Atypical inter-hemispheric communication correlates with altered motor inhibition during learning of a new bimanual coordination pattern in developmental coordination disorder.

PubMed

Blais, Mélody; Amarantini, David; Albaret, Jean-Michel; Chaix, Yves; Tallet, Jessica

2018-05-01

Impairment of motor learning skills in developmental coordination disorder (DCD) has been reported in several studies. Some hypotheses on neural mechanisms of motor learning deficits in DCD have emerged but, to date, brain-imaging investigations are scarce. The aim of the present study is to assess possible changes in communication between brain areas during practice of a new bimanual coordination task in teenagers with DCD (n = 10) compared to matched controls (n = 10). Accuracy, stability and number of mirror movements were computed as behavioural variables. Neural variables were assessed by electroencephalographic coherence analyses of intra-hemispheric and inter-hemispheric fronto-central electrodes. In both groups, accuracy of the new coordination increased concomitantly with right intra-hemispheric fronto-central coherence. Compared to typically developing teenagers, DCD teenagers presented learning difficulties expressed by less stability, no stabilization of the new coordination and a greater number of mirror movements despite practice. These measures correlated with reduced inter-hemispheric communication, even after practice of the new coordination. For the first time, these findings provide neuro-imaging evidence of a kind of inter-hemispheric 'disconnection' related to altered inhibition of mirror movements during motor learning in DCD. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Behavioral evidence for inter-hemispheric cooperation during a lexical decision task: a divided visual field experiment.

PubMed

Perrone-Bertolotti, Marcela; Lemonnier, Sophie; Baciu, Monica

2013-01-01

HIGHLIGHTSThe redundant bilateral visual presentation of verbal stimuli decreases asymmetry and increases the cooperation between the two hemispheres.The increased cooperation between the hemispheres is related to semantic information during lexical processing.The inter-hemispheric interaction is represented by both inhibition and cooperation. This study explores inter-hemispheric interaction (IHI) during a lexical decision task by using a behavioral approach, the bilateral presentation of stimuli within a divided visual field experiment. Previous studies have shown that compared to unilateral presentation, the bilateral redundant (BR) presentation decreases the inter-hemispheric asymmetry and facilitates the cooperation between hemispheres. However, it is still poorly understood which type of information facilitates this cooperation. In the present study, verbal stimuli were presented unilaterally (left or right visual hemi-field successively) and bilaterally (left and right visual hemi-field simultaneously). Moreover, during the bilateral presentation of stimuli, we manipulated the relationship between target and distractors in order to specify the type of information which modulates the IHI. Thus, three types of information were manipulated: perceptual, semantic, and decisional, respectively named pre-lexical, lexical and post-lexical processing. Our results revealed left hemisphere (LH) lateralization during the lexical decision task. In terms of inter-hemisphere interaction, the perceptual and decision-making information increased the inter-hemispheric asymmetry, suggesting the inhibition of one hemisphere upon the other. In contrast, semantic information decreased the inter-hemispheric asymmetry, suggesting cooperation between the hemispheres. We discussed our results according to current models of IHI and concluded that cerebral hemispheres interact and communicate according to various excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms, all which depend on specific processes and various levels of word processing.

Behavioral evidence for inter-hemispheric cooperation during a lexical decision task: a divided visual field experiment

PubMed Central

Perrone-Bertolotti, Marcela; Lemonnier, Sophie; Baciu, Monica

2013-01-01

HIGHLIGHTS The redundant bilateral visual presentation of verbal stimuli decreases asymmetry and increases the cooperation between the two hemispheres.The increased cooperation between the hemispheres is related to semantic information during lexical processing.The inter-hemispheric interaction is represented by both inhibition and cooperation. This study explores inter-hemispheric interaction (IHI) during a lexical decision task by using a behavioral approach, the bilateral presentation of stimuli within a divided visual field experiment. Previous studies have shown that compared to unilateral presentation, the bilateral redundant (BR) presentation decreases the inter-hemispheric asymmetry and facilitates the cooperation between hemispheres. However, it is still poorly understood which type of information facilitates this cooperation. In the present study, verbal stimuli were presented unilaterally (left or right visual hemi-field successively) and bilaterally (left and right visual hemi-field simultaneously). Moreover, during the bilateral presentation of stimuli, we manipulated the relationship between target and distractors in order to specify the type of information which modulates the IHI. Thus, three types of information were manipulated: perceptual, semantic, and decisional, respectively named pre-lexical, lexical and post-lexical processing. Our results revealed left hemisphere (LH) lateralization during the lexical decision task. In terms of inter-hemisphere interaction, the perceptual and decision-making information increased the inter-hemispheric asymmetry, suggesting the inhibition of one hemisphere upon the other. In contrast, semantic information decreased the inter-hemispheric asymmetry, suggesting cooperation between the hemispheres. We discussed our results according to current models of IHI and concluded that cerebral hemispheres interact and communicate according to various excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms, all which depend on specific processes and various levels of word processing. PMID:23818879

Assessing young children's intention-reading in authentic communicative contexts: preliminary evidence and clinical utility.

PubMed

Greenslade, Kathryn J; Coggins, Truman E

2014-01-01

Identifying what a communication partner is looking at (referential intention) and why (social intention) is essential to successful social communication, and may be challenging for children with social communication deficits. This study explores a clinical task that assesses these intention-reading abilities within an authentic context. To gather evidence of the task's reliability and validity, and to discuss its clinical utility. The intention-reading task was administered to twenty 4-7-year-olds with typical development (TD) and ten with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Task items were embedded in an authentic activity, and they targeted the child's ability to identify the examiner's referential and social intentions, which were communicated through joint attention behaviours. Reliability and construct validity evidence were addressed using established psychometric methods. Reliability and validity evidence supported the use of task scores for identifying children whose intention-reading warranted concern. Evidence supported the reliability of task administration and coding, and item-level codes were highly consistent with overall task performance. Supporting task validity, group differences aligned with predictions, with children with ASD exhibiting poorer and more variable task scores than children with TD. Also, as predicted, task scores correlated significantly with verbal mental age and ratings of parental concerns regarding social communication abilities. The evidence provides preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the clinical task's scores in assessing young children's real-time intention-reading abilities, which are essential for successful interactions in school and beyond. © 2014 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Metapragmatic explicitation ability in children with typical language development: development and validation of a novel clinical assessment.

PubMed

Collins, Anna; Lockton, Elaine; Adams, Catherine

2014-01-01

Speech-language practitioners recognise the importance of metapragmatic (MP) ability (the ability to explicitly reflect on pragmatic rules) in therapy for children with pragmatic and social communication difficulties. There is inconclusive evidence in the literature regarding both the development of metapragmatic ability in children with typical language and the expected levels of explicitation (reflection on pragmatic behaviours) in children's metapragmatic descriptions. The main purposes of this study were to investigate the reliability of a novel task of metapragmatic awareness (the Assessment of Metapragmatics or AMP) and to investigate typical developmental trends of metapragmatic ability and metapragmatic explicitation using the AMP task. Analysis of pooled data from 40 children with typical language development aged between six and eleven years and 48 children with communication impairments indicated that the AMP task had satisfactory internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. For children with typical language development, there was no relationship between gender and metapragmatic ability as measured by AMP. There was a linear relationship between age and AMP task scores and between age and explicitation. The scoring system used in the AMP task was sensitive to age-related changes in metapragmatic ability in a normative sample. The sophistication of metapragmatic awareness (explicitation) also increased with age. At age six years, children demonstrated metapragmatic awareness in their responses to 74% of AMP stimuli items; this increased to 95% of AMP items at ages 10-11 years. The AMP is a reliable measure of development in MP explicitation for children with satisfactory face validity in terms of acceptability to communication professionals and to child participants. From age six, children have some awareness of pragmatic acts and can identify and relate linguistic cues or pragmatic rules in atypical interactions of the type depicted in the AMP. The AMP task solicited significantly increased frequency of use of higher levels of MP explication beyond seven years of age in children with typical language development. Readers will explain the development, reliability and structure of a novel task that measures the ability of a child to understand and explain pragmatic rules. Readers will also identify age related changes in this ability in a sample of typically developing child participants. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring inter-task transfer following a CO-OP approach with four children with DCD: A single subject multiple baseline design.

PubMed

Capistran, Julie; Martini, Rose

2016-10-01

Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) approach has been shown to be effective for improving the performance of tasks worked on in therapy and the use of cognitive strategies. No study to date seems to have explored its effectiveness for improving performance of untrained tasks (inter-task transfer) in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). This study aimed to determine whether CO-OP leads to improved performance in an untrained task. A single-subject design with multiple baselines across skills was adopted, with three replications. Four children with DCD (7-12years) received 10 sessions of CO-OP intervention where each child worked on three tasks during therapy sessions and a fourth task was identified, but not worked on, to verify inter-task transfer. Task performance was rated over four phases (baseline, intervention, post-intervention, follow-up) using the Performance Quality Rating Scale (PQRS-OD). Graphed data was statistically analyzed using a two or three standard deviation band method. Significant improvement was obtained for 11 of 12 tasks worked on during therapy and for two of the four untrained tasks. These results indicate that the effectiveness of CO-OP to improve untrained tasks in children merit further exploration. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Does emotional intelligence predict breaking bad news skills in pediatric interns? A pilot study

PubMed Central

Reed, Suzanne; Kassis, Karyn; Nagel, Rollin; Verbeck, Nicole; Mahan, John D.; Shell, Richard

2015-01-01

Background While both patients and physicians identify communication of bad news as an area of great challenge, the factors underlying this often complex task remain largely unknown. Emotional intelligence (EI) has been positively correlated with good general communication skills and successful leadership, but there is no literature relating EI to the delivery of bad news. Purpose Our objectives were to determine: 1) performance of first-year pediatric residents in the delivery of bad news in a standardized patient (SP) setting; and 2) the role of EI in these assessments. Our hypothesis was that pediatric trainees with higher EI would demonstrate more advanced skills in this communication task. Methods Forty first- year residents participated. Skill in bad news delivery was assessed via SP encounters using a previously published assessment tool (GRIEV_ING Death Notification Protocol). Residents completed the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI) as a measure of EI. Results Residents scored poorly on bad news delivery skills but scored well on EI. Intraclass correlation coefficients indicated moderate to substantial inter-rater reliability among raters using the delivering bad news assessment tool. However, no correlation was found between bad news delivery performance and EI. Conclusions We concluded that first-year pediatric residents have inadequate skills in the delivery of bad news. In addition, our data suggest that higher EI alone is not sufficient to effectively deliver death news and more robust skill training is necessary for residents to gain competence and acquire mastery in this important communication domain. PMID:26286897

Does emotional intelligence predict breaking bad news skills in pediatric interns? A pilot study.

PubMed

Reed, Suzanne; Kassis, Karyn; Nagel, Rollin; Verbeck, Nicole; Mahan, John D; Shell, Richard

2015-01-01

While both patients and physicians identify communication of bad news as an area of great challenge, the factors underlying this often complex task remain largely unknown. Emotional intelligence (EI) has been positively correlated with good general communication skills and successful leadership, but there is no literature relating EI to the delivery of bad news. Our objectives were to determine: 1) performance of first-year pediatric residents in the delivery of bad news in a standardized patient (SP) setting; and 2) the role of EI in these assessments. Our hypothesis was that pediatric trainees with higher EI would demonstrate more advanced skills in this communication task. Forty first-year residents participated. Skill in bad news delivery was assessed via SP encounters using a previously published assessment tool (GRIEV_ING Death Notification Protocol). Residents completed the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI) as a measure of EI. Residents scored poorly on bad news delivery skills but scored well on EI. Intraclass correlation coefficients indicated moderate to substantial inter-rater reliability among raters using the delivering bad news assessment tool. However, no correlation was found between bad news delivery performance and EI. We concluded that first-year pediatric residents have inadequate skills in the delivery of bad news. In addition, our data suggest that higher EI alone is not sufficient to effectively deliver death news and more robust skill training is necessary for residents to gain competence and acquire mastery in this important communication domain.

Does emotional intelligence predict breaking bad news skills in pediatric interns? A pilot study.

PubMed

Reed, Suzanne; Kassis, Karyn; Nagel, Rollin; Verbeck, Nicole; Mahan, John D; Shell, Richard

2015-01-01

Background While both patients and physicians identify communication of bad news as an area of great challenge, the factors underlying this often complex task remain largely unknown. Emotional intelligence (EI) has been positively correlated with good general communication skills and successful leadership, but there is no literature relating EI to the delivery of bad news. Purpose Our objectives were to determine: 1) performance of first-year pediatric residents in the delivery of bad news in a standardized patient (SP) setting; and 2) the role of EI in these assessments. Our hypothesis was that pediatric trainees with higher EI would demonstrate more advanced skills in this communication task. Methods Forty first- year residents participated. Skill in bad news delivery was assessed via SP encounters using a previously published assessment tool (GRIEV_ING Death Notification Protocol). Residents completed the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI) as a measure of EI. Results Residents scored poorly on bad news delivery skills but scored well on EI. Intraclass correlation coefficients indicated moderate to substantial inter-rater reliability among raters using the delivering bad news assessment tool. However, no correlation was found between bad news delivery performance and EI. Conclusions We concluded that first-year pediatric residents have inadequate skills in the delivery of bad news. In addition, our data suggest that higher EI alone is not sufficient to effectively deliver death news and more robust skill training is necessary for residents to gain competence and acquire mastery in this important communication domain.

How can scientists bring research to use: the HENVINET experience.

PubMed

Bartonova, Alena

2012-06-28

Health concerns have driven the European environmental policies of the last 25 years, with issues becoming more complex. Addressing these concerns requires an approach that is both interdisciplinary and engages scientists with society. In response to this requirement, the FP6 coordination action "Health and Environment Network" HENVINET was set up to create a permanent inter-disciplinary network of professionals in the field of health and environment tasked to bridge the communication gap between science and society. In this paper we describe how HENVINET delivered on this task. The HENVINET project approached the issue of inter-disciplinary collaboration in four ways. (1) The Drivers-Pressures-State-Exposure-Effect-Action framework was used to structure information gathering, collaboration and communication between scientists in the field of health and the environment. (2) Interactive web-based tools were developed to enhance methods for knowledge evaluation, and use these methods to formulate policy advice. (3) Quantification methods were adapted to measure scientific agreement. And (4) Open architecture web technology was used to develop an information repository and a web portal to facilitate collaboration and communication among scientists. Twenty-five organizations from Europe and five from outside Europe participated in the Health and Environment Network HENVINET, which lasted for 3.5 years. The consortium included partners in environmental research, public health and veterinary medicine; included medical practitioners and representatives of local administrations; and had access to national policy making and EEA and WHO expertise. Dedicated web-based tools for visualisation of environmental health issues and knowledge evaluation allowed remote expert elicitation, and were used as a basis for developing policy advice in five health areas (asthma and allergies; cancer; neurodevelopmental disorders; endocrine disruption; and engineered nanoparticles in the environment). An open searchable database of decision support tools was established and populated. A web based social networking tool was developed to enhance collaboration and communication between scientists and society. HENVINET addressed key issues that arise in inter-disciplinary research on health and environment and in communicating research results to policy makers and society. HENVINET went beyond traditional scientific tools and methods to bridge the communication gap between science and policy makers. The project identified the need for a common framework and delivered it. It developed and implemented a variety of novel methods and tools and, using several representative examples, demonstrated the process of producing politically relevant scientific advice based on an open participation of experts. It highlighted the need for, and benefits of, a liaison between health and environment professionals and professionals in the social sciences and liberal arts. By adopting critical complexity thinking, HENVINET extended the traditional approach to environment and health research, and set the standard for current approaches to bridge the gap between science and society.

Identification of influencing factors and strategies to improve communication between general practitioners and community nurses: a qualitative focus group study.

PubMed

Nieuwboer, Minke S; Perry, Marieke; van der Sande, Rob; Maassen, Irma T H M; Olde Rikkert, Marcel G M; van der Marck, Marjolein A

2018-02-26

As the number of patients with complex healthcare needs grows, inter-professional collaboration between primary care professionals must be constantly optimized. General practitioners (GPs) and community nurses (CNs) are key professions in primary care; however, poor GP-CN communication is common, and research into the factors influencing its quality is limited. To explore patient-related GP-CN communication and facilitating and hindering factors, and to identify strategies to enhance this communication. A qualitative focus group design was used to identify the facilitating and hindering factors and strategies for improvement. In a Dutch primary care setting, 6 mono-professional focus group interviews (3 meetings of 13 GPs; 3 meetings of 18 CNs) were organized between June 2015 and April 2016, recorded and transcribed verbatim. Two independent researchers performed the coding of these interviews, identifying their categories and themes. Results show that, despite the regular contact between GPs and CNs, communication was generally perceived as poor in effectiveness and efficiency by both professions. Mutual trust was considered the most important facilitating factor for effective communication. Profession-specific factors (e.g. differences in responsibility and profession-specific language) and organizational factors (e.g. lack of shared care plans, no in-person communication, lack of time) may be of influence on communication. Participants' suggestions for improvement included organizing well-structured and reimbursed team meetings and facilitating face-to-face contact. GP-CN patient-related communication benefits most from trusting inter-personal relationships. Inter-professional training programmes should address both professional and organizational factors and should be evaluated for their effect on quality of care.

The effects of aging on the asymmetry of inter-limb transfer in a visuomotor task.

PubMed

Pan, Zhujun; Van Gemmert, Arend W A

2013-09-01

The direction of the asymmetry of inter-limb transfer has been suggested to identify the specialization of each hemisphere when performing a motor task. In an earlier study, we showed that trajectory information is only transferred from the right to the left hand, while final movement outcome-associated parameters transferred in both directions when right-hand-dominant individuals perform a motor task with visual distorted feedback. In the current study, we try to replicate this finding in young adults and test whether the asymmetry of inter-limb transfer in visuomotor task reduces in older adults, suggesting that hemispheric lateralization reduces with age. Young and older adults (all right-hand-dominant) performed a multidirectional point-to-point drawing task in which the visual feedback was rotated and the gain was increased. Half of the participants in each age group trained with the right hand and the other half trained with the left hand. Performances of both hands with non-distorted and distorted visual feedback were collected from all participants before and after the training session. The results showed that the pattern of inter-limb transfer was similar between young and older adults, i.e., inter-limb transfer is asymmetric for initial direction and symmetric for movement time and trajectory length. The results suggest that older adults retain the specialized functions of the non-dominant (right) hemisphere allowing them to program movement direction of a graphic aiming task when visual feedback is distorted.

Understanding and Visualizing Multitasking and Task Switching Activities: A Time Motion Study to Capture Nursing Workflow

PubMed Central

Yen, Po-Yin; Kelley, Marjorie; Lopetegui, Marcelo; Rosado, Amber L.; Migliore, Elaina M.; Chipps, Esther M.; Buck, Jacalyn

2016-01-01

A fundamental understanding of multitasking within nursing workflow is important in today’s dynamic and complex healthcare environment. We conducted a time motion study to understand nursing workflow, specifically multitasking and task switching activities. We used TimeCaT, a comprehensive electronic time capture tool, to capture observational data. We established inter-observer reliability prior to data collection. We completed 56 hours of observation of 10 registered nurses. We found, on average, nurses had 124 communications and 208 hands-on tasks per 4-hour block of time. They multitasked (having communication and hands-on tasks simultaneously) 131 times, representing 39.48% of all times; the total multitasking duration ranges from 14.6 minutes to 109 minutes, 44.98 minutes (18.63%) on average. We also reviewed workflow visualization to uncover the multitasking events. Our study design and methods provide a practical and reliable approach to conducting and analyzing time motion studies from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. PMID:28269924

Understanding and Visualizing Multitasking and Task Switching Activities: A Time Motion Study to Capture Nursing Workflow.

PubMed

Yen, Po-Yin; Kelley, Marjorie; Lopetegui, Marcelo; Rosado, Amber L; Migliore, Elaina M; Chipps, Esther M; Buck, Jacalyn

2016-01-01

A fundamental understanding of multitasking within nursing workflow is important in today's dynamic and complex healthcare environment. We conducted a time motion study to understand nursing workflow, specifically multitasking and task switching activities. We used TimeCaT, a comprehensive electronic time capture tool, to capture observational data. We established inter-observer reliability prior to data collection. We completed 56 hours of observation of 10 registered nurses. We found, on average, nurses had 124 communications and 208 hands-on tasks per 4-hour block of time. They multitasked (having communication and hands-on tasks simultaneously) 131 times, representing 39.48% of all times; the total multitasking duration ranges from 14.6 minutes to 109 minutes, 44.98 minutes (18.63%) on average. We also reviewed workflow visualization to uncover the multitasking events. Our study design and methods provide a practical and reliable approach to conducting and analyzing time motion studies from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives.

Developing an Approach for Analyzing and Verifying System Communication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stratton, William C.; Lindvall, Mikael; Ackermann, Chris; Sibol, Deane E.; Godfrey, Sally

2009-01-01

This slide presentation reviews a project for developing an approach for analyzing and verifying the inter system communications. The motivation for the study was that software systems in the aerospace domain are inherently complex, and operate under tight constraints for resources, so that systems of systems must communicate with each other to fulfill the tasks. The systems of systems requires reliable communications. The technical approach was to develop a system, DynSAVE, that detects communication problems among the systems. The project enhanced the proven Software Architecture Visualization and Evaluation (SAVE) tool to create Dynamic SAVE (DynSAVE). The approach monitors and records low level network traffic, converting low level traffic into meaningful messages, and displays the messages in a way the issues can be detected.

The origin of bursts and heavy tails in human dynamics.

PubMed

Barabási, Albert-László

2005-05-12

The dynamics of many social, technological and economic phenomena are driven by individual human actions, turning the quantitative understanding of human behaviour into a central question of modern science. Current models of human dynamics, used from risk assessment to communications, assume that human actions are randomly distributed in time and thus well approximated by Poisson processes. In contrast, there is increasing evidence that the timing of many human activities, ranging from communication to entertainment and work patterns, follow non-Poisson statistics, characterized by bursts of rapidly occurring events separated by long periods of inactivity. Here I show that the bursty nature of human behaviour is a consequence of a decision-based queuing process: when individuals execute tasks based on some perceived priority, the timing of the tasks will be heavy tailed, with most tasks being rapidly executed, whereas a few experience very long waiting times. In contrast, random or priority blind execution is well approximated by uniform inter-event statistics. These finding have important implications, ranging from resource management to service allocation, in both communications and retail.

An Integrated Approach to Locality-Conscious Processor Allocation and Scheduling of Mixed-Parallel Applications

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

Vydyanathan, Naga; Krishnamoorthy, Sriram; Sabin, Gerald M.

2009-08-01

Complex parallel applications can often be modeled as directed acyclic graphs of coarse-grained application-tasks with dependences. These applications exhibit both task- and data-parallelism, and combining these two (also called mixedparallelism), has been shown to be an effective model for their execution. In this paper, we present an algorithm to compute the appropriate mix of task- and data-parallelism required to minimize the parallel completion time (makespan) of these applications. In other words, our algorithm determines the set of tasks that should be run concurrently and the number of processors to be allocated to each task. The processor allocation and scheduling decisionsmore » are made in an integrated manner and are based on several factors such as the structure of the taskgraph, the runtime estimates and scalability characteristics of the tasks and the inter-task data communication volumes. A locality conscious scheduling strategy is used to improve inter-task data reuse. Evaluation through simulations and actual executions of task graphs derived from real applications as well as synthetic graphs shows that our algorithm consistently generates schedules with lower makespan as compared to CPR and CPA, two previously proposed scheduling algorithms. Our algorithm also produces schedules that have lower makespan than pure taskand data-parallel schedules. For task graphs with known optimal schedules or lower bounds on the makespan, our algorithm generates schedules that are closer to the optima than other scheduling approaches.« less

Achieving Cross-Domain Synergy: Overcoming Service Barriers to Joint Force 2020

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-13

culture. It is my hope that this thesis will be of value to the Joint community by contributing to their understanding of inter-service cultural...Identify leadership implications. 8. Identify metrics, measures, and milestones to maintain accountability. 9. Identify a communication strategy...Under- communicating the vision 5. Permitting obstacles to block the vision 6. Failing to create short-term wins 7. Declaring victory too soon 8

Genetic algorithm based task reordering to improve the performance of batch scheduled massively parallel scientific applications

DOE PAGES

Sankaran, Ramanan; Angel, Jordan; Brown, W. Michael

2015-04-08

The growth in size of networked high performance computers along with novel accelerator-based node architectures has further emphasized the importance of communication efficiency in high performance computing. The world's largest high performance computers are usually operated as shared user facilities due to the costs of acquisition and operation. Applications are scheduled for execution in a shared environment and are placed on nodes that are not necessarily contiguous on the interconnect. Furthermore, the placement of tasks on the nodes allocated by the scheduler is sub-optimal, leading to performance loss and variability. Here, we investigate the impact of task placement on themore » performance of two massively parallel application codes on the Titan supercomputer, a turbulent combustion flow solver (S3D) and a molecular dynamics code (LAMMPS). Benchmark studies show a significant deviation from ideal weak scaling and variability in performance. The inter-task communication distance was determined to be one of the significant contributors to the performance degradation and variability. A genetic algorithm-based parallel optimization technique was used to optimize the task ordering. This technique provides an improved placement of the tasks on the nodes, taking into account the application's communication topology and the system interconnect topology. As a result, application benchmarks after task reordering through genetic algorithm show a significant improvement in performance and reduction in variability, therefore enabling the applications to achieve better time to solution and scalability on Titan during production.« less

Task-Dependent Changes in Cross-Level Coupling between Single Neurons and Oscillatory Activity in Multiscale Networks

PubMed Central

Canolty, Ryan T.; Ganguly, Karunesh; Carmena, Jose M.

2012-01-01

Understanding the principles governing the dynamic coordination of functional brain networks remains an important unmet goal within neuroscience. How do distributed ensembles of neurons transiently coordinate their activity across a variety of spatial and temporal scales? While a complete mechanistic account of this process remains elusive, evidence suggests that neuronal oscillations may play a key role in this process, with different rhythms influencing both local computation and long-range communication. To investigate this question, we recorded multiple single unit and local field potential (LFP) activity from microelectrode arrays implanted bilaterally in macaque motor areas. Monkeys performed a delayed center-out reach task either manually using their natural arm (Manual Control, MC) or under direct neural control through a brain-machine interface (Brain Control, BC). In accord with prior work, we found that the spiking activity of individual neurons is coupled to multiple aspects of the ongoing motor beta rhythm (10–45 Hz) during both MC and BC, with neurons exhibiting a diversity of coupling preferences. However, here we show that for identified single neurons, this beta-to-rate mapping can change in a reversible and task-dependent way. For example, as beta power increases, a given neuron may increase spiking during MC but decrease spiking during BC, or exhibit a reversible shift in the preferred phase of firing. The within-task stability of coupling, combined with the reversible cross-task changes in coupling, suggest that task-dependent changes in the beta-to-rate mapping play a role in the transient functional reorganization of neural ensembles. We characterize the range of task-dependent changes in the mapping from beta amplitude, phase, and inter-hemispheric phase differences to the spike rates of an ensemble of simultaneously-recorded neurons, and discuss the potential implications that dynamic remapping from oscillatory activity to spike rate and timing may hold for models of computation and communication in distributed functional brain networks. PMID:23284276

Task Assignment Heuristics for Parallel and Distributed CFD Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lopez-Benitez, Noe; Djomehri, M. Jahed; Biswas, Rupak

2003-01-01

This paper proposes a task graph (TG) model to represent a single discrete step of multi-block overset grid computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications. The TG model is then used to not only balance the computational workload across the overset grids but also to reduce inter-grid communication costs. We have developed a set of task assignment heuristics based on the constraints inherent in this class of CFD problems. Two basic assignments, the smallest task first (STF) and the largest task first (LTF), are first presented. They are then systematically costs. To predict the performance of the proposed task assignment heuristics, extensive performance evaluations are conducted on a synthetic TG with tasks defined in terms of the number of grid points in predetermined overlapping grids. A TG derived from a realistic problem with eight million grid points is also used as a test case.

Development and evaluation of the "BRISK Scale," a brief observational measure of risk communication competence.

PubMed

Han, Paul K J; Joekes, Katherine; Mills, Greg; Gutheil, Caitlin; Smith, Kahsi; Cochran, Nancy E; Elwyn, Glyn

2016-12-01

To develop and evaluate a brief observational measure of clinical risk communication competence. A 4-item checklist-type measure, the BRISK (Brief Risk Information Skill) Scale, was developed by selecting and refining items from a more comprehensive measure of clinical risk communication competence. Six volunteer raters received brief training on the measure and then used the BRISK Scale to evaluate 52 video-recorded encounters between 2nd-year medical students and standardized patients conducted as part of an Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) involving a risk communication task. Internal consistency reliability, inter-rater reliability, and criterion validity were assessed. Raters reported no difficulties using the BRISK Scale; scores across all raters and subjects ranged from 0 to 16 with a mean score of 6.49 (SD=3.17). The BRISK Scale showed good internal consistency reliability (α=0.64), and inter-rater reliability at the scale level (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC)=0.79 for consistency, and 0.75 for absolute agreement) and individual-item level (ICC range: 0.62-.91). Novice raters' BRISK Scale scores were highly correlated (r=0.84, p<0.01) with expert raters' scores on the Risk Communication Content measure, a more comprehensive measure of risk communication competence. The BRISK Scale is a promising new brief observational measure of clinical risk communication competence. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A method to classify schizophrenia using inter-task spatial correlations of functional brain images.

PubMed

Michael, Andrew M; Calhoun, Vince D; Andreasen, Nancy C; Baum, Stefi A

2008-01-01

The clinical heterogeneity of schizophrenia (scz) and the overlap of self reported and observed symptoms with other mental disorders makes its diagnosis a difficult task. At present no laboratory-based or image-based diagnostic tool for scz exists and such tools are desired to support existing methods for more precise diagnosis. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is currently employed to identify and correlate cognitive processes related to scz and its symptoms. Fusion of multiple fMRI tasks that probe different cognitive processes may help to better understand hidden networks of this complex disorder. In this paper we utilize three different fMRI tasks and introduce an approach to classify subjects based on inter-task spatial correlations of brain activation. The technique was applied to groups of patients and controls and its validity was checked with the leave-one-out method. We show that the classification rate increases when information from multiple tasks are combined.

Elevated Outcome-Anticipation and Outcome-Evaluation ERPs Associated with a Greater Preference for Larger-But-Delayed Rewards

PubMed Central

Pornpattananangkul, Narun; Nadig, Ajay; Heidinger, Storm; Walden, Keegan; Nusslock, Robin

2017-01-01

Although waiting for a reward reduces or discounts its value, some people have a stronger tendency to wait for larger rewards and forgo smaller-but-immediate rewards. This ability to delay gratification is captured by individual differences in so-called inter-temporal choices in which individuals are asked to choose between larger-but-delayed versus smaller-but-immediate rewards. The current study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine whether enhancement in two neuro-cognitive processes, outcome-anticipation and outcome-evaluation, modulate individual variability in inter-temporal responses. After completing a behavioral inter-temporal choice task, 34 participants performed an ERP gambling task. From this ERP task, we separately examined individual differences in outcome-anticipation (Stimulus-Preceding Negativity, SPN), early outcome-evaluation (Feedback-Related Negativity; FRN) and late outcome-evaluation (P3). We observed that both elevated outcome-anticipation (SPN) and late outcome-evaluation (P3) neural processes predicted a stronger preference toward larger-but-delayed rewards. No relationship was observed between inter-temporal responses and early outcome-evaluation (FRN), indicating that the relationship between outcome-evaluation and inter-temporal responses was specific to the late outcome-evaluation processing stream. Moreover, multiple regression analyses indicated that the SPN and P3 independently modulate individual differences in inter-temporal responses, suggesting separate mechanisms underlie the relationship between these two neuro-cognitive processes and inter-temporal responses. Accordingly, we identify two potential neural-cognitive modulators of individual variability in inter-temporal responses. We discuss the mechanisms underlying these modulators in terms of anticipation-related processing (SPN) and a saliency-bias toward gain (compared to loss) outcomes (P3). PMID:28224457

Space station data system analysis/architecture study. Task 3: Trade studies, DR-5, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

Results of a Space Station Data System Analysis/Architecture Study for the Goddard Space Flight Center are presented. This study, which emphasized a system engineering design for a complete, end-to-end data system, was divided into six tasks: (1); Functional requirements definition; (2) Options development; (3) Trade studies; (4) System definitions; (5) Program plan; and (6) Study maintenance. The Task inter-relationship and documentation flow are described. Information in volume 2 is devoted to Task 3: trade Studies. Trade Studies have been carried out in the following areas: (1) software development test and integration capability; (2) fault tolerant computing; (3) space qualified computers; (4) distributed data base management system; (5) system integration test and verification; (6) crew workstations; (7) mass storage; (8) command and resource management; and (9) space communications. Results are presented for each task.

Evaluating patient care communication in integrated care settings: application of a mixed method approach in cerebral palsy programs.

PubMed

Gulmans, J; Vollenbroek-Hutten, M M R; Van Gemert-Pijnen, J E W C; Van Harten, W H

2009-02-01

In this study, we evaluated patient care communication in the integrated care setting of children with cerebral palsy in three Dutch regions in order to identify relevant communication gaps experienced by both parents and involved professionals. A three-step mixed method approach was used starting with a questionnaire to identify communication links in which parents experienced gaps. In subsequent in-depth interviews with parents and focus group meetings with professionals underlying factors were evaluated. In total, 197 parents completed the questionnaire (response 67%); 6% scored negative on parent-professional communication, whereas 17% scored negative on inter-professional communication, especially between the rehabilitation physician and primary care physiotherapy (16%) and (special) education/day care (15%). In-depth interviews among a subset of 20 parents revealed various sources of dissatisfaction such as lack of cooperation and patient centeredness, inappropriate amount of information exchange and professional use of parents as messenger of information. Focus group meetings revealed that professionals recognized these gaps. They attributed them to capacity problems, lack of interdisciplinary guidelines and clear definition of roles, but also a certain hesitance for contact due to unfamiliarity with involved professionals in the care network. Parents particularly identified gaps in inter-professional communication between (rehabilitation) hospitals and primary care settings. Involved professionals recognized these gaps and primarily attributed them to organizational factors. Improvement initiatives should focus on these factors as well as facilitation of low-threshold contact across the patient's care network.

Inter-sigmulon communication through topological promoter coupling

PubMed Central

del Peso Santos, Teresa; Shingler, Victoria

2016-01-01

Divergent transcription from within bacterial intergenic regions frequently involves promoters dependent on alternative σ-factors. This is the case for the non-overlapping σ70- and σ54-dependent promoters that control production of the substrate-responsive regulator and enzymes for (methyl)phenol catabolism. Here, using an array of in vivo and in vitro assays, we identify transcription-driven supercoiling arising from the σ54-promoter as the mechanism underlying inter-promoter communication that results in stimulation of the activity of the σ70-promoter. The non-overlapping ‘back-to-back’ configuration of a powerful σ54-promoter and weak σ70-promoter within this system offers a previously unknown means of inter-sigmulon communication that renders the σ70-promoter subservient to signals that elicit σ54-dependent transcription without it possessing a cognate binding site for the σ54-RNA polymerase holoenzyme. This mode of control has the potential to be a prevalent, but hitherto unappreciated, mechanism by which bacteria adjust promoter activity to gain appropriate transcriptional control. PMID:27422872

Impact of communication delays to and from the International Space Station on self-reported individual and team behavior and performance: A mixed-methods study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kintz, Natalie M.; Chou, Chih-Ping; Vessey, William B.; Leveton, Lauren B.; Palinkas, Lawrence A.

2016-12-01

Deep space explorations will involve significant delays in communication to and from Earth that will likely impact individual and team outcomes. However, the extent of these impacts and the appropriate countermeasures for their mitigation remain largely unknown. This study utilized the International Space Station (ISS), a high-fidelity analog for deep space, as a research platform to assess the impact of communication delays on individual and team performance, mood, and behavior. Three astronauts on the ISS and 18 mission support personnel performed tasks with and without communication delays (50-s one-way) during a mission lasting 166 days. Self-reported assessments of individual and team performance and mood were obtained after each task. Secondary outcomes included communication quality and task autonomy. Qualitative data from post-mission interviews with astronauts were used to validate and expand on quantitative data, and to elicit recommendations for countermeasures. Crew well-being and communication quality were significantly reduced in communication delay tasks compared to control. Communication delays were also significantly associated with increased individual stress/frustration. Qualitative data suggest communication delays impacted operational outcomes (i.e. task efficiency), teamwork processes (i.e. team/task coordination) and mood (i.e. stress/frustration), particularly when tasks involved high task-related communication demands, either because of poor communication strategies or low crew autonomy. Training, teamwork, and technology-focused countermeasures were identified to mitigate or prevent adverse impacts.

Making DidFail Succeed: Enhancing the CERT Static Taint Analyzer for Android App Sets

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-01

privileged task for an application without permissions. The Epicc [3] tool precisely analyzes inter-app communication in Android . By looking at intents...security. By placing adjustable limitations on what resources applications can use, Android allows users a large degree of control over how much trust...the user’s location, contacts, and other personal details. One of the core assumptions of the Android permission system is that an application that

Making DidFail Succeed: Enhancing the CERT Static Taint Analyzer for Android App Sets

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-31

privileged task for an application without permissions. The Epicc [3] tool precisely analyzes inter-app communication in Android . By looking at intents...security. By placing adjustable limitations on what resources applications can use, Android allows users a large degree of control over how much trust...the user’s location, contacts, and other personal details. One of the core assumptions of the Android permission system is that an application that

The DISAM Journal of International Security Assistance Management. Volume 29, Number 3, July 2007

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-07-01

with Canada and Mexico, with relatively very few permanently assigned forces . You can read about a number of issues addressed by contributing authors...26 Commander Curtis Jenkins, USNR, Lockheed Martin “Taking the Communication High Ground The Case for a Joint Inter-Agency Task Force ...permanently assigned forces . The command is assigned forces whenever necessary to execute missions, as ordered by the president and secretary of

Identification of Communication and Coordination Issues in the US Air Traffic Control System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davison, Hayley J.; Hansman, R. John

2001-01-01

Today's air traffic control system is approaching the point of saturation, as evidenced by increasing delays across the National Airspace System (NAS). There exists an opportunity to enhance NAS efficiency and reduce delays by improving strategic communication throughout the ATC system. Although several measures have been taken to improve communication (e.g., Collaborative Decision Making tools), communication issues between ATC facilities remain. It is hypothesized that by identifying the key issues plaguing inter-facility strategic communication, steps can be taken to enhance these communications, and therefore ATC system efficiency. In this report, a series of site visits were performed at Boston and New York ATC facilities as well as at the Air Traffic Control System Command Center. The results from these site visits were used to determine the current communication and coordination structure of Traffic Management Coordinators, who hold a pivotal role in inter-facility communications. Several themes emerged from the study, including: ambiguity of organizational structure in the current ATC system, awkward coordination between ATC facilities, information flow issues, organizational culture issues, and negotiation behaviors used to cope with organizational culture issues.

Detailed Design and Implementation of a Multiprogramming Operating System for Sixteen-Bit Microprocessors.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-12-01

4 Multiuser Support ...... .......... 11-5 User Interface . .. .. ................ .. 11- 7 Inter -user Communications ................ 11- 7 Memory...user will greatly help facilitate the learning process. Inter -User Communication The inter -user communications of the operating system can be done using... inter -user communications would be met by using one or both of them. AMemory and File Management Memory and file management is concerned with four basic

Comparison of animated jet stream visualizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nocke, Thomas; Hoffmann, Peter

2016-04-01

The visualization of 3D atmospheric phenomena in space and time is still a challenging problem. In particular, multiple solutions of animated jet stream visualizations have been produced in recent years, which were designed to visually analyze and communicate the jet and related impacts on weather circulation patterns and extreme weather events. This PICO integrates popular and new jet animation solutions and inter-compares them. The applied techniques (e.g. stream lines or line integral convolution) and parametrizations (color mapping, line lengths) are discussed with respect to visualization quality criteria and their suitability for certain visualization tasks (e.g. jet patterns and jet anomaly analysis, communicating its relevance for climate change).

High Speed Inter-Satellite Communication System by Incorporating Hybrid Polarization-Wavelength Division Multiplexing Scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaudhary, Sushank; Chaudhary, Neha; Sharma, Saurabh; Choudhary, BC

2017-12-01

Inter-Satellite communication is one of remarkable technologies that can be used to communicate between satellites. This work is focused to carry out the investigations of polarization scheme by incorporating dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) scheme in inter-satellite communication system. A 20×6 Gbps data are transported over inter-satellite optical link having span of 5,000 km to realize the total data transmission of 120 Gbps. Moreover, results are also reported with the effect of RZ and NRZ modulation schemes. The performance of proposed inter-satellite communication link is measured in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, received power and eye diagrams.

Assessment of higher level cognitive-communication functions in adolescents with ABI: Standardization of the student version of the functional assessment of verbal reasoning and executive strategies (S-FAVRES).

PubMed

MacDonald, Sheila

2016-01-01

Childhood acquired brain injuries can disrupt communication functions needed for success in school, work and social interaction. Cognitive-communication difficulties may not be apparent until adolescence, when academic, environmental and social-emotional demands increase. The Functional Assessment of Verbal Reasoning and Executive Strategies for Students (S-FAVRES) is a new activity-level measure of cognitive-communication skills in complex, contextual and integrative tasks that simulate real world communication challenges. It is hypothesized that S-FAVRES performance would differentiate adolescents with and without acquired brain injury (ABI) on scores for Accuracy, Rationale, Reasoning Subskills and Time. S-FAVRES was administered to 182 typically-developing (TD) and 57 adolescents with mild-to-severe ABI aged 12-19. Group differences, internal consistency, sensitivity, specificity, reliability and contributing factors to performance (age, gender, brain injury) were examined statistically. Those with ABI attained statistically lower Accuracy, Rationale and Reasoning sub-skills scores than their TD peers. Time scores were not significantly different. Performance trends were consistent across tasks, administrations, gender and age groups. Inter-rater reliability for scoring was acceptable. The S-FAVRES provides a reliable, functional and quantifiable measure of subtle cognitive-communication difficulties in adolescents that can assist speech-language pathologists in planning treatment and integration to school and real world communication.

Optical data communication for Earth observation satellite systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, J.; Loecherbach, E.

1991-10-01

The current development status of optical communication engineering in comparison to the conventional microwave systems and the different configurations of the optical data communication for Earth observation satellite systems are described. An outlook to future optical communication satellite systems is given. During the last decade Earth observation became more and more important for the extension of the knowledge about our planet and the human influence on nature. Today pictures taken by satellites are used, for example, to discover mineral resources or to predict harvest, crops, climate, and environment variations and their influence on the population. A new and up to date application for Earth observation satellites can be the verification of disarmament arrangements and the control of crises areas. To solve these tasks a system of Earth observing satellites with sensors tailored to the envisaged mission is necessary. Besides these low Earth orbiting satellites, a global Earth observation system consists of at least two data relay satellites. The communication between the satellites will be established via Inter-Satellite Links (ISL) and Inter-Orbit Links (IOL). On these links, bitrates up to 1 Gbit/s must be taken into account. Due to the increasing scarcity of suitable frequencies, higher carrier frequencies must probably be considered, and possible interference with terrestrial radio relay systems are two main problems for a realization in microwave technique. One important step to tackle these problems is the use of optical frequencies for IOL's and ISL's.

An analysis of functional shoulder movements during task performance using Dartfish movement analysis software.

PubMed

Khadilkar, Leenesh; MacDermid, Joy C; Sinden, Kathryn E; Jenkyn, Thomas R; Birmingham, Trevor B; Athwal, George S

2014-01-01

Video-based movement analysis software (Dartfish) has potential for clinical applications for understanding shoulder motion if functional measures can be reliably obtained. The primary purpose of this study was to describe the functional range of motion (ROM) of the shoulder used to perform a subset of functional tasks. A second purpose was to assess the reliability of functional ROM measurements obtained by different raters using Dartfish software. Ten healthy participants, mean age 29 ± 5 years, were videotaped while performing five tasks selected from the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH). Video cameras and markers were used to obtain video images suitable for analysis in Dartfish software. Three repetitions of each task were performed. Shoulder movements from all three repetitions were analyzed using Dartfish software. The tracking tool of the Dartfish software was used to obtain shoulder joint angles and arcs of motion. Test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the measurements were evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Maximum (coronal plane) abduction (118° ± 16°) and (sagittal plane) flexion (111° ± 15°) was observed during 'washing one's hair;' maximum extension (-68° ± 9°) was identified during 'washing one's own back.' Minimum shoulder ROM was observed during 'opening a tight jar' (33° ± 13° abduction and 13° ± 19° flexion). Test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.45 to 0.94) suggests high inter-individual task variability, and inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.68 to 1.00) showed moderate to excellent agreement. KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE: 1) functional shoulder ROM identified in this study compared to similar studies; 2) healthy individuals require less than full ROM when performing five common ADL tasks 3) high participant variability was observed during performance of the five ADL tasks; and 4) Dartfish software provides a clinically relevant tool to analyze shoulder function.

MO-D-213-06: Quantitative Image Quality Metrics Are for Physicists, Not Radiologists: How to Communicate to Your Radiologists Using Their Language

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

Szczykutowicz, T; Rubert, N; Ranallo, F

Purpose: A framework for explaining differences in image quality to non-technical audiences in medial imaging is needed. Currently, this task is something that is learned “on the job.” The lack of a formal methodology for communicating optimal acquisition parameters into the clinic effectively mitigates many technological advances. As a community, medical physicists need to be held responsible for not only advancing image science, but also for ensuring its proper use in the clinic. This work outlines a framework that bridges the gap between the results from quantitative image quality metrics like detectability, MTF, and NPS and their effect on specificmore » anatomical structures present in diagnostic imaging tasks. Methods: Specific structures of clinical importance were identified for a body, an extremity, a chest, and a temporal bone protocol. Using these structures, quantitative metrics were used to identify the parameter space that should yield optimal image quality constrained within the confines of clinical logistics and dose considerations. The reading room workflow for presenting the proposed changes for imaging each of these structures is presented. The workflow consists of displaying images for physician review consisting of different combinations of acquisition parameters guided by quantitative metrics. Examples of using detectability index, MTF, NPS, noise and noise non-uniformity are provided. During review, the physician was forced to judge the image quality solely on those features they need for diagnosis, not on the overall “look” of the image. Results: We found that in many cases, use of this framework settled mis-agreements between physicians. Once forced to judge images on the ability to detect specific structures inter reader agreement was obtained. Conclusion: This framework will provide consulting, research/industrial, or in-house physicists with clinically relevant imaging tasks to guide reading room image review. This framework avoids use of the overall “look” or “feel” to dictate acquisition parameter selection. Equipment grants GE Healthcare.« less

Detection Of Malware Collusion With Static Dependence Analysis On Inter-App Communication

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-08

DETECTION OF MALWARE COLLUSION WITH STATIC DEPENDENCE ANALYSIS ON INTER-APP COMMUNICATION VIRGINIA TECH DECEMBER 2016 FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT... DEPENDENCE ANALYSIS ON INTER-APP COMMUNICATION 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER FA8750-15-2-0076 5b. GRANT NUMBER N/A 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 61101E 6. AUTHOR(S...exploited. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Malware Collusion; Inter-App Communication; Static Dependence Analysis 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF

Interrelations between Communicative Behaviors at the Outset of Speech: Parents as Observers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dromi, Esther; Zaidman-Zait, Anat

2011-01-01

The Hebrew Parent Questionnaire for Communication and Early Language (HPQ-CEL) was administered by 154 parents of Hebrew-speaking toddlers aged 1 ; 0 to 1 ; 3 (77 boys, 77 girls). The Questionnaire guided parents in observing and rating their toddlers in six contexts at home. The study aimed to identify inter-correlations between toddlers'…

Assessing physiotherapists' communication skills for promoting patient autonomy for self-management: reliability and validity of the communication evaluation in rehabilitation tool.

PubMed

Murray, Aileen; Hall, Amanda; Williams, Geoffrey C; McDonough, Suzanne M; Ntoumanis, Nikos; Taylor, Ian; Jackson, Ben; Copsey, Bethan; Hurley, Deirdre A; Matthews, James

2018-02-27

To assess the inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity of the Communication Evaluation in Rehabilitation Tool, which aims to externally assess physiotherapists competency in using Self-Determination Theory-based communication strategies in practice. Audio recordings of initial consultations between 24 physiotherapists and 24 patients with chronic low back pain in four hospitals in Ireland were obtained as part of a larger randomised controlled trial. Three raters, all of whom had Ph.Ds in psychology and expertise in motivation and physical activity, independently listened to the 24 audio recordings and completed the 18-item Communication Evaluation in Rehabilitation Tool. Inter-rater reliability between all three raters was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients. Concurrent validity was assessed using Pearson's r correlations with a reference standard, the Health Care Climate Questionnaire. The total score for the Communication Evaluation in Rehabilitation Tool is an average of all 18 items. Total scores demonstrated good inter-rater reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) = 0.8) and concurrent validity with the Health Care Climate Questionnaire total score (range: r = 0.7-0.88). Item-level scores of the Communication Evaluation in Rehabilitation Tool identified five items that need improvement. Results provide preliminary evidence to support future use and testing of the Communication Evaluation in Rehabilitation Tool. Implications for Rehabilitation Promoting patient autonomy is a learned skill and while interventions exist to train clinicians in these skills there are no tools to assess how well clinicians use these skills when interacting with a patient. The lack of robust assessment has severe implications regarding both the fidelity of clinician training packages and resulting outcomes for promoting patient autonomy. This study has developed a novel measurement tool Communication Evaluation in Rehabilitation Tool and a comprehensive user manual to assess how well health care providers use autonomy-supportive communication strategies in real world-clinical settings. This tool has demonstrated good inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity in its initial testing phase. The Communication Evaluation in Rehabilitation Tool can be used in future studies to assess autonomy-supportive communication and undergo further measurement property testing as per our recommendations.

Task Manager: an innovative approach to improving hospital communication after hours.

PubMed

Seddon, Mary E; Hay, David

2010-10-15

To improve communication between doctors and nurses after hours, by developing a tool to display ward tasks, allowing staff to prioritise their work, without constant interruption from pagers (beepers). Middlemore Hospital, a large metropolitan 800-bed hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Introduction of computerised system (Task Manager) to identify, allocate and complete after-hours tasks. In the first 6 months 21,000 tasks have been completed in Task Manager. Paging of junior doctors has decreased by over 30% and there is broad acceptance of the tool by both nursing and medical staff. Task Manager has collected real-time data on the type of after hours tasks (nearly 50% are phlebotomy-related tasks), busy times of the day (1600 hours to 2400 hours) and who is performing most of the tasks. Task Manager is a simple yet powerful tool for prioritising routine tasks after hours. It allows staff to quickly create tasks, and communicate effectively with other members of the team. It has reduced the frequency of junior doctors paging so that they can continue their work with fewer interruptions. Whilst it was introduced to improve effective communication after hours, it has become apparent that there are multiple 'tasks' that are ordered in a multitude of ways in our hospital and many could be served by Task Manager.

Achieving Educational Excellence by Increasing Access to Knowledge: Discussion Document. Report of the Task Force on Education Network Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Education Goals Panel, Washington, DC.

Internetworked communications restructures relationships among educators, learners, and knowledge and information, and promises a systemic acceleration of the pace of educational change. In this report, the Task Force on Education Network Technology identifies the following rationales for deployment and utilization of such communications: to…

What whiteboards in a trauma center operating suite can teach us about emergency department communication.

PubMed

Xiao, Yan; Schenkel, Stephen; Faraj, Samer; Mackenzie, Colin F; Moss, Jacqueline

2007-10-01

Highly reliable, efficient collaborative work relies on excellent communication. We seek to understand how a traditional whiteboard is used as a versatile information artifact to support communication in rapid-paced, highly dynamic collaborative work. The similar communicative demands of the trauma operating suite and an emergency department (ED) make the findings applicable to both settings. We took photographs and observed staff's interaction with a whiteboard in a 6-bed surgical suite dedicated to trauma service. We analyzed the integral role of artifacts in cognitive activities as when workers configure and manage visual spaces to simplify their cognitive tasks. We further identified characteristics of the whiteboard as a communicative information artifact in supporting coordination in fast-paced environments. We identified 8 ways in which the whiteboard was used by physicians, nurses, and with other personnel to support collaborative work: task management, team attention management, task status tracking, task articulation, resource planning and tracking, synchronous and asynchronous communication, multidisciplinary problem solving and negotiation, and socialization and team building. The whiteboard was highly communicative because of its location and installation method, high interactivity and usability, high expressiveness, and ability to visualize transition points to support work handoffs. Traditional information artifacts such as whiteboards play significant roles in supporting collaborative work. How these artifacts are used provides insights into complicated information needs of teamwork in highly dynamic, high-risk settings such as an ED.

Computer-mediated communication: task performance and satisfaction.

PubMed

Simon, Andrew F

2006-06-01

The author assessed satisfaction and performance on 3 tasks (idea generation, intellective, judgment) among 75 dyads (N = 150) working through 1 of 3 modes of communication (instant messaging, videoconferencing, face to face). The author based predictions on the Media Naturalness Theory (N. Kock, 2001, 2002) and on findings from past researchers (e.g., D. M. DeRosa, C. Smith, & D. A. Hantula, in press) of the interaction between tasks and media. The present author did not identify task performance differences, although satisfaction with the medium was lower among those dyads communicating through an instant-messaging system than among those interacting face to face or through videoconferencing. The findings support the Media Naturalness Theory. The author discussed them in relation to the participants' frequent use of instant messaging and their familiarity with new communication media.

Tasks for Easily Modifiable Virtual Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swier, Robert

2014-01-01

Recent studies of learner interaction in virtual worlds have tended to select basic tasks involving open-ended communication. There is evidence that such tasks are supportive of language acquisition, however it may also be beneficial to consider more complex tasks. Research in task-based learning has identified features such as non-linguistic…

Frame-of-reference training for simulation-based intraoperative communication assessment.

PubMed

Gardner, Aimee K; Russo, Michael A; Jabbour, Ibrahim I; Kosemund, Matthew; Scott, Daniel J

2016-09-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of frame-of-reference (FOR) training on assessments of intraoperative communication skills and identify areas of need to inform curricular efforts. Simulation instructors (M.D., Ph.D., Research Fellow, Simulation Technician) underwent a 2-hour FOR training session with the operating room communication instrument. They then independently rated communication skills of 19 PGY1s who participated in a team-based simulation. Residents completed self-assessments via video review of the scenario. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to examine inter-rater reliability. Relationships between trained raters and resident scores were assessed with Pearson correlation coefficients and paired sample t tests. Inter-reliability after FOR training was .91. The correlation between trained rater scores and resident evaluations was nonsignificant. Residents significantly underestimated their intraoperative communication skills (P < .05). Use of names, closed loop communication, and sharing information with team members demonstrated consistently low ratings among all residents. These findings reveal that a number of individuals can be trained to reliably rate resident intraoperative communication performance and that residents tend to under-rate their communication skills. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Do you see what I see? Mobile eye-tracker contextual analysis and inter-rater reliability.

PubMed

Stuart, S; Hunt, D; Nell, J; Godfrey, A; Hausdorff, J M; Rochester, L; Alcock, L

2018-02-01

Mobile eye-trackers are currently used during real-world tasks (e.g. gait) to monitor visual and cognitive processes, particularly in ageing and Parkinson's disease (PD). However, contextual analysis involving fixation locations during such tasks is rarely performed due to its complexity. This study adapted a validated algorithm and developed a classification method to semi-automate contextual analysis of mobile eye-tracking data. We further assessed inter-rater reliability of the proposed classification method. A mobile eye-tracker recorded eye-movements during walking in five healthy older adult controls (HC) and five people with PD. Fixations were identified using a previously validated algorithm, which was adapted to provide still images of fixation locations (n = 116). The fixation location was manually identified by two raters (DH, JN), who classified the locations. Cohen's kappa correlation coefficients determined the inter-rater reliability. The algorithm successfully provided still images for each fixation, allowing manual contextual analysis to be performed. The inter-rater reliability for classifying the fixation location was high for both PD (kappa = 0.80, 95% agreement) and HC groups (kappa = 0.80, 91% agreement), which indicated a reliable classification method. This study developed a reliable semi-automated contextual analysis method for gait studies in HC and PD. Future studies could adapt this methodology for various gait-related eye-tracking studies.

A Classroom-Field Model of Inter-Ethnic Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nielsen, Keith E.

The BLBC (bilingual-bicultural) model of inter-ethnic communication is an effective method for bridging the instructional "gap" between classroom education and field experiences. These two learning experiences are distinct; yet each should complement the other. The BLBC model of inter-ethnic communication attempts to interface the student's…

Inter-organisational response to disasters.

PubMed

Paturas, James L; Smith, Stewart R; Albanese, Joseph; Waite, Geraldine

2016-01-01

Inter-organisational communication failures during times of real-world disasters impede the collaborative response of agencies responsible for ensuring the public's health and safety. In the best of circumstances, communications across jurisdictional boundaries are ineffective. In times of crisis, when communities are grappling with the impact of a disaster, communications become critically important and more complex. Important factors for improving inter-organisational communications are critical thinking and problem-solving skills; inter-organisational relationships; as well as strategic, tactical and operational communications. Improving communication, critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making requires a review of leadership skills. This discussion begins with an analysis of the existing disaster management research and moves to an examination of the importance of inter-organisational working relationships. Before a successful resolution of a disaster by multiple levels of first responders, the group of organisations must have a foundation of trust, collegiality, flexibility, expertise, openness, relational networking and effective communications. Leaders must also be prepared to improve leadership skills through continual development in each of these foundational areas.

Activations in gray and white matter are modulated by uni-manual responses during within and inter-hemispheric transfer: effects of response hand and right-handedness.

PubMed

Diwadkar, Vaibhav A; Bellani, Marcella; Chowdury, Asadur; Savazzi, Silvia; Perlini, Cinzia; Marinelli, Veronica; Zoccatelli, Giada; Alessandrini, Franco; Ciceri, Elisa; Rambaldelli, Gianluca; Ruggieri, Mirella; Carlo Altamura, A; Marzi, Carlo A; Brambilla, Paolo

2017-08-14

Because the visual cortices are contra-laterally organized, inter-hemispheric transfer tasks have been used to behaviorally probe how information briefly presented to one hemisphere of the visual cortex is integrated with responses resulting from the ipsi- or contra-lateral motor cortex. By forcing rapid information exchange across diverse regions, these tasks robustly activate not only gray matter regions, but also white matter tracts. It is likely that the response hand itself (dominant or non-dominant) modulates gray and white matter activations during within and inter-hemispheric transfer. Yet the role of uni-manual responses and/or right hand dominance in modulating brain activations during such basic tasks is unclear. Here we investigated how uni-manual responses with either hand modulated activations during a basic visuo-motor task (the established Poffenberger paradigm) alternating between inter- and within-hemispheric transfer conditions. In a large sample of strongly right-handed adults (n = 49), we used a factorial combination of transfer condition [Inter vs. Within] and response hand [Dominant(Right) vs. Non-Dominant (Left)] to discover fMRI-based activations in gray matter, and in narrowly defined white matter tracts. These tracts were identified using a priori probabilistic white matter atlases. Uni-manual responses with the right hand strongly modulated activations in gray matter, and notably in white matter. Furthermore, when responding with the left hand, activations during inter-hemispheric transfer were strongly predicted by the degree of right-hand dominance, with increased right-handedness predicting decreased fMRI activation. Finally, increasing age within the middle-aged sample was associated with a decrease in activations. These results provide novel evidence of complex relationships between uni-manual responses in right-handed subjects, and activations during within- and inter-hemispheric transfer suggest that the organization of the motor system exerts sophisticated functional effects. Moreover, our evidence of activation in white matter tracts is consistent with prior studies, confirming fMRI-detectable white matter activations which are systematically modulated by experimental condition.

Quantitative analysis of formal caregivers' use of communication strategies while assisting individuals with moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease during oral care.

PubMed

Wilson, Rozanne; Rochon, Elizabeth; Mihailidis, Alex; Leonard, Carol

2013-01-01

This cross-sectional observational study examined formal caregivers' use of task-focused and social communication strategies while assisting individuals with moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease residing in a long-term care facility during a basic activity of daily living: toothbrushing. Thirteen formal caregiver-resident dyads were observed during a total of 78 separate toothbrushing sessions. All caregiver utterances occurring during the task were transcribed and coded for type of communication strategy utilizing a multidimensional observational coding scheme, which was developed a priori. Overall, the majority of residents, irrespective of disease severity, successfully completed toothbrushing with the support of caregiver assistance. Caregivers assisting residents with moderate and severe AD were found to use a variety of communication strategies, with task-focused strategies accounting for the majority of use. For the most part, the communicative strategies employed did not differ across disease severity. However, some differences were identified including the use of one proposition, paraphrased repetition, using the resident's name, and provision of full assistance, with these strategies being used more often when assisting individuals with severe AD. This study adds to the emerging literature supporting the use of specific communication strategies while assisting residents with AD during the completion of daily tasks. From reviewing this study, readers will be able to identify a variety of communication strategies, both task-focused and relational, that formal caregivers utilize while assisting residents with moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease (AD) during a basic activity of daily living. Furthermore, the reader will be able to distinguish between communication strategies that are optimal when assisting individuals with moderate AD as compared to assisting individuals with severe AD. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evidence-Based Occupational Hearing Screening I: Modeling the Effects of Real-World Noise Environments on the Likelihood of Effective Speech Communication.

PubMed

Soli, Sigfrid D; Giguère, Christian; Laroche, Chantal; Vaillancourt, Véronique; Dreschler, Wouter A; Rhebergen, Koenraad S; Harkins, Kevin; Ruckstuhl, Mark; Ramulu, Pradeep; Meyers, Lawrence S

The objectives of this study were to (1) identify essential hearing-critical job tasks for public safety and law enforcement personnel; (2) determine the locations and real-world noise environments where these tasks are performed; (3) characterize each noise environment in terms of its impact on the likelihood of effective speech communication, considering the effects of different levels of vocal effort, communication distances, and repetition; and (4) use this characterization to define an objective normative reference for evaluating the ability of individuals to perform essential hearing-critical job tasks in noisy real-world environments. Data from five occupational hearing studies performed over a 17-year period for various public safety agencies were analyzed. In each study, job task analyses by job content experts identified essential hearing-critical tasks and the real-world noise environments where these tasks are performed. These environments were visited, and calibrated recordings of each noise environment were made. The extended speech intelligibility index (ESII) was calculated for each 4-sec interval in each recording. These data, together with the estimated ESII value required for effective speech communication by individuals with normal hearing, allowed the likelihood of effective speech communication in each noise environment for different levels of vocal effort and communication distances to be determined. These likelihoods provide an objective norm-referenced and standardized means of characterizing the predicted impact of real-world noise on the ability to perform essential hearing-critical tasks. A total of 16 noise environments for law enforcement personnel and eight noise environments for corrections personnel were analyzed. Effective speech communication was essential to hearing-critical tasks performed in these environments. Average noise levels, ranged from approximately 70 to 87 dBA in law enforcement environments and 64 to 80 dBA in corrections environments. The likelihood of effective speech communication at communication distances of 0.5 and 1 m was often less than 0.50 for normal vocal effort. Likelihood values often increased to 0.80 or more when raised or loud vocal effort was used. Effective speech communication at and beyond 5 m was often unlikely, regardless of vocal effort. ESII modeling of nonstationary real-world noise environments may prove an objective means of characterizing their impact on the likelihood of effective speech communication. The normative reference provided by these measures predicts the extent to which hearing impairments that increase the ESII value required for effective speech communication also decrease the likelihood of effective speech communication. These predictions may provide an objective evidence-based link between the essential hearing-critical job task requirements of public safety and law enforcement personnel and ESII-based hearing assessment of individuals who seek to perform these jobs.

