Integrating post-manufacturing issues into design and manufacturing decisions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eubanks, Charles F.

1996-01-01

An investigation is conducted on research into some of the fundamental issues underlying the design for manufacturing, service and recycling that affect engineering decisions early in the conceptual design phase of mechanical systems. The investigation focuses on a system-based approach to material selection, manufacturing methods and assembly processes related to overall product requirements, performance and life-cycle costs. Particular emphasis is placed on concurrent engineering decision support for post-manufacturing issues such as serviceability, recyclability, and product retirement.

Validating concepts of mental disorder: precedents from the history of science.

PubMed

Miller, Robert

2014-10-01

A fundamental issue in any branch of the natural sciences is validating the basic concepts for use in that branch. In psychiatry, this issue has not yet been resolved, and indeed, the proper nature of the problem has scarcely been recognised. As a result, psychiatry (or at least those parts of the discipline which aspire to scientific status) still cannot claim to be a part of scientific medicine, or to be incorporated within the common language of the natural sciences. While this creates difficulties within the discipline, and its standing in relation to other branches of medicine, it makes it an exciting place for "frontiersmen" (and women). This is one of the key growing points in the natural science tradition. In this essay, which moves from the early history of that tradition to today's debates in scientific psychiatry, I give my views about how these fundamental issues can move towards resolution.

The Hidden Curriculum: What Are We Actually Teaching about the Fundamentals of Care?

PubMed

MacMillan, Kathleen

2016-01-01

The issues of missed or inadequately provided basic nursing care and related complications are being identified as worldwide phenomena of interest. Without being aware of it, educators and practicing nurses may be teaching nursing students that fundamental nursing care is unimportant, uncomplicated and not really nursing's responsibility. This paper explores the concept of the "hidden curriculum" in nursing education, as it relates to fundamental nursing care and calls for greater partnerships between education and service to uncover the hidden curriculum; to effectively shape it to achieve alignment between classroom and practice; and, ultimately, to improve care processes and patient outcomes through collaboration. A renewed focus on the vital importance of what is considered "basics" to patient outcomes is required in nursing education. Copyright © 2016 Longwoods Publishing.

Privacy, security and access with sensitive health information.

PubMed

Croll, Peter

2010-01-01

This chapter gives an educational overview of: * Confidentiality issues and the challenges faced; * The fundamental differences between privacy and security; * The different access control mechanisms; * The challenges of Internet security; * How 'safety and quality' relate to all the above.

Fundamentals of Pharmacogenetics in Personalized, Precision Medicine.

PubMed

Valdes, Roland; Yin, DeLu Tyler

2016-09-01

This article introduces fundamental principles of pharmacogenetics as applied to personalized and precision medicine. Pharmacogenetics establishes relationships between pharmacology and genetics by connecting phenotypes and genotypes in predicting the response of therapeutics in individual patients. We describe differences between precision and personalized medicine and relate principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics to applications in laboratory medicine. We also review basic principles of pharmacogenetics, including its evolution, how it enables the practice of personalized therapeutics, and the role of the clinical laboratory. These fundamentals are a segue for understanding specific clinical applications of pharmacogenetics described in subsequent articles in this issue. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Seminary Formation: A Case Study from the Pontifical Beda College, Rome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strange, Roderick

2015-01-01

This case study account reviews issues related to seminary formation and education at the Beda College, Rome, including Fundamentals of Formation, Community Life, Organizing Formation, Intellectual Formation, Spiritual Formation, Pastoral Formation, and the challenges arising in these fields.

Linguistic Models of FO Use, Physiological Models of FO Control, and the Issue of "Mean Response Time."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herman, Rebecca; Beckman, Mary; Honda, Kiyoshi

1999-01-01

Evaluates "mean response time" (MRT), a method used in previous studies to relate physiological evidence (recordings of electromyographic activity in the cricothyroid and sternohyoid) to acoustic evidence (fundamental frequency). (Author/VWL)

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.

Introduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2014-12-01

This special issue of Applied Surface Science is a compilation of papers inspired by the symposium on "Surface/Interfaces Characterization and Renewable Energy" held at the 2013 MRS Fall Meeting. Practical uses of renewable energy are one of the greatest technical challenges today. The symposium explored a number of surface and interface-related questions relevant to this overarching theme. Topics from fuel cells to photovoltaics, from water splitting to fundamental and practical issues in charge generation and storage were discussed. The work presented included the use of novel experimental spectroscopic and microscopic analytical techniques, theoretical and computational understanding of interfacial phenomena, characterization of intricate behavior of charged species, as well as molecules and molecular fragments at surfaces and interfaces. It emphasized fundamental understanding of underlying processes, as well as practical devices design and applications of surface and interfacial phenomena related to renewable energy. These subjects are complicated by the transport of photons, electrons, ions, heat, and almost any other form of energy. Given the current concerns of climate change, energy independence and national security, this work is important and of interest to the field of Applied Surface Science. The sixteen papers published in this special issue have all been refereed.

Data Sources for Estimating Environment-Related Diseases

PubMed Central

Walker, Bailus

1984-01-01

Relating current morbidity and mortality to environmental and occupational factors requires information on parameters of environmental exposure for practitioners of medicine and other health scientists. A fundamental source of that information is the exposure history recorded in hospitals, clinics, and other points of entry to the health care system. The qualitative and quantitative aspects of this issue are reviewed. PMID:6716500

Religious Belief and Practice: New Forces in American Politics?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beatty, Kathleen Murphy; Walter, Oliver

Exploratory research suggests that denominational preferences, fundamentalism, and church attendance are related to an individual's position on political issues. A review of research reveals that religious beliefs are stable, developed early in life, and are central to an individual's other orientations. Research on religious orientation is…

[Genetic expertise and the penal process].

PubMed

Choclán Montalvo, J A

1998-01-01

The author reflects on the major forensic biology issues related to human genome analysis. He also discusses, from the comparative law perspective, the extent to which genetic test evidence is binding on judges. He concludes with a discussion of the influence of genetic research on people's fundamental rights.

Sustainability, Virtue Ethics, and the Virtue of Harmony with Nature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Karen; Kristjánsson, Kristján

2017-01-01

This article argues that the dominant sustainable development approach fails to acknowledge the interconnectedness and interrelatedness of social and environmental issues, and that sustainability requires a "transformational" approach, involving a fundamental change in how humans relate to each other and to nature. The authors propose…

Spirituality in Music Education: Transcending Culture, Exploration III

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Anthony J.

2010-01-01

Spirituality and religion are not synonymous and, in fact, require not only different definitions but also appropriate vocabulary. A deeper discussion of the issues concerning spirituality ensues in several sections: 1) fundamental differences between spirituality and religion; 2) brain operations relative to transcendent states; 3) a definition…

Fundamental Issues Concerning the Sustainment and Scaling Up of Professional Development Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tirosh, Dina; Tsamir, Pessia; Levenson, Esther

2015-01-01

The issue of sustaining and scaling up professional development for mathematics teachers raises several fundamental issues for researchers. This commentary addresses various definitions for sustainability and scaling up and how these definitions may affect the design of programs as well as the design of research. We consider four of the papers in…

The Oxford Questions on the foundations of quantum physics

PubMed Central

Briggs, G. A. D.; Butterfield, J. N.; Zeilinger, A.

2013-01-01

The twentieth century saw two fundamental revolutions in physics—relativity and quantum. Daily use of these theories can numb the sense of wonder at their immense empirical success. Does their instrumental effectiveness stand on the rock of secure concepts or the sand of unresolved fundamentals? Does measuring a quantum system probe, or even create, reality or merely change belief? Must relativity and quantum theory just coexist or might we find a new theory which unifies the two? To bring such questions into sharper focus, we convened a conference on Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality. Some issues remain as controversial as ever, but some are being nudged by theory's secret weapon of experiment. PMID:24062626

The Oxford Questions on the foundations of quantum physics.

PubMed

Briggs, G A D; Butterfield, J N; Zeilinger, A

2013-09-08

The twentieth century saw two fundamental revolutions in physics-relativity and quantum. Daily use of these theories can numb the sense of wonder at their immense empirical success. Does their instrumental effectiveness stand on the rock of secure concepts or the sand of unresolved fundamentals? Does measuring a quantum system probe, or even create, reality or merely change belief? Must relativity and quantum theory just coexist or might we find a new theory which unifies the two? To bring such questions into sharper focus, we convened a conference on Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality. Some issues remain as controversial as ever, but some are being nudged by theory's secret weapon of experiment.

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF WORKSHOP ON MANAGING ARSENIC RISKS TO THE ENVIRONMENT

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of this workshop will be to serve as a technical forum for the exchange of information on treating arsenic and arsenic compounds. The goals of the workshop are 1) to examine the chemical fundamentals related to arsenic chemistry, speciation, and analytical issues, 2) ...

Islamic Cultures: Health Care Beliefs and Practices.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kemp, Charles

1996-01-01

Presents an overview of Islamic health care beliefs and practices, noting health-related social and spiritual issues, fundamental beliefs and themes in Islam, health care beliefs and practices common among Muslims, and health-affecting social roles among Muslims. Cultural, religious, and social barriers to health care and ways to reduce them are…

A mandate for space education

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Von Puttkamer, Jesco

1989-01-01

Issues related to public education in preparation for a manned Mars program are discussed. Consideration is given to the near- and long-term goals of the space program, the benefits of human expansion in space, and long-range planning for fundamental problem areas in space education. Important concerns for space educators are outlined.

Communication Fact Sheets for Parents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stremel, Kathleen; Bixler, Betsy; Morgan, Susanne; Layton, Kristen

This booklet contains 28 fact sheets on communication written primarily for parents and families with a child who is deaf-blind. They attempt to address fundamental but complex issues related to the communication needs of children with vision and hearing impairments. Each fact sheet targets a specific area, including: (1) communication; (2)…

Design, Materials, and Mechanobiology of Biodegradable Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

PubMed Central

Velasco, Marco A.; Narváez-Tovar, Carlos A.; Garzón-Alvarado, Diego A.

2015-01-01

A review about design, manufacture, and mechanobiology of biodegradable scaffolds for bone tissue engineering is given. First, fundamental aspects about bone tissue engineering and considerations related to scaffold design are established. Second, issues related to scaffold biomaterials and manufacturing processes are discussed. Finally, mechanobiology of bone tissue and computational models developed for simulating how bone healing occurs inside a scaffold are described. PMID:25883972

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF CRITICAL FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES IN HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATION

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of a laboratory-scale program investigating several fundamental issues involved in hazardous waste incineration. The key experiment for each study was the measurement of waste destruction behavior in a sub-scale turbulent spray flame. (1) Atomization Qual...

Lessons learned studying design issues for lunar and Mars settlements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Litton, C. E.

1997-01-01

In a study of lunar and Mars settlement concepts, an analysis was made of fundamental design assumptions in five technical areas against a model list of occupational and environmental health concerns. The technical areas included the proposed science projects to be supported, habitat and construction issues, closed ecosystem issues, the "MMM" issues (mining, material processing, and manufacturing), and the human elements of physiology, behavior, and mission approach. Four major lessons were learned. First it is possible to relate public health concerns to complex technological development in a proactive design mode, which has the potential for long-term cost savings. Second, it became very apparent that prior to committing any nation or international group to spending the billions to start and complete a lunar settlement, over the next century, that a significantly different approach must be taken from those previously proposed, to solve the closed ecosystem and "MMM" problems. Third, it also appears that the health concerns and technology issues to be addressed for human exploration into space are fundamentally those to be solved for human habitation of the Earth (as a closed ecosystem) in the 21st century. Finally, it is proposed that ecosystem design modeling must develop new tools, based on probabilistic models as a step up from closed circuit models.

Lessons learned studying design issues for lunar and Mars settlements.

PubMed

Litton, C E

1997-01-01

In a study of lunar and Mars settlement concepts, an analysis was made of fundamental design assumptions in five technical areas against a model list of occupational and environmental health concerns. The technical areas included the proposed science projects to be supported, habitat and construction issues, closed ecosystem issues, the "MMM" issues (mining, material processing, and manufacturing), and the human elements of physiology, behavior, and mission approach. Four major lessons were learned. First it is possible to relate public health concerns to complex technological development in a proactive design mode, which has the potential for long-term cost savings. Second, it became very apparent that prior to committing any nation or international group to spending the billions to start and complete a lunar settlement, over the next century, that a significantly different approach must be taken from those previously proposed, to solve the closed ecosystem and "MMM" problems. Third, it also appears that the health concerns and technology issues to be addressed for human exploration into space are fundamentally those to be solved for human habitation of the Earth (as a closed ecosystem) in the 21st century. Finally, it is proposed that ecosystem design modeling must develop new tools, based on probabilistic models as a step up from closed circuit models.

Fundamentals of Adult Education: Issues and Practices for Lifelong Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poonwassie, Deo H., Ed.; Poonwassie, Anne, Ed.

This document contains 20 papers on the fundamentals of adult education and foundations, practices, and issues for lifelong learning. The following papers are included: "The Metamorphoses of Andragogy" (James A. Draper); "Stages in the Development of Canadian Adult Education" (Gordon Selman); "Philosophical…

HIV Testing and Treatment with Correctional Populations: People, Not Prisoners

PubMed Central

Seal, David Wyatt; Eldridge, Gloria D.; Zack, Barry; Sosman, James

2014-01-01

Institutional policies, practices, and norms can impede the delivery of ethical standard-of-care treatment for people with HIV in correctional settings. In this commentary, we focus on the fundamental issues that must be addressed to create an ethical environment in which best medical practices can be implemented when working with correctional populations. Thus, we consider ethical issues related to access to services, patient privacy, confidentiality, informed consent for testing and treatment, and issues related to the provision of services in an institutional setting in which maintenance of security is the primary mission. Medical providers must understand and navigate the dehumanization inherent in most correctional settings, competing life demands for incarcerated individuals, power dynamics within the correctional system, and the needs of family and significant others who remain in the community. PMID:20693739

Developing an Energy Policy for the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keefe, Pat

2014-01-01

Al Bartlett's video "Arithmetic, Population, and Energy" spells out many of the complex issues related to energy use in our society. Bartlett makes the point that basic arithmetic is the fundamental obstacle preventing us from being able to grasp the relationships between energy consumption, population, and lifestyles. In an earlier…

The Application of Electrochemical and Surface Analysis Approaches to Studying Copper Corrosion in Water: Fundamentals, Limitations, and Examples

EPA Science Inventory

Corrosion control is a concern for many drinking water utilities. The Lead and Copper Rule established a regulatory need to maintain a corrosion control program. Other corrosion-related issues such as “red” water resulting from excessive iron corrosion and copper pinhole leaks ...

Virtual Teamwork: Students Studying about Ethics in an Online Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ng, Wan

2008-01-01

The fundamental concepts of ethics: value, obligation and responsibility are what many of us use in our everyday decision-making on issues that affect our lives. Students in the coursework unit "Science and technology in contemporary society" learn about these concepts in relation to science and technological research and development. The learning…

Grand Manner Aesthetics in Landscape: From Canvas to Celluloid

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auger, Emily E.

2009-01-01

The methods by which environmental issues are aestheticized in late-twentieth-century film is directly and historically related to those established for grand manner painters by Nicholas Poussin (1594-1665) and taught at the French academy from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries. That these fundamentals were part of the training of…

The Right to Education in a Globalized World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindahl, Ronald

2006-01-01

This article explores the fundamental issues related to education as a human right, particularly in the context of rapid globalization. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations' 1959 Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights all declare education to…

Programme Implementation in Social and Emotional Learning: Basic Issues and Research Findings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durlak, Joseph A.

2016-01-01

This paper discusses the fundamental importance of achieving quality implementation when assessing the impact of social and emotional learning interventions. Recent findings in implementation science are reviewed that include a definition of implementation, its relation to programme outcomes, current research on the factors that affect…

Preface: Ecosystem services, ecosystem health and human communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plag, Hans-Peter

2018-04-01

This special issue contains a collection of manuscripts that were originally intended to be included in the special issue on "Physics and Economics of Ecosystem Services Flows" (Volume 101, guest editors H. Su, J. Dong and S. Nagarajan) and "Biogeochemical Processes in the Changing Wetland Environment" (Volume 103, guest editors J. Bai, L. Huang and H. Gao). All of them are addressing issues related to ecosystem services in different settings. Ecosystem services are of high value for both the ecosystems and human communities, and understanding the impacts of environmental processes and human activities on ecosystems is of fundamental importance for the preservation of these services.

Conformal Infinity.

PubMed

Frauendiener, Jörg

2000-01-01

The notion of conformal infinity has a long history within the research in Einstein's theory of gravity. Today, "conformal infinity" is related with almost all other branches of research in general relativity, from quantisation procedures to abstract mathematical issues to numerical applications. This review article attempts to show how this concept gradually and inevitably evolved out of physical issues, namely the need to understand gravitational radiation and isolated systems within the theory of gravitation and how it lends itself very naturally to solve radiation problems in numerical relativity. The fundamental concept of null-infinity is introduced. Friedrich's regular conformal field equations are presented and various initial value problems for them are discussed. Finally, it is shown that the conformal field equations provide a very powerful method within numerical relativity to study global problems such as gravitational wave propagation and detection.

Conformal Infinity.

PubMed

Frauendiener, Jörg

2004-01-01

The notion of conformal infinity has a long history within the research in Einstein's theory of gravity. Today, "conformal infinity" is related to almost all other branches of research in general relativity, from quantisation procedures to abstract mathematical issues to numerical applications. This review article attempts to show how this concept gradually and inevitably evolved from physical issues, namely the need to understand gravitational radiation and isolated systems within the theory of gravitation, and how it lends itself very naturally to the solution of radiation problems in numerical relativity. The fundamental concept of null-infinity is introduced. Friedrich's regular conformal field equations are presented and various initial value problems for them are discussed. Finally, it is shown that the conformal field equations provide a very powerful method within numerical relativity to study global problems such as gravitational wave propagation and detection.

Respect for patient autonomy in forensic psychiatric nursing.

PubMed

Rose, Donald N

2005-01-01

A fundamental issue that forensic psychiatric nurses struggle with is respect for patient autonomy, as the two liberal prerequisites for autonomy, liberty and rationality, are either absent or compromised in forensic psychiatric settings. In this paper, a contemporary feminist perspective of autonomy, relational autonomy, will be advanced as an alternative approach to the traditional liberalist, Kantian, perspective of autonomy. The concepts of autonomy, paternalism, and justice will be discussed in relation to forensic psychiatric nursing.

Conflict and the Common Good. Studies in Third World Societies, Publication Number Twenty-Four.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merrill, Robert S., Ed.; Willner, Dorothy, Ed.

The fundamental theme of these papers is what constitutes the common good and the issues and problems related to the understanding of that common good. Several anthropologists and a political scientist explore this theme in various geographic settings and from many theoretical and methodological perspectives. Among the countries and cultures…

Perceptions of the Prevalence and Seriousness of Academic Dishonesty in Australian Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brimble, Mark; Stevenson-Clarke, Peta

2005-01-01

Academic dishonesty is a fundamental issue for the academic integrity of higher education institutions, and one that has lately been gaining increasing media attention. This study reports on a survey of 1206 students and 190 academic staff across four major Queensland universities in relation to student academic misconduct. The aim of the survey…

Analogical and Category-Based Inference: A Theoretical Integration with Bayesian Causal Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holyoak, Keith J.; Lee, Hee Seung; Lu, Hongjing

2010-01-01

A fundamental issue for theories of human induction is to specify constraints on potential inferences. For inferences based on shared category membership, an analogy, and/or a relational schema, it appears that the basic goal of induction is to make accurate and goal-relevant inferences that are sensitive to uncertainty. People can use source…

An Inquiry into the Foundations of Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Jorgen A.; Rasmussen, Ole E.

2004-01-01

People's mental models are viewed as being significant in achieving organizational outcomes, on the assumption that mental models influence people's acts. A fundamental issue in the area of organizational learning, then, is the relation between mental models, learning and performance. We contend that a fruitful line of work is to study persons as…

Relation between Aspects of Mother's Personality and Children's Behavior Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babaee, Ensiyeh; Jain, Sachin

2009-01-01

Mothers' health is one of the most important and fundamental issues which the officials of health and care and supreme education should address as an important and effective part in society's individuals lives. The necessity of having a healthy society is having healthy mothers and this health would not be verified unless mother enjoys mental…

The Child's Right To Play.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Beverley

This paper argues that play is an important and fundamental educational process and that the child's right to play should be respected. The paper also comments on the 1990 Tokyo International Conference on the Child's Right to Play. Several issues related to children's play, both in and out of school, are discussed. The focus is on the state of…

The Concept of Ideology in Analysis of Fundamental Questions in Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Säther, Jostein

The use of the concept of `ideology' in interpretation of science education curricula, textbooks and various practises is reviewed, and examples are given by referring to Norwegian curricula and textbooks. The term is proposed to be used in a broad sense about any kind of action-oriented theory based on a system of ideas, or any attempt to approach politics in the light of a system of ideas. Politics in this context is about shaping of education, and is related to forces (i.e., hypothetical impacts of idea systems) which may legitimise, change, or criticise social practices. The focus is (although not in every case) on the hidden, unconscious and critical aspects. The notion ideological aspects is proposed to be related to metaphysical-ontological, epistemological and axiological claims and connotations. Examples of educational issues concerning e.g., aims, compartmentalisation, integration, and fundamentally different ideas about truth, learning and man are mentioned. Searching for a single and unifying concept for the discussing of all of science education's fundamental questions seems however in vain. Therefore a wide range of concepts seems necessary to deepen our understanding of ``the fundamental questions''.

Critical issues in the history, philosophy, and sociology of astrobiology.

PubMed

Dick, Steven J

2012-10-01

Fifty years after serious scientific research began in the field of exobiology, and forty years after serious historical research began on the subject of extraterrestrial life, this paper identifies and examines some of the most important issues in the history, philosophy, and sociology of what is today known as astrobiology. As in the philosophy of science in general, and in the philosophies of particular sciences, critical issues in the philosophy and sociology of astrobiology are both stimulated and illuminated by history. Among those issues are (1) epistemological issues such as the status of astrobiology as a science, the problematic nature of evidence and inference, and the limits of science; (2) metaphysical/scientific issues, including the question of defining the fundamental concepts of life, mind, intelligence, and culture in a universal context; the role of contingency and necessity in the origin of these fundamental phenomena; and whether or not the universe is in some sense fine-tuned for life and perhaps biocentric; (3) societal issues such as the theological, ethical, and worldview impacts of the discovery of microbial or intelligent life; and the question of whether the search for extraterrestrial life should be pursued at all, and with what precautions; and (4) issues related to the sociology of scientific knowledge, including the diverse attitudes and assumptions of different scientific communities and different cultures to the problem of life beyond Earth, the public "will to believe," and the formation of the discipline of astrobiology. All these overlapping issues are framed by the concept of cosmic evolution-the 13.7 billion year Master Narrative of the Universe-which may result in a physical, biological, or postbiological universe and determine the long-term destiny of humanity.

Workshop on Basic Research Opportunities in Photovoltaics

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

Benner, J.; McConnell, R.; Deb, S., Editors

1999-08-25

The Basic Research Opportunities in Photovoltaics Workshop was held on May 3, 1999, in Seattle, Washington, in conjunction with the 195th Meeting of the Electrochemical Society. The workshop was structured into eight topics. Each topic area opened with a presentation in which the participants were asked to address the following: a brief introduction of the area of research; key research issues that were identified in an earlier workshop in 1992; what fundamental research has been done since then or is currently being done to address those issues; what are the research issues that are still relevant in light of advancesmore » made since the first workshop; identification of new fundamental research opportunities that will lead to important advances and innovations; and identification of significant commonalities and common research issues that have a cross-cutting impact, such as logically exist in silicon-based thin films, II-VI, and related materials. The topic areas discussed included amorphous and microcrystalline silicon, crystalline silicon, cadmium telluride, copper indium diselenide; III-V materials; novel materials and energy conversion approaches, semiconducting oxides, and characterization. After the meeting, participants in each working topic continued discussions by electronic means, completing journal articles that are to be published as a separate section in the ECS Proceedings of the ''PV for the 21st Century'' Symposium.« less

The Virtual Museum for Meteorites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madiedo, J. M.

2012-09-01

Meteorites play a fundamental role in education and outreach, as these samples of extraterrestrial materials are very valuable tools to promote the public's interest in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences. Thus, for instance, meteorite exhibitions reveal the interest and fascination of students, educators and even researchers for these peculiar rocks and how these can provide information to explain many fundamental questions related to the origin and evolution of our Solar System. However, despite the efforts of private collectors, museums and other institutions to organize meteorite exhibitions, the reach of these is usually limited. But this issue can be addressed thanks to new technologies related to the Internet. In fact we can take advantage of HTML and related technologies to overcome local boundaries and open the possibility of offering these exhibitions for a global audience. With this aim a Virtual Museum for Meteorites has been created and a description of this web-based tool is given here.

New Approaches to the Diagnosis, Clinical Course, and Goals of Therapy in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.

PubMed

Krieger, Stephen C

2016-06-01

The diagnosis, categorization, and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other demyelinating diseases have shifted over the past decade, and many of the fundamental principles of MS pathogenesis and clinical course are being rewritten. Fundamental issues include selecting the right disease-modifying therapy for someone with active disease and how, or even if, patients with purely progressive MS should be treated. This article provides an overview and introduction to the current thinking in MS diagnosis and therapy with an emphasis on the data-driven and proactive approach that has come to define the current state of the art.

Three-dimensional rendering in medicine: some common misconceptions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Udupa, Jayaram K.

2001-05-01

As seen in the medical imaging literature and in the poster presentations at the annual conference of the Radiological Society of North America during the past 10 years, several mis conceptions are held relating to 3D rendering of medical images. The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate and clarify these with medical examples. Most of the misconceptions have to do with a mix up of the issues related to the common visualization techniques, viz., surface rendering (SR) and volume rendering (VR), and methods of image segmentation. In our survey, we came across the following most commonly held conceptions which we believe (and shall demonstrate) are not correct: (1) SR equated to thresholding. (2) VR considered not requiring segmentation. (3) VR considered to achieve higher resolution than SR. (4) SR/VR considered to require specialized hardware to achieve adequate speed. We shall briefly define and establish some fundamental terms to obviate any potential for terminology-related misconceptions. Subsequently, we shall sort out these issues and illustrate with examples as to why the above conceptions are incorrect. There are many SR methods that use segmentations that are far superior to thresholding. All VR techniques (except the straightforward MIP) require some form of fuzzy object specification, that is, fuzzy segmentation. The details seen in renditions depend fundamentally on, in addition to the rendering method, segmentation techniques also. There are fast-software-based rendering methods that give a performance on PCs similar to or exceeding that of expensive hardware systems. Most of the difficulties encountered in visualization (and also in image processing and analysis) stem from the difficulties in segmentation. It is important to identify these and separate them from the issues related purely to 3D rendering.

[Biomedical foundation for human safety in aviation].

PubMed

Ushakov, I B

2004-01-01

According to the author, preventive medical issues of providing human safety in aviation are related to the fundamental biomedical and socio-psychological problems of human beings in the present-day world. Factual material for analysis was compiled in the study performed at the State Research and Test Institute of Military Medicine. Outlined are main vectors of the future attack on the problem.

Self Help as an Adjunct to Psychotherapy: Issues of Awareness, Motivation, and Self Actualization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Desai, Hemant K.

The nature of the processes involved in the phenomena of psychological change and self-development as related to the concept of self-help and mutual aid are examined in this paper. Awareness, motivation, and self-actualization are seen as part of a fundamental process of growth and development. It is suggested that a parallel to the personal…

Enriching Students' Scientific Thinking through Relational Reasoning: Seeking Evidence in Texts, Tasks, and Talk

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, P. Karen; Firetto, Carla M.; Greene, Jeffrey A.

2017-01-01

As reflected in the Next Generation Science Standards, concerns about the adequacy of education and career preparation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields have led to fundamental shifts in the focus of K-12 science education. Such shifts are also highlighted in many of the articles within this special issue, and the…

The Two Disciplines Problem--"It's Like Déjà Vu All over Again!"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pellegrino, James W.

2017-01-01

In this commentary on this issue's focus article by Baird et al., Pellegrino focuses first on the fundamental nature of educational assessment and its connection to theories, models, and data on learning. He then discusses the contemporary views of learning in the form of learning progressions as they relate to assessment development. In the third…

Transfer or Specificity? An Applied Investigation into the Relationship between Fundamental Overarm Throwing and Related Sport Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Keeffe, S. L.; Harrison, A. J.; Smyth, P. J.

2007-01-01

Background: Optimum sequencing of skills so that learners can benefit from the transfer of previous learning is an important issue in teaching and learning of motor skills. There is a lack of empirical evidence on the specificity and transfer of learning and its application to teaching/coaching situations. Purpose: To investigate the concepts of…

To Be "Cool" or Not to Be "Cool": Young People's Insights on Consumption and Social Issues in Rio de Janeiro

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pedrozo, Sueila

2011-01-01

Given the importance of material goods consumption to young people and the perception that to be "cool" is fundamental to identity construction, this study investigates consumption in relation to social, economic and cultural inequalities. Qualitative individual interviews took place in November 2005, in Rio de Janeiro, with 14 high…

[The Federal Law "On the fundamentals of health protection of citizen in the Russian Federation" and the issues of management of medical care quality].

PubMed

Lindenbraten, A P

2012-01-01

The article deals with the analysis of main statutory provisions of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation No 323-FZ of 21.11.2011 "On the fundamentals of health protection of citizen in the Russian Federation", concerning the issue of medical care quality.

Fairness in Knowing: Science Communication and Epistemic Justice.

PubMed

Medvecky, Fabien

2017-09-22

Science communication, as a field and as a practice, is fundamentally about knowledge distribution; it is about the access to, and the sharing of knowledge. All distribution (science communication included) brings with it issues of ethics and justice. Indeed, whether science communicators acknowledge it or not, they get to decide both which knowledge is shared (by choosing which topic is communicated), and who gets access to this knowledge (by choosing which audience it is presented to). As a result, the decisions of science communicators have important implications for epistemic justice: how knowledge is distributed fairly and equitably. This paper presents an overview of issues related to epistemic justice for science communication, and argues that there are two quite distinct ways in which science communicators can be just (or unjust) in the way they distribute knowledge. Both of these paths will be considered before concluding that, at least on one of these accounts, science communication as a field and as a practice is fundamentally epistemically unjust. Possible ways to redress this injustice are suggested.

Bridge to the future: nontraditional clinical settings, concepts and issues.

PubMed

Faller, H S; Dowell, M A; Jackson, M A

1995-11-01

Healthcare restructuring in the wake of healthcare reform places greater emphasis on primary healthcare. Clinical education in acute care settings and existing community health agencies are not compatible with teaching basic concepts, principles and skills fundamental to nursing. Problems of clients in acute care settings are too complex and clients in the community are often too dispersed for necessary faculty support and supervision of beginning nursing students. Nontraditional learning settings offer the baccalaureate student the opportunity to practice fundamental skills of care and address professional skills of negotiation, assertiveness, organization, collaboration and leadership. An overview of faculty designed clinical learning experiences in nontraditional sites such as McDonald's restaurants, inner city churches, YWCA's, the campus community and homes are presented. The legal, ethical and academic issues associated with nontraditional learning settings are discussed in relation to individual empowerment, decision making and evaluation. Implications for the future address the role of the students and faculty as they interact with the community in which they live and practice.

Weathering and landscape evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turkington, Alice V.; Phillips, Jonathan D.; Campbell, Sean W.

2005-04-01

In recognition of the fundamental control exerted by weathering on landscape evolution and topographic development, the 35th Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium was convened under the theme of Weathering and Landscape Evolution. The papers and posters presented at the conference imparted the state-of-the-art in weathering geomorphology, tackled the issue of scale linkage in geomorphic studies and offered a vehicle for interdisciplinary communication on research into weathering and landscape evolution. The papers included in this special issue are encapsulated here under the general themes of weathering mantles, weathering and relative dating, weathering and denudation, weathering processes and controls and the 'big picture'.

Fundamental issues in the geology and geophysics of venus.

PubMed

Solomon, S C; Head, J W

1991-04-12

A number of important and currently unresolved issues in the global geology and geophysics of Venus will be addressable with the radar imaging, altimetry, and gravity measurements now forthcoming from the Magellan mission. Among these are the global volcanic flux and the rate of formation of new crust; the global heat flux and its regional variations; the relative importance of localized hot spots and linear centers of crustal spreading to crustal formation and tectonics; and the planform of mantle convection on Venus and the nature of the interactions among interior convective flow, near-surface deformation and magmatism.

Biohydrogenesis in the Thermotogales

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

Kelly, Robert M.; Blum, Paul H.; Noll, Kenneth M.

The production and consumption of molecular hydrogen drives the physiology and bioenergetics of many microorganisms in hydrothermal environments. As such, the potential of these microorganisms as model systems to probe fundamental issues related to biohydrogen production merits consideration. It is important to understand how carbon/energy sources relate to the disposition of reducing power and, ultimately, the formation of molecular hydrogen by high temperature microorganisms. This project focused on bacteria in the thermophilic order Thermotogales, fermentative anaerobes that produce H 2 from simple and complex carbohydrates.

Human/Computer Transaction Tasks: An Annotated Bibliography.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-05-01

Operations (Manpower, Personnel, and Training, OP-01). The subproject was directed toward resolving fundamental human engineering design issues in...1978 and results were used at the Navy Personnel Research and Development Center in research to resolve fundamental human engineering design issues for...Dialogue Monitor and analysis of Sthe data obtained are briefly discussed. Alden, D. G., Daniels, P. 3., and Kanarick, A. F. Keyboard design and

Understanding Fundamentals and Reaction Mechanisms of Electrode Materials for Na-Ion Batteries.

PubMed

Yu, Linghui; Wang, Luyuan Paul; Liao, Hanbin; Wang, Jingxian; Feng, Zhenxing; Lev, Ovadia; Loo, Joachim S C; Sougrati, Moulay Tahar; Xu, Zhichuan J

2018-04-01

Development of efficient, affordable, and sustainable energy storage technologies has become an area of interest due to the worsening environmental issues and rising technological dependence on Li-ion batteries. Na-ion batteries (NIBs) have been receiving intensive research efforts during the last few years. Owing to their potentially low cost and relatively high energy density, NIBs are promising energy storage devices, especially for stationary applications. A fundamental understanding of electrode properties during electrochemical reactions is important for the development of low cost, high-energy density, and long shelf life NIBs. This Review aims to summarize and discuss reaction mechanisms of the major types of NIB electrode materials reported. By appreciating how the material works and the fundamental flaws it possesses, it is hoped that this Review will assist readers in coming up with innovative solutions for designing better materials for NIBs. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Sexual ethics and communal judgments: on the pluralism of virtues, values, and practices.

PubMed

Lustig, B Andrew

1998-04-01

Different judgments by Christian communities on issues in sexual ethics involve different weightings of various sources of moral authority, different understandings of the normativity of the natural, and different assessments of the scope of freedom to be exercised in relation to the goods of marriage. These fundamental differences of interpretation can be exemplified by the ongoing Roman Catholic discussion of the legitimacy of voluntary sterilization in certain "hard cases." The contributors to this issue of Christian Bioethics, in their spirited exchange on that issue, exemplify the need for careful attention to the ways that differences of theological emphasis and moral method lead to different judgements in particular cases, both within and between particular Christian communities.

[Conversations on the "good death": the bioethical debate on euthanasia].

PubMed

Siqueira-Batista, Rodrigo; Schramm, Fermin Roland

2005-01-01

Despite extensive current debate on euthanasia, many open and apparently unsolvable issues persist, awaiting a better conceptual treatment. The area includes "prejudices and fundamentalisms" in relation to the theme, still viewed as taboo by a major share of society, specifically in the case of Brazil, while semantic imprecision in the term and argumentative tensions surround the issue, focusing on the principles of sacredness of life, quality of life, and autonomy and the so-called "slippery slope" argument. The purpose of the current essay is thus to serve as a sphere of inquiry concerning euthanasia, moving from historical antecedents towards a better solution to the problem and the demarcation of necessary future perspectives for enhanced understanding of the issue.

Measuring Opportunity to Learn and Achievement Growth: Key Research Issues with Implications for the Effective Education of All Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliott, Stephen N.

2015-01-01

The related constructs of opportunity to learn (OTL) and achievement growth are fundamental aspects of the current large-scale assessment and accountability system in operation in the United States. For purposes of this article, OTL is defined as the degree to which a teacher dedicates instructional time and content coverage to the intended…

Te Pikaunga-Mahi Me Te Kohukihuki (Workload and Stress)=A National Survey of Maori Aste Te Hau Takitini O Aotearoa Members.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sisley, Renee; Waiti, Danica

In 1996 a national survey was undertaken of 24 Maori members of the Association of Staff in Tertiary Education in New Zealand. It followed an earlier study and sought to investigate further the workloads of Maori staff members and related issues. The research process gave fundamental priority to ensuring culturally appropriate research practices.…

Design and analysis issues of integrated control systems for high-speed civil transports

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccarty, Craig A.; Feather, John B.; Dykman, John R.; Page, Mark A.; Hodgkinson, John

1992-01-01

A study was conducted to identify, rank, and define development plans for the critical guidance and control design and analysis issues as related to economically viable and environmentally acceptable high-speed civil transport. The issues were identified in a multistep process. First, pertinent literature on supersonic cruise aircraft was reviewed, and experts were consulted to establish the fundamental characteristics and problems inherent to supersonic cruise aircraft. Next, the advanced technologies and strategies being pursued for the high-speed civil transport were considered to determine any additional unique control problems the transport may have. Finally, existing technologies and methods were examined to determine their capabilities for the design and analysis of high-speed civil transport control systems and to identify the shortcomings and issues. Three priority levels - mandatory, highly beneficial, and desirable - were established. Within each of these levels, the issues were further ranked. Technology development plans for each issue were defined. Each plan contains a task breakdown and schedule.

[Relationship between water supply, sanitation, public health, and environment: elements for the formulation of a sanitary infrastructure planning model].

PubMed

Soares, Sérgio R A; Bernardes, Ricardo S; Netto, Oscar de M Cordeiro

2002-01-01

The understanding of sanitation infrastructure, public health, and environmental relations is a fundamental assumption for planning sanitation infrastructure in urban areas. This article thus suggests elements for developing a planning model for sanitation infrastructure. The authors performed a historical survey of environmental and public health issues related to the sector, an analysis of the conceptual frameworks involving public health and sanitation systems, and a systematization of the various effects that water supply and sanitation have on public health and the environment. Evaluation of these effects should guarantee the correct analysis of possible alternatives, deal with environmental and public health objectives (the main purpose of sanitation infrastructure), and provide the most reasonable indication of actions. The suggested systematization of the sanitation systems effects in each step of their implementation is an advance considering the association between the fundamental elements for formulating a planning model for sanitation infrastructure.

Why Von Neumann interstellar probes could not exist: nonoptical reflections on modern analytic philosophy, bad arguments, and unutilised data.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodall, Clive

1993-08-01

A decisive and lethal response to a naive radical skepticism concerning the prospects for the existence of Extraterrestrial Intelligence is derivable from core areas of Modern Analytic Philosophy. The naive skeptical view is fundamentally flawed in the way it oversimplifies certain complex issues, failing as it does, to recognize a special class of conceptual problems for what they really are and mistakenly treating them instead as empirical issues. Specifically, this skepticism is based upon an untenable oversimplifying mode of the 'mind-brain' relation. Moreover, independent logical considerations concerning the mind-brain relation provide evidential grounds for why we should in fact expect a priori that an Alien Intelligence will face constraints upon, and immense difficulties in, making its existence known by non- electromagnetic means.

Introduction to the special issue: message design in health communication research.

PubMed

Harrington, Nancy Grant

2015-01-01

Message design is one of the most complex and vibrant research areas in the communication discipline. Based on the preconference of the 2014 Kentucky Conference on Health Communication, this special issue of Health Communication is focused on a broad range of message design concerns. It features 10 original articles addressing topics ranging from fundamental questions related to theory and method to questions of message adaptation for translation and dissemination. Together, these articles reflect the rich variety of health behaviors addressed by health communication researchers and the breadth and depth of theoretical, methodological, and practical approaches to be considered in message design research.

Human agency in social cognitive theory.

PubMed

Bandura, A

1989-09-01

The present article examines the nature and function of human agency within the conceptual model of triadic reciprocal causation. In analyzing the operation of human agency in this interactional causal structure, social cognitive theory accords a central role to cognitive, vicarious, self-reflective, and self-regulatory processes. The issues addressed concern the psychological mechanisms through which personal agency is exercised, the hierarchical structure of self-regulatory systems, eschewal of the dichotomous construal of self as agent and self as object, and the properties of a nondualistic but nonreductional conception of human agency. The relation of agent causality to the fundamental issues of freedom and determinism is also analyzed.

[Neurotic conflict systematics--the fundamentals of conflict diagnostics (OPD-2)].

PubMed

Schüssler, Gerhard; Burgmer, Markus; Mans, Elmar; Schneider, Gundrun; Dahlbender, Reiner; Heuft, Gereon

2006-01-01

Although a majority of psychodynamic-psychoanalytic researchers and practitioners address the issue of psychic structure, reevaluation of the nature of a neurotic conflict system and its relation to psychic structure is necessary. A comprehensive conflict system is presented in the context of operative psychodynamic diagnostics (OPD-2), based on findings confirmed thus far. The conflict levels range from conflict tension to neurotic conflicts to conflict schemata in structural disturbances.

Plastic Recycling Experiments in Materials Education

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Ping; Waskom, Tommy L.

1996-01-01

The objective of this project was to introduce a series of plastic recycling experiments to students in materials-related courses such as materials science, material technology and materials testing. With the plastic recycling experiments, students not only can learn the fundamentals of plastic processing and properties as in conventional materials courses, but also can be exposed to the issue of materials life cycle and the impact on society and environment.

Relativistic causality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valente, Giovanni; Owen Weatherall, James

2014-11-01

Relativity theory is often taken to include, or to imply, a prohibition on superluminal propagation of causal processes. Yet, what exactly the prohibition on superluminal propagation amounts to and how one should deal with its possible violation have remained open philosophical problems, both in the context of the metaphysics of causation and the foundations of physics. In particular, recent work in philosophy of physics has focused on the causal structure of spacetime in relativity theory and on how this causal structure manifests itself in our most fundamental theories of matter. These topics were the subject of a workshop on "Relativistic Causality in Quantum Field Theory and General Relativity" that we organized (along with John Earman) at the Center for Philosophy of Science in Pittsburgh on April 5-7, 2013. The present Special Issue comprises contributions by speakers in that workshop as well as several other experts exploring different aspects of relativistic causality. We are grateful to the journal for hosting this Special Issue, to the journal's managing editor, Femke Kuiling, for her help and support in putting the issue together, and to the authors and the referees for their excellent work.

Statistical properties of exciton fine structure splitting and polarization angles in quantum dot ensembles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Ming; Hofer, B.; Zallo, E.; Trotta, R.; Luo, Jun-Wei; Schmidt, O. G.; Zhang, Chuanwei

2014-05-01

We develop an effective model to describe the statistical properties of exciton fine structure splitting (FSS) and polarization angle in quantum dot ensembles (QDEs) using only a few symmetry-related parameters. The connection between the effective model and the random matrix theory is established. Such effective model is verified both theoretically and experimentally using several rather different types of QDEs, each of which contains hundreds to thousands of QDs. The model naturally addresses three fundamental issues regarding the FSS and polarization angels of QDEs, which are frequently encountered in both theories and experiments. The answers to these fundamental questions yield an approach to characterize the optical properties of QDEs. Potential applications of the effective model are also discussed.

METHODOLOGICAL NOTES: On the redefinition of the kilogram and ampere in terms of fundamental physical constants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karshenboim, Savelii G.

2006-09-01

In the summer of 2005, a meeting of the Consultative Committee for Units of the International Committee on Weights and Measures took place. One of the topics discussed at the meeting was a possible redefinition of the kilogram in terms of fundamental physical constants — a question of relevance to a wide circle of specialists, from school teachers to physicists performing research in a great variety of fields. In this paper, the current situation regarding this question is briefly reviewed and its discussion at the Consultative Committee for Units and other bodies involved is covered. Other issues related to the International System of Units (SI) and broached at the meeting are also discussed.

Structuring policy problems for plastics, the environment and human health: reflections from the UK

PubMed Central

Shaxson, Louise

2009-01-01

How can we strengthen the science–policy interface for plastics, the environment and human health? In a complex policy area with multiple stakeholders, it is important to clarify the nature of the particular plastics-related issue before trying to understand how to reconcile the supply and demand for evidence in policy. This article proposes a simple problem typology to assess the fundamental characteristics of a policy issue and thus identify appropriate processes for science–policy interactions. This is illustrated with two case studies from one UK Government Department, showing how policy and science meet over the environmental problems of plastics waste in the marine environment and on land. A problem-structuring methodology helps us understand why some policy issues can be addressed through relatively linear flows of science from experts to policymakers but why others demand a more reflexive approach to brokering the knowledge between science and policy. Suggestions are given at the end of the article for practical actions that can be taken on both sides. PMID:19528061

Structuring policy problems for plastics, the environment and human health: reflections from the UK.

PubMed

Shaxson, Louise

2009-07-27

How can we strengthen the science-policy interface for plastics, the environment and human health? In a complex policy area with multiple stakeholders, it is important to clarify the nature of the particular plastics-related issue before trying to understand how to reconcile the supply and demand for evidence in policy. This article proposes a simple problem typology to assess the fundamental characteristics of a policy issue and thus identify appropriate processes for science-policy interactions. This is illustrated with two case studies from one UK Government Department, showing how policy and science meet over the environmental problems of plastics waste in the marine environment and on land. A problem-structuring methodology helps us understand why some policy issues can be addressed through relatively linear flows of science from experts to policymakers but why others demand a more reflexive approach to brokering the knowledge between science and policy. Suggestions are given at the end of the article for practical actions that can be taken on both sides.

