A case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patterson, David A.; Gibson, Garth; Katz, Randy H.

1988-01-01

Increasing performance of CPUs and memories will be squandered if not matched by a similar performance increase in I/O. While the capacity of Single Large Expensive Disks (SLED) has grown rapidly, the performance improvement of SLED has been modest. Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID), based on the magnetic disk technology developed for personal computers, offers an attractive alternative to SLED, promising improvements of an order of magnitude in performance, reliability, power consumption, and scalability. This paper introduces five levels of RAIDs, giving their relative cost/performance, and compares RAID to an IBM 3380 and a Fujitsu Super Eagle.

Designing Scholarships to Improve College Success: Final Report on the Performance-Based Scholarship Demonstration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayer, Alexander K.; Patel, Reshma; Rudd, Timothy; Ratledge, Alyssa

2015-01-01

Performance-based scholarships have two main goals: (1) to give students more money for college; and (2) to provide incentives for academic progress. MDRC launched the Performance-Based Scholarship (PBS) Demonstration in 2008 to evaluate the effectiveness of these scholarships in a diverse set of states, institutions, and low-income student…

Nurses' Spirituality Improves Caring Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bakar, Abu; Nursalam; Adriani, Merryana; Kusnanto; Qomariah, Siti Nur; Hidayati, Laily; Pratiwi, Ika Nur; Ni'mah, Lailatun

2017-01-01

Caring is a behavior of giving holistic assistance to individuals. In fact, this important behavior still has not routinely performed in current nursing practice. Personality and sipirituality are important factors in forming one's caring behavior. Spirituality is a passion or impulse to perform noble action. The objective of this study was to…

20 CFR 628.325 - Incentive grants, capacity building, and technical assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., exceeding title II performance standards (section 106(b)(7)). (2) Incentive grant funds under this section... give consideration to recognizing the performance of service providers within the State. (5) SDA's... capacity building and technical assistance efforts aimed at improving the competencies of the personnel who...

Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations of the Quartz to Stishovite Transition in SiO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohen, R. E.; Towler, Mike; Lopez Rios, Pablo; Drummond, Neil; Needs, Richard

2007-03-01

The quartz-stishovite transition has been a long standing problem for density functional theory (DFT). Although conventional DFT computations within the local density approximation (LDA) give reasonably good properties of silica phases individually, they do not give the energy difference between quartz and stishovite accurately. The LDA gives stishovite as a lower energy structure than quartz at zero pressure, which is incorrect. The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) has been shown to give the correct energy difference between quartz and stishovite (about 0.5 eV/formula unit) (Hamann, PRL 76, 660, 1996; Zupan et al., PRB 58, 11266, 1998), and it was generally thought that the GGA was simply a better approximation than the LDA. However, closer inspection shows that other properties are not better for the GGA than the LDA, so there is room for improvement. A new density functional that is an improvement for most materials unfortunately does not improve the quartz-stishovite transition (Wu and Cohen, PRB 73, 235116, 2006). We are performing QMC computations using the CASINO code to obtain the accurate energy difference between quartz and stishovite to obtain more accurate high pressure properties, and to better understand the errors on DFT and how DFT can be improved.

Measuring the Performance of School Superintendent

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ansar

2015-01-01

School superintendent has a strategic role in the effort to improve the quality of education, referred to the responsibility to give service and assistance for the teachers and headmasters which will affect the improvement of learning quality in school. Yet, the strategic role and function of superintendent, in fact, is still reflecting its ideal…

Developing a Global Green Freight Action Plan

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) presentation gives an overview of the Global Green Freight Action Plan to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of freight operations worldwide along with developing an action plan.

Baffling or Baffled: Improve Your Acoustics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abdoo, Frank B.

1981-01-01

Presents techniques for evaluating the acoustics (reverberation time, and standing waves and resonance phenomena) of a band performance room. Gives instructions for building and placing inexpensive baffles (free-standing, portable sound barriers) to correct room defects. (SJL)

Giving University Students Incentives to Do Homework Improves Their Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Radhakrishnan, Phanikiran; Lam, Dianne; Ho, Geoffrey

2009-01-01

Past research has focused on either the positive influence of incentives on homework completion (Cullen, Cullen, Hayhow, & Plouffe, 1975) or the positive influence of homework completion on academic performance (Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006). Our study is one of the first to integrate these two streams of research to examine whether higher…

Brief Daily Writing Activities and Performance on Major Multiple-Choice Exams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, Haley C.; Bliss, Stacy L.; Hautau, Briana; Carroll, Erin; Jaspers, Kathryn E.; Williams, Robert L.

2006-01-01

Although past research indicates that giving brief quizzes, administered either regularly or randomly, may lead to improvement in students' performance on major exams, negligible research has targeted daily writing activities that require the processing of course information at a deeper level than might result from simply reading course materials…

Computational study of graphene-based vertical field effect transistor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Wenchao; Rinzler, Andrew; Guo, Jing

2013-03-01

Poisson and drift-diffusion equations are solved in a three-dimensional device structure to simulate graphene-based vertical field effect transistors (GVFETs). Operation mechanisms of the GVFET with and without punched holes in the graphene source contact are presented and compared. The graphene-channel Schottky barrier can be modulated by gate electric field due to graphene's low density of states. For the graphene contact with punched holes, the contact barrier thinning and lowering around punched hole edge allow orders of magnitude higher tunneling current compared to the region away from the punched hole edge, which is responsible for significant performance improvement as already verified by experiments. Small hole size is preferred due to less electrostatic screening from channel inversion layer, which gives large electric field around the punched hole edge, thus, leading to a thinner and lower barrier. Bilayer and trilayer graphenes as the source contact degrade the performance improvement because stronger electrostatic screening leads to smaller contact barrier lowering and thinning. High punched hole area percentage improves current performance by allowing more gate electric field to modulate the graphene-channel barrier. Low effective mass channel material gives better on-off current ratio.

Improving older adults' memory performance using prior task success.

PubMed

Geraci, Lisa; Miller, Tyler M

2013-06-01

Holding negative aging stereotypes can lead older adults to perform poorly on memory tests. We attempted to improve older adults' memory performance by giving them task experience that would counter their negative performance expectations. Before participating in a memory experiment, younger and older adults were given a cognitive task that they could either successfully complete, not successfully complete, or they were given no prior task. For older adults, recall was significantly higher and self-reported anxiety was significantly lower for the prior task success group relative to the other groups. There was no effect of prior task experience on younger adults' memory performance. Results suggest that older adults' memory can be improved with a single successful prior task experience. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Propeller flow visualization techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stefko, G. L.; Paulovich, F. J.; Greissing, J. P.; Walker, E. D.

1982-01-01

Propeller flow visualization techniques were tested. The actual operating blade shape as it determines the actual propeller performance and noise was established. The ability to photographically determine the advanced propeller blade tip deflections, local flow field conditions, and gain insight into aeroelastic instability is demonstrated. The analytical prediction methods which are being developed can be compared with experimental data. These comparisons contribute to the verification of these improved methods and give improved capability for designing future advanced propellers with enhanced performance and noise characteristics.

Effect of Leadership Style, Motivation, and Giving Incentives on the Performance of Employees--PT. Kurnia Wijaya Various Industries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elqadri, Zaenal Mustafa; Priyono; Suci, Rahayu Puji; Chandra, Teddy

2015-01-01

This study aims to identify and examine the importance of leadership style, motivation, and incentives to improve employee performance. Variables examined as factors that affect performance of employees were style of leadership (X1), motivation (X2), and the provision of incentives (X3). The population of this study was all employees in the Sales…

Development and application of an acceptance testing model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pendley, Rex D.; Noonan, Caroline H.; Hall, Kenneth R.

1992-01-01

The process of acceptance testing large software systems for NASA has been analyzed, and an empirical planning model of the process constructed. This model gives managers accurate predictions of the staffing needed, the productivity of a test team, and the rate at which the system will pass. Applying the model to a new system shows a high level of agreement between the model and actual performance. The model also gives managers an objective measure of process improvement.

Measuring Foundation School Effectiveness Using English Administrative Data, Survey Data and a Regression Discontinuity Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Rebecca

2013-01-01

Apparently sophisticated school performance measures have been used to claim that giving schools autonomy from local government control improves pupil exam performance. This paper explores the extent to which inferring causality between autonomy and pupil achievement is reasonable given that pupils are not randomly assigned to schools and schools…

PARTICULATE CONTROL HIGHLIGHTS: RESEARCH ON ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR TECHNOLOGY

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives highlights of a major EPA research program on electrostatic precipitator (ESP) technology, directed toward improving the performance of ESPs in controlling industrial particulate emissions, notably fly ash from coal combustion in electric power plants. Relationsh...

VIDEO BLOGGING AND ENGLISH PRESENTATION PERFORMANCE: A PILOT STUDY.

PubMed

Alan Hung, Shao-Ting; Danny Huang, Heng-Tsung

2015-10-01

This study investigated the utility of video blogs in improving EFL students' performance in giving oral presentations and, further, examined the students' perceptions toward video blogging. Thirty-six English-major juniors participated in a semester-long video blog project for which they uploaded their 3-min. virtual presentation clips over 18 weeks. Their virtual presentation clips were rated by three raters using a scale for speaking performance that contained 14 presentation skills. Data sources included presentation clips, reflections, and interviews. The results indicated that the students' overall presentation performance improved significantly. In particular, among the 14 presentation skills projection, intonation, posture, introduction, conclusion, and purpose saw the most substantial improvement. Finally, the qualitative data revealed that learners perceived that the video blog project facilitated learning but increased anxiety.

Goddard Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Redmond, Jay; Kodak, Charles

2004-01-01

This report summarizes the technical parameters and the technical staff of the VLBI system at the fundamental station GGAO. It also gives an overview about the VLBI activities during the previous year. The outlook lists the outstanding tasks to improve the performance of GGAO.

A novel double loop control model design for chemical unstable processes.

PubMed

Cong, Er-Ding; Hu, Ming-Hui; Tu, Shan-Tung; Xuan, Fu-Zhen; Shao, Hui-He

2014-03-01

In this manuscript, based on Smith predictor control scheme for unstable process in industry, an improved double loop control model is proposed for chemical unstable processes. Inner loop is to stabilize integrating the unstable process and transform the original process to first-order plus pure dead-time dynamic stable process. Outer loop is to enhance the performance of set point response. Disturbance controller is designed to enhance the performance of disturbance response. The improved control system is simple with exact physical meaning. The characteristic equation is easy to realize stabilization. Three controllers are separately design in the improved scheme. It is easy to design each controller and good control performance for the respective closed-loop transfer function separately. The robust stability of the proposed control scheme is analyzed. Finally, case studies illustrate that the improved method can give better system performance than existing design methods. © 2013 ISA Published by ISA All rights reserved.

Taguchi's technique: an effective method for improving X-ray medical radiographic screen performance.

PubMed

Vlachogiannis, J G

2003-01-01

Taguchi's technique is a helpful tool to achieve experimental optimization of a large number of decision variables with a small number of off-line experiments. The technique appears to be an ideal tool for improving the performance of X-ray medical radiographic screens under a noise source. Currently there are very many guides available for improving the efficiency of X-ray medical radiographic screens. These guides can be refined using a second-stage parameter optimization. based on Taguchi's technique, selecting the optimum levels of controllable X-ray radiographic screen factors. A real example of the proposed technique is presented giving certain performance criteria. The present research proposes the reinforcement of X-ray radiography by Taguchi's technique as a novel hardware mechanism.

Evaluating a more cost-efficient alternative to providing in-home feedback to parents: the use of spousal feedback.

PubMed Central

Harris, T A; Peterson, S L; Filliben, T L; Glassberg, M; Favell, J E

1998-01-01

We evaluated the contribution of spousal feedback to a parent education curriculum designed for parents of children with autism. A modified multiple baseline design across 3 husband-and-wife dyads was used to examine the effects of teaching parents to give each other feedback on their teaching performance. For 5 of 6 participants, improvement in teaching performance occurred following didactic presentations. However, additional improvement was observed for 5 participants when the spousal feedback component was implemented. PMID:9532757

No Child Left Behind.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bush, George W.

This blueprint describes President Bush's education plan. Federal block grants are provided to states for schools that establish annual assessments, demand progress, improve poorly-performing schools, create consequences for failure, and protect home and private schools. The "Reading First" initiative gives funds and tools to promote…

The effects of magnetic field in plume region on the performance of multi-cusped field thruster

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

Hu, Peng, E-mail: hupengemail@126.com; Liu, Hui, E-mail: thruster@126.com; Yu, Daren

2015-10-15

The performance characteristics of a Multi-cusped Field Thruster depending on the magnetic field in the plume region were investigated. Five magnetic field shielding rings were separately mounted near the exit of discharge channel to decrease the strength of magnetic field in the plume region in different levels, while the magnetic field in the upstream was well maintained. The test results show that the electron current increases with the decrease of magnetic field strength in the plume region, which gives rise to higher propellant utilization and lower current utilization. On the other hand, the stronger magnetic field in the plume regionmore » improves the performance at low voltages (high current mode) while lower magnetic field improves the performance at high voltages (low current mode). This work can provide some optimal design ideas of the magnetic strength in the plume region to improve the performance of thruster.« less

Introduction to Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prive, Nikki C.

2014-01-01

This presentation gives a brief overview of Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs), including what OSSEs are, and how and why they are performed. The intent is to educate the audience in light of the OSSE-related sections of the Forecast Improvement Act (H.R. 2413).

Teaching and Learning with Individually Unique Exercises

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joerding, Wayne

2010-01-01

In this article, the author describes the pedagogical benefits of giving students individually unique homework exercises from an exercise template. Evidence from a test of this approach shows statistically significant improvements in subsequent exam performance by students receiving unique problems compared with students who received traditional…

Improving the multiparty quantum secret sharing over two collective-noise channels against insider attack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Ying; Wen, Qiao-yan; Zhu, Fu-chen

2010-01-01

The security of the multiparty quantum secret sharing protocol presented by Zhang [Z.J. Zhang, Physica A, 361 (2006) 233] is analyzed. It is shown that this protocol is vulnerable to the insider attack since eavesdropping detection is performed only when all states arrive at the last agent. We propose an attack strategy and give an improved version of the original protocol. The improved protocol is robust and has the same traits with the original one.

[Evaluation and improvement of the management of informed consent in the emergency department].

PubMed

del Pozo, P; García, J A; Escribano, M; Soria, V; Campillo-Soto, A; Aguayo-Albasini, J L

2009-01-01

To assess the preoperative management in our emergency surgical service and to improve the quality of the care provided to patients. In order to find the causes of non-compliance, the Ishikawa Fishbone diagram was used and eight assessment criteria were chosen. The first assessment includes 120 patients operated on from January to April 2007. Corrective measures were implemented, which consisted of meetings and conferences with doctors and nurses, insisting on the importance of the informed consent as a legal document which must be signed by patients, and the obligation of giving a copy to patients or relatives. The second assessment includes the period from July to October 2007 (n=120). We observed a high non-compliance of C1 signing of surgical consent (CRITERION 1: all patients or relatives have to sign the surgical informed consent for the operation to be performed [27.5%]) and C2 giving a copy of the surgical consent (CRITERION 2: all patients or relatives must have received a copy of the surgical informed consent for the Surgery to be performed [72.5%]) and C4 anaesthetic consent copy (CRITERION 4: all patients or relatives must have received a copy of the Anaesthesia informed consent corresponding to the operation performed [90%]). After implementing corrective measures a significant improvement was observed in the compliance of C2 and C4. In C1 there was an improvement without statistical significance. The carrying out of an improvement cycle enabled the main objective of this paper to be achieved: to improve the management of informed consent and the quality of the care and information provided to our patients.

Prospects for spinel-stabilized, high-capacity lithium-ion battery cathodes

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

Croy, Jason R.; Park, Joong Sun; Shin, Youngho

Herein we report early results on efforts to optimize the electrochemical performance of a cathode composed of a lithium- and manganese-rich “layered-layered-spinel” material for lithium-ion battery applications. Pre-pilot scale synthesis leads to improved particle properties compared with lab-scale efforts, resulting in high capacities (≳200 mAh/g) and good energy densities (>700 Wh/kg) in tests with lithium-ion cells. Subsequent surface modifications give further improvements in rate capabilities and high-voltage stability. These results bode well for advances in the performance of this class of lithium- and manganese-rich cathode materials.

Prospects for spinel-stabilized, high-capacity lithium-ion battery cathodes

DOE PAGES

Croy, Jason R.; Park, Joong Sun; Shin, Youngho; ...

2016-10-13

Herein we report early results on efforts to optimize the electrochemical performance of a cathode composed of a lithium- and manganese-rich “layered-layered-spinel” material for lithium-ion battery applications. Pre-pilot scale synthesis leads to improved particle properties compared with lab-scale efforts, resulting in high capacities (≳200 mAh/g) and good energy densities (>700 Wh/kg) in tests with lithium-ion cells. Subsequent surface modifications give further improvements in rate capabilities and high-voltage stability. These results bode well for advances in the performance of this class of lithium- and manganese-rich cathode materials.

Using Lean Six Sigma Methodology to Improve a Mass Immunizations Process at the United States Naval Academy.

PubMed

Ha, Chrysanthy; McCoy, Donald A; Taylor, Christopher B; Kirk, Kayla D; Fry, Robert S; Modi, Jitendrakumar R

2016-06-01

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a process improvement methodology developed in the manufacturing industry to increase process efficiency while maintaining product quality. The efficacy of LSS application to the health care setting has not been adequately studied. This article presents a quality improvement project at the U.S. Naval Academy that uses LSS to improve the mass immunizations process for Midshipmen during in-processing. The process was standardized to give all vaccinations at one station instead of giving a different vaccination at each station. After project implementation, the average immunizations lead time decreased by 79% and staffing decreased by 10%. The process was shown to be in control with a capability index of 1.18 and performance index of 1.10, resulting in a defect rate of 0.04%. This project demonstrates that the LSS methodology can be applied successfully to the health care setting to make sustainable process improvements if used correctly and completely. Reprint & Copyright © 2016 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Goddard Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Redmond, Jay; Kodak, Charles

2001-01-01

This report summarizes the technical parameters and the technical staff of the Very Long Base Interferometry (VLBI) system at the fundamental station Goddard Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory (GGAO). It also gives an overview about the VLBI activities during the previous year. The outlook lists the outstanding tasks to improve the performance of GGAO.

Action Learning in Action: The Teaching Company Scheme.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peattie, Ken

1996-01-01

Examines the Teaching Company Scheme, which aims to raise the level of industrial performance by effective use of academic resources, improve industrial methods by effective implementation of advanced technology and new ideas, help graduates with careers for industry, and give academic staff broad and direct involvement with industry in order to…

Designing and Assessing Productive Group Work in Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaca, Javier; Lapp, Diane; Fisher, Douglas

2011-01-01

A history teacher examines what is successful and not successful in group work in his high school classroom and gives concrete suggestions for improving group practice. Topics discussed include preparing students for group work, supporting collaboration, inviting critical analysis, and assessing both group and individual performance. (Contains 2…

Management Strategies for Complex Adaptive Systems: Sensemaking, Learning, and Improvisation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDaniel, Reuben R., Jr.

2007-01-01

Misspecification of the nature of organizations may be a major reason for difficulty in achieving performance improvement. Organizations are often viewed as machine-like, but complexity science suggests that organizations should be viewed as complex adaptive systems. I identify the characteristics of complex adaptive systems and give examples of…

Basic Guidelines for Performance Monitoring of Shipboard Machinery

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-11-01

depths (1/4 in. to 3/4 in.) and diameters (1/8 in. to 1/4 in.), drilled from the inside surface. The probe scanning was ’performed by a hydro-tel...trains or motor brushes and to gauge improvement of performance after repairs. This battery-operated device gives accurate readings up to 50,000...and distance are related by time, and these measurements can be categorized as " metrology ," a [ 4560 C-14 m^-g-guft^Y.^- „^..^^ „„.u

A semi-active suspension control algorithm for vehicle comprehensive vertical dynamics performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Shida; Zhuang, Ye; Liu, Weiping; Chen, Fan

2017-08-01

Comprehensive performance of the vehicle, including ride qualities and road-holding, is essentially of great value in practice. Many up-to-date semi-active control algorithms improve vehicle dynamics performance effectively. However, it is hard to improve comprehensive performance for the conflict between ride qualities and road-holding around the second-order resonance. Hence, a new control algorithm is proposed to achieve a good trade-off between ride qualities and road-holding. In this paper, the properties of the invariant points are analysed, which gives an insight into the performance conflicting around the second-order resonance. Based on it, a new control algorithm is proposed. The algorithm employs a novel frequency selector to balance suspension ride and handling performance by adopting a medium damping around the second-order resonance. The results of this study show that the proposed control algorithm could improve the performance of ride qualities and suspension working space up to 18.3% and 8.2%, respectively, with little loss of road-holding compared to the passive suspension. Consequently, the comprehensive performance can be improved by 6.6%. Hence, the proposed algorithm is of great potential to be implemented in practice.

New York: Expanding Time, Increasing Opportunities for Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Tiffany D.

2014-01-01

New York is poised to take an important step to improve student achievement by expanding learning time for students attending high-poverty, low-performing schools. Recent district- and state-level investments in expanded learning time--a promising strategy to close achievement and opportunity gaps--will give students more time to learn core…

Assessing the Value of High School Accounting for the College Bound.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedlob, George T.; Cosenza, Robert M.

1981-01-01

Reports results of a survey of first-quarter college accounting principles students. It was found that a typically difficult college course may be made easier and student performance improved by giving high school accounting instruction its proper importance in the curriculum of the business-oriented, college-bound high school student. (CT)

Student Success: How to Make It Happen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skoglund, Frederic W.; Ness, Judy

2011-01-01

This book is about moving from the conceptual to practical applications that impact the day-to-day teaching and learning processes. Skoglund and Ness give school leaders all the tools that are necessary to change the culture of a school, improve teacher performance, and elevate student achievement. Each component of the process is clearly…

Randomly Accountable

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kane, Thomas J.; Staiger, Douglas O.; Geppert, Jeffrey

2002-01-01

The accountability debate tends to devolve into a battle between the pro-testing and anti-testing crowds. When it comes to the design of a school accountability system, the devil is truly in the details. A well-designed accountability plan may go a long way toward giving school personnel the kinds of signals they need to improve performance.…

Agricultural Biology, Science (Experimental): 5314.09.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Basnett, Fred D.

This unit of instruction was designed as a laboratory study of soils, plants, crop improvements and pesticides, and gives consideration to fish farming, tropical fish, and careers in agriculture. The booklet lists the relevant state-adopted texts and states the performance objectives for the unit. It provides an outline of the course content and…

What part of working memory is not working in ADHD? Short-term memory, the central executive and effects of reinforcement.

PubMed

Dovis, Sebastiaan; Van der Oord, Saskia; Wiers, Reinout W; Prins, Pier J M

2013-08-01

Deficits in Working Memory (WM) are related to symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In children with ADHD visuospatial WM is most impaired. WM is composed of Short-Term Memory (STM) and a Central Executive (CE). Therefore, deficits in either or both STM and the CE may account for WM impairments in children with ADHD. WM-component studies investigating this find deficits in both STM and the CE. However, recent studies show that not only cognitive deficits, but also motivational deficits give rise to the aberrant WM performance of children with ADHD. To date, the influence of these motivational deficits on the components of WM has not been investigated. This study examined the effects of a standard (feedback-only) and a high level of reinforcement (feedback + 10 euros) on the visuospatial WM-, visuospatial STM-, and the CE performance of 86 children with ADHD and 62 typically-developing controls. With standard reinforcement the STM, CE, and WM performance of children with ADHD was worse than that of controls. High reinforcement improved STM and WM performance more in children with ADHD than in controls, but was unable to normalize their performance. High reinforcement did not appear to improve the CE-related performance of children with ADHD and controls. Motivational deficits have a detrimental effect on both the visuospatial WM performance and the STM performance of children with ADHD. Aside from motivational deficits, both the visuospatial STM and the CE of children with ADHD are impaired, and give rise to their deficits in visuospatial WM.

Probabilistic combination of static and dynamic gait features for verification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bazin, Alex I.; Nixon, Mark S.

2005-03-01

This paper describes a novel probabilistic framework for biometric identification and data fusion. Based on intra and inter-class variation extracted from training data, posterior probabilities describing the similarity between two feature vectors may be directly calculated from the data using the logistic function and Bayes rule. Using a large publicly available database we show the two imbalanced gait modalities may be fused using this framework. All fusion methods tested provide an improvement over the best modality, with the weighted sum rule giving the best performance, hence showing that highly imbalanced classifiers may be fused in a probabilistic setting; improving not only the performance, but also generalized application capability.

Multireference adaptive noise canceling applied to the EEG.

PubMed

James, C J; Hagan, M T; Jones, R D; Bones, P J; Carroll, G J

1997-08-01

The technique of multireference adaptive noise canceling (MRANC) is applied to enhance transient nonstationarities in the electroeancephalogram (EEG), with the adaptation implemented by means of a multilayer-perception artificial neural network (ANN). The method was applied to recorded EEG segments and the performance on documented nonstationarities recorded. The results show that the neural network (nonlinear) gives an improvement in performance (i.e., signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the nonstationarities) compared to a linear implementation of MRANC. In both cases an improvement in the SNR was obtained. The advantage of the spatial filtering aspect of MRANC is highlighted when the performance of MRANC is compared to that of the inverse auto-regressive filtering of the EEG, a purely temporal filter.

Discretization in time gives rise to noise-induced improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio in static nonlinearities.

PubMed

Davidović, A; Huntington, E H; Frater, M R

2009-07-01

For some nonlinear systems the performance can improve with an increasing noise level. Such noise-induced improvement in static nonlinearities is of great interest for practical applications since many systems can be modeled in that way (e.g., sensors, quantizers, limiters, etc.). We present experimental evidence that noise-induced performance improvement occurs in those systems as a consequence of discretization in time with the achievable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain increasing with decreasing ratio of input noise bandwidth and total measurement bandwidth. By modifying the input noise bandwidth, noise-induced improvement with SNR gain larger than unity is demonstrated in a system where it was not previously thought possible. Our experimental results bring closer two different theoretical models for the same class of nonlinearities and shed light on the behavior of static nonlinear discrete-time systems.

Internal Control, CPA Recognition and Performance Consequence: Evidence from Chinese Real Estate Enterprises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chuan; Zhang, Lili; Geng, Yi

In recent years, internal control has caught more and more attention over the whole globe. However, whether internal control could improve business efficiency also lacks the empirical supports. Based on a sample size of 146 Chinese real estate enterprises, this study analyses the CPA’s recognition degree on firm’s implementing internal control, and its performance consequence. The evidence suggests that CPAs are able to give exact evaluation on firm’s internal control implement, and the higher the internal control implemented, the better performance the enterprise will have.

A comparison of arrow, trapezoidal and M wing concepts using a Mach 2 supersonic cruise transport mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, Glenn L.; Tice, David C.; Marcum, Don C., Jr.; Seidel, Jonathan A.

1991-01-01

The present analytic study of the potential performance of SST configurations radically differing from arrow-winged designs in lifting surface planform geometry gives attention to trapezoidal-wing and M-wing configurations; the trapezoidal wing is used as the baseline in the performance comparisons. The design mission was all-supersonic (Mach 2), carrying 248 passengers over a 5500 nautical-mile range. Design constraints encompassed approach speed, TO&L field length, and engine-out second-segment climb and missed-approach performance. Techniques for improving these configurations are discussed.

Smith predictor with sliding mode control for processes with large dead times

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehta, Utkal; Kaya, İbrahim

2017-11-01

The paper discusses the Smith Predictor scheme with Sliding Mode Controller (SP-SMC) for processes with large dead times. This technique gives improved load-disturbance rejection with optimum input control signal variations. A power rate reaching law is incorporated in the sporadic part of sliding mode control such that the overall performance recovers meaningfully. The proposed scheme obtains parameter values by satisfying a new performance index which is based on biobjective constraint. In simulation study, the efficiency of the method is evaluated for robustness and transient performance over reported techniques.

The effect of surface wettability on the performance of a piezoelectric membrane pump

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jiantao; Yang, Zhigang; Liu, Yong; Shen, Yanhu; Chen, Song; Yu, Jianqun

2018-04-01

In this paper, we studied the effect of surface wettability on the bubble tolerance of a piezoelectric membrane pump, by applying the super-hydrophilic or super-hydrophobic surface to the key elements on the pump. Wettability for the flow passage surface has a direct influence on the air bubbles flowing in the fluid. Based on the existing research results, we first analyzed the relationship between the flow passage surface of the piezoelectric pump and the bubbles in the fluid. Then we made three prototypes where pump chamber walls and valve plate surfaces were given different wettability treatments. After the output performance test, results demonstrate that giving super-hydrophilic treatment on the surface of key elements can improve the bubble tolerance of piezoelectric pump; in contrast, giving super-hydrophobic treatment will reduce the bubble tolerance.

Study of the AC machines winding having fractional q

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bespalov, V. Y.; Sidorov, A. O.

2018-02-01

The winding schemes with a fractional numbers of slots per pole and phase q have been known and used for a long time. However, in the literature on the low-noise machines design there are not recommended to use. Nevertheless, fractional q windings have been realized in many applications of special AC electrical machines, allowing to improve their performance, including vibroacoustic one. This paper deals with harmonic analysis of windings having integer and fractional q in permanent magnet synchronous motors, a comparison of their characteristics is performed, frequencies of subharmonics are revealed. Optimal winding pitch design is found giving reduce the amplitudes of subharmonics. Distribution factors for subharmonics, fractional and high-order harmonics are calculated, results analysis is represented, allowing for giving recommendations how to calculate distribution factors for different harmonics when q is fractional.

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

Wasner, Evan; Bearden, Sean; Žutić, Igor, E-mail: zigor@buffalo.edu

Digital operation of lasers with injected spin-polarized carriers provides an improved operation over their conventional counterparts with spin-unpolarized carriers. Such spin-lasers can attain much higher bit rates, crucial for optical communication systems. The overall quality of a digital signal in these two types of lasers is compared using eye diagrams and quantified by improved Q-factors and bit-error-rates in spin-lasers. Surprisingly, an optimal performance of spin-lasers requires finite, not infinite, spin-relaxation times, giving a guidance for the design of future spin-lasers.

Case studies for GSHP demonstration projects in the US

DOE PAGES

Liu, Xiaobing; Malhotra, Mini; Im, Piljae

2015-07-01

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , twenty-six ground source heat pump (GSHP) projects were competitively selected and carried out to demonstrate the benefits of GSHP systems and innovative technologies for cost reduction and/or performance improvement. This article gives an overview of the case studies for six of the systems. These case studies evaluated efficiencies, energy savings, and costs of the demonstrated systems. In addition, it was found that more energy savings could be achieved if controls of GSHP system are improved.

Performance of a plasma fluid code on the Intel parallel computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lynch, V. E.; Carreras, B. A.; Drake, J. B.; Leboeuf, J. N.; Liewer, P.

1992-01-01

One approach to improving the real-time efficiency of plasma turbulence calculations is to use a parallel algorithm. A parallel algorithm for plasma turbulence calculations was tested on the Intel iPSC/860 hypercube and the Touchtone Delta machine. Using the 128 processors of the Intel iPSC/860 hypercube, a factor of 5 improvement over a single-processor CRAY-2 is obtained. For the Touchtone Delta machine, the corresponding improvement factor is 16. For plasma edge turbulence calculations, an extrapolation of the present results to the Intel (sigma) machine gives an improvement factor close to 64 over the single-processor CRAY-2.

Powerful Learning Conversations: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rienzo, Cinzia; Rolfe, Heather; Wilkinson, David

2016-01-01

Powerful Learning Conversations (PLC) sought to improve the feedback that teachers give to pupils in Year 9, by training them to apply techniques used in sports coaching. It is based on the idea that feedback in sports coaching is often provided immediately after a task is performed, and delivered in a way that children are more likely to respond…

The Big Money Question: Action Research Projects Give District a Clear Picture of Professional Learning's Impact

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dill-Varga, Barbara

2015-01-01

How do districts know if the resources they have allocated to support professional learning in their school district are actually improving the quality of teaching and impacting student performance? In an increasingly challenging financial environment, this is important to know. In this article, a Chicago-area district facing a budget deficit…

Dynamic Transfers Of Tasks Among Computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Howard T.; Silvester, John A.

1989-01-01

Allocation scheme gives jobs to idle computers. Ideal resource-sharing algorithm should have following characteristics: Dynamics, decentralized, and heterogeneous. Proposed enhanced receiver-initiated dynamic algorithm (ERIDA) for resource sharing fulfills all above criteria. Provides method balancing workload among hosts, resulting in improvement in response time and throughput performance of total system. Adjusts dynamically to traffic load of each station.

Teaching the Art and Craft of Giving and Receiving Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harms, Patricia L.; Roebuck, Deborah Britt

2010-01-01

In the workplace, the process of evaluating and discussing the performance of both employees and managers is referred to as feedback. The process generally involves a discussion of the individual's strengths or weaknesses, with suggestions on how to improve upon weaknesses. Feedback aligns workplace behavior with the overall goals of a team or an…

Paying Students to Learn: An Ethical Analysis of Cash for Grades Programmes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warnick, Bryan R.

2017-01-01

A growing number of schools have begun experimenting with giving students cash rewards to improve academic performance. This practice has come to be known as "cash-for-grades." In this article, I examine some of the philosophical and ethical questions involved with cash-for-grades programmes, rather than focusing on whether such…

Protein Modifiers Generally Provide Limited Improvement in Wood Bond Strength of Soy Flour Adhesives

Treesearch

Charles R. Frihart; Linda Lorenz

2013-01-01

Soy flour adhesives using a polyamidoamine-epichlorohydrin (PAE) polymeric coreactant are used increasingly as wood adhesives for interior products. Although these adhesives give good performance, higher bond strength under wet conditions is desirable. Wet strength is important for accelerated tests involving the internal forces generated by the swelling of wood and...

Improving Marking Quality through a Taxonomy of Mark Schemes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, Ayesha; Pollitt, Alastair

2011-01-01

At the heart of most assessments lies a set of questions, and those who write them must achieve "two" things. Not only must they ensure that each question elicits the kind of performance that shows how "good" pupils are at the subject, but they must also ensure that each mark scheme gives more marks to those who are…

Giving feedback in medical teaching: a case of lung function laboratory/spirometry.

PubMed

Meo, Sultan Ayoub

2013-01-01

Feedback in medical teaching is an important part of medical education, it encourages and enhances the learners' knowledge, skills and professional performance at various stages of their schooling. A constructive feedback enhances the awareness of strength and areas for improvement. An adequate, meaningful and fruitful feedback needs motivation, emphasis, objectivity, expertise, and active participation in the session. Before giving feedback, the instructor should be well prepared and must have practice on the task. The instructor should utilize all means such as good oral presentation, eye contact, visual cues, utilize body language to actively involve the learners in a session, all these activities enhance the knowledge, skill and attitude of the learners. The aim of this commentary is to highlight the basic issues in giving an appropriate feedback in medical teaching with special emphasis on a lung function laboratory / Spirometry.

Multiport backside-illuminated CCD imagers for high-frame-rate camera applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levine, Peter A.; Sauer, Donald J.; Hseuh, Fu-Lung; Shallcross, Frank V.; Taylor, Gordon C.; Meray, Grazyna M.; Tower, John R.; Harrison, Lorna J.; Lawler, William B.

1994-05-01

Two multiport, second-generation CCD imager designs have been fabricated and successfully tested. They are a 16-port 512 X 512 array and a 32-port 1024 X 1024 array. Both designs are back illuminated, have on-chip CDS, lateral blooming control, and use a split vertical frame transfer architecture with full frame storage. The 512 X 512 device has been operated at rates over 800 frames per second. The 1024 X 1024 device has been operated at rates over 300 frames per second. The major changes incorporated in the second-generation design are, reduction in gate length in the output area to give improved high-clock-rate performance, modified on-chip CDS circuitry for reduced noise, and optimized implants to improve performance of blooming control at lower clock amplitude. This paper discusses the imager design improvements and presents measured performance results at high and moderate frame rates. The design and performance of three moderate frame rate cameras are discussed.

Smart Sensors for Launch Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ray, Sabooj; Mathews, Sheeja; Abraham, Sheena; Pradeep, N.; Vinod, P.

2017-12-01

Smart Sensors bring a paradigm shift in the data acquisition mechanism adopted for launch vehicle telemetry system. The sensors integrate signal conditioners, digitizers and communication systems to give digital output from the measurement location. Multiple sensors communicate with a centralized node over a common digital data bus. An in-built microcontroller gives the sensor embedded intelligence to carry out corrective action for sensor inaccuracies. A smart pressure sensor has been realized and flight-proven to increase the reliability as well as simplicity in integration so as to obtain improved data output. Miniaturization is achieved by innovative packaging. This work discusses the construction, working and flight performance of such a sensor.

Effects of selective activation of M1 and M4 muscarinic receptors on object recognition memory performance in rats.

PubMed

Galloway, Claire R; Lebois, Evan P; Shagarabi, Shezza L; Hernandez, Norma A; Manns, Joseph R

2014-01-01

Acetylcholine signaling through muscarinic receptors has been shown to benefit memory performance in some conditions, but pan-muscarinic activation also frequently leads to peripheral side effects. Drug therapies that selectively target M1 or M4 muscarinic receptors could potentially improve memory while minimizing side effects mediated by the other muscarinic receptor subtypes. The ability of three recently developed drugs that selectively activate M1 or M4 receptors to improve recognition memory was tested by giving Long-Evans rats subcutaneous injections of three different doses of the M1 agonist VU0364572, the M1 positive allosteric modulator BQCA or the M4 positive allosteric modulator VU0152100 before performing an object recognition memory task. VU0364572 at 0.1 mg/kg, BQCA at 1.0 mg/kg and VU0152100 at 3.0 and 30.0 mg/kg improved the memory performance of rats that performed poorly at baseline, yet the improvements in memory performance were the most statistically robust for VU0152100 at 3.0 mg/kg. The results suggested that selective M1 and M4 receptor activation each improved memory but that the likelihood of obtaining behavioral efficacy at a given dose might vary between subjects even in healthy groups depending on baseline performance. These results also highlighted the potential of drug therapies that selectively target M1 or M4 receptors to improve memory performance in individuals with impaired memory.

Improvement of the modeling of the low-temperature oxidation of n-butane: study of the primary reactions.

PubMed

Cord, Maximilien; Sirjean, Baptiste; Fournet, René; Tomlin, Alison; Ruiz-Lopez, Manuel; Battin-Leclerc, Frédérique

2012-06-21

This paper revisits the primary reactions involved in the oxidation of n-butane from low to intermediate temperatures (550-800 K) including the negative temperature coefficient (NTC) zone. A model that was automatically generated is used as a starting point and a large number of thermochemical and kinetic data are then re-estimated. The kinetic data of the isomerization of alkylperoxy radicals giving (•)QOOH radicals and the subsequent decomposition to give cyclic ethers has been calculated at the CBS-QB3 level of theory. The newly obtained model allows a satisfactory prediction of experimental data recently obtained in a jet-stirred reactor and in rapid compression machines. A considerable improvement of the prediction of the selectivity of cyclic ethers is especially obtained compared to previous models. Linear and global sensitivity analyses have been performed to better understand which reactions are of influence in the NTC zone.

Development of solvent-free offset ink using vegetable oil esters and high molecular-weight resin.

PubMed

Park, Jung Min; Kim, Young Han; Kim, Sung Bin

2013-01-01

In the development of solvent-free offset ink, the roles of resin molecular weight and used solvent on the ink performance were evaluated by examining the relationship between the various properties of resin and solvent and print quality. To find the best performing resin, the soy-oil fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) was applied to the five modified-phenolic resins having different molecular weights. It is found from the experimental results that the ink made of higher molecular weight and better solubility resin gives better printability and print quality. It is because larger molecular weight resin with better solubility gives higher rate of ink transfer. From the ink application of different esters to high molecular weight resin, the best printing performance was yielded from the soy-oil fatty acid butyl ester (FABE). It is due to its high kinematic viscosity resulting in the smallest change of ink transfer weight upon multiple number of printing, which improves the stability of ink quality.

Influence of a three-phase separator configuration on the performance of an upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactor treating wastewater from a fruit-canning factory.

PubMed

Wongnoi, Rachbordin; Songkasiri, Warinthorn; Phalakornkule, Chantaraporn

2007-02-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of a three-phase separator configuration on the performance of an upflow anaerobic sludge bed (USAB) treating wastewater from a fruit canning factory. The performances of two 30-L UASB reactors--one with a modified three-phase separator giving a spiral flow pattern and the other with a conventional configuration-were investigated in parallel. Wastewater, with a chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration between 2000 and 7000 mg/L, was obtained from a fruit-canning factory. Based on the effluent data of the first 100 operation days, the UASB with the three-phase separator giving spiral flow patterns yielded up to 25% lower biomass washout. It also showed better efficiencies in treating wastewater--up to 60% lower effluent COD, up to 20% higher COD percent removal, and up to 29% higher biogas production. This work presents evidence of an improvement on the conventional physical design of a UASB.

IGF-I and GH: potential use in gene doping.

PubMed

Harridge, Stephen D R; Velloso, Cristiana P

2009-08-01

Gene doping is the term given to the potential misuse of gene therapy for the purposes of enhancing athletic performance. Insulin like growth factor-I (IGF-I), the prime target of growth hormone action, is one candidate gene for improving performance. In recent years a number of transgenic and somatic gene transfer studies on animals have shown that upregulation of IGF-I stimulates muscle growth and improves function. This increase in muscle IGF-I is not reflected in measurable increases in circulating IGF-I. Whilst the responses obtained in the animal studies would appear to give clear benefits for performance, the transfer of such techniques to humans still presents many technical challenges. Further challenges will also be faced by the anti doping authorities in detecting the endogenously produced products of enhanced gene expression.

Steel Foil Improves Performance Of Blasting Caps

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bement, Laurence J.; Perry, Ronnie; Schimmel, Morry L.

1990-01-01

Blasting caps, which commonly include deep-drawn aluminum cups, give significantly higher initiation performance by application of steel foils on output faces. Steel closures 0.005 in. (0.13 mm) thick more effective than aluminum. Caps with directly bonded steel foil produce fragment velocities of 9,300 ft/s (2.8 km/s) with large craters and unpredictable patterns to such degree that no attempts made to initiate explosions. Useful in military and aerospace applications and in specialized industries as mining and exploration for oil.

IR Camera Report for the 7 Day Production Test

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

Holloway, Michael Andrew

2016-02-22

The following report gives a summary of the IR camera performance results and data for the 7 day production run that occurred from 10 Sep 2015 thru 16 Sep 2015. During this production run our goal was to see how well the camera performed its task of monitoring the target window temperature with our improved alignment procedure and emissivity measurements. We also wanted to see if the increased shielding would be effective in protecting the camera from damage and failure.

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

Nichols, T.

The Nuclear Forensics Analysis Center (NFAC) is part of Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and is one of only two USG National Laboratories accredited to perform nuclear forensic analyses to the requirements of ISO 17025. SRNL NFAC is capable of analyzing nuclear and radiological samples from bulk material to ultra-trace samples. NFAC provides analytical support to the FBI's Radiological Evidence Examination Facility (REEF), which is located within SRNL. REEF gives the FBI the capability to perform traditional forensics on material that is radiological and/or is contaminated. SRNL is engaged in research and development efforts to improve the USG technical nuclearmore » forensics capabilities. Research includes improving predictive signatures and developing a database containing comparative samples.« less

A Study on the Self-Adaption Incentive Performance Salary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chuanming; Wang, Yang

In project managing, the performance salary management mode is often used to motivate project managers and other similar staff to improve performance or reduce the cost. But the engineering activities who own a lot of internal and external uncertain factors can not be known by the principle. It is difficult for to develop a suitable incentive target to project managers etch. This paper thinks that the manager self master the maximum of information on engineering activities. So this paper sets up an incentive model: the project managers themselves report performance objectives; owner gives the managers reward or punishment combined with their reported performance and actual performance. The model to ensure that the project manager is only accurate self reported its results to get the maximum profit. At the same time, it cans incentive managers to improve performance or reduce the cost. This paper focuses on setting up the model, analyzing the model parameters. And cite an example analyze them.

Performance and reliability enhancement of linear coolers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mai, M.; Rühlich, I.; Schreiter, A.; Zehner, S.

2010-04-01

Highest efficiency states a crucial requirement for modern tactical IR cryocooling systems. For enhancement of overall efficiency, AIM cryocooler designs where reassessed considering all relevant loss mechanisms and associated components. Performed investigation was based on state-of-the-art simulation software featuring magnet circuitry analysis as well as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to realistically replicate thermodynamic interactions. As a result, an improved design for AIM linear coolers could be derived. This paper gives an overview on performance enhancement activities and major results. An additional key-requirement for cryocoolers is reliability. In recent time, AIM has introduced linear coolers with full Flexure Bearing suspension on both ends of the driving mechanism incorporating Moving Magnet piston drive. In conjunction with a Pulse-Tube coldfinger these coolers are capable of meeting MTTF's (Mean Time To Failure) in excess of 50,000 hours offering superior reliability for space applications. Ongoing development also focuses on reliability enhancement, deriving space technology into tactical solutions combining both, excelling specific performance with space like reliability. Concerned publication will summarize the progress of this reliability program and give further prospect.

Dietary uridine enhances the improvement in learning and memory produced by administering DHA to gerbils.

PubMed

Holguin, Sarah; Martinez, Joseph; Chow, Camille; Wurtman, Richard

2008-11-01

This study examined the effects on cognitive behaviors of giving normal adult gerbils three compounds, normally in the circulation, which interact to increase brain phosphatides, synaptic proteins, dendritic spines, and neurotransmitter release. Animals received supplemental uridine (as its monophosphate, UMP; 0.5%) and choline (0.1%) via the diet, and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 300 mg/kg/day) by gavage, for 4 wk, and then throughout the subsequent period of behavioral training and testing. As shown previously, giving all three compounds caused highly significant (P<0.001) increases in total brain phospholipids and in each major phosphatide; giving DHA or UMP (plus choline) produced smaller increases in some of the phosphatides. DHA plus choline improved performance on the four-arm radial maze, T-maze, and Y-maze tests; coadministering UMP further enhanced these increases. (Uridine probably acts by generating both CTP, which can be limiting in phosphatide synthesis, and UTP, which activates P2Y receptors coupled to neurite outgrowth and protein synthesis. All three compounds also act by enhancing the substrate-saturation of phosphatide-synthesizing enzymes.) These findings demonstrate that a treatment that increases synaptic membrane content can enhance cognitive functions in normal animals.

Raising Spelling Scores through Peer Tutoring and Cooperative Groups.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fowler, Elaine D.

Two techniques can be used to improve spelling scores and make spelling more interesting. The first technique is a combination of peer tutoring and the corrected-test technique. Students are paired as tutors and tutees on the basis of past spelling performance. The tutor gives a series of bi-weekly spelling tests to the tutee and helps with error…

The Effects of Game-Based Learning on Mathematical Confidence and Performance: High Ability vs. Low Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ku, Oskar; Chen, Sherry Y.; Wu, Denise H.; Lao, Andrew C. C.; Chan, Tak-Wai

2014-01-01

Many students possess low confidence toward learning mathematics, which, in turn, may lead them to give up pursuing more mathematics knowledge. Recently, game-based learning (GBL) is regarded as a potential means in improving students' confidence. Thus, this study tried to promote students' confidence toward mathematics by using GBL. In addition,…

Demonstration of differential phase-shift keying demodulation at 10 Gbit/s optimal fiber Bragg grating filters.

PubMed

Gatti, Davide; Galzerano, Gianluca; Laporta, Paolo; Longhi, Stefano; Janner, Davide; Guglierame, Andrea; Belmonte, Michele

2008-07-01

Optimal demodulation of differential phase-shift keying signals at 10 Gbit/s is experimentally demonstrated using a specially designed structured fiber Bragg grating composed by Fabry-Perot coupled cavities. Bit-error-rate measurements show that, as compared with a conventional Gaussian-shaped filter, our demodulator gives approximately 2.8 dB performance improvement.

Purposes and methods of scoring earthquake forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhuang, J.

2010-12-01

There are two kinds of purposes in the studies on earthquake prediction or forecasts: one is to give a systematic estimation of earthquake risks in some particular region and period in order to give advice to governments and enterprises for the use of reducing disasters, the other one is to search for reliable precursors that can be used to improve earthquake prediction or forecasts. For the first case, a complete score is necessary, while for the latter case, a partial score, which can be used to evaluate whether the forecasts or predictions have some advantages than a well know model, is necessary. This study reviews different scoring methods for evaluating the performance of earthquake prediction and forecasts. Especially, the gambling scoring method, which is developed recently, shows its capacity in finding good points in an earthquake prediction algorithm or model that are not in a reference model, even if its overall performance is no better than the reference model.

Helium: lifting high-performance stencil kernels from stripped x86 binaries to halide DSL code

DOE PAGES

Mendis, Charith; Bosboom, Jeffrey; Wu, Kevin; ...

2015-06-03

Highly optimized programs are prone to bit rot, where performance quickly becomes suboptimal in the face of new hardware and compiler techniques. In this paper we show how to automatically lift performance-critical stencil kernels from a stripped x86 binary and generate the corresponding code in the high-level domain-specific language Halide. Using Halide's state-of-the-art optimizations targeting current hardware, we show that new optimized versions of these kernels can replace the originals to rejuvenate the application for newer hardware. The original optimized code for kernels in stripped binaries is nearly impossible to analyze statically. Instead, we rely on dynamic traces to regeneratemore » the kernels. We perform buffer structure reconstruction to identify input, intermediate and output buffer shapes. Here, we abstract from a forest of concrete dependency trees which contain absolute memory addresses to symbolic trees suitable for high-level code generation. This is done by canonicalizing trees, clustering them based on structure, inferring higher-dimensional buffer accesses and finally by solving a set of linear equations based on buffer accesses to lift them up to simple, high-level expressions. Helium can handle highly optimized, complex stencil kernels with input-dependent conditionals. We lift seven kernels from Adobe Photoshop giving a 75 % performance improvement, four kernels from Irfan View, leading to 4.97 x performance, and one stencil from the mini GMG multigrid benchmark netting a 4.25 x improvement in performance. We manually rejuvenated Photoshop by replacing eleven of Photoshop's filters with our lifted implementations, giving 1.12 x speedup without affecting the user experience.« less

An Expert System for the Development of Efficient Parallel Code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jost, Gabriele; Chun, Robert; Jin, Hao-Qiang; Labarta, Jesus; Gimenez, Judit

2004-01-01

We have built the prototype of an expert system to assist the user in the development of efficient parallel code. The system was integrated into the parallel programming environment that is currently being developed at NASA Ames. The expert system interfaces to tools for automatic parallelization and performance analysis. It uses static program structure information and performance data in order to automatically determine causes of poor performance and to make suggestions for improvements. In this paper we give an overview of our programming environment, describe the prototype implementation of our expert system, and demonstrate its usefulness with several case studies.

Amine-Modulated/Engineered Interfaces of NiMo Electrocatalysts for Improved Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Solutions.

PubMed

Gao, Wei; Gou, Wangyan; Zhou, Xuemei; Ho, Johnny C; Ma, Yuanyuan; Qu, Yongquan

2018-01-17

The interface between electrolytes and electrocatalysts would largely determine their corresponding activity and stability. Herein, modulating the surface characteristics of NiMo nanoparticles by various adsorbed amines gives the tunability on their interfacial properties and subsequently improves their catalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline solutions. Diamines can significantly improve their HER activity by decreasing the charge-transfer resistance and modulating the electronic structures of interfacial active sites. Importantly, among various amines, ethylenediamine facilitates the HER activity of NiMo with a remarkable decrease of 268 mV in the overpotential to reach 10 mA cm -2 as compared with that of the unmodified NiMo in 1.0 M KOH. This method provides a novel strategy of regulating the interfacial properties to strengthen the catalytic performance of electrocatalysts.

Quality of Work Life - A Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mily Velayudhan, T. K., Dr.; Yameni, M. D.

2017-05-01

The main objective or the purpose of this research is to investigate and identify the significance of work environment towards the performance and also to study the effectiveness of the QWL in the organization. Methods/Analysis:In order to meet the stated objectives a structured questionnaire was framed and data was collected using convenience sampling from 123 employees of the steel manufacturing organization in Chennai, and to study the significant association chi-square was used by the researcher. Findings:QWL of the employees of this steel company can be improved by conducting some more training classes for the employees who are falling in the category of more than 3 to 4 years of experience and >4 years of experience which would boost their self confidence and help them attain their level of satisfaction. Similarly the organization can give some more security to the employees falling in the category of 41 and above so that they feel quite secure in the hand of organization and they can give their paramount performance. Novelty/Improvement:This empirical article on Quality of Work life - A Study’s structured questionnairecan be applied as an Employee opinion Survey taken in once in 6 months on knowing the quality of work life. By doing this survey organizations can get to know the quality of work life of the employees and take necessary steps to improve the QWL among all the Employees. It also helps the employers to know that their employees who are working in their organization are happily working leading to good QWL which will boost up their performance to come happily daily to their work place.

SSME 3-D Turnaround Duct flow analysis - CFD predictions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brankovic, Andreja; Stowers, Steven T.; Mcconnaughey, Paul

1988-01-01

CFD analysis is presently employed to obtain an improved flowfield for an individual flowpath in the case of the Space Shuttle Main Engine's High Pressure Fuel Turbopump Turn-Around Duct (TAD), which conducts the flow exiting from the gas turbines into the fuel bowl. It is demonstrated that the application of CFD to TAD flow analysis, giving attention to the duct's configuration and to the number, shape, and alignment of the diffuser struts, can enhance understanding of flow physics and result in improved duct design and performance.

Development of subliminal persuasion system to improve the upper limb posture in laparoscopic training: a preliminary study.

PubMed

Zhang, Di; Sessa, Salvatore; Kong, Weisheng; Cosentino, Sarah; Magistro, Daniele; Ishii, Hiroyuki; Zecca, Massimiliano; Takanishi, Atsuo

2015-11-01

Current training for laparoscopy focuses only on the enhancement of manual skill and does not give advice on improving trainees' posture. However, a poor posture can result in increased static muscle loading, faster fatigue, and impaired psychomotor task performance. In this paper, the authors propose a method, named subliminal persuasion, which gives the trainee real-time advice for correcting the upper limb posture during laparoscopic training like the expert but leads to a lower increment in the workload. A 9-axis inertial measurement unit was used to compute the upper limb posture, and a Detection Reaction Time device was developed and used to measure the workload. A monitor displayed not only images from laparoscope, but also a visual stimulus, a transparent red cross superimposed to the laparoscopic images, when the trainee had incorrect upper limb posture. One group was exposed, when their posture was not correct during training, to a short (about 33 ms) subliminal visual stimulus. The control group instead was exposed to longer (about 660 ms) supraliminal visual stimuli. We found that subliminal visual stimulation is a valid method to improve trainees' upper limb posture during laparoscopic training. Moreover, the additional workload required for subconscious processing of subliminal visual stimuli is less than the one required for supraliminal visual stimuli, which is processed instead at the conscious level. We propose subliminal persuasion as a method to give subconscious real-time stimuli to improve upper limb posture during laparoscopic training. Its effectiveness and efficiency were confirmed against supraliminal stimuli transmitted at the conscious level: Subliminal persuasion improved upper limb posture of trainees, with a smaller increase on the overall workload.

Solvents and sustainable chemistry

PubMed Central

Welton, Tom

2015-01-01

Solvents are widely recognized to be of great environmental concern. The reduction of their use is one of the most important aims of green chemistry. In addition to this, the appropriate selection of solvent for a process can greatly improve the sustainability of a chemical production process. There has also been extensive research into the application of so-called green solvents, such as ionic liquids and supercritical fluids. However, most examples of solvent technologies that give improved sustainability come from the application of well-established solvents. It is also apparent that the successful implementation of environmentally sustainable processes must be accompanied by improvements in commercial performance. PMID:26730217

Reducing aberration effect of Fourier transform lens by modifying Fourier spectrum of diffractive optical element in beam shaping optical system.

