Sample records for guide gpg proposal
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A Conserved GPG-Motif in the HIV-1 Nef Core Is Required for Principal Nef-Activities
Martínez-Bonet, Marta; Palladino, Claudia; Briz, Veronica; Rudolph, Jochen M.; Fackler, Oliver T.; Relloso, Miguel; Muñoz-Fernandez, Maria Angeles; Madrid, Ricardo
2015-01-01
To find out new determinants required for Nef activity we performed a functional alanine scanning analysis along a discrete but highly conserved region at the core of HIV-1 Nef. We identified the GPG-motif, located at the 121–137 region of HIV-1 NL4.3 Nef, as a novel protein signature strictly required for the p56Lck dependent Nef-induced CD4-downregulation in T-cells. Since the Nef-GPG motif was dispensable for CD4-downregulation in HeLa-CD4 cells, Nef/AP-1 interaction and Nef-dependent effects on Tf-R trafficking, the observed effects on CD4 downregulation cannot be attributed to structure constraints or to alterations on general protein trafficking. Besides, we found that the GPG-motif was also required for Nef-dependent inhibition of ring actin re-organization upon TCR triggering and MHCI downregulation, suggesting that the GPG-motif could actively cooperate with the Nef PxxP motif for these HIV-1 Nef-related effects. Finally, we observed that the Nef-GPG motif was required for optimal infectivity of those viruses produced in T-cells. According to these findings, we propose the conserved GPG-motif in HIV-1 Nef as functional region required for HIV-1 infectivity and therefore with a potential interest for the interference of Nef activity during HIV-1 infection. PMID:26700863
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Sahu, S K; Cockrem, J F; Parkinson, T J; Laven, R A
2015-10-01
The aim of this study was to evaluate how the addition of a progesterone device to a gonadotropin-prostaglandin-gonadotropin (GPG) programme in dairy cows with postpartum anovulatory anoestrus affected ovarian follicular dynamics and the synchronisation of ovulation. Twenty-two dairy cows were randomly assigned to either GPG (Day 0: 100 μg GnRH, Day 7: 500 μg PGF2α, Day 9: 100 μg GnRH, Day 0-7: Day 10) or GPG with a progesterone device from Day 0 to 7 (GPG+P4). Ovarian follicular dynamics and ovulation synchronisation were studied using transrectal ultrasonography. Compared to the GPG+P4, GPG alone resulted in a relatively larger mean dominant follicle size and a higher mean peripheral oestradiol concentration (74.9 pg ∗ day vs. 60.6 pg ∗ day; P=0.002); however, there was much greater variation in follicle diameter in the group treated with GPG (7.8-22 mm vs. 10.8-17.5mm in GPG+P4) and this may, at least partly explain why only 7/11 cows in this group ovulated within 48 h of the Day 9 GnRH injection compared to 10/10 of the cows in the GPG+P4 group. These results suggest that differences in follicular dynamics between GPG and GPG+P4 programmes are not a key driver of the difference in conception rate, but further studies are required to better assess the role of ovulation synchronisation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Dawson, Ian G J
2018-05-16
The human population is forecast to increase by 3-4 billion people during this century and many scientists have expressed concerns that this could increase the likelihood of certain adverse events (e.g., climate change and resource shortages). Recent research shows that these concerns are mirrored in public risk perceptions and that these perceptions correlate with a willingness to adopt mitigation behaviors (e.g., reduce resource consumption) and preventative actions (e.g., support actions to limit growth). However, little research has assessed the factors that influence risk perceptions of global population growth (GPG). To contribute to this important goal, this article presents three studies that examined how risk perceptions of GPG might be influenced by textual-visual representations (like those in media and Internet articles) of the potential effects of GPG. Study 1 found that a textual narrative that highlighted the potential negative (cf. positive) consequences of GPG led to higher perceived risk and greater willingness to adopt mitigation behaviors, but not to support preventative actions. Notably, the influence of the narratives on perceived risk was largely moderated by the participant's prior knowledge and perceptions of GPG. Contrary to expectations, studies 2 and 3 revealed, respectively, that photographs depicting GPG-related imagery and graphs depicting GPG rates had no significant effect on the perceived risk of GPG or the willingness to embrace mitigation or preventative actions. However, study 3 found that individuals with higher "graph literacy" perceived GPG as a higher risk and were more willing to adopt mitigation behaviors and support preventative actions. © 2018 Society for Risk Analysis.
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Jejcic, Alenka; Höglund, Stefan; Vahlne, Anders
2010-03-15
The synthetic peptide glycyl-prolyl-glycine amide (GPG-NH2) was previously shown to abolish the ability of HIV-1 particles to fuse with the target cells, by reducing the content of the viral envelope glycoprotein (Env) in progeny HIV-1 particles. The loss of Env was found to result from GPG-NH2 targeting the Env precursor protein gp160 to the ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD) pathway during its maturation. However, the anti-viral effect of GPG-NH2 has been shown to be mediated by its metabolite alpha-hydroxy-glycineamide (alphaHGA), which is produced in the presence of fetal bovine serum, but not human serum. In accordance, we wanted to investigate whether the targeting of gp160 to the ERAD pathway by GPG-NH2 was attributed to its metabolite alphaHGA. In the presence of fetal bovine serum, GPG-NH2, its intermediary metabolite glycine amide (G-NH2), and final metabolite alphaHGA all induced the degradation of gp160 through the ERAD pathway. However, when fetal bovine serum was replaced with human serum only alphaHGA showed an effect on gp160, and this activity was further shown to be completely independent of serum. This indicated that GPG-NH2 acts as a pro-drug, which was supported by the observation that it had to be added earlier to the cell cultures than alphaHGA to induce the degradation of gp160. Furthermore, the substantial reduction of Env incorporation into HIV-1 particles that occurs during GPG-NH2 treatment was also achieved by treating HIV-1 infected cells with alphaHGA. The previously observed specificity of GPG-NH2 towards gp160 in HIV-1 infected cells, resulting in the production of Env (gp120/gp41) deficient fusion incompetent HIV-1 particles, was most probably due to the action of the GPG-NH2 metabolite alphaHGA.
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Tomasz, J; Simoncsits, A; Kajtár, M; Krug, R M; Shatkin, A J
1978-01-01
A simple, two-step method is described for the synthesis of the 5'-pyro- and triphosphate derivatives of 3'-5' ApA, ApG, GpA and GpG. The readily accessible 2'(3')-5' ApA, ApG, GpA and GpG were converted in one step to the corresponding 5'-phosphoramidate derivatives which were then transformed to the 5'-pyro- and triphosphates. CD spectra of 3'-5' pn GpG (n = 0,1,2 or 3) derivatives, measured at pH 1, indicated stabilization of the (syn) G+p (anti)G conformation by the 5'-phosphate groups. PMID:211490
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Le, Duc H T; Tsutsui, Yoko; Sugawara-Narutaki, Ayae; Yukawa, Hiroshi; Baba, Yoshinobu; Ohtsuki, Chikara
2017-09-01
We have recently developed a novel double-hydrophobic elastin-like triblock polypeptide called GPG, designed after the uneven distribution of two different hydrophobic domains found in elastin, an extracellular matrix protein providing elasticity and resilience to tissues. Upon temperature trigger, GPG undergoes a sequential self-assembling process to form flexible beaded nanofibers with high homogeneity and excellent dispersibility in water. Given that GPG might be a potential elastin-mimetic material, we sought to explore the biological activities of this block polypeptide. Besides GPG, several functionalized derivatives were also constructed by fusing functional motifs such as KAAK or KAAKGRGDS at the C-terminal of GPG. Although the added motifs affected the kinetics of fiber formation and β-sheet contents, all three GPGs assembled into beaded nanofibers at the physiological temperature. The resulting GPG nanofibers preserved their beaded structures in cell culture medium; therefore, they were coated on polystyrene substrates to study their cytocompatibility toward mouse embryonic fibroblasts, NIH-3T3. Among the three polypeptides, GPG having the cell-binding motif GRGDS derived from fibronectin showed excellent cell adhesion and cell proliferation properties compared to other conventional materials, suggesting its promising applications as extracellular matrices for mammalian cells. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 2475-2484, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Spectrum of cisplatin-induced mutations in Escherichia coli
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Burnouf, D.; Duane, M.; Fuchs, R.P.
1987-06-01
Using a forward-mutation assay based on the inactivation of the tetracycline-resistance gene located on plasmid pBR322, we have determined the mutation spectrum induced in Escherichia coli by cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II)), a widely used antitumor drug. Cisplatin is known to form mainly intrastrand diadducts at ApG and GpG sites. We found that cisplatin efficiently induces mutations in an SOS-dependent way (i.e., dependent upon UV irradiation of the host bacteria). More than 90% of the mutations are single-base-pair substitutions occurring at the potential sites of cisplatin adducts (ApG and GpG). Taking into account the relative proportions of ApG and GpG adducts, we foundmore » that the ApG adducts are at least 5 times more mutagenic than the GpG adducts. Moreover, a strong mutation specificity was seen at the 5' side of the ApG adducts (A X T----T X A transversions). The observation that most mutations occur at the 5' end of the adduct at both ApG and GpG sites is discussed in relation to recent structural data.« less
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Does Size Matter? A Study of Risk Perceptions of Global Population Growth.
Dawson, Ian G J; Johnson, Johnnie E V
2017-01-01
The global human population now exceeds 7 billion and is projected to reach 10 billion around 2060. While population growth has been associated with certain benefits (e.g., economies of scale, technological advancements), theoretical models, probabilistic projections, and empirical evidence also indicate that this growth could increase the likelihood of many adverse events (e.g., climate change, resource shortages) and the impact of these events, as more people are exposed to the outcomes. While concerns about these issues are well-documented in the academic literature, there is little evidence concerning the public's perceptions of the risks associated with global population growth (GPG) and how these perceptions are likely to influence related decisions. To address these issues, we conducted a U.K.-based study that examined respondents' risk perceptions of GPG, their willingness to embrace mitigation/precautionary behaviors, and reasons for variations in these two factors. We found that GPG is perceived as a moderate-to-high risk, with concerns about the increased likelihood of resource shortages, ecological damage, and violent conflict being foremost. Respondents believed that the worst effects of GPG would arrive around 2050 and would be experienced by the world's poorest people. Respondents who perceived greater levels of risk from GPG were generally those who indicated a greater willingness to embrace mitigation behaviors (e.g., reduce resource consumption) and preventative actions (e.g., support political action to limit growth). We discuss how our findings might be utilized to better manage the potential challenges associated with GPG and we suggest several directions for further research. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Olszewski, W. J., Jr.; Gibbs, A. K.; Wirth, K. R.
1986-01-01
The lower part of the Serra dos Carajas belt is the metavolcanic and metasedimentary Grao para Group (GPG). The GPG is thought to unconformably overlie the older (but undated) Xingu Complex, composed of medium and high-grade gneisses and amphibolite and greenstone belts. The geochemical data indicate that the GPG has many features in common with ancient and modern volcanic suites erupted through continental crust. The mafic rocks clearly differ from those of most Archean greenstone belts, and modern MORB, IAB, and hot-spot basalts. The geological, geochemical, and isotopic data are all consistent with deposition on continental crust, presumably in a marine basin formed by crustal extension. The isotopic data also suggest the existence of depleted mantle as a source for the parent magmas of the GPG. The overall results suggest a tectonic environment, igneous sources, and petrogenesis similar to many modern continental extensional basins, in contrast to most Archean greenstone belts. The Hammersley basin in Australia and the circum-Superior belts in Canada may be suitable Archean and Proterozoic analogues, respectively.
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2011-01-01
Background There are currently no purification methods capable of producing the large amounts of fish rhabdoviral glycoprotein G (gpG) required for diagnosis and immunisation purposes or for studying structure and molecular mechanisms of action of this molecule (ie. pH-dependent membrane fusion). As a result of the unavailability of large amounts of the gpG from viral haemorrhagic septicaemia rhabdovirus (VHSV), one of the most dangerous viruses affecting cultured salmonid species, research interests in this field are severely hampered. Previous purification methods to obtain recombinant gpG from VHSV in E. coli, yeast and baculovirus grown in insect cells have not produced soluble conformations or acceptable yields. The development of large-scale purification methods for gpGs will also further research into other fish rhabdoviruses, such as infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), spring carp viremia virus (SVCV), hirame rhabdovirus (HIRRV) and snakehead rhabdovirus (SHRV). Findings Here we designed a method to produce milligram amounts of soluble VHSV gpG. Only the transmembrane and carboxy terminal-deleted (amino acid 21 to 465) gpG was efficiently expressed in insect larvae. Recognition of G21-465 by ß-mercaptoethanol-dependent neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (N-MAbs) and pH-dependent recognition by sera from VHSV-hyperimmunized or VHSV-infected rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was demonstrated. Conclusions Given that the purified G21-465 conserved some of its most important properties, this method might be suitable for the large-scale production of fish rhabdoviral gpGs for use in diagnosis, fusion and antigenicity studies. PMID:21693048
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Encinas, Paloma; Gomez-Sebastian, Silvia; Nunez, Maria Carmen; Gomez-Casado, Eduardo; Escribano, Jose M; Estepa, Amparo; Coll, Julio
2011-06-21
There are currently no purification methods capable of producing the large amounts of fish rhabdoviral glycoprotein G (gpG) required for diagnosis and immunisation purposes or for studying structure and molecular mechanisms of action of this molecule (ie. pH-dependent membrane fusion). As a result of the unavailability of large amounts of the gpG from viral haemorrhagic septicaemia rhabdovirus (VHSV), one of the most dangerous viruses affecting cultured salmonid species, research interests in this field are severely hampered. Previous purification methods to obtain recombinant gpG from VHSV in E. coli, yeast and baculovirus grown in insect cells have not produced soluble conformations or acceptable yields. The development of large-scale purification methods for gpGs will also further research into other fish rhabdoviruses, such as infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), spring carp viremia virus (SVCV), hirame rhabdovirus (HIRRV) and snakehead rhabdovirus (SHRV). Here we designed a method to produce milligram amounts of soluble VHSV gpG. Only the transmembrane and carboxy terminal-deleted (amino acid 21 to 465) gpG was efficiently expressed in insect larvae. Recognition of G21-465 by ß-mercaptoethanol-dependent neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (N-MAbs) and pH-dependent recognition by sera from VHSV-hyperimmunized or VHSV-infected rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was demonstrated. Given that the purified G21-465 conserved some of its most important properties, this method might be suitable for the large-scale production of fish rhabdoviral gpGs for use in diagnosis, fusion and antigenicity studies.
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Gazarian, Karlen G; Palacios-Rodríguez, Yadira; Gazarian, Tatiana G; Huerta, Leonor
2013-06-01
The crown region of the V3 loop in HIV-1 that contains the conserved amino acid sequence GPGR/G is known as the principal neutralizing determinant due to the extraordinary ability of antibodies to this region to neutralize the virus. To complement the existing peptide models of this epitope, we describe a family of 18 phage-displayed peptides, which include linear 12mer and constrained 7mer peptides that was selected by screening random libraries with serum from HIV-1 subtype B-infected patients. The 7mer constrained peptides presented two conserved amino acid sequences: PR-L in N-terminus and GPG in the C-terminus. On the basis of these peptides we propose a mimotope model of the V3 crown epitope in which the PR-L and GPG sequences represent the two known epitope binding sites. The GPG, has the same function as the V3 crown GPGR sequence but without the involvement of the "R" despite its being considered as the signature of the epitope in B-subtype viruses. The PR-L contains a proline not existing in the epitope that is postulated to induce kinks in the backbones of all peptides and create a spatial element mimicking the N-terminal conformationally variable binding site. Rabbit serum to these mimotopes recognized the V3 peptides and moderately decreased the fusion between HIV-1 Env- and CD4-expressing Jurkat cells. This study proposes the efficient generation by means of patient sera of V3 epitope mimics validated by interaction with the antibodies to contemporary viruses induced in patients. The serum antibody-selectable mimotopes are sources of novel information on the fine structure-function properties of HIV-1 principal neutralizing domain and candidate anti-HIV-1 immunogens. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Sahu, S K; Cockrem, J F; Parkinson, T J; Laven, R A
2017-08-01
The aim of this research was to study the roles of the day 0 energy balance and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and progesterone levels on dominant follicle (DF) and corpus luteum (CL) development during the first 7 days of a gonadotrophin-prostaglandin-gonadotrophin (GPG) + progesterone (P4) program in anoestrous dairy cows. Cows (n = 81) were allocated to one of the three treatments: (1) GPG + P4 (days 0 and 9, 100 µg GnRH; day 0-7, intravaginal P4 device; day 7, 500 µg PGF 2α ); (2) GPG (as for treatment 1 but excluding the P4 device) and (3) prostaglandin + GnRH + P4 (as for treatment 1, but excluding day 0 GnRH). DF and CL size, plasma concentrations of insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) were measured on days 0 and 7. The proportion of cows with a CL on day 7 was significantly different between groups (GPG: 78%, GPG+P4: 69%, PGF 2α + GnRH + P4: 42%, P = 0.02). The CL volume on day 7 was significantly associated with treatment, treatment by time postpartum and plasma concentrations of insulin, IGF-I and NEFA. In cows without a CL present on day 0 of an oestrus synchronisation program, removal of the day 0 GnRH treatment led to reduced CL development; however, no effect of adding progesterone was found. In contrast, in cows with a CL present on day 0 inclusion of a progesterone device led to a higher CL volume, but removal of the first GnRH injection had no effect. Response to the treatment was affected by plasma concentrations of insulin, IGF-I and NEFA. © 2017 Australian Veterinary Association.
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GeoSci: Practices to Collaboratively Build Online Resources for Geophysics Education
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Heagy, L. J.; Cockett, R.; Oldenburg, D.
2016-12-01
What happens when you apply best practices of software development to the development of educational resources? GeoSci (http://geosci.xyz) is our experiment examining this question. In 2007, a web-based "textbook" resource: Geophysics for Practicing Geoscientists (GPG, https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/courses/eosc350/content/index.htm) was created to serve as the primary resource for an undergraduate applied geophysics course at UBC taken primarily by non-geophysics majors. The web-based resource, allowed students to navigate through the concepts in a nonlinear way using hyperlinks, and enabled interactive content to be embedded. Subsequent to the web-based release for our UBC course, this resource has also seen widespread international use across the geophysical community. The available resources and best practices have advanced significantly since 2007. The format in which the GPG was originally developed (raw html and css) hindered improvements and thus maintenance and development of the resource was essentially reduced to correcting typos. Bringing this resource to sustainable state in which it can be built upon, edited and adapted has required looking to other disciplines such as software maintenance and development. By applying leading practices from open source software development, including versioning, testing, automated deployment as well as open development practices, such as issue tracking and employing creative commons licensing, we have worked to create a revamped GPG (http://gpg.geosci.xyz) that can be collaborated on and extended. The GPG and a companion resource for electromagnetics have been worked on by over 25 people, with much of the development happening in parallel. In this presentation, we will share our experience, identify what we see as some of the key learnings that have enabled collaboration in resource development, and present a vision for how we see these resources being sustained in the future.
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Williams, Renee T; Nalbandian, Jenifer N; Tu, Audrey; Wang, Yinsheng
2013-05-01
The primary mode of action for cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II), referred to as cisplatin, toward the treatment of solid malignancies is through formation of cross-links with DNA at purine sites, especially guanines. We prepared oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODNs) containing a 1,2-GpG, 1,2-ApG, or 1,3-GpXpG cisplatin intrastrand cross-link and the corresponding ODNs modified with (15)N2-labeled cisplatin, and characterized these ODNs with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and tandem MS (MS/MS). We also employed LC-MS/MS to characterize the digestion products of these ODNs after treatment with a cocktail of 4 enzymes (nuclease P1, phosphodiesterases I and II, and alkaline phosphatase). 1,2-GpG was released from the ODNs as a dinucleoside monophosphate or a dinucleotide. Analyses of the digestion products of ODNs containing a 1,2-GpG cross-link on the 5' or 3' terminus revealed that the dinucleotide carries a terminal 5' phosphate. On the other hand, digestion of the 1,3-GpXpG intrastrand cross-link yielded 3 dinucleoside products with 0, 1, or 2 phosphate groups. The availability of the ODNs carrying the stable isotope-labeled lesions, MS/MS analyses of the cisplatin-modified ODNs, and the characterization of the enzymatic digestion products of these ODNs set the stage for the future LC-MS/MS quantification of the 1,2-GpG, 1,2-ApG, and 1,3-GpXpG lesions in cellular DNA. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Williams, Renee T.; Nalbandian, Jenifer; Tu, Audrey; Wang, Yinsheng
2013-01-01
Background The primary mode of action for cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II), referred to as cisplatin, towards the treatment of solid malignancies is through formation of cross-links with DNA at purine sites, especially guanines. Methods We prepared oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODNs) containing a 1,2-GpG, 1,2-ApG, or 1,3-GpXpG cisplatin intrastrand cross-link and the corresponding ODNs modified with 15N2-labeled cisplatin, and characterized these ODNs with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and tandem MS (MS/MS). We also employed LC-MS/MS to characterize the digestion products of these ODNs after treatment with a cocktail of 4 enzymes (nuclease P1, phosphodiesterases I and II, and alkaline phosphatase). Results 1,2-GpG was released from the ODNs as a dinucleoside monophosphate or a dinucleotide. Analyses of the digestion products of ODNs containing a 1,2-GpG cross-link on the 5′ or 3′ terminus revealed that the dinucleotide carries a terminal 5′ phosphate. On the other hand, digestion of the 1,3-GpXpG intrastrand cross-link yielded 3 dinucleoside products with 0, 1, or 2 phosphate groups. Results The availability of the ODNs carrying the stable isotope-labeled lesions, MS/MS analyses of the cisplatin-modified ODNs, and the characterization of the enzymatic digestion products of these ODNs set the stage for the future LC-MS/MS quantification of the 1,2-GpG, 1,2-ApG, and 1,3-GpXpG lesions in cellular DNA. PMID:23266768
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Sahu, S K; Parkinson, T J; Laven, R A
2015-05-01
To evaluate the conception rate to fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) of two oestrus synchronisation programmes in dairy heifers on eight farms over 2 years. The study was conducted in 2008 and 2010 on eight farms near Palmerston North, New Zealand. Nulliparous Friesian and Friesian×Jersey heifers (13-15 months of age) were randomly allocated to one of two oestrus synchronisation programmes. Group 1 (GPG+P4; n=330), received gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) I/M on Day 0, a progesterone (P4)-releasing intravaginal device from Days 0-7, prostaglandin F2α (PGF) I/M on Day 7 and a second dose of GnRH at the time of FTAI on Day 9. The second group (P4+PGF; n=343) received a P4-releasing intravaginal device from Days 0-7, PGF on Day 6 and FTAI on Day 9. Pregnancy was diagnosed from Days 42-52 by transrectal ultrasonography. The overall conception rate was 52.4% and 54.8% for the GPG+P4 and P4+PGF groups, respectively. The odds of conception for the two treatments were not different (OR=0.90; 95% CI=0.67-1.23), nor was there any difference between groups in different years (p=0.58). Farm affected conception rate (p=0.002), but there was no interaction with treatment (p=0.92) . This study has shown that an alternative synchronisation programme can produce similar results in terms of conception rate to the GPG+P4 treatment, currently commonly used in heifers. More research is required to establish whether other modifications to the GPG+P4 programme can produce similar results at lower costs, and to identify and quantify farm factors which affect the economic benefit of heifer synchronisation. This study indicated that synchronising heifers with P4 and PGF resulted in conception rates equivalent to those resulting from a GPG+P4 treatment, but with reduced drug costs. However, because heifers in the GPG+P4 group received the second GnRH injection at the time of AI, they needed only three yardings as opposed to the four required for the heifers treated with P4 and PGF. Thus, the choice of programme for an individual farm will depend on that farm's circumstances, in particular the cost of yarding the heifers.
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Fernandes, Chantal; Mendes, Vitor; Costa, Joana; Empadinhas, Nuno; Jorge, Carla; Lamosa, Pedro; Santos, Helena; da Costa, Milton S.
2010-01-01
The compatible solute mannosylglucosylglycerate (MGG), recently identified in Petrotoga miotherma, also accumulates in Petrotoga mobilis in response to hyperosmotic conditions and supraoptimal growth temperatures. Two functionally connected genes encoding a glucosyl-3-phosphoglycerate synthase (GpgS) and an unknown glycosyltransferase (gene Pmob_1143), which we functionally characterized as a mannosylglucosyl-3-phosphoglycerate synthase and designated MggA, were identified in the genome of Ptg. mobilis. This enzyme used the product of GpgS, glucosyl-3-phosphoglycerate (GPG), as well as GDP-mannose to produce mannosylglucosyl-3-phosphoglycerate (MGPG), the phosphorylated precursor of MGG. The MGPG dephosphorylation was determined in cell extracts, and the native enzyme was partially purified and characterized. Surprisingly, a gene encoding a putative glucosylglycerate synthase (Ggs) was also identified in the genome of Ptg. mobilis, and an active Ggs capable of producing glucosylglycerate (GG) from ADP-glucose and d-glycerate was detected in cell extracts and the recombinant enzyme was characterized, as well. Since GG has never been identified in this organism nor was it a substrate for the MggA, we anticipated the existence of a nonphosphorylating pathway for MGG synthesis. We putatively identified the corresponding gene, whose product had some sequence homology with MggA, but it was not possible to recombinantly express a functional enzyme from Ptg. mobilis, which we named mannosylglucosylglycerate synthase (MggS). In turn, a homologous gene from Thermotoga maritima was successfully expressed, and the synthesis of MGG was confirmed from GDP-mannose and GG. Based on the measurements of the relevant enzyme activities in cell extracts and on the functional characterization of the key enzymes, we propose two alternative pathways for the synthesis of the rare compatible solute MGG in Ptg. mobilis. PMID:20061481
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Skin Cancer-Sun Knowledge and Sun Protection Behaviors of Liver Transplant Recipients in Turkey.
Haney, Meryem Ozturk; Ordin, Yaprak Sarigol; Arkan, Gulcihan
2017-09-08
The aim of this study was to compare liver transplant recipients (LTRs) with the general population regarding their knowledge of skin cancer, sun health, sun protection behaviors, and affecting factors. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Turkey between March 2016 and September 2016 with 104 LTRs and 100 participants from the general population group (GPG). The mean age of the LTRs was 53.2 ± 11.8 and that of the GPG was 42.7 ± 14.5. The LTRs' skin cancer and sun knowledge were significantly lower than in the GPG, but there was no difference between the two groups in terms of their sun protection behavior scores. The most commonly used sun protection behaviors of LTRs were not being outside and not sunbathing between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., wearing clothing that covers the skin, and avoiding the solarium. Behaviors commonly practiced by the GPG were wearing sunglasses, wearing sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 15 or higher before going outside, wearing sunscreen at the beach, while swimming or doing physical activity outside, and reapplying it every 2 h. Results of our study will contribute to the development of education and training programs for LTRs on skin cancer. The results also demonstrated the importance of practicing adequate sun protection behaviors which will certainly impact their future health.
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Valle-Maldonado, Marco Iván; Jácome-Galarza, Irvin Eduardo; Díaz-Pérez, Alma Laura; Martínez-Cadena, Guadalupe; Campos-García, Jesús; Ramírez-Díaz, Martha Isela; Reyes-De la Cruz, Homero; Riveros-Rosas, Héctor; Díaz-Pérez, César; Meza-Carmen, Víctor
2015-12-01
In fungi, heterotrimeric G proteins are key regulators of biological processes such as mating, virulence, morphology, among others. Mucor circinelloides is a model organism for many biological processes, and its genome contains the largest known repertoire of genes that encode putative heterotrimeric G protein subunits in the fungal kingdom: twelve Gα (McGpa1-12), three Gβ (McGpb1-3), and three Gγ (McGpg1-3). Phylogenetic analysis of fungal Gα showed that they are divided into four distinct groups as reported previously. Fungal Gβ and Gγ are also divided into four phylogenetic groups, and to our understanding this is the first report of a phylogenetic classification for fungal Gβ and Gγ subunits. Almost all genes that encode putative heterotrimeric G subunits in M. circinelloides are differentially expressed during dimorphic growth, except for McGpg1 (Gγ) that showed very low mRNA levels at all developmental stages. Moreover, several of the subunits are expressed in a similar pattern and at the same level, suggesting that they constitute discrete complexes. For example, McGpb3 (Gβ), and McGpg2 (Gγ), are co-expressed during mycelium growth, and McGpa1, McGpb2, and McGpg2, are co-expressed during yeast development. These findings provide the conceptual framework to study the biological role of these genes during M. circinelloides morphogenesis. Copyright © 2015 The British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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GSA's Green Proving Ground: Identifying, Testing and Evaluating Innovative Technologies; Preprint
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kandt, A.; Lowell, M.
2012-05-01
This paper will provide an overview of the GPG program and its objectives as well as a summary and status update of the 16 technologies selected for enhanced testing and evaluation in 2011. The federal government's General Services Administration's (GSA) Public Buildings Service (PBS) acquires space on behalf of the federal government through new construction and leasing, and acts as a caretaker for federal properties across the country. PBS owns or leases 9,624 assets and maintains an inventory of more than 370.2 million square feet of workspace, and as such has enormous potential for implementing energy efficient and renewable energymore » technologies to reduce energy and water use and associated emissions. The Green Proving Ground (GPG) program utilizes GSA's real estate portfolio to test and evaluate innovative and underutilized sustainable building technologies and practices. Findings are used to support the development of GSA performance specifications and inform decision making within GSA, other federal agencies, and the real estate industry. The program aims to drive innovation in environmental performance in federal buildings and help lead market transformation through deployment of new technologies. In 2011, the GPG program selected 16 technologies or practices for rigorous testing and evaluation. Evaluations are currently being performed in collaboration with the Department of Energy's National Laboratories, and a steady stream of results will be forthcoming throughout 2012. This paper will provide an overview of the GPG program and its objectives as well as a summary and status update of the 16 technologies selected for enhanced testing and evaluation in 2011. Lastly, it provides a general overview of the 2012 program.« less
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Untimed Design Fluency in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease: Psychometrics and Normative Data.
Sunderaraman, Preeti; Sokolov, Elisaveta; Cines, Sarah; Sullo, Elizabeth; Orly, Aidan; Lerer, Bianca; Karlawish, Jason; Huey, Edward; Cosentino, Stephanie
2015-01-01
Design fluency tests, commonly used in both clinical and research contexts to evaluate nonverbal concept generation, have the potential to offer useful information in the differentiation of healthy versus pathological aging. Although normative data for older adults (OAs) are available for multiple timed versions of this test, similar data have been unavailable for a previously published untimed test, the Graphic Pattern Generation Test (GPG). Time constraints common to almost all of the available design fluency tests may cloud interpretation of higher-level executive abilities-for example, in individuals with slow processing speed. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the GPG and presents normative data in a sample of 167 healthy OAs and 110 individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Results suggest that a brief version of the GPG can be administered reliably and that this short form has high test-retest and interrater reliability. Number of perseverations was higher in individuals with AD as compared with OAs. A cutoff score of 4 or more perseverations showed a moderate degree of sensitivity (76%) and specificity (37%) in distinguishing individuals with AD and OAs. Finally, perseverations were associated with nonmemory indexes, thereby underscoring the nonverbal nature of this error in OAs and individuals with AD.
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Is international agricultural research a global public good? The case of rice biofortification.
Brooks, Sally
2011-01-01
The status of international agricultural research as a global public good (GPG) has been widely accepted since the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. While the term was not used at the time of its creation, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system that evolved at that time has been described as a 'prime example of the promise, performance and perils of an international approach to providing GPGs'. Contemporary literature on international agricultural research as a GPG tends to support this view and focuses on how to operationalize the concept. This paper adopts a different starting point and questions this conceptualization of the CGIAR and its outputs. It questions the appropriateness of such a 'neutral' concept to a system born of the imperatives of Cold War geopolitics, and shaped by a history of attempts to secure its relevance in a changing world. This paper draws on a multi-sited, ethnographic study of a research effort highlighted by the CGIAR as an exemplar of GPG-oriented research. Behind the ubiquitous language of GPGs, 'partnership' and 'consensus', however, new forms of exclusion and restriction are emerging within everyday practice, reproducing North-South inequalities and undermining the ability of these programmes to respond to the needs of projected beneficiaries.
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Extrusion Bioprinting of Shear-Thinning Gelatin Methacryloyl Bioinks
Liu, Wanjun; Heinrich, Marcel A.; Zhou, Yixiao; Akpek, Ali; Hu, Ning; Liu, Xiao; Guan, Xiaofei; Zhong, Zhe; Jin, Xiangyu
2017-01-01
Bioprinting is an emerging technique for the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) cell-laden constructs. However, the progress for generating a 3D complex physiological microenvironment has been hampered by a lack of advanced cell-responsive bioinks that enable bioprinting with high structural fidelity, particularly in the case of extrusion-based bioprinting. Herein, we report a novel strategy to directly bioprint cell-laden constructs using bioinks made of gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) physical gels (GPGs). Attributed to their shear-thinning and self-healing properties, the GPG bioinks could retain the shape and form integral structures after deposition, allowing for subsequent UV crosslinking for permanent stabilization. We showed the structural fidelity by bioprinting various 3D structures that are typically challenging to fabricate using conventional bioinks under extrusion modes. Moreover, the use of the GPG bioinks enabled direct bioprinting of highly porous and soft constructs at relatively low concentrations (down to 3%) of GelMA. We also demonstrated that the bioprinted constructs not only permitted cell survival but also enhanced cell proliferation as well as spreading at lower concentrations of the GPG bioinks. We believe our strategy of bioprinting will provide many opportunities in convenient fabrication of 3D cell-laden constructs for applications in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and pharmaceutical screening. PMID:28464555
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Pt anti-cancer drug interactions with oligodeoxyribonucleotides
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Fouts, C.S.
The Pt adducts of d(TGGT) were investigated by /sup 31/P and /sup 1/H NMR spectroscopy with the following compounds: cisPtA/sub 2/Cl/sub 2/ (A/sub 2/ = en, (NH/sub 3/)/sub 2/, (MeNH/sub 2/)/sub 2/, tn, Me/sub 2/ tn, and N,N-Me/sub 2/en) and transPt (NH/sub 3/)/sub 2/Cl/sub 2/. Limited studies were performed with d(TTGG), D(GGTT), D(pGGTT), and d(TAGT). For d(TGGT)Pt(en) and d(TGGT)cisPt(MeNH/sub 2/)/sub 2/, the downfield /sup 31/P NMR signal was assigned to the GpG moiety by selective 2D NMR techniques. It was demonstrated that Pt formed a crosslink with the GpG moiety and the G's were in a head-to-head configuration. A downfieldmore » /sup 31/P NMR signal appears to be characteristic of Pt-crosslinked species and can be correlated with potential hydrogen bonding ability of the Pt complexes and the oligonucleotides. The signal was not shifted as far downfield when the group cis to the 5' G was incapable of hydrogen bonding or when no phosphate group was 5' to the GpG moiety.« less
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Sunderaraman, Preeti; Sokolov, Elisaveta; Cines, Sarah; Sullo, Elizabeth; Orly, Aidan; Lerer, Bianca; Karlawish, Jason; Huey, Edward; Cosentino, Stephanie
2015-01-01
Design fluency tests, commonly used in both clinical and research contexts to evaluate nonverbal concept generation, have the potential to offer useful information in the differentiation of healthy versus pathological aging. While normative data for older adults are available for multiple timed versions of this test, similar data have been unavailable for a previously published untimed task, the Graphic Pattern Generation Task (GPG). Time constraints common to almost all of the available design fluency tests may cloud interpretation of higher level executive abilities, for example in individuals with slow processing speed. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the GPG and presents normative data in a sample of 167 healthy older adults (OAs) and 110 individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Results suggest that a brief version of the GPG can be administered reliably, and that this short form has high test-retest and inter-rater reliability. Number of perseverations was higher in individuals with AD as compared to OAs. A cut-off score of 4 or more perseverations showed a moderate degree of sensitivity (76%) and specificity (37%) in distinguishing individuals with AD and OAs. Finally, perseverations were associated with nonmemory indices, underscoring the nonverbal nature of this error in OAs and individuals with AD. PMID:25679880
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Hamidou Soumana, Illiassou; Klopp, Christophe; Ravel, Sophie; Nabihoudine, Ibouniyamine; Tchicaya, Bernadette; Parrinello, Hugues; Abate, Luc; Rialle, Stéphanie; Geiger, Anne
2015-01-01
Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (Tbg), causing the sleeping sickness chronic form, completes its developmental cycle within the tsetse fly vector Glossina palpalis gambiensis (Gpg) before its transmission to humans. Within the framework of an anti-vector disease control strategy, a global gene expression profiling of trypanosome infected (susceptible), non-infected, and self-cured (refractory) tsetse flies was performed, on their midguts, to determine differential genes expression resulting from in vivo trypanosomes, tsetse flies (and their microbiome) interactions. An RNAseq de novo assembly was achieved. The assembled transcripts were mapped to reference sequences for functional annotation. Twenty-four percent of the 16,936 contigs could not be annotated, possibly representing untranslated mRNA regions, or Gpg- or Tbg-specific ORFs. The remaining contigs were classified into 65 functional groups. Only a few transposable elements were present in the Gpg midgut transcriptome, which may represent active transpositions and play regulatory roles. One thousand three hundred and seventy three genes differentially expressed (DEGs) between stimulated and non-stimulated flies were identified at day-3 post-feeding; 52 and 1025 between infected and self-cured flies at 10 and 20 days post-feeding, respectively. The possible roles of several DEGs regarding fly susceptibility and refractoriness are discussed. The results provide new means to decipher fly infection mechanisms, crucial to develop anti-vector control strategies. PMID:26617594
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Extrusion Bioprinting of Shear-Thinning Gelatin Methacryloyl Bioinks.
Liu, Wanjun; Heinrich, Marcel A; Zhou, Yixiao; Akpek, Ali; Hu, Ning; Liu, Xiao; Guan, Xiaofei; Zhong, Zhe; Jin, Xiangyu; Khademhosseini, Ali; Zhang, Yu Shrike
2017-06-01
Bioprinting is an emerging technique for the fabrication of 3D cell-laden constructs. However, the progress for generating a 3D complex physiological microenvironment has been hampered by a lack of advanced cell-responsive bioinks that enable bioprinting with high structural fidelity, particularly in the case of extrusion-based bioprinting. Herein, this paper reports a novel strategy to directly bioprint cell-laden gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) constructs using bioinks of GelMA physical gels (GPGs) achieved through a simple cooling process. Attributed to their shear-thinning and self-healing properties, the GPG bioinks can retain the shape and form integral structures after deposition, allowing for subsequent UV crosslinking for permanent stabilization. This paper shows the structural fidelity by bioprinting various 3D structures that are typically challenging to fabricate using conventional bioinks under extrusion modes. Moreover, the use of the GPG bioinks enables direct bioprinting of highly porous and soft constructs at relatively low concentrations (down to 3%) of GelMA. It is also demonstrated that the bioprinted constructs not only permit cell survival but also enhance cell proliferation as well as spreading at lower concentrations of the GPG bioinks. It is believed that such a strategy of bioprinting will provide many opportunities in convenient fabrication of 3D cell-laden constructs for applications in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and pharmaceutical screening. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
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The spatial data and knowledge gateways at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Thenkabail, P. S.; Biradar, C. M.; Noojipady, P.; Islam, A.; Velpuri, M.; Vithanage, J.; Kulawardhana, W.; Li, Yuan Jie; Dheeravath, V.; Gunasinghe, S.; Alankara, R.
2006-10-01
In this paper we discuss spatial data and knowledge base (SDKB) gateway portals developed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Our vision is to generate and/or facilitate easy and free access to state-of-art SDKB of excellence globally. Our mission is to make SDKB accessible online, globally, for free. The IWMI data storehouse pathway (IWMIDSP; http://www.iwmidsp.org) is a pathfinder global public good (GPG) portal on remote sensing and GIS (RS/GIS) data and products with specific emphasis on river basin data, but also storing valuable data on Nations, Regions, and the World. A number of other specialty GPG portals have also been released. These include Global map of irrigated area (http://www.iwmigiam.org), Drought monitoring system for southwest Asia (http://dms.iwmi.org), Tsunami satellite sensor data catalogue (http://tsdc.iwmi.org), and Knowledge base system (KBS) for Sri Lanka (http://www.iwmikbs.org). The IWMIDSP has been the backbone of several other projects such as global irrigated area mapping, drought monitoring system, wetlands, and knowledge base systems. A discussion on these pathfinder web portals follow.
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Rodríguez, Alexis; Villegas, Elba; Montoya-Rosales, Alejandra; Rivas-Santiago, Bruno; Corzo, Gerardo
2014-01-01
The contention and treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other bacteria that cause infectious diseases require the use of new type of antibiotics. Pandinin 2 (Pin2) is a scorpion venom antimicrobial peptide highly hemolytic that has a central proline residue. This residue forms a structural “kink” linked to its pore-forming activity towards human erythrocytes. In this work, the residue Pro14 of Pin2 was both substituted and flanked using glycine residues (P14G and P14GPG) based on the low hemolytic activities of antimicrobial peptides with structural motifs Gly and GlyProGly such as magainin 2 and ponericin G1, respectively. The two Pin2 variants showed antimicrobial activity against E. coli, S. aureus, and M. tuberculosis. However, Pin2 [GPG] was less hemolytic (30%) than that of Pin2 [G] variant. In addition, based on the primary structure of Pin2 [G] and Pin2 [GPG], two short peptide variants were designed and chemically synthesized keeping attention to their physicochemical properties such as hydrophobicity and propensity to adopt alpha-helical conformations. The aim to design these two short antimicrobial peptides was to avoid the drawback cost associated to the synthesis of peptides with large sequences. The short Pin2 variants named Pin2 [14] and Pin2 [17] showed antibiotic activity against E. coli and M. tuberculosis. Besides, Pin2 [14] presented only 25% of hemolysis toward human erythrocytes at concentrations as high as 100 µM, while the peptide Pin2 [17] did not show any hemolytic effect at the same concentration. Furthermore, these short antimicrobial peptides had better activity at molar concentrations against multidrug resistance M. tuberculosis than that of the conventional antibiotics ethambutol, isoniazid and rifampicin. Therefore, Pin2 [14] and Pin2 [17] have the potential to be used as an alternative antibiotics and anti-tuberculosis agents with reduced hemolytic effects. PMID:25019413
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Mono- and bifunctional binding of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) to dinucleotides.
Försti, A; Laatikainen, R; Hemminki, K
1987-01-01
cis-Diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cis-Pt) was reacted with four homodinucleotides (GpG, ApA, CpC, and UpU) and six heterodinucleotides (GpC, CpG, GpU, UpG, GpA, and ApG) at pH 6, and the reaction products were purified by HPLC. The most important products were characterized by 1H-NMR spectra. In all the heterodinucleotides except the ones containing uridine the main Pt-adduct was an intramolecular cross-link, but monofunctional adducts and intermolecular cross-links were also detected. Intramolecular cross-links were also formed with GpU and UpG but the amounts of them were about the same as the amounts of intermolecular cross-links. In the case of homodinucleotides GpG gave almost entirely intramolecular cross-links, in which cis-Pt was chelated between the N-7 atoms of two guanines. cis-Pt reacted also with ApA forming both monofunctional and bifunctional Pt-adducts. The main adducts were intramolecular cross-links. cis-Pt reacted equally well with all guanosine-containing dinucleotides, while the reaction with ApA was much slower. With CpC and UpU no reaction products were formed.
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hajj, G. A.; Wilson, B. D.; Wang, C.; Pi, X.; Rosen, I. G.
2004-01-01
A three-dimensional (3-D) Global Assimilative Ionospheric Model (GAIM) is currently being developed by a joint University of Southern California and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) team. To estimate the electron density on a global grid, GAIM uses a first-principles ionospheric physics model and the Kalman filter as one of its possible estimation techniques.
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Kagbadouno, S M; Salou, E; Rayaisse, J B; Courtin, F; Sanon, A; Solano, P; Camara, M
2016-05-01
The mangrove area on the Guinea littoral constitutes a favourable habitat for transmission of Trypanosoma brucei gambiens, the parasite causing sleeping sickness also called Human African Trypanosmosis (HAT), due the simultaneous presence of the vector (tsetse flies) and the human hosts. In order to assess the influence of the sea tides on the densities of Glossina palpalis gambiensis (Gpg), major vector of HAT in the mangrove, entomological surveys were performed using two transects, according to tides coefficient (great and small) and tide daily fluctuations (high and low). On each transect, 12 biconical traps were deployed through the mangrove to the continent. In total, up to 612 Gpg were caught, giving a density of 2.13 flies/trap/day (f/t/d). Highest captures were recorded during small tides and more tsetse were caught during the dry season than in the wet season. There were significant differences between captures when considering the different biotopes, and highest tsetse densities were recorded at the junction of the river and the channel of the mangrove (6.17±5.24); and in the channels of mangrove (3.50±3.76), during high tides of small coefficients. The results of this study may be used to improve vector control methods.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kandt, A.; Lowell, M.
2012-05-01
GSA's Green Proving Ground (GPG) program utilizes GSA's real estate portfolio to test and evaluate innovative and underutilized sustainable building technologies and practices. Findings are used to support the development of GSA performance specifications and inform decision making within GSA, other federal agencies, and the real estate industry. The program aims to drive innovation in environmental performance in federal buildings and help lead market transformation through deployment of new technologies.
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Open Source Software Projects Needing Security Investments
2015-06-19
modtls, BouncyCastle, gpg, otr, axolotl. 7. Static analyzers: Clang, Frama-C. 8. Nginx. 9. OpenVPN . It was noted that the funding model may be similar...to OpenSSL, where consulting funds the company. It was also noted that OpenVPN needs to correctly use OpenSSL in order to be secure, so focusing on...Dovecot 4. Other high-impact network services: OpenSSH, OpenVPN , BIND, ISC DHCP, University of Delaware NTPD 5. Core infrastructure data parsers
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Photovoltaic-Thermal New Technology Demonstration
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Dean, Jesse; McNutt, Peter; Lisell, Lars
Photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) hybrid solar systems offer increased electricity production by cooling the PV panel, and using the removed thermal energy to heat water - all in the same footprint as a standard PV system. GPG's assessment of the nation's first large-scale PV-T system installed at the Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. Federal Building in Boston, MA, provided numerous lessons learned in system design, and identified a target market of locations with high utility costs and electric hot water backup.
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Evaluation of propylene glycol and glycerol infusions as treatments for ketosis in dairy cows.
Piantoni, P; Allen, M S
2015-08-01
To evaluate propylene glycol (PG) and glycerol (G) as potential treatments for ketosis, we conducted 2 experiments lasting 4 d each in which cows received one bolus infusion per day. Blood was collected before infusion, over 240min postinfusion, as well as 24 h postinfusion. Experiment 1 used 6 ruminally cannulated cows (26±7 d in milk) randomly assigned to 300-mL infusions of PG or G (both ≥99.5% pure) in a crossover design experiment with 2 periods. Within each period, cows were assigned randomly to infusion site sequence: abomasum (A)-cranial reticulorumen (R) or the reverse, R-A. Glucose precursors were infused into the R to simulate drenching and the A to prevent metabolism by ruminal microbes. Glycerol infused in the A increased plasma glucose concentration the most (15.8mg/dL), followed by PG infused in the R (12.6mg/dL), PG infused in the A (9.11mg/dL), and G infused in the R (7.3mg/dL). Infusion of PG into the R increased plasma insulin and insulin area under the curve (AUC) the most compared with all other treatments (7.88 vs. 2.13μIU/mL and 321 vs. 31.9min×μIU/mL, respectively). Overall, PG decreased plasma BHBA concentration after infusion (-6.46 vs. -4.55mg/dL) and increased BHBA AUC (-1,055 vs. -558min ×mg/dL) compared with G. Plasma NEFA responses were not different among treatments. Experiment 2 used 8 ruminally cannulated cows (22±5 d in milk) randomly assigned to treatment sequence in a Latin square design experiment balanced for carryover effects. Treatments were 300mL of PG, 300mL of G, 600mL of G (2G), and 300mL of PG + 300mL of G (GPG), all infused into the R. Treatment contrasts compared PG with each treatment containing glycerol (G, 2G, and GPG). Propylene glycol increased plasma glucose (14.0 vs. 5.35mg/dL) and insulin (7.59 vs. 1.11μIU/mL) concentrations compared with G, but only tended to increase glucose and insulin concentrations compared with 2G. Propylene glycol increased AUC for glucose (1,444 vs. 94.3mg/dL) and insulin (326 vs. 6.58min×μIU/mL) compared with G, and tended to increase insulin AUC compared with 2G. Propylene glycol was not different from GPG for glucose, insulin, or BHBA responses. Propylene glycol decreased plasma BHBA concentration (-10.3 vs. -4.21mg/dL) and increased BHBA AUC (-1,578 vs. -1.42min ×mg/dL) compared with G, but not compared with 2G. In general, and compared with G, GPG decreased plasma NEFA concentrations after infusions and PG decreased plasma NEFA concentrations early but not late after infusions. We conclude that a 300-mL dose of PG is more effective at increasing plasma glucose concentration than G and at least as effective as 600mL of G or a combination of G and PG when administered in the cranial reticulorumen. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Stellar Populations in BL Lac type Objects
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Serote Roos, Margarida
The relationship between an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) and its host galaxy is a crucial question in the study of galaxy evolution. We present an estimate of the stellar contribution in a sample of low luminosity BL Lac type objects. We have performed stellar population synthesis for a sample of 19 objects selected from Marchã et al. (1996, MNRAS 281, 425). The stellar content is quantified using the equivalent widths of all absorption features available throughout the spectrum. The synthesis is done by a variant of the GPG method (Pelat: 1997, MNRAS 284, 365).