Ecological Knowledge Among Communities, Managers and Scientists: Bridging Divergent Perspectives to Improve Forest Management Outcomes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rist, Lucy; Shackleton, Charlie; Gadamus, Lily; Chapin, F. Stuart; Gowda, C. Made; Setty, Siddappa; Kannan, Ramesh; Shaanker, R. Uma

2016-04-01

Multiple actors are typically involved in forest management, namely communities, managers and researchers. In such cases, suboptimal management outcomes may, in addition to other factors, be symptomatic of a divergence in perspectives among these actors driven by fundamental differences in ecological knowledge. We examine the degree of congruence between the understandings of actors surrounding key issues of management concern in three case studies from tropical, subtropical and boreal forests. We identify commonly encountered points of divergence in ecological knowledge relating to key management processes and issues. We use these to formulate seven hypotheses about differences in the bodies of knowledge that frequently underlie communication and learning failures in forest management contexts where multiple actors are involved and outcomes are judged to be suboptimal. Finally, we present a set of propositions to acknowledge and narrow these differences. A more complete recognition of the full triangulation between all actors involved, and of the influence that fundamental differences in ecological knowledge can exert, may help lead to a more fruitful integration between local knowledge and practice, manager knowledge and practice, and contemporary science in forest management.

Observations on the interaction of nanomaterials with bacteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raja, P. M.; Ajayan, P. M.; Nalamasu, O.; Sharma, A.

2006-05-01

Large scale commercial manufacturing of nanomaterials raises the important issue of their environmental fate. With increased production (estimated to be in million gallon range) the nanomaterial interactions with environmental microbial ecology would be significant. However, there are scant studies that have addressed this concern. It is therefore essential to experimentally determine some fundamental parameters to ascertain any environmental stresses related to microbiological interactions of nanomaterials. There are concerns that such an interaction may be similar to the biogeochemical interactions of asbestos fibers, which continues to be an alarming environmental issue. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are newly emerging nanomaterials, with a wide range of potential electronic and medical applications. Though CNTs are dimensionally similar to the mineral fibers, they differ morphologically, and can possess different surface chemistries, capable of complex and varied biological interactions within the environment. In this study, we present experimental data that show discernible effects on microbial morphology, biofilm formation, substrate consumption rates and growth of Escherichia coli in the presence of carbon nanotubes with the aim of developing a fundamental understanding of the environmental implications of CNT-microbial interactions.

Taking a Stand: The Next 50 Years of Community Psychology.

PubMed

Brodsky, Anne E

2016-12-01

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of community psychology, the author looks backwards in community psychology literature and to each side in other allied disciplines to suggest three fundamental issues that are in need of critical reflection and re-evaluation as we move toward the next 50 plus years of our field. These fundamental issues are: Defining community psychology, Doing community psychology, and Perfecting community psychology. © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.

[Healthcare: a growing role in international politics].

PubMed

Dixneuf, M; Rey, J L

2004-01-01

Since the end of the cold war the tone of international relations has clearly changed. Whereas relations were once defined strictly in terms of more or less armed confrontation, economic and social issues now play a growing role. Healthcare policies in Africa have long been influenced by the policies of countries sponsoring bilateral and even multilateral foreign aid programs. However the last ten years have witnessed an increasing interaction between international policy and healthcare policy. The two main reasons for this trend involve 1) access to drug treatment and the WTO and 2) the extension and impact of the AIDS epidemic. The problem of access to drug treatment for poor populations (fundamental right) has led to the emergence of an increasingly strong and effective civil society. Because of its social and economic effects as well as its geopolitical and security implications, AIDS has become a major factor in international relations. With regard to both these issues the place and role of the USA is demonstrative of the interaction between healthcare and international relations.

Posing Problems Without an Alliance: China-Iran Relations after the Nuclear Deal

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-25

support for a more assertive Iranian foreign policy . Thus, despite the prospects of greater China-Iran economic and diplomatic cooperation, the two...exporting advanced weapons, which could embolden Iran to conduct a more brazen foreign policy that would threaten China’s fundamental need for...partnerships with states such as Pakistan or North Korea.11 A key issue is whether, and how, the nuclear deal may affect China’s policies toward Iran

Economic aspects of rare diseases.

PubMed

Borski, Krzysztof

2015-01-01

Economic problems related to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases are presented paying particular attention to the costs of financing treatment, including the issue of its refund, which is a fundamental and difficult to solve economic problem of the health care system. Rare diseases, despite the low frequency of occurrence, together cover a large group of diseases being a serious medical, social and economic problem. The adoption of Polish National Plan for Rare Diseases resulting from the recommendations of the Council of the European Union, the extension of institutional activities related to the area of public health and social initiatives seeking innovative solutions to create a model of social support for patients and their families, with very high complexity of the issues regarding rare diseases, results in the need for a coherent, comprehensive, system operations and adoption of comprehensive solutions.

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

Dincă, Mircea; Léonard, François

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), with their crystalline nanoporous three-dimensional structures, have emerged as unique multifunctional materials that combine high porosity with catalytic, photophysical, or other properties to reveal new fundamental science and applications. Because MOFs are composed of organic molecules linking metal centers in ways that are not usually conducive to the formation of free-charge carriers or low-energy charge-transport pathways, they are typically insulators. Accordingly, applications so far have harnessed the unique structural properties and porosity of MOFs, which depend only to a small extent on the ability to manipulate their electronic structure. An exciting new area has emerged due tomore » the recent demonstration of MOFs with controlled electronic and optical properties, which is enabling new fundamental science and opens up the possibility of applications in electronics and photonics. This article presents an overview of the fundamental science issues related to controlling electronic and optical properties of MOFs, and how research groups worldwide have been exploring such properties for electronics, thermoelectrics, photophysics, and charge storage.« less

[AVIATION MEDICINE: THEORETICAL CONCEPTS AND FOCAL FUNDAMENTAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES (for the 80th anniversary of the Research Test Center of Aerospace Medicine and Military Ergonomics)].

PubMed

Zhdanko, I M; Pisarev, A A; Vorona, A A; Lapa, V V; Khomenko, M N

2015-01-01

The article discloses postulates of theoretical concepts that make the methodological basis for addressing the real-world aviation medicine challenges of humanizing aviator's environment, labor content and means, and health and performance maintenance. Under consideration are focal fundamental and practical issues arising with the technological progress in aviation and dealt with at the AF CRI Research Test Center of Aerospace Medicine and Military Ergonomics.

Research Library Issues. RLI 293

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baughman, M. Sue, Ed.

2018-01-01

This issue of "Research Library Issues" ("RLI") presents an introduction article and two companion articles, which highlight Net Neutrality. The introduction article, "Why Net Neutrality Matters and What Research Libraries Can Do about It" (Mary Lee Kennedy), explains that the fundamental intent of the open internet…

New directions in mechanics

DOE PAGES

Kassner, Michael E.; Nemat-Nasser, Sia; Suo, Zhigang; ...

2004-09-15

The Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering of the US Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored a workshop to identify cutting-edge research needs and opportunities, enabled by the application of theoretical and applied mechanics. The workshop also included input from biochemical, surface science, and computational disciplines, on approaching scientific issues at the nanoscale, and the linkage of atomistic-scale with nano-, meso-, and continuum-scale mechanics. This paper is a summary of the outcome of the workshop, consisting of three main sections, each put together by a team of workshop participants. Section 1 addresses research opportunities that can be realized by the applicationmore » of mechanics fundamentals to the general area of self-assembly, directed self-assembly, and fluidics. Section 2 examines the role of mechanics in biological, bioinspired, and biohybrid material systems, closely relating to and complementing the material covered in Section 1. In this manner, it was made clear that mechanics plays a fundamental role in understanding the biological functions at all scales, in seeking to utilize biology and biological techniques to develop new materials and devices, and in the general area of bionanotechnology. While direct observational investigations are an essential ingredient of new discoveries and will continue to open new exciting research doors, it is the basic need for controlled experimentation and fundamentally- based modeling and computational simulations that will be truly empowered by a systematic use of the fundamentals of mechanics. Section 3 brings into focus new challenging issues in inelastic deformation and fracturing of materials that have emerged as a result of the development of nanodevices, biopolymers, and hybrid bio–abio systems. As a result, each section begins with some introductory overview comments, and then provides illustrative examples that were presented at the workshop and which are believed to highlight the enabling research areas and, particularly, the impact that mechanics can make in enhancing the fundamental understanding that can lead to new technologies.« less

Environmental impact assessment in urban transport planning: Exploring process-related barriers in Spanish practice

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

Soria-Lara, Julio A., E-mail: j.a.sorialara@uva.nl; Bertolini, Luca, E-mail: l.bertolini@uva.nl; Brömmelstroet, Marco te, E-mail: M.C.G.teBrommelstroet@uva.nl

The effectiveness of EIA for evaluating transport planning projects is increasingly being questioned by practitioners, institutions and scholars. The academic literature has traditionally focused more on solving content-related problems with EIA (i.e. the measurement of environmental effects) than on process-related issues (i.e. the role of EIA in the planning process and the interaction between key actors). Focusing only on technical improvements is not sufficient for rectifying the effectiveness problems of EIA. In order to address this knowledge gap, the paper explores how EIA is experienced in the Spanish planning context and offers in-depth insight into EIA process-related issues in themore » field of urban transport planning. From the multitude of involved actors, the research focuses on exploring the perceptions of the two main professional groups: EIA developers and transport planners. Through a web-based survey we assess the importance of process-related barriers to the effective use of EIA in urban transport planning. The analyses revealed process issues based fundamentally on unstructured stakeholders involvement and an inefficient public participation - Highlights: • Qualitative research on perceptions of EIA participants on EIA processes. • Web-based survey with different participants (EIA-developers; transport planners). • It was seen an inefficient participation of stakeholders during the EIA processes.« less

Characteristics of the Mott transition and electronic states of high-temperature cuprate superconductors from the perspective of the Hubbard model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohno, Masanori

2018-04-01

A fundamental issue of the Mott transition is how electrons behaving as single particles carrying spin and charge in a metal change into those exhibiting separated spin and charge excitations (low-energy spin excitation and high-energy charge excitation) in a Mott insulator. This issue has attracted considerable attention particularly in relation to high-temperature cuprate superconductors, which exhibit electronic states near the Mott transition that are difficult to explain in conventional pictures. Here, from a new viewpoint of the Mott transition based on analyses of the Hubbard model, we review anomalous features observed in high-temperature cuprate superconductors near the Mott transition.

Ethical issues when using social media for health outside professional relationships.

PubMed

DeCamp, Matthew

2015-04-01

Social media have the potential to revolutionize health and healthcare, but fulfilling this potential requires attention to the ethical issues social media may raise. This article reviews the major ethical issues arising when social media are used for research, public health, mobile health applications, and global health. It focuses on social media use outside fiduciary relationships between healthcare professionals and patients. Emphasis is given to the potential of social media in these contexts, the ethical issues relatively unique to each, and where possible how existing ethical principles and frameworks could help navigate these issues. In some cases social media create the circumstance for particular ethical issues but also facilitate managing them, such as in informed consent for research. In other cases, disagreement exists about whether social media - despite their potential - should be used for certain purposes, such as in public health surveillance (where confidentiality represents a significant ethical concern). In still others, ethical uncertainty exists about how social media will affect ethical issues, such as inequality in global health. As social media technologies continue to develop, identifying and managing the ethical issues they raise will be critical to their success in improving health while preserving fundamental ethical values.

Mass media and environmental issues: a theoretical analysis

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

Parlour, J.W.

1980-01-01

A critique of the weak empirical and theoretical foundations of commentaries on the mass media in the environmental literature argues that they stem from the incidental rather than fundamental concern for the social dimensions of environmental problems. The contributions of information theory, cybernetics, sociology, and political science to micro and macro theories of mass communications are reviewed. Information from empirical analyses of the mass media's portrayal of social issues, including the environment, is related to Hall's dominant ideology thesis of the mass media and the elitist-conflict model of society. It is argued that the media's portrayal of environmental issues ismore » structured by dominant power-holding groups in society with the result that the media effectively function to maintain and reinforce the status quo to the advantage of these dominant groups. 78 references.« less

Family therapy and fundamentalism: One family therapist's exploration of ethics and collaboration with religious fundamentalist families.

PubMed

Sherbersky, Hannah

2016-07-01

What are the therapeutic limitations of systemic psychotherapy when working with families who hold religious fundamentalist beliefs? At a time of debate about religious fundamentalism, terrorism and radicalisation, where do family therapists position themselves when confronted by extreme beliefs in the therapy room? Research suggests that the increase in modernity within our society equates not just with an increase in secularisation, but rather an increase in pluralism. Contemporary models of family therapy pay explicit attention to issues of gender, culture, ethnicity, discrimination and societal contexts. The author, therefore, proposes that family therapists need to examine their position regarding religious fundamentalism in relation to the social constructionist relativist continuum and engage with uncomfortable questions about whether they believe that fundamentalism has essentially pathological roots. This article will explore whether the dualist position within some religious movements set against a more secular psychotherapeutic and psychiatric cultural milieu can invite a fundamentalised response from clinicians. The author draws on her own work with families who hold religious fundamentalist beliefs and enquires about ethics, transparency and collaboration within family therapy practice. This article invites complex ongoing challenging questions and debate. © The Author(s) 2015.

Quantized thermal transport in single-atom junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Longji; Jeong, Wonho; Hur, Sunghoon; Matt, Manuel; Klöckner, Jan C.; Pauly, Fabian; Nielaba, Peter; Cuevas, Juan Carlos; Meyhofer, Edgar; Reddy, Pramod

2017-03-01

Thermal transport in individual atomic junctions and chains is of great fundamental interest because of the distinctive quantum effects expected to arise in them. By using novel, custom-fabricated, picowatt-resolution calorimetric scanning probes, we measured the thermal conductance of gold and platinum metallic wires down to single-atom junctions. Our work reveals that the thermal conductance of gold single-atom junctions is quantized at room temperature and shows that the Wiedemann-Franz law relating thermal and electrical conductance is satisfied even in single-atom contacts. Furthermore, we quantitatively explain our experimental results within the Landauer framework for quantum thermal transport. The experimental techniques reported here will enable thermal transport studies in atomic and molecular chains, which will be key to investigating numerous fundamental issues that thus far have remained experimentally inaccessible.

Astrophysical constraints on Planck scale dissipative phenomena.

PubMed

Liberati, Stefano; Maccione, Luca

2014-04-18

The emergence of a classical spacetime from any quantum gravity model is still a subtle and only partially understood issue. If indeed spacetime is arising as some sort of large scale condensate of more fundamental objects, then it is natural to expect that matter, being a collective excitation of the spacetime constituents, will present modified kinematics at sufficiently high energies. We consider here the phenomenology of the dissipative effects necessarily arising in such a picture. Adopting dissipative hydrodynamics as a general framework for the description of the energy exchange between collective excitations and the spacetime fundamental degrees of freedom, we discuss how rates of energy loss for elementary particles can be derived from dispersion relations and used to provide strong constraints on the base of current astrophysical observations of high-energy particles.

Fractal growth of platinum electrodeposits revealed by in situ electron microscopy.

PubMed

Wang, Lifen; Wen, Jianguo; Sheng, Huaping; Miller, Dean J

2016-10-06

Fractals are commonly observed in nature and elucidating the mechanisms of fractal-related growth is a compelling issue for both fundamental science and technology. Here we report an in situ electron microscopy study of dynamic fractal growth of platinum during electrodeposition in a miniaturized electrochemical cell at varying growth conditions. Highly dendritic growth - either dense branching or ramified islands - are formed at the solid-electrolyte interface. We show how the diffusion length of ions in the electrolyte influences morphology selection and how instability induced by initial surface roughness, combined with local enhancement of electric field, gives rise to non-uniform branched deposition as a result of nucleation/growth at preferred locations. Comparing the growth behavior under these different conditions provides new insight into the fundamental mechanisms of platinum nucleation.

Developing an Energy Policy for the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keefe, Pat

2014-12-01

Al Bartlett's video "Arithmetic, Population, and Energy"1 spells out many of the complex issues related to energy use in our society. Bartlett makes the point that basic arithmetic is the fundamental obstacle preventing us from being able to grasp the relationships between energy consumption, population, and lifestyles. In an earlier version of Bartlett's video, he refers to a "Hagar the Horrible" comic strip in which Hagar asks the critical question, "Good…Now can anybody here count?"

[Further challenges in collaboration and cross-specialization work in psychiatric services].

PubMed

Sakano, Yuji; Nakamura, Touru; Nakajima, Kimihiro

2011-01-01

Using a case illustrating cognitive behavioral treatment for a patient with obsessive-compulsive disorder, clinical tips and challenges are described in the context of collaboration between multiple health professionals from different backgrounds in a psychiatric hospital. Furthermore, after reviewing the current status of education and training issues related to collaboration, and introducing the fundamental concept of cross-specialization work, existing tasks and future challenges involved in the education and training of multiple health professions are discussed.

SPECIAL ISSUE DEVOTED TO THE 80TH BIRTHDAY OF S.A. AKHMANOV: Selective generation of a higher harmonic in plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kulagin, I. A.; Usmanov, T.

2009-07-01

It is shown for the first time that the use of autoionisation states for phase matching leads to the efficient selection of a single harmonic generated in a plateau region in plasma. The selected harmonic frequency can be tuned by changing the relative concentration of plasma components and tuning the fundamental radiation frequency. It is shown that the contrast of the selected harmonic can exceed 104.

Milestones of mathematical model for business process management related to cost estimate documentation in petroleum industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khamidullin, R. I.

2018-05-01

The paper is devoted to milestones of the optimal mathematical model for a business process related to cost estimate documentation compiled during construction and reconstruction of oil and gas facilities. It describes the study and analysis of fundamental issues in petroleum industry, which are caused by economic instability and deterioration of a business strategy. Business process management is presented as business process modeling aimed at the improvement of the studied business process, namely main criteria of optimization and recommendations for the improvement of the above-mentioned business model.

Seven Experiments to Test the Local Lorentz Invariance of c

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gezari, Daniel Y.

2005-01-01

The speed of light has never been measured directly with a moving detector to test the fundamental assertion of special relativity that c is invariant to motion of the observer. Seven simple experiments are proposed, four of which could test the invariance of c to motion of the detector. Three other observations of moving sources could test Einstein s second postulate and the relativity of stellar aberration. There are lingering concerns that the speed of light may depend on the motion of the observer, after all. This issue can now be resolved by experiment.

A useful observable for estimating keff in fast subcritical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saracco, Paolo; Borreani, Walter; Chersola, Davide; Lomonaco, Guglielmo; Ricco, Gianni; Ripani, Marco

2017-09-01

The neutron multiplication factor keff is a key quantity to characterize subcritical neutron multiplying devices and for understanting their physical behaviour, being related to the fundamental eigenvalue of Boltzmann transport equation. Both the maximum available power - and all quantities related to it, like, e.g. the effectiveness in burning nuclear wastes - as well as reactor kinetics and dynamics depend on keff. Nevertheless, keff is not directly measurable and its determination results from the solution of an inverse problem: minimizing model dependence of the solution for keff then becomes a critical issue, relevant both for practical and theoretical reasons.

Evolution of China's water issues as framed in Chinese mainstream media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Y.; Xiong, Y.; Zhang, Z.

2016-12-01

There is an urgent need globally to trigger fundamental societal changes in water use away from existing unsustainable paradigms. This paper attempts to understand the evolution of newspaper coverage of water issues in China by analyzing water-related articles in a major national newspaper People's Daily during 1946-2012 using a content analysis approach. The major findings include: 1) water issues have been in relatively important positions in the newspaper; 2) water issues reporting in China has experienced three stages: 1946- the middle of 1980s: flood and drought control and water for food; the middle of 1980s to 1997: water for economic development; and 1998 to the present: water for the environmental sustainability and economic development; 3) water issue reporting in the People's Daily clearly reflected China's top-down water resources management system, no "real" public opinions on water were reported during the study period; 4) The People's Daily is just a wind vane of Chinese mainstream values and policies on water. These findings supported the realist assumption that the societal changes on water issues in China were triggered by a multitude of factors including the biophysical pressure (floods and droughts), political campaign (the Cultural Revolution), macro-economic reform (Reform and Opening-up), water institutional arrangement (the Water Law) and water management reform (the No. 1 Central Document on water reform).

Fouling of evaporators in maize processing developing a fundamental understanding

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Evaporator fouling is a common, chronic problem during maize starch and ethanol production. To compensate for the consequences of fouling, capital costs are increased, operating costs are incurred, productivity is reduced and environmental impact is increased. Despite these issues, fundamental cause...

Is the learn unit a fundamental measure of pedagogy?

PubMed Central

Greer, R. Douglas; McDonough, Sally Hogin

1999-01-01

We propose a measure of teaching, the learn unit, that explicitly describes the interaction between teachers and their students. The theoretical, educational research, and applied behavior analysis literatures all converge on the learn unit as a fundamental measure of teaching. The theoretical literature proposes the construct of the interlocking operant and embraces verbal behavior, social interaction, and translations of psychological constructs into complex theoretical respondent-operant interactions and behavior-behavior relations. Research findings in education and applied behavior analysis on engaged academic time, opportunity to respond, active student responding, teacher-student responding, student-teacher responding, tutor-tutee responding, tutee-tutor responding, and verbal episodes between individuals all support a measure of interlocking responses. More recently, research analyzing the components of both the students' and teachers' behavior suggests that the learn unit is the strongest predictor of effective teaching. Finally, we propose applications of the learn unit to other issues in pedagogy not yet researched and the relation of learn units to the verbal behavior of students. PMID:22478317

Microbial Cellulose Utilization: Fundamentals and Biotechnology

PubMed Central

Lynd, Lee R.; Weimer, Paul J.; van Zyl, Willem H.; Pretorius, Isak S.

2002-01-01

Fundamental features of microbial cellulose utilization are examined at successively higher levels of aggregation encompassing the structure and composition of cellulosic biomass, taxonomic diversity, cellulase enzyme systems, molecular biology of cellulase enzymes, physiology of cellulolytic microorganisms, ecological aspects of cellulase-degrading communities, and rate-limiting factors in nature. The methodological basis for studying microbial cellulose utilization is considered relative to quantification of cells and enzymes in the presence of solid substrates as well as apparatus and analysis for cellulose-grown continuous cultures. Quantitative description of cellulose hydrolysis is addressed with respect to adsorption of cellulase enzymes, rates of enzymatic hydrolysis, bioenergetics of microbial cellulose utilization, kinetics of microbial cellulose utilization, and contrasting features compared to soluble substrate kinetics. A biological perspective on processing cellulosic biomass is presented, including features of pretreated substrates and alternative process configurations. Organism development is considered for “consolidated bioprocessing” (CBP), in which the production of cellulolytic enzymes, hydrolysis of biomass, and fermentation of resulting sugars to desired products occur in one step. Two organism development strategies for CBP are examined: (i) improve product yield and tolerance in microorganisms able to utilize cellulose, or (ii) express a heterologous system for cellulose hydrolysis and utilization in microorganisms that exhibit high product yield and tolerance. A concluding discussion identifies unresolved issues pertaining to microbial cellulose utilization, suggests approaches by which such issues might be resolved, and contrasts a microbially oriented cellulose hydrolysis paradigm to the more conventional enzymatically oriented paradigm in both fundamental and applied contexts. PMID:12209002

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 143

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

This supplement to Aerospace Medicine and Biology (NASA SP-7011) lists 251 reports, articles and other documents announced during June 1975 in Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR) or in International Aerospace Abstracts (IAA). The first issue of the bibliography was published in July 1964; since that time, monthly supplements have been issued. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, and environmental effects to which man is subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects of biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. In general, emphasis is placed on applied research, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion.

Embedded function methods for compressible high speed turbulent flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, J. D. A.

1989-01-01

Fundamental issues relating to compressible turbulent flow are addressed. The focus has been on developing methods and testing concepts for attached flows rather than trying to force a conventional law of the wall into a zone of backflow. Although the dynamics of the near-wall flow in an attached turbulent boundary layer are relatively well documented, the dynamical features of a zone of reversed turbulent flow are not, nor are they well understood. Incompressibility introduces effects and issues that have been dealt with only marginally in the literature, therefore, the present work has been focussed on attached high-speed flows. The wall function method has been extended up through the supersonic to hypersonic speeds. Algorithms have been successfully introduced into the code that calculates the flow all the way to the wall, and testing is being carried out for progressively more complex flow situations.

Giving or giving back: new psychosocial insights from sperm donors in France.

PubMed

Kalampalikis, Nikos; Haas, Valérie; Fieulaine, Nicolas; Doumergue, Marjolaine; Deschamps, Gaëlle

2013-01-01

Despite the growing importance of the international scientific literature concerning donor insemination, studies of French samples are rare. We recently had the opportunity to conduct a nationwide study on psychosocial issues related to semen donation in France. In this article, we present the main results of an analysis of the narratives of 33 sperm donors. We examine the meaning they attribute to this experience, their motivations, the social ramifications of their action, and their perspective on the principles of sperm donation in France. We highlight our results by comparing them to those derived from other recent international studies in different legislative contexts. Finally, we suggest a hypothesis regarding donor motivations based on recent literature in social sciences regarding the fundamental role of gift and reciprocity. These issues, particularly the anonymity of gamete donation, are currently at the heart of a national debate related to the expected revision of the French bioethics law.

Pricing index-based catastrophe bonds: Part 1: Formulation and discretization issues using a numerical PDE approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Unger, André J. A.

2010-02-01

This work is the first installment in a two-part series, and focuses on the development of a numerical PDE approach to price components of a Bermudan-style callable catastrophe (CAT) bond. The bond is based on two underlying stochastic variables; the PCS index which posts quarterly estimates of industry-wide hurricane losses as well as a single-factor CIR interest rate model for the three-month LIBOR. The aggregate PCS index is analogous to losses claimed under traditional reinsurance in that it is used to specify a reinsurance layer. The proposed CAT bond model contains a Bermudan-style call feature designed to allow the reinsurer to minimize their interest rate risk exposure on making substantial fixed coupon payments using capital from the reinsurance premium. Numerical PDE methods are the fundamental strategy for pricing early-exercise constraints, such as the Bermudan-style call feature, into contingent claim models. Therefore, the objective and unique contribution of this first installment in the two-part series is to develop a formulation and discretization strategy for the proposed CAT bond model utilizing a numerical PDE approach. Object-oriented code design is fundamental to the numerical methods used to aggregate the PCS index, and implement the call feature. Therefore, object-oriented design issues that relate specifically to the development of a numerical PDE approach for the component of the proposed CAT bond model that depends on the PCS index and LIBOR are described here. Formulation, numerical methods and code design issues that relate to aggregating the PCS index and introducing the call option are the subject of the companion paper.

The new electromagnetic tetrads, infinite tetrad nesting and the non-trivial emergence of complex numbers in real theories of gravitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garat, Alcides

How complex numbers get into play in a non-trivial way in real theories of gravitation is relevant since in a unified structure they should be able to relate in a natural way with quantum theories. For a long time this issue has been lingering on both relativistic formulations and quantum theories. We will analyze this fundamental subject under the light of new group isomorphism theorems linking local internal groups of transformations and local groups of spacetime transformations. The bridge between these two kinds of transformations is represented by new tetrads introduced previously. It is precisely through these local tetrad structures that we will provide a non-trivial answer to this old issue. These new tetrads have two fundamental building components, the skeletons and the gauge vectors. It is these constructive elements that provide the mathematical support that allows to prove group isomorphism theorems. In addition to this, we will prove a unique new property, the infinite tetrad nesting, alternating the nesting with non-Abelian tetrads in the construction of the tetrad gauge vectors. As an application we will demonstrate an alternative proof of a new group isomorphism theorem.

Telepresence for space: The state of the concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Randy L.; Gillan, Douglas J.; Stuart, Mark A.

1990-01-01

The purpose here is to examine the concept of telepresence critically. To accomplish this goal, first, the assumptions that underlie telepresence and its applications are examined, and second, the issues raised by that examination are discussed. Also, these assumptions and issues are used as a means of shifting the focus in telepresence from development to user-based research. The most basic assumption of telepresence is that the information being provided to the human must be displayed in a natural fashion, i.e., the information should be displayed to the same human sensory modalities, and in the same fashion, as if the person where actually at the remote site. A further fundamental assumption for the functional use of telepresence is that a sense of being present in the work environment will produce superior performance. In other words, that sense of being there would allow the human operator of a distant machine to take greater advantage of his or her considerable perceptual, cognitive, and motor capabilities in the performance of a task than would more limited task-related feedback. Finally, a third fundamental assumption of functional telepresence is that the distant machine under the operator's control must substantially resemble a human in dexterity.

Deep space telecommunications, navigation, and information management. Support of the space exploration initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, Justin R.; Hastrup, Rolf C.

The United States Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) calls for the charting of a new and evolving manned course to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This paper discusses key challenges in providing effective deep space telecommunications, navigation, and information management (TNIM) architectures and designs for Mars exploration support. The fundamental objectives are to provide the mission with means to monitor and control mission elements, acquire engineering, science, and navigation data, compute state vectors and navigate, and move these data efficiently and automatically between mission nodes for timely analysis and decision-making. Although these objectives do not depart, fundamentally, from those evolved over the past 30 years in supporting deep space robotic exploration, there are several new issues. This paper focuses on summarizing new requirements, identifying related issues and challenges, responding with concepts and strategies which are enabling, and, finally, describing candidate architectures, and driving technologies. The design challenges include the attainment of: 1) manageable interfaces in a large distributed system, 2) highly unattended operations for in-situ Mars telecommunications and navigation functions, 3) robust connectivity for manned and robotic links, 4) information management for efficient and reliable interchange of data between mission nodes, and 5) an adequate Mars-Earth data rate.

Introduction to the special issue on the technical status of materials for a fusion reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stork, D.; Zinkle, S. J.

2017-09-01

Materials determine in a fundamental way the performance and environmental attractiveness of a fusion reactor: through the size (power fluxes to the divertor, neutron fluxes to the first wall); economics (replacement lifetime of critical in-vessel components, thermodynamic efficiency through operating temperature etc); plasma performance (erosion by plasma fluxes to the divertor surfaces); robustness against off-normal accidents (safety); and the effects of post-operation radioactivity on waste disposal and maintenance. The major philosophies and methodologies used to formulate programmes for the development of fusion materials are outlined, as the basis for other articles in this special issue, which deal with the fundamental understanding of the issues regarding these materials and their technical status and prospects for development.

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

Martino, Mikaël M.; Briquez, Priscilla S.; Maruyama, Kenta

Growth factors are very promising molecules to enhance bone regeneration. However, their translation to clinical use has been seriously limited, facing issues related to safety and cost-effectiveness. These problems derive from the vastly supra-physiological doses of growth factor used without optimized delivery systems. Therefore, these issues have motivated the development of new delivery systems allowing better control of the spatio-temporal release and signaling of growth factors. Because the extracellular matrix (ECM) naturally plays a fundamental role in coordinating growth factor activity in vivo, a number of novel delivery systems have been inspired by the growth factor regulatory function of themore » ECM. After introducing the role of growth factors during the bone regeneration process, this review exposes different issues that growth factor-based therapies have encountered in the clinic and highlights recent delivery approaches based on the natural interaction between growth factor and the ECM.« less

Metals as Biomaterials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helsen, Jef A.; Jürgen Breme, H.

1998-10-01

Biomaterials is a field that continues to attract a significant amount of attention from researchers, industry, educationalists and regulators. This book is the first to provide readers with an understanding of fundamental theory relating to the use of metals in biomedical applications in addition to comprehensively covering applied aspects encompassing practical and technical advantages and disadvantages. Topics highlighted in the book include guidelines for selecting materials; shape memory alloys; degradation and surface modification; adhesion to ceramics and polymers; biocompartibility and tissue-implant interactions; and European and North American regulatory issues.

A Fundamental Breakdown. Part II: Manipulative Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Townsend, J. Scott; Mohr, Derek J.

2005-01-01

In the May, 2005, issue of "TEPE," the "Research to Practice" section initiated a two-part series focused on assessing fundamental locomotor and manipulative skills. The series was generated in response to research by Pappa, Evanggelinou, & Karabourniotis (2005), recommending that curricular programming in physical education at the elementary…

Environmental Law: Fundamentals for Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Day, David R.

This booklet outlines the environmental problems most likely to arise in schools. An overview provides a fundamental analysis of environmental issues rather than comprehensive analysis and advice. The text examines the concerns that surround superfund cleanups, focusing on the legal framework, and furnishes some practical pointers, such as what to…

Frequency standards based on ultracold atoms in tests of general relativity, navigation and gravimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khabarova, K. Yu.; Kudeyarov, K. S.; Kolachevsky, N. N.

2017-06-01

Research and development in the field of optical clocks based on ultracold atoms and ions have enabled the relative uncertainty in frequency to be reduced down to a few parts in 1018. The use of novel, precise frequency comparison methods opens up new possibilities for basic research (sensitive tests of general relativity, a search for a drift of fundamental constants and a search for ‘dark matter’) as well as for state-of-the-art navigation and gravimetry. We discuss the key methods that are used in creating precision clocks (including transportable clocks) based on ultracold atoms and ions and the feasibility of using them in resolving current relativistic gravimetry issues.

Recent global trends in structural materials research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murakami, Hideyuki; Ohmura, Takahito; Nishimura, Toshiyuki

2013-02-01

Structural materials support the basis of global society, such as infrastructure and transportation facilities, and are therefore essential for everyday life. The optimization of such materials allows people to overcome environmental, energy and resource depletion issues on a global scale. The creation and manufacture of structural materials make a large contribution to economies around the world every year. The use of strong, resistant materials can also have profound social effects, providing a better quality of life at both local and national levels. The Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011 caused significant structural damage in the Tohoku and Kanto regions of Japan. On a global scale, accidents caused by the ageing and failure of structural materials occur on a daily basis. Therefore, the provision and inspection of structural reliability, safety of nuclear power facilities and construction of a secure and safe society hold primary importance for researchers and engineers across the world. Clearly, structural materials need to evolve further to address both existing problems and prepare for new challenges that may be faced in the future. With this in mind, the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) organized the 'NIMS Conference 2012' to host an extensive discussion on a variety of global issues related to the future development of structural materials. Ranging from reconstruction following natural disasters, verification of structural reliability, energy-saving materials to fundamental problems accompanying the development of materials for high safety standards, the conference covered many key issues in the materials industry today. All the above topics are reflected in this focus issue of STAM, which introduces recent global trends in structural materials research with contributions from world-leading researchers in this field. This issue covers the development of novel alloys, current methodologies in the characterization of structural materials and fundamental research on structure-property relationships. We are grateful to the authors who contributed to cover these issues, and sincerely hope that our readers will expand their knowledge of emerging international research within the field of structural materials.

Mental health inpatients' and staff members' suggestions for reducing physical restraint: A qualitative study.

PubMed

Wilson, C; Rouse, L; Rae, S; Kar Ray, M

2018-04-01

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Restraint has negative psychological, physical and relational consequences for mental health patients and staff. Restraint reduction interventions have been developed (e.g., "Safewards"). Limited qualitative research has explored suggestions on how to reduce physical restraint (and feasibility issues with implementing interventions) from those directly involved. WHAT DOES THIS PAPER ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: This paper explores mental health patients' and staff members' suggestions for reducing physical restraint, whilst addressing barriers to implementing these. Findings centred on four themes: improving communication and relationships; staffing factors; environment and space; and activities and distraction. Not all suggestions are addressed by currently available interventions. Barriers to implementation were identified, centring on a lack of time and/or resources; with the provision of more time for staff to spend with patients and implement interventions seen as essential to reducing physical restraint. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Improving communication and relationships between staff/patients, making staffing-related changes, improving ward environments and providing patient activities are central to restraint reduction in mental healthcare. Fundamental issues related to understaffing, high staff turnover, and lack of time and resources need addressing in order for suggestions to be successfully implemented. Introduction Physical restraint has negative consequences for all involved, and international calls for its reduction have emerged. Some restraint reduction interventions have been developed, but limited qualitative research explores suggestions on how to reduce physical restraint (and feasibility issues with implementation) from those directly involved. Aims To explore mental health patients' and staff members' suggestions for reducing physical restraint. Methods Interviews were conducted with 13 inpatients and 22 staff members with experience of restraint on adult mental health inpatient wards in one UK National Health Service Trust. Results Findings centred on four overarching themes: improving communication and relationships between staff/patients; making staff-related changes; improving ward environments/spaces; and having more activities. However, concerns were raised around practicalities/feasibility of their implementation. Discussion Continued research is needed into best ways to reduce physical restraint, with an emphasis on feasibility/practicality and how to make time in busy ward environments. Implications for Practice Improving communication and relationships between staff/patients, making staffing-related changes, improving ward environments and providing patient activities are central to restraint reduction in mental healthcare. However, fundamental issues related to understaffing, high staff turnover and lack of time/resources need addressing in order for these suggestions to be successfully implemented. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Parental consent requirements and privacy rights of minors: the contraceptive controversy.

PubMed

1975-03-01

That the adult zone of privacy recognized by the Supreme Court during the past decade embraces access to contraceptives is suggested. 2 further questions are examined: 1) whether the right of children to have access to contraceptives is fundamental and 2) whether countervailing interests of parents and state should outweigh whatever interest the child has in obtaining contraceptives. More fundamentally, 3 complex issues relative to an analysis of minors' rights to obtain contraceptives are discussed: 1) the scope of the constitutional right of adults to obtain contraceptives remains uncertain; 2) courts have not yet articulated the special factors that determine how existing frameworks for analyzing the rights of adults are to be applied to minors; and 3) the question of minors' access to contraceptive involves a particularly complex mixture of the interests of minors, parents, and the state.

High Performance Nano-Crystalline Oxide Fuel Cell Materials. Defects, Structures, Interfaces, Transport, and Electrochemistry

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

Barnett, Scott; Poeppelmeier, Ken; Mason, Tom

This project addresses fundamental materials challenges in solid oxide electrochemical cells, devices that have a broad range of important energy applications. Although nano-scale mixed ionically and electronically conducting (MIEC) materials provide an important opportunity to improve performance and reduce device operating temperature, durability issues threaten to limit their utility and have remained largely unexplored. Our work has focused on both (1) understanding the fundamental processes related to oxygen transport and surface-vapor reactions in nano-scale MIEC materials, and (2) determining and understanding the key factors that control their long-term stability. Furthermore, materials stability has been explored under the “extreme” conditions encounteredmore » in many solid oxide cell applications, i.e, very high or very low effective oxygen pressures, and high current density.« less

Task-Based Pronunciation Teaching and Research: Key Issues and Future Directions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mora, Joan C.; Levkina, Mayya

2017-01-01

This article synthesizes the conclusions of the empirical studies in this special issue and outlines key questions in future research. The research reported in this volume has identified several fundamental issues in pronunciation-focused task design that are discussed in detail and on which suggestions for further research are outlined. One…

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

NONE

This report consists of vugraphs of the presentations at the conference. The conference was divided into the following sessions: (1) First Generation Wire Development: Status and Issues; (2) First Generation Wire in Pre-Commercial Prototypes; (3) Second Generation Wire Development: Private Sector Progress and Issues; (4) Second Generation Wire Development: Federal Laboratories; and (5) Fundamental Research Issues for HTS Wire Development.

Literacy at a Distance in Multilingual Contexts: Issues and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ofulue, Christine I.

2011-01-01

Literacy is perhaps the most fundamental skill required for effective participation in education (formal and non-formal) for national development. At the same time, the choice of language for literacy is a complex issue in multilingual societies like Nigeria. This paper examines the issues involved, namely language policy, language and teacher…

Critical Issues in Early Childhood Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yelland, Nicola, Ed.

2005-01-01

This book examines critical issues in early childhood education across a broad range of contexts. The issues explored are not only critical in terms of being fundamental to early childhood education but they are also critical in that they present ideas and utilize frameworks which are not traditional to the field. The topics under review include…

Cosmology as Science: From Inflation to the Future

ScienceCinema

Krass, Lawrence

2018-01-11

Recent developments in cosmology bring to the forefront fundamental questions about our ability to falsify various fundamental assumptions about the universe.  I will discuss three issues that reflect different aspects of these questions:  (1) "Proving" Inflation (2) Anthropic "Explanations" (3) Cosmology of the far future.

Misinterpretations of the Second Fundamental Theorem of Welfare Economics: Barriers to Better Economic Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bryant, William D. A.

1994-01-01

Asserts that errors frequently are made in teaching about the second fundamental theorem of welfare economics. Describes how this issue usually is taught in undergraduate economics courses. Discusses how this interpretation contains errors and may hinder students' analysis of public policy regarding welfare systems. (CFR)

Ethical and methodological issues in qualitative studies involving people with severe and persistent mental illness such as schizophrenia and other psychotic conditions: a critical review.

PubMed

Carlsson, Ing-Marie; Blomqvist, Marjut; Jormfeldt, Henrika

2017-01-01

Undertaking research studies in the field of mental health is essential in mental health nursing. Qualitative research methodologies enable human experiences to become visible and recognize the importance of lived experiences. This paper argues that involving people with schizophrenia in research is critical to promote their health and well-being. The quality of qualitative research needs scrutinizing according to methodological issues such as trustworthiness and ethical standards that are a fundamental part of qualitative research and nursing curricula. The aim of this study was to critically review recent qualitative studies involving people with severe and persistent mental illness such as schizophrenia and other psychotic conditions, regarding descriptions of ethical and methodological issues in data collection and analysis. A search for relevant papers was conducted in three electronic databases, in December 2016. Fifteen qualitative interview studies were included and reviewed regarding methodological issues related to ethics, and data collection and analysis. The results revealed insufficient descriptions of methodology regarding ethical considerations and issues related to recruitment and sampling in qualitative interview studies with individuals with severe mental illness, putting trustworthiness at risk despite detailed descriptions of data analysis. Knowledge from the perspective of individuals with their own experience of mental illness is essential. Issues regarding sampling and trustworthiness in qualitative studies involving people with severe mental illness are vital to counteract the stigmatization of mental illness.

Ethical and methodological issues in qualitative studies involving people with severe and persistent mental illness such as schizophrenia and other psychotic conditions: a critical review

PubMed Central

Carlsson, Ing-Marie; Blomqvist, Marjut; Jormfeldt, Henrika

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Undertaking research studies in the field of mental health is essential in mental health nursing. Qualitative research methodologies enable human experiences to become visible and recognize the importance of lived experiences. This paper argues that involving people with schizophrenia in research is critical to promote their health and well-being. The quality of qualitative research needs scrutinizing according to methodological issues such as trustworthiness and ethical standards that are a fundamental part of qualitative research and nursing curricula. The aim of this study was to critically review recent qualitative studies involving people with severe and persistent mental illness such as schizophrenia and other psychotic conditions, regarding descriptions of ethical and methodological issues in data collection and analysis. A search for relevant papers was conducted in three electronic databases, in December 2016. Fifteen qualitative interview studies were included and reviewed regarding methodological issues related to ethics, and data collection and analysis. The results revealed insufficient descriptions of methodology regarding ethical considerations and issues related to recruitment and sampling in qualitative interview studies with individuals with severe mental illness, putting trustworthiness at risk despite detailed descriptions of data analysis. Knowledge from the perspective of individuals with their own experience of mental illness is essential. Issues regarding sampling and trustworthiness in qualitative studies involving people with severe mental illness are vital to counteract the stigmatization of mental illness. PMID:28901217

Pain management: a fundamental human right.

PubMed

Brennan, Frank; Carr, Daniel B; Cousins, Michael

2007-07-01

This article surveys worldwide medical, ethical, and legal trends and initiatives related to the concept of pain management as a human right. This concept recently gained momentum with the 2004 European Federation of International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Chapters-, International Association for the Study of Pain- and World Health Organization-sponsored "Global Day Against Pain," where it was adopted as a central theme. We survey the scope of the problem of unrelieved pain in three areas, acute pain, chronic noncancer pain, and cancer pain, and outline the adverse physical and psychological effects and social and economic costs of untreated pain. Reasons for deficiencies in pain management include cultural, societal, religious, and political attitudes, including acceptance of torture. The biomedical model of disease, focused on pathophysiology rather than quality of life, reinforces entrenched attitudes that marginalize pain management as a priority. Strategies currently applied for improvement include framing pain management as an ethical issue; promoting pain management as a legal right, providing constitutional guarantees and statutory regulations that span negligence law, criminal law, and elder abuse; defining pain management as a fundamental human right, categorizing failure to provide pain management as professional misconduct, and issuing guidelines and standards of practice by professional bodies. The role of the World Health Organization is discussed, particularly with respect to opioid availability for pain management. We conclude that, because pain management is the subject of many initiatives within the disciplines of medicine, ethics and law, we are at an "inflection point" in which unreasonable failure to treat pain is viewed worldwide as poor medicine, unethical practice, and an abrogation of a fundamental human right.

Some New Theoretical Issues in Systems Thinking Relevant for Modelling Corporate Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minati, Gianfranco

2007-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe fundamental concepts and theoretical challenges with regard to systems, and to build on these in proposing new theoretical frameworks relevant to learning, for example in so-called learning organizations. Design/methodology/approach: The paper focuses on some crucial fundamental aspects introduced…

[Thematic Issue: International Communications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howkins, John, Ed.

1977-01-01

The five major articles in this document examine a variety of subjects: communication issues involved in the upcoming United Nations conference "Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries"; the fundamental role that information plays in the economy and in social structures of advanced industrial economies; an investigation into the…

HIV-related politics in long-term perspective.

PubMed

Friedman, S R

1998-06-01

Some long-term, large-scale socio-economic changes may affect the politics of HIV and other emerging viruses such as hepatitis C. It is useful to ask why the potential peace dividend of the early 1990s failed to provide adequate resources for HIV-related social and medical service delivery in developed or developing nations. This failure can be understood by looking at long-term global economic trends and the pressures they put on governments and corporations. They have produced a period in which fundamental issues of political and economic structure are at stake and, often, the response is a divide-and-rule politics to promote stability. National politics differ in terms of the extent to which such a 'politics of scapegoating' is institutionalized and in terms of which groups are scapegoated. Groups such as drug injectors, gay and bisexual men and sex traders are particularly likely to be targeted both by the scapegoaters and by HIV. Given this framework, how should public health professionals and activists engaged in HIV-related issues respond? Under what circumstances should we orient efforts upwards towards corporate, political or bureaucratic leaders? Under what circumstances, and how, should we orient towards popular forces? Relatedly, we need to consider an issue we often ignore: What do we have to offer potential allies? That is, in terms of their goals, philosophies and needs, why should they ally with us?

Energy, understanding, and the public agenda

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

Bisconti, A.S.

1995-12-31

Energy is fundamental to all areas of human endeavor, but it is a subject about which few Americans feel well informed, according to extensive survey research over the past decade. How well informed Americans really are has not been accurately assessed because consensus about what the public should know has been lacking. Fifteen energy organizations were surveyed about what the public should know. They gave high ratings to concepts that enable citizens to make sound judgments and gave lower ratings to specific facts. An examination of survey research suggests that Americans are most familiar with concepts that relate to currentmore » social issues or to areas of personal responsibility/control, and that, as energy issues have faded from the public agenda since the early 1980s, the percentage feeling well informed has declined.« less

The ethics of patenting human embryonic stem cells.

