs away from small hospitals to larger medical…

Hierarchical filters determine community assembly of urban species pools

Treesearch

Myla F.J. Aronson; Charles H. Nilon; Christopher A. Lepczyk; Tommy S. Parker; Paige S. Warren; Sarel S. Cilliers; Mark A. Goddard; Amy K. Hahs; Cecilia Herzog; Madhusudan Katti; Frank A. La Sorte; Nicholas S.G. Williams; Wayne  Zipperer

2016-01-01

The majority of humanity now lives in cities or towns, with this proportion expected to continue increasing for the foreseeable future. As novel ecosystems, urban areas offer an ideal opportunity to examine multi-scalar processes involved in community assembly as well as the role of human activities in modulating environmental drivers of biodiversity. Although...

78 FR 47582 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Status for the Sharpnose Shiner...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-06

... analysis of the best available science and application of that science and to provide any additional... in these areas of science are limited, some uncertainties are associated with this assessment. Where... in the foreseeable future (threatened species). Because of the fact-specific nature of listing...

New Developments on the Turkish School Library Scene

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Onal, H. Inci

2005-01-01

The overall purpose of this article is to describe the history, growth and development of school libraries in Turkey from 1923 to 2004. For now and the foreseeable future, school librarians will be simultaneously working in the library of yesterday and deeply affected by the library of tomorrow. Changing information needs make it necessary to…

Problems and Alternatives in Housing Students: What a School Business Administrator Should Know.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Earthman, Glen I.

1984-01-01

Reviews factors that could influence planning for the provision of educational facilities in the foreseeable future: new enrollment projections, the need to address deferred maintenance problems, recent educational reform efforts, the needs of new programs, recent tax limitation measures, court action, and new approaches to raising funds. (PGD)

Promoting Undergraduate Student Self-Regulation in Online Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wandler, J. Brad; Imbriale, William J.

2017-01-01

Undergraduate student enrollment in online courses has steadily increased over the years and is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The need for instructors to utilize best practices in online instruction and course design is crucial. This article presents strategies for online instructors to promote student use of self-regulated…

International Education and IB Programmes: Worldwide Expansion and Potential Cultural Dissonance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drake, Barry

2004-01-01

It has been suggested that the International Baccalaureate Organization could be expected to "influence" as many as 100 million people in the foreseeable future. This article focuses on some of the cultural dissonances that may be produced from attempts to "clone" on to non-Eurocentric models, educational systems and methodologies designed to…

College Fundraising: Is There a "New Normal"?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bass, David

2009-01-01

The fall of 2008 was a bleak time for college and university leaders. While there was little doubt that state funding would be down for the foreseeable future and general agreement that endowments would take a long while to recover, no consensus existed about the potential impact of the financial crisis on college and university development…

A Hunger Strike on Campus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dawson, John B.

1970-01-01

This article describes a recent student fast" that occurred on the Stony Brook campus as a peaceful means of protest against Department of Defense research. The purpose of this report is to generate discussion and to stimulate preparation for dealing with similar fasts", since they are likely to occur on other campuses in the foreseeable future.…

Immigration and the New Racial Diversity in Rural America

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lichter, Daniel T.

2012-01-01

This article highlights the new racial and ethnic diversity in rural America, which may be the most important but least anticipated population shift in recent demographic history. Ethnoracial change is central to virtually every aspect of rural America over the foreseeable future: agro-food systems, community life, labor force change, economic…

Wood Formation in Trees

Treesearch

Melanie Mauriat; Gregoire Le Provost; Phillippe Rozenberg; Sylvain Delzon; Nathalie Breda; Bruno Clair; Catherine Coutand; Jean-Christoph Domec; Thierry Fourcaud; Jacqueline Grima-Pettenati; Raul Herrera; Jean-Charles Leple; Nicolas Richet; Jean-Francois Trontin; Christophe Plomion

2014-01-01

Among the ecosystem services provided by forests, wood provisioning takes a central position. Wood and derived products have played a critical role in the evolution of human kind and demand for raw material is increasing in a foreseeable future. Wood is used for energy production, construction and a wide variety of products for which different properties are required....

25. Cumulative effects assessment impact thresholds: myths and realities

Treesearch

Robert R. Ziemer

1994-01-01

A cumulative impact has been commonly defined as: ""...the impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions regardless of what agency or person undertakes such other actions. Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively...

A Compelling Interest: Activating the Benefits of Classroom-Level Diversity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haslerig, Siduri; Bernhard, Laura M.; Fuentes, Marcia V.; Panter, A. T.; Daye, Charles E.; Allen, Walter R.

2013-01-01

The use of affirmative action admissions practices in U.S. colleges and universities has been a source of contentious public debate and legal battles since the policy's inception in the 1960s. The legal challenges to race-conscious admissions will continue for the foreseeable future, including renewed court scrutiny on specific universities'…

Reflections on the Future Development of Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (France).

Designed to explore the prospects for the development of education throughout the 1980s and 1990s, this study looked at general trends in education in the course of the 1970s, socio-economic evolution in the world, and foreseeable advances in science and technology, in order to outline the priorities for international cooperation. Within the…

Preserving the American Dream: A Teacher-Turned-Congressman Starts a National Dialogue on Equity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Honda, Michael

2011-01-01

While the worst of the Great Recession has passed, it has become clear that persistently high unemployment, coupled with budget woes that stretch from federal to local government, will be a reality for the foreseeable future. Knowing this, Congress, the Obama administration, and constituents across the country are having a serious discussion about…

Environmental Assessment for Construction of the Distributed Common Ground Station (DCGS) at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

located in the north-central part of the base and includes the areas occupied by the golf course clubhouse , maintenance building, and the driving range...foreseeable future actions regardless of what agency or person undertakes such other actions” (40 CFR 1508.7). Recent CEQ guidance in Considering

Why Mechanics Should Be Integral to Secondary School Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowlands, Stuart

2008-01-01

Mechanics has never been the most popular subject in A-level mathematics, the UK's public examination for 16-18-year olds, either with students, teachers or educators. The attempts to popularize mechanics have failed and it is conceivable that the subject will be dropped from the A-level syllabus in the foreseeable future. This article argues the…

Problem-Based Conversations: Using Preservice Teachers' Problems as a Mechanism for Their Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Matthew

2008-01-01

Which Learning to teach is a challenge. When people make the decision to become teachers, they enter their undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, graduate, or alternative teacher education programs with a goal of learning how to teach so their future students learn. Many teacher candidates, understandably, do not foresee the complexity of the journey…

The Future of Management as Design: A Thought Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bouchard, Veronique; del Forno, Leon

2012-01-01

Purpose: Management practices and education are presently in a stage of reappraisal and a growing number of scholars and experts are suggesting that managers should be taught and adopt the approach and methodologies of designers. The purpose of this paper is to imagine the impact of this move and to try and foresee whether "management as design"…

Addressing the Biggest (Baddest) and Best Ideas Ever: Through the Lens of Humility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sowcik, Matthew J.; Andenoro, Anthony C.; Council, Austin

2017-01-01

Now and into the foreseeable future, both effective leadership and creativity are going to be important when addressing complex problems. The connection between effective leadership and creativity will be critical as leaders look to turn big ideas into innovative solutions. However, it seems that there is often a disconnect between the two…

Albuquerque Public Schools Student Enrollment: History & Forecast 1954-1994. 1975 APS Planning Document 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albuquerque Public Schools, NM.

The material in this report was developed primarily as a basis for better planning and allocation of limited resources in a district experiencing a declining enrollment for the foreseeable future. The charts were developed on the basis of historical enrollment information by grade level, and forecasts were based on a standard regression formula…

Building the Business Case for Sustainable Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Bill

2011-01-01

While it is too early to measure changes in fall 2011 enrollments, overcrowding on campuses is likely to remain a problem, at least for the foreseeable future. For community colleges, many of which face steep budget cuts in the coming year, the challenge will be how to draw back spending without negatively affecting the student experience.…

Incorporating understanding of informal economic activity in natural resource and economic development policy.

Treesearch

Rebecca J. McLain; Susan J. Alexander; Eric T. Jones

2008-01-01

This report synthesizes the literature on the role of informal economic activity in the United States postindustrial economy. Informal economic activity is expanding in the United States and is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. The formal and informal economic sectors are inextricably intertwined, with individuals and households combining elements of both...

Model Program: West Springfield High School, Virginia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alukonis, J. T.; Settar, Scott

2008-01-01

West Springfield High School sits on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., in Fairfax County, Virginia. WSHS is home to a thriving and growing technology education program. In recent years, the program has exploded from less than 175 students to well over 425. These numbers are expected to continue to grow in the foreseeable future. In 2002, the…

A Detailed Rubric for Assessing the Quality of Teacher Resource Apps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2016-01-01

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

The Future of Work: Insights, Views, Prospects. Basis-Info: Social Policy. IN Press.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bechtel, Michael

Young people must prepare themselves for lifelong learning and frequent job changes. Optimists predict a new world of work with many creative, interesting, satisfying jobs; pessimists believe society will finally run out of work and foresee unemployment and social downgrading for a majority of people. There are indications at present of both…

Reversal Reversed? The New Consensus on Education and Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ainley, Patrick

2015-01-01

England for the foreseeable future is stuck with a one-track government that knows only the crisis measures with which Margaret Thatcher responded to the 1970s crisis of capital accumulation. Deregulation of all public services with privatization of provision on the contracting-out state model is seen as the solution to every problem and is a part…

Creating Examinations for a Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Student Cohort

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoadley, Susan; Mather, Glyn; Wood, Leigh N.

2012-01-01

Assessments have a significant influence on what and how students learn. While there has been debate as to the merits of examinations as an assessment tool, they will form a major component of assessment in many disciplines for the foreseeable future. To ensure examinations fulfil the dual roles of an assessment tool and motivation for student…

Proceedings of the symposium on fire and watershed management

Treesearch

Neil H. Berg

1989-01-01

Wildfires have affected the landscape since the dawn of time and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Policies and practices in response to fire have varied, however, contingent upon a complex mix of values and attitudes overlaid by the technical acumen available to both "fight" the fire and reclaim the land afterwards.

Self-Regulation and Moral Orientation among Finnish and Chinese Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niemi, Hannele; He, Jin

A comparative study of value orientations among Finnish and Chinese adolescents was conducted focusing on how secondary school students in these two cultures understand the purpose and meaningfulness of their lives and the value purposes they foresee in the future. The survey took place in the comprehensive schools of suburban towns in Finland and…

Language and the Department of Defense: Challenges for the 21st Century.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

NFLC Policy Issues, 1999

1999-01-01

This interview with Glenn H. Nordin, Assistant Director of Intelligence Policy (Language and Training), Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, explores in depth the officially perceived language needs of the U.S. military in the foreseeable future. Questions and answers include the following: How has the end of the Cold War affected…

Developing Employee Assistance Programs: New Roles for School Psychologists.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allie, Stephen M.

In the spring of 1988 an independent school district in Texas formed a 30-member strategic planning team which gathered data on factors impacting the school district at that time and into the foreseeable future. Planning was facilitated by the appointment of 15 action teams formed to write specific plans to fulfill various targets and strategies.…

Revisiting Impulsivity in Suicide

PubMed Central

Smith, April R.; Witte, Tracy K.; Teale, Nadia E.; King, Sarah L.; Bender, Ted W.; Joiner, Thomas E.

2008-01-01

Previous research and popular conceptualizations of suicide have posited that many suicides are the result of impulsive, “on a whim” decisions. However, recent research demonstrates that most suicides are not attempted impulsively, and in fact involve a plan. Legally, suicide has historically been considered to be a superseding intervening cause of death that exonerates other parties from liability, but currently there are two general exceptions to this view. Specifically, another party may be found responsible for a suicide if that party either caused the suicide or failed in its duty to prevent the suicide from occurring. Both of these exceptions assume that the resulting suicide was foreseeable. Given that recent research has indicated that most suicides are planned, and thereby foreseeable to a certain extent under many circumstances, this article discusses issues of foreseeability as they pertain to litigation involving third party liability for the suicide of university students, prison inmates, and mental health patients. The authors contend that the surest way for universities, prison staff, and mental health practitioners to avoid being held liable for a suicide is to appropriately assess for suicidal intent. PMID:19039790

Characterization of pituitary cells targeted by antipituitary antibodies in patients with isolated autoimmune diseases without pituitary insufficiency may help to foresee the kind of future hypopituitarism.

PubMed

De Bellis, A; Dello Iacovo, A; Bellastella, G; Savoia, A; Cozzolino, D; Sinisi, A A; Bizzarro, A; Bellastella, A; Giugliano, D

2014-10-01

Detection of antipituitary antibodies (APA) at high levels and with a particular immunofluorescence pattern in patients with autoimmune polyendocrine syndromes may indicate a possible future autoimmune pituitary involvement. This longitudinal study was aimed at characterizing in patients with a single organ-specific autoimmune disease the pituitary cells targeted by APA at start, verifying whether this characterization allows to foresee the kind of possible subsequent hypopituitarism. Thirty-six APA positive and 40 APA negative patients with isolated autoimmune diseases participated in the study. None of them had pituitary dysfunction at entry. Characterization by four-layer immunofluorescence of pituitary cells targeted by APA in APA positive patients at entry and study of pituitary function in all patients were performed every 6 months during a 5 year follow-up. Antipituitary antibodies immunostained selectively one type of pituitary-secreting cells in 21 patients (58.3 %, group 1), and several types of pituitary cells in the remaining 15 (41.7 %, group 2). All patients in group 1 showed subsequently a pituitary insufficiency, corresponding to the type of cells targeted by APA in 18 of them (85.7 %). Only 8 out of 15 patients in group 2 (53.3 %) showed a hypopituitarism, isolated in 7 and combined in the other one. None of APA negative patients showed hypopituitarism. The characterization of pituitary cells targeted by APA in patients with isolated autoimmune diseases, when the pituitary function is still normal, may help to foresee the kind of subsequent hypopituitarism, especially when APA immunostained selectively only one type of pituitary cells. A careful follow-up of pituitary function in these patients is advisable to allow an early diagnosis of hypopituitarism, even in subclinical phase and a consequent timely replacement therapy.

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

Laitner, S.

In the current economic climate and for the foreseeable future, resource policy (especially with respect to energy consumption) has the potential to make a profound impact upon the economic life of our communities. Energy and economic policies should be viewed as catalysts that can help a community - and ultimately a state, or even a nation - achieve larger societal goals such as enhanced employment opportunities. To achieve this potential, we must divorce ourselves from unproductive past concepts and understand the inherent constraints associated with resource utilization to better work them to the advantage of the community. The key elementmore » here is to ensure that community economic goals shape the policymaking process. Without such considerations neither communities nor their respective nations will be able to offset fully the growing economic burden imposed by restrictions arising from a ''business-as-usual'' approach to resource utilization.« less

Assessing and Managing the Current and Future Pest Risk from Water Hyacinth, (Eichhornia crassipes), an Invasive Aquatic Plant Threatening the Environment and Water Security.

PubMed

Kriticos, Darren J; Brunel, Sarah

2016-01-01

Understanding and managing the biological invasion threats posed by aquatic plants under current and future climates is a growing challenge for biosecurity and land management agencies worldwide. Eichhornia crassipes is one of the world's worst aquatic weeds. Presently, it threatens aquatic ecosystems, and hinders the management and delivery of freshwater services in both developed and developing parts of the world. A niche model was fitted using CLIMEX, to estimate the potential distribution of E. crassipes under historical and future climate scenarios. Under two future greenhouse gas emission scenarios for 2080 simulated with three Global Climate Models, the area with a favourable temperature regime appears set to shift polewards. The greatest potential for future range expansion lies in Europe. Elsewhere in the northern hemisphere temperature gradients are too steep for significant geographical range expansion under the climate scenarios explored here. In the Southern Hemisphere, the southern range boundary for E. crassipes is set to expand southwards in Argentina, Australia and New Zealand; under current climate conditions it is already able to invade the southern limits of Africa. The opportunity exists to prevent its spread into the islands of Tasmania in Australia and the South Island of New Zealand, both of which depend upon hydroelectric facilities that would be threatened by the presence of E. crassipes. In Europe, efforts to slow or stop the spread of E. crassipes will face the challenge of limited internal biosecurity capacity. The modelling technique demonstrated here is the first application of niche modelling for an aquatic weed under historical and projected future climates. It provides biosecurity agencies with a spatial tool to foresee and manage the emerging invasion threats in a manner that can be included in the international standard for pest risk assessments. It should also support more detailed local and regional management.

Assessing and Managing the Current and Future Pest Risk from Water Hyacinth, (Eichhornia crassipes), an Invasive Aquatic Plant Threatening the Environment and Water Security

PubMed Central

Brunel, Sarah

2016-01-01

Understanding and managing the biological invasion threats posed by aquatic plants under current and future climates is a growing challenge for biosecurity and land management agencies worldwide. Eichhornia crassipes is one of the world’s worst aquatic weeds. Presently, it threatens aquatic ecosystems, and hinders the management and delivery of freshwater services in both developed and developing parts of the world. A niche model was fitted using CLIMEX, to estimate the potential distribution of E. crassipes under historical and future climate scenarios. Under two future greenhouse gas emission scenarios for 2080 simulated with three Global Climate Models, the area with a favourable temperature regime appears set to shift polewards. The greatest potential for future range expansion lies in Europe. Elsewhere in the northern hemisphere temperature gradients are too steep for significant geographical range expansion under the climate scenarios explored here. In the Southern Hemisphere, the southern range boundary for E. crassipes is set to expand southwards in Argentina, Australia and New Zealand; under current climate conditions it is already able to invade the southern limits of Africa. The opportunity exists to prevent its spread into the islands of Tasmania in Australia and the South Island of New Zealand, both of which depend upon hydroelectric facilities that would be threatened by the presence of E. crassipes. In Europe, efforts to slow or stop the spread of E. crassipes will face the challenge of limited internal biosecurity capacity. The modelling technique demonstrated here is the first application of niche modelling for an aquatic weed under historical and projected future climates. It provides biosecurity agencies with a spatial tool to foresee and manage the emerging invasion threats in a manner that can be included in the international standard for pest risk assessments. It should also support more detailed local and regional management. PMID:27513336

Energy storage devices for future hybrid electric vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karden, Eckhard; Ploumen, Servé; Fricke, Birger; Miller, Ted; Snyder, Kent

Powertrain hybridization as well as electrical energy management are imposing new requirements on electrical storage systems in vehicles. This paper characterizes the associated vehicle attributes and, in particular, the various levels of hybrids. New requirements for the electrical storage system are derived, including: shallow-cycle life, high dynamic charge acceptance particularly for regenerative braking and robust service life in sustained partial-state-of-charge usage. Lead/acid, either with liquid or absorptive glass-fibre mat electrolyte, is expected to remain the predominant battery technology for 14 V systems, including micro-hybrids, and with a cost-effective battery monitoring system for demanding applications. Advanced AGM batteries may be considered for mild or even medium hybrids once they have proven robustness under real-world conditions, particularly with respect to cycle life at partial-states-of-charge and dynamic charge acceptance. For the foreseeable future, NiMH and Li-ion are the dominating current and potential battery technologies for higher-functionality HEVs. Li-ion, currently at development and demonstration stages, offers attractive opportunities for improvements in performance and cost. Supercapacitors may be considered for pulse power applications. Aside from cell technologies, attention to the issue of system integration of the battery into the powertrain and vehicle is growing. Opportunities and challenges for potential "battery pack" system suppliers are discussed.

Landsat still contributing to environmental research

USGS Publications Warehouse

Loveland, Thomas R.; Cochrane, Mark A.; Henebry, Geoffrey M.

2008-01-01

Landsat data have enabled continuous global monitoring of both human-caused and other land cover disturbances since 1972. Recently degraded performance and intermittent service of the Landsat 7 and Landsat 5 sensors, respectively, have raised concerns about the condition of global Earth observation programs. However, Landsat imagery is still useful for landscape change detection and this capability should continue into the foreseeable future.

Appropriate experimental ecosystem warming methods by ecosystem, objective, and practicality

Treesearch

E.L. Aronson; S.G. McNulty

2009-01-01

The temperature of the Earth is rising, and is highly likely to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The study of the effects of sustained heating on the ecosystems of the world is necessary so that wemight predict and respond to coming changes on both large and small spatial scales. To this end, ecosystem warming studies have...

Commentary: Study of Gene-Environment Interplay--A Lesson in How to Keep Oneself Busy for the Foreseeable Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Viding, Essi

2013-01-01

Psychologists and psychiatrists have long been aware that individuals differ in their response to environmental stressors. It is equally apparent that whilst positive or corrective environmental factors help some individuals, others seem to benefit little, if at all. To make the matters even more interesting (at least for a researcher who is…

Intersecting Realities: A Novice's Attempts to Use Critical Literacy to Access Her Students' Figured Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saunders, Jane M.

2012-01-01

Research suggests that while students in public schools in the U.S. are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, class, and culture, the pool of prospective teachers is made up largely of White, middle-class women. The demographic imperative indicates that this trend will remain stable for the foreseeable future, reinforcing the…

Report of the Department of Highways and Transportation on the feasibility and desirability of locally sponsored bus service in northern Virginia to the governor and the General Assembly of Virginia.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1984-01-01

The construction and operation of an integrated mass transportation : system in the Washington Metropolitan Area has proven to be a : difficult task and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. The : administrative and financing structure of W...

Investigating the Linkage between Intrinsic Motivation and Project Team Satisfaction in Undergraduate Agricultural Leadership Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamm, Kevan W.; Carter, Hannah S.; Melendez, Marcus W.

2014-01-01

Organizations have increased the amount of work that is completed by project teams over the past several decades. This trend is projected to continue into the foreseeable future. In response to this trend, the academic community has increased the number of project team based learning experiences for students in classes. The challenge has been that…

Emergency post-fire rehabilitation treatment effects on burned area ecology and long-term restoration

Treesearch

Peter R. Robichaud; Sarah A. Lewis; Robert E. Brown; Louise E. Ashmun

2009-01-01

The predicted continuation of strong drying and warming trends in the southwestern United States underlies the associated prediction of increased frequency, area, and severity of wildfires in the coming years. As a result, the management of wildfires and fire effects on public lands will continue to be a major land management priority for the foreseeable future....

Voices - Like nurses, education must adapt to changes in care, says Janet Finch.

PubMed

Finch, Dame Janet

2015-03-18

Nurses and midwives will play a vital role in meeting the health challenges of the future. While it is impossible to foresee all the ways in which practice will change over the next decade, we do know that nurses and midwives will be working with an ageing population, with more community-based services and growing public expectations.

Biological treatment strategies for disc degeneration: potentials and shortcomings

PubMed Central

Nerlich, Andreas G.; Boos, Norbert

2006-01-01

Recent advances in molecular biology, cell biology and material sciences have opened a new emerging field of techniques for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. These new treatment modalities aim for biological repair of the affected tissues by introducing cell-based tissue replacements, genetic modifications of resident cells or a combination thereof. So far, these techniques have been successfully applied to various tissues such as bone and cartilage. However, application of these treatment modalities to cure intervertebral disc degeneration is in its very early stages and mostly limited to experimental studies in vitro or in animal studies. We will discuss the potential and possible shortcomings of current approaches to biologically cure disc degeneration by gene therapy or tissue engineering. Despite the increasing number of studies examining the therapeutic potential of biological treatment strategies, a practicable solution to routinely cure disc degeneration might not be available in the near future. However, knowledge gained from these attempts might be applied in a foreseeable future to cure the low back pain that often accompanies disc degeneration and therefore be beneficial for the patient. PMID:16983559

[Clinical neuropsychology in perspective: future challenges based on current developments].

PubMed

Verdejo-García, Antonio; Tirapu-Ustárroz, Javier

2012-02-01

New lines of translational, interdisciplinary research are emerging among different fields of the neurosciences, which often point at clinical neuropsychology as the hinge discipline capable of linking the basic findings with their clinical implications and thereby endow them with some meaning for phenomenological experience. To establish the great lines of progress made in the fields of neuroscience and neuropsychology in recent years, so as to be able to foresee the strategic lines and priorities of neuroscience in the near future. To achieve this aim, the first step will be to identify the changes of paradigm that have taken place in the areas of neuroscience and psychology in the last two decades. The next step will be to propose new topics and fields of application that these changes in paradigm offer and demand from neuroscience. The false dichotomies of genes versus environment, mind versus brain, and reason versus emotion are considered, as are the new applications of neuropsychology to the understanding of psychopathological disorders, from the neurodegenerative to neurodevelopment, from 'dirty' drugs to cognitive and affective enhancers.

Understanding and Optimizing Asynchronous Low-Precision Stochastic Gradient Descent

PubMed Central

De Sa, Christopher; Feldman, Matthew; Ré, Christopher; Olukotun, Kunle

2018-01-01

Stochastic gradient descent (SGD) is one of the most popular numerical algorithms used in machine learning and other domains. Since this is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, it is important to study techniques that can make it run fast on parallel hardware. In this paper, we provide the first analysis of a technique called Buckwild! that uses both asynchronous execution and low-precision computation. We introduce the DMGC model, the first conceptualization of the parameter space that exists when implementing low-precision SGD, and show that it provides a way to both classify these algorithms and model their performance. We leverage this insight to propose and analyze techniques to improve the speed of low-precision SGD. First, we propose software optimizations that can increase throughput on existing CPUs by up to 11×. Second, we propose architectural changes, including a new cache technique we call an obstinate cache, that increase throughput beyond the limits of current-generation hardware. We also implement and analyze low-precision SGD on the FPGA, which is a promising alternative to the CPU for future SGD systems. PMID:29391770

Surveillance of dengue fever virus: a review of epidemiological models and early warning systems.

PubMed

Racloz, Vanessa; Ramsey, Rebecca; Tong, Shilu; Hu, Wenbiao

2012-01-01

Dengue fever affects over a 100 million people annually hence is one of the world's most important vector-borne diseases. The transmission area of this disease continues to expand due to many direct and indirect factors linked to urban sprawl, increased travel and global warming. Current preventative measures include mosquito control programs, yet due to the complex nature of the disease and the increased importation risk along with the lack of efficient prophylactic measures, successful disease control and elimination is not realistic in the foreseeable future. Epidemiological models attempt to predict future outbreaks using information on the risk factors of the disease. Through a systematic literature review, this paper aims at analyzing the different modeling methods and their outputs in terms of acting as an early warning system. We found that many previous studies have not sufficiently accounted for the spatio-temporal features of the disease in the modeling process. Yet with advances in technology, the ability to incorporate such information as well as the socio-environmental aspect allowed for its use as an early warning system, albeit limited geographically to a local scale.

Threatened and endangered species evaluation for 75 licensed commercial nuclear power generating plants

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

Sackschewsky, M.R.

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended, and related implementing regulations of the jurisdictional federal agencies, the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Interior, at 50 CFR Part 17. 1, et seq., require that federal agencies ensure that any action authorized, funded, or carried out under their jurisdiction is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any threatened or endangered species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitats for such species. The issuance and maintenance of a federal license, such as a construction permit or operating license issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissionmore » (NRC) for a commercial nuclear power generating facility is a federal action under the jurisdiction of a federal agency, and is therefore subject to the provisions of the ESA. The U.S. Department of the Interior (through the Fish and Wildlife Service), and the U.S. Department of Commerce, share responsibility for administration of the ESA. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) deals with species that inhabit marine environments and anadromous fish, while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is responsible for terrestrial and freshwater species and migratory birds. A species (or other distinct taxonomic unit such as subspecies, variety, and for vertebrates, distinct population units) may be classified for protection as `endangered` when it is in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. A `threatened` classification is provided to those animals and plants likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of their ranges. As of February 1997, there were about 1067 species listed under the ESA in the United States. Additionally there were approximately 125 species currently proposed for listing as threatened or endangered, and another 183 species considered to be candidates for formal listing proposals.« less

Perspectives on Russian Foreign Policy

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

defense spending and in- creasingly military cast of the rivalry with America is a warning sign in this regard. For if the end result of Putinism... for building a missile defense system, which is seen as a means to render the whole system of nuclear checks and balances irrelevant. The main...comparative advantages, at least for the foreseeable future , are oil and gas and its nuclear weapons,

Disruption of the ‘disease triangle’ by chemical and physical environmental change

Treesearch

A. H. Chappelka; N. E. Grulke; L. De Kok

2015-01-01

The physical and chemical environment of the Earth has changed rapidly over the last 100 years and is predicted to continue to change into the foreseeable future. One of the main concerns with potential alterations in climate is the propensity for increases in the magnitude and frequency of extremes to occur. Even though precipitation is predicted to increase in some...

Al Qaeda and the Global War on Terror

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

publishers throughout the foreseeable future, as will titillating inside stories of headline-making personalities such as Clinton, Bush, Rumsfeld...the top of Islam’s bottle of fat -free milk.98 Since his early twenties, bin Laden has exemplified the pious warrior, first pitted against the...1 Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006), 2-3, 16. According to Bruce Hoffman, a

Strained Schools Face Bleak Future: Districts Foresee Budget Cuts, Teacher Layoffs, and a Slowing of Education Reform Efforts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kober, Nancy; Rentner, Diane Stark

2011-01-01

Many school districts had to cope with shrinking budgets this past school year, but the effects of these cuts were cushioned to some extent by the availability of federal economic stimulus money. In 2009 and 2010, school districts received about $80 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). These funds were intended…

"Your Pronunciation and Your Accent is Very Excellent": Orientations of Identity during Compliment Sequences in English as a Lingua Franca Encounters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jenks, Christopher

2013-01-01

The widespread use of English has--for better or worse--shaped the social and communicative norms and practices of many people the world over, and the likelihood of this continuing for the foreseeable future raises questions concerning English ownership, linguistic imperialism, language attrition, and mutual intelligibility, to name a few. These…

Capital Promises: Why NYC Children Don't Have the School Buildings They Need

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connell, Noreen

2007-01-01

The objective of this report is to answer the big questions about whether in the foreseeable future most school overcrowding in New York City will be eliminated and all city children will have class sizes and access to school libraries, science labs, art/music rooms, and physical fitness activities that are the norm for students in the rest of the…

Moving Forward by Looking in the Rearview Mirror

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

the foreseeable future.1 As senior civilian and military leaders acknowledge that conventional military superiority does not guarantee victory in...charismatic, or rational legal. Traditional legitimacy refers to the respect afforded to traditional authorities, including tribal leaders such as those...found in southwest Asia and the Middle East.10 Charismatic legitimacy is linked to a specific person or ideology, often a religious leader . Rational

Electronic Warfare: Rethinking the Importance of Its Role In Military Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-10

characterized by misperception, misunderstanding, and mismanagement, resulting in EW being devalued and its resources misused. This thesis will argue how...structure, advocacy, and strategy. Devalued and lacking advocacy, EW fails to earn resource investment today and into the foreseeable future. The...of Defense. This thesis is entirely my own work except as documented in footnotes. (or appropriate statement per the Academic Integrity Policy

Environmental Assessment Construction of New Child Development Center at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-22

formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, methanol and other HAP from lean bum engines (Included in Addendum F). TABLE 2 Cogeneration Emission Factors ...material which includes recycling of material where feasible. Local landfills have the capacity to accept the amount of waste generated. The contractor...past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions. Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively significant factors

Methods used for analyzing the cumulative watershed effects of fuel management on sediment in the Eastern United States

Treesearch

Daniel A. Marion; J. Alan Clingenpeel

2012-01-01

Previous chapters have described how various resource systems within a watershed can experience cumulative effects from fuel management activities like prescribed burning. As noted before, a cumulative effect is “the impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future...

Population status of North American green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris

USGS Publications Warehouse

Adams, P.B.; Grimes, C.; Hightower, J.E.; Lindley, S.T.; Moser, M.L.; Parsley, M.J.

2007-01-01

North American green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, was petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The two questions that need to be answered when considering an ESA listing are; (1) Is the entity a species under the ESA and if so (2) is the "species" in danger of extinction or likely to become an endangered species in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range? Green sturgeon genetic analyses showed strong differentiation between northern and southern populations, and therefore, the species was divided into Northern and Southern Distinct Population Segments (DPSs). The Northern DPS includes populations in the Rogue, Klamath-Trinity, and Eel rivers, while the Southern DPS only includes a single population in the Sacramento River. The principal risk factors for green sturgeon include loss of spawning habitat, harvest, and entrainment. The Northern DPS is not considered to be in danger of extinction or likely to become an endangered species in the foreseeable future. The loss of spawning habitat is not large enough to threaten this DPS, although the Eel River has been severely impacted by sedimentation due to poor land use practices and floods. The two main spawning populations in the Rogue and Klamath-Trinity rivers occupy separate basins reducing the potential for loss of the DPS through catastrophic events. Harvest has been substantially reduced and green sturgeon in this DPS do not face substantial entrainment loss. However there are significant concerns due to lack of information, flow and temperature issues, and habitat degradation. The Southern DPS is considered likely to become an endangered species in the foreseeable future. Green sturgeon in this DPS are concentrated into one spawning area outside of their natural habitat in the Sacramento River, making them vulnerable to catastrophic extinction. Green sturgeon spawning areas have been lost from the area above Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River and Oroville Dam on the Feather River. Entrainment of individuals into water diversion projects is an additional source of risk, and the large decline in numbers of green sturgeon entrained since 1986 causes additional concern. ?? 2006 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Deep Learning in Medical Imaging: General Overview

PubMed Central

Lee, June-Goo; Jun, Sanghoon; Cho, Young-Won; Lee, Hyunna; Kim, Guk Bae

2017-01-01

The artificial neural network (ANN)–a machine learning technique inspired by the human neuronal synapse system–was introduced in the 1950s. However, the ANN was previously limited in its ability to solve actual problems, due to the vanishing gradient and overfitting problems with training of deep architecture, lack of computing power, and primarily the absence of sufficient data to train the computer system. Interest in this concept has lately resurfaced, due to the availability of big data, enhanced computing power with the current graphics processing units, and novel algorithms to train the deep neural network. Recent studies on this technology suggest its potentially to perform better than humans in some visual and auditory recognition tasks, which may portend its applications in medicine and healthcare, especially in medical imaging, in the foreseeable future. This review article offers perspectives on the history, development, and applications of deep learning technology, particularly regarding its applications in medical imaging. PMID:28670152

Deep Learning in Medical Imaging: General Overview.

PubMed

Lee, June-Goo; Jun, Sanghoon; Cho, Young-Won; Lee, Hyunna; Kim, Guk Bae; Seo, Joon Beom; Kim, Namkug

2017-01-01

The artificial neural network (ANN)-a machine learning technique inspired by the human neuronal synapse system-was introduced in the 1950s. However, the ANN was previously limited in its ability to solve actual problems, due to the vanishing gradient and overfitting problems with training of deep architecture, lack of computing power, and primarily the absence of sufficient data to train the computer system. Interest in this concept has lately resurfaced, due to the availability of big data, enhanced computing power with the current graphics processing units, and novel algorithms to train the deep neural network. Recent studies on this technology suggest its potentially to perform better than humans in some visual and auditory recognition tasks, which may portend its applications in medicine and healthcare, especially in medical imaging, in the foreseeable future. This review article offers perspectives on the history, development, and applications of deep learning technology, particularly regarding its applications in medical imaging.

[Poliomyelitis--Challenges for the Last Mile of the Eradication Programme].

PubMed

Müller, O; Jahn, A; Razum, O

2016-04-01

The World Health Organisation initiated the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in the year 1988. With the large-scale application of routine and mass vaccinations in children under the age of 5 years, polio disease has become restricted to only 3 endemic countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria) by today. However, since the beginning of the 21st century, increasing numbers of secondary polio epidemics have been observed which were triggered through migration, political turmoil and weak health systems. In addition, there emerged serious technical (e. g., back-mutations of oral vaccine virus to wild virus) and socio-political (refusal of vaccinations in Muslim populations of Nigeria and Pakistan) problems with the vaccination in the remaining endemic countries. It thus appears questionable if the current eradiation initiative will reach its goal in the foreseeable future. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

The future of human DNA vaccines

PubMed Central

Li, Lei; Saade, Fadi; Petrovsky, Nikolai

2012-01-01

DNA vaccines have evolved greatly over the last 20 years since their invention, but have yet to become a competitive alternative to conventional protein or carbohydrate based human vaccines. Whilst safety concerns were an initial barrier, the Achilles heel of DNA vaccines remains their poor immunogenicity when compared to protein vaccines. A wide variety of strategies have been developed to optimize DNA vaccine immunogenicity, including codon optimization, genetic adjuvants, electroporation and sophisticated prime-boost regimens, with each of these methods having its advantages and limitations. Whilst each of these methods has contributed to incremental improvements in DNA vaccine efficacy, more is still needed if human DNA vaccines are to succeed commercially. This review foresees a final breakthrough in human DNA vaccines will come from application of the latest cutting-edge technologies, including “epigenetics” and “omics” approaches, alongside traditional techniques to improve immunogenicity such as adjuvants and electroporation, thereby overcoming the current limitations of DNA vaccines in humans PMID:22981627

Allostery: An Overview of Its History, Concepts, Methods, and Applications.

PubMed

Liu, Jin; Nussinov, Ruth

2016-06-01

The concept of allostery has evolved in the past century. In this Editorial, we briefly overview the history of allostery, from the pre-allostery nomenclature era starting with the Bohr effect (1904) to the birth of allostery by Monod and Jacob (1961). We describe the evolution of the allostery concept, from a conformational change in a two-state model (1965, 1966) to dynamic allostery in the ensemble model (1999); from multi-subunit (1965) proteins to all proteins (2004). We highlight the current available methods to study allostery and their applications in studies of conformational mechanisms, disease, and allosteric drug discovery. We outline the challenges and future directions that we foresee. Altogether, this Editorial narrates the history of this fundamental concept in the life sciences, its significance, methodologies to detect and predict it, and its application in a broad range of living systems.

Best practicable means (BPM) and as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) in action at Sellafield.

PubMed

Morley, Bob

2004-03-01

Operators within the UK nuclear industry are required to employ 'best practicable means' (BPM) to control and minimise radioactive discharges. The requirement for the use of BPM is in order to ensure that doses from discharges are as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). This facet is increasingly becoming the principal feature of discharge authorisations issued by the Environment Agencies under the Radioactive Substances Act, 1993 (RSA 93), which are enforceable by law. It is important to state at the outset, however, that scientific assessments to date indicate that there are no expectations of environmental harm from authorised discharges, even where those discharges have historically been up to two orders of magnitude higher than current levels. There is also no evidence to indicate that foreseeable future discharges from the Sellafield site will make any contribution to environmental harm.

Simulated climate effects of land degradation near Urumqi, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, N. J.; Qi, J.

2009-12-01

Western China's drylands, particularly around Urumqi city in Xinjiang Autonomous Region are changing due to increased grazing pressures, urban growth, and increasing population. These changes, driven by national policies of openness and economic development, are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The continued degradation of rangelands surrounding Urumqi can impact not only socioeconomic characteristics but also regional climate patterns. Here we show results from high-resolution regional climate simulations of the Urumqi area using the RAMS regional climate model. Under differing levels of rangeland degradation, from no degradation in vegetative cover and leaf area index (LAI) to 75% reduction a variety of impacts are found in the region. We examined the impacts of these changes in land cover properties via current rangeland management practices, including influences on summertime rainfall (important for grassland production) and year-round wind patterns, which are two major natural factors related to the air pollution and water scarcity of the city.

The utilisation of engineered invert traps in the management of near bed solids in sewer networks.

PubMed

Ashley, R M; Tait, S J; Stovin, V R; Burrows, R; Framer, A; Buxton, A P; Blackwood, D J; Saul, A J; Blanksby, J R

2003-01-01

Large existing sewers are considerable assets which wastewater utilities will require to operate for the foreseeable future to maintain health and the quality of life in cities. Despite their existence for more than a century there is surprisingly little guidance available to manage these systems to minimise problems associated with in-sewer solids. A joint study has been undertaken in the UK, to refine and utilise new knowledge gained from field data, laboratory results and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to devise cost beneficial engineering tools for the application of small invert traps to localise the deposition of sediments in sewers at accessible points for collection. New guidance has been produced for trap siting and this has been linked to a risk-cost-effectiveness assessment procedure to enable system operators to approach in-sewer sediment management pro-actively rather than reactively as currently happens.

"Bare Branches" and the Marriage Market in Rural China: Preliminary Evidence from a village-level survey.

PubMed

Jin, Xiaoyi; Liu, Lige; Li, Yan; Feldman, Marcus W; Li, Shuzhuo

Using data from a village survey in rural China, this study explores the relationships between current prevalence of involuntary bachelorhood and its causes and social consequences at the village level. We find that bachelors, inter-county marriage and marriage fraud exist in all regions, and are expected to become more frequent with the increasing surplus of males born after 1980 entering the marriage market. The marriage squeeze and social problems related to the bachelors are more serious in less-developed western villages, and heterogeneity within central villages is significant. Economic and socio-demographic factors are shown to be the major causes of the prevalence of bachelors at the village level in contemporary rural China. Our findings confirm the negative consequences of the marriage squeeze, and effective policies are urgently needed to respond to and prevent more negative consequences of gender imbalance in the foreseeable future.

The power of collaboration: using internet-based tools to facilitate networking and benchmarking within a consortium of academic health centers.

PubMed

Korner, Eli J; Oinonen, Michael J; Browne, Robert C

2003-02-01

The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) represents a strategic alliance of 169 academic health centers and associated institutions engaged in knowledge sharing and idea-generation. The use of the Internet as a tool in the delivery of UHC's products and services has increased dramatically over the past year and will continue to increase during the foreseeable future. This paper examines the current state of UHC-member institution driven tools and services that utilize the Web as a fundamental component in their delivery. The evolution of knowledge management at UHC, its management information and reporting tools, and expansion of e-commerce provide real world examples of Internet use in health care delivery and management. Health care workers are using these Web-based tools to help manage rising costs and optimize patient outcomes. Policy, technical, and organizational issues must be resolved to facilitate rapid adoption of Internet applications.

Water and Wastewater Rate Hikes Outpace CPI

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

Stratton, Hannah; Fuchs, Heidi; Chen, Yuting

Water and wastewater treatment and delivery is the most capital-intensive of all utility services. Historically underpriced, water and wastewater rates have exhibited unprecedented growth in the past fifteen years. Steep annual increases in water and wastewater rates that outpace the Consumer Price Index (CPI) have increasingly become the norm across the United States. In this paper, we analyze water and wastewater rates across U.S. census regions between 2000 and 2014. We also examine some of the driving factors behind these rate increases, including drought, water source, required infrastructure investment, population patterns, and conservation effects. Our results demonstrate that water andmore » wastewater prices have consistently increased and have outstripped CPI throughout the study period nationwide, as well as within each census region. Further, evaluation of the current and upcoming challenges facing water and wastewater utilities suggests that sharp rate increases are likely to continue in the foreseeable future.« less

The implications of Istanbul Declaration on organ trafficking and transplant tourism.

PubMed

Delmonico, Francis L

2009-04-01

Organ trafficking, transplant tourism and transplant commercialism are now defined by the Declaration of Istanbul; the Declaration provides principles of practice based on those definitions. Organ trafficking and transplant tourism should be prohibited because they violate the principles of equity, justice and respect for human dignity. This report provides a country-by-country description of current events that may effect the practice of transplantation internationally for the foreseeable future. The implications of the Istanbul Declaration are profound. It calls for a legal and professional framework in each country to govern organ donation and transplantation activities. It calls for a transparent regulatory oversight system that ensures donor and recipient safety and enforces the prohibitions of unethical practices. Governments should ensure the provision of care and follow-up of living donors be no less than the care and attention provided for transplants recipients.

Advances in thermoelectric materials research: Looking back and moving forward.

PubMed

He, Jian; Tritt, Terry M

2017-09-29

High-performance thermoelectric materials lie at the heart of thermoelectrics, the simplest technology applicable to direct thermal-to-electrical energy conversion. In its recent 60-year history, the field of thermoelectric materials research has stalled several times, but each time it was rejuvenated by new paradigms. This article reviews several potentially paradigm-changing mechanisms enabled by defects, size effects, critical phenomena, anharmonicity, and the spin degree of freedom. These mechanisms decouple the otherwise adversely interdependent physical quantities toward higher material performance. We also briefly discuss a number of promising materials, advanced material synthesis and preparation techniques, and new opportunities. The renewable energy landscape will be reshaped if the current trend in thermoelectric materials research is sustained into the foreseeable future. Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Necessary conditions for the globalization of traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Yu, Bei-Bei; Gong, Xiu-Lin

2011-03-01

With the current trend of globalization, unprecedented opportunities and enormous changes have emerged for the global development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, many old and new challenges and problems still remain, including partial or limited comprehension of acupuncture, oriental medicine and TCM, the existence of non-standardized institutes of TCM and acupuncture training schools, unqualified TCM practitioners, and problems concerning Chinese herbal medicine and inexperience in conducting TCM business. These problems will doubtlessly impede the further development of TCM worldwide in the foreseeable future. It is also clear that the globalization of TCM will require a large scale systematic project and constitute an arduous historical task. This paper aims to consolidate 6 strategic development modes to reinforce and facilitate the process of TCM globalization through a detailed analysis of both the present status and existing problems concerning the development of TCM in the United States.