Cross-Cultural Communication Patterns in Computer Mediated Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Panina, Daria; Kroumova, Maya

2015-01-01

There are important cultural differences in attitudes towards and use of electronic text communication. Consistent with Hall's high-context/low-context conceptualization of culture, electronic inter-cultural communication, just as verbal inter-cultural communication, is affected by the culturally-specific assumptions and preferences of message…

Impact of Various Parameters on the Performance of Inter-aircraft Optical Wireless Communication Link

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Mehtab

2017-12-01

Optical wireless communication (OWC) systems also known as Free space optics (FSO) are capable of providing high channel bandwidth, high data transmission rates, low power consumption, and high security. OWC links are being considered in different applications such as inter-satellite links, terrestrial links, and inter-aircraft communication links. This paper investigates the impact of different system parameters such as transmission power level, operating wavelength, transmitter pointing error angle, bit transmission rate, atmospheric attenuation, antenna aperture diameter, geometric losses, the responsivity of the photodetector, and link range on the performance of inter-aircraft optical wireless communication link.

InterFacility communications technical document 1.1

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-04-01

InterFacility (IF) communications allows 2 adjacent air traffic control (ATC) facilities to communicate with each other. IF is simulated in TGF to allow whatever lab we are responding to (ARTS/NAS) to simulate communications with one or more adjacent...

The Effects of Environmental Support and Secondary Tasks on Visuospatial Working Memory

PubMed Central

Lilienthal, Lindsey; Hale, Sandra; Myerson, Joel

2014-01-01

The present experiments examined the effects of environmental support on participants’ ability to rehearse locations and its role in the effects of secondary tasks on memory span. In Experiment 1, the duration of inter-item intervals and the presence of environmental support for visuospatial rehearsal (i.e., the array of possible memory locations) during the inter-item intervals were both manipulated across four tasks. When support was provided, memory spans increased as the inter-item interval durations increased, consistent with the hypothesis that environmental support facilitates rehearsal. In contrast, when environmental support was not provided, spans decreased as the duration of the inter-item intervals increased, consistent with the hypothesis that visuospatial memory representations decay when rehearsal is impeded. In Experiment 2, the ratio of inter-item interval duration to inter-trial interval duration was kept the same on all four tasks in order to hold temporal distinctiveness constant, yet forgetting was still observed in the absence of environmental support, consistent with the decay hypothesis. In Experiment 3, the effects of impeding rehearsal were compared to the effects of verbal and visuospatial secondary processing tasks. Forgetting of locations was greater when presentation of to-be-remembered locations alternated with performance of a secondary task than when rehearsal was impeded by the absence of environmental support. The greatest forgetting occurred when a secondary task required processing visuospatial information, suggesting that in addition to decay, both domain-specific and domain-general effects contribute to forgetting on visuospatial working memory tasks. PMID:24874509

Reducing Traffic Congestions by Introducing CACC-Vehicles on a Multi-Lane Highway Using Agent-Based Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arnaout, Georges M.; Bowling, Shannon R.

2011-01-01

Traffic congestion is an ongoing problem of great interest to researchers from different areas in academia. With the emerging technology for inter-vehicle communication, vehicles have the ability to exchange information with predecessors by wireless communication. In this paper, we present an agent-based model of traffic congestion and examine the impact of having CACC (Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control) embedded vehicle(s) on a highway system consisting of 4 traffic lanes without overtaking. In our model, CACC vehicles adapt their acceleration/deceleration according to vehicle-to-vehicle inter-communication. We analyze the average speed of the cars, the shockwaves, and the evolution of traffic congestion throughout the lifecycle of the model. The study identifies how CACC vehicles affect the dynamics of traffic flow on a complex network and reduce the oscillatory behavior (stop and go) resulting from the acceleration/deceleration of the vehicles.

A preliminary architecture for building communication software from traffic captures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acosta, Jaime C.; Estrada, Pedro

2017-05-01

Security analysts are tasked with identifying and mitigating network service vulnerabilities. A common problem associated with in-depth testing of network protocols is the availability of software that communicates across disparate protocols. Many times, the software required to communicate with these services is not publicly available. Developing this software is a time-consuming undertaking that requires expertise and understanding of the protocol specification. The work described in this paper aims at developing a software package that is capable of automatically creating communication clients by using packet capture (pcap) and TShark dissectors. Currently, our focus is on simple protocols with fixed fields. The methodologies developed as part of this work will extend to other complex protocols such as the Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP), Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP), and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF). Thus far, we have architected a modular pipeline for an automatic traffic-based software generator. We start the transformation of captured network traffic by employing TShark to convert packets into a Packet Details Markup Language (PDML) file. The PDML file contains a parsed, textual, representation of the packet data. Then, we extract field data, types, along with inter and intra-packet dependencies. This information is then utilized to construct an XML file that encompasses the protocol state machine and field vocabulary. Finally, this XML is converted into executable code. Using our methodology, and as a starting point, we have succeeded in automatically generating software that communicates with other hosts using an automatically generated Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) client program.

The Communication and Bioethical Training (CoBiT) Program for assisting dialysis decision-making in Spanish ACKD units.

PubMed

García-Llana, Helena; Bajo, Maria-Auxiliadora; Barbero, Javier; Selgas, Rafael; Del Peso, Gloria

2017-04-01

Healthcare professionals currently working in Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease (ACKD) units must cope with difficult situations regarding assisting patients with the dialysis decision-making process, and they are often untrained for these conversations. Although we have evidence from the literature that these skills can be learned, few professionals feel confident in this area. A Communication and Bioethical Training (CoBiT) Program for ACKD staff (physicians, nurses and allied health professionals) was developed to improve their ability and self-confidence in conducting these conversations. A four-stage study was conducted: (1) development of the CoBiT program, beginning with the creation of an interdisciplinary focus group (N = 10); (2) design of a questionnaire to assess self-confidence based on the areas identified by the focus group. The face validity of the instrument was tested using an inter-judge methodology (N = 6); (3) design of the format and contents of the program; (4) piloting the program. Thirty-six health professionals took an 8-h workshop based on role-playing methodology. Participants assessed their self-confidence in their communication skills before and after the program using self-report measures. The results show that after the program, participants reported significantly higher levels of self-confidence measured with a five-point Likert scale (p < 0.001). Participants felt that communication with colleagues of other professions significantly increased after the workshop (p = 0.004). The CoBiT program improves ACKD Unit healthcare professionals' self-confidence in their ability to perform a specific communication task.

Efficient eNB inter-communication scheme in converged mobile and NG-PON2 system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Simiao; Sun, Xiao; Zhang, Kaibin

2016-02-01

In LTE, a new X2-interface is defined to facilitate direct communication between neighboring eNBs. Since LTE is an all-IP network, the X2-interface traffic currently needs to be routed and transponded in L3 at the edge router by IP addressing. As mobile data increases, it is a promising trend to backhaul mobile services based on PON. In this paper, an effective approach for eNB inter-communication over TWDM-PON is proposed. By associating the IP address of eNB and the MAC address of ONU, the "inter-eNB communication in L3" can be mapped into "inter-ONU communication in L2" and transponded via the protocol of PON at the OLT. Thus, fast and cost-effective eNB inter-communication can be realized based on TWDM-PON within one wavelength channel and between different wavelength channels. The increasing data traffic pressure to the core network can also be alleviated.

[New professional field in France: Analysis of the training needs of case managers].

PubMed

Somme, Dominique; Corvol, Aline; Couturier, Yves; Pimouguet, Clément; Moreau, Olivier; Perivier, Samuel; Balard, Frédéric; de Stampa, Matthieu

2015-01-01

Case management is a relatively new career field in France. It was first introduced on an experimental basis in 2007-2008, and was then developedfollowing the National Alzheimer Plan and finally enshrined in legislation in 2012. This careerfield is based on a set of tasks widely described internationally: identifying the right level of intervention, standardized multidimensional assessment, planning all aid (care and social services), implementation of the plan, monitoring and reassessment and periodic reassessment of all needs in a continuous and long-term process. The specific, systematic and dedicated nature of these tasks to these tasks makes training essential. Regulations also stipulate that the professional must acquire additional training by a dedicated inter-university degree. This requirement is a French specificity The authors present the history of case management and training in France and analyze the various international training frameworks identified by an Internet search. Moreover, based on the opinions expressed by case managers at different times of the scientific assessment and a review ofseveral studies conducted by inter-university case management program students, this article highlights the specific training needs of case managers and how the proposed training can meet these needs.

Oxytocin enhances inter-brain synchrony during social coordination in male adults

PubMed Central

Mu, Yan; Guo, Chunyan

2016-01-01

Recent brain imaging research has revealed oxytocin (OT) effects on an individual's brain activity during social interaction but tells little about whether and how OT modulates the coherence of inter-brain activity related to two individuals' coordination behavior. We developed a new real-time coordination game that required two individuals of a dyad to synchronize with a partner (coordination task) or with a computer (control task) by counting in mind rhythmically. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded simultaneously from a dyad to examine OT effects on inter-brain synchrony of neural activity during interpersonal coordination. Experiment 1 found that dyads showed smaller interpersonal time lags of counting and greater inter-brain synchrony of alpha-band neural oscillations during the coordination (vs control) task and these effects were reliably observed in female but not male dyads. Moreover, the increased alpha-band inter-brain synchrony predicted better interpersonal behavioral synchrony across all participants. Experiment 2, using a double blind, placebo-controlled between-subjects design, revealed that intranasal OT vs placebo administration in male dyads improved interpersonal behavioral synchrony in both the coordination and control tasks but specifically enhanced alpha-band inter-brain neural oscillations during the coordination task. Our findings provide first evidence that OT enhances inter-brain synchrony in male adults to facilitate social coordination. PMID:27510498

Inter-Cultural Communication: A Foundation of Communicative Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vuckovic, Aleksandra

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a model of inter-cultural communication that enumerates and structures latent factors affecting such communication and elaborates on the process of self-reflection as a guiding mechanism of successful communication. Design/methodology/approach: The five factors and various moderators that are…

Vehicle Safety Communications project task 3 final report : identify intelligent vehicle safety applications enabled by DSRC

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-03-01

The Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP) Vehicle Safety Communications Consortium (VSCC) comprised of BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen, in partnership with USDOT, established the Vehicle Safety Communications (VSC)...

Evaluation of Alternative Field Buses for Lighting ControlApplications

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

Koch, Ed; Rubinstein, Francis

2005-03-21

The Subcontract Statement of Work consists of two major tasks. This report is the Final Report in fulfillment of the contract deliverable for Task 1. The purpose of Task 1 was to evaluate existing and emerging protocols and standards for interfacing sensors and controllers for communicating with integrated lighting control systems in commercial buildings. The detailed task description follows: Task 1. Evaluate alternative sensor/field buses. The objective of this task is to evaluate existing and emerging standards for interfacing sensors and controllers for communicating with integrated lighting control systems in commercial buildings. The protocols to be evaluated will include atmore » least: (1) 1-Wire Net, (2) DALI, (3) MODBUS (or appropriate substitute such as EIB) and (4) ZigBee. The evaluation will include a comparative matrix for comparing the technical performance features of the different alternative systems. The performance features to be considered include: (1) directionality and network speed, (2) error control, (3) latency times, (4) allowable cable voltage drop, (5) topology, and (6) polarization. Specifically, Subcontractor will: (1) Analyze the proposed network architecture and identify potential problems that may require further research and specification. (2) Help identify and specify additional software and hardware components that may be required for the communications network to operate properly. (3) Identify areas of the architecture that can benefit from existing standards and technology and enumerate those standards and technologies. (4) Identify existing companies that may have relevant technology that can be applied to this research. (5) Help determine if new standards or technologies need to be developed.« less

Increasing security in inter-chip communication

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

Edwards, Nathan J.; Hamlet, Jason; Bauer, Todd

An apparatus for increasing security in inter-chip communication includes a sending control module, a communication bus, and a receiving control module. The communication bus is coupled between the sending control module and the receiving control module. The sending control module operates to send data on the communication bus, disable the communication bus when threats are detected, or both.

Increasing security in inter-chip communication

DOEpatents

Edwards, Nathan J; Hamlet, Jason; Bauer, Todd; Helinski, Ryan

2014-10-28

An apparatus for increasing security in inter-chip communication includes a sending control module, a communication bus, and a receiving control module. The communication bus is coupled between the sending control module and the receiving control module. The sending control module operates to send data on the communication bus, disable the communication bus when threats are detected, or both.

Considerations and Architectures for Inter-Satellite Communications in Distributed Spacecraft Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edwards, Bernard; Horne, William; Israel, David; Kwadrat, Carl; Bauer, Frank H. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

This paper will identify the important characteristics and requirements necessary for inter-satellite communications in distributed spacecraft systems and present analysis results focusing on architectural and protocol comparisons. Emerging spacecraft systems plan to deploy multiple satellites in various "distributed" configurations ranging from close proximity formation flying to widely separated constellations. Distributed spacecraft configurations provide advantages for science exploration and operations since many activities useful for missions may be better served by distributing them between spacecraft. For example, many scientific observations can be enhanced through spatially separated platforms, such as for deep space interferometry. operating multiple distributed spacecraft as a mission requires coordination that may be best provided through inter-satellite communications. For example, several future distributed spacecraft systems envision autonomous operations requiring relative navigational calculations and coordinated attitude and position corrections. To conduct these operations, data must be exchanged between spacecraft. Direct cross-links between satellites provides an efficient and practical method for transferring data and commands. Unlike existing "bent-pipe" relay networks supporting space missions, no standard or widely-used method exists for cross-link communications. Consequently, to support these future missions, the characteristics necessary for inter-satellite communications need to be examined. At first glance, all of the missions look extremely different. Some missions call for tens to hundreds of nano-satellites in constant communications in close proximity to each other. Other missions call for a handful of satellites communicating very slowly over thousands to hundreds of thousands of kilometers. The paper will first classify distributed spacecraft missions to help guide the evaluation and definition of cross-link architectures and approaches. Based on this general classification, the paper will examine general physical layer parameters, such as frequency bands and data rates, necessary to support the missions. The paper will also identify classes of communication architectures that may be employed, ranging from fully distributed to centralized topologies. Numerous factors, such as number of spacecraft, must be evaluated when attempting to pick a communications architecture. Also important is the stability of the formation from a communications standpoint. For example, do all of the spacecraft require equal bandwidth and are spacecraft allowed to enter and leave a formation? The type of science mission being attempted may also heavily influence the communications architecture. In addition, the paper will assess various parameters and characteristics typically associated with the data link layer. The paper will analyze the performance of various multiple access techniques given the operational scenario, requirements, and communication topologies envisioned for missions. This assessment will also include a survey of existing standards and their applicability for distributed spacecraft systems. An important consideration includes the interoperability of the lower layers (physical and data link) examined in this paper with the higher layer protocols(network) envisioned for future space internetworking. Finally, the paper will define a suggested path, including preliminary recommendations, for defining and developing a standard for intersatellite communications based on the classes of distributed spacecraft missions and analysis results.

Using Sequence Diagrams to Detect Communication Problems Between Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindvall, Mikael; Ackermann, Chris; Stratton, William C.; Sibol, Deane E.; Ray, Arnab; Yonkwa, Lyly; Kresser, Jan; Godfrey, Sally H.; Knodel, Jens

2008-01-01

Many software systems are evolving complex system of systems (SoS) for which inter-system communication is both mission-critical and error-prone. Such communication problems ideally would be detected before deployment. In a NASA-supported Software Assurance Research Program (SARP) project, we are researching a new approach addressing such problems. In this paper, we show that problems in the communication between two systems can be detected by using sequence diagrams to model the planned communication and by comparing the planned sequence to the actual sequence. We identify different kinds of problems that can be addressed by modeling the planned sequence using different level of abstractions.

Guidelines for Identifying Students with Perceptual/Communicative Disabilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colorado State Dept. of Education, Denver. Special Education Services Unit.

This handbook is designed for use by trained educational diagnosticians and special educators as they go about the complex task of identifying students with perceptual/communicative disabilities (PCD) and determining eligibility for special education services. Section 1 of the text discusses federal criteria for determining the existence of a…

Competence in Speaking and Listening.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Work, William

When children begin formal schooling, their fundamental communication skills, speaking and listening, are well developed but limited in scope and range; it becomes the teacher's task to assist the children in achieving communicative competence. A developmental project called "Developing Communicative Competence in Children" identifies four…

Heterogeneous fractionation profiles of meta-analytic coactivation networks.

PubMed

Laird, Angela R; Riedel, Michael C; Okoe, Mershack; Jianu, Radu; Ray, Kimberly L; Eickhoff, Simon B; Smith, Stephen M; Fox, Peter T; Sutherland, Matthew T

2017-04-01

Computational cognitive neuroimaging approaches can be leveraged to characterize the hierarchical organization of distributed, functionally specialized networks in the human brain. To this end, we performed large-scale mining across the BrainMap database of coordinate-based activation locations from over 10,000 task-based experiments. Meta-analytic coactivation networks were identified by jointly applying independent component analysis (ICA) and meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) across a wide range of model orders (i.e., d=20-300). We then iteratively computed pairwise correlation coefficients for consecutive model orders to compare spatial network topologies, ultimately yielding fractionation profiles delineating how "parent" functional brain systems decompose into constituent "child" sub-networks. Fractionation profiles differed dramatically across canonical networks: some exhibited complex and extensive fractionation into a large number of sub-networks across the full range of model orders, whereas others exhibited little to no decomposition as model order increased. Hierarchical clustering was applied to evaluate this heterogeneity, yielding three distinct groups of network fractionation profiles: high, moderate, and low fractionation. BrainMap-based functional decoding of resultant coactivation networks revealed a multi-domain association regardless of fractionation complexity. Rather than emphasize a cognitive-motor-perceptual gradient, these outcomes suggest the importance of inter-lobar connectivity in functional brain organization. We conclude that high fractionation networks are complex and comprised of many constituent sub-networks reflecting long-range, inter-lobar connectivity, particularly in fronto-parietal regions. In contrast, low fractionation networks may reflect persistent and stable networks that are more internally coherent and exhibit reduced inter-lobar communication. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Heterogeneous fractionation profiles of meta-analytic coactivation networks

PubMed Central

Laird, Angela R.; Riedel, Michael C.; Okoe, Mershack; Jianu, Radu; Ray, Kimberly L.; Eickhoff, Simon B.; Smith, Stephen M.; Fox, Peter T.; Sutherland, Matthew T.

2017-01-01

Computational cognitive neuroimaging approaches can be leveraged to characterize the hierarchical organization of distributed, functionally specialized networks in the human brain. To this end, we performed large-scale mining across the BrainMap database of coordinate-based activation locations from over 10,000 task-based experiments. Meta-analytic coactivation networks were identified by jointly applying independent component analysis (ICA) and meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) across a wide range of model orders (i.e., d = 20 to 300). We then iteratively computed pairwise correlation coefficients for consecutive model orders to compare spatial network topologies, ultimately yielding fractionation profiles delineating how “parent” functional brain systems decompose into constituent “child” sub-networks. Fractionation profiles differed dramatically across canonical networks: some exhibited complex and extensive fractionation into a large number of sub-networks across the full range of model orders, whereas others exhibited little to no decomposition as model order increased. Hierarchical clustering was applied to evaluate this heterogeneity, yielding three distinct groups of network fractionation profiles: high, moderate, and low fractionation. BrainMap-based functional decoding of resultant coactivation networks revealed a multi-domain association regardless of fractionation complexity. Rather than emphasize a cognitive-motor-perceptual gradient, these outcomes suggest the importance of inter-lobar connectivity in functional brain organization. We conclude that high fractionation networks are complex and comprised of many constituent sub-networks reflecting long-range, inter-lobar connectivity, particularly in fronto-parietal regions. In contrast, low fractionation networks may reflect persistent and stable networks that are more internally coherent and exhibit reduced inter-lobar communication. PMID:28222386

An initial test of a normative Figure Of Merit for the quality of overall task performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lemay, Moira; Comstock, J. R., Jr.

1990-01-01

An overall indicator, or Figure Of Merit (FOM), of the quality of crew/vehicle system performance is needed to establish the effect of workload on efficiency and to identify overload conditions. A normative FOM is proposed in which performance is measured on a representative task and a normative data base obtained. FOMs for subsequent executions of the task are then reported in terms of weighted deviations from average task performance. Performance of discrete tasks is measured primarily in terms of subtask time and errors. Discrete task performance is then combined with a measure of continuous vehicle control. In order to test the normative FOM procedure, the technique was applied to an existing set of data from a simulated landing task in which standard communications with ATC was compared with a data link communications system. The results indicated that while mean task performance was not affected, task variability, as measured by the FOM, was significantly higher when data link communications were used. In order to establish the sensitivity of the normative FOM method, further testing of the measure is recommended.

Inter-hemispheric interaction facilitates face processing.

PubMed

Compton, Rebecca J

2002-01-01

Many recent studies have revealed that interaction between the left and right cerebral hemispheres can aid in task performance, but these studies have tended to examine perception of simple stimuli such as letters, digits or simple shapes, which may have limited naturalistic validity. The present study extends these prior findings to a more naturalistic face perception task. Matching tasks required subjects to indicate when a target face matched one of two probe faces. Matches could be either across-field, requiring inter-hemispheric interaction, or within-field, not requiring inter-hemispheric interaction. Subjects indicated when faces matched in emotional expression (Experiment 1; n=32) or in character identity (Experiment 2; n=32). In both experiments, across-field performance was significantly better than within-field performance, supporting the primary hypothesis. Further, this advantage was greater for the more difficult character identity task. Results offer qualified support for the hypothesis that inter-hemispheric interaction is especially advantageous as task demands increase.

Oxytocin enhances inter-brain synchrony during social coordination in male adults.

PubMed

Mu, Yan; Guo, Chunyan; Han, Shihui

2016-12-01

Recent brain imaging research has revealed oxytocin (OT) effects on an individual's brain activity during social interaction but tells little about whether and how OT modulates the coherence of inter-brain activity related to two individuals' coordination behavior. We developed a new real-time coordination game that required two individuals of a dyad to synchronize with a partner (coordination task) or with a computer (control task) by counting in mind rhythmically. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded simultaneously from a dyad to examine OT effects on inter-brain synchrony of neural activity during interpersonal coordination. Experiment 1 found that dyads showed smaller interpersonal time lags of counting and greater inter-brain synchrony of alpha-band neural oscillations during the coordination (vs control) task and these effects were reliably observed in female but not male dyads. Moreover, the increased alpha-band inter-brain synchrony predicted better interpersonal behavioral synchrony across all participants. Experiment 2, using a double blind, placebo-controlled between-subjects design, revealed that intranasal OT vs placebo administration in male dyads improved interpersonal behavioral synchrony in both the coordination and control tasks but specifically enhanced alpha-band inter-brain neural oscillations during the coordination task. Our findings provide first evidence that OT enhances inter-brain synchrony in male adults to facilitate social coordination. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Direction of Magnetoencephalography Sources Associated with Feedback and Feedforward Contributions in a Visual Object Recognition Task

PubMed Central

Ahlfors, Seppo P.; Jones, Stephanie R.; Ahveninen, Jyrki; Hämäläinen, Matti S.; Belliveau, John W.; Bar, Moshe

2014-01-01

Identifying inter-area communication in terms of the hierarchical organization of functional brain areas is of considerable interest in human neuroimaging. Previous studies have suggested that the direction of magneto- and electroencephalography (MEG, EEG) source currents depends on the layer-specific input patterns into a cortical area. We examined the direction in MEG source currents in a visual object recognition experiment in which there were specific expectations of activation in the fusiform region being driven by either feedforward or feedback inputs. The source for the early non-specific visual evoked response, presumably corresponding to feedforward driven activity, pointed outward, i.e., away from the white matter. In contrast, the source for the later, object-recognition related signals, expected to be driven by feedback inputs, pointed inward, toward the white matter. Associating specific features of the MEG/EEG source waveforms to feedforward and feedback inputs could provide unique information about the activation patterns within hierarchically organized cortical areas. PMID:25445356

The impact of body armor on physical performance of law enforcement personnel: a systematic review.

PubMed

Tomes, Colin; Orr, Robin Marc; Pope, Rodney

2017-01-01

The law enforcement officer profession requires performance of arduous occupational tasks while carrying an external load, consisting of, at minimum, a chest rig, a communication system, weaponry, handcuffs, personal protective equipment and a torch. The aim of this systematic review of the literature was to identify and critically appraise the methodological quality of published studies that have investigated the impacts of body armour on task performance and to synthesize and report key findings from these studies to inform law enforcement organizations. Several literature databases (Medline, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, EMBAS) were searched using key search words and terms to identify appropriate studies. Studies meeting the inclusion criteria were critically evaluated using the Downs and Black protocol with inter-rater agreement determined by Cohen's Kappa. Sixteen articles were retained for evaluation with a mean Downs and Black score of 73.2 ± 6.8% (k = 0.841). Based on the research quality and findings across the included studies, this review determined that while effects of body armour on marksmanship and physiological responses have not yet been adequately ascertained, body armour does have significant physical performance and biomechanical impacts on the wearer, including: a) increased ratings of perceived exertion and increased time to complete functional tasks, b) decreased work capability (indicated by deterioration in fitness test scores), c) decreased balance and stability, and d) increased ground reaction forces. Given the physical performance and biomechanical impacts on the wearer, body armour should be carefully selected, with consideration of the physical fitness of the wearers and the degree to which the armour systems can be ergonomically optimized for the specific population in question.

Emotional intelligence, attachment and bonding and communication.

PubMed

Gunning, Melanie D; Waugh, Harriet; Robertson, Fiona; Holmes, Bjarne

2011-03-01

This study explores the use of emotional intelligence (El) as an explanatory factor in the relationship between attachment and mother-infant bonding and communication. With the long-term aim of synthesising these constructs into a useful tool to identify risk for mother-infant bonding and communication problems, the study utilised previously validated questionnaires. The inter-relationships between El and adult attachment anxiety/avoidance were investigated alongside their associations with mothers' self-assessments of bonding problems and with observer-based assessments of maternal communicative behaviour. The study suggests that the El capacity for managing and controlling emotions in challenging situations mediates the link between anxious attachment style and bonding problems. Women with lower El also showed more disrupted behaviours during play with their infants. The results support further development of the use of the constructs of El and attachment in identifying risk for bonding and communication difficulties.

Permethrin Exposure Dosimetry: Biomarkers and Modifiable Factors

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-01

ongoing communication with the US Army Center for Initial Military Training (CIMT) has taken place, initiating in August 2014. The PI briefed the DCG ...2016, ongoing communication with National Guard Bureau has taken place, initiating in April 2015. o With DCG -IMT approval (see Task 3 below...September 2015. TASK 3 Study 1 site approval [COMPLETE] o DCG -IMT Approval Memorandum, 1 June 2015. Approval process identified Ft. Sill as the location

Barriers to knowledge sharing in Chinese healthcare referral services: an emergent theoretical model.

PubMed

Zhou, Lihong; Nunes, Miguel Baptista

2016-01-01

This paper reports on a research study that aims to identify and explain barriers to knowledge sharing (KS) in the provision of healthcare referral services in Chinese healthcare organisations. An inductive case study approach was employed, in which 24 healthcare professionals and workers from four healthcare organisations in the province of Hubei, Central China, were interviewed using semi-structured scripts. Through data analysis, 14 KS barriers emerged in four main themes: interpersonal trust barriers, communication barriers, management and leadership barriers, and inter-institutional barriers. A cause-consequence analysis of the identified barriers revealed that three of them are at the core of the majority of problems, namely, the absence of national and local policies for inter-hospital KS, lack of a specific hospital KS requirement, and lack of mutual acquaintance. To resolve KS problems, it is of great importance that healthcare governance agencies, both at the national and regional levels, take leadership in the process of KS implementation by establishing specific and strong policies for inter-institutional KS in the referral process. This paper raises important issues that exceed academic interests and are important to healthcare professionals, hospital managers, and Information communication technology (ICT) managers in hospitals, as well as healthcare politicians and policy makers.

Barriers to knowledge sharing in Chinese healthcare referral services: an emergent theoretical model

PubMed Central

Nunes, Miguel Baptista

2016-01-01

Background This paper reports on a research study that aims to identify and explain barriers to knowledge sharing (KS) in the provision of healthcare referral services in Chinese healthcare organisations. Design An inductive case study approach was employed, in which 24 healthcare professionals and workers from four healthcare organisations in the province of Hubei, Central China, were interviewed using semi-structured scripts. Results Through data analysis, 14 KS barriers emerged in four main themes: interpersonal trust barriers, communication barriers, management and leadership barriers, and inter-institutional barriers. A cause–consequence analysis of the identified barriers revealed that three of them are at the core of the majority of problems, namely, the absence of national and local policies for inter-hospital KS, lack of a specific hospital KS requirement, and lack of mutual acquaintance. Conclusions To resolve KS problems, it is of great importance that healthcare governance agencies, both at the national and regional levels, take leadership in the process of KS implementation by establishing specific and strong policies for inter-institutional KS in the referral process. This paper raises important issues that exceed academic interests and are important to healthcare professionals, hospital managers, and Information communication technology (ICT) managers in hospitals, as well as healthcare politicians and policy makers. PMID:26895146

Neglected diseases of neglected populations: Thinking to reshape the determinants of health in Latin America and the Caribbean

PubMed Central

2005-01-01

Background People living in poverty throughout the developing world are heavily burdened with neglected communicable diseases and often marginalized by the health sector. These diseases are currently referred to as Neglected Diseases of Neglected Populations. The neglected diseases create social and financial burdens to the individual, the family, the community, and the nation. Discussion Numerous studies of successful individual interventions to manage communicable disease determinants in various types of communities have been published, but few have applied multiple interventions in an integrated, coordinated manner. We have identified a series of successful interventions and developed three hypothetical scenarios where such interventions could be applied in an integrated, multi-disease, inter-programmatic, and/or inter-sectoral approach for prevention and control of neglected diseases in three different populations: a slum, an indigenous community, and a city with a mix of populations. Summary The objective of this paper is to identify new opportunities to address neglected diseases, improve community health and promote sustainable development in neglected populations by highlighting examples of key risk and protective factors for neglected diseases which can be managed and implemented through multi-disease-based, integrated, inter-programmatic, and/or inter-sectoral approaches. Based on a literature review, analysis and development of scenarios we visualize how multiple interventions could manage multiple disease problems and propose these as possible strategies to be tested. We seek to stimulate intra- and inter-sectoral dialogue which will help in the construction of new strategies for neglected diseases (particularly for the parasitic diseases) which could benefit the poor and marginalized based on the principle of sustainability and understanding of key determinants of health, and lead to the establishment of pilot projects and activities which can contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. PMID:16283932

Identifying Strategies that Facilitate EFL Learners' Oral Communication: A Classroom Study Using Multiple Data Collection Procedures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nakatani, Yasuo

2010-01-01

This article considers whether the use of specific communication strategies can improve learners' English proficiency in communicative tasks. Japanese college students (n= 62) participated in a 12-week course of English lessons using a communicative approach with strategy training. To investigate the influence of specific strategy use, their…

Enabling the Future Force: The Use of Regional Alignment, Mission Command and Cultural Competence to Create an Operationally Adaptive Army

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-22

Associate Director of the Intercultural Communication Institute, explained that the degree of inter-cultural competence depends on the acquired degree of the...defined to explain the role of culture, cultural competence, and inter- cultural communications . Finally, the United States’ Operation Blacklist and...competence, and inter-cultural communications . Finally, the United States’ Operation Blacklist and Strategic Hamlet Plans of the Japanese Occupation

Optical satellite communications in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sodnik, Zoran; Lutz, Hanspeter; Furch, Bernhard; Meyer, Rolf

2010-02-01

This paper describes optical satellite communication activities based on technology developments, which started in Europe more than 30 years ago and led in 2001 to the world-first optical inter-satellite communication link experiment (SILEX). SILEX proved that optical communication technologies can be reliably mastered in space and in 2006 the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) joined the optical inter-satellite experiment from their own satellite. Since 2008 the German Space Agency (DLR) is operating an inter-satellite link between the NFIRE and TerraSAR-X satellites based on a second generation of laser communication technology, which will be used for the new European Data Relay Satellite (EDRS) system to be deployed in 2013.

The influence of ATC message length and timing on pilot communication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrow, Daniel; Rodvold, Michelle

1993-01-01

Pilot-controller communication is critical to safe and efficient flight. It is often a challenging component of piloting, which is reflected in the number of incidents and accidents involving miscommunication. Our previous field study identified communication problems that disrupt routine communication between pilots and controllers. The present part-task simulation study followed up the field results with a more controlled investigation of communication problems. Pilots flew a simulation in which they were frequently vectored by Air Traffic Control (ATC), requiring intensive communication with the controller. While flying, pilots also performed a secondary visual monitoring task. We examined the influence of message length (one message with four commands vs. two messages with two commands each) and noncommunication workload on communication accuracy and length. Longer ATC messages appeared to overload pilot working memory, resulting in more incorrect or partial readbacks, as well as more requests to repeat the message. The timing between the two short messages also influenced communication. The second message interfered with memory for or response to the first short message when it was delivered too soon after the first message. Performing the secondary monitoring task did not influence communication. Instead, communication reduced monitoring accuracy.

Prediction of isometric motor tasks and effort levels based on high-density EMG in patients with incomplete spinal cord injury

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordanić, Mislav; Rojas-Martínez, Mónica; Mañanas, Miguel Angel; Francesc Alonso, Joan

2016-08-01

Objective. The development of modern assistive and rehabilitation devices requires reliable and easy-to-use methods to extract neural information for control of devices. Group-specific pattern recognition identifiers are influenced by inter-subject variability. Based on high-density EMG (HD-EMG) maps, our research group has already shown that inter-subject muscle activation patterns exist in a population of healthy subjects. The aim of this paper is to analyze muscle activation patterns associated with four tasks (flexion/extension of the elbow, and supination/pronation of the forearm) at three different effort levels in a group of patients with incomplete Spinal Cord Injury (iSCI). Approach. Muscle activation patterns were evaluated by the automatic identification of these four isometric tasks along with the identification of levels of voluntary contractions. Two types of classifiers were considered in the identification: linear discriminant analysis and support vector machine. Main results. Results show that performance of classification increases when combining features extracted from intensity and spatial information of HD-EMG maps (accuracy = 97.5%). Moreover, when compared to a population with injuries at different levels, a lower variability between activation maps was obtained within a group of patients with similar injury suggesting stronger task-specific and effort-level-specific co-activation patterns, which enable better prediction results. Significance. Despite the challenge of identifying both the four tasks and the three effort levels in patients with iSCI, promising results were obtained which support the use of HD-EMG features for providing useful information regarding motion and force intention.

Special Education Instructional Skills Guide for Identifiable Perceptual or Communicative Disorders (IPCD) and Significant Identifiable Emotional or Behavioral Disorders (SIEBD) K-12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George-Nichols, Nancy; And Others

The guide is intended to provide information on appropriate programing for elementary and secondary pupils with either perceptual/communicative or emotional/behavioral disorders. The guide, which is patterned after regular education objectives, offers comprehensive task analysis in four content areas (subtopics in parentheses): (1) readiness…

22 CFR 1005.160 - Communications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2013-04-01 2009-04-01 true Communications. 1005.160 Section 1005.160 Foreign Relations INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION ENFORCEMENT OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAP IN PROGRAMS OR ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED BY THE INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION § 1005.160 Communications. (a) The agency...

22 CFR 1005.160 - Communications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Communications. 1005.160 Section 1005.160 Foreign Relations INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION ENFORCEMENT OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAP IN PROGRAMS OR ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED BY THE INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION § 1005.160 Communications. (a) The agency...

New Developments in Information Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAllister, Lois, Ed.

The purpose of this conference was to: (1) improve reference and research library resources and services within its area by identifying, sharing and developing such resources and services and (2) further inter-library cooperation, communication and transportation of materials within the area of the Council. Aware that many information needs exist…

Brief Report: The Preliminary Psychometric Properties of the Social Communication Checklist.

PubMed

Wainer, Allison L; Berger, Natalie I; Ingersoll, Brooke R

2017-04-01

Despite the expansion of early intervention approaches for young children with ASD, investigators have struggled to identify measures capable of assessing social communication change in response to these interventions. Addressing recent calls for efficient, sensitive, and reliable social communication measures, the current paper outlines the refinement and validation of the Social Communication Checklist (SCC). We discuss two small studies exploring the psychometric properties of the SCC and the SCC-R (revised Social Communication Checklist), including sensitivity to change, inter-rater reliability, and test-retest reliability, in two samples of children with ASD and one sample of typically-developing children. Results indicate this measure is reliable, sensitive to change after a brief social communication intervention, and strongly related to well-established measures of social communicative functioning.

Network analysis of Chinese provincial economies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Xiaoqi; An, Haizhong; Liu, Xiaojia

2018-02-01

Global economic system is a huge network formed by national subnetworks that contains the provincial networks. As the second largest world economy, China has "too big to fail" impact on the interconnected global economy. Detecting the critical sectors and vital linkages inside Chinese economic network is meaningful for understanding the origin of this Chinese impact. Different from tradition network research at national level, this paper focuses on the provincial networks and inter-provincial network. Using Chinese inter-regional input-output table to construct 30 provincial input-output networks and one inter-provincial input-output network, we identify central sectors and vital linkages, as well as analyze economic structure similarity. Results show that (1) Communication Devices sector in Guangdong and that in Jiangsu, Transportation and Storage sector in Shanghai play critical roles in Chinese economy. (2) Advanced manufactures and services industry occupy the central positions in eastern provincial economies, while Construction sector, Heavy industry, and Wholesale and Retail Trades sector are influential in middle and western provinces. (3) The critical monetary flow paths in Chinese economy are Communication Devices sector to Communication Devices sector in Guangdong, Metals Mining sector to Iron and Steel Smelting sector in Henan, Communication Devices sector to Communication Devices sector in Jiangsu, as well as Petroleum Mining sector in Heilongjiang to Petroleum Processing sector in Liaoning. (4) Collective influence results suggest that Finance sector, Transportation and Storage sector, Production of Electricity and Heat sector, and Rubber and Plastics sector in Hainan are strategic influencers, despite being weakly connected. These sectors and input-output relations are worthy of close attention for monitoring Chinese economy.

Development of an Age Band on the ManuVis for 3-Year-Old Children with Visual Impairments.

PubMed

Reimer, A M; Barsingerhorn, A D; Overvelde, A; Nijhuis-Van der Sanden, M W G; Boonstra, F N; Cox, R F A

2017-08-01

To compare fine motor performance of 3-year-old children with visual impairment with peers having normal vision, to provide reference scores for 3-year-old children with visual impairment on the ManuVis, and to assess inter-rater reliability. 26 children with visual impairment (mean age: 3 years 7 months (SD 3 months); 17 boys) and 28 children with normal vision (mean age: 3 years 7 months (SD 4 months); 14 boys) participated in the study. The ManuVis age band for 3-year-old children comprised two one-handed tasks, two two-handed tasks, and a pre-writing task. Children with visual impairment needed more time on all tasks (p < .01) and performed the pre-writing task less accurately than children with normal vision (p < .001). Children aged 42-47 months performed significantly faster on two tasks and had better total scores than children aged 36-41 months (p < .05). Inter-rater reliability was excellent (Intra-class Correlation Coefficient = 0.96-0.99). The ManuVis age band for 3-year-old children is appropriate to assess fine motor skills, and is sensitive to differences between children with visual impairment and normal vision and between half-year age groups. Reference scores are provided for 3-year-old children with visual impairment to identify delayed fine motor development.

Chloroplast-to-nucleus communication

PubMed Central

Chan, Kai Xun; Crisp, Peter Alexander; Estavillo, Gonzalo Martin

2010-01-01

In order for plant cells to function efficiently under different environmental conditions, chloroplastic processes have to be tightly regulated by the nucleus. It is widely believed that there is inter-organelle communication from the chloroplast to the nucleus, called retrograde signaling. Although some pathways of communication have been identified, the actual signals that move between the two cellular compartments are largely unknown. This review provides an overview of retrograde signaling including its importance to the cell, candidate signals, recent advances and current experimental systems. In addition, we highlight the potential of using drought stress as a model for studying retrograde signaling. PMID:21512326

Beyond human error taxonomies in assessment of risk in sociotechnical systems: a new paradigm with the EAST 'broken-links' approach.

PubMed

Stanton, Neville A; Harvey, Catherine

2017-02-01

Risk assessments in Sociotechnical Systems (STS) tend to be based on error taxonomies, yet the term 'human error' does not sit easily with STS theories and concepts. A new break-link approach was proposed as an alternative risk assessment paradigm to reveal the effect of information communication failures between agents and tasks on the entire STS. A case study of the training of a Royal Navy crew detecting a low flying Hawk (simulating a sea-skimming missile) is presented using EAST to model the Hawk-Frigate STS in terms of social, information and task networks. By breaking 19 social links and 12 task links, 137 potential risks were identified. Discoveries included revealing the effect of risk moving around the system; reducing the risks to the Hawk increased the risks to the Frigate. Future research should examine the effects of compounded information communication failures on STS performance. Practitioner Summary: The paper presents a step-by-step walk-through of EAST to show how it can be used for risk assessment in sociotechnical systems. The 'broken-links' method takes a systemic, rather than taxonomic, approach to identify information communication failures in social and task networks.

Determination of Tasks Required by Graduates of Manufacturing Engineering Technology Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zirbel, Jay H.

1993-01-01

A Delphi panel of 14 experts identified 37 tasks performed by/qualities needed by manufacturing engineering technologists. Most important were work ethic, performance quality, communication skills, teamwork, computer applications, manufacturing basics, materials knowledge, troubleshooting, supervision, and global issues. (SK)

Multiband Radio Frequency Interconnect (MRFI) Technology For Next Generation Mobile/Airborne Computing Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-02-01

enable high scalability and reconfigurability for inter-CPU/Memory communications with an increased number of communication channels in frequency ...interconnect technology (MRFI) to enable high scalability and re-configurability for inter-CPU/Memory communications with an increased number of communication ...testing in the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for High Frequency Electronics, and Dr. Afshin Momtaz at Broadcom Corporation for

Cross-Cultural Barriers to Effective Communication in Aviation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Orasanu, Judith; Davison, Jeannie; Shafto, Michael G. (Technical Monitor)

1995-01-01

Recent research on communication and performance in airline flight crews has led to a concept of shared mental models that is associated with effective, efficient team coordination in problem solving and decision making situations. Elements that characterize efficient communication have been identified. This research, however, was based strictly on US crews. More recent studies supported by NASA have identified cultural factors that influence communication among team members who vary in their status and roles. Research is just beginning to identify commonalities and culturally distinct strategies for accomplishing joint tasks. ASRS incident reports have been analyzed to identify language barriers in flight that have safety consequences. Implications of these concepts and findings for multi-cultural command and control will be explored.

Communication: an ophthalmic practice issue.

PubMed

Whitton, S J

1995-12-01

In the 1990's communication becomes an ophthalmic practice issue. The present ophthalmic climate of cost containment, downsizing, budget cuts, and lack of appreciation of contributions, results in a low staff morale. Recognition of the effects of job satisfaction and productivity led one group to seek solutions. A communication task force was formed to identify problems and the appropriate interventions.

Communication Characterization and Optimization of Applications Using Topology-Aware Task Mapping on Large Supercomputers

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

Sreepathi, Sarat; D'Azevedo, Eduardo; Philip, Bobby

On large supercomputers, the job scheduling systems may assign a non-contiguous node allocation for user applications depending on available resources. With parallel applications using MPI (Message Passing Interface), the default process ordering does not take into account the actual physical node layout available to the application. This contributes to non-locality in terms of physical network topology and impacts communication performance of the application. In order to mitigate such performance penalties, this work describes techniques to identify suitable task mapping that takes the layout of the allocated nodes as well as the application's communication behavior into account. During the first phasemore » of this research, we instrumented and collected performance data to characterize communication behavior of critical US DOE (United States - Department of Energy) applications using an augmented version of the mpiP tool. Subsequently, we developed several reordering methods (spectral bisection, neighbor join tree etc.) to combine node layout and application communication data for optimized task placement. We developed a tool called mpiAproxy to facilitate detailed evaluation of the various reordering algorithms without requiring full application executions. This work presents a comprehensive performance evaluation (14,000 experiments) of the various task mapping techniques in lowering communication costs on Titan, the leadership class supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.« less

Development and pilot testing the Family Conference Rating Scale: A tool aimed to assess interprofessional patient-centred communication and collaboration competencies.

PubMed

Dojeiji, Sue; Byszewski, Anna; Wood, Tim

2015-01-01

There is a paucity of evidence-based literature on the essential communication and collaboration skills to guide health care teams in conducting and assessing their performance in the Family Conference (FC). The authors developed and collected validity evidence for a rating scale of team FC performance, the Family Conference Rating Scale (FCRS). In phase 1, essential FC communication and collaboration skills were identified through a review of existing communication tools and literature on team functioning; a draft 34-item scale was developed. In phase 2, the scale was narrowed to a 6-category, 9-point scale with descriptors of expected behaviours through an iterative process: testing of the scale on 10 FC transcripts by two experts, soliciting feedback from a focus group of seven health care providers, and testing by non-experts on 49 live FCs. In phase 3, scores on the revised scale were validated by 10 health care providers from different disciplines by rating three videos of FCs of variable quality. Raters were able to detect inter-video variation in FC quality. The reliability of the FCRS was 0.95 and the inter-rater reliability, 0.68. The FCRS may enhance the ability of health professions educators to teach and assess interprofessional patient-centred communication and collaboration competencies.

Development and feasibility testing of the Pediatric Emergency Discharge Interaction Coding Scheme.

PubMed

Curran, Janet A; Taylor, Alexandra; Chorney, Jill; Porter, Stephen; Murphy, Andrea; MacPhee, Shannon; Bishop, Andrea; Haworth, Rebecca

2017-08-01

Discharge communication is an important aspect of high-quality emergency care. This study addresses the gap in knowledge on how to describe discharge communication in a paediatric emergency department (ED). The objective of this feasibility study was to develop and test a coding scheme to characterize discharge communication between health-care providers (HCPs) and caregivers who visit the ED with their children. The Pediatric Emergency Discharge Interaction Coding Scheme (PEDICS) and coding manual were developed following a review of the literature and an iterative refinement process involving HCP observations, inter-rater assessments and team consensus. The coding scheme was pilot-tested through observations of HCPs across a range of shifts in one urban paediatric ED. Overall, 329 patient observations were carried out across 50 observational shifts. Inter-rater reliability was evaluated in 16% of the observations. The final version of the PEDICS contained 41 communication elements. Kappa scores were greater than .60 for the majority of communication elements. The most frequently observed communication elements were under the Introduction node and the least frequently observed were under the Social Concerns node. HCPs initiated the majority of the communication. Pediatric Emergency Discharge Interaction Coding Scheme addresses an important gap in the discharge communication literature. The tool is useful for mapping patterns of discharge communication between HCPs and caregivers. Results from our pilot test identified deficits in specific areas of discharge communication that could impact adherence to discharge instructions. The PEDICS would benefit from further testing with a different sample of HCPs. © 2017 The Authors. Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Reliability of fMRI for Studies of Language in Post-Stroke Aphasia Subjects

PubMed Central

Eaton, Kenneth P.; Szaflarski, Jerzy P.; Altaye, Mekibib; Ball, Angel L.; Kissela, Brett M.; Banks, Christi; Holland, Scott K.

2008-01-01

Quantifying change in brain activation patterns associated with post-stroke recovery and reorganization of language function over time requires accurate understanding of inter-scan and inter-subject variability. Here we report inter-scan variability measures for fMRI activation patterns associated with verb generation (VG) and semantic decision/tone decision (SDTD) tasks in 4 healthy controls and 4 aphasic left middle cerebral artery (LMCA) stroke subjects. A series of 10 fMRI scans was completed on a 4T Varian scanner for each task for each subject, except for one stroke subject who completed 5 and 6 scans for SDTD and VG, thus yielding 35 and 36 total stroke subject scans for SDTD and VG, respectively. Group composite and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) maps were computed across all subjects and trials for each task. The patterns of reliable activation for the VG and SDTD tasks correspond well to those regions typically activated by these tasks in healthy and aphasic subjects. ICCs for activation were consistently high (R0.05 ≈ 0.8) for individual tasks among both control and aphasic subjects. These voxel-wise measures of reliability highlight regions of low inter-scan variability within language circuitry for control and post-recovery stroke subjects. ICCs computed from the combination of the SDTD/VG data were markedly reduced for both control and aphasic subjects as compared with the ICCs for the individual tasks. These quantitative measures of inter-scan variability support the proposed use of these fMRI paradigms for longitudinal mapping of neural reorganization of language processing following left hemispheric insult. PMID:18411061

The OICETS mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jono, Takashi; Arai, Katsuyoshi

2017-11-01

The Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite (OICETS) was successfully launched on 23th August 2005 and thrown into a circular orbit at the altitude of 610 km. The main mission is to demonstrate the free-space inter satellite laser communications with the cooperation of the Advanced Relay and Technology Mission (ARTEMIS) geostationary satellite developed by the European Space Agency. This paper presents the overview of the OICETS and laser terminal, a history of international cooperation between Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and ESA and typical results of the inter-orbit laser communication experiment carried out with ARTEMIS.

Communication Delays Impact Behavior and Performance Aboard the International Space Station.

PubMed

Kintz, Natalie M; Palinkas, Lawrence A

Long-duration space explorations will involve significant communication delays that will likely impact individual and team outcomes. However, the extent of these impacts and the appropriate countermeasures for their mitigation remain largely unknown. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of utilizing the International Space Station (ISS) as a research platform to assess the impacts of communication delays on individual and team behavior and performance. For this study, 3 ISS crewmembers and 18 mission support personnel performed 10 tasks identified by subject matter experts as meeting study criteria, 6 tasks without a delay in communication and 4 tasks with a 50-s one-way delay. Assessments of individual and team performance and behavior were obtained after each task. The completion rate of posttask assessments and postmission interviews with astronauts were used to assess feasibility and acceptability. Posttask assessments were completed in 100% of the instances where a crewmember was assigned to a task and in 83% where mission support personnel were involved. Qualitative analysis of postmission interviews found the study to be important and acceptable to the three astronauts. However, they also reported the study was limited in the number and type of tasks included, limitations in survey questions, and preference for open-ended to scaled items. Although the ISS is considered a high fidelity analog for long-duration space missions, future studies of communication delays on the ISS must take into considerations the constraints imposed by mission operations and subject preferences and priorities. Kintz KM, Palinkas LA. Communication delays impact behavior and performance aboard the International Space Station. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 87(11):940-946.

Peripheral neuropathy reduces asymmetries in inter-limb transfer in a visuo-motor task.

PubMed

Pan, Zhujun; Van Gemmert, Arend W A

2016-01-01

Asymmetry of inter-limb transfer has been associated with the specialization of the dominant and non-dominant motor system. Reductions of asymmetry have been interpreted as behavioural evidence showing a decline of hemispheric lateralization. A previous study showed that ageing did not qualitatively change the inter-limb transfer asymmetry of a visuo-motor task. The current study elaborates on these findings; it examines whether diminished somatosensory information as a result of peripheral neuropathy (PN) adversely affects inter-limb transfer asymmetry. Twenty individuals affected by PN and 20 older controls were recruited and divided equally across two groups. One group trained a visuo-motor task with the right hand while the other group trained it with the left hand. Performance (initial direction error) of the untrained hand before and after training was collected to determine learning effects from inter-limb transfer. Similar to previous studies, the current study showed asymmetric inter-limb transfer in older controls. In contrast, PN showed inter-limb transfer in both directions indicating that PN reduces inter-limb transfer asymmetry. Increased bilateral hemispheric recruitment is suggested to be responsible for this reduced asymmetry which may compensate for deteriorated tactile and/or proprioceptive inputs in PN. Two possible hypotheses are discussed explaining the relationship between declined somatosensory information and increases in bilateral hemispheric recruitment.

Development of the public information and communication technology assessment tool.

PubMed

Ripat, Jacquie; Watzke, James; Birch, Gary

2008-09-01

Public information and communication technologies, such as information kiosks, automated banking machines and ticket dispensers, allow people to access services in a convenient and timely manner. However, the development of these technologies has occurred largely without consideration of access by people with disabilities. Inaccessible technical features make operation of a public technology difficult and barriers in the environment create navigational challenges, limiting the opportunity of people with disabilities to use these devices and access the services they provide. This paper describes the development of a tool that individuals, disability advocacy groups, business owners, healthcare providers, and urban planners can use to evaluate the accessibility of public technologies and the surrounding environment. Evaluation results can then be used to develop recommendations and advocate for technical and environmental changes to improve access. Tool development consisted of a review of the literature and key Canadian Standards Association documents, task analysis, and consultation with accessibility experts. Studies of content validity, tool usability, inter-rater and test-retest reliability were conducted in sites across Canada. Accessibility experts verified the content validity of the tool. The current version of the tool has incorporated the findings of a usability study. Initial testing indicated excellent agreement for inter-rater and test-retest reliability scores. Social exclusion can arise when public technologies are not accessible. This newly developed instrument provides detailed information that can be used to advocate for more accessible and inclusive public information and communication technologies.

Communication Based on Receptive Multilingualism: Advantages and Disadvantages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Braunmüller, Kurt

2013-01-01

This paper tries to give answers for successful receptive multilingualism (RM) but also for its failure. It is mainly based on the results of two projects, one on inter-dialectal communication in the Baltic area during the era of the Hanseatic League and the other analyses inter-Scandinavian communication today. The main purpose of this survey is…

Self-assessment of intercultural communication skills: a survey of physicians and medical students in Geneva, Switzerland.

PubMed

Hudelson, Patricia; Perron, Noelle Junod; Perneger, Thomas

2011-09-01

Physicians working with multicultural populations need to know how to elicit the patient's understanding of the illness; determine the patient's sociocultural context and identify any issues that might affect care; communicate effectively across patient-provider social and cultural differences; and collaborate effectively with an interpreter. Skills self-assessment can contribute to identifying training needs and monitoring skills development in these areas. As part of a larger study exploring the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Geneva physicians and medical students regarding the care of immigrant patients, we asked respondents to self-rate their ability to perform a range of common yet challenging intercultural communication tasks. Overall, respondents rated themselves less competent at intercultural tasks than at basic medical skills and less competent at specific intercultural communication skills than at general intercultural skills. Qualified doctors (as opposed to students), those with greater interest in caring for immigrants, and those who rarely encountered difficulties with immigrants rated themselves significantly more competent for all clinical tasks. Having a higher percentage of immigrant patients and previous cultural competence training predicted greater self-rated intercultural communication skills. Our self-assessment results suggest that students and physicians should be provided with the opportunity to practice intercultural skills with immigrant patients as part of their cultural competence training. To strengthen the validity of self-assessment measures, they should ideally be combined with more objective methods to assess actual skills.

Chloroplast-to-nucleus communication: current knowledge, experimental strategies and relationship to drought stress signaling.

PubMed

Chan, Kai Xun; Crisp, Peter Alexander; Estavillo, Gonzalo Martin; Pogson, Barry James

2010-12-01

In order for plant cells to function efficiently under different environmental conditions, chloroplastic processes have to be tightly regulated by the nucleus. It is widely believed that there is inter-organelle communication from the chloroplast to the nucleus, called retrograde signaling. Although some pathways of communication have been identified, the actual signals that move between the two cellular compartments are largely unknown. This review provides an overview of retrograde signaling including its importance to the cell, candidate signals, recent advances, and current experimental systems. In addition, we highlight the potential of using drought stress as a model for studying retrograde signaling.

Inter-satellites x-ray communication system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mou, Huan; Li, Bao-quan

2017-02-01

An inter-satellite X-ray communication system is presented in this paper. X-ray has a strong penetrating power without almost attenuation for transmission in outer space when the energy of X-ray photons is more than 10KeV and the atmospheric pressure is lower than 10-1 Pa, so it is convincing of x-ray communication in inter-satellite communication and deep space exploration. Additionally, using X-ray photons as information carriers can be used in some communication applications that laser communication and radio frequency (RF) communication are not available, such as ionization blackout area communication. The inter-satellites X-ray communication system, including the grid modulated X-ray source, the high-sensitivity X-ray detector and the transmitting and receiving antenna, is described explicitly. As the X-ray transmitter, a vacuum-sealed miniature modulated X-ray source has been fabricated via the single-step brazing process in a vacuum furnace. Pulse modulation of X-rays, by means of controlling the voltage value of the grid electrode, is realized. Three focusing electrodes, meanwhile, are used to make the electron beam converge and finally 150μm focusing spot diameter is obtained. The X-ray detector based on silicon avalanche photodiodes (APDs) is chosen as the communication receiver on account of its high temporal resolution and non-vacuum operating environment. Furthermore, considering x-ray emission characteristic and communication distance of X-rays, the multilayer nested rotary parabolic optics is picked out as transmitting and receiving antenna. And as a new concept of the space communication, there will be more important scientific significance and application prospects, called "Next-Generation Communications".

An Empirical Study of Inter-Vehicle Communication Performance Using NS-2

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-08-01

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in inter-vehicle communications (IVC) based on wireless networks to collect and distribute traffic information in various Intelligent Transportation Systems applications. In this paper, we study the...

Task Force Report 4. Report of the Task Force on Marketing and Communications

PubMed Central

Dickinson, John C.; Evans, Kenneth L.; Carter, Jan; Burke, Kevin

2004-01-01

BACKGROUND To ensure the success of the proposed New Model of family medicine and to create a better understanding of the nature and role of family medicine, an effective communications plan must be developed and implemented. This Future of Family Medicine task force report proposes strategies for communicating the role of family physicians within medicine, as well as to purchasers, consumers, and other entities. METHODS After reviewing the findings from the research conducted for the Future of Family Medicine project, the task force presents a preliminary brand-positioning strategy for family medicine messages. Based on this strategy, the task force identifies 5 major audiences to which family medicine communications should be directed. A consistent method was used to determine optimum strategies to address each audience: defining the audience, assessing the literature and other pertinent evidence, identifying the communication objectives, determining the key messages, developing brand promises, and proposing strategies and tactics to support the messages and objectives. Preliminary communications plans are then presented for each of the 5 target audiences. MAJOR FINDINGS It is important that the organizations involved in family medicine make a multiyear commitment of resources to implement and support an aggressive communications strategy, which is based on key messages to target audiences. A concerted effort is particularly needed to address the declining interest among medical students in the specialty. Implementing a comprehensive family medicine career development program may be one effective strategy to reverse this trend. To help eliminate the current confusion among the public regarding family medicine and to promote clarity and consistency in terminology, the specialty should replace the name family practice with family medicine and a new graphic symbol for the discipline of family medicine should be developed. CONCLUSION As a discipline, family medicine has failed to formulate and deliver a compelling message. New communications strategies must be implemented that will reach audiences in terms they understand and care about and in ways that convey a sense of the exciting role family physicians will play in the future. By actively implementing the communications plans described in this report, the specialty can enhance the impact and help ensure the widespread implementation of the proposed New Model of family medicine.

Automated mainframe data collection in a network environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gross, David L.

1994-01-01

The progress and direction of the computer industry have resulted in widespread use of dissimilar and incompatible mainframe data systems. Data collection from these multiple systems is a labor intensive task. In the past, data collection had been restricted to the efforts of personnel specially trained on each system. Information is one of the most important resources an organizations has. Any improvement in an organization's ability to access and manage that information provides a competitive advantage. This problem of data collection is compounded at NASA sites by multi-center and contractor operations. The Centralized Automated Data Retrieval System (CADRS) is designed to provide a common interface that would permit data access, query, and retrieval from multiple contractor and NASA systems. The methods developed for CADRS have a strong commercial potential in that they would be applicable for any industry that needs inter-department, inter-company, or inter-agency data communications. The widespread use of multi-system data networks, that combine older legacy systems with newer decentralized networks, has made data retrieval a critical problem for information dependent industries. Implementing the technology discussed in this paper would reduce operational expense and improve data collection on these composite data systems.

Why aren’t they happy? An analysis of end-user satisfaction with Electronic health records

PubMed Central

Unni, Prasad; Staes, Catherine; Weeks, Howard; Kramer, Heidi; Borbolla, Damion; Slager, Stacey; Taft, Teresa; Chidambaram, Valliammai; Weir, Charlene

2016-01-01

Introduction. Implementations of electronic health records (EHR) have been met with mixed outcome reviews. Complaints about these systems have led to many attempts to have useful measures of end-user satisfaction. However, most user satisfaction assessments do not focus on high-level reasoning, despite the complaints of many physicians. Our study attempts to identify some of these determinants. Method. We developed a user satisfaction survey instrument, based on pre-identified and important clinical and non-clinical clinician tasks. We surveyed a sample of in-patient physicians and focused on using exploratory factor analyses to identify underlying high-level cognitive tasks. We used the results to create unique, orthogonal variables representative of latent structure predictive of user satisfaction. Results. Our findings identified 3 latent high-level tasks that were associated with end-user satisfaction: a) High- level clinical reasoning b) Communicate/coordinate care and c) Follow the rules/compliance. Conclusion: We were able to successfully identify latent variables associated with satisfaction. Identification of communicability and high-level clinical reasoning as important factors determining user satisfaction can lead to development and design of more usable electronic health records with higher user satisfaction. PMID:28269962

Engaging communication experts in a Delphi process to identify patient behaviors that could enhance communication in medical encounters

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background The communication literature currently focuses primarily on improving physicians' verbal and non-verbal behaviors during the medical interview. The Four Habits Model is a teaching and research framework for physician communication that is based on evidence linking specific communication behaviors with processes and outcomes of care. The Model conceptualizes basic communication tasks as "Habits" and describes the sequence of physician communication behaviors during the clinical encounter associated with improved outcomes. Using the Four Habits Model as a starting point, we asked communication experts to identify the verbal communication behaviors of patients that are important in outpatient encounters. Methods We conducted a 4-round Delphi process with 17 international experts in communication research, medical education, and health care delivery. All rounds were conducted via the internet. In round 1, experts reviewed a list of proposed patient verbal communication behaviors within the Four Habits Model framework. The proposed patient verbal communication behaviors were identified based on a review of the communication literature. The experts could: approve the proposed list; add new behaviors; or modify behaviors. In rounds 2, 3, and 4, they rated each behavior for its fit (agree or disagree) with a particular habit. After each round, we calculated the percent agreement for each behavior and provided these data in the next round. Behaviors receiving more than 70% of experts' votes (either agree or disagree) were considered as achieving consensus. Results Of the 14 originally-proposed patient verbal communication behaviors, the experts modified all but 2, and they added 20 behaviors to the Model in round 1. In round 2, they were presented with 59 behaviors and 14 options to remove specific behaviors for rating. After 3 rounds of rating, the experts retained 22 behaviors. This set included behaviors such as asking questions, expressing preferences, and summarizing information. Conclusion The process identified communication tasks and verbal communication behaviors for patients similar to those outlined for physicians in the Four Habits Model. This represents an important step in building a single model that can be applied to teaching patients and physicians the communication skills associated with improved satisfaction and positive outcomes of care. PMID:20403173

Prosody Predicts Contest Outcome in Non-Verbal Dialogs

PubMed Central

Dreiss, Amélie N.; Chatelain, Philippe G.

