Emergency Department Frequent Users for Acute Alcohol Intoxication.

PubMed

Klein, Lauren R; Martel, Marc L; Driver, Brian E; Reing, Mackenzie; Cole, Jon B

2018-03-01

A subset of frequent users of emergency services are those who use the emergency department (ED) for acute alcohol intoxication. This population and their ED encounters have not been previously described. This was a retrospective, observational, cohort study of patients presenting to the ED for acute alcohol intoxication between 2012 and 2016. We collected all data from the electronic medical record. Frequent users for alcohol intoxication were defined as those with greater than 20 visits for acute intoxication without additional medical chief complaints in the previous 12 months. We used descriptive statistics to evaluate characteristics of frequent users for alcohol intoxication, as well as their ED encounters. We identified 32,121 patient encounters. Of those, 325 patients were defined as frequent users for alcohol intoxication, comprising 11,370 of the encounters during the study period. The median maximum number of encounters per person for alcohol intoxication in a one-year period was 47 encounters (range 20 to 169). Frequent users were older (47 years vs. 39 years), and more commonly male (86% vs. 71%). Frequent users for alcohol intoxication had higher rates of medical and psychiatric comorbidities including liver disease, chronic kidney disease, ischemic vascular disease, dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, history of traumatic brain injury, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. In this study, we identified a group of ED frequent users who use the ED for acute alcohol intoxication. This population had higher rates of medical and psychiatric comorbidities compared to non-frequent users.

Probability and Statistics in Aerospace Engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rheinfurth, M. H.; Howell, L. W.

1998-01-01

This monograph was prepared to give the practicing engineer a clear understanding of probability and statistics with special consideration to problems frequently encountered in aerospace engineering. It is conceived to be both a desktop reference and a refresher for aerospace engineers in government and industry. It could also be used as a supplement to standard texts for in-house training courses on the subject.

Different Views of Love: Deductive and Inductive Inquiry and the Implications of Research Findings for Counseling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Bruce; Borrello, Gloria M.

The fact that love is so fundamental to the human experience and can affect clients in so many ways suggests that counselors may frequently encounter clients seeking assistance with problems involving love, and that counselors may consequently be interested in scientific inquiry regarding the nature and experience of love. This paper reviews two…

Identification of Mold and Dampness-Associated Respiratory Morbidity in 2 Schools: Comparison of Questionnaire Survey Responses to National Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sahakian, Nancy M.; White, Sandra K.; Park, Ju-Hyeong; Cox-Ganser, Jean M.; Kreiss, Kathleen

2008-01-01

Background: Dampness and mold problems are frequently encountered in schools. Approximately one third of US public schools require extensive repairs or need at least 1 building replaced. This study illustrates how national data can be used to identify building-related health risks in school employees and students. Methods: School employees (n =…

AMDIS Case Conference

PubMed Central

Graham, J.; Levick, D.; Schreiber, R.

2010-01-01

Clinical decision support that provides enhanced patient safety at the point of care frequently encounters significant pushback from clinicians who find the process intrusive or time-consuming. We present a hypothetical medical center’s dilemma about its allergy alerting system and discuss similar problems faced by real hospitals. We then share some lessons learned and best practices for institutions who wish to implement these tools themselves. PMID:23616828

Common statistical and research design problems in manuscripts submitted to high-impact psychiatry journals: what editors and reviewers want authors to know.

PubMed

Harris, Alex H S; Reeder, Rachelle; Hyun, Jenny K

2009-10-01

Journal editors and statistical reviewers are often in the difficult position of catching serious problems in submitted manuscripts after the research is conducted and data have been analyzed. We sought to learn from editors and reviewers of major psychiatry journals what common statistical and design problems they most often find in submitted manuscripts and what they wished to communicate to authors regarding these issues. Our primary goal was to facilitate communication between journal editors/reviewers and researchers/authors and thereby improve the scientific and statistical quality of research and submitted manuscripts. Editors and statistical reviewers of 54 high-impact psychiatry journals were surveyed to learn what statistical or design problems they encounter most often in submitted manuscripts. Respondents completed the survey online. The authors analyzed survey text responses using content analysis procedures to identify major themes related to commonly encountered statistical or research design problems. Editors and reviewers (n=15) who handle manuscripts from 39 different high-impact psychiatry journals responded to the survey. The most commonly cited problems regarded failure to map statistical models onto research questions, improper handling of missing data, not controlling for multiple comparisons, not understanding the difference between equivalence and difference trials, and poor controls in quasi-experimental designs. The scientific quality of psychiatry research and submitted reports could be greatly improved if researchers became sensitive to, or sought consultation on frequently encountered methodological and analytic issues.

On Using a Pilot Sample Variance for Sample Size Determination in the Detection of Differences between Two Means: Power Consideration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shieh, Gwowen

2013-01-01

The a priori determination of a proper sample size necessary to achieve some specified power is an important problem encountered frequently in practical studies. To establish the needed sample size for a two-sample "t" test, researchers may conduct the power analysis by specifying scientifically important values as the underlying population means…

New graphic methods for determining the depth and thickness of strata and the projection of dip

USGS Publications Warehouse

Palmer, Harold S.

1919-01-01

Geologists, both in the field and in the office, frequently encounter trigonometric problems the solution of which, though simple enough, is somewhat laborious by the use of trigonometric and logarithmic tables. Charts, tables, and diagrams of various types for facilitating the computations have been published, and a new method may seem to be a superfluous addition to the literature.

AMDIS Case Conference: Intrusive Medication Safety Alerts.

PubMed

Graham, J; Levick, D; Schreiber, R

2010-01-01

Clinical decision support that provides enhanced patient safety at the point of care frequently encounters significant pushback from clinicians who find the process intrusive or time-consuming. We present a hypothetical medical center's dilemma about its allergy alerting system and discuss similar problems faced by real hospitals. We then share some lessons learned and best practices for institutions who wish to implement these tools themselves.

Fix and forget or fix and report: a qualitative study of tensions at the front line of incident reporting.

PubMed

Hewitt, Tanya Anne; Chreim, Samia

2015-05-01

Practitioners frequently encounter safety problems that they themselves can resolve on the spot. We ask: when faced with such a problem, do practitioners fix it in the moment and forget about it, or do they fix it in the moment and report it? We consider factors underlying these two approaches. We used a qualitative case study design employing in-depth interviews with 40 healthcare practitioners in a tertiary care hospital in Ontario, Canada. We conducted a thematic analysis, and compared the findings with the literature. 'Fixing and forgetting' was the main choice that most practitioners made in situations where they faced problems that they themselves could resolve. These situations included (A) handling near misses, which were seen as unworthy of reporting since they did not result in actual harm to the patient, (B) prioritising solving individual patients' safety problems, which were viewed as unique or one-time events and (C) encountering re-occurring safety problems, which were framed as inevitable, routine events. In only a few instances was 'fixing and reporting' mentioned as a way that the providers dealt with problems that they could resolve. We found that generally healthcare providers do not prioritise reporting if a safety problem is fixed. We argue that fixing and forgetting patient safety problems encountered may not serve patient safety as well as fixing and reporting. The latter approach aligns with recent calls for patient safety to be more preventive. We consider implications for practice. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Continuous Measurements and Quantitative Constraints: Challenge Problems for Discrete Modeling Techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodrich, Charles H.; Kurien, James; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

We present some diagnosis and control problems that are difficult to solve with discrete or purely qualitative techniques. We analyze the nature of the problems, classify them and explain why they are frequently encountered in systems with closed loop control. This paper illustrates the problem with several examples drawn from industrial and aerospace applications and presents detailed information on one important application: In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) on Mars. The model for an ISRU plant is analyzed showing where qualitative techniques are inadequate to identify certain failure modes and to maintain control of the system in degraded environments. We show why the solution to the problem will result in significantly more robust and reliable control systems. Finally, we illustrate requirements for a solution to the problem by means of examples.

Coupled transverse and torsional vibrations in a mechanical system with two identical beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vlase, S.; Marin, M.; Scutaru, M. L.; Munteanu, R.

2017-06-01

The paper aims to study a plane system with bars, with certain symmetries. Such problems can be encountered frequently in industry and civil engineering. Considerations related to the economy of the design process, constructive simplicity, cost and logistics make the use of identical parts a frequent procedure. The paper aims to determine the properties of the eigenvalues and eigenmodes for transverse and torsional vibrations of a mechanical system where two of the three component bars are identical. The determination of these properties allows the calculus effort and the computation time and thus increases the accuracy of the results in such matters.

FERRET data analysis code

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

Schmittroth, F.

1979-09-01

A documentation of the FERRET data analysis code is given. The code provides a way to combine related measurements and calculations in a consistent evaluation. Basically a very general least-squares code, it is oriented towards problems frequently encountered in nuclear data and reactor physics. A strong emphasis is on the proper treatment of uncertainties and correlations and in providing quantitative uncertainty estimates. Documentation includes a review of the method, structure of the code, input formats, and examples.

Reminder Cards Improve Physician Documentation of Obesity But Not Obesity Counseling.

PubMed

Shungu, Nicholas; Miller, Marshal N; Mills, Geoffrey; Patel, Neesha; de la Paz, Amanda; Rose, Victoria; Kropa, Jill; Edi, Rina; Levy, Emily; Crenshaw, Margaret; Hwang, Chris

2015-01-01

Physicians frequently fail to document obesity and obesity-related counseling. We sought to determine whether attaching a physical reminder card to patient encounter forms would increase electronic medical record (EMR) assessment of and documentation of obesity and dietary counseling. Reminder cards for obesity documentation were attached to encounter forms for patient encounters over a 2-week intervention period. For visits in the intervention period, the EMR was retrospectively reviewed for BMI, assessment of "obesity" or "morbid obesity" as an active problem, free-text dietary counseling within physician notes, and assessment of "dietary counseling" as an active problem. These data were compared to those collected through a retrospective chart review during a 2-week pre-intervention period. We also compared physician self-report of documentation via reminder cards with EMR documentation. We found significant improvement in the primary endpoint of assessment of "obesity" or "morbid obesity" as an active problem (42.5% versus 28%) compared to the pre-intervention period. There was no significant difference in the primary endpoints of free-text dietary counseling or assessment of "dietary counseling" as an active problem between the groups. Physician self-reporting of assessment of "obesity" or "morbid obesity" as an active problem (77.7% versus 42.5%), free-text dietary counseling on obesity (69.1% versus 35.4%) and assessment of "dietary counseling" as an active problem (54.3% versus 25.2%) were all significantly higher than those reflected in EMR documentation. This study demonstrates that physical reminder cards are a successful means of increasing obesity documentation rates among providers but do not necessarily increase rates of obesity-related counseling or documentation of counseling. Our study suggests that even with such interventions, physicians are likely under-documenting obesity and counseling compared to self-reported rates.

Administrative encounters in general practice: low value or hidden value care?

PubMed

Trevena, Lyndal J; Harrison, Christopher; Britt, Helena C

2018-02-19

To determine the frequency of general practice administrative encounters, and to determine whether they represent low value care. Secondary analysis of data from the Bettering Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) dataset. 1 568 100 GP-patient encounters in Australia, 2000-01 to 2015-16. An annual nationally representative random sample of about 1000 GPs, who each recorded the details of 100 consecutive encounters with patients. Proportions of general practice encounters that were potentially low value care encounters (among the patient's reasons for the encounter was at least one administrative, medication, or referral request) and potentially low value care only encounters (such reasons were the sole reason for the encounter). For 2015-16, we also examined other health care provided by GPs at these encounters. During 2015-16, 18.5% (95% CI, 17.7-19.3%) of 97 398 GP-patient encounters were potentially low value care request encounters; 7.4% (95% CI, 7.0-7.9%) were potentially low value care only encounters. Administrative work was requested at 3.8% (95% CI, 3.5-4.0%) of GP visits, 35.4% of which were for care planning and coordination, 33.5% for certification, and 31.2% for other reasons. Medication requests were made at 13.1% (95% CI, 12.4-13.7%) of encounters; other health care was provided at 57.9% of medication request encounters, counselling, advice or education at 23.4%, and pathology testing was ordered at 16.7%. Referrals were requested at 2.8% (95% CI, 1.7-3.0%) of visits, at 69.4% of which additional health care was provided. The problems managed most frequently at potentially low value care only encounters were chronic diseases. Most patients requested certificates, medications and referrals in the context of seeking help for other health needs. Additional health care, particularly for chronic diseases, was provided at most GP administrative encounters. The MBS Review should consider the hidden value of these encounters.

Recurrent vulvovaginitis.

PubMed

Powell, Anna M; Nyirjesy, Paul

2014-10-01

Vulvovaginitis (VV) is one of the most commonly encountered problems by a gynecologist. Many women frequently self-treat with over-the-counter medications, and may present to their health-care provider after a treatment failure. Vulvovaginal candidiasis, bacterial vaginosis, and trichomoniasis may occur as discreet or recurrent episodes, and have been associated with significant treatment cost and morbidity. We present an update on diagnostic capabilities and treatment modalities that address recurrent and refractory episodes of VV. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dysphagia and dentistry.

PubMed

Curl, Charlotte; Boyle, Carole

2014-06-01

Dysphagia is defined as a 'difficulty in swallowing' and is commonly found in the general population, particularly in the elderly. This article gives an overview of the more frequently encountered swallowing disorders and provides advice on how to manage the dysphagic patient in the dental surgery. Clinical Relevance: By identifying patients with dysphagia and being aware of the potential problems that the clinician may experience when treating them, the risk of aspiration, choking and healthcare-acquired upper respiratory tract infections may be reduced.

Medical Emergencies Related to Ethanol and Illicit Drugs at an Annual, Nocturnal, Indoor, Electronic Dance Music Event.

PubMed

Calle, Paul; Sundahl, Nora; Maudens, Kristof; Wille, Sarah Mr; Van Sassenbroeck, Diederik; De Graeve, Koen; Gogaert, Stefan; De Paepe, Peter; Devriese, Dieter; Arno, Geert; Blanckaert, Peter

2018-02-01

Introduction Medical problems are frequently encountered during electronic dance music (EDM) events. Problem There are uncertainties about the frequencies and severity of intoxications with different types of recreational drugs: ethanol, "classical" illicit party drugs, and new psychoactive substances (NPS). Statistical data on the medical problems encountered during two editions of an indoor electronic dance event with around 30,000 attendants were retrieved from the Belgian Red Cross (Mechelen, Belgium) database. Data on drug use were prospectively collected from the patient (or a bystander), the clinical presentation, and/or toxicological screening. In the on-site medical station, 487 patients were treated (265 in 2013 and 222 in 2014). The most frequent reasons were trauma (n=171), headache (n=36), gastro-intestinal problems (n=44), and intoxication (n=160). Sixty-nine patients were transferred to a hospital, including 53 with severe drug-related symptoms. Analysis of blood samples from 106 intoxicated patients detected ethanol in 91.5%, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in 34.0%, cannabis in 30.2%, cocaine in 7.5%, amphetamine in 2.8%, and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in 0.9% of patients (alone or in combination). In only six of the MDMA-positive cases, MDMA was the sole substance found. In 2014, the neuroleptic drug clozapine was found in three cases and ketamine in one. Additional analyses for NPS were performed in 20 cases. Only in one agitated patient, the psychedelic phenethylamines 25B-NBOMe and 25C-NBOMe were found. At this particular event, recreational drug abuse necessitated on-site medical treatment in one out of 350 attendants and a hospital transfer in one out of 1,000. Ethanol remains the most frequently abused (legal) drug, yet classical illicit recreational drugs are also frequently (co-) ingested. The most worrying observation was high-risk poly-drug use, especially among MDMA users. Regarding NPS, the number of cases was low and the clinical presentations were rather mild. It should be stressed that these observations only apply to this particular event and cannot be generalized to other EDM events. Calle P , Sundahl N , Maudens K , Wille SMR , Van Sassenbroeck D , De Graeve K , Gogaert S , De Paepe P , Devriese D , Arno G , Blanckaert P . Medical emergencies related to ethanol and illicit drugs at an annual, nocturnal, indoor, electronic dance music event. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(1):71-76.

Assessing the performance of dynamical trajectory estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bröcker, Jochen

2014-06-01

Estimating trajectories and parameters of dynamical systems from observations is a problem frequently encountered in various branches of science; geophysicists for example refer to this problem as data assimilation. Unlike as in estimation problems with exchangeable observations, in data assimilation the observations cannot easily be divided into separate sets for estimation and validation; this creates serious problems, since simply using the same observations for estimation and validation might result in overly optimistic performance assessments. To circumvent this problem, a result is presented which allows us to estimate this optimism, thus allowing for a more realistic performance assessment in data assimilation. The presented approach becomes particularly simple for data assimilation methods employing a linear error feedback (such as synchronization schemes, nudging, incremental 3DVAR and 4DVar, and various Kalman filter approaches). Numerical examples considering a high gain observer confirm the theory.

Assessing the performance of dynamical trajectory estimates.

PubMed

Bröcker, Jochen

2014-06-01

Estimating trajectories and parameters of dynamical systems from observations is a problem frequently encountered in various branches of science; geophysicists for example refer to this problem as data assimilation. Unlike as in estimation problems with exchangeable observations, in data assimilation the observations cannot easily be divided into separate sets for estimation and validation; this creates serious problems, since simply using the same observations for estimation and validation might result in overly optimistic performance assessments. To circumvent this problem, a result is presented which allows us to estimate this optimism, thus allowing for a more realistic performance assessment in data assimilation. The presented approach becomes particularly simple for data assimilation methods employing a linear error feedback (such as synchronization schemes, nudging, incremental 3DVAR and 4DVar, and various Kalman filter approaches). Numerical examples considering a high gain observer confirm the theory.

An almost-parameter-free harmony search algorithm for groundwater pollution source identification.

PubMed

Jiang, Simin; Zhang, Yali; Wang, Pei; Zheng, Maohui

2013-01-01

The spatiotemporal characterization of unknown sources of groundwater pollution is frequently encountered in environmental problems. This study adopts a simulation-optimization approach that combines a contaminant transport simulation model with a heuristic harmony search algorithm to identify unknown pollution sources. In the proposed methodology, an almost-parameter-free harmony search algorithm is developed. The performance of this methodology is evaluated on an illustrative groundwater pollution source identification problem, and the identified results indicate that the proposed almost-parameter-free harmony search algorithm-based optimization model can give satisfactory estimations, even when the irregular geometry, erroneous monitoring data, and prior information shortage of potential locations are considered.

Everyday Ethics: Ethical Issues and Stress in Nursing Practice

PubMed Central

Ulrich, Connie M.; Taylor, Carol; Soeken, Karen; O'Donnell, Patricia; Farrar, Adrienne; Danis, Marion; Grady, Christine

2010-01-01

Aim This paper is a report of a study of the type, frequency, and level of stress of ethical issues encountered by nurses in their everyday practice. Background Everyday ethical issues in nursing practice attract little attention but can create stress for nurses. Nurses often feel uncomfortable in addressing the ethical issues they encounter in patient care. Methods A self-administered survey was sent in 2004 to 1000 nurses in four states in four different census regions of the United States of America. The adjusted response rate was 52%. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations and Pearson correlations. Results A total of 422 questionnaires were used in the analysis. The five most frequently-occurring and most stressful ethical and patient care issues were protecting patients' rights; autonomy and informed consent to treatment; staffing patterns; advanced care planning; and surrogate decision-making. Other common occurrences were unethical practices of healthcare professionals; breaches of patient confidentiality or right to privacy; and end-of-life decision-making. Younger nurses and those with fewer years of experience encountered ethical issues more frequently and reported higher levels of stress. Nurses from different regions also experienced specific types of ethical problems more commonly. Conclusion Nurses face daily ethical challenges in the provision of quality care. To retain nurses, targeted ethics-related interventions that address caring for an increasingly complex patient population are needed. PMID:20735502

Everyday ethics: ethical issues and stress in nursing practice.

PubMed

Ulrich, Connie M; Taylor, Carol; Soeken, Karen; O'Donnell, Patricia; Farrar, Adrienne; Danis, Marion; Grady, Christine

2010-11-01

This paper is a report of a study of the type, frequency, and level of stress of ethical issues encountered by nurses in their everyday practice. Everyday ethical issues in nursing practice attract little attention but can create stress for nurses. Nurses often feel uncomfortable in addressing the ethical issues they encounter in patient care. A self-administered survey was sent in 2004 to 1000 nurses in four states in four different census regions of the United States of America. The adjusted response rate was 52%. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations and Pearson correlations. A total of 422 questionnaires were used in the analysis. The five most frequently occurring and most stressful ethical and patient care issues were protecting patients' rights; autonomy and informed consent to treatment; staffing patterns; advanced care planning; and surrogate decision-making. Other common occurrences were unethical practices of healthcare professionals; breaches of patient confidentiality or right to privacy; and end-of-life decision-making. Younger nurses and those with fewer years of experience encountered ethical issues more frequently and reported higher levels of stress. Nurses from different regions also experienced specific types of ethical problems more commonly. Nurses face daily ethical challenges in the provision of quality care. To retain nurses, targeted ethics-related interventions that address caring for an increasingly complex patient population are needed. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Teaching and Working With Millennial Trainees: Impact on Radiological Education and Work Performance.

PubMed

Lourenco, Ana P; Cronan, John J

2017-01-01

Many feel that the generational differences encountered with Millennial trainees are novel; the reality is that prior generations have always bemoaned generational differences. This is not a new problem; some of the same things may even have been said about us during our own training! There are a variety of myths and misconceptions about the Millennial generation (also known as Generation Y). In this article we review some of the differences frequently encountered as we educate and work alongside our Millennial colleagues, dispelling some of the myths and misconceptions. With increased understanding of this talented group of individuals, we hope to be more effective teachers and have more successful professional relationships. Copyright © 2016 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Challenges in pulmonary fibrosis · 3: Cystic lung disease

PubMed Central

Cosgrove, Gregory P; Frankel, Stephen K; Brown, Kevin K

2007-01-01

Cystic lung disease is a frequently encountered problem caused by a diverse group of diseases. Distinguishing true cystic lung disease from other entities, such as cavitary lung disease and emphysema, is important given the differing prognostic implications. In this paper the features of the cystic lung diseases are reviewed and contrasted with their mimics, and the clinical and radiographic features of both diffuse (pulmonary Langerhans' cell histiocytosis and lymphangioleiomyomatosis) and focal or multifocal cystic lung disease are discussed. PMID:17726170

Pulmonary hypertension in older adults.

PubMed

McArdle, John R; Trow, Terence K; Lerz, Kathryn

2007-12-01

Pulmonary hypertension is a frequently encountered problem in older patients. True idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension can also be seen and requires careful exclusion in older patients. Institution of therapies must be tempered with an appreciation of individual comorbidities and functional limitations that may affect patients' ability to comply and benefit from the complex treatments available for pulmonary arterial hypertension. This article reviews the existing data on the various forms of pulmonary hypertension presenting in older patients and on appropriate therapy in this challenging population.

Deliberate self-harm in adolescents

PubMed Central

Lauw, Michelle; How, Choon How; Loh, Cheryl

2015-01-01

Deliberate self-harm refers to an intentional act of causing physical injury to oneself without wanting to die. It is frequently encountered in adolescents who have mental health problems. Primary care physicians play an important role in the early detection and timely intervention of deliberate self-harm in adolescents. This article aims to outline the associated risk factors and possible aetiologies of deliberate self-harm in adolescents, as well as provide suggestions for clinical assessment and appropriate management within the primary care setting. PMID:26106236

An improved silver staining procedure for schizodeme analysis in polyacrylamide gradient gels.

PubMed

Gonçalves, A M; Nehme, N S; Morel, C M

1990-01-01

A simple protocol is described for the silver staining of polyacrylamide gradient gels used for the separation of restriction fragments of kinetoplast DNA [schizodeme analysis of trypanosomatids (Morel et al., 1980)]. The method overcomes the problems of non-uniform staining and strong background color which are frequently encountered when conventional protocols for silver staining of linear gels are applied to gradient gels. The method described has proven to be of general applicability for DNA, RNA and protein separations in gradient gels.

NCDC mass storage systems and technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Dick

1993-01-01

National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) data management issues are discussed, such as nature of holdings, history of the site, popularity of data sets, media/technology used for storage, volume distributed per month, mode of distribution, most frequently encountered problems, type of media requested/used, and evolution of media. Current holdings at NCDC are 107.8 terabytes of digital data and about 0.3 terabytes of manuscript data. The nexrad radar system is expected to generate approximately 88 terabytes per year by 1996.

Resource-Saving Cleaning Technologies for Power Plant Waste-Water Cooling Ponds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zakonnova, Lyudmila; Nikishkin, Igor; Rostovzev, Alexandr

2017-11-01

One of the frequently encountered problems of power plant small cooling ponds is rapid eutrophication and related intensified development of phytoplankton ("hyperflow") and overgrowing of ponds by higher aquatic vegetation. As a result of hyper-flowering, an enormous amount of detritus settles on the condenser tubes, reducing the efficiency of the power plant operation. The development of higher aquatic vegetation contributes to the appearing of the shoals. As a result the volume, area and other characteristics of the cooling ponds are getting changed. The article describes the environmental problems of small manmade ponds of power plants and coal mines in mining regions. Two approaches to the problem of eutrophication are considered: technological and ecological. The negative effects of herbicides application to aquatic organisms are experimentally proved. An ecological approach to solving the problem by fish-land reclamation method is shown.

Technical errors in planar bone scanning.

PubMed

Naddaf, Sleiman Y; Collier, B David; Elgazzar, Abdelhamid H; Khalil, Magdy M

2004-09-01

Optimal technique for planar bone scanning improves image quality, which in turn improves diagnostic efficacy. Because planar bone scanning is one of the most frequently performed nuclear medicine examinations, maintaining high standards for this examination is a daily concern for most nuclear medicine departments. Although some problems such as patient motion are frequently encountered, the degraded images produced by many other deviations from optimal technique are rarely seen in clinical practice and therefore may be difficult to recognize. The objectives of this article are to list optimal techniques for 3-phase and whole-body bone scanning, to describe and illustrate a selection of deviations from these optimal techniques for planar bone scanning, and to explain how to minimize or avoid such technical errors.

CHD associated with syndromic diagnoses: peri-operative risk factors and early outcomes

PubMed Central

Landis, Benjamin J.; Cooper, David S.; Hinton, Robert B.

2016-01-01

CHD is frequently associated with a genetic syndrome. These syndromes often present specific cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular co-morbidities that confer significant peri-operative risks affecting multiple organ systems. Although surgical outcomes have improved over time, these co-morbidities continue to contribute substantially to poor peri-operative mortality and morbidity outcomes. Peri-operative morbidity may have long-standing ramifications on neurodevelopment and overall health. Recognising the cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular risks associated with specific syndromic diagnoses will facilitate expectant management, early detection of clinical problems, and improved outcomes – for example, the development of syndrome-based protocols for peri-operative evaluation and prophylactic actions may improve outcomes for the more frequently encountered syndromes such as 22q11 deletion syndrome. PMID:26345374

U.S. healthcare providers’ experience with Lyme and other tick-borne diseases

PubMed Central

Brett, Meghan E.; Hinckley, Alison F.; Zielinski-Gutierrez, Emily C.; Mead, Paul S.

2015-01-01

Surveillance indicates that tick-borne diseases are a common problem in the United States. Nevertheless, little is known regarding the experience or management practices of healthcare providers who treat these conditions. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the frequency of tick-borne diseases in clinical practice and the knowledge of healthcare providers regarding their management. Four questions about tick-borne diseases were added to the 2009 Docstyles survey, a nationally representative survey of >2000 U.S. healthcare providers. Topics included diseases encountered, management of patients with early Lyme disease (LD), provision of tick-bite prophylaxis, and sources of information on tick-borne diseases. Overall, 51.3% of practitioners had treated at least one patient for a tick-borne illness in the previous year. Among these, 75.1% had treated one type of disease, 19.0% two types of disease, and 5.9% three or more diseases. LD was encountered by 936 (46.8%) providers; Rocky Mountain spotted fever was encountered by 184 (9.2%) providers. Given a scenario involving early LD, 89% of providers would prescribe antibiotics at the first visit, with or without ordering a blood test. Tick-bite prophylaxis was prescribed by 31.0% of all practitioners, including 41.1% in high-LD-incidence states and 26.0% in low-incidence states. Tick-borne diseases are encountered frequently in clinical practice. Most providers would treat early LD promptly, suggesting they are knowledgeable regarding the limitations of laboratory testing in this setting. Conversely, providers in low-LD-incidence states frequently prescribe tick-bite prophylaxis, suggesting a need for education to reduce potential misdiagnosis and overtreatment. PMID:24713280

Split-shot sinker facilitates seton treatment of anal fistulae.

PubMed

Awad, M L; Sell, H W; Stahlfeld, K R

2009-06-01

The cutting seton is an inexpensive and effective method of treating high complex perianal fistulae. Following placement of the seton, advancement through the external sphincter muscles requires progressive tightening of the seton. The requirement for maintaining the appropriate tension and onset of perianal pressure necrosis are problems frequently encountered using this technique. Using a 3-0 polypropylene suture, a red-rubber catheter, and a nontoxic tin split-shot sinker, we minimized or eliminated these problems. We initially used this technique in one patient with satisfactory results. This technique is technically easy, safe, inexpensive, and efficient, and we are using it in all patients with high perianal fistulae who require a seton.

Engaging novice researchers in the process and culture of science using a "Pass-the-Problem" case strategy.

PubMed

White, Harold B; Usher, David C

2015-01-01

Undergraduates having their first research experience frequently have little idea of what to expect. Institutions offering summer research experiences attempt to address this issue through programs that introduce students to the process and culture of science. However, didactic approaches frequently bore students who prefer more interactive sessions. We describe a "Pass-the-Problem" case study approach that engages groups of students in useful discussions about the research environment they are entering. The cases presented here include keeping a thorough laboratory notebook, balancing laboratory and personal time demands, anxiety about formal presentations, unexpected federal regulatory inspection, working in a lab with limited funds, being used as a technician rather than a researcher, frustration with failed experiments, effects of promotion and tenure on laboratory atmosphere, the importance of reading the research literature, and questioning a career in science. These cases alert students to different situations they might encounter and stimulate discussion about how to deal with them. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Do lions Panthera leo actively select prey or do prey preferences simply reflect chance responses via evolutionary adaptations to optimal foraging?

PubMed

Hayward, Matt W; Hayward, Gina J; Tambling, Craig J; Kerley, Graham I H

2011-01-01

Research on coursing predators has revealed that actions throughout the predatory behavioral sequence (using encounter rate, hunting rate, and kill rate as proxy measures of decisions) drive observed prey preferences. We tested whether similar actions drive the observed prey preferences of a stalking predator, the African lion Panthera leo. We conducted two 96 hour, continuous follows of lions in Addo Elephant National Park seasonally from December 2003 until November 2005 (16 follows), and compared prey encounter rate with prey abundance, hunt rate with prey encounter rate, and kill rate with prey hunt rate for the major prey species in Addo using Jacobs' electivity index. We found that lions encountered preferred prey species far more frequently than expected based on their abundance, and they hunted these species more frequently than expected based on this higher encounter rate. Lions responded variably to non-preferred and avoided prey species throughout the predatory sequence, although they hunted avoided prey far less frequently than expected based on the number of encounters of them. We conclude that actions of lions throughout the predatory behavioural sequence, but particularly early on, drive the prey preferences that have been documented for this species. Once a hunt is initiated, evolutionary adaptations to the predator-prey interactions drive hunting success.

Management of impacted all canines with surgical exposure and alignment by orthodontic treatment

PubMed Central

Katiyar, Radha; Tandon, Pradeep; Singh, Gyan P.; Agrawal, Akhil; Chaturvedi, T. P.

2013-01-01

Canine impaction is a dental problem very often encountered in orthodontic practice. After the third molar, the canine is the most frequently impacted tooth. Bringing the impacted canine into a normal position is important for functional occlusion and the final esthetics of the orthodontic treatment. This article illustrates a peculiar case, in which all four permanent canines maintained their unerupted status at age of 16 years. All four impacted canines were surgically exposed, attachment bonded, traction given with K-9 spring and ideally positioned with fixed orthodontic mechanotherapy. PMID:24124308

Fast and reliable symplectic integration for planetary system N-body problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez, David M.

2016-06-01

We apply one of the exactly symplectic integrators, which we call HB15, of Hernandez & Bertschinger, along with the Kepler problem solver of Wisdom & Hernandez, to solve planetary system N-body problems. We compare the method to Wisdom-Holman (WH) methods in the MERCURY software package, the MERCURY switching integrator, and others and find HB15 to be the most efficient method or tied for the most efficient method in many cases. Unlike WH, HB15 solved N-body problems exhibiting close encounters with small, acceptable error, although frequent encounters slowed the code. Switching maps like MERCURY change between two methods and are not exactly symplectic. We carry out careful tests on their properties and suggest that they must be used with caution. We then use different integrators to solve a three-body problem consisting of a binary planet orbiting a star. For all tested tolerances and time steps, MERCURY unbinds the binary after 0 to 25 years. However, in the solutions of HB15, a time-symmetric HERMITE code, and a symplectic Yoshida method, the binary remains bound for >1000 years. The methods' solutions are qualitatively different, despite small errors in the first integrals in most cases. Several checks suggest that the qualitative binary behaviour of HB15's solution is correct. The Bulirsch-Stoer and Radau methods in the MERCURY package also unbind the binary before a time of 50 years, suggesting that this dynamical error is due to a MERCURY bug.

Problems Encountered by Religious Vocational Secondary School and Other Secondary School Students in Physical Education and Sports Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bar, Mustafa; Yaman, Menzure Sibel; Hergüner, Gülten

2016-01-01

The study aimed to determine problems encountered by Religious Vocational Secondary School and other Secondary School students in physical education and sports activities and to compare these problems according to school type and gender. A questionnaire named "Problems encountered in attending to physical education and sports activities"…

The obesity epidemic: scope of the problem and management strategies.

PubMed

Graves, Barbara W

2010-01-01

As the obesity epidemic increases, primary care clinicians are encountering obesity and health problems associated with obesity more frequently than ever before. In 2007, 41% of women were classified as obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher. Non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be obese than white, non-Hispanics. A wide spectrum of health problems has been associated with obesity, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, osteoarthritis, and polycystic ovary syndrome. Obesity has been shown to be a low-grade inflammatory state, which may be responsible for many of the comorbidities. The general consensus recommends screening for obesity and counseling to promote weight loss. In some cases, pharmacotherapy and or bariatric surgery may be recommended. Copyright © 2010 American College of Nurse-Midwives. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Do Lions Panthera leo Actively Select Prey or Do Prey Preferences Simply Reflect Chance Responses via Evolutionary Adaptations to Optimal Foraging?

PubMed Central

Hayward, Matt W.; Hayward, Gina J.; Tambling, Craig J.; Kerley, Graham I. H.

2011-01-01

Research on coursing predators has revealed that actions throughout the predatory behavioral sequence (using encounter rate, hunting rate, and kill rate as proxy measures of decisions) drive observed prey preferences. We tested whether similar actions drive the observed prey preferences of a stalking predator, the African lion Panthera leo. We conducted two 96 hour, continuous follows of lions in Addo Elephant National Park seasonally from December 2003 until November 2005 (16 follows), and compared prey encounter rate with prey abundance, hunt rate with prey encounter rate, and kill rate with prey hunt rate for the major prey species in Addo using Jacobs' electivity index. We found that lions encountered preferred prey species far more frequently than expected based on their abundance, and they hunted these species more frequently than expected based on this higher encounter rate. Lions responded variably to non-preferred and avoided prey species throughout the predatory sequence, although they hunted avoided prey far less frequently than expected based on the number of encounters of them. We conclude that actions of lions throughout the predatory behavioural sequence, but particularly early on, drive the prey preferences that have been documented for this species. Once a hunt is initiated, evolutionary adaptations to the predator-prey interactions drive hunting success. PMID:21915261

Primary care access for mental illness in Australia: Patterns of access to general practice from 2006 to 2016.

PubMed

Farrer, Louise M; Walker, Jennie; Harrison, Christopher; Banfield, Michelle

2018-01-01

General practice has an important role within the Australian healthcare system to provide access to care and effective management of chronic health conditions. However, people with serious mental illness experience challenges associated with service access. The current paper seeks to examine drivers of access to general practice for people with common and serious mental disorders, compared with people who access care for type II diabetes, a common physical health problem managed in general practice. The Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) programme provides the most comprehensive and objective measurement of general practitioner activity in Australia. Using BEACH data, this study compared general practice encounters for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and type II diabetes during a 10-year period between 2006 and 2016. Analysis revealed more frequent encounters for depression compared to anxiety, and a higher representation of women in encounters for bipolar disorder compared to men. The relationship between number of encounters and patient age was strongly associated with the life course and mortality characteristics associated with each disorder. The findings highlight specific challenges associated with access to primary care for people with serious mental illness, and suggest areas of focus to improve the ability of these patients to access and navigate the health system.

Common problems in the elicitation and analysis of expert opinion affecting probabilistic safety assessments

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

Meyer, M.A.; Booker, J.M.

1990-01-01

Expert opinion is frequently used in probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), particularly in estimating low probability events. In this paper, we discuss some of the common problems encountered in eliciting and analyzing expert opinion data and offer solutions or recommendations. The problems are: that experts are not naturally Bayesian. People fail to update their existing information to account for new information as it becomes available, as would be predicted by the Bayesian philosophy; that experts cannot be fully calibrated. To calibrate experts, the feedback from the known quantities must be immediate, frequent, and specific to the task; that experts are limitedmore » in the number of things that they can mentally juggle at a time to 7 {plus minus} 2; that data gatherers and analysts can introduce bias by unintentionally causing an altering of the expert's thinking or answers; that the level of detail the data, or granularity, can affect the analyses; and the conditioning effect poses difficulties in gathering and analyzing of the expert data. The data that the expert gives can be conditioned on a variety of factors that can affect the analysis and the interpretation of the results. 31 refs.« less

Application of a distributed network in computational fluid dynamic simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deshpande, Manish; Feng, Jinzhang; Merkle, Charles L.; Deshpande, Ashish

1994-01-01

A general-purpose 3-D, incompressible Navier-Stokes algorithm is implemented on a network of concurrently operating workstations using parallel virtual machine (PVM) and compared with its performance on a CRAY Y-MP and on an Intel iPSC/860. The problem is relatively computationally intensive, and has a communication structure based primarily on nearest-neighbor communication, making it ideally suited to message passing. Such problems are frequently encountered in computational fluid dynamics (CDF), and their solution is increasingly in demand. The communication structure is explicitly coded in the implementation to fully exploit the regularity in message passing in order to produce a near-optimal solution. Results are presented for various grid sizes using up to eight processors.

Multiple cranial neuropathy: a common diagnostic problem.

PubMed

Garg, R K; Karak, B

1999-10-01

Syndrome of multiple cranial palsies is a common clinical problem routinely encountered in neurological practice. Anatomical patterns of cranial nerves involvement help in localizing the lesion. Various infections, malignant neoplasms and autoimmune vasculitis are common disorders leading to various syndromes of multiple cranial nerve palsies. A large number of diffuse neurological disorders (e.g. Gullian-Barre syndrome, myopathies) may also present with syndrome of multiple cranial nerve palsies. Despite extensive biochemical and radiological work-up the accurate diagnosis may not be established. Few such patients represent "idiopathic" variety of multiple cranial nerve involvement and show good response to corticosteroids. Widespread and sequential involvements of cranial nerves frequently suggest possibility of malignant infiltration of meninges, however, confirmation of diagnosis may not be possible before autopsy.

The Problems Encountered in a CTEV Clinic: Can Better Casting and Bracing Be Accomplished?

PubMed

Agarwal, Anil; Kumar, Anubrat; Shaharyar, Abbas; Mishra, Madhusudan

2016-09-07

The aim of the study is to create awareness in the practicing health care workers toward the problems encountered during casting and bracing of clubfoot following Ponseti method, and in turn avoid them. Retrospective audit of 6 years' clubfoot clinic records to analyze problems associated with Ponseti method. Problems were encountered in 26 cast and in 6 braced patients. Just 4 patients out of 71 syndromic (5.6%) experienced problems during casting compared with 3% overall incidence. The common problems encountered in casted patients were moisture lesions, hematoma, dermatitis due to occlusion, pressure sores, and fractures. There was excessive bleeding in 1 patient at time of tenotomy. In braced patients, pressure sores and tenderness at tenotomy site were major problems. None of the syndromic patients experienced difficulties during bracing. Problems were encountered with Ponseti method during casting, tenotomy, or bracing. Syndromic children had lesser complication rate than idiopathic clubfeet. It is important to be aware of these problems so that appropriate intervention can be done early. Level IV: Retrospective. © 2016 The Author(s).

Textual Encounters in the DALN/"Composition Forum" on the DALN

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soliday, Mary

2017-01-01

In this article, Mary Soliday discusses her observation that within the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives (DALN), the narrators frequently attribute their desire to read and write in the present with specific textual encounters they had had in the past. In these encounters, the text (often a literary text) helped narrators to mediate…

Self-reported health status and access to health services in a sample of prisoners in Italy

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Self-reported health status in underserved population of prisoners has not been extensively explored. The purposes of this cross-sectional study were to assess self-reported health, quality of life, and access to health services in a sample of male prisoners of Italy. Methods A total of 908 prisoners received a self-administered anonymous questionnaire pertaining on demographic and detention characteristics, self-reported health status and quality of life, access to health services, lifestyles, and participation to preventive, social, and rehabilitation programs. A total of 650 prisoners agreed to participate in the study and returned the questionnaire. Results Respectively, 31.6% and 43.5% of prisoners reported a poor perceived health status and a poor quality of life, and 60% admitted that their health was worsened or greatly worsened during the prison stay. Older age, lower education, psychiatric disorders, self-reported health problems on prison entry, and suicide attempts within prison were significantly associated with a perceived worse health status. At the time of the questionnaire delivery, 30% of the prisoners self-reported a health problem present on prison entry and 82% present at the time of the survey. Most frequently reported health problems included dental health problems, arthritis or joint pain, eye problems, gastrointestinal diseases, emotional problems, and high blood pressure. On average, prisoners encountered general practitioners six times during the previous year, and the frequency of medical encounters was significantly associated with older age, sentenced prisoners, psychiatric disorders, and self-reported health problems on prison entry. Conclusions The findings suggest that prisoners have a perceived poor health status, specific care needs and health promotion programs are seldom offered. Programs for correction of risk behaviour and prevention of long-term effects of incarceration on prisoners' health are strongly needed. PMID:21726446

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

Araujo, R. A. N.; Sfair, R.; Winter, O. C., E-mail: ran.araujo@gmail.com, E-mail: rsfair@feg.unesp.br, E-mail: ocwinter@gmail.com

The Centaur population is composed of minor bodies wandering between the giant planets that frequently perform close gravitational encounters with these planets, leading to a chaotic orbital evolution. Recently, the discovery of two well-defined narrow rings was announced around the Centaur 10199 Chariklo. The rings are assumed to be in the equatorial plane of Chariklo and to have circular orbits. The existence of a well-defined system of rings around a body in such a perturbed orbital region poses an interesting new problem. Are the rings of Chariklo stable when perturbed by close gravitational encounters with the giant planets? Our approachmore » to address this question consisted of forward and backward numerical simulations of 729 clones of Chariklo, with similar initial orbits, for a period of 100 Myr. We found, on average, that each clone experiences during its lifetime more than 150 close encounters with the giant planets within one Hill radius of the planet in question. We identified some extreme close encounters that were able to significantly disrupt or disturb the rings of Chariklo. About 3% of the clones lose their rings and about 4% of the clones have their rings significantly disturbed. Therefore, our results show that in most cases (more than 90%), the close encounters with the giant planets do not affect the stability of the rings in Chariklo-like systems. Thus, if there is an efficient mechanism that creates the rings, then these structures may be common among these kinds of Centaurs.« less

[Survey on drug-related problems in Lithuania's pharmacies].

PubMed

Kubiliene, Loreta; Liukenskyte, Simona; Savickas, Arūnas; Jureniene, Kristina

2006-01-01

to survey the most common and the most important drug-related problems in Lithuania, to explore their solution and factors influencing it, to formulate recommendations for solving drug-related problems. Pharmacists from community pharmacies participated in a random survey. They filled in questionnaires about drug-related problems and their solutions. It was the first survey on drug-related problems ever carried out in Lithuania. For the first time, it was found out that in Lithuania pharmacists most commonly encountered drug-related problem--additional drug therapy (52.03% of respondents)--and most rarely encountered drug-related problem--dosage too high (3% of respondents). Pharmacists stated that all categories of drug-related problems were of equal importance. It was established that pharmacists commonly solved drug-related problems associated with noncompliance with instructions (72.5% of respondents) and rarely met the problem when improper drug was selected (39.56% of respondents). Patients taking prescription medicines commonly encounter additional drug therapy problem, and patients taking nonprescription medications commonly encounter problems related to noncompliance with instructions.

Charged-particle transport in turbulent astrophysical plasmas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, C. E., Jr.

1972-01-01

The effect of electromagnetic fluctuations, or plasma turbulence, on the motion of the individual particles in a plasma is investigated. Two alternative methods are used to find a general equation governing the time-evolution of a distribution of charged particles subject to both an external force field and the random fields of the fluctuations. It is found that, for the high-temperature, low-density plasmas frequently encountered in the study of astrophysics, the presence of even a small amount of turbulence can have a very important effect on the behavior of the plasma. Two problems in which turbulence plays an important role are treated.

The Therapeutic Roller Coaster

PubMed Central

CHU, JAMES A.

1992-01-01

Survivors of severe childhood abuse often encounter profound difficulties. In addition to posttraumatic and dissociative symptomatology, abuse survivors frequently have characterologic problems, particularly regarding self-care and maintaining relationships. Backgrounds of abuse, abandonment, and betrayal are often recapitulated and reenacted in therapy, making the therapeutic experience arduous and confusing for therapists and patients. Efforts must be directed at building an adequate psychotherapeutic foundation before undertaking exploration and abreaction of past traumatic experiences. This discussion sets out a model for treatment of childhood abuse survivors, describing stages of treatment and suggesting interventions. Common treatment dilemmas or "traps" are discussed, with recommendations for their resolution. PMID:22700116

Does Everyday Corruption Affect How Russians View their Political Leadership

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-22

corruption are less, not more, happy with the regime. Street-level corruption is corrosive of the body politic. Our 1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) 4...most citizens’ lives: the country’s political leadership. In Russia, those who frequently encounter corruption are less, not more, happy with the...Russia, those who frequently encounter corruption are less, not more, happy with the regime. The effect on the regime’s public support is not, of course

Presentation and management of chronic pain.

PubMed

Rajapakse, Dilini; Liossi, Christina; Howard, Richard F

2014-05-01

Chronic pain is an important clinical problem affecting significant numbers of children and their families. The severity and impact of chronic pain on everyday function is shaped by the complex interaction of biological, psychological and social factors that determine the experience of pain for each individual, rather than a straightforward reflection of the severity of disease or extent of tissue damage. In this article we present the research findings that strongly support a biopsychosocial concept of chronic pain, describe the current best evidence for management strategies and suggest a common general pathway for all types of chronic pain. The principles of management of some of the most important or frequently encountered chronic pain problems in paediatric practice; neuropathic pain, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), musculoskeletal pain, abdominal pain and headache are also described.

Species richness and community composition of mat-forming ectomycorrhizal fungi in old- and second-growth Douglas-fir forests of the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon, USA.