PubMed

Chapman, Audrey R

2009-09-01

Just as human embryonic stem cell research has generated controversy about the uses of human embryos for research and therapeutic applications, human embryonic stem cell patents raise fundamental ethical issues. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted foundational patents, including a composition of matter (or product) patent to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the University of Wisconsin-Madison's intellectual property office. In contrast, the European Patent Office rejected the same WARF patent application for ethical reasons. This article assesses the appropriateness of these patents placing the discussion in the context of the deontological and consequentialist ethical issues related to human embryonic stem cell patenting. It advocates for a patent system that explicitly takes ethical factors into account and explores options for new types of intellectual property arrangements consistent with ethical concerns.

Approaches to Validation of Models for Low Gravity Fluid Behavior

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chato, David J.; Marchetta, Jeffery; Hochstein, John I.; Kassemi, Mohammad

2005-01-01

This paper details the author experiences with the validation of computer models to predict low gravity fluid behavior. It reviews the literature of low gravity fluid behavior as a starting point for developing a baseline set of test cases. It examines authors attempts to validate their models against these cases and the issues they encountered. The main issues seem to be that: Most of the data is described by empirical correlation rather than fundamental relation; Detailed measurements of the flow field have not been made; Free surface shapes are observed but through thick plastic cylinders, and therefore subject to a great deal of optical distortion; and Heat transfer process time constants are on the order of minutes to days but the zero-gravity time available has been only seconds.

Self-Healing Metals and Metal Matrix Composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferguson, J. B.; Schultz, Benjamin F.; Rohatgi, Pradeep K.

2014-06-01

Self-healing in inorganic materials is a relatively new area in materials science and engineering that draws inspiration from biological systems that can self-repair damage. This article reviews the preliminary attempts to impart self-healing behavior to metals. Several challenges yet exist in the development of metallic alloys that can self-repair damage, including surface bonding issues, such as liquid/solid contact angle (wetting) and oxidation, and practical issues, such as capillary pressure for delivery of a liquid metal to a damaged area or crack, and the overall mechanical properties of a composite system. Although the applied research approaches reviewed have obtained marginal success, the development of self-healing metallic systems has the potential to benefit a wide range of industrial applications and thus deserves greater investment in fundamental research.

The Tie That Binds:. A Fundamental Unit of `Change' in Space and Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beichler, James E.

2013-09-01

Why, despite all efforts to the contrary, have attempts at unification based on the supposedly more fundamental quantum theory failed miserably? The truth is that the essential idea or concept of the quantum itself has never been fully understood. What is the quantum, or rather, what is its ultimate nature? Science may be able to work adequately with the quantum; in a sense science is quite articulate in the language of the quantum, i.e., its mathematical interpretation of the quantum mechanics, but science has no idea of the true physical nature of the quantum. Scientists and philosophers have wasted energy and efforts on irrelevant issues such as the debate over determinism and indeterminism instead of carefully analyzing the physical source of the quantum. Only with a true understanding of the physical nature of the quantum will the unification of the quantum and relativity ever become a reality.

Fundamentals of tribology at the atomic level

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferrante, John; Pepper, Stephen V.

1989-01-01

Tribology, the science and engineering of solid surfaces in moving contact, is a field that encompasses many disciplines: solid state physics, chemistry, materials science, and mechanical engineering. In spite of the practical importance and maturity of the field, the fundamental understanding of basic phenomena has only recently been attacked. An attempt to define some of these problems and indicate some profitable directions for future research is presented. There are three broad classifications: (1) fluid properties (compression, rheology, additives and particulates); (2) material properties of the solids (deformation, defect formation and energy loss mechanisms); and (3) interfacial properties (adhesion, friction chemical reactions, and boundary films). Research in the categories has traditionally been approached by considering macroscopic material properties. Recent activity has shown that some issues can be approached at the atomic level: the atoms in the materials can be manipulated both experimentally and theoretically, and can produce results related to macroscopic phenomena.

The relationship between social status and the components of agency.

PubMed

Louvet, Eva; Cambon, Laurent; Milhabet, Isabelle; Rohmer, Odile

2018-02-20

Building on the two fundamental dimensions of social judgment distinguishing communion from agency, the purpose of the present work was to show that the strength of the relationship between social status and agency depends on specific components at issue: assertiveness, competence, and effort. Four experimental studies were conducted using two complementary paradigms. In Studies 1 and 2, we manipulated social status, and participants had to rate the target on competence, assertiveness, and effort. In Studies 3 and 4, we reversed the design. Results consistently showed that social status was primarily related to assertiveness, somewhat related to competence, and only slightly related to effort. The present research provides a better understanding of how the dimensions of social judgment are used to explain differences in social status.

Dryland ecohydrology and climate change: critical issues and technical advances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, L.; D'Odorico, P.; Evans, J. P.; Eldridge, D.; McCabe, M. F.; Caylor, K. K.; King, E. G.

2012-04-01

Drylands cover about 40% of the terrestrial land surface and account for approximately 40% of global net primary productivity. Water is fundamental to the biophysical processes that sustain ecosystem function and food production, particularly in drylands, where a tight coupling exists between water resource availability and ecosystem productivity, surface energy balance, and biogeochemical cycles. Currently, drylands support at least 2 billion people and comprise both natural and managed ecosystems. In this synthesis, we identify some current critical issues in the understanding of dryland systems and discuss how arid and semiarid environments are responding to the changes in climate and land use. Specifically, we focus on dryland agriculture and food security, dryland population growth, desertification, shrub encroachment and dryland development issues as factors of change requiring increased understanding and management. We also review recent technical advances in the quantitative assessment of human versus climate change related drivers of desertification, evapotranspiration partitioning using field deployable stable water isotope systems and the remote sensing of key ecohydrological processes. These technological advances provide new tools that assist in addressing major critical issues in dryland ecohydrology under climate change

Overview of transboundary pollution issues along the Mexico-US border

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

Medina, E.J.

1996-12-31

This paper presents an overview of pollution issues affecting the Mexico-US border region, and briefly traces the development of the international legal framework which covers Mexico-US border relations on environmental issues. Examples from different border areas are used to illustrate surface water, groundwater, air pollution, and hazardous waste problems associated with the rapid growth and industrialization of areas along the border. Some of the specific issues presented include the Tijuana-San Diego sewage problem, the New River toxic discharges, Nogales Wash groundwater pollution, air pollution in Cd. Juarez-El Paso, and the Alco-Pacifico lead contamination case in Tijuana, B.C. Additional research tomore » characterize the extent of border area pollution and resultant ecological impacts is fundamental in the development of binational policies to deal with these problems. Another priority need is the application of risk assessment models, which will help policy makers on both sides of the border to coordinate efforts and allocate resources to solve this crisis. Immediate attention should be directed toward acquiring information necessary to evaluate the impacts of border-area pollution on natural ecosystems.« less

Heart sounds: are you listening? Part 2.

PubMed

Reimer-Kent, Jocelyn

2013-01-01

The first of this two-part article on heart sounds was in the Spring 2013 issue of the Canadian Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing (Reimer-Kent, 2013). Part 1 emphasized the importance of all nurses having an understanding of heart sounds and being proficient in cardiac auscultation. The article also focused on an overview of the fundamentals of cardiac auscultation and basic heart sounds. This article provides an overview of the anatomy and pathophysiology related to valvular heart disease and describes the array of heart sounds associated with stenotic or regurgitant aortic and mitral valve conditions.

Fundamentals of electrochemical detection techniques for CE and MCE.

PubMed

Kubán, Pavel; Hauser, Peter C

2009-10-01

The electroanalytical techniques of amperometry, conductometry and potentiometry match well with the instrumental simplicity of CE. Indeed, all three detection approaches have been reported for electrophoretic separations. However, the characteristics of the three methods are quite distinct and these are not related to the optical methods more commonly employed. A detailed discussion of the underlying principles of each is given. The issue of possible effects of the separation voltage on the electrochemical detection techniques is considered in depth, and approaches to the elimination of such interferences are also discussed for each case.

Radiation Analysis for the Human Lunar Return Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, J. W.; Simonsen, L. C.; Shinn, J. L.; Kim, M.; Dubey, R. R.; Jordan, W.

1997-01-01

An analysis of the radiation hazards that are anticipated on an early Human Lunar Return (HLR) mission in support of NASA deep space exploration activities is presented. The HLR mission study emphasized a low cost lunar return to expand human capabilities in exploration, to answer fundamental science questions, and to seek opportunities for commercial development. As such, the radiation issues are cost related because the parasitic shield mass is expensive due to high launch costs. The present analysis examines the shield requirements and their impact on shield design.

Flight deck human factors issues for National Airspace System (NAS) en route controller pilot data link communications (CPDLC)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-05-01

Fundamental differences exist between transmissions of Air Traffic Control clearances over voice and those transmitted via Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC). This paper provides flight deck human factors issues that apply to processin...

Opportunities and questions for the fundamental biological sciences in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sharp, Joseph C.; Vernikos, Joan

1992-01-01

The nature of biological issues which can be addressed during long-term space missions is briefly discussed. These issues include structure, from cell to organ to organism; function, the regulation of systems such as immunology, neural sciences, and behavior; and reproduction and development.

Do cultural diversity and human rights make a good match?

PubMed

Donders, Yvonne

2010-01-01

The link between cultural diversity and human rights was clearly established by the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, adopted by the member states of UNESCO in 2001, which holds that "the defence of cultural diversity is … inseparable from respect for human dignity" and that it "implies a commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms." The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, adopted in 2005, states that "cultural diversity can be protected and promoted only if human rights and fundamental freedoms … are guaranteed" (Article 2[1]). The precise relationship between cultural diversity and human rights, however, is not clarified and thus leaves room for further exploration. This contribution analyses the issues surrounding the relationship between cultural diversity and human rights, in particular cultural rights. Firstly, it addresses general human rights issues such as universality and cultural relativism and the principles of equality and non-discrimination. Secondly, it explores the scope of cultural rights, as well as the cultural dimension of human rights. Thirdly, several cases are discussed in which human rights were invoked to protect cultural interests, confirming the value of cultural diversity. Finally, some concluding remarks are presented, indicating which areas require attention in order to further improve the promotion and protection of human rights in relation to cultural diversity.

Cognitive Correlates of Performance in Algorithms in a Computer Science Course for High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Avancena, Aimee Theresa; Nishihara, Akinori

2014-01-01

Computer science for high school faces many challenging issues. One of these is whether the students possess the appropriate cognitive ability for learning the fundamentals of computer science. Online tests were created based on known cognitive factors and fundamental algorithms and were implemented among the second grade students in the…

Space and time in ecology: Noise or fundamental driver? [chapter 2

Treesearch

Samuel A. Cushman

2010-01-01

In this chapter I frame the central issue of the book, namely is spatial and temporal complexity in ecological systems merely noise around the predictions of non-spatial, equilibrium processes? Or, alternatively, do spatial and temporal variability in the environment and autogenic space­time processes in populations fundamentally alter system behavior such that ideal...

Multilevel water governance and problems of scale: setting the stage for a broader debate.

PubMed

Moss, Timothy; Newig, Jens

2010-07-01

Environmental governance and management are facing a multiplicity of challenges related to spatial scales and multiple levels of governance. Water management is a field particularly sensitive to issues of scale because the hydrological system with its different scalar levels from small catchments to large river basins plays such a prominent role. It thus exemplifies fundamental issues and dilemmas of scale in modern environmental management and governance. In this introductory article to an Environmental Management special feature on "Multilevel Water Governance: Coping with Problems of Scale," we delineate our understanding of problems of scale and the dimensions of scalar politics that are central to water resource management. We provide an overview of the contributions to this special feature, concluding with a discussion of how scalar research can usefully challenge conventional wisdom on water resource management. We hope that this discussion of water governance stimulates a broader debate and inquiry relating to the scalar dimensions of environmental governance and management in general.

'Everything is everywhere: but the environment selects': ubiquitous distribution and ecological determinism in microbial biogeography.

PubMed

O'Malley, Maureen A

2008-09-01

Recent discoveries of geographical patterns in microbial distribution are undermining microbiology's exclusively ecological explanations of biogeography and their fundamental assumption that 'everything is everywhere: but the environment selects'. This statement was generally promulgated by Dutch microbiologist Martinus Wilhelm Beijerinck early in the twentieth century and specifically articulated in 1934 by his compatriot, Lourens G. M. Baas Becking. The persistence of this precept throughout twentieth-century microbiology raises a number of issues in relation to its formulation and widespread acceptance. This paper will trace the conceptual history of Beijerinck's claim that 'everything is everywhere' in relation to a more general account of its theoretical, experimental and institutional context. His principle also needs to be situated in relationship to plant and animal biogeography, which, this paper will argue, forms a continuum of thought with microbial biogeography. Finally, a brief overview of the contemporary microbiological research challenging 'everything is everywhere' reveals that philosophical issues from Beijerinck's era of microbiology still provoke intense discussion in twenty-first century investigations of microbial biogeography.

Circuit courts clash over HIV in the workplace.

PubMed

1997-09-19

Some of the major differences of opinions between the circuit courts on issues affecting HIV and employment are examined. In the seven years since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), there has been disagreement among the circuits relative to the interpretation of the law. At the heart of the debate is whether or not HIV infection, without symptoms of AIDS, actually qualifies for a disability under the meaning and intent of the ADA. Another fundamental issue is whether or not reproduction is considered a major life activity under the ADA. Federal circuit courts have also considered what happens to patients in the latter stages of HIV diseases, when symptoms are so pronounced that he or she qualifies for disability benefits including Social Security or private disability plans. There is disagreement among the circuits as to whether insurance products, including those provided through an employee benefit program, are covered under the ADA. As of this date, the U.S. Supreme Court has not intervened on any of the HIV/ADA-related cases.

UNESCO Guidelines on Intercultural Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2007

2007-01-01

This paper aims to synthesize the central issues surrounding Intercultural Education, and presents the fundamental guiding principles for an intercultural approach to education as viewed by UNESCO. It is divided into three parts. Part I outlines the key issues surrounding Intercultural Education, as well as its objectives and basic operating…

Introduction to the Special Issue on "State-of-the-Art Sensor Technology in Japan 2015".

PubMed

Tokumitsu, Masahiro; Ishida, Yoshiteru

2016-08-23

This Special Issue, "State-of-the-Art Sensor Technology in Japan 2015", collected papers on different kinds of sensing technology: fundamental technology for intelligent sensors, information processing for monitoring humans, and information processing for adaptive and survivable sensor systems.[...].

Introduction to “Global tsunami science: Past and future, Volume I”

USGS Publications Warehouse

Geist, Eric L.; Fritz, Hermann; Rabinovich, Alexander B.; Tanioka, Yuichiro

2016-01-01

Twenty-five papers on the study of tsunamis are included in Volume I of the PAGEOPH topical issue “Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future”. Six papers examine various aspects of tsunami probability and uncertainty analysis related to hazard assessment. Three papers relate to deterministic hazard and risk assessment. Five more papers present new methods for tsunami warning and detection. Six papers describe new methods for modeling tsunami hydrodynamics. Two papers investigate tsunamis generated by non-seismic sources: landslides and meteorological disturbances. The final three papers describe important case studies of recent and historical events. Collectively, this volume highlights contemporary trends in global tsunami research, both fundamental and applied toward hazard assessment and mitigation.

DO INTERMEDIATE-MASS BLACK HOLES EXIST IN GLOBULAR CLUSTERS?

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

Sun, Mou-Yuan; Jin, Ya-Ling; Gu, Wei-Min

2013-10-20

The existence of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in globular clusters (GCs) remains a crucial problem. Searching for IMBHs in GCs reveals a discrepancy between radio observations and dynamical modelings: the upper mass limits constrained by radio observations are systematically lower than that of dynamical modelings. One possibility for such a discrepancy is that, as we suggest in this work, there exist outflows in accretion flows. Our results indicate that, for most sources, current radio observations cannot rule out the possibility that IMBHs may exist in GCs. In addition, we adopt an M-dot -L{sub R} relation to revisit this issue, whichmore » confirms the results obtained by the fundamental plane relation.« less

Introduction to "Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future, Volume I"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geist, Eric L.; Fritz, Hermann M.; Rabinovich, Alexander B.; Tanioka, Yuichiro

2016-12-01

Twenty-five papers on the study of tsunamis are included in Volume I of the PAGEOPH topical issue "Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future". Six papers examine various aspects of tsunami probability and uncertainty analysis related to hazard assessment. Three papers relate to deterministic hazard and risk assessment. Five more papers present new methods for tsunami warning and detection. Six papers describe new methods for modeling tsunami hydrodynamics. Two papers investigate tsunamis generated by non-seismic sources: landslides and meteorological disturbances. The final three papers describe important case studies of recent and historical events. Collectively, this volume highlights contemporary trends in global tsunami research, both fundamental and applied toward hazard assessment and mitigation.

Health care financing and the sustainability of health systems.

PubMed

Liaropoulos, Lycourgos; Goranitis, Ilias

2015-09-15

The economic crisis brought an unprecedented attention to the issue of health system sustainability in the developed world. The discussion, however, has been mainly limited to "traditional" issues of cost-effectiveness, quality of care, and, lately, patient involvement. Not enough attention has yet been paid to the issue of who pays and, more importantly, to the sustainability of financing. This fundamental concept in the economics of health policy needs to be reconsidered carefully. In a globalized economy, as the share of labor decreases relative to that of capital, wage income is increasingly insufficient to cover the rising cost of care. At the same time, as the cost of Social Health Insurance through employment contributions rises with medical costs, it imperils the competitiveness of the economy. These reasons explain why spreading health care cost to all factors of production through comprehensive National Health Insurance financed by progressive taxation of income from all sources, instead of employer-employee contributions, protects health system objectives, especially during economic recessions, and ensures health system sustainability.

Aerobic scope measurements of fishes in an era of climate change: respirometry, relevance and recommendations.

PubMed

Clark, Timothy D; Sandblom, Erik; Jutfelt, Fredrik

2013-08-01

Measurements of aerobic scope [the difference between minimum and maximum oxygen consumption rate ( and , respectively)] are increasing in prevalence as a tool to address questions relating to fish ecology and the effects of climate change. However, there are underlying issues regarding the array of methods used to measure aerobic scope across studies and species. In an attempt to enhance quality control before the diversity of issues becomes too great to remedy, this paper outlines common techniques and pitfalls associated with measurements of , and aerobic scope across species and under different experimental conditions. Additionally, we provide a brief critique of the oxygen- and capacity-limited thermal tolerance (OCLTT) hypothesis, a concept that is intricately dependent on aerobic scope measurements and is spreading wildly throughout the literature despite little evidence for its general applicability. It is the intention of this paper to encourage transparency and accuracy in future studies that measure the aerobic metabolism of fishes, and to highlight the fundamental issues with assuming broad relevance of the OCLTT hypothesis.

Neurodegenerative diseases in the era of targeted therapeutics: how to handle a tangled issue.

PubMed

Tofaris, George K; Schapira, Anthony H V

2015-05-01

Neurodegenerative diseases are age-related and relentlessly progressive with increasing prevalence and no cure or lasting symptomatic therapy. The well-recognized prodromal phase in many forms of neurodegeneration suggests a prolonged period of neuronal compensated dysfunction prior to cell loss that may be amenable to therapeutic intervention. Although most efforts to date have been focused on misfolded toxic proteins, it is now clear that widespread changes in protein homeostasis occur early in these diseases and understanding this fundamental biology is key to the design of targeted therapies. What has emerged from molecular genetics and animal studies is a previously less appreciated association of neurodegenerative diseases with defects in the molecular regulation of protein trafficking between cellular organelles, especially the intricate network of endosomes, lysosomes, autophagosomes and mitochondria. Here we summarized the broader concepts that stemmed from this Special Issue on "Protein Clearance in Neurodegenerative diseases: from mechanisms to therapies". This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Neuronal Protein'. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Special Issue on "Neutrino Oscillations: Celebrating the Nobel Prize in Physics 2015" in Nuclear Physics B

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohlsson, Tommy

2016-07-01

In 2015, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded jointly to Takaaki Kajita from the Super-Kamiokande Collaboration and Arthur B. McDonald from the SNO Collaboration ;for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass;. Furthermore, the Daya Bay, K2K and T2K, KamLAND, SNO, and Super-Kamiokande Collaborations shared the Fundamental Physics Breakthrough Prize the same year. In order to celebrate this successful and fruitful year for neutrino oscillations, the editors and the publisher of Nuclear Physics B decided to publish a Special Issue on neutrino oscillations. We invited prominent scientists in the area of neutrino physics that relates to neutrino oscillations to write contributions for this Special Issue, which was open to both original research articles as well as review articles. The authors of this Special Issue consist of e.g. the two Nobel Laureates, International Participants of the Nobel Symposium 129 on Neutrino Physics at Haga Slott in Enköping, Sweden (August 19-24, 2004), selected active researchers, and members from large experimental collaborations with major results in the last ten years. In total, this Special Issue consists of 28 contributions. Please note that the cover of this Special Issue contains a figure from each of the 26 contributions that have figures included.

Ethical issues in medical research in the developing world: a report on a meeting organised by Fondation Mérieux.

PubMed

Perrey, Christophe; Wassenaar, Douglas; Gilchrist, Shawn; Ivanoff, Bernard

2009-08-01

This paper reports on a multidisciplinary meeting held to discuss ethical issues in medical research in the developing world. Many studies, including clinical trials, are conducted in developing countries with a high burden of disease. Conditions under which this research is conducted vary because of differences in culture, public health, political, legal and social contexts specific to these countries. Research practices, including standards of care for participants, may vary as a result. It is therefore not surprising that ethical issues emerge. This meeting sought to identify and discuss these issues from the perspectives of the many actors in such research, including community representatives, with a view to finding ethical and pragmatic solutions to these issues. Dialogue between these actors was also promoted, with a view to identifying the need to develop such dialogue in future. Drawing from the experiences of the speakers, the colloquium attempted to outline some answers to several key questions characterising the field today. Experiences related to epidemiologic research, vaccine trials, drug trials, diagnostic tests and to some fundamental ethical issues in health research. Speakers were from different countries, disciplines and professions. The meeting provided a forum for consultation and debate between different ethics actors. Both encouraging findings and challenges emerged.

Editorial "The Interdisciplinary Nature of SOIL"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brevik, E. C.; Cerdá, A.; Mataix-Solera, J.; Pereg, L.; Quinton, J. N.; Six, J.; Van Oost, K.

2014-09-01

The holistic study of soils requires an interdisciplinary approach involving biologists, chemists, geologists, and physicists amongst others, something that has been true from the earliest days of the field. This approach has been strengthened and reinforced as current research continues to use experts trained in both soil science and related fields and by the wide array of issues impacting the world's biosphere that require an in-depth understanding of soils. Of fundamental importance amongst these issues are biodiversity, biofuels/energy security, climate change, ecosystem services, food security, human health, land degradation, and water security, each representing a critical challenge for research. In order to establish a benchmark for the type of research we seek to highlight in each issue of SOIL, here in this editorial, we outline the interdisciplinary nature of soil science research that we are seeking for in SOIL, with a focus on the myriad ways soil science can be used to expand investigation into a more holistic and therefore richer approach to soil research. In addition, we provide a selection of invited review papers in the first issue of SOIL that address the study of soils and the ways in which soil investigations are essential to other related fields. We hope that both this editorial and the first issue will serve as examples of the kinds of topics we would like to see published in SOIL and will stimulate excitement among our readers and authors to participate in this new venture.

Lorenz, Gödel and Penrose: new perspectives on determinism and causality in fundamental physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palmer, T. N.

2014-07-01

Despite being known for his pioneering work on chaotic unpredictability, the key discovery at the core of meteorologist Ed Lorenz's work is the link between space-time calculus and state-space fractal geometry. Indeed, properties of Lorenz's fractal invariant set relate space-time calculus to deep areas of mathematics such as Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem. Could such properties also provide new perspectives on deep unsolved issues in fundamental physics? Recent developments in cosmology motivate what is referred to as the 'cosmological invariant set postulate': that the universe ? can be considered a deterministic dynamical system evolving on a causal measure-zero fractal invariant set ? in its state space. Symbolic representations of ? are constructed explicitly based on permutation representations of quaternions. The resulting 'invariant set theory' provides some new perspectives on determinism and causality in fundamental physics. For example, while the cosmological invariant set appears to have a rich enough structure to allow a description of (quantum) probability, its measure-zero character ensures it is sparse enough to prevent invariant set theory being constrained by the Bell inequality (consistent with a partial violation of the so-called measurement independence postulate). The primacy of geometry as embodied in the proposed theory extends the principles underpinning general relativity. As a result, the physical basis for contemporary programmes which apply standard field quantisation to some putative gravitational lagrangian is questioned. Consistent with Penrose's suggestion of a deterministic but non-computable theory of fundamental physics, an alternative 'gravitational theory of the quantum' is proposed based on the geometry of ?, with new perspectives on the problem of black-hole information loss and potential observational consequences for the dark universe.

The resources that matter: fundamental social causes of health disparities and the challenge of intelligence.

PubMed

Link, Bruce G; Phelan, Jo C; Miech, Richard; Westin, Emily Leckman

2008-03-01

A robust and very persistent association between indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) and the onset of life-threatening disease is a prominent concern of medical sociology. The persistence of the association over time and its generality across very different places suggests that no fixed set of intervening risk and protective factors can account for the connection. Instead, fundamental-cause theory views SES-related resources of knowledge, money, power prestige, and beneficial social connections as flexible resources that allow people to avoid risks and adopt protective strategies no matter what the risk and protective factors are in a given place or time. Recently, however, intelligence has been proposed as an alternative flexible resource that could fully account for the association between SES and health and thereby find its place as the epidemiologists' "elusive fundamental cause" (Gottfredson 2004). We examine the direct effects of intelligence test scores and adult SES in two data sets containing measures of intelligence, SES, and health. In analyses of prospective data from both the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study and the Health and Retirement Survey, we find little evidence of a direct effect of intelligence on health once adult education and income are held constant. In contrast, the significant effects of education and income on health change very little when intelligence is controlled. Although data limitations do not allow a definitive resolution of the issue, this evidence is inconsistent with the claim that intelligence is the elusive fundamental cause of health disparities, and instead supports the idea that the flexible resources people actively use to gain a health advantage are the SES-related resources of knowledge, money, power, prestige, and beneficial social connections.

National Issues Forums

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parkins, Leslie

2006-01-01

Demonstrating an appreciation for the perspectives of others is now recognized as one of the single most important learning outcomes of a college education. This skill, fundamental to democracy and civic engagement, is honed in college by institutions that provide opportunities for students to interact with their peers and others on issues that…

Finding the Public in Consumer Research: A Reply to Ward.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

August, William; Charren, Peggy

1984-01-01

Discusses Ward's analysis of letters sent to the Federal Trade Commission about children's advertising. Advocates that public opinion research concerning consumer protection issues should include information on the degree to which consumers are informed of their fundamental rights with respect to the consumer issues being studied. (CB)

Methodological Issues in Measuring the Development of Character

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Card, Noel A.

2017-01-01

In this article I provide an overview of the methodological issues involved in measuring constructs relevant to character development and education. I begin with a nontechnical overview of the 3 fundamental psychometric properties of measurement: reliability, validity, and equivalence. Developing and evaluating measures to ensure evidence of all 3…

Educational Perspectives on Digital Communications Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brett, Clare

2009-01-01

This article examines key issues in how new technologies are impacting upon how we teach, learn and collaborate, and uses an educational research project called GRAIL (Graduate Researcher's Academic Identity Online) under development to illustrate some fundamental issues in adopting new technologies. A significant challenge to the effective use of…

Training of Existing Workers: Issues, Incentives and Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mawer, Giselle; Jackson, Elaine

2005-01-01

This report presents issues associated with incentives for training existing workers in small to medium-sized firms, identified through a small sample of case studies from the retail, manufacturing, and building and construction industries. While the majority of employers recognise workforce skill levels are fundamental to the success of the…

Two Fundamental Issues in Multiprocessing.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-10-01

Structural Model of a Multiprocessor 6 Figure 5: Operational Model of a Multiprocessor 7 Figure 6: The von Neumann Processor (from Gajski and Peir [201) 10...Computer Society, June, 1983. 20. Gajski , D. D. & J-K. Peir. "Essential Issues in Multiprocessor Systems". Computer 18, 6 (June 1985), 9-27. 21. Gurd

Importance of preclinical evaluation of wear in hip implant designs using simulator machines.

PubMed

Trommer, Rafael Mello; Maru, Márcia Marie

2017-01-01

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a surgical procedure that involves the replacement of the damaged joint of the hip by an artificial device. Despite the recognized clinical success of hip implants, wear of the articulating surfaces remains as one of the critical issues influencing performance. Common material combinations used in hip designs comprise metal-on-polymer (MoP), ceramic-on-polymer (CoP), metal-on-metal (MoM), and ceramic-on-ceramic (CoC). However, when the design of the hip implant is concerned besides the materials used, several parameters can influence its wear performance. In this scenario, where the safety and efficacy for the patient are the main issues, it is fundamental to evaluate and predict the wear rate of the hip implant design before its use in THA. This is one of the issues that should be taken into account in the preclinical evaluation step of the product, in which simulated laboratory tests are necessary. However, it is fundamental that the applied motions and loads can reproduce the wear mechanisms physiologically observed in the patient. To replicate the in vivo angular displacements and loadings, special machines known as joint simulators are employed. This article focuses on the main characteristics related to the wear simulation of hip implants using mechanical simulators, giving information to surgeons, researchers, regulatory bodies, etc., about the importance of preclinical wear evaluation. A critical analysis is performed on the differences in the principles of operation of simulators and their effects on the final results, and about future trends in wear simulation.

The Tyranny of the Temporal Dimension: Learning about Fundamental Values through the Internet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexandersson, Mikael; Runesson, Ulla

2006-01-01

In this article we report on one of four schools involved in a research project aiming to develop knowledge about the way in which teaching knowledge is conveyed with the help of information and communication technology. A particular interest was issues of fundamental values. Two classes in Grade 9 of Swedish compulsory school were studied, by…

Fundamental Concerns in High-Stakes Language Testing: The Case of the College English Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jin, Yan

2011-01-01

The College English Test (CET) is an English language test designed for educational purposes, administered on a very large scale, and used for making high-stakes decisions. This paper discusses the key issues facing the CET during the course of its development in the past two decades. It argues that the most fundamental and critical concerns of…

Wind Power Finance and Investment Workshop 2004

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

anon.

2004-11-01

The workshop had 33 presentations by the leading industry experts in the wind finance and investment area. The workshop presented wind industry opportunities and advice to the financial community. The program also included two concurrent sessions, Wind 100, which offered wind energy novices a comprehensive introduction to wind energy fundamentals, and Transmission Policy and Regulations. Other workshop topics included: Bringing environmental and other issues into perspective; Policy impacts on wind financing; Technical/wind issues; Monetizing green attributes (Sale of green tags); Contractual issues; Debt issues; and Equity issues. There were approximately 230 attendees.

Practical implications of some recent studies in electrospray ionization fundamentals.

PubMed

Cech, N B; Enke, C G

2001-01-01

In accomplishing successful electrospray ionization analyses, it is imperative to have an understanding of the effects of variables such as analyte structure, instrumental parameters, and solution composition. Here, we review some fundamental studies of the ESI process that are relevant to these issues. We discuss how analyte chargeability and surface activity are related to ESI response, and how accessible parameters such as nonpolar surface area and reversed phase HPLC retention time can be used to predict relative ESI response. Also presented is a description of how derivitizing agents can be used to maximize or enable ESI response by improving the chargeability or hydrophobicity of ESI analytes. Limiting factors in the ESI calibration curve are discussed. At high concentrations, these factors include droplet surface area and excess charge concentration, whereas at low concentrations ion transmission becomes an issue, and chemical interference can also be limiting. Stable and reproducible non-pneumatic ESI operation depends on the ability to balance a number of parameters, including applied voltage and solution surface tension, flow rate, and conductivity. We discuss how changing these parameters can shift the mode of ESI operation from stable to unstable, and how current-voltage curves can be used to characterize the mode of ESI operation. Finally, the characteristics of the ideal ESI solvent, including surface tension and conductivity requirements, are discussed. Analysis in the positive ion mode can be accomplished with acidified methanol/water solutions, but negative ion mode analysis necessitates special constituents that suppress corona discharge and facilitate the production of stable negative ions. Copyright 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

How much are researchers aware of the ethical and social implications of their activities? The example of the European Project ENVRI Plus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peppoloni, Silvia; Di Capua, Giuseppe; Haslinger, Florian

2017-04-01

Over the last years the attention to ethical and social aspects of scientific research has grown remarkably. Large scientific projects that refer to environment, resources, or natural hazards, assign great importance to the topics of big data and data management, environmental impact, science dissemination and education. These topics are also analyzed from an ethical and social perspective, recognizing the close relation to and evident repercussions on the life and activity of the human communities touched by those projects. ENVRIplus is a Horizon2020 project in which ethics applied to geosciences features as a fundamental issue, at the base of scientific activities. It brings together Environmental and Earth System Research Infrastructures (RIs), projects, and networks, with technical specialist partners to create a more coherent, interdisciplinary and interoperable cluster of Environmental Research Infrastructures across Europe (http://www.envriplus.eu/). In ENVRIplus, ethics applied to geosciences features as a fundamental issue at the base of scientific activities. Within the theme "Societal relevance and understanding", an entire work package aims at developing an ethical framework for RIs. Its objectives are: • increase the awareness of both the scientists and the public on the importance of ethical aspects in Earth and Environmental sciences; • establish a shared ethical reference framework, to be adopted by RIs governing bodies; • increase the awareness of RIs management and operational levels and of the individual involved scientists on their social role in conducting research activities and research work environment; • assess the ethical and social aspects related to the results achieved and deliverables released within the project. As one element of this work we created a questionnaire to investigate how each RI participating in ENVRI Plus faces ethical issues in relation to its activities, and so to understand the level of perception that researchers and technicians involved in the project have on the ethical implications of their scientific activities. Here we present and discuss the results of this survey, together with the next steps towards the formulation of an ethical reference framework.

Materials for lithium-ion battery safety.

PubMed

Liu, Kai; Liu, Yayuan; Lin, Dingchang; Pei, Allen; Cui, Yi

2018-06-01

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are considered to be one of the most important energy storage technologies. As the energy density of batteries increases, battery safety becomes even more critical if the energy is released unintentionally. Accidents related to fires and explosions of LIBs occur frequently worldwide. Some have caused serious threats to human life and health and have led to numerous product recalls by manufacturers. These incidents are reminders that safety is a prerequisite for batteries, and serious issues need to be resolved before the future application of high-energy battery systems. This Review aims to summarize the fundamentals of the origins of LIB safety issues and highlight recent key progress in materials design to improve LIB safety. We anticipate that this Review will inspire further improvement in battery safety, especially for emerging LIBs with high-energy density.

Materials for lithium-ion battery safety

PubMed Central

Liu, Kai

2018-01-01

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are considered to be one of the most important energy storage technologies. As the energy density of batteries increases, battery safety becomes even more critical if the energy is released unintentionally. Accidents related to fires and explosions of LIBs occur frequently worldwide. Some have caused serious threats to human life and health and have led to numerous product recalls by manufacturers. These incidents are reminders that safety is a prerequisite for batteries, and serious issues need to be resolved before the future application of high-energy battery systems. This Review aims to summarize the fundamentals of the origins of LIB safety issues and highlight recent key progress in materials design to improve LIB safety. We anticipate that this Review will inspire further improvement in battery safety, especially for emerging LIBs with high-energy density. PMID:29942858

Psychohistory and Slavery: Preliminary Issues.

PubMed

Adams, Kenneth Alan

2015-01-01

"Psychohistory and Slavery: Preliminary Issues," begins an examination of slavery in the antebellum South. The paper suggests that how slavery and the group-fantasy of white male supremacy were perpetuated among slaveholders is a question of fundamental importance for psychohistorians. The family and childrearing are the focus of attention. Given the ferocity of slavery, it is argued that the psychological and emotional consequences of this barbarism were not limited to the slaves themselves, but had significant impact on the slaveholders as well-their parenting, their children, and their children's parenting of the next generation. In each generation the trauma of slavery was injected into slaveholder children and became a fundamental component of elite Southern personality.

Research Trend of Physical Skill Science --Towards Elucidation of Physical Skill--

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furukawa, Koichi; Ueno, Ken; Ozaki, Tomonobu; Kamisato, Shihoko; Kawamoto, Ryuji; Shibuya, Koji; Shiratori, Naruhiko; Suwa, Masaki; Soga, Masato; Taki, Hirokazu; Fujinami, Tsutomu; Hori, Satoshi; Motomura, Yoichi; Morita, Souhei

Physical skills and language skills are both fundamental intelligent abilities of human being. In this paper, we focus our attention to such sophisticated physical skills as playing sports and playing instruments and introduce research activities aiming at elucidating and verbalizing them. This research area has been launched recently. We introduce approaches from physical modeling, measurements and data analysis, cognitive science and human interface. We also discuss such issues as skill acquisition and its support systems. Furthermore, we consider a fundamental issue of individual differences occurring in every application of skill elucidation. Finally we introduce several attempts of skill elucidation in the fields of dancing, manufacturing, playing string instruments, sports science and medical care.

Stroke survivors' experiences of the fundamentals of care: a qualitative analysis.

PubMed

Kitson, Alison L; Dow, Clare; Calabrese, Joseph D; Locock, Louise; Muntlin Athlin, Åsa

2013-03-01

Managing the fundamentals of care (e.g. elimination, personal hygiene, eating,) needs to be more explicitly addressed within the patient-centred care discourse. It is not possible to investigate issues of patient dignity and respect without acknowledging these basic physical needs. While the literature on caring for people with a stroke is extensive, no studies to date have described stroke survivors' experiences of all of these fundamentals during the in-hospital phase of their care. Secondary analysis of qualitative data grounded in interpretative phenomenology Participants and settings: Fifteen stroke survivors with in-hospital experiences from multiple healthcare settings and healthcare professionals across the United Kingdom were included. A secondary thematic analysis of primary narrative interview data from stroke survivors. Survivors of strokes have vivid and often distressing recollections of their experiences of the fundamentals of care. For every description of a physical need (elimination, eating and drinking, personal hygiene) there where lucid accounts of the psychosocial and emotional impact (humiliation, distress, lack of dignity, recovery, confidence). Linked to the somatic and emotional dimensions were narratives around the relationship between the patient and the carer (nurse, doctor, allied health professional). Positive recollections of the fundamentals of care were less evident than more distressing experiences. Consistent features of positive experiences included: stroke survivors describing how the physical, psychosocial and relational dimensions of care were integrated and coordinated around their particular need. They reported feeling involved in setting achievable targets to regain control of their bodily functions and regain a sense of personal integrity and sense of self. Sociological constructs such as biographical disruption and loss of self were found to be relevant to stroke survivors' experiences. Indeed, such constructs may be more linked to the disruption of such fundamental activities rather than the experience of the illness itself. We recommend more practical and integrated approaches be taken around understanding and meeting the physical, psychosocial and relational needs of patients in hospital which could lead to more patient-centred care experiences. These three dimensions need to co-exist in every care episode. More exploration is required to identify the common fundamentals of care needs of patients regardless of illness experience. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acoustic excitations in glassy sorbitol and their relation with the fragility and the boson peak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruta, B.; Baldi, G.; Scarponi, F.; Fioretto, D.; Giordano, V. M.; Monaco, G.

2012-12-01

We report a detailed analysis of the dynamic structure factor of glassy sorbitol by using inelastic X-ray scattering and previously measured light scattering data [B. Ruta, G. Monaco, F. Scarponi, and D. Fioretto, Philos. Mag. 88, 3939 (2008), 10.1080/14786430802317586]. The thus obtained knowledge on the density-density fluctuations at both the mesoscopic and macroscopic length scale has been used to address two debated topics concerning the vibrational properties of glasses. The relation between the acoustic modes and the universal boson peak (BP) appearing in the vibrational density of states of glasses has been investigated, also in relation with some recent theoretical models. Moreover, the connection between the elastic properties of glasses and the slowing down of the structural relaxation process in supercooled liquids has been scrutinized. For what concerns the first issue, it is here shown that the wave vector dependence of the acoustic excitations can be used, in sorbitol, to quantitatively reproduce the shape of the boson peak, supporting the relation between BP and acoustic modes. For what concerns the second issue, a proper study of elasticity over a wide spatial range is shown to be fundamental in order to investigate the relation between elastic properties and the slowing down of the dynamics in the corresponding supercooled liquid phase.

Looking forward, not back: Supporting structuralism in the present.

PubMed

McKenzie, Kerry

2016-10-01

The view that the fundamental kind properties are intrinsic properties enjoys reflexive endorsement by most metaphysicians of science. But ontic structural realists deny that there are any fundamental intrinsic properties at all. Given that structuralists distrust intuition as a guide to truth, and given that we currently lack a fundamental physical theory that we could consult instead to order settle the issue, it might seem as if there is simply nowhere for this debate to go at present. However, I will argue that there exists an as-yet untapped resource for arguing for ontic structuralism - namely, the way that fundamentality is conceptualized in our most fundamental physical frameworks. By arguing that physical objects must be subject to the 'Goldilock's principle' if they are to count as fundamental at all, I argue that we can no longer view the majority of properties defining them as intrinsic. As such, ontic structural realism can be regarded as the most promising metaphysics for fundamental physics, and that this is so even though we do not yet claim to know precisely what that fundamental physics is. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Foreign Military Advisor Proficiency: The Need for Screening, Selection and Qualification

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-12

System BDE Brigade BTT Border Transition Team CALL Center for Army Lessons Learned CAT Collection and Analysis Team CF Coalition Forces CGSS...all Soldiers are suitable for advisor duty. Personnel selection is a fundamental requirement. Despite the importance of the mission, there is... fundamental issue arises from literature. Unique Soldier attributes and leadership may be required to attain and maintain cohesion on foreign military

THE ACTIVITY/SPACE, A LEAST COMMON DENOMINATOR FOR ARCHITECTURAL PROGRAMMING.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

HAVILAND, DAVID S.

TWO INTERRELATED PROBLEM AREAS OF ARCHITECTURAL PROGRAMING ARE DISCUSSED--(1) "NEEDS DEFINITION," AND (2) "NEEDS DOCUMENTATION AND COMMUNICATION". FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES AND WORK OF THE CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURAL RESEARCH ARE PRESENTED. ISSUES ARE THE FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE HOW, WHEN, AND IN WHAT FORM THE NEED WILL BE USED. CRITERIA FORMULATION MUST BE…

Unconscious Inhibition and Facilitation at the Objective Detection Threshold: Replicable and Qualitatively Different Unconscious Perceptual Effects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snodgrass, Michael; Shevrin, Howard

2006-01-01

Although the veridicality of unconscious perception is increasingly accepted, core issues remain unresolved [Jack, A., & Shallice, T. (2001). Introspective physicalism as an approach to the science of consciousness. "Cognition, 79," 161-196], and sharp disagreement persists regarding fundamental methodological and theoretical issues. The most…

"Parents as Partners" in Research and Evaluation: Methodological and Ethical Issues and Solutions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolfendale, Sheila

1999-01-01

This article investigates parents' status within educational research and examines some research paradigms that have been used. A number of inherent methodological and ethical issues are identified and several fundamental aspects are explored. It is argued that researchers should adopt a partnership model for cooperative research on parental…

War, Critical Thinking, and Self-Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noddings, Nel

2004-01-01

Can students learn to think critically if they are not asked to engage with critical issues? Fostering critical thinking is frequently stated as a fundamental aim of education, and yet many teachers report that they have been forbidden to discuss such critical issues as current wars, religion, and cultural differences in styles of parenting. The…

Online Paper Repositories and the Role of Scholarly Societies: An AERA Conference Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Educational Researcher, 2010

2010-01-01

This article examines issues faced by scholarly societies that are developing and sustaining online paper repositories. It is based on the AERA Conference on Online Paper Repositories, which focused on fundamental issues of policy and procedure important to the operations of online working paper repositories. The report and recommendations address…

Validity Evidence in Accommodations for English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Camara, Wayne

2009-01-01

The five papers in this special issue of the "Journal of Applied Testing Technology" address fundamental issues of validity when tests are modified or accommodations are provided to English Language Learners (ELL) or students with disabilities. Three papers employed differential item functioning (DIF) and factor analysis and found the…

Year-Round Education: Does It Cost More?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brekke, Norman R.

The cost-effective management of instructional programs and facilities will continue to be a fundamental educational issue in the 21st century. This handbook discusses issues to be considered in assessing the cost effectiveness of year-round education (YRE). YRE has the potential to enhance student retention of material, reduce teacher and student…

Designing a Citizen Involvement Program: A Guidebook for Involving Citizens in the Resolution of Environmental Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howell, Robert E.; And Others

A model and supportive materials are presented for design and implementation of a program for involving citizens in decision-making concerning significant environmental issues. Chapter topics include: why citizen involvement? (potential benefits of the process); theoretical basis for citizen involvement (three fundamental perspectives underlying…

Collision of Epistemological Frameworks: Religion and Social Science's Unshared Understanding of Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Firmin, Michael W.

2009-01-01

Religious scholars and social science experts frequently differ and sometimes clash when writing and discussing issues of ethics. Sometimes unshared understandings on fundamental world-view issues is the etiology for these differences. Differences in defining truth, whether philosophically or empirically, often is at the root etiology in these…

A look at statin cost-effectiveness in view of the 2013 ACC/AHA cholesterol management guidelines.

PubMed

Deaño, Roderick C; Pandya, Ankur; Jones, Erica C; Borden, William B

2014-09-01

The 2013 cholesterol management guidelines presented a major shift in recommendations on which patients at risk of cardiovascular disease should be treated and how to treat them. Implementation of the guidelines is estimated to increase substantially the number of people who would be eligible for statin therapy. As the medical community considers the broad population impact of the new cholesterol guidelines, the issue of cost-effectiveness plays a role. This review covers the basic fundamentals of cost-effectiveness analysis and summarizes the key cost-effectiveness studies that relate to the new cholesterol guidelines.

Preface: Special Topic on Single-Molecule Biophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makarov, Dmitrii E.; Schuler, Benjamin

2018-03-01

Single-molecule measurements are now almost routinely used to study biological systems and processes. The scope of this special topic emphasizes the physics side of single-molecule observations, with the goal of highlighting new developments in physical techniques as well as conceptual insights that single-molecule measurements bring to biophysics. This issue also comprises recent advances in theoretical physical models of single-molecule phenomena, interpretation of single-molecule signals, and fundamental areas of statistical mechanics that are related to single-molecule observations. A particular goal is to illustrate the increasing synergy between theory, simulation, and experiment in single-molecule biophysics.