2016-01-01

Non-verbal communication has important implications for inter-individual relationships and negotiation success. However, to what extent humans can spontaneously use rhythm and prosody as a sole communication tool is largely unknown. We analysed human ability to resolve a conflict without verbal dialogs, independently of semantics. We invited pairs of subjects to communicate non-verbally using whistle sounds. Along with the production of more whistles, participants unwittingly used a subtle prosodic feature to compete over a resource (ice-cream scoops). Winners can be identified by their propensity to accentuate the first whistles blown when replying to their partner, compared to the following whistles. Naive listeners correctly identified this prosodic feature as a key determinant of which whistler won the interaction. These results suggest that in the absence of other communication channels, individuals spontaneously use a subtle variation of sound accentuation (prosody), instead of merely producing exuberant sounds, to impose themselves in a conflict of interest. We discuss the biological and cultural bases of this ability and their link with verbal communication. Our results highlight the human ability to use non-verbal communication in a negotiation process. PMID:27907039

Prosody Predicts Contest Outcome in Non-Verbal Dialogs.

PubMed

Dreiss, Amélie N; Chatelain, Philippe G; Roulin, Alexandre; Richner, Heinz

2016-01-01

Non-verbal communication has important implications for inter-individual relationships and negotiation success. However, to what extent humans can spontaneously use rhythm and prosody as a sole communication tool is largely unknown. We analysed human ability to resolve a conflict without verbal dialogs, independently of semantics. We invited pairs of subjects to communicate non-verbally using whistle sounds. Along with the production of more whistles, participants unwittingly used a subtle prosodic feature to compete over a resource (ice-cream scoops). Winners can be identified by their propensity to accentuate the first whistles blown when replying to their partner, compared to the following whistles. Naive listeners correctly identified this prosodic feature as a key determinant of which whistler won the interaction. These results suggest that in the absence of other communication channels, individuals spontaneously use a subtle variation of sound accentuation (prosody), instead of merely producing exuberant sounds, to impose themselves in a conflict of interest. We discuss the biological and cultural bases of this ability and their link with verbal communication. Our results highlight the human ability to use non-verbal communication in a negotiation process.

Exploring Students Intentions to Study Computer Science and Identifying the Differences among ICT and Programming Based Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giannakos, Michail N.

2014-01-01

Computer Science (CS) courses comprise both Programming and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) issues; however these two areas have substantial differences, inter alia the attitudes and beliefs of the students regarding the intended learning content. In this research, factors from the Social Cognitive Theory and Unified Theory of…

A System for Inter-Library Communication (SILC). Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, R. M.

A study was made of the use of time-sharing computer systems as a means of communication, accounting, message switching, and referral in a System for Inter-Library Communication (SILC). The purpose of the study was to develop data on which to evaluate the feasibility of such a system; the results are reported in terms of four issues: technical…

Interconnect Performance Evaluation of SGI Altix 3700 BX2, Cray X1, Cray Opteron Cluster, and Dell PowerEdge

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fatoohi, Rod; Saini, Subbash; Ciotti, Robert

2006-01-01

We study the performance of inter-process communication on four high-speed multiprocessor systems using a set of communication benchmarks. The goal is to identify certain limiting factors and bottlenecks with the interconnect of these systems as well as to compare these interconnects. We measured network bandwidth using different number of communicating processors and communication patterns, such as point-to-point communication, collective communication, and dense communication patterns. The four platforms are: a 512-processor SGI Altix 3700 BX2 shared-memory machine with 3.2 GB/s links; a 64-processor (single-streaming) Cray XI shared-memory machine with 32 1.6 GB/s links; a 128-processor Cray Opteron cluster using a Myrinet network; and a 1280-node Dell PowerEdge cluster with an InfiniBand network. Our, results show the impact of the network bandwidth and topology on the overall performance of each interconnect.

Modeling and Performance Analysis of 10 Gbps Inter-satellite Optical Wireless Communication Link

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Mehtab

2017-12-01

Free-space optical (FSO) communication has the advantages of two of the most predominant data transmission technologies - optical fiber communication and wireless communication. Most of the technical aspects of FSO are similar to that of optical fiber communication, with major difference in the information signal propagation medium which is free space in case of FSO rather than silica glass in optical fiber communication. One of the most important applications of FSO is inter-satellite optical wireless communication (IsOWC) links which will be deployed in the future in space. The IsOWC links have many advantages over the previously existing microwave satellite communication technologies such as higher bandwidth, lower power consumption, low cost of implementation, light size, and weight. In this paper, modeling and performance analysis of a 10-Gbps inter-satellite communication link with two satellites separated at a distance of 1,200 km has been done using OPTISYSTEM simulation software. Performance has been analyzed on the basis of quality factor, signal to noise ratio (SNR), and total power of the received signal.

Psychologists' views of inter-disciplinary psychosocial communication within the cancer care team.

PubMed

Thewes, B; Butow, P; Davis, E; Turner, J; Mason, C

2014-12-01

Little is known about how psychologists working in cancer care centres communicate clinical information to other members of the multidisciplinary team or what information is communicated. This study surveyed Australian cancer care psychologists regarding their communication practices and their views on barriers to and facilitators of effective inter-disciplinary communication. Psychologists were invited to complete an online survey containing purpose-designed items that addressed study aims. Forty-four psychologists completed the survey. Psychologists' most common method of recording initial consultations was in patient medical records, with 69 % of respondents recording notes in either most of the time or all of the time. Twenty-two percent of psychologists said they did not regularly feedback the results of an initial assessment to a referrer and more than 40 % used verbal and e-mail communication to do so. This study provides data that will assist in the development of guidelines for inter-professional communication between psychologists and other members of the cancer care team.

Shoulder Kinematics and Spatial Pattern of Trapezius Electromyographic Activity in Real and Virtual Environments

PubMed Central

Samani, Afshin; Pontonnier, Charles; Dumont, Georges; Madeleine, Pascal

2015-01-01

The design of an industrial workstation tends to include ergonomic assessment steps based on a digital mock-up and a virtual reality setup. Lack of interaction and system fidelity is often reported as a main issue in such virtual reality applications. This limitation is a crucial issue as thorough ergonomic analysis is required for an investigation of the biomechanics. In the current study, we investigated the biomechanical responses of the shoulder joint in a simulated assembly task for comparison with the biomechanical responses in virtual environments. Sixteen male healthy novice subjects performed the task on three different platforms: real (RE), virtual (VE), and virtual environment with force feedback (VEF) with low and high precision demands. The subjects repeated the task 12 times (i.e., 12 cycles). High density electromyography from the upper trapezius and rotation angles of the shoulder joint were recorded and split into the cycles. The angular trajectories and velocity profiles of the shoulder joint angles over a cycle were computed in 3D. The inter-subject similarity in terms of normalized mutual information on kinematics and electromyography was investigated. Compared with RE the task in VE and VEF was characterized by lower kinematic maxima. The inter-subject similarity in RE compared with intra-subject similarity across the platforms was lower in terms of movement trajectories and greater in terms of trapezius muscle activation. The precision demand resulted in lower inter- and intra-subject similarity across platforms. The proposed approach identifies biomechanical differences in the shoulder joint in both VE and VEF compared with the RE platform, but these differences are less marked in VE mostly due to technical limitations of co-localizing the force feedback system in the VEF platform. PMID:25768123

"… Trial and error …": Speech-language pathologists' perspectives of working with Indigenous Australian adults with acquired communication disorders.

PubMed

Cochrane, Frances Clare; Brown, Louise; Siyambalapitiya, Samantha; Plant, Christopher

2016-10-01

This study explored speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) perspectives about factors that influence clinical management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults with acquired communication disorders (e.g. aphasia, motor speech disorders). Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, seven SLPs working in North Queensland, Australia with experience working with this population participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify categories and overarching themes within the data. Four categories, in relation to barriers and facilitators, were identified from participants' responses: (1) The Practice Context; (2) Working Together; (3) Client Factors; and (4) Speech-Language Pathologist Factors. Three overarching themes were also found to influence effective speech pathology services: (1) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Practices; (2) Information and Communication; and (3) Time. This study identified many complex and inter-related factors which influenced SLPs' effective clinical management of this caseload. The findings suggest that SLPs should employ a flexible, holistic and collaborative approach in order to facilitate effective clinical management with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with acquired communication disorders.

Inter-subject phase synchronization for exploratory analysis of task-fMRI.

PubMed

Bolt, Taylor; Nomi, Jason S; Vij, Shruti G; Chang, Catie; Uddin, Lucina Q

2018-08-01

Analysis of task-based fMRI data is conventionally carried out using a hypothesis-driven approach, where blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) time courses are correlated with a hypothesized temporal structure. In some experimental designs, this temporal structure can be difficult to define. In other cases, experimenters may wish to take a more exploratory, data-driven approach to detecting task-driven BOLD activity. In this study, we demonstrate the efficiency and power of an inter-subject synchronization approach for exploratory analysis of task-based fMRI data. Combining the tools of instantaneous phase synchronization and independent component analysis, we characterize whole-brain task-driven responses in terms of group-wise similarity in temporal signal dynamics of brain networks. We applied this framework to fMRI data collected during performance of a simple motor task and a social cognitive task. Analyses using an inter-subject phase synchronization approach revealed a large number of brain networks that dynamically synchronized to various features of the task, often not predicted by the hypothesized temporal structure of the task. We suggest that this methodological framework, along with readily available tools in the fMRI community, provides a powerful exploratory, data-driven approach for analysis of task-driven BOLD activity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Inter-Vehicle Communication System Utilizing Autonomous Distributed Transmit Power Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamada, Yuji; Sawa, Yoshitsugu; Goto, Yukio; Kumazawa, Hiroyuki

In ad-hoc network such as inter-vehicle communication (IVC) system, safety applications that vehicles broadcast the information such as car velocity, position and so on periodically are considered. In these applications, if there are many vehicles broadcast data in a communication area, congestion incurs a problem decreasing communication reliability. We propose autonomous distributed transmit power control method to keep high communication reliability. In this method, each vehicle controls its transmit power using feed back control. Furthermore, we design a communication protocol to realize the proposed method, and we evaluate the effectiveness of proposed method using computer simulation.

Communication in Health Professions: A European consensus on inter- and multi-professional learning objectives in German.

PubMed

Bachmann, Cadja; Kiessling, Claudia; Härtl, Anja; Haak, Rainer

2016-01-01

Communication is object of increasing attention in the health professions. Teaching communication competencies should already begin in undergraduate education or pre-registration training. The aim of this project was to translate the Health Professions Core Communication Curriculum (HPCCC), an English catalogue of learning objectives, into German to make its content widely accessible in the German-speaking countries. This catalogue lists 61 educational objectives and was agreed on by 121 international communication experts. A European reference framework for inter- and multi-professional curriculum development for communication in the health professions in German-speaking countries should be provided. The German version of the HPCCC was drafted by six academics and went through multiple revisions until consensus was reached. The learning objectives were paired with appropriate teaching and assessment tools drawn from the database of the teaching Committee of the European Association for Communication Health Care (tEACH). The HPCCC learning objectives are now available in German and can be applied for curriculum planning and development in the different German-speaking health professions, the educational objectives can also be used for inter-professional purposes. Examples for teaching methods and assessment tools are given for using and implementing the objectives. The German version of the HPCCC with learning objectives for communication in health professions can contribute significantly to inter- and multi-professional curriculum development in the health care professions in the German-speaking countries. Examples for teaching methods and assessment tools from the materials compiled by tEACH supplement the curricular content and provide suggestions for practical implementation of the learning objectives in teaching and assessment. The relevance of the German HPCCC to the processes of curriculum development for the various health professions and inter-professional approaches should be the subject of further evaluation.

Hard to “tune in”: neural mechanisms of live face-to-face interaction with high-functioning autistic spectrum disorder

PubMed Central

Tanabe, Hiroki C.; Kosaka, Hirotaka; Saito, Daisuke N.; Koike, Takahiko; Hayashi, Masamichi J.; Izuma, Keise; Komeda, Hidetsugu; Ishitobi, Makoto; Omori, Masao; Munesue, Toshio; Okazawa, Hidehiko; Wada, Yuji; Sadato, Norihiro

2012-01-01

Persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are known to have difficulty in eye contact (EC). This may make it difficult for their partners during face to face communication with them. To elucidate the neural substrates of live inter-subject interaction of ASD patients and normal subjects, we conducted hyper-scanning functional MRI with 21 subjects with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) paired with typically-developed (normal) subjects, and with 19 pairs of normal subjects as a control. Baseline EC was maintained while subjects performed real-time joint-attention task. The task-related effects were modeled out, and inter-individual correlation analysis was performed on the residual time-course data. ASD–Normal pairs were less accurate at detecting gaze direction than Normal–Normal pairs. Performance was impaired both in ASD subjects and in their normal partners. The left occipital pole (OP) activation by gaze processing was reduced in ASD subjects, suggesting that deterioration of eye-cue detection in ASD is related to impairment of early visual processing of gaze. On the other hand, their normal partners showed greater activity in the bilateral occipital cortex and the right prefrontal area, indicating a compensatory workload. Inter-brain coherence in the right IFG that was observed in the Normal-Normal pairs (Saito et al., 2010) during EC diminished in ASD–Normal pairs. Intra-brain functional connectivity between the right IFG and right superior temporal sulcus (STS) in normal subjects paired with ASD subjects was reduced compared with in Normal–Normal pairs. This functional connectivity was positively correlated with performance of the normal partners on the eye-cue detection. Considering the integrative role of the right STS in gaze processing, inter-subject synchronization during EC may be a prerequisite for eye cue detection by the normal partner. PMID:23060772

DS-SS with de Bruijn sequences for secure Inter Satellite Links

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spinsante, S.; Warty, C.; Gambi, E.

Today, both the military and commercial sectors are placing an increased emphasis on global communications. This has prompted the development of several Low Earth Orbit satellite systems that promise a worldwide connectivity and real-time voice, data and video communications. Constellations that avoid repeated uplink and downlink work by exploiting Inter Satellite Links have proved to be very economical in space routing. However, traditionally Inter Satellite Links were considered to be out of reach for any malicious activity and thus little, or no security was employed. This paper proposes a secured Inter Satellite Links based network, built upon the adoption of the Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum technique, with binary de Bruijn sequences used as spreading codes. Selected sequences from the de Bruijn family may be used over directional spot beams. The main intent of the paper is to propose a secure and robust communication link for the next generation of satellite communications, relying on a classical spread spectrum approach employing innovative sequences.

Planning and Performance in Small Groups: Collective Implementation Intentions Enhance Group Goal Striving.

PubMed

Thürmer, J Lukas; Wieber, Frank; Gollwitzer, Peter M

2017-01-01

There are two key motivators to perform well in a group: making a contribution that (a) is crucial for the group (indispensability) and that (b) the other group members recognize (identifiability). We argue that indispensability promotes setting collective ("We") goals whereas identifiability induces individual ("I") goals. Although both goals may enhance performance, they should align with different strategies. Whereas pursuing collective goals should involve more cooperation, pursuing individual goals should involve less cooperation. Two experiments support this reasoning and show that planning out collective goals with collective implementation intentions (cIIs or "We-plans") relies on cooperation but planning out individual goals with individual implementation intentions (IIs or "I-plans") does not. In Experiment 1, three-member groups first formed a collective or an individual goal and then performed a first round of a physical persistence task. Groups then either formed a respective implementation intention (cII or II) or a control plan and then performed a second round of the task. Although groups with cIIs and IIs performed better on a physical persistence task than respective control groups, only cII groups interacted more cooperatively during task performance. To confirm the causal role of these interaction processes, Experiment 2 used the same persistence task and manipulated whether groups could communicate: When communication was hindered, groups with cIIs but not groups with IIs performed worse. Communication thus qualifies as a process making cIIs effective. The present research offers a psychology of action account to small group performance.

Disruption to control network function correlates with altered dynamic connectivity in the wider autism spectrum.

PubMed

de Lacy, N; Doherty, D; King, B H; Rachakonda, S; Calhoun, V D

2017-01-01

Autism is a common developmental condition with a wide, variable range of co-occurring neuropsychiatric symptoms. Contrasting with most extant studies, we explored whole-brain functional organization at multiple levels simultaneously in a large subject group reflecting autism's clinical diversity, and present the first network-based analysis of transient brain states, or dynamic connectivity , in autism. Disruption to inter-network and inter-system connectivity, rather than within individual networks, predominated. We identified coupling disruption in the anterior-posterior default mode axis, and among specific control networks specialized for task start cues and the maintenance of domain-independent task positive status, specifically between the right fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks and default mode network subsystems. These appear to propagate downstream in autism, with significantly dampened subject oscillations between brain states, and dynamic connectivity configuration differences. Our account proposes specific motifs that may provide candidates for neuroimaging biomarkers within heterogeneous clinical populations in this diverse condition.

Auditory processing efficiency deficits in children with developmental language impairments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartley, Douglas E. H.; Moore, David R.

2002-12-01

The ``temporal processing hypothesis'' suggests that individuals with specific language impairments (SLIs) and dyslexia have severe deficits in processing rapidly presented or brief sensory information, both within the auditory and visual domains. This hypothesis has been supported through evidence that language-impaired individuals have excess auditory backward masking. This paper presents an analysis of masking results from several studies in terms of a model of temporal resolution. Results from this modeling suggest that the masking results can be better explained by an ``auditory efficiency'' hypothesis. If impaired or immature listeners have a normal temporal window, but require a higher signal-to-noise level (poor processing efficiency), this hypothesis predicts the observed small deficits in the simultaneous masking task, and the much larger deficits in backward and forward masking tasks amongst those listeners. The difference in performance on these masking tasks is predictable from the compressive nonlinearity of the basilar membrane. The model also correctly predicts that backward masking (i) is more prone to training effects, (ii) has greater inter- and intrasubject variability, and (iii) increases less with masker level than do other masking tasks. These findings provide a new perspective on the mechanisms underlying communication disorders and auditory masking.

Application of adaptive antenna techniques to future commercial satellite communication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ersoy, L.; Lee, E. A.; Matthews, E. W.

1987-01-01

The purpose of this contract was to identify the application of adaptive antenna technique in future operational commercial satellite communication systems and to quantify potential benefits. The contract consisted of two major subtasks. Task 1, Assessment of Future Commercial Satellite System Requirements, was generally referred to as the Adaptive section. Task 2 dealt with Pointing Error Compensation Study for a Multiple Scanning/Fixed Spot Beam Reflector Antenna System and was referred to as the reconfigurable system. Each of these tasks was further sub-divided into smaller subtasks. It should also be noted that the reconfigurable system is usually defined as an open-loop system while the adaptive system is a closed-loop system. The differences between the open- and closed-loop systems were defined. Both the adaptive and reconfigurable systems were explained and the potential applications of such systems were presented in the context of commercial communication satellite systems.

Application of adaptive antenna techniques to future commercial satellite communications. Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ersoy, L.; Lee, E. A.; Matthews, E. W.

1987-01-01

The purpose of this contract was to identify the application of adaptive antenna technique in future operational commercial satellite communication systems and to quantify potential benefits. The contract consisted of two major subtasks. Task 1, Assessment of Future Commercial Satellite System Requirements, was generally referred to as the Adaptive section. Task 2 dealt with Pointing Error Compensation Study for a Multiple Scanning/Fixed Spot Beam Reflector Antenna System and was referred to as the reconfigurable system. Each of these tasks was further subdivided into smaller subtasks. It should also be noted that the reconfigurable system is usually defined as an open-loop system while the adaptive system is a closed-loop system. The differences between the open- and closed-loop systems were defined. Both the adaptive and reconfigurable systems were explained and the potential applications of such systems were presented in the context of commercial communication satellite systems.

Self-assessment of intercultural communication skills: a survey of physicians and medical students in Geneva, Switzerland

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Physicians working with multicultural populations need to know how to elicit the patient's understanding of the illness; determine the patient's sociocultural context and identify any issues that might affect care; communicate effectively across patient-provider social and cultural differences; and collaborate effectively with an interpreter. Skills self-assessment can contribute to identifying training needs and monitoring skills development in these areas. Methods As part of a larger study exploring the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Geneva physicians and medical students regarding the care of immigrant patients, we asked respondents to self-rate their ability to perform a range of common yet challenging intercultural communication tasks. Results Overall, respondents rated themselves less competent at intercultural tasks than at basic medical skills and less competent at specific intercultural communication skills than at general intercultural skills. Qualified doctors (as opposed to students), those with greater interest in caring for immigrants, and those who rarely encountered difficulties with immigrants rated themselves significantly more competent for all clinical tasks. Having a higher percentage of immigrant patients and previous cultural competence training predicted greater self-rated intercultural communication skills. Conclusion Our self-assessment results suggest that students and physicians should be provided with the opportunity to practice intercultural skills with immigrant patients as part of their cultural competence training. To strengthen the validity of self-assessment measures, they should ideally be combined with more objective methods to assess actual skills. PMID:21884609

Identifying, Analyzing, and Communicating Rural: A Quantitative Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koziol, Natalie A.; Arthur, Ann M.; Hawley, Leslie R.; Bovaird, James A.; Bash, Kirstie L.; McCormick, Carina; Welch, Greg W.

2015-01-01

Defining rural is a critical task for rural education researchers, as it has implications for all phases of a study. However, it is also a difficult task due to the many ways in which rural can be theoretically, conceptually, and empirically operationalized. This article provides researchers with specific guidance on important theoretical and…

The effects of expressivity and flight task on cockpit communication and resource management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jensen, R. S.

1986-01-01

The results of an investigation to develop a methodology for evaluating crew communication behavior on the flight deck and a flight simulator experiment to test the effects of crew member expressivity, as measured by the Personal Attributes Questionnarie, and flight task on crew communication and flight performance are discussed. A methodology for coding and assessing flight crew communication behavior as well as a model for predicting that behavior is advanced. Although not enough crews were found to provide valid statistical tests, the results of the study tend to indicate that crews in which the captain has high expressivity perform better than those whose captain is low in expressivity. There appears to be a strong interaction between captains and first officers along the level of command dimension of communication. The PAQ appears to identify those pilots who offer disagreements and inititate new subjects for discussion.

All-optical virtual private network and ONUs communication in optical OFDM-based PON system.

PubMed

Zhang, Chongfu; Huang, Jian; Chen, Chen; Qiu, Kun

2011-11-21

We propose and demonstrate a novel scheme, which enables all-optical virtual private network (VPN) and all-optical optical network units (ONUs) inter-communications in optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing-based passive optical network (OFDM-PON) system using the subcarrier bands allocation for the first time (to our knowledge). We consider the intra-VPN and inter-VPN communications which correspond to two different cases: VPN communication among ONUs in one group and in different groups. The proposed scheme can provide the enhanced security and a more flexible configuration for VPN users compared to the VPN in WDM-PON or TDM-PON systems. The all-optical VPN and inter-ONU communications at 10-Gbit/s with 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16 QAM) for the proposed optical OFDM-PON system are demonstrated. These results verify that the proposed scheme is feasible. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Telematics and satellites. Part 1: Information systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burke, W. R.

1980-06-01

Telematic systems are identified and described. The applications are examined emphasizing the role played by satellite links. The discussion includes file transfer, examples of distributed processor systems, terminal communication, information retrieval systems, office information systems, electronic preparation and publishing of information, electronic systems for transfer of funds, electronic mail systems, record file transfer characteristics, intra-enterprise networks, and inter-enterprise networks.

Technological aspects of hospital communication challenges: an observational study.

PubMed

Popovici, Ilinca; Morita, Plinio P; Doran, Diane; Lapinsky, Stephen; Morra, Dante; Shier, Ashleigh; Wu, Robert; Cafazzo, Joseph A

2015-06-01

To gain insights into how technological communication tools impact effective communication among clinicians, which is critical for patient safety. This multi-site observational study analyzes inter-clinician communication and interaction with information technology, with a focus on the critical process of patient transfer from the Emergency Department to General Internal Medicine. Mount Sinai Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Toronto General Hospital. At least five ED and general internal medicine nurses and physicians directly involved in patient transfers were observed on separate occasions at each institution. N/A. N/A. The study provides insight into clinician workflow, evaluates current hospital communication systems and identifies key issues affecting communication: interruptions, issues with numeric pagers, lack of integrated communication tools, lack of awareness of consultation status, inefficiencies related to the paper chart, unintuitive user interfaces, mixed use of electronic and paper systems and lack of up-to-date contact information. It also identifies design trade-offs to be negotiated: synchronous communication vs. reducing interruptions, notification of patient status vs. reducing interruptions and speed vs. quality of handovers. The issues listed should be considered in the design of new technology for hospital communications. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved.

Proteomic analysis in the Dufour's gland of Africanized Apis mellifera workers (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

PubMed

Teixeira, Aparecida das Dores; Games, Patricia D; Katz, Benjamin B; Tomich, John M; Zanuncio, José C; Serrão, José Eduardo

2017-01-01

The colony of eusocial bee Apis mellifera has a reproductive queen and sterile workers performing tasks such as brood care and foraging. Chemical communication plays a crucial role in the maintenance of sociability in bees with many compounds released by the exocrine glands. The Dufour's gland is a non-paired gland associated with the sting apparatus with important functions in the communication between members of the colony, releasing volatile chemicals that influence workers roles and tasks. However, the protein content in this gland is not well studied. This study identified differentially expressed proteins in the Dufour's glands of nurse and forager workers of A. mellifera through 2D-gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. A total of 131 spots showed different expression between nurse and forager bees, and 28 proteins were identified. The identified proteins were categorized into different functions groups including protein, carbohydrate, energy and lipid metabolisms, cytoskeleton-associated proteins, detoxification, homeostasis, cell communication, constitutive and allergen. This study provides new insights of the protein content in the Dufour's gland contributing to a more complete understanding of the biological functions of this gland in honeybees.

Bone and muscle endocrine functions: Unexpected paradigms of inter-organ communication

PubMed Central

Karsenty, Gerard; Olson, Eric N.

2016-01-01

Most physiological functions originate with the communication between organs. Mouse genetics has revived this holistic view of physiology through the identification of inter-organ communications that are unanticipated, functionally important and would have been difficult to uncover otherwise. This review highlights this point by showing how two tissues usually not seen as endocrine ones, bone and striated muscles, influence in a significant manner several physiological processes. PMID:26967290

ETS-5, ETS-6, and COMETS projects in Japan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iida, Takashi; Wakana, Hiromitsu; Obara, Noriaki

1992-01-01

Three satellite communication projects now in progress in Japan are described. The first is a project to establish a telecommunication network for tele-education, TV conference, and tele-medicine in the Asia-Pacific region by using the Japan's Engineering Test Satellite-5 (ETS-5). The second is a project of the ETS-6 satellite, to be launched in 1993, for inter-satellite communication, mobile and fixed communication, and millimeter wave personal communication experiments. The third is a project of the Communications and Broadcasting Engineering Test Satellite (COMETS), to be launched in 1997, for advanced mobile satellite communication, inter-satellite link, and advanced broadcasting experiments at higher frequencies.

Reliability of the Cooking Task in adults with acquired brain injury.

PubMed

Poncet, Frédérique; Swaine, Bonnie; Taillefer, Chantal; Lamoureux, Julie; Pradat-Diehl, Pascale; Chevignard, Mathilde

2015-01-01

Acquired brain injury (ABI) often leads to deficits in executive functioning (EF) responsible for severe and long-standing disabilities in daily life activities. The Cooking Task is an ecological and valid test of EF involving multi-tasking in a real environment. Given its complex scoring system, it is important to establish the tool's reliability. The objective of the study was to examine the reliability of the Cooking Task (internal consistency, inter-rater and test-retest reliability). A total of 160 patients with ABI (113 men, mean age 37 years, SD = 14.3) were tested using the Cooking Task. For test-retest reliability, patients were assessed by the same rater on two occasions (mean interval 11 days) while two raters independently and simultaneously observed and scored patients' performances to estimate inter-rater reliability. Internal consistency was high for the global scale (Cronbach α = .74). Inter-rater reliability (n = 66) for total errors was also high (ICC = .93), however the test-retest reliability (n = 11) was poor (ICC = .36). In general the Cooking Task appears to be a reliable tool. The low test-retest results were expected given the importance of EF in the performance of novel tasks.

A natural language processing pipeline for pairing measurements uniquely across free-text CT reports.

PubMed

Sevenster, Merlijn; Bozeman, Jeffrey; Cowhy, Andrea; Trost, William

2015-02-01

To standardize and objectivize treatment response assessment in oncology, guidelines have been proposed that are driven by radiological measurements, which are typically communicated in free-text reports defying automated processing. We study through inter-annotator agreement and natural language processing (NLP) algorithm development the task of pairing measurements that quantify the same finding across consecutive radiology reports, such that each measurement is paired with at most one other ("partial uniqueness"). Ground truth is created based on 283 abdomen and 311 chest CT reports of 50 patients each. A pre-processing engine segments reports and extracts measurements. Thirteen features are developed based on volumetric similarity between measurements, semantic similarity between their respective narrative contexts and structural properties of their report positions. A Random Forest classifier (RF) integrates all features. A "mutual best match" (MBM) post-processor ensures partial uniqueness. In an end-to-end evaluation, RF has precision 0.841, recall 0.807, F-measure 0.824 and AUC 0.971; with MBM, which performs above chance level (P<0.001), it has precision 0.899, recall 0.776, F-measure 0.833 and AUC 0.935. RF (RF+MBM) has error-free performance on 52.7% (57.4%) of report pairs. Inter-annotator agreement of three domain specialists with the ground truth (κ>0.960) indicates that the task is well defined. Domain properties and inter-section differences are discussed to explain superior performance in abdomen. Enforcing partial uniqueness has mixed but minor effects on performance. A combined machine learning-filtering approach is proposed for pairing measurements, which can support prospective (supporting treatment response assessment) and retrospective purposes (data mining). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

37 CFR 41.11 - Ex Parte communications in inter partes proceedings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Ex Parte communications in inter partes proceedings. 41.11 Section 41.11 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PRACTICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD General...

Space Internet Architectures and Technologies for NASA Enterprises

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhasin, Kul; Hayden, Jeffrey L.

2001-01-01

NASA's future communications services will be supplied through a space communications network that mirrors the terrestrial Internet in its capabilities and flexibility. The notional requirements for future data gathering and distribution by this Space Internet have been gathered from NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE), the Human Exploration and Development in Space (HEDS), and the Space Science Enterprise (SSE). This paper describes a communications infrastructure for the Space Internet, the architectures within the infrastructure, and the elements that make up the architectures. The architectures meet the requirements of the enterprises beyond 2010 with Internet 'compatible technologies and functionality. The elements of an architecture include the backbone, access, inter-spacecraft and proximity communication parts. From the architectures, technologies have been identified which have the most impact and are critical for the implementation of the architectures.

Effects of noise and task loading on a communication task loading on a communication task

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orrell, Dean H., II

Previous research had shown the effect of noise on a single communication task. This research has been criticized as not being representative of a real world situation since subjects allocated all of their attention to only one task. In the present study, the effect of adding a loading task to a standard noise-communication paradigm was investigated. Subjects performed both a communication task (Modified Rhyme Test; House et al. 1965) and a short term memory task (Sternberg, 1969) in simulated levels of aircraft noise (95, 105 and 115 dB overall sound pressure level (OASPL)). Task loading was varied with Sternberg's task by requiring subjects to memorize one, four, or six alphanumeric characters. Simulated aircraft noise was varied between levels of 95, 105 and 115 dB OASPL using a pink noise source. Results show that the addition of Sternberg's task and little effect on the intelligibility of the communication task while response time for the communication task increased.

47 CFR 25.279 - Inter-satellite service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Technical Operations § 25.279 Inter-satellite service. (a) Any satellite communicating with other space stations may use frequencies in the inter-satellite service as indicated in § 2.106 of this chapter. This...

47 CFR 25.279 - Inter-satellite service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Technical Operations § 25.279 Inter-satellite service. (a) Any satellite communicating with other space stations may use frequencies in the inter-satellite service as indicated in § 2.106 of this chapter. This...

47 CFR 25.279 - Inter-satellite service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Technical Operations § 25.279 Inter-satellite service. (a) Any satellite communicating with other space stations may use frequencies in the inter-satellite service as indicated in § 2.106 of this chapter. This...

47 CFR 25.279 - Inter-satellite service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Technical Operations § 25.279 Inter-satellite service. (a) Any satellite communicating with other space stations may use frequencies in the inter-satellite service as indicated in § 2.106 of this chapter. This...

47 CFR 25.279 - Inter-satellite service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Technical Operations § 25.279 Inter-satellite service. (a) Any satellite communicating with other space stations may use frequencies in the inter-satellite service as indicated in § 2.106 of this chapter. This...

User Interaction with the CNPC Link

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hobbs, Alan; Lyall, Elizabeth A.

2014-01-01

As part of NASAs UAS in the NAS project, human factor guidelines are being developed for the ground control station of unmanned aircraft systems. A critical task for the pilot of a UAS is the management and control of the terrestrial radio links used to provide control of the vehicle and relay communications with air traffic control. An analysis of the task of the UAS pilot has been conducted to identify areas where guidelines are required. This analysis has identified a set of information requirements that must be supported by the radio equipment used to provide Control and Non-payload Communication (CNPC). Key requirements include the need for an alert when the link is lost, information on the current quality and latency of the link, and information to enable the future quality of the link to be anticipated as the aircraft changes location. These identified requirements can assist in the development of minimum operational performance standards for CNPC equipment.

Between-session intra-individual variability in sustained, selective, and integrational non-linguistic attention in aphasia.

PubMed

Villard, Sarah; Kiran, Swathi

2015-01-01

A number of studies have identified impairments in one or more types/aspects of attention processing in patients with aphasia (PWA) relative to healthy controls; person-to-person variability in performance on attention tasks within the PWA group has also been noted. Studies using non-linguistic stimuli have found evidence that attention is impaired in this population even in the absence of language processing demands. An underlying impairment in non-linguistic, or domain-general, attention processing could have implications for the ability of PWA to attend during therapy sessions, which in turn could impact long-term treatment outcomes. With this in mind, this study aimed to systematically examine the effect of task complexity on reaction time (RT) during a non-linguistic attention task, in both PWA and controls. Additional goals were to assess the effect of task complexity on between-session intra-individual variability (BS-IIV) in RT and to examine inter-individual differences in BS-IIV. Eighteen PWA and five age-matched neurologically healthy controls each completed a novel computerized non-linguistic attention task measuring five types of attention on each of four different non-consecutive days. A significant effect of task complexity on both RT and BS-IIV in RT was found for the PWA group, whereas the control group showed a significant effect of task complexity on RT but not on BS-IIV in RT. Finally, in addition to these group-level findings, it was noted that different patients exhibited different patterns of BS-IIV, indicating the existence of inter-individual variability in BS-IIV within the PWA group. Results may have implications for session-to-session fluctuations in attention during language testing and therapy for PWA. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A model to teach concomitant patient communication during psychomotor skill development.

PubMed

Nicholls, Delwyn; Sweet, Linda; Muller, Amanda; Hyett, Jon

2018-01-01

Many health professionals use psychomotor or task-based skills in clinical practice that require concomitant communication with a conscious patient. Verbally engaging with the patient requires highly developed verbal communication skills, enabling the delivery of patient-centred care. Historically, priority has been given to learning the psychomotor skills essential to clinical practice. However, there has been a shift towards also ensuring competent communication with the patient during skill performance. While there is literature outlining the steps to teach and learn verbal communication skills, little is known about the most appropriate instructional approach to teach how to verbally engage with the patient when also learning to perform a task. A literature review was performed and it identified that there was no model or proven approach which could be used to integrate the learning of both psychomotor and communication skills. This paper reviews the steps to teach a communication skill and provides a suggested model to guide the acquisition and development of the concomitant -communication skills required with a patient at the time a psychomotor skill is performed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing performance of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) using Cognitive Task Analysis.

PubMed

Saitwal, Himali; Feng, Xuan; Walji, Muhammad; Patel, Vimla; Zhang, Jiajie

2010-07-01

Many Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems fail to provide user-friendly interfaces due to the lack of systematic consideration of human-centered computing issues. Such interfaces can be improved to provide easy to use, easy to learn, and error-resistant EHR systems to the users. To evaluate the usability of an EHR system and suggest areas of improvement in the user interface. The user interface of the AHLTA (Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application) was analyzed using the Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) method called GOMS (Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection rules) and an associated technique called KLM (Keystroke Level Model). The GOMS method was used to evaluate the AHLTA user interface by classifying each step of a given task into Mental (Internal) or Physical (External) operators. This analysis was performed by two analysts independently and the inter-rater reliability was computed to verify the reliability of the GOMS method. Further evaluation was performed using KLM to estimate the execution time required to perform the given task through application of its standard set of operators. The results are based on the analysis of 14 prototypical tasks performed by AHLTA users. The results show that on average a user needs to go through 106 steps to complete a task. To perform all 14 tasks, they would spend about 22 min (independent of system response time) for data entry, of which 11 min are spent on more effortful mental operators. The inter-rater reliability analysis performed for all 14 tasks was 0.8 (kappa), indicating good reliability of the method. This paper empirically reveals and identifies the following finding related to the performance of AHLTA: (1) large number of average total steps to complete common tasks, (2) high average execution time and (3) large percentage of mental operators. The user interface can be improved by reducing (a) the total number of steps and (b) the percentage of mental effort, required for the tasks. 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advancing the chronic care road map: a contemporary overview.

PubMed

Ahmed, Sara; Gogovor, Amede; Kosseim, Mylene; Poissant, Lise; Riopelle, Richard; Simmonds, Maureen; Krelenbaum, Marilyn; Montague, Terrence

2010-01-01

In an effort to assess and advance the community-based model of chronic care, we reviewed a contemporary spectrum of Canadian chronic disease management and prevention (CDMP) programs with a participatory audience of administrators, academics, professional and non-professional providers and patients. While many questions remain unanswered, several common characteristics of CDMP success were apparent. These included community-based partnerships with aligned goals; inter-professional and non-professional care, including patient self-management; measured and shared information on practices and outcomes; and visible leadership. Principal improvement opportunities identified were the enhanced engagement of all stakeholders; further efficacy evidence for team care; facile information systems, with clear rationales for data selection, access, communication and security; and increased education of, and resource support for, patients and caregivers. Two immediate actions were suggested. One was a broad and continuing communication plan highlighting CDMP issues and opportunities. The other was a standardized survey of team structures, interventions, measurements and communications in ongoing CDMP programs, with a causal analysis of their relation to outcomes. In the longer term, the key needs requiring action were more inter-professional education of health human resources and more practical information systems available to all stakeholders. Things can be better.

Factors affecting effective communication between registered nurses and adult cancer patients in an inpatient setting: a systematic review.

PubMed

Tay, Li Hui; Hegney, Desley; Ang, Emily

2011-06-01

To establish the best available evidence regarding the factors affecting effective communication between registered nurses and inpatient cancer adults. Electronic databases (CINAHL, Ovid, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Wiley InterScience) were searched using a three-step search strategy to identify the relevant quantitative and qualitative studies published in English. The grey literature was not included in the review. The identified studies were evaluated using the guidelines from the Joanna Briggs Institute System for the Unified Management, Assessment and Review of Information. A total of three studies were included in the quantitative component of the review, and the data were presented in a narrative summary. Five studies were included in the qualitative component of the review, and the findings were categorised in a meta-synthesis which generated four synthesised findings. The factors that were found to influence effective communication were identified in the characteristics of nurses, patients and the environment. The promoting factors in nurses included genuineness, competency and effective communication skills. The role of post-basic training in improving nurse-patient communication remained inconclusive. Conversely, nurses who were task-orientated, who feared death and who had low self-awareness of their own verbal behaviours inhibited communication. Nurses were also observed to communicate less effectively when delivering psychosocial aspects of care and in emotionally charged situations. On the other hand, patients who participated actively in their own care and exhibited information-seeking behaviour promoted communication with the nurses. However, patients' unwillingness to discuss their disease/feelings, their preference to seek emotional support from their family/friends and their use of implicit cues were some of the factors that were found to inhibit communication. A supportive ward environment increased facilitative behaviour in nurses, whereas conflict among the staff led to increased use of blocking behaviours. Cultural norms within the Chinese society were also found to inhibit nurse-patient communication. Within the constraints of the study and the few quality papers available, it appeared that personal characteristics of patients and nurses are the key factors that influence effective nurse-patient communication within the oncology setting. Very little evidence exists to explain the role of environment in effective nurse-patient communication, particularly within an Asian setting. Training can be implemented to inform nurses about the communication challenges, to equip them with effective communication skills and improve their receptivity to patient cues. Information-sharing can be used as a non-threatening approach to initiate rapport-building and open communication. Nurses should consider patients' psychological readiness to communicate and respect their preference as to whom they wish to share their thoughts/emotions with. Hospitals/institutions also need to ensure a supportive ward culture and appropriate workload that will enable nurses to provide holistic care to patients. Further research on the effect of the Asian culture on effective communication within the oncology setting is required to expand the knowledge in this area. Studies to ascertain the effect of the patient's age and place within the oncology treatment cycle are also warranted. The lack of evidence on the effectiveness of post-basic communication education also requires further investigation. © 2011 The Authors. International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare © 2011 The Joanna Briggs Institute.

Resisting the Lure of Technology-Driven Design: Pedagogical Approaches to Visual Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Northcut, Kathryn M.; Brumberger, Eva R.

2010-01-01

Technical communicators are expected to work extensively with visual texts in workplaces. Fortunately, most academic curricula include courses in which the skills necessary for such tasks are introduced and sometimes developed in depth. We identify a tension between a focus on technological skill vs. a focus on principles and theory, arguing that…

Applying the Verona coding definitions of emotional sequences (VR-CoDES) in the dental context involving patients with complex communication needs: An exploratory study.

PubMed

Zhou, Yuefang; Black, Rolf; Freeman, Ruth; Herron, Daniel; Humphris, Gerry; Menzies, Rachel; Quinn, Sandra; Scott, Lesley; Waller, Annalu

2014-11-01

The VR-CoDES has been previously applied in the dental context. However, we know little about how dental patients with intellectual disabilities (ID) and complex communication needs express their emotional distress during dental visits. This is the first study explored the applicability of the VR-CoDES to a dental context involving patients with ID. Fourteen dental consultations were video recorded and coded using the VR-CoDES, assisted with the additional guidelines for the VR-CoDES in a dental context. Both inter- and intra-coder reliabilities were checked on the seven consultations where cues were observed. Sixteen cues (eight non-verbal) were identified within seven of the 14 consultations. Twenty responses were observed (12 reducing space) with four multiple responses. Cohen's Kappa were 0.76 (inter-coder) and 0.88 (intra-coder). With the additional guidelines, cues and responses were reliably identified. Cue expression was exhibited by non-verbal expression of emotion with people with ID in the literature. Further guidance is needed to improve the coding accuracy on multiple providers' responses and to investigate potential impacts of conflicting responses on patients. The findings provided a useful initial step towards an ongoing exploration of how healthcare providers identify and manage emotional distress of patients with ID. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Communications platform payload definition study, executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clopp, H. W.; Hawkes, T. A.; Bertles, C. R.; Pontano, B. A.; Kao, T.

1986-01-01

Large geostationary communications platforms have been investigated in a number of studies since 1974 as a possible means to more effectively utilize the geostationary orbital arc and electromagnetic spectrum and to reduce overall satellite communications system costs. This NASA Lewis sponsored study addresses the commercial feasibility of various communications platform payload concepts circa 1998. It defines promising payload concepts, estimates recurring costs and identifies critical technologies needed to permit eventual commercialization. Ten communications service aggregation scenarios describing potential groupings of services were developed for a range of conditions. Payload concepts were defined for four of these scenarios: (1) Land Mobile Satellite Service (LMSS), meet 100% of CONUS plus Canada demand with a single platform; (2) Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) (Trunking + Customer Premises Service (CPS), meet 20% of CONUS demands; (3) FSS (Trunking + video distribution), 10 to 13% of CONUS demand; and (4) FSS (20% of demand) + Inter Satellite Links (ISL) + TDRSS/TDAS Data Distribution.

An improved cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) algorithm considering invalid communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Pangwei; Wang, Yunpeng; Yu, Guizhen; Tang, Tieqiao

2014-05-01

For the Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) Algorithm, existing research studies mainly focus on how inter-vehicle communication can be used to develop CACC controller, the influence of the communication delays and lags of the actuators to the string stability. However, whether the string stability can be guaranteed when inter-vehicle communication is invalid partially has hardly been considered. This paper presents an improved CACC algorithm based on the sliding mode control theory and analyses the range of CACC controller parameters to maintain string stability. A dynamic model of vehicle spacing deviation in a platoon is then established, and the string stability conditions under improved CACC are analyzed. Unlike the traditional CACC algorithms, the proposed algorithm can ensure the functionality of the CACC system even if inter-vehicle communication is partially invalid. Finally, this paper establishes a platoon of five vehicles to simulate the improved CACC algorithm in MATLAB/Simulink, and the simulation results demonstrate that the improved CACC algorithm can maintain the string stability of a CACC platoon through adjusting the controller parameters and enlarging the spacing to prevent accidents. With guaranteed string stability, the proposed CACC algorithm can prevent oscillation of vehicle spacing and reduce chain collision accidents under real-world circumstances. This research proposes an improved CACC algorithm, which can guarantee the string stability when inter-vehicle communication is invalid.

Coordination of knowledge in communication: effects of speakers' assumptions about what others know.

PubMed

Fussell, S R; Krauss, R M

1992-03-01

Two pairs of studies examined effects of perspective taking in communication, using a 2-stage methodology that first obtained people's estimates of the recognizability to others of specific stimuli (public figures and everyday objects) and then examined the effects of these estimates on message formulation in a referential communication task. Ss were good at estimating stimulus identifiability but were biased in the direction of their own knowledge. The amount of information in a referring expression varied inversely with the perceived likelihood that addresses could identify the target stimulus. However, effects were less strong than anticipated. Although communicators do take others' knowledge into account, the extent to which they do so involves a trade-off with other sorts of information in the communicative situation.

When Stroop helps Piaget: An inter-task positive priming paradigm in 9-year-old children.

PubMed

Linzarini, A; Houdé, O; Borst, G

2015-11-01

To determine whether inhibitory control is domain general or domain specific in school children, we asked 40 9-year-old children to perform an inter-task priming paradigm in which they responded to Stroop items on the primes and to Piaget number conservation items on the probes. The children were more efficient in the inhibition of a misleading "length-equals-number" heuristic in the number conservation task if they had successfully inhibited a previous prepotent reading response in the Stroop task. This study provides evidence that the inhibitory control ability of school children generalizes to distinct cognitive domains, that is, verbal for the Stroop task and logico-mathematical for Piaget's number conservation task. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Procedural memory in dissociative identity disorder: when can inter-identity amnesia be truly established?

PubMed

Huntjens, Rafaële J C; Postma, Albert; Woertman, Liesbeth; van der Hart, Onno; Peters, Madelon L

2005-06-01

In a serial reaction time task, procedural memory was examined in Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Thirty-one DID patients were tested for inter-identity transfer of procedural learning and their memory performance was compared with 25 normal controls and 25 controls instructed to simulate DID. Results of patients seemed to indicate a pattern of inter-identity amnesia. Simulators, however, were able to mimic a pattern of inter-identity amnesia, rendering the results of patients impossible to interpret as either a pattern of amnesia or a pattern of simulation. It is argued that studies not including DID-simulators or simulation-free memory tasks, should not be taken as evidence for (or against) amnesia in DID.

Real time software tools and methodologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christofferson, M. J.

1981-01-01

Real time systems are characterized by high speed processing and throughput as well as asynchronous event processing requirements. These requirements give rise to particular implementations of parallel or pipeline multitasking structures, of intertask or interprocess communications mechanisms, and finally of message (buffer) routing or switching mechanisms. These mechanisms or structures, along with the data structue, describe the essential character of the system. These common structural elements and mechanisms are identified, their implementation in the form of routines, tasks or macros - in other words, tools are formalized. The tools developed support or make available the following: reentrant task creation, generalized message routing techniques, generalized task structures/task families, standardized intertask communications mechanisms, and pipeline and parallel processing architectures in a multitasking environment. Tools development raise some interesting prospects in the areas of software instrumentation and software portability. These issues are discussed following the description of the tools themselves.

Linking information needs with evaluation: the role of task identification.

PubMed Central

Weir, C. R.

1998-01-01

Action Identification Theory was used to explore user's subjective constructions of information tasks in a primary care setting. The first part of the study involved collecting clinician's descriptions of their information tasks. These items were collated and then rated by another larger group of clinicians. Results clearly identified 6 major information tasks, including communication, patient assessment, work monitoring, seeking science information, compliance with policies and procedures, and data integration. Results discussed in terms of implications for evaluation and assessing information needs in a clinical setting. PMID:9929232

Using Java to generate globally unique identifiers for DICOM objects.

PubMed

Kamauu, Aaron W C; Duvall, Scott L; Avrin, David E

2009-03-01

Digital imaging and communication in medicine (DICOM) specifies that all DICOM objects have globally unique identifiers (UIDs). Creating these UIDs can be a difficult task due to the variety of techniques in use and the requirement to ensure global uniqueness. We present a simple technique of combining a root organization identifier, assigned descriptive identifiers, and JAVA generated unique identifiers to construct DICOM compliant UIDs.

GP and pharmacist inter-professional learning - a grounded theory study.

PubMed

Cunningham, David E; Ferguson, Julie; Wakeling, Judy; Zlotos, Leon; Power, Ailsa

2016-05-01

Practice Based Small Group Learning (PBSGL) is an established learning resource for primary care clinicians in Scotland and is used by one-third of general practitioners (GPs). Scottish Government and UK professional bodies have called for GPs and pharmacists to work more closely together to improve care. To gain GPs' and pharmacists' perceptions and experiences of learning together in an inter-professional PBSGL pilot. Qualitative research methods involving established GP PBSGL groups in NHS Scotland recruiting one or two pharmacists to join them. A grounded theory method was used. GPs were interviewed in focus groups by a fellow GP, and pharmacists were interviewed individually by two researchers, neither being a GP or a pharmacist. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using grounded theory methods. Data saturation was achieved and confirmed. Three themes were identified: GPs' and pharmacists' perceptions and experiences of inter-professional learning; Inter-professional relationships and team-working; Group identity and purpose of existing GP groups. Pharmacists were welcomed into GP groups and both professions valued inter-professional PBSGL learning. Participants learned from each other and both professions gained a wider perspective of the NHS and of each others' roles in the organisation. Inter-professional relationships, communication and team-working were strengthened and professionals regarded each other as peers and friends.

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

Not Available

This report summarizes the work done by InterTechnology/Solar Corporation, its consultants, Mobil Tyco Solar Energy Corporation and the University of Delaware Institute for Energy Conversion, and its consultants, during the marketing analysis of near and intermediate term photovoltaic power applications. To obtain estimates of the domestic and foreign market potential for photovoltaically powered devices two approaches were used. First, the study was identifying then screening all possible photovoltaic power supply applications. This approach encompassed the first two tasks of the study: (1) a survey of the current uses of photovoltaic systems, both domestic and international, and a projection of themore » usage of those systems into the future; and (2) a new idea generation task which attempted to come up with new ways of using photovoltaic power. Second, the study required in-depth analysis of key near-term and intermediate-term photovoltaic applications identified during the first phase to obtain reasonable estimates of photovoltaic market potential. This process encompassed the third and fourth tasks of the analysis: (3) refinement of ideas generated in Task 2 so that certain products/applications could be identified, the product defined and a market survey carried out; and (4) development of a detailed product scenario which forecasts sales, barriers to market acceptance, and technical innovationsrequired for proper introduction of the products. The work performed and findings of each task are presented.« less

Challenges to effective crisis management: using information and communication technologies to coordinate emergency medical services and emergency department teams.

PubMed

Reddy, Madhu C; Paul, Sharoda A; Abraham, Joanna; McNeese, Michael; DeFlitch, Christopher; Yen, John

2009-04-01

The purpose of this study is to identify the major challenges to coordination between emergency department (ED) teams and emergency medical services (EMS) teams. We conducted a series of focus groups involving both ED and EMS team members using a crisis scenario as the basis of the focus group discussion. We also collected organizational workflow data. We identified three major challenges to coordination between ED and EMS teams including ineffectiveness of current information and communication technologies, lack of common ground, and breakdowns in information flow. The three challenges highlight the importance of designing systems from socio-technical perspective. In particular, these inter-team coordination systems must support socio-technical issues such as awareness, context, and workflow between the two teams.

Sex differences in neural and behavioral signatures of cooperation revealed by fNIRS hyperscanning

PubMed Central

Baker, Joseph M.; Liu, Ning; Cui, Xu; Vrticka, Pascal; Saggar, Manish; Hosseini, S. M. Hadi; Reiss, Allan L.

2016-01-01

Researchers from multiple fields have sought to understand how sex moderates human social behavior. While over 50 years of research has revealed differences in cooperation behavior of males and females, the underlying neural correlates of these sex differences have not been explained. A missing and fundamental element of this puzzle is an understanding of how the sex composition of an interacting dyad influences the brain and behavior during cooperation. Using fNIRS-based hyperscanning in 111 same- and mixed-sex dyads, we identified significant behavioral and neural sex-related differences in association with a computer-based cooperation task. Dyads containing at least one male demonstrated significantly higher behavioral performance than female/female dyads. Individual males and females showed significant activation in the right frontopolar and right inferior prefrontal cortices, although this activation was greater in females compared to males. Female/female dyad’s exhibited significant inter-brain coherence within the right temporal cortex, while significant coherence in male/male dyads occurred in the right inferior prefrontal cortex. Significant coherence was not observed in mixed-sex dyads. Finally, for same-sex dyads only, task-related inter-brain coherence was positively correlated with cooperation task performance. Our results highlight multiple important and previously undetected influences of sex on concurrent neural and behavioral signatures of cooperation. PMID:27270754

Developing an ICT-Literacy Task-Based Assessment Instrument: The Findings on the Final Testing Phase

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mat-jizat, Jessnor Elmy

2013-01-01

This paper reports the findings of a study which seeks to identify the information and communications technology (ICT) literacy levels of trainee teachers, by investigating their ICT proficiency using a task-bask assessment instrument. The Delphi technique was used as a primary validation method for the new assessment tool and the ICT literacy…

Utilizing time-frequency amplitude and phase synchrony measure to assess feedback processing in a gambling task.

PubMed

Watts, Adreanna T M; Tootell, Anne V; Fix, Spencer T; Aviyente, Selin; Bernat, Edward M

2018-04-29

The neurophysiological mechanisms involved in the evaluation of performance feedback have been widely studied in the ERP literature over the past twenty years, but understanding has been limited by the use of traditional time-domain amplitude analytic approaches. Gambling outcome valence has been identified as an important factor modulating event-related potential (ERP) components, most notably the feedback negativity (FN). Recent work employing time-frequency analysis has shown that processes indexed by the FN are confounded in the time-domain and can be better represented as separable feedback-related processes in the theta (3-7 Hz) and delta (0-3 Hz) frequency bands. In addition to time-frequency amplitude analysis, phase synchrony measures have begun to further our understanding of performance evaluation by revealing how feedback information is processed within and between various brain regions. The current study aimed to provide an integrative assessment of time-frequency amplitude, inter-trial phase synchrony, and inter-channel phase synchrony changes following monetary feedback in a gambling task. Results revealed that time-frequency amplitude activity explained separable loss and gain processes confounded in the time-domain. Furthermore, phase synchrony measures explained unique variance above and beyond amplitude measures and demonstrated enhanced functional integration between medial prefrontal and bilateral frontal, motor, and occipital regions for loss relative to gain feedback. These findings demonstrate the utility of assessing time-frequency amplitude, inter-trial phase synchrony, and inter-channel phase synchrony together to better elucidate the neurophysiology of feedback processing. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Linguistic correlates of team performance: toward a tool for monitoring team functioning during space missions.

PubMed

Fischer, Ute; McDonnell, Lori; Orasanu, Judith

2007-05-01

Approaches to mitigating the likelihood of psychosocial problems during space missions emphasize preflight measures such as team training and team composition. Additionally, it may be necessary to monitor team interactions during missions for signs of interpersonal stress. The present research was conducted to identify features in team members' communications indicative of team functioning. Team interactions were studied in the context of six computer-simulated search and rescue missions. There were 12 teams of 4 U.S. men who participated; however, the present analyses contrast the top two teams with the two least successful teams. Communications between team members were analyzed using linguistic analysis software and a coding scheme developed to characterize task-related and social dimensions of team interactions. Coding reliability was established by having two raters independently code three transcripts. Between-rater agreement ranged from 78.1 to 97.9%. Team performance was significantly associated with team members' task-related communications, specifically with the extent to which task-critical information was shared. Successful and unsuccessful teams also showed different interactive patterns, in particular concerning the frequencies of elaborations and no-responses. Moreover, task success was negatively correlated with variability in team members' word count, and positively correlated with the number of positive emotion words and the frequency of assenting relative to dissenting responses. Analyses isolated certain task-related and social features of team communication related to team functioning. Team success was associated with the extent to which team members shared task-critical information, equally participated and built on each other's contributions, showed agreement, and positive affect.

Mechanism to support generic collective communication across a variety of programming models

DOEpatents

Almasi, Gheorghe [Ardsley, NY; Dozsa, Gabor [Ardsley, NY; Kumar, Sameer [White Plains, NY

2011-07-19

A system and method for supporting collective communications on a plurality of processors that use different parallel programming paradigms, in one aspect, may comprise a schedule defining one or more tasks in a collective operation, an executor that executes the task, a multisend module to perform one or more data transfer functions associated with the tasks, and a connection manager that controls one or more connections and identifies an available connection. The multisend module uses the available connection in performing the one or more data transfer functions. A plurality of processors that use different parallel programming paradigms can use a common implementation of the schedule module, the executor module, the connection manager and the multisend module via a language adaptor specific to a parallel programming paradigm implemented on a processor.

Proteomic analysis in the Dufour’s gland of Africanized Apis mellifera workers (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The colony of eusocial bee Apis mellifera has a reproductive queen and sterile workers performing tasks such as brood care and foraging. Chemical communication plays a crucial role in the maintenance of sociability in bees with many compounds released by the exocrine glands. The Dufour’s gland is a non-paired gland associated with the sting apparatus with important functions in the communication between members of the colony, releasing volatile chemicals that influence workers roles and tasks. However, the protein content in this gland is not well studied. This study identified differentially expressed proteins in the Dufour’s glands of nurse and forager workers of A. mellifera through 2D-gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. A total of 131 spots showed different expression between nurse and forager bees, and 28 proteins were identified. The identified proteins were categorized into different functions groups including protein, carbohydrate, energy and lipid metabolisms, cytoskeleton-associated proteins, detoxification, homeostasis, cell communication, constitutive and allergen. This study provides new insights of the protein content in the Dufour’s gland contributing to a more complete understanding of the biological functions of this gland in honeybees. PMID:28542566

Reliability of a Retail Food Store Survey and Development of an Accompanying Retail Scoring System to Communicate Survey Findings and Identify Vendors for Healthful Food and Marketing Initiatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghirardelli, Alyssa; Quinn, Valerie; Sugerman, Sharon

2011-01-01

Objective: To develop a retail grocery instrument with weighted scoring to be used as an indicator of the food environment. Participants/Setting: Twenty six retail food stores in low-income areas in California. Intervention: Observational. Main Outcome Measure(s): Inter-rater reliability for grocery store survey instrument. Description of store…

Time manages interference in visual short-term memory.

PubMed

Smith, Amy V; McKeown, Denis; Bunce, David

2017-09-01

Emerging evidence suggests that age-related declines in memory may reflect a failure in pattern separation, a process that is believed to reduce the encoding overlap between similar stimulus representations during memory encoding. Indeed, behavioural pattern separation may be indexed by a visual continuous recognition task in which items are presented in sequence and observers report for each whether it is novel, previously viewed (old), or whether it shares features with a previously viewed item (similar). In comparison to young adults, older adults show a decreased pattern separation when the number of items between "old" and "similar" items is increased. Yet the mechanisms of forgetting underpinning this type of recognition task are yet to be explored in a cognitively homogenous group, with careful control over the parameters of the task, including elapsing time (a critical variable in models of forgetting). By extending the inter-item intervals, number of intervening items and overall decay interval, we observed in a young adult sample (N = 35, M age  = 19.56 years) that the critical factor governing performance was inter-item interval. We argue that tasks using behavioural continuous recognition to index pattern separation in immediate memory will benefit from generous inter-item spacing, offering protection from inter-item interference.

The Importance of Encoding-Related Neural Dynamics in the Prediction of Inter-Individual Differences in Verbal Working Memory Performance

PubMed Central

Majerus, Steve; Salmon, Eric; Attout, Lucie

2013-01-01

Studies of brain-behaviour interactions in the field of working memory (WM) have associated WM success with activation of a fronto-parietal network during the maintenance stage, and this mainly for visuo-spatial WM. Using an inter-individual differences approach, we demonstrate here the equal importance of neural dynamics during the encoding stage, and this in the context of verbal WM tasks which are characterized by encoding phases of long duration and sustained attentional demands. Participants encoded and maintained 5-word lists, half of them containing an unexpected word intended to disturb WM encoding and associated task-related attention processes. We observed that inter-individual differences in WM performance for lists containing disturbing stimuli were related to activation levels in a region previously associated with task-related attentional processing, the left intraparietal sulcus (IPS), and this during stimulus encoding but not maintenance; functional connectivity strength between the left IPS and lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) further predicted WM performance. This study highlights the critical role, during WM encoding, of neural substrates involved in task-related attentional processes for predicting inter-individual differences in verbal WM performance, and, more generally, provides support for attention-based models of WM. PMID:23874935

Managing Ethical Difficulties in Healthcare: Communicating in Inter-professional Clinical Ethics Support Sessions.