PubMed

Dunham, Susie M; Larsson, Karl-Henrik; Spatafora, Joseph W

2007-11-01

We investigated the species identity of mat-forming ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi associated with old- and second-growth Douglas-fir stands. Using molecular analyses of rhizomorphs and EM root tips, we characterized 28 unique internal transcribed spacer sequences and considered them proxies for mat-forming EM species. In both stand age classes, one Athelioid species in the genus Piloderma dominated our sample of the mat-forming fungal community. In second-growth stands, the second most frequently encountered mat-forming EM species belonged to the genus Hysterangium. In old-growth stands, several Ramaria species were associated with a frequently encountered mat morphology but no species dominated the community. After using rarefaction analysis to standardize sampling effort, the total species richness did not differ statistically between old- and second-growth habitats. Both an abundance of infrequently encountered species and incomplete sampling of the mat-forming EM community may have limited our ability to detect potential differences in species richness. Several frequently encountered Piloderma species appear to have broad (holarctic) distributions and diverse host associations and their potential importance in forest ecosystems warrants further study.

Patient-provider interaction during medication encounters: A study in outpatient pharmacies in the Netherlands.

PubMed

Koster, Ellen S; van Meeteren, Marijke M; van Dijk, Marloes; van de Bemt, Bart J F; Ensing, Hendrikus T; Bouvy, Marcel L; Blom, Lyda; van Dijk, Liset

2015-07-01

To describe communication between pharmacy staff and patients at the counter in outpatient pharmacies. Both content and communication style were investigated. Pharmaceutical encounters in three outpatient pharmacies in the Netherlands were video-recorded. Videos were analyzed based on an observation protocol for the following information: content of encounter, initiator of a theme and pharmacy staff's communication style. In total, 119 encounters were recorded which concerned 42 first prescriptions, 16 first refill prescriptions and 61 follow-up refill prescriptions. During all encounters, discussion was mostly initiated by pharmacy staff (85%). In first prescription encounters topics most frequently discussed included instructions for use (83%) and dosage instructions (95%). In first refill encounters, patient experiences such as adverse effects (44%) and beneficial effects (38%) were regularly discussed in contrast to follow-up refills (7% and 5%). Patients' opinion on medication was hardly discussed. Pharmacy staff in outpatient pharmacies generally provide practical information, less frequently they discuss patients' experiences and seldom discuss patients' perceptions and preferences about prescribed medication. This study shows there is room for improvement, as communication is still not according to professional guidelines. To implement professional guidelines successfully, it is necessary to identify underlying reasons for not following the guidelines. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bariatric CT Imaging: Challenges and Solutions.

PubMed

Fursevich, Dzmitry M; LiMarzi, Gary M; O'Dell, Matthew C; Hernandez, Manuel A; Sensakovic, William F

2016-01-01

The obesity epidemic in the adult and pediatric populations affects all aspects of health care, including diagnostic imaging. With the increasing prevalence of obese and morbidly obese patients, bariatric computed tomographic (CT) imaging is becoming common in day-to-day radiology practice, and a basic understanding of the unique problems that bariatric patients pose to the imaging community is crucial in any setting. Because larger patients may not fit into conventional scanners, having a CT scanner with an adequate table load limit, a large gantry aperture, a large scan field of view, and a high-power generator is a prerequisite for bariatric imaging. Iterative reconstruction methods, high tube current, and high tube voltage can reduce the image noise that is frequently seen in bariatric CT images. Truncation artifacts, cropping artifacts, and ring artifacts frequently complicate the interpretation of CT images of larger patients. If recognized, these artifacts can be easily reduced by using the proper CT equipment, scan acquisition parameters, and postprocessing options. Lastly, because of complex contrast material dynamics, contrast material-enhanced studies of bariatric patients require special attention. Understanding how the rate of injection, the scan timing, and the total mass of iodine affect vascular and parenchymal enhancement will help to optimize contrast-enhanced studies in the bariatric population. This article familiarizes the reader with the challenges that are frequently encountered at CT imaging of bariatric patients, beginning with equipment selection and ending with a review of the most commonly encountered obesity-related artifacts and the technical considerations in the acquisition of contrast-enhanced images. (©)RSNA, 2016.

On-spot rheumatology consultations in a multilevel geriatric hospital.

PubMed

Lubart, Emily; Leibovitz, Arthur; Shapir, Vadim; Segal, Refael

2014-01-01

Musculoskeletal and joint disorders are extremely common in the elderly. They directly affect mobility, gait stability, quality of life, and independence. To assess the nature of joint problems encountered in a geriatric inpatient population and evaluate the contribution of a rheumatologist. We reviewed the rheumatology consultation records that were conducted in a geriatric medical center over a 10 year period. A total of 474 consultations were held; most of these patients (86%) were hospitalized in the acute geriatric departments, 10% in the rehabilitation ward and 4% in the long-term care wards. Some patients were seen more than once. A rheumatologic joint problem was the main reason for hospitalization in 53% of these patients. Monoarthritis was the most frequent complaint (50%), followed by pauciarticular arthritis (two to five joints) in 30% of patients. Arthrocentesis, diagnostic and therapeutic, was performed in 225 patients, most of them in knee joints (81%). The most frequent diagnosis was osteoarthritis with acute exacerbation (28%), followed by gout (18%), pseudo-gout (9%) and rheumatoid arthritis (9%). In 86 cases (18%) the diagnosis was a non-specific rheumatologic problem: arthralgia, nonspecific generalized pain, or fibromyalgia. Prompt and appropriate evaluation, as well as arthrocentesis and treatment initiation, including local injections, were made possible by the presence of an in-house rheumatologist.

Editorial Commentary: Anteromedial Meniscofemoral Ligament of the Anterior Horn of the Medial Meniscus: I've Never Seen That Before; but Has It Seen Me?

PubMed

Nelson, Eric W

2018-05-01

Although there is frequently an element of variability found in human anatomy, we tend to think of anatomic structures as following the pattern in which we, as surgeons, most frequently encounter them. Though it is possible that a variant pattern of a commonly encountered anatomic structure has "never been seen" by us as surgeons, the constant process of learning sometimes leads us to ask ourselves whether we have truly never encountered such a structure or condition before or whether we simply did not recognize it when it "saw us." Copyright © 2018 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding ethical dilemmas in the emergency department: views from medical students' essays.

PubMed

House, Joseph B; Theyyunni, Nikhil; Barnosky, Andrew R; Fuhrel-Forbis, Andrea; Seeyave, Desiree M; Ambs, Dawn; Fischer, Jonathan P; Santen, Sally A

2015-04-01

For medical students, the emergency department (ED) often presents ethical problems not encountered in other settings. In many medical schools there is little ethics training during the clinical years. The benefits of reflective essay writing in ethics and professionalism education are well established. The purpose of this study was to determine and categorize the types of ethical dilemmas and scenarios encountered by medical students in the ED through reflective essays. During a 4(th)-year emergency medicine rotation, all medical students wrote brief essays on an ethical situation encountered in the ED, and participated in an hour debriefing session about these essays. Qualitative analysis was performed to determine common themes from the essays. The frequency of themes was calculated. The research team coded 173 essays. The most common ethical themes were autonomy (41%), social justice (32.4%), nonmaleficence (31.8%), beneficence (26.6%), fidelity (12%), and respect (8.7%). Many of the essays contained multiple ethical principles that were often in conflict with each other. In one essay, a student grappled with the decision to intubate a patient despite a preexisting do-not-resuscitate order. This patient encounter was coded with autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence. Common scenarios included ethical concerns when caring for critical patients, treatment of pain, homeless or alcoholic patients, access to care, resource utilization, and appropriateness of care. Medical students encounter patients with numerous ethically based issues. Frequently, they note conflicts between ethical principles. Such essays constitute an important resource for faculty, resident, and student ethics training. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Self-reported occupational health problems among Libyan dentists.

PubMed

Arheiam, Arheiam; Ingafou, Mohamed

2015-01-01

To investigate the prevalence of the most common occupation-related health problems as well as factors associated with their incidence among dental practitioners. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey of Libyan dental practitioners. Participants provided information regarding their experience of occupationally related problems they encountered over the past 12 months which included inquiries about musculoskeletal pain, percutaneous injuries, allergy, eye and sight problems, and hearing problems. Musculoskeletal problems were the most frequently reported (48.2%), followed by percutaneous injuries (35%), eye problems (22%), allergy (11%) and hearing problems (7.6%). Musculoskeletal problems were significantly higher among dentists who work in private sector, full timer as well as those who prefer to work in a sitting position (p=0.021, 0.027 and 0.008, respectively). Practitioners with less than 5 years in service reported significantly higher percentage of percutaneous injuries (p=0.027) than their senior counterparts, whereas practitioners who spent more than 10 years in service were more likely to suffer from visual disturbances (p=0.033). The findings of this study indicate that musculoskeletal problems and percutaneous injuries are the most commonly reported occupational health problems among dentists, whereas allergic reactions and hearing problems are the least reported ones. Dentists should use alternate working positions to minimise musculoskeletal problems and adopt more effective strategies to prevent percutaneous injuries particularly among novices.

Data Visualization of Invisible Airflow Hazards During Helicopter Takeoff and Landing Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aragon, Cecilia R.

2004-01-01

Many aircraft accidents each year are caused by encounters with unseen airflow hazards near the ground such as vortices, downdrafts, wind shear, microbursts, or other turbulence. While such hazards frequently pose problems to fixed-wing airplanes, they are especially dangerous to helicopters, which often have to operate in confined spaces and under operationally stressful conditions. We are developing flight-deck visualizations of airflow hazards during helicopter takeoff and landing operations, and are evaluating their effectiveness with usability studies. Our hope is.that this work will lead to the production of an airflow hazard detection system for pilots that will save lives.

Swimming with the Sharks: A Lesson in Media Survival.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Les

1996-01-01

Offers guidelines for dealing with the media, which include creating a media plan and understanding the news media. Describes the three most frequently encountered media situations--the face-to-face interview, the unexpected encounter, and the press conference/news release. (LMI)

Management of functional nonretentive fecal incontinence in children: Recommendations from the International Children's Continence Society.

PubMed

Koppen, I J N; von Gontard, A; Chase, J; Cooper, C S; Rittig, C S; Bauer, S B; Homsy, Y; Yang, S S; Benninga, M A

2016-02-01

Fecal incontinence (FI) in children is frequently encountered in pediatric practice, and often occurs in combination with urinary incontinence. In most cases, FI is constipation-associated, but in 20% of children presenting with FI, no constipation or other underlying cause can be found - these children suffer from functional nonretentive fecal incontinence (FNRFI). To summarize the evidence-based recommendations of the International Children's Continence Society for the evaluation and management of children with FNRFI. Functional nonretentive fecal incontinence is a clinical diagnosis based on medical history and physical examination. Except for determining colonic transit time, additional investigations are seldom indicated in the workup of FNRFI. Treatment should consist of education, a nonaccusatory approach, and a toileting program encompassing a daily bowel diary and a reward system. Special attention should be paid to psychosocial or behavioral problems, since these frequently occur in affected children. Functional nonretentive fecal incontinence is often difficult to treat, requiring prolonged therapies with incremental improvement on treatment and frequent relapses. Copyright © 2015 Journal of Pediatric Urology Company. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Urological considerations in space medicine.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cockett, A. T. K.; Adey, W. R.; Roberts, A. P.

1972-01-01

Urological problems encountered during the preparation phases of Biosatellite III, flight of Bonny the Space Monkey, are detailed. The solution to each problem is detailed. The catheter system employed, antibiotic coverage used, and bacteria encountered in the urine of the five animals are detailed. Urinary calcium levels in three ground based animals are illustrated. Testicular alterations encountered in all animals are mentioned. It is concluded that space flights of duration beyond nine days may present serious problems of a urological nature.

Sleep-related problems in common medical conditions.

PubMed

Parish, James M

2009-02-01

Common medical problems are often associated with abnormalities of sleep. Patients with chronic medical disorders often have fewer hours of sleep and less restorative sleep compared to healthy individuals, and this poor sleep may worsen the subjective symptoms of the disorder. Individuals with lung disease often have disturbed sleep related to oxygen desaturations, coughing, or dyspnea. Both obstructive lung disease and restrictive lung diseases are associated with poor quality sleep. Awakenings from sleep are common in untreated or undertreated asthma, and cause sleep disruption. Gastroesophageal reflux is a major cause of disrupted sleep due to awakenings from heartburn, dyspepsia, acid brash, coughing, or choking. Patients with chronic renal disease commonly have sleep complaints often due to insomnia, insufficient sleep, sleep apnea, or restless legs syndrome. Complaints related to sleep are very common in patients with fibromyalgia and other causes of chronic pain. Sleep disruption increases the sensation of pain and decreases quality of life. Patients with infectious diseases, including acute viral illnesses, HIV-related disease, and Lyme disease, may have significant problems with insomnia and hypersomnolence. Women with menopause have from insomnia, sleep-disordered breathing, restless legs syndrome, or fibromyalgia. Patients with cancer or receiving cancer therapy are often bothered by insomnia or other sleep disturbances that affect quality of life and daytime energy. The objective of this article is to review frequently encountered medical conditions and examine their impact on sleep, and to review frequent sleep-related problems associated with these common medical conditions.

Pathways to Teacher Education for Intercultural Communicative Competence: Teachers' Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bastos, Mónica; Araújo e Sá, Helena

2015-01-01

Intercultural and plurilingual encounters have become increasingly frequent due to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) developments, mobility (real/virtual) and migration. To face the challenges inherent in such encounters, the development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is crucial. ICC development may start in the…

Women's sexual concerns: data analysis from a help-line.

PubMed

Papaharitou, Stamatis; Nakopoulou, Evangelia; Kirana, Paraskevi; Iraklidou, Maria; Athanasiadis, Loukas; Hatzichristou, Dimitrios

2005-09-01

To report female sexual problems and concerns, as presented by women calling a help-line, and to evaluate women's help-seeking behavior regarding sexual matters. The study included all telephone calls from women who called for sexual concerns to a help-line dedicated to sexual problems during a 5-year period. During the call, the counselor addresses demographic characteristics of the caller, the sexual problem reported, their sexual function, any previous doctor contacts, coexisting physical and mental health problems, couple's relationship, and lifestyle factors that may influence sexual function. Data processing employed descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis in order to detect possible associations between categorical variables. Of a total of 3,523 calls made by women, 2,287 full forms were analyzed, reflecting a response rate of 64.9%. Most women (46.6%) called for problems encountered by their partners, 45.1% called for their own sexual problems, while 5.9% were calling for their children. Only 34.3% of them had already consulted a doctor. The most frequently reported difficulties were achieving orgasm (25.6%), reduced sexual desire (16.9%), and pain during intercourse (6.1%). Women in the 40-49 age group had the higher odds ratios for the sexual problems reported (reduced sexual desire: odds ratio [OR] 5.0; difficulties achieving orgasm: OR 6.3; pain during intercourse: OR 5.8). Both married and single women had high risk of experiencing low levels of sexual desire (40% and 30%, respectively). Women's sexual concerns are not devoted to their sexual problems, but also their partner's and children's problems. Most frequently reported sexual problems are difficulties in reaching orgasm and reduced sexual desire. However, women are reluctant to seek medical advice on their sexual concerns. There is a need for general practitioners and family doctors to become aware of the possibility of a sexual problem and to be trained on how to manage this at a primary care level.

[Errors in wound management].

PubMed

Filipović, Marinko; Novinscak, Tomislav

2014-10-01

Chronic ulcers have adverse effects on the patient quality of life and productivity, thus posing financial burden upon the healthcare system. Chronic wound healing is a complex process resulting from the interaction of the patient general health status, wound related factors, medical personnel skill and competence, and therapy related products. In clinical practice, considerable improvement has been made in the treatment of chronic wounds, which is evident in the reduced rate of the severe forms of chronic wounds in outpatient clinics. However, in spite of all the modern approaches, efforts invested by medical personnel and agents available for wound care, numerous problems are still encountered in daily practice. Most frequently, the problems arise from inappropriate education, of young personnel in particular, absence of multidisciplinary approach, and inadequate communication among the personnel directly involved in wound treatment. To perceive them more clearly, the potential problems or complications in the management of chronic wounds can be classified into the following groups: problems mostly related to the use of wound coverage and other etiology related specificities of wound treatment; problems related to incompatibility of the agents used in wound treatment; and problems arising from failure to ensure aseptic and antiseptic performance conditions.

Problems Encountered during the Scientific Research Process in Graduate Education: The Institute of Educational Sciences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akyürek, Erkan; Afacan, Özlem

2018-01-01

This study was conducted to determine the problems faced by graduate students when conducting scientific research and to make suggestions for solving these problems. The research model was a case study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants in the study with questions about the problems encountered during scientific research…

Response problems in a vacation panel study

Treesearch

Christine A. Vogt; Susan I. Stewart

2001-01-01

This paper investigates response problems encountered in a panel study of travel behavior. Though the overall response rate to the three-wave panel study was acceptable (over 60%), three types of response problems were encountered: refusal, non-response, and attrition. In a follow-up phone survey, a sample of individuals from each problem response group was questioned...

Mathematical Metaphors: Problem Reformulation and Analysis Strategies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, David E.

2005-01-01

This paper addresses the critical need for the development of intelligent or assisting software tools for the scientist who is working in the initial problem formulation and mathematical model representation stage of research. In particular, examples of that representation in fluid dynamics and instability theory are discussed. The creation of a mathematical model that is ready for application of certain solution strategies requires extensive symbolic manipulation of the original mathematical model. These manipulations can be as simple as term reordering or as complicated as discovery of various symmetry groups embodied in the equations, whereby Backlund-type transformations create new determining equations and integrability conditions or create differential Grobner bases that are then solved in place of the original nonlinear PDEs. Several examples are presented of the kinds of problem formulations and transforms that can be frequently encountered in model representation for fluids problems. The capability of intelligently automating these types of transforms, available prior to actual mathematical solution, is advocated. Physical meaning and assumption-understanding can then be propagated through the mathematical transformations, allowing for explicit strategy development.

Electrostatically Accelerated Coupled Binding and Folding of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins

PubMed Central

Ganguly, Debabani; Otieno, Steve; Waddell, Brett; Iconaru, Luigi; Kriwacki, Richard W.; Chen, Jianhan

2012-01-01

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are now recognized to be prevalent in biology, and many potential functional benefits have been discussed. However, the frequent requirement of peptide folding in specific interactions of IDPs could impose a kinetic bottleneck, which could be overcome only by efficient folding upon encounter. Intriguingly, existing kinetic data suggest that specific binding of IDPs is generally no slower than that of globular proteins. Here, we exploited the cell cycle regulator p27Kip1 (p27) as a model system to understand how IDPs might achieve efficient folding upon encounter for facile recognition. Combining experiments and coarse-grained modeling, we demonstrate that long-range electrostatic interactions between enriched charges on p27 and near its binding site on cyclin A not only enhance the encounter rate (i.e., electrostatic steering), but also promote folding-competent topologies in the encounter complexes, allowing rapid subsequent formation of short-range native interactions en route to the specific complex. In contrast, nonspecific hydrophobic interactions, while hardly affecting the encounter rate, can significantly reduce the efficiency of folding upon encounter and lead to slower binding kinetics. Further analysis of charge distributions in a set of known IDP complexes reveals that, although IDP binding sites tend to be more hydrophobic compared to the rest of the target surface, their vicinities are frequently enriched with charges to complement those on IDPs. This observation suggests that electrostatically accelerated encounter and induced folding might represent a prevalent mechanism for promoting facile IDP recognition. PMID:22721951

An arbitrary-order staggered time integrator for the linear acoustic wave equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jaejoon; Park, Hyunseo; Park, Yoonseo; Shin, Changsoo

2018-02-01

We suggest a staggered time integrator whose order of accuracy can arbitrarily be extended to solve the linear acoustic wave equation. A strategy to select the appropriate order of accuracy is also proposed based on the error analysis that quantitatively predicts the truncation error of the numerical solution. This strategy not only reduces the computational cost several times, but also allows us to flexibly set the modelling parameters such as the time step length, grid interval and P-wave speed. It is demonstrated that the proposed method can almost eliminate temporal dispersive errors during long term simulations regardless of the heterogeneity of the media and time step lengths. The method can also be successfully applied to the source problem with an absorbing boundary condition, which is frequently encountered in the practical usage for the imaging algorithms or the inverse problems.

Experimental Replication of an Aeroengine Combustion Instability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cohen, J. M.; Hibshman, J. R.; Proscia, W.; Rosfjord, T. J.; Wake, B. E.; McVey, J. B.; Lovett, J.; Ondas, M.; DeLaat, J.; Breisacher, K.

2000-01-01

Combustion instabilities in gas turbine engines are most frequently encountered during the late phases of engine development, at which point they are difficult and expensive to fix. The ability to replicate an engine-traceable combustion instability in a laboratory-scale experiment offers the opportunity to economically diagnose the problem (to determine the root cause), and to investigate solutions to the problem, such as active control. The development and validation of active combustion instability control requires that the causal dynamic processes be reproduced in experimental test facilities which can be used as a test bed for control system evaluation. This paper discusses the process through which a laboratory-scale experiment was designed to replicate an instability observed in a developmental engine. The scaling process used physically-based analyses to preserve the relevant geometric, acoustic and thermo-fluid features. The process increases the probability that results achieved in the single-nozzle experiment will be scalable to the engine.

Inter-Fork Strand Annealing causes genomic deletions during the termination of DNA replication.

PubMed

Morrow, Carl A; Nguyen, Michael O; Fower, Andrew; Wong, Io Nam; Osman, Fekret; Bryer, Claire; Whitby, Matthew C

2017-06-06

Problems that arise during DNA replication can drive genomic alterations that are instrumental in the development of cancers and many human genetic disorders. Replication fork barriers are a commonly encountered problem, which can cause fork collapse and act as hotspots for replication termination. Collapsed forks can be rescued by homologous recombination, which restarts replication. However, replication restart is relatively slow and, therefore, replication termination may frequently occur by an active fork converging on a collapsed fork. We find that this type of non-canonical fork convergence in fission yeast is prone to trigger deletions between repetitive DNA sequences via a mechanism we call Inter-Fork Strand Annealing (IFSA) that depends on the recombination proteins Rad52, Exo1 and Mus81, and is countered by the FANCM-related DNA helicase Fml1. Based on our findings, we propose that IFSA is a potential threat to genomic stability in eukaryotes.

Numerical modeling process of embolization arteriovenous malformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cherevko, A. A.; Gologush, T. S.; Petrenko, I. A.; Ostapenko, V. V.

2017-10-01

Cerebral arteriovenous malformation is a difficult, dangerous, and most frequently encountered vascular failure of development. It consists of vessels of very small diameter, which perform a discharge of blood from the artery to the vein. In this regard it can be adequately modeled using porous medium. Endovascular embolization of arteriovenous malformation is effective treatment of such pathologies. However, the danger of intraoperative rupture during embolization still exists. The purpose is to model this process and build an optimization algorithm for arteriovenous malformation embolization. To study the different embolization variants, the initial-boundary value problems, describing the process of embolization, were solved numerically by using a new modification of CABARET scheme. The essential moments of embolization process were modeled in our numerical experiments. This approach well reproduces the essential features of discontinuous two-phase flows, arising in the embolization problems. It can be used for further study on the process of embolization.

Active radar guides missile to its target: receptor-based targeted treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma by nanoparticulate systems.

PubMed

Yan, Jing-Jun; Liao, Jia-Zhi; Lin, Ju-Sheng; He, Xing-Xing

2015-01-01

Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) usually present at advanced stages and do not benefit from surgical resection, so drug therapy should deserve a prominent place in unresectable HCC treatment. But chemotherapy agents, such as doxorubicin, cisplatin, and paclitaxel, frequently encounter important problems such as low specificity and non-selective biodistribution. Recently, the development of nanotechnology led to significant breakthroughs to overcome these problems. Decorating the surfaces of nanoparticulate-based drug carriers with homing devices has demonstrated its potential in concentrating chemotherapy agents specifically to HCC cells. In this paper, we reviewed the current status of active targeting strategies for nanoparticulate systems based on various receptors such as asialoglycoprotein receptor, transferrin receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor, folate receptor, integrin, and CD44, which are abundantly expressed on the surfaces of hepatocytes or liver cancer cells. Furthermore, we pointed out their merits and defects and provided theoretical references for further research.

Validation of an International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision Coding Algorithm for Hospital Encounters with Hypoglycemia.

PubMed

Hodge, Meryl C; Dixon, Stephanie; Garg, Amit X; Clemens, Kristin K

2017-06-01

To determine the positive predictive value and sensitivity of an International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, coding algorithm for hospital encounters concerning hypoglycemia. We carried out 2 retrospective studies in Ontario, Canada. We examined medical records from 2002 through 2014, in which older adults (mean age, 76) were assigned at least 1 code for hypoglycemia (E15, E160, E161, E162, E1063, E1163, E1363, E1463). The positive predictive value of the algorithm was calculated using a gold-standard definition (blood glucose value <4 mmol/L or physician diagnosis of hypoglycemia). To determine the algorithm's sensitivity, we used linked healthcare databases to identify older adults (mean age, 77) with laboratory plasma glucose values <4 mmol/L during a hospital encounter that took place between 2003 and 2011. We assessed how frequently a code for hypoglycemia was present. We also examined the algorithm's performance in differing clinical settings (e.g. inpatient vs. emergency department, by hypoglycemia severity). The positive predictive value of the algorithm was 94.0% (95% confidence interval 89.3% to 97.0%), and its sensitivity was 12.7% (95% confidence interval 11.9% to 13.5%). It performed better in the emergency department and in cases of more severe hypoglycemia (plasma glucose values <3.5 mmol/L compared with ≥3.5 mmol/L). Our hypoglycemia algorithm has a high positive predictive value but is limited in sensitivity. Although we can be confident that older adults who are assigned 1 of these codes truly had a hypoglycemia event, many episodes will not be captured by studies using administrative databases. Copyright © 2017 Diabetes Canada. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Easier detection of invertebrate "identification-key characters" with light of different wavelengths

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

The marine α-taxonomist often encounters two problems. Firstly, the "environmental dirt" that is frequently present on the specimens and secondly the difficulty in distinguishing key-features due to the uniform colours which fixed animals often adopt. Here we show that illuminating animals with deep-blue or ultraviolet light instead of the normal white-light abrogates both difficulties; dirt disappears and important details become clearly visible. This light regime has also two other advantages. It allows easy detection of very small, normally invisible, animals (0.1 μm range). And as these light wavelengths can induce fluorescence, new identification markers may be discovered by this approach. PMID:22040277

Broken bones: common pediatric fractures--part I.

PubMed

Hart, Erin S; Albright, Maurice B; Rebello, Gleeson N; Grottkau, Brian E

2006-01-01

Musculoskeletal injuries are one of the most frequently encountered problems in pediatric practice, with fractures accounting for a surprisingly large percentage of these injuries. A fracture occurs when bone is subjected to more energy than it can absorb. Pediatric healthcare providers must have a good understanding of normal bone growth and development and must recognize common mechanisms of injury and fracture patterns seen in children. Nearly 20% of children who present with an injury have a fracture, and it is estimated that 42% of boys and 27% of girls will sustain a fracture during childhood (Wilkins, 1996). The immature skeleton has several unique properties that directly affect the management of fractures in children.

Depression among inmates in a regional prison of eastern Nepal: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Shrestha, Gambhir; Yadav, Deepak Kumar; Sapkota, Nidesh; Baral, Dharanidhar; Yadav, Birendra Kumar; Chakravartty, Avaniendra; Pokharel, Paras Kumar

2017-10-23

Depression is the most common form of mental disorder among inmates, with a prevalence much higher than in the general population. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of depression among inmates and identify factors associated with it. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Jhumka Regional Prison, the largest prison in eastern Nepal, from September 2014 to August 2015. A total of 434 randomly selected inmates were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire examining socio-demographic characteristics, detention status, self-reported health problems, substance use status, and suicidal ideation. Depression was screened using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale. Chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression analysis were applied to determine the association between depression and related variables. The mean age of the participants was 35.7 years (SD 13.3). The prevalence of depression among the inmates was 35.3%. Approximately 2.3% reported suicidal ideation during imprisonment and 0.9% had attempted suicide inside the prison. In bivariate analysis, depression was significantly associated with previous incarceration (OR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.05-3.47, p = 0.033), poor self-rated health (OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.16-2.64, p = 0.007), frequent appointments when encountering health problems (OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.06-2.61, p = 0.028), suicidal ideation (OR = 4.44, 95%CI = 1.13-17.44, p = 0.038) and loss of weight (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.00-2.23, p = 0.049). However, only previous incarceration (AOR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.04-3.74, p = 0.037) and frequent appointments when encountering health problems (AOR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.01-2.57, p = 0.046) remained significant in a multivariate model. This study showed a high rate of depression among inmates in Nepal. The results suggest a need for psychiatric and rehabilitative care in correctional settings to improve the health status of the inmates.

Safety in bear country: protective measures and bullet performance at short range.

Treesearch

W.R. Meehan; J.F. Thilenius

1983-01-01

Bears are frequently encountered by people working in or enjoying the outdoors. Some government agencies have regulations concerning the firearms their personnel carry for protection against bears.Guidelines to prevent hazardous encounters with bears are presented, and the performance of commonly used weapons and ammunition is discussed. The ballistic...

Dynamic simulation solves process control problem in Oman

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

NONE

1998-11-16

A dynamic simulation study solved the process control problems for a Saih Rawl, Oman, gas compressor station operated by Petroleum Development of Oman (PDO). PDO encountered persistent compressor failure that caused frequent facility shutdowns, oil production deferment, and gas flaring. It commissioned MSE (Consultants) Ltd., U.K., to find a solution for the problem. Saih Rawl, about 40 km from Qarn Alam, produces oil and associated gas from a large number of low and high-pressure wells. Oil and gas are separated in three separators. The oil is pumped to Qarn Alam for treatment and export. Associated gas is compressed in twomore » parallel trains. Train K-1115 is a 350,000 standard cu m/day, four-stage reciprocating compressor driven by a fixed-speed electric motor. Train K-1120 is a 1 million standard cu m/day, four-stage reciprocating compressor driven by a fixed-speed electric motor. Train K-1120 is a 1 million standard cu m/day, four-stage centrifugal compressor driven by a variable-speed motor. The paper describes tripping and surging problems with the gas compressor and the control simplifications that solved the problem.« less

District nurses' involvement in mental health: an exploratory survey.

PubMed

Lee, Soo; Knight, Denise

2006-04-01

This article reports on a survey of district nurses' involvement in mental health interventions in one county. Seventy-nine questionnaires were sent and 46 were returned. Descriptive analysis was carried out using statistical software. The DNs reported encountering a wide range of mental health issues and interventions in practice: dementia, anxiety and depression featured highly. Over half (55%) of the respondents reported involvement in bereavement counselling, and 28% and 23% of respondents reported encountering anxiety management, and problem solving and alcohol advice respectively. A large proportion, however, reported no involvement in mental health interventions. Among the psychiatric professionals, district nurses tended to have most frequent contacts with social workers. GPs were the most likely person to whom DNs made referrals, followed by community psychiatric nurses. Despite the apparent awareness of the values of psychosocial interventions, DNs were equally influenced by the medical model of treatment. In order to realize the potential contribution of district nurses in mental health interventions, there is a need for primary care teams to foster a closer working relationship with mental health specialist services.

Chimpanzee responses to researchers in a disturbed forest-farm mosaic at Bulindi, western Uganda.

PubMed

McLennan, Matthew R; Hill, Catherine M

2010-09-01

We describe the behavior of a previously unstudied community of wild chimpanzees during opportunistic encounters with researchers in an unprotected forest-farm mosaic at Bulindi, Uganda. Data were collected during 115 encounters between May 2006 and January 2008. Individual responses were recorded during the first minute of visual contact. The most common responses were "ignore" for arboreal chimpanzees and "monitor" for terrestrial individuals. Chimpanzees rarely responded with "flight". Adult males were seen disproportionately often relative to adult females, and accounted for 90% of individual responses recorded for terrestrial animals. Entire encounters were also categorized based on the predominant response of the chimpanzee party to researcher proximity. The most frequent encounter type was "ignore" (36%), followed by "monitor" (21%), "intimidation" (18%) and "stealthy retreat" (18%). "Intimidation" encounters occurred when chimpanzees were contacted in dense forest where visibility was low, provoking intense alarm and agitation. Adult males occasionally acted together to repel researchers through aggressive mobbing and pursuit. Chimpanzee behavior during encounters reflects the familiar yet frequently agonistic relationship between apes and local people at Bulindi. The chimpanzees are not hunted but experience high levels of harassment from villagers. Human-directed aggression by chimpanzees may represent a strategy to accommodate regular disruptions to foraging effort arising from competitive encounters with people both in and outside forest. Average encounter duration and proportion of encounters categorized as "ignore" increased over time, whereas "intimidation" encounters decreased, indicating some habituation occurred during the study. Ecotourism aimed at promoting tolerance of wildlife through local revenue generation is one possible strategy for conserving great apes on public or private land. However, the data imply that habituating chimpanzees for viewing-based ecotourism in heavily human-dominated landscapes, such as Bulindi, is ill-advised since a loss of fear of humans could lead to increased negative interactions with local people. 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Nest defense- Grassland bird responses to snakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellison, Kevin S.; Ribic, Christine

2012-01-01

Predation is the primary source of nest mortality for most passerines; thus, behaviors to reduce the impacts of predation are frequently quantified to study learning, adaptation, and coevolution among predator and prey species. Video surveillance of nests has made it possible to examine real-time parental nest defense. During 1999-2009, we used video camera systems to monitor 518 nests of grassland birds. We reviewed video of 48 visits by snakes to 34 nests; 37 of these visits resulted in predation of active nests. When adult birds encountered snakes at the nest (n = 33 visits), 76% of the encounters resulted in a form of nest defense (nonaggressive or aggressive); in 47% of the encounters, birds physically struck snakes. When defending nests, most birds pecked at the snakes; Eastern Meadowlarks (Sturnella magna) and Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) pecked most frequently in anyone encounter. Also, two Eastern Meadowlarks ran around snakes, frequently with wings spread, and three Bobolinks struck at snakes from the air. Nest defense rarely appeared to alter snake behavior; the contents of seven nests defended aggressively and two nests defended nonaggressively were partially depredated, whereas the contents of six nests defended each way were consumed completely. One fledgling was produced at each of three nests that had been aggressively defended. During aggressive defense, one snake appeared to be driven away and one was wounded. Our findings should be a useful starting point for further research. For example, future researchers may be able to determine whether the behavioral variation we observed in nest defense reflects species differences, anatomic or phylogenetic constraints, or individual differences related to a bird's prior experience. There appears to be much potential for studying nest defense behavior using video recording of both real and simulated encounters. 

Shuttle Orbiter Active Thermal Control Subsystem design and flight experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bond, Timothy A.; Metcalf, Jordan L.; Asuncion, Carmelo

1991-01-01

The paper examines the design of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Active Thermal Control Subsystem (ATCS) constructed for providing the vehicle and payload cooling during all phases of a mission and during ground turnaround operations. The operation of the Shuttle ATCS and some of the problems encountered during the first 39 flights of the Shuttle program are described, with special attention given to the major problems encountered with the degradation of the Freon flow rate on the Orbiter Columbia, the Flash Evaporator Subsystem mission anomalies which occurred on STS-26 and STS-34, and problems encountered with the Ammonia Boiler Subsystem. The causes and the resolutions of these problems are discussed.

A Study on the Application of Creative Problem Solving Teaching to Statistics Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Ridong; Xiaohui, Su; Shieh, Chich-Jen

2017-01-01

Everyone would encounter the life issue of solving complicated problems generated by economic behaviors among all activities for making a living. Various life problems encountered therefore could be generalized by economic statistics. In other words, a lot of important events in daily life are related to economic statistics. For this reason,…

Problems Encountered by Novice Pair Programmers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanks, Brian

2008-01-01

In a study of the types of problems encountered by students that led them to seek assistance, Robins et al. [2006] found that the most common problems were related to trivial mechanics. The students in this study worked by themselves on their programming exercises. This article discusses a replication of the Robins et al. study in which the…

Australian men's sexual practices in saunas, sex clubs and other male sex on premises venues.

PubMed

Lyons, Anthony; Smith, Anthony M A; Grierson, Jeffrey W; von Doussa, Henry

2010-06-01

Sex on premises venues (SOPVs) where men have sex with men have been implicated in the spread of sexually transmissible infections, but few studies have described men's sexual encounters in SOPVs, particularly the degree to which men from different backgrounds engage in risky sexual practices. Interviewer administered surveys were conducted with 186 Australian men who have sex with men (MSM) within 48 h of visiting an SOPV. They reported their sexual practices, the characteristics of their partners and other circumstances surrounding their sexual encounters. All analyses were based on the number of sexual encounters (n = 430). Oral sex was the most common practice, occurring in 74.9% of encounters, followed by massage, frottage or kissing (53.7%), solo or mutual masturbation (36.3%), and anal sex (32.1%). Multivariate analyses revealed age as a significant factor for having protected anal sex (P = 0.001), insertive anal sex (P = 0.004) and receptive anal sex (P < 0.001). These practices were more frequent in encounters among younger men, while masturbation (P = 0.03) was more frequent among older men. When men's sexual partners were affected by alcohol, encounters were less likely to involve unprotected anal intercourse (P = 0.006) and more likely to involve massage, frottage or kissing (P = 0.009). Men disclosed their HIV status in only 7.7% of encounters. With the likelihood of risky sexual practices varying according to background, results from this study should be used to guide interventions aiming to promote safer sex in SOPVs.

Management of vertebral compression fracture in general practice: BEACH program.

PubMed

Megale, Rodrigo Z; Pollack, Allan; Britt, Helena; Latimer, Jane; Naganathan, Vasi; McLachlan, Andrew J; Ferreira, Manuela L

2017-01-01

The pain associated with vertebral compression fractures can cause significant loss of function and quality of life for older adults. Despite this, there is little consensus on how best to manage this condition. To describe usual care provided by general practitioners (GPs) in Australia for the management of vertebral compression fractures. Data from the Bettering the Evaluation And Care of Health (BEACH) program collected between April 2005 and March 2015 was used for this study. Each year, a random sample of approximately 1,000 GPs each recorded information on 100 consecutive encounters. We selected those encounters at which vertebral compression fracture was managed. Analyses of management options were limited to encounters with patients aged 50 years or over. i) patient demographics; ii) diagnoses/problems managed; iii) the management provided for vertebral compression fracture during the encounter. Robust 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for the cluster survey design, were used to assess significant differences between group means. Vertebral compression fractures were managed in 211 (0.022%; 95% CI: 0.018-0.025) of the 977,300 BEACH encounters recorded April 2005- March 2015. That provides a national annual estimate of 26,000 (95% CI: 22,000-29,000) encounters at which vertebral fractures were managed. At encounters with patients aged 50 years or over (those at higher risk of primary osteoporosis), prescription of analgesics was the most common management action, particularly opioids analgesics (47.1 per 100 vertebral fractures; 95% CI: 38.4-55.7). Prescriptions of paracetamol (8.2; 95% CI: 4-12.4) or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (4.1; 95% CI: 1.1-7.1) were less frequent. Non-pharmacological treatment was provided at a rate of 22.4 per 100 vertebral fractures (95% CI: 14.6-30.1). At least one referral (to hospital, specialist, allied health care or other) was given for 12.3 per 100 vertebral fractures (95% CI: 7.8-16.8). The prescription of oral opioid analgesics remains the common general practice approach for vertebral compression fractures management, despite the lack of evidence to support this. Clinical trials addressing management of these fractures are urgently needed to improve the quality of care patients receive.

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report 12: An initial investigation into the production and use of Scientific and Technical Information (STI) at five NASA centers: Results of a telephone survey

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glassman, Nanci A.; Pinelli, Thomas E.

1992-01-01

A study was conducted to provide NASA management with an 'initial' look at the production and use of scientific and technical information (STI) at five NASA centers (Ames, Goddard, Langley, Lewis, and Marshall). The 550 respondents who were interviewed by telephone held favorable views regarding the NASA STI system. About 65 percent of the respondents stated that it is either very or somewhat important for them to publish their work through the NASA STI system. About 10 percent of those respondents encountered problems using the NASA STI system services for publication. The most frequently reported problem was 'the process is too time consuming' (8.6 percent). Overall, those respondents using the NASA STI system to publish their work rated the system as excellent (24.6 percent) or good (37.6 percent). About 79 percent of the respondents stated that it is either very or somewhat important for them to use the NASA STI system to access information. The most frequently reported problems were 'the time and effort it takes to locate and obtain information through the system' (14.4 percent). Overall, about 83 percent of the respondents stated that the NASA STI system is important to performing their work. Overall, about 73 percent of the respondents stated that the NASA STI system meets their information needs.

Separation in Logistic Regression: Causes, Consequences, and Control.

PubMed

Mansournia, Mohammad Ali; Geroldinger, Angelika; Greenland, Sander; Heinze, Georg

2018-04-01

Separation is encountered in regression models with a discrete outcome (such as logistic regression) where the covariates perfectly predict the outcome. It is most frequent under the same conditions that lead to small-sample and sparse-data bias, such as presence of a rare outcome, rare exposures, highly correlated covariates, or covariates with strong effects. In theory, separation will produce infinite estimates for some coefficients. In practice, however, separation may be unnoticed or mishandled because of software limits in recognizing and handling the problem and in notifying the user. We discuss causes of separation in logistic regression and describe how common software packages deal with it. We then describe methods that remove separation, focusing on the same penalized-likelihood techniques used to address more general sparse-data problems. These methods improve accuracy, avoid software problems, and allow interpretation as Bayesian analyses with weakly informative priors. We discuss likelihood penalties, including some that can be implemented easily with any software package, and their relative advantages and disadvantages. We provide an illustration of ideas and methods using data from a case-control study of contraceptive practices and urinary tract infection.

Does job satisfaction improve the health of workers? New evidence using panel data and objective measures of health.

PubMed

Fischer, Justina A V; Sousa-Poza, Alfonso

2009-01-01

This paper evaluates the relationship between job satisfaction and measures of health of workers using the German Socio-Economic Panel. Methodologically, it addresses two important design problems encountered frequently in the literature: (a) cross-sectional causality problems and (b) the absence of objective measures of physical health that complement self-reported measures of health status. Not only does using the panel structure with individual fixed effects mitigate the bias from omitting unobservable personal psycho-social characteristics, but employing more objective health measures such as health-system contacts and disability addresses such measurement problems relating to self-report assessments of health status.We find a positive link between job satisfaction (and changes over time therein) and subjective health measures (and changes therein); that is, employees with higher or improved job satisfaction levels feel healthier and are more satisfied with their health. This observation also holds true for more objective measures of health. Particularly, improvements in job satisfaction over time appear to prevent workers from (further) health deterioration. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In pursuit of the perfect penis: Hypospadias repair outcomes.

PubMed

Winship, Brenton B; Rushton, H Gil; Pohl, Hans G

2017-06-01

Hypospadias is commonly assessed and repaired by pediatric urologists. Mild, distal hypospadias is generally more a cosmetic problem than a functional one and is more frequently encountered than severe, proximal hypospadias. Outcomes following repair, especially of mild phenotypes, are important to understand, but range widely in timing and measurability. Surgical complications, postoperative satisfaction of parents, patients, surgeons and even lay observers, urinary function, sexual function, and quality of life all may be considered as relevant outcomes of hypospadias repair. Existing studies examining these outcomes are diverse in their conclusions, but are important to understand when counseling parents and patients prior to any surgical intervention. Copyright © 2017 Journal of Pediatric Urology Company. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bad Mothers and Monstrous Sons: Autistic Adults, Lifelong Dependency, and Sensationalized Narratives of Care.

PubMed

Allen, Holly

2017-03-01

Sensationalized representations of autistic families in film and other media frequently feature violent encounters between mothers and sons. This essay analyzes two media stories and three films that suggest how limited-and therefore misleading-popular representations of the autism family are. Except for one of the films, these representations blame the problem of adult autistic dependency on either monstrous autism or bad mothering. Doing so elides collective social responsibility for autism care and denies the reality that autistic adults continue to have complex dependency needs that families cannot always meet. Narratives that sensationalize youth and adults with autism or scapegoat their maternal caregivers also diminish opportunities for social inclusion and for autistic people to live fully and dependently.

The critically ill injured patient.

PubMed

Cereda, Maurizio; Weiss, Yoram G; Deutschman, Clifford S

2007-03-01

Patients admitted to the ICU after severe trauma require frequent procedures in the operating room, particularly in cases where a damage control strategy is used. The ventilatory management of these patients in the operating room can be particularly challenging. These patients often have severely impaired respiratory mechanics because of acute lung injury and abdominal compartment syndrome. Consequently, the pressure and flow generation capabilities of standard anesthesia ventilators may be inadequate to support ventilation and gas exchange. This article presents the problems that may be encountered in patients who have severe abdominal and lung injuries, and the current management concepts used in caring for these patients in the critical care setting, to provide guidelines for the anesthetist faced with these patients in the operating room.

False biochemical diagnosis of hyperthyroidism in streptavidin-biotin-based immunoassays: the problem of biotin intake and related interferences.

PubMed

Piketty, Marie-Liesse; Polak, Michel; Flechtner, Isabelle; Gonzales-Briceño, Laura; Souberbielle, Jean-Claude

2017-05-01

Immunoassays are now commonly used for hormone measurement, in high throughput analytical platforms. Immunoassays are generally robust to interference. However, endogenous analytical error may occur in some patients; this may be encountered in biotin supplementation or in the presence of anti-streptavidin antibody, in immunoassays involving streptavidin-biotin interaction. In these cases, the interference may induce both false positive and false negative results, and simulate a seemingly coherent hormonal profile. It is to be feared that this type of errors will be more frequently observed. This review underlines the importance of keeping close interactions between biologists and clinicians to be able to correlate the hormonal assay results with the clinical picture.

Preparing to Prevent: Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Mitigation Scenario-Based Training

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-26

role in the absence of adequate local authorities? 5) The patrol may have to provide first aid if the children are injured. Longer term assistance...Encounter: Rape Victim 26 5. Patrol Encounter: Report of Abducted Children 28 6. Sexual... Discrimination against Women, women and girls are frequently victims of rape, sexual molestation, culturally-sanctioned oppression, domestic violence

Addressing Problems Encountered in Case-Based Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turgeon, A. J.

2007-01-01

TURF 436 (Case Studies in Turfgrass Management) is the capstone course for turfgrass science majors at the Pennsylvania State University. Students are introduced to problems and complex problematic situations encountered in the management of golf and sports turf and in professional lawn-care operations. Following completion of the orientation case…

International Classification of Primary Care-2 coding of primary care data at the general out-patients' clinic of General Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria.

