Priorities in Ocean Science Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Awkerman, Gary L.; And Others

1974-01-01

Reports on a national survey conducted to determine priorities in ocean science study as identified by oceanographers. The priority determinations gave equal weight to relevance and academic importance of ocean problems. (Author/GS)

QoS Differential Scheduling in Cognitive-Radio-Based Smart Grid Networks: An Adaptive Dynamic Programming Approach.

PubMed

Yu, Rong; Zhong, Weifeng; Xie, Shengli; Zhang, Yan; Zhang, Yun

2016-02-01

As the next-generation power grid, smart grid will be integrated with a variety of novel communication technologies to support the explosive data traffic and the diverse requirements of quality of service (QoS). Cognitive radio (CR), which has the favorable ability to improve the spectrum utilization, provides an efficient and reliable solution for smart grid communications networks. In this paper, we study the QoS differential scheduling problem in the CR-based smart grid communications networks. The scheduler is responsible for managing the spectrum resources and arranging the data transmissions of smart grid users (SGUs). To guarantee the differential QoS, the SGUs are assigned to have different priorities according to their roles and their current situations in the smart grid. Based on the QoS-aware priority policy, the scheduler adjusts the channels allocation to minimize the transmission delay of SGUs. The entire transmission scheduling problem is formulated as a semi-Markov decision process and solved by the methodology of adaptive dynamic programming. A heuristic dynamic programming (HDP) architecture is established for the scheduling problem. By the online network training, the HDP can learn from the activities of primary users and SGUs, and adjust the scheduling decision to achieve the purpose of transmission delay minimization. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed priority policy ensures the low transmission delay of high priority SGUs. In addition, the emergency data transmission delay is also reduced to a significantly low level, guaranteeing the differential QoS in smart grid.

15 CFR 700.5 - Special priorities assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... DEFENSE PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS SYSTEM Overview § 700.5 Special priorities assistance. (a) The DPAS is designed to be largely self-executing. However, from time-to-time production or delivery problems will...

15 CFR 700.5 - Special priorities assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... DEFENSE PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS SYSTEM Overview § 700.5 Special priorities assistance. (a) The DPAS is designed to be largely self-executing. However, from time-to-time production or delivery problems will...

15 CFR 700.5 - Special priorities assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... DEFENSE PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS SYSTEM Overview § 700.5 Special priorities assistance. (a) The DPAS is designed to be largely self-executing. However, from time-to-time production or delivery problems will...

15 CFR 700.5 - Special priorities assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... DEFENSE PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS SYSTEM Overview § 700.5 Special priorities assistance. (a) The DPAS is designed to be largely self-executing. However, from time-to-time production or delivery problems will...

15 CFR 700.5 - Special priorities assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... DEFENSE PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS SYSTEM Overview § 700.5 Special priorities assistance. (a) The DPAS is designed to be largely self-executing. However, from time-to-time production or delivery problems will...

Neutral Mass Spectrometry for Venus Atmosphere and Surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mahaffy, Paul

2004-01-01

The nature of the divergent evolution of the terrestrial planets Venus, Earth, and Mars is a fundamental problem in planetary science that is most relevant to understanding the characteristics of small planets we are likely to discover in extrasolar systems and the number of such systems that may support habitable environments. For this reason, the National Research Council's Decadal Survey gives Venus exploration high priority. That report was the basis of the NASA selection of Venus as one of four prime mission targets for the recently initiated New Frontiers Program. If the Decadal Survey priorities are to be realized, in situ Venus exploration must remain a high priority. Remote sensing orbital and in situ atmospheric measurements from entry probe or balloon platforms might be realized under the low cost Discovery missions while both atmospheric and landed surface measurements are envisioned with the intermediate class missions of the New Frontiers Program.

Research Priorities for Business Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schultheis, Robert A.

1971-01-01

Most pressing problems representing research priorities for the business education profession do not fit into such narrow functional categories as typewriting and shorthand. Rather the problems critical to survival of our discipline in the decade ahead are more of an interdisciplinary nature. (Author)

What are the Priorities for City Schools? A Discussion by Wilson C. Riles, Carl J. Dolce and Martin Mayer. Occasional Papers No. 15.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fadiman, Clifton, Ed.

Many of the problems the schools seem to face are problems only marginally related to the curriculum--problems of racial difficulty, problems of class-adjustment. In discussing the educational priorities of city schools, it was generally agreed among the speakers that these matters would be thought of here as subordinate. That is, they would take…

Mediational and Deviance Theories of Late High School Failure: Process Roles of Structural Strains, Academic Competence, and General versus Specific Problem Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newcomb, Michael D.; Abbott, Robert D.; Catalano, Richard F.; Hawkins, J. David; Battin-Pearson, Sara; Hill, Karl

2002-01-01

Understanding and preventing high school failure is a national priority. Structural strain and general deviance theories attempt to explain late high school failure. The authors tested the hypotheses that general (vs. specific) deviance and academic competence mediate the relationships between structural strain factors (gender, ethnicity, and…

Networking Activities at the Library of Congress.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maruyama, Lenore S.; Avram, Henriette D.

1979-01-01

Examines the background studies and high-priority projects which will lay the groundwork for the library bibliographic component of a National Library and Information Service Network and reviews the progress and problems of the national network as evidenced by current cooperative projects. (CWM)

SUPERFUND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES EVALUATION (SITE) PROGRAM FOR MONITORING AND CHARACTERIZATION TECHNOLOGIES

EPA Science Inventory

This task seeks to identify high priority needs of the Regions and Program Offices for innovative field sampling, characterization, monitoring, and measurement technologies. When an appropriate solution to a specific problem is identified, a field demonstration is conducted to d...

Evaluating the operational risks of biomedical waste using failure mode and effects analysis.

PubMed

Chen, Ying-Chu; Tsai, Pei-Yi

2017-06-01

The potential problems and risks of biomedical waste generation have become increasingly apparent in recent years. This study applied a failure mode and effects analysis to evaluate the operational problems and risks of biomedical waste. The microbiological contamination of biomedical waste seldom receives the attention of researchers. In this study, the biomedical waste lifecycle was divided into seven processes: Production, classification, packaging, sterilisation, weighing, storage, and transportation. Twenty main failure modes were identified in these phases and risks were assessed based on their risk priority numbers. The failure modes in the production phase accounted for the highest proportion of the risk priority number score (27.7%). In the packaging phase, the failure mode 'sharp articles not placed in solid containers' had the highest risk priority number score, mainly owing to its high severity rating. The sterilisation process is the main difference in the treatment of infectious and non-infectious biomedical waste. The failure modes in the sterilisation phase were mainly owing to human factors (mostly related to operators). This study increases the understanding of the potential problems and risks associated with biomedical waste, thereby increasing awareness of how to improve the management of biomedical waste to better protect workers, the public, and the environment.

Nanomaterials in consumer's goods: the problems of risk assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gmoshinski, I. V.; Khotimchenko, S. A.

2015-11-01

Nanotechnology and engineered nanomaterials are currently used in wide variety of cosmetic products, while their use in food industry, packaging materials, household chemicals etc. still includes a limited number of items and does not show a significant upward trend. However, the problem of priority nanomaterials associated risks is relevant due to their high production volumes and an constantly growing burden on the environment and population. In accordance with the frequency of use in mass-produced consumer goods, leading priority nanomaterials are silver nanoparticles (NPs) and (by a wide margin) NPs of gold, platinum, and titanium dioxide. Frequency of nanosized silica introduction into food products as a food additive, at the moment, seems to be underestimated, since the use of this nanomaterial is not declared by manufacturers of products and objective control of its content is difficult. Analysis of literature data on toxicological properties of nanomaterials shows that currently accumulated amount of information is sufficient to establish the safe doses of nanosized silver, gold and titanium dioxide. Data have been provided in a series of studies concerning the effect of oral intake of nanosized silica on the condition of laboratory animals, including on the performance of the immune system. The article examines the existing approaches to the assessment of population exposure to priority nanomaterials, characteristics of existing problems and risk management.

Defining priorities for improving end-of-life care in Canada

PubMed Central

Heyland, Daren K.; Cook, Deborah J.; Rocker, Graeme M.; Dodek, Peter M.; Kutsogiannis, Demetrios J.; Skrobik, Yoanna; Jiang, Xuran; Day, Andrew G.; Cohen, S. Robin

2010-01-01

Background High-quality end-of-life care should be the right of every Canadian. The objective of this study was to identify aspects of end-of-life care that are high in priority as targets for improvement using feedback elicited from patients and their families. Methods We conducted a multicentre, cross-sectional survey involving patients with advanced, life-limiting illnesses and their family caregivers. We administered the Canadian Health Care Evaluation Project (CANHELP) questionnaire along with a global rating question to measure satisfaction with end-of-life care. We derived the relative importance of individual questions on the CANHELP questionnaire from their association with a global rating of satisfaction, as determined using Pearson correlation coefficients. To determine high-priority issues, we identified questions that had scores indicating high importance and low satisfaction. Results We approached 471 patients and 255 family members, of whom 363 patients and 193 family members participated, with response rates of 77% for patients and 76% for families. From the perspective of patients, high-priority areas needing improvement were related to feelings of peace, to assessment and treatment of emotional problems, to physician availability and to satisfaction that the physician took a personal interest in them, communicated clearly and consistently, and listened. From the perspective of family members, similar areas were identified as high in priority, along with the additional areas of timely information about the patient’s condition and discussions with the doctor about final location of care and use of end-of-life technology. Interpretation End-of-life care in Canada may be improved for patients and their families by providing better psychological and spiritual support, better planning of care and enhanced relationships with physicians, especially in aspects related to communication and decision-making. PMID:20921249

Sources of unbounded priority inversions in real-time systems and a comparative study of possible solutions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davari, Sadegh; Sha, Lui

1992-01-01

In the design of real-time systems, tasks are often assigned priorities. Preemptive priority driven schedulers are used to schedule tasks to meet the timing requirements. Priority inversion is the term used to describe the situation when a higher priority task's execution is delayed by lower priority tasks. Priority inversion can occur when there is contention for resources among tasks of different priorities. The duration of priority inversion could be long enough to cause tasks to miss their dead lines. Priority inversion cannot be completely eliminated. However, it is important to identify sources of priority inversion and minimize the duration of priority inversion. In this paper, a comprehensive review of the problem of and solutions to unbounded priority inversion is presented.

Identifying research priorities for public health research to address health inequalities: use of Delphi-like survey methods.

PubMed

Turner, S; Ollerhead, E; Cook, A

2017-10-09

In the funding of health research and public health research it is vital that research questions posed are important and that funded research meets a research need or a gap in evidence. Many methods are used in the identification of research priorities, however, these can be resource intensive, costly and logistically challenging. Identifying such research priorities can be particularly challenging for complex public health problems as there is a need to consult a number of experts across disciplines and with a range of expertise. This study investigated the use of Delphi-like survey methods in identifying important research priorities relating to health inequalities and framing tractable research questions for topic areas identified. The study was conducted in two phases, both using Delphi-like survey methods. Firstly, public health professionals with an interest in health inequalities were asked to identify research priorities. Secondly academic researchers were asked to frame tractable research questions relating to the priorities identified. These research priorities identified using Delphi-like survey methods were subsequently compared to those identified using different methods. A total of 52 public health professionals and 21 academics across the United Kingdom agreed to take part. The response rates were high, from public health professionals across three survey rounds (69%, 50% and 40%) and from academics across one round (52%), indicating that participants were receptive to the method and motivated to respond. The themes identified as encompassing the most important research priorities were mental health, healthy environment and health behaviours. Within these themes, the topic areas that emerged most strongly included community interventions for prevention of mental health problems and the food and alcohol environment. Some responses received from academic researchers were (as requested) in the form of tractable research questions, whereas others contributed further potential topic areas instead. Delphi-like survey methods are practical and productive as a means of obtaining opinions from a wide number of relevant experts identifying potential priority topic areas for research; however, this method is less appropriate for framing tractable research questions.

Decision Making for the Environment: Social and Behavioral Science Research Priorities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brewer, Garry D., Ed.; Stern, Paul C., Ed.

2005-01-01

With the growing number, complexity, and importance of environmental problems come demands to include a full range of intellectual disciplines and scholarly traditions to help define and eventually manage such problems more effectively. "Decision Making for the Environment: Social and Behavioral Science Research Priorities" is the result…

Evaluation of concurrent priority queue algorithms. Technical report

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

Huang, Q.

1991-02-01

The priority queue is a fundamental data structure that is used in a large variety of parallel algorithms, such as multiprocessor scheduling and parallel best-first search of state-space graphs. This thesis addresses the design and experimental evaluation of two novel concurrent priority queues: a parallel Fibonacci heap and a concurrent priority pool, and compares them with the concurrent binary heap. The parallel Fibonacci heap is based on the sequential Fibonacci heap, which is theoretically the most efficient data structure for sequential priority queues. This scheme not only preserves the efficient operation time bounds of its sequential counterpart, but also hasmore » very low contention by distributing locks over the entire data structure. The experimental results show its linearly scalable throughput and speedup up to as many processors as tested (currently 18). A concurrent access scheme for a doubly linked list is described as part of the implementation of the parallel Fibonacci heap. The concurrent priority pool is based on the concurrent B-tree and the concurrent pool. The concurrent priority pool has the highest throughput among the priority queues studied. Like the parallel Fibonacci heap, the concurrent priority pool scales linearly up to as many processors as tested. The priority queues are evaluated in terms of throughput and speedup. Some applications of concurrent priority queues such as the vertex cover problem and the single source shortest path problem are tested.« less

Whose Problem Is It? The Priority of Physician Wellness in Residency Training.

PubMed

Winkel, Abigail Ford; Nguyen, Anh T; Morgan, Helen K; Valantsevich, Darya; Woodland, Mark B

Physician wellness is associated with improved outcomes for patients and physicians. Wellness is a priority of the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education, and many residencies have programs in place to improve wellness. This study sought to understand how stakeholders in graduate medical education perceive wellness among other educational priorities and whether these programs are improving the experience and training of residents. The Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN)/Association of Professors in Gynecology Wellness Task Force created a survey and distributed it electronically to all OBGYN residents and program directors (PDs) in 2015. The survey included demographics, questions about the priority of wellness in the educational programs, experience with wellness programming, and problems with resident wellness (burnout, depression, binge drinking, suicide/suicide attempts, drug use, or eating disorders). Data rated on a Likert scale were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. Among 248 OBGYN PDs, 149 (60%) completed the survey. Of a total 5274 OBGYN residents nationally, 838 (16%) completed the survey. Most of the residents, 737 (89.4%) reported that they or a colleague experienced some problem with wellness. Many PDs also reported problems with wellness, but 46 (33.9%) reported not being aware of problems in the previous 5 years. When asked to rate the priority of wellness in resident education, <1% (1) PD stated that this was not a priority; however, 85 residents (10%) responded that wellness should not be a priority for residency programs. Resident reports of problems were higher as year in training increased (depression χ 2 = 23.6, p ≤ 0.001; burnout χ 2 = 14.0, p = 0.003; suicide attempt χ 2 = 15.5, p = 0.001; drug use χ 2 = 9.09, p = 0.028; and binge drinking χ 2 = 10.7, p = 0.013). Compared with community programs, university programs reported slightly fewer problems with wellness (χ 2 = 5.4, p = 0.02) and suicide/suicide attempts (χ 2 = 13.3, p = 0.001). Most PDs reported having some programming in place, although residents reported lower rates of feeling that these programs addressed wellness. There is a discrepancy between the perspective that residents and PDs have on resident wellness, and its priority within the residency program. PDs may not be aware of the scope of the problem of resident wellness. These problems increase with year of training, and may be more common in community programs. Current wellness programming may not be effective, and a significant minority of residents feels that wellness is beyond the scope of the training program. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Setting conservation priorities.

PubMed

Wilson, Kerrie A; Carwardine, Josie; Possingham, Hugh P

2009-04-01

A generic framework for setting conservation priorities based on the principles of classic decision theory is provided. This framework encapsulates the key elements of any problem, including the objective, the constraints, and knowledge of the system. Within the context of this framework the broad array of approaches for setting conservation priorities are reviewed. While some approaches prioritize assets or locations for conservation investment, it is concluded here that prioritization is incomplete without consideration of the conservation actions required to conserve the assets at particular locations. The challenges associated with prioritizing investments through time in the face of threats (and also spatially and temporally heterogeneous costs) can be aided by proper problem definition. Using the authors' general framework for setting conservation priorities, multiple criteria can be rationally integrated and where, how, and when to invest conservation resources can be scheduled. Trade-offs are unavoidable in priority setting when there are multiple considerations, and budgets are almost always finite. The authors discuss how trade-offs, risks, uncertainty, feedbacks, and learning can be explicitly evaluated within their generic framework for setting conservation priorities. Finally, they suggest ways that current priority-setting approaches may be improved.

Establishing research priorities relating to the long-term impact of TIA and minor stroke through stakeholder-centred consensus.

PubMed

Turner, Grace M; Backman, Ruth; McMullan, Christel; Mathers, Jonathan; Marshall, Tom; Calvert, Melanie

2018-01-01

What is the problem and why is this important? Mini-strokes are similar to full strokes, but symptoms last less than 24 h. Many people (up to 70%) have long-term problems after a mini-stroke, such as anxiety; depression; problems with brain functioning (like memory loss); and fatigue (feeling tired). However, the current healthcare pathway only focuses on preventing another stroke and care for other long-term problems is not routinely given. Without proper treatment, people with long-term problems after a mini-stroke could have worse quality of life and may find it difficult to return to work and their social activities. What is the aim of the research? We wanted to understand the research priorities of patients, health care professionals and key stakeholders relating to the long-term impact of mini-stroke. How did we address the problem? We invited patients, clinicians, researchers and other stakeholders to attend a meeting. At the meeting people discussed the issues relating to the long-term impact of mini-stroke and came to an agreement on their research priorities. There were three stages: (1) people wrote down their individual research suggestions; (2) in smaller groups people came to an agreement on what their top research questions were; and (3) the whole group agreed final research priorities. What did we find? Eleven people attended who were representatives for patients, GPs, stroke consultants, stroke nurses, psychologists, the Stroke Association (charity) and stroke researchers, The group agreed on eleven research questions which they felt were the most important to improve health and well-being for people who have had a mini-stroke.The eleven research questions encompass a range of categories, including: understanding the existing care patients receive (according to diagnosis and geographical location); exploring what optimal care post-TIA/minor stroke should comprise (identifying and treating impairments, information giving and support groups) and how that care should be delivered (clinical setting and follow-up pathway); impact on family members; and education/training for health care professionals. Background Clinical management after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and minor stroke focuses on stroke prevention. However, evidence demonstrates that many patients experience ongoing residual impairments. Residual impairments post-TIA and minor stroke may affect patients' quality of life and return to work or social activities. Research priorities of patients, health care professionals and key stakeholders relating to the long-term impact of TIA and minor stroke are unknown. Methods Our objective was to establish the top shared research priorities relating to the long-term impact of TIA and minor stroke through stakeholder-centred consensus. A one-day priority setting consensus meeting took place with representatives from different stakeholder groups in October 2016 (Birmingham, UK). Nominal group technique was used to establish research priorities. This involved three stages: (i) gathering research priorities from individual stakeholders; (ii) interim prioritisation in three subgroups; and (iii) final priority setting. Results The priority setting consensus meeting was attended by 11 stakeholders. The individual stakeholders identified 34 different research priorities. During the interim prioritisation exercise, the three subgroups generated 24 unique research priorities which were discussed as a whole group. Following the final consensus discussion, 11 shared research priorities were unanimously agreed.The 11 research questions encompass a range of categories, including: understanding the existing care patients receive (according to diagnosis and geographical location); exploring what optimal care post-TIA/minor stroke should comprise (identifying and treating impairments, information giving and support groups) and how that care should be delivered (clinical setting and follow-up pathway); impact on family members; and education/training for health care professionals. Conclusions Eleven different research priorities were established through stakeholder-centred consensus. These research questions could usefully inform the research agenda and policy decisions for TIA and minor stroke. Inclusion of stakeholders in setting research priorities is important to increase the relevance of research and reduce research waste.

7TH JAPAN - U.S. CONFERENCE ON DRINKING WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND WASTEWATER CONTROL

EPA Science Inventory

Update on U.S. Drinking Water and Water Quality Research

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA) Office of Research and development continues to conduct drinking water and water quality related research to address high priority environmental problems. Curr...

Internalising Symptoms: An Antecedent or Precedent in Adolescent Peer Victimisation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lester, Leanne; Dooley, Julian; Cross, Donna; Shaw, Therese

2012-01-01

The transition period from primary to secondary school is a critical time in adolescent development. The high prevalence of adolescent mental health problems makes understanding the causal pathways between peer victimisation and internalising symptoms an important priority during this time. This article utilises data collected from self-completion…

The Re-Creation and Resolution of the 'Problem' of Indigenous Education in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cross-Curriculum Priority

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maxwell, Jacinta; Lowe, Kevin; Salter, Peta

2018-01-01

This paper focuses on the 'problem' of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education represented in the Australian Curriculum's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority. Looking beyond particular curriculum content, we uncover the policy discourses that construct (and reconstruct) the…

A bi-objective integer programming model for partly-restricted flight departure scheduling

PubMed Central

Guan, Wei; Zhang, Wenyi; Jiang, Shixiong; Fan, Lingling

2018-01-01

The normal studies on air traffic departure scheduling problem (DSP) mainly deal with an independent airport in which the departure traffic is not affected by surrounded airports, which, however, is not a consistent case. In reality, there still exist cases where several commercial airports are closely located and one of them possesses a higher priority. During the peak hours, the departure activities of the lower-priority airports are usually required to give way to those of higher-priority airport. These giving-way requirements can inflict a set of changes on the modeling of departure scheduling problem with respect to the lower-priority airports. To the best of our knowledge, studies on DSP under this condition are scarce. Accordingly, this paper develops a bi-objective integer programming model to address the flight departure scheduling of the partly-restricted (e.g., lower-priority) one among several adjacent airports. An adapted tabu search algorithm is designed to solve the current problem. It is demonstrated from the case study of Tianjin Binhai International Airport in China that the proposed method can obviously improve the operation efficiency, while still realizing superior equity and regularity among restricted flows. PMID:29715299

A bi-objective integer programming model for partly-restricted flight departure scheduling.

PubMed

Zhong, Han; Guan, Wei; Zhang, Wenyi; Jiang, Shixiong; Fan, Lingling

2018-01-01

The normal studies on air traffic departure scheduling problem (DSP) mainly deal with an independent airport in which the departure traffic is not affected by surrounded airports, which, however, is not a consistent case. In reality, there still exist cases where several commercial airports are closely located and one of them possesses a higher priority. During the peak hours, the departure activities of the lower-priority airports are usually required to give way to those of higher-priority airport. These giving-way requirements can inflict a set of changes on the modeling of departure scheduling problem with respect to the lower-priority airports. To the best of our knowledge, studies on DSP under this condition are scarce. Accordingly, this paper develops a bi-objective integer programming model to address the flight departure scheduling of the partly-restricted (e.g., lower-priority) one among several adjacent airports. An adapted tabu search algorithm is designed to solve the current problem. It is demonstrated from the case study of Tianjin Binhai International Airport in China that the proposed method can obviously improve the operation efficiency, while still realizing superior equity and regularity among restricted flows.

Nurturing hostile environments: the problem of school violence.

PubMed

Fredland, Nina M

2008-01-01

Although school violence directly affects the overall health and well-being of children and adolescents, clear priorities have not been identified for dealing with the problem. Horrific events such as the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colo, and recent shootings at Virginia Tech have focused the nation on high-profile, media-worthy school violence to the detriment of addressing everyday forms of violence in schools. Policies that have been developed to reduce school violence have mixed reviews. To raise the consciousness of healthcare professionals, educators, legislators, and the general public, the most salient issues are discussed.

Maine Environmental Priorities Project: Summary of the Reports from the Technical Working Groups to the Steering Committee.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association for Environmental Education, Miami, FL.

The Maine Environmental Priorities Project (MEPP) is a comparative risk project designed to identify, compare, and rank the most serious environmental problems facing Maine. Once the problems are analyzed and ranked according to their threat or risk to Maine's ecological health, human health, and quality of life, the project will propose…

A modified priority list-based MILP method for solving large-scale unit commitment problems

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

Ke, Xinda; Lu, Ning; Wu, Di

This paper studies the typical pattern of unit commitment (UC) results in terms of generator’s cost and capacity. A method is then proposed to combine a modified priority list technique with mixed integer linear programming (MILP) for UC problem. The proposed method consists of two steps. At the first step, a portion of generators are predetermined to be online or offline within a look-ahead period (e.g., a week), based on the demand curve and generator priority order. For the generators whose on/off status is predetermined, at the second step, the corresponding binary variables are removed from the UC MILP problemmore » over the operational planning horizon (e.g., 24 hours). With a number of binary variables removed, the resulted problem can be solved much faster using the off-the-shelf MILP solvers, based on the branch-and-bound algorithm. In the modified priority list method, scale factors are designed to adjust the tradeoff between solution speed and level of optimality. It is found that the proposed method can significantly speed up the UC problem with minor compromise in optimality by selecting appropriate scale factors.« less

Priority setting in clinical nursing practice: literature review.

PubMed

Hendry, Charles; Walker, Anne

2004-08-01

Time is a valuable resource. When nurses experience demands on their services which exceed their available time, then 'rationing' must occur. In clinical practice such rationing requires practitioners to set priorities for care. The aim of this paper is establish what is currently known about priority setting in nursing, including how nurses set priorities and what factors influence this. CINAHL, Medline, ASSIA, and PsychLit databases for the years 1982-2002 were searched, using the terms (clinical decision-making or problem-solving or planning) and (setting priorities or prioriti*). The publications found were used in a selective, descriptive review. Priority setting is an important skill in nursing, and a skill deficit can have serious consequences for patients. Recent studies have suggested that it is a difficult skill for newly qualified nurses to acquire and may not be given sufficient attention in nurse education. Priority setting can be defined as the ordering of nursing problems using notions of urgency and/or importance, in order to establish a preferential order for nursing actions. A number of factors that may impact on priority setting have been identified in the literature. These include: the expertise of the nurse; the patient's condition; the availability of resources; ward organization; philosophies and models of care; the nurse-patient relationship; and the cognitive strategy used by the nurse to set priorities. However, very little empirical work has been conducted in this area. Further study of priority setting in a range of clinical practice settings is necessary. This could inform both practice and education, promote better use of limited resources and maximize patient outcomes.

42 CFR 494.110 - Condition: Quality assessment and performance improvement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... time. (c) Standard: Prioritizing improvement activities. The dialysis facility must set priorities for performance improvement, considering prevalence and severity of identified problems and giving priority to...

Exemplar-Based Image Inpainting Using a Modified Priority Definition.

PubMed

Deng, Liang-Jian; Huang, Ting-Zhu; Zhao, Xi-Le

2015-01-01

Exemplar-based algorithms are a popular technique for image inpainting. They mainly have two important phases: deciding the filling-in order and selecting good exemplars. Traditional exemplar-based algorithms are to search suitable patches from source regions to fill in the missing parts, but they have to face a problem: improper selection of exemplars. To improve the problem, we introduce an independent strategy through investigating the process of patches propagation in this paper. We first define a new separated priority definition to propagate geometry and then synthesize image textures, aiming to well recover image geometry and textures. In addition, an automatic algorithm is designed to estimate steps for the new separated priority definition. Comparing with some competitive approaches, the new priority definition can recover image geometry and textures well.

Exemplar-Based Image Inpainting Using a Modified Priority Definition

PubMed Central

Deng, Liang-Jian; Huang, Ting-Zhu; Zhao, Xi-Le

2015-01-01

Exemplar-based algorithms are a popular technique for image inpainting. They mainly have two important phases: deciding the filling-in order and selecting good exemplars. Traditional exemplar-based algorithms are to search suitable patches from source regions to fill in the missing parts, but they have to face a problem: improper selection of exemplars. To improve the problem, we introduce an independent strategy through investigating the process of patches propagation in this paper. We first define a new separated priority definition to propagate geometry and then synthesize image textures, aiming to well recover image geometry and textures. In addition, an automatic algorithm is designed to estimate steps for the new separated priority definition. Comparing with some competitive approaches, the new priority definition can recover image geometry and textures well. PMID:26492491

Arthropod genomics research in the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service: Current impacts and future prospects

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the intramural research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) which employs scientists to conduct basic and applied research aimed to develop and transfer solutions to agricultural problems of high national priority and to ensure food...

Extending the TSP to Systems Engineering: Early Results from Team Process Integration

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-01

within ±10 percent of what was planned, and there were no high-priority problem reports coming out of test. Employee Work / Life Balance TPI helped improve...employee work / life balance . In order to get their job done before implementing TPI, employees rou- tinely worked overtime. With TPI (and in COMING

Evaluating shrinkage of wood propellers in a high-temperature environment

Treesearch

Richard Bergman; Robert J. Ross

2008-01-01

Minimizing wood shrinkage is a priority for many wood products in use, particularly engineered products manufactured to close tolerances, such as wood propellers for unmanned surveillance aircraft used in military operations. Those currently in service in the Middle East are experiencing performance problems as a consequence of wood shrinking during long-term storage...

The Impact of a District-Wide Staff Development Effort on Secondary School Principals' Perceptions of Their Role.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeFigio, Nicholas; Hughes, Sean

Increasingly, principals are being viewed as instructional leaders, professional educators active in initiating and planning teacher development programs. While most principals consider instructional leadership a high priority, they spend much of their time solving routine problems and confronting minor crises. Immediate, short-term responses take…

A Comparison of Patched HOTV Visual Acuity and Photoscreening

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leman, Rachel; Clausen, Michelle M.; Bates, Janice; Stark, Lee; Arnold, Koni K.; Arnold, Robert W.

2006-01-01

Early detection of significant vision problems in children is a high priority for pediatricians and school nurses. Routine vision screening is a necessary part of that detection and has traditionally involved acuity charts. However, photoscreening in which "red eye" is elicited to show whether each eye is focusing may outperform routine acuity…

High-Priority Equipment Needs for Instruction at Postsecondary Institutions in New York State. A Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diamond, Celia B.

Acquisition and maintenance of instructional equipment by colleges and universities in New York State, problems encountered, and possible solutions were assessed through a fall 1986 survey of public and private colleges. The study population consisted of colleges offering scientific and technical instruction in 1985-1986. Responses were received…

Applications of UAV imagery for agricultural and environmental research at the USDA Southeast Watershed Research Lab

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The ARS is the USDA's in-house scientific research agency, whose mission is to conduct research to "develop and transfer solutions to agricultural problems of high national priority..." This includes enhancing the natural resource base and the environment, a dimension of particular relevance to the ...

Vocational Education's Image for the 21st Century. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Catri, Deborah Bingham

Because of its pervasive "image problem," vocational education (VE) is not being given high priority by leaders of the new vocational education school reform movement and it is being forced to compete against others in the arena of education for a shrinking student population and scarce resources. Like other service industries, VE has…

Pay As You Go: A Better Way of Funding School Construction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carey, Kelley D.

2000-01-01

Pay-as-you-go funding (via local option sales taxes or earmarked property taxes) is superior to floating expensive bond issues to resolve school construction crises. Districts can plan projects more thoughtfully, focus on project priorities, avoid arbitrage problems and high insurance costs, and address socioeconomic considerations more equitably.…

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

Duchaineau, M.; Wolinsky, M.; Sigeti, D.E.

Terrain visualization is a difficult problem for applications requiring accurate images of large datasets at high frame rates, such as flight simulation and ground-based aircraft testing using synthetic sensor stimulation. On current graphics hardware, the problem is to maintain dynamic, view-dependent triangle meshes and texture maps that produce good images at the required frame rate. We present an algorithm for constructing triangle meshes that optimizes flexible view-dependent error metrics, produces guaranteed error bounds, achieves specified triangle counts directly, and uses frame-to-frame coherence to operate at high frame rates for thousands of triangles per frame. Our method, dubbed Real-time Optimally Adaptingmore » Meshes (ROAM), uses two priority queues to drive split and merge operations that maintain continuous triangulations built from pre-processed bintree triangles. We introduce two additional performance optimizations: incremental triangle stripping and priority-computation deferral lists. ROAM execution time is proportionate to the number of triangle changes per frame, which is typically a few percent of the output mesh size, hence ROAM performance is insensitive to the resolution and extent of the input terrain. Dynamic terrain and simple vertex morphing are supported.« less

[Problems in transferring a research institute of ophthalmology to new economic system].

PubMed

Travkin, A G; Zolotova, O A; Kiseleva, O A; Ter-Grigorian, M G; Megreladze, T S; Mazurova, L M

1991-01-01

Introduction of new economic principles in the activities of medical research institutions helps extend the rights and responsibilities of the institutes' stuff and make them economically interested in the results of their activity; these principles provide high quality of treatment and prophylaxis work and permit concentrating all the resources on the priority trends in medical research. The authors discuss the pressing problems in introducing the cost accounting system in the activity of a research institute in ophthalmology.

International Organization for Migration: experience on the need for medical evacuation of refugees during the Kosovo crisis in 1999.

PubMed

Szilard, Istvan; Cserti, Arpad; Hoxha, Ruhija; Gorbacheva, Olga; O'Rourke, Thomas

2002-04-01

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) developed and implemented a three-month project entitled Priority Medical Screening of Kosovar Refugees in Macedonia, within the Humanitarian Evacuation Program (HEP) for Kosovar refugees from FR Yugoslavia, which was adopted in May 1999. The project was based on an agreement with the office of United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and comprised the entry of registration data of refugees with medical condition (Priority Medical Database), and classification (Priority Medical Screening) and medical evacuation of refugees (Priority Medical Evacuation) in Macedonia. To realize the Priority Medical Screening project plan, IOM developed and set up a Medical Database linked to IOM/UNHCR HEP database, recruited and trained a four-member data entry team, worked out and set up a referral system for medical cases from the refugee camps, and established and staffed medical contact office for refugees in Skopje and Tetovo. Furthermore, it organized and staffed a mobile medical screening team, developed and implemented the system and criteria for the classification of referred medical cases, continuously registered and classified the incoming medical reports, contacted regularly the national delegates and referred to them the medically prioritized cases asking for acceptance and evacuation, and co-operated and continuously exchanged the information with UNHCR Medical Co-ordination and HEP team. Within the timeframe of the project, 1,032 medical cases were successfully evacuated for medical treatment to 25 host countries throughout the world. IOM found that those refugees suffering from health problems, who at the time of the termination of the program were still in Macedonia and had not been assisted by the project, were not likely to have been priority one cases, whose health problems could be solved only in a third country. The majority of these vulnerable people needed social rather than medical care and assistance a challenge that international aid agencies needed to address in Macedonia and will need to address elsewhere.

Latin America Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-06-13

industry problems and the increasing use of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), had convinced Caricom states of the necessity of carefully monitoring the...arrangements included a selection of high priority commodities pro’duction!3Ś "^ *" Caribbean* as wel1 as Protective measures^forTegional The ministers...such as paper, printing machinery, peaches preserved in syrup , and other items. The way was cleared for trade in jute cloth and concentrated grape

The Value Priorities of Young People in the Siberian Region

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orlova, V. V.

2010-01-01

This article discusses the implications of the survey results involving young people in the Siberian Region on their value priorities. In the process of their socialization, special importance attaches to the problem of the value priorities of young people. Among these, in the authors opinion, it is possible to single out both spiritual and moral…

Research priorities about stoma-related quality of life from the perspective of people with a stoma: A pilot survey.

PubMed

Hubbard, Gill; Taylor, Claire; Beeken, Becca; Campbell, Anna; Gracey, Jackie; Grimmett, Chloe; Fisher, Abi; Ozakinci, Gozde; Slater, Sarah; Gorely, Trish

2017-12-01

There is a recognized need to include patients in setting research priorities. Research priorities identified by people with a stoma are rarely elicited. To improve the quality of life of people with a stoma through use of evidence-based practice based on research priorities set by patients. Online pilot survey publicized in 2016 via United Kingdom stoma charities. People ranked nine stoma-related quality of life topics in order of research priority. People 16 years of age and over who currently have or have had a stoma for treatment for any medical condition. Distributions of the priority scores for each of the nine research topics were examined. Group differences were explored using either the Mann-Whitney U-test or the Kruskal-Wallis test depending on the number of groups. In total, 225 people completed the survey. The most important research priority was pouch leak problems and stoma bag/appliance problems followed by hernia risk. There were statistically significant differences in ranking research priorities between males and females, age, underlying disease that led to a stoma, stoma type and length of time with a stoma. People with a stoma are willing to engage in and set research priorities. The results should contribute towards future research about setting the research agenda for the study of stoma-related concerns that impact quality of life. © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Research priorities for shoulder surgery: results of the 2015 James Lind Alliance patient and clinician priority setting partnership.

PubMed

Rangan, Amar; Upadhaya, Sheela; Regan, Sandra; Toye, Francine; Rees, Jonathan L

2016-04-11

To run a UK based James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership for 'Surgery for Common Shoulder Problems'. This was a nationally funded and conducted process. It was organised from a musculoskeletal research centre and Biomedical Research Unit in Oxford. UK shoulder patients, carers and clinicians, involved in treating patients with shoulder pain and shoulder problems that might require surgery. These were national electronic and paper surveys capturing treatment uncertainties that are important to shoulder patients, carers and clinicians. The outcomes relevant to this study were the survey results and rankings. The process took 18 months to complete, with 371 participants contributing 404 in scope questions. The James Lind process then produced a final 10 research priorities and uncertainties that relate to the scope of 'Surgery for Common Shoulder Problems'. The final top 10 UK research priorities have been produced and are now being disseminated to partner organisations and funders to guide funding of shoulder research for the next 5-10 years on topics that are important to patients, their carers and clinicians. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Optimized Enhanced Bioremediation Through 4D Geophysical Monitoring and Autonomous Data Collection, Processing and Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

High Fructose Corn Syrup Diluted 1 to 10 percent by weight 50 to 500 mg/l Slow Release Whey (fresh/powered) Dissolved (powdered form) or injected...the assessment of remedial progress and functioning. This project also addressed several high priority needs from the Navy Environmental Quality...memory high -performance computing systems. For instance, as of March 2012 the code has been successfully executed on 2 cpu’s for an inversion problem

Thinking Beyond the Silos: Emerging Priorities in Workforce Development for State and Local Government Public Health Agencies

PubMed Central

Kaufman, Nancy J.; Castrucci, Brian C.; Pearsol, Jim; Leider, Jonathon P.; Sellers, Katie; Kaufman, Ira R.; Fehrenbach, Lacy M.; Liss-Levinson, Rivka; Lewis, Melissa; Jarris, Paul E.; Sprague, James B.

2014-01-01

Context: Discipline-specific workforce development initiatives have been a focus in recent years. This is due, in part, to competency-based training standards and funding sources that reinforce programmatic silos within state and local health departments. Objective: National leadership groups representing the specific disciplines within public health were asked to look beyond their discipline-specific priorities and collectively assess the priorities, needs, and characteristics of the governmental public health workforce. Design: The challenges and opportunities facing the public health workforce and crosscutting priority training needs of the public health workforce as a whole were evaluated. Key informant interviews were conducted with 31 representatives from public health member organizations and federal agencies. Interviews were coded and analyzed for major themes. Next, 10 content briefs were created on the basis of priority areas within workforce development. Finally, an in-person priority setting meeting was held to identify top workforce development needs and priorities across all disciplines within public health. Participants: Representatives from 31 of 37 invited public health organizations participated, including representatives from discipline-specific member organizations, from national organizations and from federal agencies. Results: Systems thinking, communicating persuasively, change management, information and analytics, problem solving, and working with diverse populations were the major crosscutting areas prioritized. Conclusions: Decades of categorical funding created a highly specialized and knowledgeable workforce that lacks many of the foundational skills now most in demand. The balance between core and specialty training should be reconsidered. PMID:24667228

Thinking beyond the silos: emerging priorities in workforce development for state and local government public health agencies.

PubMed

Kaufman, Nancy J; Castrucci, Brian C; Pearsol, Jim; Leider, Jonathon P; Sellers, Katie; Kaufman, Ira R; Fehrenbach, Lacy M; Liss-Levinson, Rivka; Lewis, Melissa; Jarris, Paul E; Sprague, James B

2014-01-01

Discipline-specific workforce development initiatives have been a focus in recent years. This is due, in part, to competency-based training standards and funding sources that reinforce programmatic silos within state and local health departments. National leadership groups representing the specific disciplines within public health were asked to look beyond their discipline-specific priorities and collectively assess the priorities, needs, and characteristics of the governmental public health workforce. The challenges and opportunities facing the public health workforce and crosscutting priority training needs of the public health workforce as a whole were evaluated. Key informant interviews were conducted with 31 representatives from public health member organizations and federal agencies. Interviews were coded and analyzed for major themes. Next, 10 content briefs were created on the basis of priority areas within workforce development. Finally, an in-person priority setting meeting was held to identify top workforce development needs and priorities across all disciplines within public health. Representatives from 31 of 37 invited public health organizations participated, including representatives from discipline-specific member organizations, from national organizations and from federal agencies. Systems thinking, communicating persuasively, change management, information and analytics, problem solving, and working with diverse populations were the major crosscutting areas prioritized. Decades of categorical funding created a highly specialized and knowledgeable workforce that lacks many of the foundational skills now most in demand. The balance between core and specialty training should be reconsidered.

Fuel Cell Development for NASA's Human Exploration Program: Benchmarking with "The Hydrogen Economy"

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scott, John H.

2007-01-01

The theoretically high efficiency and low temperature operation of hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells has motivated them to be the subject of much study since their invention in the 19th Century, but their relatively high life cycle costs kept them as a "solution in search of a problem" for many years. The first problem for which fuel cells presented a truly cost effective solution was that of providing a power source for NASA's human spaceflight vehicles in the 1960 s. NASA thus invested, and continues to invest, in the development of fuel cell power plants for this application. This development program continues to place its highest priorities on requirements for minimum system mass and maximum durability and reliability. These priorities drive fuel cell power plant design decisions at all levels, even that of catalyst support. However, since the mid-1990's, prospective environmental regulations have driven increased governmental and industrial interest in "green power" and the "Hydrogen Economy." This has in turn stimulated greatly increased investment in fuel cell development for a variety of commercial applications. This investment is bringing about notable advances in fuel cell technology, but, as these development efforts place their highest priority on requirements for minimum life cycle cost and field safety, these advances are yielding design solutions quite different at almost every level from those needed for spacecraft applications. This environment thus presents both opportunities and challenges for NASA's Human Exploration Program

Survey report; health needs of the 21st century.

PubMed

Raymond, S U

1989-01-01

Sustainability of development assistance programs depends greatly on the perceptions of priorities by recipient countries. A written survey was sent by the Catholic University of America's Institute for International Health and Development to 66 ministers of health in low-income and middle-income countries to assess their views of priority problems in health sector development. Response rate was 33%, coming from countries with highly diverse gross national products (GNPs), growth rates, mortality rates and life expectancies. Nevertheless, there was widespread agreement about priorities: 1) meeting costs of health care; 2) improving health care management and administration; and 3) extending communicable disease control. Communicable disease control and child health programs were more important to low-income countries than to middle-income countries. Costs, management and administration and the control of noncommunicable diseases were predicted to increase in importance. In demographics, urbanization, overall population growth and shift of workers from agriculture to industry and services were seen as the major problems of the past, and urbanization and the aging of populations accompanied by increasing life expectancies the major challenges of the future. Highest predicted training needs were for system managers and paramedical personnel. Government budgets, user fees and donor agencies were seen as the most important sources of past funding, with social security systems and fee-based payments increasing in importance in the future. The role of donor agencies would increase as would the need for more responsiveness. Future uncertainties include national economic growth, environmental problems, issues in ethics and changes in disease and technology.

Informing evidence-based policies for ageing and health in Ghana

PubMed Central

Byles, Julie; Aquah, Charles; Amofah, George; Biritwum, Richard; Panisset, Ulysses; Goodwin, James; Beard, John

2015-01-01

Abstract Problem Ghana’s population is ageing. In 2011, the Government of Ghana requested technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO) to help revise national policies on ageing and health. Approach We applied WHO’s knowledge translation framework on ageing and health to assist evidence based policy-making in Ghana. First, we defined priority problems and health system responses by performing a country assessment of epidemiologic data, policy review, site visits and interviews of key informants. Second, we gathered evidence on effective health systems interventions in low- middle- and high-income countries. Third, key stakeholders were engaged in a policy dialogue. Fourth, policy briefs were developed and presented to the Ghana Health Services. Local setting Ghana has a well-structured health system that can adapt to meet the health care needs of older people. Relevant changes Six problems were selected as priorities, however after the policy dialogue, only five were agreed as priorities by the stakeholders. The key stakeholders drafted evidence-based policy recommendations that were used to develop policy briefs. The briefs were presented to the Ghana Health Service in 2014. Lessons learnt The framework can be used to build local capacity on evidence-informed policy-making. However, knowledge translation tools need further development to be used in low-income countries and in the field of ageing. The terms and language of the tools need to be adapted to local contexts. Evidence for health system interventions on ageing populations is very limited, particularly for low- and middle-income settings. PMID:25558107

Report of the DOD-University Forum Working Group on Engineering and Science Education.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-07-01

high priority to strengthening our national base of scientific and technical personnel. That included im- mediate emphasis on training people in the...4 - DOD Requirements for Civilian Engineering and Scientific Personnel .. 5 - DOD Requirements for Military Engineering and Scientific ...15 - The Problem is Quality ................ o................. ...... 15 - The Quality of Engineering and Scientific Personnel in

The Soaring Cost of Health Care. 1984 National Issues Forum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melville, Keith, Ed.

Appropriate for secondary school social studies, this booklet covers the causes, problems, and possible solutions for the high cost of American health care. The topic is discussed in five sections. The first section, "The $350 Billion Health Care Bill," discusses how the nation's priority on health care has led to the emergence of medicine as…

Iraqi health system in kurdistan region: medical professionals' perspectives on challenges and priorities for improvement.

PubMed

Shabila, Nazar P; Al-Tawil, Namir G; Tahir, Rebaz; Shwani, Falah H; Saleh, Abubakir M; Al-Hadithi, Tariq S

2010-11-30

The views of medical professionals on efficiency of health system and needs for any changes are very critical and constitute a cornerstone for any health system improvement. This is particularly relevant to Iraqi Kurdistan case as the events of the last few decades have significantly devastated the national Iraqi health system while the necessity for adopting a new health care system is increasingly recognized since 2004. This study aims to examine the regional health system in Iraqi Kurdistan from medical professionals' perspectives and try to define its problems and priorities for improvement. A survey questionnaire was developed and administered to a convenience sample of 250 medical professionals in Erbil governorate. The questionnaire included four items; rating of the quality of services and availability of resources in the health institutions, view on different aspects of the health system, the perceived priority needs for health system improvement and gender and professional characteristics of the respondents. The response rate to the survey was 83.6%. A high proportion of respondents rated the different aspects of services and resources in the health institutions as weak or very weak including the availability of the required quantity and quality of medicines (68.7%), the availability of sufficient medical equipment and investigation tools (68.7%), and the quality of offered services (65.3%). Around 72% of respondents had a rather negative view on the overall health system. The weak role of medical research, the weak role of professional associations in controlling the system and the inefficient health education were identified as important problems in the current health system (87.9%, 87.1% and 84.9%, respectively). The priority needs of health system improvement included adoption of social insurance for medical care of the poor (82%), enhancing the role of family medicine (77.2%), adopting health insurance system (76.1%) and periodic scientific evaluation of physicians and other health staff (69.8%). Medical professionals were generally unsatisfied with the different aspects of the health system in Iraqi Kurdistan region. A number of problems and different priority needs for health system improvement have been recognized that require to be studied in more details.

Exercise-induced amenorrhea and bone health in the adolescent athlete.

PubMed

Warren, Michelle P; Chua, Abigail T

2008-01-01

Female participation in high school athletics has increased 800% in the last 30 years. The problem of exercise-induced amenorrhea was initially thought to be analogous to hypoestrogenism, but recent studies suggest that nutritional issues underlie most of the pathophysiology and that the mechanism is different from that seen in the primary hypogonadal state. Exercise-induced amenorrhea can be an indicator of an energy drain, and the presence of the other components of the female athlete triad-bone density loss and eating disorders-must be determined as well. Addressing skeletal problems related to nutritional and hormonal deficiencies in this population is of very high priority.

Priority arbitration mechanism

DOEpatents

Garmire, Derrick L [Kingston, NY; Herring, Jay R [Poughkeepsie, NY; Stunkel, Craig B [Bethel, CT

2007-03-06

A method is provided for selecting a data source for transmission on one of several logical (virtual) lanes embodied in a single physical connection. Lanes are assigned to either a high priority class or to a low priority class. One of six conditions is employed to determine when re-arbitration of lane priorities is desired. When this occurs a next source for transmission is selected based on a the specification of the maximum number of high priority packets that can be sent after a lower priority transmission has been interrupted. Alternatively, a next source for transmission is selected based on a the specification of the maximum number of high priority packets that can be sent while a lower priority packet is waiting. If initialized correctly, the arbiter keeps all of the packets of a high priority packet contiguous, while allowing lower priority packets to be interrupted by the higher priority packets, but not to the point of starvation of the lower priority packets.

Increasing the productivity of the nation's urban transportation infrastructure: Measures to increase transit use and carpooling. Final report

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

Kain, J.F.; Gittell, R.; Daniere, A.

1992-01-01

The report surveys the growing use of bus and carpool priority measures to increase the productivity of the nation's transportation infrastructure. While it identifies a wide variety of priority measures, the report principally focuses on the planning and operation of exclusive and shared busways and high occupancy vehicle (HOV) facilities. It presents a variety of case studies describing the implementation of busways and transitways. The document also compares the cost effectiveness of exclusive busways and bus-HOV facilities with the cost effectiveness of recently completed light and heavy rail lines. It also explores the options and problems in serving large downtownmore » areas.« less

Antibacterial resistance leadership group: open for business.

PubMed

Chambers, Henry F; Bartlett, John G; Bonomo, Robert A; Chiou, Christine; Cosgrove, Sara E; Cross, Heather R; Daum, Robert S; Downing, Michele; Evans, Scott R; Knisely, Jane; Kreiswirth, Barry N; Lautenbach, Ebbing; Mickley, Brenda S; Patel, Robin; Pettigrew, Melinda M; Rodvold, Keith A; Spellberg, Brad; Fowler, Vance G

2014-06-01

Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group (ARLG) is tasked with developing a clinical research agenda and conducting clinical studies to address the growing public health threat of antibacterial resistance. The ARLG has identified 4 high-priority areas of research: infections caused by gram-negative bacteria, infections caused by gram-positive bacteria, antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention, and diagnostics. The ARLG will be accepting proposals from the scientific community for clinical research that addresses 1 or more of these high-priority areas. These studies should have the potential to transform medical practice and be unlikely to occur without ARLG support. The purpose of this article is to make interested parties aware of clinical research opportunities made available by ARLG and to encourage submission of clinical research proposals that address the problem of antibacterial resistance.

Biofiltration of Volatile Pollutants: Engineering Mechanisms for Improved Design, Long-term Operation, Prediction and Implementation

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

Davison, Brian H.

1999-06-01

Biofiltration systems can be used for treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); however, the systems are poorly understood and are currently operated as ''black boxes''. Common operational problems associated with biofilters include fouling, deactivation, and overgrowth, all of which make them ineffective for continuous, long-term use. The objective of this investigation is to develop generic methods for longterm stable operation, in particular by using selective limitation of supplemental nutrients while maintaining high activity. As part of this effort, we will provide deeper fundamental understanding of the important biological and transport mechanisms in biodestruction of sparingly soluble VOCs and extend thismore » approach and mathematical models to additional systems of high priority EM relevance--direct degradation and cometabolic degradation of priority pollutants such as BTEX and chlorinated organics.« less

BIOFILTRATION OF VOLATILE POLLUTANTS: Fundamental Mechanisms for Improved Design, Long-term Operation, Prediction, and Implementation

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

Davison, Brian H.; Klasson, K. Thomas; Barton, John W.

2000-06-01

Biofiltration systems can be used for treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); however, the systems are poorly understood and are currently operated as ''black boxes''. Common operational problems associated with biofilters include fouling, deactivation, and overgrowth, all of which make them ineffective for continuous, long-term use. The objective of this investigation is to develop generic methods for long-term stable operation, in particular by using selective limitation of supplemental nutrients while maintaining high activity. As part of this effort, we will provide deeper fundamental understanding of the important biological and transport mechanisms in biodestruction of sparingly soluble VOCs and extend thismore » approach and mathematical models to additional systems of high priority EM relevance--direct degradation and cometabolic degradation of priority pollutants such as BTEX and chlorinated organics.« less

The method of selecting an integrated development territory for the high-rise unique constructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheina, Svetlana; Shevtsova, Elina; Sukhinin, Alexander; Priss, Elena

2018-03-01

On the basis of data provided by the Department of architecture and urban planning of the city of Rostov-on-don, the problem of the choice of the territory for complex development that will be in priority for the construction of high-rise and unique buildings is solved. The objective of the study was the development of a methodology for selection of the area and the implementation of the proposed method on the example of evaluation of four-territories complex development. The developed method along with standard indicators of complex evaluation considers additional indicators that assess the territory from the position of high-rise unique building. The final result of the study is the rankings of the functional priority areas that takes into account the construction of both residential and public and business objects of unique high-rise construction. The use of the developed methodology will allow investors and customers to assess the investment attractiveness of the future unique construction project on the proposed site.