EMF Monitoring—Concepts, Activities, Gaps and Options

PubMed Central

Dürrenberger, Gregor; Fröhlich, Jürg; Röösli, Martin; Mattsson, Mats-Olof

2014-01-01

Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) is a cause of concern for many people. The topic will likely remain for the foreseeable future on the scientific and political agenda, since emissions continue to change in characteristics and levels due to new infrastructure deployments, smart environments and novel wireless devices. Until now, systematic and coordinated efforts to monitor EMF exposure are rare. Furthermore, virtually nothing is known about personal exposure levels. This lack of knowledge is detrimental for any evidence-based risk, exposure and health policy, management and communication. The main objective of the paper is to review the current state of EMF exposure monitoring activities in Europe, to comment on the scientific challenges and deficiencies, and to describe appropriate strategies and tools for EMF exposure assessment and monitoring to be used to support epidemiological health research and to help policy makers, administrators, industry and consumer representatives to base their decisions and communication activities on facts and data. PMID:25216256

“Bare Branches” and the Marriage Market in Rural China: Preliminary Evidence from a village-level survey1

PubMed Central

Jin, Xiaoyi; Liu, Lige; Li, Yan; Feldman, Marcus W.; Li, Shuzhuo

2015-01-01

Using data from a village survey in rural China, this study explores the relationships between current prevalence of involuntary bachelorhood and its causes and social consequences at the village level. We find that bachelors, inter-county marriage and marriage fraud exist in all regions, and are expected to become more frequent with the increasing surplus of males born after 1980 entering the marriage market. The marriage squeeze and social problems related to the bachelors are more serious in less-developed western villages, and heterogeneity within central villages is significant. Economic and socio-demographic factors are shown to be the major causes of the prevalence of bachelors at the village level in contemporary rural China. Our findings confirm the negative consequences of the marriage squeeze, and effective policies are urgently needed to respond to and prevent more negative consequences of gender imbalance in the foreseeable future. PMID:26213641

Cosmological surveys with multi-object spectrographs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colless, Matthew

2016-08-01

Multi-object spectroscopy has been a key technique contributing to the current era of `precision cosmology.' From the first exploratory surveys of the large-scale structure and evolution of the universe to the current generation of superbly detailed maps spanning a wide range of redshifts, multi-object spectroscopy has been a fundamentally important tool for mapping the rich structure of the cosmic web and extracting cosmological information of increasing variety and precision. This will continue to be true for the foreseeable future, as we seek to map the evolving geometry and structure of the universe over the full extent of cosmic history in order to obtain the most precise and comprehensive measurements of cosmological parameters. Here I briefly summarize the contributions that multi-object spectroscopy has made to cosmology so far, then review the major surveys and instruments currently in play and their prospects for pushing back the cosmological frontier. Finally, I examine some of the next generation of instruments and surveys to explore how the field will develop in coming years, with a particular focus on specialised multi-object spectrographs for cosmology and the capabilities of multi-object spectrographs on the new generation of extremely large telescopes.

Constraints on Europa's Ocean Composition Imposed by Its Surface Composition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, P. V.; Hodyss, R. P.; Vu, T. H.; Choukroun, M.

2017-12-01

Of the non-terrestrial environments within our Solar System, Europa's global liquid water ocean is arguably the most likely to be habitable. As such, understanding the habitability of Europa's ocean is of great interest to astrobiology and is the focus of missions currently being considered for further exploration of Europa. However, direct analysis of the ocean is unlikely in the foreseeable future. As such, our best means of constraining the subsurface ocean composition and its subsequent habitability currently is by further study of Europa's surface chemical composition. Recently, there has been a body of work published that looks at the chemistry of frozen brines representing putative ocean compositions. Here we take a simplified model of a four ionic component (Na, Mg, SO4, Cl) solution and map out what minerals are formed upon freezing as a function of relative ionic concentration, pH, etc. A `flow-chart' of the freezing sequence was developed based on both published and recently acquired experimental results. In performing this exercise, we are able to begin making meaningful links between observations of the surface chemistry and the chemical environment of the internal ocean.

Reductions without Regret: Avoiding Wrong Turns, Roach Motels, and Box Canyons

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

Swegle, John A.; Tincher, Douglas J.

This is the third of three papers (in addition to an introductory summary) aimed at providing a framework for evaluating future reductions or modifications of the U.S. nuclear force, first by considering previous instances in which nuclear-force capabilities were eliminated; second by looking forward into at least the foreseeable future at the features of global and regional deterrence (recognizing that new weapon systems currently projected will have expected lifetimes stretching beyond our ability to predict the future); and third by providing examples of past or possible undesirable outcomes in the shaping of the future nuclear force, as well as somemore » closing thoughts for the future. In this paper, we provide one example each of our judgments on what constitutes a box canyon, a roach motel, and a wrong turn: Wrong Turn: The Reliable Replacement Warhead: Roach Motel: SRAM T vs the B61: and A Possible Box Canyon: A Low-Yield Version of the W76 SLBM Warhead. Recognizing that new nuclear missions or weapons are not demanded by current circumstances ₋ a development path that yields future capabilities similar to those of today, which are adequate if not always ideal, and a broader national-security strategy that supports nonproliferation and arms control by reducing the role for, and numbers, of nuclear weapons ₋ we briefly consider alternate, less desirable futures, and their possible effect on the complex problem of regional deterrence. In this regard, we discuss the issues posed by, and possible responses to, three example regional deterrence challenges: in-country defensive use of nuclear weapons by an adversary; reassurance of U.S. allies with limited strategic depth threatened by an emergent nuclear power; and extraterritorial, non-strategic offensive use of nuclear weapons by an adversary in support of limited military objectives against a U.S. ally.« less

What is Good University Financial Management?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Mark P.

2013-01-01

In the current and foreseeable harsh UK higher education environment, aspiring to best-practice financial management will be key to ensuring the prosperity--and indeed the survival--of any university. In this article I argue that good university financial management should provide stability to the institution, allow for investment as well as…

The hydrogen value chain: applying the automotive role model of the hydrogen economy in the aerospace sector to increase performance and reduce costs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frischauf, Norbert; Acosta-Iborra, Beatriz; Harskamp, Frederik; Moretto, Pietro; Malkow, Thomas; Honselaar, Michel; Steen, Marc; Hovland, Scott; Hufenbach, Bernhard; Schautz, Max; Wittig, Manfred; Soucek, Alexander

2013-07-01

Hydrogen will assume a key role in Europe's effort to adopt its energy dependent society to satisfy its needs without releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases. The paradigm shift is so paramount that one speaks of the "Hydrogen Economy", as the energy in this new and ecological type of economy is to be distributed by hydrogen. However, H2 is not a primary energy source but rather an energy carrier, a means of storing, transporting and distributing energy, which has to be generated by other means. Various H2 storage methods are possible; however industries' favourite is the storage of gaseous hydrogen in high pressure tanks. The biggest promoter of this storage methodology is the automotive industry, which is currently preparing for the generation change from the fossil fuel internal combustion engines to hydrogen based fuel cells. The current roadmaps foresee a market roll-out by 2015, when the hydrogen supply infrastructure is expected to have reached a critical mass. The hydrogen economy is about to take off as being demonstrated by various national mobility strategies, which foresee several millions of electric cars driving on the road in 2020. Fuel cell cars are only one type of "electric car", battery electric as well as hybrid cars - all featuring electric drive trains - are the others. Which type of technology is chosen for a specific application depends primarily on the involved energy storage and power requirements. These considerations are very similar to the ones in the aerospace sector, which had introduced the fuel cell already in the 1960s. The automotive sector followed only recently, but has succeeded in moving forward the technology to a level, where the aerospace sector is starting considering to spin-in terrestrial hydrogen technologies into its technology portfolio. Target areas are again high power/high energy applications like aviation, manned spaceflight and exploration missions, as well as future generation high power telecommunication satellites. Similar trends can be expected in the future for RADAR Earth Observation satellites and space infrastructure concepts of great scale. This paper examines current activities along the hydrogen value chain, both in the terrestrial and the aerospace sector. A general assessment of the synergy potential is complemented by a thorough analysis of specific applications serving as role models like a lunar manned base or pressurised rover, an aircraft APU or a high power telecommunications satellite. Potential performance improvements and cost savings serve as key performance indicators in these comparisons and trade-offs.

Role of modern chemistry in sustainable arable crop protection.

PubMed

Smith, Keith; Evans, David A; El-Hiti, Gamal A

2008-02-12

Organic chemistry has been, and for the foreseeable future will remain, vitally important for crop protection. Control of fungal pathogens, insect pests and weeds is crucial to enhanced food provision. As world population continues to grow, it is timely to assess the current situation, anticipate future challenges and consider how new chemistry may help meet those challenges. In future, agriculture will increasingly be expected to provide not only food and feed, but also crops for conversion into renewable fuels and chemical feedstocks. This will further increase the demand for higher crop yields per unit area, requiring chemicals used in crop production to be even more sophisticated. In order to contribute to programmes of integrated crop management, there is a requirement for chemicals to display high specificity, demonstrate benign environmental and toxicological profiles, and be biodegradable. It will also be necessary to improve production of those chemicals, because waste generated by the production process mitigates the overall benefit. Three aspects are considered in this review: advances in the discovery process for new molecules for sustainable crop protection, including tests for environmental and toxicological properties as well as biological activity; advances in synthetic chemistry that may offer efficient and environmentally benign manufacturing processes for modern crop protection chemicals; and issues related to energy use and production through agriculture.

Technological challenges for boosting coal production with environmental sustainability.

PubMed

Ghose, Mrinal K

2009-07-01

The global energy requirement has grown at a phenomenon rate and the consumption of primary energy sources has been a very high positive growth. This paper focuses on the consumption of different primary energy sources and it identifies that coal will continue to remain as the prime energy source in foreseeable future. It examines the energy requirement perspective for India and demand of coal as the prime energy source. Economic development and poverty alleviation depend on securing affordable energy sources and Indian coal mining industry offers a bright future for the country's energy security, provided the industry is allowed to develop by supportive government policies and adopts latest technologies for mining. It is an irony that in-spite of having a plentiful reserves, India is not able to jack up coal production to meet its current and future demand. It discusses the strategies to be adopted for growth and meeting the coal demand. But such energy are very much concerned with environmental degradation and must be driven by contemporary managerial acumen addressing environmental and social challenges effectively The paper highlights the emissions of greenhouse gases due to burning of fossil fuels and environmental consequences of global warming and sea-level rise. Technological solutions for environment friendly coal mining and environmental laws for the abatement of environmental degradation are discussed in this paper.

Novelty and Foreseeing Research Trends: The Case of Astrophysics and Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varga, Attila

2018-05-01

Metrics based on reference lists of research articles or on keywords have been used to predict citation impact. The concept behind such metrics is that original ideas stem from the reconfiguration of the structure of past knowledge, and therefore atypical combinations in the reference lists, keywords, or classification codes indicate future high-impact research. The current paper serves as an introduction to this line of research for astronomers and also addresses some of the methodological questions in this field of innovation studies. It is still not clear if the choice of particular indexes, such as references to journals, articles, or specific bibliometric classification codes affects the relationship between atypical combinations and citation impact. To understand more aspects of the innovation process, a new metric has been devised to measure to what extent researchers are able to anticipate the changing combinatorial trends of the future. Results show that the variant of the latter anticipation scores that is based on paper combinations is a good predictor of the future citation impact of scholarly works. The study also shows that the effects of tested indexes vary with the aggregation levels that were used to construct them. A detailed analysis of combinatorial novelty in the field reveals that certain sub-fields of astronomy and astrophysics have different roles in the reconfiguration of past knowledge.

Study of Bulk and Elementary Screw Dislocation Assisted Reverse Breakdown in Low-Voltage (less than 250 V) 4H-SiC p(+)n Junction diodes. Part 1; DC Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neudeck, Philip G.; Huang, Wei; Dudley, Michael

1998-01-01

Given the high density (approx. 10(exp 4)/sq cm) of elementary screw dislocations (Burgers vector = 1c with no hollow core) in commercial SiC wafers and epilayers, all appreciable current (greater than 1 A) SiC power devices will likely contain elementary screw dislocations for the foreseeable future. It is therefore important to ascertain the electrical impact of these defects, particularly in high-field vertical power device topologies where SiC is expected to enable large performance improvements in solid-state high-power systems. This paper compares the DC-measured reverse-breakdown characteristics of low-voltage (less than 250 V) small-area (less than 5 x 10(exp -4)/sq cm) 4H-SiC p(+)n diodes with and without elementary screw dislocations. Compared to screw dislocation-free devices, diodes containing elementary screw dislocations exhibited higher pre-breakdown reverse leakage currents, softer reverse breakdown I-V knees, and highly localized microplasmic breakdown current filaments. The observed localized 4H-SiC breakdown parallels microplasmic breakdowns observed in silicon and other semiconductors, in which space-charge effects limit current conduction through the local microplasma as reverse bias is increased.

Study of Bulk and Elementary Screw Dislocation Assisted Reverse Breakdown in Low-Voltage (<250 V) 4H-SiC p+n Junction Diodes - Part 1: DC Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neudeck, Philip G.; Huang, Wei; Dudley, Michael

1999-01-01

Given the high density (approx. 10(exp 4)/sq cm) of elementary screw dislocations (Burgers vector = lc with no hollow core) in commercial SiC wafers and epilayers, all appreciable current (greater than 1 A) SiC power devices will likely contain elementary screw dislocations for the foreseeable future. It is therefore important to ascertain the electrical impact of these defects, particularly in high-field vertical power device topologies where SiC is expected to enable large performance improvements in solid-state high-power systems. This paper compares the DC-measured reverse-breakdown characteristics of low-voltage (less than 250 V) small-area (less than 5 x 10(exp -4) sq cm) 4H-SiC p(+)n diodes with and without elementary screw dislocations. Compared to screw dislocation-free devices, diodes containing elementary screw dislocations exhibited higher pre-breakdown reverse leakage currents, softer reverse breakdown I-V knees, and highly localized microplasmic breakdown current filaments. The observed localized 4H-SiC breakdown parallels microplasmic breakdowns observed in silicon and other semiconductors, in which space-charge effects limit current conduction through the local microplasma as reverse bias is increased.

Robots, multi-user virtual environments and healthcare: synergies for future directions.

PubMed

Moon, Ajung; Grajales, Francisco J; Van der Loos, H F Machiel

2011-01-01

The adoption of technology in healthcare over the last twenty years has steadily increased, particularly as it relates to medical robotics and Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) such as Second Life. Both disciplines have been shown to improve the quality of care and have evolved, for the most part, in isolation from each other. In this paper, we present four synergies between medical robotics and MUVEs that have the potential to decrease resource utilization and improve the quality of healthcare delivery. We conclude with some foreseeable barriers and future research directions for researchers in these fields.

Translocation as a Conservation Tool for Restoring Insular Avifauna

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-01

5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) University of Missouri, Fisheries and Wildlife, Suite...within the foreseeable future. One approach to conservation includes establishing new communities of threatened species on islands where they did not...4A C-86 TRANSLOCATION AS A CONSERVATION TOOL FOR INSULAR AVIFAUNA DR. DYLAN KESLER University of Missouri Fisheries and Wildlife, Suite

Glycosylated haemoglobin: measurement and clinical use.

PubMed

Peacock, I

1984-08-01

The discovery, biochemistry, laboratory determination, and clinical application of glycosylated haemoglobins are reviewed. Sources of error are discussed in detail. No single assay method is suitable for all purposes, and in the foreseeable future generally acceptable standards and reference ranges are unlikely to be agreed. Each laboratory must establish its own. Nevertheless, the development of glycosylated haemoglobin assays is an important advance. They offer the best available means of assessing diabetic control.

The Jasmine Revolution: Applied Lessons for U.S. Grand Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-06

AIR WAR COLLEGE AIR UNIVERSITY THE JASMINE REVOLUTION APPLIED LESSONS FOR U.S. GRAND STRATEGY by Brandon K. Beightol...period that has come to be known as the Arab Spring. It all began with the Jasmine revolution, named for the Tunisian official flower, in which...can be used to understand and possibly foresee future occurrences. Factors leading up to the Jasmine Revolution In 1956, Habib Bourguiba took

National Waterways Study: Findings and Conclusions (from Contractor Study Effort).

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-05-01

basic process by which decisions are made by the Congress on the allocation of investments in the navigation system and the levels of funding for...waterways structures anticipates no significant change in the basic navigation technology in the foreseeable future* However, better management of the...other products discussed in this section. " As a result, water transportation handles only about one quarter of all basic and intermediate industrial

The Changing Nature of the Academic Deanship. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Volume 28, Number 1. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolverton, Mimi; Gmelch, Walter H.; Montez, Joni; Nies, Charles T.

This monograph provides a compilation of scholarly literature written about academic deans. The premise on which it rests suggests that changes external to the academy have affected the nature of the academic deanship and will continue to affect it for the foreseeable future. The book considers four questions about the academic deanship. The first…

Civilization’s Drying Cradle: Water Politics in the Tigris-Euphrates River Basin

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-22

pollution will ensure that water disputes increasingly shape Middle East politics for the foreseeable future. Exacerbating the water supply problem is...tolls in water withdrawals, damaged land, and polluted watersheds. One hectare of irrigated land requires an average of 12,000 m3 water annually.21...communities are forced to use polluted runoff from upstream irrigation projects, already highly saline and contaminated with herbicides. Soil salinization

Now Hunt's back in the job, here's the top issues he needs to address.

PubMed

2016-07-20

Jeremy Hunt is back in his office at Richmond House, home of the Department of Health in London, for the foreseeable future - and against expectations. Even he must have thought that his time was up. Attention will now focus on what he should do next given his new lease of life, so here's what Nursing Standard would like him to tackle first.

Current State of Value-Based Purchasing Programs.

PubMed

Chee, Tingyin T; Ryan, Andrew M; Wasfy, Jason H; Borden, William B

2016-05-31

The US healthcare system is rapidly moving toward rewarding value. Recent legislation, such as the Affordable Care Act and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, solidified the role of value-based payment in Medicare. Many private insurers are following Medicare's lead. Much of the policy attention has been on programs such as accountable care organizations and bundled payments; yet, value-based purchasing (VBP) or pay-for-performance, defined as providers being paid fee-for-service with payment adjustments up or down based on value metrics, remains a core element of value payment in Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. This review article summarizes the current state of VBP programs and provides analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for the future. Multiple inpatient and outpatient VBP programs have been implemented and evaluated; the impact of those programs has been marginal. Opportunities to enhance the performance of VBP programs include improving the quality measurement science, strengthening both the size and design of incentives, reducing health disparities, establishing broad outcome measurement, choosing appropriate comparison targets, and determining the optimal role of VBP relative to alternative payment models. VBP programs will play a significant role in healthcare delivery for years to come, and they serve as an opportunity for providers to build the infrastructure needed for value-oriented care. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

Current State of Value-Based Purchasing Programs

PubMed Central

Chee, Tingyin T.; Ryan, Andrew M.; Wasfy, Jason H.; Borden, William B.

2016-01-01

The United States healthcare system is rapidly moving toward rewarding value. Recent legislation, such as the Affordable Care Act and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), solidified the role of value-based payment in Medicare. Many private insurers are following Medicare’s lead. Much of the policy attention has been on programs such as accountable care organizations and bundled payments; yet, value-based purchasing (VBP) or pay-for-performance, defined as providers being paid fee-for-service with payment adjustments up or down based on value metrics, remains a core element of value payment in MACRA and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. This review article summarizes the current state of VBP programs and provides analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for the future. Multiple inpatient and outpatient VBP programs have been implemented and evaluated, with the impact of those programs being marginal. Opportunities to enhance the performance of VBP programs include improving the quality measurement science, strengthening both the size and design of incentives, reducing health disparities, establishing broad outcome measurement, choosing appropriate comparison targets, and determining the optimal role of VBP relative to alternative payment models. VBP programs will play a significant role in healthcare delivery for years to come, and they serve as an opportunity for providers to build the infrastructure needed for value-oriented care. PMID:27245648

77 FR 2943 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Endangered Status for the Chupadera...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-20

... economic analysis, and draft environmental assessment on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov at... designations and current or planned activities in the subject areas and their possible impacts on proposed critical habitat. (4) Any foreseeable economic, national security, or other relevant impacts that may...

Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan: United States Plan for Sustaining the Afghanistan National Security Forces

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-01

and Section 1230 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal...has personally taken ownership of anti-corruption reforms within the Ministry of Defense and is fighting to make the MoD an example for the rest of...progress, the ANA is expected to lack combat enablers and logistics support for the foreseeable future . AFGHAN AIR FORCE The Afghan Air Force’s

Airpower in Hybrid War: Ethical Implications for the Joint Force Commander

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-15

waging war) aspect of just war theory . 13 In light of the issue, the spirit of US acquisition is one that historically and presently puts...by the NWC or the Department of the Navy. 14. ABSTRACT In the foreseeable future, the United States ( US ) will likely find itself engaged in hybrid...behaviors. Moreover, political risk aversion, coupled with the perceived “sanitary” use of technologically advanced weapons systems, makes US airpower

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control’s (MFC) Ascent to Greatness: Perspectives of a SECDEF Fellow

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-01

and has approximately 2,000 courses available. This collaborative and exceedingly effective learning environment is supported by ancillary tools and...responsive subject-matter-experts to help leaders and employees grow and become more effective . MFC has six leadership development programs commensurate...concept; hence, keeping the company viable and strong for the foreseeable future, by sticking to its core and not chasing fads or jumping on

A critical review of financial measures as reported in the Ontario hospital balanced scorecard.

PubMed

Parkinson, John; Tsasis, Peter; Porporato, Marcela

2007-01-01

For Ontario hospitals in Canada, the Financial Performance and Condition measures in the Ontario hospital balanced scorecard are especially of interest since in the foreseeable future, they may be linked to provincial government funding decisions. However, we find that these measures lack valuable information on key attributes that affect organizational performance. We suggest changes that focus on key drivers of performance and reflect the operational realities of Ontario hospitals.

In Harmony with the Population: Ethnomusicology as a Framework for Countering Violent Extremism in the Sahel

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

digital media , art, multiculturalism, communication flow theory 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 143 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF REPORT...and Chad as a Case Study,” 59. 41 methods), and mass communication ( communication to a large audience via mass media ).91 According to a 2007...proliferation of digital technology for at least the foreseeable future. Early communication theorists considered mass- media communication flow to be a

Vinculos Entre la Capacitacion de Docentes y el Desarrollo de Materiales Educativos Impresos--Anotaciones para Una Discusion (Links between In-service Teacher Training and the Development of Printed Educational Aids).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valle, Victor M.

Textbooks and other printed materials will be ever present, in the foreseeable future, as major aids for teaching and learning processes. New textbooks imply new guidelines for teachers, and the ways to handle such guidelines demand teacher training. This paper explains some links between inservice teacher training programs and the development of…

Plant genetics, sustainable agriculture and global food security.

PubMed

Ronald, Pamela

2011-05-01

The United States and the world face serious societal challenges in the areas of food, environment, energy, and health. Historically, advances in plant genetics have provided new knowledge and technologies needed to address these challenges. Plant genetics remains a key component of global food security, peace, and prosperity for the foreseeable future. Millions of lives depend upon the extent to which crop genetic improvement can keep pace with the growing global population, changing climate, and shrinking environmental resources. While there is still much to be learned about the biology of plant-environment interactions, the fundamental technologies of plant genetic improvement, including crop genetic engineering, are in place, and are expected to play crucial roles in meeting the chronic demands of global food security. However, genetically improved seed is only part of the solution. Such seed must be integrated into ecologically based farming systems and evaluated in light of their environmental, economic, and social impacts-the three pillars of sustainable agriculture. In this review, I describe some lessons learned, over the last decade, of how genetically engineered crops have been integrated into agricultural practices around the world and discuss their current and future contribution to sustainable agricultural systems.

Geriatric Cardiology: An Emerging Discipline.

PubMed

Dodson, John A; Matlock, Daniel D; Forman, Daniel E

2016-09-01

Given changing demographics, patients with cardiovascular (CV) disease in developed countries are now older and more complex than even a decade ago. This trend is expected to continue into the foreseeable future; accordingly, cardiologists are encountering patients with a greater number of comorbid illnesses as well as "geriatric conditions," such as cognitive impairment and frailty, which complicate management and influence outcomes. Simultaneously, technological advances have widened the therapeutic options available for patients, including those with the most advanced CV disease. In the setting of these changes, geriatric cardiology has recently emerged as a discipline that aims to adapt principles from geriatric medicine to everyday cardiology practice. Accordingly, the tasks of a "geriatric cardiologist" may include both traditional evidence-based CV management plus comprehensive geriatric assessment, medication reduction, team-based coordination of care, and explicit incorporation of patient goals into management. Given that the field is still in its relative infancy, the training pathways and structure of clinical programs in geriatric cardiology are still being delineated. In this review, we highlight the rationale behind geriatric cardiology as a discipline, several current approaches by geriatric cardiology programs, and future directions for the field. Copyright © 2016 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Kidney transplantation in emerging countries: do we know all issues?

PubMed

Spasovski, G; Vanholder, R

2012-09-01

Although it seems that end stage renal disease (ESRD) therapies gradually become more accessible in the developing world, yet, the vast majority of people living in those areas do not have access to dialysis and especially transplantation because of the economic and technological inequality as compared with the developed world. Despite the great advantage in survival and considerable socioeconomic advantages of transplantation vs. dialysis, there is a widespread recognition that the growing gap between organ supply and demand will continue into the foreseeable future. Several reasons might be considered in this regard as: insufficient data on the topic in the public domain, inadequate governmental financial resources, lack of public awareness, education and motivation for organ donation as well as the low number of organized teams of transplant surgeons and nephrologists, and lack of organizational infrastructure, i.e. coordinators. The defined priorities for the future in terms of improving living donor transplantation, composition of the official waiting lists and registries of transplant recipients and living donors and the role of transplant professionals have been discussed. In conclusion, whatever the governmental support is, as professionals, we should just reinforce our efforts to help our patients as best as we can in the current situation.

Geriatric Cardiology: An Emerging Discipline

PubMed Central

Dodson, John A.; Matlock, Daniel D.; Forman, Daniel E.

2017-01-01

Given changing demographics, patients with cardiovascular (CV) disease in developed countries are now older and more complex than even a decade ago. This trend is expected to continue into the foreseeable future; accordingly, cardiologists in practice are encountering patients with a greater number of comorbid illnesses as well as “geriatric conditions” such as cognitive impairment and frailty which complicate management and influence outcomes. Simultaneously, technological advances have widened the therapeutic options available for patients, including those with the most advanced CV disease. In the setting of these changes, geriatric cardiology has recently emerged as a discipline that aims to adapt principles from geriatric medicine into everyday cardiology practice. Accordingly, the tasks of a “geriatric cardiologist” may include both traditional evidence-based CV management plus comprehensive geriatric assessment, medication reduction, team-based coordination of care, and explicit incorporation of patient goals into management. Given that the field is still in its relative infancy, the training pathways and structure of clinical programs in geriatric cardiology are still being delineated. In this review we highlight the rationale behind geriatric cardiology as a discipline, several current approaches by geriatric cardiology programs, and future directions for the field. PMID:27476988

One Strategy for Reducing Uncertainty in Climate Change Communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romm, J.

2011-12-01

Future impacts of climate change are invariably presented with a very wide range of impacts reflecting two different sets of uncertainties. The first concerns our uncertainty about precisely how much greenhouse gas emissions humanity will emit into the atmosphere. The second concerns our uncertainty about precisely what impact those emissions will have on the climate. By failing to distinguish between these two types of uncertainties, climate scientists have not clearly explained to the public and policymakers what the scientific literature suggests is likely to happen if we don't substantially alter our current emissions path. Indeed, much of climate communications has been built around describing the range of impacts from emissions paths that are increasingly implausible given political and technological constraints, such as a stabilization at 450 or 550 parts per million atmospheric of carbon dioxide. For the past decade, human emissions of greenhouse gases have trended near the worst-case scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, emissions paths that reach 800 ppm or even 1000 ppm. The current policies of the two biggest emitters, the United States and China, coupled with the ongoing failure of international negotiations to come to an agreement on restricting emissions, suggests that recent trends will continue for the foreseeable future. This in turn suggests that greater clarity in climate change communications could be achieved by more clearly explaining to the public what the scientific literature suggests the range of impacts are for our current high emissions path. This also suggests that more focus should be given in the scientific literature to better constraining the range of impacts from the high emissions scenarios.

Some Future Software Engineering Opportunities and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boehm, Barry

This paper provides an update and extension of a 2006 paper, “Some Future Trends and Implications for Systems and Software Engineering Processes,” Systems Engineering, Spring 2006. Some of its challenges and opportunities are similar, such as the need to simultaneously achieve high levels of both agility and assurance. Others have emerged as increasingly important, such as the challenges of dealing with ultralarge volumes of data, with multicore chips, and with software as a service. The paper is organized around eight relatively surprise-free trends and two “wild cards” whose trends and implications are harder to foresee. The eight surprise-free trends are:

Judgments of Cause and Blame: The Effects of Intentionality and Foreseeability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lagnado, David A.; Channon, Shelley

2008-01-01

What are the factors that influence everyday attributions of cause and blame? The current studies focus on sequences of events that lead to adverse outcomes, and examine people's cause and blame ratings for key events in these sequences. Experiment 1 manipulated the intentional status of candidate causes and their location in a causal chain.…

49 CFR 195.575 - Which facilities must I electrically isolate and what inspections, tests, and safeguards are...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... reasonable to foresee fault currents or an unusual risk of lightning, you must protect the pipeline against... metallic structures, unless you electrically interconnect and cathodically protect the pipeline and the... isolation of a portion of a pipeline is necessary to facilitate the application of corrosion control. (c...

49 CFR 195.575 - Which facilities must I electrically isolate and what inspections, tests, and safeguards are...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... reasonable to foresee fault currents or an unusual risk of lightning, you must protect the pipeline against... metallic structures, unless you electrically interconnect and cathodically protect the pipeline and the... isolation of a portion of a pipeline is necessary to facilitate the application of corrosion control. (c...

49 CFR 195.575 - Which facilities must I electrically isolate and what inspections, tests, and safeguards are...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... reasonable to foresee fault currents or an unusual risk of lightning, you must protect the pipeline against... metallic structures, unless you electrically interconnect and cathodically protect the pipeline and the... isolation of a portion of a pipeline is necessary to facilitate the application of corrosion control. (c...

Role of Rituximab and Rituximab Biosimilars in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma.

PubMed

Coleman, Morton; Lammers, Philip E; Ciceri, Fabio; Jacobs, Ira A

2016-04-01

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), an aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), is the most-common subtype of NHL. DLBCL can be classified into at least 3 major immunologically distinct types, which contributes to considerable variation in disease prognosis and response to treatment. DLBCL potentially is curable, even when diagnosed at advanced stages. The current standard of care for most patients with untreated or relapsed/refractory DLBCL is chemoimmunotherapy containing rituximab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. With advanced understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of DLBCL and specific signaling pathways that are activated in different subtypes, potential new therapeutic targets have been identified, some of which are at the late stages of clinical development. This review summarizes the critical role of rituximab in the current standard of care treatment for DLBCL and discusses why rituximab is likely to remain an important component of treatment options for DLBCL in the foreseeable future. In addition, current and emerging therapeutic agents, including potential benefits of rituximab biosimilars, for patients with DLBCL are discussed. The advent of rituximab biosimilars may facilitate accessibility of rituximab-based chemotherapies to patients with DLBCL and has potential cost-saving benefits for healthcare systems globally. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Ethical aspects of human embryonic stem cell use and commercial umbilical cord blood stem cell banking. Ethical reflections on the occasion of the regulation of the European Council and Parliament on advanced therapy medicinal products].

PubMed

Virt, G

2010-01-01

The regulation of the European Council and Parliament on advanced therapy medicinal products also includes therapies with human embryonic stem cells. The use of these stem cells is controversially and heavily discussed. Contrary to the use of adult stem cells, medical and ethical problems concerning the use of human embryonic stem cells persists, because this use is based on the destruction of human life at the very beginning. The regulation foresees, therefore, subsidiarity within the European Member States. Although there are no ethical problems in principle with the use of stem cells from the umbilical cord blood, there are social ethical doubts with the banking of these stem cells for autologous use without any currently foreseeable medical advantage by commercial blood banks. Also in this case subsidiarity is valid.

Evaluating the Combined UUV Efforts in a Large-Scale Mine Warfare Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-01

buddy, COL Fred Lough and Mary Mullin, for being loving and support parents-in-law, and Linda and Harry Thompson, for being the most devoted and...completed in 2015. Until the RMMV and AQS-20B issues are resolved, the RMS operational test cannot be completed onboard LCS ( Seligman , 2015). These poor...available in the foreseeable future. Therefore, the Avenger-Class ships will remain the main MCM platform ( Seligman , 2014). The Avenger-Class ships are

Snakes in the wrong places: Gordon Rodda’s career in invasive species research

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Jim

2012-01-01

When USGS research zoologist Gordon G. Rodda was a graduate student at Cornell University studying behavioral biology of alligators —or later, completing a post-doc at the Smithsonian Institute studying the social behavior of green iguanas in Venezuela or following that, as a statistics and sociobiology instructor at the University of Tennessee—he did not foresee that his professional future was in snakes. Lots of snakes, and in places they don’t belong.

Orbital Spacecraft Consumables Resupply System (OSCRS). Volume 2: Study results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

The objective was to establish an earth storable fluids tanker concept which satisfies the initial resupply requirements for the Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) for reasonable front end (design, development, verification) cost while providing growth potential for foreseeable future earth storable resupply mission requirements. The achievement of these objectives becomes possible with the development of a modularized tanker concept which is a hybrid of a dedicated GRO tanker and a generic earth storable propellant tanker.

Environmental Assessment: Construct Fire Station at Grand Forks Air Force Base

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

foreseeable future actions regardless of what agency or person undertakes such other actions” (40 CFR §1508.7). Cumulative effects are likely to arise when...dining, relaxing, and physical fitness . 4 .2 Need for the Action ( why this action is desired or required- why here, why now) : The 1957-vintage main...Army permit would not be required . If you disagree with this jurisdictional determination, you have the right to appeal the decision . If you would like

QIPP: cutting budgets or working smarter?

PubMed

Brocklehurst, P; Jones, C; Tickle, M

2011-04-23

The Department of Health's response to the national budget deficit is to ensure that the provision of NHS services is guided by four fundamental 'QIPP' principles: Quality, Innovation, Prevention, and Productivity. This agenda will govern all aspects of the National Health Service's (NHS') health care provision for the foreseeable future. NHS dental services will, like all other NHS services, need to make a contribution to the QIPP agenda. The purpose of this paper is to outline the implications for NHS dentistry.

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

Ghose, M.K.; Paul, B.

The global energy requirement has grown at a phenomenal rate and the consumption of primary energy sources has been a very high positive growth. This article focuses on the consumption of different primary energy sources and it identifies that coal will continue to remain as the prime energy in the foreseeable future. It examines energy requirement perspectives for India and demands of petroleum, natural gas, and coal bed methane in the foreseeable future. It discusses the state of present day petroleum and petrochemical industries in the country and the latest advances in them to take over in the next fewmore » years. The regional pattern of consumption of primary energy sources shows that oil remains as the largest single source of primary energy in most parts of the world. However, gas dominates as the prime source in some parts of the world. Economic development and poverty alleviation depend on securing affordable energy sources and for the country's energy security; it is necessary to adopt the latest technological advances in petroleum and petrochemical industries by supportive government policies. But such energy is very much concerned with environmental degradation and must be driven by contemporary managerial acumen addressing environmental and social challenges effectively. Environmental laws for the abatement of environmental degradation are discussed in this paper. The paper concludes that energy security leading to energy independence is certainly possible and can be achieved through a planned manner.« less

Overview of past, present and future marine power plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morsy El-Gohary, M.

2013-06-01

In efforts to overcome an foreseeable energy crisis predicated on limited oil and gas supplies, reserves; economic variations facing the world, and of course the environmental side effects of fossil fuels, an urgent need for energy sources that provide sustainable, safe and economic supplies for the world is imperative. The current fossil fuel energy system must be improved to ensure a better and cleaner transportation future for the world. Despite the fact that the marine transportation sector consumes only 5% of global petroleum production; it is responsible for 15% of the world NO x and SO x emissions. These figures must be the engine that powers the scientific research worldwide to develop new solutions for a very old energy problem. In this paper, the most effective types of marine power plants were discussed. The history of the development of each type was presented first and the technical aspects were discussed second. Also, the fuel cells as a new type of power plants used in marine sector were briefed to give a complete overview of the past, present and future of the marine power plants development. Based on the increased worldwide concerns regarding harmful emissions, many researchers have introduced solutions to this problem, including the adoption of new cleaner fuels. This paper was guided using the same trend and by implementing the hydrogen as fuel for marine internal combustion engine, gas turbines, and fuel cells.

Craniofacial Tissue Engineering by Stem Cells

PubMed Central

Mao, J.J.; Giannobile, W.V.; Helms, J.A.; Hollister, S.J.; Krebsbach, P.H.; Longaker, M.T.; Shi, S.

2008-01-01

Craniofacial tissue engineering promises the regeneration or de novo formation of dental, oral, and craniofacial structures lost to congenital anomalies, trauma, and diseases. Virtually all craniofacial structures are derivatives of mesenchymal cells. Mesenchymal stem cells are the offspring of mesenchymal cells following asymmetrical division, and reside in various craniofacial structures in the adult. Cells with characteristics of adult stem cells have been isolated from the dental pulp, the deciduous tooth, and the periodontium. Several craniofacial structures—such as the mandibular condyle, calvarial bone, cranial suture, and subcutaneous adipose tissue—have been engineered from mesenchymal stem cells, growth factor, and/or gene therapy approaches. As a departure from the reliance of current clinical practice on durable materials such as amalgam, composites, and metallic alloys, biological therapies utilize mesenchymal stem cells, delivered or internally recruited, to generate craniofacial structures in temporary scaffolding biomaterials. Craniofacial tissue engineering is likely to be realized in the foreseeable future, and represents an opportunity that dentistry cannot afford to miss. PMID:17062735

Synthetic biology devices and circuits for RNA-based 'smart vaccines': a propositional review.

PubMed

Andries, Oliwia; Kitada, Tasuku; Bodner, Katie; Sanders, Niek N; Weiss, Ron

2015-02-01

Nucleic acid vaccines have been gaining attention as an alternative to the standard attenuated pathogen or protein based vaccine. However, an unrealized advantage of using such DNA or RNA based vaccination modalities is the ability to program within these nucleic acids regulatory devices that would provide an immunologist with the power to control the production of antigens and adjuvants in a desirable manner by administering small molecule drugs as chemical triggers. Advances in synthetic biology have resulted in the creation of highly predictable and modular genetic parts and devices that can be composed into synthetic gene circuits with complex behaviors. With the recent advent of modified RNA gene delivery methods and developments in the RNA replicon platform, we foresee a future in which mammalian synthetic biologists will create genetic circuits encoded exclusively on RNA. Here, we review the current repertoire of devices used in RNA synthetic biology and propose how programmable 'smart vaccines' will revolutionize the field of RNA vaccination.

The future of human DNA vaccines.

PubMed

Li, Lei; Saade, Fadi; Petrovsky, Nikolai

2012-12-31

DNA vaccines have evolved greatly over the last 20 years since their invention, but have yet to become a competitive alternative to conventional protein or carbohydrate based human vaccines. Whilst safety concerns were an initial barrier, the Achilles heel of DNA vaccines remains their poor immunogenicity when compared to protein vaccines. A wide variety of strategies have been developed to optimize DNA vaccine immunogenicity, including codon optimization, genetic adjuvants, electroporation and sophisticated prime-boost regimens, with each of these methods having its advantages and limitations. Whilst each of these methods has contributed to incremental improvements in DNA vaccine efficacy, more is still needed if human DNA vaccines are to succeed commercially. This review foresees a final breakthrough in human DNA vaccines will come from application of the latest cutting-edge technologies, including "epigenetics" and "omics" approaches, alongside traditional techniques to improve immunogenicity such as adjuvants and electroporation, thereby overcoming the current limitations of DNA vaccines in humans. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pharmaceutical patents and some international trade issues: Canada, the United States, and NAFTA.

PubMed

Tancer, R S

1993-01-01

This paper traces the evolution of a more aggressive US policy for the protection of the intellectual property rights of its citizens, individual and corporate, who do business aborad. It focuses on the pharmaceutical industry and, in particular, the harmonization of conflicting US and Canadian policies. In reconciling these policy differences, the United States unilaterally applied relatively new procedures authorized under section 301 and Special 301 of its trade laws. It also utilized the bilateral dispute mechanism mandating cooperation "in the Uruguay Round ... to improve protection of intellectual property," as provided in the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement. These efforts were successful; Canada amended its patent law in 1993 to conform to current international practices. These changes were incorporated into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), making it a state-of-the-art example of the protection of intellectual property rights. The intellectual property chapter of NAFTA will serve as the model for US intellectual property rights negotiations for the foreseeable future.

Emerging drugs for diabetic peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain.

PubMed

Papanas, Nikolaos; Ziegler, Dan

2016-12-01

Diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN) is a common complication of diabetes. Areas covered: In this review, the authors discuss the emerging drugs for DSPN, which aim either at improving alleviation of neuropathic pain or addressing the putative mechanisms underlying diabetic neuropathy. Expert Opinion: Current treatment does not address the sensory deficits and pathogenesis underlying DSPN, so there is an unmet need for treatment options targeting the natural history of the condition. Some of these pathogenetic therapies have demonstrated clinically relevant improvements in neuropathic endpoints in recent randomised controlled trials. Since any effective analgesic monotherapy is known to induce a clinically meaningful response in only some 50% of the patients, there remains a substantial unmet need in patients with neuropathic pain. Advanced knowledge in the neurobiology of neuropathic pain and improved phenotypic profiling have led to a burst of research into novel pharmaceutical approaches. An array of promising molecular entities have reached the clinical stage of development, which should improve our therapeutic armamentarium in the fight against DSPN and neuropathic pain in the foreseeable future.

Nuclear Physics and Lattice QCD

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

Beane, Silas

2003-11-01

Impressive progress is currently being made in computing properties and interac- tions of the low-lying hadrons using lattice QCD. However, cost limitations will, for the foreseeable future, necessitate the use of quark masses, Mq, that are signif- icantly larger than those of nature, lattice spacings, a, that are not significantly smaller than the physical scale of interest, and lattice sizes, L, that are not sig- nificantly larger than the physical scale of interest. Extrapolations in the quark masses, lattice spacing and lattice volume are therefore required. The hierarchy of mass scales is: L 1 j Mq j â ºC jmore » a 1 . The appropriate EFT for incorporating the light quark masses, the finite lattice spacing and the lattice size into hadronic observables is C-PT, which provides systematic expansions in the small parame- ters e m L, 1/ Lâ ºC, p/â ºC, Mq/â ºC and aâ ºC . The lattice introduces other unphysical scales as well. Lattice QCD quarks will increasingly be artificially separated« less

A remote sensing applications update: Results of interviews with Earth Observations Commercialization Program (EOCAP) participants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcvey, Sally

1991-01-01

Earth remote sensing is a uniquely valuable tool for large-scale resource management, a task whose importance will likely increase world-wide through the foreseeable future. NASA research and engineering have virtually created the existing U.S. system, and will continue to push the frontiers, primarily through Earth Observing System (EOS) instruments, research, and data and information systems. It is the researchers' view that the near-term health of remote sensing applications also deserves attention; it seems important not to abandon the system or its clients. The researchers suggest that, like its Landsat predecessor, a successful Earth Observing System program is likely to reinforce pressure to 'manage' natural resources, and consequently, to create more pressure for Earth Observations Commercialization (EOCAP) type applications. The current applications programs, though small, are valuable because of their technical and commercial results, and also because they support a community whose contributions will increase along with our ability to observe the Earth from space.

Can prevention eliminate caries?