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Decisive Routing and Admission Control According to Quality of Service Constraints
2009-03-01
Level &(Key Size) 1 1 RSA (1280); RSA (1536); Elg-E (1280) 1 2 Elg-E ( 768 ); Elg-E(1024); RSA (1024) 1 3 3DES, BlowFish, CAST5 2 1 Elg-E(1536); Elg-E(1792...upon the intractibility of the discrete logarithm problem [11] RSA A public key encryption scheme named after inventors R. Rivest, A. Shamir, and L...gpgTester would make system calls to the GNU Privacy Guard to choose from system and public key algorithms, ElGamal, RSA , AES, AES192, AES256, TwoFish
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1982-09-01
CIli N N N LJ I> UU () u ~I - 6 0 0 -+ o4’ C. - z 00 > -~2 1~~~~ VCW *- oil-- La 4I (i~~bs S.oj *1iu i 9 I VIH 9-sn c ..-.. w ~ LkJo~ 0L 0 B )0...2100 __2000 w*gpg S-U slV-. Is OOU 1O OOU S OOU . a . 0#0 MR., ? -2200Pautsaj Ist COl toot 00,v An 300 -~~~~ -, ---- ---- I $to U ,S0M 00*aSow STA
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Bryan, M A; Bó, G; Mapletoft, R J; Emslie, F R
2013-01-01
In seasonally calving, pasture-based dairy farm systems, the interval from calving to first estrus is a critical factor affecting reproductive efficiency. This study evaluated the effects of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) on the reproductive response of lactating, seasonally calving dairy cows diagnosed with anovulatory anestrus by rectal palpation. Cows on 15 commercial dairy farms were selected for initial inclusion based on nonobserved estrus by 7 d before the planned start of mating. All cows were palpated rectally and evaluated for body condition score and ovary score, and were included for treatment according to the trial protocol if diagnosed with anovulatory anestrus. All cows received a standard anestrous treatment protocol consisting of insertion of a progesterone device, injection of 100 µg of GnRH at the time of device insertion, and injection of PGF(2α) at device removal (GPG/P4). Cows were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups (6 d or 7 d) for duration of progesterone device insertion. Within each of these groups, cows were further randomly assigned to receive either 400 IU of eCG at device removal or to remain untreated as controls, resulting in a 2×2 arrangement of treatment groups: (1) 6-d device and no eCG (n=484); (2) 6-d device and eCG (n=462); (3) 7-d device and no eCG (n=546); and (4) 7-d device and eCG (n=499). Cows were detected for estrus from the time of progesterone device removal and were inseminated; those not detected in estrus within 60 h after progesterone device removal received 100 µg of GnRH and were inseminated at 72 h. The primary outcomes considered were proportion of cows conceiving within 7 d of the beginning of breeding (7-d conception rate; 7-d CR), proportion pregnant within 28 d (28-d in calf rate; 28-d ICR), and days to conception (DTC). We found no significant differences between the 6- and 7-d insertion periods and found no 6- or 7-d insertion period × eCG treatment interactions. Inclusion of eCG into either length of GPG/P4 protocol increased 7-d CR (36.0 vs. 30.6%) and 28-d ICR (58.6 vs. 52.3%) and decreased median days to conception. The use of eCG in GPG/P4 breeding protocols will improve reproductive efficiency in seasonally calving, anestrous dairy cattle. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Liu, Bing; Wang, Lingling; Tong, Bei; Zhang, Yan; Sheng, Wei; Pan, Mingfei; Wang, Shuo
2016-11-15
In this study, the three nanomaterials: colloidal gold, nanogold-polyaniline-nanogold microspheres (GPGs) and colloidal carbon were respectively labeled with the antibody against salbutamol (SAL). We aimed to develop immunochromatographic strips with these nanomaterial labels and determine their performance in visual detection of SAL. For the colloidal gold-based strip, the detection limit of SAL was 1.0µgL(-1) in standard solution and 5.0µgkg(-1) in meat samples. For the GPG- and colloidal carbon-based strips, the limit of detection was 2.0µgL(-1) in standard solution and 10µgkg(-1) in meat samples. The results obtained using the test strips were found to be highly consistent with those obtained using a commercial kit, indicating the high accuracy of these strips. The three strips were also found to be stable up to 18 weeks under laboratory conditions. In terms of sensitivity, the colloidal gold-based strip was slightly better than the other two. For the GPG- and colloidal carbon-based strips, the difference between the results obtained for different batches was small (high consistency), and the stability was much better than that of the colloidal gold-based one. Our results indicate that colloidal carbon can be used as a label in immunochromatographic tests; it can also help reduce the cost involved and scale-up the production. The use of immunochromatographic test strips labeled with colloidal carbon can be a rapid and inexpensive method for SAL assays in on-site applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Wang, Yanli; Shen, Gui; Gong, Jinjun; Shen, Danyu; Whittington, Amy; Qing, Jiang; Treloar, Joshua; Boisvert, Scott; Zhang, Zhengguang; Yang, Cai; Wang, Ping
2014-05-02
Gβ-like/RACK1 functions as a key mediator of various pathways and contributes to numerous cellular functions in eukaryotic organisms. In the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans, noncanonical Gβ Gib2 promotes cAMP signaling in cells lacking normal Gpa1 function while displaying versatility in interactions with Gα Gpa1, protein kinase Pkc1, and endocytic intersectin Cin1. To elucidate the Gib2 functional mechanism(s), we demonstrate that Gib2 is required for normal growth and virulence. We show that Gib2 directly binds to Gpa1 and Gγ Gpg1/Gpg2 and that it interacts with phosphodiesterase Pde2 and monomeric GTPase Ras1. Pde2 remains functionally dispensable, but Ras1 is found to associate with adenylyl cyclase Cac1 through the conserved Ras association domain. In addition, the ras1 mutant exhibits normal capsule formation, whereas the ras1 gpa1 mutant displays enhanced capsule formation, and the ras1 gpa1 cac1 mutant is acapsular. Collectively, these findings suggest that Gib2 promotes cAMP levels by relieving an inhibitory function of Ras1 on Cac1 in the absence of Gpa1. In addition, using GST affinity purification combined with mass spectrometry, we identified 47 additional proteins that interact with Gib2. These proteins have putative functions ranging from signal transduction, energy generation, metabolism, and stress response to ribosomal function. After establishing and validating a protein-protein interactive network, we believe Gib2 to be a key adaptor/scaffolding protein that drives the formation of various protein complexes required for growth and virulence. Our study reveals Gib2 as an essential component in deciphering the complexity of regulatory networks that control growth and virulence in C. neoformans.
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Business continuity 2014: From traditional to integrated Business Continuity Management.
Ee, Henry
As global change continues to generate new challenges and potential threats to businesses, traditional business continuity management (BCM) slowly reveals its limitations and weak points to ensuring 'business resiliency' today. Consequently, BCM professionals also face the challenge of re-evaluating traditional concepts and introducing new strategies and industry best practices. This paper points to why traditional BCM is no longer sufficient in terms of enabling businesses to survive in today's high-risk environment. It also looks into some of the misconceptions about BCM and other stumbling blocks to establishing effective BCM today. Most importantly, however, this paper provides tips based on the Business Continuity Institute's (BCI) Good Practices Guideline (GPG) and the latest international BCM standard ISO 22301 on how to overcome the issues and challenges presented.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Scordo, Facundo; Seitz, Carina; Melo, Walter D.; Piccolo, M. Cintia; Perillo, Gerardo M. E.
2018-04-01
This work aims to assess how Pleistocene glaciations modeled the landscape in the upper Senguer River basin and its relationship to current watershed features (drainage surface and fluvial hydrological regime). During the Pleistocene six glacial lobes developed in the upper basin of the Senguer River localized east of the Andean range in southern Argentinean Patagonia between 43° 36' - 46° 27‧ S. To describe the topography and hydrology, map the geomorphology, and propose an evolution of the study area during the Pleistocene we employed multitemporal Landsat images, national geological sheets and a mosaic of the digital elevation model (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) along with fieldwork. The main conclusion is that until the Middle Pleistocene, the drainage divide of the Senguer River basin was located to the west of its current limits and its rivers drained the meltwater of the glaciers during interglacial periods. However, processes of drainage inversion and drainage surface reduction occurred in the headwater of most rivers of the basin during the Late Pleistocene. Those processes were favored by a relative shorter glacial extension during LGM and the dam effect produced by the moraines of the Post GPG I and III glaciations. Thus, since the Late Pleistocene, the headwaters of several rivers in the basin have been reduced, and the moraines corresponding to the Middle Pleistocene glaciations currently divide the watersheds that drain towards the Senguer River from those that flow west towards the Pacific Ocean.
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77 FR 38338 - Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide; Comments Request
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-06-27
... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide; Comments Request AGENCY: National Science Foundation. ACTION: Notification of extension of public comment period. SUMMARY... on the National Science Foundation Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide. The original...
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The research and preparation of a novel nano biodegradable polymer external reinforcement
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Xiangman; Chen, Bin; Fu, Weiguo; Fang, Zhengdong; Liu, Zhenjie; Lu, Weifeng; Shi, Zhengyu; Chen, Lili; Chen, Tao
2011-10-01
The use of current drug-loaded vascular scaffolds is limited in sustained drug release and stability studies in clinical and preclinical trials. We found that poly( L-glutamic acid)-b-poly(propylene oxide)-b-poly( L-glutamic acid) (PLGA-b-PPO-b-PLGA) triblock copolymers can deliver multiple poorly water-soluble drugs (e.g., Paclitaxel) at clinically relevant doses. In this study, we synthesized a new drug-loaded vascular external graft with electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds [poly( L-lactide-co-ɛ-caprolactone) (PLCL):fibrinogen; 2:1 (w/w)] and drug-loaded PLGA-b-PPO-b-PLGA micelles. Cell proliferation and viability assay results showed that beagle smooth muscle cells grew well on the surface of vascular graft-coated micelles at a percentages of 10% (w/w) GPG:PLCL-fibrinogen. This study demonstrates that micelle-coated electrospun PLCL-fibrinogen vascular scaffolds have potential applications in vascular tissue engineering.
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General-Purpose Genotype or How Epigenetics Extend the Flexibility of a Genotype
Massicotte, Rachel; Angers, Bernard
2012-01-01
This project aims at investigating the link between individual epigenetic variability (not related to genetic variability) and the variation of natural environmental conditions. We studied DNA methylation polymorphisms of individuals belonging to a single genetic lineage of the clonal diploid fish Chrosomus eos-neogaeus sampled in seven geographically distant lakes. In spite of a low number of informative fragments obtained from an MSAP analysis, individuals of a given lake are epigenetically similar, and methylation profiles allow the clustering of individuals in two distinct groups of populations among lakes. More importantly, we observed a significant pH variation that is consistent with the two epigenetic groups. It thus seems that the genotype studied has the potential to respond differentially via epigenetic modifications under variable environmental conditions, making epigenetic processes a relevant molecular mechanism contributing to phenotypic plasticity over variable environments in accordance with the GPG model. PMID:22567383
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Change Detection via Selective Guided Contrasting Filters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vizilter, Y. V.; Rubis, A. Y.; Zheltov, S. Y.
2017-05-01
Change detection scheme based on guided contrasting was previously proposed. Guided contrasting filter takes two images (test and sample) as input and forms the output as filtered version of test image. Such filter preserves the similar details and smooths the non-similar details of test image with respect to sample image. Due to this the difference between test image and its filtered version (difference map) could be a basis for robust change detection. Guided contrasting is performed in two steps: at the first step some smoothing operator (SO) is applied for elimination of test image details; at the second step all matched details are restored with local contrast proportional to the value of some local similarity coefficient (LSC). The guided contrasting filter was proposed based on local average smoothing as SO and local linear correlation as LSC. In this paper we propose and implement new set of selective guided contrasting filters based on different combinations of various SO and thresholded LSC. Linear average and Gaussian smoothing, nonlinear median filtering, morphological opening and closing are considered as SO. Local linear correlation coefficient, morphological correlation coefficient (MCC), mutual information, mean square MCC and geometrical correlation coefficients are applied as LSC. Thresholding of LSC allows operating with non-normalized LSC and enhancing the selective properties of guided contrasting filters: details are either totally recovered or not recovered at all after the smoothing. These different guided contrasting filters are tested as a part of previously proposed change detection pipeline, which contains following stages: guided contrasting filtering on image pyramid, calculation of difference map, binarization, extraction of change proposals and testing change proposals using local MCC. Experiments on real and simulated image bases demonstrate the applicability of all proposed selective guided contrasting filters. All implemented filters provide the robustness relative to weak geometrical discrepancy of compared images. Selective guided contrasting based on morphological opening/closing and thresholded morphological correlation demonstrates the best change detection result.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Matter, J.; Kelemen, P. B.; Teagle, D. A. H.
2014-12-01
With seed funds from the Sloan Foundation, the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) approved a proposal by 39 international proponents for scientific drilling in the Oman ophiolite. Via observations on core, geophysical logging, fluid sampling, hydrological measurements, and microbiological sampling in a series of boreholes, we will address long-standing, unresolved questions regarding melt and solid transport in the mantle beneath oceanic spreading ridges, igneous accretion of oceanic crust, mass transfer between the oceans and the crust via hydrothermal alteration, and recycling of volatile components in subduction zones. We will undertake frontier exploration of subsurface weathering processes in mantle peridotite, including natural mechanisms of carbon dioxide uptake from surface waters and the atmosphere, and the nature of the subsurface biosphere. Societally relevant aspects include involvement and training of university students, including numerous students from Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. Studies of natural mineral carbonation will contribute to design of engineered systems for geological carbon dioxide capture and storage. Studies of alteration will contribute to fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of reaction-driven cracking, which could enhance geothermal power generation and extraction of unconventional hydrocarbon resources. We hope to begin drilling in late 2015. Meanwhile, we are seeking an additional $2M to match the combined Sloan and ICDP funding from national and international funding agencies. Matching funds are needed for operational costs of drilling, geophysical logging, downhole fluid sampling, and core description. Information on becoming part of the named investigator pool is in Appendix 14 (page 70) of the ICDP proposal, available at https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/gpg/projects/icdp-workshop-oman-drilling-project. This formal process should begin at about the time of the 2014 Fall AGU Meeting. Meanwhile, potential investigators who can help raise matching funds, e.g. for core description as part of petrological or structural studies or for drill site operations, are encouraged to contact the authors of this abstract.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-10-07
... charter vessels in the guided halibut sport fishery in International Pacific Halibut Commission Areas 2C... Pacific halibut is allocated between the guided sport (i.e., the charter sector) and the commercial... Fisheries Science Center proposes to conduct a survey of charter vessel owners to collect annual cost and...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-10-08
... Information Collection: Comment Request; The Multifamily Accelerated Processing Guide AGENCY: Office of the... also lists the following information: Title of Proposal: Multifamily Accelerated Processing Guide (MAP...-0541. Description of the need for the information and proposed use: Multifamily Accelerated Processing...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Golden, Susan L.
Based on the "simple truth" that people, not proposals, secure grants, this guide argues that grantseekers need to go well beyond strong ideas and "beautifully written" proposals. The guide provides fundraisers with the grantsmanship skills they need to navigate the grantmaking process: from avoiding common pitfalls such as…
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Template-directed synthesis on the pentanucleotide CpCpGpCpC
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Inoue, T.; Joyce, G. F.; Grzeskowiak, K.; Orgel, L. E.; Brown, J. M.; Reese, C. B.
1984-01-01
Experiments in which CpCpGpCpC is used as a template to facilitate the co-oligomerization of 2-MeImpG and 2-MeImpC are described. It is shown that 3' to 5' prime-linked pGpGpCpGpG, whose sequence is complementary to that of the template, is substantially the most adundant pentameric product of the template-directed reaction. The yield of pGpGpCpGpG is never large (less than 20 percent), presumably becauase off-template reactions consume template-directed products. Thus pGpGpCpGpG is converted to the various isomers of G5C and G4C2 by off-template terminal addition of G or C. The 3' to 5' isomer of GpG is elongated on the template to give GpGpC, GpGpCpG, and GpGpCpGpG, while the 2' to 5' isomer does not initiate the synthesis of detectable amounts of longer oligomers.
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Movies with smoking make less money.
Glantz, Stanton A; Polansky, Jonathan R
2012-11-01
To determine the relationship between presence of smoking in films and total box office receipts. Regression analysis of box office receipts as a function of film rating, production budget, year of release and presence of smoking for 1232 films released in the USA between 2002 and 2010. R-rated films made, on average, 87% (95% CI 83% to 90%) of what PG-13 films of similar smoking status made and smoking films made 87% (95% CI 79% to 96%) of what comparably rated smoke-free films made. Larger budget films made more money. There was no significant effect of release year or G/PG rating compared with PG-13-rated movies. Because PG-13 films without smoking (median $48.6 million) already make 41% more money at the box office than R-rated movies with smoking (median $34.4 million), implementing an R rating for smoking to remove it from youth-rated films will not conflict with the economic self-interest of producer-distributors.
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76 FR 33193 - Notice of Proposed Change to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-06-08
... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Natural Resources Conservation Service Notice of Proposed Change to....S. Department of Agriculture. ACTION: Notice of Availability of proposed changes in the Virginia... Conservationist for Virginia that changes must be made in the NRCS State Technical Guide specifically in practice...
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77 FR 23277 - Proposed Leasehold Surrender Interest Guide
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-04-18
... Harvey, Asset Management Branch Chief, 202-513-7150. Before including your address, phone number, email... Management Improvement Act of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-391; 36 CFR part 51), the proposed LSI Guide provides...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chen, Chih-Hung; Liu, Guan-Zhi; Hwang, Gwo-Jen
2016-01-01
In this study, an integrated gaming and multistage guiding approach was proposed for conducting in-field mobile learning activities. A mobile learning system was developed based on the proposed approach. To investigate the interaction between the gaming and guiding strategies on students' learning performance and motivation, a 2 × 2 experiment was…
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A guided search genetic algorithm using mined rules for optimal affective product design
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fung, Chris K. Y.; Kwong, C. K.; Chan, Kit Yan; Jiang, H.
2014-08-01
Affective design is an important aspect of new product development, especially for consumer products, to achieve a competitive edge in the marketplace. It can help companies to develop new products that can better satisfy the emotional needs of customers. However, product designers usually encounter difficulties in determining the optimal settings of the design attributes for affective design. In this article, a novel guided search genetic algorithm (GA) approach is proposed to determine the optimal design attribute settings for affective design. The optimization model formulated based on the proposed approach applied constraints and guided search operators, which were formulated based on mined rules, to guide the GA search and to achieve desirable solutions. A case study on the affective design of mobile phones was conducted to illustrate the proposed approach and validate its effectiveness. Validation tests were conducted, and the results show that the guided search GA approach outperforms the GA approach without the guided search strategy in terms of GA convergence and computational time. In addition, the guided search optimization model is capable of improving GA to generate good solutions for affective design.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Torigoe, Chikako; Nishimura, Yoshifumi; Tsuboi, Masamichi; Matsuzaki, Jun-ichi; Hotoda, Hitoshi; Sekine, Mitsuo; Hata, Tsujiaki
Raman spectra of four self-complementary tetradeoxyribonucleoside triphosphates containing only guanosine and cytidine residues have been examined in aqueous solutions of different ionic strengths and at different temperatures. Both in low salt (0.15 M NaCl) and in high salt (4 M NaCl) solutions (at -2°C) all of the four duplexes have different conformations, distinguishable by Raman spectroscopy from one another. Thus, the duplex conformation is sequence-dependent. On the basis of several rules proposed recently for structure—spectrum correlations, new information was provided on the local conformations of the duplexes of these oligo-DNAs. In the low-salt solution, d(CCGG) 2 is B-DNA like in its overall conformation, but in detail the backbone conformation of the CpC portion is considered to be different from that in the GpG portion. In either one of these two portions, the torsion angle (β) around the O5'C5' bond must be somewhat higher than the usual values for B-DNA (150-170°), so that it causes a 815 cm -1 Raman line instead of the usual B marker 830 cm -1 line. This may be related to the peculiar circular dichroism spectrum of d(CCGG) 2. On going to the high-salt solution, about 5% of the d(CCGG) 2 molecules are converted into the A form. In the high-salt form (Z form) of d(CGCG) 2, the terminal guanosine was concluded to be in a C2' endo-syn conformation, whereas the internal one is in C3' endo-syn.
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Liu, Miao; Yang, Shourui; Wang, Zhangying; Huang, Shujun; Liu, Yue; Niu, Zhenqi; Zhang, Xiaoxuan; Zhu, Jigui; Zhang, Zonghua
2016-05-30
Augmented reality system can be applied to provide precise guidance for various kinds of manual works. The adaptability and guiding accuracy of such systems are decided by the computational model and the corresponding calibration method. In this paper, a novel type of augmented reality guiding system and the corresponding designing scheme are proposed. Guided by external positioning equipment, the proposed system can achieve high relative indication accuracy in a large working space. Meanwhile, the proposed system is realized with a digital projector and the general back projection model is derived with geometry relationship between digitized 3D model and the projector in free space. The corresponding calibration method is also designed for the proposed system to obtain the parameters of projector. To validate the proposed back projection model, the coordinate data collected by a 3D positioning equipment is used to calculate and optimize the extrinsic parameters. The final projecting indication accuracy of the system is verified with subpixel pattern projecting technique.
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Østervemb, Niels; Jørgensen, Jette Nedergaard; Hørsted-Bindslev, Preben
2011-02-01
The most widely used shade guide for composite materials is made of ceramic and arranged according to a non-proven method. There is a need for a composite shade guide using a scientifically based arrangement principle. To compare the shade tab arrangement of the Vitapan Classical shade guide and an individually made composite shade guide using both the originally proposed arrangement principle and arranged according to ΔE2000 values with hue group division. An individual composite shade guide made from Filtek Supreme XT body colors was compared to the Vitapan Classical shade guide. Twenty-five students matched color samples made from Filtek Supreme XT body colors using the two shade guides arranged after the two proposed principles--four shade guides in total. Age, sequence, gender, time, and number of correct matches were recorded. The proposed visually optimal composite shade guide was both fastest and had the highest number of correct matches. Gender was significantly associated with time used for color sampling but not regarding the number of correct shade matches. A composite shade guide is superior compared to the ceramic Vitapan Classical guide when using composite test objects. A rearrangement of the shade guide according to hue, subdivided according to ΔE2000, significantly reduces the time needed to take a color sample and increases the number of correct shade matches. Total color difference in relation to the lightest tab with hue group division is recommended as a possible and universally applicable mode of tab arrangement in dental color standards. Moreover, a shade guide made of the composite materials itself is to be preferred as both a faster and more accurate method of determining color. © 2011, COPYRIGHT THE AUTHORS. JOURNAL COMPILATION © 2011, WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.
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Prevalence of smoking among major movie characters: 1996–2004
Worth, Keilah A; Cin, Sonya Dal; Sargent, James D
2006-01-01
Background Reports of a relationship between watching smoking in movies and smoking among adolescents have prompted greater scrutiny of smoking in movies by the public health community. Objective To assess the smoking prevalence among adult and adolescent movie characters, examine trends in smoking in movies over time, and compare the data with actual smoking prevalence among US adults and adolescents. Design and methods Smoking status of all major human adolescent and adult movie characters in the top 100 box office hits from 1996 to 2004 (900 movies) was assessed, and smoking prevalence was examined by Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating and year of release. Results The movies contained 5944 major characters, of whom 4911 were adults and 466 were adolescents. Among adult movie characters, the overall smoking prevalence was 20.6%; smoking was more common in men than in women (22.6% v 16.1%, respectively, p<0.001), and was related to MPAA rating category (26.9% for movies rated R (restricted, people aged <17 years require accompanying adult), 17.9% for PG‐13 (parents strongly cautioned that some material might be inappropriate for children) and 10.4% for G/PG (general audiences, all ages; parental guidance suggested for children), p<0.001). In 1996, the smoking prevalence for major adult movie characters (25.7%) was similar to that in the actual US population (24.7%). Smoking prevalence among adult movie characters declined to 18.4% in 2004 (p for trend <0.001), slightly below that for the US population for that year (20.9%). Examination of trends by MPAA rating showed that the downward trend in smoking among adult movie characters was statistically significant in movies rated G/PG and R, but not in those rated PG‐13. A downward trend over time was also found for smoking among adolescent movie characters. There was no smoking among adult characters in 43.3% of the movies; however, in 39% of the movies, smoking prevalence among adult characters was higher than that in the US adult population in the year of release. Conclusions Smoking prevalence among major adolescent and adult movie characters is declining, with the downward trend among adult characters weakest for PG‐13‐rated movies. Although many movies depict no adult smoking, more than one third depict smoking as more prevalent than that among US adults at the time of release. PMID:17130372
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-02-15
... Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Reactors AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Draft regulatory guide... draft regulatory guide (DG) DG-1271 ``Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Reactors.'' This guide describes... Regulatory Guide 1.184, ``Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Reactors,'' dated July 2000. This proposed...
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DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2007-01-01
The proposed Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) procedure is an improved methodology for pavement design and evaluation of paving materials. Since this new procedure depends heavily on the characterization of the fundamental engineer...
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77 FR 74745 - Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-12-17
...Except as specifically described below, the FTC has completed its regulatory review of its Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule (``Used Car Rule'' or ``Rule'') as part of the FTC's systematic review of all current Commission regulations and guides. The Commission has decided to retain the Rule and, in a separate Federal Register document, to amend it by changing the Spanish translation of the Buyers Guide. In addition, the Commission also has decided to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (``NPR'') soliciting comments on proposed changes to the Rule. In this NPR, the Commission addresses the comments received during its review and invites public comment on the following four proposed changes to the Buyers Guide: adding boxes to the back of the Buyers Guide where dealers would have the option to indicate manufacturers' and other third-party warranties; adding a statement to the Buyers Guide encouraging consumers to seek vehicle history information and directing consumers to an FTC Web site for more information about vehicle histories; adding catalytic converters and airbags to the List of Systems on the back of the Buyers Guide; and adding a statement in Spanish to the English Buyers Guide directing consumers who cannot read the Buyers Guide in English to ask for a copy of it in Spanish.
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An External Archive-Guided Multiobjective Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm.
Zhu, Qingling; Lin, Qiuzhen; Chen, Weineng; Wong, Ka-Chun; Coello Coello, Carlos A; Li, Jianqiang; Chen, Jianyong; Zhang, Jun
2017-09-01
The selection of swarm leaders (i.e., the personal best and global best), is important in the design of a multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) algorithm. Such leaders are expected to effectively guide the swarm to approach the true Pareto optimal front. In this paper, we present a novel external archive-guided MOPSO algorithm (AgMOPSO), where the leaders for velocity update are all selected from the external archive. In our algorithm, multiobjective optimization problems (MOPs) are transformed into a set of subproblems using a decomposition approach, and then each particle is assigned accordingly to optimize each subproblem. A novel archive-guided velocity update method is designed to guide the swarm for exploration, and the external archive is also evolved using an immune-based evolutionary strategy. These proposed approaches speed up the convergence of AgMOPSO. The experimental results fully demonstrate the superiority of our proposed AgMOPSO in solving most of the test problems adopted, in terms of two commonly used performance measures. Moreover, the effectiveness of our proposed archive-guided velocity update method and immune-based evolutionary strategy is also experimentally validated on more than 30 test MOPs.
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A Simple and Automatic Method for Locating Surgical Guide Hole
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Li, Xun; Chen, Ming; Tang, Kai
2017-12-01
Restoration-driven surgical guides are widely used in implant surgery. This study aims to provide a simple and valid method of automatically locating surgical guide hole, which can reduce operator's experiences and improve the design efficiency and quality of surgical guide. Few literatures can be found on this topic and the paper proposed a novel and simple method to solve this problem. In this paper, a local coordinate system for each objective tooth is geometrically constructed in CAD system. This coordinate system well represents dental anatomical features and the center axis of the objective tooth (coincide with the corresponding guide hole axis) can be quickly evaluated in this coordinate system, finishing the location of the guide hole. The proposed method has been verified by comparing two types of benchmarks: manual operation by one skilled doctor with over 15-year experiences (used in most hospitals) and automatic way using one popular commercial package Simplant (used in few hospitals).Both the benchmarks and the proposed method are analyzed in their stress distribution when chewing and biting. The stress distribution is visually shown and plotted as a graph. The results show that the proposed method has much better stress distribution than the manual operation and slightly better than Simplant, which will significantly reduce the risk of cervical margin collapse and extend the wear life of the restoration.
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76 FR 23970 - Notice of Proposed Changes to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-04-29
... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Natural Resources Conservation Service Notice of Proposed Changes to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U..., 395, Stream Habitat Improvement and Management, 422, Hedgerow Planting, 643, Restoration and...
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75 FR 34974 - Notice of Proposed Change to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-06-21
... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Natural Resources Conservation Service Notice of Proposed Change to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U... Road, Suite 209, Richmond, Virginia 23229-5014; Telephone number (804) 287-1691; Fax number (804) 287...
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77 FR 55180 - Notice of Proposed Changes to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-09-07
... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Natural Resources Conservation Service Notice of Proposed Changes to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U..., Virginia 23229-5014; Telephone number (804) 287-1691 or [email protected] Copies of the practice...
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USER'S GUIDE TO FLEXIBLE MEMBRANE LINER ADVISORY EXPERT SYSTEM: FLEX VERSION 3.0
The guide is a user manual for the Flexible Membrane Liner Advisory Expert System (FLEX). The system assists in determining if a proposed synthetic liner material will be chemically resistant to a proposed or anticipated leachate from a hazardous waste land disposal site. More sp...
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76 FR 59382 - Notice of Proposed Change to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-09-26
... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Natural Resources Conservation Service Notice of Proposed Change to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U... Harvest Management, 657, Wetland Restoration, 658, Wetland Creation, and 659, Wetland Enhancement. These...
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Vision-guided micromanipulation system for biomedical application
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Shim, Jae-Hong; Cho, Sung-Yong; Cha, Dong-Hyuk
2004-10-01
In these days, various researches for biomedical application of robots have been carried out. Particularly, robotic manipulation of the biological cells has been studied by many researchers. Usually, most of the biological cell's shape is sphere. Commercial biological manipulation systems have been utilized the 2-Dimensional images through the optical microscopes only. Moreover, manipulation of the biological cells mainly depends on the subjective viewpoint of an operator. Due to these reasons, there exist lots of problems such as slippery and destruction of the cell membrane and damage of the pipette tip etc. In order to overcome the problems, we have proposed a vision-guided biological cell manipulation system. The newly proposed manipulation system makes use of vision and graphic techniques. Through the proposed procedures, an operator can inject the biological cell scientifically and objectively. Also, the proposed manipulation system can measure the contact force occurred at injection of a biological cell. It can be transmitted a measured force to the operator by the proposed haptic device. Consequently, the proposed manipulation system could safely handle the biological cells without any damage. This paper presents the introduction of our vision-guided manipulation techniques and the concept of the contact force sensing. Through a series of experiments the proposed vision-guided manipulation system shows the possibility of application for precision manipulation of the biological cell such as DNA.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-07-15
... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-0268; FRL-9833-5] Updates to Protective Action Guides Manual: Protective Action Guides (PAGs) and Planning Guidance for Radiological Incidents AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Proposed guidance; extension of comment period. SUMMARY: The U.S...
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Fürst, Rafael Vilhena de Carvalho; Polimanti, Afonso César; Galego, Sidnei José; Bicudo, Maria Claudia; Montagna, Erik; Corrêa, João Antônio
2017-03-01
To present a simple and affordable model able to properly simulate an ultrasound-guided venous access. The simulation was made using a latex balloon tube filled with water and dye solution implanted in a thawed chicken breast with bones. The presented model allows the simulation of all implant stages of a central catheter. The obtained echogenicity is similar to that observed in human tissue, and the ultrasound identification of the tissues, balloon, needle, wire guide and catheter is feasible and reproducible. The proposed model is simple, economical, easy to manufacture and capable of realistically and effectively simulating an ultrasound-guided venous access.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chang, Yong; Zi, Yanyang; Zhao, Jiyuan; Yang, Zhe; He, Wangpeng; Sun, Hailiang
2017-03-01
In guided wave pipeline inspection, echoes reflected from closely spaced reflectors generally overlap, meaning useful information is lost. To solve the overlapping problem, sparse deconvolution methods have been developed in the past decade. However, conventional sparse deconvolution methods have limitations in handling guided wave signals, because the input signal is directly used as the prototype of the convolution matrix, without considering the waveform change caused by the dispersion properties of the guided wave. In this paper, an adaptive sparse deconvolution (ASD) method is proposed to overcome these limitations. First, the Gaussian echo model is employed to adaptively estimate the column prototype of the convolution matrix instead of directly using the input signal as the prototype. Then, the convolution matrix is constructed upon the estimated results. Third, the split augmented Lagrangian shrinkage (SALSA) algorithm is introduced to solve the deconvolution problem with high computational efficiency. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, guided wave signals obtained from pipeline inspection are investigated numerically and experimentally. Compared to conventional sparse deconvolution methods, e.g. the {{l}1} -norm deconvolution method, the proposed method shows better performance in handling the echo overlap problem in the guided wave signal.
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Structure-affinity relationships for the binding of actinomycin D to DNA
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gallego, José; Ortiz, Angel R.; de Pascual-Teresa, Beatriz; Gago, Federico
1997-03-01
Molecular models of the complexes between actinomycin D and 14 different DNA hexamers were built based on the X-ray crystal structure of the actinomycin-d(GAAGCTTC)2 complex. The DNA sequences included the canonical GpC binding step flanked by different base pairs, nonclassical binding sites such as GpG and GpT, and sites containing 2,6-diamino- purine. A good correlation was found between the intermolecular interaction energies calculated for the refined complexes and the relative preferences of actinomycin binding to standard and modified DNA. A detailed energy decomposition into van der Waals and electrostatic components for the interactions between the DNA base pairs and either the chromophore or the peptidic part of the antibiotic was performed for each complex. The resulting energy matrix was then subjected to principal component analysis, which showed that actinomycin D discriminates among different DNA sequences by an interplay of hydrogen bonding and stacking interactions. The structure-affinity relationships for this important antitumor drug are thus rationalized and may be used to advantage in the design of novel sequence-specific DNA-binding agents.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-07-22
...NMFS proposes regulations that would implement a catch sharing plan for the guided sport and commercial fisheries for Pacific halibut in waters of International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) Regulatory Areas 2C (Southeast Alaska) and 3A (Central Gulf of Alaska). If approved, this catch sharing plan will change the annual process of allocating halibut between the guided sport and commercial fisheries in Area 2C and Area 3A, establish allocations for each sector, and specify harvest restrictions for guided sport anglers that are intended to limit harvest to the annual guided sport fishery catch limit. In order to provide flexibility for individual commercial and guided sport fishery participants, the proposed catch sharing plan also will authorize annual transfers of commercial halibut quota to charter halibut permit holders for harvest in the guided sport fishery. This action is necessary to achieve the halibut fishery management goals of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
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75 FR 47259 - Notice of Proposed Change to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-08-05
... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Natural Resources Conservation Service Notice of Proposed Change to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U..., Virginia 23229-5014; Telephone number (804) 287-1691; Fax number (804) 287-1737. Copies of the practice...
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A Guide to Writing Adult Education Grant Proposals.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
James, Waynne; And Others
This guide is designed to help adult educators to get through the grant application process required by the Bureau of Adult and Community Education, Florida Department of Education. It provides information on the four stages of the process: planning the project, writing the proposal, submitting the application package, and receiving notification.…
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Lung Cancer Screening Participation: Developing a Conceptual Model to Guide Research
Carter-Harris, Lisa; Davis, Lorie L.; Rawl, Susan M.
2017-01-01
Purpose To describe the development of a conceptual model to guide research focused on lung cancer screening participation from the perspective of the individual in the decision-making process. Methods Based on a comprehensive review of empirical and theoretical literature, a conceptual model was developed linking key psychological variables (stigma, medical mistrust, fatalism, worry, and fear) to the health belief model and precaution adoption process model. Results Proposed model concepts have been examined in prior research of either lung or other cancer screening behavior. To date, a few studies have explored a limited number of variables that influence screening behavior in lung cancer specifically. Therefore, relationships among concepts in the model have been proposed and future research directions presented. Conclusion This proposed model is an initial step to support theoretically based research. As lung cancer screening becomes more widely implemented, it is critical to theoretically guide research to understand variables that may be associated with lung cancer screening participation. Findings from future research guided by the proposed conceptual model can be used to refine the model and inform tailored intervention development. PMID:28304262
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Lung Cancer Screening Participation: Developing a Conceptual Model to Guide Research.
Carter-Harris, Lisa; Davis, Lorie L; Rawl, Susan M
2016-11-01
To describe the development of a conceptual model to guide research focused on lung cancer screening participation from the perspective of the individual in the decision-making process. Based on a comprehensive review of empirical and theoretical literature, a conceptual model was developed linking key psychological variables (stigma, medical mistrust, fatalism, worry, and fear) to the health belief model and precaution adoption process model. Proposed model concepts have been examined in prior research of either lung or other cancer screening behavior. To date, a few studies have explored a limited number of variables that influence screening behavior in lung cancer specifically. Therefore, relationships among concepts in the model have been proposed and future research directions presented. This proposed model is an initial step to support theoretically based research. As lung cancer screening becomes more widely implemented, it is critical to theoretically guide research to understand variables that may be associated with lung cancer screening participation. Findings from future research guided by the proposed conceptual model can be used to refine the model and inform tailored intervention development.
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Guided wave imaging of oblique reflecting interfaces in pipes using common-source synthetic focusing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sun, Zeqing; Sun, Anyu; Ju, Bing-Feng
2018-04-01
Cross-mode-family mode conversion and secondary reflection of guided waves in pipes complicate the processing of guided waves signals, and can cause false detection. In this paper, filters operating in the spectral domain of wavenumber, circumferential order and frequency are designed to suppress the signal components of unwanted mode-family and unwanted traveling direction. Common-source synthetic focusing is used to reconstruct defect images from the guided wave signals. Simulations of the reflections from linear oblique defects and a semicircle defect are separately implemented. Defect images, which are reconstructed from the simulation results under different excitation conditions, are comparatively studied in terms of axial resolution, reflection amplitude, detectable oblique angle and so on. Further, the proposed method is experimentally validated by detecting linear cracks with various oblique angles (10-40°). The proposed method relies on the guided wave signals that are captured during 2-D scanning of a cylindrical area on the pipe. The redundancy of the signals is analyzed to reduce the time-consumption of the scanning process and to enhance the practicability of the proposed method.
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Ecological Modeling Guide for Ecosystem Restoration and Management
2012-08-01
may result from proposed restoration and management actions. This report provides information to guide environmental planers in selection, development...actions. This report provides information to guide environmental planers in selection, development, evaluation and documentation of ecological models. A
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-02-11
... must be made to the NRCS State Technical Guides concerning State wetland mapping conventions. The two States are proposing to issue joint State wetland mapping conventions. The joint State wetland mapping conventions will be used as part of the technical documents to conduct wetland determinations on agriculture...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-09-07
... on Proposed Rule for a Catch Sharing Plan for Guided Sport and Commercial Fisheries in Alaska AGENCY... sport and commercial fisheries for Pacific halibut in waters of International Pacific Halibut Commission... implement a catch sharing plan for the guided sport and commercial fisheries for Pacific halibut in waters...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brown, James W.; Clarke, Paul
1987-01-01
The "Guide Michelin de France" is proposed as an authentic document for studying France and its language, increasing student motivation, and fostering an appreciation of the link between language and culture. Three ways (grammatical, communicative, and cultural) of exploiting the guide's semiotics are demonstrated. (MSE)
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Guided SAR image despeckling with probabilistic non local weights
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gokul, Jithin; Nair, Madhu S.; Rajan, Jeny
2017-12-01
SAR images are generally corrupted by granular disturbances called speckle, which makes visual analysis and detail extraction a difficult task. Non Local despeckling techniques with probabilistic similarity has been a recent trend in SAR despeckling. To achieve effective speckle suppression without compromising detail preservation, we propose an improvement for the existing Generalized Guided Filter with Bayesian Non-Local Means (GGF-BNLM) method. The proposed method (Guided SAR Image Despeckling with Probabilistic Non Local Weights) replaces parametric constants based on heuristics in GGF-BNLM method with dynamically derived values based on the image statistics for weight computation. Proposed changes make GGF-BNLM method adaptive and as a result, significant improvement is achieved in terms of performance. Experimental analysis on SAR images shows excellent speckle reduction without compromising feature preservation when compared to GGF-BNLM method. Results are also compared with other state-of-the-art and classic SAR depseckling techniques to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
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Frequency guided methods for demodulation of a single fringe pattern.
Wang, Haixia; Kemao, Qian
2009-08-17
Phase demodulation from a single fringe pattern is a challenging task but of interest. A frequency-guided regularized phase tracker and a frequency-guided sequential demodulation method with Levenberg-Marquardt optimization are proposed to demodulate a single fringe pattern. Demodulation path guided by the local frequency from the highest to the lowest is applied in both methods. Since critical points have low local frequency values, they are processed last so that the spurious sign problem caused by these points is avoided. These two methods can be considered as alternatives to the effective fringe follower regularized phase tracker. Demodulation results from one computer-simulated and two experimental fringe patterns using the proposed methods will be demonstrated. (c) 2009 Optical Society of America
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Multispectral Image Enhancement Through Adaptive Wavelet Fusion
2016-09-14
13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT This research developed a multiresolution image fusion scheme based on guided filtering . Guided filtering can...effectively reduce noise while preserving detail boundaries. When applied in an iterative mode, guided filtering selectively eliminates small scale...details while restoring larger scale edges. The proposed multi-scale image fusion scheme achieves spatial consistency by using guided filtering both at
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Giant Magnetostriction in Annealed Co1-xFex Thin-Films
2011-11-01
recently proposed heterogeneous magnetostriction mechanism can be used to guide exploration of compounds with unusual magnetoelastic properties ...proposed heterogeneous magnetostriction mechanism can be used to guide exploration of compounds with unusual magnetoelastic properties . 1 Department of...mechanical properties at low fields18. These characteristics have made the Fe–Ga alloys attractive alternatives to existing rareearthbased
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Urban, Jennifer Brown; van Eeden-Moorefield, Bradley Matheus
2017-01-01
Designing your own study and writing your research proposal takes time, often more so than conducting the study. This practical, accessible guide walks you through the entire process. You will learn to identify and narrow your research topic, develop your research question, design your study, and choose appropriate sampling and measurement…
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Luo, Bin; Lin, Lin; Zhong, ShiSheng
2018-02-01
In this research, we propose a preference-guided optimisation algorithm for multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems with interval-valued fuzzy preferences. The interval-valued fuzzy preferences are decomposed into a series of precise and evenly distributed preference-vectors (reference directions) regarding the objectives to be optimised on the basis of uniform design strategy firstly. Then the preference information is further incorporated into the preference-vectors based on the boundary intersection approach, meanwhile, the MCDM problem with interval-valued fuzzy preferences is reformulated into a series of single-objective optimisation sub-problems (each sub-problem corresponds to a decomposed preference-vector). Finally, a preference-guided optimisation algorithm based on MOEA/D (multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition) is proposed to solve the sub-problems in a single run. The proposed algorithm incorporates the preference-vectors within the optimisation process for guiding the search procedure towards a more promising subset of the efficient solutions matching the interval-valued fuzzy preferences. In particular, lots of test instances and an engineering application are employed to validate the performance of the proposed algorithm, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the algorithm.
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Ice detection and classification on an aircraft wing with ultrasonic shear horizontal guided waves.
Gao, Huidong; Rose, Joseph L
2009-02-01
Ice accumulation on airfoils has been identified as a primary cause of many accidents in commercial and military aircraft. To improve aviation safety as well as reduce cost and environmental threats related to aircraft icing, sensitive, reliable, and aerodynamically compatible ice detection techniques are in great demand. Ultrasonic guided-wave-based techniques have been proved reliable for "go" and "no go" types of ice detection in some systems including the HALO system, in which the second author of this paper is a primary contributor. In this paper, we propose a new model that takes the ice layer into guided-wave modeling. Using this model, the thickness and type of ice formation can be determined from guided-wave signals. Five experimental schemes are also proposed in this paper based on some unique features identified from the guided- wave dispersion curves. A sample experiment is also presented in this paper, where a 1 mm thick glaze ice on a 2 mm aluminum plate is clearly detected. Quantitative match of the experiment data to theoretical prediction serves as a strong support for future implementation of other testing schemes proposed in this paper.
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76 FR 59420 - Proposed Information Collection; Alaska Guide Service Evaluation
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-09-26
... Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. As... lands, we issue permits for commercial guide services, including big game hunting, sport fishing... information during the competitive selection process for big game and sport fishing guide permits to evaluate...
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Kim, Hanvit; Minh Phuong Nguyen; Se Young Chun
2017-07-01
Biometrics such as ECG provides a convenient and powerful security tool to verify or identify an individual. However, one important drawback of biometrics is that it is irrevocable. In other words, biometrics cannot be re-used practically once it is compromised. Cancelable biometrics has been investigated to overcome this drawback. In this paper, we propose a cancelable ECG biometrics by deriving a generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) detector from a composite hypothesis testing in randomly projected domain. Since it is common to observe performance degradation for cancelable biometrics, we also propose a guided filtering (GF) with irreversible guide signal that is a non-invertibly transformed signal of ECG authentication template. We evaluated our proposed method using ECG-ID database with 89 subjects. Conventional Euclidean detector with original ECG template yielded 93.9% PD1 (detection probability at 1% FAR) while Euclidean detector with 10% compressed ECG (1/10 of the original data size) yielded 90.8% PD1. Our proposed GLRT detector with 10% compressed ECG yielded 91.4%, which is better than Euclidean with the same compressed ECG. GF with our proposed irreversible ECG template further improved the performance of our GLRT with 10% compressed ECG up to 94.3%, which is higher than Euclidean detector with original ECG. Lastly, we showed that our proposed cancelable ECG biometrics practically met cancelable biometrics criteria such as efficiency, re-usability, diversity and non-invertibility.
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Mahmoud, Hani M; Al-Ghamdi, Mohammed A; Ghabashi, Abdullah E; Anwar, Ashraf M
2015-01-01
Aim of Study. To assess the feasibility of a new proposed maneuver "RATLe-90" using real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (RT-3DTEE) for anatomically oriented visualization of the interatrial septum (IAS) in guiding the transseptal puncture TSP. Methods. The study included 20 patients (mean age, 60.2 ± 6.7 years; 60% males) who underwent TSP for different indications. RT-3DTEE was used to guide TSP. The proposed maneuver RATLe-90 (Rotate-Anticlockwise-Tilt-Left-90) was applied in all cases to have the anatomically oriented en face view of the IAS from the right atrial (RA) aspect. Having this anatomically oriented view, we guided the TSP catheter towards the proper puncture site according to the planned procedure. Results. Using the RATLe-90 maneuver, the anatomically oriented en face view of the IAS from the RA was obtained in all patients. We were able to guide the puncture catheter to the proper puncture site on the IAS. The 3D images obtained were clearly understood by both echocardiographers and interventionists. The RATLe-90 maneuver acquisition time was 19.9 ± 1.6 seconds. The time-to-tent was 64.8 ± 16.3 seconds. Less TEE probe manipulations were needed while guiding the TSP. Conclusions. Application of RT3D-TEE during TSP using RATLe-90 maneuver is feasible with shorter fluoroscopy time and minimizing TEE probe manipulations.
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An ecological basis for ecosystem management
M. R. Kaufmann; R. T. Graham; D. A. Boyce; W. H. Moir; L. Perry; R. T. Reynolds; R. L. Bassett; P. Mehlhop; C. B. Edminster; W. M. Block; P. S. Corn
1994-01-01
Guiding principles based on conservation biology are applied in assessing ecosystem needs. Ecosystem, economic, and social needs are integrated in a decision model in which the guiding principles are used as a primary filter for evaluating proposed actions. Management practices consistent with the guiding principles are likely to lead to ecological, economic, and...
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75 FR 33361 - Notice of Issuance of Regulatory Guide
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-06-11
... staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses. Revision 4 of Regulatory Guide 1.28... (Design and Construction).'' Proposed RG 1.28, Revision 4, extends the scope of the NRC's endorsement to...: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of Issuance and Availability of Regulatory Guide 1.28...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
1997
This guide contains information on 2,086 funding programs that provide support on national, state, and local levels for economic and community development, social services, and the humanities. The guide begins with "A Guide to Proposal Planning and Writing" (Lynn E. Miner), which includes strategies for locating information on public and private…
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PL 89-313; Guide for Proposal Preparation and Project Operation: The South Dakota Model. Revised.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hadley, Marilyn B., Ed.
The guide is designed as a tool that can be used to write a proposal for funding from Public Law (PL) 89-313 (which amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965). Grant awards under PL 89-313 are available to eligible State-operated and State-supported agencies serving handicapped children. After an overall needs assessment, the…
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MRT letter: Guided filtering of image focus volume for 3D shape recovery of microscopic objects.
Mahmood, Muhammad Tariq
2014-12-01
In this letter, a shape from focus (SFF) method is proposed that utilizes the guided image filtering to enhance the image focus volume efficiently. First, image focus volume is computed using a conventional focus measure. Then each layer of image focus volume is filtered using guided filtering. In this work, the all-in-focus image, which can be obtained from the initial focus volume, is used as guidance image. Finally, improved depth map is obtained from the filtered image focus volume by maximizing the focus measure along the optical axis. The proposed SFF method is efficient and provides better depth maps. The improved performance is highlighted by conducting several experiments using image sequences of simulated and real microscopic objects. The comparative analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed SFF method. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Wave envelope technique for multimode wave guide problems
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hariharan, S. I.; Sudharsanan, S. I.
1986-01-01
A fast method for solving wave guide problems is proposed. In particular, the guide is considered to be inhomogeneous allowing propagation of waves of higher order modes. Such problems have been handled successfully for acoustic wave propagation problems with single mode and finite length. This paper extends this concept to electromagnetic wave guides with several modes and infinite length. The method is described and results of computations are presented.
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The Students' Guide to Lobbying. Second Edition.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Beaton, Karen; Scattergood, Phyllis, Ed.
Lobbying is defined as the function of citizens to express their views and to gain the support of legislators for proposed laws. This guide, for Massachusetts students, is designed to take students step by step through the lobbying process and to suggest strategies and resources to use in their own lobbying efforts. The guide contains the…
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Guiding College Students to Develop Academic Self-Regulatory Skills
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chen, Pin-Hwa
2011-01-01
This study aimed to explore the efficaciousness of a guiding model for Taiwanese college students employed to develop their academic self-regulatory skills. Twenty-eight undergraduates in a university in southern Taiwan were recruited as participants. The participants received training on the proposed guiding model and were asked to take their own…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-04-01
... Request for Review of ACF Disaster Case Management Implementation Guide; Office of Human Services... in the Federal Register for comments on the ACF Disaster Case Management Implementation Guide, dated December 2009. Disaster case management is the process of organizing and providing a timely, coordinated...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-07-25
... Sport and Commercial Fisheries in Alaska; Extension of Comment Period AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries... proposed regulations to implement a catch sharing plan for the guided sport and commercial fisheries for... sharing plan for the guided sport and commercial fisheries for Pacific halibut in waters of IPHC...
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Guiding properties of asymmetric hybrid plasmonic waveguides on dielectric substrates
2014-01-01
We proposed an asymmetric hybrid plasmonic waveguide which is placed on a substrate for practical applications by introducing an asymmetry into a symmetric hybrid plasmonic waveguide. The guiding properties of the asymmetric hybrid plasmonic waveguide are investigated using finite element method. The results show that, with proper waveguide sizes, the proposed waveguide can eliminate the influence of the substrate on its guiding properties and restore its broken symmetric mode. We obtained the maximum propagation length of 2.49 × 103 μm. It is approximately equal to that of the symmetric hybrid plasmonic waveguide embedded in air cladding with comparable nanoscale confinement. PMID:24406096
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
O'Connor, Alice; Henze, Mary L.
A discussion guide, one of a series on constitutional reform issues by The Jefferson Foundation as part of The Jefferson Meeting on the Constitution project, examines proposals to institute item and legislative veto power. The first section discusses the historical background surrounding the formative debate on veto legislation. The separation of…
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Classification of Hyperspectral Data Based on Guided Filtering and Random Forest
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ma, H.; Feng, W.; Cao, X.; Wang, L.
2017-09-01
Hyperspectral images usually consist of more than one hundred spectral bands, which have potentials to provide rich spatial and spectral information. However, the application of hyperspectral data is still challengeable due to "the curse of dimensionality". In this context, many techniques, which aim to make full use of both the spatial and spectral information, are investigated. In order to preserve the geometrical information, meanwhile, with less spectral bands, we propose a novel method, which combines principal components analysis (PCA), guided image filtering and the random forest classifier (RF). In detail, PCA is firstly employed to reduce the dimension of spectral bands. Secondly, the guided image filtering technique is introduced to smooth land object, meanwhile preserving the edge of objects. Finally, the features are fed into RF classifier. To illustrate the effectiveness of the method, we carry out experiments over the popular Indian Pines data set, which is collected by Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) sensor. By comparing the proposed method with the method of only using PCA or guided image filter, we find that effect of the proposed method is better.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Munin, Egberto; Lupato Conrado, Luis A.; Alves, Leandro P.; Zangaro, Renato A.