Rapid multispectral cw multiplexing technique for photon migration measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siegel, Andrew M.; Boas, David A.

2001-06-01

A discussion of photon migration will introduce both some fundamental limitations and practical concerns which directly affect the design and construction of DOT instrumentation. The utility of four different multiplexing schemes will be discussed and then contrasted in light of these concerns. The relative merits of each scheme will be used to determine which measurements they are best suited for, given some of the realistic technical, legal, and practical issues common to the medical research community. Within this context, the unique advantages offered by a variant of time-division multiplexing; Pulse-TDM, will be introduced and explained.

Measurements of Thermal Effects on Acoustic Screech in a Choked Circular Jet Emanating from a Sharp-Edged Orifice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kandula, Max

2012-01-01

Experiments are performed in a 24.4 mm diameter choked circular hot and cold jets issuing from a sharp-edged orifice at a fully expanded jet Mach number of 1.85. The stagnation temperature of the hot and the cold jets are 319 K and 299 K respectively. The results suggest that temperature effects on the screech amplitude and frequency are manifested for the fundamental, with a reduced amplitude and increased frequency for hot jet relative to the cold jet. Temperature effects on the second harmonic are also observed.

[Current status of DNA databases in the forensic field: new progress, new legal needs].

PubMed

Baeta, Miriam; Martínez-Jarreta, Begoña

2009-01-01

One of the most polemic issues regarding the use of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the legal sphere, refers to the creation of DNA databases. Until relatively recently, Spain did not have a law to support the establishment of a national DNA profile bank for forensic purposes, and preserve the fundamental rights of subjects whose data are archived therein. The regulatory law of police databases regarding identifiers obtained from DNA approved in 2007, covers this void in the Spanish legislation and responds to the incessant need to adapt the laws to continuous scientific and technological progress.

Child neurology: past, present, and future: part 3: the future.

PubMed

Ridel, Keith R; Gilbert, Donald L

2010-10-12

This is the last of a 3-part series exploring the past, present, and future of the field of child neurology. This article addresses the 2 fundamental challenges facing child neurology. The most important challenge is our inadequate workforce; based on current numbers, recruitment patterns, and projected retirement, the child neurology clinical and research workforce shortage will likely worsen. The second challenge involves adapting our training to prepare child neurologists for changes ahead. We propose that these 2 issues are related, and that solutions need to include consideration of career options in research, education, and patient care.

Research, Practice, and Policy Perspectives on Issues of Children without Permanent Parental Care

PubMed Central

McCall, Robert B.

2013-01-01

This chapter presents conclusions, trends, conceptual analyses, hypotheses, and speculations regarding some fundamental issues of research, practice, and policy that are largely unsettled or controversial. As such, the chapter is not a summary of Chapters 1-8, but rather contains interpretations and opinions of the author intended to elevate the priority of certain issues, suggest hypotheses to be studied, and propose practice and policy steps to be considered. PMID:25018566

Temporal ecology in the Anthropocene.

PubMed

Wolkovich, E M; Cook, B I; McLauchlan, K K; Davies, T J

2014-11-01

Two fundamental axes - space and time - shape ecological systems. Over the last 30 years spatial ecology has developed as an integrative, multidisciplinary science that has improved our understanding of the ecological consequences of habitat fragmentation and loss. We argue that accelerating climate change - the effective manipulation of time by humans - has generated a current need to build an equivalent framework for temporal ecology. Climate change has at once pressed ecologists to understand and predict ecological dynamics in non-stationary environments, while also challenged fundamental assumptions of many concepts, models and approaches. However, similarities between space and time, especially related issues of scaling, provide an outline for improving ecological models and forecasting of temporal dynamics, while the unique attributes of time, particularly its emphasis on events and its singular direction, highlight where new approaches are needed. We emphasise how a renewed, interdisciplinary focus on time would coalesce related concepts, help develop new theories and methods and guide further data collection. The next challenge will be to unite predictive frameworks from spatial and temporal ecology to build robust forecasts of when and where environmental change will pose the largest threats to species and ecosystems, as well as identifying the best opportunities for conservation. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography With Indexes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes NASA SP-7O11 lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion.

[Illegitimate patients: Undocumented immigrants' access to health care in Chile].

PubMed

Concha, Nanette Liberona; Mansilla, Miguel Ángel

2017-01-01

In recent decades, Chile has become a destination for immigrants from other South American countries, which has significantly impacted public services - particularly the public health system - at the economic, social, and cultural levels. The aim of this paper is to provide substantiated information on issues concerning undocumented immigrants' access to health care in Chile. A qualitative methodology, fundamentally an ethnography of the clinical setting, was used. Results were then analyzed in relation to theories of power asymmetries and interethnic relations. The research results highlight the lack of compliance with existing regulations and the exercise of discretionary personal judgment as barriers to access. It is concluded that in Chile immigrants in general, and undocumented immigrants in particular, are considered to be illegitimate patients.

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography. Supplement 475

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion.

Numerical Study of Tip Vortex Flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dacles-Mariani, Jennifer; Hafez, Mohamed

1998-01-01

This paper presents an overview and summary of the many different research work related to tip vortex flows and wake/trailing vortices as applied to practical engineering problems. As a literature survey paper, it outlines relevant analytical, theoretical, experimental and computational study found in literature. It also discusses in brief some of the fundamental aspects of the physics and its complexities. An appendix is also included. The topics included in this paper are: 1) Analytical Vortices; 2) Experimental Studies; 3) Computational Studies; 4) Wake Vortex Control and Management; 5) Wake Modeling; 6) High-Lift Systems; 7) Issues in Numerical Studies; 8) Instabilities; 9) Related Topics; 10) Visualization Tools for Vertical Flows; 11) Further Work Needed; 12) Acknowledgements; 13) References; and 14) Appendix.

International perspectives on the ethics and regulation of human cell and tissue transplantation.

PubMed

Schulz-Baldes, Annette; Biller-Andorno, Nikola; Capron, Alexander Morgan

2007-12-01

The transplantation of human cells and tissues has become a global enterprise for both life-saving and life-enhancing purposes. Yet current practices raise numerous ethical and policy issues relating to informed consent for donation, profit-making, and quality and safety in the procurement, processing, distribution, and international circulation of human cells and tissues. This paper reports on recent developments in the international debate surrounding these issues, and in particular on the attention cell and tissue transplantation has received in WHO's ongoing process of updating its 1991 Guiding principles on human organ transplantation. Several of the organizers of an international working group of stakeholders from a wide range of backgrounds that convened in Zurich in July 2006 summarize the areas of normative agreement and disagreement, and identify open questions regarding facts and fundamental concepts of potential normative significance. These issues must be addressed through development of common medical, scientific, legal and ethical requirements for human cell and tissue transplantation on a global basis. While guidance must accommodate the distinct ethical issues raised by activities involving human cells and tissues, consistency with normative frameworks for organ transplantation remains a prime objective.

Special issue on network coding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monteiro, Francisco A.; Burr, Alister; Chatzigeorgiou, Ioannis; Hollanti, Camilla; Krikidis, Ioannis; Seferoglu, Hulya; Skachek, Vitaly

2017-12-01

Future networks are expected to depart from traditional routing schemes in order to embrace network coding (NC)-based schemes. These have created a lot of interest both in academia and industry in recent years. Under the NC paradigm, symbols are transported through the network by combining several information streams originating from the same or different sources. This special issue contains thirteen papers, some dealing with design aspects of NC and related concepts (e.g., fountain codes) and some showcasing the application of NC to new services and technologies, such as data multi-view streaming of video or underwater sensor networks. One can find papers that show how NC turns data transmission more robust to packet losses, faster to decode, and more resilient to network changes, such as dynamic topologies and different user options, and how NC can improve the overall throughput. This issue also includes papers showing that NC principles can be used at different layers of the networks (including the physical layer) and how the same fundamental principles can lead to new distributed storage systems. Some of the papers in this issue have a theoretical nature, including code design, while others describe hardware testbeds and prototypes.

Implementing risk-stratified screening for common cancers: a review of potential ethical, legal and social issues

PubMed Central

Hall, A.E.; Chowdhury, S.; Hallowell, N.; Pashayan, N.; Dent, T.; Pharoah, P.; Burton, H.

2014-01-01

Background The identification of common genetic variants associated with common cancers including breast, prostate and ovarian cancers would allow population stratification by genotype to effectively target screening and treatment. As scientific, clinical and economic evidence mounts there will be increasing pressure for risk-stratified screening programmes to be implemented. Methods This paper reviews some of the main ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) raised by the introduction of genotyping into risk-stratified screening programmes, in terms of Beauchamp and Childress's four principles of biomedical ethics—respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice. Two alternative approaches to data collection, storage, communication and consent are used to exemplify the ELSI issues that are likely to be raised. Results Ultimately, the provision of risk-stratified screening using genotyping raises fundamental questions about respective roles of individuals, healthcare providers and the state in organizing or mandating such programmes, and the principles, which underpin their provision, particularly the requirement for distributive justice. Conclusions The scope and breadth of these issues suggest that ELSI relating to risk-stratified screening will become increasingly important for policy-makers, healthcare professionals and a wide diversity of stakeholders. PMID:23986542

Evolution of China's water issues as framed in Chinese mainstream newspaper.

PubMed

Xiong, Yonglan; Wei, Yongping; Zhang, Zhiqiang; Wei, Jing

2016-03-01

There is an urgent need globally to trigger fundamental societal changes in water management away from existing unsustainable paradigms. This paper attempts to understand the evolution of newspaper coverage of water issues in China by analyzing water-related articles in a major national newspaper, the People's Daily, over the period 1946-2012 using a content analysis approach. The major findings include the following: (1) water issues were in relatively prominent positions in the newspaper; (2) the reporting of water issues in China experienced three stages: 1946 to the middle of 1980s-flood and drought control and water for food production, the middle of 1980s to 1997-water for economic development, and 1998 to the present-water for the environmental sustainability and economic development; (3) the reporting of water issues in the People's Daily clearly reflected China's top-down water resources management system, and no "real" public opinions on water were reported during the study period; and (4) the People's Daily is just a wind vane of Chinese mainstream values and policies on water. The findings supported the realist assumption that the societal value changes on water issues in China were triggered by a range of factors including biophysical pressure (floods and droughts), political campaign (the Cultural Revolution), macro-economic reform (Reform and Opening-up), water institutional arrangement (the Water Law), and water management reform (the No. 1 Central Document on water reform). While there are similarities and differences between this study and other studies, important implications for more sustainable water management are a need to strengthen academic specialists' and NGO's voices in the newspaper to create a better informed public, and to stimulate practices toward sustainable water use.

The question of autonomy in maternal health in Africa: a rights-based consideration.

PubMed

Amzat, Jimoh

2015-06-01

Maternal mortality is still very high in Africa, despite progress in control efforts at the global level. One elemental link is the question of autonomy in maternal health, especially at the household level where intrinsic human rights are undermined. A rights-based consideration in bioethics is an approach that holds the centrality of the human person, with a compelling reference to the fundamental human rights of every person. A philosophical and sociological engagement of gender and the notion of autonomy within the household reveals some fundamental rights-based perplexities for bioethical considerations in maternal health. The right to self-determination is undermined, and therefore women's dignity, freedom and autonomy, capacities, and choices are easily defiled. This study applies a rights-based approach to maternal health and demonstrates how rights concerns are associated with negative outcomes in maternal health in Africa. The discussion is situated at the household level, which is the starting point in health care. The paper submits that beyond legal and political rights within the context of the state, rights-based issues manifest at the household level. Many of those rights issues, especially relating to women's autonomy, are detrimental to maternal health in Africa. Therefore, a rights-based approach in the social construction of maternal health realities will contribute to alleviating the burden of maternal mortality in Africa.

The interdisciplinary nature of SOIL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brevik, E. C.; Cerdà, A.; Mataix-Solera, J.; Pereg, L.; Quinton, J. N.; Six, J.; Van Oost, K.

2015-01-01

The holistic study of soils requires an interdisciplinary approach involving biologists, chemists, geologists, and physicists, amongst others, something that has been true from the earliest days of the field. In more recent years this list has grown to include anthropologists, economists, engineers, medical professionals, military professionals, sociologists, and even artists. This approach has been strengthened and reinforced as current research continues to use experts trained in both soil science and related fields and by the wide array of issues impacting the world that require an in-depth understanding of soils. Of fundamental importance amongst these issues are biodiversity, biofuels/energy security, climate change, ecosystem services, food security, human health, land degradation, and water security, each representing a critical challenge for research. In order to establish a benchmark for the type of research that we seek to publish in each issue of SOIL, we have outlined the interdisciplinary nature of soil science research we are looking for. This includes a focus on the myriad ways soil science can be used to expand investigation into a more holistic and therefore richer approach to soil research. In addition, a selection of invited review papers are published in this first issue of SOIL that address the study of soils and the ways in which soil investigations are essential to other related fields. We hope that both this editorial and the papers in the first issue will serve as examples of the kinds of topics we would like to see published in SOIL and will stimulate excitement among our readers and authors to participate in this new venture.

Molecular electronics: some views on transport junctions and beyond.

PubMed

Joachim, Christian; Ratner, Mark A

2005-06-21

The field of molecular electronics comprises a fundamental set of issues concerning the electronic response of molecules as parts of a mesoscopic structure and a technology-facing area of science. We will overview some important aspects of these subfields. The most advanced ideas in the field involve the use of molecules as individual logic or memory units and are broadly based on using the quantum state space of the molecule. Current work in molecular electronics usually addresses molecular junction transport, where the molecule acts as a barrier for incoming electrons: This is the fundamental Landauer idea of "conduction as scattering" generalized to molecular junction structures. Another point of view in terms of superexchange as a guiding mechanism for coherent electron transfer through the molecular bridge is discussed. Molecules generally exhibit relatively strong vibronic coupling. The last section of this overview focuses on vibronic effects, including inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy, hysteresis in junction charge transport, and negative differential resistance in molecular transport junctions.

Molecular electronics: Some views on transport junctions and beyond

PubMed Central

Joachim, Christian; Ratner, Mark A.

2005-01-01

The field of molecular electronics comprises a fundamental set of issues concerning the electronic response of molecules as parts of a mesoscopic structure and a technology-facing area of science. We will overview some important aspects of these subfields. The most advanced ideas in the field involve the use of molecules as individual logic or memory units and are broadly based on using the quantum state space of the molecule. Current work in molecular electronics usually addresses molecular junction transport, where the molecule acts as a barrier for incoming electrons: This is the fundamental Landauer idea of “conduction as scattering” generalized to molecular junction structures. Another point of view in terms of superexchange as a guiding mechanism for coherent electron transfer through the molecular bridge is discussed. Molecules generally exhibit relatively strong vibronic coupling. The last section of this overview focuses on vibronic effects, including inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy, hysteresis in junction charge transport, and negative differential resistance in molecular transport junctions. PMID:15956192

Key statistical and analytical issues for evaluating treatment effects in periodontal research.

PubMed

Tu, Yu-Kang; Gilthorpe, Mark S

2012-06-01

Statistics is an indispensible tool for evaluating treatment effects in clinical research. Due to the complexities of periodontal disease progression and data collection, statistical analyses for periodontal research have been a great challenge for both clinicians and statisticians. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of several basic, but important, statistical issues related to the evaluation of treatment effects and to clarify some common statistical misconceptions. Some of these issues are general, concerning many disciplines, and some are unique to periodontal research. We first discuss several statistical concepts that have sometimes been overlooked or misunderstood by periodontal researchers. For instance, decisions about whether to use the t-test or analysis of covariance, or whether to use parametric tests such as the t-test or its non-parametric counterpart, the Mann-Whitney U-test, have perplexed many periodontal researchers. We also describe more advanced methodological issues that have sometimes been overlooked by researchers. For instance, the phenomenon of regression to the mean is a fundamental issue to be considered when evaluating treatment effects, and collinearity amongst covariates is a conundrum that must be resolved when explaining and predicting treatment effects. Quick and easy solutions to these methodological and analytical issues are not always available in the literature, and careful statistical thinking is paramount when conducting useful and meaningful research. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

EDITORIAL: Carbon-based nanoscience and nanotechnology: where are we, where are we heading? Carbon-based nanoscience and nanotechnology: where are we, where are we heading?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soukiassian, Patrick G.; Ramachandra Rao, M. S.

2010-09-01

'Without carbon, life cannot exist', the saying goes, and not only life. For technological development, carbon was the ultimate material of the 19th century. It allowed the beginnings of the industrial revolution, enabling the rise of the steel and chemical industries, it made the railways run, and it played a major role in the development of naval transportation. Silicon, another very interesting material which makes up a quarter of the earth's crust, became the material of the 20th century in its turn. It gave us the development of high performance electronics and photovoltaics with large fields of applications and played a pivotal role in the evolution of computer technology. The increased device performance of information and data processing systems is changing our lives on a daily basis, producing scientific innovations for a new industrial era. However, success breeds its own problems, and there is ever more data to be handled—which requires a nanoscience approach. This cluster aims to address various aspects, prospects and challenges in this area of great interest for all our futures. Carbon exists in various allotropic forms that are intensively investigated for their unusual and fascinating properties, from both fundamental and applied points of view. Among them, the sp2 (fullerenes, nanotubes and graphene) and sp3 (diamond) bonding configurations are of special interest since they have outstanding and, in some cases, unsurpassed properties compared to other materials. These properties include very high mechanical resistance, very high hardness, high resistance to radiation damage, high thermal conductivity, biocompatibility and superconductivity. Graphene, for example, possesses very uncommon electronic structure and a high carrier mobility, with charge carriers of zero mass moving at constant velocity, just like photons. All these characteristics have put carbon and carbon-related nanomaterials in the spotlight of science and technology research. The main challenges for future understanding include i) material growth, ii) fundamental properties, and iii) developing advanced applications. The reviews in this Cluster Issue of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics cover carbon nanoparticles and nanotubes, graphene, nano-diamond and films. They address the most current aspects and issues related to their fundamental and outstanding properties, and describe various classes of high-tech applications based on these promising materials. Future prospects, difficulties and challenges are addressed. Important issues include growth, morphology, atomic and electronic structure, transport properties, superconductivity, doping, nanochemistry using hydrogen, chemical and bio-sensors, and bio-imaging, allowing readers to evaluate this very interesting topic and draw perspectives for the future.

A comprehensive survey of energy-aware routing protocols in wireless body area sensor networks.

PubMed

Effatparvar, Mehdi; Dehghan, Mehdi; Rahmani, Amir Masoud

2016-09-01

Wireless body area sensor network is a special purpose wireless sensor network that, employing wireless sensor nodes in, on, or around the human body, makes it possible to measure biological parameters of a person for specific applications. One of the most fundamental concerns in wireless body sensor networks is accurate routing in order to send data promptly and properly, and therefore overcome some of the challenges. Routing protocols for such networks are affected by a large number of factors including energy, topology, temperature, posture, the radio range of sensors, and appropriate quality of service in sensor nodes. Since energy is highly important in wireless body area sensor networks, and increasing the network lifetime results in benefiting greatly from sensor capabilities, improving routing performance with reduced energy consumption presents a major challenge. This paper aims to study wireless body area sensor networks and the related routing methods. It also presents a thorough, comprehensive review of routing methods in wireless body area sensor networks from the perspective of energy. Furthermore, different routing methods affecting the parameter of energy will be classified and compared according to their advantages and disadvantages. In this paper, fundamental concepts of wireless body area sensor networks are provided, and then the advantages and disadvantages of these networks are investigated. Since one of the most fundamental issues in wireless body sensor networks is to perform routing so as to transmit data precisely and promptly, we discuss the same issue. As a result, we propose a classification of the available relevant literature with respect to the key challenge of energy in the routing process. With this end in view, all important papers published between 2000 and 2015 are classified under eight categories including 'Mobility-Aware', 'Thermal-Aware', 'Restriction of Location and Number of Relays', 'Link-aware', 'Cluster- and Tree-Based', 'Cross-Layer', 'Opportunistic', and 'Medium Access Control'. We, then, provide a full description of the statistical analysis of each category in relation to all papers, current hybrid protocols, and the type of simulators used in each paper. Next, we analyze the distribution of papers in each category during various years. Moreover, for each category, the advantages and disadvantages as well as the number of issued papers in different years are given. We also analyze the type of layer and deployment of mathematical models or algorithmic techniques in each category. Finally, after introducing certain important protocols for each category, the goals, advantages, and disadvantages of the protocols are discussed and compared with each other.

Negotiating international bioethics: a response to Tom Beauchamp and Ruth Macklin.

PubMed

Baker, Robert

1998-12-01

Can the bioethical theories that have served American bioethics so well, serve international bioethics as well? In two papers in the previous issue of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, I contend that the form of principlist fundamentalism endorsed by American bioethicists like Tom Beauchamp and Ruth Macklin will not play on an international stage. Deploying techniques of postmodern scholarship, I argue that principlist fundamentalism justifies neither the condemnation of the Nazi doctors at Nuremberg, nor, as the Report of the Advisory Committee on the Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE) demonstrates, condemnation of Cold War radiation researchers. Principlist fundamentalism thus appears to be philosophy bankrupt. In this issue of the Journal, Beauchamp and Macklin reject this claim, arguing that I have misread the ACHRE report and misunderstood Nazism. They also argue that the form of post-postmodern negotiated human rights theory that I proffer is adequate only insofar as it is itself really fundamentalist; insofar as I take postmodernism seriously, however, I mire international bioethics in relativism. In this response, I reaffirm my anti-fundamentalism, provide further evidence in support of my reading of the ACHRE report, and defend my post-postmodern version of rights theory. I also develop criteria for a minimally adequate theoretical framework for international bioethics.

Governing Laws of Complex System Predictability under Co-evolving Uncertainty Sources: Theory and Nonlinear Geophysical Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perdigão, R. A. P.

2017-12-01

Predictability assessments are traditionally made on a case-by-case basis, often by running the particular model of interest with randomly perturbed initial/boundary conditions and parameters, producing computationally expensive ensembles. These approaches provide a lumped statistical view of uncertainty evolution, without eliciting the fundamental processes and interactions at play in the uncertainty dynamics. In order to address these limitations, we introduce a systematic dynamical framework for predictability assessment and forecast, by analytically deriving governing equations of predictability in terms of the fundamental architecture of dynamical systems, independent of any particular problem under consideration. The framework further relates multiple uncertainty sources along with their coevolutionary interplay, enabling a comprehensive and explicit treatment of uncertainty dynamics along time, without requiring the actual model to be run. In doing so, computational resources are freed and a quick and effective a-priori systematic dynamic evaluation is made of predictability evolution and its challenges, including aspects in the model architecture and intervening variables that may require optimization ahead of initiating any model runs. It further brings out universal dynamic features in the error dynamics elusive to any case specific treatment, ultimately shedding fundamental light on the challenging issue of predictability. The formulated approach, framed with broad mathematical physics generality in mind, is then implemented in dynamic models of nonlinear geophysical systems with various degrees of complexity, in order to evaluate their limitations and provide informed assistance on how to optimize their design and improve their predictability in fundamental dynamical terms.

Biomedical engineering and society: policy and ethics.

PubMed

Flexman, J A; Lazareck, L

2007-01-01

Biomedical engineering impacts health care and contributes to fundamental knowledge in medicine and biology. Policy, such as through regulation and research funding, has the potential to dramatically affect biomedical engineering research and commercialization. New developments, in turn, may affect society in new ways. The intersection of biomedical engineering and society and related policy issues must be discussed between scientists and engineers, policy-makers and the public. As a student, there are many ways to become engaged in the issues surrounding science and technology policy. At the University of Washington in Seattle, the Forum on Science Ethics and Policy (FOSEP, www.fosep.org) was started by graduate students and post-doctoral fellows interested in improving the dialogue between scientists, policymakers and the public and has received support from upper-level administration. This is just one example of how students can start thinking about science policy and ethics early in their careers.

In the soft-to-hard technical spectrum: Where is software engineering?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leibfried, Theodore F.; Macdonald, Robert B.

1992-01-01

In the computer journals and tabloids, there have been a plethora of articles written about the software engineering field. But while advocates of the need for an engineering approach to software development, it is impressive how many authors have treated the subject of software engineering without adequately addressing the fundamentals of what engineering as a discipline consists of. A discussion is presented of the various related facets of this issue in a logical framework to advance the thesis that the software development process is necessarily an engineering process. The purpose is to examine more of the details of the issue of whether or not the design and development of software for digital computer processing systems should be both viewed and treated as a legitimate field of professional engineering. Also, the type of academic and professional level education programs that would be required to support a software engineering discipline is examined.

Class-modelling in food analytical chemistry: Development, sampling, optimisation and validation issues - A tutorial.

PubMed

Oliveri, Paolo

2017-08-22

Qualitative data modelling is a fundamental branch of pattern recognition, with many applications in analytical chemistry, and embraces two main families: discriminant and class-modelling methods. The first strategy is appropriate when at least two classes are meaningfully defined in the problem under study, while the second strategy is the right choice when the focus is on a single class. For this reason, class-modelling methods are also referred to as one-class classifiers. Although, in the food analytical field, most of the issues would be properly addressed by class-modelling strategies, the use of such techniques is rather limited and, in many cases, discriminant methods are forcedly used for one-class problems, introducing a bias in the outcomes. Key aspects related to the development, optimisation and validation of suitable class models for the characterisation of food products are critically analysed and discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On the Enthalpy and Entropy of Point Defect Formation in Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobelev, N. P.; Khonik, V. A.

2018-03-01

A standard way to determine the formation enthalpy H and entropy S of point defect formation in crystals consists in the application of the Arrhenius equation for the defect concentration. In this work, we show that a formal use of this method actually gives the effective (apparent) values of these quantities, which appear to be significantly overestimated. The underlying physical reason lies in temperature-dependent formation enthalpy of the defects, which is controlled by temperature dependence of the elastic moduli. We present an evaluation of the "true" H- and S-values for aluminum, which are derived on the basis of experimental data by taking into account temperature dependence of the formation enthalpy related to temperature dependence of the elastic moduli. The knowledge of the "true" activation parameters is needed for a correct calculation of the defect concentration constituting thus an issue of major importance for different fundamental and application issues of condensed matter physics and chemistry.

Responsible science: Ensuring the integrity of the research process. Volume 1. Final report, 1989--1992

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

Not Available

In 1989, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine initiated a major study to examine issues related to scientific responsibility and the conduct of research. This report thoughtfully examines the challenges posed in ensuring that the search for truth reflects adherence to ethical standards. In recent years we have learned that not all scientists adhere to this obligation. Issues of misconduct and integrity in science present complex questions. This report recommends specific actions that all scientists, their institutions, and their sponsors can take to preserve and strengthen the integrity of the researchmore » process and also to deal with allegations of misconduct. The recommendations provide a blueprint for encouraging and safeguarding the intellectual independence that is essential to doing the best science while also providing for fundamental accountability to those who sponsor and support scientific research.« less

Introduction to “Global tsunami science: Past and future, Volume II”

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rabinovich, Alexander B.; Fritz, Hermann M.; Tanioka, Yuichiro; Geist, Eric L.

2017-01-01

Twenty-two papers on the study of tsunamis are included in Volume II of the PAGEOPH topical issue “Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future”. Volume I of this topical issue was published as PAGEOPH, vol. 173, No. 12, 2016 (Eds., E. L. Geist, H. M. Fritz, A. B. Rabinovich, and Y. Tanioka). Three papers in Volume II focus on details of the 2011 and 2016 tsunami-generating earthquakes offshore of Tohoku, Japan. The next six papers describe important case studies and observations of recent and historical events. Four papers related to tsunami hazard assessment are followed by three papers on tsunami hydrodynamics and numerical modelling. Three papers discuss problems of tsunami warning and real-time forecasting. The final set of three papers importantly investigates tsunamis generated by non-seismic sources: volcanic explosions, landslides, and meteorological disturbances. Collectively, this volume highlights contemporary trends in global tsunami research, both fundamental and applied toward hazard assessment and mitigation.

Introduction to "Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future, Volume II"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabinovich, Alexander B.; Fritz, Hermann M.; Tanioka, Yuichiro; Geist, Eric L.

2017-08-01

Twenty-two papers on the study of tsunamis are included in Volume II of the PAGEOPH topical issue "Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future". Volume I of this topical issue was published as PAGEOPH, vol. 173, No. 12, 2016 (Eds., E. L. Geist, H. M. Fritz, A. B. Rabinovich, and Y. Tanioka). Three papers in Volume II focus on details of the 2011 and 2016 tsunami-generating earthquakes offshore of Tohoku, Japan. The next six papers describe important case studies and observations of recent and historical events. Four papers related to tsunami hazard assessment are followed by three papers on tsunami hydrodynamics and numerical modelling. Three papers discuss problems of tsunami warning and real-time forecasting. The final set of three papers importantly investigates tsunamis generated by non-seismic sources: volcanic explosions, landslides, and meteorological disturbances. Collectively, this volume highlights contemporary trends in global tsunami research, both fundamental and applied toward hazard assessment and mitigation.

Recent trends for practical rehabilitation robotics, current challenges and the future.

PubMed

Yakub, Fitri; Md Khudzari, Ahmad Zahran; Mori, Yasuchika

2014-03-01

This paper presents and studies various selected literature primarily from conference proceedings, journals and clinical tests of the robotic, mechatronics, neurology and biomedical engineering of rehabilitation robotic systems. The present paper focuses of three main categories: types of rehabilitation robots, key technologies with current issues and future challenges. Literature on fundamental research with some examples from commercialized robots and new robot development projects related to rehabilitation are introduced. Most of the commercialized robots presented in this paper are well known especially to robotics engineers and scholars in the robotic field, but are less known to humanities scholars. The field of rehabilitation robot research is expanding; in light of this, some of the current issues and future challenges in rehabilitation robot engineering are recalled, examined and clarified with future directions. This paper is concluded with some recommendations with respect to rehabilitation robots.

Attrition in nursing: perspectives from the national survey of college graduates.

PubMed

Crow, Stephen M; Smith, Steven A; Hartman, Sandra J

2005-01-01

Problems with attracting and retaining nurses during a tight labor market are compounded by some fundamental issues related to attrition from the field. It is important to recognize that, of the students who graduate from nursing schools each year and enter the field of nursing, significant attrition occurs during the first 5 years in the profession [www.aacn.nche.edu/media/backgrounders/shortagefacts.htmaacn.nche.edu (2002)]. This article uses data from the National Science Foundation's National Survey of College Graduates to examine various scenarios and possible reasons for why some nurses abandon their careers [www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/snscg/start.htm (2003)]. In doing so, we consider entry into, and attrition from, the nursing profession at various stages. Using data from the National Survey of College Graduates, the initial evaluation suggests that, at points during the career, the individual confronts potential problems and issues which can lead to career attrition.

Preface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2015-05-01

This special issue covers the proceedings of Symposium J 'Laser Interaction with Advanced Materials: Fundamentals and Applications' of the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) 2014 Spring Meeting, held in Lille, France.

Relativistic Length Agony Continued

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redzic, D. V.

2014-06-01

We made an attempt to remedy recent confusing treatments of some basic relativistic concepts and results. Following the argument presented in an earlier paper (Redzic 2008b), we discussed the misconceptions that are recurrent points in the literature devoted to teaching relativity such as: there is no change in the object in Special Relativity, illusory character of relativistic length contraction, stresses and strains induced by Lorentz contraction, and related issues. We gave several examples of the traps of everyday language that lurk in Special Relativity. To remove a possible conceptual and terminological muddle, we made a distinction between the relativistic length reduction and relativistic FitzGerald-Lorentz contraction, corresponding to a passive and an active aspect of length contraction, respectively; we pointed out that both aspects have fundamental dynamical contents. As an illustration of our considerations, we discussed briefly the Dewan-Beran-Bell spaceship paradox and the 'pole in a barn' paradox.

Towards a Curriculum for the Thai Lao of Northeast Thailand?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Draper, John

2015-01-01

This article considers a fundamental issue in language planning, namely, whether or not to introduce a curriculum for the mother tongue (MT), in the wider context of a complex language planning situation in Thailand. It details recent moves in the consideration of this issue for the Thai Lao (Isan) of Northeast Thailand, Thailand's largest…

Mapping the Context: Insights and Issues from Local Government Development of Music Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenny, Ailbhe

2011-01-01

Recent years have revealed local government to be a fundamental stakeholder in the development of arts and music communities. This article provides a context for an exploration and study of the issues, themes and dilemmas that surround local government and music communities. In particular the article provides this examination from an Irish…

Teaching Students to Make Better Decisions about the Environment: Lessons from the Decision Sciences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arvai, Joseph L.; Campbell, Victoria E. A.; Baird, Anne; Rivers, Louie

2004-01-01

One of the fundamental goals of environmental education (EE) is to equip students with the skills to make more thoughtful decisions about environmental issues. Many examples of environmental and science education curricula work to address this goal by providing students with up-to-date information about a myriad of environmental issues from a…

WHAT ARE THE FLANKING SKIRMISHES, WHAT IS THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUGGLE.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

KEPPEL, FRANCIS

EDUCATORS AND CITIZENS ARE EXHORTED NOT TO LOSE SIGHT OF OR TO CONFUSE THE REAL ISSUES OF RACIAL SEGREGATION IN THE SCHOOLS WITH THE OTHER PERIPHERAL ISSUES.THROUGH THE SHORTSIGHTEDNESS OF MANY AND THE RECKLESSNESS OF SOME, GOOD POLICIES OF EDUCATION ARE NOW BEING TURNED ONE AGAINST THE OTHER, BRINGING THE CAUSE OF INTEGRATION INTO A COLLISION…

Cutting Your Losses: Could Best-Practice Pedagogy Involve Acknowledging that Even Robust Hope May Be Vain?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schuurmans-Stekhoven, James

2009-01-01

A recent special issue of "Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education" (Vol. 35, Issue 3, 2007) championed "robust hope" as fundamental to achieving educational utopias, and yet key features of hope were largely overlooked. Although hope feels good and has utility in some circumstances, in other situations different…

Reflections on Leadership Preparation Programs and Social Justice: Are the Power and the Responsibility of the Faculty All in the Design?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berkovich, Izhak

2017-01-01

Purpose: Fundamental aspects of educational leadership preparation programs regarding social justice are embodied in program design elements, yet the scholarly community did not adequately address these issues. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach: The essay suggests that organizational theories dealing with…

Education, Intelligence, and America's Future. On the Issues. Number 4

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Charles

2007-01-01

In January, W. H. Brady Scholar Charles Murray stepped back from current education debates about reauthorization of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act and education funding in the president's budget to ask more fundamental questions about the goals that should shape American education in the future. This "On the Issues" is adapted from…

Principles of Good School Building Design. School Buildings Planning, Design, and Construction Series No. 3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Odell, John H.

A school construction guide offers key personnel in school development projects information on the complex task of master planning and construction of schools in Australia. This chapter of the guide provides advice on school building design issues, such as the fundamentals of good design and designs that accommodate change, issues affecting…

Reporter's Guide: Drugs, Drug Abuse Issues, Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parachini, Allan

The purposes of this booklet are: (1) to serve as a commentary on the evolution, state and problems of drug reporting; (2) to make the journalist aware of the prominent issues and some of the major misconceptions common among reporters, readers and/or listeners; (3) to serve as a guide to the fundamental background literature of the field; (4) to…

The relevance of data on physicians and disability on the right to assisted suicide: can empirical studies resolve the issue?

PubMed

Batavia, A I

2000-06-01

Opponents of a right to physician-assisted suicide rely heavily on the results of several empirical studies, particularly data concerning physicians and other health professionals. This commentary concludes that values, not empirical data, must ultimately determine the legality of assisted suicide. Studies cannot resolve the fundamental issue.

Sexual abuse in therapy: gender issues.

PubMed

Quadrio, C

1996-02-01

That sexual abuse in therapy occurs predominantly with male perpetrators and female patients is a phenomenon that requires analysis in terms of gender relations. Such an analysis is undertaken here from the perspective of feminist psychoanalytic and psychosocial theories. Data informing the analysis are derived from assessments of 40 women who experienced sexual abuse in therapy. These women had mostly presented depression, 68% had a history of childhood abuse, and one half were themselves helping professionals. The majority were seriously damaged by the abusive therapy. Offenders were chiefly male (90%) and most were senior, well-qualified therapists of high status: some were charismatic leaders or teachers. Such a group cannot be dismissed as marginal, deviant, or ill-informed; a more systemic analysis is necessary to understand how the professions spawn and sometimes protect offenders. It is concluded that the professional culture mirrors fundamental problems of gender relations that inhere in the larger socio-cultural context where they are expressed in various forms of sexual abuse and violence. A cultural change requires better education on issues of power and sexual politics.

Ethical Issues in Adolescents' Sexual and Reproductive Health Research in Nigeria.

PubMed

Folayan, Morenike Oluwatoyin; Haire, Bridget; Harrison, Abigail; Odetoyingbo, Morolake; Fatusi, Olawunmi; Brown, Brandon

2015-12-01

There is increasing interest in the need to address the ethical dilemmas related to the engagement of adolescents in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) research. Research projects, including those that address issues related to STIs and HIV, adverse pregnancy outcomes, violence, and mental health, must be designed and implemented to address the needs of adolescents. Decisions on when an individual has adequate capacity to give consent for research most commonly use age as a surrogate rather than directly assessing capacity to understand the issues and make an informed decision on whether to participate in research or not. There is a perception that adolescents participating in research are more likely to be coerced and may therefore not fully comprehend the risk they may be taking when engaging in research. This paper examines the various ethical issues that may impact stakeholders' decision making when considering engaging adolescents in SRH research in Nigeria. It makes a case for lowering the age of consent for adolescents. While some experts believe it is possible to extrapolate relevant information from adult research, studies on ethical aspects of adolescents' participation in research are still needed, especially in the field of sexual and reproductive health where there are often differences in knowledge, attitudes and practices compared to adults. The particular challenges of applying the fundamental principles of research ethics to adolescent research, especially research about sex and sexuality, will only become clear if more studies are conducted. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Why do commercial CT scanners still employ traditional, filtered back-projection for image reconstruction?

PubMed Central

Pan, Xiaochuan; Sidky, Emil Y; Vannier, Michael

2010-01-01

Despite major advances in x-ray sources, detector arrays, gantry mechanical design and especially computer performance, one component of computed tomography (CT) scanners has remained virtually constant for the past 25 years—the reconstruction algorithm. Fundamental advances have been made in the solution of inverse problems, especially tomographic reconstruction, but these works have not been translated into clinical and related practice. The reasons are not obvious and seldom discussed. This review seeks to examine the reasons for this discrepancy and provides recommendations on how it can be resolved. We take the example of field of compressive sensing (CS), summarizing this new area of research from the eyes of practical medical physicists and explaining the disconnection between theoretical and application-oriented research. Using a few issues specific to CT, which engineers have addressed in very specific ways, we try to distill the mathematical problem underlying each of these issues with the hope of demonstrating that there are interesting mathematical problems of general importance that can result from in depth analysis of specific issues. We then sketch some unconventional CT-imaging designs that have the potential to impact on CT applications, if the link between applied mathematicians and engineers/physicists were stronger. Finally, we close with some observations on how the link could be strengthened. There is, we believe, an important opportunity to rapidly improve the performance of CT and related tomographic imaging techniques by addressing these issues. PMID:20376330

TOPICAL REVIEW: Why do commercial CT scanners still employ traditional, filtered back-projection for image reconstruction?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Xiaochuan; Sidky, Emil Y.; Vannier, Michael

2009-12-01

Despite major advances in x-ray sources, detector arrays, gantry mechanical design and especially computer performance, one component of computed tomography (CT) scanners has remained virtually constant for the past 25 years—the reconstruction algorithm. Fundamental advances have been made in the solution of inverse problems, especially tomographic reconstruction, but these works have not been translated into clinical and related practice. The reasons are not obvious and seldom discussed. This review seeks to examine the reasons for this discrepancy and provides recommendations on how it can be resolved. We take the example of field of compressive sensing (CS), summarizing this new area of research from the eyes of practical medical physicists and explaining the disconnection between theoretical and application-oriented research. Using a few issues specific to CT, which engineers have addressed in very specific ways, we try to distill the mathematical problem underlying each of these issues with the hope of demonstrating that there are interesting mathematical problems of general importance that can result from in depth analysis of specific issues. We then sketch some unconventional CT-imaging designs that have the potential to impact on CT applications, if the link between applied mathematicians and engineers/physicists were stronger. Finally, we close with some observations on how the link could be strengthened. There is, we believe, an important opportunity to rapidly improve the performance of CT and related tomographic imaging techniques by addressing these issues.

Hydrolysis of ammonia borane as a hydrogen source: fundamental issues and potential solutions towards implementation.

PubMed

Sanyal, Udishnu; Demirci, Umit B; Jagirdar, Balaji R; Miele, Philippe

2011-12-16

In today's era of energy crisis and global warming, hydrogen has been projected as a sustainable alternative to depleting CO(2)-emitting fossil fuels. However, its deployment as an energy source is impeded by many issues, one of the most important being storage. Chemical hydrogen storage materials, in particular B-N compounds such as ammonia borane, with a potential storage capacity of 19.6 wt % H(2) and 0.145 kg(H2)L(-1), have been intensively studied from the standpoint of addressing the storage issues. Ammonia borane undergoes dehydrogenation through hydrolysis at room temperature in the presence of a catalyst, but its practical implementation is hindered by several problems affecting all of the chemical compounds in the reaction scheme, including ammonia borane, water, borate byproducts, and hydrogen. In this Minireview, we exhaustively survey the state of the art, discuss the fundamental problems, and, where applicable, propose solutions with the prospect of technological applications. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Toxic red tides and harmful algal blooms: A practical challenge in coastal oceanography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Donald M.

1995-07-01

The debate over the relative value of practical or applied versus fundamental research has heated up considerably in recent years, and oceanography has not been spared this re-evaluation of science funding policy. Some federal agencies with marine interests have always focused their resources on practical problems, but those with a traditional commitment to basic research such as the National Science Foundation have increasingly had to fight to maintain their freedom to fund quality science without regard to practical or commercial applications. Within this context, it is instructive to highlight the extent to which certain scientific programs can satisfy both sides of this policy dilemma—i.e. address important societal issues through advances in fundamental or basic research. One clear oceanographic example of such a program involves the phenomena called "red tides" or "harmful algal blooms". This paper describes the nature and extent of the problems caused by these outbreaks, emphasizing the alarming expansion in their incidence and their impacts in recent years, both in the U.S. and worldwide. The objective is to highlight fundamental physical, biological, and chemical oceanographic question that must be addressed if we are to achieve the practical goal of scientifically based management of fisheries resources, public health, and ecosystem health in regions threatened by toxic and harmful algae.

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

Zaera, Francisco; Bardeen, Christopher J.; Yin, Yadong

The overall goal of this project has been to develop new a new and novel class of well-characterized nanostructured Metal@TiO 2 core-shell and yolk-shell photocatalysts to address two fundamental issues presently limiting this field: (1) the fast recombination of electron-hole pairs once generated by light absorption, and (2) the recombination of H 2 and O 2 on the metal surface once produced. These model samples are also used to study the fundamentals of the photocatalytic processes.

The Reinforcement of Ableism: Normality, the Medical Model of Disability, and Humanism in Applied Behavior Analysis and ASD.

PubMed

Shyman, Eric

2016-10-01

The field of educating individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder has ever been rife with controversy regarding issues ranging from etiology and causation to effective intervention and education options. One such basis for controversy has been between humanism, and humanistic philosophical concepts, and its fundamental differences with behaviorism, and behavioristic philosophical concepts. These differences have long been debated, and the belief that the two orientations are generally mutually exclusive has been largely maintained. Recently, however, there has been some resurgence of interest in reconciling some of the fundamental humanistic and behavioristic tenets. Most of these discussions, however, center on specific interventional methodologies as its basis without delving more deeply into the underlying philosophical issues. This article will explore some fundamental humanistic concepts that ought to be reconciled in order for behaviorism to be considered a humanistic practice. While the notion that the possibility of reconciliation is maintained, the central argument maintains that much work needs to be done on the part of behaviorism both philosophically and methodologically in order for such reconciliation to be achieved.

Cultural diversity in nanotechnology ethics.

PubMed

Schummer, Joachim

2011-01-01

Along with the rapid worldwide advance of nanotechnology, debates on associated ethical issues have spread from local to international levels. However unlike science and engineering issues, international perceptions of ethical issues are very diverse. This paper provides an analysis of how sociocultural factors such as language, cultural heritage, economics and politics can affect how people perceive ethical issues of nanotechnology. By attempting to clarify the significance of sociocultural issues in ethical considerations my aim is to support the ongoing international dialogue on nanotechnology. At the same time I pose the general question of ethical relativism in engineering ethics, that is to say whether or not different ethical views are irreconcilable on a fundamental level.

Integration of the social environment in a mobility ontology for people with motor disabilities.

PubMed

Gharebaghi, Amin; Mostafavi, Mir-Abolfazl; Edwards, Geoffrey; Fougeyrollas, Patrick; Gamache, Stéphanie; Grenier, Yan

2017-07-07

Our contemporary understanding of disability is rooted in the idea that disability is the product of human-environment interaction processes. People may be functionally limited, but this becomes a disability only when they engage with their immediate social and physical environments. Any attempt to address issues of mobility in relation to people with disabilities should be grounded in an ontology that encompasses this understanding. The objective of this study is to provide a methodology to integrate the social and physical environments in the development of a mobility ontology for people with motor disabilities (PWMD). We propose to create subclasses of concepts based on a Nature-Development distinction rather than creating separate social and physical subclasses. This allows the relationships between social and physical elements to be modelled in a more compact and efficient way by specifying them locally within each entity, and better accommodates the complexities of the human-environment interaction as well. Based on this approach, an ontology for mobility of PWMD considering four main elements - the social and physical environmental factors, human factors, life habits related to mobility and possible goals of mobility - is presented. We demonstrate that employing the Nature-Development perspective facilitates the process of developing useful ontologies, especially for defining the relationships between the social and physical parts of the environment. This is a fundamental issue for modelling the interaction between humans and their social and physical environments for a broad range of applications, including the development of geospatial assistive technologies for navigation of PWMD. Implications for rehabilitation The proposed perspective may actually have much broader interests beyond the issue of disability - much of the interesting dynamics in city development arises from the interaction between human-developed components - the built environment and its associated entities - and natural or organic components. The proposed approach facilitates the process of developing useful ontologies, especially for defining the relationships between the social and physical parts of the environment. This is a fundamental issue for modeling the interaction between human -specially people with disabilities -and his social and physical environments in a broad range of domains and applications, such as Geographic Information Systems and the development of geospatial assistive technologies for navigation of people with disabilities, respectively.