PubMed

Olagundoye, Olawunmi Abimbola; van Boven, Kees; van Weel, Chris

2016-01-01

Primary care serves as an integral part of the health systems of nations especially the African continent. It is the portal of entry for nearly all patients into the health care system. Paucity of accurate data for health statistics remains a challenge in the most parts of Africa because of inadequate technical manpower and infrastructure. Inadequate quality of data systems contributes to inaccurate data. A simple-to-use classification system such as the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) may be a solution to this problem at the primary care level. To apply ICPC-2 for secondary coding of reasons for encounter (RfE), problems managed and processes of care in a Nigerian primary care setting. Furthermore, to analyze the value of selected presented symptoms as predictors of the most common diagnoses encountered in the study setting. Content analysis of randomly selected patients' paper records for data collection at the end of clinic sessions conducted by family physicians at the general out-patients' clinics. Contents of clinical consultations were secondarily coded with the ICPC-2 and recorded into excel spreadsheets with fields for sociodemographic data such as age, sex, occupation, religion, and ICPC elements of an encounter: RfE/complaints, diagnoses/problems, and interventions/processes of care. Four hundred and one encounters considered in this study yielded 915 RfEs, 546 diagnoses, and 1221 processes. This implies an average of 2.3 RfE, 1.4 diagnoses, and 3.0 processes per encounter. The top 10 RfE, diagnoses/common illnesses, and processes were determined. Through the determination of the probability of the occurrence of certain diseases beginning with a RfE/complaint, the top five diagnoses that resulted from each of the top five RfE were also obtained. The top five RfE were: headache, fever, pain general/multiple sites, visual disturbance other and abdominal pain/cramps general. The top five diagnoses were: Malaria, hypertension uncomplicated, visual disturbance other, peptic ulcer, and upper respiratory infection. From the determination of the posterior probability given the top five RfE, malaria, hypertension, upper respiratory infection, refractive error, and conjuctivitis were the five most frequent diagnoses that resulted from a complaint of a headache. The study demonstrated that ICPC-2 can be applied to primary care data in the Nigerian context to generate information about morbidity and services provided. It also provided an empirical basis to support diagnosis and prognostication in a primary care setting. In developing countries where the transition to electronic health records is still evolving and fraught with limitations, more reliable data collection can be achieved from paper records through the application of the ICPC-2.

Potential value of health information exchange for people with epilepsy: crossover patterns and missing clinical data.

PubMed

Grinspan, Zachary M; Abramson, Erika L; Banerjee, Samprit; Kern, Lisa M; Kaushal, Rainu; Shapiro, Jason S

2013-01-01

For people with epilepsy, the potential value of health information exchange (HIE) is unknown. We reviewed two years of clinical encounters for 8055 people with epilepsy from seven Manhattan hospitals. We created network graphs illustrating crossover among these hospitals for multiple encounter types, and calculated a novel metric of care fragmentation: "encounters at risk for missing clinical data." Given two hospitals, a median of 109 [range 46 - 588] patients with epilepsy had visited both. Due to this crossover, recent, relevant clinical data may be missing at the time of care frequently (44.8% of ED encounters, 34.5% inpatient, 24.9% outpatient, and 23.2% radiology). Though a smaller percentage of outpatient encounters were at risk for missing data than ED encounters, the absolute number of outpatient encounters at risk was three times higher (14,579 vs. 5041). People with epilepsy may benefit from HIE. Future HIE initiatives should prioritize outpatient access.

A Study of the Causes of Physical and Emotional Problems Encountered by Older Women Returning to Secretarial Employment After A Prolonged Absence. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lloyd, Glenna G.

The problem of this study was to identify the cause of the physical and emotional problems encountered by older women who have returned to work after a prolonged absence. Such information, it was believed, would be valuable to business and educational institutions in retraining or updating prospective secretarial employees. Data for the study were…

Current techniques in acid-chloride corrosion control and monitoring at The Geysers

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

Hirtz, Paul; Buck, Cliff; Kunzman, Russell

1991-01-01

Acid chloride corrosion of geothermal well casings, production piping and power plant equipment has resulted in costly corrosion damage, frequent curtailments of power plants and the permanent shut-in of wells in certain areas of The Geysers. Techniques have been developed to mitigate these corrosion problems, allowing continued production of steam from high chloride wells with minimal impact on production and power generation facilities.The optimization of water and caustic steam scrubbing, steam/liquid separation and process fluid chemistry has led to effective and reliable corrosion mitigation systems currently in routine use at The Geysers. When properly operated, these systems can yield steammore » purities equal to or greater than those encountered in areas of The Geysers where chloride corrosion is not a problem. Developments in corrosion monitoring techniques, steam sampling and analytical methodologies for trace impurities, and computer modeling of the fluid chemistry has been instrumental in the success of this technology.« less

Affirmative Action and Women in Higher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazzard, Terry

The purposes of this paper are to: (1) discuss the historical development of women in higher education; (2) describe the implementation of federal policies for women; (3) focus on selected problems encountered by women in the work-place; and (4) offer recommendations and suggestions for eliminating some of the problems that women encounter. The…

Dilemmas in the (un)veiling of the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: walking an ethical and professional tight rope.

PubMed

Karnieli-Miller, Orit; Werner, Perla; Aharon-Peretz, Judith; Eidelman, Shmuel

2007-08-01

To enhance the understanding and effect of physician's difficulties, attitudes and communication styles on the disclosure of the diagnosis of AD in practice. Qualitative, phenomenological study, combining pre-encounter interviews with physicians, observations of actual encounters of diagnosis disclosure of AD, and post-encounter interviews. There were various ways or tactics to (un)veil the bad news that may be perceived as different ways of dulling the impact and avoiding full and therefore problematic statements. In the actual encounters this was accomplished by keeping encounters short, avoiding elaboration, confirmation of comprehension and explicit terminology and using fractured sentences. The present study's findings highlight the difficulties encountered in breaking the news about AD, in the way it is actually done, and the problems that may arise from this way of un/veiling the news. The main problem is that the reluctance to make a candid disclosure of the diagnosis as was demonstrated in this study may violate basic moral and legal rights and may also deprive patients and caregivers of some of the benefits of early disclosure of diagnosis. There is a need for assisting physicians to cope with their personal difficulties, problems and pitfalls in breaking the news.

[Practical problems in breast screening. Columnar cell lesions including flat epithelial atypia and lobular neoplasia].

PubMed

Nährig, J

2008-11-01

Columnar cell lesions (CCL) and lobular neoplasia (LN) are encountered with increasing frequency in breast screening biopsies. CCLs are frequently associated with microcalcifications, whereas LN is an incidental finding in most cases. Flat epithelia atypia (FEA) the atypical variant of CLL, LN and atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) are frequently associated lesions. Molecular genetic studies of CCL, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and low grade invasive carcinomas revealed similar chromosomal alterations supporting the assumption that CCLs are neoplastic proliferations. The frequent association of FEA together with well differentiated invasive carcinomas provides further evidence of this concept. There is no internationally accepted classification of CCLs at present. CDH1-gene mutations are the cardinal feature of LN and invasive lobular carcinoma. In immunohistochemically CDH1-positive cases, alternative genetic alterations of the CDH1 pathway can lead to functional loss of CDH1. In our opinion morphologically and immunohistochemically hybrid lesions may represent this group of lobular lesions. Recent follow-up data suggest a higher rate of ipsilateral carcinomas in patients with previously diagnosed LN. It is currently an open question whether FEA and LN are members of a common family of intralobular proliferations, which are non-obligatory precursors of a low nuclear grade breast neoplasia family.

Sports Dermatology: Part 1 of 2 Traumatic or Mechanical Injuries, Inflammatory Conditions, and Exacerbations of Pre-existing Conditions

PubMed Central

Sivek, Rachel; Marciniak, Brian

2015-01-01

Competitive athletes endure extreme bodily stress when participating in sports-related activities. An athlete’s skin is particularly susceptible to a wide array of repetitive physical and environmental stressors that challenge the skin’s protective function. Many unique dermatoses are well-known to the serious athlete due to countless hours of intense physical training, but are frequently unrecognized by many healthcare professionals. Sports dermatology is a distinctive, budding field of dermatology that focuses on dermatoses frequently encountered in athletes. Athletic skin problems are notoriously infectious in nature due to the inherent environment of close-contact physical activity. Nonetheless, other skin conditions can manifest or worsen with recurring mechanical or traumatic injury or exposure to environmental hazards. Additionally, sports-related activities may exacerbate other pre-existing dermatological conditions that may possibly be unknown to the athlete or clinician. The objective of this two-part review is to arm the astute physician with the fundamental knowledge of the range of dermatological conditions distinct to the competitive athlete. Knowledge of these cutaneous conditions in the context of specific sporting events will permit the clinician to manage these unique patients most effectively. Part one will focus on traumatic or mechanical injuries, inflammatory conditions, and exacerbations of pre-existing conditions frequently seen in athletes. PMID:26060516

The Problem-Based Learning Process: Reflections of Pre-Service Elementary School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baysal, Zeliha Nurdan

2017-01-01

This study aims to identify the benefits acquired by third-year pre-service elementary school teachers participating in a problem-based learning process in social studies education, the issues they encountered in that process and those they are likely to encounter, and their feelings about the process. Semi-structured interviews were used as one…

Medical Surveillance Monthly Report. Volume 23, Number 8

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-01

to be among the five most frequent diagnoses of digestive disorders associated with all medical encounters, with male hospitalizations, and with...male outpatient encounters.4–6 Medical accession standards specify that applicants for mili- tary service do not meet entrance standards if they have...Records of both inpatient and out- patient health care documented in the data- bases of the Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS) were searched to

Eleven years' experience with Intrathecal Baclofen - Complications, risk factors.

PubMed

Pucks-Faes, Elke; Hitzenberger, Gabriel; Matzak, Heinrich; Fava, Elena; Verrienti, Giulio; Laimer, Ilse; Fritz, Josef; Saltuari, Leopold

2018-05-01

Treatment with intrathecal baclofen (ITB) is commonly used in patients with severe spasticity. However, complications may occur after implantation of the ITB-device, albeit mainly procedure- and device-related problems. The aim of the study was to assess surgical- as well as catheter- and pump-related complications and define their risk factors. We retrospectively evaluated all patients with an implanted ITB-device who were treated at the Department of Neurology, Hochzirl Hospital, Zirl, Austria, between 2006 and 2016. Twenty-nine of 116 (25%) patients experienced 32 complications: 5 procedure- and 27 device-related (4 pump- and 23 catheter-associated) problems occurred. Risk factors for sustaining any complication were a spinal localization of lesion (odds ratio [OR] OR 2.71, p  = .021), other catheter types than an Ascenda ® catheter (OR 3.87, p  = .041), a lower modified Rankin Scale (median 4 vs. 5; OR 2.86, p  = .015) and a higher Barthel Index (median 53 vs. 0; OR 2.84, p  = .006). The median time from the last ITB-related surgery to the first complication was 18 (IQR 1-57) months. Overall, 47% complications occurred within the first year after any surgical procedure regarding the ITB-device, thereof 25% within the first month. Procedure- and device-related complications are frequent after implantation of an ITB-device with catheter-associated complications as the most frequently encountered problems. Patients with a spinal origin of spasticity, a lower modified Rankin Scale and a higher Barthel Index have a higher risk to sustain a complication.

How superdiffusion gets arrested: ecological encounters explain shift from Lévy to Brownian movement

PubMed Central

de Jager, Monique; Bartumeus, Frederic; Kölzsch, Andrea; Weissing, Franz J.; Hengeveld, Geerten M.; Nolet, Bart A.; Herman, Peter M. J.; van de Koppel, Johan

2014-01-01

Ecological theory uses Brownian motion as a default template for describing ecological movement, despite limited mechanistic underpinning. The generality of Brownian motion has recently been challenged by empirical studies that highlight alternative movement patterns of animals, especially when foraging in resource-poor environments. Yet, empirical studies reveal animals moving in a Brownian fashion when resources are abundant. We demonstrate that Einstein's original theory of collision-induced Brownian motion in physics provides a parsimonious, mechanistic explanation for these observations. Here, Brownian motion results from frequent encounters between organisms in dense environments. In density-controlled experiments, movement patterns of mussels shifted from Lévy towards Brownian motion with increasing density. When the analysis was restricted to moves not truncated by encounters, this shift did not occur. Using a theoretical argument, we explain that any movement pattern approximates Brownian motion at high-resource densities, provided that movement is interrupted upon encounters. Hence, the observed shift to Brownian motion does not indicate a density-dependent change in movement strategy but rather results from frequent collisions. Our results emphasize the need for a more mechanistic use of Brownian motion in ecology, highlighting that especially in rich environments, Brownian motion emerges from ecological interactions, rather than being a default movement pattern. PMID:24225464

How superdiffusion gets arrested: ecological encounters explain shift from Lévy to Brownian movement.

PubMed

de Jager, Monique; Bartumeus, Frederic; Kölzsch, Andrea; Weissing, Franz J; Hengeveld, Geerten M; Nolet, Bart A; Herman, Peter M J; van de Koppel, Johan

2014-01-07

Ecological theory uses Brownian motion as a default template for describing ecological movement, despite limited mechanistic underpinning. The generality of Brownian motion has recently been challenged by empirical studies that highlight alternative movement patterns of animals, especially when foraging in resource-poor environments. Yet, empirical studies reveal animals moving in a Brownian fashion when resources are abundant. We demonstrate that Einstein's original theory of collision-induced Brownian motion in physics provides a parsimonious, mechanistic explanation for these observations. Here, Brownian motion results from frequent encounters between organisms in dense environments. In density-controlled experiments, movement patterns of mussels shifted from Lévy towards Brownian motion with increasing density. When the analysis was restricted to moves not truncated by encounters, this shift did not occur. Using a theoretical argument, we explain that any movement pattern approximates Brownian motion at high-resource densities, provided that movement is interrupted upon encounters. Hence, the observed shift to Brownian motion does not indicate a density-dependent change in movement strategy but rather results from frequent collisions. Our results emphasize the need for a more mechanistic use of Brownian motion in ecology, highlighting that especially in rich environments, Brownian motion emerges from ecological interactions, rather than being a default movement pattern.

Cyclic voltammetry modeling of proton transport effects on redox charge storage in conductive materials: application to a TiO2 mesoporous film.

PubMed

Kim, Y S; Balland, V; Limoges, B; Costentin, C

2017-07-21

Cyclic voltammetry is a particularly useful tool for characterizing charge accumulation in conductive materials. A simple model is presented to evaluate proton transport effects on charge storage in conductive materials associated with a redox process coupled with proton insertion in the bulk material from an aqueous buffered solution, a situation frequently encountered in metal oxide materials. The interplay between proton transport inside and outside the materials is described using a formulation of the problem through introduction of dimensionless variables that allows defining the minimum number of parameters governing the cyclic voltammetry response with consideration of a simple description of the system geometry. This approach is illustrated by analysis of proton insertion in a mesoporous TiO 2 film.

A blind source separation approach for humpback whale song separation.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhenbin; White, Paul R

2017-04-01

Many marine mammal species are highly social and are frequently encountered in groups or aggregations. When conducting passive acoustic monitoring in such circumstances, recordings commonly contain vocalizations of multiple individuals which overlap in time and frequency. This paper considers the use of blind source separation as a method for processing these recordings to separate the calls of individuals. The example problem considered here is that of the songs of humpback whales. The high levels of noise and long impulse responses can make source separation in underwater contexts a challenging proposition. The approach present here is based on time-frequency masking, allied to a noise reduction process. The technique is assessed using simulated and measured data sets, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the method for separating humpback whale songs.

Abnormal uterine bleeding unrelated to structural uterine abnormalities: management in the perimenopausal period.

PubMed

Sabbioni, Lorenzo; Zanetti, Isabella; Orlandini, Cinzia; Petraglia, Felice; Luisi, Stefano

2017-02-01

Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is one of the commonest health problems encountered by women and a frequent phenomenon during menopausal transition. The clinical management of AUB must follow a standardized classification system to obtain the better diagnostic pathway and the optimal therapy. The PALM-COEIN classification system has been approved by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO); it recognizes structural causes of AUB, which can be measured visually with imaging techniques or histopathology, and non-structural entities such as coagulopathies, ovulatory dysfunctions, endometrial and iatrogenic causes and disorders not yet classified. In this review we aim to evaluate the management of nonstructural causes of AUB during the menopausal transition, when commonly women experience changes in menstrual bleeding patterns and unexpected bleedings which affect their quality of life.

An Industrial Perspective on Environmentally Assisted Cracking of Some Commercially Used Carbon Steels and Corrosion-Resistant Alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashida, Yugo; Daigo, Yuzo; Sugahara, Katsuo

2017-08-01

Commercial metals and alloys like carbon steels, stainless steels, and nickel-based super alloys frequently encounter the problem of environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) and resulting failure in engineering components. This article aims to provide a perspective on three critical industrial applications having EAC issues: (1) corrosion and cracking of carbon steels in automotive applications, (2) EAC of iron- and nickel-based alloys in salt production and processing, and (3) EAC of iron- and nickel-based alloys in supercritical water. The review focuses on current industrial-level understanding with respect to corrosion fatigue, hydrogen-assisted cracking, or stress corrosion cracking, as well as the dominant factors affecting crack initiation and propagation. Furthermore, some ongoing industrial studies and directions of future research are also discussed.

A computer-based training system combining virtual reality and multimedia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stansfield, Sharon A.

1993-01-01

Training new users of complex machines is often an expensive and time-consuming process. This is particularly true for special purpose systems, such as those frequently encountered in DOE applications. This paper presents a computer-based training system intended as a partial solution to this problem. The system extends the basic virtual reality (VR) training paradigm by adding a multimedia component which may be accessed during interaction with the virtual environment. The 3D model used to create the virtual reality is also used as the primary navigation tool through the associated multimedia. This method exploits the natural mapping between a virtual world and the real world that it represents to provide a more intuitive way for the student to interact with all forms of information about the system.

Do Rare Stimuli Evoke Large P3s by Being Unexpected? A Comparison of Oddball Effects Between Standard-Oddball and Prediction-Oddball Tasks

PubMed Central

Verleger, Rolf; Śmigasiewicz, Kamila

2016-01-01

The P3 component of event-related potentials increases when stimuli are rarely presented. It has been assumed that this oddball effect (rare-frequent difference) reflects the unexpectedness of rare stimuli. The assumption of unexpectedness and its link to P3 amplitude were tested here. A standard- oddball task requiring alternative key-press responses to frequent and rare stimuli was compared with an oddball-prediction task where stimuli had to be first predicted and then confirmed by key-pressing. Oddball effects in the prediction task depended on whether the frequent or the rare stimulus had been predicted. Oddball effects on P3 amplitudes and error rates in the standard oddball task closely resembled effects after frequent predictions. This corroborates the notion that these effects occur because frequent stimuli are expected and rare stimuli are unexpected. However, a closer look at the prediction task put this notion into doubt because the modifications of oddball effects on P3 by expectancies were entirely due to effects on frequent stimuli, whereas the large P3 amplitudes evoked by rare stimuli were insensitive to predictions (unlike response times and error rates). Therefore, rare stimuli cannot be said to evoke large P3 amplitudes because they are unexpected. We discuss these diverging effects of frequency and expectancy, as well as general differences between tasks, with respect to concepts and hypotheses about P3b’s function and conclude that each discussed concept or hypothesis encounters some problems, with a conception in terms of subjective relevance assigned to stimuli offering the most consistent account of these basic effects. PMID:27512527

Mothers' Perceptions of Citizenship, Practices for Developing Citizenship Conscience of Their Children and Problems They Encountered

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ersoy, A. Figen

2012-01-01

Family plays an important role in the development of citizenship awareness of children. The purpose of the present study is to figure out the citizenship perceptions of mothers, their practices for developing citizenship conscience of their children and to explore the problems they have encountered. In this study, critical case sampling method has…

Tactics Employed and Problems Encountered by University English Majors in Hong Kong in Using a Dictionary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Alice Yin Wa

2005-01-01

Building on the results of a small-scale survey which investigated the general use of dictionaries by university English majors in Hong Kong using a questionnaire survey and their specific use of dictionaries using an error correction task, this article discusses the tactics these students employed and the problems they encountered when using a…

Management of Dentin Hypersensitivity by National Dental Practice-Based Research Network practitioners: results from a questionnaire administered prior to initiation of a clinical study on this topic.

PubMed

Kopycka-Kedzierawski, Dorota T; Meyerowitz, Cyril; Litaker, Mark S; Chonowski, Sidney; Heft, Marc W; Gordan, Valeria V; Yardic, Robin L; Madden, Theresa E; Reyes, Stephanie C; Gilbert, Gregg H

2017-01-13

Dentin hypersensitivity (DH) is a common problem encountered in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to identify the management approaches for DH among United States dentists. One hundred eighty five National Dental Practice-Based Research Network clinicians completed a questionnaire regarding their preferred methods to diagnose and manage DH in the practice setting, and their beliefs about DH predisposing factors. Almost all dentists (99%) reported using more than one method to diagnose DH. Most frequently, they reported using spontaneous patient reports coupled with excluding other causes of oral pain by direct clinical examination (48%); followed by applying an air blast (26%), applying cold water (12%), and obtaining patient reports after dentist's query (6%). In managing DH, the most frequent first choice was desensitizing, over-the-counter (OTC), potassium nitrate toothpaste (48%), followed by fluorides (38%), and glutaraldehyde/HEMA (3%). A total of 86% of respondents reported using a combination of products when treating DH, most frequently using fluoride varnish and desensitizing OTC potassium nitrate toothpaste (70%). The most frequent predisposing factor leading to DH, as reported by the practitioners, was recessed gingiva (66%), followed by abrasion, erosion, abfraction/attrition lesions (59%) and bruxism (32%). The majority of network practitioners use multiple methods to diagnose and manage DH. Desensitizing OTC potassium nitrate toothpaste and fluoride formulations are the most widely used products to manage DH in dental practice setting.

Technology Implementation and Workarounds in the Nursing Home

PubMed Central

Vogelsmeier, Amy A.; Halbesleben, Jonathon R.B.; Scott-Cawiezell, Jill R.

2008-01-01

Objective This study sought to explore the relationship of workarounds related to the implementation of an electronic medication administration record and medication safety practices in five Midwestern nursing homes. Design As a part of a larger study, this qualitative evaluation was conducted to identify workarounds associated with the implementation of an electronic medication administration record. Data were collected using multimethods including direct observation, process mapping, key informant interviews, and review of field notes from medication safety team meetings. Measurements Open and axial coding techniques were used to identify and categorize types of workarounds in relation to work flow blocks. Results Workarounds presented in two distinct patterns, those related to work flow blocks introduced by technology and those related to organizational processes not reengineered to effectively integrate with the technology. Workarounds such as safety alert overrides and shortcuts to documentation resulted from first-order problem solving of immediate blocks. Nursing home staff as individuals frequently used first-order problem solving instead of the more sophisticated second-order problem solving approach used by the medication safety team. Conclusion This study provides important practical examples of how nursing home staff work around work flow blocks encountered during the implementation of technology. Understanding these workarounds as a means of first-order problem solving is an important consideration to understanding risk to medication safety. PMID:17947626

A Statewide Profile of Frequent Users of School-Based Health Centers: Implications for Adolescent Health Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koenig, Kevin T.; Ramos, Mary M.; Fowler, Tara T.; Oreskovich, Kristin; McGrath, Jane; Fairbrother, Gerry

2016-01-01

Background: The purpose of this study is to describe patterns of care and service use among adolescent school-based health center (SBHC) users in New Mexico and contrast patterns and services between frequent and infrequent users. Methods: Medical claims/encounter data were analyzed from 59 SBHCs located in secondary schools in New Mexico during…

When Gravity Fails: Local Search Topology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frank, Jeremy; Cheeseman, Peter; Stutz, John; Lau, Sonie (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

Local search algorithms for combinatorial search problems frequently encounter a sequence of states in which it is impossible to improve the value of the objective function; moves through these regions, called {\\em plateau moves), dominate the time spent in local search. We analyze and characterize {\\em plateaus) for three different classes of randomly generated Boolean Satisfiability problems. We identify several interesting features of plateaus that impact the performance of local search algorithms. We show that local minima tend to be small but occasionally may be very large. We also show that local minima can be escaped without unsatisfying a large number of clauses, but that systematically searching for an escape route may be computationally expensive if the local minimum is large. We show that plateaus with exits, called benches, tend to be much larger than minima, and that some benches have very few exit states which local search can use to escape. We show that the solutions (i.e. global minima) of randomly generated problem instances form clusters, which behave similarly to local minima. We revisit several enhancements of local search algorithms and explain their performance in light of our results. Finally we discuss strategies for creating the next generation of local search algorithms.

Considerations for multiple hypothesis correlation on tactical platforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Alan M.; Turpen, James E.

2013-05-01

Tactical platforms benefit greatly from the fusion of tracks from multiple sources in terms of increased situation awareness. As a necessary precursor to this track fusion, track-to-track association, or correlation, must first be performed. The related measurement-to-track fusion problem has been well studied with multiple hypothesis tracking and multiple frame assignment methods showing the most success. The track-to-track problem differs from this one in that measurements themselves are not available but rather track state update reports from the measuring sensors. Multiple hypothesis, multiple frame correlation systems have previously been considered; however, their practical implementation under the constraints imposed by tactical platforms is daunting. The situation is further exacerbated by the inconvenient nature of reports from legacy sensor systems on bandwidth- limited communications networks. In this paper, consideration is given to the special difficulties encountered when attempting the correlation of tracks from legacy sensors on tactical aircraft. Those difficulties include the following: covariance information from reporting sensors is frequently absent or incomplete; system latencies can create temporal uncertainty in data; and computational processing is severely limited by hardware and architecture. Moreover, consideration is given to practical solutions for dealing with these problems in a multiple hypothesis correlator.

Spatial Cytoskeleton Organization Supports Targeted Intracellular Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hafner, Anne E.; Rieger, Heiko

2018-03-01

The efficiency of intracellular cargo transport from specific source to target locations is strongly dependent upon molecular motor-assisted motion along the cytoskeleton. Radial transport along microtubules and lateral transport along the filaments of the actin cortex underneath the cell membrane are characteristic for cells with a centrosome. The interplay between the specific cytoskeleton organization and the motor performance realizes a spatially inhomogeneous intermittent search strategy. In order to analyze the efficiency of such intracellular search strategies we formulate a random velocity model with intermittent arrest states. We evaluate efficiency in terms of mean first passage times for three different, frequently encountered intracellular transport tasks: i) the narrow escape problem, which emerges during cargo transport to a synapse or other specific region of the cell membrane, ii) the reaction problem, which considers the binding time of two particles within the cell, and iii) the reaction-escape problem, which arises when cargo must be released at a synapse only after pairing with another particle. Our results indicate that cells are able to realize efficient search strategies for various intracellular transport tasks economically through a spatial cytoskeleton organization that involves only a narrow actin cortex rather than a cell body filled with randomly oriented actin filaments.

Male clients' behaviours with and perspectives about their last male escort encounter: comparing repeat versus first-time hires.

PubMed

Wolff, Margaret M; Grov, Christian; Smith, Michael D; Koken, Juline A; Parsons, Jeffrey T

2014-01-01

Research on men who have sex with men suggests that condomless anal intercourse occurs more frequently in established sexual relationships. While comparable data regarding male-for-male escorting is unavailable, research implies that many clients seek emotional as well as physical connections with the men they hire. In 2012, 495 male clients, recruited via daddysreviews.com completed an online survey about their last hiring experience. Most participants were from the USA (85.7%), the UK and Canada (3.2% each). In total, 75% of encounters involved an escort hired for the first time; 25% were with a previously hired escort ('repeat encounter'). The client's age, lifetime number of escorts hired and number hired in the past year were positively associated with the last encounter being a repeat encounter. Cuddling, sharing a meal, drinking alcohol, taking a walk, watching a show and shopping were also positively associated with repeat encounters. Conversely, none of the sexual behaviours were significantly associated with repeat encounters. Repeat encounters were significantly more likely to include non-sexual behaviours alongside sexual activities, but no more likely to involve condomless anal intercourse. Moreover, clients' knowledge of escorts' HIV status was not significantly associated with engaging in condomless anal intercourse with repeat encounters.

Stool Culture

MedlinePlus

... with pathogenic bacteria, such as undercooked meat or raw eggs, or the same food that has made ... most frequently encountered sources include: Campylobacter – found in raw or undercooked poultry and unpasteurized milk; it is ...

Analysis of the Problems Encountered in Education of Teachers and Solution Recommendations in Accordance with the Opinions of Faculty of Education Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sahan, Gülsün

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to put forth the problems encountered in education of teachers and solution recommendations in accordance with the opinions of faculty of education students. Within this framework, the opinions of 182 first grade students from the departments of classroom, social sciences, science and mathematics teaching at Bartin…

The work of nurses in Australian general practice: A national survey.

PubMed

Joyce, Catherine M; Piterman, Leon

2011-01-01

Following recent reforms to Australia's health system, nurses now comprise a significant and growing sector of the Australian primary care workforce, but there is little data describing the services they provide. This study aimed to describe the patient consultations of nurses in Australian general practice, including patient characteristics, reasons for the consultation, treatments provided and other actions taken. The study was a national cross-sectional survey, with each participating nurse collecting information about 50 nurse-patient encounters. General practice settings in all regions of Australia. 108 nurses volunteered in response to advertisements and 104 returned completed study materials. Participants included Registered (Division 1) and Enrolled (Division 2) nurses working in a general practice setting. Data were collected between May 2007 and May 2008 using a profile questionnaire and a series of encounter forms. Information was gathered on reasons for encounter, patient characteristics, and actions taken. Data were classified using the International Classification of Primary Care. The final data set included 5,253 nurse-patient encounters. 37.2% of patients (95% CI 33.3-41.2) were aged 65 and over, and 57.1% were female (95% CI 54.9-59.5). The majority of encounters (90.7%) were with existing patients of the practice (95% CI 89.1-92.7). The most common reasons for encounter were general and unspecified problems (35.4 per 100 encounters; 95% CI 31.8-39.1), followed by skin-related problems (20.0; 95% CI 17.3-22.8), and cardiovascular problems (11.0; 95% CI 8.7-13.3). Common management actions included medical examinations (20.7 per 100 encounters), immunisations (22.5), diagnostic tests (10.6), and dressings (15.8). Approximately 30% of encounters involved advice-giving. The findings confirm the generalist nature of the General Practice Nurse role, with a wide range of patient types and clinical conditions. There is a clear influence of current funding and organisational arrangements on work patterns, with tasks that have specific funding (including immunisations and wound care) featuring prominently in nurses' work. Whilst nurses' rates for presenting conditions were similar to doctors at a general level, specific actions taken and problems managed differed. New policy reforms in Australia are supporting greater flexibility in the General Practice Nurse role, maximising efficient use of nurses' skills in the primary health care context. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do internal medicine interns practice etiquette-based communication? A critical look at the inpatient encounter.

PubMed

Block, Lauren; Hutzler, Lindsey; Habicht, Robert; Wu, Albert W; Desai, Sanjay V; Novello Silva, Kathryn; Niessen, Timothy; Oliver, Nora; Feldman, Leonard

2013-11-01

Etiquette-based communication may improve the inpatient experience but is not universally practiced. We sought to determine the extent to which internal medicine interns practice behaviors that characterize etiquette-based medicine. Trained observers evaluated the use of 5 key communication strategies by internal medicine interns during inpatient clinical encounters: introducing one's self, explaining one's role in the patient's care, touching the patient, asking open-ended questions, and sitting down with the patient. Participants at 1 site then completed a survey estimating how frequently they performed each of the observed behaviors. A convenience sample of 29 interns was observed on a total of 732 patient encounters. Overall, interns introduced themselves 40% of the time and explained their role 37% of the time. Interns touched patients on 65% of visits, asked open-ended questions on 75% of visits, and sat down with patients during 9% of visits. Interns at 1 site estimated introducing themselves and their role and sitting with patients significantly more frequently than was observed (80% vs 40%, P < 0.01; 80% vs 37%, P < 0.01; and 58% vs 9%, P < 0.01, respectively). Resident physicians introduced themselves to patients, explained their role, and sat down with patients infrequently during observed inpatient encounters. Residents surveyed tended to overestimate their own practice of etiquette-based medicine. © 2013 Society of Hospital Medicine.

Predeployment and in-theater diagnoses of American military personnel serving in Iraq.

PubMed

Larson, Gerald E; Hammer, Paul S; Conway, Terry L; Schmied, Emily A; Galarneau, Michael R; Konoske, Paula; Webb-Murphy, Jennifer A; Schmitz, Kimberly J; Edwards, Nathan; Johnson, Douglas C

2011-01-01

This purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and types of preexisting mental disorders among military personnel who received mental health services in an Iraqi war zone. The study examined psychiatric histories of 1,078 American military personnel (Marines, 65%; Army, 23%; Navy, 11%; and Air Force, <1%) deployed to Iraq and seen by in-theater mental health providers between January 2006 and February 2007. Among the 1,078 patients, the most frequent in-theater diagnoses were anxiety (24%), adjustment (23%), and mood (19%) disorders. Twenty-nine percent of the sample (N=308) had a psychiatric diagnosis in their medical records before their first encounter with mental health services in Iraq (Navy patients, 42%; Army patients, 39%; and Marine Corps patients, 23%). The mean time between last predeployment diagnosis and first in-theater mental health encounter was 21 months. For patients with a prior diagnosis, the highest rate of relapse (receipt of the same diagnosis in theater) was for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (57%), followed by anxiety disorders (44%)--especially posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (55%)--mood disorders (38%), and adjustment disorders (32%). A significant proportion of military personnel who experienced mental health problems in a combat zone had preexisting psychiatric conditions. Because more than half of predeployment diagnoses were received in the nine months before the in-theater mental health encounter, further study may be advisable to determine whether a time-based algorithm for deployability is needed, particularly for PTSD, for which a high rate of repeat diagnosis in theater was found.

Determining problems experienced by student nurses in their work with clinical educators in Turkey.

PubMed

Elcigil, Ayfer; Yildirim Sari, Hatice

2007-07-01

Clinical education is considered an indispensable and vital part of nursing education. Educators have an important role in the successful completion of a student's clinical education. The clinical educator's approach, experience and knowledge have an influence on the students. Students encounter certain problems during their clinical practice under the supervision of educators. This study was conducted to determine the nature of the problems student nurses encounter during clinical training in Turkey. The focus-group interviews were used for this study. Three groups of 8, a total group of 24, composed of students completing their third year were included in the interviews. The students in this study had completed their practical training in the departments of internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, psychiatry and public health. Among the problems mostly encountered by students, as established by the study, were inadequate assessment by the clinical educator, judgment, negative feedback, communication problems, inadequate guidance and overload. At the end of the research, recommendations were that educators should offer information in the direction of student expectations, increase their positive feedback and lighten the academic workload of these students.

Manualization of Occupational Therapy Using Ayres Sensory Integration® for Autism.

PubMed

Hunt, Joanne; van Hooydonk, Elke; Faller, Patricia; Mailloux, Zoe; Schaaf, Roseann

2017-07-01

This article reports on the development of a Stage 3 manual (following pilot effectiveness study) for implementing occupational therapy using Ayres Sensory Integration® (OT/ASI) for children with autism spectrum disorders to enhance participation in daily occupations. Three stakeholder groups were surveyed to aid in translation of manual from research to practice (i.e., Stage 3 manual) and an expert consensus meeting was held to finalize recommendations. Data indicated that the manuals usability could be improved by including a section on frequently encountered problems and solutions, and by including video case examples. Also recommended were greater chapter uniformity, improved clarity of forms and charts, and inclusion of a glossary. Changes were made and subject to expert review and consensus using modified Delphi process. The Stage 3 manual has been rigorously vetted and is ready for practice and research replication.

Virtual local target method for avoiding local minimum in potential field based robot navigation.

PubMed

Zou, Xi-Yong; Zhu, Jing

2003-01-01

A novel robot navigation algorithm with global path generation capability is presented. Local minimum is a most intractable but is an encountered frequently problem in potential field based robot navigation. Through appointing appropriately some virtual local targets on the journey, it can be solved effectively. The key concept employed in this algorithm are the rules that govern when and how to appoint these virtual local targets. When the robot finds itself in danger of local minimum, a virtual local target is appointed to replace the global goal temporarily according to the rules. After the virtual target is reached, the robot continues on its journey by heading towards the global goal. The algorithm prevents the robot from running into local minima anymore. Simulation results showed that it is very effective in complex obstacle environments.

Childhood Enuresis: Current Diagnostic Formulations, Salient Findings, and Effective Treatment Modalities.

PubMed

Thurber, Steven

2017-06-01

Enuresis constitutes a frequently encountered problem area for children that may adversely affect social and emotional adjustment. This type of incontinence has been of concern to the human family for centuries. A brief history of enuresis is presented followed by current conceptualizations, diagnostic criteria, prevalence rates and psychiatric comorbidities. Historic notions of causation together with ineffective, sometimes barbaric treatments are then discussed, ending with a presentation of evidence-based treatment modalities, with the urine alarm being an essential element of effective treatment. An intervention termed dry bed training combines the urine alarm with a series of procedures designed in part to reduce relapse potential and should be a primary consideration for implementation by treatment professionals. Finally, a brief case study is presented illustrating special etiological and treatment considerations with juvenile psychiatric patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Noninvasive laser therapy in the treatment of keloid scar after injury caused by a jellyfish: a case report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kymplova, Jaroslava; Navratil, Leos; Skopek, Jiri

2001-10-01

Keloid scars trouble the patients particularly for aesthetical reasons. They also frequency result in various functional disturbances, they are painful and the patient suffers for dysesthesia on touch. Low level laser is able to provide three principal effects: biostimulating, analgesic and antiinflammatory. Particularly thanks to the first two effects we are able, when adhering to the proper therapeutic procedure, to moderate or even remove the above mentioned problems. We complement the low level laser treatment by applications of ointments, cremes or silicone strips. Our communication is aimed at a case report concerning the treatment of keloid scars resulting from an injury by a jellyfish with the aim to familiarize the reader with wide therapeutic possibilities of non-invasive laser, even in indications which are not frequently encountered in central Europe.

The Library and Human Memory. Final Report on Mechanized Information Services in the University Library, Phase I - Planning. Part 13.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norman, Donald A.

This paper discusses the differences between the storage problems encountered in a large library and those encountered in the human memory. Some of the properties of the human memory system and some of the major issues which affect the interaction between human users and the existing library systems are outlined. The problem of browsing is used as…

Cross-sectional investigation of drug-related problems among adults in a medical center outpatient clinic: application of virtual medicine records in the cloud.

PubMed

Wang, Hue-Yu; Yeh, Ming-Kung; Ho, Chung-Han; Hu, Ming-Kuan; Huang, Yaw-Bin

2017-01-01

To analyze and characterize data regarding the prevalence and types of outpatient drug-related problems (DRPs) found by clinical pharmacists after implementation of the Virtual Medicine Record in Cloud System (VMRCS). A cross-sectional study regarding outpatient pharmaceutical care was conducted at a medical center in Taiwan. Patients aged >20 years old with multiple chronic diseases and polypharmacy were enrolled. In Stage I (1 October-31 December 2014), patients received pharmaceutical care according to prescription data accessed online in the VMRCS. In Stage II (1 June-31 August 2015), the VMRCS were pre-download and arranged to the institute's required format, facilitated DRP detection. Clinical pharmacists then reviewed and evaluated the prescription data through pre-downloaded VMRCS. Overall, 1539 and 1600 prescriptions were evaluated in these two stages, respectively. DRPs were recorded using the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE)-DRP. DRPs were found for 50.2% of patients in Stage I and 55.2% in Stage II (p < 0.05) and were most frequently encountered for "Drugs for the cardiovascular system" and caused by "Inappropriate duplication of therapeutic group or active ingredient." In terms of problems, incidence of "Unnecessary drug treatment" was highest. Duplicate medications were most frequently seen for "Drugs for acid-related disorders." The efficiency to identify DRPs was at least 2.4 times higher with pre-downloaded prescription data than with real-time online queries. With VMRCS, DRPs were more easily identified whether patients received medical care in the same hospital or not. DRPs could be efficiently prevented through the use of pre-downloaded patient prescription data. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Generation of pseudo-random numbers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howell, L. W.; Rheinfurth, M. H.

1982-01-01

Practical methods for generating acceptable random numbers from a variety of probability distributions which are frequently encountered in engineering applications are described. The speed, accuracy, and guarantee of statistical randomness of the various methods are discussed.

Observations on the Study of Crime Causation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbons, Don C.

1971-01-01

Although both genetic and situational factors are implicated in criminality, the thesis here is that the latter may well be more important and more frequently encountered than many criminologists have acknowledged to date. (JB)

Computer Intrusions and Attacks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falk, Howard

1999-01-01

Examines some frequently encountered unsolicited computer intrusions, including computer viruses, worms, Java applications, trojan horses or vandals, e-mail spamming, hoaxes, and cookies. Also discusses virus-protection software, both for networks and for individual users. (LRW)

Association Between Internet Use and Sleep Problems in Adolescents.

PubMed

Ekinci, Özalp; Çelik, Tanju; Savaş, Nazan; Toros, Fevziye

2014-06-01

Sleep problems are commonly encountered in adolescents. It has been shown that electronic media have a negative influence on the sleep quality and daytime functioning in adolescents. This study aims to investigate the association between internet use and sleep problems in adolescents. A total of 1212 adolescents were recruited to the study. Self-report study questionnaire included two main parts: Young's Internet Addiction Scale (IAS) and a semi-structured inquiry on sleep habits/problems. Of the study sample, 16% (n=198) reported their sleep quality as bad or very bad. One-fourth of the sample reported using internet everyday and 27% of them reported spending more than one hour when online. The mean IAS total score was 35.56±13.87. Adolescents with a higher IAS score reported getting to bed later in the night, needing more time to fall asleep and having an increased number of awakenings in the night than the adolescents with lower IAS score (p=.001). They were also found to have higher frequencies of several sleep problems including difficulty in initiating and sustaining sleep, difficulty in waking up and feelings of sleepiness in day. In addition, sleep quality of them was worse when compared to the adolescents with a lower IAS score (p=.001). Problematic sleep habits and sleep problems were found to be more frequent in adolescents with a higher IAS total score. Health care providers must be aware of the possible negative impact of excessive and uncontrolled internet use on adolescents' sleep habits.

Spectrum of MRI findings in clinical athletic pubalgia.

PubMed

Zajick, Donald C; Zoga, Adam C; Omar, Imran M; Meyers, William C

2008-03-01

Athletic pubalgia is a frequently encountered syndrome for clinicians who treat active patients participating in a wide variety of athletic endeavors worldwide. Pathologies associated with this clinical scenario span anatomically from the pubic symphysis to the hip and include a myriad of poorly understood and incompletely described musculoskeletal entities, many of which are centered about the pubic symphysis and its tendinous attachments. In this article, we discuss the relevant anatomy and pathophysiology for the most frequently encountered of these disorders, using magnetic resonance (MR) images as a guide. We describe an MR imaging protocol tailored to clinical athletic pubalgia. We then review reproducible MRI patterns of pathology about the pubic symphysis, the rectus abdominis/adductor aponeurosis and the inguinal ring, as well as a group of clinically confounding entities remote from the symphysis but visible by MRI.

Oral Complications in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Recipients: The Role of Inflammation

PubMed Central

Haverman, T. M.; Raber-Durlacher, J. E.; Rademacher, W. M. H.; Vokurka, S.; Epstein, J. B.; Huisman, C.; Hazenberg, M. D.; de Soet, J. J.; de Lange, J.; Rozema, F. R.

2014-01-01

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is widely used as a potentially curative treatment for patients with various hematological malignancies, bone marrow failure syndromes, and congenital immune deficiencies. The prevalence of oral complications in both autologous and allogeneic HSCT recipients remains high, despite advances in transplant medicine and in supportive care. Frequently encountered oral complications include mucositis, infections, oral dryness, taste changes, and graft versus host disease in allogeneic HSCT. Oral complications are associated with substantial morbidity and in some cases with increased mortality and may significantly affect quality of life, even many years after HSCT. Inflammatory processes are key in the pathobiology of most oral complications in HSCT recipients. This review article will discuss frequently encountered oral complications associated with HSCT focusing on the inflammatory pathways and inflammatory mediators involved in their pathogenesis. PMID:24817792

Sensitivity Study for Sensor Optical and Electric Crosstalk Based on Spectral Measurements: An Application to Developmental Sensors Using Heritage Sensors Such As MODIS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butler, James J.; Oudrari, Hassan; Xiong, Sanxiong; Che, Nianzeng; Xiong, Xiaoxiong

2007-01-01

The process of developing new sensors for space flight frequently builds upon the designs and experience of existing heritage space flight sensors. Frequently in the development and testing of new sensors, problems are encountered that pose the risk of serious impact on successful retrieval of geophysical products. This paper describes an approach to assess the importance of optical and electronic cross-talk on retrieval of geophysical products using new MODIS-like sensors through the use of MODIS data sets. These approaches may be extended to any sensor characteristic and any sensor where that characteristic may impact the Level 1 products so long as validated geophysical products are being developed from the heritage sensor. In this study, a set of electronic and/or optical cross-talk coefficients are postulated. These coefficients are sender-receiver influence coefficients and represent a sensor signal contamination on any detector on a focal plane when another band's detectors on that focal plane are stimulated with a monochromatic light. The approach involves using the postulated cross-talk coefficients on an actual set of MODIS data granules. The original MODIS data granules and the cross-talk impacted granules are used with validated geophysical algorithms to create the derived products. Comparison of the products produced with the original and cross-talk impacted granules indicates potential problems, if any, with the characteristics of the developmental sensor that are being studied.

An adaptive robust controller for time delay maglev transportation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milani, Reza Hamidi; Zarabadipour, Hassan; Shahnazi, Reza

2012-12-01

For engineering systems, uncertainties and time delays are two important issues that must be considered in control design. Uncertainties are often encountered in various dynamical systems due to modeling errors, measurement noises, linearization and approximations. Time delays have always been among the most difficult problems encountered in process control. In practical applications of feedback control, time delay arises frequently and can severely degrade closed-loop system performance and in some cases, drives the system to instability. Therefore, stability analysis and controller synthesis for uncertain nonlinear time-delay systems are important both in theory and in practice and many analytical techniques have been developed using delay-dependent Lyapunov function. In the past decade the magnetic and levitation (maglev) transportation system as a new system with high functionality has been the focus of numerous studies. However, maglev transportation systems are highly nonlinear and thus designing controller for those are challenging. The main topic of this paper is to design an adaptive robust controller for maglev transportation systems with time-delay, parametric uncertainties and external disturbances. In this paper, an adaptive robust control (ARC) is designed for this purpose. It should be noted that the adaptive gain is derived from Lyapunov-Krasovskii synthesis method, therefore asymptotic stability is guaranteed.

‘Impact hunters’ catalyse cooperative hunting in two wild chimpanzee communities

PubMed Central

Gilby, Ian C.; Machanda, Zarin P.; Mjungu, Deus C.; Rosen, Jeremiah; Muller, Martin N.; Pusey, Anne E.; Wrangham, Richard W.

2015-01-01

Even when hunting in groups is mutually beneficial, it is unclear how communal hunts are initiated. If it is costly to be the only hunter, individuals should be reluctant to hunt unless others already are. We used 70 years of data from three communities to examine how male chimpanzees ‘solve’ this apparent collective action problem. The ‘impact hunter’ hypothesis proposes that group hunts are sometimes catalysed by certain individuals that hunt more readily than others. In two communities (Kasekela and Kanyawara), we identified a total of five males that exhibited high hunt participation rates for their age, and whose presence at an encounter with red colobus monkeys increased group hunting probability. Critically, these impact hunters were observed to hunt first more often than expected by chance. We argue that by hunting first, these males dilute prey defences and create opportunities for previously reluctant participants. This by-product mutualism can explain variation in group hunting rates within and between social groups. Hunting rates declined after the death of impact hunter FG in Kasekela and after impact hunter MS stopped hunting frequently in Kanyawara. There were no impact hunters in the third, smaller community (Mitumba), where, unlike the others, hunting probability increased with the number of females present at an encounter with prey. PMID:26503679

The challenge of diagnosing focal hand dystonia in musicians

PubMed Central

Rosset-Llobet, J.; Candia, V.; Molas, S. Fàbregas i; Dolors Rosinés i Cubells, D.; Pascual-Leone, A.