2004-05-01
The sealing cements used in endodontics are commonly of the type activated by chemical reactions. During polymerization, mechanical contractions are not uncommon, leading to non-perfect sealing or treatment failure. Photopolymerizable cements usually presents superior performance as compared to those chemically activated. However, difficulties in carrying-up the light to difficult-to-reach regions like the dental apex preclude those material of being accepted in the dental office routine. Recently, a novel technique for the light curing of photopolymerizable cements in endodontic applications has been proposed. Such a technique makes use of a polymeric light guide to deliver the curing light to the apex region, for a single step polymerization of the canal filler. For this work, a 28 mm long polymer light-guide, has been produced. The polymer surface was roughened to produce light scattering and allow the light to escape from the guide. The light scattering profile along the body of the guide is an important property for the proposed application. We used an integrating sphere to measure the irradiation profile for the proposed endodontic device. It was found that the experimental data for the amount of light coupled into the integrating sphere as a function of the length of the cone inside the sphere fits to a double exponential model.
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Mikhailov, D; Daragan, V A; Mayo, K H
1995-01-01
13CH2-multiplet nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation studies on proline (P)-containing glycine (G)-based peptides, GP, PG, GPG, PGG, and GPGG, provided numerous dipolar auto- and cross-correlation times for various motional model analyses of backbone and proline-ring bond rotations. Molecular dynamics simulations and bond rotation energy profiles were calculated to assess which motions could contribute most to observed relaxation phenomena. Results indicate that proline restricts backbone psi 1, psi 2, and phi 2 motions by 50% relative to those found for a polyglycine control peptide. psi 1 rotations are more restricted in the trans-proline isomer state than in the cis form. A two-state jump model best approximates proline ring puckering which in water could occur either by the C gamma endo-exo or by the C2 interconversion mechanism. The temperature dependence (5 degrees to 75 degrees C) of C beta, and C gamma, and C delta angular changes is rather flat, suggesting a near zero enthalpic contribution to the ring puckering process. In lower dielectric solvents, dimethylsulfoxide and methanol, which may mimic the hydrophobic environment within a protein, the endo-exo mechanism is preferred. PMID:7787039
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Minana, Molly A.; Sturtevant, Judith E.; Heaphy, Robert
2005-01-01
The purpose of the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Software Quality Plan is to clearly identify the practices that are the basis for continually improving the quality of ASC software products. Quality is defined in DOE/AL Quality Criteria (QC-1) as conformance to customer requirements and expectations. This quality plan defines the ASC program software quality practices and provides mappings of these practices to the SNL Corporate Process Requirements (CPR 1.3.2 and CPR 1.3.6) and the Department of Energy (DOE) document, ASCI Software Quality Engineering: Goals, Principles, and Guidelines (GP&G). This quality plan identifies ASC management andmore » software project teams' responsibilities for cost-effective software engineering quality practices. The SNL ASC Software Quality Plan establishes the signatories commitment to improving software products by applying cost-effective software engineering quality practices. This document explains the project teams opportunities for tailoring and implementing the practices; enumerates the practices that compose the development of SNL ASC's software products; and includes a sample assessment checklist that was developed based upon the practices in this document.« less
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Samaitis, Vykintas; Mažeika, Liudas
2017-08-08
Ultrasonic guided wave (UGW)-based condition monitoring has shown great promise in detecting, localizing, and characterizing damage in complex systems. However, the application of guided waves for damage detection is challenging due to the existence of multiple modes and dispersion. This results in distorted wave packets with limited resolution and the interference of multiple reflected modes. To develop reliable inspection systems, either the transducers have to be optimized to generate a desired single mode of guided waves with known dispersive properties, or the frequency responses of all modes present in the structure must be known to predict wave interaction. Currently, there is a lack of methods to predict the response spectrum of guided wave modes, especially in cases when multiple modes are being excited simultaneously. Such methods are of vital importance for further understanding wave propagation within the structures as well as wave-damage interaction. In this study, a novel method to predict the response spectrum of guided wave modes was proposed based on Fourier analysis of the particle velocity distribution on the excitation area. The method proposed in this study estimates an excitability function based on the spatial dimensions of the transducer, type of vibration, and dispersive properties of the medium. As a result, the response amplitude as a function of frequency for each guided wave mode present in the structure can be separately obtained. The method was validated with numerical simulations on the aluminum and glass fiber composite samples. The key findings showed that it can be applied to estimate the response spectrum of a guided wave mode on any type of material (either isotropic structures, or multi layered anisotropic composites) and under any type of excitation if the phase velocity dispersion curve and the particle velocity distribution of the wave source was known initially. Thus, the proposed method may be a beneficial tool to explain and predict the response spectrum of guided waves throughout the development of any structural health monitoring system.
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Samaitis, Vykintas; Mažeika, Liudas
2017-01-01
Ultrasonic guided wave (UGW)-based condition monitoring has shown great promise in detecting, localizing, and characterizing damage in complex systems. However, the application of guided waves for damage detection is challenging due to the existence of multiple modes and dispersion. This results in distorted wave packets with limited resolution and the interference of multiple reflected modes. To develop reliable inspection systems, either the transducers have to be optimized to generate a desired single mode of guided waves with known dispersive properties, or the frequency responses of all modes present in the structure must be known to predict wave interaction. Currently, there is a lack of methods to predict the response spectrum of guided wave modes, especially in cases when multiple modes are being excited simultaneously. Such methods are of vital importance for further understanding wave propagation within the structures as well as wave-damage interaction. In this study, a novel method to predict the response spectrum of guided wave modes was proposed based on Fourier analysis of the particle velocity distribution on the excitation area. The method proposed in this study estimates an excitability function based on the spatial dimensions of the transducer, type of vibration, and dispersive properties of the medium. As a result, the response amplitude as a function of frequency for each guided wave mode present in the structure can be separately obtained. The method was validated with numerical simulations on the aluminum and glass fiber composite samples. The key findings showed that it can be applied to estimate the response spectrum of a guided wave mode on any type of material (either isotropic structures, or multi layered anisotropic composites) and under any type of excitation if the phase velocity dispersion curve and the particle velocity distribution of the wave source was known initially. Thus, the proposed method may be a beneficial tool to explain and predict the response spectrum of guided waves throughout the development of any structural health monitoring system. PMID:28786924
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DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2000-02-01
This document is the applicant's guide for proposing intelligent transportation systems projects to Transport Canada and details such matters as eligibility, Transport Canada's program objectives and assessment of projects
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The Beginnings of a Nature Center.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cherem, Gabriel J.; And Others
This guide is a comprehensive interpretive plan for the development of a nature center. Although the plan centers on a proposed nature center, the ideas included in the guide can be applied to other situations. The guide deals with all aspects of planning and is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1, Visitorship, looks at the people who attend…
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Overseeing One-Stops: A WIB Member's Guide to Quality Assurance. Workforce Board Development Series.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
2000
This guide is intended to give workforce investment boards (WIBs) a practical framework for overseeing the performance of one-stop career centers. The introduction presents background information on a proposed quality assurance framework and the guide's format and development. The first two sections explain the importance of quality assurance to…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-06-28
... Sport and Commercial Fisheries in Alaska; Proposed Rule #0;#0;Federal Register / Vol. 78 , No. 125... Halibut Fisheries; Catch Sharing Plan for Guided Sport and Commercial Fisheries in Alaska AGENCY: National... sharing plan for the guided sport (charter) and commercial fisheries for Pacific halibut in waters of...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-12-20
... Collection; Comment Request; Harvest of Pacific Halibut by Guided Sport Charter Vessel Anglers off Alaska... halibut fishing effort and harvest by all user groups, including the guided sport charter sector of the... requirements. The State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) Division of Sport Fish initiated a...
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For the Common Good. A Guide for Developing Local Interagency Linkage Teams.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Imel, Susan
Developed from the Ohio At-Risk Linkage Team experiences, this guide assists local communities in organizing and strengthening effective collaborative interagency linkage teams for at-risk youth and adults. The guide proposes a series of steps, poses a number of questions relating to each step, and provides information about additional resources.…
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A-110: Do We Need Another Audit Guide?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Spruill, Warren H.
1982-01-01
Implications for colleges and universities of a proposed new audit guide for Office of Management and the Budget (OMB) Circular A-110 are considered. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is considering issuance of an audit guide that will outline procedures to be followed to comply with the audit requirement in Circular A-110. With…
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Wen, Shameng; Meng, Qingkun; Feng, Chao; Tang, Chaojing
2017-01-01
Formal techniques have been devoted to analyzing whether network protocol specifications violate security policies; however, these methods cannot detect vulnerabilities in the implementations of the network protocols themselves. Symbolic execution can be used to analyze the paths of the network protocol implementations, but for stateful network protocols, it is difficult to reach the deep states of the protocol. This paper proposes a novel model-guided approach to detect vulnerabilities in network protocol implementations. Our method first abstracts a finite state machine (FSM) model, then utilizes the model to guide the symbolic execution. This approach achieves high coverage of both the code and the protocol states. The proposed method is implemented and applied to test numerous real-world network protocol implementations. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method is more effective than traditional fuzzing methods such as SPIKE at detecting vulnerabilities in the deep states of network protocol implementations.
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Damage evaluation by a guided wave-hidden Markov model based method
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mei, Hanfei; Yuan, Shenfang; Qiu, Lei; Zhang, Jinjin
2016-02-01
Guided wave based structural health monitoring has shown great potential in aerospace applications. However, one of the key challenges of practical engineering applications is the accurate interpretation of the guided wave signals under time-varying environmental and operational conditions. This paper presents a guided wave-hidden Markov model based method to improve the damage evaluation reliability of real aircraft structures under time-varying conditions. In the proposed approach, an HMM based unweighted moving average trend estimation method, which can capture the trend of damage propagation from the posterior probability obtained by HMM modeling is used to achieve a probabilistic evaluation of the structural damage. To validate the developed method, experiments are performed on a hole-edge crack specimen under fatigue loading condition and a real aircraft wing spar under changing structural boundary conditions. Experimental results show the advantage of the proposed method.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bartkowiak, M.; Hofmann, T.; Stüßer, N.
2017-02-01
Energy resolution is an important design goal for time-of-flight instruments and neutron spectroscopy. For high-resolution applications, it is required that the burst times of choppers be short, going down to the μs-range. To produce short pulses while maintaining high neutron flux, we propose beam masks with more than two slits on a counter-rotating 2-disc chopper, behind specially adapted focusing multi-channel guides. A novel non-regular arrangement of the slits ensures that the beam opens only once per chopper cycle, when the masks are congruently aligned. Additionally, beam splitting and intensity focusing by guides before and after the chopper position provide high intensities even for small samples. Phase-space analysis and Monte Carlo simulations on examples of four-slit masks with adapted guide geometries show the potential of the proposed setup.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Maguire, Lauren; Myerowitz, Lindsay; Sampson, Victor
2010-01-01
Guided inquiry is an instructional technique that requires students to answer a teacher-proposed research question, design an investigation, collect and analyze data, and then develop a conclusion (Bell, Smetana, and Binns 2005; NRC 2000). In this article, the authors describe a guided-inquiry lesson developed through the lesson-study process…
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QUAGOL: a guide for qualitative data analysis.
Dierckx de Casterlé, Bernadette; Gastmans, Chris; Bryon, Els; Denier, Yvonne
2012-03-01
Data analysis is a complex and contested part of the qualitative research process, which has received limited theoretical attention. Researchers are often in need of useful instructions or guidelines on how to analyze the mass of qualitative data, but face the lack of clear guidance for using particular analytic methods. The aim of this paper is to propose and discuss the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven (QUAGOL), a guide that was developed in order to be able to truly capture the rich insights of qualitative interview data. The article describes six major problems researchers are often struggling with during the process of qualitative data analysis. Consequently, the QUAGOL is proposed as a guide to facilitate the process of analysis. Challenges emerged and lessons learned from own extensive experiences with qualitative data analysis within the Grounded Theory Approach, as well as from those of other researchers (as described in the literature), were discussed and recommendations were presented. Strengths and pitfalls of the proposed method were discussed in detail. The Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven (QUAGOL) offers a comprehensive method to guide the process of qualitative data analysis. The process consists of two parts, each consisting of five stages. The method is systematic but not rigid. It is characterized by iterative processes of digging deeper, constantly moving between the various stages of the process. As such, it aims to stimulate the researcher's intuition and creativity as optimal as possible. The QUAGOL guide is a theory and practice-based guide that supports and facilitates the process of analysis of qualitative interview data. Although the method can facilitate the process of analysis, it cannot guarantee automatic quality. The skills of the researcher and the quality of the research team remain the most crucial components of a successful process of analysis. Additionally, the importance of constantly moving between the various stages throughout the research process cannot be overstated. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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A vision-based automated guided vehicle system with marker recognition for indoor use.
Lee, Jeisung; Hyun, Chang-Ho; Park, Mignon
2013-08-07
We propose an intelligent vision-based Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) system using fiduciary markers. In this paper, we explore a low-cost, efficient vehicle guiding method using a consumer grade web camera and fiduciary markers. In the proposed method, the system uses fiduciary markers with a capital letter or triangle indicating direction in it. The markers are very easy to produce, manipulate, and maintain. The marker information is used to guide a vehicle. We use hue and saturation values in the image to extract marker candidates. When the known size fiduciary marker is detected by using a bird's eye view and Hough transform, the positional relation between the marker and the vehicle can be calculated. To recognize the character in the marker, a distance transform is used. The probability of feature matching was calculated by using a distance transform, and a feature having high probability is selected as a captured marker. Four directional signals and 10 alphabet features are defined and used as markers. A 98.87% recognition rate was achieved in the testing phase. The experimental results with the fiduciary marker show that the proposed method is a solution for an indoor AGV system.
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1980-06-01
ES2ABLISHMENT OF MOBILIZATION VALUES FOR SELECTED AIRCRAFT ... ............ 83 B. INTERVIEW GUIDE , SUBPROBLEM 1 .. ......... 87 C. INTERVIEW GUIDE , SUBPROBLEM...2 (PEACETIME). ... 91 D. INTERVIEW GUIDE , SUBPROBLEM 2 (EMERGENCY) . 96 E. FORMAL QUESTIONNAIRE, SUBPROBLEM 3 ........ .100 vi Page F. INTERVIEW GUIDE ... ratemaking func- tion under part 288 [of the FAA Act of 19581. On the basis of this review, we propose for three principal reasons to amend Part 288 to
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Monitoring and Evaluating Nonpoint Source Watershed Projects
This guide is written primarily for those who develop and implement monitoring plans for watershed management projects. it can also be used evaluate the technical merits of monitoring proposals they might sponsor. It is an update to the 1997 Guide.
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Lee, Sandra Soo-Jin; Mountain, Joanna; Koenig, Barbara; Altman, Russ; Brown, Melissa; Camarillo, Albert; Cavalli-Sforza, Luca; Cho, Mildred; Eberhardt, Jennifer; Feldman, Marcus; Ford, Richard; Greely, Henry; King, Roy; Markus, Hazel; Satz, Debra; Snipp, Matthew; Steele, Claude; Underhill, Peter
2008-01-01
We are a multidisciplinary group of Stanford faculty who propose ten principles to guide the use of racial and ethnic categories when characterizing group differences in research into human genetic variation. PMID:18638359
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Neutron optics concept for the materials engineering diffractometer at the ESS
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Šaroun, J.; Fenske, J.; Rouijaa, M.; Beran, P.; Navrátil, J.; Lukáš, P.; Schreyer, A.; Strobl, M.
2016-09-01
The Beamline for European Materials Engineering Research (BEER) has been recently proposed to be built at the European Spallation Source (ESS). The presented concept of neutron delivery optics for this instrument addresses the problems of bi-spectral beam extraction from a small moderator, optimization of neutron guides profile for long-range neutron transport and focusing at the sample under various constraints. They include free space before and after the guides, a narrow guide section with gaps for choppers, closing of direct line of sight and cost reduction by optimization of the guides cross-section and coating. A system of slits and exchangeable focusing optics is proposed in order to match various wavelength resolution options provided by the pulse shaping and modulation choppers, which permits to efficiently trade resolution for intensity in a wide range. Simulated performance characteristics such as brilliance transfer ratio are complemented by the analysis of the histories of “useful” neutrons obtained by back tracing neutrons hitting the sample, which helps to optimize some of the neutron guide parameters such as supermirror coating.
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2012-01-01
The increasing interest in combined positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) to guide lung cancer radiation therapy planning has been well documented. Motion management strategies during treatment simulation PET/CT imaging and treatment delivery have been proposed to improve the precision and accuracy of radiotherapy. In light of these research advances, why has translation of motion-managed PET/CT to clinical radiotherapy been slow and infrequent? Solutions to this problem are as complex as they are numerous, driven by large inter-patient variability in tumor motion trajectories across a highly heterogeneous population. Such variation dictates a comprehensive and patient-specific incorporation of motion management strategies into PET/CT-guided radiotherapy rather than a one-size-fits-all tactic. This review summarizes challenges and opportunities for clinical translation of advances in PET/CT-guided radiotherapy, as well as in respiratory motion-managed radiotherapy of lung cancer. These two concepts are then integrated into proposed patient-specific workflows that span classification schemes, PET/CT image formation, treatment planning, and adaptive image-guided radiotherapy delivery techniques. PMID:23369522
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Remote sensing fusion based on guided image filtering
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhao, Wenfei; Dai, Qinling; Wang, Leiguang
2015-12-01
In this paper, we propose a novel remote sensing fusion approach based on guided image filtering. The fused images can well preserve the spectral features of the original multispectral (MS) images, meanwhile, enhance the spatial details information. Four quality assessment indexes are also introduced to evaluate the fusion effect when compared with other fusion methods. Experiments carried out on Gaofen-2, QuickBird, WorldView-2 and Landsat-8 images. And the results show an excellent performance of the proposed method.
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Proposal Savvy: Creating Successful Proposals for Media Projects.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Parsigian, Elise K.
Suggesting that the need for creative thinking, creative problem solving, and creative presentations binds the components of the field of communication (journalism, advertising, and public relations), this book presents a guide to proposal thinking and proposal writing for anyone in the field of communication. The book helps readers evaluate,…
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Peacebook: A Resource Guide for Peace Studies at U.C. Berkeley, 1982-83 [and] 1983-84.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Peace Studies Student Association.
A series of essays and lists of resource materials as well as courses relevant to peace studies at the University of California Berkeley are presented in the two guides. Topics of the 1982-83 guide include the undergraduate major in Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS), a proposed curriculum, core courses, concentration area courses (social systems,…
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Liagkouras, K.; Metaxiotis, K.
2017-01-01
Multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) are currently a dynamic field of research that has attracted considerable attention. Mutation operators have been utilized by MOEAs as variation mechanisms. In particular, polynomial mutation (PLM) is one of the most popular variation mechanisms and has been utilized by many well-known MOEAs. In this paper, we revisit the PLM operator and we propose a fitness-guided version of the PLM. Experimental results obtained by non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II and strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm 2 show that the proposed fitness-guided mutation operator outperforms the classical PLM operator, based on different performance metrics that evaluate both the proximity of the solutions to the Pareto front and their dispersion on it.
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A guided wave dispersion compensation method based on compressed sensing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Xu, Cai-bin; Yang, Zhi-bo; Chen, Xue-feng; Tian, Shao-hua; Xie, Yong
2018-03-01
The ultrasonic guided wave has emerged as a promising tool for structural health monitoring (SHM) and nondestructive testing (NDT) due to their capability to propagate over long distances with minimal loss and sensitivity to both surface and subsurface defects. The dispersion effect degrades the temporal and spatial resolution of guided waves. A novel ultrasonic guided wave processing method for both single mode and multi-mode guided waves dispersion compensation is proposed in this work based on compressed sensing, in which a dispersion signal dictionary is built by utilizing the dispersion curves of the guided wave modes in order to sparsely decompose the recorded dispersive guided waves. Dispersion-compensated guided waves are obtained by utilizing a non-dispersion signal dictionary and the results of sparse decomposition. Numerical simulations and experiments are implemented to verify the effectiveness of the developed method for both single mode and multi-mode guided waves.
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DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
1993-03-01
This report is the fourth of four volumes concerned with developing safety guidelines and specifications for high-speed : guided ground transportation (HSGGT) collision avoidance and accident survivability. The overall approach taken in this : study ...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-05-25
... Proposed Rule on Enhanced Weapons, Firearms Background Checks, and Security Event Notifications AGENCY... the proposed enhanced weapons rule, the two draft regulatory guides, and the draft weapons safety.... No formal comments on the proposed enhanced weapons rule or the draft guidance documents will be...
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DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
1993-03-01
This report is the fourth of four volumes concerned with developing safety guidelines and specifications for high-speed guided ground transportation (HSGGT) collision avoidance and accident survivability. The overall approach taken in this study is t...
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Guide to Accreditation, 2011-2012
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Teacher Education Accreditation Council, 2011
2011-01-01
The Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) "Guide to Accreditation" includes a full description of TEAC's principles and standards, the accreditation process and audit, and detailed instruction on writing the "Brief." This revision includes expanded information on (1) preparing an "Inquiry Brief Proposal" and the audit of the "Inquiry…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-03-29
... (HPRP) grantees, as well as the site visit interview guide that will serve as the protocol for 15-18... site visit interview guide that will serve as the protocol for 15-18 site visits to be conducted to...
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California Guide to Traffic Safety Education.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento.
The guide proposes an elementary through high school program encompassing many aspects of traffic safety. Chapter 1 presents definitions, instructional goals, behavioral objectives, and K-6 traffic safety concepts coupled with student performance indicators. Various elements of program administration are covered in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 includes…
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75 FR 63551 - Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-10-15
... general principles that apply to all environmental marketing claims and provide specific guidance... Part II Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 260 Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing... Marketing Claims AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. ACTION: Proposed revisions to guidelines. SUMMARY: The...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-02-26
... process; Programs to strengthen scientific and engineering research potential; Science and engineering..., authority to support applied research was added to the Organic Act. In 1980, The Science and Engineering... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Comment Request: National Science Foundation Proposal/Award...
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Hu, Song; Yao, Jian; Liu, Meng; Luo, Ai-Ping; Luo, Zhi-Chao; Xu, Wen-Cheng
2016-05-16
The ultrafast time-stretch microscopy has been proposed to enhance the temporal resolution of a microscopy system. The optical source is a key component for ultrafast time-stretch microscopy system. Herein, we reported on the gain-guided soliton fiber laser with high-quality rectangle spectrum for ultrafast time-stretch microscopy. By virtue of the excellent characteristics of the gain-guided soliton, the output power and the 3-dB bandwidth of the stable mode-locked soliton could be up to 3 mW and 33.7 nm with a high-quality rectangle shape, respectively. With the proposed robust optical source, the ultrafast time-stretch microscopy with the 49.6 μm resolution and a scan rate of 11 MHz was achieved without the external optical amplification. The obtained results demonstrated that the gain-guided soliton fiber laser could be used as an alternative high-quality optical source for ultrafast time-stretch microscopy and will introduce some applications in fields such as biology, chemical, and optical sensing.
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Park, Sang Cheol; Leader, Joseph Ken; Tan, Jun; Lee, Guee Sang; Kim, Soo Hyung; Na, In Seop; Zheng, Bin
2011-01-01
Objective this article presents a new computerized scheme that aims to accurately and robustly separate left and right lungs on CT examinations. Methods we developed and tested a method to separate the left and right lungs using sequential CT information and a guided dynamic programming algorithm using adaptively and automatically selected start point and end point with especially severe and multiple connections. Results the scheme successfully identified and separated all 827 connections on the total 4034 CT images in an independent testing dataset of CT examinations. The proposed scheme separated multiple connections regardless of their locations, and the guided dynamic programming algorithm reduced the computation time to approximately 4.6% in comparison with the traditional dynamic programming and avoided the permeation of the separation boundary into normal lung tissue. Conclusions The proposed method is able to robustly and accurately disconnect all connections between left and right lungs and the guided dynamic programming algorithm is able to remove redundant processing. PMID:21412104
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Multiscale infrared and visible image fusion using gradient domain guided image filtering
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhu, Jin; Jin, Weiqi; Li, Li; Han, Zhenghao; Wang, Xia
2018-03-01
For better surveillance with infrared and visible imaging, a novel hybrid multiscale decomposition fusion method using gradient domain guided image filtering (HMSD-GDGF) is proposed in this study. In this method, hybrid multiscale decomposition with guided image filtering and gradient domain guided image filtering of source images are first applied before the weight maps of each scale are obtained using a saliency detection technology and filtering means with three different fusion rules at different scales. The three types of fusion rules are for small-scale detail level, large-scale detail level, and base level. Finally, the target becomes more salient and can be more easily detected in the fusion result, with the detail information of the scene being fully displayed. After analyzing the experimental comparisons with state-of-the-art fusion methods, the HMSD-GDGF method has obvious advantages in fidelity of salient information (including structural similarity, brightness, and contrast), preservation of edge features, and human visual perception. Therefore, visual effects can be improved by using the proposed HMSD-GDGF method.
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Park, Sang Cheol; Leader, Joseph Ken; Tan, Jun; Lee, Guee Sang; Kim, Soo Hyung; Na, In Seop; Zheng, Bin
2011-01-01
This article presents a new computerized scheme that aims to accurately and robustly separate left and right lungs on computed tomography (CT) examinations. We developed and tested a method to separate the left and right lungs using sequential CT information and a guided dynamic programming algorithm using adaptively and automatically selected start point and end point with especially severe and multiple connections. The scheme successfully identified and separated all 827 connections on the total 4034 CT images in an independent testing data set of CT examinations. The proposed scheme separated multiple connections regardless of their locations, and the guided dynamic programming algorithm reduced the computation time to approximately 4.6% in comparison with the traditional dynamic programming and avoided the permeation of the separation boundary into normal lung tissue. The proposed method is able to robustly and accurately disconnect all connections between left and right lungs, and the guided dynamic programming algorithm is able to remove redundant processing.
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Improving sodium laser guide star brightness by polarization switching
Fan, Tingwei; Zhou, Tianhua; Feng, Yan
2016-01-01
Optical pumping with circularly polarized light has been used to enhance the brightness of sodium laser guide star. But the benefit is reduced substantially due to the precession of sodium atoms in geomagnetic field. Switching the laser between left and right circular polarization at the Larmor frequency is proposed to improve the return. With ESO’s laser guide star system at Paranal as example, numerical simulation shows that the return flux is increased when the angle between geomagnetic field and laser beam is larger than 60°, as much as 50% at 90°. The proposal is significant since most astronomical observation is at angle between 60° and 90° and it only requires a minor addition to the delivery optics of present laser system. PMID:26797503
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An object tracking method based on guided filter for night fusion image
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qian, Xiaoyan; Wang, Yuedong; Han, Lei
2016-01-01
Online object tracking is a challenging problem as it entails learning an effective model to account for appearance change caused by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. In this paper, we propose a novel online object tracking with guided image filter for accurate and robust night fusion image tracking. Firstly, frame difference is applied to produce the coarse target, which helps to generate observation models. Under the restriction of these models and local source image, guided filter generates sufficient and accurate foreground target. Then accurate boundaries of the target can be extracted from detection results. Finally timely updating for observation models help to avoid tracking shift. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluations on challenging image sequences demonstrate that the proposed tracking algorithm performs favorably against several state-of-art methods.
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Development of reliable pavement models.
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2011-05-01
The current report proposes a framework for estimating the reliability of a given pavement structure as analyzed by : the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). The methodology proposes using a previously fit : response surface, in plac...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ruiz, Mercedes; Tirado, Pilar; Menor; Esther
2009-01-01
In order to adapt curricula to the new European system of credits, ECTS (European Credit Transfer System), it is necessary to previously elaborate a teaching guide. The teaching guide clarifies the subject syllabus making it easier for learners to understand, sets objectives related to the competencies and skills to be acquired, plans activities…
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Guidelines for Planning Industrial Education Facilities and Equipment.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stallsmith, Douglas D.
This guide presents alternatives, resources, and specifications for industrial education teachers to use in preparing a facilities proposal to present to administrators, boards of education, the community, and architects. Developed to reflect the objectives of industrial education as outlined in the "Wisconsin Guide to Local Curriculum…
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DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2013-04-01
"This report provides a Quick Guide to the concept of asset sustainability metrics. Such metrics address the long-term performance of highway assets based upon expected expenditure levels. : It examines how such metrics are used in Australia, Britain...
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Improved adjoin-list for quality-guided phase unwrapping based on red-black trees
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cruz-Santos, William; López-García, Lourdes; Rueda-Paz, Juvenal; Redondo-Galvan, Arturo
2016-08-01
The quality-guide phase unwrapping is an important technique that is based on quality maps which guide the unwrapping process. The efficiency of this technique depends in the adjoin-list data structure implementation. There exists several proposals that improve the adjoin-list; Ming Zhao et. al. proposed an Indexed Interwoven Linked List (I2L2) that is based on dividing the quality values into intervals of equal size and inserting in a linked list those pixels with quality values within a certain interval. Ming Zhao and Qian Kemao proposed an improved I2L2 replacing each linked list in each interval by a heap data structure, which allows efficient procedures for insertion and deletion. In this paper, we propose an improved I2L2 which uses Red-Black trees (RBT) data structures for each interval. Our proposal has as main goal to avoid the unbalanced properties of the head and thus, reducing the time complexity of insertion. In order to maintain the same efficiency of the heap when deleting an element, we provide an efficient way to remove the pixel with the highest quality value in the RBT using a pointer to the rightmost element in the tree. We also provide a new partition strategy of the phase values that is based on a density criterion. Experimental results applied to phase shifting profilometry are shown for large images.
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The Teacher's Guide to Winning Grants.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bauer, David G.
This step-by-step primer helps teachers develop effective grantseeking methods that will enable them to secure funds. It shows teachers how to select the right funding sources, organize proposal ideas, write a convincing and well-prepared proposal, identify who will evaluate the proposal and the scoring system they will use, and efficiently…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-02-07
... research potential; Science and engineering education programs at all levels and in all the various fields... science and engineering and enhancing the potential for research and education to contribute to the Nation... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Comment Request: National Science Foundation Proposal/Award...
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77 FR 45535 - Aldicarb; Proposed Tolerance Actions
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-08-01
... Aldicarb; Proposed Tolerance Actions AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Proposed rule... Information A. Does this action apply to me? You may be potentially affected by this action if you are an... exhaustive, but rather provides a guide for readers regarding entities likely to be affected by this action...
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Hospitality Education: A Guide for High School Teachers.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Illinois State Office of Education, Springfield. Div. of Vocational and Technical Education.
The guide presents key steps in establishing hospitality education curricula, based on recommendations of more than 300 surveyed educators and industry personnel and on information from over 60 proposed or existing curricula. The scope of the hospitality industries is described as including the categories of food service, lodging, tourism, and…
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Guide to the TEAC Audit, 2011-2012
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Teacher Education Accreditation Council, 2011
2011-01-01
This guide to the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) audit is primarily for the faculty, staff, and administrators of TEAC member programs preparing for the audit of their "Inquiry Brief" or "Inquiry Brief Proposal." It is designed for use in preparing for the audits that are part of both initial and continuing…
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An Institutional Approach to the Evaluation of Educational Technology.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kennedy, Gregor E.
2003-01-01
Outlines an institutional approach that guides the evaluation of educational technology in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne (Victoria, Australia). Roles for an internal evaluator and educational technology practitioners are proposed, and a conceptual framework that guides the evaluation process…
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Stats for Scaredy-Cats: A How-To Guide for Rural Data Users.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Center for Rural Pennsylvania, Harrisburg.
This guide provides some basic statistical techniques that may be used in writing grant proposals, analyzing reports, and evaluating programs. Examples focus on rural Pennsylvania. The first section, Understanding Data, discusses definitions, codes, and data limitations. Definitions of Census Bureau geographic, demographic, housing, and…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-10-22
...-Basis Hurricane and Hurricane Missiles AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Proposed interim...-ISG-024, ``Implementation of Regulatory Guide 1.221 on Design-Basis Hurricane and Hurricane Missiles....221, ``Design-Basis Hurricane and Hurricane Missiles for Nuclear Power Plants.'' DATES: Submit...
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Workplace Civics & Government. Prospectus for a Multimedia Curriculum.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Raney, Mardell, Ed.
This guide is designed to help students understand civics and government as well as the social, organizational, and technological systems that effect citizenship. It proposes use of a multimedia curriculum intended to combine the skills, knowledge, and content of civics with the workplace. The guide provides a rationale for an interdisciplinary…
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CNN Newsroom Classroom Guides, May 2000.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Turner Educational Services, Inc., Newtown, PA.
These classroom guides, designed to accompany the daily CNN (Cable News Network) Newsroom broadcasts for the month of May 2000, provide program rundowns, suggestions for class activities and discussion, student handouts, and a list of related news terms. Top stories include: U.S. Government files a proposal to split up Microsoft, terrorism source…
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77 FR 21359 - MARPOL Annex I Amendments
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-04-09
... the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov , select the Advanced Docket Search option on the right... the Docket Management Facility. C. Privacy Act Anyone can search the electronic form of comments... are proposing to amend Sec. 156.111 by updating the versions of the STS Transfer Guide and the Guide...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-12-05
... small business guide on complying with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop marketing agreements and orders may be viewed at: www.ams.usda.gov/MarketingOrderSmallBusinessGuide . Any questions about the..., December 5, 2012 / Proposed Rules#0;#0; [[Page 72245
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Guided filtering for solar image/video processing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Xu, Long; Yan, Yihua; Cheng, Jun
2017-06-01
A new image enhancement algorithm employing guided filtering is proposed in this work for the enhancement of solar images and videos so that users can easily figure out important fine structures embedded in the recorded images/movies for solar observation. The proposed algorithm can efficiently remove image noises, including Gaussian and impulse noises. Meanwhile, it can further highlight fibrous structures on/beyond the solar disk. These fibrous structures can clearly demonstrate the progress of solar flare, prominence coronal mass emission, magnetic field, and so on. The experimental results prove that the proposed algorithm gives significant enhancement of visual quality of solar images beyond original input and several classical image enhancement algorithms, thus facilitating easier determination of interesting solar burst activities from recorded images/movies.
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Necessity of guides in pedestrian emergency evacuation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yang, Xiaoxia; Dong, Hairong; Yao, Xiuming; Sun, Xubin; Wang, Qianling; Zhou, Min
2016-01-01
The role of guide who is in charge of leading pedestrians to evacuate in the case of emergency plays a critical role for the uninformed people. This paper first investigates the influence of mass behavior on evacuation dynamics and mainly focuses on the guided evacuation dynamics. In the extended crowd model proposed in this paper, individualistic behavior, herding behavior and environment influence are all considered for pedestrians who are not informed by the guide. According to the simulation results, herding behavior makes more pedestrians evacuate from the room in the same period of time. Besides, guided crowd demonstrates the same behavior of group dynamics which is characterized by gathering, conflicts and balance. Moreover, simulation results indicate guides with appropriate initial positions and quantity are more conducive to evacuation under a moderate initial density of pedestrians.
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Shoulder-Mounted Robot for MRI-guided arthrography: Accuracy and mounting study.
Monfaredi, R; Wilson, E; Sze, R; Sharma, K; Azizi, B; Iordachita, I; Cleary, K
2015-08-01
A new version of our compact and lightweight patient-mounted MRI-compatible 4 degree-of-freedom (DOF) robot for MRI-guided arthrography procedures is introduced. This robot could convert the traditional two-stage arthrography procedure (fluoroscopy-guided needle insertion followed by a diagnostic MRI scan) to a one-stage procedure, all in the MRI suite. The results of a recent accuracy study are reported. A new mounting technique is proposed and the mounting stability is investigated using optical and electromagnetic tracking on an anthropomorphic phantom. Five volunteer subjects including 2 radiologists were asked to conduct needle insertion in 4 different random positions and orientations within the robot's workspace and the displacement of the base of the robot was investigated during robot motion and needle insertion. Experimental results show that the proposed mounting method is stable and promising for clinical application.
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Human machine interface to manually drive rhombic like vehicles in remote handling operations
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Lopes, Pedro; Vale, Alberto; Ventura, Rodrigo
2015-07-01
In the thermonuclear experimental reactor ITER, a vehicle named CTS is designed to transport a container with activated components inside the buildings. In nominal operations, the CTS is autonomously guided under supervision. However, in some unexpected situations, such as in rescue and recovery operations, the autonomous mode must be overridden and the CTS must be remotely guided by an operator. The CTS is a rhombic-like vehicle, with two drivable and steerable wheels along its longitudinal axis, providing omni-directional capabilities. The rhombic kinematics correspond to four control variables, which are difficult to manage in manual mode operation. This paper proposes amore » Human Machine Interface (HMI) to remotely guide the vehicle in manual mode. The proposed solution is implemented using a HMI with an encoder connected to a micro-controller and an analog 2-axis joystick. Experimental results were obtained comparing the proposed solution with other controller devices in different scenarios and using a software platform that simulates the kinematics and dynamics of the vehicle. (authors)« less
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Image-guided tumor ablation: proposal for standardization of terms and reporting criteria.
Goldberg, S Nahum; Charboneau, J William; Dodd, Gerald D; Dupuy, Damian E; Gervais, Debra A; Gillams, Alice R; Kane, Robert A; Lee, Fred T; Livraghi, Tito; McGahan, John P; Rhim, Hyunchul; Silverman, Stuart G; Solbiati, Luigi; Vogl, Thomas J; Wood, Bradford J
2003-08-01
The field of image-guided tumor ablation requires standardization of terms and reporting criteria to facilitate effective communication of ideas and appropriate comparison between treatments with different technologies, such as chemical ablation (ethanol or acetic acid) and thermal therapies, such as radiofrequency, laser, microwave, ultrasound, and cryoablation. On the basis of this premise, a working committee was established with the goal of producing a proposal on such standardization. The intent of the Working Group is to provide a framework that will facilitate the clearest communication between investigators and will provide the greatest flexibility in comparisons between the many new, exciting, and emerging technologies. The members of the Working Group now propose a vehicle for reporting the various aspects of image-guided ablation therapy, including classifications of therapies and procedures, appropriate descriptors of image guidance, and terms to define imaging and pathologic findings. Methods for standardizing the reporting of follow-up findings and complications and other important aspects that require attention when reporting clinical results are addressed. It is the group's hope and intention that adherence to the recommendations of this proposal will facilitate achievement of the group's main objective: improved precision and communication in this field that lead to more accurate comparison of technologies and results and ultimately to improved patient outcomes. Copyright RSNA, 2003.
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Cognitive Control Network Contributions to Memory-Guided Visual Attention
Rosen, Maya L.; Stern, Chantal E.; Michalka, Samantha W.; Devaney, Kathryn J.; Somers, David C.
2016-01-01
Visual attentional capacity is severely limited, but humans excel in familiar visual contexts, in part because long-term memories guide efficient deployment of attention. To investigate the neural substrates that support memory-guided visual attention, we performed a set of functional MRI experiments that contrast long-term, memory-guided visuospatial attention with stimulus-guided visuospatial attention in a change detection task. Whereas the dorsal attention network was activated for both forms of attention, the cognitive control network (CCN) was preferentially activated during memory-guided attention. Three posterior nodes in the CCN, posterior precuneus, posterior callosal sulcus/mid-cingulate, and lateral intraparietal sulcus exhibited the greatest specificity for memory-guided attention. These 3 regions exhibit functional connectivity at rest, and we propose that they form a subnetwork within the broader CCN. Based on the task activation patterns, we conclude that the nodes of this subnetwork are preferentially recruited for long-term memory guidance of visuospatial attention. PMID:25750253
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New knowledge-based genetic algorithm for excavator boom structural optimization
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hua, Haiyan; Lin, Shuwen
2014-03-01
Due to the insufficiency of utilizing knowledge to guide the complex optimal searching, existing genetic algorithms fail to effectively solve excavator boom structural optimization problem. To improve the optimization efficiency and quality, a new knowledge-based real-coded genetic algorithm is proposed. A dual evolution mechanism combining knowledge evolution with genetic algorithm is established to extract, handle and utilize the shallow and deep implicit constraint knowledge to guide the optimal searching of genetic algorithm circularly. Based on this dual evolution mechanism, knowledge evolution and population evolution can be connected by knowledge influence operators to improve the configurability of knowledge and genetic operators. Then, the new knowledge-based selection operator, crossover operator and mutation operator are proposed to integrate the optimal process knowledge and domain culture to guide the excavator boom structural optimization. Eight kinds of testing algorithms, which include different genetic operators, are taken as examples to solve the structural optimization of a medium-sized excavator boom. By comparing the results of optimization, it is shown that the algorithm including all the new knowledge-based genetic operators can more remarkably improve the evolutionary rate and searching ability than other testing algorithms, which demonstrates the effectiveness of knowledge for guiding optimal searching. The proposed knowledge-based genetic algorithm by combining multi-level knowledge evolution with numerical optimization provides a new effective method for solving the complex engineering optimization problem.
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The guide to Design For On-orbit Spacecraft Servicing (DFOSS) manual: Producing a consensus document
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Nyman, Janice
1993-01-01
Increasing interaction and changing economies at the national and international levels have accelerated the call for standardization in space systems design. The benefits of standardization--compatibility, interchangeability, and lower costs--are maximized when achieved through consensus. Reaching consensus in standardization means giving everyone who will be affected by a standard an opportunity to have input into creating that standard. The DFOSS manual was initiated with the goal of developing standards through consensus. The present Proposed Guide derives from work begun by the Space Automation and Robotics Center (SpARC), a NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space, and has continued as a standards project through the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The Proposed Guide was released by AIAA in Jan. 1992 for sale during a one-year, trial-use period. DFOSS is a response to the need for one document that contains all the guidelines required by on-orbit spacecraft servicing designers for astronaut extravehicular activity and/or telerobotic servicing. The manual's content is driven by spacecraft design considerations, and its composition has been achieved by interaction and cooperation among government, industry, and research organizations. While much work lies ahead to maximize the potential of DFOSS, the Proposed Guide represents evidence of the benefits of industry-wide consensus, points the way for broader application, and provides an example for similar projects.
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Muirhead, William
2012-04-01
Medical ethical analysis remains dominated by the principlist account first proposed by Beauchamp and Childress. This paper argues that the principlist model is unreflective of how ethical decisions are taken in clinical practice. Two kinds of medical ethical decisions are distinguished: biosocial ethics and clinical ethics. It is argued that principlism is an inappropriate model for clinical ethics as it is neither sufficiently action-guiding nor does it emphasise the professional integrity of the clinician. An alternative model is proposed for decision making in the realm of clinical ethics.
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Two-Dimensional Edge Detection by Guided Mode Resonant Metasurface
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Saba, Amirhossein; Tavakol, Mohammad Reza; Karimi-Khoozani, Parisa; Khavasi, Amin
2018-05-01
In this letter, a new approach to perform edge detection is presented using an all-dielectric CMOS-compatible metasurface. The design is based on guided-mode resonance which provides a high quality factor resonance to make the edge detection experimentally realizable. The proposed structure that is easy to fabricate, can be exploited for detection of edges in two dimensions due to its symmetry. Also, the trade-off between gain and resolution of edge detection is discussed which can be adjusted by appropriate design parameters. The proposed edge detector has also the potential to be used in ultrafast analog computing and image processing.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cao, Feidao; Zhao, Huaici; Liu, Pengfei
2017-11-01
Generative adversarial networks (GANs) has achieved success in many fields. However, there are some samples generated by many GAN-based works, whose structure is ambiguous. In this work, we propose Structure Guided GANs that introduce structural similar into GANs to overcome the problem. In order to achieve our goal, we introduce an encoder and a decoder into a generator to design a new generator and take real samples as part of the input of a generator. And we modify the loss function of the generator accordingly. By comparison with WGAN, experimental results show that our proposed method overcomes largely sample structure ambiguous and can generate higher quality samples.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Malczynski, Leonard A.
This guide addresses software quality in the construction of Powersim{reg_sign} Studio 8 system dynamics simulation models. It is the result of almost ten years of experience with the Powersim suite of system dynamics modeling tools (Constructor and earlier Studio versions). It is a guide that proposes a common look and feel for the construction of Powersim Studio system dynamics models.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wisconsin Univ. - Stout, Menomonie. Center for Vocational, Technical and Adult Education.
The document contains eight student directed and two teacher directed activity packages, and a proposed curriculum guide; all pertain to field objectives 1, 2, or 3 of the Wisconsin Guide to Local Curriculum Improvement in Industrial Education, K-12. Geared to the junior high level, the student packages are entitled: Repair of a Lamp Cord and…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Siegler, Robert; Carpenter, Thomas; Fennell, Francis; Geary, David; Lewis, James; Okamoto, Yukari; Thompson, Laurie; Wray, Jonathan
2010-01-01
This practice guide presents five recommendations intended to help educators improve students' understanding of, and problem-solving success with, fractions. Recommendations progress from proposals for how to build rudimentary understanding of fractions in young children; to ideas for helping older children understand the meaning of fractions and…
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The Annie E. Casey Foundation's New Futures Initiative: Strategic Planning Guide. (Revised).
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Center for the Study of Social Policy, Washington, DC.
Information in this guide is based on published research concerning effective strategies in dealing with at-risk youth. It was written for those communities invited to develop proposals under the Annie E. Casey Foundation's New Futures Initiative in an attempt to alleviate problems that compromise American children's futures. Each of three…
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TEACHER'S GUIDE TO HIGH SCHOOL SPEECH.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
JENKINSON, EDWARD B., ED.
THIS GUIDE TO HIGH SCHOOL SPEECH FOCUSES ON SPEECH AS ORAL COMPOSITION, STRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF CLEAR THINKING AND COMMUNICATION. THE PROPOSED 1-SEMESTER BASIC COURSE IN SPEECH ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE THE STUDENT'S ABILITY TO COMPOSE AND DELIVER SPEECHES, TO THINK AND LISTEN CRITICALLY, AND TO UNDERSTAND THE SOCIAL FUNCTION OF SPEECH. IN ADDITION…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stone, Gerard; Fiedler, Brenton Andrew; Kandunias, Chris
2014-01-01
This paper proposes principles to guide accounting students' and accounting educators' use of Facebook as an educational resource to engage students with their learning. A body of cross-disciplinary research has investigated potential applications of Facebook to invigorate student engagement. Generic guidelines for educators who are contemplating…
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Improving Early Reading: A Resource Guide for Elementary Schools.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
St. John, Edward P.; Loescher, Siri Ann
Indiana's Early Intervention Grant Program (EIGP) provides funding for Reading Recovery and other early interventions focused on improvement in early reading programs (Grades 1-5). This resource guide provides information that schools in Indiana can use to plan for proposals for EIGP and other grant programs, such as comprehensive school reform…
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User-guided segmentation for volumetric retinal optical coherence tomography images
Yin, Xin; Chao, Jennifer R.; Wang, Ruikang K.
2014-01-01
Abstract. Despite the existence of automatic segmentation techniques, trained graders still rely on manual segmentation to provide retinal layers and features from clinical optical coherence tomography (OCT) images for accurate measurements. To bridge the gap between this time-consuming need of manual segmentation and currently available automatic segmentation techniques, this paper proposes a user-guided segmentation method to perform the segmentation of retinal layers and features in OCT images. With this method, by interactively navigating three-dimensional (3-D) OCT images, the user first manually defines user-defined (or sketched) lines at regions where the retinal layers appear very irregular for which the automatic segmentation method often fails to provide satisfactory results. The algorithm is then guided by these sketched lines to trace the entire 3-D retinal layer and anatomical features by the use of novel layer and edge detectors that are based on robust likelihood estimation. The layer and edge boundaries are finally obtained to achieve segmentation. Segmentation of retinal layers in mouse and human OCT images demonstrates the reliability and efficiency of the proposed user-guided segmentation method. PMID:25147962
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User-guided segmentation for volumetric retinal optical coherence tomography images.
Yin, Xin; Chao, Jennifer R; Wang, Ruikang K
2014-08-01
Despite the existence of automatic segmentation techniques, trained graders still rely on manual segmentation to provide retinal layers and features from clinical optical coherence tomography (OCT) images for accurate measurements. To bridge the gap between this time-consuming need of manual segmentation and currently available automatic segmentation techniques, this paper proposes a user-guided segmentation method to perform the segmentation of retinal layers and features in OCT images. With this method, by interactively navigating three-dimensional (3-D) OCT images, the user first manually defines user-defined (or sketched) lines at regions where the retinal layers appear very irregular for which the automatic segmentation method often fails to provide satisfactory results. The algorithm is then guided by these sketched lines to trace the entire 3-D retinal layer and anatomical features by the use of novel layer and edge detectors that are based on robust likelihood estimation. The layer and edge boundaries are finally obtained to achieve segmentation. Segmentation of retinal layers in mouse and human OCT images demonstrates the reliability and efficiency of the proposed user-guided segmentation method.
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Cross-guide Moreno directional coupler in empty substrate integrated waveguide
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Miralles, E.; Belenguer, A.; Esteban, H.; Boria, V.
2017-05-01
Substrate integrated waveguides (SIWs) combine the advantages of rectangular waveguides (low losses) and planar circuits (low cost and low profile). Empty substrate integrated waveguide (ESIW) has been proposed as a novel configuration in SIWs recently. This technology significantly reduces the losses of conventional SIW by removing its inner dielectric. The cross-guide directional coupler is a well-known low-profile design for having a broadband waveguide coupler. In this paper a cross-guide coupler with ESIW technique is proposed. In such a manner, the device can be integrated with microwave circuits and other printed circuit board components. It is the first time that a cross-guide coupler is implemented in ESIW technology. The designed, fabricated, and measured device presents good results as a matter of insertion loss of 1 dB (including transitions), reflection under 20 dB, coupling between 19.5 and 21.5 dB, and directivity higher than 15 dB over targeted frequency range from 12.4 GHz to 18 GHz. The coupler implemented in ESIW improves the directivity when compared to similar solutions in other empty substrate integrated waveguide solutions.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
NONE
The ARES (Automated Residential Energy Standard) User`s Guide is designed to the user successfully operate the ARES computer program. This guide assumes that the user is familiar with basic PC skills such as using a keyboard and loading a disk drive. The ARES computer program was designed to assist building code officials in creating a residential energy standard based on local climate and costs.
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Mejía-Aranguré, Juan Manuel; Grijalva-Otero, Israel; Majluf-Cruz, Abraham; Cruz-López, Miguel; Núñez-Enríquez, Juan Carlos; Salamanca-Gómez, Fabio Abdiel
2013-01-01
Medical research is a fundamental tool to achieve the advancement of science, through the improvement of strategies aimed to protect, promote and restore an individual's and society's health. Three characteristics are required to obtain approval of the research proposal: scientific relevance, technical quality and the accomplishment of ethical issues. The present review aimed at the determination of the specific criteria to perform a critical review of research proposals. A research was carried out in the PubMed, Medline, Ovid and Google Scholar databases, using the terms: peer review, research proposals, review and protocols, and reviewers. A total of 3546 related articles were reviewed, without finding a guide to critically assess research proposals. The guides to assess research articles consider that the quality criteria of the study should have been present since the study's conception; many of the issues described to review articles are incorporated in the review of the research proposals. The specific criteria were integrated to allow the reviewer to critically assess research proposals of different areas with scientific basis. The reviewer of research proposals should be considered as a professional that contributes to the promotion of knowledge advancement through his/her comments, which allow researchers to improve the quality of research proposals.