Dark Energy: A Crisis for Fundamental Physics

ScienceCinema

Stubbs, Christopher [Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

2017-12-09

Astrophysical observations provide robust evidence that our current picture of fundamental physics is incomplete. The discovery in 1998 that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating (apparently due to gravitational repulsion between regions of empty space!) presents us with a profound challenge, at the interface between gravity and quantum mechanics. This "Dark Energy" problem is arguably the most pressing open question in modern fundamental physics. The first talk will describe why the Dark Energy problem constitutes a crisis, with wide-reaching ramifications. One consequence is that we should probe our understanding of gravity at all accessible scales, and the second talk will present experiments and observations that are exploring this issue.

Fundamental dilemmas in contemporary psychotherapy: a transtheoretical concept.

PubMed

Scaturo, Douglas J

2002-01-01

The transtheoretical nature of fundamental dilemmas in contemporary psychotherapy is explored. The basic distinction between technical and ethical dilemmas in clinical practice is discussed, as well as the ramifications for the psychotherapist. Clinical dilemmas identified by survey research studies and interviews with master psychotherapists are reviewed. In addition to dilemmas relevant to circumscribed areas of psychotherapy, such as brief therapy, managed mental health care, sexual questions, feminist therapy, dilemmas fundamental to the psychotherapeutic process as a whole are examined. Finally, clinical examples are provided that include such issues as hospitalization of the suicidal patient, dealing with known contraindications, treating the intractable patient, and self-care of the psychotherapist.

Environmental Education in Macedonian Schools: A Comparative Analysis of Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Srbinovski, Mile

2013-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe and discuss an analysis of the extent to which environmental issues are addressed in the textbooks in the schools of the Republic of Macedonia. Research has analyzed a range of textbooks (279) published in the past 15 years. Our fundamental conclusion is that the inclusion of environmental issues in the…

Educating the design stance: issues of coherence and transgression.

PubMed

Freeman, Norman H; Allen, Melissa L

2013-04-01

Bullot & Reber (B&R) put forth a design stance to fuse psychological and art historical accounts of visual thinking into a single theory. We argue that this aspect of their proposal needs further fine-tuning. Issues of transgression and coherence are necessary to provide stability to the design stance. We advocate looking to Art Education for such fundamentals of picture understanding.

Taking the provider-driven company public: a primer on business and legal issues.

PubMed

Becker, S; Pristave, R J; Liebers, E H

1996-01-01

The article provides a concise review of the critical business and legal characteristics of recent health care-driven initial public offerings. In that regard, the article examines three recent provider-driven companies that have effectuated initial public offerings, and reviews certain of their business fundamentals and the manner in which each handled various legal disclosure issues.

Biostatistics primer: part I.

PubMed

Overholser, Brian R; Sowinski, Kevin M

2007-12-01

Biostatistics is the application of statistics to biologic data. The field of statistics can be broken down into 2 fundamental parts: descriptive and inferential. Descriptive statistics are commonly used to categorize, display, and summarize data. Inferential statistics can be used to make predictions based on a sample obtained from a population or some large body of information. It is these inferences that are used to test specific research hypotheses. This 2-part review will outline important features of descriptive and inferential statistics as they apply to commonly conducted research studies in the biomedical literature. Part 1 in this issue will discuss fundamental topics of statistics and data analysis. Additionally, some of the most commonly used statistical tests found in the biomedical literature will be reviewed in Part 2 in the February 2008 issue.

Applying theological developments to bioethical issues such as genetic screening.

PubMed

Mallia, Pierre; ten Have, Henk

2005-01-01

Catholic movements within the centre of Roman Catholic doctrine recently have discussed Trinitarian theology as applied to sciences, arts, economics, health and other social areas. We explore the possibilities Trinitarian theology offers to bioethical debate, concentrating particularly on genetic screening and testing. It is important therefore to analyse the philosophical implications of this approach onto the bioethical world, where much disagreement occurs on fundamental issues. It is Catholic basic teaching to recognize and see God's hand in plurality, not merely as a cliche and then doing what we feel is right, but to recognize how to live in a pluralistic world. We recognize, in agreement with these theologians, that in order for a Trinitarian mode of understanding to be used by those doing bioethical debate, there is a need to depart from fundamentalism.

Advanced Materials and Coatings for Aerospace Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miyoshi, Kazuhisa

2004-01-01

In the application area of aerospace tribology, researchers and developers must guarantee the highest degree of reliability for materials, components, and systems. Even a small tribological failure can lead to catastrophic results. The absence of the required knowledge of tribology, as Professor H.P. Jost has said, can act as a severe brake in aerospace vehicle systems-and indeed has already done so. Materials and coatings must be able to withstand the aerospace environments that they encounter, such as vacuum terrestrial, ascent, and descent environments; be resistant to the degrading effects of air, water vapor, sand, foreign substances, and radiation during a lengthy service; be able to withstand the loads, stresses, and temperatures encountered form acceleration and vibration during operation; and be able to support reliable tribological operations in harsh environments throughout the mission of the vehicle. This presentation id divided into two sections: surface properties and technology practice related to aerospace tribology. The first section is concerned with the fundamental properties of the surfaces of solid-film lubricants and related materials and coatings, including carbon nanotubes. The second is devoted to applications. Case studies are used to review some aspects of real problems related to aerospace systems to help engineers and scientists to understand the tribological issues and failures. The nature of each problem is analyzed, and the tribological properties are examined. All the fundamental studies and case studies were conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center.

Space Geodesy and the New Madrid Seismic Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smalley, Robert; Ellis, Michael A.

2008-07-01

One of the most contentious issues related to earthquake hazards in the United States centers on the midcontinent and the origin, magnitudes, and likely recurrence intervals of the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes that occurred there. The stakeholder groups in the debate (local and state governments, reinsurance companies, American businesses, and the scientific community) are similar to the stakeholder groups in regions more famous for large earthquakes. However, debate about New Madrid seismic hazard has been fiercer because of the lack of two fundamental components of seismic hazard estimation: an explanatory model for large, midplate earthquakes; and sufficient or sufficiently precise data about the causes, effects, and histories of such earthquakes.

Deep space telecommunications, navigation, and information management - Support of the Space Exploration Initiative

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Justin R.; Hastrup, Rolf C.

1990-01-01

The principal challenges in providing effective deep space navigation, telecommunications, and information management architectures and designs for Mars exploration support are presented. The fundamental objectives are to provide the mission with the means to monitor and control mission elements, obtain science, navigation, and engineering data, compute state vectors and navigate, and to move these data efficiently and automatically between mission nodes for timely analysis and decision making. New requirements are summarized, and related issues and challenges including the robust connectivity for manned and robotic links, are identified. Enabling strategies are discussed, and candidate architectures and driving technologies are described.

Fundamental Ethical Principles in Sports Medicine.

PubMed

Devitt, Brian M

2016-04-01

In sports medicine, the practice of ethics presents many unique challenges because of the unusual clinical environment of caring for players within the context of a team whose primary goal is to win. Ethical issues frequently arise because a doctor-patient-team triad often replaces the traditional doctor-patient relationship. Conflict may exist when the team's priority clashes with or even replaces the doctor's obligation to player well-being. Customary ethical norms that govern most forms of clinical practice, such as autonomy and confidentiality, are not easily translated to sports medicine. Ethical principles and examples of how they relate to sports medicine are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Disk-Jet Connection in Radio-Loud AGN: The X-Ray Perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sambruna, Rita

2008-01-01

Unification schemes assume that radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) contain an accretion disk and a relativistic jet perpendicular to the disk, and an obscuring molecular torus. The jet dominance decreases with larger viewing angles from blazars to Broad-Line and Narrow-Line Radio Galaxies. A fundamental question is how accretion and ejecta are related. The X-rays provide a convenient window to study these issues, as they originate in the innermost nuclear regions and penetrate large obscuring columns. I review the data, using observations by Chandra but also from other currently operating high-energy experiments. Synergy with the upcoming GLAST mission will also be highlighted.

Detecting Gender Bias Through Test Item Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González-Espada, Wilson J.

2009-03-01

Many physical science and physics instructors might not be trained in pedagogically appropriate test construction methods. This could lead to test items that do not measure what they are intended to measure. A subgroup of these items might show bias against some groups of students. This paper describes how the author became aware of potentially biased items against females in his examinations, which led to the exploration of fundamental issues related to item validity, gender bias, and differential item functioning, or DIF. A brief discussion of DIF in the context of university courses, as well as practical suggestions to detect possible gender-biased items, follows.

Educational Testing and Validity of Conclusions in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

PubMed Central

Beltyukova, Svetlana A.; Martin, Beth A.

2013-01-01

Validity and its integral evidence of reliability are fundamentals for educational and psychological measurement, and standards of educational testing. Herein, we describe these standards of educational testing, along with their subtypes including internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and inter-rater agreement. Next, related issues of measurement error and effect size are discussed. This article concludes with a call for future authors to improve reporting of psychometrics and practical significance with educational testing in the pharmacy education literature. By increasing the scientific rigor of educational research and reporting, the overall quality and meaningfulness of SoTL will be improved. PMID:24249848

The role of genomics in the neonatal ICU.

PubMed

Maresso, Karen; Broeckel, Ulrich

2009-03-01

Results of both the Human Genome and International HapMap Projects have provided the technology and resources necessary to enable fundamental advances through the study of DNA sequence variation in almost all fields of medicine, including neonatology. Genome-wide association studies are now practical, and the first of these studies are appearing in the literature. This article provides the reader with an overview of the issues in technology and study design relating to genome-wide association studies and summarizes the current state of association studies in neonatal ICU populations with a brief review of the relevant literature. Future recommendations for genomic association studies in neonatal ICU populations are also provided.

Deep space telecommunications, navigation, and information management - Support of the Space Exploration Initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, Justin R.; Hastrup, Rolf C.

1990-10-01

The principal challenges in providing effective deep space navigation, telecommunications, and information management architectures and designs for Mars exploration support are presented. The fundamental objectives are to provide the mission with the means to monitor and control mission elements, obtain science, navigation, and engineering data, compute state vectors and navigate, and to move these data efficiently and automatically between mission nodes for timely analysis and decision making. New requirements are summarized, and related issues and challenges including the robust connectivity for manned and robotic links, are identified. Enabling strategies are discussed, and candidate architectures and driving technologies are described.

Internet research: an opportunity to revisit classic ethical problems in behavioral research.

PubMed

Pittenger, David J

2003-01-01

The Internet offers many new opportunities for behavioral researchers to conduct quantitative and qualitative research. Although the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association generalize, in part, to research conducted through the Internet, several matters related to Internet research require further analysis. This article reviews several fundamental ethical issues related to Internet research, namely the preservation of privacy, the issuance of informed consent, the use of deception and false feedback, and research methods. In essence, the Internet offers unique challenges to behavioral researchers. Among these are the need to better define the distinction between private and public behavior performed through the Internet, ensure mechanisms for obtaining valid informed consent from participants and performing debriefing exercises, and verify the validity of data collected through the Internet.

Congenital prosopagnosia: face-blind from birth.

PubMed

Behrmann, Marlene; Avidan, Galia

2005-04-01

Congenital prosopagnosia refers to the deficit in face processing that is apparent from early childhood in the absence of any underlying neurological basis and in the presence of intact sensory and intellectual function. Several such cases have been described recently and elucidating the mechanisms giving rise to this impairment should aid our understanding of the psychological and neural mechanisms mediating face processing. Fundamental questions include: What is the nature and extent of the face-processing deficit in congenital prosopagnosia? Is the deficit related to a more general perceptual deficit such as the failure to process configural information? Are any neural alterations detectable using fMRI, ERP or structural analyses of the anatomy of the ventral visual cortex? We discuss these issues in relation to the existing literature and suggest directions for future research.

Fundamental neutron physics beamline at the spallation neutron source at ORNL

DOE PAGES

Fomin, N.; Greene, G. L.; Allen, R. R.; ...

2014-11-04

In this paper, we describe the Fundamental Neutron Physics Beamline (FnPB) facility located at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The FnPB was designed for the conduct of experiments that investigate scientific issues in nuclear physics, particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology using a pulsed slow neutron beam. Finally, we present a detailed description of the design philosophy, beamline components, and measured fluxes of the polychromatic and monochromatic beams.

A Simplified Approach to the Basis Functions of Symmetry Operations and Terms of Metal Complexes in an Octahedral Field with d[superscript 1] to d[superscript 9] Configurations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Liangshiu

2010-01-01

The basis sets for symmetry operations of d[superscript 1] to d[superscript 9] complexes in an octahedral field and the resulting terms are derived for the ground states and spin-allowed excited states. The basis sets are of fundamental importance in group theory. This work addresses such a fundamental issue, and the results are pedagogically…

Lineage and the Rights of Cloned Child in the Islamic Jurisprudence

PubMed Central

Moeinifar, Mohaddeseh; Ardebeli, Faezeh Azimzadeh

2012-01-01

Lineage in the Islamic law is one of the most basic human rights each individual inherits from his family. When modern assisted reproductive technologies appeared in recent decades, the issue of lineage and the child's rights did not encounter serious challenges. But with the advent of these technologies, the issue of the child's lineage resulting from new technologies has become the center of attention. These technologies have a large share in the field of medicine. A new technique known as cloning has entered the realm of science and technology. Considering the possibility of the widespread use of this technique, the subject of cloned child's lineage and his/her rights would be one of the major issues related to this subject. In this paper, the authors have examined the various aspects of the subject and the opinions of theologians in this regard in order to present a best solution to this issue. In fact, the fundamental concern in this paper is to figure out the relationship between the cloned child, the cell donor, the egg donor and the owner of the uterus. In this paper, after considering the concepts of the parentage and identical twins’ relationship would be explored and then a detailed analysis of the parental relationship and the Shiite jurisprudence scholars' opinion on these issues would be presented. Finally, the rights of cloned children would be taken into consideration. PMID:23926545

Lineage and the rights of cloned child in the islamic jurisprudence.

PubMed

Moeinifar, Mohaddeseh; Ardebeli, Faezeh Azimzadeh

2012-10-01

Lineage in the Islamic law is one of the most basic human rights each individual inherits from his family. When modern assisted reproductive technologies appeared in recent decades, the issue of lineage and the child's rights did not encounter serious challenges. But with the advent of these technologies, the issue of the child's lineage resulting from new technologies has become the center of attention. These technologies have a large share in the field of medicine. A new technique known as cloning has entered the realm of science and technology. Considering the possibility of the widespread use of this technique, the subject of cloned child's lineage and his/her rights would be one of the major issues related to this subject. In this paper, the authors have examined the various aspects of the subject and the opinions of theologians in this regard in order to present a best solution to this issue. In fact, the fundamental concern in this paper is to figure out the relationship between the cloned child, the cell donor, the egg donor and the owner of the uterus. In this paper, after considering the concepts of the parentage and identical twins' relationship would be explored and then a detailed analysis of the parental relationship and the Shiite jurisprudence scholars' opinion on these issues would be presented. Finally, the rights of cloned children would be taken into consideration.

The experiences of Korean immigrant caregivers of non-English-speaking older relatives with dementia in American nursing homes.

PubMed

Kong, Eun-Hi; Deatrick, Janet A; Evans, Lois K

2010-03-01

The purpose of this article is to describe Korean immigrant caregivers' experiences regarding American nursing home placement of their non-English-speaking older relatives with dementia. Qualitative descriptive methods and qualitative content analysis were used. A total of 17 semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 Korean immigrant family caregivers. The "Korean way of thinking" emerged as a fundamental cultural belief about caregiving. Six major themes were identified: (a) I never thought about a nursing home; (b) If I think in a Korean way, I feel . . . ; (c) Nursing home staff cannot communicate with . . . ; (d) My care recipient maintains Korean culture; (e) Nursing home services are better than expected but . . . ; and (f) My care recipient is more vulnerable because of dementia. This study provides valuable insights for health care providers about communication and cultural issues of immigrant caregivers for non-English-speaking older relatives with dementia.

Karl Marx in One Lesson (1818-1883). Series on Public Issues No. 6.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pejovich, Steve

This booklet, one of a series intended to apply economic principles to major social and political issues of the day, starts from the premise that Marxism is a threat to our way of life and offers a critique of fundamental components of the social movement Marx created. The first of six subsections focuses on sources of influence on Karl Marx…

Typology of Teacher Perception toward Distance Education Issues--A Study of College Information Department Teachers in Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tao, Yu-Hui; Rosa Yeh, Chu-Chen

2008-01-01

The popularity of distance education has grown rapidly over the last decade in Taiwan's higher education, yet many fundamental teaching-learning issues are still in debate. While teacher-student interaction is a key success factor in distance education, little work has been done on the teachers. The intent of this research was to clarify teacher's…

Seeing Teaching as a Discipline in the Context of Preservice Teacher Education: Insights, Confounding Issues, and Fundamental Questions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Andrea K.; Russell, Tom

2009-01-01

Analysis of our own experiences teaching in preservice teacher education programs leads us to a range of insights, issues, and questions associated with the potential of seeing teaching as a discipline. We begin with the reality that teaching and teacher education appear to students as easy activities, while those who actually do them see them as…

The Revolution in Banking and the Financial Services Industry. Series on Public Issues No. 11.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fraser, Donald R.

It is the premise of this booklet, one of a series intended to apply economic principles to major social and political issues of the day, that a revolution in the banking and financial services industry is altering not only the fundamental nature of the services offered but the character of the organizations themselves. The purpose of the essay is…

Team-based efforts to improve quality of care, the fundamental role of ethics, and the responsibility of health managers: monitoring and management strategies to enhance teamwork.

PubMed

Kossaify, A; Hleihel, W; Lahoud, J-C

2017-12-01

Highlight the importance of teamwork in health care institutions by performing a review and discussion of the relevant literature. Review paper. A MEDLINE/Pubmed search was performed starting from 1990, and the terms 'team, teamwork, managers, healthcare, and cooperation' were searched in titles, abstracts, keywords, and conclusions; other terms 'patient safety, ethics, audits and quality of care' were specifically searched in abstracts and were used as additional filters criteria to select relevant articles. Thirty-three papers were found relevant; factors affecting the quality of care in health care institutions are multiple and varied, including issues related to individual profile, to administrative structure and to team-based effort. Issues affecting teamwork include mainly self-awareness, work environment, leadership, ethics, cooperation, communication, and competition. Moreover, quality improvement plans aiming to enhance and expand teams are essential in this context. Team monitoring and management are vital to achieve efficient teamwork with all the required qualities for a safer health system. In all cases, health managers' responsibility plays a fundamental role in creating and sustaining a teamwork atmosphere. Teamwork is known to improve outcomes in medicine, whether at the clinical, organizational, or scientific level. Teamwork in health care institutions must increasingly be encouraged, given that individual effort is often insufficient for optimal clinical outcome. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Offshore Wind Energy Systems Engineering Curriculum Development

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

McGowan, Jon G.; Manwell, James F.; Lackner, Matthew A.

2012-12-31

Utility-scale electricity produced from offshore wind farms has the potential to contribute significantly to the energy production of the United States. In order for the U.S. to rapidly develop these abundant resources, knowledgeable scientists and engineers with sound understanding of offshore wind energy systems are critical. This report summarizes the development of an upper-level engineering course in "Offshore Wind Energy Systems Engineering." This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of both the technical challenges of offshore wind energy and the practical regulatory, permitting, and planning aspects of developing offshore wind farms in the U.S. This coursemore » was offered on a pilot basis in 2011 at the University of Massachusetts and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), TU Delft, and GL Garrad Hassan have reviewed its content. As summarized in this report, the course consists of 17 separate topic areas emphasizing appropriate engineering fundamentals as well as development, planning, and regulatory issues. In addition to the course summary, the report gives the details of a public Internet site where references and related course material can be obtained. This course will fill a pressing need for the education and training of the U.S. workforce in this critically important area. Fundamentally, this course will be unique due to two attributes: an emphasis on the engineering and technical aspects of offshore wind energy systems, and a focus on offshore wind energy issues specific to the United States.« less

Earth Observation, Spatial Data Quality, and Neglected Tropical Diseases.

PubMed

Hamm, Nicholas A S; Soares Magalhães, Ricardo J; Clements, Archie C A

2015-12-01

Earth observation (EO) is the use of remote sensing and in situ observations to gather data on the environment. It finds increasing application in the study of environmentally modulated neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Obtaining and assuring the quality of the relevant spatially and temporally indexed EO data remain challenges. Our objective was to review the Earth observation products currently used in studies of NTD epidemiology and to discuss fundamental issues relating to spatial data quality (SDQ), which limit the utilization of EO and pose challenges for its more effective use. We searched Web of Science and PubMed for studies related to EO and echinococossis, leptospirosis, schistosomiasis, and soil-transmitted helminth infections. Relevant literature was also identified from the bibliographies of those papers. We found that extensive use is made of EO products in the study of NTD epidemiology; however, the quality of these products is usually given little explicit attention. We review key issues in SDQ concerning spatial and temporal scale, uncertainty, and the documentation and use of quality information. We give examples of how these issues may interact with uncertainty in NTD data to affect the output of an epidemiological analysis. We conclude that researchers should give careful attention to SDQ when designing NTD spatial-epidemiological studies. This should be used to inform uncertainty analysis in the epidemiological study. SDQ should be documented and made available to other researchers.

Wetted Foam Liquid DT Layer ICF Experiments at the NIF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olson, R. E.; Leeper, R. J.; Peterson, R. R.; Yi, S. A.; Zylstra, A. B.; Kline, J. L.; Bradley, P. A.; Yin, L.; Wilson, D. C.; Haines, B. M.; Batha, S. H.

2016-10-01

A key physics issue in indirect-drive ICF relates to the understanding of the limitations on hot spot convergence ratio (CR), principally set by the hohlraum drive symmetry, the capsule mounting hardware (the ``tent''), and the capsule fill tube. An additional key physics issue relates to the complex process by which a hot spot must be dynamically formed from the inner ice surface in a DT ice-layer implosion. These physics issues have helped to motivate the development of a new liquid DT layer wetted foam platform at the NIF that provides an ability to form the hot spot from DT vapor and experimentally study and understand hot spot formation at a variety of CR's in the range of 12

Implementing risk-stratified screening for common cancers: a review of potential ethical, legal and social issues.

PubMed

Hall, A E; Chowdhury, S; Hallowell, N; Pashayan, N; Dent, T; Pharoah, P; Burton, H

2014-06-01

The identification of common genetic variants associated with common cancers including breast, prostate and ovarian cancers would allow population stratification by genotype to effectively target screening and treatment. As scientific, clinical and economic evidence mounts there will be increasing pressure for risk-stratified screening programmes to be implemented. This paper reviews some of the main ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) raised by the introduction of genotyping into risk-stratified screening programmes, in terms of Beauchamp and Childress's four principles of biomedical ethics--respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice. Two alternative approaches to data collection, storage, communication and consent are used to exemplify the ELSI issues that are likely to be raised. Ultimately, the provision of risk-stratified screening using genotyping raises fundamental questions about respective roles of individuals, healthcare providers and the state in organizing or mandating such programmes, and the principles, which underpin their provision, particularly the requirement for distributive justice. The scope and breadth of these issues suggest that ELSI relating to risk-stratified screening will become increasingly important for policy-makers, healthcare professionals and a wide diversity of stakeholders. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health.

FOREWORD: Shape Memory and Related Technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yong

2005-10-01

The International Symposium on Shape Memory and Related Technologies (SMART2004) successfully took place in Singapore from November 24 to 26, 2004. SMART2004 aimed to provide a forum for presenting and discussing recent developments in the processing, characterization, application and performance prediction of shape memory materials, particularly shape memory alloys and magnetic shape memory materials. In recent years, we have seen a surge in the research and application of shape memory materials. This is due on the one hand to the successful applications of shape memory alloys (SMAs), particularly NiTi (nitinol), in medical practices and, on the other hand, to the discovery of magnetic shape memory (MSM) materials (or, ferromagnetic shape memory alloys, FSMAs). In recent years, applications of SMAs in various engineering practices have flourished owing to the unique combination of novel properties including high power density related to shape recovery, superelasticity with tunable hysteresis, high damping capacity combined with good fatigue resistance, excellent wear resistance due to unconventional deformation mechanisms (stress-induced phase transformation and martensite reorientation), and excellent biocompatibility and anticorrosion resistance, etc. In~the case of MSMs (or FSMAs), their giant shape change in a relatively low magnetic field has great potential to supplement the traditional actuation mechanisms and to have a great impact on the world of modern technology. Common mechanisms existing in both types of materials, namely thermoelastic phase transformation, martensite domain switching and their controlling factors, are of particular interest to the scientific community. Despite some successful applications, some fundamental issues remain unsatisfactorily understood. This conference hoped to link the fundamental research to engineering practices, and to further identify remaining problems in order to further promote the applications of shape memory materials in various demanding fields. Some top researchers from Asia, Australia, Europe and USA attended the meeting and gave oral presentations on both the fundamentals and applied aspects of SMAs and MSMs. Several prominent experts have delivered invited talks on the damping capacity of SMAs (J Van Humbeeck), SMA thin films (S Miyazaki), MSMs (V Lindross and O Söderberg) and SMA microtubes (Q P Sun). At the end of the Symposium, a panel discussion on various aspects of shape memory materials was held in the Nanyang Technological University. Comments, suggestions, opinions, discussions etc from all participants are greatly appreciated and acknowledged. I would like to thank all the participants for their valuable contributions toward the success of SMART2004, and thank all the session chairpersons for making this Symposium an event full of beneficial discussions. This special issue includes some of the manuscripts submitted to SMART2004. I want to express my deep gratitude to the editorial office of the journal of Smart Materials and Structures and all the referees for their great help in producing this special issue. This symposium has received support from the Institute of Materials (East Asia) and the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of the Nanyang Technological University. The following sponsors are gratefully acknowledged: Lee Foundation (Singapore) Accelrys Instron (Singapore Pte Ltd).

Dark Energy: A Crisis for Fundamental Physics

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

Stubbs, Christopher

2010-04-12

Astrophysical observations provide robust evidence that our current picture of fundamental physics is incomplete. The discovery in 1998 that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating (apparently due to gravitational repulsion between regions of empty space!) presents us with a profound challenge, at the interface between gravity and quantum mechanics. This "Dark Energy" problem is arguably the most pressing open question in modern fundamental physics. The first talk will describe why the Dark Energy problem constitutes a crisis, with wide-reaching ramifications. One consequence is that we should probe our understanding of gravity at all accessible scales, and the second talkmore » will present experiments and observations that are exploring this issue.« less

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contributions to wildlife habitat, management issues, challenges and policy choices--an annotated bibliography

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, Arthur W.; Vandever, Mark W.

2012-01-01

The following bibliography presents brief summaries of documents relevant to Conservation Reserve Program relations to wildlife habitat, habitat management in agriculturally dominated landscapes, and conservation policies potentially affecting wildlife habitats in agricultural ecosystems. Because the literature summaries furnished provide only sweeping overviews, users are urged to obtain and evaluate those papers appearing useful to obtain a more complete understanding of study findings and their implications to conservation in agricultural ecosystems. The bibliography contains references to reports that reach beyond topics that directly relate to the Conservation Reserve Program. Sections addressing grassland management and landowner surveys/opinions, for example, furnish information useful for enhancing development and administration of conservation policies affecting lands beyond those enrolled in conservation programs. Some sections of the bibliography (for example, agricultural conservation policy, economics, soils) are far from inclusive of all relevant material written on the subject. Hopefully, these sections will serve as fundamental introductions to related issues. In a few instances, references may be presented in more than one section of the bibliography. For example, individual papers specifically addressing both non-game and game birds are included in respective sections of the bibliography. Duplication of citations and associated notes has, however, been kept to a minimum.

Human factors measurement for future air traffic control systems.

PubMed

Langan-Fox, Janice; Sankey, Michael J; Canty, James M

2009-10-01

This article provides a critical review of research pertaining to the measurement of human factors (HF) issues in current and future air traffic control (ATC). Growing worldwide air traffic demands call for a radical departure from current ATC systems. Future systems will have a fundamental impact on the roles and responsibilities of ATC officers (ATCOs). Valid and reliable methods of assessing HF issues associated with these changes, such as a potential increase (or decrease) in workload, are of utmost importance for advancing theory and for designing systems, procedures, and training. We outline major aviation changes and how these relate to five key HF issues in ATC. Measures are outlined, compared, and evaluated and are followed by guidelines for assessing these issues in the ATC domain. Recommendations for future research are presented. A review of the literature suggests that situational awareness and workload have been widely researched and assessed using a variety of measures, but researchers have neglected the areas of trust, stress, and boredom. We make recommendations for use of particular measures and the construction of new measures. It is predicted that, given the changing role of ATCOs and profound future airspace requirements and configurations, issues of stress, trust, and boredom will become more significant. Researchers should develop and/or refine existing measures of all five key HF issues to assess their impact on ATCO performance. Furthermore, these issues should be considered in a holistic manner. The current article provides an evaluation of research and measures used in HF research on ATC that will aid research and ATC measurement.

Perceptions of industry responsibility and tobacco control policy by US tobacco company executives in trial testimony.

PubMed

Chaiton, Michael; Ferrence, Roberta; LeGresley, Eric

2006-12-01

Trial testimony from the United States provides a unique opportunity to examine strategies of the American tobacco industry. This paper examines congruence between the arguments for tobacco control policy presented by representatives of the American tobacco industry at trial and the stages of responsibility associated with corporate social responsibility principles in other industries. Trial testimony collected and coded by the Deposition and Trial Testimony Archive (DATTA). All available testimony was gathered from representative senior staff from major tobacco companies: Brown & Williamson, Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, and Liggett. Transcripts from each witness selected were collected and imported in text format into WinMax, a qualitative data program. The documents were searched for terms relating to tobacco control policies, and relevant terms were extracted. A hand search of the documents was also conducted by reading through the testimony. Inferred responsibility for various tobacco control policies (health information, second-hand smoking, youth smoking) was coded. The level of responsibility for tobacco control policy varied according to the maturity of the issue. For emerging issues, US tobacco company representatives expressed defensiveness while, for more mature issues, such as youth smoking, they showed increased willingness to deal with the issue. This response to social issues is consistent with corporate social responsibility strategies in other industries. While other industries use corporate social responsibility programmes to address social issues to protect their core business product, the fundamental social issue with tobacco is the product itself. As such, the corporate nature of tobacco companies is a structural obstacle to reducing harm caused by tobacco use.

77 FR 9219 - DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-16

... Fundamental Physics at the Intensity Frontier Workshop Status on the Creation of a Strategic Plan on... . Issued at Washington, DC, on February 10, 2012. LaTanya Butler, Acting Deputy Committee Management...

Aviation/Aerospace Teacher Education Workshops: Program Development and Implementation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Mavis F.

1998-01-01

Describes an aviation/aerospace teacher-education workshop that allows elementary school teachers to become familiar with aviation fundamentals and issues and with ways to incorporate aviation topics into their curricula. (JOW)

Environmental justice & transportation : a citizen's handbook

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-01-01

Environmental justice is an increasingly important element of policy making in transportation. It is not specific to any mode of transportation, particular community, or single policy issue. It is fundamentally about fairness toward the disadvantaged...

EDITORIAL: Polarization Optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turunen, Jari; Friesem, Asher A.; Friberg, Ari T.

2004-03-01

This special issue on Polarization Optics contains one review article and 23 research papers, many of which are based on presentations at the International Commission for Optics Topical Meeting on Polarization Optics, held in Polvijärvi, Finland, between 30 June and 3 July 2003. While this issue should not in any sense be considered as a `proceedings' of this meeting, the possibility of submitting papers to it was widely advertised during the meeting, which was attended by a large fraction of prominent scientists in the field of polarization optics. Thus the quality of papers in this special issue is high. In announcing both the meeting and this special issue, we emphasized that the concept of `polarization optics' should be understood in a wide sense. In fact, all contributions dealing with the vectorial nature of light were welcome. As a result, the papers included here cover a wide range of different aspects of linear and nonlinear polarization optics. Both theoretical and experimental features are discussed. We are pleased to see that the conference and this special issue both reflect the wide diversity of important and novel polarization phenomena in optics. The papers in this special issue, and other recently published works, demonstrate that even though polarization is a fundamental property of electromagnetic fields, interest in it is rapidly increasing. The fundamental relations between partial coherence and partial polarization are currently under vigorous research in electromagnetic coherence theory. In diffractive optics it has been found that the exploitation of the vectorial nature of light can be of great benefit. Fabrication of sophisticated, spatially variable polarization-control elements is becoming possible with the aid of nanolithography. Polarization singularities and the interplay of bulk properties and topology in nanoscale systems have created much enthusiasm. In nonlinear optics, the second harmonic waves generated on reflection and transmission of intense light enable research into the chirality of nanogratings. Pump-probe techniques allow one to visualize the effects of the nanostructure topology on the surface mode excitation. In quantum optics the coherent control of polarization may lead to new and fascinating applications. Some authors of invited papers at the conference have written review-type introductory sections—they were encouraged to do so—but all contributions are genuine research papers with original results, and were judged according to the normal publication criteria of the journal. It is our pleasure to thank all authors for making this a splendid special issue of Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics.

Job Management Requirements for NAS Parallel Systems and Clusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saphir, William; Tanner, Leigh Ann; Traversat, Bernard

1995-01-01

A job management system is a critical component of a production supercomputing environment, permitting oversubscribed resources to be shared fairly and efficiently. Job management systems that were originally designed for traditional vector supercomputers are not appropriate for the distributed-memory parallel supercomputers that are becoming increasingly important in the high performance computing industry. Newer job management systems offer new functionality but do not solve fundamental problems. We address some of the main issues in resource allocation and job scheduling we have encountered on two parallel computers - a 160-node IBM SP2 and a cluster of 20 high performance workstations located at the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation facility. We describe the requirements for resource allocation and job management that are necessary to provide a production supercomputing environment on these machines, prioritizing according to difficulty and importance, and advocating a return to fundamental issues.

An Investigation of Grade 12 Students' Misconceptions Relating to Fundamental Characteristics of Molecules and Atoms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffiths, Alan Keith; Preston, Kirk R.

An understanding of the concepts of atoms and molecules is fundamental to the learning of chemistry. Any misconceptions and alternative conceptions related to these concepts which students harbor will impede much further learning. This paper identifies misconceptions related to the fundamental characteristics of atoms and molecules which Grade 12…

Announcing a Hydrogeology Journal theme issue on "The future of hydrogeology"

USGS Publications Warehouse

Voss, Clifford I.

2003-01-01

What is the future of hydrogeology? Are most of the fundamental scientific problems in hydrogeology already solved? Is there really any need for more fundamental research, field measurements, or method development? Have recent scientific advances really added capabilities and tools for our practical needs? Are there any unsolved hydrogeologic questions still remaining that are vital to our optimal use and management of subsurface resources or does the remaining work only fill in some details to a story essentially already told? Will the science of hydrogeology soon become primarily an applied field, where the main task is to use known methods to solve practical problems of water supply and water quality? For other questions involving subsurface fluids, for example, waste isolation, understanding of geological processes and climate changes, are current hydrogeologic capabilities sufficient and is there any possibility for improvement? These are the types of questions that will be dealt with by an upcoming theme issue of Hydrogeology Journal (HJ) to appear in early 2005 [HJ 13(1)]. This issue will contain 10–20 peer-reviewed invited articles on both general topics and specific subject areas of hydrogeology.

Perceptions of school nurses and principals towards nurse role in providing school health services in Qatar.

PubMed

A L-Dahnaim, Layla; Said, Hana; Salama, Rasha; Bella, Hassan; Malo, Denise

2013-04-01

The school nurse plays a crucial role in the provision of comprehensive health services to students. This role encompasses both health and educational goals. The perception of the school nurse's role and its relation to health promotion is fundamental to the development of school nursing. This study aimed to determine the perception of school nurses and principals toward the role of school nurses in providing school health services in Qatar. A cross-sectional study was carried out among all school nurses (n=159) and principals (n=159) of governmental schools in Qatar. The participants were assessed for their perception toward the role of the school nurse in the school using 19-Likert-type scaled items Questionnaire. The response rates were 100% for nurses and 94% for principals. The most commonly perceived roles of the school nurse by both nurses and principals were 'following up of chronically ill students', 'providing first aid', and 'referral of students with health problems', whereas most of the roles that were not perceived as school nurse roles were related to student academic achievements. School nurses and principals agreed on the clinical/medical aspects of nurses' role within schools, but disagreed on nurses' involvement in issues related to the school performance of students. The study recommends raising awareness of school principals on the school nursing role, especially in issues related to the school performance of students.

Nanostructured Solar Cells.

PubMed

Chen, Guanying; Ning, Zhijun; Ågren, Hans

2016-08-09

We are glad to announce the Special Issue "Nanostructured Solar Cells", published in Nanomaterials. This issue consists of eight articles, two communications, and one review paper, covering major important aspects of nanostructured solar cells of varying types. From fundamental physicochemical investigations to technological advances, and from single junction solar cells (silicon solar cell, dye sensitized solar cell, quantum dots sensitized solar cell, and small molecule organic solar cell) to tandem multi-junction solar cells, all aspects are included and discussed in this issue to advance the use of nanotechnology to improve the performance of solar cells with reduced fabrication costs.

``Stable'' Quasi-periodic Oscillations and Black Hole Properties from Diskoseismology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagoner, Robert V.; Silbergleit, Alexander S.; Ortega-Rodríguez, Manuel

2001-09-01

We compare our calculations of the frequencies of the fundamental g-, c-, and p-modes of relativistic thin accretion disks with recent observations of high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in X-ray binaries with black hole candidates. These classes of modes encompass all adiabatic perturbations of such disks. The frequencies of these modes depend mainly on the mass and angular momentum of the black hole; their weak dependence on disk luminosity is also explicitly indicated. Identifying the recently discovered, relatively stable QPO pairs with the fundamental g- and c-modes provides a determination of the mass and angular momentum of the black hole. For GRO J1655-40, M=5.9+/-1.0 Msolar and J=(0.917+/-0.024)GM2/c, in agreement with spectroscopic mass determinations. For GRS 1915+105, M=42.4+/-7.0 Msolar and J=(0.926+/-0.020)GM2/c or (less favored) M=18.2+/-3.1 Msolar and J=(0.701+/-0.043)GM2/c. We briefly address the issues of the amplitude, frequency width, and energy dependence of these QPOs.

Uses, misuses, new uses and fundamental limitations of magnetic resonance imaging in cognitive science

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

When blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was discovered in the early 1990s, it provoked an explosion of interest in exploring human cognition, using brain mapping techniques based on MRI. Standards for data acquisition and analysis were rapidly put in place, in order to assist comparison of results across laboratories. Recently, MRI data acquisition capabilities have improved dramatically, inviting a rethink of strategies for relating functional brain activity at the systems level with its neuronal substrates and functional connections. This paper reviews the established capabilities of BOLD contrast fMRI, the perceived weaknesses of major methods of analysis, and current results that may provide insights into improved brain modelling. These results have inspired the use of in vivo myeloarchitecture for localizing brain activity, individual subject analysis without spatial smoothing and mapping of changes in cerebral blood volume instead of BOLD activation changes. The apparent fundamental limitations of all methods based on nuclear magnetic resonance are also discussed. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Interpreting BOLD: a dialogue between cognitive and cellular neuroscience’. PMID:27574303

Evaluating experimental molecular physics studies of radiation damage in DNA*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Śmiałek, Małgorzata A.

2016-11-01

The field of Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMP) is a mature field exploring the spectroscopy, excitation, ionisation of atoms and molecules in all three phases. Understanding of the spectroscopy and collisional dynamics of AMP has been fundamental to the development and application of quantum mechanics and is applied across a broad range of disparate disciplines including atmospheric sciences, astrochemistry, combustion and environmental science, and in central to core technologies such as semiconductor fabrications, nanotechnology and plasma processing. In recent years the molecular physics also started significantly contributing to the area of the radiation damage at molecular level and thus cancer therapy improvement through both experimental and theoretical advances, developing new damage measurement and analysis techniques. It is therefore worth to summarise and highlight the most prominent findings from the AMP community that contribute towards better understanding of the fundamental processes in biologically-relevant systems as well as to comment on the experimental challenges that were met for more complex investigation targets. Contribution to the Topical Issue "Low-Energy Interactions related to Atmospheric and Extreme Conditions", edited by S. Ptasinska, M. Smialek-Telega, A. Milosavljevic, B. Sivaraman.

Uses, misuses, new uses and fundamental limitations of magnetic resonance imaging in cognitive science.

PubMed

Turner, Robert

2016-10-05

When blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was discovered in the early 1990s, it provoked an explosion of interest in exploring human cognition, using brain mapping techniques based on MRI. Standards for data acquisition and analysis were rapidly put in place, in order to assist comparison of results across laboratories. Recently, MRI data acquisition capabilities have improved dramatically, inviting a rethink of strategies for relating functional brain activity at the systems level with its neuronal substrates and functional connections. This paper reviews the established capabilities of BOLD contrast fMRI, the perceived weaknesses of major methods of analysis, and current results that may provide insights into improved brain modelling. These results have inspired the use of in vivo myeloarchitecture for localizing brain activity, individual subject analysis without spatial smoothing and mapping of changes in cerebral blood volume instead of BOLD activation changes. The apparent fundamental limitations of all methods based on nuclear magnetic resonance are also discussed.This article is part of the themed issue 'Interpreting BOLD: a dialogue between cognitive and cellular neuroscience'. © 2016 The Authors.

Emerging Science and Research Opportunities for Metals and Metallic Nanostructures: A Report on the NSF MMN Workshop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollock, Tresa; Handwerker, Carol

In the next decade, fundamental research in metals and metallic nanostructures (MMN) has the potential to continue to transform science into innovative materials, devices, and systems. This talk summarizes the findings of a workshop to identify emerging and potentially transformative research areas in MMN. The metals and metallic nanostructures (MMNs) workshop aimed to identify significant research trends, scientific fundamentals, and recent breakthroughs that can enable new or enhanced MMN performance, either alone or in a more complex materials system, for a wide range of applications. Additionally, the role that MMN research can play in high-priority research and development (R&D) areas such as the U.S. Materials Genome Initiative, the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the Advanced Manufacturing Initiative, and other similar initiatives that exist internationally was assessed. The workshop also addressed critical issues related to materials research instrumentation and the cyberinfrastructure for materials science research and education, as well as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce development, with emphasis on the United States but with an appreciation that similar challenges and opportunities for the materials community exist internationally.

The nature of noise wavefield and its applications for site effects studies: A literature review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonnefoy-Claudet, Sylvette; Cotton, Fabrice; Bard, Pierre-Yves

2006-12-01

The aim of this paper is to discuss the existing scientific literature in order to gather all the available information dealing with the origin and the nature of the ambient seismic noise wavefield. This issue is essential as the use of seismic noise is more and more popular for seismic hazard purposes with a growing number of processing techniques based on the assumption that the noise wavefield is predominantly consisting of fundamental mode Rayleigh waves. This survey reveals an overall agreement about the origin of seismic noise and its frequency dependence. At frequencies higher than 1 Hz, seismic noise systematically exhibits daily and weekly variations linked to human activities, whereas at lower frequencies (between 0.005 and 0.3 Hz) the variation of seismic noise is correlated to natural activities (oceanic, meteorological…). Such a surface origin clearly supports the interpretation of seismic noise wavefield consisting primarily of surface waves. However, the further, very common (though hidden) assumption according which almost all the noise energy would be carried by fundamental mode Rayleigh waves is not supported by the few available data: no "average" number can though be given concerning the actual proportion between surface and body waves, Love and Rayleigh waves (horizontal components), fundamental and higher modes (vertical components), since the few available investigations report a significant variability, which might be related with site conditions and noise source properties.

EDITORIAL: Photonica 2011: 3rd International School and Conference on Photonics Photonica 2011: 3rd International School and Conference on Photonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrović, Jovana; Stepić, Milutin; Hadžievski, Ljupčo

2012-04-01

Photonics is a rapidly growing discipline of physics that investigates properties of light and its interaction with matter and develops devices based on these properties. Due to both the fundamental and applied nature of photonics research, it pervades many branches of modern technology: quantum mechanics, material science, electronics, telecommunications, biology, medicine, material processing, etc. The borders between these subjects are being erased, generating new research areas such as silicon photonics, biophotonics and quantum photonics. Diverse branches of photonics are united in a common effort to further miniaturize photonic devices, integrate them with existing technologies and develop new technologies. The International School and Conference on Photonics—Photonica—is a biennial forum for the education of young scientists, exchanging new knowledge and ideas, and fostering collaboration between scientists working in photonic science and technology. Conference topics cover a broad range of research activities in optical materials, metamaterials and plasmonics, nonlinear optics, lasers, laser spectroscopy, biophotonics, optoelectronics, optocommunications, photonic crystals, holography, quantum optics and related topics in atomic physics. The aim of the organizers is to provide a platform for discussing new developments, concepts and future trends of various disciplines of photonics by bringing together researchers from academia, government and industrial laboratories. The educational element of Photonica—a series of tutorials and keynote talks—enables students and young researchers to better understand the fundamentals and their use on a route to applications, and informs both young and experienced scientists of new directions of research. The introductory lectures that are directly related to the state-of-the-art are followed by presentations and discussions on recent results during oral and vibrant poster presentations. This Topical Issue is dedicated to Photonica 2011 held on 29 August-2 September 2011 in Belgrade, Serbia. The conference was attended by 144 participants from 27 countries who gave 132 oral and poster presentations and 24 lectures. The accompanying papers were peer reviewed and 82 were selected for publication. We take this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the reviewers to the quality of this issue. The papers are grouped in accordance with the conference topics, each section opening with an invited paper. The issue begins with papers dedicated to ultra-cold atomic systems that display coherent behaviour analogous to that of light. These well-controlled atomic systems are indispensible workhorses for experiments in quantum optics, which is the topic of the next section. Holography as a concept, measurement tool and technique for fabrication of periodic photonic structures is placed accordingly between fundamental and applied photonics. It is followed by reports on various photonic devices, their modelling and nonlinear phenomena. The progress in constructing these devices largely depends on artificial (composites, metamaterials) and natural optical materials and their processing. This Topical Issue is an original snapshot of the current research in photonics and by no means an extensive survey of the field. While the making of the former has been a challenging task, the compilation of the latter would be indomitable due to the rapid advances in and diversification of photonics research. In accordance with the aims of the conference itself, we hope that the results reported in this Topical Issue of Physica Scripta will serve to inform and to spark the imagination of scientists and engineers exploring or using the principles and products of photonics.