PubMed

O'Mullane, D

1995-07-01

There are four main factors involved in the carious process: at-risk tooth structure, plaque flora, fermentable carbohydrates, and time. Based on our knowledge of the carious process, four main preventive strategies have been developed over the years, namely, fluorides, fissure sealing, dietary choice, and plaque control. Fluorides are having a major impact on smooth-surface caries; hence, strategies combining fluorides and fissure sealing are very effective. However, use of fissure sealing is still problematic. Changing dietary practices with a view to reducing dental caries seems to be having little impact on a global scale. Plaque control, as practiced routinely by the majority of people, is not sufficient to result in caries reductions. Deprivation and poverty are strongly associated with high caries levels. Although the preventive strategies currently available are likely to result in lower caries levels for many, for logistical reasons and because of factors associated with deprivation and poverty, caries is likely to remain a major public health problem in most communities for the foreseeable future.

Nanobody Technology for Mycotoxin Detection in the Field of Food Safety: Current Status and Prospects.

PubMed

He, Ting; Zhu, Jiang; Nie, Yao; Hu, Rui; Wang, Ting; Li, Peiwu; Zhang, Qi; Yang, Yunhuang

2018-04-29

Mycotoxins, which are toxic, carcinogenic, and/or teratogenic, have posed a threat to food safety and public health. Sensitive and effective determination technologies for mycotoxin surveillance are required. Immunoassays have been regarded as useful supplements to chromatographic techniques. However, conventional antibodies involved in immunoassays are difficult to be expressed recombinantly and are susceptible to harsh environments. Nanobodies (or VHH antibodies) are antigen-binding sites of the heavy-chain antibodies produced from Camelidae. They are found to be expressed easily in prokaryotic or eukaryotic expression systems, more robust in extreme conditions, and facile to be used as surrogates for artificial antigens. These properties make them the promising and environmentally friendly immunoreagents in the next generation of immunoassays. This review briefly describes the latest developments in the area of nanobodies used in mycotoxin detection. Moreover, by integrating the introduction of the principle of nanobodies production and the critical assessment of their performance, this paper also proposes the prospect of nanobodies in the field of food safety in the foreseeable future.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) market and Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alam, Firoz; Alam, Quamrul; Reza, Suman; Khurshid-ul-Alam, S. M.; Saleque, Khondkar; Ahsan, Saifuddin

2017-06-01

As low carbon-emitting fossil fuel, the natural gas is mainly used for power generation and industrial applications. It is also used for heating and cooling in commercial and residential buildings as well as in transport industry. Although the natural gas reaches the end-user mainly through pipelines (if gas is available locally), the liquefied form is the most viable alternative to transport natural gas from far away location to the end user. The economic progress in Asia and other parts of the world creates huge demand for energy (oil, gas and coal). As low carbon-emitting fuel, the demand for gas especially in liquefied form is progressively rising. Having 7th largest shale gas reserve (437 trillion cubic feet recoverable), Australia has become one of the world's major natural gas producers and exporters and is expected to continue a dominating role in the world gas market in foreseeable future. This paper reviews Australia's current gas reserve, industries, markets and LNG production capabilities.

Exploration and protection of Europa's biosphere: implications of permeable ice.

PubMed

Greenberg, Richard

2011-03-01

Europa has become a high-priority objective for exploration because it may harbor life. Strategic planning for its exploration has been predicated on an extreme model in which the expected oceanic biosphere lies under a thick ice crust, buried too deep to be reached in the foreseeable future, which would beg the question of whether other active satellites might be more realistic objectives. However, Europa's ice may in fact be permeable, with very different implications for the possibilities for life and for mission planning. A biosphere may extend up to near the surface, making life far more readily accessible to exploration while at the same time making it vulnerable to contamination. The chances of finding life on Europa are substantially improved while the need for planetary protection becomes essential. The new National Research Council planetary protection study will need to go beyond its current mandate if meaningful standards are to be put in place. © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

Cost effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in Louisiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Herbert, R.A.; Carlson, D.D.

1985-01-01

This report documents the results of a study of the cost effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in Louisiana. Data uses and funding sources were identified for the 68 continuous-record stream gages currently (1984) in operation with a budget of $408,700. Three stream gages have uses specific to a short-term study with no need for continued data collection beyond the study. The remaining 65 stations should be maintained in the program for the foreseeable future. In addition to the current operation of continuous-record stations, a number of wells, flood-profile gages, crest-stage gages, and stage stations, are serviced on the continuous-record station routes; thus, increasing the current budget to $423,000. The average standard error of estimate for data collected at the stations is 34.6%. Standard errors computed in this study are one measure of streamflow errors, and can be used as guidelines in comparing the effectiveness of alternative networks. By using the routes and number of measurements prescribed by the ' Traveling Hydrographer Program, ' the standard error could be reduced to 31.5% with the current budget of $423,000. If the gaging resources are redistributed, the 34.6% overall level of accuracy at the 68 continuous-record sites and the servicing of the additional wells or gages could be maintained with a budget of approximately $410,000. (USGS)

FORESEE™ User-Centric Energy Automation

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

FORESEE™ is a home energy management system (HEMS) that provides a user centric energy automation solution for residential building occupants. Built upon advanced control and machine learning algorithms, FORESEE intelligently manages the home appliances and distributed energy resources (DERs) such as photovoltaics and battery storage in a home. Unlike existing HEMS in the market, FORESEE provides a tailored home automation solution for individual occupants by learning and adapting to their preferences on cost, comfort, convenience and carbon. FORESEE improves not only the energy efficiency of the home but also its capability to provide grid services such as demand response. Highlymore » reliable demand response services are likely to be incentivized by utility companies, making FORESEE economically viable for most homes.« less

Update on the management of ulcerative colitis.

PubMed

Taba Taba Vakili, Sahar; Taher, Mohammad; Ebrahimi Daryani, Nasser

2012-01-01

The present treatment goals for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) especially ulcerative colitis (UC) include rapid induction of clinical remission, steroid-free maintenance of clinical remission, mucosal healing and improvement of quality of life in UC patients. Immunomodulators have been reserved for steroid- dependent or steroid- refractory UC patients. Among these agents, azathioprine/6-mercaptopurine should be used for maintenance of remission in quiescent UC. Calcineurin inhibitors can be prescribed as a short-term rescue therapy in steroid- refractory UC patients, but the long term efficacy of these agents remains unclear. According to retrospective studies, methotraxate is not recommended for inducing and maintaining remission in UC. Novel biological therapies targeting different specific immunological pathways continue to be developed and introduced for a variety of clinical scenarios in IBD. Infliximab is currently used for induction and maintenance therapy in patients who have moderately to severely active UC with an inadequate response to conventional agents such as aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, or immunomodulators. Other anti-TNF agents and biologic therapies are undergoing evaluation in clinical trials for their efficacy in IBD. Most patients who start biologics should continue treatment for the foreseeable future and potential consequences of discontinuation should be discussed with individual patients. Currently, data do not exist to administer biologics as first-line therapy in UC. Emerging data suggest that biologics may have the potential to prevent complications and limit disease progression. If such benefits are proven, biologics may be used in the future to modulate subclinical inflammation and to prevent the development of clinical disease.

Chronic Inflammatory Diseases and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Innocent Bystanders or Partners in Crime?

PubMed

Hansen, Peter Riis

2018-01-01

Inflammation plays a significant role in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Patients with chronic inflammatory diseases are at increased risk of CVD, but it is debated whether this association is causal or dependent on shared risk factors, other exposures, genes, and/or inflammatory pathways. The current review summarizes epidemiological, clinical, and experimental data supporting the role of shared inflammatory mechanisms between atherosclerotic CVD and rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, and periodontitis, respectively, and provides insights to future prospects in this area of research. Awareness of the role of inflammation in CVD in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases and the potential for anti-inflammatory therapy, e.g., with tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors, to also reduce atherosclerotic CVD has evolved into guideline- based recommendations. These include regular CVD risk assessment, aggressive treatment of traditional CVD risk factors, and recognition of reduced CVD as an added benefit of strict inflammatory disease control. At present, chronic inflammatory diseases would appear to qualify as partners in crime and not merely innocent bystanders to CVD. However, definite incremental contributions of inflammation versus effects of the complex interplay with other CVD risk factors may never be fully elucidated and for the foreseeable future, inflammation is posed to maintain its current position as both a marker and a maker of CVD, with clinical utility both for identification of patient at risk of CVD and as target for therapy to reduce CVD. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Accuracy of Answers to Cell Lineage Questions Depends on Single-Cell Genomics Data Quality and Quantity.

PubMed

Spiro, Adam; Shapiro, Ehud

2016-06-01

Advances in single-cell (SC) genomics enable commensurate improvements in methods for uncovering lineage relations among individual cells, as determined by phylogenetic analysis of the somatic mutations harbored by each cell. Theoretically, complete and accurate knowledge of the genome of each cell of an individual can produce an extremely accurate cell lineage tree of that individual. However, the reality of SC genomics is that such complete and accurate knowledge would be wanting, in quality and in quantity, for the foreseeable future. In this paper we offer a framework for systematically exploring the feasibility of answering cell lineage questions based on SC somatic mutational analysis, as a function of SC genomics data quality and quantity. We take into consideration the current limitations of SC genomics in terms of mutation data quality, most notably amplification bias and allele dropouts (ADO), as well as cost, which puts practical limits on mutation data quantity obtained from each cell as well as on cell sample density. We do so by generating in silico cell lineage trees using a dedicated formal language, eSTG, and show how the ability to answer correctly a cell lineage question depends on the quality and quantity of the SC mutation data. The presented framework can serve as a baseline for the potential of current SC genomics to unravel cell lineage dynamics, as well as the potential contributions of future advancement, both biochemical and computational, for the task.

Future hadron colliders: From physics perspectives to technology R&D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barletta, William; Battaglia, Marco; Klute, Markus; Mangano, Michelangelo; Prestemon, Soren; Rossi, Lucio; Skands, Peter

2014-11-01

High energy hadron colliders have been instrumental to discoveries in particle physics at the energy frontier and their role as discovery machines will remain unchallenged for the foreseeable future. The full exploitation of the LHC is now the highest priority of the energy frontier collider program. This includes the high luminosity LHC project which is made possible by a successful technology-readiness program for Nb3Sn superconductor and magnet engineering based on long-term high-field magnet R&D programs. These programs open the path towards collisions with luminosity of 5×1034 cm-2 s-1 and represents the foundation to consider future proton colliders of higher energies. This paper discusses physics requirements, experimental conditions, technological aspects and design challenges for the development towards proton colliders of increasing energy and luminosity.

Introducing Students to Feedstock Recycling of End-of-Life Silicones via a Low-Temperature, Iron-Catalyzed Depolymerization Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Do¨hlert, Peter; Weidauer, Maik; Peifer, Raphael; Kohl, Stephan; Enthaler, Stephan

2015-01-01

The straightforward large-scale synthesis and the ability to adjust the properties of polymers make polymers very attractive materials. Polymers have been used in numerous applications and an increased demand is foreseeable. However, a serious issue is the accumulation of enormous amounts of end-of-life polymers, which are currently recycled by…

Value of Seasonal Fuzzy-based Inflow Prediction in the Jucar River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulido-Velazquez, M.; Macian-Sorribes, H.

2016-12-01

The development and application of climate services in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is said to add important benefits in terms of water use efficiency due to an increase ability to foresee future water availability. A method to evaluate the economic impact of these services is presented, based on the use of hydroeconomic modelling techniques (hydroeconomic simulation) to compare the net benefits from water use in the system with and without the inflow forecasting. The Jucar River Basin (Spain) has been used as case study. Operating rules currently applied in the basin were assessed using fuzzy rule-based (FRB) systems via a co-development process involving the system operators. These operating rules use as input variable the hydrological inflows in several sub-basins, which need to be foreseen by the system operators. The inflow forecasting mechanism to preview water availability in the irrigation season (May-September) relied on fuzzy regression in which future inflows were foreseen based on past inflows and rainfall in the basin. This approach was compared with the current use of the two past year inflows for projecting the future inflow. For each irrigation season, the previewed inflows were determined using both methods and their impact on the system operation assessed through a hydroeconomic DSS. Results show that the implementation of the fuzzy inflow forecasting system offers higher economic returns. Another advantage of the fuzzy approach regards to the uncertainty treatment using fuzzy numbers, which allow us to estimate the uncertainty range of the expected benefits. Consequently, we can use the fuzzy approach to estimate the uncertainty associated with both the prediction and the associated benefits.

Conversion of Propellant Grade Picrite to Spherical Nitroguanidine, an Insensitive Filler for Melt-Cast TNT Formulations

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-09-01

problem with the solvent/non-solvent process reported by ICT is the inability to recycle the mother liquors. Apparently "strawberries" or " sea urchins ...inevitable for the foreseeable future. Exceptions could include lower production rate items such as sea mines or missile warheads, or speLfic nunitions where...Leitz Orthomat 35 mm automatic camera on polaroid film type 667, Magnification ranged up to X42. 14K 1* Scanning Electron Microscopy ( SEM ) SEM was

The value of dentures.

PubMed

Levin, Roger P

2003-05-01

Dentures may be boring, but they are a major part of dentistry, and will be for the foreseeable future. While implants are growing in popularity, there will always be patients who opt for dentures. It is your duty to inform patients of the need to have their dentures remade periodically, to ensure excellent oral care. Be sure to manage patient expectation and to create an effective system for prompt payment. This will enable you to help patients achieve good oral health, while maximizing your profit.

Orbital Spacecraft Consumables Resupply System (OSCRS). Volume 1: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

The objective was to establish an earth storable fluid tanker concept which satisfies the initial resupply requirements for the Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) at a reasonable front end cost while providing growth potential for foreseeable future earth storable fluid resupply mission requirements. The estimated costs required to design, develop, qualify, fabricate, and deliver a flight tanker and its associated control avionics, ground support equipment (GSE), and processing facilities, and the contractors costs to support the first operations mission are reviewed.

Where does the Occluded Artery Trial leave the late open artery hypothesis?

PubMed Central

Lamas, Gervasio A; Hochman, Judith S

2007-01-01

As of April 2007 the early open artery hypothesis is alive and well, but the late open artery hypothesis is adrift. For the foreseeable future, stable patients with persistent occlusion of the infarct artery late after myocardial infarction, and without severe ischaemia or uncontrollable angina, should be managed initially with optimal medical treatment alone, and not with percutaneous coronary intervention. Efforts should focus on establishing reperfusion earlier, including reducing the time to patient presentation. PMID:17933981

Computational chemistry in pharmaceutical research: at the crossroads.

PubMed

Bajorath, Jürgen

2012-01-01

Computational approaches are an integral part of pharmaceutical research. However, there are many of unsolved key questions that limit the scientific progress in the still evolving computational field and its impact on drug discovery. Importantly, a number of these questions are not new but date back many years. Hence, it might be difficult to conclusively answer them in the foreseeable future. Moreover, the computational field as a whole is characterized by a high degree of heterogeneity and so is, unfortunately, the quality of its scientific output. In light of this situation, it is proposed that changes in scientific standards and culture should be seriously considered now in order to lay a foundation for future progress in computational research.

Application of Human-Autonomy Teaming (HAT) Patterns to Reduce Crew Operations (RCO)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shively, R. Jay; Brandt, Summer L.; Lachter, Joel; Matessa, Mike; Sadler, Garrett; Battiste, Henri

2011-01-01

Unmanned aerial systems, advanced cockpits, and air traffic management are all seeing dramatic increases in automation. However, while automation may take on some tasks previously performed by humans, humans will still be required to remain in the system for the foreseeable future. The collaboration between humans and these increasingly autonomous systems will begin to resemble cooperation between teammates, rather than simple task allocation. It is critical to understand this human-autonomy teaming (HAT) to optimize these systems in the future. One methodology to understand HAT is by identifying recurring patterns of HAT that have similar characteristics and solutions. This paper applies a methodology for identifying HAT patterns to an advanced cockpit project.

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

O'Brien, K H

Nuclear weapons play an essential role in United States (U.S.) National Security Policy and a succession of official reviews has concluded that nuclear weapons will continue to have a role for the foreseeable future. Under the evolving U.S. government policy, it is clear that role will be quite different from what it was during the Cold War. The nuclear-weapons stockpile as well as the nuclear-weapons enterprise needs to continue to change to reflect this evolving role. Stockpile reductions in the early 1990s and the Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP), established after the cessation of nuclear testing in 1992, began this processmore » of change. Further evolution is needed to address changing security environments, to enable further reductions in the number of stockpiled weapons, and to create a nuclear enterprise that is cost effective and sustainable for the long term. The SSP has successfully maintained the U.S. nuclear stockpile for more than a decade, since the end of nuclear testing. Current plans foresee maintaining warheads produced in the 1980s until about 2040. These warheads continue to age and they are expensive to refurbish. The current Life Extension Program plans for these legacy warheads are straining both the nuclear-weapons production and certification infrastructure making it difficult to respond rapidly to problems or changes in requirements. Furthermore, refurbishing and preserving Cold-War-era nuclear weapons requires refurbishing and preserving an infrastructure geared to support old technology. Stockpile Stewardship could continue this refurbishment approach, but an alternative approach could be considered that is more focused on sustainable technologies, and developing a more responsive nuclear weapons infrastructure. Guided by what we have learned from SSP during the last decade, the stewardship program can be evolved to address this increasing challenge using its computational and experimental tools and capabilities. This approach must start with an improved vision of the future stockpile and enterprise, and find a path that moves us toward that future. The goal of this approach is to achieve a more affordable, sustainable, and responsive enterprise. In order to transform the enterprise in this way, the SSP warhead designs that drive the enterprise must change. Designs that emphasize manufacturability, certifiability, and increased safety and security can enable enterprise transformation. It is anticipated that such warheads can be certified and sustained with high confidence without nuclear testing. The SSP provides the tools to provide such designs, and can develop replacement designs and produce them for the stockpile. The Cold War currency of optimizing warhead yield-to-weight can be replaced by SSP designs optimizing margin-to-uncertainty. The immediate challenge facing the nuclear weapons enterprise is to find a credible path that leads to this vision of the future stockpile and enterprise. Reliable warheads within a sustainable enterprise can best be achieved by shifting from a program of legacy-warhead refurbishment to one of warhead replacement. The nuclear weapons stockpile and the nuclear weapons enterprise must transform together to achieve this vision. The current Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program represents an approach that can begin this process of transformation. If the RRW program succeeds, the designs, manufacturing complex, and certification strategy can evolve together and in so doing come up with a more cost-efficient solution that meets today's and tomorrow's national security requirements.« less

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

Khan, Feroz Hassan; Vannoni, Michael Geoffrey; Rajen, Gaurav

India and Pakistan have created sizeable ballistic missile forces and are continuing to develop and enlarge them. These forces can be both stabilizing (e.g., providing a survivable force for deterrence) and destabilizing (e.g., creating strategic asymmetries). Missile forces will be a factor in bilateral relations for the foreseeable future, so restraint is necessary to curtail their destabilizing effects. Such restraint, however, must develop within an atmosphere of low trust. This report presents a set of political and operational options, both unilateral and bilateral, that decreases tensions, helps rebuild the bilateral relationship, and prepares the ground for future steps in structuralmore » arms control. Significant steps, which build on precedents and do not require extensive cooperation, are possible despite strained relations. The approach is made up of three distinct phases: (1) tension reduction measures, (2) confidence building measures, and (3) arms control agreements. The goal of the first phase is to initiate unilateral steps that are substantive and decrease tensions, establish missiles as a security topic for bilateral discussion, and set precedents for limited bilateral cooperation. The second phase would build confidence by expanding current bilateral security agreements, formalizing bilateral understandings, and beginning discussion of monitoring procedures. The third phase could include bilateral agreements limiting some characteristics of national missile forces including the cooperative incorporation of monitoring and verification.« less

[Applied ecology: retrospect and prospect].

PubMed

He, Xingyuan; Zeng, Dehui

2004-10-01

Applied ecology is evolved into a principal part of modern ecology that rapidly develops. The major stimulus for the development of applied ecology roots in seeking the solutions for the problems of human populations, resources and environments. Through four decades, the science of applied ecology has been becoming a huge group of disciplines. The future for the applied ecology should concern more with human-influenced and managed ecosystems, and acknowledge humans as the components of ecosystems. Nowadays and in future, the top-priorities in applied ecology should include following fields: sustainable ecosystems and biosphere, ecosystem services and ecological design, ecological assessment of genetically modified organisms, ecology of biological invasions, epidemical ecology, ecological forecasting, ecological process and its control. The authors believe that the comprehensive and active research hotspots coupled some new traits would occur around these fields in foreseeable future.

Current Concepts in Gastrointestinal Photodynamic Therapy

PubMed Central

Webber, John; Herman, Mark; Kessel, David; Fromm, David

1999-01-01

Objective To review current concepts of photodynamic therapy (PDT) applied to the treatment of tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. Summary Background Data PDT initially involves the uptake or production of a photosensitive compound by tumor cells. Subsequent activation of the photoreactive compound by a specific wavelength of light results in cell death, either directly or as a result of vascular compromise and/or apoptosis. Methods The authors selectively review current concepts relating to photosensitization, photoactivation, time of PDT application, tissue selectivity, sites of photodynamic action, PDT effects on normal tissue, limitations of PDT, toxicity of photosensitizers, application of principles of PDT to tumor detection, and current applications of PDT to tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. Results PDT is clearly effective for small cancers, but it is not yet clear in which cases such treatment is more effective than other currently acceptable approaches. The major side effect of PDT is cutaneous photosensitization. The major limitation of PDT is depth of tumor kill. As data from current and future clinical trials become available, a clearer perspective of where PDT fits in the treatment of cancers will be gained. Many issues regarding pharmacokinetic data of photosensitizers, newer technology involved in light sources, optimal treatment regimens that take advantage of the pharmacophysiology of photoablation, and light dosimetry still require solution. One can foresee application of differing sensitizers and light sources depending on the specific clinical situation. As technologic advances occur, interstitial PDT may have significant application. Conclusions PDT has a potentially important role either as a primary or adjuvant mode of treatment of tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. PMID:10400031

Comparative assessment for future prediction of urban water environment using WEAP model: A case study of Kathmandu, Manila and Jakarta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Pankaj; Yoshifumi, Masago; Ammar, Rafieiemam; Mishra, Binaya; Fukushi, Ken

2017-04-01

Uncontrolled release of pollutants, increasing extreme weather condition, rapid urbanization and poor governance posing a serious threat to sustainable water resource management in developing urban spaces. Considering half of the world's mega-cities are in the Asia and the Pacific with 1.7 billion people do not access to improved water and sanitation, water security through its proper management is both an increasing concern and an imperative critical need. This research work strives to give a brief glimpse about predicted future water environment in Bagmati, Pasig and Ciliwung rivers from three different cities viz. Manila, Kathmandu and Jakarta respectively. Hydrological model used here to foresee the collective impacts of rapid population growth because of urbanization as well as climate change on unmet demand and water quality in near future time by 2030. All three rivers are major source of water for different usage viz. domestic, industrial, agriculture and recreation but uncontrolled withdrawal and sewerage disposal causing deterioration of water environment in recent past. Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model was used to model river water quality pollution future scenarios using four indicator species i.e. Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Nitrate (NO3). Result for simulated water quality as well as unmet demand for year 2030 when compared with that of reference year clearly indicates that not only water quality deteriorates but also unmet demands is increasing in future course of time. This also suggests that current initiatives and policies for water resource management are not sufficient enough and hence immediate and inclusive action through transdisciplinary research.

Application of Human-Autonomy Teaming (HAT) Patterns to Reduce Crew Operations (RCO)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shively, R. Jay; Brandt, Summer L.; Lachter, Joel; Matessa, Mike; Sadler, Garrett; Battiste, Henri

2016-01-01

Unmanned aerial systems, robotics, advanced cockpits, and air traffic management are all examples of domains that are seeing dramatic increases in automation. While automation may take on some tasks previously performed by humans, humans will still be required, for the foreseeable future, to remain in the system. The collaboration with humans and these increasingly autonomous systems will begin to resemble cooperation between teammates, rather than simple task allocation. It is critical to understand this human-autonomy teaming (HAT) to optimize these systems in the future. One methodology to understand HAT is by identifying recurring patterns of HAT that have similar characteristics and solutions. This paper applies a methodology for identifying HAT patterns to an advanced cockpit project.

Tracking zebrafish larvae in group – Status and perspectives☆

PubMed Central

Martineau, Pierre R.; Mourrain, Philippe

2013-01-01

Video processing is increasingly becoming a standard procedure in zebrafish behavior investigations as it enables higher research throughput and new or better measures. This trend, fostered by the ever increasing performance-to-price ratio of the required recording and processing equipment, should be expected to continue in the foreseeable future, with video-processing based methods permeating more and more experiments and, as a result, expanding the very role of behavioral studies in zebrafish research. To assess whether the routine video tracking of zebrafish larvae directly in the Petri dish is a capability that can be expected in the near future, the key processing concepts are discussed and illustrated on published zebrafish studies when available or other animals when not. PMID:23707495

Storage system software solutions for high-end user needs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hogan, Carole B.

1992-01-01

Today's high-end storage user is one that requires rapid access to a reliable terabyte-capacity storage system running in a distributed environment. This paper discusses conventional storage system software and concludes that this software, designed for other purposes, cannot meet high-end storage requirements. The paper also reviews the philosophy and design of evolving storage system software. It concludes that this new software, designed with high-end requirements in mind, provides the potential for solving not only the storage needs of today but those of the foreseeable future as well.

Near-Earth water sources: Ethics and fairness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwartz, James S. J.

2016-08-01

There is a small finite upper bound on the amount of easily accessible water in near-Earth space, including water from C-type NEAs and permanently shadowed lunar craters. Recent estimates put this total at about 3.7 ×1012kg . Given the non-renewable nature of this resource, we should begin thinking carefully about the regulation of near-Earth water sources (NEWS). This paper discusses this issue from an ethical vantage point, and argues that for the foreseeable future, the scientific use of NEWS should be prioritized over other potential uses of NEWS.

NASA Standard Measures Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meck, Janice V.

2008-01-01

Due to the limited in-flight resources available for human physiological research in the foreseeable future, NASA has increased its reliance on head-down bed rest. NASA has created the Bed Rest Project at the Johnson Space Center, which is implemented on the 6th floor of the Children's Hospital at UTMB. It has been conducted for three years. The overall objective of the Project is to use bed rest to develop and evaluate countermeasures for the ill effects of space flight before flight resources are requested for refinement and final testing.

Resonant scattering as a sensitive diagnostic of current collisional plasma models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogorzalek, Anna; Zhuravleva, Irina; Allen, Steven W.; Pinto, Ciro; Werner, Norbert; Mantz, Adam; Canning, Rebecca; Fabian, Andrew C.; Kaastra, Jelle S.; de Plaa, Jelle

2017-08-01

Resonant scattering is a subtle process that suppresses fluxes of some of the brightest optically thick X-ray emission lines produced by collisional plasmas in galaxy clusters and massive early-type galaxies. The amplitude of the effect depends on the turbulent structure of the hot gas, making it a sensitive velocity probe. It is therefore crucial to properly model this effect in order to correctly interpret high resolution X-ray spectra. Our measurements of resonant scattering with XMM-Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer in giant elliptical galaxies and with Hitomi in the center of Perseus Cluster show that the potentially rich inference from this effect is limited by the uncertainties in the atomic data underlying plasma codes such as APEC and SPEX. Typically, the effect is of the order of 10-20%, while the discrepancy between the two codes is of similar order or even higher. Precise knowledge of the emissivity and oscillator strengths of lines emitted by Fe XVII and Fe XXV, as well as their respective uncertainties propagated through plasma codes are key to understanding gas dynamics and microphysics in giant galaxies and cluster ICM, respectively. This is especially crucial for massive ellipticals, where sub-eV resolution would be needed to measure line broadening precisely, making resonant scattering an important velocity diagnostic in these systems for the foreseeable future. In this poster, I will summarize current status of resonant scattering measurements and show how they depend on the assumed atomic data. I will also discuss which improvements are essential to maximize scientific inference from future high resolution X-ray spectra.

Multimodal biometrics for identity documents (MBioID).

PubMed

Dessimoz, Damien; Richiardi, Jonas; Champod, Christophe; Drygajlo, Andrzej

2007-04-11

The MBioID initiative has been set up to address the following germane question: What and how biometric technologies could be deployed in identity documents in the foreseeable future? This research effort proposes to look at current and future practices and systems of establishing and using biometric identity documents (IDs) and evaluate their effectiveness in large-scale developments. The first objective of the MBioID project is to present a review document establishing the current state-of-the-art related to the use of multimodal biometrics in an IDs application. This research report gives the main definitions, properties and the framework of use related to biometrics, an overview of the main standards developed in the biometric industry and standardisation organisations to ensure interoperability, as well as some of the legal framework and the issues associated to biometrics such as privacy and personal data protection. The state-of-the-art in terms of technological development is also summarised for a range of single biometric modalities (2D and 3D face, fingerprint, iris, on-line signature and speech), chosen according to ICAO recommendations and availabilities, and for various multimodal approaches. This paper gives a summary of the main elements of that report. The second objective of the MBioID project is to propose relevant acquisition and evaluation protocols for a large-scale deployment of biometric IDs. Combined with the protocols, a multimodal database will be acquired in a realistic way, in order to be as close as possible to a real biometric IDs deployment. In this paper, the issues and solutions related to the acquisition setup are briefly presented.

Making connections for life: an in vivo map of the yeast interactome.

PubMed

Kast, Juergen

2008-10-01

Proteins are the true workhorses of any cell. To carry out specific tasks, they frequently bind other molecules in their surroundings. Due to their structural complexity and flexibility, the most diverse array of interactions is seen with other proteins. The different geometries and affinities available for such interactions typically bestow specific functions on proteins. Having available a map of protein-protein interactions is therefore of enormous importance for any researcher interested in gaining insight into biological systems at the level of cells and organisms. In a recent report, a novel approach has been employed that relies on the spontaneous folding of complementary enzyme fragments fused to two different proteins to test whether these interact in their actual cellular context [Tarassov et al., Science 320, 1465-1470 (2008)]. Genome-wide application of this protein-fragment complementation assay has resulted in the first map of the in vivo interactome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The current data show striking similarities but also significant differences to those obtained using other large-scale approaches for the same task. This warrants a general discussion of the current state of affairs of protein-protein interaction studies and foreseeable future trends, highlighting their significance for a variety of applications and their potential to revolutionize our understanding of the architecture and dynamics of biological systems.

Making connections for life: an in vivo map of the yeast interactome

PubMed Central

Kast, Juergen

2008-01-01

Proteins are the true workhorses of any cell. To carry out specific tasks, they frequently bind other molecules in their surroundings. Due to their structural complexity and flexibility, the most diverse array of interactions is seen with other proteins. The different geometries and affinities available for such interactions typically bestow specific functions on proteins. Having available a map of protein–protein interactions is therefore of enormous importance for any researcher interested in gaining insight into biological systems at the level of cells and organisms. In a recent report, a novel approach has been employed that relies on the spontaneous folding of complementary enzyme fragments fused to two different proteins to test whether these interact in their actual cellular context [Tarassov et al., Science 320, 1465–1470 (2008)]. Genome-wide application of this protein-fragment complementation assay has resulted in the first map of the in vivo interactome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The current data show striking similarities but also significant differences to those obtained using other large-scale approaches for the same task. This warrants a general discussion of the current state of affairs of protein–protein interaction studies and foreseeable future trends, highlighting their significance for a variety of applications and their potential to revolutionize our understanding of the architecture and dynamics of biological systems. PMID:19404434

Working group on future trends

USGS Publications Warehouse

,; O'Shea, Thomas J.; Reeves, Randall R.; Long, Alison Kirk

1999-01-01

This working group did not divide into subgroups, and its report consists of a unified document in a format somewhat different than those of the other working groups. The group considered four major topics: (1) projected "new" contaminants of future concern; (2) future trends with contaminants currently known to be issues for marine mammals; (3) future needs to improve and insure consistency of sample collection and analyses; and (4) future management needs.The problems of persistent organic pollutants will remain well into the foreseeable future. A general decline in levels of persistent organic pollutants in the marine environment is not anticipated. there is every likelihood that the environmental trends of halogenated organic compounds, such as polybromated diphenyl ethers and chlorinated paraffins, will parallel production trends, as demonstrated with well known chemical contaminants such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane). While the environmental levels of some compounds may be slowly declining, many are still within the ranges where subtle toxic effects are to be anticipated. Trends in contaminants must be placed in a regional context, and rates and directions of change are often region-specific. For example, in the Southern Hemisphere the concentrations of PCBs appear to be increasing. The rates of change of many contaminants in the Southern hemisphere are poorly known, and this region may be at future risk.Much of the research on contaminants and marine mammals has focused on the problem of persistent organochloride chemicals such as PCBs and DDT, which are a continuing and global problem. Potential problems caused by other persistent, toxic, and bioaccumulative substances (PTBSs) cannot currently be addressed due to the lack of basic information on their production, use, exposure, and effects (Environmental Protection Agency 1998). It is currently estimated that there are roughly 2400 lipophilic and persistent chemicals, of which 390 are PTBSs. In order to prevent long-term pollution from these largely unknown chemicals, chemical industries should disclose basic information on such compounds, and this information should be made widely available. This will require enhanced international cooperation, preferably within the existing framework of chemical contaminant programs, such as the Existing Chemicals Program of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (1991) and the Program on persistent Organic Pollutants of the United National Environmental Programme (1998).Monitoring studies are essential to the description and understanding of pollutants. It is necessary to exploit existing analytical techniques to identify as many anthropogenic compounds as possible in marine mammal tissues in order to expand the identification of existing and new chemicals that accumulate in, and pose threats to, these species.

Geographic variations in anthropogenic drivers that influence the vulnerability and resilience of social-ecological systems.

PubMed

Forbes, Bruce C; Fresco, Nancy; Shvidenko, Anatoly; Danell, Kjell; Chapin, F Stuart

2004-08-01

Across the circumpolar North large disparities in the distribution of renewable and nonrenewable resources, human population density, capital investments, and basic residential and transportation infrastructure combine to create recognizable hotspots of recent and foreseeable change. Northern Fennoscandia exemplifies a relatively benign situation due to its current economic and political stability. Northern Russia is experiencing rapid, mostly negative changes reflecting the general state of crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. North America enjoys a relatively stable regulatory structure to mitigate environmental degradation associated with industry, but is on the verge of approving massive new development schemes that would significantly expand the spatial extent of potentially affected social-ecological systems. Institutional or regulatory context influences the extent to which ecosystem services are buffered against environmental change. With or without a warming climate, certain geographic areas appear especially vulnerable to damages that may threaten their ability to supply goods and services in the near future. Climate change may exacerbate this situation in some places but may offer opportunities to enhance resilience in the long term.

Wound healing applications of biogenic colloidal silver and gold nanoparticles: recent trends and future prospects.

PubMed

Ovais, Muhammad; Ahmad, Irshad; Khalil, Ali Talha; Mukherjee, Sudip; Javed, Rabia; Ayaz, Muhammad; Raza, Abida; Shinwari, Zabta Khan

2018-05-01

Nanotechnology has emerged as a prominent scientific discipline in the technological revolution of this millennium. The scientific community has focused on the green synthesis of metal nanoparticles as compared to physical and chemical methods due to its eco-friendly nature and high efficacy. Medicinal plants have been proven as the paramount source of various phytochemicals that can be used for the biogenic synthesis of colloidal silver and gold nanoparticles as compared to other living organisms, e.g., microbes and fungi. According to various scientific reports, the biogenic nanoparticles have shown promising potential as wound healing agents. However, not a single broad review article was present that demonstrates the wound healing application of biogenic silver and gold nanoparticles. Foreseeing the overall literature published, we for the first time intended to discuss the current trends in wound healing via biogenic silver and gold nanoparticles. Furthermore, light has been shed on the mechanistic aspects of wound healing along with futuristic discussion on the faith of biogenic silver and gold nanoparticles as potential wound healing agents.

Implementation gaps for asthma prevention and control.

PubMed

Tanno, Luciana K; Haahtela, Tari; Calderon, Moises A; Cruz, Alvaro; Demoly, Pascal

2017-09-01

Asthma and allergic diseases can start in childhood and persist throughout life, but could also be manifested later, at any time for still misunderstood reasons. They are major chronic multifactorial respiratory diseases, for which prevention, early diagnosis and treatment is recognized as a priority for the Europe's public health policy and the United Nations. Given that allergy triggers (including infections, rapid urbanization leading to loss in biodiversity, pollution and climate changes) are not expected to change in a foreseeable future, it is imperative that steps are taken to develop, strengthen and optimize preventive and treatment strategies. Currently there are good treatments for asthma, several risk factors are known (e.g., allergies, rhinitis, tobacco smoke) and tools to control the disease have been developed. However, we are still uncertain how to prevent patients from developing asthma and allergic diseases. In this paper, we list the positive and negative experiences in this field as well as analyze the missing links in the process. This critical analysis will be the basis of setting-up an effective program for prevention and making, a process labeled as "implementation gaps". Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Atomically resolved tissue integration.

PubMed

Karlsson, Johan; Sundell, Gustav; Thuvander, Mattias; Andersson, Martin

2014-08-13

In the field of biomedical technology, a critical aspect is the ability to control and understand the integration of an implantable device in living tissue. Despite the technical advances in the development of biomaterials, the elaborate interplay encompassing materials science and biology on the atomic level is not very well understood. Within implantology, anchoring a biomaterial device into bone tissue is termed osseointegration. In the most accepted theory, osseointegration is defined as an interfacial bonding between implant and bone; however, there is lack of experimental evidence to confirm this. Here we show that atom probe tomography can be used to study the implant-tissue interaction, allowing for three-dimensional atomic mapping of the interface region. Interestingly, our analyses demonstrated that direct contact between Ca atoms and the implanted titanium oxide surface is formed without the presence of a protein interlayer, which means that a pure inorganic interface is created, hence giving experimental support to the current theory of osseointegration. We foresee that this result will be of importance in the development of future biomaterials as well as in the design of in vitro evaluation techniques.

77 FR 19597 - Listing Endangered and Threatened Species; 12-Month Finding on a Petition To List Chinook Salmon...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-02

...We, NMFS, announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list the Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Upper Klamath and Trinity Rivers Basin (UKTR) as threatened or endangered and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We have reviewed the status of the UKTR Chinook salmon Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) and considered the best scientific and commercial data available, and conclude that the petitioned action is not warranted. In reaching this conclusion, we conclude that spring-run and fall-run Chinook salmon in the UKTR Basin constitute a single ESU. Based on a comprehensive review of the best scientific and commercial data currently available, and consistent with the 1998 status review and listing determination for the UKTR Chinook salmon ESU, the overall extinction risk of the ESU is considered to be low over the next 100 years. Based on these considerations and others described in this notice, we conclude this ESU is not in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, nor is it likely to become so in the foreseeable future.

International strategic minerals inventory summary report; lithium

USGS Publications Warehouse

Anstett, T.F.; Krauss, U.H.; Ober, J.A.; Schmidt, H.W.

1990-01-01

Major world resources of lithium are described in this summary report of information in the International Strategic Minerals Inventory (ISMI). ISMI is a cooperative data-collection effort of earth-science and mineral-resource agencies in Australia, Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Part I of this report presents an overview of the resources and potential supply of lithium on the basis of inventory information; Part II contains tables of some of the geologic information and mineral-resource information and production data collected by ISMI participants. In terms of lithium-resource availability, present economically viable resources are more than sufficient to meet likely demand in the foreseeable future. In times of excess capacity such as currently exist, some pegmatite operations cannot compete with brine operations, which are less costly. A further production shift from pegmatites to brines will result in the concentration of supply in a few countries such as Chile and the United States. This shift would lead to the dependence of industrialized countries on deliveries from these sources.

Generation of Electrical Power from Stimulated Muscle Contractions Evaluated

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewandowski, Beth; Kilgore, Kevin; Ercegovic, David B.

2004-01-01

This project is a collaborative effort between NASA Glenn Research Center's Revolutionary Aeropropulsion Concepts (RAC) Project, part of the NASA Aerospace Propulsion and Power Program of the Aerospace Technology Enterprise, and Case Western Reserve University's Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center. The RAC Project foresees implantable power requirements for future applications such as organically based sensor platforms and robotics that can interface with the human senses. One of the goals of the FES Center is to develop a totally implantable neural prosthesis. This goal is based on feedback from patients who would prefer a system with an internal power source over the currently used system with an external power source. The conversion system under investigation would transform the energy produced from a stimulated muscle contraction into electrical energy. We hypothesize that the output power of the system will be greater than the input power necessary to initiate, sustain, and control the electrical conversion system because of the stored potential energy of the muscle. If the system can be made biocompatible, durable, and with the potential for sustained use, then the biological power source will be a viable solution.

Monthly modulation in dark matter direct-detection experiments

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

Britto, Vivian; Meyers, Joel, E-mail: vivian.britto@mail.utoronto.ca, E-mail: jmeyers@cita.utoronto.ca

2015-11-01

The signals in dark matter direct-detection experiments should exhibit modulation signatures due to the Earth's motion with respect to the Galactic dark matter halo. The annual and daily modulations, due to the Earth's revolution about the Sun and rotation about its own axis, have been explored previously. Monthly modulation is another such feature present in direct detection signals, and provides a nearly model-independent method of distinguishing dark matter signal events from background. We study here monthly modulations in detail for both WIMP and WISP dark matter searches, examining both the effect of the motion of the Earth about the Earth-Moonmore » barycenter and the gravitational focusing due to the Moon. For WIMP searches, we calculate the monthly modulation of the count rate and show the effects are too small to be observed in the foreseeable future. For WISP dark matter experiments, we show that the photons generated by WISP to photon conversion have frequencies which undergo a monthly modulating shift which is detectable with current technology and which cannot in general be neglected in high resolution WISP searches.« less

Public-use blood pressure measurement: the kiosk quandary.

PubMed

Alpert, Bruce S; Dart, Richard A; Sica, Domenic A

2014-10-01

It is important to note the opportunity that validated public-use kiosks offer the U.S. healthcare system in terms of ease of public access, reduced cost of screening/monitoring, and the opportunity to support coordinated care between physicians, pharmacists, and patients. It is equally important to recognize that all public-use BP kiosks are not equivalent. Members of the AAMI Sphygmomanometer Committee and other ‘‘concerned citizens’’ are working with FDA officials to try to improve both device validation and cuff range performance of these devices. In reality, regulatory changes will be slow to take effect, and for the foreseeable future, the burden of device accuracy assessment lies with the private sector and the public. There is a device currently available that has undergone full validation testing and offers a wide-range cuff validated for almost all US adult arms. We recognize the importance of innovation in out-of-office BP measurement. Therefore, in the interest of public health, we strongly urge those business professionals buying such devices, and those health professionals advising patients on their use, to become better informed and more discriminant in their device selection.

How do episodic and semantic memory contribute to episodic foresight in young children?

PubMed

Martin-Ordas, Gema; Atance, Cristina M; Caza, Julian S

2014-01-01

Humans are able to transcend the present and mentally travel to another time, place, or perspective. Mentally projecting ourselves backwards (i.e., episodic memory) or forwards (i.e., episodic foresight) in time are crucial characteristics of the human memory system. Indeed, over the past few years, episodic memory has been argued to be involved both in our capacity to retrieve our personal past experiences and in our ability to imagine and foresee future scenarios. However, recent theory and findings suggest that semantic memory also plays a significant role in imagining future scenarios. We draw on Tulving's definition of episodic and semantic memory to provide a critical analysis of their role in episodic foresight tasks described in the developmental literature. We conclude by suggesting future directions of research that could further our understanding of how both episodic memory and semantic memory are intimately connected to episodic foresight.

How do episodic and semantic memory contribute to episodic foresight in young children?

PubMed Central

Martin-Ordas, Gema; Atance, Cristina M.; Caza, Julian S.

2014-01-01

Humans are able to transcend the present and mentally travel to another time, place, or perspective. Mentally projecting ourselves backwards (i.e., episodic memory) or forwards (i.e., episodic foresight) in time are crucial characteristics of the human memory system. Indeed, over the past few years, episodic memory has been argued to be involved both in our capacity to retrieve our personal past experiences and in our ability to imagine and foresee future scenarios. However, recent theory and findings suggest that semantic memory also plays a significant role in imagining future scenarios. We draw on Tulving’s definition of episodic and semantic memory to provide a critical analysis of their role in episodic foresight tasks described in the developmental literature. We conclude by suggesting future directions of research that could further our understanding of how both episodic memory and semantic memory are intimately connected to episodic foresight. PMID:25071690

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

Neufeld, W.P.