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Bay, Esther; Kreulen, Grace J; Shavers, Clarissa Agee; Currier, Connie
2006-01-01
Recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be a tumultuous lifelong and expensive process. Guided therapies for community integration within community systems are a focus of treating therapists around the world, yet there are no published discussions concerning the most fitting community context. We propose a theoretical approach for practice and research using Flaskerud and Winslow's conceptual model of vulnerable populations. Using the model constructs of health status, resource availability, and increased relative risk, we offer empirical support for proposed construct relationships applied to persons with traumatic brain injury. We then propose that interventions for health promotion, acute care, and rehabilitation or chronic disease management have a community focus, and we identify relevant goals for community-based practice and research.
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Vargas-Leguás, H; Rodríguez Garrido, V; Lorite Cuenca, R; Pérez-Portabella, C; Redecillas Ferreiro, S; Campins Martí, M
2009-06-01
This guide for the preparation of powdered infant formulae in hospital environments is a collaborative work between several hospital services and is based on national and European regulations, international experts meetings and the recommendations of scientific societies. This guide also uses the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point principles proposed by Codex Alimentarius and emphasises effective verifying measures, microbiological controls of the process and the corrective actions when monitoring indicates that a critical control point is not under control. It is a dynamic guide and specifies the evaluation procedures that allow it to be constantly adapted.
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[Cortical potentials evoked to response to a signal to make a memory-guided saccade].
Slavutskaia, M V; Moiseeva, V V; Shul'govskiĭ, V V
2010-01-01
The difference in parameters of visually guided and memory-guided saccades was shown. Increase in the memory-guided saccade latency as compared to that of the visually guided saccades may indicate the deceleration of saccadic programming on the basis of information extraction from the memory. The comparison of parameters and topography of evoked components N1 and P1 of the evoked potential on the signal to make a memory- or visually guided saccade suggests that the early stage of the saccade programming associated with the space information processing is performed predominantly with top-down attention mechanism before the memory-guided saccade and bottom-up mechanism before the visually guided saccade. The findings show that the increase in the latency of the memory-guided saccades is connected with decision making at the central stage of the saccade programming. We proposed that wave N2, which develops in the middle of the latent period of the memory-guided saccades, is correlated with this process. Topography and spatial dynamics of components N1, P1 and N2 testify that the memory-guided saccade programming is controlled by the frontal mediothalamic system of selective attention and left-hemispheric brain mechanisms of motor attention.
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Response-Guided Community Detection: Application to Climate Index Discovery
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Bello, Gonzalo; Angus, Michael; Pedemane, Navya
Discovering climate indices-time series that summarize spatiotemporal climate patterns-is a key task in the climate science domain. In this work, we approach this task as a problem of response-guided community detection; that is, identifying communities in a graph associated with a response variable of interest. To this end, we propose a general strategy for response-guided community detection that explicitly incorporates information of the response variable during the community detection process, and introduce a graph representation of spatiotemporal data that leverages information from multiple variables. We apply our proposed methodology to the discovery of climate indices associated with seasonal rainfall variability.more » Our results suggest that our methodology is able to capture the underlying patterns known to be associated with the response variable of interest and to improve its predictability compared to existing methodologies for data-driven climate index discovery and official forecasts.« less
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A concept of volume rendering guided search process to analyze medical data set.
Zhou, Jianlong; Xiao, Chun; Wang, Zhiyan; Takatsuka, Masahiro
2008-03-01
This paper firstly presents an approach of parallel coordinates based parameter control panel (PCP). The PCP is used to control parameters of focal region-based volume rendering (FRVR) during data analysis. It uses a parallel coordinates style interface. Different rendering parameters represented with nodes on each axis, and renditions based on related parameters are connected using polylines to show dependencies between renditions and parameters. Based on the PCP, a concept of volume rendering guided search process is proposed. The search pipeline is divided into four phases. Different parameters of FRVR are recorded and modulated in the PCP during search phases. The concept shows that volume visualization could play the role of guiding a search process in the rendition space to help users to efficiently find local structures of interest. The usability of the proposed approach is evaluated to show its effectiveness.
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Chen, Xianlai; Fann, Yang C; McAuliffe, Matthew; Vismer, David
2017-01-01
Background As one of the several effective solutions for personal privacy protection, a global unique identifier (GUID) is linked with hash codes that are generated from combinations of personally identifiable information (PII) by a one-way hash algorithm. On the GUID server, no PII is permitted to be stored, and only GUID and hash codes are allowed. The quality of PII entry is critical to the GUID system. Objective The goal of our study was to explore a method of checking questionable entry of PII in this context without using or sending any portion of PII while registering a subject. Methods According to the principle of GUID system, all possible combination patterns of PII fields were analyzed and used to generate hash codes, which were stored on the GUID server. Based on the matching rules of the GUID system, an error-checking algorithm was developed using set theory to check PII entry errors. We selected 200,000 simulated individuals with randomly-planted errors to evaluate the proposed algorithm. These errors were placed in the required PII fields or optional PII fields. The performance of the proposed algorithm was also tested in the registering system of study subjects. Results There are 127,700 error-planted subjects, of which 114,464 (89.64%) can still be identified as the previous one and remaining 13,236 (10.36%, 13,236/127,700) are discriminated as new subjects. As expected, 100% of nonidentified subjects had errors within the required PII fields. The possibility that a subject is identified is related to the count and the type of incorrect PII field. For all identified subjects, their errors can be found by the proposed algorithm. The scope of questionable PII fields is also associated with the count and the type of the incorrect PII field. The best situation is to precisely find the exact incorrect PII fields, and the worst situation is to shrink the questionable scope only to a set of 13 PII fields. In the application, the proposed algorithm can give a hint of questionable PII entry and perform as an effective tool. Conclusions The GUID system has high error tolerance and may correctly identify and associate a subject even with few PII field errors. Correct data entry, especially required PII fields, is critical to avoiding false splits. In the context of one-way hash transformation, the questionable input of PII may be identified by applying set theory operators based on the hash codes. The count and the type of incorrect PII fields play an important role in identifying a subject and locating questionable PII fields. PMID:28213343
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Chen, Xianlai; Fann, Yang C; McAuliffe, Matthew; Vismer, David; Yang, Rong
2017-02-17
As one of the several effective solutions for personal privacy protection, a global unique identifier (GUID) is linked with hash codes that are generated from combinations of personally identifiable information (PII) by a one-way hash algorithm. On the GUID server, no PII is permitted to be stored, and only GUID and hash codes are allowed. The quality of PII entry is critical to the GUID system. The goal of our study was to explore a method of checking questionable entry of PII in this context without using or sending any portion of PII while registering a subject. According to the principle of GUID system, all possible combination patterns of PII fields were analyzed and used to generate hash codes, which were stored on the GUID server. Based on the matching rules of the GUID system, an error-checking algorithm was developed using set theory to check PII entry errors. We selected 200,000 simulated individuals with randomly-planted errors to evaluate the proposed algorithm. These errors were placed in the required PII fields or optional PII fields. The performance of the proposed algorithm was also tested in the registering system of study subjects. There are 127,700 error-planted subjects, of which 114,464 (89.64%) can still be identified as the previous one and remaining 13,236 (10.36%, 13,236/127,700) are discriminated as new subjects. As expected, 100% of nonidentified subjects had errors within the required PII fields. The possibility that a subject is identified is related to the count and the type of incorrect PII field. For all identified subjects, their errors can be found by the proposed algorithm. The scope of questionable PII fields is also associated with the count and the type of the incorrect PII field. The best situation is to precisely find the exact incorrect PII fields, and the worst situation is to shrink the questionable scope only to a set of 13 PII fields. In the application, the proposed algorithm can give a hint of questionable PII entry and perform as an effective tool. The GUID system has high error tolerance and may correctly identify and associate a subject even with few PII field errors. Correct data entry, especially required PII fields, is critical to avoiding false splits. In the context of one-way hash transformation, the questionable input of PII may be identified by applying set theory operators based on the hash codes. The count and the type of incorrect PII fields play an important role in identifying a subject and locating questionable PII fields. ©Xianlai Chen, Yang C Fann, Matthew McAuliffe, David Vismer, Rong Yang. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (http://medinform.jmir.org), 17.02.2017.
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González, Domingo; Romero, Luis; Espinosa, María Del Mar; Domínguez, Manuel
2017-01-01
The aim of this paper is to present an optimization proposal in the automated guided vehicles design used in hospital logistics, as well as to analyze the impact of its implementation in a real environment. This proposal is based on the design of those elements that would allow the vehicles to deliver an extra cart by the towing method. So, the proposal intention is to improve the productivity and the performance of the current vehicles by using a transportation method of combined carts. The study has been developed following concurrent engineering premises from three different viewpoints. First, the sequence of operations has been described, and second, a proposal of design of the equipment has been undertaken. Finally, the impact of the proposal has been analyzed according to real data from the Hospital Universitario Rio Hortega in Valladolid (Spain). In this particular case, by the implementation of the analyzed proposal in the hospital a reduction of over 35% of the current time of use can be achieved. This result may allow adding new tasks to the vehicles, and according to this, both a new kind of vehicle and a specific module can be developed in order to get a better performance.
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MRI-guided brain PET image filtering and partial volume correction
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yan, Jianhua; Chu-Shern Lim, Jason; Townsend, David W.
2015-02-01
Positron emission tomography (PET) image quantification is a challenging problem due to limited spatial resolution of acquired data and the resulting partial volume effects (PVE), which depend on the size of the structure studied in relation to the spatial resolution and which may lead to over or underestimation of the true tissue tracer concentration. In addition, it is usually necessary to perform image smoothing either during image reconstruction or afterwards to achieve a reasonable signal-to-noise ratio. Typically, an isotropic Gaussian filtering (GF) is used for this purpose. However, the noise suppression is at the cost of deteriorating spatial resolution. As hybrid imaging devices such as PET/MRI have become available, the complementary information derived from high definition morphologic images could be used to improve the quality of PET images. In this study, first of all, we propose an MRI-guided PET filtering method by adapting a recently proposed local linear model and then incorporate PVE into the model to get a new partial volume correction (PVC) method without parcellation of MRI. In addition, both the new filtering and PVC are voxel-wise non-iterative methods. The performance of the proposed methods were investigated with simulated dynamic FDG brain dataset and 18F-FDG brain data of a cervical cancer patient acquired with a simultaneous hybrid PET/MR scanner. The initial simulation results demonstrated that MRI-guided PET image filtering can produce less noisy images than traditional GF and bias and coefficient of variation can be further reduced by MRI-guided PET PVC. Moreover, structures can be much better delineated in MRI-guided PET PVC for real brain data.
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Public Participation Guide: Proposed Popa Falls Hydropower Project, Okavango River, Namibia
The proposed hydropower project at Popa Falls case study illustrates the importance of carefully considering the scope of a public participation process when an environmental assessment is preliminary and when trans-boundary project impacts are a factor.
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Biomarker-Guided Adaptive Trial Designs in Phase II and Phase III: A Methodological Review
Antoniou, Miranta; Jorgensen, Andrea L; Kolamunnage-Dona, Ruwanthi
2016-01-01
Background Personalized medicine is a growing area of research which aims to tailor the treatment given to a patient according to one or more personal characteristics. These characteristics can be demographic such as age or gender, or biological such as a genetic or other biomarker. Prior to utilizing a patient’s biomarker information in clinical practice, robust testing in terms of analytical validity, clinical validity and clinical utility is necessary. A number of clinical trial designs have been proposed for testing a biomarker’s clinical utility, including Phase II and Phase III clinical trials which aim to test the effectiveness of a biomarker-guided approach to treatment; these designs can be broadly classified into adaptive and non-adaptive. While adaptive designs allow planned modifications based on accumulating information during a trial, non-adaptive designs are typically simpler but less flexible. Methods and Findings We have undertaken a comprehensive review of biomarker-guided adaptive trial designs proposed in the past decade. We have identified eight distinct biomarker-guided adaptive designs and nine variations from 107 studies. Substantial variability has been observed in terms of how trial designs are described and particularly in the terminology used by different authors. We have graphically displayed the current biomarker-guided adaptive trial designs and summarised the characteristics of each design. Conclusions Our in-depth overview provides future researchers with clarity in definition, methodology and terminology for biomarker-guided adaptive trial designs. PMID:26910238
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Values Orientations of Hong Kong's Reform Proposals
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Che, Fok Shui
2004-01-01
Hong Kong has put forward a package of education reform proposals in 2000. The education reform is to set the blueprint for Hong Kong's development of education for the 21st century. An analysis of the values orientation of the reform proposals shows that the impact of globalization and the economic restructuring are the guiding forces. The main…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ginsburg, Herbert P.; Lee, Young-Sun; Pappas, Sandra
2016-01-01
Formative assessment involves the gathering of information that can guide the teaching of individual or groups of children. This approach requires a sound understanding of children's thinking and learning, as well as an effective method for gaining the information. We propose that formative assessment should employ a version of clinical…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-08-08
..., 1997), required that expiring Section 8 project-based assistance contracts be renewed under MAHRA. Established in the MAHRA policies renewal of Section 8 project-based contracts rent are based on market rents... MAHRA. The Section 8 Renewal Policy Guide sets forth six renewal options from which a project owner may...
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75 FR 33761 - Notice of Proposed Change to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-06-15
... Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U... Rosa Road, Suite 209, Richmond, Virginia 23229-5014; Telephone number (804) 287-1691; Fax number (804) 287-1737. Copies of the practice standards will be made available upon written request to the address...
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From Guide on the Side to Impresario with a Scenario
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Weston, Anthony
2015-01-01
This article proposes a conception of the teacher as an "Impresario with a Scenario," a multi-centric and co-constructivist model in contrast to the familiarly student-centered and constructivist ideal of the Guide on the Side. I argue that the Impresario conception is truer to the practices of many teachers inspired by the "Guide…
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76 FR 50171 - Notice of Proposed Change to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-08-12
... the Virginia NRCS State Technical Guide for review and comment. SUMMARY: It has been determined by the... Management No Till/Strip Till/Direct Seed, 344, Residue Management, Seasonal, 345, Residue and Tillage... public review and comment. For the next 30 days, the NRCS in Virginia will receive comments relative to...
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76 FR 52634 - Notice of Proposed Change to Section IV of the Virginia State Technical Guide
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-08-23
... NRCS State Technical Guide for review and comment. SUMMARY: It has been determined by the NRCS State... Management No Till/Strip Till/Direct Seed, 344, Residue Management, Seasonal, 345, Residue and Tillage... review and comment. For the next 30 days, the NRCS in Virginia will receive comments relative to the...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Madsen, David
A guide to writing dissertations and theses is presented that is primarily directed to doctoral and master's degree candidates but that may also be useful to the writer of scholarly papers, essays, and papers. Attention is directed to the following concerns: starting and completing the dissertation; working with the research adviser and advisory…
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ROMI-RIP: Rough Mill RIP-first simulator user's guide
R. Edward Thomas
1995-01-01
The ROugh Mill RIP-first simulator (ROMI-RIP) is a computer software package for IBM compatible personal computers that simulates current industrial practices for gang-ripping lumber. This guide shows the user how to set and examine the results of simulations regarding current or proposed mill practices. ROMI-RIP accepts cutting bills with up to 300 different part...
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kamanin, D. V.; Alexandrov, A. A.; Alexandrova, I. A.; Kondtatyev, N. A.; Kuznetsova, E. A.; Shvetsov, V. N.; Strekalovsky, A. O.; Strekalovsky, O. V.; Zhuchko, V. E.; Pyatkov, Yu. V.; Jacobs, N.; Malaza, V.
2015-06-01
Motivation and status of the VEGA (Velocity-Energy Guide based Array) project is presented. One armed fission fragments spectrometer with an electrostatic guide system is proposed for installation at the vertical experimental channel of the IBR-2 reactor. Scientific program aimed at investigation of new multi-body decays of actinides, shapeisomeric states in fission fragments and fission modes is reported.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Zuo, Peng; Fan, Zheng, E-mail: ZFAN@ntu.edu.sg; Zhou, Yu
2016-07-15
Nonlinear guided waves have been investigated widely in simple geometries, such as plates, pipe and shells, where analytical solutions have been developed. This paper extends the application of nonlinear guided waves to waveguides with arbitrary cross sections. The criteria for the existence of nonlinear guided waves were summarized based on the finite deformation theory and nonlinear material properties. Numerical models were developed for the analysis of nonlinear guided waves in complex geometries, including nonlinear Semi-Analytical Finite Element (SAFE) method to identify internal resonant modes in complex waveguides, and Finite Element (FE) models to simulate the nonlinear wave propagation at resonantmore » frequencies. Two examples, an aluminum plate and a steel rectangular bar, were studied using the proposed numerical model, demonstrating the existence of nonlinear guided waves in such structures and the energy transfer from primary to secondary modes.« less
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A time series modeling approach in risk appraisal of violent and sexual recidivism.
Bani-Yaghoub, Majid; Fedoroff, J Paul; Curry, Susan; Amundsen, David E
2010-10-01
For over half a century, various clinical and actuarial methods have been employed to assess the likelihood of violent recidivism. Yet there is a need for new methods that can improve the accuracy of recidivism predictions. This study proposes a new time series modeling approach that generates high levels of predictive accuracy over short and long periods of time. The proposed approach outperformed two widely used actuarial instruments (i.e., the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide and the Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide). Furthermore, analysis of temporal risk variations based on specific time series models can add valuable information into risk assessment and management of violent offenders.
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Suh, E R; Waring, R B
1990-01-01
It has been proposed that recognition of the 3' splice site in many group I introns involves base pairing between the start of the 3' exon and a region of the intron known as the internal guide sequence (R. W. Davies, R. B. Waring, J. Ray, T. A. Brown, and C. Scazzocchio, Nature [London] 300:719-724, 1982). We have examined this hypothesis, using the self-splicing rRNA intron from Tetrahymena thermophila. Mutations in the 3' exon that weaken this proposed pairing increased use of a downstream cryptic 3' splice site. Compensatory mutations in the guide sequence that restore this pairing resulted in even stronger selection of the normal 3' splice site. These changes in 3' splice site usage were more pronounced in the background of a mutation (414A) which resulted in an adenine instead of a guanine being the last base of the intron. These results show that the proposed pairing (P10) plays an important role in ensuring that cryptic 3' splice sites are selected against. Surprisingly, the 414A mutation alone did not result in activation of the cryptic 3' splice site. Images PMID:2342465
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Cai, Ailong; Wang, Linyuan; Zhang, Hanming; Yan, Bin; Li, Lei; Xi, Xiaoqi; Li, Jianxin
2014-01-01
Linear scan computed tomography (CT) is a promising imaging configuration with high scanning efficiency while the data set is under-sampled and angularly limited for which high quality image reconstruction is challenging. In this work, an edge guided total variation minimization reconstruction (EGTVM) algorithm is developed in dealing with this problem. The proposed method is modeled on the combination of total variation (TV) regularization and iterative edge detection strategy. In the proposed method, the edge weights of intermediate reconstructions are incorporated into the TV objective function. The optimization is efficiently solved by applying alternating direction method of multipliers. A prudential and conservative edge detection strategy proposed in this paper can obtain the true edges while restricting the errors within an acceptable degree. Based on the comparison on both simulation studies and real CT data set reconstructions, EGTVM provides comparable or even better quality compared to the non-edge guided reconstruction and adaptive steepest descent-projection onto convex sets method. With the utilization of weighted alternating direction TV minimization and edge detection, EGTVM achieves fast and robust convergence and reconstructs high quality image when applied in linear scan CT with under-sampled data set.
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JWST Operations and the Phase I and II Process
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Beck, Tracy L.
2010-07-01
The JWST operations and Phase I and Phase II process will build upon our knowledge on the current system in use for HST. The primary observing overheads associated with JWST observations, both direct and indirect, are summarized. While some key operations constraints for JWST may cause deviations from the HST model for proposal planning, the overall interface to JWST planning will use the APT and will appear similar to the HST interface. The requirement is to have a proposal planning model simlar to HST, where proposals submitted to the TAC must have at least the minimum amount of information necessary for assessment of the strength of the science. However, a goal of the JWST planning process is to have the submitted Phase I proposal in executable form, and as complete as possible for many programs. JWST will have significant constraints on the spacecraft pointing and orient, so it is beneficial for the planning process to have these scheduling constraints on programs defined as early as possible. The guide field of JWST is also much smaller than the HST guide field, so searches for available guide stars for JWST science programs must be done at the Phase I deadline. The long range observing plan for each JWST cycle will be generated intially from the TAC accepted programs at the Phase I deadline, and the LRP will be refined after the Phase II deadline when all scheduling constraints are defined.
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Guided growth of horizontal GaN nanowires on quartz and their transfer to other substrates.
Goren-Ruck, Lior; Tsivion, David; Schvartzman, Mark; Popovitz-Biro, Ronit; Joselevich, Ernesto
2014-03-25
The guided growth of horizontal nanowires has so far been demonstrated on a limited number of substrates. In most cases, the nanowires are covalently bonded to the substrate where they grow and cannot be transferred to other substrates. Here we demonstrate the guided growth of well-aligned horizontal GaN nanowires on quartz and their subsequent transfer to silicon wafers by selective etching of the quartz while maintaining their alignment. The guided growth was observed on different planes of quartz with varying degrees of alignment. We characterized the crystallographic orientations of the nanowires and proposed a new mechanism of "dynamic graphoepitaxy" for their guided growth on quartz. The transfer of the guided nanowires enabled the fabrication of back-gated field-effect transistors from aligned nanowire arrays on oxidized silicon wafers and the production of crossbar arrays. The guided growth of transferrable nanowires opens up the possibility of massively parallel integration of nanowires into functional systems on virtually any desired substrate.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-12-06
...The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-3042, ``Standard Format and Content for a License Application for an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation or a Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility.'' This draft regulatory guide is proposed revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 3.50, which provides a format that the NRC considers acceptable for submitting the information for license applications to store spent nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive waste, and/or reactor-related Greater than Class C waste.
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Image-guided regularization level set evolution for MR image segmentation and bias field correction.
Wang, Lingfeng; Pan, Chunhong
2014-01-01
Magnetic resonance (MR) image segmentation is a crucial step in surgical and treatment planning. In this paper, we propose a level-set-based segmentation method for MR images with intensity inhomogeneous problem. To tackle the initialization sensitivity problem, we propose a new image-guided regularization to restrict the level set function. The maximum a posteriori inference is adopted to unify segmentation and bias field correction within a single framework. Under this framework, both the contour prior and the bias field prior are fully used. As a result, the image intensity inhomogeneity can be well solved. Extensive experiments are provided to evaluate the proposed method, showing significant improvements in both segmentation and bias field correction accuracies as compared with other state-of-the-art approaches. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sex and drugs in popular movies: an analysis of the top 200 films
Gunasekera, Hasantha; Chapman, Simon; Campbell, Sharon
2005-01-01
We analyse the portrayal of sex and drug use in the most popular movies of the last 20 years using the Internet Movie Database list of the top 200 movies of all time. Films released or set prior to the HIV era (pre 1983), animated, not about humans or G/PG rated, were excluded. Films were reviewed by one of two teams of two observers using a data extraction sheet tested for inter-rater reliability. Sexual activity, sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, birth control measures, drug use and any consequences discussed or depicted were recorded. There were 53 sex episodes in 28 (32%) of the 87 movies reviewed. There was only one suggestion of condom use, which was the only reference to any form of birth control. There were no depictions of important consequences of unprotected sex such as unwanted pregnancies, HIV or other STDs. Movies with cannabis (8%) and other non-injected illicit drugs (7%) were less common than those with alcohol intoxication (32%) and tobacco use (68%) but tended to portray their use positively and without negative consequences. There were no episodes of injected drug use. Sex depictions in popular movies of the last two decades lacked safe sex messages. Drug use, though infrequent, tended to be depicted positively. The social norm being presented is concerning given the HIV and illicit drug pandemics. PMID:16199815
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7 CFR Exhibit A to Subpart G of... - Departmental Regulation
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-01-01
... administrative changes in existing and proposed rules, regulations, guides, practices, or policies and propose needed legislative changes to bring agency programs into compliance with the provisions of this..., climate, topography, vegetation, and location, has the highest quality or value for grazing animals. The...
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7 CFR Exhibit A to Subpart G of... - Departmental Regulation
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-01-01
... administrative changes in existing and proposed rules, regulations, guides, practices, or policies and propose needed legislative changes to bring agency programs into compliance with the provisions of this..., climate, topography, vegetation, and location, has the highest quality or value for grazing animals. The...
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7 CFR Exhibit A to Subpart G of... - Departmental Regulation
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-01-01
... administrative changes in existing and proposed rules, regulations, guides, practices, or policies and propose needed legislative changes to bring agency programs into compliance with the provisions of this..., climate, topography, vegetation, and location, has the highest quality or value for grazing animals. The...
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7 CFR Exhibit A to Subpart G of... - Departmental Regulation
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-01-01
... administrative changes in existing and proposed rules, regulations, guides, practices, or policies and propose needed legislative changes to bring agency programs into compliance with the provisions of this..., climate, topography, vegetation, and location, has the highest quality or value for grazing animals. The...
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Audit Manual Selected Area of Cost Guidebook: FAR 31.205 Cost Principles MRDs - Audit Guidance Memos CAS - Cost Accounting Standards FAR - Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR Cost Principles Guide DFARS Proposal Adequacy Checklist Forward Pricing Rate Proposal Adequacy Checklist Incurred Cost Submission
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7 CFR Exhibit A to Subpart G of... - Departmental Regulation
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-01-01
... administrative changes in existing and proposed rules, regulations, guides, practices, or policies and propose needed legislative changes to bring agency programs into compliance with the provisions of this..., climate, topography, vegetation, and location, has the highest quality or value for grazing animals. The...
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Image-guided spatial localization of heterogeneous compartments for magnetic resonance
An, Li; Shen, Jun
2015-01-01
Purpose: Image-guided localization SPectral Localization Achieved by Sensitivity Heterogeneity (SPLASH) allows rapid measurement of signals from irregularly shaped anatomical compartments without using phase encoding gradients. Here, the authors propose a novel method to address the issue of heterogeneous signal distribution within the localized compartments. Methods: Each compartment was subdivided into multiple subcompartments and their spectra were solved by Tikhonov regularization to enforce smoothness within each compartment. The spectrum of a given compartment was generated by combining the spectra of the components of that compartment. The proposed method was first tested using Monte Carlo simulations and then applied to reconstructing in vivo spectra from irregularly shaped ischemic stroke and normal tissue compartments. Results: Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the proposed regularized SPLASH method significantly reduces localization and metabolite quantification errors. In vivo results show that the intracompartment regularization results in ∼40% reduction of error in metabolite quantification. Conclusions: The proposed method significantly reduces localization errors and metabolite quantification errors caused by intracompartment heterogeneous signal distribution. PMID:26328977
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hossain, Md. Nazmul; Alam, M. Shah; Mohsin, K. M.; Hasan, Dihan Md. Nuruddin
2011-08-01
A liquid crystal infiltrated spiral photonic crystal fiber (LCSPCF) is presented here for electrical tuning of two zero dispersion wavelengths (ZDWs) in the present communication window. The proposed LCSPCF shows tunability of the ZDWs from 1433 nm to 2136 nm due to the rotation of the infiltrated LC mesogen induced by the external electric field. Therefore, the ZDW can easily be shifted towards the available pump wavelength for effective supercontinuum generation (SCG) over a broad wavelength region. By tuning the bandwidth (BW) in between the two ZDWs the extension of the generated supercontinuum (SC) spectrum can also be electrically controlled. This will help the SCG in our desired band with optimum power budget. Moreover, the index guiding mechanism of the proposed soft glass LCSPCF shows improvement over the narrow operational bandwidth and the low nonlinearity of the band-gap guided silica LCPCF. Additionally, the solid core of the proposed LCSPCF is less lossy than the previously proposed liquid crystal core PCF.
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Evaluating and redesigning teaching learning sequences at the introductory physics level
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Guisasola, Jenaro; Zuza, Kristina; Ametller, Jaume; Gutierrez-Berraondo, José
2017-12-01
In this paper we put forward a proposal for the design and evaluation of teaching and learning sequences in upper secondary school and university. We will connect our proposal with relevant contributions on the design of teaching sequences, ground it on the design-based research methodology, and discuss how teaching and learning sequences designed according to our proposal relate to learning progressions. An iterative methodology for evaluating and redesigning the teaching and learning sequence (TLS) is presented. The proposed assessment strategy focuses on three aspects: (a) evaluation of the activities of the TLS, (b) evaluation of learning achieved by students in relation to the intended objectives, and (c) a document for gathering the difficulties found when implementing the TLS to serve as a guide to teachers. Discussion of this guide with external teachers provides feedback used for the TLS redesign. The context of our implementation and evaluation is an innovative calculus-based physics course for first-year engineering and science degree students at the University of the Basque Country.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lee, Ronald T., Ed.
This resource guide is intended to aid practitioners in the design of new curriculum units or the enrichment of existing units by suggesting activities and resources in the topic areas of earth, air, fire, and water. Special projects and trips relating to these topic areas are proposed. A sample arts networking system used to integrate various…
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Distinct Prefrontal Molecular Mechanisms for Information Storage Lasting Seconds versus Minutes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Runyan, Jason D.; Dash, Pramod K.
2005-01-01
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is known to actively hold information "online" for a period of seconds in working memory for guiding goal-directed behavior. It has been proposed that relevant information is stored in other brain regions, which is retrieved and held in working memory for subsequent assimilation by the PFC in order to guide behavior. It…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-03-31
... Change To Update Its Settlement Service Guide as It Relates to the ID Net Service March 25, 2010... change amends DTC's rules in order to update its Settlement Service Guide as it relates to the ID Net... the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Clark, Lynn
This book provides parents with guidance for handling a variety of common behavior problems based on the behavioral approach to child rearing and discipline. This approach suggests that good and bad behavior are both learned and can be changed, and proposes specific methods, skills, procedures, and strategies for parents to use in getting improved…
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Multi-focus image fusion using a guided-filter-based difference image.
Yan, Xiang; Qin, Hanlin; Li, Jia; Zhou, Huixin; Yang, Tingwu
2016-03-20
The aim of multi-focus image fusion technology is to integrate different partially focused images into one all-focused image. To realize this goal, a new multi-focus image fusion method based on a guided filter is proposed and an efficient salient feature extraction method is presented in this paper. Furthermore, feature extraction is primarily the main objective of the present work. Based on salient feature extraction, the guided filter is first used to acquire the smoothing image containing the most sharpness regions. To obtain the initial fusion map, we compose a mixed focus measure by combining the variance of image intensities and the energy of the image gradient together. Then, the initial fusion map is further processed by a morphological filter to obtain a good reprocessed fusion map. Lastly, the final fusion map is determined via the reprocessed fusion map and is optimized by a guided filter. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method does markedly improve the fusion performance compared to previous fusion methods and can be competitive with or even outperform state-of-the-art fusion methods in terms of both subjective visual effects and objective quality metrics.
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Ultrasound guided electrical impedance tomography for 2D free-interface reconstruction
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Liang, Guanghui; Ren, Shangjie; Dong, Feng
2017-07-01
The free-interface detection problem is normally seen in industrial or biological processes. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive technique with advantages of high-speed and low cost, and is a promising solution for free-interface detection problems. However, due to the ill-posed and nonlinear characteristics, the spatial resolution of EIT is low. To deal with the issue, an ultrasound guided EIT is proposed to directly reconstruct the geometric configuration of the target free-interface. In the method, the position of the central point of the target interface is measured by a pair of ultrasound transducers mounted at the opposite side of the objective domain, and then the position measurement is used as the prior information for guiding the EIT-based free-interface reconstruction. During the process, a constrained least squares framework is used to fuse the information from different measurement modalities, and the Lagrange multiplier-based Levenberg-Marquardt method is adopted to provide the iterative solution of the constraint optimization problem. The numerical results show that the proposed ultrasound guided EIT method for the free-interface reconstruction is more accurate than the single modality method, especially when the number of valid electrodes is limited.
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A nanowaveguide platform for collective atom-light interaction
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Meng, Y.; Lee, J.; Dagenais, M.; Rolston, S. L.
2015-08-01
We propose a nanowaveguide platform for collective atom-light interaction through evanescent field coupling. We have developed a 1 cm-long silicon nitride nanowaveguide can use evanescent fields to trap and probe an ensemble of 87Rb atoms. The waveguide has a sub-micrometer square mode area and was designed with tapers for high fiber-to-waveguide coupling efficiencies at near-infrared wavelengths (750 nm to 1100 nm). Inverse tapers in the platform adiabatically transfer a weakly guided mode of fiber-coupled light into a strongly guided mode with an evanescent field to trap atoms and then back to a weakly guided mode at the other end of the waveguide. The coupling loss is -1 dB per facet (˜80% coupling efficiency) at 760 nm and 1064 nm, which is estimated by a propagation loss measurement with waveguides of different lengths. The proposed platform has good thermal conductance and can guide high optical powers for trapping atoms in ultra-high vacuum. As an intermediate step, we have observed thermal atom absorption of the evanescent component of a nanowaveguide and have demonstrated the U-wire mirror magneto-optical trap that can transfer atoms to the proximity of the surface.
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González, Domingo; Espinosa, María del Mar; Domínguez, Manuel
2017-01-01
Aim The aim of this paper is to present an optimization proposal in the automated guided vehicles design used in hospital logistics, as well as to analyze the impact of its implementation in a real environment. Method This proposal is based on the design of those elements that would allow the vehicles to deliver an extra cart by the towing method. So, the proposal intention is to improve the productivity and the performance of the current vehicles by using a transportation method of combined carts. Results The study has been developed following concurrent engineering premises from three different viewpoints. First, the sequence of operations has been described, and second, a proposal of design of the equipment has been undertaken. Finally, the impact of the proposal has been analyzed according to real data from the Hospital Universitario Rio Hortega in Valladolid (Spain). In this particular case, by the implementation of the analyzed proposal in the hospital a reduction of over 35% of the current time of use can be achieved. This result may allow adding new tasks to the vehicles, and according to this, both a new kind of vehicle and a specific module can be developed in order to get a better performance. PMID:28562681
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Assessment of health risks of policies
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ádám, Balázs, E-mail: badam@cmss.sdu.dk; Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, University of Debrecen, P.O. Box 9, H-4012 Debrecen; Molnár, Ágnes, E-mail: MolnarAg@smh.ca
The assessment of health risks of policies is an inevitable, although challenging prerequisite for the inclusion of health considerations in political decision making. The aim of our project was to develop a so far missing methodological guide for the assessment of the complex impact structure of policies. The guide was developed in a consensual way based on experiences gathered during the assessment of specific national policies selected by the partners of an EU project. Methodological considerations were discussed and summarized in workshops and pilot tested on the EU Health Strategy for finalization. The combined tool, which includes a textual guidancemore » and a checklist, follows the top-down approach, that is, it guides the analysis of causal chains from the policy through related health determinants and risk factors to health outcomes. The tool discusses the most important practical issues of assessment by impact level. It emphasises the transparent identification and prioritisation of factors, the consideration of the feasibility of exposure and outcome assessment with special focus on quantification. The developed guide provides useful methodological instructions for the comprehensive assessment of health risks of policies that can be effectively used in the health impact assessment of policy proposals. - Highlights: • Methodological guide for the assessment of health risks of policies is introduced. • The tool is developed based on the experiences from several case studies. • The combined tool consists of a textual guidance and a checklist. • The top-down approach is followed through the levels of the full impact chain. • The guide provides assistance for the health impact assessment of policy proposals.« less
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-12-21
...] Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Prescription Drug Product... the distribution of patient labeling, called Medications Guides, for certain products that pose a... validity of the methodology and assumption used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-01-01
... educate and engage students in research, the dual role of students as both trainees and employees... indirect cost proposals, the cognizant agency for indirect costs should generally assure that the non... negotiation of indirect cost proposals. Where wide variations exist in the treatment of a given cost item by...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-01-27
... process; Programs to strengthen scientific and engineering research potential; Science and engineering..., authority to support applied research was added to the Organic Act. In 1980, The Science and Engineering... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Comment Request: National Science Foundation Proposal & Award Policies...
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75 FR 5351 - Proposed Revisions to Accounting Guide for LSC Recipients
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-02-02
... elements of an adequate accounting and financial reporting system, including the use of specific internal... checklist of accounting procedures and internal controls. The proposed revisions update the checklist to... accounting procedures and internal controls to reflect current best practices; (7) updated and new references...
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30. SKETCH OF THE PROPOSED TEST STAND FOR THE ORDNANCE ...
30. SKETCH OF THE PROPOSED TEST STAND FOR THE ORDNANCE GUIDED MISSILE CENTER AT REDSTONE ARSENAL (PRE-DATING NASA). JUNE, 1951, HANS LUEHRSEN COLLECTION, MSFC MASTER PLANNING OFFICE. - Marshall Space Flight Center, Saturn Propulsion & Structural Test Facility, East Test Area, Huntsville, Madison County, AL
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Absenteeism in Undergraduate Business Education: A Proposed Model and Exploratory Investigation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Burke, Lisa A.
2010-01-01
One issue in undergraduate business education remaining underexamined is student absenteeism. In this article, the literature on undergraduate absenteeism is reviewed culminating in a proposed conceptual framework to guide future research, and an exploratory investigation of management students' attitudes about absenteeism is conducted.…
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Terminal Sliding Mode Tracking Controller Design for Automatic Guided Vehicle
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chen, Hongbin
2018-03-01
Based on sliding mode variable structure control theory, the path tracking problem of automatic guided vehicle is studied, proposed a controller design method based on the terminal sliding mode. First of all, through analyzing the characteristics of the automatic guided vehicle movement, the kinematics model is presented. Then to improve the traditional expression of terminal sliding mode, design a nonlinear sliding mode which the convergence speed is faster than the former, verified by theoretical analysis, the design of sliding mode is steady and fast convergence in the limited time. Finally combining Lyapunov method to design the tracking control law of automatic guided vehicle, the controller can make the automatic guided vehicle track the desired trajectory in the global sense as well as in finite time. The simulation results verify the correctness and effectiveness of the control law.
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Mathematically guided approaches to distinguish models of periodic patterning
Hiscock, Tom W.; Megason, Sean G.
2015-01-01
How periodic patterns are generated is an open question. A number of mechanisms have been proposed – most famously, Turing's reaction-diffusion model. However, many theoretical and experimental studies focus on the Turing mechanism while ignoring other possible mechanisms. Here, we use a general model of periodic patterning to show that different types of mechanism (molecular, cellular, mechanical) can generate qualitatively similar final patterns. Observation of final patterns is therefore not sufficient to favour one mechanism over others. However, we propose that a mathematical approach can help to guide the design of experiments that can distinguish between different mechanisms, and illustrate the potential value of this approach with specific biological examples. PMID:25605777
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Sampling in Qualitative Research
LUBORSKY, MARK R.; RUBINSTEIN, ROBERT L.
2011-01-01
In gerontology the most recognized and elaborate discourse about sampling is generally thought to be in quantitative research associated with survey research and medical research. But sampling has long been a central concern in the social and humanistic inquiry, albeit in a different guise suited to the different goals. There is a need for more explicit discussion of qualitative sampling issues. This article will outline the guiding principles and rationales, features, and practices of sampling in qualitative research. It then describes common questions about sampling in qualitative research. In conclusion it proposes the concept of qualitative clarity as a set of principles (analogous to statistical power) to guide assessments of qualitative sampling in a particular study or proposal. PMID:22058580
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Microwave Photon Detector in Circuit QED
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Garcia-Ripoll, Juan Jose; Romero, Guillermo; Solano, Enrique
2009-03-01
In this work we propose a design for a microwave photodetector based on elements from circuit QED such as the ones used in qubit designs. Our proposal consists on a microwave guide in which we embed circuital elements that can absorb photons and irreversibly change state. These incoherent absorption processes constitute the measurement itself. We first model this design using a general master equation for the propagating photons and the absorbing elements. We find that the detection efficiency for a single absorber is limited to 50%, and that this efficiency can be quickly increased by adding more elements with a moderate separation, obtaining 80% and 90% for two and three absorbers. Our abstract design has at least one possible implementation in which the absorbers are current biased Josephson junction. We demonstrate that the coupling between the guide and the junctions is strong enough, irrespectively of the microwave guide size, and derivate realistic parameters for high fidelity operation with current experiments. Patent pending No. 200802933, Oficina Espanola de Patentes y Marcas, 17/10/2008.
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Body-mounted robotic instrument guide for image-guided cryotherapy of renal cancer
Hata, Nobuhiko; Song, Sang-Eun; Olubiyi, Olutayo; Arimitsu, Yasumichi; Fujimoto, Kosuke; Kato, Takahisa; Tuncali, Kemal; Tani, Soichiro; Tokuda, Junichi
2016-01-01
Purpose: Image-guided cryotherapy of renal cancer is an emerging alternative to surgical nephrectomy, particularly for those who cannot sustain the physical burden of surgery. It is well known that the outcome of this therapy depends on the accurate placement of the cryotherapy probe. Therefore, a robotic instrument guide may help physicians aim the cryotherapy probe precisely to maximize the efficacy of the treatment and avoid damage to critical surrounding structures. The objective of this paper was to propose a robotic instrument guide for orienting cryotherapy probes in image-guided cryotherapy of renal cancers. The authors propose a body-mounted robotic guide that is expected to be less susceptible to guidance errors caused by the patient’s whole body motion. Methods: Keeping the device’s minimal footprint in mind, the authors developed and validated a body-mounted, robotic instrument guide that can maintain the geometrical relationship between the device and the patient’s body, even in the presence of the patient’s frequent body motions. The guide can orient the cryotherapy probe with the skin incision point as the remote-center-of-motion. The authors’ validation studies included an evaluation of the mechanical accuracy and position repeatability of the robotic instrument guide. The authors also performed a mock MRI-guided cryotherapy procedure with a phantom to compare the advantage of robotically assisted probe replacements over a free-hand approach, by introducing organ motions to investigate their effects on the accurate placement of the cryotherapy probe. Measurements collected for performance analysis included accuracy and time taken for probe placements. Multivariate analysis was performed to assess if either or both organ motion and the robotic guide impacted these measurements. Results: The mechanical accuracy and position repeatability of the probe placement using the robotic instrument guide were 0.3 and 0.1 mm, respectively, at a depth of 80 mm. The phantom test indicated that the accuracy of probe placement was significantly better with the robotic instrument guide (4.1 mm) than without the guide (6.3 mm, p<0.001), even in the presence of body motion. When independent organ motion was artificially added, in addition to body motion, the advantage of accurate probe placement using the robotic instrument guide disappeared statistically [i.e., 6.0 mm with the robotic guide and 5.9 mm without the robotic guide (p = 0.906)]. When the robotic instrument guide was used, the total time required to complete the procedure was reduced from 19.6 to 12.7 min (p<0.001). Multivariable analysis indicated that the robotic instrument guide, not the organ motion, was the cause of statistical significance. The statistical power the authors obtained was 88% in accuracy assessment and 99% higher in duration measurement. Conclusions: The body-mounted robotic instrument guide allows positioning of the probe during image-guided cryotherapy of renal cancer and was done in fewer attempts and in less time than the free-hand approach. The accuracy of the placement of the cryotherapy probe was better using the robotic instrument guide than without the guide when no organ motion was present. The accuracy between the robotic and free-hand approach becomes comparable when organ motion was present. PMID:26843245
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A Concept for a Mobile Remote Manipulator System
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Mikulus, M. M., Jr.; Bush, H. G.; Wallsom, R. E.; Jensen, J. K.
1985-01-01
A conceptual design for a Mobile Remote Manipulator System (MRMS) is presented. This concept does not require continuous rails for mobility (only guide pins at truss hardpoints) and is very compact, being only one bay square. The MRMS proposed is highly maneuverable and is able to move in any direction along the orthogonal guide pin array under complete control at all times. The proposed concept would greatly enhance the safety and operational capabilities of astronauts performing EVA functions such as structural assembly, payload transport and attachment, space station maintenance, repair or modification, and future spacecraft construction or servicing. The MRMS drive system conceptual design presented is a reasonably simple mechanical device which can be designed to exhibit high reliability. Developmentally, all components of the proposed MRMS either exist or are considered to be completely state of the art designs requiring minimal development, features which should enhance reliability and minimize costs.
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Cong, Ming; Wu, Xinjun; Qian, Chunqiao
2016-05-21
A new electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) design, employing a special structure of the permanent magnet chain, is proposed to generate and receive longitudinal guided waves for pipe inspection based on the magnetostriction mechanism. Firstly, a quantitative analysis of the excitation forces shows the influence of the radial component can be ignored. Furthermore, as the axial component of the static magnetic field is dominant, a method of solenoid testing coils connected in series is adopted to increase the signal amplitude. Then, two EMAT configurations are developed to generate and receive the L(0,2) guided wave mode. The experimental results show the circumferential notch can be identified and located successfully. Finally, a detailed investigation of the performance of the proposed EMATs is given. Compared to the conventional EMAT configuration, the proposed configurations have the advantages of small volume, light weight, easy installation and portability, which is helpful to improve inspection efficiency.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Liu, Zhanwen; Feng, Yan; Chen, Hang; Jiao, Licheng
2017-10-01
A novel and effective image fusion method is proposed for creating a highly informative and smooth surface of fused image through merging visible and infrared images. Firstly, a two-scale non-subsampled shearlet transform (NSST) is employed to decompose the visible and infrared images into detail layers and one base layer. Then, phase congruency is adopted to extract the saliency maps from the detail layers and a guided filtering is proposed to compute the filtering output of base layer and saliency maps. Next, a novel weighted average technique is used to make full use of scene consistency for fusion and obtaining coefficients map. Finally the fusion image was acquired by taking inverse NSST of the fused coefficients map. Experiments show that the proposed approach can achieve better performance than other methods in terms of subjective visual effect and objective assessment.
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Enriching Students' Linguistic Repertoires through Text-Based Guided Output Tasks
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koval, Natalie G.
2014-01-01
L2 input, such as a reading text, constitutes a rich source of information on how meanings are expressed in the L2. Helping learners to use this information effectively should be one of the main goals of L2 teaching. In this article, I propose textbased guided output (TBGO) as a technique for "pushing" learners to make better use of the…
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FIBER OPTICS: Method of calculation of the propagation constant for guided modes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ardasheva, L. I.; Sadykov, Nail R.; Chernyakov, V. E.
1992-09-01
A new method of calculating the propagation constants and wave eigenfunctions of guided modes is proposed for axisymmetric translationally invariant fiber-optic waveguides with arbitrary refractive index profiles. The method is based on solving a parabolic scalar wave equation. A comparison is made between the numerical solution under steady-state conditions and the eigenfunctions of single-mode and multimode waveguides.
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ROMI-3: Rough-Mill Simulator Version 3.0: User's Guide
Joel M. Weiss; R. Edward Thomas; R. Edward Thomas
2005-01-01
ROMI-3 Rough-Mill Simulator is a software package that simulates current industrial practices for rip-first and chop-first lumber processing. This guide shows the user how to set up and examine the results of simulations of current or proposed mill practices. ROMI-3 accepts cutting bills with as many as 600 combined solid and/or panel part sizes. Plots of processed...
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76 FR 69198 - Proposed Establishment of the Middleburg Virginia Viticultural Area
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-11-08
.... Tourism guides for the region also contain references to places throughout the proposed Middleburg... official tourism Web site for the Commonwealth of Virginia lists a variety of places to visit, dine, and... wine labels that include the words ``Middleburg Virginia'' as discussed above under Impact on Current...
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4. PROPOSED C1 ASSEMBLY AND TESTING FACILITIES FOR THE ORDINANCE ...
4. PROPOSED C-1 ASSEMBLY AND TESTING FACILITIES FOR THE ORDINANCE GUIDED MISSILE CENTER AT REDSTONE ARSENAL, NEAR THE SOUTH END OF MADKIN MOUNTAIN. OCTOBER 1950, HANNES LUEHRSEN COLLECTION, MSFC MASTER PLANNING OFFICE. - Marshall Space Flight Center, East Test Area, Dodd Road, Huntsville, Madison County, AL
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78 FR 25088 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-04-29
... resilience of survivors. Two primary research questions will guide the proposed study: 1. How did the Alabama... two main components (qualitative and quantitative) designed to comprehensively examine the PH/MH... the 98 one-time qualitative interviews for public health/mental health professionals and community...
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Color image guided depth image super resolution using fusion filter
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
He, Jin; Liang, Bin; He, Ying; Yang, Jun
2018-04-01
Depth cameras are currently playing an important role in many areas. However, most of them can only obtain lowresolution (LR) depth images. Color cameras can easily provide high-resolution (HR) color images. Using color image as a guide image is an efficient way to get a HR depth image. In this paper, we propose a depth image super resolution (SR) algorithm, which uses a HR color image as a guide image and a LR depth image as input. We use the fusion filter of guided filter and edge based joint bilateral filter to get HR depth image. Our experimental results on Middlebury 2005 datasets show that our method can provide better quality in HR depth images both numerically and visually.
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Polarization switching of sodium guide star laser for brightness enhancement
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fan, Tingwei; Zhou, Tianhua; Feng, Yan
2016-07-01
The efficiency of optical pumping that enhances the brightness of sodium laser guide star with circularly polarized light is reduced substantially due to the precession of sodium atoms in geomagnetic field. Switching the laser between left and right circular polarization at the Larmor frequency is proposed to improve the photon return. With ESO's cw laser guide star system at Paranal as example, numerical simulation for both square-wave and sine-wave polarization modulation is conducted. For the square-wave switching case, the return flux is increased when the angle between geomagnetic field and laser beam is larger than 60°, as much as 40% at 90°. The method can also be applied for remote measurement of magnetic field with available cw guide star laser.
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Broader Impact Guidance for Florida Ocean Scientists: Process, Products and Outcomes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cook, S.
2016-02-01
In response to the 2011 National Science Board report National Science Foundation's Merit Review Criteria: Review and Revision, in 2012 significant changes were made to the portions of the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Grant Proposal Guide that describe the Foundation's expectations with respect to the Broader Impacts (BI) criterion and what reviewers should look for in assessing the quality of the required BI components of proposals. Over the past 5 years, COSEE Florida (the Florida Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence) has provided individualized content and editorial `coaching' on Broader Impacts for Florida scientists and educators submitting proposals to NSF. As of September 2015, 32% of the plans prepared with our guidance have been associated with projects that have received support. This presentation will review 1) the current BI guidance provided by NSF in the 2012 and subsequent editions of the Grant Proposal Guide, 2) the administrative process used by COSEE Florida to identify and assist scientists in understanding these changes and preparing fundable BI plans, 3) the characteristics of submitted plans in terms of type of plan, PI career stage and demographics 4) `lessons learned' about plan strengths and weaknesses and 5) the products developed (or currently under development) as COSEE Florida legacy documents to guide current and future scientists in addressing the Broader Impacts criterion. Resources developed by other Centers in the national COSEE network and the new National Alliance for Broader Impacts (NABI) will also be described.
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MR image reconstruction via guided filter.