2012-01-01

Background and purpose To most clinicians, medical problems in musicians, particularly those concerning focal hand dystonia, constitute an unfamiliar domain difficult to manage. The latter can importantly influence diagnostics and the course of treatment. The purpose of this study was to enlighten the issue and to identify possible problems in diagnosing musicians’ cramp within the Spanish medical community. Methods We used a brief questions’ catalog and clinical histories of 665 musicians seen at our clinic for performing artists. We analyzed patients’ diagnosis records in 87 cases of focal hand dystonia (13.1%). In so doing, we surveyed previous diagnoses and diverse treatments prescriptions prior to referral to our clinic. Results Referrals came primarily from orthopaedists and neurologists. The 52.9% arrived at our clinic without a diagnosis or a suspicion of suffering from focal dystonia. The most frequently attempted diagnoses other than musicians’ dystonia included nerve compression, tendonitis and trigger fingers. Commonly prescribed treatments included rest, various surgical procedures, physiotherapy and oral anti-inflammatory medication. Conclusions This data depicts the diagnostic challenges of medical professionals may encounter when confronted with musician’s focal dystonia. PMID:19473363

Syllable-constituent perception by hearing-aid users: Common factors in quiet and noise

PubMed Central

Miller, James D.; Watson, Charles S.; Leek, Marjorie R.; Dubno, Judy R.; Wark, David J.; Souza, Pamela E.; Gordon-Salant, Sandra; Ahlstrom, Jayne B.

2017-01-01

The abilities of 59 adult hearing-aid users to hear phonetic details were assessed by measuring their abilities to identify syllable constituents in quiet and in differing levels of noise (12-talker babble) while wearing their aids. The set of sounds consisted of 109 frequently occurring syllable constituents (45 onsets, 28 nuclei, and 36 codas) spoken in varied phonetic contexts by eight talkers. In nominal quiet, a speech-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 40 dB, scores of individual listeners ranged from about 23% to 85% correct. Averaged over the range of SNRs commonly encountered in noisy situations, scores of individual listeners ranged from about 10% to 71% correct. The scores in quiet and in noise were very strongly correlated, R = 0.96. This high correlation implies that common factors play primary roles in the perception of phonetic details in quiet and in noise. Otherwise said, hearing-aid users' problems perceiving phonetic details in noise appear to be tied to their problems perceiving phonetic details in quiet and vice versa. PMID:28464618

Statement on Publication Ethics for Editors and Publishers.

PubMed

Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Yessirkepov, Marlen; Voronov, Alexander A; Gorin, Sergey V; Koroleva, Anna M; Kitas, George D

2016-09-01

The digitization and related developments in journal editing and publishing necessitate increasing the awareness of all stakeholders of science communication in the emerging global problems and possible solutions. Journal editors and publishers are frequently encountered with the fast-growing problems of authorship, conflicts of interest, peer review, research misconduct, unethical citations, and inappropriate journal impact metrics. While the number of erroneous and unethical research papers and wasteful, or 'predatory', journals is increasing exponentially, responsible editors are urged to 'clean' the literature by correcting or retracting related articles. Indexers are advised to implement measures for accepting truly influential and ethical journals and delisting sources with predatory publishing practices. Updating knowledge and skills of authors, editors and publishers, developing and endorsing recommendations of global editorial associations, and (re)drafting journal instructions can be viewed as potential tools for improving ethics of academic journals. The aim of this Statement is to increase awareness of all stakeholders of science communication of the emerging ethical issues in journal editing and publishing and initiate a campaign of upgrading and enforcing related journal instructions.

Statement on Publication Ethics for Editors and Publishers

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

The digitization and related developments in journal editing and publishing necessitate increasing the awareness of all stakeholders of science communication in the emerging global problems and possible solutions. Journal editors and publishers are frequently encountered with the fast-growing problems of authorship, conflicts of interest, peer review, research misconduct, unethical citations, and inappropriate journal impact metrics. While the number of erroneous and unethical research papers and wasteful, or 'predatory', journals is increasing exponentially, responsible editors are urged to 'clean' the literature by correcting or retracting related articles. Indexers are advised to implement measures for accepting truly influential and ethical journals and delisting sources with predatory publishing practices. Updating knowledge and skills of authors, editors and publishers, developing and endorsing recommendations of global editorial associations, and (re)drafting journal instructions can be viewed as potential tools for improving ethics of academic journals. The aim of this Statement is to increase awareness of all stakeholders of science communication of the emerging ethical issues in journal editing and publishing and initiate a campaign of upgrading and enforcing related journal instructions. PMID:27510376

The challenge of diagnosing focal hand dystonia in musicians.

PubMed

Rosset-Llobet, J; Candia, V; Fàbregas i Molas, S; Dolors Rosinés i Cubells, D; Pascual-Leone, A

2009-07-01

To most clinicians, medical problems in musicians, particularly those concerning focal hand dystonia, constitute an unfamiliar domain difficult to manage. The latter can importantly influence diagnostics and the course of treatment. The purpose of this study was to enlighten the issue and to identify possible problems in diagnosing musicians' cramp within the Spanish medical community. We used a brief questions' catalog and clinical histories of 665 musicians seen at our clinic for performing artists. We analyzed patients' diagnosis records in 87 cases of focal hand dystonia (13.1%). In so doing, we surveyed previous diagnoses and diverse treatments prescriptions prior to referral to our clinic. Referrals came primarily from orthopaedists and neurologists. The 52.9% arrived at our clinic without a diagnosis or a suspicion of suffering from focal dystonia. The most frequently attempted diagnoses other than musicians' dystonia included nerve compression, tendonitis and trigger fingers. Commonly prescribed treatments included rest, various surgical procedures, physiotherapy and oral anti-inflammatory medication. This data depicts the diagnostic challenges of medical professionals may encounter when confronted with musician's focal dystonia.

Approximate labeling via graph cuts based on linear programming.

PubMed

Komodakis, Nikos; Tziritas, Georgios

2007-08-01

A new framework is presented for both understanding and developing graph-cut-based combinatorial algorithms suitable for the approximate optimization of a very wide class of Markov Random Fields (MRFs) that are frequently encountered in computer vision. The proposed framework utilizes tools from the duality theory of linear programming in order to provide an alternative and more general view of state-of-the-art techniques like the \\alpha-expansion algorithm, which is included merely as a special case. Moreover, contrary to \\alpha-expansion, the derived algorithms generate solutions with guaranteed optimality properties for a much wider class of problems, for example, even for MRFs with nonmetric potentials. In addition, they are capable of providing per-instance suboptimality bounds in all occasions, including discrete MRFs with an arbitrary potential function. These bounds prove to be very tight in practice (that is, very close to 1), which means that the resulting solutions are almost optimal. Our algorithms' effectiveness is demonstrated by presenting experimental results on a variety of low-level vision tasks, such as stereo matching, image restoration, image completion, and optical flow estimation, as well as on synthetic problems.

Outcomes of planetary close encounters - A systematic comparison of methodologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greenberg, Richard; Carusi, Andrea; Valsecchi, G. B.

1988-01-01

Several methods for estimating the outcomes of close planetary encounters are compared on the basis of the numerical integration of a range of encounter types. An attempt is made to lay the foundation for the development of predictive rules concerning the encounter outcomes applicable to the refinement of the statistical mechanics that apply to planet-formation and similar problems concerning planetary swarms. Attention is given to Oepik's (1976) formulation of the two-body approximation, whose predicted motion differs from the correct three-body behavior.

Ultrasonography of the male breast.

PubMed

Draghi, F; Tarantino, C C; Madonia, L; Ferrozzi, G

2011-09-01

The male breast has been insufficiently explored in the medical literature, particularly that dealing with ultrasonography, although this topic is almost as vast and varied as that of the female breast. The purpose of this article is to provide a schematic review of the most frequent breast lesions encountered in males and their sonographic appearances. After a brief introduction on the anatomy of the male breast, the authors review the non-neoplastic (gynecomastia, pseudogynecomastia, cysts, inflammatory diseases, and Mondor disease) and neoplastic (benign and malignant) lesions encountered in this organ.

Optical navigation during the Voyager Neptune encounter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Riedel, J. E.; Owen, W. M., Jr.; Stuve, J. A.; Synnott, S. P.; Vaughan, R. M.

1990-01-01

Optical navigation techniques were required to successfully complete the planetary exploration phase of the NASA deep-space Voyager mission. The last of Voyager's planetary encounters, with Neptune, posed unique problems from an optical navigation standpoint. In this paper we briefly review general aspects of the optical navigation process as practiced during the Voyager mission, and discuss in detail particular features of the Neptune encounter which affected optical navigation. New approaches to the centerfinding problem were developed for both stars and extended bodies, and these are described. Results of the optical navigation data analysis are presented, as well as a description of the optical orbit determination system and results of its use during encounter. Partially as a result of the optical navigation processing, results of scientific significance were obtained. These results include the discovery and orbit determination of several new satellites of Neptune and the determination of the size of Triton, Neptune's largest moon.

Pediatric Urologic Interventional Radiology

PubMed Central

Linscott, Luke

2011-01-01

Interventional radiologists are playing an increasingly important role in pediatric urologic intervention, working closely with the pediatric urologist. Interventional radiologists are frequently asked to establish percutaneous access to the renal collecting system prior to nephrolithotomy. Additionally, procedures such as percutaneous nephrostomy, ureteral stent placement and exchange, and renal parenchymal biopsy are frequently encountered requests. This article will review these common procedures and highlight techniques and pathology that are unique to the pediatric population. PMID:23204639

Safety management in multiemployer worksites in the manufacturing industry: opinions on co-operation and problems encountered.

PubMed

Nenonen, Sanna; Vasara, Juha

2013-01-01

Co-operation between different parties and effective safety management play an important role in ensuring safety in multiemployer worksites. This article reviews safety co-operation and factors complicating safety management in Finnish multiemployer manufacturing worksites. The paper focuses on the service providers' opinions; however, a comparison of the customers' views is also presented. The results show that safety-related co-operation between providers and customers is generally considered as successful but strongly dependent on the partner. Safety co-operation is provided through, e.g., training, orientation and risk analysis. Problems encountered include ensuring adequate communication, identifying hazards, co-ordinating work tasks and determining responsibilities. The providers and the customers encounter similar safety management problems. The results presented in this article can help companies to focus their efforts on the most problematic points of safety management and to avoid common pitfalls.

Evolution of general surgical problems in patients with left ventricular assist devices.

PubMed

McKellar, Stephen H; Morris, David S; Mauermann, William J; Park, Soon J; Zietlow, Scott P

2012-11-01

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are increasingly used to treat patients with end-stage heart failure. These patients may develop acute noncardiac surgical problems around the time of LVAD implantation or, as survival continues to improve, chronic surgical problems as ambulatory patients remote from the LVAD implant. Previous reports of noncardiac surgical problems in LVAD patients included patients with older, first-generation devices and do not address newer, second-generation devices. We describe the frequency and management of noncardiac surgical problems encountered during LVAD support with these newer-generation devices to assist noncardiac surgeons involved in the care of patients with LVADs. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of consecutive patients receiving LVADs at our institution. We collected data for any consultation by noncardiac surgeons within the scope of general surgery during LVAD support and subsequent treatment. Ninety-nine patients received implantable LVADs between 2003 and 2009 (first-generation, n = 19; second-generation, n = 80). Excluding intestinal hemorrhage, general surgical opinions were rendered for 34 patients with 49 problems, mostly in the acute recovery phase after LVAD implantation. Of those, 27 patients underwent 28 operations. Respiratory failure and intra-abdominal pathologies were the most common problems addressed, and LVAD rarely precluded operation. Patients with second-generation LVADs were more likely to survive hospitalization (P = .04) and develop chronic, rather than emergent, surgical problems. Patients with LVADs frequently require consultation from noncardiac surgeons within the scope of general surgeons and often require operation. Patients with second-generation LVADs are more likely to become outpatients and develop more elective surgical problems. Noncardiac surgeons will be increasingly involved in caring for patients with LVADs and should anticipate the problems unique to this patient population. Copyright © 2012 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

The laser interferometer skin-friction meter - A numerical and experimental study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, J. D.; Westphal, R. V.

1986-01-01

Limits to the applicability of thin-film lubrication theory are established. The following two problems are considered: (1) the response of the oil film to a time-varying skin friction such as is encountered in turbulent boundary layers, and (2) a 'surface-wave instability' encountered at high skin-friction levels. Results corresponding to the first problem reveal that the laser interferometer skin-friction meter may, in principle, be applied to the measurement of instantaneous skin friction. In addressing the second problem, it is shown that the observed surface waves are not the result of a hydrodynamic instability.

Physical activity problem-solving inventory for adolescents: Development and initial validation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Youth encounter physical activity barriers, often called problems. The purpose of problem-solving is to generate solutions to overcome the barriers. Enhancing problem-solving ability may enable youth to be more physically active. Therefore, a method for reliably assessing physical activity problem-s...

A survey of sports medicine physicians regarding psychological issues in patient-athletes.

PubMed

Mann, Barton J; Grana, William A; Indelicato, Peter A; O'Neill, Daniel F; George, Steven Z

2007-12-01

To determine the extent to which sports medicine physicians encounter and discuss psychological issues among athletes they treat and to evaluate physicians' perceptions of the availability and efficacy of sport psychologists and other mental health resources. Cross-sectional study. A survey was sent via e-mail to all physician members of 4 prominent sports medicine professional associations: the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, American College of Sports Medicine, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, and American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine. The extent to which respondents discuss psychological issues with athletes varied by subspecialty and by specific issues assessed. Fears about reinjury, fears related to surgery, and lack of patience with recovery/rehabilitation were the 3 most common injury-related topics discussed with patient-athletes. The 3 most common non-injury-related topics discussed were stress/pressure, anxiety, and burnout. Family practitioners were more likely to discuss injury-related psychological issues than were orthopaedic surgeons. Orthopaedic surgeons reported the lowest frequencies of discussing non-injury-related psychological issues. Only 19% of all respondents indicated there were adequate numbers of sport psychologists and other mental health professionals in their geographical area to treat the needs of athletes. Three quarters of respondents reported they rarely or never referred athletes to sport psychologists for injury-related issues, and two thirds indicated they rarely or never referred athletes to sport psychologists for non-injury-related problems. Respondents rated sport psychologists and athletic trainers/physical therapists to be moderately effective in working with athletes regarding psychological problems. Sports medicine physicians frequently encounter psychological issues with patient-athletes. There is a need for tools to facilitate assessment of these problems as well as greater communication between the mental health community and sports medicine physicians. In addition, knowledge of and access to professionals who are specifically trained to deal with the sometimes unique psychological needs of athletes should be improved.

Hardware problems encountered in solar heating and cooling systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cash, M.

1978-01-01

Numerous problems in the design, production, installation, and operation of solar energy systems are discussed. Described are hardware problems, which range from simple to obscure and complex, and their resolution.

Nurses' perceptions and problems in the usability of a medication safety app.

PubMed

Ankem, Kalyani; Cho, Sookyung; Simpson, Diana

2017-10-16

The majority of medication apps support medication adherence. Equally, if not more important, is medication safety. Few apps report on medication safety, and fewer studies have been conducted with these apps. The usability of a medication safety app was tested with nurses to reveal their perceptions of the graphical user interface and to discover problems they encountered in using the app. Usability testing of the app was conducted with RN-BSN students and informatics students (n = 18). Perceptions of the graphical components were gathered in pretest and posttest questionnaires, and video recordings of the usability testing were transcribed. The significance of the difference in mean performance time for 8 tasks was tested, and qualitative analysis was deployed to identify problems encountered and to rate the severity of each problem. While all participants perceived the graphical user interface as easy to understand, nurses took significantly more time to complete certain tasks. More nurses found the medication app to be lacking in intuitiveness of user interface design, in capability to match real-world data, and in providing optimal information architecture. To successfully integrate mobile devices in healthcare, developers must address the problems that nurses encountered in use of the app.

Meta-analysis of correlates of provider behavior in medical encounters.

PubMed

Hall, J A; Roter, D L; Katz, N R

1988-07-01

This article summarizes the results of 41 independent studies containing correlates of objectively measured provider behaviors in medical encounters. Provider behaviors were grouped a priori into the process categories of information giving, questions, competence, partnership building, and socioemotional behavior. Total amount of communication was also included. All correlations between variables within these categories and external variables (patient outcome variables or patient and provider background variables) were extracted. The most frequently occurring outcome variables were satisfaction, recall, and compliance, and the most frequently occurring background variables were the patient's gender, age, and social class. Average correlations and combined significance levels were calculated for each combination of process category and external variable. Results showed significant relations of small to moderate average magnitude between these external variables and almost all of the provider behavior categories. A theory of provider-patient reciprocation is proposed to account for the pattern of results.

Pigmented Paraaxillary Located "Complex" Basal Cell Carcinoma Imitating clinically irritated Melanocytic Lesion - Succesfull Surgical Approach in Bulgarian Patient.

PubMed

Voicu, Cristiana; Mihai, Mara; Lupu, Mihai; Patterson, James W; Koleva, Nely; Wollina, Uwe; Lotti, Torello; Lotti, Jacopo; França, Katlein; Batashki, Atanas; Gianfaldoni, Serena; Bakardzhiev, Ilko; Mangarov, Hristo; Tchernev, Georgi

2017-07-25

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most frequently encountered neoplasm worldwide. While nodular BCC is the most frequent clinical subtype, other forms of BCC, such as superficial, cystic, morpheiform, infiltrative, and pigmented may also be encountered. We present the case of a 67-year-old male with a relatively well-defined infiltrative, pigmented plaque with multiple colours and peripheral growth situated in the right axillary region. The histopathologic examination performed after complete surgical excision of the tumour revealed a complex pigmented BCC with macronodular, fibroepithelioma-like, cystic, focally infiltrative and basosquamous features. Uncommon locations of BCCs in sun-protected areas such as the axillary region require a higher degree of suspicion for diagnosis. The complex histology of the presented case, including subtypes with differing biologic attributes, emphasises the importance of histopathological examination in the diagnosis and therapeutic management of BCC.

Emergency Department Frequent Utilization for Non-Emergent Presentments: Results from a Regional Urban Trauma Center Study.

PubMed

Behr, Joshua G; Diaz, Rafael

2016-01-01

First, to test a model of the drivers of frequent emergency department utilization conceptualized as falling within predisposing, enabling, and need dimensions. Second, to extend the model to include social networks and service quality as predictors of frequent utilization. Third, to illustrate the variation in thresholds that define frequent utilization in terms of the number of emergency department encounters by the predictors within the model. Primary data collection over an eight week period within a level-1 trauma urban hospital's emergency department. Representative randomized sample of 1,443 adult patients triaged ESI levels 4-5. Physicians and research staff interviewed patients as they received services. Relationships with the outcome variable, utilization, were tested using logistic regression to establish odds-ratios. 70.6 percent of patients have two or more, 48.3 percent have three or more, 25.3 percent have four or more, and 14.9 percent have five or more emergency department visits within 12 months. Factors associated with frequent utilization include gender, race, poor mental health, mental health drugs, prescription drug abuse, social networks, employment, perceptions of service quality, seriousness of condition, persistence of condition, and previous hospital admittance. Interventions targeting associated factors will change global emergency department encounters, although the mutability varies. Policy interventions to address predisposing factors such as substance abuse or access to mental health treatment as well as interventions that speak to enabling factors such as promoting the resiliency of social networks may result in decreased frequency of emergency department utilization.

The third person in the room: frequency, role, and influence of companions during primary care medical encounters.

PubMed

Schilling, Lisa M; Scatena, Lisa; Steiner, John F; Albertson, Gail A; Lin, C T; Cyran, Lisa; Ware, Lindsay; Anderson, Robert J

2002-08-01

We wanted to characterize patient accompaniment to medical encounters and to explore the rationale and influence of the companion on the primary care medical encounter. This was a descriptive study. Academic general internal medicine physicians, patients, and patient companions participated. We measured the frequency of waiting and examination room companions, the reasons for accompaniment, the influence on the encounter, and the overall helpfulness of the companion as assessed by patients and companions. We also determined the physicianamprsquos assessment of the companionamprsquos influence, helpfulness, and behavior during the encounter. Companions were in the examination room for 16% of visits; 93% were family members. The rationales for waiting and examination room companions were to help with transportation, provide emotional support, and provide company. Examination room companions helped communicate concerns to the physician, remember the physicianamprsquos advice, make decisions, and communicate their own concerns to the physician. Patients believed that examination room companions influenced 75% of medical encounters, mainly by improving communication between physician and patient. Physicians agreed that examination room companions favorably influenced physician and patient understanding (60% and 46% of encounters, respectively). Patients indicated that waiting and examination room companions were very helpful for 71% and 83% of visits, respectively. Companions frequently accompany patients to their primary care medical encounters. They are often family members, and they assume important roles in enhancing patient and physician understanding.

Enhancing the Capacity of School Nurses to Reduce Excessive Anxiety in Children: Development of the CALM Intervention.

PubMed

Drake, Kelly L; Stewart, Catherine E; Muggeo, Michela A; Ginsburg, Golda S

2015-08-01

Excessive anxiety is among the most common psychiatric problems facing youth. Because anxious youth tend to have somatic complaints, many seek help from the school nurse. Thus, school nurses are in an ideal position to provide early intervention. This study addresses this problem and describes the plans to develop and test a new intervention (Child Anxiety Learning Modules; CALM), delivered by school nurses, to reduce child anxiety and improve academic functioning. An iterative development process including consultation with an expert panel, two open trials, and a pilot randomized controlled study comparing CALM to usual care is proposed. Feedback will be solicited from all participants during each phase and data on outcome measures will be provided by children, parents, teachers, and independent evaluators. Data will be collected on intervention satisfaction and feasibility. Primary outcomes that include child anxiety symptoms, classroom behavior, and school performance (e.g., attendance, grades, standardized test scores) will be collected at pre- and post-interventions and at a 3-month follow-up evaluation. Pediatric anxiety is a common problem that school nurses frequently encounter. Consequently, they are well positioned to play a key role in enhancing access to behavioral health interventions to reduce anxiety and may therefore make a significant positive public health impact. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

NASA flight cell and battery issues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schulze, N. R.

1989-01-01

The author presents the important battery and cell problems, encompassing both test failures and accidents, which were encountered during the past year. Practical issues facing programs, which have to be considered in the development of a battery program strategy, are addressed. The problems of one program, the GRO (Gamma Ray Observatory), during the past year are focused on to illustrate the fundamental types of battery problems that occur. Problems encountered by other programs are briefly mentioned to complete the accounting. Two major categories of issues are defined, namely, whose which are quality and design related, i.e., problems having inherent manufacturing-process-related aspects with an impact on cell reliability, and these which are accident triggered or man induced, i.e., those operational issues having an impact on battery and cell reliability.

Problematics of open prostatectomy in an Ivorian District Hospital setting.

PubMed

Mgbakor, Anthony Chukwura

2012-09-01

Benign prostatic hypertrophy forms the bulk of urology workload in many sub-Saharan African hospitals. However, its management in secondary hospitals encounters specific problems that are rarely seen in the bigger tertiary institutions. We have tried to describe these difficulties across an account of open prostatectomy in regional secondary referral hospitals in the Côte d'Ivoire. This is a retrospective account of the specific difficulties encountered in the management of 327 consecutive cases of open prostatectomy carried out between August 1991 and September 2007 mainly in two secondary referral hospitals in the Côte d'Ivoire. The difficulties were at different levels: late presentation with 309 (94.5%) of the patients having experienced at least an episode of acute retention of urine, surgery while most patients were still carrying a catheter, minimal investigations carried out, scoring the patients in the IPSS scale, shortage of funds in the course of the management, and surveillance in the immediate postoperative period. The overall results were relatively satisfactory given our conditions of work. The most frequent complications were wound infection (14.7%), bleeding requiring transfusion (8.6%) and re-operation for clot retention (4.3%). We had a case (0.3%) of the rare prostato-rectal fistula which was managed conservatively. There were 4 deaths (1.2%). Open prostatectomy is the only surgical option for the management of benign prostatic hypertrophy in most of the urology centers of sub-Saharan Africa. Concerning its management away from the Tertiary Institutes, the surgery team is faced with specific problems which demand precise adaptations. Despite difficult working conditions, the results are sufficiently encouraging and gratifying to justify its pursuit while Urologists await the availability of equipments for transurethral resection of the prostate and other novel techniques.

Scala vestibuli cochlear implantation in patients with partially ossified cochleas.

PubMed

Berrettini, Stefano; Forli, Francesca; Neri, Emanuele; Segnini, Giovanni; Franceschini, Stefano Sellari

2002-11-01

Partial cochlear obstruction is a relatively common finding in candidates for cochlear implants and frequently involves the inferior segment of the scala tympani in the basal turn of the cochlea. In such patients, the scala vestibuli is often patent and offers an alternative site for implantation. The current report describes two patients with such partial obstruction of the inferior segment of the basal cochlear turn, caused in one case by systemic vasculitis (Takayasu's disease) and in the other by obliterative otosclerosis. A scala vestibuli implantation allowed for complete insertion of the electrode array. No problems were encountered during the surgical procedures and the good post-operative hearing and communicative outcomes achieved were similar to those reported in patients without cochlear ossification. The importance of accurate pre-operative radiological study of the inner ear is underscored, to disclose the presence and define the features of the cochlear ossification and ultimately to properly plan the surgical approach.

Black chrome solar selective coating

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

Pettit, R.B.; Sowell, R.R.

1980-01-01

Electrodeposited black chrome solar selective coatings have frequently experienced thermal stability problems when heated to temperatures above 250/sup 0/C (480/sup 0/F) in air. By reducing the trivalent chromium concentration in the standard black chrome plating bath, coatings on nickel substrates are obtained which are stable for thousands of hours at 350/sup 0/C (660/sup 0/F) and for hundreds of hours at 400/sup 0/C (750/sup 0/F). These results have been obtained consistently on a laboratory scale, but difficulty in reproducing the results has been encountered in a production environment. A current study of the effects of known plating variables on the opticalmore » properties and thermal stability of coatings is aimed at establishing an acceptable range for each plating parameter. A preliminary process specification for electroplating mild steel substrates with a stable black chrome coating is presented.« less

[Features of cranio-cerebral trauma in victims of road accidents].

PubMed

Ogleznev, K Ia; Stankevich, P V

2001-01-01

The paper deals with the specific features of brain injury (BI) in victims of road traffic accidents (RTA). RTA victims are most commonly pedestrians (62.6%) and less commonly drivers (17.5%). In over half the cases (62.6%), BI due to RTA is associated with extracranial lesions, leading to diagnostic problems. The pattern and site of lesions are related to the type of a transport vehicle and to the role of a victim as a traffic participant. Multiple extracranial lesions are mostly frequently encountered in victim pedestrians (30.3%), BI concurrent with chest damage is common in drivers (12.8%), BI concurrent with "whip" injury of the cervical spine is found in drivers and passengers though such combinations may also seen in pedestrians (1.5%--5 cases). The most severe form of brain compression is multifactorial compression (27.6%) and its most common form is compression with subdural hematoma (35.3%).

Learning Supervised Topic Models for Classification and Regression from Crowds.

PubMed

Rodrigues, Filipe; Lourenco, Mariana; Ribeiro, Bernardete; Pereira, Francisco C

2017-12-01

The growing need to analyze large collections of documents has led to great developments in topic modeling. Since documents are frequently associated with other related variables, such as labels or ratings, much interest has been placed on supervised topic models. However, the nature of most annotation tasks, prone to ambiguity and noise, often with high volumes of documents, deem learning under a single-annotator assumption unrealistic or unpractical for most real-world applications. In this article, we propose two supervised topic models, one for classification and another for regression problems, which account for the heterogeneity and biases among different annotators that are encountered in practice when learning from crowds. We develop an efficient stochastic variational inference algorithm that is able to scale to very large datasets, and we empirically demonstrate the advantages of the proposed model over state-of-the-art approaches.

Analysis of selected phytotoxins and mycotoxins in environmental samples.

PubMed

Hoerger, Corinne C; Schenzel, Judith; Strobel, Bjarne W; Bucheli, Thomas D

2009-11-01

Natural toxins such as phytotoxins and mycotoxins have been studied in food and feed for decades, but little attention has yet been paid to their occurrence in the environment. Because of increasing awareness of the presence and potential relevance of micropollutants in the environment, phytotoxins and mycotoxins should be considered and investigated as part of the chemical cocktail in natural samples. Here, we compile chemical analytical methods to determine important phytotoxins (i.e. phenolic acids, quinones, benzoxazinones, terpenoids, glycoalkaloids, glucosinolates, isothiocyanates, phytosterols, flavonoids, coumestans, lignans, and chalcones) and mycotoxins (i.e. resorcyclic acid lactones, trichothecenes, fumonisins, and aflatoxins) in environmentally relevant matrices such as surface water, waste water-treatment plant influent and effluent, soil, sediment, manure, and sewage sludge. The main problems encountered in many of the reviewed methods were the frequent unavailability of suitable internal standards (especially isotope-labelled analogues) and often absent or fragmentary method optimization and validation.

The EPQ model under conditions of two levels of trade credit and limited storage capacity in supply chain management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chung, Kun-Jen

2013-09-01

An inventory problem involves a lot of factors influencing inventory decisions. To understand it, the traditional economic production quantity (EPQ) model plays rather important role for inventory analysis. Although the traditional EPQ models are still widely used in industry, practitioners frequently question validities of assumptions of these models such that their use encounters challenges and difficulties. So, this article tries to present a new inventory model by considering two levels of trade credit, finite replenishment rate and limited storage capacity together to relax the basic assumptions of the traditional EPQ model to improve the environment of the use of it. Keeping in mind cost-minimisation strategy, four easy-to-use theorems are developed to characterise the optimal solution. Finally, the sensitivity analyses are executed to investigate the effects of the various parameters on ordering policies and the annual total relevant costs of the inventory system.

PALM-COEIN Nomenclature for Abnormal Uterine Bleeding.

PubMed

Deneris, Angela

2016-05-01

Approximately 30% of women will experience abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) during their life time. Previous terms defining AUB have been confusing and imprecisely applied. As a consequence, both clinical management and research on this common problem have been negatively impacted. In 2011, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Menstrual Disorders Group (FMDG) published PALM-COEIN, a new classification system for abnormal bleeding in the reproductive years. Terms such as menorrhagia, menometrorrhagia, metrorrhagia, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, polymenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, and uterine hemorrhage are no longer recommended. The PALM-COEIN system was developed to standardize nomenclature to describe the etiology and severity of AUB. A brief description of the PALM-COEIN nomenclature is presented as well as treatment options for each etiology. Clinicians will frequently encounter women with AUB and should report findings utilizing the PALM-COEIN system. © 2016 by the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

Library of UV-Vis-NIR reflectance spectra of modern organic dyes from historic pattern-card coloured papers.

PubMed

Montagner, Cristina; Bacci, Mauro; Bracci, Susanna; Freeman, Rachel; Picollo, Marcello

2011-09-01

An accurate characterisation of the organic dyes used in artworks, especially those made of paper, is an important factor in designing safe conservation treatments. In the case of synthetic organic dyes used in modern works of art, for example, one frequently encountered difficulty is that some of these dyes are not still commercially available. Recognizing this problem, the authors of this paper present the results of an analysis of UV-Vis-NIR fibre optic reflectance spectra of 82 samples of dyed paper prepared with 41 dyes. The samples come from a historic book, The Dyeing of Paper in the Pulp, which was published by Interessen-Gemeinschaft (I.G.) Farbenindustrie in 1925. The dyes used in the paper pulp belong to the azo compounds, acridine, anthraquinone, azine, diphenylmethane, indigoid, methine, nitro, quinoline, thiazine, triphenylmethane, sulphur and xanthene classes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Consistent Partial Least Squares Path Modeling via Regularization.

PubMed

Jung, Sunho; Park, JaeHong

2018-01-01

Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling is a component-based structural equation modeling that has been adopted in social and psychological research due to its data-analytic capability and flexibility. A recent methodological advance is consistent PLS (PLSc), designed to produce consistent estimates of path coefficients in structural models involving common factors. In practice, however, PLSc may frequently encounter multicollinearity in part because it takes a strategy of estimating path coefficients based on consistent correlations among independent latent variables. PLSc has yet no remedy for this multicollinearity problem, which can cause loss of statistical power and accuracy in parameter estimation. Thus, a ridge type of regularization is incorporated into PLSc, creating a new technique called regularized PLSc. A comprehensive simulation study is conducted to evaluate the performance of regularized PLSc as compared to its non-regularized counterpart in terms of power and accuracy. The results show that our regularized PLSc is recommended for use when serious multicollinearity is present.

Anesthetic considerations for a pediatric patient with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome: a case report.

PubMed

Tsukamoto, Masanori; Yamanaka, Hitoshi; Yokoyama, Takeshi

2017-09-01

Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome is a rare hereditary disease that results from a 4p chromosome deletion. Patients with this syndrome are characterized by craniofacial dysgenesis, seizures, growth delay, intellectual disability, and congenital heart disease. Although several cases have been reported, very little information is available on anesthetic management for patients with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. We encountered a case requiring anesthetic management for a 2-year-old girl with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. The selection of an appropriately sized tracheal tube and maintaining intraoperatively stable hemodynamics might be critical problems for anesthetic management. In patients with short stature, the tracheal tube size may differ from what may be predicted based on age. The appropriate size ( internal diameter ) of tracheal tubes for children has been investigated. Congenital heart disease is frequently associated with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. Depending on the degree and type of heart disease, careful monitoring of hemodynamics is important.

Sex of the GP--20 years on.

PubMed

Harrison, Christopher M; Britt, Helena C; Charles, Janice

2011-08-15

Previous research with the Australian Morbidity and Treatment Survey (1990-1991) showed significant differences in general practitioner characteristics and patient mix of male and female GPs. Even after adjusting for these, it was seen that male and female GPs managed different types of medical conditions. The proportion of female GPs increased from 19.6% in 1990-1991 to 37.1% in 2009-2010. This study investigates whether differences remain two decades later. Analysis of 2009-2010 Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) data examining GP characteristics, patient encounter characteristics, patient reasons for encounter (RFE), problem types managed and management methods used, by GP sex. Whether GP sex was an independent predictor of problem types being managed, or management methods used, was tested using multiple logistic regressions and Poisson regression. 988 GPs recorded 98 800 GP-patient encounters. Adjusted differences in clinical activity of male and female GPs. After adjustment, compared with male GPs, females recorded more RFEs about general and unspecified issues and endocrine, female genital, pregnancy and family planning problems; and fewer concerning the musculoskeletal, respiratory, skin and male genital systems. Female GPs managed more general and unspecified, digestive, circulatory, psychological, endocrine, female genital and social problems; recorded nearly 20% more clinical treatments and referrals; recorded nearly 10% more imaging and pathology tests; and 4.3% fewer medications. After two decades, even with increased numbers of female GPs, the differences in problems managed by male and female GPs remain, and will probably continue. Female GPs use more resources per encounter, but may not use more resources in terms of annual patient care.

A black berry that is not a blackberry

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Red raspberries and blackberries, unlike black raspberries, are widespread and familiar. Most consumers rarely encounter black raspberries; consequently, they frequently confuse fresh black raspberries with common cane berries. Recognition and appreciation of black raspberries can be improved with c...

Measurement Myths and Misconceptions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodwin, Laura D.; Goodwin, William L.

1999-01-01

Presents frequently encountered measurement misconceptions and various measurement "rules." Origins of the misconceptions and rules are described, along with the reasons why they are problematic. Alternate approaches or considerations are given. Misconceptions discussed pertain to the estimation of internal consistency reliability and item…

MMS Encounters with Reconnection Diffusion Regions in the Earth's Magnetotail

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torbert, R. B.; Burch, J. L.; Argall, M. R.; Farrugia, C. J.; Alm, L.; Dors, I.; Payne, D.; Rogers, A. J.; Strangeway, R. J.; Phan, T.; Ergun, R.; Goodrich, K.; Lindqvist, P. A.; Khotyaintsev, Y. V.; Giles, B. L.; Rager, A. C.; Gershman, D. J.; Kletzing, C.

2017-12-01

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) fleet of four spacecraft traversed the Earth's magnetotail in May through August of 2017 with an apogee of 25 Re, and encountered diffusion regions characteristic of symmetric reconnection. This presentation will describe in-situ measurements of large electric fields, strong electron cross-tail and Hall currents, and electron velocity distributions (frequently crescent-shaped) that are commonly observed in these regions. Positive electromagnetic energy conversion is also typical. The characteristics of symmetric reconnection observations will be contrasted with those of asymmetric reconnection that MMS observed previously at the dayside magnetopause.

Ultrasonography of the male breast

PubMed Central

Draghi, F.; Tarantino, C.C.; Madonia, L.; Ferrozzi, G.

2011-01-01

The male breast has been insufficiently explored in the medical literature, particularly that dealing with ultrasonography, although this topic is almost as vast and varied as that of the female breast. The purpose of this article is to provide a schematic review of the most frequent breast lesions encountered in males and their sonographic appearances. After a brief introduction on the anatomy of the male breast, the authors review the non-neoplastic (gynecomastia, pseudogynecomastia, cysts, inflammatory diseases, and Mondor disease) and neoplastic (benign and malignant) lesions encountered in this organ. PMID:23397020

The Mariner Mars 1971 radio frequency subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, R. S.

1972-01-01

The radio frequency subsystem (RFS) for the Mariner Mars 1971 (MM'71) spacecraft is described. The MM'69 RFS was used as the baseline design for the MM'71 RFS, and the report describes the design changes made to the 1969 RFS for use on MM'71. It also cites various problems encountered during the fabrication and testing of the RFS, as well as the types of tests to which the RFS was subjected. In areas where significant problems were encountered, a detailed description of the problem and its solution is presented. In addition, some recommendations are given for modifications to the RFS and test techniques for future programs.

Further Studies of the Response of Single Rotor Helicopters to Vortex Encounters

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1985-09-01

This report is a continuation of the studies described in Reference where a simplified approach to the problem of predicting the uncontrolled response of a single rotor helicopter to an encounter with the wing tip vortex of a large transport aircraft...

Energy Problems and Environmental Concern

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Train, Russell E.

1973-01-01

Discusses problems encountered in energy extraction and consumption, involving nuclear power plant construction, environmental consequences of energy systems, and energy conservation ethics. Indicates that the increasing concern over environmental quality is not the true cause of present energy problems. (CC)

HFL-10 lifting body flight control system characteristics and operational experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Painter, W. D.; Sitterle, G. J.

1974-01-01

A flight evaluation was made of the mechanical hydraulic flight control system and the electrohydraulic stability augmentation system installed in the HL-10 lifting body research vehicle. Flight tests performed in the speed range from landing to a Mach number of 1.86 and the altitude range from 697 meters (2300 feet) to 27,550 meters (90,300 feet) were supplemented by ground tests to identify and correct structural resonance and limit-cycle problems. Severe limit-cycle and control sensitivity problems were encountered during the first flight. Stability augmentation system structural resonance electronic filters were modified to correct the limit-cycle problem. Several changes were made to control stick gearing to solve the control sensitivity problem. Satisfactory controllability was achieved by using a nonlinear system. A limit-cycle problem due to hydraulic fluid contamination was encountered during the first powered flight, but the problem did not recur after preflight operations were improved.

Complementary and Integrative Interventions for Chronic Neurologic Conditions Encountered in the Primary Care Office.

PubMed

Bega, Danny

2017-06-01

Chronic neurologic conditions are frequently managed in the primary care setting, and patients with these conditions are increasingly seeking nonconventional treatment options. This article provides a review and summary of the evidence for some of the most commonly studied and most frequently used complementary and integrative interventions for 3 conditions managed every day in primary care offices - diabetic neuropathy, migraine, and dementia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ambulatory EHR functionality: a comparison of functionality lists.

PubMed

Drury, Barbara M

2006-01-01

There is a proliferation of lists intended to define and clarify the functionality of an ambulatory electronic health record system. These lists come from both private and public entities and vary in terminology, granularity, usability, and comprehensiveness. For example, functionality regarding a problem list includes the following possible definitions: * "Create and maintain patient-specific problem lists," from the HL7 Electronic Health Record Draft Standard for Trial Use. * "Provide a flexible mechanism for retrieval of encounter information that can be organized by diagnosis, problem, problem type," from the Bureau of Primary Health Care. * "The system shall associate encounters, orders, medications and notes with one or more problems," from the Certification Commission on Health Information Technology. * "Displays dates of problems on problem list," from COPIC Insurance Co. * "Shall automatically close acute problems using an automated algorithm," from the Physicians Foundations HIT Subcommittee. This article will compare the attributes of these five electronic health record functionality lists and their usefulness to different audiences-clinicians, application developers and payers.

Well-Being among Emergency Medicine Resident Physicians: Results from the ABEM Longitudinal Study of Emergency Medicine Residents.

PubMed

Perina, Debra G; Marco, Catherine A; Smith-Coggins, Rebecca; Kowalenko, Terry; Johnston, Mary M; Harvey, Anne

2018-05-11

The Longitudinal Study of Emergency Medicine Residents (LSEMR) conducted by the American Board of Emergency Medicine queries a randomized cohort of emergency medicine (EM) residents. It is designed to identify residents' perceptions of their training, sources of stress, well-being level, and career choice satisfaction over time. This study utilizes LSEMR to identify resident well-being levels, career satisfaction, factors producing stress, and whether a specific cohort is more stressed than the overall respondent group. Data from five longitudinal cohorts were analyzed using descriptive statistics to assess stressors, career satisfaction, and self-reported resident well-being. Participants' answers were reported on a 5-point Likert scale. There were 766 residents who completed the survey in five cohorts. Respondents were 30 years old (median 29), male (66%), and predominantly White (79%). The most frequently encountered problems included "time devoted to documentation and bureaucratic issues," "knowing enough," and "crowding in the emergency department." In contrast, the least frequently reported problems included "gender discrimination," "EMS support," "minority discrimination," and "other residents." Respondents thought being an EM resident was fun and would select EM again. Less than 20% indicated they had seriously considered transferring to another EM program. Resident reports of health concerns changed over time, with fewer residents reporting they were exceptionally healthy in 2016. Residents are, overall, happy with their career choice. However, concern was expressed regarding continued well-being in training. Sources of stress in training are identified. Strategies should be developed to decrease identified stressors and increase well-being among EM residents. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

FAQs II

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kezar, Adrianna; Frank, Vikki; Lester, Jaime; Yang, Hannah

2008-01-01

In their paper entitled "Why should postsecondary institutions consider partnering to offer (Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)?" the authors reviewed frequently asked questions they encountered from higher education professionals about IDAs, but as their research continued so did the questions. FAQ II has more in-depth questions and…

Interactions between stress and immune responses in cattle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cattle are frequently exposed to a variety of stressors at various magnitudes throughout production that may be potentially detrimental to overall health and productivity. The most commonly encountered stressors include social stressors (e.g., isolation, commingling with a novel herd), psychological...

Ergonomic problems encountered by the surgical team during video endoscopic surgery.

PubMed

Kaya, Oskay I; Moran, Munevver; Ozkardes, Alper B; Taskin, Emre Y; Seker, Gaye E; Ozmen, Mahir M

2008-02-01

The aim of this study is to analyze the problems related to the ergonomic conditions faced by video endoscopic surgical teams during video endoscopic surgery by means of a questionnaire. A questionnaire was distributed to 100 medical personnel, from 8 different disciplines, who performed video endoscopic surgeries. Participants were asked to answer 13 questions related to physical, perceptive, and cognitive problems. Eighty-two questionnaires were returned. Although there were differences among the disciplines, participants assessment of various problems ranged from 32% to 72% owing to poor ergonomic conditions. As the problems encountered by the staff during video endoscopic surgery and the poor ergonomic conditions of the operating room affect the productivity of the surgical team and the safety and efficiency of the surgery, redesigning of the instruments and the operating room is required.

Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Concomitants of Facial Blushing during Everyday Social Encounters

PubMed Central

aan het Rot, Marije; Moskowitz, D. S.; de Jong, Peter J.

2015-01-01

Facial blushing may usually be undesirable but may have an ameliorative function for some individuals under some circumstances. Researchers have studied the blush in laboratory settings, but not in daily life. In the present research, conducted with young adults, we employed for the first time an event-contingent recording method for assessing facial blushing during every-day social encounters. Blushing was associated with feeling embarrassed, ashamed, and exposed. These findings, though based on correlational analyses, are consistent with the idea that blushing is often unpleasant and can be maladaptive, and may contribute to the common belief that blushing is an undesirable response. Frequent blushers generally reported lower levels of dominant behavior, higher levels of submissive behavior, and perceived their social interaction partners as more powerful and less affiliative. This was independent of whether they blushed or not, suggesting that altered social behaviors and perceptions are associated with blushing-associated traits rather than with the blushing state. The experience of the blush varied as a function of the frequency with which a person blushed. Blushing was associated with higher levels of shame in frequent blushers than in infrequent blushers. In infrequent blushers, blushing was associated with higher levels of pleasant affect, suggesting that for infrequent blushers the blush may occur in positive social encounters. PMID:25679216

Orthopaedic Problems of the Mentally Retarded

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McSweeney, Anthony

1972-01-01

Problems encountered by orthopedic surgeons treating the mentally retarded are identified, and cooperation among pediatricians, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and orthopedic surgeons is recommended. (GW)

Methodological Problems Encountered in the Review of Research in Science Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawlor, E. P.; Lawlor, F. X.

1972-01-01

Describes the difficulties encountered in selecting material to be included in the reviews of science education research in the Curtis Series'' published by the Columbia Teachers' College Press. Presents evidence outlining the weaknesses of using a jury'' to determine so-called superior research. (AL)

Developing Multiplicative Thinking from Additive Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tobias, Jennifer M.; Andreasen, Janet B.

2013-01-01

As students progress through elementary school, they encounter mathematics concepts that shift from additive to multiplicative situations (NCTM 2000). When they encounter fraction problems that require multiplicative thinking, they tend to incorrectly extend additive properties from whole numbers (Post et al. 1985). As a result, topics such as …

Robotically performed total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer.

PubMed

Alecu, L; Stănciulea, O; Poesina, D; Tomulescu, V; Vasilescu, C; Popescu, I

2015-01-01

Rectal cancer is an important health problem, due to the increasing number of new cases and the quality of life issues brought forth by surgical treatment in these patients. The aim of the study was to analyse the results of robotic surgery in the treatment of lower and middle rectal cancer,locations in which TME is performed. Patients diagnosed with and operated on for rectal cancer by the means of robotic surgery between 2008-2012 at the Fundeni Clinical Institute were retrospectively analysed. A number of 117 patients with rectal cancer were operated on by robotic surgery, of which 79 (67.52%) were submitted to total mesorectal excision (TME). The most frequently performed surgery was low anterior resection, followed by rectal amputation through abdominoperineal approach.Anastomosis fistula was observed in 9 (11.39%) patients. Local recurrence was encountered in 2 (2.53%) of the robotically performed surgeries. 1. Robotically assisted total mesorectal excision is feasible, safe and can be performed with a small number of complications and a low local recurrence rate; 2. The main advantages are oncological safety and quality of life; 3.Conversion to open surgery is rarely encountered; 4. Protection loop ileostomy existence allows avoiding reintervention in case anastomotic fistula occurs in patients with low anterior resection. 5. Robotic surgery may become gold standard in the surgical treatment of rectal cancer. Celsius.