Recently, the Trend Analysis Program (TAP) of the American Council of Life Insurance commissioned the Futures Group of Glastonbury, Connecticut, to examine the potential for large-scale catastrophic events in the near future. TAP was specifically concerned with five potential crises: the warming of the earth's atmosphere, the water shortage, the collapse of the physical infrastructure, the global financial crisis, and the threat of nuclear war. We are often unprepared to take action; in these cases, we lose an advantage we might have otherwise had. This is the whole idea behind forecasting: to foresee possibilities and to project how we canmore » respond. If we are able to create forecasts against which we can test policy options and choices, we may have the luxury of adopting policies ahead of events. Rather than simply fighting fires, we have the option of creating a future more to our choosing. Short descriptions of these five potential crises and, in some cases, possible solutions are presented.« less

Nanotoxicity prediction using computational modelling - review and future directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saini, Bhavna; Srivastava, Sumit

2018-04-01

Nanomaterials has stimulated various outlooks for future in a number of industries and scientific ventures. A number of applications such as cosmetics, medicines, and electronics are employing nanomaterials due to their various compelling properties. The unending growth of nanomaterials usage in our daily life has escalated the health and environmental risks. Early nanotoxicity recognition is a big challenge. Various researches are going on in the field of nanotoxicity, which comprised of several problems such as inadequacy of proper datasets, lack of appropriate rules and characterization of nanomaterials. Computational modelling would be beneficial asset for nanomaterials researchers because it can foresee the toxicity, rest on previous experimental data. In this study, we have reviewed sufficient work demonstrating a proper pathway to proceed with QSAR analysis of Nanomaterials for toxicity modelling. The paper aims at providing comprehensive insight of Nano QSAR, various theories, tools and approaches used, along with an outline for future research directions to work on.

Reflections on the present and future of upper limb prostheses.

PubMed

Farina, Dario; Amsüss, Sebastian

2016-01-01

Despite progress in research and media attention on active upper limb prostheses, presently the most common commercial upper limb prosthetic devices are not fundamentally different from solutions offered almost one century ago. Limited information transfer for both control and sensory-motor integration and challenges in socket technology have been major obstacles. By analysing the present state-of-the-art and academic achievements, we provide our opinion on the future of upper limb prostheses. We believe that surgical procedures for muscle reinnervation and osseointegration will become increasingly clinically relevant; muscle electrical signals will remain the main clinical means for prosthetic control; and chronic electrode implants, first in muscles (control), then in nerves (sensory feedback), will become viable clinical solutions. After decades of suspended clinically relevant progress, it is foreseeable that a new generation of upper limb prostheses will enter the market in the near future based on such advances, thereby offering substantial clinical benefit for patients.

48 CFR 1371.105 - Foreseeable cost factors pertaining to different shipyard locations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... pertaining to different shipyard locations. 1371.105 Section 1371.105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT SUPPLEMENTAL REGULATIONS ACQUISITIONS INVOLVING SHIP CONSTRUCTION AND SHIP... locations. Insert provision 1352.271-74, Foreseeable Cost Factors Pertaining to Different Shipyard Locations...

48 CFR 1371.105 - Foreseeable cost factors pertaining to different shipyard locations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... pertaining to different shipyard locations. 1371.105 Section 1371.105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT SUPPLEMENTAL REGULATIONS ACQUISITIONS INVOLVING SHIP CONSTRUCTION AND SHIP... locations. Insert provision 1352.271-74, Foreseeable Cost Factors Pertaining to Different Shipyard Locations...

48 CFR 1371.105 - Foreseeable cost factors pertaining to different shipyard locations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... pertaining to different shipyard locations. 1371.105 Section 1371.105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT SUPPLEMENTAL REGULATIONS ACQUISITIONS INVOLVING SHIP CONSTRUCTION AND SHIP... locations. Insert provision 1352.271-74, Foreseeable Cost Factors Pertaining to Different Shipyard Locations...

48 CFR 1371.105 - Foreseeable cost factors pertaining to different shipyard locations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... pertaining to different shipyard locations. 1371.105 Section 1371.105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT SUPPLEMENTAL REGULATIONS ACQUISITIONS INVOLVING SHIP CONSTRUCTION AND SHIP... locations. Insert provision 1352.271-74, Foreseeable Cost Factors Pertaining to Different Shipyard Locations...

48 CFR 1371.105 - Foreseeable cost factors pertaining to different shipyard locations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... pertaining to different shipyard locations. 1371.105 Section 1371.105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT SUPPLEMENTAL REGULATIONS ACQUISITIONS INVOLVING SHIP CONSTRUCTION AND SHIP... locations. Insert provision 1352.271-74, Foreseeable Cost Factors Pertaining to Different Shipyard Locations...

16 CFR 1500.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... similar wording descriptive of the hazard; (F) Precautionary measures describing the action to be followed... subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or manufacture may cause personal injury or... hazard if, in normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or...

16 CFR 1500.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... similar wording descriptive of the hazard; (F) Precautionary measures describing the action to be followed... subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or manufacture may cause personal injury or... hazard if, in normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or...

16 CFR 1500.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... similar wording descriptive of the hazard; (F) Precautionary measures describing the action to be followed... subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or manufacture may cause personal injury or... hazard if, in normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or...

16 CFR 1500.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... similar wording descriptive of the hazard; (F) Precautionary measures describing the action to be followed... subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or manufacture may cause personal injury or... hazard if, in normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or...

The fractal feature and price trend in the gold future market at the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SFE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Binghui; Duan, Tingting

2017-05-01

The price of gold future is affected by many factors, which include the fluctuation of gold price and the change of trading environment. Fractal analysis can help investors gain better understandings of the price fluctuation and make reasonable investment decisions in the gold future market. After analyzing gold future price from January 2th, 2014 to April 12th, 2016 at the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SFE) in China, the conclusion is drawn that the gold future market has sustainability in each trading day, with all Hurst indexes greater than 0.5. The changing features of Hurst index indicate the sustainability of gold future market is strengthened first and weakened then. As a complicatedly nonlinear system, the gold future market can be well reflected by Elman neural network, which is capable of memorizing previous prices and particularly suited for forecasting time series in comparison with other types of neural networks. After analyzing the price trend in the gold future market, the results show that the relative error between the actual value of gold future and the predictive value of Elman neural network is smaller. This model that has a better performance in data fitting and predication, can help investors analyze and foresee the price tendency in the gold future market.

16 CFR § 1500.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... similar wording descriptive of the hazard; (F) Precautionary measures describing the action to be followed... subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or manufacture may cause personal injury or... hazard if, in normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable damage or abuse, its design or...

After Fukushima: managing the consequences of a radiological release.

PubMed

Fitzgerald, Joe; Wollner, Samuel B; Adalja, Amesh A; Morhard, Ryan; Cicero, Anita; Inglesby, Thomas V

2012-06-01

Even amidst the devastation following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that killed more than 20,000 people, it was the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that led the country's prime minister, Naoto Kan, to fear for "the very existence of the Japanese nation." While accidents that result in mass radiological releases have been rare throughout the operating histories of existing nuclear power plants, the growing number of plants worldwide increases the likelihood that such releases will occur again in the future. Nuclear power is an important source of energy in the U.S. and will be for the foreseeable future. Accidents far smaller in scale than the one in Fukushima could have major societal consequences. Given the extensive, ongoing Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and industry assessment of nuclear power plant safety and preparedness issues, the Center for Biosecurity of UPMC focused on offsite policies and plans intended to reduce radiation exposure to the public in the aftermath of an accident. This report provides an assessment of Japan's efforts at nuclear consequence management; identifies concerns with current U.S. policies and practices for "outside the fence" management of such an event in the U.S.; and makes recommendations for steps that can be taken to strengthen U.S. government, industry, and community response to large-scale accidents at nuclear power plants.

The Just War Theory and the ethical governance of research.

PubMed

Malsch, Ineke

2013-06-01

This article analyses current trends in and future expectations of nanotechnology and other key enabling technologies for security as well as dual use nanotechnology from the perspective of the ethical Just War Theory (JWT), interpreted as an instrument to increase the threshold for using armed force for solving conflicts. The aim is to investigate the relevance of the JWT to the ethical governance of research. The analysis gives rise to the following results. From the perspective of the JWT, military research should be evaluated with different criteria than research for civil or civil security applications. From a technological perspective, the boundaries between technologies for civil and military applications are fuzzy. Therefore the JWT offers theoretical grounds for making clear distinctions between research for military, civil security and other applications that are not obvious from a purely technological perspective. Different actors bear responsibility for development of the technology than for resorting to armed force for solving conflicts or for use of weapons and military technologies in combat. Different criteria should be used for moral judgment of decisions made by each type of actor in each context. In addition to evaluation of potential consequences of future use of the weapons or military technologies under development, the JWT also prescribes ethical evaluation of the inherent intent and other foreseeable consequences of the development itself of new military technologies.

Chiropractic Identity in the United States: Wisdom, Courage, and Strength.

PubMed

Good, Christopher J

2016-12-01

The objective of this paper was to discuss the chiropractic profession's identity and 3 contentious issues related to identity. The various clinical specialties and independent groups in the chiropractic profession are so different in their beliefs, practice styles, and political agendas that a common identity is unlikely to be created. Areas of disagreement, including advanced practice, vertebral subluxation, and the philosophy of chiropractic, continue to separate those in the profession. Doctors of chiropractic should accept that differences within the profession will remain for the foreseeable future and that the profession should allow each group to live peacefully and supportively alongside each other. If the profession embraces the ideals of truth, respect, and tolerance, it can continue to grow and provide diverse health care services well into the future.

rf traveling-wave electron gun for photoinjectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaer, Mattia; Citterio, Alessandro; Craievich, Paolo; Reiche, Sven; Stingelin, Lukas; Zennaro, Riccardo

2016-07-01

The design of a photoinjector, in particular that of the electron source, is of central importance for free electron laser (FEL) machines where a high beam brightness is required. In comparison to standard designs, an rf traveling-wave photocathode gun can provide a more rigid beam with a higher brightness and a shorter pulse. This is illustrated by applying a specific optimization procedure to the SwissFEL photoinjector, for which a brightness improvement up to a factor 3 could be achieved together with a double gun output energy compared to the reference setup foreseeing a state-of-the-art S-band rf standing-wave gun. The higher brightness is mainly given by a (at least) double peak current at the exit of the gun which brings benefits for both the beam dynamics in the linac and the efficiency of the FEL process. The gun design foresees an innovative coaxial rf coupling at both ends of the structure which allows a solenoid with integrated bucking coil to be placed around the cathode in order to provide the necessary focusing right after emission.

History of Nuclear Weapons Design and Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oelrich, Ivan

2007-04-01

The nuclear build-up of the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War is often portrayed as an arms race. Some part was indeed a bilateral competition, but much was the result of automatic application of technical advances as they became available, without careful consideration of strategic implications. Thus, the history of nuclear weapon design is partly designers responding to stated military needs and partly the world responding to constant innovations in nuclear capability. Today, plans for a new nuclear warhead are motivated primarily by the desire to maintain a nuclear design and production capability for the foreseeable future.

Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Market Analysis Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prince, Frank A.

1999-01-01

The RLV Market Analysis model is at best a rough order approximation of actual market behavior. However, it does give a quick indication if the flights exists to enable an economically viable RLV, and the assumptions necessary for the vehicle to capture those flights. Additional analysis, market research, and updating with the latest information on payloads and launches would improve the model. Plans are to update the model as new information becomes available and new requirements are levied. This tool will continue to be a vital part of NASA's RLV business analysis capability for the foreseeable future.

The global war on terror: four years on.

PubMed

Rogers, Paul

2006-01-01

The progress of the global war on terror in the four years since the 9 September 2001 attack on New York and Washington is surveyed, with particular reference to its objective of curtailing the activities of al-Qaida, the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the threat to the United States from the 'axis of evil'. It is suggested that the US is unlikely to withdraw from Iraq in particular because of its dependency upon access to Middle East oil in the foreseeable future, and accordingly that the global war on terror is likely to continue for several years at least.

Geriatric restorative care - the need, the demand and the challenges

PubMed Central

Nadig, Roopa R; Usha, G; Kumar, Vinod; Rao, Raghoothama; Bugalia, Anupriya

2011-01-01

Increased life expectancy is causing an explosion of the aging population that will continue now and in the foreseeable future. Improved quality of life at old age will demand tooth retention and consequently the need for restorative care. Retaining teeth disease free and maintaining them amidst multitude of risk factors associated with old age, is a multi- faceted challenge. This review article discusses the etiology of various dental diseases seen in older dentate population and their management keeping in mind the special needs of these matured people, so as to render a professional service that is sensitive and caring. PMID:22025819

Self-control program in the treatment of obesity.

PubMed

Rosen, L W

1981-06-01

In a pilot study utilizing self-control techniques for the purpose of modifying the cue-reactive eating habits of obese patients, three subjects maintained a continuous weight loss throughout the first year of treatment. Techniques included goal setting, self-monitoring, brief delay and self-confrontation prior to eating unauthorized food and direct observation of oneself in a mirror when eating unauthorized food. All patients are expected to remain in treatment for the foreseeable future with no termination of the program despite apparent success with regard to control of their feeding disturbance. The rationale for this approach is discussed.

Central pathology review for phase III clinical trials: the enabling effect of virtual microscopy.

PubMed

Mroz, Pawel; Parwani, Anil V; Kulesza, Piotr

2013-04-01

Central pathology review (CPR) was initially designed as a quality control measure. The potential of CPR in clinical trials was recognized as early as in the 1960s and quickly became embedded as an integral part of many clinical trials since. To review the current experience with CPR in clinical trials, to summarize current developments in virtual microscopy, and to discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of this technology in the context of CPR. A PubMed (US National Library of Medicine) search for published studies was conducted, and the relevant articles were reviewed, accompanied by the authors' experience at their practicing institution. The review of the available literature strongly suggests the growing importance of CPR both in the clinical trial setting as well as in second opinion cases. However, the currently applied approach significantly impedes efficient transfer of slides and patient data. Recent advances in imaging, digital microscopy, and Internet technologies suggest that the CPR process may be dramatically streamlined in the foreseeable future to allow for better diagnosis and quality assurance than ever before. In particular, whole slide imaging may play an important role in this process and result in a substantial reduction of the overall turnaround time required for slide review at the central location. Above all, this new approach may benefit the large clinical trials organized by oncology cooperative groups, since most of those trials involve complicated logistics owing to enrollment of large number of patients at several remotely located participating institutions.

Use of 'eradication' in HIV cure-related research: a public health debate.

PubMed

Dubé, Karine; Luter, Stuart; Lesnar, Breanne; Newton, Luke; Galea, Jerome; Brown, Brandon; Gianella, Sara

2018-02-13

The landscape of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) research has changed drastically over the past three decades. With the remarkable success of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in decreasing AIDS-related mortality, some researchers have shifted their HIV research focus from treatment to cure research. The HIV cure research community often uses the term eradication to describe the science, and talks about eradicating the virus from the body. In public discourse, the term eradication could be conflated with disease eradication at the population level. In this paper, we call for a reframing of HIV cure research as control, as it is a more accurate descriptor and achievable goal in the foreseeable future. The properties of HIV are discordant with eradicability standards at both the individual level (as a clinical concept), and at the population level (as a public health concept). At the individual level, true eradication would necessitate absolute elimination of all latent HIV reservoirs from the body. Current HIV cure-related research strategies have proven unsuccessful at accurately quantifying, let alone eliminating these reservoirs. At the population level, eradication implies the permanent global reduction of HIV to zero new cases and to zero risk for future cases. Given the absence of an efficacious HIV vaccine and the impracticality and unethicality of eliminating animal reservoirs, global eradication of HIV is highly implausible. From a public health perspective, HIV eradication remains an elusive goal. The term 'eradication' is a misleading description of current HIV cure-related research. Instead, we call for the use of more realistic expressions such as 'sustained virologic HIV suppression (or control)' or 'management of HIV persistence' to describe HIV cure-related research. Using these terms reorients what HIV cure science can potentially achieve in the near future and avoids creating unrealistic expectations, particularly among the millions of people globally who live with HIV.

m-Health 2.0: New perspectives on mobile health, machine learning and big data analytics.

PubMed

Istepanian, Robert S H; Al-Anzi, Turki

2018-06-08

Mobile health (m-Health) has been repeatedly called the biggest technological breakthrough of our modern times. Similarly, the concept of big data in the context of healthcare is considered one of the transformative drivers for intelligent healthcare delivery systems. In recent years, big data has become increasingly synonymous with mobile health, however key challenges of 'Big Data and mobile health', remain largely untackled. This is becoming particularly important with the continued deluge of the structured and unstructured data sets generated on daily basis from the proliferation of mobile health applications within different healthcare systems and products globally. The aim of this paper is of twofold. First we present the relevant big data issues from the mobile health (m-Health) perspective. In particular we discuss these issues from the technological areas and building blocks (communications, sensors and computing) of mobile health and the newly defined (m-Health 2.0) concept. The second objective is to present the relevant rapprochement issues of big m-Health data analytics with m-Health. Further, we also present the current and future roles of machine and deep learning within the current smart phone centric m-health model. The critical balance between these two important areas will depend on how different stakeholder from patients, clinicians, healthcare providers, medical and m-health market businesses and regulators will perceive these developments. These new perspectives are essential for better understanding the fine balance between the new insights of how intelligent and connected the future mobile health systems will look like and the inherent risks and clinical complexities associated with the big data sets and analytical tools used in these systems. These topics will be subject for extensive work and investigations in the foreseeable future for the areas of data analytics, computational and artificial intelligence methods applied for mobile health. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

29 CFR 825.302 - Employee notice requirements for foreseeable FMLA leave.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OTHER LAWS THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 Employee and Employer Rights and Obligations Under the Act § 825.302 Employee notice requirements for foreseeable FMLA leave. (a) Timing of... foster care, planned medical treatment for a serious health condition of the employee or of a family...

29 CFR 825.313 - Failure to provide certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 Employee and Employer Rights and Obligations Under the Act § 825.313 Failure to provide certification. (a) Foreseeable leave. In the case of foreseeable leave, if... expiration of the 15-day time period, if the employee takes leave during such period. (b) Unforeseeable leave...

29 CFR 825.313 - Failure to provide certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 Employee and Employer Rights and Obligations Under the Act § 825.313 Failure to provide certification. (a) Foreseeable leave. In the case of foreseeable leave, if... expiration of the 15-day time period, if the employee takes leave during such period. (b) Unforeseeable leave...

29 CFR 825.313 - Failure to provide certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 Employee and Employer Rights and Obligations Under the Act § 825.313 Failure to provide certification. (a) Foreseeable leave. In the case of foreseeable leave, if... expiration of the 15-day time period, if the employee takes leave during such period. (b) Unforeseeable leave...

29 CFR 825.302 - Employee notice requirements for foreseeable FMLA leave.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OTHER LAWS THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 Employee and Employer Rights and Obligations Under the Act § 825.302 Employee notice requirements for foreseeable FMLA leave. (a) Timing of... foster care, planned medical treatment for a serious health condition of the employee or of a family...

29 CFR 825.302 - Employee notice requirements for foreseeable FMLA leave.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OTHER LAWS THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 Employee and Employer Rights and Obligations Under the Act § 825.302 Employee notice requirements for foreseeable FMLA leave. (a) Timing of... foster care, planned medical treatment for a serious health condition of the employee or of a family...

29 CFR 825.302 - Employee notice requirements for foreseeable FMLA leave.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OTHER LAWS THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 Employee and Employer Rights and Obligations Under the Act § 825.302 Employee notice requirements for foreseeable FMLA leave. (a) Timing of... foster care, planned medical treatment for a serious health condition of the employee or of a family...

29 CFR 825.313 - Failure to provide certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 Employee and Employer Rights and Obligations Under the Act § 825.313 Failure to provide certification. (a) Foreseeable leave. In the case of foreseeable leave, if... expiration of the 15-day time period, if the employee takes leave during such period. (b) Unforeseeable leave...

29 CFR 825.313 - Failure to provide certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 Employee and Employer Rights and Obligations Under the Act § 825.313 Failure to provide certification. (a) Foreseeable leave. In the case of foreseeable leave, if... expiration of the 15-day time period, if the employee takes leave during such period. (b) Unforeseeable leave...

Negligent Liability and the Foreseeability Factor: A Critical Issue for School Counselors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Donald H.

1987-01-01

Notes that negligent liability suits involving school counselors seem to be increasing. Cites cases, most of which involved defendant's alleged negligence emanating from failure to provide reasonable care to individuals who were later injured or killed. Emphasizes role of foreseeability in determining outcome of negligence cases. Indicates areas…

Nuclear materials stewardship: Our enduring mission

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

Isaacs, T.H.

1998-12-31

The US Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessors have handled a remarkably wide variety of nuclear materials over the past 50 yr. Two fundamental changes have occurred that shape the current landscape regarding nuclear materials. If one recognizes the implications and opportunities, one sees that the stewardship of nuclear materials will be a fundamental and important job of the DOE for the foreseeable future. The first change--the breakup of the Soviet Union and the resulting end to the nuclear arms race--altered US objectives. Previously, the focus was on materials production, weapon design, nuclear testing, and stockpile enhancements. Now themore » attention is on dismantlement of weapons, excess special nuclear material inventories, accompanying increased concern over the protection afforded to such materials; new arms control measures; and importantly, maintenance of the safety and reliability of the remaining arsenal without testing. The second change was the raised consciousness and sense of responsibility for dealing with the environmental legacies of past nuclear arms programs. Recognition of the need to clean up radioactive contamination, manage the wastes, conduct current operations responsibly, and restore the environment have led to the establishment of what is now the largest program in the DOE. Two additional features add to the challenge and drive the need for recognition of nuclear materials stewardship as a fundamental, enduring, and compelling mission of the DOE. The first is the extraordinary time frames. No matter what the future of nuclear weapons and no matter what the future of nuclear power, the DOE will be responsible for most of the country`s nuclear materials and wastes for generations. Even if the Yucca Mountain program is successful and on schedule, it will last more than 100 yr. Second, the use, management, and disposition of nuclear materials and wastes affect a variety of nationally important and diverse objectives, from national security to the future of nuclear power in this country and abroad, to the care of the environment. Sometimes these objectives are in concert, but often they are seen as competing or being in conflict. By recognizing the corporate responsibility for these materials and the accompanying programs, national decision making will be improved.« less

Adaptive thermogenesis in human body weight regulation: more of a concept than a measurable entity?

PubMed

Dulloo, A G; Jacquet, J; Montani, J-P; Schutz, Y

2012-12-01

According to Lavoisier, 'Life is combustion'. But to what extent humans adapt to changes in food intake through adaptive thermogenesis--by turning down the rate of heat production during energy deficit (so as to conserve energy) or turning it up during overnutrition (so as to dissipate excess calories)--has been one of the most controversial issues in nutritional sciences over the past 100 years. The debate nowadays is not whether adaptive thermogenesis exists or not, but rather about its quantitative importance in weight homoeostasis and its clinical relevance to the pathogenesis and management of obesity. Such uncertainties are likely to persist in the foreseeable future primarily because of limitations to unobtrusively measure changes in energy expenditure and body composition with high enough accuracy and precision, particularly when even small inter-individual variations in thermogenesis can, in dynamic systems and over the long term, be important in the determining weight maintenance in some and obesity and weight regain in others. This paper reviews the considerable body of evidence, albeit fragmentary, suggesting the existence of quantitatively important adaptive thermogenesis in several compartments of energy expenditure in response to altered food intake. It then discusses the various limitations that lead to over- or underestimations in its assessment, including definitional and semantics, technical and methodological, analytical and statistical. While the role of adaptive thermogenesis in human weight regulation is likely to remain more a concept than a strictly 'quantifiable' entity in the foreseeable future, the evolution of this concept continues to fuel exciting hypothesis-driven mechanistic research which contributes to advance knowledge in human metabolism and which is bound to result in improved strategies for the management of a healthy body weight. © 2012 The Authors. obesity reviews © 2012 International Association for the Study of Obesity.

Three-dimensional printing in surgery: a review of current surgical applications.

PubMed

Malik, Hammad H; Darwood, Alastair R J; Shaunak, Shalin; Kulatilake, Priyantha; El-Hilly, Abdulrahman A; Mulki, Omar; Baskaradas, Aroon

2015-12-01

Three-dimensional printing (3DP) is gaining increasing recognition as a technique that will transform the landscape of surgical practice. It allows for the rapid conversion of anatomic images into physical objects, which are being used across a variety of surgical specialties. It has been unclear which groups are leading the way in coming up with novel ways of using the technology and what specifically the technology is being used for. The aim of this article was to review the current applications of 3DP in modern surgical practice. An electronic search was carried out in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO for terms related to 3DP. These were then screened for relevance and practical applications of the technology in surgery. Four hundred eighty-eight articles were initially found, and these were eventually narrowed down to 93 full-text articles. It was determined that there were three main areas in which the technology is being used to print: (1) anatomic models, (2) surgical instruments, and (3) implants and prostheses. Different specialties are at different stages in the use of the technology. The costs involved with implementing the technology and time taken for printing are important factors to consider before widespread use. For the foreseeable future, this is an exciting and interesting technology with the capacity to radically change health care and revolutionize modern surgery. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Total Cross Sections as a Surrogate for Neutron Capture: An Opportunity to Accurately Constrain (n,γ) Cross Sections for Nuclides Beyond the Reach of Direct Measurements

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

Koehler, Paul E.

2014-03-05

There are many (n,γ) cross sections of great interest to radiochemical diagnostics and to nuclear astrophysics which are beyond the reach of current measurement techniques, and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. In contrast, total neutron cross sections currently are feasible for many of these nuclides and provide almost all the information needed to accurately calculate the (n,γ) cross sections via the nuclear statistical model (NSM). I demonstrate this for the case of 151Sm; NSM calculations constrained using average resonance parameters obtained from total cross section measurements made in 1975, are in excellent agreement with recent 151Sm (n,γ)more » measurements across a wide range of energy. Furthermore, I demonstrate through simulations that total cross section measurements can be made at the Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center for samples as small as 10μg. Samples of this size should be attainable for many nuclides of interest. Finally, I estimate that over half of the radionuclides identified ~20 years ago as having (n,γ) cross sections of importance to s-process nucleosynthesis studies (24/43) and radiochemical diagnostics (11/19), almost none of which have been measured, can be constrained using this technique.« less

Bad bugs, no drugs: no ESKAPE! An update from the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

PubMed

Boucher, Helen W; Talbot, George H; Bradley, John S; Edwards, John E; Gilbert, David; Rice, Louis B; Scheld, Michael; Spellberg, Brad; Bartlett, John

2009-01-01

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) continues to view with concern the lean pipeline for novel therapeutics to treat drug-resistant infections, especially those caused by gram-negative pathogens. Infections now occur that are resistant to all current antibacterial options. Although the IDSA is encouraged by the prospect of success for some agents currently in preclinical development, there is an urgent, immediate need for new agents with activity against these panresistant organisms. There is no evidence that this need will be met in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, we remain concerned that the infrastructure for discovering and developing new antibacterials continues to stagnate, thereby risking the future pipeline of antibacterial drugs. The IDSA proposed solutions in its 2004 policy report, "Bad Bugs, No Drugs: As Antibiotic R&D Stagnates, a Public Health Crisis Brews," and recently issued a "Call to Action" to provide an update on the scope of the problem and the proposed solutions. A primary objective of these periodic reports is to encourage a community and legislative response to establish greater financial parity between the antimicrobial development and the development of other drugs. Although recent actions of the Food and Drug Administration and the 110th US Congress present a glimmer of hope, significant uncertainly remains. Now, more than ever, it is essential to create a robust and sustainable antibacterial research and development infrastructure--one that can respond to current antibacterial resistance now and anticipate evolving resistance. This challenge requires that industry, academia, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Department of Defense, and the new Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority at the Department of Health and Human Services work productively together. This report provides an update on potentially effective antibacterial drugs in the late-stage development pipeline, in the hope of encouraging such collaborative action.

Application of Human-Autonomy Teaming (HAT) Patterns to Reduced Crew Operations (RCO)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shively, R. Jay; Brandt, Summer L.; Lachter, Joel; Matessa, Mike; Sadler, Garrett; Battiste, Henri

2016-01-01

As part of the Air Force - NASA Bi-Annual Research Council Meeting, slides will be presented on recent Reduced Crew Operations (RCO) work. Unmanned aerial systems, robotics, advanced cockpits, and air traffic management are all examples of domains that are seeing dramatic increases in automation. While automation may take on some tasks previously performed by humans, humans will still be required, for the foreseeable future, to remain in the system. The collaboration with humans and these increasingly autonomous systems will begin to resemble cooperation between teammates, rather than simple task allocation. It is critical to understand this human-autonomy teaming (HAT) to optimize these systems in the future. One methodology to understand HAT is by identifying recurring patterns of HAT that have similar characteristics and solutions. A methodology for identifying HAT patterns to an advanced cockpit project is discussed.

SNOMED CT's RF2: Is the future bright?

PubMed

Ceusters, Werner

2011-01-01

SNOMED CT's new RF2 format is said to come with features for better configuration management of the SNOMED vocabulary, thereby accommodating evolving requirements without the need for further fundamental change in the foreseeable future. Although the available documentation is not yet convincing enough to support this claim, the newly introduced Model Component hierarchy and associated reference set mechanism seem to hold real promise of being able to deal successfully with a number of ontological issues that have been discussed in the recent literature. Backed up by a study of the old and new format and of the relevant literature and documentation, three recommendations are presented that would free SNOMED CT from use-mention confusions, unclear referencing of real-world entities and uninformative reasons for change in a way that does not force SNOMED CT to take a specific philosophical or ontological position.

Modelling and evaluating municipal solid waste management strategies in a mega-city: the case of Ho Chi Minh City.

PubMed

ThiKimOanh, Le; Bloemhof-Ruwaard, Jacqueline M; van Buuren, Joost Cl; van der Vorst, Jack Gaj; Rulkens, Wim H

2015-04-01

Ho Chi Minh City is a large city that will become a mega-city in the near future. The city struggles with a rapidly increasing flow of municipal solid waste and a foreseeable scarcity of land to continue landfilling, the main treatment of municipal solid waste up to now. Therefore, additional municipal solid waste treatment technologies are needed. The objective of this article is to support decision-making towards more sustainable and cost-effective municipal solid waste strategies in developing countries, in particular Vietnam. A quantitative decision support model is developed to optimise the distribution of municipal solid waste from population areas to treatment plants, the treatment technologies and their capacities for the near future given available infrastructure and cost factors. © The Author(s) 2015.

Assessment of the environmental aspects of the DOE phosphoric acid fuel cell program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lundblad, H. L.; Cavagrotti, R. R.

1983-01-01

The likely facets of a nationwide phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) power plant commercial system are described. The beneficial and adverse environmental impacts produced by the system are assessed. Eleven specific system activities are characterized and evaluated. Also included is a review of fuel cell technology and a description of DOE's National Fuel Cell Program. Based on current and reasonably foreseeable PAFC characteristics, no environmental or energy impact factor was identified that would significantly inhibit the commercialization of PAFC power plant technology.

Comprehensive embryo testing. Experts' opinions regarding future directions: an expert panel study on comprehensive embryo testing.

PubMed

Hens, Kristien; Dondorp, Wybo J; Geraedts, Joep P M; de Wert, Guido M

2013-05-01

What do scientists in the field of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) consider to be the future direction of comprehensive embryo testing? Although there are many biological and technical limitations, as well as uncertainties regarding the meaning of genetic variation, comprehensive embryo testing will impact the IVF/PGD practice and a timely ethical reflection is needed. Comprehensive testing using microarrays is currently being introduced in the context of PGD and PGS, and it is to be expected that whole-genome sequencing will also follow. Current ethical and empirical sociological research on embryo testing focuses on PGD as it is practiced now. However, empirical research and systematic reflection regarding the impact of comprehensive techniques for embryo testing is missing. In order to understand the potential of this technology and to be able to adequately foresee its implications, we held an expert panel with seven pioneers in PGD. We conducted an expert panel in October 2011 with seven PGD pioneers from Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and the UK. Participants expected the use of comprehensive techniques in the context of PGD. However, the introduction of these techniques in embryo testing requires timely ethical reflection as it involves a shift from choosing an embryo without a particular genetic disease (i.e. PGD) or most likely to result in a successful pregnancy (i.e. PGS) to choosing the best embryo based on a much wider set of criteria. Such ethical reflection should take account of current technical and biological limitations and also of current uncertainties with regard to the meaning of genetic variance. However, ethicists should also not be afraid to look into the future. There was a general agreement that embryo testing will be increasingly preceded by comprehensive preconception screening, thus enabling smart combinations of genetic testing. The group was composed of seven participants from four Western Europe countries. As willingness to participate in this study may be connected with expectations regarding the pace and direction of future developments, selection bias cannot be excluded. The introduction of comprehensive screening techniques in embryo testing calls for further ethical reflection that is grounded in empirical work. Specifically, there is a need for studies querying the opinions of infertile couples undergoing IVF/PGS regarding the desirability of embryo screening beyond aneuploidy. This research was supported by the CSG, Centre for Society and Life Sciences (project number: 70.1.074). The authors declare no conflict of interest. N/A.

It takes a community to raise a hydrologist: the Modular Curriculum for Hydrologic Advancement (MOCHA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagener, T.; Kelleher, C.; Weiler, M.; McGlynn, B.; Gooseff, M.; Marshall, L.; Meixner, T.; McGuire, K.; Gregg, S.; Sharma, P.; Zappe, S.

2012-09-01

Protection from hydrological extremes and the sustainable supply of hydrological services in the presence of changing climate and lifestyles as well as rocketing population pressure in many parts of the world are the defining societal challenges for hydrology in the 21st century. A review of the existing literature shows that these challenges and their educational consequences for hydrology were foreseeable and were even predicted by some. However, surveys of the current educational basis for hydrology also clearly demonstrate that hydrology education is not yet ready to prepare students to deal with these challenges. We present our own vision of the necessary evolution of hydrology education, which we implemented in the Modular Curriculum for Hydrologic Advancement (MOCHA). The MOCHA project is directly aimed at developing a community-driven basis for hydrology education. In this paper we combine literature review, community survey, discussion and assessment to provide a holistic baseline for the future of hydrology education. The ultimate objective of our educational initiative is to enable educators to train a new generation of "renaissance hydrologists," who can master the holistic nature of our field and of the problems we encounter.

Enhancing Food Processing by Pulsed and High Voltage Electric Fields: Principles and Applications.

PubMed

Wang, Qijun; Li, Yifei; Sun, Da-Wen; Zhu, Zhiwei

2018-02-02

Improvements in living standards result in a growing demand for food with high quality attributes including freshness, nutrition and safety. However, current industrial processing methods rely on traditional thermal and chemical methods, such as sterilization and solvent extraction, which could induce negative effects on food quality and safety. The electric fields (EFs) involving pulsed electric fields (PEFs) and high voltage electric fields (HVEFs) have been studied and developed for assisting and enhancing various food processes. In this review, the principles and applications of pulsed and high voltage electric fields are described in details for a range of food processes, including microbial inactivation, component extraction, and winemaking, thawing and drying, freezing and enzymatic inactivation. Moreover, the advantages and limitations of electric field related technologies are discussed to foresee future developments in the food industry. This review demonstrates that electric field technology has a great potential to enhance food processing by supplementing or replacing the conventional methods employed in different food manufacturing processes. Successful industrial applications of electric field treatments have been achieved in some areas such as microbial inactivation and extraction. However, investigations of HVEFs are still in an early stage and translating the technology into industrial applications need further research efforts.

Connecting Technological Innovation in Artificial Intelligence to Real-world Medical Practice through Rigorous Clinical Validation: What Peer-reviewed Medical Journals Could Do

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Artificial intelligence (AI) is projected to substantially influence clinical practice in the foreseeable future. However, despite the excitement around the technologies, it is yet rare to see examples of robust clinical validation of the technologies and, as a result, very few are currently in clinical use. A thorough, systematic validation of AI technologies using adequately designed clinical research studies before their integration into clinical practice is critical to ensure patient benefit and safety while avoiding any inadvertent harms. We would like to suggest several specific points regarding the role that peer-reviewed medical journals can play, in terms of study design, registration, and reporting, to help achieve proper and meaningful clinical validation of AI technologies designed to make medical diagnosis and prediction, focusing on the evaluation of diagnostic accuracy efficacy. Peer-reviewed medical journals can encourage investigators who wish to validate the performance of AI systems for medical diagnosis and prediction to pay closer attention to the factors listed in this article by emphasizing their importance. Thereby, peer-reviewed medical journals can ultimately facilitate translating the technological innovations into real-world practice while securing patient safety and benefit. PMID:29805337

Federal Market Information Technology in the Post Flash Crash Era: Roles for Supercomputing

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

Bethel, E. Wes; Leinweber, David; Ruebel, Oliver

2011-09-16

This paper describes collaborative work between active traders, regulators, economists, and supercomputing researchers to replicate and extend investigations of the Flash Crash and other market anomalies in a National Laboratory HPC environment. Our work suggests that supercomputing tools and methods will be valuable to market regulators in achieving the goal of market safety, stability, and security. Research results using high frequency data and analytics are described, and directions for future development are discussed. Currently the key mechanism for preventing catastrophic market action are “circuit breakers.” We believe a more graduated approach, similar to the “yellow light” approach in motorsports tomore » slow down traffic, might be a better way to achieve the same goal. To enable this objective, we study a number of indicators that could foresee hazards in market conditions and explore options to confirm such predictions. Our tests confirm that Volume Synchronized Probability of Informed Trading (VPIN) and a version of volume Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) for measuring market fragmentation can indeed give strong signals ahead of the Flash Crash event on May 6 2010. This is a preliminary step toward a full-fledged early-warning system for unusual market conditions.« less

Adding a solar-radiance function to the Hošek-Wilkie skylight model.

PubMed

Hošek, Lukáš; Wilkie, Alexander

2013-01-01

One prerequisite for realistic renderings of outdoor scenes is the proper capturing of the sky's appearance. Currently, an explicit simulation of light scattering in the atmosphere isn't computationally feasible, and won't be in the foreseeable future. Captured luminance patterns have proven their usefulness in practice but can't meet all user needs. To fill this capability gap, computer graphics technology has employed analytical models of sky-dome luminance patterns for more than two decades. For technical reasons, such models deal with only the sky dome's appearance, though, and exclude the solar disc. The widely used model proposed by Arcot Preetham and colleagues employed a separately derived analytical formula for adding a solar emitter of suitable radiant intensity. Although this yields reasonable results, the formula is derived in a manner that doesn't exactly match the conditions in their sky-dome model. But the more sophisticated a skylight model is and the more subtly it can represent different conditions, the more the solar radiance should exactly match the skylight's conditions. Toward that end, researchers propose a solar-radiance function that exactly matches a recently published high-quality analytical skylight model.

Recent developments in the employment and retirement of older workers in Germany.

PubMed

Naegele, G; Krämer, K

2001-01-01

Against a background of an aging population, rising social security costs, and foreseeable labor and skill shortages, there have been public policy changes affecting older workers in Germany. Labor-market related initiatives aim at an increase of labor force participation among this group. Enterprise-related, active age-management strategies aim at improving occupational conditions of aging workers. In this context, prolonging the working life must be seen as one option of "active aging." Another view of the current retirement discussion is the question of how the unused potential of Germany's younger, early-retired seniors can be exploited. Active aging has become a social duty nowadays, with the intention that older persons contribute to society to avoid generational conflicts. In the future, active aging will preserve the competitiveness of enterprises and of the entire economy, despite an aging labor force. But gerontological research points out that different options to carry out individual life plans of active aging are also required. This article reviews the changes in public policies towards older workers and includes the findings of a project that illustrates good practice to combat age barriers in the labor world.

Sub-pm{{\\sqrt{Hz}^{-1}}} non-reciprocal noise in the LISA backlink fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fleddermann, Roland; Diekmann, Christian; Steier, Frank; Tröbs, Michael; Heinzel, Gerhard; Danzmann, Karsten

2018-04-01

The future space-based gravitational wave detector laser interferometer space antenna (LISA) requires bidirectional exchange of light between its two optical benches on board of each of its three satellites. The current baseline foresees a polarization-maintaining single-mode fiber for this backlink connection. Phase changes which are common in both directions do not enter the science measurement, but differential (‘non-reciprocal’) phase fluctuations directly do and must thus be guaranteed to be small enough. We have built a setup consisting of a Zerodur baseplate with fused silica components attached to it using hydroxide-catalysis bonding and demonstrated the reciprocity of a polarization-maintaining single-mode fiber at the 1 pm \\sqrt{Hz}-1 level as is required for LISA. We used balanced detection to reduce the influence of parasitic optical beams on the reciprocity measurement and a fiber length stabilization to avoid nonlinear effects in our phase measurement system (phase meter). For LISA, a different phase meter is planned to be used that does not show this nonlinearity. We corrected the influence of beam angle changes and temperature changes on the reciprocity measurement in post-processing.

Declining mortality from smoking in the United States.

PubMed

Rodu, Brad; Cole, Philip

2007-07-01

The proportion of Americans who smoke cigarettes has declined 50% since 1965. The effect on mortality of this considerable reduction has received little attention and is described in this study. U.S. national data were used to enumerate current, former, and never-smokers aged 35 years or older in 1987 and 2002. Mortality rate ratios were used to estimate smoking-attributable deaths among these groups, and corresponding age-adjusted smoking-attributable mortality rates (SAMRs) were calculated. There were 402,000 deaths attributable to smoking in 1987 and 322,000 in 2002. The SAMR for men aged 35 years or more was 556 deaths per 100,000 person-years in 1987, accounting for 24% of all male deaths. By 2002 the SAMR declined 41% to 329 and accounted for only 17% of deaths. The SAMR for women in 1987 was 175, accounting for 12% of deaths. By 2002 the SAMR among women had declined 30% to 122, representing 9% of deaths. The U.S. mortality rate attributable to smoking declined about 35% between 1987 and 2002. The impact of smoking on American society will diminish even further in the foreseeable future as smoking prevalence continues its decline among men and women.

Centennial-scale reductions in nitrogen availability in temperate forests of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

McLauchlan, Kendra K.; Gerhart, Laci M.; Battles, John J.; Craine, Joseph M.; Elmore, Andrew J.; Higuera, Phil E.; Mack, Michelle M; McNeil, Brendan E.; Nelson, David M.; Pederson, Neil; Perakis, Steven

2017-01-01

Forests cover 30% of the terrestrial Earth surface and are a major component of the global carbon (C) cycle. Humans have doubled the amount of global reactive nitrogen (N), increasing deposition of N onto forests worldwide. However, other global changes—especially climate change and elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations—are increasing demand for N, the element limiting primary productivity in temperate forests, which could be reducing N availability. To determine the long-term, integrated effects of global changes on forest N cycling, we measured stable N isotopes in wood, a proxy for N supply relative to demand, on large spatial and temporal scales across the continental U.S.A. Here, we show that forest N availability has generally declined across much of the U.S. since at least 1850 C.E. with cool, wet forests demonstrating the greatest declines. Across sites, recent trajectories of N availability were independent of recent atmospheric N deposition rates, implying a minor role for modern N deposition on the trajectory of N status of North American forests. Our results demonstrate that current trends of global changes are likely to be consistent with forest oligotrophication into the foreseeable future, further constraining forest C fixation and potentially storage.

Exploring Scenarios to Dramatically Reduce Smoking Prevalence: A Simulation Model of the Three-Part Cessation Process

PubMed Central

Mabry, Patricia L.; Graham, Amanda L.; Orleans, C. Tracy; Abrams, David B.

2010-01-01

Objectives. We used a simulation model to analyze whether the Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing smoking prevalence from the current 19.8% rate to 12% by 2010 could be accomplished by increasing quit attempts, increasing the use of treatments, or increasing the effectiveness of treatment. Methods. We expanded on previous versions of the tobacco control simulation model SimSmoke to assess the effects of an increase in quit attempts, treatment use, and treatment effectiveness to reduce smoking prevalence. In the model, we considered increases in each of these parameters individually and in combination. Results. Individually, 100% increases in quit attempts, treatment use, and treatment effectiveness reduced the projected 2020 prevalence to 13.9%, 16.7%, and 15.9%, respectively. With a combined 100% increase in all components, the goal of a 12% adult smoking prevalence could be reached by 2012. Conclusions. If we are to come close to reaching Healthy People 2010 goals in the foreseeable future, we must not only induce quit attempts but also increase treatment use and effectiveness. Simulation models provide a useful tool for evaluating the potential to reach public health targets. PMID:20466969

Between welfare medicine and mainstream entitlement: Medicaid at the political crossroads.