PubMed

Zhang, Fang; Zhu, Jing; Song, Qiang; Yue, Weirui; Liu, Jingdan; Wang, Jian; Situ, Guohai; Huang, Huijie

2015-10-20

In general, Fourier transform lenses are considered as ideal in the design algorithms of diffractive optical elements (DOEs). However, the inherent aberrations of a real Fourier transform lens disturb the far field pattern. The difference between the generated pattern and the expected design will impact the system performance. Therefore, a method for modifying the Fourier spectrum of DOEs without introducing other optical elements to reduce the aberration effect of the Fourier transform lens is proposed. By applying this method, beam shaping performance is improved markedly for the optical system with a real Fourier transform lens. The experiments carried out with a commercial Fourier transform lens give evidence for this method. The method is capable of reducing the system complexity as well as improving its performance.

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

Turner, Tom; Watson, Stuart

This paper describes how the level of environmental sustainability at the Solid Waste Processing plant at Research Sites Restoration Ltd (RSRL) Harwell was measured and improved. It provides reasons to improve environmental performance in an organisation, states best practice on how improvement should be conducted, and gives first-hand experience on how changes were implemented. In this paper sustainability is defined as 'meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. A baseline for environmental sustainability was created, by looking at multiple attributes. From this, a matrix was created to show howmore » the baseline environmental performance compared to best practice, and a gap analysis was performed. Results from this analysis showed areas for potential systematic improvement, and actions were created. Nearly all actions were implemented within one year, and environmental sustainability improved significantly. Most improvements cost no money to implement, and the few that did had to pass criteria in a business case. Results from a company-wide survey showed that the vast majority of employees felt that environmental issues were important, and that they were willing to help improve performance. Environmental awareness training was given to everyone in the department, and individuals were given measurable improvement targets. A focus group was set up and met regularly to agree improvements and monitor results. Environmental performance was publicised regularly to highlight successes and seek further engagement and improvement. Improvement ideas were encouraged and managed in a transparent way which showed clear prioritisation and accountability. The culture of environmental improvement changed visibly and results at the end of the first year showed that electricity consumption had reduced by 12.5%, and gas consumption had reduced by 7.3%. In less than two years over UK Pound 60,000 was saved on utility bills in the Waste Processing Plant. (authors)« less

Pay-for-performance: too much of a good thing? A conversation with Martin Roland. Interview by Robert Galvin.

PubMed

Roland, Martin

2006-01-01

As the United States moves down the road of pay-for-performance (P4P), concerns about unintended consequences are foremost in the minds of policymakers. Initial results from the world's most ambitious P4P program, the United Kingdom's Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), indicate that while quality improvements exceeded expectations, so too did the amount of funds paid out, straining the National Health Service (NHS) budget. Martin Roland, one of the leading U.K. health services researchers and an adviser to the QOF, gives his views on what went right and what went wrong, and he offers his advice to the United States about using financial incentives to improve quality.

A Study of the Correlation of the Improvement of Teaching Evaluation Scores Based on Student Performance Grades

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Chi Yuan; Wang, Shu-Yin; Yang, Yi-Fang

2017-01-01

The purpose of the study is to explore the influence of teaching evaluations on teachers in that they might try to please their students by giving higher grades in order to get higher teaching evaluation scores. To achieve this purpose, the study analyzed the correlations between teaching evaluation scores, student's final grades and course fail…

Using Encoding Instruction to Improve the Reading and Spelling Performances of Elementary Students at Risk for Literacy Difficulties: A Best-Evidence Synthesis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiser, Beverly; Mathes, Patricia

2011-01-01

Although connectionist models provide a framework explaining how the decoding and encoding abilities work reciprocally to enhance reading and spelling ability, encoding instruction in today's schools is not a priority. Although a limited amount of high-quality experimental or control studies to date (N = 11) give empirical support to using direct,…

Modern process designs for very high NGL recovery

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

Finn, A.J.; Tomlinson, T.R.; Johnson, G.L.

1999-07-01

Typical margins between NGL and sales gas can justify consideration of very high NGL recovery from natural gas but traditionally, very high percentage recovery of propane or ethane has led to disproportionally high incremental power consumption and hence expensive compressors. Recent technical advances in the process design of cryogenic gas processing plants and in the equipment they se have led to a new breed of flowsheets that can cost-effectively give propane recoveries of as high as 99%. The high NGL recovery achievable with modern plants is economically possible due to their high thermodynamic efficiency. This is mainly because they usemore » the refrigeration available from the process more effectively and so recover more NGL. A high pressure rectification step can further improve NGL recovery economically, especially on larger plants. This residual NGL content would normally remain in the sales gas on a conventional turboexpander plant. Improved recovery of NGL can be obtained with little or no increase in sales gas compression power compared to conventional plants by judicious use of heat exchanger area. With high feed gas pressure and particularly with dense phase operation, the use of two expanders in series for feed gas let-down gives good process efficiency and relatively low specific power per ton of NGL recovered. Use of two expanders also avoids excessive liquid flows in the expander exhaust, thus improving the performance and reliability of the turboexpander system. The techniques discussed in the paper can be employed on revamps to improve NGL recovery. Improved process performance relies heavily on the use of efficient, multistream plant-fin exchangers and these can be easily added to an existing facility to increase NGL production.« less

Safety Challenges and Improvement Strategies of Ethnic Minority Construction Workers: A Case Study in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Wu, Chunlin; Luo, Xiaowei; Wang, Tao; Wang, Yue; Sapkota, Bibek

2018-04-18

Due to cultural differences, ethnic minority construction workers are more difficult to manage and more vulnerable to accidents. This study aims to identify the major barriers faced by ethnic minority workers from their own perspectives and determine potential strategies to enhance safety climate of construction projects, thus ultimately improve their safety performance. A survey with modified Nordic safety climate questionnaire was conducted in a certain sub-contractor in Hong Kong. In-depth interviews, status quo description, major challenge investigation and safety knowledge tests were carried as well. The top three most important safety challenges identified are improper stereotypes from the whole industry, lack of opportunities for job assignment, and language barriers. To improve the safety performance, employers should allocate sufficient personal protective equipment and governments should organize unannounced site visits more frequently. Besides, the higher-level management should avoid giving contradictory instructions to foremen against to the standards of supervisors.

Dalitz plot analysis of the D+→K-π+π+ decay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonvicini, G.; Cinabro, D.; Dubrovin, M.; Lincoln, A.; Naik, P.; Rademacker, J.; Asner, D. M.; Edwards, K. W.; Reed, J.; Briere, R. A.; Ferguson, T.; Tatishvili, G.; Vogel, H.; Watkins, M. E.; Rosner, J. L.; Alexander, J. P.; Cassel, D. G.; Duboscq, J. E.; Ehrlich, R.; Fields, L.; Gibbons, L.; Gray, R.; Gray, S. W.; Hartill, D. L.; Heltsley, B. K.; Hertz, D.; Hunt, J. M.; Kandaswamy, J.; Kreinick, D. L.; Kuznetsov, V. E.; Ledoux, J.; Mahlke-Krüger, H.; Mohapatra, D.; Onyisi, P. U. E.; Patterson, J. R.; Peterson, D.; Riley, D.; Ryd, A.; Sadoff, A. J.; Shi, X.; Stroiney, S.; Sun, W. M.; Wilksen, T.; Athar, S. B.; Patel, R.; Yelton, J.; Rubin, P.; Eisenstein, B. I.; Karliner, I.; Mehrabyan, S.; Lowrey, N.; Selen, M.; White, E. J.; Wiss, J.; Mitchell, R. E.; Shepherd, M. R.; Besson, D.; Pedlar, T. K.; Cronin-Hennessy, D.; Gao, K. Y.; Hietala, J.; Kubota, Y.; Klein, T.; Lang, B. W.; Poling, R.; Scott, A. W.; Zweber, P.; Dobbs, S.; Metreveli, Z.; Seth, K. K.; Tomaradze, A.; Libby, J.; Powell, A.; Wilkinson, G.; Ecklund, K. M.; Love, W.; Savinov, V.; Lopez, A.; Mendez, H.; Ramirez, J.; Ge, J. Y.; Miller, D. H.; Shipsey, I. P. J.; Xin, B.; Adams, G. S.; Anderson, M.; Cummings, J. P.; Danko, I.; Hu, D.; Moziak, B.; Napolitano, J.; He, Q.; Insler, J.; Muramatsu, H.; Park, C. S.; Thorndike, E. H.; Yang, F.; Artuso, M.; Blusk, S.; Khalil, S.; Li, J.; Mountain, R.; Nisar, S.; Randrianarivony, K.; Sultana, N.; Skwarnicki, T.; Stone, S.; Wang, J. C.; Zhang, L. M.

2008-09-01

We perform a Dalitz plot analysis of D+→K-π+π+ decay with the CLEO-c data set of 572pb-1 of e+e- collisions accumulated at the ψ(3770). This corresponds to 1.6×106 D+D- pairs from which we select 140 793 candidate events with a small background of 1.1%. We compare our results with previous measurements using the isobar model. We modify the isobar model with an improved description of some of the contributing resonances and get better agreement with our data. We also consider a quasi-model-independent approach and measure the magnitude and phase of the contributing Kπ S wave in the range of invariant masses from the threshold to the maximum in this decay. This gives an improved description of our data over the isobar model. Finally we allow for an isospin-two π+π+ S wave contribution and find that adding this to both the isobar model and the quasi-model-independent approach gives the best description of our data.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE MODELLING OF THE LOW-TEMPERATURE OXIDATON OF N-BUTANE - STUDY OF THE PRIMARY REACTIONS

PubMed Central

CORD, Maximilien; SIRJEAN, Baptiste; FOURNET, René; TOMLIN, Alison; RUIZ-LOPEZ, Manuel; BATTIN-LECLERC, Frédérique

2013-01-01

This paper revisits the primary reactions involved in the oxidation of n-butane from low to intermediate temperatures (550-800 K) including the negative temperature coefficient (NTC) zone. A model which was automatically generated is used as a starting point and a large number of thermochemical and kinetic data are then re-estimated. The kinetic data of the isomerization of alkylperoxy radicals giving ·QOOH radicals and the subsequent decomposition to give cyclic ethers has been calculated at the CBS-QB3 level of theory. The newly obtained model allows a satisfactory prediction of experimental data recently obtained in a jet-stirred reactor and in rapid compression machines. A considerable improvement of the prediction of the selectivity of cyclic ethers is especially obtained compared to previous models. Linear and global sensitivity analyses have been performed in order to better understand which reactions are of influence in the NTC zone. PMID:22257166

Performance Evaluation of UPQC under Nonlinear Unbalanced Load Conditions Using Synchronous Reference Frame Based Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kota, Venkata Reddy; Vinnakoti, Sudheer

2017-12-01

Today, maintaining Power Quality (PQ) is very important in the growing competent world. With new equipments and devices, new challenges are also being put before power system operators. Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC) is proposed to mitigate many power quality problems and to improve the performance of the power system. In this paper, an UPQC with Fuzzy Logic controller for capacitor voltage balancing is proposed in Synchronous Reference Frame (SRF) based control with Modified Phased Locked Loop (MPLL). The proposed controller with SRF-MPLL based control is tested under non-linear and unbalanced load conditions. The system is developed in Matlab/Simulink and its performance is analyzed under various conditions like non-linear, unbalanced load and polluted supply voltage including voltage sag/swells. Active and reactive power flow in the system, power factor and %THD of voltages and currents before and after compensation are also analyzed in this work. Results prove the applicability of the proposed scheme for power quality improvement. It is observed that the fuzzy controller gives better performance than PI controller with faster capacitor voltage balancing and also improves the dynamic performance of the system.

Paediatric specialist registrars' views of educational supervision and how it can be improved: a questionnaire study.

PubMed

Lloyd, B W; Becker, D

2007-08-01

To determine what paediatric specialist registrars think of the educational supervision they have received and what advice they would give to a consultant who wanted to be a more effective educational supervisor. A questionnaire study. The North Thames Deanery, UK. 129 year 3, 4 or 5 paediatric specialist registrars in the North Thames Deanery. Reported value of educational supervision on a Likert scale; what elements of educational supervision were reported to be most useful; what elements of educational supervision were reported to be done poorly; what advice would specialist registrars give to a consultant who wanted to be a more effective educational supervisor. 86/129 specialist registrars responded (67%). The mean score on the Likert scale (0-a complete waste of time; 100-excellent) was 57 with 37% of respondents giving a score of less than 50. The most valued aspects of educational supervision were: feedback on performance--cited by 50 respondents (56% of respondents); career advice--cited by 43 (48%); objective setting--cited by 36 (40%); pastoral support--cited by 25 (28%). Aspects of educational supervision that were reported to be often not done well were: commitment to educational supervision--cited by 44 respondents (49% of respondents); ensuring sessions are bleep-free-cited by 43 (48%); listening rather than talking--cited by 23 (26%); being encouraging--cited by 18 (20%). Advice to consultants about how to improve educational supervision included: listen rather than talk; be encouraging; treat the trainee as an individual with individual needs. We can find no other study of trainees' views about how educational supervision can be improved. Although some trainees found educational supervision very valuable, many did not. Educational supervision should only be carried out by consultants who are committed to the task. An educational supervisor should listen carefully in order to understand the trainee's individual ambitions and needs, should provide specific feedback on performance and should be encouraging.

SOFIA pointing and chopping: performance and prospect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reinacher, Andreas; Lammen, Yannick; Graf, Friederike; Jakob, Holger

2016-09-01

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a 2.5m infrared telescope built into a Boeing 747 SP. In 2014 SOFIA reached its Full Operational Capability milestone and nowadays takes off about three times a week to observe the infrared sky from altitudes above most of the atmosphere's water vapor content. Despite reaching this major milestone the work to improve the observatory's performance is continuing in many areas. This paper focuses on the telescope's current pointing and chopping performance and gives an overview over the ongoing and foreseen work to further improve in those two areas. Pointing performance as measured with the fast focal plane camera in flight is presented and based on that data it is elaborated how and in which frequency bands a further reduction of image jitter might be achieved. One contributor to the remaining jitter as well as the major actuator to reduce jitter with frequencies greater than 5 Hz is SOFIA's Secondary Mirror Assembly (SMA) or Chopper. As-is SMA jitter and chopping performance data as measured in flight is presented as well as recent improvements to the position sensor cabling and calibration and their effect on the SMA's pointing accuracy. Furthermore a brief description of a laboratory mockup of the SMA is given and the intended use of this mockup to test major hardware changes for further performance improvement is explained.

Enhanced processing in arrays of optimally tuned nonlinear biomimetic sensors: A coupling-mediated Ringelmann effect and its dynamical mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikitin, Alexander P.; Bulsara, Adi R.; Stocks, Nigel G.

2017-03-01

Inspired by recent results on self-tunability in the outer hair cells of the mammalian cochlea, we describe an array of magnetic sensors where each individual sensor can self-tune to an optimal operating regime. The self-tuning gives the array its "biomimetic" features. We show that the overall performance of the array can, as expected, be improved by increasing the number of sensors but, however, coupling between sensors reduces the overall performance even though the individual sensors in the system could see an improvement. We quantify the similarity of this phenomenon to the Ringelmann effect that was formulated 103 years ago to account for productivity losses in human and animal groups. We propose a global feedback scheme that can be used to greatly mitigate the performance degradation that would, normally, stem from the Ringelmann effect.

A new contribution to the classification of stressors affecting nursing professionals

PubMed Central

Puerto, Jesús Cremades; Soler, Loreto Maciá; Montesinos, Maria José López; Marcos, Azucena Pedraz; Chorda, Víctor Manuel González

2017-01-01

Objective: to identify and classify the most important occupational stressors affecting nursing professionals in the medical units within a hospital. Method: quantitative-qualitative, descriptive and prospective study performed with Delphi technique in the medical units of a general university hospital, with a sample of 30 nursing professionals. Results: the stressors were work overload, frequent interruptions in the accomplishment of their tasks, night working, simultaneity of performing different tasks, not having enough time to give emotional support to the patient or lack of time for some patients who need it, among others. Conclusion: the most consensual stressors were ranked as work overload, frequent interruptions in the accomplishment of their tasks, night working and, finally, simultaneity of performing different tasks. These results can be used as a tool in the clinical management of hospital units, aiming to improve the quality of life of nursing professionals, organizational models and, in addition, continuous improvement in clinical treatment. PMID:28562702

Statewide health information: a tool for improving hospital accountability.

PubMed

Epstein, M H; Kurtzig, B S

1994-07-01

By early 1994, 38 states had invested in data collection, analysis, and dissemination on the use, cost, effectiveness, and performance of hospitals. States use these data to control costs, encourage prudent purchasing, monitor effectiveness and outcomes of health care, guide health policy, and promote informed decision making. Experience in several states suggests that public release of hospital-specific data influences hospital performance. The value of state data organizations' databases to address issues of quality and accountability can be strengthened by ensuring the stability and growth of statewide health information systems, supporting research on information dissemination techniques, and promoting comparisons among hospitals. Information to measure provider performance must be placed in the public domain--to help ensure prudent and cost-effective health care purchasing and to give providers comparable information for improvement of care. State-level health databases are an essential component of the information infrastructure needed to support health reform.

An adaptation method to improve secret key rates of time-frequency QKD in atmospheric turbulence channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Xiaole; Djordjevic, Ivan B.; Neifeld, Mark A.

2016-03-01

Free-space optical (FSO) channels can be characterized by random power fluctuations due to atmospheric turbulence, which is known as scintillation. Weak coherent source based FSO quantum key distribution (QKD) systems suffer from the scintillation effect because during the deep channel fading the expected detection rate drops, which then gives an eavesdropper opportunity to get additional information about protocol by performing photon number splitting (PNS) attack and blocking single-photon pulses without changing QBER. To overcome this problem, in this paper, we study a large-alphabet QKD protocol, which is achieved by using pulse-position modulation (PPM)-like approach that utilizes the time-frequency uncertainty relation of the weak coherent photon state, called here TF-PPM-QKD protocol. We first complete finite size analysis for TF-PPM-QKD protocol to give practical bounds against non-negligible statistical fluctuation due to finite resources in practical implementations. The impact of scintillation under strong atmospheric turbulence regime is studied then. To overcome the secure key rate performance degradation of TF-PPM-QKD caused by scintillation, we propose an adaptation method for compensating the scintillation impact. By changing source intensity according to the channel state information (CSI), obtained by classical channel, the adaptation method improves the performance of QKD system with respect to the secret key rate. The CSI of a time-varying channel can be predicted using stochastic models, such as autoregressive (AR) models. Based on the channel state predictions, we change the source intensity to the optimal value to achieve a higher secret key rate. We demonstrate that the improvement of the adaptation method is dependent on the prediction accuracy.

Giving Change When Payment Is Made with a Dime: The Difficulty of Tens and Ones

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chandler, Cynthia C.; Kamii, Constance

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate children's construction of 10s out of the 1s they have already constructed. It was found that, for many younger children, a dime was something different from 10 pennies even though they could say with confidence that a dime was worth 10 cents. As the children grew older, their performance improved.…

Analysis of NREL Cold-Drink Vending Machines for Energy Savings

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

Deru, M.; Torcellini, P.; Bottom, K.

NREL Staff, as part of Sustainable NREL, an initiative to improve the overall energy and environmental performance of the lab, decided to control how its vending machines used energy. The cold-drink vending machines across the lab were analyzed for potential energy savings opportunities. This report gives the monitoring and the analysis of two energy conservation measures applied to the cold-drink vending machines at NREL.

EVALUATION OF INTERNALLY STAGED COAL BURNERS AND SORBENT JET AERODYNAMICS FOR COMBINED SO2/NOX CONTROL IN UTILITY BOILERS, VOLUME 1, TESTING IN A 10 MILLION BTU/HR EXPERIMENTAL FURNACE

EPA Science Inventory

The document gives results of tests conducted in a 2 MWt experimental furnace to: (1) investigate ways to reduce NOx emissions from utility coal burners without external air ports (i.e., with internal fuel/air staging); and (2) improve the performance of calcium-based sorbents fo...

Modeling and prediction of ionospheric scintillation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fremouw, E. J.

1974-01-01

Scintillation modeling performed thus far is based on the theory of diffraction by a weakly modulating phase screen developed by Briggs and Parkin (1963). Shortcomings of the existing empirical model for the scintillation index are discussed together with questions of channel modeling, giving attention to the needs of the communication engineers. It is pointed out that much improved scintillation index models may be available in a matter of a year or so.

A urine volume measurement system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poppendiek, H. F.; Mouritzen, G.; Sabin, C. M.

1972-01-01

An improved urine volume measurement system for use in the unusual environment of manned space flight is reported. The system utilizes a low time-constant thermal flowmeter. The time integral of the transient response of the flowmeter gives the urine volume during a void as it occurs. In addition, the two phase flows through the flowmeter present no problem. Developments of the thermal flowmeter and a verification of the predicted performance characteristics are summarized.

Army Stock Positioning: How Can Distribution Performance Be Improved

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-01

Support RAND Make a tax -deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface The...the source- preference logic that selects the warehouse for issuing an item to a cus- tomer. Below, we describe the LMP source-preference logic and...the AMC pilot to use it to tailor how warehouses are selected to issue items to customers. AMC Pilot Implementation of LMP Source-Preference

Surface Plasmon-Assisted Solar Energy Conversion.

PubMed

Dodekatos, Georgios; Schünemann, Stefan; Tüysüz, Harun

2016-01-01

The utilization of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) from plasmonic noble metals in combination with semiconductors promises great improvements for visible light-driven photocatalysis, in particular for energy conversion. This review summarizes the basic principles of plasmonic photocatalysis, giving a comprehensive overview about the proposed mechanisms for enhancing the performance of photocatalytically active semiconductors with plasmonic devices and their applications for surface plasmon-assisted solar energy conversion. The main focus is on gold and, to a lesser extent, silver nanoparticles in combination with titania as semiconductor and their usage as active plasmonic photocatalysts. Recent advances in water splitting, hydrogen generation with sacrificial organic compounds, and CO2 reduction to hydrocarbons for solar fuel production are highlighted. Finally, further improvements for plasmonic photocatalysts, regarding performance, stability, and economic feasibility, are discussed for surface plasmon-assisted solar energy conversion.

Rotor Hover Performance and Flowfield Measurements with Untwisted and Highly-Twisted Blades

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramasamy, Manikandan; Gold, Nili P.; Bhagwat, Mahendra J.

2010-01-01

The flowfield and performance characteristics of highly-twisted blades were analyzed at various thrust conditions to improve the fundamental understanding relating the wake effects on rotor performance. Similar measurements made using untwisted blades served as the baseline case. Twisted blades are known to give better hover performance than untwisted blades at high thrust coefficients typical of those found in full-scale rotors. However, the present experiments were conducted at sufficiently low thrust (beginning from zero thrust), where the untwisted blades showed identical, if not better, performance when compared with the highly-twisted blades. The flowfield measurements showed some key wake differences between the two rotors, as well. These observations when combined with simple blade element momentum theory (also called annular disk momentum theory) helped further the understanding of rotor performance characteristics.

Effects of BOX engineering on analogue/RF and circuit performance of InGaAs-OI-Si MOSFET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maity, Subir Kr.; Pandit, Soumya

2017-11-01

InGaAs is an attractive choice as alternate channel material in n-channel metal oxide semiconductor transistor for high-performance applications. However, electrostatic integrity of such device is poor. In this paper, we present a comprehensive technology computer-aided design simulation-based study of the effect of scaling the thickness of the buried oxide (BOX) region and varying the dielectric constant of BOX material on the electrostatic integrity, analogue/radio frequency (RF) performance and circuit performance of InGaAs-on-Insulator device. Device with thin BOX layer gives better drain-induced barrier lowering performance which enhances output resistance. The carrier mobility remains almost constant with thinning of BOX layer up to certain value. By lowering the dielectric constant of the BOX material, it is further possible to improve the analogue and RF performance. Effect of BOX thickness scaling and role of BOX dielectric material on gain-frequency response of common source amplifier is also studied. It is observed that frequency response of the amplifier improves for thin BOX and with low dielectric constant-based material.

An Ada inference engine for expert systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lavallee, David B.

1986-01-01

The purpose is to investigate the feasibility of using Ada for rule-based expert systems with real-time performance requirements. This includes exploring the Ada features which give improved performance to expert systems as well as optimizing the tradeoffs or workarounds that the use of Ada may require. A prototype inference engine was built using Ada, and rule firing rates in excess of 500 per second were demonstrated on a single MC68000 processor. The knowledge base uses a directed acyclic graph to represent production lines. The graph allows the use of AND, OR, and NOT logical operators. The inference engine uses a combination of both forward and backward chaining in order to reach goals as quickly as possible. Future efforts will include additional investigation of multiprocessing to improve performance and creating a user interface allowing rule input in an Ada-like syntax. Investigation of multitasking and alternate knowledge base representations will help to analyze some of the performance issues as they relate to larger problems.

Harmonization of standards for parabolic trough collector testing in solar thermal power plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sallaberry, Fabienne; Valenzuela, Loreto; Palacin, Luis G.; Leon, Javier; Fischer, Stephan; Bohren, Andreas

2017-06-01

The technology of parabolic trough collectors (PTC) is used widely in concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants worldwide. However this type of large-size collectors cannot be officially tested by an accredited laboratory and certified by an accredited certification body so far, as there is no standard adapted to its particularity, and the current published standard for solar thermal collectors are not completely applicable to them. Recently some standardization committees have been working on this technology. This paper aims to give a summary of the standardized testing methodology of large-size PTC for CSP plants, giving the physical model chosen for modeling the thermal performance of the collector in the new revision of standard ISO 9806 and the points still to be improved in the standard draft IEC 62862-3-2. In this paper, a summary of the testing validation performed on one parabolic trough collector installed in one of the test facilities at the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) with this new model is also presented.

SU-E-J-02: 4D Digital Tomosynthesis Based On Algebraic Image Reconstruction and Total-Variation Minimization for the Improvement of Image Quality

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

Kim, D; Kang, S; Kim, T

2014-06-01

Purpose: In this paper, we implemented the four-dimensional (4D) digital tomosynthesis (DTS) imaging based on algebraic image reconstruction technique and total-variation minimization method in order to compensate the undersampled projection data and improve the image quality. Methods: The projection data were acquired as supposed the cone-beam computed tomography system in linear accelerator by the Monte Carlo simulation and the in-house 4D digital phantom generation program. We performed 4D DTS based upon simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART) among the iterative image reconstruction technique and total-variation minimization method (TVMM). To verify the effectiveness of this reconstruction algorithm, we performed systematic simulation studiesmore » to investigate the imaging performance. Results: The 4D DTS algorithm based upon the SART and TVMM seems to give better results than that based upon the existing method, or filtered-backprojection. Conclusion: The advanced image reconstruction algorithm for the 4D DTS would be useful to validate each intra-fraction motion during radiation therapy. In addition, it will be possible to give advantage to real-time imaging for the adaptive radiation therapy. This research was supported by Leading Foreign Research Institute Recruitment Program (Grant No.2009-00420) and Basic Atomic Energy Research Institute (BAERI); (Grant No. 2009-0078390) through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP)« less

The Implementation of Collaborative Learning Using AfL through Giving Feedback Strategy for Improving Students’ Attention to Mathematics Lesson

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurniasih, R.; Sujadi, I.; Pramesti, G.

2016-02-01

This research aims to describe the process of implementation collaborative learning with AfL through giving feedback strategy for improving students’ attention to mathematics lesson. Data which is collected in this research are students’ attention towards learning and students’ achievement. The result of this research showed that the learning steps by using collaborative learning with AfL through giving feedback strategy which can improve students’ attention are: 1) pre activity: the teacher delivers the purpose of the learning, successful criteria, apperception, and motivation. 2) main activity: the teacher gives the background of learning activity, explains learning materials at a glance, divides students discuss, the teacher observes and guides students to the problem solving, present their discussion result, gives feedback, the students do AfL problem and the answer is collected and result will be given before next meeting. 3) post activity: the teacher with students concludes the material. Test result, the percentage of students who complete the examination in the second cycle is 77.27%. Based on those results can be concluded that the implementation of collaborative learning using AfL through giving feedback can improve students’ attention towards learning and students’ achievement of XI IPA Students MA Al-Islam Jamsaren Surakarta academic year 2013/2014.

Research of real-time video processing system based on 6678 multi-core DSP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiangzhen; Xie, Xiaodan; Yin, Xiaoqiang

2017-10-01

In the information age, the rapid development in the direction of intelligent video processing, complex algorithm proposed the powerful challenge on the performance of the processor. In this article, through the FPGA + TMS320C6678 frame structure, the image to fog, merge into an organic whole, to stabilize the image enhancement, its good real-time, superior performance, break through the traditional function of video processing system is simple, the product defects such as single, solved the video application in security monitoring, video, etc. Can give full play to the video monitoring effectiveness, improve enterprise economic benefits.

Optical Passive Sensor Calibration for Satellite Remote Sensing and the Legacy of NOAA and NIST Cooperation

PubMed Central

Datla, Raju; Weinreb, Michael; Rice, Joseph; Johnson, B. Carol; Shirley, Eric; Cao, Changyong

2014-01-01

This paper traces the cooperative efforts of scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to improve the calibration of operational satellite sensors for remote sensing of the Earth’s land, atmosphere and oceans. It gives a chronological perspective of the NOAA satellite program and the interactions between the two agencies’ scientists to address pre-launch calibration and issues of sensor performance on orbit. The drive to improve accuracy of measurements has had a new impetus in recent years because of the need for improved weather prediction and climate monitoring. The highlights of this cooperation and strategies to achieve SI-traceability and improve accuracy for optical satellite sensor data are summarized1. PMID:26601030

Optical Passive Sensor Calibration for Satellite Remote Sensing and the Legacy of NOAA and NIST Cooperation.

PubMed

Datla, Raju; Weinreb, Michael; Rice, Joseph; Johnson, B Carol; Shirley, Eric; Cao, Changyong

2014-01-01

This paper traces the cooperative efforts of scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to improve the calibration of operational satellite sensors for remote sensing of the Earth's land, atmosphere and oceans. It gives a chronological perspective of the NOAA satellite program and the interactions between the two agencies' scientists to address pre-launch calibration and issues of sensor performance on orbit. The drive to improve accuracy of measurements has had a new impetus in recent years because of the need for improved weather prediction and climate monitoring. The highlights of this cooperation and strategies to achieve SI-traceability and improve accuracy for optical satellite sensor data are summarized.

Quantitative evaluation of pairs and RS steganalysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ker, Andrew D.

2004-06-01

We give initial results from a new project which performs statistically accurate evaluation of the reliability of image steganalysis algorithms. The focus here is on the Pairs and RS methods, for detection of simple LSB steganography in grayscale bitmaps, due to Fridrich et al. Using libraries totalling around 30,000 images we have measured the performance of these methods and suggest changes which lead to significant improvements. Particular results from the project presented here include notes on the distribution of the RS statistic, the relative merits of different "masks" used in the RS algorithm, the effect on reliability when previously compressed cover images are used, and the effect of repeating steganalysis on the transposed image. We also discuss improvements to the Pairs algorithm, restricting it to spatially close pairs of pixels, which leads to a substantial performance improvement, even to the extent of surpassing the RS statistic which was previously thought superior for grayscale images. We also describe some of the questions for a general methodology of evaluation of steganalysis, and potential pitfalls caused by the differences between uncompressed, compressed, and resampled cover images.

AHPCRC (Army High Performance Computing Research Center) Bulletin. Volume 2, Issue 1

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

Researchers in AHPCRC Technical Area 4 focus on improving processes for developing scalable, accurate parallel programs that are easily ported from one...control number. 1. REPORT DATE 2011 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED 00-00-2011 to 00-00-2011 4 . TITLE AND SUBTITLE AHPCRC (Army High...continued on page 4 Virtual levels in Sequoia represent an abstract memory hierarchy without specifying data transfer mechanisms, giving the

The Effect of Broadened Ranges of Expectancy on Satisfaction with Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-08-01

Campbell, D.T. (1971). Hedonic relativism and planning the good society . In M.H. Appley (Ed.), Adaptation-level theory. New York: Academic Press. "€ Brickman...a lower plausible outcome within the expectancy range and see the current outcome as favorable (e.g. This is a good score. It was possible that I...improvement). Persons with narrow ranges of expectancies cannot make these hedonically preferable selective comparisons. Giving Up Too Early and

The SRI NIST 2010 Speaker Recognition Evaluation System (PREPRINT)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

of several subsystems with the use of adequate side information gives a 35% improvement on the standard telephone condition. We also show that a...ratio and amount of detected speech as side information . The SRI submissions were among the best-performing systems in SRE10. 2. COMMONALITIES This...Documentation Page Form ApprovedOMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response

Improvement of the Quality, Health Promoting and Performance Enhancement Attributes of Combat Rations

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-03

characterized nutraceutical nanodelivery systems which can meet the Army’s needs. Thecommon problem of these dietary flavonoids is their poor water...efficacy evaluation. Tangeretin (4’,5,6,7,8-pentamethoxyflavone) belongs to a sub-group of flavonoid called polymethoxyflavone and is majorly gathered...staining intensity was multiplied to give the immunoreactive score (IRS). Clinical chemistry At the end of 11 weeks, blood samples were collected from

Very High Performance High Nitrogen Energetic Ingredients and Energetic Polymers for Structural Components

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-31

have developed a vastly improved procedure for synthesis of the n- propyl ester that gives essentially quantitative yield and uses concentrated... Synthesis of n- propyl 4-aminofurazan-3-carboxylate. We next turned our attention to the synthesis of the amide. Again, the literature procedure is... synthesis and chemistry of 3-hydroxymethyl-4-amino[1,2,5]oxadiazole and 5) work on energetic polymers for structural components. 15. SUBJECT TERMS

Processable high temperature resistant polymer matrix materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Serafini, T. T.

1975-01-01

A review is presented of studies conducted with addition-cured polyimides, giving particular attention to an improved method involving in situ polymerization of monomer reactants (PMR) on the surface of the reinforcing fibers. The studies show that the PMR approach provides a powerful method for fabricating high performance polymer matrix composites. Significant advantages of the PMR approach are related to the superior high temperature properties of the obtained material, lower cost, greater safety, and processing versatility.

A fuzzy MICMAC analysis for improving supply chain performance of basic vaccines in developing countries.

PubMed

Chandra, Dheeraj; Kumar, Dinesh

2018-03-01

In recent years, demand to improve child immunization coverage globally, and the development of the latest vaccines and technology has made the vaccine market very complex. The rise in such complexities often gives birth to numerous issues in the vaccine supply chain, which are the primary cause of its poor performance. Figuring out the cause of the performance problem can help you decide how to address it. The goal of the present study is to identify and analyze important issues in the supply chain of basic vaccines required for child immunization in the developing countries. Twenty-five key issues as various factors of the vaccine supply chain have been presented in this paper. Fuzzy MICMAC analysis has been carried out to classify the factors based on their driving and dependence power and to develop a hierarchy based model. Further, the findings have been discussed with the field experts to identify the critical factors. Three factors: better demand forecast, communication between the supply chain members, and proper planning and scheduling have been identified as the critical factors of vaccine supply chain. These factors should be given special care to improve vaccine supply chain performance.

Sales management coaching: a model for improved insurance company performance.

PubMed

Carter, Tony

2006-01-01

Of all the things sales managers do to develop salespeople, many people believe the most important one is coaching. Coaching is defined as using skills, experience, and direction to help someone improve their performance. Coaching consists primarily of giving people feedback to reinforce what they do well while suggesting ways and means to improve. Coaching implies that everybody can improve and hopefully everybody wants to get better at what they do. Many sales managers erroneously believe that they have to be better than the person they are coaching at the skill set they are discussing in order to be a useful coaching resource to that person. To be a good coach requires an understanding of the skills being discussed and a desire to help someone improve in the performance of their job. The sales manager who knows how to provide that feedback will have more productive, effective, satisfied, and motivated salespeople. This paper provides an overview of the coaching sequence and the skills required to make it work with some comment on how this was successfully applied to a major national insurance company. Sales Management styles vary, and what works for one person may not work for another. Effective Sales Management Coaching can provide sales managers with the skills to help salespeople grow and develop professionally.

Improvements to active material for VRLA batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prengaman, R. David

In the past several years, there have been many developments in the materials for lead-acid batteries. Silver in grid alloys for high temperature climates in SLI batteries has increased the silver content of the recycled lead stream. Concern about silver and other contaminants in lead for the active material for VRLA batteries led to the initiation of a study by ALABC at CSIRO. The study evaluated the effects of many different impurities on the hydrogen and oxygen evolution currents in float service for flooded and VRLA batteries at different temperatures and potentials. The study results increased the understanding about the effects of various impurities in lead for use in active material, as well as possible performance and life improvements in VRLA batteries. Some elements thought to be detrimental have been found to be beneficial. Studies have now uncovered the effects of the beneficial elements as well as additives to both the positive and negative active material in increasing battery capacity, extending life and improving recharge. Glass separator materials have also been re-examined in light of the impurities study. Old glass compositions may be revived to give improved battery performance via compositional changes to the glass chemistry. This paper reviews these new developments and outline suggestions for improved battery performance based on unique impurities and additives.

Corporate Philanthropy Toward Community Health Improvement in Manufacturing Communities.

PubMed

McHugh, Megan; Farley, Diane; Maechling, Claude R; Dunlop, Dorothy D; French, Dustin D; Holl, Jane L

2018-06-01

Virtually all large employers engage in corporate philanthropy, but little is known about the extent to which it is directed toward improving community health. We conducted in-depth interviews with leaders of corporate philanthropy from 13 of the largest manufacturing companies in the US to understand how giving decisions were made, the extent to which funding was directed towards improving community health, and whether companies coordinate with local public health agencies. We found that corporate giving was sizable and directed towards communities in which the manufacturers have a large presence. Giving was aligned with the social determinants of health (i.e., aimed at improving economic stability, the neighborhood and physical environment, education, food security and nutrition, the community and social context, and the health care system). However, improving public health was not often cited as a goal of corporate giving, and coordination with public health agencies was limited. Our results suggest that there may be opportunities for public health agencies to help guide corporate philanthropy, particularly by sharing community-level data and offering their measurement and evaluation expertise.

Improved predictive ability of climate-human-behaviour interactions with modifications to the COMFA outdoor energy budget model.

PubMed

Vanos, J K; Warland, J S; Gillespie, T J; Kenny, N A

2012-11-01

The purpose of this paper is to implement current and novel research techniques in human energy budget estimations to give more accurate and efficient application of models by a variety of users. Using the COMFA model, the conditioning level of an individual is incorporated into overall energy budget predictions, giving more realistic estimations of the metabolism experienced at various fitness levels. Through the use of VO(2) reserve estimates, errors are found when an elite athlete is modelled as an unconditioned or a conditioned individual, giving budgets underpredicted significantly by -173 and -123 W m(-2), respectively. Such underprediction can result in critical errors regarding heat stress, particularly in highly motivated individuals; thus this revision is critical for athletic individuals. A further improvement in the COMFA model involves improved adaptation of clothing insulation (I (cl)), as well clothing non-uniformity, with changing air temperature (T (a)) and metabolic activity (M (act)). Equivalent T (a) values (for I (cl) estimation) are calculated in order to lower the I (cl) value with increasing M (act) at equal T (a). Furthermore, threshold T (a) values are calculated to predict the point at which an individual will change from a uniform I (cl) to a segmented I (cl) (full ensemble to shorts and a T-shirt). Lastly, improved relative velocity (v (r)) estimates were found with a refined equation accounting for the degree angle of wind to body movement. Differences between the original and improved v (r) equations increased with higher wind and activity speeds, and as the wind to body angle moved away from 90°. Under moderate microclimate conditions, and wind from behind a person, the convective heat loss and skin temperature estimates were 47 W m(-2) and 1.7°C higher when using the improved v (r) equation. These model revisions improve the applicability and usability of the COMFA energy budget model for subjects performing physical activity in outdoor environments. Application is possible for other similar energy budget models, and within various urban and rural environments.

Improved predictive ability of climate-human-behaviour interactions with modifications to the COMFA outdoor energy budget model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vanos, J. K.; Warland, J. S.; Gillespie, T. J.; Kenny, N. A.

2012-11-01

The purpose of this paper is to implement current and novel research techniques in human energy budget estimations to give more accurate and efficient application of models by a variety of users. Using the COMFA model, the conditioning level of an individual is incorporated into overall energy budget predictions, giving more realistic estimations of the metabolism experienced at various fitness levels. Through the use of VO2 reserve estimates, errors are found when an elite athlete is modelled as an unconditioned or a conditioned individual, giving budgets underpredicted significantly by -173 and -123 W m-2, respectively. Such underprediction can result in critical errors regarding heat stress, particularly in highly motivated individuals; thus this revision is critical for athletic individuals. A further improvement in the COMFA model involves improved adaptation of clothing insulation ( I cl), as well clothing non-uniformity, with changing air temperature ( T a) and metabolic activity ( M act). Equivalent T a values (for I cl estimation) are calculated in order to lower the I cl value with increasing M act at equal T a. Furthermore, threshold T a values are calculated to predict the point at which an individual will change from a uniform I cl to a segmented I cl (full ensemble to shorts and a T-shirt). Lastly, improved relative velocity ( v r) estimates were found with a refined equation accounting for the degree angle of wind to body movement. Differences between the original and improved v r equations increased with higher wind and activity speeds, and as the wind to body angle moved away from 90°. Under moderate microclimate conditions, and wind from behind a person, the convective heat loss and skin temperature estimates were 47 W m-2 and 1.7°C higher when using the improved v r equation. These model revisions improve the applicability and usability of the COMFA energy budget model for subjects performing physical activity in outdoor environments. Application is possible for other similar energy budget models, and within various urban and rural environments.

Positive expiratory pressure - Common clinical applications and physiological effects.

PubMed

Fagevik Olsén, Monika; Lannefors, Louise; Westerdahl, Elisabeth

2015-03-01

Breathing out against resistance, in order to achieve positive expiratory pressure (PEP), is applied by many patient groups. Pursed lips breathing and a variety of devices can be used to create the resistance giving the increased expiratory pressure. Effects on pulmonary outcomes have been discussed in several publications, but the expected underlying physiology of the effect is seldom discussed. The aim of this article is to describe the purpose, performance, clinical application and underlying physiology of PEP when it is used to increase lung volumes, decrease hyperinflation or improve airway clearance. In clinical practice, the instruction how to use an expiratory resistance is of major importance since it varies. Different breathing patterns during PEP increase or reduce expiratory flow, result in movement of EPP centrally or peripherally and can increase or decrease lung volume. It is therefore necessary to give the right instructions to obtain the desired effects. As the different PEP techniques are being used by diverse patient groups it is not possible to give standard instructions. Based on the information given in this article the instructions have to be adjusted to give the optimal effect. There is no consensus regarding optimal treatment frequency and number of cycles included in each treatment session and must also be individualized. In future research, more precise descriptions are needed about physiological aims and specific instructions of how the treatments have been performed to assure as good treatment quality as possible and to be able to evaluate and compare treatment effects. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Timing performance comparison of digital methods in positron emission tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aykac, Mehmet; Hong, Inki; Cho, Sanghee

2010-11-01

Accurate timing information is essential in positron emission tomography (PET). Recent improvements in high speed electronics made digital methods more attractive to find alternative solutions to create a time mark for an event. Two new digital methods (mean PMT pulse model, MPPM, and median filtered zero crossing method, MFZCM) were introduced in this work and compared to traditional methods such as digital leading edge (LE) and digital constant fraction discrimination (CFD). In addition, the performances of all four digital methods were compared to analog based LE and CFD. The time resolution values for MPPM and MFZCM were measured below 300 ps at 1.6 GS/s and above that was similar to the analog based coincidence timing results. In addition, the two digital methods were insensitive to the changes in threshold setting that might give some improvement in system dead time.

Plasma-sprayed self-lubricating coatings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nakamura, H. H.; Logan, W. R.; Harada, Y.

1982-01-01

One of the most important criterion for acceptable commercial application of a multiple phase composition is uniformity and reproducibility. This means that the performance characteristics of the coat - e.g., its lubricating properties, bond strength to the substrate, and thermal properties - can be readily predicted to give a desired performance. The improvement of uniformity and reproducibility of the coats, the oxidation behavior at three temperature ranges, the effect of bond coat and the effect of preheat treatment as measured by adhesive strength tests, coating examination procedures, and physical property measurements were studied. The following modifications improved the uniformity and reproducibility: (1) changes and closer control in the particle size range of the raw materials used, (2) increasing the binder content from 3.2% to 4.1% (dried weight), and (3) analytical processing procedures using step by step checking to assure consistency.

Effects of two types of intra-team feedback on developing a shared mental model in Command & Control teams.

PubMed

Rasker, P C; Post, W M; Schraagen, J M

2000-08-01

In two studies, the effect of two types of intra-team feedback on developing a shared mental model in Command & Control teams was investigated. A distinction is made between performance monitoring and team self-correction. Performance monitoring is the ability of team members to monitor each other's task execution and give feedback during task execution. Team self-correction is the process in which team members engage in evaluating their performance and in determining their strategies after task execution. In two experiments the opportunity to engage in performance monitoring, respectively team self-correction, was varied systematically. Both performance monitoring as well as team self-correction appeared beneficial in the improvement of team performance. Teams that had the opportunity to engage in performance monitoring, however, performed better than teams that had the opportunity to engage in team self-correction.

The Advanced Gamma-ray Imaging System (AGIS): A Nanosecond Time Scale Stereoscopic Array Trigger System.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krennrich, Frank; Buckley, J.; Byrum, K.; Dawson, J.; Drake, G.; Horan, D.; Krawzcynski, H.; Schroedter, M.

2008-04-01

Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays (VERITAS, HESS) have shown unprecedented background suppression capabilities for reducing cosmic-ray induced air showers, muons and night sky background fluctuations. Next-generation arrays with on the order of 100 telescopes offer larger collection areas, provide the possibility to see the air shower from more view points on the ground, have the potential to improve the sensitivity and give additional background suppression. Here we discuss the design of a fast array trigger system that has the potential to perform a real time image analysis allowing substantially improved background rate suppression at the trigger level.

Analysis of fracture in sheet bending and roll forming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deole, Aditya D.; Barnett, Matthew; Weiss, Matthias

2018-05-01

The bending limit or minimum bending radius of sheet metal is conventionally measured in a wiping (swing arm) or in a vee bend test and reported as the minimum radius of the tool over which the sheet can be bent without fracture. Frequently the material kinks while bending so that the actual inner bend radius of the sheet metal is smaller than the tool radius giving rise to inaccuracy in these methods. It has been shown in the previous studies that conventional bend test methods may under-estimate formability in bending dominated processes such as roll forming. A new test procedure is proposed here to improve understanding and measurement of fracture in bending and roll forming. In this study, conventional wiping test and vee bend test have been performed on martensitic steel to determine the minimum bend radius. In addition, the vee bend test is performed in an Erichsen sheet metal tester equipped with the GOM Aramis system to enable strain measurement on the outer surface during bending. The strain measurement before the onset of fracture is then used to determine the minimum bend radius. To compare this result with a technological process, a vee channel is roll formed and in-situ strain measurement carried out with the Vialux Autogrid system. The strain distribution at fracture in the roll forming process is compared with that predicted by the conventional bending tests and by the improved process. It is shown that for this forming operation and material, the improved procedure gives a more accurate prediction of fracture.

A Waveform Detector that Targets Template-Decorrelated Signals and Achieves its Predicted Performance: Demonstration with IMS Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carmichael, J.

2016-12-01

Waveform correlation detectors used in seismic monitoring scan multichannel data to test two competing hypotheses: that data contain (1) a noisy, amplitude-scaled version of a template waveform, or, (2) only noise. In reality, seismic wavefields include signals triggered by non-target sources (background seismicity) and target signals that are only partially correlated with the waveform template. We reform the waveform correlation detector hypothesis test to accommodate deterministic uncertainty in template/target waveform similarity and thereby derive a new detector from convex set projections (the "cone detector") for use in explosion monitoring. Our analyses give probability density functions that quantify the detectors' degraded performance with decreasing waveform similarity. We then apply our results to three announced North Korean nuclear tests and use International Monitoring System (IMS) arrays to determine the probability that low magnitude, off-site explosions can be reliably detected with a given waveform template. We demonstrate that cone detectors provide (1) an improved predictive capability over correlation detectors to identify such spatially separated explosive sources, (2) competitive detection rates, and (3) reduced false alarms on background seismicity. Figure Caption: Observed and predicted receiver operating characteristic curves for correlation statistic r(x) (left) and cone statistic s(x) (right) versus semi-empirical explosion magnitude. a: Shaded region shows range of ROC curves for r(x) that give the predicted detection performance in noise conditions recorded over 24 hrs on 8 October 2006. Superimposed stair plot shows the empirical detection performance (recorded detections/total events) averaged over 24 hr of data. Error bars indicate the demeaned range in observed detection probability over the day; means are removed to avoid risk of misinterpreting range to indicate probabilities can exceed one. b: Shaded region shows range of ROC curves for s(x) that give the predicted detection performance for the cone detector. Superimposed stair plot show observed detection performance averaged over 24 hr of data analogous to that shown in a.

Monetary Incentive Effects on Event-Based Prospective Memory Three Months after Traumatic Brain Injury in Children

PubMed Central

Pedroza, Claudia; Chapman, Sandra B.; Cook, Lori G.; Vásquez, Ana C.; Levin, Harvey S.

2011-01-01

Information regarding the remediation of event-based prospective memory (EB-PM) impairments following pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is scarce. Addressing this, two levels of monetary incentives were used to improve EB-PM in children ages 7 to 16 years with orthopedic injuries (OI, n = 51), or moderate (n = 25), and severe (n = 39) TBI at approximately three months postinjury. The EB-PM task consisted of the child giving a specific verbal response to a verbal cue from the examiner while performing a battery of neuropsychological measures (ongoing task). Significant effects were found for Age-at-Test, Motivation Condition, Period, and Group. Within-group analyses indicated OI and moderate TBI groups performed significantly better under the high-versus low-incentive condition, but the severe TBI group demonstrated no significant improvement. These results indicate EB-PM can be significantly improved at three months postinjury in children with moderate, but not severe, TBI. PMID:21347945

Advanced microgrid design and analysis for forward operating bases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reasoner, Jonathan

This thesis takes a holistic approach in creating an improved electric power generation system for a forward operating base (FOB) in the future through the design of an isolated microgrid. After an extensive literature search, this thesis found a need for drastic improvement of the FOB power system. A thorough design process analyzed FOB demand, researched demand side management improvements, evaluated various generation sources and energy storage options, and performed a HOMERRTM discrete optimization to determine the best microgrid design. Further sensitivity analysis was performed to see how changing parameters would affect the outcome. Lastly, this research also looks at some of the challenges which are associated with incorporating a design which relies heavily on inverter-based generation sources, and gives possible solutions to help make a renewable energy powered microgrid a reality. While this thesis uses a FOB as the case study, the process and discussion can be adapted to aide in the design of an off-grid small-scale power grid which utilizes high-penetration levels of renewable energy.

Six Sigma Approach to Improve Stripping Quality of Automotive Electronics Component – a case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Razali, Noraini Mohd; Murni Mohamad Kadri, Siti; Con Ee, Toh

2018-03-01

Lacking of problem solving skill techniques and cooperation between support groups are the two obstacles that always been faced in actual production line. Inadequate detail analysis and inappropriate technique in solving the problem may cause the repeating issues which may give impact to the organization performance. This study utilizes a well-structured six sigma DMAIC with combination of other problem solving tools to solve product quality problem in manufacturing of automotive electronics component. The study is concentrated at the stripping process, a critical process steps with highest rejection rate that contribute to the scrap and rework performance. The detail analysis is conducted in the analysis phase to identify the actual root cause of the problem. Then several improvement activities are implemented and the results show that the rejection rate due to stripping defect decrease tremendously and the process capability index improved from 0.75 to 1.67. This results prove that the six sigma approach used to tackle the quality problem is substantially effective.

Accelerating Time-Varying Hardware Volume Rendering Using TSP Trees and Color-Based Error Metrics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ellsworth, David; Chiang, Ling-Jen; Shen, Han-Wei; Kwak, Dochan (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

This paper describes a new hardware volume rendering algorithm for time-varying data. The algorithm uses the Time-Space Partitioning (TSP) tree data structure to identify regions within the data that have spatial or temporal coherence. By using this coherence, the rendering algorithm can improve performance when the volume data is larger than the texture memory capacity by decreasing the amount of textures required. This coherence can also allow improved speed by appropriately rendering flat-shaded polygons instead of textured polygons, and by not rendering transparent regions. To reduce the polygonization overhead caused by the use of the hierarchical data structure, we introduce an optimization method using polygon templates. The paper also introduces new color-based error metrics, which more accurately identify coherent regions compared to the earlier scalar-based metrics. By showing experimental results from runs using different data sets and error metrics, we demonstrate that the new methods give substantial improvements in volume rendering performance.

Multithreading with separate data to improve the performance of Backpropagation method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhamma, Mulia; Zarlis, Muhammad; Budhiarti Nababan, Erna

2017-12-01

Backpropagation is one method of artificial neural network that can make a prediction for a new data with learning by supervised of the past data. The learning process of backpropagation method will become slow if we give too much data for backpropagation method to learn the data. Multithreading with a separate data inside of each thread are being used in order to improve the performance of backpropagtion method . Base on the research for 39 data and also 5 times experiment with separate data into 2 thread, the result showed that the average epoch become 6490 when using 2 thread and 453049 epoch when using only 1 thread. The most lowest epoch for 2 thread is 1295 and 1 thread is 356116. The process of improvement is caused by the minimum error from 2 thread that has been compared to take the weight and bias value. This process will be repeat as long as the backpropagation do learning.

Improved Fast Centralized Retransmission Scheme for High-Layer Functional Split in 5G Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Sen; Hou, Meng; Fu, Yu; Bian, Honglian; Gao, Cheng

2018-01-01

In order to satisfy the varied 5G critical requirements and the virtualization of the RAN hardware, a two-level architecture for 5G RAN has been studied in 3GPP 5G SI stage. The performance of the PDCP-RLC split option and intra-RLC split option, two mainly concerned options for high layer functional split, exist an ongoing debate. This paper firstly gives an overview of CU-DU split study work in 3GPP. By the comparison of implementation complexity, the standardization impact and system performance, our evaluation result shows the PDCP-RLC split Option outperforms the intra-RLC split option. Aiming to how to reduce the retransmission delay during the intra-CU inter-DU handover, the mainly drawback of PDCP-RLC split option, this paper proposes an improved fast centralized retransmission solution with a low implementation complexity. Finally, system level simulations show that the PDCP-RLC split option with the proposed scheme can significantly improve the UE’s experience.

Energetic particle instabilities in fusion plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharapov, S. E.; Alper, B.; Berk, H. L.; Borba, D. N.; Breizman, B. N.; Challis, C. D.; Classen, I. G. J.; Edlund, E. M.; Eriksson, J.; Fasoli, A.; Fredrickson, E. D.; Fu, G. Y.; Garcia-Munoz, M.; Gassner, T.; Ghantous, K.; Goloborodko, V.; Gorelenkov, N. N.; Gryaznevich, M. P.; Hacquin, S.; Heidbrink, W. W.; Hellesen, C.; Kiptily, V. G.; Kramer, G. J.; Lauber, P.; Lilley, M. K.; Lisak, M.; Nabais, F.; Nazikian, R.; Nyqvist, R.; Osakabe, M.; Perez von Thun, C.; Pinches, S. D.; Podesta, M.; Porkolab, M.; Shinohara, K.; Schoepf, K.; Todo, Y.; Toi, K.; Van Zeeland, M. A.; Voitsekhovich, I.; White, R. B.; Yavorskij, V.; TG, ITPA EP; Contributors, JET-EFDA

2013-10-01

Remarkable progress has been made in diagnosing energetic particle instabilities on present-day machines and in establishing a theoretical framework for describing them. This overview describes the much improved diagnostics of Alfvén instabilities and modelling tools developed world-wide, and discusses progress in interpreting the observed phenomena. A multi-machine comparison is presented giving information on the performance of both diagnostics and modelling tools for different plasma conditions outlining expectations for ITER based on our present knowledge.