Huang, Heyan; Yang, Hang; Wang, Kang
2018-04-01
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reconstruction from the smallest possible set of Fourier samples has been a difficult problem in medical imaging field. In our paper, we present a new approach based on a guided filter for efficient MRI recovery algorithm. The guided filter is an edge-preserving smoothing operator and has better behaviors near edges than the bilateral filter. Our reconstruction method is consist of two steps. First, we propose two cost functions which could be computed efficiently and thus obtain two different images. Second, the guided filter is used with these two obtained images for efficient edge-preserving filtering, and one image is used as the guidance image, the other one is used as a filtered image in the guided filter. In our reconstruction algorithm, we can obtain more details by introducing guided filter. We compare our reconstruction algorithm with some competitive MRI reconstruction techniques in terms of PSNR and visual quality. Simulation results are given to show the performance of our new method.
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Computation of wheel-rail contact force for non-mapping wheel-rail profile of Translohr tram
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ji, Yuanjin; Ren, Lihui; Zhou, Jinsong
2017-09-01
Translohr tram has steel wheels, in V-like arrangements, as guide wheels. These operate over the guide rails in inverted-V arrangements. However, the horizontal and vertical coordinates of the guide wheels and guide rails are not always mapped one-to-one. In this study, a simplified elastic method is proposed in order to calculate the contact points between the wheels and the rails. By transforming the coordinates, the non-mapping geometric relationship between wheel and rail is converted into a mapping relationship. Considering the Translohr tram's multi-point contact between the guide wheel and the guide rail, the elastic-contact hypothesis take into account the existence of contact patches between the bodies, and the location of the contact points is calculated using a simplified elastic method. In order to speed up the calculation, a multi-dimensional contact table is generated, enabling the use of simulation for Translohr tram running on curvatures with different radii.
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Single photon emission computed tomography-guided Cerenkov luminescence tomography
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hu, Zhenhua; Chen, Xueli; Liang, Jimin; Qu, Xiaochao; Chen, Duofang; Yang, Weidong; Wang, Jing; Cao, Feng; Tian, Jie
2012-07-01
Cerenkov luminescence tomography (CLT) has become a valuable tool for preclinical imaging because of its ability of reconstructing the three-dimensional distribution and activity of the radiopharmaceuticals. However, it is still far from a mature technology and suffers from relatively low spatial resolution due to the ill-posed inverse problem for the tomographic reconstruction. In this paper, we presented a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)-guided reconstruction method for CLT, in which a priori information of the permissible source region (PSR) from SPECT imaging results was incorporated to effectively reduce the ill-posedness of the inverse reconstruction problem. The performance of the method was first validated with the experimental reconstruction of an adult athymic nude mouse implanted with a Na131I radioactive source and an adult athymic nude mouse received an intravenous tail injection of Na131I. A tissue-mimic phantom based experiment was then conducted to illustrate the ability of the proposed method in resolving double sources. Compared with the traditional PSR strategy in which the PSR was determined by the surface flux distribution, the proposed method obtained much more accurate and encouraging localization and resolution results. Preliminary results showed that the proposed SPECT-guided reconstruction method was insensitive to the regularization methods and ignored the heterogeneity of tissues which can avoid the segmentation procedure of the organs.
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Cognitive Control Network Contributions to Memory-Guided Visual Attention.
Rosen, Maya L; Stern, Chantal E; Michalka, Samantha W; Devaney, Kathryn J; Somers, David C
2016-05-01
Visual attentional capacity is severely limited, but humans excel in familiar visual contexts, in part because long-term memories guide efficient deployment of attention. To investigate the neural substrates that support memory-guided visual attention, we performed a set of functional MRI experiments that contrast long-term, memory-guided visuospatial attention with stimulus-guided visuospatial attention in a change detection task. Whereas the dorsal attention network was activated for both forms of attention, the cognitive control network(CCN) was preferentially activated during memory-guided attention. Three posterior nodes in the CCN, posterior precuneus, posterior callosal sulcus/mid-cingulate, and lateral intraparietal sulcus exhibited the greatest specificity for memory-guided attention. These 3 regions exhibit functional connectivity at rest, and we propose that they form a subnetwork within the broader CCN. Based on the task activation patterns, we conclude that the nodes of this subnetwork are preferentially recruited for long-term memory guidance of visuospatial attention. Published by Oxford University Press 2015. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.
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Guiding Blind Pedestrians with a Personal Navigation System
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dodson, A. H.; Moon, G. V.; Moore, T.; Jones, D.
With the assistance provided by the white cane or guide dog, most blind pedestrians can find their way to known destinations along familiar routes. Finding new or known destinations along unfamiliar routes is more challenging. Before such a journey is attempted, detailed instructions must be acquired. The difficulty of obtaining and then reliably following such instructions deters many blind pedestrians from travelling alone in unknown areas. This paper demonstrates a technological approach, by way of field trials, that supplements the existing aids and eliminates the need for sighted guides. The approach has the potential to offer greater independence to the blind person. The investigation suggests that the methodology used in personal navigation systems for the sighted is sub-optimal for guiding the blind pedestrian. Suitable extensions are introduced, and the results show the proposed methodology is efficient for guiding the blind individual to unknown destinations in the chosen field trial environment.
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Contribution of 3D printing to mandibular reconstruction after cancer.
Dupret-Bories, A; Vergez, S; Meresse, T; Brouillet, F; Bertrand, G
2018-04-01
Three-dimensional (3D) printing is booming in the medical field. This technology increases the possibilities of personalized treatment for patients, while lowering manufacturing costs. To facilitate mandibular reconstruction with fibula free flap, some companies propose cutting guides obtained by CT-guided moulding. However, these guides are prohibitively expensive (€2,000 to €6,000). Based on a partnership with the CNRS, engineering students and a biomedical company, the authors have developed cutting guides and 3D-printed mandible templates, deliverable in 7days and at a lower cost. The novelty of this project is the speed of product development at a significantly lower price. In this technical note, the authors describe the logistic chain of production of mandible templates and cutting guides, as well as the results obtained. The goal is to allow access to this technology to all patients in the near future. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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Tiwari, Kumar Anubhav; Raisutis, Renaldas; Mazeika, Liudas; Samaitis, Vykintas
2018-03-26
In this paper, a novel 2D analytical model based on the Huygens's principle of wave propagation is proposed in order to predict the directivity patterns of contact type ultrasonic transducers in the generation of guided waves (GWs). The developed model is able to estimate the directivity patterns at any distance, at any excitation frequency and for any configuration and shape of the transducers with prior information of phase dispersive characteristics of the guided wave modes and the behavior of transducer. This, in turn, facilitates to choose the appropriate transducer or arrays of transducers, suitable guided wave modes and excitation frequency for the nondestructive testing (NDT) and structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. The model is demonstrated for P1-type macro-fiber composite (MFC) transducer glued on a 2 mm thick aluminum (Al) alloy plate. The directivity patterns of MFC transducer in the generation of fundamental guided Lamb modes (the S0 and A0) and shear horizontal mode (the SH0) are successfully obtained at 80 kHz, 5-period excitation signal. The results are verified using 3D finite element (FE) modelling and experimental investigation. The results obtained using the proposed model shows the good agreement with those obtained using numerical simulations and experimental analysis. The calculation time using the analytical model was significantly shorter as compared to the time spent in experimental analysis and FE numerical modelling.
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Effective Online Bayesian Phylogenetics via Sequential Monte Carlo with Guided Proposals
Fourment, Mathieu; Claywell, Brian C; Dinh, Vu; McCoy, Connor; Matsen IV, Frederick A; Darling, Aaron E
2018-01-01
Abstract Modern infectious disease outbreak surveillance produces continuous streams of sequence data which require phylogenetic analysis as data arrives. Current software packages for Bayesian phylogenetic inference are unable to quickly incorporate new sequences as they become available, making them less useful for dynamically unfolding evolutionary stories. This limitation can be addressed by applying a class of Bayesian statistical inference algorithms called sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) to conduct online inference, wherein new data can be continuously incorporated to update the estimate of the posterior probability distribution. In this article, we describe and evaluate several different online phylogenetic sequential Monte Carlo (OPSMC) algorithms. We show that proposing new phylogenies with a density similar to the Bayesian prior suffers from poor performance, and we develop “guided” proposals that better match the proposal density to the posterior. Furthermore, we show that the simplest guided proposals can exhibit pathological behavior in some situations, leading to poor results, and that the situation can be resolved by heating the proposal density. The results demonstrate that relative to the widely used MCMC-based algorithm implemented in MrBayes, the total time required to compute a series of phylogenetic posteriors as sequences arrive can be significantly reduced by the use of OPSMC, without incurring a significant loss in accuracy. PMID:29186587
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An improved non-uniformity correction algorithm and its hardware implementation on FPGA
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rong, Shenghui; Zhou, Huixin; Wen, Zhigang; Qin, Hanlin; Qian, Kun; Cheng, Kuanhong
2017-09-01
The Non-uniformity of Infrared Focal Plane Arrays (IRFPA) severely degrades the infrared image quality. An effective non-uniformity correction (NUC) algorithm is necessary for an IRFPA imaging and application system. However traditional scene-based NUC algorithm suffers the image blurring and artificial ghosting. In addition, few effective hardware platforms have been proposed to implement corresponding NUC algorithms. Thus, this paper proposed an improved neural-network based NUC algorithm by the guided image filter and the projection-based motion detection algorithm. First, the guided image filter is utilized to achieve the accurate desired image to decrease the artificial ghosting. Then a projection-based moving detection algorithm is utilized to determine whether the correction coefficients should be updated or not. In this way the problem of image blurring can be overcome. At last, an FPGA-based hardware design is introduced to realize the proposed NUC algorithm. A real and a simulated infrared image sequences are utilized to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm. Experimental results indicated that the proposed NUC algorithm can effectively eliminate the fix pattern noise with less image blurring and artificial ghosting. The proposed hardware design takes less logic elements in FPGA and spends less clock cycles to process one frame of image.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Glazer, Susan Mandel
Noting that all children need to write often and without criticism, this book aims to be a comprehensive guide for teaching all children to write. It proposes that the art of reading is the art of writing, and that the more students read, the more easily they will be able to write. After a "prelude" by the author, the chapters are: (1) Children…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Community Research Applications, Inc., New York, NY.
Provided is a guide to assist state and local agencies in improving the administration and management of services to abused and neglected children and their families. Protective services at the state level are covered in the first section, including such topics as organization; initiating and reacting to proposed state legislation; developing…
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Pearson, David G.; Deeprose, Catherine; Wallace-Hadrill, Sophie M.A.; Heyes, Stephanie Burnett; Holmes, Emily A.
2013-01-01
Mental imagery is an under-explored field in clinical psychology research but presents a topic of potential interest and relevance across many clinical disorders, including social phobia, schizophrenia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. There is currently a lack of a guiding framework from which clinicians may select the domains or associated measures most likely to be of appropriate use in mental imagery research. We adopt an interdisciplinary approach and present a review of studies across experimental psychology and clinical psychology in order to highlight the key domains and measures most likely to be of relevance. This includes a consideration of methods for experimentally assessing the generation, maintenance, inspection and transformation of mental images; as well as subjective measures of characteristics such as image vividness and clarity. We present a guiding framework in which we propose that cognitive, subjective and clinical aspects of imagery should be explored in future research. The guiding framework aims to assist researchers in the selection of measures for assessing those aspects of mental imagery that are of most relevance to clinical psychology. We propose that a greater understanding of the role of mental imagery in clinical disorders will help drive forward advances in both theory and treatment. PMID:23123567
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Patra, Subir; Banerjee, Sourav
2017-12-16
Detection of precursor damage followed by the quantification of the degraded material properties could lead to more accurate progressive failure models for composite materials. However, such information is not readily available. In composite materials, the precursor damages-for example matrix cracking, microcracks, voids, interlaminar pre-delamination crack joining matrix cracks, fiber micro-buckling, local fiber breakage, local debonding, etc.-are insensitive to the low-frequency ultrasonic guided-wave-based online nondestructive evaluation (NDE) or Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) (~100-~500 kHz) systems. Overcoming this barrier, in this article, an online ultrasonic technique is proposed using the coda part of the guided wave signal, which is often neglected. Although the first-arrival wave packets that contain the fundamental guided Lamb wave modes are unaltered, the coda wave packets however carry significant information about the precursor events with predictable phase shifts. The Taylor-series-based modified Coda Wave Interferometry (CWI) technique is proposed to quantify the stretch parameter to compensate the phase shifts in the coda wave as a result of precursor damage in composites. The CWI analysis was performed on five woven composite-fiber-reinforced-laminate specimens, and the precursor events were identified. Next, the precursor damage states were verified using high-frequency Scanning Acoustic Microscopy (SAM) and optical microscopy imaging.
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The Attorney General's Proposed Voluntary Student Code of Conduct.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Texas State Attorney General's Office, Austin.
Intended as a guide for Texas school districts wishing to adopt or modify a student code of conduct, this proposed code describes a positive learning atmosphere, specifies conduct that disrupts such an environment, assures the rights and responsibilities of students, and standardizes procedures to be used in responding to disciplinary problems.…
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Board is seeking two new Science board members, one from the U.S. and one from Japan. Apply by June 25 Expedition Project Manager / Staff Scientist. New SEP Co-Chair selected: The JOIDES Resolution Facility Board Investigation Media Contacts (see all articles) Proposals About Proposal Types and Format Guide Submitting
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chen, Jingbo; Wang, Chengyi; Yue, Anzhi; Chen, Jiansheng; He, Dongxu; Zhang, Xiuyan
2017-10-01
The tremendous success of deep learning models such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in computer vision provides a method for similar problems in the field of remote sensing. Although research on repurposing pretrained CNN to remote sensing tasks is emerging, the scarcity of labeled samples and the complexity of remote sensing imagery still pose challenges. We developed a knowledge-guided golf course detection approach using a CNN fine-tuned on temporally augmented data. The proposed approach is a combination of knowledge-driven region proposal, data-driven detection based on CNN, and knowledge-driven postprocessing. To confront data complexity, knowledge-derived cooccurrence, composition, and area-based rules are applied sequentially to propose candidate golf regions. To confront sample scarcity, we employed data augmentation in the temporal domain, which extracts samples from multitemporal images. The augmented samples were then used to fine-tune a pretrained CNN for golf detection. Finally, commission error was further suppressed by postprocessing. Experiments conducted on GF-1 imagery prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
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Laser Generated Leaky Acoustic Waves for Needle Visualization.
Wu, Kai-Wen; Wang, Yi-An; Li, Pai-Chi
2018-04-01
Ultrasound (US)-guided needle operation is usually used to visualize both tissue and needle position such as tissue biopsy and localized drug delivery. However, the transducer-needle orientation is limited due to reflection of the acoustic waves. We proposed a leaky acoustic wave method to visualize the needle position and orientation. Laser pulses are emitted on top of the needle to generate acoustic waves; then, these acoustic waves propagate along the needle surface. Leaky wave signals are detected by the US array transducer. The needle position can be calculated by phase velocities of two different wave modes and their corresponding emission angles. In our experiments, a series of needles was inserted into a tissue mimicking phantom and porcine tissue to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method. The results show that the detection depth is up to 51 mm and the insertion angle is up to 40° with needles of different diameters. It is demonstrated that the proposed approach outperforms the conventional B-mode US-guided needle operation in terms of the detection range while achieving similar accuracy. The proposed method reveals the potentials for further clinical applications.
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Arcia, Adriana; Velez, Mark; Bakken, Suzanne
2015-01-01
In this case study we describe key features of the structured communication tool-a style guide-used to support interdisciplinary collaboration, and we propose the use of such a tool for research teams engaged in similar projects. We employ tailored infographics to present patient reported outcome data from a community health survey back, in a comprehensible and actionable manner, to the individuals who provided it. The style guide was developed to bridge the semantic gap between the domain and programming experts engaged in this effort. The style guide supports the communication of complex design specifications in a highly structured format that is nevertheless flexible enough to accommodate project growth. Unlike the typical corporate style guide that has a more narrative format, our style guide is innovative in its use of consistent fields across multiple, standalone entries. The process of populating the style guide prompted the designer toward greater design efficiency and led to consistent and specific instructions that met the framework architect's stated information needs. The guiding values in the creation of the style guide were consistency, clarity, and flexibility. It serves as a durable reference to the desired look and functionality of the final infographic product without dictating an implementation strategy. The style guide format can be adapted to meet the communication needs of other interdisciplinary teams facing a semantic gap.
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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.
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Xie, Shan Juan; Lu, Yu; Yoon, Sook; Yang, Jucheng; Park, Dong Sun
2015-01-01
Finger vein recognition has been considered one of the most promising biometrics for personal authentication. However, the capacities and percentages of finger tissues (e.g., bone, muscle, ligament, water, fat, etc.) vary person by person. This usually causes poor quality of finger vein images, therefore degrading the performance of finger vein recognition systems (FVRSs). In this paper, the intrinsic factors of finger tissue causing poor quality of finger vein images are analyzed, and an intensity variation (IV) normalization method using guided filter based single scale retinex (GFSSR) is proposed for finger vein image enhancement. The experimental results on two public datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in enhancing the image quality and finger vein recognition accuracy. PMID:26184226
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Xie, Shan Juan; Lu, Yu; Yoon, Sook; Yang, Jucheng; Park, Dong Sun
2015-07-14
Finger vein recognition has been considered one of the most promising biometrics for personal authentication. However, the capacities and percentages of finger tissues (e.g., bone, muscle, ligament, water, fat, etc.) vary person by person. This usually causes poor quality of finger vein images, therefore degrading the performance of finger vein recognition systems (FVRSs). In this paper, the intrinsic factors of finger tissue causing poor quality of finger vein images are analyzed, and an intensity variation (IV) normalization method using guided filter based single scale retinex (GFSSR) is proposed for finger vein image enhancement. The experimental results on two public datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in enhancing the image quality and finger vein recognition accuracy.
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Qian, Linyong; Zhang, Dawei; Dai, Bo; Wang, Qi; Huang, Yuanshen; Zhuang, Songlin
2015-07-13
A novel bandwidth-tunable notch filter is proposed based on the guided-mode resonance effect. The notch is created due to the superposition spectra response of two guided-mode resonant filters. The compact, bandwidth tuning capability is realized by taking advantage the effect of spectra-to-polarization sensitivity in one-dimensional classical guided-mode resonance filter, and using a liquid crystal polarization rotator for precise and simple polarization control. The operation principle and the design of the device are presented, and we demonstrate it experimentally. The central wavelength is fixed at 766.4 nm with a relatively symmetric profile. The full width at half maximum bandwidth could be tuned from 8.6 nm to 18.2 nm by controlling the applied voltage in electrically-driving polarization rotator.
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A study on laser-based ultrasonic technique by the use of guided wave tomographic imaging
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Park, Junpil, E-mail: jpp@pusan.ac.kr; Lim, Juyoung, E-mail: jpp@pusan.ac.kr; Cho, Younho
2015-03-31
Guided wave tests are impractical for investigating specimens with limited accessibility and coarse surfaces or geometrically complicated features. A non-contact setup with a laser ultrasonic transmitter and receiver is the classic attractive for guided wave inspection. The present work was done to develop a non-contact guided-wave tomography technique by laser ultrasonic technique in a plate-like structure. A method for Lam wave generation and detection in an aluminum plate with a pulse laser ultrasonic transmitter and a Michelson interferometer receiver has been developed. In the images obtained by laser scanning, the defect shape and area showed good agreement with the actualmore » defect. The proposed approach can be used as a non-contact-based online inspection and monitoring technique.« less
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Arabi, Hossein; Koutsouvelis, Nikolaos; Rouzaud, Michel; Miralbell, Raymond; Zaidi, Habib
2016-09-07
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided attenuation correction (AC) of positron emission tomography (PET) data and/or radiation therapy (RT) treatment planning is challenged by the lack of a direct link between MRI voxel intensities and electron density. Therefore, even if this is not a trivial task, a pseudo-computed tomography (CT) image must be predicted from MRI alone. In this work, we propose a two-step (segmentation and fusion) atlas-based algorithm focusing on bone tissue identification to create a pseudo-CT image from conventional MRI sequences and evaluate its performance against the conventional MRI segmentation technique and a recently proposed multi-atlas approach. The clinical studies consisted of pelvic CT, PET and MRI scans of 12 patients with loco-regionally advanced rectal disease. In the first step, bone segmentation of the target image is optimized through local weighted atlas voting. The obtained bone map is then used to assess the quality of deformed atlases to perform voxel-wise weighted atlas fusion. To evaluate the performance of the method, a leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) scheme was devised to find optimal parameters for the model. Geometric evaluation of the produced pseudo-CT images and quantitative analysis of the accuracy of PET AC were performed. Moreover, a dosimetric evaluation of volumetric modulated arc therapy photon treatment plans calculated using the different pseudo-CT images was carried out and compared to those produced using CT images serving as references. The pseudo-CT images produced using the proposed method exhibit bone identification accuracy of 0.89 based on the Dice similarity metric compared to 0.75 achieved by the other atlas-based method. The superior bone extraction resulted in a mean standard uptake value bias of -1.5 ± 5.0% (mean ± SD) in bony structures compared to -19.9 ± 11.8% and -8.1 ± 8.2% achieved by MRI segmentation-based (water-only) and atlas-guided AC. Dosimetric evaluation using dose volume histograms and the average difference between minimum/maximum absorbed doses revealed a mean error of less than 1% for the both target volumes and organs at risk. Two-dimensional (2D) gamma analysis of the isocenter dose distributions at 1%/1 mm criterion revealed pass rates of 91.40 ± 7.56%, 96.00 ± 4.11% and 97.67 ± 3.6% for MRI segmentation, atlas-guided and the proposed methods, respectively. The proposed method generates accurate pseudo-CT images from conventional Dixon MRI sequences with improved bone extraction accuracy. The approach is promising for potential use in PET AC and MRI-only or hybrid PET/MRI-guided RT treatment planning.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Arabi, Hossein; Koutsouvelis, Nikolaos; Rouzaud, Michel; Miralbell, Raymond; Zaidi, Habib
2016-09-01
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided attenuation correction (AC) of positron emission tomography (PET) data and/or radiation therapy (RT) treatment planning is challenged by the lack of a direct link between MRI voxel intensities and electron density. Therefore, even if this is not a trivial task, a pseudo-computed tomography (CT) image must be predicted from MRI alone. In this work, we propose a two-step (segmentation and fusion) atlas-based algorithm focusing on bone tissue identification to create a pseudo-CT image from conventional MRI sequences and evaluate its performance against the conventional MRI segmentation technique and a recently proposed multi-atlas approach. The clinical studies consisted of pelvic CT, PET and MRI scans of 12 patients with loco-regionally advanced rectal disease. In the first step, bone segmentation of the target image is optimized through local weighted atlas voting. The obtained bone map is then used to assess the quality of deformed atlases to perform voxel-wise weighted atlas fusion. To evaluate the performance of the method, a leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) scheme was devised to find optimal parameters for the model. Geometric evaluation of the produced pseudo-CT images and quantitative analysis of the accuracy of PET AC were performed. Moreover, a dosimetric evaluation of volumetric modulated arc therapy photon treatment plans calculated using the different pseudo-CT images was carried out and compared to those produced using CT images serving as references. The pseudo-CT images produced using the proposed method exhibit bone identification accuracy of 0.89 based on the Dice similarity metric compared to 0.75 achieved by the other atlas-based method. The superior bone extraction resulted in a mean standard uptake value bias of -1.5 ± 5.0% (mean ± SD) in bony structures compared to -19.9 ± 11.8% and -8.1 ± 8.2% achieved by MRI segmentation-based (water-only) and atlas-guided AC. Dosimetric evaluation using dose volume histograms and the average difference between minimum/maximum absorbed doses revealed a mean error of less than 1% for the both target volumes and organs at risk. Two-dimensional (2D) gamma analysis of the isocenter dose distributions at 1%/1 mm criterion revealed pass rates of 91.40 ± 7.56%, 96.00 ± 4.11% and 97.67 ± 3.6% for MRI segmentation, atlas-guided and the proposed methods, respectively. The proposed method generates accurate pseudo-CT images from conventional Dixon MRI sequences with improved bone extraction accuracy. The approach is promising for potential use in PET AC and MRI-only or hybrid PET/MRI-guided RT treatment planning.
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Common-path low-coherence interferometry fiber-optic sensor guided microincision
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Kang; Kang, Jin U.
2011-09-01
We propose and demonstrate a common-path low-coherence interferometry (CP-LCI) fiber-optic sensor guided precise microincision. The method tracks the target surface and compensates the tool-to-surface relative motion with better than +/-5 μm resolution using a precision micromotor connected to the tool tip. A single-fiber distance probe integrated microdissector was used to perform an accurate 100 μm incision into the surface of an Intralipid phantom. The CP-LCI guided incision quality in terms of depth was evaluated afterwards using three-dimensional Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography imaging, which showed significant improvement of incision accuracy compared to free-hand-only operations.
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Barnes, Agnieszka Szot; Haker, Steven J; Mulkern, Robert V; So, Minna; D'Amico, Anthony V; Tempany, Clare M
2005-12-01
Brachytherapy targeted to the peripheral zone with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance is a prostate cancer treatment option with potentially fewer complications than other treatments. Follow-up MRI when failure is suspected is, however, difficult because of radiation-induced changes. Furthermore, MR spectroscopy (MRS) is compromised by susceptibility artifacts from radioactive seeds in the peripheral zone. We report a case in which combined MRI/MRS was useful for the detection of prostate cancer in the transitional zone in patients previously treated with MR-guided brachytherapy. We propose that MRI/MRS can help detect recurrent prostate cancer, guide prostate biopsy, and help manage salvage treatment decisions.
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Claramita, Mora; Susilo, Astrid Pratidina; Kharismayekti, Manik; van Dalen, Jan; van der Vleuten, Cees
2013-01-01
A guide for a partnership style of doctor-patient communication tailored to a Southeast Asian culture was previously developed and validated. We introduced the guide to clinical teachers in Indonesia through a participatory approach. Evaluation was based on teachers' demonstrated comprehension and ability to teach the guide. Three junior researchers invited twelve senior clinical teachers to learn about the guide by writing a chapter on doctor-patient communication using their clinical expertise, reflections on the guide, and the international literature. A participatory study comprised of two cycles (producing first and second drafts of the chapters) was conducted over 18 months with guidance from researchers and written feedback from an expert in communication skills. Qualitative content-analysis was used to assess the content of the submitted chapters. The clinical teachers understood the concept of partnership style doctor-patient communication but demonstrated limited reflection on the Southeast Asian culture. Teachers had difficulty translating the guide into a written learning guide. However, teachers proposed an adapted guide with a simpler structure, tailored to their clinical environment characterized by high patient load and limited time for doctor-patient communications. The adapted guide was proof of the teachers' willingness to learn about a partnership style of doctor-patient communications. However, the process of introducing the guide was hindered by the wide power distance between participants throughout all aspects of the study, including communication between senior teachers and more junior researchers.
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Sparsity guided empirical wavelet transform for fault diagnosis of rolling element bearings
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Dong; Zhao, Yang; Yi, Cai; Tsui, Kwok-Leung; Lin, Jianhui
2018-02-01
Rolling element bearings are widely used in various industrial machines, such as electric motors, generators, pumps, gearboxes, railway axles, turbines, and helicopter transmissions. Fault diagnosis of rolling element bearings is beneficial to preventing any unexpected accident and reducing economic loss. In the past years, many bearing fault detection methods have been developed. Recently, a new adaptive signal processing method called empirical wavelet transform attracts much attention from readers and engineers and its applications to bearing fault diagnosis have been reported. The main problem of empirical wavelet transform is that Fourier segments required in empirical wavelet transform are strongly dependent on the local maxima of the amplitudes of the Fourier spectrum of a signal, which connotes that Fourier segments are not always reliable and effective if the Fourier spectrum of the signal is complicated and overwhelmed by heavy noises and other strong vibration components. In this paper, sparsity guided empirical wavelet transform is proposed to automatically establish Fourier segments required in empirical wavelet transform for fault diagnosis of rolling element bearings. Industrial bearing fault signals caused by single and multiple railway axle bearing defects are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed sparsity guided empirical wavelet transform. Results show that the proposed method can automatically discover Fourier segments required in empirical wavelet transform and reveal single and multiple railway axle bearing defects. Besides, some comparisons with three popular signal processing methods including ensemble empirical mode decomposition, the fast kurtogram and the fast spectral correlation are conducted to highlight the superiority of the proposed method.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Clark, Lynn
This Spanish-language version of "SOS" provides parents with guidance for handling a variety of common behavior problems based on the behavior approach to child rearing and discipline. This approach suggests that good and bad behavior are both learned and can be changed, and proposes specific methods, skills, procedures, and strategies…
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eggers, Georg; Cosgarea, Raluca; Rieker, Marcus; Kress, Bodo; Dickhaus, Hartmut; Mühling, Joachim
2009-02-01
An oral imaging template was developed to address the shortcomings of MR image data for image guided dental implant planning and placement. The template was conctructed as a gadolinium filled plastic shell to give contrast to the dentition and also to be accurately re-attachable for use in image guided dental implant placement. The result of segmentation and modelling of the dentition from MR Image data with the template was compared to plaster casts of the dentition. In a phantom study dental implant placement was performed based on MR image data. MR imaging with the contrast template allowed complete representation of the existing dentition. In the phantom study, a commercially available system for image guided dental implant placement was used. Transformation of the imaging contrast template into a surgical drill guide based on the MR image data resulted in pilot burr hole placement with an accuracy of 2 mm. MRI based imaging of the existing dentition for proper image guided planning is possible with the proposed template. Using the image data and the template resulted in less accurate pilot burr hole placement in comparison to CT-based image guided implant placement.
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Ainscough, Kate M; Lindsay, Karen L; O'Sullivan, Elizabeth J; Gibney, Eileen R; McAuliffe, Fionnuala M
2017-10-01
Antenatal healthy lifestyle interventions are frequently implemented in overweight and obese pregnancy, yet there is inconsistent reporting of the behaviour-change methods and behavioural outcomes. This limits our understanding of how and why such interventions were successful or not. The current paper discusses the application of behaviour-change theories and techniques within complex lifestyle interventions in overweight and obese pregnancy. The authors propose a decision tree to help guide researchers through intervention design, implementation and evaluation. The implications for adopting behaviour-change theories and techniques, and using appropriate guidance when constructing and evaluating interventions in research and clinical practice are also discussed. To enhance the evidence base for successful behaviour-change interventions during pregnancy, adoption of behaviour-change theories and techniques, and use of published guidelines when designing lifestyle interventions are necessary. The proposed decision tree may be a useful guide for researchers working to develop effective behaviour-change interventions in clinical settings. This guide directs researchers towards key literature sources that will be important in each stage of study development.
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Guided filter-based fusion method for multiexposure images
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hou, Xinglin; Luo, Haibo; Qi, Feng; Zhou, Peipei
2016-11-01
It is challenging to capture a high-dynamic range (HDR) scene using a low-dynamic range camera. A weighted sum-based image fusion (IF) algorithm is proposed so as to express an HDR scene with a high-quality image. This method mainly includes three parts. First, two image features, i.e., gradients and well-exposedness are measured to estimate the initial weight maps. Second, the initial weight maps are refined by a guided filter, in which the source image is considered as the guidance image. This process could reduce the noise in initial weight maps and preserve more texture consistent with the original images. Finally, the fused image is constructed by a weighted sum of source images in the spatial domain. The main contributions of this method are the estimation of the initial weight maps and the appropriate use of the guided filter-based weight maps refinement. It provides accurate weight maps for IF. Compared to traditional IF methods, this algorithm avoids image segmentation, combination, and the camera response curve calibration. Furthermore, experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method in both subjective and objective evaluations.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Florida State Dept. of Education, Tallahassee. Div. of Applied Tech. and Adult Education.
This guide proposes a model comprehensive student development program that complements Florida schools of tomorrow as envisioned in "Blueprint 2000." The proposed program shows how school guidance and counseling plays an integral role in facilitating the development of the knowledge, competencies, skills, and personal habits that will…
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A Manual for Proposal Planning and Development within the College of Education.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kussrow, Paul G.
A guide to writing effective proposals that are designed to funding for specific projects is presented. The need to clearly identify the nature of project--its design, its anticipated outcomes, and the needs which the project is addressing--is described as the crucial first step in the grantswriting process. Next, the importance of the prospectus…
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In Pursuit of Social Betterment: A Proposal to Evaluate the Da Vinci Learning Model
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Henry, Gary T.
2005-01-01
The author presents a proposal that is roughly based on a contingency-based theory of evaluation developed in his book, "Evaluation: An Integrated Framework for Understanding, Guiding, and Improving Policies and Programs" (Mark, Henry, and Julnes, 2000). He and his coauthors stated in this book that social betterment was the ultimate goal of…
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Handbook for a Commitment to America's Future: A Toolkit for Leaders of State-Level P-16
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Business-Higher Education Forum (NJ1), 2005
2005-01-01
This handbook provides P-16 council leaders with a toolkit of background information and proposed procedures for structuring and guiding implementation of Business-Higher Education Forum's (BHEF) proposed action plan. Specifically, it details a four-part nationwide action plan to improve overall pre-kindergarten through high school (P-12)…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-04-11
... been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork... comprehensive guide to PHA policies, programs, operations, and strategies for meeting local housing needs and... proposals. It is expected that Qualified PHAs, as a matter of good business practice, continue to keep their...
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TEAC Exercise Workbook: Writing the "Inquiry Brief" and "Inquiry Brief Proposal"
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Teacher Education Accreditation Council, 2010
2010-01-01
This workbook is about producing the "Inquiry Brief" or "Inquiry Brief Proposal" for TEAC (Teacher Education Accreditation Council) accreditation. It is designed as a companion to the TEAC "Guide to Accreditation." The exercises in this workbook are selected by the writing workshop presenters to help program faculty get started on their "Brief."…
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yang, Xue; Wang, Hongbo; Sun, Li; Yu, Hongnian
2015-03-01
To develop a robot system for minimally invasive surgery is significant, however the existing minimally invasive surgery robots are not applicable in practical operations, due to their limited functioning and weaker perception. A novel wire feeder is proposed for minimally invasive vascular interventional surgery. It is used for assisting surgeons in delivering a guide wire, balloon and stenting into a specific lesion location. By contrasting those existing wire feeders, the motion methods for delivering and rotating the guide wire in blood vessel are described, and their mechanical realization is presented. A new resistant force detecting method is given in details. The change of the resistance force can help the operator feel the block or embolism existing in front of the guide wire. The driving torque for rotating the guide wire is developed at different positions. Using the CT reconstruction image and extracted vessel paths, the path equation of the blood vessel is obtained. Combining the shapes of the guide wire outside the blood vessel, the whole bending equation of the guide wire is obtained. That is a risk criterion in the delivering process. This process can make operations safer and man-machine interaction more reliable. A novel surgery robot for feeding guide wire is designed, and a risk criterion for the system is given.
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Zhang, Xiaowei; Tang, Zhifeng; Lv, Fuzai; Pan, Xiaohong
2017-02-01
A wavefront analysis indicates that a flexural wave propagates at a helix angle with respect to the pipe axis. The expression for calculation of the helix angle for each flexural mode is given, and the helix angle dispersion curves for flexural modes are calculated. According to the new understanding of flexural guided waves, a helical comb magnetostrictive patch transducer (HCMPT) is proposed for selectively exciting a single predominant flexural torsional guided wave in a pipe and inspecting spiral welded pipes using flexural waves. A HCMPT contains a pre-magnetized magnetostrictive patch that is helically coupled with the outer surface of a pipe, and a novel compound comb coil that is wrapped around the helical magnetostrictive patch. The proposed wideband HCMPT possesses the direction control ability. A verification experiment indicates that flexural torsional mode T(3,1) at center frequency f=64kHz is effectively actuated by a HCMPT with 13-degree helix angle. Flexural torsional modes T(N,1) with circumferential order N equals 1-5 are selected to inspect a seamless steel pipe, artificial defects are effectively detected by the proposed HCMPT. A 20-degree HCMPT is adopted to inspect a spiral welded pipe, an artificial notch with cross section loss CSL=2.7% is effectively detected by using flexural waves. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Localization and subcellular association of Grapevine Pinot Gris Virus in grapevine leaf tissues.
Tarquini, Giulia; Ermacora, Paolo; Bianchi, Gian Luca; De Amicis, Francesca; Pagliari, Laura; Martini, Marta; Loschi, Alberto; Saldarelli, Pasquale; Loi, Nazia; Musetti, Rita
2018-05-01
Despite the increasing impact of Grapevine Pinot gris disease (GPG-disease) worldwide, etiology about this disorder is still uncertain. The presence of the putative causal agent, the Grapevine Pinot Gris Virus (GPGV), has been reported in symptomatic grapevines (presenting stunting, chlorotic mottling, and leaf deformation) as well as in symptom-free plants. Moreover, information on virus localization in grapevine tissues and virus-plant interactions at the cytological level is missing at all. Ultrastructural and cytochemical investigations were undertaken to detect virus particles and the associated cytopathic effects in field-grown grapevine showing different symptom severity. Asymptomatic greenhouse-grown grapevines, which tested negative for GPGV by real time RT-PCR, were sampled as controls. Multiplex real-time RT-PCR and ELISA tests excluded the presence of viruses included in the Italian certification program both in field-grown and greenhouse-grown grapevines. Conversely, evidence was found for ubiquitous presence of Grapevine Rupestris Stem Pitting-associated Virus (GRSPaV), Hop Stunt Viroid (HSVd), and Grapevine Yellow Speckle Viroid 1 (GYSVd-1) in both plant groups. Moreover, in every field-grown grapevine, GPGV was detected by real-time RT-PCR. Ultrastructural observations and immunogold labelling assays showed filamentous flexuous viruses in the bundle sheath cells, often located inside membrane-bound organelles. No cytological differences were observed among field-grown grapevine samples showing different symptom severity. GPGV localization and associated ultrastructural modifications are reported and discussed, in the perspective of assisting management and control of the disease.
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Cong, Ming; Wu, Xinjun; Qian, Chunqiao
2016-01-01
A new electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) design, employing a special structure of the permanent magnet chain, is proposed to generate and receive longitudinal guided waves for pipe inspection based on the magnetostriction mechanism. Firstly, a quantitative analysis of the excitation forces shows the influence of the radial component can be ignored. Furthermore, as the axial component of the static magnetic field is dominant, a method of solenoid testing coils connected in series is adopted to increase the signal amplitude. Then, two EMAT configurations are developed to generate and receive the L(0,2) guided wave mode. The experimental results show the circumferential notch can be identified and located successfully. Finally, a detailed investigation of the performance of the proposed EMATs is given. Compared to the conventional EMAT configuration, the proposed configurations have the advantages of small volume, light weight, easy installation and portability, which is helpful to improve inspection efficiency. PMID:27213400
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Development of a Guide-Dog Robot: Leading and Recognizing a Visually-Handicapped Person using a LRF
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Saegusa, Shozo; Yasuda, Yuya; Uratani, Yoshitaka; Tanaka, Eiichirou; Makino, Toshiaki; Chang, Jen-Yuan (James
A conceptual Guide-Dog Robot prototype to lead and to recognize a visually-handicapped person is developed and discussed in this paper. Key design features of the robot include a movable platform, human-machine interface, and capability of avoiding obstacles. A novel algorithm enabling the robot to recognize its follower's locomotion as well to detect the center of corridor is proposed and implemented in the robot's human-machine interface. It is demonstrated that using the proposed novel leading and detecting algorithm along with a rapid scanning laser range finder (LRF) sensor, the robot is able to successfully and effectively lead a human walking in corridor without running into obstacles such as trash boxes or adjacent walking persons. Position and trajectory of the robot leading a human maneuvering in common corridor environment are measured by an independent LRF observer. The measured data suggest that the proposed algorithms are effective to enable the robot to detect center of the corridor and position of its follower correctly.
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"Family Guides" to Timely Topics in Space Science
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Morrow, C.; McLain, B.; Wilkerson, A.; Garvin-Doxas, K.; Dyches, P.
We have undertaken the development, field testing, and dissemination of a new series of ``Family Guides'' on timely topics of notable interest in space science and astronomy. Each Guide includes an innovative collection of puzzles, pictures, poetry, and projects, all designed to stimulate enjoyable co-learning, inquiry-based experiences between kids aged 6-12 and the caring adults in their lives. The Guides are primarily intended for use in informal educational settings, including at home, with after-school programs, in youth groups, and in programs for children, school-groups, or families that are conducted in museums, planetariums, and nature centers. We are learning that classroom teachers also express interest in the Guide's activities as a means to engage students attention toward more formal lessons. The Guides endeavor to be accessible to those who are not familiar with astronomy. They provide background on questions commonly asked by children. The interactive activities challenge common misconceptions. The Guides' also coach adults how to lead inquiry with kids instead of telling or prescribing answers. The Guides' resource sections provide leads to more information and additional products related to family learning. We released the field test version of the Family Guide to the Sun in late summer 2003. In January 2004 we released the field test version of the Family Guide to Mars in time for use with educational programs associated with the Mars Exploration Rover landings. We are in the planning stages for a Family Guide to Saturn and for a Family Guide to the Search for Life Elsewhere. These later Guides will build on the base of understanding we construct from the field testing of the earlier Guides. This paper will provide details of the Guides' contents as well as results from field testing in various educational settings. We are proposing for funds to translate the Family Guide to Mars and the Family Guide the Sun into both French and Spanish.
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Coelho, V N; Coelho, I M; Souza, M J F; Oliveira, T A; Cota, L P; Haddad, M N; Mladenovic, N; Silva, R C P; Guimarães, F G
2016-01-01
This article presents an Evolution Strategy (ES)--based algorithm, designed to self-adapt its mutation operators, guiding the search into the solution space using a Self-Adaptive Reduced Variable Neighborhood Search procedure. In view of the specific local search operators for each individual, the proposed population-based approach also fits into the context of the Memetic Algorithms. The proposed variant uses the Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure with different greedy parameters for generating its initial population, providing an interesting exploration-exploitation balance. To validate the proposal, this framework is applied to solve three different [Formula: see text]-Hard combinatorial optimization problems: an Open-Pit-Mining Operational Planning Problem with dynamic allocation of trucks, an Unrelated Parallel Machine Scheduling Problem with Setup Times, and the calibration of a hybrid fuzzy model for Short-Term Load Forecasting. Computational results point out the convergence of the proposed model and highlight its ability in combining the application of move operations from distinct neighborhood structures along the optimization. The results gathered and reported in this article represent a collective evidence of the performance of the method in challenging combinatorial optimization problems from different application domains. The proposed evolution strategy demonstrates an ability of adapting the strength of the mutation disturbance during the generations of its evolution process. The effectiveness of the proposal motivates the application of this novel evolutionary framework for solving other combinatorial optimization problems.
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Nonlinear inversion of electrical resistivity imaging using pruning Bayesian neural networks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jiang, Fei-Bo; Dai, Qian-Wei; Dong, Li
2016-06-01
Conventional artificial neural networks used to solve electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) inversion problem suffer from overfitting and local minima. To solve these problems, we propose to use a pruning Bayesian neural network (PBNN) nonlinear inversion method and a sample design method based on the K-medoids clustering algorithm. In the sample design method, the training samples of the neural network are designed according to the prior information provided by the K-medoids clustering results; thus, the training process of the neural network is well guided. The proposed PBNN, based on Bayesian regularization, is used to select the hidden layer structure by assessing the effect of each hidden neuron to the inversion results. Then, the hyperparameter α k , which is based on the generalized mean, is chosen to guide the pruning process according to the prior distribution of the training samples under the small-sample condition. The proposed algorithm is more efficient than other common adaptive regularization methods in geophysics. The inversion of synthetic data and field data suggests that the proposed method suppresses the noise in the neural network training stage and enhances the generalization. The inversion results with the proposed method are better than those of the BPNN, RBFNN, and RRBFNN inversion methods as well as the conventional least squares inversion.
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An emergency medical planning guide for commercial spaceflight events.
Law, Jennifer; Vanderploeg, James
2012-09-01
Commercial spaceflight events transporting paying passengers into space will begin to take place at various spaceports around the country within the next few years. Many spaceports are located in remote areas that are far from major hospitals and trauma centers. Spaceport medical directors should develop emergency medical plans (EMPs) to prepare for potential medical contingencies that may occur during commercial spaceflight events. The aim of this article is to guide spaceport medical directors in emergency medical planning for commercial spaceflight events. This guide is based on our experience and a recently developed EMP for Spaceport America which incorporated a literature review of mass gathering medicine, existing planning guides for mass gathering events, and EMPs for analogous aerospace events. We propose a multipronged approach to emergency medical planning, consisting of event planning, medical reconnaissance, medical personnel, protocols, physical facility and hardware, and documentation. Medical directors should use this guide to develop an emergency medical plan tailored to the resources and constraints specific to their events.
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Image-guided filtering for improving photoacoustic tomographic image reconstruction.
Awasthi, Navchetan; Kalva, Sandeep Kumar; Pramanik, Manojit; Yalavarthy, Phaneendra K
2018-06-01
Several algorithms exist to solve the photoacoustic image reconstruction problem depending on the expected reconstructed image features. These reconstruction algorithms promote typically one feature, such as being smooth or sharp, in the output image. Combining these features using a guided filtering approach was attempted in this work, which requires an input and guiding image. This approach act as a postprocessing step to improve commonly used Tikhonov or total variational regularization method. The result obtained from linear backprojection was used as a guiding image to improve these results. Using both numerical and experimental phantom cases, it was shown that the proposed guided filtering approach was able to improve (as high as 11.23 dB) the signal-to-noise ratio of the reconstructed images with the added advantage being computationally efficient. This approach was compared with state-of-the-art basis pursuit deconvolution as well as standard denoising methods and shown to outperform them. (2018) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).
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A complex guided spectral transform Lanczos method for studying quantum resonance states
Yu, Hua-Gen
2014-12-28
A complex guided spectral transform Lanczos (cGSTL) algorithm is proposed to compute both bound and resonance states including energies, widths and wavefunctions. The algorithm comprises of two layers of complex-symmetric Lanczos iterations. A short inner layer iteration produces a set of complex formally orthogonal Lanczos (cFOL) polynomials. They are used to span the guided spectral transform function determined by a retarded Green operator. An outer layer iteration is then carried out with the transform function to compute the eigen-pairs of the system. The guided spectral transform function is designed to have the same wavefunctions as the eigenstates of the originalmore » Hamiltonian in the spectral range of interest. Therefore the energies and/or widths of bound or resonance states can be easily computed with their wavefunctions or by using a root-searching method from the guided spectral transform surface. The new cGSTL algorithm is applied to bound and resonance states of HO₂, and compared to previous calculations.« less
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Iadecola, Thomas; Schuster, Thomas; Chamon, Claudio
The possibility that anyons -- quantum particles other than fermions or bosons -- can emerge in condensed matter systems has motivated generations of physicists. In addition to being of fundamental scientific importance, so-called non-Abelian anyons are particularly sought-after for potential applications to quantum computing. However, experimental evidence of anyons in electronic systems remains inconclusive. We propose to demonstrate non-Abelian braiding by injecting coherent states of light into ``topological guided modes'' in specially-fabricated photonic waveguide arrays. These modes are photonic analogues of topological zero modes in electronic systems. Light traveling inside spatially well-separated topological guided modes can be braided, leading to the accumulation of non-Abelian phases. We propose an optical interference experiment to probe this non-Abelian braiding directly. T.I. is supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1247312.
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Entangled, guided photon generation in (1+1)-dimensional photonic crystals
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Sciscione, L.; Centini, M.; Sibilia, C.
A scheme based on photonic crystal technology is proposed as an ultrabright source of entangled photons on a miniaturized scale. The geometry consists of a multilayer microcavity, excited by a resonant pump frequency, such that the emitted photons are guided transversally to the direction of the incident pump. The entanglement occurs in direction, frequency, and polarization, and the bandwidth of the emitted photons is of the order of 1 nm. We propose a feasible design based on Al{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}As/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} structures and predict an emission rate 10{sup 5} pairs per second with 100 mW pump power. These resultsmore » are promising for realization of chip and future quantum computer applications.« less
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Lithium niobate guided-wave beam former for steering phased-array antennas.
Armenise, M N; Passaro, V M; Noviello, G
1994-09-10
We present the theoretical investigation, design, and simulation of a novel guided-wave optical processor for L-band-transmission beam forming in a linear array of phased active antennas. The proposed configuration includes two contradirectional surface acoustic-wave transducers, and it is based on a Y-cut, X-propagating Ti:LiNbO(3) planar waveguide supporting the lowest-order modes of both polarizations (TE(0) and TM(0)) at the free-space wavelength λ = 0.85 µm. A detailed comparison between the processor we propose and other optical and electronic architectures reported in the literature is carried out, exhibiting a number of significant advantages in terms of weight, total chip size, and power consumption, when the number of antenna elements is greater than 50.
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Future Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) Design Methodologies and Tool Flows
2008-07-01
a) that the results are accepted by users, vendors, … and (b) that they can quantitatively explain HPC rules of thumb such as: “OpenMP is easier...in productivity that were demonstrated by traditional software systems. Using advances in software productivity as a guide , we have identified three...of this study we developed a productivity model to guide our investigation (14). Models have limitations and the model we propose is no exception
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Efficient solar-pumped Nd:YAG laser by a double-stage light-guide/V-groove cavity
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Almeida, Joana; Liang, Dawei
2011-05-01
Since the first reported Nd:YAG solar laser, researchers have been exploiting parabolic mirrors and heliostats for enhancing laser output performance. We are now investigating the production of an efficient solar-pumped laser for the reduction of magnesium from magnesium oxide, which could be an alternative solution to fossil fuel. Therefore both high conversion efficiency and excellent beam quality are imperative. By using a single fused silica light guide of rectangular cross section, highly concentrated solar radiation at the focal spot of a stationary parabolic mirror is efficiently transferred to a water-flooded V-groove pump cavity. It allows for the double-pass absorption of pump light along a 4mm diameter, 30mm length, 1.1at% Nd:YAG rod. Optimum pumping parameters and solar laser output power are found through ZEMAXTM non-sequential ray-tracing and LASCADTM laser cavity analysis. 11.0 W of multimode laser output power with excellent beam profile is numerically calculated, corresponding to 6.1W/m2 collection efficiency. To validate the proposed pumping scheme, an experimental setup of the double-stage light-guide/V-groove cavity was built. 78% of highly concentrated solar radiation was efficiently transmitted by the fused silica light guide. The proposed pumping scheme can be an effective solution for enhancing solar laser performances when compared to other side-pump configurations.
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An intravascular loopless monopole antenna for vessel wall MR imaging at 3.0 T.
Yuan, Hongyang; Lv, Xing; Ma, Xiaohai; Zhang, Rui; Fu, Youyi; Yang, Xuedong; Wang, Xiaoying; Zhang, Zhaoqi; Zhang, Jue; Fang, Jing
2013-01-01
The purpose of this study was to develop a novel intravascular loopless monopole antenna (ILMA) design specifically for imaging of small vessel walls. The ILMA consisted of an unshielded, low-friction guide wire and a tuning/matching box. The material of the guide wire was nitinol and it was coated with polyurethane. Because the guide wire was unshielded, it could be made thinner than the coaxial cable-based loopless intravascular antenna design. The material of the box was aluminum. In this study, the diameter of the guide wire was 0.5 mm and the length was 58.7 mm. The ILMA was used as a receiving antenna and body coil for transmission. To verify the feasibility of the ILMA, in vitro and in vivo experiments were performed on a 3.0-T magnetic resonance (MR) scanner. In vitro tests using the ILMA indicated that the proposed design could be used to image target vessel walls with a spatial resolution of 313 μm at the frequency coding direction and more than 100 mm of longitudinal coverage. In vivo tests demonstrated that the images showed the vessel walls clearly by using the ILMA and also indicated that the ILMA could be used for small vessels. The proposed antenna may therefore be utilized to promote MR-based diagnoses and therapeutic solutions for cardiovascular atherosclerotic diseases. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Reflective practice and guided discovery: clinical supervision.