PubMed

Grönlund, Catarina Fischer; Dahlqvist, Vera; Zingmark, Karin; Sandlund, Mikael; Söderberg, Anna

2016-12-01

Several studies show that healthcare professionals need to communicate inter-professionally in order to manage ethical difficulties. A model of clinical ethics support (CES) inspired by Habermas' theory of discourse ethics has been developed by our research group. In this version of CES sessions healthcare professionals meet inter-professionally to communicate and reflect on ethical difficulties in a cooperative manner with the aim of reaching communicative agreement or reflective consensus. In order to understand the course of action during CES, the aim of this study was to describe the communication of value conflicts during a series of inter-professional CES sessions. Ten audio- and video-recorded CES sessions were conducted over eight months and were analyzed by using the video analysis tool Transana and qualitative content analysis. The results showed that during the CES sessions the professionals as a group moved through the following five phases: a value conflict expressed as feelings of frustration, sharing disempowerment and helplessness, the revelation of the value conflict, enhancing realistic expectations, seeing opportunities to change the situation instead of obstacles. In the course of CES, the professionals moved from an individual interpretation of the situation to a common, new understanding and then to a change in approach. An open and permissive communication climate meant that the professionals dared to expose themselves, share their feelings, face their own emotions, and eventually arrive at a mutual shared reality. The value conflict was not only revealed but also resolved.

Assessing Patients’ Experiences with Communication Across the Cancer Care Continuum

PubMed Central

Mazor, Kathleen M.; Street, Richard L.; Sue, Valerie M.; Williams, Andrew E.; Rabin, Borsika A.; Arora, Neeraj K.

2016-01-01

Objective To evaluate the relevance, performance and potential usefulness of the Patient Assessment of cancer Communication Experiences (PACE) items. Methods Items focusing on specific communication goals related to exchanging information, fostering healing relationships, responding to emotions, making decisions, enabling self-management, and managing uncertainty were tested via a retrospective, cross-sectional survey of adults who had been diagnosed with cancer. Analyses examined response frequencies, inter-item correlations, and coefficient alpha. Results A total of 366 adults were included in the analyses. Relatively few selected “Does Not Apply”, suggesting that items tap relevant communication experiences. Ratings of whether specific communication goals were achieved were strongly correlated with overall ratings of communication, suggesting item content reflects important aspects of communication. Coefficient alpha was ≥.90 for each item set, indicating excellent reliability. Variations in the percentage of respondents selecting the most positive response across items suggest results can identify strengths and weaknesses. Conclusion The PACE items tap relevant, important aspects of communication during cancer care, and may be useful to cancer care teams desiring detailed feedback. PMID:26979476

Effective teamwork and communication mitigate task saturation in simulated critical care air transport team missions.

PubMed

Davis, Bradley; Welch, Katherine; Walsh-Hart, Sharon; Hanseman, Dennis; Petro, Michael; Gerlach, Travis; Dorlac, Warren; Collins, Jocelyn; Pritts, Timothy

2014-08-01

Critical Care Air Transport Teams (CCATTs) are a critical component of the United States Air Force evacuation paradigm. This study was conducted to assess the incidence of task saturation in simulated CCATT missions and to determine if there are predictable performance domains. Sixteen CCATTs were studied over a 6-month period. Performance was scored using a tool assessing eight domains of performance. Teams were also assessed during critical events to determine the presence or absence of task saturation and its impact on patient care. Sixteen simulated missions were reviewed and 45 crisis events identified. Task saturation was present in 22/45 (49%) of crisis events. Scoring demonstrated that task saturation was associated with poor performance in teamwork (odds ratio [OR] = 1.96), communication (OR = 2.08), and mutual performance monitoring (OR = 1.9), but not maintenance of guidelines, task management, procedural skill, and equipment management. We analyzed the effect of task saturation on adverse patient outcomes during crisis events. Adverse outcomes occurred more often when teams were task saturated as compared to non-task-saturated teams (91% vs. 23%; RR 4.1, p < 0.0001). Task saturation is observed in simulated CCATT missions. Nontechnical skills correlate with task saturation. Task saturation is associated with worsening physiologic derangements in simulated patients. Reprint & Copyright © 2014 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Stigmergy based behavioural coordination for satellite clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tripp, Howard; Palmer, Phil

2010-04-01

Multi-platform swarm/cluster missions are an attractive prospect for improved science return as they provide a natural capability for temporal, spatial and signal separation with further engineering and economic advantages. As spacecraft numbers increase and/or the round-trip communications delay from Earth lengthens, the traditional "remote-control" approach begins to break down. It is therefore essential to push control into space; to make spacecraft more autonomous. An autonomous group of spacecraft requires coordination, but standard terrestrial paradigms such as negotiation, require high levels of inter-spacecraft communication, which is nontrivial in space. This article therefore introduces the principals of stigmergy as a novel method for coordinating a cluster. Stigmergy is an agent-based, behavioural approach that allows for infrequent communication with decisions based on local information. Behaviours are selected dynamically using a genetic algorithm onboard. supervisors/ground stations occasionally adjust parameters and disseminate a "common environment" that is used for local decisions. After outlining the system, an analysis of some crucial parameters such as communications overhead and number of spacecraft is presented to demonstrate scalability. Further scenarios are considered to demonstrate the natural ability to deal with dynamic situations such as the failure of spacecraft, changing mission objectives and responding to sudden bursts of high priority tasks.

Inter-BSs virtual private network for privacy and security enhanced 60 GHz radio-over-fiber system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chongfu; Chen, Chen; Zhang, Wei; Jin, Wei; Qiu, Kun; Li, Changchun; Jiang, Ning

2013-06-01

A novel inter-basestations (inter-BSs) based virtual private network (VPN) for the privacy and security enhanced 60 GHz radio-over-fiber (RoF) system using optical code-division multiplexing (OCDM) is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. By establishing inter-BSs VPN overlaying the network structure of a 60 GHz RoF system, the express and private paths for the communication of end-users under different BSs can be offered. In order to effectively establish the inter-BSs VPN, the OCDM encoding/decoding technology is employed in the RoF system. In each BS, a 58 GHz millimeter-wave (MMW) is used as the inter-BSs VPN channel, while a 60 GHz MMW is used as the common central station (CS)-BSs communication channel. The optical carriers used for the downlink, uplink and VPN link transmissions are all simultaneously generated in a lightwave-centralized CS, by utilizing four-wave mixing (FWM) effect in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). The obtained results properly verify the feasibility of our proposed configuration of the inter-BSs VPN in the 60 GHz RoF system.

Increased inter-hemispheric resting-state functional connectivity in acute lacunar stroke patients with aphasia.

PubMed

Yang, Haiqing; Bai, Lin; Zhou, Yi; Kang, Shan; Liang, Panpan; Wang, Lihua; Zhu, Yifei

2017-03-01

Aphasia is a devastating neurological condition affecting a person's ability to communicate and reintegrate into the society. It may occur in 20% or more of patients after stroke. The recovery of language function is accompanied by brain reorganization, and identifying the inter-hemispheric interaction post-stroke will conduce to more targeted treatments. Previous studies suggested that robust homotopic resting-state functional connectivity is a key characteristic of the brain's intrinsic functional architecture, and communication between the left and right cerebral hemispheres is important for language processing. In this study, voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) was used to examine the inter-hemispheric resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) differences between 37 patients with acute lacunar stroke in the left hemisphere and 28 healthy controls. Besides, correlation analyses were carried out to investigate the relationship between VMHC values of brain regions showing abnormal inter-hemispheric RSFC and clinical variables [i.e., aphasia quotient (AQ) scores, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and Mini-Mental State Examination of patients]. Compared with healthy controls, patients showed significantly increased VMHC in the pars orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyrus, anterior part of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and lingual gyrus. No brain region showed decreased VMHC in the patient group than in the healthy control group. The AQ scores were negatively correlated with VMHC values in the STG. NIHSS scores were positively correlated with VMHC values in the lingual gyrus. We hope these results could shed new insights into the pathology of aphasia in patients with acute lacunar stroke.

Analysis of tasks for dynamic man/machine load balancing in advanced helicopters

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

Jorgensen, C.C.

1987-10-01

This report considers task allocation requirements imposed by advanced helicopter designs incorporating mixes of human pilots and intelligent machines. Specifically, it develops an analogy between load balancing using distributed non-homogeneous multiprocessors and human team functions. A taxonomy is presented which can be used to identify task combinations likely to cause overload for dynamic scheduling and process allocation mechanisms. Designer criteria are given for function decomposition, separation of control from data, and communication handling for dynamic tasks. Possible effects of n-p complete scheduling problems are noted and a class of combinatorial optimization methods are examined.

Teaching Scientists to Communicate: Evidence-based assessment for undergraduate science education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mercer-Mapstone, Lucy; Kuchel, Louise

2015-07-01

Communication skills are one of five nationally recognised learning outcomes for an Australian Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree. Previous evidence indicates that communication skills taught in Australian undergraduate science degrees are not developed sufficiently to meet the requirements of the modern-day workplace-a problem faced in the UK and USA also. Curriculum development in this area, however, hinges on first evaluating how communication skills are taught currently as a base from which to make effective changes. This study aimed to quantify the current standard of communication education within BSc degrees at Australian research-intensive universities. A detailed evidential baseline for not only what but also how communication skills are being taught was established. We quantified which communication skills were taught and assessed explicitly, implicitly, or were absent in a range of undergraduate science assessment tasks (n = 35) from four research-intensive Australian universities. Results indicate that 10 of the 12 core science communication skills used for evaluation were absent from more than 50% of assessment tasks and 77.14% of all assessment tasks taught less than 5 core communication skills explicitly. The design of assessment tasks significantly affected whether communication skills were taught explicitly. Prominent trends were that communication skills in tasks aimed at non-scientific audiences were taught more explicitly than in tasks aimed at scientific audiences, and the majority of group and multimedia tasks taught communication elements more explicitly than individual, or written and oral tasks. Implications for science communication in the BSc and further research are discussed.

High-gamma activity in the human hippocampus and parahippocampus during inter-trial rest periods of a virtual navigation task.

PubMed

Pu, Yi; Cornwell, Brian R; Cheyne, Douglas; Johnson, Blake W

2018-05-19

In rodents, hippocampal cell assemblies formed during learning of a navigation task are observed to re-emerge during resting (offline) periods, accompanied by high-frequency oscillations (HFOs). This phenomenon is believed to reflect mechanisms for strengthening newly-formed memory traces. Using magnetoencephalography recordings and a beamforming source location algorithm (synthetic aperture magnetometry), we investigated high-gamma (80-140 Hz) oscillations in the hippocampal region in 18 human participants during inter-trial rest periods in a virtual navigation task. We found right hippocampal gamma oscillations mirrored the pattern of theta power in the same region during navigation, varying as a function of environmental novelty. Gamma power during inter-trial rest periods was positively correlated with theta power during navigation in the first task set when the environment was new and predicted greater performance improvement in the subsequent task set two where the environment became familiar. These findings provide evidence for human hippocampal reactivation accompanied by high-gamma activities immediately after learning and establish a link between hippocampal high-gamma activities and subsequent memory performance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reduced Functional Connectivity in Adults with Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

PubMed Central

Hocke, Lia M.; Duszynski, Chris C.; Debert, Chantel T.; Dleikan, Diane

2018-01-01

Abstract Concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), accounts for ∼80% of all TBIs across North America. The majority of mTBI patients recover within days to weeks; however, 14–36% of the time, acute mTBI symptoms persist for months or even years and develop into persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS). There is a need to find biomarkers in patients with PPCS, to improve prognostic ability and to provide insight into the pathophysiology underlying chronic symptoms. Recent research has pointed toward impaired network integrity and cortical communication as a biomarker. In this study we investigated functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a technique to assess cortical communication deficits in adults with PPCS. Specifically, we aimed to identify cortical communication patterns in prefrontal and motor areas during rest and task, in adult patients with persistent symptoms. We found that (1) the PPCS group showed reduced connectivity compared with healthy controls, (2) increased symptom severity correlated with reduced coherence, and (3) connectivity differences were best distinguishable during task and in particular during the working memory task (n-back task) in the right and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). These data show that reduced brain communication may be associated with the pathophysiology of mTBI and that fNIRS, with a relatively simple acquisition paradigm, may provide a useful biomarker of this injury. PMID:29373947

Design of Unstructured Adaptive (UA) NAS Parallel Benchmark Featuring Irregular, Dynamic Memory Accesses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feng, Hui-Yu; VanderWijngaart, Rob; Biswas, Rupak; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

We describe the design of a new method for the measurement of the performance of modern computer systems when solving scientific problems featuring irregular, dynamic memory accesses. The method involves the solution of a stylized heat transfer problem on an unstructured, adaptive grid. A Spectral Element Method (SEM) with an adaptive, nonconforming mesh is selected to discretize the transport equation. The relatively high order of the SEM lowers the fraction of wall clock time spent on inter-processor communication, which eases the load balancing task and allows us to concentrate on the memory accesses. The benchmark is designed to be three-dimensional. Parallelization and load balance issues of a reference implementation will be described in detail in future reports.

Automated Illustration of Patients Instructions

PubMed Central

Bui, Duy; Nakamura, Carlos; Bray, Bruce E.; Zeng-Treitler, Qing

2012-01-01

A picture can be a powerful communication tool. However, creating pictures to illustrate patient instructions can be a costly and time-consuming task. Building on our prior research in this area, we developed a computer application that automatically converts text to pictures using natural language processing and computer graphics techniques. After iterative testing, the automated illustration system was evaluated using 49 previously unseen cardiology discharge instructions. The completeness of the system-generated illustrations was assessed by three raters using a three-level scale. The average inter-rater agreement for text correctly represented in the pictograph was about 66 percent. Since illustration in this context is intended to enhance rather than replace text, these results support the feasibility of conducting automated illustration. PMID:23304392

Deterministic transfer of an unknown qutrit state assisted by the low-Q microwave resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Tong; Zhang, Yang; Yu, Chang-Shui; Zhang, Wei-Ning

2017-05-01

Qutrits (i.e., three-level quantum systems) can be used to achieve many quantum information and communication tasks due to their large Hilbert spaces. In this work, we propose a scheme to transfer an unknown quantum state between two flux qutrits coupled to two superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators. The quantum state transfer can be deterministically achieved without measurements. Because resonator photons are virtually excited during the operation time, the decoherences caused by the resonator decay and the unwanted inter-resonator crosstalk are greatly suppressed. Moreover, our approach can be adapted to other solid-state qutrits coupled to circuit resonators. Numerical simulations show that the high-fidelity transfer of quantum state between the two qutrits is feasible with current circuit QED technology.

Dynamics explorer: Interface definition study, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

Work done in response to the work statement wherein a specific deliverable was not identified but where design and analysis tasks were identified is reported. The summary and baseline change list is included along with design notes for the spacecraft system, thermal subsystem, power subsystem, communications subsystem, plasma wave instrument interface definition, and the structure.

Short-time windowed covariance: A metric for identifying non-stationary, event-related covariant cortical sites

PubMed Central

Blakely, Timothy; Ojemann, Jeffrey G.; Rao, Rajesh P.N.

2014-01-01

Background Electrocorticography (ECoG) signals can provide high spatio-temporal resolution and high signal to noise ratio recordings of local neural activity from the surface of the brain. Previous studies have shown that broad-band, spatially focal, high-frequency increases in ECoG signals are highly correlated with movement and other cognitive tasks and can be volitionally modulated. However, significant additional information may be present in inter-electrode interactions, but adding additional higher order inter-electrode interactions can be impractical from a computational aspect, if not impossible. New method In this paper we present a new method of calculating high frequency interactions between electrodes called Short-Time Windowed Covariance (STWC) that builds on mathematical techniques currently used in neural signal analysis, along with an implementation that accelerates the algorithm by orders of magnitude by leveraging commodity, off-the-shelf graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware. Results Using the hardware-accelerated implementation of STWC, we identify many types of event-related inter-electrode interactions from human ECoG recordings on global and local scales that have not been identified by previous methods. Unique temporal patterns are observed for digit flexion in both low- (10 mm spacing) and high-resolution (3 mm spacing) electrode arrays. Comparison with existing methods Covariance is a commonly used metric for identifying correlated signals, but the standard covariance calculations do not allow for temporally varying covariance. In contrast STWC allows and identifies event-driven changes in covariance without identifying spurious noise correlations. Conclusions: STWC can be used to identify event-related neural interactions whose high computational load is well suited to GPU capabilities. PMID:24211499

Communicative Task-Based Learning: What Does It Resolve?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruton, Anthony

A discussion of communicative task-based second language learning looks at what differentiates a number of related classroom approaches: (1) two orientations, one focusing on learning-to-communicate and the other on communicating-to-learn; (2) emphasis on input, reception, and analysis in contrast to emphasis on communicative tasks; (3)…

Computerized Tests of Team Performance and Crew Coordination Suitable for Military/Aviation Settings.

PubMed

Lawson, Ben D; Britt, Thomas W; Kelley, Amanda M; Athy, Jeremy R; Legan, Shauna M

2017-08-01

The coordination of team effort on shared tasks is an area of inquiry. A number of tests of team performance in challenging environments have been developed without comparison or standardization. This article provides a systematic review of the most accessible and usable low-to-medium fidelity computerized tests of team performance and determines which are most applicable to military- and aviation-relevant research, such as studies of group command, control, communication, and crew coordination. A search was conducted to identify computerized measures of team performance. In addition to extensive literature searches (DTIC, Psychinfo, PubMed), the authors reached out to team performance researchers at conferences and through electronic communication. Identified were 57 potential tests according to 6 specific selection criteria (e.g., the requirement for automated collection of team performance and coordination processes, the use of military-relevant scenarios). The following seven tests (listed alphabetically) were considered most suitable for military needs: Agent Enabled Decision Group Environment (AEDGE), C3Conflict, the C3 (Command, Control, & Communications) Interactive Task for Identifying Emerging Situations (NeoCITIES), Distributed Dynamic Decision Making (DDD), Duo Wondrous Original Method Basic Awareness/Airmanship Test (DuoWOMBAT), the Leader Development Simulator (LDS), and the Planning Task for Teams (PLATT). Strengths and weaknesses of these tests are described and recommendations offered to help researchers identify the test most suitable for their particular needs. Adoption of a few standard computerized test batteries to study team performance would facilitate the evaluation of interventions intended to enhance group performance in multiple challenging military and aerospace operational environments.Lawson BD, Britt TW, Kelley AM, Athy JR, Legan SM. Computerized tests of team performance and crew coordination suitable for military/aviation settings. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(8):722-729.

Extrapolation of Inter Domain Communications and Substrate Binding Cavity of Camel HSP70 1A: A Molecular Modeling and Dynamics Simulation Study

PubMed Central

Gupta, Saurabh; Rao, Atmakuri Ramakrishna; Varadwaj, Pritish Kumar; De, Sachinandan; Mohapatra, Trilochan

2015-01-01

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is an important chaperone, involved in protein folding, refolding, translocation and complex remodeling reactions under normal as well as stress conditions. However, expression of HSPA1A gene in heat and cold stress conditions associates with other chaperons and perform its function. Experimental structure for Camel HSP70 protein (cHSP70) has not been reported so far. Hence, we constructed 3D models of cHSP70 through multi- template comparative modeling with HSP110 protein of S. cerevisiae (open state) and with HSP70 protein of E. coli 70kDa DnaK (close state) and relaxed them for 100 nanoseconds (ns) using all-atom Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulation. Two stable conformations of cHSP70 with Substrate Binding Domain (SBD) in open and close states were obtained. The collective mode analysis of different transitions of open state to close state and vice versa was examined via Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Minimum Distance Matrix (MDM). The results provide mechanistic representation of the communication between Nucleotide Binding Domain (NBD) and SBD to identify the role of sub domains in conformational change mechanism, which leads the chaperone cycle of cHSP70. Further, residues present in the chaperon functioning site were also identified through protein-peptide docking. This study provides an overall insight into the inter domain communication mechanism and identification of the chaperon binding cavity, which explains the underlying mechanism involved during heat and cold stress conditions in camel. PMID:26313938

Extrapolation of Inter Domain Communications and Substrate Binding Cavity of Camel HSP70 1A: A Molecular Modeling and Dynamics Simulation Study.

PubMed

Gupta, Saurabh; Rao, Atmakuri Ramakrishna; Varadwaj, Pritish Kumar; De, Sachinandan; Mohapatra, Trilochan

2015-01-01

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is an important chaperone, involved in protein folding, refolding, translocation and complex remodeling reactions under normal as well as stress conditions. However, expression of HSPA1A gene in heat and cold stress conditions associates with other chaperons and perform its function. Experimental structure for Camel HSP70 protein (cHSP70) has not been reported so far. Hence, we constructed 3D models of cHSP70 through multi- template comparative modeling with HSP110 protein of S. cerevisiae (open state) and with HSP70 protein of E. coli 70kDa DnaK (close state) and relaxed them for 100 nanoseconds (ns) using all-atom Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulation. Two stable conformations of cHSP70 with Substrate Binding Domain (SBD) in open and close states were obtained. The collective mode analysis of different transitions of open state to close state and vice versa was examined via Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Minimum Distance Matrix (MDM). The results provide mechanistic representation of the communication between Nucleotide Binding Domain (NBD) and SBD to identify the role of sub domains in conformational change mechanism, which leads the chaperone cycle of cHSP70. Further, residues present in the chaperon functioning site were also identified through protein-peptide docking. This study provides an overall insight into the inter domain communication mechanism and identification of the chaperon binding cavity, which explains the underlying mechanism involved during heat and cold stress conditions in camel.

Dismantling the Justice Silos: avoiding the pitfalls and reaping the benefits of information-sharing between forensic science, medicine and law.

PubMed

Kelty, Sally F; Julian, Roberta; Ross, Alastair

2013-07-10

Forensic science is increasingly relied on by police and the courts to exonerate the innocent and to establish links to crime. With this increased reliance the potential for unjust outcomes increases, especially in serious matters for two reasons. The more serious the matter, the more likely that evidence mishandling can lead to wrongful imprisonment, and the more likely the personnel involved will be multi-disciplinary (police, medicine, law, forensic science), and multi-organisational (Health, Justice, private legal/medical, police). The importance of identifying effective multi-organisational interactions was highlighted in the recent wrongful imprisonment of an Australian male for a sexual assault he did not commit. One factor that led to this unjust outcome was the justice silo effect: where forensic practitioners from different agencies operate in isolation (rarely communicating or sharing information/knowledge). In this paper we discuss findings from the Interfaces Project designed to assess the extent of the justice silos within Australia. We interviewed 103 police, forensic scientists, lawyers, judges, coroners, pathologists and forensic physicians Australian-wide. Five main themes were identified in the data: the silo effect was only partial and in each jurisdiction some form of inter-agency communication was actively occurring; inter-agency meetings were more common in homicide than sexual assault cases; forensic physicians were semi-invisible; there had been considerable momentum over the past ten years for practice improvement groups, and; practitioners gain more benefits than pitfalls from inter-agency information-sharing. Based on these findings, five recommendations are made for improving practice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Work and Inter-subjectivity: a theoretical reflection on its dialectics in the field of health and nursing.

PubMed

Carvalho, Brígida Gimenez; Peduzzi, Marina; Mandú, Edir Nei Teixeira; Ayres, José Ricardo de Carvalho Mesquita

2012-01-01

This theoretical reflection intends to show the inter-subjective relationship that takes place in health and nursing practices under the following theoretical perspectives: Institutional Analysis, Psychodynamics of Labor and the Theory of Communicative Action, with an emphasis on the latter. Linking these concepts to the Marxist approach to work in the field of health emerges from recognizing the need for its continuous reconstruction-in this case, with a view to understand the interaction and communication intrinsic to work in action. The theory of Communicative Action seeks to consider these two inextricable dimensions: work as productive action and as interaction. The first corresponds to instrumental action based on technical rules with a production-guided rationale. The second refers to the interaction that takes place as communicative action and seeks understanding among subjects. We assume that adopting this theoretical perspective in the analysis of health and nursing practices opens new possibilities for clarifying its social and historical process and inter-subjective connections.

All-optical OFDM network coding scheme for all-optical virtual private communication in PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Lijun; Gu, Rentao; Ji, Yuefeng; Bai, Lin; Huang, Zhitong

2014-03-01

A novel optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) network coding scheme is proposed over passive optical network (PON) system. The proposed scheme for all-optical virtual private network (VPN) does not only improve transmission efficiency, but also realize full-duplex communication mode in a single fiber. Compared with the traditional all-optical VPN architectures, the all-optical OFDM network coding scheme can support higher speed, more flexible bandwidth allocation, and higher spectrum efficiency. In order to reduce the difficulty of alignment for encoding operation between inter-communication traffic, the width of OFDM subcarrier pulse is stretched in our proposed scheme. The feasibility of all-optical OFDM network coding scheme for VPN is verified, and the relevant simulation results show that the full-duplex inter-communication traffic stream can be transmitted successfully. Furthermore, the tolerance of misalignment existing in inter-ONUs traffic is investigated and analyzed for all-optical encoding operation, and the difficulty of pulse alignment is proved to be lower.

Inter-hospital communications and transport: turning one-way funnels into two-way networks.

PubMed

Rokos, Ivan C; Sanddal, Nels D; Pancioli, Arthur M; Wolff, Catherine; Gaieski, David F

2010-12-01

The Inter-hospital Communications and Transport workgroup was charged with exploring the current status, barriers, and data necessary to optimize the initial destination and subsequent transfer of patients between and among acute care settings. The subtitle, "Turning Funnels Into Two-way Networks," is descriptive of the approach that the workgroup took by exploring how and when smaller facilities in suburban, rural, and frontier areas can contribute to the daily business of caring for emergency patients across the lower-acuity spectrum-in some instances with consultant support from academic medical centers. It also focused on the need to identify high-acuity patients and expedite triage and transfer of those patients to facilities with specialty resources. Draft research recommendations were developed through an iterative writing process and presented to a breakout session of Academic Emergency Medicine's 2010 consensus conference, "Beyond Regionalization: Integrated Networks of Emergency Care." Priority research areas were determined by informal consensus of the breakout group. A subsequent iterative writing process was undertaken to complete this article. A number of broad research questions are presented. 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Neural correlates of conflict between gestures and words: A domain-specific role for a temporal-parietal complex.

PubMed

Noah, J Adam; Dravida, Swethasri; Zhang, Xian; Yahil, Shaul; Hirsch, Joy

2017-01-01

The interpretation of social cues is a fundamental function of human social behavior, and resolution of inconsistencies between spoken and gestural cues plays an important role in successful interactions. To gain insight into these underlying neural processes, we compared neural responses in a traditional color/word conflict task and to a gesture/word conflict task to test hypotheses of domain-general and domain-specific conflict resolution. In the gesture task, recorded spoken words ("yes" and "no") were presented simultaneously with video recordings of actors performing one of the following affirmative or negative gestures: thumbs up, thumbs down, head nodding (up and down), or head shaking (side-to-side), thereby generating congruent and incongruent communication stimuli between gesture and words. Participants identified the communicative intent of the gestures as either positive or negative. In the color task, participants were presented the words "red" and "green" in either red or green font and were asked to identify the color of the letters. We observed a classic "Stroop" behavioral interference effect, with participants showing increased response time for incongruent trials relative to congruent ones for both the gesture and color tasks. Hemodynamic signals acquired using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) were increased in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) for incongruent trials relative to congruent trials for both tasks consistent with a common, domain-general mechanism for detecting conflict. However, activity in the left DLPFC and frontal eye fields and the right temporal-parietal junction (TPJ), superior temporal gyrus (STG), supramarginal gyrus (SMG), and primary and auditory association cortices was greater for the gesture task than the color task. Thus, in addition to domain-general conflict processing mechanisms, as suggested by common engagement of right DLPFC, socially specialized neural modules localized to the left DLPFC and right TPJ including adjacent homologous receptive language areas were engaged when processing conflicting communications. These findings contribute to an emerging view of specialization within the TPJ and adjacent areas for interpretation of social cues and indicate a role for the region in processing social conflict.

NIRS-Based Hyperscanning Reveals Inter-brain Neural Synchronization during Cooperative Jenga Game with Face-to-Face Communication.

PubMed

Liu, Ning; Mok, Charis; Witt, Emily E; Pradhan, Anjali H; Chen, Jingyuan E; Reiss, Allan L

2016-01-01

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an increasingly popular technology for studying social cognition. In particular, fNIRS permits simultaneous measurement of hemodynamic activity in two or more individuals interacting in a naturalistic setting. Here, we used fNIRS hyperscanning to study social cognition and communication in human dyads engaged in cooperative and obstructive interaction while they played the game of Jenga™. Novel methods were developed to identify synchronized channels for each dyad and a structural node-based spatial registration approach was utilized for inter-dyad analyses. Strong inter-brain neural synchrony (INS) was observed in the posterior region of the right middle and superior frontal gyrus, in particular Brodmann area 8 (BA8), during cooperative and obstructive interaction. This synchrony was not observed during the parallel game play condition and the dialog section, suggesting that BA8 was involved in goal-oriented social interaction such as complex interactive movements and social decision-making. INS was also observed in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), in particular Brodmann 9, during cooperative interaction only. These additional findings suggest that BA9 may be particularly engaged when theory-of-mind (ToM) is required for cooperative social interaction. The new methods described here have the potential to significantly extend fNIRS applications to social cognitive research.

Hierarchical Learning of Tree Classifiers for Large-Scale Plant Species Identification.

PubMed

Fan, Jianping; Zhou, Ning; Peng, Jinye; Gao, Ling

2015-11-01

In this paper, a hierarchical multi-task structural learning algorithm is developed to support large-scale plant species identification, where a visual tree is constructed for organizing large numbers of plant species in a coarse-to-fine fashion and determining the inter-related learning tasks automatically. For a given parent node on the visual tree, it contains a set of sibling coarse-grained categories of plant species or sibling fine-grained plant species, and a multi-task structural learning algorithm is developed to train their inter-related classifiers jointly for enhancing their discrimination power. The inter-level relationship constraint, e.g., a plant image must first be assigned to a parent node (high-level non-leaf node) correctly if it can further be assigned to the most relevant child node (low-level non-leaf node or leaf node) on the visual tree, is formally defined and leveraged to learn more discriminative tree classifiers over the visual tree. Our experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of our hierarchical multi-task structural learning algorithm on training more discriminative tree classifiers for large-scale plant species identification.

Using robots to help people habituate to visible disabilities.

PubMed

Riek, Laurel D; Robinson, Peter

2011-01-01

We explore a new way of using robots as human-human social facilitators: inter-ability communication. This refers to communication between people with disabilities and those without disabilities. We have interviewed people with head and facial movement disorders (n = 4), and, using a vision-based approach, recreated their movements on our 27 degree-of-freedom android robot. We then conducted an exploratory experiment (n = 26) to see if the robot might serve as a suitable tool to allow people to practice inter-ability interaction on a robot before doing it with a person. Our results suggest a robot may be useful in this manner. Furthermore, we have found a significant relationship between people who hold negative attitudes toward robots and negative attitudes toward people with disabilities. © 2011 IEEE

Communications platform payload definition study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clopp, H. W.; Hawkes, T. A.; Bertles, C. R.; Pontano, B. A.; Kao, T.

1986-01-01

Large geostationary communications platforms were investigated in a number of studies since 1974 as a possible means to more effectively utilize the geostationary arc and electromagnetic spectrum and to reduce overall satellite communications system costs. The commercial feasibility of various communications platform payload concepts circa 1998 was addressed. Promising payload concepts were defined, recurring costs were estimated, and critical technologies needed to enable eventual commercialization were identified. Ten communications service aggregation scenarios describing potential groupings of service were developed for a range of conditions. Payload concepts were defined for four of these scenarios: (1) Land Mobile Satellite Service (LMSS) meets 100% of Contiguous United States (CONUS) plus Canada demand with a single platform; (2) Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) (trunking + Customer Premises Service (CPS)), meet 20% of CONUS demand;(3) FSS (trunking + CPS + video distribution), 10 to 13% of CONUS demand; and (4) FSS (20% of demand) + Inter Satellite Links (ISL) + Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS)/Tracking and Data Acquisition System (TDAS) Data Distribution.

Requirements of a new communication technology for handover and the escalation of patient care: a multi-stakeholder analysis.

PubMed

Johnston, Maximilian J; King, Dominic; Arora, Sonal; Cooper, Kerri; Panda, Neha Aparajita; Gosling, Rebecca; Singh, Kaushiki; Sanders, Bradley; Cox, Benita; Darzi, Ara

2014-08-01

In order to enable safe and efficient information transfer between health care professionals during clinical handover and escalation of care, existing communication technologies must be updated. This study aimed to provide a user-informed guide for the development of an application-based communication system (ABCS), tailored for use in patient handover and escalation of care. Current methods of inter-professional communication in health care along with information system needs for communication technology were identified through literature review. A focus group study was then conducted according to a topic guide developed by health innovation and safety researchers. Fifteen doctors and 11 nurses from three London hospitals participated in a mixture of homogeneous and heterogeneous sessions. The sessions were recorded and transcribed verbatim before being subjected to thematic analysis. Seventeen information system needs were identified from the literature review. Participants identified six themes detailing user perceptions of current communication technology, attitudes to smartphone technology and anticipated requirements of an application produced for handover and escalation of care. Participants were in favour of an ABCS over current methods and expressed enthusiasm for a system with integrated patient information and group-messaging functions. Despite concerns regarding confidentiality and information governance a robust guide for development and implementation of an ABCS was produced, taking input from multiple stakeholders into account. Handover and escalation of care are vital processes for patient safety and communication within these must be optimized. An ABCS for health care professionals would be a welcome innovation and may lead to improvements in patient safety. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Modular architecture of protein structures and allosteric communications: potential implications for signaling proteins and regulatory linkages

PubMed Central

del Sol, Antonio; Araúzo-Bravo, Marcos J; Amoros, Dolors; Nussinov, Ruth

2007-01-01

Background Allosteric communications are vital for cellular signaling. Here we explore a relationship between protein architectural organization and shortcuts in signaling pathways. Results We show that protein domains consist of modules interconnected by residues that mediate signaling through the shortest pathways. These mediating residues tend to be located at the inter-modular boundaries, which are more rigid and display a larger number of long-range interactions than intra-modular regions. The inter-modular boundaries contain most of the residues centrally conserved in the protein fold, which may be crucial for information transfer between amino acids. Our approach to modular decomposition relies on a representation of protein structures as residue-interacting networks, and removal of the most central residue contacts, which are assumed to be crucial for allosteric communications. The modular decomposition of 100 multi-domain protein structures indicates that modules constitute the building blocks of domains. The analysis of 13 allosteric proteins revealed that modules characterize experimentally identified functional regions. Based on the study of an additional functionally annotated dataset of 115 proteins, we propose that high-modularity modules include functional sites and are the basic functional units. We provide examples (the Gαs subunit and P450 cytochromes) to illustrate that the modular architecture of active sites is linked to their functional specialization. Conclusion Our method decomposes protein structures into modules, allowing the study of signal transmission between functional sites. A modular configuration might be advantageous: it allows signaling proteins to expand their regulatory linkages and may elicit a broader range of control mechanisms either via modular combinations or through modulation of inter-modular linkages. PMID:17531094

[Not Available].

PubMed

Sánchez Sánchez, Fuensanta; Sánchez Marín, Francisco José; López Benavente, Yolanda

2008-12-01

To identify the characteristics, needs and difficulties of training of health professionals in health care and inter-professional communication and discover mechanisms for improvement and a desirable educational profile for implementing a training strategy. Qualitative, descriptive and interpretive study carried out between September 2006 and July 2007 at the initiative of the Dirección General de Asistencia Sanitaria-Servicio Murciano de Salud (SMS) and the Dirección General de Calidad Asistencial, Formación e Investigación Sanitaria-Consejería de Sanidad of Murcia, Spain. Participants included 11 doctors, 5 nurses, 1 psychologist and 1 primary and specialised care journalist and the Consejería de Sanidad of Murcia. 2 focus groups were used with sampling by structural saturation, recording of speeches on audiovisual support, verbatim transcript and content analysis. We must encourage attitude changes and acquire the tools for proper care in everyday situations. It is also necessary to rethink subject matter and approaches, define the profile of teachers and develop collaboration and motivation mechanisms. Training in health care communication and inter-professional communication is crucial but it is limited, self-taught, poorly structured and generalistic. It has difficulties associated with attendance, outreach and recognition. A strategic plan for training communication must be based on a human perspective. Its integration must be undertaken by the institution, and universal with the interests and needs felt and expressed by professionals and citizens. Copyright © 2008 Sociedad Española de Calidad Asistencial. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Stabilized display of coronary x-ray image sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Close, Robert A.; Whiting, James S.; Da, Xiaolin; Eigler, Neal L.

2004-05-01

Display stabilization is a technique by which a feature of interest in a cine image sequence is tracked and then shifted to remain approximately stationary on the display device. Prior simulations indicate that display stabilization with high playback rates ( 30 f/s) can significantly improve detectability of low-contrast features in coronary angiograms. Display stabilization may also help to improve the accuracy of intra-coronary device placement. We validated our automated tracking algorithm by comparing the inter-frame difference (jitter) between manual and automated tracking of 150 coronary x-ray image sequences acquired on a digital cardiovascular X-ray imaging system with CsI/a-Si flat panel detector. We find that the median (50%) inter-frame jitter between manual and automatic tracking is 1.41 pixels or less, indicating a jump no further than an adjacent pixel. This small jitter implies that automated tracking and manual tracking should yield similar improvements in the performance of most visual tasks. We hypothesize that cardiologists would perceive a benefit in viewing the stabilized display as an addition to the standard playback of cine recordings. A benefit of display stabilization was identified in 87 of 101 sequences (86%). The most common tasks cited were evaluation of stenosis and determination of stent and balloon positions. We conclude that display stabilization offers perceptible improvements in the performance of visual tasks by cardiologists.

Gait and Cognition: A Complementary Approach to Understanding Brain Function and the Risk of Falling

PubMed Central

Montero-Odasso, Manuel; Verghese, Joe; Beauchet, Olivier; Hausdorff, Jeffrey M.

2012-01-01

Until recently, clinicians and researchers have performed gait assessments and cognitive assessments separately when evaluating older adults. Increasing evidence from clinical practice, epidemiological studies, and clinical trials shows that gait and cognition are inter-related in older adults. Quantifiable alterations in gait among older adults are associated with falls, dementia, and disability. At the same time, emerging evidence indicates that early disturbances in cognitive processes such as attention, executive function, and working memory are associated with slower gait and gait instability during single and dual-task testing, and that these cognitive disturbances assist in the prediction of future mobility loss, falls, and progression to dementia. This paper reviews the importance of the gait-cognition inter-relationship in aging and presents evidence that gait assessments can provide a window into the understanding of cognitive function and dysfunctions, and fall risk in older people in clinical practice. To this end, the benefits of dual-task gait assessments (e.g., walking while performing an attention-demanding task) as a marker of fall risk are summarized. Further, we also present a potential complementary approach for reducing the risk of falls by improving certain aspects of cognition through both non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments. Untangling the relationship between early gait disturbances and early cognitive changes may be helpful for identifying older adults at higher risk of experiencing mobility decline, falls and the progression to dementia. PMID:23110433

Leadership Skills.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hutchison, Cathleen; And Others

1988-01-01

Lists skills identified by the Leadership Development Task Force as being critical skills for a leader. Discussion focuses on information managing skills, including problem solving, decision making, setting goals and objectives; project management; and people managing skills, including interpersonal communications, conflict management, motivation,…

Assessing patients' experiences with communication across the cancer care continuum.

PubMed

Mazor, Kathleen M; Street, Richard L; Sue, Valerie M; Williams, Andrew E; Rabin, Borsika A; Arora, Neeraj K

2016-08-01

To evaluate the relevance, performance and potential usefulness of the Patient Assessment of cancer Communication Experiences (PACE) items. Items focusing on specific communication goals related to exchanging information, fostering healing relationships, responding to emotions, making decisions, enabling self-management, and managing uncertainty were tested via a retrospective, cross-sectional survey of adults who had been diagnosed with cancer. Analyses examined response frequencies, inter-item correlations, and coefficient alpha. A total of 366 adults were included in the analyses. Relatively few selected Does Not Apply, suggesting that items tap relevant communication experiences. Ratings of whether specific communication goals were achieved were strongly correlated with overall ratings of communication, suggesting item content reflects important aspects of communication. Coefficient alpha was ≥.90 for each item set, indicating excellent reliability. Variations in the percentage of respondents selecting the most positive response across items suggest results can identify strengths and weaknesses. The PACE items tap relevant, important aspects of communication during cancer care, and may be useful to cancer care teams desiring detailed feedback. The PACE is a new tool for eliciting patients' perspectives on communication during cancer care. It is freely available online for practitioners, researchers and others. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Temporal and inter-task consistency of heart rate reactivity during active psychological challenge: a twin study.

PubMed

Turner, J R; Carroll, D; Sims, J; Hewitt, J K; Kelly, K A

1986-01-01

Heart rate was monitored while 22 pairs of young male monozygotic and 29 pairs of young male dizygotic twins were exposed to a video game and a mental arithmetic task. The heart rate reactions of the monozygotic twins showed much greater concordance than those of the dizygotic twins. Analysis of the data for the 102 individuals demonstrated reliable inter-task consistency of heart rate reaction. In addition, comparison of the heart rate reactions of ten pairs of monozygotic and ten pairs of dizygotic twins who had been tested more than a year earlier and their present reactivities revealed impressive temporal consistency.

22 CFR 1005.160 - Communications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2011-04-01 2009-04-01 true Communications. 1005.160 Section 1005.160... PROGRAMS OR ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED BY THE INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION § 1005.160 Communications. (a) The agency shall take appropriate steps to ensure effective communication with applicants, participants, personnel...

22 CFR 1005.160 - Communications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Communications. 1005.160 Section 1005.160... PROGRAMS OR ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED BY THE INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION § 1005.160 Communications. (a) The agency shall take appropriate steps to ensure effective communication with applicants, participants, personnel...

Say it with flowers: flowering acceleration by root communication.

PubMed

Falik, Omer; Hoffmann, Ishay; Novoplansky, Ariel

2014-01-01

The timing of reproduction is a critical determinant of fitness, especially in organisms inhabiting seasonal environments. Increasing evidence suggests that inter-plant communication plays important roles in plant functioning. Here, we tested the hypothesis that flowering coordination can involve communication between neighboring plants. We show that soil leachates from Brassica rapa plants growing under long-day conditions accelerated flowering and decreased allocation to vegetative organs in target plants growing under non-inductive short-day conditions. The results suggest that besides endogenous signaling and external abiotic cues, flowering timing may involve inter-plant communication, mediated by root exudates. The study of flowering communication is expected to illuminate neglected aspects of plant reproductive interactions and to provide novel opportunities for controlling the timing of plant reproduction in agricultural settings.

Say it with flowers: Flowering acceleration by root communication.

PubMed

Falik, Omer; Hoffmann, Ishay; Novoplansky, Ariel

2014-01-01

The timing of reproduction is a critical determinant of fitness, especially in organisms inhabiting seasonal environments. Increasing evidence suggests that inter-plant communication plays important roles in plant functioning. Here, we tested the hypothesis that flowering coordination can involve communication between neighboring plants. We show that soil leachates from Brassica rapa plants growing under long-day conditions accelerated flowering and decreased allocation to vegetative organs in target plants growing under non-inductive short-day conditions. The results suggest that besides endogenous signaling and external abiotic cues, flowering timing may involve inter-plant communication, mediated by root exudates. The study of flowering communication is expected to illuminate neglected aspects of plant reproductive interactions and to provide novel opportunities for controlling the timing of plant reproduction in agricultural settings.

Implicit Coordination Strategies for Effective Team Communication.

PubMed

Butchibabu, Abhizna; Sparano-Huiban, Christopher; Sonenberg, Liz; Shah, Julie

2016-06-01

We investigated implicit communication strategies for anticipatory information sharing during team performance of tasks with varying degrees of complexity. We compared the strategies used by teams with the highest level of performance to those used by the lowest-performing teams to evaluate the frequency and methods of communications used as a function of task structure. High-performing teams share information by anticipating the needs of their teammates rather than explicitly requesting the exchange of information. As the complexity of a task increases to involve more interdependence among teammates, the impact of coordination on team performance also increases. This observation motivated us to conduct a study of anticipatory information sharing as a function of task complexity. We conducted an experiment in which 13 teams of four people performed collaborative search-and-deliver tasks with varying degrees of complexity in a simulation environment. We elaborated upon prior characterizations of communication as implicit versus explicit by dividing implicit communication into two subtypes: (a) deliberative/goal information and (b) reactive status updates. We then characterized relationships between task structure, implicit communication, and team performance. We found that the five teams with the fastest task completion times and lowest idle times exhibited higher rates of deliberative communication versus reactive communication during high-complexity tasks compared with the five teams with the slowest completion times and longest idle times (p = .039). Teams in which members proactively communicated information about their next goal to teammates exhibited improved team performance. The findings from our work can inform the design of communication strategies for team training to improve performance of complex tasks. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

The impact of occupational load carriage on carrier mobility: a critical review of the literature.

PubMed

Carlton, Simon D; Orr, Robin M

2014-01-01

Military personnel and firefighters are required to carry occupational loads and complete tasks in hostile and unpredictable environments where a lack of mobility may risk lives. This review critically examines the literature investigating the impacts of load carriage on the mobility of these specialist personnel. Several literature databases, reference lists, and subject matter experts were employed to identify relevant studies. Studies meeting the inclusion criteria were critiqued using the Downs and Black protocol. Inter-rater agreement was determined by Cohen's κ. Twelve original research studies, which included male and female participants from military and firefighting occupations, were critiqued (κ = .81). A review of these papers found that as the carried load weight increased, carrier mobility during aerobic tasks (like road marching) and anaerobic tasks (like obstacle course negotiation) decreased. As such, it can be concluded that the load carried by some specialist personnel may increase their occupational risk by reducing their mobility.

Design of a virtual reality based adaptive response technology for children with autism.

PubMed

Lahiri, Uttama; Bekele, Esubalew; Dohrmann, Elizabeth; Warren, Zachary; Sarkar, Nilanjan

2013-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate potent impairments in social communication skills including atypical viewing patterns during social interactions. Recently, several assistive technologies, particularly virtual reality (VR), have been investigated to address specific social deficits in this population. Some studies have coupled eye-gaze monitoring mechanisms to design intervention strategies. However, presently available systems are designed to primarily chain learning via aspects of one's performance only which affords restricted range of individualization. The presented work seeks to bridge this gap by developing a novel VR-based interactive system with Gaze-sensitive adaptive response technology that can seamlessly integrate VR-based tasks with eye-tracking techniques to intelligently facilitate engagement in tasks relevant to advancing social communication skills. Specifically, such a system is capable of objectively identifying and quantifying one's engagement level by measuring real-time viewing patterns, subtle changes in eye physiological responses, as well as performance metrics in order to adaptively respond in an individualized manner to foster improved social communication skills among the participants. The developed system was tested through a usability study with eight adolescents with ASD. The results indicate the potential of the system to promote improved social task performance along with socially-appropriate mechanisms during VR-based social conversation tasks.

Design of a Virtual Reality Based Adaptive Response Technology for Children With Autism

PubMed Central

Lahiri, Uttama; Bekele, Esubalew; Dohrmann, Elizabeth; Warren, Zachary; Sarkar, Nilanjan

2013-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate potent impairments in social communication skills including atypical viewing patterns during social interactions. Recently, several assistive technologies, particularly virtual reality (VR), have been investigated to address specific social deficits in this population. Some studies have coupled eye-gaze monitoring mechanisms to design intervention strategies. However, presently available systems are designed to primarily chain learning via aspects of one’s performance only which affords restricted range of individualization. The presented work seeks to bridge this gap by developing a novel VR-based interactive system with Gaze-sensitive adaptive response technology that can seamlessly integrate VR-based tasks with eye-tracking techniques to intelligently facilitate engagement in tasks relevant to advancing social communication skills. Specifically, such a system is capable of objectively identifying and quantifying one’s engagement level by measuring real-time viewing patterns, subtle changes in eye physiological responses, as well as performance metrics in order to adaptively respond in an individualized manner to foster improved social communication skills among the participants. The developed system was tested through a usability study with eight adolescents with ASD. The results indicate the potential of the system to promote improved social task performance along with socially-appropriate mechanisms during VR-based social conversation tasks. PMID:23033333

Emerging Communication Technologies (ECT) Phase 3 Final Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bastin, Gary L.; Harris, William G.; Bates, Lakesha D.; Nelson, Richard A.

2004-01-01

The Emerging Communication Technology (ECT) project investigated three First Mile communication technologies in support of NASA s Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (2nd Gen RLV), Orbital Space Plane, Advanced Range Technology Working Group (ARTWG) and the Advanced Spaceport Technology Working Group (ASTWG). These First Mile technologies have the purpose of interconnecting mobile users with existing Range Communication infrastructures. ECT was a continuation of the Range Information System Management (RISM) task started in 2002. RISM identified the three advance communication technologies investigated under ECT. These were Wireless Ethernet (Wi-Fi), Free Space Optics (FSO), and Ultra Wideband (UWB). Due to the report s size, it has been broken into three volumes: 1) Main Report 2) Appendices 3) UWB.

Information, communication, and online tool needs of Hispanic family caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

PubMed

Iribarren, Sarah; Stonbraker, Samantha; Suero-Tejeda, Niurka; Granja, Maribel; Luchsinger, José A; Mittelman, Mary; Bakken, Suzanne; Lucero, Robert J

2018-03-05

To identify the information and communication needs of Hispanic family caregivers for individuals with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and the manner in which online tools may meet those needs. We conducted 11 participatory design sessions with 10 English- and 14 Spanish-speaking urban-dwelling Hispanic family caregivers and gathered data using a survey, collage assemblage, and audio and video recordings. Four investigators analyzed transcripts of audio recordings with a coding framework informed by several conceptual models. Participants had an average age of 59.7 years, were mostly female (79.2%), and had cared for a family member with ADRD for an average of 6.5 years. All participants accessed the Internet at least once a week with 75% ≥ daily. Most used the Internet to look up health information. All participants reported caregiver attributes including awareness of the disease symptoms or behaviors. The majority reported information needs/tasks (91.7%), communication needs/tasks (87.5%), and need for online tools (79.2%). Hispanic caregivers of individuals with ADRD reported key information and communication needs/tasks. Only Spanish-speaking participants reported Internet and technology use deficits suggesting the requirement for further technology support. Data show a need for online tools to meet the needs of caregivers.

Process Writing and Communicative-Task-Based Instruction: Many Common Features, but More Common Limitations?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruton, Anthony

2005-01-01

Process writing and communicative-task-based instruction both assume productive tasks that prompt self-expression to motivate students and as the principal engine for developing L2 proficiency in the language classroom. Besides this, process writing and communicative-task-based instruction have much else in common, despite some obvious…

Data communications in a parallel active messaging interface of a parallel computer

DOEpatents

Archer, Charles J; Blocksome, Michael A; Ratterman, Joseph D; Smith, Brian E

2013-11-12

Data communications in a parallel active messaging interface (`PAMI`) of a parallel computer composed of compute nodes that execute a parallel application, each compute node including application processors that execute the parallel application and at least one management processor dedicated to gathering information regarding data communications. The PAMI is composed of data communications endpoints, each endpoint composed of a specification of data communications parameters for a thread of execution on a compute node, including specifications of a client, a context, and a task, the compute nodes and the endpoints coupled for data communications through the PAMI and through data communications resources. Embodiments function by gathering call site statistics describing data communications resulting from execution of data communications instructions and identifying in dependence upon the call cite statistics a data communications algorithm for use in executing a data communications instruction at a call site in the parallel application.

Effects of clinical communication interventions in hospitals: a systematic review of information and communication technology adoptions for improved communication between clinicians.

PubMed

Wu, Robert C; Tran, Kim; Lo, Vivian; O'Leary, Kevin J; Morra, Dante; Quan, Sherman D; Perrier, Laure

2012-11-01

To conduct a systematic review of the literature to identify, describe and assess interventions of information and communication technology on the processes of communication and associated patient outcomes within hospital settings. Studies published from the years 1996 to 2010 were considered and were selected if they described an evaluation of information and communication technology interventions to improve clinical communication within hospitals. Two authors abstracted data from full text articles, and the quality of individual articles were appraised. Results of interventions were summarized by their effect. There were 18 identified studies that evaluated the use of interventions that included alphanumeric paging, hands-free communication devices, mobile phones, smartphones, task management systems and a display based paging system. Most quantitative studies used a before and after study design and were of lower quality. Of all the studies, there was only one prospective randomized study, but this study used only simulated communication events. Quantitative studies identified improved perceptions of communication and some improvement in communication metrics. Qualitative studies described improvements in efficiency of communication but also issues of loss of control and reliability. Despite the rapid advancement in information and communications technology over the last decade, there is limited evidence suggesting improvements in the ability of health professionals to communicate effectively. Given the critical nature of communication, we advocate further evaluation of information and communication technology designed to improve communication between clinicians. Outcome measures should include measures of patient-oriented outcomes and efficiency for clinicians. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preceptor Perceptions of the Importance of Experiential Guidelines

PubMed Central

Godwin, Donald; Thompson, Megan E.; Wittstrom, Kristina

2013-01-01

Objectives. To assess preceptors’ perceptions of the importance of experiential guidelines and identify and compare differences in perceptions. Methods. Active advanced and introductory pharmacy practice experience preceptors for the University of New Mexico were invited to participate in an anonymous electronic survey regarding the importance of specific tasks and abilities expected in new pharmacist practitioners as outlined in Appendix C of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standards and Guidelines. Results. While the majority of preceptors rated most tasks (eg, communication, patient counseling) as very important or important, emerging tasks (eg, health literacy, public health, physical assessment) were not rated as highly by a majority of preceptors. Conclusion. The deficiencies identified in the study suggest potential reductions in the transfer of learning from preceptors to experiential students. Preceptor training programs should be structured to raise the perceived level of importance of these tasks. PMID:24052647

Barriers and Facilitators of Mentoring for Trainees and Early Career Investigators in Rheumatology Research: Current State, Identification of Needs, and Road Map to an Inter-Institutional Adult Rheumatology Mentoring Program.

PubMed

Ogdie, Alexis; Sparks, Jeffrey A; Angeles-Han, Sheila T; Bush, Kathleen; Castelino, Flavia V; Golding, Amit; Jiang, Yihui; Kahlenberg, J Michelle; Kim, Alfred H J; Lee, Yvonne C; Machireddy, Kirthi; Ombrello, Michael J; Shah, Ami A; Wallace, Zachary S; Nigrovic, Peter A; Makris, Una E

2018-03-01

To determine perceived barriers and facilitators to effective mentoring for early career rheumatology investigators and to develop a framework for an inter-institutional mentoring program. Focus groups or interviews with rheumatology fellows, junior faculty, and mentors were conducted, audiorecorded, and transcribed. Content analysis was performed using NVivo software. Themes were grouped into categories (e.g., mentor-mentee relationship, barriers, and facilitators of a productive relationship). Rheumatology fellows and early career investigators were also surveyed nationwide to identify specific needs to be addressed through an inter-institutional mentoring program. Twenty-five individuals participated in focus groups or interviews. Attributes of the ideal mentee-mentor relationship included communication, accessibility, regular meetings, shared interests, aligned goals, and mutual respect. The mentee should be proactive, efficient, engaged, committed, focused, accountable, and respectful of the mentor's time. The mentor should support/promote the mentee, shape the mentee's goals and career plan, address day-to-day questions, provide critical feedback, be available, and have team leadership skills. Barriers included difficulty with career path navigation, gaining independence, internal competition, authorship, time demands, funding, and work-life balance. Facilitators of a successful relationship included having a diverse network of mentors filling different roles, mentor-mentee relationship management, and confidence. Among 187 survey respondents, the primary uses of an inter-institutional mentoring program were career development planning and oversight, goal-setting, and networking. In this mixed-methods study, tangible factors for optimizing the mentor-mentee relationship were identified and will inform the development of an adult rheumatology inter-institutional mentoring program. © 2017, American College of Rheumatology.

The Integration of Inter-Culture Education into Intensive Reading Teaching for English Majors through Project-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Shu-jing; Meng, Li-hua

2010-01-01

With the research of the relationship between inter-culture and language teaching development, people are well aware of the necessity of integrating inter-culture into language teaching. While providing the opportunity for the students to improve their intercultural communication competence, here, the research presented on the integration of…

21 CFR 20.62 - Inter- or intra-agency memoranda or letters.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Inter- or intra-agency memoranda or letters. 20.62 Section 20.62 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL PUBLIC INFORMATION Exemptions § 20.62 Inter- or intra-agency memoranda or letters. All communications...

Say it with flowers

PubMed Central

Falik, Omer; Hoffmann, Ishay; Novoplansky, Ariel

2014-01-01

The timing of reproduction is a critical determinant of fitness, especially in organisms inhabiting seasonal environments. Increasing evidence suggests that inter-plant communication plays important roles in plant functioning. Here, we tested the hypothesis that flowering coordination can involve communication between neighboring plants. We show that soil leachates from Brassica rapa plants growing under long-day conditions accelerated flowering and decreased allocation to vegetative organs in target plants growing under non-inductive short-day conditions. The results suggest that besides endogenous signaling and external abiotic cues, flowering timing may involve inter-plant communication, mediated by root exudates. The study of flowering communication is expected to illuminate neglected aspects of plant reproductive interactions and to provide novel opportunities for controlling the timing of plant reproduction in agricultural settings. PMID:24598343

Scaling-laws of human broadcast communication enable distinction between human, corporate and robot Twitter users.

PubMed

Tavares, Gabriela; Faisal, Aldo

2013-01-01

Human behaviour is highly individual by nature, yet statistical structures are emerging which seem to govern the actions of human beings collectively. Here we search for universal statistical laws dictating the timing of human actions in communication decisions. We focus on the distribution of the time interval between messages in human broadcast communication, as documented in Twitter, and study a collection of over 160,000 tweets for three user categories: personal (controlled by one person), managed (typically PR agency controlled) and bot-controlled (automated system). To test our hypothesis, we investigate whether it is possible to differentiate between user types based on tweet timing behaviour, independently of the content in messages. For this purpose, we developed a system to process a large amount of tweets for reality mining and implemented two simple probabilistic inference algorithms: 1. a naive Bayes classifier, which distinguishes between two and three account categories with classification performance of 84.6% and 75.8%, respectively and 2. a prediction algorithm to estimate the time of a user's next tweet with an R(2) ≈ 0.7. Our results show that we can reliably distinguish between the three user categories as well as predict the distribution of a user's inter-message time with reasonable accuracy. More importantly, we identify a characteristic power-law decrease in the tail of inter-message time distribution by human users which is different from that obtained for managed and automated accounts. This result is evidence of a universal law that permeates the timing of human decisions in broadcast communication and extends the findings of several previous studies of peer-to-peer communication.

Scaling-Laws of Human Broadcast Communication Enable Distinction between Human, Corporate and Robot Twitter Users

PubMed Central

Tavares, Gabriela; Faisal, Aldo

2013-01-01

Human behaviour is highly individual by nature, yet statistical structures are emerging which seem to govern the actions of human beings collectively. Here we search for universal statistical laws dictating the timing of human actions in communication decisions. We focus on the distribution of the time interval between messages in human broadcast communication, as documented in Twitter, and study a collection of over 160,000 tweets for three user categories: personal (controlled by one person), managed (typically PR agency controlled) and bot-controlled (automated system). To test our hypothesis, we investigate whether it is possible to differentiate between user types based on tweet timing behaviour, independently of the content in messages. For this purpose, we developed a system to process a large amount of tweets for reality mining and implemented two simple probabilistic inference algorithms: 1. a naive Bayes classifier, which distinguishes between two and three account categories with classification performance of 84.6% and 75.8%, respectively and 2. a prediction algorithm to estimate the time of a user's next tweet with an . Our results show that we can reliably distinguish between the three user categories as well as predict the distribution of a user's inter-message time with reasonable accuracy. More importantly, we identify a characteristic power-law decrease in the tail of inter-message time distribution by human users which is different from that obtained for managed and automated accounts. This result is evidence of a universal law that permeates the timing of human decisions in broadcast communication and extends the findings of several previous studies of peer-to-peer communication. PMID:23843945

Soldier-Robot Teaming: Effects of Multimodal Collaboration on Team Communication for Robot Reconnaissance

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-10-01

of the modes of communication and target types central to the experimental tasks, as well as a task demonstration. The Soldier then practiced the...experimental tasks with each communication modality on a separate training course with targets. Practice was structured such that a communication... practice structure across all three communication conditions. Radio was always introduced first, then chat, and lastly tactor. The exception to this

Dynamic Communication Resource Negotiations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chow, Edward; Vatan, Farrokh; Paloulian, George; Frisbie, Steve; Srostlik, Zuzana; Kalomiris, Vasilios; Apgar, Daniel

2012-01-01

Today's advanced network management systems can automate many aspects of the tactical networking operations within a military domain. However, automation of joint and coalition tactical networking across multiple domains remains challenging. Due to potentially conflicting goals and priorities, human agreement is often required before implementation into the network operations. This is further complicated by incompatible network management systems and security policies, rendering it difficult to implement automatic network management, thus requiring manual human intervention to the communication protocols used at various network routers and endpoints. This process of manual human intervention is tedious, error-prone, and slow. In order to facilitate a better solution, we are pursuing a technology which makes network management automated, reliable, and fast. Automating the negotiation of the common network communication parameters between different parties is the subject of this paper. We present the technology that enables inter-force dynamic communication resource negotiations to enable ad-hoc inter-operation in the field between force domains, without pre-planning. It also will enable a dynamic response to changing conditions within the area of operations. Our solution enables the rapid blending of intra-domain policies so that the forces involved are able to inter-operate effectively without overwhelming each other's networks with in-appropriate or un-warranted traffic. It will evaluate the policy rules and configuration data for each of the domains, then generate a compatible inter-domain policy and configuration that will update the gateway systems between the two domains.

Measuring verbal and non-verbal communication in aphasia: reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change of the Scenario Test.

PubMed

van der Meulen, Ineke; van de Sandt-Koenderman, W Mieke E; Duivenvoorden, Hugo J; Ribbers, Gerard M

2010-01-01

This study explores the psychometric qualities of the Scenario Test, a new test to assess daily-life communication in severe aphasia. The test is innovative in that it: (1) examines the effectiveness of verbal and non-verbal communication; and (2) assesses patients' communication in an interactive setting, with a supportive communication partner. To determine the reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change of the Scenario Test and discuss its clinical value. The Scenario Test was administered to 122 persons with aphasia after stroke and to 25 non-aphasic controls. Analyses were performed for the entire group of persons with aphasia, as well as for a subgroup of persons unable to communicate verbally (n = 43). Reliability (internal consistency, test-retest reliability, inter-judge, and intra-judge reliability) and validity (internal validity, convergent validity, known-groups validity) and sensitivity to change were examined using standard psychometric methods. The Scenario Test showed high levels of reliability. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96; item-rest correlations = 0.58-0.82) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.98) were high. Agreement between judges in total scores was good, as indicated by the high inter- and intra-judge reliability (ICC = 0.86-1.00). Agreement in scores on the individual items was also good (square-weighted kappa values 0.61-0.92). The test demonstrated good levels of validity. A principal component analysis for categorical data identified two dimensions, interpreted as general communication and communicative creativity. Correlations with three other instruments measuring communication in aphasia, that is, Spontaneous Speech interview from the Aachen Aphasia Test (AAT), Amsterdam-Nijmegen Everyday Language Test (ANELT), and Communicative Effectiveness Index (CETI), were moderate to strong (0.50-0.85) suggesting good convergent validity. Group differences were observed between persons with aphasia and non-aphasic controls, as well as between persons with aphasia unable to use speech to convey information and those able to communicate verbally; this indicates good known-groups validity. The test was sensitive to changes in performance, measured over a period of 6 months. The data support the reliability and validity of the Scenario Test as an instrument for examining daily-life communication in aphasia. The test focuses on multimodal communication; its psychometric qualities enable future studies on the effect of Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) training in aphasia.