Working set selection using functional gain for LS-SVM.

PubMed

Bo, Liefeng; Jiao, Licheng; Wang, Ling

2007-09-01

The efficiency of sequential minimal optimization (SMO) depends strongly on the working set selection. This letter shows how the improvement of SMO in each iteration, named the functional gain (FG), is used to select the working set for least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM). We prove the convergence of the proposed method and give some theoretical support for its performance. Empirical comparisons demonstrate that our method is superior to the maximum violating pair (MVP) working set selection.

Instrumental color control for metallic coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chou, W.; Han, Bing; Cui, Guihua; Rigg, Bryan; Luo, Ming R.

2002-06-01

This paper describes work investigating a suitable color quality control method for metallic coatings. A set of psychological experiments was carried out based upon 50 pairs of samples. The results were used to test the performance of various color difference formulae. Different techniques were developed by optimising the weights and/or the lightness parametric factors of colour differences calculated from the four measuring angles. The results show that the new techniques give a significant improvement compared to conventional techniques.

Impact of clinical leadership development on the clinical leader, nursing team and care-giving process: a case study.

PubMed

Dierckx de Casterlé, Bernadette; Willemse, An; Verschueren, Marc; Milisen, Koen

2008-09-01

This study explored the dynamics related to a leadership development programme and their impact on the clinical leader, the nursing team and the care-giving process. While there is a growing conviction about the need to invest in transformational leadership in nursing, further insight into the true complexity of leadership development and, more specifically, how leadership can make a difference in nursing and patient outcomes is essential. A single instrumental case study was conducted in a unit of a large academic hospital where a Clinical Leadership development Project (CLP) was implemented successfully. We used mixed methods with multiple sources of data to capture the complexity of leadership development. Data were collected through individual interviews, focus groups and observation of participants. A purposive sample of 17 participants representing a wide variety of team members has permitted data saturation. The data were categorized and conceptualized and finally organized into a framework describing leadership development on the unit and its impact on the leader, the nursing team and the care-giving process. Leadership development is an ongoing, interactive process between the clinical leader and the co-workers. The head nurse became more effective in areas of self-awareness, communication skills, performance and vision. The nursing team benefited because more effective leadership promoted effective communication, greater responsibility, empowerment and job clarity. Improved clinical leadership seemed also to influence patient-centred communication, continuity of care and interdisciplinary collaboration. The results of the study give more insight into the processes underlying the leader's progress towards attaining a transformational leadership style and its impact on the team members. The impact of leadership on the care-giving process, however, remains difficult to describe. The interactive nature of leadership development makes CLP a challenge for the leader as well for the team members. Through its impact on the leader and the nursing team, CLP is a valuable instrument for improving work environments of nurses, contributing positively to patient-centred care.

The balanced scorecard--measures that drive performance.

PubMed

Kaplan, R S; Norton, D P

1992-01-01

Frustrated by the inadequacies of traditional performance measurement systems, some managers have abandoned financial measures like return on equity and earnings per share. "Make operational improvements and the numbers will follow," the argument goes. But managers do not want to choose between financial and operational measures. Executives want a balanced presentation of measures that allow them to view the company from several perspectives simultaneously. During a year-long research project with 12 companies at the leading edge of performance measurement, the authors developed a "balanced scorecard," a new performance measurement system that gives top managers a fast but comprehensive view of the business. The balanced scorecard includes financial measures that tell the results of actions already taken. And it complements those financial measures with three sets of operational measures having to do with customer satisfaction, internal processes, and the organization's ability to learn and improve--the activities that drive future financial performance. Managers can create a balanced scorecard by translating their company's strategy and mission statements into specific goals and measures. To create the part of the scorecard that focuses on the customer perspective, for example, executives at Electronic Circuits Inc. established general goals for customer performance: get standard products to market sooner, improve customers' time-to-market, become customers' supplier of choice through partnerships, and develop innovative products tailored to customer needs. Managers translated these elements of strategy into four specific goals and identified a measure for each.

The use of satellites in non-goestationary orbits for unloading geostationary communication satellite traffic peaks. Volume 2: Technical report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Price, K.; Turner, A.; Nguyen, T.; Doong, W.; Weyandt, C.

1987-01-01

The part of the geostationary (GEO) orbital arc used for United States domestic fixed, communications service is rapidly becoming filled with satellites. One of the factors currently limiting its utilization is that communications satellites must be designed to have sufficient capacity to handle peak traffic leads, and thus are under utilized most of the time. A solution is to use satellites in suitable non-geostationary orbits to unload the traffic peaks. Three different designs for a non-geostationary orbit communications satellite system are presented for the 1995 time frame. The economic performance is analyzed and compared with geostationary satellites for two classes of service, trunking and customer premise service. The result is that the larger payload of the non-geostationary satellite offsets the burdens of increased complexity and worse radiation environment to give improved economic performance. Depending on ground terminal configuration, the improved economic performance of the space segment may be offset by increased ground terminal expenses.

SRF MATERIALS OTHER THAN NIOBIUM

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

Valente, Anne-Marie

2008-02-12

For the past three decades, bulk niobium has been the material of choice for SRF cavity applications. Alternative materials, mainly Nb compounds and A15 compounds have been investigated with moderate effort in the past. In the recent years, RF cavity performance has approached the theoretical limit for bulk niobium. For further improvement of RF cavity performance for future accelerator projects, research interest is renewed towards alternative materials to niobium. A few laboratories around the world are now investigating superconductors with higher transition temperature Tc for application to SRF cavities. This paper gives an overview of the results obtained and challengesmore » encountered for Nb compounds and A15 compounds, as well as for MgB2, for SRF cavity applications. An interesting alternative has been recently proposed by Alex Gurevich with the Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor multilayer approach. This could potentially lead to further improvement in RF cavity performance using the benefit of the higher critical field Hc of higher-Tc superconductors without being limited with their lower Hc1.« less

Impact of Merger and Acquisition on University Performance.

PubMed

Mohamadi Bolbanabad, Amjad; Mosadeghrad, Ali Mohammad; Arab, Mohammad; Majdzadeh, Reza

2017-08-01

Merger and acquisitions (M&A) widen access to higher education, improve quality of teaching and research, and increase efficiency of higher education institutions. Three big medical universities in Iran merged in 2010. The purpose of this study was to highlight the impact of this acquisition on the performance of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. This qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured in-depth interviews with 60 participants from April 2015 to November 2015. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit participants. Data analysis was performed using MAXQDA software (V. 10). The reasons for acquisition of IUMS by TUMS were to enhance the position of TUMS worldwide, and to increase its efficiency. The acquisition improved the organization and management of the newly formed TUMS, enhanced its academic position and market recognition. However, the achieved benefits did not come without shortcomings and unanticipated consequences. The merger and acquisition in higher education has some advantages and disadvantages. A well planned and carefully implemented M&A gives cutting edge to the higher education institutes.

Efficiency in nonequilibrium molecular dynamics Monte Carlo simulations

DOE PAGES

Radak, Brian K.; Roux, Benoît

2016-10-07

Hybrid algorithms combining nonequilibrium molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo (neMD/MC) offer a powerful avenue for improving the sampling efficiency of computer simulations of complex systems. These neMD/MC algorithms are also increasingly finding use in applications where conventional approaches are impractical, such as constant-pH simulations with explicit solvent. However, selecting an optimal nonequilibrium protocol for maximum efficiency often represents a non-trivial challenge. This work evaluates the efficiency of a broad class of neMD/MC algorithms and protocols within the theoretical framework of linear response theory. The approximations are validated against constant pH-MD simulations and shown to provide accurate predictions of neMD/MC performance.more » An assessment of a large set of protocols confirms (both theoretically and empirically) that a linear work protocol gives the best neMD/MC performance. Lastly, a well-defined criterion for optimizing the time parameters of the protocol is proposed and demonstrated with an adaptive algorithm that improves the performance on-the-fly with minimal cost.« less

Heading perception in patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Li; Peli, Eli; Warren, William H.

2002-01-01

PURPOSE: We investigated whether retinis pigmentosa (RP) patients with residual visual field of < 100 degrees could perceive heading from optic flow. METHODS: Four RP patients and four age-matched normally sighted control subjects viewed displays simulating an observer walking over a ground. In experiment 1, subjects viewed either the entire display with free fixation (full-field condition) or through an aperture with a fixation point at the center (aperture condition). In experiment 2, patients viewed displays of different durations. RESULTS: RP patients' performance was comparable to that of the age-matched control subjects: heading judgment was better in the full-field condition than in the aperture condition. Increasing display duration from 0.5 s to 1 s improved patients' heading performance, but giving them more time (3 s) to gather more visual information did not consistently further improve their performance. CONCLUSIONS: RP patients use active scanning eye movements to compensate for their visual field loss in heading perception; they might be able to gather sufficient optic flow information for heading perception in about 1 s.

Improving Light Harvesting in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Using Hybrid Bimetallic Nanostructures

DOE PAGES

Zarick, Holly F.; Erwin, William R.; Boulesbaa, Abdelaziz; ...

2016-01-25

In this paper, we demonstrate improved light trapping in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with hybrid bimetallic gold core/silver shell nanostructures. Silica-coated bimetallic nanostructures (Au/Ag/SiO 2 NSs) integrated in the active layer of DSSCs resulted in 7.51% power conversion efficiency relative to 5.97% for reference DSSCs, giving rise to 26% enhancement in device performance. DSSC efficiencies were governed by the particle density of Au/Ag/SiO 2 NSs with best performing devices utilizing only 0.44 wt % of nanostructures. We performed transient absorption spectroscopy of DSSCs with variable concentrations of Au/Ag/SiO 2 NSs and observed an increase in amplitude and decrease in lifetimemore » with increasing particle density relative to reference. Finally, we attributed this trend to plasmon resonant energy transfer and population of the singlet excited states of the sensitizer molecules at the optimum concentration of NSs promoting enhanced exciton generation and rapid charge transfer into TiO 2.« less

Heading perception in patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa.

PubMed

Li, Li; Peli, Eli; Warren, William H

2002-09-01

We investigated whether retinis pigmentosa (RP) patients with residual visual field of < 100 degrees could perceive heading from optic flow. Four RP patients and four age-matched normally sighted control subjects viewed displays simulating an observer walking over a ground. In experiment 1, subjects viewed either the entire display with free fixation (full-field condition) or through an aperture with a fixation point at the center (aperture condition). In experiment 2, patients viewed displays of different durations. RP patients' performance was comparable to that of the age-matched control subjects: heading judgment was better in the full-field condition than in the aperture condition. Increasing display duration from 0.5 s to 1 s improved patients' heading performance, but giving them more time (3 s) to gather more visual information did not consistently further improve their performance. RP patients use active scanning eye movements to compensate for their visual field loss in heading perception; they might be able to gather sufficient optic flow information for heading perception in about 1 s.

Enhanced electrochemical performance of in situ reduced graphene oxide-polyaniline nanotubes hybrid nanocomposites using redox-additive aqueous electrolyte

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devi, Madhabi; Kumar, A.

2018-02-01

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-polyaniline nanotubes (PAniNTs) nanocomposites have been synthesized by in situ reduction of GO. The morphology and structure of the nanocomposites are characterized by HRTEM, XRD and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The electrical and electrochemical performances of the nanocomposites are investigated for different RGO concentrations by conductivity measurements, cyclic voltammetry, charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Highest gravimetric specific capacitance of 448.71 F g-1 is obtained for 40 wt.% of RGO-PAniNTs nanocomposite as compared to 194.92 F g-1 for pure PAniNTs in 1 M KCl electrolyte. To further improve the electrochemical performance of the nanocomposite electrode, KI is used as redox-additive with 1 M KCl electrolyte. Highest gravimetric specific capacitance of 876.43 F g-1 and an improved cyclic stability of 91% as compared to 79% without KI after 5000 cycles is achieved for an optimized 0.1 M KI concentration. This is attributed to the presence of different ionic species of I- ions that give rise to a number of possible redox reactions improving the pseudocapacitance of the electrode. This improved capacitive performance is compared with that of catechol redox-additive in 1 M KCl electrolyte, and that of KI and catechol redox-additives added to 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte.

Application of WRF/Chem over East Asia: Part II. Model improvement and sensitivity simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yang; Zhang, Xin; Wang, Kai; Zhang, Qiang; Duan, Fengkui; He, Kebin

2016-01-01

To address the problems and limitations identified through a comprehensive evaluation in Part I paper, several modifications are made in model inputs, treatments, and configurations and sensitivity simulations with improved model inputs and treatments are performed in this Part II paper. The use of reinitialization of meteorological variables reduces the biases and increases the spatial correlations in simulated temperature at 2-m (T2), specific humidity at 2-m (Q2), wind speed at 10-m (WS10), and precipitation (Precip). The use of a revised surface drag parameterization further reduces the biases in simulated WS10. The adjustment of only the magnitudes of anthropogenic emissions in the surface layer does not help improve overall model performance, whereas the adjustment of both the magnitudes and vertical distributions of anthropogenic emissions shows moderate to large improvement in simulated surface concentrations and column mass abundances of species in terms of domain mean performance statistics, hourly and monthly mean concentrations, and vertical profiles of concentrations at individual sites. The revised and more advanced dust emission schemes can help improve PM predictions. Using revised upper boundary conditions for O3 significantly improves the column O3 abundances. Using a simple SOA formation module further improves the predictions of organic carbon and PM2.5. The sensitivity simulation that combines all above model improvements greatly improves the overall model performance. For example, the sensitivity simulation gives the normalized mean biases (NMBs) of -6.1% to 23.8% for T2, 2.7-13.8% for Q2, 22.5-47.6% for WS10, and -9.1% to 15.6% for Precip, comparing to -9.8% to 75.6% for T2, 0.4-23.4% for Q2, 66.5-101.0% for WS10, and 11.4%-92.7% for Precip from the original simulation without those improvements. It also gives the NMBs for surface predictions of -68.2% to -3.7% for SO2, -73.8% to -20.6% for NO2, -8.8%-128.7% for O3, -61.4% to -26.5% for PM2.5, and -64.0% to 7.2% for PM10, comparing to -84.2% to -44.5% for SO2, -88.1% to -44.0% for NO2, -11.0%-160.3% for O3, -63.9% to -25.2% for PM2.5, and -68.9%-33.3% for PM10 from the original simulation. The improved WRF/Chem is applied to estimate the impact of anthropogenic aerosols on regional climate and air quality in East Asia. Anthropogenic aerosols can increase cloud condensation nuclei, aerosol optical depth, cloud droplet number concentrations, and cloud optical depth. They can decrease surface net radiation, temperature at 2-m, wind speed at 10-m, planetary boundary layer height, and precipitation through various direct and indirect effects. These changes in turn lead to changes in chemical predictions in a variety of ways.

Multijunction Solar Cells Optimized for the Mars Surface Solar Spectrum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edmondson, Kenneth M.; Fetzer, Chris; Karam, Nasser H.; Stella, Paul; Mardesich, Nick; Mueller, Robert

2007-01-01

This paper gives an update on the performance of the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) which have been continually performing for more than 3 years beyond their original 90-day missions. The paper also gives the latest results on the optimization of a multijunction solar cell that is optimized to give more power on the surface of Mars.

Succession planning in hospitals and the association with organizational performance.

PubMed

Kim, Tae Hyun

2012-01-01

Effective succession planning is the heart of leadership development and an essential business strategy because it enhances the ability to achieve orderly transitions and maintain productivity levels. The results of this study are consistent with previous studies that exhibit a positive association of previous years' performance with internal succession planning. The key to successful succession planning lies in building a solid foundation of profitability. Having successors ready to fill key vacancies helps improve operational condition and the bottom line, and thus, gives a competitive edge in the market. Preparing successors for leadership may determine which organizations simply survive and which thrive and lead their markets down the road.

An improved prism for use in laser resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richards, J.

1981-08-01

The use of compound total internal reflection prisms rather than Porro prisms in polarisation coupled lasers is proposed. Performance advantages resulting from the use of these prisms include higher output without the need to bias the Pockels cell, ability to give a larger range of output coupling and independence of performance on the refractive index of the prism. In conventional Q-switched lasers the use of the prism at the Pockels cell end of the resonator instead of the usual 100% reflecting mirror also leads to some advantages including better hold-off, elimination of the need to bias the Pockels cell and insensitivity in one plane to angular misalignment.

Improved Speech Coding Based on Open-Loop Parameter Estimation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juang, Jer-Nan; Chen, Ya-Chin; Longman, Richard W.

2000-01-01

A nonlinear optimization algorithm for linear predictive speech coding was developed early that not only optimizes the linear model coefficients for the open loop predictor, but does the optimization including the effects of quantization of the transmitted residual. It also simultaneously optimizes the quantization levels used for each speech segment. In this paper, we present an improved method for initialization of this nonlinear algorithm, and demonstrate substantial improvements in performance. In addition, the new procedure produces monotonically improving speech quality with increasing numbers of bits used in the transmitted error residual. Examples of speech encoding and decoding are given for 8 speech segments and signal to noise levels as high as 47 dB are produced. As in typical linear predictive coding, the optimization is done on the open loop speech analysis model. Here we demonstrate that minimizing the error of the closed loop speech reconstruction, instead of the simpler open loop optimization, is likely to produce negligible improvement in speech quality. The examples suggest that the algorithm here is close to giving the best performance obtainable from a linear model, for the chosen order with the chosen number of bits for the codebook.

Problem-based writing with peer review improves academic performance in physiology.

PubMed

Pelaez, Nancy J

2002-12-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether problem-based writing with peer review (PW-PR) improves undergraduate student performance on physiology exams. Didactic lectures were replaced with assignments to give students practice explaining their reasoning while solving qualitative problems, thus transferring the responsibility for abstraction and generalization to the students. Performance on exam items about concepts taught using PW-PR was compared with performance on concepts taught using didactic lectures followed by group work. Calibrated Peer Review, a Web-delivered program, was used to collect student essays and to manage anonymous peer review after students "passed" three calibration peer reviews. Results show that the students had difficulty relating concepts. Relationship errors were categorized as (1) problems recognizing levels of organization, (2) problems with cause/effect, and (3) overgeneralizations. For example, some described cells as molecules; others thought that vesicles transport materials through the extracellular fluid. With PW-PR, class discussion was used to confront and resolve such difficulties. Both multiple-choice and essay exam results were better with PW-PR instead of lecture.

Computerized engineering logic for procurement and dedication processes

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

Tulay, M.P.

1996-12-31

This paper summarizes the work performed for designing the system and especially for calculating on-line expected performance and gives some significant results. In an attempt to better meet the needs of operations and maintenance organizations, many nuclear utility procurement engineering groups have simplified their procedures, developed on-line tools for performing the specification of replacement items, and developed relational databases containing part-level information necessary to automate the procurement process. Although these improvements have helped to reduce the engineering necessary to properly specify and accept/dedicate items for nuclear safety-related applications, a number of utilities have recognized that additional long-term savings can bemore » realized by integrating a computerized logic to assist technical procurement engineering personnel.« less

Research on the performance evaluation of agricultural products supply chain integrated operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Jiake; Wang, Xifu; Liu, Yang

2017-04-01

The agricultural product supply chain integrated operation can ensure the quality and efficiency of agricultural products, and achieve the optimal goal of low cost and high service. This paper establishes a performance evaluation index system of agricultural products supply chain integration operation based on the development status of agricultural products and SCOR, BSC and KPI model. And then, we constructing rough set theory and BP neural network comprehensive evaluation model with the aid of Rosetta and MATLAB tools and the case study is about the development of agricultural products integrated supply chain in Jing-Jin-Ji region. And finally, we obtain the corresponding performance results, and give some improvement measures and management recommendations to the managers.

Performance evaluation of infrared imaging system in field test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chensheng; Guo, Xiaodong; Ren, Tingting; Zhang, Zhi-jie

2014-11-01

Infrared imaging system has been applied widely in both military and civilian fields. Since the infrared imager has various types and different parameters, for system manufacturers and customers, there is great demand for evaluating the performance of IR imaging systems with a standard tool or platform. Since the first generation IR imager was developed, the standard method to assess the performance has been the MRTD or related improved methods which are not perfect adaptable for current linear scanning imager or 2D staring imager based on FPA detector. For this problem, this paper describes an evaluation method based on the triangular orientation discrimination metric which is considered as the effective and emerging method to evaluate the synthesis performance of EO system. To realize the evaluation in field test, an experiment instrument is developed. And considering the importance of operational environment, the field test is carried in practical atmospheric environment. The test imagers include panoramic imaging system and staring imaging systems with different optics and detectors parameters (both cooled and uncooled). After showing the instrument and experiment setup, the experiment results are shown. The target range performance is analyzed and discussed. In data analysis part, the article gives the range prediction values obtained from TOD method, MRTD method and practical experiment, and shows the analysis and results discussion. The experimental results prove the effectiveness of this evaluation tool, and it can be taken as a platform to give the uniform performance prediction reference.

Crystallization Behavior of Poly(ethylene oxide) in Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube Array.

PubMed

Sheng, Jiadong; Zhou, Shenglin; Yang, Zhaohui; Zhang, Xiaohua

2018-03-27

We investigate the effect of the presence of vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the orientation of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) lamellae and PEO crystallinity. The high alignment of carbon nanotubes acting as templates probably governs the orientation of PEO lamellae. This templating effect might result in the lamella planes of PEO crystals oriented along a direction parallel to the long axis of the nanotubes. The presence of aligned carbon nanotubes also gives rise to the decreases in PEO crystallinity, crystallization temperature, and melting temperature due to the perturbation of carbon nanotubes to the crystallization of PEO. These effects have significant implications for controlling the orientation of PEO lamellae and decreasing the crystallinity of PEO and thickness of PEO lamellae, which have significant impacts on ion transport in PEO/CNT composite and the capacitive performance of PEO/CNT composite. Both the decreased PEO crystallinity and the orientation of PEO lamellae along the long axes of vertically aligned CNTs give rise to the decrease in the charge transfer resistance, which is associated with the improvements in the ion transport and capacitive performance of PEO/CNT composite.

Endoscopic Evacuation of Subdural Collections.

PubMed

Boyaci, Suat; Gumustas, Oguzhan Guven; Korkmaz, Serdar; Aksoy, Kaya

2016-01-01

Intraoperative use of the endoscope is a hot topic in neurosurgery and it gives broader visualization of critical and hardlyreached areas. Endoscope-assisted surgical approach to chronic subdural haematoma (SDH) is a minimally invasive technique and may give an expansion to the regular method of burr-hole haematoma drainage. Endoscope-assisted haematoma drainage with mini-craniotomy was performed over a 24-month period, and prospectively collected data is reviewed. A total of 10 procedures (8 patients) were performed using the endoscopeassisted technique. Four of them were chronic SDH and six were subacute SDH. Procedures were extended 20 minutes in average because of endoscopic intervention. There was no extra-morbidity through the study as a consequence of endoscopic assessment. Endoscope-assisted techniques can make the operation safe in selected circumstances with improved intraoperative visualization. It may likewise take into consideration the identification and destruction of neo-membranes, septums and solid clots. In addition, the source of bleeding can be easily coagulated. The endoscope-assisted techniques, with all of these features, can alter the pre- and intra-operative decision-making for selected patients.

Incorporation of the Fe3O4 and SiO2 nanoparticles in epoxy-modified silicone resin as the coating for soft magnetic composites with enhanced performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Dahao; Wu, Chen; Yan, Mi

2018-04-01

Three inorganic-organic hybrids have been designed by incorporating epoxy-modified silicone resin (ESR) with SiO2, Fe3O4 and their mixture in the application as the coating of Fe soft magnetic composites (SMCs). The introduced SiO2 nanoparticles are well dispersed in the ESR, while the Fe3O4 tends to agglomerate or even separate from the ESR. Simultaneous addition of the SiO2 and Fe3O4 gives rise to satisfactory distribution of both nanoparticles and optimized magnetic performance of the SMCs with high permeability (124.6) and low loss (807.8 mW/cm3). On one hand, introduction of the ferromagnetic Fe3O4 reduces the magnetic dilution effect, which is beneficial for improved magnetization and permeability. On the other hand, SiO2 incorporation prevents the agglomeration of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles and gives rise to increased electrical resistivity for reduced core loss as well as enhanced mechanical strength of the SMCs.

Verification of Exciton Effects in Organic Solar Cells at Low Temperatures Based on a Modified Numerical Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Chun-Hua; Sun, Jiu-Xun; Wang, Dai-Peng; Dong, Yan

2018-02-01

There are many models for researching charge transport in semiconductors and improving their performance. Most of them give good descriptions of the experimental data at room temperature. But it is still an open question which model is correct. In this paper, numerical calculations based on three modified versions of a classical model were made, and compared with experimental data for typical devices at room or low temperatures. Although their results are very similar to each other at room temperatures, only the version considering exciton effects by using a hydrogen-like model can give qualitative descriptions to recent experimental data at low temperatures. Moreover, the mobility was researched in detail by comparing the constant model and temperature dependence model. Then, we found the performance increases with the mobility of each charge carrier type being independent to the mobility of the other one. This paper provides better insight into understanding the physical mechanism of carrier transport in semiconductors, and the results show that exciton effects should be considered in modeling organic solar cells.

Coil geometry effects on scanning single-coil magnetic induction tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feldkamp, Joe R.; Quirk, Stephen

2017-09-01

Alternative coil designs for single coil magnetic induction tomography are considered in this work, with the intention of improving upon the standard design used previously. In particular, we note that the blind spot associated with this coil type, a portion of space along its axis where eddy current generation can be very weak, has an important effect on performance. The seven designs tested here vary considerably in the size of their blind spot. To provide the most discerning test possible, we use laboratory phantoms containing feature dimensions similar to blind spot size. Furthermore, conductivity contrasts are set higher than what would occur naturally in biological systems, which has the effect of weakening eddy current generation at coil locations that straddle the border between high and low conductivity features. Image reconstruction results for the various coils show that coils with smaller blind spots give markedly better performance, though improvements in signal-to-noise ratio could alter that conclusion.

Estimated performance and future potential of solar dynamic and photovoltaic power systems for selected LEO and HEO missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bents, David J.; Lu, Cheng Y.

1989-01-01

Solar photovoltaic and thermal dynamic power systems for application to selected low-earth-orbit (LEO) and high-earth-orbit (HEO) missions are characterized in the regime 7 to 35 kWe. Input parameters to the characterization are varied to correspond to anticipated introduction of improved or new technologies. A comparative assessment is made of the two power system types for emerging technologies in cells and arrays, energy storage, optical surfaces, heat engines, thermal energy storage and thermal management. The assessment is made to common ground rules and assumptions. The four missions (Space Station, sun-synchronous, Van Allen belt, and GEO) are representative of the anticipated range of multikilowatt earth-orbit missions. The results give the expected performance, mass and drag of multikilowatt earth-orbiting solar power systems and show how the overall system figure of merit will improve as new component technologies are incorporated.

Polar versus Cartesian velocity models for maneuvering target tracking with IMM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laneuville, Dann

This paper compares various model sets in different IMM filters for the maneuvering target tracking problem. The aim is to see whether we can improve the tracking performance of what is certainly the most widely used model set in the literature for the maneuvering target tracking problem: a Nearly Constant Velocity model and a Nearly Coordinated Turn model. Our new challenger set consists of a mixed Cartesian position and polar velocity state vector to describe the uniform motion segments and is augmented with the turn rate to obtain the second model for the maneuvering segments. This paper also gives a general procedure to discretize up to second order any non-linear continuous time model with linear diffusion. Comparative simulations on an air defence scenario with a 2D radar, show that this new approach improves significantly the tracking performance in this case.

Parallel-Vector Algorithm For Rapid Structural Anlysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agarwal, Tarun R.; Nguyen, Duc T.; Storaasli, Olaf O.

1993-01-01

New algorithm developed to overcome deficiency of skyline storage scheme by use of variable-band storage scheme. Exploits both parallel and vector capabilities of modern high-performance computers. Gives engineers and designers opportunity to include more design variables and constraints during optimization of structures. Enables use of more refined finite-element meshes to obtain improved understanding of complex behaviors of aerospace structures leading to better, safer designs. Not only attractive for current supercomputers but also for next generation of shared-memory supercomputers.

Measurements of Raman crystallinity profiles in thin-film microcrystalline silicon solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choong, G.; Vallat-Sauvain, E.; Multone, X.; Fesquet, L.; Kroll, U.; Meier, J.

2013-06-01

Wedge-polished thin film microcrystalline silicon solar cells are prepared and used for micro-Raman measurements. Thereby, the variations of the Raman crystallinity with depth are accessed easily. Depth resolution limits of the measurement set-up are established and calculations evidencing the role of optical limits are presented. Due to this new technique, Raman crystallinity profiles of two microcrystalline silicon cells give first hints for the optimization of the profile leading to improved electrical performance of such devices.

Ten years of experience from interactive ergonomics projects.

PubMed

Eklund, J; Karltun, J

2012-01-01

This paper highlights experiences from ergonomics projects, applying an interactive research approach. The aim of this paper is to summarise experiences from seven interactive ergonomics projects with the aim to improve ergonomics and organizational performance jointly. Results from these seven projects were analysed with a model for assessing sustainable change, including the factors active ownership, professional management, competent project leadership, and involved participants. All factors were found giving support to impact and sustainability of the change projects. However, the role of the researcher is difficult and demanding.

The 1992 activities of the International GPS Geodynamics Service (IGS).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beutler, G.

The primary goal of the International GPS Geodynamics Service (IGS) is to give the scientific community high quality GPS orbits (and related information like earth orientation parameters) to perform regional or local GPS analyses without further orbit improvement. The declared goal of the three month 1992 IGS Test Campaign was the routine production of accurate GPS orbits using the observations of about 30 globally distributed IGS Core Sites. IGS Epoch Campaigns will be organized about every second year.

Does employee involvement work? Yes, sometimes.

PubMed

Cotton, J L

1997-12-01

Employee involvement per se is not always effective for improving performance and/or employee attitudes. Rather, there are several different forms of employee involvement, some of which are effective, while others are not. This article describes seven forms of employee involvement, giving examples, and summarizes research findings for each form, concluding with a summary of which are the best and which are worst. This article also describes what is necessary for effective employee involvement, focusing on management commitment and training for both management and employees.

PEARL: the high pressure neutron powder diffractometer at ISIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bull, C. L.; Funnell, N. P.; Tucker, M. G.; Hull, S.; Francis, D. J.; Marshall, W. G.

2016-10-01

The PEARL instrument at ISIS has been designed for, and dedicated to, in situ studies of materials at high pressure, using the Paris-Edinburgh press. In recent years, upgrades to the instrument have led to improvements in data quality and the range of achievable pressures and temperatures; currently 0.5-28 GPa and 80-1400 K. This paper describes the technical characteristics of the instrument, its current capabilities, and gives a brief overview of the science that has been performed, using representative examples.

The use of an investigational radiopharmaceutical in neuroblastoma: A nursing perspective

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

Kelly, J.U.

Children with advanced-stage neuroblastoma usually have a poor prognosis. While conventional treatment with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation may provide some palliation, long-term survival is rare. A number of investigational therapies are being performed nationwide in an attempt to improve the prognosis for children with neuroblastoma. One such treatment is the use of {sup 131}I-metaiodobenzylguanidine. This article will review the pathophysiology of neuroblastoma, give an overview of this investigational treatment, and discuss the nursing care associated with radioactive treatment.

A self-organizing neural network for the traveling salesman problem that is competitive with simulated annealing.

PubMed

Budinich, M

1996-02-15

Unsupervised learning applied to an unstructured neural network can give approximate solutions to the traveling salesman problem. For 50 cities in the plane this algorithm performs like the elastic net of Durbin and Willshaw (1987) and it improves when increasing the number of cities to get better than simulated annealing for problems with more than 500 cities. In all the tests this algorithm requires a fraction of the time taken by simulated annealing.

How Kinesthetic Motor Imagery works: a predictive-processing theory of visualization in sports and motor expertise.

PubMed

Ridderinkhof, K Richard; Brass, Marcel

2015-01-01

Kinesthetic Motor Imagery (KMI) is an important technique to acquire and refine motor skills. KMI is widely used by professional athletes as an effective way to improve motor performance without overt motor output. Despite this obvious relevance, the functional mechanisms and neural circuits involved in KMI in sports are still poorly understood. In the present article, which aims at bridging the sport sciences and cognitive neurophysiology literatures, we give a brief overview of relevant research in the field of KMI. Furthermore, we develop a theoretical account that relates KMI to predictive motor control theories assuming that it is based on internal activation of anticipatory images of action effects. This mechanism allows improving motor performance solely based on internal emulation of action. In accordance with previous literature, we propose that this emulation mechanism is implemented in brain regions that partially overlap with brain areas involved in overt motor performance including the posterior parietal cortex, the cerebellum, the basal ganglia and the premotor cortex. Finally, we outline one way to test the heuristic value of our theoretical framework for KMI; we suggest that experience with motor performance improves the ability to correctly infer the goals of others, in particular in penalty blocking in soccer. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vast Portfolio Selection with Gross-exposure Constraints*

PubMed Central

Fan, Jianqing; Zhang, Jingjin; Yu, Ke

2012-01-01

We introduce the large portfolio selection using gross-exposure constraints. We show that with gross-exposure constraint the empirically selected optimal portfolios based on estimated covariance matrices have similar performance to the theoretical optimal ones and there is no error accumulation effect from estimation of vast covariance matrices. This gives theoretical justification to the empirical results in Jagannathan and Ma (2003). We also show that the no-short-sale portfolio can be improved by allowing some short positions. The applications to portfolio selection, tracking, and improvements are also addressed. The utility of our new approach is illustrated by simulation and empirical studies on the 100 Fama-French industrial portfolios and the 600 stocks randomly selected from Russell 3000. PMID:23293404

Testing of Anesthesia Machines and Defibrillators in Healthcare Institutions.

PubMed

Gurbeta, Lejla; Dzemic, Zijad; Bego, Tamer; Sejdic, Ervin; Badnjevic, Almir

2017-09-01

To improve the quality of patient treatment by improving the functionality of medical devices in healthcare institutions. To present the results of the safety and performance inspection of patient-relevant output parameters of anesthesia machines and defibrillators defined by legal metrology. This study covered 130 anesthesia machines and 161 defibrillators used in public and private healthcare institutions, during a period of two years. Testing procedures were carried out according to international standards and legal metrology legislative procedures in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results show that in 13.84% of tested anesthesia machine and 14.91% of defibrillators device performance is not in accordance with requirements and should either have its results be verified, or the device removed from use or scheduled for corrective maintenance. Research emphasizes importance of independent safety and performance inspections, and gives recommendations for the frequency of inspection based on measurements. Results offer implications for adequacy of preventive and corrective maintenance performed in healthcare institutions. Based on collected data, the first digital electronical database of anesthesia machines and defibrillators used in healthcare institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina is created. This database is a useful tool for tracking each device's performance over time.

Investigation of the transmission of fore and aft vibration through the human body.

PubMed

Demić, Miroslav; Lukić, Jovanka

2009-07-01

Understanding the behavior of human body under the influence of vibration is of great importance for the optimal motor vehicle system design. Therefore, great efforts are being done in order to discover as many information about the influence of vibration on human body as possible. So far the references show that the major scientific attention has been paid to vertical vibration, although intensive research has been performed lately on the other sorts of excitation. In this paper, the results of the investigation of behavior of human body, in seated position, under the influence of random fore and aft vibration are shown. The investigation is performed by the use of an electro-hydraulic simulator, on a group of 30 healthy male occupants. Experiments are performed in order to give results to improve human body modeling in driving conditions. Excitation amplitudes (1.75 and 2.25 m/s(2) rms) and seat backrest conditions (with and without inclination) were varied. Data results are analyzed by partial coherence and transfer functions. Analyses have been performed and results are given in detail. The results obtained have shown that the human body under the influence of random excitations behaves as a non-linear system and its response depends on spatial position. Obtained results give necessary data to define structure and parameters of human biodynamic model with respect to different excitation and seat backrest position.

Prostate cancer detection using machine learning techniques by employing combination of features extracting strategies.

PubMed

Hussain, Lal; Ahmed, Adeel; Saeed, Sharjil; Rathore, Saima; Awan, Imtiaz Ahmed; Shah, Saeed Arif; Majid, Abdul; Idris, Adnan; Awan, Anees Ahmed

2018-02-06

Prostate is a second leading causes of cancer deaths among men. Early detection of cancer can effectively reduce the rate of mortality caused by Prostate cancer. Due to high and multiresolution of MRIs from prostate cancer require a proper diagnostic systems and tools. In the past researchers developed Computer aided diagnosis (CAD) systems that help the radiologist to detect the abnormalities. In this research paper, we have employed novel Machine learning techniques such as Bayesian approach, Support vector machine (SVM) kernels: polynomial, radial base function (RBF) and Gaussian and Decision Tree for detecting prostate cancer. Moreover, different features extracting strategies are proposed to improve the detection performance. The features extracting strategies are based on texture, morphological, scale invariant feature transform (SIFT), and elliptic Fourier descriptors (EFDs) features. The performance was evaluated based on single as well as combination of features using Machine Learning Classification techniques. The Cross validation (Jack-knife k-fold) was performed and performance was evaluated in term of receiver operating curve (ROC) and specificity, sensitivity, Positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), false positive rate (FPR). Based on single features extracting strategies, SVM Gaussian Kernel gives the highest accuracy of 98.34% with AUC of 0.999. While, using combination of features extracting strategies, SVM Gaussian kernel with texture + morphological, and EFDs + morphological features give the highest accuracy of 99.71% and AUC of 1.00.

Mediator Effect of TPM between TQM and Business Performance in Malaysia Automotive Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, M. F.; Zakuan, N.; Rasi, Raja Zuraidah R. M.; Hisyamudin, M. N. N.

2015-05-01

Total Quality Management (TQM) is vital management tool in ensuring a company can success in the continuously growing competition in the global market. In order to survive in the global market with intense competition amongst regions and enterprises, the adoption of tools and techniques are essential in improving business performance. However, only few previous studies have examined the mediators and moderators between TQM and business performance. This present research proposed a TQM performance model with mediator effect of TPM with structural equation modelling, which is a more comprehensive model for developing countries, specifically for Malaysia. A questionnaire was prepared and sent to 1500 companies from automotive industry and the related vendors in Malaysia, giving a 21.3 per cent rate. The result concludes that TPM is partial mediation between and TQM and Business Performance with indirect effect (IE) is 0.25 which can be categorised as high mediator effect.

Conjugating binary systems for spacecraft thermal control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grodzka, Philomena G.; Dean, William G.; Sisk, Lori A.; Karu, Zain S.

1989-01-01

The materials search was directed to liquid pairs which can form hydrogen bonds of just the right strength, i.e., strong enough to give a high heat of mixing, but weak enough to enable phase change to occur. The cursory studies performed in the area of additive effects indicate that Conjugating Binary (CB) performance can probably be fine-tuned by this means. The Fluid Loop Test Systems (FLTS) tests of candidate CBs indicate that the systems Triethylamine (TEA)/water and propionaldehyde/water show close to the ideal, reversible behavior, at least initially. The Quick Screening Tests QSTs and FLTS tests, however, both suffer from rather severe static due either to inadequate stirring or temperature control. Thus it is not possible to adequately evaluate less than ideal CB performers. Less than ideal performers, it should be noted, may have features that make them better practical CBs than ideal performers. Improvement of the evaluation instrumentation is thus indicated.

Conveyor Performance based on Motor DC 12 Volt Eg-530ad-2f using K-Means Clustering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arifin, Zaenal; Artini, Sri DP; Much Ibnu Subroto, Imam

2017-04-01

To produce goods in industry, a controlled tool to improve production is required. Separation process has become a part of production process. Separation process is carried out based on certain criteria to get optimum result. By knowing the characteristics performance of a controlled tools in separation process the optimum results is also possible to be obtained. Clustering analysis is popular method for clustering data into smaller segments. Clustering analysis is useful to divide a group of object into a k-group in which the member value of the group is homogeny or similar. Similarity in the group is set based on certain criteria. The work in this paper based on K-Means method to conduct clustering of loading in the performance of a conveyor driven by a dc motor 12 volt eg-530-2f. This technique gives a complete clustering data for a prototype of conveyor driven by dc motor to separate goods in term of height. The parameters involved are voltage, current, time of travelling. These parameters give two clusters namely optimal cluster with center of cluster 10.50 volt, 0.3 Ampere, 10.58 second, and unoptimal cluster with center of cluster 10.88 volt, 0.28 Ampere and 40.43 second.

The X-ray cluster survey with eRosita: forecasts for cosmology, cluster physics and primordial non-Gaussianity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pillepich, Annalisa; Porciani, Cristiano; Reiprich, Thomas H.

2012-05-01

Starting in late 2013, the eRosita telescope will survey the X-ray sky with unprecedented sensitivity. Assuming a detection limit of 50 photons in the (0.5-2.0) keV energy band with a typical exposure time of 1.6 ks, we predict that eRosita will detect ˜9.3 × 104 clusters of galaxies more massive than 5 × 1013 h-1 M⊙, with the currently planned all-sky survey. Their median redshift will be z≃ 0.35. We perform a Fisher-matrix analysis to forecast the constraining power of ? on the Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmology and, simultaneously, on the X-ray scaling relations for galaxy clusters. Special attention is devoted to the possibility of detecting primordial non-Gaussianity. We consider two experimental probes: the number counts and the angular clustering of a photon-count limited sample of clusters. We discuss how the cluster sample should be split to optimize the analysis and we show that redshift information of the individual clusters is vital to break the strong degeneracies among the model parameters. For example, performing a 'tomographic' analysis based on photometric-redshift estimates and combining one- and two-point statistics will give marginal 1σ errors of Δσ8≃ 0.036 and ΔΩm≃ 0.012 without priors, and improve the current estimates on the slope of the luminosity-mass relation by a factor of 3. Regarding primordial non-Gaussianity, ? clusters alone will give ΔfNL≃ 9, 36 and 144 for the local, orthogonal and equilateral model, respectively. Measuring redshifts with spectroscopic accuracy would further tighten the constraints by nearly 40 per cent (barring fNL which displays smaller improvements). Finally, combining ? data with the analysis of temperature anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background by the Planck satellite should give sensational constraints on both the cosmology and the properties of the intracluster medium.

A Potential Spatial Working Memory Training Task to Improve Both Episodic Memory and Fluid Intelligence

PubMed Central

Rudebeck, Sarah R.; Bor, Daniel; Ormond, Angharad; O’Reilly, Jill X.; Lee, Andy C. H.

2012-01-01

One current challenge in cognitive training is to create a training regime that benefits multiple cognitive domains, including episodic memory, without relying on a large battery of tasks, which can be time-consuming and difficult to learn. By giving careful consideration to the neural correlates underlying episodic and working memory, we devised a computerized working memory training task in which neurologically healthy participants were required to monitor and detect repetitions in two streams of spatial information (spatial location and scene identity) presented simultaneously (i.e. a dual n-back paradigm). Participants’ episodic memory abilities were assessed before and after training using two object and scene recognition memory tasks incorporating memory confidence judgments. Furthermore, to determine the generalizability of the effects of training, we also assessed fluid intelligence using a matrix reasoning task. By examining the difference between pre- and post-training performance (i.e. gain scores), we found that the trainers, compared to non-trainers, exhibited a significant improvement in fluid intelligence after 20 days. Interestingly, pre-training fluid intelligence performance, but not training task improvement, was a significant predictor of post-training fluid intelligence improvement, with lower pre-training fluid intelligence associated with greater post-training gain. Crucially, trainers who improved the most on the training task also showed an improvement in recognition memory as captured by d-prime scores and estimates of recollection and familiarity memory. Training task improvement was a significant predictor of gains in recognition and familiarity memory performance, with greater training improvement leading to more marked gains. In contrast, lower pre-training recollection memory scores, and not training task improvement, led to greater recollection memory performance after training. Our findings demonstrate that practice on a single working memory task can potentially improve aspects of both episodic memory and fluid intelligence, and that an extensive training regime with multiple tasks may not be necessary. PMID:23209740

A potential spatial working memory training task to improve both episodic memory and fluid intelligence.

PubMed

Rudebeck, Sarah R; Bor, Daniel; Ormond, Angharad; O'Reilly, Jill X; Lee, Andy C H

2012-01-01

One current challenge in cognitive training is to create a training regime that benefits multiple cognitive domains, including episodic memory, without relying on a large battery of tasks, which can be time-consuming and difficult to learn. By giving careful consideration to the neural correlates underlying episodic and working memory, we devised a computerized working memory training task in which neurologically healthy participants were required to monitor and detect repetitions in two streams of spatial information (spatial location and scene identity) presented simultaneously (i.e. a dual n-back paradigm). Participants' episodic memory abilities were assessed before and after training using two object and scene recognition memory tasks incorporating memory confidence judgments. Furthermore, to determine the generalizability of the effects of training, we also assessed fluid intelligence using a matrix reasoning task. By examining the difference between pre- and post-training performance (i.e. gain scores), we found that the trainers, compared to non-trainers, exhibited a significant improvement in fluid intelligence after 20 days. Interestingly, pre-training fluid intelligence performance, but not training task improvement, was a significant predictor of post-training fluid intelligence improvement, with lower pre-training fluid intelligence associated with greater post-training gain. Crucially, trainers who improved the most on the training task also showed an improvement in recognition memory as captured by d-prime scores and estimates of recollection and familiarity memory. Training task improvement was a significant predictor of gains in recognition and familiarity memory performance, with greater training improvement leading to more marked gains. In contrast, lower pre-training recollection memory scores, and not training task improvement, led to greater recollection memory performance after training. Our findings demonstrate that practice on a single working memory task can potentially improve aspects of both episodic memory and fluid intelligence, and that an extensive training regime with multiple tasks may not be necessary.

Negation handling in sentiment classification using rule-based adapted from Indonesian language syntactic for Indonesian text in Twitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amalia, Rizkiana; Arif Bijaksana, Moch; Darmantoro, Dhinta

2018-03-01

The presence of the word negation is able to change the polarity of the text if it is not handled properly it will affect the performance of the sentiment classification. Negation words in Indonesian are ‘tidak’, ‘bukan’, ‘belum’ and ‘jangan’. Also, there is a conjunction word that able to reverse the actual values, as the word ‘tetapi’, or ‘tapi’. Unigram has shortcomings in dealing with the existence of negation because it treats negation word and the negated words as separate words. A general approach for negation handling in English text gives the tag ‘NEG_’ for following words after negation until the first punctuation. But this may gives the tag to un-negated, and this approach does not handle negation and conjunction in one sentences. The rule-based method to determine what words negated by adapting the rules of Indonesian language syntactic of negation to determine the scope of negation was proposed in this study. With adapting syntactic rules and tagging “NEG_” using SVM classifier with RBF kernel has better performance results than the other experiments. Considering the average F1-score value, the performance of this proposed method can be improved against baseline equal to 1.79% (baseline without negation handling) and 5% (baseline with existing negation handling) for a dataset that all tweets contain negation words. And also for the second dataset that has the various number of negation words in document tweet. It can be improved against baseline at 2.69% (without negation handling) and 3.17% (with existing negation handling).

Biobased Epoxy Resins from Deconstructed Native Softwood Lignin.

PubMed

van de Pas, Daniel J; Torr, Kirk M

2017-08-14

The synthesis of novel epoxy resins from lignin hydrogenolysis products is reported. Native lignin in pine wood was depolymerized by mild hydrogenolysis to give an oil product that was reacted with epichlorohydrin to give epoxy prepolymers. These were blended with bisphenol A diglycidyl ether or glycerol diglycidyl ether and cured with diethylenetriamine or isophorone diamine. The key novelty of this work lies in using the inherent properties of the native lignin in preparing new biobased epoxy resins. The lignin-derived epoxy prepolymers could be used to replace 25-75% of the bisphenol A diglycidyl ether equivalent, leading to increases of up to 52% in the flexural modulus and up to 38% in the flexural strength. Improvements in the flexural strength were attributed to the oligomeric products present in the lignin hydrogenolysis oil. These results indicate lignin hydrogenolysis products have potential as sustainable biobased polyols in the synthesis of high performance epoxy resins.

Kepler Data Release 4 Notes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Van Cleve, Jeffrey (Editor); Jenkins, Jon; Caldwell, Doug; Allen, Christopher L.; Batalha, Natalie; Bryson, Stephen T.; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Clarke, Bruce D.; Cote, Miles T.; Dotson, Jessie L.;

Mechanical properties of hydrogenated bilayer graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrew, R. C.; Mapasha, R. E.; Chetty, N.

2013-06-01

Using first principle methods, we study the mechanical properties of monolayer and bilayer graphene with 50% and 100% coverage of hydrogen. We employ the vdW-DF, vdW-DF-C09x, and vdW-DF2-C09x van der Waals functionals for the exchange correlation interactions that give significantly improved interlayer spacings and energies. We also use the PBE form for the generalized gradient corrected exchange correlation functional for comparison. We present a consistent theoretical framework for the in-plane layer modulus and the out-of-plane interlayer modulus and we calculate, for the first time, these properties for these systems. This gives a measure of the change of the strength properties when monolayer and bilayer graphene are hydrogenated. Moreover, comparing the relative performance of these functionals in describing hydrogenated bilayered graphenes, we also benchmark these functionals in how they calculate the properties of graphite.

The lambda point experiment in microgravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lipa, J. A.

1988-01-01

The motivation and potential for performing very high resolution measurements of the heat capacity singularity at the lambda point of helium in microgravity conditions was briefly discussed. It is clear that tests extending deep into the asymptotic region can be performed, where the theoretical predictions take on their simplest form. This advantageous situation should lead to a major improvement in the understanding of the range of applicability of current theoretical ideas in this field. The lambda transition holds out the prospect of giving the maximum advance of any system, and with the application of cryogenic techniques, the potential of this system can be realized. The technology for the initial experiments is already developed, and results could be obtained in 1990.

Space propulsion systems. Present performance limits and application and development trends

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buehler, R. D.; Lo, R. E.

1981-01-01

Typical spaceflight programs and their propulsion requirements as a comparison for possible propulsion systems are summarized. Chemical propulsion systems, solar, nuclear, or even laser propelled rockets with electrical or direct thermal fuel acceleration, nonrockets with air breathing devices and solar cells are considered. The chemical launch vehicles have similar technical characteristics and transportation costs. A possible improvement of payload by using air breathing lower stages is discussed. The electrical energy supply installations which give performance limits of electrical propulsion and the electrostatic ion propulsion systems are described. The development possibilities of thermal, magnetic, and electrostatic rocket engines and the state of development of the nuclear thermal rocket and propulsion concepts are addressed.

Modelling low velocity impact induced damage in composite laminates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Yu; Soutis, Constantinos

2017-12-01

The paper presents recent progress on modelling low velocity impact induced damage in fibre reinforced composite laminates. It is important to understand the mechanisms of barely visible impact damage (BVID) and how it affects structural performance. To reduce labour intensive testing, the development of finite element (FE) techniques for simulating impact damage becomes essential and recent effort by the composites research community is reviewed in this work. The FE predicted damage initiation and propagation can be validated by Non Destructive Techniques (NDT) that gives confidence to the developed numerical damage models. A reliable damage simulation can assist the design process to optimise laminate configurations, reduce weight and improve performance of components and structures used in aircraft construction.

Toward Scalable Benchmarks for Mass Storage Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Ethan L.

1996-01-01

This paper presents guidelines for the design of a mass storage system benchmark suite, along with preliminary suggestions for programs to be included. The benchmarks will measure both peak and sustained performance of the system as well as predicting both short- and long-term behavior. These benchmarks should be both portable and scalable so they may be used on storage systems from tens of gigabytes to petabytes or more. By developing a standard set of benchmarks that reflect real user workload, we hope to encourage system designers and users to publish performance figures that can be compared with those of other systems. This will allow users to choose the system that best meets their needs and give designers a tool with which they can measure the performance effects of improvements to their systems.

The relationship between speech recognition, behavioural listening effort, and subjective ratings.

PubMed

Picou, Erin M; Ricketts, Todd A

2018-06-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of four subjective questions related to listening effort. A secondary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of hearing aid beamforming microphone arrays on word recognition and listening effort. Participants answered subjective questions immediately following testing in a dual-task paradigm with three microphone settings in a moderately reverberant laboratory environment in two noise configurations. Participants rated their: (1) mental work, (2) desire to improve the situation, (3) tiredness, and (4) desire to give up. Data were analysed using repeated measures and reliability analyses. Eighteen adults with symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss participated. Beamforming differentially affected word recognition and listening effort. Analysis revealed the same pattern of results for behavioural listening effort and subjective ratings of desire to improve the situation. Conversely, ratings of work revealed the same pattern of results as word recognition performance. Ratings of tiredness and desire to give up were unaffected by hearing aid microphone or noise configuration. Participant ratings of their desire to control the listening situation appear to reliable subjective indicators of listening effort that align with results from a behavioural measure of listening effort.

CAM-SE: A scalable spectral element dynamical core for the Community Atmosphere Model.

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

Dennis, John; Edwards, Jim; Evans, Kate J

2012-01-01

The Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) version 5 includes a spectral element dynamical core option from NCAR's High-Order Method Modeling Environment. It is a continuous Galerkin spectral finite element method designed for fully unstructured quadrilateral meshes. The current configurations in CAM are based on the cubed-sphere grid. The main motivation for including a spectral element dynamical core is to improve the scalability of CAM by allowing quasi-uniform grids for the sphere that do not require polar filters. In addition, the approach provides other state-of-the-art capabilities such as improved conservation properties. Spectral elements are used for the horizontal discretization, while most othermore » aspects of the dynamical core are a hybrid of well tested techniques from CAM's finite volume and global spectral dynamical core options. Here we first give a overview of the spectral element dynamical core as used in CAM. We then give scalability and performance results from CAM running with three different dynamical core options within the Community Earth System Model, using a pre-industrial time-slice configuration. We focus on high resolution simulations of 1/4 degree, 1/8 degree, and T340 spectral truncation.« less

Model-based estimation with boundary side information or boundary regularization [cardiac emission CT].

PubMed

Chiao, P C; Rogers, W L; Fessler, J A; Clinthorne, N H; Hero, A O

1994-01-01

The authors have previously developed a model-based strategy for joint estimation of myocardial perfusion and boundaries using ECT (emission computed tomography). They have also reported difficulties with boundary estimation in low contrast and low count rate situations. Here they propose using boundary side information (obtainable from high resolution MRI and CT images) or boundary regularization to improve both perfusion and boundary estimation in these situations. To fuse boundary side information into the emission measurements, the authors formulate a joint log-likelihood function to include auxiliary boundary measurements as well as ECT projection measurements. In addition, they introduce registration parameters to align auxiliary boundary measurements with ECT measurements and jointly estimate these parameters with other parameters of interest from the composite measurements. In simulated PET O-15 water myocardial perfusion studies using a simplified model, the authors show that the joint estimation improves perfusion estimation performance and gives boundary alignment accuracy of <0.5 mm even at 0.2 million counts. They implement boundary regularization through formulating a penalized log-likelihood function. They also demonstrate in simulations that simultaneous regularization of the epicardial boundary and myocardial thickness gives comparable perfusion estimation accuracy with the use of boundary side information.