Todd, G; Freshwater, D
This article explores the parallels between reflective practice as a model for clinical supervision, and guided discovery as a skill in cognitive psychotherapy. A description outlining the historical development of clinical supervision in relationship to positional papers and policies is followed by an exposé of the difficulties in developing a clear, consistent model of clinical supervision with a coherent focus; reflective practice is proposed as a model of choice for clinical supervision in nursing. The article examines the parallels and processes of a model of reflection in an individual clinical supervision session, and the use of guided discovery through Socratic dialogue with a depressed patient in cognitive psychotherapy. Extracts from both sessions are used to illuminate the subsequent discussion.
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Ionization assisted self-guiding of femtosecond laser pulses
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Morozov, A.; Goltsov, A.; Chen, Q.; Scully, M.; Suckewer, S.
2018-05-01
We propose a new mechanism for the self-guiding of ultra-intense sub-picosecond laser pulses in gaseous media. It can be realized via optical field ionization by a laser pulse as it propagates inside an expanding cylindrical shock wave launched into ambient gas by a decayed plasma filament. In experiments, the filament was created in a hydrogen jet by a low energy femtosecond laser pre-pulse line focused with axicon lens. We demonstrated ionization-assisted guiding in structures with diameter as small as 14 μm and up to 3.5 mm long. The intensity reached 5 × 1017 W/cm2 in a single mode propagating for more than 100 Rayleigh lengths.
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Common-path low-coherence interferometry fiber-optic sensor guided microincision
Zhang, Kang; Kang, Jin U.
2011-01-01
We propose and demonstrate a common-path low-coherence interferometry (CP-LCI) fiber-optic sensor guided precise microincision. The method tracks the target surface and compensates the tool-to-surface relative motion with better than ±5 μm resolution using a precision micromotor connected to the tool tip. A single-fiber distance probe integrated microdissector was used to perform an accurate 100 μm incision into the surface of an Intralipid phantom. The CP-LCI guided incision quality in terms of depth was evaluated afterwards using three-dimensional Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography imaging, which showed significant improvement of incision accuracy compared to free-hand-only operations. PMID:21950912
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Planners guide for estimating cost per user-day of proposed recreational facilities.
Roger D. Fight
1980-01-01
In the absence of prices for nonmarketed outdoor recreational services provided by public agencies, it is not possible to do a complete benefit cost analysis for proposed facilities for recreation. Good information on the cost of providing recreational services to the public is nonetheless important. This paper provides a step-by-step procedure that recreation planners...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Melguizo, Tatiana; Bo, Hans; Prather, George; Kim, Bo
2011-01-01
The main objective of the authors' proposed study is to evaluate the effectiveness of math placement policies for entering community college students on these students' academic success in math, and their transfer and graduation rates. The main research question that guides the proposed study is: What are the effects of various basic skills…
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A Proposed Interpretation of the ISO 10015 and Implications for HRD Theory and Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jacobs, Ronald L.; Wang, Bryan
2007-01-01
While recent discussions of ISO 10015- Guidelines for Training have done much to promote the need for the standard, no interpretation of the standard has been presented that would guide its actual implementation. This paper proposes an interpretation of the ISO 10015 based on the specifications of the guideline and two other standards related to…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-12-11
... the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's Web site at www.nyse.com , at the principal... policies pursued by central banks and economic environments. The Investment Adviser will search for...) (stating that Guide 4 ``permit[s] a fund to invest up to 15% of its assets in illiquid securities''). The...
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Self-guided training for deep brain stimulation planning using objective assessment.
Holden, Matthew S; Zhao, Yulong; Haegelen, Claire; Essert, Caroline; Fernandez-Vidal, Sara; Bardinet, Eric; Ungi, Tamas; Fichtinger, Gabor; Jannin, Pierre
2018-04-04
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an increasingly common treatment for neurodegenerative diseases. Neurosurgeons must have thorough procedural, anatomical, and functional knowledge to plan electrode trajectories and thus ensure treatment efficacy and patient safety. Developing this knowledge requires extensive training. We propose a training approach with objective assessment of neurosurgeon proficiency in DBS planning. To assess proficiency, we propose analyzing both the viability of the planned trajectory and the manner in which the operator arrived at the trajectory. To improve understanding, we suggest a self-guided training course for DBS planning using real-time feedback. To validate the proposed measures of proficiency and training course, two experts and six novices followed the training course, and we monitored their proficiency measures throughout. At baseline, experts planned higher quality trajectories and did so more efficiently. As novices progressed through the training course, their proficiency measures increased significantly, trending toward expert measures. We developed and validated measures which reliably discriminate proficiency levels. These measures are integrated into a training course, which quantitatively improves trainee performance. The proposed training course can be used to improve trainees' proficiency, and the quantitative measures allow trainees' progress to be monitored.
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Multicriteria meta-heuristics for AGV dispatching control based on computational intelligence.
Naso, David; Turchiano, Biagio
2005-04-01
In many manufacturing environments, automated guided vehicles are used to move the processed materials between various pickup and delivery points. The assignment of vehicles to unit loads is a complex problem that is often solved in real-time with simple dispatching rules. This paper proposes an automated guided vehicles dispatching approach based on computational intelligence. We adopt a fuzzy multicriteria decision strategy to simultaneously take into account multiple aspects in every dispatching decision. Since the typical short-term view of dispatching rules is one of the main limitations of such real-time assignment heuristics, we also incorporate in the multicriteria algorithm a specific heuristic rule that takes into account the empty-vehicle travel on a longer time-horizon. Moreover, we also adopt a genetic algorithm to tune the weights associated to each decision criteria in the global decision algorithm. The proposed approach is validated by means of a comparison with other dispatching rules, and with other recently proposed multicriteria dispatching strategies also based on computational Intelligence. The analysis of the results obtained by the proposed dispatching approach in both nominal and perturbed operating conditions (congestions, faults) confirms its effectiveness.
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Juvenile Sex Offending Through a Developmental Life Course Criminology Perspective.
Lussier, Patrick
2017-02-01
Current American policies and responses to juvenile sex offending have been criticized for being based on myths, misconceptions, and unsubstantiated claims. In spite of the criticism, no organizing framework has been proposed to guide policy development with respect to the prevention of juvenile sex offending. This article proposes a developmental life course (DLC) criminology perspective to investigate the origins, development, and termination of sex offending among youth. It also provides a review of the current state of knowledge regarding various parameters characterizing the development of sex offending (e.g., prevalence, age of onset, frequency, persistence, continuity in adulthood, and versatility). The review highlights some heterogeneity across these developmental parameters suggesting the presence of different sex offending patterns among youth. In fact, it is proposed that, based on the current knowledge, such heterogeneity can be accounted for by a dual taxonomy of adolescents involved in sexual offenses: (a) the adolescent-limited and (b) the high-rate/slow-desister. The DLC criminology approach and the dual taxonomy are proposed as organizing frameworks to conduct prospective longitudinal research to better understand the origins and development of sex offending and to guide policy development and responses to at-risk youth and those who have committed sexual offenses.
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A Novel Program Trains Community‐Academic Teams to Build Research and Partnership Capacity
Brown, Jen; LeBailly, Susan; McGee, Richard; Bayldon, Barbara; Huber, Gail; Kaleba, Erin; Lowry, Kelly Walker; Martens, Joseph; Mason, Maryann; Nuñez, Abel
2013-01-01
Abstract The Community‐Engaged Research Team Support (CERTS) program was developed and tested to build research and partnership capacity for community‐engaged research (CEnR) teams. Led by the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS), the goals of CERTS were: (1) to help community‐academic teams build capacity for conducting rigorous CEnR and (2) to support teams as they prepare federal grant proposal drafts. The program was guided by an advisory committee of community and clinical partners, and representatives from Chicago's Clinical and Translational Science Institutes. Monthly workshops guided teams to write elements of NIH‐style research proposals. Draft reviewing fostered a collaborative learning environment and helped teams develop equal partnerships. The program culminated in a mock‐proposal review. All teams clarified their research and acquired new knowledge about the preparation of NIH‐style proposals. Trust, partnership collaboration, and a structured writing strategy were assets of the CERTS approach. CERTS also uncovered gaps in resources and preparedness for teams to be competitive for federally funded grants. Areas of need include experience as principal investigators, publications on study results, mentoring, institutional infrastructure, and dedicated time for research. PMID:23751028
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A Multiple-Label Guided Clustering Algorithm for Historical Document Dating and Localization.
He, Sheng; Samara, Petros; Burgers, Jan; Schomaker, Lambert
2016-11-01
It is of essential importance for historians to know the date and place of origin of the documents they study. It would be a huge advancement for historical scholars if it would be possible to automatically estimate the geographical and temporal provenance of a handwritten document by inferring them from the handwriting style of such a document. We propose a multiple-label guided clustering algorithm to discover the correlations between the concrete low-level visual elements in historical documents and abstract labels, such as date and location. First, a novel descriptor, called histogram of orientations of handwritten strokes, is proposed to extract and describe the visual elements, which is built on a scale-invariant polar-feature space. In addition, the multi-label self-organizing map (MLSOM) is proposed to discover the correlations between the low-level visual elements and their labels in a single framework. Our proposed MLSOM can be used to predict the labels directly. Moreover, the MLSOM can also be considered as a pre-structured clustering method to build a codebook, which contains more discriminative information on date and geography. The experimental results on the medieval paleographic scale data set demonstrate that our method achieves state-of-the-art results.
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An exploration for research-oriented teaching model in biology teaching.
Xing, Wanjin; Mo, Morigen; Su, Huimin
2014-07-01
Training innovative talents, as one of the major aims for Chinese universities, needs to reform the traditional teaching methods. The research-oriented teaching method has been introduced and its connotation and significance for Chinese university teaching have been discussed for years. However, few practical teaching methods for routine class teaching were proposed. In this paper, a comprehensive and concrete research-oriented teaching model with contents of reference value and evaluation method for class teaching was proposed based on the current teacher-guiding teaching model in China. We proposed that the research-oriented teaching model should include at least seven aspects on: (1) telling the scientific history for the skills to find out scientific questions; (2) replaying the experiments for the skills to solve scientific problems; (3) analyzing experimental data for learning how to draw a conclusion; (4) designing virtual experiments for learning how to construct a proposal; (5) teaching the lesson as the detectives solve the crime for learning the logic in scientific exploration; (6) guiding students how to read and consult the relative references; (7) teaching students differently according to their aptitude and learning ability. In addition, we also discussed how to evaluate the effects of the research-oriented teaching model in examination.
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Public Participation Guide: Consensus Workshops
A consensus conference is a type of public meeting that allows stakeholders to be involved in assessing an issue or proposal and working together to find common ground and deliver consensus-based input.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Matthews, Walter R.; And Others
Four volumes present materials and a training workshop on proposal writing. The materials aim to give people the skills and resources with which to translate their ideas into fully developed grant proposals for projects related to educational equity for women. However, the information is applicable to most other funding procedures. The first…
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Chung, Kuo-Liang; Huang, Chi-Chao; Hsu, Tsu-Chun
2017-09-04
In this paper, we propose a novel adaptive chroma subsampling-binding and luma-guided (ASBLG) chroma reconstruction method for screen content images (SCIs). After receiving the decoded luma and subsampled chroma image from the decoder, a fast winner-first voting strategy is proposed to identify the used chroma subsampling scheme prior to compression. Then, the decoded luma image is subsampled as the identified subsampling scheme was performed on the chroma image such that we are able to conclude an accurate correlation between the subsampled decoded luma image and the decoded subsampled chroma image. Accordingly, an adaptive sliding window-based and luma-guided chroma reconstruction method is proposed. The related computational complexity analysis is also provided. We take two quality metrics, the color peak signal-to-noise ratio (CPSNR) of the reconstructed chroma images and SCIs and the gradient-based structure similarity index (CGSS) of the reconstructed SCIs to evaluate the quality performance. Let the proposed chroma reconstruction method be denoted as 'ASBLG'. Based on 26 typical test SCIs and 6 JCT-VC test screen content video sequences (SCVs), several experiments show that on average, the CPSNR gains of all the reconstructed UV images by 4:2:0(A)-ASBLG, SCIs by 4:2:0(MPEG-B)-ASBLG, and SCVs by 4:2:0(A)-ASBLG are 2.1 dB, 1.87 dB, and 1.87 dB, respectively, when compared with that of the other combinations. Specifically, in terms of CPSNR and CGSS, CSBILINEAR-ASBLG for the test SCIs and CSBICUBIC-ASBLG for the test SCVs outperform the existing state-of-the-art comparative combinations, where CSBILINEAR and CSBICUBIC denote the luma-aware based chroma subsampling schemes by Wang et al.
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Reporting Research for Practitioners: Proposed Guidelines
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Heck, Daniel J.; Tarr, James E.; Hollebrands, Karen F.; Walker, Erica N.; Berry, Robert Q., III; Baltzley, Patricia C.; Rasmussen, Chris L.; King, Karen D.
2012-01-01
The NCTM Research Committee developed this article to address a distinctly important activity that links research and practice: writing research-based articles for practitioner journals. Six guiding principles are described. (Contains 6 figures.)
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16 CFR 1.88 - Implementing procedures.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-01-01
... efforts to improve environmental quality. He will provide assistance to the staff in determining when an... Competition will supplement these procedures for their Bureaus to assure that every proposed rule and guide is...
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Moriwaki, Katsumi; Koike, Issei; Sano, Tsuyoshi; Fukunaga, Tetsuya; Tanaka, Katsuyuki
We propose a new method of environmental recognition around an autonomous vehicle using dual vision sensor and navigation control based on binocular images. We consider to develop a guide robot that can play the role of a guide dog as the aid to people such as the visually impaired or the aged, as an application of above-mentioned techniques. This paper presents a recognition algorithm, which finds out the line of a series of Braille blocks and the boundary line between a sidewalk and a roadway where a difference in level exists by binocular images obtained from a pair of parallelarrayed CCD cameras. This paper also presents a tracking algorithm, with which the guide robot traces along a series of Braille blocks and avoids obstacles and unsafe areas which exist in the way of a person with the guide robot.
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Simulation investigation of a Ku-band radial line oscillator operating at low guiding magnetic field
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Dang, Fangchao, E-mail: dangfangchao@sina.com; Zhang, Xiaoping; Zhong, Huihuang
2014-06-15
A novel radial line oscillator operating at Ku-band with low guiding magnetic field is proposed in this paper. By using an oversized radial structure, the power handling capacity is enhanced significantly. Based on the small-signal theory, the π/2 mode in radial TM{sub 01} mode is selected as the working mode. Furthermore, a radial uniform guiding magnetic field, made up of four solenoids, is designed. As indicated in 2.5-dimensional fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulation, high power microwaves with a power of 2.2 GW and a frequency of 14.25 GHz are generated with over 40% efficiency when the electron beam voltage is 300 kV, themore » beam current 18 kA, and the guiding magnetic field is only 0.6 T. There is no angular non-asymmetric mode discovered in three-dimensional simulation.« less
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2009-09-01
first statement of work is to determine if high intensity focused ultrasound ( HIFU ) increases the cellular uptake of AS-MDM2, AS-bcl-2 and AS-PKA...Drug Delivery in Prostate Tumor in vivo Using MR Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRg HIFU ). WC, IFMBE Proceedings 25: pp341-344, 2009 6...pharmaceutical agents in the treatment target. In the model system proposed, pulsed high intensity focused ultrasound ( HIFU ) is hypothesized to improve
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Low-Loss Waveguides for Terahertz Frequencies
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Siegel, Peter; Yeh, Cavour; Shimabukuro, Fred; Fraser, Scott
2008-01-01
Hollow-core, periodic bandgap (HCPBG) flexible waveguides have been proposed as a means of low-loss transmission of electromagnetic signals in the frequency range from about 300 GHz to 30 THz. This frequency range has been called the "terahertz gap" because it has been little utilized: Heretofore, there has been no way of low-loss guiding of terahertz beams other than by use of fixed-path optical beam guides with lenses and mirrors or multimode waveguides that cannot maintain mode purity around bends or modest discontinuities.
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Optical trapping via guided resonance modes in a Slot-Suzuki-phase photonic crystal lattice.
Ma, Jing; Martínez, Luis Javier; Povinelli, Michelle L
2012-03-12
A novel photonic crystal lattice is proposed for trapping a two-dimensional array of particles. The lattice is created by introducing a rectangular slot in each unit cell of the Suzuki-Phase lattice to enhance the light confinement of guided resonance modes. Large quality factors on the order of 10⁵ are predicted in the lattice. A significant decrease of the optical power required for optical trapping can be achieved compared to our previous design.
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SmartG: Spontaneous Malaysian Augmented Reality Tourist Guide
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kasinathan, Vinothini; Mustapha, Aida; Subramaniam, Tanabalan
2016-11-01
In effort to attract higher tourist expenditure along with higher tourist arrivals, this paper proposes a travel application called the SmartG, acronym for Spontaneous Malaysian Augmented Reality Tourist Guide, which operates by making recommendations to user based on the travel objective and individual budget constraints. The applications relies on augmented reality technology, whereby a three dimensional model is presented to the user based on input from real world environment. User testing returned a favorable feedback on the concept of using augmented reality in promoting Malaysian tourism.
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2015-12-01
Reduced mental capacity, poor decision making, emotional outbursts or withdrawals, and reduced alertness are among the side effects that have been...Guide.” The guide defined fatigue as “the product of intense and prolonged emotional strain, poor and inadequate diet, strenuous physical exertion...scheduling bodily functions and periods of sleepiness and wakefulness. Circadian rhythms control numerous factors in the human body including body
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Biomarker-Guided Non-Adaptive Trial Designs in Phase II and Phase III: A Methodological Review
Antoniou, Miranta; Kolamunnage-Dona, Ruwanthi; Jorgensen, Andrea L.
2017-01-01
Biomarker-guided treatment is a rapidly developing area of medicine, where treatment choice is personalised according to one or more of an individual’s biomarker measurements. A number of biomarker-guided trial designs have been proposed in the past decade, including both adaptive and non-adaptive trial designs which test the effectiveness of a biomarker-guided approach to treatment with the aim of improving patient health. A better understanding of them is needed as challenges occur both in terms of trial design and analysis. We have undertaken a comprehensive literature review based on an in-depth search strategy with a view to providing the research community with clarity in definition, methodology and terminology of the various biomarker-guided trial designs (both adaptive and non-adaptive designs) from a total of 211 included papers. In the present paper, we focus on non-adaptive biomarker-guided trial designs for which we have identified five distinct main types mentioned in 100 papers. We have graphically displayed each non-adaptive trial design and provided an in-depth overview of their key characteristics. Substantial variability has been observed in terms of how trial designs are described and particularly in the terminology used by different authors. Our comprehensive review provides guidance for those designing biomarker-guided trials. PMID:28125057
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Arcia, Adriana; Velez, Mark; Bakken, Suzanne
2015-01-01
Purpose: In this case study we describe key features of the structured communication tool—a style guide—used to support interdisciplinary collaboration, and we propose the use of such a tool for research teams engaged in similar projects. We employ tailored infographics to present patient reported outcome data from a community health survey back, in a comprehensible and actionable manner, to the individuals who provided it. The style guide was developed to bridge the semantic gap between the domain and programming experts engaged in this effort. Innovation: The style guide supports the communication of complex design specifications in a highly structured format that is nevertheless flexible enough to accommodate project growth. Unlike the typical corporate style guide that has a more narrative format, our style guide is innovative in its use of consistent fields across multiple, standalone entries. Credibility: The process of populating the style guide prompted the designer toward greater design efficiency and led to consistent and specific instructions that met the framework architect’s stated information needs. Discussion and Conclusion: The guiding values in the creation of the style guide were consistency, clarity, and flexibility. It serves as a durable reference to the desired look and functionality of the final infographic product without dictating an implementation strategy. The style guide format can be adapted to meet the communication needs of other interdisciplinary teams facing a semantic gap. PMID:25848634
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Contrast-guided image interpolation.
Wei, Zhe; Ma, Kai-Kuang
2013-11-01
In this paper a contrast-guided image interpolation method is proposed that incorporates contrast information into the image interpolation process. Given the image under interpolation, four binary contrast-guided decision maps (CDMs) are generated and used to guide the interpolation filtering through two sequential stages: 1) the 45(°) and 135(°) CDMs for interpolating the diagonal pixels and 2) the 0(°) and 90(°) CDMs for interpolating the row and column pixels. After applying edge detection to the input image, the generation of a CDM lies in evaluating those nearby non-edge pixels of each detected edge for re-classifying them possibly as edge pixels. This decision is realized by solving two generalized diffusion equations over the computed directional variation (DV) fields using a derived numerical approach to diffuse or spread the contrast boundaries or edges, respectively. The amount of diffusion or spreading is proportional to the amount of local contrast measured at each detected edge. The diffused DV fields are then thresholded for yielding the binary CDMs, respectively. Therefore, the decision bands with variable widths will be created on each CDM. The two CDMs generated in each stage will be exploited as the guidance maps to conduct the interpolation process: for each declared edge pixel on the CDM, a 1-D directional filtering will be applied to estimate its associated to-be-interpolated pixel along the direction as indicated by the respective CDM; otherwise, a 2-D directionless or isotropic filtering will be used instead to estimate the associated missing pixels for each declared non-edge pixel. Extensive simulation results have clearly shown that the proposed contrast-guided image interpolation is superior to other state-of-the-art edge-guided image interpolation methods. In addition, the computational complexity is relatively low when compared with existing methods; hence, it is fairly attractive for real-time image applications.
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Novel TPLO Alignment Jig/Saw Guide Reproduces Freehand and Ideal Osteotomy Positions
2016-01-01
Objectives To evaluate the ability of an alignment jig/saw guide to reproduce appropriate osteotomy positions in the tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) in the dog. Methods Lateral radiographs of 65 clinical TPLO procedures using an alignment jig and freehand osteotomy performed by experienced TPLO surgeons using a 24 mm radial saw blade between Dec 2005–Dec 2007 and Nov 2013–Nov 2015 were reviewed. The freehand osteotomy position was compared to potential osteotomy positions using the alignment jig/saw guide. The proximal and distal jig pin holes on postoperative radiographs were used to align the jig to the bone; saw guide position was selected to most closely match the osteotomy performed. The guide-to-osteotomy fit was categorized by the distance between the actual osteotomy and proposed saw guide osteotomy at its greatest offset (≤1 mm = excellent; ≤2 mm = good; ≤3 mm = satisfactory; >3 mm = poor). Results Sixty-four of 65 TPLO osteotomies could be matched satisfactorily by the saw guide. Proximal jig pin placement 3–4 mm from the joint surface and pin location in a craniocaudal plane on the proximal tibia were significantly associated with the guide-to-osteotomy fit (P = 0.021 and P = 0.047, respectively). Clinical Significance The alignment jig/saw guide can be used to reproduce appropriate freehand osteotomy position for TPLO. Furthermore, an ideal osteotomy position centered on the tibial intercondylar tubercles also is possible. Accurate placement of the proximal jig pin is a crucial step for correct positioning of the saw guide in either instance. PMID:27556230
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Novel TPLO Alignment Jig/Saw Guide Reproduces Freehand and Ideal Osteotomy Positions.
Mariano, Abigail D; Kowaleski, Michael P; Boudrieau, Randy J
2016-01-01
To evaluate the ability of an alignment jig/saw guide to reproduce appropriate osteotomy positions in the tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) in the dog. Lateral radiographs of 65 clinical TPLO procedures using an alignment jig and freehand osteotomy performed by experienced TPLO surgeons using a 24 mm radial saw blade between Dec 2005-Dec 2007 and Nov 2013-Nov 2015 were reviewed. The freehand osteotomy position was compared to potential osteotomy positions using the alignment jig/saw guide. The proximal and distal jig pin holes on postoperative radiographs were used to align the jig to the bone; saw guide position was selected to most closely match the osteotomy performed. The guide-to-osteotomy fit was categorized by the distance between the actual osteotomy and proposed saw guide osteotomy at its greatest offset (≤1 mm = excellent; ≤2 mm = good; ≤3 mm = satisfactory; >3 mm = poor). Sixty-four of 65 TPLO osteotomies could be matched satisfactorily by the saw guide. Proximal jig pin placement 3-4 mm from the joint surface and pin location in a craniocaudal plane on the proximal tibia were significantly associated with the guide-to-osteotomy fit (P = 0.021 and P = 0.047, respectively). The alignment jig/saw guide can be used to reproduce appropriate freehand osteotomy position for TPLO. Furthermore, an ideal osteotomy position centered on the tibial intercondylar tubercles also is possible. Accurate placement of the proximal jig pin is a crucial step for correct positioning of the saw guide in either instance.
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77 FR 21084 - Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-04-09
... under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposed research program is intended to increase knowledge of the species and to help guide management and conservation efforts. The applications and related...
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Integration of E-education and Knowledge Management
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wan, Liyong; Zhao, Chengling; Guo, Wei
With the realization that knowledge is a core resource, organizations are now attempting to manage knowledge in a more systematic and more effective way. However, managing knowledge is not always an easy task. In particular contexts, such as online e-education, knowledge is distributed across both time and space and may be constrained by social, cultural and language differences. This paper demonstrated the common characters of knowledge management and e-education, and proposed the current potential problems in e-education. The authors tried to develop a set of guidelines to help overcome problems using tools and techniques from KM, they proposed three strategies: corporate explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge; use the theory of KM to guide e-education resource management; use the theory of KM to guide e-education resource management. These strategies will help us to develop a better e-education framework.
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Toward Intraoperative Image-Guided Transoral Robotic Surgery
Liu, Wen P.; Reaugamornrat, Sureerat; Deguet, Anton; Sorger, Jonathan M.; Siewerdsen, Jeffrey H.; Richmon, Jeremy; Taylor, Russell H.
2014-01-01
This paper presents the development and evaluation of video augmentation on the stereoscopic da Vinci S system with intraoperative image guidance for base of tongue tumor resection in transoral robotic surgery (TORS). Proposed workflow for image-guided TORS begins by identifying and segmenting critical oropharyngeal structures (e.g., the tumor and adjacent arteries and nerves) from preoperative computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. These preoperative planned data can be deformably registered to the intraoperative endoscopic view using mobile C-arm cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) [1, 2]. Augmentation of TORS endoscopic video defining surgical targets and critical structures has the potential to improve navigation, spatial orientation, and confidence in tumor resection. Experiments in animal specimens achieved statistically significant improvement in target localization error when comparing the proposed image guidance system to simulated current practice. PMID:25525474
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Qibo, Feng; Bin, Zhang; Cunxing, Cui; Cuifang, Kuang; Yusheng, Zhai; Fenglin, You
2013-11-04
A simple method for simultaneously measuring the 6DOF geometric motion errors of the linear guide was proposed. The mechanisms for measuring straightness and angular errors and for enhancing their resolution are described in detail. A common-path method for measuring the laser beam drift was proposed and it was used to compensate the errors produced by the laser beam drift in the 6DOF geometric error measurements. A compact 6DOF system was built. Calibration experiments with certain standard measurement meters showed that our system has a standard deviation of 0.5 µm in a range of ± 100 µm for the straightness measurements, and standard deviations of 0.5", 0.5", and 1.0" in the range of ± 100" for pitch, yaw, and roll measurements, respectively.
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On Multiple Reconnection X-lines and Tripolar Perturbations of Strong Guide Magnetic Fields
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eriksson, S.; Lapenta, G.; Newman, D. L.; Phan, T. D.; Gosling, J. T.; Lavraud, B.; Khotyaintsev, Yu. V.; Carr, C. M.; Markidis, S.; Goldman, M. V.
2015-05-01
We report new multi-spacecraft Cluster observations of tripolar guide magnetic field perturbations at a solar wind reconnection exhaust in the presence of a guide field BM which is almost four times as strong as the reversing field BL. The novel tripolar field consists of two narrow regions of depressed BM, with an observed 7%-14% ΔBM magnitude relative to the external field, which are found adjacent to a wide region of enhanced BM within the exhaust. A stronger reversing field is associated with each BM depression. A kinetic reconnection simulation for realistic solar wind conditions and the observed strong guide field reveals that tripolar magnetic fields preferentially form across current sheets in the presence of multiple X-lines as magnetic islands approach one another and merge into fewer and larger islands. The simulated ΔBM/ΔXN over the normal width ΔXN between a BM minimum and the edge of the external region agree with the normalized values observed by Cluster. We propose that a tripolar guide field perturbation may be used to identify candidate regions containing multiple X-lines and interacting magnetic islands at individual solar wind current sheets with a strong guide field.
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Accepted Common Interest Community (CIC) Proposals.
These are the 18 accepted proposals for the three Common Interest Community (CIC) sessions at IAYT's Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research (SYTAR), June 5-8, 2014, in Austin, Texas and published in the Final Program Guide and CIC Works for SYTAR 2014. The sessions were CIC#1 Rehab Professionals: Bridging the Past with the Future and CIC#2a & CIC#2b Mental, Emotional and Spiritual Health.
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Title XX: Social Services in Your State. A Child Advocate's Handbook for Action.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Children's Defense Fund, Washington, DC.
This booklet is a guide for those wishing to route Title XX money into the community programs for children. Part I discusses ways for child advocates to participate in four key stages of the Title XX planning process in their state: planning proposals, raising the 25% non-federal share of the funds required by Title XX, and publishing proposed and…
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Dante Castellanos-Acuña; Kenneth W. Vance-Borland; J. Bradley St. Clair; Andreas Hamann; Javier López-Upton; Erika Gómez-Pineda; Juan Manuel Ortega-Rodríguez; Cuauhtémoc Sáenz-Romero
2018-01-01
Seed zones for forest tree species are a widely used tool in reforestation programs to ensure that seedlings are well adapted to their planting environments. Here, we propose a climate-based seed zone system for Mexico to address observed and projected climate change. The proposed seed zone classification is based on bands of climate variables often related to genetic...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Seastrom, Marilyn M.; Chapman, Chris; Stillwell, Robert; McGrath, Daniel; Peltola, Pia; Dinkes, Rachel; Xu, Zeyu
2006-01-01
The first volume of this report examines the existing measures of high school completion and the newly proposed proxy measures. This includes a description of the computational formulas, the data required for each indicator, the assumptions underlying each formula, the strengths and weaknesses of each indicator relative to a true cohort on-time…
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Baldassarre, Gianluca; Santucci, Vieri Giuliano; Cartoni, Emilio; Caligiore, Daniele
2017-01-01
In this commentary, we highlight a crucial challenge posed by the proposal of Lake et al. to introduce key elements of human cognition into deep neural networks and future artificial-intelligence systems: the need to design effective sophisticated architectures. We propose that looking at the brain is an important means of facing this great challenge.
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Shepherd, T; Teras, M; Beichel, RR; Boellaard, R; Bruynooghe, M; Dicken, V; Gooding, MJ; Julyan, PJ; Lee, JA; Lefèvre, S; Mix, M; Naranjo, V; Wu, X; Zaidi, H; Zeng, Z; Minn, H
2017-01-01
The impact of positron emission tomography (PET) on radiation therapy is held back by poor methods of defining functional volumes of interest. Many new software tools are being proposed for contouring target volumes but the different approaches are not adequately compared and their accuracy is poorly evaluated due to the ill-definition of ground truth. This paper compares the largest cohort to date of established, emerging and proposed PET contouring methods, in terms of accuracy and variability. We emphasize spatial accuracy and present a new metric that addresses the lack of unique ground truth. Thirty methods are used at 13 different institutions to contour functional volumes of interest in clinical PET/CT and a custom-built PET phantom representing typical problems in image guided radiotherapy. Contouring methods are grouped according to algorithmic type, level of interactivity and how they exploit structural information in hybrid images. Experiments reveal benefits of high levels of user interaction, as well as simultaneous visualization of CT images and PET gradients to guide interactive procedures. Method-wise evaluation identifies the danger of over-automation and the value of prior knowledge built into an algorithm. PMID:22692898
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Xiao, Xiang; Zhu, Hao; Liu, Wei-Jie; Yu, Xiao-Ting; Duan, Lian; Li, Zheng; Zhu, Chao-Zhe
2017-01-01
The International 10/20 system is an important head-surface-based positioning system for transcranial brain mapping techniques, e.g., fNIRS and TMS. As guidance for probe placement, the 10/20 system permits both proper ROI coverage and spatial consistency among multiple subjects and experiments in a MRI-free context. However, the traditional manual approach to the identification of 10/20 landmarks faces problems in reliability and time cost. In this study, we propose a semi-automatic method to address these problems. First, a novel head surface reconstruction algorithm reconstructs head geometry from a set of points uniformly and sparsely sampled on the subject's head. Second, virtual 10/20 landmarks are determined on the reconstructed head surface in computational space. Finally, a visually-guided real-time navigation system guides the experimenter to each of the identified 10/20 landmarks on the physical head of the subject. Compared with the traditional manual approach, our proposed method provides a significant improvement both in reliability and time cost and thus could contribute to improving both the effectiveness and efficiency of 10/20-guided MRI-free probe placement.
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Hand gesture guided robot-assisted surgery based on a direct augmented reality interface.
Wen, Rong; Tay, Wei-Liang; Nguyen, Binh P; Chng, Chin-Boon; Chui, Chee-Kong
2014-09-01
Radiofrequency (RF) ablation is a good alternative to hepatic resection for treatment of liver tumors. However, accurate needle insertion requires precise hand-eye coordination and is also affected by the difficulty of RF needle navigation. This paper proposes a cooperative surgical robot system, guided by hand gestures and supported by an augmented reality (AR)-based surgical field, for robot-assisted percutaneous treatment. It establishes a robot-assisted natural AR guidance mechanism that incorporates the advantages of the following three aspects: AR visual guidance information, surgeon's experiences and accuracy of robotic surgery. A projector-based AR environment is directly overlaid on a patient to display preoperative and intraoperative information, while a mobile surgical robot system implements specified RF needle insertion plans. Natural hand gestures are used as an intuitive and robust method to interact with both the AR system and surgical robot. The proposed system was evaluated on a mannequin model. Experimental results demonstrated that hand gesture guidance was able to effectively guide the surgical robot, and the robot-assisted implementation was found to improve the accuracy of needle insertion. This human-robot cooperative mechanism is a promising approach for precise transcutaneous ablation therapy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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PCA Based Stress Monitoring of Cylindrical Specimens Using PZTs and Guided Waves
Mujica, Luis; Ruiz, Magda; Camacho, Johanatan
2017-01-01
Since mechanical stress in structures affects issues such as strength, expected operational life and dimensional stability, a continuous stress monitoring scheme is necessary for a complete integrity assessment. Consequently, this paper proposes a stress monitoring scheme for cylindrical specimens, which are widely used in structures such as pipelines, wind turbines or bridges. The approach consists of tracking guided wave variations due to load changes, by comparing wave statistical patterns via Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Each load scenario is projected to the PCA space by means of a baseline model and represented using the Q-statistical indices. Experimental validation of the proposed methodology is conducted on two specimens: (i) a 12.7 mm (1/2″) diameter, 0.4 m length, AISI 1020 steel rod, and (ii) a 25.4 mm (1″) diameter, 6m length, schedule 40, A-106, hollow cylinder. Specimen 1 was subjected to axial loads, meanwhile specimen 2 to flexion. In both cases, simultaneous longitudinal and flexural guided waves were generated via piezoelectric devices (PZTs) in a pitch-catch configuration. Experimental results show the feasibility of the approach and its potential use as in-situ continuous stress monitoring application. PMID:29194384
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Ontology-guided data preparation for discovering genotype-phenotype relationships.
Coulet, Adrien; Smaïl-Tabbone, Malika; Benlian, Pascale; Napoli, Amedeo; Devignes, Marie-Dominique
2008-04-25
Complexity and amount of post-genomic data constitute two major factors limiting the application of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) methods in life sciences. Bio-ontologies may nowadays play key roles in knowledge discovery in life science providing semantics to data and to extracted units, by taking advantage of the progress of Semantic Web technologies concerning the understanding and availability of tools for knowledge representation, extraction, and reasoning. This paper presents a method that exploits bio-ontologies for guiding data selection within the preparation step of the KDD process. We propose three scenarios in which domain knowledge and ontology elements such as subsumption, properties, class descriptions, are taken into account for data selection, before the data mining step. Each of these scenarios is illustrated within a case-study relative to the search of genotype-phenotype relationships in a familial hypercholesterolemia dataset. The guiding of data selection based on domain knowledge is analysed and shows a direct influence on the volume and significance of the data mining results. The method proposed in this paper is an efficient alternative to numerical methods for data selection based on domain knowledge. In turn, the results of this study may be reused in ontology modelling and data integration.
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Liu, Yun-feng; Xu, Liang-wei; Zhu, Hui-yong; Liu, Sean Shih-Yao
2014-05-23
The occurrence of mandibular defects caused by tumors has been continuously increasing in China in recent years. Conversely, results of the repair of mandibular defects affect the recovery of oral function and patient appearance, and the requirements for accuracy and high surgical quality must be more stringent. Digital techniques--including model reconstruction based on medical images, computer-aided design, and additive manufacturing--have been widely used in modern medicine to improve the accuracy and quality of diagnosis and surgery. However, some special software platforms and services from international companies are not always available for most of researchers and surgeons because they are expensive and time-consuming. Here, a new technical solution for guided surgery for the repair of mandibular defects is proposed, based on general popular tools in medical image processing, 3D (3 dimension) model reconstruction, digital design, and fabrication via 3D printing. First, CT (computerized tomography) images are processed to reconstruct the 3D model of the mandible and fibular bone. The defect area is then replaced by healthy contralateral bone to create the repair model. With the repair model as reference, the graft shape and cutline are designed on fibular bone, as is the guide for cutting and shaping. The physical model, fabricated via 3D printing, including surgical guide, the original model, and the repair model, can be used to preform a titanium locking plate, as well as to design and verify the surgical plan and guide. In clinics, surgeons can operate with the help of the surgical guide and preformed plate to realize the predesigned surgical plan. With sufficient communication between engineers and surgeons, an optimal surgical plan can be designed via some common software platforms but needs to be translated to the clinic. Based on customized models and tools, including three surgical guides, preformed titanium plate for fixation, and physical models of the mandible, grafts for defect repair can be cut from fibular bone, shaped with high accuracy during surgery, and fixed with a well-fitting preformed locking plate, so that the predesigned plan can be performed in the clinic and the oral function and appearance of the patient are recovered. This method requires 20% less operating time compared with conventional surgery, and the advantages in cost and convenience are significant compared with those of existing commercial services in China. This comparison between two groups of cases illustrates that, with the proposed method, the accuracy of mandibular defect repair surgery is increased significantly and is less time-consuming, and patients are satisfied with both the recovery of oral function and their appearance. Until now, more than 15 cases have been treated with the proposed methods, so their feasibility and validity have been verified.
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A new neural framework for visuospatial processing.
Kravitz, Dwight J; Saleem, Kadharbatcha S; Baker, Chris I; Mishkin, Mortimer
2011-04-01
The division of cortical visual processing into distinct dorsal and ventral streams is a key framework that has guided visual neuroscience. The characterization of the ventral stream as a 'What' pathway is relatively uncontroversial, but the nature of dorsal stream processing is less clear. Originally proposed as mediating spatial perception ('Where'), more recent accounts suggest it primarily serves non-conscious visually guided action ('How'). Here, we identify three pathways emerging from the dorsal stream that consist of projections to the prefrontal and premotor cortices, and a major projection to the medial temporal lobe that courses both directly and indirectly through the posterior cingulate and retrosplenial cortices. These three pathways support both conscious and non-conscious visuospatial processing, including spatial working memory, visually guided action and navigation, respectively.
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Fractional Order PIλDμ Control for Maglev Guiding System
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hu, Qing; Hu, Yuwei
To effectively suppress the external disturbances and parameter perturbation problem of the maglev guiding system, and improve speed and robustness, the electromagnetic guiding system is exactly linearized using state feedback method, Fractional calculus theory is introduced, the order of integer order PID control was extended to the field of fractional, then fractional order PIλDμ Controller was presented, Due to the extra two adjustable parameters compared with traditional PID controller, fractional order PIλDμ controllers were expected to show better control performance. The results of the computer simulation show that the proposed controller suppresses the external disturbances and parameter perturbation of the system effectively; the system response speed was increased; at the same time, it had flexible structure and stronger robustness.
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Values and the Scientific Culture of Behavior Analysis
Ruiz, Maria R; Roche, Bryan
2007-01-01
As scientists and practitioners, behavior analysts must make frequent decisions that affect many lives. Scientific principles have been our guide as we work to promote effective action across a broad spectrum of cultural practices. Yet scientific principles alone may not be sufficient to guide our decision making in cases with potentially conflicting outcomes. In such cases, values function as guides to work through ethical conflicts. We will examine two ethical systems, radical behaviorism and functional contextualism, from which to consider the role of values in behavior analysis, and discuss potential concerns. Finally, we propose philosophical pragmatism, focusing on John Dewey's notions of community and dialogue, as a tradition that can help behavior analysts to integrate talk about values and scientific practices in ethical decision making. PMID:22478484
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Endothelial cell motility, coordination and pattern formation during vasculogenesis.
Czirok, Andras
2013-01-01
How vascular networks assemble is a fundamental problem of developmental biology that also has medical importance. To explain the organizational principles behind vascular patterning, we must understand how can tissue level structures be controlled through cell behavior patterns like motility and adhesion that, in turn, are determined by biochemical signal transduction processes? We discuss the various ideas that have been proposed as mechanisms for vascular network assembly: cell motility guided by extracellular matrix alignment (contact guidance), chemotaxis guided by paracrine and autocrine morphogens, and multicellular sprouting guided by cell-cell contacts. All of these processes yield emergent patterns, thus endothelial cells can form an interconnected structure autonomously, without guidance from an external pre-pattern. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Bereswill, Renja; Streloke, Martin; Schulz, Ralf
2014-04-01
Measures to mitigate the risk of pesticide entry into aquatic ecosystems are becoming increasingly more important in the management of hot spots of pesticide transfer; such management, for example, is required by the European Union's directive for the sustainable use of pesticides (2009/128/EC). Measures beyond those currently stipulated for pesticide product authorization may be needed. A concise compilation of the appropriate measures for users (that are primarily farmers but also, e.g., regulators and farm extension services) and a guide for practically identifying these measures at the catchment scale is currently not available. Therefore, a proposal was developed for a guide focusing on the most important diffuse entry pathways (spray drift and runoff). Based on a survey of exposure-relevant landscape parameters (i.e., the riparian buffer strip width, riparian vegetation type, density of ground vegetation cover, coverage of the water body with aquatic macrophytes, field slope, and existence of concentrated flow paths), a set of risk mitigation measures focusing on the specific situation of pollution of a water body catchment can be identified. The user can then choose risk mitigation measures to implement, assisted by evaluations of their efficiency in reducing pesticide entry, feasibility, and expected acceptability to farmers. Currently, 12 landscape-related measures and 6 application-related measures are included. The present guide presents a step toward the practical implementation of risk mitigation measures for reducing pesticide entry in aquatic ecosystems. © 2013 SETAC.
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COL Application Content Guide for HTGRs: Revision to RG 1.206, Part 1 - Status Report
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Wayne Moe
2012-08-01
A combined license (COL) application is required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for all proposed nuclear plants. The information requirements for a COL application are set forth in 10 CFR 52.79, “Contents of Applications; Technical Information in Final Safety Analysis Report.” An applicant for a modular high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) must develop and submit for NRC review and approval a COL application which conforms to these requirements. The technical information necessary to allow NRC staff to evaluate a COL application and resolve all safety issues related to a proposed nuclear plant is detailed and comprehensive. To this, Regulatorymore » Guide (RG) 1.206, “Combined License Applications for Nuclear Power Plants” (LWR Edition), was developed to assist light water reactor (LWR) applicants in incorporating and effectively formatting required information for COL application review (Ref. 1). However, the guidance prescribed in RG 1.206 presumes a LWR design proposal consistent with the systems and functions associated with large LWR power plants currently operating under NRC license.« less
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Guided filter and principal component analysis hybrid method for hyperspectral pansharpening
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qu, Jiahui; Li, Yunsong; Dong, Wenqian
2018-01-01
Hyperspectral (HS) pansharpening aims to generate a fused HS image with high spectral and spatial resolution through integrating an HS image with a panchromatic (PAN) image. A guided filter (GF) and principal component analysis (PCA) hybrid HS pansharpening method is proposed. First, the HS image is interpolated and the PCA transformation is performed on the interpolated HS image. The first principal component (PC1) channel concentrates on the spatial information of the HS image. Different from the traditional PCA method, the proposed method sharpens the PAN image and utilizes the GF to obtain the spatial information difference between the HS image and the enhanced PAN image. Then, in order to reduce spectral and spatial distortion, an appropriate tradeoff parameter is defined and the spatial information difference is injected into the PC1 channel through multiplying by this tradeoff parameter. Once the new PC1 channel is obtained, the fused image is finally generated by the inverse PCA transformation. Experiments performed on both synthetic and real datasets show that the proposed method outperforms other several state-of-the-art HS pansharpening methods in both subjective and objective evaluations.
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Lee, Chia-Yen; Wang, Hao-Jen; Lai, Jhih-Hao; Chang, Yeun-Chung; Huang, Chiun-Sheng
2017-01-01
Long-term comparisons of infrared image can facilitate the assessment of breast cancer tissue growth and early tumor detection, in which longitudinal infrared image registration is a necessary step. However, it is hard to keep markers attached on a body surface for weeks, and rather difficult to detect anatomic fiducial markers and match them in the infrared image during registration process. The proposed study, automatic longitudinal infrared registration algorithm, develops an automatic vascular intersection detection method and establishes feature descriptors by shape context to achieve robust matching, as well as to obtain control points for the deformation model. In addition, competitive winner-guided mechanism is developed for optimal corresponding. The proposed algorithm is evaluated in two ways. Results show that the algorithm can quickly lead to accurate image registration and that the effectiveness is superior to manual registration with a mean error being 0.91 pixels. These findings demonstrate that the proposed registration algorithm is reasonably accurate and provide a novel method of extracting a greater amount of useful data from infrared images. PMID:28145474
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lu, Wei; Shang, Jingchuan
2009-09-01
A resonance light-scattering (RLS), which was creatively suggested for the first time by Pasternack et al. in 1993 [R.F. Pasternack, C. Bustamante, P.J. Collings, A. Giannetto, E.J. Gibbs, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 115 (1993) 5393], have been enjoyably practiced by numerous investigators for various quantitative events since 1995, and hitherto many research papers and some review papers have got published on lots of international journals specialized in or related to analytical and/or bioanalytical sciences. As revealed from these published papers of interests, however, it is a pity that the meaning of RLS is often apprehended unsatisfactorily both in theory and in practice. In this comment, as a result, I would like to do my best to propose an apprehension of the meaning of RLS as full and exact as possible and simultaneously I would like to deliver the important guiding role of this proposed apprehension in the course of the applications of RLS for various quantitative purposes.
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A new memetic algorithm for mitigating tandem automated guided vehicle system partitioning problem
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pourrahimian, Parinaz
2017-11-01
Automated Guided Vehicle System (AGVS) provides the flexibility and automation demanded by Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS). However, with the growing concern on responsible management of resource use, it is crucial to manage these vehicles in an efficient way in order reduces travel time and controls conflicts and congestions. This paper presents the development process of a new Memetic Algorithm (MA) for optimizing partitioning problem of tandem AGVS. MAs employ a Genetic Algorithm (GA), as a global search, and apply a local search to bring the solutions to a local optimum point. A new Tabu Search (TS) has been developed and combined with a GA to refine the newly generated individuals by GA. The aim of the proposed algorithm is to minimize the maximum workload of the system. After all, the performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated using Matlab. This study also compared the objective function of the proposed MA with GA. The results showed that the TS, as a local search, significantly improves the objective function of the GA for different system sizes with large and small numbers of zone by 1.26 in average.
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Tsao, Liuxing; Ma, Liang
2016-11-01
Digital human modelling enables ergonomists and designers to consider ergonomic concerns and design alternatives in a timely and cost-efficient manner in the early stages of design. However, the reliability of the simulation could be limited due to the percentile-based approach used in constructing the digital human model. To enhance the accuracy of the size and shape of the models, we proposed a framework to generate digital human models using three-dimensional (3D) anthropometric data. The 3D scan data from specific subjects' hands were segmented based on the estimated centres of rotation. The segments were then driven in forward kinematics to perform several functional postures. The constructed hand models were then verified, thereby validating the feasibility of the framework. The proposed framework helps generate accurate subject-specific digital human models, which can be utilised to guide product design and workspace arrangement. Practitioner Summary: Subject-specific digital human models can be constructed under the proposed framework based on three-dimensional (3D) anthropometry. This approach enables more reliable digital human simulation to guide product design and workspace arrangement.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ahmadivand, Arash; Pala, Nezih; Golmohammadi, Saeed
2015-05-01
Silicon nanorods in arrays on a glass substrate that are situated through a gap between two gold slots have been utilized to design efficient long-range optical nanostructures as splitters to function at near infrared spectrum. Designing silicon arrays in T and Y-shape regimes, we examined the optical responses of the proposed devices during guiding of transverse and longitudinal electric modes (TE and LE-modes). Transmission loss factors, group velocity of guided waves, the ratio of transmitted power, and the decay length for both of the devices have been reported using numerical methods. We showed that the proposed structures have strong potentials to employ in designing photonic structures with lower ratio of energy extinction and low radiation losses. The overall length of the structures is 2.2 μm which verifies its compaction in comparison to analogous splitters that are designed based on DLSPPWs and nanoparticle-based waveguides devices. Proposed subwavelength optical power transportation mechanisms are highly compatible to employ in photonic integration circuit (PIC) systems.
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Edge-oriented dual-dictionary guided enrichment (EDGE) for MRI-CT image reconstruction.
Li, Liang; Wang, Bigong; Wang, Ge
2016-01-01
In this paper, we formulate the joint/simultaneous X-ray CT and MRI image reconstruction. In particular, a novel algorithm is proposed for MRI image reconstruction from highly under-sampled MRI data and CT images. It consists of two steps. First, a training dataset is generated from a series of well-registered MRI and CT images on the same patients. Then, an initial MRI image of a patient can be reconstructed via edge-oriented dual-dictionary guided enrichment (EDGE) based on the training dataset and a CT image of the patient. Second, an MRI image is reconstructed using the dictionary learning (DL) algorithm from highly under-sampled k-space data and the initial MRI image. Our algorithm can establish a one-to-one correspondence between the two imaging modalities, and obtain a good initial MRI estimation. Both noise-free and noisy simulation studies were performed to evaluate and validate the proposed algorithm. The results with different under-sampling factors show that the proposed algorithm performed significantly better than those reconstructed using the DL algorithm from MRI data alone.
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Estimation of subgrade resilient modulus using the unconfined compression test.
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2014-11-01
To facilitate pavement design, the new proposed mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide recommends the resilient : modulus to characterize subgrade soil and its use for calculating pavement responses attributable to traffic and environmental : lo...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-10-25
... operating pressures, leakage from primary water stress corrosion cracking below the proposed limited... discussed in Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.121, ``Bases for Plugging Degraded PWR [Pressurized-Water Reactor...