Science Indicators and Science Priorities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Harvey

1982-01-01

Discusses science/society interface and difficulties involved in developing realistic science indicators. Topics include: intrinsic vs. extrinsic indicators; four problems society faces as a result of technological activities (toxic chemicals, radioactive wastes, auto safety, cancer); research and development (R&D) priorities; international…

Priority regions for research on dryland cereals and legumes

PubMed Central

Hyman, Glenn; Barona, Elizabeth; Biradar, Chandrashekhar; Guevara, Edward; Dixon, John; Beebe, Steve; Castano, Silvia Elena; Alabi, Tunrayo; Gumma, Murali Krishna; Sivasankar, Shoba; Rivera, Ovidio; Espinosa, Herlin; Cardona, Jorge

2016-01-01

Dryland cereals and legumes  are important crops in farming systems across the world.  Yet they are frequently neglected among the priorities for international agricultural research and development, often due to lack of information on their magnitude and extent. Given what we know about the global distribution of dryland cereals and legumes, what regions should be high priority for research and development to improve livelihoods and food security? This research evaluated the geographic dimensions of these crops and the farming systems where they are found worldwide. The study employed geographic information science and data to assess the key farming systems and regions for these crops. Dryland cereal and legume crops should be given high priority in 18 farming systems worldwide, where their cultivated area comprises more than 160 million ha. These regions include the dryer areas of South Asia, West and East Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Central America and other parts of Asia. These regions are prone to drought and heat stress, have limiting soil constraints, make up half of the global population and account for 60 percent of the global poor and malnourished. The dryland cereal and legume crops and farming systems merit more research and development attention to improve productivity and address development problems. This project developed an open access dataset and information resource that provides the basis for future analysis of the geographic dimensions of dryland cereals and legumes. PMID:27303632

Conservative parallel simulation of priority class queueing networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicol, David

1992-01-01

A conservative synchronization protocol is described for the parallel simulation of queueing networks having C job priority classes, where a job's class is fixed. This problem has long vexed designers of conservative synchronization protocols because of its seemingly poor ability to compute lookahead: the time of the next departure. For, a job in service having low priority can be preempted at any time by an arrival having higher priority and an arbitrarily small service time. The solution is to skew the event generation activity so that the events for higher priority jobs are generated farther ahead in simulated time than lower priority jobs. Thus, when a lower priority job enters service for the first time, all the higher priority jobs that may preempt it are already known and the job's departure time can be exactly predicted. Finally, the protocol was analyzed and it was demonstrated that good performance can be expected on the simulation of large queueing networks.

Conservative parallel simulation of priority class queueing networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicol, David M.

1990-01-01

A conservative synchronization protocol is described for the parallel simulation of queueing networks having C job priority classes, where a job's class is fixed. This problem has long vexed designers of conservative synchronization protocols because of its seemingly poor ability to compute lookahead: the time of the next departure. For, a job in service having low priority can be preempted at any time by an arrival having higher priority and an arbitrarily small service time. The solution is to skew the event generation activity so that the events for higher priority jobs are generated farther ahead in simulated time than lower priority jobs. Thus, when a lower priority job enters service for the first time, all the higher priority jobs that may preempt it are already known and the job's departure time can be exactly predicted. Finally, the protocol was analyzed and it was demonstrated that good performance can be expected on the simulation of large queueing networks.

The Future of Statistical Software. Proceedings of a Forum--Panel on Guidelines for Statistical Software (Washington, D.C., February 22, 1991).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council, Washington, DC.

The Panel on Guidelines for Statistical Software was organized in 1990 to document, assess, and prioritize problem areas regarding quality and reliability of statistical software; present prototype guidelines in high priority areas; and make recommendations for further research and discussion. This document provides the following papers presented…

Agricultural Research Needs and Priorities as Perceived by West Virginia Vocational Agriculture Teachers and County Extension Agents. Miscellaneous Publication 11.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chalamira, Lucas R.; Lawrence, Layle D.

Data were obtained in 1982 from 196 vocational agriculture teachers and 48 county agricultural extension agents identifying specific problems in West Virginia's agriculture that were most in need of research solutions. Multiflora rose eradication, coping with high production costs and interest rates, and improving state level funding for extension…

Individual and Community Predictors of Preterm Birth and Low Birthweight along the Rural-Urban Continuum in Central Pennsylvania

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hillemeier, Marianne M.; Weisman, Carol S.; Chase, Gary A.; Dyer, Anne-Marie

2007-01-01

Context: Preterm birth and low birthweight remain high priority public health problems and are associated with increased risk of infant mortality as well as long-term health impairments. Although 20% of all births nationally are to rural women, relatively little attention has been paid to pregnancy outcomes in rural areas relative to more…

Shaping the Health Policy Agenda: The Case of Safe Motherhood Policy in Vietnam

PubMed Central

Ha, Bui Thi Thu; Mirzoev, Tolib; Mukhopadhyay, Maitrayee

2015-01-01

Background: Maternal health remains a central policy concern in Vietnam. With a commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 target of maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 70/100 000 by 2015, the Ministry of Health (MoH) issued the National Plan for Safe Motherhood (NPSM) 2003-2010. In 2008, reproductive health, including safe motherhood (SM) became a national health target program with annual government funding. Methods: A case study of how SM emerged as a political priority in Vietnam over the period 2001-2008, drawing on Kingdon’s theory of agenda-setting was conducted. A mixed method was adopted for this study of the NPSM. Results: Three related streams contributed to SM priority in Vietnam: (1) the problem of high MMR was officially recognized from high-quality research, (2) the strong roles of policy champion from MoH in advocating for the needs to reducing MMR as well as support from government and donors, and (3) the national and international events, providing favorable context for this issue to emerge on policy agenda. Conclusion: This paper draws on the theory of agenda-setting to analyze the Vietnam experience and to develop guidance for SM a political priority in other high maternal mortality communities. PMID:26673334

Civil Aviation Research and Development /CARD/ Policy Study.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Syvertson, C. A.

1971-01-01

The results of the study lead to a number of conclusions regarding priority areas for R and D. It was found that aircraft noise abatement deserves highest priority because of widespread concern for the environment and because the success of the noise-abatement program will affect the solutions to other problems. Congestion is next on the list of priority problems. Its solution will involve an organized effort directed at the combination of air traffic control, runway capacity, ground control of aircraft, terminal processing, access and egress, parking, and airport location, acquisition, and development. A new short-haul system could help relieve congestion at existing airports. Constant improvements in technology for long-haul vehicles and their propulsion systems are essential to continued U.S. leadership.

Multidisciplinary and participatory workshops with stakeholders in a community of extreme poverty in the Peruvian Amazon: Development of priority concerns and potential health, nutrition and education interventions

PubMed Central

Casapia, Martin; Joseph, Serene A; Gyorkos, Theresa W

2007-01-01

Background Communities of extreme poverty suffer disproportionately from a wide range of adverse outcomes, but are often neglected or underserved by organized services and research attention. In order to target the first Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty, thereby reducing health inequalities, participatory research in these communities is needed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the priority problems and respective potential cost-effective interventions in Belen, a community of extreme poverty in the Peruvian Amazon, using a multidisciplinary and participatory focus. Methods Two multidisciplinary and participatory workshops were conducted with important stakeholders from government, non-government and community organizations, national institutes and academic institutions. In Workshop 1, participants prioritized the main health and health-related problems in the community of Belen. Problem trees were developed to show perceived causes and effects for the top six problems. In Workshop 2, following presentations describing data from recently completed field research in school and household populations of Belen, participants listed potential interventions for the priority problems, including associated barriers, enabling factors, costs and benefits. Results The top ten priority problems in Belen were identified as: 1) infant malnutrition; 2) adolescent pregnancy; 3) diarrhoea; 4) anaemia; 5) parasites; 6) lack of basic sanitation; 7) low level of education; 8) sexually transmitted diseases; 9) domestic violence; and 10) delayed school entry. Causes and effects for the top six problems, proposed interventions, and factors relating to the implementation of interventions were multidisciplinary in nature and included health, nutrition, education, social and environmental issues. Conclusion The two workshops provided valuable insight into the main health and health-related problems facing the community of Belen. The participatory focus of the workshops ensured the active involvement of important stakeholders from Belen. Based on the results of the workshops, effective and essential interventions are now being planned which will contribute to reducing health inequalities in the community. PMID:17623093

An automated system for reduction of the firm's employees under maximal overall efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yonchev, Yoncho; Nikolov, Simeon; Baeva, Silvia

2012-11-01

Achieving maximal overall efficiency is a priority in all companies. This problem is formulated as a knap-sack problem and afterwards as a linear assignment problem. An automated system is created for solving of this problem.

Feature Selection Method Based on Neighborhood Relationships: Applications in EEG Signal Identification and Chinese Character Recognition

PubMed Central

Zhao, Yu-Xiang; Chou, Chien-Hsing

2016-01-01

In this study, a new feature selection algorithm, the neighborhood-relationship feature selection (NRFS) algorithm, is proposed for identifying rat electroencephalogram signals and recognizing Chinese characters. In these two applications, dependent relationships exist among the feature vectors and their neighboring feature vectors. Therefore, the proposed NRFS algorithm was designed for solving this problem. By applying the NRFS algorithm, unselected feature vectors have a high priority of being added into the feature subset if the neighboring feature vectors have been selected. In addition, selected feature vectors have a high priority of being eliminated if the neighboring feature vectors are not selected. In the experiments conducted in this study, the NRFS algorithm was compared with two feature algorithms. The experimental results indicated that the NRFS algorithm can extract the crucial frequency bands for identifying rat vigilance states and identifying crucial character regions for recognizing Chinese characters. PMID:27314346

The no-show rate in a high-risk obstetric clinic.

PubMed

Campbell, J D; Chez, R A; Queen, T; Barcelo, A; Patron, E

2000-10-01

We wished to determine the reasons for an average missed appointment rate of 28% in a high-risk pregnancy clinic. Only 41% of the 261 women in the study group could be reached by telephone. The reasons included not having a phone, the phone had been disconnected, incorrect phone number on the chart, the patient had moved, and the patient did not respond to the answering machine message. The reasons for missing the appointment included lack of transportation, scheduling problems, overslept or forgot, presence of a sick child or relative, and lack of child care. The response of patients to assessing prenatal care may reflect their priority of medical care relative to other priorities associated with day-to-day existence. There may be a baseline missed appointment rate for prenatal care in lower socioeconomic populations of women. The commitment of personnel time and energy to attempt to modify the no-show rate should be reexamined.

Research priorities in the field of HIV and AIDS in Iran

PubMed Central

Haghdoost, AliAkbar; Sadeghi, Masoomeh; Nasirian, Maryam; Mirzazadeh, Ali; Navadeh, Soodabeh

2012-01-01

Background: HIV is a multidimensional problem. Therefore, prioritization of research topics in this field is a serious challenge. We decided to prioritize the major areas of research on HIV/AIDS in Iran. Materials ans Methods: In a brain-storming session with the main national and provincial stakeholders and experts from different relevant fields, the direct and indirect dimensions of HIV/AIDS and its related research issues were explored. Afterward, using the Delphi method, we sent questionnaires to 20 experts (13 respondents) from different sectors. In this electronic based questioner, we requested experts to evaluate main topics and their subtopics. The ranges of scores were between 0 and 100. Results: The score of priorities of main themes were preventive activities (43.2), large scale planning (25.4), the estimation of the HIV/AIDS burden (20.9), and basic scientific research (10.5). The most important priority in each main theme was education particularly in high risk groups (52.5), developing the national strategy to address the epidemic (31.8), estimation of the incidence and prevalence among high-risk groups (59.5) and developing new preventive methods (66.7), respectively. Conclusions: The most important priorities of researches on HIV/AIDS were preventive activities and developing national strategy. As high risk groups are the most involved people in the epidemic, and they are also the most hard-to-reach sub-populations, a national well designated comprehensive strategy is essential. However, we believe with a very specific and directed scheme, special attention to research in basic sciences is necessary, at least in limited number of institutes. PMID:23626616

Employment of Direct Fire Systems during Offensive Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-06-01

problems, this criteria suffers from a lack of offensive direct fire planning as part 115 of the scheme of maneuver. Limited TTP discussion in the...these specific occurrences. Doctrine writers could develop TTP to do so. This problem could involve unit training practices. If units differentiate ...10 0 0 0 5 PURPOSE) 4. - IDENTIFIES DIRECT FIRE I 76 15 20 130 21 15 115 R&S PRIORITY (PIR/IR) 5. - IDENTIFIES ENGAGEMENT 1 5 10 0 25 16 0 0 PRIORITY

Comprehension by learning-disabled and nondisabled adolescents of personal/social problems presented in text.

PubMed

Williams, J P

1991-01-01

Four groups of 14-year-olds, differing in reading level, learning disability status, and socioeconomic status, read and retold short problem narratives and answered questions. The pattern of reporting components of the problem schema (goal/obstacles/choices) differed for problems presented with or without a statement of the character's priority for action, suggesting that including priorities adds another level of information to the problem text and changes its macrostructure. Even the poorest readers showed this sensitivity to text structure. Three of the four measures of problem representation (idea units recalled, problem-schema components reported, and error rate) reflected overall reading ability. However, the degree to which extraneous information was incorporated into problem representations did not. Learning-disabled students made more importations, and more implausible importations, than did non-disabled students. Moreover, this pattern was associated with poor problem solving. Only proficient readers showed awareness of the source of the information (text or extratext) on which their predictions were based.

A primer on potential impacts, management priorities, and future directions for Elodea spp. in high latitude systems: learning from the Alaskan experience

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carey, Michael P.; Sethi, Suresh A; Larsen, Sabrina J; Rich, Cecil F

2016-01-01

Invasive species introductions in Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems are growing as climate change manifests and human activity increases in high latitudes. The aquatic plants of the genus Elodea are potential invaders to Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems circumpolar and at least one species is already established in Alaska, USA. To illustrate the problems of preventing, eradicating, containing, and mitigating aquatic, invasive plants in Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems, we review the invasion dynamics of Elodea and provide recommendations for research and management efforts in Alaska. Foremost, we conclude the remoteness of Arctic and Subarctic systems such as Alaska is no longer a protective attribute against invasions, as transportation pathways now reach throughout these regions. Rather, high costs of operating in remote Arctic and Subarctic systems hinders detection of infestations and limits eradication or mitigation, emphasizing management priorities of prevention and containment of aquatic plant invaders in Alaska and other Arctic and Subarctic systems.

Teaching English Speaking Skills to the Arab Students in the Saudi School in Kuala Lumpur: Problems and Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Sobhi, Bandar Mohammad Saeed; Preece, Abdul Shakour

2018-01-01

Of the four English language skills, speaking enjoys a superior status. Accordingly, it should be given high priority while teaching. In spite of its importance, teaching English speaking skill to Arab EFL learners has always been an exacting task for Arab teachers of English because it is considered a foreign language, i.e. not widely spoken or…

Formation of Communication Skills in Preschool Children with Visual Impairments as an Important Factor of Their Socialization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamalova, Lera A.; Vasilyeva, Nadezda N.

2016-01-01

The urgency of the problem under investigation due to the provisions of the new federal state educational standards of preschool education in the Russian Federation, according to which at the present stage of priority education is to implement a high level of social and communicative potential of the child's personality as a prerequisite for its…

Using Different Measures, Informants, and Clinical Cut-Off Points to Estimate Prevalence of Emotional or Behavioral Disorders in Preschoolers: Effects on Age, Gender, and Ethnicity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feil, Edward G.; Small, Jason W.; Forness, Steven R.; Serna, Loretta R.; Kaiser, Ann P.; Hancock, Terry B.; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; Bryant, Donna; Kuperschmidt, Janis; Burchinal, Margaret R.; Boyce, Cheryl A.; Lopez, Michael L.

2005-01-01

The early identification and remediation of emotional or behavior disorders are high priorities for early-childhood researchers and are based on the assumption that problems such as school failure can be averted with early screening, prevention, and intervention. Presently, prevalence, severity, and topography of mental health needs among…

Total knee arthroplasty: good agreement of clinical severity scores between patients and consultants.

PubMed

Ebinesan, Ananthan D; Sarai, Bhupinder S; Walley, Gayle; Bridgman, Stephen; Maffulli, Nicola

2006-07-31

Nearly 20,000 patients per year in the UK receive total knee arthroplasty (TKA). One of the problems faced by the health services of many developed countries is the length of time patients spend waiting for elective treatment. We therefore report the results of a study in which the Salisbury Priority Scoring System (SPSS) was used by both the surgeon and their patients to ascertain whether there were differences between the surgeon generated and patient generated Salisbury Priority Scores. The Salisbury Priority Scoring System (SPSS) was used to assign relative priority to patients with knee osteoarthritis as part of a randomised controlled trial comparing the standard medial parapatellar approach versus the sub-vastus approach in TKA. The operating surgeons and each patient completed the SPSS at the same pre-assessment clinic. The SPSS assesses four criteria, namely progression of disease, pain or distress, disability or dependence on others, and loss of usual occupation. Crosstabs and agreement measures (Cohen's kappa) were performed. Overall, the four SPSS criteria showed a kappa value of 0.526, 0.796, 0.813, and 0.820, respectively, showing moderate to very good agreement between the patient and the operating consultant. Male patients showed better agreement than female patients. The Salisbury Priority Scoring System is a good means of assessing patients' needs in relation to elective surgery, with high agreement between the patient and the operating surgeon.

Survey of School Counselors' Perceptions of Graduate Training Priorities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sisson, Carol F.; Bullis, Michael

1992-01-01

Surveyed practicing school counselors (n=895) in Oregon to identify their opinions of educational priorities for graduate counseling training programs. Findings revealed that counseling theories, skills dealing with personal problems, development of counseling and guidance programs, consultation with teachers about individual students, and…

Assessing Threat Detection Scenarios through Hypothesis Generation and Testing

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

Dog Day scenario .............................................................................................................. 9...Figure 1. Rankings of priority threats identified in the Dog Day scenario ............................... 9 Figure 2. Rankings of priority...making in uncertain environments relies heavily on pattern matching. Cohen, Freeman, and Wolf (1996) reported that features of the decision problem

Prioritized LT Codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woo, Simon S.; Cheng, Michael K.

2011-01-01

The original Luby Transform (LT) coding scheme is extended to account for data transmissions where some information symbols in a message block are more important than others. Prioritized LT codes provide unequal error protection (UEP) of data on an erasure channel by modifying the original LT encoder. The prioritized algorithm improves high-priority data protection without penalizing low-priority data recovery. Moreover, low-latency decoding is also obtained for high-priority data due to fast encoding. Prioritized LT codes only require a slight change in the original encoding algorithm, and no changes at all at the decoder. Hence, with a small complexity increase in the LT encoder, an improved UEP and low-decoding latency performance for high-priority data can be achieved. LT encoding partitions a data stream into fixed-sized message blocks each with a constant number of information symbols. To generate a code symbol from the information symbols in a message, the Robust-Soliton probability distribution is first applied in order to determine the number of information symbols to be used to compute the code symbol. Then, the specific information symbols are chosen uniform randomly from the message block. Finally, the selected information symbols are XORed to form the code symbol. The Prioritized LT code construction includes an additional restriction that code symbols formed by a relatively small number of XORed information symbols select some of these information symbols from the pool of high-priority data. Once high-priority data are fully covered, encoding continues with the conventional LT approach where code symbols are generated by selecting information symbols from the entire message block including all different priorities. Therefore, if code symbols derived from high-priority data experience an unusual high number of erasures, Prioritized LT codes can still reliably recover both high- and low-priority data. This hybrid approach decides not only "how to encode" but also "what to encode" to achieve UEP. Another advantage of the priority encoding process is that the majority of high-priority data can be decoded sooner since only a small number of code symbols are required to reconstruct high-priority data. This approach increases the likelihood that high-priority data is decoded first over low-priority data. The Prioritized LT code scheme achieves an improvement in high-priority data decoding performance as well as overall information recovery without penalizing the decoding of low-priority data, assuming high-priority data is no more than half of a message block. The cost is in the additional complexity required in the encoder. If extra computation resource is available at the transmitter, image, voice, and video transmission quality in terrestrial and space communications can benefit from accurate use of redundancy in protecting data with varying priorities.

Framework for characterization. (Revised final report March 1992). Technical pub

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

Ramsay, M.; Boynton, W.; Clark, P.

1992-03-01

The Tampa Bay National Estuary Program (TBNEP) was established in 1990 to develop a comprehensive conservation and management plan, a program to restore and protect Tampa Bay and its resources. The process of identifying the problems of the bay and linking problems to causes is prerequisite to developing the CCMP and is known as characterization. Characterization workshops were held in June and July 1991 to (1) guide the characterization process toward areas of greatest information needs; (2) contribute to the development of a preliminary bay characterization report; and (3) develop a depiction of bay ecosystem components and interrelationships. The workshopsmore » focused on two categories of priority problems: living resources and water quality deterioration. Priority information needs include estuarine seagrasses, low-salinity habitats, and benthic habitats. Refinement of a nitrogen input budget and establishment of cause-effect relationships among nutrient loading dissolved oxygen concentrations and the distribution of seagrass and benthic communities were also identified as priority information needs.« less

Pathgroups, a dynamic data structure for genome reconstruction problems.

PubMed

Zheng, Chunfang

2010-07-01

Ancestral gene order reconstruction problems, including the median problem, quartet construction, small phylogeny, guided genome halving and genome aliquoting, are NP hard. Available heuristics dedicated to each of these problems are computationally costly for even small instances. We present a data structure enabling rapid heuristic solution to all these ancestral genome reconstruction problems. A generic greedy algorithm with look-ahead based on an automatically generated priority system suffices for all the problems using this data structure. The efficiency of the algorithm is due to fast updating of the structure during run time and to the simplicity of the priority scheme. We illustrate with the first rapid algorithm for quartet construction and apply this to a set of yeast genomes to corroborate a recent gene sequence-based phylogeny. http://albuquerque.bioinformatics.uottawa.ca/pathgroup/Quartet.html chunfang313@gmail.com Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

40 CFR 47.125 - Eligible and priority projects and activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... environmental pollution problems; (3) Projects to understand and assess a specific environmental issue or a... activities. 47.125 Section 47.125 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ACT GRANTS § 47.125 Eligible and priority projects and...

40 CFR 47.125 - Eligible and priority projects and activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... environmental pollution problems; (3) Projects to understand and assess a specific environmental issue or a... activities. 47.125 Section 47.125 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ACT GRANTS § 47.125 Eligible and priority projects and...

40 CFR 47.125 - Eligible and priority projects and activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... environmental pollution problems; (3) Projects to understand and assess a specific environmental issue or a... activities. 47.125 Section 47.125 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ACT GRANTS § 47.125 Eligible and priority projects and...

40 CFR 47.125 - Eligible and priority projects and activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... environmental pollution problems; (3) Projects to understand and assess a specific environmental issue or a... activities. 47.125 Section 47.125 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ACT GRANTS § 47.125 Eligible and priority projects and...

40 CFR 47.125 - Eligible and priority projects and activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... environmental pollution problems; (3) Projects to understand and assess a specific environmental issue or a... activities. 47.125 Section 47.125 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ACT GRANTS § 47.125 Eligible and priority projects and...

Differences between Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases and their role for prioritization of stem cell-based treatments.

PubMed

Hug, K; Hermerén, G

2013-06-01

The problems of allocation of scarce resources and priority setting in health care have so far not been much studied in the context of stem cell-based therapeutic applications. If and when competitive cost effective stem cell-based therapies are available, the problem of priority setting - to whom should stem cellbased therapies be offered and on what grounds - is discussed in this article using the examples of Parkinson's Disease (PD) and Huntington's Disease (HD). The aim of this paper is to examine the presently known differences between PD and HD and analyze the role of these differences for setting priorities of stem cell-based therapeutic applications to treat these diseases. To achieve this aim, we (1) present the theoretical framework used in the analysis; (2) compare PD and HD in terms of health related and non-health related consequences of these diseases for patients, their relatives and third parties; (3) analyze the ethical relevance of observed differences for priority setting given different values and variables; (4) compare PD and HD in terms of social justice related consequences of stem cell-based therapies; and (5) analyze the ethical relevance of these differences for priority setting given different values and variables. We argue that the steps of analysis applied in this paper could be helpful when setting priorities among treatments of other diseases with similar differences as those between PD and HD.

Global health priorities – priorities of the wealthy?

PubMed Central

Ollila, Eeva

2005-01-01

Health has gained importance on the global agenda. It has become recognized in forums where it was once not addressed. In this article three issues are considered: global health policy actors, global health priorities and the means of addressing the identified health priorities. I argue that the arenas for global health policy-making have shifted from the public spheres towards arenas that include the transnational for-profit sector. Global health policy has become increasingly fragmented and verticalized. Infectious diseases have gained ground as global health priorities, while non-communicable diseases and the broader issues of health systems development have been neglected. Approaches to tackling the health problems are increasingly influenced by trade and industrial interests with the emphasis on technological solutions. PMID:15847685

School Psychologists' Perceptions of Priorities for Dealing with the Dropout Problem.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Egyed, Carla J.; McIntosh, David E.; Bull, Kay S.

1998-01-01

A sample of 444 nationally certified school psychologists were surveyed to determine which causes of dropping out should be national priorities. The five factors that emerged are criminal/victimization, different from peer group, school conflict, dysfunctional family/lack of support, and family responsibilities. School psychologists perceived…

Behavioral intervention for problem behavior in children with fragile X syndrome.

PubMed

Moskowitz, Lauren J; Carr, Edward G; Durand, V Mark

2011-11-01

Parents and professionals typically report problem behavior as a significant concern for children with fragile X syndrome. In the present study, the authors explored whether behaviorally based interventions would result in a reduction in problem behavior and an improvement in quality of life for 3 children with fragile X syndrome and their families. A multiple baseline design was used to demonstrate intervention effects for specific high-priority contexts (i.e., bedtime, running errands, and toileting). A multicomponent intervention plan was developed to teach the parents and child to effectively cope with the particular context. After intervention, there were substantial improvements in problem behavior and family quality of life within the given contexts. Results of this study demonstrated the effectiveness of behavioral intervention for children with fragile X syndrome.

A population-based model for priority setting across the care continuum and across modalities

PubMed Central

Segal, Leonie; Mortimer, Duncan

2006-01-01

Background The Health-sector Wide (HsW) priority setting model is designed to shift the focus of priority setting away from 'program budgets' – that are typically defined by modality or disease-stage – and towards well-defined target populations with a particular disease/health problem. Methods The key features of the HsW model are i) a disease/health problem framework, ii) a sequential approach to covering the entire health sector, iii) comprehensiveness of scope in identifying intervention options and iv) the use of objective evidence. The HsW model redefines the unit of analysis over which priorities are set to include all mutually exclusive and complementary interventions for the prevention and treatment of each disease/health problem under consideration. The HsW model is therefore incompatible with the fragmented approach to priority setting across multiple program budgets that currently characterises allocation in many health systems. The HsW model employs standard cost-utility analyses and decision-rules with the aim of maximising QALYs contingent upon the global budget constraint for the set of diseases/health problems under consideration. It is recognised that the objective function may include non-health arguments that would imply a departure from simple QALY maximisation and that political constraints frequently limit degrees of freedom. In addressing these broader considerations, the HsW model can be modified to maximise value-weighted QALYs contingent upon the global budget constraint and any political constraints bearing upon allocation decisions. Results The HsW model has been applied in several contexts, recently to osteoarthritis, that has demonstrated both its practical application and its capacity to derive clear evidenced-based policy recommendations. Conclusion Comparisons with other approaches to priority setting, such as Programme Budgeting and Marginal Analysis (PBMA) and modality-based cost-effectiveness comparisons, as typified by Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee process for the listing of pharmaceuticals for government funding, demonstrate the value added by the HsW model notably in its greater likelihood of contributing to allocative efficiency. PMID:16566841

Problem area descriptions : motor vehicle crashes - data analysis and IVI program analysis

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

In general, the IVI program focuses on the more significant safety problem categories as : indicated by statistical analyses of crash data. However, other factors were considered in setting : program priorities and schedules. For some problem areas, ...

Documenting Biogeographical Patterns of African Timber Species Using Herbarium Records: A Conservation Perspective Based on Native Trees from Angola

PubMed Central

Romeiras, Maria M.; Figueira, Rui; Duarte, Maria Cristina; Beja, Pedro; Darbyshire, Iain

2014-01-01

In many tropical regions the development of informed conservation strategies is hindered by a dearth of biodiversity information. Biological collections can help to overcome this problem, by providing baseline information to guide research and conservation efforts. This study focuses on the timber trees of Angola, combining herbarium (2670 records) and bibliographic data to identify the main timber species, document biogeographic patterns and identify conservation priorities. The study recognized 18 key species, most of which are threatened or near-threatened globally, or lack formal conservation assessments. Biogeographical analysis reveals three groups of species associated with the enclave of Cabinda and northwest Angola, which occur primarily in Guineo-Congolian rainforests, and evergreen forests and woodlands. The fourth group is widespread across the country, and is mostly associated with dry forests. There is little correspondence between the spatial pattern of species groups and the ecoregions adopted by WWF, suggesting that these may not provide an adequate basis for conservation planning for Angolan timber trees. Eight of the species evaluated should be given high conservation priority since they are of global conservation concern, they have very restricted distributions in Angola, their historical collection localities are largely outside protected areas and they may be under increasing logging pressure. High conservation priority was also attributed to another three species that have a large proportion of their global range concentrated in Angola and that occur in dry forests where deforestation rates are high. Our results suggest that timber tree species in Angola may be under increasing risk, thus calling for efforts to promote their conservation and sustainable exploitation. The study also highlights the importance of studying historic herbarium collections in poorly explored regions of the tropics, though new field surveys remain a priority to update historical information. PMID:25061858

Documenting biogeographical patterns of African timber species using herbarium records: a conservation perspective based on native trees from Angola.

PubMed

Romeiras, Maria M; Figueira, Rui; Duarte, Maria Cristina; Beja, Pedro; Darbyshire, Iain

2014-01-01

In many tropical regions the development of informed conservation strategies is hindered by a dearth of biodiversity information. Biological collections can help to overcome this problem, by providing baseline information to guide research and conservation efforts. This study focuses on the timber trees of Angola, combining herbarium (2670 records) and bibliographic data to identify the main timber species, document biogeographic patterns and identify conservation priorities. The study recognized 18 key species, most of which are threatened or near-threatened globally, or lack formal conservation assessments. Biogeographical analysis reveals three groups of species associated with the enclave of Cabinda and northwest Angola, which occur primarily in Guineo-Congolian rainforests, and evergreen forests and woodlands. The fourth group is widespread across the country, and is mostly associated with dry forests. There is little correspondence between the spatial pattern of species groups and the ecoregions adopted by WWF, suggesting that these may not provide an adequate basis for conservation planning for Angolan timber trees. Eight of the species evaluated should be given high conservation priority since they are of global conservation concern, they have very restricted distributions in Angola, their historical collection localities are largely outside protected areas and they may be under increasing logging pressure. High conservation priority was also attributed to another three species that have a large proportion of their global range concentrated in Angola and that occur in dry forests where deforestation rates are high. Our results suggest that timber tree species in Angola may be under increasing risk, thus calling for efforts to promote their conservation and sustainable exploitation. The study also highlights the importance of studying historic herbarium collections in poorly explored regions of the tropics, though new field surveys remain a priority to update historical information.

Review of mobile health technology for military mental health.

PubMed

Shore, Jay H; Aldag, Matt; McVeigh, Francis L; Hoover, Ronald L; Ciulla, Robert; Fisher, Ashley

2014-08-01

Mental health problems pose challenges for military veterans, returning service members, and military family members including spouses and children. Challenges to meeting mental health needs include improving access to care and improving quality of care. Mobile Health, or "mHealth," can help meet these needs in the garrison and civilian environments. mHealth brings unique capabilities to health care provision through the use of mobile device technologies. This report identifies high-priority mHealth technology development considerations in two categories. First, priority considerations specific to mental health care provision include safety, privacy, evidence-based practice, efficacy studies, and temperament. Second, priority considerations broadly applicable to mHealth include security, outcomes, ease of use, carrier compliance, hardware, provider perspectives, data volume, population, regulation, command policy, and reimbursement. Strategic planning for the advancement of these priority considerations should be coordinated with stated Department of Defense capability needs to maximize likelihood of adoption. This report also summarizes three leading, military programs focused on mHealth projects in mental health, The Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, The Military Operational Medicine Research Program, United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, and The National Center for Telehealth and Technology. Reprint & Copyright © 2014 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Setting priorities for a research agenda to combat drug-resistant tuberculosis in children.

PubMed

Velayutham, B; Nair, D; Ramalingam, S; Perez-Velez, C M; Becerra, M C; Swaminathan, S

2015-12-21

Numerous knowledge gaps hamper the prevention and treatment of childhood drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). Identifying research priorities is vital to inform and develop strategies to address this neglected problem. To systematically identify and rank research priorities in childhood drug-resistant TB. Adapting the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methodology, we compiled 53 research questions in four research areas, then classified the questions into three research types. We invited experts in childhood drug-resistant TB to score these questions through an online survey. A total of 81 respondents participated in the survey. The top-ranked research question was to identify the best combination of existing diagnostic tools for early diagnosis. Highly ranked treatment-related questions centred on the reasons for and interventions to improve treatment outcomes, adverse effects of drugs and optimal treatment duration. The prevalence of drug-resistant TB was the highest-ranked question in the epidemiology area. The development type questions that ranked highest focused on interventions for optimal diagnosis, treatment and modalities for treatment delivery. This is the first effort to identify and rank research priorities for childhood drug-resistant TB. The result is a resource to guide research to improve prevention and treatment of drug-resistant TB in children.

Innovative Problems of Improving the Quality of Life of the Welfare State

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Panachev, Valery D.

2016-01-01

Improvement of the population quality of life should be based on promoting healthy lifestyle, active physical exercises and sports activities as one of its main priorities. In order to facilitate the achievement of this priority, the author proposes management technique of complicated coordination movements in space in the development of…

The EPA Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign (SC3) and How You Can Help

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phifer, Russell W.; Gmurczyk, Marta

2008-08-01

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has historically not recognized chemical disposal in secondary schools as a priority. Considering that laboratory waste as a whole represents less than 0.1% of all hazardous waste, and secondary schools generate less than 1% of that volume, this makes perfect sense from a regulatory perspective. However, it is becoming increasingly obvious that many secondary schools and their local school districts struggle with chemical management. Chemical disposal is not a financial priority, and as a result unused and unneeded chemicals are frequently kept at schools. Often, that storage place is not well planned, chemicals are not secured, and accidents may occur. In addition, the expertise needed to effectively manage chemicals may not be available within the school system. The scope of this problem is extensive—EPA estimates there are at least 33,000 middle and high schools across the country with unnecessary or mismanaged chemicals, potentially affecting 21 million students nationwide. While there are certainly schools that manage chemicals properly, many schools have aging infrastructures, competing priorities, and a lack of resources available to direct towards chemical management.

Problems Analysis on Increasing Rice Production Through Food Estate Program in Bulungan Regency, North Kalimantan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Setyo, P.; Elly, J.

2018-05-01

To increase rice production in the Province of North Kalimantan, the provincial government has launched a Food Estate Program. The program is also a central government program in relation to government policies on food security. One of the food estate development areas is the Delta Kayan Food Estate of 50,000 hectares in Bulungan Regency, where about 30,000 hectares area is a tidal land with a very fertile alluvial soil type. This policy study aims to identify and analyze problems of increasing rice production through food estate development in North Kalimantan Province and formulate priority programs as recommendations for policy making in increasing rice production. The study has identified a number of problems of increasing rice production, such as land tenure, land suitability, water system, infrastructure, accessibility of production factors, institutional, and capacity of human resources. The Analytic Hierarchy Process was applied to develop priority programs, resulting in the three most important programs being water management, improving access to production factors, and improving the capacity of human resources. Action plans related to priority programs have also been identified.

'To call it work somehow demeans it': the social construction of talk in the care of terminally ill patients.

PubMed

May, C

1995-09-01

The nurse has an important role in helping the terminally ill patient come to terms with the imminence of death. Such work is highly demanding and often stressful, but is work which is accorded a high moral priority by respondents in the study reported in this paper. The paper explores the ways in which nurses work to respond to patients' expressed psychosocial problems and the emphasis that they placed on providing opportunities for patients to speak about their impending death.

FDA publishes checklist of Y2K high-risk devices.

PubMed

1999-09-01

Key points. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has developed a list of types of medical devices that have the potential for the most serious consequences for patients should they fail because of Y2K-related problems. This list of computer-controlled potentially high-risk devices can provide a guide to health care facilities regarding the types of devices that should receive priority in their assessment and remediation of medical devices. The list may change as the FDA receives comments on the types of devices included in the list.

45 CFR 1620.3 - Establishing priorities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... other efforts to solve particular problems in the area served; (10) Whether legal efforts will result in... recipient, including all significant segments of that population with special legal problems or special... particular legal problems to the individual clients of the recipient; (8) The susceptibility of particular...

Charting the landscape of priority problems in psychiatry, part 1: classification and diagnosis.

PubMed

Stephan, Klaas E; Bach, Dominik R; Fletcher, Paul C; Flint, Jonathan; Frank, Michael J; Friston, Karl J; Heinz, Andreas; Huys, Quentin J M; Owen, Michael J; Binder, Elisabeth B; Dayan, Peter; Johnstone, Eve C; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Montague, P Read; Schnyder, Ulrich; Wang, Xiao-Jing; Breakspear, Michael

2016-01-01

Contemporary psychiatry faces major challenges. Its syndrome-based disease classification is not based on mechanisms and does not guide treatment, which largely depends on trial and error. The development of therapies is hindered by ignorance of potential beneficiary patient subgroups. Neuroscientific and genetics research have yet to affect disease definitions or contribute to clinical decision making. In this challenging setting, what should psychiatric research focus on? In two companion papers, we present a list of problems nominated by clinicians and researchers from different disciplines as candidates for future scientific investigation of mental disorders. These problems are loosely grouped into challenges concerning nosology and diagnosis (this Personal View) and problems related to pathogenesis and aetiology (in the companion Personal View). Motivated by successful examples in other disciplines, particularly the list of Hilbert's problems in mathematics, this subjective and eclectic list of priority problems is intended for psychiatric researchers, helping to re-focus existing research and providing perspectives for future psychiatric science. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aligning institutional priorities: engaging house staff in a quality improvement and safety initiative to fulfill Clinical Learning Environment Review objectives and electronic medical record Meaningful Use requirements.

PubMed

Flanagan, Meghan R; Foster, Carolyn C; Schleyer, Anneliese; Peterson, Gene N; Mandell, Samuel P; Rudd, Kristina E; Joyner, Byron D; Payne, Thomas H

2016-02-01

House staff quality improvement projects are often not aligned with training institution priorities. House staff are the primary users of inpatient problem lists in academic medical centers, and list maintenance has significant patient safety and financial implications. Improvement of the problem list is an important objective for hospitals with electronic health records under the Meaningful Use program. House staff surveys were used to create an electronic problem list manager (PLM) tool enabling efficient problem list updating. Number of new problems added and house staff perceptions of the problem list were compared before and after PLM intervention. The PLM was used by 654 house staff after release. Surveys demonstrated increased problem list updating (P = .002; response rate 47%). Mean new problems added per day increased from 64 pre-PLM to 125 post-PLM (P < .001). This innovative project serves as a model for successful engagement of house staff in institutional quality and safety initiatives with tangible institutional benefits. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Generating political priority for newborn survival in three low-income countries.

PubMed

Smith, Stephanie L; Shiffman, Jeremy; Kazembe, Abigail

2014-01-01

Deaths to babies in their first 28 days of life now account for more than 40% of global under-5 child mortality. High neonatal mortality poses a significant barrier to achieving the child survival Millennium Development Goal. Surmounting the problem requires national-level political commitment, yet only a few nation-states have prioritised this issue. We compare Bolivia, Malawi and Nepal, three low-income countries with high neonatal mortality, with a view to understanding why countries prioritise or neglect the issue. The three have had markedly different trajectories since 2000: attention grew steadily in Nepal, stagnated then grew in Malawi and grew then stagnated in Bolivia. The comparison suggests three implications for proponents seeking to advance attention to neglected health issues in low-income countries: the value of (1) advancing solutions with demonstrated efficacy in low-resource settings, (2) building on existing and emerging national priorities and (3) developing a strong network of domestic and international allies. Such actions help policy communities to weather political storms and take advantage of policy windows.

Biofiltration of volatile pollutants: Engineering mechanisms for improved design, long-term operation, prediction and implementation. 1998 annual progress report

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

Davison, B.H.; Klasson, K.T.; Barton, J.W.

1998-06-01

'Biofiltration systems can be used for treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); however, the systems are poorly understood and are currently operated as black boxes. Common operational problems associated with biofilters include fouling, deactivation, and overgrowth, all of which make them ineffective for continuous, long-term use. The objective of this investigation is to develop generic methods for long-term stable operation, in particular by using selective limitation of supplemental nutrients while maintaining high activity. As part of this effort, the author will provide deeper fundamental understanding of the important biological and transport mechanisms in biodestruction of sparingly soluble VOCs and extendmore » this approach and mathematical models to additional systems of high priority EM relevance--direct degradation and cometabolic degradation of priority pollutants such as BTEX and chlorinated organics. This report summarizes work after 2 years of a 3-year project. Major results are enumerated and discussed'« less

Selective treatment to reduce contamination of propolis by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) still preserving its active polyphenol component and antioxidant activity.

PubMed

Galeotti, Fabio; Crimaldi, Laura; Maccari, Francesca; Zaccaria, Vincenzo; Fachini, Alfredo; Volpi, Nicola

2017-09-01

The adverse effects on health and environment caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are critical problems. EFSA has defined 16 priority PAHs that are both genotoxic and carcinogenic, and identified eight (PAH8) priority PAHs as good indicators of the toxicity and occurrence in food. Food supplements containing propolis were also found to contain relatively high quantities of PAHs. We report about an extractive procedure which is able to purify propolis from a high content of PAHs using a balanced mixture of ethanol and water solvents. Extracts were characterised for total content of polyphenols, for in vitro antioxidant activity, and single classes of polyphenols evaluated by HPLC-ESI-MS. Obtained propolis extracts were found to have PAH8 and specific benzo[a]pyrene content below limits recommended by EFSA. The reported extractive procedure is easily applicable for possible industrial productions and may also be adopted to the purification of polyphenols from other plant extracts and natural sources.

The prioritisation of invasive alien plant control projects using a multi-criteria decision model informed by stakeholder input and spatial data.

PubMed

Forsyth, G G; Le Maitre, D C; O'Farrell, P J; van Wilgen, B W

2012-07-30

Invasions by alien plants are a significant threat to the biodiversity and functioning of ecosystems and the services they provide. The South African Working for Water program was established to address this problem. It needs to formulate objective and transparent priorities for clearing in the face of multiple and sometimes conflicting demands. This study used the analytic hierarchy process (a multi-criteria decision support technique) to develop and rank criteria for prioritising alien plant control operations in the Western Cape, South Africa. Stakeholder workshops were held to identify a goal and criteria and to conduct pair-wise comparisons to weight the criteria with respect to invasive alien plant control. The combination of stakeholder input (to develop decision models) with data-driven model solutions enabled us to include many alternatives (water catchments), that would otherwise not have been feasible. The most important criteria included the capacity to maintain gains made through control operations, the potential to enhance water resources and conserve biodiversity, and threats from priority invasive alien plant species. We selected spatial datasets and used them to generate weights that could be used to objectively compare alternatives with respect to agreed criteria. The analysis showed that there are many high priority catchments which are not receiving any funding and low priority catchments which are receiving substantial allocations. Clearly, there is a need for realigning priorities, including directing sufficient funds to the highest priority catchments to provide effective control. This approach provided a tractable, consensus-based solution that can be used to direct clearing operations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Blood transfusion in developing countries: problems, priorities and practicalities.

PubMed

Wake, D J; Cutting, W A

1998-01-01

The acute medical services could not exist without blood transfusions--life-savers in many situations. But transfusions can also be a quick and easy route for the transmission of infectious agents such as HIV, HBV, HCV and malaria. Infection through blood supply is a major issue in all countries but particularly in those with economic constraints which limit safety. This study was carried out in India (March-May 1997) and involved centres in Delhi, Calcutta and Vellore. It examined many aspects of blood transfusion including donor screening, use of professional donors, blood testing and criteria for blood use. The many problems in Indian blood transfusion services are mirrored in other countries. Here we examine the problems, priorities and practicalities of blood transfusion particularly in developing countries.

A community health report card: comprehensive assessment for tracking community health (CATCH).

PubMed

Studnicki, J; Steverson, B; Myers, B; Hevner, A R; Berndt, D J

1997-01-01

A systematic method for assessing the health status of communities has been under development at the University of South Florida since 1991. The system, known as CATCH, draws 226 indicators from multiple sources and uses an innovative comparative framework and weighted evaluation criteria to produce a rank-ordered community problem list. The CATCH results from II Floridian counties have focused attention on high priority health problems and provided a framework for measuring the impact of health expenditures on community health status outcomes. The method and plans to create an automated data warehouse to support its expansion and enrichment are described.

Priorities in the communication needs of adolescents with psychosocial problems and their parents.

PubMed

Jager, Margot; De Winter, Andrea F; Metselaar, Janneke; Knorth, Erik J; Reijneveld, Sijmen A

2015-12-01

In patient-centred care, professionals should recognize their patient's needs and adapt their communication accordingly. Studies into patients' communication needs suggest priorities vary depending on sociodemographic characteristics, and type and severity of the complaints. However, evidence lacks on priorities in the communication needs of adolescents in psychosocial care and their parents. To assess adolescents' and parents' importance ratings concerning affective communication, information provision, shared decision-making, interprofessional communication and the degree to which client and care characteristics determine these. Adolescents aged 12-18 (n = 403) and one of their parents (n = 403) rated the importance of communication before the psychosocial care process started. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to determine which characteristics were associated with the 25% lowest importance ratings for communication aspects. Adolescents and parents considered affective communication to be the most important, with shared decision-making the least important. For adolescents, lower importance ratings were associated with dissatisfaction with prior care (OR 1.8), negative expectations (ORs 1.9-2.4), emotional problems (ORs 0.2-0.5) and low prosocial behaviour skills (ORs 2.0). For parents, low education (ORs 1.7-1.8), negative expectations (OR 0.4), adolescent's hyperactivity/inattention (ORs 0.4-0.5) and low prosocial behaviour skills (ORs 1.8-2.6) determined lower importance ratings. Affective communication has highest priority for adolescents and their parents. Client and care characteristics are associated with client priorities in communication. Being attentive to clients' educational level, previous care experiences, current expectations and specific problem types might help professionals to adapt better to their clients' communication needs. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Priorities in Dealing with Nutrition Problems in Indonesia. Cornell International Nutrition Monograph Series, Number 1 (1974).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soekirman

A study of the literature dealing with past and present food and nutrition problems in Indonesia reveals that the problems remain serious. The major nutrition problems are: (1) Protein-Calorie Malnutrition; (2) Vitamin A Deficiency; (3) Nutritional Anemia; and (4) Goitre. These nutrition problems afflict people of all ages, males and females.…

Priority setting: what constitutes success? A conceptual framework for successful priority setting.

PubMed

Sibbald, Shannon L; Singer, Peter A; Upshur, Ross; Martin, Douglas K

2009-03-05

The sustainability of healthcare systems worldwide is threatened by a growing demand for services and expensive innovative technologies. Decision makers struggle in this environment to set priorities appropriately, particularly because they lack consensus about which values should guide their decisions. One way to approach this problem is to determine what all relevant stakeholders understand successful priority setting to mean. The goal of this research was to develop a conceptual framework for successful priority setting. Three separate empirical studies were completed using qualitative data collection methods (one-on-one interviews with healthcare decision makers from across Canada; focus groups with representation of patients, caregivers and policy makers; and Delphi study including scholars and decision makers from five countries). This paper synthesizes the findings from three studies into a framework of ten separate but interconnected elements germane to successful priority setting: stakeholder understanding, shifted priorities/reallocation of resources, decision making quality, stakeholder acceptance and satisfaction, positive externalities, stakeholder engagement, use of explicit process, information management, consideration of values and context, and revision or appeals mechanism. The ten elements specify both quantitative and qualitative dimensions of priority setting and relate to both process and outcome components. To our knowledge, this is the first framework that describes successful priority setting. The ten elements identified in this research provide guidance for decision makers and a common language to discuss priority setting success and work toward improving priority setting efforts.

Recommended Priorities for NASA'S Gamma Ray Astronomy Program 1996 - 2010

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

It has assessed the state of the field including current missions and approved future missions, the critical scientific problems open today, the promising technologies for the future, the mission priorities for the future, and the needs for data analysis and theory. This report presents a summary of the GRAPWG findings and gives detailed recommendations.

76 FR 78250 - Final Priority; Safe and Healthy Students Discretionary Grant Programs

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-16

... abuse, and violence in their schools and that this priority would help address these problems... Students (OSHS): Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse (CFDA No. 84.184A). Grants for the Integration of Schools and Mental Health Systems (CFDA No. 84.215M). Safe Schools/Healthy Students (CFDA Nos. 84.184J, 84...

A framework for multi-stakeholder decision-making and ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

We propose a decision-making framework to compute compromise solutions that balance conflicting priorities of multiple stakeholders on multiple objectives. In our setting, we shape the stakeholder dis-satisfaction distribution by solving a conditional-value-at-risk (CVaR) minimization problem. The CVaR problem is parameterized by a probability level that shapes the tail of the dissatisfaction distribution. The proposed approach allows us to compute a family of compromise solutions and generalizes multi-stakeholder settings previously proposed in the literature that minimize average and worst-case dissatisfactions. We use the concept of the CVaR norm to give a geometric interpretation to this problem +and use the properties of this norm to prove that the CVaR minimization problem yields Pareto optimal solutions for any choice of the probability level. We discuss a broad range of potential applications of the framework that involve complex decision-making processes. We demonstrate the developments using a biowaste facility location case study in which we seek to balance stakeholder priorities on transportation, safety, water quality, and capital costs. This manuscript describes the methodology of a new decision-making framework that computes compromise solutions that balance conflicting priorities of multiple stakeholders on multiple objectives as needed for SHC Decision Science and Support Tools project. A biowaste facility location is employed as the case study

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: The problem and some priorities in controlling it.

PubMed

Hoffner, Sven

2016-12-01

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), and even more severe forms of drug resistance, cause significant problems and costs for national TB control programs and constitutes an increasing public health concern globally. In parts of the former Soviet Union, the prevalence of MDR-TB is as high as 50% and one third of all newly detected TB patients are infected with MDR strains. Such strains transmit and certain MDR-TB clones constitute an important part of the problem, especially in high MDR-TB burden areas. There are several actions that should be given priority to control this situation. A first important step is timely detection of all patients infected with resistant strains, which makes possible prompt change of standard TB chemotherapy to more effective combinations of drugs. This is important both from the public health and clinical perspectives, since it renders the individual patient noninfectious and subsequently cured. Early detection of MDR-TB also allows infection control to be focused where it is most needed. Strengthened infection control measures are crucial for limiting the ongoing spread of resistant TB in hospitals and elsewhere. In addition, a sustainable drug supply must be ensured to guarantee that all patients are initiated on effective treatment and can avoid interruptions due to drug shortages. An extra focus should be put on vulnerable cases, such as immunosuppressed individuals, prisoners, drug addicts, and migrants, in whom TB is generally more frequent and difficult to control than in the normal population. Finally, political support is needed to ensure necessary infrastructures, human and financial resources to effectively control drug resistant TB. Copyright © 2016.

Nutritional Risk Needs Assessment of Community-Living Seniors: Prevalence of Nutrition Problems and Priorities for Action.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keller, Heather H.; Hedley, Margaret R.

2002-01-01

Surveyed community-dwelling older adults to examine the prevalence of nutritional risk, specific nutrition problems, and educational format preferences. Results revealed that nutrition problems and risk were prevalent among community-dwelling older adults. Common problems included significant weight change in 6 months and low intake of fruits,…

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

PubMed Central

Pizer, I H

1976-01-01

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

Generation of political priority for global surgery: a qualitative policy analysis.

PubMed

Shawar, Yusra Ribhi; Shiffman, Jeremy; Spiegel, David A

2015-08-01

Despite the high burden of surgical conditions, the provision of surgical services has been a low global health priority. We examined factors that have shaped priority for global surgical care. We undertook semi-structured interviews by telephone with members of global surgical networks and ministries of health to explore the challenges and opportunities surgeons, anaesthesiologists, and other proponents face in increasing global priority for surgery. We did a literature review and collected information from reports from organisations involved in surgery. We used a policy framework consisting of four categories-actor power, ideas, political contexts, and characteristics of the issue itself-to analyse factors that have shaped global political priority for surgery. We did a thematic analysis on the collected information. Several factors hinder the acquisition of attention and resources for global surgery. With respect to actor power, the global surgery community is fragmented, does not have unifying leadership, and is missing guiding institutions. Regarding ideas, community members disagree on how to address and publicly position the problem. With respect to political contexts, the community has made insufficient efforts to capitalise on political opportunities such as the Millennium Development Goals. Regarding issue characteristics, data on the burden of surgical diseases are limited and public misperceptions surrounding the cost and complexity of surgery are widespread. However, the community has several strengths that portend well for the acquisition of political support. These include the existence of networks deeply committed to the cause, the potential to link with global health priorities, and emerging research on the cost-effectiveness of some procedures. To improve global priority for surgery, proponents will need to create an effective governance structure that facilitates achievement of collective goals, generate consensus on solutions, and find an effective public positioning of the issue that attracts political support. None. Copyright © 2015 Shawar et al. Open Access article distributed under the terms of CC BY-NC-ND. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Human-tracking strategies for a six-legged rescue robot based on distance and view

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Yang; Gao, Feng; Qi, Chenkun; Chai, Xun

2016-03-01

Human tracking is an important issue for intelligent robotic control and can be used in many scenarios, such as robotic services and human-robot cooperation. Most of current human-tracking methods are targeted for mobile/tracked robots, but few of them can be used for legged robots. Two novel human-tracking strategies, view priority strategy and distance priority strategy, are proposed specially for legged robots, which enable them to track humans in various complex terrains. View priority strategy focuses on keeping humans in its view angle arrange with priority, while its counterpart, distance priority strategy, focuses on keeping human at a reasonable distance with priority. To evaluate these strategies, two indexes(average and minimum tracking capability) are defined. With the help of these indexes, the view priority strategy shows advantages compared with distance priority strategy. The optimization is done in terms of these indexes, which let the robot has maximum tracking capability. The simulation results show that the robot can track humans with different curves like square, circular, sine and screw paths. Two novel control strategies are proposed which specially concerning legged robot characteristics to solve human tracking problems more efficiently in rescue circumstances.