Laboratory investigation of the efficacy of holmium:YAG laser irradiation in removing intracanal debris

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nuebler-Moritz, Michael; Gutknecht, Norbert; Sailer, Hermann F.; Hering, Peter; Prettl, Wilhelm

1997-05-01

Current endodontic therapy involves debridement and disinfection of the root canal by means of mechanical instrumentation and chemical irrigation. However, several studies have shown that these techniques fail to achieve complete cleansing. Recently, lasers have been suggested for use within root canals. This study was conducted to determine the efficacy of Holmium:YAG laser irradiation in removing intracanal debris and smear layer. Root canal surfaces of freshly-extracted human teeth were exposed to pulsed Ho:YAG laser radiation. Subsequently, laser induced structural changes were investigated using scanning electron microscopy. Temperature measurements during irradiation were performed by means of thermocouples. The result of this survey give a preliminary indication of the ability of the Ho:YAG laser to improve current endodontic treatment survey give a preliminary indication of the ability of the Ho:YAG laser to improve current endodontic treatment modalities. However, limitations exist with regard to circumscribed and well-quantified irradiation of root canal surfaces, due to the lack of perpendicular delivery of the laser beam. Additional studies will be required to develop suitable optical transmission systems, in order to achieve complete cleansing and to avoid damage to the periradicular tissues, respectively.

Review of Methods for Buildings Energy Performance Modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krstić, Hrvoje; Teni, Mihaela

2017-10-01

Research presented in this paper gives a brief review of methods used for buildings energy performance modelling. This paper gives also a comprehensive review of the advantages and disadvantages of available methods as well as the input parameters used for modelling buildings energy performance. European Directive EPBD obliges the implementation of energy certification procedure which gives an insight on buildings energy performance via exiting energy certificate databases. Some of the methods for buildings energy performance modelling mentioned in this paper are developed by employing data sets of buildings which have already undergone an energy certification procedure. Such database is used in this paper where the majority of buildings in the database have already gone under some form of partial retrofitting - replacement of windows or installation of thermal insulation but still have poor energy performance. The case study presented in this paper utilizes energy certificates database obtained from residential units in Croatia (over 400 buildings) in order to determine the dependence between buildings energy performance and variables from database by using statistical dependencies tests. Building energy performance in database is presented with building energy efficiency rate (from A+ to G) which is based on specific annual energy needs for heating for referential climatic data [kWh/(m2a)]. Independent variables in database are surfaces and volume of the conditioned part of the building, building shape factor, energy used for heating, CO2 emission, building age and year of reconstruction. Research results presented in this paper give an insight in possibilities of methods used for buildings energy performance modelling. Further on it gives an analysis of dependencies between buildings energy performance as a dependent variable and independent variables from the database. Presented results could be used for development of new building energy performance predictive model.

The Detector Subsystem for the SXS Instrument on the Astro-H Observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Porter, Frederick; Adams, J. S.; Brown, G. V.; Chervenak, J. A.; Chiao, M. P.; Fujimoto, R.; Ishisaki, Y.; Kelley, R. L.; Kilbourne, C. A.; McCammon, D.;

[Pay for performance (P4P). Long-term effects and perspectives].

PubMed

Schrappe, M; Gültekin, N

2011-02-01

After 10 years of experience and research, a wide array of results on evaluation and long-term effects of pay for performance (P4P) programs have been published. These data do not only give insight into most of the problems of implementation, but also into aspects which, in part, may attenuate the high expectations at the beginning of the discussion. P4P programs exhibit a ceiling effect, some improvements are reversed after incentives are cancelled, and improvements show opportunity costs as absent improvements for indicators, which are not object to financial incentives (in some cases for the same disease). These observations can be explained by the hypothesis that P4P programs have characteristics of fee-for-service reimbursement, if symmetric information is available for insurance and provider. P4P programs are local instruments. While integration of healthcare is considered as an important issue, they should be combined with programs and incentives which foster further vertical and horizontal integration. For Germany, further research in the implementation and effects of P4P programs is necessary.

Novel Oversampling Technique for Improving Signal-to-Quantization Noise Ratio on Accelerometer-Based Smart Jerk Sensors in CNC Applications.

PubMed

Rangel-Magdaleno, Jose J; Romero-Troncoso, Rene J; Osornio-Rios, Roque A; Cabal-Yepez, Eduardo

2009-01-01

Jerk monitoring, defined as the first derivative of acceleration, has become a major issue in computerized numeric controlled (CNC) machines. Several works highlight the necessity of measuring jerk in a reliable way for improving production processes. Nowadays, the computation of jerk is done by finite differences of the acceleration signal, computed at the Nyquist rate, which leads to low signal-to-quantization noise ratio (SQNR) during the estimation. The novelty of this work is the development of a smart sensor for jerk monitoring from a standard accelerometer, which has improved SQNR. The proposal is based on oversampling techniques that give a better estimation of jerk than that produced by a Nyquist-rate differentiator. Simulations and experimental results are presented to show the overall methodology performance.

Health systems around the world - a comparison of existing health system rankings.

PubMed

Schütte, Stefanie; Acevedo, Paula N Marin; Flahault, Antoine

2018-06-01

Existing health systems all over the world are different due to the different combinations of components that can be considered for their establishment. The ranking of health systems has been a focal points for many years especially the issue of performance. In 2000 the World Health Organization (WHO) performed a ranking to compare the Performance of the health system of the member countries. Since then other health system rankings have been performed and it became an issue of public discussion. A point of contention regarding these rankings is the methodology employed by each of them, since no gold standard exists. Therefore, this review focuses on evaluating the methodologies of each existing health system performance ranking to assess their reproducibility and transparency. A search was conducted to identify existing health system rankings, and a questionnaire was developed for the comparison of the methodologies based on the following indicators: (1) General information, (2) Statistical methods, (3) Data (4) Indicators. Overall nine rankings were identified whereas six of them focused rather on the measurement of population health without any financial component and were therefore excluded. Finally, three health system rankings were selected for this review: "Health Systems: Improving Performance" by the WHO, "Mirror, Mirror on the wall: How the Performance of the US Health Care System Compares Internationally" by the Commonwealth Fund and "the Most efficient Health Care" by Bloomberg. After the completion of the comparison of the rankings by giving them scores according to the indicators, the ranking performed the WHO was considered the most complete regarding the ability of reproducibility and transparency of the methodology. This review and comparison could help in establishing consensus in the field of health system research. This may also help giving recommendations for future health rankings and evaluating the current gap in the literature.

Physics and performance of the I-mode regime over an expanded operating space on Alcator C-Mod

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hubbard, A. E.; Baek, S.-G.; Brunner, D.; Creely, A. J.; Cziegler, I.; Edlund, E.; Hughes, J. W.; LaBombard, B.; Lin, Y.; Liu, Z.; Marmar, E. S.; Reinke, M. L.; Rice, J. E.; Sorbom, B.; Sung, C.; Terry, J.; Theiler, C.; Tolman, E. A.; Walk, J. R.; White, A. E.; Whyte, D.; Wolfe, S. M.; Wukitch, S.; Xu, X. Q.; the Alcator C-Mod Team

2017-12-01

New results on the I-mode regime of operation on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak are reported. This ELM-free regime features high energy confinement and a steep temperature pedestal, while particle confinement remains at L-mode levels, giving stationary density and avoiding impurity accumulation. I-mode has now been obtained over nearly all of the magnetic fields and currents possible in this high field tokamak (I p 0.55-1.7 MA, B T 2.8-8 T) using a configuration with B  ×  ∇ B drift away from the X-point. Results at 8 T confirm that the L-I power threshold varies only weakly with B T, and that the power range for I-mode increases with B T; no 8 T discharges transitioned to H-mode. Parameter dependences of energy confinement are investigated. Core transport simulations are giving insight into the observed turbulence reduction, profile stiffness and confinement improvement. Pedestal models explain the observed stability to ELMs, and can simulate the observed weakly coherent mode. Conditions for I-H transitions have complex dependences on density as well as power. I-modes have now been maintained in near-DN configurations, leading to improved divertor power flux sharing. Prospects for I-mode on future fusion devices such as ITER and ARC are encouraging. Further experiments on other tokamaks are needed to improve confidence in extrapolation.

Effective optimization using sample persistence: A case study on quantum annealers and various Monte Carlo optimization methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karimi, Hamed; Rosenberg, Gili; Katzgraber, Helmut G.

2017-10-01

We present and apply a general-purpose, multistart algorithm for improving the performance of low-energy samplers used for solving optimization problems. The algorithm iteratively fixes the value of a large portion of the variables to values that have a high probability of being optimal. The resulting problems are smaller and less connected, and samplers tend to give better low-energy samples for these problems. The algorithm is trivially parallelizable since each start in the multistart algorithm is independent, and could be applied to any heuristic solver that can be run multiple times to give a sample. We present results for several classes of hard problems solved using simulated annealing, path-integral quantum Monte Carlo, parallel tempering with isoenergetic cluster moves, and a quantum annealer, and show that the success metrics and the scaling are improved substantially. When combined with this algorithm, the quantum annealer's scaling was substantially improved for native Chimera graph problems. In addition, with this algorithm the scaling of the time to solution of the quantum annealer is comparable to the Hamze-de Freitas-Selby algorithm on the weak-strong cluster problems introduced by Boixo et al. Parallel tempering with isoenergetic cluster moves was able to consistently solve three-dimensional spin glass problems with 8000 variables when combined with our method, whereas without our method it could not solve any.

Institutional and Economic Determinants of Public Health System Performance

PubMed Central

Mays, Glen P.; McHugh, Megan C.; Shim, Kyumin; Perry, Natalie; Lenaway, Dennis; Halverson, Paul K.; Moonesinghe, Ramal

2006-01-01

Objectives. Although a growing body of evidence demonstrates that availability and quality of essential public health services vary widely across communities, relatively little is known about the factors that give rise to these variations. We examined the association of institutional, financial, and community characteristics of local public health delivery systems and the performance of essential services. Methods. Performance measures were collected from local public health systems in 7 states and combined with secondary data sources. Multivariate, linear, and nonlinear regression models were used to estimate associations between system characteristics and the performance of essential services. Results. Performance varied significantly with the size, financial resources, and organizational structure of local public health systems, with some public health services appearing more sensitive to these characteristics than others. Staffing levels and community characteristics also appeared to be related to the performance of selected services. Conclusions. Reconfiguring the organization and financing of public health systems in some communities—such as through consolidation and enhanced intergovernmental coordination—may hold promise for improving the performance of essential services. PMID:16449584

The use of a virtual reality surgical simulator for cataract surgical skill assessment with 6 months of intervening operating room experience.

PubMed

Sikder, Shameema; Luo, Jia; Banerjee, P Pat; Luciano, Cristian; Kania, Patrick; Song, Jonathan C; Kahtani, Eman S; Edward, Deepak P; Towerki, Abdul-Elah Al

2015-01-01

To evaluate a haptic-based simulator, MicroVisTouch™, as an assessment tool for capsulorhexis performance in cataract surgery. The study is a prospective, unmasked, nonrandomized dual academic institution study conducted at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Medical Center (Baltimore, MD, USA) and King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). This prospective study evaluated capsulorhexis simulator performance in 78 ophthalmology residents in the US and Saudi Arabia in the first round of testing and 40 residents in a second round for follow-up. Four variables (circularity, accuracy, fluency, and overall) were tested by the simulator and graded on a 0-100 scale. Circularity (42%), accuracy (55%), and fluency (3%) were compiled to give an overall score. Capsulorhexis performance was retested in the original cohort 6 months after baseline assessment. Average scores in all measured metrics demonstrated statistically significant improvement (except for circularity, which trended toward improvement) after baseline assessment. A reduction in standard deviation and improvement in process capability indices over the 6-month period was also observed. An interval objective improvement in capsulorhexis skill on a haptic-enabled cataract surgery simulator was associated with intervening operating room experience. Further work investigating the role of formalized simulator training programs requiring independent simulator use must be studied to determine its usefulness as an evaluation tool.

The ``Music'' of Light: Optical Resonances for Fun and Profit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beausoleil, Raymond

Moore's Law has set great expectations that the performance/price ratio of commercially available semiconductor devices will continue to improve exponentially at least until the end of this decade. But the physics of the metal wires that connect the transistors on a silicon chip already places stringent limits on the performance of integrated circuits, making their continued dramatic improvement highly unlikely. In this talk, I will introduce the basic concept of an optical resonance in a microscopic dielectric cavity in the context of the same type of spatial boundary conditions that give each musical instrument its unique sound. Then I will illustrate applications of these resonances to information technology in a variety of forms and functions using examples from my own laboratory at HP, such as chip-scale optical networks, quantum bits based on spins in diamond, and ultrafast optical switches that could become the foundation for a new generation of optical computers. Our goal is to conduct advanced research that could precipitate an ``optical Moore's Law'' and allow exponential performance gains to continue through the end of the next decade.

A Model for Linking Organizational Culture and Performance. Innovative Session 6. [AHRD Conference, 2001].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCullough, Cathy Bolton

An innovative session was conducted to introduce session participants to a concept and researched model for linking organizational culture and performance. The session goals were as follows: (1) give participants a working knowledge of the link between business culture and key business performance indicators; (2) give participants a hands-on…

Development of wide temperature electrolyte for graphite/ LiNiMnCoO2 Li-ion cells: High throughput screening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kafle, Janak; Harris, Joshua; Chang, Jeremy; Koshina, Joe; Boone, David; Qu, Deyang

2018-07-01

In this report, we demonstrate that the low temperature power capability of a Li-ion battery can be substantially improved not by adding commercially unavailable additives into the electrolyte, but by rational design of the composition of the most commonly used solvents. Through the detail analysis with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, the formation of a homogenous solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer on the carbon anode surface is found to be critical to ensure the performance of a Li-ion battery in a wide temperature range. The post mortem analysis of the negative electrode by XPS revealed that all the electrolyte compositions form similar compounds in the solid electrolyte interphase. However, the electrolytes which give higher capacities at low temperature showed higher percentage of LiF and lower percentage of carbon containing species such as lithium carbonate and lithium ethylene di-carbonate. The electrolyte compositions where cyclic carbonates make up less than 25% of the total solvent showed increased low temperature performance. The solvent composition with higher percentage of linear short chain carbonates showed an improved low temperature performance. The high temperature performances were similar in almost all the combinations.

Sparse representations via learned dictionaries for x-ray angiogram image denoising

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Jingfan; Huang, Zhenghua; Li, Qian; Zhang, Tianxu

2018-03-01

X-ray angiogram image denoising is always an active research topic in the field of computer vision. In particular, the denoising performance of many existing methods had been greatly improved by the widely use of nonlocal similar patches. However, the only nonlocal self-similar (NSS) patch-based methods can be still be improved and extended. In this paper, we propose an image denoising model based on the sparsity of the NSS patches to obtain high denoising performance and high-quality image. In order to represent the sparsely NSS patches in every location of the image well and solve the image denoising model more efficiently, we obtain dictionaries as a global image prior by the K-SVD algorithm over the processing image; Then the single and effectively alternating directions method of multipliers (ADMM) method is used to solve the image denoising model. The results of widely synthetic experiments demonstrate that, owing to learned dictionaries by K-SVD algorithm, a sparsely augmented lagrangian image denoising (SALID) model, which perform effectively, obtains a state-of-the-art denoising performance and better high-quality images. Moreover, we also give some denoising results of clinical X-ray angiogram images.

Enhanced thermoelectric performance in Cu-intercalated BiTeI by compensation weakening induced mobility improvement

DOE PAGES

Wu, Lihua; Yang, Jiong; Chi, Miaofang; ...

2015-09-23

The low weighted carrier mobility has long been considered to be the key challenge for improvement of thermoelectric (TE) performance in BiTeI. The Rashba-effect-induced two-dimensional density of states in this bulk semiconductor is beneficial for thermopower enhancement, which makes it a prospective compound for TE applications. In this report, we show that intercalation of minor Cu-dopants can substantially alter the equilibria of defect reactions, selectively mediate the donor-acceptor compensation, and tune the defect concentration in the carrier conductive network. Consequently, the potential fluctuations responsible for electron scattering are reduced and the carrier mobility in BiTeI can be enhanced by amore » factor of two to three between 10 K and 300 K. The carrier concentration can also be optimized by tuning the Te/I composition ratio, leading to higher thermopower in this Rashba system. Cu-intercalation in BiTeI gives rise to higher power factor, slightly lower lattice thermal conductivity, and consequently improved figure of merit. Compared with pristine BiTe 0.98I 1.02, the TE performance in Cu 0.05BiTeI reveals a 150% and 20% enhancement at 300 and 520 K, respectively. Ultimately, these results demonstrate that defect equilibria mediated by selective doping in complex TE and energy materials could be an effective approach to carrier mobility and performance optimization.« less

Putting A Human Face on Equilibrium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glickstein, Neil

2005-03-01

A short biography of chemist Fritz Haber is used to personalize the abstract concepts of equilibrium chemistry for high school students in an introductory course. In addition to giving the Haber Bosch process an historic, an economic, and a scientific background the reading and subsequent discussion allows students for whom the human perspective is of paramount importance a chance to investigate the irony of balance or equilibrium in Haber's life story. Since the inclusion of the Haber biography, performance in the laboratory and on examinations for those students who are usually only partially engaged has dramatically improved.

A Fuzzy ARTMAP Approach To The Incorporation Of Chromatographic Retention Time Information To An MS Based E-Nose

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burian, Cosmin; Brezmes, Jesus; Vinaixa, Maria; Llobet, Eduard; Vilanova, Xavier; Cañellas, Nicolau; Correig, Xavier

2009-05-01

This paper presents the work done with Fuzzy ARTMAP neural networks in order to improve the performance of mass spectrometry-based electronic noses using the time retention of a chromatographic column as additional information. Solutions of nine isomers of dimethylphenols and ethylphenols were used in this experiment. The gas chromatograph mass spectrometer response was analyzed with an in-house developed Fuzzy ARTMAP neural network, showing that the combined information (GC plus MS) gives better results than MS information alone.

The Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab

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

Chapelain, Antoine

The upcoming Fermilab E989 experiment will measure the muon anomalous magnetic moment aμ. This measurement is motivated by the previous measurement performed in 2001 by the BNL E821 experiment that reported a 3-4 standard deviation discrepancy between the measured value and the Standard Model prediction. The new measurement at Fermilab aims to improve the precision by a factor of four reducing the total uncertainty from 540 parts per billion (BNL E821) to 140 parts per billion (Fermilab E989). This paper gives the status of the experiment.

The Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chapelain, Antoine

2017-03-01

The upcoming Fermilab E989 experiment will measure the muon anomalous magnetic moment aμ. This measurement is motivated by the previous measurement performed in 2001 by the BNL E821 experiment that reported a 3-4 standard deviation discrepancy between the measured value and the Standard Model prediction. The new measurement at Fermilab aims to improve the precision by a factor of four reducing the total uncertainty from 540 parts per billion (BNL E821) to 140 parts per billion (Fermilab E989). This paper gives the status of the experiment.

Mean estimation in highly skewed samples

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

Pederson, S P

The problem of inference for the mean of a highly asymmetric distribution is considered. Even with large sample sizes, usual asymptotics based on normal theory give poor answers, as the right-hand tail of the distribution is often under-sampled. This paper attempts to improve performance in two ways. First, modifications of the standard confidence interval procedure are examined. Second, diagnostics are proposed to indicate whether or not inferential procedures are likely to be valid. The problems are illustrated with data simulated from an absolute value Cauchy distribution. 4 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.

Impact of Scaled Technology on Radiation Testing and Hardening

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LaBel, Kenneth A.; Cohn, Lewis M.

2005-01-01

This presentation gives a brief overview of some of the radiation challenges facing emerging scaled digital technologies with implications on using consumer grade electronics and next generation hardening schemes. Commercial semiconductor manufacturers are recognizing some of these issues as issues for terrestrial performance. Looking at means of dealing with soft errors. The thinned oxide has indicated improved TID tolerance of commercial products hardened by "serendipity" which does not guarantee hardness or say if the trend will continue. This presentation also focuses one reliability implications of thinned oxides.

Neural network-based run-to-run controller using exposure and resist thickness adjustment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geary, Shane; Barry, Ronan

2003-06-01

This paper describes the development of a run-to-run control algorithm using a feedforward neural network, trained using the backpropagation training method. The algorithm is used to predict the critical dimension of the next lot using previous lot information. It is compared to a common prediction algorithm - the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) and is shown to give superior prediction performance in simulations. The manufacturing implementation of the final neural network showed significantly improved process capability when compared to the case where no run-to-run control was utilised.

Developing a practical evaluation tool for preceptor use.

PubMed

Walsh, Catherine M; Seldomridge, Lisa A; Badros, Karen K

2008-01-01

After years of dissatisfaction with existing instruments, a tool for preceptors to evaluate an undergraduate student's clinical performance was developed, with preceptors' input in its construction. A 2-year pilot evaluation revealed notable problems including excessively high preceptor ratings and significant disparities between faculty and preceptor ratings. Further revisions were made, reducing indicators to those which the preceptors can actually evaluate on an everyday basis and developing a rubric. Additional recommendations to bolster the quality of ratings are improving orientation and guidance of preceptors and modifying procedures for giving feedback.

Why Alumni Give: How Campus Environment and Sense of Belonging Shape Nontraditional Students' Intent to Give Financially to Their University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Myra E.

2013-01-01

Institutions of higher learning are dependent on financial giving from alumni, individuals, companies, foundations, and organizations whose gifts help strengthen the core of the university. Donations improve academic programs, fund research, enhance student life, provide better facilities, and assist with initiatives of the institution.…

DEVELOPING AND INSTRUCTING PRE-PERFORMANCE ROUTINES FOR TENPIN BOWLING COMPETITIONS (1).

PubMed

Lee, Seungmin; Lee, Keunchul; Kwon, Sungho

2015-06-01

This preliminary study developed pre-performance routines for tenpin bowlers and instructed them. To develop the routine, the situations before throwing the ball were divided into four phases; participants were examined through interviews and observations. This study used an A-B design; the A stage included the development of the routines for 3 wk., while the B stage included the instruction and two evaluations of the routine consistency. Practice was implemented for 4 hr. per day for 9 wk. The participants noted they understood the developed routine easily and experienced an atmosphere similar to that of a competition during training through the routines. They found it difficult to practice the relaxation phase, but emphasized that the relaxation phase was helpful. Consistent routines were associated with an improved mental state and performance in a competition. This study suggests that pre-performance routines stabilize the mental state of the athletes, apparently giving them a competitive advantage.

Assessment of nanosystems for space applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bilhaut, Lise; Duraffourg, Laurent

2009-11-01

This paper first gives an overview of the applications of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) in space. Microsystems are advertised for their extremely low size and mass, along with their low power consumption and in some case their improved performances. Examples of actual flown MEMS and future missions relying on MEMS are given. Microsystems are now enjoying a dynamic and expanding interest in the space community. This paper intends to give an idea about the next step in miniaturization, since the microelectronic industry is already looking at nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS) driven by the more-than-Moore philosophy. We show that the impact of nanosystems should not be reduced at a homothecy in size, weight and power consumption. New forces appear at this scale (Casimir force…) which have to be considered in the system design. The example of a nano-mechanical memory is developed. We also show that performances of nanosystems are not systematically better than their microscopic counterparts through the study of the impact of dimension reduction on an accelerometer resolution and sensitivity. We conclude with the idea that nanosystems will find their greatest applications in distributed intelligent networks that will allow new mission concepts for space exploration.

How we give personalised audio feedback after summative OSCEs.

PubMed

Harrison, Christopher J; Molyneux, Adrian J; Blackwell, Sara; Wass, Valerie J

2015-04-01

Students often receive little feedback after summative objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) to enable them to improve their performance. Electronic audio feedback has shown promise in other educational areas. We investigated the feasibility of electronic audio feedback in OSCEs. An electronic OSCE system was designed, comprising (1) an application for iPads allowing examiners to mark in the key consultation skill domains, provide "tick-box" feedback identifying strengths and difficulties, and record voice feedback; (2) a feedback website giving students the opportunity to view/listen in multiple ways to the feedback. Acceptability of the audio feedback was investigated, using focus groups with students and questionnaires with both examiners and students. 87 (95%) students accessed the examiners' audio comments; 83 (90%) found the comments useful and 63 (68%) reported changing the way they perform a skill as a result of the audio feedback. They valued its highly personalised, relevant nature and found it much more useful than written feedback. Eighty-nine per cent of examiners gave audio feedback to all students on their stations. Although many found the method easy, lack of time was a factor. Electronic audio feedback provides timely, personalised feedback to students after a summative OSCE provided enough time is allocated to the process.

Algorithm Engineering: Concepts and Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chimani, Markus; Klein, Karsten

Over the last years the term algorithm engineering has become wide spread synonym for experimental evaluation in the context of algorithm development. Yet it implies even more. We discuss the major weaknesses of traditional "pen and paper" algorithmics and the ever-growing gap between theory and practice in the context of modern computer hardware and real-world problem instances. We present the key ideas and concepts of the central algorithm engineering cycle that is based on a full feedback loop: It starts with the design of the algorithm, followed by the analysis, implementation, and experimental evaluation. The results of the latter can then be reused for modifications to the algorithmic design, stronger or input-specific theoretic performance guarantees, etc. We describe the individual steps of the cycle, explaining the rationale behind them and giving examples of how to conduct these steps thoughtfully. Thereby we give an introduction to current algorithmic key issues like I/O-efficient or parallel algorithms, succinct data structures, hardware-aware implementations, and others. We conclude with two especially insightful success stories—shortest path problems and text search—where the application of algorithm engineering techniques led to tremendous performance improvements compared with previous state-of-the-art approaches.

The Deep Space Network: Noise temperature concepts, measurements, and performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stelzried, C. T.

1982-01-01

The use of higher operational frequencies is being investigated for improved performance of the Deep Space Network. Noise temperature and noise figure concepts are used to describe the noise performance of these receiving systems. The ultimate sensitivity of a linear receiving system is limited by the thermal noise of the source and the quantum noise of the receiver amplifier. The atmosphere, antenna and receiver amplifier of an Earth station receiving system are analyzed separately and as a system. Performance evaluation and error analysis techniques are investigated. System noise temperature and antenna gain parameters are combined to give an overall system figure of merit G/T. Radiometers are used to perform radio ""star'' antenna and system sensitivity calibrations. These are analyzed and the performance of several types compared to an idealized total power radiometer. The theory of radiative transfer is applicable to the analysis of transmission medium loss. A power series solution in terms of the transmission medium loss is given for the solution of the noise temperature contribution.

Measurement uncertainty analysis techniques applied to PV performance measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, C.

1992-10-01

The purpose of this presentation is to provide a brief introduction to measurement uncertainty analysis, outline how it is done, and illustrate uncertainty analysis with examples drawn from the PV field, with particular emphasis toward its use in PV performance measurements. The uncertainty information we know and state concerning a PV performance measurement or a module test result determines, to a significant extent, the value and quality of that result. What is measurement uncertainty analysis? It is an outgrowth of what has commonly been called error analysis. But uncertainty analysis, a more recent development, gives greater insight into measurement processes and tests, experiments, or calibration results. Uncertainty analysis gives us an estimate of the interval about a measured value or an experiment's final result within which we believe the true value of that quantity will lie. Why should we take the time to perform an uncertainty analysis? A rigorous measurement uncertainty analysis: Increases the credibility and value of research results; allows comparisons of results from different labs; helps improve experiment design and identifies where changes are needed to achieve stated objectives (through use of the pre-test analysis); plays a significant role in validating measurements and experimental results, and in demonstrating (through the post-test analysis) that valid data have been acquired; reduces the risk of making erroneous decisions; demonstrates quality assurance and quality control measures have been accomplished; define Valid Data as data having known and documented paths of: Origin, including theory; measurements; traceability to measurement standards; computations; uncertainty analysis of results.

Investigating the effect of pixel size of high spatial resolution FTIR imaging for detection of colorectal cancer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lloyd, G. R.; Nallala, J.; Stone, N.

2016-03-01

FTIR is a well-established technique and there is significant interest in applying this technique to medical diagnostics e.g. to detect cancer. The introduction of focal plane array (FPA) detectors means that FTIR is particularly suited to rapid imaging of biopsy sections as an adjunct to digital pathology. Until recently however each pixel in the image has been limited to a minimum of 5.5 µm which results in a comparatively low magnification image or histology applications and potentially the loss of important diagnostic information. The recent introduction of higher magnification optics gives image pixels that cover approx. 1.1 µm. This reduction in image pixel size gives images of higher magnification and improved spatial detail can be observed. However, the effect of increasing the magnification on spectral quality and the ability to discriminate between disease states is not well studied. In this work we test the discriminatory performance of FTIR imaging using both standard (5.5 µm) and high (1.1 µm) magnification for the detection of colorectal cancer and explore the effect of binning to degrade high resolution images to determine whether similar diagnostic information and performance can be obtained using both magnifications. Results indicate that diagnostic performance using high magnification may be reduced as compared to standard magnification when using existing multivariate approaches. Reduction of the high magnification data to standard magnification via binning can potentially recover some of the lost performance.

Exploiting Fractional Order PID Controller Methods in Improving the Performance of Integer Order PID Controllers: A GA Based Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukherjee, Bijoy K.; Metia, Santanu

2009-10-01

The paper is divided into three parts. The first part gives a brief introduction to the overall paper, to fractional order PID (PIλDμ) controllers and to Genetic Algorithm (GA). In the second part, first it has been studied how the performance of an integer order PID controller deteriorates when implemented with lossy capacitors in its analog realization. Thereafter it has been shown that the lossy capacitors can be effectively modeled by fractional order terms. Then, a novel GA based method has been proposed to tune the controller parameters such that the original performance is retained even though realized with the same lossy capacitors. Simulation results have been presented to validate the usefulness of the method. Some Ziegler-Nichols type tuning rules for design of fractional order PID controllers have been proposed in the literature [11]. In the third part, a novel GA based method has been proposed which shows how equivalent integer order PID controllers can be obtained which will give performance level similar to those of the fractional order PID controllers thereby removing the complexity involved in the implementation of the latter. It has been shown with extensive simulation results that the equivalent integer order PID controllers more or less retain the robustness and iso-damping properties of the original fractional order PID controllers. Simulation results also show that the equivalent integer order PID controllers are more robust than the normal Ziegler-Nichols tuned PID controllers.

Scientific basis for learning transfer from movements to urinary bladder functions for bladder repair in human patients with CNS injury.

PubMed

Schalow, G

2010-01-01

Coordination Dynamics Therapy (CDT) has been shown to be able to partly repair CNS injury. The repair is based on a movement-based re-learning theory which requires at least three levels of description: the movement or pattern (and anamnesis) level, the collective variable level, and the neuron level. Upon CDT not only the actually performed movement pattern itself is repaired, but the entire dynamics of CNS organization is improved, which is the theoretical basis for (re-) learning transfer. The transfer of learning for repair from jumping on springboard and exercising on a special CDT and recording device to urinary bladder functions is investigated at the neuron level. At the movement or pattern level, the improvement of central nervous system (CNS) functioning in human patients can be seen (or partly measured) by the improvement of the performance of the pattern. At the collective variable level, coordination tendencies can be measured by the so-called 'coordination dynamics' before, during and after treatment. At the neuron level, re-learning can additionally be assessed by surface electromyography (sEMG) as alterations of single motor unit firings and motor programs. But to express the ongoing interaction between the numerous neural, muscular, and metabolic elements involved in perception and action, it is relevant to inquire how the individual afferent and efferent neurons adjust their phase and frequency coordination to other neurons to satisfy learning task requirements. With the single-nerve fibre action potential recording method it was possible to measure that distributed single neurons communicate by phase and frequency coordination. It is shown that this timed firing of neurons is getting impaired upon injury and has to be improved by learning The stability of phase and frequency coordination among afferent and efferent neuron firings can be related to pattern stability. The stability of phase and frequency coordination at the neuron level can therefore be assessed integratively at the (non-invasive) collective variable level by the arrhythmicity of turning (coordination dynamics) when a patient is exercising on a special CDT device. Upon jumping on springboard and exercising on the special CDT device, the intertwined neuronal networks, subserving movements (somatic) and urinary bladder functions (autonomic and somatic) in the sacral spinal cord, are synchronously activated and entrained to give rise to learning transfer from movements to bladder functions. Jumping on springboard and other movements primarily repair the pattern dynamics, whereas the exactly coordinated performed movements, performed on the special CDT device for turning, primarily improve the preciseness of the timed firing of neurons. The synchronous learning of perceptuomotor and perceptuobladder functioning from a dynamical perspective (giving rise to learning transfer) can be understood at the neuron level. Especially the activated phase and frequency coordination upon natural stimulation under physiologic and pathophysiologic conditions among a and gamma-motoneurons, muscle spindle afferents, touch and pain afferents, and urinary bladder stretch and tension receptor afferents in the human sacral spinal cord make understandable that somatic and parasympathetic functions are integrated in their functioning and give rise to learning transfer from movements to bladder functions. The power of this human treatment research project lies in the unit of theory, diagnostic/measurement, and praxis, namely that CNS injury can partly be repaired, including urinary bladder functions, and the repair can partly be understood even at the neuron level of description in human.

Actoprotective effect of ginseng: improving mental and physical performance

PubMed Central

Oliynyk, Sergiy; Oh, Seikwan

2013-01-01

Actoprotectors are preparations that increase the mental performance and enhance body stability against physical loads without increasing oxygen consumption. Actoprotectors are regarded as a subclass of adaptogens that hold a significant capacity to increase physical performance. The focus of this article is studying adaptogen herbs of genus Panax (P. ginseng in particular) and their capabilities as actoprotectors. Some animal experiments and human studies about actoprotective properties of genus Panax attest that P. ginseng (administered as an extract) significantly increased the physical and intellectual work capacities, and the data provided suggests that ginseng is a natural source of actoprotectors. Preparations of ginseng can be regarded as potential actoprotectors which give way to further research of its influence on physical and mental work capacity, endurance and restoration after exhaustive physical loads while compared with reference actoprotectors. PMID:23717168

High resistivity CMOS pixel sensors and their application to the STAR PXL detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorokhov, A.; Bertolone, G.; Baudot, J.; Colledani, C.; Claus, G.; Degerli, Y.; de Masi, R.; Deveaux, M.; Dozière, G.; Dulinski, W.; Gélin, M.; Goffe, M.; Himmi, A.; Hu-Guo, Ch.; Jaaskelainen, K.; Koziel, M.; Morel, F.; Santos, C.; Specht, M.; Valin, I.; Voutsinas, G.; Winter, M.

2011-09-01

CMOS pixel sensors are foreseen to equip the vertex detector (called PXL) of the upgraded inner tracking system of the STAR experiment at RHIC. The sensors (called ULTIMATE) are being designed and their architecture is being optimized for the PXL specifications, extrapolating from the MIMOSA-26 sensor realized for the EUDET beam telescope.The paper gives an overview of the ULTIMATE sensor specifications and of the adaptation of its forerunner, MIMOSA-26, to the PXL specifications.One of the main changes between MIMOSA-26 and ULTIMATE is the use of a high resistivity epitaxial layer. Recent performance assessments obtained with MIMOSA-26 sensors manufactured on such an epitaxial layer are presented, as well as results of beam tests obtained with a prototype probing improved versions of the MIMOSA-26 pixel design. They show drastic improvements of the pixel signal-to-noise ratio and of the sensor radiation tolerance with respect to the performances achieved with a standard, i.e. low resistivity, layer.

An efficient algorithm for function optimization: modified stem cells algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taherdangkoo, Mohammad; Paziresh, Mahsa; Yazdi, Mehran; Bagheri, Mohammad Hadi

2013-03-01

In this paper, we propose an optimization algorithm based on the intelligent behavior of stem cell swarms in reproduction and self-organization. Optimization algorithms, such as the Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm, can give solutions to linear and non-linear problems near to the optimum for many applications; however, in some case, they can suffer from becoming trapped in local optima. The Stem Cells Algorithm (SCA) is an optimization algorithm inspired by the natural behavior of stem cells in evolving themselves into new and improved cells. The SCA avoids the local optima problem successfully. In this paper, we have made small changes in the implementation of this algorithm to obtain improved performance over previous versions. Using a series of benchmark functions, we assess the performance of the proposed algorithm and compare it with that of the other aforementioned optimization algorithms. The obtained results prove the superiority of the Modified Stem Cells Algorithm (MSCA).

Lockheed L-1011 TriStar to support Adaptive Performance Optimization study with NASA F-18 chase plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

This Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, seen here June 1995, is currently the subject of a new flight research experiment developed by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, to improve the effiecency of large transport aircraft. Shown with a NASA F-18 chase plane over California's Sierra Nevada mountains during an earlier baseline flight, the jetliner operated by Oribtal Sciences Corp., recently flew its first data-gathering mission in the Adaptive Performance Optimization project. The experiment seeks to reduce fuel comsumption of large jetliners by improving the aerodynamic efficiency of their wings at cruise conditions. A research computer employing a sophisticated software program adapts to changing flight conditions by commanding small movements of the L-1011's outboard ailerons to give its wings the most efficient - or optimal - airfoil. Up to a dozen research flights will be flown in the current and follow-on phases of the project over the next couple years.

Performance assessment of FY-3C/MERSI on early orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Xiuqing; Xu, Na; Wu, Ronghua; Chen, Lin; Min, Min; Wang, Ling; Xu, Hanlie; Sun, Ling; Yang, Zhongdong; Zhang, Peng

2014-11-01

FY-3C/MERSI has some remarkable improvements compared to the previous MERSIs including better spectral response function (SRF) consistency of different detectors within one band, increasing the capability of lunar observation by space view (SV) and the improvement of radiometric response stability of solar bands. During the In-orbit verification (IOV) commissioning phase, early results that indicate the MERSI representative performance were derived, including the signal noise ratio (SNR), dynamic range, MTF, B2B registration, calibration bias and instrument stability. The SNRs at the solar bands (Bands 1-4 and 6-20) was largely beyond the specifications except for two NIR bands. The in-flight calibration and verification for these bands are also heavily relied on the vicarious techniques such as China radiometric calibration sites(CRCS), cross-calibration, lunar calibration, DCC calibration, stability monitoring using Pseudo Invariant Calibration Sites (PICS) and multi-site radiance simulation. This paper will give the results of the above several calibration methods and monitoring the instrument degradation in early on-orbit time.

Precursor-route ZnO films from a mixed casting solvent for high performance aqueous electrolyte-gated transistors.

PubMed

Althagafi, Talal M; Algarni, Saud A; Al Naim, Abdullah; Mazher, Javed; Grell, Martin

2015-12-14

We significantly improved the performance of precursor-route semiconducting zinc oxide (ZnO) films in electrolyte-gated thin film transistors (TFTs). We find that the organic precursor to ZnO, zinc acetate (ZnAc), dissolves more readily in a 1 : 1 mixture of ethanol (EtOH) and acetone than in pure EtOH, pure acetone, or pure isopropanol. XPS and SEM characterisation show improved morphology of ZnO films converted from a mixed solvent cast ZnAc precursor compared to the EtOH cast precursor. When gated with a biocompatible electrolyte, phosphate buffered saline (PBS), ZnO thin film transistors (TFTs) derived from mixed solvent cast ZnAc give 4 times larger field effect current than similar films derived from ZnAc cast from pure EtOH. The sheet resistance at VG = VD = 1 V is 30 kΩ □(-1), lower than for any organic TFT, and lower than for any electrolyte-gated ZnO TFT reported to date.

An enhanced narrow-band imaging method for the microvessel detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Feng; Song, Enmin; Liu, Hong; Wan, Youming; Zhu, Jun; Hung, Chih-Cheng

2018-02-01

A medical endoscope system combined with the narrow-band imaging (NBI), has been shown to be a superior diagnostic tool for early cancer detection. The NBI can reveal the morphologic changes of microvessels in the superficial cancer. In order to improve the conspicuousness of microvessel texture, we propose an enhanced NBI method to improve the conspicuousness of endoscopic images. To obtain the more conspicuous narrow-band images, we use the edge operator to extract the edge information of the narrow-band blue and green images, and give a weight to the extracted edges. Then, the weighted edges are fused with the narrow-band blue and green images. Finally, the displayed endoscopic images are reconstructed with the enhanced narrow-band images. In addition, we evaluate the performance of enhanced narrow-band images with different edge operators. Experimental results indicate that the Sobel and Canny operators achieve the best performance of all. Compared with traditional NBI method of Olympus company, our proposed method has more conspicuous texture of microvessel.

Interprofessional Communication Skills Training for Serious Illness: Evaluation of a Small-Group, Simulated Patient Intervention

PubMed Central

Bays, Alison M.; Engelberg, Ruth A.; Back, Anthony L.; Ford, Dee W.; Downey, Lois; Shannon, Sarah E.; Doorenbos, Ardith Z.; Edlund, Barbara; Christianson, Phyllis; Arnold, Richard W.; O'Connor, Kim; Kross, Erin K.; Reinke, Lynn F.; Cecere Feemster, Laura; Fryer-Edwards, Kelly; Alexander, Stewart C.; Tulsky, James A.

2014-01-01

Abstract Background: Communication with patients and families is an essential component of high-quality care in serious illness. Small-group skills training can result in new communication behaviors, but past studies have used facilitators with extensive experience, raising concerns this is not scalable. Objective: The objective was to investigate the effect of an experiential communication skills building workshop (Codetalk), led by newly trained facilitators, on internal medicine trainees' and nurse practitioner students' ability to communicate bad news and express empathy. Design: Trainees participated in Codetalk; skill improvement was evaluated through pre- and post- standardized patient (SP) encounters. Setting and subjects: The subjects were internal medicine residents and nurse practitioner students at two universities. Intervention and measurements: The study was carried out in anywhere from five to eight half-day sessions over a month. The first and last sessions included audiotaped trainee SP encounters coded for effective communication behaviors. The primary outcome was change in communication scores from pre-intervention to post-intervention. We also measured trainee characteristics to identify predictors of performance and change in performance over time. Results: We enrolled 145 trainees who completed pre- and post-intervention SP interviews—with participation rates of 52% for physicians and 14% for nurse practitioners. Trainees' scores improved in 8 of 11 coded behaviors (p<0.05). The only significant predictors of performance were having participated in the intervention (p<0.001) and study site (p<0.003). The only predictor of improvement in performance over time was participating in the intervention (p<0.001). Conclusions: A communication skills intervention using newly trained facilitators was associated with improvement in trainees' skills in giving bad news and expressing empathy. Improvement in communication skills did not vary by trainee characteristics. PMID:24180700

Interprofessional communication skills training for serious illness: evaluation of a small-group, simulated patient intervention.

PubMed

Bays, Alison M; Engelberg, Ruth A; Back, Anthony L; Ford, Dee W; Downey, Lois; Shannon, Sarah E; Doorenbos, Ardith Z; Edlund, Barbara; Christianson, Phyllis; Arnold, Richard W; O'Connor, Kim; Kross, Erin K; Reinke, Lynn F; Cecere Feemster, Laura; Fryer-Edwards, Kelly; Alexander, Stewart C; Tulsky, James A; Curtis, J Randall

2014-02-01

Communication with patients and families is an essential component of high-quality care in serious illness. Small-group skills training can result in new communication behaviors, but past studies have used facilitators with extensive experience, raising concerns this is not scalable. The objective was to investigate the effect of an experiential communication skills building workshop (Codetalk), led by newly trained facilitators, on internal medicine trainees' and nurse practitioner students' ability to communicate bad news and express empathy. Trainees participated in Codetalk; skill improvement was evaluated through pre- and post- standardized patient (SP) encounters. The subjects were internal medicine residents and nurse practitioner students at two universities. The study was carried out in anywhere from five to eight half-day sessions over a month. The first and last sessions included audiotaped trainee SP encounters coded for effective communication behaviors. The primary outcome was change in communication scores from pre-intervention to post-intervention. We also measured trainee characteristics to identify predictors of performance and change in performance over time. We enrolled 145 trainees who completed pre- and post-intervention SP interviews-with participation rates of 52% for physicians and 14% for nurse practitioners. Trainees' scores improved in 8 of 11 coded behaviors (p<0.05). The only significant predictors of performance were having participated in the intervention (p<0.001) and study site (p<0.003). The only predictor of improvement in performance over time was participating in the intervention (p<0.001). A communication skills intervention using newly trained facilitators was associated with improvement in trainees' skills in giving bad news and expressing empathy. Improvement in communication skills did not vary by trainee characteristics.

Improving the performance of enzymes in hydrolysis of high solids paper pulp derived from MSW.

PubMed

Puri, Dhivya J; Heaven, Sonia; Banks, Charles J

2013-01-01

The research aimed to improve the overall conversion efficiency of the CTec® family of enzymes by identifying factors that lead to inhibition and seeking methods to overcome these through process modification and manipulation. The starting material was pulp derived from municipal solid waste and processed in an industrial-scale washing plant. Analysis of the pulp by acid hydrolysis showed a ratio of 55 : 12 : 6 : 24 : 3 of glucan : xylan : araban/galactan/mannan : lignin : ash. At high total solids content (>18.5% TS) single-stage enzyme hydrolysis gave a maximum glucan conversion of 68%. It was found that two-stage hydrolysis could give higher conversion if sugar inhibition was removed by an intermediate fermentation step between hydrolysis stages. This, however, was not as effective as direct removal of the sugar products, including xylose, by washing of the residual pulp at pH 5. This improved the water availability and allowed reactivation of the pulp-bound enzymes. Inhibition of enzyme activity could further be alleviated by replenishment of β-glucosidase which was shown to be removed during the wash step. The two-stage hydrolysis process developed could give an overall glucan conversion of 88%, with an average glucose concentration close to 8% in 4 days, thus providing an ideal starting point for ethanol fermentation with a likely yield of 4 wt%. This is a significant improvement over a single-step process. This hydrolysis configuration also provides the potential to recover the sugars associated with residual solids which are diluted when washing hydrolysed pulp.

Understanding InP Nanowire Array Solar Cell Performance by Nanoprobe-Enabled Single Nanowire Measurements.

PubMed

Otnes, Gaute; Barrigón, Enrique; Sundvall, Christian; Svensson, K Erik; Heurlin, Magnus; Siefer, Gerald; Samuelson, Lars; Åberg, Ingvar; Borgström, Magnus T

2018-05-09

III-V solar cells in the nanowire geometry might hold significant synthesis-cost and device-design advantages as compared to thin films and have shown impressive performance improvements in recent years. To continue this development there is a need for characterization techniques giving quick and reliable feedback for growth development. Further, characterization techniques which can improve understanding of the link between nanowire growth conditions, subsequent processing, and solar cell performance are desired. Here, we present the use of a nanoprobe system inside a scanning electron microscope to efficiently contact single nanowires and characterize them in terms of key parameters for solar cell performance. Specifically, we study single as-grown InP nanowires and use electron beam induced current characterization to understand the charge carrier collection properties, and dark current-voltage characteristics to understand the diode recombination characteristics. By correlating the single nanowire measurements to performance of fully processed nanowire array solar cells, we identify how the performance limiting parameters are related to growth and/or processing conditions. We use this understanding to achieve a more than 7-fold improvement in efficiency of our InP nanowire solar cells, grown from a different seed particle pattern than previously reported from our group. The best cell shows a certified efficiency of 15.0%; the highest reported value for a bottom-up synthesized InP nanowire solar cell. We believe the presented approach have significant potential to speed-up the development of nanowire solar cells, as well as other nanowire-based electronic/optoelectronic devices.

Naval open systems architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guertin, Nick; Womble, Brian; Haskell, Virginia

2013-05-01

For the past 8 years, the Navy has been working on transforming the acquisition practices of the Navy and Marine Corps toward Open Systems Architectures to open up our business, gain competitive advantage, improve warfighter performance, speed innovation to the fleet and deliver superior capability to the warfighter within a shrinking budget1. Why should Industry care? They should care because we in Government want the best Industry has to offer. Industry is in the business of pushing technology to greater and greater capabilities through innovation. Examples of innovations are on full display at this conference, such as exploring the impact of difficult environmental conditions on technical performance. Industry is creating the tools which will continue to give the Navy and Marine Corps important tactical advantages over our adversaries.

Experiential study on temperature and emission performance of micro burner during porous media combustion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janvekar, Ayub Ahmed; Abdullah, M. Z.; Ahmad, Z. A.; Abas, A.; Ismail, A. K.; Hussien, A. A.; Kataraki, P. S.; Ishak, M. H. H.; Mazlan, M.; Zubair, A. F.

2018-05-01

Addition of porous materials in reaction zone give rise to significant improvements in combustion performance. In this work, a dual layered micro porous media burner was tested for stable flame and emissions. Reaction and preheat layer was made up of discrete (zirconia) and foam (porcelain) type of materials respectively. Three different thickness of reaction zone was tested, each with 10, 20 and 30mm. Interestingly, only 20mm thick layer can able to show better thermal efficiency of 72% as compared to 10 and 30mm. Best equivalence ratio came out to be 0.7 for surface and 0.6 for submerged flame conditions. Moreover, emission was continuously monitored to detect presence of NOx and CO, which were under controlled limits.

Study on the spectral efficiency of SFH-GMSK in land mobile telephone communication by direct simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bao, H.; Kwatra, S. C.; Kim, Junghwan; Stevens, G. H.

1990-01-01

A spread spectrum system, slow frequency hopping with GMSK (Gaussian minimum shift keying) modulation (SFH-GMSK), is proposed for mobile telephone communications. The system performance is evaluated using computer simulation and is compared with an unspread system. Results show that under multipath fading conditions, when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is greater than 15 dB, slow frequency hopping gives some bit error rate improvement over the unspread system. Theoretical predictions indicate that a system efficiency of 20-65 users per cell can be achieved in the cellular configuration. Joint use of SFH-GMSK and FM is also investigated. It is shown that FM interference can cause serious degradation to the SFH-GMSK performance.

Multiobjective Decision Making Policies and Coordination Mechanisms in Hierarchical Organizations: Results of an Agent-Based Simulation

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

This paper analyses how different coordination modes and different multiobjective decision making approaches interfere with each other in hierarchical organizations. The investigation is based on an agent-based simulation. We apply a modified NK-model in which we map multiobjective decision making as adaptive walk on multiple performance landscapes, whereby each landscape represents one objective. We find that the impact of the coordination mode on the performance and the speed of performance improvement is critically affected by the selected multiobjective decision making approach. In certain setups, the performances achieved with the more complex multiobjective decision making approaches turn out to be less sensitive to the coordination mode than the performances achieved with the less complex multiobjective decision making approaches. Furthermore, we present results on the impact of the nature of interactions among decisions on the achieved performance in multiobjective setups. Our results give guidance on how to control the performance contribution of objectives to overall performance and answer the question how effective certain multiobjective decision making approaches perform under certain circumstances (coordination mode and interdependencies among decisions). PMID:25152926

Comparison study on disturbance estimation techniques in precise slow motion control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, S.; Nagamune, R.; Altintas, Y.; Fan, D.; Zhang, Z.

2010-08-01

Precise low speed motion control is important for the industrial applications of both micro-milling machine tool feed drives and electro-optical tracking servo systems. It calls for precise position and instantaneous velocity measurement and disturbance, which involves direct drive motor force ripple, guide way friction and cutting force etc., estimation. This paper presents a comparison study on dynamic response and noise rejection performance of three existing disturbance estimation techniques, including the time-delayed estimators, the state augmented Kalman Filters and the conventional disturbance observers. The design technique essentials of these three disturbance estimators are introduced. For designing time-delayed estimators, it is proposed to substitute Kalman Filter for Luenberger state observer to improve noise suppression performance. The results show that the noise rejection performances of the state augmented Kalman Filters and the time-delayed estimators are much better than the conventional disturbance observers. These two estimators can give not only the estimation of the disturbance but also the low noise level estimations of position and instantaneous velocity. The bandwidth of the state augmented Kalman Filters is wider than the time-delayed estimators. In addition, the state augmented Kalman Filters can give unbiased estimations of the slow varying disturbance and the instantaneous velocity, while the time-delayed estimators can not. The simulation and experiment conducted on X axis of a 2.5-axis prototype micro milling machine are provided.

Adaptive predictors based on probabilistic SVM for real time disruption mitigation on JET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murari, A.; Lungaroni, M.; Peluso, E.; Gaudio, P.; Vega, J.; Dormido-Canto, S.; Baruzzo, M.; Gelfusa, M.; Contributors, JET

2018-05-01

Detecting disruptions with sufficient anticipation time is essential to undertake any form of remedial strategy, mitigation or avoidance. Traditional predictors based on machine learning techniques can be very performing, if properly optimised, but do not provide a natural estimate of the quality of their outputs and they typically age very quickly. In this paper a new set of tools, based on probabilistic extensions of support vector machines (SVM), are introduced and applied for the first time to JET data. The probabilistic output constitutes a natural qualification of the prediction quality and provides additional flexibility. An adaptive training strategy ‘from scratch’ has also been devised, which allows preserving the performance even when the experimental conditions change significantly. Large JET databases of disruptions, covering entire campaigns and thousands of discharges, have been analysed, both for the case of the graphite and the ITER Like Wall. Performance significantly better than any previous predictor using adaptive training has been achieved, satisfying even the requirements of the next generation of devices. The adaptive approach to the training has also provided unique information about the evolution of the operational space. The fact that the developed tools give the probability of disruption improves the interpretability of the results, provides an estimate of the predictor quality and gives new insights into the physics. Moreover, the probabilistic treatment permits to insert more easily these classifiers into general decision support and control systems.

Impact of a Dedicated Emergency Medicine Teaching Resident Rotation at a Large Urban Academic Center.

PubMed

Ahn, James; Golden, Andrew; Bryant, Alyssa; Babcock, Christine

2016-03-01

In the face of declining bedside teaching and increasing emergency department (ED) crowding, balancing education and patient care is a challenge. Dedicated shifts by teaching residents (TRs) in the ED represent an educational intervention to mitigate these difficulties. We aimed to measure the perceived learning and departmental impact created by having TR. TRs were present in the ED from 12 pm-10 pm daily, and their primary roles were to provide the following: assist in teaching procedures, give brief "chalk talks," instruct junior trainees on interesting cases, and answer clinical questions in an evidence-based manner. This observational study included a survey of fourth-year medical students (MSs), residents and faculty at an academic ED. Surveys measured the perceived effect of the TR on teaching, patient flow, ease of procedures, and clinical care. Survey response rates for medical students, residents, and faculty are 56%, 77%, and 75%, respectively. MSs perceived improved procedure performance with TR presence and the majority agreed that the TR was a valuable educational experience. Residents perceived increased patient flow, procedure performance, and MS learning with TR presence. The majority agreed that the TR improved patient care. Faculty agreed that the TR increased resident and MS learning, as well as improved patient care and procedure performance. The presence of a TR increased MS and resident learning, improved patient care and procedure performance as perceived by MSs, residents and faculty. A dedicated TR program can provide a valuable resource in achieving a balance of clinical education and high quality healthcare.

Impact of a Dedicated Emergency Medicine Teaching Resident Rotation at a Large Urban Academic Center

PubMed Central

Ahn, James; Golden, Andrew; Bryant, Alyssa; Babcock, Christine

2016-01-01

Introduction In the face of declining bedside teaching and increasing emergency department (ED) crowding, balancing education and patient care is a challenge. Dedicated shifts by teaching residents (TRs) in the ED represent an educational intervention to mitigate these difficulties. We aimed to measure the perceived learning and departmental impact created by having TR. Methods TRs were present in the ED from 12pm–10pm daily, and their primary roles were to provide the following: assist in teaching procedures, give brief “chalk talks,” instruct junior trainees on interesting cases, and answer clinical questions in an evidence-based manner. This observational study included a survey of fourth-year medical students (MSs), residents and faculty at an academic ED. Surveys measured the perceived effect of the TR on teaching, patient flow, ease of procedures, and clinical care. Results Survey response rates for medical students, residents, and faculty are 56%, 77%, and 75%, respectively. MSs perceived improved procedure performance with TR presence and the majority agreed that the TR was a valuable educational experience. Residents perceived increased patient flow, procedure performance, and MS learning with TR presence. The majority agreed that the TR improved patient care. Faculty agreed that the TR increased resident and MS learning, as well as improved patient care and procedure performance. Conclusion The presence of a TR increased MS and resident learning, improved patient care and procedure performance as perceived by MSs, residents and faculty. A dedicated TR program can provide a valuable resource in achieving a balance of clinical education and high quality healthcare. PMID:26973739

Ensuring that the Sentinel-3A altimeter provides climate-quality data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quartly, G. D.; Nencioli, F.; Labroue, S.; Femenias, P.; Scharroo, R.; Abdalla, S.; Bonnefond, P.; Cancet, M.; Frery, M.-L.; Raynal, M.; Baker, S.; Muir, A.; Brockley, D.; Shepherd, A.; Garcia, P.; Roca, M.; Calmant, S.; Cretaux, J.-F.