Black Carbon Emissions from In-use Ships: Results from CalNex 2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buffaloe, Gina Marise

Black carbon (BC) mass emission factors (EFBC; g-BC (kg-fuel)--1) from a variety of ocean going vessels have been determined from measurements of BC and CO2 concentrations in ship plumes intercepted by the R/V Atlantis during the 2010 California Nexus (CalNex) campaign. The ships encountered were all operating within 24 nautical miles of the California coast and were utilizing relatively low sulphur fuels. Black carbon concentrations within the plumes, from which EFBC values are determined, were measured using four independent instruments: a photoacoustic spectrometer and a particle soot absorption photometer, which measure light absorption, and a single particle soot photometer and soot particle aerosol mass spectrometer, which measure the mass concentration of refractory BC directly. The measured EFBC have been divided into vessel type categories and engine type categories, from which averages have been determined. The geometric average EFBC, determined from over 71 vessels and 135 plumes encountered, was 0.31 g-BC (kg-fuel)--1. The most frequent engine type encountered was the slow speed diesel (SSD), and the most frequent SSD vessel type was the cargo ship sub-category. Average and median EF BC values from these two categories are compared to previous observations from the Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS) in 2006, in which the ships encountered were predominately operating high sulphur fuels. There is some indication that the EFBC values for SSD vessels during CalNex were lower than during TexAQS, although ship-to-ship variability in these data sets makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions about the influence of fuel quality on EFBC.

Clue Insensitivity in Remote Associates Test Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Steven M.; Sifonis, Cynthia M.; Angello, Genna

2012-01-01

Does spreading activation from incidentally encountered hints cause incubation effects? We used Remote Associates Test (RAT) problems to examine effects of incidental clues on impasse resolution. When solution words were seen incidentally 3-sec before initially unsolved problems were retested, more problems were resolved (Experiment 1). When…

CPR Drilling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kittleson, Mark

1980-01-01

Problems encountered by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) instructors are discussed and some possible solutions to these problems are suggested. Management techniques for effective use of class size, time, and instructional materials are described. (JN)

Emergency Department Frequent Utilization for Non-Emergent Presentments: Results from a Regional Urban Trauma Center Study

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Objectives First, to test a model of the drivers of frequent emergency department utilization conceptualized as falling within predisposing, enabling, and need dimensions. Second, to extend the model to include social networks and service quality as predictors of frequent utilization. Third, to illustrate the variation in thresholds that define frequent utilization in terms of the number of emergency department encounters by the predictors within the model. Data Source Primary data collection over an eight week period within a level-1 trauma urban hospital’s emergency department. Study Design Representative randomized sample of 1,443 adult patients triaged ESI levels 4–5. Physicians and research staff interviewed patients as they received services. Relationships with the outcome variable, utilization, were tested using logistic regression to establish odds-ratios. Principal Findings 70.6 percent of patients have two or more, 48.3 percent have three or more, 25.3 percent have four or more, and 14.9 percent have five or more emergency department visits within 12 months. Factors associated with frequent utilization include gender, race, poor mental health, mental health drugs, prescription drug abuse, social networks, employment, perceptions of service quality, seriousness of condition, persistence of condition, and previous hospital admittance. Conclusions Interventions targeting associated factors will change global emergency department encounters, although the mutability varies. Policy interventions to address predisposing factors such as substance abuse or access to mental health treatment as well as interventions that speak to enabling factors such as promoting the resiliency of social networks may result in decreased frequency of emergency department utilization. PMID:26784515

The study of the physics of cometary nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whipple, F. L.

1984-01-01

The observations of comet P/Holmes 1892III, exhibiting two 8 to 10 magnitude bursts, were carefully analyzed. The phenomena are consistent with the grazing encounter of a small satellite with the nucleus. The grazing encounter produced, besides the first great burst, an active area on the nucleus, which was rotating retrograde with a period of 16.3 hr and inclination nearly 180 deg. After the final encounter, the spin period was essentially unchanged, but two areas became active, separated some 164 deg in longitude on the nucleus. After the first burst the total magnitude fell less than two magnitudes, while the nuclear region remained diffuse or complex, rarely if ever showing a stellar appearance. The fading was much more rapid after the second burst (barely naked eye at maximum) while the nucleus frequently stellar after the first day. It seems reasonable to conclude that the grazing encounter distributed a volume of large chunks in the neighborhood of the nucleus, maintaining activity for weeks.

Time Trends in the Family Physician Management of Insomnia: The Australian Experience (2000-2015).

PubMed

Miller, Christopher B; Valenti, Lisa; Harrison, Christopher M; Bartlett, Delwyn J; Glozier, Nick; Cross, Nathan E; Grunstein, Ronald R; Britt, Helena C; Marshall, Nathaniel S

2017-06-15

To evaluate changes in rates of family physician (FP) management of insomnia in Australia from 2000-2015. The Bettering the Evaluation And Care of Health (BEACH) program is a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of 1,000 newly randomly sampled family physicians' activity in Australia per year, who each record details of 100 consecutive patient encounters. This provided records of approximately 100,000 encounters each year. We identified all encounters with patients older than 15 years where insomnia or difficulty sleeping was managed and assessed trends in these encounters from 2000-2015. There was no change in the management rate of insomnia from 2000-2007 (1.54 per 100 encounters [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.49-1.58]). This rate was lower from 2008-2015 (1.31 per 100 encounters [95% CI: 1.27-1.35]). There was no change in FP management: pharmacotherapy was used in approximately 90% of encounters; nonpharmacological advice was given at approximately 20%; and onward referral at approximately 1% of encounters. Prescription of temazepam changed from 54.6 [95% CI: 51.4-57.9] per 100 insomnia problems in 2000-2001 to 43.6 [95% CI: 40.1-47.0] in 2014-2015, whereas zolpidem increased steadily from introduction in 2000 to 14.6 [95% CI: 12.2-17.1] per 100 insomnia problems in 2006-2007, and then decreased to 7.3 [95% CI: 5.4-9.2] by 2014-2015. Insomnia management frequency decreased after 2007 in conjunction with ecologically associated Australian media reporting of adverse effects linked to zolpidem use. Australian FPs remain reliant on pharmacotherapy for the management of insomnia. © 2017 American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Traffic safety facts : feasibility for an EMS workforce safety and health surveillance system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-05-01

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel treat an estimated : 22 million patients a year (Maguire and Walz, 2004). : While on duty, EMS workers frequently encounter two : work-related risks: injury and illness. Current research on : EMS workforce i...

Ecological Inventory Exemplars.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sobsey, Dick, Ed.

The document contains 20 ecological inventories (developed at the University of Minnesota and the University of Alberta) to help severely disabled students learn functional living skills. The ecological approach is designed to uncover the functions critical for success in specific environments which the student frequently encounters. Matching the…

The Phytophthora species known as "Pg chlamydo"

Treesearch

Everett Hansen; Paul Reeser; Wendy Sutton

2009-01-01

Phytophthora taxon Pg chlamydo is perhaps the second most abundant Phytophthora species in the world, after P. gonapodyides, although it is commonly misidentified. Pg chlamydo is frequently encountered in streams and rivers in western North America, Argentina, China, and Europe. It has occasionally been...

Challenges Encountered by 17 Autistic Young Adults in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Shui-wai

2017-01-01

The self-portrayals of 17 young persons with autism spectrum disorder reveal the challenges encountered by them, including study problems, inter-personal relationships, being bullied by classmates at school, discrimination by the public in general and teachers, social workers, and peers in particular, obstacles to post-secondary education,…

Value of Family and Group Counseling Models where Grandparents Function as Parents to Their Grandchildren

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Oliver W.; Ray, Shannon L.

2010-01-01

Those involved in circumstances in which children are raised by their grandparents often encounter serious problems that require assistance from counselors. Research suggests that grandparents and parents in these families typically experience heightened stress and psychosocial distress. Additionally, the children often encounter behavioral,…

Israeli Adolescents and Military Service: Encounters.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Amihay; And Others

1987-01-01

Asserts that inadequate attention has been paid to the problems of the young soldier entering army life in Israel. Delineates some areas of friction and vulnerability between the worlds of the youth and the military. Describes the systematization of these encounters into groups, creating the "Binary Model," which helps in locating and…

A general description of additive and nonadditive elements of sperm competitiveness and their relation to male fertilization success.

PubMed

Engqvist, Leif

2013-05-01

A complete understanding of male reproductive success, and thus sexual selection, often requires an insight into male success in sperm competition. Genuine conclusions on male sperm competitiveness can only be made in real competitive situations. However, statistical analyses of sperm competitiveness from fertilization success data have been shown to be problematic. Here, I first outline a comprehensive general description of the different additive and nonadditive elements relevant for the outcome of sperm competition staged between two males. Based on this description, I will highlight two main problems that are frequently encountered in experiments aiming at estimating sperm competitiveness. First, I focus on potential problems when using standardized competitors versus random mating trials, because trials with standardized competitors do not allow generalization if male-male interactions are important. Second, I illustrate the necessity to analyze data on the logit scale rather than on raw proportions, because only the logit scale allows a clean separation of additive and nonadditive effects (i.e., male × male and female × male interactions). © 2012 The Author(s). Evolution © 2012 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Evacuating damaged and destroyed buildings on 9/11: behavioral and structural barriers.

PubMed

Groeger, Justina L; Stellman, Steven D; Kravitt, Alexandra; Brackbill, Robert M

2013-12-01

Evacuation of the World Trade Center (WTC) twin towers and surrounding buildings damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks provides a unique opportunity to study factors that affect emergency evacuation of high rise buildings. Problem The goal of this study is to understand the extent to which structural and behavioral barriers and limitations of personal mobility affected evacuation by occupants of affected buildings on September 11, 2001. This analysis included 5,023 civilian, adult enrollees within the World Trade Center Health Registry who evacuated the two World Trade Center towers and over 30 other Lower Manhattan buildings that were damaged or destroyed on September 11, 2001. Multinomial logistic regression was used to predict total evacuation time (<30 to ≤60 minutes, >1 hour to <2 hours relative to ≤30 minutes) in relation to number of infrastructure barriers and number of behavioral barriers, adjusted for demographic and other factors. A higher percentage of evacuees reported encountering at least one behavioral barrier (84.9%) than reported at least one infrastructure barrier (51.9%). This pattern was consistent in all buildings except WTC 1, the first building attacked, where >90% of evacuees reported encountering both types of barriers. Smoke and poor lighting were the most frequently-reported structural barriers. Extreme crowding, lack of communication with officials, and being surrounded by panicked crowds were the most frequently-reported behavioral barriers. Multivariate analyses showed evacuation time to be independently associated with the number of each type of barrier as well as gender (longer times for women), but not with the floor from which evacuation began. After adjustment, personal mobility impairment was not associated with increased evacuation time. Because most high-rise buildings have unique designs, infrastructure factors tend to be less predictable than behavioral factors, but both need to be considered in developing emergency evacuation plans in order to decrease evacuation time and, consequently, risk of injury and death during an emergency evacuation.

"What constitutes a 'problem'?" Producing 'alcohol problems' through online counselling encounters.

PubMed

Savic, Michael; Ferguson, Nyssa; Manning, Victoria; Bathish, Ramez; Lubman, Dan I

2017-08-01

Typically, health policy, practice and research views alcohol and other drug (AOD) 'problems' as objective things waiting to be detected, diagnosed and treated. However, this approach to policy development and treatment downplays the role of clinical practices, tools, discourses, and systems in shaping how AOD use is constituted as a 'problem'. For instance, people might present to AOD treatment with multiple psycho-social concerns, but usually only a singular AOD-associated 'problem' is considered serviceable. As the assumed nature of 'the serviceable problem' influences what treatment responses people receive, and how they may come to be enacted as 'addicted' or 'normal' subjects, it is important to subject clinical practices of problem formulation to critical analysis. Given that the reach of AOD treatment has expanded via the online medium, in this article we examine how 'problems' are produced in online alcohol counselling encounters involving people aged 55 and over. Drawing on poststructural approaches to problematisation, we not only trace how and what 'problems' are produced, but also what effects these give rise to. We discuss three approaches to problem formulation: (1) Addiction discourses at work; (2) Moving between concerns and alcohol 'problems'; (3) Making 'problems' complex and multiple. On the basis of this analysis, we argue that online AOD counselling does not just respond to pre-existing 'AOD problems'. Rather, through the social and clinical practices of formulation at work in clinical encounters, online counselling also produces them. Thus, given a different set of circumstances, practices and relations, 'problems' might be defined or emerge differently-perhaps not as 'problems' at all or perhaps as different kinds of concerns. We conclude by highlighting the need for a critical reflexivity in AOD treatment and policy in order to open up possibilities for different ways of engaging with, and responding to, people's needs in their complexity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Strategy Keys as Tools for Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herold-Blasius, Raja

2017-01-01

Problem solving is one of the main competences we seek to teach students at school for use in their future lives. However, when dealing with mathematical problems, teachers encounter a wide variety of difficulties. To foster students' problem-solving skills, the authors developed "strategy keys." Strategy keys can serve as material to…

[The expert characteristic of the forensic medical documentation for the purpose of investigations of the injuries to the maxillofacial region].

PubMed

Popov, V L; Yagmurov, M O; Troshin, E L

2018-01-01

The injuries to the maxillofacial region (MFR) are among the most frequently occurring problems encountered if the forensic medical practice. The objective of the present study was the analysis of the quality of the medical record documentation of the victims of the injuries to the maxillofacial region for obtaining the information necessary for forensic medical experts to make the well-founded conclusions. We undertook the in-depth analysis of random samples from the materials stored in the archive of living subjects at the Saint-Petersburg Bureau of forensic medical expertise for the period from 2010 to 2014. The results of a total of 438 forensic medical examinations were available for the analysis. The study has demonstrated the generally low forensic medical value of the expert conclusions that frequently fail to conform to the requirements of the departmental instructions on the description of MFR injuries. In all the cases, neurologists and radiologists were counselled. The results of analysis of the drawbacks of forensic medical examinations give evidence that they originate first and foremost from subjective circumstances which opens up the promising prospects for the improvement of expertise quality based on the enhancement of the professional responsibility of the forensic medical experts.

Apatite Formation: Why It May Not Work as Planned, and How to Conclusively Identify Apatite Compounds

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Calcium phosphate apatites are inorganic compounds encountered in many different mineralized tissues. Bone mineral, for example, is constituted of nanocrystalline nonstoichiometric apatite, and the production of “analogs” through a variety of methods is frequently reported. In another context, the ability of solid surfaces to favor the nucleation and growth of “bone-like” apatite upon immersion in supersaturated fluids such as SFB is commonly used as one evaluation index of the “bioactivity” of such surfaces. Yet, the compounds or deposits obtained are not always thoroughly characterized, and their apatitic nature is sometimes not firmly assessed by appropriate physicochemical analyses. Of particular importance are the “actual” conditions in which the precipitation takes place. The precipitation of a white solid does not automatically indicate the formation of a “bone-like carbonate apatite layer” as is sometimes too hastily concluded: “all that glitters is not gold.” The identification of an apatite phase should be carefully demonstrated by appropriate characterization, preferably using complementary techniques. This review considers the fundamentals of calcium phosphate apatite characterization discussing several techniques: electron microscopy/EDX, XRD, FTIR/Raman spectroscopies, chemical analyses, and solid state NMR. It also underlines frequent problems that should be kept in mind when making “bone-like apatites.” PMID:23984373

[Alcohol].

PubMed

Zima, T

1996-07-14

Alcohol is one of the most widely used addictive substances. It can be assumed that everybody encounters alcohol--ethanol in various forms and concentrations in the course of their lives. A global and social problem of our civilization is alcohol consumption which has a rising trend. Since 1989 the consumption of alcoholic beverages is rising and the mean annual consumption of concentrated ethanol per head is cea 10 litres. In ethanol abuse the organism is damaged not only by ethanol alone but in particular by substances formed during its metabolism. Its detailed knowledge is essential for the knowledge and investigations of the metabolic and toxic effect of ethanol on the organism. Ingested alcohol is in 90-98% eliminated from the organism by three known metabolic pathways: 1-alcohol dehydrogenase, 2-the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system and 3-catalase. Alcohol is a frequent important risk factor of serious "diseases of civilization" such as IHD, hypertension, osteoporosis, neoplastic diseases. Cirrhosis of the liver and chronic pancreatitis are the well known diseases associated with alcohol ingestion and also their most frequent cause. It is impossible to list all organs and diseases which develop as a result of alcohol consumption. It is important to realize that regular and "relatively" small amounts in the long run damage the organism and may be even fatal.

Democracy in NGOs: Making the Cooperative Option Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wardle, Chris

1988-01-01

Discusses several problems encountered by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that structure themselves as cooperatives, with all members being equal. Presents four problem areas--(1) decision making, (2) meetings, (3) job rotation, and (4) growth--as well as strategies to solve potential problems. (CH)

The Effect of New Vocabulary on Problem Solving in Novice Physics Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sobolewski, Stanley J.

One of the difficulties encountered by novice problem solvers in introductory physics is in the area of problem solving. It has been shown in other studies that poor problem solvers are affected by the surface aspects of the problem in contrast with more efficient problem solvers who are capable of constructing a mental model of the physical…

The Front Line: Satisfaction of Classified Employees.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bauer, Karen W.

2000-01-01

Discusses job satisfaction in classified support staff (primarily clerical and secretarial) of colleges and universities. Notes that these staff are frequently the first representatives of the institution encountered by prospective students, parents, and others. Finds that rewards and recognition, opportunities for feedback, and help with…

Problems Implementing Problem-Based Learning by a Private Malaysian University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tik, Chan Chang

2014-01-01

In this case study the focus is on lecturers' readiness in the design of PBL problems and to facilitate students' learning. This paper also looks into students' readiness in terms of acquiring metacognitive skills and collaborating in group to solve PBL problems. Problems encountered by both lecturers and students are discussed in the context of…

Determining the Performances of Pre-Service Primary School Teachers in Problem Posing Situations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilic, Cigdem

2013-01-01

This study examined the problem posing strategies of pre-service primary school teachers in different problem posing situations (PPSs) and analysed the issues they encounter while posing problems. A problem posing task consisting of six PPSs (two free, two structured, and two semi-structured situations) was delivered to 40 participants.…

Disease-related and drug-induced skin manifestations in inflammatory bowel disease.

PubMed

Hindryckx, Pieter; Novak, Gregor; Costanzo, Antonio; Danese, Silvio

2017-03-01

Skin manifestations are common in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and can be part of a concomitant illness with a shared genetic background, an extra-intestinal manifestation of the disease, or a drug side-effect. Areas covered: We provide a practical overview of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, therapeutic approach and prognosis of the most frequent disease-related and drug-induced cutaneous manifestations in IBD, illustrated by cases encountered in our clinical practice. Among the most frequently encountered IBD-related lesions are erythema nodosum, pyoderma gangrenosum and Sweet's syndrome. Common skin manifestations with a strong association to TNF antagonists are local injection site reactions, psoriasiform lesions, cutaneous infections, vasculitides and lupus-like syndromes. In addition, we discuss the relation of thiopurines and TNF antagonists with the risk of skin cancer. Expert commentary: We hope this review will help caretakers involved in the management of IBD patients to recognize the lesions and to manage them in close collaboration with a dedicated dermatologist.

A Pilot Study Evaluating "Dojo," a Videogame Intervention for Youths with Externalizing and Anxiety Problems.

PubMed

Schuurmans, Angela A T; Nijhof, Karin S; Vermaes, Ignace P R; Engels, Rutger C M E; Granic, Isabela

2015-10-01

Externalizing problems, which are the main reason for youth referrals to mental health agencies, are highly persistent and predict a range of negative outcomes. Youths with externalizing problems are also frequently comorbid with anxiety. Among the most widely recognized evidence-based treatments is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Although CBT principles seem to be sound, effect sizes remain moderate, suggesting improvements could be made to this conventional treatment approach. The main premise of the current pilot study is to investigate the feasibility of implementing a videogame intervention ("Dojo" [Gamedesk, Los Angeles, CA]) that incorporates CBT principles and aims to address the limitations of conventional CBT delivery models, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for this difficult-to-treat population. "Dojo" is an emotion management game that helps youths to recognize and control their physiological and emotional arousal. We explored the implementation and user experience of "Dojo" in a sample of eight adolescents in residential treatment for both externalizing and anxiety problems. Participants attended all sessions without complaints. They evaluated "Dojo" very positively and exhibited high compliance during the training sessions. We encountered some problems with session scheduling and obtaining mentor reports. Quantitative data show the predicted decrease in three out of four measurements. The smooth implementation, high user satisfaction, high self-reported compliance during training sessions, and initial outcome results all indicate the high potential "Dojo" holds as an innovative intervention. If additional rigorously designed randomized controlled trials prove to be successful, "Dojo" can be a cost-effective way to engage high-risk youths in effective intervention.

The Information Content of Discrete Functions and Their Application in Genetic Data Analysis

DOE PAGES

Sakhanenko, Nikita A.; Kunert-Graf, James; Galas, David J.

2017-10-13

The complex of central problems in data analysis consists of three components: (1) detecting the dependence of variables using quantitative measures, (2) defining the significance of these dependence measures, and (3) inferring the functional relationships among dependent variables. We have argued previously that an information theory approach allows separation of the detection problem from the inference of functional form problem. We approach here the third component of inferring functional forms based on information encoded in the functions. Here, we present here a direct method for classifying the functional forms of discrete functions of three variables represented in data sets. Discretemore » variables are frequently encountered in data analysis, both as the result of inherently categorical variables and from the binning of continuous numerical variables into discrete alphabets of values. The fundamental question of how much information is contained in a given function is answered for these discrete functions, and their surprisingly complex relationships are illustrated. The all-important effect of noise on the inference of function classes is found to be highly heterogeneous and reveals some unexpected patterns. We apply this classification approach to an important area of biological data analysis—that of inference of genetic interactions. Genetic analysis provides a rich source of real and complex biological data analysis problems, and our general methods provide an analytical basis and tools for characterizing genetic problems and for analyzing genetic data. Finally, we illustrate the functional description and the classes of a number of common genetic interaction modes and also show how different modes vary widely in their sensitivity to noise.« less

The Information Content of Discrete Functions and Their Application in Genetic Data Analysis

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

Sakhanenko, Nikita A.; Kunert-Graf, James; Galas, David J.

The complex of central problems in data analysis consists of three components: (1) detecting the dependence of variables using quantitative measures, (2) defining the significance of these dependence measures, and (3) inferring the functional relationships among dependent variables. We have argued previously that an information theory approach allows separation of the detection problem from the inference of functional form problem. We approach here the third component of inferring functional forms based on information encoded in the functions. Here, we present here a direct method for classifying the functional forms of discrete functions of three variables represented in data sets. Discretemore » variables are frequently encountered in data analysis, both as the result of inherently categorical variables and from the binning of continuous numerical variables into discrete alphabets of values. The fundamental question of how much information is contained in a given function is answered for these discrete functions, and their surprisingly complex relationships are illustrated. The all-important effect of noise on the inference of function classes is found to be highly heterogeneous and reveals some unexpected patterns. We apply this classification approach to an important area of biological data analysis—that of inference of genetic interactions. Genetic analysis provides a rich source of real and complex biological data analysis problems, and our general methods provide an analytical basis and tools for characterizing genetic problems and for analyzing genetic data. Finally, we illustrate the functional description and the classes of a number of common genetic interaction modes and also show how different modes vary widely in their sensitivity to noise.« less

Groundwater overexploitation: why is the red flag waved? Case study on the Kairouan plain aquifer (central Tunisia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massuel, Sylvain; Riaux, Jeanne

2017-09-01

In many parts of the world, groundwater users regularly face serious resource-depletion threat. At the same time, "groundwater overexploitation" is massively cited when discussing groundwater management problems. A kind of standard definition tends to relegate groundwater overexploitation only as a matter of inputs and outputs. However, a thorough state-of-the-art analysis shows that groundwater overexploitation is not only a matter of hydrogeology but also a qualification of exploitation based on political, social, technical, economic or environmental criteria. Thus, an aquifer with no threat to groundwater storage can rightly be considered as overexploited because of many other prejudicial aspects. So, why is groundwater overexploitation so frequently only associated with resource-depletion threat and so rarely related to other prejudicial aspects? In that case, what really lies behind the use of the overexploitation concept? The case of the Kairouan plain aquifer in central Tunisia was used to analyze the way that the overexploitation message emerges in a given context, how groundwater-use stakeholders (farmers, management agencies and scientists) each qualify the problem in their own way, and how they see themselves with regard to the concept of overexploitation. The analysis shows that focusing messages on overexploitation conceals the problems encountered by the various stakeholders: difficulties accessing water, problems for the authorities in controlling the territory and individual practices, and complications for scientists when qualifying hydrological situations. The solutions put forward to manage overexploitation are at odds with the problems that arise locally, triggering tensions and leading to misunderstandings between the parties involved.

The Information Content of Discrete Functions and Their Application in Genetic Data Analysis.

PubMed

Sakhanenko, Nikita A; Kunert-Graf, James; Galas, David J

2017-12-01

The complex of central problems in data analysis consists of three components: (1) detecting the dependence of variables using quantitative measures, (2) defining the significance of these dependence measures, and (3) inferring the functional relationships among dependent variables. We have argued previously that an information theory approach allows separation of the detection problem from the inference of functional form problem. We approach here the third component of inferring functional forms based on information encoded in the functions. We present here a direct method for classifying the functional forms of discrete functions of three variables represented in data sets. Discrete variables are frequently encountered in data analysis, both as the result of inherently categorical variables and from the binning of continuous numerical variables into discrete alphabets of values. The fundamental question of how much information is contained in a given function is answered for these discrete functions, and their surprisingly complex relationships are illustrated. The all-important effect of noise on the inference of function classes is found to be highly heterogeneous and reveals some unexpected patterns. We apply this classification approach to an important area of biological data analysis-that of inference of genetic interactions. Genetic analysis provides a rich source of real and complex biological data analysis problems, and our general methods provide an analytical basis and tools for characterizing genetic problems and for analyzing genetic data. We illustrate the functional description and the classes of a number of common genetic interaction modes and also show how different modes vary widely in their sensitivity to noise.

The way we encounter reading material influences how frequently we mind wander.

PubMed

Varao Sousa, Trish L; Carriere, Jonathan S A; Smilek, Daniel

2013-01-01

We examined whether different encounters of reading material influence the likelihood of mind wandering, memory for the material, and the ratings of interest in the material. In a within-subjects design participants experienced three different reading encounters: (1) reading a passage aloud, (2) listening to a passage being read to them, and (3) reading a passage silently. Throughout each reading encounter probes were given in order to identify mind wandering. After finishing the passage participants also rated how interesting it was and completed a content recognition test. Results showed that reading aloud led to the least amount of mind wandering, while listening to the passage led to the most mind wandering. Listening to the passage was also associated with the poorest memory performance and the least interest in the material. Finally, within the silent reading and listening encounters we observed negative relations between mind wandering and both memory performance and interest in the material, replicating previous findings. Taken together, the present findings improve our understanding of the nature of mind wandering while reading, and have potentially important implications for readers seeking to take advantage of the convenience of audiobooks and podcasts.

The way we encounter reading material influences how frequently we mind wander

PubMed Central

Varao Sousa, Trish L.; Carriere, Jonathan S. A.; Smilek, Daniel

2013-01-01

We examined whether different encounters of reading material influence the likelihood of mind wandering, memory for the material, and the ratings of interest in the material. In a within-subjects design participants experienced three different reading encounters: (1) reading a passage aloud, (2) listening to a passage being read to them, and (3) reading a passage silently. Throughout each reading encounter probes were given in order to identify mind wandering. After finishing the passage participants also rated how interesting it was and completed a content recognition test. Results showed that reading aloud led to the least amount of mind wandering, while listening to the passage led to the most mind wandering. Listening to the passage was also associated with the poorest memory performance and the least interest in the material. Finally, within the silent reading and listening encounters we observed negative relations between mind wandering and both memory performance and interest in the material, replicating previous findings. Taken together, the present findings improve our understanding of the nature of mind wandering while reading, and have potentially important implications for readers seeking to take advantage of the convenience of audiobooks and podcasts. PMID:24348444

Police Encounters Among Needle Exchange Clients in Baltimore: Drug Law Enforcement as a Structural Determinant of Health.

PubMed

Beletsky, Leo; Cochrane, Jess; Sawyer, Anne L; Serio-Chapman, Chris; Smelyanskaya, Marina; Han, Jennifer; Robinowitz, Natanya; Sherman, Susan G

2015-09-01

We piloted a monitoring mechanism to document police encounters around programs targeting people who inject drugs (PWID), and assessed their demographic predictors at 2 Baltimore, Maryland, needle exchange program (NEP) sites. In a brief survey, 308 clients quantified, characterized, and sited recent police encounters. Multivariate linear regression determined encounter predictors, and we used geocoordinate maps to illustrate clusters. Within the past 6 months, clients reported a median of 3 stops near NEP sites (interquartile range [IQR] = 0-7.5) and a median of 1 arrest in any location (IQR = 0-2). Three respondents reported police referral to the NEP. Being younger (P = .009), being male (P = .033), and making frequent NEP visits (P = .02) were associated with reported police stops. Among clients reporting arrest or citation for syringe possession, Whites were significantly less likely than non-Whites to report being en route to or from an NEP (P < .001). Reported encounters were clustered around NEPs. Systematic surveillance of structural determinants of health for PWID proved feasible when integrated into service activities. Improved monitoring is critical to informing interventions to align policing with public health, especially among groups subject to disproportionate levels of drug law enforcement.

Helping Students Navigate Faith Challenges in the Biblical Studies Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sharp, Carolyn J.; Clark-Soles, Jaime

2012-01-01

What happens when students encounter the academic study of the Bible in the seminary or undergraduate classroom? Does a teacher have a responsibility to help students navigate challenges to Christian faith that might arise? What pedagogical problems and opportunities does this encounter present? How does this issue manifest differently in…

Tips for Novice Researchers: Operational Difficulties Encountered in Underdeveloped Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belcher El-Nahhas, Susan M.

This paper provides a general overview of the type of problems encountered in the field of research so that individuals who are contemplating conducting research in an underdeveloped country for the first time are better prepared, and hence, better able to complete their research. The paper recounts a female researcher's personal experiences in…

Problem-Solving Examples as Interactive Learning Objects for Educational Digital Libraries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brusilovsky, Peter; Yudelson, Michael; Hsiao, I-Han

2009-01-01

The paper analyzes three major problems encountered by our team as we endeavored to turn problem solving examples in the domain of programming into highly reusable educational activities, which could be included as first class objects in various educational digital libraries. It also suggests three specific approaches to resolving these problems,…

ADOPTING THE PROBLEM BASED LEARNING APPROACH IN A GIS PROJECT MANAGEMENT CLASS

EPA Science Inventory

Problem Based Learning (PBL) is a process that emphasizes the need for developing problem solving skills through hands-on project formulation and management. A class adopting the PBL method provides students with an environment to acquire necessary knowledge to encounter, unders...

Frequent PTPRK-RSPO3 fusions and RNF43 mutations in colorectal traditional serrated adenoma.

PubMed

Sekine, Shigeki; Yamashita, Satoshi; Tanabe, Taro; Hashimoto, Taiki; Yoshida, Hiroshi; Taniguchi, Hirokazu; Kojima, Motohiro; Shinmura, Kazuya; Saito, Yutaka; Hiraoka, Nobuyoshi; Ushijima, Toshikazu; Ochiai, Atsushi

2016-06-01

The molecular mechanisms underlying the serrated pathway of colorectal tumourigenesis, particularly those related to traditional serrated adenomas (TSAs), are still poorly understood. In this study, we analysed genetic alterations in 188 colorectal polyps, including hyperplastic polyps, sessile serrated adenomas/polyps (SSA/Ps), TSAs, tubular adenomas, and tubulovillous adenomas by using targeted next-generation sequencing and reverse transcription-PCR. Our analyses showed that most TSAs (71%) contained genetic alterations in WNT pathway components. In particular, PTPRK-RSPO3 fusions (31%) and RNF43 mutations (24%) were frequently and almost exclusively observed in TSAs. Consistent with the WNT pathway activation, immunohistochemical analysis showed diffuse and focal nuclear accumulation of β-catenin in 53% and 30% of TSAs, respectively. APC mutations were observed in tubular and tubulovillous adenomas and in a subset of TSAs. BRAF mutations were exclusively and frequently encountered in serrated lesions. KRAS mutations were observed in all types of polyps, but were most commonly encountered in tubulovillous adenomas and TSAs. This study has demonstrated that TSAs frequently harbour genetic alterations that lead to WNT pathway activation, in addition to BRAF and KRAS mutations. In particular, PTPRK-RSPO3 fusions and RNF43 mutations were found to be characteristic genetic features of TSAs. Copyright © 2016 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Problems in Evaluating Adult Literacy Programmes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rajyalakshmi, C.

1980-01-01

The study of the Functional Literacy Program in India encountered problems of opposition to evaluation, inappropriate respondents, and difficulties in contacting participants, which point to changes that should be made in the evaluation methods. (SK)

76 FR 6054 - Use of Less-Than-Lethal Force: Delegation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-03

... report any medical problems encountered by subjects being subdued and arrested, and no medical problems.... Therefore, for accuracy in terminology, we replace the term ``non-lethal'' with the more accurate term...

Health profiles of foreigners attending primary care clinics in Malaysia.

PubMed

Ab Rahman, Norazida; Sivasampu, Sheamini; Mohamad Noh, Kamaliah; Khoo, Ee Ming

2016-06-14

The world population has become more globalised with increasing number of people residing in another country for work or other reasons. Little is known about the health profiles of foreign population in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to provide a detailed description of the health problems presented by foreigners attending primary care clinics in Malaysia. Data were derived from the 2012 National Medical Care Survey (NMCS), a cross sectional survey of primary care encounters from public and private primary care clinics sampled from five regions in Malaysia. Patients with foreign nationality were identified and analysed for demographic profiles, reasons for encounter (RFEs), diagnosis, and provision of care. Foreigners accounted for 7.7 % (10,830) of all patient encounters from NMCS. Most encounters were from private clinics (90.2 %). Median age was 28 years (IQR: 24.0, 34.8) and 69.9 % were male. Most visits to the primary care clinics were for symptom-based complaints (69.5 %), followed by procedures (23.0 %) and follow-up visit (7.4 %). The commonest diagnosis in public clinics was antenatal care (21.8 %), followed by high risk pregnancies (7.5 %) and upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) (6.8 %). Private clinics had more cases for general medical examination (13.5 %), URTI (13.1 %) and fever (3.9 %). Medications were prescribed to 76.5 % of these encounters. More foreigners were seeking primary medical care from private clinics and the encounters were for general medical examinations and acute minor ailments. Those who sought care from public clinics were for obstetric problems and chronic diseases. Medications were prescribed to two-thirds of the encounters while other interventions: laboratory investigations, medical procedures and follow-up appointment had lower rates in private clinics. Foreigners are generally of young working group and are expected to have mandatory medical checks. The preponderance of obstetrics seen in public clinics suggests a need for improved access to maternal care and pregnancy related care. This has implication on policy and health care provision and access for foreigners and future studies are needed to look into strategies to solve these problems.

Patients' comprehension of their emergency department encounter: a pilot study using physician observers.

PubMed

Musso, Mandi W; Perret, J Nelson; Sanders, Taylor; Daray, Ross; Anderson, Kyle; Lancaster, Melissa; Lim, David; Jones, Glenn N

2015-02-01

The current study examines patients' comprehension of their emergency department (ED) encounter, using physician observers to document both physician communication and details of the encounter. Eighty-nine patients were recruited from a convenience sample in an urban ED. To be included in this study, patients had to have low triage levels (4 and 5) and be discharged from the ED. Physician observers were present throughout the encounter, documenting physician communication and procedures performed. Patients were then interviewed by physician observers about their communication with physicians, accuracy in recalling facts about the encounter, and understanding of information provided during the encounter. The majority of patients were black and had a high school education. Physicians typically engaged in behaviors related to building rapport and diagnosing patients. However, physicians informed patients about test results and diagnoses less frequently. In terms of patients' accuracy and understanding of the visit, patients were generally aware of basic facts in regard to their ED encounter (ie, whether they had blood drawn), but 65.9% of patients demonstrated less than "good" understanding in at least 1 area assessed. The findings of the current study indicate physicians could improve communication with patients, particularly in regard to care received in the ED. This study also indicates that a large percentage of patients fail to understand information about their ED encounter even when physicians provide it. A primary limitation of the current study is the relatively homogenous physician sample. Copyright © 2014 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A New Recipe: No More Cookbook Lessons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harper, Suzanne R.; Edwards, Michael Todd

2011-01-01

Mathematics educators frequently extol the virtues of inquiry-based instruction to classroom teachers. Although research suggests that inquiry benefits learners by allowing them to make sense of the mathematics they encounter, particularly through discourse with peers, to assume that all (or even most) teachers successfully create and implement…

Stresses and Challenges for New Graduates in Hospitals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oermann, Marilyn H.; Garvin, Michael F.

2002-01-01

Recent nursing graduates (n=46) rated stresses and challenges in clinical practice. Stressors included not feeling competent/confident, making mistakes due to increased workload, and encountering new situations. Challenges included applying knowledge to practice and acquiring new skills. Most emotions were positive but anxiety was frequent. Ways…

Introduction: Shall We Gather in the Classroom?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Housel, Teresa Heinz; Harvey, Vickie L.

2011-01-01

First-generation college students (FGS) often straddle different cultures between school and home. Because of this cultural disparity, FGS frequently encounter barriers to academic success and require additional support resources on campus. Simply offering more financial aid does not address the cultural and emotional challenges that these…

COMPARISON OF IMMUNOASSAY AND GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/MASS SPECTROMETRY FOR MEASUREMENT OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN CONTAMINATED SOIL

EPA Science Inventory

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are frequently encountered in the environment and may pose health concerns due to their carcinogenicity. A commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), was evaluated as a screening method for monitoring PAHs at contaminated site...

Teacher Identification of Student Learned Helplessness in Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yates, Shirley

2009-01-01

Teachers frequently encounter students with learned helplessness who are discouraged, turned off, or have given up trying to learn mathematics. Although learned helplessness has a long history in psychology, there has been no reliable means by which mathematics teachers can identify students exhibiting these debilitating yet changeable…

Implementation Challenges to TADS Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennard, Betsy D.; Ginsburg, Golda S.; Feeny, Norah C.; Sweeney, Michael; Zagurski, Robin

2005-01-01

This article discusses treatment obstacles that were frequently encountered by CBT therapists in the Treatment for Adolescents With Depression Study (TADS) trial. The most common or challenging treatment obstacles and their respective solutions were distilled from the minutes of national conference calls attended by TADS CBT supervisors and…

Psychiatric services in primary care settings: a survey of general practitioners in Thailand

PubMed Central

Lotrakul, Manote; Saipanish, Ratana

2006-01-01

Background General Practitioners (GPs) in Thailand play an important role in treating psychiatric disorders since there is a shortage of psychiatrists in the country. Our aim was to examine GP's perception of psychiatric problems, drug treatment and service problems encountered in primary care settings. Methods We distributed 1,193 postal questionnaires inquiring about psychiatric practices and service problems to doctors in primary care settings throughout Thailand. Results Four hundred and thirty-four questionnaires (36.4%) were returned. Sixty-seven of the respondents (15.4%) who had taken further special training in various fields were excluded from the analysis, giving a total of 367 GPs in this study. Fifty-six per cent of respondents were males and they had worked for 4.6 years on average (median = 3 years). 65.6% (SD = 19.3) of the total patients examined had physical problems, 10.7% (SD = 7.9) had psychiatric problems and 23.9% (SD = 16.0) had both problems. The most common psychiatric diagnoses were anxiety disorders (37.5%), alcohol and drugs abuse (28.1%), and depressive disorders (29.2%). Commonly prescribed psychotropic drugs were anxiolytics and antidepressants. The psychotropic drugs most frequently prescribed were diazepam among anti-anxiety drugs, amitriptyline among antidepressant drugs, and haloperidol among antipsychotic drugs. Conclusion Most drugs available through primary care were the same as what existed 3 decades ago. There should be adequate supply of new and appropriate psychotropic drugs in primary care. Case-finding instruments for common mental disorders might be helpful for GPs whose quality of practice was limited by large numbers of patients. However, the service delivery system should be modified in order to maintain successful care for a large number of psychiatric patients. PMID:16867187

Applications of remote sensing to water resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

Analyses were made of selected long-term (1985 and beyond) objectives, with the intent of determining if significant data-related problems would be encountered and to develop alternative solutions to any potential problems. One long-term objective selected for analysis was Water Availability Forecasting. A brief overview was scheduled in FY-77 of the objective -- primarily a fact-finding study to allow Data Management personnel to gain adequate background information to perform subsequent data system analyses. This report, includes discussions on some of the larger problems currently encountered in water measurement, the potential users of water availability forecasts, projected demands of users, current sensing accuracies, required parameter monitoring, status of forecasting modeling, and some measurement accuracies likely to be achievable by 1980 and 1990.

Learning Impasses in Problem Solving

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hodgson, J. P. E.

1992-01-01

Problem Solving systems customarily use backtracking to deal with obstacles that they encounter in the course of trying to solve a problem. This paper outlines an approach in which the possible obstacles are investigated prior to the search for a solution. This provides a solution strategy that avoids backtracking.

Using CAS to Solve Classical Mathematics Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burke, Maurice J.; Burroughs, Elizabeth A.

2009-01-01

Historically, calculus has displaced many algebraic methods for solving classical problems. This article illustrates an algebraic method for finding the zeros of polynomial functions that is closely related to Newton's method (devised in 1669, published in 1711), which is encountered in calculus. By exploring this problem, precalculus students…

Improving Audio Quality in Distance Learning Applications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Craig H.

This paper discusses common causes of problems encountered with audio systems in distance learning networks and offers practical suggestions for correcting the problems. Problems and discussions are divided into nine categories: (1) acoustics, including reverberant classrooms leading to distorted or garbled voices, as well as one-dimensional audio…

Beyond Utility Targeting: Toward Axiological Air Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-01-01

encounter the leader- sociopath , bereft of values, quite willing to live underground in hiding and in- sensitive to the absence of human comforts...that is a mere one thousand value-analysis problems to begin solving. A more difficult problem to solve is the problem of the leader- sociopath

The BAPE 2 balloon-borne CO2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Degnan, J. J.; Walker, H. E.; Peruso, C. J.; Johnson, E. H.; Klein, B. J.; Mcelroy, J. H.

1972-01-01

The systems and techniques which were utilized in the experiment to establish an air-to-ground CO2 laser heterodyne link are described along with the successes and problems encountered when the heterodyne receiver and laser transmitter package were removed from the controlled environment of the laboratory. Major topics discussed include: existing systems and the underlying principles involved in their operation; experimental techniques and optical alignment methods which were found to be useful; theoretical calculations of signal strengths expected under a variety of test conditions and in actual flight; and the experimental results including problems encountered and their possible solutions.

Interim report : a non-overlay cathodic protection system.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1983-01-01

This interim report describes Virginia's experience in installing its first cathodic protection system for a bridge deck. The installation was completed with practically no problems. Very minor problems have been encountered with the rectifier/contro...

Investigation of fatigue by Australian general practice registrars: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Morgan, Simon; Henderson, Kim M; Tapley, Amanda; Thomson, Allison; Wilson, Jessica; Scott, John; Spike, Neil A; McArthur, Lawrie; van Driel, Mieke L; Magin, Parker J

2015-06-01

Fatigue is the most common undifferentiated problem presenting in general practice. Previous studies have shown that this presentation leads to multiple investigations. There is no published literature describing the management of patients with fatigue by general practice (GP) registrars. To document the investigation-ordering behaviour of GP registrars in managing patients with a new diagnosis of unexplained fatigue. This was a cross-sectional analysis of data from Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT), an ongoing cohort study of GP registrars' consultations. We established the prevalence of new diagnoses of unexplained fatigue and associations with that diagnosis, the rate of test ordering and the number and types of investigations ordered. 644 registrars contributed data from 68 986 encounters. In 0.78% of patient encounters, a new diagnosis of unexplained fatigue was made. Pathology was ordered in 78.4% of these problems (versus 18.1% in non-fatigue problems), at a rate of 488 tests per 100 new fatigue problems. Our study suggests that unexplained fatigue elicits a non-rational approach to test ordering by registrars. These findings contribute to the understanding of GP registrar management of fatigue, and undifferentiated presentations more broadly, and suggest educational approaches to improve practice, including dealing with uncertainty.

Role of Enhancing Visual Effects Education Delivery to Encounter Career Challenges in Malaysia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ng, Lynn-Sze

2017-01-01

Problem-based Learning (PBL) is one of the most effective methods of instruction that helps Visual Effects (VFX) students to be more adaptable at encountering career challenges in Malaysia. These challenges are; lack of several important requirements such as, the basic and fundamental knowledge of VFX concepts, the ability to understand real-world…

Consequences of Co-Occurring Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder on Children's Language Impairments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Redmond, Sean M.; Ash, Andrea C.; Hogan, Tiffany P.

2015-01-01

Purpose: Co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and communication disorders represent a frequently encountered challenge for school-based practitioners. The purpose of the present study was to examine in more detail the clinical phenomenology of co-occurring ADHD and language impairments (LIs). Method: Measures of nonword…

Practice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Enuresis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fritz, Gregory; Rockney, Randy

2004-01-01

Enuresis is a symptom that is frequently encountered in child psychiatric evaluations. Careful assessment is required to identify specific urologic, developmental, psychosocial, and sleep-related etiologies. For most children with enuresis, however, a specific etiology cannot be determined. Treatment then involves supportive approaches,…

Ethical Challenges in the Teaching of Multicultural Course Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fier, Elizabeth Boyer; Ramsey, MaryLou

2005-01-01

The authors explore the ethical issues and challenges frequently encountered by counselor educators of multicultural course work. Existing ethics codes are examined, and the need for greater specificity with regard to teaching courses of multicultural content is addressed. Options for revising existing codes to better address the challenges of…

Impact of Military Deployment and Distance Learning on Soldier-Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, August T.

2013-01-01

Soldiers face complex challenges, issues, and decisions when pursuing distance learning while deployed. These challenges are encountered frequently while completing undergraduate and graduate degree programs on active duty overseas. Many learning programs and benefits are available and utilized by military online learners in a war zone. Education…

Accounting for the Relationship between Initial Status and Growth in Regression Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Sean; Ye, Feifei

2017-01-01

Educational analysts studying achievement and other educational outcomes frequently encounter an association between initial status and growth, which has important implications for the analysis of covariate effects, including group differences in growth. As explicated by Allison (1990), where only two time points of data are available, identifying…

Effects of Prompting Critical Reading of Science News on Seventh Graders' Cognitive Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsai, Pei-Ying; Chen, Sufen; Chang, Huey-Por; Chang, Wen-Hua

2013-01-01

Science teachers frequently select science news articles as supplementary teaching materials; however, the literature indicates that students encounter difficulties in examining and evaluating the news content and textual elements. This paper reports an instructional strategy of utilizing science news articles and investigates its effectiveness in…

Child and Adolescent Therapy: Cognitive-Behavioral Procedures. Fourth Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kendall, Philip C., Ed.