Wavelength assignment algorithm considering the state of neighborhood links for OBS networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanaka, Yu; Hirota, Yusuke; Tode, Hideki; Murakami, Koso

2005-10-01

Recently, Optical WDM technology is introduced into backbone networks. On the other hand, as the future optical switching scheme, Optical Burst Switching (OBS) systems become a realistic solution. OBS systems do not consider buffering in intermediate nodes. Thus, it is an important issue to avoid overlapping wavelength reservation between partially interfered paths. To solve this problem, so far, the wavelength assignment scheme which has priority management tables has been proposed. This method achieves the reduction of burst blocking probability. However, this priority management table requires huge memory space. In this paper, we propose a wavelength assignment algorithm that reduces both the number of priority management tables and burst blocking probability. To reduce priority management tables, we allocate and manage them for each link. To reduce burst blocking probability, our method announces information about the change of their priorities to intermediate nodes. We evaluate its performance in terms of the burst blocking probability and the reduction rate of priority management tables.

Research Priorities in Sudden Unexpected Infant Death: An International Consensus.

PubMed

Hauck, Fern R; McEntire, Betty L; Raven, Leanne K; Bates, Francine L; Lyus, Lucy A; Willett, Alexis M; Blair, Peter S

2017-07-27

Despite the success of safe sleep campaigns and the progress in understanding risk factors, the rate of reduction in the cases of sudden infant death syndrome has now slowed and it remains a leading cause of postneonatal mortality in many developed countries. Strategic action is needed to tackle this problem and it is now vital to identify how the sudden infant death research community may best target its efforts. The Global Action and Prioritization of Sudden Infant Death Project was an international consensus process that aimed to define and direct future research by investigating the priorities of expert and lay members of the sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) community across countries. The aim was to identify which areas of research should be prioritized to reduce the number of SUID deaths globally. Scientific researchers, clinicians, counselors, educators, and SUID parents from 25 countries took part across 2 online surveys to identify potential research priorities. Workshops subsequently took place in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia to reach consensus and 10 priority areas for research were established. Three main themes among the priorities emerged: (1) a better understanding of mechanisms underlying SUID, (2) ensuring best practice in data collection, management and sharing, and (3) a better understanding of target populations and more effective communication of risk. SUID is a global problem and this project provides the international SUID community with a list of shared research priorities to more effectively work toward explaining and reducing the number of sudden infant deaths. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Effect of Problem Based Learning (PBL) Instruction on Students' Motivation and Problem Solving Skills of Physics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Argaw, Aweke Shishigu; Haile, Beyene Bashu; Ayalew, Beyene Tesfaw; Kuma, Shiferaw Gadisa

2017-01-01

Through the learning of physics, students will acquire problem solving skills which are relevant to their daily life. Determining the best way in which students learn physics takes a priority in physics education. The goal of the present study was to determine the effect of problem based learning strategy on students' problem solving skills and…

Evaluation of the Priority Heuristic as a Descriptive Model of Risky Decision Making: Comment on Brandstatter, Gigerenzer, and Hertwig (2006)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Birnbaum, Michael H.

2008-01-01

E. Brandstatter, G. Gigerenzer, and R. Hertwig (2006) contended that their priority heuristic, a type of lexicographic semiorder model, is more accurate than cumulative prospect theory (CPT) or transfer of attention exchange (TAX) models in describing risky decisions. However, there are 4 problems with their argument. First, their heuristic is not…

A task scheduler framework for self-powered wireless sensors.

PubMed

Nordman, Mikael M

2003-10-01

The cost and inconvenience of cabling is a factor limiting widespread use of intelligent sensors. Recent developments in short-range, low-power radio seem to provide an opening to this problem, making development of wireless sensors feasible. However, for these sensors the energy availability is a main concern. The common solution is either to use a battery or to harvest ambient energy. The benefit of harvested ambient energy is that the energy feeder can be considered as lasting a lifetime, thus it saves the user from concerns related to energy management. The problem is, however, the unpredictability and unsteady behavior of ambient energy sources. This becomes a main concern for sensors that run multiple tasks at different priorities. This paper proposes a new scheduler framework that enables the reliable assignment of task priorities and scheduling in sensors powered by ambient energy. The framework being based on environment parameters, virtual queues, and a state machine with transition conditions, dynamically manages task execution according to priorities. The framework is assessed in a test system powered by a solar panel. The results show the functionality of the framework and how task execution reliably is handled without violating the priority scheme that has been assigned to it.

Clinical Reasoning Terms Included in Clinical Problem Solving Exercises?

PubMed Central

Musgrove, John L.; Morris, Jason; Estrada, Carlos A.; Kraemer, Ryan R.

2016-01-01

Background Published clinical problem solving exercises have emerged as a common tool to illustrate aspects of the clinical reasoning process. The specific clinical reasoning terms mentioned in such exercises is unknown. Objective We identified which clinical reasoning terms are mentioned in published clinical problem solving exercises and compared them to clinical reasoning terms given high priority by clinician educators. Methods A convenience sample of clinician educators prioritized a list of clinical reasoning terms (whether to include, weight percentage of top 20 terms). The authors then electronically searched the terms in the text of published reports of 4 internal medicine journals between January 2010 and May 2013. Results The top 5 clinical reasoning terms ranked by educators were dual-process thinking (weight percentage = 24%), problem representation (12%), illness scripts (9%), hypothesis generation (7%), and problem categorization (7%). The top clinical reasoning terms mentioned in the text of 79 published reports were context specificity (n = 20, 25%), bias (n = 13, 17%), dual-process thinking (n = 11, 14%), illness scripts (n = 11, 14%), and problem representation (n = 10, 13%). Context specificity and bias were not ranked highly by educators. Conclusions Some core concepts of modern clinical reasoning theory ranked highly by educators are mentioned explicitly in published clinical problem solving exercises. However, some highly ranked terms were not used, and some terms used were not ranked by the clinician educators. Effort to teach clinical reasoning to trainees may benefit from a common nomenclature of clinical reasoning terms. PMID:27168884

Clinical Reasoning Terms Included in Clinical Problem Solving Exercises?

PubMed

Musgrove, John L; Morris, Jason; Estrada, Carlos A; Kraemer, Ryan R

2016-05-01

Background Published clinical problem solving exercises have emerged as a common tool to illustrate aspects of the clinical reasoning process. The specific clinical reasoning terms mentioned in such exercises is unknown. Objective We identified which clinical reasoning terms are mentioned in published clinical problem solving exercises and compared them to clinical reasoning terms given high priority by clinician educators. Methods A convenience sample of clinician educators prioritized a list of clinical reasoning terms (whether to include, weight percentage of top 20 terms). The authors then electronically searched the terms in the text of published reports of 4 internal medicine journals between January 2010 and May 2013. Results The top 5 clinical reasoning terms ranked by educators were dual-process thinking (weight percentage = 24%), problem representation (12%), illness scripts (9%), hypothesis generation (7%), and problem categorization (7%). The top clinical reasoning terms mentioned in the text of 79 published reports were context specificity (n = 20, 25%), bias (n = 13, 17%), dual-process thinking (n = 11, 14%), illness scripts (n = 11, 14%), and problem representation (n = 10, 13%). Context specificity and bias were not ranked highly by educators. Conclusions Some core concepts of modern clinical reasoning theory ranked highly by educators are mentioned explicitly in published clinical problem solving exercises. However, some highly ranked terms were not used, and some terms used were not ranked by the clinician educators. Effort to teach clinical reasoning to trainees may benefit from a common nomenclature of clinical reasoning terms.

Ocean Research Priorities: Similarities and Differences among Scientists, Policymakers, and Fishermen in the United States

PubMed Central

Mason, Julia G.; Rudd, Murray A.; Crowder, Larry B.

2017-01-01

Abstract Understanding and solving complex ocean conservation problems requires cooperation not just among scientific disciplines but also across sectors. A recently published survey that probed research priorities of marine scientists, when provided to ocean stakeholders, revealed some agreement on priorities but also illuminated key differences. Ocean acidification, cumulative impacts, bycatch effects, and restoration effectiveness were in the top 10 priorities for scientists and stakeholder groups. Significant priority differences were that scientists favored research questions about ocean acidification and marine protected areas; policymakers prioritized questions about habitat restoration, bycatch, and precaution; and fisheries sector resource users called for the inclusion of local ecological knowledge in policymaking. These results quantitatively demonstrate how different stakeholder groups approach ocean issues and highlight the need to incorporate other types of knowledge in the codesign of solutions-oriented research, which may facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration. PMID:28533565

Ocean Research Priorities: Similarities and Differences among Scientists, Policymakers, and Fishermen in the United States.

PubMed

Mason, Julia G; Rudd, Murray A; Crowder, Larry B

2017-05-01

Understanding and solving complex ocean conservation problems requires cooperation not just among scientific disciplines but also across sectors. A recently published survey that probed research priorities of marine scientists, when provided to ocean stakeholders, revealed some agreement on priorities but also illuminated key differences. Ocean acidification, cumulative impacts, bycatch effects, and restoration effectiveness were in the top 10 priorities for scientists and stakeholder groups. Significant priority differences were that scientists favored research questions about ocean acidification and marine protected areas; policymakers prioritized questions about habitat restoration, bycatch, and precaution; and fisheries sector resource users called for the inclusion of local ecological knowledge in policymaking. These results quantitatively demonstrate how different stakeholder groups approach ocean issues and highlight the need to incorporate other types of knowledge in the codesign of solutions-oriented research, which may facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration.

Podoconiosis in Ethiopia: From Neglect to Priority Public Health Problem

PubMed Central

Deribe, Kebede; Kebede, Biruck; Mengistu, Belete; Negussie, Henok; Sileshi, Mesfin; Tamiru, Mossie; Tomczyk, Sara; Tekola-Ayele, Fasil; Davey, Gail; Fentaye, Amha

2017-01-01

Podoconiosis is a geochemical disease occurring in individuals exposed to red clay soil of volcanic origin. This Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) is highly prevalent in Ethiopia. According to the nationwide mapping in 2013, the disease is endemic in 345 districts, where an estimated 35 million people live. The government of Ethiopia prioritized podoconiosis as one of eight priority NTDs and included it in the national integrated master plan for NTDs. An integrated lymphoedema management guideline has been developed. Service expansion has continued in the last few years and lymphoedema management services have been expanded to over one hundred endemic districts. The last few years have been critical in generating evidence about the distribution, burden and effective interventions for podoconiosis in Ethiopia. Although the extent of the problem within Ethiopia is considerable, the country is well positioned to now scale-up elimination efforts. Given the extraordinary progress of the past ten years and the current commitment of government, private and third sectors, Ethiopia seems to be on course for the elimination of podoconiosis in our lifetime. We need continued strong partner commitment, evidence-building, and scale-up of activities to accomplish this. PMID:28878431

Podoconiosis in Ethiopia: From Neglect to Priority Public Health Problem.

PubMed

Deribe, Kebede; Kebede, Biruck; Mengistu, Belete; Negussie, Henok; Sileshi, Mesfin; Tamiru, Mossie; Tomczyk, Sara; Tekola-Ayele, Fasil; Davey, Gail; Fentaye, Amha

2017-01-01

Podoconiosis is a geochemical disease occurring in individuals exposed to red clay soil of volcanic origin. This Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) is highly prevalent in Ethiopia. According to the nationwide mapping in 2013, the disease is endemic in 345 districts, where an estimated 35 million people live. The government of Ethiopia prioritized podoconiosis as one of eight priority NTDs and included it in the national integrated master plan for NTDs. An integrated lymphoedema management guideline has been developed. Service expansion has continued in the last few years and lymphoedema management services have been expanded to over one hundred endemic districts. The last few years have been critical in generating evidence about the distribution, burden and effective interventions for podoconiosis in Ethiopia. Although the extent of the problem within Ethiopia is considerable, the country is well positioned to now scale-up elimination efforts. Given the extraordinary progress of the past ten years and the current commitment of government, private and third sectors, Ethiopia seems to be on course for the elimination of podoconiosis in our lifetime. We need continued strong partner commitment, evidence-building, and scale-up of activities to accomplish this.

Priority setting: what constitutes success? A conceptual framework for successful priority setting

PubMed Central

Sibbald, Shannon L; Singer, Peter A; Upshur, Ross; Martin, Douglas K

2009-01-01

Background The sustainability of healthcare systems worldwide is threatened by a growing demand for services and expensive innovative technologies. Decision makers struggle in this environment to set priorities appropriately, particularly because they lack consensus about which values should guide their decisions. One way to approach this problem is to determine what all relevant stakeholders understand successful priority setting to mean. The goal of this research was to develop a conceptual framework for successful priority setting. Methods Three separate empirical studies were completed using qualitative data collection methods (one-on-one interviews with healthcare decision makers from across Canada; focus groups with representation of patients, caregivers and policy makers; and Delphi study including scholars and decision makers from five countries). Results This paper synthesizes the findings from three studies into a framework of ten separate but interconnected elements germane to successful priority setting: stakeholder understanding, shifted priorities/reallocation of resources, decision making quality, stakeholder acceptance and satisfaction, positive externalities, stakeholder engagement, use of explicit process, information management, consideration of values and context, and revision or appeals mechanism. Conclusion The ten elements specify both quantitative and qualitative dimensions of priority setting and relate to both process and outcome components. To our knowledge, this is the first framework that describes successful priority setting. The ten elements identified in this research provide guidance for decision makers and a common language to discuss priority setting success and work toward improving priority setting efforts. PMID:19265518

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

1992-01-01

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

Marine litter from beach-based sources: Case study of an Eastern Mediterranean coastal town.

PubMed

Portman, Michelle E; Brennan, Ruth E

2017-11-01

Marine litter has been a serious and growing problem for some decades now. Yet, there is still much speculation among researchers, policy makers and planners about how to tackle marine litter from land-based sources. This paper provides insights into approaches for managing marine litter by reporting and analyzing survey results of litter dispersal and makeup from three areas along an Arab-Israeli coastal town in view of other recent studies conducted around the Mediterranean Sea. Based on our results and analysis, we posit that bathing beach activities should be a high priority for waste managers as a point of intervention and beach-goers must be encouraged to take a more active role in keeping beaches clean. Further, plastic fragments on the beach should be targeted as a first priority for prevention (and cleanup) of marine litter with plastic bottle caps being a high priority to be targeted among plastics. More survey research is needed on non-plastic litter composition for which amounts and geographic dispersal in the region vary greatly from place to place along Mediterranean shores. In general, findings of this study lead us to recommend exploring persuasive beach trash can design coupled with greater enforcement for short term waste management intervention while considering the local socio-economic and institutional context further for long-term efforts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Disease control priorities in developing countries: health policy responses to epidemiological change.

PubMed Central

Jamison, D T; Mosley, W H

1991-01-01

Health systems in developing countries are facing major challenges in the 1990s and beyond because of a growing epidemiological diversity as a consequence of rapid economic development and declining fertility. The infectious and parasitic diseases of childhood must remain a priority at the same time the chronic diseases among adults are emerging as a serious problem. Health policymakers must engage in undertaking an epidemiological and economic analysis of the major disease problems, evaluating the cost-effectiveness of alternative intervention strategies; designing health care delivery systems; and, choosing what governments can do through persuasion, taxation, regulation, and provision of services. The World Bank has commissioned studies of over two dozen diseases in developing countries which have confirmed the priority of child survival interventions and revealed that interventions for many neglected and emerging adult health problems have comparable cost-effectiveness. Most developing countries lack information about most major diseases among adults, reflecting lack of national capacities in epidemiological and economic analyses, health technology assessment, and environmental monitoring and control. There is a critical need for national and international investment in capacity building and essential national health research to build the base for health policies. PMID:1983911

Quantum Physics and Mathematical Debates Concerning the Problem of the Ontological Priority between Continuous Quantity and Discrete Quantity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pin, Victor Gómez

In his book about the Categories (that is about the ultimate elements of classification and order), in the chapter concerning the quantity (IV, 20) Aristotle says that this concept recovers two kinds of modalities: the discrete quantity and the continuous quantity and he gives as examples the number for the first one; line, surface, solid, times and space for the second one. The main philosophical problem raised by this text is to determine which of the two modalities of the quantity has the ontological priority over the other (given two concepts A and B, we assume that A has ontological priority over B if every entity that possesses the quality B possesses necessarily the quality A). The problem is magnified by the fact that space, which in some part of Aristotle's Physics is mentioned not only as a category properly speaking but even as the main category whose power can be amazing, is in the evoked text of the Categories's Book reduced to expression of the continuum, and sharing this condition with time. In this matter the controversy is constant through the common history of Science and Philosophy.

76 FR 17629 - Applications for New Awards; Transition to Teaching Grant Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-30

... teachers in high-need schools operated by high-need local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that operate as high-need LEAs. Priorities: This notice contains two competitive preference... Preference Priorities: Competitive Preference Priority 1 is from section 2313(c) of the Elementary and...

Nutritional Problems and Policy in Tanzania. Cornell International Nutrition Monograph Series, Number 7 (1980).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mgaza, Olyvia

This monograph discusses policies designed to deal with food and nutrition problems in Tanzania. Available information on food supplies and nutritional conditions in Tanzania clearly shows that the country faces nutritional problems; protein energy malnutrition is the most serious and requires priority action. Iron deficiency anemia, goiter, and…

Reconciling food security and bioenergy: priorities for action

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

Kline, Keith L.; Msangi, Siwa; Dale, Virginia H.

Addressing the challenges of understanding and managing complex interactions among food security, biofuels, and land management requires a focus on specific contextual problems and opportunities. The United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals prioritize food and energy security and bioenergy links these two priorities. Effective food security programs begin by clearly defining the problem and asking, What options will be effective to assist people at high risk? Headlines and cartoons that blame biofuels for food insecurity reflect good intentions but mislead the public and policy makers because they obscure or miss the main drivers of local food insecurity and opportunities formore » biofuels to contribute to solutions. Applying sustainability guidelines to bioenergy will help achieve near- and long- term goals to eradicate hunger. Priorities for achieving successful synergies between bioenergy and food security include (1) clarifying communications with clear and consistent terms, (2) recognizing that food and bioenergy do not compete for land but food and bioenergy systems can and do work together to improve resource management, (3) investing in innovations to build capacity and infrastructure such as rural agricultural extension and technology, (4) promoting stable prices that incentivize local production, (5) adopting flex crops that can provide food along with other products and services to society, and (6) engaging stakeholders in identifying and assessing specific opportunities for biofuels to improve food security. In conclusion, systematic monitoring and analysis to support adaptive management and continual improvement are essential elements to build synergies and help society equitably meet growing demands for both food and energy.« less

Reconciling food security and bioenergy: priorities for action

DOE PAGES

Kline, Keith L.; Msangi, Siwa; Dale, Virginia H.; ...

2016-06-14

Addressing the challenges of understanding and managing complex interactions among food security, biofuels, and land management requires a focus on specific contextual problems and opportunities. The United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals prioritize food and energy security and bioenergy links these two priorities. Effective food security programs begin by clearly defining the problem and asking, What options will be effective to assist people at high risk? Headlines and cartoons that blame biofuels for food insecurity reflect good intentions but mislead the public and policy makers because they obscure or miss the main drivers of local food insecurity and opportunities formore » biofuels to contribute to solutions. Applying sustainability guidelines to bioenergy will help achieve near- and long- term goals to eradicate hunger. Priorities for achieving successful synergies between bioenergy and food security include (1) clarifying communications with clear and consistent terms, (2) recognizing that food and bioenergy do not compete for land but food and bioenergy systems can and do work together to improve resource management, (3) investing in innovations to build capacity and infrastructure such as rural agricultural extension and technology, (4) promoting stable prices that incentivize local production, (5) adopting flex crops that can provide food along with other products and services to society, and (6) engaging stakeholders in identifying and assessing specific opportunities for biofuels to improve food security. In conclusion, systematic monitoring and analysis to support adaptive management and continual improvement are essential elements to build synergies and help society equitably meet growing demands for both food and energy.« less

Hazards of solid waste management: bioethical problems, principles, and priorities

PubMed Central

Maxey, Margaret N.

1978-01-01

The putative hazards of solid waste management cannot be evaluated without placing the problem within a cultural climate of crisis where some persons consider such by-products of “high, hard technology” to have raised unresolved moral and ethical issues. In order to assist scientific and technical efforts to protect public health and safety, a bioethical perspective requires us to examine three controversial aspects of policy-making about public safety. Failure to recognize the qualitative difference between two cognitive activities—risk-measurements (objective, scientific probabilities) and safety-judgments (subjective, shifting value priorities)—has had three unfortunate consequences. Sophisticated methods of risk analysis have been applied in a piecemeal, haphazard, ad hoc fashion within traditional institutions with the false expectation that incremental risk-reducing programs automatically ensure public health and safety. Ethical priorities require, first and foremost, a whole new field of data arranged for comparable risk-analyses. Critics of cost/risk/benefit quantifications attack the absurdity of “putting a price on human life” but have not been confronted with its threefold ethical justification. The widening discrepancy in risk-perceptions and loss of mutual confidence between scientific experts and ordinary citizens has placed a burden of social responsibility on members of the scientific and technical community to engage in more effective public education through the political process, notwithstanding advocates of a nonscientific adversary process. The urgency of effective public education has been demonstrated by the extent to which we have lost our historically balanced judgment about the alleged environmental hazards posed by advanced technology. PMID:738238

Utilization of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Method in Increasing the Revenue of Emergency Department; a Prospective Cohort Study.

PubMed

Shahrami, Ali; Rahmati, Farhad; Kariman, Hamid; Hashemi, Behrooz; Rahmati, Majid; Baratloo, Alireza; Forouzanfar, Mohammad Mehdi; Safari, Saeed

2013-01-01

The balance between revenue and cost of an organization/system is essential to maintain its survival and quality of services. Emergency departments (ED) are one of the most important parts of health care delivery system. Financial discipline of EDs, by increasing the efficiency and profitability, can directly affect the quality of care and subsequently patient satisfaction. Accordingly, the present study attempts to investigate failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) method in identifying the problems leading to the loss of ED revenue and offer solutions to help fix these problems. This prospective cohort study investigated the financial records of ED patients and evaluated the effective errors in reducing the revenue in ED of Imam Hossein hospital, Tehran, Iran, from October 2007 to November 2009. The whole department was divided into one main system and six subsystems, based on FMEA. The study was divided into two phases. In the first phase, the problems leading to the loss of revenue in each subsystem were identified and weighted into four groups using risk priority number (RPN), and the solutions for fixing them were planned. Then, in the second phase, discovered defects in the first phase were fixed according to their priority. Finally, the impact of each solution was compared before and after intervention using the repeated measure ANOVA test. 100 financial records of ED patients were evaluated during the first phase of the study. The average of ED revenue in the six months of the first phase was 73.1±3.65 thousand US dollars/month. 12 types of errors were detected in the predefined subsystems. ED revenue rose from 73.1 to 153.1, 207.06, 240, and 320 thousand US dollars/month after solving first, second, third, and fourth priority problems, respectively (337.75% increase in two years) (p<0.001). 111.0% increase in the ED revenue after solving of first priority problems revealed that they were extremely indispensable in decreasing the revenue (p<0.0001). The findings of the present study revealed that FMEA could be considered as an efficient model for increasing the revenue of emergency department. According to this model, not recording the services by the nursing unit, and lack of specific identifying code for the patients moving from ED to any other department, were the two first priority problems in decreasing our ED revenue.

Utilization of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Method in Increasing the Revenue of Emergency Department; a Prospective Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Shahrami, Ali; Rahmati, Farhad; Kariman, Hamid; Hashemi, Behrooz; Rahmati, Majid; Baratloo, Alireza; Forouzanfar, Mohammad Mehdi; Safari, Saeed

2013-01-01

Introduction: The balance between revenue and cost of an organization/system is essential to maintain its survival and quality of services. Emergency departments (ED) are one of the most important parts of health care delivery system. Financial discipline of EDs, by increasing the efficiency and profitability, can directly affect the quality of care and subsequently patient satisfaction. Accordingly, the present study attempts to investigate failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) method in identifying the problems leading to the loss of ED revenue and offer solutions to help fix these problems. Methods: This prospective cohort study investigated the financial records of ED patients and evaluated the effective errors in reducing the revenue in ED of Imam Hossein hospital, Tehran, Iran, from October 2007 to November 2009. The whole department was divided into one main system and six subsystems, based on FMEA. The study was divided into two phases. In the first phase, the problems leading to the loss of revenue in each subsystem were identified and weighted into four groups using risk priority number (RPN), and the solutions for fixing them were planned. Then, in the second phase, discovered defects in the first phase were fixed according to their priority. Finally, the impact of each solution was compared before and after intervention using the repeated measure ANOVA test. Results: 100 financial records of ED patients were evaluated during the first phase of the study. The average of ED revenue in the six months of the first phase was 73.1±3.65 thousand US dollars/month. 12 types of errors were detected in the predefined subsystems. ED revenue rose from 73.1 to 153.1, 207.06, 240, and 320 thousand US dollars/month after solving first, second, third, and fourth priority problems, respectively (337.75% increase in two years) (p<0.001). 111.0% increase in the ED revenue after solving of first priority problems revealed that they were extremely indispensable in decreasing the revenue (p<0.0001). Conclusion: The findings of the present study revealed that FMEA could be considered as an efficient model for increasing the revenue of emergency department. According to this model, not recording the services by the nursing unit, and lack of specific identifying code for the patients moving from ED to any other department, were the two first priority problems in decreasing our ED revenue. PMID:26495327

Design and Research of the Sewage Treatment Control System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, J.; Hu, W. W.

Due to the rapid development of China's economy, the water pollution has become a problem that we have to face. In particular, how to deal with industrial wastewater has become a top priority. In wastewater treatment, the control system based on PLC has met the design requirement in real-time, reliability, precision and so on. The integration of sequence control and process control in PLC, has the characteristics of high reliability, simple network, convenient and flexible use. PLC is a powerful tool for small and medium-sized industrial automation. Therefore, the sewage treatment control system take PLC as the core of control system, can nicely solve the problem of industrial wastewater in a certain extent.

Research and development studies for MHD/coal power flow train components. Technical progress report, 1 September 1979-31 August 1980

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

Bloom, M. H.

1980-01-01

The aim of this program is to contribute to certain facets of the development of the MHD/coal power system, and particularly the CDIF of DOE with regard to its flow train. Consideration is given specifically to the electrical power take-off, the diagnostic and instrumentation systems, the combustor and MHD channel technology, and electrode alternatives. Within the constraints of the program, high priorities were assigned to the problems of power take-off and the related characteristics of the MHD channel, and to the establishment of a non-intrusive, laser-based diagnostic system. The next priority was given to the combustor modeling and to amore » significantly improved analysis of particle combustion. Separate abstracts were prepared for nine of the ten papers included. One paper was previously included in the data base. (WHK)« less

Formation of the priority directions of innovative strategic energy management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mottaeva, Asiiat; Minnullina, Anna

2017-10-01

Article is devoted to the matter of the ensuring long-term potential of dynamic growth of the Russian economy, its sustainable development in which the special role is assigned to the energy industry. Inclusion of the stage of management of the human capital, which becomes one of priority levers in the field of management of the industrial enterprises, into the in structure of strategy of planning subsequently represents one of innovative steps at the heart of power management. In work the algorithm of the development of the key performance indicators of the human capital on the basis of stage-by-stage problem definition of energy saving, search of the centers of responsibility in energy consumption and quality control of the involved productions is offered in the article. The application of the offered innovative algorithm might promote the formation of high culture of energy saving and the decrease in the level of resistance to organizational changes.

Global land cover mapping and characterization: present situation and future research priorities

USGS Publications Warehouse

Giri, Chandra

2005-01-01

The availability and accessibility of global land cover data sets plays an important role in many global change studies. The importance of such science‐based information is also reflected in a number of international, regional, and national projects and programs. Recent developments in earth observing satellite technology, information technology, computer hardware and software, and infrastructure development have helped developed better quality land cover data sets. As a result, such data sets are increasingly becoming available, the user‐base is ever widening, application areas have been expanding, and the potential of many other applications are enormous. Yet, we are far from producing high quality global land cover data sets. This paper examines the progress in the development of digital global land cover data, their availability, and current applications. Problems and opportunities are also explained. The overview sets the stage for identifying future research priorities needed for operational land cover assessment and monitoring.

SUPERFUND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES EVALUATION ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This task seeks to identify high priority needs of the Regions and Program Offices for innovative field sampling, characterization, monitoring, and measurement technologies. When an appropriate solution to a specific problem is identified, a field demonstration is conducted to document the performance and cost of the proposed technologies. The use of field analysis almost always provides a savings in time and cost over the usual sample and ship to a conventional laboratory for analysis approach to site characterization and monitoring. With improvements in technology and appropriate quality assurance/quality control, field analysis has been shown to provide high quality data, useful for most environmental monitoring or characterization projects. An emphasis of the program is to seek out innovative solutions to existing problems and to provide the cost and performance data a user would require to make an informed decision regarding the adequacy of a technology to address a specific environmental problem. The objective of this program is to promote the acceptance and use of innovative field technologies by providing well-documented performance and cost data obtained from field demonstrations.

The EEOC charge priority policy and claimants with psychiatric disabilities.

PubMed

Ullman, M D; Johnsen, M C; Moss, K; Burris, S

2001-05-01

In June 1995 the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) instituted a new charge priority policy. Under the new policy, charges are classified as one of three priority levels during or immediately after intake. Only charges assigned a high priority receive a full investigation. This paper examines the effect of the charge priority policy on individuals with psychiatric disabilities who filed Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) charges with the EEOC. Using data extracted from the EEOC's charge data system, the authors analyzed all 66,298 ADA claims prioritized and closed between June 1995 and March 1998. The z test for difference in proportions and the generalized estimating equations procedure were used. The primary outcome measure was the priority assignment received by ADA claimants. Charges that received a high priority assignment were more likely to result in benefits for claimants. Charges filed by claimants with psychiatric disabilities were significantly less likely to be assigned a high priority than charges filed by other claimants. Claimants with psychiatric disabilities were also significantly less likely to benefit from their claims. The strong relationship between being assigned high priority and receiving benefits as a result of filing a charge demonstrates the importance of accurate priority categorization. The finding that people with psychiatric disabilities are less likely than others to benefit from their claims is cause for concern, particularly given the fact that the accuracy of the charge prioritization system has not been validated.

Rotorcraft Downwash Flow Field Study to Understand the Aerodynamics of Helicopter Brownout

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wadcock, Alan J.; Ewing, Lindsay A.; Solis, Eduardo; Potsdam, Mark; Rajagopalan, Ganesh

2008-01-01

Rotorcraft brownout is caused by the entrainment of dust and sand particles in helicopter downwash, resulting in reduced pilot visibility during low, slow flight and landing. Recently, brownout has become a high-priority problem for military operations because of the risk to both pilot and equipment. Mitigation of this problem has focused on flight controls and landing maneuvers, but current knowledge and experimental data describing the aerodynamic contribution to brownout are limited. This paper focuses on downwash characteristics of a UH-60 Blackhawk as they pertain to particle entrainment and brownout. Results of a full-scale tuft test are presented and used to validate a high-fidelity Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculation. CFD analysis for an EH-101 Merlin helicopter is also presented, and its flow field characteristics are compared with those of the UH-60.

The Collision of the Adoption and Safe Families Act and Substance Abuse: Research-Based Education and Training Priorities for Child Welfare Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schroeder, Julie; Lemieux, Catherine; Pogue, Rene

2008-01-01

A large body of descriptive literature demonstrates the problem of substance abuse in child welfare. The 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) established time frames that make children's need for permanency the overriding priority in families involved with the child welfare system. Child welfare workers often lack proper knowledge and skill…

Invisible Cost Effective Mechanics for Anterior Space Closure.

PubMed

Jumle, Aatish Vinod; Bagrecha, Saurabh; Gharat, Ninad; Misal, Abhijit; Toshniwal, N G

2015-01-01

The shifting paradigm towards invisible orthodontic treatment and also awareness in patients has allured their focus towards the most esthetic treatment approach. Also the lingual treatment is proved successful and is very well accepted by the patients. The problem that persist is its high expenses, which is not affordable by all patients. This article is a effort to treat a simple Class I malocclusion with anterior spacing using a simple, esthetic, Cost effective approach with acceptable results when esthetics plays a priority role.

Medical-Grade Channel Access and Admission Control in 802.11e EDCA for Healthcare Applications

PubMed Central

Son, Sunghwa; Park, Kyung-Joon; Park, Eun-Chan

2016-01-01

In this paper, we deal with the problem of assuring medical-grade quality of service (QoS) for real-time medical applications in wireless healthcare systems based on IEEE 802.11e. Firstly, we show that the differentiated channel access of IEEE 802.11e cannot effectively assure medical-grade QoS because of priority inversion. To resolve this problem, we propose an efficient channel access algorithm. The proposed algorithm adjusts arbitrary inter-frame space (AIFS) in the IEEE 802.11e protocol depending on the QoS measurement of medical traffic, to provide differentiated near-absolute priority for medical traffic. In addition, based on rigorous capacity analysis, we propose an admission control scheme that can avoid performance degradation due to network overload. Via extensive simulations, we show that the proposed mechanism strictly assures the medical-grade QoS and improves the throughput of low-priority traffic by more than several times compared to the conventional IEEE 802.11e. PMID:27490666

The factors affecting Nigeria's success toward implementation of global public health priorities.

PubMed

Echebiri, Vitalis C

2015-06-01

This paper examines the challenges facing the Nigerian government toward the implementation of global public health priories. The Nigerian government recognizes the need to implement these priorities by putting in place the necessary policy framework, but political instability, poor infrastructural development and inadequate funding have remained barriers toward the achievement of success in implementing these priorities. The rest of the paper elucidates the fact that despite leadership and influence from the World Health Organization and other United Nations agencies, and some responses from the Nigerian government, tackling these public health problems requires much more fundamental reform to primary health services and a reduction in poverty. Although the government has shown enough political will to tackle these problems, it is expected that a better result will be achieved through injecting more funds into the Nigerian health sector, and deploying astute health administrators to manage the sector rather than pure health professionals without managerial acumen. © The Author(s) 2014.

Active Solution Space and Search on Job-shop Scheduling Problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, Masato; Ida, Kenichi; Gen, Mitsuo

In this paper we propose a new searching method of Genetic Algorithm for Job-shop scheduling problem (JSP). The coding method that represent job number in order to decide a priority to arrange a job to Gannt Chart (called the ordinal representation with a priority) in JSP, an active schedule is created by using left shift. We define an active solution at first. It is solution which can create an active schedule without using left shift, and set of its defined an active solution space. Next, we propose an algorithm named Genetic Algorithm with active solution space search (GA-asol) which can create an active solution while solution is evaluated, in order to search the active solution space effectively. We applied it for some benchmark problems to compare with other method. The experimental results show good performance.

Priority Scale of Drainage Rehabilitation of Cilacap City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rudiono, Jatmiko

2018-03-01

Characteristics of physical condition of Cilacap City is relatively flat and low to sea level (approximately 6 m above sea level). In the event of a relatively heavy rainfall resulting in inundation at several locations. The problem of inundation is a serious problem if there is in a dense residential area or occurs in publicly-used infrastructure, such as roads and settlements. These problems require improved management of which include how to plan a sustainable urban drainage system and environmentally friendly. The development of Cilacap City is increasing rapidly, this causes drainage system based on the Drainage Masterplan Cilacap made in 2006 has not been able to accommodate rain water, so, it is necessary to evaluate the drainage masterplan for subsequent rehabilitation. Priority scale rehabilitation of the drainage sections as a guideline is an urgent need of rehabilitation in the next time period.

Integrating Consumer Requests Into Community Organized Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Sanford M.

1977-01-01

The environmental health administrative problem of reducing and/or eliminating individual complaints or requests by integrating them with the planned community environmental health program is discussed. Four parameters are detailed: problem assessment, priority establishment, activity sequencing and the evaluation of program effectiveness. (BT)

Clinical Problem Solving Exercises for Pre-Clinical Medical Education: A Design, Implementation and Preliminary Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bordage, Georges

Clinical problem solving exercises for preclinical medical education that were developed at Michigan State University School of Osteopathic Medicine are described. Two types of outcomes were set as priorities in the design and implementation of the problem solving sessions: small group peer interactions as instructional and evaluative resources;…

High-priority and low-priority drug-drug interactions in different international electronic health record systems: A comparative study.

PubMed

Cornu, Pieter; Phansalkar, Shobha; Seger, Diane L; Cho, Insook; Pontefract, Sarah; Robertson, Alexandra; Bates, David W; Slight, Sarah P

2018-03-01

To investigate whether alert warnings for high-priority and low-priority drug-drug interactions (DDIs) were present in five international electronic health record (EHR) systems, to compare and contrast the severity level assigned to them, and to establish the proportion of alerts that were overridden. We conducted a comparative, retrospective, multinational study using a convenience sample of 5 EHRs from the U.S., U.K., Republic of Korea and Belgium. Of the 15 previously defined, high-priority, class-based DDIs, alert warnings were found to exist for 11 in both the Korean and UK systems, 9 in the Belgian system, and all 15 in the two US systems. The specific combinations that were included in these class-based DDIs varied considerably in number, type and level of severity amongst systems. Alerts were only active for 8.4% (52/619) and 52.4% (111/212) of the specific drug-drug combinations contained in the Belgian and UK systems, respectively. Hard stops (not possible to override) existed in the US and UK systems only. The override rates for high-priority alerts requiring provider action ranged from 56.7% to 83.3%. Of the 33 previously defined low-priority DDIs, active alerts existed only in the US systems, for three class-based DDIs. The majority were non-interruptive. Alert warnings existed for most of the high-priority DDIs in the different EHRs but overriding them was easy in most of the systems. In addition to validating the high- and low-priority DDIs, this study reported a lack of standardization in DDI levels across different international knowledge bases. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The priority group index: a proposed new method incorporating high risk and population burden to identify target populations for public health interventions.

PubMed

Zhang, Bo; Cohen, Joanna E; OʼConnor, Shawn

2014-01-01

Selection of priority groups is important for health interventions. However, no quantitative method has been developed. To develop a quantitative method to support the process of selecting priority groups for public health interventions based on both high risk and population health burden. Secondary data analysis of the 2010 Canadian Community Health Survey. Canadian population. Survey respondents. We identified priority groups for 3 diseases: heart disease, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Three measures--prevalence, population counts, and adjusted odds ratios (OR)--were calculated for subpopulations (sociodemographic characteristics and other risk factors). A Priority Group Index (PGI) was calculated by summing the rank scores of these 3 measures. Of the 30 priority groups identified by the PGI (10 for each of the 3 disease outcomes), 7 were identified on the basis of high prevalence only, 5 based on population count only, 3 based on high OR only, and the remainder based on combinations of these. The identified priority groups were all in line with the literature as risk factors for the 3 diseases, such as elderly people for heart disease and stroke and those with low income for chronic lower respiratory diseases. The PGI was thus able to balance both high risk and population burden approaches in selecting priority groups, and thus it would address health inequities as well as disease burden in the overall population. The PGI is a quantitative method to select priority groups for public health interventions; it has the potential to enhance the effective use of limited public resources.

Effective stakeholder participation in setting research priorities using a Global Evidence Mapping approach.

PubMed

Clavisi, Ornella; Bragge, Peter; Tavender, Emma; Turner, Tari; Gruen, Russell L

2013-05-01

We present a multistep process for identifying priority research areas in rehabilitation and long-term care of traumatic brain-injured (TBI) patients. In particular, we aimed to (1) identify which stakeholders should be involved; (2) identify what methods are appropriate; (3) examine different criteria for the generation of research priority areas; and (4) test the feasibility of linkage and exchange among researchers, decision makers, and other potential users of the research. Potential research questions were identified and developed using an initial scoping meeting and preliminary literature search, followed by a facilitated mapping workshop and an online survey. Identified research questions were then prioritized against specific criteria (clinical importance, novelty, and controversy). Existing evidence was then mapped to the high-priority questions using usual processes for search, screening, and selection. A broad range of stakeholders were then brought together at a forum to identify priority research themes for future research investment. Using clinical and research leaders, smaller targeted planning workshops prioritized specific research projects for each of the identified themes. Twenty-six specific questions about TBI rehabilitation were generated, 14 of which were high priority. No one method identified all high-priority questions. Methods that relied solely on the views of clinicians and researchers identified fewer high-priority questions compared with methods that used broader stakeholder engagement. Evidence maps of these high-priority questions yielded a number of evidence gaps. Priority questions and evidence maps were then used to inform a research forum, which identified 12 priority themes for future research. Our research demonstrates the value of a multistep and multimethod process involving many different types of stakeholders for prioritizing research to improve the rehabilitation outcomes of people who have suffered TBI. Enhancing stakeholder representation can be augmented using a combination of methods and a process of linkage and exchange. This process can inform decisions about prioritization of research areas. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

7 CFR 4279.155 - Loan priorities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... natural disaster or experiencing fundamental structural changes in its economic base (5 points). (iv... the maximum allowable for a loan of its size (5 points). (5) High impact business investment priorities. The priority score for high impact business investment will be the total score for the following...

JPRS Report, Near East & South Asia.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-07

Near East & South Asia JPRS-NEA-88-014 CONTENTS 7 MARCH 1988 NEAR EAST REGIONAL GCC Governments Give Purchase Priority to National Products ...Russians 8 SYRIA Nation’s Electricity Production , Waste Problems Reviewed 10 Reasons for Asad Romanian Visit Discussed [AL-MUSTAQBAL, 5 Dec 87...REGIONAL GCC Governments Give Purchase Priority to National Products 44000044 Dammam AL-IQTISAD in English Oct 87 pp 66-67 [Text] Following is the

Dynamic Hop Service Differentiation Model for End-to-End QoS Provisioning in Multi-Hop Wireless Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Youn, Joo-Sang; Seok, Seung-Joon; Kang, Chul-Hee

This paper presents a new QoS model for end-to-end service provisioning in multi-hop wireless networks. In legacy IEEE 802.11e based multi-hop wireless networks, the fixed assignment of service classes according to flow's priority at every node causes priority inversion problem when performing end-to-end service differentiation. Thus, this paper proposes a new QoS provisioning model called Dynamic Hop Service Differentiation (DHSD) to alleviate the problem and support effective service differentiation between end-to-end nodes. Many previous works for QoS model through the 802.11e based service differentiation focus on packet scheduling on several service queues with different service rate and service priority. Our model, however, concentrates on a dynamic class selection scheme, called Per Hop Class Assignment (PHCA), in the node's MAC layer, which selects a proper service class for each packet, in accordance with queue states and service requirement, in every node along the end-to-end route of the packet. The proposed QoS solution is evaluated using the OPNET simulator. The simulation results show that the proposed model outperforms both best-effort and 802.11e based strict priority service models in mobile ad hoc environments.

Students' Environmental Competence Formation as a Pedagogical Problem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ponomarenko, Yelena V.; Yessaliev, Aidarbek A.; Kenzhebekova, Rabiga I.; Moldabek, Kulahmet; Larchekova, Liudmila A.; Dairbekov, Serik S.; Asambaeva, Lazzat

2016-01-01

Environmentally conscious and preparation of competent professionals' in higher education system in Kazakhstan is a priority. The need for more effective environmental competence formation for students actualizes the problem of development and scientific substantiation of the theoretical model of students' environmental competence, methods of…

Solid Waste Reduction--A Hands-on Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiessinger, Diane

1991-01-01

This lesson plan uses grocery shopping to demonstrate the importance of source reduction in the handling of solid waste problems. Students consider different priorities in shopping (convenience, packaging, and waste reduction) and draw conclusions about the relationship between packaging techniques and solid waste problems. (MCO)

Food for all.

PubMed

Ganzin, M

1975-01-01

Ensuring food for all requires an interdisciplinary approach, an evaluation of all sectors of the economy and the formulation of objectives which include proper nutrition in overall development plans. It is my contention that the introduction of nutrition priorities at this level, complemented with the traditional immediate and short-term measures of food aid, nutrition programmes, health campaigns and nutrition education will do much to alleviate the world's food problems. Priorities must be defined, planning structures strengthened, and politicians convinced that objectives can be reached. Otherwise, meagre resources will continue to give low priority to agriculture and social reform and we will have accomplished little toward our objective of food for all.

A preference aggregation model and application in AHP-group decision making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Taiyi; Yang, De; Chao, Xiangrui

2018-04-01

Group decision making process integrate individual preferences to obtain the group preference by applying aggregation rules and preference relations. The two most useful approaches, the aggregation of individual judgements and the aggregation of individual priorities, traditionally are employed in the Analytic Hierarchy Process to deal with group decision making problems. In both cases, it is assumed that the group preference is approximate weighted mathematical expectation of individual judgements and individual priorities. We propose new preference aggregation methods using optimization models in order to obtain group preference which is close to all individual priorities. Some illustrative examples are finally examined to demonstrate proposed models for application.

A Multi-Stage Reverse Logistics Network Problem by Using Hybrid Priority-Based Genetic Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jeong-Eun; Gen, Mitsuo; Rhee, Kyong-Gu

Today remanufacturing problem is one of the most important problems regarding to the environmental aspects of the recovery of used products and materials. Therefore, the reverse logistics is gaining become power and great potential for winning consumers in a more competitive context in the future. This paper considers the multi-stage reverse Logistics Network Problem (m-rLNP) while minimizing the total cost, which involves reverse logistics shipping cost and fixed cost of opening the disassembly centers and processing centers. In this study, we first formulate the m-rLNP model as a three-stage logistics network model. Following for solving this problem, we propose a Genetic Algorithm pri (GA) with priority-based encoding method consisting of two stages, and introduce a new crossover operator called Weight Mapping Crossover (WMX). Additionally also a heuristic approach is applied in the 3rd stage to ship of materials from processing center to manufacturer. Finally numerical experiments with various scales of the m-rLNP models demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach by comparing with the recent researches.

Master Environmental Plan for Fort Devens, Massachusetts

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-04-01

sites located in proximity to each other were grouped together. The rationale for the order of priority assigned to the study areas in this section is...following priority categories: 1. High priority for action. All group 1 study areas have known contamination. Group IA includes sites that have ongoing...remedial investigations. Group 1B includes sites that have ongoing site inspections. 2. Moderate to high priority for action. Study areas in groups 3

The Development of a Veterans Health Administration Emergency Management Research Agenda

PubMed Central

Dobalian, Aram; Claver, Maria; Riopelle, Deborah; Wyte-Lake, Tamar; Canelo, Ismelda

2017-01-01

Introduction: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the largest integrated healthcare delivery system in the United States, is charged with ensuring timely access to high-quality care for veterans during disasters, and supporting national, state, local, and tribal emergency management and homeland security efforts. In 2008, the VHA Office of Public Health (OPH) sponsored the first VHA Emergency Management Research Agenda-setting conference to develop research priorities that address the needs of veterans and to position VHA as a national leader in emergency management by having VHA serve as a “laboratory” for the development of evidence-based emergency management practices. Methods: We focused on four steps: #1: Appraising the emergency management research portfolio of VHA-based researchers; #2: Obtaining systematic information on VHA’s role in emergency management and the healthcare needs of veterans during disasters; #3: Based upon gaps between the current research portfolio and the existing evidence base, identifying strategic priorities using a research agenda-setting conference; and #4: Laying the groundwork to foster the conduct of emergency management research within VHA. Results: Identified research priorities included how to prevent and treat behavioral health problems related to a disaster, the efficacy of training programs, crisis communication strategies, workforce resilience, and evacuating veterans from health care facilities. Conclusion: VHA is uniquely situated to answer research questions that cannot be readily addressed in other settings. VHA should partner with other governmental and private entities to build on existing work and establish shared research priorities. PMID:28439447

76 FR 69246 - Application for New Awards; High School Equivalency Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-08

... could include, for example, participation in training on intensive science teaching techniques presented...)). The third priority is an invitational priority for applications that promote science, technology... preference over other applications. These priorities are: Invitational Priority 1--Science, Technology...

Summary and recommendations for the NASA/MIT workshop on short haul air transport

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simpson, R. W.

1971-01-01

The material is summarized that was covered by the MIT/NASA Waterville Valley workshop which dealt with the institutional, socio-economic, operational and technological problems associated with introducing new forms of short haul domestic air transportation. It was found that future air systems hold great potential in satisfying society's needs for a low noise, low landspace, high access, high speed, large network system for public travel over distances between 5 and 500 miles. It is concluded that quiet air systems are necessary for obtaining community approval, and is recommended that extremely high priority be assigned to the development of quiet aircraft for future short haul air systems.

Identifying Priority Areas for Conservation: A Global Assessment for Forest-Dependent Birds

PubMed Central

Buchanan, Graeme M.; Donald, Paul F.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.

2011-01-01

Limited resources are available to address the world's growing environmental problems, requiring conservationists to identify priority sites for action. Using new distribution maps for all of the world's forest-dependent birds (60.6% of all bird species), we quantify the contribution of remaining forest to conserving global avian biodiversity. For each of the world's partly or wholly forested 5-km cells, we estimated an impact score of its contribution to the distribution of all the forest bird species estimated to occur within it, and so is proportional to the impact on the conservation status of the world's forest-dependent birds were the forest it contains lost. The distribution of scores was highly skewed, a very small proportion of cells having scores several orders of magnitude above the global mean. Ecoregions containing the highest values of this score included relatively species-poor islands such as Hawaii and Palau, the relatively species-rich islands of Indonesia and the Philippines, and the megadiverse Atlantic Forests and northern Andes of South America. Ecoregions with high impact scores and high deforestation rates (2000–2005) included montane forests in Cameroon and the Eastern Arc of Tanzania, although deforestation data were not available for all ecoregions. Ecoregions with high impact scores, high rates of recent deforestation and low coverage by the protected area network included Indonesia's Seram rain forests and the moist forests of Trinidad and Tobago. Key sites in these ecoregions represent some of the most urgent priorities for expansion of the global protected areas network to meet Convention on Biological Diversity targets to increase the proportion of land formally protected to 17% by 2020. Areas with high impact scores, rapid deforestation, low protection and high carbon storage values may represent significant opportunities for both biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, for example through Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiatives. PMID:22205998

Preventing delayed diagnosis of cancer: clinicians’ views on main problems and solutions

PubMed Central

Car, Lorainne Tudor; Papachristou, Nikolaos; Urch, Catherine; Majeed, Azeem; El–Khatib, Mona; Aylin, Paul; Atun, Rifat; Car, Josip; Vincent, Charles

2016-01-01

Background Delayed diagnosis is a major contributing factor to the UK’s lower cancer survival compared to many European countries. In the UK, there is a significant national variation in early cancer diagnosis. Healthcare providers can offer an insight into local priorities for timely cancer diagnosis. In this study, we aimed to identify the main problems and solutions relating to delay cancer diagnosis according to cancer care clinicians. Methods We developed and implemented a new priority–setting approach called PRIORITIZE and invited North West London cancer care clinicians to identify and prioritize main causes for and solutions to delayed diagnosis of cancer care. Results Clinicians identified a number of concrete problems and solutions relating to delayed diagnosis of cancer. Raising public awareness, patient education as well as better access to specialist care and diagnostic testing were seen as the highest priorities. The identified suggestions focused mostly on the delays during referrals from primary to secondary care. Conclusions Many identified priorities were feasible, affordable and converged around common themes such as public awareness, care continuity and length of consultation. As a timely, proactive and scalable priority–setting approach, PRIORITZE could be implemented as a routine preventative system for determining patient safety issues by frontline staff. PMID:28028437

Global priorities for conservation across multiple dimensions of mammalian diversity

PubMed Central

Graham, Catherine H.; Costa, Gabriel C.; Hedges, S. Blair; Penone, Caterina; Radeloff, Volker C.; Rondinini, Carlo; Davidson, Ana D.

2017-01-01

Conservation priorities that are based on species distribution, endemism, and vulnerability may underrepresent biologically unique species as well as their functional roles and evolutionary histories. To ensure that priorities are biologically comprehensive, multiple dimensions of diversity must be considered. Further, understanding how the different dimensions relate to one another spatially is important for conservation prioritization, but the relationship remains poorly understood. Here, we use spatial conservation planning to (i) identify and compare priority regions for global mammal conservation across three key dimensions of biodiversity—taxonomic, phylogenetic, and traits—and (ii) determine the overlap of these regions with the locations of threatened species and existing protected areas. We show that priority areas for mammal conservation exhibit low overlap across the three dimensions, highlighting the need for an integrative approach for biodiversity conservation. Additionally, currently protected areas poorly represent the three dimensions of mammalian biodiversity. We identify areas of high conservation priority among and across the dimensions that should receive special attention for expanding the global protected area network. These high-priority areas, combined with areas of high priority for other taxonomic groups and with social, economic, and political considerations, provide a biological foundation for future conservation planning efforts. PMID:28674013

Global priorities for conservation across multiple dimensions of mammalian diversity.

PubMed

Brum, Fernanda T; Graham, Catherine H; Costa, Gabriel C; Hedges, S Blair; Penone, Caterina; Radeloff, Volker C; Rondinini, Carlo; Loyola, Rafael; Davidson, Ana D

2017-07-18

Conservation priorities that are based on species distribution, endemism, and vulnerability may underrepresent biologically unique species as well as their functional roles and evolutionary histories. To ensure that priorities are biologically comprehensive, multiple dimensions of diversity must be considered. Further, understanding how the different dimensions relate to one another spatially is important for conservation prioritization, but the relationship remains poorly understood. Here, we use spatial conservation planning to ( i ) identify and compare priority regions for global mammal conservation across three key dimensions of biodiversity-taxonomic, phylogenetic, and traits-and ( ii ) determine the overlap of these regions with the locations of threatened species and existing protected areas. We show that priority areas for mammal conservation exhibit low overlap across the three dimensions, highlighting the need for an integrative approach for biodiversity conservation. Additionally, currently protected areas poorly represent the three dimensions of mammalian biodiversity. We identify areas of high conservation priority among and across the dimensions that should receive special attention for expanding the global protected area network. These high-priority areas, combined with areas of high priority for other taxonomic groups and with social, economic, and political considerations, provide a biological foundation for future conservation planning efforts.

Palliative care, public health and justice: setting priorities in resource poor countries.

PubMed

Blinderman, Craig

2009-12-01

Many countries have not considered palliative care a public health problem. With limited resources, disease-oriented therapies and prevention measures take priority. In this paper, I intend to describe the moral framework for considering palliative care as a public health priority in resource-poor countries. A distributive theory of justice for health care should consider integrative palliative care as morally required as it contributes to improving normal functioning and preserving opportunities for the individual. For patients requiring terminal care, we are guided less by principles of justice and more by the duty to relieve suffering and society's commitment to protecting the professional's obligation to uphold principles of beneficence, compassion and non-abandonment. A fair deliberation process is necessary to allow these strong moral commitments to serve as reasons when setting priorities in resource poor countries.