2017-10-01

Sentinel-3A, launched in February 2016, is part of ESA's long-term commitment to climate monitoring from space. Its suite of instruments for measuring surface topography includes a Microwave Radiometer (MWR) and SRAL, the first delay-Doppler instrument to provide global coverage. SRAL promises fine spatial resolution and reduced noise levels that should together lead to improved performance over all Earth surfaces. The Sentinel-3 Mission Performance Centre (S3MPC) has been developing the methodology to evaluate the accuracy of retrievals, monitor any changes and develop solutions to known problems. The S3MPC monitors internal temperatures, path delays and the shape of the generated pulses to assess the instruments health. The MWR records over known reference surfaces are compared with those from other spaceborne instruments. Over the ocean the SRAL's return pulses are analysed to give range to the sea surface, wave height and signal strength (which can be interpreted as wind speed). The metocean data are regularly contrasted with records from in situ measurements and the output from meteorological models, which rapidly highlights the effects of any changes in processing. Range information is used to give surface elevation, which is assessed in three ways. First, flights over a dedicated radar transponder provide an estimate of path delay to within 10 mm (r.m.s.). Second, measurements are compared to GPS-levelled surfaces near Corsica and over Lake Issyk-kul. Third, there are consistency checks between ascending and descending passes and with other missions. Further waveform analysis techniques are being developed to improve the retrieval of information over sea-ice, land-ice and inland waters.

Improved formalism for precision Higgs coupling fits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barklow, Tim; Fujii, Keisuke; Jung, Sunghoon; Karl, Robert; List, Jenny; Ogawa, Tomohisa; Peskin, Michael E.; Tian, Junping

2018-03-01

Future e+e- colliders give the promise of model-independent determinations of the couplings of the Higgs boson. In this paper, we present an improved formalism for extracting Higgs boson couplings from e+e- data, based on the effective field theory description of corrections to the Standard Model. We apply this formalism to give projections of Higgs coupling accuracies for stages of the International Linear Collider and for other proposed e+e- colliders.

RTEMS CENTRE- RTEMS Improvement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Helder; Constantino, Alexandre; Freitas, Daniel; Coutinho, Manuel; Faustino, Sergio; Sousa, Jose; Dias, Luis; Zulianello, Marco

2010-08-01

During the last two years, EDISOFT's RTEMS CENTRE team [1], jointly with the European Space Agency and with the support of the worldwide RTEMS community [2], have been developing an activity to facilitate the qualification of the real-time operating system RTEMS (Real-Time Operating System for Multiprocessor Systems). This paper intends to give a high level visibility of the progress and the results obtained in the RTEMS Improvement [3] activity. The primary objective [4] of the project is to improve the RTEMS product, its documentation and to facilitate the qualification of RTEMS for future space missions, taking into consideration the specific operational requirements. The sections below provide a brief overview of the RTEMS operating system and the activities performed in the RTEMS Improvement project, which includes the selection of API managers to be qualified, the tailoring process, the requirements analysis, the reverse engineering and design of the RTEMS, the quality assurance process, the ISVV activities, the test campaign, the results obtained, the criticality analysis and the facilitation of qualification process.

[Technical advancements in cochlear implants : State of the art].

PubMed

Büchner, A; Gärtner, L

2017-04-01

Twenty years ago, cochlear implants (CI) were indicated only in cases of profound hearing loss or complete deafness. While from today's perspective the technology was clumsy and provided patients with only limited speech comprehension in quiet scenarios, successive advances in CI technology and the consequent substantial hearing improvements over time have since then resulted in continuous relaxation of indication criteria toward residual hearing. While achievements in implant and processor electronics have been one key factor for the ever-improving hearing performance, development of electro-acoustic CI systems-together with atraumatic implantation concepts-has led to enormous improvements in patients with low-frequency residual hearing. Manufactures have designed special processors with integrated hearing aid components for this patient group, which are capable of conveying acoustic and electric stimulation. A further milestone in improvement of hearing in challenging listening environments was the adoption of signal enhancement algorithms and assistive listening devices from the hearing aid industry. This article gives an overview of the current state of the art in the abovementioned areas of CI technology.

An improved course of glycaemia after a bread based breakfast is associated with beneficial effects on acute and semi-acute markers of appetite.

PubMed

Ekström, Linda M N K; Björck, Inger M E; Östman, Elin M

2016-02-01

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus is rapidly increasing all over the world and a diet promoting reduced glycaemic excursions in the postprandial phase may help to prevent the disease. In the present study guar gum (GG) and whole grain rye flour or high amylose maize starch (HAM) was combined to design bread products giving low and sustained glycaemia. A meal study was performed with young, healthy subjects and in addition to glucose and insulin, also subjective appetite ratings and biomarkers of appetite, voluntary energy intake at a second meal and markers of fermentation were studied. The combination of GG and rye was superior with improvements in subjective appetite whereas both test products lead to improvements in biomarkers of appetite compared to the white wheat bread reference. The inclusion of GG, rye and/or HAM in bread products show great potential in lowering risk factors associated with insulin resistance and improving acute and semi-acute appetite.

Leadership versus management: translating pharmacists' abilities into quality performance.

PubMed

Reeder, C E

2005-03-01

To describe the quality gap in health care as it was referred to in the Institute of Medicine's reports, to try to harness pharmacy's potential to improve the quality of drug therapy, and to provide insight into the elusive leadership, management, and dynamics of change. Current health care is nowhere near ideal. Successful quality initiatives have included establishing a "culture of quality" (promoting a learning organization), having good leadership, and developing strong management. Ideally, all of these concepts must be applied concurrently for the best results because using only one will not spirit medicine across the gap. To close the gap, pharmacists need to understand various types of change and select a change mechanism that will continuously improve care. Optimizing drug therapy is both a great challenge and a great opportunity for pharmacy. AMCP's Framework for Quality Drug Therapy is a continuous quality improvement model that gives us the tools to plan, implement, and evaluate strategies to improve the quality of patient care and cross the "quality chasm."

Performance Evaluation of Communication Software Systems for Distributed Computing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fatoohi, Rod

1996-01-01

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in object-oriented distributed computing since it is better quipped to deal with complex systems while providing extensibility, maintainability, and reusability. At the same time, several new high-speed network technologies have emerged for local and wide area networks. However, the performance of networking software is not improving as fast as the networking hardware and the workstation microprocessors. This paper gives an overview and evaluates the performance of the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) standard in a distributed computing environment at NASA Ames Research Center. The environment consists of two testbeds of SGI workstations connected by four networks: Ethernet, FDDI, HiPPI, and ATM. The performance results for three communication software systems are presented, analyzed and compared. These systems are: BSD socket programming interface, IONA's Orbix, an implementation of the CORBA specification, and the PVM message passing library. The results show that high-level communication interfaces, such as CORBA and PVM, can achieve reasonable performance under certain conditions.

Performance Management in Healthcare Organizations: Concept and Practicum.

PubMed

Dimitropoulos, Panagiotis E

2017-01-01

Organizational performance can create and sustain competitive advantages for corporations and even improve their sustainability and future prospects. Health care organizations present a sector where performance management is structured by multiple dimensions. The scope of this study is to analyze the issue of performance management in healthcare organizations and specifically the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) methodology on organizations providing health services. The study provides a discussion on the BSC development process, the steps that management has to take in order to prepare the implementation of the BSC and finally discusses a practical example of a scorecard with specific strategic goals and performance indicators. Managers of healthcare organizations and specifically those providing services to the elderly and the general population could use the propositions of the study as a roadmap for processing, analyzing, evaluating and implementing the balanced scorecard approach in their organizations' daily operations. BSC methodology can give an advantage in terms of enhanced stakeholder management and preservation within a highly volatile and competitive economic environment.

Cycle time improvement for plastic injection moulding process by sub groove modification in conformal cooling channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamarudin, K.; Wahab, M. S.; Batcha, M. F. M.; Shayfull, Z.; Raus, A. A.; Ahmed, Aqeel

2017-09-01

Mould designers have been struggling for the improvement of the cooling system performance, despite the fact that the cooling system complexity is physically limited by the fabrication capability of the conventional tooling methods. However, the growth of Solid Free Form Technology (SFF) allow the mould designer to develop more than just a regular conformal cooling channel. Numerous researchers demonstrate that conformal cooling channel was tremendously given significant result in the improvement of productivity and quality in the plastic injection moulding process. This paper presents the research work that applies the passive enhancement method in square shape cooling channel to enhance the efficiency of cooling performance by adding the sub groove to the cooling channel itself. Previous design that uses square shape cooling channel was improved by adding various numbers of sub groove to meet the best sub groove design that able reduced the cooling time. The effect of sub groove design on cooling time was investigated by Autodesk Modlflow Insight software. The simulation results showed that the various sub groove designs give different values to ejection time. The Design 7 showed the lowest value of ejection time with 24.3% increment. The addition of sub groove significantly increased a coolant velocity and a rate of heat transfer from molten plastic to coolant.

Seeing the Talker's Face Improves Free Recall of Speech for Young Adults With Normal Hearing but Not Older Adults With Hearing Loss.

PubMed

Rudner, Mary; Mishra, Sushmit; Stenfelt, Stefan; Lunner, Thomas; Rönnberg, Jerker

2016-06-01

Seeing the talker's face improves speech understanding in noise, possibly releasing resources for cognitive processing. We investigated whether it improves free recall of spoken two-digit numbers. Twenty younger adults with normal hearing and 24 older adults with hearing loss listened to and subsequently recalled lists of 13 two-digit numbers, with alternating male and female talkers. Lists were presented in quiet as well as in stationary and speech-like noise at a signal-to-noise ratio giving approximately 90% intelligibility. Amplification compensated for loss of audibility. Seeing the talker's face improved free recall performance for the younger but not the older group. Poorer performance in background noise was contingent on individual differences in working memory capacity. The effect of seeing the talker's face did not differ in quiet and noise. We have argued that the absence of an effect of seeing the talker's face for older adults with hearing loss may be due to modulation of audiovisual integration mechanisms caused by an interaction between task demands and participant characteristics. In particular, we suggest that executive task demands and interindividual executive skills may play a key role in determining the benefit of seeing the talker's face during a speech-based cognitive task.

Improving integrated waste management at the regional level: the case of Lombardia.

PubMed

Rigamonti, Lucia; Falbo, Alida; Grosso, Mario

2013-09-01

The article summarises the main results of the 'Gestione Rifiuti in Lombardia: Analisi del ciclo di vita' (Waste management in Lombardia region: Life cycle assessment; GERLA) project. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been selected by Regione Lombardia as a strategic decision support tool in the drafting of its new waste management programme. The goal was to use the life cycle thinking approach to assess the current regional situation and thus to give useful strategic indications for the future waste management. The first phase of the study consisted of the LCA of the current management of municipal waste in the Lombardia region (reference year: 2009). The interpretation of such results has allowed the definition of four possible waste management scenarios for the year 2020, with the final goal being to improve the environmental performance of the regional system. The results showed that the current integrated waste management of Lombardia region is already characterised by good energy and environmental performances. However, there is still room for further improvement: actions based, on the one hand, on a further increase in recycling rates and, on the other hand, on a series of technological modifications, especially in food waste and residual waste management, can be undertaken to improve the overall system.

Design and aerodynamic performance evaluation of a high-work mixed flow turbine stage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neri, Remo N.; Elliott, Thomas J.; Marsh, David N.; Civinskas, Kestutis C.

1994-01-01

As axial and radial turbine designs have been pushed to their aerothermodynamic and mechanical limits, the mixed-flow turbine (MFT) concept has been projected to offer performance and durability improvements, especially when ceramic materials are considered. The objective of this NASA/U.S. Army sponsored mixed-flow turbine (AMFT) program was to determine the level of performance attainable with MFT technology within the mechanical constraints of 1997 projected ceramic material properties. The MFT geometry is similar to a radial turbine, exhibiting a large radius change from inlet to exit, but differing in that the inlet flowpath is not purely radial, nor axial, but mixed; it is the inlet geometry that gives rise to the name 'mixed-flow'. The 'mixed' orientation of the turbine inlet offers several advantages over radial designs by allowing a nonzero inlet blade angle yet maintaining radial-element blades. The oblique inlet not only improves the particle-impact survivability of the design, but improves the aerodynamic performance by reducing the incidence at the blade inlet. The difficulty, however, of using mixed-flow geometry lies in the scarcity of detailed data and documented design experience. This paper reports the design of a MFT stage designed with the intent to maximize aerodynamic performance by optimizing design parameters such as stage reaction, rotor incidence, flowpath shape, blade shape, vane geometry, and airfoil counts using 2-D, 3-D inviscid, and 3-D viscous computational fluid dynamics code. The aerodynamic optimization was accomplished while maintaining mechanical integrity with respect to vibration and stress levels in the rotor. A full-scale cold-flow rig test was performed with metallic hardware fabricated to the specifications of the hot ceramic geometry to evaluate the stage performance.

Design study of prestressed rotor spar concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gleich, D.

1980-01-01

Studies on the Bell Helicopter 540 Rotor System of the AH-1G helicopter were performed. The stiffness, mass and geometric configurations of the Bell blade were matched to give a dynamically similar prestressed composite blade. A multi-tube, prestressed composite spar blade configuration was designed for superior ballistic survivability at low life cycle cost. The composite spar prestresses, imparted during fabrication, are chosen to maintain compression in the high strength cryogenically stretchformed 304-L stainless steel liner and tension in the overwrapped HTS graphite fibers under operating loads. This prestressing results in greatly improved crack propagation and fatigue resistance as well as enhanced fiber stiffness properties. Advantages projected for the prestressed composite rotor spar concept include increased operational life and improved ballistic survivability at low life cycle cost.

Organizational change, patient-focused care: an Australian perspective.

PubMed

Braithwaite, J

1995-08-01

Hospitals throughout the world are attempting to improve organizational performance through a variety of means. The focus in this paper is on a leading teaching hospital in Australia for a review of current management strategy. In a time of shrinking resources, management adopted a multi-faceted change management program including restructuring the organization, becoming more patient-focused via a product-line management approach and emphasising efficiency and cost-reduction measures. The next stage in management thinking is to place greater emphasis on patient-focused care. It is concluded this has the propensity to yield substantial further benefits, including improved financial and quality of care outcomes, in the Australian as well as the British and wider Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) context. 'Professionally, we have committed ourselves to creating caring environments that promote healing. We cannot meet this goal until we make a commitment to be patient-focused and give up being nurse-focused or facility-focused' (Kerfort and LeClair, 1991). 'In a customer-driven [organization], the distribution of roles is different. The organization is decentralized, with responsibility delegated to those who until now have comprised the order-obeying bottom level of the pyramid. The traditional, hierarchical corporate structure, in other words, is beginning to give way to a flattened, more horizontal structure' (Carlzon, 1987).

Assessment of groundwater vulnerability using supervised committee to combine fuzzy logic models.

PubMed

Nadiri, Ata Allah; Gharekhani, Maryam; Khatibi, Rahman; Moghaddam, Asghar Asghari

2017-03-01

Vulnerability indices of an aquifer assessed by different fuzzy logic (FL) models often give rise to differing values with no theoretical or empirical basis to establish a validated baseline or to develop a comparison basis between the modeling results and baselines, if any. Therefore, this research presents a supervised committee fuzzy logic (SCFL) method, which uses artificial neural networks to overarch and combine a selection of FL models. The indices are expressed by the widely used DRASTIC framework, which include geological, hydrological, and hydrogeological parameters often subject to uncertainty. DRASTIC indices represent collectively intrinsic (or natural) vulnerability and give a sense of contaminants, such as nitrate-N, percolating to aquifers from the surface. The study area is an aquifer in Ardabil plain, the province of Ardabil, northwest Iran. Improvements on vulnerability indices are achieved by FL techniques, which comprise Sugeno fuzzy logic (SFL), Mamdani fuzzy logic (MFL), and Larsen fuzzy logic (LFL). As the correlation between estimated DRASTIC vulnerability index values and nitrate-N values is as low as 0.4, it is improved significantly by FL models (SFL, MFL, and LFL), which perform in similar ways but have differences. Their synergy is exploited by SCFL and uses the FL modeling results "conditioned" by nitrate-N values to raise their correlation to higher than 0.9.

Progress Report: Transportable Gasifier for On-Farm Disposal ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Report A prototype transportable gasifier intended to process a minimum of 25 tons per day of animal mortalities (scalable to 200 tons per day) was built as part of an interagency effort involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Defense as well as the State of North Carolina. This effort is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of gasification for disposal of contaminated carcasses and to identify technical challenges and improvements that will simplify, improve, and enhance the gasifier system as a mobile response tool. Initial testing of the prototype in 2008 and 2010 demonstrated partial success by meeting the transportability and rapid deployment requirements. However, the throughput of animal carcasses was approximately 1/3 of the intended design capacity. Modifications have been made to the fuel system, burner system, feed system, control system, power distribution, and ash handling system to increase its operating capacity to the rated design throughput. Further testing will be performed to demonstrate the throughput as well as to demonstrate the ability of the unit to operate around the clock for an extended period of time. This report gives a status update on the progress of the project. Purpose is to give an update on the Transportable Animal Carcass Gasifier.

Critical analysis of fragment-orbital DFT schemes for the calculation of electronic coupling values

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

Schober, Christoph; Reuter, Karsten; Oberhofer, Harald, E-mail: harald.oberhofer@ch.tum.de

2016-02-07

We present a critical analysis of the popular fragment-orbital density-functional theory (FO-DFT) scheme for the calculation of electronic coupling values. We discuss the characteristics of different possible formulations or “flavors” of the scheme which differ by the number of electrons in the calculation of the fragments and the construction of the Hamiltonian. In addition to two previously described variants based on neutral fragments, we present a third version taking a different route to the approximate diabatic state by explicitly considering charged fragments. In applying these FO-DFT flavors to the two molecular test sets HAB7 (electron transfer) and HAB11 (hole transfer),more » we find that our new scheme gives improved electronic couplings for HAB7 (−6.2% decrease in mean relative signed error) and greatly improved electronic couplings for HAB11 (−15.3% decrease in mean relative signed error). A systematic investigation of the influence of exact exchange on the electronic coupling values shows that the use of hybrid functionals in FO-DFT calculations improves the electronic couplings, giving values close to or even better than more sophisticated constrained DFT calculations. Comparing the accuracy and computational cost of each variant, we devise simple rules to choose the best possible flavor depending on the task. For accuracy, our new scheme with charged-fragment calculations performs best, while numerically more efficient at reasonable accuracy is the variant with neutral fragments.« less

Is organizational justice associated with clinical performance in the care for patients with diabetes in primary care? Evidence from the improving Quality of care in Diabetes study.

PubMed

Elovainio, Marko; Steen, Nick; Presseau, Justin; Francis, Jill; Hrisos, Susan; Hawthorne, Gillian; Johnston, Marie; Stamp, Elaine; Hunter, Margaret; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Eccles, Martin P

2013-02-01

Type 2 diabetes is an increasingly prevalent illness, and there is considerable variation in the quality of care provided to patients with diabetes in primary care. The aim of this study was to explore whether organizational justice and organizational citizenship behaviour are associated with the behaviours of clinical staff when providing care for patients with diabetes. The data were from an ongoing prospective multicenter study, the 'improving Quality of care in Diabetes' (iQuaD) study. Participants (N = 467) were clinical staff in 99 primary care practices in the UK. The outcome measures were six self-reported clinical behaviours: prescribing for glycaemic control, prescribing for blood pressure control, foot examination, giving advice about weight management, providing general education about diabetes and giving advice about self-management. Organizational justice perceptions were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The associations between organizational justice and behavioural outcomes were tested using linear multilevel regression modelling. Higher scores on the procedural component of organizational justice were associated with more frequent weight management advice, self-management advice and provision of general education for patients with diabetes. The associations between justice and clinical behaviours were not explained by individual or practice characteristics, but evidence was found for the partial mediating role of organizational citizenship behaviour. Quality improvement efforts aimed at increasing advice and education provision in diabetes management in primary care could target also perceptions of procedural justice.

Exploration of charity toward busking (street performance) as a function of religion.

PubMed

Lemay, John O; Bates, Larry W

2013-04-01

To examine conceptions of religion and charity in a new venue--busking (street performance)--103 undergraduate students at a regional university in the southeastern U.S. completed a battery of surveys regarding religion, and attitudes and behaviors toward busking. For those 85 participants who had previously encountered a busker, stepwise regression was used to predict increased frequency of giving to buskers. The best predictive model of giving to buskers consisted of three variables including less experienced irritation toward buskers, prior experience with giving to the homeless, and lower religious fundamentalism.

Enhancing the Performance of Perovskite Solar Cells by Hybridizing SnS Quantum Dots with CH3 NH3 PbI3.

PubMed

Han, Jianhua; Yin, Xuewen; Nan, Hui; Zhou, Yu; Yao, Zhibo; Li, Jianbao; Oron, Dan; Lin, Hong

2017-08-01

The combination of perovskite solar cells and quantum dot solar cells has significant potential due to the complementary nature of the two constituent materials. In this study, solar cells (SCs) with a hybrid CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 /SnS quantum dots (QDs) absorber layer are fabricated by a facile and universal in situ crystallization method, enabling easy embedding of the QDs in perovskite layer. Compared with SCs based on CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 , SCs using CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 /SnS QDs hybrid films as absorber achieves a 25% enhancement in efficiency, giving rise to an efficiency of 16.8%. The performance improvement can be attributed to the improved crystallinity of the absorber, enhanced photo-induced carriers' separation and transport within the absorber layer, and improved incident light utilization. The generality of the methods used in this work paves a universal pathway for preparing other perovskite/QDs hybrid materials and the synthesis of entire nontoxic perovskite/QDs hybrid structure. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A comparison of the Cray-2 performance before and after the installation of memory pseudo-banking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmickley, Ronald D.; Bailey, David H.

1987-01-01

A suite of 13 large Fortran benchmark codes were run on a Cray-2 configured with memory pseudo-banking circuits, and floating point operation rates were measured for each under a variety of system load configurations. These were compared with similar flop measurements taken on the same system before installation of the pseudo-banking. A useful memory access efficiency parameter was defined and calculated for both sets of performance rates, allowing a crude quantitative measure of the improvement in efficiency due to pseudo-banking. Programs were categorized as either highly scalar (S) or highly vectorized (V) and either memory-intensive or register-intensive, giving 4 categories: S-memory, S-register, V-memory, and V-register. Using flop rates as a simple quantifier of these 4 categories, a scatter plot of efficiency gain vs Mflops roughly illustrates the improvement in floating point processing speed due to pseudo-banking. On the Cray-2 system tested this improvement ranged from 1 percent for S-memory codes to about 12 percent for V-memory codes. No significant gains were made for V-register codes, which was to be expected.

Improved formalism for precision Higgs coupling fits

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

Barklow, Tim; Fujii, Keisuke; Jung, Sunghoon

Future e +e – colliders give the promise of model-independent determinations of the couplings of the Higgs boson. In this paper, we present an improved formalism for extracting Higgs boson couplings from e +e – data, based on the effective field theory description of corrections to the Standard Model. Lastly, we apply this formalism to give projections of Higgs coupling accuracies for stages of the International Linear Collider and for other proposed e +e – colliders.

Improved formalism for precision Higgs coupling fits

DOE PAGES

Barklow, Tim; Fujii, Keisuke; Jung, Sunghoon; ...

2018-03-20

Future e +e – colliders give the promise of model-independent determinations of the couplings of the Higgs boson. In this paper, we present an improved formalism for extracting Higgs boson couplings from e +e – data, based on the effective field theory description of corrections to the Standard Model. Lastly, we apply this formalism to give projections of Higgs coupling accuracies for stages of the International Linear Collider and for other proposed e +e – colliders.

Evaluation of machine learning algorithms for improved risk assessment for Down's syndrome.

PubMed

Koivu, Aki; Korpimäki, Teemu; Kivelä, Petri; Pahikkala, Tapio; Sairanen, Mikko

2018-05-04

Prenatal screening generates a great amount of data that is used for predicting risk of various disorders. Prenatal risk assessment is based on multiple clinical variables and overall performance is defined by how well the risk algorithm is optimized for the population in question. This article evaluates machine learning algorithms to improve performance of first trimester screening of Down syndrome. Machine learning algorithms pose an adaptive alternative to develop better risk assessment models using the existing clinical variables. Two real-world data sets were used to experiment with multiple classification algorithms. Implemented models were tested with a third, real-world, data set and performance was compared to a predicate method, a commercial risk assessment software. Best performing deep neural network model gave an area under the curve of 0.96 and detection rate of 78% with 1% false positive rate with the test data. Support vector machine model gave area under the curve of 0.95 and detection rate of 61% with 1% false positive rate with the same test data. When compared with the predicate method, the best support vector machine model was slightly inferior, but an optimized deep neural network model was able to give higher detection rates with same false positive rate or similar detection rate but with markedly lower false positive rate. This finding could further improve the first trimester screening for Down syndrome, by using existing clinical variables and a large training data derived from a specific population. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of transition-sensitive eddy-viscosity turbulence models for separated flow in OpenFOAM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fadhila, H.; Medina, H.; Beechook, A.; Aleksandrova, S.; Benjamin, S.

2017-07-01

A recently published transition-sensitive turbulence model, k-kL-ω-υ2 [1], is implemented in the open-source CFD package OpenFOAM, and its performance is evaluated in comparison with k-kL-ω [2] and υ2- f [3] models. On T3A and T3B flat plate cases, the k-kL-ω-υ2 model gives accurate transitional predictions. On a flapped NACA 23012 aerofoil, it is found to give only a small improvement over the k-kL-ω model (under 5% reduction in error for lift coefficient) compared with experimental results obtained at the Coventry University wind tunnel, showing limited effects of the extra transport equation which was added to sensitise the model to rotation and curvature effects. Assessment of fluctuating kinetic energy and the new wall-normal turbulent velocity scale shows overprediction near the wall compared to the υ2- f model which indicates a delayed prediction of separation.

Feature extraction for face recognition via Active Shape Model (ASM) and Active Appearance Model (AAM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iqtait, M.; Mohamad, F. S.; Mamat, M.

2018-03-01

Biometric is a pattern recognition system which is used for automatic recognition of persons based on characteristics and features of an individual. Face recognition with high recognition rate is still a challenging task and usually accomplished in three phases consisting of face detection, feature extraction, and expression classification. Precise and strong location of trait point is a complicated and difficult issue in face recognition. Cootes proposed a Multi Resolution Active Shape Models (ASM) algorithm, which could extract specified shape accurately and efficiently. Furthermore, as the improvement of ASM, Active Appearance Models algorithm (AAM) is proposed to extracts both shape and texture of specified object simultaneously. In this paper we give more details about the two algorithms and give the results of experiments, testing their performance on one dataset of faces. We found that the ASM is faster and gains more accurate trait point location than the AAM, but the AAM gains a better match to the texture.

Equation of state in 2 + 1 flavor QCD at high temperatures

DOE PAGES

Bazavov, A.; Petreczky, P.; Weber, J. H.

2018-01-31

We calculate the Equation of State at high temperatures in 2+1 flavor QCD using the highly improved staggered quark (HISQ) action. We study the lattice spacing dependence of the pressure at high temperatures using lattices with temporal extent N(tau) = 6, 8, 10 and 12 and perform continuum extrapolations. We also give a continuum estimate for the Equation of State up to temperatures T = 2 GeV, which are then compared with results of the weak-coupling calculations. We find a reasonably good agreement with the weak-coupling calculations at the highest temperatures.

Reengineering Human Performance and Fatigue Research Through Use of Physiological Monitoring Devices, Web-Based and Mobile Device Data Collection Methods, and Integrated Data Storage Techniques

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-12-01

Lin, T. M. and Sadhu, P. XML How to Program . Prentice Hall, 2001. Dement, W. and Greenberg, S. (1966) “Changes in Total Amount of Stage Four Sleep...training in the science of conducting human research as well as how to use the collection equipment and analysis tools available to them at NPS. In order...redesign? • How will development of a PDA based tracking log give support to process redesign? D. SCOPE OF THESIS In efforts to improve data

Analyzing Oscillations of a Rolling Cart Using Smartphones and Tablets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Egri, Sándor; Szabó, Lóránt

2015-03-01

It is well known that "interactive engagement" helps students to understand basic concepts in physics.1 Performing experiments and analyzing measured data are effective ways to realize interactive engagement, in our view. Some experiments need special equipment, measuring instruments, or laboratories, but in this activity we advocate student use of mobile phones or tablets to take experimental data. Applying their own devices and measuring simple phenomena from everyday life can improve student interest, while still allowing precise analysis of data, which can give deeper insight into scientific thinking and provide a good opportunity for inquiry-based learning.2

Functional flexible and wearable supercapacitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Yan; Zhi, Chunyi

2017-07-01

Substantial effort has been devoted to endowing flexible and wearable supercapacitors with desirable functions and solving urgent concerns regarding their practical application, particularly materials selection, air permeability, self-healability, shape memory, integration, and modularization. This gives rise to challenges with regard to both suitable materials and device fabrication. This review highlights the current state-of-the-art of these supercapacitors pertinent to materials, fabrication strategies, and performance. Challenges and solutions are also discussed to further improve their practicality. The aim of this review is to make a timely summary of this emerging field and discuss future opportunities and challenges.

Advances with holographic DESA emulsions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dünkel, Lothar; Eichler, Jürgen; Schneeweiss, Claudia; Ackermann, Gerhard

2006-02-01

DESA emulsions represent layer systems based on ultra-fine grained silver halide (AgX) technology. The new layers have an excellent performance for holographic application. The technology has been presented repeatedly in recent years, including the emulsion characterization and topics of chemical and spectral sensitization. The paper gives a survey of actual results referring to panchromatic sensitization and other improvements like the application of silver halide sensitized gelatine (SHSG) procedure. These results are embedded into intensive collaborations with small and medium enterprises (SME's) to commercialize DESA layers. Predominant goals are innovative products with holographic components and layers providing as well as cost effectiveness and high quality.

Amorphous ribbon transducers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meydan, T.; Overshott, K. J.

1984-02-01

Amorphous ribbon transducers have been investigated which consist of toroidally wound amorphous ribbon with a primary (magnetizing) winding and secondary (search coil) windings. The application of a force to the ribbon gives a linear search coil voltage against applied force characteristic. The positioning of the windings with respect to the applied force has been studied, and it is shown that the effect of the applied force is localized. Domain studies have shown that the applied force produces domain wall motion which can be correlated to the performance. These results have elucidated the operation of ac amorphous ribbon transducers and enabled improved designs to be produced.

Equation of state in 2 + 1 flavor QCD at high temperatures

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

Bazavov, A.; Petreczky, P.; Weber, J. H.

We calculate the Equation of State at high temperatures in 2+1 flavor QCD using the highly improved staggered quark (HISQ) action. We study the lattice spacing dependence of the pressure at high temperatures using lattices with temporal extent N(tau) = 6, 8, 10 and 12 and perform continuum extrapolations. We also give a continuum estimate for the Equation of State up to temperatures T = 2 GeV, which are then compared with results of the weak-coupling calculations. We find a reasonably good agreement with the weak-coupling calculations at the highest temperatures.

Objective quality assessment for multiexposure multifocus image fusion.

PubMed

Hassen, Rania; Wang, Zhou; Salama, Magdy M A

2015-09-01

There has been a growing interest in image fusion technologies, but how to objectively evaluate the quality of fused images has not been fully understood. Here, we propose a method for objective quality assessment of multiexposure multifocus image fusion based on the evaluation of three key factors of fused image quality: 1) contrast preservation; 2) sharpness; and 3) structure preservation. Subjective experiments are conducted to create an image fusion database, based on which, performance evaluation shows that the proposed fusion quality index correlates well with subjective scores, and gives a significant improvement over the existing fusion quality measures.

Fullerene derivative-doped zinc oxide nanofilm as the cathode of inverted polymer solar cells with low-bandgap polymer (PTB7-Th) for high performance.

PubMed

Liao, Sih-Hao; Jhuo, Hong-Jyun; Cheng, Yu-Shan; Chen, Show-An

2013-09-14

Modification of a ZnO cathode by doping it with a hydroxyl-containing derivative - giving a ZnO-C60 cathode - provides a fullerene-derivative-rich surface and enhanced electron conduction. Inverted polymer solar cells with the ZnO-C60 cathode display markedly improved power conversion efficiency compared to those with a pristine ZnO cathode, especially when the active layer includes the low-bandgap polymer PTB7-Th. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Adoption of JMM practices - A key to performance improvement of a local automotive industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohiuddin, A. K. M.; Haji, A. Jabbar Julia Bt.; Khan, Ahsan Ali; Mustafizul Karim, A. N.

2017-03-01

It is imperative for a manufacturing company all over the world to constantly look for ways to increase productivity and at the same time to lower cost to secure a competitive position. It is recognized that practices associated with Japanese Manufacturing Management (JMM) can yield a superior competitive advantage in terms of productivity, quality and provide overall successful business performance. This paper discusses the transfer of the best practices of the JMM locally and analyses the impact of adoption and adaptation of the management system as an in-depth case study conducted in a Malaysian automotive company. This study is to identify what are the changes in terms of the philosophy and practices undertaken by the company and ascertain the impact of the JMM on its manufacturing and financial performances. The elements of business performance from the viewpoint of manufacturing are based on safety, Parts Per Million (PPM), in-line Defect per Unit (DPU), First Time Quality (FTQ), cycle time, productivity, efficiency and stock level. The results show a positive impact to the automotive plant manufacturing performance. For example, safety index has reduced to 0 major accident occurrences. The PPM and In-line DPU have improved by 98% and 91% respectively whereas the FTQ has improved by 167%. Cycle time has reduced from 20 to 6 minutes and productivity increased up to 43% whilst the efficiency reached at 99.9%. The stock level was reduced from half month to 3 days after the adoption of the JMM. The revenue has increased up to 92%, the percentage of expenses has reduced from 11.04% to 3.06% giving an improvement of 72% whilst the net profit has increased from 5.33% to 8.15%. The Return of Asset (RoA) and Return of Equity (RoE) also showed slight improvement despite the effects from the restructuring exercise, Tsunami calamity and fluctuation in Japanese exchange rate.

The development of an imaging informatics-based multi-institutional platform to support sports performance and injury prevention in track and field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Joseph; Wang, Ximing; Verma, Sneha; McNitt-Gray, Jill; Liu, Brent

2018-03-01

The main goal of sports science and performance enhancement is to collect video and image data, process them, and quantify the results, giving insight to help athletes improve technique. For long jump in track and field, the processed output of video with force vector overlays and force calculations allow coaches to view specific stages of the hop, step, and jump, and identify how each stage can be improved to increase jump distance. Outputs also provide insight into how athletes can better maneuver to prevent injury. Currently, each data collection site collects and stores data with their own methods. There is no standard for data collection, formats, or storage. Video files and quantified results are stored in different formats, structures, and locations such as Dropbox and hard drives. Using imaging informatics-based principles we can develop a platform for multiple institutions that promotes the standardization of sports performance data. In addition, the system will provide user authentication and privacy as in clinical trials, with specific user access rights. Long jump data collected from different field sites will be standardized into specified formats before database storage. Quantified results from image-processing algorithms are stored similar to CAD algorithm results. The system will streamline the current sports performance data workflow and provide a user interface for athletes and coaches to view results of individual collections and also longitudinally across different collections. This streamlined platform and interface is a tool for coaches and athletes to easily access and review data to improve sports performance and prevent injury.

NASA GTE TRACE-P Augmentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sandholm, Scott; Conners, Vickie (Technical Monitor)

2005-01-01

There were three major tasks and objectives that the Tropospheric Trace Gas and Airborne Measurement Group's (TTGAMG) worked on for different aspects of this grant: 1) Migrate the data acquisition system from HP-UX to Linux, thus reducing future costs as the result of software and operating system (OS) upgrades and improving upon usability as membership in the group changes; 2) Rework the Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO) cavities. These are the OPOs that are integral to the Georgia Institute of Technology Airborne Laser Induced Fluorescent Experiment (GITALIFE) that the TTGAMG flew on TRACE-P. The objective was to improve upon optimizing the pump laser energy and narrowing the linewidth of the UV wavelength generated by the OPOs; 3) Improve and expand the interactive website on http://tmbk2.eas.gatech.edu by adding 3-D graphing, improve the response time for Joe Surfer Dude, improve performance, usability, and expand the database. If I were to assign a letter grade to each of the above tasks, I would give the TTGAMG two Bs and an A to the tasks listed above.

The Use of Lean Six Sigma Methodology in Increasing Capacity of a Chemical Production Facility at DSM.

PubMed

Meeuwse, Marco

2018-03-30

Lean Six Sigma is an improvement method, combining Lean, which focuses on removing 'waste' from a process, with Six Sigma, which is a data-driven approach, making use of statistical tools. Traditionally it is used to improve the quality of products (reducing defects), or processes (reducing variability). However, it can also be used as a tool to increase the productivity or capacity of a production plant. The Lean Six Sigma methodology is therefore an important pillar of continuous improvement within DSM. In the example shown here a multistep batch process is improved, by analyzing the duration of the relevant process steps, and optimizing the procedures. Process steps were performed in parallel instead of sequential, and some steps were made shorter. The variability was reduced, giving the opportunity to make a tighter planning, and thereby reducing waiting times. Without any investment in new equipment or technical modifications, the productivity of the plant was improved by more than 20%; only by changing procedures and the programming of the process control system.

Experiments on tandem diffusers with boundary-layer suction applied in between

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barna, P. S.

1979-01-01

Experiments were performed on conical diffusers of various configurations with the same, but rather unusually large, 16:1 area ratio. Because available performance data on diffusers fall short of very large area ratio configurations, an unconventional design, consisting of two diffusers following each other in tandem, was proposed. Both diffusers had the same area ratio of 4:1, but had different taper angles. While for the first diffuser (called leading) the angle remained constant, for the second (called follower), the taper angle was stepped up to higher values. Boundary layer control, by way of suction, was applied between the diffusers, and a single slot suction ring was inserted between them. The leading diffuser had an enclosed nominal divergence angle 2 theta = 5 degrees, while the follower diffusers had either 10, 20, 30, or 40 degrees, respectively, giving 4 combinations. The experiments were performed at four different Reynolds numbers with various suction rates. The rates indicate a general improvement in the performance of all diffusers with boundary layer suction. It appears that the improvement of the pressure recovery depends on both the Reynolds number and the suction rate, and the largest increase, 0.075, was found at the lowest R sub e when the follower divergence was 2 theta = 40 degrees.

Performance analysis of a parallel Monte Carlo code for simulating solar radiative transfer in cloudy atmospheres using CUDA-enabled NVIDIA GPU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russkova, Tatiana V.

2017-11-01

One tool to improve the performance of Monte Carlo methods for numerical simulation of light transport in the Earth's atmosphere is the parallel technology. A new algorithm oriented to parallel execution on the CUDA-enabled NVIDIA graphics processor is discussed. The efficiency of parallelization is analyzed on the basis of calculating the upward and downward fluxes of solar radiation in both a vertically homogeneous and inhomogeneous models of the atmosphere. The results of testing the new code under various atmospheric conditions including continuous singlelayered and multilayered clouds, and selective molecular absorption are presented. The results of testing the code using video cards with different compute capability are analyzed. It is shown that the changeover of computing from conventional PCs to the architecture of graphics processors gives more than a hundredfold increase in performance and fully reveals the capabilities of the technology used.

Development of superconductor magnetic suspension and balance prototype facility for studying the feasibility of applying this technique to large scale aerodynamic testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zapata, R. N.; Humphris, R. R.; Henderson, K. C.

1975-01-01

The unique design and operational characteristics of a prototype magnetic suspension and balance facility which utilizes superconductor technology are described and discussed from the point of view of scalability to large sizes. The successful experimental demonstration of the feasibility of this new magnetic suspension concept of the University of Virginia, together with the success of the cryogenic wind-tunnel concept developed at Langley Research Center, appear to have finally opened the way to clean-tunnel, high-Re aerodynamic testing. Results of calculations corresponding to a two-step design extrapolation from the observed performance of the prototype magnetic suspension system to a system compatible with the projected cryogenic transonic research tunnel are presented to give an order-of-magnitude estimate of expected performance characteristics. Research areas where progress should lead to improved design and performance of large facilities are discussed.

Nano Polymeric Carrier Fabrication Technologies for Advanced Antitumor Therapy

PubMed Central

Li, Wei; Zhao, Mengxin; Ke, Changhong; Zhang, Ge; Zhang, Li; Li, Huafei; Zhang, Fulei; Sun, Yun; Dai, Jianxin; Wang, Hao; Guo, Yajun

2013-01-01

Comparing with the traditional therapeutic methods, newly developed cancer therapy based on the nanoparticulates attracted extensively interest due to its unique advantages. However, there are still some drawbacks such as the unfavorable in vivo performance for nanomedicine and undesirable tumor escape from the immunotherapy. While as we know that the in vivo performance strongly depended on the nanocarrier structural properties, thus, the big gap between in vitro and in vivo can be overcome by nanocarrier's structural tailoring by fine chemical design and microstructural tuning. In addition, this fine nanocarrier's engineering can also provide practical solution to solve the problems in traditional cancer immunotherapy. In this paper, we review the latest development in nanomedicine, cancer therapy, and nanoimmunotherapy. We then give an explanation why fine nanocanrrie's engineering with special focus on the unique pathology of tumor microenvironments and properties of immunocells can obviously promote the in vivo performance and improve the therapeutic index of nanoimmunotherapy. PMID:24369011

Improving the Glucose Meter Error Grid With the Taguchi Loss Function.

PubMed

Krouwer, Jan S

2016-07-01

Glucose meters often have similar performance when compared by error grid analysis. This is one reason that other statistics such as mean absolute relative deviation (MARD) are used to further differentiate performance. The problem with MARD is that too much information is lost. But additional information is available within the A zone of an error grid by using the Taguchi loss function. Applying the Taguchi loss function gives each glucose meter difference from reference a value ranging from 0 (no error) to 1 (error reaches the A zone limit). Values are averaged over all data which provides an indication of risk of an incorrect medical decision. This allows one to differentiate glucose meter performance for the common case where meters have a high percentage of values in the A zone and no values beyond the B zone. Examples are provided using simulated data. © 2015 Diabetes Technology Society.

Life sciences flight experiments microcomputer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bartram, Peter N.

1987-01-01

A promising microcomputer configuration for the Spacelab Life Sciences Lab. Equipment inventory consists of multiple processors. One processor's use is reserved, with additional processors dedicated to real time input and output operations. A simple form of such a configuration, with a processor board for analog to digital conversion and another processor board for digital to analog conversion, was studied. The system used digital parallel data lines between the boards, operating independently of the system bus. Good performance of individual components was demonstrated: the analog to digital converter was at over 10,000 samples per second. The combination of the data transfer between boards with the input or output functions on each board slowed performance, with a maximum throughput of 2800 to 2900 analog samples per second. Any of several techniques, such as use of the system bus for data transfer or the addition of direct memory access hardware to the processor boards, should give significantly improved performance.

A study of hear sink performance in air and soil for use in a thermoelectric energy harvesting device

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Snyder, J.; Lawrence, E. E.

2002-01-01

A suggested application of a thermoelectric generator is to exploit the natural temperature difference between the air and the soil to generate small amounts of electrical energy. Since the conversion efficiency of even the best thermoelectric generators available is very low, the performance of the heat sinks providing the heat flow is critical. By providing a constant heat input to various heat sinks, field tests of their thermal conductances in soil and in air were performed. Aprototype device without a thermoelectric generator was constructed, buried, and monitored to experimentally measure the heat flow achievable in such a system. Theoretical considerations for design and selection of improved heat sinks are also presented. In particular, the method of shape factoranalysis is used to give rough estimates and upper bounds for the thermal conductance of a passive heat sink buried in soil.

Analysis of soft-decision FEC on non-AWGN channels.

PubMed

Cho, Junho; Xie, Chongjin; Winzer, Peter J

2012-03-26

Soft-decision forward error correction (SD-FEC) schemes are typically designed for additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels. In a fiber-optic communication system, noise may be neither circularly symmetric nor Gaussian, thus violating an important assumption underlying SD-FEC design. This paper quantifies the impact of non-AWGN noise on SD-FEC performance for such optical channels. We use a conditionally bivariate Gaussian noise model (CBGN) to analyze the impact of correlations among the signal's two quadrature components, and assess the effect of CBGN on SD-FEC performance using the density evolution of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. On a CBGN channel generating severely elliptic noise clouds, it is shown that more than 3 dB of coding gain are attainable by utilizing correlation information. Our analyses also give insights into potential improvements of the detection performance for fiber-optic transmission systems assisted by SD-FEC.

Further weight reduction of applications in long glass reinforced polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanev, A.; Schijve, W.; Martin, C.; Brands, D.

2014-05-01

Long glass reinforced materials are broadly used in the automotive industry due to their good mechanical performance, competitive price and options for functional integration in order to reduce weight. With rapidly changing environmental requirements, a demand for further weight reduction is growing constantly. Designs in LGF-PP can bring light weight solutions in combination with system cost improvement. There are quite some possibilities for applying weight reduction technologies nowadays. These technologies have to be evaluated based on weight reduction potential, but also on mechanical performance of the end application, where the latter is often the key to success. Different weight reduction technologies are applied to SABIC®STAMAX{trade mark, serif} material, a long glass fiber reinforced polypropylene (LGF-PP), in order to investigate and define best application performance. These techniques include: chemical foaming, physical foaming and thin wall applications. Results from this research will be presented, giving a guideline for your development.

Using a nursing balanced scorecard approach to measure and optimize nursing performance.

PubMed

Jeffs, Lianne; Merkley, Jane; Richardson, Sandy; Eli, Jackie; McAllister, Mary

2011-04-01

The authors give an overview of one healthcare organization's experience in developing a nursing strategic plan and nursing balanced scorecard (NBS) using a focused planning process involving strategy mapping. The NBS is being used at this organization to manage the nursing strategic plan by leveraging and improving nursing processes and organizational capabilities as required, based on data and transparent communication of performance results to key stakeholders. Key strategies and insights may help other nurse leaders in developing or refining strategic approaches to measuring nursing performance. Vital to the success of an organization's strategic plan are ongoing endorsement, engagement and visibility of senior leaders. Quality of decisions made depends on the organization's ability to collect data from multiple sources using standardized definitions, mine data and extract them for statistical analysis and effectively present them in a compelling and understandable way to users and decision-makers.

Nano polymeric carrier fabrication technologies for advanced antitumor therapy.

PubMed

Li, Wei; Zhao, Mengxin; Ke, Changhong; Zhang, Ge; Zhang, Li; Li, Huafei; Zhang, Fulei; Sun, Yun; Dai, Jianxin; Wang, Hao; Guo, Yajun

2013-01-01

Comparing with the traditional therapeutic methods, newly developed cancer therapy based on the nanoparticulates attracted extensively interest due to its unique advantages. However, there are still some drawbacks such as the unfavorable in vivo performance for nanomedicine and undesirable tumor escape from the immunotherapy. While as we know that the in vivo performance strongly depended on the nanocarrier structural properties, thus, the big gap between in vitro and in vivo can be overcome by nanocarrier's structural tailoring by fine chemical design and microstructural tuning. In addition, this fine nanocarrier's engineering can also provide practical solution to solve the problems in traditional cancer immunotherapy. In this paper, we review the latest development in nanomedicine, cancer therapy, and nanoimmunotherapy. We then give an explanation why fine nanocanrrie's engineering with special focus on the unique pathology of tumor microenvironments and properties of immunocells can obviously promote the in vivo performance and improve the therapeutic index of nanoimmunotherapy.

Development of high-performing semiconducting polymers for organic electrochemical transistors (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nielsen, Christian

2016-11-01

The organic electrochemical transistor (OECT), capable of amplifying small electrical signals in an aqueous environment, is an ideal device to utilize in organic bioelectronic applications involving for example neural interfacing and diagnostics. Currently, most OECTs are fabricated with commercially available conducting poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-based suspensions such as PEDOT:PSS and are therefore operated in depletion mode giving rise to devices that are permanently on with non-optimal operational voltage. With the aim to develop and utilize efficient accumulation mode OECT devices, we discuss here our recent results regarding the design, synthesis and performance of novel intrinsic semiconducting polymers. Covering key aspects such as ion and charge transport in the bulk semiconductor and operational voltage and stability of the materials and devices, we have elucidated important structure-property relationships. We illustrate the improvements this approach has afforded in the development of high performance accumulation mode OECT materials.

[Stress-induced changes of attention during choking in judo].

PubMed

Raschka, C; Mangold, R

2005-12-01

The aim of the investigation is the registration and analysis of cognitive parameters in the alarm phase of the stress reaction during a conventional judo cross choking technique. 57 judoka (41 males, 16 females; mean age 23.1 +/- 6.7 years) underwent a standardized cross-choking maneuvre (juji-jime), which lasted for 6 - 8 s until giving up, carried out by a black belt physician. The Stroop inference test was performed before and twice after the intervention. The reading velocity of the interference task was reduced by an average of 77.4 s to a mean of 74.4 s (p < 0.01), and the number of reading errors decreased by a mean from 2.9 to 2.1 (p < 0.01), finally increasing to 2.4 s. The data show the most important improvement in performance in 25 s after choking in the male judoka. In the female judoka increasing performance started already 25 s before choking and continued 25 s after the intervention. The alarm reaction following the potential life threatening stressor with an attack upon the throat improves selective attention before (female subjects) and after choking (female and male subjects) depending on gender.

Superconducting RF materials other than bulk niobium: a review

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

Valente-Feliciano, Anne-Marie

For the last five decades, bulk niobium (Nb) has been the material of choice for Superconducting RF (SRF) cavity applications. Thin film alternatives such as Nb and other higher-Tc materials, mainly Nb compounds and A15 compounds, have been investigated with moderate effort in the past. In recent years, RF cavity performance has approached the theoretical limit for bulk Nb. For further improvement of RF cavity performance for future accelerator projects, research interest is renewed towards alternatives to bulk Nb. Institutions around the world are now investing renewed efforts in the investigation of Nb thin films and superconductors with higher transitionmore » temperature Tc for application to SRF cavities. Our paper gives an overview of the results obtained so far and challenges encountered for Nb films as well as other materials, such as Nb compounds, A15 compounds, MgB2, and oxypnictides, for SRF cavity applications. An interesting alternative using a Superconductor-Insulator- Superconductor multilayer approach has been recently proposed to delay the vortex penetration in Nb surfaces. This could potentially lead to further improvement in RF cavities performance using the benefit of the higher critical field Hc of higher-Tc superconductors without being limited with their lower Hc1.« less

Superconducting RF materials other than bulk niobium: a review

DOE PAGES

Valente-Feliciano, Anne-Marie

2016-09-26

For the last five decades, bulk niobium (Nb) has been the material of choice for Superconducting RF (SRF) cavity applications. Thin film alternatives such as Nb and other higher-Tc materials, mainly Nb compounds and A15 compounds, have been investigated with moderate effort in the past. In recent years, RF cavity performance has approached the theoretical limit for bulk Nb. For further improvement of RF cavity performance for future accelerator projects, research interest is renewed towards alternatives to bulk Nb. Institutions around the world are now investing renewed efforts in the investigation of Nb thin films and superconductors with higher transitionmore » temperature Tc for application to SRF cavities. Our paper gives an overview of the results obtained so far and challenges encountered for Nb films as well as other materials, such as Nb compounds, A15 compounds, MgB2, and oxypnictides, for SRF cavity applications. An interesting alternative using a Superconductor-Insulator- Superconductor multilayer approach has been recently proposed to delay the vortex penetration in Nb surfaces. This could potentially lead to further improvement in RF cavities performance using the benefit of the higher critical field Hc of higher-Tc superconductors without being limited with their lower Hc1.« less

Groundwater vulnerability indices conditioned by Supervised Intelligence Committee Machine (SICM).

PubMed

Nadiri, Ata Allah; Gharekhani, Maryam; Khatibi, Rahman; Sadeghfam, Sina; Moghaddam, Asghar Asghari

2017-01-01

This research presents a Supervised Intelligent Committee Machine (SICM) model to assess groundwater vulnerability indices of an aquifer. SICM uses Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to overarch three Artificial Intelligence (AI) models: Support Vector Machine (SVM), Neuro-Fuzzy (NF) and Gene Expression Programming (GEP). Each model uses the DRASTIC index, the acronym of 7 geological, hydrological and hydrogeological parameters, which collectively represents intrinsic (or natural) vulnerability and gives a sense of contaminants, such as nitrate-N, penetrating aquifers from the surface. These models are trained to modify or condition their DRASTIC index values by measured nitrate-N concentration. The three AI-techniques often perform similarly but have differences as well and therefore SICM exploits the situation to improve the modeled values by producing a hybrid modeling results through selecting better performing SVM, NF and GEP components. The models of the study area at Ardabil aquifer show that the vulnerability indices by the DRASTIC framework produces sharp fronts but AI models smoothen the fronts and reflect a better correlation with observed nitrate values; SICM improves on the performances of three AI models and cope well with heterogeneity and uncertain parameters. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A novel antenatal record to help midwives.

PubMed

Kennedy, I; Stephens, B

1979-07-01

An antenatal questionnaire and graph for plotting weight and fundal height gives immediate warning of women at risk in pregnancy in a simple and visually striking way. It saves midwives' time, improves their clinical awareness and gives them more confidence in referring patients.

Evolution of a residue laboratory network and the management tools for monitoring its performance.

PubMed

Lins, E S; Conceição, E S; Mauricio, A De Q

2012-01-01

Since 2005 the National Residue & Contaminants Control Plan (NRCCP) in Brazil has been considerably enhanced, increasing the number of samples, substances and species monitored, and also the analytical detection capability. The Brazilian laboratory network was forced to improve its quality standards in order to comply with the NRCP's own evolution. Many aspects such as the limits of quantification (LOQs), the quality management systems within the laboratories and appropriate method validation are in continuous improvement, generating new scenarios and demands. Thus, efficient management mechanisms for monitoring network performance and its adherence to the established goals and guidelines are required. Performance indicators associated to computerised information systems arise as a powerful tool to monitor the laboratories' activity, making use of different parameters to describe this activity on a day-to-day basis. One of these parameters is related to turnaround times, and this factor is highly affected by the way each laboratory organises its management system, as well as the regulatory requirements. In this paper a global view is presented of the turnaround times related to the type of analysis, laboratory, number of samples per year, type of matrix, country region and period of the year, all these data being collected from a computerised system called SISRES. This information gives a solid background to management measures aiming at the improvement of the service offered by the laboratory network.

Autonomous Vision Navigation for Spacecraft in Lunar Orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bader, Nolan A.

NASA aims to achieve unprecedented navigational reliability for the first manned lunar mission of the Orion spacecraft in 2023. A technique for accomplishing this is to integrate autonomous feature tracking as an added means of improving position and velocity estimation. In this thesis, a template matching algorithm and optical sensor are tested onboard three simulated lunar trajectories using linear covariance techniques under various conditions. A preliminary characterization of the camera gives insight into its ability to determine azimuth and elevation angles to points on the surface of the Moon. A navigation performance analysis shows that an optical camera sensor can aid in decreasing position and velocity errors, particularly in a loss of communication scenario. Furthermore, it is found that camera quality and computational capability are driving factors affecting the performance of such a system.