PubMed

Grogan, Colleen; Patashnik, Eric

2003-10-01

As the new century begins, the Medicaid program is arguably at a political crossroads. Over the 1980s and 1990s, policy makers enacted major expansions in Medicaid coverage, offering significant new health benefits to poor women and children and other constituencies. In elite rhetoric and political framing, Medicaid was increasingly cast as a broad-based social welfare entitlement of value to all Americans, including middle-class citizens. Some health care advocates began viewing Medicaid expansions as a potential path to achieving universal coverage in the United States. Yet Medicaid remains a means-tested program that has been repeatedly threatened with policy retrenchment. In this essay, we scrutinize Medicaid's current status and future possibilities from a historical-institutional perspective by tracing its complex evolution since its enactment in the Social Security Amendments of 1965. Our core claim is that decisions made at the time of Medicaid's original adoption have fundamentally set the matrix for struggles over the program's unfolding development. We demonstrate that key ambiguities embedded in the 1965 act created largely unintended opportunities for policy entrepreneurs to broaden Medicaid's scale and scope as well as foreseeable vulnerabilities that must be overcome if Medicaid is to realize its full potential.

The changing face of hemostasis testing in modern laboratories: consolidation, automation, and beyond.

PubMed

Lippi, Giuseppe; Plebani, Mario; Favaloro, Emmanuel J

2015-04-01

The reality of laboratory diagnostics as a whole, and hemostasis testing in particular, is evolving under new paradigms of efficiency. The driving forces of health care and laboratory diagnostics in the third millennium are mainly represented by macro- and microeconomics. In a world with limited resources, shattered by an unprecedented economic crisis, laboratory diagnostics is undergoing a substantial reorganization, with emergence of new models under the imperative of terms, such as bedside testing, consolidation, and networking. The paradigms under which these changes are being developed include a variety of environment, preanalytical, technological, professional, and health-care aspects. The maintenance of continued quality is indeed the major challenge to be faced in the foreseeable future. In fact, some challenges prepotently emerge during a consolidation process, which basically involve delayed testing, centrifugation, transportation, and stability of the specimens, as well as the potential mismatch of sample matrix. This article is aimed to provide an overview of the current economic scenario of laboratory diagnostics and discuss the changing face of hemostasis testing in modern laboratories, providing a synthetic overview about potential drawbacks of actualized solutions. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Connecting Technological Innovation in Artificial Intelligence to Real-world Medical Practice through Rigorous Clinical Validation: What Peer-reviewed Medical Journals Could Do.

PubMed

Park, Seong Ho; Kressel, Herbert Y

2018-05-28

Artificial intelligence (AI) is projected to substantially influence clinical practice in the foreseeable future. However, despite the excitement around the technologies, it is yet rare to see examples of robust clinical validation of the technologies and, as a result, very few are currently in clinical use. A thorough, systematic validation of AI technologies using adequately designed clinical research studies before their integration into clinical practice is critical to ensure patient benefit and safety while avoiding any inadvertent harms. We would like to suggest several specific points regarding the role that peer-reviewed medical journals can play, in terms of study design, registration, and reporting, to help achieve proper and meaningful clinical validation of AI technologies designed to make medical diagnosis and prediction, focusing on the evaluation of diagnostic accuracy efficacy. Peer-reviewed medical journals can encourage investigators who wish to validate the performance of AI systems for medical diagnosis and prediction to pay closer attention to the factors listed in this article by emphasizing their importance. Thereby, peer-reviewed medical journals can ultimately facilitate translating the technological innovations into real-world practice while securing patient safety and benefit.

Health and urban living.

PubMed

Dye, Christopher

2008-02-08

The majority of people now live in urban areas and will do so for the foreseeable future. As a force in the demographic and health transition, urbanization is associated with falling birth and death rates and with the shift in burden of illness from acute childhood infections to chronic, noncommunicable diseases of adults. Urban inhabitants enjoy better health on average than their rural counterparts, but the benefits are usually greater for the rich than for the poor, thus magnifying the differences between them. Subject to better evidence, I suggest that the main obstacles to improving urban health are not technical or even financial, but rather are related to governance and the organization of civil society.

Stretching the managed care dollar in the new millennium: the practice of detailing primary care physicians.

PubMed

Hill, Cynthia D; Bunn, Douglas N; Hawkins, Jenny Rae

2002-01-01

Pharmaceutical expenditures in this country are on the rise and the increase is expected to continue at double-digit rates in the foreseeable future. This study focuses on the ways in which the managed care industry can impact pharmaceutical costs through peer-to-peer data sharing or academic detailing. Making use of analysis in conjunction with a major Midwestern Health Maintenance Organization, we evaluate the immediate impacts of academic detailing efforts, and find it to have a substantial mitigating impact on pharmaceutical trends. Moreover, we find academic detailing to be cost-effective means of altering physician-prescribing behavior.

Global change and carrying capacity: Implications for life on Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ehrlich, Paul R.; Daily, Gretchen C.; Ehrlich, Anne H.; Matson, Pamela; Vitousek, Peter

1989-01-01

Determining the long-term number of people that the planet can support without irreversibly reducing its ability to support people in the future, i.e., the carrying capacity of the Earth, is an exceedingly complex problem. About all that is known for certain is that, with present and foreseeable technologies, the human population has already exceeded the capacity. The reduction in carrying capacity that can be expected to result from direct human impacts on resources and the environment and from our indirect impacts of the climate system is discussed. Global warming and modeling global change and food security are also discussed with respect to carrying capacity.

Prioritization of remedial actions for radioactive waste burials in the Chernobyl exclusion zone

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

Crossland, Ian

2013-07-01

Large volumes of radioactive waste were urgently buried in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (ChEZ) in the aftermath of the 1986 accident. Twenty-six years later, decisions must be taken about whether and how to remediate these sites. An attempt to resolve two key issues is described here: 1. How to assess the hazards posed by these facilities, recognizing that, for the foreseeable future, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone will remain under institutional control? and 2. What standards to apply in deciding the extent of remediation? This paper presents an examination of the issues and proposes a simple decision-making process. (authors)

Environmental stratification framework and water-quality monitoring design strategy for the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Africa

USGS Publications Warehouse

Friedel, Michael J.

2008-01-01

Mauritania anticipates an increase in mining activities throughout the country and into the foreseeable future. Because mining-induced changes in the landscape are likely to affect their limited ground-water resources and sensitive aquatic ecosystems, a water-quality assessment program was designed for Mauritania that is based on a nationally consistent environmental stratification framework. The primary objectives of this program are to ensure that the environmental monitoring systems can quantify near real-time changes in surface-water chemistry at a local scale, and quantify intermediate- to long-term changes in groundwater and aquatic ecosystems over multiple scales.

Optical design for ATHENA X-ray telescope based on slumped mirror segments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Proserpio, Laura; Breunig, Elias; Friedrich, Peter; Winter, Anita

2014-07-01

The Hot and Energetic Universe will be the focus of future ESA missions: in late 2013 the theme was selected for the second large-class mission in the Cosmic Vision science program. Fundamental questions on how and why ordinary matter assemble into galaxies and clusters, and how black holes grow and influence their surroundings can be addressed with an advanced X-ray observatory. The currently proposed ATHENA mission presents all the potentiality to answer the outstanding questions. It is based on the heritage of XMM-Newton and on the previous studies for IXO mission. The scientific payload will require state of the art instrumentations. In particular, the baseline for the X-ray optical system, delivering a combination of large area, high angular resolution, and large field of view, is the Silicon Pore Optics technology (SPO) developed by ESA in conjunction with the Cosine Measurement Systems. The slumping technology is also under development for the manufacturing of future X-ray telescopes: for several years the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial physics (MPE) has been involved in the analysis of the indirect slumping approach, which foresees the manufacturing of segmented X-ray shells by shaping thin glass foils at high temperatures over concave moulds so to avoid any contact of the optical surface with other materials during the process, preserving in this way the original X-ray quality of the glass surface. The paper presents an alternative optical design for ATHENA based on the use of thin glass mirror segments obtained through slumping.

Novel concepts in radiation-induced cardiovascular disease

PubMed Central

Cuomo, Jason R; Sharma, Gyanendra K; Conger, Preston D; Weintraub, Neal L

2016-01-01

Radiation-induced cardiovascular disease (RICVD) is the most common nonmalignant cause of morbidity and mortality among cancer survivors who have undergone mediastinal radiation therapy (RT). Cardiovascular complications include effusive or constrictive pericarditis, cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, and coronary/vascular disease. These are pathophysiologically distinct disease entities whose prevalence varies depending on the timing and extent of radiation exposure to the heart and great vessels. Although refinements in RT dosimetry and shielding will inevitably limit future cases of RICVD, the increasing number of long-term cancer survivors, including those treated with older higher-dose RT regimens, will ensure a steady flow of afflicted patients for the foreseeable future. Thus, there is a pressing need for enhanced understanding of the disease mechanisms, and improved detection methods and treatment strategies. Newly characterized mechanisms responsible for the establishment of chronic fibrosis, such as oxidative stress, inflammation and epigenetic modifications, are discussed and linked to potential treatments currently under study. Novel imaging modalities may serve as powerful screening tools in RICVD, and recent research and expert opinion advocating their use is introduced. Data arguing for the aggressive use of percutaneous interventions, such as transcutaneous valve replacement and drug-eluting stents, are examined and considered in the context of prior therapeutic approaches. RICVD and its treatment options are the subject of a rich and dynamic body of research, and patients who are at risk or suffering from this disease will benefit from the care of physicians with specialty expertise in the emerging field of cardio-oncology. PMID:27721934

Software Development in the Water Sciences: a view from the divide (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miles, B.; Band, L. E.

2013-12-01

While training in statistical methods is an important part of many earth scientists' training, these scientists often learn the bulk of their software development skills in an ad hoc, just-in-time manner. Yet to carry out contemporary research scientists are spending more and more time developing software. Here I present perspectives - as an earth sciences graduate student with professional software engineering experience - on the challenges scientists face adopting software engineering practices, with an emphasis on areas of the science software development lifecycle that could benefit most from improved engineering. This work builds on experience gained as part of the NSF-funded Water Science Software Institute (WSSI) conceptualization award (NSF Award # 1216817). Throughout 2013, the WSSI team held a series of software scoping and development sprints with the goals of: (1) adding features to better model green infrastructure within the Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys); and (2) infusing test-driven agile software development practices into the processes employed by the RHESSys team. The goal of efforts such as the WSSI is to ensure that investments by current and future scientists in software engineering training will enable transformative science by improving both scientific reproducibility and researcher productivity. Experience with the WSSI indicates: (1) the potential for achieving this goal; and (2) while scientists are willing to adopt some software engineering practices, transformative science will require continued collaboration between domain scientists and cyberinfrastructure experts for the foreseeable future.

The future of anticoagulation clinics.

PubMed

Macik, B Gail

2003-01-01

Anticoagulation therapy is the foundation of treatment for thromboembolic disorders; and coumarin derivatives (warfarin in the United States) are the only orally administered anticoagulant medications currently available. Due to the expense and relative difficulties associated with this route of administration, parenteral drugs are not used routinely for long-term therapy, leaving warfarin as the anticoagulant of choice in the outpatient setting. The management of warfarin is problematic, however, due the nuances of its pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profile and the requirement for frequent monitoring of blood levels. Although management by anticoagulation clinics is considered the gold standard for warfarin therapy, management by an anticoagulation clinic may not be the optimal option from a clinician's view and, in many cases, may not be an option at all. Anticoagulation clinics may impinge on the doctor-patient relationship. Difficulties of communication and reimbursement are not ameliorated by a specialty clinic. Innovations in warfarin management, including patient self-management and computerized dosing programs, are alternatives for improved care that are available with or without input by an anticoagulation service. New oral drugs on the horizon do not require the same intensity of monitoring and do not present the same pharmacodynamic problems associated with warfarin. Warfarin will become obsolete in the foreseeable future. If anticoagulation clinics continue, they must re-define their role as the major part of the workload, warfarin management, disappears. To adapt, clinics must strengthen and enhance their role as coordinators and educators, and less so, managers of anticoagulation therapy.

Lung cancer mortality in France. Trend analysis and projection between 1975 and 2012, using a Bayesian age-period-cohort model.

PubMed

Eilstein, Daniel; Uhry, Zoé; Lim, Tek-Ang; Bloch, Juliette

2008-03-01

Lung cancer is currently the most common cancer in the world and as such is an important public health concern. One of the main challenges is to foresee the evolution of trends in lung cancer mortality rates in order to anticipate the future burden of this disease as well as to plan the supply of adequate health care. The aim of this study is to propose a quantification of future lung cancer mortality rates by gender in France until the year 2012. Lung cancer mortality data in France (1978-2002) were extracted from the National Statistics of Death and analyzed by 5-year age-groups and periods, using a Bayesian age-period-cohort model. Between 1978 and 2002, female lung cancer mortality rate rises by 3.3%year(-1). For men, a slow increase is observed until 1988-1992 followed by a declining trend. In 1998-2002, age-standardized mortality rates were, respectively, 45.5 and 7.6 per 100000 for males and for females. By 2008-2012 these figures would reach 40.8 (95% credibility interval (CI): 32.7, 50.0) and 12.1 (CI: 11.7, 12.6) per 100000, respectively, which represents among women a 4.7% annual increase (CI: 4.5, 5.0). Our results highlight the relevance of pursuing public health measures in order to cope more actively with tobacco smoking in the prevention strategy against lung cancer specifically among women.

The role of private hospitals in South Africa. Part II. Towards a national policy on private hospitals.

PubMed

Broomberg, J

1993-05-01

This paper reviews some aspects of present state policy on private hospitals and sets out broad policy guidelines, as well as specific policy options, for the future role of private hospitals in South Africa. Current state policy is reviewed via an examination of the findings and recommendations of the two major Commissions of Inquiry into the role of private hospitals over the last 2 decades, and comparison of these with the present situation. The analysis confirms that existing state policy on private hospitals is inadequate, and suggests some explanations for this. Policy options analysed include the elimination of the private hospital sector through nationalization; partial integration of private hospitals into a centrally financed health care system (such as a national health insurance system); and the retention of separate, privately owned hospitals that will remain privately financed and outside the system of national health care provision. These options are explained and their merits and the associated problems debated. While it is recognised that, in the long term, public ownership of hospitals may be an effective way of attaining equity and efficiency in hospital services, the paper argues that elimination of private hospitals is not a realistic policy option for the foreseeable future. In this scenario, partial integration of private hospitals under a centrally financed system is argued to be the most effective way of improving the efficiency of the private hospital sector, and of maximising its contribution to national health care resources.

Synthesis in land change science: methodological patterns, challenges, and guidelines.

PubMed

Magliocca, Nicholas R; Rudel, Thomas K; Verburg, Peter H; McConnell, William J; Mertz, Ole; Gerstner, Katharina; Heinimann, Andreas; Ellis, Erle C

Global and regional economic and environmental changes are increasingly influencing local land-use, livelihoods, and ecosystems. At the same time, cumulative local land changes are driving global and regional changes in biodiversity and the environment. To understand the causes and consequences of these changes, land change science (LCS) draws on a wide array synthetic and meta-study techniques to generate global and regional knowledge from local case studies of land change. Here, we review the characteristics and applications of synthesis methods in LCS and assess the current state of synthetic research based on a meta-analysis of synthesis studies from 1995 to 2012. Publication of synthesis research is accelerating, with a clear trend toward increasingly sophisticated and quantitative methods, including meta-analysis. Detailed trends in synthesis objectives, methods, and land change phenomena and world regions most commonly studied are presented. Significant challenges to successful synthesis research in LCS are also identified, including issues of interpretability and comparability across case-studies and the limits of and biases in the geographic coverage of case studies. Nevertheless, synthesis methods based on local case studies will remain essential for generating systematic global and regional understanding of local land change for the foreseeable future, and multiple opportunities exist to accelerate and enhance the reliability of synthetic LCS research in the future. Demand for global and regional knowledge generation will continue to grow to support adaptation and mitigation policies consistent with both the local realities and regional and global environmental and economic contexts of land change.

Ideology, psychiatric practice and professionalism.

PubMed

Bouras, N; Ikkos, G

2013-01-01

Psychiatry, associated as it is with social and cultural factors, has undergone profound changes over the last 50 years. Values, attitudes, beliefs and ideology all influence psychiatry. Deinstitutionalisation, the normalization principle, advocacy, empowerment and the recovery model are ideologies that have been closely associated with policy, service developments and clinical practice in psychiatry. A "new professionalism" is emerging as a consequence of a number of changes in mental health care that needs to be guided by the highest standards of care which are best epitomized in psychiatry as a social contract with society. Looking to the future it is important that the profession recognises the impact ideology can make, if it is not to remain constantly on the defensive. In order to engage proactively and effectively with ideology as well as clinical science and evidence based service development, psychiatry as a profession will do best to approach significant future policy, practice and service changes by adopting an ethical approach, as a form a social contract. Psychiatrists must pay increasing attention to understanding values as expressed by ideologies, working in a collaborative way with other mental health professionals, involve service users and manage systems as well as be competent in clinical assessment and treatment. Whether in time of plenty or in times of deprivation, ideology produces effects on practice and in the context of constantly changing knowledge and the current financial stress this is likely to be more the case (and not less) in the foreseeable future. Psychiatrists must take into consideration the new social problems seen in some high income countries with the increased availability of highly potent "street drugs", perceived threats from various immigrant and minority communities and breakdown of "social capital" such as the decline of the nuclear family.

Impact of the resistive wall impedance on beam dynamics in the Future Circular e+e- Collider

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Migliorati, M.; Belli, E.; Zobov, M.

2018-04-01

The Future Circular Collider study, which aims at designing post-LHC particle accelerator options, is entering in the final stage, which foresees a conceptual design report containing the basic requirements for a hadron and a lepton collider, as well as options for an electron-proton machine. Due to the high beam intensities of these accelerators, collective effects have to be carefully analyzed. Among them, the finite conductivity of the beam vacuum chamber represents a major source of impedance for the electron-positron collider. By using numerical and analytical tools, a parametric study of longitudinal and transverse instabilities caused by the resistive wall is performed in this paper for the case of the Future Circular Collider lepton machine, by taking into account also the effects of coating, used to fight the electron cloud build up. It will be proved that under certain assumptions the coupling impedance of a two layer system does not depend on the conductivity of the coating and this property represents an important characteristic for the choice of the material itself. The results and findings of this study have an impact on the machine design in several aspects. In particular the quite low threshold of single bunch instabilities with respect to the nominal beam current and the not negligible power losses due to the resistive wall are shown, together with the necessity of a new feedback system to counteract the fast transverse coupled bunch instability. The importance of a round vacuum chamber to avoid the quadrupolar tune shift is also discussed. Finally the crucial importance of the beam pipe material coating and thickness choice for the above results is underlined.

Virtual reality in ophthalmology training.

PubMed

Khalifa, Yousuf M; Bogorad, David; Gibson, Vincent; Peifer, John; Nussbaum, Julian

2006-01-01

Current training models are limited by an unstructured curriculum, financial costs, human costs, and time constraints. With the newly mandated resident surgical competency, training programs are struggling to find viable methods of assessing and documenting the surgical skills of trainees. Virtual-reality technologies have been used for decades in flight simulation to train and assess competency, and there has been a recent push in surgical specialties to incorporate virtual-reality simulation into residency programs. These efforts have culminated in an FDA-approved carotid stenting simulator. What role virtual reality will play in the evolution of ophthalmology surgical curriculum is uncertain. The current apprentice system has served the art of surgery for over 100 years, and we foresee virtual reality working synergistically with our current curriculum modalities to streamline and enhance the resident's learning experience.

Energy [R]Evolution: Opportunities for Decarbonizing Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byrne, J. M.

2016-12-01

The future of conventional energy in Canada is uncertain. World oil prices have suffered steep declines recently and there are no strong arguments for recovery in the foreseeable future. The country is now engaged in serious debates and discussions over the value of GHG emissions, pipelines, oil and gas operations, and renewable energy. Oilsands deposits in northern Alberta require long-term investment and decades of consistent sales to repay those investments. The election of more progressive governments in Alberta and Canada may provide the national and global credibility and opportunity to address the environmental problems caused by Oilsands and other fossil fuel developments. The discussion will focus on the possible ways forward for Canada to diversify the regional and national economy with renewable energy networks, thereby meeting our Paris GHG emission reduction commitments. The end goal of this work is to see the Canadian economy decarbonized within two decades.

Lightweight telescopes for lunar observatories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rozelot, J. P.; Bingham, R.; Walker, D.

1994-06-01

Future optical observatories in space will require telescopes of very high resolution. To satisfy this demand, technology must be developed for large mirrors capable of diffraction-limited imaging. Conventional monolithic glass substrates (light-weight or not) have serious limitations for future development. In particular, glass is susceptible to fracture during ground-handling, transport and launch. An alternative solution is aluminium. It has lower cost, increased strength, easier and safer methods of fixing, amongst other advantages. It is readily lightweighted and can be produced with good polishing quality with nickel coating. We foresee applications for satellite telescope for astronomy, remote sensing, surveys of asteroids and debris in space. Furthermore, this technology is ideally suitable for lunar mounted interferometric experiments - as mirrors can be easily replicate, saving cost - and for telescopes deployed on planetary surfaces. Some results from the European Eureka Large Active Mirrors in Aluminium (LAMA) are here presented, which show the feasibility of such systems.

Will our children be healthy adults? Applying science to public health policy.

PubMed

Law, Catherine

2010-12-01

Cardiovascular disease is predicted to be a leading cause of death and disability worldwide for the foreseeable future. Observational studies link a variety of prevalent early life experiences (for example, smoking in pregnancy, child poverty) to increased risk of adult cardiovascular disease. Experimental animal studies suggest plausible causal relationships. However, there has been little consideration of how to use this wealth of information to benefit children's futures. Policy documents have drawn on research evidence to recognise that early experience influences life chances, the development of human capital, and long-term health. This has led to a general policy emphasis on prevention and early intervention. To date, there are few examples of the evidence base being useful in shaping specific policies, despite potential to do so, and some examples of policy misunderstanding of science. Minor changes to the perspectives of epidemiological research in this area might greatly increase the potential for evidence-based policy.

Using the mass media to inform and educate the public about planetary protection and exploration risks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Race, M.

For the foreseeable future, the public will continue to learn piecemeal about the latest advances in Astrobiology through headlines and mass media coverage of missions, discoveries or controversies. Journalists and reporters are themselves unschooled in this emerging interdisciplinary field, yet play a critical role in explaining details to the public. While it is important to develop curricular materials for future use in formal educational settings, it is equally important to find novel ways for educating and updating journalists in this fast paced field. Risk communication plans for Mars exploration and other solar system missions should include special efforts aimed at assisting mass media professionals in both their informational and educational roles. If journalists and reporters have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the science and societal issues associated with missions, the result may well be more accurate explanations, improved public understanding, and continued support for exploration.

Bioinformatics: perspectives for the future.

PubMed

Costa, Luciano da Fontoura

2004-12-30

I give here a very personal perspective of Bioinformatics and its future, starting by discussing the origin of the term (and area) of bioinformatics and proceeding by trying to foresee the development of related issues, including pattern recognition/data mining, the need to reintegrate biology, the potential of complex networks as a powerful and flexible framework for bioinformatics and the interplay between bio- and neuroinformatics. Human resource formation and market perspective are also addressed. Given the complexity and vastness of these issues and concepts, as well as the limited size of a scientific article and finite patience of the reader, these perspectives are surely incomplete and biased. However, it is expected that some of the questions and trends that are identified will motivate discussions during the IcoBiCoBi round table (with the same name as this article) and perhaps provide a more ample perspective among the participants of that conference and the readers of this text.

Fast Breeder Reactors in Sweden: Vision and Reality.

PubMed

Fjaestad, Maja

2015-01-01

The fast breeder is a type of nuclear reactor that aroused much attention in the 1950s and '60s. Its ability to produce more nuclear fuel than it consumes offered promises of cheap and reliable energy. Sweden had advanced plans for a nuclear breeder program, but canceled them in the middle of the 1970s with the rise of nuclear skepticism. The article investigates the nuclear breeder as a technological vision. The nuclear breeder reactor is an example of a technological future that did not meet its industrial expectations. But that does not change the fact that the breeder was an influential technology. Decisions about the contemporary reactors were taken with the idea that in a foreseeable future they would be replaced with the efficient breeder. The article argues that general themes in the history of the breeder reactor can deepen our understanding of the mechanisms behind technological change.

Minimally invasive abdominal surgery: lux et veritas past, present, and future.

PubMed

Harrell, Andrew G; Heniford, B Todd

2005-08-01

Laparoscopic surgery has developed out of multiple technology innovations and the desire to see beyond the confines of the human body. As the instrumentation became more advanced, the application of this technique followed. By revisiting the historical developments that now define laparoscopic surgery, we can possibly foresee its future. A Medline search was performed of all the English-language literature. Further references were obtained through cross-referencing the bibliography cited in each work and using books from the authors' collection. Minimally invasive surgery is becoming important in almost every facet of abdominal surgery. Optical improvements, miniaturization, and robotic technology continue to define the frontier of minimally invasive surgery. Endoluminal resection surgery, image-guided surgical navigation, and remotely controlled robotics are not far from becoming reality. These and advances yet to be described will change laparoscopic surgery just as the electric light bulb did over 100 years ago.

Incertitude in disaster sciences and scientists' responsibilities: A case study of the L'Aquila earthquake trial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koketsu, Kazuki; Oki, Satoko

2015-04-01

What disaster sciences are expected by the society is to prevent or mitigate future natural disasters, and therefore it is necessary to foresee natural disasters. However, various constraints often make the foreseeing difficult so that there is a high incertitude in the social contribution of disaster sciences. If scientists overstep this limitation, they will be held even criminally responsible. The L'Aquila trial in Italy is such a recent example and so we have performed data collections, hearing investigations, analyses of the reasons for the initial court's judgment, etc., to explore the incertitude of disaster sciences and scientists' responsibilities. As a result, we concluded that the casualties during the L'Aquila earthquake were mainly due to a careless "safety declaration" by the vice-director of the Civil Protection Agency, where the incertitude of disaster sciences had never been considered. In addition, news media which reported only this "safety declaration" were also seriously responsible for the casualties. The accused other than the vice-director were only morally responsible, because their meeting remarks included poor risk communication in disaster sciences but those were not reported to the citizens in advance to the L'Aquila earthquake. In the presentation, we will also discuss the similarities and differences between our conclusions above and the reasons for the appeals court's judgement, which will be published in February.

Inhabiting the solar system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sherwood, Brent

2011-03-01

The new field of space architecture is introduced. Defined as the "theory and practice of designing and building inhabited environments in outer space," the field synthesizes human space flight systems engineering subjects with the long tradition of making environments that support human living, work, and aspiration. The scope of the field is outlined, and its three principal domains differentiated. The current state of the art is described in terms of executed projects. Foreseeable options for 21st century developments in human space flight provide a framework to tease out potential space architecture opportunities for the next century.

Contrasting effects of climate change on rabbit populations through reproduction.

PubMed

Tablado, Zulima; Revilla, Eloy

2012-01-01

Climate change is affecting many physical and biological processes worldwide. Anticipating its effects at the level of populations and species is imperative, especially for organisms of conservation or management concern. Previous studies have focused on estimating future species distributions and extinction probabilities directly from current climatic conditions within their geographical ranges. However, relationships between climate and population parameters may be so complex that to make these high-level predictions we need first to understand the underlying biological processes driving population size, as well as their individual response to climatic alterations. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the influence that climate change may have on species population dynamics through altering breeding season. We used a mechanistic model based on drivers of rabbit reproductive physiology together with demographic simulations to show how future climate-driven changes in breeding season result in contrasting rabbit population trends across Europe. In the Iberian Peninsula, where rabbits are a native species of high ecological and economic value, breeding seasons will shorten and become more variable leading to population declines, higher extinction risk, and lower resilience to perturbations. Whereas towards north-eastern countries, rabbit numbers are expected to increase through longer and more stable reproductive periods, which augment the probability of new rabbit invasions in those areas. Our study reveals the type of mechanisms through which climate will cause alterations at the species level and emphasizes the need to focus on them in order to better foresee large-scale complex population trends. This is especially important in species like the European rabbit whose future responses may aggravate even further its dual keystone/pest problematic. Moreover, this approach allows us to predict not only distribution shifts but also future population status and growth, and to identify the demographic parameters on which to focus to mitigate global change effects.

Contrasting Effects of Climate Change on Rabbit Populations through Reproduction

PubMed Central

Tablado, Zulima; Revilla, Eloy

2012-01-01

Background Climate change is affecting many physical and biological processes worldwide. Anticipating its effects at the level of populations and species is imperative, especially for organisms of conservation or management concern. Previous studies have focused on estimating future species distributions and extinction probabilities directly from current climatic conditions within their geographical ranges. However, relationships between climate and population parameters may be so complex that to make these high-level predictions we need first to understand the underlying biological processes driving population size, as well as their individual response to climatic alterations. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the influence that climate change may have on species population dynamics through altering breeding season. Methodology/Principal Findings We used a mechanistic model based on drivers of rabbit reproductive physiology together with demographic simulations to show how future climate-driven changes in breeding season result in contrasting rabbit population trends across Europe. In the Iberian Peninsula, where rabbits are a native species of high ecological and economic value, breeding seasons will shorten and become more variable leading to population declines, higher extinction risk, and lower resilience to perturbations. Whereas towards north-eastern countries, rabbit numbers are expected to increase through longer and more stable reproductive periods, which augment the probability of new rabbit invasions in those areas. Conclusions/Significance Our study reveals the type of mechanisms through which climate will cause alterations at the species level and emphasizes the need to focus on them in order to better foresee large-scale complex population trends. This is especially important in species like the European rabbit whose future responses may aggravate even further its dual keystone/pest problematic. Moreover, this approach allows us to predict not only distribution shifts but also future population status and growth, and to identify the demographic parameters on which to focus to mitigate global change effects. PMID:23152836

The current and future state of companion diagnostics

PubMed Central

Agarwal, Amit; Ressler, Dan; Snyder, Glenn

2015-01-01

Companion diagnostics are an indispensable part of personalized medicine and will likely continue to rapidly increase in number and application to disease areas. The first companion diagnostics were launched in the 1980s and in the face of significant initial skepticism from drug developers as to whether segmenting a drug’s market through a diagnostic was advisable. The commercial success of drugs such as Herceptin® (trastuzumab) and Gleevec® (imatinib), which both require testing with companion diagnostics before they can be prescribed, has moved the entire companion diagnostic field forward. From an initial start of a handful of oncology drugs with corresponding diagnostics, the field has expanded to include multiple therapeutic areas, and the number of combinations has grown by 12-fold. Based on drugs in clinical trials, the rapid growth will likely continue for the foreseeable future. This expansion of companion diagnostics will also have a global component as markets in Europe will evolve in a similar but not identical pattern as the US. One of the greatest challenges to future growth in companion diagnostics is aligning the incentives of all stakeholders. A major driver of growth will continue to be the economic incentives for drug developers to pair their products with diagnostics. However, diagnostic companies are caught between the conflicting demands of two major stakeholders, pharmaceutical companies on one hand and payers/providers on the other. Regulators are also becoming more demanding in aligning development time lines between drugs and diagnostics. In order to survive and prosper, diagnostic companies will need to think more broadly about companion diagnostics than the historical match between a specific drug and a single diagnostic. They will also have to continue the process of consolidation and global expansion that the industry has already begun. Despite these potential obstacles, companion diagnostics have become one of the hottest areas of deal making in the diagnostic space in recent years, and the future trends continue to look bright. PMID:25897259

Pre-Analytical Considerations for Successful Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS): Challenges and Opportunities for Formalin-Fixed and Paraffin-Embedded Tumor Tissue (FFPE) Samples

PubMed Central

Arreaza, Gladys; Qiu, Ping; Pang, Ling; Albright, Andrew; Hong, Lewis Z.; Marton, Matthew J.; Levitan, Diane

2016-01-01

In cancer drug discovery, it is important to investigate the genetic determinants of response or resistance to cancer therapy as well as factors that contribute to adverse events in the course of clinical trials. Despite the emergence of new technologies and the ability to measure more diverse analytes (e.g., circulating tumor cell (CTC), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), etc.), tumor tissue is still the most common and reliable source for biomarker investigation. Because of its worldwide use and ability to preserve samples for many decades at ambient temperature, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue (FFPE) is likely to be the preferred choice for tissue preservation in clinical practice for the foreseeable future. Multiple analyses are routinely performed on the same FFPE samples (such as Immunohistochemistry (IHC), in situ hybridization, RNAseq, DNAseq, TILseq, Methyl-Seq, etc.). Thus, specimen prioritization and optimization of the isolation of analytes is critical to ensure successful completion of each assay. FFPE is notorious for producing suboptimal DNA quality and low DNA yield. However, commercial vendors tend to request higher DNA sample mass than what is actually required for downstream assays, which restricts the breadth of biomarker work that can be performed. We evaluated multiple genomics service laboratories to assess the current state of NGS pre-analytical processing of FFPE. Significant differences in pre-analytical capabilities were observed. Key aspects are highlighted and recommendations are made to improve the current practice in translational research. PMID:27657050

[New insight into bacterial zoonotic pathogens posing health hazards to humans].

PubMed

Ciszewski, Marcin; Czekaj, Tomasz; Szewczyk, Eligia Maria

2014-01-01

This article presents the problem of evolutionary changes of zoonotic pathogens responsible for human diseases. Everyone is exposed to the risk of zoonotic infection, particularly employees having direct contact with animals, i.e. veterinarians, breeders, butchers and workers of animal products' processing industry. The article focuses on pathogens monitored by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which has been collecting statistical data on zoonoses from all European Union countries for 19 years and publishing collected data in annual epidemiological reports. Currently, the most important 11 pathogens responsible for causing human zoonotic diseases are being monitored, of which seven are bacteria: Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium bovis, Brucella spp., Coxiella burnetti and Verotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC)/Shiga-like toxin producing E. coli (STEC). As particularly important are considered foodborne pathogens. The article also includes new emerging zoonotic bacteria, which are not currently monitored by ECDC but might pose a serious epidemiological problem in a foreseeable future: Streptococcus iniae, S. suis, S. dysgalactiae and staphylococci: Staphylococcus intermedius, S. pseudintermedius. Those species have just crossed the animal-human interspecies barrier. The exact mechanism of this phenomenon remains unknown, it is connected, however, with genetic variability, capability to survive in changing environment. These abilities derive from DNA rearrangement and horizontal gene transfer between bacterial cells. Substantial increase in the number of scientific publications on this subject, observed over the last few years, illustrates the importance of the problem.

Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinallo, Michael

2011-04-01

Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) from nuclear detonations have been observed for well over half a century. Beginning in the mid-to-late 1950s, the physics and modeling of EMP has been researched and will continue into the foreseeable future. The EMP environment propagates hundreds of miles from its origins and causes interference for all types of electronic instrumentation. This includes military, municipal and industry based electronic infrastructures such as power generation and distribution, command and control systems, systems used in financial and emergency services, electronic monitoring and communications networks, to mention some key infrastructure elements. Research into EMP has included originating physics, propagation and electromagnetic field coupling analyses and measurement-sensor development. Several methods for calculating EMP induced transient interference (voltage and current induction) will be briefly discussed and protection techniques reviewed. These methods can be mathematically simple or involve challenging boundary value solution techniques. A few illustrative calculations will demonstrate the concern for electronic system operability. Analyses such as the Wunsch-Bell model for electronic upset or damage, and the Singularity Expansion Method (SEM) put forth by Dr. Carl Baum, will facilitate the concern for EMP effects. The SEM determines the voltages and currents induced from transient electromagnetic fields in terms of natural modes of various types of electronic platforms (aerospace vehicles or land-based assets - fixed or mobile). Full-scale facility and laboratory simulation and response measurement approaches will be discussed. The talk will conclude with a discussion of some present research activities.

Cost effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in South Carolina

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barker, A.C.; Wright, B.C.; Bennett, C.S.

1985-01-01

The cost effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in South Carolina was documented for the 1983 water yr. Data uses and funding sources were identified for the 76 continuous stream gages currently being operated in South Carolina. The budget of $422,200 for collecting and analyzing streamflow data also includes the cost of operating stage-only and crest-stage stations. The streamflow records for one stream gage can be determined by alternate, less costly methods, and should be discontinued. The remaining 75 stations should be maintained in the program for the foreseeable future. The current policy for the operation of the 75 stations including the crest-stage and stage-only stations would require a budget of $417,200/yr. The average standard error of estimation of streamflow records is 16.9% for the present budget with missing record included. However, the standard error of estimation would decrease to 8.5% if complete streamflow records could be obtained. It was shown that the average standard error of estimation of 16.9% could be obtained at the 75 sites with a budget of approximately $395,000 if the gaging resources were redistributed among the gages. A minimum budget of $383,500 is required to operate the program; a budget less than this does not permit proper service and maintenance of the gages and recorders. At the minimum budget, the average standard error is 18.6%. The maximum budget analyzed was $850,000, which resulted in an average standard error of 7.6 %. (Author 's abstract)

Space and the Third Offset Symposium - Summary Report

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

Bahney, B.

The Third Offset Workshop explored the nature of the challenges and opportunities facing the United States as it is increasingly forced to integrate space into defense strategy as well as deterrence and strategic stability frameworks. Participants broadly agreed that Washington’s deep ties to allies and partners, as well as its history of leveraging an innovative U.S private sector, will be enduring competitive advantages against potential rivals into the foreseeable future. Yet panelists also highlighted key challenges from Russia and China’s rapid integration of space capabilities into conventional and nuclear warfighting, the pronounced growth in Chinese and Russian counterspace capabilities, andmore » tensions in the U.S.-Russia relationship.« less

Iron and steel recycling in the United States in 1998

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fenton, Michael D.

2001-01-01

Consumption of iron and steel scrap and the health of the scrap industry depend directly on the health of the steelmaking industry. The United States, as well as most of the world, is expected to consume increasing amounts of scrap as a steadily increasing population demands more steel products. World resources of scrap should be sufficient for the foreseeable future. An estimated 75 million metric tons (Mt) of scrap was generated during 1998 in the United States, and 35 Mt of old scrap and 18 Mt of new scrap was consumed. The recycling efficiency was calculated to be 52%, and the recycling rate was found to be 41%. (See appendix for definitions.)

Mineral supply for sustainable development requires resource governance.

PubMed

Ali, Saleem H; Giurco, Damien; Arndt, Nicholas; Nickless, Edmund; Brown, Graham; Demetriades, Alecos; Durrheim, Ray; Enriquez, Maria Amélia; Kinnaird, Judith; Littleboy, Anna; Meinert, Lawrence D; Oberhänsli, Roland; Salem, Janet; Schodde, Richard; Schneider, Gabi; Vidal, Olivier; Yakovleva, Natalia

2017-03-15

Successful delivery of the United Nations sustainable development goals and implementation of the Paris Agreement requires technologies that utilize a wide range of minerals in vast quantities. Metal recycling and technological change will contribute to sustaining supply, but mining must continue and grow for the foreseeable future to ensure that such minerals remain available to industry. New links are needed between existing institutional frameworks to oversee responsible sourcing of minerals, trajectories for mineral exploration, environmental practices, and consumer awareness of the effects of consumption. Here we present, through analysis of a comprehensive set of data and demand forecasts, an interdisciplinary perspective on how best to ensure ecologically viable continuity of global mineral supply over the coming decades.

Modelling of corruption repression by Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nugraha, Muhammad Ridwan Reza; Nuraini, Nuning

2017-03-01

Based on data from transparency.org, in 2015 Indonesia was ranked 88 out of 168 most corrupt countries in the world, with a score of 36 (high corruption levels 0 - 100 free of corruption). Scores of corruption in Indonesia increased from 32 to 36 since 2012 until 2015. Since 2002, the eradication of corruption in Indonesia conducted by Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi. The number of legal actions undertaken by the Commission since 2002 to 2015 increased. In the mathematical model, we want to know the tendency of many legal actions carried out by the Commission for the foreseeable future. By knowing these trends, we can take a variety of strategies that can make Indonesia free from corruption.

Ultra high-definition video: convergence toward 100Gbps and beyond for digital A/V connectivity with fiber optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parekh, Devang; Nguyen, Nguyen X.

2018-02-01

The recent advent of Ultra-high-definition television (also known as Ultra HD television, Ultra HD, UHDTV, UHD and Super Hi-Vision) has accelerated a demand for a Fiber-in-the-Premises video communication (VCOM) solution that converges toward 100Gbps and Beyond. Hybrid Active-Optical-Cables (AOC) is a holistic connectivity platform well suited for this "The Last Yard" connectivity; as it combines both copper and fiber optics to deliver a high data-rate and power transmission needed. While technically feasible yet challenging to manufacture, hybrid-AOC could be a holygrail fiber-optics solution that dwarfs the volume of both telecom and datacom connection in the foreseeable future.

Managing in turbulent times: issues and challenges in health care mergers and acquisitions.

PubMed

Jones, S A

1999-09-01

The environment of the health care system in the present and foreseeable future has been described as a revolution whose impetus comes from Wall Street. The new system of health care is characterized by mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. For-profit conversions and mergers of religious and secular organizations were almost unheard of before the last decade. The challenges facing nursing leadership in these turbulent times are (1) dealing with the human dynamics associated with creating new organizational cultures, (2) shifting focus away from event-driven cost avoidance and protecting institutional assets, and (3) shifting focus toward stewardship of community resources and nursing practice beyond institutional boundaries.

[The need for experiments using primates from a scientific point of view].

PubMed

Kaup, F J

2007-03-01

Concerning the public discussion on animal experiments using primates, various research fields are demonstrated where non-human primates are necessary for certain scientific reasons at this time. Non-human Primates are used in Germany mainly in regulatory toxicology and pharmaceutical safety studies.A small amount is disposed in different fields of biological or biomedical basic research. This includes in particular neurosciences and infection research. 2006 New and Old World monkeys were needed in Germany in 2005. No chimpanzees are used anymore as laboratory animals in Germany since many years. Several examples are presented to demonstrate that certain research fields need non-human primates as laboratory animals in the foreseeable future.

Mineral supply for sustainable development requires resource governance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ali, Saleem H.; Giurco, Damien; Arndt, Nicholas; Nickless, Edmund; Brown, Graham; Demetriades, Alecos; Durrheim, Ray; Enriquez, Maria Amélia; Kinnaird, Judith; Littleboy, Anna; Meinert, Lawrence D.; Oberhänsli, Roland; Salem, Janet; Schodde, Richard; Schneider, Gabi; Vidal, Olivier; Yakovleva, Natalia

2017-01-01

Successful delivery of the United Nations sustainable development goals and implementation of the Paris Agreement requires technologies that utilize a wide range of minerals in vast quantities. Metal recycling and technological change will contribute to sustaining supply, but mining must continue and grow for the foreseeable future to ensure that such minerals remain available to industry. New links are needed between existing institutional frameworks to oversee responsible sourcing of minerals, trajectories for mineral exploration, environmental practices, and consumer awareness of the effects of consumption. Here we present, through analysis of a comprehensive set of data and demand forecasts, an interdisciplinary perspective on how best to ensure ecologically viable continuity of global mineral supply over the coming decades.

Mineral supply for sustainable development requires resource governance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Saleem H.; Giurco, Damien; Arndt, Nicholas; Nickless, Edmund; Brown, Graham; Demetriades, Alecos; Durrheim, Ray; Enriquez, Maria Amélia; Kinnaird, Judith; Littleboy, Anna; Meinert, Lawrence D.; Oberhänsli, Roland; Salem, Janet; Schodde, Richard; Schneider, Gabi; Vidal, Olivier; Yakovleva, Natalia

2017-03-01

Successful delivery of the United Nations sustainable development goals and implementation of the Paris Agreement requires technologies that utilize a wide range of minerals in vast quantities. Metal recycling and technological change will contribute to sustaining supply, but mining must continue and grow for the foreseeable future to ensure that such minerals remain available to industry. New links are needed between existing institutional frameworks to oversee responsible sourcing of minerals, trajectories for mineral exploration, environmental practices, and consumer awareness of the effects of consumption. Here we present, through analysis of a comprehensive set of data and demand forecasts, an interdisciplinary perspective on how best to ensure ecologically viable continuity of global mineral supply over the coming decades.