Clinical Nursing Records Study

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-08-01

In-depth assessment of current AMEDD nursing documentation system used in fixed facilities; 2 - 4) development, implementation and assessment of...used in fixed facilities to: a) identify system problems; b) identify potential solutions to problems; c) set priorities fc problem resolution; d...enhance compatibility between any " hard copy" forms the group might develop and automation requirements. Discussions were also held with personnel from

Report of the National Research Conference on Consumer and Homemaking Education (Columbus, Ohio, June 2-5, 1970). Leadership Training Series No. 31.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorman, Anna M.

To determine priorities for critical problems facing consumer and homemaking education and plan research projects which focus on these critical problems, a 5-day conference was attended by 107 vocational-technical education specialists and educators. Conference sessions were planned to (1) identify critical research problem areas and prepare a…

The First Step in Prison Training Program Evaluation: A Model for Pinpointing Critical Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vicino, Frank L.; And Others

1977-01-01

The model allows for the determination of the severity of the training problems, thus leading naturally to problem priority and in addition a basis for evaluation design. Results from the use of the model, in an operational setting, are presented. (Author)

Student Work Habits: An Educational Imperative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Robert L.; Oh, Eun Jung

Major problems in the American workforce are absenteeism, tardiness, disorganization, off-task behavior, and limited teamwork. Attacking such problems by promoting effective work habits in schools should be an educational priority, with teachers, counselors, and school psychologists all playing a role in the process. Student work habits that can…

Crash avoidance needs and countermeasure profiles for safety applications based on light-vehicle-to-pedestrian communications

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-08-01

This research supports establishing an updated understanding of the pedestrian crash problem and defining a way to connect the crash problem with vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication crash avoidance technology. It describes 5 priority pre-crash ...

Australian University Libraries: Problems and Prospects for the 1980s.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steele, Colin

1982-01-01

Inadequate funding for Australian university libraries is criticized. Issues considered include interlibrary loans, staffing needs, the state of cataloging, networks, acquisitions, building and space problems, new technologies, mergers, and governmental priorities. Statistics for individual library holdings and expenditures, and trends in 1976-79…

24 CFR 886.101 - Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... potentially serious financial problems which, on the basis of financial and/or management analysis, appear to... potentially serious financial difficulties. A first priority should be given to projects with presently serious financial problems, which are likely to result in a claim on the insurance fund in the near future...

24 CFR 886.101 - Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... potentially serious financial problems which, on the basis of financial and/or management analysis, appear to... potentially serious financial difficulties. A first priority should be given to projects with presently serious financial problems, which are likely to result in a claim on the insurance fund in the near future...

The emergence of maternal health as a political priority in Madhya Pradesh, India: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Politics plays a critical role in agenda setting in health affairs; therefore, understanding the priorities of the political agenda in health is very important. The political priority for safe motherhood has been investigated at the national level in different countries. The objective of this study was to explore why and how maternal health became a political priority at sub-national level in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. Methods This study followed a qualitative design. Data were collected by carrying out interviews and review of documents. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with twenty respondents from four stakeholder groups: government officials, development partners, civil society and academics. Data analysis was performed using thematic analysis. The analysis was guided by Kingdon’s multiple streams model. Results The emergence of maternal health as a political priority in Madhya Pradesh was the result of convergence in the developments in different streams: the development of problem definition, policy generation and political change. The factors which influenced this process were: emerging evidence of the high magnitude of maternal mortality, civil society’s positioning of maternal mortality as a human rights violation, increasing media coverage, supportive policy environment and launch of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the availability of effective policy solutions, India’s aspiration of global leadership, international influence, maternal mortality becoming a hot debate topic and political transition at the national and state levels. Most of these factors first became important at national level which then cascaded to the state level. Currently, there is a supportive policy environment in the state for maternal health backed by greater political will and increased resources. However, malnutrition and population stabilization are the competing priorities which may push maternal health off the agenda. Conclusions The influence of the events and factors evolving from international and national levels significantly contributed to the development of maternal health as a priority in Madhya Pradesh. This led to several opportunities in terms of policies, guidelines and programmes for improving maternal health. These efforts were successful to some extent in improving maternal health in the state but several implementation challenges still require special attention. PMID:24079699

The emergence of maternal health as a political priority in Madhya Pradesh, India: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Jat, Tej Ram; Deo, Prakash Ramchandra; Goicolea, Isabel; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; San Sebastian, Miguel

2013-09-30

Politics plays a critical role in agenda setting in health affairs; therefore, understanding the priorities of the political agenda in health is very important. The political priority for safe motherhood has been investigated at the national level in different countries. The objective of this study was to explore why and how maternal health became a political priority at sub-national level in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. This study followed a qualitative design. Data were collected by carrying out interviews and review of documents. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with twenty respondents from four stakeholder groups: government officials, development partners, civil society and academics. Data analysis was performed using thematic analysis. The analysis was guided by Kingdon's multiple streams model. The emergence of maternal health as a political priority in Madhya Pradesh was the result of convergence in the developments in different streams: the development of problem definition, policy generation and political change. The factors which influenced this process were: emerging evidence of the high magnitude of maternal mortality, civil society's positioning of maternal mortality as a human rights violation, increasing media coverage, supportive policy environment and launch of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the availability of effective policy solutions, India's aspiration of global leadership, international influence, maternal mortality becoming a hot debate topic and political transition at the national and state levels. Most of these factors first became important at national level which then cascaded to the state level. Currently, there is a supportive policy environment in the state for maternal health backed by greater political will and increased resources. However, malnutrition and population stabilization are the competing priorities which may push maternal health off the agenda. The influence of the events and factors evolving from international and national levels significantly contributed to the development of maternal health as a priority in Madhya Pradesh. This led to several opportunities in terms of policies, guidelines and programmes for improving maternal health. These efforts were successful to some extent in improving maternal health in the state but several implementation challenges still require special attention.

Resource-constrained scheduling with hard due windows and rejection penalties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, Christopher

2016-09-01

This work studies a scheduling problem where each job must be either accepted and scheduled to complete within its specified due window, or rejected altogether. Each job has a certain processing time and contributes a certain profit if accepted or penalty cost if rejected. There is a set of renewable resources, and no resource limit can be exceeded at any time. Each job requires a certain amount of each resource when processed, and the objective is to maximize total profit. A mixed-integer programming formulation and three approximation algorithms are presented: a priority rule heuristic, an algorithm based on the metaheuristic for randomized priority search and an evolutionary algorithm. Computational experiments comparing these four solution methods were performed on a set of generated benchmark problems covering a wide range of problem characteristics. The evolutionary algorithm outperformed the other methods in most cases, often significantly, and never significantly underperformed any method.

An immersed boundary method for modeling a dirty geometry data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onishi, Keiji; Tsubokura, Makoto

2017-11-01

We present a robust, fast, and low preparation cost immersed boundary method (IBM) for simulating an incompressible high Re flow around highly complex geometries. The method is achieved by the dispersion of the momentum by the axial linear projection and the approximate domain assumption satisfying the mass conservation around the wall including cells. This methodology has been verified against an analytical theory and wind tunnel experiment data. Next, we simulate the problem of flow around a rotating object and demonstrate the ability of this methodology to the moving geometry problem. This methodology provides the possibility as a method for obtaining a quick solution at a next large scale supercomputer. This research was supported by MEXT as ``Priority Issue on Post-K computer'' (Development of innovative design and production processes) and used computational resources of the K computer provided by the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science.

[The Danish debate on priority setting in medicine - characteristics and results].

PubMed

Pornak, S; Meyer, T; Raspe, H

2011-10-01

Priority setting in medicine helps to achieve a fair and transparent distribution of health-care resources. The German discussion about priority setting is still in its infancy and may benefit from other countries' experiences. This paper aims to analyse the Danish priority setting debate in order to stimulate the German discussion. The methods used are a literature analysis and a document analysis as well as expert interviews. The Danish debate about priority setting in medicine began in the 1970s, when a government committee was constituted to evaluate health-care priorities at the national level. In the 1980s a broader debate arose in politics, ethics, medicine and health economy. The discussions reached a climax in the 1990s, when many local activities - always involving the public - were initiated. Some Danish counties tried to implement priority setting in the daily routine of health care. The Council of Ethics was a major player in the debate of the 1990s and published a detailed statement on priority setting in 1996. With the new century the debate about priority setting seemed to have come to an end, but in 2006 the Technology Council and the Danish Regions resumed the discussion. In 2009 the Medical Association called for a broad debate in order to achieve equity among all patients. The long lasting Danish debate on priority setting has entailed only very little practical consequences on health care. The main problems seem to have been the missing effort to bundle the various local initiatives on a national level and the lack of powerful players to put results of the discussion into practice. Nevertheless, today the attitude towards priority setting is predominantly positive and even politicians talk freely about it. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

NASA--has its biological groundwork for a trip to Mars improved?

PubMed

Haddy, Francis J

2007-03-01

In a 1991 editorial in The FASEB Journal, Robert W. Krauss commented on a recent report of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Future of the U.S. Space Program (Augustine report). He concluded that, although a manned mission to Mars with life sciences as the priority was endorsed by the Committee, it failed to deal realistically with one huge gap; biological sciences have never been given high priority. According to Krauss, this left a void that will cripple, perhaps fatally, any early effort to ensure long-term survival on any mission of extended duration. The gap included insufficient flight time for fundamental biological space research and insufficient funds. Krauss expressed his opinions 15 years ago. Have we better knowledge of space biology now? This question becomes more acute now that President George W. Bush recently proposed a manned return to the moon by 2015 or 2020, with the moon to become our staging post for manned missions to Mars. Will we be ready so soon? A review of the progress in the last 15 years suggests that we will not. Because of the Columbia disaster, flight opportunities for biological sciences in shuttle spacelabs and in Space Station laboratories compete with time for engineering problems and construction. Thus, research on gravity, radiation, and isolation loses out to problems deemed to be of higher priority. Radiation in deep space and graded gravity in space with on board centrifuges are areas that must be studied before we undertake prolonged space voyages. Very recent budgetary changes within National Aeronautics and Space Administration threaten to greatly reduce the fundamental space biology funds. Are we ready for a trip to Mars? Like Krauss 15 years ago, I think not for some time.

25 CFR Appendix A to Subpart C - IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix A Appendix A to...—IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix Score 10 5 3 1 0 Accident and fatality rate for candidate...,000 or less 250,001-500,000 500,001-750,000 Over 750,000. Geographic isolation No external access to...

25 CFR Appendix A to Subpart C - IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix A Appendix A to...—IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix Score 10 5 3 1 0 Accident and fatality rate for candidate...,000 or less 250,001-500,000 500,001-750,000 Over 750,000. Geographic isolation No external access to...

25 CFR Appendix A to Subpart C - IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix A Appendix A to...—IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix Score 10 5 3 1 0 Accident and fatality rate for candidate...,000 or less 250,001-500,000 500,001-750,000 Over 750,000. Geographic isolation No external access to...

25 CFR Appendix A to Subpart C - IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2012-04-01 2011-04-01 true IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix A Appendix A to...—IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix Score 10 5 3 1 0 Accident and fatality rate for candidate...,000 or less 250,001-500,000 500,001-750,000 Over 750,000. Geographic isolation No external access to...

Technology platforms: opportunities and development perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belyakov, G. P.; Avramchikova, N. T.; Belyakova, G. Y.; Chuvashova, M. N.

2016-11-01

The term “technology platform” is used to define thematic scopes in terms of which technological priorities are formed concerning state, business, science and education cooperation that are aimed to solve the problem of state technological independence. The authors have examined the implementation of this tool so that to concentrate essential resources in priority-driven vectors of science and technological advancement of a guiding cluster of innovative technologies in the field of space applications.

75 FR 73054 - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview Information; High School Equivalency...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-29

...' participation in training on intensive science teaching techniques presented by a professionally credentialed...)). The third priority is an invitational priority for applications that promote science, technology... priorities are: Invitational Priority 1--Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education...

A Fair Contention Access Scheme for Low-Priority Traffic in Wireless Body Area Networks

PubMed Central

Sajeel, Muhammad; Bashir, Faisal; Asfand-e-yar, Muhammad; Tauqir, Muhammad

2017-01-01

Recently, wireless body area networks (WBANs) have attracted significant consideration in ubiquitous healthcare. A number of medium access control (MAC) protocols, primarily derived from the superframe structure of the IEEE 802.15.4, have been proposed in literature. These MAC protocols aim to provide quality of service (QoS) by prioritizing different traffic types in WBANs. A contention access period (CAP)with high contention in priority-based MAC protocols can result in higher number of collisions and retransmissions. During CAP, traffic classes with higher priority are dominant over low-priority traffic; this has led to starvation of low-priority traffic, thus adversely affecting WBAN throughput, delay, and energy consumption. Hence, this paper proposes a traffic-adaptive priority-based superframe structure that is able to reduce contention in the CAP period, and provides a fair chance for low-priority traffic. Simulation results in ns-3 demonstrate that the proposed MAC protocol, called traffic- adaptive priority-based MAC (TAP-MAC), achieves low energy consumption, high throughput, and low latency compared to the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, and the most recent priority-based MAC protocol, called priority-based MAC protocol (PA-MAC). PMID:28832495

77 FR 69925 - Assessment of Hazardous Materials Incident Data Collection, Analysis, Reporting, and Use

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-21

... posted without change to the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS), including any personal information... effectiveness; 2. Determine the need for regulatory changes to address changing transportation safety problems; 3. Identify major problem or risk areas that should receive priority attention; 4. Chart trends; 5...

Telemetry, Tracking, and Control Working Group report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, Richard; Rogers, L. Joseph

1986-01-01

After assessing the design implications and the criteria to be used in technology selection, the technical problems that face the telemetry, tracking, and control (TTC) area were defined. For each of the problems identified, recommendations were made for needed technology developments. These recommendations are listed and ranked according to priority.

Redirecting Educational Priorities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lourie, Sylvain

Few nations can claim that education is not a source of conflict. Although education alone cannot overcome all social evils, two problems can be attacked through a redirection of educational policies. The problems of illiteracy and of providing a basic education to all are the objectives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural…

Adaptive Memory: Ancestral Priorities and the Mnemonic Value of Survival Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nairne, James S.; Pandeirada, Josefa N. S.

2010-01-01

Evolutionary psychologists often propose that humans carry around "stone-age" brains, along with a toolkit of cognitive adaptations designed originally to solve hunter-gatherer problems. This perspective predicts that optimal cognitive performance might sometimes be induced by ancestrally-based problems, those present in ancestral environments,…

Priority service needs and receipt across the lifespan for individuals with autism spectrum disorder

PubMed Central

Lai, Jonathan K. Y.

2017-01-01

Abstract Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have a range of health, community, and social support needs across the lifespan that create age‐specific challenges in navigating service sectors. In this study, we set out to identify the priority needs of individuals with ASD across the lifespan, and the factors that predict receiving priority services. Participants included 3,317 individuals with ASD from a Canada‐wide online caregiver survey, stratified into five age groups (preschool, elementary school age, adolescence, emerging adulthood, adulthood). Priority receipt was calculated as a ratio of current services that corresponded to individualized priority need. Age‐stratified Poisson regression analyses were used to identify the sociodemographic, clinical and systemic predictors of priority receipt. Results indicate that the distribution of priority need varied by age, except for social skills programming, which was a high across all groups. The number of high and moderate priority needs diversified with age. Overall, 30% of individuals had none of their priority needs met and priority receipt decreased with age. Systemic factors were most consistently related to priority receipt across the lifespan. Understanding patterns and correlates of priority needs and use that currently exist in different age groups can inform policies to improve service access. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1436–1447. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:28383156

Big hat, no cattle: managing human resources.

PubMed

Skinner, W

1981-01-01

When faced with business problems, managers naturally make identifying the trouble their priority. Once that is done, at least half the job is over; finding solutions is just a matter of time. This hasn't been so, however, with the human resources problem: how to motivate employees. Sixty years ago, the Hawthorne experiments revealed the issue, and ever since, managers, researchers, and consultants have been searching for the answer to the human resources problem. Why aren't employees as productive, loyal, and dedicated to their companies as their managers know they can be? The author of this article proposes four reasons why actuality has fallen so far below expectation in personnel management, namely, that managers' expectations have been too high in the first place, that the concepts staff professionals offer managers are frequently contradictory, that the corporate role of personnel has always been problematic, and finally, that managers hold assumptions concerning their employees that undermine efforts to motivate them.

Managing a monotown as a priority social and economic development area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trifonov, Vladimir; Loyko, Olga; Nesteruk, Dmitriy; Zhironkin, Sergey; Strekovtsova, Ekaterina

2017-01-01

The goal of the study is studying the specific features of organizing a priority social and economic development area (PSEDA) on the example of PSEDA "Yurga" in Kemerovo region (Russia). The problem is formulated as the question: which institutes, ideas, resources and management technologies may fuel transition to the new stage of the monotown development. The practical task is to determine the promising trends of development of single-industry municipalities on the example of the town of Yurga in Kemerovo region. In the paper we formulate the trends of developing sustainable urban environment of the monotown as of priority social and economic development area for further synergetic integration into higher order structures.

Perspectives on Sleep, Sleep Problems, and Their Treatment, in People with Serious Mental Illnesses: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Bee, Penny

2016-01-01

Sleep problems are common in people with serious mental illness, and impact negatively on functioning and wellbeing. To understand the development of sleep problems, their maintenance, and their treatment, an in depth understanding of patient perspectives is crucial. A systematic literature review was conducted using Medline, AMED, PsychInfo, Embase and CINAHL. Qualitative and quantitative studies were included if they explored or measured patient perspectives on sleep, sleep problems or sleep treatments in people with serious mental illness. Of the 2,067 hits, only 22 met review inclusion criteria, and high quality evidence was sparse. The limited findings suggested sleep was seen as highly interlinked with mental health. Evaluations of treatments varied, however perceived efficacy and personalisation of treatments were valued. Some evidence suggested patient priorities and conceptualisations regarding sleep may diverge from those of validated screening tools developed in general population and sleep medicine samples. More rigorous research is needed to support adaptation and development of interventions and outcome measures for use in specialist mental health settings. Qualitative studies exploring the experience of sleep disturbance in particular diagnostic groups and contexts are urgently required, as are patient perspectives on sleep interventions. PMID:27657927

Modeling Primary Atomization of Liquid Fuels using a Multiphase DNS/LES Approach

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

Arienti, Marco; Oefelein, Joe; Doisneau, Francois

2016-08-01

As part of a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project, we are developing a modeling-and-simulation capability to study fuel direct injection in automotive engines. Predicting mixing and combustion at realistic conditions remains a challenging objective of energy science. And it is a research priority in Sandia’s mission-critical area of energy security, being also relevant to many flows in defense and climate. High-performance computing applied to this non-linear multi-scale problem is key to engine calculations with increased scientific reliability.

Methods of mathematical modeling using polynomials of algebra of sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazanskiy, Alexandr; Kochetkov, Ivan

2018-03-01

The article deals with the construction of discrete mathematical models for solving applied problems arising from the operation of building structures. Security issues in modern high-rise buildings are extremely serious and relevant, and there is no doubt that interest in them will only increase. The territory of the building is divided into zones for which it is necessary to observe. Zones can overlap and have different priorities. Such situations can be described using formulas algebra of sets. Formulas can be programmed, which makes it possible to work with them using computer models.

Budget- and Priority-Setting Criteria at State Health Agencies in Times of Austerity: A Mixed-Methods Study

PubMed Central

Resnick, Beth; Kass, Nancy; Sellers, Katie; Young, Jessica; Bernet, Patrick; Jarris, Paul

2014-01-01

Objectives. We examined critical budget and priority criteria for state health agencies to identify likely decision-making factors, pressures, and opportunities in times of austerity. Methods. We have presented findings from a 2-stage, mixed-methods study with state public health leaders regarding public health budget- and priority-setting processes. In stage 1, we conducted hour-long interviews in 2011 with 45 health agency executive and division or bureau leaders from 6 states. Stage 2 was an online survey of 207 executive and division or bureau leaders from all state health agencies (66% response rate). Results. Respondents identified 5 key criteria: whether a program was viewed as “mission critical,” the seriousness of the consequences of not funding the program, financing considerations, external directives and mandates, and the magnitude of the problem the program addressed. Conclusions. We have presented empirical findings on criteria used in state health agency budgetary decision-making. These criteria suggested a focus and interest on core public health and the largest public health problems with the most serious ramifications. PMID:24825212

Budget- and priority-setting criteria at state health agencies in times of austerity: a mixed-methods study.

PubMed

Leider, Jonathon P; Resnick, Beth; Kass, Nancy; Sellers, Katie; Young, Jessica; Bernet, Patrick; Jarris, Paul

2014-06-01

We examined critical budget and priority criteria for state health agencies to identify likely decision-making factors, pressures, and opportunities in times of austerity. We have presented findings from a 2-stage, mixed-methods study with state public health leaders regarding public health budget- and priority-setting processes. In stage 1, we conducted hour-long interviews in 2011 with 45 health agency executive and division or bureau leaders from 6 states. Stage 2 was an online survey of 207 executive and division or bureau leaders from all state health agencies (66% response rate). Respondents identified 5 key criteria: whether a program was viewed as "mission critical," the seriousness of the consequences of not funding the program, financing considerations, external directives and mandates, and the magnitude of the problem the program addressed. We have presented empirical findings on criteria used in state health agency budgetary decision-making. These criteria suggested a focus and interest on core public health and the largest public health problems with the most serious ramifications.

A new methodology for surcharge risk management in urban areas (case study: Gonbad-e-Kavus city).

PubMed

Hooshyaripor, Farhad; Yazdi, Jafar

2017-02-01

This research presents a simulation-optimization model for urban flood mitigation integrating Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) with Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) hydraulic model under a curve number-based hydrologic model of low impact development technologies in Gonbad-e-Kavus, a small city in the north of Iran. In the developed model, the best performance of the system relies on the optimal layout and capacity of retention ponds over the study area in order to reduce surcharge from the manholes underlying a set of storm event loads, while the available investment plays a restricting role. Thus, there is a multi-objective optimization problem with two conflicting objectives solved successfully by NSGA-II to find a set of optimal solutions known as the Pareto front. In order to analyze the results, a new factor, investment priority index (IPI), is defined which shows the risk of surcharging over the network and priority of the mitigation actions. The IPI is calculated using the probability of pond selection for candidate locations and average depth of the ponds in all Pareto front solutions. The IPI can help the decision makers to arrange a long-term progressive plan with the priority of high-risk areas when an optimal solution has been selected.

Research Priorities in the Field of Posttraumatic Pain and Disability: Results of a Transdisciplinary Consensus-Generating Workshop

PubMed Central

Elliott, James M.; Lee, Joshua; Loh, Eldon; Schabrun, Siobhan; Siqueira, Walter L.; Corneil, Brian D.; Aal, Bill; Birmingham, Trevor; Brown, Amy; Dickey, James P.; Dixon, S. Jeffrey; Fraser, Douglas D.; Gati, Joseph S.; Gloor, Gregory B.; Good, Gordon; Holdsworth, David; McLean, Samuel A.; Millard, Wanda; Miller, Jordan; Sadi, Jackie; Seminowicz, David A.; Shoemaker, J. Kevin; Siegmund, Gunter P.; Vertseegh, Theodore; Wideman, Timothy H.

2016-01-01

Background. Chronic or persistent pain and disability following noncatastrophic “musculoskeletal” (MSK) trauma is a pervasive public health problem. Recent intervention trials have provided little evidence of benefit from several specific treatments for preventing chronic problems. Such findings may appear to argue against formal targeted intervention for MSK traumas. However, these negative findings may reflect a lack of understanding of the causal mechanisms underlying the transition from acute to chronic pain, rendering informed and objective treatment decisions difficult. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA) has recently identified better understanding of causal mechanisms as one of three priority foci of their most recent strategic plan. Objectives. A 2-day invitation-only active participation workshop was held in March 2015 that included 30 academics, clinicians, and consumers with the purpose of identifying consensus research priorities in the field of trauma-related MSK pain and disability, prediction, and prevention. Methods. Conversations were recorded, explored thematically, and member-checked for accuracy. Results. From the discussions, 13 themes were generated that ranged from a focus on identifying causal mechanisms and models to challenges with funding and patient engagement. Discussion. Novel priorities included the inclusion of consumer groups in research from the early conceptualization and design stages and interdisciplinary longitudinal studies that include evaluation of integrated phenotypes and mechanisms. PMID:27445598

Setting priorities for space research: An experiment in methodology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

In 1989, the Space Studies Board created the Task Group on Priorities in Space Research to determine whether scientists should take a role in recommending priorities for long-term space research initiatives and, if so, to analyze the priority-setting problem in this context and develop a method by which such priorities could be established. After answering the first question in the affirmative in a previous report, the task group set out to accomplish the second task. The basic assumption in developing a priority-setting process is that a reasoned and structured approach for ordering competing initiatives will yield better results than other ways of proceeding. The task group proceeded from the principle that the central criterion for evaluating a research initiative must be its scientific merit -- the value of the initiative to the proposing discipline and to science generally. The group developed a two-stage methodology for priority setting and constructed a procedure and format to support the methodology. The first of two instruments developed was a standard format for structuring proposals for space research initiatives. The second instrument was a formal, semiquantitative appraisal procedure for evaluating competing proposals. This report makes available complete templates for the methodology, including the advocacy statement and evaluation forms, as well as an 11-step schema for a priority-setting process. From the beginning of its work, the task group was mindful that the issue of priority setting increasingly pervades all of federally supported science and that its work would have implications extending beyond space research. Thus, although the present report makes no recommendations for action by NASA or other government agencies, it provides the results of the task group's work for the use of others who may study priority-setting procedures or take up the challenge of implementing them in the future.

Optimization of multi-objective integrated process planning and scheduling problem using a priority based optimization algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ausaf, Muhammad Farhan; Gao, Liang; Li, Xinyu

2015-12-01

For increasing the overall performance of modern manufacturing systems, effective integration of process planning and scheduling functions has been an important area of consideration among researchers. Owing to the complexity of handling process planning and scheduling simultaneously, most of the research work has been limited to solving the integrated process planning and scheduling (IPPS) problem for a single objective function. As there are many conflicting objectives when dealing with process planning and scheduling, real world problems cannot be fully captured considering only a single objective for optimization. Therefore considering multi-objective IPPS (MOIPPS) problem is inevitable. Unfortunately, only a handful of research papers are available on solving MOIPPS problem. In this paper, an optimization algorithm for solving MOIPPS problem is presented. The proposed algorithm uses a set of dispatching rules coupled with priority assignment to optimize the IPPS problem for various objectives like makespan, total machine load, total tardiness, etc. A fixed sized external archive coupled with a crowding distance mechanism is used to store and maintain the non-dominated solutions. To compare the results with other algorithms, a C-matric based method has been used. Instances from four recent papers have been solved to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The experimental results show that the proposed method is an efficient approach for solving the MOIPPS problem.

A survey of time management and particular tasks undertaken by consultant microbiologists in the UK.

PubMed

Riordan, Terry; Cartwright, Keith; Cunningham, Richard; Logan, Margaret; Wright, Paul

2007-05-01

Medical microbiology practice encompasses a diverse range of activities. Consultant medical microbiologists (CMMs) attribute widely differing priorities to, and spend differing proportions of time on various components of the job. To obtain a professional consensus on what are high-priority and low-priority activities, and to identify the time spent on low-priority activities. National survey. Many respondents felt that time spent on report authorisation and telephoning of results was excessive, whereas time spent on ward-based work was inadequate. Timesaving could also be achieved through better prioritisation of infection-control activities. CMMs should apportion their time at work focusing on high-priority activities identified through professional consensus.

Genetic basis of priority effects: insights from nectar yeast

PubMed Central

Hartwig, Thomas

2016-01-01

Priority effects, in which the order of species arrival dictates community assembly, can have a major influence on species diversity, but the genetic basis of priority effects remains unknown. Here, we suggest that nitrogen scavenging genes previously considered responsible for starvation avoidance may drive priority effects by causing rapid resource depletion. Using single-molecule sequencing, we de novo assembled the genome of the nectar-colonizing yeast, Metschnikowia reukaufii, across eight scaffolds and complete mitochondrion, with gap-free coverage over gene spaces. We found a high rate of tandem gene duplication in this genome, enriched for nitrogen metabolism and transport. Both high-capacity amino acid importers, GAP1 and PUT4, present as tandem gene arrays, were highly expressed in synthetic nectar and regulated by the availability and quality of amino acids. In experiments with competitive nectar yeast, Candida rancensis, amino acid addition alleviated suppression of C. rancensis by early arrival of M. reukaufii, corroborating that amino acid scavenging may contribute to priority effects. Because niche pre-emption via rapid resource depletion may underlie priority effects in a broad range of microbial, plant and animal communities, nutrient scavenging genes like the ones we considered here may be broadly relevant to understanding priority effects. PMID:27708148

Why do neighbors have different environmental priorities? Analysis of environmental risk perception in a Beirut neighborhood.

PubMed

El-Zein, Abbas; Nasrallah, Rola; Nuwayhid, Iman; Kai, Lea; Makhoul, Jihad

2006-04-01

Differences in environmental priorities within an urban neighborhood of Beirut are analyzed. The explanatory capabilities of five categories of contextual variables are compared: socioeconomic status, locality, health, behavior, and environmental beliefs. Semi-structured interviews with key individuals in the community and residents were first conducted. Four environmental issues of concern were identified. A survey was carried out to identify the relative priority accorded by respondents to these four issues, and to measure variables likely to explain differences of opinion. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted for each of the four problems. The 99% confidence interval (CI) of the odds ratio (OR) was used as a test of significance. Respondents suffering from a respiratory disease (OR = 6.94, 99%CI = 1.54-31.25), those living in less crowded houses (OR = 4.88, 99%CI = 1.38-17.24), and those not living close to the neighborhood's industrial street (OR=5.26, 99%CI = 1.01-27.78) are significantly more likely to rank poor air quality first. Significant associations are found between poor water quality as first priority and nonpresence of a smoker in the household (OR = 6.12, 99%CI = 1.84-20.32) and perception of water salinity as a problem (OR = 7.46, 99%CI = 1.50-37.03). Males (OR = 6.94, 99%CI = 1.02-47.62) and tenants versus owners (OR = 10.49, 99%CI = 1.36-80.61) are significantly more likely to rank the residential-industrial mix first. Socioeconomic variables retain their explanatory capability in the studied neighborhood, despite relatively small income disparities. Behavioral variables, such as smoking, may be causative factors of priorities. Analyzing relative priorities, rather than "concern" or lack of it, reveals more complex patterns of association. Identifying environmental-perception divide lines can help develop a more inclusive and effective participatory environmental management.

Human Relations Procedures Relevant to University Environmental Change.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Personnel and Guidance Association, Washington, DC.

The present college scene is in a state of flux and confusion. Several problems are receiving major priority: (1) student stress, (2) alienation of students, and (3) activism among students. Reasons for the above problems could include: (1) individual and inter-group stress, and (2) tension between groups. Procedures which have been utilized on…

Motivation, Quality University and Counseling Services at the University of Granada

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tirado, Jose Luis Arco; Martin, Francisco D. Fernandez; Ortega, Sagario Lopez; Diaz, Veronica Heilborn

2004-01-01

Introduction: Evaluative data on performance and school drop-out in the context of the Spanish university justify its current phase of structural, organizational and curricular changes currently underway here. A priority objective is to study motivation problems in university students, at the root of many of these problems. However, the complexity…

Barriers and Facilitators of Responding to Problem Gambling: Perspectives from Australian Mental Health Services.

PubMed

Rodda, S N; Manning, V; Dowling, N A; Lee, S J; Lubman, D I

2018-03-01

Despite high rates of comorbidity between problem gambling and mental health disorders, few studies have examined barriers or facilitators to the implementation of screening for problem gambling in mental health services. This exploratory qualitative study identified key themes associated with screening in mental health services. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 30 clinicians and managers from 11 mental health services in Victoria, Australia. Major themes and subthemes were identified using qualitative content analysis. Six themes emerged including competing priorities, importance of routine screening, access to appropriate screening tools, resources, patient responsiveness and workforce development. Barriers to screening included a focus on immediate risk as well as gambling being often considered as a longer-term concern. Clinicians perceived problem gambling as a relatively rare condition, but did acknowledge the need for brief screening. Facilitators to screening were changes to system processes, such as identification of an appropriate brief screening instrument, mandating its use as part of routine screening, as well as funded workforce development activities in the identification and management of problem gambling.

Deployment of ACT antimalarials for treatment of malaria: challenges and opportunities

PubMed Central

Whitty, Christopher JM; Chandler, Clare; Ansah, Evelyn; Leslie, Toby; Staedke, Sarah G

2008-01-01

Following a long period when the effectiveness of existing mono-therapies for antimalarials was steadily declining with no clear alternative, most malaria-endemic countries in Africa and Asia have adopted artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) as antimalarial drug policy. Several ACT drugs exist and others are in the pipeline. If properly targeted, they have the potential to reduce mortality from malaria substantially. The major challenge now is to get the drugs to the right people. Current evidence suggests that most of those who need the drugs do not get them. Simultaneously, a high proportion of those who are given antimalarials do not in fact have malaria. Financial and other barriers mean that, in many settings, the majority of those with malaria, particularly the poorest, do not access formal healthcare, so the provision of free antimalarials via this route has only limited impact. The higher cost of ACT creates a market for fake drugs. Addressing these problems is now a priority. This review outlines current evidence, possible solutions and research priorities. PMID:19091041

ISO Key Project: Exploring the Full Range of Quasar/AGN Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilkes, Belinda J.

1997-01-01

The ISOPHOT team have developed new recommendations for observing faint sources with ISHPOHT which involve small rasters rather than chopping. This was finalized around Feb 1997 and following this we re-designed the observations for the remainder of our observing time. We had put our program on hold in September when it became clear that chopped observations had major problems. The revised program, which included re-observation at long wavelengths using rasters for a number of high-priority targets and re-specification of new observations of others, was released in April 1997. The latest prediction for the satellite lifetime has extended its life until April 1998. Our project has been allocated a 15% increase in our observing time as a result of this life extension. We are currently working on setting priorities in order to determine which targets to include in this additional time. This will help to offset some of the targets lost due to the significant decrease in detector sensitivity over pre-flight predictions.

High performance jet-engine flight test data base for HSR

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelly, Jeffrey

1992-01-01

The primary acoustic priority of the flight test data base for HSR is the validation of the NASA Aircraft Noise Prediction Program (ANOPP) and other source noise codes. Also, the noise measurements are an important support function for the High Lift Program devoted to HSR. Another concern that will be addressed is a possible noise problem 7-20 miles from take-off during climbout. The attention arises from the higher speeds envisioned for the HSCT compared to conventional aircraft causing levels to increase because of Doppler amplification in conjunction with high source levels due to jet noise. An attempt may be made to measure airframe noise for the F-16XL test which would provide an assessment of this noise component for delta wing aircraft.

A Tool for Verification and Validation of Neural Network Based Adaptive Controllers for High Assurance Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gupta, Pramod; Schumann, Johann

2004-01-01

High reliability of mission- and safety-critical software systems has been identified by NASA as a high-priority technology challenge. We present an approach for the performance analysis of a neural network (NN) in an advanced adaptive control system. This problem is important in the context of safety-critical applications that require certification, such as flight software in aircraft. We have developed a tool to measure the performance of the NN during operation by calculating a confidence interval (error bar) around the NN's output. Our tool can be used during pre-deployment verification as well as monitoring the network performance during operation. The tool has been implemented in Simulink and simulation results on a F-15 aircraft are presented.

Software engineering processes for Class D missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Killough, Ronnie; Rose, Debi

2013-09-01

Software engineering processes are often seen as anathemas; thoughts of CMMI key process areas and NPR 7150.2A compliance matrices can motivate a software developer to consider other career fields. However, with adequate definition, common-sense application, and an appropriate level of built-in flexibility, software engineering processes provide a critical framework in which to conduct a successful software development project. One problem is that current models seem to be built around an underlying assumption of "bigness," and assume that all elements of the process are applicable to all software projects regardless of size and tolerance for risk. This is best illustrated in NASA's NPR 7150.2A in which, aside from some special provisions for manned missions, the software processes are to be applied based solely on the criticality of the software to the mission, completely agnostic of the mission class itself. That is, the processes applicable to a Class A mission (high priority, very low risk tolerance, very high national significance) are precisely the same as those applicable to a Class D mission (low priority, high risk tolerance, low national significance). This paper will propose changes to NPR 7150.2A, taking mission class into consideration, and discuss how some of these changes are being piloted for a current Class D mission—the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS).

Multi-application controls: Robust nonlinear multivariable aerospace controls applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Enns, Dale F.; Bugajski, Daniel J.; Carter, John; Antoniewicz, Bob

1994-01-01

This viewgraph presentation describes the general methodology used to apply Honywell's Multi-Application Control (MACH) and the specific application to the F-18 High Angle-of-Attack Research Vehicle (HARV) including piloted simulation handling qualities evaluation. The general steps include insertion of modeling data for geometry and mass properties, aerodynamics, propulsion data and assumptions, requirements and specifications, e.g. definition of control variables, handling qualities, stability margins and statements for bandwidth, control power, priorities, position and rate limits. The specific steps include choice of independent variables for least squares fits to aerodynamic and propulsion data, modifications to the management of the controls with regard to integrator windup and actuation limiting and priorities, e.g. pitch priority over roll, and command limiting to prevent departures and/or undesirable inertial coupling or inability to recover to a stable trim condition. The HARV control problem is characterized by significant nonlinearities and multivariable interactions in the low speed, high angle-of-attack, high angular rate flight regime. Systematic approaches to the control of vehicle motions modeled with coupled nonlinear equations of motion have been developed. This paper will discuss the dynamic inversion approach which explicity accounts for nonlinearities in the control design. Multiple control effectors (including aerodynamic control surfaces and thrust vectoring control) and sensors are used to control the motions of the vehicles in several degrees-of-freedom. Several maneuvers will be used to illustrate performance of MACH in the high angle-of-attack flight regime. Analytical methods for assessing the robust performance of the multivariable control system in the presence of math modeling uncertainty, disturbances, and commands have reached a high level of maturity. The structured singular value (mu) frequency response methodology is presented as a method for analyzing robust performance and the mu-synthesis method will be presented as a method for synthesizing a robust control system. The paper concludes with the author's expectations regarding future applications of robust nonlinear multivariable controls.

Open to All? Nationwide Evaluation of High-Priority Web Accessibility Considerations among Higher Education Websites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimmons, Royce

2017-01-01

This study seeks to evaluate the basic Priority 1 web accessibility of all college and university websites in the US (n = 3141). Utilizing web scraping and automated content analysis, the study establishes that even in the case of high-priority, simple-to-address accessibility requirements, colleges and universities generally fail to make their…

75 FR 59803 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination for the Gunnison Sage-grouse as a...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-28

... higher priority listing activities. A listing priority of 5 is assigned to species with high magnitude... number for Gunnison sage-grouse as a 2. A listing priority number of 2 is assigned to species with high... that are rich in calcium, phosphorous, and protein to meet the nutritional needs of females during the...

The school food environment and adolescent obesity: qualitative insights from high school principals and food service personnel.

PubMed

Nollen, Nicole L; Befort, Christie A; Snow, Patricia; Daley, Christine Makosky; Ellerbeck, Edward F; Ahluwalia, Jasjit S

2007-05-18

To examine high school personnel's perceptions of the school environment, its impact on obesity, and the potential impact of legislation regulating schools' food/beverage offerings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the principal (n = 8) and dietitian/food service manager (n = 7) at 8 schools (4 rural, 4 suburban) participating in a larger study examining the relationship between the school environment and adolescent health behavior patterns. Principal themes included: 1) Obesity is a problem in general, but not at their school, 2) Schools have been unfairly targeted above more salient factors (e.g., community and home environment), 3) Attempts at change should start before high school, 4) Student health is one priority area among multiple competing demands; academic achievement is the top priority, 5) Legislation should be informed by educators and better incorporate the school's perspective. Food service themes included: 1) Obesity is not a problem at their school; school food service is not the cause, 2) Food offerings are based largely on the importance of preparing students for the real world by providing choice and the need to maintain high participation rates; both healthy and unhealthy options are available, 3) A la carte keeps lunch participation high and prices low but should be used as a supplement, not a replacement, to the main meal, 4) Vending provides school's additional revenue; vending is not part of food service and is appropriate if it does not interfere with the lunch program. Discrepancies exist between government/public health officials and school personnel that may inhibit collaborative efforts to address obesity through modifications to the school environment. Future policy initiatives may be enhanced by seeking the input of school personnel, providing recommendations firmly grounded in evidence-based practice, framing initiatives in terms of their potential impact on the issues of most concern to schools (e.g., academic achievement, finances/revenue), and minimizing barriers by providing schools adequate resources to carry out and evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts.

Bicriteria Network Optimization Problem using Priority-based Genetic Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gen, Mitsuo; Lin, Lin; Cheng, Runwei

Network optimization is being an increasingly important and fundamental issue in the fields such as engineering, computer science, operations research, transportation, telecommunication, decision support systems, manufacturing, and airline scheduling. In many applications, however, there are several criteria associated with traversing each edge of a network. For example, cost and flow measures are both important in the networks. As a result, there has been recent interest in solving Bicriteria Network Optimization Problem. The Bicriteria Network Optimization Problem is known a NP-hard. The efficient set of paths may be very large, possibly exponential in size. Thus the computational effort required to solve it can increase exponentially with the problem size in the worst case. In this paper, we propose a genetic algorithm (GA) approach used a priority-based chromosome for solving the bicriteria network optimization problem including maximum flow (MXF) model and minimum cost flow (MCF) model. The objective is to find the set of Pareto optimal solutions that give possible maximum flow with minimum cost. This paper also combines Adaptive Weight Approach (AWA) that utilizes some useful information from the current population to readjust weights for obtaining a search pressure toward a positive ideal point. Computer simulations show the several numerical experiments by using some difficult-to-solve network design problems, and show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Policy Choice for Urban Low-carbon transportation in Beijing: Scenario Analysis Based on LEAP model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yu

2016-04-01

Beijing is a fast developing megacity with serious traffic problems, such as high energy consumption, high CO2 emission and traffic congestion. The coming 13th Five-Year Plan for Beijing economic and social development will focus on the low-carbon transportation policy to achieve the urban traffic sustainable development. In order to improve the feasibility of urban low-carbon transportation policies, this paper analyzes the future trends of CO2 emissions from transportation of Beijing. Firstly, five policies scenarios are developed according to the coming Beijing 13th Five-Year Plan, including the "Business As Usual (BAU)", the "Public Transportation Priority(PTP)", the "New Energy Vehicle(NEV)", the "Active Transportation(AT)", the "Private Car Regulation(PCR)" and the "Hybrid Policy(HP)". Then the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System(LEAP model) framework is adopted to estimate CO2 emission under given policies scenarios up to year 2020 and analyze the implications. The results demonstrate that the low-carbon transportation policies can reduce CO2 emission effectively. Specifically, the "Hybrid Policy(HP)" has the best performance. In terms of single policy effect, the "Private Car Regulation(PCR)" comes first followed by the "Public Transportation Priority(PTP)".

Decision Support System for Determining Scholarship Selection using an Analytical Hierarchy Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puspitasari, T. D.; Sari, E. O.; Destarianto, P.; Riskiawan, H. Y.

2018-01-01

Decision Support System is a computer program application that analyzes data and presents it so that users can make decision more easily. Determining Scholarship Selection study case in Senior High School in east Java wasn’t easy. It needed application to solve the problem, to improve the accuracy of targets for prospective beneficiaries of poor students and to speed up the screening process. This research will build system uses the method of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a method that solves a complex and unstructured problem into its group, organizes the groups into a hierarchical order, inputs numerical values instead of human perception in comparing relative and ultimately with a synthesis determined elements that have the highest priority. The accuracy system for this research is 90%.

Developmental and physical-fitness associations with gross motor coordination problems in Peruvian children.

PubMed

de Chaves, Raquel Nichele; Bustamante Valdívia, Alcibíades; Nevill, Alan; Freitas, Duarte; Tani, Go; Katzmarzyk, Peter T; Maia, José António Ribeiro

2016-01-01

The aims of this cross-sectional study were to examine the developmental characteristics (biological maturation and body size) associated with gross motor coordination problems in 5193 Peruvian children (2787 girls) aged 6-14 years from different geographical locations, and to investigate how the probability that children suffer with gross motor coordination problems varies with physical fitness. Children with gross motor coordination problems were more likely to have lower flexibility and explosive strength levels, having adjusted for age, sex, maturation and study site. Older children were more likely to suffer from gross motor coordination problems, as were those with greater body mass index. However, more mature children were less likely to have gross motor coordination problems, although children who live at sea level or at high altitude were more likely to suffer from gross motor coordination problems than children living in the jungle. Our results provide evidence that children and adolescents with lower physical fitness are more likely to have gross motor coordination difficulties. The identification of youths with gross motor coordination problems and providing them with effective intervention programs is an important priority in order to overcome such developmental problems, and help to improve their general health status. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mouth Problems and HIV

MedlinePlus

... Advancing the nation's oral health through research and innovation Health Info Research Grants & Funding Careers & Training News & Events About Us Health Info Health Info ... Funding Priorities Funded Research Human Subjects Research Careers & ...

Wicked Problems in Large Organizations: Why Pilot Retention Continues to Challenge the Air Force

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-05-25

ABSTRACT This monograph in military studies investigates the makeup of and approach to complex problems, with a case study on the Air Force’s...priorities, as well as a short, recent history of the pilot retention problem. Following that is a case study on the work done by the Air Staff in...Lonsberry, USAF, 38 pages. This monograph in military studies investigates the makeup of and approach to complex problems, with a case study on the

Water quality monitoring for high-priority water bodies in the Sonoran Desert network

Treesearch

Terry W. Sprouse; Robert M. Emanuel; Sara A. Strorrer

2005-01-01

This paper describes a network monitoring program for “high priority” water bodies in the Sonoran Desert Network of the National Park Service. Protocols were developed for monitoring selected waters for ten of the eleven parks in the Network. Park and network staff assisted in identifying potential locations of testing sites, local priorities, and how water quality...

Combining FMEA with DEMATEL models to solve production process problems

PubMed Central

Tsai, Sang-Bing; Zhou, Jie; Gao, Yang; Wang, Jiangtao; Li, Guodong; Zheng, Yuxiang; Ren, Peng; Xu, Wei

2017-01-01

Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is an analysis tool for identifying and preventing flaws or defects in products during the design and process planning stage, preventing the repeated occurrence of problems, reducing the effects of these problems, enhancing product quality and reliability, saving costs, and improving competitiveness. However, FMEA can only analyze one influence factor according to its priority, rendering this method ineffective for systems containing multiple FMs whose effects are simultaneous or interact with one another. Accordingly, when FMEA fails to identify the influence factors and the factors being influenced, the most crucial problems may be placed in lower priority or remain unresolved. Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) facilitates the determination of cause and effect factors; by identifying the causal factors that should be prioritized, prompt and effective solutions to core problems can be derived, thereby enhancing performance. Using the photovoltaic cell manufacturing industry in China as the research target, the present study combined FMEA with DEMATEL to amend the flaws of FMEA and enhance its effectiveness. First, FMEA was used to identify items requiring improvement. Then, DEMATEL was employed to examine the interactive effects and causal relationships of these items. Finally, the solutions to the problems were prioritized. The proposed method effectively combined the advantages of FMEA and DEMATEL to facilitate the identification of core problems and prioritization of solutions in the Chinese photovoltaic cell industry. PMID:28837663

Case Study on Optimal Routing in Logistics Network by Priority-based Genetic Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaoguang; Lin, Lin; Gen, Mitsuo; Shiota, Mitsushige

Recently, research on logistics caught more and more attention. One of the important issues on logistics system is to find optimal delivery routes with the least cost for products delivery. Numerous models have been developed for that reason. However, due to the diversity and complexity of practical problem, the existing models are usually not very satisfying to find the solution efficiently and convinently. In this paper, we treat a real-world logistics case with a company named ABC Co. ltd., in Kitakyusyu Japan. Firstly, based on the natures of this conveyance routing problem, as an extension of transportation problem (TP) and fixed charge transportation problem (fcTP) we formulate the problem as a minimum cost flow (MCF) model. Due to the complexity of fcTP, we proposed a priority-based genetic algorithm (pGA) approach to find the most acceptable solution to this problem. In this pGA approach, a two-stage path decoding method is adopted to develop delivery paths from a chromosome. We also apply the pGA approach to this problem, and compare our results with the current logistics network situation, and calculate the improvement of logistics cost to help the management to make decisions. Finally, in order to check the effectiveness of the proposed method, the results acquired are compared with those come from the two methods/ software, such as LINDO and CPLEX.

Combining FMEA with DEMATEL models to solve production process problems.

PubMed

Tsai, Sang-Bing; Zhou, Jie; Gao, Yang; Wang, Jiangtao; Li, Guodong; Zheng, Yuxiang; Ren, Peng; Xu, Wei

2017-01-01

Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is an analysis tool for identifying and preventing flaws or defects in products during the design and process planning stage, preventing the repeated occurrence of problems, reducing the effects of these problems, enhancing product quality and reliability, saving costs, and improving competitiveness. However, FMEA can only analyze one influence factor according to its priority, rendering this method ineffective for systems containing multiple FMs whose effects are simultaneous or interact with one another. Accordingly, when FMEA fails to identify the influence factors and the factors being influenced, the most crucial problems may be placed in lower priority or remain unresolved. Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) facilitates the determination of cause and effect factors; by identifying the causal factors that should be prioritized, prompt and effective solutions to core problems can be derived, thereby enhancing performance. Using the photovoltaic cell manufacturing industry in China as the research target, the present study combined FMEA with DEMATEL to amend the flaws of FMEA and enhance its effectiveness. First, FMEA was used to identify items requiring improvement. Then, DEMATEL was employed to examine the interactive effects and causal relationships of these items. Finally, the solutions to the problems were prioritized. The proposed method effectively combined the advantages of FMEA and DEMATEL to facilitate the identification of core problems and prioritization of solutions in the Chinese photovoltaic cell industry.

Evaluation of the priority heuristic as a descriptive model of risky decision making: comment on Brandstätter, Gigerenzer, and Hertwig (2006).

PubMed

Birnbaum, Michael H

2008-01-01

E. Brandstätter, G. Gigerenzer, and R. Hertwig (2006) contended that their priority heuristic, a type of lexicographic semiorder model, is more accurate than cumulative prospect theory (CPT) or transfer of attention exchange (TAX) models in describing risky decisions. However, there are 4 problems with their argument. First, their heuristic is not descriptive of certain data that they did not review. Second, their analysis relied on a global index of fit, percentage of correct predictions of the modal choice. Such analyses can lead to wrong conclusions when parameters are not properly estimated from the data. When parameters are estimated from the data, CPT and TAX fit the D. Kahneman and A. Tversky (1979) data perfectly. Reanalysis shows that TAX and CPT do as well as the priority heuristic for 2 of the data sets reviewed and outperform the priority heuristic for the other 3. Third, when 2 of these sets of data are reexamined, the priority heuristic is seen to make systematic violations. Fourth, new critical implications have been devised for testing the family of lexicographic semiorders including the priority heuristic; new results with these critical tests show systematic evidence against lexicographic semiorder models. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

Fundamentals of Gas Turbine combustion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gerstein, M.

1979-01-01

Combustion problems and research recommendations are discussed in the areas of atomization and vaporization, combustion chemistry, combustion dynamics, and combustion modelling. The recommendations considered of highest priority in these areas are presented.

Pollution Abatement Management System--Concept Definition.

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-05-01

and (3) identify priority ranking of environmental pollution problems within the Department of the Army. This report formalizes the overall concept development of PAMS and the system’s developmental strategy.

Setting priorities in primary health care--on whose conditions? A questionnaire study.

PubMed

Arvidsson, Eva; André, Malin; Borgquist, Lars; Andersson, David; Carlsson, Per

2012-11-26

In Sweden three key criteria are used for priority setting: severity of the health condition; patient benefit; and cost-effectiveness. They are derived from the ethical principles established by the Swedish parliament 1997 but have been used only to a limited extent in primary care. The aim of this study was to describe and analyse: 1) GPs', nurses', and patients' prioritising in routine primary care 2) The association between the three key priority setting criteria and the overall priority assigned by the GPs and nurses to individual patients. Paired questionnaires were distributed to all patients and the GPs or nurses they had contact with during a 2-week period at four health centres in Sweden. The staff registered the health conditions or health problem, and the planned intervention. Then they estimated the severity of the health condition, the expected patient benefit, and the cost-effectiveness of the planned intervention. Both the staff and the patients reported their overall prioritisation of the patient. In total, 1851 paired questionnaires were collected. Compared to the medical staff, the patients assigned relatively higher priority to acute/minor conditions than to preventive check-ups for chronic conditions. Severity of the health condition was the priority setting criterion that had the strongest association with the overall priority for the staff as a whole, but for the GPs it was cost-effectiveness. The challenge for primary care providers is to balance the patients' demands with medical needs and cost-effectiveness. Transparent priority setting in primary care might contribute to a greater consensus between GPs and nurses on how to use the key priority setting criteria.

Dynamic autonomous routing technology for IP-based satellite ad hoc networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaofei; Deng, Jing; Kostas, Theresa; Rajappan, Gowri

2014-06-01

IP-based routing for military LEO/MEO satellite ad hoc networks is very challenging due to network and traffic heterogeneity, network topology and traffic dynamics. In this paper, we describe a traffic priority-aware routing scheme for such networks, namely Dynamic Autonomous Routing Technology (DART) for satellite ad hoc networks. DART has a cross-layer design, and conducts routing and resource reservation concurrently for optimal performance in the fluid but predictable satellite ad hoc networks. DART ensures end-to-end data delivery with QoS assurances by only choosing routing paths that have sufficient resources, supporting different packet priority levels. In order to do so, DART incorporates several resource management and innovative routing mechanisms, which dynamically adapt to best fit the prevailing conditions. In particular, DART integrates a resource reservation mechanism to reserve network bandwidth resources; a proactive routing mechanism to set up non-overlapping spanning trees to segregate high priority traffic flows from lower priority flows so that the high priority flows do not face contention from low priority flows; a reactive routing mechanism to arbitrate resources between various traffic priorities when needed; a predictive routing mechanism to set up routes for scheduled missions and for anticipated topology changes for QoS assurance. We present simulation results showing the performance of DART. We have conducted these simulations using the Iridium constellation and trajectories as well as realistic military communications scenarios. The simulation results demonstrate DART's ability to discriminate between high-priority and low-priority traffic flows and ensure disparate QoS requirements of these traffic flows.