Inter-association task force recommendations on emergency preparedness and management of sudden cardiac arrest in high school and college athletic programs: a consensus statement.

PubMed

Drezner, Jonathan A; Courson, Ron W; Roberts, William O; Mosesso, Vincent N; Link, Mark S; Maron, Barry J

2007-03-01

To assist high school and college athletic programs prepare for and respond to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). This consensus statement summarizes our current understanding of SCA in young athletes, defines the necessary elements for emergency preparedness, and establishes uniform treatment protocols for the management of SCA. SCA is the leading cause of death in young athletes. The increasing presence of and timely access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at sporting events provides a means of early defibrillation and the potential for effective secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death. An Inter-Association Task Force was sponsored by the National Athletic Trainers' Association to develop consensus recommendations on emergency preparedness and management of SCA in athletes. Comprehensive emergency planning is needed for high school and college athletic programs to ensure an efficient and structured response to SCA. Essential elements of an emergency action plan include establishing an effective communication system, training of anticipated responders in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED use, access to an AED for early defibrillation, acquisition of necessary emergency equipment, coordination and integration of onsite responder and AED programs with the local emergency medical services system, and practice and review of the response plan. Prompt recognition of SCA, early activation of the emergency medical services system, the presence of a trained rescuer to initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and access to early defibrillation are critical in the management of SCA. In any collapsed and unresponsive athlete, SCA should be suspected and an AED applied as soon as possible for rhythm analysis and defibrillation if indicated.

Differences between child and adult large-scale functional brain networks for reading tasks.

PubMed

Liu, Xin; Gao, Yue; Di, Qiqi; Hu, Jiali; Lu, Chunming; Nan, Yun; Booth, James R; Liu, Li

2018-02-01

Reading is an important high-level cognitive function of the human brain, requiring interaction among multiple brain regions. Revealing differences between children's large-scale functional brain networks for reading tasks and those of adults helps us to understand how the functional network changes over reading development. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 17 adults (19-28 years old) and 16 children (11-13 years old), and graph theoretical analyses to investigate age-related changes in large-scale functional networks during rhyming and meaning judgment tasks on pairs of visually presented Chinese characters. We found that: (1) adults had stronger inter-regional connectivity and nodal degree in occipital regions, while children had stronger inter-regional connectivity in temporal regions, suggesting that adults rely more on visual orthographic processing whereas children rely more on auditory phonological processing during reading. (2) Only adults showed between-task differences in inter-regional connectivity and nodal degree, whereas children showed no task differences, suggesting the topological organization of adults' reading network is more specialized. (3) Children showed greater inter-regional connectivity and nodal degree than adults in multiple subcortical regions; the hubs in children were more distributed in subcortical regions while the hubs in adults were more distributed in cortical regions. These findings suggest that reading development is manifested by a shift from reliance on subcortical to cortical regions. Taken together, our study suggests that Chinese reading development is supported by developmental changes in brain connectivity properties, and some of these changes may be domain-general while others may be specific to the reading domain. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Influence of Communicative Competence on Perceived Task, Social and Physical Attraction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duran, Robert L.; Kelly, Lynne

1988-01-01

Examines whether communicative competence influences perceived task, social, and physical attractiveness. Results indicated that communicative competence accounted for 17 percent, 14 percent and 8 percent of the variance in perceived task, social, and physical attractiveness, respectively. (MM)

Analytic and subjective assessments of operator workload imposed by communications tasks in transport aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eckel, J. S.; Crabtree, M. S.

1984-01-01

Analytical and subjective techniques that are sensitive to the information transmission and processing requirements of individual communications-related tasks are used to assess workload imposed on the aircrew by A-10 communications requirements for civilian transport category aircraft. Communications-related tasks are defined to consist of the verbal exchanges between crews and controllers. Three workload estimating techniques are proposed. The first, an information theoretic analysis, is used to calculate bit values for perceptual, manual, and verbal demands in each communication task. The second, a paired-comparisons technique, obtains subjective estimates of the information processing and memory requirements for specific messages. By combining the results of the first two techniques, a hybrid analytical scale is created. The third, a subjective rank ordering of sequences of communications tasks, provides an overall scaling of communications workload. Recommendations for future research include an examination of communications-induced workload among the air crew and the development of simulation scenarios.

HD-MTL: Hierarchical Deep Multi-Task Learning for Large-Scale Visual Recognition.

PubMed

Fan, Jianping; Zhao, Tianyi; Kuang, Zhenzhong; Zheng, Yu; Zhang, Ji; Yu, Jun; Peng, Jinye

2017-02-09

In this paper, a hierarchical deep multi-task learning (HD-MTL) algorithm is developed to support large-scale visual recognition (e.g., recognizing thousands or even tens of thousands of atomic object classes automatically). First, multiple sets of multi-level deep features are extracted from different layers of deep convolutional neural networks (deep CNNs), and they are used to achieve more effective accomplishment of the coarseto- fine tasks for hierarchical visual recognition. A visual tree is then learned by assigning the visually-similar atomic object classes with similar learning complexities into the same group, which can provide a good environment for determining the interrelated learning tasks automatically. By leveraging the inter-task relatedness (inter-class similarities) to learn more discriminative group-specific deep representations, our deep multi-task learning algorithm can train more discriminative node classifiers for distinguishing the visually-similar atomic object classes effectively. Our hierarchical deep multi-task learning (HD-MTL) algorithm can integrate two discriminative regularization terms to control the inter-level error propagation effectively, and it can provide an end-to-end approach for jointly learning more representative deep CNNs (for image representation) and more discriminative tree classifier (for large-scale visual recognition) and updating them simultaneously. Our incremental deep learning algorithms can effectively adapt both the deep CNNs and the tree classifier to the new training images and the new object classes. Our experimental results have demonstrated that our HD-MTL algorithm can achieve very competitive results on improving the accuracy rates for large-scale visual recognition.

Metadata Means Communication: The Challenges of Producing Useful Metadata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edwards, P. N.; Batcheller, A. L.

2010-12-01

Metadata are increasingly perceived as an important component of data sharing systems. For instance, metadata accompanying atmospheric model output may indicate the grid size, grid type, and parameter settings used in the model configuration. We conducted a case study of a data portal in the atmospheric sciences using in-depth interviews, document review, and observation. OUr analysis revealed a number of challenges in producing useful metadata. First, creating and managing metadata required considerable effort and expertise, yet responsibility for these tasks was ill-defined and diffused among many individuals, leading to errors, failure to capture metadata, and uncertainty about the quality of the primary data. Second, metadata ended up stored in many different forms and software tools, making it hard to manage versions and transfer between formats. Third, the exact meanings of metadata categories remained unsettled and misunderstood even among a small community of domain experts -- an effect we expect to be exacerbated when scientists from other disciplines wish to use these data. In practice, we found that metadata problems due to these obstacles are often overcome through informal, personal communication, such as conversations or email. We conclude that metadata serve to communicate the context of data production from the people who produce data to those who wish to use it. Thus while formal metadata systems are often public, critical elements of metadata (those embodied in informal communication) may never be recorded. Therefore, efforts to increase data sharing should include ways to facilitate inter-investigator communication. Instead of tackling metadata challenges only on the formal level, we can improve data usability for broader communities by better supporting metadata communication.

Detecting subject-specific activations using fuzzy clustering

PubMed Central

Seghier, Mohamed L.; Friston, Karl J.; Price, Cathy J.

2007-01-01

Inter-subject variability in evoked brain responses is attracting attention because it may reflect important variability in structure–function relationships over subjects. This variability could be a signature of degenerate (many-to-one) structure–function mappings in normal subjects or reflect changes that are disclosed by brain damage. In this paper, we describe a non-iterative fuzzy clustering algorithm (FCP: fuzzy clustering with fixed prototypes) for characterizing inter-subject variability in between-subject or second-level analyses of fMRI data. The approach identifies the contribution of each subject to response profiles in voxels surviving a classical F-statistic criterion. The output identifies subjects who drive activation in specific cortical regions (local effects) or in voxels distributed across neural systems (global effects). The sensitivity of the approach was assessed in 38 normal subjects performing an overt naming task. FCP revealed that several subjects had either abnormally high or abnormally low responses. FCP may be particularly useful for characterizing outlier responses in rare patients or heterogeneous populations. In these cases, atypical activations may not be detected by standard tests, under parametric assumptions. The advantage of using FCP is that it searches all voxels systematically and can identify atypical activation patterns in a quantitative and unsupervised manner. PMID:17478103

Understanding communicative actions: a repetitive TMS study.

PubMed

Stolk, Arjen; Noordzij, Matthijs L; Volman, Inge; Verhagen, Lennart; Overeem, Sebastiaan; van Elswijk, Gijs; Bloem, Bas; Hagoort, Peter; Toni, Ivan

2014-02-01

Despite the ambiguity inherent in human communication, people are remarkably efficient in establishing mutual understanding. Studying how people communicate in novel settings provides a window into the mechanisms supporting the human competence to rapidly generate and understand novel shared symbols, a fundamental property of human communication. Previous work indicates that the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) is involved when people understand the intended meaning of novel communicative actions. Here, we set out to test whether normal functioning of this cerebral structure is required for understanding novel communicative actions using inhibitory low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). A factorial experimental design contrasted two tightly matched stimulation sites (right pSTS vs left MT+, i.e., a contiguous homotopic task-relevant region) and tasks (a communicative task vs a visual tracking task that used the same sequences of stimuli). Overall task performance was not affected by rTMS, whereas changes in task performance over time were disrupted according to TMS site and task combinations. Namely, rTMS over pSTS led to a diminished ability to improve action understanding on the basis of recent communicative history, while rTMS over MT+ perturbed improvement in visual tracking over trials. These findings qualify the contributions of the right pSTS to human communicative abilities, showing that this region might be necessary for incorporating previous knowledge, accumulated during interactions with a communicative partner, to constrain the inferential process that leads to action understanding. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Barriers of inter-organisational integration in vocational rehabilitation.

PubMed

Wihlman, Ulla; Lundborg, Cecilia Stålsby; Axelsson, Runo; Holmström, Inger

2008-06-19

A project of vocational rehabilitation was studied in Sweden between 1999 and 2002. The project included four public organisations: the social insurance office, the local health services, the municipal social service and the office of the state employment service. The aim of this paper was to analyse perceived barriers in the development of inter-organisational integration. Theories of inter-professional and inter-organisational integration, and theories on organisational change. In total, 51 semi-structured interviews and 14 focus group discussions were performed with actors within the project between 1999 and 2002. A thematic approach was used for the analysis of the data. THREE DIFFERENT MAIN THEMES OF BARRIERS EMERGED FROM THE DATA: A Uncertainty, B Prioritising own organisation and C Lack of communication. The themes are interconnected in an intricate web and hence not mutually exclusive. The barriers found are all related partly to organisational change in general and partly to the specific development of organisational integration. Prioritising of own organisation led to flaws in communication, which in turn led to a high degree of uncertainty within the project. This can be seen as a circular relationship, since uncertainty might increase focus on own organisation and lack of communication. A way to overcome these barriers would be to take the needs of the clients as a point of departure in the development of joint services and to also involve them in the development of inter-organisational integration.

Reactive Oxygen Species/Nitric Oxide Mediated Inter-Organ Communication in Skeletal Muscle Wasting Diseases

PubMed Central

Leitner, Lucia M.; Wilson, Rebecca J.; Yan, Zhen

2017-01-01

Abstract Significance: Cachexia is defined as a complex metabolic syndrome that is associated with underlying illness and a loss of muscle with or without loss of fat mass. This disease is associated with a high incidence with chronic diseases such as heart failure, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), among others. Since there is currently no effective treatment available, cachectic patients have a poor prognosis. Elucidation of the underlying mechanisms is, therefore, an important medical task. Recent Advances: There is accumulating evidence that the diseased organs such as heart, lung, kidney, or cancer tissue secrete soluble factors, including Angiotensin II, myostatin (growth differentiation factor 8 [GDF8]), GDF11, tumor growth factor beta (TGFβ), which act on skeletal muscle. There, they induce a set of genes called atrogenes, which, among others, induce the ubiquitin-proteasome system, leading to protein degradation. Moreover, elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels due to modulation of NADPH oxidases (Nox) and mitochondrial function contribute to disease progression, which is characterized by loss of muscle mass, exercise resistance, and frailty. Critical issues: Although substantial progress was achieved to elucidate the pathophysiology of cachexia, effectice therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Future Directions: With the identification of key components of the aberrant inter-organ communication leading to cachexia, studies in mice and men to inhibit ROS formation, induction of anti-oxidative superoxide dismutases, and upregulation of muscular nitric oxide (NO) formation either by pharmacological tools or by exercise are promising approaches to reduce the extent of skeletal muscle wasting. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 26, 700–717. PMID:27835923

Assessment of email communication skills of rheumatology fellows: a pilot study

PubMed Central

Dhuper, Sonal; Siva, Chokkalingam; Fresen, John L; Petruc, Marius; Velázquez, Celso R

2010-01-01

Physician–patient email communication is gaining popularity. However, a formal assessment of physicians' email communication skills has not been described. We hypothesized that the email communication skills of rheumatology fellows can be measured in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) setting using a novel email content analysis instrument which has 18 items. During an OSCE, we asked 50 rheumatology fellows to respond to a simulated patient email. The content of the responses was assessed using our instrument. The majority of rheumatology fellows wrote appropriate responses scoring a mean (±SD) of 10.6 (±2.6) points (maximum score 18), with high inter-rater reliability (0.86). Most fellows were concise (74%) and courteous (68%) but not formal (22%). Ninety-two percent of fellows acknowledged that the patient's condition required urgent medical attention, but only 30% took active measures to contact the patient. No one encrypted their messages. The objective assessment of email communication skills is possible using simulated emails in an OSCE setting. The variable email communication scores and incidental patient safety gaps identified, suggest a need for further training and defined proficiency standards for physicians' email communication skills. PMID:20962134

Infant polysomnography: reliability and validity of infant arousal assessment.

PubMed

Crowell, David H; Kulp, Thomas D; Kapuniai, Linda E; Hunt, Carl E; Brooks, Lee J; Weese-Mayer, Debra E; Silvestri, Jean; Ward, Sally Davidson; Corwin, Michael; Tinsley, Larry; Peucker, Mark

2002-10-01

Infant arousal scoring based on the Atlas Task Force definition of transient EEG arousal was evaluated to determine (1). whether transient arousals can be identified and assessed reliably in infants and (2). whether arousal and no-arousal epochs scored previously by trained raters can be validated reliably by independent sleep experts. Phase I for inter- and intrarater reliability scoring was based on two datasets of sleep epochs selected randomly from nocturnal polysomnograms of healthy full-term, preterm, idiopathic apparent life-threatening event cases, and siblings of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome infants of 35 to 64 weeks postconceptional age. After training, test set 1 reliability was assessed and discrepancies identified. After retraining, test set 2 was scored by the same raters to determine interrater reliability. Later, three raters from the trained group rescored test set 2 to assess inter- and intrarater reliabilities. Interrater and intrarater reliability kappa's, with 95% confidence intervals, ranged from substantial to almost perfect levels of agreement. Interrater reliabilities for spontaneous arousals were initially moderate and then substantial. During the validation phase, 315 previously scored epochs were presented to four sleep experts to rate as containing arousal or no-arousal events. Interrater expert agreements were diverse and considered as noninterpretable. Concordance in sleep experts' agreements, based on identification of the previously sampled arousal and no-arousal epochs, was used as a secondary evaluative technique. Results showed agreement by two or more experts on 86% of the Collaborative Home Infant Monitoring Evaluation Study arousal scored events. Conversely, only 1% of the Collaborative Home Infant Monitoring Evaluation Study-scored no-arousal epochs were rated as an arousal. In summary, this study presents an empirically tested model with procedures and criteria for attaining improved reliability in transient EEG arousal assessments in infants using the modified Atlas Task Force standards. With training based on specific criteria, substantial inter- and intrarater agreement in identifying infant arousals was demonstrated. Corroborative validation results were too disparate for meaningful interpretation. Alternate evaluation based on concordance agreements supports reliance on infant EEG criteria for assessment. Results mandate additional confirmatory validation studies with specific training on infant EEG arousal assessment criteria.

Exponential Communication Complexity Advantage from Quantum Superposition of the Direction of Communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guérin, Philippe Allard; Feix, Adrien; Araújo, Mateus; Brukner, Časlav

2016-09-01

In communication complexity, a number of distant parties have the task of calculating a distributed function of their inputs, while minimizing the amount of communication between them. It is known that with quantum resources, such as entanglement and quantum channels, one can obtain significant reductions in the communication complexity of some tasks. In this work, we study the role of the quantum superposition of the direction of communication as a resource for communication complexity. We present a tripartite communication task for which such a superposition allows for an exponential saving in communication, compared to one-way quantum (or classical) communication; the advantage also holds when we allow for protocols with bounded error probability.

Assessing interpersonal and communication skills in radiation oncology residents: a pilot standardized patient program.

PubMed

Ju, Melody; Berman, Abigail T; Hwang, Wei-Ting; Lamarra, Denise; Baffic, Cordelia; Suneja, Gita; Vapiwala, Neha

2014-04-01

There is a lack of data for the structured development and evaluation of communication skills in radiation oncology residency training programs. Effective communication skills are increasingly emphasized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and are critical for a successful clinical practice. We present the design of a novel, pilot standardized patient (SP) program and the evaluation of communication skills among radiation oncology residents. Two case scenarios were developed to challenge residents in the delivery of "bad news" to patients: one scenario regarding treatment failure and the other regarding change in treatment plan. Eleven radiation oncology residents paired with 6 faculty participated in this pilot program. Each encounter was scored by the SPs, observing faculty, and residents themselves based on the Kalamazoo guidelines. Overall resident performance ratings were "good" to "excellent," with faculty assigning statistically significant higher scores and residents assigning lower scores. We found inconsistent inter rater agreement among faculty, residents, and SPs. SP feedback was also valuable in identifying areas of improvement, including more collaborative decision making and less use of medical jargon. The program was well received by residents and faculty and regarded as a valuable educational experience that could be used as an annual feedback tool. Poor inter rater agreement suggests a need for residents and faculty physicians to better calibrate their evaluations to true patient perceptions. High scores from faculty members substantiate the concern that resident evaluations are generally positive and nondiscriminating. Faculty should be encouraged to provide honest and critical feedback to hone residents' interpersonal skills. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Team performance in networked supervisory control of unmanned air vehicles: effects of automation, working memory, and communication content.

PubMed

McKendrick, Ryan; Shaw, Tyler; de Visser, Ewart; Saqer, Haneen; Kidwell, Brian; Parasuraman, Raja

2014-05-01

Assess team performance within a net-worked supervisory control setting while manipulating automated decision aids and monitoring team communication and working memory ability. Networked systems such as multi-unmanned air vehicle (UAV) supervision have complex properties that make prediction of human-system performance difficult. Automated decision aid can provide valuable information to operators, individual abilities can limit or facilitate team performance, and team communication patterns can alter how effectively individuals work together. We hypothesized that reliable automation, higher working memory capacity, and increased communication rates of task-relevant information would offset performance decrements attributed to high task load. Two-person teams performed a simulated air defense task with two levels of task load and three levels of automated aid reliability. Teams communicated and received decision aid messages via chat window text messages. Task Load x Automation effects were significant across all performance measures. Reliable automation limited the decline in team performance with increasing task load. Average team spatial working memory was a stronger predictor than other measures of team working memory. Frequency of team rapport and enemy location communications positively related to team performance, and word count was negatively related to team performance. Reliable decision aiding mitigated team performance decline during increased task load during multi-UAV supervisory control. Team spatial working memory, communication of spatial information, and team rapport predicted team success. An automated decision aid can improve team performance under high task load. Assessment of spatial working memory and the communication of task-relevant information can help in operator and team selection in supervisory control systems.

Emerging Communication Technologies (ECT) Phase 2 Report. Volume 2; Appendices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bastin, Gary L.; Harris, William G.; Chiodini, Robert; Nelson, Richard A.; Huang, PoTien; Kruhm, David A.

2003-01-01

The Emerging Communication Technology (ECT) project investigated three First Mile communication technologies in support of NASA s Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (2nd Gen RLV), Orbital Space Plane, Advanced Range Technology Working Group (ARTWG) and the Advanced Spaceport Technology Working Group (ASTWG). These First Mile technologies have the purpose of interconnecting mobile users with existing Range Communication infrastructures. ECT was a continuation of the Range Information System Management (RISM) task started in 2002. RISM identified the three advance communication technologies investigated under ECT. These were Wireless Ethernet (Wi-Fi), Free Space Optics (FSO), and Ultra Wideband (UWB). Due to the report s size, it has been broken into three volumes: 1) Main Report 2) Appendices 3) UWB

Emerging Communication Technologies (ECT) Phase 2 Report. Volume 3; Ultra Wideband (UWB) Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bastin, Gary L.; Harris, William G.; Chiodini, Robert; Nelson, Richard A.; Huang, PoTien; Kruhm, David A.

2003-01-01

The Emerging Communication Technology (ECT) project investigated three First Mile communication technologies in support of NASA s Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (2nd Gen RLV), Orbital Space Plane, Advanced Range Technology Working Group (ARTWG) and the Advanced Spaceport Technology Working Group (ASTWG). These First Mile technologies have the purpose of interconnecting mobile users with existing Range Communication infrastructures. ECT was a continuation of the Range Information System Management (RISM) task started in 2002. RISM identified the three advance communication technologies investigated under ECT. These were Wireless Ethernet (Wi-Fi), Free Space Optics (FSO), and Ultra Wideband (UWB). Due to the report s size, it has been broken into three volumes: 1) Main Report 2) Appendices 3) UWB

Emerging Communication Technologies (ECT) Phase 2 Report. Volume 1; Main Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bastin, Gary L.; Harris, William G.; Chiodini, Robert; Nelson, Richard A.; Huang, PoTien; Kruhm, David A.

2003-01-01

The Emerging Communication Technology (ECT) project investigated three First Mile communication technologies in support of NASA s Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (2nd Gen RLV), Orbital Space Plane, Advanced Range Technology Working Group (ARTWG) and the Advanced Spaceport Technology Working Group (ASTWG). These First Mile technologies have the purpose of interconnecting mobile users with existing Range Communication infrastructures. ECT was a continuation of the Range Information System Management (RISM) task started in 2002. RISM identified the three advance communication technologies investigated under ECT. These were Wireless Ethernet (Wi-Fi), Free Space Optics (FSO), and Ultra Wideband (UWB). Due to the report s size, it has been broken into three volumes: 1) Main Report 2) Appendices 3) UWB.

A survey of new technology for cockpit application to 1990's transport aircraft simulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holt, A. P., Jr.; Noneaker, D. O.; Walthour, L.

1980-01-01

Two problems were investigated: inter-equipment data transfer, both on board the aircraft and between air and ground; and crew equipment communication via the cockpit displays and controls. Inter-equipment data transfer is discussed in terms of data bus and data link requirements. Crew equipment communication is discussed regarding the availability of CRT display systems for use in research simulators to represent flat panel displays of the future, and of software controllable touch panels.

Web services-based text-mining demonstrates broad impacts for interoperability and process simplification.

PubMed

Wiegers, Thomas C; Davis, Allan Peter; Mattingly, Carolyn J

2014-01-01

The Critical Assessment of Information Extraction systems in Biology (BioCreAtIvE) challenge evaluation tasks collectively represent a community-wide effort to evaluate a variety of text-mining and information extraction systems applied to the biological domain. The BioCreative IV Workshop included five independent subject areas, including Track 3, which focused on named-entity recognition (NER) for the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD; http://ctdbase.org). Previously, CTD had organized document ranking and NER-related tasks for the BioCreative Workshop 2012; a key finding of that effort was that interoperability and integration complexity were major impediments to the direct application of the systems to CTD's text-mining pipeline. This underscored a prevailing problem with software integration efforts. Major interoperability-related issues included lack of process modularity, operating system incompatibility, tool configuration complexity and lack of standardization of high-level inter-process communications. One approach to potentially mitigate interoperability and general integration issues is the use of Web services to abstract implementation details; rather than integrating NER tools directly, HTTP-based calls from CTD's asynchronous, batch-oriented text-mining pipeline could be made to remote NER Web services for recognition of specific biological terms using BioC (an emerging family of XML formats) for inter-process communications. To test this concept, participating groups developed Representational State Transfer /BioC-compliant Web services tailored to CTD's NER requirements. Participants were provided with a comprehensive set of training materials. CTD evaluated results obtained from the remote Web service-based URLs against a test data set of 510 manually curated scientific articles. Twelve groups participated in the challenge. Recall, precision, balanced F-scores and response times were calculated. Top balanced F-scores for gene, chemical and disease NER were 61, 74 and 51%, respectively. Response times ranged from fractions-of-a-second to over a minute per article. We present a description of the challenge and summary of results, demonstrating how curation groups can effectively use interoperable NER technologies to simplify text-mining pipeline implementation. Database URL: http://ctdbase.org/ © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

Web services-based text-mining demonstrates broad impacts for interoperability and process simplification

PubMed Central

Wiegers, Thomas C.; Davis, Allan Peter; Mattingly, Carolyn J.

2014-01-01

The Critical Assessment of Information Extraction systems in Biology (BioCreAtIvE) challenge evaluation tasks collectively represent a community-wide effort to evaluate a variety of text-mining and information extraction systems applied to the biological domain. The BioCreative IV Workshop included five independent subject areas, including Track 3, which focused on named-entity recognition (NER) for the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD; http://ctdbase.org). Previously, CTD had organized document ranking and NER-related tasks for the BioCreative Workshop 2012; a key finding of that effort was that interoperability and integration complexity were major impediments to the direct application of the systems to CTD's text-mining pipeline. This underscored a prevailing problem with software integration efforts. Major interoperability-related issues included lack of process modularity, operating system incompatibility, tool configuration complexity and lack of standardization of high-level inter-process communications. One approach to potentially mitigate interoperability and general integration issues is the use of Web services to abstract implementation details; rather than integrating NER tools directly, HTTP-based calls from CTD's asynchronous, batch-oriented text-mining pipeline could be made to remote NER Web services for recognition of specific biological terms using BioC (an emerging family of XML formats) for inter-process communications. To test this concept, participating groups developed Representational State Transfer /BioC-compliant Web services tailored to CTD's NER requirements. Participants were provided with a comprehensive set of training materials. CTD evaluated results obtained from the remote Web service-based URLs against a test data set of 510 manually curated scientific articles. Twelve groups participated in the challenge. Recall, precision, balanced F-scores and response times were calculated. Top balanced F-scores for gene, chemical and disease NER were 61, 74 and 51%, respectively. Response times ranged from fractions-of-a-second to over a minute per article. We present a description of the challenge and summary of results, demonstrating how curation groups can effectively use interoperable NER technologies to simplify text-mining pipeline implementation. Database URL: http://ctdbase.org/ PMID:24919658

Postcards from the edge: Trash-2-Cash communication tools used to support inter-disciplinary work towards a design driven material innovation (DDMI) methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Earley, R.; Hornbuckle, R.

2017-10-01

In this paper postcards from the EU funded Horizon 2020 Trash-2-Cash (2015-2018) project - completed by workshop participants - are presented in three tables with a focus on how they contributed to the building of communication channels, shared understanding and methods in this inter-disciplinary consortium work. The Trash-2-Cash project aims to support better waste utilisation, improve material efficiency, contribute to reduction of landfill area needs, whilst also producing high-value commercial products. Novel materials will drive the generation of new textile fibres that will utilize paper and textile fibre waste, originating from continuously increasing textile consumption. The inter-disciplanarity of the participants is key to achieving the project aims - but communication between sectors is challenging due to diverse expertise and levels of experience; language and cultural differences can also be barriers to collaboration as well. Designing easy and accessible, even fun, communication tools are one of the ways to help build relationships. The cards reviewed were used in Prato (November 2015), Helsinki (February 2016) and London (November 2016). This paper concludes with insights for the ongoing development of the project communications work towards the Design Driven Material Innovation (DDMI) methodology, due to be presented at the end of the project in 2018.

Understanding speech when wearing communication headsets and hearing protectors with subband processing.

PubMed

Brammer, Anthony J; Yu, Gongqiang; Bernstein, Eric R; Cherniack, Martin G; Peterson, Donald R; Tufts, Jennifer B

2014-08-01

An adaptive, delayless, subband feed-forward control structure is employed to improve the speech signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the communication channel of a circumaural headset/hearing protector (HPD) from 90 Hz to 11.3 kHz, and to provide active noise control (ANC) from 50 to 800 Hz to complement the passive attenuation of the HPD. The task involves optimizing the speech SNR for each communication channel subband, subject to limiting the maximum sound level at the ear, maintaining a speech SNR preferred by users, and reducing large inter-band gain differences to improve speech quality. The performance of a proof-of-concept device has been evaluated in a pseudo-diffuse sound field when worn by human subjects under conditions of environmental noise and speech that do not pose a risk to hearing, and by simulation for other conditions. For the environmental noises employed in this study, subband speech SNR control combined with subband ANC produced greater improvement in word scores than subband ANC alone, and improved the consistency of word scores across subjects. The simulation employed a subject-specific linear model, and predicted that word scores are maintained in excess of 90% for sound levels outside the HPD of up to ∼115 dBA.

Inter-rater reliability of kinesthetic measurements with the KINARM robotic exoskeleton.

PubMed

Semrau, Jennifer A; Herter, Troy M; Scott, Stephen H; Dukelow, Sean P

2017-05-22

Kinesthesia (sense of limb movement) has been extremely difficult to measure objectively, especially in individuals who have survived a stroke. The development of valid and reliable measurements for proprioception is important to developing a better understanding of proprioceptive impairments after stroke and their impact on the ability to perform daily activities. We recently developed a robotic task to evaluate kinesthetic deficits after stroke and found that the majority (~60%) of stroke survivors exhibit significant deficits in kinesthesia within the first 10 days post-stroke. Here we aim to determine the inter-rater reliability of this robotic kinesthetic matching task. Twenty-five neurologically intact control subjects and 15 individuals with first-time stroke were evaluated on a robotic kinesthetic matching task (KIN). Subjects sat in a robotic exoskeleton with their arms supported against gravity. In the KIN task, the robot moved the subjects' stroke-affected arm at a preset speed, direction and distance. As soon as subjects felt the robot begin to move their affected arm, they matched the robot movement with the unaffected arm. Subjects were tested in two sessions on the KIN task: initial session and then a second session (within an average of 18.2 ± 13.8 h of the initial session for stroke subjects), which were supervised by different technicians. The task was performed both with and without the use of vision in both sessions. We evaluated intra-class correlations of spatial and temporal parameters derived from the KIN task to determine the reliability of the robotic task. We evaluated 8 spatial and temporal parameters that quantify kinesthetic behavior. We found that the parameters exhibited moderate to high intra-class correlations between the initial and retest conditions (Range, r-value = [0.53-0.97]). The robotic KIN task exhibited good inter-rater reliability. This validates the KIN task as a reliable, objective method for quantifying kinesthesia after stroke.

Enhancing the Communication of Climate Change Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Somerville, R. C.; Hassol, S. J.

2011-12-01

Climate scientists have an important role to play in the critical task of informing the public, media and policymakers. Scientists can help in publicizing and illuminating climate science. However, this task requires combining climate science expertise with advanced communication skills. For example, it is entirely possible to convey scientific information accurately without using jargon or technical concepts unfamiliar to non-scientists. However, making this translation into everyday language is a job that few scientists have been trained to do. In this talk, we give examples from our recent experience working with scientists to enhance their ability to communicate well. Our work includes providing training, technical assistance, and communications tools to climate scientists and universities, government agencies, and research centers. Our experience ranges from preparing Congressional testimony to writing major climate science reports to appearing on television. We have also aided journalists in gathering reliable scientific information and identifying trustworthy experts. Additionally, we are involved in developing resources freely available online at climatecommunication.org. These include a feature on the links between climate change and extreme weather, a climate science primer, and graphics and video explaining key developments in climate change science.

Inter-professional electronic documents and child health: a study of persisting non-electronic communication in the use of electronic documents.

PubMed

Saario, Sirpa; Hall, Christopher; Peckover, Sue

2012-12-01

Information and communication technologies are widely used in health and social care settings to replace previous means of record keeping, assessment and communication. Commentary on the strengths and weaknesses of such systems abound, thus it is useful to examine how they are used in practice. This article draws on findings from two separate studies, conducted between 2005 and 2007, which examined how child health and welfare professionals use electronic documents in Finland and England. Known respectively as Miranda and CAF, these systems are different in terms of structure and function but in their everyday use common features are identified, notably the continued use of and reliance on non-electronic means of communication. Based on interviews with professionals, three forms of non-electronic communication are described: alternative records, phone calls and letters, which facilitate the sharing of the electronic record. Finally, the electronic documents are further analysed as potential boundary objects which aim to create common understanding between sites and professionals. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

17 CFR 240.17a-4 - Records to be preserved by certain exchange members, brokers and dealers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... of such member, broker or dealer, as such. (4) Originals of all communications received and copies of all communications sent (and any approvals thereof) by the member, broker or dealer (including inter-office memoranda and communications) relating to its business as such, including all communications which...

Analysis of Human Communication during Assembly Tasks.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-06-01

AD-A7l 43 ANALYSIS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION DURING ASSEMBLY TASKS in1(U) CRNEGIE-MELLO UNIY PITTSBURGH PA ROBOTICS INST UNCLSSIIEDK S BARBER ET AL...ao I Dur~~~~IngAbcbyTs; 7c .S:in i lSAo .0. Analysis of Human Communication During Assembly Tasks K. Suzanne Barber and Gerald J. Agin CMU-RI-TR-86-1...TYPE or REPORT & PE-Rioo CevCZaz Analysis of Human Communication During Assembly Inlterim Tasks I . PERFORMING 00RG. REPORT NUMBER 1. £UT~oOR~e) IL

Evidence that communication impairment in schizophrenia is associated with generalized poor task performance.

PubMed

Merrill, Anne M; Karcher, Nicole R; Cicero, David C; Becker, Theresa M; Docherty, Anna R; Kerns, John G

2017-03-01

People with schizophrenia exhibit wide-ranging cognitive deficits, including slower processing speed and decreased cognitive control. Disorganized speech symptoms, such as communication impairment, have been associated with poor cognitive control task performance (e.g., goal maintenance and working memory). Whether communication impairment is associated with poorer performance on a broader range of non-cognitive control measures is unclear. In the current study, people with schizophrenia (n =51) and non-psychiatric controls (n =26) completed speech interviews allowing for reliable quantitative assessment of communication impairment. Participants also completed multiple goal maintenance and working memory tasks. In addition, we also examined (a) simple measures of processing speed involving highly automatic prepotent responses and (b) a non-cognitive control measure of general task performance. Schizophrenia communication impairment was significantly associated with poor performance in all cognitive domains, with the largest association found with processing speed (r s =-0.52). Further, communication impairment was also associated with the non-cognitive control measure of poor general task performance (r s =-0.43). In contrast, alogia, a negative speech symptom, and positive symptoms were less if at all related to cognitive task performance. Overall, this study suggests that communication impairment in schizophrenia may be associated with relatively generalized poor cognitive task performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Small optical inter-satellite communication system for small and micro satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwamoto, Kyohei; Nakao, Takashi; Ito, Taiji; Sano, Takeshi; Ishii, Tamotsu; Shibata, Keiichi; Ueno, Mitsuhiro; Ohta, Shinji; Komatsu, Hiromitsu; Araki, Tomohiro; Kobayashi, Yuta; Sawada, Hirotaka

2017-02-01

Small optical inter-satellite communication system to be installed into small and micro satellites flying on LEO are designed and experimentally verified of its fundamental functions. Small, light weighted, power efficient as well as usable data transmission rate optical inter-satellite communication system is one of promising approach to provide realtime data handling and operation capabilities for micro and small satellite constellations which have limited conditions of payload. Proposed system is designed to connect satellites with 4500 (km) long maximum to be able to talk with ground station continuously by relaying LEO satellites even when they are in their own maneuvers. Connecting satellites with 4500 (km) long with keeping steady data rate, accurate pointing and tracking method will be one of a crucial issue. In this paper, we propose a precious pointing and tracking method and system with a miniature optics and experimentally verified almost 10 (μrad) of pointing accuracy with more than 500 (mrad) of angular coverage.

A Mechanistic Understanding of Allosteric Immune Escape Pathways in the HIV-1 Envelope Glycoprotein

PubMed Central

Sethi, Anurag; Tian, Jianhui; Derdeyn, Cynthia A.; Korber, Bette; Gnanakaran, S.

2013-01-01

The HIV-1 envelope (Env) spike, which consists of a compact, heterodimeric trimer of the glycoproteins gp120 and gp41, is the target of neutralizing antibodies. However, the high mutation rate of HIV-1 and plasticity of Env facilitates viral evasion from neutralizing antibodies through various mechanisms. Mutations that are distant from the antibody binding site can lead to escape, probably by changing the conformation or dynamics of Env; however, these changes are difficult to identify and define mechanistically. Here we describe a network analysis-based approach to identify potential allosteric immune evasion mechanisms using three known HIV-1 Env gp120 protein structures from two different clades, B and C. First, correlation and principal component analyses of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations identified a high degree of long-distance coupled motions that exist between functionally distant regions within the intrinsic dynamics of the gp120 core, supporting the presence of long-distance communication in the protein. Then, by integrating MD simulations with network theory, we identified the optimal and suboptimal communication pathways and modules within the gp120 core. The results unveil both strain-dependent and -independent characteristics of the communication pathways in gp120. We show that within the context of three structurally homologous gp120 cores, the optimal pathway for communication is sequence sensitive, i.e. a suboptimal pathway in one strain becomes the optimal pathway in another strain. Yet the identification of conserved elements within these communication pathways, termed inter-modular hotspots, could present a new opportunity for immunogen design, as this could be an additional mechanism that HIV-1 uses to shield vulnerable antibody targets in Env that induce neutralizing antibody breadth. PMID:23696718

Manned Mars mission communication and data management systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, Ronald E.

1986-01-01

A manned Mars mission will involve a small crew and many complex tasks. The productivity of the crew and the entire mission will depend significantly on effective automation of these tasks and the ease with which the crew can interface with them. The technology to support a manned Mars mission is available today; however, evolving software and electronic technology are enabling many interesting possibilities for increasing productivity and safety while reducing life cycle cost. Some of these advanced technologies are identified.

Medium Moderates the Message. How Users Adjust Their Communication Trajectories to Different Media in Collaborative Task Solving.

PubMed

Lisiecka, Karolina; Rychwalska, Agnieszka; Samson, Katarzyna; Łucznik, Klara; Ziembowicz, Michał; Szóstek, Agnieszka; Nowak, Andrzej

2016-01-01

Rapid development of information and communications technologies (ICT) has triggered profound changes in how people manage their social contacts in both informal and professional contexts. ICT mediated communication may seem limited in possibilities compared to face-to-face encounters, but research shows that puzzlingly often it can be just as effective and satisfactory. We posit that ICT users employ specific communication strategies adapted to particular communication channels, which results in a comparable effectiveness of communication. In order to maintain a satisfactory level of conversational intelligibility they calibrate the content of their messages to a given medium's richness and adjust the whole conversation trajectory so that every stage of the communication process runs fluently. In the current study, we compared complex task solving trajectories in chat, mobile phone and face-to-face dyadic conversations. Media conditions did not influence the quality of decision outcomes or users' perceptions of the interaction, but they had impact on the amount of time devoted to each of the identified phases of decision development. In face-to-face contacts the evaluation stage of the discussion dominated the conversation; in the texting condition the orientation-evaluation-control phases were evenly distributed; and the phone condition provided a midpoint between these two extremes. The results show that contemporary ICT users adjust their communication behavior to the limitations and opportunities of various media through the regulation of attention directed to each stage of the discussion so that as a whole the communication process remains effective.

Communications data delivery system analysis task 2 report : high-level options for secure communications data delivery systems.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-05-16

This Communications Data Delivery System Analysis Task 2 report describes and analyzes options for Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) communications data delivery systems using various communication media (Dedicated Short Ra...

Development of a 1-m Class Telescope at TMF to Support Optical Communications Demonstrations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, K. E.; Sandusky, J.

1998-01-01

With the impetus towards high data rate communications in inter-satellite and space-to-ground links, the small size, low-mass, and low-power consumption of optical communications is seen as a viable alternative to radio frequency links.

Individual differences in working memory: introduction to the special section.

PubMed

Miyake, A

2001-06-01

This special section includes a set of 5 articles that examine the nature of inter- and intraindividual differences in working memory, using working memory span tasks as the main research tools. These span tasks are different from traditional short-term memory spans (e.g., digit or word span) in that they require participants to maintain some target memory items (e.g., words) while simultaneously performing some other tasks (e.g., reading sentences). In this introduction, a brief discussion of these working memory span tasks and their characteristics is provided first. This is followed by an overview of 2 major theoretical issues that are addressed by the subsequent articles--(a) the factors influencing the inter- and intraindividual differences in working memory performance and (b) the domain generality versus domain specificity of working memory--and also of some important issues that must be kept in mind when readers try to evaluate the claims regarding these 2 theoretical issues.

Emergence of β-Band Oscillations in the Aged Rat Amygdala during Discrimination Learning and Decision Making Tasks

PubMed Central

Samson, Rachel D.; Duarte, Leroy; Venkatesh, Anu

2017-01-01

Abstract Older adults tend to use strategies that differ from those used by young adults to solve decision-making tasks. MRI experiments suggest that altered strategy use during aging can be accompanied by a change in extent of activation of a given brain region, inter-hemispheric bilateralization or added brain structures. It has been suggested that these changes reflect compensation for less effective networks to enable optimal performance. One way that communication can be influenced within and between brain networks is through oscillatory events that help structure and synchronize incoming and outgoing information. It is unknown how aging impacts local oscillatory activity within the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA). The present study recorded local field potentials (LFPs) and single units in old and young rats during the performance of tasks that involve discrimination learning and probabilistic decision making. We found task- and age-specific increases in power selectively within the β range (15–30 Hz). The increased β power occurred after lever presses, as old animals reached the goal location. Periods of high-power β developed over training days in the aged rats, and was greatest in early trials of a session. β Power was also greater after pressing for the large reward option. These data suggest that aging of BLA networks results in strengthened synchrony of β oscillations when older animals are learning or deciding between rewards of different size. Whether this increased synchrony reflects the neural basis of a compensatory strategy change of old animals in reward-based decision-making tasks, remains to be verified. PMID:29034315

Inter-Association Task Force Report on Image.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Special Libraries Association, Washington, DC.

In 1988, the Board of Directors of the Special Libraries Association provided funding to a task force to gather data which would determine how certain segments of society perceive librarians, how librarians view themselves and their colleagues, and to provide recommendations for addressing the issue of image. The task force project consisted of…

Inter-Cultural Contact and Flow in a Task-Based Japanese EFL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aubrey, Scott

2017-01-01

Flow represents a state of complete involvement and heightened intensity that leads to improved performance on a task (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1990). The notion of flow has the potential to provide worthwhile insights into the area of task engagement, yet the construct has received relatively little empirical attention by second language…

Commercialization and Standardization Progress Towards an Optical Communications Earth Relay

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edwards, Bernard L.; Israel, David J.

2015-01-01

NASA is planning to launch the next generation of a space based Earth relay in 2025 to join the current Space Network, consisting of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites in space and the corresponding infrastructure on Earth. While the requirements and architecture for that relay satellite are unknown at this time, NASA is investing in communications technologies that could be deployed to provide new communications services. One of those new technologies is optical communications. The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) project, scheduled for launch in 2018 as a hosted payload on a commercial communications satellite, is a critical pathfinder towards NASA providing optical communications services on the next generation space based relay. This paper will describe NASA efforts in the on-going commercialization of optical communications and the development of inter-operability standards. Both are seen as critical to making optical communications a reality on future NASA science and exploration missions. Commercialization is important because NASA would like to eventually be able to simply purchase an entire optical communications terminal from a commercial provider. Inter-operability standards are needed to ensure that optical communications terminals developed by one vendor are compatible with the terminals of another. International standards in optical communications would also allow the space missions of one nation to use the infrastructure of another.

Communications System Architecture Development for Air Traffic Management and Aviation Weather Information Dissemination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gallagher, Seana; Olson, Matt; Blythe, Doug; Heletz, Jacob; Hamilton, Griff; Kolb, Bill; Homans, Al; Zemrowski, Ken; Decker, Steve; Tegge, Cindy

2000-01-01

This document is the NASA AATT Task Order 24 Final Report. NASA Research Task Order 24 calls for the development of eleven distinct task reports. Each task was a necessary exercise in the development of comprehensive communications systems architecture (CSA) for air traffic management and aviation weather information dissemination for 2015, the definition of the interim architecture for 2007, and the transition plan to achieve the desired End State. The eleven tasks are summarized along with the associated Task Order reference. The output of each task was an individual task report. The task reports that make up the main body of this document include Task 5, Task 6, Task 7, Task 8, Task 10, and Task 11. The other tasks provide the supporting detail used in the development of the architecture. These reports are included in the appendices. The detailed user needs, functional communications requirements and engineering requirements associated with Tasks 1, 2, and 3 have been put into a relational database and are provided electronically.

Time Independent Functional task Training: a case study on the effect of inter-joint coordination driven haptic guidance in stroke therapy.

PubMed

Brokaw, Elizabeth B; Murray, Theresa M; Nef, Tobias; Lum, Peter S; Brokaw, Elizabeth B; Nichols, Diane; Holley, Rahsaan J

2011-01-01

After a stroke abnormal joint coordination of the arm may limit functional movement and recovery. To aid in training inter-joint movement coordination a haptic guidance method for functional driven rehabilitation after stroke called Time Independent Functional Training (TIFT) has been developed for the ARMin III robot. The mode helps retraining inter-joint coordination during functional movements, such as putting an object on a shelf, pouring from a pitcher, and sorting objects into bins. A single chronic stroke subject was tested for validation of the modality. The subject was given 1.5 hrs of robotic therapy twice a week for 4 weeks. The therapy and the results of training the single stroke subject are discussed. The subject showed a decrease in training joint error for the sorting task across training sessions and increased self-selected movement time in training. In kinematic reaching analysis the subject showed improvements in range of motion and joint coordination in a reaching task, as well as improvements in supination-pronation range of motion at the wrist. © 2011 IEEE

The Stance Leads the Dance: The Emergence of Role in a Joint Supra-Postural Task

PubMed Central

Davis, Tehran J.; Pinto, Gabriela B.; Kiefer, Adam W.

2017-01-01

Successfully meeting a shared goal usually requires co-actors to adopt complementary roles. However, in many cases, who adopts what role is not explicitly predetermined, but instead emerges as a consequence of the differences in the individual abilities and constraints imposed upon each actor. Perhaps the most basic of roles are leader and follower. Here, we investigated the emergence of “leader-follower” dynamics in inter-personal coordination using a joint supra-postural task paradigm (Ramenzoni et al., 2011; Athreya et al., 2014). Pairs of actors were tasked with holding two objects in alignment (each actor manually controlled one of the objects) as they faced different demands for stance (stable vs. difficult) and control (which actor controlled the larger or smaller object). Our results indicate that when actors were in identical stances, neither led the inter-personal (between actors) coordination by any systematic fashion. Alternatively, when asymmetries in postural demands were introduced, the actor with the more difficult stance led the coordination (as determined using cross-recurrence quantification analysis). Moreover, changes in individual stance difficulty resulted in similar changes in the structure of both intra-personal (individual) and inter-personal (dyadic) coordination, suggesting a scale invariance of the task dynamics. Implications for the study of interpersonal coordination are discussed. PMID:28536547

Left ventricular obstruction with restrictive inter-atrial communication leads to retardation in fetal lung maturation.

PubMed

Goltz, Diane; Lunkenheimer, Jean-Marc; Abedini, Mojtaba; Herberg, Ulrike; Berg, Christoph; Gembruch, Ulrich; Fischer, Hans-Peter

2015-05-01

Intact atrial septum or highly restrictive inter-atrial communication (I/HRAS) combined with either severe aortic stenosis (SAS) or hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), respectively, is associated with adverse outcome. This study focusses on changes in alveolo-septal lung parenchyma due to increased left atrial pressure. In a retrospective cross-sectional autoptic study, we investigated fetal/neonatal lung specimens of 18 patients with SAS/HLHS with I/HRAS, 11 patients with SAS/HLHS and unrestrictive inter-atrial communications and 18 controls. Pulmonary maturation was investigated by means of morphometric and immunohistochemical analyses. In a comparison of all three groups, alveolo-capillary membrane maturation was significantly disturbed in I/HRAS fetuses from week 23 of pregnancy on. I/HRAS lungs showed angiomatoid hyper-capillarisation and significantly wider inter-airspace mesenchyme. Differences in width ranged between 34.58 µm (95% CI: 11.41-57.75 µm) and 46.74 µm (95% CI: 13.97-79.50 µm) in the second and third trimesters. In I/HRAS infants with HLHS, inter-airspace mesenchymal diameters steadily normalised with age; however, significant fibroelastosis of alveolar septae developed. Fetal lung maturation with respect to alveolo-capillary membrane formation is severely disordered in patients with SAS/HLHS with I/HRAS. Our findings indicate that, from a morphological point of view, timing of fetal invention in fetuses with I/HRAS should be fixed within the second trimester of pregnancy. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Nurses' perceptions and experiences of communication in the operating theatre: a focus group interview

PubMed Central

Nestel, Debra; Kidd, Jane

2006-01-01

Abstract Nurses' perceptions and experiences of communication in the operating theatre: a focus group interview Background Communication programmes are well established in nurse education. The focus of programmes is most often on communicating with patients with less attention paid to inter-professional communication or skills essential for working in specialised settings. Although there are many anecdotal reports of communication within the operating theatre, there are few empirical studies. This paper explores communication behaviours for effective practice in the operating theatre as perceived by nurses and serves as a basis for developing training. Methods A focus group interview was conducted with seven experienced theatre nurses from a large London teaching hospital. The interview explored their perceptions of the key as well as unique features of effective communication skills in the operating theatre. Data was transcribed and thematically analysed until agreement was achieved by the two authors. Results There was largely consensus on the skills deemed necessary for effective practice including listening, clarity of speech and being polite. Significant influences on the nature of communication included conflict in role perception and organisational issues. Nurses were often expected to work outside of their role which either directly or indirectly created barriers for effective communication. Perceptions of a lack of collaborative team effort also influenced communication. Conclusion Although fundamental communication skills were identified for effective practice in the operating theatre, there were significant barriers to their use because of confusion over clarity of roles (especially nurses' roles) and the implications for teamwork. Nurses were dissatisfied with several aspects of communication. Future studies should explore the breadth and depth of this dissatisfaction in other operating theatres, its impact on morale and importantly on patient safety. Interprofessional communication training for operating theatre staff based in part on the key issues identified in this study may help to create clarity in roles and focus attention on effective teamwork and promote clinical safety. PMID:16466581

Milford Visual Communications Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milford Exempted Village Schools, OH.

This study discusses a visual communications project designed to develop activities to promote visual literacy at the elementary and secondary school levels. The project has four phases: (1) perception of basic forms in the environment, what these forms represent, and how they inter-relate; (2) discovery and communication of more complex…

Written Language Expression: Assessment Instruments and Teacher Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Penner-Williams, Janet; Smith, Tom E. C.; Gartin, Barbara C.

2009-01-01

Written language is a complex set of skills that facilitate communication and that are developed in a predictable sequence. It is therefore possible to analyze current skills, identify deficits, plan interventions, and determine the effectiveness of the intervention. To effectively accomplish these tasks, educators need to choose appropriate…

Nursing and the Management Function.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherman, V. Clayton

The report describes a study designed to analyze nurses' management duties and to identify their tasks in planning, organizing, staffing. leading, communication, decision making, and controlling. A total of 117 supervisory nurses and unit managers from four Western Michigan short-term general hospitals in the 410-540 bed range participated in the…

Focus groups to explore healthcare professionals' experiences of care coordination: towards a theoretical framework for the study of care coordination.

PubMed

Van Houdt, Sabine; Sermeus, Walter; Vanhaecht, Kris; De Lepeleire, Jan

2014-12-24

Strategies to improve care coordination between primary and hospital care do not always have the desired results. This is partly due to incomplete understanding of the key concepts of care coordination. An in-depth analysis of existing theoretical frameworks for the study of care coordination identified 14 interrelated key concepts. In another study, these 14 key concepts were further explored in patients' experiences. Additionally, "patient characteristics" was identified as a new key concept in patients' experiences and the previously identified key concept "quality of relationship" between healthcare professionals was extended to "quality of relationship" with the patient. Together, these 15 interrelated key concepts resulted in a new theoretical framework. The present study aimed at improving our understanding of the 15 previously identified key concepts and to explore potentially previous unidentified key concepts and the links between these by exploring how healthcare professionals experience care coordination. A qualitative design was used. Six focus groups were conducted including primary healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients who had breast cancer surgery at three hospitals in Belgium. Data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis. All 15 previously identified key concepts of care coordination were further explored in healthcare professionals' experiences. Links between these 15 concepts were identified, including 9 newly identified links. The concept "external factors" was linked with all 6 concepts relating to (inter)organizational mechanisms; "task characteristics", "structure", "knowledge and information technology", "administrative operational processes", "cultural factors" and "need for coordination". Five of these concepts related to 3 concepts of relational coordination; "roles", "quality of relationship" and "exchange of information". The concept of "task characteristics" was only linked with "roles" and "exchange of information". The concept "patient characteristics" related with the concepts "need for coordination" and "patient outcome". Outcome was influenced by "roles", "quality of relationship" and "exchange of information". External factors and the (inter)organizational mechanism should enhance "roles" and "quality of relationship" between healthcare professionals and with the patient as well as "exchange of information", and setting and sharing of common "goals" to improve care coordination and quality of care.

Surveying the comfort perception of the ergonomic design of bluetooth earphones.

PubMed

Chiu, Hsiao-Ping; Chiang, Hsin-Yu; Liu, Chien-Hsiou; Wang, Ming-Hsu; Chiou, Wen-Ko

2014-01-01

Bluetooth earphones can facilitate communications among workers engaged in manual (e.g., professional driver)or visual tasks (e.g., security guard). If workers remove their Bluetooth earphones due to poor fit, then communication effectiveness will decline, especially during manual or visual tasks. (1) To identify which design properties of Bluetooth earphones can contribute to user comfort, and (2) to identify if person characteristics (i.e., gender and ear shapes in this study) are related to differences in comfort perception during earphone use. 198 participants were recruited for this study.Individuals used four models of Bluetooth earphones in randomized order while performing computer tasks and then completed questionnaires on comfort perception specifically designed for this study. The 2 × 3 × 4 mixed design analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to investigate the effects of gender, ear shape, and model condition. The results indicated that there were significant differences in model on comfort perception. For earplugs, the shape of the earphone and the elasticity of material are important ergonomic concerns to improve the comfort perception. In addition, the adjustable tail length is an important ergonomic design property for the ear-hook. The information gained in this study should be useful in improving the ergonomic fitness of Bluetooth earphones.

Combined Effect of Random Transmit Power Control and Inter-Path Interference Cancellation on DS-CDMA Packet Mobile Communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kudoh, Eisuke; Ito, Haruki; Wang, Zhisen; Adachi, Fumiyuki

In mobile communication systems, high speed packet data services are demanded. In the high speed data transmission, throughput degrades severely due to severe inter-path interference (IPI). Recently, we proposed a random transmit power control (TPC) to increase the uplink throughput of DS-CDMA packet mobile communications. In this paper, we apply IPI cancellation in addition to the random TPC. We derive the numerical expression of the received signal-to-interference plus noise power ratio (SINR) and introduce IPI cancellation factor. We also derive the numerical expression of system throughput when IPI is cancelled ideally to compare with the Monte Carlo numerically evaluated system throughput. Then we evaluate, by Monte-Carlo numerical computation method, the combined effect of random TPC and IPI cancellation on the uplink throughput of DS-CDMA packet mobile communications.

Efficiently sphere-decodable physical layer transmission schemes for wireless storage networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Hsiao-Feng Francis; Barreal, Amaro; Karpuk, David; Hollanti, Camilla

2016-12-01

Three transmission schemes over a new type of multiple-access channel (MAC) model with inter-source communication links are proposed and investigated in this paper. This new channel model is well motivated by, e.g., wireless distributed storage networks, where communication to repair a lost node takes place from helper nodes to a repairing node over a wireless channel. Since in many wireless networks nodes can come and go in an arbitrary manner, there must be an inherent capability of inter-node communication between every pair of nodes. Assuming that communication is possible between every pair of helper nodes, the newly proposed schemes are based on various smart time-sharing and relaying strategies. In other words, certain helper nodes will be regarded as relays, thereby converting the conventional uncooperative multiple-access channel to a multiple-access relay channel (MARC). The diversity-multiplexing gain tradeoff (DMT) of the system together with efficient sphere-decodability and low structural complexity in terms of the number of antennas required at each end is used as the main design objectives. While the optimal DMT for the new channel model is fully open, it is shown that the proposed schemes outperform the DMT of the simple time-sharing protocol and, in some cases, even the optimal uncooperative MAC DMT. While using a wireless distributed storage network as a motivating example throughout the paper, the MAC transmission techniques proposed here are completely general and as such applicable to any MAC communication with inter-source communication links.

Important challenges for coordination and inter-municipal cooperation in health care services: a Delphi study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Demographical changes have stimulated a coordination reform in the Norwegian health care sector, creating new working practices and extending coordination within and between primary and hospital care, increasing the need for inter-municipal cooperation (IMC). This study aimed to identify challenges to coordination and IMC in the Norwegian health care sector as a basis for further theorizing and managerial advice in this growing area of research and practice. Methods A Delphi study of consensus development was used. Experts in coordination and IMC in health care services were selected by the healthcare manager or the councillor in their respective municipalities. In the first round, an expert panel received open-ended questions addressing possible challenges, and their answers were categorized and consolidated as the basis for further validation in the second round. The expert panel members were then asked to point out important statements in the third round, before the most important statements ranked by a majority of the members were rated again in the fourth round, including the option to explain the ratings. The same procedure was used in round five, with the exception that the expert panel members could view the consolidated results of their previous rankings as the basis for a new and final rating. The statements reaching consensus in round five were abstracted and themed. Results Nineteen experts consented to participate. Nine experts (47%) completed all of the five rounds. Eight statements concerning coordination reached consensus, resulting in four themes covering these challenges: different culture, uneven balance of power, lack of the possibility to communicate electronically, and demanding tasks in relation to resources. Three statements regarding challenges to IMC reached consensus, resulting in following themes: coopetition, complex leadership, and resistance to change. Conclusions This study identified several important challenges for coordination and it supports previous research. IMC in health care services deals with challenges other than coordination, and these must be addressed specifically. Our study contributes to extended knowledge of theoretical and practical implications in the field of coordination and IMC in health care sector. PMID:24171839

Medical students' medication communication skills regarding drug prescription-a qualitative analysis of simulated physician-patient consultations.

PubMed

Hauser, Katarina; Matthes, Jan

2017-04-01

Poor medication communication of physicians to patients is detrimental, e.g. for medication adherence. Reasons for physicians' deficits in medication communication may be unfavourable conditions in daily practice or already insufficient training during their (undergraduate) medical studies. We explored medical students' communication on new medications in simulated physician-patient conversations to identify actual deficits indicating apparent educational needs. Fifth year medical students attending a mandatory course at the University of Cologne had simulated physician-patient consultations aiming at drug prescription. In 2015, 21 consultations were recorded, transcribed and subjected to qualitative content analysis based on the method of inductive coding. Even essential information on drug therapy was often lacking (e.g. adverse effects, drug administration). Some aspects were addressed more frequently than others. This seemed to differ depending on the diagnosis underlying the particular treatment (acute event vs. chronic disease). The extent of information on drug treatments given in simulated physician-patient consultations varied significantly between students. Fifth year medical students showed appreciable deficits in communicating drug prescriptions to patients though there were remarkable inter-individual differences. Our findings suggest that communication on drug therapy to patients is no self-evolving skill. Thus, there is obviously a need for emphasizing medication communication in the training of medical students. Communication aids specifically aiming at medication communication might facilitate learning of adequate medication communication skills.

What physicians reason about during admission case review.

PubMed

Juma, Salina; Goldszmidt, Mark

2017-08-01

Research suggests that physicians perform multiple reasoning tasks beyond diagnosis during patient review. However, these remain largely theoretical. The purpose of this study was to explore reasoning tasks in clinical practice during patient admission review. The authors used a constant comparative approach-an iterative and inductive process of coding and recoding-to analyze transcripts from 38 audio-recorded case reviews between junior trainees and their senior residents or attendings. Using a previous list of reasoning tasks, analysis focused on what tasks were performed, when they occurred, and how they related to the other tasks. All 24 tasks were observed in at least one review with a mean of 17.9 (Min = 15, Max = 22) distinct tasks per review. Two new tasks-assess illness severity and patient decision-making capacity-were identified, thus 26 tasks were examined. Three overarching tasks were identified-assess priorities, determine and refine the most likely diagnosis and establish and refine management plans-that occurred throughout all stages of the case review starting from patient identification and continuing through to assessment and plan. A fourth possible overarching task-reflection-was also identified but only observed in four instances across three cases. The other 22 tasks appeared to be context dependent serving to support, expand, and refine one or more overarching tasks. Tasks were non-sequential and the same supporting task could serve more than one overarching task. The authors conclude that these findings provide insight into the 'what' and 'when' of physician reasoning during case review that can be used to support professional development, clinical training and patient care. In particular, they draw attention to the iterative way in which each task is addressed during a case review and how this finding may challenge conventional ways of teaching and assessing clinical communication and reasoning. They also suggest that further research is needed to explore how physicians decide why a supporting task is required in a particular context.

Firewall Traversal for CORBA Applications Using an Implementation of Bidirectional IIOP in MICO

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Griffin, Robert I.; Lopez, Isaac (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The Object Management Group (OMG) has added specifications to the General Inter-ORB Protocol (GIOP 1.2), specifically the Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP 1.2), that allow servers and clients on opposing sides of a firewall to reverse roles and still communicate freely. This addition to the GIOP specifications is referred to as Bidirectional GIOP. The implementation of these specifications as applied to communication over TCP/IP connections is referred to as 'Bidirectional Internet Inter-ORB Protocol' or BiDirIIOP. This paper details the implementation and testing of the BiDirIIOP Specification in an open source ORB, MICO, that did not previously support Bidirectional GIOP. It also provides simple contextual information and a description of the OMG GIOP/IIOP messaging protocols.