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77 FR 49796 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-08-17
... than 2.2 million people were injured. Medical costs and productivity losses associated with traffic... H). Academic Researchers Discussion 3 1 1 3 Guide--Online Expert Panel-- (Attachment I). CDC Staff...
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78 FR 17355 - Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-03-21
...). The proposed research permit is intended to increase knowledge of the species and to help guide... watershed has been developed for geothermal power production by the Calpine Corporation, but is otherwise...
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Integrated Planning Model (IPM) Base Case v.4.10
Learn about EPA's IPM Base Case v.4.10, including Proposed Transport Rule results, documentation, the National Electric Energy Data System (NEEDS) database and user's guide, and run results using previous base cases.
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NMCI: History, Implementation, and Change
2006-09-01
RAS Remote Access Service RFP Request for Proposal SAME Similar to Automated Maintenance Environment SDG Site Deployment Guide...instead of participants individually with different sections of the organization maintaining their own information supply , and when they need something
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Public Participation Guide: Press and Media
In general, news or media releases are used to disseminate information. Media releases aim to get the widest possible coverage for a community issue or proposal through the publication or broadcasting of the information in the release.
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Image-guided endobronchial ultrasound
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Higgins, William E.; Zang, Xiaonan; Cheirsilp, Ronnarit; Byrnes, Patrick; Kuhlengel, Trevor; Bascom, Rebecca; Toth, Jennifer
2016-03-01
Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) is now recommended as a standard procedure for in vivo verification of extraluminal diagnostic sites during cancer-staging bronchoscopy. Yet, physicians vary considerably in their skills at using EBUS effectively. Regarding existing bronchoscopy guidance systems, studies have shown their effectiveness in the lung-cancer management process. With such a system, a patient's X-ray computed tomography (CT) scan is used to plan a procedure to regions of interest (ROIs). This plan is then used during follow-on guided bronchoscopy. Recent clinical guidelines for lung cancer, however, also dictate using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging for identifying suspicious ROIs and aiding in the cancer-staging process. While researchers have attempted to use guided bronchoscopy systems in tandem with PET imaging and EBUS, no true EBUS-centric guidance system exists. We now propose a full multimodal image-based methodology for guiding EBUS. The complete methodology involves two components: 1) a procedure planning protocol that gives bronchoscope movements appropriate for live EBUS positioning; and 2) a guidance strategy and associated system graphical user interface (GUI) designed for image-guided EBUS. We present results demonstrating the operation of the system.
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Erosion estimation of guide vane end clearance in hydraulic turbines with sediment water flow
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Han, Wei; Kang, Jingbo; Wang, Jie; Peng, Guoyi; Li, Lianyuan; Su, Min
2018-04-01
The end surface of guide vane or head cover is one of the most serious parts of sediment erosion for high-head hydraulic turbines. In order to investigate the relationship between erosion depth of wall surface and the characteristic parameter of erosion, an estimative method including a simplified flow model and a modificatory erosion calculative function is proposed in this paper. The flow between the end surfaces of guide vane and head cover is simplified as a clearance flow around a circular cylinder with a backward facing step. Erosion characteristic parameter of csws3 is calculated with the mixture model for multiphase flow and the renormalization group (RNG) k-𝜀 turbulence model under the actual working conditions, based on which, erosion depths of guide vane and head cover end surfaces are estimated with a modification of erosion coefficient K. The estimation results agree well with the actual situation. It is shown that the estimative method is reasonable for erosion prediction of guide vane and can provide a significant reference to determine the optimal maintenance cycle for hydraulic turbine in the future.
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A novel conversion method for radiographic guide into surgical guide.
Peng, Yao-Te; Tseng, Chung-Chih; Du, Yi-Chun; Chen, Yen-Nien; Chang, Chih-Han
2017-06-01
The study proposed a novel method for converting a radiographic guide into a surgical guide and evaluated its accuracy. Radiographic guide was reformed with the addition of index rods for geometric conversion method (GCM). Planning implants were projected on geometric projection planes, and the implant positions were measured. The radiographic guide was converted into surgical guide using a generic bench drill machine with GCM data. Two experiments were designed to validate the GCM. (1) In vitro test: Twenty implants were placed on five edentulous dental models by using the GCM (group 1) and Stereolithography (SLA) method (group 2), respectively. The deviations of planned and placed implant were calculated, and the precision error (PE) value was calculated to evaluate the stability of the GCM and SLA. (2) In vivo test: Nine edentulous subjects were selected for clinical implant surgery with the GCM guide. Two level of the index rods of radiographic guides were prepared for surgical guides forming. The differences between the planned and actual implants were calculated in implant head, apex, and angulation. The in vitro test revealed no significant differences in the planned and placed angulations between groups 1 and 2 (P > .05). The PE was not significantly different between groups 1 and 2 (P > .05). The in vivo test revealed a successful treatment of the subjects, and 16 implant sites were evaluated. The results indicated that GCM guide could achieve the three-dimensional (3D) offset deviations of 1.03 ± 0.27 mm and 1.17 ± 0.24 mm at the implant head and apex, respectively, and 1.37° ± 0.21° for the 3D angulation. The novel method for converting a radiographic guide into a surgical guide appears accurate and stable compared with SLA. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Pisana, Francesco; Henzler, Thomas; Schönberg, Stefan; Klotz, Ernst; Schmidt, Bernhard; Kachelrieß, Marc
2017-07-01
Dynamic CT perfusion (CTP) consists in repeated acquisitions of the same volume in different time steps, slightly before, during and slightly afterwards the injection of contrast media. Important functional information can be derived for each voxel, which reflect the local hemodynamic properties and hence the metabolism of the tissue. Different approaches are being investigated to exploit data redundancy and prior knowledge for noise reduction of such datasets, ranging from iterative reconstruction schemes to high dimensional filters. We propose a new spatial bilateral filter which makes use of the k-means clustering algorithm and of an optimal calculated guiding image. We named the proposed filter as k-means clustering guided bilateral filter (KMGB). In this study, the KMGB filter is compared with the partial temporal non-local means filter (PATEN), with the time-intensity profile similarity (TIPS) filter, and with a new version derived from it, by introducing the guiding image (GB-TIPS). All the filters were tested on a digital in-house developed brain CTP phantom, were noise was added to simulate 80 kV and 200 mAs (default scanning parameters), 100 mAs and 30 mAs. Moreover, the filters performances were tested on 7 noisy clinical datasets with different pathologies in different body regions. The original contribution of our work is two-fold: first we propose an efficient algorithm to calculate a guiding image to improve the results of the TIPS filter, secondly we propose the introduction of the k-means clustering step and demonstrate how this can potentially replace the TIPS part of the filter obtaining better results at lower computational efforts. As expected, in the GB-TIPS, the introduction of the guiding image limits the over-smoothing of the TIPS filter, improving spatial resolution by more than 50%. Furthermore, replacing the time-intensity profile similarity calculation with a fuzzy k-means clustering strategy (KMGB) allows to control the edge preserving features of the filter, resulting in improved spatial resolution and CNR both for CT images and for functional maps. In the phantom study, the PATEN filter showed overall the poorest results, while the other filters showed comparable performances in terms of perfusion values preservation, with the KMGB filter having overall the best image quality. In conclusion, the KMGB filter leads to superior results for CT images and functional maps quality improvement, in significantly shorter computational times compared to the other filters. Our results suggest that the KMGB filter might be a more robust solution for halved-dose CTP datasets. For all the filters investigated, some artifacts start to appear on the BF maps if one sixth of the dose is simulated, suggesting that no one of the filters investigated in this study might be optimal for such a drastic dose reduction scenario. © 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.
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Kang, Jihoon; Choi, Yong
2016-07-01
Light sharing PET detector configuration coupled with thick light guide and Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode (GAPD) with large-area microcells was proposed to overcome the energy non-linearity problem and to obtain high light collection efficiency (LCE). A Monte-Carlo simulation was conducted for the three types of LSO block, 4 × 4 array of 3 × 3 × 20 mm(3) discrete crystals, 6 × 6 array of 2 × 2 × 20 mm(3) discrete crystals, and 12 × 12 array of 1 × 1 × 20 mm(3) discrete crystals, to investigate the scintillation light distribution after conversion of the γ-rays in LSO. The incident photons were read out by three types of 4 × 4 array photosensors, which were PSPMT of 25% quantum efficiency (QE), GAPD1 with 50 × 50 µm(2) microcells of 30% photon detection efficiency (PDE) and GAPD2 with 100 × 100 µm(2) of 45% PDE. The number of counted photons in each photosensor was analytically calculated. The LCE, linearity and flood histogram were examined for each PET detector module having 99 different configurations as a function of light guide thickness ranging from 0 to 10 mm. The performance of PET detector modules based on GAPDs was considerably improved by using the thick light guide. The LCE was increased from 24 to 30% and from 14 to 41%, and the linearity was also improved from 0.97 to 0.99 and from 0.75 to 0.99, for GAPD1 and GAPD2, respectively. As expected, the performance of PSPMT based detector did not change. The flood histogram of 12 × 12 array PET detector modules using 3 mm light guide coupled with GAPDs was obtained by simulation, and all crystals of 1 × 1 × 20 mm(3) size were clearly identified. PET detector module coupled with thick light guide and GAPD array with large-area microcells was proposed to obtain high QE and high spatial resolution, and its feasibility was verified. This study demonstrated that the overall PET performance of the proposed design was considerably improved, and this approach will provide opportunities to develop GAPD based PET detector with a high LCE. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Lin, Hsiu-Hsia; Chang, Hsin-Wen; Lo, Lun-Jou
2015-12-01
The purpose of this study was to devise a method for producing customized positioning guides for translating virtual plans to actual orthognathic surgery, and evaluation of the feasibility and validity of the devised method. Patients requiring two-jaw orthognathic surgery were enrolled and consented before operation. Two types of positioning guides were designed and fabricated using computer-aided design and manufacturing technology: One of the guides was used for the LeFort I osteotomy, and the other guide was used for positioning the maxillomandibular complex. The guides were fixed to the medial side of maxilla. For validation, the simulation images and postoperative cone beam computed tomography images were superimposed using surface registration to quantify the difference between the images. The data were presented in root-mean-square difference (RMSD) values. Both sets of guides were experienced to provide ideal fit and maximal contact to the maxillary surface to facilitate their accurate management in clinical applications. The validation results indicated that RMSD values between the images ranged from 0.18 to 0.33 mm in the maxilla and from 0.99 to 1.56 mm in the mandible. The patients were followed up for 6 months or more, and all of them were satisfied with the results. The proposed customized positioning guides are practical and reliable for translation of virtual plans to actual surgery. Furthermore, these guides improved the efficiency and outcome of surgery. This approach is uncomplicated in design, cost-effective in fabrication, and particularly convenient to use.
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Robust Computer-Assisted Laser Treatment Using Real-Time Retinal Tracking
2001-10-25
Abstract- We propose a new computerized system to accurately guide laser shots to the diseased areas within the retina based on predetermined...image registration I. INTRODUCTION Diabetic retinopathy resulting from long term diabetes mellitus is one of the common diseases that lead to choroidal...have a strong impact on the effectiveness of such procedures. In this work, we propose a new computerized treatment planning system for laser treatment
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Advanced Physiological Estimation of Cognitive Status
2011-05-24
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS fatigue mental workload cognitive status EEG machine learning algorithms Leonard J. Trejo...Information Transfer (NOIT)” • ARO Proposal No. 56469-LS • Three-year basic research with UCLA team 2. “ EEG -guided Input Lateralization and Hemispheric...Activation with Neurofeedback for Display Data Control and Apprehension.” • ARO Proposal No. 59502-LS • One-year Infrastructure technology transfer to
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Iannazzo, Sergio; Colombatto, Piero; Ricco, Gabriele; Oliveri, Filippo; Bonino, Ferruccio; Brunetto, Maurizia R
2015-03-01
Rapid virologic response is the best predictor of sustained virologic response with dual therapy in genotype-1 chronic hepatitis C, and its evaluation was proposed to tailor triple therapy in F0-F2 patients. Bio-mathematical modelling of viral dynamics during dual therapy has potentially higher accuracy than rapid virologic in the identification of patients who will eventually achieve sustained response. Study's objective was the cost-effectiveness analysis of a personalized therapy in naïve F0-F2 patients with chronic hepatitis C based on a bio-mathematical model (model-guided strategy) rather than on rapid virologic response (guideline-guided strategy). A deterministic bio-mathematical model of the infected cell dynamics was validated in a cohort of 135 patients treated with dual therapy. A decision-analytic economic model was then developed to compare model-guided and guideline-guided strategies in the Italian setting. The outcomes of the cost-effectiveness analysis with model-guided and guideline-guided strategy were 19.1-19.4 and 18.9-19.3 quality-adjusted-life-years. Total per-patient lifetime costs were €25,200-€26,000 with model-guided strategy and €28,800-€29,900 with guideline-guided strategy. When comparing model-guided with guideline-guided strategy the former resulted more effective and less costly. The adoption of the bio-mathematical predictive criterion has the potential to improve the cost-effectiveness of a personalized therapy for chronic hepatitis C, reserving triple therapy for those patients who really need it. Copyright © 2014 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Arbex, D F; Jappur, R; Selig, P; Varvakis, G
2012-01-01
This article addresses the ergonomic criteria that guide the construction of an educational game called Environmental Simulator. The focus is on environment navigation considering aspects of content architecture and its esthetics functionality.
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Transportation research methods : a guide to searching for funding opportunities.
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2017-03-01
This project developed a training methodology focused on external funding. This hands-on training presented the basics of external funding identification, teambuilding and collaborative partners, and proposal element design. Real-time searches and tu...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-05-04
... requests relating to Pacific salmon. The proposed research is intended to increase knowledge of species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to help guide management and conservation efforts. The...
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Creative Visualization Activities.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fugitt, Eva D.
1986-01-01
Presents a series of classroom exercises and activities that stimulate children's creativity through the use of visualization. Discusses procedures for guided imagery and offers some examples of "trips" to imaginary places. Proposes visualization as a warm-up exercise before art lessons. (DR)
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Automatic generation of computable implementation guides from clinical information models.
Boscá, Diego; Maldonado, José Alberto; Moner, David; Robles, Montserrat
2015-06-01
Clinical information models are increasingly used to describe the contents of Electronic Health Records. Implementation guides are a common specification mechanism used to define such models. They contain, among other reference materials, all the constraints and rules that clinical information must obey. However, these implementation guides typically are oriented to human-readability, and thus cannot be processed by computers. As a consequence, they must be reinterpreted and transformed manually into an executable language such as Schematron or Object Constraint Language (OCL). This task can be difficult and error prone due to the big gap between both representations. The challenge is to develop a methodology for the specification of implementation guides in such a way that humans can read and understand easily and at the same time can be processed by computers. In this paper, we propose and describe a novel methodology that uses archetypes as basis for generation of implementation guides. We use archetypes to generate formal rules expressed in Natural Rule Language (NRL) and other reference materials usually included in implementation guides such as sample XML instances. We also generate Schematron rules from NRL rules to be used for the validation of data instances. We have implemented these methods in LinkEHR, an archetype editing platform, and exemplify our approach by generating NRL rules and implementation guides from EN ISO 13606, openEHR, and HL7 CDA archetypes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sevillano, Enrique; Sun, Rui; Perera, Ricardo
2016-01-01
The use of piezoelectric ceramic transducers (such as Lead-Zirconate-Titanate—PZT) has become more and more widespread for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications. Among all the techniques that are based on this smart sensing solution, guided waves and electro-mechanical impedance techniques have found wider acceptance, and so more studies and experimental works can be found containing these applications. However, even though these two techniques can be considered as complementary to each other, little work can be found focused on the combination of them in order to define a new and integrated damage detection procedure. In this work, this combination of techniques has been studied by proposing a new integrated damage indicator based on Electro-Mechanical Power Dissipation (EMPD). The applicability of this proposed technique has been tested through different experimental tests, with both lab-scale and real-scale structures. PMID:27164104
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A Fan Concept to Meet the 2017 Noise Goals
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Dittmar, James H.
1998-01-01
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has established a goal of a 20 EPNdB reduction of aircraft noise by the year 2017. This paper proposes a fan concept for an engine that may meet this noise goal. The concept builds upon technology established during the Advanced Subsonic Technology Program which should show a 10 dB reduction potential. The new concept uses a two stage fan which allows low tip speed while still maintaining a reasonable total pressure rise across the two stages. The concept also incorporates many other noise reduction techniques in addition to low tip speed including a low number of exit guide vanes, swept and leaned guide vanes, a high subsonic Mach number inlet and syncrophased rotors to obtain active noise cancellation. The fan proposed in this paper is calculated to be able to achieve the 2017 noise goal.
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A practical guide to value of information analysis.
Wilson, Edward C F
2015-02-01
Value of information analysis is a quantitative method to estimate the return on investment in proposed research projects. It can be used in a number of ways. Funders of research may find it useful to rank projects in terms of the expected return on investment from a variety of competing projects. Alternatively, trialists can use the principles to identify the efficient sample size of a proposed study as an alternative to traditional power calculations, and finally, a value of information analysis can be conducted alongside an economic evaluation as a quantitative adjunct to the 'future research' or 'next steps' section of a study write up. The purpose of this paper is to present a brief introduction to the methods, a step-by-step guide to calculation and a discussion of issues that arise in their application to healthcare decision making. Worked examples are provided in the accompanying online appendices as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
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2013-01-01
Background There is a need for qualitative research to help develop case conceptualisations to guide the development of Metacognitive Therapy interventions for Eating Disorders. Method A qualitative study informed by grounded theory methodology was conducted involving open-ended interviews with 27 women aged 18–55 years, who were seeking or receiving treatment for a diagnosed ED. Results The categories identified in this study appeared to be consistent with a metacognitive model including constructs of a Cognitive Attentional Syndrome and metacognitive beliefs. These categories appear to be transdiagnostic, and the interaction between the categories is proposed to explain the maintenance of EDs. Conclusions The transdiagnostic model proposed may be useful to guide the development of future metacognitive therapy interventions for EDs with the hope that this will lead to improved outcomes for individuals with EDs. PMID:24999403
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An improved dehazing algorithm of aerial high-definition image
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jiang, Wentao; Ji, Ming; Huang, Xiying; Wang, Chao; Yang, Yizhou; Li, Tao; Wang, Jiaoying; Zhang, Ying
2016-01-01
For unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) images, the sensor can not get high quality images due to fog and haze weather. To solve this problem, An improved dehazing algorithm of aerial high-definition image is proposed. Based on the model of dark channel prior, the new algorithm firstly extracts the edges from crude estimated transmission map and expands the extracted edges. Then according to the expended edges, the algorithm sets a threshold value to divide the crude estimated transmission map into different areas and makes different guided filter on the different areas compute the optimized transmission map. The experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the proposed algorithm is substantially the same as the one based on dark channel prior and guided filter. The average computation time of the new algorithm is around 40% of the one as well as the detection ability of UAV image is improved effectively in fog and haze weather.
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Sevillano, Enrique; Sun, Rui; Perera, Ricardo
2016-05-05
The use of piezoelectric ceramic transducers (such as Lead-Zirconate-Titanate-PZT) has become more and more widespread for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications. Among all the techniques that are based on this smart sensing solution, guided waves and electro-mechanical impedance techniques have found wider acceptance, and so more studies and experimental works can be found containing these applications. However, even though these two techniques can be considered as complementary to each other, little work can be found focused on the combination of them in order to define a new and integrated damage detection procedure. In this work, this combination of techniques has been studied by proposing a new integrated damage indicator based on Electro-Mechanical Power Dissipation (EMPD). The applicability of this proposed technique has been tested through different experimental tests, with both lab-scale and real-scale structures.
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Retinex based low-light image enhancement using guided filtering and variational framework
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Shi; Tang, Gui-jin; Liu, Xiao-hua; Luo, Su-huai; Wang, Da-dong
2018-03-01
A new image enhancement algorithm based on Retinex theory is proposed to solve the problem of bad visual effect of an image in low-light conditions. First, an image is converted from the RGB color space to the HSV color space to get the V channel. Next, the illuminations are respectively estimated by the guided filtering and the variational framework on the V channel and combined into a new illumination by average gradient. The new reflectance is calculated using V channel and the new illumination. Then a new V channel obtained by multiplying the new illumination and reflectance is processed with contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE). Finally, the new image in HSV space is converted back to RGB space to obtain the enhanced image. Experimental results show that the proposed method has better subjective quality and objective quality than existing methods.
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Intelligent vision guide for automatic ventilation grommet insertion into the tympanic membrane.
Gao, Wenchao; Tan, Kok Kiong; Liang, Wenyu; Gan, Chee Wee; Lim, Hsueh Yee
2016-03-01
Otitis media with effusion is a worldwide ear disease. The current treatment is to surgically insert a ventilation grommet into the tympanic membrane. A robotic device allowing automatic grommet insertion has been designed in a previous study; however, the part of the membrane where the malleus bone is attached to the inner surface is to be avoided during the insertion process. This paper proposes a synergy of optical flow technique and a gradient vector flow active contours algorithm to achieve an online tracking of the malleus under endoscopic vision, to guide the working channel to move efficiently during the surgery. The proposed method shows a more stable and accurate tracking performance than the current tracking methods in preclinical tests. With satisfactory tracking results, vision guidance of a suitable insertion spot can be provided to the device to perform the surgery in an automatic way. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Li, Sikun; Wang, Xiangzhao; Su, Xianyu; Tang, Feng
2012-04-20
This paper theoretically discusses modulus of two-dimensional (2D) wavelet transform (WT) coefficients, calculated by using two frequently used 2D daughter wavelet definitions, in an optical fringe pattern analysis. The discussion shows that neither is good enough to represent the reliability of the phase data. The differences between the two frequently used 2D daughter wavelet definitions in the performance of 2D WT also are discussed. We propose a new 2D daughter wavelet definition for reliability-guided phase unwrapping of optical fringe pattern. The modulus of the advanced 2D WT coefficients, obtained by using a daughter wavelet under this new daughter wavelet definition, includes not only modulation information but also local frequency information of the deformed fringe pattern. Therefore, it can be treated as a good parameter that represents the reliability of the retrieved phase data. Computer simulation and experimentation show the validity of the proposed method.
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A study of optical design of power-saving backlight module with external illuminance
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fang, Yi-Chin; Tzeng, Yih-Fong
2014-05-01
In backlight modules, the light guide plate (LGP) is a key component for performance and also facilitates access to develop LGPs on its own. In this research, we propose a newly developed method: LEDs with freeform as a lighting source, are employed to integrate and manipulate the specially designed and optimized 3D-like pattern distribution of the micro features in order to obtain the required optical characteristics at maximal performance. In this research propose the concept of Light Guide Film(LGF) at the back side of Back Light Unit(BLU). This new design may induce the exterior light ,then improve the power-saving of existent BLU. Two design models are reseated: One is design for 14 inch LCD monitor of notebook computer, which might improve 21% compared to traditional one. Another is designed for 3.5 inch LCD for mobile phone display ,which might improve 15% compared to traditional one.
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Two mode optical fiber in space optics communication
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hampl, Martin
2017-11-01
In our contribution we propose to use of a two-mode optical fiber as a primary source in a transmitting optical head instead of the laser diode. The distribution of the optical intensity and the complex degree of the coherence on the output aperture of the lens that is irradiated by a step-index weakly guiding optical fiber is investigated. In our treatment we take into account weakly guided modes with polarization corrections to the propagation constant and unified theory of second order coherence and polarization of electromagnetic beams.
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Guided design of copper oxysulfide superconductors
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Yee, Chuck-Hou; Birol, Turan; Kotliar, Gabriel
2015-07-01
We describe a framework for designing novel materials, combining modern first-principles electronic-structure tools, materials databases, and evolutionary algorithms capable of exploring large configurational spaces. Guided by the chemical principles introduced by Antipov et al., for the design and synthesis of the Hg-based high-temperature superconductors, we apply our framework to screen 333 proposed compositions to design a new layered copper oxysulfide, Hg(CaS)2CuO2. We evaluate the prospects of superconductivity in this oxysulfide using theories based on charge-transfer energies, orbital distillation and uniaxial strain.
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Waran, Vicknes; Tang, Ing Ping; Karuppiah, Ravindran; Abd Kadir, Khairul Azmi; Chandran, Hari; Muthusamy, Kalai Arasu; Prepageran, Narayanan
2013-12-01
Abstract The endoscopic transnasal, transsphenoidal surgical technique for pituitary tumour excision has generally been regarded as a less invasive technique, ranging from single nostril to dual nostril techniques. We propose a single nostril technique using a modified nasal speculum as a preferred technique. We initially reviewed 25 patients who underwent pituitary tumour excision, via endoscopic transnasal transsphenoidal surgery, using this new modified speculum-guided single nostril technique. The results show shorter operation time with reduced intra- and post-operative nasal soft tissue injuries and complications.
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Youth exposure to alcohol use and brand appearances in popular contemporary movies.
Dal Cin, Sonya; Worth, Keilah A; Dalton, Madeline A; Sargent, James D
2008-12-01
To describe alcohol use and alcohol brand appearances in popular movies and estimate adolescents' exposure to this alcohol-related content. Nationally representative, random-digit dialed survey in the United States and content analysis of alcohol depictions in the top 100 US box office hits each year from 1998 to 2002 and 34 top movies from early 2003. A total of 6522 US adolescents aged 10-14 years. Frequency of alcohol use and brand appearances in movies by Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating. Estimated exposure to minutes of movie alcohol use and brand appearances among US adolescents in this age group. Most movies (83%, including 56.6% of G/PG-rated movies) depicted alcohol use and 52% (including 19.2% of G/PG movies) contained at least one alcohol brand appearance, which consisted of branded use by an actor 30.3% of the time. These movies exposed the average US adolescent 10-14 years of age to 5.6 [95% confidence interval (CI) 5.4, 5.7] hours of movie alcohol use and 243.8 (95% CI 238, 250) alcohol brand appearances (5 billion in total), mainly from youth-rated movies. Exposure to movie alcohol content was significantly higher among African American youth than youth of other races. Alcohol use and brand appearances are portrayed frequently in popular US movies (which are distributed world-wide). Children and adolescents in the United States are exposed to hours of alcohol use depictions and numerous brand appearances in movies and most of this exposure is from movies rated for this segment of the population.
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Sugiyama, Minetaka; Akase, Shin-Pei; Nakanishi, Ryota; Horie, Hitoshi; Kaneko, Yoshinobu
2014-01-01
Improvement of the lactic acid resistance of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is important for the application of the yeast in industrial production of lactic acid from renewable resources. However, we still do not know the precise mechanisms of the lactic acid adaptation response in yeast and, consequently, lack effective approaches for improving its lactic acid tolerance. To enhance our understanding of the adaptation response, we screened for S. cerevisiae genes that confer enhanced lactic acid resistance when present in multiple copies and identified the transcriptional factor Haa1 as conferring resistance to toxic levels of lactic acid when overexpressed. The enhanced tolerance probably results from increased expression of its target genes. When cells that expressed Haa1 only from the endogenous promoter were exposed to lactic acid stress, the main subcellular localization of Haa1 changed from the cytoplasm to the nucleus within 5 min. This nuclear accumulation induced upregulation of the Haa1 target genes YGP1, GPG1, and SPI1, while the degree of Haa1 phosphorylation observed under lactic acid-free conditions decreased. Disruption of the exportin gene MSN5 led to accumulation of Haa1 in the nucleus even when no lactic acid was present. Since Msn5 was reported to interact with Haa1 and preferentially exports phosphorylated cargo proteins, our results suggest that regulation of the subcellular localization of Haa1, together with alteration of its phosphorylation status, mediates the adaptation to lactic acid stress in yeast. PMID:24682296
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Influence of motion picture rating on adolescent response to movie smoking.
Sargent, James D; Tanski, Susanne; Stoolmiller, Mike
2012-08-01
To examine the association between movie smoking exposure (MSE) and adolescent smoking according to rating category. A total of 6522 US adolescents were enrolled in a longitudinal survey conducted at 8-month intervals; 5503 subjects were followed up at 8 months, 5019 subjects at 16 months, and 4575 subjects at 24 months. MSE was estimated from 532 recent box-office hits, blocked into 3 Motion Picture Association of America rating categories: G/PG, PG-13, and R. A survival model evaluated time to smoking onset. Median MSE in PG-13-rated movies was ∼3 times higher than median MSE from R-rated movies, but their relation with smoking was essentially the same, with adjusted hazard ratios of 1.49 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23-1.81) and 1.33 (95% CI: 1.23-1.81) for each additional 500 occurrences of MSE respectively. MSE from G/PG-rated movies was small and had no significant relationship with adolescent smoking. Attributable risk estimates showed that adolescent smoking would be reduced by 18% (95% CI: 14-21) if smoking in PG-13-rated movies was reduced to the fifth percentile. In comparison, making all parents maximally authoritative in their parenting would reduce adolescent smoking by 16% (95% CI: 12-19). The equivalent effect of PG-13-rated and R-rated MSE suggests it is the movie smoking that prompts adolescents to smoke, not other characteristics of R-rated movies or adolescents drawn to them. An R rating for movie smoking could substantially reduce adolescent smoking by eliminating smoking from PG-13 movies.
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Peoples, Anita R; Lee, Jane; Weinfeld, Michael; Milligan, Jamie R; Bernhard, William A
2012-07-01
Our mechanistic understanding of damage formation in DNA by the direct effect relies heavily on what is known of free radical intermediates studied by EPR spectroscopy. Bridging this information to stable product formation requires methods with comparable sensitivities, a criterion met by the (32)P-post-labeling assay developed by Weinfeld and Soderlind, [Weinfeld,M. and Soderlind,K.-J.M. (1991) (32)P-Postlabeling detection of radiation-induced DNA damage: identification and estimation of thymine glycols and phosphoglycolate termini. Biochemistry, 30, 1091-1097] which when applied to the indirect effect, detected phosphoglycolate (pg) and thymine glycol (Tg). Here we applied this assay to the direct effect, measuring product yields in pUC18 films with hydration levels (Γ) of 2.5, 16 or 23 waters per nucleotide and X-irradiated at either 4 K or room temperature (RT). The yields of pg [G(pg)] for Γ ≈ 2.5 were 2.8 ± 0.2 nmol/J (RT) and 0.2 ± 0.3 nmol/J (4 K), which is evidence that the C4' radical contributes little to the total deoxyribose damage via the direct effect. The yield of detectable base damage [G(B*)] at Γ ≈ 2.5 was found to be 30.2 ± 1.0 nmol/J (RT) and 12.9 ± 0.7 nmol/J (4 K). While the base damage called B*, could be due to either oxidation or reduction, we argue that two reduction products, 5,6-dihydrouracil and 5,6-dihydrothymine, are the most likely candidates.
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Youth Exposure to Alcohol Use and Brand Appearances in Popular Contemporary Movies
DAL CIN, Sonya; WORTH, Keilah A.; DALTON, Madeline A.; SARGENT, James D.
2010-01-01
Aims To describe alcohol use and alcohol brand appearances in popular movies and estimate adolescents’ exposure to this alcohol-related content. Design and setting Nationally representative, random-digit dialed survey in the United States and content analysis of alcohol depictions in the top 100 U.S. box office hits each year from 1998 to 2002 and 34 top movies from early 2003. Participants 6522 U.S. adolescents aged 10-14. Measurements Frequency of alcohol use and brand appearances in movies by Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating. Estimated exposure to minutes of movie alcohol use and brand appearances among U.S. adolescents in this age group. Findings Most movies (83%, including 57% of G/PG-rated movies) depicted alcohol use and 52% (including 19% of G/PG movies) contained at least one alcohol brand appearance, which consisted of branded use by an actor 30% of the time. These movies exposed the average U.S. adolescent 10-14 years of age to 5.6 (95% CI 5.4,5.7) hours of movie alcohol use and 244 (95% CI 238,250) alcohol brand appearances (5 billion in total), mostly from youth-rated movies. Exposure to movie alcohol content was significantly higher among African American youth than youth of other races. Conclusions Alcohol use and brand appearances are frequently portrayed in popular U.S. movies (which are distributed worldwide). Children and adolescents in the U.S. are exposed to hours of alcohol use depictions and numerous brand appearances in movies and most of this exposure is from movies rated for this segment of the population. PMID:18705684
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Wang, Li; Li, Gang; Adeli, Ehsan; Liu, Mingxia; Wu, Zhengwang; Meng, Yu; Lin, Weili; Shen, Dinggang
2018-06-01
Tissue segmentation of infant brain MRIs with risk of autism is critically important for characterizing early brain development and identifying biomarkers. However, it is challenging due to low tissue contrast caused by inherent ongoing myelination and maturation. In particular, at around 6 months of age, the voxel intensities in both gray matter and white matter are within similar ranges, thus leading to the lowest image contrast in the first postnatal year. Previous studies typically employed intensity images and tentatively estimated tissue probabilities to train a sequence of classifiers for tissue segmentation. However, the important prior knowledge of brain anatomy is largely ignored during the segmentation. Consequently, the segmentation accuracy is still limited and topological errors frequently exist, which will significantly degrade the performance of subsequent analyses. Although topological errors could be partially handled by retrospective topological correction methods, their results may still be anatomically incorrect. To address these challenges, in this article, we propose an anatomy-guided joint tissue segmentation and topological correction framework for isointense infant MRI. Particularly, we adopt a signed distance map with respect to the outer cortical surface as anatomical prior knowledge, and incorporate such prior information into the proposed framework to guide segmentation in ambiguous regions. Experimental results on the subjects acquired from National Database for Autism Research demonstrate the effectiveness to topological errors and also some levels of robustness to motion. Comparisons with the state-of-the-art methods further demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method in terms of both segmentation accuracy and topological correctness. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Lan, Chengming; Zhou, Wensong; Xie, Yawen
2018-04-16
This work proposes a 3D shaped optic fiber sensor for ultrasonic stress waves detection based on the principle of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer. This sensor can be used to receive acoustic emission signals in the passive damage detection methods and other types of ultrasonic signals propagating in the active damage detection methods, such as guided wave-based methods. The sensitivity of an ultrasonic fiber sensor based on the Mach–Zehnder interferometer mainly depends on the length of the sensing optical fiber; therefore, the proposed sensor achieves the maximum possible sensitivity by wrapping an optical fiber on a hollow cylinder with a base. The deformation of the optical fiber is produced by the displacement field of guided waves in the hollow cylinder. The sensor was first analyzed using the finite element method, which demonstrated its basic sensing capacity, and the simulation signals have the same characteristics in the frequency domain as the excitation signal. Subsequently, the primary investigations were conducted via a series of experiments. The sensor was used to detect guided wave signals excited by a piezoelectric wafer in an aluminum plate, and subsequently it was tested on a reinforced concrete beam, which produced acoustic emission signals via impact loading and crack extension when it was loaded to failure. The signals obtained from a piezoelectric acoustic emission sensor were used for comparison, and the results indicated that the proposed 3D fiber optic sensor can detect ultrasonic signals in the specific frequency response range.
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Xie, Yawen
2018-01-01
This work proposes a 3D shaped optic fiber sensor for ultrasonic stress waves detection based on the principle of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer. This sensor can be used to receive acoustic emission signals in the passive damage detection methods and other types of ultrasonic signals propagating in the active damage detection methods, such as guided wave-based methods. The sensitivity of an ultrasonic fiber sensor based on the Mach–Zehnder interferometer mainly depends on the length of the sensing optical fiber; therefore, the proposed sensor achieves the maximum possible sensitivity by wrapping an optical fiber on a hollow cylinder with a base. The deformation of the optical fiber is produced by the displacement field of guided waves in the hollow cylinder. The sensor was first analyzed using the finite element method, which demonstrated its basic sensing capacity, and the simulation signals have the same characteristics in the frequency domain as the excitation signal. Subsequently, the primary investigations were conducted via a series of experiments. The sensor was used to detect guided wave signals excited by a piezoelectric wafer in an aluminum plate, and subsequently it was tested on a reinforced concrete beam, which produced acoustic emission signals via impact loading and crack extension when it was loaded to failure. The signals obtained from a piezoelectric acoustic emission sensor were used for comparison, and the results indicated that the proposed 3D fiber optic sensor can detect ultrasonic signals in the specific frequency response range. PMID:29659540
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Hao, Xiaohu; Zhang, Guijun; Zhou, Xiaogen
2018-04-01
Computing conformations which are essential to associate structural and functional information with gene sequences, is challenging due to the high dimensionality and rugged energy surface of the protein conformational space. Consequently, the dimension of the protein conformational space should be reduced to a proper level, and an effective exploring algorithm should be proposed. In this paper, a plug-in method for guiding exploration in conformational feature space with Lipschitz underestimation (LUE) for ab-initio protein structure prediction is proposed. The conformational space is converted into ultrafast shape recognition (USR) feature space firstly. Based on the USR feature space, the conformational space can be further converted into Underestimation space according to Lipschitz estimation theory for guiding exploration. As a consequence of the use of underestimation model, the tight lower bound estimate information can be used for exploration guidance, the invalid sampling areas can be eliminated in advance, and the number of energy function evaluations can be reduced. The proposed method provides a novel technique to solve the exploring problem of protein conformational space. LUE is applied to differential evolution (DE) algorithm, and metropolis Monte Carlo(MMC) algorithm which is available in the Rosetta; When LUE is applied to DE and MMC, it will be screened by the underestimation method prior to energy calculation and selection. Further, LUE is compared with DE and MMC by testing on 15 small-to-medium structurally diverse proteins. Test results show that near-native protein structures with higher accuracy can be obtained more rapidly and efficiently with the use of LUE. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Thacker, Stephen B
2009-11-01
Essential to achievement of the public health mission is a knowledgeable, competent, and prepared workforce; yet, there is little application of science and technical knowledge to ensuring the effectiveness of that workforce, be it governmental or private. In this article, I review the evidence for effective workforce development and argue for an increased emphasis on an evidence-based approach to ensuring an effective workforce by encouraging the generation of the evidence base that is required. To achieve this, I propose the appointment of an independent Task Force on Public Health Workforce Practice to oversee the development of a Guide for Public Health Workforce Research and Practice (Workforce Guide), a process that will generate and bring together the workforce evidence base for use by public health practitioners.
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Adolescent Development of Value-Guided Goal Pursuit.
Davidow, Juliet Y; Insel, Catherine; Somerville, Leah H
2018-06-04
Adolescents are challenged to orchestrate goal-directed actions in increasingly independent and consequential ways. In doing so, it is advantageous to use information about value to select which goals to pursue and how much effort to devote to them. Here, we examine age-related changes in how individuals use value signals to orchestrate goal-directed behavior. Drawing on emerging literature on value-guided cognitive control and reinforcement learning, we demonstrate how value and task difficulty modulate the execution of goal-directed action in complex ways across development from childhood to adulthood. We propose that the scope of value-guided goal pursuit expands with age to include increasingly challenging cognitive demands, and scaffolds on the emergence of functional integration within brain networks supporting valuation, cognition, and action. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Waveguide bends from nanometric silica wires
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tong, Limin; Lou, Jingyi; Mazur, Eric
2005-02-01
We propose to use bent silica wires with nanometric diameters to guide light as optical waveguide bend. We bend silica wires with scanning tunneling microscope probes under an optical microscope, and wire bends with bending radius smaller than 5 μm are obtained. Light from a He-Ne laser is launched into and guided through the wire bends, measured bending loss of a single bend is on the order of 1 dB. Brief introductions to the optical wave guiding and elastic bending properties of silica wires are also provided. Comparing with waveguide bends based on photonic bandgap structures, the waveguide bends from silica nanometric wires show advantages of simple structure, small overall size, easy fabrication and wide useful spectral range, which make them potentially useful in the miniaturization of photonic devices.
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Magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) ablation of liver tumours.
Wijlemans, J W; Bartels, L W; Deckers, R; Ries, M; Mali, W P Th M; Moonen, C T W; van den Bosch, M A A J
2012-09-28
Recent decades have seen a paradigm shift in the treatment of liver tumours from invasive surgical procedures to minimally invasive image-guided ablation techniques. Magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) is a novel, completely non-invasive ablation technique that has the potential to change the field of liver tumour ablation. The image guidance, using MR imaging and MR temperature mapping, provides excellent planning images and real-time temperature information during the ablation procedure. However, before clinical implementation of MR-HIFU for liver tumour ablation is feasible, several organ-specific challenges have to be addressed. In this review we discuss the MR-HIFU ablation technique, the liver-specific challenges for MR-HIFU tumour ablation, and the proposed solutions for clinical translation.
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Magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) ablation of liver tumours
Bartels, L.W.; Deckers, R.; Ries, M.; Mali, W.P.Th.M.; Moonen, C.T.W.; van den Bosch, M.A.A.J.
2012-01-01
Abstract Recent decades have seen a paradigm shift in the treatment of liver tumours from invasive surgical procedures to minimally invasive image-guided ablation techniques. Magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) is a novel, completely non-invasive ablation technique that has the potential to change the field of liver tumour ablation. The image guidance, using MR imaging and MR temperature mapping, provides excellent planning images and real-time temperature information during the ablation procedure. However, before clinical implementation of MR-HIFU for liver tumour ablation is feasible, several organ-specific challenges have to be addressed. In this review we discuss the MR-HIFU ablation technique, the liver-specific challenges for MR-HIFU tumour ablation, and the proposed solutions for clinical translation. PMID:23022541
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Treating frailty-a practical guide
2011-01-01
Frailty is a common syndrome that is associated with vulnerability to poor health outcomes. Frail older people have increased risk of morbidity, institutionalization and death, resulting in burden to individuals, their families, health care services and society. Assessment and treatment of the frail individual provide many challenges to clinicians working with older people. Despite frailty being increasingly recognized in the literature, there is a paucity of direct evidence to guide interventions to reduce frailty. In this paper we review methods for identification of frailty in the clinical setting, propose a model for assessment of the frail older person and summarize the current best evidence for treating the frail older person. We provide an evidence-based framework that can be used to guide the diagnosis, assessment and treatment of frail older people. PMID:21733149
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A new neural framework for visuospatial processing
Kravitz, Dwight J.; Saleem, Kadharbatcha S.; Baker, Chris I.; Mishkin, Mortimer
2012-01-01
The division of cortical visual processing into distinct dorsal and ventral streams is a key framework that has guided visual neuroscience. The characterization of the ventral stream as a ‘What’ pathway is relatively uncontroversial, but the nature of dorsal stream processing is less clear. Originally proposed as mediating spatial perception (‘Where’), more recent accounts suggest it primarily serves non-conscious visually guided action (‘How’). Here, we identify three pathways emerging from the dorsal stream that consist of projections to the prefrontal and premotor cortices, and a major projection to the medial temporal lobe that courses both directly and indirectly through the posterior cingulate and retrosplenial cortices. These three pathways support both conscious and non-conscious visuospatial processing, including spatial working memory, visually guided action and navigation, respectively. PMID:21415848
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Ryu, Seong Gon; Hong, Narei; Hwang, Sun-Chul; Jung, Han-Young; Jeong, Dushin; Rah, Ueon Woo; Suh, Dong-Soo
2009-01-01
Quantifying and rating the impairments due to mental and behavior disorders are difficult for their own characteristics. Korean Academy of Medical Sciences (KAMS) is developing guidelines of rating impairment in mental and behavioral disorders based on Korean Neuropsychiatric Association (KNPA)'s new guidelines. We compared the new KNPA's guidelines and the American Medical Association (AMA)'s 6th Guides in assessing impairment due to mental and behavioral disorders to develop new guidelines of KAMS. Two guidelines are different in diagnosing system, applicable disorders, qualification of assessors, application of scales, contents of assessment and rate of impairment of the whole person. Both AMA's and the proposed guidelines have individual merits and characteristics. There is a limitation in using the 6th AMA's Guides in Korean situation. However to improve objectivity in Korean assessment of psychiatric impairment, the new AMA's Guides can serve as a good reference. PMID:19503692
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Identifying interprofessional global health competencies for 21st-century health professionals.
Jogerst, Kristen; Callender, Brian; Adams, Virginia; Evert, Jessica; Fields, Elise; Hall, Thomas; Olsen, Jody; Rowthorn, Virginia; Rudy, Sharon; Shen, Jiabin; Simon, Lisa; Torres, Herica; Velji, Anvar; Wilson, Lynda L
2015-01-01
At the 2008 inaugural meeting of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), participants discussed the rapid expansion of global health programs and the lack of standardized competencies and curricula to guide these programs. In 2013, CUGH appointed a Global Health Competency Subcommittee and charged this subcommittee with identifying broad global health core competencies applicable across disciplines. The purpose of this paper is to describe the Subcommittee's work and proposed list of interprofessional global health competencies. After agreeing on a definition of global health to guide the Subcommittee's work, members conducted an extensive literature review to identify existing competencies in all fields relevant to global health. Subcommittee members initially identified 82 competencies in 12 separate domains, and proposed four different competency levels. The proposed competencies and domains were discussed during multiple conference calls, and subcommittee members voted to determine the final competencies to be included in two of the four proposed competency levels (global citizen and basic operational level - program oriented). The final proposed list included a total of 13 competencies across 8 domains for the Global Citizen Level and 39 competencies across 11 domains for the Basic Operational Program-Oriented Level. There is a need for continued debate and dialog to validate the proposed set of competencies, and a need for further research to identify best strategies for incorporating these competencies into global health educational programs. Future research should focus on implementation and evaluation of these competencies across a range of educational programs, and further delineating the competencies needed across all four proposed competency levels. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Air quality procedures for civilian airports and air force bases
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
1997-04-01
Air Quality assessments for proposed Federal actions are required for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act and other environment-related regulations and directives. This handbook is a comprehensive guide intended t...
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14 CFR 1203.405 - Proprietary information.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-01-01
... PROGRAM Guides for Original Classification § 1203.405 Proprietary information. Proprietary information made available to NASA is subject to examination for classification purposes under the criteria set... the proposal but believes that security classification would be appropriate under the criteria of...
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Students as Clients in a Professional/Client Relationship.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bailey, Jeffrey J.
2000-01-01
Proposes the metaphor of professional/client rather than student-as-customer to characterize the relationship between professors and students. Uses examples of fitness trainer, management consultant, accounting service, and mountain guide to illustrate faculty and student roles. (SK)
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USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
A comprehensive guide to experimental hydraulics is long overdue. The proposed book first highlights the intrinsic connection between theory and experiment,emphasizing the need for their complementary use. Described next are considerations for the effective design of experiments, including the selec...
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DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2015-03-01
Asphalt pavements suffer various failures due to insufficient quality within their design lives. The American Association of State : Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) has been proposed :...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-09-11
... Federal Information Relay Service (1-800-877-8339). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine Brennan... Section 8 contract renewal process will provide housing protection for the low and very low-income tenants...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Miller, Richard I.
This report is based upon an analysis of the evaluation procedures outlined in 21 funded Title III proposals. The proposals were analyzed from a number of points of view. (1) Using the Stufflabeam model as a guide, they were examined to determine what, if any, provisions had been made for each of the four classes of evaluation: context, input,…
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Proposal for a Comparison of Reliability and Maintainability Activities Across ESA, JAXA, and NASA
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Evans, John; Groen, Frank
2015-01-01
NASA has developed an objectives based hierarchy for guiding Reliability and Maintainability activities. This presentation overviews the hierarchy and proposes to the international trilateral partners to formulate a task force to consider the elements of the NASA RM framework, as captured in the hierarchy of RM considerations, to identify commonalities and differences in the way reliability and maintainability is addressed by the flight projects among the partners.
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The next GUM and its proposals: a comparison study
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Damasceno, J. C.; Couto, P. R. G.
2018-03-01
The Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) is currently under revision. New proposals for its implementation were circulated in the form of a draft document. Two of the main changes are explored in this work using a Brinell hardness model example. Changes in the evaluation of uncertainty for repeated indications and in the construction of coverage intervals are compared with the classic GUM and with Monte Carlo simulation method.
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Imperial Valley's proposal to develop a guide for geothermal development within its county
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Pierson, D. E.
1974-01-01
A plan to develop the geothermal resources of the Imperial Valley of California is presented. The plan consists of development policies and includes text and graphics setting forth the objectives, principles, standards, and proposals. The plan allows developers to know the goals of the surrounding community and provides a method for decision making to be used by county representatives. A summary impact statement for the geothermal development aspects is provided.
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A framework for the design, implementation, and evaluation of interprofessional education.
Pardue, Karen T
2015-01-01
The growing emphasis on teamwork and care coordination within health care delivery is sparking interest in interprofessional education (IPE) among nursing and health profession faculty. Faculty often lack firsthand IPE experience, which hinders pedagogical reform. This article proposes a theoretically grounded framework for the design, implementation, and evaluation of IPE. Supporting literature and practical advice are interwoven. The proposed framework guides faculty in the successful creation and evaluation of collaborative learning experiences.
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Unaldi, Numan; Temel, Samil; Asari, Vijayan K.
2012-01-01
One of the most critical issues of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is the deployment of a limited number of sensors in order to achieve maximum coverage on a terrain. The optimal sensor deployment which enables one to minimize the consumed energy, communication time and manpower for the maintenance of the network has attracted interest with the increased number of studies conducted on the subject in the last decade. Most of the studies in the literature today are proposed for two dimensional (2D) surfaces; however, real world sensor deployments often arise on three dimensional (3D) environments. In this paper, a guided wavelet transform (WT) based deployment strategy (WTDS) for 3D terrains, in which the sensor movements are carried out within the mutation phase of the genetic algorithms (GAs) is proposed. The proposed algorithm aims to maximize the Quality of Coverage (QoC) of a WSN via deploying a limited number of sensors on a 3D surface by utilizing a probabilistic sensing model and the Bresenham's line of sight (LOS) algorithm. In addition, the method followed in this paper is novel to the literature and the performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with the Delaunay Triangulation (DT) method as well as a standard genetic algorithm based method and the results reveal that the proposed method is a more powerful and more successful method for sensor deployment on 3D terrains. PMID:22666078
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Guided color consistency optimization for image mosaicking
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Xie, Renping; Xia, Menghan; Yao, Jian; Li, Li
2018-01-01
This paper studies the problem of color consistency correction for sequential images with diverse color characteristics. Existing algorithms try to adjust all images to minimize color differences among images under a unified energy framework, however, the results are prone to presenting a consistent but unnatural appearance when the color difference between images is large and diverse. In our approach, this problem is addressed effectively by providing a guided initial solution for the global consistency optimization, which avoids converging to a meaningless integrated solution. First of all, to obtain the reliable intensity correspondences in overlapping regions between image pairs, we creatively propose the histogram extreme point matching algorithm which is robust to image geometrical misalignment to some extents. In the absence of the extra reference information, the guided initial solution is learned from the major tone of the original images by searching some image subset as the reference, whose color characteristics will be transferred to the others via the paths of graph analysis. Thus, the final results via global adjustment will take on a consistent color similar to the appearance of the reference image subset. Several groups of convincing experiments on both the synthetic dataset and the challenging real ones sufficiently demonstrate that the proposed approach can achieve as good or even better results compared with the state-of-the-art approaches.
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Punzi, Vito L
2017-07-18
The development of the various themes of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is based on numerous papal documents and ecclesiastical statements. While this paper provides a summary of a number of these documents, this paper focuses on two themes: the common good and care of the environment, and on three documents authored by Pope John Paul II in 1990, by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, and by Pope Francis in 2015. By analyzing these documents from an engineer's perspective, the author proposes a model for Socially Responsible Engineering. The proposed model is intended to serve as a guide for engineering students and practicing engineers of all faith traditions and to those with no faith tradition at all who wish to incorporate CST in the daily conduct of their personal and professional lives; to provide guidance for the professional the author terms the aspiring Socially Responsible Engineer; and to offer engineers a preferred alternative to the undesirable aspects of the technocratic paradigm. While intended primarily for engineers, this document also serves as a guide for those with expertise in social justice and who, by gaining a better understanding of the thought processes of engineers, can become better mentors for engineering students and practicing engineers seeking to incorporate CST into their daily lives.