2011-01-01

Widely regarded as the definitive clinical reference and text in the field, this authoritative volume presents effective cognitive-behavioral approaches for treating frequently encountered child and adolescent disorders. The editor and contributors are leading experts who provide hands-on, how-to-do-it descriptions illustrated with clinical…

Challenges Experienced by Japanese Students with Oral Communication Skills in Australian Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yanagi, Miho; Baker, Amanda A.

2016-01-01

Due to ever-increasing demands to acquire effective communicative abilities in the English language, increasing numbers of international students choose to study in Western tertiary institutions; however, they frequently encounter difficulties in performing satisfactorily in English. This study aims to identify specific challenges that Japanese…

Effect of stressors on the viability of Listeria during an in vitro cold-smoking process

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Listeria monocytogenes is a dangerous food-borne pathogen and is a frequent contaminant of the cold-smoked fish industry. Elimination of this bacterium from the cold-smoking processing environment requires an understanding of how this microbe tolerates the stressful conditions encountered. Therefo...

Problem Solving Skills for Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Youngs, Bettie B.

This guide was written for children, to help them handle problems they might encounter, learn about other children and how they have handled similar problems, and learn what to do when things go wrong or when they feel misunderstood. In the introduction, children are assured that, even when they have problems, they can be happy again. The body of…

Problem Solving Instruction for Overcoming Students' Difficulties in Stoichiometric Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shadreck, Mandina; Enunuwe, Ochonogor Chukunoye

2017-01-01

The study sought to find out difficulties encountered by high school chemistry students when solving stoichiometric problems and how these could be overcome by using a problem-solving approach. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design. 485 participants drawn from 8 highs schools in a local education district in Zimbabwe participated in the…

Alcohol and Other Drugs on Campus: The Scope of the Problem. Infofacts/Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kapner, Daniel Ari

2008-01-01

The most widespread health problem on college and university campuses in the United States is high-risk alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. Recent reports confirm that the nation's campuses continue to encounter significant consequences as a result of this problem. This "Infofacts/Resources" offers an overview of the problem and highlights effective…

Mariner 10 Venus encounter. [scientific objectives and instruments for flyby observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunne, J. A.

1974-01-01

Review of the scientific objectives of the Mariner 10 mission with regard to observations of Venus during a flyby, and description of the equipment installed on the spacecraft to fulfill these objectives. A detailed description is given of the hardware modifications made to the payload specifically for the Venus sequence. In discussing the encounter operations, two spacecraft problems which significantly affected the Venus encounter sequence are cited - namely, a failure of the television optic heaters to come on shortly after launch, and the occurrence of a roll gyro oscillation.

Forensic Evaluation of Deaf Individuals: Challenges and Strategies.

PubMed

Pollard, Robert Q; Berlinski, Brian T

2017-01-01

Forensic evaluation of deaf individuals presents unique challenges due to many examinees' fund of information deficits, potential for language deprivation, and examiners' frequent lack of creativity regarding communication methods. This article describes challenges most frequently encountered in competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility evaluations and offers strategies for overcoming them. The value of employing multiple communication methods, especially the use of illustrations, is emphasized. Suggestions also are offered regarding preparing evaluation reports and effectively communicating "key deaf fundamentals" to legal personnel. Encouragement is offered for qualified, sign-fluent professionals to engage in forensic work.

Self-aggregation in scaled principal component space

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

Ding, Chris H.Q.; He, Xiaofeng; Zha, Hongyuan

2001-10-05

Automatic grouping of voluminous data into meaningful structures is a challenging task frequently encountered in broad areas of science, engineering and information processing. These data clustering tasks are frequently performed in Euclidean space or a subspace chosen from principal component analysis (PCA). Here we describe a space obtained by a nonlinear scaling of PCA in which data objects self-aggregate automatically into clusters. Projection into this space gives sharp distinctions among clusters. Gene expression profiles of cancer tissue subtypes, Web hyperlink structure and Internet newsgroups are analyzed to illustrate interesting properties of the space.

Automation--planning to implementation; the problems en route.

PubMed Central

Pizer, I H

1976-01-01

Once the major decision to automate library processes is made, there are a variety of problems which may be encountered before the planned system becomes operational. These include problems of personnel, budget, procurement of adjunct services, institutional priorities, and manufacturing uncertainties. Actual and potential difficulties are discussed. PMID:1247703

Conceptualizing Perseverance in Problem Solving as Collective Enterprise

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sengupta-Irving, Tesha; Agarwal, Priyanka

2017-01-01

Students are expected to learn mathematics such that when they encounter challenging problems they will persist. Creating opportunities for students to persist in problem solving is therefore argued as essential to effective teaching and to children developing positive dispositions in mathematical learning. This analysis takes a novel approach to…

Financial Stress, Parental Depressive Symptoms, Parenting Practices, and Children's Externalizing Problem Behaviors: Underlying Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Chih-Yuan Steven; Lee, Jaerim; August, Gerald J.

2011-01-01

This study examined the relationships among financial stress encountered by families, parents' social support, parental depressive symptoms, parenting practices, and children's externalizing problem behaviors to advance our understanding of the processes by which family financial stress is associated with children's problem behaviors. We also…

Problem Solving.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pollak, Ave

This guide is intended for use in presenting a three-session course designed to develop the problem-solving skills required of persons employed in the manufacturing and service industries. The course is structured so that, upon its completion, students will be able to accomplish the following: describe and analyze problems encountered at work;…

Twenty Recent Novels (and More) about Adolescents for Bibliotherapy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hipple, Ted; Comer, Melissa; Boren, Dodie

1997-01-01

Lists 20 problems adolescents may encounter, with a description of one young adult novel in which that problem is a central feature. Some of the problems addressed include abuse, AIDS, alcohol, alienation, crime, death, disabilities, divorce, drugs, ethics, homosexuality, peer pressure, pregnancy, prejudice, rape, religious pressure, school, sex,…

Support Services for Remote Users of Online Public Access Catalogs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalin, Sally W.

1991-01-01

Discusses the needs of remote users of online public access catalogs (OPACs). User expectations are discussed; problems encountered by remote-access users are examined, including technical problems and searching problems; support services are described, including instruction, print guides, and online help; and differences from the needs of…

Exploring Principals' Nonroutine Problems in Bilingual Immersion Schools: Lessons Learned for Multicultural Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwabsky, Nitza

2013-01-01

The present study examines the nonroutine problems that eight Anglo-American principals encountered in managing three elementary bilingual immersion schools in the Northwest United States. Using qualitative inquiry to collect data, I employed the multisited ethnographic research model. The principals reported nonroutine problems in the following…

Another Look at the Language Difficulties of International Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Yanyin; Mi, Yinan

2010-01-01

International students encounter language-related problems in their academic studies. Specific problem areas have been identified and possible underlying causes have been explored. The present study investigates the impact of two variables--length of study and academic disciplines--in relation to the problems. The findings from a survey and…

Frequent Itemset Hiding Algorithm Using Frequent Pattern Tree Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alnatsheh, Rami

2012-01-01

A problem that has been the focus of much recent research in privacy preserving data-mining is the frequent itemset hiding (FIH) problem. Identifying itemsets that appear together frequently in customer transactions is a common task in association rule mining. Organizations that share data with business partners may consider some of the frequent…

Transit security : a description of problems and countermeasures

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1984-10-01

This report provides a broad perspective on transit security. It examines a wide range of transit security problems encountered by transit systems, namely: crime against passengers and employees; crimes involving revenues, including fare evasion by p...

Revisiting the emission from relativistic blast waves in a density-jump medium

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

Geng, J. J.; Huang, Y. F.; Dai, Z. G.

2014-09-01

Re-brightening bumps are frequently observed in gamma-ray burst afterglows. Many scenarios have been proposed to interpret the origin of these bumps, of which a blast wave encountering a density-jump in the circumburst environment has been questioned by recent works. We develop a set of differential equations to calculate the relativistic outflow encountering the density-jump by extending the work of Huang et al. This approach is a semi-analytic method and is very convenient. Our results show that late high-amplitude bumps cannot be produced under common conditions, rather only a short plateau may emerge even when the encounter occurs at an earlymore » time (<10{sup 4} s). In general, our results disfavor the density-jump origin for those observed bumps, which is consistent with the conclusion drawn from full hydrodynamics studies. The bumps thus should be caused by other scenarios.« less

Mobbing behaviors encountered by nurse teaching staff.

PubMed

Yildirim, Dilek; Yildirim, Aytolan; Timucin, Arzu

2007-07-01

The term 'mobbing' is defined as antagonistic behaviors with unethical communication directed systematically at one individual by one or more individuals in the workplace. This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted for the purpose of determining the mobbing behaviors encountered by nursing school teaching staff in Turkey, its effect on them, and their responses to them. A large percentage (91%) of the nursing school employees who participated in this study reported that they had encountered mobbing behaviors in the institution where they work and 17% that they had been directly exposed to mobbing in the workplace. The academic staff who had been exposed to mobbing behaviors experienced various physiological, emotional and social reactions. They frequently 'worked harder and [were] more organized and worked very carefully to avoid criticism' to escape from mobbing. In addition, 9% of the participants stated that they 'thought about suicide occasionally'.

Environmental Catastrophes in the Earth's History Due to Solar Systems Encounters with Giant Molecular Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pavlov, Alexander A.

2011-01-01

In its motion through the Milky Way galaxy, the solar system encounters an average density (>=330 H atoms/cubic cm) giant molecular cloud (GMC) approximately every 108 years, a dense (approx 2 x 103 H atoms/cubic cm) GMC every approx 109 years and will inevitably encounter them in the future. However, there have been no studies linking such events with severe (snowball) glaciations in Earth history. Here we show that dramatic climate change can be caused by interstellar dust accumulating in Earth's atmosphere during the solar system's immersion into a dense (approx ,2 x 103 H atoms/cubic cm) GMC. The stratospheric dust layer from such interstellar particles could provide enough radiative forcing to trigger the runaway ice-albedo feedback that results in global snowball glaciations. We also demonstrate that more frequent collisions with less dense GMCs could cause moderate ice ages.

Shame-inducing encounters. Negative emotional aspects of sickness-absentees' interactions with rehabilitation professionals.

PubMed

Svensson, Tommy; Karlsson, Agneta; Alexanderson, Kristina; Nordqvist, Cecilia

2003-09-01

There is little knowledge on how sickness absentees experience encounters with rehabilitation professionals. This paper explores and describes negative emotions ("shame" in a broad sense) experienced by individuals on sick leave in their interactions with rehabilitation professionals. We performed a qualitative analysis of data from five focus-group interviews. The participants had experience of sickness absence with back diagnoses and discussed factors that facilitate or impede return to work. Reports of demeaning experiences in encounters with rehabilitation workers were frequent and could be divided into two major categories: 1) subjects perceived the behavior of rehabilitation professionals as distanced in a negative way, and felt that they were treated in an indifferent and nonchalant manner or fairly routinely; 2) subjects felt that they were disqualified, which included being discredited or belittled. This explorative study indicates the need for further, more directed investigations of emotional aspects of interactions between sickness absentees and rehabilitation professionals.

A simple and versatile phase detector for heterodyne interferometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mlynek, A.; Faugel, H.; Eixenberger, H.; Pautasso, G.; Sellmair, G.

2017-02-01

The measurement of the relative phase of two sinusoidal electrical signals is a frequently encountered task in heterodyne interferometry, but also occurs in many other applications. Especially in interferometry, multi-radian detectors are often required, which track the temporal evolution of the phase difference and are able to register phase changes that exceed 2π. While a large variety of solutions to this problem is already known, we present an alternative approach, which pre-processes the signals with simple analog circuitry and digitizes two resulting voltages with an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), whose sampling frequency can be far below the frequency of the sinusoidal signals. Phase reconstruction is finally carried out by software. The main advantage of this approach is its simplicity, using only few low-cost hardware components and a standard 2-channel ADC with low performance requirements. We present an application on the two-color interferometer of the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak, where the relative phase of 40 MHz sinusoids is measured.

[Adequate anti-infective treatment : Importance of individual dosing and application].

PubMed

Brinkmann, A; Röhr, A C; Köberer, A; Fuchs, T; Krüger, W A; König, C; Richter, D; Weigand, M A; Frey, O R

2018-05-15

Sepsis-induced changes in pharmacokinetic parameters are a well-known problem in intensive care medicine. Dosing of antibiotics in this setting is therefore challenging. Alterations to the substance-specific kinetics of anti-infective substances have an effect on the distribution and excretion processes in the body. Increased clearance and an increased distribution volume (V d ) and particularly compromized organ function with reduced antibiotic elimination are often encountered in patients with sepsis. Renal replacement treatment, which is frequently used in intensive care medicine, represents a substantial intervention in this system. Current international guidelines recommend individualized dosing strategies and adaptation of doses according to measured serum levels and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) parameters as concepts to optimize anti-infective therapy in the critically ill. Likewise, the recommendation to adjust the administration form of beat-lactam antibiotics to prolonged or continuous infusion can be found increasingly more often in the literature. This article reviews the background of the individual dosing in intensive care patients and their applicability to the clinical routine.

Quantum Linear System Algorithm for Dense Matrices.

PubMed

Wossnig, Leonard; Zhao, Zhikuan; Prakash, Anupam

2018-02-02

Solving linear systems of equations is a frequently encountered problem in machine learning and optimization. Given a matrix A and a vector b the task is to find the vector x such that Ax=b. We describe a quantum algorithm that achieves a sparsity-independent runtime scaling of O(κ^{2}sqrt[n]polylog(n)/ε) for an n×n dimensional A with bounded spectral norm, where κ denotes the condition number of A, and ε is the desired precision parameter. This amounts to a polynomial improvement over known quantum linear system algorithms when applied to dense matrices, and poses a new state of the art for solving dense linear systems on a quantum computer. Furthermore, an exponential improvement is achievable if the rank of A is polylogarithmic in the matrix dimension. Our algorithm is built upon a singular value estimation subroutine, which makes use of a memory architecture that allows for efficient preparation of quantum states that correspond to the rows of A and the vector of Euclidean norms of the rows of A.

[Encounter of cancer cells with bone. Histological examination of bone metastasis].

PubMed

Kanda, Hiroaki

2011-03-01

Management of the cancer bone metastasis is important clinical problem. The mechanism (s) of bone metastasis has been studied mainly by animal models and in vitro system. There might be discrepancy between model systems and in vivo human clinical materials. But there is surprisingly rare study of histological examination of human skeletal metastasis, since it is hard to obtain human materials without modification by chemotherapy or irradiation. There are many surgical materials suitable for this examination in our hospital and we have been examined histological features of them. Stromal cells between metastatic cancer cells and OCs (osteoclasts) and÷or OBs (osteoblasts) might play a role in bone metastasis, since these cells are frequently accompanied with OCs÷OBs. We called these stromal cells as "fibroblast-like cells" and examined their nature and roles in bone metastasis. We hope these fibroblast-like cells might become the target of anti bone metastasis therapy, same as osteoclasts targeted by bisphosphonates.

Preemptive financial strategies help IPAs avoid insolvency.

PubMed

Karling, J; Silberman, L

2000-11-01

The 1999 collapse in California of practice management giants FPA Medical Management, Inc. and MedPartners, Inc. has caused healthcare provider organizations, particularly independent practice associations (IPAs), to examine critical issues related to financial solvency. Problems such as declining membership, ineffective management, weak contracting, and lack of strategic vision frequently are encountered by troubled provider organizations. The common thread that runs through IPA failures is a combination of unreliable accounting data and inadequate reporting systems. This lack of satisfactory financial and reporting information impairs the ability of the provider group to maintain sufficient funds to cover expenses and pay physicians. Successful, financially stable provider networks use well-defined reporting procedures based on fundamental accounting and financial concepts, as well as a sound methodology for measuring and calculating claims liability estimates. In California, new regulations aimed at encouraging provider organizations to assume preemptive financial strategies are in the process of being adopted. IPAs in every state should consider reviewing these regulations as benchmarks by which to assess their financial procedures.

Lactose intolerance in persistent diarrhoea during childhood: the role of a traditional rice-lentil (Khitchri) and yogurt diet in nutritional management.

PubMed

Bhutta, Z A; Nizami, S Q; Isani, Z

1997-01-01

Lactose intolerance is frequently encountered in children with persistent diarrhoea (PD). Selection of an appropriate milk-based formulation is a major management problem in the developing world. In a consecutive series of studies, we evaluated the role of feeding a traditional rice-lentil (khitchri) diet alone (KY) or in combination with either soy formula (KY-Soy) a dilute buffalo milk (KY-B), in children (age 6 months-3 years) with PD. Serial observations of stool output, caloric intake and weight gain of these children over a 14 day period indicated satisfactory tolerance of the KY diet with adequate weight gain. The weight gain and stool output was however higher in lactose intolerant children, with the worst results seen with K-Y and buffalo milk combination. While lactose intolerant children with PD do have higher. rates of therapeutic failure, our data indicates that a traditional diet and yogurt combination can be used satisfactorily for nutritional rehabilitation in over 80% of such children.

Hot charcoal vomitus in aluminum phosphide poisoning - A case report of internal thermal reaction in aluminum phosphide poisoning and review of literature

PubMed Central

Mirakbari, Seyed Mostafa

2015-01-01

Aluminium phosphide (ALP) poisoning is a commonly encountered poisoning in emergency departments in most developing countries. Many papers have revealed metabolic derangements in this poisoning and also examined contributing factors leading to death, but only few have reported physical damage. Some case reports have described a complication that has been frequently termed ‘ignition’. The exact mechanism of this phenomenon has not been fully elucidated. An exothermic reaction during therapeutic administration of chemicals may contribute to this problem, but the incidence has occurred in the absence of treatment or drug administration. Here, we report a 34-year-old woman with ALP poisoning who presented with hot charcoal vomitus, a sign of internal thermal event, leading to the thermal burning of the patient's face and internal damage resulting in death. We reviewed all reported cases with similar complication to demonstrate varied characteristics of patients and to propose the possible mechanisms leading to this event. PMID:26257417

Estimation of missing values in solar radiation data using piecewise interpolation methods: Case study at Penang city

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zainudin, Mohd Lutfi; Saaban, Azizan; Bakar, Mohd Nazari Abu

2015-12-01

The solar radiation values have been composed by automatic weather station using the device that namely pyranometer. The device is functions to records all the radiation values that have been dispersed, and these data are very useful for it experimental works and solar device's development. In addition, for modeling and designing on solar radiation system application is needed for complete data observation. Unfortunately, lack for obtained the complete solar radiation data frequently occur due to several technical problems, which mainly contributed by monitoring device. Into encountering this matter, estimation missing values in an effort to substitute absent values with imputed data. This paper aimed to evaluate several piecewise interpolation techniques likes linear, splines, cubic, and nearest neighbor into dealing missing values in hourly solar radiation data. Then, proposed an extendable work into investigating the potential used of cubic Bezier technique and cubic Said-ball method as estimator tools. As result, methods for cubic Bezier and Said-ball perform the best compare to another piecewise imputation technique.

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

Zainudin, Mohd Lutfi, E-mail: mdlutfi07@gmail.com; Institut Matematik Kejuruteraan; Saaban, Azizan, E-mail: azizan.s@uum.edu.my

The solar radiation values have been composed by automatic weather station using the device that namely pyranometer. The device is functions to records all the radiation values that have been dispersed, and these data are very useful for it experimental works and solar device’s development. In addition, for modeling and designing on solar radiation system application is needed for complete data observation. Unfortunately, lack for obtained the complete solar radiation data frequently occur due to several technical problems, which mainly contributed by monitoring device. Into encountering this matter, estimation missing values in an effort to substitute absent values with imputedmore » data. This paper aimed to evaluate several piecewise interpolation techniques likes linear, splines, cubic, and nearest neighbor into dealing missing values in hourly solar radiation data. Then, proposed an extendable work into investigating the potential used of cubic Bezier technique and cubic Said-ball method as estimator tools. As result, methods for cubic Bezier and Said-ball perform the best compare to another piecewise imputation technique.« less

Optimal estimation of recurrence structures from time series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

beim Graben, Peter; Sellers, Kristin K.; Fröhlich, Flavio; Hutt, Axel

2016-05-01

Recurrent temporal dynamics is a phenomenon observed frequently in high-dimensional complex systems and its detection is a challenging task. Recurrence quantification analysis utilizing recurrence plots may extract such dynamics, however it still encounters an unsolved pertinent problem: the optimal selection of distance thresholds for estimating the recurrence structure of dynamical systems. The present work proposes a stochastic Markov model for the recurrent dynamics that allows for the analytical derivation of a criterion for the optimal distance threshold. The goodness of fit is assessed by a utility function which assumes a local maximum for that threshold reflecting the optimal estimate of the system's recurrence structure. We validate our approach by means of the nonlinear Lorenz system and its linearized stochastic surrogates. The final application to neurophysiological time series obtained from anesthetized animals illustrates the method and reveals novel dynamic features of the underlying system. We propose the number of optimal recurrence domains as a statistic for classifying an animals' state of consciousness.

Open Rotor Computational Aeroacoustic Analysis with an Immersed Boundary Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brehm, Christoph; Barad, Michael F.; Kiris, Cetin C.

2016-01-01

Reliable noise prediction capabilities are essential to enable novel fuel efficient open rotor designs that can meet the community and cabin noise standards. Toward this end, immersed boundary methods have reached a level of maturity so that they are being frequently employed for specific real world applications within NASA. This paper demonstrates that our higher-order immersed boundary method provides the ability for aeroacoustic analysis of wake-dominated flow fields generated by highly complex geometries. This is the first of a kind aeroacoustic simulation of an open rotor propulsion system employing an immersed boundary method. In addition to discussing the peculiarities of applying the immersed boundary method to this moving boundary problem, we will provide a detailed aeroacoustic analysis of the noise generation mechanisms encountered in the open rotor flow. The simulation data is compared to available experimental data and other computational results employing more conventional CFD methods. The noise generation mechanisms are analyzed employing spectral analysis, proper orthogonal decomposition and the causality method.

Consistent Partial Least Squares Path Modeling via Regularization

PubMed Central

Jung, Sunho; Park, JaeHong

2018-01-01

Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling is a component-based structural equation modeling that has been adopted in social and psychological research due to its data-analytic capability and flexibility. A recent methodological advance is consistent PLS (PLSc), designed to produce consistent estimates of path coefficients in structural models involving common factors. In practice, however, PLSc may frequently encounter multicollinearity in part because it takes a strategy of estimating path coefficients based on consistent correlations among independent latent variables. PLSc has yet no remedy for this multicollinearity problem, which can cause loss of statistical power and accuracy in parameter estimation. Thus, a ridge type of regularization is incorporated into PLSc, creating a new technique called regularized PLSc. A comprehensive simulation study is conducted to evaluate the performance of regularized PLSc as compared to its non-regularized counterpart in terms of power and accuracy. The results show that our regularized PLSc is recommended for use when serious multicollinearity is present. PMID:29515491

Saudi guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension: 2014 updates

PubMed Central

Idrees, Majdy M.; Saleemi, Sarfraz; Azem, M Ali; Aldammas, Saleh; Alhazmi, Manal; Khan, Javid; Gari, Abdulgafour; Aldabbagh, Maha; Sakkijha, Husam; Aldalaan, Abdulla; Alnajashi, Khalid; Alhabeeb, Waleed; Nizami, Imran; Kouatli, Amjad; Chehab, May; Tamimi, Omar; Banjar, Hanaa; Kashour, Tarek; Lopes, Antonio; Minai, Omar; Hassoun, Paul; Pasha, Qadar; Mayer, Eckhard; Butrous, Ghazwan; Bhagavathula, Sastry; Ghio, Stefano; Swiston, John; Boueiz, Adel; Tonelli, Adriano; Levy, Robert D.

2014-01-01

The Saudi Association for Pulmonary Hypertension (previously called Saudi Advisory Group for Pulmonary Hypertension) has published the first Saudi Guidelines on Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension back in 2008.[1] That guideline was very detailed and extensive and reviewed most aspects of pulmonary hypertension (PH). One of the disadvantages of such detailed guidelines is the difficulty that some of the readers who just want to get a quick guidance or looking for a specific piece of information might face. All efforts were made to develop this guideline in an easy-to-read form, making it very handy and helpful to clinicians dealing with PH patients to select the best management strategies for the typical patient suffering from a specific condition. This Guideline was designed to provide recommendations for problems frequently encountered by practicing clinicians involved in management of PH. This publication targets mainly adult and pediatric PH-treating physicians, but can also be used by other physicians interested in PH. PMID:25076987

Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Cardiovascular Toxicity Related to Anti-Cancer Treatment in Clinical Practice: An Opinion Paper from the Working Group on Cardio-Oncology of the Korean Society of Echocardiography

PubMed Central

Kim, Hyungseop; Chung, Woo-Baek; Cho, Kyoung Im; Kim, Bong-Joon; Seo, Jeong-Sook; Park, Seong-Mi; Kim, Hak Jin; Lee, Ju-Hee; Kim, Eun Kyoung

2018-01-01

Cardiovascular (CV) toxicity associated with anti-cancer treatment is commonly encountered and raises critical problems that often result in serious morbidity or mortality. Most cardiac toxicities are related to the cumulative dose of chemotherapy; however, the type of chemotherapy, concomitant agents, and/or conventional CV risk factors have been frequently implicated in CV toxicity. Approximately half of the patients exhibiting CV toxicity receive an anthracycline-based regimen. Therefore, serologic biomarkers or cardiac imagings are important during anti-cancer treatment for early detection and the decision of appropriate management of cardiotoxicity. However, given the difficulty in determining a causal relationship, a multidisciplinary collaborative approach between cardiologists and oncologists is required. In this review, we summarize the CV toxicity and focus on the role of cardiac imaging in management strategies for cardiotoxicity associated with anti-cancer treatment. PMID:29629020

Chymodiactin in patients with herniated lumbar intervertebral disc(s). An open-label, multicenter study.

PubMed

McDermott, D J; Agre, K; Brim, M; Demma, F J; Nelson, J; Wilson, R R; Thisted, R A

1985-04-01

To extent the safety information for Chymodiactin (chymopapain for injection), 37 neurologic and orthopedic surgeons conducted an open-label, multicenter, phase 3 clinical study. A total of 1,498 patients with one or two herniated lumbar intervertebral discs were enrolled. Therapeutic results were generally favorable, with the percentages of patients achieving either excellent or good (or successful) results ranging from 79.6% to 88.9%, depending on criteria employed in the tabulation. There were 13 cases of anaphylaxis, and 2 of these patients died of complications of anaphylaxis. Two additional patients experienced serious neurologic problems. The first of these two patients developed transverse myelitis and paraplegia approximately 3 weeks following chemonucleolysis. Transdural discograms at three levels had been done approximately 2 days prior to chemonucleolysis, in violation of the protocol. The second patient developed acute cauda equina syndrome, and, despite emergency laminectomy, had permanent neurologic sequelae. Back spasm and stiffness/soreness were the most frequently encountered adverse experiences.

Gastrointestinal damage caused by swallowing multiple magnets.

PubMed

Liu, Shiqi; Li, Jianhui; Lv, Yi

2012-09-01

Swallowing multiple magnets is not uncommon worldwide and it frequently leads to serious consequences. However, most patients fail to receive timely and correct diagnosis and treatment. A literature search was performed to establish an algorithm for these accidents by the authors to identify relevant articles published from June 1987 to October 2010 in Google, Medline, ISI Web of Knowledge Ovid, CNKI, Korea Med and library document delivery, using search terms "magnet ingestion, " "fistula," and "perforation." A total of 149 patients with ingestion of magnetic foreign bodies from 20 countries and areas were identified. 22 of them were companioned with neurological and psychiatric disorders. Swallowing magnets occurred throughout childhood and adolescent, mostly ranging 2 to 4 years in age. Various gastrointestinal damages such as necrosis and intestinal perforation or fistula were encountered. Damage from swallowing multiple magnets carries a significant risk of morbidity and even mortality throughout childhood to adolescent worldwide. Older children and adults with neurological and psychiatric problems may be at high risk for such accidents. Early intervention is crucial.

Voices from the bush: remote area nurses prioritise hazards that contribute to violence in their workplace.

PubMed

McCullough, K M; Williams, A M; Lenthall, S

2012-01-01

Remote Area Nurses (RANs) in Australia frequently encounter hazards that contribute to violence in the work place. Resources to deal with this problem are limited. Adopting a risk management approach and using the Delphi method, a panel of expert RANs (n=10) from geographically diverse communities across Australia, identified and prioritised hazards that increase the risk of violence to nurses. This descriptive study found that RANs encounter a wide variety of hazards from a variety of sources. Environmental hazards are complicated by living in remote areas and practicing in different locations. Relationships between the nurse and the community can be complex and lack of experience and organisational support may contribute to an increased risk of violence. Hazards prioritised as 'major' or 'extreme' risks included: clinic maintenance and security features, attending to patients at staff residences, RAN inexperience and lack of knowledge about the community, as well as intoxicated clients with mental health issues. A work culture that accepts verbal abuse as 'part of the job' was identified as a significant organisational risk to RANs. A lack of action from management when hazards are identified by clinic staff and insufficient recognition of the risk of violence by employers were also significant hazards. Further consideration of the hazards described in this study following the risk management process, may provide opportunities to reduce the risk of violence towards RANs. Proposed control measures should be developed in consultation with RANs and the remote communities they work in.

Moral experience: a framework for bioethics research.

PubMed

Hunt, Matthew R; Carnevale, Franco A

2011-11-01

Theoretical and empirical research in bioethics frequently focuses on ethical dilemmas or problems. This paper draws on anthropological and phenomenological sources to develop an alternative framework for bioethical enquiry that allows examination of a broader range of how the moral is experienced in the everyday lives of individuals and groups. Our account of moral experience is subjective and hermeneutic. We define moral experience as "Encompassing a person's sense that values that he or she deem important are being realised or thwarted in everyday life. This includes a person's interpretations of a lived encounter, or a set of lived encounters, that fall on spectrums of right-wrong, good-bad or just-unjust". In our conceptualisation, moral experience is not limited to situations that are heavily freighted with ethically-troubling ramifications or are sources of debate and disagreement. Important aspects of moral experience are played out in mundane and everyday settings. Moral experience provides a research framework, the scope of which extends beyond the evaluation of ethical dilemmas, processes of moral justification and decision-making, and moral distress. This broad research focus is consistent with views expressed by commentators within and beyond bioethics who have called for deeper and more sustained attention in bioethics scholarship to a wider set of concerns, experiences and issues that better captures what is ethically at stake for individuals and communities. In this paper we present our conceptualisation of moral experience, articulate its epistemological and ontological foundations and discuss opportunities for empirical bioethics research using this framework.

Lattice Boltzmann computation of creeping fluid flow in roll-coating applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajan, Isac; Kesana, Balashanker; Perumal, D. Arumuga

2018-04-01

Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) has advanced as a class of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods used to solve complex fluid systems and heat transfer problems. It has ever-increasingly attracted the interest of researchers in computational physics to solve challenging problems of industrial and academic importance. In this current study, LBM is applied to simulate the creeping fluid flow phenomena commonly encountered in manufacturing technologies. In particular, we apply this novel method to simulate the fluid flow phenomena associated with the "meniscus roll coating" application. This prevalent industrial problem encountered in polymer processing and thin film coating applications is modelled as standard lid-driven cavity problem to which creeping flow analysis is applied. This incompressible viscous flow problem is studied in various speed ratios, the ratio of upper to lower lid speed in two different configurations of lid movement - parallel and anti-parallel wall motion. The flow exhibits interesting patterns which will help in design of roll coaters.

Ethical problems and moral sensitivity in physiotherapy: a descriptive study.

PubMed

Kulju, Kati; Suhonen, Riitta; Leino-Kilpi, Helena

2013-08-01

This study identified and described ethical problems encountered by physiotherapists in their practice and physiotherapists' moral sensitivity in ethical situations. A questionnaire-based survey was constructed to identify ethical problems, and the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire Revised version was used to measure moral sensitivity. Physiotherapists (n = 116) working in public health services responded to the questionnaire. Based on the results, most of the physiotherapists encounter ethical problems weekly. They concern mainly financial considerations, equality and justice, professionalism, unethical conduct of physiotherapists or other professions and patients' self-determination. The dimension of moral strength was emphasised in physiotherapists' self-evaluations of their moral sensitivity. As a conclusion, ethical problems do occur not only at individual level but also at organisational and society level. Physiotherapists seem to have moral strength for speaking on behalf of the patient. Scarce resources make them feel insufficient but much could still be done to provide quality care in co-operation with other health-care professionals.

Personalized Privacy-Preserving Frequent Itemset Mining Using Randomized Response

PubMed Central

Sun, Chongjing; Fu, Yan; Zhou, Junlin; Gao, Hui

2014-01-01

Frequent itemset mining is the important first step of association rule mining, which discovers interesting patterns from the massive data. There are increasing concerns about the privacy problem in the frequent itemset mining. Some works have been proposed to handle this kind of problem. In this paper, we introduce a personalized privacy problem, in which different attributes may need different privacy levels protection. To solve this problem, we give a personalized privacy-preserving method by using the randomized response technique. By providing different privacy levels for different attributes, this method can get a higher accuracy on frequent itemset mining than the traditional method providing the same privacy level. Finally, our experimental results show that our method can have better results on the frequent itemset mining while preserving personalized privacy. PMID:25143989

Personalized privacy-preserving frequent itemset mining using randomized response.

PubMed

Sun, Chongjing; Fu, Yan; Zhou, Junlin; Gao, Hui

2014-01-01

Frequent itemset mining is the important first step of association rule mining, which discovers interesting patterns from the massive data. There are increasing concerns about the privacy problem in the frequent itemset mining. Some works have been proposed to handle this kind of problem. In this paper, we introduce a personalized privacy problem, in which different attributes may need different privacy levels protection. To solve this problem, we give a personalized privacy-preserving method by using the randomized response technique. By providing different privacy levels for different attributes, this method can get a higher accuracy on frequent itemset mining than the traditional method providing the same privacy level. Finally, our experimental results show that our method can have better results on the frequent itemset mining while preserving personalized privacy.

Reasons for encounter and disease patterns in Danish primary care: changes over 16 years.

PubMed

Moth, Grete; Olesen, Frede; Vedsted, Peter

2012-06-01

Approximately 98% of Danish citizens are listed with a general practice which they consult for medical advice. Although 85% of the population contact their general practitioner (GP) every year, little is known about these contacts. The aim of the present paper is to gain updated knowledge about patients' reasons for encounter and the GP activities and to make comparisons with a similar study from 1993. All GPs in the Central Denmark Region were invited to register all contacts during one randomly chosen day within a year. The registration included questions about patients' reasons for encounter, the types and contents of the contacts, referrals, and distribution between new episodes and follow-up contacts. Aggregated data were compared with the results from 1993. A total of 404 (46%) GPs participated. The number of contacts per 1000 inhabitants had risen by 19.7%. The reasons for encounter and final diagnoses resembled those in 1993. Musculoskeletal, psychological, and respiratory problems were the most common reasons for encounter, psychological problems being the only type to increase over the period. Interestingly, the proportion of diagnoses within the ICPC 'A' chapter rose from 13.5 to 19.7%. The referral rate rose by 2% (relative: 18.7%) from 10.7% to 12.7% and the share of follow-up contacts rose from 45.9% to 50.4% (relative: 8.7%). Quite small changes were seen in the patterns of reasons for encounter and diagnoses from 1993 to 2009. However, an increase was found in contacts with general practice and referrals and in the proportion of follow-ups.

An analysis of the cultural problems encountered during caregiving by the nurses working in two different regions of Turkey.

PubMed

Kilic, Serap Parlar; Besen, Dilek Buyukkaya; Tokem, Yasemin; Fadiloglu, Cicek; Karadag, Gulendam

2014-06-01

The aim of this study was to identify the cultural problems encountered during caregiving by the nurses working in two university hospitals located in western and eastern Turkey. This descriptive, comparative study was conducted between July 2008 and October 2009 with 338 nurses who volunteered to take part in the study. The study data were collected using an individual description questionnaire consisting of 10 questions and another questionnaire consisting of 14 questions to identify the cultural problems encountered by nurses when giving care. The study showed with respect to training received on transcultural nursing that only 59 nurses had this training, but the percentage was higher in the nurses working at the hospital in the west (54.2%) (P > 0.05). It was found that a large number of nurses in the sample group (n = 286) gave care to at least one individual from another culture, but the percentage was significantly higher in the nurses working in the west (56.7%) than in the nurses working in the east (43.3%) (P < 0.05). When the problems experienced by the nurses during caregiving because of cultural characteristics of patients were explored, it was found that they experienced problems mostly in 'communication', and the percentage of those having problems was higher in the nurses working in the west (60.8%) (P > 0.05). The problem experienced in this area was mostly because of the fact that patients 'did not speak Turkish' (63.8%). In conclusion, the nurses gave care to patients from different cultures, and most of them had trouble when giving care to patients from different cultures. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Radio science ground data system for the Voyager-Neptune encounter, part 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kursinski, E. R.; Asmar, S. W.

1991-01-01

The Voyager radio science experiments at Neptune required the creation of a ground data system array that includes a Deep Space Network complex, the Parkes Radio Observatory, and the Usuda deep space tracking station. The performance requirements were based on experience with the previous Voyager encounters, as well as the scientific goals at Neptune. The requirements were stricter than those of the Uranus encounter because of the need to avoid the phase-stability problems experienced during that encounter and because the spacecraft flyby was faster and closer to the planet than previous encounters. The primary requirement on the instrument was to recover the phase and amplitude of the S- and X-band (2.3 and 8.4 GHz) signals under the dynamic conditions encountered during the occultations. The primary receiver type for the measurements was open loop with high phase-noise and frequency stability performance. The receiver filter bandwidth was predetermined based on the spacecraft's trajectory and frequency uncertainties.

Some problems of the design of highly directional spacecraft antennas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prigoda, B. A.

1974-01-01

Problems of optimization and selection of the most expedient forms of design of directional antenna systems encountered in spacecraft design are discussed. Selection of a given type of antenna depends on its characteristic size, weight, and potential.

Community Work and Local Authority Decision Making: Potential and Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corina, Lewis

1976-01-01

British local authority and decision making procedures are described for community developers. Included are potential ways of influencing the authority system, and problems and areas of weakness that may be encountered in dealing with the system. (ABM)

Police Encounters Among Needle Exchange Clients in Baltimore: Drug Law Enforcement as a Structural Determinant of Health

PubMed Central

Cochrane, Jess; Sawyer, Anne L.; Serio-Chapman, Chris; Smelyanskaya, Marina; Han, Jennifer; Robinowitz, Natanya; Sherman, Susan G.

2015-01-01

Objectives. We piloted a monitoring mechanism to document police encounters around programs targeting people who inject drugs (PWID), and assessed their demographic predictors at 2 Baltimore, Maryland, needle exchange program (NEP) sites. Methods. In a brief survey, 308 clients quantified, characterized, and sited recent police encounters. Multivariate linear regression determined encounter predictors, and we used geocoordinate maps to illustrate clusters. Results. Within the past 6 months, clients reported a median of 3 stops near NEP sites (interquartile range [IQR] = 0–7.5) and a median of 1 arrest in any location (IQR = 0–2). Three respondents reported police referral to the NEP. Being younger (P = .009), being male (P = .033), and making frequent NEP visits (P = .02) were associated with reported police stops. Among clients reporting arrest or citation for syringe possession, Whites were significantly less likely than non-Whites to report being en route to or from an NEP (P < .001). Reported encounters were clustered around NEPs. Conclusions. Systematic surveillance of structural determinants of health for PWID proved feasible when integrated into service activities. Improved monitoring is critical to informing interventions to align policing with public health, especially among groups subject to disproportionate levels of drug law enforcement. PMID:26180948

The Influence of Problems Faced during Internships on Interns' Views of Their Profession and Their Intention to Work in the Tourism Industry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kasli, Mehmet; Ilban, Mehmet Oguzhan

2013-01-01

Problem Statement: The problem of this research is identifying the difficulties that undergraduate students experience during their internships and assessing their future intention to work in the tourism industry. Purpose of Study: This research aims to identify the problems undergraduate students encounter as interns in tourism programs and to…

NOTES: a review of the technical problems encountered and their solutions.

PubMed

Mintz, Yoav; Horgan, Santiago; Cullen, John; Stuart, David; Falor, Eric; Talamini, Mark A

2008-08-01

Natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is currently investigated and developed worldwide. In the past few years, multiple groups have confronted this challenge. Many technical problems are encountered in this technique due to the currently available tools for this approach. Some of the unique technical problems in NOTES include: blindly performed primary incisions; uncontrolled pneumoperitoneal pressure; no support for the endoscope in the abdominal cavity; inadequate vision; insufficient illumination; limited retraction and exposure; and the complexity of suturing and performing a safe anastomosis. In this paper, we review the problems encountered in NOTES and provide possible temporary solutions. Acute and survival studies were performed on 15 farm pigs. The hybrid technique approach (i.e., endoscopic surgery with the aid of laparoscopic vision) was performed in all cases. Procedures performed included liver biopsies, bilateral tubal ligation, oophprectomy, cholecystectomy, splenectomy and small bowel resection, and anastomosis. All attempted procedures were successfully performed. New methods and techniques were developed to overcome the technical problems. Closure of the gastrotomy was achieved by T-bar sutures and by stapler closure of the stomach incision. Small bowel anastomosis was achieved by the dual-lumen NOTES technique. The hybrid technique serves as a temporary approach to aid in developing the NOTES technique. A rectal or vaginal port of entry enables and facilitates gastrointestinal NOTES by using available laparoscopic instruments. The common operations performed today in the laparoscopic fashion could be probably performed in the NOTES approach. The safety of these procedures, however, is yet to be determined.

Acts of Attention: An Exploration of Teacher Candidates' Attention to Educational Encounters, and How It Relates to Task Formulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, Victoria A.

2015-01-01

This study begins with the belief that the ways in which teachers see and attend to educational encounters matter for their actions in classrooms. Using microethnography as a framework, this dissertation explores the relationship between teacher candidate attention, problem formulation, and action. Through analysis of the M.Ed. inquiry reports of…

Unethical Behaviours Preservice Teachers Encounter on Social Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deveci Topal, Arzu; Kolburan Gecer, Aynur

2015-01-01

The development of web 2.0 technology has resulted in an increase in internet sharing. The scope of this study is social networking, which is one of the web 2.0 tools most heavily used by internet users. In this paper, the unethical behaviours that preservice teachers encounter on social networks and the ways to deal with these problems are…

Applications of Genetic Methods to NASA Design and Operations Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laird, Philip D.

1996-01-01

We review four recent NASA-funded applications in which evolutionary/genetic methods are important. In the process we survey: the kinds of problems being solved today with these methods; techniques and tools used; problems encountered; and areas where research is needed. The presentation slides are annotated briefly at the top of each page.

Having the Memory of an Elephant: Long-Term Retrieval and the Use of Analogues in Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Zhe; Mo, Lei; Honomichl, Ryan

2004-01-01

The authors report 4 experiments exploring long-term analogical transfer from problem solutions in folk tales participants heard during childhood, many years before encountering the target problems. Substantial culture-specific analogical transfer was found when American and Chinese participants' performance was compared on isomorphs of problems…

Applying an Information Problem-Solving Model to Academic Reference Work: Findings and Implications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cottrell, Janet R.; Eisenberg, Michael B.

2001-01-01

Examines the usefulness of the Eisenberg-Berkowitz Information Problem-Solving model as a categorization for academic reference encounters. Major trends in the data include a high proportion of questions about location and access of sources, lack of synthesis or production activities, and consistent presence of system problems that impede the…

Data System Implementation: A Leader Navigates People Problems around Technology and Data Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Vincent; Jimerson, Jo Beth; Wayman, Jeffrey C.

2015-01-01

Computer data systems have become a lynchpin to supporting school data use. However, successfully implementing such systems is no easy task. In this case, readers explore the ways in which "technology problems" and "people problems" can be intertwined. The case follows Dr. Molly Winters as she encounters social and…

Why Do Disadvantaged Filipino Children Find Word Problems in English Difficult?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bautista, Debbie; Mulligan, Joanne

2010-01-01

Young Filipino students are expected to solve mathematical word problems in English, a language that many encounter only in schools. Using individual interviews of 17 Filipino children, we investigated why word problems in English are difficult and the extent to which the language interferes with performance. Results indicate that children could…

School Nurses' Perceived Prevalence and Competence to Address Student Mental Health Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephan, Sharon H.; Connors, Elizabeth H.

2013-01-01

Due to under-identification of student mental health problems and limited specialty mental health providers in schools, school nurses are often faced with identifying and addressing student mental health needs. This exploratory study assessed prevalence and types of student mental health problems encountered by school nurses, as well as their…

Medical and psychological problems faced by young Australian gap year travellers.

PubMed

Furuya-Kanamori, Luis; Mills, Deborah; Sheridan, Sarah; Lau, Colleen

2017-09-01

Gap year travellers can potentially be exposed to many infectious diseases and other travel-related health problems including injuries and psychological problems. Currently, there is little information on health and wellbeing of this particular group of travellers. Participants were recruited from an organization that specialized in organising international gap year placements. Gap year travellers were asked to complete a pre-departure survey on demographics, placement destination and duration, previous travel experience, hobbies, risk taking behaviour, anticipated problems during the placement, and pre-travel preparations. After the placement, participants were asked to complete a post-trip survey on their experiences, problems, health issues, and medical treatment required. The 88 and 34 gap year travellers aged 17-23 years completed pre- and post-placement surveys respectively. The duration of placements ranged from 3 to 12 months. Psychological stressors were frequently reported [ n = 26 (76.5%) felt home sick; n = 18 (52.9%) experienced culture shock; n = 17 (50.0%) had difficulty communicating with the locals]. The majority of participants (91.2%) tried to work out a solution for the stressor on their own. Twenty-eight (82.4%) participants reported medical problems during their placement; the most common problems were sunburn ( n = 19; 55.9%), respiratory infections ( n = 15; 44.1%), weight change ( n = 14; 41.2%), and diarrhoea/food poisoning ( n = 13; 38.2%). Three participants (3.4%) were admitted to hospital; for a muscle injury, head injury and skin infection after getting a tribal tattoo. Psychological stressors were common, but most did not seek help. Some medical problems encountered during their placement may have been preventable with improved pre-departure preparation. Gap year, pre-departure, preparation. © International Society of Travel Medicine, 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Molten salt corrosion of SiC and Si3N4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacobson, N. S.; Smialek, J. L.; Fox, D. S.

1986-01-01

The most severe type of corrosion encountered in heat engines is corrosion by molten sodium sulfate, formed by the reaction of ingested sodium chloride and sulfur impurities in the fuel. This problem was studied extensively for superalloys, but only recently examined for ceramics. This problem is addressed with laboratory studies to understand the fundamental reaction mechanisms and with burner studies to provide a more realistic simulation of the conditions encountered in a heat engine. In addition the effect of corrosion on the strengths of these materials was assessed. Each of these aspects will be reviewed and some ideas toward possible solutions will be discussed.

Comparison of Low-Energy Lunar Transfer Trajectories to Invariant Manifolds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, Rodney L.; Parker, Jeffrey S.