Prevention and self-management interventions are top priorities for osteoarthritis systematic reviews.

PubMed

Jaramillo, Alejandra; Welch, Vivian A; Ueffing, Erin; Gruen, Russell L; Bragge, Peter; Lyddiatt, Anne; Tugwell, Peter

2013-05-01

To identify high-priority research questions for osteoarthritis systematic reviews with consideration of health equity and the social determinants of health (SDH). We consulted with experts and conducted a literature search to identify a priority-setting method that could be adapted to address the health equity and SDH. We selected the Global Evidence Mapping priority-setting method, and through consultations and consensus, we adapted the method to meet our objectives. This involves developing an evidence map of the existing systematic reviews on osteoarthritis; conducting one face-to-face workshop with patients and another one with clinicians, researchers, and patients; and conducting an online survey of patients to rank the top 10 research questions. We piloted the adapted method with the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Review Group to set research priorities for osteoarthritis. Our focus was on systematic reviews: we identified 34 high-priority research questions for osteoarthritis systematic reviews. Prevention and self-management interventions, mainly diet and exercise, are top priorities for osteoarthritis systematic reviews. Evaluation against our predefined objectives showed that this method did prioritize SDH (50% of the research questions considered SDH). There were marked gaps: no high-priority topics were identified for access to care until patients had advanced disease-lifestyle changes once the disease was diagnosed. This method was felt feasible if conducted annually. We confirmed the utility of an adapted priority-setting method that is feasible and considers SDH. Further testing of this method is needed to assess whether considerations of health equity are prioritized and involve disadvantaged groups of the population. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommended Priorities for NASA's Gamma Ray Astronomy Program 1999-2013

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carol, Ladd

1999-01-01

The Gamma-Ray Astronomy Program Working Group (GRAPWG) recommends priorities for the NASA Gamma-Ray Astronomy Program. The highest priority science topic is nuclear astrophysics and sites of gamma ray line emission. Other high priority topics are gamma ray bursts, hard x-ray emission from accreting black holes and neutron stars, the Advanced Compton Telescope (ACT), the High-resolution Spectroscopic Imager (HSI), and the Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST). The recommendations include special consideration for technology development, TeV astronomy, the ultra-long duration balloon (ULDB) program, the International Space Station, optical telescope support, and data analysis and theory.

From papers to practices: district level priority setting processes and criteria for family planning, maternal, newborn and child health interventions in Tanzania.

PubMed

Chitama, Dereck; Baltussen, Rob; Ketting, Evert; Kamazima, Switbert; Nswilla, Anna; Mujinja, Phares G M

2011-10-21

Successful priority setting is increasingly known to be an important aspect in achieving better family planning, maternal, newborn and child health (FMNCH) outcomes in developing countries. However, far too little attention has been paid to capturing and analysing the priority setting processes and criteria for FMNCH at district level. This paper seeks to capture and analyse the priority setting processes and criteria for FMNCH at district level in Tanzania. Specifically, we assess the FMNCH actor's engagement and understanding, the criteria used in decision making and the way criteria are identified, the information or evidence and tools used to prioritize FMNCH interventions at district level in Tanzania. We conducted an exploratory study mixing both qualitative and quantitative methods to capture and analyse the priority setting for FMNCH at district level, and identify the criteria for priority setting. We purposively sampled the participants to be included in the study. We collected the data using the nominal group technique (NGT), in-depth interviews (IDIs) with key informants and documentary review. We analysed the collected data using both content analysis for qualitative data and correlation analysis for quantitative data. We found a number of shortfalls in the district's priority setting processes and criteria which may lead to inefficient and unfair priority setting decisions in FMNCH. In addition, participants identified the priority setting criteria and established the perceived relative importance of the identified criteria. However, we noted differences exist in judging the relative importance attached to the criteria by different stakeholders in the districts. In Tanzania, FMNCH contents in both general development policies and sector policies are well articulated. However, the current priority setting process for FMNCH at district levels are wanting in several aspects rendering the priority setting process for FMNCH inefficient and unfair (or unsuccessful). To improve district level priority setting process for the FMNCH interventions, we recommend a fundamental revision of the current FMNCH interventions priority setting process. The improvement strategy should utilize rigorous research methods combining both normative and empirical methods to further analyze and correct past problems at the same time use the good practices to improve the current priority setting process for FMNCH interventions. The suggested improvements might give room for efficient and fair (or successful) priority setting process for FMNCH interventions.

The Ranking of Global Environmental Issues and Problems by Polish Secondary Students and Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Michael; Trojok, Tomasz; Norwisz, Jan

1997-01-01

Identifies and discusses Polish student and teacher priorities of Bybee's 12 environmental problems in two cities in Katowice Province. Provides pertinent background on the Polish educational system. Presents reasons why the current science teaching model must be changed if the science curriculum is to provide more understanding of Bybee's 12…

Effects of Psychological Distress on Academic Achievement in Brunei Student Teachers: Identification Challenges and Counseling Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mundia, Lawrence

2011-01-01

Students with psychological and mental health problems are often accorded a low status and priority compared to peers with other disabilities. Recent research indicated that a female Brunei student teacher prematurely left her training program due to unaddressed mental health problems. The present study used a mixed methods approach. The random…

Time-Shared Control Systems: Promises and Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, John F.

1975-01-01

As an illustration of an attempt at dealing with the problem of time-sharing small computers for laboratory control resulting from conflicts between real-time responsiveness needs and the matter of priorities and administration of the system as a whole, a description is provided of a time-shared system that is used to control and service multiple…

Global Health and Emergency Care: Defining Clinical Research Priorities.

PubMed

Hansoti, Bhakti; Aluisio, Adam R; Barry, Meagan A; Davey, Kevin; Lentz, Brian A; Modi, Payal; Newberry, Jennifer A; Patel, Melissa H; Smith, Tricia A; Vinograd, Alexandra M; Levine, Adam C

2017-06-01

Despite recent strides in the development of global emergency medicine (EM), the field continues to lag in applying a scientific approach to identifying critical knowledge gaps and advancing evidence-based solutions to clinical and public health problems seen in emergency departments (EDs) worldwide. Here, progress on the global EM research agenda created at the 2013 Academic Emergency Medicine Global Health and Emergency Care Consensus Conference is evaluated and critical areas for future development in emergency care research internationally are identified. A retrospective review of all studies compiled in the Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review (GEMLR) database from 2013 through 2015 was conducted. Articles were categorized and analyzed using descriptive quantitative measures and structured data matrices. The Global Emergency Medicine Think Tank Clinical Research Working Group at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine 2016 Annual Meeting then further conceptualized and defined global EM research priorities utilizing consensus-based decision making. Research trends in global EM research published between 2013 and 2015 show a predominance of observational studies relative to interventional or descriptive studies, with the majority of research conducted in the inpatient setting in comparison to the ED or prehospital setting. Studies on communicable diseases and injury were the most prevalent, with a relative dearth of research on chronic noncommunicable diseases. The Global Emergency Medicine Think Tank Clinical Research Working Group identified conceptual frameworks to define high-impact research priorities, including the traditional approach of using global burden of disease to define priorities and the impact of EM on individual clinical care and public health opportunities. EM research is also described through a population lens approach, including gender, pediatrics, and migrant and refugee health. Despite recent strides in global EM research and a proliferation of scholarly output in the field, further work is required to advocate for and inform research priorities in global EM. The priorities outlined in this paper aim to guide future research in the field, with the goal of advancing the development of EM worldwide. © 2017 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Some problems of Maryland towns as seen by their mayors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peake, H. J.

1978-01-01

Conversations were held with the mayors of six Maryland towns to discuss possible models and needs for technology transfer. An unexpected outcome of the discussions was a considerable insight into local problems as perceived by the mayors. Problems, whether administrative, socio-economic, or technological, are different, from town to town, in degree, not in kind. Recognition of this feature of local priorities is vital to any considerations of external assistance.

Discovery, research, and development of new antibiotics: the WHO priority list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and tuberculosis.

PubMed

Tacconelli, Evelina; Carrara, Elena; Savoldi, Alessia; Harbarth, Stephan; Mendelson, Marc; Monnet, Dominique L; Pulcini, Céline; Kahlmeter, Gunnar; Kluytmans, Jan; Carmeli, Yehuda; Ouellette, Marc; Outterson, Kevin; Patel, Jean; Cavaleri, Marco; Cox, Edward M; Houchens, Chris R; Grayson, M Lindsay; Hansen, Paul; Singh, Nalini; Theuretzbacher, Ursula; Magrini, Nicola

2018-03-01

The spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria poses a substantial threat to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Due to its large public health and societal implications, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has been long regarded by WHO as a global priority for investment in new drugs. In 2016, WHO was requested by member states to create a priority list of other antibiotic-resistant bacteria to support research and development of effective drugs. We used a multicriteria decision analysis method to prioritise antibiotic-resistant bacteria; this method involved the identification of relevant criteria to assess priority against which each antibiotic-resistant bacterium was rated. The final priority ranking of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria was established after a preference-based survey was used to obtain expert weighting of criteria. We selected 20 bacterial species with 25 patterns of acquired resistance and ten criteria to assess priority: mortality, health-care burden, community burden, prevalence of resistance, 10-year trend of resistance, transmissibility, preventability in the community setting, preventability in the health-care setting, treatability, and pipeline. We stratified the priority list into three tiers (critical, high, and medium priority), using the 33rd percentile of the bacterium's total scores as the cutoff. Critical-priority bacteria included carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and carbapenem-resistant and third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The highest ranked Gram-positive bacteria (high priority) were vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Of the bacteria typically responsible for community-acquired infections, clarithromycin-resistant Helicobacter pylori, and fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter spp, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Salmonella typhi were included in the high-priority tier. Future development strategies should focus on antibiotics that are active against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and Gram-negative bacteria. The global strategy should include antibiotic-resistant bacteria responsible for community-acquired infections such as Salmonella spp, Campylobacter spp, N gonorrhoeae, and H pylori. World Health Organization. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Prevention of Adolescent Smoking: A Public Health Priority.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harken, Laurel S.

1987-01-01

Discusses ways to prevent adolescents from smoking by preparing them to deal with problematic situations. Focuses on problem-solving and decision-making skills. Prevention strategies are also discussed. (RB)

Role of chemotherapy of taeniasis in prevention of neurocysticercosis.

PubMed

Pawlowski, Zbigniew S

2006-01-01

Neurocysticercosis (NC) is a serious public health problem in Taenia solium endemic areas and in some immigrants and international travelers. A key intervention in preventing NC is elimination of taeniasis by chemotherapy. Currently, two safe and effective taenicides, namely niclosamide and praziquantel, are available. Both are on WHO Essential Drug list, but are often inaccessible in T. solium endemic areas. Natural remedies, still widely used in some endemic areas, are frequently carcinogenic or highly toxic and as such should be discontinued. Chemotherapeutic intervention to control T. solium taeniasis/cysticercosis, whilst theoretically feasible, has several practical obstacles. These include poor public awareness, problems with diagnosing Taenia carriers, poor availability of taenicides where needed and low priority afforded to the control of NC. These can be overcome, respectively, by effective health education, wider use of newly developed coproantigen tests, strengthening of health services infrastructure and essential drugs distribution, and increasing the priority given to prevention of NC, as a leading cause of epilepsy in T. solium endemic areas. Information is accumulating on rational approaches to population-based short-term chemotherapeutic control measures. These are: widely available modern diagnostic tools and taenicides, treatment of any case of taeniasis, confirmed or probable, focus-oriented chemotherapy, irrespective of Taenia species implicated, improved sanitation, cooperation of veterinary and medical services, linkage with programs against epilepsy and cooperation of better educated communities. Now, it remains to take an advantage of existing tools and experience.

Reliability-Productivity Curve, a Tool for Adaptation Measures Identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chávez-Jiménez, A.; Granados, A.; Garrote, L. M.

2015-12-01

Due to climate change effects, water scarcity problems would intensify in several regions. These problems are going to impact negatively in the water low-priority demands, since these will be reduced in favor of those with high-priority. An example would be the reduction of agriculture water resources in favor of the urban ones. Then, it is important the evaluation of adaptation measures for a better water resources management. An important tool to face this challenge is the economic valuation of the water demands' impact within a water resources system. In agriculture this valuation is usually performed through the water productivity evaluation. The water productivity evaluation requires detailed information regarding the different crops like the applied technology, the agricultural supplies management, the water availability, etc. This is a restriction for an evaluation at basin scale due to the difficulty of gathers this level of detailed information. Besides, only the water availability is taken into account, but not the period when the water is distributed (i.e. water resources reliability). Water resources reliability is one of the most important variables in water resources management. This research proposes a methodology to determine the agriculture water productivity, using as variables the crops information, the crops price, the water resources availability, and the water resources reliability, at a basin scale. This methodology would allow identifying general water resources adaptation measures, providing the basis for further detailed studies in critical regions.

25 CFR 170.205 - What is an IRR High Priority Project (IRRHPP)?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... RESERVATION ROADS PROGRAM Indian Reservation Roads Program Funding Irr High Priority Project (irrhpp) § 170... applications. (c) IRRHPP funds cannot be used for transportation planning, research, routine maintenance...

Stakeholder-led science: engaging resource managers to identify science needs for long-term management of floodplain conservation lands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bouska, Kristin L.; Lindner, Garth; Paukert, Craig P.; Jacobson, Robert B.

2016-01-01

Floodplains pose challenges to managers of conservation lands because of constantly changing interactions with their rivers. Although scientific knowledge and understanding of the dynamics and drivers of river-floodplain systems can provide guidance to floodplain managers, the scientific process often occurs in isolation from management. Further, communication barriers between scientists and managers can be obstacles to appropriate application of scientific knowledge. With the coproduction of science in mind, our objectives were the following: (1) to document management priorities of floodplain conservation lands, and (2) identify science needs required to better manage the identified management priorities under nonstationary conditions, i.e., climate change, through stakeholder queries and interactions. We conducted an online survey with 80 resource managers of floodplain conservation lands along the Upper and Middle Mississippi River and Lower Missouri River, USA, to evaluate management priority, management intensity, and available scientific information for management objectives and conservation targets. Management objectives with the least information available relative to priority included controlling invasive species, maintaining respectful relationships with neighbors, and managing native, nongame species. Conservation targets with the least information available to manage relative to management priority included pollinators, marsh birds, reptiles, and shore birds. A follow-up workshop and survey focused on clarifying science needs to achieve management objectives under nonstationary conditions. Managers agreed that metrics of inundation, including depth and extent of inundation, and frequency, duration, and timing of inundation would be the most useful metrics for management of floodplain conservation lands with multiple objectives. This assessment provides guidance for developing relevant and accessible science products to inform management of highly dynamic floodplain environments. Although the problems facing managers of these lands are complex, products focused on a small suite of inundation metrics were determined to be the most useful to guide the decision making process.

Phylogenetic analysis of conservation priorities for aquatic mammals and their terrestrial relatives, with a comparison of methods.

PubMed

May-Collado, Laura J; Agnarsson, Ingi

2011-01-01

Habitat loss and overexploitation are among the primary factors threatening populations of many mammal species. Recently, aquatic mammals have been highlighted as particularly vulnerable. Here we test (1) if aquatic mammals emerge as more phylogenetically urgent conservation priorities than their terrestrial relatives, and (2) if high priority species are receiving sufficient conservation effort. We also compare results among some phylogenetic conservation methods. A phylogenetic analysis of conservation priorities for all 620 species of Cetartiodactyla and Carnivora, including most aquatic mammals. Conservation priority ranking of aquatic versus terrestrial species is approximately proportional to their diversity. However, nearly all obligated freshwater cetartiodactylans are among the top conservation priority species. Further, ∼74% and 40% of fully aquatic cetartiodactylans and carnivores, respectively, are either threatened or data deficient, more so than their terrestrial relatives. Strikingly, only 3% of all 'high priority' species are thought to be stable. An overwhelming 97% of these species thus either show decreasing population trends (87%) or are insufficiently known (10%). Furthermore, a disproportional number of highly evolutionarily distinct species are experiencing population decline, thus, such species should be closely monitored even if not currently threatened. Comparison among methods reveals that exact species ranking differs considerably among methods, nevertheless, most top priority species consistently rank high under any method. While we here favor one approach, we also suggest that a consensus approach may be useful when methods disagree. These results reinforce prior findings, suggesting there is an urgent need to gather basic conservation data for aquatic mammals, and special conservation focus is needed on those confined to freshwater. That evolutionarily distinct--and thus 'biodiverse'--species are faring relatively poorly is alarming and requires further study. Our results offer a detailed guide to phylogeny-based conservation prioritization for these two orders.

Proportional fair scheduling algorithm based on traffic in satellite communication system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Cheng-Sheng; Sui, Shi-Long; Liu, Chun-ling; Shi, Yu-Xin

2018-02-01

In the satellite communication network system, in order to solve the problem of low system capacity and user fairness in multi-user access to satellite communication network in the downlink, combined with the characteristics of user data service, an algorithm study on throughput capacity and user fairness scheduling is proposed - Proportional Fairness Algorithm Based on Traffic(B-PF). The algorithm is improved on the basis of the proportional fairness algorithm in the wireless communication system, taking into account the user channel condition and caching traffic information. The user outgoing traffic is considered as the adjustment factor of the scheduling priority and presents the concept of traffic satisfaction. Firstly,the algorithm calculates the priority of the user according to the scheduling algorithm and dispatches the users with the highest priority. Secondly, when a scheduled user is the business satisfied user, the system dispatches the next priority user. The simulation results show that compared with the PF algorithm, B-PF can improve the system throughput, the business satisfaction and fairness.

Application of remote sensing to state and regional problems. [mississippi

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, W. F.; Powers, J. S.; Clark, J. R.; Solomon, J. L.; Williams, S. G. (Principal Investigator)

1981-01-01

The methods and procedures used, accomplishments, current status, and future plans are discussed for each of the following applications of LANDSAT in Mississippi: (1) land use planning in Lowndes County; (2) strip mine inventory and reclamation; (3) white-tailed deer habitat evaluation; (4) remote sensing data analysis support systems; (5) discrimination of unique forest habitats in potential lignite areas; (6) changes in gravel operations; and (7) determining freshwater wetlands for inventory and monitoring. The documentation of all existing software and the integration of the image analysis and data base software into a single package are now considered very high priority items.

Authoring Issues beyond Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spierling, Ulrike; Szilas, Nicolas

Authoring is still considered a bottleneck in successful Interactive Storytelling and Drama. The claim for intuitive authoring tools is high, especially for tools that allow storytellers and artists to define dynamic content that can be run with an AI-based story engine. We explored two concrete authoring processes in depth, using various Interactive Storytelling prototypes, and have provided feedback from the practical steps. The result is a presentation of general issues in authoring Interactive Storytelling, rather than of particular problems with a specific system that could be overcome by 'simply' designing the right interface. Priorities for future developments are also outlined.

Autogenic-feedback training: A countermeasure for orthostatic intolerance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cowings, Patricia S.; Toscano, William B.; Kamiya, Joe; Miller, Neal E.; Pickering, Thomas G.

1991-01-01

NASA has identified cardiovascular deconditioning as a serious biomedical problem associated with long-duration exposure to microgravity in space. High priority has been given to the development of countermeasures for this disorder and the resulting orthostatic intolerance experienced by crewmembers upon their return to the 1g norm of Earth. The present study was designed to examine the feasibility of training human subjects to control their own cardiovascular responses to gravitational stimulation (i.e., a tilt table). Using an operant conditioning procedure, Autogenic-Feedback Training (AFT), we would determine if subjects could learn to increase their own blood pressure voluntarily.

A Public Health Approach to Addressing Arthritis in Older Adults: The Most Common Cause of Disability

PubMed Central

Helmick, Charles G.; Brady, Teresa J.

2012-01-01

Arthritis is highly prevalent and is the leading cause of disability among older adults in the United States owing to the aging of the population and increases in the prevalence of risk factors (e.g., obesity). Arthritis will play a large role in the health-related quality of life, functional independence, and disability of older adults in the upcoming decades. We have emphasized the role of the public health system in reducing the impact of this large and growing public health problem, and we have presented priority public health actions. PMID:22390506

An assessment to prioritise the critical erosion-prone sub-watersheds for soil conservation in the Gumti basin of Tripura, North-East India.

PubMed

Ahmed, Istak; Das Pan, Nibedita; Debnath, Jatan; Bhowmik, Moujuri

2017-10-31

Erosion-induced land degradation problem has emerged as a serious environmental issue across the world. Assessment of this problem through modelling can generate valuable quantitative information for the planners to identify priority areas for proper soil conservation measures. The Gumti River basin of Tripura falls under humid tropical climate and experiences soil erosion for a prolonged period which has turned into a major environmental issue. Increased sediment supply through top soil erosion is one of the major reasons for reduced navigability of this river. Thus, the present study is an attempt to prioritize the sub-watersheds of the Gumti basin by estimating soil loss through the USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation) model. For that purpose, five parameters of the USLE model were processed, computed and overlaid in a GIS environment. The result shows that potential mean annual soil loss of the Gumti basin ranges between 0.03 and 114.08 t ha -1  year -1 . The resultant values of soil loss were classified into five categories considering the minimum and maximum values. It has been identified that low, moderate, high, very high and severe soil loss categories occupy 68.71, 8.94, 5.86, 5.02 and 11.47% of the basin respectively. Moreover, it has been recognised that sub-watersheds like SW7, SW8, SW12, SW21, SW24 and SW29 fall under very high priority class for which mitigation measures are essential. Therefore, the present study recommends mitigation measures through terrace cultivation, as an alternative of shifting cultivation in the hilly areas and through construction of check dams at the appropriate sites of the erosion prone sub-watersheds. Moreover, proper afforestation programmes that have been implemented successfully in other parts of Tripura through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Joint Forest Management, and National Afforestation Programme should be initiated in the highly erosion-prone areas of the Gumti River basin.

Tinbergen on mirror neurons.

PubMed

Heyes, Cecilia

2014-01-01

Fifty years ago, Niko Tinbergen defined the scope of behavioural biology with his four problems: causation, ontogeny, survival value and evolution. About 20 years ago, there was another highly significant development in behavioural biology-the discovery of mirror neurons (MNs). Here, I use Tinbergen's original four problems (rather than the list that appears in textbooks) to highlight the differences between two prominent accounts of MNs, the genetic and associative accounts; to suggest that the latter provides the defeasible 'best explanation' for current data on the causation and ontogeny of MNs; and to argue that functional analysis, of the kind that Tinbergen identified somewhat misleadingly with studies of 'survival value', should be a high priority for future research. In this kind of functional analysis, system-level theories would assign MNs a small, but potentially important, role in the achievement of action understanding-or another social cognitive function-by a production line of interacting component processes. These theories would be tested by experimental intervention in human and non-human animal samples with carefully documented and controlled developmental histories.

Stress, mental health, and job performance among active duty military personnel: findings from the 2002 Department of Defense Health-Related Behaviors Survey.

PubMed

Hourani, Laurel L; Williams, Thomas V; Kress, Amii M

2006-09-01

This study examined the extent to which high levels of occupational and family stress were associated with mental health problems and productivity loss among active duty military personnel. We analyzed data from the 2002 Department of Defense Survey of Health-Related Behaviors among Military Personnel, which provided extensive population-based information on 12,756 active duty personnel in all branches of the military worldwide. Military personnel reported higher levels of stress at work than in their family life. The personnel reporting the highest levels of occupational stress were those 25 or younger, those who were married with spouses not present, and women. Personnel with high levels of stress had significantly higher rates of mental health problems and productivity loss than those with less stress. We recommend that prevention and intervention efforts geared toward personnel reporting the highest levels of stress be given priority for resources in this population.

Quality Tools and TRIZ Based Quality Improvement Case Study at PT ‘X’ A Plastic Moulding Manufacturing Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wirawan, Christina; Chandra, Fory

2016-02-01

Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) is a creative encouraging problem solving method. TRIZ is prepared by Altshuller for product design. Altshuller prepared contradiction matrix and suggestion to solve contradictions usually occur in product design. This paper try to combine TRIZ with quality tools such as Pareto and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) to solve contradiction in quality improvement problem, neither than product design problem. Pareto used to identify defect priority, FTA used to analysis and identify root cause of defect. When there is contradiction in solving defect causes, TRIZ used to find creative problem solving. As a case study, PT ’X’, a plastic molding manufacturing industry was taken. PT ‘X’ using traditional press machine to produce plastic thread cone. There are 5 defect types that might occur in plastic thread cone production, incomplete form, dirty, mottle, excessive form, rugged. Research about quality improvement effort using DMAIC at PT ‘X’ have been done by Fory Candra. From this research, defect types, priority, root cause from FTA, recommendation from FMEA. In this research, from FTA reviewed, contradictions found among causes troublesome quality improvement efforts. TRIZ used to solve the contradictions and quality improvement effort can be made effectively.

7 CFR 3570.67 - Project selection priorities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... emergencies, such as the loss of a community facility due to an accident or natural disaster or the loss of... funds, emergency conditions caused by economic problems, natural disasters, or leveraging of funds...

7 CFR 3570.67 - Project selection priorities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... emergencies, such as the loss of a community facility due to an accident or natural disaster or the loss of... funds, emergency conditions caused by economic problems, natural disasters, or leveraging of funds...

7 CFR 3570.67 - Project selection priorities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... emergencies, such as the loss of a community facility due to an accident or natural disaster or the loss of... funds, emergency conditions caused by economic problems, natural disasters, or leveraging of funds...

Systolic array processing of the sequential decoding algorithm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, C. Y.; Yao, K.

1989-01-01

A systolic array processing technique is applied to implementing the stack algorithm form of the sequential decoding algorithm. It is shown that sorting, a key function in the stack algorithm, can be efficiently realized by a special type of systolic arrays known as systolic priority queues. Compared to the stack-bucket algorithm, this approach is shown to have the advantages that the decoding always moves along the optimal path, that it has a fast and constant decoding speed and that its simple and regular hardware architecture is suitable for VLSI implementation. Three types of systolic priority queues are discussed: random access scheme, shift register scheme and ripple register scheme. The property of the entries stored in the systolic priority queue is also investigated. The results are applicable to many other basic sorting type problems.

The Evaluation of Screening Process and Local Bureaucracy in Determining the Priority of Urban Roads Maintenance and Rehabilitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendhratmoyo, Andri; Syafi'i; Pungky Pramesti, Florentina

2017-11-01

Due to the limited budget of urban roads maintenance and rehabilitation, its prioritizationis inevitable. Many models have been developed to solve these problems. That is the reason why the purpose of this study was to evaluate the screening process in the decision making of the urban roads maintenance and rehabilitation priority. The prioritization that have to be taken into account on the effect of important criteria are road condition, traffic volume, budget processing and land use. 30 stakeholders were asked to fill in the questionnaires. The object of this case study are 188 urban roads sections at Ponorogo in order to examine the priorities. The researchers collected the data from Surface Distress Index (SDI), traffic volume, budget processing and land use of these road sections. Based on analysis, the weights of the criteria were: road condition (W1) = 0,411; traffic volume (W2) = 0,122; budget processing (W3) = 0,363 and land use (W4) = 0,105. The result of this study by the comparison of the index values of the alternatives priorities, Nyi Ageng Serang Street, was revealed to have the highest priority over the other streets regarding of maintenance and rehabilitation activities.

[Planning driven by health priorities. Master planning criteria].

PubMed

Tresserras, Ricard

2008-12-01

With the aim of responding to a number of problems detected in health plan evaluations, a new direction has been proposed in Catalonia which would lead to the improved unification of the strategic and operational approaches, and leadership. The master plans that tackle those health problems with the greatest impact were created along these lines. This article presents the most salient aspects of the master plans for oncology, circulatory diseases, mental health and addictions, immigration and the field of social healthcare. Their organisational structure, mission and functions are presented, commenting on the prioritisation of activities and the principal benchmark elements of the healthcare model in the definition of planning criteria for services incorporated into the Health Map. Finally, mention is made of the evaluation procedures. The in-depth study of priority settings has resulted in significant progress towards unifying health and service planning.

The rising tide of ocean diseases: Unsolved problems and research priorities

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harvell, Drew; Aronson, Richard; Baron, Nancy; Connell, Joseph; Dobson, Andrew P.; Ellner, Steve; Gerber, Leah R.; Kim, Kiho; Kuris, Armand M.; McCallum, Hamish; Lafferty, Kevin D.; McKay, Bruce; Porter, James; Pascual, Mercedes; Smith, Garriett; Sutherland, Katherine; Ward, Jessica

2004-01-01

New studies have detected a rising number of reports of diseases in marine organisms such as corals, molluscs, turtles, mammals, and echinoderms over the past three decades. Despite the increasing disease load, microbiological, molecular, and theoretical tools for managing disease in the world's oceans are under-developed. Review of the new developments in the study of these diseases identifies five major unsolved problems and priorities for future research: (1) detecting origins and reservoirs for marine diseases and tracing the flow of some new pathogens from land to sea; (2) documenting the longevity and host range of infectious stages; (3) evaluating the effect of greater taxonomic diversity of marine relative to terrestrial hosts and pathogens; (4) pinpointing the facilitating role of anthropogenic agents as incubators and conveyors of marine pathogens; (5) adapting epidemiological models to analysis of marine disease.

Quench Modeling in High-field Nb3Sn Accelerator Magnets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bermudez, S. Izquierdo; Bajas, H.; Bottura, L.

The development of high-field magnets is on-going in the framework of the LHC luminosity upgrade. The resulting peak field, in the range of 12 T to 13 T, requires the use Nb3Sn as superconductor. Due to the high stored energy density (compact winding for cost reduction) and the low stabilizer fraction (to achieve the desired margins), quench protection becomes a challenging problem. Accurate simulation of quench transientsin these magnets is hence crucial to the design choices, the definition of priority R&D and to prove that the magnets are fit for operation. In this paper we focus on the modelling of quench initiation and propagation, we describe approaches that are suitable for magnet simulation, and we compare numerical results with available experimental data.

Setting health priorities in a community: a case example.

PubMed

Sousa, Fábio Alexandre Melo do Rego; Goulart, Maria José Garcia; Braga, Antonieta Manuela Dos Santos; Medeiros, Clara Maria Oliveira; Rego, Débora Cristina Martins; Vieira, Flávio Garcia; Pereira, Helder José Alves da Rocha; Tavares, Helena Margarida Correia Vicente; Loura, Marta Maria Puim

2017-03-02

To describe the methodology used in the process of setting health priorities for community intervention in a community of older adults. Based on the results of a health diagnosis related to active aging, a prioritization process was conceived to select the priority intervention problem. The process comprised four successive phases of problem analysis and classification: (1) grouping by level of similarity, (2) classification according to epidemiological criteria, (3) ordering by experts, and (4) application of the Hanlon method. These stages combined, in an integrated manner, the views of health team professionals, community nursing and gerontology experts, and the actual community. The first stage grouped the identified problems by level of similarity, comprising a body of 19 issues for analysis. In the second stage these problems were classified by the health team members by epidemiological criteria (size, vulnerability, and transcendence). The nine most relevant problems resulting from the second stage of the process were submitted to expert analysis and the five most pertinent problems were selected. The last step identified the priority issue for intervention in this specific community with the participation of formal and informal community leaders: Low Social Interaction in Community Participation. The prioritization process is a key step in health planning, enabling the identification of priority problems to intervene in a given community at a given time. There are no default formulas for selecting priority issues. It is up to each community intervention team to define its own process with different methods/techniques that allow the identification of and intervention in needs classified as priority by the community. Descrever a metodologia utilizada no processo de estabelecimento de prioridades em saúde para intervenção comunitária, numa comunidade idosa. Partindo dos resultados de um diagnóstico de saúde no âmbito da promoção do envelhecimento ativo, concebeu-se um processo de estabelecimento de prioridades a fim de selecionar o problema prioritário para intervenção. O processo integrou quatro etapas sucessivas de análise e classificação dos problemas: (1) agrupamento por nível de similitude, (2) classificação de acordo com critérios epidemiológicos, (3) ordenação por peritos e (4) aplicação do método de Hanlon. No decurso destas etapas, combinaram-se, de forma integrada, as perspetivas dos profissionais da equipe de saúde, de peritos em enfermagem comunitária e gerontologia e da própria comunidade. Na primeira etapa, agruparam-se por nível de similitude os problemas identificados, constituindo-se um corpo de 19 problemas para análise. Na segunda, esses problemas foram classificados pelos elementos da equipe de saúde, mediante a aplicação de critérios de cariz epidemiológico (magnitude, vulnerabilidade e transcendência). Os nove problemas mais relevantes resultantes da operacionalização da segunda etapa do processo foram submetidos a análise por peritos, e selecionados os cinco problemas com maior pertinência de atuação. Na última etapa, com recurso à participação de líderes formais e informais da comunidade, identificou-se o problema prioritário para intervenção nessa comunidade específica: a Baixa Interação Social na Participação Comunitária. O processo de estabelecimento de prioridades é uma etapa fundamental do planejamento em saúde, permitindo identificar os problemas prioritários a intervir numa determinada comunidade e num determinado momento. Não existem fórmulas predeterminadas para a seleção de problemas prioritários. Cabe a cada equipe de intervenção comunitária a definição de um processo próprio com diferentes métodos/técnicas que possibilitem a identificação e intervenção em necessidades classificadas como prioritárias pela comunidade.

Paraffin problems in crude oil production and transportation: A review

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

Misra, S.; Baruah, S.; Singh, K.

1995-02-01

Problems related to crystallization and deposition of paraffin waxes during production and transportation of crude oil cause losses of billions of dollars yearly to petroleum industry. The goal of this paper is to present the knowledge on such problems in a systematic and comprehensive form. The fundamental aspects of these problems are defined, and characterization of paraffins and their solubility tendencies have been discussed. It has been established conclusively that n-paraffins are predominantly responsible for this problem. Comprehensive discussion on the mechanism of crystallization of paraffins has been included. Compounds other than n-paraffins, especially asphaltenes and resins, have profound effectsmore » on solubility of n-paraffins. In evaluations of the wax potential of a crude, the climate of the area concerned should be considered. Under the most favorable conditions, n-paraffins form clearly defined orthorhombic crystals, but unfavorable conditions and the presence of impurities lead to hexagonal and/or amorphous crystallization.The gelation characteristics are also affected the same way. An attempt was made to classify the paraffin problems into those resulting from high pipeline pressure, high restarting pressure, and deposition on pipe surfaces. Fundamental aspects and mechanism of these dimensions are described. Wax deposition depends on flow rate, the temperature differential between crude and pipe surface, the cooling rate, and surface properties. Finally, methods available in the literature for predicting these problems and evaluating their mitigatory techniques are reviewed. The available methods present a very diversified picture; hence, using them to evaluate these problems becomes taxing. A top priority is standardizing these methods for the benefit of the industry. 56 refs.« less

Integrating participatory engagement and scientific research to inform causes and solutions to water problems in the River Njoro Watershed Kenya.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, M.

2012-12-01

Over the course of 9 years, an international multidisciplinary team of US and Kenyan scientists under the Sustainable Management of Rural Watersheds (SUMAWA) Project, based at Egerton University in Kenya, worked with Kenyan public agencies to apply a variety of participatory methods and outreach activities combined with land use mapping, hydrologic and water system modeling, and other scientific tools and evaluations to investigate and identify solutions to declining water quantity and quality problems affecting communities and environmental and productive sectors in the River Njoro Watershed in Kenya. Traditional participatory rural appraisal techniques were modified to engage low income, informal, and tribal communities in identification of local services, benefits, and groups linked to water and riparian resources and collect their perceptions of water-related problems, priorities, and solution options throughout the watershed. Building on this foundation of insights, information, and engagement on water issues with local communities and other stakeholders, the project designed a research agenda aimed at creating shared scientific understanding of the causes of identified problems and developing and testing promising interventions to address community and stakeholder priority concerns. This presentation will share lessons from the SUMAWA experience of using a problem-driven, solution-oriented, community-based watershed approach to address water resource problems at local scale in a semi-arid African developing country setting.

Unconventional missile concepts from consideration of varied mission requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spearman, M. L.

1984-01-01

Missile concepts for volumetric efficiency, minimum carriage constraints, and aerodynamic performance to achieve mission requirements. The mission requirements considered include air to surface roles such as defense suppression or antishipping where payload and range may have priority over high maneuver capability, and air to air and surface to air roles paying attention to good maneuvering capability. The concepts are intended to provide for ease of storage or carriage. The concepts include monoplanes with highly swept, thick delta wings, highly swept delta wings mounted either high or low on a semicircular body, some ring wing and semiring wing arrangements, parasol wing, and elliptical lifting bodies. The missile configurations indicate possible approaches toward resolving problems of carriage and storage while retaining good volumetric and aerodynamic efficiency. The configurations can accomplish a variety of possible missions with relatively simple vehicle shapes.

The Social Essentials of Learning: An Experimental Investigation of Collaborative Problem Solving and Knowledge Construction in Mathematics Classrooms in Australia and China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Man Ching Esther; Clarke, David; Cao, Yiming

2018-01-01

Interactive problem solving and learning are priorities in contemporary education, but these complex processes have proved difficult to research. This project addresses the question "How do we optimise social interaction for the promotion of learning in a mathematics classroom?" Employing the logic of multi-theoretic research design,…

The Outcomes of Education and Training: What the Australian Research Is Telling Us, 2011-14. Research Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beddie, Francesca

2015-01-01

The body of research produced by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) over the lifetime of the 2011-14 National Research Priorities (see figure 1) has exposed many of the problems facing tertiary education and training. With the aim of "understanding the problem", the research has further investigated the…

36 CFR 230.4 - State program administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... and set priorities for achieving the goals and objectives identified for the State for each year. (2... planting, maintenance, and improvement, and other high priority practices within the State that will result... appropriate Service Representative; (9) Guidelines for establishing annual priorities for the approval of...

Apparatus for fixing latency

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

Hall, David R; Bartholomew, David B; Moon, Justin

2009-09-08

An apparatus for fixing computational latency within a deterministic region on a network comprises a network interface modem, a high priority module and at least one deterministic peripheral device. The network interface modem is in communication with the network. The high priority module is in communication with the network interface modem. The at least one deterministic peripheral device is connected to the high priority module. The high priority module comprises a packet assembler/disassembler, and hardware for performing at least one operation. Also disclosed is an apparatus for executing at least one instruction on a downhole device within a deterministic region,more » the apparatus comprising a control device, a downhole network, and a downhole device. The control device is near the surface of a downhole tool string. The downhole network is integrated into the tool string. The downhole device is in communication with the downhole network.« less

Current Development Status of an Integrated Tool for Modeling Quasi-static Deformation in the Solid Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, C. A.; Dicaprio, C.; Simons, M.

2003-12-01

With the advent of projects such as the Plate Boundary Observatory and future InSAR missions, spatially dense geodetic data of high quality will provide an increasingly detailed picture of the movement of the earth's surface. To interpret such information, powerful and easily accessible modeling tools are required. We are presently developing such a tool that we feel will meet many of the needs for evaluating quasi-static earth deformation. As a starting point, we begin with a modified version of the finite element code TECTON, which has been specifically designed to solve tectonic problems involving faulting and viscoelastic/plastic earth behavior. As our first priority, we are integrating the code into the GeoFramework, which is an extension of the Python-based Pyre modeling framework. The goal of this framework is to provide simplified user interfaces for powerful modeling codes, to provide easy access to utilities such as meshers and visualization tools, and to provide a tight integration between different modeling tools so they can interact with each other. The initial integration of the code into this framework is essentially complete, and a more thorough integration, where Python-based drivers control the entire solution, will be completed in the near future. We have an evolving set of priorities that we expect to solidify as we receive more input from the modeling community. Current priorities include the development of linear and quadratic tetrahedral elements, the development of a parallelized version of the code using the PETSc libraries, the addition of more complex rheologies, realistic fault friction models, adaptive time stepping, and spherical geometries. In this presentation we describe current progress toward our various priorities, briefly describe the structure of the code within the GeoFramework, and demonstrate some sample applications.

Three years experience with forward-site mass casualty triage-, evacuation-, operating room-, ICU-, and radiography-enabled disaster vehicles: development of usage strategies from drills and deployments.

PubMed

Griffiths, Jane L; Kirby, Neil R; Waterson, James A

2014-01-01

Delineation of the advantages and problems related to the use of forward-site operating room-, Intensive Care Unit (ICU)-, radiography-, and mass casualty-enabled disaster vehicles for site evacuation, patient stabilization, and triage. The vehicles discussed have six ventilated ICU spaces, two ORs, on-site radiography, 21 intermediate acuity spaces with stretchers, and 54 seated minor acuity spaces. Each space has piped oxygen with an independent vehicle-loaded supply. The vehicles are operated by the Dubai Corporate Ambulance Services. Their support hospital is the main trauma center for the Emirate of Dubai and provides the vehicles' surgical, intensivist, anesthesia, and nursing staff. The disaster vehicles have been deployed 264 times in the last 5 years (these figures do not include deployments for drills). Introducing this new service required extensive initial planning and ongoing analysis of the performance of the disaster vehicles that offer ambulance services and receiving hospitals a large array of possibilities in terms of triage, stabilization of priority I and II patients, and management of priority III patients. In both drills and in disasters, the vehicles were valuable in forward triage and stabilization and in the transport of large numbers of priority III patients. This has avoided the depletion of emergency transport available for priority I and II patients. The successful utilization of disaster vehicles requires seamless cooperation between the hospital staffing the vehicles and the ambulance service deploying them. They are particularly effective during preplanned deployments to high-risk situations. These vehicles also potentially provide self-sufficient refuges for forward teams in hostile environments.

A movement, a spirit, a lifestyle change.

PubMed

Eberlee, J

1994-04-01

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) has found that young children face the most risk of pneumonia and other respiratory infections. Those from areas not served by physicians face the greatest risk. During the 1980s, DOH set up a 5-year pilot project in 8 rural areas in the southern Philippines to see whether midwives could diagnose and treat acute respiratory infections (ARIs). The midwives used a simple diagnostic method (WHO/ARI algorithm) based on two ARI signs: a respiratory rate of at least 50 breaths/minute and an indrawn chest. An indrawn chest indicated a need to refer a child to the hospital. The midwives did well at diagnosing and treating ARIs. DOH has since introduced the algorithm nationwide. This research addressed an important problem and was well planned and implemented. IDRC and the Council on Health Research for Development in Geneva sponsors the Essential National Health Research (ENHR) initiative in the Philippines. The ENHR strategy aims to better people's health by establishing priorities among different health problems. After priority setting, a participatory process involving communities, researchers, and policy and decision makers determines the relevant research questions. ENHR should result in better, more effective, and more equitable health care and reduce the burden of illness. The first ENHR agenda includes the following research priorities: impact of indigenous beliefs and practices on health; baseline epidemiologic studies on mental health problems; infectious diseases (especially tuberculosis); evaluation of implementation of national health programs; and development of strategies to encourage rational use of drugs in hospitals. It took more than 2 years to agree on these priorities--a complicated and democratic process. The next step is to obtain funding for these projects. The ENHR project wants to attempt advocacy work--creating demand for research and preparing policy makers for the data. Its goal is to be a catalyst in the revolution of health research.

Validation of nursing management diagnoses.

PubMed

Morrison, R S

1995-01-01

Nursing management diagnosis based on nursing and management science, merges "nursing diagnosis" and "organizational diagnosis". Nursing management diagnosis is a judgment about nursing organizational problems. The diagnoses provide a basis for nurse manager interventions to achieve outcomes for which a nurse manager is accountable. A nursing organizational problem is a discrepancy between what should be happening and what is actually happening that prevents the goals of nursing from being accomplished. The purpose of this study was to validate 73 nursing management diagnoses identified previously in 1992: 71 of the 72 diagnoses were considered valid by at least 70% of 136 participants. Diagnoses considered to have high priority for future research and development were identified by summing the mean scores for perceived frequency of occurrence and level of disruption. Further development of nursing management diagnoses and testing of their effectiveness in enhancing decision making is recommended.

Installation Restoration Program. Phase I. Records Search, Hazardous Materials Disposal Sites, Griffiss AFB, New York.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-07-01

Disposal Methods 4-31 Evaluation of Past and Present Waste 4-35 Disposal Facilities Landfills 4-35 Dry Wells 4-37 Rating of Waste Disposal Sites 4-37 V 2...Problems Identified at GAPE Landfills 4-36 4.12 Priority Ranking of Potential 4-38 Contamination Sources 4.13 -4.31 Rating Forms for Waste Disposal Sites 4...39 -4-76 5.1 Priority Ranking of Potential Con- 5-2 tamination Sources B.1 Rating Factor System B-2 -B-5 4W EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Resource

Agricultural aviation user requirement priorities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaplan, R. L.; Meeland, T.; Peterson, J. E.

1977-01-01

The results are given of a research project pertaining to the development of agricultural aviation user requirement priorities. The raw data utilized in the project was obtained from the National Agricultural Aviation Association. A specially configured poll, developed by the Actuarial Research Corporation was used to solicit responses from NAAA members and others. The primary product of the poll is the specification of seriousness as determined by the respondents for some selected agricultural aviation problem areas identified and defined during the course of an intensive analysis by the Actuarial Research Corporation.

Primary care and addiction treatment: lessons learned from building bridges across traditions.

PubMed

Stanley, A H

1999-01-01

A primary care unit combined with residential addiction treatment allows patients with addictive disease and chronic medical or psychiatric problems to successfully complete the treatment. These are patients who would otherwise fail treatment or fail to be considered candidates for treatment. Health care providers should have a background in primary care and have the potential to respond professionally to clinical problems in behavioral medicine. Ongoing professional training and statistical quality management principles can maintain morale and productivity. Health education is an integral part of primary care. The costs of such concurrent care when viewed in the context of the high societal and economic costs of untreated addictive disease and untreated chronic medical problems are low. The principles used to develop this primary care unit can be used to develop health care units for other underserved populations. These principles include identification of specific health care priorities and continuity of rapport with the target population and with addiction treatment staff.

Meta-RaPS Algorithm for the Aerial Refueling Scheduling Problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaplan, Sezgin; Arin, Arif; Rabadi, Ghaith

2011-01-01

The Aerial Refueling Scheduling Problem (ARSP) can be defined as determining the refueling completion times for each fighter aircraft (job) on multiple tankers (machines). ARSP assumes that jobs have different release times and due dates, The total weighted tardiness is used to evaluate schedule's quality. Therefore, ARSP can be modeled as a parallel machine scheduling with release limes and due dates to minimize the total weighted tardiness. Since ARSP is NP-hard, it will be more appropriate to develop a pproimate or heuristic algorithm to obtain solutions in reasonable computation limes. In this paper, Meta-Raps-ATC algorithm is implemented to create high quality solutions. Meta-RaPS (Meta-heuristic for Randomized Priority Search) is a recent and promising meta heuristic that is applied by introducing randomness to a construction heuristic. The Apparent Tardiness Rule (ATC), which is a good rule for scheduling problems with tardiness objective, is used to construct initial solutions which are improved by an exchanging operation. Results are presented for generated instances.

Final priority; Rehabilitation Services Administration--Assistive Technology Alternative Financing Program. Final priority.

PubMed

2014-08-14

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority under the Assistive Technology Alternative Financing Program administered by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 and later years. This priority is designed to ensure that the Department funds high-quality assistive technology (AT) alternative financing programs (AFPs) that meet rigorous standards in order to enable individuals with disabilities to access and acquire assistive technology devices and services necessary to achieve education, community living, and employment goals.

Norepinephrine ignites local hotspots of neuronal excitation: How arousal amplifies selectivity in perception and memory.

PubMed

Mather, Mara; Clewett, David; Sakaki, Michiko; Harley, Carolyn W

2016-01-01

Emotional arousal enhances perception and memory of high-priority information but impairs processing of other information. Here, we propose that, under arousal, local glutamate levels signal the current strength of a representation and interact with norepinephrine (NE) to enhance high priority representations and out-compete or suppress lower priority representations. In our "glutamate amplifies noradrenergic effects" (GANE) model, high glutamate at the site of prioritized representations increases local NE release from the locus coeruleus (LC) to generate "NE hotspots." At these NE hotspots, local glutamate and NE release are mutually enhancing and amplify activation of prioritized representations. In contrast, arousal-induced LC activity inhibits less active representations via two mechanisms: 1) Where there are hotspots, lateral inhibition is amplified; 2) Where no hotspots emerge, NE levels are only high enough to activate low-threshold inhibitory adrenoreceptors. Thus, LC activation promotes a few hotspots of excitation in the context of widespread suppression, enhancing high priority representations while suppressing the rest. Hotspots also help synchronize oscillations across neural ensembles transmitting high-priority information. Furthermore, brain structures that detect stimulus priority interact with phasic NE release to preferentially route such information through large-scale functional brain networks. A surge of NE before, during, or after encoding enhances synaptic plasticity at NE hotspots, triggering local protein synthesis processes that enhance selective memory consolidation. Together, these noradrenergic mechanisms promote selective attention and memory under arousal. GANE not only reconciles apparently contradictory findings in the emotion-cognition literature but also extends previous influential theories of LC neuromodulation by proposing specific mechanisms for how LC-NE activity increases neural gain.

Generation of global political priority for early childhood development: the challenges of framing and governance.

PubMed

Shawar, Yusra Ribhi; Shiffman, Jeremy

2017-01-07

Despite progress, early childhood development (ECD) remains a neglected issue, particularly in resource-poor countries. We analyse the challenges and opportunities that ECD proponents face in advancing global priority for the issue. We triangulated among several data sources, including 19 semi-structured interviews with individuals involved in global ECD leadership, practice, and advocacy, as well as peer-reviewed research, organisation reports, and grey literature. We undertook a thematic analysis of the collected data, drawing on social science scholarship on collective action and a policy framework that elucidates why some global initiatives are more successful in generating political priority than others. The analysis indicates that the ECD community faces two primary challenges in advancing global political priority. The first pertains to framing: generation of internal consensus on the definition of the problem and solutions, agreement that could facilitate the discovery of a public positioning of the issue that could generate political support. The second concerns governance: building of effective institutions to achieve collective goals. However, there are multiple opportunities to advance political priority for ECD, including an increasingly favourable political environment, advances in ECD metrics, and the existence of compelling arguments for investment in ECD. To advance global priority for ECD, proponents will need to surmount the framing and governance challenges and leverage these opportunities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mental health education in occupational therapy professional preparation programs: Alignment between clinician priorities and coverage in university curricula.

PubMed

Scanlan, Justin Newton; Meredith, Pamela J; Haracz, Kirsti; Ennals, Priscilla; Pépin, Geneviève; Webster, Jayne S; Arblaster, Karen; Wright, Shelley

2017-12-01

Occupational therapy programs must prepare graduates for work in mental health. However, this area of practice is complex and rapidly changing. This study explored the alignment between educational priorities identified by occupational therapists practising in mental health and level of coverage of these topics in occupational therapy programs in Australia and New Zealand. Surveys were distributed to heads of all occupational therapy programs across Australia and New Zealand. The survey included educational priorities identified by occupational therapists in mental health from a previous study. Respondents were requested to identify the level of coverage given to each of these priorities within their curriculum. These data were analysed to determine a ranking of educational topics in terms of level of coverage in university programs. Responses were received for 19 programs from 16 universities. Thirty-four topics were given 'High-level coverage' in university programs, and these were compared against the 29 topics classified as 'Essential priorities' by clinicians. Twenty topics were included in both the 'Essential priorities' and 'High-level coverage' categories. Topics considered to be 'Essential priorities' by clinicians which were not given 'High-level coverage' in university programs included the following: mental health fieldwork experiences; risk assessment and management; professional self-care resilience and sensory approaches. While there appears to be overall good alignment between mental health curricula and priorities identified by practising occupational therapists, there are some discrepancies. These discrepancies are described and establish a strong foundation for further discussion between clinicians, academics and university administration to support curriculum review and revision. © 2017 Occupational Therapy Australia.

Establishing research priorities for patient safety in emergency medicine: a multidisciplinary consensus panel.

PubMed

Plint, Amy C; Stang, Antonia S; Calder, Lisa A

2015-01-01

Patient safety in the context of emergency medicine is a relatively new field of study. To date, no broad research agenda for patient safety in emergency medicine has been established. The objective of this study was to establish patient safety-related research priorities for emergency medicine. These priorities would provide a foundation for high-quality research, important direction to both researchers and health-care funders, and an essential step in improving health-care safety and patient outcomes in the high-risk emergency department (ED) setting. A four-phase consensus procedure with a multidisciplinary expert panel was organized to identify, assess, and agree on research priorities for patient safety in emergency medicine. The 19-member panel consisted of clinicians, administrators, and researchers from adult and pediatric emergency medicine, patient safety, pharmacy, and mental health; as well as representatives from patient safety organizations. In phase 1, we developed an initial list of potential research priorities by electronically surveying a purposeful and convenience sample of patient safety experts, ED clinicians, administrators, and researchers from across North America using contact lists from multiple organizations. We used simple content analysis to remove duplication and categorize the research priorities identified by survey respondents. Our expert panel reached consensus on a final list of research priorities through an in-person meeting (phase 3) and two rounds of a modified Delphi process (phases 2 and 4). After phases 1 and 2, 66 unique research priorities were identified for expert panel review. At the end of phase 4, consensus was reached for 15 research priorities. These priorities represent four themes: (1) methods to identify patient safety issues (five priorities), (2) understanding human and environmental factors related to patient safety (four priorities), (3) the patient perspective (one priority), and (4) interventions for improving patient safety (five priorities). This study established expert, consensus-based research priorities for patient safety in emergency medicine. This framework could be used by researchers and health-care funders and represents an essential guiding step towards enhancing quality of care and patient safety in the ED.

Using patients’ experiences to identify priorities for quality improvement in breast cancer care: patient narratives, surveys or both?