Polymeric film application for phase change heat transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bart, Hans-Jörg; Dreiser, Christian

2018-06-01

The paper gives a concise review on polymer film heat exchangers (PFHX) with a focus on polyether ether ketone (PEEK) foil as heat transfer element, mechanically supported by a grid structure. In order to promote PFHX applications, heat transfer performance and wetting behavior are studied in detail. Surface modifications to improve wetting are discussed and correlations are presented for critical Reynolds numbers to sustain a stable liquid film. Scaling phenomena related to surface properties and easily adaptable cleaning-in-place (CIP) procedures are further content. The contribution of the foil thickness and material selection on thermal performance is quantified and a correlation for enhanced aqueous film heat transfer for the grid supported PFHX is given. The basic research results and the design criteria enable early stage material selection and conceptual apparatus design.

The third-generation turbocharged engine for the Audi 5000 CS and 5000 CS Quattro

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

Stock, D.

In September 1985 the new Audi 5000 CS Quattro was introduced to the American market. This luxurious high performance touring sedan has been equipped with a more advanced turbocharged engine with intercooler and electronic engine management giving improved performance, excellent torque, faster response and better fuel economy. The basic engine is the tried-and-tested Audi 5-cylinder unit. The turbocharged engine's ancillary systems, the electronic ignition control and fuel injection have all been newly developed, carefully optimized and well matched in the special demands of a turbocharged engine. The ignition system controls the engine and fuel injection and delivers analog and digitalmore » signals to the car's instrument panel display. The system also has an integrated self-diagnostic function.« less

Lockheed L-1011 TriStar first flight to support Adaptive Performance Optimization study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Bearing the logos of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Orbital Sciences Corporation, Orbital's L-1011 Tristar lifts off the Meadows Field Runway at Bakersfield, California, on its first flight May 21, 1997, in NASA's Adaptive Performance Optimization project. Developed by engineers at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, the experiment seeks to reduce fuel consumption of large jetliners by improving the aerodynamic efficency of their wings at cruise conditions. A research computer employing a sophisticated software program adapts to changing flight conditions by commanding small movements of the L-1011's outboard ailerons to give the wings the most efficient - or optimal - airfoil. Up to a dozen research flights will be flown in the current and follow-on phases of the project over the next couple years.

Energy Drink Consumption: Beneficial and Adverse Health Effects.

PubMed

Alsunni, Ahmed Abdulrahman

2015-10-01

Consumption of energy drinks has been increasing dramatically in the last two decades, particularly amongst adolescents and young adults. Energy drinks are aggressively marketed with the claim that these products give an energy boost to improve physical and cognitive performance. However, studies supporting these claims are limited. In fact, several adverse health effects have been related to energy drink; this has raised the question of whether these beverages are safe. This review was carried out to identify and discuss the published articles that examined the beneficial and adverse health effects related to energy drink. It is concluded that although energy drink may have beneficial effects on physical performance, these products also have possible detrimental health consequences. Marketing of energy drinks should be limited or forbidden until independent research confirms their safety, particularly among adolescents.

Anti-aliasing filter design on spaceborne digital receiver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Danru; Zhao, Chonghui

2009-12-01

In recent years, with the development of satellite observation technologies, more and more active remote sensing technologies are adopted in spaceborne system. The spaceborne precipitation radar will depend heavily on high performance digital processing to collect meaningful rain echo data. It will increase the complexity of the spaceborne system and need high-performance and reliable digital receiver. This paper analyzes the frequency aliasing in the intermediate frequency signal sampling of digital down conversion in spaceborne radar, and gives an effective digital filter. By analysis and calculation, we choose reasonable parameters of the half-band filters to suppress the frequency aliasing on DDC. Compared with traditional filter, the FPGA resources cost in our system are reduced by over 50%. This can effectively reduce the complexity in the spaceborne digital receiver and improve the reliability of system.

Impairment in proverb interpretation as an executive function deficit in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Leyhe, Thomas; Saur, Ralf; Eschweiler, Gerhard W; Milian, Monika

2011-01-01

Proverb interpretation is assumed to reflect executive functions. We hypothesized that proverb interpretation is impaired in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) diagnosed as single-domain impairment by common neuropsychological testing. We compared performance in a proverb interpretation test in single-domain aMCI patients and patients with early Alzheimer's disease (EAD). The groups with aMCI and EAD performed significantly worse than healthy controls. Both patient groups gave concrete answers with a similar frequency. However, patients with EAD tended to give senseless answers more frequently. Our data suggest that in patients diagnosed as single-domain aMCI, deterioration of executive functions is detectable with subtle and appropriate neuropsychological testing. Implementation of these procedures may improve the early prediction of AD.

Polymeric film application for phase change heat transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bart, Hans-Jörg; Dreiser, Christian

2018-01-01

The paper gives a concise review on polymer film heat exchangers (PFHX) with a focus on polyether ether ketone (PEEK) foil as heat transfer element, mechanically supported by a grid structure. In order to promote PFHX applications, heat transfer performance and wetting behavior are studied in detail. Surface modifications to improve wetting are discussed and correlations are presented for critical Reynolds numbers to sustain a stable liquid film. Scaling phenomena related to surface properties and easily adaptable cleaning-in-place (CIP) procedures are further content. The contribution of the foil thickness and material selection on thermal performance is quantified and a correlation for enhanced aqueous film heat transfer for the grid supported PFHX is given. The basic research results and the design criteria enable early stage material selection and conceptual apparatus design.

Comparison between goal programming and cointegration approaches in enhanced index tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lam, Weng Siew; Jamaan, Saiful Hafizah Hj.

2013-04-01

Index tracking is a popular form of passive fund management in stock market. Passive management is a buy-and-hold strategy that aims to achieve rate of return similar to the market return. Index tracking problem is a problem of reproducing the performance of a stock market index, without purchasing all of the stocks that make up the index. This can be done by establishing an optimal portfolio that minimizes risk or tracking error. An improved index tracking (enhanced index tracking) is a dual-objective optimization problem, a trade-off between maximizing the mean return and minimizing the tracking error. Enhanced index tracking aims to generate excess return over the return achieved by the index. The objective of this study is to compare the portfolio compositions and performances by using two different approaches in enhanced index tracking problem, which are goal programming and cointegration. The result of this study shows that the optimal portfolios for both approaches are able to outperform the Malaysia market index which is Kuala Lumpur Composite Index. Both approaches give different optimal portfolio compositions. Besides, the cointegration approach outperforms the goal programming approach because the cointegration approach gives higher mean return and lower risk or tracking error. Therefore, the cointegration approach is more appropriate for the investors in Malaysia.

High-performance electronics for time-of-flight PET systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choong, W.-S.; Peng, Q.; Vu, C. Q.; Turko, B. T.; Moses, W. W.

2013-01-01

We have designed and built a high-performance readout electronics system for time-of-flight positron emission tomography (TOF PET) cameras. The electronics architecture is based on the electronics for a commercial whole-body PET camera (Siemens/CPS Cardinal electronics), modified to improve the timing performance. The fundamental contributions in the electronics that can limit the timing resolution include the constant fraction discriminator (CFD), which converts the analog electrical signal from the photo-detector to a digital signal whose leading edge is time-correlated with the input signal, and the time-to-digital converter (TDC), which provides a time stamp for the CFD output. Coincident events are identified by digitally comparing the values of the time stamps. In the Cardinal electronics, the front-end processing electronics are performed by an Analog subsection board, which has two application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), each servicing a PET block detector module. The ASIC has a built-in CFD and TDC. We found that a significant degradation in the timing resolution comes from the ASIC's CFD and TDC. Therefore, we have designed and built an improved Analog subsection board that replaces the ASIC's CFD and TDC with a high-performance CFD (made with discrete components) and TDC (using the CERN high-performance TDC ASIC). The improved Analog subsection board is used in a custom single-ring LSO-based TOF PET camera. The electronics system achieves a timing resolution of 60 ps FWHM. Prototype TOF detector modules are read out with the electronics system and give coincidence timing resolutions of 259 ps FWHM and 156 ps FWHM for detector modules coupled to LSO and LaBr3 crystals respectively.

High-performance electronics for time-of-flight PET systems.

PubMed

Choong, W-S; Peng, Q; Vu, C Q; Turko, B T; Moses, W W

2013-01-01

We have designed and built a high-performance readout electronics system for time-of-flight positron emission tomography (TOF PET) cameras. The electronics architecture is based on the electronics for a commercial whole-body PET camera (Siemens/CPS Cardinal electronics), modified to improve the timing performance. The fundamental contributions in the electronics that can limit the timing resolution include the constant fraction discriminator (CFD), which converts the analog electrical signal from the photo-detector to a digital signal whose leading edge is time-correlated with the input signal, and the time-to-digital converter (TDC), which provides a time stamp for the CFD output. Coincident events are identified by digitally comparing the values of the time stamps. In the Cardinal electronics, the front-end processing electronics are performed by an Analog subsection board, which has two application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), each servicing a PET block detector module. The ASIC has a built-in CFD and TDC. We found that a significant degradation in the timing resolution comes from the ASIC's CFD and TDC. Therefore, we have designed and built an improved Analog subsection board that replaces the ASIC's CFD and TDC with a high-performance CFD (made with discrete components) and TDC (using the CERN high-performance TDC ASIC). The improved Analog subsection board is used in a custom single-ring LSO-based TOF PET camera. The electronics system achieves a timing resolution of 60 ps FWHM. Prototype TOF detector modules are read out with the electronics system and give coincidence timing resolutions of 259 ps FWHM and 156 ps FWHM for detector modules coupled to LSO and LaBr 3 crystals respectively.

Vehicle active steering control research based on two-DOF robust internal model control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Jian; Liu, Yahui; Wang, Fengbo; Bao, Chunjiang; Sun, Qun; Zhao, Youqun

2016-07-01

Because of vehicle's external disturbances and model uncertainties, robust control algorithms have obtained popularity in vehicle stability control. The robust control usually gives up performance in order to guarantee the robustness of the control algorithm, therefore an improved robust internal model control(IMC) algorithm blending model tracking and internal model control is put forward for active steering system in order to reach high performance of yaw rate tracking with certain robustness. The proposed algorithm inherits the good model tracking ability of the IMC control and guarantees robustness to model uncertainties. In order to separate the design process of model tracking from the robustness design process, the improved 2 degree of freedom(DOF) robust internal model controller structure is given from the standard Youla parameterization. Simulations of double lane change maneuver and those of crosswind disturbances are conducted for evaluating the robust control algorithm, on the basis of a nonlinear vehicle simulation model with a magic tyre model. Results show that the established 2-DOF robust IMC method has better model tracking ability and a guaranteed level of robustness and robust performance, which can enhance the vehicle stability and handling, regardless of variations of the vehicle model parameters and the external crosswind interferences. Contradiction between performance and robustness of active steering control algorithm is solved and higher control performance with certain robustness to model uncertainties is obtained.

Investigation of Cross-Linked and Additive Containing Polymer Materials for Membranes with Improved Performance in Pervaporation and Gas Separation

PubMed Central

Hunger, Katharina; Schmeling, Nadine; Jeazet, Harold B. Tanh; Janiak, Christoph; Staudt, Claudia; Kleinermanns, Karl

2012-01-01

Pervaporation and gas separation performances of polymer membranes can be improved by crosslinking or addition of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Crosslinked copolyimide membranes show higher plasticization resistance and no significant loss in selectivity compared to non-crosslinked membranes when exposed to mixtures of CO2/CH4 or toluene/cyclohexane. Covalently crosslinked membranes reveal better separation performances than ionically crosslinked systems. Covalent interlacing with 3-hydroxypropyldimethylmaleimide as photocrosslinker can be investigated in situ in solution as well as in films, using transient UV/Vis and FTIR spectroscopy. The photocrosslinking yield can be determined from the FTIR-spectra. It is restricted by the stiffness of the copolyimide backbone, which inhibits the photoreaction due to spatial separation of the crosslinker side chains. Mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) with MOFs as additives (fillers) have increased permeabilities and often also selectivities compared to the pure polymer. Incorporation of MOFs into polysulfone and Matrimid® polymers for MMMs gives defect-free membranes with performances similar to the best polymer membranes for gas mixtures, such as O2/N2 H2/CH4, CO2/CH4, H2/CO2, CH4/N2 and CO2/N2 (preferentially permeating gas is named first). The MOF porosity, its particle size and content in the MMM are factors to influence the permeability and the separation performance of the membranes. PMID:24958427

Recent advances in PC-Linux systems for electronic structure computations by optimized compilers and numerical libraries.

PubMed

Yu, Jen-Shiang K; Yu, Chin-Hui

2002-01-01

One of the most frequently used packages for electronic structure research, GAUSSIAN 98, is compiled on Linux systems with various hardware configurations, including AMD Athlon (with the "Thunderbird" core), AthlonMP, and AthlonXP (with the "Palomino" core) systems as well as the Intel Pentium 4 (with the "Willamette" core) machines. The default PGI FORTRAN compiler (pgf77) and the Intel FORTRAN compiler (ifc) are respectively employed with different architectural optimization options to compile GAUSSIAN 98 and test the performance improvement. In addition to the BLAS library included in revision A.11 of this package, the Automatically Tuned Linear Algebra Software (ATLAS) library is linked against the binary executables to improve the performance. Various Hartree-Fock, density-functional theories, and the MP2 calculations are done for benchmarking purposes. It is found that the combination of ifc with ATLAS library gives the best performance for GAUSSIAN 98 on all of these PC-Linux computers, including AMD and Intel CPUs. Even on AMD systems, the Intel FORTRAN compiler invariably produces binaries with better performance than pgf77. The enhancement provided by the ATLAS library is more significant for post-Hartree-Fock calculations. The performance on one single CPU is potentially as good as that on an Alpha 21264A workstation or an SGI supercomputer. The floating-point marks by SpecFP2000 have similar trends to the results of GAUSSIAN 98 package.

A memory and organizational aid improves Alzheimer disease research consent capacity: results of a randomized, controlled trial.

PubMed

Rubright, Jonathan; Sankar, Pamela; Casarett, David J; Gur, Ruben; Xie, Sharon X; Karlawish, Jason

2010-12-01

Early and progressive cognitive impairments of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) hinder their capacity to provide informed consent. Unfortunately, the limited research on techniques to improve capacity has shown mixed results. Therefore, the authors tested whether a memory and organizational aid improves the performance of patients with AD on measures of capacity and competency to give informed consent. Patients with AD randomly assigned to standard consent or standard plus a memory and organizational aid. Memory and organizational aid summarized the content of information mandated under the informed consent disclosure requirements of the Common Rule at a sixth grade reading level. Three psychiatrists without access to patient data independently reviewed MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Clinical Research (MacCAT-CR) interview transcripts to judge whether the patient was capable of providing informed consent. The agreement of at least two of the three experts defined a participant as capable of providing informed consent. Secondary outcomes are MacCAT-CR measures of understanding, appreciation and reasoning, and comparison with cognitively normal older adult norms. AD intervention and control groups were similar in terms of age, education, and cognitive status. The intervention group was more likely to be judged competent than control group and had higher scores on MacCAT-CR measure of understanding. The intervention had no effect on the measures of appreciation or reasoning. A consent process that addresses the deficits in memory and attention of a patient with AD can improve capacity to give informed consent for early phase AD research. The results also validate the MacCAT-CR as an instrument to measure capacity, especially the understanding subscale. ClinicalTrials.Gov#NCT00105612, http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00105612.

A memory and organizational aid improves AD research consent capacity: Results of a randomized, controlled trial

PubMed Central

Rubright, Jonathan; Sankar, Pamela; Casarett, David J; Gur, Ruben; Xie, Sharon X; Karlawish, Jason

2010-01-01

Objectives AD patients' early and progressive cognitive impairments hinder their capacity to provide informed consent. Unfortunately, the limited research on techniques to improve capacity has shown mixed results. Therefore, we tested whether a memory and organizational aid improves AD patient performance on measures of capacity and competency to give informed consent. Design, Setting, and Participants AD patients randomly assigned to standard consent, or standard plus a memory and organizational aid. Intervention Memory and organizational aid summarized at a 6th grade reading level the content of information mandated under the Common Rule's informed consent disclosure requirements. Measurements Three psychiatrists without access to patient data independently reviewed MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Clinical Research (MacCAT-CR) interview transcripts to judge whether the patient was capable of providing informed consent. The agreement of at least two of three experts defined a participant as capable of providing informed consent. Secondary outcomes are MacCAT-CR measures of understanding, appreciation and reasoning, and comparison to cognitively normal older adult norms. Results AD intervention and control groups were similar in terms of age, education, and cognitive status. The intervention group was more likely to be judged competent than control group and had higher scores on MacCAT-CR measure of understanding. The intervention had no effect on measures of appreciation or reasoning. Conclusions A consent process that addresses an AD patients' deficits in memory and attention can improve capacity to give informed consent for early phase AD research. The results also validate the MacCAT-CR as an instrument to measure capacity, especially the understanding subscale. PMID:20808101

Measuring hospital-acquired pressure injuries: A surveillance programme for monitoring performance improvement and estimating annual prevalence.

PubMed

Jull, Andrew; McCall, Elaine; Chappell, Matt; Tobin, Sam

2016-06-01

To describe a surveillance approach for monitoring the effect of improvement initiatives on hospital-acquired pressure injuries and findings arising from that surveillance. Random sampling of patients on the same day of each successive month from a campus of child and adult hospitals using a standard audit tool to identify presence of hospital-acquired pressure injury. Where multiple pressure injuries were present, the most severe grade injury contributed to prevalence. Statistical process control charts were used to monitor monthly performance and Maximum Likelihood Estimation to determine timing of step change. 8274 patients were assessed over 3 years from an eligible population of 32,259 hospitalised patients. 517 patients had hospital-acquired pressure injuries giving an overall prevalence of 6.2% (95% CI 5.7-6.8%). Annual prevalence was 8.4% (95% CI 7.4-9.5%) in the first year, falling to 5.6% (95% CI 4.7-6.4%) in the second year and 4.8% (95% CI 4.0-5.6%) in the third year. A step change was signalled with mean prevalence up to July 2013 being 7.9% (95% CI 7.1-8.8%) and mean prevalence thereafter 4.8% (95% CI 4.2-5.4%). Hospital-acquired pressure injuries were found in all age ranges, but were more frequent in children up to 14 years (17.4%) and those aged 75 years or older (38.7%). Monthly random sampling of patients within clinical units can be used to monitor performance improvement. This approach represents a rational alternative to cross-sectional prevalence surveys especially if the focus is on performance improvement. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhanced Discharge Performance in a Ring Cusp Plasma Source

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, John E.; Patterson, Michael J.

2000-01-01

There is a need for a lightweight, low power ion thruster for space science missions. Such an ion thruster is under development at NASA Glenn Research Center. In an effort to better understand the discharge performance of this thruster, a thruster discharge chamber with an anode containing electrically isolated electrodes at the cusps was fabricated and tested. Characteristics of this ring cusp ion discharge were measured without ion beam extraction. Discharge current was measured at collection electrodes located at the magnetic cusps and at the anode body itself. Discharge performance and plasma properties were measured as a function of power, which was varied between 20 and 50 W. It was found that ion production costs decreased by as much as 20 percent when the two most downstream cusp electrodes were allowed to float. Floating the electrodes did not give rise to a significant increase in discharge power even though the plasma density increased markedly. The improved performance is attributed to enhanced electron containment.

Internal Plasma Properties and Enhanced Performance of an 8 cm Ion Thruster Discharge

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, John E.; Patterson, Michael J.

1999-01-01

There is a need for a lightweight, low power ion thruster for space science missions. Such an ion thruster is under development at NASA Glenn Research Center. In an effort to better understand the discharge performance of this thruster. a version of this thruster with an anode containing electrically isolated electrodes at the cusps was fabricated and tested. Discharge characteristics of this ring cusp ion thruster were measured without ion beam extraction. Discharge current was measured at collection electrodes located at the cusps and at the anode body itself. Discharge performance and plasma properties were measured as a function of discharge power, which was varied between 20 and 50 W. It was found that ion production costs decreased by as much as 20 percent when the two most downstream cusp electrodes were allowed to float. Floating the electrodes did not give rise to a significant increase in discharge power even though the plasma density increased markedly. The improved performance is attributed to enhanced electron containment.

Measurement of R(D* ) with hadronic τ decays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siddi, B. G.; LHCb Collaboration

2018-01-01

Lepton universality, described in the Standard Model (SM), predicts equal coupling between gauge bosons and the three lepton families. SM extensions give additional interactions, implying in some cases a stronger coupling with the third generation of leptons. Semileptonic decays of b-hadrons provide a sensitive probe to such New Physics effects. The presence of additional charged Higgs bosons, required by such SM extensions, can have significant effect on the semileptonic decay rate of B 0 → D*τν. A probe of new physics effects is the measurement of the quantities: R(D* )=\\frac{B({\\bar{B}}0\\to {D}* +{τ }-{\\bar{ν }}τ )}{B({\\bar{B}}0\\to {D}* +{μ }-{\\bar{ν }}μ )} and R(D)=\\frac{B({\\bar{B}}0\\to {D}+{τ }-{\\bar{ν }}τ )}{B({\\bar{B}}0\\to {D}+{μ }-{\\bar{ν }}μ )}. The combination of experimental measurements performed by BaBar, Belle and LHCb observing the channel where the τ decays in leptons, gives a deviation from the SM prediction of about 4 σ. It is therefore important to perform additional measurements in this sector in order to improve the precision and confirm or disprove this deviation. Another possibility is to perform this measurement using the channel where the semileptonic τ decays in 3 pions. This in LHCb allows to have e better reconstruction of vertices and other kinematic variables. Results obtained by LHCb on B 0 → D*τν decays, where the τ decays hadronically, are reported.

Professional Teacher Education Module Series. Develop Student Performance Objectives, Module B-2 of Category B--Instructional Planning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohio State Univ., Columbus. National Center for Research in Vocational Education.

This second in a series of six learning modules on instructional planning is designed to give secondary and postsecondary vocational teachers skill in writing student performance objectives which spell out for teachers, students, and prospective employers exactly what is expected of students in the program. It is also intended to give experience…

Pairing Learners by Companionship: Effects on Motor Skill Performance and Comfort Levels in the Reciprocal Style of Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chatoupis, Constantine

2015-01-01

Mosston and Ashworth's (2008) reciprocal style of teaching gives learners the opportunity to work in pairs to support each other's learning (one practices a task and the other gives feedback). The effects of pairing learners by companionship (friend and nonacquaintance) on 8-year-old children's motor skill performance and comfort levels were…

Energy poverty in healthcare facilities: a "silent barrier" to improved healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa.

PubMed

Ouedraogo, Nadia S; Schimanski, Caroline

2018-06-27

This paper addresses an important topic, energy poverty in healthcare facilities. We try to provide an interesting perspective on bringing together two SDGs. The SDG 7, which seeks to ensure access to affordable, sustainable, and modern energy for all, is interlinked with Goal 3 on Health. The literature studies as well as data on the subject are sparse. Nevertheless, a systematic documentation of the levels and variation in access to energy at the health-facility level is important for designing effective policies to improve the quality of healthcare and the ultimate health of the population. Using the 2012-2013 Senegal Service Provision Assessment (SCSPA), we assessed energy access in health facilities and health systems' performance. Data were also geocoded using ArcGIS 10.3 to give a snapshot of the situation.

Dip-pen nanopatterning of photosensitive conducting polymer using a monomer ink

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Ming; Aslam, Mohammed; Fu, Lei; Wu, Nianqiang; Dravid, Vinayak P.

2004-05-01

Controlled patterning of conducting polymers at a micro- or nanoscale is the first step towards the fabrication of miniaturized functional devices. Here, we introduce an approach for the nanopatterning of conducting polymers using an improved monomer "ink" in dip-pen nanolithography (DPN). The nominal monomer "ink" is converted, in situ, to its conducting solid-state polymeric form after patterned. Proof-of-concept experiments have been performed with acid-promoted polymerization of pyrrole in a less reactive environment (tetrahydrofuran). The ratios of reactants are optimized to give an appropriate rate to match the operation of DPN. A similar synthesis process for the same polymer in its bulk form shows a high conductance and crystalline structure. The miniaturized conducting polymer sensors with light detection ability are fabricated by DPN using the improved ink formula, and exhibit excellent response, recovery, and sensitivity parameters.

High power cascaded mid-infrared InAs/GaSb light emitting diodes on mismatched GaAs

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

Provence, S. R., E-mail: sydney-provence@uiowa.edu; Ricker, R.; Aytac, Y.

2015-09-28

InAs/GaSb mid-wave, cascaded superlattice light emitting diodes are found to give higher radiance when epitaxially grown on mismatched GaAs substrates compared to lattice-matched GaSb substrates. Peak radiances of 0.69 W/cm{sup 2}-sr and 1.06 W/cm{sup 2}-sr for the 100 × 100 μm{sup 2} GaSb and GaAs-based devices, respectively, were measured at 77 K. Measurement of the recombination coefficients shows the shorter Shockley-Read-Hall recombination lifetime as misfit dislocations for growth on GaAs degrade the quantum efficiency only at low current injection. The improved performance on GaAs was found to be due to the higher transparency and improved thermal properties of the GaAs substrate.

CCSDT calculations of molecular equilibrium geometries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halkier, Asger; Jørgensen, Poul; Gauss, Jürgen; Helgaker, Trygve

1997-08-01

CCSDT equilibrium geometries of CO, CH 2, F 2, HF, H 2O and N 2 have been calculated using the correlation-consistent cc-pVXZ basis sets. Similar calculations have been performed for SCF, CCSD and CCSD(T). In general, bond lengths decrease when improving the basis set and increase when improving the N-electron treatment. CCSD(T) provides an excellent approximation to CCSDT for bond lengths as the largest difference between CCSDT and CCSD(T) is 0.06 pm. At the CCSDT/cc-pVQZ level, basis set deficiencies, neglect of higher-order excitations, and incomplete treatment of core-correlation all give rise to errors of a few tenths of a pm, but to a large extent, these errors cancel. The CCSDT/cc-pVQZ bond lengths deviate on average only by 0.11 pm from experiment.

The promotional role of Ni in FeVO4/TiO2 monolith catalyst for selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Ganxue; Feng, Xi; Zhang, Hailong; Zhang, Yanhua; Wang, Jianli; Chen, Yaoqiang; Dan, Yi

2018-01-01

The promotional effect of nickel additive on the catalytic performance of the representative FeVO4/TiO2 for NH3-SCR reaction is systematically studied for the first time in the present work. The experimental results showed that NOx conversion at low temperature and N2 selectivity could be significantly improved by Ni doping and 0.4Ni-FeV-Ti exhibited the highest NOx removal efficiency. Analysis by XRD, SEM/HR-TEM, Raman, TPD, DRIFTS, TPR and XPS showed that nickel doping effectively promoted the interaction of FeVO4 nanoparticles with TiO2, consequently resulting in an enhanced acidity property, improved redox activity and giving rise to the formation of the surface oxygen vacancies and defect sites.

Diffusion-like recommendation with enhanced similarity of objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, Ya-Hui; Dong, Qiang; Sun, Chong-Jing; Nie, Da-Cheng; Fu, Yan

2016-11-01

In the last decade, diversity and accuracy have been regarded as two important measures in evaluating a recommendation model. However, a clear concern is that a model focusing excessively on one measure will put the other one at risk, thus it is not easy to greatly improve diversity and accuracy simultaneously. In this paper, we propose to enhance the Resource-Allocation (RA) similarity in resource transfer equations of diffusion-like models, by giving a tunable exponent to the RA similarity, and traversing the value of this exponent to achieve the optimal recommendation results. In this way, we can increase the recommendation scores (allocated resource) of many unpopular objects. Experiments on three benchmark data sets, MovieLens, Netflix and RateYourMusic show that the modified models can yield remarkable performance improvement compared with the original ones.

PIA and REWIND: Two New Methodologies for Cross Section Adjustment

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

Palmiotti, G.; Salvatores, M.

2017-02-01

This paper presents two new cross section adjustment methodologies intended for coping with the problem of compensations. The first one PIA, Progressive Incremental Adjustment, gives priority to the utilization of experiments of elemental type (those sensitive to a specific cross section), following a definite hierarchy on which type of experiment to use. Once the adjustment is performed, both the new adjusted data and the new covariance matrix are kept. The second methodology is called REWIND (Ranking Experiments by Weighting for Improved Nuclear Data). This new proposed approach tries to establish a methodology for ranking experiments by looking at the potentialmore » gain they can produce in an adjustment. Practical applications for different adjustments illustrate the results of the two methodologies against the current one and show the potential improvement for reducing uncertainties in target reactors.« less

Effect of roughness formulation on the performance of a coupled wave, hydrodynamic, and sediment transport model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ganju, Neil K.; Sherwood, Christopher R.

2010-01-01

A variety of algorithms are available for parameterizing the hydrodynamic bottom roughness associated with grain size, saltation, bedforms, and wave–current interaction in coastal ocean models. These parameterizations give rise to spatially and temporally variable bottom-drag coefficients that ostensibly provide better representations of physical processes than uniform and constant coefficients. However, few studies have been performed to determine whether improved representation of these variable bottom roughness components translates into measurable improvements in model skill. We test the hypothesis that improved representation of variable bottom roughness improves performance with respect to near-bed circulation, bottom stresses, or turbulence dissipation. The inner shelf south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, is the site of sorted grain-size features which exhibit sharp alongshore variations in grain size and ripple geometry over gentle bathymetric relief; this area provides a suitable testing ground for roughness parameterizations. We first establish the skill of a nested regional model for currents, waves, stresses, and turbulent quantities using a uniform and constant roughness; we then gauge model skill with various parameterization of roughness, which account for the influence of the wave-boundary layer, grain size, saltation, and rippled bedforms. We find that commonly used representations of ripple-induced roughness, when combined with a wave–current interaction routine, do not significantly improve skill for circulation, and significantly decrease skill with respect to stresses and turbulence dissipation. Ripple orientation with respect to dominant currents and ripple shape may be responsible for complicating a straightforward estimate of the roughness contribution from ripples. In addition, sediment-induced stratification may be responsible for lower stresses than predicted by the wave–current interaction model.

Two Universal Equations of State for Solids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Jiu-Xun; Wu, Qiang; Guo, Yang; Cai, Ling-Cang

2010-01-01

In this paper, two equations of state (EOSs) (Sun Jiu-Xun-Morse with parameters n = 3 and 4, designated by SMS3 and SMS4) with two parameters are proposed to satisfy four merits proposed previously and give improved results for the cohesive energy. By applying ten typical EOSs to fit experimental compression data of 50 materials, it is shown that the SMS4 EOS gives the best results; the Baonza and Morse EOSs give the second best results; the SMS3 and modified generalized Lennard-Jones (mGLJ) EOSs give the third best results. However, the Baonza and mGLJ EOSs cannot give physically reasonable values of cohesive energy and P-V curves in the expansion region; the SMS3 and SMS4 EOS give fairly good results, and have some advantages over the Baonza and mGLJ EOSs in practical applications.

Portraiture lens concept in a mobile phone camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheil, Conor J.; Goncharov, Alexander V.

2017-11-01

A small form-factor lens was designed for the purpose of portraiture photography, the size of which allows use within smartphone casing. The current general requirement of mobile cameras having good all-round performance results in a typical, familiar, many-element design. Such designs have little room for improvement, in terms of the available degrees of freedom and highly-demanding target metrics such as low f-number and wide field of view. However, the specific application of the current portraiture lens relaxed the requirement of an all-round high-performing lens, allowing improvement of certain aspects at the expense of others. With a main emphasis on reducing depth of field (DoF), the current design takes advantage of the simple geometrical relationship between DoF and pupil diameter. The system has a large aperture, while a reasonable f-number gives a relatively large focal length, requiring a catadioptric lens design with double ray path; hence, field of view is reduced. Compared to typical mobile lenses, the large diameter reduces depth of field by a factor of four.

Improving acute care through use of medical device data.

PubMed

Kennelly, R J

1998-02-01

The Medical Information Bus (MIB) is a data communications standard for bedside patient connected medical devices. It is formally titled IEEE 1073 Standard for Medical Device Communications. MIB defines a complete seven layer communications stack for devices in acute care settings. All of the design trade-offs in writing the standard were taken to optimize performance in acute care settings. The key clinician based constraints on network performance are: (1) the network must be able to withstand multiple daily reconfigurations due to patient movement and condition changes; (2) the network must be 'plug-and-play' to allow clinicians to set up the network by simply plugging in a connector, taking no other actions; (3) the network must allow for unambiguous associations of devices with specific patients. A network of this type will be used by clinicians, thus giving complete, accurate, real time data from patient connected devices. This capability leads to many possible improvements in patient care and hospital cost reduction. The possible uses for comprehensive automatic data capture are only limited by imagination and creativity of clinicians adapting to the new hospital business paradigm.

Experiences with http/WebDAV protocols for data access in high throughput computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernabeu, Gerard; Martinez, Francisco; Acción, Esther; Bria, Arnau; Caubet, Marc; Delfino, Manuel; Espinal, Xavier

2011-12-01

In the past, access to remote storage was considered to be at least one order of magnitude slower than local disk access. Improvement on network technologies provide the alternative of using remote disk. For those accesses one can today reach levels of throughput similar or exceeding those of local disks. Common choices as access protocols in the WLCG collaboration are RFIO, [GSI]DCAP, GRIDFTP, XROOTD and NFS. HTTP protocol shows a promising alternative as it is a simple, lightweight protocol. It also enables the use of standard technologies such as http caching or load balancing which can be used to improve service resilience and scalability or to boost performance for some use cases seen in HEP such as the "hot files". WebDAV extensions allow writing data, giving it enough functionality to work as a remote access protocol. This paper will show our experiences with the WebDAV door for dCache, in terms of functionality and performance, applied to some of the HEP work flows in the LHC Tier1 at PIC.

Complex Langevin Simulations of QCD at Finite Density - Progress Report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinclair, D. K.; Kogut, J. B.

2018-03-01

We simulate lattice QCD at finite quark-number chemical potential to study nuclear matter, using the complex Langevin equation (CLE). The CLE is used because the fermion determinant is complex so that standard methods relying on importance sampling fail. Adaptive methods and gauge-cooling are used to prevent runaway solutions. Even then, the CLE is not guaranteed to give correct results. We are therefore performing extensive testing to determine under what, if any, conditions we can achieve reliable results. Our earlier simulations at β = 6/g2 = 5.6, m = 0.025 on a 124 lattice reproduced the expected phase structure but failed in the details. Our current simulations at β = 5.7 on a 164 lattice fail in similar ways while showing some improvement. We are therefore moving to even weaker couplings to see if the CLE might produce the correct results in the continuum (weak-coupling) limit, or, if it still fails, whether it might reproduce the results of the phase-quenched theory. We also discuss action (and other dynamics) modifications which might improve the performance of the CLE.

Experimental Investigation Nano Particles Influence in NPMEDM to Machine Inconel 800 with Electrolyte Copper Electrode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karunakaran, K.; Chandrasekaran, M.

2017-05-01

The recent technology of machining hard materials is Powder mix dielectric electrical Discharge Machining (PMEDM). This research investigates nano sized (about 5Nm) powders influence in machining Inconel 800 nickel based super alloy. This work is motivated for a practical need for a manufacturing industry, which processes various kinds of jobs of Inconel 800 material. The conventional EDM machining also considered for investigation for the measure of Nano powders performances. The aluminum, silicon and multi walled Carbon Nano tubes powders were considered in this investigation along with pulse on time, pulse of time and input current to analyze and optimize the responses of Material Removal Rate, Tool Wear Rate and surface roughness. The Taguchi general Full Factorial Design was used to design the experiments. The most advance equipments employed in conducting experiments and measuring equipments to improve the accuracy of the result. The MWCNT powder mix was out performs than other powders which reduce 22% to 50% of the tool wear rate, gives the surface roughness reduction from 29.62% to 41.64% and improved MRR 42.91% to 53.51% than conventional EDM.

Flight Test Results of a Synthetic Vision Elevation Database Integrity Monitor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

deHaag, Maarten Uijt; Sayre, Jonathon; Campbell, Jacob; Young, Steve; Gray, Robert

2001-01-01

This paper discusses the flight test results of a real-time Digital Elevation Model (DEM) integrity monitor for Civil Aviation applications. Providing pilots with Synthetic Vision (SV) displays containing terrain information has the potential to improve flight safety by improving situational awareness and thereby reducing the likelihood of Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT). Utilization of DEMs, such as the digital terrain elevation data (DTED), requires a DEM integrity check and timely integrity alerts to the pilots when used for flight-critical terrain-displays, otherwise the DEM may provide hazardous misleading terrain information. The discussed integrity monitor checks the consistency between a terrain elevation profile synthesized from sensor information, and the profile given in the DEM. The synthesized profile is derived from DGPS and radar altimeter measurements. DEMs of various spatial resolutions are used to illustrate the dependency of the integrity monitor s performance on the DEMs spatial resolution. The paper will give a description of proposed integrity algorithms, the flight test setup, and the results of a flight test performed at the Ohio University airport and in the vicinity of Asheville, NC.

Advancements in high-power high-brightness laser bars and single emitters for pumping and direct diode application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, Haiyan; Jiang, Ching-Long J.; Xiong, Yihan; Zhang, Qiang; Inyang, Aloysius; Felder, Jason; Lewin, Alexander; Roff, Robert; Heinemann, Stefan; Schmidt, Berthold; Treusch, Georg

2015-03-01

We have continuously optimized high fill factor bar and packaging design to increase power and efficiency for thin disc laser system pump application. On the other hand, low fill factor bars packaged on the same direct copper bonded (DCB) cooling platform are used to build multi-kilowatt direct diode laser systems. We have also optimized the single emitter designs for fiber laser pump applications. In this paper, we will give an overview of our recent advances in high power high brightness laser bars and single emitters for pumping and direct diode application. We will present 300W bar development results for our next generation thin disk laser pump source. We will also show recent improvements on slow axis beam quality of low fill factor bar and its application on performance improvement of 4-5 kW TruDiode laser system with BPP of 30 mm*mrad from a 600 μm fiber. Performance and reliability results of single emitter for multiemitter fiber laser pump source will be presented as well.

Perspectives on recycling centres and future developments.

PubMed

Engkvist, I-L; Eklund, J; Krook, J; Björkman, M; Sundin, E

2016-11-01

The overall aim of this paper is to draw combined, all-embracing conclusions based on a long-term multidisciplinary research programme on recycling centres in Sweden, focussing on working conditions, environment and system performance. A second aim is to give recommendations for their development of new and existing recycling centres and to discuss implications for the future design and organisation. Several opportunities for improvement of recycling centres were identified, such as design, layout, ease with which users could sort their waste, the work environment, conflicting needs and goals within the industry, and industrialisation. Combining all results from the research, which consisted of different disciplinary aspects, made it possible to analyse and elucidate their interrelations. Waste sorting quality was recognized as the most prominent improvement field in the recycling centre system. The research identified the importance of involving stakeholders with different perspectives when planning a recycling centre in order to get functionality and high performance. Practical proposals of how to plan and build recycling centres are given in a detailed checklist. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fabrication and characterization of mixed dye: Natural and synthetic organic dye

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richhariya, Geetam; Kumar, Anil

2018-05-01

Mixed dye from hibiscus sabdariffa and eosin Y was employed in the fabrication of dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Nanostructured mesoporous film was prepared from the titanium dioxide (TiO2). The energy conversion efficiency of hibiscus, eosin Y and mixed dye was obtained as 0.41%, 1.53% and 2.02% respectively. Mixed DSSC has shown improvement in the performance of the cell as compared to hibiscus and eosin Y dye due to addition of synthetic organic dye. This illustrates the effect of synthetic organic dyes in performance enhancement of natural dyes. It has been credited to the improved absorption of light mainly in higher energy state (λ = 440-560 nm) when two dyes were employed simultaneously as was obvious from the absorption spectra of dyes adsorbed onto TiO2 electrode. The cell with TiO2 electrode sensitized by mixed dye gives short circuit current density (Jsc) = 4.01 mA/cm2, open circuit voltage (Voc) = 0.67 V, fill factor (FF) = 0.60 and energy conversion efficiency (η) of 2.02%.

Insights into the Mechanism and Kinetics of Thermo-Oxidative Degradation of HFPE High Performance Polymer.

PubMed

Kunnikuruvan, Sooraj; Parandekar, Priya V; Prakash, Om; Tsotsis, Thomas K; Nair, Nisanth N

2016-06-02

The growing requisite for materials having high thermo-oxidative stability makes the design and development of high performance materials an active area of research. Fluorination of the polymer backbone is a widely applied strategy to improve various properties of the polymer, most importantly the thermo-oxidative stability. Many of these fluorinated polymers are known to have thermo-oxidative stability up to 700 K. However, for space and aerospace applications, it is important to improve its thermo-oxidative stability beyond 700 K. Molecular-level details of the thermo-oxidative degradation of such polymers can provide vital information to improve the polymer. In this spirit, we have applied quantum mechanical and microkinetic analysis to scrutinize the mechanism and kinetics of the thermo-oxidative degradation of a fluorinated polymer with phenylethenyl end-cap, HFPE. This study gives an insight into the thermo-oxidative degradation of HFPE and explains most of the experimental observations on the thermo-oxidative degradation of this polymer. Thermolysis of C-CF3 bond in the dianhydride component (6FDA) of HFPE is found to be the rate-determining step of the degradation. Reaction pathways that are responsible for the experimentally observed weight loss of the polymer is also scrutinized. On the basis of these results, we propose a modification of HFPE polymer to improve its thermo-oxidative stability.

Innovative Technology Gives Potential Dropouts a New Lease on Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eckenrod, James; Wheeler, Carl

1987-01-01

To give at-risk teenagers the best chance for high school graduation and further schooling or employment, Baltimore schools created Student Adventures in Learning (SAIL), a remedial computer-assisted instruction program. Over 100 eighth graders identified as potential dropouts instead improved academically and made secure transitions to high…

Responsible Public Address. Third Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vander Kooi, Daryl; Veenstra, Charles

This textbook aims to help the beginning speaker understand what is necessary for a person to give a competent speech. Although only actual practice can give the necessary confidence, use of the advice given in this textbook, and its application in public speaking situations, will significantly improve an individual's competence in public speaking…

Integrated multi sensors and camera video sequence application for performance monitoring in archery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taha, Zahari; Arif Mat-Jizat, Jessnor; Amirul Abdullah, Muhammad; Muazu Musa, Rabiu; Razali Abdullah, Mohamad; Fauzi Ibrahim, Mohamad; Hanafiah Shaharudin, Mohd Ali

2018-03-01

This paper explains the development of a comprehensive archery performance monitoring software which consisted of three camera views and five body sensors. The five body sensors evaluate biomechanical related variables of flexor and extensor muscle activity, heart rate, postural sway and bow movement during archery performance. The three camera views with the five body sensors are integrated into a single computer application which enables the user to view all the data in a single user interface. The five body sensors’ data are displayed in a numerical and graphical form in real-time. The information transmitted by the body sensors are computed with an embedded algorithm that automatically transforms the summary of the athlete’s biomechanical performance and displays in the application interface. This performance will be later compared to the pre-computed psycho-fitness performance from the prefilled data into the application. All the data; camera views, body sensors; performance-computations; are recorded for further analysis by a sports scientist. Our developed application serves as a powerful tool for assisting the coach and athletes to observe and identify any wrong technique employ during training which gives room for correction and re-evaluation to improve overall performance in the sport of archery.

Performance Comparison between CDTD and STTD for DS-CDMA/MMSE-FDE with Frequency-Domain ICI Cancellation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takeda, Kazuaki; Kojima, Yohei; Adachi, Fumiyuki

Frequency-domain equalization (FDE) based on the minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion can provide a better bit error rate (BER) performance than rake combining. However, the residual inter-chip interference (ICI) is produced after MMSE-FDE and this degrades the BER performance. Recently, we showed that frequency-domain ICI cancellation can bring the BER performance close to the theoretical lower bound. To further improve the BER performance, transmit antenna diversity technique is effective. Cyclic delay transmit diversity (CDTD) can increase the number of equivalent paths and hence achieve a large frequency diversity gain. Space-time transmit diversity (STTD) can obtain antenna diversity gain due to the space-time coding and achieve a better BER performance than CDTD. Objective of this paper is to show that the BER performance degradation of CDTD is mainly due to the residual ICI and that the introduction of ICI cancellation gives almost the same BER performance as STTD. This study provides a very important result that CDTD has a great advantage of providing a higher throughput than STTD. This is confirmed by computer simulation. The computer simulation results show that CDTD can achieve higher throughput than STTD when ICI cancellation is introduced.

Participatory design in lean production: which contribution from employees? For what end?

PubMed

Perez Toralla, M S; Falzon, P; Morais, A

2012-01-01

The proponents of lean production have pointed to the positive effects of the work organization on employees in terms of autonomy, enhanced skills and empowerment mainly by their participation into the continuous improvement of work process. But studies that have examined this issue suggest that the increase in autonomy is not sufficient to compensate for increases work intensity. Participatory design has grown extensively in manufacturing since the 1980's under the impulsion of the Scandinavian socio-technical system approach and it's central in the model of lean production performance. Its main objectives are to improve quality, increase productivity and safety through employee's participation to the reduction of non-value added activities, such as defined by lean production. In the line of the studies on participatory design and continuous improvement the present study examines the functioning of work groups, based on the kaizen model, the aim of which was to improve the proportion of "value-added activities" and working conditions, essentially physical constraints. The main results are consistent with the literature and show that accelerated forms of re-conception activities give employees limited room for maneuver to elaborate solutions based on the analysis of the real activity. This study is part of a broader initiative that goes in the direction of continuous improvement of the design process itself so that it integrates the real constraints of work and propose changes bases on work as it actually takes place, beyond pre-established performance goals bases on the reduction of "non added value activities".

Advanced Power Electronics Components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwarze, Gene E.

2004-01-01

This paper will give a description and status of the Advanced Power Electronics Materials and Components Technology program being conducted by the NASA Glenn Research Center for future aerospace power applications. The focus of this research program is on the following: 1) New and/or significantly improved dielectric materials for the development of power capacitors with increased volumetric efficiency, energy density, and operating temperature. Materials being investigated include nanocrystalline and composite ceramic dielectrics and diamond-like carbon films; 2) New and/or significantly improved high frequency, high temperature, low loss soft magnetic materials for the development of transformers/inductors with increased power/energy density, electrical efficiency, and operating temperature. Materials being investigated include nanocrystalline and nanocomposite soft magnetic materials; 3) Packaged high temperature, high power density, high voltage, and low loss SiC diodes and switches. Development of high quality 4H- and 6H- SiC atomically smooth substrates to significantly improve device performance is a major emphasis of the SiC materials program; 4) Demonstration of high temperature (> 200 C) circuits using the components developed above.

Enhanced science-stakeholder communication to improve ecosystem model performances for climate change impact assessments.

PubMed

Jönsson, Anna Maria; Anderbrant, Olle; Holmér, Jennie; Johansson, Jacob; Schurgers, Guy; Svensson, Glenn P; Smith, Henrik G

2015-04-01

In recent years, climate impact assessments of relevance to the agricultural and forestry sectors have received considerable attention. Current ecosystem models commonly capture the effect of a warmer climate on biomass production, but they rarely sufficiently capture potential losses caused by pests, pathogens and extreme weather events. In addition, alternative management regimes may not be integrated in the models. A way to improve the quality of climate impact assessments is to increase the science-stakeholder collaboration, and in a two-way dialog link empirical experience and impact modelling with policy and strategies for sustainable management. In this paper we give a brief overview of different ecosystem modelling methods, discuss how to include ecological and management aspects, and highlight the importance of science-stakeholder communication. By this, we hope to stimulate a discussion among the science-stakeholder communities on how to quantify the potential for climate change adaptation by improving the realism in the models.

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT STUDIES ON THE BATTELLE HYDROTHERMAL COAL PROCESS

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of a study to improve the economic viability of the Battelle Hydrothermal (HT) Coal Process by reducing the costs associated with liquid/solid separation and leachant regeneration. Laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate process improvements for...

Job analysis and student assessment tool: perfusion education clinical preceptor.

PubMed

Riley, Jeffrey B

2007-09-01

The perfusion education system centers on the cardiac surgery operating room and the perfusionist teacher who serves as a preceptor for the perfusion student. One method to improve the quality of perfusion education is to create a valid method for perfusion students to give feedback to clinical teachers. The preceptor job analysis consisted of a literature review and interviews with preceptors to list their critical tasks, critical incidents, and cognitive and behavioral competencies. Behaviorally anchored rating traits associated with the preceptors' tasks were identified. Students voted to validate the instrument items. The perfusion instructor rating instrument with a 0-4, "very weak" to "very strong" Likert rating scale was used. The five preceptor traits for student evaluation of clinical instruction (SECI) are as follows: The clinical instructor (1) encourages self-learning, (2) encourages clinical reasoning, (3) meets student's learning needs, (4) gives continuous feedback, and (5) represents a good role model. Scores from 430 student-preceptor relationships for 28 students rotating at 24 affiliate institutions with 134 clinical instructors were evaluated. The mean overall good preceptor average (GPA) was 3.45 +/- 0.76 and was skewed to the left, ranging from 0.0 to 4.0 (median = 3.8). Only 21 of the SECI relationships earned a GPA < 2.0. Analyzing the role of the clinical instructor and performing SECI are methods to provide valid information to improve the quality of a perfusion education program.

Neutron attenuation characteristics of polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and heavy aggregate concrete and mortars.

PubMed

Abdul-Majid, S; Othman, F

1994-03-01

Polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride pellets were introduced into concrete to improve its neutron attenuation characteristics while several types of heavy coarse aggregates were used to improve its gamma ray attenuation properties. Neutron and gamma ray attenuation were studied in concrete samples containing coarse aggregates of barite, pyrite, basalt, hematite, and marble as well as polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride pellets in narrow-beam geometry. The highest neutron attenuation was shown by polyethylene mortar, followed by polyvinyl chloride mortar; barite and pyrite concrete showed higher gamma ray attenuation than ordinary concrete. Broad-beam and continuous (infinite) medium geometries were used to study the neutron attenuation of samples containing polymers at different concentrations with and without heavy aggregates, the fitting equations were established, and from these the neutron removal coefficients were deduced. In a radiation field of neutrons and gamma rays, the appropriate concentration of polymer and heavy aggregate can be selected to give the optimum total dose attenuation depending on the relative intensities of each type of radiation. This would give much better design flexibility over ordinary concrete. The compressive strength tests performed on mortar and concrete samples showed that their value, in general, decreases as polymer concentration increases and that the polyvinyl chloride mortar showed higher values than the polyethylene mortar. For general construction purposes, the compression strength was considered acceptable in these samples.

Gingival melanin depigmentation by Er:YAG laser: A literature review.

PubMed

Pavlic, Verica; Brkic, Zlata; Marin, Sasa; Cicmil, Smiljka; Gojkov-Vukelic, Mirjana; Aoki, Akira

2018-04-01

Laser ablation is recently suggested as a most effective and reliable technique for depigmentation of melanin hyperpigmented gingiva. To date, different lasers have been used for gingival depigmentation (CO 2 , diode, Nd:YAG, Er:YAG and Er,Cr:YSGG lasers). The use of Er:YAG laser for depigmentation of melanin hyperpigmented gingiva has gained increasing importance in recent years. The purpose of this study was to report removal of gingival melanin pigmentation using an Er:YAG laser in a literature review. The main outcomes, such as improvement of signs (clinical parameters of bleeding, erythema, swelling and wound healing), symptoms (pain) and melanin recurrence/repigmentation were measured. The literature demonstrated that depigmentation of gingival melanin pigmentation can be performed safely and effectively by Er:YAG laser resulting in healing and an esthetically significant improvement of gingival discoloration. Thus, Er:YAG laser seems to be safe and useful in melanin depigmentation procedure. However, the main issue in giving the final conclusion of the optimal Er:YAG laser use in melanin depigmentation is that, to date, studies are offering completely discrepant Er:YAG laser procedure protocols (complex settings of laser parameters), and different criteria for the assessment of depigmentation and repigmentation (recurrence), thus hampering the comparison of the results. Therefore, further studies are necessary to give an optimal recommendation on the use of Er:YAG laser in gingival melanin hyperpigmentation.

Adjuvant Chemotherapy Improves Prostate Cancer Survival

Cancer.gov

Giving some men with prostate cancer chemotherapy after standard treatment with radiation and hormone therapy modestly improves how long they live, according to results from a new NCI-funded clinical trial.

Improving Family Communications

MedlinePlus

... mode Turn off more accessible mode Skip Ribbon Commands Skip to main content Turn off Animations Turn ... do the same. More Tips To Improve Communication Do Give clear, age-appropriate directions such as, "When ...

Seminar in Critical Inquiry Twenty-first Century Nuclear Systems

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

LeMone, D. V.

Critical Inquiry, has not only been successful in increasing university student retention rate but also in improving student academic performance beyond the initial year of transition into the University. The seminar course herein reviewed is a balanced combination of student personal and academic skill development combined with a solid background in modern nuclear systems. It is a valid premise to assume that entering students as well as stakeholders of the general public demonstrate equal levels of capability. Nuclear systems is designed to give a broad and basic knowledge of nuclear power, medical, industrial, research, and military systems (nuclear systems) inmore » 20-25 hours.« less

Improvement of time-delayed feedback control by periodic modulation: analytical theory of Floquet mode control scheme.

PubMed

Just, Wolfram; Popovich, Svitlana; Amann, Andreas; Baba, Nilüfer; Schöll, Eckehard

2003-02-01

We investigate time-delayed feedback control schemes which are based on the unstable modes of the target state, to stabilize unstable periodic orbits. The periodic time dependence of these modes introduces an external time scale in the control process. Phase shifts that develop between these modes and the controlled periodic orbit may lead to a huge increase of the control performance. We illustrate such a feature on a nonlinear reaction diffusion system with global coupling and give a detailed investigation for the Rössler model. In addition we provide the analytical explanation for the observed control features.

Giving Bigger Satellites a Boost

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

Ultramet, Inc. has spurred a new process for producing rocket engine thrust chambers, through SBIR funding and the Glenn Research Center. High-temperature oxidation-resistant thruster materials are being produced in order to achieve high-temperature capability without sacrificing reliability. These thruster materials lead to an estimated three-percent improvement in propulsion system performance. To develop this material, Ultramet used a process called chemical vapor deposition (CVD). CVD involves heating precursors for metals, like iridium and rhenium, to temperatures at which they become gaseous. They are then deposited onto a mandrel, or spindle, layer-by-layer to produce high-density, highly resistant materials from the inside out.

High Energy Colliding Beams; What Is Their Future?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, Burton

The success of the first few years of LHC operations at CERN, and the expectation of more to come as the LHC's performance improves, are already leading to discussions of what should be next for both proton-proton and electron-positron colliders. In this discussion I see too much theoretical desperation caused by the so-far-unsuccessful hunt for what is beyond the Standard Model, and too little of the necessary interaction of the accelerator, experimenter, and theory communities necessary for a scientific and engineering success. Here, I give my impressions of the problem, its possible solution, and what is needed to have both a scientifically productive and financially viable future.

High Energy Colliding Beams; What Is Their Future?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, Burton

2014-04-01

The success of the first few years of LHC operations at CERN, and the expectation of more to come as the LHC's performance improves, are already leading to discussions of what should be next for both proton-proton and electron-positron colliders. In this discussion I see too much theoretical desperation caused by the so-far-unsuccessful hunt for what is beyond the Standard Model, and too little of the necessary interaction of the accelerator, experimenter, and theory communities necessary for a scientific and engineering success. Here, I give my impressions of the problem, its possible solution, and what is needed to have both a scientifically productive and financially viable future.