2011-01-01

In this study, transfer trajectories from the Earth to the Moon that encounter the Moon at various flight path angles are examined, and lunar approach trajectories are compared to the invariant manifolds of selected unstable orbits in the circular restricted three-body problem. Previous work focused on lunar impact and landing trajectories encountering the Moon normal to the surface, and this research extends the problem with different flight path angles in three dimensions. The lunar landing geometry for a range of Jacobi constants are computed, and approaches to the Moon via invariant manifolds from unstable orbits are analyzed for different energy levels.

The Voyager spacecraft /James Watt International Gold Medal Lecture/

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heacock, R. L.

1980-01-01

The Voyager Project background is reviewed with emphasis on selected features of the Voyager spacecraft. Investigations by the Thermo-electric Outer Planets Spacecraft Project are discussed, including trajectories, design requirements, and the development of a Self Test and Repair computer, and a Computer Accessed Telemetry System. The design and configuration of the spacecraft are described, including long range communications, attitude control, solar independent power, sequencing and control data handling, and spacecraft propulsion. The development program, maintained by JPL, experienced a variety of problems such as design deficiencies, and process control and manufacturing problems. Finally, the spacecraft encounter with Jupiter is discussed, and expectations for the Saturn encounter are expressed.

A subcutaneous channeling probe for implanting long leads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lund, G. F.; Simmonds, R. C.; Williams, B. A.

1977-01-01

The channeling probe described in the present paper was designed to overcome surgical problems of the type that were encountered when a multichannel radio transmitter had to be implanted in a cow. The probe was made of a flexible but sufficiently stiff 9.5-mm-diam nylon rod, consisting of 46-cm sections for convenience in sterilization and surgical handling. Stainless steel sleaves reinforced the threaded connecting joints. At one end, arrowhead-shaped channeling heads could be attached to produce wide channels for large sensors. The other end was tapered for narrow channels. Postoperative problems were not encountered in the use of this probe in cows, sheep, and dogs.

[User's requests (from a practitioner's perspective)].

PubMed

Ohnishi, T

1997-08-01

As a practitioner, I have to rely on outside clinical laboratories and affiliated hospitals to perform laboratory tests. In this abstract, I describe specific problems I have encountered with third-party laboratories, and propose solutions for these problems to optimize use of laboratory tests. BLOOD TESTS: The most frequent problem in ordering blood tests is the lack of detailed information regarding sampling conditions. I often have to call laboratories to check whether the sample should be serum or plasma, what volume is needed, whether the sample should be cooled, etc. I propose that clinical laboratories should provide practitioners' manuals that describe specific sampling information. Most laboratories do not keep the data from ultrasonographic tests. The lack of these is most problematic when test results are interpreted differently by laboratories and by practitioners. Retaining the data would also help private laboratories improve the quality of the test by enabling them to compare their interpretations with others'. ANNUAL MEDICAL SCREENING: Even if an abnormal finding is detected at medical screening clinics, the final diagnosis is usually not sent back to the screening facilities. This is highly recommended to establish an official system that mediates the feedback to screening centers. MRI: Due to miscommunication between practitioners and radiologists, the test is sometimes performed inappropriately. A thorough consultation should occur before the test to clarify specific goals for each patient. PATHOLOGICAL TESTS: Interpretation of results is often inconsistent among laboratories. Independent clinical laboratories tend to report results without indicating sample problems, while pathology departments at affiliated hospitals tend to emphasize sample problems instead of diagnosis or suggesting ways to improve sample quality. Mutual communication among laboratories would help standardize the quality of pathological tests.

Travel with CPAP machines: how frequent and what are the problems?

PubMed

Bodington, Richard; Johnson, Owen; Carveth-Johnson, Pippa; Faruqi, Shoaib

2018-01-01

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is a common condition for which continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) is the standard treatment. The condition affects a population of which a substantial proportion will be travelling. We use a questionnaire survey of CPAP users to gain understanding regarding the behaviours, attitudes and problems surrounding travel with CPAP machines during travel and while abroad. All CPAP patients on our database at a UK district general hospital reviewed over a period of 4 years were sent a postal questionnaire. A response rate of 53% was achieved giving data on 588 trips. In the last 2 years, 63.7% of respondents had travelled; reasons for not travelling were CPAP related in only five cases. Travellers took their CPAP machines on 81% of trips. A similar proportion of patients took their CPAP machines regardless of the mode of travel, destination or length of holiday. Problems with checking in the CPAP machine were encountered in 4% of trips, all as part of air travel. Just over a third of patients faced problems either with the power cord, adapter or transport of the CPAP machine. Of those taking overnight flights, half did not sleep and none used their CPAP machines in flight. CPAP usage while away did not differ to usage at home. This is the first report to describe in some detail CPAP machine use and associated problems in travel and while away. The data may aid the targeting of brief interventions in CPAP clinics as well as helping to standardize the process of check-in in order to help travellers with CPAP machines. © International Society of Travel Medicine, 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Understanding Social and Legal Justice Issues for Aboriginal Women within the Context of an Indigenous Australian Studies Classroom: A Problem-Based Learning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mackinlay, Elizabeth; Thatcher, Kristy; Seldon, Camille

2004-01-01

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach in which students encounter a problem and systematically set about finding ways to understand the problem through dialogue and research. PBL is an active process where students take responsibility for their learning by asking their own questions about the problem and in this paper we explore…

Prevalence and multidrug resistance of Escherichia coli from community acquired infections in Lagos, Nigeria

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Escherichia coli is one of the most frequent causes of bacterial infections among humans. The emergence of multi-drug resistance (MDR; resistance to >2 more antimicrobials) in E. coli is of great concern due to the complications encountered in its treatment in a resource constrained economy. In th...

Family Focused Therapy for Bipolar Adolescents: Lessons from a Difficult Treatment Case

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George, Elizabeth L.; Taylor, Dawn O.; Goldstein, Benjamin I.; Miklowitz, David J.

2011-01-01

This paper examines obstacles and challenges encountered in the manualized Family Focused Therapy-A of an adolescent with bipolar disorder. We begin by describing adolescent bipolar disorder and some of the many complications that frequently accompany it. We summarize Family Focused Therapy (FFT-A), an empirically validated treatment approach for…

Alcoholism, Spiritual Well-Being and the Need for Transcendence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Geraldine A.; Russo, Thomas J.

When assessing quality of life satisfaction in relation to an individual's recovery from an addiction, such as alcoholism, the expressed need for spiritual well-being is frequently a significant aspect of the psychotherapeutic encounter. Some of the quantitative and qualitative aspects of spiritual well-being in recovering alcoholics are examined.…

Coping with Memory Effect and Serial Correlation when Estimating Reliability in a Longitudinal Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laenen, Annouschka; Alonso, Ariel; Molenberghs, Geert; Vangeneugden, Tony; Mallinckrodt, Craig H.

2010-01-01

Longitudinal studies are permeating clinical trials in psychiatry. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to study the psychometric properties of rating scales, frequently used in these trials, within a longitudinal framework. However, intrasubject serial correlation and memory effects are problematic issues often encountered in longitudinal data.…

Summary of the Practice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Enuresis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fritz, Gregory; Rockney, Randy

2004-01-01

Enuresis is a symptom that is frequently encountered in child psychiatric evaluations. Careful assessment is required to identify specific urologic, developmental, psychosocial, and sleep-related etiologies. For most children with enuresis, however, a specific etiology cannot be determined. Treatment then involves supportive approaches,…

Using Local Materials To Teach Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ness, Verna M.

1997-01-01

English teachers in foreign countries frequently encounter a lack of materials in English dealing with local topics of interest to students. One suggestion is to use materials written in English for tourists, such as travel brochures or local maps. These materials are readily available in most places at little or no cost from local travel agencies…

Police Encounters with People with Intellectual Disability: Prevalence, Characteristics and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henshaw, M.; Thomas, S.

2012-01-01

Background: This study investigated the experiences and perceptions of operational members of Victoria Police in relation to their contacts with people with intellectual disability (ID). Key interests for exploration included how frequently and in what context police reported coming into contact with people with ID, how they made this…

Multidisciplinary "Boot Camp" Training in Cellular Bioengineering to Accelerate Research Immersion for REU Participants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shreiber, David I.; Moghe, Prabhas V.; Roth, Charles M.

2015-01-01

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sites widely serve as the first major research gateway for undergraduates seeking a structured research experience. Given their lack of prior research skills, and the highly compressed duration of the REU programs, these students frequently encounter barriers to a seamless transition into a new…

Reflective Impressions of a Precepted Clinical Experience Caring for People with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karl, Renee; McGuigan, Denise; Withiam-Leitch, Matthew L.; Akl, Elie A.; Symons, Andrew B.

2013-01-01

There is evidence that early and frequent encounters with people with disabilities can improve medical students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes about disability. As part of a 4-year integrated curriculum in caring for patients with disabilities, third-year medical students ("n" ?=? 144) in a Family Medicine clerkship participated…

The Perceived Urgency of Tactile Patterns During Dismounted Soldier Movements

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-01

this evaluation are typical of the everyday risks encountered while working out of doors. There is a risk of tick bites and the potential for Lyme ... disease . You will be asked to inspect yourself frequently for ticks. Flying insects at the site are also a concern. You are encouraged to use

High-Fidelity Simulation Meets Athletic Training Education: An Innovative Collaborative Teaching Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Elizabeth; Edwards, Taylor; Racchini, James

2014-01-01

High-fidelity simulation is frequently used in nursing education to provide students with simulated experiences prior to and throughout clinical coursework that involves direct patient care. These high-tech exercises take advantage of the benefits of a standardized patient or mock patient encounter, while eliminating some of the drawbacks…

French Interrogative Structures: A New Pedagogical Norm for the 21st-Century Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antes, Theresa A.

2016-01-01

This study investigated interrogative structures most frequently used by native speakers of French, in an attempt to reconcile differences between language forms taught in the French as a foreign language classroom and those that are encountered in authentic input. Radio, television, and magazine interviews provided multiple examples of…

The Creole Core: Grammatical Interference in College Composition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holm, John

Twenty linguistic features found in essays of Creole-speaking students taking remedial writing courses at Hunter College are discussed and illustrated. The students spoke a creole or post-creole language as their mother tongue. The language varieties, which are those most frequently encountered in East Coast urban centers from Boston to Miami, are…

Battle of the Brains: Election-Night Forecasting at the Dawn of the Computer Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chinoy, Ira

2010-01-01

This dissertation examines journalists' early encounters with computers as tools for news reporting, focusing on election-night forecasting in 1952. Although election night 1952 is frequently mentioned in histories of computing and journalism as a quirky but seminal episode, it has received little scholarly attention. This dissertation asks how…

Overall accessibility to traveling by rail for the elderly with and without functional limitations: the whole-trip perspective.

PubMed

Sundling, Catherine; Berglund, Birgitta; Nilsson, Mats E; Emardson, Ragne; Pendrill, Leslie R

2014-12-01

Elderly persons' perceived accessibility to railway traveling depends on their functional limitations/diseases, their functional abilities and their travel behaviors in interaction with the barriers encountered during whole trips. A survey was conducted on a random sample of 1000 city residents (65-85 years old; 57% response rate). The travels were perceived least accessible by respondents with severely reduced functional ability and by those with more than one functional limitation/disease (e.g., restricted mobility and chronic pain). Those who traveled "often", perceived the accessibility to be better than those who traveled less frequently. For travelers with high functional ability, the main barriers to more frequent traveling were travel costs and low punctuality. For those with low functional ability, one's own health was reported to be the main barrier. Our results clarify the links among existing functional limitations/functional abilities, the barriers encountered, the travel behavior, and the overall accessibility to traveling. By operationalizing the whole-trip concept as a chain of events, we deliver practical knowledge on vulnerable groups for decision-making to improve the transport environment for all.

Biofiltration of high loads of ethyl acetate in the presence of toluene.

PubMed

Deshusses, M; Johnson, C T; Leson, G

1999-08-01

To date, biofilters have been used primarily to control dilute, usually odorous, off-gases with relatively low volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations (< 1 g m-3) and VOC loads (< 50 g m-3 hr-1). Recently, however, U.S. industry has shown an interest in applying biofilters to higher concentrations of VOCs and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). In this study, the behavior of biofilters under high loads of binary VOC mixtures was studied. Two bench-scale biofilters were operated using a commercially available medium and a mixture of wood chips and compost. Both were exposed to varying mixtures of ethyl acetate and toluene. Concentration profiles and the corresponding removal efficiencies as a function of VOC loading were determined through frequent grab-sampling and GC analysis. Biofilter response to two frequently encountered operating problems--media dry-out and operating temperatures exceeding 40 degrees C--was also evaluated under controlled conditions. Microbial populations were also monitored to confirm the presence of organisms capable of degrading both major off-gas constituents. The results demonstrated several characteristics of biofilters operating under high VOC load conditions. Maximum elimination capacities for ethyl acetate were typically in the range of 200 g m-3 hr-1. Despite the presence of toluene degraders, the removal of toluene was inhibited by high loads of ethyl acetate. Several byproducts, particularly ethanol, were formed. Short-term dry-out and temperature excursions resulted in reduced performance.

Dental anomalies of the deciduous dentition among Indian children: a survey from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.

PubMed

Deolia, Shravani Govind; Chhabra, Chaya; Chhabra, Kumar Gaurav; Kalghatgi, Shrivardhan; Khandelwal, Naresh

2015-01-01

Anomalies and enamel hypoplasia of deciduous dentition are routinely encountered by dental professionals and early detection and careful management of such conditions facilitates may help in customary occlusal development. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hypodontia, microdontia, double teeth, and hyperdontia of deciduous teeth among Indian children. The study group comprised 1,398 children (735 boys, 633 girls). The children were examined in department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry in Jodhpur Dental College General Hospital, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. Clinical data were collected by single dentist according to Kreiborg criteria, which includes double teeth, hypodontia, microdontia, and supernumerary teeth. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using the descriptive analysis and chi-square test. Dental anomalies were found in 4% of children. The distribution of dental anomalies were significantly more frequent (P = 0.001) in girls (5.8%, n = 38) than in boys (2.7%, n = 18). In relation to anomaly frequencies at different ages, significant difference was found between 2 and 3 years (P = 0.001). Double teeth were the most frequently (2.3%) observed anomaly. The other anomalies followed as 0.3% supernumerary teeth, 0.6% microdontia, 0.6% hypodontia. Identification of dental anomalies at an early age is of great importance as it prevents malocclusions, functional and certain psychological problems.

W(h)ither the Oracle? Cognitive biases and other human challenges of integrated environmental modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Glynn, Pierre D.; Ames, D.P.; Quinn, N. W. T.; Rizzoli, A.E.

2014-01-01

Integrated environmental modeling (IEM) can organize and increase our knowledge of the complex, dynamic ecosystems that house our natural resources and control the quality of our environments. Human behavior, however, must be taken into account. Human biases/heuristics reflect adaptation over our evolutionary past to frequently experienced situations that affected our survival and that provided sharply distinguished feedbacks at the level of the individual. Unfortunately, human behavior is not adapted to the more diffusely experienced, less frequently encountered, problems and issues that IEM typically seeks to address in the simulation of natural resources and environments. While seeking inspiration from the prophetic traditions of the Oracle of Delphi, several human biases are identified that may affect how the science base of IEM is assembled, and how IEM results are interpreted and used. These biases are supported by personal observations, and by the findings of behavioral scientists. A process for critical analysis is proposed that solicits explicit accounting and cognizance of potential human biases. A number of suggestions are made to address the human challenges of IEM, in addition to maintaining attitudes of watchful humility, open-mindedness, honesty, and transparent accountability. These include creating a new area of study in the behavioral biogeosciences, using structured processes for engaging the modeling and stakeholder community in IEM, and using “red teams” to increase resilience of IEM constructs and use.

Symbolic programming language in molecular multicenter integral problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safouhi, Hassan; Bouferguene, Ahmed

It is well known that in any ab initio molecular orbital (MO) calculation, the major task involves the computation of molecular integrals, among which the computation of three-center nuclear attraction and Coulomb integrals is the most frequently encountered. As the molecular system becomes larger, computation of these integrals becomes one of the most laborious and time-consuming steps in molecular systems calculation. Improvement of the computational methods of molecular integrals would be indispensable to further development in computational studies of large molecular systems. To develop fast and accurate algorithms for the numerical evaluation of these integrals over B functions, we used nonlinear transformations for improving convergence of highly oscillatory integrals. These methods form the basis of new methods for solving various problems that were unsolvable otherwise and have many applications as well. To apply these nonlinear transformations, the integrands should satisfy linear differential equations with coefficients having asymptotic power series in the sense of Poincaré, which in their turn should satisfy some limit conditions. These differential equations are very difficult to obtain explicitly. In the case of molecular integrals, we used a symbolic programming language (MAPLE) to demonstrate that all the conditions required to apply these nonlinear transformation methods are satisfied. Differential equations are obtained explicitly, allowing us to demonstrate that the limit conditions are also satisfied.

Solid industrial wastes and their management in Asegra (Granada, Spain)

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

Casares, M.L.; Ulierte, N.; Mataran, A.

ASEGRA is an industrial area in Granada (Spain) with important waste management problems. In order to properly manage and control waste production in industry, one must know the quantity, type, and composition of industrial wastes, as well as the management practices of the companies involved. In our study, questionnaires were used to collect data regarding methods of waste management used in 170 of the 230 businesses in the area of study. The majority of these companies in ASEGRA are small or medium-size, and belong to the service sector, transport, and distribution. This was naturally a conditioning factor in both themore » type and management of the wastes generated. It was observed that paper and cardboard, plastic, wood, and metals were the most common types of waste, mainly generated from packaging (49% of the total volume), as well as material used in containers and for wrapping products. Serious problems were observed in the management of these wastes. In most cases they were disposed of by dumping, and very rarely did businesses resort to reuse, recycling or valorization. Smaller companies encountered greater difficulties when it came to effective waste management. The most frequent solution for the disposal of wastes in the area was dumping.« less

The relative impact of workplace bullying as a social stressor at work.

PubMed

Hauge, Lars Johan; Skogstad, Anders; Einarsen, Ståle

2010-10-01

Exposure to workplace bullying has been argued to be a severe social stressor and a more crippling and devastating problem for affected individuals than the effects of all other work-related stressors put together. However, few studies have explicitly investigated this assumption. In a representative sample of the Norwegian working population, the present study investigated the relative contribution of workplace bullying as a predictor of individual and organizational related outcomes after controlling for the well-documented job stressors of job demands, decision authority, role ambiguity and role conflict. Bullying was found to be a significant predictor of all the outcomes included, showing a substantial relative contribution in relation to anxiety and depression, while for job satisfaction, turnover intention and absenteeism, more modest relative contributions were identified. Workplace bullying is indeed a potent social stressor with consequences similar to, or even more severe than, the effects of other stressors frequently encountered within organizations. Thus, the finding that bullying has a considerable effect on exposed individuals also when controlling for the effects of other job stressors demonstrates bullying as a serious problem at workplaces that needs to be actively prevented and managed in its own right. © 2010 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2010 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Transanal surgery for obstructed defecation syndrome: Literature review and a single-center experience

PubMed Central

Liu, Wei-Cheng; Wan, Song-Lin; Yaseen, SM; Ren, Xiang-Hai; Tian, Cui-Ping; Ding, Zhao; Zheng, Ken-Yan; Wu, Yun-Hua; Jiang, Cong-Qing; Qian, Qun

2016-01-01

Obstructed defecation syndrome (ODS) is a functional disorder commonly encountered by colorectal surgeons and gastroenterologists, and greatly affects the quality of life of patients from both societal and psychological aspects. The underlying anatomical and pathophysiological changes of ODS are complex. However, intra-rectal intussusception and rectocele are frequently found in patients with ODS and both are thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of ODS. With the development of evaluation methods in anorectal physiology laboratories and radiology studies, a great variety of new operative procedures, especially transanal procedures, have been invented to treat ODS. However, no procedure has been proved to be superior to others at present. Each operation has its own merits and defects. Thus, choosing appropriate transanal surgical procedures for the treatment of ODS remains a challenge for all surgeons. This review provides an introduction of the current problems and options for treatment of ODS and a detailed summary of the essential assessments needed for patient evaluation before carrying out transanal surgery. Besides, an overview of the benefits and problems of current transanal surgical procedures for treatment of ODS is summarized in this review. A report of clinical experience of some transanal surgical techniques used in the authors’ center is also presented. PMID:27672293

Transanal surgery for obstructed defecation syndrome: Literature review and a single-center experience.

PubMed

Liu, Wei-Cheng; Wan, Song-Lin; Yaseen, S M; Ren, Xiang-Hai; Tian, Cui-Ping; Ding, Zhao; Zheng, Ken-Yan; Wu, Yun-Hua; Jiang, Cong-Qing; Qian, Qun

2016-09-21

Obstructed defecation syndrome (ODS) is a functional disorder commonly encountered by colorectal surgeons and gastroenterologists, and greatly affects the quality of life of patients from both societal and psychological aspects. The underlying anatomical and pathophysiological changes of ODS are complex. However, intra-rectal intussusception and rectocele are frequently found in patients with ODS and both are thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of ODS. With the development of evaluation methods in anorectal physiology laboratories and radiology studies, a great variety of new operative procedures, especially transanal procedures, have been invented to treat ODS. However, no procedure has been proved to be superior to others at present. Each operation has its own merits and defects. Thus, choosing appropriate transanal surgical procedures for the treatment of ODS remains a challenge for all surgeons. This review provides an introduction of the current problems and options for treatment of ODS and a detailed summary of the essential assessments needed for patient evaluation before carrying out transanal surgery. Besides, an overview of the benefits and problems of current transanal surgical procedures for treatment of ODS is summarized in this review. A report of clinical experience of some transanal surgical techniques used in the authors' center is also presented.

Molecular detection and antimicrobial resistance profile of zoonotic Salmonella enteritidis isolated from broiler chickens in Kohat, Pakistan.

PubMed

Asif, Muhammad; Rahman, Hazir; Qasim, Muhammad; Khan, Taj Ali; Ullah, Waheed; Jie, Yan

2017-05-01

Salmonella enteritidis infection is a frequently encountered zoonotic problem, occurring with concerning regularity in recent years on a worldwide basis. The study that we undertook for the first time detected S. enteritidis and associated antimicrobial resistance pattern in broiler chickens. A total of 150 different poultry samples were first enriched and grown on selective media, and then processed for molecular detection of S. enteritidis by amplification of the spvb gene. The overall detection rate of S. enteritidis was 23.3% (n=35), while an increased detection rate of S. enteritidis was found in the chicken breast tissue (n=9; 30%). When antibiogram was tested for S. enteritidis against common antibiotics, increased resistance to ampicillin (n=29; 82.2%), tetracycline (n=28; 80%), augmentin (n=27; 77.14%), and chloramphenicol (n=19; 54.2%) was observed. Multidrug resistance was reported in 54.8% (n=19) of the S. enteritidis isolates, while 20% (n=07) of isolates were extensively drug resistant. The present study for the first time reports S. enteritidis on the basis of spvb gene detection. The increased drug resistance in S. enteritidis is an emerging problem that could negatively impact efforts to prevent and treat broiler-transmitted S. enteritidis. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC.

Travel optimization by foraging bumblebees through readjustments of traplines after discovery of new feeding locations.

PubMed

Lihoreau, Mathieu; Chittka, Lars; Raine, Nigel E

2010-12-01

Animals collecting resources that replenish over time often visit patches in predictable sequences called traplines. Despite the widespread nature of this strategy, we still know little about how spatial memory develops and guides individuals toward suitable routes. Here, we investigate whether flower visitation sequences by bumblebees Bombus terrestris simply reflect the order in which flowers were discovered or whether they result from more complex navigational strategies enabling bees to optimize their foraging routes. We analyzed bee flight movements in an array of four artificial flowers maximizing interfloral distances. Starting from a single patch, we sequentially added three new patches so that if bees visited them in the order in which they originally encountered flowers, they would follow a long (suboptimal) route. Bees' tendency to visit patches in their discovery order decreased with experience. Instead, they optimized their flight distances by rearranging flower visitation sequences. This resulted in the development of a primary route (trapline) and two or three less frequently used secondary routes. Bees consistently used these routes after overnight breaks while occasionally exploring novel possibilities. We discuss how maintaining some level of route flexibility could allow traplining animals to cope with dynamic routing problems, analogous to the well-known traveling salesman problem.

First UMTA and AoA National Conference on Transportation for the Elderly and Handicapped

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1985-05-01

The Conference was highly successful in detailing problems now encountered in : providing transportation services to the elderly and handicapped and in : recommending specific solutions to those problems. There was a strong focus on : realistic, prac...

Motor carrier concerns about transportation problems in Oregon : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-03-01

This report summarizes an analysis of data from a statewide survey of freight motor carrier firms, conducted by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) in the summer of 2001, to identify freight industry concerns about problems they encounter ...

Minding Your Business: How to Avoid the Seven Deadly Financial Pitfalls.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephens, Keith

1990-01-01

Describes financial management problems typically encountered by child care center directors and owners. Offers suggestions for planning and management techniques to overcome problems of cash flow, budgeting, rising costs, underpricing, declining revenues, fee collection, and liquidity. (NH)

Parkes radio science system design and testing for Voyager Neptune encounter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rebold, T. A.; Weese, J. F.

1989-01-01

The Radio Science System installed at Parkes, Australia for the Voyager Neptune encounter was specified to meet the same stringent requirements that were imposed upon the Deep Space Network Radio Science System. The system design and test methodology employed to meet these requirements at Parkes are described, and data showing the measured performance of the system are presented. The results indicate that the system operates with a comfortable margin on the requirements. There was a minor problem with frequency-dependent spurious signals which could not be fixed before the encounter. Test results characterizing these spurious signals are included.

Barriers to telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation in public and residential locations.

PubMed

Fukushima, Hidetada; Panczyk, Micah; Spaite, Daniel W; Chikani, Vatsal; Dameff, Christian; Hu, Chengcheng; Birkenes, Tonje S; Myklebust, Helge; Sutter, John; Langlais, Blake; Wu, Zhixin; Bobrow, Bentley J

2016-12-01

Emergency medical telecommunicators can play a key role in improving outcomes from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) by providing instructions for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to callers. Telecommunicators, however, frequently encounter barriers that obstruct the Telephone CPR (TCPR) process. The nature and frequency of these barriers in public and residential locations have not been well investigated. The aim of this study is to identify the barriers to TCPR in public and residential locations. We conducted a retrospective study of audio recordings of EMS-confirmed OHCAs from eight regional 9-1-1 dispatch centers between January 2012 and December 2013. We reviewed 1850 eligible cases (public location OHCAs: N=223 and residential location OHCAs: N=1627). Telecommunicators less frequently encountered barriers such as inability to calm callers in public than in residential locations (2.1% vs 8.5%, p=0.002) or inability to place victims on a hard flat surface (13.9% vs 25.4%, p<0.001). However, the barrier where callers were not with patients was more frequently observed in public than in residential locations (11.8% vs 2.7%, p<0.001). This study revealed that barriers to TCPR are distributed differently across public and residential locations. Understanding these differences can aid in the development of strategies to enhance bystander CPR and improve overall patient outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Saltmarsh Boundary Modulates Dispersal of Mangrove Propagules: Implications for Mangrove Migration with Sea-Level Rise

PubMed Central

Peterson, Jennifer M.; Bell, Susan S.

2015-01-01

Few studies have empirically examined the suite of mechanisms that underlie the distributional shifts displayed by organisms in response to changing climatic condition. Mangrove forests are expected to move inland as sea-level rises, encroaching on saltmarsh plants inhabiting higher elevations. Mangrove propagules are transported by tidal waters and propagule dispersal is likely modified upon encountering the mangrove-saltmarsh ecotone, the implications of which are poorly known. Here, using an experimental approach, we record landward and seaward dispersal and subsequent establishment of mangrove propagules that encounter biotic boundaries composed of two types of saltmarsh taxa: succulents and grasses. Our findings revealed that propagules emplaced within saltmarsh vegetation immediately landward of the extant mangrove fringe boundary frequently dispersed in the seaward direction. However, propagules moved seaward less frequently and over shorter distances upon encountering boundaries composed of saltmarsh grasses versus succulents. We uniquely confirmed that the small subset of propagules dispersing landward displayed proportionately higher establishment success than those transported seaward. Although impacts of ecotones on plant dispersal have rarely been investigated in situ, our experimental results indicate that the interplay between tidal transport and physical attributes of saltmarsh vegetation influence boundary permeability to propagules, thereby directing the initial phase of shifting mangrove distributions. The incorporation of tidal inundation information and detailed data on landscape features, such as the structure of saltmarsh vegetation at mangrove boundaries, should improve the accuracy of models that are being developed to forecast mangrove distributional shifts in response to sea-level rise. PMID:25760867

Saltmarsh boundary modulates dispersal of mangrove propagules: implications for mangrove migration with sea-level rise.

PubMed

Peterson, Jennifer M; Bell, Susan S

2015-01-01

Few studies have empirically examined the suite of mechanisms that underlie the distributional shifts displayed by organisms in response to changing climatic condition. Mangrove forests are expected to move inland as sea-level rises, encroaching on saltmarsh plants inhabiting higher elevations. Mangrove propagules are transported by tidal waters and propagule dispersal is likely modified upon encountering the mangrove-saltmarsh ecotone, the implications of which are poorly known. Here, using an experimental approach, we record landward and seaward dispersal and subsequent establishment of mangrove propagules that encounter biotic boundaries composed of two types of saltmarsh taxa: succulents and grasses. Our findings revealed that propagules emplaced within saltmarsh vegetation immediately landward of the extant mangrove fringe boundary frequently dispersed in the seaward direction. However, propagules moved seaward less frequently and over shorter distances upon encountering boundaries composed of saltmarsh grasses versus succulents. We uniquely confirmed that the small subset of propagules dispersing landward displayed proportionately higher establishment success than those transported seaward. Although impacts of ecotones on plant dispersal have rarely been investigated in situ, our experimental results indicate that the interplay between tidal transport and physical attributes of saltmarsh vegetation influence boundary permeability to propagules, thereby directing the initial phase of shifting mangrove distributions. The incorporation of tidal inundation information and detailed data on landscape features, such as the structure of saltmarsh vegetation at mangrove boundaries, should improve the accuracy of models that are being developed to forecast mangrove distributional shifts in response to sea-level rise.

Use of computer modeling to investigate a dynamic interaction problem in the Skylab TACS quad-valve package

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hesser, R. J.; Gershman, R.

1975-01-01

A valve opening-response problem encountered during development of a control valve for the Skylab thruster attitude control system (TACS) is described. The problem involved effects of dynamic interaction among valves in the quad-redundant valve package. Also described is a detailed computer simulation of the quad-valve package which was helpful in resolving the problem.

Decision-problem state analysis methodology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dieterly, D. L.

1980-01-01

A methodology for analyzing a decision-problem state is presented. The methodology is based on the analysis of an incident in terms of the set of decision-problem conditions encountered. By decomposing the events that preceded an unwanted outcome, such as an accident, into the set of decision-problem conditions that were resolved, a more comprehensive understanding is possible. All human-error accidents are not caused by faulty decision-problem resolutions, but it appears to be one of the major areas of accidents cited in the literature. A three-phase methodology is presented which accommodates a wide spectrum of events. It allows for a systems content analysis of the available data to establish: (1) the resolutions made, (2) alternatives not considered, (3) resolutions missed, and (4) possible conditions not considered. The product is a map of the decision-problem conditions that were encountered as well as a projected, assumed set of conditions that should have been considered. The application of this methodology introduces a systematic approach to decomposing the events that transpired prior to the accident. The initial emphasis is on decision and problem resolution. The technique allows for a standardized method of accident into a scenario which may used for review or the development of a training simulation.

Analysis of dental treatment performed by dental residents at General Dentistry Department of Tokyo Dental College Chiba Hospital over 6 years following introduction of mandatory dental clinical training system.

PubMed

Yamakura, Daiki; Takahashi, Toshiyuki; Kameyama, Atsushi; Noro, Akio; Sugiyama, Toshiko; Kondo, Yoshihiro; Sugiyama, Setsuko; Haruyama, Akiko; Takeda, Tomotaka; Nakajima, Kazunori

2013-01-01

Six years have passed since the introduction of legislation mandating at least 1 year of clinical training for those who have passed the national dentist examination. To determine whether clinical training has been appropriately implemented at the General Dentistry Department of Tokyo Dental College Chiba Hospital, a managed-type clinical training facility, the number of patients treated and types of dental and dental technical work performed by dental residents trained by the department were summarized and analyzed. The number of patients treated per dental resident increased from 11 in 2006 to 15 in 2011. By treatment type, periodontic treatment was the most frequently performed throughout the study period, followed by endodontic treatment. Conservation treatment, prosthodontic treatment with crowns/bridges, and prosthodontic treatment with dentures were performed at a similar moderate frequency, while oral surgical treatment was performed least frequently throughout the study period. The frequency of periodontic treatment increased slightly, whereas that of endodontic treatment decreased slightly or remained almost unchanged after introduction of the mandatory clinical training system. When the distribution of dental treatment performed at our department was compared with that of dental treatment performed by general dentists across Japan in 2011, our department showed a slightly lower frequency of periodontic treatment and higher frequency of endodontic treatment than the national total, whereas the frequency of other types of treatment was similar between the two populations. These results demonstrated that appropriate clinical training has been provided by our department to meet the purpose of offering dentists the opportunity to acquire the basic diagnostic and treatment abilities that would enable them to provide appropriate treatment for injuries and diseases frequently encountered in daily practice. The study also revealed some problems, such as a decreasing number of residents engaging in dental technical work each year. For additional improvement in the quality of dental clinical training, more analyses are needed to further identify and address potential problems in the system.

Implementation of WHO guidelines on management of severe malnutrition in hospitals in Africa.

PubMed Central

Deen, Jacqueline L.; Funk, Matthias; Guevara, Victor C.; Saloojee, Haroon; Doe, James Y.; Palmer, Ayo; Weber, Martin W.

2003-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the problems, benefits, feasibility, and sustainability of implementation of WHO guidelines on management of severe malnutrition. METHODS: A postal survey invited staff from 12 African hospitals to participate in the study. Five hospitals were evaluated and two were selected to take part in the study: a district hospital in South Africa and a mission hospital in Ghana. At an initial visit, an experienced paediatrician reviewed the situation in the hospitals and introduced the principles of the guidelines through a participatory approach. During a second visit about six months later, the paediatrician reviewed the feasibility and sustainability of the introduced changes and helped find solutions to problems. At a final visit after one year, the paediatrician reassessed the overall situation. FINDINGS: Malnutrition management practices improved at both hospitals. Measures against hypoglycaemia, hypothermia, and infection were strengthened. Early, frequent feeding was established as a routine practice. Some micronutrients for inclusion in the diet were not locally available and needed to be imported. Problems were encountered with monitoring of weight gain and introducing a rehydration solution for malnutrition. CONCLUSION: Implementation of the main principles of the WHO guidelines on severe malnutrition was feasible, affordable, and sustainable at two African hospitals. The guidelines could be improved by including suggestions on how to adapt specific recommendations to local situations. The guidelines are well supported by experience and published reports, but more information is needed about some components and their impact on mortality. PMID:12764489

Implementation of WHO guidelines on management of severe malnutrition in hospitals in Africa.

PubMed

Deen, Jacqueline L; Funk, Matthias; Guevara, Victor C; Saloojee, Haroon; Doe, James Y; Palmer, Ayo; Weber, Martin W

2003-01-01

To investigate the problems, benefits, feasibility, and sustainability of implementation of WHO guidelines on management of severe malnutrition. A postal survey invited staff from 12 African hospitals to participate in the study. Five hospitals were evaluated and two were selected to take part in the study: a district hospital in South Africa and a mission hospital in Ghana. At an initial visit, an experienced paediatrician reviewed the situation in the hospitals and introduced the principles of the guidelines through a participatory approach. During a second visit about six months later, the paediatrician reviewed the feasibility and sustainability of the introduced changes and helped find solutions to problems. At a final visit after one year, the paediatrician reassessed the overall situation. Malnutrition management practices improved at both hospitals. Measures against hypoglycaemia, hypothermia, and infection were strengthened. Early, frequent feeding was established as a routine practice. Some micronutrients for inclusion in the diet were not locally available and needed to be imported. Problems were encountered with monitoring of weight gain and introducing a rehydration solution for malnutrition. Implementation of the main principles of the WHO guidelines on severe malnutrition was feasible, affordable, and sustainable at two African hospitals. The guidelines could be improved by including suggestions on how to adapt specific recommendations to local situations. The guidelines are well supported by experience and published reports, but more information is needed about some components and their impact on mortality.

Urticaria.

PubMed

Amar, Sheila M; Dreskin, Stephen C

2008-03-01

Urticaria with or without angioedema is frequently encountered in primary care medicine. Although many patients and physicians think that urticaria is evidence of an IgE-mediated allergic reaction, often the etiology of urticaria is unknown. This uncertainty frequently results in patients enduring unnecessary lifestyle changes or extensive testing. In more persistent cases, patients achieve control of their disease only with the use of more toxic medications, such as corticosteroids, and this can lead to a range of systemic complications. Acute urticaria is typically due to a hypersensitivity reaction while chronic urticaria has a more complex pathogenesis. Antihistamines remain the mainstay of symptomatic treatment for both.

Vanishing bronchus intermedius syndrome in a pediatric patient with cystic fibrosis after lung transplantation.

PubMed

Hayes, Don; Mansour, Heidi M

2012-12-01

Airway complications occur frequently after lung transplantation. Bronchial stenosis is the most frequently encountered complication with the most severe form of that being the vanishing bronchus intermedius syndrome (VBIS). This rare disorder has never been reported in the pediatric population. This is the first report of VBIS in a pediatric patient, specifically a 16-yr-old male patient with cystic fibrosis whose course was complicated by a lower airway infection with Aspergillus fumigatus. The VBIS responded to bronchoscopic balloon dilation and placement of an airway stent. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

In Print or Out of Print? The Continuing Problem.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kayden, Mimi

1982-01-01

Briefly describes the problems encountered by libraries in attempting to purchase out-of-stock books and discusses some of the reasons for changes in the way publishers handle backlist materials, including sales volume and its relation to increased printing costs. (JL)

The Impaired Social Worker.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reamer, Frederic G.

1992-01-01

Discusses concept of the impaired professional; reviews research on various types of impairment (personality disorders, depression and other emotional problems, marital problems, and physical illness), prevalence and causes of impairment, and responses to it; and outlines model assessment and action plan for social workers who encounter an…

The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, 1999.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lipsitt, Lewis P., Ed.

1999-01-01

These 12 monthly issues from 1999 explore problems encountered by children and adolescents. Regular features include "Keep Your Eye On...," brief accounts of research into childhood and adolescent problems; "What's New in Research," summarizing research from recent publications and professional conferences;…

Practical Parenting: Successful Strategies for Solving Your Child's Behaviour Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stenhouse, Glen

Recognizing that all parents encounter challenges in raising their children, this book presents practical strategies for solving common behavior problems. Chapter 1, "Bonding," concerns the development of parent-child attachment. Chapter 2, "Encouraging Development," discusses "hot-housing," language development, and…

Segregation of asphalt mixes caused by surge silos : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1982-01-01

Segregation of asphalt mixes continues to be a problem in Virginia, particularly with base mixes and coarse surface mixes. Although the problem is encountered primarily on jobs using surge silos, it has been related to other factors such as mix desig...

The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, 1998.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lipsitt, Lewis P., Ed.

1998-01-01

These 12 monthly issues from 1998 explore problems encountered by children and adolescents. Regular features include "Keep Your Eye On...," brief accounts of research into childhood and adolescent problems, "What's New in Research," summarizing research from recent publications and professional conferences;…

Obstacles Related to Structuring for Mathematization Encountered by Students When Solving Physics Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niss, Martin

2017-01-01

This paper studies the cognitive obstacles related to one aspect of mathematization in physics problem-solving, namely, what might be called "structuring for mathematization," where the problem situation is structured in such a way that a translation to a mathematical universe can be done. We report the results of an analysis of four…

Tree planting - strip-mined area in Maryland

Treesearch

Fred L. Bagley

1980-01-01

This report is written to elucidate some of the problems encountered in the planting of trees on strip-mined areas in Maryland. When problems are recognized, normally a solution (or at least, an improvement) can be instituted to alleviate the problem. The methods cited herein are those of experienced foresters engaged in strip-mine planting during the past seventeen...

Reflective Teaching via a Problem Exploration--Teaching Adaptations--Resolution Cycle: A Mixed Methods Study of Preservice Teachers' Reflective Notes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayden, H. Emily; Chiu, Ming Ming

2015-01-01

We explore development of elementary preservice teachers' reflective practices as they solved problems encountered while teaching in a reading clinic. Written reflections (N = 175) were collected across 8 weeks from 23 preservice teachers and analyzed to investigate relationships among problem exploration, teaching adaptations, and problem…

Problem Solving in Technology Rich Contexts: Mathematics Sense Making in Out-of-School Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowrie, Tom

2005-01-01

This investigation describes the way in which a case study participant (aged 7) represented, posed and solved problems in a technology game-based environment. The out-of-school problem-solving context placed numeracy demands on the participant that were more complex and sophisticated than the type of mathematics experiences he encountered in…

Modelling Difficulties and Their Overcoming Strategies in the Solution of a Modelling Problem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dede, Ayse Tekin

2016-01-01

The purpose of the study is to reveal the elementary mathematics student teachers' difficulties encountered in the solution of a modelling problem, the strategies to overcome those difficulties and whether the strategies worked or not. Nineteen student teachers solved the modelling problem in their four or five-person groups, and the video records…

Complex Problem Solving in Radiologic Technology: Understanding the Roles of Experience, Reflective Judgment, and Workplace Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yates, Jennifer L.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this research study was to explore the process of learning and development of problem solving skills in radiologic technologists. The researcher sought to understand the nature of difficult problems encountered in clinical practice, to identify specific learning practices leading to the development of professional expertise, and to…

Functional Behavioral Assessment for a Boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Problem Behavior: A Case Study from Greece

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Theodoridou, Zoe; Koutsoklenis, Athanasios

2013-01-01

This article focuses on the application of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to design a positive behavior intervention (PBI) for a boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) who encounters serious difficulties at the mainstream school because of behavioral problems and physical limitations. After the definition of problem behavior and its…

Science Curriculum from the Perspectives of Turkish Teachers: Problems Encountered and Suggestions for Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bekmezci, Sinan Muhammet; Ates, Özlem

2017-01-01

The purpose of this research is to identify the problems that teachers have experienced during the implementation of the science curriculum and their suggestions for solution to these problems. In the research, survey model has been used among the descriptive research methods in which quantitative and qualitative data have been used together. The…

An Analysis of Problems in College Students' Participation in the Western China Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yumei, Yi

2008-01-01

Since its initiation in 2003, the College Student Western China Program has had several satisfying achievements. At the same time, however, problems exist in the project. This article gives a brief analysis of problems encountered in the project from the aspects of publicity and campaign work, plans and schedules, student participation, voluntary…

Young Filipino Students Making Sense of Arithmetic Word Problems in English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bautista, Debbie; Mulligan, Joanne; Mitchelmore, Michael

2009-01-01

Young Filipino children are expected to solve mathematical word problems in English, a task which they typically encounter only in schools. In this exploratory study, task-based interviews were conducted with seven Filipino children from a public school. The children were asked to read and solve addition and subtraction word problems in English or…

Drug information update. Atypical antipsychotics and neuroleptic malignant syndrome: nuances and pragmatics of the association

PubMed Central

Sarkar, Siddharth; Gupta, Nitin

2017-01-01

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare but potentially fatal adverse event associated with the use of antipsychotics. Although atypical antipsychotics were initially considered to carry no risk of NMS, reports have accumulated over time implicating them in NMS causation. Almost all atypical antipsychotics have been reported to be associated with NMS. The clinical profile of NMS caused by certain atypical antipsychotics such as clozapine has been reported to be considerably different from the NMS produced by typical antipsychotics, with diaphoresis encountered more commonly, and rigidity and tremor encountered less frequently. This article briefly discusses the evidence relating to the occurrence, presentation and management of NMS induced by atypical antipsychotics. PMID:28811916

Drug information update. Atypical antipsychotics and neuroleptic malignant syndrome: nuances and pragmatics of the association.

PubMed

Sarkar, Siddharth; Gupta, Nitin

2017-08-01

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare but potentially fatal adverse event associated with the use of antipsychotics. Although atypical antipsychotics were initially considered to carry no risk of NMS, reports have accumulated over time implicating them in NMS causation. Almost all atypical antipsychotics have been reported to be associated with NMS. The clinical profile of NMS caused by certain atypical antipsychotics such as clozapine has been reported to be considerably different from the NMS produced by typical antipsychotics, with diaphoresis encountered more commonly, and rigidity and tremor encountered less frequently. This article briefly discusses the evidence relating to the occurrence, presentation and management of NMS induced by atypical antipsychotics.

Business travel-associated illness: a GeoSentinel analysis.

PubMed

Chen, Lin H; Leder, Karin; Barbre, Kira A; Schlagenhauf, Patricia; Libman, Michael; Keystone, Jay; Mendelson, Marc; Gautret, Philippe; Schwartz, Eli; Shaw, Marc; MacDonald, Sue; McCarthy, Anne; Connor, Bradley A; Esposito, Douglas H; Hamer, Davidson; Wilson, Mary E

2018-01-01

Analysis of a large cohort of business travelers will help clinicians focus on frequent and serious illnesses. We aimed to describe travel-related health problems in business travelers. GeoSentinel Surveillance Network consists of 64 travel and tropical medicine clinics in 29 countries; descriptive analysis was performed on ill business travelers, defined as persons traveling for work, evaluated after international travel 1 January 1997 through 31 December 2014. Among 12 203 business travelers seen 1997-2014 (14 045 eligible diagnoses), the majority (97%) were adults aged 20-64 years; most (74%) reported from Western Europe or North America; two-thirds were male. Most (86%) were outpatients. Fewer than half (45%) reported a pre-travel healthcare encounter. Frequent regions of exposure were sub-Saharan Africa (37%), Southeast Asia (15%) and South Central Asia (14%). The most frequent diagnoses were malaria (9%), acute unspecified diarrhea (8%), viral syndrome (6%), acute bacterial diarrhea (5%) and chronic diarrhea (4%). Species was reported for 973 (90%) of 1079 patients with malaria, predominantly Plasmodium falciparum acquired in sub-Saharan Africa. Of 584 (54%) with malaria chemoprophylaxis information, 92% took none or incomplete courses. Thirteen deaths were reported, over half of which were due to malaria; others succumbed to pneumonia, typhoid fever, rabies, melioidosis and pyogenic abscess. Diarrheal illness was a major cause of morbidity. Malaria contributed substantial morbidity and mortality, particularly among business travelers to sub-Saharan Africa. Underuse or non-use of chemoprophylaxis contributed to malaria cases. Deaths in business travelers could be reduced by improving adherence to malaria chemoprophylaxis and targeted vaccination for vaccine-preventable diseases. Pre-travel advice is indicated for business travelers and is currently under-utilized and needs improvement.

Medical support for law enforcement-extended operations incidents.