The commercialization of human stem cells: ethical and policy issues.

PubMed

Resnik, David B

2002-01-01

The first stage of the human embryonic stem (ES) cell research debate revolved around fundamental questions, such as whether the research should be done at all, what types of research may be done, who should do the research, and how the research should be funded. Now that some of these questions are being answered, we are beginning to see the next stage of the debate: the battle for property rights relating to human ES cells. The reason why property rights will be a key issue in this debate is simple and easy to understand: it costs a great deal of money to do this research, to develop new products, and to implement therapies; and private companies, researchers, and health professionals require returns on investments and reimbursements for goods and services. This paper considers arguments for and against property rights relating to ES cells defends the following points: (1) It should be legal to buy and sell ES cells and products. (2) It should be legal to patent ES cells, products, and related technologies. (3) It should not be legal to buy, sell, or patent human embryos. (4) Patents on ES cells, products, and related technologies should not be excessively broad. (5) Patents on ES cells, products, and related technologies should be granted only when applicants state definite, plausible uses for their inventions. (6) There should be a research exemption in ES cell patenting to allow academic scientists to conduct research in regenerative medicine. (7) It may be appropriate to take steps to prevent companies from using patents in ES cells, products, and related technologies only to block competitors. (8) As the field of regenerative medicine continues to develop, societies should revisit issues relating to property rights on a continuing basis in order to develop policies and develop regulations to maximize the social, medical, economic, and scientific benefits of ES cell research and product development.

Redox flow cell development and demonstration project, calendar year 1976

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

The major focus of the effort was the key technology issues that directly influence the fundamental feasibility of the overall redox concept. These issues were the development of a suitable semipermeable separator membrane for the system, the screening and study of candidate redox couples to achieve optimum cell performance, and the carrying out of systems analysis and modeling to develop system performance goals and cost estimates.

Defining Medically Necessary Services To Protect Children. Protecting Consumer Rights in Public Systems: Managed Mental Health Care Policy. A Series of Issue Papers on Contracting for Managed Behavioral Health Care, #5.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Washington, DC.

This issue paper is designed to help families, advocates and policymakers ensure that "medically necessary" standards in public-sector contracts for managed mental health care protect children's rights, particularly the rights of children who have serious emotional disturbance. Fundamental principles for developing sound contracts for…

Duty hour restrictions: organizational dynamics, systems issues, and the impact on faculty.

PubMed

Bandiera, Glen; Hynes, Melissa Kennedy; Spadafora, Salvatore M

2014-01-01

The potential impact of resident duty hour restrictions on faculty is likely significant; however, the extent of this impact has still not been well documented. We undertook a narrative review of the literature to determine the magnitude of that potential impact and the nature of the evolving discourse related to faculty members as individuals. The literature provides an inconsistent picture of the impact of duty hour restrictions on faculty. While some studies have reported a significant increase in faculty workload, others suggest that the impact of duty hour restrictions has been minimal. Some papers suggest that duty hour restrictions may fundamentally change the nature of resident-teacher interactions and, as a result, will necessitate significant changes to the way education is delivered. Overall, the majority of issues of concern relate to one of the following: volume and composition of work, impact on faculty career choice, evolving perceptions of residents as learners, and the need to find an appropriate balance between learning and the quality and quantity of patient care. In describing these themes we identify some potential solutions and future directions for reconciling duty hour restrictions with faculty perceptions, anxieties, and desired outcomes.

Automation of multi-agent control for complex dynamic systems in heterogeneous computational network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oparin, Gennady; Feoktistov, Alexander; Bogdanova, Vera; Sidorov, Ivan

2017-01-01

The rapid progress of high-performance computing entails new challenges related to solving large scientific problems for various subject domains in a heterogeneous distributed computing environment (e.g., a network, Grid system, or Cloud infrastructure). The specialists in the field of parallel and distributed computing give the special attention to a scalability of applications for problem solving. An effective management of the scalable application in the heterogeneous distributed computing environment is still a non-trivial issue. Control systems that operate in networks, especially relate to this issue. We propose a new approach to the multi-agent management for the scalable applications in the heterogeneous computational network. The fundamentals of our approach are the integrated use of conceptual programming, simulation modeling, network monitoring, multi-agent management, and service-oriented programming. We developed a special framework for an automation of the problem solving. Advantages of the proposed approach are demonstrated on the parametric synthesis example of the static linear regulator for complex dynamic systems. Benefits of the scalable application for solving this problem include automation of the multi-agent control for the systems in a parallel mode with various degrees of its detailed elaboration.

Duty hour restrictions: organizational dynamics, systems issues, and the impact on faculty

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

The potential impact of resident duty hour restrictions on faculty is likely significant; however, the extent of this impact has still not been well documented. We undertook a narrative review of the literature to determine the magnitude of that potential impact and the nature of the evolving discourse related to faculty members as individuals. The literature provides an inconsistent picture of the impact of duty hour restrictions on faculty. While some studies have reported a significant increase in faculty workload, others suggest that the impact of duty hour restrictions has been minimal. Some papers suggest that duty hour restrictions may fundamentally change the nature of resident–teacher interactions and, as a result, will necessitate significant changes to the way education is delivered. Overall, the majority of issues of concern relate to one of the following: volume and composition of work, impact on faculty career choice, evolving perceptions of residents as learners, and the need to find an appropriate balance between learning and the quality and quantity of patient care. In describing these themes we identify some potential solutions and future directions for reconciling duty hour restrictions with faculty perceptions, anxieties, and desired outcomes. PMID:25558952

Geoethical implications for geoarchaeology. The Laacher See and AD 536 case studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riede, Felix; Price, Neil; Andersen, Per

2017-04-01

Environmental catastrophes represent profound challenges faced by societies today. Numerous scholars in the climate sciences as well as the Humanities have argued for a greater ethical engagement with these pressing issues. At the same time, several disciplines concerned with hazards are moving towards formalized ethical codes or promises that guide not only the dissemination of data but oblige scientists to relate to fundamentally political issues. With its starting point in the recently proposed geoethical promise, this paper reports on two case studies of how past natural hazards have affected vulnerable societies in Europe's past. We ask whether cases of past calamities and their societal effects should not play a greater role in public debates and whether geo-archaeologists working with past environmental hazards should be more outspoken in their ethical considerations. We offer no firm answers, but suggest that geo-archaeologists engage with debates of human-environment relations at this interface between politics, public affairs and science. We argue for greater communication between the human and natural sciences and further suggest that outreach institutions such as museums - both natural and cultural - could and perhaps should play a key role in staging such engagements.

The face, the future, and dental practice: how research in craniofacial biology will influence patient care.

PubMed

Townsend, G C; Brook, A H

2014-06-01

It has been a privilege to assemble a group of Australian and international researchers to produce a special issue of the Australian Dental Journal that reflects the cutting edge of research in different aspects of craniofacial biology, and also considers how these advances will influence future education and practice within dentistry. The aim of this special issue is to provide a collection of concept papers and critical reviews on key topics that cover both fundamental and applied research in craniofacial biology and to consider the clinical implications. To do this, four questions have been addressed that lead to the four sections of this issue. These are: How have we come to the present exciting position in craniofacial biology with breakthroughs over the past 50 years? What are current fundamental research topics that are helping us to understand more about craniofacial and general development, possibly leading to future clinical developments? What are the current applied research topics that will influence future clinical practice? Looking forward, what new developments in craniofacial biology may come about that will change the face of dental education and practice? The refereed papers in this special issue are grouped into the four sections that seek to respond to these demanding questions. © 2014 Australian Dental Association.

Recruiting Students into Nursing: Prior Questions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hipps, Opal S.

1983-01-01

Raises fundamental questions regarding student recruitment: (1) why recruit students into nursing? (2) what are the issues that determine whether a school should have a nursing program? and (3) what are students being recruited into? (JOW)

Pre-contract scoping processes value stream mapping.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-10-01

Three fundamental issues contribute to the scoping process : problems: : 1. The scoping process is inefficient and inconsistent. : 2. Staffing for scoping is insufficient. : 3. The programmed project budgets are locked in based on early, : uncertain ...

Challenging the standard model by high-precision comparisons of the fundamental properties of protons and antiprotons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulmer, S.; Mooser, A.; Nagahama, H.; Sellner, S.; Smorra, C.

2018-03-01

The BASE collaboration investigates the fundamental properties of protons and antiprotons, such as charge-to-mass ratios and magnetic moments, using advanced cryogenic Penning trap systems. In recent years, we performed the most precise measurement of the magnetic moments of both the proton and the antiproton, and conducted the most precise comparison of the proton-to-antiproton charge-to-mass ratio. In addition, we have set the most stringent constraint on directly measured antiproton lifetime, based on a unique reservoir trap technique. Our matter/antimatter comparison experiments provide stringent tests of the fundamental charge-parity-time invariance, which is one of the fundamental symmetries of the standard model of particle physics. This article reviews the recent achievements of BASE and gives an outlook to our physics programme in the ELENA era. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue `Antiproton physics in the ELENA era'.

Challenging the standard model by high-precision comparisons of the fundamental properties of protons and antiprotons.

PubMed

Ulmer, S; Mooser, A; Nagahama, H; Sellner, S; Smorra, C

2018-03-28

The BASE collaboration investigates the fundamental properties of protons and antiprotons, such as charge-to-mass ratios and magnetic moments, using advanced cryogenic Penning trap systems. In recent years, we performed the most precise measurement of the magnetic moments of both the proton and the antiproton, and conducted the most precise comparison of the proton-to-antiproton charge-to-mass ratio. In addition, we have set the most stringent constraint on directly measured antiproton lifetime, based on a unique reservoir trap technique. Our matter/antimatter comparison experiments provide stringent tests of the fundamental charge-parity-time invariance, which is one of the fundamental symmetries of the standard model of particle physics. This article reviews the recent achievements of BASE and gives an outlook to our physics programme in the ELENA era.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Antiproton physics in the ELENA era'. © 2018 The Authors.

Challenging the standard model by high-precision comparisons of the fundamental properties of protons and antiprotons

PubMed Central

Mooser, A.; Nagahama, H.; Sellner, S.; Smorra, C.

2018-01-01

The BASE collaboration investigates the fundamental properties of protons and antiprotons, such as charge-to-mass ratios and magnetic moments, using advanced cryogenic Penning trap systems. In recent years, we performed the most precise measurement of the magnetic moments of both the proton and the antiproton, and conducted the most precise comparison of the proton-to-antiproton charge-to-mass ratio. In addition, we have set the most stringent constraint on directly measured antiproton lifetime, based on a unique reservoir trap technique. Our matter/antimatter comparison experiments provide stringent tests of the fundamental charge–parity–time invariance, which is one of the fundamental symmetries of the standard model of particle physics. This article reviews the recent achievements of BASE and gives an outlook to our physics programme in the ELENA era. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Antiproton physics in the ELENA era’. PMID:29459414

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography. Supplement 476

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-1998-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract.

Inorganic Photovoltaics Materials and Devices: Past, Present, and Future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hepp, Aloysius F.; Bailey, Sheila G.; Rafaelle, Ryne P.

2005-01-01

This report describes recent aspects of advanced inorganic materials for photovoltaics or solar cell applications. Specific materials examined will be high-efficiency silicon, gallium arsenide and related materials, and thin-film materials, particularly amorphous silicon and (polycrystalline) copper indium selenide. Some of the advanced concepts discussed include multi-junction III-V (and thin-film) devices, utilization of nanotechnology, specifically quantum dots, low-temperature chemical processing, polymer substrates for lightweight and low-cost solar arrays, concentrator cells, and integrated power devices. While many of these technologies will eventually be used for utility and consumer applications, their genesis can be traced back to challenging problems related to power generation for aerospace and defense. Because this overview of inorganic materials is included in a monogram focused on organic photovoltaics, fundamental issues and metrics common to all solar cell devices (and arrays) will be addressed.

Conductive buffer layers and overlayers for the thermal stability of coated conductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cantoni, C.; Aytug, T.; Verebelyi, D. T.; Paranthaman, M.; Specht, E. D.; Norton, D. P.; Christen, D. K.

2001-03-01

We analyze fundamental issues related to the thermal and electrical stability of a coated conductor during its operation. We address the role of conductive buffer layers in the stability of Ni-based coated conductors, and the effect of a metallic cap layer on the electrical properties of Ni alloy-based superconducting tapes. For the first case we report on the fabrication of a fully conductive RABiTS architecture formed of bilayers of conductive oxides SrRuO3 and LaNiO3 on textured Ni tapes. For the second case we discuss measurements of current-voltage relations on Ag/YBa2Cu3O7-d and Cu/Ag/ YBa2Cu3O7-d prototype multilayers on insulating substrates. Limitations on the overall tape structure and properties that are posed by the stability requirement are presented.

Theoretical aspects of the equivalence principle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Damour, Thibault

2012-09-01

We review several theoretical aspects of the equivalence principle (EP). We emphasize the unsatisfactory fact that the EP maintains the absolute character of the coupling constants of physics, while general relativity and its generalizations (Kaluza-Klein, …, string theory) suggest that all absolute structures should be replaced by dynamical entities. We discuss the EP-violation phenomenology of dilaton-like models, which is likely to be dominated by the linear superposition of two effects: a signal proportional to the nuclear Coulomb energy, related to the variation of the fine-structure constant, and a signal proportional to the surface nuclear binding energy, related to the variation of the light quark masses. We recall various theoretical arguments (including a recently proposed anthropic argument) suggesting that the EP be violated at a small, but not unmeasurably small level. This motivates the need for improved tests of the EP. These tests are probing new territories in physics that are related to deep, and mysterious, issues in fundamental physics.

Interdependent selves show face-induced facilitation of error processing: cultural neuroscience of self-threat

PubMed Central

Kitayama, Shinobu

2014-01-01

The fundamentally social nature of humans is revealed in their exquisitely high sensitivity to potentially negative evaluations held by others. At present, however, little is known about neurocortical correlates of the response to such social-evaluative threat. Here, we addressed this issue by showing that mere exposure to an image of a watching face is sufficient to automatically evoke a social-evaluative threat for those who are relatively high in interdependent self-construal. Both European American and Asian participants performed a flanker task while primed with a face (vs control) image. The relative increase of the error-related negativity (ERN) in the face (vs control) priming condition became more pronounced as a function of interdependent (vs independent) self-construal. Relative to European Americans, Asians were more interdependent and, as predicted, they showed a reliably stronger ERN in the face (vs control) priming condition. Our findings suggest that the ERN can serve as a robust empirical marker of self-threat that is closely modulated by socio-cultural variables. PMID:23160814

Phylogeny, extinction and conservation: embracing uncertainties in a time of urgency

PubMed Central

Forest, Félix; Crandall, Keith A.; Chase, Mark W.; Faith, Daniel P.

2015-01-01

Evolutionary studies have played a fundamental role in our understanding of life, but until recently, they had only a relatively modest involvement in addressing conservation issues. The main goal of the present discussion meeting issue is to offer a platform to present the available methods allowing the integration of phylogenetic and extinction risk data in conservation planning. Here, we identify the main knowledge gaps in biodiversity science, which include incomplete sampling, reconstruction biases in phylogenetic analyses, partly known species distribution ranges, and the difficulty in producing conservation assessments for all known species, not to mention that much of the effective biological diversity remains to be discovered. Given the impact that human activities have on biodiversity and the urgency with which we need to address these issues, imperfect assumptions need to be sanctioned and surrogates used in the race to salvage as much as possible of our natural and evolutionary heritage. We discuss some aspects of the uncertainties found in biodiversity science, such as the ideal surrogates for biodiversity, the gaps in our knowledge and the numerous available phylogenetic diversity-based methods. We also introduce a series of cases studies that demonstrate how evolutionary biology can effectively contribute to biodiversity conservation science. PMID:25561663

Semi-supervised spectral algorithms for community detection in complex networks based on equivalence of clustering methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Xiaoke; Wang, Bingbo; Yu, Liang

2018-01-01

Community detection is fundamental for revealing the structure-functionality relationship in complex networks, which involves two issues-the quantitative function for community as well as algorithms to discover communities. Despite significant research on either of them, few attempt has been made to establish the connection between the two issues. To attack this problem, a generalized quantification function is proposed for community in weighted networks, which provides a framework that unifies several well-known measures. Then, we prove that the trace optimization of the proposed measure is equivalent with the objective functions of algorithms such as nonnegative matrix factorization, kernel K-means as well as spectral clustering. It serves as the theoretical foundation for designing algorithms for community detection. On the second issue, a semi-supervised spectral clustering algorithm is developed by exploring the equivalence relation via combining the nonnegative matrix factorization and spectral clustering. Different from the traditional semi-supervised algorithms, the partial supervision is integrated into the objective of the spectral algorithm. Finally, through extensive experiments on both artificial and real world networks, we demonstrate that the proposed method improves the accuracy of the traditional spectral algorithms in community detection.

Proposal of the confinement strategy of radioactive and hazardous materials for the European DEMO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, X. Z.; Carloni, D.; Stieglitz, R.; Ciattaglia, S.; Johnston, J.; Taylor, N.

2017-04-01

Confinement of radioactive and hazardous materials is one of the fundamental safety functions in a nuclear fusion facility, which has to limit the mobilisation and dispersion of sources and hazards during normal, abnormal and accidental situations. In a first step energy sources and radioactive source have been assessed for a conceptual DEMO configuration. The confinement study for the European DEMO has been investigated for the main systems at the plant breakdown structure (PBS) level 1 taking a bottom-up approach. Based on the identification of the systems possessing a confinement function, a confinement strategy has been proposed, in which DEMO confinement systems and barriers have been defined. In addition, confinement for the maintenance has been issued as well. The assignment of confinement barriers to the identified sources under abnormal and accidental conditions has been performed, and the DEMO main safety systems have been proposed as well. Finally, confinement related open issues have been pointed out, which need to be resolved in parallel with DEMO development.

Current Issues in Unsteady Turbomachinery Flows (Images)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Povinelli, Louis

2004-01-01

Among the numerous causes for unsteadiness in turbo machinery flows are turbulence and flow environment, wakes from stationary and rotating vanes, boundary layer separation, boundary layer/shear layer instabilities, presence of shock waves and deliberate unsteadiness for flow control purposes. These unsteady phenomena may lead to flow-structure interactions such as flutter and forced vibration as well as system instabilities such as stall and surge. A major issue of unsteadiness relates to the fact that a fundamental understanding of unsteady flow physics is lacking and requires continued attention. Accurate simulations and sufficient high fidelity experimental data are not available. The Glenn Research Center plan for Engine Component Flow Physics Modeling is part of the NASA 21st Century Aircraft Program. The main components of the plan include Low Pressure Turbine National Combustor Code. The goals, technical output and benefits/impacts of each element are described in the presentation. The specific areas selected for discussion in this presentation are blade wake interactions, flow control, and combustor exit turbulence and modeling.

Foundations of RDF Databases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arenas, Marcelo; Gutierrez, Claudio; Pérez, Jorge

The goal of this paper is to give an overview of the basics of the theory of RDF databases. We provide a formal definition of RDF that includes the features that distinguish this model from other graph data models. We then move into the fundamental issue of querying RDF data. We start by considering the RDF query language SPARQL, which is a W3C Recommendation since January 2008. We provide an algebraic syntax and a compositional semantics for this language, study the complexity of the evaluation problem for different fragments of SPARQL, and consider the problem of optimizing the evaluation of SPARQL queries, showing that a natural fragment of this language has some good properties in this respect. We furthermore study the expressive power of SPARQL, by comparing it with some well-known query languages such as relational algebra. We conclude by considering the issue of querying RDF data in the presence of RDFS vocabulary. In particular, we present a recently proposed extension of SPARQL with navigational capabilities.

Nanoinformatics: a new area of research in nanomedicine

PubMed Central

Maojo, Victor; Fritts, Martin; de la Iglesia, Diana; Cachau, Raul E; Garcia-Remesal, Miguel; Mitchell, Joyce A; Kulikowski, Casimir

2012-01-01

Over a decade ago, nanotechnologists began research on applications of nanomaterials for medicine. This research has revealed a wide range of different challenges, as well as many opportunities. Some of these challenges are strongly related to informatics issues, dealing, for instance, with the management and integration of heterogeneous information, defining nomenclatures, taxonomies and classifications for various types of nanomaterials, and research on new modeling and simulation techniques for nanoparticles. Nanoinformatics has recently emerged in the USA and Europe to address these issues. In this paper, we present a review of nanoinformatics, describing its origins, the problems it addresses, areas of interest, and examples of current research initiatives and informatics resources. We suggest that nanoinformatics could accelerate research and development in nanomedicine, as has occurred in the past in other fields. For instance, biomedical informatics served as a fundamental catalyst for the Human Genome Project, and other genomic and –omics projects, as well as the translational efforts that link resulting molecular-level research to clinical problems and findings. PMID:22866003

Oh dear, what can the matter be? A commentary on Pratto's 'On power and empowerment'.

PubMed

Reicher, Stephen

2016-03-01

In this response, I welcome Pratto's wide ranging and innovative contribution on the social psychology of power. It fulfils an important role in opening up debate around an issue of key importance for our discipline. At the same time (and to further that debate), I take issue with both of her core arguments: First, that power should not be seen as relational but rather about one's ability to reach one's desired ends and, second, that these ends are ultimately about survival. More fundamentally, though, I argue that Pratto's analysis is limited by the fact that she takes the subject of power for granted. This ignores a wealth of research which shows, on the one hand, how power constitutes the nature of subjects and, on the other, how subjects (especially collective subjects - groups) constitute power. It is through exploring these dynamics that we can understand power and its relevance to social life. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Notes on strings and higher spins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sagnotti, A.

2013-05-01

This review is devoted to the intriguing and still largely unexplored links between string theory and higher spins, the types of excitations that lie behind their most cherished properties. A closer look at higher spin fields provides some further clues that string theory describes a broken phase of a higher spin gauge theory. Conversely, string amplitudes contain a wealth of information on higher spin interactions that can clarify long-standing issues related to their infrared behavior. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to ‘Higher spin theories and holography’. Based on the lectures presented at the International School for Subnuclear Physics Searching for the Unexpected at LHC and Status of Our Knowledge (Erice, June 24-July 3 2011) and on the talks presented at Strings, Branes and Supergravity (Istanbul, 31 July -5 Aug 2011), at QTS’07: Quantum Theory and Symmetries (Prague, 7-13 Aug. 2011) and at FFP’12: Fundamental Fields and Particles (Udine, 21-23 Nov. 2011).

Human adipose-derived stem cells: definition, isolation, tissue-engineering applications.

PubMed

Nae, S; Bordeianu, I; Stăncioiu, A T; Antohi, N

2013-01-01

Recent researches have demonstrated that the most effective repair system of the body is represented by stem cells - unspecialized cells, capable of self-renewal through successive mitoses, which have also the ability to transform into different cell types through differentiation. The discovery of adult stem cells represented an important step in regenerative medicine because they no longer raises ethical or legal issues and are more accessible. Only in 2002, stem cells isolated from adipose tissue were described as multipotent stem cells. Adipose tissue stem cells benefits in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are numerous. Development of adipose tissue engineering techniques offers a great potential in surpassing the existing limits faced by the classical approaches used in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Adipose tissue engineering clinical applications are wide and varied, including reconstructive, corrective and cosmetic procedures. Nowadays, adipose tissue engineering is a fast developing field, both in terms of fundamental researches and medical applications, addressing issues related to current clinical pathology or trauma management of soft tissue injuries in different body locations.

Nanoinformatics: a new area of research in nanomedicine.

PubMed

Maojo, Victor; Fritts, Martin; de la Iglesia, Diana; Cachau, Raul E; Garcia-Remesal, Miguel; Mitchell, Joyce A; Kulikowski, Casimir

2012-01-01

Over a decade ago, nanotechnologists began research on applications of nanomaterials for medicine. This research has revealed a wide range of different challenges, as well as many opportunities. Some of these challenges are strongly related to informatics issues, dealing, for instance, with the management and integration of heterogeneous information, defining nomenclatures, taxonomies and classifications for various types of nanomaterials, and research on new modeling and simulation techniques for nanoparticles. Nanoinformatics has recently emerged in the USA and Europe to address these issues. In this paper, we present a review of nanoinformatics, describing its origins, the problems it addresses, areas of interest, and examples of current research initiatives and informatics resources. We suggest that nanoinformatics could accelerate research and development in nanomedicine, as has occurred in the past in other fields. For instance, biomedical informatics served as a fundamental catalyst for the Human Genome Project, and other genomic and -omics projects, as well as the translational efforts that link resulting molecular-level research to clinical problems and findings.

DFT investigation on the electronic structure of Faujasite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popeneciu, Horea; Calborean, Adrian; Tudoran, Cristian; Buimaga-Iarinca, Luiza

2013-11-01

We report here first-principle pseudopotential DFT calculations to investigate relevant aspects of the electronic structure of zeolites based FAU. Fundamental molecular issues of the band-gap and electronic population analysis were reviewed under GGA/RPBE level of theory, corroborated with a DZP basis set and Troullier-Martins norm conserving pseudo-potentials. The atom-projected density of states and the analysis of HOMO-LUMO frontier orbitals at Gamma point were performed. Their electronic transfers are discussed through the alignment and relative positions of orbitals in order to determine the way that the molecule interacts with adsorbed molecules and other practical applications. Mulliken population analysis was employed for describing atomic charge distribution in the chosen systems.

Aggression and social withdrawal as viewed by children's peers: conceptual issues in assessment and implications for intervention.

PubMed Central

Younger, A J; Schneider, B H; Daniels, T

1991-01-01

Children's peer assessments of aggressive and withdrawn behavior are fundamentally related to developmental changes in their understanding of others. This article synthesizes research relevant to the thesis that peer assessments are dependent on children's ability both to recall the previous behavior of their peers and to predict their likely future behavior. Social schema theory, borrowed from adult social psychology, is highly relevant to such recall and prediction. Age differences, affective biases, and gender roles may color children's assessments of their peers' social behavior. Such influences should be taken into account when conceptualizing interventions aimed at enhancing children's peer status, and in measuring the success of these interventions. PMID:1958647

Measuring the electronic transport properties of individual nano-objects under high pressures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caillier, C.; Ayari, A.; Le Floch, S.; Féret, H.; Guiraud, G.; San-Miguel, A.

2011-09-01

We describe a setup to carry out electronic transport measurements under high pressures on individual nano-objects. It is based on a home-automated three-stage gas compressor working with argon or helium up to 1 GPa. The setup was successfully tested on contacted individual nanotubes, for which we evidence strong evolutions of the transport properties. These evolutions are related to fundamental issues such as the modification of the nano-object contact resistance, the pressure-induced modification of the nano-object geometry or pressure-induced changes in the intrinsic electronic properties of the nanosystem. A cryostat has also been adapted to the pressure cell, allowing combined pressure and temperature experiments down to 12 K.

Comparing Distributions of Environmental Outcomes for Regulatory Environmental Justice Analysis

PubMed Central

Maguire, Kelly; Sheriff, Glenn

2011-01-01

Economists have long been interested in measuring distributional impacts of policy interventions. As environmental justice (EJ) emerged as an ethical issue in the 1970s, the academic literature has provided statistical analyses of the incidence and causes of various environmental outcomes as they relate to race, income, and other demographic variables. In the context of regulatory impacts, however, there is a lack of consensus regarding what information is relevant for EJ analysis, and how best to present it. This paper helps frame the discussion by suggesting a set of questions fundamental to regulatory EJ analysis, reviewing past approaches to quantifying distributional equity, and discussing the potential for adapting existing tools to the regulatory context. PMID:21655146

Methods for Estimation of Market Power in Electric Power Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turcik, M.; Oleinikova, I.; Junghans, G.; Kolcun, M.

2012-01-01

The article is related to a topical issue of the newly-arisen market power phenomenon in the electric power industry. The authors point out to the importance of effective instruments and methods for credible estimation of the market power on liberalized electricity market as well as the forms and consequences of market power abuse. The fundamental principles and methods of the market power estimation are given along with the most common relevant indicators. Furthermore, in the work a proposal for determination of the relevant market place taking into account the specific features of power system and a theoretical example of estimating the residual supply index (RSI) in the electricity market are given.

Conflicting evidence about long-distance animal navigation.

PubMed

Alerstam, Thomas

2006-08-11

Because of conflicting evidence about several fundamental issues, long-distance animal navigation has yet to be satisfactorily explained. Among the unsolved problems are the nature of genetic spatial control of migration and the relationships between celestial and magnetic compass mechanisms and between different map-related cues in orientation and homing, respectively. In addition, navigation is expected to differ between animal groups depending on sensory capabilities and ecological conditions. Evaluations based on modern long-term tracking techniques of the geometry of migration routes and individual migration history, combined with behavioral experiments and exploration of the sensory and genetic mechanisms, will be crucial for understanding the spatial principles that guide animals on their global journeys.

Controversy in the allometric application of fixed- versus varying-exponent models: a statistical and mathematical perspective.

PubMed

Tang, Huadong; Hussain, Azher; Leal, Mauricio; Fluhler, Eric; Mayersohn, Michael

2011-02-01

This commentary is a reply to a recent article by Mahmood commenting on the authors' article on the use of fixed-exponent allometry in predicting human clearance. The commentary discusses eight issues that are related to criticisms made in Mahmood's article and examines the controversies (fixed-exponent vs. varying-exponent allometry) from the perspective of statistics and mathematics. The key conclusion is that any allometric method, which is to establish a power function based on a limited number of animal species and to extrapolate the resulting power function to human values (varying-exponent allometry), is infused with fundamental statistical errors. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Nurses and requests for female genital mutilation: cultural rights versus human rights.

PubMed

Sala, R; Manara, D

2001-05-01

In this article we focus on female genital mutilation. We analyse this problem as one of the most important issues of multiculturalism, which is also coming to the attention of the public in Italy as a consequence of the growing number of immigrants from African countries. The fundamental problem is about the acceptability of this practice: can female genital mutilation be permitted and, if so, on what basis? We will try to cope with this as a genuine conflict between culture-relative values and universal values, such as human rights. Some attention will be drawn to Italian law. Finally, the impact on nurses of requests for genital mutilation will be described.

Cooperation and Defection in Ghetto

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kułakowski, Krzysztof

We consider ghetto as a community of people ruled against their will by an external power. Members of the community feel that their laws are broken. However, attempts to leave ghetto makes their situation worse. We discuss the relation of the ghetto inhabitants to the ruling power in context of their needs, organized according to the Maslow hierarchy. Decisions how to satisfy successive needs are undertaken in cooperation with or defection the ruling power. This issue allows to construct the tree of decisions and to adopt the pruning technique from the game theory. Dynamics of decisions can be described within the formalism of fundamental equations. The result is that the strategy of defection is stabilized by the estimated payoff.

Chaos in a neural network circuit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kepler, Thomas B.; Datt, Sumeet; Meyer, Robert B.; Abott, L. F.

1990-12-01

We have constructed a neural network circuit of four clipped, high-grain, integrating operational amplifiers coupled to each other through an array of digitally programmable resistor ladders (MDACs). In addition to fixed-point and cyclic behavior, the circuit exhibits chaotic behavior with complex strange attractors which are approached through period doubling, intermittent attractor expansion and/or quasiperiodic pathways. Couplings between the nonlinear circuit elements are controlled by a computer which can automatically search through the space of couplings for interesting phenomena. We report some initial statistical results relating the behavior of the network to properties of its coupling matrix. Through these results and further research the circuit should help resolve fundamental issues concerning chaos in neural networks.

Mapping implicit spectral methods to distributed memory architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Overman, Andrea L.; Vanrosendale, John

1991-01-01

Spectral methods were proven invaluable in numerical simulation of PDEs (Partial Differential Equations), but the frequent global communication required raises a fundamental barrier to their use on highly parallel architectures. To explore this issue, a 3-D implicit spectral method was implemented on an Intel hypercube. Utilization of about 50 percent was achieved on a 32 node iPSC/860 hypercube, for a 64 x 64 x 64 Fourier-spectral grid; finer grids yield higher utilizations. Chebyshev-spectral grids are more problematic, since plane-relaxation based multigrid is required. However, by using a semicoarsening multigrid algorithm, and by relaxing all multigrid levels concurrently, relatively high utilizations were also achieved in this harder case.

The Francis Report--Implications for the Education and Training of Dental Professionals.

PubMed

Bissell, Vince; Felix, David H

2015-04-01

This paper explores the implications of the Francis Report for education of the dental team. It considers selection of candidates for training, issues relating to the curriculum itself, including assessment and the importance of listening to trainees. The overriding importance of the 'informal' or 'hidden' curriculum, through which students and trainees observe their teachers and develop a sense of the professional and ethical culture within an educational institution, is stressed. Clinical relevance: Sound education, rooted in the recognized ethical principles highlighted in the Francis Report, is essential to the delivery of a dental work force that will deliver care according to the fundamental standards laid down by the GDC.

Tobacco, taxation, and fairness

PubMed Central

McLachlan, H

2002-01-01

The author defends himself against an attack by Smith and Bopp on his views on smoking and taxation. The theory that, on the grounds of equity and/or fairness, smokers should pay via taxation on tobacco for the health care costs of treating smoking-related medical conditions is discussed and shown to be defective. It is argued that the fundamental mistake that Smith and Bopp make is to confuse and conflate the separate issues of whether particular taxes are fair and whether they are justifiable. The conclusion is reached that an excise duty on tobacco is a good tax. It is a non-fair or even an unfair tax but it is justified on grounds other than fairness. PMID:12468659

Blue listerine, parochialism, and ASL literacy.

PubMed

Czubek, Todd A

2006-01-01

There are not many elements of human life that have had as significant an impact on our development as literacy. Literacy has certainly been, and remains, a crucial issue especially in Deaf Education and in the Deaf World. The traditional definition of literacy has been exclusively understood as reading and writing. However, this article is intended to provide a thoughtful and provocative commentary that supports adopting new directions and comprehensive definitions for understanding literacy, which includes both written and signed languages. By applying ideas from Deaf Studies and New Literacy Studies we will conduct a thorough exploration of the fundamental components of literacy and illuminate important political and practical applications related to Deaf Education.

A remote condition monitoring system for wind-turbine based DG systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, X.; Wang, G.; Cross, P.; Zhang, X.

2012-05-01

In this paper, a remote condition monitoring system is proposed, which fundamentally consists of real-time monitoring modules on the plant side, a remote support centre and the communications between them. The paper addresses some of the key issues related on the monitoring system, including i) the implementation and configuration of a VPN connection, ii) an effective database system to be able to handle huge amount of monitoring data, and iii) efficient data mining techniques to convert raw data into useful information for plant assessment. The preliminary results have demonstrated that the proposed system is practically feasible and can be deployed to monitor the emerging new energy generation systems.

Integrating information technologies as tools for surgical research.

PubMed

Schell, Scott R

2005-10-01

Surgical research is dependent upon information technologies. Selection of the computer, operating system, and software tool that best support the surgical investigator's needs requires careful planning before research commences. This manuscript presents a brief tutorial on how surgical investigators can best select these information technologies, with comparisons and recommendations between existing systems, software, and solutions. Privacy concerns, based upon HIPAA and other regulations, now require careful proactive attention to avoid legal penalties, civil litigation, and financial loss. Security issues are included as part of the discussions related to selection and application of information technology. This material was derived from a segment of the Association for Academic Surgery's Fundamentals of Surgical Research course.

Pattern separation: a common function for new neurons in hippocampus and olfactory bulb.

PubMed

Sahay, Amar; Wilson, Donald A; Hen, René

2011-05-26

While adult-born neurons in the olfactory bulb (OB) and the dentate gyrus (DG) subregion of the hippocampus have fundamentally different properties, they may have more in common than meets the eye. Here, we propose that new granule cells in the OB and DG may function as modulators of principal neurons to influence pattern separation and that adult neurogenesis constitutes an adaptive mechanism to optimally encode contextual or olfactory information. See the related Perspective from Aimone, Deng, and Gage, "Resolving New Memories: A Critical Look at the Dentate Gyrus, Adult Neurogenesis, and Pattern Separation," in this issue of Neuron. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A defence of medical paternalism: maximising patients' autonomy.

PubMed Central

Komrad, M S

1983-01-01

All illness represents a state of diminished autonomy and therefore the doctor-patient relationship necessarily and justifiably involves a degree of medical paternalism argues the author, an American medical student. In a broad-ranging paper he discusses the concepts of autonomy and paternalism in the context of the doctor-patient relationship. Given the necessary diminution of autonomy which illness inflicts, a limited form of medical paternalism, aimed at restoring or maximising the patient's autonomy is entirely acceptable, and indeed fundamental to the relationship he argues. However, the exercise of this paternalism should be flexible and related to the current 'level of autonomy' of the patient himself. An editorial in this issue comments briefly on this paper. PMID:6834402

Fundamental Structure of Loop Quantum Gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Muxin; Ma, Yongge; Huang, Weiming

In the recent twenty years, loop quantum gravity, a background independent approach to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics, has been widely investigated. The aim of loop quantum gravity is to construct a mathematically rigorous, background independent, non-perturbative quantum theory for a Lorentzian gravitational field on a four-dimensional manifold. In the approach, the principles of quantum mechanics are combined with those of general relativity naturally. Such a combination provides us a picture of, so-called, quantum Riemannian geometry, which is discrete on the fundamental scale. Imposing the quantum constraints in analogy from the classical ones, the quantum dynamics of gravity is being studied as one of the most important issues in loop quantum gravity. On the other hand, the semi-classical analysis is being carried out to test the classical limit of the quantum theory. In this review, the fundamental structure of loop quantum gravity is presented pedagogically. Our main aim is to help non-experts to understand the motivations, basic structures, as well as general results. It may also be beneficial to practitioners to gain insights from different perspectives on the theory. We will focus on the theoretical framework itself, rather than its applications, and do our best to write it in modern and precise langauge while keeping the presentation accessible for beginners. After reviewing the classical connection dynamical formalism of general relativity, as a foundation, the construction of the kinematical Ashtekar-Isham-Lewandowski representation is introduced in the content of quantum kinematics. The algebraic structure of quantum kinematics is also discussed. In the content of quantum dynamics, we mainly introduce the construction of a Hamiltonian constraint operator and the master constraint project. At last, some applications and recent advances are outlined. It should be noted that this strategy of quantizing gravity can also be extended to obtain other background-independent quantum gauge theories. There is no divergence within this background-independent and diffeomorphism-invariant quantization program of matter coupled to gravity.

Black hole spectroscopy: Systematic errors and ringdown energy estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baibhav, Vishal; Berti, Emanuele; Cardoso, Vitor; Khanna, Gaurav

2018-02-01

The relaxation of a distorted black hole to its final state provides important tests of general relativity within the reach of current and upcoming gravitational wave facilities. In black hole perturbation theory, this phase consists of a simple linear superposition of exponentially damped sinusoids (the quasinormal modes) and of a power-law tail. How many quasinormal modes are necessary to describe waveforms with a prescribed precision? What error do we incur by only including quasinormal modes, and not tails? What other systematic effects are present in current state-of-the-art numerical waveforms? These issues, which are basic to testing fundamental physics with distorted black holes, have hardly been addressed in the literature. We use numerical relativity waveforms and accurate evolutions within black hole perturbation theory to provide some answers. We show that (i) a determination of the fundamental l =m =2 quasinormal frequencies and damping times to within 1% or better requires the inclusion of at least the first overtone, and preferably of the first two or three overtones; (ii) a determination of the black hole mass and spin with precision better than 1% requires the inclusion of at least two quasinormal modes for any given angular harmonic mode (ℓ , m ). We also improve on previous estimates and fits for the ringdown energy radiated in the various multipoles. These results are important to quantify theoretical (as opposed to instrumental) limits in parameter estimation accuracy and tests of general relativity allowed by ringdown measurements with high signal-to-noise ratio gravitational wave detectors.

2008 GRC Iron Sulfur Enzymes-Conference to be held June 8-13, 2008

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

Cramer, Stephen; Gray, Nancy Ryan

2009-01-01

Iron-sulfur proteins are among the most common and ancient enzymes and electron-transfer agents in nature. They play key roles in photosynthesis, respiration, and the metabolism of small molecules such as H2, CO, and N2. The Iron Sulfur Enzyme Gordon Research Conference evolved from an earlier GRC on Nitrogen Fixation that began in 1994. The scope of the current meeting has broadened to include all enzymes or metalloproteins in which Fe-S bonds play a key role. This year's meeting will focus on the biosynthesis of Fe-S clusters, as well as the structure and mechanism of key Fe-S enzymes such as hydrogenase,more » nitrogenase and its homologues, radical SAM enzymes, and aconitase-related enzymes. Recent progress on the role of Fe-S enzymes in health, disease, DNA/RNA-processing, and alternative bio-energy systems will also be highlighted. This conference will assemble a broad, diverse, and international group of biologists and chemists who are investigating fundamental issues related to Fe-S enzymes, on atomic, molecular, organism, and environmental scales. The topics to be addressed will include: Biosynthesis & Genomics of Fe-S Enzymes; Fundamental Fe-S Chemistry; Hydrogen and Fe-S Enzymes; Nitrogenase & Homologous Fe-S Enzymes; Fe-S Enzymes in Health & Disease; Radical SAM and Aconitase-Related Fe-S Enzymes; Fe-S Enzymes and Synthetic Analogues in BioEnergy; and Fe-S Enzymes in Geochemistry and the Origin of Life.« less

Wireless physical layer security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poor, H. Vincent; Schaefer, Rafael F.

2017-01-01

Security in wireless networks has traditionally been considered to be an issue to be addressed separately from the physical radio transmission aspects of wireless systems. However, with the emergence of new networking architectures that are not amenable to traditional methods of secure communication such as data encryption, there has been an increase in interest in the potential of the physical properties of the radio channel itself to provide communications security. Information theory provides a natural framework for the study of this issue, and there has been considerable recent research devoted to using this framework to develop a greater understanding of the fundamental ability of the so-called physical layer to provide security in wireless networks. Moreover, this approach is also suggestive in many cases of coding techniques that can approach fundamental limits in practice and of techniques for other security tasks such as authentication. This paper provides an overview of these developments.

Wireless physical layer security.

PubMed

Poor, H Vincent; Schaefer, Rafael F

2017-01-03

Security in wireless networks has traditionally been considered to be an issue to be addressed separately from the physical radio transmission aspects of wireless systems. However, with the emergence of new networking architectures that are not amenable to traditional methods of secure communication such as data encryption, there has been an increase in interest in the potential of the physical properties of the radio channel itself to provide communications security. Information theory provides a natural framework for the study of this issue, and there has been considerable recent research devoted to using this framework to develop a greater understanding of the fundamental ability of the so-called physical layer to provide security in wireless networks. Moreover, this approach is also suggestive in many cases of coding techniques that can approach fundamental limits in practice and of techniques for other security tasks such as authentication. This paper provides an overview of these developments.

Wireless physical layer security

PubMed Central

Schaefer, Rafael F.

2017-01-01

Security in wireless networks has traditionally been considered to be an issue to be addressed separately from the physical radio transmission aspects of wireless systems. However, with the emergence of new networking architectures that are not amenable to traditional methods of secure communication such as data encryption, there has been an increase in interest in the potential of the physical properties of the radio channel itself to provide communications security. Information theory provides a natural framework for the study of this issue, and there has been considerable recent research devoted to using this framework to develop a greater understanding of the fundamental ability of the so-called physical layer to provide security in wireless networks. Moreover, this approach is also suggestive in many cases of coding techniques that can approach fundamental limits in practice and of techniques for other security tasks such as authentication. This paper provides an overview of these developments. PMID:28028211

Overview: MURI Center on spectroscopic and time domain detection of trace explosives in condensed and vapor phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spicer, James B.; Dagdigian, Paul; Osiander, Robert; Miragliotta, Joseph A.; Zhang, Xi-Cheng; Kersting, Roland; Crosley, David R.; Hanson, Ronald K.; Jeffries, Jay

2003-09-01

The research center established by Army Research Office under the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative program pursues a multidisciplinary approach to investigate and advance the use of complementary analytical techniques for sensing of explosives and/or explosive-related compounds as they occur in the environment. The techniques being investigated include Terahertz (THz) imaging and spectroscopy, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) and Resonance Enhanced Multiphoton Ionization (REMPI). This suite of techniques encompasses a diversity of sensing approaches that can be applied to detection of explosives in condensed phases such as adsorbed species in soil or can be used for vapor phase detection above the source. Some techniques allow for remote detection while others have highly specific and sensitive analysis capabilities. This program is addressing a range of fundamental, technical issues associated with trace detection of explosive related compounds using these techniques. For example, while both LIBS and THz can be used to carry-out remote analysis of condensed phase analyte from a distance in excess several meters, the sensitivities of these techniques to surface adsorbed explosive-related compounds are not currently known. In current implementations, both CRDS and REMPI require sample collection techniques that have not been optimized for environmental applications. Early program elements will pursue the fundamental advances required for these techniques including signature identification for explosive-related compounds/interferents and trace analyte extraction. Later program tasks will explore simultaneous application of two or more techniques to assess the benefits of sensor fusion.

REVIEWS OF TOPICAL PROBLEMS: Experimental tests of general relativity: recent progress and future directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turyshev, S. G.

2009-01-01

Einstein's general theory of relativity is the standard theory of gravity, especially where the needs of astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and fundamental physics are concerned. As such, this theory is used for many practical purposes involving spacecraft navigation, geodesy, and time transfer. We review the foundations of general relativity, discuss recent progress in tests of relativistic gravity, and present motivations for the new generation of high-accuracy tests of new physics beyond general relativity. Space-based experiments in fundamental physics are presently capable of uniquely addressing important questions related to the fundamental laws of nature. We discuss the advances in our understanding of fundamental physics that are anticipated in the near future and evaluate the discovery potential of a number of recently proposed space-based gravitational experiments.

Life from a plantary perspective: Fundamental issues in global ecology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Botkin, D. B.

1980-01-01

Twenty-three scientists from diverse disciplines met for one week at the University of California, Santa Barbara to discuss life from a planetary perspective. The scientists represented the major disciplines concerned with the Earth's biota, oceans, atmosphere and sediments, including geochemistry, atmospheric chemistry, chemical oceanography, limnology, forestry, terrestrial ecology, microbiology, biophysics, geography and remote sensing as well as mathematics. These twenty-three scientists met to discuss whether there was, at this time, a set of scientific issues concerning life and the entire Earth as a single unit, to set down the major tractable issues, and to suggest a set of activities that would promote the study of the issues identified. Their conclusions are summarized.