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Patients’ experiences have become central to assessing the performance of healthcare systems worldwide and are increasingly being used to inform quality improvement processes. This paper explores the relative value of surveys and detailed patient narratives in identifying priorities for improving breast cancer services as part of a quality improvement process. Methods One dataset was collected using a narrative interview approach, (n = 13) and the other using a postal survey (n = 82). Datasets were analyzed separately and then compared to determine whether similar priorities for improving patient experiences were identified. Results There were both similarities and differences in the improvement priorities arising from each approach. Day surgery was specifically identified as a priority in the narrative dataset but included in the survey recommendations only as part of a broader priority around improving inpatient experience. Both datasets identified appointment systems, patients spending enough time with staff, information about treatment and side effects and more information at the end of treatment as priorities. The specific priorities identified by the narrative interviews commonly related to ‘relational’ aspects of patient experience. Those identified by the survey typically related to more ‘functional’ aspects and were not always sufficiently detailed to identify specific improvement actions. Conclusions Our analysis suggests that whilst local survey data may act as a screening tool to identify potential problems within the breast cancer service, they do not always provide sufficient detail of what to do to improve that service. These findings may have wider applicability in other services. We recommend using an initial preliminary survey, with better use of survey open comments, followed by an in-depth qualitative analysis to help deliver improvements to relational and functional aspects of patient experience. PMID:22913525

Cataloging Expert Systems: Optimism and Frustrated Reality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olmstadt, William J.

2000-01-01

Discusses artificial intelligence and attempts to catalog expert systems. Topics include the nature of expertise; examples of cataloging expert systems; barriers to implementation; and problems, including total automation, cataloging expertise, priorities, and system design. (LRW)

Bird conservation would complement landslide prevention in the Central Andes of Colombia

PubMed Central

Ocampo-Peñuela, Natalia

2015-01-01

Conservation and restoration priorities often focus on separate ecosystem problems. Inspired by the November 11th (2011) landslide event near Manizales, and the current poor results of Colombia’s Article 111 of Law 99 of 1993 as a conservation measure in this country, we set out to prioritize conservation and restoration areas where landslide prevention would complement bird conservation in the Central Andes. This area is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, but also one of the most threatened. Using the case of the Rio Blanco Reserve, near Manizales, we identified areas for conservation where endemic and small-range bird diversity was high, and where landslide risk was also high. We further prioritized restoration areas by overlapping these conservation priorities with a forest cover map. Restoring forests in bare areas of high landslide risk and important bird diversity yields benefits for both biodiversity and people. We developed a simple landslide susceptibility model using slope, forest cover, aspect, and stream proximity. Using publicly available bird range maps, refined by elevation, we mapped concentrations of endemic and small-range bird species. We identified 1.54 km2 of potential restoration areas in the Rio Blanco Reserve, and 886 km2 in the Central Andes region. By prioritizing these areas, we facilitate the application of Article 111 which requires local and regional governments to invest in land purchases for the conservation of watersheds. PMID:25737819

SU-E-T-420: Failure Effects Mode Analysis for Trigeminal Neuralgia Frameless Radiosurgery

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

Howe, J

2015-06-15

Purpose: Functional radiosurgery has been used successfully in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia but presents significant challenges to ensuring the high prescription dose is delivered accurately. A review of existing practice should help direct the focus of quality improvement for this treatment regime. Method: Failure modes and effects analysis was used to identify the processes in preparing radiosurgery treatment for TN. The map was developed by a multidisciplinary team including: neurosurgeon, radiation oncology, physicist and therapist. Potential failure modes were identified for each step in the process map as well as potential causes and end effect. A risk priority numbermore » was assigned to each cause. Results: The process map identified 66 individual steps (see attached supporting document). Corrective actions were developed for areas of high risk priority number. Wrong site treatment is at higher risk for trigeminal neuralgia treatment due to the lack of site specific pathologic imaging on MR and CT – additional site specific checks were implemented to minimize the risk of wrong site treatment. Failed collision checks resulted from an insufficient collision model in the treatment planning system and a plan template was developed to address this problem. Conclusion: Failure modes and effects analysis is an effective tool for developing quality improvement in high risk radiotherapy procedures such as functional radiosurgery.« less

Bird conservation would complement landslide prevention in the Central Andes of Colombia.

PubMed

Ocampo-Peñuela, Natalia; Pimm, Stuart L

2015-01-01

Conservation and restoration priorities often focus on separate ecosystem problems. Inspired by the November 11th (2011) landslide event near Manizales, and the current poor results of Colombia's Article 111 of Law 99 of 1993 as a conservation measure in this country, we set out to prioritize conservation and restoration areas where landslide prevention would complement bird conservation in the Central Andes. This area is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, but also one of the most threatened. Using the case of the Rio Blanco Reserve, near Manizales, we identified areas for conservation where endemic and small-range bird diversity was high, and where landslide risk was also high. We further prioritized restoration areas by overlapping these conservation priorities with a forest cover map. Restoring forests in bare areas of high landslide risk and important bird diversity yields benefits for both biodiversity and people. We developed a simple landslide susceptibility model using slope, forest cover, aspect, and stream proximity. Using publicly available bird range maps, refined by elevation, we mapped concentrations of endemic and small-range bird species. We identified 1.54 km(2) of potential restoration areas in the Rio Blanco Reserve, and 886 km(2) in the Central Andes region. By prioritizing these areas, we facilitate the application of Article 111 which requires local and regional governments to invest in land purchases for the conservation of watersheds.

Exploring the relationship between quality of life and mental health problems in children: implications for measurement and practice.

PubMed

Sharpe, Helen; Patalay, Praveetha; Fink, Elian; Vostanis, Panos; Deighton, Jessica; Wolpert, Miranda

2016-06-01

Quality of life is typically reduced in children with mental health problems. Understanding the relationship between quality of life and mental health problems and the factors that moderate this association is a pressing priority. This was a cross-sectional study involving 45,398 children aged 8-13 years from 880 schools in England. Self-reported quality of life was assessed using nine items from the KIDSCREEN-10 and mental health was assessed using the Me and My School Questionnaire. Demographic information (gender, age, ethnicity, socio-economic status) was also recorded. Quality of life was highest in children with no problems and lowest in children with both internalising and externalising problems. There was indication that quality of life may be reduced in children with internalising problems compared with externalising problems. Approximately 12 % children with mental health problems reported high quality of life. The link between mental health and quality of life was moderated by gender and age but not by socio-economic status or ethnicity. This study supports previous work showing mental health and quality of life are related but not synonymous. The findings have implications for measuring quality of life in child mental health settings and the need for approaches to support children with mental health problems that are at particular risk of poor quality of life.

Optical communications for transport aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stengel, Robert

1994-01-01

Optical communications for transport aircraft are discussed. The problem involves: increasing demand for radio-frequency bands from an enlarging pool of users (aircraft, ground and sea vehicles, fleet operators, traffic control centers, and commercial radio and television); desirability of providing high-bandwidth dedicated communications to and from every aircraft in the National Airspace System; need to support communications, navigation, and surveillance for a growing number of aircraft; and improved meteorological observations by use of probe aircraft. The solution involves: optical signal transmission support very high data rates; optical transmission of signals between aircraft, orbiting satellites, and ground stations, where unobstructed line-of-sight is available; conventional radio transmissions of signals between aircraft and ground stations, where optical line-of-sight is unavailable; and radio priority given to aircraft in weather.

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

Drell, S.; Jeanloz, R.; Cornwall, J.

This study is a follow-on to the review made by JASON during its 1997 Summer Study of what is known about the aging of critical constituents, particularly the high explosives, metals (Pu, U), and polymers in the enduring stockpile. The JASON report (JSR-97-320) that summarized the findings was based on briefings by the three weapons labs (LANL, LLNL, SNL). They presented excellent technical analyses covering a broad range of scientific and engineering problems pertaining to determining signatures of aging. But the report also noted: `Missing, however, from the briefings and the written documents made available to us by the labsmore » and DOE, was evidence of an adequately sharp focus and high priorities on a number of essential near-term needs of maintaining weapons in the stockpile.« less

Management of obesity in children differs from that of adults.

PubMed

Hoey, Hilary

2014-11-01

Obesity in childhood is a very common disorder with an increasing prevalence. It is one of the most serious public health challenges. The objectives of the present paper are to increase the awareness of the problem of obesity in childhood, its serious complications and the need for prevention. Overweight and obese children are likely to remain obese into adulthood and more likely to develop serious complications including health problems such as diabetes and CVD, as well as psychological and social challenges. Overweight and obesity are largely preventable. In adults it is difficult to reduce excessive weight gain once it has become established, thus children should be considered the priority population for intervention strategies and prevention. Nutrition, exercise, weight gain in infancy, genetic and environmental factors, all contribute to the aetiology. Prevention and treatment of obesity in childhood requires education and empowerment of families relating to diet and exercise, along with the regulation and control of food marketing and clear nutritional labelling. The eating and physical activity behaviour of a child is strongly influenced by environmental and social factors. Therefore treatment will have only limited success in an environment where adequate physical activity is inhibited and the consumption of high-energy food is stimulated. Government investment in a health promotion programme addressing the issue of obesity in the population as a whole, with particular emphasis on the prevention and management of obesity in childhood is vital. The family doctor and multidisciplinary team play an important role. Regular visits to the family doctor, including growth assessment, will help motivate the family to restrict energy intake and to increase exercise. Therefore the prevention of childhood obesity needs high priority.

Factors explaining priority setting at community mental health centres: a quantitative analysis of referral assessments.

PubMed

Grepperud, Sverre; Holman, Per Arne; Wangen, Knut Reidar

2014-12-14

Clinicians at Norwegian community mental health centres assess referrals from general practitioners and classify them into three priority groups (high priority, low priority, and refusal) according to need where need is defined by three prioritization criteria (severity, effect, and cost-effectiveness). In this study, we seek to operationalize the three criteria and analyze to what extent they have an effect on clinical-level priority setting after controlling for clinician characteristics and organisational factors. Twenty anonymous referrals were rated by 42 admission team members employed at 14 community mental health centres in the South-East Health Region of Norway. Intra-class correlation coefficients were calculated and logistic regressions were performed. Variation in clinicians' assessments of the three criteria was highest for effect and cost-effectiveness. An ordered logistic regression model showed that all three criteria for prioritization, three clinician characteristics (education, being a manager or not, and "guideline awareness"), and the centres themselves (fixed effects), explained priority decisions. The relative importance of the explanatory factors, however, depended on the priority decision studied. For the classification of all admitted patients into high- and low-priority groups, all clinician characteristics became insignificant. For the classification of patients, into those admitted and non-admitted, one criterion (effect) and "being a manager or not" became insignificant, while profession ("being a psychiatrist") became significant. Our findings suggest that variation in priority decisions can be reduced by: (i) reducing the disagreement in clinicians' assessments of cost-effectiveness and effect, and (ii) restricting priority decisions to clinicians with a similar background (education, being a manager or not, and "guideline awareness").

Advanced In-Space Propulsion: "Exploring the Solar System"

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Les

2003-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews a number of advanced propulsion technologies for interplanetary spacecraft. The objective of the In Space Propulsion Technology Projects Office is to develop in-space propulsion technologies that can enable and/or benefit near and mid-term NASA science missions by significantly reducing cost, mass, and/or travel times. The technologies profiled are divided into several categories: High Priority (aerocapture, next generation ion propulsion, solar sails); Medium Priority (advanced chemical propulsion, solar electric propulsion, Hall thrusters); Low Priority (solar thermal propulsion); and High Payoff/High Risk (1 g/sq m solar sails, momentum exchange tethers, and plasma sails).

Strategic workload management and decision biases in aviation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raby, Mireille; Wickens, Christopher D.

1994-01-01

Thirty pilots flew three simulated landing approaches under conditions of low, medium, and high workload. Workload conditions were created by varying time pressure and external communications requirements. Our interest was in how the pilots strategically managed or adapted to the increasing workload. We independently assessed the pilot's ranking of the priority of different discrete tasks during the approach and landing. Pilots were found to sacrifice some aspects of primary flight control as workload increased. For discrete tasks, increasing workload increased the amount of time in performing the high priority tasks, decreased the time in performing those of lowest priority, and did not affect duration of performance episodes or optimality of scheduling of tasks of any priority level. Individual differences analysis revealed that high-performing subjects scheduled discrete tasks earlier in the flight and shifted more often between different activities.

Innovative Surveillance and Risk Reduction Systems for Family Maltreatment, Suicidality, and Substance Problems in the USAF

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

suicidality, and alcohol/drug problems. Managing risk and increasing resilience in military human resources (i.e., “Force Health Protection”) is a top...problems. Managing risk and increasing resilience in military human resources (i.e., “Force Health Protection”) is a top priority for DoD and Armed...Behavioral Health representatives, as well as at AF- IDS meetings. 4 Wave 1 Bases (Tyndall AFB, Barksdale AFB, Shaw AFB) The primary purpose of

Problem Formulation and Alternative Generation in the Decision Making Process

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-06-30

Organizatio N00014-86-K-0678 Sc. ADDRESS(City, State, and ZIP Code) 10 SOURCE OF FUNDING NUMBERS p4000ub20/7-4-86 PROGRAM PROJECT TASK WORK UNIT ELEMENT...procedure will work satisfactorily (not optimally) as long as the organism has ample time to carry Ity Codesi and/or DIst 4pu cial3p Problem...among which the priorities are worked out. Neither problems nor opportunities can be considered for the agenda unless they are noticed, and except for

SOFIA's Choice: Automating the Scheduling of Airborne Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frank, Jeremy; Norvig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

This paper describes the problem of scheduling observations for an airborne telescope. Given a set of prioritized observations to choose from, and a wide range of complex constraints governing legitimate choices and orderings, how can we efficiently and effectively create a valid flight plan which supports high priority observations? This problem is quite different from scheduling problems which are routinely solved automatically in industry. For instance, the problem requires making choices which lead to other choices later, and contains many interacting complex constraints over both discrete and continuous variables. Furthermore, new types of constraints may be added as the fundamental problem changes. As a result of these features, this problem cannot be solved by traditional scheduling techniques. The problem resembles other problems in NASA and industry, from observation scheduling for rovers and other science instruments to vehicle routing. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In 2 we describe the observatory in order to provide some background. In 3 we describe the problem of scheduling a single flight. In 4 we compare flight planning and other scheduling problems and argue that traditional techniques are not sufficient to solve this problem. We also mention similar complex scheduling problems which may benefit from efforts to solve this problem. In 5 we describe an approach for solving this problem based on research into a similar problem, that of scheduling observations for a space-borne probe. In 6 we discuss extensions of the flight planning problem as well as other problems which are similar to flight planning. In 7 we conclude and discuss future work.

Chronic Pulmonary Aspergillosis—Where Are We? and Where Are We Going?

PubMed Central

Hayes, Gemma E.; Novak-Frazer, Lilyann

2016-01-01

Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) is estimated to affect 3 million people worldwide making it an under recognised, but significant health problem across the globe, conferring significant morbidity and mortality. With variable disease forms, high levels of associated respiratory co-morbidity, limited therapeutic options and prolonged treatment strategies, CPA is a challenging disease for both patients and healthcare professionals. CPA can mimic smear-negative tuberculosis (TB), pulmonary histoplasmosis or coccidioidomycosis. Cultures for Aspergillus are usually negative, however, the detection of Aspergillus IgG is a simple and sensitive test widely used in diagnosis. When a fungal ball/aspergilloma is visible radiologically, the diagnosis has been made late. Sometimes weight loss and fatigue are predominant symptoms; pyrexia is rare. Despite the efforts of the mycology community, and significant strides being taken in optimising the care of these patients, much remains to be learnt about this patient population, the disease itself and the best use of available therapies, with the development of new therapies being a key priority. Here, current knowledge and practices are reviewed, and areas of research priority highlighted. PMID:29376935

Federal Great Lakes fishery research objectives, priorities, and projects

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tait, Howard D.

1973-01-01

Fishery productivity of the Great Lakes has declined drastically since settlement of the area. Premium quality fishes of the Great Lakes such as whitefish, lake trout, and walleyes have been replaced by less desired species. This change is attributed to selective overfishing, pollution, and the extreme instability of fish populations. Sea lamprey predation is still a vexing problem but progress is being made in controlling this parasite. The federal fishery research program with headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has the objective of providing baseline information, needed in resource use decisions, about the fishes of the Great Lakes. Studies of the habitat requirements of fish are high priority. The program includes fish population assessments, studies of the effects of mercury and other contaminants on fish, thermal effects studies, and general investigation of the impact of engineering projects on Great Lakes fisheries. The work is closely coordinated with state and Canadian agencies through the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Four small research vessels and four field stations are utilized with a staff of 90 and an annual budget of about $1.5 million.

Fraction of stroke mortality attributable to alcohol consumption in Russia.

PubMed

Y E, Razvodovsky

2014-01-01

Stroke is an international health problem with high associated human and economic costs. The mortality rate from stroke in Russia is one of the highest in the world. Risk factors identification is therefore a high priority from the public health perspective. Epidemiological evidence suggests that binge drinking is an important determinant of high stroke mortality rate in Russia. The aim of the present study was to estimate the premature stroke mortality attributable to alcohol abuse in Russia on the basis of aggregate-level data of stroke mortality and alcohol consumption. Age-standardized sex-specific male and female stroke mortality data for the period 1980-2005 and data on overall alcohol consumption were analyzed by means ARIMA time series analysis. The results of the analysis suggest that 26.8% of all male stroke deaths and 18.4% female stroke deaths in Russia could be attributed to alcohol. The estimated alcohol-attributable fraction for men ranged from 16.2% (75+ age group) to 57,5% (30-44 age group) and for women from 21.7% (60-74 age group) and 43.5% (30- 44 age group). The outcomes of this study provide support for the hypothesis that alcohol is an important contributor to the high stroke mortality rate in Russian Federation. Therefore prevention of alcohol-attributable harm should be a major public health priority in Russia. Given the distribution of alcohol-related stroke deaths, interventions should be focused on the young and middle-aged men and women.

BIOFILTRATION OF VOLATILE POLLUTANTS: Fundamental Mechanisms for Improved Design, Long-term Operation, Prediction, and Implementation

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

Davison,Brian H.

2000-12-31

Biofiltration systems can be used for treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); however, the systems are poorly understood and are normally operated as ''black boxes''. Common operational problems associated with biofilters include fouling, deactivation, and overgrowth, all of which make them ineffective for continuous, long-term use. The objective of this investigation was to develop generic methods for long-term stable operation, in particular by using selective limitation of supplemental nutrients while maintaining high activity. As part of this effort, we have provided a deeper fundamental understanding of the important biological and transport mechanisms in biodestruction of sparingly soluble VOCs and havemore » extended this approach and mathematical models to additional systems of high priority EM relevance--direct degradation and cometabolic degradation of priority pollutants such as BTEX and chlorinated organics. Innovative aspects of this project included development of a user-friendly two-dimensional predictive model/program for MS Windows 95/98/2000 to elucidate mass transfer and kinetic limitations in these systems, isolation of a unique microorganism capable of using sparingly soluble organic and chloroorganic VOCs as its sole carbon and energy source, and making long-term growth possible by successfully decoupling growth and degradation metabolisms in operating trickle bed bioreactors.« less

Priorities for research in child maltreatment, intimate partner violence and resilience to violence exposures: results of an international Delphi consensus development process.

PubMed

Wathen, C Nadine; MacGregor, Jennifer C D; Hammerton, Joanne; Coben, Jeffrey H; Herrman, Helen; Stewart, Donna E; MacMillan, Harriet L

2012-08-21

Intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment (CM) are major global public health problems. The Preventing Violence Across the Lifespan (PreVAiL) Research Network, an international group of over 60 researchers and national and international knowledge-user partners in CM and IPV, sought to identify evidence-based research priorities in IPV and CM, with a focus on resilience, using a modified Delphi consensus development process. Review of existing empirical evidence, PreVAiL documents and team discussion identified a starting list of 20 priorities in the following categories: resilience to violence exposure (RES), CM, and IPV, as well as priorities that cross-cut the content areas (CC), and others specific to research methodologies (RM) in violence research. PreVAiL members (N = 47) completed two online survey rounds, and one round of discussions via three teleconference calls to rate, rank and refine research priorities. Research priorities were: to examine key elements of promising or successful programmes in RES/CM/IPV to build intervention pilot work; CC: to integrate violence questions into national and international surveys, and RM: to investigate methods for collecting and collating datasets to link data and to conduct pooled, meta and sub-group analyses to identify promising interventions for particular groups. These evidence-based research priorities, developed by an international team of violence, gender and mental health researchers and knowledge-user partners, are of relevance for prevention and resilience-oriented research in the areas of IPV and CM.

Aligning organizational priorities with ARC to improve youth mental health service outcomes.

PubMed

Glisson, Charles; Williams, Nathaniel J; Hemmelgarn, Anthony; Proctor, Enola; Green, Philip

2016-08-01

The Availability, Responsiveness, and Continuity (ARC) organizational intervention is designed to improve community-based youth mental health services by aligning organizational priorities with 5 principles of effective service organizations (i.e., mission driven, results oriented, improvement directed, relationship centered, participation based). This study assessed the effect of the ARC intervention on youth outcomes and the mediating role of organizational priorities as a mechanism linking the ARC intervention to outcomes. Fourteen community-based mental health agencies in a midwestern metropolis along with 475 clinicians and 605 youth (ages 5-18) served by those agencies were randomly assigned to the 3-year ARC intervention or control condition. The agencies' priorities were measured with the ARC Principles Questionnaire (APQ) completed by clinicians at the end of the intervention. Youth outcomes were measured as total problems in psychosocial functioning described by their caregivers using the Shortform Assessment for Children (SAC) at 6 monthly intervals. The rate of improvement in youths' psychosocial functioning in agencies assigned to the ARC condition was 1.6 times the rate of improvement in agencies assigned to the control condition, creating a standardized difference in functioning of d = .23 between the 2 groups at the 6-month follow-up. The effect on youth outcomes was fully mediated by the alignment of organizational priorities described in the 5 ARC principles (d = .21). The ARC organizational intervention improves youth outcomes by aligning organizational priorities with the 5 ARC principles. The findings suggest that organizational priorities explain why some community mental health agencies are more effective than others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Aligning Organizational Priorities with ARC to Improve Youth Mental Health Service Outcomes

PubMed Central

Glisson, Charles; Williams, Nathaniel J.; Hemmelgarn, Anthony; Procter, Enola; Green, Philip

2016-01-01

Objective The ARC organizational intervention was designed to improve community-based youth mental health services by aligning organizational priorities with five principles of effective service organizations (i.e., mission-driven, results-oriented, improvement-directed, relationship-centered, participation-based). This study assessed the effect of the ARC intervention on youth outcomes and the mediating role of organizational priorities as a mechanism linking the ARC intervention to outcomes. Methodology Fourteen community-based mental health agencies in a Midwestern metropolis along with 475 clinicians and 605 youth (aged 5–18) served by those agencies were randomly assigned to the three-year ARC intervention or control condition. The agencies’ priorities were measured with the ARC Principles Questionnaire (APQ) completed by clinicians at the end of the intervention. Youth outcomes were measured as total problems in psychosocial functioning described by their caregivers using the Shortform Assessment for Children (SAC) at six monthly intervals. Results The rate of improvement in youths’ psychosocial functioning in agencies assigned to the ARC condition was 1.6 times the rate of improvement in agencies assigned to the control condition, creating a standardized difference in functioning of d = .23 between the two groups at the six month follow-up. The effect on youth outcomes was fully mediated by the alignment of organizational priorities described in the five ARC principles (d = .21). Conclusions The ARC organizational intervention improves youth outcomes by aligning organizational priorities with the five ARC principles. The findings suggest that organizational priorities explain why some community mental health agencies are more effective than others. PMID:27253202

Priorities for research in child maltreatment, intimate partner violence and resilience to violence exposures: results of an international Delphi consensus development process

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment (CM) are major global public health problems. The Preventing Violence Across the Lifespan (PreVAiL) Research Network, an international group of over 60 researchers and national and international knowledge-user partners in CM and IPV, sought to identify evidence-based research priorities in IPV and CM, with a focus on resilience, using a modified Delphi consensus development process. Methods Review of existing empirical evidence, PreVAiL documents and team discussion identified a starting list of 20 priorities in the following categories: resilience to violence exposure (RES), CM, and IPV, as well as priorities that cross-cut the content areas (CC), and others specific to research methodologies (RM) in violence research. PreVAiL members (N = 47) completed two online survey rounds, and one round of discussions via three teleconference calls to rate, rank and refine research priorities. Results Research priorities were: to examine key elements of promising or successful programmes in RES/CM/IPV to build intervention pilot work; CC: to integrate violence questions into national and international surveys, and RM: to investigate methods for collecting and collating datasets to link data and to conduct pooled, meta and sub-group analyses to identify promising interventions for particular groups. Conclusions These evidence-based research priorities, developed by an international team of violence, gender and mental health researchers and knowledge-user partners, are of relevance for prevention and resilience-oriented research in the areas of IPV and CM. PMID:22908894

A spatial decision support system (SDSS) for sustainable tourism planning in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aminu, M.; Matori, A. N.; Yusof, K. W.

2014-02-01

The study describes a methodological approach based on an integrated use of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytic Network Process (ANP) of Multi Criteria Evaluation (MCE) to determine nature conservation and tourism development priorities among the highland areas. A set of criteria and indicators were defined to evaluate the highlands biodiversity conservation and tourism development. Pair wise comparison technique was used in order to support solution of a decision problem by evaluating possible alternatives from different perspectives. After the weights have been derived from the pairwise comparison technique, the next step was to compute the unweighted supermatrix, weighted supermatrix and the limit matrix. The limit matrix was normalized to obtain the priorities and the results transferred into GIS environment. Elements evaluated and ranked were represented by criterion maps. Map layers reflecting the opinion of different experts involved were summed using the weighted overlay approach of GIS. Subsequently sustainable tourism development scenarios were generated. The generation of scenarios highlighted the critical issues of the decision problem because it allows one to gradually narrow down a problem.

Program of Education for Community Coordination and Action in Warren County: What Kind of a County Do We Want Warren County To Be?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koontz, Donald H.; Wallerstedt, Jane

A program initiated by Simpson College and assisted by a committee of representatives from Warren County, Iowa, to assist the population of the County to understand their community and its problems and set priorities in meeting these problems is reported. Two hundred key leaders, representative of the geographic, educational, economic, religious,…

Impact of insects on multiple-use values of north-central forests: an experimental rating scheme.

Treesearch

Norton D. Addy; Harold O. Batzer; William J. Mattson; William E. Miller

1971-01-01

Ranking or assigning priorities to problems is an essential step in research problem selection. Up to now, no rigorous basis for ranking forest insects has been available. We evaluate and rank forest insects with a systematic numerical scheme that considers insect impact on the multiple-use values of timber, wildlife, recreation, and water. The result is a better...

Research and Training in Gerontology for Developing Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kumar, V.; Khetrapal, K.

1993-01-01

Problems of elderly persons in developing nations are rising. Identification and execution of research priorities and training in gerontology and geriatrics for medical, paramedical, and community personnel and older adults themselves would help achieve healthy aging. (SK)

Implementation plan and cost analysis for Oregon's online crash reporting system.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-07-01

Federal, state and local transportation agencies, law enforcement, the legislature, consulting firms, safety advocates and the : public use crash data to quantify emerging traffic safety issues and problems, determine priorities, support decision-mak...

Chapter 4 : new challenges - new duties.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-01-01

The presidential candidates in the 1968 campaign did not : focus on aviation as a national priority. Although they : understood the immediate concerns faced by FAA and : the aviation community, they could not foresee the new problems : the agency wou...

International environmental health: priorities from Huairou.

PubMed

Rossignol, A M; Neumann, C

1998-01-01

Between August 30 and September 8, 1995, 38,000 women and several hundred men met in Huairou, China, to discuss the global status of women and to lobby for specific wording in the Agenda for Women that was being finalized in Beijing as part of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. This article has two main objectives. The first objective is to summarize the priority concerns identified in Huairou that are related to international environmental health, especially concerns related to women. The second objective is to provide the rationale and documentation that support including these topics as part of professional education and practice in environmental health in the United States. It is hoped that this discussion will aid environmental health professionals in better appreciating the connection between global environmental health problems and local problems and the applicability of gender-relevant environmental health concerns to local programming, policies, and infrastructure.

[Spanish international cooperation in health].

PubMed

Mazarrasa-Alvear, Lucía; Montero-Corominas, María José

2004-05-01

In this chapter, there is a view of the relationships between the Spanish policy for international cooperation aid and the main health problems of the developing world, with a gender perspective. The population health is a result of the development inequity between rich and poor countries. The international institutions have established the frame and priorities of the cooperation aid, being poverty eradication the main priority. The compromise of the Millennium Conference was to reduce in 2/3 child mortality and 3/4 maternal mortality before year 2015, to stop and reduce HIV-AIDS, malaria and others serious diseases as tuberculosis and to facilitate developing countries the access to drugs. Although the resources allocated, the total amount for cooperation has been reduced 30% during the last years. The Spanish AOD in health is difficult to account because it is considered among social basic services and it is not addressed to solve the main health problems in the poorest countries.

Effects of different dispersal patterns on the presence-absence of multiple species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohd, Mohd Hafiz; Murray, Rua; Plank, Michael J.; Godsoe, William

2018-03-01

Predicting which species will be present (or absent) across a geographical region remains one of the key problems in ecology. Numerous studies have suggested several ecological factors that can determine species presence-absence: environmental factors (i.e. abiotic environments), interactions among species (i.e. biotic interactions) and dispersal process. While various ecological factors have been considered, less attention has been given to the problem of understanding how different dispersal patterns, in interaction with other factors, shape community assembly in the presence of priority effects (i.e. where relative initial abundances determine the long-term presence-absence of each species). By employing both local and non-local dispersal models, we investigate the consequences of different dispersal patterns on the occurrence of priority effects and coexistence in multi-species communities. In the case of non-local, but short-range dispersal, we observe agreement with the predictions of local models for weak and medium dispersal strength, but disagreement for relatively strong dispersal levels. Our analysis shows the existence of a threshold value in dispersal strength (i.e. saddle-node bifurcation) above which priority effects disappear. These results also reveal a co-dimension 2 point, corresponding to a degenerate transcritical bifurcation: at this point, the transcritical bifurcation changes from subcritical to supercritical with corresponding creation of a saddle-node bifurcation curve. We observe further contrasting effects of non-local dispersal as dispersal distance changes: while very long-range dispersal can lead to species extinctions, intermediate-range dispersal can permit more outcomes with multi-species coexistence than short-range dispersal (or purely local dispersal). Overall, our results show that priority effects are more pronounced in the non-local dispersal models than in the local dispersal models. Taken together, our findings highlight the profound delicacy in the mediation of priority effects by dispersal processes: ;big steps; can have more influence than many ;small steps;.

Priority Techniques for High Occupancy Vehicles : State-of-the-Art Overview

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1975-11-01

The report, part of a series of publications based on research and development efforts is a concise state-of-the-art overview of priority techniques for high occupancy vehicles (buses, carpools, and vanpools). The report identifies and summarizes sel...

Strengthening fairness, transparency and accountability in health care priority setting at district level in Tanzania

PubMed Central

Maluka, Stephen Oswald

2011-01-01

Health care systems are faced with the challenge of resource scarcity and have insufficient resources to respond to all health problems and target groups simultaneously. Hence, priority setting is an inevitable aspect of every health system. However, priority setting is complex and difficult because the process is frequently influenced by political, institutional and managerial factors that are not considered by conventional priority-setting tools. In a five-year EU-supported project, which started in 2006, ways of strengthening fairness and accountability in priority setting in district health management were studied. This review is based on a PhD thesis that aimed to analyse health care organisation and management systems, and explore the potential and challenges of implementing Accountability for Reasonableness (A4R) approach to priority setting in Tanzania. A qualitative case study in Mbarali district formed the basis of exploring the sociopolitical and institutional contexts within which health care decision making takes place. The study also explores how the A4R intervention was shaped, enabled and constrained by the contexts. Key informant interviews were conducted. Relevant documents were also gathered and group priority-setting processes in the district were observed. The study revealed that, despite the obvious national rhetoric on decentralisation, actual practice in the district involved little community participation. The assumption that devolution to local government promotes transparency, accountability and community participation, is far from reality. The study also found that while the A4R approach was perceived to be helpful in strengthening transparency, accountability and stakeholder engagement, integrating the innovation into the district health system was challenging. This study underscores the idea that greater involvement and accountability among local actors may increase the legitimacy and fairness of priority-setting decisions. A broader and more detailed analysis of health system elements, and socio-cultural context is imperative in fostering sustainability. Additionally, the study stresses the need to deal with power asymmetries among various actors in priority-setting contexts. PMID:22072991

Cave Conservation Priority Index to Adopt a Rapid Protection Strategy: A Case Study in Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Souza Silva, Marconi; Martins, Rogério Parentoni; Ferreira, Rodrigo Lopes

2015-02-01

Cave environments are characterized by possessing specialized fauna living in high environmental stability with limited food conditions. These fauna are highly vulnerable to impacts, because this condition can frequently be easily altered. Moreover, environmental determinants of the biodiversity patterns of caves remain poorly understood and protected. Therefore, the main goal of this work is to propose a cave conservation priority index (CCPi) for a rapid assessment for troglobiotic and troglophile protection. Furthermore, the troglobiotic diversity, distribution and threats have been mapped in the Brazilian Atlantic forest. To propose the CCPi, the human impacts and richness of troglobiotic and troglophile species of 100 caves were associated. Data related to troglomorphic/troglobiotic fauna from another 200 caves were used to map the troglobiotic diversity and distribution. The CCPi reveals extremely high conservation priority for 15 % of the caves, high for 36 % and average for 46 % of the caves. Fourteen caves with extremely high priorities should have urgent conservation and management actions. The geographical distribution of the 221 known troglobiotic/troglomorphic species allowed us to select 19 karst areas that need conservation actions. Seven areas were considered to have urgent priority for conservation actions. The two richest areas correspond to the "iron quadrangle" with iron ore caves (67 spp.) and the "Açungui limestone group" (56 spp.). Both areas have several caves and are important aquifers. The use of the CCPi can prevent future losses because it helps assessors to select caves with priorities for conservation which should receive emergency attention in relation to protection, management and conservation actions.

Interactions between visual working memory representations.

PubMed

Bae, Gi-Yeul; Luck, Steven J

2017-11-01

We investigated whether the representations of different objects are maintained independently in working memory or interact with each other. Observers were shown two sequentially presented orientations and required to reproduce each orientation after a delay. The sequential presentation minimized perceptual interactions so that we could isolate interactions between memory representations per se. We found that similar orientations were repelled from each other whereas dissimilar orientations were attracted to each other. In addition, when one of the items was given greater attentional priority by means of a cue, the representation of the high-priority item was not influenced very much by the orientation of the low-priority item, but the representation of the low-priority item was strongly influenced by the orientation of the high-priority item. This indicates that attention modulates the interactions between working memory representations. In addition, errors in the reported orientations of the two objects were positively correlated under some conditions, suggesting that representations of distinct objects may become grouped together in memory. Together, these results demonstrate that working-memory representations are not independent but instead interact with each other in a manner that depends on attentional priority.

The mental health and psychosocial problems of survivors of torture and genocide in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq: a brief qualitative study.

PubMed

Bolton, Paul; Michalopoulos, Lynn; Ahmed, Ahmed Mohammed Amin; Murray, Laura K; Bass, Judith

2013-01-01

From 1986-9, the Kurdish population of Iraqi Kurdistan was subjected to an intense campaign of military action, and genocide by the central Iraq government. This campaign, referred to as the Anfal, included systematic attacks consisting of aerial bombings, mass deportation, imprisonment, torture, and chemical warfare. It has been estimated that around 200,000 Kurdish people disappeared. To gain a better understanding of current priority mental health and psychosocial problems among Kurdish survivors of the Anfal, and to inform the subsequent design of culturally appropriate and relevant assessment instruments and services to address these problems. The study examined 1) the nature and cause of current problems of survivors of torture and/or civilian attacks and their families, 2) what survivors do to address these problems, and 3) what they felt should be done. We used a grounded theory approach. Free list interviews with a convenience sample (n=42) explored the current problems of Kurdish persons affected by torture. Subsequent key informant interviews (n=21) gathered more detailed information on the priority mental health problem areas identified in the free list interviews. Major mental health problem areas emerging from the free list interviews (and explored in the key informant interviews) included 1) problems directly related to the torture, 2) problems related to the current situation, and 3) problems related to the perception and treatment by others in the community. Problems were similar, but not identical, to Western concepts of depression, anxiety, PTSD and related trauma, and traumatic grief. Iraqi Kurdish torture survivors in Iraq have many mental health and psychosocial problems found among torture survivors elsewhere. The findings suggest that the problems are a result of the trauma experienced as well as current stressors. Development of mental health assessment tools and interventions should therefore address both previous trauma and current stressors.

The Effect of State Regulations on Motor Vehicle Fatalities for Younger and Older Drivers: A Review and Analysis

PubMed Central

Grabowski, David C.; Morrisey, Michael A.

2001-01-01

Policymakers have had a long-standing interest in improving the motor vehicle safety of both younger and older drivers. Although younger and older drivers share the distinction of having more crashes and fatalities per mile driven than other age groups, the problems posed by these two groups stem from different origins and manifest in different ways. A number of state-level policies and regulations may affect the number of motor vehicle crashes and fatalities in these two high-risk groups. A critical review of the existing literature in regard to the risk factors and the effects of various policy measures on motor vehicle crashes in these two high-risk populations provides direction for policymakers and high-priority areas of interest for the research community. PMID:11789116

Report from the second international symposium on animal genomics for animal health: critical needs, challenges and potential solutions.

PubMed

Bishop, Steve C; Lunney, Joan K; Pinard-van der Laan, Marie-Hélène; Gay, Cyril G

2011-06-03

The second International Symposium on Animal Genomics for Animal Health held in Paris, France 31 May-2 June, 2010, assembled more than 140 participants representing research organizations from 40 countries. The symposium included a roundtable discussion on critical needs, challenges and opportunities, and a forward look at the potential applications of animal genomics in animal health research. The aim of the roundtable discussion was to foster a dialogue between scientists working at the cutting edge of animal genomics research and animal health scientists. Importantly, stakeholders were included to provide input on priorities and the potential value of animal genomics to the animal health community. In an effort to facilitate the roundtable discussion, the organizers identified four priority areas to advance the use of genome-enabled technologies in animal health research. Contributions were obtained through open discussions and a questionnaire distributed at the start of the symposium. This report provides the outcome of the roundtable discussion for each of the four priority areas. For each priority, problems are identified, including potential solutions and recommendations. This report captures key points made by symposium participants during the roundtable discussion and serves as a roadmap to steer future research priorities in animal genomics research.

Accelerating Progress in Eating Disorders Prevention: A Call for Policy Translation Research and Training.

PubMed

Austin, S Bryn

2016-01-01

The public health burden of eating disorders is well documented, and over the past several decades, researchers have made important advances in the prevention of eating disorders and related problems with body image. Despite these advances, however, several critical limitations to the approaches developed to date leave the field far from achieving the large-scale impact that is needed. This commentary provides a brief review of what achievements in prevention have been made and identifies the gaps that limit the potential for greater impact on population health. A plan is then offered with specific action steps to accelerate progress in high-impact prevention, most compellingly by promoting a shift in priorities to policy translation research and training for scholars through the adoption of a triggers-to-action framework. Finally, the commentary provides an example of the application of the triggers-to-action framework as practiced at the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders, a program based at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children's Hospital. Much has been achieved in the nearly 30 years of research carried out for the prevention of eating disorders and body image problems, but several critical limitations undermine the field's potential for meaningful impact. Through a shift in the field's priorities to policy translation research and training with an emphasis on macro-environmental influences, the pace of progress in prevention can be accelerated and the potential for large-scale impact substantially improved.

Work demands are related to mental health problems for older engine room officers.

PubMed

Rydstedt, Leif W; Lundh, Monica

2012-01-01

The aim of the present study was to analyse the main and interaction effects of age and psychosocial work demands on mental wellbeing in a sample (N = 685; age M = 47 years) of engine room officers in the Swedish merchant fleet. As expected, work demands were highly related to general mental health as well as to perceived stress, while the main effect of age only related significantly to perceived stress. The interaction effects between high work demands and high age significantly explained the variance of general mental health as well as perceived stress. The results can be understood as a consequence of the rapid technological and organisational development in the shipping industry and suggest that it ought be of high priority to provide older employees with work-related resources to support their long-term work performance as well as their health and wellbeing.

Data collection and simulation of high range resolution laser radar for surface mine detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinvall, Ove; Chevalier, Tomas; Larsson, Håkan

2006-05-01

Rapid and efficient detection of surface mines, IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices) and UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) is of high priority in military conflicts. High range resolution laser radars combined with passive hyper/multispectral sensors offer an interesting concept to help solving this problem. This paper reports on laser radar data collection of various surface mines in different types of terrain. In order to evaluate the capability of 3D imaging for detecting and classifying the objects of interest a scanning laser radar was used to scan mines and surrounding terrain with high angular and range resolution. These data were then fed into a laser radar model capable of generating range waveforms for a variety of system parameters and combinations of different targets and backgrounds. We can thus simulate a potential system by down sampling to relevant pixel sizes and laser/receiver characteristics. Data, simulations and examples will be presented.

AIDS: An International Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piot, Peter; And Others

1988-01-01

Discusses some of the worldwide problems associated with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and infection with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Calls for programs for the prevention and control of AIDS as an immediate priority in all countries. (TW)

The Problem and Needs of Existing Urban Multifamily Building Estates in Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rybka, Adam; Rybka, Sławomir

2012-06-01

The present paper explains in a descriptive way the findings and derivations, concerning the various needs, solutions and priorities which are identified in existing urban building envelopes of Poland, especially in Rzeszow housing estates.

EPA Announces Collaborative Innovative Research in Mass. and New York to Address State Environmental Issues

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced research projects addressing priority environmental and human health problems in 14 states through partnerships between EPA’s research office, regional offices, and states.

Priority Intelligence Requirements: The Operational Vacuum

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-05-16

armored vehicles , not ho!: the systems are used to achieve operational goals.34 Enemy mobilization, employment philosophy, and history are excluded in...extensive security problems create massive bottlenecks in the dissemination of intellingence information .48 Today, we sport a tremendous intelligence

Keeping Score for Organizational Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prewitt, Vana

2001-01-01

Discussion of the balanced scorecard (BSC) as a performance management tool focuses on common mistakes and problems with implementing it. Topics include the need for intraorganizational communication and collaboration; strategic thinking; organizational goals; purposes of measurements; individual accountability; and setting priorities. (LRW)

Habilitate--Then Educate.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Day, Richard

1995-01-01

This article maintains that educators of students with visual impairments, especially those with additional problems served in residential schools, need to give priority to habilitation, to identify habilitation needs in the individualized education program, and to implement strategies to meet these needs. (DB)

AC-67/FLTSATCOM Launch with Isolated Cam Views/ Freeze of Lightning/ Press Conference

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

The FLTSATCOM system provides worldwide, high-priority UHF communications between naval aircraft, ships, submarines, and ground stations and between the Strategic Air Command and the national command authority network. This videotape shows the attempted launch of the 6th member of the satellite system on an Atlas Centaur rocket. Within a minute of launch a problem developed. The initial sign of the problem was the loss of telemetry data. The videotape shows three isolated views of the launch, and then a freeze shot of a lightning strike shortly after the launch. The tape then shows a press conference, with Mr. Wolmaster, Mr. Gibbs, and Air Force Colonel Alsbrooke. Mr. Gibbs summarizes the steps that would be taken to review the launch failure. The questions from the press mostly concern the weather conditions, and the possibility that the weather might have caused the mission failure.

A novel community-based model to enhance health promotion, risk factor management and chronic disease prevention.

PubMed

Carson, Shannon Ryan; Carr, Caroline; Kohler, Graeme; Edwards, Lynn; Gibson, Rick; Sampalli, Tara

2014-01-01

Chronic disease is a highly expensive but preventable problem to the healthcare system. Evidence suggests that impacting modifiable behaviours and risk management factors in the areas of physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, stress and obesity can alleviate the burden of chronic disease problem to a large extent. Despite this recognition, the challenge is embedding these recognized priorities into the community and in primary care in a sustainable and meaningful manner. Primary Health Care in Capital Health responded to this challenge by developing and implementing a free, interprofessional and community-based service, namely, the Community Health Teams (CHTs), that offers health and wellness, risk factor management, wellness navigation and behaviour-based programming. In this paper, the development and implementation of the CHTs are discussed. Preliminary outcomes for the model are significant and promising. Formal and large-scale studies are planned to validate these outcomes with additional research rigour. Copyright © 2014 Longwoods Publishing.

Inherited haemoglobin disorders: an increasing global health problem.

PubMed Central

Weatherall, D. J.; Clegg, J. B.

2001-01-01

Despite major advances in our understanding of the molecular pathology, pathophysiology, and control and management of the inherited disorders of haemoglobin, thousands of infants and children with these diseases are dying through lack of appropriate medical care. This problem will undoubtedly increase over the next 20 years because, as the result of a reduction in childhood mortality due to infection and malnutrition, more babies with haemoglobin disorders will survive to present for treatment. Although WHO and various voluntary agencies have tried to disseminate information about these diseases, they are rarely mentioned as being sufficiently important to be included in setting health care priorities for the future. It takes considerable time to establish expertise in developing programmes for the control and management of these conditions, and the lessons learned in developed countries will need to be transmitted to those countries in which they occur at a high frequency. PMID:11545326

The school food environment and adolescent obesity: qualitative insights from high school principals and food service personnel

PubMed Central

Nollen, Nicole L; Befort, Christie A; Snow, Patricia; Daley, Christine Makosky; Ellerbeck, Edward F; Ahluwalia, Jasjit S

2007-01-01

Objectives To examine high school personnel's perceptions of the school environment, its impact on obesity, and the potential impact of legislation regulating schools' food/beverage offerings. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the principal (n = 8) and dietitian/food service manager (n = 7) at 8 schools (4 rural, 4 suburban) participating in a larger study examining the relationship between the school environment and adolescent health behavior patterns. Results Principal themes included: 1) Obesity is a problem in general, but not at their school, 2) Schools have been unfairly targeted above more salient factors (e.g., community and home environment), 3) Attempts at change should start before high school, 4) Student health is one priority area among multiple competing demands; academic achievement is the top priority, 5) Legislation should be informed by educators and better incorporate the school's perspective. Food service themes included: 1) Obesity is not a problem at their school; school food service is not the cause, 2) Food offerings are based largely on the importance of preparing students for the real world by providing choice and the need to maintain high participation rates; both healthy and unhealthy options are available, 3) A la carte keeps lunch participation high and prices low but should be used as a supplement, not a replacement, to the main meal, 4) Vending provides school's additional revenue; vending is not part of food service and is appropriate if it does not interfere with the lunch program. Conclusion Discrepancies exist between government/public health officials and school personnel that may inhibit collaborative efforts to address obesity through modifications to the school environment. Future policy initiatives may be enhanced by seeking the input of school personnel, providing recommendations firmly grounded in evidence-based practice, framing initiatives in terms of their potential impact on the issues of most concern to schools (e.g., academic achievement, finances/revenue), and minimizing barriers by providing schools adequate resources to carry out and evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts. PMID:17511873

Market segmentation using perceived constraints

Treesearch

Jinhee Jun; Gerard Kyle; Andrew Mowen

2008-01-01

We examined the practical utility of segmenting potential visitors to Cleveland Metroparks using their constraint profiles. Our analysis identified three segments based on their scores on the dimensions of constraints: Other priorities--visitors who scored the highest on 'other priorities' dimension; Highly Constrained--visitors who scored relatively high on...

Evaluation of Goal Programming for the Optimal Assignment of Inspectors to Construction Projects

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-09-01

Inputs ..... .............. 90 Equation Coefficients . ....... .. 90 Weights, Priorities and the AHP . . 91 Right-Hand Side Values ........ .. 91...the AHP Hierarchy with k Levels . . 36 3. Sample Matrix for Pairwise Comparison ........ .. 37 4. Assignment of I and p for Example Problem...Weights for Example Problem ... 61 3. AHP Weights and Coefficient ci, Values. ........ 63 vii AFIT/GEM/LSM/88S-16 Abstract The purpose of this study was

Cardiovascular dynamics during space sickness and deconditioning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldberger, Ary L.; Rigney, David R.

1991-01-01

We are currently funded by NASA for the project, 'Cardiovascular Dynamics During Space Sickness and Deconditioning.' NASA has given priority to the investigation of two problems encountered in the long-term space flights currently being planned: (1) space motion sickness; and (2) cardiovascular deconditioning. We have proposed to use spectral and nonlinear dynamical analysis of heart rate data to quantify the presence of these problems and to evaluate countermeasures against them.

Final priority; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Research Fellowships Program (also known as the Mary E. Switzer Research Fellowships). Final priority.

PubMed

2014-07-28

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority for the Research Fellowships Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Specifically, this notice announces a priority for a Distinguished Residential Disability and Rehabilitation Policy Fellowship. We take this action to focus attention on an area of national need. We intend the priority to build research capacity by providing support to highly qualified, experienced researchers, including those who are individuals with disabilities, to conduct policy research in the areas of disability and rehabilitation.

The Big Rocks: Priority Management for Principals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Kim

2008-01-01

How can a dedicated principal work really, really hard but fail to get significant gains in student achievement? The answer is obvious: by spending too much time on the wrong things and not enough on the right things. The principal's number-one priority is zeroing in on the highest-priority activities for bringing all students to high levels of…

Classification of factors of development of transport infrastructure in the region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karpovich, Oleg; Shlafman, Alexander

2017-10-01

The formation of a unified strategy for the development of the transport infrastructure of the region is considered to be the basic direction of the developing the whole territory The article is devoted to determining priorities in the implementation of programs of redevelopment of the regional plants. The submission suggested authors the characteristics of a grouping of theoretical and practical approaches to spatial reorganization of production. The result of this research, the specific recommendations on the application of redevelopment for the development of industrial areas. The organization of economic relations within the eastern regions of the Russian Federation, as well as the implementation of economic activities involving the transit and processing of a multitude of material and intangible flows on their territory, is a priority task of the state policy of smoothing the development of the regions of the country. To solve these macroeconomic problems, the transport infrastructure of the region has a priority.

Intercultural Education. Fastback 142.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoopes, David S.

This document discusses current goals, problems, priorities, and curricular approaches to intercultural education. Traditionally, international education looked at the world in segments. It stressed gathering information about separate cultures and analysis of power relationships. Now, however, the concept of a global society is emerging. One…

Electric cars. Advantages and disadvantages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gelmanova, Z. S.; Zhabalova, G. G.; Sivyakova, G. A.; Lelikova, O. N.; Onishchenko, O. N.; Smailova, A. A.; Kamarova, S. N.

2018-05-01

The article considers the positive and negative aspects of the use of electric vehicles. A rough calculation of the energy efficiency and average cost per month was made. Also priorities to avoid the existing problems in the market of electric vehicles were set.

Annual Plan for the EPA and CSB - FY 2018

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Nov 9, 2017. FY 2018 plan reflects the priority work that the OIG believes is necessary to keep the EPA Administrator, the CSB, and Congress fully informed about problems and deficiencies relating to the administration of agency programs and operations.

ASSESSMENT OF COLD-CLIMATE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH PRIORITIES

EPA Science Inventory

Since its inception, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has maintained a research program in Alaska to address environmental problems unique to cold climates. The wide range of natural resource developments now being considered pose an equally wide range of possible environ...

Integrated approach for prioritizing watersheds for management: a study of lidder catchment of kashmir himalayas.

PubMed

Malik, Mohammad Imran; Bhat, M Sultan

2014-12-01

The Himalayan watersheds are susceptible to various forms of degradation due to their sensitive and fragile ecological disposition coupled with increasing anthropogenic disturbances. Owing to the paucity of appropriate technology and financial resources, the prioritization of watersheds has become an inevitable process for effective planning and management of natural resources. Lidder catchment constitutes a segment of the western Himalayas with an area of 1,159.38 km(2). The study is based on integrated analysis of remote sensing, geographic information system, field study, and socioeconomic data. Multicriteria evaluation of geophysical, land-use and land-cover (LULC) change, and socioeconomic indicators is carried out to prioritize watersheds for natural resource conservation and management. Knowledge-based weights and ranks are normalized, and weighted linear combination technique is adopted to determine final priority value. The watersheds are classified into four priority zones (very high priority, high priority, medium priority, and low priority) on the basis of quartiles of the priority value, thus indicating their ecological status in terms of degradation caused by anthropogenic disturbances. The correlation between priority ranks of individual indicators and integrated indicators is drawn. The results reveal that socioeconomic indicators are the most important drivers of LULC change and environmental degradation in the catchment. Moreover, the magnitude and intensity of anthropogenic impact is not uniform in different watersheds of Lidder catchment. Therefore, any conservation and management strategy must be formulated on the basis of watershed prioritization.

Integrated Approach for Prioritizing Watersheds for Management: A Study of Lidder Catchment of Kashmir Himalayas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malik, Mohammad Imran; Bhat, M. Sultan

2014-12-01

The Himalayan watersheds are susceptible to various forms of degradation due to their sensitive and fragile ecological disposition coupled with increasing anthropogenic disturbances. Owing to the paucity of appropriate technology and financial resources, the prioritization of watersheds has become an inevitable process for effective planning and management of natural resources. Lidder catchment constitutes a segment of the western Himalayas with an area of 1,159.38 km2. The study is based on integrated analysis of remote sensing, geographic information system, field study, and socioeconomic data. Multicriteria evaluation of geophysical, land-use and land-cover (LULC) change, and socioeconomic indicators is carried out to prioritize watersheds for natural resource conservation and management. Knowledge-based weights and ranks are normalized, and weighted linear combination technique is adopted to determine final priority value. The watersheds are classified into four priority zones (very high priority, high priority, medium priority, and low priority) on the basis of quartiles of the priority value, thus indicating their ecological status in terms of degradation caused by anthropogenic disturbances. The correlation between priority ranks of individual indicators and integrated indicators is drawn. The results reveal that socioeconomic indicators are the most important drivers of LULC change and environmental degradation in the catchment. Moreover, the magnitude and intensity of anthropogenic impact is not uniform in different watersheds of Lidder catchment. Therefore, any conservation and management strategy must be formulated on the basis of watershed prioritization.

Resource protection and resource management of drinking water-reservoirs in Thuringia--a prerequisite for high drinking-water quality.