High Energy Colliding Beams; What Is Their Future?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, Burton

2015-02-01

The success of the first few years of LHC operations at CERN, and the expectation of more to come as the LHC's performance improves, are already leading to discussions of what should be next for both proton-proton and electron-positron colliders. In this discussion I see too much theoretical desperation caused by the so-far-unsuccessful hunt for what is beyond the Standard Model, and too little of the necessary interaction of the accelerator, experimenter, and theory communities necessary for a scientific and engineering success. Here, I give my impressions of the problem, its possible solution, and what is needed to have both a scientifically productive and financially viable future.

Experimental and theoretical rotordynamic stiffness coefficients for a three-stage brush seal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pugachev, A. O.; Deckner, M.

2012-08-01

Experimental and theoretical results are presented for a multistage brush seal. Experimental stiffness is obtained from integrating circumferential pressure distribution measured in seal cavities. A CFD analysis is used to predict seal performance. Bristle packs are modeled by the porous medium approach. Leakage is predicted well by the CFD method. Theoretical stiffness coefficients are in reasonable agreement with the measurements. Experimental results are also compared with a three-teeth-on-stator labyrinth seal. The multistage brush seal gives about 60% leakage reduction over the labyrinth seal. Rotordynamic stiffness coefficients are also improved: the brush seal has positive direct stiffness and smaller cross-coupled stiffness.

Late-Onset Hypogonadism and Testosterone Replacement in Older Men.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, Rajib K; Bhattacharya, Shelley B

2015-11-01

Late-onset hypogonadism is an underdiagnosed and easily treated condition defined by low serum testosterone levels in men older than 65 years. When treated, a significant improvement in quality of life may be reached in this rapidly rising sector of the population. During the evaluation, laboratory tests and a full medication review should be performed to exclude other illnesses or adverse effects from medications. The major goal of treatment in this population is treating the symptoms related to hypogonadism. There has not been clear evidence supporting universally giving older men with low serum testosterone levels and hypogonadal symptoms testosterone replacement therapy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Obstetric skills drills: evaluation of teaching methods.

PubMed

Birch, L; Jones, N; Doyle, P M; Green, P; McLaughlin, A; Champney, C; Williams, D; Gibbon, K; Taylor, K

2007-11-01

To determine the most effective method of delivering training to staff on the management of an obstetric emergency. The research was conducted in a District General Hospital in the UK, delivering approximately 3500 women per year. Thirty-six staff, comprising of junior and senior medical and midwifery staff were included as research subjects. Each of the staff members were put into one of six multi-professional teams. Effectively, this gave six teams, each comprising of six members. Three teaching methods were employed. Lecture based teaching (LBT), simulation based teaching (SBT) or a combination of these two (LAS). Each team of staff were randomly allocated to undertake a full day of training in the management of Post Partum Haemorrhage utilising one of these three teaching methods. Team knowledge and performance were assessed pre-training, post training and at three months later. In addition to this assessment of knowledge and performance, qualitative semi-structured interviews were carried out with 50% of the original cohort one year after the training, to explore anxiety, confidence, communication, knowledge retention, enjoyment and transferable skills. All teams improved in their performance and knowledge. The teams taught using simulation only (SBT) were the only group to demonstrate sustained improvement in clinical management of the case, confidence, communication skills and knowledge. However, the study did not have enough power to reach statistical significance. The SBT group reported transferable skills and less anxiety in subsequent emergencies. SBT and LAS reported improved multidisciplinary communication. Although tiring, the SBT was enjoyed the most. Obstetrics is a high risk speciality, in which emergencies are to some extent, inevitable. Training staff to manage these emergencies is a fundamental principal of risk management. Traditional risk management strategies based on incident reporting and event analysis are reactive and not always effective. Simulation based training is an appropriate proactive approach to reducing errors and risk in obstetrics, improving teamwork and communication, whilst giving the student a multiplicity of transferable skills to improve their performance.

Feedback-giving behaviour in performance evaluations during clinical clerkships.

PubMed

Bok, Harold G J; Jaarsma, Debbie A D C; Spruijt, Annemarie; Van Beukelen, Peter; Van Der Vleuten, Cees P M; Teunissen, Pim W

2016-01-01

Narrative feedback documented in performance evaluations by the teacher, i.e. the clinical supervisor, is generally accepted to be essential for workplace learning. Many studies have examined factors of influence on the usage of mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX) instruments and provision of feedback, but little is known about how these factors influence teachers' feedback-giving behaviour. In this study, we investigated teachers' use of mini-CEX in performance evaluations to provide narrative feedback in undergraduate clinical training. We designed an exploratory qualitative study using an interpretive approach. Focusing on the usage of mini-CEX instruments in clinical training, we conducted semi-structured interviews to explore teachers' perceptions. Between February and June 2013, we conducted interviews with 14 clinicians participated as teachers during undergraduate clinical clerkships. Informed by concepts from the literature, we coded interview transcripts and iteratively reduced and displayed data using template analysis. We identified three main themes of interrelated factors that influenced teachers' practice with regard to mini-CEX instruments: teacher-related factors; teacher-student interaction-related factors, and teacher-context interaction-related factors. Four issues (direct observation, relationship between teacher and student, verbal versus written feedback, formative versus summative purposes) that are pertinent to workplace-based performance evaluations were presented to clarify how different factors interact with each other and influence teachers' feedback-giving behaviour. Embedding performance observation in clinical practice and establishing trustworthy teacher-student relationships in more longitudinal clinical clerkships were considered important in creating a learning environment that supports and facilitates the feedback exchange. Teachers' feedback-giving behaviour within the clinical context results from the interaction between personal, interpersonal and contextual factors. Increasing insight into how teachers use mini-CEX instruments in daily practice may offer strategies for creating a professional learning culture in which feedback giving and seeking would be enhanced.

Optimizing Facility Configurations and Operating Conditions for Improved Performance in the NASA Ames 24 Inch Shock Tube

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bogdanoff, David W.; Cruden, Brett A.

2016-01-01

The Ames Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) is a shock tube wherein the driver gas can be heated by an electric arc discharge. The electrical energy is stored in a 1.2 MJ capacitor bank. Four inch and 24 inch diameter driven tubes are available. The facility is described and the need for testing in the 24 inch tube to better simulate low density NASA mission profiles is discussed. Three test entries, 53, 53B and 59, are discussed. Tests are done with air or Mars gas (95.7% CO2/2.7% N2/1.6% Ar) at pressures of 0.01 to 0.14 Torr. Velocities spanned 6.3-9.2 km/s, with a nominal center of 7 km/s. Many facility configurations are studied in an effort to improve data quality. Various driver and driven tube configurations and the use of a buffer section between the driver and the driven tube are studied. Diagnostics include test times, time histories of the shock light pulses and tilts of the shock wave off the plane normal to the tube axis. The report will detail the results of the various trials, give the best configuration/operating conditions found to date and provide recommendations for further improvements. Finally, diaphragm performance is discussed.

Immersive Virtual Reality to Improve Walking Abilities in Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Gagliardi, Chiara; Turconi, Anna Carla; Biffi, Emilia; Maghini, Cristina; Marelli, Alessia; Cesareo, Ambra; Diella, Eleonora; Panzeri, Daniele

2018-04-27

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) offers new possibilities to perform treatments in an ecological and interactive environment with multimodal online feedbacks. Sixteen school-aged children (mean age 11 ± 2.4 years) with Bilateral CP-diplegia, attending mainstream schools were recruited for a pilot study in a pre-post treatment experimental design. The intervention was focused on walking competences and endurance and performed by the Gait Real-time Analysis Interactive Lab (GRAIL), an innovative treadmill platform based on IVR. The participants underwent eighteen therapy sessions in 4 weeks. Functional evaluations, instrumental measures including GAIT analysis and parental questionnaire were utilized to assess the treatment effects. Walking pattern (stride length left and right side, respectively p = 0.001 and 0.003; walking speed p = 0.001), endurance (6MWT, p = 0.026), gross motor abilities (GMFM-88, p = 0.041) and most kinematic and kinetic parameters significantly improved after the intervention. The changes were mainly predicted by age and cognitive abilities. The effect could have been due to the possibility of IVR to foster integration of motor/perceptual competences beyond the training of the walking ability, giving a chance of improvement also to older and already treated children.

Distinguishing the importance of fullerene phase separation from polymer ordering in the performance of low band gap polymer: Bis-fullerene heterojunctions

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

Chen, Huipeng; Hsiao, Yu -Che; Chen, Jihua

2014-09-16

It is known, one way to improve power conversion efficiency (PCE) of polymer based bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) photovoltaic cells is to increase the open circuit voltage (V oc). Replacing PCBM with bis-adduct fullerenes significantly improves V oc and the PCE in devices based on the conjugated polymer poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT). However, for the most promising low band-gap polymer (LBP) system, replacing PCBM with ICBA results in poor short-circuit current (J sc) and PCE although V oc is significantly improved. The optimization of the morphology of as-cast LBP/bis-fullerene BHJ photovoltaics is attempted by adding a co-solvent to the polymer/fullerene solution prior tomore » film deposition. Varying the solubility of polymer and fullerene in the co-solvent, bulk heterojunctions are fabricated with no change of polymer ordering, but with changes in fullerene phase separation. The morphologies of the as-cast samples are characterized by small angle neutron scattering and neutron reflectometry. A homogenous dispersion of ICBA in LBP is found in the samples where the co-solvent is selective to the polymer, giving poor device performance. Aggregates of ICBA are formed in samples where the co-solvent is selective to ICBA. Furthermore, the resultant morphology improves PCE by up to 246%. Finally, a quantitative analysis of the neutron data shows that the interfacial area between ICBA aggregates and its surrounding matrix is improved, facilitating charge transport and improving the PCE.« less

Air Force seal activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayhew, Ellen R.

1994-07-01

Seal technology development is an important part of the Air Force's participation in the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) initiative, the joint DOD, NASA, ARPA, and industry endeavor to double turbine engine capabilities by the turn of the century. Significant performance and efficiency improvements can be obtained through reducing internal flow system leakage, but seal environment requirements continue to become more extreme as the engine thermodynamic cycles advance towards these IHPTET goals. Brush seal technology continues to be pursued by the Air Force to reduce leakage at the required conditions. Likewise, challenges in engine mainshaft air/oil seals are also being addressed. Counter-rotating intershaft applications within the IHPTET initiative involve very high rubbing velocities. This viewgraph presentation briefly describes past and current seal research and development programs and gives a summary of seal applications in demonstrator and developmental engine testing.

Quality dependent fusion of intramodal and multimodal biometric experts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kittler, J.; Poh, N.; Fatukasi, O.; Messer, K.; Kryszczuk, K.; Richiardi, J.; Drygajlo, A.

2007-04-01

We address the problem of score level fusion of intramodal and multimodal experts in the context of biometric identity verification. We investigate the merits of confidence based weighting of component experts. In contrast to the conventional approach where confidence values are derived from scores, we use instead raw measures of biometric data quality to control the influence of each expert on the final fused score. We show that quality based fusion gives better performance than quality free fusion. The use of quality weighted scores as features in the definition of the fusion functions leads to further improvements. We demonstrate that the achievable performance gain is also affected by the choice of fusion architecture. The evaluation of the proposed methodology involves 6 face and one speech verification experts. It is carried out on the XM2VTS data base.

Effect of Nanoparticle Incorporation and Surface Coating on Mechanical Properties of Bone Scaffolds: A Brief Review

PubMed Central

Corona-Gomez, Jesus; Chen, Xiongbiao; Yang, Qiaoqin

2016-01-01

Mechanical properties of a scaffold play an important role in its in vivo performance in bone tissue engineering, due to the fact that implanted scaffolds are typically subjected to stress including compression, tension, torsion, and shearing. Unfortunately, not all the materials used to fabricate scaffolds are strong enough to mimic native bones. Extensive research has been conducted in order to increase scaffold strength and mechanical performance by incorporating nanoparticles and/or coatings. An incredible improvement has been achieved; and some outstanding examples are the usage of nanodiamond, hydroxyapatite, bioactive glass particles, SiO2, MgO, and silver nanoparticles. This review paper aims to present the results, to summarize significant findings, and to give perspective for future work, which could be beneficial to future bone tissue engineering. PMID:27420104

Impairment in Proverb Interpretation as an Executive Function Deficit in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Alzheimer's Disease

PubMed Central

Leyhe, Thomas; Saur, Ralf; Eschweiler, Gerhard W.; Milian, Monika

2011-01-01

Background/Aims Proverb interpretation is assumed to reflect executive functions. We hypothesized that proverb interpretation is impaired in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) diagnosed as single-domain impairment by common neuropsychological testing. Methods We compared performance in a proverb interpretation test in single-domain aMCI patients and patients with early Alzheimer's disease (EAD). Results The groups with aMCI and EAD performed significantly worse than healthy controls. Both patient groups gave concrete answers with a similar frequency. However, patients with EAD tended to give senseless answers more frequently. Conclusions Our data suggest that in patients diagnosed as single-domain aMCI, deterioration of executive functions is detectable with subtle and appropriate neuropsychological testing. Implementation of these procedures may improve the early prediction of AD. PMID:22163233

Evaluating and enhancing quantum capacitance in graphene-based electrodes from first principles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogitsu, Tadashi; Otani, Minoru; Lee, Jonathan; Bagge-Hansen, Michael; Biener, Juergen; Wood, Brandon

2013-03-01

Graphene derivatives are attractive as supercapacitor electrodes because they are lightweight, chemically inert, have high surface area and conductivity, and are stable in electrolyte solutions. Nevertheless, devising reliable strategies for improving energy density relies on an understanding of the specific factors that control electrode performance. We use density-functional theory calculations of pristine and defective graphene to extract quantum capacitance, as well as to identify specific limiting factors. The effect of structural point defects and strain-related morphological changes on the density of states is also evaluated. The results are combined with predicted and measured in situ X-ray absorption spectra in order to give insight into the structural and chemical features present in synthesized carbon aerogel samples. Performed under the auspices of the U.S. DOE by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

AgRISTARS: Foreign commodity production forecasting. The 1980 US/Canada wheat and barley exploratory experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Payne, R. W. (Principal Investigator)

1981-01-01

The crop identification procedures used performed were for spring small grains and are conducive to automation. The performance of the machine processing techniques shows a significant improvement over previously evaluated technology; however, the crop calendars require additional development and refinements prior to integration into automated area estimation technology. The integrated technology is capable of producing accurate and consistent spring small grains proportion estimates. Barley proportion estimation technology was not satisfactorily evaluated because LANDSAT sample segment data was not available for high density barley of primary importance in foreign regions and the low density segments examined were not judged to give indicative or unequvocal results. Generally, the spring small grains technology is ready for evaluation in a pilot experiment focusing on sensitivity analysis to a variety of agricultural and meteorological conditions representative of the global environment.

Automated classification of focal breast lesions according to S-detect: validation and role as a clinical and teaching tool.

PubMed

Di Segni, Mattia; de Soccio, Valeria; Cantisani, Vito; Bonito, Giacomo; Rubini, Antonello; Di Segni, Gabriele; Lamorte, Sveva; Magri, Valentina; De Vito, Corrado; Migliara, Giuseppe; Bartolotta, Tommaso Vincenzo; Metere, Alessio; Giacomelli, Laura; de Felice, Carlo; D'Ambrosio, Ferdinando

2018-06-01

To assess the diagnostic performance and the potential as a teaching tool of S-detect in the assessment of focal breast lesions. 61 patients (age 21-84 years) with benign breast lesions in follow-up or candidate to pathological sampling or with suspicious lesions candidate to biopsy were enrolled. The study was based on a prospective and on a retrospective phase. In the prospective phase, after completion of baseline US by an experienced breast radiologist and S-detect assessment, 5 operators with different experience and dedication to breast radiology performed elastographic exams. In the retrospective phase, the 5 operators performed a retrospective assessment and categorized lesions with BI-RADS 2013 lexicon. Integration of S-detect to in-training operators evaluations was performed by giving priority to S-detect analysis in case of disagreement. 2 × 2 contingency tables and ROC analysis were used to assess the diagnostic performances; inter-rater agreement was measured with Cohen's k; Bonferroni's test was used to compare performances. A significance threshold of p = 0.05 was adopted. All operators showed sensitivity > 90% and varying specificity (50-75%); S-detect showed sensitivity > 90 and 70.8% specificity, with inter-rater agreement ranging from moderate to good. Lower specificities were improved by the addition of S-detect. The addition of elastography did not lead to any improvement of the diagnostic performance. S-detect is a feasible tool for the characterization of breast lesions; it has a potential as a teaching tool for the less experienced operators.

Factors affecting performance of public hospital nurses in Addis Ababa region, Ethiopia.

PubMed

Negussie, Nebiat; Berehe, Costantinos

2016-03-01

Nurses have a major role to play in providing timely, quality health services in hospitals. It is important to identify factors influencing the performance of nurses to improve the quality of healthcare delivered in healthcare organizations. The objective of this study was to identify factors influencing job performance of nurses in public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from June 2010 to December 2010 in five public hospitals in Addis Ababa. Among 658 nurses meeting the inclusion criteria, the estimated sample size of 290 nurses was selected using a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaire. A total of 230 (80%) questionnaires were returned of the 290 questionnaires distributed to respondents. The results of the study indicated that nurses have rated the following as below average: job performance (mean=2.71, SD=0.48), job satisfaction (mean=2.55, SD=0.39), and organizational commitment (mean=2.45, SD=0.36). Organizational commitment (β=0.69, P<0.01), career development (β=0.39, P<0.01), payment (β=0.41, P<0.01), relationship with colleagues (β=0.32, P<0.01), work condition (β=0.21, P<0.05), and years of experience (β=0.27, P<0.05) have significant effect on nurses' job performance. This study highlighted that organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and work experience were significant predictors of nurses' job performance. Healthcare organization should give more attention to factors that contribute to job satisfaction and organizational commitments to improve nurses' job performance.

Cost aware cache replacement policy in shared last-level cache for hybrid memory based fog computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Gangyong; Han, Guangjie; Wang, Hao; Wang, Feng

2018-04-01

Fog computing requires a large main memory capacity to decrease latency and increase the Quality of Service (QoS). However, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), the commonly used random access memory, cannot be included into a fog computing system due to its high consumption of power. In recent years, non-volatile memories (NVM) such as Phase-Change Memory (PCM) and Spin-transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM) with their low power consumption have emerged to replace DRAM. Moreover, the currently proposed hybrid main memory, consisting of both DRAM and NVM, have shown promising advantages in terms of scalability and power consumption. However, the drawbacks of NVM, such as long read/write latency give rise to potential problems leading to asymmetric cache misses in the hybrid main memory. Current last level cache (LLC) policies are based on the unified miss cost, and result in poor performance in LLC and add to the cost of using NVM. In order to minimize the cache miss cost in the hybrid main memory, we propose a cost aware cache replacement policy (CACRP) that reduces the number of cache misses from NVM and improves the cache performance for a hybrid memory system. Experimental results show that our CACRP behaves better in LLC performance, improving performance up to 43.6% (15.5% on average) compared to LRU.

Performance and robustness of optimal fractional fuzzy PID controllers for pitch control of a wind turbine using chaotic optimization algorithms.

PubMed

Asgharnia, Amirhossein; Shahnazi, Reza; Jamali, Ali

2018-05-11

The most studied controller for pitch control of wind turbines is proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. However, due to uncertainties in wind turbine modeling and wind speed profiles, the need for more effective controllers is inevitable. On the other hand, the parameters of PID controller usually are unknown and should be selected by the designer which is neither a straightforward task nor optimal. To cope with these drawbacks, in this paper, two advanced controllers called fuzzy PID (FPID) and fractional-order fuzzy PID (FOFPID) are proposed to improve the pitch control performance. Meanwhile, to find the parameters of the controllers the chaotic evolutionary optimization methods are used. Using evolutionary optimization methods not only gives us the unknown parameters of the controllers but also guarantees the optimality based on the chosen objective function. To improve the performance of the evolutionary algorithms chaotic maps are used. All the optimization procedures are applied to the 2-mass model of 5-MW wind turbine model. The proposed optimal controllers are validated using simulator FAST developed by NREL. Simulation results demonstrate that the FOFPID controller can reach to better performance and robustness while guaranteeing fewer fatigue damages in different wind speeds in comparison to FPID, fractional-order PID (FOPID) and gain-scheduling PID (GSPID) controllers. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors influencing students' performance in a Brazilian dental school.

PubMed

Silva, Erica Tatiane da; Nunes, Maria de Fátima; Queiroz, Maria Goretti; Leles, Cláudio R

2010-01-01

Comprehensive assessment of students' academic performance plays an important role in educational planning. The aim of this study was to investigate variables that influence student's performance in a retrospective sample including all undergraduate students who entered in a Brazilian dental school, in a 20-year period between 1984 and 2003 (n=1182). Demographic and educational variables were used to predict performance in the overall curriculum and course groups. Cluster analysis (K-means algorithm) categorized students into groups of higher, moderate or lower performance. Clusters of overall performance showed external validity, demonstrated by Chi-square test and ANOVA. Lower performance groups had the smallest number of students in overall performance and course groups clusters, ranging from 11.8% (clinical courses) to 19.2% (basic courses). Students' performance was more satisfactory in dental and clinical courses, rather than basic and non-clinical courses (p<0.001). Better student's performance was predicted by lower time elapsed between completion of high school and dental school admission, female gender, better rank in admission test, class attendance rate and student workload hours in teaching, research and extension (R(2)=0.491). Findings give evidence about predictors of undergraduate students' performance and reinforce the need for curricular reformulation focused on with improvement of integration among courses.

Delta-beta correlation as a candidate endophenotype of social anxiety: A two-generation family study.

PubMed

Harrewijn, Anita; van der Molen, Melle J W; van Vliet, Irene M; Houwing-Duistermaat, Jeanine J; Westenberg, P Michiel

2018-02-01

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by an extreme and intense fear and avoidance of social situations. In this two-generation family study we examined delta-beta correlation during a social performance task as candidate endophenotype of SAD. Nine families with a target participant (diagnosed with SAD), their spouse and children, as well as target's siblings with spouse and children performed a social performance task in which they gave a speech in front of a camera. EEG was measured during resting state, anticipation, and recovery. Our analyses focused on two criteria for endophenotypes: co-segregation within families and heritability. Co-segregation analyses revealed increased negative delta-low beta correlation during anticipation in participants with (sub)clinical SAD compared to participants without (sub)clinical SAD. Heritability analyses revealed that delta-low beta and delta-high beta correlation during anticipation were heritable. Delta-beta correlation did not differ between participants with and without (sub)clinical SAD during resting state or recovery, nor between participants with and without SAD during all phases of the task. It should be noted that participants were seen only once, they all performed the EEG tasks in the same order, and some participants were too anxious to give a speech. Delta-low beta correlation during anticipation of giving a speech might be a candidate endophenotype of SAD, possibly reflecting increased crosstalk between cortical and subcortical regions. If validated as endophenotype, delta-beta correlation during anticipation could be useful in studying the genetic basis, as well as improving treatment and early detection of persons at risk for developing SAD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Corporate Philanthropy in American Higher Education: An Investigation of Attitudes towards Giving.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meuth, Elsbeth F.

This study investigated corporate attitudes toward giving to American higher education in order to contribute insight into corporate philanthropy and to facilitate better understanding and improve university and college fund raising strategies. The research design used was ex post facto. A survey instrument was developed to collect attitudinal and…

World Radio and TV Handbook. A Complete Directory of International Radio and Television. Twenty-Seventh Edition. 1973.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frost, J. M., Ed.

This handbook provides detailed information about broadcasting and international broadcasting organization. It lists Esperanto programs, English language news programs from foreign countries, religious broadcasting organizations, and gives hints to improve broadcast reception. The main entry section gives a detailed description of radio stations…

How American and Chinese Journalism Students Prioritize Values: A Comparative Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Jin; Arant, David

2016-01-01

This study found that Chinese journalism students and American journalism students are more different than similar in their value systems. Overall, American students give greater weight to social-interaction values and self-improvement values, and Chinese students give greater importance to morality-oriented values and competency-oriented values.…

Fast and robust control of nanopositioning systems: Performance limits enabled by field programmable analog arrays.

PubMed

Baranwal, Mayank; Gorugantu, Ram S; Salapaka, Srinivasa M

2015-08-01

This paper aims at control design and its implementation for robust high-bandwidth precision (nanoscale) positioning systems. Even though modern model-based control theoretic designs for robust broadband high-resolution positioning have enabled orders of magnitude improvement in performance over existing model independent designs, their scope is severely limited by the inefficacies of digital implementation of the control designs. High-order control laws that result from model-based designs typically have to be approximated with reduced-order systems to facilitate digital implementation. Digital systems, even those that have very high sampling frequencies, provide low effective control bandwidth when implementing high-order systems. In this context, field programmable analog arrays (FPAAs) provide a good alternative to the use of digital-logic based processors since they enable very high implementation speeds, moreover with cheaper resources. The superior flexibility of digital systems in terms of the implementable mathematical and logical functions does not give significant edge over FPAAs when implementing linear dynamic control laws. In this paper, we pose the control design objectives for positioning systems in different configurations as optimal control problems and demonstrate significant improvements in performance when the resulting control laws are applied using FPAAs as opposed to their digital counterparts. An improvement of over 200% in positioning bandwidth is achieved over an earlier digital signal processor (DSP) based implementation for the same system and same control design, even when for the DSP-based system, the sampling frequency is about 100 times the desired positioning bandwidth.

Light weight escape capsule for fighter aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robert, James A.

1988-01-01

Emergency crew escape capabilities have been less than adequate for fighter aircraft since before WW II. From the over-the-side bailout of those days through the current ejection seat with a rocket catapult, escaping from a disabled aircraft has been risky at best. Current efforts are underway toward developing a high-tech, smart ejection seat that will give fighter pilots more room to live in the sky, but an escape capsule is needed to meet current and future fighter envelopes. Escape capsules have a bad reputation due to past examples of high weight, poor performance and great complexity. However, the advantages available demand that a capsule be developed. This capsule concept will minimize the inherent disavantages and incorporate the benefits while integrating all aspects of crew station design. The resulting design is appropriate for a crew station of the year 2010 and includes improved combat acceleration protection, chemical or biological combat capability, improved aircraft to escape system interaction, and the highest level of escape performance achievable. The capsule is compact, which can allow a reduced aircraft size and weighs only 1200 lb. The escape system weight penalty is only 120 lb higher than that for the next ejection seat and the capsule has a corresponding increase in performance.

Microwave-immobilized polybutadiene stationary phase for reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

PubMed

Lopes, Nilva P; Collins, Kenneth E; Jardim, Isabel C S F

2004-03-19

Polybutadiene (PBD) has been immobilized on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) silica by microwave radiation at various power levels (52-663 W) and actuation times (3-60 min). Columns prepared from these reversed-phase HPLC materials, as well as from similar non-irradiated materials, were tested with standard sample mixtures and characterized by elemental analysis (%C) and infrared spectroscopy. A microwave irradiation of 20 min at 663 W gives a layer of immobilized PBD that presented good performance. Longer irradiation times give thicker immobilized layers having less favorable chromatographic properties.

Sustainable Technologies: Finding Success the Second Time Around

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

Walkowicz, Kevin

2016-03-03

Presentation provides background on how to identify and quantify improvements for advanced vehicle technology and commercial fleet operations. It gives examples of next generation technology improvements that have been implemented within commercial fleets.

Performance and management of draught animals in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa: a review.

PubMed

Pearson, R A; Vall, E

1998-10-01

Use of animal power generally enables farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to increase agricultural production and improve the quality of life. Effective use of working animals depends on an understanding of the capabilities of the animals for work, their husbandry requirements and the factors which can influence their performance. These issues are reviewed in this paper in the context of the use of animal power in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. The type of animal used for work determines power available to the farmer. The performance of donkeys, horses and cattle have been compared in work tests. Equids are more suited to rapid low draught activities where their faster speed can be used to advantage. At higher draught forces, where speed is less important, the additional weight and power of cattle are an advantage. Use of heart rate recovery after work gives a reasonable indication of fatigue and fitness of equids, when test conditions are standardized. Although feed requirements for work are generally low, feed quality can be so poor that animals are unable to eat enough to meet energy needs for work, and so lose weight during the work season. However, improvements in work performance are not always seen following supplementary feeding in the dry season and the economics need to be considered in each case. Food availability, diseases and heat stress, the major constraints to performance of draught cattle and donkeys working in sub-Saharan Africa, are discussed.

Work improvement factors for the amelioration of work ability, with a focus on individual capacity to deal with stress in an IT company.

PubMed

Ohta, Masanori; Higuchi, Yoshiyuki; Kumashiro, Masaharu; Yamato, Hiroshi; Sugimura, Hisamichi

2015-03-01

The aim of this study was to explore factors that ameliorate work ability by focusing on workers' capacity to deal with stress.The subjects were 1,330 workers from the Japanese information technology (IT) sector. Each subject completed questionnaires in 2011 and 2012 that consisted of the work ability index (WAI), the three-item sense of coherence (SOC), and the Mental Health Improvement and Reinforcement Research of Recognition (MIRROR). The results of the WAI were also obtained in 2013. The median SOC score in 2011 was used to divide the subjects into two groups, the Low SOC group and the High SOC group, then we verified the factors that contributed to improved work ability in both of these groups over a two-year period. Results indicate that an improvement in work ability in the Low SOC group could be predicted by giving workers opportunities for education or training, by making efforts to reduce the stress of commuting, by clarifying their assignments, and by establishing support systems when troubles occur. For the High SOC group, such improvements could be predicted by giving workers job control, by giving education or training for the promotion of their abilities, and by establishing a system for assuming responsibility. In conclusion, improvements in the work environment can increase the work ability of Japanese IT workers in conformity with their capacity to deal with stress.

Advanced Electrical Materials and Components Development: An Update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwarze, Gene E.

2005-01-01

The primary means to develop advanced electrical components is to develop new and improved materials for magnetic components (transformers, inductors, etc.), capacitors, and semiconductor switches and diodes. This paper will give an update of the Advanced Power Electronics and Components Technology being developed by the NASA Glenn Research Center for use in future Power Management and Distribution subsystems used in space power systems for spacecraft and lunar and planetary surface power. The initial description and status of this technology program was presented two years ago at the First International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference held at Portsmouth, Virginia, August 2003. The present paper will give a brief background of the previous work reported and a summary of research performed the past several years on soft magnetic materials characterization, dielectric materials and capacitor developments, high quality silicon carbide atomically smooth substrates, and SiC static and dynamic device characterization under elevated temperature conditions. The rationale for and the benefits of developing advanced electrical materials and components for the PMAD subsystem and also for the total power system will also be briefly discussed.

Analysis of the Tikhonov regularization to retrieve thermal conductivity depth-profiles from infrared thermography data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Apiñaniz, Estibaliz; Mendioroz, Arantza; Salazar, Agustín; Celorrio, Ricardo

2010-09-01

We analyze the ability of the Tikhonov regularization to retrieve different shapes of in-depth thermal conductivity profiles, usually encountered in hardened materials, from surface temperature data. Exponential, oscillating, and sigmoidal profiles are studied. By performing theoretical experiments with added white noises, the influence of the order of the Tikhonov functional and of the parameters that need to be tuned to carry out the inversion are investigated. The analysis shows that the Tikhonov regularization is very well suited to reconstruct smooth profiles but fails when the conductivity exhibits steep slopes. We check a natural alternative regularization, the total variation functional, which gives much better results for sigmoidal profiles. Accordingly, a strategy to deal with real data is proposed in which we introduce this total variation regularization. This regularization is applied to the inversion of real data corresponding to a case hardened AISI1018 steel plate, giving much better anticorrelation of the retrieved conductivity with microindentation test data than the Tikhonov regularization. The results suggest that this is a promising way to improve the reliability of local inversion methods.

Empirical prediction intervals improve energy forecasting

PubMed Central

Kaack, Lynn H.; Apt, Jay; Morgan, M. Granger; McSharry, Patrick

2017-01-01

Hundreds of organizations and analysts use energy projections, such as those contained in the US Energy Information Administration (EIA)’s Annual Energy Outlook (AEO), for investment and policy decisions. Retrospective analyses of past AEO projections have shown that observed values can differ from the projection by several hundred percent, and thus a thorough treatment of uncertainty is essential. We evaluate the out-of-sample forecasting performance of several empirical density forecasting methods, using the continuous ranked probability score (CRPS). The analysis confirms that a Gaussian density, estimated on past forecasting errors, gives comparatively accurate uncertainty estimates over a variety of energy quantities in the AEO, in particular outperforming scenario projections provided in the AEO. We report probabilistic uncertainties for 18 core quantities of the AEO 2016 projections. Our work frames how to produce, evaluate, and rank probabilistic forecasts in this setting. We propose a log transformation of forecast errors for price projections and a modified nonparametric empirical density forecasting method. Our findings give guidance on how to evaluate and communicate uncertainty in future energy outlooks. PMID:28760997

Hot-compress: A new postdeposition treatment for ZnO-based flexible dye-sensitized solar cells

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

Haque Choudhury, Mohammad Shamimul, E-mail: shamimul129@gmail.com; Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, International Islamic University Chittagong, b154/a, College Road, Chittagong 4203; Kishi, Naoki

2016-08-15

Highlights: • A new postdeposition treatment named hot-compress is introduced. • Hot-compression gives homogeneous compact layer ZnO photoanode. • I-V and EIS analysis data confirms the efficacy of this method. • Charge transport resistance was reduced by the application of hot-compression. - Abstract: This article introduces a new postdeposition treatment named hot-compress for flexible zinc oxide–base dye-sensitized solar cells. This postdeposition treatment includes the application of compression pressure at an elevated temperature. The optimum compression pressure of 130 Ma at an optimum compression temperature of 70 °C heating gives better photovoltaic performance compared to the conventional cells. The aptness ofmore » this method was confirmed by investigating scanning electron microscopy image, X-ray diffraction, current-voltage and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis of the prepared cells. Proper heating during compression lowers the charge transport resistance, longer the electron lifetime of the device. As a result, the overall power conversion efficiency of the device was improved about 45% compared to the conventional room temperature compressed cell.« less

Performance of a distributed superscalar storage server

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Finestead, Arlan; Yeager, Nancy

1993-01-01

The RS/6000 performed well in our test environment. The potential exists for the RS/6000 to act as a departmental server for a small number of users, rather than as a high speed archival server. Multiple UniTree Disk Server's utilizing one UniTree Disk Server's utilizing one UniTree Name Server could be developed that would allow for a cost effective archival system. Our performance tests were clearly limited by the network bandwidth. The performance gathered by the LibUnix testing shows that UniTree is capable of exceeding ethernet speeds on an RS/6000 Model 550. The performance of FTP might be significantly faster if asked to perform across a higher bandwidth network. The UniTree Name Server also showed signs of being a potential bottleneck. UniTree sites that would require a high ratio of file creations and deletions to reads and writes would run into this bottleneck. It is possible to improve the UniTree Name Server performance by bypassing the UniTree LibUnix Library altogether and communicating directly with the UniTree Name Server and optimizing creations. Although testing was performed in a less than ideal environment, hopefully the performance statistics stated in this paper will give end-users a realistic idea as to what performance they can expect in this type of setup.

Simulation and augmented reality in endovascular neurosurgery: lessons from aviation.

PubMed

Mitha, Alim P; Almekhlafi, Mohammed A; Janjua, Major Jameel J; Albuquerque, Felipe C; McDougall, Cameron G

2013-01-01

Endovascular neurosurgery is a discipline strongly dependent on imaging. Therefore, technology that improves how much useful information we can garner from a single image has the potential to dramatically assist decision making during endovascular procedures. Furthermore, education in an image-enhanced environment, especially with the incorporation of simulation, can improve the safety of the procedures and give interventionalists and trainees the opportunity to study or perform simulated procedures before the intervention, much like what is practiced in the field of aviation. Here, we examine the use of simulators in the training of fighter pilots and discuss how similar benefits can compensate for current deficiencies in endovascular training. We describe the types of simulation used for endovascular procedures, including virtual reality, and discuss the relevant data on its utility in training. Finally, the benefit of augmented reality during endovascular procedures is discussed, along with future computerized image enhancement techniques.

Access to Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in School Lunches: A Policy Analysis.

PubMed

Schultz, Celeste; Thorlton, Janet

2018-01-01

Consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables helps to reduce childhood obesity and improves academic achievement and attendance. However, providing fresh fruits and vegetables is challenging for some schools due to cost, administrative burden, and concern for food waste. To address these challenges, the Fruit and Vegetable Access for Children Act proposes to allow federally funded programs to substitute fresh fruits and vegetables with canned, frozen, or pureed versions. In this policy analysis, we propose options for providing fresh fruits and vegetables to children enrolled in the National School Lunch Program. We recommend that school nurses actively facilitate the process of obtaining fresh fruits and vegetables by being appointed members of Team Nutrition giving them authority to collaborate with local famers, entrepreneurs, and land-grant universities in Farm to School Programs. This strategy empowers school nurses in promoting healthy eating habits, reducing obesity, and improving academic performance and school attendance.

Targeted Help for Spoken Dialogue Systems: Intelligent Feedback Improves Naive Users' Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hockey, Beth Ann; Lemon, Oliver; Campana, Ellen; Hiatt, Laura; Aist, Gregory; Hieronymous, Jim; Gruenstein, Alexander; Dowding, John

2003-01-01

We present experimental evidence that providing naive users of a spoken dialogue system with immediate help messages related to their out-of-coverage utterances improves their success in using the system. A grammar-based recognizer and a Statistical Language Model (SLM) recognizer are run simultaneously. If the grammar-based recognizer suceeds, the less accurate SLM recognizer hypothesis is not used. When the grammar-based recognizer fails and the SLM recognizer produces a recognition hypothesis, this result is used by the Targeted Help agent to give the user feed-back on what was recognized, a diagnosis of what was problematic about the utterance, and a related in-coverage example. The in-coverage example is intended to encourage alignment between user inputs and the language model of the system. We report on controlled experiments on a spoken dialogue system for command and control of a simulated robotic helicopter.

Improving the Performance of Gold-Nanoparticle-Doped Solid-State Dye Laser Using Thermal Conversion Effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, N. T. M.; Lien, N. T. H.; Hoang, N. D.; Hoa, D. Q.

2018-04-01

Energy transfer between spherical gold nanoparticles with size of more than 15 nm and molecules of organic dye 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4 H-pyran (DCM) has been studied. Such radiative energy transfer led to high local temperature, giving rise to a bleaching effect that resulted in rapid degradation of the laser medium. Gold nanoparticles were dispersed at concentrations from 5 × 109 particles/mL to 5 × 1010 particles/mL in DCM polymethylmethacrylate polymer using a radical polymerization process with 2,2'-azobis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) as initiator. Using the fast thermoelectric cooling method, the laser medium stability was significantly improved. The output stability of a distributed feedback dye laser pumped by second-harmonic generation from a neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser was investigated. Moreover, bidirectional energy transfer between gold nanoparticles and dye molecules was observed.

Systematic Improvement of Protein Crystals by Determining the Supersolubility Curves of Phase Diagrams

PubMed Central

Saridakis, Emmanuel; Chayen, Naomi E.

2003-01-01

A systematic approach for improving protein crystals by growing them in the metastable zone using the vapor diffusion technique is described. This is a simple technique for optimization of crystallization conditions. Screening around known conditions is performed to establish a working phase diagram for the crystallization of the protein. Dilutions of the crystallization drops across the supersolubility curve into the metastable zone are then carried out as follows: the coverslips holding the hanging drops are transferred, after being incubated for some time at conditions normally giving many small crystals, over reservoirs at concentrations which normally yield clear drops. Fewer, much larger crystals are obtained when the incubation times are optimized, compared with conventional crystallization at similar conditions. This systematic approach has led to the structure determination of the light-harvesting protein C-phycocyanin to the highest-ever resolution of 1.45 Å. PMID:12547801

Social oocyte cryopreservation: a portrayal of Brazilian women.

PubMed

Santo, Elisangela V Espirito; Dieamant, Felipe; Petersen, Claudia G; Mauri, Ana L; Vagnini, Laura D; Renzi, Adriana; Zamara, Camila; Oliveira, João Batista A; Baruffi, Ricardo L R; Franco, José G

2017-06-01

This study aimed to determine what Brazilian childless women of reproductive age think about oocyte cryopreservation to postpone pregnancy and their reasons for performing or not performing this procedure. Women of reproductive age were randomly selected from the general population using different e-mail lists and were invited to participate in the study by completing an online web survey regarding social oocyte cryopreservation. The survey was also distributed through social media to women of reproductive age. Although most of the responders had a partner (86.9%) and had already planned the pregnancy of their first child (69.6%), 85.4% (379) considered the potential of social oocyte freezing to improve their chances of giving birth later in life. Those that had already planned pregnancy were two times more likely to intend to freeze their oocytes (p=0.03). The most important barrier for not undergoing oocyte cryopreservation was cost. The women who indicated that they could not currently undergo the procedure now because of cost were two times (p=0.03) more likely to intend to cryopreserve their oocytes than women who thought that they would not need to delay pregnancy. Brazilian women who think that they are not ready to have a family are discovering the option of oocyte cryopreservation. Most participants considered safeguarding their reproductive potential. Making the procedure more accessible could give women the opportunity to make proactive decisions about the future of their fertility.

Robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy: history, techniques and outcomes.

PubMed

Liss, Michael A; Kader, A Karim

2013-06-01

Robotic-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) is a less invasive means of performing the radical cystectomy operation, which holds promise for improved patient morbidity. We review the history, technique and current literature pertaining to RARC and place the current results in context with the open procedure. All articles regarding RARC found in PubMed after January 2000 were examined. We selected articles that appeared in high-impact journals, had large patient population size (>80 patients), or were novel in technique or findings. We chose key laparoscopic articles to give reference to the history in transition to robotic radical cystectomy. In addition, we chose classic articles from open radical cystectomy to give reference regarding the newer robotic perioperative outcomes. Studies suggest that a 20-patient learning curve is needed to reach an operative time of 6.5 h, with 30 surgeries performed to reach lymph node counts in excess of 20 (International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium). The only randomized surgical trial comparing open and robotic techniques showed equivalent lymph node yield, which may be surgeon and volume dependent. Literature demonstrates lower estimated blood loss, transfusion rates, early return of bowel function and decreased complications in early small series. RARC and urinary diversion are still early in development and limited to centers with extensive robotic experience and volume, although adoption of the robotic approach is becoming more common. Early studies have shown promise to reduce complications with equivalent oncologic results.

Optimum processing parameters for the fabrication of twill flax fabric-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuhudi, Nurul Zuhairah Mahmud; Minhat, Mulia; Shamsuddin, Mohd Hafizi; Isa, Mohd Dali; Nur, Nurhayati Mohd

2017-12-01

In recent years, natural fabric thermoplastic composites such as flax have received much attention due to its attractive capabilities for structural applications. It is crucial to study the processing of flax fabric materials in order to achieve good quality and cost-effectiveness in fibre reinforced composites. Though flax fabric has been widely utilized for several years in composite applications due to its high strength and abundance in nature, much work has been concentrated on short flax fibre and very little work focused on using flax fabric. The effectiveness of the flax fabric is expected to give higher strength performance due to its structure but the processing needs to be optimised. Flax fabric composites were fabricated using compression moulding due to its simplicity, gives good surface finish and relatively low cost in terms of labour and production. Further, the impregnation of the polymer into the fabric is easier in this process. As the fabric weave structure contributes to the impregnation quality which leads to the overall performance, the processing parameters of consolidation i.e. pressure, time, and weight fraction of fabric were optimized using the Taguchi method. This optimization enhances the consolidation quality of the composite by improving the composite mechanical properties, three main tests were conducted i.e. tensile, flexural and impact test. It is observed that the processing parameter significantly affected the consolidation and quality of composite.

An improved thermodynamic perturbation theory for Mercedes-Benz water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urbic, T.; Vlachy, V.; Kalyuzhnyi, Yu. V.; Dill, K. A.

2007-11-01

We previously applied Wertheim's thermodynamic perturbation theory for associative fluids to the simple Mercedes-Benz model of water. We found that the theory reproduced well the physical properties of hot water, but was less successful in capturing the more structured hydrogen bonding that occurs in cold water. Here, we propose an improved version of the thermodynamic perturbation theory in which the effective density of the reference system is calculated self-consistently. The new theory is a significant improvement, giving good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of the model, and predicting key anomalies of cold water, such as minima in the molar volume and large heat capacity, in addition to giving good agreement with the isothermal compressibility and thermal expansion coefficient.

An improved thermodynamic perturbation theory for Mercedes-Benz water.

PubMed

Urbic, T; Vlachy, V; Kalyuzhnyi, Yu V; Dill, K A

2007-11-07

We previously applied Wertheim's thermodynamic perturbation theory for associative fluids to the simple Mercedes-Benz model of water. We found that the theory reproduced well the physical properties of hot water, but was less successful in capturing the more structured hydrogen bonding that occurs in cold water. Here, we propose an improved version of the thermodynamic perturbation theory in which the effective density of the reference system is calculated self-consistently. The new theory is a significant improvement, giving good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of the model, and predicting key anomalies of cold water, such as minima in the molar volume and large heat capacity, in addition to giving good agreement with the isothermal compressibility and thermal expansion coefficient.

Assessing the performance of centralized waiting lists for patients without a regular family physician using clinical-administrative data.

PubMed

Breton, Mylaine; Smithman, Mélanie Ann; Brousselle, Astrid; Loignon, Christine; Touati, Nassera; Dubois, Carl-Ardy; Nour, Kareen; Boivin, Antoine; Berbiche, Djamal; Roberge, Danièle

2017-01-05

With 4.6 million patients who do not have a regular family physician, Canada performs poorly compared to other OECD countries in terms of attachment to a family physician. To address this issue, several provinces have implemented centralized waiting lists to coordinate supply and demand for attachment to a family physician. Although significant resources are invested in these centralized waiting lists, no studies have measured their performance. In this article, we present a performance assessment of centralized waiting lists for unattached patients implemented in Quebec, Canada. We based our approach on the Balanced Scorecard method. A committee of decision-makers, managers, healthcare professionals, and researchers selected five indicators for the performance assessment of centralized waiting lists, including both process and outcome indicators. We analyzed and compared clinical-administrative data from 86 centralized waiting lists (GACOs) located in 14 regions in Quebec, from April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014. During the study period, although over 150,000 patients were attached to a family physician, new requests resulted in a 30% median increase in patients on waiting lists. An inverse correlation of average strength was found between the rates of patients attached to a family physician and the proportion of vulnerable patients attached to a family physician meaning that as more patients became attached to an FP through GACOs, the proportion of vulnerable patients became smaller (r = -0.31, p < 0.005). The results showed very large performance variations both among GACOs of different regions and among those of a same region for all performance indicators. Centralized waiting lists for unattached patients in Quebec seem to be achieving their twofold objective of attaching patients to a family physician and giving priority to vulnerable patients. However, the demand for attachment seems to exceed the supply and there appears to be a tension between giving priority to vulnerable patients and attaching of a large number of patients. Results also showed heterogeneity in the performance of centralized waiting lists across Quebec. Finally, our findings suggest it is critical that similar mechanisms should use available data to identify the best strategies for reducing variations and improving performance.

Note: High-speed Z tip scanner with screw cantilever holding mechanism for atomic-resolution atomic force microscopy in liquid

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

Reza Akrami, Seyed Mohammad; Miyata, Kazuki; Asakawa, Hitoshi

High-speed atomic force microscopy has attracted much attention due to its unique capability of visualizing nanoscale dynamic processes at a solid/liquid interface. However, its usability and resolution have yet to be improved. As one of the solutions for this issue, here we present a design of a high-speed Z-tip scanner with screw holding mechanism. We perform detailed comparison between designs with different actuator size and screw arrangement by finite element analysis. Based on the design giving the best performance, we have developed a Z tip scanner and measured its performance. The measured frequency response of the scanner shows a flatmore » response up to ∼10 kHz. This high frequency response allows us to achieve wideband tip-sample distance regulation. We demonstrate the applicability of the scanner to high-speed atomic-resolution imaging by visualizing atomic-scale calcite crystal dissolution process in water at 2 s/frame.« less

Novel deformable mirror design for possible wavefront correction in CO2 laser fusion system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gunn, S. V.; Heinz, T. A.; Henderson, W. D.; Massie, N. A.; Viswanathan, V. K.

1980-11-01

Analysis at Los Alamos and elsewhere has resulted in the conclusion that deformable mirrors can substantially improve the optical performance of laser fusion systems, as the errors are mostly static or quasi-static with mainly low spatial frequencies across the aperture resulting in low order Seidel aberrations in the beam. A novel deformable mirror assembly (Fig. 1) has been fabricated with 19 actuators capable of surface deflection of ±20 microns. The mirror surface deflections are produced by a unique differential ball screw that acts as both a force and position actuator. The screw is driven by a stepper motor giving a surface positioning resolution of 0.025 micron. No holding voltage potential is required, and a piezoceramic element in series with each ball screw provides a ±1 micron amplitude high-frequency surface dither to aid the correction process. Mirror performance in terms of individual actuator influence function, cross-coupling, figure attainment, long-term surface stability as well as optical performance characteristics will be discussed.

Analytical design of modified Smith predictor for unstable second-order processes with time delay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajmeri, Moina; Ali, Ahmad

2017-06-01

In this paper, a modified Smith predictor using three controllers, namely, stabilising (Gc), set-point tracking (Gc1), and load disturbance rejection (Gc2) controllers is proposed for second-order unstable processes with time delay. Controllers of the proposed structure are tuned using direct synthesis approach as this method enables the user to achieve a trade-off between the performance and robustness by adjusting a single design parameter. Furthermore, suitable values of the tuning parameters are recommended after studying their effect on the closed-loop performance and robustness. This is the main advantage of the proposed work over other recently published manuscripts, where authors provide only suitable ranges for the tuning parameters in spite of giving their suitable values. Simulation studies show that the proposed method results in satisfactory performance and improved robustness as compared to the recently reported control schemes. It is observed that the proposed scheme is able to work in the noisy environment also.

Three-dimensional reduced-graphene/MnO2 prepared by plasma treatment as high-performance supercapacitor electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Runru; Wen, Dongdong; Zhang, Xueyu; Wang, Dejun; Yang, Qiang; Yuan, Beilei; Lü, Wei

2018-06-01

In this work, three-Dimensional nitrogen-doped graphene/MnO2 (NG/MnO2) was prepared by plasma treatment, which provides a high specific surface area due to porous structure and exhibits enhanced supercapacitor performance. The advantage of NG/MnO2 electrode was obvious compared with reduced graphene oxide/MnO2 (RGO/MnO2) which was prepared by traditional hydrothermal method, such as improved electrochemical property and better cycling stability. The specific capacitance of NG/MnO2 at the scan rate of 5 mV s‑1 (393 F g‑1) is higher than that of RGO/MnO2 (260 F g‑1). In addition, NG/MnO2 showed higher durability with 90.2% capacitance retention than that of RGO/MnO2 (82%) after 5000 cycles. Such cheap and high-performance supercapacitor electrodes are available by our feasible plasma treatment, which give promise in large-scale commercial energy storage devices.

An analytical study of various telecomminication networks using markov models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramakrishnan, M.; Jayamani, E.; Ezhumalai, P.

2015-04-01

The main aim of this paper is to examine issues relating to the performance of various Telecommunication networks, and applied queuing theory for better design and improved efficiency. Firstly, giving an analytical study of queues deals with quantifying the phenomenon of waiting lines using representative measures of performances, such as average queue length (on average number of customers in the queue), average waiting time in queue (on average time to wait) and average facility utilization (proportion of time the service facility is in use). In the second, using Matlab simulator, summarizes the finding of the investigations, from which and where we obtain results and describing methodology for a) compare the waiting time and average number of messages in the queue in M/M/1 and M/M/2 queues b) Compare the performance of M/M/1 and M/D/1 queues and study the effect of increasing the number of servers on the blocking probability M/M/k/k queue model.

The design of high-performance gliders

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mueller, B.; Heuermann, V.

1985-01-01

A high-performance glider is defined as a glider which has been designed to carry the pilot in a minimum of time a given distance, taking into account conditions which are as conveniently as possible. The present investigation has the objective to show approaches for enhancing the cross-country flight cruising speed, giving attention to the difficulties which the design engineer will have to overcome. The characteristics of the cross-country flight and their relation to the cruising speed are discussed, and a description is provided of mathematical expressions concerning the cruising speed, the sinking speed, and the optimum gliding speed. The effect of aspect ratio and wing loading on the cruising speed is illustrated with the aid of a graph. Trends in glider development are explored, taking into consideration the design of laminar profiles, the reduction of profile-related drag by plain flaps, and the variation of wing loading during the flight. A number of suggestions are made for obtaining gliders with improved performance.

Word recognition using a lexicon constrained by first/last character decisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Sheila X.; Srihari, Sargur N.

1995-03-01

In lexicon based recognition of machine-printed word images, the size of the lexicon can be quite extensive. The recognition performance is closely related to the size of the lexicon. Recognition performance drops quickly when lexicon size increases. Here, we present an algorithm to improve the word recognition performance by reducing the size of the given lexicon. The algorithm utilizes the information provided by the first and last characters of a word to reduce the size of the given lexicon. Given a word image and a lexicon that contains the word in the image, the first and last characters are segmented and then recognized by a character classifier. The possible candidates based on the results given by the classifier are selected, which give us the sub-lexicon. Then a word shape analysis algorithm is applied to produce the final ranking of the given lexicon. The algorithm was tested on a set of machine- printed gray-scale word images which includes a wide range of print types and qualities.

Free tissue transfer for complex reconstruction of the lower extremity: experience of a young microsurgeon.

PubMed

Wink, Jason D; Nelson, Jonas A; Fischer, John P; Cleveland, Emily C; Kovach, Stephen J

2014-06-01

To examine the limb salvage experience of a young microsurgeon to determine risk factors for complications and demonstrate lessons learned through cases in practice. We performed a retrospective review of lower extremity (LE) reconstruction between 2007 and 2012 performed by the senior author. This analysis focused on medical comorbidities, mechanisms, indications, and perioperative complications. A total of 61 free tissue transfers were performed with a 95% LE salvage rate. The most common donor site was the anterolateral thigh (ALT) (n = 39). Infection (n = 25) and trauma (n = 25) were the most common indications for intervention. A total of 18 complications were reported, with 8 defined as major complications. Total flap loss occurred in three patients. Through increased utilization of the ALT and adherence to lessons learned over time, improvements in outcomes can occur, giving patients the best possible chance at limb salvage. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Wafer scale fabrication of carbon nanotube thin film transistors with high yield

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

Tian, Boyuan; Liang, Xuelei, E-mail: liangxl@pku.edu.cn, E-mail: ssxie@iphy.ac.cn; Yan, Qiuping

Carbon nanotube thin film transistors (CNT-TFTs) are promising candidates for future high performance and low cost macro-electronics. However, most of the reported CNT-TFTs are fabricated in small quantities on a relatively small size substrate. The yield of large scale fabrication and the performance uniformity of devices on large size substrates should be improved before the CNT-TFTs reach real products. In this paper, 25 200 devices, with various geometries (channel width and channel length), were fabricated on 4-in. size ridged and flexible substrates. Almost 100% device yield were obtained on a rigid substrate with high out-put current (>8 μA/μm), high on/off current ratiomore » (>10{sup 5}), and high mobility (>30 cm{sup 2}/V·s). More importantly, uniform performance in 4-in. area was achieved, and the fabrication process can be scaled up. The results give us more confidence for the real application of the CNT-TFT technology in the near future.« less

Dye-Incorporated Polynaphthalenediimide Acceptor for Additive-Free High-Performance All-Polymer Solar Cells.