Development of fine-celled bio-fiber composite foams using physical blowing agents and nano-particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Gangjian

As one of eco-friendly bio-fibers, wood-fiber has been incorporated in plastics to make wood-fiber/plastic composites (WPC) with an increased stiffness, durability and lowered cost. However, these improvements are usually accompanied by loss in the ductility and impact strength of the composites. These shortcomings can be significantly improved by incorporating a fine-cell foam structure in the composites. This thesis presents the development of the foaming technology for the manufacture of fine-cell WPC foams with environmentally benign physical blowing agents (PBAs), and focuses on the elucidation of the fundamental foaming mechanisms and the related issues involved. One critical issue comes from the volatiles evolved from the wood-fiber during high temperature processing. The volatiles, as a blowing agent, can contribute to the foaming process. However, they lead to gross deterioration of the cell structure of WPC foams. The presence of volatiles makes foaming of WPC "a poorly understood black art". With the use of PBAs, a strategy of lowering processing temperature becomes feasible, to suppress the generation of volatiles. A series of PBA-based experiments were designed using a statistical design of experiments (DOE) technique, and were performed to establish the relationship of processing and material variables with the structure of WPC foams. Fundamental foaming behaviors for two different PBAs and two different polymer systems were identified. WPC foams with a fine-cell morphology and a desired density were successfully obtained at the optimized conditions. Another limitation for the wider application of WPC is their flammability. Innovative use of a small amount of nano-clay in WPC significantly improved the flame-retarding property of WPC, and the key issue was to achieve a high degree of exfoliation of nano-particles in the polymer matrix, to achieve a desired flammability reduction. The synergistic effects of nano-particles in foaming of WPC were identified as well.

Methods and metrics challenges of delivery-system research

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Many delivery-system interventions are fundamentally about change in social systems (both planned and unplanned). This systems perspective raises a number of methodological challenges for studying the effects of delivery-system change--particularly for answering questions related to whether the change will work under different conditions and how the change is integrated (or not) into the operating context of the delivery system. Methods The purpose of this paper is to describe the methodological and measurement challenges posed by five key issues in delivery-system research: (1) modeling intervention context; (2) measuring readiness for change; (3) assessing intervention fidelity and sustainability; (4) assessing complex, multicomponent interventions; and (5) incorporating time in delivery-system models to discuss recommendations for addressing these issues. For each issue, we provide recommendations for how research may be designed and implemented to overcome these challenges. Results and conclusions We suggest that a more refined understanding of the mechanisms underlying delivery-system interventions (treatment theory) and the ways in which outcomes for different classes of individuals change over time are fundamental starting points for capturing the heterogeneity in samples of individuals exposed to delivery-system interventions. To support the research recommendations outlined in this paper and to advance understanding of the "why" and "how" questions of delivery-system change and their effects, funding agencies should consider supporting studies with larger organizational sample sizes; longer duration; and nontraditional, mixed-methods designs. A version of this paper was prepared under contract with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), US Department of Health and Human Services for presentation and discussion at a meeting on "The Challenge and Promise of Delivery System Research," held in Sterling, VA, on February 16-17, 2011. The opinions in the paper are those of the author and do not represent the views or recommendations of AHRQ or the US Department of Health and Human Services.1 PMID:22409885

Promoting patient-centred fundamental care in acute healthcare systems.

PubMed

Feo, Rebecca; Kitson, Alison

2016-05-01

Meeting patients' fundamental care needs is essential for optimal safety and recovery and positive experiences within any healthcare setting. There is growing international evidence, however, that these fundamentals are often poorly executed in acute care settings, resulting in patient safety threats, poorer and costly care outcomes, and dehumanising experiences for patients and families. Whilst care standards and policy initiatives are attempting to address these issues, their impact has been limited. This discussion paper explores, through a series of propositions, why fundamental care can be overlooked in sophisticated, high technology acute care settings. We argue that the central problem lies in the invisibility and subsequent devaluing of fundamental care. Such care is perceived to involve simple tasks that require little skill to execute and have minimal impact on patient outcomes. The propositions explore the potential origins of this prevailing perception, focusing upon the impact of the biomedical model, the consequences of managerial approaches that drive healthcare cultures, and the devaluing of fundamental care by nurses themselves. These multiple sources of invisibility and devaluing surrounding fundamental care have rendered the concept underdeveloped and misunderstood both conceptually and theoretically. Likewise, there remains minimal role clarification around who should be responsible for and deliver such care, and a dearth of empirical evidence and evidence-based metrics. In explicating these propositions, we argue that key to transforming the delivery of acute healthcare is a substantial shift in the conceptualisation of fundamental care. The propositions present a cogent argument that counters the prevailing perception that fundamental care is basic and does not require systematic investigation. We conclude by calling for the explicit valuing and embedding of fundamental care in healthcare education, research, practice and policy. Without this re-conceptualisation and subsequent action, poor quality, depersonalised fundamental care will prevail. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of industry responsibility and tobacco control policy by US tobacco company executives in trial testimony

PubMed Central

Chaiton, Michael; Ferrence, Roberta; LeGresley, Eric

2006-01-01

Objective Trial testimony from the United States provides a unique opportunity to examine strategies of the American tobacco industry. This paper examines congruence between the arguments for tobacco control policy presented by representatives of the American tobacco industry at trial and the stages of responsibility associated with corporate social responsibility principles in other industries. Data sources Trial testimony collected and coded by the Deposition and Trial Testimony Archive (DATTA). Study selection All available testimony was gathered from representative senior staff from major tobacco companies: Brown & Williamson, Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, and Liggett. Data extraction Transcripts from each witness selected were collected and imported in text format into WinMax, a qualitative data program. The documents were searched for terms relating to tobacco control policies, and relevant terms were extracted. A hand search of the documents was also conducted by reading through the testimony. Inferred responsibility for various tobacco control policies (health information, second‐hand smoking, youth smoking) was coded. Data synthesis The level of responsibility for tobacco control policy varied according to the maturity of the issue. For emerging issues, US tobacco company representatives expressed defensiveness while, for more mature issues, such as youth smoking, they showed increased willingness to deal with the issue. This response to social issues is consistent with corporate social responsibility strategies in other industries. Conclusion While other industries use corporate social responsibility programmes to address social issues to protect their core business product, the fundamental social issue with tobacco is the product itself. As such, the corporate nature of tobacco companies is a structural obstacle to reducing harm caused by tobacco use. PMID:17130631

Work–Family Conflict and Health Among Working Parents: Potential Linkages for Family Studies and Social Neuroscience

PubMed Central

Grzywacz, Joseph G.; Smith, Amy M.

2016-01-01

In this paired article the authors review research on paid work, parenting, and health in order to isolate fundamental questions and issues that remain unaddressed. Next, consistent with the theme of this special issue, the authors introduce social neuroscience and highlight how this emerging multidisciplinary science offers substantial promise for advancing key unresolved issues in the paid work, parenting, and health literature. The article concludes with suggestions for promising areas of research wherein family scientists and social neuroscientists could build collaborative research to address gaps in the work–family literature. PMID:27840467

Water Balance Covers For Waste Containment: Principles and Practice

EPA Science Inventory

Water Balance Covers for Waste Containment: Principles and Practices introduces water balance covers and compares them with conventional approaches to waste containment. The authors provided detailed analysis of the fundamentals of soil physics and design issues, introduce appl...

Industry's response to green consumerism.

PubMed

Ottman, J A

1992-01-01

By now, most people recognize that green is a fundamental business issue and not a marketing fad. As a result, companies must integrate environmental planning into their overall business strategy. The author recommends four approaches to help gain a competitive edge.

Religion and Multiculturalism in Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, H. A.

1995-01-01

Provides a concise historical overview of theological thinking concerning fundamentalism, absolutism, and relativism. Considers corresponding responses to issues regarding multiculturalism. Concludes that a diversity of viewpoints is necessary for society to learn from its mistakes and progress in a positive fashion. (MJP)

Counterpoint.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zirkel, Perry A.

1996-01-01

In the spring 1995 "JLE" issue, Bruce Meredith and Julie Underwood posited that regular and special education have developed fundamentally different paradigms that hinder cooperation. James Tucker and Jeffrey Champagne responded that regular/special education's conflict over resources is decreasing. Thomas Kuhn would argue that…

THE US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAM

EPA Science Inventory

A scientifically rigorous determination of the condition of an aquatic resource is fundamental to all subsequent research, modeling, protection, and restoration issues. Environmental risk characterization is predicated on knowledge of condition and the rate at which that conditio...

[Refeeding syndrome: practical issues].

PubMed

Buzzi, M; Limonta, A; Pichard, C; Stirnemann, J

2015-10-14

The refeeding syndrome is frequent and potentially deadly, still it is underdiagnosed. It is defined by clinical and biological manifestations that are seen upon refeeding of malnourished patients. It is the consequence of the transition from catabolism to anabolism. Ions intracellular shift caused by insulin and B1 vitamin deficiency are fundamental in the development of this syndrome. Riskconditions are well summarized by the NICE criteria. To avoid refeeding syndrome, it is fundamental to find and correct any electrolytic deficiency and to give thiamine before starting a slow and progressive oral, enteral or parenteral refeeding.

Consideration of Dynamical Balances

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Errico, Ronald M.

2015-01-01

The quasi-balance of extra-tropical tropospheric dynamics is a fundamental aspect of nature. If an atmospheric analysis does not reflect such balance sufficiently well, the subsequent forecast will exhibit unrealistic behavior associated with spurious fast-propagating gravity waves. Even if these eventually damp, they can create poor background fields for a subsequent analysis or interact with moist physics to create spurious precipitation. The nature of this problem will be described along with the reasons for atmospheric balance and techniques for mitigating imbalances. Attention will be focused on fundamental issues rather than on recipes for various techniques.

CONSTITUTING THE OUTLINES OF A PHILOSOPHY OF AYURVEDA: MAINLY ON MENTAL HEALTH IMPORT

PubMed Central

Balodhi, J.P.

1987-01-01

SUMMARY The antiquity of achievements of Hindus in the field of Mental health is explained. The chief points discussed in this article are: (1) The exact sense in which the school of ancient Indian Medicine (Ayurveda) is to be understood. (2) The interpretation of some of the fundamental philosophical issues governing the laws of mental sciences and (3) The relevance of such laws to modern scientific world. However, the present article limits its scope to Charaka Samhita- the most fundamental book on Ayurveda only. PMID:21927226

Higgs varieties and fundamental groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruzzo, Ugo; Graña Otero, Beatriz

2018-06-01

After reviewing some "fundamental group schemes" that can be attached to a variety by means of Tannaka duality, we consider the example of the Higgs fundamental group scheme, surveying its main properties and relations with the other fundamental groups, and giving some examples.

Hospital doctors behave differently, and only by respecting the fundamentals of professional organizations will managers be able to create common goals with professionals.

PubMed

Van Dijck, H

2014-08-01

Hospital doctors behave differently from other hospital workers. The general and specific characteristics of the doctors' behavior are described. As professionals, doctors want to make autonomous decisions and more specifically, they negotiate differently. The best description of their negotiation style is one that features multi-actor, multi-issue characteristics. They behave as actors in a network in never-ending rounds of negotiations with variable issues up for discussion: one time you lose, the next you win. A doctor's career starts with a long residency period in which he or she absorbs professional habits. His or her knowledge and way of organizing are implicit. It is hard for him or her to explicitly describe what he or she is doing. This makes it difficult for managers to discuss quality issues with doctors. Dealing with disruptive behavior is not easy either. The difficult tasks of the chief medical officer, who acts as a go-between, are highlighted. Only when managers respect the fundamentals of the professional organization will they be able to create common goals with the professionals. Common goals bring about better care in hospitals.

Health Policy 2016 – Implications for Geriatric Urology

PubMed Central

Suskind, Anne M.; Clemens, J. Quentin

2016-01-01

Purpose of Review The U.S. healthcare system is undergoing fundamental changes in an effort to improve access to care, curtail healthcare spending, and improve quality of care. These efforts largely focused on Medicare, and therefore will have a fundamental impact on the care of geriatric patients. This article reviews contemporary health policy issues, with a focus on how these issues may impact the care of geriatric urology patients. Recent Findings The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has broadened the scope of Medicare coverage. Future Medicare reimbursement will be increasingly tied to care coordination, quality reporting, and demonstration of appropriate outcomes. Additional research is needed to better define the comparative effectiveness of urologic therapies in geriatric patients. Workforce projections indicate that there is a shortage of urologists in many areas of the country, and that this shortage will worsen over time unless a new funding model is instituted for graduate medical education. Summary Medicare spending drives many health policy decisions. Therefore, few health policy topics are unique to geriatrics or geriatric urology. However, certain health policy topics (e.g., care coordination, risk-stratification) are particularly germaine to the elderly patients. Urologists with a particular interest in geriatric urology should be familiar with these issues. PMID:26765043

Health policy 2016: implications for geriatric urology.

PubMed

Suskind, Anne M; Clemens, J Quentin

2016-03-01

The US healthcare system is undergoing fundamental changes in an effort to improve access to care, curtail healthcare spending, and improve quality of care. These efforts largely focused on Medicare, and therefore, will have a fundamental impact on the care of geriatric patients. This article reviews contemporary health policy issues, with a focus on how these issues may impact the care of geriatric urology patients. The Affordable Care Act has broadened the scope of Medicare coverage. Future Medicare reimbursement will be increasingly tied to care coordination, quality reporting, and demonstration of appropriate outcomes. Additional research is needed to better define the comparative effectiveness of urologic therapies in geriatric patients. Workforce projections indicate that there is a shortage of urologists in many areas of the country, and that this shortage will worsen over time unless a new funding model is instituted for graduate medical education. Medicare spending drives many health policy decisions. Therefore, few health policy topics are unique to geriatrics or geriatric urology. However, certain health policy topics (e.g., care coordination and risk-stratification) are particularly germaine to the elderly patients. Urologists with a particular interest in geriatric urology should be familiar with these issues.

Quantitative mass spectrometry: an overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urban, Pawel L.

2016-10-01

Mass spectrometry (MS) is a mainstream chemical analysis technique in the twenty-first century. It has contributed to numerous discoveries in chemistry, physics and biochemistry. Hundreds of research laboratories scattered all over the world use MS every day to investigate fundamental phenomena on the molecular level. MS is also widely used by industry-especially in drug discovery, quality control and food safety protocols. In some cases, mass spectrometers are indispensable and irreplaceable by any other metrological tools. The uniqueness of MS is due to the fact that it enables direct identification of molecules based on the mass-to-charge ratios as well as fragmentation patterns. Thus, for several decades now, MS has been used in qualitative chemical analysis. To address the pressing need for quantitative molecular measurements, a number of laboratories focused on technological and methodological improvements that could render MS a fully quantitative metrological platform. In this theme issue, the experts working for some of those laboratories share their knowledge and enthusiasm about quantitative MS. I hope this theme issue will benefit readers, and foster fundamental and applied research based on quantitative MS measurements. This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'.

Latency correction of event-related potentials between different experimental protocols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iturrate, I.; Chavarriaga, R.; Montesano, L.; Minguez, J.; Millán, JdR

2014-06-01

Objective. A fundamental issue in EEG event-related potentials (ERPs) studies is the amount of data required to have an accurate ERP model. This also impacts the time required to train a classifier for a brain-computer interface (BCI). This issue is mainly due to the poor signal-to-noise ratio and the large fluctuations of the EEG caused by several sources of variability. One of these sources is directly related to the experimental protocol or application designed, and may affect the amplitude or latency of ERPs. This usually prevents BCI classifiers from generalizing among different experimental protocols. In this paper, we analyze the effect of the amplitude and the latency variations among different experimental protocols based on the same type of ERP. Approach. We present a method to analyze and compensate for the latency variations in BCI applications. The algorithm has been tested on two widely used ERPs (P300 and observation error potentials), in three experimental protocols in each case. We report the ERP analysis and single-trial classification. Main results. The results obtained show that the designed experimental protocols significantly affect the latency of the recorded potentials but not the amplitudes. Significance. These results show how the use of latency-corrected data can be used to generalize the BCIs, reducing the calibration time when facing a new experimental protocol.

Legal principles of confidentiality and other public interests: Part 1.

PubMed

Fullbrook, Suzanne

The principles of confidentiality are of paramount importance to nurses and all health professionals. This is explicitly so as the Common Law recognizes confidentiality and supports its importance. However, current practice must take cognizance of the realities of 21st century healthcare delivery - we live in an age of electronic data that is potentially very difficult to keep secret. New rules, protocols and guidelines are being formulated, and regulatory bodies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) reflect such rules in their codes of professional conduct. There is, however, a debate that is suggesting that the rules that relate to confidentiality may need to expand or even bend a little as innovate ways of obtaining, storing, utilizing and communicating data continue to occupy the minds of government and those who formulate legal principles (British Medical Association, 2005). This series of three articles will explore these issues. The first part is a review of case law that explores the fundamental legal principles that underpin confidentiality. The second will concentrate on a review of the guidelines that are to be found in professional regulatory documentation - the NMC and the General Medical Council as they relate to the legal principles. The third and last part will review and reflect on issues that relate expressly to the implementation of electronic patient records, with a review of appropriate statutory legislation and principles of common law.

Neuroscience and Brain Science Special Issue begins in the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences

PubMed Central

ABDULLAH, Jafri Malin

2014-01-01

The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences and the Orient Neuron Nexus have amalgated to publish a yearly special issue based on neuro- and brain sciences. This will hopefully improve the quality of peer-reviewed manuscripts in the field of fundamental, applied, and clinical neuroscience and brain science from Asian countries. One focus of the Universiti Sains Malaysia is to strengthen neuroscience and brain science, especially in the field of neuroinformatics. PMID:25941457

PSYCHOSIS IN RELATION TO EPILEPSY - A CLINICAL MODEL OF NEURO - PSYCHIATRY

PubMed Central

Shrivastava, Amresh Kumar

1996-01-01

Psychosis occurring in epileptics has always been an area of research interest, particularly, because of possible link of mental illness, organic lesions, convulsive process and behavioural abnormlity, all occuring together in the same subject. Vast amount of investigation on this subject has been done with a view to understand something more fundamental in ‘Brain-Behaviour Connection’. Occurance of interictal phase of psychosis long after cessation of seizure has driven investigators to conclude the two being unrelated, which has brought important issues of brain pathology and behavioural abnormality into focus of research from dimensions of genetics, neuroendocrine and environmental influences. The aspects of behavioural neurology, behavioural genetics, genetics of epilepsy and ‘shared common genetic diathesis for development of psychosis, possibly converge in the neuropsychiatric model of psychosis in relation to epilepsy’. E.E.G.- spiking and regional slow waves in inter - ictal phase are emerging as correlates determining behaviour. Status of prolactin - dopamine relationship and its correlation to neuro - cognition may be another pointer in guiding some of these complex issues. It is expected that current focus of research should be able to develop on the profile of ‘psychotic brain’ also. One of the major clinical issue is identifying epileptic subjects prone to develop psychosis with precision of nature and type, not only because such developments jeopardises and compromises the state of art treatment done for epilepsy, but also because of devastating deterioration in quality of life of patients and relatives, besides having pharmacoeconmic devaluations. Studies have revealed that more detailed work up in the beginning may possibly identify high risk groups based upon clinical phenomenlogy, E.E.G. topography, endocrine status, regional brain damage, etc. The presention attempts to focus some of the relevant clinical issues with reference to a particular comparative study of psychosis in epilepsy and functional psychosis (schizophrenia) to understand co-existence of divergent clinical conditions. PMID:21584119

Disciplining Qualitative Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denzin, Norman K.; Lincoln, Yvonna S.; Giardina, Michael D.

2006-01-01

Qualitative research exists in a time of global uncertainty. Around the world, governments are attempting to regulate scientific inquiry by defining what counts as "good" science. These regulatory activities raise fundamental, philosophical epistemological, political and pedagogical issues for scholarship and freedom of speech in the…

Intelligent cruise control field operational test. Volume I, Technical report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-05-01

This document reports on a cooperative agreement between NHTSA and UMTRI entitled Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC) Field Operational Test (FOT). The main goal of the work is to characterize safety and comfort issues that are fundamental to human inte...

Understanding Productivity Links: A Research Agenda.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, David

1981-01-01

This paper covers three fundamental aspects of productivity analysis: concepts, measurement issues, and a brief consideration of causal forces. It also explores recent trends in partial labor productivity, building on terms and concepts introduced in the first part of this article. (CT)

Guardrail and bridge rail recommendations for very low-volume local roads in Kansas.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-12-01

The determination of warrants for bridge railing and approach guardrails is a fundamental roadside safety issue. These are : specialized roadside safety barriers that are intended to capture and smoothly redirect errant vehicles that leave the roadwa...

Open problems in artificial life.

PubMed

Bedau, M A; McCaskill, J S; Packard, N H; Rasmussen, S; Adami, C; Green, D G; Ikegami, T; Kaneko, K; Ray, T S

2000-01-01

This article lists fourteen open problems in artificial life, each of which is a grand challenge requiring a major advance on a fundamental issue for its solution. Each problem is briefly explained, and, where deemed helpful, some promising paths to its solution are indicated.

Integrating international relations and environmental science course concepts through an interactive world politics simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Straub, K. H.; Kesgin, B.

2012-12-01

During the fall 2012 semester, students in two introductory courses at Susquehanna University - EENV:101 Environmental Science and POLI:131 World Affairs - will participate together in an online international relations simulation called Statecraft (www.statecraftsim.com). In this strategy game, students are divided into teams representing independent countries, and choose their government type (democracy, constitutional monarchy, communist totalitarian, or military dictatorship) and two country attributes (industrial, green, militaristic, pacifist, or scientific), which determine a set of rules by which that country must abide. Countries interact over issues such as resource distribution, war, pollution, immigration, and global climate change, and must also keep domestic political unrest to a minimum in order to succeed in the game. This simulation has typically been run in political science courses, as the goal is to allow students to experience the balancing act necessary to maintain control of global and domestic issues in a dynamic, diverse world. This semester, environmental science students will be integrated into the simulation, both as environmental advisers to each country and as independent actors representing groups such as Greenpeace, ExxonMobil, and UNEP. The goal in integrating the two courses in the simulation is for the students in each course to gain both 1) content knowledge of certain fundamental material in the other course, and 2) a more thorough, applied understanding of the integrated nature of the two subjects. Students will gain an appreciation for the multiple tradeoffs that decision-makers must face in the real world (economy, resources, pollution, health, defense, etc.). Environmental science students will link these concepts to the traditional course material through a "systems thinking" approach to sustainability. Political science students will face the challenges of global climate change and gain an understanding of the nature of scientific research and uncertainty on this topic. One of the global issues that students must face in the simulation is the melting of "Ice Mountain," which threatens to flood coastal cities before the end of the game; only through cooperative action can the "Globe of Frost" be built to potentially stop the melting. In addition, the game fundamentally integrates tradeoffs between resources, pollution, immigration, education, health, defense, and other sustainability-related subjects throughout. Pre- and post-course surveys will include both environmental science/sustainability and political science concepts that may not be explicitly taught in both courses, but that students should have a greater awareness of through their interaction in the Statecraft simulation. Student attitudes toward integration of the course material will also be assessed.

Fundamental insights into interfacial catalysis.

PubMed

Gong, Jinlong; Bao, Xinhe

2017-04-03

Surface and interfacial catalysis plays a vital role in chemical industries, electrochemistry and photochemical reactions. The challenges of modern chemistry are to optimize the chemical reaction processes and understand the detailed mechanism of chemical reactions. Since the early 1960s, the foundation of surface science systems has allowed the study of surface and interfacial phenomena on atomic/molecular level, and thus brought a number of significant developments to fundamental and technological processes, such as catalysis, material science and biochemistry, just to name a few. This themed issue describes the recent advances and developments in the fundamental understanding of surface and interfacial catalysis, encompassing areas of knowledge from metal to metal oxide, carbide, graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, and transition metal dichalcogenides under ultrahigh vacuum conditions, as well as under realistic reaction conditions.

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes. Supplement 490

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-1999-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract. Two indexes-subject and author are included after the abstract section.

Security implications and governance of cognitive neuroscience.

PubMed

Kosal, Margaret E; Huang, Jonathan Y

2015-01-01

In recent years, significant efforts have been made toward elucidating the potential of the human brain. Spanning fields as disparate as psychology, biomedicine, computer science, mathematics, electrical engineering, and chemistry, research venturing into the growing domains of cognitive neuroscience and brain research has become fundamentally interdisciplinary. Among the most interesting and consequential applications to international security are the military and defense community's interests in the potential of cognitive neuroscience findings and technologies. In the United States, multiple governmental agencies are actively pursuing such endeavors, including the Department of Defense, which has invested over $3 billion in the last decade to conduct research on defense-related innovations. This study explores governance and security issues surrounding cognitive neuroscience research with regard to potential security-related applications and reports scientists' views on the role of researchers in these areas through a survey of over 200 active cognitive neuroscientists.

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes. Supplement 498

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-1999-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract.

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes. Supplement 487

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-1999-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract. Two indexes-subject and author are included after the abstract section.

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes. Supplement 482

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-1999-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract.

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography With Indexes. Supplement 502

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-2000-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract. Two indexes-subject and author are included after the abstract section.

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes. Supplement 489

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-1999-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract.

Bringing the fundamentals of gender studies into safer-sex education.

PubMed

Lever, J

1995-01-01

The effectiveness of mass media advertisements promoting condom use is being compromised by a failure to acknowledge the impact of gender power relations on sexual negotiation. Most such advertisements are directed toward women; implicit is an assumption that females are responsible for safe sex and in a position to overcome male resistance to condom use. However, men in all-male, peer-led focus groups (where they are presumably more honest and open) express the belief that they should control all aspects of sexual encounters and a resentment of women who suggest condom use. Similarly, participants in all-female groups acknowledge their discomfort with raising the issue of condom use and being assertive about their own protection. A shift toward targeting men in condom advertisements would be more consistent with current gender relations and sexual practices. Even better would be messages that promote shared responsibility for safe sex.

A Study of Gaugeon Formalism for QED in Lorentz Violating Background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, Mushtaq B.; Ganai, Prince A.

2018-02-01

At the energy regimes close to Planck scales, the usual structure of Lorentz symmetry fails to address certain fundamental issues and eventually breaks down, thus paving the way for an alternative road map. It is thus argued that some subgroup of proper Lorentz group could stand consistent and might possibly help us to circumvent this problem. It is this subgroup that goes by the name of Very Special Relativity (VSR). Apart from violating rotational symmetry, VSR is believed to preserve the very tenets of special relativity. The gaugeon formalism due to type-I Yokoyama and type-II Izawa are found to be invariant under BRST symmetry. In this paper, we analyze the scope of this invariance in the scheme of VSR. Furthermore, we will obtain VSR modified Lagrangian density using path integral derivation. We will explore the consistency of VSR with regard to these theories.

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes. Supplement 477

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-1998-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract.

Public health financial management competencies.

PubMed

Honoré, Peggy A; Costich, Julia F

2009-01-01

The absence of appropriate financial management competencies has impeded progress in advancing the field of public health finance. It also inhibits the ability to professionalize this sector of the workforce. Financial managers should play a critical role by providing information relevant to decision making. The lack of fundamental financial management knowledge and skills is a barrier to fulfilling this role. A national expert committee was convened to examine this issue. The committee reviewed standards related to financial and business management practices within public health and closely related areas. Alignments were made with national standards such as those established for government chief financial officers. On the basis of this analysis, a comprehensive set of public health financial management competencies was identified and examined further by a review panel. At a minimum, the competencies can be used to define job descriptions, assess job performance, identify critical gaps in financial analysis, create career paths, and design educational programs.

FORENSIC DNA BANKING LEGISLATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY CONCERNS REGARDING A DRAFT FROM TURKISH LEGISLATION.

PubMed

Ilgili, Önder; Arda, Berna

This paper presents and analyses, in terms of privacy and confidentiality, the Turkish Draft Law on National DNA Database prepared in 2004, and concerning the use of DNA analysis for forensic objectives and identity verification in Turkey. After a short introduction including related concepts, we evaluate the draft law and provide articles about confidentiality. The evaluation reminded us of some important topics at international level for the developing countries. As a result, the need for sophisticated legislations about DNA databases, for solutions to issues related to the education of employees, and the technological dependency to other countries emerged as main challenges in terms of confidentiality for the developing countries. As seen in the Turkish Draft Law on National DNA Database, the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms requires more care during the legislative efforts.

Nanomanufacturing-related programs at NSF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, Khershed P.

2015-08-01

The National Science Foundation is meeting the challenge of transitioning lab-scale nanoscience and technology to commercial-scale through several nanomanufacturing-related research programs. The goal of the core Nanomanufacturing (NM) and the inter-disciplinary Scalable Nanomanufacturing (SNM) programs is to meet the barriers to manufacturability at the nano-scale by developing the fundamental principles for the manufacture of nanomaterials, nanostructures, nanodevices, and engineered nanosystems. These programs address issues such as scalability, reliability, quality, performance, yield, metrics, and cost, among others. The NM and SNM programs seek nano-scale manufacturing ideas that are transformative, that will be widely applicable and that will have far-reaching technological and societal impacts. It is envisioned that the results from these basic research programs will provide the knowledge base for larger programs such as the manufacturing Nanotechnology Science and Engineering Centers (NSECs) and the Nanosystems Engineering Research Centers (NERCs). Besides brief descriptions of these different programs, this paper will include discussions on novel

Molecular clouds and the large-scale structure of the galaxy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thaddeus, Patrick; Stacy, J. Gregory

1990-01-01

The application of molecular radio astronomy to the study of the large-scale structure of the Galaxy is reviewed and the distribution and characteristic properties of the Galactic population of Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs), derived primarily from analysis of the Columbia CO survey, and their relation to tracers of Population 1 and major spiral features are described. The properties of the local molecular interstellar gas are summarized. The CO observing programs currently underway with the Center for Astrophysics 1.2 m radio telescope are described, with an emphasis on projects relevant to future comparison with high-energy gamma-ray observations. Several areas are discussed in which high-energy gamma-ray observations by the EGRET (Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope) experiment aboard the Gamma Ray Observatory will directly complement radio studies of the Milky Way, with the prospect of significant progress on fundamental issues related to the structure and content of the Galaxy.

Empowerment through education and science: three intersecting strands in the career of Griffith Edwards.

PubMed

Crome, Ilana

2015-07-01

This paper describes three important strands in the career of Griffith Edwards that define him as a leader and an innovator. Believing that education and science were critical for the development of addiction as a profession and as a field of inquiry, his approach was multi-faceted: educating all doctors to appreciate the fundamental issues in addiction; training psychiatrists in the complexity of 'dual diagnosis' and specific specialist intervention; and teaching that addiction could be a chronic condition which required care management over the life course. These three inter-related areas are directly related to the need for a range of practitioners to have an understanding of addiction so that patients can be properly managed. The greater our understanding of the nature of addiction behaviour, the more likely the potential to optimize treatment and train practitioners from different professional disciplines. © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes. Supplement 478

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-1998-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract.

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes. Supplement 504

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-2000-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract. Two indexes- subject and author are included after the abstract section.

Earth Sciences Division Research Summaries 2006-2007

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

DePaolo, Donald; DePaolo, Donald

2008-07-21

Research in earth and atmospheric sciences has become increasingly important in light of the energy, climate change, and other environmental issues facing the United States and the world. The development of new energy resources other than fossil hydrocarbons, the safe disposal of nuclear waste and greenhouse gases, and a detailed understanding of the climatic consequences of our energy choices are all critical to meeting energy needs while ensuring environmental safety. The cleanup of underground contamination and the preservation and management of water supplies continue to provide challenges, as they will for generations into the future. To address the critical energymore » and environmental issues requires continuing advances in our knowledge of Earth systems and our ability to translate that knowledge into new technologies. The fundamental Earth science research common to energy and environmental issues largely involves the physics, chemistry, and biology of fluids in and on the Earth. To manage Earth fluids requires the ability to understand their properties and behavior at the most fundamental molecular level, as well as prediction, characterization, imaging, and manipulation of those fluids and their behavior in real Earth reservoirs. The broad range of disciplinary expertise, the huge range of spatial and time scales, and the need to integrate theoretical, computational, laboratory and field research, represent both the challenge and the excitement of Earth science research. The Earth Sciences Division (ESD) of the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to addressing the key scientific and technical challenges that are needed to secure our energy future in an environmentally responsibly way. Our staff of over 200 scientists, UC Berkeley faculty, support staff and guests perform world-acclaimed fundamental research in hydrogeology and reservoir engineering, geophysics and geomechanics, geochemistry, microbial ecology, climate systems, and environmental engineering. Building on this scientific foundation, we also perform applied earth science research and technology development to support DOE in a number of its program areas. We currently organize our efforts in the following Division Programs: Fundamental and Exploratory Research--fundamental research in geochemistry, geophysics, and hydrology to provide a basis for new and improved energy and environmental technologies; Climate and Carbon Sciences--carbon cycling in the terrestrial biosphere and oceans, and global and regional climate modeling, are the cornerstones of a major developing divisional research thrust related to understanding and mitigating the effects of increased greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere; Energy Resources--collaborative projects with industry to develop or improve technologies for the exploration and production of oil, gas, and geothermal reservoirs, and for the development of bioenergy; Environmental Remediation and Water Resources--innovative technologies for locating, containing, and remediating metals, radionuclides, chlorinated solvents, and energy-related contaminants in soils and groundwaters; Geologic Carbon Sequestration--development and testing of methods for introducing carbon dioxide to subsurface geologic reservoirs, and predicting and monitoring its subsequent migration; and Nuclear Waste and Energy--theoretical, experimental, and simulation studies of the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. These programs draw from each of ESD's disciplinary departments: Climate Science, Ecology, Geochemistry, Geophysics, and Hydrogeology. Short descriptions of these departments are provided as introductory material. In this document, we present summaries of selected current research projects. While it is not a complete accounting, the projects described here are representative of the nature and breadth of the ESD research effort. We are proud of our scientific accomplishments and we hope that you will find this material useful and exciting. A list of publications for the period from January 2006 to June 2007, along with a listing of our personnel, are also appended. Any comments on our research are appreciated and can be sent to me personally.« less

Engineering Lessons Learned and Systems Engineering Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gill, Paul S.; Garcia, Danny; Vaughan, William W.

2005-01-01

Systems Engineering is fundamental to good engineering, which in turn depends on the integration and application of engineering lessons learned. Thus, good Systems Engineering also depends on systems engineering lessons learned from within the aerospace industry being documented and applied. About ten percent of the engineering lessons learned documented in the NASA Lessons Learned Information System are directly related to Systems Engineering. A key issue associated with lessons learned datasets is the communication and incorporation of this information into engineering processes. As part of the NASA Technical Standards Program activities, engineering lessons learned datasets have been identified from a number of sources. These are being searched and screened for those having a relation to Technical Standards. This paper will address some of these Systems Engineering Lessons Learned and how they are being related to Technical Standards within the NASA Technical Standards Program, including linking to the Agency's Interactive Engineering Discipline Training Courses and the life cycle for a flight vehicle development program.

Fluvial geomorphology on Earth-like planetary surfaces: A review.

PubMed

Baker, Victor R; Hamilton, Christopher W; Burr, Devon M; Gulick, Virginia C; Komatsu, Goro; Luo, Wei; Rice, James W; Rodriguez, J A P

2015-09-15

Morphological evidence for ancient channelized flows (fluvial and fluvial-like landforms) exists on the surfaces of all of the inner planets and on some of the satellites of the Solar System. In some cases, the relevant fluid flows are related to a planetary evolution that involves the global cycling of a volatile component (water for Earth and Mars; methane for Saturn's moon Titan). In other cases, as on Mercury, Venus, Earth's moon, and Jupiter's moon Io, the flows were of highly fluid lava. The discovery, in 1972, of what are now known to be fluvial channels and valleys on Mars sparked a major controversy over the role of water in shaping the surface of that planet. The recognition of the fluvial character of these features has opened unresolved fundamental questions about the geological history of water on Mars, including the presence of an ancient ocean and the operation of a hydrological cycle during the earliest phases of planetary history. Other fundamental questions posed by fluvial and fluvial-like features on planetary bodies include the possible erosive action of large-scale outpourings of very fluid lavas, such as those that may have produced the remarkable canali forms on Venus; the ability of exotic fluids, such as methane, to create fluvial-like landforms, as observed on Saturn's moon, Titan; and the nature of sedimentation and erosion under different conditions of planetary surface gravity. Planetary fluvial geomorphology also illustrates fundamental epistemological and methodological issues, including the role of analogy in geomorphological/geological inquiry.

Essays on electricity transmission investment and financial transmission rights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Wenzhuo

The U.S. electric power industry has been going through fundamental restructuring and realignment since the 1990's. Many issues and problems have emerged during the transition, and both economists and engineers have been looking for the solutions fervently. In this dissertation, which consists primarily of three essays, we apply economics theory and techniques to the power industry and address two related issues, transmission investment and financial transmission rights (FTRs). The first essay takes the decentralized perspective and investigates the efficiency attribute of market-based transmission investment under perfect competition. We clarify, for the first time, the nature of the externality created by loop flows that causes transmission investment to be inefficient. Our findings have important implications for better understanding of transmission market design and creating incentives for efficient transmission investment. In the second essay, we define several rules for allocating transmission investment cost within the framework of cooperative game theory. These rules provide fair, stable or efficient cost allocations in theory and are good benchmarks against which the allocation mechanism in practice can be compared and improved upon. In the last essay, we make exploratory efforts in analyzing and assessing empirically the performance of the Midwest independent system operator (MISO) FTR auction market. We reveal some stylized facts about this young market and find that it is not efficient under the risk-neutrality assumption. We also point out and correct the drawbacks in previous related work and suggest about more complete empirical work in future. In all, this dissertation makes both theoretic and empirical analysis of the two hot issues related to the power industry and comes up with findings that have important implications for the development of this industry.

Interpreting Measures of Fundamental Movement Skills and Their Relationship with Health-Related Physical Activity and Self-Concept

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jarvis, Stuart; Williams, Morgan; Rainer, Paul; Jones, Eleri Sian; Saunders, John; Mullen, Richard

2018-01-01

The aims of this study were to determine proficiency levels of fundamental movement skills using cluster analysis in a cohort of U.K. primary school children; and to further examine the relationships between fundamental movement skills proficiency and other key aspects of health-related physical activity behavior. Participants were 553 primary…

78 FR 48331 - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Release of Fundamental Research Information...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-08

... Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Release of Fundamental Research Information (DFARS Case 2012...) to provide guidance relating to the release of fundamental research information. This rule was... release of information on fundamental research projects and not safeguarding. This rule was initiated to...

DFT investigation on the electronic structure of Faujasite

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

Popeneciu, Horea; Calborean, Adrian; Tudoran, Cristian

2013-11-13

We report here first-principle pseudopotential DFT calculations to investigate relevant aspects of the electronic structure of zeolites based FAU. Fundamental molecular issues of the band-gap and electronic population analysis were reviewed under GGA/RPBE level of theory, corroborated with a DZP basis set and Troullier-Martins norm conserving pseudo-potentials. The atom-projected density of states and the analysis of HOMO-LUMO frontier orbitals at Gamma point were performed. Their electronic transfers are discussed through the alignment and relative positions of orbitals in order to determine the way that the molecule interacts with adsorbed molecules and other practical applications. Mulliken population analysis was employed formore » describing atomic charge distribution in the chosen systems.« less

New Insights into the Surgical Management of Tetralogy of Fallot: Physiological Fundamentals and Clinical Relevance.

PubMed

Bove, Thierry; François, Katrien; De Wolf, Daniel

2015-01-01

The surgical treatment of tetralogy of Fallot can be considered as a success story in the history of congenital heart diseases. Since the early outcome is no longer the main issue, the focus moved to the late sequelae of TOF repair, i.e. the pulmonary insufficiency and the secondary adaptation of the right ventricle. This review provides recent insights into the pathophysiological alterations of the right ventricle in relation to the reconstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract after repair of tetralogy of Fallot. Its clinical relevance is documented by addressing the policy changes regarding the optimal management at the time of surgical repair as well as properly defining criteria and timing for late pulmonary valve implantation.

Overview of Icing Research at NASA Glenn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kreeger, Richard E.

2013-01-01

The aviation industry continues to deal with icing-related incidents and accidents on a regular basis. Air traffic continues to increase, placing more aircraft in adverse icing conditions more frequently and for longer periods. Icing conditions once considered rare or of little consequence, such as super-cooled large droplet icing or high altitude ice crystals, have emerged as major concerns for modern aviation. Because of this, there is a need to better understand the atmospheric environment, the fundamental mechanisms and characteristics of ice growth, and the aerodynamic effects due to icing, as well as how best to protect these aircraft. The icing branch at NASA Glenn continues to develop icing simulation methods and engineering tools to address current aviation safety issues in airframe, engine and rotorcraft icing.

Electrode Nanostructures in Lithium‐Based Batteries

PubMed Central

Mahmood, Nasir

2014-01-01

Lithium‐based batteries possessing energy densities much higher than those of the conventional batteries belong to the most promising class of future energy devices. However, there are some fundamental issues related to their electrodes which are big roadblocks in their applications to electric vehicles (EVs). Nanochemistry has advantageous roles to overcome these problems by defining new nanostructures of electrode materials. This review article will highlight the challenges associated with these chemistries both to bring high performance and longevity upon considering the working principles of the various types of lithium‐based (Li‐ion, Li‐air and Li‐S) batteries. Further, the review discusses the advantages and challenges of nanomaterials in nanostructured electrodes of lithium‐based batteries, concerns with lithium metal anode and the recent advancement in electrode nanostructures. PMID:27980896

Measuring Exposure Opportunities: Using Exogenous Measures in Assessing Effects of Media Exposure on Smoking Outcomes

PubMed Central

Liu, Jiaying; Hornik, Robert

2016-01-01

Measurement of exposure has long been one of the most central and fundamental issues in communication research. While self-reported measures remain dominant in the field, alternative approaches such as exogenous or hybrid measures have received increasing scholarly attention and been employed in various contexts for the estimation of media exposure; however, systematic scrutiny of such measures is thin. This study aims to address the gap by systematically reviewing the studies which utilized exogenous or hybrid exposure measures for examining the effects of media exposure on tobacco-related outcomes. We then proceed to discuss the strengths and weaknesses, current developments in this class of measurement, drawing some implications for the appropriate utilization of exogenous and hybrid measures. PMID:27746848

CT Lung Cancer Screening Program Development: Part 2.

PubMed

Yates, Teri

2015-01-01

Radiology administrators must use innovative strategies around clinical collaboration and marketing to ensure that patients access the service in sufficient numbers. Radiology Associates of South Florida in collaboration with Baptist Health South Florida have developed a successful lung cancer screening program. The biggest factors in their success have been the affordability of their service and the quality of the program. Like mammography, lung cancer screening programs serve as an entry point to other services that generate revenue for the hospital. Patients may require further evaluation in the form of more imaging or surgical services for biopsy. Part 1 provided background and laid out fundamentals for starting a program. Part 2 focuses on building patient volume, marketing, and issues related to patient management after the screen is performed.

Assessment of the effectiveness of supply-side cost-containment measures

PubMed Central

Garrison, Louis P.

1992-01-01

This article assesses the arguments and evidence concerning the likely effectiveness of four supply-side cost-containment measures. The health planning efforts of the 1970s, particularly certificate-of-need regulations, had very limited success in containing costs. The new and related tools of technology assessment and practice guidelines hold some promise for refining benefit packages, but they are inadequate for micromanaging complex medical practices. Payment policies, such as hospital ratesetting, have enjoyed some success in limiting hospital cost growth but are less effective at controlling total costs. None of these measures alone is likely to address fully the fundamental issues of equity and efficiency in health care resource allocation that underlie the problem of rising costs. PMID:25372721

The French bioethics debate: norms, values and practices.

PubMed

Fournier, Véronique; Spranzi, Marta

2013-02-01

In 1994, France passed bioethics laws regulating assisted reproductive technologies, organ donations and prenatal diagnosis. These laws were based upon a few principles considered as fundamental: the anonymity and gratuity of all donations concerning the elements of the human body, free and informed consent, and the interdiction of all commercial transactions on the human body. These laws have been the object of heated debates which continue to this day. On the basis on a few clinical ethics studies conducted by the Center for clinical ethics at the Cochin Hospital in Paris, the articles presented in this special issues explore several aspects of the bioethics debate, and relate it to the more general question of the complex relationship between norms, practices and values.

Don't blame the 'bio'--blame the 'ethics': varieties of (bio)ethics and the challenge of pluralism.

PubMed

Charlesworth, Max

2005-01-01

We tend to think that the difficulties in bioethics spring from the novel and alarming issues that arise due to discoveries in the new biosciences and biotechnologies. But many of the crucial difficulties in bioethics arise from the assumption we make about ethics. This paper offers a brief overview of bioethics, and relates ethical 'principlism' to 'ethical fundamentalism.' It then reviews some alternative approaches that have emerged during the second phase of bioethics and argues for a neo-Aristotelian approach. Misconceptions about ethical principles and ethical reasoning not only distort our views of the business of bioethics, but they also prevent us from facing up to the formidable problems posed by ethical pluralism in so-called liberal societies.

Electrode Nanostructures in Lithium-Based Batteries.

PubMed

Mahmood, Nasir; Hou, Yanglong

2014-12-01

Lithium-based batteries possessing energy densities much higher than those of the conventional batteries belong to the most promising class of future energy devices. However, there are some fundamental issues related to their electrodes which are big roadblocks in their applications to electric vehicles (EVs). Nanochemistry has advantageous roles to overcome these problems by defining new nanostructures of electrode materials. This review article will highlight the challenges associated with these chemistries both to bring high performance and longevity upon considering the working principles of the various types of lithium-based (Li-ion, Li-air and Li-S) batteries. Further, the review discusses the advantages and challenges of nanomaterials in nanostructured electrodes of lithium-based batteries, concerns with lithium metal anode and the recent advancement in electrode nanostructures.

Book Review: Book review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wüthrich, Christian

Symmetry considerations stand at the core of classical and quantum physics. No modern-and few older-physical theories forgo the immense services that these considerations offer. It is therefore only natural that philosophers of physics have increasingly started to study the motivations for, as well as the technical implementations and the interpretative implications of, symmetries in fundamental physics. Apart from the extraordinary foundational interest of symmetries, they provide a vehicle to study more general philosophical issues such as the relation between the physical world and its representations and between physics and mathematics. Moreover, traditional problems in metaphysics and philosophy of science such as the nature and status of laws of nature, scientific realism, and determinism naturally arise in, and enjoy substantial fertilisation from, the context of symmetries in physics.