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Saliency detection using mutual consistency-guided spatial cues combination
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Xin; Ning, Chen; Xu, Lizhong
2015-09-01
Saliency detection has received extensive interests due to its remarkable contribution to wide computer vision and pattern recognition applications. However, most existing computational models are designed for detecting saliency in visible images or videos. When applied to infrared images, they may suffer from limitations in saliency detection accuracy and robustness. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm to detect visual saliency in infrared images by mutual consistency-guided spatial cues combination. First, based on the luminance contrast and contour characteristics of infrared images, two effective saliency maps, i.e., the luminance contrast saliency map and contour saliency map are constructed, respectively. Afterwards, an adaptive combination scheme guided by mutual consistency is exploited to integrate these two maps to generate the spatial saliency map. This idea is motivated by the observation that different maps are actually related to each other and the fusion scheme should present a logically consistent view of these maps. Finally, an enhancement technique is adopted to incorporate spatial saliency maps at various scales into a unified multi-scale framework to improve the reliability of the final saliency map. Comprehensive evaluations on real-life infrared images and comparisons with many state-of-the-art saliency models demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method for saliency detection in infrared images.
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Ying, Zhoufeng; Wang, Guanghui; Zhang, Xuping; Ho, Ho-pui; Huang, Ying
2015-05-01
An ultracompact and broadband polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on the polarization-dependent critical guiding condition of an asymmetrical directional coupler is proposed. The device consists of a pair of silicon waveguides with different height and width. Due to the different cutoff conditions for the TE and TM polarization modes, it is possible to have the TM mode guided in one waveguide while the TE mode is supported in both. Therefore, only the phase-matching condition for the cross-coupling of the TE mode needs to be considered. This approach not only simplifies the design procedures but also significantly improves device performance with smaller total length and larger bandwidth. Finally, regardless of the contribution of S-bend waveguides, our proposed PBS has a coupling region as short as 0.2 μm, which is the shortest reported until now. The simulation result shows that the extinction ratios for the TE and TM polarization are 13.5 and 16.6 dB at their respective output ports, and their insertion losses are 0.29 and 0.13 dB, respectively. Numerical simulations also show that the device offers a very large bandwidth (∼140 nm) with large extinction ratio (>10 dB) and low insertion loss (<1 dB).
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Daponte, Antonio; Bernal, Mariola; Bolívar, Julia; Mateo, Inmaculada; Salmi, Louis-Rachid; Barsanti, Sara; Berghmans, Luc; Piznal, Ewelina; Bourgueil, Yann; Marquez, Soledad; González, Ingrid; Carriazo, Ana; Maros-Szabo, Zsuzsanna; Ménival, Solange
2014-12-01
The current social and political context is generating socio-economic inequalities between and within countries, causing and widening health inequalities. The development and implementation of interventions in primary health care (PHC) settings seem unavoidable. Attempts have been made to draw up adequate criteria to guide and evaluate interventions but none for the specific case of PHC. This methodological article aims to contribute to this field by developing and testing a set of criteria for guiding and evaluating real-life interventions to reduce health inequalities in PHC settings in European regions. A literature review, nominal group technique, survey and evaluation template were used to design and test a set of criteria. The questionnaire was answered by professionals in charge of 46 interventions carried out in 12 European countries, and collected detailed information about each intervention. Third-party experts scored the interventions using the set of evaluation criteria proposed. Nine criteria to guide and evaluate interventions were proposed: relevance, appropriateness, applicability, innovation, quality assurance, adequacy of resources, effectiveness in the process, effectiveness in results and mainstreaming. A working definition was drawn up for each one. These criteria were then used to evaluate the interventions identified. The set of criteria drawn up to guide the design, implementation and evaluation of interventions to reduce health inequalities in PHC will be a useful instrument to be applied to interventions under development for culturally, politically and socio-economically diverse PHC contexts throughout Europe. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.
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Reinforcing the role of the conventional C-arm--a novel method for simplified distal interlocking.
Windolf, Markus; Schroeder, Josh; Fliri, Ladina; Dicht, Benno; Liebergall, Meir; Richards, R Geoff
2012-01-25
The common practice for insertion of distal locking screws of intramedullary nails is a freehand technique under fluoroscopic control. The process is technically demanding, time-consuming and afflicted to considerable radiation exposure of the patient and the surgical personnel. A new concept is introduced utilizing information from within conventional radiographic images to help accurately guide the surgeon to place the interlocking bolt into the interlocking hole. The newly developed technique was compared to conventional freehand in an operating room (OR) like setting on human cadaveric lower legs in terms of operating time and radiation exposure. The proposed concept (guided freehand), generally based on the freehand gold standard, additionally guides the surgeon by means of visible landmarks projected into the C-arm image. A computer program plans the correct drilling trajectory by processing the lens-shaped hole projections of the interlocking holes from a single image. Holes can be drilled by visually aligning the drill to the planned trajectory. Besides a conventional C-arm, no additional tracking or navigation equipment is required.Ten fresh frozen human below-knee specimens were instrumented with an Expert Tibial Nail (Synthes GmbH, Switzerland). The implants were distally locked by performing the newly proposed technique as well as the conventional freehand technique on each specimen. An orthopedic resident surgeon inserted four distal screws per procedure. Operating time, number of images and radiation time were recorded and statistically compared between interlocking techniques using non-parametric tests. A 58% reduction in number of taken images per screw was found for the guided freehand technique (7.4 ± 3.4) (mean ± SD) compared to the freehand technique (17.6 ± 10.3) (p < 0.001). Total radiation time (all 4 screws) was 55% lower for the guided freehand technique compared to conventional freehand (p = 0.001). Operating time per screw (from first shot to screw tightened) was on average 22% reduced by guided freehand (p = 0.018). In an experimental setting, the newly developed guided freehand technique for distal interlocking has proven to markedly reduce radiation exposure when compared to the conventional freehand technique. The method utilizes established clinical workflows and does not require cost intensive add-on devices or extensive training. The underlying principle carries potential to assist implant positioning in numerous other applications within orthopedics and trauma from screw insertions to placement of plates, nails or prostheses.
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A Social Science Guide for Communication on Climate Change
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
St John, C.; Marx, S.; Markowitz, E.
2014-12-01
Researchers from the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) published "The Psychology of Climate Change Communication: A Guide for Scientists, Journalists, Educators, Political Aides, and the Interested Public" in 2009. This landmark guide provided climate change communicators a synthesis of the social science research that was pertinent to understanding how people think about climate change and how the practice could be improved. In the fall of 2014 this guide will be rereleased, with a new title, and in a partnership between CRED and ecoAmerica. The updated guide addresses how and why Americans respond in certain ways to climate change and explains how communicators can apply best practices to their own work. The guide, which includes research from a range of social science fields including psychology, anthropology, communications, and behavioral economics, is designed to be useful for experienced and novice communicators alike. Included in the guide are strategies to boost engagement, common mistakes to avoid, and best practices that organizations around the world have used to meaningfully engage individuals and groups on climate change. The proposed presentation will provide an overview of the main findings and tips from the 2014 climate change communication guide. It will provide a deeper look at a few of the key points that are crucial for increasing audience engagement with climate change including understanding how identity shapes climate change, how to lead with solutions, and how to bring the impacts of climate change close to home. It will highlight tips for motivating positive behavior change that will lead people down the path toward solutions. Finally, it will address the benefits and challenges associated with producing a communication guide and insight into synthesizing social science research findings into a usable format for a variety of audiences.
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Needle segmentation using 3D Hough transform in 3D TRUS guided prostate transperineal therapy
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Qiu Wu; Imaging Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 5K8; Yuchi Ming
Purpose: Prostate adenocarcinoma is the most common noncutaneous malignancy in American men with over 200 000 new cases diagnosed each year. Prostate interventional therapy, such as cryotherapy and brachytherapy, is an effective treatment for prostate cancer. Its success relies on the correct needle implant position. This paper proposes a robust and efficient needle segmentation method, which acts as an aid to localize the needle in three-dimensional (3D) transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided prostate therapy. Methods: The procedure of locating the needle in a 3D TRUS image is a three-step process. First, the original 3D ultrasound image containing a needle is cropped;more » the cropped image is then converted to a binary format based on its histogram. Second, a 3D Hough transform based needle segmentation method is applied to the 3D binary image in order to locate the needle axis. The position of the needle endpoint is finally determined by an optimal threshold based analysis of the intensity probability distribution. The overall efficiency is improved through implementing a coarse-fine searching strategy. The proposed method was validated in tissue-mimicking agar phantoms, chicken breast phantoms, and 3D TRUS patient images from prostate brachytherapy and cryotherapy procedures by comparison to the manual segmentation. The robustness of the proposed approach was tested by means of varying parameters such as needle insertion angle, needle insertion length, binarization threshold level, and cropping size. Results: The validation results indicate that the proposed Hough transform based method is accurate and robust, with an achieved endpoint localization accuracy of 0.5 mm for agar phantom images, 0.7 mm for chicken breast phantom images, and 1 mm for in vivo patient cryotherapy and brachytherapy images. The mean execution time of needle segmentation algorithm was 2 s for a 3D TRUS image with size of 264 Multiplication-Sign 376 Multiplication-Sign 630 voxels. Conclusions: The proposed needle segmentation algorithm is accurate, robust, and suitable for 3D TRUS guided prostate transperineal therapy.« less
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Luo, Xiongbiao; Wan, Ying; He, Xiangjian
2015-04-01
Electromagnetically guided endoscopic procedure, which aims at accurately and robustly localizing the endoscope, involves multimodal sensory information during interventions. However, it still remains challenging in how to integrate these information for precise and stable endoscopic guidance. To tackle such a challenge, this paper proposes a new framework on the basis of an enhanced particle swarm optimization method to effectively fuse these information for accurate and continuous endoscope localization. The authors use the particle swarm optimization method, which is one of stochastic evolutionary computation algorithms, to effectively fuse the multimodal information including preoperative information (i.e., computed tomography images) as a frame of reference, endoscopic camera videos, and positional sensor measurements (i.e., electromagnetic sensor outputs). Since the evolutionary computation method usually limits its possible premature convergence and evolutionary factors, the authors introduce the current (endoscopic camera and electromagnetic sensor's) observation to boost the particle swarm optimization and also adaptively update evolutionary parameters in accordance with spatial constraints and the current observation, resulting in advantageous performance in the enhanced algorithm. The experimental results demonstrate that the authors' proposed method provides a more accurate and robust endoscopic guidance framework than state-of-the-art methods. The average guidance accuracy of the authors' framework was about 3.0 mm and 5.6° while the previous methods show at least 3.9 mm and 7.0°. The average position and orientation smoothness of their method was 1.0 mm and 1.6°, which is significantly better than the other methods at least with (2.0 mm and 2.6°). Additionally, the average visual quality of the endoscopic guidance was improved to 0.29. A robust electromagnetically guided endoscopy framework was proposed on the basis of an enhanced particle swarm optimization method with using the current observation information and adaptive evolutionary factors. The authors proposed framework greatly reduced the guidance errors from (4.3, 7.8) to (3.0 mm, 5.6°), compared to state-of-the-art methods.
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Sawyer, Travis W; Petersburg, Ryan; Bohndiek, Sarah E
2017-04-20
Optical fiber technology is found in a wide variety of applications to flexibly relay light between two points, enabling information transfer across long distances and allowing access to hard-to-reach areas. Large-core optical fibers and light guides find frequent use in illumination and spectroscopic applications, for example, endoscopy and high-resolution astronomical spectroscopy. Proper alignment is critical for maximizing throughput in optical fiber coupling systems; however, there currently are no formal approaches to tolerancing the alignment of a light-guide coupling system. Here, we propose a Fourier alignment sensitivity (FAS) algorithm to determine the optimal tolerances on the alignment of a light guide by computing the alignment sensitivity. The algorithm shows excellent agreement with both simulated and experimentally measured values and improves on the computation time of equivalent ray-tracing simulations by two orders of magnitude. We then apply FAS to tolerance and fabricate a coupling system, which is shown to meet specifications, thus validating FAS as a tolerancing technique. These results indicate that FAS is a flexible and rapid means to quantify the alignment sensitivity of a light guide, widely informing the design and tolerancing of coupling systems.
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Sawyer, Travis W.; Petersburg, Ryan; Bohndiek, Sarah E.
2017-01-01
Optical fiber technology is found in a wide variety of applications to flexibly relay light between two points, enabling information transfer across long distances and allowing access to hard-to-reach areas. Large-core optical fibers and light guides find frequent use in illumination and spectroscopic applications; for example, endoscopy and high-resolution astronomical spectroscopy. Proper alignment is critical for maximizing throughput in optical fiber coupling systems, however, there currently are no formal approaches to tolerancing the alignment of a light guide coupling system. Here, we propose a Fourier Alignment Sensitivity (FAS) algorithm to determine the optimal tolerances on the alignment of a light guide by computing the alignment sensitivity. The algorithm shows excellent agreement with both simulated and experimentally measured values and improves on the computation time of equivalent ray tracing simulations by two orders of magnitude. We then apply FAS to tolerance and fabricate a coupling system, which is shown to meet specifications, thus validating FAS as a tolerancing technique. These results indicate that FAS is a flexible and rapid means to quantify the alignment sensitivity of a light guide, widely informing the design and tolerancing of coupling systems. PMID:28430250
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Jobs and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) User Reference Guide: Fast Pyrolysis Biorefinery Model
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Zhang, Yimin; Goldberg, Marshall
2015-02-01
This guide -- the JEDI Fast Pyrolysis Biorefinery Model User Reference Guide -- was developed to assist users in operating and understanding the JEDI Fast Pyrolysis Biorefinery Model. The guide provides information on the model's underlying methodology, as well as the parameters and data sources used to develop the cost data utilized in the model. This guide also provides basic instruction on model add-in features and a discussion of how the results should be interpreted. Based on project-specific inputs from the user, the JEDI Fast Pyrolysis Biorefinery Model estimates local (e.g., county- or state-level) job creation, earnings, and output frommore » total economic activity for a given fast pyrolysis biorefinery. These estimates include the direct, indirect and induced economic impacts to the local economy associated with the construction and operation phases of biorefinery projects.Local revenue and supply chain impacts as well as induced impacts are estimated using economic multipliers derived from the IMPLAN software program. By determining the local economic impacts and job creation for a proposed biorefinery, the JEDI Fast Pyrolysis Biorefinery Model can be used to field questions about the added value biorefineries might bring to a local community.« less
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Teacher’s Mathematical Communication Profile in Facilitating and Guiding Discussion
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Umami, R.; Budayasa, I. K.; Suwarsono, St.
2018-01-01
Teacher’s communication skill plays an important role, one of which is to guide a class discussion for teaching purposes. This study aimed to investigate a teacher’s mathematical communication profile in facilitating and guiding a class discussion. This study is qualitative. A junior teacher of high school (i.e., a teacher with 1 to 5 year teaching experience) teaching mathematics at X-Social Class was selected as the subject of this study. The data was collected by observing the teacher’s mathematical communication in facilitating and guiding a discussion with the rules of sinus as the teaching material, and it was followed by a deep interview. The result showed that the junior teacher facilitated and guided a class discussion include providing responses (answer) addressing students’ difficulties and providing chances for students to propose and explain their ideas and be active in discussion. The junior teacher provides responses at sharp, optimal, and specific manner. In addition, she provides chances for her students to explain their thinking and have a discussion in anticipative, observative, selective, and connective manner. However, the study found that some of high-school teachers develop mathematical communication skills and use them to develop students’ mathematical communication skills.
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Ultrasonic guided wave sensing characteristics of large area thin piezo coating
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rathod, V. T.; Jeyaseelan, A. Antony; Dutta, Soma; Mahapatra, D. Roy
2017-10-01
This paper reports on the characterization method and performance enhancement of thin piezo coating for ultrasonic guided wave sensing applications. We deposited the coatings by an in situ slurry coating method and studied their guided wave sensing properties on a one-dimensional metallic beam as a substrate waveguide. The developed piezo coatings show good sensitivity to the longitudinal and flexural modes of guided waves. Sensing voltage due to the guided waves at various different ultrasonic frequencies shows a linear dependence on the thickness of the coating. The coatings also exhibit linear sensor output voltage with respect to the induced dynamic strain magnitude. Diameter/size of the piezo coatings strongly influences the voltage response in relation to the wavelength. The proposed method used a characterization set-up involving coated sensors, reference transducers and an analytical model to estimate the piezoelectric coefficient of the piezo coating. The method eliminates the size dependent effect on the piezo property accurately and gives further insight to design better sensors/filters with respect to frequency/wavelength of interest. The developed coatings will have interesting applications in structural health monitoring (SHM) and internet of things (IOT).
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a Geographic Analysis of Optimal Signage Location Selection in Scenic Area
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ruan, Ling; Long, Ying; Zhang, Ling; Wu, Xiao Ling
2016-06-01
As an important part of the scenic area infrastructure services, signage guiding system plays an indispensable role in guiding the way and improving the quality of tourism experience. This paper proposes an optimal method in signage location selection and direction content design in a scenic area based on geographic analysis. The object of the research is to provide a best solution to arrange limited guiding boards in a tourism area to show ways arriving at any scenic spot from any entrance. There are four steps to achieve the research object. First, the spatial distribution of the junction of the scenic road, the passageway and the scenic spots is analyzed. Then, the count of scenic roads intersection on the shortest path between all entrances and all scenic spots is calculated. Next, combing with the grade of the scenic road and scenic spots, the importance of each road intersection is estimated quantitatively. Finally, according to the importance of all road intersections, the most suitable layout locations of signage guiding boards can be provided. In addition, the method is applied in the Ming Tomb scenic area in China and the result is compared with the existing signage guiding space layout.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ling, Junpu; Zhang, Jiande; He, Juntao, E-mail: hejuntao12@163.com
2014-08-15
Based on the theoretical analysis of the intense relativistic electron beam propagation in the coaxial drift-tube, a focusing electrode and a coaxial reflector is proposed to lessen the demand of the coaxial Ku-band foilless transit-time oscillator (TTO) for the guiding magnetic field. Moreover, a Ku-band TTO with the focusing electrode and the coaxial reflector is designed and studied by particle in cell simulation. When the diode voltage is 390 kV, the beam current 7.8 kA, and the guiding magnetic field is only 0.3 T, the device can output 820 MW microwave pulse at 14.25 GHz by means of the simulation.more » However, for the device without them, the output power is only 320 MW. The primary experiments are also carried out. When the guiding magnetic field is 0.3 T, the output power of the device with the focusing electrode and the coaxial reflector is double that of the one without them. The simulation and experimental results prove that the focusing electrode and the coaxial reflector are effective on reducing the guiding magnetic field of the device.« less
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Eco-approach and Eco-departure planning study : final report.
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2016-01-31
A long term (10 year) research roadmap is proposed to guide the development and potential deployment of Eco-Approach and Departure (Eco A/D) functionality at signalized intersections, with a focus on commercialization of initial system concepts in 5+...
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Cutter Resource Effectiveness Evaluation (CREE) Program : A Guide for Users and Analysts
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
1978-03-01
The Cutter Resource Effectiveness Evaluation (CREE) project has developed a sophisticated, user-oriented computer model which can evaluate the effectiveness of any existing Coast Guard craft, or the effectiveness of any of a number of proposed altern...
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Is Substance Abuse an Issue for Creative People?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mabee, Bev
1985-01-01
The author proposes a model for lessons on substance abuse that gives children alternative ways to satisfy the natural desire for altered states of consciousness. The model incorporates stages of progressive relaxation, visualization/guided fantasy, sensory experiences, information, and experimentation. (CL)
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Monitoring Guidance for Determining the Effectiveness of Nonpoint Source Controls
A nonpoint source monitoring and evaluation guide written for use by those who monitor and those who evaluate monitoring proposals. It focuses on monitoring to determine the effectiveness of nonpoint source controls at the watershed and practice levels
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Institutional Controls and Educational Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Homan, Roger
1990-01-01
Recognizing tendencies toward contract research and possible consequences, advocates creating a conduct code to regulate educational research and protect its integrity. Reports survey responses from 48 British institutions, showing no systematic code. States confidence in supervisory discretion currently guides research. Proposes a specific code…
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Public Participation Guide: Container Handling in the Port of Durban, South Africa
This case study describes the public participation process that was conducted in the context of an Integrated Environmental Management exercise related to the proposed expansion of container handling facilities at the Port of Durban, South Africa.
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Expert-guided evolutionary algorithm for layout design of complex space stations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qian, Zhiqin; Bi, Zhuming; Cao, Qun; Ju, Weiguo; Teng, Hongfei; Zheng, Yang; Zheng, Siyu
2017-08-01
The layout of a space station should be designed in such a way that different equipment and instruments are placed for the station as a whole to achieve the best overall performance. The station layout design is a typical nondeterministic polynomial problem. In particular, how to manage the design complexity to achieve an acceptable solution within a reasonable timeframe poses a great challenge. In this article, a new evolutionary algorithm has been proposed to meet such a challenge. It is called as the expert-guided evolutionary algorithm with a tree-like structure decomposition (EGEA-TSD). Two innovations in EGEA-TSD are (i) to deal with the design complexity, the entire design space is divided into subspaces with a tree-like structure; it reduces the computation and facilitates experts' involvement in the solving process. (ii) A human-intervention interface is developed to allow experts' involvement in avoiding local optimums and accelerating convergence. To validate the proposed algorithm, the layout design of one-space station is formulated as a multi-disciplinary design problem, the developed algorithm is programmed and executed, and the result is compared with those from other two algorithms; it has illustrated the superior performance of the proposed EGEA-TSD.
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Novel photonics polymer and its application in IT
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Koike, Yasuhiro
2003-07-01
In the field of LANs, transmission systems based on a multimode silica fiber network is heading towards capacities of Gb/s. We have proposed a low-loss, high-bandwidth and large-core graded-index plastic optical fiber (GI POF) in data-com. area. We sill show that GI POF enables to virtually eliminate the "modal noise" problem cased by the medium-core silica fibers. Therefore, stable high-speed data transmission is realized by GI POF rather than silica fibers. Furthermore, advent of perfluorinated (PF) polymer based GI POF network can support higher transmission than silica fibers network because of the small material dispersion of PF polymer compared with silica. In addition, we proposed a "highly scattering optical transmission (HSOT) polymer" and applied it to a light guide plate of a liquid crystal display (LCD) backlight. The advanced HSOT polymer backlight that was proposed using the HSOT designing simulation program demonstrated approximately three times higher luminance than the conventional flat-type HSOT backlight of 14.1-inch diagonal because of the microscopic prism structures at the bottom of the advanced HSOT light guide plate. The HSOT polymer containing the optimized heterogeneous structures produced homogeneous scattered light with forward directivity and sufficient color uniformity.
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Adaptive multimodal interaction in mobile augmented reality: A conceptual framework
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Abidin, Rimaniza Zainal; Arshad, Haslina; Shukri, Saidatul A'isyah Ahmad
2017-10-01
Recently, Augmented Reality (AR) is an emerging technology in many mobile applications. Mobile AR was defined as a medium for displaying information merged with the real world environment mapped with augmented reality surrounding in a single view. There are four main types of mobile augmented reality interfaces and one of them are multimodal interfaces. Multimodal interface processes two or more combined user input modes (such as speech, pen, touch, manual gesture, gaze, and head and body movements) in a coordinated manner with multimedia system output. In multimodal interface, many frameworks have been proposed to guide the designer to develop a multimodal applications including in augmented reality environment but there has been little work reviewing the framework of adaptive multimodal interface in mobile augmented reality. The main goal of this study is to propose a conceptual framework to illustrate the adaptive multimodal interface in mobile augmented reality. We reviewed several frameworks that have been proposed in the field of multimodal interfaces, adaptive interface and augmented reality. We analyzed the components in the previous frameworks and measure which can be applied in mobile devices. Our framework can be used as a guide for designers and developer to develop a mobile AR application with an adaptive multimodal interfaces.
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Deformable Image Registration based on Similarity-Steered CNN Regression.
Cao, Xiaohuan; Yang, Jianhua; Zhang, Jun; Nie, Dong; Kim, Min-Jeong; Wang, Qian; Shen, Dinggang
2017-09-01
Existing deformable registration methods require exhaustively iterative optimization, along with careful parameter tuning, to estimate the deformation field between images. Although some learning-based methods have been proposed for initiating deformation estimation, they are often template-specific and not flexible in practical use. In this paper, we propose a convolutional neural network (CNN) based regression model to directly learn the complex mapping from the input image pair (i.e., a pair of template and subject) to their corresponding deformation field. Specifically, our CNN architecture is designed in a patch-based manner to learn the complex mapping from the input patch pairs to their respective deformation field. First, the equalized active-points guided sampling strategy is introduced to facilitate accurate CNN model learning upon a limited image dataset. Then, the similarity-steered CNN architecture is designed, where we propose to add the auxiliary contextual cue, i.e., the similarity between input patches, to more directly guide the learning process. Experiments on different brain image datasets demonstrate promising registration performance based on our CNN model. Furthermore, it is found that the trained CNN model from one dataset can be successfully transferred to another dataset, although brain appearances across datasets are quite variable.
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Hanaoka, Shouhei; Masutani, Yoshitaka; Nemoto, Mitsutaka; Nomura, Yukihiro; Miki, Soichiro; Yoshikawa, Takeharu; Hayashi, Naoto; Ohtomo, Kuni; Shimizu, Akinobu
2017-03-01
A fully automatic multiatlas-based method for segmentation of the spine and pelvis in a torso CT volume is proposed. A novel landmark-guided diffeomorphic demons algorithm is used to register a given CT image to multiple atlas volumes. This algorithm can utilize both grayscale image information and given landmark coordinate information optimally. The segmentation has four steps. Firstly, 170 bony landmarks are detected in the given volume. Using these landmark positions, an atlas selection procedure is performed to reduce the computational cost of the following registration. Then the chosen atlas volumes are registered to the given CT image. Finally, voxelwise label voting is performed to determine the final segmentation result. The proposed method was evaluated using 50 torso CT datasets as well as the public SpineWeb dataset. As a result, a mean distance error of [Formula: see text] and a mean Dice coefficient of [Formula: see text] were achieved for the whole spine and the pelvic bones, which are competitive with other state-of-the-art methods. From the experimental results, the usefulness of the proposed segmentation method was validated.
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Karami, Ebrahim; Shehata, Mohamed S; Smith, Andrew
2018-05-04
Medical research suggests that the anterior-posterior (AP)-diameter of the inferior vena cava (IVC) and its associated temporal variation as imaged by bedside ultrasound is useful in guiding fluid resuscitation of the critically-ill patient. Unfortunately, indistinct edges and gaps in vessel walls are frequently present which impede accurate estimation of the IVC AP-diameter for both human operators and segmentation algorithms. The majority of research involving use of the IVC to guide fluid resuscitation involves manual measurement of the maximum and minimum AP-diameter as it varies over time. This effort proposes using a time-varying circle fitted inside the typically ellipsoid IVC as an efficient, consistent and novel approach to tracking and approximating the AP-diameter even in the context of poor image quality. In this active-circle algorithm, a novel evolution functional is proposed and shown to be a useful tool for ultrasound image processing. The proposed algorithm is compared with an expert manual measurement, and state-of-the-art relevant algorithms. It is shown that the algorithm outperforms other techniques and performs very close to manual measurement. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Zhang, Dongqing; Zhao, Yiyuan; Noble, Jack H; Dawant, Benoit M
2018-04-01
Cochlear implants (CIs) are neural prostheses that restore hearing using an electrode array implanted in the cochlea. After implantation, the CI processor is programmed by an audiologist. One factor that negatively impacts outcomes and can be addressed by programming is cross-electrode neural stimulation overlap (NSO). We have proposed a system to assist the audiologist in programming the CI that we call image-guided CI programming (IGCIP). IGCIP permits using CT images to detect NSO and recommend deactivation of a subset of electrodes to avoid NSO. We have shown that IGCIP significantly improves hearing outcomes. Most of the IGCIP steps are robustly automated but electrode configuration selection still sometimes requires manual intervention. With expertise, distance-versus-frequency curves, which are a way to visualize the spatial relationship learned from CT between the electrodes and the nerves they stimulate, can be used to select the electrode configuration. We propose an automated technique for electrode configuration selection. A comparison between this approach and one we have previously proposed shows that our method produces results that are as good as those obtained with our previous method while being generic and requiring fewer parameters.
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A Dictionary Learning Approach for Signal Sampling in Task-Based fMRI for Reduction of Big Data
Ge, Bao; Li, Xiang; Jiang, Xi; Sun, Yifei; Liu, Tianming
2018-01-01
The exponential growth of fMRI big data offers researchers an unprecedented opportunity to explore functional brain networks. However, this opportunity has not been fully explored yet due to the lack of effective and efficient tools for handling such fMRI big data. One major challenge is that computing capabilities still lag behind the growth of large-scale fMRI databases, e.g., it takes many days to perform dictionary learning and sparse coding of whole-brain fMRI data for an fMRI database of average size. Therefore, how to reduce the data size but without losing important information becomes a more and more pressing issue. To address this problem, we propose a signal sampling approach for significant fMRI data reduction before performing structurally-guided dictionary learning and sparse coding of whole brain's fMRI data. We compared the proposed structurally guided sampling method with no sampling, random sampling and uniform sampling schemes, and experiments on the Human Connectome Project (HCP) task fMRI data demonstrated that the proposed method can achieve more than 15 times speed-up without sacrificing the accuracy in identifying task-evoked functional brain networks. PMID:29706880
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A Dictionary Learning Approach for Signal Sampling in Task-Based fMRI for Reduction of Big Data.
Ge, Bao; Li, Xiang; Jiang, Xi; Sun, Yifei; Liu, Tianming
2018-01-01
The exponential growth of fMRI big data offers researchers an unprecedented opportunity to explore functional brain networks. However, this opportunity has not been fully explored yet due to the lack of effective and efficient tools for handling such fMRI big data. One major challenge is that computing capabilities still lag behind the growth of large-scale fMRI databases, e.g., it takes many days to perform dictionary learning and sparse coding of whole-brain fMRI data for an fMRI database of average size. Therefore, how to reduce the data size but without losing important information becomes a more and more pressing issue. To address this problem, we propose a signal sampling approach for significant fMRI data reduction before performing structurally-guided dictionary learning and sparse coding of whole brain's fMRI data. We compared the proposed structurally guided sampling method with no sampling, random sampling and uniform sampling schemes, and experiments on the Human Connectome Project (HCP) task fMRI data demonstrated that the proposed method can achieve more than 15 times speed-up without sacrificing the accuracy in identifying task-evoked functional brain networks.
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Jernick, Michael; Walker Gallego, Edward; Nuzzo, Michael
2017-12-01
Ultrasound (US)-guided intra-articular hip injections have been proposed in the literature to be accurate, reliable, and safe alternatives to fluoroscopy-guided injections. To evaluate the accuracy of US-guided magnetic resonance (MR) arthrogram injections of the hip performed in the office setting by a single orthopaedic surgeon and elucidate the potential effects that patient age, sex, and body mass index (BMI) have on contrast placement. Case series; Level of evidence, 4. From a review of the senior author's office database, 89 patients (101 hips) who had US-guided MR arthrogram injections performed between December 2014 and June 2016 were identified. Official radiology reports were evaluated to determine whether extra-articular contrast was noted. Patient variables, including BMI, age, and sex, were evaluated between patients who had inappropriately placed contrast and those who did not. Of the 101 hip injections, there were 6 cases that demonstrated inadequate contrast placement within the joint, likely secondary to extravasation or incorrect placement; however, an MR arthrogram was adequately interpreted in all cases. There were no significant differences noted between those with appropriate versus inappropriate contrast placement when evaluating BMI ( P = .57), age ( P = .33), or sex ( P = .67), and neither group had an adverse event. US-guided injections are safe and accurate alternatives to fluoroscopy-guided injections in the office setting, with 94% accuracy. Furthermore, BMI, age, and sex did not play a statistically significant role among patients with inappropriately placed contrast.
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Attention as foraging for information and value
Manohar, Sanjay G.; Husain, Masud
2013-01-01
What is the purpose of attention? One avenue of research has led to the proposal that attention might be crucial for gathering information about the environment, while other lines of study have demonstrated how attention may play a role in guiding behavior to rewarded options. Many experiments that study attention require participants to make a decision based on information acquired discretely at one point in time. In real-world situations, however, we are usually not presented with information about which option to select in such a manner. Rather we must initially search for information, weighing up reward values of options before we commit to a decision. Here, we propose that attention plays a role in both foraging for information and foraging for value. When foraging for information, attention is guided toward the unknown. When foraging for reward, attention is guided toward high reward values, allowing decision-making to proceed by accept-or-reject decisions on the currently attended option. According to this account, attention can be regarded as a low-cost alternative to moving around and physically interacting with the environment—“teleforaging”—before a decision is made to interact physically with the world. To track the timecourse of attention, we asked participants to seek out and acquire information about two gambles by directing their gaze, before choosing one of them. Participants often made multiple refixations on items before making a decision. Their eye movements revealed that early in the trial, attention was guided toward information, i.e., toward locations that reduced uncertainty about value. In contrast, late in the trial, attention was guided by expected value of the options. At the end of the decision period, participants were generally attending to the item they eventually chose. We suggest that attentional foraging shifts from an uncertainty-driven to a reward-driven mode during the evolution of a decision, permitting decisions to be made by an engage-or-search strategy. PMID:24204335
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Othmani, Cherif; Takali, Farid; Njeh, Anouar
2017-12-01
Guided wave devices have recently become one of the most important applications in the industry because such waves are directly related to applications in sensor technology, chemical sensing, agricultural science, fields of bio-sensing and surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices that are used in electronic filters and signal processing. On that account, this numerical investigation aims to study the propagation behavior of guided Lamb waves in a (1-x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3- x PbTiO3 [PMN- x PT] ( x=0.29 or 0.33) piezoelectric single crystal plate. In fact, the PMN- xPT ( x=0.29 or 0.33) piezoelectric crystals are being polarized along [001]c, [011]c and [111]c of the cubic reference directions so that the macroscopic symmetries are tetragonal 4 mm, orthogonal mm2 and rhombohedral 3 m, respectively. Both open- and short-circuit conditions are considered. Here, the Legendre polynomial method is proposed to solve the guided Lamb waves equations. The validity of the proposed method is illustrated by comparison with the ordinary differential equation (ODE). The convergence of this method is discussed. Consequently, the converged results are obtained with very low truncation order M . This constitutes a major advantage of the present method when compared with the other matrix methods. There is cross-crossings among multiple modes for both symmetric ( Sn) and the anti-symmetric ( An) guided Lamb waves propagation. A displacement field has been illustrated to judge whether Sn and An modes cross with each other. Moreover, electric displacement, stress field and electric potential for the open-circuit case were presented for both S0 and A0 Lamb modes.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wu, Bin; Su, Yipin; Chen, Weiqiu; Zhang, Chuanzeng
2017-02-01
Soft electroactive (EA) tube actuators and many other cylindrical devices have been proposed recently in literature, which show great advantages over those made from conventional hard solid materials. However, their practical applications may be limited because these soft EA devices are prone to various failure modes. In this paper, we present an analysis of the guided circumferential elastic waves in soft EA tube actuators, which has potential applications in the in-situ nondestructive evaluation (NDE) or online structural health monitoring (SHM) to detect structural defects or fatigue cracks in soft EA tube actuators and in the self-sensing of soft EA tube actuators based on the concept of guided circumferential elastic waves. Both circumferential SH and Lamb-type waves in an incompressible soft EA cylindrical tube under inhomogeneous biasing fields are considered. The biasing fields, induced by the application of an electric voltage difference to the electrodes on the inner and outer cylindrical surfaces of the EA tube in addition to an axial pre-stretch, are inhomogeneous in the radial direction. Dorfmann and Ogden's theory of nonlinear electroelasticity and the associated linear theory for small incremental motion constitute the basis of our analysis. By means of the state-space formalism for the incremental wave motion along with the approximate laminate technique, dispersion relations are derived in a particularly efficient way. For a neo-Hookean ideal dielectric model, the proposed approach is first validated numerically. Numerical examples are then given to show that the guided circumferential wave propagation characteristics are significantly affected by the inhomogeneous biasing fields and the geometrical parameters. Some particular phenomena such as the frequency veering and the nonlinear dependence of the phase velocity on the radial electric voltage are discussed. Our numerical findings demonstrate that it is feasible to use guided circumferential elastic waves for the ultrasonic non-destructive online SHM to detect interior structural defects or fatigue cracks and for the self-sensing of the actual state of the soft EA tube actuator.
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Developing a Literacy Guide to Perpetuate Traditional Knowledge
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Spalding, S. M.; Kaaiai, C.
2010-12-01
Literacy guides summarize the most important principles and concepts about a subject and help individuals make informed, responsible decisions regarding it. They are needed when a subject is absent in national and state standards, curricula and assessments; public attention to the issues associated with the subject is declining; there is a lack of consensus on what literacy in the subject is; and/or there is a lack of guidance on prioritizing the content of the subject and determining how the subject fits into an already full curriculum. Literacy guides provide a common language for educators and experts in the subject and can result in attention to and momentum for teaching the subject. During the 2006 Hoohanohano I Na Kupuna Puwalu (Honor Our Ancestors conference), Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners expressed the need for assistance to perpetuate TK and the practices used to teach it and to keep it current. The practitioners worked with Hawaii educators to define challenges in teaching TK in the classroom and took initial steps to meet them. During the 2007 International Pacific Marine Educators Conference (IPMEC), South Pacific Islanders expressed a similar need for outside assistance to recover TK, particularly as an important part of natural resource management. Traditional taxonomy, village elders as walking libraries with hundred years of personal experience and hundreds of generations of TK, less destructive fishing techniques and traditional resource management tools such as taboo are seen as assets, or social capital, that are being lost. In 2007, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council—convener of the Puwalu and IPMEC conferences—took these concerns to the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA). The NMEA had been integral in developing the Ocean Literacy (OL) Guide, which provides a Western viewpoint of the subject. While NMEA supported a proposed TK supplement to the OL Guide, it wanted consensus of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives as well as Pacific Islanders. The NMEA TK Committee was formed and met with representatives from the Penobscot, Eastern Band Cherokee, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, Mississippi Band of Choctaw, and Gullah-Geechee. The Council has promoted development of the TK Literacy Guide at conferences by the NMEA, the International Pacific Marine Educators Network (an outcome of IPMEC) and The Wildlife Society (via its Native Peoples Wildlife Management Working Group) among others and in discussions with Makah, Seneca, Yupiaq, Inuit, Chamorro, Refaluwasch, Samoan, Australian Aboriginals, and others. A TK Literacy Guide could serve to supplement not only the OL Guide but also similar ones for climate, earth science and atmospheric science. The UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by most nations provides hope that consensus on a TK Literacy Guide can be achieved. Developing this guide has some urgency given the Obama administration’s proposed Common Core Standards (i.e., national policy) for education in the United States.
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Space tourism: A flight of fantasy or the next major space product? Paper session 3: Products
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Stone, Barbara A.
1994-01-01
In the euphoria of the early 1980's, a number of creative proposals for nontraditional uses of space were suggested. Taking tourists to space, possibly as early as the 1990's, was one such proposal. While it is now obvious that wherever explorers go, tourists (and hoteliers, restauranteurs, and tour guides) will someday follow. This paper discusses past and present efforts to promote space as a tourist destination.
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A haptic device for guide wire in interventional radiology procedures.
Moix, Thomas; Ilic, Dejan; Bleuler, Hannes; Zoethout, Jurjen
2006-01-01
Interventional Radiology (IR) is a minimally invasive procedure where thin tubular instruments, guide wires and catheters, are steered through the patient's vascular system under X-ray imaging. In order to perform these procedures, a radiologist has to be trained to master hand-eye coordination, instrument manipulation and procedure protocols. The existing simulation systems all have major drawbacks: the use of modified instruments, unrealistic insertion lengths, high inertia of the haptic device that creates a noticeably degraded dynamic behavior or excessive friction that is not properly compensated for. In this paper we propose a quality training environment dedicated to IR. The system is composed of a virtual reality (VR) simulation of the patient's anatomy linked to a robotic interface providing haptic force feedback. This paper focuses on the requirements, design and prototyping of a specific haptic interface for guide wires.
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A Guiding Evolutionary Algorithm with Greedy Strategy for Global Optimization Problems
Cao, Leilei; Xu, Lihong; Goodman, Erik D.
2016-01-01
A Guiding Evolutionary Algorithm (GEA) with greedy strategy for global optimization problems is proposed. Inspired by Particle Swarm Optimization, the Genetic Algorithm, and the Bat Algorithm, the GEA was designed to retain some advantages of each method while avoiding some disadvantages. In contrast to the usual Genetic Algorithm, each individual in GEA is crossed with the current global best one instead of a randomly selected individual. The current best individual served as a guide to attract offspring to its region of genotype space. Mutation was added to offspring according to a dynamic mutation probability. To increase the capability of exploitation, a local search mechanism was applied to new individuals according to a dynamic probability of local search. Experimental results show that GEA outperformed the other three typical global optimization algorithms with which it was compared. PMID:27293421
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Hierarchical content-based image retrieval by dynamic indexing and guided search
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
You, Jane; Cheung, King H.; Liu, James; Guo, Linong
2003-12-01
This paper presents a new approach to content-based image retrieval by using dynamic indexing and guided search in a hierarchical structure, and extending data mining and data warehousing techniques. The proposed algorithms include: a wavelet-based scheme for multiple image feature extraction, the extension of a conventional data warehouse and an image database to an image data warehouse for dynamic image indexing, an image data schema for hierarchical image representation and dynamic image indexing, a statistically based feature selection scheme to achieve flexible similarity measures, and a feature component code to facilitate query processing and guide the search for the best matching. A series of case studies are reported, which include a wavelet-based image color hierarchy, classification of satellite images, tropical cyclone pattern recognition, and personal identification using multi-level palmprint and face features.
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First saccadic eye movement reveals persistent attentional guidance by implicit learning
Jiang, Yuhong V.; Won, Bo-Yeong; Swallow, Khena M.
2014-01-01
Implicit learning about where a visual search target is likely to appear often speeds up search. However, whether implicit learning guides spatial attention or affects post-search decisional processes remains controversial. Using eye tracking, this study provides compelling evidence that implicit learning guides attention. In a training phase, participants often found the target in a high-frequency, “rich” quadrant of the display. When subsequently tested in a phase during which the target was randomly located, participants were twice as likely to direct the first saccadic eye movement to the previously rich quadrant than to any of the sparse quadrants. The attentional bias persisted for nearly 200 trials after training and was unabated by explicit instructions to distribute attention evenly. We propose that implicit learning guides spatial attention but in a qualitatively different manner than goal-driven attention. PMID:24512610
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A Guiding Evolutionary Algorithm with Greedy Strategy for Global Optimization Problems.
Cao, Leilei; Xu, Lihong; Goodman, Erik D
2016-01-01
A Guiding Evolutionary Algorithm (GEA) with greedy strategy for global optimization problems is proposed. Inspired by Particle Swarm Optimization, the Genetic Algorithm, and the Bat Algorithm, the GEA was designed to retain some advantages of each method while avoiding some disadvantages. In contrast to the usual Genetic Algorithm, each individual in GEA is crossed with the current global best one instead of a randomly selected individual. The current best individual served as a guide to attract offspring to its region of genotype space. Mutation was added to offspring according to a dynamic mutation probability. To increase the capability of exploitation, a local search mechanism was applied to new individuals according to a dynamic probability of local search. Experimental results show that GEA outperformed the other three typical global optimization algorithms with which it was compared.
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Benoit, Richard; Mion, Lorraine
2012-08-01
This paper presents a proposed conceptual model to guide research on pressure ulcer risk in critically ill patients, who are at high risk for pressure ulcer development. However, no conceptual model exists that guides risk assessment in this population. Results from a review of prospective studies were evaluated for design quality and level of statistical reporting. Multivariate findings from studies having high or medium design quality by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence standards were conceptually grouped. The conceptual groupings were integrated into Braden and Bergstrom's (Braden and Bergstrom [1987] Rehabilitation Nursing, 12, 8-12, 16) conceptual model, retaining their original constructs and augmenting their concept of intrinsic factors for tissue tolerance. The model could enhance consistency in research on pressure ulcer risk factors. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Wang, Wei-Guang; Li, Ao; Yan, Bing-Chao; Niu, Shu-Bin; Tang, Jian-Wei; Li, Xiao-Nian; Du, Xue; Challis, Gregory L; Che, Yongsheng; Sun, Han-Dong; Pu, Jian-Xin
2016-01-22
Penicilfuranone A (1), a novel furancarboxylic acid, and its proposed biosynthetic precursor, gregatin A (2), were isolated from the cultures of the fungus Penicillium sp. sh18 endophytic to the stems of Isodon eriocalyx var. laxiflora guided by HPLC-MS. X-ray crystallography was applied to the structure determination of furancarboxylic acid for the first time, allowing unambiguous assignment of 1. Penicilfuranone A displays a significant antifibrotic effect in activated hepatic stellate cells via negative regulation of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)/Smad signaling.
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Topology guided demons registration with local rigidity preservation.
Chaojie Zheng; Xiuying Wang; Dagan Feng
2016-08-01
Demons has been well recognized for its deformable registration capability. However, it might lead to misregistration due to the large spatial distance between the expected corresponding contents or erroneous diffusion tendency. In this paper, we propose a new energy function with topology energy, distance function and demons energy for deformable registration. The new energy function incorporates topological relationships to guide the correct diffusion and deformation, and contributes to local rigidity preservation. The distance function contributes to pulling the corresponding regions into accurate alignment despite of a possible large distance gap. The method was validated on synthetic, phantom and real medical image data.
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Novel dielectric elastomer structure of soft robot
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Li, Chi; Xie, Yuhan; Huang, Xiaoqiang; Liu, Junjie; Jin, Yongbin; Li, Tiefeng
2015-04-01
Inspired from the natural invertebrates like worms and starfish, we propose a novel elastomeric smart structure. The smart structure can function as a soft robot. The soft robot is made from a flexible elastomer as the body and driven by dielectric elastomer as the muscle. Finite element simulations based on nonlinear field theory are conducted to investigate the working condition of the structure, and guide the design of the smart structure. The effects of the prestretch, structural stiffness and voltage on the performance of the smart structure are investigated. This work can guide the design of soft robot.
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Development of a Meso-Scale SMA-Based Torsion Actuator for Image-Guided Procedures.
Sheng, Jun; Gandhi, Dheeraj; Gullapalli, Rao; Simard, J Marc; Desai, Jaydev P
2017-02-01
This paper presents the design, modeling, and control of a meso-scale torsion actuator based on shape memory alloy (SMA) for image-guided surgical procedures. Developing a miniature torsion actuator is challenging, but it opens the possibility of significantly enhancing the robot agility and maneuverability. The proposed torsion actuator is bi-directionally actuated by a pair of antagonistic SMA torsion springs through alternate Joule heating and natural cooling. The torsion actuator is integrated into a surgical robot prototype to demonstrate its working performance in the humid environment under C-Arm CT image guidance.
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Introduction of a pyramid guiding process for general musculoskeletal physical rehabilitation.
Stark, Timothy W
2006-06-08
Successful instruction of a complicated subject as Physical Rehabilitation demands organization. To understand principles and processes of such a field demands a hierarchy of steps to achieve the intended outcome. This paper is intended to be an introduction to a proposed pyramid scheme of general physical rehabilitation principles. The purpose of the pyramid scheme is to allow for a greater understanding for the student and patient. As the respected Food Guide Pyramid accomplishes, the student will further appreciate and apply supported physical rehabilitation principles and the patient will understand that there is a progressive method to their functional healing process.
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Future HIV Mentoring Programs to Enhance Diversity.
Stoff, David M; Cargill, Victoria A
2016-09-01
This paper proposes a general template to guide future mentoring program development addressing: (i) considerations to ensure an adequate research workforce; (ii) key guidelines and principles of mentoring; and (iii) use of a logic model to develop program milestones, outcomes and evaluation. We focus on these areas to guide and inform the most effective mentoring program components, which we find to be more helpful than identifying specific features and ingredients. Although the focus is on the development of a new generation of investigators from diverse backgrounds, this template may also apply to mentoring programs for other investigators and for disciplines beyond HIV.
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Development of a Meso-Scale SMA-Based Torsion Actuator for Image-Guided Procedures
Sheng, Jun; Gandhi, Dheeraj; Gullapalli, Rao; Simard, J. Marc; Desai, Jaydev P.
2016-01-01
This paper presents the design, modeling, and control of a meso-scale torsion actuator based on shape memory alloy (SMA) for image-guided surgical procedures. Developing a miniature torsion actuator is challenging, but it opens the possibility of significantly enhancing the robot agility and maneuverability. The proposed torsion actuator is bi-directionally actuated by a pair of antagonistic SMA torsion springs through alternate Joule heating and natural cooling. The torsion actuator is integrated into a surgical robot prototype to demonstrate its working performance in the humid environment under C-Arm CT image guidance. PMID:28210189
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Calvert, Matthew B; Sperry, Jonathan
2015-04-11
Guided by a biosynthetic hypothesis, a serendipitous total synthesis of yuremamine has resulted in its structural revision from the putative pyrroloindole (1) to the flavonoidal indole (2), which was initially proposed as a biosynthetic intermediate.
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76 FR 1619 - Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-01-11
... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration for Children and Families [OMB No. 0970... Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) Assessment Review Guide. Description: The Department of..., development, or installation of statewide automated child welfare systems (SACWIS). The data from these...
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DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2005-11-01
The stiffness (elastic modulus and shear modulus) and Poisson's ratio of the base and sublayers are important parameters in the design and quality assurance during construction of highway pavements. The new highway construction guide proposed by AASH...
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Taking the Word to Washington.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hayden, Rose L.
1979-01-01
Identifies legislation related to funding international programs and guides for grant proposals. Urges community colleges to increase efforts in obtaining grants to support their growing involvement in international education, while cautioning of the pitfalls of federal tax codes that prohibit lobbying by non-profit organizations. (DR)
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Principles for Sustainable Governance of the Oceans
Costanza; Andrade; Antunes; den Belt M; Boersma; Boesch; Catarino; Hanna; Limburg; Low; Molitor; Pereira; Rayner; Santos; Wilson; Young
1998-07-10
Pressures being exerted on the ocean ecosystems through overfishing, pollution, and environmental and climate change are increasing. Six core principles are proposed to guide governance and use of ocean resources and to promote sustainability. Examples of governance structures that embody these principles are given.
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FABRIC FILTER MODEL FORMAT CHANGE; VOLUME II. USER'S GUIDE
The report describes an improved mathematical model for use by control personnel to determine the adequacy of existing or proposed filter systems designed to minimize coal fly ash emissions. Several time-saving steps have been introduced to facilitate model application by Agency ...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marshall, Pamela A.
2013-01-01
Students need practice in proposing hypotheses, developing experiments that will test these hypotheses, and generating data that they will analyze to support or refute them. I describe a guided-inquiry activity based on the "tongue map" concept, appropriate for middle school and high school students.