Biological challenges of true space settlement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mankins, John C.; Mankins, Willa M.; Walter, Helen

2018-05-01

"Space Settlements" - i.e., permanent human communities beyond Earth's biosphere - have been discussed within the space advocacy community since the 1970s. Now, with the end of the International Space Station (ISS) program fast approaching (planned for 2024-2025) and the advent of low cost Earth-to-orbit (ETO) transportation in the near future, the concept is coming once more into mainstream. Considerable attention has been focused on various issues associated with the engineering and human health considerations of space settlement such as artificial gravity and radiation shielding. However, relatively little attention has been given to the biological implications of a self-sufficient space settlement. Three fundamental questions are explored in this paper: (1) what are the biological "foundations" of truly self-sufficient space settlements in the foreseeable future, (2) what is the minimum scale for such self-sustaining human settlements, and (3) what are the integrated biologically-driven system requirements for such settlements? The paper examines briefly the implications of the answers to these questions in relevant potential settings (including free space, the Moon and Mars). Finally, this paper suggests relevant directions for future research and development in order for such space settlements to become viable in the future.

Animal health aspects of adaptation to climate change: beating the heat and parasites in a warming Europe.

PubMed

Skuce, P J; Morgan, E R; van Dijk, J; Mitchell, M

2013-06-01

Weather patterns in northern European regions have changed noticeably over the past several decades, featuring warmer, wetter weather with more extreme events. The climate is projected to continue on this trajectory for the foreseeable future, even under the most modest warming scenarios. Such changes will have a significant impact on livestock farming, both directly through effects on the animals themselves, and indirectly through changing exposure to pests and pathogens. Adaptation options aimed at taking advantage of new opportunities and/or minimising the risks of negative impacts will, in themselves, have implications for animal health and welfare. In this review, we consider the potential consequences of future intensification of animal production, challenges associated with indoor and outdoor rearing of animals and aspects of animal transportation as key examples. We investigate the direct and indirect effects of climate change on the epidemiology of important livestock pathogens, with a particular focus on parasitic infections, and the likely animal health consequences associated with selected adaptation options. Finally, we attempt to identify key gaps in our knowledge and suggest future research priorities.

Work satisfaction and future career intentions of experienced nurses transitioning to primary health care employment.

PubMed

Ashley, Christine; Peters, Kath; Brown, Angela; Halcomb, Elizabeth

2018-02-12

To explore registered nurses' reflections on transitioning from acute to primary health care employment, and future career intentions. Reforms in primary health care have resulted in increasing demands for a skilled primary health care nursing workforce. To meet shortfalls, acute care nurses are being recruited to primary health care employment, yet little is known about levels of satisfaction and future career intentions. A sequential mixed methods study consisting of a survey and semi-structured interviews with nurses who transition to primary health care. Most reported positive experiences, valuing work/life balance, role diversity and patient/family interactions. Limited orientation and support, loss of acute skills and inequitable remuneration were reported negatively. Many respondents indicated an intention to stay in primary health care (87.3%) and nursing (92.6%) for the foreseeable future, whilst others indicated they may leave primary health care as soon as convenient (29.6%). Our findings provide guidance to managers in seeking strategies to recruit and retain nurses in primary health care employment. To maximize recruitment and retention, managers must consider factors influencing job satisfaction amongst transitioning nurses, and the impact that nurses' past experiences may have on future career intentions in primary health care. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Moving Toward Real Time Data Handling: Data Management at the IRIS DMC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahern, T. K.; Benson, R. B.

2001-12-01

The IRIS Data Management Center at the University of Washington has become a major archive and distribution center for a wide variety of seismological data. With a mass storage system with a 360-terabyte capacity, the center is well positioned to manage the data flow, both inbound and outbound, from all anticipated seismic sources for the foreseeable future. As data flow in and out of the IRIS DMC at an increasing rate, new methods to deal with data using purely automated techniques are being developed. The on-line and self-service data repositories of SPYDERr and FARM are collections of seismograms for all larger events. The WWW tool WILBER and the client application WEED are examples of tools that provide convenient access to the 1/2 terabyte of SPYDERr and FARM data. The Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) system provides access to continuous data available in real time from GSN, FDSN, US regional networks, and other globally distributed stations. Continuous data that have received quality control are always available from the archive of continuous data. This presentation will review current and future data access techniques supported at IRIS. One of the most difficult tasks at the DMC is the management of the metadata that describes all the stations, sensors, and data holdings. Demonstrations of tools that provide access to the metadata will be presented. This presentation will focus on the new techniques of data management now being developed at the IRIS DMC. We believe that these techniques are generally applicable to other types of geophysical data management as well.

Trajectory of the arctic as an integrated system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hinzman, Larry; Deal, Clara; McGuire, Anthony David; Mernild, Sebastian H.; Polyakov, Igor V.; Walsh, John E.

2013-01-01

Although much remains to be learned about the Arctic and its component processes, many of the most urgent scientific, engineering, and social questions can only be approached through a broader system perspective. Here, we address interactions between components of the Arctic System and assess feedbacks and the extent to which feedbacks (1) are now underway in the Arctic; and (2) will shape the future trajectory of the Arctic system. We examine interdependent connections among atmospheric processes, oceanic processes, sea-ice dynamics, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, land surface stocks of carbon and water, glaciers and ice caps, and the Greenland ice sheet. Our emphasis on the interactions between components, both historical and anticipated, is targeted on the feedbacks, pathways, and processes that link these different components of the Arctic system. We present evidence that the physical components of the Arctic climate system are currently in extreme states, and that there is no indication that the system will deviate from this anomalous trajectory in the foreseeable future. The feedback for which the evidence of ongoing changes is most compelling is the surface albedo-temperature feedback, which is amplifying temperature changes over land (primarily in spring) and ocean (primarily in autumn-winter). Other feedbacks likely to emerge are those in which key processes include surface fluxes of trace gases, changes in the distribution of vegetation, changes in surface soil moisture, changes in atmospheric water vapor arising from higher temperatures and greater areas of open ocean, impacts of Arctic freshwater fluxes on the meridional overturning circulation of the ocean, and changes in Arctic clouds resulting from changes in water vapor content.

What is the impact of disease prevalence upon health technology assessment?

PubMed

Rotily, Michel; Roze, Stéphane

2013-12-01

As national budgets for health care will remain under stress for the foreseeable future, health technology assessment (HTA) aimed at offering guidance to policy-making will have an increasing role to play in optimizing resources. The emergence of new treatment paradigms and health technologies, and the prevalence studies which determine when a disease is a current or future burden for patients and the community are in the roots of the HTA process. Analysing studies on screening test strategies and health care policy, this paper revisits two key concepts in epidemiology, prevalence and incidence, in order to show their major impact upon HTA. Utilization of the predictive values of screening tests that include prevalence in their calculations, and analysing all options for screening strategies are necessary in HTA. Cost-effectiveness analyses and statistical models should include potential externalities, especially the impact of prevention and treatment on infectious disease prevalence. Beyond estimates of cost-effectiveness ratios, decision makers also need to know by how much their annual health care budget is likely to increase or decrease in the years following the emergence of new technologies: hence the importance of incidence- or prevalence-based economic evaluations. As new paradigms are occurring, especially in the field of oncology, with treatments targeted to 'small' groups of patients identified through genetic testing, prevalence data are strongly needed. Precise estimates of disease prevalence, in general populations as well as in risk or targeted groups, will therefore be necessary to improve HTA process. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trajectory of the Arctic as an integrated system.

PubMed

Hinzman, Larry D; Deal, Clara J; McGuire, A David; Mernild, Sebastian H; Polyakov, Igor V; Walsh, John E

2013-12-01

Although much remains to be learned about the Arctic and its component processes, many of the most urgent scientific, engineering, and social questions can only be approached through a broader system perspective. Here, we address interactions between components of the Arctic system and assess feedbacks and the extent to which feedbacks (1) are now underway in the Arctic and (2) will shape the future trajectory of the Arctic system. We examine interdependent connections among atmospheric processes, oceanic processes, sea-ice dynamics, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, land surface stocks of carbon and water, glaciers and ice caps, and the Greenland ice sheet. Our emphasis on the interactions between components, both historical and anticipated, is targeted on the feedbacks, pathways, and processes that link these different components of the Arctic system. We present evidence that the physical components of the Arctic climate system are currently in extreme states, and that there is no indication that the system will deviate from this anomalous trajectory in the foreseeable future. The feedback for which the evidence of ongoing changes is most compelling is the surface albedo-temperature feedback, which is amplifying temperature changes over land (primarily in spring) and ocean (primarily in autumn-winter). Other feedbacks likely to emerge are those in which key processes include surface fluxes of trace gases, changes in the distribution of vegetation, changes in surface soil moisture, changes in atmospheric water vapor arising from higher temperatures and greater areas of open ocean, impacts of Arctic freshwater fluxes on the meridional overturning circulation of the ocean, and changes in Arctic clouds resulting from changes in water vapor content.

The rise of artificial intelligence and the uncertain future for physicians.

PubMed

Krittanawong, C

2018-02-01

Physicians in everyday clinical practice are under pressure to innovate faster than ever because of the rapid, exponential growth in healthcare data. "Big data" refers to extremely large data sets that cannot be analyzed or interpreted using traditional data processing methods. In fact, big data itself is meaningless, but processing it offers the promise of unlocking novel insights and accelerating breakthroughs in medicine-which in turn has the potential to transform current clinical practice. Physicians can analyze big data, but at present it requires a large amount of time and sophisticated analytic tools such as supercomputers. However, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in the era of big data could assist physicians in shortening processing times and improving the quality of patient care in clinical practice. This editorial provides a glimpse at the potential uses of AI technology in clinical practice and considers the possibility of AI replacing physicians, perhaps altogether. Physicians diagnose diseases based on personal medical histories, individual biomarkers, simple scores (e.g., CURB-65, MELD), and their physical examinations of individual patients. In contrast, AI can diagnose diseases based on a complex algorithm using hundreds of biomarkers, imaging results from millions of patients, aggregated published clinical research from PubMed, and thousands of physician's notes from electronic health records (EHRs). While AI could assist physicians in many ways, it is unlikely to replace physicians in the foreseeable future. Let us look at the emerging uses of AI in medicine. Copyright © 2017 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF GEOENGINEERING: A Review for Developing a Science Plan

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

Russell, Lynn M; Jackson, Robert B; Norby, Richard J

2012-01-01

Geoengineering methods are intended to reduce the magnitude of climate change, which is already having demonstrable effects on ecosystem structure and functioning. Two different types of activities have been proposed: solar radiation management (SRM), or sunlight reflection methods, which involves reflecting a small percentage of solar light back into space to offset the warming due to greenhouse gases, and carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which includes a range of engineered and biological processes to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. This report evaluates some of the possible impacts of CDR and SRM on the physical climate and their subsequent influencemore » on ecosystems, which include the risks and uncertainties associated with new kinds of purposeful perturbations to the Earth. Therefore, the question considered in this review is whether CDR and SRM methods would exacerbate or alleviate the deleterious impacts on ecosystems associated with climate changes that might occur in the foreseeable future.Geoengineering methods are intended to reduce the magnitude of climate change, which is already having demonstrable effects on ecosystem structure and functioning. Two different types of activities have been proposed: solar radiation management (SRM), or sunlight reflection methods, which involves reflecting a small percentage of solar light back into space to offset the warming due to greenhouse gases, and carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which includes a range of engineered and biological processes to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. This report evaluates some of the possible impacts of CDR and SRM on the physical climate and their subsequent influence on ecosystems, which include the risks and uncertainties associated with new kinds of purposeful perturbations to the Earth. Therefore, the question considered in this review is whether CDR and SRM methods would exacerbate or alleviate the deleterious impacts on ecosystems associated with climate changes that might occur in the foreseeable future.« less

Cost-effectiveness of the Federal stream-gaging program in Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carpenter, D.H.

1985-01-01

Data uses and funding sources were identified for the 77 continuous stream gages currently being operated in Virginia by the U.S. Geological Survey with a budget of $446,000. Two stream gages were identified as not being used sufficiently to warrant continuing their operation. Operation of these stations should be considered for discontinuation. Data collected at two other stations were identified as having uses primarily related to short-term studies; these stations should also be considered for discontinuation at the end of the data collection phases of the studies. The remaining 73 stations should be kept in the program for the foreseeable future. The current policy for operation of the 77-station program requires a budget of $446,000/yr. The average standard error of estimation of streamflow records is 10.1%. It was shown that this overall level of accuracy at the 77 sites could be maintained with a budget of $430,500 if resources were redistributed among the gages. A minimum budget of $428,500 is required to operate the 77-gage program; a smaller budget would not permit proper service and maintenance of the gages and recorders. At the minimum budget, with optimized operation, the average standard error would be 10.4%. The maximum budget analyzed was $650,000, which resulted in an average standard error of 5.5%. The study indicates that a major component of error is caused by lost or missing data. If perfect equipment were available, the standard error for the current program and budget could be reduced to 7.6%. This also can be interpreted to mean that the streamflow data have a standard error of this magnitude during times when the equipment is operating properly. (Author 's abstract)

Electrosynthesis and characterization of nanostructured polyquinone for use in detection and quantification of naturally occurring dsDNA.

PubMed

Hernández, Loreto A; Del Valle, María A; Armijo, Francisco

2016-05-15

The detection of naturally occurring desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has become a subject of study by the projections that would generate to be able to sense the genetic material for the detection of future diseases. Bearing this in mind, to provide new measuring strategies, in the current work the preparation of a low-cost electrode, modified with poly(1-amino-9,10-anthraquinone) nanowires using a SiO2 template, is carried out; the assembly is next modified by covalently attaching ssDNA strands. It must be noted that all this is accomplished by using solely electrochemical techniques, according to methodology developed for this purpose. SEM images of the modified surface show high order and homogeneity in the distribution of modified nanowires over the electrode surface. In turn, after the hybridization with its complementary strand, the voltammetric responses enable corroborating the linear relationship between hybridization at different DNA concentrations and normalized current response, obtaining a limit of detection (LOD) 5.7·10(-12)gL(-1) and limit of quantification (LOQ) 1.9·10(-11)gL(-1). The working dynamic range is between 1.4·10(-7) and 8.5·10(-9)gL(-1) with a correlation coefficient 0.9998. The successful obtaining of the modified electrode allows concluding that the high order reached by the nanostructures, guides the subsequent single strand of DNA (ssDNA) covalent attachment, which after hybridization with its complementary strand brings about a considerable current increase. This result allows foreseeing a guaranteed breakthrough with regard to the use of the biosensor in real samples. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electronic Health Records: Then, Now, and in the Future

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Summary Objectives Describe the state of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in 1992 and their evolution by 2015 and where EHRs are expected to be in 25 years. Further to discuss the expectations for EHRs in 1992 and explore which of them were realized and what events accelerated or disrupted/derailed how EHRs evolved. Methods Literature search based on “Electronic Health Record”, “Medical Record”, and “Medical Chart” using Medline, Google, Wikipedia Medical, and Cochrane Libraries resulted in an initial review of 2,356 abstracts and other information in papers and books. Additional papers and books were identified through the review of references cited in the initial review. Results By 1992, hardware had become more affordable, powerful, and compact and the use of personal computers, local area networks, and the Internet provided faster and easier access to medical information. EHRs were initially developed and used at academic medical facilities but since most have been replaced by large vendor EHRs. While EHR use has increased and clinicians are being prepared to practice in an EHR-mediated world, technical issues have been overshadowed by procedural, professional, social, political, and especially ethical issues as well as the need for compliance with standards and information security. There have been enormous advancements that have taken place, but many of the early expectations for EHRs have not been realized and current EHRs still do not meet the needs of today’s rapidly changing healthcare environment. Conclusion The current use of EHRs initiated by new technology would have been hard to foresee. Current and new EHR technology will help to provide international standards for interoperable applications that use health, social, economic, behavioral, and environmental data to communicate, interpret, and act intelligently upon complex healthcare information to foster precision medicine and a learning health system. PMID:27199197

Proceedings: Regenerative Medicine for Lung Diseases: A CIRM Workshop Report.

PubMed

Kadyk, Lisa C; DeWitt, Natalie D; Gomperts, Brigitte

2017-10-01

The mission of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is to accelerate treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. In September 2016, CIRM sponsored a workshop held at the University of California, Los Angeles, to discuss regenerative medicine approaches for treatment of lung diseases and to identify the challenges remaining for advancing such treatments to the clinic and market approval. Workshop participants discussed current preclinical and clinical approaches to regenerative medicine in the lung, as well as the biology of lung stem cells and the role of stem cells in the etiology of various lung diseases. The outcome of this effort was the recognition that whereas transient cell delivery approaches are leading the way in the clinic, recent advances in the understanding of lung stem cell biology, in vitro and in vivo disease modeling, gene editing and replacement methods, and cell engraftment approaches raise the prospect of developing cures for some lung diseases in the foreseeable future. In addition, advances in in vitro modeling using lung organoids and "lung on a chip" technology are setting the stage for high quality small molecule drug screening to develop treatments for lung diseases with complex biology. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2017;6:1823-1828. © 2017 The Authors Stem Cells Translational Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of AlphaMed Press.

Drilling, sampling, and sample-handling system for China's asteroid exploration mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Tao; Zhang, Wenming; Wang, Kang; Gao, Sheng; Hou, Liang; Ji, Jianghui; Ding, Xilun

2017-08-01

Asteroid exploration has a significant importance in promoting our understanding of the solar system and the origin of life on Earth. A unique opportunity to study near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis will occur in 2029 because it will be at its perigee. In the current work, a drilling, sampling, and sample-handling system (DSSHS) is proposed to penetrate the asteroid regolith, collect regolith samples at different depths, and distribute the samples to different scientific instruments for in situ analysis. In this system, a rotary-drilling method is employed for the penetration, and an inner sampling tube is utilized to collect and discharge the regolith samples. The sampling tube can deliver samples up to a maximum volume of 84 mm3 at a maximum penetration depth of 300 mm to 17 different ovens. To activate the release of volatile substances, the samples will be heated up to a temperature of 600 °C by the ovens, and these substances will be analyzed by scientific instruments such as a mass spectrometer, an isotopic analyzer, and micro-cameras, among other instruments. The DSSHS is capable of penetrating rocks with a hardness value of six, and it can be used for China's asteroid exploration mission in the foreseeable future.

Invasive lionfish reduce native fish abundance on a regional scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballew, Nicholas G.; Bacheler, Nathan M.; Kellison, G. Todd; Schueller, Amy M.

2016-08-01

Invasive lionfish pose an unprecedented threat to biodiversity and fisheries throughout Atlantic waters off of the southeastern United States, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. Here, we employ a spatially replicated Before-After-Control-Impact analysis with temporal pairing to quantify for the first time the impact of the lionfish invasion on native fish abundance across a broad regional scale and over the entire duration of the lionfish invasion (1990-2014). Our results suggest that 1) lionfish-impacted areas off of the southeastern United States are most prevalent off-shore near the continental shelf-break but are also common near-shore and 2) in impacted areas, lionfish have reduced tomtate (a native forage fish) abundance by 45% since the invasion began. Tomtate served as a model native fish species in our analysis, and as such, it is likely that the lionfish invasion has had similar impacts on other species, some of which may be of economic importance. Barring the development of a control strategy that reverses the lionfish invasion, the abundance of lionfish in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico will likely remain at or above current levels. Consequently, the effect of lionfish on native fish abundance will likely continue for the foreseeable future.

Invasive lionfish reduce native fish abundance on a regional scale.

PubMed

Ballew, Nicholas G; Bacheler, Nathan M; Kellison, G Todd; Schueller, Amy M

2016-08-31

Invasive lionfish pose an unprecedented threat to biodiversity and fisheries throughout Atlantic waters off of the southeastern United States, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. Here, we employ a spatially replicated Before-After-Control-Impact analysis with temporal pairing to quantify for the first time the impact of the lionfish invasion on native fish abundance across a broad regional scale and over the entire duration of the lionfish invasion (1990-2014). Our results suggest that 1) lionfish-impacted areas off of the southeastern United States are most prevalent off-shore near the continental shelf-break but are also common near-shore and 2) in impacted areas, lionfish have reduced tomtate (a native forage fish) abundance by 45% since the invasion began. Tomtate served as a model native fish species in our analysis, and as such, it is likely that the lionfish invasion has had similar impacts on other species, some of which may be of economic importance. Barring the development of a control strategy that reverses the lionfish invasion, the abundance of lionfish in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico will likely remain at or above current levels. Consequently, the effect of lionfish on native fish abundance will likely continue for the foreseeable future.

Invasive lionfish reduce native fish abundance on a regional scale

PubMed Central

Ballew, Nicholas G.; Bacheler, Nathan M.; Kellison, G. Todd; Schueller, Amy M.

2016-01-01

Invasive lionfish pose an unprecedented threat to biodiversity and fisheries throughout Atlantic waters off of the southeastern United States, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. Here, we employ a spatially replicated Before-After-Control-Impact analysis with temporal pairing to quantify for the first time the impact of the lionfish invasion on native fish abundance across a broad regional scale and over the entire duration of the lionfish invasion (1990–2014). Our results suggest that 1) lionfish-impacted areas off of the southeastern United States are most prevalent off-shore near the continental shelf-break but are also common near-shore and 2) in impacted areas, lionfish have reduced tomtate (a native forage fish) abundance by 45% since the invasion began. Tomtate served as a model native fish species in our analysis, and as such, it is likely that the lionfish invasion has had similar impacts on other species, some of which may be of economic importance. Barring the development of a control strategy that reverses the lionfish invasion, the abundance of lionfish in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico will likely remain at or above current levels. Consequently, the effect of lionfish on native fish abundance will likely continue for the foreseeable future. PMID:27578096

Adaptation technology between IP layer and optical layer in optical Internet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Yuefeng; Li, Hua; Sun, Yongmei

2001-10-01

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical network provides a platform with high bandwidth capacity and is supposed to be the backbone infrastructure supporting the next-generation high-speed multi-service networks (ATM, IP, etc.). In the foreseeable future, IP will be the predominant data traffic, to make fully use of the bandwidth of the WDM optical network, many attentions have been focused on IP over WDM, which has been proposed as the most promising technology for new kind of network, so-called Optical Internet. According to OSI model, IP is in the 3rd layer (network layer) and optical network is in the 1st layer (physical layer), so the key issue is what adaptation technology should be used in the 2nd layer (data link layer). In this paper, firstly, we analyze and compare the current adaptation technologies used in backbone network nowadays. Secondly, aiming at the drawbacks of above technologies, we present a novel adaptation protocol (DONA) between IP layer and optical layer in Optical Internet and describe it in details. Thirdly, the gigabit transmission adapter (GTA) we accomplished based on the novel protocol is described. Finally, we set up an experiment platform to apply and verify the DONA and GTA, the results and conclusions of the experiment are given.

Mechanisms of carcinogensis: dose response

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

Gehring, P.J.; Blau, G.E.

There is great controversy whether the carcinogenicity of chemicals is dose-dependent and whether a threshold dose exists below which cancer will not be induced by exposure. Evidence for dose-dependency exists and is believed to be accepted generally if extricated as it should be from the threshold concept. The threshold concept conflict is not likely to be resolved in the foreseeable future; proponents and opponents argue their case in a manner similar to those arguing religion. In this paper the various arguments are reviewed. Subsequently, a chemical process model for carcinogenesis is developed based on the generally accepted evidence that themore » carcinogenic activity of many chemicals can be related to electrophilic alkylation of DNA. Using this model, some incidence of cancer, albeit negligible, will be predicted regardless how low the dose. However, the model revelas that the incidence of cancer induced by real-life exposures is likely to be greatly overestimated by currently used stochastic statistical extrapolations. Even more important, modeling of the chemical processes involved in the fate of a carcinogenic chemical in the body reveals experimental approaches to elucidating the mechanism(s) of carcinogenesis and ultimately a more scientifically sound basis for assessing the hazard of low-level exposure to a chemical carcinogen.« less

The Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment Archive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koss, Matthew

2009-03-01

The growth of dendrites is governed by the interplay between two simple and familiar processes---the irreversible diffusion of energy, and the reversible work done in the formation of new surface area. To advance our understanding of these processes, NASA sponsored a project that flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia is 1994, 1996, and 1997 to record and analyze benchmark data in an apparent-microgravity ``laboratory.'' In this laboratory, energy transfer by gravity driven convection was essentially eliminated and one could test independently, for the first time, both components of dendritic growth theory. The analysis of this data shows that although the diffusion of energy can be properly accounted for, the results from interfacial physics appear to be in disagreement and alternate models should receive increased attention. Unfortunately, currently and for the foreseeable future, there is no access or financial support to develop and conduct additional experiments of this type. However, the benchmark data of 35mm photonegatives, video, and all supporting instrument data are now available at the IDGE Archive at the College of the Holy Cross. This data may still have considerable relevance to researchers working specifically with dendritic growth, and more generally those working in the synthesis, growth & processing of materials, multiscale computational modeling, pattern formation, and systems far from equilibrium.

Production of Solar-Grade Silicon by the SiF4 and Mg Reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Xiaobing; Bao, Jianer; Sanjurjo, Angel

2016-12-01

Over 90 pct of the solar cells currently produced and installed are Si based, and this industrial dominance is expected to persist for the foreseeable future. The crystalline Si substrate accounts for a significant portion of the total cost of solar cells. In order to further reduce the cost of solar panels, there has been significant effort in producing inexpensive solar-grade Si, mainly through three paths: (1) modification of the Siemens process to lower production costs, (2) upgrading metallurgical-grade Si to reach solar-grade purity, and (3) by means of new metallurgical processes such as the reduction of a silicon halide, e.g., SiF4 or SiCl4, by a reactive metal such as Na or Zn. In this paper, we describe an alternative path that uses Mg to react with SiF4 to produce low-cost solar grade Si. Experimental conditions for complete reaction and separation of the products, Si and MgF2, as well as aspects of the reaction mechanism are described. The reaction involves both a heterogeneous liquid-gas phase reaction and a homogeneous gas-gas phase reaction. When pure Mg was used, the Si product obtained had sub-ppm levels of B and P impurities and is expected to be suitable for solar cell applications.

Cost effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in Ohio

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shindel, H.L.; Bartlett, W.P.

1986-01-01

This report documents the results of the cost effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in Ohio. Data uses and funding sources were identified for 107 continuous stream gages currently being operated by the U.S. Geological Survey in Ohio with a budget of $682,000; this budget includes field work for other projects and excludes stations jointly operated with the Miami Conservancy District. No stream gage were identified as having insufficient reason to continue their operation; nor were any station identified as having uses specifically only for short-term studies. All 107 station should be maintained in the program for the foreseeable future. The average standard error of estimation of stream flow records is 29.2 percent at its present level of funding. A minimum budget of $679,000 is required to operate the 107-gage program; a budget less than this does no permit proper service and maintenance of the gages and recorders. At the minimum budget, the average standard error is 31.1 percent The maximum budget analyzed was $1,282,000, which resulted in an average standard error of 11.1 percent. A need for additional gages has been identified by the other agencies that cooperate in the program. It is suggested that these gage be installed as funds can be made available.

The current and potential impact of genetics and genomics on neuropsychopharmacology.

PubMed

Harrison, Paul J

2015-05-01

One justification for the major scientific and financial investments in genetic and genomic studies in medicine is their therapeutic potential, both for revealing novel targets for drugs which treat the disease process, as well as allowing for more effective and safe use of existing medications. This review considers the extent to which this promise has yet been realised within psychopharmacology, how things are likely to develop in the foreseeable future, and the key issues involved. It draws primarily on examples from schizophrenia and its treatments. One observation is that there is evidence for a range of genetic influences on different aspects of psychopharmacology in terms of discovery science, but far less evidence that meets the standards required before such discoveries impact upon clinical practice. One reason is that results reveal complex genetic influences that are hard to replicate and usually of very small effect. Similarly, the slow progress being made in revealing the genes that underlie the major psychiatric syndromes hampers attempts to apply the findings to identify novel drug targets. Nevertheless, there are some intriguing positive findings of various kinds, and clear potential for genetics and genomics to play an increasing and major role in psychiatric drug discovery. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

A novel approach to evaluating the UK childhood immunisation schedule: estimating the effective coverage vector across the entire vaccine programme.

PubMed

Crowe, Sonya; Utley, Martin; Walker, Guy; Panovska-Griffiths, Jasmina; Grove, Peter; Pagel, Christina

2015-12-29

The availability of new vaccines can prompt policy makers to consider changes to the routine childhood immunisation programme in the UK. Alterations to one aspect of the schedule may have implications for other areas of the programme (e.g. adding more injections could reduce uptake of vaccines featuring later in the schedule). Colleagues at the Department of Health (DH) in the UK therefore wanted to know whether assessing the impact across the entire programme of a proposed change to the UK schedule could lead to different decisions than those made on the current case-by-case basis. This work is a first step towards addressing this question. A novel framework for estimating the effective coverage against all of the diseases within a vaccination programme was developed. The framework was applied to the current (August 2015) UK childhood immunisation programme, plausible extensions to it in the foreseeable future (introducing vaccination against Meningitis B and/or Hepatitis B) and a "what-if" scenario regarding a Hepatitis B vaccine scare that was developed in close collaboration with DH. Our applications of the framework demonstrate that a programme-view of hypothetical changes to the schedule is important. For example, we show how introducing Hepatitis B vaccination could negatively impact aspects of the current programme by reducing uptake of vaccines featuring later in the schedule, and illustrate that the potential benefits of introducing any new vaccine are susceptible to behaviour changes affecting uptake (e.g. a vaccine scare). We show how it may be useful to consider the potential benefits and scheduling needs of all vaccinations on the horizon of interest rather than those of an individual vaccine in isolation, e.g. how introducing Meningitis B vaccination could saturate the early (2-month) visit, thereby potentially restricting scheduling options for Hepatitis B immunisation should it be introduced to the programme in the future. Our results demonstrate the potential benefit of considering the programme-wide impact of changes to an immunisation schedule, and our framework is an important step in the development of a means for systematically doing so.

The Importance and Current Limitations of Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) Retrieval from Space for Land-Atmosphere Coupling Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santanello, J. A., Jr.; Schaefer, A.

2016-12-01

There is an established need for improved PBL remote sounding over land for hydrology, land-atmosphere (L-A), PBL, cloud/convection, pollution/chemistry studies and associated model evaluation and development. Most notably, the connection of surface hydrology (through soil moisture) to clouds and precipitation relies on proper quantification of water's transport through the coupled system, which is modulated strongly by PBL structure, growth, and feedback processes such as entrainment. In-situ (ground-based or radiosonde) measurements will be spatially limited to small field campaigns for the foreseeable future, so satellite data is a must in order to understand these processes globally. The scales of these applications require diurnal resolution (e.g. 3-hourly or finer) at <100m vertical and 1-10km spatial resolutions in order to assess processes driving land-PBL coupling and water and energy cycles at their native scales. Today's satellite sensors (e.g. advanced IR, GEO, lidar, GPS-RO) do not reach close to these targets in terms of accuracy or resolution, and each of these sensors has some advantages but even more limitations that make them impractical for PBL and L-A studies. Unfortunately, there is very little attention or planning (short or long-term) in place for improving lower tropospheric sounding over land, and as a result PBL and L-A interactions have been identified as `gaps' in current programmatic focal areas. It is therefore timely to assess how these technologies can be leveraged, combined, or evolved in order to form a dedicated mission or sub-mission to routinely monitor the PBL on diurnal timescales. In addition, improved PBL monitoring from space needs to be addressed in the next Decadal Survey. In this talk, the importance of PBL information (structure, evolution) for L-A coupling diagnostics and model development will be summarized. The current array of PBL retrieval methods and products from space will then be assessed in terms of meeting the needs of these models, diagnostics, and scales, with a look forward as to how this can and must be improved through future mission and sensor design.

REDUCTIONS WITHOUT REGRET: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

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

Swegle, J.; Tincher, D.

This is the first of three papers (in addition to an introductory summary) aimed at providing a framework for evaluating future reductions or modifications of the U.S. nuclear force, first by considering previous instances in which nuclear-force capabilities were eliminated; second by looking forward into at least the foreseeable future at the features of global and regional deterrence (recognizing that new weapon systems currently projected will have expected lifetimes stretching beyond our ability to predict the future); and third by providing examples of past or possible undesirable outcomes in the shaping of the future nuclear force, as well as somemore » closing thoughts for the future. This paper examines the circumstances and consequences of the elimination of The INF-range Pershing II ballistic missile and Gryphon Ground-Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM), deployed by NATO under a dual-track strategy to counter Soviet intermediate-range missiles while pursuing negotiations to limit or eliminate all of these missiles. The Short-Range Attack Missile (SRAM), which was actually a family of missiles including SRAM A, SRAM B (never deployed), and SRAM II and SRAM T, these last two cancelled during an over-budget/behind-schedule development phase as part of the Presidential Nuclear Initiatives of 1991 and 1992. The nuclear-armed version of the Tomahawk Land-Attack Cruise Missile (TLAM/N), first limited to shore-based storage by the PNIs, and finally eliminated in deliberations surrounding the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review Report. The Missile-X (MX), or Peacekeeper, a heavy MIRVed ICBM, deployed in fixed silos, rather than in an originally proposed mobile mode. Peacekeeper was likely intended as a bargaining chip to facilitate elimination of Russian heavy missiles. The plan failed when START II did not enter into force, and the missiles were eliminated at the end of their intended service life. The Small ICBM (SICBM), or Midgetman, a road-mobile, single-warhead missile for which per-unit costs were climbing when it was eliminated under the PNIs. Although there were liabilities associated with each of these systems, there were also unique capabilities; this paper lays out the pros and cons for each. Further, we articulate the capabilities that were eliminated with these systems.« less

Status of geothermal direct use in Poland

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

Bujakowski, W.

1997-12-31

Geothermal Energy uses the natural heat of the Earth. It is a local energy source, competitive, renewable and acceptable from the ecological and social points of view, which is used either for the electricity production, or for direct application such as a district heating. A great number of operating geothermal installations are found in Europe. European Community energy programs foresee in the coming years a great reduction of conventional fuel consumption, due to the risks that dependency on imported fuels implies and to the future environmental problems, which a mass exploitation of these fuels can lead to. Thus, EC energymore » policy is aimed at a drastic reduction of oil consumption and at diversification of primary energy sources. This paper will present the results from the exploration and evaluation of geothermal water resources in Poland. Herewith, a short description of performed projects, examples of designed geothermal water utilization, some economical, sociological, ecological and political aspects of present out and future projects will be presented.« less

Resources and economic growth: the American future--a dialogue. [Debate of geologist, physicist, and systems analyst

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

Meadows, D.L.; Weinberg, A.M.; Boyd, J.

Geologist James Boyd, physicist Alvin Weinberg, and systems analyst Dennis Meadows participated in a debate at which they forecast the cost and availability of world resources. Highlights of the debate and questions and comments from their audience are presented here. A range of optimism is evident in the predictions. Boyd foresees that energy and resource problems will be solved by technology, while Meadows contends that no solutions are possible until institutional and political constraints are lifted to allow resource development. Weinberg takes a middle view and proposes substitution of new resources for those, like fossil fuels, that are nearing depletion.more » The role of the market system is debated with disagreement over whether energy development should or can respond to a free market--and whether per capita energy consumption will increase or decline with limited economic growth. Policies governing access to fossil fuels and metals in the future are felt to be central to the issue. (DCK)« less

Present and foreseeable future of metabolomics in forensic analysis.

PubMed

Castillo-Peinado, L S; Luque de Castro, M D

2016-06-21

The revulsive publications during the last years on the precariousness of forensic sciences worldwide have promoted the move of major steps towards improvement of this science. One of the steps (viz. a higher involvement of metabolomics in the new era of forensic analysis) deserves to be discussed under different angles. Thus, the characteristics of metabolomics that make it a useful tool in forensic analysis, the aspects in which this omics is so far implicit, but not mentioned in forensic analyses, and how typical forensic parameters such as the post-mortem interval or fingerprints take benefits from metabolomics are critically discussed in this review. The way in which the metabolomics-forensic binomial succeeds when either conventional or less frequent samples are used is highlighted here. Finally, the pillars that should support future developments involving metabolomics and forensic analysis, and the research required for a fruitful in-depth involvement of metabolomics in forensic analysis are critically discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Human factors/ergonomics as a systems discipline? "The human use of human beings" revisited.

PubMed

Hollnagel, Erik

2014-01-01

Discussions of the possible future of Human factors/ergonomics (HFE) usually take the past for granted in the sense that the future of HFE is assumed to be more of the same. This paper argues that the nature of work in the early 2010s is so different from the nature of work when HFE was formulated 60-70 years ago that a critical reassessment of the basis for HFE is needed. If HFE should be a systems discipline, it should be a soft systems rather than a hard systems discipline. It is not enough for HFE to seek to improve performance and well-being through systems design, since any change to the work environment in principle alters the very basis for the change. Instead HFE should try to anticipate how the nature of work will change so that it can both foresee what work will be and propose what work should be. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Wind tunnel technology for the development of future commercial aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Szodruch, J.

1986-01-01

Requirements for new technologies in the area of civil aircraft design are mainly related to the high cost involved in the purchase of modern, fuel saving aircraft. A second important factor is the long term rise in the price of fuel. The demonstration of the benefits of new technologies, as far as these are related to aerodynamics, will,for the foreseeable future, still be based on wind tunnel measurements. Theoretical computation methods are very successfully used in design work, wing optimization, and an estimation of the Reynolds number effect. However, wind tunnel tests are still needed to verify the feasibility of the considered concepts. Along with other costs, the cost for the wind tunnel tests needed for the development of an aircraft is steadily increasing. The present investigation is concerned with the effect of numerical aerodynamics and civil aircraft technology on the development of wind tunnels. Attention is given to the requirements for the wind tunnel, investigative methods, measurement technology, models, and the relation between wind tunnel experiments and theoretical methods.

Grave's disease 1835-2002.

PubMed

Weetman, A P

2003-01-01

This brief review describes the history of Graves' disease, starting with the original descriptions by Parry, Graves and von Basedow. The true aetiology of the disorder was uncovered in the 1950s and 1960s, based on the search for a novel thyroid stimulator which turned out to be an immunoglobulin G autoantibody. Assays for these thyroid stimulatory antibodies have been continually refined and their epitopes on the thyroid stimulating hormone receptor are increasingly well characterized. We also understand far more about the genetic and environmental susceptibility factors that predispose to disease, and even thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy has now been better defined as primarily a T-cell-mediated disease resulting from cytokine stimulation of orbital fibroblasts. These advances should improve treatment options for Graves' disease in the foreseeable future.

Object classification and outliers analysis in the forthcoming Gaia mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ordóñez-Blanco, D.; Arcay, B.; Dafonte, C.; Manteiga, M.; Ulla, A.

2010-12-01

Astrophysics is evolving towards the rational optimization of costly observational material by the intelligent exploitation of large astronomical databases from both terrestrial telescopes and spatial mission archives. However, there has been relatively little advance in the development of highly scalable data exploitation and analysis tools needed to generate the scientific returns from these large and expensively obtained datasets. Among the upcoming projects of astronomical instrumentation, Gaia is the next cornerstone ESA mission. The Gaia survey foresees the creation of a data archive and its future exploitation with automated or semi-automated analysis tools. This work reviews some of the work that is being developed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium for the object classification and analysis of outliers in the forthcoming mission.

Guns, Mental Illness, and the Law: Introduction to This Issue.

PubMed

Swanson, Jeffrey W; Felthous, Alan R

2015-06-01

Firearm violence is a top-tier public health problem in the U.S., killing 33,563 and injuring an additional 81,396 people in 2012 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, ). Given constitutional protection and the cultural entrenchment of private gun ownership in the U.S., it is likely that guns will remain widely accessible--and largely unrestricted--for the foreseeable future. Therefore, most policies and laws intended to reduce firearm violence focus selectively on preventing "dangerous people" from having access to guns. That is a formidable challenge. How do we think productively about guns and mental illness in this context, and about the role of law in lessening the toll of gun violence? Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Coping with changing controlled vocabularies.

PubMed Central

Cimino, J. J.; Clayton, P. D.

1994-01-01

For the foreseeable future, controlled medical vocabularies will be in a constant state of development, expansion and refinement. Changes in controlled vocabularies must be reconciled with historical patient information which is coded using those vocabularies and stored in clinical databases. This paper explores the kinds of changes that can occur in controlled vocabularies, including adding terms (simple additions, refinements, redundancy and disambiguation), deleting terms, changing terms (major and minor name changes), and other special situations (obsolescence, discovering redundancy, and precoordination). Examples are drawn from actual changes appearing in the 1993 update to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD9-CM). The methods being used at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center to reconcile its Medical Entities Dictionary and its clinical database are discussed. PMID:7949906

Bio-recognition and detection using liquid crystals.

PubMed

Hussain, A; Pina, A S; Roque, A C A

2009-09-15

Liquid crystals (LCs) are used extensively by the electronics industry as display devices. Advances in the understanding of the liquid crystalline phase and the chemistry therein lead to the development of LC exhibiting faster switching speed with greater twist angle. This in turn lead to the emergence of liquid crystal displays, rendering dial-and-needle based displays (such as those used in various meters) and cathode ray tubes obsolete. In this article, we review the history of LC and their emergence as an invaluable material for display devices and the more recent discovery of their use as sensing elements in biosensors. This new application of LC as tools in the development of fast and simple biosensors is envisaged to gain more importance in the foreseeable future.

The existential cost of economic insecurity: Threatened financial security undercuts meaning.

PubMed

Abeyta, Andrew A; Routledge, Clay; Kersten, Michael; Cox, Cathy R

2017-01-01

Financial security (i.e., a person's sense that they can afford the things they need now and in the foreseeable future) contributes to psychological health and well-being. In the present research, we explored the implications of financial security for perceptions of meaning in life. In Study 1, we found that perceptions of financial insecurity predicted perceptions of meaning in life above and beyond income. Further, income only predicted perceptions of meaning to the extent that it was associated with reduced financial insecurity. In Studies 2 and 3, we found that financial security threats undermined perceptions of meaning in life. Taken together, these studies suggest that maintaining financial security is important for a sense of meaning in life.

Positrons from quantum evaporation of primordial black-holes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Durouchoux, P.; Wallyn, P.; Dubus, G.

1997-01-01

The unconfirmed prediction of quantum evaporation of primordial black holes (PBHs) is considered together with the related unanswered questions of whether PBHs ever existed and whether any could still exist. The behavior of the positrons from PHBs is modeled in relation to three facts. Firstly, the integrated emitted number spectrum of positrons is six to eight times larger than that of photons. Secondly, positrons emitted from PBHs lose energy and annihilate, producing a prominent line at 511 keV which is redshifted by the expansion of the universe. Thirdly, these photons may be detectable in the X-ray and low gamma ray energy ranges. The model predicts a flux which is significantly inferior to the instrument sensitivities of the foreseeable future.

Long-range consequences of interplanetary collisions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sagan, Carl; Ostro, Steven J.

1994-01-01

As Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 races toward its mid-July collision with the planet Jupiter, considerable public attention is focused on catastrophic impacts with the Earth -- in the past and in the future. In recent years calls have been made to develop technologies that could deflect any asteroid or comet on a collision course. Careful consideration must be given to the nature and time scale of the risk and to the cost-effectiveness and possible problems in the suggested solutions. Risk assessment, threat removal, and resources misuse are examined. The greatest concern is to have a poorly informed public -- exerting pressure for means to mitigate even non-existent threats. The only foreseeable solution is a combination of accurate orbit estimation, realistic threat assessment, and effective public education.

Availability of quality vaccines: policies of a non-government organization.

PubMed

Poore, P

1992-01-01

The availability of vaccines, or any other health service, depends upon, first, the existence of a reliable system of delivery, and the effective management of this system to reach the target population and, second, the acceptance by parents or guardians of the value of the vaccine in preventing death and disability in young children and their mothers. This system must be fully funded and resourced for the foreseeable future if the service is to be sustainable. Today the major obstacles to effective immunization of young children in developing countries is the inadequate, insecure and unpredictable availability of funds and their management. Unless these problems are addressed and solved, the immunization targets set by the World Health Assembly (WHA) will not be met.