EEG-Based Brain-Computer Interface for Decoding Motor Imagery Tasks within the Same Hand Using Choi-Williams Time-Frequency Distribution

PubMed Central

Alwanni, Hisham; Baslan, Yara; Alnuman, Nasim; Daoud, Mohammad I.

2017-01-01

This paper presents an EEG-based brain-computer interface system for classifying eleven motor imagery (MI) tasks within the same hand. The proposed system utilizes the Choi-Williams time-frequency distribution (CWD) to construct a time-frequency representation (TFR) of the EEG signals. The constructed TFR is used to extract five categories of time-frequency features (TFFs). The TFFs are processed using a hierarchical classification model to identify the MI task encapsulated within the EEG signals. To evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, EEG data were recorded for eighteen intact subjects and four amputated subjects while imagining to perform each of the eleven hand MI tasks. Two performance evaluation analyses, namely channel- and TFF-based analyses, are conducted to identify the best subset of EEG channels and the TFFs category, respectively, that enable the highest classification accuracy between the MI tasks. In each evaluation analysis, the hierarchical classification model is trained using two training procedures, namely subject-dependent and subject-independent procedures. These two training procedures quantify the capability of the proposed approach to capture both intra- and inter-personal variations in the EEG signals for different MI tasks within the same hand. The results demonstrate the efficacy of the approach for classifying the MI tasks within the same hand. In particular, the classification accuracies obtained for the intact and amputated subjects are as high as 88.8% and 90.2%, respectively, for the subject-dependent training procedure, and 80.8% and 87.8%, respectively, for the subject-independent training procedure. These results suggest the feasibility of applying the proposed approach to control dexterous prosthetic hands, which can be of great benefit for individuals suffering from hand amputations. PMID:28832513

Trauma team leaders' non-verbal communication: video registration during trauma team training.

PubMed

Härgestam, Maria; Hultin, Magnus; Brulin, Christine; Jacobsson, Maritha

2016-03-25

There is widespread consensus on the importance of safe and secure communication in healthcare, especially in trauma care where time is a limiting factor. Although non-verbal communication has an impact on communication between individuals, there is only limited knowledge of how trauma team leaders communicate. The purpose of this study was to investigate how trauma team members are positioned in the emergency room, and how leaders communicate in terms of gaze direction, vocal nuances, and gestures during trauma team training. Eighteen trauma teams were audio and video recorded during trauma team training in the emergency department of a hospital in northern Sweden. Quantitative content analysis was used to categorize the team members' positions and the leaders' non-verbal communication: gaze direction, vocal nuances, and gestures. The quantitative data were interpreted in relation to the specific context. Time sequences of the leaders' gaze direction, speech time, and gestures were identified separately and registered as time (seconds) and proportions (%) of the total training time. The team leaders who gained control over the most important area in the emergency room, the "inner circle", positioned themselves as heads over the team, using gaze direction, gestures, vocal nuances, and verbal commands that solidified their verbal message. Changes in position required both attention and collaboration. Leaders who spoke in a hesitant voice, or were silent, expressed ambiguity in their non-verbal communication: and other team members took over the leader's tasks. In teams where the leader had control over the inner circle, the members seemed to have an awareness of each other's roles and tasks, knowing when in time and where in space these tasks needed to be executed. Deviations in the leaders' communication increased the ambiguity in the communication, which had consequences for the teamwork. Communication cannot be taken for granted; it needs to be practiced regularly just as technical skills need to be trained. Simulation training provides healthcare professionals the opportunity to put both verbal and non-verbal communication in focus, in order to improve patient safety. Non-verbal communication plays a decisive role in the interaction between the trauma team members, and so both verbal and non-verbal communication should be in focus in trauma team training. This is even more important for inexperienced leaders, since vague non-verbal communication reinforces ambiguity and can lead to errors.

Cosmopolitanism: Extending Our Theoretical Framework for Transcultural Technical Communication Research and Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Zsuzsanna Bacsa

2013-01-01

The effects of globalization on communication products and processes have resulted in document features and interactional practices that are sometimes difficult to describe within current theoretical frameworks of inter/transcultural technical communication. Although it has been recognized in our field that the old theoretical frameworks and…

A Meta-analysis of Cerebellar Contributions to Higher Cognition from PET and fMRI studies

PubMed Central

Keren-Happuch, E; Chen, Shen-Hsing Annabel; Ho, Moon-Ho Ringo; Desmond, John E.

2013-01-01

A growing interest in cerebellar function and its involvement in higher cognition have prompted much research in recent years. Cerebellar presence in a wide range of cognitive functions examined within an increasing body of neuroimaging literature has been observed. We applied a meta-analytic approach, which employed the activation likelihood estimate method, to consolidate results of cerebellar involvement accumulated in different cognitive tasks of interest and systematically identified similarities among the studies. The current analysis included 88 neuroimaging studies demonstrating cerebellar activations in higher cognitive domains involving emotion, executive function, language, music, timing and working memory. While largely consistent with a prior meta-analysis by Stoodley and Schmahmann (2009), our results extended their findings to include music and timing domains to provide further insights into cerebellar involvement and elucidate its role in higher cognition. In addition, we conducted inter- and intra-domain comparisons for the cognitive domains of emotion, language and working memory. We also considered task differences within the domain of verbal working memory by conducting a comparison of the Sternberg with the n-back task, as well as an analysis of the differential components within the Sternberg task. Results showed a consistent cerebellar presence in the timing domain, providing evidence for a role in time keeping. Unique clusters identified within the domain further refine the topographic organization of the cerebellum. PMID:23125108

Enabling Secure XMPP Communications in Federated IoT Clouds Through XEP 0027 and SAML/SASL SSO

PubMed Central

Celesti, Antonio; Fazio, Maria; Villari, Massimo

2017-01-01

Nowadays, in the panorama of Internet of Things (IoT), finding a right compromise between interactivity and security is not trivial at all. Currently, most of pervasive communication technologies are designed to work locally. As a consequence, the development of large-scale Internet services and applications is not so easy for IoT Cloud providers. The main issue is that both IoT architectures and services have started as simple but they are becoming more and more complex. Consequently, the web service technology is often inappropriate. Recently, many operators in both academia and industry fields are considering the possibility to adopt the eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) for the implementation of IoT Cloud communication systems. In fact, XMPP offers many advantages in term of real-time capabilities, efficient data distribution, service discovery and inter-domain communication compared to other technologies. Nevertheless, the protocol lacks of native security, data confidentiality and trustworthy federation features. In this paper, considering an XMPP-based IoT Cloud architectural model, we discuss how can be possible to enforce message signing/encryption and Single-Sign On (SSO) authentication respectively for secure inter-module and inter-domain communications in a federated environment. Experiments prove that security mechanisms introduce an acceptable overhead, considering the obvious advantages achieved in terms of data trustiness and privacy. PMID:28178214

Enabling Secure XMPP Communications in Federated IoT Clouds Through XEP 0027 and SAML/SASL SSO.

PubMed

Celesti, Antonio; Fazio, Maria; Villari, Massimo

2017-02-07

Nowadays, in the panorama of Internet of Things (IoT), finding a right compromise between interactivity and security is not trivial at all. Currently, most of pervasive communication technologies are designed to work locally. As a consequence, the development of large-scale Internet services and applications is not so easy for IoT Cloud providers. The main issue is that both IoT architectures and services have started as simple but they are becoming more and more complex. Consequently, the web service technology is often inappropriate. Recently, many operators in both academia and industry fields are considering the possibility to adopt the eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) for the implementation of IoT Cloud communication systems. In fact, XMPP offers many advantages in term of real-time capabilities, efficient data distribution, service discovery and inter-domain communication compared to other technologies. Nevertheless, the protocol lacks of native security, data confidentiality and trustworthy federation features. In this paper, considering an XMPP-based IoT Cloud architectural model, we discuss how can be possible to enforce message signing/encryption and Single-Sign On (SSO) authentication respectively for secure inter-module and inter-domain communications in a federated environment. Experiments prove that security mechanisms introduce an acceptable overhead, considering the obvious advantages achieved in terms of data trustiness and privacy.

A guide to the visual analysis and communication of biomolecular structural data.

PubMed

Johnson, Graham T; Hertig, Samuel

2014-10-01

Biologists regularly face an increasingly difficult task - to effectively communicate bigger and more complex structural data using an ever-expanding suite of visualization tools. Whether presenting results to peers or educating an outreach audience, a scientist can achieve maximal impact with minimal production time by systematically identifying an audience's needs, planning solutions from a variety of visual communication techniques and then applying the most appropriate software tools. A guide to available resources that range from software tools to professional illustrators can help researchers to generate better figures and presentations tailored to any audience's needs, and enable artistically inclined scientists to create captivating outreach imagery.

Inter-association Task Force recommendations on emergency preparedness and management of sudden cardiac arrest in high school and college athletic programs: a consensus statement.

PubMed

Drezner, Jonathan A; Courson, Ron W; Roberts, William O; Mosesso, Vincent N; Link, Mark S; Maron, Barry J

2007-01-01

To assist high school and college athletic programs prepare for and respond to a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). This consensus statement summarizes our current understanding of SCA in young athletes, defines the necessary elements for emergency preparedness, and establishes uniform treatment protocols for the management of SCA. Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in young athletes. The increasing presence of and timely access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at sporting events provides a means of early defibrillation and the potential for effective secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death. An Inter-Association Task Force was sponsored by the National Athletic Trainers' Association to develop consensus recommendations on emergency preparedness and management of SCA in athletes. Comprehensive emergency planning is needed for high school and college athletic programs to ensure an efficient and structured response to SCA. Essential elements of an emergency action plan include establishment of an effective communication system, training of anticipated responders in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED use, access to an AED for early defibrillation, acquisition of necessary emergency equipment, coordination and integration of on-site responder and AED programs with the local emergency medical services system, and practice and review of the response plan. Prompt recognition of SCA, early activation of the emergency medical services system, the presence of a trained rescuer to initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and access to early defibrillation are critical in the management of SCA. In any collapsed and unresponsive athlete, SCA should be suspected and an AED applied as soon as possible for rhythm analysis and defibrillation if indicated.

Inter Association Task Force recommendations on emergency preparedness and management of sudden cardiac arrest in high school and college athletic programs: a consensus statement.

PubMed

Drezner, Jonathan A; Courson, Ron W; Roberts, William O; Mosesso, Vincent N; Link, Mark S; Maron, Barry J

2007-01-01

To assist high school and college athletic programs prepare for and respond to a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). This consensus statement summarizes our current understanding of SCA in young athletes, defines the necessary elements for emergency preparedness, and establishes uniform treatment protocols for the management of SCA. Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in young athletes. The increasing presence of and timely access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at sporting events provides a means of early defibrillation and the potential for effective secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death. An Inter-Association Task Force was sponsored by the National Athletic Trainers' Association to develop consensus recommendations on emergency preparedness and management of SCA in athletes. Comprehensive emergency planning is needed for high school and college athletic programs to ensure an efficient and structured response to SCA. Essential elements of an emergency action plan include establishing an effective communication system, training of anticipated responders in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED use, access to an AED for early defibrillation, acquisition of necessary emergency equipment, coordination, and integration of on-site responder and AED programs with the local emergency medical services system, and practice and review of the response plan. Prompt recognition of SCA, early activation of the emergency medical services system, the presence of a trained rescuer to initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and access to early defibrillation are critical in the management of SCA. In any collapsed and unresponsive athlete, SCA should be suspected and an AED applied as soon as possible for rhythm analysis and defibrillation if indicated.

Inter-association task force recommendations on emergency preparedness and management of sudden cardiac arrest in high school and college athletic programs: a consensus statement.

PubMed

Drezner, Jonathan A; Courson, Ron W; Roberts, William O; Mosesso, Vincent N; Link, Mark S; Maron, Barry J

2007-04-01

To assist high school and college athletic programs prepare for and respond to a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). This consensus statement summarizes our current understanding of SCA in young athletes, defines the necessary elements for emergency preparedness, and establishes uniform treatment protocols for the management of SCA. Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in young athletes. The increasing presence of and timely access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at sporting events provides a means of early defibrillation and the potential for effective secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death. An Inter-Association Task Force was sponsored by the National Athletic Trainers' Association to develop consensus recommendations on emergency preparedness and management of SCA in athletes. Comprehensive emergency planning is needed for high school and college athletic programs to ensure an efficient and structured response to SCA. Essential elements of an emergency action plan include establishing an effective communication system, training of anticipated responders in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED use, access to an AED for early defibrillation, acquisition of necessary emergency equipment, coordination and integration of onsite responder and AED programs with the local emergency medical services system, and practice and review of the response plan. Prompt recognition of SCA, early activation of the emergency medical services system, the presence of a trained rescuer to initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and access to early defibrillation are critical in the management of SCA. In any collapsed and unresponsive athlete, SCA should be suspected and an AED applied as soon as possible for rhythm analysis and defibrillation if indicated.

Dopaminergic modulation of hemodynamic signal variability and the functional connectome during cognitive performance.

PubMed

Alavash, Mohsen; Lim, Sung-Joo; Thiel, Christiane; Sehm, Bernhard; Deserno, Lorenz; Obleser, Jonas

2018-05-15

Dopamine underlies important aspects of cognition, and has been suggested to boost cognitive performance. However, how dopamine modulates the large-scale cortical dynamics during cognitive performance has remained elusive. Using functional MRI during a working memory task in healthy young human listeners, we investigated the effect of levodopa (l-dopa) on two aspects of cortical dynamics, blood oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal variability and the functional connectome of large-scale cortical networks. We here show that enhanced dopaminergic signaling modulates the two potentially interrelated aspects of large-scale cortical dynamics during cognitive performance, and the degree of these modulations is able to explain inter-individual differences in l-dopa-induced behavioral benefits. Relative to placebo, l-dopa increased BOLD signal variability in task-relevant temporal, inferior frontal, parietal and cingulate regions. On the connectome level, however, l-dopa diminished functional integration across temporal and cingulo-opercular regions. This hypo-integration was expressed as a reduction in network efficiency and modularity in more than two thirds of the participants and to different degrees. Hypo-integration co-occurred with relative hyper-connectivity in paracentral lobule and precuneus, as well as posterior putamen. Both, l-dopa-induced BOLD signal variability modulation and functional connectome modulations proved predictive of an individual's l-dopa-induced benefits in behavioral performance, namely response speed and perceptual sensitivity. Lastly, l-dopa-induced modulations of BOLD signal variability were correlated with l-dopa-induced modulation of nodal connectivity and network efficiency. Our findings underline the role of dopamine in maintaining the dynamic range of, and communication between, cortical systems, and their explanatory power for inter-individual differences in benefits from dopamine during cognitive performance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Inter-Association Task Force Recommendations on Emergency Preparedness and Management of Sudden Cardiac Arrest in High School and College Athletic Programs: A Consensus Statement

PubMed Central

Drezner, Jonathan A; Courson, Ron W; Roberts, William O; Mosesso, Vincent N; Link, Mark S; Maron, Barry J

2007-01-01

Objective: To assist high school and college athletic programs prepare for and respond to a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). This consensus statement summarizes our current understanding of SCA in young athletes, defines the necessary elements for emergency preparedness, and establishes uniform treatment protocols for the management of SCA. Background: Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in young athletes. The increasing presence of and timely access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at sporting events provides a means of early defibrillation and the potential for effective secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death. An Inter-Association Task Force was sponsored by the National Athletic Trainers' Association to develop consensus recommendations on emergency preparedness and management of SCA in athletes. Recommendations: Comprehensive emergency planning is needed for high school and college athletic programs to ensure an efficient and structured response to SCA. Essential elements of an emergency action plan include establishment of an effective communication system, training of anticipated responders in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED use, access to an AED for early defibrillation, acquisition of necessary emergency equipment, coordination and integration of on-site responder and AED programs with the local emergency medical services system, and practice and review of the response plan. Prompt recognition of SCA, early activation of the emergency medical services system, the presence of a trained rescuer to initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and access to early defibrillation are critical in the management of SCA. In any collapsed and unresponsive athlete, SCA should be suspected and an AED applied as soon as possible for rhythm analysis and defibrillation if indicated. PMID:17597956

Robot Task Commander with Extensible Programming Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hart, Stephen W (Inventor); Wightman, Brian J (Inventor); Dinh, Duy Paul (Inventor); Yamokoski, John D. (Inventor); Gooding, Dustin R (Inventor)

2014-01-01

A system for developing distributed robot application-level software includes a robot having an associated control module which controls motion of the robot in response to a commanded task, and a robot task commander (RTC) in networked communication with the control module over a network transport layer (NTL). The RTC includes a script engine(s) and a GUI, with a processor and a centralized library of library blocks constructed from an interpretive computer programming code and having input and output connections. The GUI provides access to a Visual Programming Language (VPL) environment and a text editor. In executing a method, the VPL is opened, a task for the robot is built from the code library blocks, and data is assigned to input and output connections identifying input and output data for each block. A task sequence(s) is sent to the control module(s) over the NTL to command execution of the task.

Physiotherapists' Perceptions of and Experiences with the Discharge Planning Process in Acute-Care General Internal Medicine Units in Ontario

PubMed Central

Uyeno, Jennifer; Heck, Carol S.

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT Purpose: To examine discharge planning of patients in general internal medicine units in Ontario acute-care hospitals from the perspective of physiotherapists. Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire was sent to participants in November 2011. Respondents' demographic characteristics and ranking of factors were analyzed using descriptive statistics; t-tests were performed to determine between-group differences (based on demographic characteristics). Responses to open-ended questions were coded to identify themes. Results: Mobility status was identified as the key factor in determining discharge readiness; other factors included the availability of social support and community resources. While inter-professional communication was identified as important, processes were often informal. Discharge policies, timely availability of other discharge options, and pressure for early discharge were identified as affecting discharge planning. Respondents also noted a lack of training in discharge planning; accounts of ethical dilemmas experienced by respondents supported these themes. Conclusions: Physiotherapists consider many factors beyond the patient's physical function during the discharge planning process. The improvement of team communication and resource allocation should be considered to deal with the realities of discharge planning. PMID:25125778

IQ imbalance tolerable parallel-channel DMT transmission for coherent optical OFDMA access network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Sang-Min; Mun, Kyoung-Hak; Jung, Sun-Young; Han, Sang-Kook

2016-12-01

Phase diversity of coherent optical communication provides spectrally efficient higher-order modulation for optical communications. However, in-phase/quadrature (IQ) imbalance in coherent optical communication degrades transmission performance by introducing unwanted signal distortions. In a coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) passive optical network (PON), IQ imbalance-induced signal distortions degrade transmission performance by interferences of mirror subcarriers, inter-symbol interference (ISI), and inter-channel interference (ICI). We propose parallel-channel discrete multitone (DMT) transmission to mitigate transceiver IQ imbalance-induced signal distortions in coherent orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmissions. We experimentally demonstrate the effectiveness of parallel-channel DMT transmission compared with that of OFDM transmission in the presence of IQ imbalance.

Perceived vs. Actual Strategy Use across Three Oral Communication Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khan, Sarah; Victori, Mia

2011-01-01

This study sought to explore differences in strategy use across three oral communication tasks. Twenty-two intermediate level university students carried out three tasks in pairs at three different time periods. After each task, which varied in terms of cognitive, interactional and learner factors (Robinson, "International Review of Applied…

Learner Attention to Form in ACCESS Task-Based Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dao, Phung; Iwashita, Noriko; Gatbonton, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

This study explored the potential effects of communicative tasks developed using a reformulation of a task-based language teaching called Automatization in Communicative Contexts of Essential Speech Sequences (ACCESS) that includes automatization of language elements as one of its goals on learner attention to form in task-based interaction. The…

Study on user interface of pathology picture archiving and communication system.

PubMed

Kim, Dasueran; Kang, Peter; Yun, Jungmin; Park, Sung-Hye; Seo, Jeong-Wook; Park, Peom

2014-01-01

It is necessary to improve the pathology workflow. A workflow task analysis was performed using a pathology picture archiving and communication system (pathology PACS) in order to propose a user interface for the Pathology PACS considering user experience. An interface analysis of the Pathology PACS in Seoul National University Hospital and a task analysis of the pathology workflow were performed by observing recorded video. Based on obtained results, a user interface for the Pathology PACS was proposed. Hierarchical task analysis of Pathology PACS was classified into 17 tasks including 1) pre-operation, 2) text, 3) images, 4) medical record viewer, 5) screen transition, 6) pathology identification number input, 7) admission date input, 8) diagnosis doctor, 9) diagnosis code, 10) diagnosis, 11) pathology identification number check box, 12) presence or absence of images, 13) search, 14) clear, 15) Excel save, 16) search results, and 17) re-search. And frequently used menu items were identified and schematized. A user interface for the Pathology PACS considering user experience could be proposed as a preliminary step, and this study may contribute to the development of medical information systems based on user experience and usability.

Communication and cooperation in networked environments: an experimental analysis.

PubMed

Galimberti, C; Ignazi, S; Vercesi, P; Riva, G

2001-02-01

Interpersonal communication and cooperation do not happen exclusively face to face. In work contexts, as in private life, there are more and more situations of mediated communication and cooperation in which new online tools are used. However, understanding how to use the Internet to support collaborative interaction presents a substantial challenge for the designers and users of this emerging technology. First, collaborative Internet environments are designed to serve a purpose, so must be designed with intended users' tasks and goals explicitly considered. Second, in cooperative activities the key content of communication is the interpretation of the situations in which actors are involved. So, the most effective way of clarifying the meaning of messages is to connect them to a shared context of meaning. However, this is more difficult in the Internet than in other computer-based activities. This paper tries to understand the characteristics of cooperative activities in networked environments--shared 3D virtual worlds--through two different studies. The first used the analysis of conversations to explore the characteristics of the interaction during the cooperative task; the second analyzed whether and how the level of immersion in the networked environments influenced the performance and the interactional process. The results are analyzed to identify the psychosocial roots used to support cooperation in a digital interactive communication.

Development and validation of a collaborative behaviors objective assessment tool for end-of-life communication.

PubMed

Blackhall, Leslie J; Erickson, Jeanne; Brashers, Valentina; Owen, John; Thomas, Shannon

2014-01-01

Helping families make end-of-life decisions requires close collaboration between physicians and nurses. However, medical and nursing students have little formal training in how to collaborate in this task, and few instruments are available to measure collaborative behaviors. The objective of this project was to develop and validate observational assessment tools to measure specific interprofessional competencies in medical and nursing students related to end-of-life discussions. A literature search for evidence-based guidelines and competencies and focus groups with an expert panel of nurses and physicians were used to outline best collaborative practice behaviors for nurses and physicians in an end-of-life decision making simulation. The panel used these practice-behavior checklists to rate videotaped student scenarios and then refined the checklists for validity and clarity until the tools had acceptable inter-rater reliability. The setting was a workshop teaching end-of-life communication to third-year nursing and medical students. Inter-rater reliability was measured using percent agreement and kappa; internal consistency was measured using Cronbach's alpha. Collaborative behaviors objective assessment tools (CBOATs) for nursing and medical students were developed. For the medical CBOAT we found 85% agreement between raters, with an overall kappa of 0.744 and Cronbach's alpha of 0.806. For the nursing CBOAT there was 81% agreement, with a kappa of 0.686 and Cronbach's alpha of 0.845. Development of an end-of-life CBOAT clarified the important collaborative behaviors needed by physician and nurse. The resulting instruments provide a helpful guide for teaching interprofessional sessions related to the end of life and measuring student outcomes using an objective strategy.

A multi-GPU real-time dose simulation software framework for lung radiotherapy.

PubMed

Santhanam, A P; Min, Y; Neelakkantan, H; Papp, N; Meeks, S L; Kupelian, P A

2012-09-01

Medical simulation frameworks facilitate both the preoperative and postoperative analysis of the patient's pathophysical condition. Of particular importance is the simulation of radiation dose delivery for real-time radiotherapy monitoring and retrospective analyses of the patient's treatment. In this paper, a software framework tailored for the development of simulation-based real-time radiation dose monitoring medical applications is discussed. A multi-GPU-based computational framework coupled with inter-process communication methods is introduced for simulating the radiation dose delivery on a deformable 3D volumetric lung model and its real-time visualization. The model deformation and the corresponding dose calculation are allocated among the GPUs in a task-specific manner and is performed in a pipelined manner. Radiation dose calculations are computed on two different GPU hardware architectures. The integration of this computational framework with a front-end software layer and back-end patient database repository is also discussed. Real-time simulation of the dose delivered is achieved at once every 120 ms using the proposed framework. With a linear increase in the number of GPU cores, the computational time of the simulation was linearly decreased. The inter-process communication time also improved with an increase in the hardware memory. Variations in the delivered dose and computational speedup for variations in the data dimensions are investigated using D70 and D90 as well as gEUD as metrics for a set of 14 patients. Computational speed-up increased with an increase in the beam dimensions when compared with a CPU-based commercial software while the error in the dose calculation was <1%. Our analyses show that the framework applied to deformable lung model-based radiotherapy is an effective tool for performing both real-time and retrospective analyses.

Improving Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Education for Medical Students: An Inter-Organizational Collaborative Action Plan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fox, Geraldine S.; Stock, Saundra; Briscoe, Gregory W.; Beck, Gary L.; Horton, Rita; Hunt, Jeffrey I.; Liu, Howard Y.; Rutter, Ashley Partner; Sexson, Sandra; Schlozman, Steven C.; Stubbe, Dorothy E.; Stuber, Margaret L.

2012-01-01

Objective: A new Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Medical Education (CAPME) Task Force, sponsored by the Association for Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry (ADMSEP), has created an inter-organizational partnership between child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) educators and medical student educators in psychiatry. This paper…

A framework for the use of agent based modeling to simulate inter- and intraindividual variation in human behaviors

EPA Science Inventory

Simulation of human behavior in exposure modeling is a complex task. Traditionally, inter-individual variation in human activity has been modeled by drawing from a pool of single day time-activity diaries such as the US EPA Consolidated Human Activity Database (CHAD). Here, an ag...

Medium Moderates the Message. How Users Adjust Their Communication Trajectories to Different Media in Collaborative Task Solving

PubMed Central

Rychwalska, Agnieszka; Samson, Katarzyna; Łucznik, Klara; Ziembowicz, Michał; Szóstek, Agnieszka; Nowak, Andrzej

2016-01-01

Rapid development of information and communications technologies (ICT) has triggered profound changes in how people manage their social contacts in both informal and professional contexts. ICT mediated communication may seem limited in possibilities compared to face-to-face encounters, but research shows that puzzlingly often it can be just as effective and satisfactory. We posit that ICT users employ specific communication strategies adapted to particular communication channels, which results in a comparable effectiveness of communication. In order to maintain a satisfactory level of conversational intelligibility they calibrate the content of their messages to a given medium’s richness and adjust the whole conversation trajectory so that every stage of the communication process runs fluently. In the current study, we compared complex task solving trajectories in chat, mobile phone and face-to-face dyadic conversations. Media conditions did not influence the quality of decision outcomes or users’ perceptions of the interaction, but they had impact on the amount of time devoted to each of the identified phases of decision development. In face-to-face contacts the evaluation stage of the discussion dominated the conversation; in the texting condition the orientation-evaluation-control phases were evenly distributed; and the phone condition provided a midpoint between these two extremes. The results show that contemporary ICT users adjust their communication behavior to the limitations and opportunities of various media through the regulation of attention directed to each stage of the discussion so that as a whole the communication process remains effective. PMID:27337037

Analyzing and Detecting Problems in Systems of Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindvall, Mikael; Ackermann, Christopher; Stratton, William C.; Sibol, Deane E.; Godfrey, Sally

2008-01-01

Many software systems are evolving complex system of systems (SoS) for which inter-system communication is mission-critical. Evidence indicates that transmission failures and performance issues are not uncommon occurrences. In a NASA-supported Software Assurance Research Program (SARP) project, we are researching a new approach addressing such problems. In this paper, we are presenting an approach for analyzing inter-system communications with the goal to uncover both transmission errors and performance problems. Our approach consists of a visualization and an evaluation component. While the visualization of the observed communication aims to facilitate understanding, the evaluation component automatically checks the conformance of an observed communication (actual) to a desired one (planned). The actual and the planned are represented as sequence diagrams. The evaluation algorithm checks the conformance of the actual to the planned diagram. We have applied our approach to the communication of aerospace systems and were successful in detecting and resolving even subtle and long existing transmission problems.

Students' Perceptions on an Interprofessional Ward Round Training - A Qualitative Pilot Study.

PubMed

Nikendei, C; Huhn, D; Pittius, G; Trost, Y; Bugaj, T J; Koechel, A; Schultz, J-H

2016-01-01

Ward rounds are an essential activity for interprofessional teams in hospital settings and represent complex tasks requiring not only medical knowledge but also communication skills, clinical technical skills, patient management skills and team-work skills. The present study aimed to analyse final year students', nurses' as well as physiotherapists' views on a simulation-based interprofessional ward round training. In two successive passes a total number of 29 final year students, nursing students and physiotherapy students (16 in the first run, 13 in the second) volunteered to participate in two standardized patient ward round scenarios: (1) patient with myocardial infarction, and (2) patient with poorly controlled diabetes. Views on the interprofessional ward round training were assessed using focus groups. Focus group based feedback contained two main categories (A) ward round training benefits and (B) difficulties. Positive aspects enfolded course preparation, setting of the training, the involvement of the participants during training and the positive learning atmosphere. Difficulties were seen in the flawed atmosphere and realization of ward rounds in the daily clinical setting with respect to inter-professional aspects, and course benefit for the different professional groups. The presented inter-professional ward round training represents a well received and valuable model of interprofessional learning. Further research should assess its effectiveness, processes of interprofessional interplay and transfer into clinical practice.

Centroid measurement error of CMOS detector in the presence of detector noise for inter-satellite optical communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xin; Zhou, Shihong; Ma, Jing; Tan, Liying; Shen, Tao

2013-08-01

CMOS is a good candidate tracking detector for satellite optical communications systems with outstanding feature of sub-window for the development of APS (Active Pixel Sensor) technology. For inter-satellite optical communications it is critical to estimate the direction of incident laser beam precisely by measuring the centroid position of incident beam spot. The presence of detector noise results in measurement error, which degrades the tracking performance of systems. In this research, the measurement error of CMOS is derived taking consideration of detector noise. It is shown that the measurement error depends on pixel noise, size of the tracking sub-window (pixels number), intensity of incident laser beam, relative size of beam spot. The influences of these factors are analyzed by numerical simulation. We hope the results obtained in this research will be helpful in the design of CMOS detector satellite optical communications systems.

Unscrambling Jumbled Sentences: An Authentic Task for English Language Assessment?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lanteigne, Betty

2017-01-01

Jumbled sentence items in language assessment have been criticized by some authors as inauthentic. However, unscrambling jumbled sentences is a common occurrence in real-world communication in English as a lingua franca. Naturalistic inquiry identified 54 instances of jumbled sentence use in daily life in Dubai/Sharjah, where English is widely…

Increasing Intelligence in Inter-Vehicle Communications to Reduce Traffic Congestions: Experiments in Urban and Highway Environments.

PubMed

Meneguette, Rodolfo I; Filho, Geraldo P R; Guidoni, Daniel L; Pessin, Gustavo; Villas, Leandro A; Ueyama, Jó

2016-01-01

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) rely on Inter-Vehicle Communication (IVC) to streamline the operation of vehicles by managing vehicle traffic, assisting drivers with safety and sharing information, as well as providing appropriate services for passengers. Traffic congestion is an urban mobility problem, which causes stress to drivers and economic losses. In this context, this work proposes a solution for the detection, dissemination and control of congested roads based on inter-vehicle communication, called INCIDEnT. The main goal of the proposed solution is to reduce the average trip time, CO emissions and fuel consumption by allowing motorists to avoid congested roads. The simulation results show that our proposed solution leads to short delays and a low overhead. Moreover, it is efficient with regard to the coverage of the event and the distance to which the information can be propagated. The findings of the investigation show that the proposed solution leads to (i) high hit rate in the classification of the level of congestion, (ii) a reduction in average trip time, (iii) a reduction in fuel consumption, and (iv) reduced CO emissions.

Increasing Intelligence in Inter-Vehicle Communications to Reduce Traffic Congestions: Experiments in Urban and Highway Environments

PubMed Central

Filho, Geraldo P. R.; Guidoni, Daniel L.; Pessin, Gustavo; Villas, Leandro A.; Ueyama, Jó

2016-01-01

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) rely on Inter-Vehicle Communication (IVC) to streamline the operation of vehicles by managing vehicle traffic, assisting drivers with safety and sharing information, as well as providing appropriate services for passengers. Traffic congestion is an urban mobility problem, which causes stress to drivers and economic losses. In this context, this work proposes a solution for the detection, dissemination and control of congested roads based on inter-vehicle communication, called INCIDEnT. The main goal of the proposed solution is to reduce the average trip time, CO emissions and fuel consumption by allowing motorists to avoid congested roads. The simulation results show that our proposed solution leads to short delays and a low overhead. Moreover, it is efficient with regard to the coverage of the event and the distance to which the information can be propagated. The findings of the investigation show that the proposed solution leads to (i) high hit rate in the classification of the level of congestion, (ii) a reduction in average trip time, (iii) a reduction in fuel consumption, and (iv) reduced CO emissions PMID:27526048

From Crew Communication to Coordination: A Fundamental Means to an End

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kanki, Barbara G.; Connors, Mary M. (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

This viewgraph presentation describes the purposes and contexts of communication, factors which affect the interpretation of communication, and the advantages of effective, systematic communication to and from crews. Communication accomplishes information transfer, team/task management, shared problem solving and decision making, and establishment of the interpersonal climate. These accomplishments support outcomes: Technical task performance; CRM (crew resource management); Procedures and ATC (air traffic control); and Work/team atmosphere. The presentation lists various types of management inefficiency which can result from a lack of each of the four accomplishments. Communication skills are used within the following contexts: physical; social and organizational; task and operational; and speech and linguistic. Crew communication can be evaluated through investigation (case study), research (experimentation), and training.

Against conventional wisdom: when the public, the media, and medical practice collide.

PubMed

Jensen, Jakob D; Krakow, Melinda; John, Kevin K; Liu, Miao

2013-01-01

In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released new mammography screening guidelines that sparked a torrent of criticism. The subsequent conflict was significant and pitted the Task Force against other health organizations, advocacy groups, the media, and the public at large. We argue that this controversy was driven by the systematic removal of uncertainty from science communication. To increase comprehension and adherence, health information communicators remove caveats, limitations, and hedging so science appears simple and more certain. This streamlining process is, in many instances, initiated by researchers as they engage in dissemination of their findings, and it is facilitated by public relations professionals, journalists, public health practitioners, and others whose tasks involve using the results from research for specific purposes. Uncertainty is removed from public communication because many communicators believe that it is difficult for people to process and/or that it is something the audience wants to avoid. Uncertainty management theory posits that people can find meaning and value in uncertainty. We define key terms relevant to uncertainty management, describe research on the processing of uncertainty, identify directions for future research, and offer recommendations for scientists, practitioners, and media professionals confronted with uncertain findings. Science is routinely simplified as it is prepared for public consumption. In line with the model of information overload, this practice may increase short-term adherence to recommendations at the expense of long-term message consistency and trust in science.

Speech and gesture interfaces for squad-level human-robot teaming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harris, Jonathan; Barber, Daniel

2014-06-01

As the military increasingly adopts semi-autonomous unmanned systems for military operations, utilizing redundant and intuitive interfaces for communication between Soldiers and robots is vital to mission success. Currently, Soldiers use a common lexicon to verbally and visually communicate maneuvers between teammates. In order for robots to be seamlessly integrated within mixed-initiative teams, they must be able to understand this lexicon. Recent innovations in gaming platforms have led to advancements in speech and gesture recognition technologies, but the reliability of these technologies for enabling communication in human robot teaming is unclear. The purpose for the present study is to investigate the performance of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) speech and gesture recognition tools in classifying a Squad Level Vocabulary (SLV) for a spatial navigation reconnaissance and surveillance task. The SLV for this study was based on findings from a survey conducted with Soldiers at Fort Benning, GA. The items of the survey focused on the communication between the Soldier and the robot, specifically in regards to verbally instructing them to execute reconnaissance and surveillance tasks. Resulting commands, identified from the survey, were then converted to equivalent arm and hand gestures, leveraging existing visual signals (e.g. U.S. Army Field Manual for Visual Signaling). A study was then run to test the ability of commercially available automated speech recognition technologies and a gesture recognition glove to classify these commands in a simulated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance task. This paper presents classification accuracy of these devices for both speech and gesture modalities independently.

Against conventional wisdom: when the public, the media, and medical practice collide

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released new mammography screening guidelines that sparked a torrent of criticism. The subsequent conflict was significant and pitted the Task Force against other health organizations, advocacy groups, the media, and the public at large. We argue that this controversy was driven by the systematic removal of uncertainty from science communication. To increase comprehension and adherence, health information communicators remove caveats, limitations, and hedging so science appears simple and more certain. This streamlining process is, in many instances, initiated by researchers as they engage in dissemination of their findings, and it is facilitated by public relations professionals, journalists, public health practitioners, and others whose tasks involve using the results from research for specific purposes. Analysis Uncertainty is removed from public communication because many communicators believe that it is difficult for people to process and/or that it is something the audience wants to avoid. Uncertainty management theory posits that people can find meaning and value in uncertainty. We define key terms relevant to uncertainty management, describe research on the processing of uncertainty, identify directions for future research, and offer recommendations for scientists, practitioners, and media professionals confronted with uncertain findings. Conclusions Science is routinely simplified as it is prepared for public consumption. In line with the model of information overload, this practice may increase short-term adherence to recommendations at the expense of long-term message consistency and trust in science. PMID:24565173

Physiological Assessment of Aircraft Pilot Workload in Simulated Landing and Simulated Hostile Threat Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-04-01

999949999999 17 * . TABLE 3.Inter- beat interval (131) changes over 14 blocks of 6 tone trials each f’or the 3...Tone3 were presented • .. 4 binaurally through Sennheiser Model HD 400 earphones. Tone duration was 200 msec at 65 dB. A *run* on this task was...canthus and superior ridge of the left eye. Heart rate (actually quantified as inter- beat -interal, or IBI, in msec) leads were placed on the left

Inter-rater reliability and generalizability of patient note scores using a scoring rubric based on the USMLE Step-2 CS format.

PubMed

Park, Yoon Soo; Hyderi, Abbas; Bordage, Georges; Xing, Kuan; Yudkowsky, Rachel

2016-10-01

Recent changes to the patient note (PN) format of the United States Medical Licensing Examination have challenged medical schools to improve the instruction and assessment of students taking the Step-2 clinical skills examination. The purpose of this study was to gather validity evidence regarding response process and internal structure, focusing on inter-rater reliability and generalizability, to determine whether a locally-developed PN scoring rubric and scoring guidelines could yield reproducible PN scores. A randomly selected subsample of historical data (post-encounter PN from 55 of 177 medical students) was rescored by six trained faculty raters in November-December 2014. Inter-rater reliability (% exact agreement and kappa) was calculated for five standardized patient cases administered in a local graduation competency examination. Generalizability studies were conducted to examine the overall reliability. Qualitative data were collected through surveys and a rater-debriefing meeting. The overall inter-rater reliability (weighted kappa) was .79 (Documentation = .63, Differential Diagnosis = .90, Justification = .48, and Workup = .54). The majority of score variance was due to case specificity (13 %) and case-task specificity (31 %), indicating differences in student performance by case and by case-task interactions. Variance associated with raters and its interactions were modest (<5 %). Raters felt that justification was the most difficult task to score and that having case and level-specific scoring guidelines during training was most helpful for calibration. The overall inter-rater reliability indicates high level of confidence in the consistency of note scores. Designs for scoring notes may optimize reliability by balancing the number of raters and cases.

Education in Disaster Management and Emergencies: Defining a New European Course.

PubMed

Khorram-Manesh, Amir; Ashkenazi, Michael; Djalali, Ahmadreza; Ingrassia, Pier Luigi; Friedl, Tom; von Armin, Gotz; Lupesco, Olivera; Kaptan, Kubilay; Arculeo, Chris; Hreckovski, Boris; Komadina, Radko; Fisher, Philipp; Voigt, Stefan; James, James; Gursky, Elin

2015-06-01

Unremitting natural disasters, deliberate threats, pandemics, and humanitarian suffering resulting from conflict situations necessitate swift and effective response paradigms. The European Union's (EU) increasing visibility as a disaster response enterprise suggests the need not only for financial contribution but also for instituting a coherent disaster response approach and management structure. The DITAC (Disaster Training Curriculum) project identified deficiencies in current responder training approaches and analyzed the characteristics and content required for a new, standardized European course in disaster management and emergencies. Over 35 experts from within and outside the EU representing various organizations and specialties involved in disaster management composed the DITAC Consortium. These experts were also organized into 5 specifically tasked working groups. Extensive literature reviews were conducted to identify requirements and deficiencies and to craft a new training concept based on research trends and lessons learned. A pilot course and program dissemination plan was also developed. The lack of standardization was repeatedly highlighted as a serious deficiency in current disaster training methods, along with gaps in the command, control, and communication levels. A blended and competency-based teaching approach using exercises combined with lectures was recommended to improve intercultural and interdisciplinary integration. The goal of a European disaster management course should be to standardize and enhance intercultural and inter-agency performance across the disaster management cycle. A set of minimal standards and evaluation metrics can be achieved through consensus, education, and training in different units. The core of the training initiative will be a unit that presents a realistic situation "scenario-based training."

Climate uniformity: its influence on team communication quality, task conflict, and team performance.

PubMed

González-Romá, Vicente; Hernández, Ana

2014-11-01

We investigated whether climate uniformity (the pattern of climate perceptions of organizational support within the team) is related to task conflict, team communication quality, and team performance. We used a sample composed of 141 bank branches and collected data at 3 time points. The results obtained showed that, after controlling for aggregate team climate, climate strength, and their interaction, a type of nonuniform climate pattern (weak dissimilarity) was directly related to task conflict and team communication quality. Teams with weak dissimilarity nonuniform patterns tended to show higher levels of task conflict and lower levels of team communication quality than teams with uniform climate patterns. The relationship between weak dissimilarity patterns and team performance was fully mediated by team communication quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Influence of Pacing by Periodic Auditory Stimuli on Movement Continuation: Comparison with Self-regulated Periodic Movement

PubMed Central

Ito, Masanori; Kado, Naoki; Suzuki, Toshiaki; Ando, Hiroshi

2013-01-01

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of external pacing with periodic auditory stimuli on the control of periodic movement. [Subjects and Methods] Eighteen healthy subjects performed self-paced, synchronization-continuation, and syncopation-continuation tapping. Inter-onset intervals were 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 ms. The variability of inter-tap intervals was compared between the different pacing conditions and between self-paced tapping and each continuation phase. [Results] There were no significant differences in the mean and standard deviation of the inter-tap interval between pacing conditions. For the 1,000 and 5,000 ms tasks, there were significant differences in the mean inter-tap interval following auditory pacing compared with self-pacing. For the 2,000 ms syncopation condition and 5,000 ms task, there were significant differences from self-pacing in the standard deviation of the inter-tap interval following auditory pacing. [Conclusion] These results suggest that the accuracy of periodic movement with intervals of 1,000 and 5,000 ms can be improved by the use of auditory pacing. However, the consistency of periodic movement is mainly dependent on the inherent skill of the individual; thus, improvement of consistency based on pacing is unlikely. PMID:24259932

Validity evidence for the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) program as an assessment tool: a systematic review.

PubMed

Zendejas, Benjamin; Ruparel, Raaj K; Cook, David A

2016-02-01

The Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) program uses five simulation stations (peg transfer, precision cutting, loop ligation, and suturing with extracorporeal and intracorporeal knot tying) to teach and assess laparoscopic surgery skills. We sought to summarize evidence regarding the validity of scores from the FLS assessment. We systematically searched for studies evaluating the FLS as an assessment tool (last search update February 26, 2013). We classified validity evidence using the currently standard validity framework (content, response process, internal structure, relations with other variables, and consequences). From a pool of 11,628 studies, we identified 23 studies reporting validity evidence for FLS scores. Studies involved residents (n = 19), practicing physicians (n = 17), and medical students (n = 8), in specialties of general (n = 17), gynecologic (n = 4), urologic (n = 1), and veterinary (n = 1) surgery. Evidence was most common in the form of relations with other variables (n = 22, most often expert-novice differences). Only three studies reported internal structure evidence (inter-rater or inter-station reliability), two studies reported content evidence (i.e., derivation of assessment elements), and three studies reported consequences evidence (definition of pass/fail thresholds). Evidence nearly always supported the validity of FLS total scores. However, the loop ligation task lacks discriminatory ability. Validity evidence confirms expected relations with other variables and acceptable inter-rater reliability, but other validity evidence is sparse. Given the high-stakes use of this assessment (required for board eligibility), we suggest that more validity evidence is required, especially to support its content (selection of tasks and scoring rubric) and the consequences (favorable and unfavorable impact) of assessment.

Effects of Communication Tasks on the Grammatical Relations Marked by Second Language Learners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newton, Jonathan; Kennedy, Graeme

1996-01-01

Examines the morpho-syntax of task-based interaction and reports some possible grammatical consequences of interaction in split and shared information tasks undertaken by adult second language learners of English. Results indicate that communication tasks for language learning can be designed to influence the use of particular linguistic…

Validity, Reliability and Acceptability of the Team Standardized Assessment of Clinical Encounter Report*

PubMed Central

Wong, Camilla L.; Norris, Mireille; Sinha, Samir S.; Zorzitto, Maria L.; Madala, Sushma; Hamid, Jemila S.

2016-01-01

Background The Team Standardized Assessment of a Clinical Encounter Report (StACER) was designed for use in Geriatric Medicine residency programs to evaluate Communicator and Collaborator competencies. Methods The Team StACER was completed by two geriatricians and interdisciplinary team members based on observations during a geriatric medicine team meeting. Postgraduate trainees were recruited from July 2010–November 2013. Inter-rater reliability between two geriatricians and between all team members was determined. Internal consistency of items for the constructs Communicator and Collaborator competencies was calculated. Raters completed a survey previously administered to Canadian geriatricians to assess face validity. Trainees completed a survey to determine the usefulness of this instrument as a feedback tool. Results Thirty postgraduate trainees participated. The prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted kappa range inter-rater reliability for Communicator and Collaborator items were 0.87–1.00 and 0.86–1.00, respectively. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for Communicator and Collaborator items was 0.997 (95% CI: 0.993–1.00) and 0.997 (95% CI: 0.997–1.00), respectively. The instrument lacked discriminatory power, as all trainees scored “meets requirements” in the overall assessment. Niney-three per cent and 86% of trainees found feedback useful for developing Communicator and Collaborator competencies, respectively. Conclusions The Team StACER has adequate inter-rater reliability and internal consistency. Poor discriminatory power and face validity challenge the merit of using this evaluation tool. Trainees felt the tool provided useful feedback on Collaborator and Communicator competencies. PMID:28050222

The Application of Current User Interface Technology to Interactive Wargaming Systems.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-09-01

components is essential to the Macintosh interface. Apple states that "Consistent visual communication is very powerful in delivering complex messages...interface. A visual interface uses visual objects as the basis of communication. "A visual communication object is some combination S. of text and...graphics used for communication under a system of inter- pretation, or visual language." The benefit of visual communication is V 45 "When humans are faced

Systematic review of communication partner training in aphasia: methodological quality.

PubMed

Cherney, Leora R; Simmons-Mackie, Nina; Raymer, Anastasia; Armstrong, Elizabeth; Holland, Audrey

2013-10-01

Twenty-three studies identified from a previous systematic review examining the effects of communication partner training on persons with aphasia and their communication partners were evaluated for methodological quality. Two reviewers rated the studies on defined methodological quality criteria relevant to each study design. There were 11 group studies, seven single-subject participant design studies, and five qualitative studies. Quality scores were derived for each study. The mean inter-rater reliability of scores for each study design ranged from 85-93%, with Cohen's Kappa indicating substantial agreement between raters. Methodological quality of research on communication partner training in aphasia was highly varied. Overall, group studies employed the least rigorous methodology as compared to single subject and qualitative research. Only two of 11 group studies complied with more than half of the quality criteria. No group studies reported therapist blinding and only one group study reported participant blinding. Across all types of studies, the criterion of treatment fidelity was most commonly omitted. Failure to explicitly report certain methodological quality criteria may account for low ratings. Using methodological rating scales specific to the type of study design may help improve the methodological quality of aphasia treatment studies, including those on communication partner training.

Functional neural networks underlying response inhibition in adolescents and adults.

PubMed

Stevens, Michael C; Kiehl, Kent A; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Calhoun, Vince D

2007-07-19

This study provides the first description of neural network dynamics associated with response inhibition in healthy adolescents and adults. Functional and effective connectivity analyses of whole brain hemodynamic activity elicited during performance of a Go/No-Go task were used to identify functionally integrated neural networks and characterize their causal interactions. Three response inhibition circuits formed a hierarchical, inter-dependent system wherein thalamic modulation of input to premotor cortex by fronto-striatal regions led to response suppression. Adolescents differed from adults in the degree of network engagement, regional fronto-striatal-thalamic connectivity, and network dynamics. We identify and characterize several age-related differences in the function of neural circuits that are associated with behavioral performance changes across adolescent development.

Functional neural networks underlying response inhibition in adolescents and adults

PubMed Central

Stevens, Michael C.; Kiehl, Kent A.; Pearlson, Godfrey D.; Calhoun, Vince D.

2008-01-01

This study provides the first description of neural network dynamics associated with response inhibition in healthy adolescents and adults. Functional and effective connectivity analyses of whole brain hemodynamic activity elicited during performance of a Go/No-Go task were used to identify functionally-integrated neural networks and characterize their causal interactions. Three response inhibition circuits formed a hierarchical, inter-dependent system wherein thalamic modulation of input to premotor cortex by frontostriatal regions led to response suppression. Adolescents differed from adults in the degree of network engagement, regional fronto-striatal-thalamic connectivity, and network dynamics. We identify and characterize several age-related differences in the function of neural circuits that are associated with behavioral performance changes across adolescent development. PMID:17467816

Developmental Inter-Relationships Among Concrete Operational Tasks: An Investigation of Piaget's Stage Concept

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jamison, Wesley

1977-01-01

Two models of intertask relations, Wohlwill's divergent-decalage and reciprocal-interaction patterns, were evaluated for their fit to cross-classification tables which showed the joint classification of 101 children's performance on all possible pairs of eight concrete operational tasks. (SB)

The scheme of LLSST based on inter-satellite link for planet gravity field measurement in deep-space mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yikang; Li, Xue; Liu, Lei

2009-12-01

Gravity field measurement for the interested planets and their moos in solar system, such as Luna and Mars, is one important task in the next step of deep-space mission. In this paper, Similar to GRACE mission, LLSST and DOWR technology of common-orbit master-slave satellites around task planet is inherited in this scheme. Furthermore, by intersatellite 2-way UQPSK-DSSS link, time synchronization and data processing are implemented autonomously by masterslave satellites instead of GPS and ground facilities supporting system. Conclusion is derived that the ISL DOWR based on 2-way incoherent time synchronization has the same precise level to GRACE DOWR based on GPS time synchronization. Moreover, because of inter-satellite link, the proposed scheme is rather autonomous for gravity field measurement of the task planet in deep-space mission.

Individual Brain Charting, a high-resolution fMRI dataset for cognitive mapping.

PubMed

Pinho, Ana Luísa; Amadon, Alexis; Ruest, Torsten; Fabre, Murielle; Dohmatob, Elvis; Denghien, Isabelle; Ginisty, Chantal; Becuwe-Desmidt, Séverine; Roger, Séverine; Laurier, Laurence; Joly-Testault, Véronique; Médiouni-Cloarec, Gaëlle; Doublé, Christine; Martins, Bernadette; Pinel, Philippe; Eger, Evelyn; Varoquaux, Gaël; Pallier, Christophe; Dehaene, Stanislas; Hertz-Pannier, Lucie; Thirion, Bertrand

2018-06-12

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) has furthered brain mapping on perceptual, motor, as well as higher-level cognitive functions. However, to date, no data collection has systematically addressed the functional mapping of cognitive mechanisms at a fine spatial scale. The Individual Brain Charting (IBC) project stands for a high-resolution multi-task fMRI dataset that intends to provide the objective basis toward a comprehensive functional atlas of the human brain. The data refer to a cohort of 12 participants performing many different tasks. The large amount of task-fMRI data on the same subjects yields a precise mapping of the underlying functions, free from both inter-subject and inter-site variability. The present article gives a detailed description of the first release of the IBC dataset. It comprises a dozen of tasks, addressing both low- and high- level cognitive functions. This openly available dataset is thus intended to become a reference for cognitive brain mapping.

The reliability of a modified Kalamazoo Consensus Statement Checklist for assessing the communication skills of multidisciplinary clinicians in the simulated environment.

PubMed

Peterson, Eleanor B; Calhoun, Aaron W; Rider, Elizabeth A

2014-09-01

With increased recognition of the importance of sound communication skills and communication skills education, reliable assessment tools are essential. This study reports on the psychometric properties of an assessment tool based on the Kalamazoo Consensus Statement Essential Elements Communication Checklist. The Gap-Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Form (GKCSAF), a modified version of an existing communication skills assessment tool, the Kalamazoo Essential Elements Communication Checklist-Adapted, was used to assess learners in a multidisciplinary, simulation-based communication skills educational program using multiple raters. 118 simulated conversations were available for analysis. Internal consistency and inter-rater reliability were determined by calculating a Cronbach's alpha score and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC), respectively. The GKCSAF demonstrated high internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha score of 0.844 (faculty raters) and 0.880 (peer observer raters), and high inter-rater reliability with an ICC of 0.830 (faculty raters) and 0.89 (peer observer raters). The Gap-Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Form is a reliable method of assessing the communication skills of multidisciplinary learners using multi-rater methods within the learning environment. The Gap-Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Form can be used by educational programs that wish to implement a reliable assessment and feedback system for a variety of learners. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating quality of patient care communication in integrated care settings: a mixed method approach.

PubMed

Gulmans, J; Vollenbroek-Hutten, M M R; Van Gemert-Pijnen, J E W C; Van Harten, W H

2007-10-01

Owing to the involvement of multiple professionals from various institutions, integrated care settings are prone to suboptimal patient care communication. To assure continuity, communication gaps should be identified for targeted improvement initiatives. However, available assessment methods are often one-sided evaluations not appropriate for integrated care settings. We developed an evaluation approach that takes into account the multiple communication links and evaluation perspectives inherent to these settings. In this study, we describe this approach, using the integrated care setting of Cerebral Palsy as illustration. The approach follows a three-step mixed design in which the results of each step are used to mark out the subsequent step's focus. The first step patient questionnaire aims to identify quality gaps experienced by patients, comparing their expectancies and experiences with respect to patient-professional and inter-professional communication. Resulting gaps form the input of in-depth interviews with a subset of patients to evaluate underlying factors of ineffective communication. Resulting factors form the input of the final step's focus group meetings with professionals to corroborate and complete the findings. By combining methods, the presented approach aims to minimize limitations inherent to the application of single methods. The comprehensiveness of the approach enables its applicability in various integrated care settings. Its sequential design allows for in-depth evaluation of relevant quality gaps. Further research is needed to evaluate the approach's feasibility in practice. In our subsequent study, we present the results of the approach in the integrated care setting of children with Cerebral Palsy in three Dutch care regions.

The ICCAM platform study: An experimental medicine platform for evaluating new drugs for relapse prevention in addiction. Part B: fMRI description

PubMed Central

McGonigle, John; Murphy, Anna; Paterson, Louise M; Reed, Laurence J; Nestor, Liam; Nash, Jonathan; Elliott, Rebecca; Ersche, Karen D; Flechais, Remy SA; Newbould, Rexford; Orban, Csaba; Smith, Dana G; Taylor, Eleanor M; Waldman, Adam D; Robbins, Trevor W; Deakin, JF William; Nutt, David J; Lingford-Hughes, Anne R; Suckling, John

2016-01-01

Objectives: We aimed to set up a robust multi-centre clinical fMRI and neuropsychological platform to investigate the neuropharmacology of brain processes relevant to addiction – reward, impulsivity and emotional reactivity. Here we provide an overview of the fMRI battery, carried out across three centres, characterizing neuronal response to the tasks, along with exploring inter-centre differences in healthy participants. Experimental design: Three fMRI tasks were used: monetary incentive delay to probe reward sensitivity, go/no-go to probe impulsivity and an evocative images task to probe emotional reactivity. A coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis was carried out for the reward and impulsivity tasks to help establish region of interest (ROI) placement. A group of healthy participants was recruited from across three centres (total n=43) to investigate inter-centre differences. Principle observations: The pattern of response observed for each of the three tasks was consistent with previous studies using similar paradigms. At the whole brain level, significant differences were not observed between centres for any task. Conclusions: In developing this platform we successfully integrated neuroimaging data from three centres, adapted validated tasks and applied whole brain and ROI approaches to explore and demonstrate their consistency across centres. PMID:27703042

The system neurophysiological basis of backward inhibition.

PubMed

Zhang, Rui; Stock, Ann-Kathrin; Fischer, Rico; Beste, Christian

2016-12-01

Task switching is regularly required in our everyday life. To succeed in switching, it is important to inhibit the most recently performed task and instead activate the currently relevant task. The process that inhibits a recently performed task when a new task is to be performed is referred to as 'backward inhibition' (BI). While the BI effect has been subject to intense research in cognitive psychology, little is known about the neuronal mechanisms that are related to the BI effect and those that relate to differences in the magnitude of the BI effect. In the current study, we examined the system neurophysiological basis of BI processes using event-related potentials (ERPs) and sLORETA by also taking inter-individual differences in the magnitude of the BI into account. The results suggest that BI processes and inter-individual differences in them strongly depend upon attentional selection mechanisms (reflected by N1-ERP modulations in the current task/trial) mediated via networks consisting of extrastriate occipital areas, the temporo-parietal junction and the inferior frontal gyrus. Other processes and mechanisms related to conflict monitoring, response selection, or the updating, organization and implementation of a new task-set (i.e. N2 and P3 processes) were not shown to be modulated by BI processes and differences in their magnitude, as evoked with a common BI paradigm.

The ICCAM platform study: An experimental medicine platform for evaluating new drugs for relapse prevention in addiction. Part B: fMRI description.

PubMed

McGonigle, John; Murphy, Anna; Paterson, Louise M; Reed, Laurence J; Nestor, Liam; Nash, Jonathan; Elliott, Rebecca; Ersche, Karen D; Flechais, Remy Sa; Newbould, Rexford; Orban, Csaba; Smith, Dana G; Taylor, Eleanor M; Waldman, Adam D; Robbins, Trevor W; Deakin, Jf William; Nutt, David J; Lingford-Hughes, Anne R; Suckling, John

2017-01-01

We aimed to set up a robust multi-centre clinical fMRI and neuropsychological platform to investigate the neuropharmacology of brain processes relevant to addiction - reward, impulsivity and emotional reactivity. Here we provide an overview of the fMRI battery, carried out across three centres, characterizing neuronal response to the tasks, along with exploring inter-centre differences in healthy participants. Three fMRI tasks were used: monetary incentive delay to probe reward sensitivity, go/no-go to probe impulsivity and an evocative images task to probe emotional reactivity. A coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis was carried out for the reward and impulsivity tasks to help establish region of interest (ROI) placement. A group of healthy participants was recruited from across three centres (total n=43) to investigate inter-centre differences. Principle observations: The pattern of response observed for each of the three tasks was consistent with previous studies using similar paradigms. At the whole brain level, significant differences were not observed between centres for any task. In developing this platform we successfully integrated neuroimaging data from three centres, adapted validated tasks and applied whole brain and ROI approaches to explore and demonstrate their consistency across centres.

Using detailed inter-network simulation and model abstraction to investigate and evaluate joint battlespace infosphere (JBI) support technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Green, David M.; Dallaire, Joel D.; Reaper, Jerome H.

2004-08-01

The Joint Battlespace Infosphere (JBI) program is performing a technology investigation into global communications, data mining and warehousing, and data fusion technologies by focusing on techniques and methodologies that support twenty first century military distributed collaboration. Advancement of these technologies is vitally important if military decision makers are to have the right data, in the right format, at the right time and place to support making the right decisions within available timelines. A quantitative understanding of individual and combinational effects arising from the application of technologies within a framework is presently far too complex to evaluate at more than a cursory depth. In order to facilitate quantitative analysis under these circumstances, the Distributed Information Enterprise Modeling and Simulation (DIEMS) team was formed to apply modeling and simulation (M&S) techniques to help in addressing JBI analysis challenges. The DIEMS team has been tasked utilizing collaborative distributed M&S architectures to quantitatively evaluate JBI technologies and tradeoffs. This paper first presents a high level view of the DIEMS project. Once this approach has been established, a more concentrated view of the detailed communications simulation techniques used in generating the underlying support data sets is presented.

Multi-Attribute Task Battery - Applications in pilot workload and strategic behavior research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arnegard, Ruth J.; Comstock, J. R., Jr.

1991-01-01

The Multi-Attribute Task (MAT) Battery provides a benchmark set of tasks for use in a wide range of lab studies of operator performance and workload. The battery incorporates tasks analogous to activities that aircraft crewmembers perform in flight, while providing a high degree of experimenter control, performance data on each subtask, and freedom to nonpilot test subjects. Features not found in existing computer based tasks include an auditory communication task (to simulate Air Traffic Control communication), a resource management task permitting many avenues or strategies of maintaining target performance, a scheduling window which gives the operator information about future task demands, and the option of manual or automated control of tasks. Performance data are generated for each subtask. In addition, the task battery may be paused and onscreen workload rating scales presented to the subject. The MAT Battery requires a desktop computer with color graphics. The communication task requires a serial link to a second desktop computer with a voice synthesizer or digitizer card.

The multi-attribute task battery for human operator workload and strategic behavior research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comstock, J. Raymond, Jr.; Arnegard, Ruth J.

1992-01-01

The Multi-Attribute Task (MAT) Battery provides a benchmark set of tasks for use in a wide range of lab studies of operator performance and workload. The battery incorporates tasks analogous to activities that aircraft crewmembers perform in flight, while providing a high degree of experimenter control, performance data on each subtask, and freedom to use nonpilot test subjects. Features not found in existing computer based tasks include an auditory communication task (to simulate Air Traffic Control communication), a resource management task permitting many avenues or strategies of maintaining target performance, a scheduling window which gives the operator information about future task demands, and the option of manual or automated control of tasks. Performance data are generated for each subtask. In addition, the task battery may be paused and onscreen workload rating scales presented to the subject. The MAT Battery requires a desktop computer with color graphics. The communication task requires a serial link to a second desktop computer with a voice synthesizer or digitizer card.

Mother ship and physical agents collaboration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, Stuart H.; Budulas, Peter P.; Emmerman, Philip J.