PubMed

Levy, Matthew J; Tang, Nelson

2014-01-01

As the complexity and frequency of law enforcement-extended operations incidents continue to increase, so do the opportunities for adverse health and well-being impacts on the responding officers. These types of clinical encounters have not been well characterized nor have the medical response strategies which have been developed to effectively manage these encounters been well described. The purpose of this article is to provide a descriptive epidemiology of the clinical encounters reported during extended law enforcement operations, as well as to describe a best practices approach for their effective management. This study retrospectively examined the clinical encounters of the Maryland State Police (MSP) Tactical Medical Unit (TMU) during law enforcement extended operations incidents lasting 8 or more hours. In addition, a qualitative analysis was performed on clinical data collected by federal law enforcement agencies during their extended operations. Forty-four percent of missions (455/1,047) supported by the MSP TMU lasted 8 or more hours. Twenty-six percent of these missions (117/455) resulted in at least one patient encounter. Nineteen percent of patient chief complaints (45/238) were related to heat illness/ dehydration. Fifteen percent of encounters (36/238) were for musculoskeletal injury/pain. Eight percent of patients (19/238) had nonspecific sick call (minor illness) complaints. The next most common occurring complaints were cold-related injuries, headache, sinus congestion, and wound/laceration, each of which accounted for 7 percent of patients (16/238), respectively. Analysis of federal law enforcement agencies' response to such events yielded similar clinical encounters. A wide range of health problems are reported by extended law enforcement operations personnel. Timely and effective treatment of these problems can help ensure that the broader operations mission is not compromised. An appropriate operational strategy for managing health complaints reported during extended operations involves the deployment of a well-trained medical support team using the core concepts of tactical emergency medical support.

Using video to introduce clinical materials.

PubMed

Kommalage, Mahinda; Senadheera, Chandanie

2012-08-01

The early introduction of clinical material is a recognised strategy in medical education. The University of Ruhana Medical School, where a traditional curriculum is followed, offers students pre-clinical subjects without clinical exposure during their first and second years. Clinical materials in the form of videos were introduced to first-year students. In the videos, patients and their relatives described the diseases and related problems. Students were instructed to identify the problems encountered by patients and relatives. Each video was followed by a discussion of the problems identified by the students. The medical, social and economic problems encountered by patients and relatives were emphasised during post-video discussions. A lecture was conducted linking the contents of the videos to subsequent lectures. The aim of this study is to investigate whether combining teaching preclinical material with a video presentation of relevant clinical cases facilitates the interest and understanding of students. Quantitative data were collected using a questionnaire, whereas qualitative data were collected using focus group discussions. Quantitative data showed that students appreciated the video, had 'better' knowledge acquisition and a 'better' understanding of problems encountered by patients. Qualitative analysis highlighted the following themes: increased interest; enhanced understanding; relevance of basic knowledge to clinical practice; orientation to profession; and personalising theories. The introduction of patients in the form of videos helped students to understand the relevance of subject material for clinical practice, increased their interest and facilitated a better understanding of the subject material. Therefore, it seems video is a feasible medium to introduce clinical materials to first-year students who follow a traditional curriculum in a resource-limited environment. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

Some Problems in Studying the English Elements in the Main European Languages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Filipovic, Rudolf

1972-01-01

A study is being done, to be reported on subsequently, on the infiltrations of English into the languages of Europe. Objectives of the project, some problems encountered, and planned results and products are discussed. See FL 508 197 for availability. (RM)

Academic Value of Internships in Agronomy: A Survey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herring, Matthew D.; And Others

1990-01-01

A survey of the academic requirements of internships, benefits in taking part in an internship, and problems encountered in internship programs are described. Results indicated that one of the problems with internship programs occurred when faculty did not have direct control over the experience. (CW)

The Powers That Be: AAVE as the Composition Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Elaine

This Powerpoint presentation argues that the problems encountered in implementing African-centered curriculum into the university composition classroom attest to the need for African centered education in kindergarten through university level educational institutions. The solution of the problem of African American students' disproportionate…

Achieving Safety: Safer Sex, Communication, and Desire among Young Gay Men

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eisenberg, Anna; Bauermeister, Jose A.; Pingel, Emily; Johns, Michelle Marie; Santana, Matthew Leslie

2011-01-01

Conceptualizations of safer sex practices among young gay men (YGM) are frequently structured around communication between partners and the subsequent utilization or absence of condoms in a sexual encounter. Drawing on a sample of 34 in-depth interviews with YGM, ages 18 to 24, the authors explore the ways in which conceptualizations and…

School Counselors Deliver Information about School Counseling and Their Work: What Professional Message Is Conveyed?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shimoni, Aviva; Greenberger, Lori

2015-01-01

This study examined the extent to which 99 school counselors delivered information to stakeholders about their profession and work via various channels. Results showed that information was mainly delivered via routine encounters within the school while the use of a pre-arranged manner and electronic media were less frequent. School counselors'…

Common Dermatoses of Infancy

PubMed Central

Gora, Irv

1986-01-01

Within the pediatric population of their practices, family physicians frequently encounter infants with skin rashes. This article discusses several of the more common rashes of infancy: atopic dermatitis, cradle cap, diaper dermatitis and miliaria. Etiology, clinical picture and possible approaches to treatment are presented. ImagesFigure 1Figure 2Figure 3Figure 4Figure 5Figure 6Figure 7 PMID:21267297

Hemorrhoids.

PubMed

Hussain, J N

1999-03-01

Hemorrhoids are one of the most frequent anorectal disorders encountered in the primary care setting. They are the most common cause of hematochezia, and are responsible for considerable patient suffering and disability. With the techniques of diagnosis and office-based interventions described in this article, the primary care provider can effectively relieve most patients' symptoms and ensure that more significant bowel disease is not overlooked.

Conceptual Teaching Based on Scientific Storyline Method and Conceptual Change Texts: Latitude-Parallel Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uzunöz, Abdulkadir

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to identify the conceptual mistakes frequently encountered in teaching geography such as latitude-parallel concepts, and to prepare conceptual change text based on the Scientific Storyline Method, in order to resolve the identified misconceptions. In this study, the special case method, which is one of the qualitative…

14 CFR 25.1517 - Rough air speed, VRA.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Rough air speed, VRA. 25.1517 Section 25... Limitations § 25.1517 Rough air speed, VRA. A rough air speed, VRA, for use as the recommended turbulence... rough air encounters will not cause the overspeed warning to operate too frequently. In the absence of a...

Diagnosis and management of gallbladder polyps.

PubMed

Gallahan, William C; Conway, Jason D

2010-06-01

Gallbladder polyps are frequently encountered on cross-sectional imaging, often in asymptomatic patients. Most are benign and of little clinical importance. However, some polyps do have a malignant potential. This article discusses the clinical presentation, diagnosis, and natural history of gallbladder polyps and risk factors for malignant polyps and indications for cholecystectomy. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Are You a Computer?" Opening Exchanges in Virtual Reference Shape the Potential for Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dempsey, Paula R.

2016-01-01

Academic reference librarians frequently work with students who are not aware of their professional roles. In online interactions, a student might not even realize that the librarian is a person. The ways students initiate conversations reveal their understanding of the mutual roles involved in reference encounters. Conversation analysis of live…

Interference with propagation of typing bacteriophages by extrachromosomal elements in Salmonella typhimurium: bacteriophage type 505.

PubMed Central

van Embden, J D; van Leeuwen, W J; Guinée, P A

1976-01-01

Samonella typhimurium bacteriophage type 505 is the most frequently encountered phage type in the Netherlands and its neighboring countries. Phage type 505 was analyzed with regard o the interference with propagation of the typing phages by the prophages and plasmids, present in the type strain S. typhimurium 505... Images PMID:783145

Microorganisms as Analytical Indicators. Experimental Methods and Techniques,

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-01-01

Representa- tives of the genera Bacillus, Micrococcus, Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Aspergillus , and Penicillium are most frequently encountered...necessary for synthesis of prodigiosin, and magnesium is required for synthesis of bacteriochlorophylls. A change in the color of aspergillus spores...mesentericus niger and Bac. subtilis niger as a function of the concentration of phosphonium salts in the nutrient medium. The degree of

A deleterious effect associated with UNH159 is attenuated in twin embryos of an inbred line of tilapia (Oreochromis aureus)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Offspring of a highly inbred gynogenetic line of Oreochromis aureus displayed 12-fold increase in twinning rate compared to the outbred population. Asymmetric conjoined twins which consist of a normal embryo attached to a malformed-atrophic twin were frequently encountered in both gynogenetic (90.7%...

Robotic Technologies: When Parents Put Their Learning Ahead of Their Child's

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beals, Laura; Bers, Marina

2006-01-01

New technologies are slowly making it into the early childhood classroom; however, many families expose their children to these technologies before they encounter them in the formal school setting. Thus, many parents serve as the first teachers of technological literacy to their children. Or, as it is more frequent, parents and children learn…

Assisting Children and Families with Military-Related Disruptions: The United States Marine Corps School Liaison Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aronson, Keith R.; Caldwell, Linda L.; Perkins, Daniel F.; Pasch, Kenneth W.

2011-01-01

Military families face a number of unique challenges, including frequent relocations and school transitions, as well as extended separations from loved ones. The military, schools, and communities have been working together to build the capacity of children, youth, and families to successfully cope with the stressors they encounter. Most branches…

Twisting of thin walled columns perfectly restrained at one end

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lazzarino, Lucio

1938-01-01

Proceeding from the basic assumptions of the Batho-Bredt theory on twisting failure of thin-walled columns, the discrepancies most frequently encountered are analyzed. A generalized approximate method is suggested for the determination of the disturbances in the stress condition of the column, induced by the constrained warping in one of the end sections.

Deconvolution method for accurate determination of overlapping peak areas in chromatograms.

PubMed

Nelson, T J

1991-12-20

A method is described for deconvoluting chromatograms which contain overlapping peaks. Parameters can be selected to ensure that attenuation of peak areas is uniform over any desired range of peak widths. A simple extension of the method greatly reduces the negative overshoot frequently encountered with deconvolutions. The deconvoluted chromatograms are suitable for integration by conventional methods.

Bipolar Disorder.

PubMed

Miller, Thomas H

2016-06-01

Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental health disorder that is frequently encountered in primary care. Many patients with depression may actually have bipolar disorder. The management of bipolar disorder requires proper diagnosis and awareness or referral for appropriate pharmacologic therapy. Patients with bipolar disorder require primary care management for comorbidities such as cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Practical Knowledge Storage among Preservice, Novice, and Experienced Educators of Students Who Are Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marlatt, Edward A.

2004-01-01

Surveys of 163 preservice, novice, and experienced teachers of students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing addressed practical knowledge and adherence to classroom rules of practice (brief statements of how to behave in frequently encountered teaching situations) and practical principles (general constructs about expectations of students). No…

Electrostatically Accelerated Encounter and Folding for Facile Recognition of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins

PubMed Central

Ganguly, Debabani; Zhang, Weihong; Chen, Jianhan

2013-01-01

Achieving facile specific recognition is essential for intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) that are involved in cellular signaling and regulation. Consideration of the physical time scales of protein folding and diffusion-limited protein-protein encounter has suggested that the frequent requirement of protein folding for specific IDP recognition could lead to kinetic bottlenecks. How IDPs overcome such potential kinetic bottlenecks to viably function in signaling and regulation in general is poorly understood. Our recent computational and experimental study of cell-cycle regulator p27 (Ganguly et al., J. Mol. Biol. (2012)) demonstrated that long-range electrostatic forces exerted on enriched charges of IDPs could accelerate protein-protein encounter via “electrostatic steering” and at the same time promote “folding-competent” encounter topologies to enhance the efficiency of IDP folding upon encounter. Here, we further investigated the coupled binding and folding mechanisms and the roles of electrostatic forces in the formation of three IDP complexes with more complex folded topologies. The surface electrostatic potentials of these complexes lack prominent features like those observed for the p27/Cdk2/cyclin A complex to directly suggest the ability of electrostatic forces to facilitate folding upon encounter. Nonetheless, similar electrostatically accelerated encounter and folding mechanisms were consistently predicted for all three complexes using topology-based coarse-grained simulations. Together with our previous analysis of charge distributions in known IDP complexes, our results support a prevalent role of electrostatic interactions in promoting efficient coupled binding and folding for facile specific recognition. These results also suggest that there is likely a co-evolution of IDP folded topology, charge characteristics, and coupled binding and folding mechanisms, driven at least partially by the need to achieve fast association kinetics for cellular signaling and regulation. PMID:24278008

What Makes a Social Encounter Meaningful: The Impact of Social Encounters of Homeschooled Children on Emotional and Behavioral Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guterman, Oz; Neuman, Ari

2017-01-01

In modern society, a large part of the socialization process occurs in schools. Therefore, one of the most significant questions raised with regard to homeschooling concerns the impact of this type of education on the emotional world of the child. However, there is almost no mention in the research of how the nature of the social activity of…

How humans transmit language: horizontal transmission matches word frequencies among peers on Twitter.

PubMed

Bryden, John; Wright, Shaun P; Jansen, Vincent A A

2018-02-01

Language transmission, the passing on of language features such as words between people, is the process of inheritance that underlies linguistic evolution. To understand how language transmission works, we need a mechanistic understanding based on empirical evidence of lasting change of language usage. Here, we analysed 200 million online conversations to investigate transmission between individuals. We find that the frequency of word usage is inherited over conversations, rather than only the binary presence or absence of a word in a person's lexicon. We propose a mechanism for transmission whereby for each word someone encounters there is a chance they will use it more often. Using this mechanism, we measure that, for one word in around every hundred a person encounters, they will use that word more frequently. As more commonly used words are encountered more often, this means that it is the frequencies of words which are copied. Beyond this, our measurements indicate that this per-encounter mechanism is neutral and applies without any further distinction as to whether a word encountered in a conversation is commonly used or not. An important consequence of this is that frequencies of many words can be used in concert to observe and measure language transmission, and our results confirm this. These results indicate that our mechanism for transmission can be used to study language patterns and evolution within populations. © 2018 The Author(s).

[Delayed diagnosis of neurocysticercosis: two case reports].

PubMed

Vandenbos, F; Boscagli-Melaine, A; Roth, S; Mondain-Miton, V; Paquis, P; Gari-Toussaint, M; Saint-Paul, M C; Montagne, N

2002-04-01

Neurocysticercosis is the most frequently encountered cerebral parasitic infection worldwide. It is due to infection of the central nervous system by Taenia solium larval form. According to the location of the cysts, parenchymal and extra-parenchymal forms may be identified, with different clinical expressions. We report two cases of neurocysticercosis, one with typical parenchymal involvement and the second with extra-parenchymal involvement revealed by increased intra-cranial pressure. In both cases, the diagnosis was established over 10 years after the onset of symptoms. Neurocysticercosis is very frequent in non-Islamic developing countries, and its incidence is increasing in industrialized nations in relation to tourism and immigration from highly endemic areas. Symptoms usually appear several years after infection and this accounts for the frequent delays before the diagnosis is established.

Lifetime of binary asteroids versus gravitational encounters and collisions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chauvineau, Bertrand; Farinella, Paolo; Mignard, F.

1992-01-01

We investigate the effect on the dynamics of a binary asteroid in the case of a near encounter with a third body. The dynamics of the binary is modeled as a two-body problem perturbed by an approaching body in the following ways: near encounters and collisions with a component of the system. In each case, the typical value of the two-body energy variation is estimated, and a random walk for the cumulative effect is assumed. Results are applied to some binary asteroid candidates. The main conclusion is that the collisional disruption is the dominant effect, giving lifetimes comparable to or larger than the age of the solar system.

Simple prostatectomy

MedlinePlus

... if you have: Problems emptying your bladder (urinary retention) Frequent urinary tract infections Frequent bleeding from the ... to internal organs Erection problems (impotence) Loss of sperm fertility ( infertility ) Passing semen back up into the ...

Social Problems in Turkish Social Studies Coursebooks and Workbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yesiltas, Erkan; Eryilmaz, Önder; Pehlivan, Aysegül

2016-01-01

In Turkey, the social studies course, which is taught in elementary 5th to 7th grades, prepares students to solve problems they may encounter in their future life. Therefore, the teaching of social problems to help students get to know them is one of the most important issues for the social studies course. The primary aim of this study is to…

"Students Get Bogged Down": How Religious Israeli Elementary Teachers View Problems and Solutions in Bible Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walfish, Ruth A.; Brody, David L.

2018-01-01

Bible teachers in contemporary society confront serious problems related to the nature of the biblical text and the socio-cultural context of their teaching. This study, based on semi-structured interviews, examines the problems that five expert religious Israeli elementary school teachers encounter in their teaching and the solutions they employ.…

The Real World of the Beginning Teacher.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Education Association, Washington, DC. National Commission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards.

Problems and goals of beginning teachers are the subject of these speeches presented by both experienced and beginning teachers at the 1965 national conference of the National Commission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards. The problems include the differences between teacher expectations and encounters, unrealistic teaching and…

Virtual Bridge Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bisogno, Janet; JeanPierre, Bobby

2008-01-01

The West Point Bridge Design (WPBD) building project engages students in project-based learning by giving them a real-life problem to solve. By using technology, students are able to become involved in solving problems that they normally would not encounter. Involvement with interactive websites, such as WPBD, assists students in using…

Objective Sleep in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders and Major Depressive Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forbes, Erika E.; Bertocci, Michele A.; Gregory, Alice M.; Ryan, Neal D.; Axelson, David A.; Birmaher, Boris; Dahl, Ronald E.

2008-01-01

A study to examine sleep problems encountered in anxiety and depressive disorders among children and adolescents is conducted. Results indicated subjective and objective sleep problems in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and need to be kept in mind when treating young anxious people.

Bereavement Support for Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auman, Mary Jo

2007-01-01

The death of a parent is one of the most significant and stressful events children can encounter. Surviving children may experience psychiatric problems and social dysfunction during their childhood and possibly throughout their adult lives. Children surviving a sibling's death may develop behavioral problems, because no one can fill the emptiness…

The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, 1997.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lipsitt, Lewis P., Ed.

1997-01-01

These 12 monthly issues, one special report, and index from 1997 explore problems encountered by children and adolescents. Regular features include "Keep Your Eye On...," brief accounts of research into childhood and adolescent problems; "What's New in Research," summarizing research from recent publications and professional…

Problemes linguistiques des enfants de travailleurs migrants (Linguistic Problems of the Children of Migrant Workers).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Greve, Marcel, Ed.; Rosseel, Eddy, Ed.

Papers on language difficulties encountered by migrant workers' children include: "Anomie in Bicultural Education" (Hugo Baetens Beardsmore); "An Investigation into Bilingual Education for Children from Favoured Socio-Economic Backgrounds" (Hugo Baetens Beardsmore); "Orientations of Foreign Children Relating to Placement…

Bronchobiliary fistula: principles of management.

PubMed

Chua, H K; Allen, M S; Deschamps, C; Miller, D L; Pairolero, P C

2000-10-01

Bronchobiliary fistula is an uncommon entity. Recently, we encountered 2 patients with this problem. Both were treated successfully with resection of the involved pulmonary tissue and interposition of viable tissue between the lung and the fistulous tract. This approach, although invasive, provided a rapid resolution of the patients' problem.

Vibration characteristics of the HPOTP (High-Pressure Oxygen Turbopump) of the SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Childs, D. W.; Moyer, D. S.

1984-01-01

Attention is given to rotor dynamic problems that have been encountered and eliminated in the course of Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) development, as well as continuing, subsynchronous problems which are being encountered in the development of a 109-percent power level engine. The basic model for the SSME's High Pressure Oxygen Turbopump (HPOTP) encompasses a structural dynamic model for the rotor and housing, and component models for the liquid and gas seals, turbine clearance excitation forces, and impeller diffuser forces. Linear model results are used to examine the synchronous response and stability characteristics of the HPOTP, with attention to bearing load and stability problems associated with the second critical speed. Differences between linear and nonlinear model results are discussed and explained in terms of simple models. Simulation results indicate that while synchronous bearing loads can be reduced, subsynchronous motion is not eliminated by seal modifications.

Trapped particle absorption by the Ring of Jupiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fillius, W.

1983-01-01

The interaction of trapped radiation with the ring of Jupiter is investigated. Because it is an identical problem, the rings of Saturn and Uranus are also examined. Data from the Pioneer II encounter, deductions for some of the properties of the rings of Jupiter and Saturn. Over a dozen Jupiter magnetic field models are available in a program that integrates the adiabatic invariants to compute B and L. This program is to label our UCSD Pioneer II encounter data with the most satisfactory of these models. The expected effects of absorbing material on the trapped radiation are studied to obtain the loss rate as a function of ring properties. Analysis of the particle diffusion problem rounds out the theoretical end of the ring absorption problem. Other projects include identification of decay products for energetic particle albedo off the rings and moons of Saturn and a search for flux transfer events at the Jovian magnetopause.

Analysis of severe atmospheric disturbances from airline flight records

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wingrove, R. C.; Bach, R. E., Jr.; Schultz, T. A.

1989-01-01

Advanced methods were developed to determine time varying winds and turbulence from digital flight data recorders carried aboard modern airliners. Analysis of several cases involving severe clear air turbulence encounters at cruise altitudes has shown that the aircraft encountered vortex arrays generated by destabilized wind shear layers above mountains or thunderstorms. A model was developed to identify the strength, size, and spacing of vortex arrays. This model is used to study the effects of severe wind hazards on operational safety for different types of aircraft. The study demonstrates that small remotely piloted vehicles and executive aircraft exhibit more violent behavior than do large airliners during encounters with high-altitude vortices. Analysis of digital flight data from the accident at Dallas/Ft. Worth in 1985 indicates that the aircraft encountered a microburst with rapidly changing winds embedded in a strong outflow near the ground. A multiple-vortex-ring model was developed to represent the microburst wind pattern. This model can be used in flight simulators to better understand the control problems in severe microburst encounters.

[Interferons--its method of administration and adverse effect related to pharmacokinetics ].

PubMed

Furue, H

1984-02-01

The potential role of interferons in the treatment of malignant diseases is currently being evaluated. This paper reviews experimental and clinical findings regarding pharmacokinetics, method of administration, and side reactions of interferons. Interferon in the blood is rapidly cleared from the circulation. Intramuscular injection of alpha-interferon causes low but stable interferon levels in the blood. However, in the case of beta-interferon, interferon is never detected consistently in the blood after intramuscular or subcutaneous administration. The studies with animal models suggest that doses higher than those given in current clinical trials will be necessary to obtain clearly beneficial effects in human. The maximum safely tolerated daily dose is appreciably higher than that used in most previous studies, although even at this level, considerable toxicity may be encountered. Adequate method of administration, route, dose and interval are not yet established at all. Exact mechanism of anticancer activity is not yet well defined. The most frequent side reaction is fever. However, the exact mechanism to cause these side reactions is also not yet clarified. Dose limiting central nervous system toxicities, hypotension, hypocalcaemia etc. are occasionally encountered in some instances. Antibody to interferon is demonstrated in some cases. Purification of interferon does not always causes reduction of side reactions. The treatment of cancer cases with interferon has just started and there are many problems to be solved. However, therapeutic beneficial may be achieved in the treatment of malignant tumors by appropriate combinations of interferon with conventional treatment. More laboratory studies as well as carefully controlled clinical observations are warranted.

Between normality and deviance: the breakdown of batterers' identity following police intervention.

PubMed

Buchbinder, Eli; Eisikovits, Zvi

2004-04-01

With the transformation of intimate violence from private trouble to social problem, police intervention in domestic violence cases became more prevalent. Research has focused mainly on battered women's perception of police intervention, their evaluations, and their level of satisfaction with the intervention. However, there is little research examining the perpetrators' subjective perceptions of such interventions. The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze battering men's perceptions of police intervention. The study is based on semistructured, in-depth interviews with 20 batterers who had repeated encounters with police. Findings show a continuum of self-management, ranging from attempts to preserve a normative identity in the first encounter to struggling against criminalization in the second encounter and adopting a victim identity in the third encounter. The findings are discussed in the context of gender identity and power relations.

Recording medical students' encounters with standardized patients using Google Glass: providing end-of-life clinical education.

PubMed

Tully, Jeffrey; Dameff, Christian; Kaib, Susan; Moffitt, Maricela

2015-03-01

Medical education today frequently includes standardized patient (SP) encounters to teach history-taking, physical exam, and communication skills. However, traditional wall-mounted cameras, used to record video for faculty and student feedback and evaluation, provide a limited view of key nonverbal communication behaviors during clinical encounters. In 2013, 30 second-year medical students participated in an end-of-life module that included SP encounters in which the SPs used Google Glass to record their first-person perspective. Students reviewed the Google Glass video and traditional videos and then completed a postencounter, self-evaluation survey and a follow-up survey about the experience. Google Glass was used successfully to record 30 student/SP encounters. One temporary Google Glass hardware failure was observed. Of the 30 students, 7 (23%) reported a "positive, nondistracting experience"; 11 (37%) a "positive, initially distracting experience"; 5 (17%) a "neutral experience"; and 3 (10%) a "negative experience." Four students (13%) opted to withhold judgment until they reviewed the videos but reported Google Glass as "distracting." According to follow-up survey responses, 16 students (of 23; 70%) found Google Glass "worth including in the [clinical skills program]," whereas 7 (30%) did not. Google Glass can be used to video record students during SP encounters and provides a novel perspective for the analysis and evaluation of their interpersonal communication skills and nonverbal behaviors. Next steps include a larger, more rigorous comparison of Google Glass versus traditional videos and expanded use of this technology in other aspects of the clinical skills training program.

Medicinal plants used to treat the most frequent diseases encountered in Ambalabe rural community, Eastern Madagascar.

PubMed

Rakotoarivelo, Nivo H; Rakotoarivony, Fortunat; Ramarosandratana, Aro Vonjy; Jeannoda, Vololoniaina H; Kuhlman, Alyse R; Randrianasolo, Armand; Bussmann, Rainer W

2015-09-15

Traditional medicine remains the only health care available in many rural areas in Madagascar like the rural community of Ambalabe, located in a very remote area in the eastern part of the country. With limited access to modern medicine, the local population uses medicinal plants to treat most diseases. In this study, we aimed to inventory medicinal plants used by local people and how those relate to the treatment of the most frequent diseases encountered in Ambalabe. We interviewed participants in order to identify the most frequent diseases in the region and the medicinal plants used to treat them. The local physician was asked about the most frequent diseases, and ethnobotanical surveys to record medicinal plants and their uses, using semi-structured interviews and free listing, were conducted among 193 informants in local villages, of which 54 % were men and 46 % were women, ageing from 16 to 86 years. The local names, the uses of each plant species and the way they are prepared and administered were recorded and accompanied by herbarium specimens for identification. We also interviewed four traditional healers to elicit more details on the preparation and the use of plants. Our research allowed us to identify six most frequent diseases, namely diarrhea, malaria, stomach-ache, cough, bilharzia and dysentery. Among 209 plant species identified as having medicinal use, 83 species belonging to 49 families and 77 genera were used to treat these diseases. Our analyses highlighted the 11 commonly used species for their treatment, and also 16 species with a high fidelity level (FL ≥ 75 %) for each ailment. Diarrhea is one of the diseases with high number of species recorded. This study highlighted the closed relationship between people in Ambalabe and plant species, especially when faced with frequent diseases. However, most of the species used were collected in the surroundings of the villages. Few species were from Vohibe forest in which a management system on the use of plant species was already established. Therefore, a sustainable use management should be considered for wild species from which medicinal plants are highly abundant.

Exploring Education. Students from Overseas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yates, Alfred, Ed.

Students entering college for the first time are often confronted with adjustment problems that seem to them unsurmountable and impossible. There is the transition from living dependently with parents to semi-independent living on the college campus, in addition to the many problems encountered in academic areas. If a student, accustomed to the…

New Territory: Problems of Adjusting to the First Year of a Social Science PhD.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hockey, John

1994-01-01

Problems encountered by first-year social science doctoral students in adjusting to their new status as novice researchers are examined, including intellectual solitariness, professional and social isolation, new work organization requirements, anxiety concerning time and productivity, intellectual life, and supervision. Factors contributing to…

Theory Oriented Research: Problems and Challenges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greer, John T.

This paper discusses problems the author encountered in attempting to conduct a study of teacher motivation as influenced by a combination of participative decision-making and financial rewards. Over a 3-year period, teacher motivation was to be viewed as influenced by two independent variables--participative decision-making and financial rewards;…

Identifying Fallacies of Reference in Argumentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gough, Jim

2009-01-01

The experience of teaching informal logic (sometimes called practical logic) at the introductory level over the last fifteen years has allowed the author the opportunity to identify some interesting problems. These problems have been encountered by students attempting to understand some of the ideas presented in the informal logic course and by…

Efficacy of a Latino Mother-Child Communication Intervention in Elementary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNaughton, Diane B.; Cowell, Julia Muennich; Fogg, Louis

2015-01-01

Children of Latino immigrants in the United States encounter ecological stressors that heighten their risk for depressive symptoms, externalizing behavior, and problems in school. Studies have shown that affirming parent-child communication is protective of child depressive symptoms and accompanying problems. The purpose of this study was to…

Understanding Critical Thinking to Create Better Doctors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zayapragassarazan, Zayabalaradjane; Menon, Vikas; Kar, Sitanshu Sekhar; Batmanabane, Gitanjali

2016-01-01

Medical students master an enormous body of knowledge, but lack systematic problem solving ability and effective clinical decision making. High profile reports have called for reforms in medical education to create a better generation of doctors who can cope with the system based problems they would encounter in an interdisciplinary and…

Anatomy of a bearing torque problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phinney, Damon D.

1987-01-01

In the early 1970s, an antenna despin drive was developed for MBB solar science satellite HELIOS. A problem with high bearing drag torque that was encountered on the two flight models of this drive, after successful tests were completed on twelve bearings, an engineering model, and the qualification unit is discussed.

SOME PROBLEMS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN ELECTRON LINEAR ACCELERATOR (in Dutch)

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

Verhaeghe, J.; Vanhuyse, V.; Van Leuven, P.

1959-01-01

Special problems encountered in the construction of the electron linear accelerator of the Natuurkundig Laboratorium der Rijksuniversiteit of Ghent are discussed. The subjects considered are magnetic focusing, magnetic screening of the electron gun cathode, abnormal attenuation-multipactor effects, and electron energy control. (J.S.R.)

Difficulties for University Students with Mental Health Problems: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markoulakis, Roula; Kirsh, Bonnie

2013-01-01

Postsecondary institutions are witnessing an increase in the number and severity of student mental health problems, necessitating an understanding of the difficulties these students encounter in striving for higher education. The authors conducted a critical interpretive synthesis of 10 articles pertaining to difficulties experienced by students…

English Preservice Teaching: Problems and Suggested Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naeem, Marwa Ahmed Refat

2014-01-01

The present study investigated the problems faced by Egyptian EFL prospective teachers during their first encounter with preservice teaching. The sample for the study included 135 prospective EFL teachers trained in five preparatory (middle) schools in Kafr El-Sheikh city, Egypt. At the end of their first year training course, the prospective…

Education's Role in National Development Plans: Ten Country Cases.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, R. Murray, Ed.

The place education has been assigned in the national development programs of 10 nations is discussed, the problems that these countries have encountered in managing education are examined, and the measures adopted to solve educational problems are assessed. Included are the following papers: (1) "The Nature of National Development…

Human Gene Discovery Laboratory: A Problem-Based Learning Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonds, Wesley D., Sr.; Paolella, Mary Jane

2006-01-01

A single-semester elective combines Mendelian and molecular genetics in a problem-solving format. Students encounter a genetic disease scenario, construct a family pedigree, and try to confirm their medical diagnoses through laboratory experiences. Encouraged to generate ideas as they test their hypotheses, students realize the importance of data…

Turkish EFL Pre-Service Teachers' Pronunciation Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bardakçi, Mehmet

2015-01-01

This classroom research deals with pronunciation problems that Turkish EFL teacher candidates would encounter. The participants were 22 EFL pre-service teachers with B2 level of proficiency in English. The presentations which were carried out by these participants were analyzed both by the participants themselves and the researcher. The results…

Knowledge Inertia and Organizational Learning as the Explanation of Organizational Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aküzüm, Cemal

2014-01-01

Knowledge is an important concept for individuals and organizations both as a power and source. Thus, knowledge management has become important subject for researchers. However, when people encounter problems, they usually try to produce solutions by utilizing their previous knowledge and experience. Such problem solving strategies are called…

Establishing a Child Care Substitute Caregiver System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Love, Lynne

Substitute caregivers are needed by day care centers in every state. Indeed, some areas are experiencing severe shortages of applicants for child care positions and short-term substitute work. This article describes problems encountered in current substitute caregiver systems and suggests ways of dealing with such problems. Specifically discussed…

Introspection in Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jäkel, Frank; Schreiber, Cornell

2013-01-01

Problem solving research has encountered an impasse. Since the seminal work of Newell und Simon (1972) researchers do not seem to have made much theoretical progress (Batchelder and Alexander, 2012; Ohlsson, 2012). In this paper we argue that one factor that is holding back the field is the widespread rejection of introspection among cognitive…

Maintaining "Professional Distance": A Dilemma for the ABE Teacher.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willing, Delight C.; Haney, Hutch

1994-01-01

Too often, many adult educators are unaware of the problems resulting from failing to maintain an appropriate "professional distance" from their adult basic education (ABE) or English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students when those students encounter personal problems or crises that appear to be interfering with their learning. ABE…

Student Problems. Adult Literacy Independent Learning Packet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koefer, Ann M.

This independent learning packet, which is designed for administrators, teachers, counselors, and tutors in Pennsylvania's Region 7 Tri-Valley Literacy Staff Development area as well as for their adult students, examines the following seven problems encountered by students: the job market, child care, single parenting/parenting skills, divorce,…

Impact Assessment of Problem-Based Learning in an Engineering Science Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nasr, Karim J.; Ramadan, Bassem H.

2008-01-01

This paper presents the development and implementation of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in an engineering thermodynamics course at Kettering University. In this project, the thermodynamics course was restructured as modules presenting practical applications first, whereas principles were introduced just-in-time and as encountered. Theoretical…

Problems Relating to Examinations in Three-Year Technical/Natural Science Courses of Study at the Federal Armed Forces University, Munich.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ulbricht, Kurt; Zimmermann, Peter

1981-01-01

Problems encountered in testing in aerospace engineering courses in an accelerated technical program of a German military university are outlined. Four common grading procedures are compared, and the optimum length of written tests is discussed. (MSE)

Alleviating Comprehension Problems in Movies. Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tatsuki, Donna

This paper describes the various barriers to comprehension that learners may encounter when viewing feature films in a second language. Two clusters of interfacing factors that may contribute to comprehension hot spots emerged from a quantitative analysis of problems noted in student logbooks. One cluster had a strong acoustic basis, whereas the…

The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, 1996.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lipsitt, Lewis P., Ed.

1996-01-01

These 12 monthly newsletters from 1996 explore the many problems encountered by children and adolescents as they grow up. Regular departments in the newsletter issues include "Keep Your Eye On...," which briefly presents results of research into childhood and adolescent problems; "What's New in Research," summarizing research…

The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, 1995.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lipsitt, Lewis P., Ed.

1995-01-01

These 12 monthly newsletters from 1995 explore the myriad problems encountered by children and adolescents as they grow up. Regular departments in the newsletter issues include "Keep Your Eye On...," which briefly presents results of research into childhood and adolescent problems; "New Research," summarizing research from recent publications and…

Atmospheric Propagation and Combining of High-Power Lasers

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-08

Brightness-scaling potential of actively phase- locked solid state laser arrays,” IEEE J. Sel. Topics Quantum Electron., vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 460–472, May...attempting to phase- lock high-power lasers, which is not encountered when phase- locking low-power lasers, for example mW power levels. Regardless, we...technology does not currently exist. This presents a challenging problem when attempting to phase- lock high-power lasers, which is not encountered when

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operational Test and Evaluation Lessons Learned

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-12-01

prevented during the test design phase. Test designers should ensure that the appropriate data can be collected in sample sizes large enough to support...encountered during previous tests in an attempt to prevent them from occurring in future tests. The focus of this paper is on UAVs acquired to perform...CHAPTER III TEST DESIGN III. TEST DESIGN Many of the problems encountered during UAV OT could have been prevented during the test

Prevalence of ocular surface symptoms, signs, and uncomfortable hours of wear in contact lens wearers: the effect of refitting with daily-wear silicone hydrogel lenses (senofilcon a).

PubMed

Riley, Colleen; Young, Graeme; Chalmers, Robin

2006-12-01

Many soft contact lens wearers have symptoms or signs that compromise successful lens wear. This study estimated the prevalence of problems in current wearers of soft contact lenses and tested the effect of refitting patients with senofilcon A silicone hydrogel lenses (ACUVUE Oasys). Prevalence was estimated from 1,092 current lens wearers for frequent or constant discomfort or dryness, at least 2 hours of uncomfortable wear, at least grade 2 limbal or bulbar hyperemia (0-4), or at least grade 3 corneal staining (0-15). In the second part of the study, 112 of the 564 wearers classified as problem patients were refitted with senofilcon A lenses and reassessed 2 weeks later. Fifty-two percent (564 of 1,092) had some qualifying criteria, with dryness reported by 23%, discomfort by 13%, and at least 2 hours of uncomfortable wear by 27%. Six percent of subjects had qualifying limbal hyperemia; 10% had bulbar hyperemia; and 12% had corneal staining. After refitting 112 problem patients, 75% had less dryness; 88% had better comfort (P<0.0001 each); and 76% had fewer uncomfortable hours of wear (P=0.004). Although the average wearing time was unchanged, comfortable wearing time increased significantly (10.4 to 11.6 hours) (P=0.004). All (35 of 35) eyes with qualifying limbal hyperemia before the refit also improved (P<0.0001), as did 80% (40 of 50) of those with bulbar hyperemia (P<0.0001) and 76% (26 of 34) of those with corneal staining (P=0.005). Most soft lens wearers encounter clinically significant signs or symptoms with their current contact lenses. Refitting with new-generation silicone hydrogel lenses (senofilcon A) can alleviate some of these common problems.

Complications in head and neck surgery.

PubMed

Christison-Lagay, Emily

2016-12-01

Head and neck anatomy is topographically complex and the region is densely populated by vital nerves and vascular and lymphatic structures. Injury to many of these structures is associated with significant morbidity and may even be fatal. A thorough knowledge of regional anatomy is imperative and complications need to be managed in a thoughtful directed manner. The pediatric surgeon may be called upon to address both congenital and acquired conditions and should be prepared to encounter reoperative fields after failed initial surgery. This review summarizes the current literature on four frequently encountered surgical conditions of the head and neck: branchial cleft anomalies, thyroglossal duct cyst, thyroid disease, and lymphatic malformations, with a focus on the prevention and treatment of complications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Lung Cancer as an Occupational Disease].

PubMed

Baur, X; Woitowitz, H-J

2016-08-01

Lung cancer is one of the most frequently encountered cancer types. According to the latest WHO data, about 10 % of this disease are due to occupational exposure to cancerogens. Asbestos is still the number one carcinogen. Further frequent causes include quarz and ionizing radiation (uranium mining). Probable causes of the disease can be identified only with the help of detailed occupational history taken by a medical specialist and qualified exposure assessment. Without clarifying the cause of the disease, there is neither a correct insurance procedure nor compensation for the victim, and furthermore, required preventive measures cannot be initiated. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Illusive Competition in School Reform: Commentary on Merrifield's "Imagined Evidence and False Imperatives" and Merrifield's Reply

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berg, Nathan; Merrifield, John

2009-01-01

Merrifield (2009) provides a useful polemic about the sad state of data analysis too frequently encountered in the school choice literature. Available data come from limited policy experiments with only modest amounts of choice and competition. The effects of very modest changes in school choice on school performance are, as one might expect,…

76 FR 13130 - Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-10

...' application). Take of ice seals may occur when the helicopter flies over the seals hauled out on the ice. The USFWS has requested to take ringed and bearded seals by Level B harassment only. Description of the... locate polar bears includes ice seal habitat, and ice seals are frequently encountered hauled out on the...

Study to Examine Psychological Processes in Suicidal Ideation and Behavior (STEPPS)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-01

diagnoses to better understand suicide; suicide is the result of a complex interplay of psychological, social and biological factors . A more...encounter frequent physiological/psychological stressors, therefore identifying suicide risk and resilience factors in military personnel is vital; so...models have been developed to aid the identification of suicide-specific individual difference factors and patterns of thinking. This program of

[Evaluation of the results of clinical trials using a new non-statistical method].

PubMed

Zofková, I

1994-04-04

The author presents information on the possibilities and some advantages associated with the application of a new nonstatistical (gnostic) method for evaluation of results in clinical trials. The mentioned method is among other properties very robust, i.e. suited for evaluation of small groups of highly scattered data, a situation very frequently encountered in clinical research.

Hazards of domestic pets. Ringworm and other skin conditions.

PubMed

Keep, J M

1977-12-01

Domestic pets may be responsible for a number of skin eruptions in man. Whilst ringworm due to Microsporum canis is one of the most common of these conditions in this country, trichophyton infection, flea bite dermatitis, cheyletiella dermatitis, canine scabies and traumatic dermatitis are by no means rare. Less frequently encountered conditions include creeping eruption, favus, fowl-mite dermatitis and allergic dermatitis.

Susceptibility of broiler chickens to coccidiosis when fed subclinical doses of deoxynivalenol and fumonisins – special emphasis on the immunological response and the mycotoxin interaction

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisins (FB) are the most frequently encountered mycotoxins produced by Fusarium species in livestock diets. The effect of subclinical doses of mycotoxins in chickens is largely unknown, and in particular the susceptibility of birds to pathogenic challenge when fed these ...

"I Am Very Good at Computers": Young Children's Computer Use and Their Computer Self-Esteem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hatzigianni, Maria; Margetts, Kay

2012-01-01

Children frequently encounter computers in many aspects of daily life. It is important to consider the consequences not only on children's cognitive development but on their emotional and self-development. This paper reports on research undertaken in Australia with 52 children aged between 44 and 79 months to explore the existence or not of a…

The Limits and Possibilities of International Large-Scale Assessments. Education Policy Brief. Volume 9, Number 2, Spring 2011

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rutkowski, David J.; Prusinski, Ellen L.

2011-01-01

The staff of the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University is often asked about how international large-scale assessments influence U.S. educational policy. This policy brief is designed to provide answers to some of the most frequently asked questions encountered by CEEP researchers concerning the three most popular…

Confronting the "Bra-Burners": Teaching Radical Feminism with a Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kreydatus, Beth

2008-01-01

In many of the U.S. History courses the author has taught, she has encountered students who refer to the second-wave feminists of the 1960s and 1970s as "bra-burners." Unsurprisingly, these students know very little about the origin of this epithet, and frequently, they know even less about the women's movement generally. Second-wave feminism, and…

Temporality of Features in Near-Death Experience Narratives

PubMed Central

Martial, Charlotte; Cassol, Héléna; Antonopoulos, Georgios; Charlier, Thomas; Heros, Julien; Donneau, Anne-Françoise; Charland-Verville, Vanessa; Laureys, Steven

2017-01-01

Background: After an occurrence of a Near-Death Experience (NDE), Near-Death Experiencers (NDErs) usually report extremely rich and detailed narratives. Phenomenologically, a NDE can be described as a set of distinguishable features. Some authors have proposed regular patterns of NDEs, however, the actual temporality sequence of NDE core features remains a little explored area. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the frequency distribution of these features (globally and according to the position of features in narratives) as well as the most frequently reported temporality sequences of features. Methods: We collected 154 French freely expressed written NDE narratives (i.e., Greyson NDE scale total score ≥ 7/32). A text analysis was conducted on all narratives in order to infer temporal ordering and frequency distribution of NDE features. Results: Our analyses highlighted the following most frequently reported sequence of consecutive NDE features: Out-of-Body Experience, Experiencing a tunnel, Seeing a bright light, Feeling of peace. Yet, this sequence was encountered in a very limited number of NDErs. Conclusion: These findings may suggest that NDEs temporality sequences can vary across NDErs. Exploring associations and relationships among features encountered during NDEs may complete the rigorous definition and scientific comprehension of the phenomenon. PMID:28659779

Overall Accessibility to Traveling by Rail for the Elderly with and without Functional Limitations: The Whole-Trip Perspective

PubMed Central

Sundling, Catherine; Berglund, Birgitta; Nilsson, Mats E.; Emardson, Ragne; Pendrill, Leslie R.

2014-01-01

Elderly persons’ perceived accessibility to railway traveling depends on their functional limitations/diseases, their functional abilities and their travel behaviors in interaction with the barriers encountered during whole trips. A survey was conducted on a random sample of 1000 city residents (65–85 years old; 57% response rate). The travels were perceived least accessible by respondents with severely reduced functional ability and by those with more than one functional limitation/disease (e.g., restricted mobility and chronic pain). Those who traveled “often”, perceived the accessibility to be better than those who traveled less frequently. For travelers with high functional ability, the main barriers to more frequent traveling were travel costs and low punctuality. For those with low functional ability, one’s own health was reported to be the main barrier. Our results clarify the links among existing functional limitations/functional abilities, the barriers encountered, the travel behavior, and the overall accessibility to traveling. By operationalizing the whole-trip concept as a chain of events, we deliver practical knowledge on vulnerable groups for decision-making to improve the transport environment for all. PMID:25514149

Ground squirrel tail-flag displays alter both predatory strike and ambush site selection behaviours of rattlesnakes.

PubMed

Barbour, Matthew A; Clark, Rulon W

2012-09-22

Many species approach, inspect and signal towards their predators. These behaviours are often interpreted as predator-deterrent signals--honest signals that indicate to a predator that continued hunting is likely to be futile. However, many of these putative predator-deterrent signals are given when no predator is present, and it remains unclear if and why such signals deter predators. We examined the effects of one such signal, the tail-flag display of California ground squirrels, which is frequently given both during and outside direct encounters with northern Pacific rattlesnakes. We video-recorded and quantified the ambush foraging responses of rattlesnakes to tail-flagging displays from ground squirrels. We found that tail-flagging deterred snakes from striking squirrels, most likely by advertising squirrel vigilance (i.e. readiness to dodge a snake strike). We also found that tail-flagging by adult squirrels increased the likelihood that snakes would leave their ambush site, apparently by elevating the vigilance of nearby squirrels which reduces the profitability of the ambush site. Our results provide some of the first empirical evidence of the mechanisms by which a prey display, although frequently given in the absence of a predator, may still deter predators during encounters.

Temporality of Features in Near-Death Experience Narratives.

PubMed

Martial, Charlotte; Cassol, Héléna; Antonopoulos, Georgios; Charlier, Thomas; Heros, Julien; Donneau, Anne-Françoise; Charland-Verville, Vanessa; Laureys, Steven

2017-01-01

Background: After an occurrence of a Near-Death Experience (NDE), Near-Death Experiencers (NDErs) usually report extremely rich and detailed narratives. Phenomenologically, a NDE can be described as a set of distinguishable features. Some authors have proposed regular patterns of NDEs, however, the actual temporality sequence of NDE core features remains a little explored area. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the frequency distribution of these features (globally and according to the position of features in narratives) as well as the most frequently reported temporality sequences of features. Methods: We collected 154 French freely expressed written NDE narratives (i.e., Greyson NDE scale total score ≥ 7/32). A text analysis was conducted on all narratives in order to infer temporal ordering and frequency distribution of NDE features. Results: Our analyses highlighted the following most frequently reported sequence of consecutive NDE features: Out-of-Body Experience, Experiencing a tunnel, Seeing a bright light, Feeling of peace. Yet, this sequence was encountered in a very limited number of NDErs. Conclusion: These findings may suggest that NDEs temporality sequences can vary across NDErs. Exploring associations and relationships among features encountered during NDEs may complete the rigorous definition and scientific comprehension of the phenomenon.