It is hard to learn how gravity and electromagnetism couple

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

Chu Yizen; Jacobs, David M.; Ng Yifung

2010-09-15

We construct the most general effective Lagrangian coupling gravity and electromagnetism up to mass dimension 6 by enumerating all possible nonminimal coupling terms respecting both diffeomorphism and gauge invariance. In all, there are only two unique terms after field redefinitions: one is known to arise from loop effects in QED, while the other is a parity-violating term which may be generated by weak interactions within the standard model of particle physics. We show that neither the cosmological propagation of light nor, contrary to earlier claims, solar system tests of general relativity are useful probes of these terms. These nonminimal couplingsmore » of gravity and electromagnetism may remain a mystery for the foreseeable future.« less

FORESEE: Fully Outsourced secuRe gEnome Study basEd on homomorphic Encryption

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background The increasing availability of genome data motivates massive research studies in personalized treatment and precision medicine. Public cloud services provide a flexible way to mitigate the storage and computation burden in conducting genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, data privacy has been widely concerned when sharing the sensitive information in a cloud environment. Methods We presented a novel framework (FORESEE: Fully Outsourced secuRe gEnome Study basEd on homomorphic Encryption) to fully outsource GWAS (i.e., chi-square statistic computation) using homomorphic encryption. The proposed framework enables secure divisions over encrypted data. We introduced two division protocols (i.e., secure errorless division and secure approximation division) with a trade-off between complexity and accuracy in computing chi-square statistics. Results The proposed framework was evaluated for the task of chi-square statistic computation with two case-control datasets from the 2015 iDASH genome privacy protection challenge. Experimental results show that the performance of FORESEE can be significantly improved through algorithmic optimization and parallel computation. Remarkably, the secure approximation division provides significant performance gain, but without missing any significance SNPs in the chi-square association test using the aforementioned datasets. Conclusions Unlike many existing HME based studies, in which final results need to be computed by the data owner due to the lack of the secure division operation, the proposed FORESEE framework support complete outsourcing to the cloud and output the final encrypted chi-square statistics. PMID:26733391

FORESEE: Fully Outsourced secuRe gEnome Study basEd on homomorphic Encryption.

PubMed

Zhang, Yuchen; Dai, Wenrui; Jiang, Xiaoqian; Xiong, Hongkai; Wang, Shuang

2015-01-01

The increasing availability of genome data motivates massive research studies in personalized treatment and precision medicine. Public cloud services provide a flexible way to mitigate the storage and computation burden in conducting genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, data privacy has been widely concerned when sharing the sensitive information in a cloud environment. We presented a novel framework (FORESEE: Fully Outsourced secuRe gEnome Study basEd on homomorphic Encryption) to fully outsource GWAS (i.e., chi-square statistic computation) using homomorphic encryption. The proposed framework enables secure divisions over encrypted data. We introduced two division protocols (i.e., secure errorless division and secure approximation division) with a trade-off between complexity and accuracy in computing chi-square statistics. The proposed framework was evaluated for the task of chi-square statistic computation with two case-control datasets from the 2015 iDASH genome privacy protection challenge. Experimental results show that the performance of FORESEE can be significantly improved through algorithmic optimization and parallel computation. Remarkably, the secure approximation division provides significant performance gain, but without missing any significance SNPs in the chi-square association test using the aforementioned datasets. Unlike many existing HME based studies, in which final results need to be computed by the data owner due to the lack of the secure division operation, the proposed FORESEE framework support complete outsourcing to the cloud and output the final encrypted chi-square statistics.

Circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses: current state of knowledge.

PubMed Central

Kew, Olen M.; Wright, Peter F.; Agol, Vadim I.; Delpeyroux, Francis; Shimizu, Hiroyuki; Nathanson, Neal; Pallansch, Mark A.

2004-01-01

Within the past 4 years, poliomyelitis outbreaks associated with circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs) have occurred in Hispaniola (2000-01), the Philippines (2001), and Madagascar (2001-02). Retrospective studies have also detected the circulation of endemic cVDPV in Egypt (1988-93) and the likely localized spread of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV)-derived virus in Belarus (1965-66). Gaps in OPV coverage and the previous eradication of the corresponding serotype of indigenous wild poliovirus were the critical risk factors for all cVDPV outbreaks. The cVDPV outbreaks were stopped by mass immunization campaigns using OPV. To increase sensitivity for detecting vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs), in 2001 the Global Polio Laboratory Network implemented additional testing requirements for all poliovirus isolates under investigation. This approach quickly led to the recognition of the Philippines and Madagascar cVDPV outbreaks, but of no other current outbreaks. The potential risk of cVDPV emergence has increased dramatically in recent years as wild poliovirus circulation has ceased in most of the world. The risk appears highest for the type 2 OPV strain because of its greater tendency to spread to contacts. The emergence of cVDPVs underscores the critical importance of eliminating the last pockets of wild poliovirus circulation, maintaining universally high levels of polio vaccine coverage, stopping OPV use as soon as it is safely possible to do so, and continuing sensitive poliovirus surveillance into the foreseeable future. Particular attention must be given to areas where the risks for wild poliovirus circulation have been highest, and where the highest rates of polio vaccine coverage must be maintained to suppress cVDPV emergence. PMID:15106296

Changes to International Nonproprietary Names for antibody therapeutics 2017 and beyond: of mice, men and more.

PubMed

Parren, Paul W H I; Carter, Paul J; Plückthun, Andreas

Active pharmaceutical substances require an International Nonproprietary Name (INN) assigned by the World Health Organization (WHO) to obtain market authorization as a medicinal product. INNs are selected to represent a unique, generic name for a drug enabling unambiguous identification by stakeholders worldwide. INNs may be requested after initiating clinical development of an investigational drug. Pharmaceutical classes are indicated by a common stem or suffix. Currently, INNs for monoclonal antibody-based drugs are recognized by the suffix, -mab, preceded by a source infix such as -xi- (chimeric), -zu- (humanized) or -u- (human) designating the species from which the antibody was derived. However, many technological advances have made it increasingly difficult to accurately capture an antibody's source in its name. In 2014, the WHO and the United States Adopted Names (USAN) Council approached this challenge by implementing changes to antibody source infix definitions. Unfortunately, gaps and ambiguities in the definitions and procedures resulted in inconsistent source category assignments and widespread confusion. The Antibody Society, extensively supported by academic and industry scientists, voiced concerns leading to constructive dialog during scheduled consultations with WHO and USAN Council representatives. In June 2017, the WHO announced that use of the source infix will be discontinued for new antibody INNs effective immediately. We fully support this change as it better aligns antibody INNs with current and foreseeable future innovations in antibody therapeutics. Here we review the changes implemented. Additionally, we analyzed antibody INNs recently assigned under the previous 2014 definitions and provide recommendations for further alignment.

Cost-effectiveness of the stream-gaging program in Maine; a prototype for nationwide implementation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fontaine, Richard A.; Moss, M.E.; Smath, J.A.; Thomas, W.O.

1984-01-01

This report documents the results of a cost-effectiveness study of the stream-gaging program in Maine. Data uses and funding sources were identified for the 51 continuous stream gages currently being operated in Maine with a budget of $211,000. Three stream gages were identified as producing data no longer sufficiently needed to warrant continuing their operation. Operation of these stations should be discontinued. Data collected at three other stations were identified as having uses specific only to short-term studies; it is recommended that these stations be discontinued at the end of the data-collection phases of the studies. The remaining 45 stations should be maintained in the program for the foreseeable future. The current policy for operation of the 45-station program would require a budget of $180,300 per year. The average standard error of estimation of streamflow records is 17.7 percent. It was shown that this overall level of accuracy at the 45 sites could be maintained with a budget of approximately $170,000 if resources were redistributed among the gages. A minimum budget of $155,000 is required to operate the 45-gage program; a smaller budget would not permit proper service and maintenance of the gages and recorders. At the minimum budget, the average standard error is 25.1 percent. The maximum budget analyzed was $350,000, which resulted in an average standard error of 8.7 percent. Large parts of Maine's interior were identified as having sparse streamflow data. It was determined that this sparsity be remedied as funds become available.

Vascular surgery is an unattractive career option for current basic surgical trainees: a regional perspective.

PubMed

Currie, S; Coughlin, P A; Bhasker, S; Hossain, J; Irvine, C D; Curley, P J

2007-11-01

The workload of vascular services will substantially increase in the foreseeable future with the recent changes in surgical training presenting a challenge to training and recruitment in vascular surgery. This study aimed to determine the current feelings towards vascular surgery as a career choice from basic surgical trainees (BSTs) within a single region. BSTs from a single region were questioned. Probable career specialty choice was ascertained, as were suggestions for changes to the career pathway of a vascular surgeon to make it a more attractive career choice. Seventy-seven of 110 BSTs returned the questionnaire. Of the 77, 52 had previous experience of a vascular firm. Ten BSTs had been on a pure vascular firm as an SHO and 52 had been on a general surgical firm. No BST specified vascular surgery as their ultimate career choice. Career choices included general surgery (n = 30), orthopaedics (n = 17), plastic surgery (n = 9) and urology (n = 5). Thirty-three BSTs would not be tempted at all to a career in vascular surgery. Changes in the career structure that would result in BSTs contemplating a career in vascular surgery included the inclusion of endovascular surgery (n = 13), no compulsion to undertake a period of research (n = 5), pure vascular training (n = 2), more general surgical training (n = 2) and less onerous on-calls when older (n = 2). The lack of trainees wishing to become vascular surgeons is of grave concern. Increasing the endovascular capabilities of vascular surgeons as well as altering the stance on research may have an increasingly positive role in recruitment.

Transformational Autonomy and Personal Transportation: Synergies and Differences Between Cars and Planes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodrich, Kenneth H.; Nickolaou, Jim; Moore, Mark D.

2016-01-01

Highly automated cars have undergone tremendous investment and progress over the past ten years with speculation about fully-driverless cars within the foreseeable, or even near future, becoming common. If a driverless future is realized, what might be the impact on personal aviation? Would self-piloting airplanes be a relatively simple spin-off, possibly making travel by personal aircraft also commonplace? What if the technology for completely removing human drivers turns out to be further in the future rather than sooner; would such a delay suggest that transformational personal aviation is also somewhere over the horizon or can transformation be achieved with less than full automation? This paper presents a preliminary exploration of these questions by comparing the operational, functional, and implementation requirements and constraints of cars and small aircraft for on-demand mobility. In general, we predict that the mission management and perception requirements of self-piloting aircraft differ significantly from self-driving cars and requires the development of aviation specific technologies. We also predict that the highly-reliable control and system automation technology developed for conditionally and highly automated cars can have a significant beneficial effect on personal aviation, even if full automation is not immediately feasible.

Organic contaminants in African aquatic systems: Current knowledge, health risks, and future research directions.

PubMed

Gwenzi, Willis; Chaukura, Nhamo

2018-04-01

Organic contaminants (OCs) are increasingly being reported in African aquatic systems, yet a critical evaluation of the literature is still lacking. The objectives of this review were to: (1) identify hotspot reservoirs, transfer pathways and ecological and human risks of OCs, (2) identify potential interventions to minimize the health risks, and (3) highlight knowledge gaps and research constraints. OCs widely reported in aquatic systems include pesticides, pharmaceuticals, plasticizers, solvents, endocrine disrupting compounds, and antimicrobial resistance genes, originating from applications in crop protection, veterinary and animal husbandry, human sanitation and hygiene, human vector and disease control. Potential hotspot reservoirs of OCs include wastewaters, on-site sanitation systems, leachates from non-engineered landfills and contaminated recharge of shallow groundwater systems. OCs could be transferred into humans via drinking of contaminated water, consumption of contaminated crops and aquatic foods, and to a lesser extent, inhalation and dermal contact. Ecological effects including intersex, estrogenicity, and acute and chronic toxicity occur in avian and aquatic species. Although the evidence base of human ecotoxicological effects of OC remains weak, pesticides have been reported in human milk, serum and sperms, pointing to potential chronic and acute toxicity and endocrine disruption. The prevalence of antimicrobials and their resistance genes could in turn lead to antimicrobial resistance in humans. The lack of OC monitoring in drinking water, coupled with over-reliance on untreated drinking water vulnerable to OC contamination predisposes humans to OC health risks. Appropriate water treatment methods, were identified, and a conceptual framework developed to minimize the ecological and human health risks. Future research directions on OC hotspot reservoirs, environmental behaviour and fate, ecotoxicology, epidemiology and interventions to minimize health risks are highlighted. However, lack of advanced analytical facilities in most African countries and other developing regions will continue to constrain OC research for now and in the foreseeable future. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Damming the rivers of the Amazon basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latrubesse, Edgardo M.; Arima, Eugenio Y.; Dunne, Thomas; Park, Edward; Baker, Victor R.; D'Horta, Fernando M.; Wight, Charles; Wittmann, Florian; Zuanon, Jansen; Baker, Paul A.; Ribas, Camila C.; Norgaard, Richard B.; Filizola, Naziano; Ansar, Atif; Flyvbjerg, Bent; Stevaux, Jose C.

2017-06-01

More than a hundred hydropower dams have already been built in the Amazon basin and numerous proposals for further dam constructions are under consideration. The accumulated negative environmental effects of existing dams and proposed dams, if constructed, will trigger massive hydrophysical and biotic disturbances that will affect the Amazon basin’s floodplains, estuary and sediment plume. We introduce a Dam Environmental Vulnerability Index to quantify the current and potential impacts of dams in the basin. The scale of foreseeable environmental degradation indicates the need for collective action among nations and states to avoid cumulative, far-reaching impacts. We suggest institutional innovations to assess and avoid the likely impoverishment of Amazon rivers.

Damming the rivers of the Amazon basin.

PubMed

Latrubesse, Edgardo M; Arima, Eugenio Y; Dunne, Thomas; Park, Edward; Baker, Victor R; d'Horta, Fernando M; Wight, Charles; Wittmann, Florian; Zuanon, Jansen; Baker, Paul A; Ribas, Camila C; Norgaard, Richard B; Filizola, Naziano; Ansar, Atif; Flyvbjerg, Bent; Stevaux, Jose C

2017-06-14

More than a hundred hydropower dams have already been built in the Amazon basin and numerous proposals for further dam constructions are under consideration. The accumulated negative environmental effects of existing dams and proposed dams, if constructed, will trigger massive hydrophysical and biotic disturbances that will affect the Amazon basin's floodplains, estuary and sediment plume. We introduce a Dam Environmental Vulnerability Index to quantify the current and potential impacts of dams in the basin. The scale of foreseeable environmental degradation indicates the need for collective action among nations and states to avoid cumulative, far-reaching impacts. We suggest institutional innovations to assess and avoid the likely impoverishment of Amazon rivers.

Drought mitigation in Australia: reducing the losses but not removing the hazard

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

Heathcote, R.L.

This paper presents a brief history of drought in Australia, pointing up some parallels and contrasts with the North American experience. It then outlines the various strategies (technological and nontechnological) that have been adopted to try to mitigate drought. It reviews the current thinking on the effect of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide on the Australian climate and their relevance to agricultural and pastoral activities through possible modification of the incidence and intensity of drought. Finally, it evaluates the history of technological adjustments to drought stresses and tries to forecast the success or failure of such adjustments to foreseeable climate change.

Managing the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems under water scarcity. The GLOBAQUA project.

PubMed

Navarro-Ortega, Alícia; Acuña, Vicenç; Bellin, Alberto; Burek, Peter; Cassiani, Giorgio; Choukr-Allah, Redouane; Dolédec, Sylvain; Elosegi, Arturo; Ferrari, Federico; Ginebreda, Antoni; Grathwohl, Peter; Jones, Colin; Rault, Philippe Ker; Kok, Kasper; Koundouri, Phoebe; Ludwig, Ralf Peter; Merz, Ralf; Milacic, Radmila; Muñoz, Isabel; Nikulin, Grigory; Paniconi, Claudio; Paunović, Momir; Petrovic, Mira; Sabater, Laia; Sabaterb, Sergi; Skoulikidis, Nikolaos Th; Slob, Adriaan; Teutsch, Georg; Voulvoulis, Nikolaos; Barceló, Damià

2015-01-15

Water scarcity is a serious environmental problem in many European regions, and will likely increase in the near future as a consequence of increased abstraction and climate change. Water scarcity exacerbates the effects of multiple stressors, and thus results in decreased water quality. It impacts river ecosystems, threatens the services they provide, and it will force managers and policy-makers to change their current practices. The EU-FP7 project GLOBAQUA aims at identifying the prevalence, interaction and linkages between stressors, and to assess their effects on the chemical and ecological status of freshwater ecosystems in order to improve water management practice and policies. GLOBAQUA assembles a multidisciplinary team of 21 European plus 2 non-European scientific institutions, as well as water authorities and river basin managers. The project includes experts in hydrology, chemistry, biology, geomorphology, modelling, socio-economics, governance science, knowledge brokerage, and policy advocacy. GLOBAQUA studies six river basins (Ebro, Adige, Sava, Evrotas, Anglian and Souss Massa) affected by water scarcity, and aims to answer the following questions: how does water scarcity interact with other existing stressors in the study river basins? How will these interactions change according to the different scenarios of future global change? Which will be the foreseeable consequences for river ecosystems? How will these in turn affect the services the ecosystems provide? How should management and policies be adapted to minimise the ecological, economic and societal consequences? These questions will be approached by combining data-mining, field- and laboratory-based research, and modelling. Here, we outline the general structure of the project and the activities to be conducted within the fourteen work-packages of GLOBAQUA. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Managing the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems under water scarcity. The GLOBAQUA project

PubMed Central

Navarro-Ortega, Alícia; Acuña, Vicenç; Bellin, Alberto; Burek, Peter; Cassiani, Giorgio; Choukr-Allah, Redouane; Dolédec, Sylvain; Elosegi, Arturo; Ferrari, Federico; Ginebreda, Antoni; Grathwohl, Peter; Jones, Colin; Rault, Philippe Ker; Kok, Kasper; Koundouri, Phoebe; Ludwig, Ralf Peter; Merz, Ralf; Milacic, Radmila; Muñoz, Isabel; Nikulin, Grigory; Paniconi, Claudio; Paunović, Momir; Petrovic, Mira; Sabater, Laia; Sabaterb, Sergi; Skoulikidis, Nikolaos Th.; Slob, Adriaan; Teutsch, Georg; Voulvoulis, Nikolaos; Barceló, Damià

2015-01-01

Water scarcity is a serious environmental problem in many European regions, and will likely increase in the near future as a consequence of increased abstraction and climate change. Water scarcity exacerbates the effects of multiple stressors, and thus results in decreased water quality. It impacts river ecosystems, threatens the services they provide, and it will force managers and policy-makers to change their current practices. The EU-FP7 project GLOBAQUA aims at identifying the prevalence, interaction and linkages between stressors, and to assess their effects on the chemical and ecological status of freshwater ecosystems in order to improve water management practice and policies. GLOBAQUA assembles a multidisciplinary team of 21 European plus 2 non-European scientific institutions, as well as water authorities and river basin managers. The project includes experts in hydrology, chemistry, biology, geomorphology, modelling, socio-economics, governance science, knowledge brokerage, and policy advocacy. GLOBAQUA studies six river basins (Ebro, Adige, Sava, Evrotas, Anglian and Souss Massa) affected by water scarcity, and aims to answer the following questions: how does water scarcity interact with other existing stressors in the study river basins? How will these interactions change according to the different scenarios of future global change? Which will be the foreseeable consequences for river ecosystems? How will these in turn affect the services the ecosystems provide? How should management and policies be adapted to minimise the ecological, economic and societal consequences? These questions will be approached by combining data-mining, field- and laboratory-based research, and modelling. Here, we outline the general structure of the project and the activities to be conducted within the fourteen work-packages of GLOBAQUA. PMID:25005236

The burden of lung cancer in Latin-America and challenges in the access to genomic profiling, immunotherapy and targeted treatments.

PubMed

Raez, Luis E; Cardona, Andrés F; Santos, Edgardo S; Catoe, Heath; Rolfo, Christian; Lopes, Gilberto; Barrios, Carlos; Mas, Luis A; Vallejos, Carlos; Zatarain-Barrón, Zyanya Lucia; Caglevic, Christian; Arrieta, Oscar

2018-05-01

Lung cancer is a public health problem worldwide and Latin America (LATAM) cannot escape this reality. This malignant disease has not only a high prevalence in the region, but is also the main cause of cancer related deaths, and in other emerging countries, the incidence rates are still on the rise. Interestingly in most LATAM countries, lung cancer mortality has been decreasing in men but not in women, reflecting smoking patterns in countries such as Chile, Bolivia, and Brazil. Despite the fact that these issues are well known to government agencies, physicians and patients in the region, current efforts still fall behind those needed in order to face this problem of epidemic proportions. Tobacco control and smoking cessation are the most important interventions against lung cancer, but even with their optimal implementation (which is far from reality at this time) the number of cases in the foreseeable future would still be significant. Beyond tobacco control, advances in our understanding of the molecular component of lung cancer have resulted in new targeted therapies and immune check point inhibitors, which have improved clinical outcomes but at a considerably higher financial cost. LATAM has not widely and speedily adopted these strategies, including new technology and approved novel drugs, due to a number of facts, and therefore only a dismal proportion of LATAḾs patient population have benefited from these new advances. A keen focus on a heterogeneous education system for caregivers in lung cancer treatment would likely help standardize care and improve future potential gains from domestic research. In this review we discuss the challenges of treatment implementation, focusing on new technologies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Oil & War: Revisiting M. King Hubbert's predictions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nur, A. M.

2003-12-01

Oil is, unlike almost any other natural resource on earth, not only finite but also irreversibly consumed. At the same time worldwide data shows that at least at present and for the foreseeable future oil consumption rate is directly proportional to the national standard of living. In 1956 and again in 1962, M. King Hubbert predicted, using a simple model based on the logistic equation, that oil production in the lower 48 United States will follow a bell shaped curve with a production peak around the year 1971 and a production level of ~ 3 billion barrels per year, followed by a rapid decline. While his model approach was ridiculed at the time production data to date reveals a remarkable agreement with this prediction: US oil production did peak in 1971 at a level of 3.2.10 barrels a day and has been declining ever since. M. King Hubbert similarly estimated also the future of oil production worldwide - predicting peak production sometime between 1995-2010 (now!) at a level of 25 to 35 billion barrels per year. Current worldwide production is ~ 27 billion barrels per year. Thus because about half of the oil in earth has already been discovered, the world is destined to face more and bigger conflicts over the control of global supplies. Although many economists and political scientists tend to dismiss the significance of Hubbert's thinking about the finiteness of recoverable oil as well as the consequent implications, it appears that without careful management these conflicts could turn into wars much bigger than in Kuwait in 1991 or in Iraq in 2003. It is therefore imperative for us as earth scientist to try to educate the public and our leaders about the basic geological reality of finite fossil energy resources, and the serious consequences of this fact.

The Fram Strait integrated ocean observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fahrbach, E.; Beszczynska-Möller, A.; Rettig, S.; Rohardt, G.; Sagen, H.; Sandven, S.; Hansen, E.

2012-04-01

A long-term oceanographic moored array has been operated since 1997 to measure the ocean water column properties and oceanic advective fluxes through Fram Strait. While the mooring line along 78°50'N is devoted to monitoring variability of the physical environment, the AWI Hausgarten observatory, located north of it, focuses on ecosystem properties and benthic biology. Under the EU DAMOCLES and ACOBAR projects, the oceanographic observatory has been extended towards the innovative integrated observing system, combining the deep ocean moorings, multipurpose acoustic system and a network of gliders. The main aim of this system is long-term environmental monitoring in Fram Strait, combining satellite data, acoustic tomography, oceanographic measurements at moorings and glider sections with high-resolution ice-ocean circulation models through data assimilation. In future perspective, a cable connection between the Hausgarten observatory and a land base on Svalbard is planned as the implementation of the ESONET Arctic node. To take advantage of the planned cabled node, different technologies for the underwater data transmission were reviewed and partially tested under the ESONET DM AOEM. The main focus was to design and evaluate available technical solutions for collecting data from different components of the Fram Strait ocean observing system, and an integration of available data streams for the optimal delivery to the future cabled node. The main components of the Fram Strait integrated observing system will be presented and the current status of available technologies for underwater data transfer will be reviewed. On the long term, an initiative of Helmholtz observatories foresees the interdisciplinary Earth-Observing-System FRAM which combines observatories such as the long term deep-sea ecological observatory HAUSGARTEN, the oceanographic Fram Strait integrated observing system and the Svalbard coastal stations maintained by the Norwegian ARCTOS network. A vision of this modular underwater observatory network in Fram Strait will be presented.

Introduction to a special section on ecohydrology of semiarid environments: Confronting mathematical models with ecosystem complexity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Svoray, Tal; Assouline, Shmuel; Katul, Gabriel

2015-11-01

Current literature provides large number of publications about ecohydrological processes and their effect on the biota in drylands. Given the limited laboratory and field experiments in such systems, many of these publications are based on mathematical models of varying complexity. The underlying implicit assumption is that the data set used to evaluate these models covers the parameter space of conditions that characterize drylands and that the models represent the actual processes with acceptable certainty. However, a question raised is to what extent these mathematical models are valid when confronted with observed ecosystem complexity? This Introduction reviews the 16 papers that comprise the Special Section on Eco-hydrology of Semiarid Environments: Confronting Mathematical Models with Ecosystem Complexity. The subjects studied in these papers include rainfall regime, infiltration and preferential flow, evaporation and evapotranspiration, annual net primary production, dispersal and invasion, and vegetation greening. The findings in the papers published in this Special Section show that innovative mathematical modeling approaches can represent actual field measurements. Hence, there are strong grounds for suggesting that mathematical models can contribute to greater understanding of ecosystem complexity through characterization of space-time dynamics of biomass and water storage as well as their multiscale interactions. However, the generality of the models and their low-dimensional representation of many processes may also be a "curse" that results in failures when particulars of an ecosystem are required. It is envisaged that the search for a unifying "general" model, while seductive, may remain elusive in the foreseeable future. It is for this reason that improving the merger between experiments and models of various degrees of complexity continues to shape the future research agenda.

The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program: Access to the ISS for K-14 Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Livengood, Timothy A.; Goldstein, J. J.; Vanhala, H. A. T.; Johnson, M.; Hulslander, M.

2012-10-01

The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) has flown 42 experiments to space, on behalf of students from middle school through community college, on 3 missions: each of the last 2 Space Shuttle flights, and the first SpaceX resupply flight to the International Space Station (ISS). SSEP plans 2 missions to the ISS per year for the foreseeable future, and is expanding the program to include 4-year undergraduate college students and home-schooled students. SSEP experiments have explored biological, chemical, and physical phenomena within self-contained enclosures developed by NanoRacks, currently in the form of MixStix Fluid Mixing Enclosures. Over 9000 students participated in the initial 3 missions of SSEP, directly experiencing the entire lifecycle of space science experimentation through community-wide participation in SSEP, taking research from a nascent idea through developing competitive research proposals, down-selecting to three proposals from each participating community and further selection of a single proposal for flight, actual space flight, sample recovery, analysis, and reporting. The National Air and Space Museum has hosted 2 National Conferences for SSEP student teams to report results in keeping with the model of professional research. Student teams have unflinchingly reported on success, failure, and groundbased efforts to develop proposals for future flight opportunities. Community participation extends outside the sciences and the immediate proposal efforts to include design competitions for mission patches (that also fly to space). Student experimenters have rallied around successful proposal teams to support a successful experiment on behalf of the entire community. SSEP is a project of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education enabled through NanoRacks LLC, working in partnership with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.

ICARUS: An Innovative Large LAR Detector for Neutrino Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vignoli, C.; Barni, D.; Disdier, J. M.; Rampoldi, D.; Icarus Collaboration

2006-04-01

ICARUS is an international project that foresees the installation of very large LAr detectors inside the Gran Sasso underground laboratory in order to be sensitive to rare phenomena of particle physics. The detection technique is based on the collection of electrons produced by particle interactions in LAr by a matrix of thousands of thin wires. At the moment the project foresees the installation of a 600,000-kg vessel (T600). The total amount of LAr can be expanded in a modular way to masses of the order of 106 kg. The T600 houses two identical 300,000-kg Ar sub-cryostats that are aluminum boxes about 20-m long, 4-m high and 4-m wide. Safety requirements for the underground installation have led to a unique design for the vessels to prevent LAr spillages even in the case of inner cryostat failure. Electrons must drift over meters requiring the development of special gas and liquid Ar purification units to provide an extremely high LAr purity (better then 0.1 ppb). The cooling system has been designed to assure a high thermal uniformity in the detector volume (less than 1-K differential). The cryogenic system associated with the final ICARUS configuration is based on three N2 refrigerators, three 30-m3 tanks and pump driven two-phase N2 forced-flow cooling of the various sub-systems. The T600 was successfully tested in Pavia in 2001 and it is now under installation in Gran Sasso for final operation. The future mass expansion strategy is under investigation.

Fabrication of a wettability-gradient surface on copper by screen-printing techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Ding-Jun; Leu, Tzong-Shyng

2015-08-01

In this study, a screen-printing technique is utilized to fabricate a wettability-gradient surface on a copper substrate. The pattern definitions on the copper surface were freely fabricated to define the regions with different wettabilities, for which the printing definition technique was developed as an alternative to the existing costly photolithography techniques. This fabrication process using screen printing in tandem with chemical modification methods can easily realize an excellent wettability-gradient surface with superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity. Surface analyses were performed to characterize conditions in some fabrication steps. A water droplet movement sequence is provided to clearly demonstrate the droplet-driving effectiveness of the fabricated gradient surface. The droplet-driving efficiency offers a promising solution for condensation heat transfer applications in the foreseeable future.

[The implementation gap in asthma prevention and control?].

PubMed

Demoly, Pascal; Just, Jocelyne; Annesi-Maesano, Isabella; Bousquet, Jean; Michel, François-Bernard

2014-01-01

Asthma and allergic diseases generally start early in life and persist throughout life but, for reasons we do not yet understand, they sometimes appear later Prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of these major chronic respiratory diseases is a recognized priority for EU public health policy and for the United Nations. As factors favoring allergy (rapid urbanization, pollution, climate change and infections) are not expected to change in the foreseeable future, it is crucial to develop, strengthen and optimize prevention and treatment. We have developed tools to control asthma but are still unable to prevent children from developing asthma and allergic diseases. This article examines what works and what does not, and analyzes the "missing links" between the creation and effective implementation of a prevention program, otherwise known as the implementation gap.

The path to next generation biofuels: successes and challenges in the era of synthetic biology

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Volatility of oil prices along with major concerns about climate change, oil supply security and depleting reserves have sparked renewed interest in the production of fuels from renewable resources. Recent advances in synthetic biology provide new tools for metabolic engineers to direct their strategies and construct optimal biocatalysts for the sustainable production of biofuels. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology efforts entailing the engineering of native and de novo pathways for conversion of biomass constituents to short-chain alcohols and advanced biofuels are herewith reviewed. In the foreseeable future, formal integration of functional genomics and systems biology with synthetic biology and metabolic engineering will undoubtedly support the discovery, characterization, and engineering of new metabolic routes and more efficient microbial systems for the production of biofuels. PMID:20089184

Water quality in the Yukon River Basin, Alaska, water years 2006-2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schuster, Paul F.; Maracle, Karonhiakta'tie Bryan; Herman-Mercer, Nicole

2010-01-01

The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council and the U.S. Geological Survey developed a water-quality monitoring program to address a shared interest in the water quality of the Yukon River and its relation to climate. This report contains water-quality data from samples collected in the Yukon River Basin during water years 2006 through 2008. A broad range of chemical analyses from 44 stations throughout the YRB are presented. On August 8, 2009 the USGS signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council representing the culmination of 5 years of dedicated efforts to forge a working collaboration and partnership with expectations of continuing into the foreseeable future. The Memorandum of Understanding may be viewed at http://www.usgs.gov/mou/docs/yritwc_mou.pdf.

Commercialisation of Biomarker Tests for Mental Illnesses: Advances and Obstacles.

PubMed

Chan, Man K; Cooper, Jason D; Bahn, Sabine

2015-12-01

Substantial strides have been made in the field of biomarker research for mental illnesses over the past few decades. However, no US FDA-cleared blood-based biomarker tests have been translated into routine clinical practice. Here, we review the challenges associated with commercialisation of research findings and discuss how these challenges can impede scientific impact and progress. Overall evidence indicates that a lack of research funding and poor reproducibility of findings were the most important obstacles to commercialization of biomarker tests. Fraud, pre-analytical and analytical limitations, and inappropriate statistical analysis are major contributors to poor reproducibility. Increasingly, these issues are acknowledged and actions are being taken to improve data validity, raising the hope that robust biomarker tests will become available in the foreseeable future. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thinking and doing, a long way to the top in commercialisation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boswell, Rod

2013-09-01

A university's primary role is to educate and produce research results, mostly funded by the common weal. A business's primary role is to survive. Generally business wants ideas that help with their immediate problems into a 3 month foreseeable future. Universities are used to timescales at least an order of magnitude longer. The speaker's experience as lead guitar in a rock and roll band, building cars, running an offset printing firm, the helicon source and interacting with a Large American Manufacturer will be presented. His university research and development of a plasma source focussed ion beam, the creation of a start-up ``Oregon Physics,'' the subsequent industrial development and commercialisation, the distasteful legal wrangles about IP and the eventual emergence of OP into the sunshine of a successful operation will be described.

The place of human psychophysics in modern neuroscience.

PubMed

Read, J C A

2015-06-18

Human psychophysics is the quantitative measurement of our own perceptions. In essence, it is simply a more sophisticated version of what humans have done since time immemorial: noticed and reflected upon what we can see, hear, and feel. In the 21st century, when hugely powerful techniques are available that enable us to probe the innermost structure and function of nervous systems, is human psychophysics still relevant? I argue that it is, and that in combination with other techniques, it will continue to be a key part of neuroscience for the foreseeable future. I discuss these points in detail using the example of binocular stereopsis, where human psychophysics in combination with physiology and computational vision, has made a substantial contribution. Copyright © 2014 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Nonlethal weapons as force options for the Army

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

Alexander, J.B.

This paper suggests that future challenges to US national security will be very different from those previously experienced. In a number of foreseeable circumstances, conventional military force will be inappropriate. The National Command Authority, and other appropriate levels of command, need expanded options available to meet threats for which the application of massive lethal force is counterproductive or inadvisable. It is proposed that nonlethal concepts be developed that provide additional options for military leaders and politicians. Included in this initiative should be exploration of policy, strategy, doctrine, and training issues as well as the development of selected technologies and weapons.more » In addition, civilian law enforcement agencies have similar requirements for less-than-lethal systems. This may be an excellent example for a joint technology development venture.« less

Advanced optical network architecture for integrated digital avionics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, D. Reed

1996-12-01

For the first time in the history of avionics, the network designer now has a choice in selecting the media that interconnects the sources and sinks of digital data on aircraft. Electrical designs are already giving way to photonics in application areas where the data rate times distance product is large or where special design requirements such as low weight or EMI considerations are critical. Future digital avionic architectures will increasingly favor the use of photonic interconnects as network data rates of one gigabit/second and higher are needed to support real-time operation of high-speed integrated digital processing. As the cost of optical network building blocks is reduced and as temperature-rugged laser sources are matured, metal interconnects will be forced to retreat to applications spanning shorter and shorter distances. Although the trend is already underway, the widespread use of digital optics will first occur at the system level, where gigabit/second, real-time interconnects between sensors, processors, mass memories and displays separated by a least of few meters will be required. The application of photonic interconnects for inter-printed wiring board signalling across the backplane will eventually find application for gigabit/second applications since signal degradation over copper traces occurs before one gigabit/second and 0.5 meters are reached. For the foreseeable future however, metal interconnects will continue to be used to interconnect devices on printed wiring boards since 5 gigabit/second signals can be sent over metal up to around 15 centimeters. Current-day applications of optical interconnects at the system level are described and a projection of how advanced optical interconnect technology will be driven by the use of high speed integrated digital processing on future aircraft is presented. The recommended advanced network for application in the 2010 time frame is a fiber-based system with a signalling speed of around 2-3 gigabits per second. This switch-based unified network will interconnect sensors, displays, mass memory and controls and displays to computer modules within the processing complex. The characteristics of required building blocks needed for the future are described. These building blocks include the fiber, an optical switch, a laser-based transceiver, blind-mate connectors and an optical backplane.

Challenges and Advances for Genetic Engineering of Non-model Bacteria and Uses in Consolidated Bioprocessing

PubMed Central

Yan, Qiang; Fong, Stephen S.

2017-01-01

Metabolic diversity in microorganisms can provide the basis for creating novel biochemical products. However, most metabolic engineering projects utilize a handful of established model organisms and thus, a challenge for harnessing the potential of novel microbial functions is the ability to either heterologously express novel genes or directly utilize non-model organisms. Genetic manipulation of non-model microorganisms is still challenging due to organism-specific nuances that hinder universal molecular genetic tools and translatable knowledge of intracellular biochemical pathways and regulatory mechanisms. However, in the past several years, unprecedented progress has been made in synthetic biology, molecular genetics tools development, applications of omics data techniques, and computational tools that can aid in developing non-model hosts in a systematic manner. In this review, we focus on concerns and approaches related to working with non-model microorganisms including developing molecular genetics tools such as shuttle vectors, selectable markers, and expression systems. In addition, we will discuss: (1) current techniques in controlling gene expression (transcriptional/translational level), (2) advances in site-specific genome engineering tools [homologous recombination (HR) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)], and (3) advances in genome-scale metabolic models (GSMMs) in guiding design of non-model species. Application of these principles to metabolic engineering strategies for consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) will be discussed along with some brief comments on foreseeable future prospects. PMID:29123506

[Evaluation of therapies in oncology by positron emission tomography: towards therapeutical personalization].

PubMed

Bonardel, G; Vedrine, L; Aupee, O; Gontier, E; Le Garlantezec, P; Soret, M; Foehrenbach, H

2009-02-01

Recently introduced into clinical practice, positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) has proven its utility for diagnosis and staging of malignant diseases on account of its ability for tissue identification. Its utilization is now moving toward the evaluation of anti-tumoral effects of anticancer therapy, because of the correlation between the uptake of a metabolic tracer and malignant cells viability. Metabolic effects of chemotherapy are first observed in cells and this is the explanation for the precocity of scintigraphic visualisation of therapeutic activity. However, monitoring response with FDG-PET requires rigorous method and needs to take into account the limitations of SUV. Moreover, in order to go beyond the limitations of FDG, new tracers are developed and their main indication could be precisely the monitoring of therapy response. The properties of positron emitters allow us to foresee the labelling of the therapeutic molecules themselves in order to try them in vivo before their utilization for a given patient. These prospects are the ground for real treatment personalization in oncology. They open up a wide field of clinical research but the means for image acquisition and radioactive tracers production will be mandatory for anyone who wants to contribute to this work. Due to the current performances of the imaging systems, the critical point will be availability of equipment allowing the designing and synthesis of the radiopharmaceuticals of the future.

Modern Warfare: An M and S Examination of the Dynamic Impact of Warlords and Insurgents on State Stability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Phillip N.; Drucker, Nick; Schwartz, Noah

2012-01-01

9/11 changed the world as we knew it. Part of this change was to redirect the military of the United States away from focusing primarily on conventional conflict to a primary focus on unconventional or irregular conflict. This change required a tremendous learning effort by the military and their supporting research and development community. This learning effort included relearning of old but largely forgotten lessons as well as acquiring newly discovered knowledge. During the process of our immediate 9/11 response, we identified that we were engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan in an insurgency. Subsequently, our focus converged upon the description of insurgencies and the requirements for counterinsurgency. This paper argues that emerging conditions now allow the re-evaluation of the type of conflict occurring today and into the foreseeable future: that we, including the modeling and simulation world, emerge from a singular focus on orthodox insurgencies and start to consider the consequences and opportunities of the complexity of current conflicts. As an example of complexity, this paper will use the relatively common phenomenon of the Warlord or Warlordism. The paper will provide a definition of this phenomenon and then describe the implications for modelers. The paper will conclude by demonstrating the impact of incorporating this one rather prosaic complexity into an insurgency model, using agent based modeling (ABM).

Code Blue on Orbit: Treating Cardiac Arrest on the ISS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bacal, Kira; Redmond, Melissa

2004-01-01

As a result of the Columbia tragedy on February 1,2003, the International Space Station (ISS) crew size has been temporarily reduced from three to two. This change forces adaptations in many operational procedures used by the crew, including medical protocols which were designed for scenarios involving one casualty and two caregivers. The Office of Space Medicine directed that the procedure for the resuscitation of a crewmember in cardiac arrest be rewritten for use by a single care provider. Methods: Adaptation of this procedure made use of current American Heart Association Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) procedures and reflects necessary compromises between the realities of the operational environment and prompt provision of medical care. Results: Numerous changes were incorporated due to the diminution in available personnel, including substitution of endotracheal rather than intravenous delivery of drugs, more rapid defibrillation, addition of a precordial thump, removal of transcutaneous pacing, streamlining of procedural steps, and clarification of termination criteria. Discussion: The on-orbit care available to the ISS crewmembers is constrained by numerous factors, including crew medical training, minimal medical assets, limited air/ground communication , and a single caregiver for the foreseeable future. All of these combine to make a successful resuscitation unlikely, however, this procedure must ultimately deal with not only the patient's welfare, but also that of the caregiver, the mission, and the program.

Biodiversity as a multidimensional construct: a review, framework and case study of herbivory's impact on plant biodiversity

PubMed Central

Naeem, S.; Prager, Case; Weeks, Brian; Varga, Alex; Flynn, Dan F. B.; Griffin, Kevin; Muscarella, Robert; Palmer, Matthew; Wood, Stephen; Schuster, William

2016-01-01

Biodiversity is inherently multidimensional, encompassing taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic, genetic, landscape and many other elements of variability of life on the Earth. However, this fundamental principle of multidimensionality is rarely applied in research aimed at understanding biodiversity's value to ecosystem functions and the services they provide. This oversight means that our current understanding of the ecological and environmental consequences of biodiversity loss is limited primarily to what unidimensional studies have revealed. To address this issue, we review the literature, develop a conceptual framework for multidimensional biodiversity research based on this review and provide a case study to explore the framework. Our case study specifically examines how herbivory by whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus) alters the multidimensional influence of biodiversity on understory plant cover at Black Rock Forest, New York. Using three biodiversity dimensions (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity) to explore our framework, we found that herbivory alters biodiversity's multidimensional influence on plant cover; an effect not observable through a unidimensional approach. Although our review, framework and case study illustrate the advantages of multidimensional over unidimensional approaches, they also illustrate the statistical and empirical challenges such work entails. Meeting these challenges, however, where data and resources permit, will be important if we are to better understand and manage the consequences we face as biodiversity continues to decline in the foreseeable future. PMID:27928041

Biodiversity as a multidimensional construct: a review, framework and case study of herbivory's impact on plant biodiversity.

PubMed

Naeem, S; Prager, Case; Weeks, Brian; Varga, Alex; Flynn, Dan F B; Griffin, Kevin; Muscarella, Robert; Palmer, Matthew; Wood, Stephen; Schuster, William

2016-12-14

Biodiversity is inherently multidimensional, encompassing taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic, genetic, landscape and many other elements of variability of life on the Earth. However, this fundamental principle of multidimensionality is rarely applied in research aimed at understanding biodiversity's value to ecosystem functions and the services they provide. This oversight means that our current understanding of the ecological and environmental consequences of biodiversity loss is limited primarily to what unidimensional studies have revealed. To address this issue, we review the literature, develop a conceptual framework for multidimensional biodiversity research based on this review and provide a case study to explore the framework. Our case study specifically examines how herbivory by whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus) alters the multidimensional influence of biodiversity on understory plant cover at Black Rock Forest, New York. Using three biodiversity dimensions (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity) to explore our framework, we found that herbivory alters biodiversity's multidimensional influence on plant cover; an effect not observable through a unidimensional approach. Although our review, framework and case study illustrate the advantages of multidimensional over unidimensional approaches, they also illustrate the statistical and empirical challenges such work entails. Meeting these challenges, however, where data and resources permit, will be important if we are to better understand and manage the consequences we face as biodiversity continues to decline in the foreseeable future. © 2016 The Authors.

Recent development of nano-materials used in DNA biosensors.

PubMed

Xu, Kai; Huang, Junran; Ye, Zunzhong; Ying, Yibin; Li, Yanbin

2009-01-01

As knowledge of the structure and function of nucleic acid molecules has increased, sequence-specific DNA detection has gained increased importance. DNA biosensors based on nucleic acid hybridization have been actively developed because of their specificity, speed, portability, and low cost. Recently, there has been considerable interest in using nano-materials for DNA biosensors. Because of their high surface-to-volume ratios and excellent biological compatibilities, nano-materials could be used to increase the amount of DNA immobilization; moreover, DNA bound to nano-materials can maintain its biological activity. Alternatively, signal amplification by labeling a targeted analyte with nano-materials has also been reported for DNA biosensors in many papers. This review summarizes the applications of various nano-materials for DNA biosensors during past five years. We found that nano-materials of small sizes were advantageous as substrates for DNA attachment or as labels for signal amplification; and use of two or more types of nano-materials in the biosensors could improve their overall quality and to overcome the deficiencies of the individual nano-components. Most current DNA biosensors require the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in their protocols. However, further development of nano-materials with smaller size and/or with improved biological and chemical properties would substantially enhance the accuracy, selectivity and sensitivity of DNA biosensors. Thus, DNA biosensors without PCR amplification may become a reality in the foreseeable future.