1999-07-01

This paper discusses ongoing research at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory that investigates the feasibility of developing a collaboration architecture between small physical agents and a mother ship. This incudes the distribution of planning, perception, mobility, processing and communications requirements between the mother ship and the agents. Small physical agents of the future will be virtually everywhere on the battlefield of the 21st century. A mother ship that is coupled to a team of small collaborating physical agents (conducting tasks such as Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA); logistics; sentry; and communications relay) will be used to build a completely effective and mission capable intelligent system. The mother ship must have long-range mobility to deploy the small, highly maneuverable agents that will operate in urban environments and more localized areas, and act as a logistics base for the smaller agents. The mother ship also establishes a robust communications network between the agents and is the primary information disseminating and receiving point to the external world. Because of its global knowledge and processing power, the mother ship does the high-level control and planning for the collaborative physical agents. This high level control and interaction between the mother ship and its agents (including inter agent collaboration) will be software agent architecture based. The mother ship incorporates multi-resolution battlefield visualization and analysis technology, which aids in mission planning and sensor fusion.

President's Task Force on Communications Policy. Domestic Applications of Communication Satellite Technology. Staff Paper Four.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

President's Task Force on Communications Policy, Washington, DC.

A staff paper to the President's Task Force on Communications Policy examines the feasibility of a domestic communications satellite system. Although, with expected technological advancement, satellites may play a significant role in domestic transmission and are economically feasible right now, a number of remaining questions make the…

Computational Modeling of Allosteric Regulation in the Hsp90 Chaperones: A Statistical Ensemble Analysis of Protein Structure Networks and Allosteric Communications

PubMed Central

Blacklock, Kristin; Verkhivker, Gennady M.

2014-01-01

A fundamental role of the Hsp90 chaperone in regulating functional activity of diverse protein clients is essential for the integrity of signaling networks. In this work we have combined biophysical simulations of the Hsp90 crystal structures with the protein structure network analysis to characterize the statistical ensemble of allosteric interaction networks and communication pathways in the Hsp90 chaperones. We have found that principal structurally stable communities could be preserved during dynamic changes in the conformational ensemble. The dominant contribution of the inter-domain rigidity to the interaction networks has emerged as a common factor responsible for the thermodynamic stability of the active chaperone form during the ATPase cycle. Structural stability analysis using force constant profiling of the inter-residue fluctuation distances has identified a network of conserved structurally rigid residues that could serve as global mediating sites of allosteric communication. Mapping of the conformational landscape with the network centrality parameters has demonstrated that stable communities and mediating residues may act concertedly with the shifts in the conformational equilibrium and could describe the majority of functionally significant chaperone residues. The network analysis has revealed a relationship between structural stability, global centrality and functional significance of hotspot residues involved in chaperone regulation. We have found that allosteric interactions in the Hsp90 chaperone may be mediated by modules of structurally stable residues that display high betweenness in the global interaction network. The results of this study have suggested that allosteric interactions in the Hsp90 chaperone may operate via a mechanism that combines rapid and efficient communication by a single optimal pathway of structurally rigid residues and more robust signal transmission using an ensemble of suboptimal multiple communication routes. This may be a universal requirement encoded in protein structures to balance the inherent tension between resilience and efficiency of the residue interaction networks. PMID:24922508

Computational modeling of allosteric regulation in the hsp90 chaperones: a statistical ensemble analysis of protein structure networks and allosteric communications.

PubMed

Blacklock, Kristin; Verkhivker, Gennady M

2014-06-01

A fundamental role of the Hsp90 chaperone in regulating functional activity of diverse protein clients is essential for the integrity of signaling networks. In this work we have combined biophysical simulations of the Hsp90 crystal structures with the protein structure network analysis to characterize the statistical ensemble of allosteric interaction networks and communication pathways in the Hsp90 chaperones. We have found that principal structurally stable communities could be preserved during dynamic changes in the conformational ensemble. The dominant contribution of the inter-domain rigidity to the interaction networks has emerged as a common factor responsible for the thermodynamic stability of the active chaperone form during the ATPase cycle. Structural stability analysis using force constant profiling of the inter-residue fluctuation distances has identified a network of conserved structurally rigid residues that could serve as global mediating sites of allosteric communication. Mapping of the conformational landscape with the network centrality parameters has demonstrated that stable communities and mediating residues may act concertedly with the shifts in the conformational equilibrium and could describe the majority of functionally significant chaperone residues. The network analysis has revealed a relationship between structural stability, global centrality and functional significance of hotspot residues involved in chaperone regulation. We have found that allosteric interactions in the Hsp90 chaperone may be mediated by modules of structurally stable residues that display high betweenness in the global interaction network. The results of this study have suggested that allosteric interactions in the Hsp90 chaperone may operate via a mechanism that combines rapid and efficient communication by a single optimal pathway of structurally rigid residues and more robust signal transmission using an ensemble of suboptimal multiple communication routes. This may be a universal requirement encoded in protein structures to balance the inherent tension between resilience and efficiency of the residue interaction networks.

An extended two-lane car-following model accounting for inter-vehicle communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ou, Hui; Tang, Tie-Qiao

2018-04-01

In this paper, we develop a novel car-following model with inter-vehicle communication to explore each vehicle's movement in a two-lane traffic system when an incident occurs on a lane. The numerical results show that the proposed model can perfectly describe each vehicle's motion when an incident occurs, i.e., no collision occurs while the classical full velocity difference (FVD) model produces collision on each lane, which shows the proposed model is more reasonable. The above results can help drivers to reasonably adjust their driving behaviors when an incident occurs in a two-lane traffic system.

Method and apparatus for routing data in an inter-nodal communications lattice of a massively parallel computer system by dynamically adjusting local routing strategies

DOEpatents

Archer, Charles Jens; Musselman, Roy Glenn; Peters, Amanda; Pinnow, Kurt Walter; Swartz, Brent Allen; Wallenfelt, Brian Paul

2010-03-16

A massively parallel computer system contains an inter-nodal communications network of node-to-node links. Each node implements a respective routing strategy for routing data through the network, the routing strategies not necessarily being the same in every node. The routing strategies implemented in the nodes are dynamically adjusted during application execution to shift network workload as required. Preferably, adjustment of routing policies in selective nodes is performed at synchronization points. The network may be dynamically monitored, and routing strategies adjusted according to detected network conditions.

Transitions From Hospitals to Skilled Nursing Facilities for Persons With Dementia: A Challenging Convergence of Patient and System-Level Needs.

PubMed

Gilmore-Bykovskyi, Andrea L; Roberts, Tonya J; King, Barbara J; Kennelty, Korey A; Kind, Amy J H

2017-10-01

To describe skilled nursing facility (SNF) nurses' perspectives on the experiences and needs of persons with dementia (PwD) during hospital-to-SNF transitions and to identify factors related to the quality of these transitions. Grounded dimensional analysis study using individual and focus group interviews with nurses (N = 40) from 11 SNFs. Hospital-to-SNF transitions were largely described as distressing for PwD and their caregivers and dominated by dementia-related behavioral symptoms that were perceived as being purposely under-communicated by hospital personnel in discharge communications. SNF nurses described PwD as having unique transitional care needs, which primarily involved needing additional discharge preplanning to enable preparation of a tailored behavioral/social care plan and physical environment prior to transfer. SNF nurses identified inaccurate/limited hospital discharge communication regarding behavioral symptoms, short discharge timeframes, and limited nursing control over SNF admission decisions as factors that contributed to poorer-quality transitions producing increased risk for resident harm, rehospitalization, and negative resident/caregiver experiences. Engaged caregivers throughout the transition and the presence of high-quality discharge communication were identified as factors that improved the quality of transitions for PwD. Findings from this study provide important insight into factors that may influence transitional care quality during this highly vulnerable transition. Additional research is needed to explore the association between these factors and transitional care outcomes such as rehospitalization and caregiver stress. Future work should also explore strategies to improve inter-setting communication and care coordination for PwD exhibiting challenging behavioral symptoms. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Gerontological Society of America 2016.

What are the barriers and facilitators to implementing Collaborative Care for depression? A systematic review.

PubMed

Wood, Emily; Ohlsen, Sally; Ricketts, Thomas

2017-05-01

Collaborative Care is an evidence-based approach to the management of depression within primary care services recommended within NICE Guidance. However, uptake within the UK has been limited. This review aims to investigate the barriers and facilitators to implementing Collaborative Care. A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to uncover what barriers and facilitators have been reported by previous research into Collaborative Care for depression in primary care. The review identified barriers and facilitators to successful implementation of Collaborative Care for depression in 18 studies across a range of settings. A framework analysis was applied using the Collaborative Care definition. The most commonly reported barriers related to the multi-professional approach, such as staff and organisational attitudes to integration, and poor inter-professional communication. Facilitators to successful implementation particularly focussed on improving inter-professional communication through standardised care pathways and case managers with clear role boundaries and key underpinning personal qualities. Not all papers were independent title and abstract screened by multiple reviewers thus limiting the reliability of the selected studies. There are many different frameworks for assessing the quality of qualitative research and little consensus as to which is most appropriate in what circumstances. The use of a quality threshold led to the exclusion of six papers that could have included further information on barriers and facilitators. Although the evidence base for Collaborative Care is strong, and the population within primary care with depression is large, the preferred way to implement the approach has not been identified. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Novel Technique for Running the NASA Legacy Code LAPIN Synchronously With Simulations Developed Using Simulink

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vrnak, Daniel R.; Stueber, Thomas J.; Le, Dzu K.

2012-01-01

This report presents a method for running a dynamic legacy inlet simulation in concert with another dynamic simulation that uses a graphical interface. The legacy code, NASA's LArge Perturbation INlet (LAPIN) model, was coded using the FORTRAN 77 (The Portland Group, Lake Oswego, OR) programming language to run in a command shell similar to other applications that used the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA). Simulink (MathWorks, Natick, MA) is a dynamic simulation that runs on a modern graphical operating system. The product of this work has both simulations, LAPIN and Simulink, running synchronously on the same computer with periodic data exchanges. Implementing the method described in this paper avoided extensive changes to the legacy code and preserved its basic operating procedure. This paper presents a novel method that promotes inter-task data communication between the synchronously running processes.

[Instrumental, directive, and affective communication in hospital leaflets].

PubMed

Vasconcellos-Silva, Paulo Roberto; Uribe Rivera, Francisco Javier; Castiel, Luis David

2003-01-01

This study focuses on the typical semantic systems extracted from hospital staff communicative resources which attempt to validate information as an "object" to be transferred to patients. We describe the models of textual communication in 58 patient information leaflets from five hospital units in Brazil, gathered from 1996 to 2002. Three categories were identified, based on the theory of speech acts (Austin, Searle, and Habermas): 1) cognitive-instrumental utterances: descriptions by means of technical terms validated by self-referred, incomplete, or inaccessible argumentation, with an implicit educational function; 2) technical-directive utterances: self-referred (to the context of the source domains), with a shifting of everyday acts to a technical terrain with a disciplinary function and impersonal features; and 3) expressive modulations: need for inter-subjective connections to strengthen bonds of trust and a tendency to use childish arguments. We conclude that the three categories displayed: fragmentary sources; assumption of univocal messages and invariable use of information (idealized motivations and interests, apart from individualized perspectives); and assumption of universal interests as generators of knowledge.

Fit for the frontline? identification of mission-critical auditory tasks (MCATs) carried out by infantry and combat-support personnel.

PubMed

Semeraro, Hannah D; Bevis, Zoë L; Rowan, Daniel; van Besouw, Rachel M; Allsopp, Adrian J

2015-01-01

The ability to listen to commands in noisy environments and understand acoustic signals, while maintaining situational awareness, is an important skill for military personnel and can be critical for mission success. Seventeen auditory tasks carried out by British infantry and combat-support personnel were identified through a series of focus groups conducted by Bevis et al. For military personnel, these auditory tasks are termed mission-critical auditory tasks (MCATs) if they are carried in out in a military-specific environment and have a negative consequence when performed below a specified level. A questionnaire study was conducted to find out which of the auditory tasks identified by Bevis et al. satisfy the characteristics of an MCAT. Seventy-nine British infantry and combat-support personnel from four regiments across the South of England participated. For each auditory task participants indicated: 1) the consequences of poor performance on the task, 2) who performs the task, and 3) how frequently the task is carried out. The data were analysed to determine which tasks are carried out by which personnel, which have the most negative consequences when performed poorly, and which are performed the most frequently. This resulted in a list of 9 MCATs (7 speech communication tasks, 1 sound localization task, and 1 sound detection task) that should be prioritised for representation in a measure of auditory fitness for duty (AFFD) for these personnel. Incorporating MCATs in AFFD measures will help to ensure that personnel have the necessary auditory skills for safe and effective deployment on operational duties.

Fit for the frontline? Identification of mission-critical auditory tasks (MCATs) carried out by infantry and combat-support personnel

PubMed Central

Semeraro, Hannah D.; Bevis, Zoë L.; Rowan, Daniel; van Besouw, Rachel M.; Allsopp, Adrian J.

2015-01-01

The ability to listen to commands in noisy environments and understand acoustic signals, while maintaining situational awareness, is an important skill for military personnel and can be critical for mission success. Seventeen auditory tasks carried out by British infantry and combat-support personnel were identified through a series of focus groups conducted by Bevis et al. For military personnel, these auditory tasks are termed mission-critical auditory tasks (MCATs) if they are carried in out in a military-specific environment and have a negative consequence when performed below a specified level. A questionnaire study was conducted to find out which of the auditory tasks identified by Bevis et al. satisfy the characteristics of an MCAT. Seventy-nine British infantry and combat-support personnel from four regiments across the South of England participated. For each auditory task participants indicated: 1) the consequences of poor performance on the task, 2) who performs the task, and 3) how frequently the task is carried out. The data were analysed to determine which tasks are carried out by which personnel, which have the most negative consequences when performed poorly, and which are performed the most frequently. This resulted in a list of 9 MCATs (7 speech communication tasks, 1 sound localization task, and 1 sound detection task) that should be prioritised for representation in a measure of auditory fitness for duty (AFFD) for these personnel. Incorporating MCATs in AFFD measures will help to ensure that personnel have the necessary auditory skills for safe and effective deployment on operational duties. PMID:25774613

Differing Roles of Functional Movement Variability as Experience Increases in Gymnastics

PubMed Central

Busquets, Albert; Marina, Michel; Davids, Keith; Angulo-Barroso, Rosa

2016-01-01

Current theories, like Ecological Dynamics, propose that inter-trial movement variability is functional when acquiring or refining movement coordination. Here, we examined how age-based experience levels of gymnasts constrained differences in emergent movement pattern variability during task performance. Specifically, we investigated different roles of movement pattern variability when gymnasts in different age groups performed longswings on a high bar, capturing the range of experience from beginner to advanced status. We also investigated the functionality of the relationships between levels of inter-trial variability and longswing amplitude during performance. One-hundred and thirteen male gymnasts in five age groups were observed performing longswings (with three different experience levels: beginners, intermediates and advanced performers). Performance was evaluated by analysis of key events in coordination of longswing focused on the arm-trunk and trunk-thigh segmental relations. Results revealed that 10 of 18 inter-trial variability measures changed significantly as a function of increasing task experience. Four of ten variability measures conformed to a U-shaped function with age implying exploratory strategies amongst beginners and functional adaptive variability amongst advanced performers. Inter-trial variability of arm-trunk coordination variables (6 of 10) conformed to a \\-shaped curve, as values were reduced to complete the longswings. Changes in coordination variability from beginner to intermediate status were largely restrictive, with only one variability measure related to exploration. Data revealed how inter-trial movement variability in gymnastics, relative to performance outcomes, needs careful interpretation, implying different roles as task experience changes. Key points Inter-trial variability while performing longswings on a high bar was assessed in a large sample (113 participants) divided into five age groups (form beginners to advanced gymnasts). Longswing assessment allowed us to evaluate inter-trial variability in representative performance context. Coordination variability presented two different configurations across experience levels depending on the variable of interest: either a U-shaped or a L- or \\-shaped graph. Increased inter-trial variability of the functional phase events offered flexibility to adapt the longswing performance in the advanced gymnasts, while decreasing variability in arm-trunk coordination modes was critical to improve longswing and to achieve the most advanced level. In addition, the relationship between variability measures and the global performance outcome (i.e. the swing amplitude) revealed different functional roles of movement variability (exploratory or restrictive) as a function of changes in experience levels. PMID:27274664

Decision making in healthy participants on the Iowa Gambling Task: new insights from an operant approach.

PubMed

Bull, Peter N; Tippett, Lynette J; Addis, Donna Rose

2015-01-01

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has contributed greatly to the study of affective decision making. However, researchers have observed high inter-study and inter-individual variability in IGT performance in healthy participants, and many are classified as impaired using standard criteria. Additionally, while decision-making deficits are often attributed to atypical sensitivity to reward and/or punishment, the IGT lacks an integrated sensitivity measure. Adopting an operant perspective, two experiments were conducted to explore these issues. In Experiment 1, 50 healthy participants completed a 200-trial version of the IGT which otherwise closely emulated Bechara et al.'s (1999) original computer task. Group data for Trials 1-100 closely replicated Bechara et al.'s original findings of high net scores and preferences for advantageous decks, suggesting that implementations that depart significantly from Bechara's standard IGT contribute to inter-study variability. During Trials 101-200, mean net scores improved significantly and the percentage of participants meeting the "impaired" criterion was halved. An operant-style stability criterion applied to individual data revealed this was likely related to individual differences in learning rate. Experiment 2 used a novel operant card task-the Auckland Card Task (ACT)-to derive quantitative estimates of sensitivity using the generalized matching law. Relative to individuals who mastered the IGT, persistent poor performers on the IGT exhibited significantly lower sensitivity to magnitudes (but not frequencies) of rewards and punishers on the ACT. Overall, our findings demonstrate the utility of operant-style analysis of IGT data and the potential of applying operant concurrent-schedule procedures to the study of human decision making.

High-alpha band synchronization across frontal, parietal and visual cortex mediates behavioral and neuronal effects of visuospatial attention.

PubMed

Lobier, Muriel; Palva, J Matias; Palva, Satu

2018-01-15

Visuospatial attention prioritizes processing of attended visual stimuli. It is characterized by lateralized alpha-band (8-14 Hz) amplitude suppression in visual cortex and increased neuronal activity in a network of frontal and parietal areas. It has remained unknown what mechanisms coordinate neuronal processing among frontoparietal network and visual cortices and implement the attention-related modulations of alpha-band amplitudes and behavior. We investigated whether large-scale network synchronization could be such a mechanism. We recorded human cortical activity with magnetoencephalography (MEG) during a visuospatial attention task. We then identified the frequencies and anatomical networks of inter-areal phase synchronization from source localized MEG data. We found that visuospatial attention is associated with robust and sustained long-range synchronization of cortical oscillations exclusively in the high-alpha (10-14 Hz) frequency band. This synchronization connected frontal, parietal and visual regions and was observed concurrently with amplitude suppression of low-alpha (6-9 Hz) band oscillations in visual cortex. Furthermore, stronger high-alpha phase synchronization was associated with decreased reaction times to attended stimuli and larger suppression of alpha-band amplitudes. These results thus show that high-alpha band phase synchronization is functionally significant and could coordinate the neuronal communication underlying the implementation of visuospatial attention. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Creating Regional Futures: A Scenario-Based Inter- and Transdisciplinary Case Study as a Model for Applied Student-Centred Learning in Geography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fromhold-Eisebith, Martina; Freyer, Bernhard; Mose, Ingo; Muhar, Andreas; Vilsmaier, Ulli

2009-01-01

Human geography students face changing qualification requirements due to a shift towards new topics, educational tasks and professional options regarding issues of spatial development. This "practical turn" raises the importance of inter- and transdisciplinary work, management and capability building skills, with case study projects and…

Strong converse theorems using Rényi entropies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leditzky, Felix; Wilde, Mark M.; Datta, Nilanjana

2016-08-01

We use a Rényi entropy method to prove strong converse theorems for certain information-theoretic tasks which involve local operations and quantum (or classical) communication between two parties. These include state redistribution, coherent state merging, quantum state splitting, measurement compression with quantum side information, randomness extraction against quantum side information, and data compression with quantum side information. The method we employ in proving these results extends ideas developed by Sharma [preprint arXiv:1404.5940 [quant-ph] (2014)], which he used to give a new proof of the strong converse theorem for state merging. For state redistribution, we prove the strong converse property for the boundary of the entire achievable rate region in the (e, q)-plane, where e and q denote the entanglement cost and quantum communication cost, respectively. In the case of measurement compression with quantum side information, we prove a strong converse theorem for the classical communication cost, which is a new result extending the previously known weak converse. For the remaining tasks, we provide new proofs for strong converse theorems previously established using smooth entropies. For each task, we obtain the strong converse theorem from explicit bounds on the figure of merit of the task in terms of a Rényi generalization of the optimal rate. Hence, we identify candidates for the strong converse exponents for each task discussed in this paper. To prove our results, we establish various new entropic inequalities, which might be of independent interest. These involve conditional entropies and mutual information derived from the sandwiched Rényi divergence. In particular, we obtain novel bounds relating these quantities, as well as the Rényi conditional mutual information, to the fidelity of two quantum states.

Strong converse theorems using Rényi entropies

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

Leditzky, Felix; Datta, Nilanjana; Wilde, Mark M.

We use a Rényi entropy method to prove strong converse theorems for certain information-theoretic tasks which involve local operations and quantum (or classical) communication between two parties. These include state redistribution, coherent state merging, quantum state splitting, measurement compression with quantum side information, randomness extraction against quantum side information, and data compression with quantum side information. The method we employ in proving these results extends ideas developed by Sharma [preprint http://arxiv.org/abs/1404.5940 [quant-ph] (2014)], which he used to give a new proof of the strong converse theorem for state merging. For state redistribution, we prove the strong converse property for themore » boundary of the entire achievable rate region in the (e, q)-plane, where e and q denote the entanglement cost and quantum communication cost, respectively. In the case of measurement compression with quantum side information, we prove a strong converse theorem for the classical communication cost, which is a new result extending the previously known weak converse. For the remaining tasks, we provide new proofs for strong converse theorems previously established using smooth entropies. For each task, we obtain the strong converse theorem from explicit bounds on the figure of merit of the task in terms of a Rényi generalization of the optimal rate. Hence, we identify candidates for the strong converse exponents for each task discussed in this paper. To prove our results, we establish various new entropic inequalities, which might be of independent interest. These involve conditional entropies and mutual information derived from the sandwiched Rényi divergence. In particular, we obtain novel bounds relating these quantities, as well as the Rényi conditional mutual information, to the fidelity of two quantum states.« less

Temporal Discounting and Inter-Temporal Choice in Rhesus Monkeys

PubMed Central

Hwang, Jaewon; Kim, Soyoun; Lee, Daeyeol

2009-01-01

Humans and animals are more likely to take an action leading to an immediate reward than actions with delayed rewards of similar magnitudes. Although such devaluation of delayed rewards has been almost universally described by hyperbolic discount functions, the rate of this temporal discounting varies substantially among different animal species. This might be in part due to the differences in how the information about reward is presented to decision makers. In previous animal studies, reward delays or magnitudes were gradually adjusted across trials, so the animals learned the properties of future rewards from the rewards they waited for and consumed previously. In contrast, verbal cues have been used commonly in human studies. In the present study, rhesus monkeys were trained in a novel inter-temporal choice task in which the magnitude and delay of reward were indicated symbolically using visual cues and varied randomly across trials. We found that monkeys could extract the information about reward delays from visual symbols regardless of the number of symbols used to indicate the delay. The rate of temporal discounting observed in the present study was comparable to the previous estimates in other mammals, and the animal's choice behavior was largely consistent with hyperbolic discounting. Our results also suggest that the rate of temporal discounting might be influenced by contextual factors, such as the novelty of the task. The flexibility furnished by this new inter-temporal choice task might be useful for future neurobiological investigations on inter-temporal choice in non-human primates. PMID:19562091

Inter-subunit interactions across the upper voltage sensing-pore domain interface contribute to the concerted pore opening transition of Kv channels.

PubMed

Shem-Ad, Tzilhav; Irit, Orr; Yifrach, Ofer

2013-01-01

The tight electro-mechanical coupling between the voltage-sensing and pore domains of Kv channels lies at the heart of their fundamental roles in electrical signaling. Structural data have identified two voltage sensor pore inter-domain interaction surfaces, thus providing a framework to explain the molecular basis for the tight coupling of these domains. While the contribution of the intra-subunit lower domain interface to the electro-mechanical coupling that underlies channel opening is relatively well understood, the contribution of the inter-subunit upper interface to channel gating is not yet clear. Relying on energy perturbation and thermodynamic coupling analyses of tandem-dimeric Shaker Kv channels, we show that mutation of upper interface residues from both sides of the voltage sensor-pore domain interface stabilizes the closed channel state. These mutations, however, do not affect slow inactivation gating. We, moreover, find that upper interface residues form a network of state-dependent interactions that stabilize the open channel state. Finally, we note that the observed residue interaction network does not change during slow inactivation gating. The upper voltage sensing-pore interaction surface thus only undergoes conformational rearrangements during channel activation gating. We suggest that inter-subunit interactions across the upper domain interface mediate allosteric communication between channel subunits that contributes to the concerted nature of the late pore opening transition of Kv channels.

Inter-hemispheric Intrinsic Connectivity as a Neuromarker for the Diagnosis of Boys with Tourette Syndrome.

PubMed

Liao, Wei; Yu, Yang; Miao, Huan-Huan; Feng, Yi-Xuan; Ji, Gong-Jun; Feng, Jian-Hua

2017-05-01

Tourette syndrome (TS) is associated with gross morphological changes in the corpus callosum, suggesting deficits in inter-hemispheric coordination. The present study sought to identify changes in inter-hemispheric functional and anatomical connectivity in boys with "pure" TS as well as their potential value for clinical diagnosis. TS boys without comorbidity (pure TS, n = 24) were selected from a large dataset and compared to age- and education-matched controls (n = 32). Intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) between bilateral homotopic voxels was computed and compared between groups. Abnormal iFC was found in the bilateral prefronto-striatum-midbrain networks as well as bilateral sensorimotor and temporal cortices. The iFC between the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was negatively correlated with symptom severity. Anatomical connectivity strengths between functionally abnormal regions were estimated by diffusion probabilistic tractography, but no significant between-group difference was found. To test the clinical applicability of these neuroimaging findings, multivariate pattern analysis was used to develop a classification model in half of the total sample. The classification model exhibited excellent classification power for discriminating TS patients from controls in the other half samples. In summary, our findings emphasize the role of inter-hemispheric communication deficits in the pathophysiology of TS and suggest that iFC is a potential quantitative neuromarker for clinical diagnosis.

New methods for analyzing semantic graph based assessments in science education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vikaros, Lance Steven

This research investigated how the scoring of semantic graphs (known by many as concept maps) could be improved and automated in order to address issues of inter-rater reliability and scalability. As part of the NSF funded SENSE-IT project to introduce secondary school science students to sensor networks (NSF Grant No. 0833440), semantic graphs illustrating how temperature change affects water ecology were collected from 221 students across 16 schools. The graphing task did not constrain students' use of terms, as is often done with semantic graph based assessment due to coding and scoring concerns. The graphing software used provided real-time feedback to help students learn how to construct graphs, stay on topic and effectively communicate ideas. The collected graphs were scored by human raters using assessment methods expected to boost reliability, which included adaptations of traditional holistic and propositional scoring methods, use of expert raters, topical rubrics, and criterion graphs. High levels of inter-rater reliability were achieved, demonstrating that vocabulary constraints may not be necessary after all. To investigate a new approach to automating the scoring of graphs, thirty-two different graph features characterizing graphs' structure, semantics, configuration and process of construction were then used to predict human raters' scoring of graphs in order to identify feature patterns correlated to raters' evaluations of graphs' topical accuracy and complexity. Results led to the development of a regression model able to predict raters' scoring with 77% accuracy, with 46% accuracy expected when used to score new sets of graphs, as estimated via cross-validation tests. Although such performance is comparable to other graph and essay based scoring systems, cross-context testing of the model and methods used to develop it would be needed before it could be recommended for widespread use. Still, the findings suggest techniques for improving the reliability and scalability of semantic graph based assessments without requiring constraint of how ideas are expressed.

Simulated patient training: Using inter-rater reliability to evaluate simulated patient consistency in nursing education.

PubMed

MacLean, Sharon; Geddes, Fiona; Kelly, Michelle; Della, Phillip

2018-03-01

Simulated patients (SPs) are frequently used for training nursing students in communication skills. An acknowledged benefit of using SPs is the opportunity to provide a standardized approach by which participants can demonstrate and develop communication skills. However, relatively little evidence is available on how to best facilitate and evaluate the reliability and accuracy of SPs' performances. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of an evidenced based SP training framework to ensure standardization of SPs. The training framework was employed to improve inter-rater reliability of SPs. A quasi-experimental study was employed to assess SP post-training understanding of simulation scenario parameters using inter-rater reliability agreement indices. Two phases of data collection took place. Initially a trial phase including audio-visual (AV) recordings of two undergraduate nursing students completing a simulation scenario is rated by eight SPs using the Interpersonal Communication Assessments Scale (ICAS) and Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale (QDTS). In phase 2, eight SP raters and four nursing faculty raters independently evaluated students' (N=42) communication practices using the QDTS. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were >0.80 for both stages of the study in clinical communication skills. The results support the premise that if trained appropriately, SPs have a high degree of reliability and validity to both facilitate and evaluate student performance in nurse education. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Task shifting for non-communicable disease management in low and middle income countries--a systematic review.

PubMed

Joshi, Rohina; Alim, Mohammed; Kengne, Andre Pascal; Jan, Stephen; Maulik, Pallab K; Peiris, David; Patel, Anushka A

2014-01-01

One potential solution to limited healthcare access in low and middle income countries (LMIC) is task-shifting- the training of non-physician healthcare workers (NPHWs) to perform tasks traditionally undertaken by physicians. The aim of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of studies involving task-shifting for the management of non-communicable disease (NCD) in LMIC. A search strategy with the following terms "task-shifting", "non-physician healthcare workers", "community healthcare worker", "hypertension", "diabetes", "cardiovascular disease", "mental health", "depression", "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease", "respiratory disease", "cancer" was conducted using Medline via Pubmed and the Cochrane library. Two reviewers independently reviewed the databases and extracted the data. Our search generated 7176 articles of which 22 were included in the review. Seven studies were randomised controlled trials and 15 were observational studies. Tasks performed by NPHWs included screening for NCDs and providing primary health care. The majority of studies showed improved health outcomes when compared with usual healthcare, including reductions in blood pressure, increased uptake of medications and lower depression scores. Factors such as training of NPHWs, provision of algorithms and protocols for screening, treatment and drug titration were the main enablers of the task-shifting intervention. The main barriers identified were restrictions on prescribing medications and availability of medicines. Only two studies described cost-effective analyses, both of which demonstrated that task-shifting was cost-effective. Task-shifting from physicians to NPHWs, if accompanied by health system re-structuring is a potentially effective and affordable strategy for improving access to healthcare for NCDs. Since the majority of study designs reviewed were of inadequate quality, future research methods should include robust evaluations of such strategies.

A survey-based cross-sectional study of doctors’ expectations and experiences of non-technical skills for Out of Hours work

PubMed Central

Brown, Michael; Shaw, Dominick; Sharples, Sarah; Jeune, Ivan Le; Blakey, John

2015-01-01

Objectives The skill set required for junior doctors to work efficiently and safely Out of Hours (OoH) in hospitals has not been established. This is despite the OoH period representing 75% of the year and it being the time of highest mortality. We set out to explore the expectations of medical students and experiences of junior doctors of the non-technical skills needed to work OoH. Design Survey-based cross-sectional study informed by focus groups. Setting Online survey with participants from five large teaching hospitals across the UK. Participants 300 Medical Students and Doctors Outcome measure Participants ranked the importance of non-technical skills, as identified by literature review and focus groups, needed for OoH care. Results The focus groups revealed a total of eight non-technical skills deemed to be important. In the survey ‘Task Prioritisation’ (mean rank 1.617) was consistently identified as the most important non-technical skill. Stage of training affected the ranking of skills, with significant differences for ‘Communication with Senior Doctors’, ‘Dealing with Clinical Isolation’, ‘Task Prioritisation’ and ‘Communication with Patients’. Importantly, there was a significant discrepancy between the medical student expectations and experiences of doctors undertaking work. Conclusions Our findings suggest that medical staff particularly value task prioritisation skills; however, these are not routinely taught in medical schools. The discrepancy between expectations of students and experience of doctors reinforces the idea that there is a gap in training. Doctors of different grades place different importance on specific non-technical skills with implications for postgraduate training. There is a pressing need for medical schools and deaneries to review non-technical training to include more than communication skills. PMID:25687899

Strategy-Based Technical Instruction: Development and Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-08-01

scripts dependant on target tasks and the outcomes desired, and to the use of node-link knowledge maps as communications props. In addition, we have...information "on the job" - communicate with others in the task environment; - monitor, diagnose, and correct problems associated with critical tasks... communicated . Technical Training Goals The individual in a technical training scenario is expected to achieve a wide variety of goals. These goals can

The Impact of Accelerated Promotion Rates on Drill Sergeant Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

land navigation, communication (voice/visual), NBC protection). I have good knowledge of most Warrior tasks; I have sufficient skills to handle...but seldom reach out on my own initiative. I communicate and work well with others regardless of background; I encourage attitudes of tolerance and...most of the Warrior tasks (e.g., land navigation, communication (voice/visual), NBC protection). I have good knowledge of most Warrior tasks; I

Functional brain connectivity when cooperation fails.

PubMed

Balconi, Michela; Vanutelli, Maria Elide; Gatti, Laura

2018-06-01

Functional connectivity during cooperative actions is an important topic in social neuroscience that has yet to be answered. Here, we examined the effects of administration of (fictitious) negative social feedback in relation to cooperative capabilities. Cognitive performance and neural activation underlying the execution of joint actions was recorded with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) on prefrontal regions during a task where pairs of participants received negative feedback after their joint action. Performance (error rates (ERs) and response times (RTs)) and intra- and inter-brain connectivity indices were computed, along with the ConIndex (inter-brain/intra-brain connectivity). Finally, correlational measures were considered to assess the relation between these different measures. Results showed that the negative feedback was able to modulate participants' responses for both behavioral and neural components. Cognitive performance was decreased after the feedback. Moreover, decreased inter-brain connectivity and increased intra-brain connectivity was induced by the feedback, whereas the cooperative task pre-feedback condition was able to increase the brain-to-brain coupling, mainly localized within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Finally, the presence of significant correlations between RTs and inter-brain connectivity revealed that ineffective joint action produces the worst cognitive performance and a more 'individual strategy' for brain activity, limiting the inter-brain connectivity. The present study provides a significant contribution to the identification of patterns of intra- and inter-brain functional connectivity when negative social reinforcement is provided in relation to cooperative actions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of Tasks on Spoken Interaction and Motivation in English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carrero Pérez, Nubia Patricia

2016-01-01

Task based learning (TBL) or Task based learning and teaching (TBLT) is a communicative approach widely applied in settings where English has been taught as a foreign language (EFL). It has been documented as greatly useful to improve learners' communication skills. This research intended to find the effect of tasks on students' spoken interaction…

A Dyadic Interactive Approach to the Study of Leader Behavior

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-07-01

supervisors and workers in a bogus greeting card company performed experimental tasks involving construction of " origami " cranes. The following variables...comprised of a supervisor and three workers who, in turn, were assigned the task of producing " origami " paper cranes and were paid on a piece-rate basis...behaviors as he inter- acted with his followers. Experimental Task The experimental task involved the construction of " origami " cranes from sheets of

Field study of communication and workload in police helicopters - Implications for AI cockpit design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Linde, Charlotte; Shively, Robert J.

1988-01-01

This paper reports on the work performed by civilian helicopter crews, using audio and video recordings and a variety of workload measures (heart rate and subjective ratings) obtained in a field study of public service helicopter missions. The number and frequency of communications provided a significant source of workload. This is relevant to the design of automated cockpit systems, since many designs presuppose the use of voice I/O systems. Fluency of communications (including pauses, hesitation markers, repetitions, and false starts) furnished an early indication of the effects of fatigue. Three workload measures were correlated to identify high workload segments of flight, and to suggest alternate task allocations between crew members.

When Task Conflict Becomes Personal: The Impact of Perceived Team Performance.

PubMed

Guenter, Hannes; van Emmerik, Hetty; Schreurs, Bert; Kuypers, Tom; van Iterson, Ad; Notelaers, Guy

2016-10-01

Although potentially beneficial, task conflict may threaten teams because it often leads to relationship conflict. Prior research has identified a set of interpersonal factors (e.g., team communication, team trust) that help attenuate this association. The purpose of this article is to provide an alternative perspective that focuses on the moderating role of performance-related factors (i.e., perceived team performance). Using social identity theory, we build a model that predicts how task conflict associates with growth in relationship conflict and how perceived team performance influences this association. We test a three-wave longitudinal model by means of random coefficient growth modeling, using data from 60 ongoing teams working in a health care organization. Results provide partial support for our hypotheses. Only when perceived team performance is low, do task conflicts relate with growth in relationship conflict. We conclude that perceived team performance seems to enable teams to uncouple task from relationship conflict.

When Task Conflict Becomes Personal

PubMed Central

Guenter, Hannes; van Emmerik, Hetty; Schreurs, Bert; Kuypers, Tom; van Iterson, Ad; Notelaers, Guy

2016-01-01

Although potentially beneficial, task conflict may threaten teams because it often leads to relationship conflict. Prior research has identified a set of interpersonal factors (e.g., team communication, team trust) that help attenuate this association. The purpose of this article is to provide an alternative perspective that focuses on the moderating role of performance-related factors (i.e., perceived team performance). Using social identity theory, we build a model that predicts how task conflict associates with growth in relationship conflict and how perceived team performance influences this association. We test a three-wave longitudinal model by means of random coefficient growth modeling, using data from 60 ongoing teams working in a health care organization. Results provide partial support for our hypotheses. Only when perceived team performance is low, do task conflicts relate with growth in relationship conflict. We conclude that perceived team performance seems to enable teams to uncouple task from relationship conflict. PMID:28190944

Promoting a More Inclusive Communication Curriculum Using Inter-University Faculty Collaboration as a Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schnell, Jim; Dates, Jannette

A strategy for promoting a culturally inclusive college communication curriculum was developed based on collaboration between two faculty members from the School of Communication at Howard University in Washington, D.C. (HU) and Ohio Dominican College (ODC). In particular the African American HU professor served as a mentor to the ODC professor so…

Toddlers' Complex Communication: Playfulness from a Secure Base

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alcock, Sophie

2013-01-01

Attachment theory is presented in this article as involving embodied relational processes within complex relational systems. Two narrative-like "events" are represented to illustrate very young children playfully relating -- connecting and communicating inter- and intrasubjectively. The ethnographic-inspired research methods included…

Guidelines for Cognitive Behavioral Training within Doctoral Psychology Programs in the United States: Report of the Inter-Organizational Task Force on Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology Doctoral Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klepac, Robert K.; Ronan, George F.; Andrasik, Frank; Arnold, Kevin D.; Belar, Cynthia D.; Berry, Sharon L.; Christofff, Karen A.; Craighead, Linda W.; Dougher, Michael J.; Dowd, E. Thomas; Herbert, James D.; McFarr, Lynn M.; Rizvi, Shireen L.; Sauer, Eric M.; Strauman, Timothy J.

2012-01-01

The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies initiated an interorganizational task force to develop guidelines for integrated education and training in cognitive and behavioral psychology at the doctoral level in the United States. Fifteen task force members representing 16 professional associations participated in a yearlong series of…

Inter-individual Differences in Exercise-Induced Spatial Working Memory Improvement: A Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study.

PubMed

Yamazaki, Yudai; Sato, Daisuke; Yamashiro, Koya; Tsubaki, Atsuhiro; Yamaguchi, Yui; Takehara, Nana; Maruyama, Atsuo

2017-01-01

Acute aerobic exercise at a mild intensity improves cognitive function. However, the response to exercise exhibits inter-individual differences, and the mechanisms underlying these differences remain unclear. The objective of this study was to determine potential factors in the brain that underlie differential responses to exercise in terms of cognitive improvement using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Fourteen healthy subjects participated in these experiments. Participants performed a low intensity cycling exercise at 30% maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2peak ) for 10 min and performed a spatial memory task before and after exercising (5 and 30 min). The spatial memory task comprised two levels of difficulty (low: 1-dot EXERCISE, high: 3-dot EXERCISE). Cortical oxy-hemoglobin (O 2 Hb) levels were recorded using near-infrared spectroscopy during both the exercise and the spatial memory task phases. Regions of interests included the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), and frontopolar area (FPA). The participants were divided into two groups depending on whether they were responders (improved task reaction time) or non-responders (no improvement). Subsequently, we analyzed the group characteristics and differences in the change in O 2 Hb levels during exercise and spatial working memory tasks. Acute mild exercise significantly improved mean reaction times in the 1-dot memory task but not in the 3-dot task across the participants. In the 1-dot EXERCISE, 10 subjects were responders and four subjects were non-responders, whereas in the 3-dot EXERCISE, seven subjects were non-responders. In responders, during exercise, we found higher O 2 Hb levels in the right VLPFC response for the 1-dot memory task. Acute mild exercise caused inter-individual differences in spatial memory improvement, which were associated with changes in O 2 Hb activity in the prefrontal area during the exercise phase but not during the actual spatial memory task. Therefore, individuals who respond with higher reactivity to mild intensity exercise in the VLPFC might obtain larger spatial working memory improvements following exercise than non-responders.

Metacognition in speech and language therapy for children with social (pragmatic) communication disorders: implications for a theory of therapy.

PubMed

Gaile, Jacqueline; Adams, Catherine

2018-01-01

Metacognition is a significant component of complex interventions for children who have developmental language disorders. Research into how metacognition operates in the content or process of developmental language therapy delivery is limited. Identification and description of proposed active therapy components, such as metacognition, may contribute to our understanding of how to deliver complex communication interventions in an optimal manner. To analyse aspects of metacognition during therapy derived from a manualized speech and language intervention (the Social Communication Intervention Programme-SCIP) as delivered to children who have social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SPCD) and to examine the dynamic process of delivering therapy. A purposive sample of eight filmed therapy sessions was selected from the video data corpus of intervention-arm participants within a randomized controlled trial. The child-therapist interactions during therapy sessions from five children (aged between 5;11 and 10;3) in the SCIP trial were transcribed. Filmed sessions represented a variety of communication profiles and SCIP therapy content. Starting from existing theory on metacognition, cycles of iterative analysis were performed using a mixed inductive-deductive qualitative analysis. A preliminary list of metacognitive content embedded in the intervention was developed into a metacognitive coding framework (MCF). A thematic analysis of the identified metacognitive content of the intervention was then carried out across the whole sample. Thematic analysis revealed the presence of metacognition in the content and delivery of SCIP intervention. Four main themes of metacognitive person, task and strategy knowledge, and monitoring/control were identified. Metacognition was a feature of how children's ability to monitor language, pragmatic and social interaction skills, in themselves and other people, was developed. Task design and delivery methods were found to play a particular role in adjusting the metacognitive content of the therapy activities. This study makes explicit the metacognitive content and delivery within a complex developmental communication intervention. Discussion of the findings about metacognitive content provides an explanation of how the skilled speech and language therapist manipulates task demands, person knowledge and therapy methods towards the therapy goal. Clinical applications of the metacognitive framework are discussed. We suggest that the process of making the tacit knowledge of the therapist explicit can contribute to the implementation of complex evidence-based interventions. © 2017 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Determinants of linear judgment: a meta-analysis of lens model studies.

PubMed

Karelaia, Natalia; Hogarth, Robin M

2008-05-01

The mathematical representation of E. Brunswik's (1952) lens model has been used extensively to study human judgment and provides a unique opportunity to conduct a meta-analysis of studies that covers roughly 5 decades. Specifically, the authors analyzed statistics of the "lens model equation" (L. R. Tucker, 1964) associated with 249 different task environments obtained from 86 articles. On average, fairly high levels of judgmental achievement were found, and people were seen to be capable of achieving similar levels of cognitive performance in noisy and predictable environments. Further, the effects of task characteristics that influence judgment (numbers and types of cues, inter-cue redundancy, function forms and cue weights in the ecology, laboratory versus field studies, and experience with the task) were identified and estimated. A detailed analysis of learning studies revealed that the most effective form of feedback was information about the task. The authors also analyzed empirically under what conditions the application of bootstrapping--or replacing judges by their linear models--is advantageous. Finally, the authors note shortcomings of the kinds of studies conducted to date, limitations in the lens model methodology, and possibilities for future research. (Copyright) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

A Comparison of Telephone Genetic Counseling and In-Person Genetic Counseling from the Genetic Counselor's Perspective.

PubMed

Burgess, Kelly R; Carmany, Erin P; Trepanier, Angela M

2016-02-01

Growing demand for and limited geographic access to genetic counseling services is increasing the need for alternative service delivery models (SDM) like telephone genetic counseling (TGC). Little research has been done on genetic counselors' perspectives of the practice of TGC. We created an anonymous online survey to assess whether telephone genetic counselors believed the tasks identified in the ABGC (American Board of Genetic Counseling) Practice Analysis were performed similarly or differently in TGC compared to in person genetic counseling (IPGC). If there were differences noted, we sought to determine the nature of the differences and if additional training might be needed to address them. Eighty eight genetic counselors with experience in TGC completed some or all of the survey. Respondents identified differences in 13 (14.8%) of the 88 tasks studied. The tasks identified as most different in TGC were: "establishing rapport through verbal and nonverbal interactions" (60.2%; 50/83 respondents identified the task as different), "recognizing factors affecting the counseling interaction" (47.8%; 32/67), "assessing client/family emotions, support, etc." (40.1%; 27/66) and "educating clients about basic genetic concepts" (35.6%; 26/73). A slight majority (53.8%; 35/65) felt additional training was needed to communicate information without visual aids and more effectively perform psychosocial assessments. In summary, although a majority of genetic counseling tasks are performed similarly between TGC and IPGC, TGC counselors recognize that specific training in the TGC model may be needed to address the key differences.

Inter-agency communication and operations capabilities during a hospital functional exercise: reliability and validity of a measurement tool.

PubMed

Savoia, Elena; Biddinger, Paul D; Burstein, Jon; Stoto, Michael A

2010-01-01

As proxies for actual emergencies, drills and exercises can raise awareness, stimulate improvements in planning and training, and provide an opportunity to examine how different components of the public health system would combine to respond to a challenge. Despite these benefits, there remains a substantial need for widely accepted and prospectively validated tools to evaluate agencies' and hospitals' performance during such events. Unfortunately, to date, few studies have focused on addressing this need. The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of a qualitative performance assessment tool designed to measure hospitals' communication and operational capabilities during a functional exercise. The study population included 154 hospital personnel representing nine hospitals that participated in a functional exercise in Massachusetts in June 2008. A 25-item questionnaire was developed to assess the following three hospital functional capabilities: (1) inter-agency communication; (2) communication with the public; and (3) disaster operations. Analyses were conducted to examine internal consistency, associations among scales, the empirical structure of the items, and inter-rater agreement. Twenty-two questions were retained in the final instrument, which demonstrated reliability with alpha coefficients of 0.83 or higher for all scales. A three-factor solution from the principal components analysis accounted for 57% of the total variance, and the factor structure was consistent with the original hypothesized domains. Inter-rater agreement between participants' self reported scores and external evaluators' scores ranged from moderate to good. The resulting 22-item performance measurement tool reliably measured hospital capabilities in a functional exercise setting, with preliminary evidence of concurrent and criterion-related validity.

Traditional and Cognitive Job Analyses as Tools for Understanding the Skills Gap.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanser, Lawrence M.

Traditional methods of job and task analysis may be categorized as worker-oriented methods focusing on general human behaviors performed by workers in jobs or as job-oriented methods focusing on the technologies involved in jobs. The ability of both types of traditional methods to identify, understand, and communicate the skills needed in high…

Examining the Relationship between 2D Diagrammatic Conventions and Students' Success on Representational Translation Tasks in Organic Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olimpo, Jeffrey T.; Kumi, Bryna C.; Wroblewski, Richard; Dixon, Bonnie L.

2015-01-01

Two-dimensional (2D) diagrams are essential in chemistry for conveying and communicating key knowledge about disciplinary phenomena. While experts are adept at identifying, interpreting, and manipulating these representations, novices often are not. Ongoing research efforts in the field suggest that students' effective use of concrete and virtual…

Brain Structure-function Couplings (FY11)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

influence time-evolving models of global brain function and dynamic changes in cognitive performance. Both structural and functional connections change on...Artifact Resistant Measure to Detect Cognitive EEG Activity During Locomotion. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, submitted. 10...Specifically, identifying the communication between brain regions that occurs during tasks may provide information regarding the cognitive processes involved in

[Implementing Inter-Professional Education (IPE): Challenges and Strategies].

PubMed

Lee, Chia-Lun; Hung, Chich-Hsiu

2017-12-01

Inter-professional practice (IPP), necessary in today's healthcare environment, should be guided and practiced through inter-professional education (IPE). Within the context of an effective IPE program, collaborative medical professionals must be cognizant of the demands of patients' integrated care, organize a collaborative inter-professional team, and achieve the objectives of patient-centered care. However, the many challenges of IPE include insufficient understanding of inter-professional care, occupational culture-related boundary issues, lack of a college education, and insufficient support from academic and medical institutions. This article suggests adopting effective strategies to promote inter-professional recognition, create a harmonious medical culture, eliminate barriers to education, and enhance support for academic and medical institutions. Inter-professional collaboration between academic and clinical institutions must provide resources and substantive professional training. Effectively implementing IPE and IPP is expected to elicit trust, respect, and efficient communication from team members.

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

Ju, Melody; Berman, Abigail T.; Hwang, Wei-Ting

Purpose: There is a lack of data for the structured development and evaluation of communication skills in radiation oncology residency training programs. Effective communication skills are increasingly emphasized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and are critical for a successful clinical practice. We present the design of a novel, pilot standardized patient (SP) program and the evaluation of communication skills among radiation oncology residents. Methods and Materials: Two case scenarios were developed to challenge residents in the delivery of “bad news” to patients: one scenario regarding treatment failure and the other regarding change in treatment plan. Eleven radiationmore » oncology residents paired with 6 faculty participated in this pilot program. Each encounter was scored by the SPs, observing faculty, and residents themselves based on the Kalamazoo guidelines. Results: Overall resident performance ratings were “good” to “excellent,” with faculty assigning statistically significant higher scores and residents assigning lower scores. We found inconsistent inter rater agreement among faculty, residents, and SPs. SP feedback was also valuable in identifying areas of improvement, including more collaborative decision making and less use of medical jargon. Conclusions: The program was well received by residents and faculty and regarded as a valuable educational experience that could be used as an annual feedback tool. Poor inter rater agreement suggests a need for residents and faculty physicians to better calibrate their evaluations to true patient perceptions. High scores from faculty members substantiate the concern that resident evaluations are generally positive and nondiscriminating. Faculty should be encouraged to provide honest and critical feedback to hone residents' interpersonal skills.« less

Flight Crew Task Management in Non-Normal Situations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schutte, Paul C.; Trujillo, Anna C.

1996-01-01

Task management (TM) is always performed on the flight deck, although not always explicitly, consistently, or rigorously. Nowhere is TM as important as it is in dealing with non-normal situations. The objective of this study was to analyze pilot TM behavior for non-normal situations. Specifically, the study observed pilots performance in a full workload environment in order to discern their TM strategies. This study identified four different TM prioritization and allocation strategies: Aviate-Navigate-Communicate-Manage Systems; Perceived Severity; Procedure Based; and Event/Interrupt Driven. Subjects used these strategies to manage their personal workload and to schedule monitoring and assessment of the situation. The Perceived Severity strategy for personal workload management combined with the Aviate-Navigate-Communicate-Manage Systems strategy for monitoring and assessing appeared to be the most effective (fewest errors and fastest response times) in responding to the novel system failure used in this study.

Nurse practitioners: leadership behaviors and organizational climate.

PubMed

Jones, L C; Guberski, T D; Soeken, K L

1990-01-01

The purpose of this article is to examine the relationships of individual nurse practitioners' perceptions of the leadership climate in their organizations and self-reported formal and informal leadership behaviors. The nine climate dimensions (Structure, Responsibility, Reward, Perceived Support of Risk Taking, Warmth, Support, Standard Setting, Conflict, and Identity) identified by Litwin and Stringer in 1968 were used to predict five leadership dimensions (Meeting Organizational Needs, Managing Resources, Leadership Competence, Task Accomplishment, and Communications). Demographic variables of age, educational level, and percent of time spent performing administrative functions were forced as a first step in each multiple regression analysis and used to explain a significant amount of variance in all but one analysis. All leadership dimensions were predicted by at least one organizational climate dimension: (1) Meeting Organizational Needs by Risk and Reward; (2) Managing Resources by Risk and Structure; (3) Leadership Competence by Risk and Standards; (4) Task Accomplishment by Structure, Risk, and Standards; and (5) Communication by Rewards.

On the Benefits of Creeping Wave Antennas in Reducing Interference Between Neighboring Wireless Body Area Networks.

PubMed

Tsouri, Gill R; Zambito, Stephanie R; Venkataraman, Jayanti

2017-02-01

We consider the on-body, off-body, and body-to-body channels in wireless body area networks utilizing creeping wave antennas. Experimental setups are used to gather measurements in the 2.4 GHz band with body area networks operating in an office environment. Data packets providing received signal strength indicators are used to assess the performance of the creeping wave antenna in reducing interference at a neighboring on-body access point while supporting reliable on-body communications. Results demonstrate that creeping wave antennas provide reliable on-body communications while significantly reducing inter-network interference; the inter-network interference is shown to be 10 dB weaker than the on-body signal. In addition, the inter-network interference when both networks utilize creeping wave antennas is shown to be 3 dB weaker than the interference when monopole antennas are used.

The Effects of Multimodal Mobile Communications on Cooperative Team Interactions Executing Distributed Tasks

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-07-01

AFRL-RH-WP-TP-2013-0046 The Effects of Multimodal Mobile Communications on Cooperative Team Interactions Executing Distributed Tasks Gregory...3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 31-07-13 Interim 01 August 2011 – 01 August 2013 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE The Effects of Multimodal Mobile... multimodal communication capabilities can con- tribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of real-time, task outcome and per- formance. In this paper, we

Market-Based Coordination and Auditing Mechanisms for Self-Interested Multi-Robot Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ham, MyungJoo

2009-01-01

We propose market-based coordinated task allocation mechanisms, which allocate complex tasks that require synchronized and collaborated services of multiple robot agents to robot agents, and an auditing mechanism, which ensures proper behaviors of robot agents by verifying inter-agent activities, for self-interested, fully-distributed, and…

Endpoint-based parallel data processing in a parallel active messaging interface of a parallel computer

DOEpatents

Archer, Charles J; Blocksome, Michael E; Ratterman, Joseph D; Smith, Brian E

2014-02-11

Endpoint-based parallel data processing in a parallel active messaging interface ('PAMI') of a parallel computer, the PAMI composed of data communications endpoints, each endpoint including a specification of data communications parameters for a thread of execution on a compute node, including specifications of a client, a context, and a task, the compute nodes coupled for data communications through the PAMI, including establishing a data communications geometry, the geometry specifying, for tasks representing processes of execution of the parallel application, a set of endpoints that are used in collective operations of the PAMI including a plurality of endpoints for one of the tasks; receiving in endpoints of the geometry an instruction for a collective operation; and executing the instruction for a collective opeartion through the endpoints in dependence upon the geometry, including dividing data communications operations among the plurality of endpoints for one of the tasks.

Endpoint-based parallel data processing in a parallel active messaging interface of a parallel computer

DOEpatents

Archer, Charles J.; Blocksome, Michael A.; Ratterman, Joseph D.; Smith, Brian E.

2014-08-12

Endpoint-based parallel data processing in a parallel active messaging interface (`PAMI`) of a parallel computer, the PAMI composed of data communications endpoints, each endpoint including a specification of data communications parameters for a thread of execution on a compute node, including specifications of a client, a context, and a task, the compute nodes coupled for data communications through the PAMI, including establishing a data communications geometry, the geometry specifying, for tasks representing processes of execution of the parallel application, a set of endpoints that are used in collective operations of the PAMI including a plurality of endpoints for one of the tasks; receiving in endpoints of the geometry an instruction for a collective operation; and executing the instruction for a collective operation through the endpoints in dependence upon the geometry, including dividing data communications operations among the plurality of endpoints for one of the tasks.

Quantification of crew workload imposed by communications-related tasks in commercial transport aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Acton, W. H.; Crabtree, M. S.; Simons, J. C.; Gomer, F. E.; Eckel, J. S.

1983-01-01

Information theoretic analysis and subjective paired-comparison and task ranking techniques were employed in order to scale the workload of 20 communications-related tasks frequently performed by the captain and first officer of transport category aircraft. Tasks were drawn from taped conversations between aircraft and air traffic controllers (ATC). Twenty crewmembers performed subjective message comparisons and task rankings on the basis of workload. Information theoretic results indicated a broad range of task difficulty levels, and substantial differences between captain and first officer workload levels. Preliminary subjective data tended to corroborate these results. A hybrid scale reflecting the results of both the analytical and the subjective techniques is currently being developed. The findings will be used to select representative sets of communications for use in high fidelity simulation.

78 FR 31542 - FCC Technology Transitions Policy Task Force Seeks Comment on Potential Trials

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-24

... communications alternatives to customers living in particularly high-cost areas, including its Mobile Premises... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION [GN Docket No. 13-5; DA 13-1016] FCC Technology Transitions Policy Task Force Seeks Comment on Potential Trials AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission. ACTION...

Learning in engineered multi-agent systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menon, Anup

Consider the problem of maximizing the total power produced by a wind farm. Due to aerodynamic interactions between wind turbines, each turbine maximizing its individual power---as is the case in present-day wind farms---does not lead to optimal farm-level power capture. Further, there are no good models to capture the said aerodynamic interactions, rendering model based optimization techniques ineffective. Thus, model-free distributed algorithms are needed that help turbines adapt their power production on-line so as to maximize farm-level power capture. Motivated by such problems, the main focus of this dissertation is a distributed model-free optimization problem in the context of multi-agent systems. The set-up comprises of a fixed number of agents, each of which can pick an action and observe the value of its individual utility function. An individual's utility function may depend on the collective action taken by all agents. The exact functional form (or model) of the agent utility functions, however, are unknown; an agent can only measure the numeric value of its utility. The objective of the multi-agent system is to optimize the welfare function (i.e. sum of the individual utility functions). Such a collaborative task requires communications between agents and we allow for the possibility of such inter-agent communications. We also pay attention to the role played by the pattern of such information exchange on certain aspects of performance. We develop two algorithms to solve this problem. The first one, engineered Interactive Trial and Error Learning (eITEL) algorithm, is based on a line of work in the Learning in Games literature and applies when agent actions are drawn from finite sets. While in a model-free setting, we introduce a novel qualitative graph-theoretic framework to encode known directed interactions of the form "which agents' action affect which others' payoff" (interaction graph). We encode explicit inter-agent communications in a directed graph (communication graph) and, under certain conditions, prove convergence of agent joint action (under eITEL) to the welfare optimizing set. The main condition requires that the union of interaction and communication graphs be strongly connected; thus the algorithm combines an implicit form of communication (via interactions through utility functions) with explicit inter-agent communications to achieve the given collaborative goal. This work has kinship with certain evolutionary computation techniques such as Simulated Annealing; the algorithm steps are carefully designed such that it describes an ergodic Markov chain with a stationary distribution that has support over states where agent joint actions optimize the welfare function. The main analysis tool is perturbed Markov chains and results of broader interest regarding these are derived as well. The other algorithm, Collaborative Extremum Seeking (CES), uses techniques from extremum seeking control to solve the problem when agent actions are drawn from the set of real numbers. In this case, under the assumption of existence of a local minimizer for the welfare function and a connected undirected communication graph between agents, a result regarding convergence of joint action to a small neighborhood of a local optimizer of the welfare function is proved. Since extremum seeking control uses a simultaneous gradient estimation-descent scheme, gradient information available in the continuous action space formulation is exploited by the CES algorithm to yield improved convergence speeds. The effectiveness of this algorithm for the wind farm power maximization problem is evaluated via simulations. Lastly, we turn to a different question regarding role of the information exchange pattern on performance of distributed control systems by means of a case study for the vehicle platooning problem. In the vehicle platoon control problem, the objective is to design distributed control laws for individual vehicles in a platoon (or a road-train) that regulate inter-vehicle distances at a specified safe value while the entire platoon follows a leader-vehicle. While most of the literature on the problem deals with some inadequacy in control performance when the information exchange is of the nearest neighbor-type, we consider an arbitrary graph serving as information exchange pattern and derive a relationship between how a certain indicator of control performance is related to the information pattern. Such analysis helps in understanding qualitative features of the `right' information pattern for this problem.

Configurable Crossbar Switch for Deterministic, Low-latency Inter-blade Communications in a MicroTCA Platform

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

Karamooz, Saeed; Breeding, John Eric; Justice, T Alan

As MicroTCA expands into applications beyond the telecommunications industry from which it originated, it faces new challenges in the area of inter-blade communications. The ability to achieve deterministic, low-latency communications between blades is critical to realizing a scalable architecture. In the past, legacy bus architectures accomplished inter-blade communications using dedicated parallel buses across the backplane. Because of limited fabric resources on its backplane, MicroTCA uses the carrier hub (MCH) for this purpose. Unfortunately, MCH products from commercial vendors are limited to standard bus protocols such as PCI Express, Serial Rapid IO and 10/40GbE. While these protocols have exceptional throughput capability,more » they are neither deterministic nor necessarily low-latency. To overcome this limitation, an MCH has been developed based on the Xilinx Virtex-7 690T FPGA. This MCH provides the system architect/developer complete flexibility in both the interface protocol and routing of information between blades. In this paper, we present the application of this configurable MCH concept to the Machine Protection System under development for the Spallation Neutron Sources's proton accelerator. Specifically, we demonstrate the use of the configurable MCH as a 12x4-lane crossbar switch using the Aurora protocol to achieve a deterministic, low-latency data link. In this configuration, the crossbar has an aggregate bandwidth of 48 GB/s.« less

Enhanced inter-subject brain computer interface with associative sensorimotor oscillations.

PubMed

Saha, Simanto; Ahmed, Khawza I; Mostafa, Raqibul; Khandoker, Ahsan H; Hadjileontiadis, Leontios

2017-02-01

Electroencephalography (EEG) captures electrophysiological signatures of cortical events from the scalp with high-dimensional electrode montages. Usually, excessive sources produce outliers and potentially affect the actual event related sources. Besides, EEG manifests inherent inter-subject variability of the brain dynamics, at the resting state and/or under the performance of task(s), caused probably due to the instantaneous fluctuation of psychophysiological states. A wavelet coherence (WC) analysis for optimally selecting associative inter-subject channels is proposed here and is being used to boost performances of motor imagery (MI)-based inter-subject brain computer interface (BCI). The underlying hypothesis is that optimally associative inter-subject channels can reduce the effects of outliers and, thus, eliminate dissimilar cortical patterns. The proposed approach has been tested on the dataset IVa from BCI competition III, including EEG data acquired from five healthy subjects who were given visual cues to perform 280 trials of MI for the right hand and right foot. Experimental results have shown increased classification accuracy (81.79%) using the WC-based selected 16 channels compared to the one (56.79%) achieved using all the available 118 channels. The associative channels lie mostly around the sensorimotor regions of the brain, reinforced by the previous literature, describing spatial brain dynamics during sensorimotor oscillations. Apparently, the proposed approach paves the way for optimised EEG channel selection that could boost further the efficiency and real-time performance of BCI systems.