Guardrail and bridge rail recommendations for very low-volume local roads in Kansas : [technical summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-12-01

The determination of warrants for bridge railing and approach guardrails is a : fundamental roadside safety issue. These are specialized roadside safety barriers that are : intended to capture and smoothly redirect errant vehicles that leave the road...

The future of IRP and other public goods in a market-driven world

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

Hirst, E.; Tonn, B.; Bauer, D.

1995-04-01

There are substantial questions as to what end-state the electricity industry should move toward - and an even more astonishing plethora of fundamental issues about the transition - that should be answered before the restructuring spaceship takes off.

Developing a Highway Safety Fundamentals Course : Research Project Capsule

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-10-01

Although the need for road : safety education was fi rst : recognized in the 1960s, : recently it has become an : increasingly urgent issue. To : fulfi ll the hefty goal set up by : the AASHTO Highway : Safety Strategy (cutting : traffi c fatalities ...

Education in Environmental Remote Sensing: Potentials and Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiefer, Ralph W.; Lillesand, Thomas M.

1983-01-01

Discusses remote sensing principles and applications and the status and needs of remote sensing education in the United States. A summary of the fundamental policy issues that will determine remote sensing's future role in environmental and resource managements is included. (Author/BC)

A SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION MAKING

EPA Science Inventory

There are significant scientific and technological challenges to managing natural resources. Data needs are cited as an obvious limitation, but there exist more fundamental scientific issues. What is still needed is a method of comparing management strategies based on projected i...

Intelligent cruise control field operational test. Vol II, Appendices A-F

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-05-01

This document reports on a cooperative agreement between NHTSA and UMTRI entitled Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC) Field Operational Test (FOT). The main goal of the work is to characterize safety and comfort issues that are fundamental to human inte...

Fundamental monogamy relation between contextuality and nonlocality.

PubMed

Kurzyński, Paweł; Cabello, Adán; Kaszlikowski, Dagomir

2014-03-14

We show that the no-disturbance principle imposes a tradeoff between locally contextual correlations violating the Klyachko-Can-Biniciogˇlu-Shumovski inequality and spatially separated correlations violating the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality. The violation of one inequality forbids the violation of the other. We also obtain the corresponding monogamy relation imposed by quantum theory for a qutrit-qubit system. Our results show the existence of fundamental monogamy relations between contextuality and nonlocality that suggest that entanglement might be a particular form of a more fundamental resource.

Status quo, issues, and challenges for acupuncture research evidence: an overview of clinical and fundamental studies.

PubMed

Cai, Yujia; Shen, Jiantong; Zhong, Dake; Li, Youping; Wu, Taixiang

2012-02-01

To systematically review the status quo, issues, and challenges from home and abroad for acupuncture research evidence, in order to identify global acupuncture research datum lines and policy-making evidence for future research direction. To carry out computed searching through the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, CNKI, SCI, WHO-ICTRP, and Chinese Clinical Trials Registry (ChiCTR) (up to January, 2010) for acupuncture-related secondary studies (systematic reviews and meta-analysis), animal randomized controlled trials (RCTs), published human RCTs (fundamental research with the human body or human body specimens as subjects), and registered on-going clinical trials (regardless of subject recruiting), and to analyze yearly publishing trends and research hotspots on subject headings for secondary studies and published and registered RCTs. (1) 63.7% of acupuncture clinical RCTs were published in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), while RCTs published in MEDLINE, SCI, and CNKI each accounted for a third of all acupuncture fundamental RCTs. Publishing trends of acupuncture clinical RCTs indicated three periods - a period of slow growth before 1998, a period of gradual growth between 1999 and 2005, and a period of rapid growth after 2005. While few fundamental acupuncture RCTs were published before 2004, the period after 2005 demonstrated an increasing trend, but did not exhibit the same rapid growth as with clinical RCTs. Publication of Cochrane systematic reviews (CSRs) exhibited a time-dependent effect with acupuncture clinical RCTs, a trend that became more pronounced as time passed, while time intervals between CSR and acupuncture clinical RCT publications decreased. (2) Nine SRs were published in China, accounting for 30% of the global total of 29, while China's 68 RCTs accounted for 21% of global RCTs. Among five CSRs affirming the effects of acupuncture, only one contained four RCTs from China, which accounted for 10% of all RCTs included in that CSR. All information provided above demonstrates a deficiency of high-quality evidence from China affirming the efficiency of acupuncture. (3) Nine CSRs published by Chinese researchers included 38 RCTs (44%) from China, as well as 48 foreign RCTs; four of these CSRs included RCTs from China only. (4) Over 70% of acupuncture fundamental RCTs were carried out by China alone while only 11% of acupuncture clinical RCTs included in SCI were from China, both of which suggest the methodology quality of acupuncture clinical RCTs in China should be raised to meet international standards. (5) Clinical research was the primary focus of acupuncture studies in Europe and the US. (6) Acupuncture studies were divided into nine research areas according to the top 50 disease-related high-frequency words in acupuncture RCTs. The first three disease categories, comprehensively ranked using published clinical RCTs, were pain and analgesia, cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, and the neuropsychological system. The top three disease categories of both on-going clinical RCTs and acupuncture fundamental RCTs, respectively, were in accordance with those of published clinical RCTs. (1) CL CTRD is the key database in searching for published acupuncture clinical RCTs, and thus should be used first. Databases such as MEDLINE, SCI, and CNKI are all indispensable in retrieving acupuncture fundamental RCTs. (2) China leads the world in terms of both clinical and acupuncture fundamental RCTs, but while publication occurs rapidly, there is a lack of high-quality RCTs, suggesting future acupuncture clinical RCTs in China should place a higher emphasis on quality. Further development of acupuncture fundamental studies with little clinical research is a coming challenge for China. The US provides many of the RCTs published in SCI and on-going RCTs registered in WHO-ICTRP. Its small but high-quality publication will increasingly strengthen its impact on acupuncture research. (3) The fact that the top three disease categories of on-going clinical RCTs and of acupuncture fundamental RCTs, respectively, were in accordance with published clinical RCTs indicate that pain, cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, and neuropsychological diseases are major treatment disease categories for acupuncture and also primary development directions for the future. (4) CSRs will achieve synchronized updates with acupuncture clinical RCTs and its influence in guiding acupuncture clinical RCTs will grow clearer day by day. (5) Though registration of on-going RCTs is still in its initial stage and the number of RCTs registered is still relatively small, that the continued operation of the WHO-ICTRP will boost both the number of acupuncture RCTs registered and their quality. Innovation and time in acupuncture methodology will definitely advance the development of acupuncture research, while national and international cooperative programs in acupuncture research need evidence to support their claims throughout the course of project approval to implementation to inspection and acceptance to transformation to follow-up appraisal, in order to supply scientific and transparent research, thus improving credibility and practicality of the results. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd and Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University.

Monitoring, Tracking, and Recording Pancreas-Related Health Issues in Real Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chrysikos, Theofilos; Zisi, Iliana; Katsini, Christina; Raptis, George E.; Kotsopoulos, Stavros

2017-11-01

The monitoring of pancreas-related health issues in real-time and outside the medical room is a challenge in the wide e-health domain. This paper introduces WHEAMO, a novel e-health platform which employs medical implants (biosensors), which function as antennas, planted in the pancreas. WHEAMO uses wireless in-body propagation to track, monitor, and record critical parameters, such as glucose. The signal reaches the skin and then it is propagated in an indoor environment (e.g., medical room) over to a terminal equipped with adaptive, user-configurable, and intelligent mechanisms which provide personalized recommendations to varying WHEAMO users (e.g., medical personnel, health care workers, patients). The personalized nature of the provided recommendations is based on patients unique characteristics via a sophisticated knowledge-base. The fundamentals of in-body and on-body wireless propagation and channel characterization have been studied in a series of published works. Researchers have tested both electric-field (dipole) and magnetic-field (patch, loop) antennas. Another important aspect concerns the frequency band in which the signal propagation will occur. Among the frequencies that have gathered scientific and academic interest are the Medical Implant Communication Service (MICS) band at 402-405 MHz, the 900 MHz channel and the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio band at 2.45 GHz.

Energetic Particles in the Inner Heliosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malandraki, Olga

2016-07-01

Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events are a key ingredient of Solar-Terrestrial Physics both for fundamental research and space weather applications. SEP events are the defining component of solar radiation storms, contribute to radio blackouts in polar regions and are related to many of the fastest Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) driving major geomagnetic storms. In addition to CMEs, SEPs are also related to flares. In this work, the current state of knowledge on the SEP field will be reviewed. Key issues to be covered and discussed include: the current understanding of the origin, acceleration and transport processes of SEPs at the Sun and in the inner heliosphere, lessons learned from multi-spacecraft SEP observations, statistical quantification of the comparison of solar events and SEP events of the current solar cycle 24 with previous solar cycles, causes of the solar-cycle variations in SEP fluencies and composition, theoretical work and current SEP acceleration models. Furthermore, the outstanding issues that constitute a knowledge gap in the field will be presented and discussed, as well as future directions and expected advances from the observational and modeling perspective, also in view of the unique observations provided by the upcoming Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus missions. Acknowledgement: This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 637324.

Fuel cells: principles, types, fuels, and applications.

PubMed

Carrette, L; Friedrich, K A; Stimming, U

2000-12-15

During the last decade, fuel cells have received enormous attention from research institutions and companies as novel electrical energy conversion systems. In the near future, they will see application in automotive propulsion, distributed power generation, and in low power portable devices (battery replacement). This review gives an introduction into the fundamentals and applications of fuel cells: Firstly, the environmental and social factors promoting fuel cell development are discussed, with an emphasis on the advantages of fuel cells compared to the conventional techniques. Then, the main reactions, which are responsible for the conversion of chemical into electrical energy in fuel cells, are given and the thermodynamic and kinetic fundamentals are stated. The theoretical and real efficiencies of fuel cells are also compared to that of internal combustion engines. Next, the different types of fuel cells and their main components are explained and the related material issues are presented. A section is devoted to fuel generation and storage, which is of paramount importance for the practical aspects of fuel cell use. Finally, attention is given to the integration of the fuel cells into complete systems. © 2000 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, Weinheim, Fed. Rep. of Germany.

Fundamentals of Clinical Outcomes Assessment for Spinal Disorders: Clinical Outcome Instruments and Applications

PubMed Central

Vavken, Patrick; Ganal-Antonio, Anne Kathleen B.; Quidde, Julia; Shen, Francis H.; Chapman, Jens R.; Samartzis, Dino

2015-01-01

Study Design A broad narrative review. Objectives Outcome assessment in spinal disorders is imperative to help monitor the safety and efficacy of the treatment in an effort to change the clinical practice and improve patient outcomes. The following article, part two of a two-part series, discusses the various outcome tools and instruments utilized to address spinal disorders and their management. Methods A thorough review of the peer-reviewed literature was performed, irrespective of language, addressing outcome research, instruments and tools, and applications. Results Numerous articles addressing the development and implementation of health-related quality-of-life, neck and low back pain, overall pain, spinal deformity, and other condition-specific outcome instruments have been reported. Their applications in the context of the clinical trial studies, the economic analyses, and overall evidence-based orthopedics have been noted. Additional issues regarding the problems and potential sources of bias utilizing outcomes scales and the concept of minimally clinically important difference were discussed. Conclusion Continuing research needs to assess the outcome instruments and tools used in the clinical outcome assessment for spinal disorders. Understanding the fundamental principles in spinal outcome assessment may also advance the field of “personalized spine care.” PMID:26225283

A promising future for integrative biodiversity research: an increased role of scale-dependency and functional biology.

PubMed

Price, S A; Schmitz, L

2016-04-05

Studies into the complex interaction between an organism and changes to its biotic and abiotic environment are fundamental to understanding what regulates biodiversity. These investigations occur at many phylogenetic, temporal and spatial scales and within a variety of biological and geological disciplines but often in relative isolation. This issue focuses on what can be achieved when ecological mechanisms are integrated into analyses of deep-time biodiversity patterns through the union of fossil and extant data and methods. We expand upon this perspective to argue that, given its direct relevance to the current biodiversity crisis, greater integration is needed across biodiversity research. We focus on the need to understand scaling effects, how lower-level ecological and evolutionary processes scale up and vice versa, and the importance of incorporating functional biology. Placing function at the core of biodiversity research is fundamental, as it establishes how an organism interacts with its abiotic and biotic environment and it is functional diversity that ultimately determines important ecosystem processes. To achieve full integration, concerted and ongoing efforts are needed to build a united and interactive community of biodiversity researchers, with education and interdisciplinary training at its heart. © 2016 The Author(s).

Classification of NLO operators for composite Higgs models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alanne, Tommi; Bizot, Nicolas; Cacciapaglia, Giacomo; Sannino, Francesco

2018-04-01

We provide a general classification of template operators, up to next-to-leading order, that appear in chiral perturbation theories based on the two flavor patterns of spontaneous symmetry breaking SU (NF)/Sp (NF) and SU (NF)/SO (NF). All possible explicit-breaking sources parametrized by spurions transforming in the fundamental and in the two-index representations of the flavor symmetry are included. While our general framework can be applied to any model of strong dynamics, we specialize to composite-Higgs models, where the main explicit breaking sources are a current mass, the gauging of flavor symmetries, and the Yukawa couplings (for the top). For the top, we consider both bilinear couplings and linear ones à la partial compositeness. Our templates provide a basis for lattice calculations in specific models. As a special example, we consider the SU (4 )/Sp (4 )≅SO (6 )/SO (5 ) pattern which corresponds to the minimal fundamental composite-Higgs model. We further revisit issues related to the misalignment of the vacuum. In particular, we shed light on the physical properties of the singlet η , showing that it cannot develop a vacuum expectation value without explicit C P violation in the underlying theory.

An Investigation of Fully Modulated, Turbulent Diffusion Flames in Reduced Gravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hermanson, J. C.; Johari, H.; Usowicz, J. E.; Sangras, R.; Stocker, D. P.; Hegde, U. G.; Nagashima, T.; Obata, S.

2001-01-01

Pulsed combustion appears to have the potential to provide for rapid fuel/air mixing, compact and economical combustors, and reduced exhaust emissions. The objective of this Flight-Definition experiment (PuFF, for Pulsed-Fully Flames) is to increase the fundamental understanding of the fuel/air mixing and combustion behavior of pulsed, turbulent diffusion flames by conducting experiments in microgravity. In this research the fuel jet is fully modulated (i.e., completely shut off between pulses) by an externally controlled valve system. This gives rise to drastic modification of the combustion and flow characteristics of flames, leading to enhanced fuel/air mixing mechanisms not operative for the case of acoustically excited or partially-modulated jets. The fully-modulated injection approach also simplifies the combustion process by avoiding the acoustic forcing generally present in pulsed combustors. Relatively little is known about the behavior of turbulent flames in reduced-gravity conditions, even in the absence of pulsing. Fundamental issues addressed in this experiment include the impact of buoyancy on the fuel/air mixing and combustion characteristics of fully-modulated flames. It is also important for the planned space experiments to establish the effects of confinement and oxidizer co-flow on these flames.

A promising future for integrative biodiversity research: an increased role of scale-dependency and functional biology

PubMed Central

Schmitz, L.

2016-01-01

Studies into the complex interaction between an organism and changes to its biotic and abiotic environment are fundamental to understanding what regulates biodiversity. These investigations occur at many phylogenetic, temporal and spatial scales and within a variety of biological and geological disciplines but often in relative isolation. This issue focuses on what can be achieved when ecological mechanisms are integrated into analyses of deep-time biodiversity patterns through the union of fossil and extant data and methods. We expand upon this perspective to argue that, given its direct relevance to the current biodiversity crisis, greater integration is needed across biodiversity research. We focus on the need to understand scaling effects, how lower-level ecological and evolutionary processes scale up and vice versa, and the importance of incorporating functional biology. Placing function at the core of biodiversity research is fundamental, as it establishes how an organism interacts with its abiotic and biotic environment and it is functional diversity that ultimately determines important ecosystem processes. To achieve full integration, concerted and ongoing efforts are needed to build a united and interactive community of biodiversity researchers, with education and interdisciplinary training at its heart. PMID:26977068

Barriers to the Preclinical Development of Therapeutics that Target Aging Mechanisms

PubMed Central

Burd, Christin E.; Gill, Matthew S.; Niedernhofer, Laura J.; Robbins, Paul D.; Austad, Steven N.; Barzilai, Nir

2016-01-01

Through the progress of basic science research, fundamental mechanisms that contribute to age-related decline are being described with increasing depth and detail. Although these efforts have identified new drug targets and compounds that extend life span in model organisms, clinical trials of therapeutics that target aging processes remain scarce. Progress in aging research is hindered by barriers associated with the translation of basic science discoveries into the clinic. This report summarizes discussions held at a 2014 Geroscience Network retreat focused on identifying hurdles that currently impede the preclinical development of drugs targeting fundamental aging processes. From these discussions, it was evident that aging researchers have varied perceptions of the ideal preclinical pipeline. To forge a clear and cohesive path forward, several areas of controversy must first be resolved and new tools developed. Here, we focus on five key issues in preclinical drug development (drug discovery, lead compound development, translational preclinical biomarkers, funding, and integration between researchers and clinicians), expanding upon discussions held at the Geroscience Retreat and suggesting areas for further research. By bringing these findings to the attention of the aging research community, we hope to lay the foundation for a concerted preclinical drug development pipeline. PMID:27535964

Steam generator tubing NDE performance

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

Henry, G.; Welty, C.S. Jr.

1997-02-01

Steam generator (SG) non-destructive examination (NDE) is a fundamental element in the broader SG in-service inspection (ISI) process, a cornerstone in the management of PWR steam generators. Based on objective performance measures (tube leak forced outages and SG-related capacity factor loss), ISI performance has shown a continually improving trend over the years. Performance of the NDE element is a function of the fundamental capability of the technique, and the ability of the analysis portion of the process in field implementation of the technique. The technology continues to improve in several areas, e.g. system sensitivity, data collection rates, probe/coil design, andmore » data analysis software. With these improvements comes the attendant requirement for qualification of the technique on the damage form(s) to which it will be applied, and for training and qualification of the data analysis element of the ISI process on the field implementation of the technique. The introduction of data transfer via fiber optic line allows for remote data acquisition and analysis, thus improving the efficiency of analysis for a limited pool of data analysts. This paper provides an overview of the current status of SG NDE, and identifies several important issues to be addressed.« less

Review on Microwave-Matter Interaction Fundamentals and Efficient Microwave-Associated Heating Strategies

PubMed Central

Sun, Jing; Wang, Wenlong; Yue, Qinyan

2016-01-01

Microwave heating is rapidly emerging as an effective and efficient tool in various technological and scientific fields. A comprehensive understanding of the fundamentals of microwave–matter interactions is the precondition for better utilization of microwave technology. However, microwave heating is usually only known as dielectric heating, and the contribution of the magnetic field component of microwaves is often ignored, which, in fact, contributes greatly to microwave heating of some aqueous electrolyte solutions, magnetic dielectric materials and certain conductive powder materials, etc. This paper focuses on this point and presents a careful review of microwave heating mechanisms in a comprehensive manner. Moreover, in addition to the acknowledged conventional microwave heating mechanisms, the special interaction mechanisms between microwave and metal-based materials are attracting increasing interest for a variety of metallurgical, plasma and discharge applications, and therefore are reviewed particularly regarding the aspects of the reflection, heating and discharge effects. Finally, several distinct strategies to improve microwave energy utilization efficiencies are proposed and discussed with the aim of tackling the energy-efficiency-related issues arising from the application of microwave heating. This work can present a strategic guideline for the developed understanding and utilization of the microwave heating technology. PMID:28773355

Exchange Rates and Fundamentals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engel, Charles; West, Kenneth D.

2005-01-01

We show analytically that in a rational expectations present-value model, an asset price manifests near-random walk behavior if fundamentals are I (1) and the factor for discounting future fundamentals is near one. We argue that this result helps explain the well-known puzzle that fundamental variables such as relative money supplies, outputs,…

NREL Leads Energy Systems Integration, Continuum Magazine: Issue 4 (Book)

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

Not Available

2013-04-01

Continuum Magazine showcases NREL's latest and most impactful clean energy innovations. This issue, 'NREL Leads Energy Systems Integration' explores the discipline of energy systems integration, in particular the role of the laboratory's new, one-of-a-kind Energy System Integration Facility. NREL scientists, engineers, and analysts deeply understand the fundamental science and technologies underpinning major energy producing and consuming systems, as well as the transmission infrastructure and communications and data networks required to integrate energy systems at all scales.

Lack of awareness--not only the failure of media.

PubMed

Bjerström, Erika

2002-01-01

Water issues are some of the most fundamental and important facing the world yet the world's growing water crises rarely make headline news. To give water its proper prominence at the top of the news agenda, the scientific community needs to work to communicate more directly with the media and not wait for academic publications to be discovered, to provide the media with better background understanding of the issues, and to highlight the link from global stresses to specific local impacts.

Feature issue introduction: halide perovskites for optoelectronics.

PubMed

White, Thomas P; Deleporte, Emmanuelle; Sum, Tze-Chien

2018-01-22

This joint Optics Express and Optical Materials Express feature issue presents a collection of nine papers on the topic of halide perovskites for optoelectronics. Perovskite materials have attracted significant attention over the past four years, initially for their outstanding performance in thin film solar cells, but more recently for applications in light-emitting devices (LEDs and lasers), photodetectors and nonlinear optics. At the same time, there is still much more to learn about the fundamental properties of these materials, and how these depend on composition, processing, and exposure to the environment. This feature issue provides a snapshot of some of the latest research in this rapidly-evolving multidisciplinary field.

Stability and sensitivity of ABR flow control protocols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Wie K.; Kim, Yuseok; Chiussi, Fabio; Toh, Chai-Keong

1998-10-01

This tutorial paper surveys the important issues in stability and sensitivity analysis of ABR flow control of ATM networks. THe stability and sensitivity issues are formulated in a systematic framework. Four main cause of instability in ABR flow control are identified: unstable control laws, temporal variations of available bandwidth with delayed feedback control, misbehaving components, and interactions between higher layer protocols and ABR flow control. Popular rate-based ABR flow control protocols are evaluated. Stability and sensitivity is shown to be the fundamental issues when the network has dynamically-varying bandwidth. Simulation result confirming the theoretical studies are provided. Open research problems are discussed.

Introduction to focus issue: intrinsic and designed computation: information processing in dynamical systems--beyond the digital hegemony.

PubMed

Crutchfield, James P; Ditto, William L; Sinha, Sudeshna

2010-09-01

How dynamical systems store and process information is a fundamental question that touches a remarkably wide set of contemporary issues: from the breakdown of Moore's scaling laws--that predicted the inexorable improvement in digital circuitry--to basic philosophical problems of pattern in the natural world. It is a question that also returns one to the earliest days of the foundations of dynamical systems theory, probability theory, mathematical logic, communication theory, and theoretical computer science. We introduce the broad and rather eclectic set of articles in this Focus Issue that highlights a range of current challenges in computing and dynamical systems.

Parallel heat transport in integrable and chaotic magnetic fields

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

Del-Castillo-Negrete, Diego B; Chacon, Luis

2012-01-01

The study of transport in magnetized plasmas is a problem of fundamental interest in controlled fusion, space plasmas, and astrophysics research. Three issues make this problem particularly chal- lenging: (i) The extreme anisotropy between the parallel (i.e., along the magnetic field), , and the perpendicular, , conductivities ( / may exceed 1010 in fusion plasmas); (ii) Magnetic field lines chaos which in general complicates (and may preclude) the construction of magnetic field line coordinates; and (iii) Nonlocal parallel transport in the limit of small collisionality. Motivated by these issues, we present a Lagrangian Green s function method to solve themore » local and non-local parallel transport equation applicable to integrable and chaotic magnetic fields in arbitrary geom- etry. The method avoids by construction the numerical pollution issues of grid-based algorithms. The potential of the approach is demonstrated with nontrivial applications to integrable (magnetic island chain), weakly chaotic (devil s staircase), and fully chaotic magnetic field configurations. For the latter, numerical solutions of the parallel heat transport equation show that the effective radial transport, with local and non-local closures, is non-diffusive, thus casting doubts on the appropriateness of the applicability of quasilinear diffusion descriptions. General conditions for the existence of non-diffusive, multivalued flux-gradient relations in the temperature evolution are derived.« less

The Relationships among Fundamental Motor Skills, Health-Related Physical Fitness, and Body Fatness in South Korean Adolescents with Mental Retardation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foley, John T.; Harvey, Stephen; Chun, Hae-Ja; Kim, So-Yeun

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the following: (a) the relationships among the latent constructs of fundamental motor skills (FMS), health-related physical fitness (HRF), and observed body fatness in South Korean adolescents with mental retardation (MR); (b) the indirect effect of fundamental motor skills on body fatness when mediated by…

Early Childhood Physical Education. The Essential Elements.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gabbard, Carl

1988-01-01

Details are presented regarding the essential elements of an effective early childhood physical education curriculum. Components include movement awareness, fundamental locomotor skills, fundamental nonlocomotor skills, fundamental manipulative skills, and health-related fitness. (CB)

Ontic structural realism and quantum field theory: Are there intrinsic properties at the most fundamental level of reality?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berghofer, Philipp

2018-05-01

Ontic structural realism refers to the novel, exciting, and widely discussed basic idea that the structure of physical reality is genuinely relational. In its radical form, the doctrine claims that there are, in fact, no objects but only structure, i.e., relations. More moderate approaches state that objects have only relational but no intrinsic properties. In its most moderate and most tenable form, ontic structural realism assumes that at the most fundamental level of physical reality there are only relational properties. This means that the most fundamental objects only possess relational but no non-reducible intrinsic properties. The present paper will argue that our currently best physics refutes even this most moderate form of ontic structural realism. More precisely, I will claim that 1) according to quantum field theory, the most fundamental objects of matter are quantum fields and not particles, and show that 2) according to the Standard Model, quantum fields have intrinsic non-relational properties.

Individual Differences in the Frequency-Following Response: Relation to Pitch Perception

PubMed Central

Coffey, Emily B. J.; Colagrosso, Emilia M. G.; Lehmann, Alexandre; Schönwiesner, Marc; Zatorre, Robert J.

2016-01-01

The scalp-recorded frequency-following response (FFR) is a measure of the auditory nervous system’s representation of periodic sound, and may serve as a marker of training-related enhancements, behavioural deficits, and clinical conditions. However, FFRs of healthy normal subjects show considerable variability that remains unexplained. We investigated whether the FFR representation of the frequency content of a complex tone is related to the perception of the pitch of the fundamental frequency. The strength of the fundamental frequency in the FFR of 39 people with normal hearing was assessed when they listened to complex tones that either included or lacked energy at the fundamental frequency. We found that the strength of the fundamental representation of the missing fundamental tone complex correlated significantly with people's general tendency to perceive the pitch of the tone as either matching the frequency of the spectral components that were present, or that of the missing fundamental. Although at a group level the fundamental representation in the FFR did not appear to be affected by the presence or absence of energy at the same frequency in the stimulus, the two conditions were statistically distinguishable for some subjects individually, indicating that the neural representation is not linearly dependent on the stimulus content. In a second experiment using a within-subjects paradigm, we showed that subjects can learn to reversibly select between either fundamental or spectral perception, and that this is accompanied both by changes to the fundamental representation in the FFR and to cortical-based gamma activity. These results suggest that both fundamental and spectral representations coexist, and are available for later auditory processing stages, the requirements of which may also influence their relative strength and thus modulate FFR variability. The data also highlight voluntary mode perception as a new paradigm with which to study top-down vs bottom-up mechanisms that support the emerging view of the FFR as the outcome of integrated processing in the entire auditory system. PMID:27015271

FACTORS AFFECTING THE DEPOSITION OF AEROSOLIZED INSULIN

EPA Science Inventory

Abstract
Background
The inhalation of insulin for absorption into the bloodstream via the lung seems to be a promising technique for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. A fundamental issue to be resolved in the development of such insulin aerosol delivery systems is their...

Ethical questions for resource managers.

Treesearch

G.H. Reeves; D.L. Bottom; M.H. Brookes

1992-01-01

The decisions of natural resource managers are not simply scientific issues but involve fundamental questions of ethics. Conflicts in fisheries management, forestry, and other applied sciences arise from social and economic factors that affect natural resource values. Administrative processes, cost-benefit analyses, and various management "myths" have been...

75 FR 76757 - Licensing Support System Advisory Review Panel

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-09

... provide advice on the fundamental issues of design and development of an electronic information management... electronic information management system was known as the Licensing Support System (LSS). In November, 1998... experience in electronic information management systems may also participate on the Panel. The Nuclear...

Single molecule image formation, reconstruction and processing: introduction.

PubMed

Ashok, Amit; Piestun, Rafael; Stallinga, Sjoerd

2016-07-01

The ability to image at the single molecule scale has revolutionized research in molecular biology. This feature issue presents a collection of articles that provides new insights into the fundamental limits of single molecule imaging and reports novel techniques for image formation and analysis.

Development of a highway safety fundamental course.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-05-01

Although the need for road safety education was first recognized in the 1960s, it has become an increasingly urgent issue : in recent years. To fulfill the hefty goal set up by the AASHTO Highway Safety Strategy and by state DOTS, it is critical : to...

Education and the New Right.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, J. Charles

Ultra-conservatives calling themselves the "new right" have made recent gains because of grass-roots interest in issues such as blocking gun control legislation, stopping the Equal Rights Amendment, lowering taxes, and promoting religious fundamentalism. These gains raise serious questions about the future of American education. If a…

Between the Academic Mathematics and the Mathematics Education Worlds.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moreira, Candida Queiroz

1997-01-01

Investigated stresses confronted by Portuguese secondary mathematics teachers during the first semester in a master's course, Perspectives on Mathematics Education, noting how they negatively affected teachers' self-confidence and morale and discussing fundamental issues teachers addressed in bridging the academic mathematics and mathematics…

Approaching the "smart growth" issue : a look at best practices used by transportation planning organizations.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-01-01

A fundamental public policy decision implicitly addressed by agencies responsible for urban transportation planning is the right of the individual versus the goal of the community. This question arises in considering the role that state and local off...

Modeling Fecundity in Birds: Conceptual Overview, Current Models, and Considerations for Future Developments

EPA Science Inventory

Understanding fecundity is fundamental to understanding fitness, population dynamics, conservation, ecological risk, and management issues of birds. For all the efforts placed in measuring fecundity or its surrogates over the past century of avian research, it is still poorly me...

A Beginning Look at the What and How of Restructuring.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, Glen; Crandall, David P.

A second wave of educational reform is closely scrutinizing fundamental issues (structure, organization, management, curriculum, and instruction) and calling for at least partial restructuring of the public school system. After presenting a scenario of an ideally restructured elementary school, this paper explores the…

Theories of Levels in Organizational Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rousseau, Denise M.

This paper presents concepts and principles pertinent to the development of cross-level and multilevel theory in organizational science by addressing a number of fundamental theoretical issues. It describes hierarchy theory, systems theory, and mixed-level models of organization developed by organizational scientists. Hierarchy theory derives from…

An Operational Definition of the Emergence Criterion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pallotti, Gabriele

2007-01-01

Although acquisition criteria are a fundamental issue for SLA research, they have not always been adequately defined or elaborated in the literature. This article critically scrutinizes one such criterion, the emergence criterion, proposing an explicit, operational definition. After discussing emergence as a theoretical construct, the article…

Multicultural Issues in Deafness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christensen, Kathee M., Ed.; Delgado, Gilbert L., Ed.

This book considers, from both educational and cultural perspectives, the needs of children with deafness from African American, American Indian, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Island families. The text calls for a child-centered curriculum based on a fundamental acceptance of differences in communication and interpretation. Section I presents the…

Construction of Engineering Education Program based on the Alumni's Evaluation of the Educational Outcome

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsukamoto, Takehiko; Nishizawa, Hitoshi

The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in Toyota National College of Technology has put great emphasis on fundamental subjects, such as “electrical and electronic circuit" and “electromagnetism" more than 40 years. On the other hand, several issues of our college were clarified by the alumni's evaluation of the educational outcome in 2002. The most serious issue was low achievement of English and Social education. The alumni of all generation are dissatisfied with their low skill in English communication. As a part of the educational reforms, our department has constructed a new engineering education program focusing on fundamental ability. We introduced many problem-based-learning experiments and the compulsory subjects such as “English communication for electrical engineers" and “Engineering Ethics" into this program. Great educative results are obtained by these improvements. As a typical example, the scores of all 2nd grade students of advanced engineering course in TOEIC tests became 450 points or more. Our program has been authorized by JABEE since 2004.

Climate change risk perception and communication: addressing a critical moment?

PubMed

Pidgeon, Nick

2012-06-01

Climate change is an increasingly salient issue for societies and policy-makers worldwide. It now raises fundamental interdisciplinary issues of risk and uncertainty analysis and communication. The growing scientific consensus over the anthropogenic causes of climate change appears to sit at odds with the increasing use of risk discourses in policy: for example, to aid in climate adaptation decision making. All of this points to a need for a fundamental revision of our conceptualization of what it is to do climate risk communication. This Special Collection comprises seven papers stimulated by a workshop on "Climate Risk Perceptions and Communication" held at Cumberland Lodge Windsor in 2010. Topics addressed include climate uncertainties, images and the media, communication and public engagement, uncertainty transfer in climate communication, the role of emotions, localization of hazard impacts, and longitudinal analyses of climate perceptions. Climate change risk perceptions and communication work is critical for future climate policy and decisions. © 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.

Reasoning about embryos, cloning and stem cells: let's get more clear and distinct.

PubMed

Parker, Malcolm

2003-01-01

Plural democratic societies encourage and require the tolerance of disparate views. However, in relation to contentious areas like assisted reproductive technologies and destructive embryo research, tolerance is strained by the normative force of our fundamental beliefs about the moral status of early human forms. Yet in the continuing debates, spokespersons for different positions often do not concede all the implications of their arguments, may sidestep the real moral issues, and can fail to be clear about the foundations on which their arguments and policy advice ultimately rely. Guidelines and statutes can be rendered incoherent by the desire to balance and satisfy opposing values, rather than honestly reflecting the primary values they espouse. I call for greater clarity and honesty as these issues continue to be debated. An uncritical adherence to pluralism will encourage strategic obfuscation, but citizens of democracies need to be clearly informed about all the premises of opposing positions. Decisions about ethically and legally acceptable reproductive technologies ultimately depend on support for one metaphysical grounding at the expense of another. This should be acknowledged, as should its implications for policy.

Pathfinder radar development at Sandia National Laboratories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castillo, Steven

2016-05-01

Since the invention of Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging in the 1950's, users or potential users have sought to exploit SAR imagery for a variety of applications including the earth sciences and defense. At Sandia Laboratories, SAR Research and Development and associated defense applications grew out of the nuclear weapons program in the 1980's and over the years has become a highly viable ISR sensor for a variety of tactical applications. Sandia SAR systems excel where real-­-time, high-­-resolution, all-­-weather, day or night surveillance is required for developing situational awareness. This presentation will discuss the various aspects of Sandia's airborne ISR capability with respect to issues related to current operational success as well as the future direction of the capability as Sandia seeks to improve the SAR capability it delivers into multiple mission scenarios. Issues discussed include fundamental radar capabilities, advanced exploitation techniques and human-­-computer interface (HMI) challenges that are part of the advances required to maintain Sandia's ability to continue to support ever changing and demanding mission challenges.

Economics and politics of climate change

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

Hahn, R.W.

1998-12-31

A fundamental issue is what steps, if any, nations should take to control greenhouse gas emissions. Robert Hahn argues that over the next decade the best strategy for policy makers is to build institutions that can address climate change in the future by developing a capacity at the nation-state level to measure greenhouse gas emissions and to implement and enforce cost-effective ways of limiting emissions. Policy makers must also improve the capacity of an international body to assess greenhouse gas inventories and review national policies. Hahn recommends that the developed nations craft an agreement for the next decade that providesmore » a slight emission limitation and allows for a series of case studies, in which developing nations would participate, to preserve diversity and build useful institutional knowledge. The Economics and Politics of Climate Change is one in a series of new AEI studies related to the globalization of environmental policy. These studies will focus on specific issues and on the new institutional arrangements required to deal with them. A list of publications in this series appears inside.« less

Pre-Participation Screening: The Use of Fundamental Movements as an Assessment of Function – Part 1

PubMed Central

Burton, Lee; Hoogenboom, Barb

2006-01-01

To prepare an athlete for the wide variety of activities needed to participate in their sport, the analysis of fundamental movements should be incorporated into pre-participation screening in order to determine who possesses, or lacks, the ability to perform certain essential movements. In a series of two articles, the background and rationale for the analysis of fundamental movement will be provided. In addition, one such evaluation tool that attempts to assess the fundamental movement patterns performed by an individual, the Functional Movement Screen (FMS™), will be described. Three of the seven fundamental movement patterns that comprise the FMS™ are described in detail in Part I: deep squat, hurdle step, and in-line lunge. Part II of this series, which will be published in the August issue of NAJSPT, will provide a brief review of the analysis of fundamental movements, as well a detailed description of the four additional patterns that complement those presented in Part I (to complete the total of seven fundamental movement patterns which comprise the FMS™): shoulder mobility, active straight leg raise, trunk stability push-up, and rotary stability. The intent of this two part series is to introduce the concept of the evaluation of fundamental movements, whether it is the FMS™ system or a different system devised by another clinician. Such a functional assessment should be incorporated into pre-participation screening in order to determine whether the athlete has the essential movements needed to participate in sports activities with a decreased risk of injury. PMID:21522216

National Energy Efficiency Evaluation, Measurement and Verification (EM&V) Standard: Scoping Study of Issues and Implementation Requirements

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

Schiller Consulting, Inc.; Schiller, Steven R.; Goldman, Charles A.

2011-02-04

This report is a scoping study that identifies issues associated with developing a national evaluation, measurement and verification (EM&V) standard for end-use, non-transportation, energy efficiency activities. The objectives of this study are to identify the scope of such a standard and define EM&V requirements and issues that will need to be addressed in a standard. To explore these issues, we provide and discuss: (1) a set of definitions applicable to an EM&V standard; (2) a literature review of existing guidelines, standards, and 'initiatives' relating to EM&V standards as well as a review of 'bottom-up' versus 'top-down' evaluation approaches; (3) amore » summary of EM&V related provisions of two recent federal legislative proposals (Congressman Waxman's and Markey's American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 and Senator Bingaman's American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009) that include national efficiency resource requirements; (4) an annotated list of issues that that are likely to be central to, and need to be considered when, developing a national EM&V standard; and (5) a discussion of the implications of such issues. There are three primary reasons for developing a national efficiency EM&V standard. First, some policy makers, regulators and practitioners believe that a national standard would streamline EM&V implementation, reduce costs and complexity, and improve comparability of results across jurisdictions; although there are benefits associated with each jurisdiction setting its own EM&V requirements based on their specific portfolio and evaluation budgets and objectives. Secondly, if energy efficiency is determined by the US Environmental Protection Agency to be a Best Available Control Technology (BACT) for avoiding criteria pollutant and/or greenhouse gas emissions, then a standard can be required for documenting the emission reductions resulting from efficiency actions. The third reason for a national EM&V standard is that such a standard is likely to be required as a result of future federal energy legislation that includes end-use energy efficiency, either as a stand-alone energy-efficiency resource standard (EERS) or as part of a clean energy or renewable energy standard. This study is focused primarily on this third reason and thus explores issues associated with a national EM&V standard if energy efficiency is a qualifying resource in federal clean energy legislation. Developing a national EM&V standard is likely to be a lengthy process; this study focuses on the critical first step of identifying the issues that must be addressed in a future standard. Perhaps the most fundamental of these issues is 'how good is good enough?' This has always been the fundamental issue of EM&V for energy efficiency and is a result of the counter-factual nature of efficiency. Counter-factual in that savings are not measured, but estimated to varying degrees of accuracy by comparing energy consumption after a project (program) is implemented with what is assumed to have been the consumption of energy in the absence of the project (program). Therefore, the how good is good enough question is a short version of asking how certain does one have to be of the energy savings estimate that results from EM&V activities and is that level of certainty properly balanced against the amount of effort (resources, time, money) that is utilized to obtain that level of certainty. The implication is that not only should energy efficiency investments be cost-effective, but EM&V investments should consider risk management principles and thus also balance the costs and value of information derived from EM&V (EM&V should also be cost-effective).« less

Non-deployment factors affecting psychological wellbeing in military personnel: literature review.

PubMed

Brooks, Samantha K; Greenberg, Neil

2018-02-01

Most military mental health research focuses on the impact of deployment-related stress; less is known about how everyday work-related factors affect wellbeing. This systematic narrative literature review aimed to identify non-deployment-related factors contributing to the wellbeing of military personnel. Electronic literature databases were searched and the findings of relevant studies were used to explore non-deployment-related risk and resilience factors. Fifty publications met the inclusion criteria. Determinants of non-deployment stress were identified as: relationships with others (including leadership/supervisory support; social support/cohesion; harassment/discrimination) and role-related stressors (role conflict; commitment and effort-reward imbalance; work overload/job demands; family-related issues/work-life balance; and other factors including control/autonomy, physical work environment and financial strain). Factors positively impacting wellbeing (such as exercise) were also identified. The literature suggests that non-deployment stressors present a significant occupational health hazard in routine military environments and interpersonal relationships at work are of fundamental importance. Findings suggest that in order to protect the wellbeing of personnel and improve performance, military organisations should prioritise strengthening relationships between employees and their supervisors/colleagues. Recommendations for addressing these stressors in British military personnel were developed.

Draft secure medical database standard.

PubMed

Pangalos, George

2002-01-01

Medical database security is a particularly important issue for all Healthcare establishments. Medical information systems are intended to support a wide range of pertinent health issues today, for example: assure the quality of care, support effective management of the health services institutions, monitor and contain the cost of care, implement technology into care without violating social values, ensure the equity and availability of care, preserve humanity despite the proliferation of technology etc.. In this context, medical database security aims primarily to support: high availability, accuracy and consistency of the stored data, the medical professional secrecy and confidentiality, and the protection of the privacy of the patient. These properties, though of technical nature, basically require that the system is actually helpful for medical care and not harmful to patients. These later properties require in turn not only that fundamental ethical principles are not violated by employing database systems, but instead, are effectively enforced by technical means. This document reviews the existing and emerging work on the security of medical database systems. It presents in detail the related problems and requirements related to medical database security. It addresses the problems of medical database security policies, secure design methodologies and implementation techniques. It also describes the current legal framework and regulatory requirements for medical database security. The issue of medical database security guidelines is also examined in detailed. The current national and international efforts in the area are studied. It also gives an overview of the research work in the area. The document also presents in detail the most complete to our knowledge set of security guidelines for the development and operation of medical database systems.

Multi-megawatt, gigajoule plasma operation in Tore Supra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumont, R. J.; Goniche, M.; Ekedahl, A.; Saoutic, B.; Artaud, J.-F.; Basiuk, V.; Bourdelle, C.; Corre, Y.; Decker, J.; Elbèze, D.; Giruzzi, G.; Hoang, G.-T.; Imbeaux, F.; Joffrin, E.; Litaudon, X.; Lotte, Ph; Maget, P.; Mazon, D.; Nilsson, E.; The Tore Supra Team

2014-07-01

Integrating several important technological elements required for long pulse operation in magnetic fusion devices, the Tore Supra tokamak routinely addresses the physics and technology issues related to this endeavor and, as a result, contributes essential information on critical issues for ITER. During the last experimental campaign, components of the radiofrequency system including an ITER relevant launcher (passive active multijunction (PAM)) and continuous wave/3.7 GHz klystrons, have been extensively qualified, and then used to develop steady state scenarios in which the lower hybrid (LH), ion cyclotron (IC) and electron cyclotron (EC) systems have been combined in fully stationary shots (duration ˜150 s, injected power up to ˜8 MW, injected/extracted energy up to ˜1 GJ). Injection of LH power in the 5.0-6.0 MW range has extended the domain of accessible plasma parameters to higher densities and non-inductive currents. These discharges exhibit steady electron internal transport barriers (ITBs). We report here on various issues relevant to the steady state operation of future devices, ranging from operational aspects and limitations related to the achievement of long pulses in a fully actively cooled fusion device (e.g. overheating due to fast particle losses), to more fundamental plasma physics topics. The latter include a beneficial influence of IC resonance heating on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability in these discharges, which has been studied in detail. Another interesting observation is the appearance of oscillations of the central temperature with typical periods of the order of one to several seconds, caused by a nonlinear interplay between LH deposition, MHD activity and bootstrap current in the presence of an ITB.

Integrating anticipated nutrigenomics bioscience applications with ethical aspects.

PubMed

Lévesque, Lise; Ozdemir, Vural; Gremmen, Bart; Godard, Béatrice

2008-03-01

Nutrigenomics is a subspecialty of nutrition science which aims to understand how gene-diet interactions influence individuals' response to food, disease susceptibility, and population health. Yet ethical enquiry into this field is being outpaced by nutrigenomics bioscience. The ethical issues surrounding nutrigenomics face the challenges of a rapidly evolving field which bring forward the additional dimension of crossdisciplinary integrative research between social and biomedical sciences. This article outlines the emerging nutrigenomics definitions and concepts and analyzes the existing ethics literature concerning personalized nutrition and presents "points to consider" over ethical issues regarding future nutrigenomics applications. The interest in nutrigenomics coincides with a shift in emphasis in medicine and biosciences toward prevention of future disease susceptibilities rather than treatment of already established disease. Hence, unique ethical issues emerge concerning the extent to which nutrigenomics can alter our relation to food, boundaries between health and disease, and the folklore of medical practice. Nutrigenomics can result in new social values, norms, and responsibilities for both individuals and societies. Nutrigenomics is not only another new application of "-omics" technologies in the context of gene-diet interactions. Nutrigenomics may fundamentally change the way we perceive human illness while shifting the focus and broadening the scope of health interventions from patients to healthy individuals. In resource- and time-limited healthcare settings, this creates unique ethical dilemmas and distributive justice issues. Ethical aspects of nutrigenomics applications should be addressed proactively, as this new science develops and increasingly coalesces with other applications of genomics in medicine and public health.

78 FR 79712 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-31

... Management and Budget (``OMB'') for extension and approval. Form N-8B-4 (17 CFR 274.14) is the form used by... business; investment, borrowing, and lending policies, as well as other fundamental policies; securities issued by the company; investment adviser; depositaries; management personnel; compensation paid to...