Recent Development of Nano-Materials Used in DNA Biosensors

PubMed Central

Xu, Kai; Huang, Junran; Ye, Zunzhong; Ying, Yibin; Li, Yanbin

2009-01-01

As knowledge of the structure and function of nucleic acid molecules has increased, sequence-specific DNA detection has gained increased importance. DNA biosensors based on nucleic acid hybridization have been actively developed because of their specificity, speed, portability, and low cost. Recently, there has been considerable interest in using nano-materials for DNA biosensors. Because of their high surface-to-volume ratios and excellent biological compatibilities, nano-materials could be used to increase the amount of DNA immobilization; moreover, DNA bound to nano-materials can maintain its biological activity. Alternatively, signal amplification by labeling a targeted analyte with nano-materials has also been reported for DNA biosensors in many papers. This review summarizes the applications of various nano-materials for DNA biosensors during past five years. We found that nano-materials of small sizes were advantageous as substrates for DNA attachment or as labels for signal amplification; and use of two or more types of nano-materials in the biosensors could improve their overall quality and to overcome the deficiencies of the individual nano-components. Most current DNA biosensors require the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in their protocols. However, further development of nano-materials with smaller size and/or with improved biological and chemical properties would substantially enhance the accuracy, selectivity and sensitivity of DNA biosensors. Thus, DNA biosensors without PCR amplification may become a reality in the foreseeable future. PMID:22346713

Experimental Study of Lift-Generated Vortices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rossow, Vernon J.; Nixon, David (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

The flow fields of vortices, whether bouyancy-driven or lift-generated, are fascinating fluid-dynamic phenomena which often possess intense swirl velocities and complex time-dependent behavior. As part of the on-going study of vortex behavior, this paper presents a historical overview of the research conducted on the structure and modification of the vortices generated by the lifting surfaces of subsonic transport aircraft. It is pointed out that the characteristics of lift-generated vortices are related to the aerodynamic shapes that produce them and that various arrangements of surfaces can be used to produce different vortex structures. The primary purpose of the research to be described is to find a way to reduce the hazard potential of lift-generated vortices shed by subsonic transport aircraft in the vicinity of airports during landing and takeoff operations. It is stressed that lift-generated vortex wakes are so complex that progress towards a solution requires application of a combined theoretical and experimental research program because either alone often leads to incorrect conclusions. It is concluded that a satisfactory aerodynamic solution to the wake-vortex problem at airports has not yet been found but a reduction in the impact of the wake-vortex hazard on airport capacity may become available in the foreseeable future through wake-vortex avoidance concepts currently under study. The material to be presented in this overview is drawn from aerospace journals that are available publicly.

Density-Dependent Growth in Invasive Lionfish (Pterois volitans)

PubMed Central

Benkwitt, Cassandra E.

2013-01-01

Direct demographic density dependence is necessary for population regulation and is a central concept in ecology, yet has not been studied in many invasive species, including any invasive marine fish. The red lionfish (Pterois volitans) is an invasive predatory marine fish that is undergoing exponential population growth throughout the tropical western Atlantic. Invasive lionfish threaten coral-reef ecosystems, but there is currently no evidence of any natural population control. Therefore, a manipulative field experiment was conducted to test for density dependence in lionfish. Juvenile lionfish densities were adjusted on small reefs and several demographic rates (growth, recruitment, immigration, and loss) were measured throughout an 8-week period. Invasive lionfish exhibited direct density dependence in individual growth rates, as lionfish grew slower at higher densities throughout the study. Individual growth in length declined linearly with increasing lionfish density, while growth in mass declined exponentially with increasing density. There was no evidence, however, for density dependence in recruitment, immigration, or loss (mortality plus emigration) of invasive lionfish. The observed density-dependent growth rates may have implications for which native species are susceptible to lionfish predation, as the size and type of prey that lionfish consume is directly related to their body size. The absence of density-dependent loss, however, contrasts with many native coral-reef fish species and suggests that for the foreseeable future manual removals may be the only effective local control of this invasion. PMID:23825604

Density-dependent growth in invasive Lionfish (Pterois volitans).

PubMed

Benkwitt, Cassandra E

2013-01-01

Direct demographic density dependence is necessary for population regulation and is a central concept in ecology, yet has not been studied in many invasive species, including any invasive marine fish. The red lionfish (Pterois volitans) is an invasive predatory marine fish that is undergoing exponential population growth throughout the tropical western Atlantic. Invasive lionfish threaten coral-reef ecosystems, but there is currently no evidence of any natural population control. Therefore, a manipulative field experiment was conducted to test for density dependence in lionfish. Juvenile lionfish densities were adjusted on small reefs and several demographic rates (growth, recruitment, immigration, and loss) were measured throughout an 8-week period. Invasive lionfish exhibited direct density dependence in individual growth rates, as lionfish grew slower at higher densities throughout the study. Individual growth in length declined linearly with increasing lionfish density, while growth in mass declined exponentially with increasing density. There was no evidence, however, for density dependence in recruitment, immigration, or loss (mortality plus emigration) of invasive lionfish. The observed density-dependent growth rates may have implications for which native species are susceptible to lionfish predation, as the size and type of prey that lionfish consume is directly related to their body size. The absence of density-dependent loss, however, contrasts with many native coral-reef fish species and suggests that for the foreseeable future manual removals may be the only effective local control of this invasion.

Genome editing in livestock: Are we ready for a revolution in animal breeding industry?

PubMed

Ruan, Jinxue; Xu, Jie; Chen-Tsai, Ruby Yanru; Li, Kui

2017-12-01

Genome editing is a powerful technology that can efficiently alter the genome of organisms to achieve targeted modification of endogenous genes and targeted integration of exogenous genes. Current genome-editing tools mainly include ZFN, TALEN and CRISPR/Cas9, which have been successfully applied to all species tested including zebrafish, humans, mice, rats, monkeys, pigs, cattle, sheep, goats and others. The application of genome editing has quickly swept through the entire biomedical field, including livestock breeding. Traditional livestock breeding is associated with rate limiting issues such as long breeding cycle and limitations of genetic resources. Genome editing tools offer solutions to these problems at affordable costs. Generation of gene-edited livestock with improved traits has proven feasible and valuable. For example, the CD163 gene-edited pig is resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS, also referred to as "blue ear disease"), and a SP110 gene knock-in cow less susceptible to tuberculosis. Given the high efficiency and low cost of genome editing tools, particularly CRISPR/Cas9, it is foreseeable that a significant number of genome edited livestock animals will be produced in the near future; hence it is imperative to comprehensively evaluate the pros and cons they will bring to the livestock breeding industry. Only with these considerations in mind, we will be able to fully take the advantage of the genome editing era in livestock breeding.

Vortex Wakes of Subsonic Transport Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rossow, Vernon J.; Nixon, David (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

A historical overview will be presented of the research conducted on the structure and modification of the vortices generated by the lifting surfaces of subsonic transport aircraft. The seminar will describe the three areas of vortex research; namely, the magnitude of the hazard posed, efforts to reduce the hazard to an acceptable level, and efforts to develop a systematic means for avoiding vortex wakes. It is first pointed out that the characteristics of lift-generated vortices are related to the aerodynamic shapes that produce them and that various arrangements of surfaces can be used to produce different vortex structures. The largest portion of the research conducted to date has been directed at finding ways to reduce the hazard potential of lift-generated vortices shed by subsonic transport aircraft in the vicinity of airports during landing and takeoff operations. It is stressed that lift-generated vortex wakes are so complex that progress towards a solution requires application of a combined theoretical and experimental research program because either alone often leads to incorrect conclusions. It is concluded that a satisfactory aerodynamic solution to the wake-vortex problem at airports has not yet been found but a reduction in the impact of the wake-vortex hazard on airport capacity may become available in the foreseeable future through wake-vortex avoidance concepts currently under study. The material to be presented in this overview is drawn from articles published in aerospace journals that are available publicly.

Motivations, aims and communication around advance directives: a mixed-methods study into the perspective of their owners and the influence of a current illness.

PubMed

van Wijmen, Matthijs P S; Pasman, H Roeline W; Widdershoven, Guy A M; Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Bregje D

2014-06-01

What are motivations of owners of an advance directive (AD) to draft an AD, what do they aim for with their AD and do they communicate about their AD? Written questionnaires were sent to a cohort of people owning different types of ADs (n=5768). A purposive sample of people suffering from an illness was selected from the cohort for an in-depth interview (n=29). About half of our population had no direct motivation to draft their AD. Most mentioned motivation for the other half was an illness of a family member or friend. Many different and specific aims for drafting an AD were mentioned. An often mentioned more general aim in people with different ADs was to prevent unnecessary lengthening of life or treatment (14-16%). Most respondents communicated about having an AD with close-ones (63-88%) and with their GP (65-79%). In the interviews people gave vivid examples of experiences of what they hoped to prevent at the end of life. Some mentioned difficulties foreseeing the future and gave examples of response shift. ADs can give directions to caregivers about what people want at the end of life. ADs have to be discussed in detail by their owners and caregivers, since owners often have specific aims with their AD. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The meaning of being a nurse educator and nurse educators' attraction to academia: A phenomenological study.

PubMed

Laurencelle, Francine L; Scanlan, Judith M; Brett, Anne Liners

2016-04-01

The nursing faculty shortage affects the number of nurse graduates. Understanding the meaning of being a nurse educator and what attracts nurses with graduate degrees to academia, are important considerations in addressing the recruitment and retention of faculty. The aim of this study was to explore the meaning of being a nurse educator and how nurse educators' understand their attraction to academia. The sample population included 15 nurse educators with a master's or doctoral degree, currently teaching in an undergraduate or graduate nursing program in a western Canadian city. Data were collected through 15 face-to-face semi-structured interviews using an interview guide. The meaning of being a nurse educator and how nurse educators understand their attraction to academia illustrates, from the perspective of the participants, how they give meaning to being a nurse educator and how they understand their attraction to academia. Six subthemes emerged: (1) opportunities, (2) wanting to teach, (3) seeing students learn, (4) contributing to the profession, (5) the unattractive, and (6) flexibility. The faculty shortage is a complex issue, one that will persist into the foreseeable future. Understanding how nurse educators experience academia and how the meaning of these experiences attract them to academia, will facilitate the development of creative strategies to recruit and retain qualified nurse educators. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cosmological Constraints from Galaxy Cluster Velocity Statistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharya, Suman; Kosowsky, Arthur

2007-04-01

Future microwave sky surveys will have the sensitivity to detect the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich signal from moving galaxy clusters, thus providing a direct measurement of their line-of-sight peculiar velocity. We show that cluster peculiar velocity statistics applied to foreseeable surveys will put significant constraints on fundamental cosmological parameters. We consider three statistical quantities that can be constructed from a cluster peculiar velocity catalog: the probability density function, the mean pairwise streaming velocity, and the pairwise velocity dispersion. These quantities are applied to an envisioned data set that measures line-of-sight cluster velocities with normal errors of 100 km s-1 for all clusters with masses larger than 1014 Msolar over a sky area of up to 5000 deg2. A simple Fisher matrix analysis of this survey shows that the normalization of the matter power spectrum and the dark energy equation of state can be constrained to better than 10%, and that the Hubble constant and the primordial power spectrum index can be constrained to a few percent, independent of any other cosmological observations. We also find that the current constraint on the power spectrum normalization can be improved by more than a factor of 2 using data from a 400 deg2 survey and WMAP third-year priors. We also show how the constraints on cosmological parameters change if cluster velocities are measured with normal errors of 300 km s-1.

Is groundwater discharge the dominant source of nutrients to Alabama estuaries and will it keep impacting these waters for the foreseeable future?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mortazavi, B.; Domangue, R.; Kleinhuizen, A.; Tatariw, C.

2017-12-01

Land use change and population growth are dominant factors impacting coastal waters. Populations in Alabama coastal counties have increased by several folds since the 1950s and a large fraction of the farmed land are now being used for growing sod requiring large amounts of fertilizers. Concurrent with these changes, marshes bordering Mobile Bay have been disappearing such that they now only cover 50% of their areal extent compared to the 1780s. These changes in land use and coastal geomorphology, as well as the population growth ultimately result in larger delivery of nutrients either through runoff or groundwater discharge to the coastal waters. The Mobile Bay estuary in Alabama is bordered with several subestuaries and a coastal lagoon. Our investigations suggest that the large inputs of nutrients through river discharge in Weeks Bay (140 g N m-2 yr-1) and groundwater discharge in Little Lagoon (300 g N m-2 yr-1) by far dominate inputs of N to the water column and exceed N input, for example, from benthic regeneration, by an order of magnitude. Furthermore, the capacity for N removal through denitrification in these systems is low and instead nitrogen is retained through dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium at a rate that exceed denitrification by an order of magnitude. Our measurements also suggest that once marshes are transformed to subtidal unvegetated sediments rates of nitrogen removal by denitrification decline four folds. Excessive inputs of nitrogen and the high efficiency with which nitrogen is retained in these systems is impacting the foodweb and harmful algal blooms and fish kills are reoccurring events. While changes in agricultural practices and reconstruction of marshes can potentially reduce the delivery of N or enhance N removal by denitrification, nutrient inputs through groundwater discharge are going to impact these estuaries for the foreseeable future. Our capacity to construct nutrient budgets and to predict the trajectory of ecosystem changes will therefore depend greatly on accurate knowledge of groundwater discharge to these systems. Quantifying the magnitudes of groundwater derived nutrients and the fate of these nutrients in nearshore systems requires concerted efforts amongst hydrologists, biogeochemists, and ecologists.

Automation, Autonomy & Megacities 2025: A Dark Preview

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

Assante, Michael; Bochman, Andrew

This paper extrapolates from present trends to describe very plausible – and actually quite likely – future crises playing out in multiple global cities. While predicting the future is fraught with uncertainty, much of what occurs in the scenarios that follow is fully possible today and absent a significant course change, probable in the timeframe discussed. The authors want to caveat that we are not commenting on a specific organization or technology deployment. It is not hard to find tech evangelists touting that ubiquitous and highly interconnected digital technology will bring great advances in productivity and efficiency, as well asmore » new capabilities we cannot foresee. This paper attempts to reveal what is possible when these technologies are applied to critical infrastructure applications en masse without adequate security in densely populated cities that by their nature are less resilient than other environments. Megacities need and will deploy these new technologies to keep up with insatiable demand for energy, communications, transportation and other services, but it is important to recognize that they are also made more vulnerable by following this path .« less

Willingness to pay for hypothetical malaria vaccines in rural Burkina Faso.

PubMed

Sauerborn, Rainer; Gbangou, Adjima; Dong, Hengjin; Przyborski, Jude M; Lanzer, Michael

2005-01-01

This study aims to set priorities for anti-disease malaria vaccines by determining community preference in a hyperendemic area. A bidding game technique was used to elucidate willingness to pay in rural Burkina Faso and 2,326 adults were interviewed. It is shown that there are significant differences between community preference for an anti-disease vaccine aimed at reducing pathology in pregnant women, and for a vaccine directed against childhood malaria. While the target population was willing to pay CFAfr 2101 for a vaccine against maternal malaria, its members were prepared to pay only CFAfr 1433 for a vaccine against childhood malaria. Whilst it is increasingly likely that anti-disease malaria vaccines will become available in the foreseeable future, lessons from the past suggest that a lack of acceptance and support from the intended recipients may lead to less than optimal compliance, and hence efficacy. For the planning of vaccine development and application strategies, it is therefore highly important to take community views into account. Here it is argued that such information could help researchers and funding agencies to set priorities for future vaccine research.

Stockpile stewardship past, present, and future

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

Adams, Marvin L., E-mail: mladams@tamu.edu

2014-05-09

The U.S. National Academies released a report in 2012 on technical issues related to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. One important question addressed therein is whether the U.S. could maintain a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear-weapons stockpile in the absence of nuclear-explosion testing. Here we discuss two main conclusions from the 2012 Academies report, which we paraphrase as follows: 1) Provided that sufficient resources and a national commitment to stockpile stewardship are in place, the U.S. has the technical capabilities to maintain a safe, secure, and reliable stockpile of nuclear weapons into the foreseeable future without nuclear-explosion testing. 2) Doingmore » this would require: a) a strong weapons science and engineering program that addresses gaps in understanding; b) an outstanding workforce that applies deep and broad weapons expertise to deliver solutions to stockpile problems; c) a vigorous, stable surveillance program that delivers the requisite data; d) production facilities that meet stewardship needs. We emphasize that these conclusions are independent of CTBT ratification-they apply provided only that the U.S. continues its nuclear-explosion moratorium.« less

The Energy Future.

PubMed

Newman, John; Bonino, Christopher A; Trainham, James A

2018-06-07

The foreseeable energy future will be driven by economics of known technologies and the desire to reduce CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere. Renewable energy options are compared with each other and with the use of fossil fuels with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). Economic analysis is used to determine the best of several alternatives. One can disagree on the detailed costs, including externalities such as climate change and air and water pollution. But the differences in capital and operating costs between known technologies are so significant that one can draw clear conclusions. Results show that renewable energy cannot compete with fossil fuels on a cost basis alone because energy is intrinsic to the molecule, except for hydroelectricity. However, fossil fuels are implicated in climate change. Using renewable energy exclusively, including transportation and electricity needs, could reduce the standard of living in the United States by 43% to 62%, which would correspond to the level in about 1970. If capture and sequester of CO 2 are implemented, the cost of using fossil fuels will increase, but they beat renewable energy handily as an economic way to produce clean energy.

Using geologic structures to constrain constitutive laws not accessible in the laboratory

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nevitt, Johanna; Warren, Jessica M.; Kumamoto, Kathryn M.; Pollard, David D.

2018-01-01

In this essay, we explore a central problem of structural geology today, and in the foreseeable future, which is the determination of constitutive laws governing rock deformation to produce geologic structures. Although laboratory experiments provide much needed data and insights about constitutive laws, these experiments cannot cover the range of conditions and compositions relevant to the formation of geologic structures. We advocate that structural geologists address this limitation by interpreting natural experiments, documented with field and microstructural data, using continuum mechanical models that enable the deduction of constitutive laws. To put this procedure into a historical context, we review the founding of structural geology by James Hutton in the late 18th century, and the seminal contributions to continuum mechanics from Newton to Cauchy that provide the tools to model geologic structures. The procedure is illustrated with two examples drawn from recent and on-going field investigations of crustal and mantle lithologies. We conclude by pointing to future research opportunities that will engage structural geologists in the pursuit of constitutive laws during the 21st century.

Phosphorene: Fabrication, properties, and applications

DOE PAGES

Kou, Liangzhi; Chen, Changfeng; Smith, Sean C.

2015-06-24

Phosphorene, the single- or few-layer form of black phosphorus, was recently rediscovered as a two-dimensional layered material holding great promise for applications in electronics and optoelectronics. Research into its fundamental properties and device applications has since seen exponential growth. In this Perspective, we review recent progress in phosphorene research, touching upon topics on fabrication, properties, and applications; we also discuss challenges and future research directions. We highlight the intrinsically anisotropic electronic, transport, optoelectronic, thermoelectric, and mechanical properties of phosphorene resulting from its puckered structure in contrast to those of graphene and transition-metal dichalcogenides. The facile fabrication and novel properties ofmore » phosphorene have inspired design and demonstration of new nanodevices; however, further progress hinges on resolutions to technical obstructions like surface degradation effects and nonscalable fabrication techniques. We also briefly describe the latest developments of more sophisticated design concepts and implementation schemes that address some of the challenges in phosphorene research. As a result, it is expected that this fascinating material will continue to offer tremendous opportunities for research and development for the foreseeable future.« less

Time-Resolved Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy and Imaging Using Solid-State Detectors: Characteristics, Present Status, and Research Challenges.

PubMed

Alayed, Mrwan; Deen, M Jamal

2017-09-14

Diffuse optical spectroscopy (DOS) and diffuse optical imaging (DOI) are emerging non-invasive imaging modalities that have wide spread potential applications in many fields, particularly for structural and functional imaging in medicine. In this article, we review time-resolved diffuse optical imaging (TR-DOI) systems using solid-state detectors with a special focus on Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) and Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). These TR-DOI systems can be categorized into two types based on the operation mode of the detector (free-running or time-gated). For the TR-DOI prototypes, the physical concepts, main components, figures-of-merit of detectors, and evaluation parameters are described. The performance of TR-DOI prototypes is evaluated according to the parameters used in common protocols to test DOI systems particularly basic instrumental performance (BIP). In addition, the potential features of SPADs and SiPMs to improve TR-DOI systems and expand their applications in the foreseeable future are discussed. Lastly, research challenges and future developments for TR-DOI are discussed for each component in the prototype separately and also for the entire system.

Solar Photochemical Synthesis: From the Beginnings of Organic Photochemistry to the Solar Manufacturing of Commodity Chemicals.

PubMed

Oelgemöller, Michael

2016-09-14

Natural sunlight offers a cost-efficient and sustainable energy source for photochemical reactions. In contrast to the lengthy and small-scale "flask in the sun" procedures of the past, modern solar concentrator systems nowadays significantly shorten reaction times and enable technical-scale operations. After a brief historical introduction, this review presents the most important solar reactor types and their successful application in preparative solar syntheses. The examples demonstrate that solar manufacturing of fine chemicals is technically feasible and environmentally sustainable. After over 100 years, Ciamician's prophetic vision of "the photochemistry of the future" as a clean and green manufacturing methodology has yet to be realized. At the same time, his warning "for nature is not in a hurry but mankind is" is still valid today. It is hoped that this review will lead to a renewed interest in this truly enlightening technology, that it will stimulate photochemists and photochemical engineers to "go back to the roots onto the roofs" and that it will ultimately result in industrial applications in the foreseeable future.

High-order computational fluid dynamics tools for aircraft design

PubMed Central

Wang, Z. J.

2014-01-01

Most forecasts predict an annual airline traffic growth rate between 4.5 and 5% in the foreseeable future. To sustain that growth, the environmental impact of aircraft cannot be ignored. Future aircraft must have much better fuel economy, dramatically less greenhouse gas emissions and noise, in addition to better performance. Many technical breakthroughs must take place to achieve the aggressive environmental goals set up by governments in North America and Europe. One of these breakthroughs will be physics-based, highly accurate and efficient computational fluid dynamics and aeroacoustics tools capable of predicting complex flows over the entire flight envelope and through an aircraft engine, and computing aircraft noise. Some of these flows are dominated by unsteady vortices of disparate scales, often highly turbulent, and they call for higher-order methods. As these tools will be integral components of a multi-disciplinary optimization environment, they must be efficient to impact design. Ultimately, the accuracy, efficiency, robustness, scalability and geometric flexibility will determine which methods will be adopted in the design process. This article explores these aspects and identifies pacing items. PMID:25024419

Surface acoustic wave devices for sensor applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bo, Liu; Xiao, Chen; Hualin, Cai; Mohammad, Mohammad Ali; Xiangguang, Tian; Luqi, Tao; Yi, Yang; Tianling, Ren

2016-02-01

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices have been widely used in different fields and will continue to be of great importance in the foreseeable future. These devices are compact, cost efficient, easy to fabricate, and have a high performance, among other advantages. SAW devices can work as filters, signal processing units, sensors and actuators. They can even work without batteries and operate under harsh environments. In this review, the operating principles of SAW sensors, including temperature sensors, pressure sensors, humidity sensors and biosensors, will be discussed. Several examples and related issues will be presented. Technological trends and future developments will also be discussed. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 60936002, 61025021, 61434001, 61574083), the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (No. 2015CB352100), the National Key Project of Science and Technology (No. 2011ZX02403-002) and the Special Fund for Agroscientific Research in the Public Interest of China (No. 201303107). M.A.M is additionally supported by the Postdoctoral Fellowship (PDF) program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (CPSF).

Alternative (non-animal) methods for cosmetics testing: current status and future prospects-2010.

PubMed

Adler, Sarah; Basketter, David; Creton, Stuart; Pelkonen, Olavi; van Benthem, Jan; Zuang, Valérie; Andersen, Klaus Ejner; Angers-Loustau, Alexandre; Aptula, Aynur; Bal-Price, Anna; Benfenati, Emilio; Bernauer, Ulrike; Bessems, Jos; Bois, Frederic Y; Boobis, Alan; Brandon, Esther; Bremer, Susanne; Broschard, Thomas; Casati, Silvia; Coecke, Sandra; Corvi, Raffaella; Cronin, Mark; Daston, George; Dekant, Wolfgang; Felter, Susan; Grignard, Elise; Gundert-Remy, Ursula; Heinonen, Tuula; Kimber, Ian; Kleinjans, Jos; Komulainen, Hannu; Kreiling, Reinhard; Kreysa, Joachim; Leite, Sofia Batista; Loizou, George; Maxwell, Gavin; Mazzatorta, Paolo; Munn, Sharon; Pfuhler, Stefan; Phrakonkham, Pascal; Piersma, Aldert; Poth, Albrecht; Prieto, Pilar; Repetto, Guillermo; Rogiers, Vera; Schoeters, Greet; Schwarz, Michael; Serafimova, Rositsa; Tähti, Hanna; Testai, Emanuela; van Delft, Joost; van Loveren, Henk; Vinken, Mathieu; Worth, Andrew; Zaldivar, José-Manuel

2011-05-01

The 7th amendment to the EU Cosmetics Directive prohibits to put animal-tested cosmetics on the market in Europe after 2013. In that context, the European Commission invited stakeholder bodies (industry, non-governmental organisations, EU Member States, and the Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety) to identify scientific experts in five toxicological areas, i.e. toxicokinetics, repeated dose toxicity, carcinogenicity, skin sensitisation, and reproductive toxicity for which the Directive foresees that the 2013 deadline could be further extended in case alternative and validated methods would not be available in time. The selected experts were asked to analyse the status and prospects of alternative methods and to provide a scientifically sound estimate of the time necessary to achieve full replacement of animal testing. In summary, the experts confirmed that it will take at least another 7-9 years for the replacement of the current in vivo animal tests used for the safety assessment of cosmetic ingredients for skin sensitisation. However, the experts were also of the opinion that alternative methods may be able to give hazard information, i.e. to differentiate between sensitisers and non-sensitisers, ahead of 2017. This would, however, not provide the complete picture of what is a safe exposure because the relative potency of a sensitiser would not be known. For toxicokinetics, the timeframe was 5-7 years to develop the models still lacking to predict lung absorption and renal/biliary excretion, and even longer to integrate the methods to fully replace the animal toxicokinetic models. For the systemic toxicological endpoints of repeated dose toxicity, carcinogenicity and reproductive toxicity, the time horizon for full replacement could not be estimated.

They See a Rat, We Seek a Cure for Diseases: The Current Status of Animal Experimentation in Medical Practice

PubMed Central

Kehinde, Elijah O.

2013-01-01

The objective of this review article was to examine current and prospective developments in the scientific use of laboratory animals, and to find out whether or not there are still valid scientific benefits of and justification for animal experimentation. The PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched using the following key words: animal models, basic research, pharmaceutical research, toxicity testing, experimental surgery, surgical simulation, ethics, animal welfare, benign, malignant diseases. Important relevant reviews, original articles and references from 1970 to 2012 were reviewed for data on the use of experimental animals in the study of diseases. The use of laboratory animals in scientific research continues to generate intense public debate. Their use can be justified today in the following areas of research: basic scientific research, use of animals as models for human diseases, pharmaceutical research and development, toxicity testing and teaching of new surgical techniques. This is because there are inherent limitations in the use of alternatives such as in vitro studies, human clinical trials or computer simulation. However, there are problems of transferability of results obtained from animal research to humans. Efforts are on-going to find suitable alternatives to animal experimentation like cell and tissue culture and computer simulation. For the foreseeable future, it would appear that to enable scientists to have a more precise understanding of human disease, including its diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic intervention, there will still be enough grounds to advocate animal experimentation. However, efforts must continue to minimize or eliminate the need for animal testing in scientific research as soon as possible. PMID:24217224

They see a rat, we seek a cure for diseases: the current status of animal experimentation in medical practice.

PubMed

Kehinde, Elijah O

2013-01-01

The objective of this review article was to examine current and prospective developments in the scientific use of laboratory animals, and to find out whether or not there are still valid scientific benefits of and justification for animal experimentation. The PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched using the following key words: animal models, basic research, pharmaceutical research, toxicity testing, experimental surgery, surgical simulation, ethics, animal welfare, benign, malignant diseases. Important relevant reviews, original articles and references from 1970 to 2012 were reviewed for data on the use of experimental animals in the study of diseases. The use of laboratory animals in scientific research continues to generate intense public debate. Their use can be justified today in the following areas of research: basic scientific research, use of animals as models for human diseases, pharmaceutical research and development, toxicity testing and teaching of new surgical techniques. This is because there are inherent limitations in the use of alternatives such as in vitro studies, human clinical trials or computer simulation. However, there are problems of transferability of results obtained from animal research to humans. Efforts are on-going to find suitable alternatives to animal experimentation like cell and tissue culture and computer simulation. For the foreseeable future, it would appear that to enable scientists to have a more precise understanding of human disease, including its diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic intervention, there will still be enough grounds to advocate animal experimentation. However, efforts must continue to minimize or eliminate the need for animal testing in scientific research as soon as possible. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

A paradigm shift to enable more cost-effective space science telescope missions in the upcoming decades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matthews, Gary; Havey, Keith, Jr.; Egerman, Robert

2010-07-01

Modern astronomy currently is dealing with an exciting but challenging dichotomy. On one hand, there has been and will continue to be countless advances in scientific discovery, but on the other the astronomical community is faced with what unfortunately is considered by many to be an insurmountable budgetary impasse for the foreseeable future. The National Academy of Sciences' Astro2010: Decadal Survey has been faced with the difficult challenge of prioritizing sciences and missions for the upcoming decade while still allowing room for new, yet to be discovered opportunities to receive funding. To this end, we propose the consideration of a paradigm shift to the astronomical community that may enable more cost efficient space-based telescope missions to be funded and still provide a high science return per dollar invested. The proposed paradigm shift has several aspects that make it worthy of consideration: 1) Telescopes would leverage existing Commercial Remote Sensing Satellite (CRSS) Architectures such as the 1.1m NextView systems developed by ITT, GeoEye-1, and WorldView-2, or the 0.7m IKONOS system (or perhaps other proprietary systems); 2) By using large EELV class fairings, multiple telescopes with different science missions could be flown on a single spacecraft bus sharing common features such as communications and telemetry (current Earth Science missions in early development phases are considering this approach); 3) Multiple smaller observatories (with multiple spacecraft) could be flown in a single launch vehicle for instances where the different science payloads had incompatible requirements; and 4) by leveraging CRSS architectures, vendors could supply telescopes at a fixed price. Here we discuss the implications and risks that the proposed paradigm shift would carry.

Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

This annual report is based on the activities of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel in calendar year 2000. During this year, the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) moved into high gear. The launch of the Russian Service Module was followed by three Space Shuttle construction and logistics flights and the deployment of the Expedition One crew. Continuous habitation of the ISS has begun. To date, both the ISS and Space Shuttle programs have met or exceeded most of their flight objectives. In spite of the intensity of these efforts, it is clear that safety was always placed ahead of cost and schedule. This safety consciousness permitted the Panel to devote more of its efforts to examining the long-term picture. With ISS construction accelerating, demands on the Space Shuttle will increase. While Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft will make some flights, the Space Shuttle remains the primary vehicle to sustain the ISS and all other U.S. activities that require humans in space. Development of a next generation, human-rated vehicle has slowed due to a variety of technological problems and the absence of an approach that can accomplish the task significantly better than the Space Shuttle. Moreover, even if a viable design were currently available, the realities of funding and development cycles suggest that it would take many years to bring it to fruition. Thus, it is inescapable that for the foreseeable future the Space Shuttle will be the only human-rated vehicle available to the U.S. space program for support of the ISS and other missions requiring humans. Use of the Space Shuttle will extend well beyond current planning, and is likely to continue for the life of the ISS.

What do we know about metal recycling rates?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Graedel, T.E.; Allwood, J.; Birat, J.-P.; Buchert, M.; Hageluken, C.; Reck, B.K.; Sibley, S.F.; Sonnemann, G.

2011-01-01

The recycling of metals is widely viewed as a fruitful sustainability strategy, but little information is available on the degree to which recycling is actually taking place. This article provides an overview on the current knowledge of recycling rates for 60 metals. We propose various recycling metrics, discuss relevant aspects of recycling processes, and present current estimates on global end-of-life recycling rates (EOL-RR; i.e., the percentage of a metal in discards that is actually recycled), recycled content (RC), and old scrap ratios (OSRs; i.e., the share of old scrap in the total scrap flow). Because of increases in metal use over time and long metal in-use lifetimes, many RC values are low and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Because of relatively low efficiencies in the collection and processing of most discarded products, inherent limitations in recycling processes, and the fact that primary material is often relatively abundant and low-cost (which thereby keeps down the price of scrap), many EOL-RRs are very low: Only for 18 metals (silver, aluminum, gold, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, niobium, nickel, lead, palladium, platinum, rhenium, rhodium, tin, titanium, and zinc) is the EOL-RR above 50% at present. Only for niobium, lead, and ruthenium is the RC above 50%, although 16 metals are in the 25% to 50% range. Thirteen metals have an OSR greater than 50%. These estimates may be used in considerations of whether recycling efficiencies can be improved; which metric could best encourage improved effectiveness in recycling; and an improved understanding of the dependence of recycling on economics, technology, and other factors. ?? 2011 by Yale University.

Need for Optimisation of Immunisation Strategies Targeting Invasive Meningococcal Disease in the Netherlands.

PubMed

Bousema, Josefien Cornelie Minthe; Ruitenberg, Joost

2015-09-13

Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a severe bacterial infectious disease with high mortality and morbidity rates worldwide. In recent years, industrialised countries have implemented vaccines targeting IMD in their National Immunisation Programmes (NIPs). In 2002, the Netherlands successfully implemented a single dose of meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine at the age of 14 months and performed a single catch-up for children ≤18 years of age. Since then the disease disappeared in vaccinated individuals. Furthermore, herd protection was induced, leading to a significant IMD reduction in non-vaccinated individuals. However, previous studies revealed that the current programmatic immunisation strategy was insufficient to protect the population in the foreseeable future. In addition, vaccines that provide protection against additional serogroups are now available. This paper describes to what extent the current strategy to prevent IMD in the Netherlands is still sufficient, taking into account the burden of disease and the latest scientific knowledge related to IMD and its prevention. In particular, primary MenC immunisation seems not to provide long-term protection, indicating a risk for possible recurrence of the disease. This can be combatted by implementing a MenC or MenACWY adolescent booster vaccine. Additional health benefits can be achieved by replacing the primary MenC by a MenACWY vaccine. By implementation of a recently licensed MenB vaccine for infants in the NIP, the greatest burden of disease would be targeted. This paper shows that optimisation of the immunisation strategy targeting IMD in the Netherlands should be considered and contributes to create awareness concerning prevention optimisation in other countries. © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Case volumes of intra-arterial and intravenous treatment of ischemic stroke in the USA.

PubMed

Hirsch, J A; Yoo, A J; Nogueira, R G; Verduzco, L A; Schwamm, L H; Pryor, J C; Rabinov, J D; González, R G

2009-07-01

Ischemic stroke is a major cause of disability and death in the USA. Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) remains underutilized. With the development of newer intra-arterial reperfusion therapies, there is increased opportunity to address the more devastating large-vessel occlusions. We seek to identify the numbers of patients with stroke treated with intravenous and intra-arterial therapies, as well as to estimate the potential number of intra-arterial cases in the foreseeable future. We performed a literature search to determine case volumes of intravenous t-PA use. We extrapolated the current case volume of intra-arterial stroke therapies from the numbers of cases in which the Merci retrieval device was used. In order to estimate the potential numbers of intra-arterial stroke cases, we characterized the percentage of patients with stroke who received intra-arterial therapy at two leading stroke centers. We applied these percentages to the numbers of patients with stroke seen at the top 100, 200 and 500 stroke centers by volume. The rate of intravenous t-PA use is 2.4-3.6%, resulting in 15 000-22 000 cases/year in the USA. The estimated case volume of intra-arterial therapies is 3500-7200 in 2006. Based on data from St. Luke's Brain and Stroke Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, approximately 5-20% of patients with ischemic stroke can be treated with intra-arterial therapies. Extrapolating this to the top 500 stroke centers by volume, the potential number of intra-arterial cases in the USA is 10 400-41 500/year. Based on the current numbers of intra-arterial cases, our theoretical model identifies a potential for significant growth of this stroke therapy.

Commentary: public disclosure in the health field: is there a relevant option?

PubMed

Weil, T P

2001-01-01

Steadily increasing numbers of private, not-for-profit, and public agencies are releasing quality of care and financial information to enhance the market power of those purchasing America's health services. These sources range widely from the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A growing interest in publicly disclosing performance information that concerns providers, as recently recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on patient safety, until now has only achieved a modest impact. A major exception is in those metropolitan areas where acute-care facilities experience intense competition for patient admissions. Although the comparative quality and cost information currently available is for the most part in the public interest, it is concluded that, in the foreseeable future, these report cards as now structured will not result in any significant enhancement in access, improvement in quality, or reduction in cost. Options to encourage more public disclosure explored in this paper are Congress potentially passing legislation (a) to establish a Center for Patient Safety within the US Department of Health and Human Services as recommended by the recent Institute of IOM study, or (b) empowering the SEC beyond its current mandate to collect and disseminate all pertinent quality of care and cost information on every provider in the United States. The latter alternative would include user-friendly, comparative analyses to be provided on the Internet and elsewhere and would make readily available information from HEDIS, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (JCAHO), coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery studies, cost comparisons based on Medicare cost reports and SEC filings, and other similar sources.

Micro to the Macro Biome Can Biology Affect the Big Picture Through Small Changes?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morin, Lee

2014-01-01

Life has had a profound impact on the geological history of our planet, which in turn has had a profound impact back on the evolution of life. Life has been able to adapt and spread into every planetary nook and cranny. At this point in history, life is becoming able to engineer itself, with extreme consequences we are only dimly able to foresee. One probable outcome will be the facilitation of the expansion of the range of life to beyond our planetary cradle, an evolutionary step as profound as the ancient transition from sea to land. Current efforts at NASA and aboard the International Space Station will be discussed in this context.

Micro to the Macro Biome: Can Biology Affect the Big Picture Through Small Changes?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morin, Lee

2014-01-01

Life has had a profound impact on the geological history of our planet, which in turn has had a profound impact back on the evolution of life. Life has been able to adapt and spread into every planetary nook and cranny. At this point in history, life is becoming able to engineer itself, with extreme consequences we are only dimly able to foresee. One probable outcome will be the facilitation of the expansion of the range of life to beyond our planetary cradle, an evolutionary step as profound as the ancient transition from sea to land. Current efforts at NASA and aboard the International Space Station will be discussed in this context.

Future time perspective: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Kooij, Dorien T A M; Kanfer, Ruth; Betts, Matt; Rudolph, Cort W

2018-04-23

The ability to foresee, anticipate, and plan for future desired outcomes is crucial for well-being, motivation, and behavior. However, theories in organizational psychology do not incorporate time-related constructs such as Future Time Perspective (FTP), and research on FTP remains disjointed and scattered, with different domains focusing on different aspects of the construct, using different measures, and assessing different antecedents and consequences. In this review and meta-analysis, we aim to clarify the FTP construct, advance its theoretical development, and demonstrate its importance by (a) integrating theory and empirical findings across different domains of research to identify major outcomes and antecedents of FTP, and (b) empirically examining whether and how these variables are moderated by FTP measures and dimensions. Results of a meta-analysis of k = 212 studies reveal significant relationships between FTP and major classes of consequences (i.e., those related to achievement, well-being, health behavior, risk behavior, and retirement planning), and between antecedents and FTP, as well as moderating effects of different FTP measures and dimensions. Highlighting the importance of FTP for organizational psychology theories, our findings demonstrate that FTP predicts these outcomes over and above the big five personality traits and mediates the associations between these personality traits and outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The validity of contracts to dispose of frozen embryos

PubMed Central

Pennings, G

2002-01-01

The widespread abandonment of frozen embryos by the gamete providers or intentional parents urgently demands a solution. Most centres react by requiring patients to enter a prior agreement governing the future disposition of their embryos in all foreseeable circumstances. These dispositional directives are inappropriate and self defeating in the event of contingencies in which the patients remain competent to execute an updated directive. Internal and external changes may invalidate the prior directive by altering the situation as represented by the couple at the initiation of treatment to such an extent that it no longer corresponds with the actual situation at the time of the execution of the disposition. The prior agreement should only be considered binding if the agreement among the partners on a specific option was a material condition for one of the partners to start treatment. PMID:12356956

Climatology of Urban-regional Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pease, R. W.

1971-01-01

Urbanized areas have come to be significant if not dominant components of many regional land surfaces. They represent perhaps the most dramatic recent change man has made in his environment - a change that may well burgeon in the foreseeable future as greater percentages of world populations crowd into metropolitan areas. The climate of urban-regional systems is involved because temperature, air, and pollutants added to the air are significant aspects of this change. During the past two years, substantial progress has been made in the application of remote sensing techniques to the study of urban climatology by programs jointly sponsored by NASA and the United States Geological Survey. The initial effort has endeavored with considerable success to map terrestrial radiation emission or the general thermal state of the land surface with the aid of imaging radiometers (mechanical-optical scanners).

Climate Prediction Sees Future Despite Chaos: Researchers Outside NASA use NCCS Resources for Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

The air on this mostly sunny January day is crisp and the wind is blustery. The morning's National Weather Service 6-hour forecast had accurately predicted these conditions for the Baltimore-Washington area and the 2-3 day extended outlook was almost perfect. The previous week, the National Center for Environmental Prediction's (NCEP) 6-10 day temperature and precipitation outlook for the general trends for the' region was correct as well. However, no forecast could have predicted specific details about this day. It is 28.5 F in the sunshine bright enough for dark sunglasses, and windy enough to blow off a hat. Such details are impossible to foresee with any accuracy and are outside the scope of routine weather prediction. Equally difficult is accurately forecasting weather beyond about 2 weeks.

Fully functional hair follicle regeneration through the rearrangement of stem cells and their niches

PubMed Central

Toyoshima, Koh-ei; Asakawa, Kyosuke; Ishibashi, Naoko; Toki, Hiroshi; Ogawa, Miho; Hasegawa, Tomoko; Irié, Tarou; Tachikawa, Tetsuhiko; Sato, Akio; Takeda, Akira; Tsuji, Takashi

2012-01-01

Organ replacement regenerative therapy is purported to enable the replacement of organs damaged by disease, injury or aging in the foreseeable future. Here we demonstrate fully functional hair organ regeneration via the intracutaneous transplantation of a bioengineered pelage and vibrissa follicle germ. The pelage and vibrissae are reconstituted with embryonic skin-derived cells and adult vibrissa stem cell region-derived cells, respectively. The bioengineered hair follicle develops the correct structures and forms proper connections with surrounding host tissues such as the epidermis, arrector pili muscle and nerve fibres. The bioengineered follicles also show restored hair cycles and piloerection through the rearrangement of follicular stem cells and their niches. This study thus reveals the potential applications of adult tissue-derived follicular stem cells as a bioengineered organ replacement therapy. PMID:22510689

Micro-UAV tracking framework for EO exploitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Browning, David; Wilhelm, Joe; Van Hook, Richard; Gallagher, John

2012-06-01

Historically, the Air Force's research into aerial platforms for sensing systems has focused on low-, mid-, and highaltitude platforms. Though these systems are likely to comprise the majority of the Air Force's assets for the foreseeable future, they have limitations. Specifically, these platforms, their sensor packages, and their data exploitation software are unsuited for close-quarter surveillance, such as in alleys and inside of buildings. Micro-UAVs have been gaining in popularity, especially non-fixed-wing platforms such as quad-rotors. These platforms are much more appropriate for confined spaces. However, the types of video exploitation techniques that can effectively be used are different from the typical nadir-looking aerial platform. This paper discusses the creation of a framework for testing existing and new video exploitation algorithms, as well as describes a sample micro-UAV-based tracker.