PubMed

Chen, Dong; Yao, Jia; Chen, Lie; Yin, Jingping; Lv, Ruizhi; Huang, Bin; Liu, Siqi; Zhang, Zhi-Guo; Yang, Chunhe; Chen, Yiwang; Li, Yongfang

2018-04-16

All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) can offer unique advantages for applications in flexible devices, and naphthalene diimide (NDI)-based polymer acceptors are the widely used polymer acceptors. However, their power conversion efficiency (PCE) still lags behind that of state-of-the-art polymer solar cells, due to low light absorption, suboptimal energy levels and the strong aggregation of the NDI-based polymer acceptor. Herein, a rhodanine-based dye molecule was introduced into the NDI-based polymer acceptor by simple random copolymerization and showed an improved light absorption coefficient, an up-shifted lowest unoccupied molecular orbital level and reduced crystallization. Consequently, additive-free all-PSCs demonstrated a high PCE of 8.13 %, which is one of the highest performance characteristics reported for all-PSCs to date. These results indicate that incorporating a dye into the n-type polymer gives insight into the precise design of high-performance polymer acceptors for all-PSCs. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Computed-aided diagnosis (CAD) in the detection of breast cancer.

PubMed

Dromain, C; Boyer, B; Ferré, R; Canale, S; Delaloge, S; Balleyguier, C

2013-03-01

Computer-aided detection (CAD) systems have been developed for interpretation to improve mammographic detection of breast cancer at screening by reducing the number of false-negative interpretation that can be caused by subtle findings, radiologist distraction and complex architecture. They use a digitized mammographic image that can be obtained from both screen-film mammography and full field digital mammography. Its performance in breast cancer detection is dependent on the performance of the CAD itself, the population to which it is applied and the radiologists who use it. There is a clear benefit to the use of CAD in less experienced radiologist and in detecting breast carcinomas presenting as microcalcifications. This review gives a detailed description CAD systems used in mammography and their performance in assistance of reading in screening mammography and as an alternative to double reading. Other CAD systems developed for MRI and ultrasound are also presented and discussed. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Behavior-based safety on construction sites: a case study.

PubMed

Choudhry, Rafiq M

2014-09-01

This work presents the results of a case study and describes an important area within the field of construction safety management, namely behavior-based safety (BBS). This paper adopts and develops a management approach for safety improvements in construction site environments. A rigorous behavioral safety system and its intervention program was implemented and deployed on target construction sites. After taking a few weeks of safety behavior measurements, the project management team implemented the designed intervention and measurements were taken. Goal-setting sessions were arranged on-site with workers' participation to set realistic and attainable targets of performance. Safety performance measurements continued and the levels of performance and the targets were presented on feedback charts. Supervisors were asked to give workers recognition and praise when they acted safely or improved critical behaviors. Observers were requested to have discussions with workers, visit the site, distribute training materials to workers, and provide feedback to crews and display charts. They were required to talk to operatives in the presence of line managers. It was necessary to develop awareness and understanding of what was being measured. In the process, operatives learned how to act safely when conducting site tasks using the designed checklists. Current weekly scores were discussed in the weekly safety meetings and other operational site meetings with emphasis on how to achieve set targets. The reliability of the safety performance measures taken by the company's observers was monitored. A clear increase in safety performance level was achieved across all categories: personal protective equipment; housekeeping; access to heights; plant and equipment, and scaffolding. The research reveals that scores of safety performance at one project improved from 86% (at the end of 3rd week) to 92.9% during the 9th week. The results of intervention demonstrated large decreases in unsafe behaviors and significant increases in safe behaviors. The results of this case study showed that an approach based on goal setting, feedback, and an effective measure of safety behavior if properly applied by committed management, can improve safety performance significantly in construction site environments. The results proved that the BBS management technique can be applied to any country's culture, showing that it would be a good approach for improving the safety of front-line workers and that it has industry wide application for ongoing construction projects. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NACA Research on Slurry Fuels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pinns, M L; Olson, W T; Barnett, H C; Breitwieser, R

1958-01-01

An extensive program was conducted to investigate the use of concentrated slurries of boron and magnesium in liquid hydrocarbon as fuels for afterburners and ramjet engines. Analytical calculations indicated that magnesium fuel would give greater thrust and that boron fuel would give greater range than are obtainable from jet hydrocarbon fuel alone. It was hoped that the use of these solid elements in slurry form would permit the improvement to be obtained without requiring unconventional fuel systems or combustors. Small ramjet vehicles fueled with magnesium slurry were flown successfully, but the test flights indicated that further improvement of combustors and fuel systems was needed.

"They Give You Tools and They Give You a Lot, but It Is up to You to Use Them": The Creation of Performing Artists through an Integrated Learning and Teaching Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guile, David; Okumoto, Kaori

2009-01-01

This article explores the extent to which aspiring entrants to the performing arts industry have to develop both the forms of "vocational practice" employers require and "social capital" to enable them to operate effectively in external labour markets (i.e. contract-based and networked-generated work). It focuses on the work of…

[REASONS AND CONSEQUENCES OF SOMATOFORM DISORDERS IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS].

PubMed

Khundadze, M; Geladze, N; Mkheidze, R; Khachapuridze, N; Bakhtadze, S

2016-12-01

The aim of our study was to find the reason of various forms of somatoform disorders (phobias, behavioral disorders, insomnia, tics, stuttering, enuresis, encopresis) in children and adolescents of various social status for diagnosis and treatment. We have examined 202 patients who referred to our clinic from 2012-2016. The age range was 2-18 years. After examination we have concluded the following recommendations: - to implement neuropsychological rehabilitation in order to stimulate mental development; - to work with speech therapist to improvement the speech; - to work individually with psychotherapist to improve the behavior; - to train the parent to manage the behavior at home; - to give the personal card containing information about exercises, games and puzzles to stimulate the development and in some cases to give individual educational program; - to give separate information to parents and in some cases to teachers of kindergartens and schools.

Charitable Giving to Universities in Australia and New Zealand Survey: Findings from Data Collected from 24 Universities in Australia and New Zealand for 2013, 2014 and 2015

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Council for Advancement and Support of Education, 2016

2016-01-01

The Charitable Giving to Universities in Australia and New Zealand Survey collects detailed information about fundraising and donors to measure the philanthropic performance of higher education institutions. It also provides an estimate of the overall impact of philanthropy on the higher education sector. This survey of philanthropic giving uses…

Beyond the Indicators: An Integrated School-Level Approach to Dropout Prevention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mac Iver, Martha Abele; Mac Iver, Douglas J.

2009-01-01

Despite decades of school improvement initiatives, many young people still do not cross the finish line of secondary education with the credential that signifies success--a high school diploma. Thousands of young people give up on school and on themselves, or schools give up on them. Without effective support from schools, communities, and…

Using "Giving Voice to Values" to Improve Student Academic Integrity in Information Technology Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riemenschneider, Cynthia K.; Manly, Tracy S.; Leonard, Lori N. K.

2016-01-01

Academic integrity continues to be a concern for universities and faculty. Yet practical methods for conveying ethical behavior can be difficult to achieve. This study uses the multidimensional ethics scale to gain insight into three situations involving students. The findings from those scenarios are then framed using the "Giving Voice to…

Do relationships exist between the scope and intensity of quality improvement activities and hospital operation performance? A 10-year observation in Taiwan.

PubMed

Chung, Kuo-Piao; Yu, Tsung-Hsien

2015-08-14

The relationship between the scope and intensity of quality improvement (QI) activities and hospital performance remains unclear. This study investigated the relationship between performance, external environment, and the scope and intensity of QI activities in hospitals. The study used a longitudinal observation. Data regarding the scope and intensity of QI activities were collected using a questionnaire survey among the administrative deputy superintendents / directors of quality management center in 139 hospitals. Hospital performance indicators were abstracted from the 2000-2009 national hospitals profiles. We adopted year 2000 as the baseline, and divided the study period into three 3-year periods. The Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) model was used for the statistical analysis. Seventy-two hospitals responded to the survey, giving a response rate of 52%. The results showed a significant increase in the scope and intensity of QI activities between 2000 and 2009. The results also showed that the scope and intensity of a hospital's QI activities were associated with the scope and intensity of its competitors' QI activities in the previous period and its own prior performance. The scope of QI activities in the previous period was not significantly related to the selected hospital performance measures. However, the intensity of QI activities in the previous period showed a significant and positive relationship with the number of inpatients and the turnover of beds. The study demonstrates that the intensity of QI activities is associated with the external environment and the hospital's own performance in the previous period. Furthermore, some performance measures are associated with the intensity of the QI activities in the previous period.

Do the clinical competencies of musculoskeletal outpatient physiotherapists improve after they have participated in a bespoke in-service education programme designed around individual and service continuing professional development needs?

PubMed

Banks, Kevin; Meaburn, Anthony; Phelan, Elaine

2013-01-01

To determine whether the clinical competencies of musculoskeletal outpatient physiotherapists improve if they participate in an annual in-service education programme designed around clinical practice needs. A within-subject, without-control, experimental, pre-test post-test study. Clinical and educational facilities of Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and locality-based outpatient facilities. Participants were 37 specialist musculoskeletal outpatient physiotherapists (band 6 and 7), working for Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Participants completed three separate modules of in-service education through an academic year, based on learning outcomes identified from observation and performance rating of their clinical competencies. Each module lasted 7 hours, with supporting clinical assistance sessions and self-directed learning time. The primary outcome measure was a (participant) performance rating (from novice to expert) of 20 clinical competencies scored by experienced clinical educators before and after completion of the in-service education programme. A secondary, qualitative outcome measure (a purpose-made, semi-structured questionnaire) given after the programme explored participants' experiences and perceptions of the in-service education programme. Seven competencies were identified as the focus of the programme because their performance ratings were the lowest. All seven of these competencies improved following the programme. Communication scores improved by 6%, clinical reasoning by 4%, functional analysis of movement by 6%, use of research in practice by 4%, and critical appraisal of evidence by 4.6%. Performance of structural differentiation and the range of manual handling skills demonstrated were the only competencies to show a statistically significant improvement of 14.6% and 12%, respectively (p≤0.025(. Thematic analysis of the questionnaires revealed that 96% of respondents felt that their practice had changed positively over the year because of the programme. Providing a structured and bespoke in-service education programme over an academic year may help to improve the rating of clinical competencies and give participants the perception that their clinical practice has changed because of the programme.

The Unforgettables: a chorus for people with dementia with their family members and friends.

PubMed

Mittelman, Mary Sherman; Papayannopoulou, Panayiota Maria

2018-01-29

Summary/Abstract Our experience evaluating a museum program for people with dementia together with their family members demonstrated benefits for all participants. We hypothesized that participation in a chorus would also have positive effects, giving them an opportunity to share a stimulating and social activity that could improve their quality of life. We inaugurated a chorus for people with dementia and their family caregivers in 2011, which rehearses and performs regularly. Each person with dementia must be accompanied by a friend or family member and must commit to attending all rehearsals and the concert that ensues. A pilot study included a structured assessment, take home questionnaires and focus groups. Analyses of pre-post scores were conducted; effect size was quantified using Cohen's d. Results showed that quality of life and communication with the other member of the dyad improved (Effect size: Cohen's d between 0.32 and 0.72) for people with dementia; quality of life, social support, communication and self-esteem improved (d between 0.29 and 0.68) for caregivers. Most participants stated that benefits included belonging to a group, having a normal activity together and learning new skills. Participants attended rehearsals in spite of harsh weather conditions. The chorus has been rehearsing and performing together for more than 6 years and contributing to its costs. Results of this pilot study suggest that people in the early to middle stage of dementia and their family members and friends can enjoy and learn from rehearsing and performing in concerts that also engage the wider community. It is essential to conduct additional larger studies of the benefits of participating in a chorus, which may include improved quality of life and social support for all, and reduced cognitive decline among people with dementia.

Chemically Modified Metal Oxide Nanostructure for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Gongming

Hydrogen gas is chemical fuel with high energy density, and represents a clean, renewable and carbon-free burning fuel, which has the potential to solve the more and more urgent energy crisis in today's society. Inspired by natural photosynthesis, artificial photosynthesis to generate hydrogen energy has attracted a lot of attentions in the field of chemistry, physics and material. Photoelectrochemical water splitting based on semiconductors represents a green and low cost method to generate hydrogen fuel. However, the current overall efficiency of solar to hydrogen is quite low, due to some intrinsic limitations such as bandgap, diffusion distance, carrier lifetime and photostability of semiconductors. Although nanostructured semiconductors can improve their photoelectrochemical water splitting performance to some extent, by increasing electrolyte accessible area and shortening minority carrier diffusion distance, nanostructure engineering cannot change their intrinsic electronic properties. Recent development in chemically modified nanostructures such as surface catalyst decoration, element doping, plasmonic modification and interfacial hetero-junction design have led to significant advancement in the photoelectrochemical water splitting, by improving surface reaction kinetics and charge separation, transportation and collection efficiency. In this thesis, I will give a detailed discussion on the chemically modified metal oxide nanostructures for photoelectrocemical hydrogen generation, with a focus on the element doping, hydrogen treatment and catalyst modification. I have demonstrated nitrogen doping on ZnO and Ti doping on hematite can improve their photoelectrochemical performance. In addition, we found hydrogen treatment is a general and effective method to improve the photocatalytic performance, by increasing their carrier desities. Hydrogen treatment has been demonstrated on TiO2, WO3 and BiVO4. In the end, we also used electrochemical catalyt to modify these metal oxide photoelectrode for waste water treatment and chemical fuel generation.

Effects of Ordering Strategies and Programming Paradigms on Sparse Matrix Computations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oliker, Leonid; Li, Xiaoye; Husbands, Parry; Biswas, Rupak; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The Conjugate Gradient (CG) algorithm is perhaps the best-known iterative technique to solve sparse linear systems that are symmetric and positive definite. For systems that are ill-conditioned, it is often necessary to use a preconditioning technique. In this paper, we investigate the effects of various ordering and partitioning strategies on the performance of parallel CG and ILU(O) preconditioned CG (PCG) using different programming paradigms and architectures. Results show that for this class of applications: ordering significantly improves overall performance on both distributed and distributed shared-memory systems, that cache reuse may be more important than reducing communication, that it is possible to achieve message-passing performance using shared-memory constructs through careful data ordering and distribution, and that a hybrid MPI+OpenMP paradigm increases programming complexity with little performance gains. A implementation of CG on the Cray MTA does not require special ordering or partitioning to obtain high efficiency and scalability, giving it a distinct advantage for adaptive applications; however, it shows limited scalability for PCG due to a lack of thread level parallelism.

Evaluation of solvation free energies for small molecules with the AMOEBA polarizable force field

PubMed Central

Mohamed, Noor Asidah; Bradshaw, Richard T.

2016-01-01

The effects of electronic polarization in biomolecular interactions will differ depending on the local dielectric constant of the environment, such as in solvent, DNA, proteins, and membranes. Here the performance of the AMOEBA polarizable force field is evaluated under nonaqueous conditions by calculating the solvation free energies of small molecules in four common organic solvents. Results are compared with experimental data and equivalent simulations performed with the GAFF pairwise‐additive force field. Although AMOEBA results give mean errors close to “chemical accuracy,” GAFF performs surprisingly well, with statistically significantly more accurate results than AMOEBA in some solvents. However, for both models, free energies calculated in chloroform show worst agreement to experiment and individual solutes are consistently poor performers, suggesting non‐potential‐specific errors also contribute to inaccuracy. Scope for the improvement of both potentials remains limited by the lack of high quality experimental data across multiple solvents, particularly those of high dielectric constant. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Computational Chemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:27757978

International Test Program for Synergistic Atomic Oxygen and Vacuum Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure of Spacecraft Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Sharon K.

2001-01-01

The components and materials of spacecraft in low Earth orbit can degrade in thermal and optical performance through interaction with atomic oxygen and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation, which are predominant in low Earth orbit. Because of the importance of low Earth orbit durability and performance to manufacturers and users, an international test program for assessing the durability of spacecraft materials and components was initiated. Initial tests at the NASA Glenn Research Center consisted of exposure of samples representing a variety of thermal control paints, multilayer insulation materials, and Sun sensors that have been used in space. Materials donated from various international sources were tested alongside materials whose performance is well known, such as Teflon FEP, Kapton H, or Z-93-P white paint. The optical, thermal, or mass loss data generated during the tests were then provided to the participating material suppliers. Data were not published unless the participant donating the material consented to publication. The test program is intended to give spacecraft builders and users a better understanding of degradation processes and effects so that they can improve their predictions of spacecraft performance.

Combination microwave ovens: an innovative design strategy.

PubMed

Tinga, Wayne R; Eke, Ken

2012-01-01

Reducing the sensitivity of microwave oven heating and cooking performance to load volume, load placement and load properties has been a long-standing challenge for microwave and microwave-convection oven designers. Conventional design problem and solution methods are reviewed to provide greater insight into the challenge and optimum operation of a microwave oven after which a new strategy is introduced. In this methodology, a special load isolating and energy modulating device called a transducer-exciter is used containing an iris, a launch box, a phase, amplitude and frequency modulator and a coupling plate designed to provide spatially distributed coupling to the oven. This system, when applied to a combined microwave-convection oven, gives astounding performance improvements to all kinds of baked and roasted foods including sensitive items such as cakes and pastries, with the only compromise being a reasonable reduction in the maximum available microwave power. Large and small metal utensils can be used in the oven with minimal or no performance penalty on energy uniformity and cooking results. Cooking times are greatly reduced from those in conventional ovens while maintaining excellent cooking performance.

77 FR 3435 - General Conference Committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan; Cancellation of Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-24

...] General Conference Committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan; Cancellation of Meeting AGENCY... are giving notice that the meeting of the General Conference Committee of the National Poultry.... Stephen Roney, Senior Coordinator, National Poultry Improvement Plan, VS, APHIS, 1506 Klondike Road, Suite...

Forest tree improvement research in the Lake States, 1965.

Treesearch

Paul O. Rudolf

1966-01-01

Gives brief reports on 133 forest tree improvement research projects conducted by 12 agencies and 8 developmental tree improvement projects being conducted by 4 agencies in Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Reports the object, species studied, methods, accomplishments, cooperators, and assignment for each project. Includes indexes by genera and...

Improving Education and Training for Educational Administrators and Managers: Urgent Needs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, M. G.

This paper advocates giving urgent attention to improving the education and training of educational administrators and managers, realizing the need to respond to rapid and far-reaching political and social change worldwide, and to consequent change within national educational systems. The improvement of administrative structures and the…

Cross talk between primary human renal tubular cells and endothelial cells in cocultures.

PubMed

Tasnim, Farah; Zink, Daniele

2012-04-15

Interactions between renal tubular epithelial cells and adjacent endothelial cells are essential for normal renal functions but also play important roles in renal disease and repair. Here, we investigated cocultures of human primary renal proximal tubular cells (HPTC) and human primary endothelial cells to address the cross talk between these cell types. HPTC showed improved proliferation, marker gene expression, and enzyme activity in cocultures. Also, the long-term maintenance of epithelia formed by HPTC was improved, which was due to the secretion of transforming growth factor-β1 and its antagonist α2-macroglobulin. HPTC induced endothelial cells to secrete increased amounts of these factors, which balanced each other functionally and only displayed in combination the observed positive effects. In addition, in the presence of HPTC endothelial cells expressed increased amounts of hepatocyte growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor, which have well-characterized effects on renal tubular epithelial cells as well as on endothelial cells. Together, the results showed that HPTC stimulated endothelial cells to express a functionally balanced combination of various factors, which in turn improved the performance of HPTC. The results give new insights into the cross talk between renal epithelial and endothelial cells and suggest that cocultures could be also useful models for the analysis of cellular communication in renal disease and repair. Furthermore, the characterization of defined microenvironments, which positively affect HPTC, will be helpful for improving the performance of this cell type in in vitro applications including in vitro toxicology and kidney tissue engineering.

Combined Use of Integral Experiments and Covariance Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palmiotti, G.; Salvatores, M.; Aliberti, G.; Herman, M.; Hoblit, S. D.; McKnight, R. D.; Obložinský, P.; Talou, P.; Hale, G. M.; Hiruta, H.; Kawano, T.; Mattoon, C. M.; Nobre, G. P. A.; Palumbo, A.; Pigni, M.; Rising, M. E.; Yang, W.-S.; Kahler, A. C.

2014-04-01

In the frame of a US-DOE sponsored project, ANL, BNL, INL and LANL have performed a joint multidisciplinary research activity in order to explore the combined use of integral experiments and covariance data with the objective to both give quantitative indications on possible improvements of the ENDF evaluated data files and to reduce at the same time crucial reactor design parameter uncertainties. Methods that have been developed in the last four decades for the purposes indicated above have been improved by some new developments that benefited also by continuous exchanges with international groups working in similar areas. The major new developments that allowed significant progress are to be found in several specific domains: a) new science-based covariance data; b) integral experiment covariance data assessment and improved experiment analysis, e.g., of sample irradiation experiments; c) sensitivity analysis, where several improvements were necessary despite the generally good understanding of these techniques, e.g., to account for fission spectrum sensitivity; d) a critical approach to the analysis of statistical adjustments performance, both a priori and a posteriori; e) generalization of the assimilation method, now applied for the first time not only to multigroup cross sections data but also to nuclear model parameters (the "consistent" method). This article describes the major results obtained in each of these areas; a large scale nuclear data adjustment, based on the use of approximately one hundred high-accuracy integral experiments, will be reported along with a significant example of the application of the new "consistent" method of data assimilation.

Results-Based Financing in Mozambique's Central Medical Store: A Review After 1 Year.

PubMed

Spisak, Cary; Morgan, Lindsay; Eichler, Rena; Rosen, James; Serumaga, Brian; Wang, Angela

2016-03-01

Public health commodity supply chains are typically weak in low-income countries, partly because they have many disparate yet interdependent functions and components. Approaches to strengthening supply chains in such settings have often fallen short-they address technical weaknesses, but not the incentives that motivate staff to perform better. We reviewed the first year of a results-based financing (RBF) program in Mozambique, which began in January 2013. The program aimed to improve the performance of the central medical store-Central de Medicamentos e Artigos Medicos (CMAM)-by realigning incentives. We completed in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 33 key informants, including representatives from CMAM and donor agencies, and collected quantitative data on performance measures and use of funds. The RBF agreement linked CMAM performance payments to quarterly results on 5 performance indicators related to supply planning, distribution planning, and warehouse management. RBF is predicated on the theory that a combination of carrot and stick-i.e., shared financial incentives, plus increased accountability for results-will spur changes in behavior. Important design elements: (1) indicators were measured against quarterly targets, and payments were made only for indicators that met those targets; (2) targets were set based on documented performance, at levels that could be reasonably attained, yet pushed for improvement; (3) payment was shared with and dependent on all staff, encouraging teamwork and collaboration; (4) results were validated by verifiable data sources; and (5) CMAM had discretion over how to use the funds. We found that CMAM's performance continually improved over baseline and that CMAM achieved many of its performance targets, for example, timely submission of quarterly supply and distribution planning reports. Warehouse indicators, such as inventory management and order fulfillment, proved more challenging but were nonetheless positive. By linking payments to periodic verified results, and giving CMAM discretion over how to spend the funds, the RBF agreement motivated the workforce; focused attention on results; strengthened data collection; encouraged teamwork and innovation; and ultimately strengthened the central supply chain. Policy makers and program managers can use performance incentives to catalyze and leverage existing investments. To further strengthen the approach, such incentive programs can shift attention from quantity to quality indicators, improve verification processes, and aim to institutionalize the approach. © Mukuria et al.

Results-Based Financing in Mozambique’s Central Medical Store: A Review After 1 Year

PubMed Central

Spisak, Cary; Morgan, Lindsay; Eichler, Rena; Rosen, James; Serumaga, Brian; Wang, Angela

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Public health commodity supply chains are typically weak in low-income countries, partly because they have many disparate yet interdependent functions and components. Approaches to strengthening supply chains in such settings have often fallen short—they address technical weaknesses, but not the incentives that motivate staff to perform better. Methods: We reviewed the first year of a results-based financing (RBF) program in Mozambique, which began in January 2013. The program aimed to improve the performance of the central medical store—Central de Medicamentos e Artigos Medicos (CMAM)—by realigning incentives. We completed in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 33 key informants, including representatives from CMAM and donor agencies, and collected quantitative data on performance measures and use of funds. Implementation: The RBF agreement linked CMAM performance payments to quarterly results on 5 performance indicators related to supply planning, distribution planning, and warehouse management. RBF is predicated on the theory that a combination of carrot and stick—i.e., shared financial incentives, plus increased accountability for results—will spur changes in behavior. Important design elements: (1) indicators were measured against quarterly targets, and payments were made only for indicators that met those targets; (2) targets were set based on documented performance, at levels that could be reasonably attained, yet pushed for improvement; (3) payment was shared with and dependent on all staff, encouraging teamwork and collaboration; (4) results were validated by verifiable data sources; and (5) CMAM had discretion over how to use the funds. Findings: We found that CMAM’s performance continually improved over baseline and that CMAM achieved many of its performance targets, for example, timely submission of quarterly supply and distribution planning reports. Warehouse indicators, such as inventory management and order fulfillment, proved more challenging but were nonetheless positive. By linking payments to periodic verified results, and giving CMAM discretion over how to spend the funds, the RBF agreement motivated the workforce; focused attention on results; strengthened data collection; encouraged teamwork and innovation; and ultimately strengthened the central supply chain. Conclusion: Policy makers and program managers can use performance incentives to catalyze and leverage existing investments. To further strengthen the approach, such incentive programs can shift attention from quantity to quality indicators, improve verification processes, and aim to institutionalize the approach. PMID:27016552

Performance improvement of microbial fuel cell (MFC) using suitable electrode and Bioengineered organisms: A review

PubMed Central

Choudhury, Payel; Prasad Uday, Uma Shankar; Bandyopadhyay, Tarun Kanti; Ray, Rup Narayan

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT There is an urgent need to find an environment friendly and sustainable technology for alternative energy due to rapid depletion of fossil fuel and industrialization. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) have operational and functional advantages over the current technologies for energy generation from organic matter as it directly converts electricity from substrate at ambient temperature. However, MFCs are still unsuitable for high energy demands due to practical limitations. The overall performance of an MFC depends on microorganism, appropriate electrode materials, suitable MFC designs, and optimizing process parameters which would accelerate commercialization of this technology in near future. In this review, we put forth the recent developments on microorganism and electrode material that are critical for the generation of bioelectricity generation. This would give a comprehensive insight into the characteristics, options, modifications, and evaluations of these parameters and their effects on process development of MFCs. PMID:28453385

Analysis of a domestic refrigerator cycle with an ejector

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

Tomasek, M.L.; Radermacher, R.

1995-08-01

In this paper, an improved cooling cycle for a conventional domestic refrigerator-freezer utilizing an ejector for vapor precompression is analyzed using an idealized model Its energy efficiency is compared to that of the conventional refrigerator-freezer system. Emphasis is placed on off-design conditions. The ejector-enhanced refrigeration cycle consists of two evaporators that operate at different pressure and temperature levels. The ejector combines the vapor flows exiting the two evaporators into one at an intermediate pressure level The ejector cycle gives an increase of up to 12.4% in the coefficient of performance (COP) compared to that of a standard refrigerator-freezer refrigeration cycle.more » The analysis includes calculations on the optimum throat diameters of the ejector. The investigation on the off-design performance of the ejector cycle shows little dependency of energy consumption on constant ejector throat diameters.« less

Bionic Design of Wind Turbine Blade Based on Long-Eared Owl's Airfoil

PubMed Central

Li, Ming

2017-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a bionic design for the airfoil of wind turbines inspired by the morphology of Long-eared Owl's wings. Glauert Model was adopted to design the standard blade and the bionic blade, respectively. Numerical analysis method was utilized to study the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoils as well as the blades. Results show that the bionic airfoil inspired by the airfoil at the 50% aspect ratio of the Long-eared Owl's wing gives rise to a superior lift coefficient and stalling performance and thus can be beneficial to improving the performance of the wind turbine blade. Also, the efficiency of the bionic blade in wind turbine blades tests increases by 12% or above (up to 44%) compared to that of the standard blade. The reason lies in the bigger pressure difference between the upper and lower surface which can provide stronger lift. PMID:28243053

Microcontroller-based real-time QRS detection.

PubMed

Sun, Y; Suppappola, S; Wrublewski, T A

1992-01-01

The authors describe the design of a system for real-time detection of QRS complexes in the electrocardiogram based on a single-chip microcontroller (Motorola 68HC811). A systematic analysis of the instrumentation requirements for QRS detection and of the various design techniques is also given. Detection algorithms using different nonlinear transforms for the enhancement of QRS complexes are evaluated by using the ECG database of the American Heart Association. The results show that the nonlinear transform involving multiplication of three adjacent, sign-consistent differences in the time domain gives a good performance and a quick response. When implemented with an appropriate sampling rate, this algorithm is also capable of rejecting pacemaker spikes. The eight-bit single-chip microcontroller provides sufficient throughput and shows a satisfactory performance. Implementation of multiple detection algorithms in the same system improves flexibility and reliability. The low chip count in the design also favors maintainability and cost-effectiveness.

High Electromechanical Response of Ionic Polymer Actuators with Controlled-Morphology Aligned Carbon Nanotube/Nafion Nanocomposite Electrodes

PubMed Central

Liu, Sheng; Liu, Yang; Cebeci, Hülya; de Villoria, Roberto Guzmán; Lin, Jun-Hong

2011-01-01

Recent advances in fabricating controlled-morphology vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VA-CNTs) with ultrahigh volume fraction create unique opportunities for markedly improving the electromechanical performance of ionic polymer conductor network composite (IPCNC) actuators. Continuous paths through inter-VA-CNT channels allow fast ion transport, and high electrical conduction of the aligned CNTs in the composite electrodes lead to fast device actuation speed (>10% strain/second). One critical issue in developing advanced actuator materials is how to suppress the strain that does not contribute to the actuation (unwanted strain) thereby reducing actuation efficiency. Here our experiments demonstrate that the VA-CNTs give an anisotropic elastic response in the composite electrodes, which suppresses the unwanted strain and markedly enhances the actuation strain (>8% strain under 4 volts). The results reported here suggest pathways for optimizing the electrode morphology in IPCNCs using ultra-high volume fraction VA-CNTs to further enhanced performance. PMID:21765822

Research on retailer data clustering algorithm based on Spark

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Qiuman; Zhou, Feng

2017-03-01

Big data analysis is a hot topic in the IT field now. Spark is a high-reliability and high-performance distributed parallel computing framework for big data sets. K-means algorithm is one of the classical partition methods in clustering algorithm. In this paper, we study the k-means clustering algorithm on Spark. Firstly, the principle of the algorithm is analyzed, and then the clustering analysis is carried out on the supermarket customers through the experiment to find out the different shopping patterns. At the same time, this paper proposes the parallelization of k-means algorithm and the distributed computing framework of Spark, and gives the concrete design scheme and implementation scheme. This paper uses the two-year sales data of a supermarket to validate the proposed clustering algorithm and achieve the goal of subdividing customers, and then analyze the clustering results to help enterprises to take different marketing strategies for different customer groups to improve sales performance.

A prediction of 3-D viscous flow and performance of the NASA Low-Speed Centrifugal Compressor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, John; Moore, Joan G.

1990-01-01

A prediction of the three-dimensional turbulent flow in the NASA Low-Speed Centrifugal Compressor Impeller has been made. The calculation was made for the compressor design conditions with the specified uniform tip clearance gap. The predicted performance is significantly worse than that predicted in the NASA design study. This is explained by the high tip leakage flow in the present calculation and by the different model adopted for tip leakage flow mixing. The calculation gives an accumulation of high losses in the shroud/pressure-side quadrant near the exit of the impeller. It also predicts a region of meridional backflow near the shroud wall. Both of these flow features should be extensive enough in the NASA impeller to allow detailed flow measurements, leading to improved flow modeling. Recommendations are made for future flow studies in the NASA impeller.

A prediction of 3-D viscous flow and performance of the NASA low-speed centrifugal compressor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, John; Moore, Joan G.

1989-01-01

A prediction of the 3-D turbulent flow in the NASA Low-Speed Centrifugal Compressor Impeller has been made. The calculation was made for the compressor design conditions with the specified uniform tip clearance gap. The predicted performance is significantly worse than that predicted in the NASA design study. This is explained by the high tip leakage flow in the present calculation and by the different model adopted for tip leakage flow mixing. The calculation gives an accumulation for high losses in the shroud/pressure-side quadrant near the exit of the impeller. It also predicts a region of meridional backflow near the shroud wall. Both of these flow features should be extensive enough in the NASA impeller to allow detailed flow measurements, leading to improved flow modelling. Recommendations are made for future flow studies in the NASA impeller.

Novel matrix resins for composites for aircraft primary structures, phase 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woo, Edmund P.; Puckett, P. M.; Maynard, S.; Bishop, M. T.; Bruza, K. J.; Godschalx, J. P.; Mullins, M. J.

1992-01-01

The objective of the contract is the development of matrix resins with improved processability and properties for composites for primarily aircraft structures. To this end, several resins/systems were identified for subsonic and supersonic applications. For subsonic aircraft, a series of epoxy resins suitable for RTM and powder prepreg was shown to give composites with about 40 ksi compressive strength after impact (CAI) and 200 F/wet mechanical performance. For supersonic applications, a thermoplastic toughened cyanate prepreg system has demonstrated excellent resistance to heat aging at 360 F for 4000 hours, 40 ksi CAI and useful mechanical properties at greater than or equal to 310 F. An AB-BCB-maleimide resin was identified as a leading candidate for the HSCT. Composite panels fabricated by RTM show CAI of approximately 50 ksi, 350 F/wet performance and excellent retention of mechanical properties after aging at 400 F for 4000 hours.

A comparative study of artificial intelligent-based maximum power point tracking for photovoltaic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussain Mutlag, Ammar; Mohamed, Azah; Shareef, Hussain

2016-03-01

Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is normally required to improve the performance of photovoltaic (PV) systems. This paper presents artificial intelligent-based maximum power point tracking (AI-MPPT) by considering three artificial intelligent techniques, namely, artificial neural network (ANN), adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system with seven triangular fuzzy sets (7-tri), and adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system with seven gbell fuzzy sets. The AI-MPPT is designed for the 25 SolarTIFSTF-120P6 PV panels, with the capacity of 3 kW peak. A complete PV system is modelled using 300,000 data samples and simulated in the MATLAB/SIMULINK. The AI-MPPT has been tested under real environmental conditions for two days from 8 am to 18 pm. The results showed that the ANN based MPPT gives the most accurate performance and then followed by the 7-tri-based MPPT.

Bionic Design of Wind Turbine Blade Based on Long-Eared Owl's Airfoil.

PubMed

Tian, Weijun; Yang, Zhen; Zhang, Qi; Wang, Jiyue; Li, Ming; Ma, Yi; Cong, Qian

2017-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a bionic design for the airfoil of wind turbines inspired by the morphology of Long-eared Owl's wings. Glauert Model was adopted to design the standard blade and the bionic blade, respectively. Numerical analysis method was utilized to study the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoils as well as the blades. Results show that the bionic airfoil inspired by the airfoil at the 50% aspect ratio of the Long-eared Owl's wing gives rise to a superior lift coefficient and stalling performance and thus can be beneficial to improving the performance of the wind turbine blade. Also, the efficiency of the bionic blade in wind turbine blades tests increases by 12% or above (up to 44%) compared to that of the standard blade. The reason lies in the bigger pressure difference between the upper and lower surface which can provide stronger lift.

Twelve-fold increase in the number of usable ThO molecules for the ACME electron electric dipole measurement through STIRAP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panda, C. D.; O'Leary, B. R.; Lasner, Z.; Petrik, E. S.; West, A. D.; Demille, D.; Doyle, J. M.; Gabrielse, G.

2016-05-01

The ACME Collaboration recently reported an order of magnitude improved limit on the electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM), setting more stringent constraints on many time reversal (T) violating extensions to the Standard Model. The experiment was performed using spin precession measurements in a molecular beam of thorium oxide. We report here on a new method of preparing the coherent spin superposition state that serves as the initial state of the spin precession measurement using STImulated Raman Adiabatic Passage (STIRAP). We demonstrate a transfer efficiency of 75 % , giving a twelve-fold increase in signal. We discuss the particularities of implementing STIRAP in the ACME measurement and the methods we have used to overcome various challenges. This work was performed as part of the ACME Collaboration, to whom we are grateful for its contributions, and was supported by the NSF.

Silicon Solar Cell Process Development, Fabrication and Analysis, Phase 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yoo, H. I.; Iles, P. A.; Tanner, D. P.

1979-01-01

Solar cells from RTR ribbons, EFG (RF and RH) ribbons, dendritic webs, Silso wafers, cast silicon by HEM, silicon on ceramic, and continuous Czochralski ingots were fabricated using a standard process typical of those used currently in the silicon solar cell industry. Back surface field (BSF) processing and other process modifications were included to give preliminary indications of possible improved performance. The parameters measured included open circuit voltage, short circuit current, curve fill factor, and conversion efficiency (all taken under AM0 illumination). Also measured for typical cells were spectral response, dark I-V characteristics, minority carrier diffusion length, and photoresponse by fine light spot scanning. the results were compared to the properties of cells made from conventional single crystalline Czochralski silicon with an emphasis on statistical evaluation. Limited efforts were made to identify growth defects which will influence solar cell performance.

Heat pipe development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bienart, W. B.

1973-01-01

The objective of this program was to investigate analytically and experimentally the performance of heat pipes with composite wicks--specifically, those having pedestal arteries and screwthread circumferential grooves. An analytical model was developed to describe the effects of screwthreads and screen secondary wicks on the transport capability of the artery. The model describes the hydrodynamics of the circumferential flow in triangular grooves with azimuthally varying capillary menisci and liquid cross-sections. Normalized results were obtained which give the influence of evaporator heat flux on the axial heat transport capability of the arterial wick. In order to evaluate the priming behavior of composite wicks under actual load conditions, an 'inverted' glass heat pipe was designed and constructed. The results obtained from the analysis and from the tests with the glass heat pipe were applied to the OAO-C Level 5 heat pipe, and an improved correlation between predicted and measured evaporator and transport performance were obtained.

Segmentation and classification of cell cycle phases in fluorescence imaging.

PubMed

Ersoy, Ilker; Bunyak, Filiz; Chagin, Vadim; Cardoso, M Christina; Palaniappan, Kannappan

2009-01-01

Current chemical biology methods for studying spatiotemporal correlation between biochemical networks and cell cycle phase progression in live-cells typically use fluorescence-based imaging of fusion proteins. Stable cell lines expressing fluorescently tagged protein GFP-PCNA produce rich, dynamically varying sub-cellular foci patterns characterizing the cell cycle phases, including the progress during the S-phase. Variable fluorescence patterns, drastic changes in SNR, shape and position changes and abundance of touching cells require sophisticated algorithms for reliable automatic segmentation and cell cycle classification. We extend the recently proposed graph partitioning active contours (GPAC) for fluorescence-based nucleus segmentation using regional density functions and dramatically improve its efficiency, making it scalable for high content microscopy imaging. We utilize surface shape properties of GFP-PCNA intensity field to obtain descriptors of foci patterns and perform automated cell cycle phase classification, and give quantitative performance by comparing our results to manually labeled data.

Performance improvement of microbial fuel cell (MFC) using suitable electrode and Bioengineered organisms: A review.

PubMed

Choudhury, Payel; Prasad Uday, Uma Shankar; Bandyopadhyay, Tarun Kanti; Ray, Rup Narayan; Bhunia, Biswanath

2017-09-03

There is an urgent need to find an environment friendly and sustainable technology for alternative energy due to rapid depletion of fossil fuel and industrialization. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) have operational and functional advantages over the current technologies for energy generation from organic matter as it directly converts electricity from substrate at ambient temperature. However, MFCs are still unsuitable for high energy demands due to practical limitations. The overall performance of an MFC depends on microorganism, appropriate electrode materials, suitable MFC designs, and optimizing process parameters which would accelerate commercialization of this technology in near future. In this review, we put forth the recent developments on microorganism and electrode material that are critical for the generation of bioelectricity generation. This would give a comprehensive insight into the characteristics, options, modifications, and evaluations of these parameters and their effects on process development of MFCs.

Near-thermal limit gating in heavily doped III-V semiconductor nanowires using polymer electrolytes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ullah, A. R.; Carrad, D. J.; Krogstrup, P.; Nygârd, J.; Micolich, A. P.

2018-02-01

Doping is a common route to reducing nanowire transistor on-resistance but it has limits. A high doping level gives significant loss in gate performance and ultimately complete gate failure. We show that electrolyte gating remains effective even when the Be doping in our GaAs nanowires is so high that traditional metal-oxide gates fail. In this regime we obtain a combination of subthreshold swing and contact resistance that surpasses the best existing p -type nanowire metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). Our subthreshold swing of 75 mV/dec is within 25 % of the room-temperature thermal limit and comparable with n -InP and n -GaAs nanowire MOSFETs. Our results open a new path to extending the performance and application of nanowire transistors, and motivate further work on improved solid electrolytes for nanoscale device applications.

Basic concepts and architectural details of the Delphi trigger system

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

Bocci, V.; Booth, P.S.L.; Bozzo, M.

1995-08-01

Delphi (DEtector with Lepton, Photon and Hadron Identification) is one of the four experiments of the LEP (Large Electron Positron) collider at CERN. The detector is laid out to provide a nearly 4 {pi} coverage for charged particle tracking, electromagnetic, hadronic calorimetry and extended particle identification. The trigger system consists of four levels. The first two are synchronous with the BCO (Beam Cross Over) and rely on hardwired control units, while the last two are performed asynchronously with respect to the BCO and are driven by the Delphi host computers. The aim of this paper is to give a comprehensivemore » global view of the trigger system architecture, presenting in detail the first two levels, their various hardware components and the latest modifications introduced in order to improve their performance and make more user friendly the whole software user interface.« less

Microstructure-Property Correlation in Low-Si Steel Processed Through Quenching and Nonisothermal Partitioning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bansal, Gaurav K.; Rajinikanth, V.; Ghosh, Chiradeep; Srivastava, V. C.; Kundu, S.; Ghosh Chowdhury, S.

2018-05-01

In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to stabilize austenite by carbon partitioning through quenching and nonisothermal partitioning (Q&P) technique. This will eliminate the need for additional heat-treatment facility to perform isothermal partitioning or tempering process. The presence of retained austenite in the microstructure helps in increasing the toughness, which in turn is expected to improve the abrasion resistance of steels. The carbon partitioning from different quench temperatures has been performed on two different alloys, with low-Si content (0.5 wt pct), in a salt bath furnace atmosphere, the cooling profile of which closely resembles the industrially produced hot-rolled coil cooling. The results show that the stabilization of retained austenite is possible and gives rise to increased work hardening, better impact toughness and abrasive wear loss comparable to that of a fully martensitic microstructure. In contrast, tempered martensite exhibits better wear properties at the expense of impact toughness.

Circuit filling factor (CFF) for multiply tuned probes, revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conradi, Mark S.; Zens, Albert P.

2018-07-01

The concept of circuit filling factor (CFF) is re-examined for multi-tuned, multi-inductor probe circuits. The CFF is the fraction of magnetic stored energy residing in the NMR coil. The CFF theorem states that the CFF sums to unity across all the resonant normal modes. It dictates that improved performance from a large CFF in one mode comes at the expense of CFF (and performance) at the other mode(s). Simple analytical calculations of two-mode circuits are used to demonstrate and confirm the CFF theorem. A triple-resonance circuit is calculated to show the large trade-offs involved there. The theorem can provide guidance for choosing the best circuit and relative inductances in multi-nuclear probes. The CFF is directly accessible from ball frequency-shift measurements. We give experimental measures of the CFF from ball shifts and compare to calculated values of the CFF, with good agreement.

[The diagnostic disclosure of dementia: an ethnographic exploration].

PubMed

van Wijngaarden, Els; Broekhuis, Gert; van Leussen, Carolien; Kamper, Ad; The, Anne-Mei

2017-09-01

Giving adequate diagnostic information is considered to be fundamental in dementia care. An important question is how the diagnostic disclosure in dementia actually takes place. The aim of this explorative ethnographic study was therefore to provide insight into the disclosure practice of medical specialists. For this study, 22 interviews performed by seven medical specialists were analyzed.The results of this study show that the observed doctors are direct and explicit in disclosing the diagnosis. Actual (medical) information about the diagnosis and the performed investigations is provided. The main areas for improvement are involving the patient in the conversation, align your language to the lifeworld of the patient and his/her significant other(s), avoiding the use of medical jargon, discussing the consequences of the diagnosis for daily life, and explicitly recognizing the emotional and existential challenges associated with the disclosure. In providing further information, doctors could discuss emotional and existential support more specifically.

Sustaining global progress in E and P health, safety, and environment

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

Arscott, R.L.; Edwardes, R.J.; Ognedal, M.

1996-12-01

The third International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) was held in New Orleans in June 1996. During this meeting, the technical committee members were asked to complete a questionnaire with two questions: (1) What are the three biggest improvements in the industry`s performance in the HSE function over the past 5 years? and (2) What are the three biggest challenges for the next 5 years? The results from 30 replies from industry experts were compared with a similar survey conducted at the 1991 meeting, where the question was, What are the key action items the industry should takemore » to enhance performance over the next decade? This article gives the most frequently occurring comments cited by the 1996 technical committee relating to the 1991 recommendations. This may be considered a mid-decade review of worldwide E and P progress.« less

Improved Cycling Stability and Fast Charge-Discharge Performance of Cobalt-Free Lithium-Rich Oxides by Magnesium-Doping.

PubMed

Yi, Ting-Feng; Li, Yan-Mei; Yang, Shuang-Yuan; Zhu, Yan-Rong; Xie, Ying

2016-11-30

Layered Li-rich, Co-free, and Mn-based cathode material, Li 1.17 Ni 0.25-x Mn 0.58 Mg x O 2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.05), was successfully synthesized by a coprecipitation method. All prepared samples have typical Li-rich layered structure, and Mg has been doped in the Li 1.17 Ni 0.25 Mn 0.58 O 2 material successfully and homogeneously. The morphology and the grain size of all material are not changed by Mg doping. All materials have a estimated size of about 200 nm with a narrow particle size distribution. The electrochemical property results show that Li 1.17 Ni 0.25-x Mn 0.58 Mg x O 2 (x = 0.01 and 0.02) electrodes exhibit higher rate capability than that of the pristine one. Li 1.17 Ni 0.25-x Mn 0.58 Mg x O 2 (x = 0.02) indicates the largest reversible capacity of 148.3 mAh g -1 and best cycling stability (capacity retention of 95.1%) after 100 cycles at 2C charge-discharge rate. Li 1.17 Ni 0.25-x Mn 0.58 Mg x O 2 (x = 0.02) also shows the largest discharge capacity of 149.2 mAh g -1 discharged at 1C rate at elevated temperature (55 °C) after 50 cycles. The improved electrochemical performances may be attributed to the decreased polarization, reduced charge transfer resistance, enhanced the reversibility of Li + ion insertion/extraction, and increased lithium ion diffusion coefficient. This promising result gives a new understanding for designing the structure and improving the electrochemical performance of Li-rich cathode materials for the next-generation lithium-ion battery with high rate cycling performance.

School meal provision, health, and cognitive function in a Nordic setting - the ProMeal-study: description of methodology and the Nordic context.

PubMed

Waling, Maria; Olafsdottir, Anna S; Lagström, Hanna; Wergedahl, Hege; Jonsson, Bert; Olsson, Cecilia; Fossgard, Eldbjørg; Holthe, Asle; Talvia, Sanna; Gunnarsdottir, Ingibjorg; Hörnell, Agneta

2016-01-01

School meals, if both nutritious and attractive, provide a unique opportunity to improve health equality and public health. To describe the study rationale, data collection, and background of participants in the study 'Prospects for promoting health and performance by school meals in Nordic countries' (ProMeal). The general aim was to determine whether overall healthiness of the diet and learning conditions in children can be improved by school lunches, and to capture the main concerns regarding school lunches among children in a Nordic context. A cross-sectional, multidisciplinary study was performed in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden on pupils (n=837) born in 2003. In total 3,928 pictures of school lunches were taken to capture pupils' school lunch intake. A mean of 85% of all parents responded to a questionnaire about socioeconomic background, dietary intake, and habitual physical activity at home. Cognitive function was measured on one occasion on 93% of the pupils during optimal conditions with a Stroop and a Child Operation Span test. A mean of 169 pupils also did an Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test after lunch over 3 days. In total, 37,413 10-sec observations of classroom learning behavior were performed. In addition, 753 empathy-based stories were written and 78 focus groups were conducted. The pupils had high socioeconomic status. This study will give new insights into which future interventions are needed to improve pupils' school lunch intake and learning. The study will provide valuable information for policy making, not least in countries where the history of school meals is shorter than in some of the Nordic countries.

2 CFR 1532.1600 - What definitions apply specifically to actions under this subpart?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., floating craft, location or site of operations that gives rise to a CAA or CWA conviction, and is a... transactions may be performed. If a site of operations giving rise to a CAA or CWA conviction contains or...

Living and Training at 825 m for 8 Weeks Supplemented With Intermittent Hypoxic Training at 3,000 m Improves Blood Parameters and Running Performance.

PubMed

Wonnabussapawich, Preetiwat; Hamlin, Michael J; Lizamore, Catherine A; Manimmanakorn, Nuttaset; Leelayuwat, Naruemon; Tunkamnerdthai, Orathai; Thuwakum, Worrawut; Manimmanakorn, Apiwan

2017-12-01

Wonnabussapawich, P, Hamlin, MJ, Lizamore, CA, Manimmanakorn, N, Leelayuwat, N, Tunkamnerdthai, O, Thuwakum, W, and Manimmanakorn, A. Living and training at 825 m for 8 weeks supplemented with intermittent hypoxic training at 3,000 m improves blood parameters and running performance. J Strength Cond Res 31(12): 3287-3294, 2017-We aimed to investigate the effect of an 8-week low-altitude training block supplemented with intermittent hypoxic training, on blood and performance parameters in soccer players. Forty university-level male soccer players were separated into altitude (n = 20, 825 m) or sea-level (n = 20, 125 m) groups. Before (1-2 days ago) and after (1 and 14 days later) training, players were asked to give a resting venous blood sample and complete a series of performance tests. Compared with sea level, the altitude group increased erythropoietin, red blood cell (RBC) count, and hematocrit 1 day after training (42.6 ± 24.0%, 1.8 ± 1.3%, 1.4 ± 1.1%, mean ± 95% confidence limits (CL), respectively). By 14 days after training, only RBC count and hemoglobin were substantially higher in the altitude compared with the sea-level group (3.2 ± 1.8%, 2.9 ± 2.1% respectively). Compared with sea level, the altitude group 1-2 days after training improved their 50-m (-2.9 ± 1.4%) and 2,800-m (-2.9 ± 4.4%) run times and demonstrated a higher maximal aerobic speed (4.7 ± 7.4%). These performance changes remained at 14 days after training with the addition of a likely higher estimated V[Combining Dot Above]O2max in the altitude compared with the sea-level group (3.2 ± 3.0%). Eight weeks of low-altitude training, supplemented with regular bouts of intermittent hypoxic training at higher altitude, produced beneficial performance improvements in team-sport athletes, which may increase the viability of such training to coaches and players that cannot access more traditional high altitude venues.

41 CFR 301-10.116 - What must I do with compensation an airline gives me if it denies me a seat on a plane?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... compensation an airline gives me if it denies me a seat on a plane? 301-10.116 Section 301-10.116 Public... plane? If you are performing official travel and a carrier denies you a confirmed reserved seat on a plane, you must give your agency any payment you receive for liquidated damages. You must ensure the...

Does warm-up using mental practice improve crisis resource management performance? A simulation study.

PubMed

Hayter, M A; Bould, M D; Afsari, M; Riem, N; Chiu, M; Boet, S

2013-02-01

Mental practice (MP) is defined as the 'symbolic rehearsal of a physical activity in the absence of any gross-muscular movements' and has been used in sport and music to enhance performance. In healthcare, MP has been demonstrated to improve technical skill performance of surgical residents. However, its effect on crisis resource management (CRM) skills has yet to be determined. We aimed to investigate the effect of warm-up with MP on CRM skill performance during a simulated crisis scenario. Following ethics board approval, 40 anaesthesia residents were randomized. The intervention group performed 20 min of MP of a script based on CRM principles. The control group received a 20 min didactic teaching session on an unrelated topic. Each subject then managed a simulated cardiac arrest. Two CRM experts rated the video recordings of each performance using the previously validated Ottawa GRS. The time to start chest compressions, administer epinephrine, and give blood was recorded. There was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups: total Ottawa GRS score was 24.50 (18.63-28.88 [6.50-34.50]) (median (inter-quartile range [range]) vs 20.50 (13.00-29.13 [6.50-34.50]) (P=0.53); the time to start chest compressions 146.0 s (138.0-231.0 [115.0-323.0]) vs 162.5 s (138.0-231.0 [100.0-460.0]) (P=0.27), the time to epinephrine administration 163.0 s (151.0-187.0 [111.0-337.0]) vs 187.0 s (164.0-244.0 [115.0-310.0]) (P=0.09), and the time to blood administration 220.5 s (130.8-309.0 [92.0-485.0]) vs 252.5 (174.5-398.8 [65.0-527.0]) (P=0.48). Unlike technical skills, warm-up with MP does not seem to improve CRM skills in simulated crisis scenarios.

AC Application of HTS Conductors in Highly Dynamic Electric Motors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oswald, B.; Best, K.-J.; Setzer, M.; Duffner, E.; Soell, M.; Gawalek, W.; Kovalev, L. K.

2006-06-01

Based on recent investigations we design highly dynamic electric motors up to 400 kW and linear motors up to 120 kN linear force using HTS bulk material and HTS tapes. The introduction of HTS tapes into AC applications in electric motors needs fundamental studies on double pancake coils under transversal magnetic fields. First theoretical and experimental results on AC field distributions in double-pancake-coils and corresponding AC losses will be presented. Based on these results the simulation of the motor performance confirms extremely high power density and efficiency of both types of electric motors. Improved characteristics of rare earth permanent magnets used in our motors at low temperatures give an additional technological benefit.

Modelling of surface fluxes and Urban Boundary Layer over an old mediterannean city core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemonsu, A.; Masson, V.; Grimmond, Cs. B.

2003-04-01

In the frameworks of the UBL(Urban Boundary Layer)-ESCOMPTE campaign, the Town Energy Balance (TEB) model was run in off-line mode for Marseille. TEB's performance is evaluated with observations of surface temperatures and surface energy balance fluxes collected during the campaign. Parameterization improvements allow to better represent the energy exchanges between the air inside the canyon and the atmosphere above the roof level. Then, high resolution Méso-NH simulations are done to study the 3-D structure and the evolution of the Urban Boundary Layer (UBL) over Marseille. Will will give a special attention to the impact of the seabord effects (sea-breeze circulation) on the UBL.

Penning trap mass measurement of 72Br

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valverde, A. A.; Bollen, G.; Cooper, K.; Eibach, M.; Gulyuz, K.; Izzo, C.; Morrissey, D. J.; Ringle, R.; Sandler, R.; Schwarz, S.; Sumithrarachchi, C. S.; Villari, A. C. C.

2015-03-01

The Low Energy Beam and Ion Trap (LEBIT) Penning trap mass spectrometer was used to perform an improved-precision mass measurement of 72Br and the low-lying isomeric state, Brm72, giving mass excesses of -59 062.2 (1.0 )keV and -58 960.9 (1.2 )keV , respectively. These values are consistent with the values from the 2012 atomic mass evaluation [Chin. Phys. C 36, 1603 (2012), 10.1088/1674-1137/36/12/003] and the Nubase2012 evaluation of nuclear properties [Chin. Phys. C 36, 1157 (2012), 10.1088/1674-1137/36/12/001]. The uncertainties on the mass of the ground state and isomeric state have been reduced by a factor of seven.