PubMed

Willmitzer, H

2000-01-01

In face of widespread pollution of surface waters, strategies must be developed for the use of surface waters which protect the high quality standards of drinking water, starting with the catchment area via the reservoir to the consumer. As a rule, priority is given to the avoidance of contaminants directly at their point of origin. Water protection is always cheaper than expensive water-body restoration and water treatment. Complementary to the generally practised technical methods of raw water treatment with all their associated problems of energy input requirements, costs, and waste products, there is an increasing number of environmentally sound treatment technologies which use ecological principles as a basis to support the self-cleaning properties of flowing and dammed waters.

A novel integration effort to reduce the risk for alcohol-exposed pregnancy among women attending urban STD clinics.

PubMed

Hutton, Heidi E; Chander, Geetanjali; Green, Patricia P; Hutsell, Catherine A; Weingarten, Kimberly; Peterson, Karen L

2014-01-01

Alcohol-exposed pregnancy (AEP) is a significant public health problem in the United States. Sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics serve female clients with a high prevalence of heavy alcohol consumption coupled with ineffective contraceptive use. Project CHOICES (Changing High-Risk AlcOhol Use and Increasing Contraception Effectiveness) is an evidence-based, brief intervention to lower risk of AEP by targeting alcohol and contraceptive behaviors through motivational interviewing and individualized feedback. We describe our experience integrating and implementing CHOICES in STD clinics. This endeavor aligns with CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention's program collaboration and service integration strategic priority to strengthen collaborative work across disease areas and integrate services provided by related programs at the client level.

A Novel Integration Effort to Reduce the Risk for Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancy Among Women Attending Urban STD Clinics

PubMed Central

Hutton, Heidi E.; Chander, Geetanjali; Green, Patricia P.; Hutsell, Catherine A.; Weingarten, Kimberly

2014-01-01

Alcohol-exposed pregnancy (AEP) is a significant public health problem in the United States. Sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics serve female clients with a high prevalence of heavy alcohol consumption coupled with ineffective contraceptive use. Project CHOICES (Changing High-Risk AlcOhol Use and Increasing Contraception Effectiveness) is an evidence-based, brief intervention to lower risk of AEP by targeting alcohol and contraceptive behaviors through motivational interviewing and individualized feedback. We describe our experience integrating and implementing CHOICES in STD clinics. This endeavor aligns with CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention's program collaboration and service integration strategic priority to strengthen collaborative work across disease areas and integrate services provided by related programs at the client level. PMID:24385650

Socio-environmental risks for untreated depression among formerly incarcerated Latino men

PubMed Central

Miguel, Muñoz-Laboy; Nancy, Worthington; Ashley, Perry; Vincent, Guilamo-Ramos; Leopoldo, Cabassa; Jane, Lee; Nicolette, Severson

2014-01-01

Objective To identify the levels of untreated depression and the socio-environmental factors associated with it among formerly incarcerated Latino men (FILM). Methods Cross-sectional survey with 259 FILM ages 18 to 49 who were released from prison/jail within the prior five years. Depression was measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Backward elimination was used to determine the best regression models. Results 26.9% of the study sample reported depression. Low familism, residing farther away from family members, low utilization of health and social services, high levels of loneliness and high lifetime and current frequency of alcohol use were also associated with depression. Discussion Depression is a major problem among FILM. Addressing untreated depression among FILM must be a public health priority. PMID:23508876

Monitoring priority substances, other organic contaminants and heavy metals in a volcanic aquifer from different sources and hydrological processes.

PubMed

Estevez, Esmeralda; Cabrera, María del Carmen; Fernández-Vera, Juan Ramón; Molina-Díaz, Antonio; Robles-Molina, José; Palacios-Díaz, María del Pino

2016-05-01

Irrigation with reclaimed water (R) is necessary to guarantee the sustainability of semi-arid areas. Results obtained during a two years monitoring network (2009-2011) in Gran Canaria are presented, including the analysis of chemical parameters, N and S isotopes, priority substances (2008/105/EC, 2013/39/EU), other organic contaminants and heavy metals in groundwater and R used to irrigate a golf course. The aims of this work are to evaluate the contamination in a volcanic aquifer, relate the presence of organic contaminants and heavy metals with the hydrogeochemistry and identify pollution sources in the area. No priority substance exceeded the EU thresholds for surface water, although seventeen were detected in R. The most frequent compounds were hexachlorobenzene, chlorpyrifos ethyl, fluorene, phenanthrene and pyrene. These compounds were detected at low concentration, except chlorpyrifos. Chlorpyrifos ethyl, terbuthylazine, diuron, terbutryn, procymidone, atrazine and propazine exceeded the European threshold concentration for pesticides in groundwater (100ngL(-1)). Therefore, the priority substances chlorpyrifos ethyl and diuron must be included in monitoring studies. The priority pesticides chlorfenvinphos and diazinon were always detected in R but rarely in groundwater. Besides, the existence of contaminants not related to the current R irrigation has been identified. Absence of environmental problems related to heavy metals can be expected. The relationship among contaminant presence, hydrogeochemistry, including the stable isotopic prints of δ(18)O, δ(15)N and δ(34)S and preferential recharge paths has been described. The coastal well shows high values of EC, nitrate, a variable chemistry, and 50% of organic contaminants detected above 100ngL(-1). The well located in the recharge area presents a stable hydrochemistry, the lowest value of δ(15)N and the lowest contaminants occurrence. The area is an example of a complex volcanic media with several sources of contaminants such as leakages from septic tanks and sewerage, agriculture practices, irrigation with reclaimed water or urban runoff. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Biodiversity and evolution of circulating bacteria and virus populations. Novel problems of medical microbiology].

PubMed

Zhebrun, A V; Mukomolov, S L; Narvskaia, O V; Tseneva, G Ia; Kaftyreva, L A; Mokrousov, I V

2011-01-01

Biodiversity and evolution of circulating bacteria and virus populations is a serious scientific problem, solving this problem is necessary for effective prophylaxis of infectious diseases. Principal trends of development in this field of science are described. Results of studies that were carried out and investigated biodiversity of principal pathogens in Russia and St. Petersburg in particular are presented. Risk of infectious security of society caused by increasing diversity of pathogenic microorganisms is described, and priority trends of research development in this field are specified.

Universal access to HIV treatment in developing countries: going beyond the misinterpretations of the 'cost-effectiveness' algorithm.

PubMed

Moatti, Jean Paul; Marlink, Richard; Luchini, Stephane; Kazatchkine, Michel

2008-07-01

Economic cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) has been proposed as the appropriate tool to set priorities for resource allocation among available health interventions. Controversy remains about the way CEA should be used in the field of HIV/AIDS. This paper reviews the general literature in health economics and public economics about the use of CEA for priority setting in public health, in order better to inform current debates about resource allocation in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Theoretical and practical limitations of CEA do not raise major problems when it is applied to compare alternatives for treating the same medical condition or public health problem. Using CEA to set priorities among different health interventions by ranking them from the lowest to the highest values of their cost per life-year saved is appropriate only under the very restrictive and unrealistic assumptions that all interventions compared are discrete and finite alternatives that cannot vary in terms of size and scale. In order for CEA to inform resource allocation compared across programmes to fight the AIDS epidemic, a pragmatic interpretation of this economic approach, like that proposed by the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, is better suited. Interventions, like a number of preventive strategies and first-line antiretroviral treatments for HIV, whose marginal costs per additional life-year saved are less than three times the gross domestic product per capita, should be considered cost-effective. Because of their empirical and theoretical limitations, results of CEA should only be one element in priority setting among interventions for HIV/AIDS, which should also be informed by explicit debates about societal and ethical preferences.

Economical ground data delivery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Markley, Richard W.; Byrne, Russell H.; Bromberg, Daniel E.

1994-01-01

Data delivery in the Deep Space Network (DSN) involves transmission of a small amount of constant, high-priority traffic and a large amount of bursty, low priority data. The bursty traffic may be initially buffered and then metered back slowly as bandwidth becomes available. Today both types of data are transmitted over dedicated leased circuits. The authors investigated the potential of saving money by designing a hybrid communications architecture that uses leased circuits for high-priority network communications and dial-up circuits for low-priority traffic. Such an architecture may significantly reduce costs and provide an emergency backup. The architecture presented here may also be applied to any ground station-to-customer network within the range of a common carrier. The authors compare estimated costs for various scenarios and suggest security safeguards that should be considered.

Tinbergen on mirror neurons

PubMed Central

Heyes, Cecilia

2014-01-01

Fifty years ago, Niko Tinbergen defined the scope of behavioural biology with his four problems: causation, ontogeny, survival value and evolution. About 20 years ago, there was another highly significant development in behavioural biology—the discovery of mirror neurons (MNs). Here, I use Tinbergen's original four problems (rather than the list that appears in textbooks) to highlight the differences between two prominent accounts of MNs, the genetic and associative accounts; to suggest that the latter provides the defeasible ‘best explanation’ for current data on the causation and ontogeny of MNs; and to argue that functional analysis, of the kind that Tinbergen identified somewhat misleadingly with studies of ‘survival value’, should be a high priority for future research. In this kind of functional analysis, system-level theories would assign MNs a small, but potentially important, role in the achievement of action understanding—or another social cognitive function—by a production line of interacting component processes. These theories would be tested by experimental intervention in human and non-human animal samples with carefully documented and controlled developmental histories. PMID:24778376

Parental Perception of the Importance of Friendship and Other Outcome Priorities in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petrina, Neysa; Carter, Mark; Stephenson, Jennifer

2015-01-01

Parental perceptions of the importance of friendship development in comparison to other outcome priorities are examined in this research. Parents of children with high functioning autism between the age of 5-10?years (N?=?74) were asked to rate and rank the importance of the following six outcome priorities: friendship, social skills, physical and…

Phased Restoration Plan for Degraded Land in North Korea by the Clustered Distribution Pattern of Suitable Afforestation Plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S. G.; Lee, W. K.; Choi, H. A.; Yoo, H.; Song, C.; Son, Y.; Cha, S.; Bae, S. W.

2017-12-01

Degraded forest of North Korea (DPRK; The Democratic People's Republic of Koprea) is not only confined itself, it could cause serious problem in Korean Peninsula. The importance of restoration for degraded land has increased to improve an healthy ecosystem and solve a shortage of food in North Korea lately. On the other hand, although effort of North Korea government, degraded problem have consistently got worse. There are two main reasons it does not show effectively. The most critical one is absence of technique and information to restore, they concentrate urgent problem which is related to a poor food supply. The other problem is that they demand an efficiency plan in a short period. In these aspect, this study aims selecting suitable tree by spatial characteristics and establishing phased restoration plan to support policy decision about a degraded land in North Korea. The suitable tree for restoration is taken from references which involve natural plant distribution of North and South Korea (ROK; Republic of Korea). Optimal environmental predicted map is deducted from accumulated data of plant physiology whose endemic environmental optimal range individually. It is integrated a map by order of priorities that first is suitable tree species according to the region, and second is clustering distribution rate in a same species. The two types of priority is applied to weighting method. The research result shows that 23 afforestation species fit to restore, and lager distributed plants agree with the major species in Korean Peninsula. The integrated map considers weight of priorities, and it appears that Picea jezoensis is matched the widest. The integrated map shows a view of suitable restoration according to the space, but this is finespun to utilize in a policy. Therefore It provides 3 step plan to support policy decision by Block Statistics, as 12.5km (long-term general plan), 5km (medium-term detailed plan), 1km (short-term implementation plan).

Identification of priorities for improvement of medication safety in primary care: a PRIORITIZE study.

PubMed

Tudor Car, Lorainne; Papachristou, Nikolaos; Gallagher, Joseph; Samra, Rajvinder; Wazny, Kerri; El-Khatib, Mona; Bull, Adrian; Majeed, Azeem; Aylin, Paul; Atun, Rifat; Rudan, Igor; Car, Josip; Bell, Helen; Vincent, Charles; Franklin, Bryony Dean

2016-11-16

Medication error is a frequent, harmful and costly patient safety incident. Research to date has mostly focused on medication errors in hospitals. In this study, we aimed to identify the main causes of, and solutions to, medication error in primary care. We used a novel priority-setting method for identifying and ranking patient safety problems and solutions called PRIORITIZE. We invited 500 North West London primary care clinicians to complete an open-ended questionnaire to identify three main problems and solutions relating to medication error in primary care. 113 clinicians submitted responses, which we thematically synthesized into a composite list of 48 distinct problems and 45 solutions. A group of 57 clinicians randomly selected from the initial cohort scored these and an overall ranking was derived. The agreement between the clinicians' scores was presented using the average expert agreement (AEA). The study was conducted between September 2013 and November 2014. The top three problems were incomplete reconciliation of medication during patient 'hand-overs', inadequate patient education about their medication use and poor discharge summaries. The highest ranked solutions included development of a standardized discharge summary template, reduction of unnecessary prescribing, and minimisation of polypharmacy. Overall, better communication between the healthcare provider and patient, quality assurance approaches during medication prescribing and monitoring, and patient education on how to use their medication were considered the top priorities. The highest ranked suggestions received the strongest agreement among the clinicians, i.e. the highest AEA score. Clinicians identified a range of suggestions for better medication management, quality assurance procedures and patient education. According to clinicians, medication errors can be largely prevented with feasible and affordable interventions. PRIORITIZE is a new, convenient, systematic, and replicable method, and merits further exploration with a view to becoming a part of a routine preventative patient safety monitoring mechanism.

Range-wide connectivity of priority areas for Greater Sage-Grouse: Implications for long-term conservation from graph theory

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crist, Michele R.; Knick, Steven T.; Hanser, Steven E.

2017-01-01

The delineation of priority areas in western North America for managing Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) represents a broad-scale experiment in conservation biology. The strategy of limiting spatial disturbance and focusing conservation actions within delineated areas may benefit the greatest proportion of Greater Sage-Grouse. However, land use under normal restrictions outside priority areas potentially limits dispersal and gene flow, which can isolate priority areas and lead to spatially disjunct populations. We used graph theory, representing priority areas as spatially distributed nodes interconnected by movement corridors, to understand the capacity of priority areas to function as connected networks in the Bi-State, Central, and Washington regions of the Greater Sage-Grouse range. The Bi-State and Central networks were highly centralized; the dominant pathways and shortest linkages primarily connected a small number of large and centrally located priority areas. These priority areas are likely strongholds for Greater Sage-Grouse populations and might also function as refugia and sources. Priority areas in the Central network were more connected than those in the Bi-State and Washington networks. Almost 90% of the priority areas in the Central network had ≥2 pathways to other priority areas when movement through the landscape was set at an upper threshold (effective resistance, ER12). At a lower threshold (ER4), 83 of 123 priority areas in the Central network were clustered in 9 interconnected subgroups. The current conservation strategy has risks; 45 of 61 priority areas in the Bi-State network, 68 of 123 in the Central network, and all 4 priority areas in the Washington network had ≤1 connection to another priority area at the lower ER4threshold. Priority areas with few linkages also averaged greater environmental resistance to movement along connecting pathways. Without maintaining corridors to larger priority areas or a clustered group, isolation of small priority areas could lead to regional loss of Greater Sage-Grouse

Diagnosis, Epidemiology, and Management of Hypertension in Children.

PubMed

Rao, Goutham

2016-08-01

National guidelines for the diagnosis and management of hypertension in children have been available for nearly 40 years. Unfortunately, knowledge and recognition of the problem by clinicians remain poor. Prevalence estimates are highly variable because of differing standards, populations, and blood pressure (BP) measurement techniques. Estimates in the United States range from 0.3% to 4.5%. Risk factors for primary hypertension include overweight and obesity, male sex, older age, high sodium intake, and African American or Latino ancestry. Data relating hypertension in childhood to later cardiovascular events is currently lacking. It is known that BP in childhood is highly predictive of BP in adulthood. Compelling data about target organ damage is available, including the association of hypertension with left ventricular hypertrophy, carotid-intima media thickness, and microalbuminuria. Guidelines from both the United States and Europe include detailed recommendations for diagnosis and management. Diagnostic standards are based on clinic readings, ambulatory BP monitoring is useful in confirming diagnosis of hypertension and identifying white-coat hypertension, masked hypertension, and secondary hypertension, as well as monitoring response to therapy. Research priorities include the need for reliable prevalence estimates based on diverse populations and data about the long-term impact of childhood hypertension on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Priorities to improve clinical practice include more education among clinicians about diagnosis and management, clinical decision support to aid in diagnosis, and routine use of ambulatory BP monitoring to aid in diagnosis and to monitor response to treatment. Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Setting stroke research priorities: The consumer perspective.

PubMed

Sangvatanakul, Pukkaporn; Hillege, Sharon; Lalor, Erin; Levi, Christopher; Hill, Kelvin; Middleton, Sandy

2010-12-01

To test a method of engaging consumers in research priority-setting using a quantitative approach and to determine consumer views on stroke research priorities for clinical practice recommendations with lower levels of evidence (Level III and Level IV) and expert consensus opinion as published in the Australian stroke clinical practice guidelines. Survey Urban community Eighteen stroke survivors (n = 12) and carers (n = 6) who were members of the "Working Aged Group - Stroke" (WAGS) consumer support group. Phase I: Participants were asked whether recommendations were "worth" researching ("yes" or "no"); and, if researched, what potential impact they likely would have on patient outcomes. Phase II: Participants were asked to rank recommendations rated by more than 75% of participants in Phase I as "worth" researching and "highly likely" or "likely" to generate research with a significant effect on patient outcomes (n = 13) in order of priority for future stroke research. All recommendations were rated by at least half (n = 9, 50%) of participants as "worth" researching. The majority (67% to 100%) rated all recommendations as "highly likely" or "likely" that research would have a significant effect on patient outcomes. Thirteen out of 20 recommendations were ranked for their research priorities. Recommendations under the topic heading Getting to hospital were ranked highest and Organization of care and Living with stroke were ranked as a lower priority for research. This study provided an example of how to involve consumers in research priority setting successfully using a quantitative approach. Stroke research priorities from the consumer perspective were different from those of health professionals, as published in the literature; thus, consumer opinion should be considered when setting research priorities. Copyright © 2010 Society for Vascular Nursing, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hospital-Confirmed Acute Myocardial Infarction: Prehospital Identification Using the Medical Priority Dispatch System.

PubMed

Clawson, Jeff J; Gardett, Isabel; Scott, Greg; Fivaz, Conrad; Barron, Tracey; Broadbent, Meghan; Olola, Christopher

2018-02-01

Introduction Early recognition of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) can increase the patient's likelihood of survival. As the first point of contact for patients accessing medical care through emergency services, emergency medical dispatchers (EMDs) represent the earliest potential identification point for AMIs. The objective of the study was to determine how AMI cases were coded and prioritized at the dispatch point, and also to describe the distribution of these cases by patient age and gender. Hypothesis/Problem No studies currently exist that describe the EMD's ability to correctly triage AMIs into Advanced Life Support (ALS) response tiers. The retrospective descriptive study utilized data from three sources: emergency medical dispatch, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and emergency departments (EDs)/hospitals. The primary outcome measure was the distributions of AMI cases, as categorized by Chief Complaint Protocol, dispatch priority code and level, and patient age and gender. The EMS and ED/hospital data came from the Utah Department of Health (UDoH), Salt Lake City, Utah. Dispatch data came from two emergency communication centers covering the entirety of Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, Utah. Overall, 89.9% of all the AMIs (n=606) were coded in one of the three highest dispatch priority levels, all of which call for ALS response (called CHARLIE, DELTA, and ECHO in the studied system). The percentage of AMIs significantly increased for patients aged 35 years and older, and varied significantly by gender, dispatch level, and chief complaint. A total of 85.7% of all deaths occurred among patients aged 55 years and older, and 88.9% of the deaths were handled in the ALS-recommended priority levels. Acute myocardial infarctions may present as a variety of clinical symptoms, and the study findings demonstrated that more than one-half were identified as having chief complaints of Chest Pain or Breathing Problems at the dispatch point, followed by Sick Person and Unconscious/Fainting. The 35-year age cutoff for assignment to higher priority levels is strongly supported. The Falls and Sick Person Protocols offer opportunities to capture atypical AMI presentations. Clawson JJ , Gardett I , Scott G , Fivaz C , Barron T , Broadbent M , Olola C . Hospital-confirmed acute myocardial infarction: prehospital identification using the Medical Priority Dispatch System. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(1):29-35.

Application of the Digital Image Technology in the Visual Monitoring and Prediction of Shuttering Construction Safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ummin, Okumura; Tian, Han; Zhu, Haiyu; Liu, Fuqiang

2018-03-01

Construction safety has always been the first priority in construction process. The common safety problem is the instability of the template support. In order to solve this problem, the digital image measurement technology has been contrived to support real-time monitoring system which can be triggered if the deformation value exceed the specified range. Thus the economic loss could be reduced to the lowest level.

Evaluation of Kentucky's "You Drink and Drive. You Lose" campaign

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-10-01

Alcohol and drug related crashes continue to be one of the highest priority problem identification areas and considerable emphasis is being placed on programs to impact those types of crashes. Various types of campaigns have been used over the years ...

SWIFT-Review: a text-mining workbench for systematic review.

PubMed

Howard, Brian E; Phillips, Jason; Miller, Kyle; Tandon, Arpit; Mav, Deepak; Shah, Mihir R; Holmgren, Stephanie; Pelch, Katherine E; Walker, Vickie; Rooney, Andrew A; Macleod, Malcolm; Shah, Ruchir R; Thayer, Kristina

2016-05-23

There is growing interest in using machine learning approaches to priority rank studies and reduce human burden in screening literature when conducting systematic reviews. In addition, identifying addressable questions during the problem formulation phase of systematic review can be challenging, especially for topics having a large literature base. Here, we assess the performance of the SWIFT-Review priority ranking algorithm for identifying studies relevant to a given research question. We also explore the use of SWIFT-Review during problem formulation to identify, categorize, and visualize research areas that are data rich/data poor within a large literature corpus. Twenty case studies, including 15 public data sets, representing a range of complexity and size, were used to assess the priority ranking performance of SWIFT-Review. For each study, seed sets of manually annotated included and excluded titles and abstracts were used for machine training. The remaining references were then ranked for relevance using an algorithm that considers term frequency and latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling. This ranking was evaluated with respect to (1) the number of studies screened in order to identify 95 % of known relevant studies and (2) the "Work Saved over Sampling" (WSS) performance metric. To assess SWIFT-Review for use in problem formulation, PubMed literature search results for 171 chemicals implicated as EDCs were uploaded into SWIFT-Review (264,588 studies) and categorized based on evidence stream and health outcome. Patterns of search results were surveyed and visualized using a variety of interactive graphics. Compared with the reported performance of other tools using the same datasets, the SWIFT-Review ranking procedure obtained the highest scores on 11 out of 15 of the public datasets. Overall, these results suggest that using machine learning to triage documents for screening has the potential to save, on average, more than 50 % of the screening effort ordinarily required when using un-ordered document lists. In addition, the tagging and annotation capabilities of SWIFT-Review can be useful during the activities of scoping and problem formulation. Text-mining and machine learning software such as SWIFT-Review can be valuable tools to reduce the human screening burden and assist in problem formulation.

High-Priority Directions of Modernization of University Education in Innovational Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sergeev, Nikolai

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to verify the offered hypothesis and to determine high-priority directions of modernization of university education in an innovational society by the example of modern Russia. Design/methodology/approach: During the empirical study of connection between university education and innovational development of…

25 CFR Appendix A to Subpart C - IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...—IRR High Priority Project Scoring Matrix Score 10 5 3 1 0 Accident and fatality rate for candidate route 1 Severe X Moderate Minimal No accidents. Years since last IRR construction project completed... elements Addresses 1 element. 1 National Highway Traffic Safety Board standards. 2 Total funds requested...

Obligations to High Priority Target Groups: Philosophical Implications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christmas, June Jackson

Community mental health center services must be most plentiful where the need is greatest and must be appropriate and available to meet these needs. The first high priority group, according to statistics on juvenile delinquency, and narcotics, is the black inner city. Socio-psychiatric services, numerous enough in quantity to begin to meet needs…

Restoring High Priority Habitats for Birds: Aspen and Pine in the Interior West

Treesearch

Rex Sallabanks; Nils D. Christoffersen; Whitney W. Weatherford; Ralph Anderson

2005-01-01

This paper describes a long-term habitat restoration project in the Blue Mountains ecoregion, northeast Oregon, that we initiated in May 2000. We focused our restoration activities on two habitats previously identified as being high priority for birds: quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). In...

Mathematical logic as a mean of solving the problems of power supply for buildings and constructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pryadko, Igor; Nozdrina, Ekaterina; Boltaevsky, Andrey

2017-10-01

The article analyzes the questions of application of mathematical logic in engineering design associated with machinery and construction. The aim of the work is to study the logical working-out of Russian electrical engineer V.I. Shestakov. These elaborations are considered in connection with the problem of analysis and synthesis of relay contact circuits of the degenerate (A) class which the scientist solved. The article proposes to use Shestakov’s elaborations for optimization of buildings and constructions of modern high-tech. In the second part of the article the events are actualized in association with the development of problems of application of mathematical logic in the analysis and synthesis of electric circuits, relay and bridging. The arguments in favor of the priority of the authorship of the elaborations of Russian electrical engineer V. I. Shestakov, K. Shannon - one of the founders of computer science, and Japanese engineer A. Nakashima are discussed. The issue of contradiction between V. I. Shestakov and representatives of the school of M. A. Gavrilov is touched on.

Ephedrine QoS: An Antidote to Slow, Congested, Bufferless NoCs

PubMed Central

Fang, Juan; Yao, Zhicheng; Sui, Xiufeng; Bao, Yungang

2014-01-01

Datacenters consolidate diverse applications to improve utilization. However when multiple applications are colocated on such platforms, contention for shared resources like networks-on-chip (NoCs) can degrade the performance of latency-critical online services (high-priority applications). Recently proposed bufferless NoCs (Nychis et al.) have the advantages of requiring less area and power, but they pose challenges in quality-of-service (QoS) support, which usually relies on buffer-based virtual channels (VCs). We propose QBLESS, a QoS-aware bufferless NoC scheme for datacenters. QBLESS consists of two components: a routing mechanism (QBLESS-R) that can substantially reduce flit deflection for high-priority applications and a congestion-control mechanism (QBLESS-CC) that guarantees performance for high-priority applications and improves overall system throughput. We use trace-driven simulation to model a 64-core system, finding that, when compared to BLESS, a previous state-of-the-art bufferless NoC design, QBLESS, improves performance of high-priority applications by an average of 33.2% and reduces network-hops by an average of 42.8%. PMID:25250386

49 CFR 350.329 - How may a State or local agency qualify for High Priority or Border Activity Funds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false How may a State or local agency qualify for High... How may a State or local agency qualify for High Priority or Border Activity Funds? (a) States must... with the State lead MCSAP agency to ensure the proposal is consistent with State and national CMV...

49 CFR 350.329 - How may a State or local agency qualify for High Priority or Border Activity Funds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false How may a State or local agency qualify for High... How may a State or local agency qualify for High Priority or Border Activity Funds? (a) States must... with the State lead MCSAP agency to ensure the proposal is consistent with State and national CMV...

Range-wide network of priority areas for greater sage-grouse - a design for conserving connected distributions or isolating individual zoos?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crist, Michele R.; Knick, Steven T.; Hanser, Steven E.

2015-09-08

The network of areas delineated in 11 Western States for prioritizing management of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) represents a grand experiment in conservation biology and reserve design. We used centrality metrics from social network theory to gain insights into how this priority area network might function. The network was highly centralized. Twenty of 188 priority areas accounted for 80 percent of the total centrality scores. These priority areas, characterized by large size and a central location in the range-wide distribution, are strongholds for greater sage-grouse populations and also might function as sources. Mid-ranking priority areas may serve as stepping stones because of their location between large central and smaller peripheral priority areas. The current network design and conservation strategy has risks. The contribution of almost one-half (n = 93) of the priority areas combined for less than 1 percent of the cumulative centrality scores for the network. These priority areas individually are likely too small to support viable sage-grouse populations within their boundary. Without habitat corridors to connect small priority areas either to larger priority areas or as a clustered group within the network, their isolation could lead to loss of sage-grouse within these regions of the network. 

Communitarian claims and community capabilities: furthering priority setting?

PubMed

Mooney, Gavin

2005-01-01

Priority setting in health care is generally not done well. This paper draws on ideas from Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum and adds some communitarian underpinnings to provide a way of improving on current uses of program budgeting and marginal analysis (PBMA) in priority setting. The paper suggests that shifting to a communitarian base for priority setting alters the distribution of property rights over health service decision making and increases the probability that recommendations from PBMA exercises will be implemented. The approach is built on a paradigm which departs from three tenets of welfarism as it is normally conceived: (i) individuals qua individuals seek to maximise their individual utility/well-being; (ii) individuals want to do this; and (iii) it is the values of individuals qua individuals that count. Some of the problems of PBMA, as it has been applied to date, are highlighted. It is argued that these are due largely to a lack of 'credible commitment'. Bringing in the community and communitarian values to PBMA priority setting exercises can help to overcome some of the barriers to getting PBMA recommendations implemented. The approach has the merit of reflecting Sen's concept of capabilities (but extending that to a community level). It avoids the often consequentialist base of a conventional welfarist framework, and it allows community values as opposed to individual values to come to the fore. How to elicit communitarian values is explored.

Phylogenetic Analysis of Conservation Priorities for Aquatic Mammals and Their Terrestrial Relatives, with a Comparison of Methods

PubMed Central

May-Collado, Laura J.; Agnarsson, Ingi

2011-01-01

Background Habitat loss and overexploitation are among the primary factors threatening populations of many mammal species. Recently, aquatic mammals have been highlighted as particularly vulnerable. Here we test (1) if aquatic mammals emerge as more phylogenetically urgent conservation priorities than their terrestrial relatives, and (2) if high priority species are receiving sufficient conservation effort. We also compare results among some phylogenetic conservation methods. Methodology/Principal Findings A phylogenetic analysis of conservation priorities for all 620 species of Cetartiodactyla and Carnivora, including most aquatic mammals. Conservation priority ranking of aquatic versus terrestrial species is approximately proportional to their diversity. However, nearly all obligated freshwater cetartiodactylans are among the top conservation priority species. Further, ∼74% and 40% of fully aquatic cetartiodactylans and carnivores, respectively, are either threatened or data deficient, more so than their terrestrial relatives. Strikingly, only 3% of all ‘high priority’ species are thought to be stable. An overwhelming 97% of these species thus either show decreasing population trends (87%) or are insufficiently known (10%). Furthermore, a disproportional number of highly evolutionarily distinct species are experiencing population decline, thus, such species should be closely monitored even if not currently threatened. Comparison among methods reveals that exact species ranking differs considerably among methods, nevertheless, most top priority species consistently rank high under any method. While we here favor one approach, we also suggest that a consensus approach may be useful when methods disagree. Conclusions/Significance These results reinforce prior findings, suggesting there is an urgent need to gather basic conservation data for aquatic mammals, and special conservation focus is needed on those confined to freshwater. That evolutionarily distinct—and thus ‘biodiverse’—species are faring relatively poorly is alarming and requires further study. Our results offer a detailed guide to phylogeny-based conservation prioritization for these two orders. PMID:21799899

SU-E-T-551: Monitor Unit Optimization in Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Stage I Lung Cancer

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

Huang, B-T; Lu, J-Y

2015-06-15

Purpose: The study aims to reduce the monitor units (MUs) in the stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) treatment for lung cancer by adjusting the optimizing parameters. Methods: Fourteen patients suffered from stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) were enrolled. Three groups of parameters were adjusted to investigate their effects on MU numbers and organs at risk (OARs) sparing: (1) the upper objective of planning target volume (UOPTV); (2) strength setting in the MU constraining objective; (3) max MU setting in the MU constraining objective. Results: We found that the parameters in the optimizer influenced the MU numbers in amore » priority, strength and max MU dependent manner. MU numbers showed a decreasing trend with the UOPTV increasing. MU numbers with low, medium and high priority for the UOPTV were 428±54, 312±48 and 258±31 MU/Gy, respectively. High priority for UOPTV also spared the heart, cord and lung while maintaining comparable PTV coverage than the low and medium priority group. It was observed that MU numbers tended to decrease with the strength increasing and max MU setting decreasing. With maximum strength, the MU numbers reached its minimum while maintaining comparable or improved dose to the normal tissues. It was also found that the MU numbers continued to decline at 85% and 75% max MU setting but no longer to decrease at 50% and 25%. Combined with high priority for UOPTV and MU constraining objectives, the MU numbers can be decreased as low as 223±26 MU/Gy. Conclusion:: The priority of UOPTV, MU constraining objective in the optimizer impact on the MU numbers in SBRT treatment for lung cancer. Giving high priority to the UOPTV, setting the strength to maximum value and the max MU to 50% in the MU objective achieves the lowest MU numbers while maintaining comparable or improved OAR sparing.« less

Testing process predictions of models of risky choice: a quantitative model comparison approach

PubMed Central

Pachur, Thorsten; Hertwig, Ralph; Gigerenzer, Gerd; Brandstätter, Eduard

2013-01-01

This article presents a quantitative model comparison contrasting the process predictions of two prominent views on risky choice. One view assumes a trade-off between probabilities and outcomes (or non-linear functions thereof) and the separate evaluation of risky options (expectation models). Another view assumes that risky choice is based on comparative evaluation, limited search, aspiration levels, and the forgoing of trade-offs (heuristic models). We derived quantitative process predictions for a generic expectation model and for a specific heuristic model, namely the priority heuristic (Brandstätter et al., 2006), and tested them in two experiments. The focus was on two key features of the cognitive process: acquisition frequencies (i.e., how frequently individual reasons are looked up) and direction of search (i.e., gamble-wise vs. reason-wise). In Experiment 1, the priority heuristic predicted direction of search better than the expectation model (although neither model predicted the acquisition process perfectly); acquisition frequencies, however, were inconsistent with both models. Additional analyses revealed that these frequencies were primarily a function of what Rubinstein (1988) called “similarity.” In Experiment 2, the quantitative model comparison approach showed that people seemed to rely more on the priority heuristic in difficult problems, but to make more trade-offs in easy problems. This finding suggests that risky choice may be based on a mental toolbox of strategies. PMID:24151472

Optimization methods for activities selection problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahad, Nor Faradilah; Alias, Suriana; Yaakop, Siti Zulaika; Arshad, Norul Amanina Mohd; Mazni, Elis Sofia

2017-08-01

Co-curriculum activities must be joined by every student in Malaysia and these activities bring a lot of benefits to the students. By joining these activities, the students can learn about the time management and they can developing many useful skills. This project focuses on the selection of co-curriculum activities in secondary school using the optimization methods which are the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Zero-One Goal Programming (ZOGP). A secondary school in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia was chosen as a case study. A set of questionnaires were distributed randomly to calculate the weighted for each activity based on the 3 chosen criteria which are soft skills, interesting activities and performances. The weighted was calculated by using AHP and the results showed that the most important criteria is soft skills. Then, the ZOGP model will be analyzed by using LINGO Software version 15.0. There are two priorities to be considered. The first priority which is to minimize the budget for the activities is achieved since the total budget can be reduced by RM233.00. Therefore, the total budget to implement the selected activities is RM11,195.00. The second priority which is to select the co-curriculum activities is also achieved. The results showed that 9 out of 15 activities were selected. Thus, it can concluded that AHP and ZOGP approach can be used as the optimization methods for activities selection problem.

Threats from urban expansion, agricultural transformation and forest loss on global conservation priority areas.

PubMed

Veach, Victoria; Moilanen, Atte; Di Minin, Enrico

2017-01-01

Including threats in spatial conservation prioritization helps identify areas for conservation actions where biodiversity is at imminent risk of extinction. At the global level, an important limitation when identifying spatial priorities for conservation actions is the lack of information on the spatial distribution of threats. Here, we identify spatial conservation priorities under three prominent threats to biodiversity (residential and commercial development, agricultural expansion, and forest loss), which are primary drivers of habitat loss and threaten the persistence of the highest number of species in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, and for which spatial data is available. We first explore how global priority areas for the conservation of vertebrate (mammals, birds, and amphibians) species coded in the Red List as vulnerable to each threat differ spatially. We then identify spatial conservation priorities for all species vulnerable to all threats. Finally, we identify the potentially most threatened areas by overlapping the identified priority areas for conservation with maps for each threat. We repeat the same with four other well-known global conservation priority area schemes, namely Key Biodiversity Areas, Biodiversity Hotspots, the global Protected Area Network, and Wilderness Areas. We find that residential and commercial development directly threatens only about 4% of the global top 17% priority areas for species vulnerable under this threat. However, 50% of the high priority areas for species vulnerable to forest loss overlap with areas that have already experienced some forest loss. Agricultural expansion overlapped with ~20% of high priority areas. Biodiversity Hotspots had the greatest proportion of their total area under direct threat from all threats, while expansion of low intensity agriculture was found to pose an imminent threat to Wilderness Areas under future agricultural expansion. Our results identify areas where limited resources should be allocated to mitigate risks to vertebrate species from habitat loss.

Threats from urban expansion, agricultural transformation and forest loss on global conservation priority areas

PubMed Central

Moilanen, Atte; Di Minin, Enrico

2017-01-01

Including threats in spatial conservation prioritization helps identify areas for conservation actions where biodiversity is at imminent risk of extinction. At the global level, an important limitation when identifying spatial priorities for conservation actions is the lack of information on the spatial distribution of threats. Here, we identify spatial conservation priorities under three prominent threats to biodiversity (residential and commercial development, agricultural expansion, and forest loss), which are primary drivers of habitat loss and threaten the persistence of the highest number of species in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, and for which spatial data is available. We first explore how global priority areas for the conservation of vertebrate (mammals, birds, and amphibians) species coded in the Red List as vulnerable to each threat differ spatially. We then identify spatial conservation priorities for all species vulnerable to all threats. Finally, we identify the potentially most threatened areas by overlapping the identified priority areas for conservation with maps for each threat. We repeat the same with four other well-known global conservation priority area schemes, namely Key Biodiversity Areas, Biodiversity Hotspots, the global Protected Area Network, and Wilderness Areas. We find that residential and commercial development directly threatens only about 4% of the global top 17% priority areas for species vulnerable under this threat. However, 50% of the high priority areas for species vulnerable to forest loss overlap with areas that have already experienced some forest loss. Agricultural expansion overlapped with ~20% of high priority areas. Biodiversity Hotspots had the greatest proportion of their total area under direct threat from all threats, while expansion of low intensity agriculture was found to pose an imminent threat to Wilderness Areas under future agricultural expansion. Our results identify areas where limited resources should be allocated to mitigate risks to vertebrate species from habitat loss. PMID:29182662

Identifying environmental health priorities in underserved populations: a study of rural versus urban communities

PubMed Central

Bernhard, M.C.; Evans, M.B.; Kent, S.T.; Johnson, E.; Threadgill, S.L.; Tyson, S.; Becker, S.M.; Gohlke, J.M.

2013-01-01

Objectives Understanding and effectively addressing persistent health disparities in minority communities requires a clear picture of members’ concerns and priorities. This study was intended to engage residents in urban and rural communities in order to identify environmental health priorities. Specific emphasis was placed on how the communities defined the term environment, their perceptions of environmental exposures as affecting their health, specific priorities in their communities, and differences in urban versus rural populations. Study design A community-engaged approach was used to develop and implement focus groups and compare environmental health priorities in urban versus rural communities. Methods A total of eight focus groups were conducted: four in rural and four in urban communities. Topics included defining the term environment, how the environment may affect health, and environmental priorities within their communities, using both open discussion and a predefined list. Data were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively to identify patterns and trends. Results There were important areas of overlap in priorities between urban and rural communities; both emphasized the importance of the social environment and shared a concern over air pollution from industrial sources. In contrast, for urban focus groups, abandoned houses and their social and physical sequelae were a high priority while concerns about adequate sewer and water services and road maintenance were high priorities in rural communities. Conclusions This study was able to identify environmental health priorities in urban versus rural minority communities. In contrast to some previous risk perception research, the results of this study suggest prioritization of tangible, known risks in everyday life instead of rare, disaster-related events, even in communities that have recently experienced devastating damage from tornadoes. The findings can help inform future efforts to study, understand and effectively address environmental issues, and are particularly relevant to developing effective community-based strategies in vulnerable populations. PMID:24239281

Research priorities in mental health occupational therapy: A study of clinician perspectives.

PubMed

Hitch, Danielle; Lhuede, Kate

2015-10-01

The evidence to support mental health occupational therapy has proliferated in the early years of this century, but this growth has tended to be organic rather than targeted. Previous efforts to identify research priorities in this area of practice are either out dated, or encompass discrete areas of practice. The aim of this study was to identify priority areas for research in mental health occupational therapy from clinician's perspectives. A Policy Delphi method was used to enable occupational therapists to define and differentiate their perspectives on research priorities. Forty-two occupational therapists took part in the first two rounds of this method, with 69% (n = 29) going on to complete the third and final round of data collection. A Likert scale was used to rate the importance of each priority, and descriptive quantitative analysis undertaken to identify those most consistently identified as being highly important. Four research priorities were identified as being highly important in this study: (i) working in an occupationally focussed way; (ii) consumer experience of therapy groups; (iii) identifying factors which increase consumer engagement in occupation; and (iv) engaging patients on the inpatient unit in meaningful and positive occupation. Two of the priority areas are already the subject of substantial evidence bases, but there has been far less research into consumer experiences of groups and occupational engagement in acute settings. Collaboration between research teams and greater consumer inclusion are recommended for the future. This study provides an updated indication of research priorities for mental health occupational therapy in Australia. © 2015 Occupational Therapy Australia.

Two-dimensional priority-based dynamic resource allocation algorithm for QoS in WDM/TDM PON networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Yixin; Liu, Bo; Zhang, Lijia; Xin, Xiangjun; Zhang, Qi; Rao, Lan

2018-01-01

Wavelength division multiplexing/time division multiplexing (WDM/TDM) passive optical networks (PON) is being viewed as a promising solution for delivering multiple services and applications. The hybrid WDM / TDM PON uses the wavelength and bandwidth allocation strategy to control the distribution of the wavelength channels in the uplink direction, so that it can ensure the high bandwidth requirements of multiple Optical Network Units (ONUs) while improving the wavelength resource utilization. Through the investigation of the presented dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithms, these algorithms can't satisfy the requirements of different levels of service very well while adapting to the structural characteristics of mixed WDM / TDM PON system. This paper introduces a novel wavelength and bandwidth allocation algorithm to efficiently utilize the bandwidth and support QoS (Quality of Service) guarantees in WDM/TDM PON. Two priority based polling subcycles are introduced in order to increase system efficiency and improve system performance. The fixed priority polling subcycle and dynamic priority polling subcycle follow different principles to implement wavelength and bandwidth allocation according to the priority of different levels of service. A simulation was conducted to study the performance of the priority based polling in dynamic resource allocation algorithm in WDM/TDM PON. The results show that the performance of delay-sensitive services is greatly improved without degrading QoS guarantees for other services. Compared with the traditional dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithms, this algorithm can meet bandwidth needs of different priority traffic class, achieve low loss rate performance, and ensure real-time of high priority traffic class in terms of overall traffic on the network.

Potential High Priority Subaerial Environments for Mars Sample Return

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

iMOST Team; Bishop, J. L.; Horgan, B.; Benning, L. G.; Carrier, B. L.; Hausrath, E. M.; Altieri, F.; Amelin, Y.; Ammannito, E.; Anand, M.; Beaty, D. W.; Borg, L. E.; Boucher, D.; Brucato, J. R.; Busemann, H.; Campbell, K. A.; Czaja, A. D.; Debaille, V.; Des Marais, D. J.; Dixon, M.; Ehlmann, B. L.; Farmer, J. D.; Fernandez-Remolar, D. C.; Fogarty, J.; Glavin, D. P.; Goreva, Y. S.; Grady, M. M.; Hallis, L. J.; Harrington, A. D.; Herd, C. D. K.; Humayun, M.; Kleine, T.; Kleinhenz, J.; Mangold, N.; Mackelprang, R.; Mayhew, L. E.; McCubbin, F. M.; Mccoy, J. T.; McLennan, S. M.; McSween, H. Y.; Moser, D. E.; Moynier, F.; Mustard, J. F.; Niles, P. B.; Ori, G. G.; Raulin, F.; Rettberg, P.; Rucker, M. A.; Schmitz, N.; Sefton-Nash, E.; Sephton, M. A.; Shaheen, R.; Shuster, D. L.; Siljestrom, S.; Smith, C. L.; Spry, J. A.; Steele, A.; Swindle, T. D.; ten Kate, I. L.; Tosca, N. J.; Usui, T.; Van Kranendonk, M. J.; Wadhwa, M.; Weiss, B. P.; Werner, S. C.; Westall, F.; Wheeler, R. M.; Zipfel, J.; Zorzano, M. P.

2018-04-01

The highest priority subaerial environments for Mars Sample Return include subaerial weathering (paleosols, periglacial/glacial, and rock coatings/rinds), wetlands (mineral precipitates, redox environments, and salt ponds), or cold spring settings.

32 CFR 245.21 - ESCAT air traffic priority list.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... aircraft post-maintenance test flights. (7) Federal aircraft post maintenance check flights in support of... identified as high threat targets. (c) Priority Three. (1) Forces being deployed or performing pre-deployment...

32 CFR 245.21 - ESCAT air traffic priority list.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... aircraft post-maintenance test flights. (7) Federal aircraft post maintenance check flights in support of... identified as high threat targets. (c) Priority Three. (1) Forces being deployed or performing pre-deployment...

32 CFR 245.21 - ESCAT air traffic priority list.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... aircraft post-maintenance test flights. (7) Federal aircraft post maintenance check flights in support of... identified as high threat targets. (c) Priority Three. (1) Forces being deployed or performing pre-deployment...

32 CFR 245.21 - ESCAT air traffic priority list.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... aircraft post-maintenance test flights. (7) Federal aircraft post maintenance check flights in support of... identified as high threat targets. (c) Priority Three. (1) Forces being deployed or performing pre-deployment...

A comparison of global conservation prioritization models with spatial spending patterns of conservation nongovernmental organizations.

PubMed

Holmes, George; Scholfield, Katherine; Brockington, Dan

2012-08-01

In recent decades, various conservation organizations have developed models to prioritize locations for conservation. Through a survey of the spending patterns of 281 conservation nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), we examined the relation between 2 such models and spatial patterns of spending by conservation NGOs in 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We tested whether, at the country level, the proportion of a country designated as a conservation priority was correlated with where NGOs spent money. For one model (the combination of Conservation International's hotspots and High Biodiversity Wilderness Areas, which are areas of high endemism with high or low levels of vegetation loss respectively), there was no relation between the proportion of a country designated as a priority and levels of NGO spending, including by the NGO associated with the model. In the second model (Global 200), the proportion of a country designated as a priority and the amount of money spent by NGOs were significantly and positively related. Less money was spent in countries in northern and western sub-Saharan Africa than countries in southern and eastern Africa, relative to the proportion of the country designated as a conservation priority. We suggest that on the basis of our results some NGOs consider increasing their spending on the areas designated as of conservation priority which are currently relatively underfunded, although there are economic, political, cultural, historical, biological, and practical reasons why current spending patterns may not align with priority sites. ©2012 Society for Conservation Biology.

Goals, dilemmas and assumptions in infant feeding education and support. Applying theory of constraints thinking tools to develop new priorities for action.

PubMed

Trickey, Heather; Newburn, Mary

2014-01-01

Three important infant feeding support problems are addressed: (1) mothers who use formula milk can feel undersupported and judged; (2) mothers can feel underprepared for problems with breastfeeding; and (3) many mothers who might benefit from breastfeeding support do not access help. Theory of constraints (TOC) is used to examine these problems in relation to ante-natal education and post-natal support. TOC suggests that long-standing unresolved problems or 'undesirable effects' in any system (in this case a system to provide education and support) are caused by conflicts, or dilemmas, within the system, which might not be explicitly acknowledged. Potential solutions are missed by failure to question assumptions which, when interrogated, often turn out to be invalid. Three core dilemmas relating to the three problems are identified, articulated and explored using TOC methodology. These are whether to: (1) promote feeding choice or to promote breastfeeding; (2) present breastfeeding positively, as straightforward and rewarding, or focus on preparing mothers for problems; and (3) offer support proactively or ensure that mothers themselves initiate requests for support. Assumptions are identified and interrogated, leading to clarified priorities for action relating to each problem. These are (1) shift the focus from initial decision-making towards support for mothers throughout their feeding journeys, enabling and protecting decisions to breastfeed as one aspect of ongoing support; (2) to promote the concept of an early-weeks investment and adjustment period during which breastfeeding is established; and (3) to develop more proactive mother-centred models of support for all forms of infant feeding. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Establishing research and management priorities for invasive water primroses (Ludwigia spp.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This technical report provides background information on invasive, aquatic Ludwigia species to assist aquatic resource managers. The report includes a description of the problems caused by these invasive plant species and why their current aggressive spread should concern resource managers and poli...

Energy Policy: Ask the Experts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nuclear Industry, 1991

1991-01-01

Twelve U.S. experts on energy policies individually offer perspectives about which priorities should be enlisted with respect to the current energy policy of the United States. In their analyses, these experts unanimously agree that the biggest U.S. problem is an increasing dependence upon imported oil. (JJK)

United States-Philippines bases agreements: prospect for its renewal. Research report

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

Mahimer, S.M.

1988-05-01

Remarks on the problems and issues related to the United States-Philippines Bases Agreement and prospect for its renewal are included namely: analysis of the provisions of the new Philippine Constitution; ASEAN perspective on the bases; US policy on nuclear weapons and its interest and options; Philippine interests and priorities, including alternate plans to compensate for the possible withdrawal of the US from the Philippines; and then an assessment of the effects of these factors on the renewal of the Bases Agreement. There are difficulties and barriers to the renewal of the said Agreement posed by conflicting policies of both partiesmore » and also due to divergent views on priorities, constitutional processes of both countries, and time constraints for concluding an agreement. However there are options for the United States regarding the problem, depending upon the desired level of its presence in Asia/Pacific region and how central the Philippine bases are to US national security interests.« less

Multimode resource-constrained multiple project scheduling problem under fuzzy random environment and its application to a large scale hydropower construction project.

PubMed

Xu, Jiuping; Feng, Cuiying

2014-01-01

This paper presents an extension of the multimode resource-constrained project scheduling problem for a large scale construction project where multiple parallel projects and a fuzzy random environment are considered. By taking into account the most typical goals in project management, a cost/weighted makespan/quality trade-off optimization model is constructed. To deal with the uncertainties, a hybrid crisp approach is used to transform the fuzzy random parameters into fuzzy variables that are subsequently defuzzified using an expected value operator with an optimistic-pessimistic index. Then a combinatorial-priority-based hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm is developed to solve the proposed model, where the combinatorial particle swarm optimization and priority-based particle swarm optimization are designed to assign modes to activities and to schedule activities, respectively. Finally, the results and analysis of a practical example at a large scale hydropower construction project are presented to demonstrate the practicality and efficiency of the proposed model and optimization method.

Multimode Resource-Constrained Multiple Project Scheduling Problem under Fuzzy Random Environment and Its Application to a Large Scale Hydropower Construction Project

PubMed Central

Xu, Jiuping

2014-01-01

This paper presents an extension of the multimode resource-constrained project scheduling problem for a large scale construction project where multiple parallel projects and a fuzzy random environment are considered. By taking into account the most typical goals in project management, a cost/weighted makespan/quality trade-off optimization model is constructed. To deal with the uncertainties, a hybrid crisp approach is used to transform the fuzzy random parameters into fuzzy variables that are subsequently defuzzified using an expected value operator with an optimistic-pessimistic index. Then a combinatorial-priority-based hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm is developed to solve the proposed model, where the combinatorial particle swarm optimization and priority-based particle swarm optimization are designed to assign modes to activities and to schedule activities, respectively. Finally, the results and analysis of a practical example at a large scale hydropower construction project are presented to demonstrate the practicality and efficiency of the proposed model and optimization method. PMID:24550708

Prioritizing pesticide compounds for analytical methods development

USGS Publications Warehouse

Norman, Julia E.; Kuivila, Kathryn; Nowell, Lisa H.

2012-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a periodic need to re-evaluate pesticide compounds in terms of priorities for inclusion in monitoring and studies and, thus, must also assess the current analytical capabilities for pesticide detection. To meet this need, a strategy has been developed to prioritize pesticides and degradates for analytical methods development. Screening procedures were developed to separately prioritize pesticide compounds in water and sediment. The procedures evaluate pesticide compounds in existing USGS analytical methods for water and sediment and compounds for which recent agricultural-use information was available. Measured occurrence (detection frequency and concentrations) in water and sediment, predicted concentrations in water and predicted likelihood of occurrence in sediment, potential toxicity to aquatic life or humans, and priorities of other agencies or organizations, regulatory or otherwise, were considered. Several existing strategies for prioritizing chemicals for various purposes were reviewed, including those that identify and prioritize persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic compounds, and those that determine candidates for future regulation of drinking-water contaminants. The systematic procedures developed and used in this study rely on concepts common to many previously established strategies. The evaluation of pesticide compounds resulted in the classification of compounds into three groups: Tier 1 for high priority compounds, Tier 2 for moderate priority compounds, and Tier 3 for low priority compounds. For water, a total of 247 pesticide compounds were classified as Tier 1 and, thus, are high priority for inclusion in analytical methods for monitoring and studies. Of these, about three-quarters are included in some USGS analytical method; however, many of these compounds are included on research methods that are expensive and for which there are few data on environmental samples. The remaining quarter of Tier 1 compounds are high priority as new analytes. The objective for analytical methods development is to design an integrated analytical strategy that includes as many of the Tier 1 pesticide compounds as possible in a relatively few, cost-effective methods. More than 60 percent of the Tier 1 compounds are high priority because they are anticipated to be present at concentrations approaching levels that could be of concern to human health or aquatic life in surface water or groundwater. An additional 17 percent of Tier 1 compounds were frequently detected in monitoring studies, but either were not measured at levels potentially relevant to humans or aquatic organisms, or do not have benchmarks available with which to compare concentrations. The remaining 21 percent are pesticide degradates that were included because their parent pesticides were in Tier 1. Tier 1 pesticide compounds for water span all major pesticide use groups and a diverse range of chemical classes, with herbicides and their degradates composing half of compounds. Many of the high priority pesticide compounds also are in several national regulatory programs for water, including those that are regulated in drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act and those that are on the latest Contaminant Candidate List. For sediment, a total of 175 pesticide compounds were classified as Tier 1 and, thus, are high priority for inclusion in analytical methods available for monitoring and studies. More than 60 percent of these compounds are included in some USGS analytical method; however, some are spread across several research methods that are expensive to perform, and monitoring data are not extensive for many compounds. The remaining Tier 1 compounds for sediment are high priority as new analytes. The objective for analytical methods development for sediment is to enhance an existing analytical method that currently includes nearly half of the pesticide compounds in Tier 1 by adding as many additional Tier 1 compounds as are analytically compatible. About 35 percent of the Tier 1 compounds for sediment are high priority on the basis of measured occurrence. A total of 74 compounds, or 42 percent, are high priority on the basis of predicted likelihood of occurrence according to physical-chemical properties, and either have potential toxicity to aquatic life, high pesticide useage, or both. The remaining 22 percent of Tier 1 pesticide compounds were either degradates of Tier 1 parent compounds or included for other reasons. As with water, the Tier 1 pesticide compounds for sediment are distributed across the major pesticide-use groups; insecticides and their degradates are the largest fraction, making up 45 percent of Tier 1. In contrast to water, organochlorines, at 17 percent, are the largest chemical class for Tier 1 in sediment, which is to be expected because there is continued widespread detection in sediments of persistent organochlorine pesticides and their degradates at concentrations high enough for potential effects on aquatic life. Compared to water, there are fewer available benchmarks with which to compare contaminant concentrations in sediment, but a total of 19 Tier 1 compounds have at least one sediment benchmark or screening value for aquatic organisms. Of the 175 compounds in Tier 1, 77 percent have high aquatic-life toxicity, as defined for this process. This evaluation of pesticides and degradates resulted in two lists of compounds that are priorities for USGS analytical methods development, one for water and one for sediment. These lists will be used as the basis for redesigning and enhancing USGS analytical capabilities for pesticides in order to capture as many high-priority pesticide compounds as possible using an economically feasible approach.