Evaluation of the Military Functional Assessment Program: Inter rater Reliability of Task Scores

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-19

return-to-duty. Performance on the tasks is rated by a non-commissioned officer (NCO), occupational therapist, physical therapist, and mental health ...and additional ratings are provided on a subset of the tasks by an occupational therapist (OT), physical therapist (PT), and mental health (MH...3National Intrepid Center of Excellence United States Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory Aircrew Health and Performance Division September 2017

Joint Operations 2030 - Final Report (Operations interarmees 2030 - Rapport final)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

case of crisis : • Technologies to support emergency management operations, inter-organisational coordination and communication , distributed...are made up of national representatives as well as generally recognised ‘world class’ scientists. They also provide a communication link to military...Other Entities H.4 Capable of Establishing and Maintaining Communication Channels and Liaison Relationships H-7 with Potential Service Providers

Plan of advanced satellite communication experiments using ETS-6

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ikegami, Tetsushi

1989-01-01

In 1992, an Engineering Test Satellite 6 is scheduled to be launched by an H-2 rocket. The missions of ETS-6 are to establish basic technologies of inter-satellite communications using S-band, millimeter waves and optical beams and of fixed and mobile satellite communications using multibeam antenna on board the satellite. A plan of the experiments is introduced.

Kinematic and Kinetic Analysis of Repeated and Static Elevé in Adolescent Female Dance Students.

PubMed

Abraham, Amit; Dunsky, Ayelet; Hackney, Madeleine E; Dickstein, Ruth

2018-03-15

Elevé is a fundamental dance movement practiced routinely by dance students and serving as an integral component of screening in dance. It consists of ankle plantar flexion (PF) movement and is considered to be a frequent cause of foot and ankle injuries among dancers, with adolescent female dance students being at greatest risk for such injuries. Therefore, gaining additional knowledge regarding elevé functional range of motion (ROM) and inter-leg weightbearing distribution (WBD) properties among adolescent dance students is warranted for pedagogic, screening, injury prevention, and rehabilitation purposes. The aims of this study were three-fold: 1. to report and compare dance-specific, functional kinematic (ankle PF maximum angle and ankle PF ROM), kinetic (inter-leg WBD), and self-reported level of difficulty (balance, muscular force, and concentration) properties of repeated and static elevé among adolescent female dance students; 2. to look for correlations between elevé properties and participants' demographics (age, height, weight, dance experience, and leg dominance); and 3. to describe the relationships between the two kinematic properties in both elevé tasks. Twenty-three adolescent female dance students (mean age 13.57 ± 0.50 years) were measured while performing two elevé tasks: 10 repetitions ("repeated elevé task") and 10 consecutive seconds hold ("static elevé task"). Data regarding ankle motion and WBD were collected and analyzed using three-dimensional motion capture and two force plates. The data gained from this study expand our current understanding of elevé dance movement and may contribute to clinical relevancy and applicability of screening procedures being conducted in pre-professional dance settings. This may help to identify adolescent dance students with the potential to undertake a career in professional dance as well as to investigate the parameters associated with risk of ankle injuries in this population.

Task uncertainty and communication during nursing shift handovers.

PubMed

Mayor, Eric; Bangerter, Adrian; Aribot, Myriam

2012-09-01

We explore variations in handover duration and communication in nursing units. We hypothesize that duration per patient is higher in units facing high task uncertainty. We expect both topics and functions of communication to vary depending on task uncertainty. Handovers are changing in modern healthcare organizations, where standardized procedures are increasingly advocated for efficiency and reliability reasons. However, redesign of handover should take environmental contingencies of different clinical unit types into account. An important contingency in institutions is task uncertainty, which may affect how communicative routines like handover are accomplished. Nurse unit managers of 80 care units in 18 hospitals were interviewed in 2008 about topics and functions of handover communication and duration in their unit. Interviews were content-analysed. Clinical units were classified into a theory-based typology (unit type) that gradually increases on task uncertainty. Quantitative analyses were performed. Unit type affected resource allocation. Unit types facing higher uncertainty had higher handover duration per patient. As expected, unit type also affected communication content. Clinical units facing higher uncertainty discussed fewer topics, discussing treatment and care and organization of work less frequently. Finally, unit type affected functions of handover: sharing emotions was less often mentioned in unit types facing higher uncertainty. Task uncertainty and its relationship with functions and topics of handover should be taken into account during the design of handover procedures. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Fiber-based free-space optical coherent receiver with vibration compensation mechanism.

PubMed

Zhang, Ruochi; Wang, Jianmin; Zhao, Guang; Lv, Junyi

2013-07-29

We propose a novel fiber-based free-space optical (FSO) coherent receiver for inter-satellite communication. The receiver takes advantage of established fiber-optic components and utilizes the fine-pointing subsystem installed in FSO terminals to minimize the influence of satellite platform vibrations. The received beam is coupled to a single-mode fiber, and the coupling efficiency of the system is investigated both analytically and experimentally. A receiving sensitivity of -38 dBm is obtained at the forward error correction limit with a transmission rate of 22.4 Gbit/s. The proposed receiver is shown to be a promising component for inter-satellite optical communication.

Empirical study of the role of the topology in spreading on communication networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Medvedev, Alexey; Kertesz, Janos

2017-03-01

Topological aspects, like community structure, and temporal activity patterns, like burstiness, have been shown to severely influence the speed of spreading in temporal networks. We study the influence of the topology on the susceptible-infected (SI) spreading on time stamped communication networks, as obtained from a dataset of mobile phone records. We consider city level networks with intra- and inter-city connections. The networks using only intra-city links are usually sparse, where the spreading depends mainly on the average degree. The inter-city links serve as bridges in spreading, speeding up considerably the process. We demonstrate the effect also on model simulations.

Method and apparatus for routing data in an inter-nodal communications lattice of a massively parallel computer system by employing bandwidth shells at areas of overutilization

DOEpatents

Archer, Charles Jens; Musselman, Roy Glenn; Peters, Amanda; Pinnow, Kurt Walter; Swartz, Brent Allen; Wallenfelt, Brian Paul

2010-04-27

A massively parallel computer system contains an inter-nodal communications network of node-to-node links. An automated routing strategy routes packets through one or more intermediate nodes of the network to reach a final destination. The default routing strategy is altered responsive to detection of overutilization of a particular path of one or more links, and at least some traffic is re-routed by distributing the traffic among multiple paths (which may include the default path). An alternative path may require a greater number of link traversals to reach the destination node.

Proceedings of the Fifth Integrated Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (ICNS) Conference and Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fujikawa, Gene (Compiler)

2005-01-01

Contents includes papers on the following: JPDO: Inter-Agency Cooperation for the Next Generation ATS; R&T Programs; Integrated CNS Systems and Architectures; Datalink Communication Systems; Navigation, System Demonstrations and Operations; Safety and Security Initiatives Impacting CNS; Global Communications Initiatives; Airborne Internet; Avionics for System-Level Enhancements; SWIM (System Wide Information Management); Weather Products and Data Dissemination Technologies; Airsapce Communication Networks; Surveillance Systems; Workshop Breakouts Sessions and ; ICNS Conference Information.

Organizational and operational models for certificate management entities as part of the connected vehicle program : revised working paper (task 2).

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-01-01

This report summarizes the efforts performed under subtasks D&E of the ATIS Communications Technology Alternatives Task for the FHWA Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center. Tasks D & E were to facilitate further examination of wireless communication...

Psychological Attributes of Unwillingness to Communicate and Task-Based Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fukuta, Junya

2017-01-01

This study explored the longitudinal changes of Japanese EFL learners' psychological attributes of unwillingness to speak English in a task-based classroom. Thirty-three university students participated in this study. They engaged in a communicative task once a week for two semesters. They completed a questionnaire examining the psychological…

INFOSAM: A Sample Database Management System.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-12-01

PROGRAM ELEMENT. PROJECT, TASA Sloan School of Management AREA WORK UNIT NUMBERS Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139 II...96 NSETCAT .. ............................. 96 Inter -level Communication Databases .... 99 DEEAR ...................... 100 DVAR...Conceptual level, and the External level. The Inter - nal level represents a union of Hsu’s proposed Unary and Binary levels. The rationale for combining the

Investigation of coherent receiver designs in high-speed optical inter-satellite links using digital signal processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaefer, S.; Gregory, M.; Rosenkranz, W.

2017-09-01

Due to higher data rates, better data security and unlicensed spectral usage optical inter-satellite links (OISL) offer an attractive alternative to conventional RF-communication. However, the very high transmission distances necessitate an optical receiver design enabling high receiver sensitivity which requires careful carrier synchronization and a quasi-coherent detection scheme.

Altered Network Oscillations and Functional Connectivity Dynamics in Children Born Very Preterm.

PubMed

Moiseev, Alexander; Doesburg, Sam M; Herdman, Anthony T; Ribary, Urs; Grunau, Ruth E

2015-09-01

Structural brain connections develop atypically in very preterm children, and altered functional connectivity is also evident in fMRI studies. Such alterations in brain network connectivity are associated with cognitive difficulties in this population. Little is known, however, about electrophysiological interactions among specific brain networks in children born very preterm. In the present study, we recorded magnetoencephalography while very preterm children and full-term controls performed a visual short-term memory task. Regions expressing task-dependent activity changes were identified using beamformer analysis, and inter-regional phase synchrony was calculated. Very preterm children expressed altered regional recruitment in distributed networks of brain areas, across standard physiological frequency ranges including the theta, alpha, beta and gamma bands. Reduced oscillatory synchrony was observed among task-activated brain regions in very preterm children, particularly for connections involving areas critical for executive abilities, including middle frontal gyrus. These findings suggest that inability to recruit neurophysiological activity and interactions in distributed networks including frontal regions may contribute to difficulties in cognitive development in children born very preterm.

New approach to enhance and evaluate the performance of vehicle-infrastructure integration and its communication systems, final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-09-01

Initial research studied the use of wireless local area networks (WLAN) protocols in Inter-Vehicle Communications : (IVC) environments. The protocols performance was evaluated in terms of measuring throughput, jitter time and : delay time. This re...

Staff survey of organizational structure and process for a Public Health Department.

PubMed

Dwyer, J J

1995-01-01

A survey of 227 North York Public Health Department (NYPHD) staff provided their perspective on the organizational structure. They perceived that (a) the departmental and divisional organizational structures are effective for program delivery, (b) the Central Resources structure and divisional and departmental reporting structures are moderately effective for program delivery, (c) the decentralized office structure is an advantage for service delivery but less so for administration and intra-division and inter-division communication, (d) the mandatory program structure involves low to moderate interdisciplinary teamwork and moderately impacts service delivery, (e) intra-division and management-staff communication are fair but inter-division and office communication are between poor and fair, (f) education, research, and service are moderately integrated, and (g) the divisional and departmental work atmospheres are a little positive. Management perceived greater participation in program planning, more frequent communication with other divisions, a number of education and research opportunities from various divisions/units, and more management recognition than front line staff did.

Simulative Investigation on the Effect of Different Parameters on the Performance of IsOWC System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Mehtab

2017-08-01

Inter-satellite communication links are very crucial between satellites orbiting around the earth in order to transmit information between them and also for the purpose of data relaying from one satellite station to other stations and ground stations. Inter-satellite optical wireless communication (IsOWC) links involve the application of optical wireless signals as compared to radio frequency signals used in traditional satellite communication systems. One of the major problems leading to the performance degradation of IsOWC link is the signal degradation due to satellite vibrations also known as pointing errors. In this paper, the performance of an IsOWC communication link has been investigated for different system parameters such as data transmission rates, antenna aperture diameter, transmission power levels, operating wavelength and responsivity of photodiode by analyzing Q-factor, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and total power of received signal to mitigate the effects of signal degradation of received signal due to satellite vibrations.

Can Genre Be "Heard" in Scale as Well as Song Tasks? An Exploratory Study of Female Singing in Western Lyric and Musical Theater Styles.

PubMed

Kayes, Gillyanne; Welch, Graham F

2017-05-01

Using an empirical design, this study investigated perceptual and acoustic differences between the recorded vocal products of songs and scales of professional female singers of classical Western Lyric (WL) and non-legit Musical Theater (MT) styles. A total of 54 audio-recorded samples of songs and scales from professional female singers were rated in a blind randomized testing process by seven expert listeners as being performed by either a WL or MT singer. Songs and scales that were accurately perceived by genre were then analyzed intra- and inter-genre using long-term average spectrum analysis. A high level of agreement was found between judges in ratings for both songs and scales according to genre (P < 0.0001). Judges were more successful in locating WL than MT, but accuracy was always >50%. For the long-term average spectrum analysis intra-genre, song and scale matched better than chance. The highest spectral peak for the WL singers was at the mean fundamental frequency, whereas this spectral area was weaker for the MT singers, who showed a marked peak at 1 kHz. The other main inter-genre difference appeared in the higher frequency region, with a peak in the MT spectrum between 4 and 5 kHz-the region of the "speaker's formant." In comparing female singers of WL and MT styles, scales as well as song tasks appear to be indicative of singer genre behavior. This implied difference in vocal production may be useful to teachers and clinicians dealing with multiple genres. The addition of a scale-in-genre task may be useful in future research seeking to identify genre-distinctive behaviors. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS) 2007 Field Campaign Objectives and Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kosmo, Joseph; Romig, Barbara

2008-01-01

Desert "RATS" (Research and Technology Studies) is a combined, multi-discipline group of inter-NASA center scientists and engineers, net-working and collaborating with representatives of industry and academia, for the purpose of conducting planetary surface exploration-focused remote field exercises. These integrated testing exercises conducted under representative analog Lunar and Mars surface terrain conditions, provide NASA the capability to validate experimental prototype hardware and software systems as well as to evaluate and develop mission operational techniques in order to identify and establish technical requirements and identify potential technology "gaps" applicable for future planetary human exploration. The 2007 D-RATS field campaign test activities were initiated based on the major themes and objectives of a notional 5-year plan developed for conducting relative analog test activities in support of the engineering evaluation and assessment of various system architectural requirements, conceptual prototype support equipment and selected technologies necessary for the establishment of a lunar outpost. Specifically, the major objectives included measuring task efficiency during robot, human, and human-robot interactive tasks associated with lunar outpost site surveying and reconnaissance activities and deployment of a representative solar panel power and distribution system. In addition, technology demonstrations were conducted with a new Lithium-ion battery and autonomous software to coordinate multiple robot activities. Secondary objectives were evaluating airlock concept mockups and prototype removable space suit over-garment elements for dust mitigation, and upgrades to the prototype extravehicular activities (EVA) communication and information system. Dry run test activities, prior to testing at a designated remote field site location, were initially conducted at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Remote Field Demonstration Test Site. This is a multi-acre external test site located at JSC and has detailed representative terrain features simulating both Lunar and Mars surface characteristics. Both the local JSC and remote field test sites have terrain conditions that are representative and characteristic of both the Moon and Mars, such as strewn rock and volcanic ash fields, craters, rolling plains, hills, gullies, slopes, and outcrops. The D-RATS 2007 field campaign, representing the completion of its tenth year of analog testing, was conducted at the large Cinder Lake volcanic ash bed area adjacent to Flagstaff, Arizona.

Interplay between Functional Connectivity and Scale-Free Dynamics in Intrinsic fMRI Networks

PubMed Central

Ciuciu, Philippe; Abry, Patrice; He, Biyu J.

2014-01-01

Studies employing functional connectivity-type analyses have established that spontaneous fluctuations in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals are organized within large-scale brain networks. Meanwhile, fMRI signals have been shown to exhibit 1/f-type power spectra – a hallmark of scale-free dynamics. We studied the interplay between functional connectivity and scale-free dynamics in fMRI signals, utilizing the fractal connectivity framework – a multivariate extension of the univariate fractional Gaussian noise model, which relies on a wavelet formulation for robust parameter estimation. We applied this framework to fMRI data acquired from healthy young adults at rest and performing a visual detection task. First, we found that scale-invariance existed beyond univariate dynamics, being present also in bivariate cross-temporal dynamics. Second, we observed that frequencies within the scale-free range do not contribute evenly to inter-regional connectivity, with a systematically stronger contribution of the lowest frequencies, both at rest and during task. Third, in addition to a decrease of the Hurst exponent and inter-regional correlations, task performance modified cross-temporal dynamics, inducing a larger contribution of the highest frequencies within the scale-free range to global correlation. Lastly, we found that across individuals, a weaker task modulation of the frequency contribution to inter-regional connectivity was associated with better task performance manifesting as shorter and less variable reaction times. These findings bring together two related fields that have hitherto been studied separately – resting-state networks and scale-free dynamics, and show that scale-free dynamics of human brain activity manifest in cross-regional interactions as well. PMID:24675649

Improving Health Care Provider Communication in End-of-Life Decision-Making.

PubMed

Wilson, Tracey; Haut, Cathy; Akintade, Bimbola

2017-01-01

Critical care providers are responsible for many aspects of patient care, primarily focusing on preserving life. However, nearly 40% of patients who are admitted to an adult critical care unit will not survive. Initiating a conversation about end-of-life decision-making is a daunting task. Often, health care providers are not trained, experienced, or comfortable facilitating these conversations. This article describes a quality improvement project that identified current views on end-of-life communication in the intensive care unit and potential barriers that obstruct open discussion, and offering strategies for improvement. ©2017 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Method of optimization onboard communication network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Platoshin, G. A.; Selvesuk, N. I.; Semenov, M. E.; Novikov, V. M.

2018-02-01

In this article the optimization levels of onboard communication network (OCN) are proposed. We defined the basic parameters, which are necessary for the evaluation and comparison of modern OCN, we identified also a set of initial data for possible modeling of the OCN. We also proposed a mathematical technique for implementing the OCN optimization procedure. This technique is based on the principles and ideas of binary programming. It is shown that the binary programming technique allows to obtain an inherently optimal solution for the avionics tasks. An example of the proposed approach implementation to the problem of devices assignment in OCN is considered.

Contraceptive Counseling: Best Practices to Ensure Quality Communication and Enable Effective Contraceptive Use

PubMed Central

Dehlendorf, Christine; Krajewski, Colleen; Borrero, Sonya

2014-01-01

Improving the quality of contraceptive counseling is one strategy to prevent unintended pregnancy. We identify aspects of relational and task-oriented communication in family planning care that can assist providers in meeting their patients’ needs. Approaches to optimizing women's experiences of contraceptive counseling include working to develop a close, trusting relationship with patients and using a shared decision-making approach that focuses on eliciting and responding to patient preferences. Providing counseling about side effects and using strategies to promote contraceptive continuation and adherence can also help optimize women's use of contraception. PMID:25264697

L-Band Digital Aeronautical Communications System Engineering - Initial Safety and Security Risk Assessment and Mitigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zelkin, Natalie; Henriksen, Stephen

2011-01-01

This document is being provided as part of ITT's NASA Glenn Research Center Aerospace Communication Systems Technical Support (ACSTS) contract NNC05CA85C, Task 7: "New ATM Requirements--Future Communications, C-Band and L-Band Communications Standard Development." ITT has completed a safety hazard analysis providing a preliminary safety assessment for the proposed L-band (960 to 1164 MHz) terrestrial en route communications system. The assessment was performed following the guidelines outlined in the Federal Aviation Administration Safety Risk Management Guidance for System Acquisitions document. The safety analysis did not identify any hazards with an unacceptable risk, though a number of hazards with a medium risk were documented. This effort represents a preliminary safety hazard analysis and notes the triggers for risk reassessment. A detailed safety hazards analysis is recommended as a follow-on activity to assess particular components of the L-band communication system after the technology is chosen and system rollout timing is determined. The security risk analysis resulted in identifying main security threats to the proposed system as well as noting additional threats recommended for a future security analysis conducted at a later stage in the system development process. The document discusses various security controls, including those suggested in the COCR Version 2.0.

The communication of laboratory investigations by university entrants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, Bob; Kaunda, Loveness; Allie, Saalih; Buffler, Andy; Lubben, Fred

2000-10-01

The purpose of the study reported here was to analyse the ways in which unversity entrant science students carry out and communicate experimental activities and to identify a model to explain characteristic communication practices. The study was prompted by a need to inform the development of an introductory laboratory course. The students studied shared an educational background characterised by a lack of experience with laboratory work and scientific writing. Seven groups of three students were studied. The investigative strategies of these groups were observed. Laboratory reports were used to identify the ways in which students communicated these strategies. Data are presented that show a discrepancy between the strategies used and those reported. The results suggest that: (i) students' perceptions of the purpose of a laboratory task influence their decisions on what to report; (ii) understandings of laboratory procedures greatly influence their decision on what to report and on how much detail to include in a report and; (iii) knowledge of discourse rules contributes to effective reporting. It is concluded that students' communication of an investigation results from the differential operation of various perceptual filters that determine both the procedural and discourse elements of their reports. It is recommended that the communication of science should be taught explicitly and alongside the procedures and concepts of science.

Assessment of voice, speech and communication changes associated with cervical spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Johansson, Kerstin; Seiger, Åke; Forsén, Malin; Holmgren Nilsson, Jeanette; Hartelius, Lena; Schalling, Ellika

2018-02-24

Respiratory muscle impairment following cervical spinal cord injury (CSCI) may lead to reduced voice function, although the individual variation is large. Voice problems in this population may not always receive attention since individuals with CSCI face other, more acute and life-threatening issues that need/receive attention. Currently there is no consensus on the tasks suitable to identify the specific voice impairments and functional voice changes experienced by individuals with CSCI. To examine which voice/speech tasks identify the specific voice and communication changes associated with CSCI, habitual and maximum speech performance of a group with CSCI was compared with that of a healthy control group (CG), and the findings were related to respiratory function and to self-reported voice problems. Respiratory, aerodynamic, acoustic and self-reported voice data from 19 individuals (nine women and 10 men, aged 23-59 years, heights = 153-192 cm) with CSCI (levels C3-C7) were compared with data from a CG consisting of 19 carefully matched non-injured people (nine women and 10 men, aged 19-59 years, heights = 152-187 cm). Despite considerable variability of performance, highly significant differences between the group with CSCI and the CG were found in maximum phonation time, maximum duration of breath phrases, maximum sound pressure level and maximum voice area in voice-range profiles (all p = .000). Subglottal pressure was lower and phonatory stability was reduced in some of the individuals with CSCI, but differences between the groups were not statistically significant. Six of 19 had voice handicap index (VHI) scores above 20 (the cut-off for voice disorder). Individuals with a vital capacity below 50% of the expected for an equivalent reference individual performed significantly worse than participants with more normal vital capacity. Completeness and level of injury seemed to impact vocal function in some individuals. A combination of maximum performance speech tasks, respiratory tasks and self-reported information on voice problems help to identify individuals with reduced voice function following CSCI. Early identification of individuals with voice changes post-CSCI, and introducing appropriate rehabilitation strategies, may help to minimize development of maladaptive voice behaviours such as vocal strain, which can lead to further impairments and limitations to communication participation. © 2018 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Spontaneous Fluctuations in Sensory Processing Predict Within-Subject Reaction Time Variability.

PubMed

Ribeiro, Maria J; Paiva, Joana S; Castelo-Branco, Miguel

2016-01-01

When engaged in a repetitive task our performance fluctuates from trial-to-trial. In particular, inter-trial reaction time variability has been the subject of considerable research. It has been claimed to be a strong biomarker of attention deficits, increases with frontal dysfunction, and predicts age-related cognitive decline. Thus, rather than being just a consequence of noise in the system, it appears to be under the control of a mechanism that breaks down under certain pathological conditions. Although the underlying mechanism is still an open question, consensual hypotheses are emerging regarding the neural correlates of reaction time inter-trial intra-individual variability. Sensory processing, in particular, has been shown to covary with reaction time, yet the spatio-temporal profile of the moment-to-moment variability in sensory processing is still poorly characterized. The goal of this study was to characterize the intra-individual variability in the time course of single-trial visual evoked potentials and its relationship with inter-trial reaction time variability. For this, we chose to take advantage of the high temporal resolution of the electroencephalogram (EEG) acquired while participants were engaged in a 2-choice reaction time task. We studied the link between single trial event-related potentials (ERPs) and reaction time using two different analyses: (1) time point by time point correlation analyses thereby identifying time windows of interest; and (2) correlation analyses between single trial measures of peak latency and amplitude and reaction time. To improve extraction of single trial ERP measures related with activation of the visual cortex, we used an independent component analysis (ICA) procedure. Our ERP analysis revealed a relationship between the N1 visual evoked potential and reaction time. The earliest time point presenting a significant correlation of its respective amplitude with reaction time occurred 175 ms after stimulus onset, just after the onset of the N1 peak. Interestingly, single trial N1 latency correlated significantly with reaction time, while N1 amplitude did not. In conclusion, our findings suggest that inter-trial variability in the timing of extrastriate visual processing contributes to reaction time variability.

Spontaneous Fluctuations in Sensory Processing Predict Within-Subject Reaction Time Variability

PubMed Central

Ribeiro, Maria J.; Paiva, Joana S.; Castelo-Branco, Miguel

2016-01-01

When engaged in a repetitive task our performance fluctuates from trial-to-trial. In particular, inter-trial reaction time variability has been the subject of considerable research. It has been claimed to be a strong biomarker of attention deficits, increases with frontal dysfunction, and predicts age-related cognitive decline. Thus, rather than being just a consequence of noise in the system, it appears to be under the control of a mechanism that breaks down under certain pathological conditions. Although the underlying mechanism is still an open question, consensual hypotheses are emerging regarding the neural correlates of reaction time inter-trial intra-individual variability. Sensory processing, in particular, has been shown to covary with reaction time, yet the spatio-temporal profile of the moment-to-moment variability in sensory processing is still poorly characterized. The goal of this study was to characterize the intra-individual variability in the time course of single-trial visual evoked potentials and its relationship with inter-trial reaction time variability. For this, we chose to take advantage of the high temporal resolution of the electroencephalogram (EEG) acquired while participants were engaged in a 2-choice reaction time task. We studied the link between single trial event-related potentials (ERPs) and reaction time using two different analyses: (1) time point by time point correlation analyses thereby identifying time windows of interest; and (2) correlation analyses between single trial measures of peak latency and amplitude and reaction time. To improve extraction of single trial ERP measures related with activation of the visual cortex, we used an independent component analysis (ICA) procedure. Our ERP analysis revealed a relationship between the N1 visual evoked potential and reaction time. The earliest time point presenting a significant correlation of its respective amplitude with reaction time occurred 175 ms after stimulus onset, just after the onset of the N1 peak. Interestingly, single trial N1 latency correlated significantly with reaction time, while N1 amplitude did not. In conclusion, our findings suggest that inter-trial variability in the timing of extrastriate visual processing contributes to reaction time variability. PMID:27242470

Task analysis of information technology-mediated medication management in outpatient care.

PubMed

van Stiphout, F; Zwart-van Rijkom, J E F; Maggio, L A; Aarts, J E C M; Bates, D W; van Gelder, T; Jansen, P A F; Schraagen, J M C; Egberts, A C G; ter Braak, E W M T

2015-09-01

Educating physicians in the procedural as well as cognitive skills of information technology (IT)-mediated medication management could be one of the missing links for the improvement of patient safety. We aimed to compose a framework of tasks that need to be addressed to optimize medication management in outpatient care. Formal task analysis: decomposition of a complex task into a set of subtasks. First, we obtained a general description of the medication management process from exploratory interviews. Secondly, we interviewed experts in-depth to further define tasks and subtasks. Outpatient care in different fields of medicine in six teaching and academic medical centres in the Netherlands and the United States. 20 experts. Tasks were divided up into procedural, cognitive and macrocognitive tasks and categorized into the three components of dynamic decision making. The medication management process consists of three components: (i) reviewing the medication situation; (ii) composing a treatment plan; and (iii) accomplishing and communicating a treatment and surveillance plan. Subtasks include multiple cognitive tasks such as composing a list of current medications and evaluating the reliability of sources, and procedural tasks such as documenting current medication. The identified macrocognitive tasks were: planning, integration of IT in workflow, managing uncertainties and responsibilities, and problem detection. All identified procedural, cognitive and macrocognitive skills should be included when designing education for IT-mediated medication management. The resulting framework supports the design of educational interventions to improve IT-mediated medication management in outpatient care. © 2015 The Authors. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The British Pharmacological Society.

[Communication, participation and leadership in the perception of the emotional climate in a university hospital in Andalusia, Spain].

PubMed

Danet, Alina; March, Joan Carles; Romera, Inmaculada García

2014-03-01

The aim of this study was to identify and analyze perceptions and opinions among health professionals in a university hospital in Andalusia, Spain, regarding the emotional climate, leadership style, quality of information, and internal communication. The study also aimed to collect health professionals' suggestions for improving these workplace characteristics. The study included 730 participants and used a quantitative and qualitative methodology. The results reflect a medium-to-low level of emotional climate, correlated with the leadership style and information and internal communication. Statistically significant differences appeared when comparing professional categories and hospital units. The health professionals provided a positive assessment of the administrators' work, although requiring more task-oriented, participative, and affiliative leadership skills.

Mobile e-Learning for Next Generation Communication Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Tin-Yu; Chao, Han-Chieh

2008-01-01

This article develops an environment for mobile e-learning that includes an interactive course, virtual online labs, an interactive online test, and lab-exercise training platform on the fourth generation mobile communication system. The Next Generation Learning Environment (NeGL) promotes the term "knowledge economy." Inter-networking…

Analytical modeling and feasibility study of a multi-GPU cloud-based server (MGCS) framework for non-voxel-based dose calculations.

PubMed

Neylon, J; Min, Y; Kupelian, P; Low, D A; Santhanam, A

2017-04-01

In this paper, a multi-GPU cloud-based server (MGCS) framework is presented for dose calculations, exploring the feasibility of remote computing power for parallelization and acceleration of computationally and time intensive radiotherapy tasks in moving toward online adaptive therapies. An analytical model was developed to estimate theoretical MGCS performance acceleration and intelligently determine workload distribution. Numerical studies were performed with a computing setup of 14 GPUs distributed over 4 servers interconnected by a 1 Gigabits per second (Gbps) network. Inter-process communication methods were optimized to facilitate resource distribution and minimize data transfers over the server interconnect. The analytically predicted computation time predicted matched experimentally observations within 1-5 %. MGCS performance approached a theoretical limit of acceleration proportional to the number of GPUs utilized when computational tasks far outweighed memory operations. The MGCS implementation reproduced ground-truth dose computations with negligible differences, by distributing the work among several processes and implemented optimization strategies. The results showed that a cloud-based computation engine was a feasible solution for enabling clinics to make use of fast dose calculations for advanced treatment planning and adaptive radiotherapy. The cloud-based system was able to exceed the performance of a local machine even for optimized calculations, and provided significant acceleration for computationally intensive tasks. Such a framework can provide access to advanced technology and computational methods to many clinics, providing an avenue for standardization across institutions without the requirements of purchasing, maintaining, and continually updating hardware.

The Impact of Task-Based Instruction Program on Fostering ESL Learners' Speaking Ability: A Cognitive Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohammadipour, Mohammad; Rashid, Sabariah Md.

2015-01-01

Adopting a direct approach to contrive sufficient focus on form (accuracy) would facilitate interlanguage development without decreasing the naturalness of communication that communicative tasks can generate. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of a proposed task-based instruction programme within a cognitive approach in fostering…

Learner Use of Holistic Language Units in Multimodal, Task-Based Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collentine, Karina

2009-01-01

Second language acquisition (SLA) researchers strive to understand the language and exchanges that learners generate in synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC). Doughty and Long (2003) advocate replacing open-ended SCMC with task-based language teaching (TBLT) design principles. Since most task-based SCMC (TB-SCMC) research addresses an…

Active Nodal Task Seeking for High-Performance, Ultra-Dependable Computing

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-07-01

implementation. Figure 1 shows a hardware organization of ANTS: stand-alone computing nodes inter - connected by buses. 2.1 Run Time Partitioning The...nodes in 14 respond to changing loads [27] or system reconfiguration [26]. Existing techniques are all source-initiated or server-initiated [27]. 5.1...short-running task segments. The task segments must be short-running in order that processors will become avalable often enough to satisfy changing

An Optimum Space-to-Ground Communication Concept for CubeSat Platform Utilizing NASA Space Network and Near Earth Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wong, Yen F.; Kegege, Obadiah; Schaire, Scott H.; Bussey, George; Altunc, Serhat; Zhang, Yuwen; Patel Chitra

2016-01-01

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) CubeSat missions are expected to grow rapidly in the next decade. Higher data rate CubeSats are transitioning away from Amateur Radio bands to higher frequency bands. A high-level communication architecture for future space-to-ground CubeSat communication was proposed within NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. This architecture addresses CubeSat direct-to-ground communication, CubeSat to Tracking Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) communication, CubeSat constellation with Mothership direct-to-ground communication, and CubeSat Constellation with Mothership communication through K-Band Single Access (KSA). A study has been performed to explore this communication architecture, through simulations, analyses, and identifying technologies, to develop the optimum communication concepts for CubeSat communications. This paper presents details of the simulation and analysis that include CubeSat swarm, daughter ship/mother ship constellation, Near Earth Network (NEN) S and X-band direct to ground link, TDRSS Multiple Access (MA) array vs Single Access mode, notional transceiver/antenna configurations, ground asset configurations and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) signal trades for daughter ship/mother ship CubeSat constellation inter-satellite cross link. Results of space science X-band 10 MHz maximum achievable data rate study are summarized. CubeSat NEN Ka-Band end-to-end communication analysis is provided. Current CubeSat communication technologies capabilities are presented. Compatibility test of the CubeSat transceiver through NEN and SN is discussed. Based on the analyses, signal trade studies and technology assessments, the desired CubeSat transceiver features and operation concepts for future CubeSat end-to-end communications are derived.

Prior experiences associated with residents' scores on a communication and interpersonal skill OSCE.

PubMed

Yudkowsky, Rachel; Downing, Steven M; Ommert, Dennis

2006-09-01

This exploratory study investigated whether prior task experience and comfort correlate with scores on an assessment of patient-centered communication. A six-station standardized patient exam assessed patient-centered communication of 79 PGY2-3 residents in Internal Medicine and Family Medicine. A survey provided information on prior experiences. t-tests, correlations, and multi-factorial ANOVA explored relationship between scores and experiences. Experience with a task predicted comfort but did not predict communication scores. Comfort was moderately correlated with communication scores for some tasks; residents who were less comfortable were indeed less skilled, but greater comfort did not predict higher scores. Female gender and medical school experiences with standardized patients along with training in patient-centered interviewing were associated with higher scores. Residents without standardized patient experiences in medical school were almost five times more likely to be rejected by patients. Task experience alone does not guarantee better communication, and may instill a false sense of confidence. Experiences with standardized patients during medical school, especially in combination with interviewing courses, may provide an element of "deliberate practice" and have a long-term impact on communication skills. The combination of didactic courses and practice with standardized patients may promote a patient-centered approach.

A Reinforcement Model of the Relationships of Supervisors' General Communication Styles and Conflict Management Styles to Task Attraction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wheeless, Lawrence R.; Reichel, Lisa S.

1990-01-01

Investigates the relationship between general styles of communicating and more situation-specific conflict management styles. Finds substantial relationships between general communication styles and conflict management styles, as well as very substantial relationships between the style constructs and task attraction of supervisors. (SR)

Task Characteristics, Structural Characteristics, Organizational Relationships, and Communication Processes: A Contingency Approach to Job Performance. Phase III.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petelle, John L.; Garthright-Petelle, Kathleen

A study examined the relationships between (1) employee job performance and organizational relationships, (2) employee job performance and communication processes, (3) organizational relationships and communication processes, and (4) task characteristics and structural characteristics. Data were gathered from approximately 200 employees of a state…

Improving communications within the Virginia Department of Transportation : final report : a report to Assistant Commissioner Albert W. Coates, Jr. and the employee communications task force.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1987-01-01

As part of the efforts of an employee task force appointed to seek ways of improving communications within the Virginia Department of Transportation, nine focus group meetings were held for departmental employees. Participants were separated into the...

When Kinesthesia Becomes Visual: A Theoretical Justification for Executing Motor Tasks in Visual Space

PubMed Central

Tagliabue, Michele; McIntyre, Joseph

2013-01-01

Several experimental studies in the literature have shown that even when performing purely kinesthetic tasks, such as reaching for a kinesthetically felt target with a hidden hand, the brain reconstructs a visual representation of the movement. In our previous studies, however, we did not observe any role of a visual representation of the movement in a purely kinesthetic task. This apparent contradiction could be related to a fundamental difference between the studied tasks. In our study subjects used the same hand to both feel the target and to perform the movement, whereas in most other studies, pointing to a kinesthetic target consisted of pointing with one hand to the finger of the other, or to some other body part. We hypothesize, therefore, that it is the necessity of performing inter-limb transformations that induces a visual representation of purely kinesthetic tasks. To test this hypothesis we asked subjects to perform the same purely kinesthetic task in two conditions: INTRA and INTER. In the former they used the right hand to both perceive the target and to reproduce its orientation. In the latter, subjects perceived the target with the left hand and responded with the right. To quantify the use of a visual representation of the movement we measured deviations induced by an imperceptible conflict that was generated between visual and kinesthetic reference frames. Our hypothesis was confirmed by the observed deviations of responses due to the conflict in the INTER, but not in the INTRA, condition. To reconcile these observations with recent theories of sensori-motor integration based on maximum likelihood estimation, we propose here a new model formulation that explicitly considers the effects of covariance between sensory signals that are directly available and internal representations that are ‘reconstructed’ from those inputs through sensori-motor transformations. PMID:23861903

EEG Beta Power but Not Background Music Predicts the Recall Scores in a Foreign-Vocabulary Learning Task.

PubMed

Küssner, Mats B; de Groot, Annette M B; Hofman, Winni F; Hillen, Marij A

2016-01-01

As tantalizing as the idea that background music beneficially affects foreign vocabulary learning may seem, there is-partly due to a lack of theory-driven research-no consistent evidence to support this notion. We investigated inter-individual differences in the effects of background music on foreign vocabulary learning. Based on Eysenck's theory of personality we predicted that individuals with a high level of cortical arousal should perform worse when learning with background music compared to silence, whereas individuals with a low level of cortical arousal should be unaffected by background music or benefit from it. Participants were tested in a paired-associate learning paradigm consisting of three immediate word recall tasks, as well as a delayed recall task one week later. Baseline cortical arousal assessed with spontaneous EEG measurement in silence prior to the learning rounds was used for the analyses. Results revealed no interaction between cortical arousal and the learning condition (background music vs. silence). Instead, we found an unexpected main effect of cortical arousal in the beta band on recall, indicating that individuals with high beta power learned more vocabulary than those with low beta power. To substantiate this finding we conducted an exact replication of the experiment. Whereas the main effect of cortical arousal was only present in a subsample of participants, a beneficial main effect of background music appeared. A combined analysis of both experiments suggests that beta power predicts the performance in the word recall task, but that there is no effect of background music on foreign vocabulary learning. In light of these findings, we discuss whether searching for effects of background music on foreign vocabulary learning, independent of factors such as inter-individual differences and task complexity, might be a red herring. Importantly, our findings emphasize the need for sufficiently powered research designs and exact replications of theory-driven experiments when investigating effects of background music and inter-individual variation on task performance.

EEG Beta Power but Not Background Music Predicts the Recall Scores in a Foreign-Vocabulary Learning Task

PubMed Central

de Groot, Annette M. B.; Hofman, Winni F.; Hillen, Marij A.

2016-01-01

As tantalizing as the idea that background music beneficially affects foreign vocabulary learning may seem, there is—partly due to a lack of theory-driven research—no consistent evidence to support this notion. We investigated inter-individual differences in the effects of background music on foreign vocabulary learning. Based on Eysenck’s theory of personality we predicted that individuals with a high level of cortical arousal should perform worse when learning with background music compared to silence, whereas individuals with a low level of cortical arousal should be unaffected by background music or benefit from it. Participants were tested in a paired-associate learning paradigm consisting of three immediate word recall tasks, as well as a delayed recall task one week later. Baseline cortical arousal assessed with spontaneous EEG measurement in silence prior to the learning rounds was used for the analyses. Results revealed no interaction between cortical arousal and the learning condition (background music vs. silence). Instead, we found an unexpected main effect of cortical arousal in the beta band on recall, indicating that individuals with high beta power learned more vocabulary than those with low beta power. To substantiate this finding we conducted an exact replication of the experiment. Whereas the main effect of cortical arousal was only present in a subsample of participants, a beneficial main effect of background music appeared. A combined analysis of both experiments suggests that beta power predicts the performance in the word recall task, but that there is no effect of background music on foreign vocabulary learning. In light of these findings, we discuss whether searching for effects of background music on foreign vocabulary learning, independent of factors such as inter-individual differences and task complexity, might be a red herring. Importantly, our findings emphasize the need for sufficiently powered research designs and exact replications of theory-driven experiments when investigating effects of background music and inter-individual variation on task performance. PMID:27537520

Crew/computer communications study. Volume 1: Final report. [onboard computerized communications system for spacecrews

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johannes, J. D.

1974-01-01

Techniques, methods, and system requirements are reported for an onboard computerized communications system that provides on-line computing capability during manned space exploration. Communications between man and computer take place by sequential execution of each discrete step of a procedure, by interactive progression through a tree-type structure to initiate tasks or by interactive optimization of a task requiring man to furnish a set of parameters. Effective communication between astronaut and computer utilizes structured vocabulary techniques and a word recognition system.

Communication Research in Aviation and Space Operations: Symptoms and Strategies of Crew Coordination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kanki, Barbara G.; Hart, Sandra G. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

The day-to-day operators of today's aerospace systems work under increasing pressures to accomplish more with less. They work in operational systems which are complex, technology-based, and high-risk; in which incidents and accidents have far-reaching and costly consequences. For these and other reasons, there is concern that the safety net formerly built upon redundant systems and abundant resources may become overburdened. Although we know that human ingenuity can overcome incredible odds, human nature can also fail in unpredictable ways. Over the last 20 years, a large percentage of aviation accidents and incidents have been attributed to human errors rather than hardware or environmental factors alone. A class of errors have been identified which are not due to a lack of individual, technical competencies. Rather, they are due to the failure of teams to utilize readily available resources or information in a timely fashion. These insights began a training revolution in the aviation industry called Cockpit Resource Management, which later became known as Crew Resource Management (CRM) as its concepts and applications extended to teams beyond the flightdeck. Then, as now, communication has been a cornerstone in CRM training since crew coordination and resource management largely resides within information transfer processes--both within flightcrews, and between flightcrews and the ground operations teams that support them. The research I will describe takes its roots in CRM history as we began to study communication processes in order to discover symptoms of crew coordination problems, as well as strategies of effective crew management. On the one hand, communication is often the means or the tool by which team members manage their resources, solve problems, maintain situational awareness and procedural discipline. Conversely, it is the lack of planning and resource management, loss of vigilance and situational awareness, and non-standard communications that are implicated in accidents and incidents. NASA/Ames Crew Factors researchers have been developing a model of effective crew coordination in order to understand the sources of performance breakdowns, and to develop effective solutions and interventions. Because communication is a primary mechanism by which information is received and transmitted, and because it is observable behavior, we focus on these group processes in order to identify patterns of communication that distinguish effective from less effective crew performance. Since a prime objective is to develop training recommendations for enhancing communication skills, we interpret our findings in the context of relevant task and environmental conditions, role and procedural constraints, and the normal real-time parameters of flight operations. Another research objective is to consider how communication and coordination can be enhanced through design. For example, flight deck and hardware design as well as procedural and software design may greatly influence the efficiency with which crews communicate and coordinate their work. In addition, teams and tasks may be designed, organized, and trained so that team interactions with each other are based upon appropriately shared knowledge, procedures and situation awareness. In short, we are interested in enhancing communication practices through (1) the training of specific communication skills, and (2) the design of equipment, tasks, procedures, and teams that optimize smooth, unambiguous communication processes. Two examples of communication research will be described; one in aviation and one in space operations. The first example is a high-fidelity full mission simulation study which investigates the affect of flightdeck automation on crew coordination and communication (contrasting crew performance in the DC-9 vs. MD88). Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Optical data transmission technology for fixed and drag-on STS payloads umbilicals. Volume 1: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

St.denis, R. W.

1981-01-01

The feasibility of using optical data handling methods to transmit payload checkout and telemetry is discussed. Optical communications are superior to conventional communication systems for the following reasons: high data capacity optical channels; small and light weight optical cables; and optical signal immunity to electromagnetic interference. Task number one analyzed the ground checkout data requirements that may be expected from the payload community. Task number two selected the optical approach based on the interface requirements, the location of the interface, the amount of time required to reconfigure hardware, and the method of transporting the optical signal. Task number three surveyed and selected optical components for the two payload data link. Task number four makes a qualitative comparison of the conventional electrical communication system and the proposed optical communication system.

Subtyping cognitive profiles in Autism Spectrum Disorder using a Functional Random Forest algorithm.

PubMed

Feczko, E; Balba, N M; Miranda-Dominguez, O; Cordova, M; Karalunas, S L; Irwin, L; Demeter, D V; Hill, A P; Langhorst, B H; Grieser Painter, J; Van Santen, J; Fombonne, E J; Nigg, J T; Fair, D A

2018-05-15

DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) comprises a set of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social communication and interaction and repetitive behaviors or restricted interests, and may both affect and be affected by multiple cognitive mechanisms. This study attempts to identify and characterize cognitive subtypes within the ASD population using our Functional Random Forest (FRF) machine learning classification model. This model trained a traditional random forest model on measures from seven tasks that reflect multiple levels of information processing. 47 ASD diagnosed and 58 typically developing (TD) children between the ages of 9 and 13 participated in this study. Our RF model was 72.7% accurate, with 80.7% specificity and 63.1% sensitivity. Using the random forest model, the FRF then measures the proximity of each subject to every other subject, generating a distance matrix between participants. This matrix is then used in a community detection algorithm to identify subgroups within the ASD and TD groups, and revealed 3 ASD and 4 TD putative subgroups with unique behavioral profiles. We then examined differences in functional brain systems between diagnostic groups and putative subgroups using resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (rsfcMRI). Chi-square tests revealed a significantly greater number of between group differences (p < .05) within the cingulo-opercular, visual, and default systems as well as differences in inter-system connections in the somato-motor, dorsal attention, and subcortical systems. Many of these differences were primarily driven by specific subgroups suggesting that our method could potentially parse the variation in brain mechanisms affected by ASD. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Coherent detection of position errors in inter-satellite laser communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Nan; Liu, Liren; Liu, De'an; Sun, Jianfeng; Luan, Zhu

2007-09-01

Due to the improved receiver sensitivity and wavelength selectivity, coherent detection became an attractive alternative to direct detection in inter-satellite laser communications. A novel method to coherent detection of position errors information is proposed. Coherent communication system generally consists of receive telescope, local oscillator, optical hybrid, photoelectric detector and optical phase lock loop (OPLL). Based on the system composing, this method adds CCD and computer as position error detector. CCD captures interference pattern while detection of transmission data from the transmitter laser. After processed and analyzed by computer, target position information is obtained from characteristic parameter of the interference pattern. The position errors as the control signal of PAT subsystem drive the receiver telescope to keep tracking to the target. Theoretical deviation and analysis is presented. The application extends to coherent laser rang finder, in which object distance and position information can be obtained simultaneously.

Psychological Issues in Online Adaptive Task Allocation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morris, N. M.; Rouse, W. B.; Ward, S. L.; Frey, P. R.

1984-01-01

Adaptive aiding is an idea that offers potential for improvement over many current approaches to aiding in human-computer systems. The expected return of tailoring the system to fit the user could be in the form of improved system performance and/or increased user satisfaction. Issues such as the manner in which information is shared between human and computer, the appropriate division of labor between them, and the level of autonomy of the aid are explored. A simulated visual search task was developed. Subjects are required to identify targets in a moving display while performing a compensatory sub-critical tracking task. By manipulating characteristics of the situation such as imposed task-related workload and effort required to communicate with the computer, it is possible to create conditions in which interaction with the computer would be more or less desirable. The results of preliminary research using this experimental scenario are presented, and future directions for this research effort are discussed.

Creating potential for common ground and communication between early childhood program staff and parents about young children's eating.

PubMed

Johnson, Susan L; Ramsay, Samantha; Shultz, Jill Armstrong; Branen, Laurel J; Fletcher, Janice W

2013-01-01

To explore child care staff and parent perspectives and communications about children's eating in child care. Focus groups (FGs) conducted with child care staff and parents. Four Western states in the United States. Thirty-nine child care staff in 7 FGs and 25 parents in 6 FGs. Thoughts and concerns about children's eating and opportunities to improve communication between staff and parents. Content analysis (FG coding inter-rater reliability: staff = 0.74; parents = 0.81) and identification of meta-themes. Three meta-themes were identified: (1) recognition of positive influences of the child care setting in children's development of healthy eating; (2) concerns about children's eating in child care and at home; and (3) strategies to improve communications and transactions related to children's eating. Staff reported that their roles included informing parents about food at mealtimes in child care (eg, menus, recipes) but also educating parents about child nutrition and feeding. Parents valued daily information about their child's eating to adjust home mealtimes and to feel connected to their child. Barriers to effective communication included limited time and concerns regarding parent reactions and defensiveness. Staff requested training about child nutrition and feeding and about sensitive communications with parents. Copyright © 2013 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Incorporating Language Structure in a Communicative Task: An Analysis of the Language Component of a Communicative Task in the LINC Home Study Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lenchuk, Iryna

2014-01-01

The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. LHS is a federally funded distance education program offered to newcomers to Canada who are unable to attend regular LINC classes. A task, in which a language structure (a gerund) is chosen and analyzed, was selected from one instructional module of LHS…

Using NERSC High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems for high-energy nuclear physics applications with ALICE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fasel, Markus

2016-10-01

High-Performance Computing Systems are powerful tools tailored to support large- scale applications that rely on low-latency inter-process communications to run efficiently. By design, these systems often impose constraints on application workflows, such as limited external network connectivity and whole node scheduling, that make more general-purpose computing tasks, such as those commonly found in high-energy nuclear physics applications, more difficult to carry out. In this work, we present a tool designed to simplify access to such complicated environments by handling the common tasks of job submission, software management, and local data management, in a framework that is easily adaptable to the specific requirements of various computing systems. The tool, initially constructed to process stand-alone ALICE simulations for detector and software development, was successfully deployed on the NERSC computing systems, Carver, Hopper and Edison, and is being configured to provide access to the next generation NERSC system, Cori. In this report, we describe the tool and discuss our experience running ALICE applications on NERSC HPC systems. The discussion will include our initial benchmarks of Cori compared to other systems and our attempts to leverage the new capabilities offered with Cori to support data-intensive applications, with a future goal of full integration of such systems into ALICE grid operations.

How dogs know when communication is intended for them.

PubMed

Kaminski, Juliane; Schulz, Linda; Tomasello, Michael

2012-03-01

Domestic dogs comprehend human gestural communication in a way that other animal species do not. But little is known about the specific cues they use to determine when human communication is intended for them. In a series of four studies, we confronted both adult dogs and young dog puppies with object choice tasks in which a human indicated one of two opaque cups by either pointing to it or gazing at it. We varied whether the communicator made eye contact with the dog in association with the gesture (or whether her back was turned or her eyes were directed at another recipient) and whether the communicator called the dog's name (or the name of another recipient). Results demonstrated the importance of eye contact in human-dog communication, and, to a lesser extent, the calling of the dog's name--with no difference between adult dogs and young puppies--which are precisely the communicative cues used by human infants for identifying communicative intent. Unlike human children, however, dogs did not seem to comprehend the human's communicative gesture when it was directed to another human, perhaps because dogs view all human communicative acts as directives for the recipient. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

An Optimum Space-to-Ground Communication Concept for CubeSat Platform Utilizing NASA Space Network and Near Earth Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wong, Yen F.; Kegege, Obadiah; Schaire, Scott H.; Bussey, George; Altunc, Serhat; Zhang, Yuwen; Patel, Chitra

2016-01-01

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) CubeSat missions are expected to grow rapidly in the next decade. Higher data rate CubeSats are transitioning away from Amateur Radio bands to higher frequency bands. A high-level communication architecture for future space-to-ground CubeSat communication was proposed within NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. This architecture addresses CubeSat direct-to-ground communication, CubeSat to Tracking Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) communication, CubeSat constellation with Mothership direct-to-ground communication, and CubeSat Constellation with Mothership communication through K-Band Single Access (KSA).A Study has been performed to explore this communication architecture, through simulations, analyses, and identifying technologies, to develop the optimum communication concepts for CubeSat communications. This paper will present details of the simulation and analysis that include CubeSat swarm, daughter shipmother ship constellation, Near Earth Network (NEN) S and X-band direct to ground link, TDRS Multiple Access (MA) array vs Single Access mode, notional transceiverantenna configurations, ground asset configurations and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) signal trades for daughter mother CubeSat constellation inter-satellite crosslink. Results of Space Science X-band 10 MHz maximum achievable data rate study will be summarized. Assessment of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of current CubeSat communication technologies capabilities will be presented. Compatibility test of the CubeSat transceiver through NEN and Space Network (SN) will be discussed. Based on the analyses, signal trade studies and technology assessments, the functional design and performance requirements as well as operation concepts for future CubeSat end-to-end communications will be derived.

Communication, Fine Arts, and Media. Occupational Analyses. Worker Task Lists and Supplementary Information for Selected Occupations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henrico County Public Schools, Glen Allen, VA. Virginia Vocational Curriculum and Resource Center.

This publication contains worker task lists and supplementary information for four occupations in the communication, fine arts, and media cluster: (1) graphic designer; (2) newspaper reporter; (3) radio announcer; and (4) recording technologies occupations. The task lists were generated through the DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) process and/or by…

Performance Enhancements Under Dual-task Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, A. F.; Wickens, C. D.; Donchin, E.

1984-01-01

Research on dual-task performance has been concerned with delineating the antecedent conditions which lead to dual-task decrements. Capacity models of attention, which propose that a hypothetical resource structure underlies performance, have been employed as predictive devices. These models predict that tasks which require different processing resources can be more successfully time shared than tasks which require common resources. The conditions under which such dual-task integrality can be fostered were assessed in a study in which three factors likely to influence the integrality between tasks were manipulated: inter-task redundancy, the physical proximity of tasks and the task relevant objects. Twelve subjects participated in three experimental sessions in which they performed both single and dual-tasks. The primary task was a pursuit step tracking task. The secondary tasks required the discrimination between different intensities or different spatial positions of a stimulus. The results are discussed in terms of a model of dual-task integrality.

Advanced information processing system: Inter-computer communication services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burkhardt, Laura; Masotto, Tom; Sims, J. Terry; Whittredge, Roy; Alger, Linda S.

1991-01-01

The purpose is to document the functional requirements and detailed specifications for the Inter-Computer Communications Services (ICCS) of the Advanced Information Processing System (AIPS). An introductory section is provided to outline the overall architecture and functional requirements of the AIPS and to present an overview of the ICCS. An overview of the AIPS architecture as well as a brief description of the AIPS software is given. The guarantees of the ICCS are provided, and the ICCS is described as a seven-layered International Standards Organization (ISO) Model. The ICCS functional requirements, functional design, and detailed specifications as well as each layer of the ICCS are also described. A summary of results and suggestions for future work are presented.

Data rate enhancement of optical camera communications by compensating inter-frame gaps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Duy Thong; Park, Youngil

2017-07-01

Optical camera communications (OCC) is a convenient way of transmitting data between LED lamps and image sensors that are included in most smart devices. Although many schemes have been suggested to increase the data rate of the OCC system, it is still much lower than that of the photodiode-based LiFi system. One major reason of this low data rate is attributed to the inter-frame gap (IFG) of image sensor system, that is, the time gap between consecutive image frames. In this paper, we propose a way to compensate for this IFG efficiently by an interleaved Hamming coding scheme. The proposed scheme is implemented and the performance is measured.

Cross-sector collaborations in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander childhood disability: a systematic integrative review and theory-based synthesis.

PubMed

Green, Anna; DiGiacomo, Michelle; Luckett, Tim; Abbott, Penelope; Davidson, Patricia Mary; Delaney, Joanne; Delaney, Patricia

2014-12-18

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia experience a higher prevalence of disability and socio-economic disadvantage than other Australian children. Early intervention is vital for improved health outcomes, but complex and fragmented service provision impedes access. There have been international and national policy shifts towards inter-sector collaborative responses to disability, but more needs to be known about how collaboration works in practice. A systematic integrative literature review using a narrative synthesis of peer-reviewed and grey literature was undertaken to describe components of inter- and intra-sector collaborations among services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with a disability and their families. The findings were synthesized using the conceptual model of the ecological framework. Thirteen articles published in a peer-reviewed journal and 18 articles from the grey literature met inclusion criteria. Important factors in inter- and intra-sector collaborations identified included: structure of government departments and agencies, and policies at the macro- (government) system level; communication, financial and human resources, and service delivery setting at the exo- (organizational) system level; and relationships and inter- and intra-professional learning at the meso- (provider) system level. The policy shift towards inter-sector collaborative approaches represents an opportunity for the health, education and social service sectors and their providers to work collaboratively in innovative ways to improve service access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with a disability and their families. The findings of this review depict a national snapshot of collaboration, but as each community is unique, further research into collaboration within local contexts is required to ensure collaborative solutions to improve service access are responsive to local needs and sustainable.

The confidence of speech-language pathology students regarding communicating with people with aphasia

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that can present a significant barrier to patient involvement in healthcare decisions. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are viewed as experts in the field of communication. However, many SLP students do not receive practical training in techniques to communicate with people with aphasia (PWA) until they encounter PWA during clinical education placements. Methods This study investigated the confidence and knowledge of SLP students in communicating with PWA prior to clinical placements using a customised questionnaire. Confidence in communicating with people with aphasia was assessed using a 100-point visual analogue scale. Linear, and logistic, regressions were used to examine the association between confidence and age, as well as confidence and course type (graduate-entry masters or undergraduate), respectively. Knowledge of strategies to assist communication with PWA was examined by asking respondents to list specific strategies that could assist communication with PWA. Results SLP students were not confident with the prospect of communicating with PWA; reporting a median 29-points (inter-quartile range 17–47) on the visual analogue confidence scale. Only, four (8.2%) of respondents rated their confidence greater than 55 (out of 100). Regression analyses indicated no relationship existed between confidence and students‘ age (p = 0.31, r-squared = 0.02), or confidence and course type (p = 0.22, pseudo r-squared = 0.03). Students displayed limited knowledge about communication strategies. Thematic analysis of strategies revealed four overarching themes; Physical, Verbal Communication, Visual Information and Environmental Changes. While most students identified potential use of resources (such as images and written information), fewer students identified strategies to alter their verbal communication (such as reduced speech rate). Conclusions SLP students who had received aphasia related theoretical coursework, but not commenced clinical placements with PWA, were not confident in their ability to communicate with PWA. Students may benefit from an educational intervention or curriculum modification to incorporate practical training in effective strategies to communicate with PWA, before they encounter PWA in clinical settings. Ensuring students have confidence and knowledge of potential communication strategies to assist communication with PWA may allow them to focus their learning experiences in more specific clinical domains, such as clinical reasoning, rather than building foundation interpersonal communication skills. PMID:23806028

The confidence of speech-language pathology students regarding communicating with people with aphasia.

PubMed

Finch, Emma; Fleming, Jennifer; Brown, Kyla; Lethlean, Jennifer; Cameron, Ashley; McPhail, Steven M

2013-06-27

Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that can present a significant barrier to patient involvement in healthcare decisions. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are viewed as experts in the field of communication. However, many SLP students do not receive practical training in techniques to communicate with people with aphasia (PWA) until they encounter PWA during clinical education placements. This study investigated the confidence and knowledge of SLP students in communicating with PWA prior to clinical placements using a customised questionnaire. Confidence in communicating with people with aphasia was assessed using a 100-point visual analogue scale. Linear, and logistic, regressions were used to examine the association between confidence and age, as well as confidence and course type (graduate-entry masters or undergraduate), respectively. Knowledge of strategies to assist communication with PWA was examined by asking respondents to list specific strategies that could assist communication with PWA. SLP students were not confident with the prospect of communicating with PWA; reporting a median 29-points (inter-quartile range 17-47) on the visual analogue confidence scale. Only, four (8.2%) of respondents rated their confidence greater than 55 (out of 100). Regression analyses indicated no relationship existed between confidence and students' age (p = 0.31, r-squared = 0.02), or confidence and course type (p = 0.22, pseudo r-squared = 0.03). Students displayed limited knowledge about communication strategies. Thematic analysis of strategies revealed four overarching themes; Physical, Verbal Communication, Visual Information and Environmental Changes. While most students identified potential use of resources (such as images and written information), fewer students identified strategies to alter their verbal communication (such as reduced speech rate). SLP students who had received aphasia related theoretical coursework, but not commenced clinical placements with PWA, were not confident in their ability to communicate with PWA. Students may benefit from an educational intervention or curriculum modification to incorporate practical training in effective strategies to communicate with PWA, before they encounter PWA in clinical settings. Ensuring students have confidence and knowledge of potential communication strategies to assist communication with PWA may allow them to focus their learning experiences in more specific clinical domains, such as clinical reasoning, rather than building foundation interpersonal communication skills.

The Importance of Communication Skills in Young Children. Research Brief. Summer 2013

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gooden, Caroline; Kearns, Jacqui

2013-01-01

Learning communication is one of the major developmental tasks in early childhood. Few tasks in early childhood are as important for children as being able to communicate with the people in their world to have their needs met. This also includes gaining skills to understand and express thoughts, feelings and information. Understanding…

Coordination of Gaze and Speech in Communication between Children with Hearing Impairment and Normal-Hearing Peers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sandgren, Olof; Andersson, Richard; van de Weijer, Joost; Hansson, Kristina; Sahlén, Birgitta

2014-01-01

Purpose: To investigate gaze behavior during communication between children with hearing impairment (HI) and normal-hearing (NH) peers. Method: Ten HI-NH and 10 NH-NH dyads performed a referential communication task requiring description of faces. During task performance, eye movements and speech were tracked. Using verbal event (questions,…

A Twin Study of Spatial and Non-Spatial Delayed Response Performance in Middle Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kremen, William S.; Mai, Tuan; Panizzon, Matthew S.; Franz, Carol E.; Blankfeld, Howard M.; Xian, Hong; Eisen, Seth A.; Tsuang, Ming T.; Lyons, Michael J.

2011-01-01

Delayed alternation and object alternation are classic spatial and non-spatial delayed response tasks. We tested 632 middle-aged male veteran twins on variants of these tasks in order to compare test difficulty, measure their inter-correlation, test order effects, and estimate heritabilities (proportion of observed variance due to genetic…