Sickle cell disease in Africa: burden and research priorities

PubMed Central

Makani, J.; Williams, T. N.; Marsh, K.

2017-01-01

Sickle cell disease (SCD) has recently been recognised as a problem of major public-health significance by the World Health Organization. Despite the fact that >70% of sufferers live in Africa, expenditure on the related care and research in the continent is negligible, and most advances in the understanding and management of this condition have been based on research conducted in the North. In order to target limited resources, African countries need to focus research and interventions on areas that will lead to the maximum impact. This review details the epidemiological and clinical background of SCD, with an emphasis on Africa, before identifying the research priorities that will provide the necessary evidence base for improving the management of African patients. Malaria, bacterial and viral infections and cerebrovascular accidents are areas in which further research may lead to a significant improvement in SCD-related morbidity and mortality. As patients with high concentrations of foetal haemoglobin (HbF) appear to be protected from all but mild SCD, the various factors and pharmacological agents that might increase HbF levels need to be assessed in Africa, as options for interventions that would improve quality of life and reduce mortality. PMID:17244405

Evaluating teams in extreme environments: from issues to answers.

PubMed

Bishop, Sheryl L

2004-07-01

The challenge to effectively evaluating teams in extreme environments necessarily involves a wide range of physiological, psychological, and psychosocial factors. The high reliance on technology, the growing frequency of multinational and multicultural teams, and the demand for longer duration missions all further compound the complexity of the problem. The primary goal is the insurance of human health and well-being with expectations that such priorities will naturally lead to improved chances for performance and mission success. This paper provides an overview of some of the most salient immediate challenges for selecting, training, and supporting teams in extreme environments, gives exemplars of research findings concerning these challenges, and discusses the need for future research.

Ability of the medical priority dispatch system protocol to predict the acuity of "unknown problem" dispatch response levels.

PubMed

Clawson, Jeff; Olola, Christopher; Heward, Andy; Patterson, Brett; Scott, Greg

2008-01-01

To determine if Medical Priority Dispatch System's (MPDS's) Protocol 32-Unknown Problem interrogation-based differential dispatch coding distinguishes the acuity of patients as found at the scene by responders, when little (if any) clinical information is known. "Unknown problem" situations (i.e., all cases not fitting into any other chief complaint group) constitute 5-8% of all calls to dispatch centers. From the total patient encounters (n=599,107) in the aggregate data of one year (September 2005 to August 2006), we examined 3,947 (0.7%) encounters initially coded as "unknown problem" by the London Ambulance Service Communications Center for the scene presence of cardiac arrest (CA) and paramedic-determined high-acuity (blue-in [BI]/"lights and siren") findings. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) and p-values were used to assess the degree of associations between determinant codes and case outcomes (i.e., CA/BI). Statistically significant association between clinical dispatch determinant codes and case outcomes was observed in the "life status questionable" (LSQ; DELTA-1 [D-1]) and the "standing, sitting, moving, or talking" (BRAVO-1 [B-1]) code pair for the CA outcome (OR [95% CI]: 0.11 [0, 0.63], p=0.005) and for the BI outcome (OR [95% CI]: 0.47 [0.28, 0.77], p=0.003). The LSQ and all three code pairs (i.e., B-1; "community alarm notifications" [B-2]; and "unknown status" [B-3]) also demonstrated significant associations both with the CA outcome (OR [95% CI]: 0.43 [0.23, 0.81], p=0.010) and with the BI outcome (OR [95% CI]: 0.74 [0.56, 0.97], p=0.033). All the determinant code levels yielded significant association between BI and CA cases. This dispatch protocol for unknown problems successfully differentiates dispatch coding of low-acuity and non-CA patients only when specific situational information such as the patient's standing, sitting, moving, or talking can be determined during the interrogation process. Also, emergency medical dispatcher (EMD) reliance on caller-volunteered information to identify predefined critical situations does not appear to add to the protocol's ability to differentiate high-acuity and CA patients. LSQ proved to be a better predictor of both CA and BI outcomes, when compared with the BRAVO-level determinant codes within the "unknown problem" chief complaint. The B-3 (completely unknown) determinant code is a better predictor of severe outcomes than nearly all of the clinically similar BRAVO determinant codes in the entire MPDS protocol. Hence, the B-3 coding should be considered-in terms of its predictability for severe outcome-as falling somewhere between a typical DELTA and a typical BRAVO determinant code.

40 CFR Appendix E to Part 300 - Oil Spill Response

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., other waters of the high seas subject to the NCP, and the land surface or land substrata, ground waters... response equipment; and a district response advisory team. Contiguous zone means the zone of the high seas... of the discharge. 2.2Priorities. (a) Safety of human life must be given the highest priority during...

State Strategies to Improve Low-Performing Schools: California's High Priority School Grants Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Timar, Thomas; Rodriguez, Gloria; Simon, Virginia Adams; Ferrario, Kim; Kim, Kris

2006-01-01

Central to California's school accountability system are programs to engage low-performing schools in improvement efforts. One of these is the High Priority Schools Program (HPSGP), created by Assembly Bill 961 (Chapter 747, "Statutes of 2001") to provide funds to the lowest performing schools in the state. To be eligible for funding,…

A framework for addressing bird conservation priorities in high-elevation vegetation communities of the Appalachian Mountains

Treesearch

Brian W. Smith; Dean Demarest; Ed. Laurent

2010-01-01

The Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture (AMJV) is a self-directed, nonregulatory bird conservation partnership with the mission of restoring and sustaining native bird populations and their habitats throughout Appalachia. In 2008, the AMJV formed an ad hoc "high-elevation" technical working group to identify and address conservation priorities of bird species...

Few Americans Receive All High-Priority, Appropriate Clinical Preventive Services.

PubMed

Borsky, Amanda; Zhan, Chunliu; Miller, Therese; Ngo-Metzger, Quyen; Bierman, Arlene S; Meyers, David

2018-06-01

As of 2015, only 8 percent of US adults ages thirty-five and older had received all of the high-priority, appropriate clinical preventive services recommended for them. Nearly 5 percent of adults did not receive any such services. Further delivery system-level efforts are needed to increase the use of preventive services.

Promoting social responsibility for health: health impact assessment and healthy public policy at the community level.

PubMed

Mittelmark, M B

2001-09-01

The 1997 Jakarta Declaration on Health Promotion into the 21st Century called for new responses to address the emerging threats to health. The declaration placed a high priority on promoting social responsibility for health, and it identified equity-focused health impact assessment as a high priority for action. This theme was among the foci at the 2000 Fifth Global Conference on Health Promotion held in Mexico. This paper, which is an abbreviation of a technical report prepared for the Mexico conference, advances arguments for focusing on health impact assessment at the local level. Health impact assessment identifies negative health impacts that call for policy responses, and identifies and encourages practices and policies that promote health. Health impact assessment may be highly technical and require sophisticated technology and expertise. But it can also be a simple, highly practical process, accessible to ordinary people, and one that helps a community come to grips with local circumstances that need changing for better health. To illustrate the possibilities, this paper presents a case study, the People Assessing Their Health (PATH) project from Eastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It places ordinary citizens, rather than community elites, at the very heart of local decision-making. Evidence from PATH demonstrates that low technology health impact assessment, done by and for local people, can shift thinking beyond the illness problems of individuals. It can bring into consideration, instead, how programmes and policies support or weaken community health, and illuminate a community's capacity to improve local circumstances for better health. This stands in contrast to evidence that highly technological approaches to community-level health impact assessment can be self-defeating. Further development of simple, people-centred, low technology approaches to health impact assessment at the local level is called for.

Exploring end of life priorities in Saudi males: usefulness of Q-methodology.

PubMed

Hammami, Muhammad M; Al Gaai, Eman; Hammami, Safa; Attala, Sahar

2015-11-26

Quality end-of-life care depends on understanding patients' end-of-life choices. Individuals and cultures may hold end-of-life priorities at different hierarchy. Forced ranking rather than independent rating, and by-person factor analysis rather than averaging may reveal otherwise masked typologies. We explored Saudi males' forced-ranked, end-of-life priorities and dis-priorities. Respondents (n = 120) rank-ordered 47 opinion statements on end-of-life care following a 9-category symmetrical distribution. Statements' scores were analyzed by averaging analysis and factor analysis (Q-methodology). Respondents' mean age was 32.1 years (range, 18-65); 52% reported average religiosity, 88 and 83% ≥ very good health and life-quality, respectively, and 100% ≥ high school education. Averaging analysis revealed that the extreme five end-of-life priorities were to, be at peace with God, be able to say the statement of faith, maintain dignity, resolve conflicts, and have religious death rituals respected, respectively. The extreme five dis-priorities were to, die in the hospital, not receive intensive care if in coma, die at peak of life, be informed about impending death by family/friends rather than doctor, and keep medical status confidential from family/friends, respectively. Q-methodology classified 67% of respondents into five highly transcendent opinion types. Type-I (rituals-averse, family-caring, monitoring-coping, life-quality-concerned) and Type-V (rituals-apt, family-centered, neutral-coping, life-quantity-concerned) reported the lowest and highest religiosity, respectively. Type-II (rituals-apt, family-dependent, monitoring-coping, life-quantity-concerned) and Type-III (rituals-silent, self/family-neutral, avoidance-coping, life-quality & quantity-concerned) reported the best and worst life-quality, respectively. Type-I respondents were the oldest with the lowest general health, in contrast to Type-IV (rituals-apt, self-centered, monitoring-coping, life-quality/quantity-neutral). Of the extreme 14 priorities/dis-priorities for the five types, 29, 14, 14, 50, and 36%, respectively, were not among the extreme 20 priorities/dis-priorities identified by averaging analysis for the entire cohort. 1) Transcendence was the extreme end-of-life priority, and dying in the hospital was the extreme dis-priority. 2) Quality of life was conceptualized differently with less emphasize on its physiological aspects. 3) Disclosure of terminal illness to family/close friends was preferred as long it is through the patient. 4) Q-methodology identified five types of constellations of end-of-life priorities and dis-priorities that may be related to respondents' demographics and are partially masked by averaging analysis.

The global burden of diagnostic errors in primary care

PubMed Central

Singh, Hardeep; Schiff, Gordon D; Graber, Mark L; Onakpoya, Igho; Thompson, Matthew J

2017-01-01

Diagnosis is one of the most important tasks performed by primary care physicians. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently prioritized patient safety areas in primary care, and included diagnostic errors as a high-priority problem. In addition, a recent report from the Institute of Medicine in the USA, ‘Improving Diagnosis in Health Care’, concluded that most people will likely experience a diagnostic error in their lifetime. In this narrative review, we discuss the global significance, burden and contributory factors related to diagnostic errors in primary care. We synthesize available literature to discuss the types of presenting symptoms and conditions most commonly affected. We then summarize interventions based on available data and suggest next steps to reduce the global burden of diagnostic errors. Research suggests that we are unlikely to find a ‘magic bullet’ and confirms the need for a multifaceted approach to understand and address the many systems and cognitive issues involved in diagnostic error. Because errors involve many common conditions and are prevalent across all countries, the WHO’s leadership at a global level will be instrumental to address the problem. Based on our review, we recommend that the WHO consider bringing together primary care leaders, practicing frontline clinicians, safety experts, policymakers, the health IT community, medical education and accreditation organizations, researchers from multiple disciplines, patient advocates, and funding bodies among others, to address the many common challenges and opportunities to reduce diagnostic error. This could lead to prioritization of practice changes needed to improve primary care as well as setting research priorities for intervention development to reduce diagnostic error. PMID:27530239

Posttraumatic stress disorder among female street-based sex workers in the greater Sydney area, Australia.

PubMed

Roxburgh, Amanda; Degenhardt, Louisa; Copeland, Jan

2006-05-24

This paper examines rates of exposure to work-related violence and other trauma, and the prevalence of lifetime and current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among female street-based sex workers. It also investigates associations between current PTSD symptoms and: demographic characteristics, psychiatric comorbidity, injecting and sex risk behaviours, and trauma history. Cross sectional data collected from 72 women via face to face structured interviews. The interview included structured diagnostic assessment of DSM-IV PTSD; drug dependence; depression; experience of childhood trauma; and an assessment of sex working history. All but one of the women interviewed reported experiencing trauma, with the majority reporting multiple traumas that typically began in early childhood. Child sexual abuse, adult sexual assault and work related violence were commonly reported. Just under half of the women met DSM-IV criteria for PTSD and approximately one-third reported current PTSD symptoms. Adult sexual assault was associated with current PTSD symptoms. Depression and drug dependence were also highly prevalent; cocaine dependence in particular was associated with elevated rates of injecting risk and sexual risk behaviours. These women reported complex trauma histories and despite ongoing opportunities for clinical intervention, they continued to experience problems, suggesting that current models of treatment may not be appropriate. More targeted interventions, and integrated mental health and drug treatment services are needed to address the problems these women are experiencing. Outreach services to these women remain a priority. Education strategies to reduce risky injecting and sexual behaviours among sex workers should also remain a priority.

A consensus exercise identifying priorities for research into clinical effectiveness among children's orthopaedic surgeons in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Perry, D C; Wright, J G; Cooke, S; Roposch, A; Gaston, M S; Nicolaou, N; Theologis, T

2018-05-01

Aims High-quality clinical research in children's orthopaedic surgery has lagged behind other surgical subspecialties. This study used a consensus-based approach to identify research priorities for clinical trials in children's orthopaedics. Methods A modified Delphi technique was used, which involved an initial scoping survey, a two-round Delphi process and an expert panel formed of members of the British Society of Children's Orthopaedic Surgery. The survey was conducted amongst orthopaedic surgeons treating children in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Results A total of 86 clinicians contributed to both rounds of the Delphi process, scoring priorities from one (low priority) to five (high priority). Elective topics were ranked higher than those relating to trauma, with the top ten elective research questions scoring higher than the top question for trauma. Ten elective, and five trauma research priorities were identified, with the three highest ranked questions relating to the treatment of slipped capital femoral epiphysis (mean score 4.6/ 5), Perthes' disease (4.5) and bone infection (4.5). Conclusion This consensus-based research agenda will guide surgeons, academics and funders to improve the evidence in children's orthopaedic surgery and encourage the development of multicentre clinical trials. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2018;100-B:680-4.

Binge Eating among Women Veterans in Primary Care: Comorbidities and Treatment Priorities.

PubMed

Rosenbaum, Diane L; Kimerling, Rachel; Pomernacki, Alyssa; Goldstein, Karen M; Yano, Elizabeth M; Sadler, Anne G; Carney, Diane; Bastian, Lori A; Bean-Mayberry, Bevanne A; Frayne, Susan M

2016-01-01

Little is known about the clinical profile and treatment priorities of women with binge eating disorder (BED), a diagnosis new to the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. We identified comorbidities and patients' treatment priorities, because these may inform implementation of clinical services. Data were collected from women veteran primary care patients. Analyses compared those who screened positive for BED (BED+), and those without any binge eating symptoms (BED-). Frequencies of comorbid medical and psychological disorders were high in the BED+ group. The BED+ group's self-identified most common treatment priorities were mood concerns (72.2%), weight loss (66.7%), and body image/food issues (50%). Among those with obesity, a greater proportion of the BED+ group indicated body image/food issues was their top treatment priority (12.9% vs. 2.8%; p < .01), suggesting that these patients may be more apt to seek treatment beyond weight management for their problematic eating patterns. Women primary care patients with BED demonstrate high medical and psychological complexity; their subjective treatment priorities often match objective needs. These findings may inform the development of targeted BED screening practices for women with obesity in primary care settings, and the eventual adoption of patient-centered BED treatment resources. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Developing risk-based priorities for reducing air pollution in urban settings in Ukraine.

PubMed

Brody, Michael; Caldwell, Jane; Golub, Alexander

2007-02-01

Ukraine, when part of the former Soviet Union, was responsible for about 25% of its overall industrial production. This aging industrial infrastructure continues to emit enormous volumes of air and water pollution and wastes. The National Report on the State of Environment in Ukraine 1999 (Ukraine Ministry of Environmental Protection [MEP], 2000) shows significant air pollution. There are numerous emissions that have been associated with developmental effects, chronic long-term health effects, and cancer. Ukraine also has been identified as a major source of transboundary air pollution for the eastern Mediterranean region. Ukraine's Environment Ministry is not currently able to strategically target high-priority emissions and lacks the resources to address all these problems. For these reasons, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set up a partnership with Ukraine's Ministry of Environmental Protection to strengthen its capacity to set environmental priorities through the use of comparative environmental risk assessment and economic analysis--the Capacity Building Project. The project is also addressing improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of its National Environmental Protection Fund. The project consists of a series of workshops with Ukrainian MEP officials in comparative risk assessment of air pollutant emissions in several heavily industrialized oblasts; cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis; and environmental finance. Pilot risk assessment analyses have been completed. At the end of the Capacity Building Project it is expected that the use of the National Environmental Protection fund and the regional level oblast environmental protection funds will begin to target and identify the highest health and environmental risk emissions.

Towards the next generation of climate change assessment: learning from past experiences to inform a sustainable future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mach, K. J.; Field, C. B.

2017-12-01

Over decades, assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and many others has bolstered understanding of the climate problem: unequivocal warming, pervasive impacts, and serious risks from continued high emissions of heat-trapping gases. Societies are increasingly responding with early actions to decarbonize energy systems and prepare for impacts. This emerging era of climate solutions creates a need for new approaches to assessment that emphasize learning from ongoing real-world experiences and that help close the gap between aspirations and the pace of progress. Against this backdrop, the presentation will take stock of recent advances and challenges in assessment, especially drawing from analysis of climate change assessment. Four assessment priorities will be considered: (1) integrating diverse evidence including quantitative and qualitative results, (2) applying rigorous expert judgment in evaluating knowledge and uncertainties, (3) exploring widely ranging futures and their connections to ongoing choices and actions, and (4) incorporating interactions among experts and decision-makers in assessment processes. Across these assessment priorities, the presentation will critique both opportunities and pitfalls, outlining possibilities for future experimentation, innovation, and learning. It will evaluate, in particular, lessons from risk-based approaches; strategies for transparently acknowledging persistent uncertainties and contested priorities; ways to minimize biases and foster creativity in expert judgments; scenario-based assessment of surprises, deep uncertainties, and decision-making implications; and opportunities for broadening the conception of expertise and engaging different decision-makers and stakeholders. Overall, these approaches can advance assessment products and processes as a basis for sustained dialogue supporting decision-making.

Motility problems in the intellectually challenged child, adolescent, and young adult.

PubMed

Martinelli, Massimo; Staiano, Annamaria

2011-12-01

Gastrointestinal (GI) motility problems represent an important cause of morbidity and sometimes mortality in patients affected by developmental disorders. This article describes motility disorders in Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, familial dysautonomia, and Williams syndrome. These problems do not often receive appropriate attention, either because priority is given to other medical aspects of the disorder, or because of the inability of affected children to communicate their symptoms. A better approach to the diagnosis and treatment of GI disorders is required to improve quality of life and minimize morbidity and mortality among patients with developmental disorders.

Future Research Priorities for Morbidity Control of Lymphedema.

PubMed

Narahari, S R; Aggithaya, Madhur Guruprasad; Moffatt, Christine; Ryan, T J; Keeley, Vaughan; Vijaya, B; Rajendran, P; Karalam, S B; Rajagopala, S; Kumar, N K; Bose, K S; Sushma, K V

2017-01-01

Innovation in the treatment of lower extremity lymphedema has received low priority from the governments and pharmaceutical industry. Advancing lymphedema is irreversible and initiates fibrosis in the dermis, reactive changes in the epidermis and subcutis. Most medical treatments offered for lymphedema are either too demanding with a less than satisfactory response or patients have low concordance due to complex schedules. A priority setting partnership (PSP) was established to decide on the future priorities in lymphedema research. A table of abstracts following a literature search was published in workshop website. Stake holders were requested to upload their priorities. Their questions were listed, randomized, and sent to lymphologists for ranking. High ranked ten research priorities, obtained through median score, were presented in final prioritization work shop attended by invited stake holders. A free medical camp was organized during workshop to understand patients' priorities. One hundred research priorities were selected from priorities uploaded to website. Ten priorities were short listed through a peer review process involving 12 lymphologists, for final discussion. They were related to simplification of integrative treatment for lymphedema, cellular changes in lymphedema and mechanisms of its reversal, eliminating bacterial entry lesions to reduce cellulitis episodes, exploring evidence for therapies in traditional medicine, improving patient concordance to compression therapy, epidemiology of lymphatic filariasis (LF), and economic benefit of integrative treatments of lymphedema. A robust research priority setting process, organized as described in James Lind Alliance guidebook, identified seven priority areas to achieve effective morbidity control of lymphedema including LF. All stake holders including Department of Health Research, Government of India, participated in the PSP.

Future Research Priorities for Morbidity Control of Lymphedema

PubMed Central

Narahari, S R; Aggithaya, Madhur Guruprasad; Moffatt, Christine; Ryan, T J; Keeley, Vaughan; Vijaya, B; Rajendran, P; Karalam, S B; Rajagopala, S; Kumar, N K; Bose, K S; Sushma, K V

2017-01-01

Background: Innovation in the treatment of lower extremity lymphedema has received low priority from the governments and pharmaceutical industry. Advancing lymphedema is irreversible and initiates fibrosis in the dermis, reactive changes in the epidermis and subcutis. Most medical treatments offered for lymphedema are either too demanding with a less than satisfactory response or patients have low concordance due to complex schedules. A priority setting partnership (PSP) was established to decide on the future priorities in lymphedema research. Methods: A table of abstracts following a literature search was published in workshop website. Stake holders were requested to upload their priorities. Their questions were listed, randomized, and sent to lymphologists for ranking. High ranked ten research priorities, obtained through median score, were presented in final prioritization work shop attended by invited stake holders. A free medical camp was organized during workshop to understand patients’ priorities. Results: One hundred research priorities were selected from priorities uploaded to website. Ten priorities were short listed through a peer review process involving 12 lymphologists, for final discussion. They were related to simplification of integrative treatment for lymphedema, cellular changes in lymphedema and mechanisms of its reversal, eliminating bacterial entry lesions to reduce cellulitis episodes, exploring evidence for therapies in traditional medicine, improving patient concordance to compression therapy, epidemiology of lymphatic filariasis (LF), and economic benefit of integrative treatments of lymphedema. Conclusion: A robust research priority setting process, organized as described in James Lind Alliance guidebook, identified seven priority areas to achieve effective morbidity control of lymphedema including LF. All stake holders including Department of Health Research, Government of India, participated in the PSP. PMID:28216723

Integrating economic costs and biological traits into global conservation priorities for carnivores.

PubMed

Loyola, Rafael Dias; Oliveira-Santos, Luiz Gustavo Rodrigues; Almeida-Neto, Mário; Nogueira, Denise Martins; Kubota, Umberto; Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre Felizola; Lewinsohn, Thomas Michael

2009-08-27

Prioritization schemes usually highlight species-rich areas, where many species are at imminent risk of extinction. To be ecologically relevant these schemes should also include species biological traits into area-setting methods. Furthermore, in a world of limited funds for conservation, conservation action is constrained by land acquisition costs. Hence, including economic costs into conservation priorities can substantially improve their conservation cost-effectiveness. We examined four global conservation scenarios for carnivores based on the joint mapping of economic costs and species biological traits. These scenarios identify the most cost-effective priority sets of ecoregions, indicating best investment opportunities for safeguarding every carnivore species, and also establish priority sets that can maximize species representation in areas harboring highly vulnerable species. We compared these results with a scenario that minimizes the total number of ecoregions required for conserving all species, irrespective of other factors. We found that cost-effective conservation investments should focus on 41 ecoregions highlighted in the scenario that consider simultaneously both ecoregion vulnerability and economic costs of land acquisition. Ecoregions included in priority sets under these criteria should yield best returns of investments since they harbor species with high extinction risk and have lower mean land cost. Our study highlights ecoregions of particular importance for the conservation of the world's carnivores defining global conservation priorities in analyses that encompass socioeconomic and life-history factors. We consider the identification of a comprehensive priority-set of areas as a first step towards an in-situ biodiversity maintenance strategy.

Establishing priorities for psychological interventions in pediatric settings: A decision-tree approach using the DISABKIDS-10 Index as a screening instrument

PubMed Central

Silva, Neuza; Moreira, Helena; Canavarro, Maria Cristina; Carona, Carlos

2018-01-01

Most children and adolescents with chronic health conditions have impaired health-related quality of life and are at high risk of internalizing and externalizing problems. However, few patients present clinically significant symptoms. Using a decision-tree approach, this study aimed to identify risk profiles for psychological problems based on measures that can be easily scored and interpreted by healthcare professionals in pediatric settings. The participants were 736 children and adolescents between 8–18 years of age with asthma, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, type-1diabetes or obesity. The children and adolescents completed self-report measures of health-related quality of life (DISABKIDS-10) and psychological problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected from their parents/ physicians. Children and adolescents were classified into the normal (78.5%) or borderline/clinical range (21.5%) according to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire cut-off values for psychological problems. The overall accuracy of the decision-tree model was 78.1% (sensitivity = 71.5%; specificity = 79.9%), with 4 profiles predicting 71.5% of borderline/clinical cases. The strongest predictor of psychological problems was a health-related quality of life standardized score below the threshold of 57.5 for patients with cerebral palsy, epilepsy or obesity and below 70.0 for patients with asthma or diabetes. Other significant predictors were low socio-economic status, single-parent household, medication intake and younger age. The model showed adequate validity (risk = .28, SE = .02) and accuracy (area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve = .84; CI = .80/.87). The identification of pediatric patients at high risk for psychological problems may contribute to a more efficient allocation of health resources, particularly with regard to their referral to specialized psychological assessment and intervention. PMID:29852026

It's Not Too Late.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carvell, Fred; Tadlock, Max

This book contains 23 articles related to: 1) the scope of ecological concern; 2) our changing environment; 3) examples of attacks on the problem; 4) establishing priorities; and 5) the value judgments that are posed as a result of our growing ecological awareness. Selections express the divergent experience, professional backgrounds, and…

Nonformal Education: Problems and Prospects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, Manzoor

The confluence of three major forces has given a new significance to nonformal education for the developing countries--denied educational opportunities and resource constraints, questions about the relevance of formal education, and growing awareness of the importance of lifelong education. The absence of inadequacies of concepts and priorities of…

Science: The Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Susan

1979-01-01

Reports on the status of the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) and attempts to rationalize Suburban Highway Policy. Effective communication among members of the RAC is a current problem facing the committee. A federal transportation priority spending policy is suggested during these times of money and fuel shortages. (MA)

Combining Education and Work; Experiences in Asia and Oceania: Thailand.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ministry of Education, Bangkok (Thailand).

Reflected in priorities of secondary vocational training, agricultural education, and nonformal short courses, Thailand's education policy of "productive work experience" helps solve the problems of those who have an incomplete general education, have negative work attitudes and habits, are untrained dropouts, or are vocationally trained…

Attracting Preservice Teachers to Remote Locations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Kenneth D.; Grainger, Peter; James, Dennis

2018-01-01

Teaching in rural/remote regions poses many challenges to teachers and is identified as a priority research area by the state government. Despite initiatives by the Queensland state government and university providers to solve the issue through various incentives designed to attract teachers, the problem remains significant. This research…

78 FR 25277 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-30

...-related problems, obesity prevention has become a public health priority. Physical activity and dietary... physically active. Thus, one promising strategy to address nutrition and physical activity is through policy... improve nutrition and physical activity. CDC and others have recommended strategies to decrease sedentary...

What Really Needs to Be Built?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilbert, P. G.

1991-01-01

Discusses the development of a camp design brief that clarifies the specific priorities and criteria for building or expanding camp facilities. Presents three situations in which camp directors accurately diagnosed their facility problems but changed their building plans over time because of financial, operational, or locational considerations.…

Top 40 Priorities for Science to Inform US Conservation and Management Policy

EPA Science Inventory

We present a list of America's "Top 40" high-priority questions that, if answered, would help inform some of the most important current and future decisions about resource management in the United States

Development of a prototype land use model for statewide transportation planning activities : summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-01-01

Developing computer models of land use and : integrated transportation-land use are high : priorities for Florida transportation planners. : Land use information is fundamental to siting : roadways, signaling, setting maintenance : priorities, routin...

Do People Taking Flu Vaccines Need Them the Most?

PubMed Central

Gu, Qian; Sood, Neeraj

2011-01-01

Background A well targeted flu vaccine strategy can ensure that vaccines go to those who are at the highest risk of getting infected if unvaccinated. However, prior research has not explicitly examined the association between the risk of flu infection and vaccination rates. Purpose This study examines the relationship between the risk of flu infection and the probability of getting vaccinated. Methods Nationally representative data from the US and multivariate regression models were used to estimate what individual characteristics are associated with (1) the risk of flu infection when unvaccinated and (2) flu vaccination rates. These results were used to estimate the correlation between the probability of infection and the probability of getting vaccinated. Separate analyses were performed for the general population and the high priority population that is at increased risk of flu related complications. Results We find that the high priority population was more likely to get vaccinated compared to the general population. However, within both the high priority and general populations the risk of flu infection when unvaccinated was negatively correlated with vaccination rates (r = −0.067, p<0.01). This negative association between the risk of infection when unvaccinated and the probability of vaccination was stronger for the high priority population (r = −0.361, p<0.01). Conclusions There is a poor match between those who get flu vaccines and those who have a high risk of flu infection within both the high priority and general populations. Targeting vaccination to people with low socioeconomic status, people who are engaged in unhealthy behaviors, working people, and families with kids will likely improve effectiveness of flu vaccine policy. PMID:22164202

The Voices of Parents: Post-High School Expectations, Priorities, and Concerns for Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blustein, Carly L.; Carter, Erik W.; McMillan, Elise D.

2016-01-01

The expectations of parents can shape the post-school pathways of young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Yet little is known about how parents view the employment prospects and priorities of their sons and daughters after high school. We examined expectations, preferences, and concerns of 1,065 parents of children and…

Job Priorities on Peregrine | High-Performance Computing | NREL

Science.gov Websites

allocation when run with qos=high. Requesting a Node Reservation If you are doing work that requires real scheduler more efficiently plan resources for larger jobs. When projects reach their allocation limit, jobs associated with those projects will run at very low priority, which will ensure that these jobs run only when

High Priority Research Needs for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

PubMed Central

Robinson, Karen A.; Saldanha, Ian J.; Wilson, Lisa M.; Nicholson, Wanda K.

2012-01-01

Abstract Objective Identification of unanswered research questions about the management of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is necessary to focus future research endeavors. We developed a process for elucidating the highest priority research questions on GDM. Methods Using a systematic review on GDM as a starting point, we developed an eight-step process: (1) identification of research gaps, (2) feedback from the review's authors, (3) translation of gaps into researchable questions using population, intervention, comparators, outcomes, setting (PICOS) framework, (4) local institutions' stakeholders' refinement of research questions, (5) national stakeholders' use of Delphi method to develop consensus on the importance of research questions, (6) prioritization of outcomes, (7) conceptual framework, and (8) evaluation. Results We identified 15 high priority research questions for GDM. The research questions focused on medication management of GDM (e.g., various oral agents vs. insulin), delivery management for women with GDM (e.g., induction vs. expectant management), and identification of risk factors for, prevention of, and screening for type 2 diabetes in women with prior GDM. Stakeholders rated the development of chronic diseases in offspring, cesarean delivery, and birth trauma as high priority outcomes to measure in future studies. Conclusions We developed an eight-step process using a multidisciplinary group of stakeholders to identify 15 research questions of high clinical importance. Researchers, policymakers, and funders can use this list to direct research efforts and resources to the highest priority areas to improve care for women with GDM. PMID:22747422

Research on NC laser combined cutting optimization model of sheet metal parts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Z. Y.; Zhang, Y. L.; Li, L.; Wu, L. H.; Liu, N. B.

2017-09-01

The optimization problem for NC laser combined cutting of sheet metal parts was taken as the research object in this paper. The problem included two contents: combined packing optimization and combined cutting path optimization. In the problem of combined packing optimization, the method of “genetic algorithm + gravity center NFP + geometric transformation” was used to optimize the packing of sheet metal parts. In the problem of combined cutting path optimization, the mathematical model of cutting path optimization was established based on the parts cutting constraint rules of internal contour priority and cross cutting. The model played an important role in the optimization calculation of NC laser combined cutting.

Packet Scheduling Mechanism to Improve Quality of Short Flows and Low-Rate Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yokota, Kenji; Asaka, Takuya; Takahashi, Tatsuro

In recent years elephant flows are increasing by expansion of peer-to-peer (P2P) applications on the Internet. As a result, bandwidth is occupied by specific users triggering unfair resource allocation. The main packet-scheduling mechanism currently employed is first-in first-out (FIFO) where the available bandwidth of short flows is limited by elephant flows. Least attained service (LAS), which decides transfer priority of packets by the total amount of transferred data in all flows, was proposed to solve this problem. However, routers with LAS limit flows with large amount of transferred data even if they are low-rate. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the quality of low-rate flows with long holding times such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) applications. This paper proposes rate-based priority control (RBPC), which calculates the flow rate and control the priority by using it. Our proposed method can transfer short flows and low-rate flows in advance. Moreover, its fair performance is shown through simulations.

Climate change and mental health: risks, impacts and priority actions.

PubMed

Hayes, Katie; Blashki, G; Wiseman, J; Burke, S; Reifels, L

2018-01-01

This article provides an overview of the current and projected climate change risks and impacts to mental health and provides recommendations for priority actions to address the mental health consequences of climate change. The authors argue the following three points: firstly, while attribution of mental health outcomes to specific climate change risks remains challenging, there are a number of opportunities available to advance the field of mental health and climate change with more empirical research in this domain; secondly, the risks and impacts of climate change on mental health are already rapidly accelerating, resulting in a number of direct, indirect, and overarching effects that disproportionally affect those who are most marginalized; and, thirdly, interventions to address climate change and mental health need to be coordinated and rooted in active hope in order to tackle the problem in a holistic manner. This discussion paper concludes with recommendations for priority actions to address the mental health consequences of climate change.

[Challenges and countermeasures of forestry schistosomiasis control programs in ecological priority of Yangtze River economic belt development].

PubMed

Ning, Su; Yong-Jie, Xu

2016-12-13

Relevant projects carried out within the Yangtze River economic belt on the impact of schistosomiasis epidemic and transmission are important issues for "ecological priority" in the process of implementing the strategy. The key problems of schistosomiasis epidemic risk, epidemic happening repeatedly, difficulty of rehabilitating Oncomelania hupensis snail control and schistosomiasis prevention forest, lag of evaluation system and platform construction, lack of basic research, et al. were analyzed in the Yangtze River economic belt taking "ecological priority" as the basis in this paper. Then corresponding countermeasures to these challenges were put forward so as to provide the reference for the national forestry schistosomiasis control programs, which include: execution of the comprehensive prevention and control strategy, scheming of the new round of forestry schistosomiasis control programs, strengthening schistosomiasis prevention and control, promoting productivity in existing forestry to consolidate and improve the achievements of previous forestry schistosomiasis control programs, and promoting the intensity of technological innovation to improve the technological level of forestry schistosomiasis control programs.

Explaining process orientation failure and success in health care--three case studies.

PubMed

Hellman, Stefan; Kastberg, Gustaf; Siverbo, Sven

2015-01-01

In order to improve cooperation and collaboration between units, clinics and departments, many health care organizations (HCOs) have introduced process orientation. Several studies indicate problems in realizing these ambitions. The purpose of this paper is to explain and understand the success and failure of process orientation in HCOs. The authors conducted three case studies and applied Actor-Network Theory as an analytic lens. The realization of process orientation is hindered by neglect or resistance from physicians, who find the process targets to be of low medical priority. However, the authors also see that medical priorities are no stable entities but are susceptible to negotiations. Over time, process organization, process mapping, process measurement activities and the acting of enroled actors may have impact on medical priorities. Contrary to previous research, the findings indicate that New Public Management may not be the main obstacle against processes, that accounting figures may not be hard to disregard and that the role of leadership is not paramount.

Exploring spatial patterns of vulnerability for diverse biodiversity descriptors in regional conservation planning.

PubMed

Vimal, Ruppert; Pluvinet, Pascal; Sacca, Céline; Mazagol, Pierre-Olivier; Etlicher, Bernard; Thompson, John D

2012-03-01

In this study, we developed a multi-criteria assessment of spatial variability of the vulnerability of three different biodiversity descriptors: sites of high conservation interest by virtue of the presence of rare or remarkable species, extensive areas of high ecological integrity, and landscape diversity in grid cells across an entire region. We assessed vulnerability in relation to (a) direct threats in and around sites to a distance of 2 km associated with intensive agriculture, building and road infrastructure and (b) indirect effects of human population density on a wider scale (50 km). The different combinations of biodiversity and threat indicators allowed us to set differential priorities for biodiversity conservation and assess their spatial variation. For example, with this method we identified sites and grid cells which combined high biodiversity with either high threat values or low threat values for the three different biodiversity indicators. In these two classes the priorities for conservation planning will be different, reduce threat values in the former and restrain any increase in the latter. We also identified low priority sites (low biodiversity with either high or low threats). This procedure thus allows for the integration of a spatial ranking of vulnerability into priority setting for regional conservation planning. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Big data privacy protection model based on multi-level trusted system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Nan; Liu, Zehua; Han, Hongfeng

2018-05-01

This paper introduces and inherit the multi-level trusted system model that solves the Trojan virus by encrypting the privacy of user data, and achieve the principle: "not to read the high priority hierarchy, not to write the hierarchy with low priority". Thus ensuring that the low-priority data privacy leak does not affect the disclosure of high-priority data privacy. This paper inherits the multi-level trustworthy system model of Trojan horse and divides seven different risk levels. The priority level 1˜7 represent the low to high value of user data privacy, and realize seven kinds of encryption with different execution efficiency Algorithm, the higher the priority, the greater the value of user data privacy, at the expense of efficiency under the premise of choosing a more encrypted encryption algorithm to ensure data security. For enterprises, the price point is determined by the unit equipment users to decide the length of time. The higher the risk sub-group algorithm, the longer the encryption time. The model assumes that users prefer the lower priority encryption algorithm to ensure efficiency. This paper proposes a privacy cost model for each of the seven risk subgroups. Among them, the higher the privacy cost, the higher the priority of the risk sub-group, the higher the price the user needs to pay to ensure the privacy of the data. Furthermore, by introducing the existing pricing model of economics and the human traffic model proposed by this paper and fluctuating with the market demand, this paper improves the price of unit products when the market demand is low. On the other hand, when the market demand increases, the profit of the enterprise will be guaranteed under the guidance of the government by reducing the price per unit of product. Then, this paper introduces the dynamic factors of consumers' mood and age to optimize. At the same time, seven algorithms are selected from symmetric and asymmetric encryption algorithms to define the enterprise costs at different levels. Therefore, the proposed model solves the continuous influence caused by cascading events and ensures that the disclosure of low-level data privacy of users does not affect the high-level data privacy, thus greatly improving the safety of the private information of user.

Priorities for family building among patients and partners seeking treatment for infertility.

PubMed

Duthie, Elizabeth A; Cooper, Alexandra; Davis, Joseph B; Sandlow, Jay; Schoyer, Katherine D; Strawn, Estil; Flynn, Kathryn E

2017-04-05

Infertility treatment decisions require people to balance multiple priorities. Within couples, partners must also negotiate priorities with one another. In this study, we assessed the family-building priorities of couples prior to their first consultations with a reproductive specialist. Participants were couples who had upcoming first consultations with a reproductive specialist (N = 59 couples (59 women; 59 men)). Prior to the consultation, couples separately completed the Family-Building Priorities Tool, which tasked them with ranking from least to most important 10 factors associated with family building. We describe the highest (top three) and lowest (bottom three) priorities, the alignment of priorities within couples, and test for differences in prioritization between men and women within couples (Wilcoxon signed rank test). Maintaining a close and satisfying relationship with one's partner was ranked as a high priority by majorities of men and women, and in 25% of couples, both partners ranked this factor as their most important priority for family building. Majorities of men and women also ranked building a family in a way that does not make infertility obvious to others as a low priority, and in 27% of couples, both partners ranked this factor as the least important priority for family building. There were also differences within couples that involved either men or women ranking a particular goal more highly than their partners. More women ranked two factors higher than did their partners: 1) that I become a parent one way or another (p = 0.015) and 2) that I have a child in the next year or two (p < 0.001), whereas more men ranked 4 factors higher than their partners: 1) that our child has [woman's] genes (p = 0.025), 2) that our child has [man's] genes (p < 0.001), 3) that I maintain a close relationship with my partner (p = 0.034), and 4) that I avoid side effects from treatment (p < 0.001). Clinicians who support patients in assessing available family-building paths should be aware that: (1) patients balance multiple priorities as a part of, or beside, becoming a parent; and (2) patients and their partners may not be aligned in their prioritization of achieving parenthood. For infertility patients who are in relationships, clinicians should encourage the active participation of both partners as well as frank discussions about each partner's priorities for building their family.

Emergency automatic signalling system using time scheduling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rayavel, P.; Surenderanath, S.; Rathnavel, P.; Prakash, G.

2018-04-01

It is difficult to handle traffic congestion and maintain roads during traffic mainly in India. As the people migrate from rural to urban and sub-urban areas, it becomes still more critical. Presently Roadways is a standout amongst the most vital transportation. At the point when a car crash happens, crisis vehicles, for example, ambulances and fire trucks must rush to the mischance scene. There emerges a situation where a portion of the crisis vehicles may cause another car crash. Therefore it becomes still more difficult for emergency vehicle to reach the destination within a predicted time. To avoid that kind of problem we have come out with an effective idea which can reduce the potential in the traffic system. The traffic system is been modified using a wireless technology and high speed micro controller to provide smooth and clear flow of traffic for ambulance to reach the destination on time. This is achieved by using RFID Tag at the ambulance and RFID Reader at the traffic system i.e., traffic signal. This mainly deals with identifying the emergency vehicle and providing a green signal to traffic signal at time of traffic jam. — By assigning priorities to various traffic movements, we can control the traffic jam. In some moments like ambulance emergency, high delegates arrive people facing lot of trouble. To overcome this problem in this paper we propose a time priority based traffic system achieved by using RFID transmitter at the emergency vehicle and RFID receiver at the traffic system i.e., traffic signal. The signal from the emergency vehicle is sent to traffic system which after detecting it sends it to microcontroller which controls the traffic signal. If any emergency vehicle is detected the system goes to emergency system mode where signal switch to green and if it is not detected normal system mode.

A qualitative study on knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of mothers and health care providers toward pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.

PubMed

Harjaningrum, Agnes Tri; Kartasasmita, Cissy; Orne-Gliemann, Joanna; Jutand, Marthe-Aline; Goujon, Nicolas; Koeck, Jean-Louis

2013-03-01

Due to the high burden of pneumonia in Indonesia, the inclusion of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) into Indonesia's National Immunization Program (NIP) is recommended by World Health Organization. Prior to the introduction of new vaccines, it is imperative to assess the perceptions of the public and medical community about the disease and the vaccine. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of mothers and health care providers (HCPs) toward PCV in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Fifty-five respondents (26 mothers and 29 HCPs) were interviewed at public and private health care facilities in Bandung using semi-structured interviews in May-June 2011. Data were analyzed manually according to pre-defined themes. Although most mothers had low knowledge about PCV, did not perceive themselves as susceptible to the disease, perceived that cost was the main barrier to PCV access, and obtained little information on PCV, they considered pneumonia as a severe disease and a priority health problem, perceived benefits of the vaccine, and were likely to adopt it. Similarly, knowledge about PCV among most HCPs was limited. Despite perceiving cost as the main barrier, most HCPs perceived benefits of the vaccine, susceptibility and severity of the disease, regarded pneumonia as a priority health problem, and were likely to suggest the new vaccination. Despite the poor knowledge of mothers and HCPs about PCV, they are aware of the high burden of pneumonia and the need for a vaccine in the NIP. Perceived severity and benefits among mothers, and, additionally, perceived susceptibility among HCPs were manifested in the willingness to accept PCV. The findings would contribute to better understanding the factors, which could support decision-making about vaccine introduction, and be utilized for developing suitable messages for mothers and HCPs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[To be a woman in Africa. On the danger of being a mother. Mortality].

PubMed

Sow, F

1994-10-01

Losing their life while giving birth is a risk that too many women face. More than 33% of all maternal deaths each year occur in Africa, which has less than 12% of the world's population. 30-60% of deaths among African women aged 15-44 are pregnancy-related. Africa has the highest global maternal mortality rate. Its rural areas have an even greater maternal mortality rate. Common causes of maternal death are hemorrhaging, infections, anemia, vascular-renal problems, and abortion complications. In Asia and Africa, girls receive a lower quality and quantity of food than boys. They are also taken for medical care later and when in a more serious state. The lack of attention directed to medical care in early childhood is extended to adolescence, when girls are exposed to the risks of pregnancy and premature births. The culture protects young single mothers less than young wives. Single mothers hide their pregnancy and avoid medical visits. Others try to terminate the pregnancy. In developing countries, 25% of pregnancies are terminated. Menopausal women in Africa also face health risks (e.g., uterine cancer). Few underequipped health centers, lack of personnel, and the relative high cost of medical fees contribute to high maternal mortality rates. In Burkina Faso in 1985, there was only one gynecologist, one midwife, and one maternity hospital for every 225,000, 6250, and 69,230 women of reproductive age, respectively. Access to quality care is still a luxury. The recent devaluation of the CFA franc and the total destabilization of the zaire only exacerbates the awful status of women's lives in Africa. Priorities should be: ensuring prevention and treatment of obstetrical problems, increasing information on pregnancy risks, making family planning services accessible, and improving the quality of care. The most important priority is to let women have control over their own bodies, sexuality, and fertility. An inalienable right of women is to not have to die during childbirth.

Moving graphene devices from lab to market: advanced graphene-coated nanoprobes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hui, Fei; Vajha, Pujashree; Shi, Yuanyuan; Ji, Yanfeng; Duan, Huiling; Padovani, Andrea; Larcher, Luca; Li, Xiao Rong; Xu, Jing Juan; Lanza, Mario

2016-04-01

After more than a decade working with graphene there is still a preoccupying lack of commercial devices based on this wonder material. Here we report the use of high-quality solution-processed graphene sheets to fabricate ultra-sharp probes with superior performance. Nanoprobes are versatile tools used in many fields of science, but they can wear fast after some experiments, reducing the quality and increasing the cost of the research. As the market of nanoprobes is huge, providing a solution for this problem should be a priority for the nanotechnology industry. Our graphene-coated nanoprobes not only show enhanced lifetime, but also additional unique properties of graphene, such as hydrophobicity. Moreover, we have functionalized the surface of graphene to provide piezoelectric capability, and have fabricated a nano relay. The simplicity and low cost of this method, which can be used to coat any kind of sharp tip, make it suitable for the industry, allowing production on demand.After more than a decade working with graphene there is still a preoccupying lack of commercial devices based on this wonder material. Here we report the use of high-quality solution-processed graphene sheets to fabricate ultra-sharp probes with superior performance. Nanoprobes are versatile tools used in many fields of science, but they can wear fast after some experiments, reducing the quality and increasing the cost of the research. As the market of nanoprobes is huge, providing a solution for this problem should be a priority for the nanotechnology industry. Our graphene-coated nanoprobes not only show enhanced lifetime, but also additional unique properties of graphene, such as hydrophobicity. Moreover, we have functionalized the surface of graphene to provide piezoelectric capability, and have fabricated a nano relay. The simplicity and low cost of this method, which can be used to coat any kind of sharp tip, make it suitable for the industry, allowing production on demand. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr06235g

Medicinal plants and their uses by the people in the Region of Randa, Djibouti.

PubMed

Hassan-Abdallah, Alshaimaa; Merito, Ali; Hassan, Souad; Aboubaker, Djaltou; Djama, Mahdi; Asfaw, Zemede; Kelbessa, Ensermu

2013-07-09

The article presents the local knowledge on medicinal plants and their relevance in managing health problems. Important ethnobotanical leads are given with priority species and disease categories, casting insight on future phytochemical and pharmacological studies. The use of traditional medicinal plants has been an integral part of the traditional healthcare systems in Djibouti. However, scientific studies on the traditional herbal healing systems of the various cultural groups have never been undertaken. This study has, therefore, aimed at assessing plant-related ethnomedicinal knowledge of the people in Randa Region; prioritising the plants with respect to common disease categories and inferring about prospects of new pharmacological products. Interview-based ethnobotanical field study was carried out to document the plant-based ethnomedicinal knowledge handed down to the present by the oral tradition of people living in 24 villages in Tadjourah District of Randa Region (north Djibouti). Informant Consensus Factors (ICF) and Fidelity Level (FL) values of the medicinal plants were calculated to check the level of informant agreement and the healing potentials of the species. A total of 91 plant species that belong to 72 genera and 40 families were documented. Most of these species (92%) were collected from non-cultivated areas. Their local names and traditional uses in medicine were also studied. The plant family Fabaceae was represented by the highest number of taxa (17 species). Strong informant agreements hinted at good healing potentials of some species as shown by high values of consensus factors for eye diseases (0.98), mouth diseases (0.93), kidney problems (0.89) and microbial infections (0.84). Dodonea angustifolia, Solanum cordatum, Grewia erythraea, Acalypha indica, Acacia etbaica, Fagonia schweinfurthii, Solanum coagulans, Senna alexandrina and Grewia tembensis scored high FL values emerging as promising priority species for future pharmacological screening against microbial infections. The results of this study may inspire further ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological research and investigations toward drug discovery in Djibouti and beyond. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mortality determinants and prediction of outcome in high risk newborns.

PubMed

Dalvi, R; Dalvi, B V; Birewar, N; Chari, G; Fernandez, A R

1990-06-01

The aim of this study was to determine independent patient-related predictors of mortality in high risk newborns admitted at our centre. The study population comprised 100 consecutive newborns each, from the premature unit (PU) and sick baby care unit (SBCU), respectively. Thirteen high risk factors (variables) for each of the two units, were entered into a multivariate regression analysis. Variables with independent predictive value for poor outcome (i.e., death) in PU were, weight less than 1 kg, hyaline membrane disease, neurologic problems, and intravenous therapy. High risk factors in SBCU included, blood gas abnormality, bleeding phenomena, recurrent convulsions, apnea, and congenital anomalies. Identification of these factors guided us in defining priority areas for improvement in our system of neonatal care. Also, based on these variables a simple predictive score for outcome was constructed. The prediction equation and the score were cross-validated by applying them to a 'test-set' of 100 newborns each for PU and SBCU. Results showed a comparable sensitivity, specificity and error rate.

The "Good Governance" of Evidence in Health Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawkins, Benjamin; Parkhurst, Justin

2016-01-01

Calls for evidence-based policy often fail to recognise the fundamentally political nature of policy making. Policy makers must identify, evaluate and utilise evidence to solve policy problems in the face of competing priorities and political agendas. Evidence should inform but cannot determine policy choices. This paper draws on theories of…

76 FR 37090 - Final Priorities; Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-24

... development of innovative technologies that are designed to solve particular rehabilitation problems, or to... of universal design in its product research and development. Universal design is the design of... adaptation or specialized design (North Carolina State University, 1997, The Center for Universal Design...

7 CFR 634.14 - Review and approval of project applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... quality, (3) Economic, and technical feasibility to control water quality problems within the life of the... and recommending priorities, the NRCWCC will consider the following: (1) Severity of the water quality...) Effects on human health, (ii) Population benefited by improved water quality, (iii) Effects on the natural...

7 CFR 634.14 - Review and approval of project applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... quality, (3) Economic, and technical feasibility to control water quality problems within the life of the... and recommending priorities, the NRCWCC will consider the following: (1) Severity of the water quality...) Effects on human health, (ii) Population benefited by improved water quality, (iii) Effects on the natural...

7 CFR 634.14 - Review and approval of project applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... quality, (3) Economic, and technical feasibility to control water quality problems within the life of the... and recommending priorities, the NRCWCC will consider the following: (1) Severity of the water quality...) Effects on human health, (ii) Population benefited by improved water quality, (iii) Effects on the natural...

7 CFR 634.14 - Review and approval of project applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... quality, (3) Economic, and technical feasibility to control water quality problems within the life of the... and recommending priorities, the NRCWCC will consider the following: (1) Severity of the water quality...) Effects on human health, (ii) Population benefited by improved water quality, (iii) Effects on the natural...

7 CFR 634.14 - Review and approval of project applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... quality, (3) Economic, and technical feasibility to control water quality problems within the life of the... and recommending priorities, the NRCWCC will consider the following: (1) Severity of the water quality...) Effects on human health, (ii) Population benefited by improved water quality, (iii) Effects on the natural...